And I finally finished this chapter Took me some time, I can tell you this much.
I hope you guys enjoy, sorry its so damn long!
~Kit
As soon as Mikasa had clapped eyes on Eren was he then swiftly yanked away by Reiner. As Eren was held up she could see that there remained only a few wisps of steam rising from his now regenerated limbs, but they have been firmly bound together.
Mikasa feels a stab of joy, he is still fighting and there is no other reason for them to bind him so tightly. She readies herself to launch off of the horse, her one hand holding the reins while the other moves to clasp the handgrip, her hand grasping the trigger preparing to propel the grapple hooks.
Bertholdt says something to the group as Reiner straps him onto his back. With a look of alarm Historia looks towards them, her eyes darting to the friends that had come to help.
"They are going to run!" Armin cries out. "Quickly, let's go!"
Mikasa urges her horse forward, they cannot be more than fifty feet away and the distance is closing fast. Eren has seen the approaching group and has begun fighting again. His arms straining at the binding around them and he is trying to kick his legs free. Bertholdt is swaying with the motion of Eren's kicks and pulls; he turns to yell something at Reiner.
Reiner squares his jaw and raises his hand to his mouth.
"He's turning! We are too late!" Someone cries off to her left.
"Keep up the attack! Nobody dare slow down! You all have your orders!" Commander Irvin voice replies. "We cut down those that stand in our way!"
There is an explosion of steam and the vague shape of the armoured titan can be seen. Ymir leaps from the branch and attaches herself to its shoulder. Bertholdt takes one, fearful look back at them and fires a hook into the other shoulder and swings down as soon as he is attached Reiner begins to run.
"The armoured titan is slow; we can catch him as soon as we are free of these trees!" Armin shouts against the wind. "Mikasa I think we can still use the weak points that we used before. Cut the back of his knees so that he falls!"
"Good plan Armin." She responds as she restores her hand back to the reins. Mikasa leans forward in the saddle trying to go as fast as possible. She wants to finish what she started when she failed to kill Reiner and Bertholdt, she wants her revenge, but most of all she wants her brother back.
The edge of the trees is approaching and she can see Reiner as he moves with a lumbering run. She can see no other movement in the line to the left and right of them. The edge of the trees is nearly upon her.
All at once Mikasa bursts out of the trees and her eyes are firmly sighted upon Reiner who is now 500 feet in front of them. Her focus is singularly on getting to them and she can still see Eren fighting at his bonds his eyes not leaving the group of them. Bertholdt looks as though he is taking strain, his mouth is twisting in the effort to hold on and keep Eren in check.
Without warning there is a shrill scream to her right. One of the squadron has been lifted off of her horse and is held by a 10m titan, a gentle smile of its face as it studies the victim it has in its grip. Behind it another 10m class is approaching at a slow run, it too has a pacified smile on its face and it does not stop to pick up a victim but instead leans in to charge through the formation.
The formation scatters as the titan picks up its pace as it charges down the line. Two Deviant class titans? Are they hunting together? She whips her head around as she urges her horse out of the way, to the titan that had grabbed the soldier off of her horse. The soldier is now limp in its hand, and it is shaking it to see if it still lives. When the soldier fails to move, the titan casts her away and looks for another, the soldier's body lands with a hard thump, her limbs bending at impossible angles. No, just a pair of Deviants, it's weird that they are grouping together like this.
Quicker than she had thought possible, the titan has grabbed another one and Mikasa can hear his plaintive cries as he squirms in the titans grip. The second titan has now turned around and is preparing to charge once again. Before it charges it takes the time to apprise each of them and Mikasa shudders as its eyes pass over her. Looking around she notices that Armin is no longer next to her; in fact she cannot remember where he went after the first charge. In the confusion we must have been separated, Armin where are you? She looks again towards Reiner's retreating form; he must now be almost a mile away. We are going to lose them! Releasing a strange cry the second titan charges again, aiming to plough through the largest cluster of soldiers and Mikasa has to gallop out of the way. When it reaches the still titan it stops behind it to look back at them, that placid smile still on its face.
Abruptly a red flare is released, it is the commanders flare and for a few, precious seconds all attention is on him.
"To those of you that can escape the next titan run, go! Those of us who remain will finish these titans off and then join you. My men are to stay and fight." Commander Irvin's voice is strong as it carries to all of them.
