The walls had fallen.
Their mission was finally completed. Humankind was in disarray and was being devoured by the titans.
Walls that had kept the humans protected for over one hundred years were no more thanks to his and his village's efforts. Those who lived in the walls believed that their lives were saved, shielded by the walls from emptiness and monsters. But he knew that they were nothing more than pigs kept in a pen.
For some reason, he felt sadness deep in his heart as he saw the blood everywhere, the blood on his hands. It wasn't that he didn't find them disgusting or that he pitied them. He despised all who lived in the walls. They were selfish corrupt beings that only thought of themselves.
Or so he had been told.
His entire life he was raised to believe that the humans within the walls were weak, only thinking to save their own skin. His time in the military had proved that to be, for the most part, true. The majority of humans were weak, not only in their physical ability but also in their intelligence and most disturbingly in their will. In the face of danger even the most courageous of them became a coward. Fear overpowered them.
Contrary to what he had been taught by his village, there were humans who broke the rules. There were humans who cared deeply about the wellbeing of humankind as a whole more than themselves. There were also humans who were strong when faced with death. There were humans who would give up everything to protect those they loved. Most astoundingly, humans were complex, sentient beings, and he had come to care for many of them throughout his time.
Reiner Braun viewed his comrades as friends and it could even be argued that he loved them and would give his life to protect them. He was their guardian angel, their big brother of sorts, but he knew they all hated him now. He deserved their hatred. It was expected, but their anger did not mean an end to his admiration for those he deemed worthy. So when he heard a familiar yelp its no shock that he sought its source. Amidst the chaos and hoards of titans flowing through the hole he had created in wall Sina, he saw an exception to humanities rules.
He saw someone who, though he was physically not the strongest, he was incredibly intelligent and was not afraid to give his life for those who were precious to him. Over the years Reiner had seen this boy grow stronger and stronger with every training session, with every battle, with every death. He was one of the humans who Reiner found to be the most complex, the most worthy, and he was in the hand of a titan.
His protective reflexes took over. He reverted back to human form and sped to the titan who was about to devour his friend. He latched onto a building to the titans left and severed the tendons in his wrist. As quickly as he reached that wall he latched onto the one across from it and killed the creature with one fell swoop.
A blonde, limp body fell in the hand of the titan, and Reiner rushed to catch it before it hit the ground. He saw Annie and Bertolt retreating over the walls and he knew that he had to leave. If the man he was holding hadn't been knocked unconscious he would have left him there, but leaving him like this would be sentencing him to death and Reiner could not do that, not to him.
It pained him that he couldn't protect all of his friends. They may not put their trust in him anymore or understand that he did not enjoy seeing them die, but unlike them he knew it was necessary. The lives they were leading in the walls could hardly be called lives, but he still wanted to protect them. He wasn't as strong as they thought, and he couldn't save them all. This one life would be enough.
Reiner looked down at the body in his arms and the pain in his heart surged with guilt. The pain this boy had endured was largely due to his actions. He pushed the guilt from his head, and thought of how this boy would be living in the "peace" of the walls. The titans gave those who were capable of handling it their humanity.
There was only one place he had a chance be safe. Reiner would endure his father's scolding and beating for bringing someone from the walls there. He would do it knowing that he had done what was right.
Reiner would take him to the place he had always wanted to. He would take Armin home.