Author's notes: As it is probably obvious seeing as I am neither Reki Kawahara or Hajime Isayama, I do not own Sword Art Online or Attack on Titan. Just wanted to get that out there. As for spoiler warnings, the plot diverges from the canon events place halfway between the events of episodes 10 and 11 of the SAO anime and the beginning of episode 17 of the AoT anime (both from the first seasons, as they both only have one at the time of writing.), though both seasons should be finished for optimal spoiler avoidance. Though I will be taking some things from the SAO universe that will not appear in anime form unless the show manages to make it to four seasons at their current rate, I will try my best to steer clear of any spoilers those involve. Anyway, please enjoy the story and reviews are much appreciated! I so far only have this first chapter down, please let me know if you think it's worth continuing!

Year: 850 KS (Kyojin Sekai)

This was it, thought Armin. They were really in the land of the titans now. He urged his horse on, keeping in formation with the rest of his squad. Despite his grim resolution to join the Scouting Regiment after the Battle of Trost with full firsthand experience of the consequences, Armin still felt a tingle of fear up his spine as he heard the ominous boom of the Kanesh District gate closing behind him. They were now separated from the farthest human-controlled wall and the thousands of people that counted on the scouts to bring the dawn of a day where none had to live in fear of being devoured. After one last, wistful gaze at the walls of the district and Wall Rose behind it, Armin turned back ahead, and lightly tugged at the reins so as to fall in line with the rest of the soldiers. The 57th Scouting Expedition beyond the walls had begun!

The dirt from the road spewed in his face as Armin wheeled his horse around. The animal obeyed his frantic will, galloping in the opposite direction to where they had been going. The sound of the earth shaking told Armin all he needed to know about what was behind him. Gritting his teeth, he steered the horse with his left hand and fumbled with his flare gun in his right. Though the devices, used to mark Titans, safe areas, and variants in the formation strategy employed by the scouts to navigate enemy territory with as few casualties as possible, had been taught in training, he had never had to actually fire one while mounted. C'mon, thought Armin, not ANOTHER piece of faulty equipment? From the sound of the giant footfalls, his pursuer was getting closer. Finally, the corresponding shell for a Titan sighting entered the chamber with a satisfying click, and the boy fired into the air. As the red plume ascended into the clear sky, Armin turned around for a brief moment, and stared into the face of hell.

The Titan was not the biggest he'd seen, only an 8-meter, but the fat creature was still unnaturally fast, and seemed to have only one thing on it's tiny mind: Armin Arlert soufflé. It was a dark blonde, much darker than Armin's own hair color, and like all Titans it's face looked as it it were in a perpetual state of being either too stretched or too scrunched. Armin hated them, hated them for denying humanity the world, hated them for eating his grandfather, hated them for eating his friends, and hated them for likely eating his parents. Hated them, and yet he was powerless to avenge them with his own hands. Though many a Titan had fallen because of his plan to retake Trost, when facing the creatures himself with blade in hand Armin could do nothing. This paralysis would have killed him if not for his best friend, Eren Jaeger, who had almost died himself because of it. Armin could never fully forgive himself for that. Even now, in whilst still in an abandoned city where the maneuvering gear could be used effectively, he could do nothing but run from his pursuer.

Even running seemed like not an option right now. The Titan raised its hand, and brought it down as if to pluck Armin right off his horse. The boy's eyes widened, and he pulled at the reins for the horse to swerve into another street. Armin had lost sight of the formation by now, but he could hear the clopping of the footfalls of hundreds of horses if only his heart stopped trying to burst from his chest out of terror. The Titan pulled onto the street right after him, pulling it's hand through the air as if homing in on the comparatively tiny form of the boy on the horse. The Titan's hand slowly descended upon him. No, thought Armin, not again. I will not freeze up like a good little snack anymore, you demon! He pulled his blades out of their sheathes, guiding the horse now with only his legs. But as the fingers of the Titan started to surround him, the panic flowed back in like a faucet. The creature grabbed him by his Scout cloak, and despite squirming mightily Armin could not shake free. As he swung his blades futilely in desperation, the Titan seemed to smile, lifting the dangling boy toward it's maw. Armin shut his eyes. He was finished. However, suddenly he heard a noise that gave him enough energy to yell: the high-pitched zip of a 3D maneuvering gear in use.