There are several cries of "Yes sir!" from the commander's men and they quickly group into a formation around him. Mikasa looks again at Reiner, he has slowed down but has still made some distance from them, and she can no longer make out Eren at all. She hears the thud of horse's hooves and turns her head to see Armin approaching her, his eyes are fixated on Reiner.
"You ready to go after them?" He asks.
"I was ready when we left the wall." Mikasa replies.
The charging titan cries again runs at the group again. Mikasa urges her horse forward after Reiner and the group. There is a scream as the charging titan finally manages to crush a soldier and his horse underfoot. Looking back, she can see that Commander Irvin and his men have gone after the seated titan and the charging titan has turned around to see where to charge next.
There is only one horse that is following the two of them and it is with a hard thud of her heart when she realises it is Jean. His face is stern and his shoulders are rigidly squared, but when there is another scream from a dying man behind him, he flinches.
Reiner is now over a mile in front of them and half cloaked in the approaching gloom. It seems as though he is making for the next cluster of trees around a mile in front of him. It is the final cluster in the area and the next line of trees is easily ten miles away.
"This is our chance Armin! Let's move."
This time is it Armin who nods his head and digs his heels into his horse's sides. Mikasa quickly follows and they launch into a gallop. It does not take them long to start gaining ground. In five minutes they have made up a half mile and Reiner is moving ever slower as he approaches the trees. They are exhausted. With no food for two days, having to manage Eren and evade us must have taken its toll. How long can you keep this up Reiner?
They are now close enough to see Eren again and Mikasa can see that he is still fighting. He is kicking his legs in time with Reiner's steps so that each step jars Bertholdt's weakening hold. Ymir is silently staring over at them, her coal black eyes blank while she ignores Historia attempts to talk to her.
They are now only a quarter mile away from Reiner and the others. Bertholdt eyes are wide with panic as he looks at them as they approach and he climbs painfully slow to Reiner's shoulder and after looking forward proceeds to yell something in the titan's ear. Mikasa feels a small stab of satisfaction at Bertholdt's panic. You should be afraid, I'm going to end you and Reiner and there is little you can do to stop me.
Only a quarter mile remains between them. The last colours of dusk are being washed away by the rising full moon, its bright light bleaching the colour out of everything. Even Mikasa's red scarf is being painted silver by the light. She glances back; Jean is a small distance behind them, his white horse practically glowing in the moonlight.
It seems that Reiner can take no more and has almost completely slowed down as he approaches the trees. Bertholdt is looking back at them, his body rigid and his mouth is clamped tight. Ymir has now focused on Historia and is glaring at her as Historia pleads with her. Eren is now shaking his head as he glares at them, straining against his bonds harder than before.
The message that Eren is trying to signal is lost on her. She has come too far to err on the side of caution. Reiner has come to a complete stop and remains with his back towards them. Mikasa prepares to launch, she plans to cut Eren loose while ramming her other blade through Bertholdt's heart.
She holds a finger over the button as they close on the last three hundred feet. She raises herself up off the saddle, fires and jumps.
It is as she jumps that she realises what Eren had been trying to signal. Bertholdt had been trying to trick them. As soon as she had raised herself up, Bertholdt had yelled and Reiner had moved out of the way, with a speed that Mikasa had not expected.
Her grapple had missed completely and she had fallen heavily, landing with a metallic crunch as her Manoeuvring Gear absorbed some of the impact. Reiner had started to move again albeit painfully slow; Bertholdt had climbed again to his ear and speaking into it. Eren was looking at her with a mixture of anger and concern, a look he always gave her whenever she did something he considered to be idiotic.
"Mikasa! Are you okay?" Armin asks as he draws his horse to a halt next to her.
Mikasa pauses while she waits for any pain to hit. There is no pain or unusual numbness as she slowly stands up, her gear must have taken most of the impact.
"I am fine." She says as she looks at Armin, who she notices has her horse's reins in his other hand. "Please go follow them; I will follow as soon as I have rewound my cable."
Armin hesitates. "Go Armin! We can't let them escape!"
Armin dips his head in agreement and he hands her reins back, before urging his horses after Reiner's retreating back. Looping them over her shoulder she presses the button to wind back the stretch of cable lying stretched out on the ground in front of her. Her gear lets out a whine as a vent of gas is released; the metal cord however is not zipping in. Pressing the button, she tries again with the same result. It appears as though the cable has jammed.
