Behind the cloaked man stood a huge, hungry-looking titan. Had he summoned it with just the snap of his fingers? In all of his time in the Corps, Sojin had never seen anything like that — and he had seen a lot of crazy abilities. Although he would normally argue to stay and fight, Jean's orders to retreat seemed to make sense this time. With both the titan and the absurdly quick assassin, the Survey Corps duo stood little chance at winning the battle. Just as the titan began to run towards the pair, Sojin turned to the wall, angling his maneuver gear upwards and let loose. The hookshots latched into the wall about thirty feet up and lifted the boy into the air just as the titan reached out for him. Sojin could feel the titan's giant finger graze his boot as he ascended — a narrow miss.
"Get to the top of the wall!" ordered Jean, who had also begun to climb the gigantic barrier. Sojin nodded, shooting his gear into an even higher spot on the wall and ascending further. This seemed to put the boy out of the reach of the titan, allowing him to take a quick breath. Gazing down, Sojin was not surprised to see that the cloaked man was no longer there. The younger boy just hoped that the enemy was not equipped with 3D maneuver gear. Unable to catch sight of the enemy, he narrowed his gaze as something caught his eye. Seth's belt! Attached to the man's belt were three flare shots. This would be a risky move, but without some backup, the duo would probably be dead anyway.
"Jean, keep going!" Sojin exclaimed as he unlatched his gear from the wall, falling nearly to the bottom before reshooting it and landing softly. The titan, who had previously turned its attention to Jean, finally noticed that it now had fresh prey on solid ground. Sojin broke into a dash for the dead man as the titan began to walk his way, its steps quaking the earth. Finally approaching Seth's body, Sojin knelt down, guilt for taking his deceased partner's equipment overwhelming him. Still, knowing he had no choice he steeled himself and quickly searched through the flares. Ah, purple! The emergency signal. As he worked to unhinge it from Seth's belt, he glanced over his shoulder to see how far back the titan was. Surprisingly close was his answer. The titan seemed to have gained more speed at the prospect of having something to eat. With one final tug, the flare gun finally came free. Sojin jumped over his comrade's corpse and backed away from the titan a bit more. The large creature suddenly came to a pause, looking down at the ground in front of it. The medic realized that it had just now spotted Seth's corpse — a free meal. As it bent down and picked the body up by one leg, Sojin considered firing the flare into its face in order to save his comrade's body, but decided against it. They definitely needed backup in this situation. Just as the boy lifted the flare gun and fired off a purple shot, the titan swallowed Seth whole. Through the illumination from the shot, Sojin tried to peer behind the titan and see if Jean was still climbing the wall or where he had gone, but couldn't make out his friends figure anywhere. Had he made it up the wall already?
Sojin shifted his thoughts back to the problem at hand. The titan, seemingly unsatisfied by its recent meal, had begun to move towards the medic once again. The twenty-year-old turned towards the wall and fired his maneuver gear, planning to simply get out of range of the titan. The shot made connection with the wall, beginning to pull Sojin up. However, the titan had grabbed the hookshot line, throwing the boy's ascent off course. The boy had seen this too many times in battle. A titan would grab a person's maneuver gear line, then simply pluck them up and drop them down their gullet. Sojin hesitated for a moment but knew he had only one option. The boy whipped out one of his swords and sliced down on the leather strap of the maneuver gear near his leg. The strap snapped instantly, freeing the boy from his equipment and sending him falling a few feet to the ground with a thud. The titan, seemingly unaware that its victim had escaped, opened its mouth wide and dropped the empty 3D gear in. This time, Sojin hadn't stayed to watch, dashing away from the titan at full speed.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, knowing that even a walking titan was faster than a sprinting human. Moments later, the earth shattering footsteps began once more. The boy continued to run, but a minute later, the titan had all but caught up. Wheeling around and whipping out his other sword, he turned to face the giant. There was no way he could win a battle against the titan — he was unable to reach its neck — but he could at least attempt to stall. As the titan slowly reached out for him, the boy sidestepped to his right, slashing up at the titan's fingers with all his might. Although he only managed to sever the tips, it was enough to evade the titan's grasp. Taking a deep breath, he charged forward in an attempt to get through the titan's legs and behind the creature. The large creature, distracted by its severed fingertips, reacted slowly allowing for the boy to swing one of his swords into its achilles heel. Sojin was dismayed when the creature didn't fall. Was his swing too weak? Before he could pull the blade out and try again, the titan lifted its foot, stomping down far too close for comfort. Sojin ditched his blade, running back towards the spot where Seth's body had once laid. What was taking the backup so long?! At least ten minutes had passed — the fact that the boy was still alive was quite impressive.
However, now with only a single sword and no maneuver gear, it seemed Sojin's luck had run out. As the titan reached out to grab him yet again, the boy attempted another sidestep. This time, though, he was less successful. The giant made contact with Sojin's forearm, latching onto it with surprising accuracy. There was a momentary pause as both the medic and the creature realized he had been caught. The titan, now happy — if titans could be happy — lifted its prey into the air. Sojin gazed around in panic for anyone that could help him as he dangled by his arm. Taking his free arm and sword he plunged it into the creature's finger, but once again the strike was too weak. As he released the sword, he realized he should have just cut his own arm off. Too late now.
Just as the creature opened its mouth to drop the boy in, a liquid exploded from the titan's eye. The giant roared in pain, dropping its prey to cover its apparently wounded eye. Unfortunately for Sojin, he had been dropped from about fifteen feet, and the landing was not too padded. The medic landed with a thud, pain shooting through his left leg. As he looked up to see what had injured the titan, he was shocked at who he saw. Christa?! The blonde girl had seemingly hookshotted the titan's eye and lifted herself to its nape, an extremely risky move. Although he didn't know many of the famed "top 10" students very well, Christa was one he had actually befriended almost immediately upon joining the army. At that time, the blonde girl had been a pacifist, so quiet that many never even knew she was there. However, by the end of the war, she had become just as adept at titan slaying as everyone else. Fortunately, her sweet demeanor had never disappeared. Sojin watched as she lifted her sword and effortlessly slashed through the titan's neck, instantly dispatching of it and lightly jumping from its shoulder right before it hit the ground.
"Christa?! They sent you to the emergency zone?" Sojin asked, still slightly in shock. The girl approached, tilting her head to the side.
"Is it that surprising?" she asked, kneeling by the boy's side. Sojin shook his head.
"No, no! It's just…you'll always be an innocent little kid in my mind," the boy replied, smiling at the blonde. She laughed a bit before her face turned serious again.
"Are you hurt?" she questioned, patting the boy down for injuries.
"No! My ankle got messed up from the fall, though," he stated, trying to pull himself to his feet but failing. Christa stared at the boy's leg in concern.
"I don't think I can carry you back…but Eren should be here soon," informed the blonde. "I'll just defend you until he arrives."
Sojin wanted to hug the girl, but couldn't rise from his position. Her status as "angel of the Corps" was definitely true. He was glad to have her as one of his closest friends. The thought of friends suddenly reminded Sojin.
"Christa! Where's Jean?!" he asked, looking around in panic. The girl placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"Don't worry, Sojin! He made it to the top of the wall where we found him. From what I saw, he was sliced up a bit, but should be healed rather soon!" she replied, smiling at her friend.
"Oh, and he's the one who told me to come get you!" she added, sheathing her swords and taking a seat on the ground. "Well, now we'll just have to wait for Eren!"