A quick sound of flesh being sliced right through by metal, and the Titan and it's hand parted ways. Armin realized he was still falling toward the monster's mouth, and fired his cables and gas, jetting away from the creature. The Titan closed it's jaws around where he had been a second ago, Armin noticed from his new perch on an abandoned store. Armin was one of the few humans who had been in a Titan's mouth before and lived to tell the tale. It was a horrifying experience, the feeling that out of all the ways to die you were going to be eaten alive. Something Armin never wanted to experience EVER again. A green-clad figure zipped through the street behind the Titan, blades out. Armin couldn't tell who his savior was, they were flying through the city so fast. They shot a cable to either side of the street to slow themselves as they reached their quarry, and with a x-shaped swipe of their blades cut deep into the back of the Titan's neck, their one and only weak point. The creature collapsed to the ground, it's slayer coming to a stop right in front of it.

Armin jetted himself down to the street. The other scout was cleaning his blades. Armin ran up to his savior, but he didn't have words for what had happened. Despite all he had been through, Armin had froze up. Again. He couldn't bear it to have one of the senior scouts see him paralyzed like that. The other scout lifted his hood to reveal..."Reiner!?" Armin exclaimed.

"You didn't expect it to be another member of the 104th out of the entire Expedition, did you Armin?" Reiner said, laughing. It was a good laugh, deep and true.

"N-no," Armin said, "Isn't your squad supposed to be far ahead of mine?"

"It was, but Jean misread one of the flares and we fell behind a bit earlier."

"That's good for me, I guess..." Armin chuckled nervously.

"Don't worry Armin, your secret 's safe with me." Reiner said knowingly. Of course he knew, thought Armin, he was there at Trost. That hell where Armin had watched his entire squad die...

Reiner spoke. "Still, we better find your horse before the formation leaves us. If we left you behind here, Eren would never let me here the end of it."

"Yeah, you're right." Armin whistled, and pretty soon his mount galloped back into view unharmed. Titans only deliberately targeted humans, after all. Reiner did the same, and together they rode back towards the formation.

After about 45 minutes, the Scouting Regiment had cleared the old city. The wilderness surrounding the Cadet Training Grounds had been Armin's only real encounter with a non-urban region in years, and the vast emptiness that greeted the made his eyes widen. Sure, they had come here 5 years earlier, fleeing the swarm of Titans that had poured through the breach in Wall Maria, but Armin had been far too terrified to do any sightseeing. "It's a shame" Jean "If it weren't for that damn Armored Titan, this place would probably have been used to help fix that food shortage a couple years ago. We wouldn't have had to launch that suicidal mass expedition to try and retake this." Reiner simply concentrated on steering his horse, looking grimly ahead. Too late, Jean realized his mistake. He took a little longer, and then finally said, "Sorry guys, I forgot-"

"That both Armin and I lost our homes in that? Yeah." Reiner finally said.

"H-hey, better that Jean's not with us in that, eh Reiner?" Armin said, trying to defuse the sudden tension between the two.

"Yeah." Reiner said, clearly indicating that this particular topic of discussion was closed as far as he was concerned. Armin nodded in agreement to the end of it, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Jean do so as well.

"There's another green flare." Jean said fifteen minutes later. Despite being close enough to the rest of the expedition to see their flares and avoid the marked Titans, Armin, Reiner, and Jean had yet to catch up with it. They turned their horses to the direction of the commander's new flare, still galloping through the abandoned countryside. There were fewer buildings here, Armin noticed just the occasional farmer's cottage. Most seemed decayed merely by the normal toll of unchecked nature. However, a few bore the grisly signs, such as a smashed-in roof or collapsed side, that it's inhabitants had not thought to leave until a Titan was already upon them. "I wonder why we're turning west so much. Isn't our destination pretty far to the east?" Jean asked.

"Look at all the open countryside." Armin said,"Do you see any way the maneuvering gear could be used at all here?"

"No, you're right, there's practically nothing large to grab onto. And without the use of the maneuvering gear.."