It's as she hears an unnatural rustle that she finally clicks to the final part of Bertholdt's plan. Ahead of her, perhaps sixty five feet away is a 5m titan. It is staring at her with cold, dead eyes which slightly protrude from its squashed face. Its body is in an inverted triangle with cane-like arms and tree trunk legs. Making the smallest movements she can, she begins to jerk on the stuck cable. The titan takes a step forward towards her.
Her horse begins to paw the ground nervously. The titan takes another step towards her as its mouth opens to reveal stubby, yellow teeth. Its mouth snaps shut and she can hear the clicking of its teeth. It moves closer.
Mikasa jerks harder and presses the button, the gears screech but the cable draws infinitesimally in. The titan is fifty feet away and its pace is increasing as it draws closer. She tries to formulate a plan, she knows she can't launch the other grapple while this cable in undone, for if the titan steps on the loose cable she will be trapped.
She draws her blades in preparation, the moonlight glinting off of the sharp edges. The titan does not pause when he sees the blades. She takes a deep breath; this will take all of her skill to defeat this titan without her gear.
She is distracted by the heavy thud of galloping hooves and a white blur passing in front of her. A shape leaps off of the horse and lands in front of her, after blinking she can see its Jean. He stands with his back to her, his blades at attention, ready to face the approaching titan.
"Mikasa put your blades away and fix your gear. You have to go get Eren." His voice is low as he steps in front of her to block the titan's view of her.
She hesitates. "But what about you? You can't stay here and fight this titan alone." Mikasa is surprised about the amount of concern in her voice.
"I'll be fine. Please fix your gear." He turns his head to glance at her. The determination is there in his eyes and they are glowing in the moonlight. Mikasa struggles to breathe.
As soon as he has turned back around she chides herself for feeling such weakness, especially now. Now is not the time for feelings, or such things, she must focus. She sheathes her blades and unclips them, looking at the stuck cable. The cable has jammed up and a few sharp tugs later the cable is free and she is quickly winding it up.
The titan slowed its approach when Jean arrived and had begun skirting around the two of them. She places one foot in the stirrup before turning back to Jean.
"Jean are you sure that you will be fine? I-" He interrupts her.
"Mikasa go!"
"But I-"
"If you do not go, I cannot keep my promise to you. I cannot help you bring back Eren. This is me fulfilling the promises I made. I will rejoin you. Now please, go!"
Dumbstruck, she lifts herself into her saddle and urges her horse into a gallop. Reiner is a mile away and Armin is close behind. She glances behind her; Jean has launched an attack, he has grappled onto the titans shoulder and swung around, blades at the ready.
She urges her horse on further, she will have to have faith in him, however much that contradicts her core beliefs.
Reiner has slowed down almost completely, his shoulders are sagging and he is leaning forward as if to catch his breath. They must be more exhausted than I thought; he must not be able to hold his form for much longer. Bertholdt looks weaker too; he must be exhausted from Eren's resistance. In ten minutes Mikasa is only a hundred yards away when Reiner collapses onto one knee a low groan erupting from him with titan steam billowing from his body.
With a slump Reiner's titan form collapses forward, Eren and Bertholdt are tossed forward and separate as they both come tumbling to a stop. Ymir leaps off landing safely with Historia still held fast in her grip. Armin aims straight for Eren, slipping off of his horse and cutting Eren's bonds. Mikasa arrives just as Eren stands up and she throws herself full tilt at him. Wrapping her brother in a large hug, relief coursing through her as she finally has him back. For his part Eren half hugs her back.
Eren is distracted when he hears Bertholdt speak, trying to pick up Reiner from the smouldering remains of his titan. He has slung Reiner's arm over his shoulder and is gingerly trying to navigate his way down. Reiner is pale and drawn and is placing most of his weight on Bertholdt as they reach the ground.
Eren yells in fury as he rushes towards the pair and with a bone cracking thump, tackles Bertholdt to the ground. Reiner goes down onto one knee and drawing her blades, Mikasa moves to stand in front of him. She stands with her blades aimed at his throat and he looks up at her with a looks that is half fear and half pure hatred.
"Make so much as one move and I will finish what I started at the wall. And this time I'll make sure that your last few minutes are as painful as I can possibly make them." Mikasa allows her anger to seep into every word.
Armin has made his way to Ymir and Historia. "Please put her down Ymir, everything is okay. We can all go home."
