Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Matthew ran towards Gilbert's group, his team right behind him. He kept to the ground for now not wanting to waste any gas. He caught Armin's eye as he flew past one of the smaller titans. The younger blond pointed to its eyes. Canada nodded understanding what Armin wanted. He ran faster and shot his hooks into the small giant's eyes.

Armin slashed its neck and Canada slid between its legs. He looked up to see one of the bigger titans had its back to him. He jumped into the air and hooked into the nape. The Canadian reeled quickly towards it and cut easily into its nape. He unhooked and jumped off the titan as it’s started to fall. He landed in between two of the other titans.

One of the titans looked down at him and went to grab him. Matthew rolled out of the way under the titans hand and through its legs. He looked up to see Eren slashing through the nape and flipping backwards off of it.

The Canadian scaled the side of the rock wall to hopefully get a better angle on the titans. While he was up there he could see only two more titans walking up the path adding to the three that were still there.

"I should go titan!" Eren yelled from the ground looking up.

"No!" Mikasa hissed landing next to him. "We've got this under control. Look how many we've killed without an injury, your titan isn't needed right now."

Canada stopped listening to their conversation knowing that Mikasa could take care of Eren. Krista was running around one of the titan’s feet. She was completely out of blades. The ugly giant reached down and grabbed her. She wriggled and squirmed trying to get out of its grasp. No one else was close enough to help her.

The blond jumped off the cliff and hooked into the side of the titans head. The ugly giant paused to look at Krista for a second. It wasn't distracted at all by the hook in its head. Matthew reeled in as quickly as possible and slashed at the titan’s eyes. It moaned and dropped Krista. The ugly giant snapped at the older scout and caught his cape between its teeth.

Matthew reacted quickly. He let go of his swords and undid his cape. He dropped; unable to land correctly, he fell awkwardly on a bolder. The nation felt cracking in his ribs and let out a strangled cry. His ribs burned and it was painful to breathe.

The Canadian was oblivious to the titan behind him until it stepped forward. The footsteps sent painful vibrations through him. Canada looked over his shoulder to see the titan’s huge foot hovering over him. His eyes widened and he quickly rolled away as it came down.

Matthew rolled shakily to his feet and looked up to see Gilbert finish off the titan. The albino hopped off the body and ran over to him.

"Are jou okay?" Prussia asked panicked, looking the Canadian over. The blond had a pained expression on his face and an arm across his chest.

"Just a couple of broken ribs and maybe collar bone." Canada said tenderly hugging his chest.

"Punctured lung?" The albino asked worriedly.

"Don't think so. It doesn't feel like it." Matthew said taking a deep breath. It still hurt to breathe, but he didn't feel out of breath.

"Thank gott." Gilbert said sighing in relief. He knew that the blond would heal quickly. Prussia stood on his tippy toes and kissed Canada's cheek, Matthew smiled. It wasn't often they showed affection in public.

The younger nation looked around remembering the situation they were in. Eren had just finished off the last titan and the other scouts were around the steaming corpses of the ugly giants. Krista came running over after spotting the older scouts.

"Matthew! Thanks so much for saving me!" She said. "I saw the titan bite your cape, are you okay?"

Canada nodded and sheathed his swords. "I'm fine. Just a few broken or cracked ribs."

"'Just a few broken or cracked ribs,' that's pretty serious." Armin said furrowing his eyebrows.

"Nations heal quicker." Matthew said. "I'll be fully healed in a day or two."

"Does it still hurt?" Sasha asked.

"Does it ever." Matthew grumbled. Then he said louder, "We need to keep moving before more titans come and it gets dark."

The scouts didn't ask any more questions. They could tell that Matthew wasn't in the mood to answer anything else. Prussia went over and grabbed Matthew's cape and handed it to the blond. It was ripped at the ends, but the Canadian still clipped it on.

Everybody whistled and called for their horses. Canada was relieved that Spitfire came right away. He didn't need to put too much strain on his ribs. Jean and Connie's horses came seconds after and everyone else's weren't too far behind.

Gilbert checked over everyone's equipment to make sure nothing was missing before mounting Mondi. "Ve need to be very careful. This cliff is just vide enough for us to pass. It is also very steep." The 104's listened carefully and nodded.

The scouts started down the pass. Gilbert was leading and Matthew was bringing up the back. Canada held his chest as Spitfire moved forward. It burned with sharp pain at every step, but he knew that it was healing.