Chapter Six: History and Debate

"Thanks."

Luna, startled by the voice, whipped her head up at the source of the sound, clear brown eyes leaving the ground, where she had been absently drawing in the dirt with one of her knives, and meeting the bright aquamarine irises of Eren. "Excuse me?" she asked the boy who towered over her, looking down at her kneeling form.

"I said, 'thank you'," Eren repeated.

Her eyes narrowed slightly and her head tilted to the left, confusion evident on her face. "For what?"

The Titan-shifter sat down beside her on the sandy-gravel floor of the cave and leaned back with his hands supporting himself. "If you hadn't convinced your leader to let us stay here, we wouldn't have had anywhere to go, so thanks for that."

Luna did not say, "You're welcome." Instead, she studied Eren very carefully for a long time, which made the boy instinctively squirm from discomfort; he felt like a bug being examined under a magnifying glass, even though Luna was actually having to look up at him. It was clear that the female Ninja felt no embarrassment or shame at scrutinizing him so openly.

At last, Luna dropped her gaze, but not out of defeat or discomfort. She seemed more like she was satisfied, that she found what she was looking for and had no more reason to inspect Eren's face any further. "It wasn't really me who convinced her," she said, turning away from the brunette and focusing her gaze now on the ground in front of her where her drawings from before were still carved into the gravel. "I merely gave her a small push. Estelle convinced herself. You should thank her, not me."

Eren frowned at this. He disagreed. He couldn't tell if Luna was just being extremely modest or extremely ignorant, but it bothered him how she gave the cold-hearted, hazel-eyed clan leader credit for something she, Luna, had done. And there was no way in hell he was going to walk up to Estelle and tell her that he appreciated what she did back there; threatening to leave the Survey Corps out in the open with no means of defending themselves from the Titans.

Luna noticed Eren's disapproving expression and his tense silence, but she did take back what she said. Instead, she defended the clan leader, "I know what you think of Estelle, Eren, and I know most of your comrades view her in the same manner you do. I can see it in their eyes," she went on, not allowing the Titan-shifter to object. "They look at her with disgust; they think she is cruel and malicious, a selfish roach who couldn't care less for the lives of your people. I ask you, Eren, as a favor to me, not to judge Estelle too harshly. Though she is not necessarily friendly or generous, she has been a good clan leader to all of us who are under the name Aquila."

Eren did not say anything immediately after that, and it appeared that Luna didn't expect him to because she merely turned back to her dirt drawings and began to doodle another one.

In all honesty, Eren wanted to know why Luna was so kind to Estelle, someone so cold and unpleasant. Even though the clan leader will never know of this conversation happening behind her back, Luna still defended her. Was Luna too blinded by loyalty to see what a twisted person Estelle was? Or was Luna's loyalty to Estelle only born out of fear of the clan leader?

Yes, that must be it, Eren thought with a nod. Though he had neither known Luna nor Estelle very long, he could already prepare an entire list of all the differences between the two female Ninjas who are supposedly friends.

So far, Eren had not heard Luna say a single thing that was negative or offending to anyone whether it is to Estelle, Tiberius, Eren, Mikasa, or Armin… Even when she disagreed with something, she never once said anything meant to put down the other person or cause pain. She chose her words carefully and accepted others without any struggle. There was no ill-will in her eyes, but neither were her eyes innocent. They were calm, patient, unjudging, but still strangely youthful.

Estelle, in contrast, had eyes that were judging the Survey Corps from the very beginning. Before she had even spoken to the Commander Erwin, she was already hostile toward him from the simple misunderstanding concerning the dogs. There was so much suspicion and resentment in her icy green irises, as well as an odd sort of tiredness that looked very out of place for someone so young, who looked like she wasn't even in her late twenties yet. Not to mention, everything that came out of Estelle's mouth was venomous and intended to strike fear and shame in others.

Hell, even Luna and Estelle's physical appearances seemed to be polar opposites. While Luna's hair was a cascade of bright, blazing auburn, Estelle's was dark, long, and shiny, reminding Eren of a snake. Estelle's face was all angles and edges, sharp and arched eyebrows, high cheekbones, and an angular tilt of the jaw that would have made her look terribly haughty if there wasn't so much exhaustion in her eyes that, despite the tiredness, could still glare almost as menacingly as the Lance Corporal's. Almost.