Ymir makes no motion to put Christa down and if anything, cradles her closer to her chest. Armin looks confused but he moves closer to look at Historia.
"I'm glad you're okay." He says, looking at her with a tentative smile on his face.
"I'm glad you're okay too." She replies, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
Ymir seems confused by the exchange and backs away, her teeth slightly bared as she looks at Armin.
"Put me down please Ymir."
The titan shakes her head. Historia crosses her arms and looks sternly at Ymir.
"Put me down. I already gave you my word."
With all her pointed teeth bared, Ymir lowers her to the ground. Her eyes do not leave Historia as she walks to Armin. The moonlight makes their blonde hair shine silver and creates a halo of white light around the crowns of their heads.
"Armin, I wanted to tell you that no matter what happens, I will be going where Ymir goes."
Armin's smile falters. "Why? Why won't you come with us? You can bring Ymir too."
"I go with Ymir because she is my friend and because she asks this of me. Would you not do the same for Eren or Mikasa?"
For a second Armin looks defeated and hopeless. "But will I ever see you again if you leave?"
"I believe that we will. I have to believe it." She replies as she brushes his arm lightly with her fingertips, before turning back to go to Ymir.
There is a yelp from Bertholdt behind Mikasa and she figured that Eren must have pinned him in a particularly painful hold. Bertholdt says something to Eren in a low voice and she can't quite make out what he said. Whatever Bertholdt said, pushes Eren over the edge. He lets out a snarl and she can hear the thump of a punch and a grunt from Bertholdt.
She moves around to behind Reiner, her blades still trained on his throat. She must now watch Bertholdt; any signal of a plan would come from him.
Eren is attacking Bertholdt with a savage fury, each strike intending to do as much damage as possible and Bertholdt is only managing to block half of the blows.
"How do I wake up Annie?" There is a thud where Eren makes contact with Bertholdt's side.
"Don't threaten me with the knowledge and then say nothing!" Bertholdt just moves out of the way of another blow. Just.
"How do I get her out of the crystal?" He blocks one of Eren's kicks but the force is enough to send him staggering back.
"I need her to wake up! Tell me how to do it!" Eren roars as he launches at Bertholdt and secures him in an arm lock.
"I told you that I would tell you if you came with us willingly." Bertholdt's voice is strained as Eren pulls the arm lock tighter.
"Never." Eren switches the lock and this time the gasp of pain is audible from Bertholdt.
Mikasa can make out the sound of an approaching horse and she is praying it is Jean. There is a small tingle of elation in her as she sees it is him as he halts parallel to her and dismounts. As he looks her way she can see that there is a trail of blood down the right side of his face, but his face betrays no indication if he is in any pain. He walks closer to Eren.
"Eren, you have release the lock. Commander Irvin and the others are on their way, we have to secure the prisoners."
Bertholdt looks at Reiner with a look of horror in his eyes and raising his free hand, holds out two fingers. Almost instantly there is a yelp from Historia and an angry cry from Armin. I knew it! I knew that Bertholdt would have made another plan. Mikasa raises her blades to strike at Reiner, but Ymir can move quicker than they all thought possible and she has to block a swipe from the titan as Ymir scoops up Reiner. Eren has not noticed Bertholdt signal and is still using the arm lock. Ymir has left Reiner on her shoulder to clutch on her hair, which leaves her one hand free to claw at Eren.
In that instant time slows down, but Mikasa is too far away to make any move to save him. Jean springs at Eren, shouldering him out of the way as Ymir's talons swipe the air where he just was. Bertholdt uses the gap to grapple onto Ymir and with that they make their escape. Although weighed down, Ymir still moves incredibly fast. She can hear the thundering of approaching hooves but there is no way she, or any of the Commander's men can catch them.
And that's that. I struggled with this for two weeks, the black pit where I keep my insecurities let a few of them out and I had to stuff them all back in.
A note because I am not sure if it applies anywhere else, but the full moon here is South Africa is ridiculously bright, like I can read outside in a full moon bright. So I used that moonlight for here… you know, in case anyone was wondering…
Anywho, this is my shortest AN ever. But if you feel like letting me know how this chapter was that is awesome of you, if not then thanks for reading :D
~Kit
P.S. I kinda ship HistoriaxArmin, because they would be the most adorably awkward couple ever. I mean, can you picture them on a date? Armin would be all shy and chivalrous and Historia would be all lady like and sweet, well I think it would be adorable… and okay this is a long AN now…