Watching the sunrise was Juniper's favorite pastime. She stood outside, her hand brushing through her horse's mane as she watched the only source of light in her life rise into the sky. She often wonders where the sun disappears to when the moon comes out to play. Does it go elsewhere? To a new land, far from here? Is that land a better place? Or, does the sun turn into the moon, staying forever lit, forever having to watch over the horror that occurs to people who dare venture beyond the walls? Juniper wishes she knew.

      When the sun sits in the sky, Juniper turns her back and focuses on grooming her horse for the impending adventure that awaits her today. She can't help but think of the worst; who will die today? What sort of titans will she cross today? Will she survive today? No, she can't think that way. Juniper is capable of many things. She knows it. Her squad-mates know it. She can't ever think that way again, but tomorrow morning, she'll redo this routine once more. Juniper's been told she's a stupid worry-wart, but Juniper can't help herself! She's grown up in a world with the strong feasting on the weak. If no one will worry, then Juniper has to do it herself.

      Junipers whispers to her horse, Channey, as she feeds her. Juniper doesn't know where they're going today, but she has complete faith in Captain Levi. He hasn't given up on her yet, so that's a promising sign. Footsteps echo behind Juniper, she turns and smiles at the figure approaching her.

      "Morning, Captain."

      "Good. You're up. Go and wake up Petra."

      Juniper raises an eyebrow, "don't tell me why, let me guess," she bites nails for a few seconds before -- "she's snoring again!" Her bright eyes wander over Levi's bored face. It tells her everything and nothing at the same time.

      "I'm practically psychic," gushes Juniper, turning to Channey, who neighs in response. "Five dollars for five minutes, how does that sound?"

      "Dreadful. Go and wake up Petra, Juniper." Levi responds.

      "Anything for you, Captain," Juniper responds cheekily, bowing for emphasis.

      "Menace," Levi mutters under his breath.

       Juniper takes her sweet time as she walks towards the barracks that held Petra's room. Juniper knows, firsthand, what it's like to sleep in a room ——or next to——Petra as she snores, it sounds like Titans chasing after you. It's not a great sound to wake up to if you're a part of the Survey Corps.

      Upon reaching Petra's room, Juniper finds her friends gathered around Petra's door. To say Juniper was confused, would be an understatement. Why were they gathered around Petra's door as her loud snores sounded throughout the barracks.

      "What's going on?" Juniper asks, resting her hand on Gunther's shoulder. Her three male squad-mates turn around, surprised looks on their faces. "Juniper! Are you gonna wake Petra up?" Eldo asks, relief spreading across his face.

      Juniper rolls her eyes. "Petra's not going to kill you, y'know that, right?"

      "You can never be too sure," Eldo mutters.

       Juniper snorts and opens Petra's door, bracing herself. She knows why Levi doesn't wake up Petra; he learned it the hard way years ago. Whenever Petra snores, she's in a deep sleep——but of course, none of us knew that——and so when Levi entered Petra's room to wake her up since she overslept, he was met with a kick to the face. (He had the biggest bruise on his face for ages which called for nonstop teasing from Juniper).

      Sighing heavily, Juniper cracks her neck and fingers. This was going to take a lot of strength. She grabs Petra's ankles from underneath the blankets covering her body, and as fast as Juniper possibly could, she yanks Petra out from underneath the blankets and drops her on the floor. Juniper then dashes to the doorway, where she stood a distance away from the now groggily awake girl.

     "What the hell?" Petra groans, rubbing her back and her head.

     Snickers float from the doorway, where Juniper stood with Eldo, Gunther, and Oruo. "Mornin' sleeping beauty." Sings Juniper, "it's a great day to go and kill Titans, don't you think?"

      Profanities are muttered as Petra stands, still rubbing the small of her back. "You could've been nicer, June."

      "Levi's orders, sorry." Juniper says, "so, therefore, I had to be hard."

      Petra glares at Juniper, whose smile only gets wider. She shuffles out of Petra's room, shutting the door behind her as she turns to the three men standing around her. "You did that so easily, Juniper," Eldo says, falling into step beside Juniper, who snorts.

      "Because it is easy. You're all just pussies." 

      The three men around Juniper make noises of discontent. "Whatever you say," Juniper says, pausing slightly with her Cheshire grin still apparent on her face, "pussies." With a scandalous laugh, Juniper tears herself away from her three comrades and shoves her way back outside, looking at the sun as it sits in the sky. This is what she lived for.

