A refreshing breeze flowed through the tall trees, cooling down the soldiers who were protecting the entrance from titans. Armin stood on one of the large branches, and glanced around searching for Mikasa. "Hey Armin! Pay attention." Jean yelled out.

As he turned to face the sandy haired teen, a small rumble began to erupt from the interior of the forest, and was soon followed by the explosive sounds of cannons. "What the hell was that?" Jean exclaimed.

With skillful swiftness, Mikasa flew by on her 3D gear and lightly landed on a branch near the two of them. "There you are Mikasa, I was a wondering where you were." She ran her fingers through her jet black hair, and kept her eyes fixated on the dark interior of the forest.

"I'm going to check out what's going on." Her monotone voice stated as she prepared to jump from the branch. Jean's hand grabbed onto her shoulder and he held her back. She glared into his fiery hazel eyes and shook him off.

"Mikasa, please don't do this." Armin tried to reason.

As the three of them tried to agree, another unexpected sound resonated from the inside. It was a blood curdling screech that was unlike anything the three had ever heard before.

"Wwhat was that?" Armin whispered

Mikasa glanced to Armin as she stood on the edge. Her muscles tensed as Jean tried once again to hold her back, the short blond noticed a small hint of sadness in her deep brown eyes, and he knew that she was regretting what she was about to do. Before he could say anything she jumped off the branch and launched her gear.

"Mikasa!" Both males yelled out.

Jean immediately leaped after her and their squad leader barked out after them ordering for them to return to their post, but as the commotion grew another small rumbling rose from the fields in front of them. Armin's eyes widened as he realized what had happened and launched himself off and chased after his two comrades.

Deep within the confines of the dark green foliage, Eren and the remaining members of the squad watched as a hoard of titans rushed through the forest and surrounded the trapped body of the female titan. The sound of the restraints snapping resembled that of string breaking from too much strain, as the titans broke them one by one. As she was released from her confines, the hoard scrambled to devour a piece of the now defenseless female. The shocked faces of the soldiers told Eren that they had failed, but he didn't want to believe it.

He looked around and noticed all of the disheartened faces of the soldiers as Commander Erwin ordered for all of the squads to retreat. It was a flurry of green capes flying through the air as they all launched through the air and headed back towards Wall Rose.

"Levi come with me." Erwin stated. The raven haired captain went to his second in command, Eld Jinn, and told him to keep the squad in the rear and watch over Eren. The brunette's teal eyes watched as his captain followed after the blond commander.

"There's no way that she would let herself be killed like that." Eren stated out loud as their horses galloped over the debris. Petra's hazel hair ruffled around as the wind rushed through it. She turned her head to the side and sighed "There is no evidence supporting that she survived and if the captain said we have to leave than we have to listen to his orders." He tried to hide his disappointment and kept his faith in the decisions of his friends.

"Don't worry too much Eren, it wasn't your fault." She smiled warmly at him.

Their small group of five rode through the forest trail, but felt that something was off about the whole thing. Petra thought about what Eren had said. If she didn't die than she must be hiding among us, suddenly a swift figure flew past them and Petra yelled out "Run Eren!"

A blinding bolt of lightning lit up the forest and Squad Levi stopped and were face to face with the Female Titan.

"Eren get out of here!" Petra continued to yell out.

He wanted to protest but looking into her caramel eyes he couldn't afford to lose their trust at a time like this. He nodded in reluctant compliance and moved forward. He looked behind and admired their teamwork and efficiency; there was a reason why they were known as one of the greatest teams among the survey corps. They blinded the titan with ease and headed for the nape of the neck. Eren was certain they had the upper hand to win but in less than 30 seconds she regenerated her left eye.

What! That's impossible. Eld thought, then the female grabbed Petra out of midair and the sound of her spine breaking resonated through the trees. With one swift movement the creature threw the body down and blood splattered onto the nearby plants.

"No!" Eren screamed. The rest of the group was decimated easily as if they were insects to the giant humanoid woman.

I was wrong. I should have transformed. I could have stopped this. Tears filled his eyes as he looked at his fallen friends and he glared at the vile creature that had killed them. With rage consuming his body he lifted up his hand tore the skin with his teeth. As his warm, crimson blood trickled down the side of his mouth and his hands he felt his primal instincts overtake him.