The sun shined bright above the wall, and the morning air was crisp and cool. This would be the 87th voyage beyond the wall, with only our 3D MG and the smoke rounds to communicate with each other. I shifted on my horse, ready for the wall gate to open. I looked behind me at the anxious men and women, taking in their facial expressions. Some looked terrified, while others just looked sad. I looked back in front of me as the gate started to open. A gust of outside air blasted us in the face, and this was our sign to go. I kicked my horse in the ribs with my heel, and we were off.

We rode for a while, in one big group before Commander Erwin yelled, "Get into formations!" and then everyone started drifting to the right and left into the stratgeical horseshoe formation we were so acoustomed to. Of course, I stayed in the middle; I was stuck babysitting Eren again with Hanji and Erwin. "Levi, fall to the back."

"Yes, sir." I slowed down my horse, and let Hanji and Eren advance in front of me.

"I'm so excited!" Hanji screeched, "I wonder what type of titans we will see!"

The time started to slowly crawl forward, without any titan appearing, and no smoke rounds fired. My mind reeled with dullness, and Eren looked like he was going to all asleep riding his horse. As we entered a dense forest, my eyes started to follow the passing by trees and tall weeds. I listened to the sound of the air rustling the leaves, and the sound of the horses hooves on the dirt ground. Soon, though, another sound broke into my range of hearing.

It was faint rumbling sound, like heavy footsteps. I looked ahead, and saw Erwin looking the same way as the sound. He slowly turned his head back to look at me. I shook my head and mouthed, "Wait." Commander Erwin just gave a faint nod, and turned his head forward again.

I kept myself foccused on the sound, listening to it get closer and closer. A couple minutes later, the trees started to shake with the force of the footsteps. This titan knows where we are, and he's coming. Eren turned his head back and looked at me, "Heichou, that sound-"

I nodded, "We know." I kicked my horse, passing Levi and Hanji, and fell next to Erwin, "Your orders?"

"Once we see the titan, we will leave the horses and advance to the trees where we will surprise it and take it down" He looked at me for approval, so I nodded and fell back again.

The sound grew louder, and louder. The trees started to shake back and forth with force. I looked the my left, and saw it break through some trees about 20 meters away, "Captain!" I shouted.

"To the trees!" Erwin left his horse, and used his 3D MG to graple to a tall tree where he hid. Eren, Hanji, and I followed, seeking refuge behind the leaves.

The titan stopped in front of the tree where we were hiding and looked at our horses. I crouched down with his face sideways and stared at the animals. The titan had skin, but it barely had anything to cover. The titan had no fat or muscle what-so-ever, I could easily see the outline of every bone in it's body.

Suddenly, the titan craned it's neck and stared up the tree where we were hiding. It jumped onto the trunk and dug his fingers and toes into the bark. He let out a screech, and started to climb the tree; and fast. I looked over to find Eren looking at me, his eyes wide in horror. His hand came up as if he was going to bite it. I grabbed his wrist and shook my head.

"We need to get to another tree." Erwin said, a hint of panic in his voice. There was something diffrent about this titan; it seemed intelligent.

Erwin grapled into the air, and to another, bigger tree. Eren followed the Commander, Hanji followed Eren, and I took up the back. Suddenly, though, Hanji wasn't in front of me anymore. I looked down, and the titan had her in his hand. The blood drained from my face, and my stomach sank. We landed on the other tree, and without thinking, I sailed right back into the air again, aiming for the titan. I heard Erwin yell after me, but at the time I didn't care.

I flew behind him, steading myself with the MG. I brought out my sword, ready to slit the back of the titan's neck. My heart skipped a beat when the titan brought his hand up, and I suddenly found myself hurtling towards a tree. I felt intense agony, and then everything was black.