Family

Chapter Seven; The Fall

"Are you even paying attention, Eren?" Mikasa hissed under her breath.

"Of course. I can think and process what he's saying at the same time, you know. Multitaking." Eren hissed back.

Armin suppressed laughter. They were just like true siblings, but he shook off the thought and tried to focus on the battle tactic that the training officer was explaining to them.

**********

Levi was drilling with Petra, Oluo, Gunther, and Eld.

It was late in the evening, nearly fully night, and they had been training all day. It was tiring, and physically tough, but so we're they. They weren't the Special Operations Squad for nothing.

As always, a small portion of his thoughts were on Eren, and it was only the churchbell in town tolling once...twice...three times, that made him pause, mid-manuver. Levi froze so suddenly, he very nearly dropped like a stone and became a smudge on the ground. It was only his momentum that carried him forward, and Levi managed to catch hold of the thick branch, using his remaining momentum to do a quick circle and land in somewhat of a crouch on the top. Around him, Levi's squad had froze too.

With grim faces, they snapped out of it and without missing a beat flew back towards Headquarters to refill their gas and grab extra spare blades. Then, following the example of everybody else in the entire Survey Corps, they set off towards town at neck-snapping speeds, all sharing the same look of grim determination undershadowed by horror.

Because never before had three bells rang.

Beacuse three bells ment that a titan had broken through the walls.

**********

At the sound of the three bells, the training officer had locked them in the barracks with orders. Do not open this door under any circumstances.

They were only first-years, they didn't have nearly enough training to take on a titan. So the training officer barred them in-literally-and left to help defend the city.

Eren wasn't pleased. Unlike most of the other trainees, who were either curled under blankets and jumping at every slight noise or gossiping like schoolgirls on bunks and in corners, he paced the room agitatedly.

"Eren, you're going to wear holes in your shoes." Mikasa said calmly.

"I don't care." Eren replied.

A few minutes later, Armin tried.

"Eren, please sit down. Watching you pace is making me nervous."

"Then don't watch me pace." Eren replied.

Suddenly, a distant roar was heard. It was clearly far away, but most of the.more timid trainees shrieked and huddled together in the northern corner of the room. The others who hadn't joined them were tense.

Eren paused in his pacing, only to walk towards the bathroom door. Closing it behind him quietly, Mikasa and Armin heard the lock click.

"He's planning something, isn't he?" Armin mused.

"He always is." Mikasa said, exasperated.

******

Meanwhile, Eren had slipped his pocketknife out and flicked it open, and was setting to work on the window screen.

Eren was quite fond of the pocketknife. It was a plain black thing, with a blade made from the same steel that titan weapons were made from. On the side, his initials, E.J., were engraved. Levi had given it to him on his tenth birthday.

Eren quietly ran the blade around the outside edges of the window screen before popping it out of place and setting it to the side. Hurridly climbing out of the window, Eren ran towards the storeroom where the Manuver Gear, blades, and gas were kept. Trainees or not, they always wore leather harnesses, and all Eren had to do was correctly strap on the Gear and stock up on blades and gas. Donning his cloak-which he had snuck into the bathroom with him-in an effort to hide his patchless uniform, which symboled he was still a trainee.

Then Eren disappeared in the direction of town, under the cover of the near-night darkening sky, and under different circumstances his father was doing the same thing, on the other side of Wall Rose.