◾◾◾

Juniper was suspended, her ODM gear was keeping her pressed against the brick wall behind her as she watched her comrades fight Titans that had ambushed them as they rode through an abandoned village. This situation wasn't new to Juniper, she knew how to fight off Titans, so as she watched the last of the four that had ambushed them, she had a clear sight of victory. She didn't care that it was an abnormal, a Titan was a Titan. A kill was a kill.

      Pushing herself off the wall, Juniper feels the air, brush her hair away from her face as she ascended higher into the sky. Juniper floats in midair for a second, before she's falling back down to earth, her eyes zeroed in on the abnormal Titan and its nape. She twirls in mid-air, letting out a cry full of rage and she cleanly cuts through the nape, razor-sharp as always.

      She lands back down on her two feet, dragging the back of her hand across her cheek, discarding the Titan blood on her cheek.

        "Aww. . . Juniper! You're amazing!" Gushes Hange, their eyes wide behind their glasses. "How many kills is that now?"

      "68," Juniper responds, her eyes sharply cutting across the terrain she finds herself standing in, alongside Hange. Juniper glances over her shoulder to Hange, a grim look passing over her face. "Let's go before more come."

      Juniper sprints down the old cobblestone road, leaping up and using her ODM gear to fling herself higher into the air, the moment of instability, the moment of freedom and clarity enters Juniper's thoughts as she clings to the few moments she has, in midair, doing nothing but breathing and existing——then her gas sends her forward, zipping through the air.

        Juniper drops down beside Levi, rolling her shoulders back and placing her blades back into their holders. "Killed all the Titans east from here." Juniper reports, her 'killing face' on. (It's something her squad-mates came up with, and now it's caught on throughout most of the Scouting Regiment).

       Once more, Levi's bored face tells her nothing and everything at the same time. "Good. Let's go."

       Juniper's sharp whistle cuts through the air and her beloved horse, Channey, arrives. She swings herself up onto the horse, her eyes cutting over to Levi's figure, who was already looking back. Two sharp nods and the rest of the squad press on, to meet up with Commander Erwin.

      If anything, the Scout Regiment has taught Juniper to be on guard. At all times. There's a reason her senses are the sharpest out of the squad, there's a reason Levi trusts her judgment the most. Her gut was telling her something was wrong as they rode into another village, it was quiet, the odd bird flew overhead and Juniper felt like she was going to puke.

       "Something's not right," Juniper murmurs to Levi on her right. The short Captain looks at Juniper, "I agree." His sharp eyes dancing across the terrain. Juniper lets her eyes linger on Levi's figure longer than necessary. She has these stupid caterpillars growing her in her stomach, flourishing into butterflies whenever she looked Captain Levi's way.

       "See anything, Juniper?" Commander Erwin's voice asks. His voice comes from her left. Juniper tilts her head so she's facing Commander Erwin, she doesn't know why she blushes, but she just does. "No." Her one syllable is uttered out quietly. Juniper feels embarrassed for some reason.

       Erwin smiles at Juniper, opening his mouth to say something, but then a Titan comes crashing through the house next to them, shouts elicit from members of the Scouts Regiment around Juniper as the Titan grabs someone. Juniper shakes off her embarrassment and lifts herself off Channey, catapulting herself into the air. She unsheathes her blades and raises them above her head as she spins towards the Titan.

        From the corner of her eye, Juniper can see Levi approaching the Titan too, his speed matching hers. Juniper wills herself to go faster, wanting to take this kill from Levi. Her screams sound through the air and she's slicing the nape of the Titan, saving the member from their impending death. Levi flings himself against a brick wall, where Juniper joins him with a look of jubilance on her face.

      "Maybe I should be humanity's strongest soldier now, what do ya think?" Teases Juniper, blowing a stray piece of hair from her face.

      "Tch." That is all Levi says, his eyes darting away from Juniper's jubilant face.

      "I would say you owe me a drink," Juniper says, "because I beat you to that Titan. I am the strongest female soldier, after all." Levi sizes Juniper up, his eyes dragging across her breathless body. Why does she feel a sort of turmoil in her head? Why is she freezing up——what is there to freeze up about?—— Why are goosebumps slowly spreading across her body? This is all stupid, seriously.

      "I guess so." Levi answers. This time, his face doesn't tell Juniper anything.  

      "Nice kill, Juniper." Commander Erwin compliments the moment she and Levi reach their deserted horses. "I never realized how fast you go."

      Juniper grins mischievously, "there is a lot of things you don't know about me, Erwin."

      He snorts and rolls his eyes. "Still no 'Commander'?"

      "We're friends, aren't we?"