Luna's face was much softer, featuring a slightly unturned nose, eyes that were neither round nor narrow, and freckles that gave her a more youthful look. Her eyebrows were more even and less pointy and her lips were thin, but had a healthy color. Whereas Eren would admit that he found Luna to be somewhat beautiful in a natural, mysterious kind of way, he did not find Estelle to be attractive in any manner whatsoever.

"You are thinking about how different Estelle and I are, aren't you?" Luna spoke without looking at Eren. "She wasn't always like that, you know. We used to be quite alike, actually."

Eren waited for her to elaborate on this, but Luna left it at that and did not say any more. The two of them sat in silence for a long time. Just when Eren was going to get up and leave, the female ninja sighed and spoke with a somewhat forced smile, like she had just remembered something unpleasant but didn't want to show it.

"I'm sorry, let's talk about something else now, shall we? I didn't mean to make the atmosphere tense. I hope you can forgive me, Eren. I'm usually not like this."

"Fine," Eren nodded in agreement, though he was rather conflicted. He would much rather talk about something other than Estelle's past, but at the same time, he was curious. Could there really have been a time when Estelle was as easy to get along with as Luna?

Though she was the one to suggest the topic change, Luna did not seem like she had anything in mind to talk about. All she did was turn back to her dirt drawings once more, waiting for Eren to pick up the conversation again.

Instead of thinking of a discussion topic that might break the quietness, Eren leaned over toward Luna a little and to get a glimpse of what she could be drawing with merely a blade and a gravel floor.

It wasn't perfect, but it was highly impressive for a drawing made on dried dirt. It was a picture of a dog, the one that Tiberius seemed to be very fond of – Ace – crouched low in an attacking position. The proportions were extremely accurate, and Luna had somehow managed to put some minor fur detail on the animal without making it look like a mess of squiggles.

Luna noticed Eren looking at her creation and smiled a genuine smile. "That's my brother's dog," she informed him. "I often saw him in this position when Tiberius was training him. The image has been embedded into my mind."

Eren examined the detail of the picture. He himself did not have any noticeable artistic talent or taste, but he could see that Luna did. If she could draw this well on a dirt floor, Eren wondered what she could do with proper art supplies like paper, pencil, and even paint. "Do you draw a lot?"

"No, only when I can find dirt that is neither too soft nor too dry," Luna replied. "Also, I have to be alone."

Eren frowned with confusion. "Why?"

Luna shrugged a bit indifferently. "Estelle and Tiberius don't like it when I use my knives like this, for sketching on the ground. They say I'm dulling the blade. If anyone sees me, they'll probably report to Estelle, and she will be angry with me."

"So?" Eren said without thinking first. He was quickly becoming more and more agitated with "Estelle this" and "Estelle that". "What can she do to you?"

Thank goodness, Luna did not retrogress back to the quiet, distant demeanor she had when they talked about Estelle moments before. She merely gave a small smile that was hard to read. "I don't think she will truly do anything to me, but I think she already has enough to worry about without having to deal with my habits too.

"However," the Ninja's face fell a bit, "it would be nice if I could add color to my drawings, but I don't think that would be possible. All of the dye we gather goes to our master herbalist to use to label medicine. It's also ineffective to dye dirt."

Suddenly, a thought dawned on Eren upon hearing this. He remembered the purpose of the Survey Corps' plan to sneak out of the Walls in the first place. To look for the Aquila Ninjas and convince them to help us fight the Titans, as Hanji had told him. It'll be hard to convince Estelle to help, Eren thought, but Luna might be able to persuade her like how she influenced her to let us stay in these Caves. And in order to make Luna convince Estelle, Luna herself has to have the desire to go inside the Walls…

"Luna," Eren spoke, hoping he didn't seem too excited at the prospect of having thought of that genius strategy or guilty that he was planning on using Luna to get to Estelle. "Behind the Walls, there are things we make called paper and pencils. They're really useful for drawing, and I can get you some if you ever go behind the Walls."

That last part was spoken somewhat like a question, and Eren prayed that he didn't sound like a kidnapper bribing an innocent child. I didn't lie, he told himself reassuringly. If we do manage to get the Ninjas into the Walls, I'll get some paper for her.