"..humans simply can't fight something as huge and resistant as a Titan." Reiner finished.

Armin nodded. "And the region we seem to be headed for is heavily forested, and runs down much of the way south to Shiganshina. So much of the trip will be in an area where we will be able to fight, because of the trees. It's a lot safer, and there will probably be less Titans along that route as well."

"Since when did you get all this, Armin?" Jean teased.

"Just read the maps they showed us back at headquarters, it was obvious which way someone like Commander Erwin would go."Armin shook his head. Jean had the roots of a good leader, but strategic thinking secured victory just as much as knowing how to rally the men.

"You're probably right. He doesn't want to risk the few troops the Scout Regiment gets on a experimental push like this. Hey, there's the formation!" Jean exclaimed with relief. Armin gazed and head and sure enough, the supply wagons of the Scouting Regiment Expedition came into view, the green cloaks of their guards fluttering in the wind. The group adjusted course to arrive with them. All of a sudden, multiple red flares shot out only 100 meters in front of them. The formation veered sharply to the opposite side of the route Armin had deduced earlier to avoid an apparent group of Titans.

They soon passed where the red flares had originated from earlier, a small forest too tightly packed for even half the formation and thus not a suitable traversal spot. Armin saw a few Titans, what looked to be an 8-meter and a 15-meter, through the trees. They didn't seem to have noticed the soldiers; Erwin's strategy was working. Even so, thought Armin, no plan works perfectly against such foes. How many of our comrades have no doubt been already devoured? As if confirming his worst fears, a gut-wrenching scream suddenly was heard from within the forest. But why, thought Armin. We had marked the area and the formation had avoided it. Why would someone go in there? Could they not have seen the flares? Armin suddenly became aware that his was the only horse still moving; he stopped and turned around. Jean was staring angrily at the forest, his blades out. Reiner had stopped behind him, watching Jean with concern. "Damn them. Why couldn't they just follow the flares!" Jean cried, reaching for his controls.

"Jean, no!" Armin cried, but the other soldier leapt off his horse and fired his cables into the first trees of the forest.

"Damn him and his notion of a leader's responsibilities." Reiner grumbled, and followed Jean. Fear beginning to well up inside of him again, Armin shot after them with his maneuvering gear.

Weaving through the trees this close in was dangerous, with the tall trunks missing them by inches as the trio headed toward the scream. Still, it was far better than trying to fight the Titans out in the open, on the ground. Why haven't they sent up any flares, Armin thought worriedly. If we hadn't heard that scream we wouldn't even have known someone was still in here. Could they all be dead already, that scream we heard earlier nothing but their final dying cry before they became a monster's meal? A tree passed within inches of him as he maneuvered through the forest, and Armin felt his respect for Jean grow, as the other skillfully manuvered through the forest at extreme speed, though no one in the 104th was as fast as Mikasa. Reiner was right there with him. Jean seemed to stop on a high branch, which Armin slung himself up to with a shot of the maneuvering gear and a gentle deceleration via the gas. "Why did we st-" Armin began to ask, but then he looked down. In front of their tree was a clearing and a horrifying scene.

In the clearing, there were two Titans, a 15-meter and an 8-meter, like Armin had seen before. But their quarry was what puzzled and horrified Armin. 5 men, not much older than Jean or Armin, were standing in the clearing in a semicircle, facing the Titans. Armin could tell that they were by no means part of the Scouting Regiment. What they were wearing didn't conform to ANY of the military branches, at least none that Armin knew of. They had no maneuvering gear, so they couldn't be in the military. They didn't wear light brown shirts of the military, or any kind of clothes Armin was used to seeing. Instead, they seemed to wear black robes under some sort of scaly plating. All of the men's plating was colored red, though one seemed to have his colored that way because of bloodstains instead of paint. Is that...armor? Armin wondered He had only seen humans wearing armor in his grandfather's book about the outside world. Apparently, when human militaries used to fight each other before the Titans came, some soldiers would wear it, as it protected against things like swords. And instead of the Titan-slaying pairing swords that Armin, Jean, and Reiner wielded, the 5 guys in armor seemed to wield an assortment of ancient weapons, from long straight swords, to what looked like pole weapons Armin remembered were called spears. In the center of the group, a man in his early twenties with dark red hair and a bright red headband stood, holding an elegant, wickedly-sharp looking curved sword. From the way he held himself, and watched the others, it was obvious he was their leader.

