#cordeila

***

The year is 845 and Wall Maria has just fallen.  After 100 years of peace, the Titans have finally broken through some of the last of humanity’s defenses.  The citizens of the wall are in the process of being evacuated with the aid of the Scouting Legion.  There’s only one problem: The soldiers in charge of the evacuation are all brand new, as the battle experienced troops are being used to hold back the Titans for as long as possible.

"Iwa-chan!  Is everybody out of this town yet?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know just by looking from up above?  Come help me check the buildings, dumbass!"

Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime, two of the newer recruits in the Scouting Legion.  While not brand new like many of the soldiers, they’re still far more inexperienced than the troops in the middle of battle.  As such, they’re in charge of a squad leading the evacuation of some of the villages located on the edges of Wall Maria.  Everything had been going smoothly thus far, but the fact of the matter was that Titans could show up at any time.  Therefore it was incredibly important that the evacuation go as quickly and smoothly as possible.

"Alright alright, I’ll help you check.  Let’s make this fast!"

The two boys, along with the rest of their squad, raced back and forth among the buildings in the small town, calling out to make sure there was nobody else still around.  Fifteen minutes later, it was determined that the town was empty and it was safe to move to the next destination.

"Refuel your tanks, we’re moving out!" Oikawa called.  He had just finished pumping gas into his own gear when a distressing sound began to echo through the area.

"I really hope that’s not what I think it is," Iwaizumi said in a low voice.  He propelled himself onto the roof of a nearby building and looked around anxiously.  Sure enough not even a mile away was a pack of Titans.  Not only that, but they were rapidly advancing.  "Shit shit shit-"  The boy got back to ground level as quickly as humanly possible.  "OI!  WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW.  THERE’S AT LEAST TEN TITANS ON THEIR WAY HERE AND WITHOUT A HEAD START WE WON’T BE ABLE TO AVOID THEM.”

The squad began to move in a panic.  Soldiers did their best to finish refueling before mounting their horses.  Just as everyone was ready to move out, they heard a shrill cry from a short distance away.

"You’ve got to be kidding," Oikawa whispered, turning toward where the sound had come from.  A moment later and the cry came again, followed by what sounded like gibberish.

"Sounds like a little kid," Iwaizumi commented, a worried expression taking over his features.  Oikawa nodded in response.

"The rest of you, head out!  Iwa-chan and I will check out the noise and meet back up with you as soon as we can."  A couple of soldiers looked like they wanted to argue, but Oikawa had already dismounted his horse and was racing toward the building that seemed to contain the disturbance.  Iwaizumi followed, muttering curses under his breath.  They searched the house but found nothing.  Luckily, the cry sounded out again, much closer this time than it had been.  "Let’s split up, we’ll cover more ground faster."

"Yeah, ok."

Time was quickly running out as the boys split up, hearts pounding with adrenaline and fear.  It took several tries to locate the source of the noise, but in the end, Oikawa was able to find a young girl who had somehow been left behind.  ”Shhh, it’s ok now.  We’ll get you some place safe.”  The brunet picked up the disheveled child and ran back outside, calling for his friend.  ”Iwa-chan, I found her!  Let’s get out of here!”

But they had run out of time.

Iwaizumi zipped past on his 3DMG, swears flying from his mouth, followed by “RUN YOU DUMBASS, THEY’RE HERE!”

Oikawa looked at the direction where his friend had come from and paled.  The Titans were most definitely here, and there was no chance that they could completely avoid messing with them.  The squad leader turned on his heel and sprinted back toward his horse, doing his best not to jostle the little girl who clung to him.  But the Titans were much faster than he was, and he knew that in all likelihood, running was pointless.  Just as he had reached his horse Iwaizumi zipped past again, this time heading straight toward the advancing giants.

"Iwa-chan, where are you going?!"

"I’ll keep them busy, you get that little girl out of here!  I’ll be fine, just go!"

As hesitant as Oikawa was, he also knew that the child’s safety was the most important thing right now.  He plopped the little girl onto the front of the saddle and hopped on behind her.  ”Hold on tight now, ok?”  Forcing himself not to look back, Tooru urged his horse forward.  ”I’ll see you soon, Iwa-chan!”

"Tch, yeah, see you soon," the other replied, far too quietly to be heard.

***

Several hours later and Iwaizumi was still missing.

Several hours later and the girl had been safely reunited with her family, but Iwaizumi had still not returned.

Several hours later and Oikawa had been thanked dozens of times by a tearful family for saving their daughter, but Iwaizumi was still nowhere to be found.