      "Fortunately, we are. Let's move." Erwin tells Juniper, who climbs back onto her horse and urges Channey forward, turning her head to Levi. "Don't forget about my drink." He side-eyes Juniper and doesn't say anything in return. Juniper knows he won't forget——he's never forgotten anything about Juniper, but she doesn't know that—— so she sits, content in the saddle on the back of her horse as they move deeper into enemy territory.

       Like always, the rest of the day fades away and Juniper loses her sense of time. Now, she's sitting with her friends in the barracks, her dinner placed out in front of her. Her shoulders are burning after being used continuously during this expedition——the Titans were more active than usual and Juniper didn't know how to take this information.

      The loud barrack sends Juniper's senses into overdrive, she can smell the food, she can smell the sweat dripping off clothes, she can smell the grass fields they rode over during their expedition today, she can smell her friends' scents; lavender, wood, daises, salt. Voices fill her ears, what was she supposed to do in a noisy setting like this one?

        Juniper overhears some members of the Survey Corps talk about the upcoming Cadets, how there are differences in these ones; ones who have the drive to rid the foul Titans from this world, how there's those who entered the training corps just to live in the safety of Wall Sina. That was Juniper's dream once, she wanted to join the Military Police, but she had a change of heart from her close friend and here Juniper wound up, in Squad Levi, watching friend after friend fall to the Titans.

      More than anything, Juniper wants to kill every last Titan in this hell. She wants to free those around her, she wants them to experience the same freedom she gets to experience every day as she ventures out from Wall Rose. Her fist closes in and her face sets into her 'determined mode'. (Another stupid nickname her friends came up with). Juniper doesn't want another wall to fall to the strength and power of Titans. The weak have been preyed on enough already, why should they have to give in anymore?

      A cup slides into Juniper's vision. She glances up to see Levi now sitting opposite her, a bored face, his dark eyes boring in hers, chills flying down her spine. Hesitantly, Juniper picks up her cup and sips it. "Thanks." Her voice says gently. She puts the cup back down and leans forward, resting her chin on her hand. She levels her stare with Levi's.

      "What do you want, Arrowheart?" Levi gives in and Juniper grins. "A night ride, perhaps? Beneath the moon, just me and you, of course." Juniper knows what his answer will be, hell, she's known his answer every time she asks him this. He knows it's just her riling him up and she knows he gets annoyed whenever she insinuates something between them, but when it comes to the heat of battle, neither one cares whether or not something is insinuated.

       "Do you want me to pretend to think, or just say no?" Levi asks, taking a sip from his teacup.

      "You already gave me my answer. Why do you drink tea that way?"

      "Why do you ask so many questions? You're not a child."

      Juniper grins, brushing her hair away from her face. "How else am I supposed to converse with you? I want to know what's happening in Captain Levi's——humanity's strongest soldier——head." Juniper reaches across the table and taps Levi's forehead without a care in the world. She knows she's basically asking for a death sentence, but anything to annoy Captain Levi, God knows he needs some annoyance in his all-too clean life.

       Levi's death stare could literally cook someone alive. Juniper feels like she's burning. His hand folds around Juniper's finger still pressed against his forehead. "I could break this finger. And your arm. And a leg, if you would like."

        Juniper grins. "Let's see what Erwin thinks, yeah?" She turns Commander Erwin's way and opens her mouth, but Levi's vice-like grip on her finger gets tighter. She turns back to Levi, holding his stare, which seems to say everything and nothing at the same time. He wants her answer. Not anyone else's. Juniper knows he values her opinion over anyone else's. Around them, everyone fades out. It's just them, sitting in the barracks, touching. Juniper's ears ring. She's breathing. Levi is breathing. 

      "I think. . . I think, I would like to keep all my limbs intact, thanks." Juniper says slowly and gently, not wanting to tear her eyes away from Levi's stature. Levi nods his head and takes his hand away from Juniper's finger, the warmth and shivers departing from Juniper's body. 

        Voices filled Juniper's ears once more and she sips from the cup Levi got her. "Thanks for the drink, by the way," Juniper says, after finishing off the last of the drink.

        "Tch."

      Juniper smiles and her eyes are drawn to another pair of eyes on her, Erwin. He slyly smiles into his cup and Juniper glares his way. Sure, she calls Erwin a friend, but right now she wants to call him an enemy. Why is he smiling like that? What does he know, that Juniper doesn't?

      That night, sleep welcomes Juniper with open arms.

author's note,
juniper is too sexy for this world!!!

battle of trost next chapter👍