Another one of the armored fighters yelled, "K-k-Klein!" The leader turned in the speaker's direction. So your name is Klein, thought Armin. "W-what are we going to do?! Nothing works!" The original speaker yelled.

"They don't know about the weak spot?!" Reiner said in shock.

"Quiet!" Armin whispered, "The Titans haven't noticed us yet. If they hear you, we lose the element of surprise."

"But..."

"He's right." Jean said, though the look on his face told Armin he hated it as well. "Our best chance for helping these guys is if the Titans don't see us coming."

Meanwhile, the leader, Klein, responded to the other of his men. "I messaged Kirito and the others for backup, but I don't know how we're supposed to kill one of these things. They just...regenerate." He was trembling with fear. "And when they killed Dale..."

"There was blood...everywhere. He was screaming in agony, man! What the hell is going on!?" Shouted one.

"We aren't supposed to die like this!" Another said, his spear wobbling in his hands, "Damn you Kayaba, we aren't supposed to die like this!"

"Issin, Kunimittz, calm down!" Klein yelled. "If we don't pull it together we're all dead! Now get in a melee boss defensive formation, so we can slash it's hand if one of those damn things tries to grab us again!" Three of Klein's men nodded and seemed to be getting into some sort of hedgehog formation, but the last did not. This one's armor, thought Armin, it's natural color isn't red. He's drenched in blood. The Titans began striding towards the group, as the blood-soaked one broke formation. Please, Armin thought, just stay in the group. The Titans are nearly vulnerable to us. Indeed, the monsters had almost completely turned their backs on where Jean, Reiner, and Armin were hiding, exposing their weak spot. Armin's plan, which he had discussed with the others while Klein was talking to his men, was nearly in place. These 5 mysterious men, who had obviously never seen a Titan before, would be safe. Then the blood-soaked one spoke. "Calm down? CALM DOWN!? That big one just ate Dale! I'm going to kill it!" He raised his sword and shield and charged the 15-meter Titan.

"Harry, no!" Klein yelled. Despite his best efforts, the one called Harry was soon grabbed by the 15-meter, terror and anger escaping incoherently from his lips. "Damnit, you're going to get us ALL killed!" He gripped his sword firmly, and charged the Titan. The behemoth made swipes at Klein with it's free hand, but he skillfully dodged all of them. Meanwhile, the rest of his men joined in. Klein leapt up, sword raised above his head, and Armin's eyes widened. The sword...was glowing. With one stroke, he severed the hand of the Titan holding Harry. "Did you see that..." Armin whispered. Everything about these guys was so strange, it had transfixed him.

"No time for that!" Jean yelled, "The Titans are distracted, we must strike now!" He and Reiner executed the plan, Reiner going for the 15-meter and Jean the 8-meter. "Armin, help those guys on the ground." His comrade's voice drew Armin out of his mind and back to the dangerous reality at hand. He shot his cables into the trees on the other side of the clearing, and maneuvered to the ground right behind Klein. "What...?" The red-haired man exclaimed as Armin landed. The 15-meter fell with a satisfying thud, and Reiner rolled onto the ground next to Armin. However, screaming turned Klein's attention along with that of the Scouts, to the 8-meter Titan. Jean had missed his first strike and was now jetting away from the angry creature. But what horrified Armin was what was in the Titan's mouth: Somehow, it had gotten one of the armored warriors half inside it's maw, his lower body hanging out of it. "No...Issin..." Klein said. He was paralyzed, shaken.

"God damn you! I won't let you eat him!" Jean roared, and leapt at the Titan's nape. His blades sunk into their target, taking the horrible giant's life...right as the Titan bit down on Issin's chest. There was massive spray of blood from both the creature's nape and mouth, as the now-lifeless legs of Issin fell to the ground. Klein dropped to his knees, leaning heavily on his curved sword, shaking at what had become of his comrade.

As they finally rested on the ground, the bodies of both the 8-meter Titan and Issin shattered. Where there had once been flesh was now a groups of floating blue crystals. "What...the hell..." Reiner said slowly.

Tears welling in his eyes, Klein dragged himself to his feet. "What do you mean, what the hell! That's the way you're supposed to die in SAO, painlessly shattering into a million polygons, not being bitten in half!"

"You're not soldiers, so you must be some kind of crazy civilians! You know you're not supposed to go beyond the walls, the Titans will eat you for sure like what just nearly happened to all of you!" Jean exclaimed, his voice rising.

"What walls? And Titans... That's what those damn THINGS are called, isn't it?! They aren't like any monster I've seen in SAO!"

They have never heard of Titans... Armin thought, as a startling comrehension began to dawn. Slowly, he spoke: "What is this...SAO?" The surviving members of Klein's group's wide, terrified eyes got even wider. One of them, Harry, opened his mouth to speak, but the words were drowned out by a sudden shrill sound emanating from within a corner of the clearing. It was accompanied by a blindingly bright light. Armin shielded his eyes.

When it faded substantially, he uncovered his eyes. And gasped. It was as if the air around that clearing corner were made of water, and emerging from it were several figures. They charged through, weapons raised, only halting when they saw the destruction and blood that remained from the battle with the two Titans. The first appeared to be a middle-aged man with a grey ponytail, completely covered in red plate armor completely different from that of the men Armin, Jean and Reiner had saved. He was armed with a massive one-handed sword and a huge white shield adorned with a stylized red cross. Despite his age his face bespoke that he felt and fought like a much younger man. He was flanked by about 5 men who appeared to be in their twenties and one in his early thirties, all armed with either long swords and shields or massive, impressive-looking two-handed swords. They were armored similar to the first man, except for the fact that their armor's color scheme was a reversal of that of the first's shield.

Shortly after them came two others. One was a dark-haired boy, who looked to be the same age as the members of the 104th, who wore an elaborate dark coat with a shoulder strap running across the chest. He had two swords sheathed on his back, both elaborate blades, one black, one blue. When he saw the two pairing blades in Jean and Reiner's hands, his eyes widened, and he looked almost offended. Close behind him was a girl about the same age of stunning beauty, with long, rich brown hair and a tender face that made a part of Armin just want to melt into it despite never having met her before. She wore similar armor to the 5 men guarding the man in red, modified to fit her lithe form and keep her light on her feet. Her weapon, despite being like no sword Armin had ever seen in either life or book, looked like just the kind of single-sword weapon for such a nimble fighter: a long, razor-sharp blue needle with a magnificent circular hilt.

"What happened here, Klein?" The black-haired boy spoke.

Klein turned to face the newcomers, tears still in his eyes. "Kirito," He breathed, "they're dead."

"The non-present Fuurinkazan members...Dale and Issin?!" The black-haired boy looked shocked.

"Oh they're here, alright..." Klein said, doing a sad, little laugh of despair, indicating with his arms the blood that blanketed the forest floor.

"My God..." Said the girl. The black-haired boy moved to comfort her, whilst clenching his own hands into fists of silent rage.

"You!" Someone yelled behind him, and Armin turned to see that the grey-haired man in red had lowered his sword right at Jean's throat. A pair of the man's white-cloaked guards had their swords pointed at his own neck, and two more had done the same to Reiner. "You dare call ME a civilian?!"

"But what are you doing beyond Wall Rose like this? You're not part of the Scouting Regiment..."

"Jean, be quiet!" Armin yelled. "This is no time to be questioning the man holding you at swordpoint."

The grey-haired man seemed to smile at this, "Good, I knew at least one of you must be smart. Now, I have a few questions about what's going on here."

"While I would be happy to answer any questions from a fellow human," said Armin, "I must ask one of my own: who are you people?"

"I am Commander Heathcliff, leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath!" The grey-haired man replied. "These are my knights with me, some of whom are personal friends of Klein here. When Klein requested urgent aid, I decided to join them in trying to help him. I'm glad I did. Now," a subtle element of malice drifting into Heathcliff 's voice, "just who and what are YOU?"