Luna's eyes narrowed suddenly, and Eren thought he was caught, that Luna had figured out what he was trying to do. But the female Ninja's irises softened quickly into a look of consideration, "That sounds interesting, and it would be so much easier to use this 'paper' you speak of…"

She pronounced "paper" like "popeer," a bit uncertain of the foreign word.

Before Eren could reply, on the other side of the cave Sasha groaned loudly, catching his and Luna's attention.

The brunette girl was leaning against a wall of the chamber dejectedly and rubbing her abdomen pitifully, muttering about how long it's been since she'd had food.

Luna gave a little giggle while looking at Sasha. "Your friend likes food a lot, doesn't she?"

Eren frowned, "How did you know?"

"I heard her panicking about the possibility of losing your food supplies while you and your people were in the trees."

This made Eren wonder how long the Ninjas were listening to them earlier. He also wondered if his mention of paper and pencil did much to sway Luna, but he didn't want to insist, lest he seems too obvious with his attempts to make the Walls seem extraordinarily appealing. "You're right. Sasha's obsessed with eating. She can't last half a day without food."

At that moment, Sasha perked up, having heard Luna and Eren using the word "food". In the blink of an eye, she jumped to her feet and rush toward them like a wild animal, her eyes glowing with maniacal desperation. She got down on her knees in front of Luna, destroying the drawing of Ace, grabbed the Ninja's hands and began bowing over and over again. "Please tell me you have something to eat. Please, I beg of you!"

Luna visibly flinched when Sasha snatched her hands up. Alarm suddenly flashed in her eyes for a second and she instinctively and harshly jerked her hands away from Sasha as if they had been burned. But then, realizing what she had done and the look of confusion and hurt on Sasha's face, she turned away with shame, rubbing her hands together gingerly. "I'm sorry."

Remembering what Tiberius had said before about the Ninjas finding it exceedingly impolite to touch someone who they were not extremely familiar with, Eren quickly got in between Luna and the very puzzled Sasha, causing the brunette girl to scoot backwards a little. The Titan-shifter very briefly explained to Sasha why Luna had reacted the way she did, and the other cadet nodded with understanding.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you so uncomfortable," she apologized. "I was just wondering if you had any food we could eat. I'm starving to death."

Luna still looked as if she was a little shaken by the contact, but managed a sad smile, "You will have to wait for my brother and the others to come back from the hunt and Estelle to properly split the food." Then, her nose scrunched up a little as if she had just remembered something unfortunate. "Even so, I cannot be certain that we can provide food for you. It's hard enough to feed the entire clan to begin with."

"Why don't you guys just give us back our food supplies?" Eren suggested. He too was now starting to worry about the food issue.

Luna shook her head, "What happens to your supplies is decided by Estelle, and she will most likely use it to feed her own people. It's been a long time since everyone in the clan has had enough to eat. She will not waste the opportunity to provide the clan with more nourishment."

Sasha gave a weak wail and looked as if she was about to cry.

"Serious, who put someone like Estelle in charge?" Connie, who had been listening nearby, said, walking towards them, also starting to feel his stomach growl.

"No one put her in charge," Luna said, though she did not fail to notice the negative implication the bald cadet was placing on her friend. "The clan leadership is passed by blood. Estelle's father was clan leader before her and her grandmother, Valentine, before him. She has full authority over the clan. There is nothing anyone can do about that, not even you Wall-people."

"Don't you think that's a really flawed system of government?" Armin asked as he and Mikasa took a seat on the ground next to Eren.

Luna could see a small audience forming around her, which made her slightly tense because there was no easy way of disappearing or hiding with so many eyes on her. However, she ignored the impulse to move somewhere where she had more room and answered, "That may be so, but it has not failed us in over a hundred years."

"It is human nature to desire power," said Mikasa. "I'm surprised no one's tried to overthrow the clan leader if he or she is just one person."

Luna stiffened for a moment before slowly turning to fully face the oriental girl with a somewhat disapproving and, at the same time, baffled face. "I do not understand what you mean. It is not human nature to want power, at least not among my people. Not once has there even been talk of overthrowing the clan leader in our history. If the clan leader is a wise one, what is the need for a rebellion?"

Mikasa and Luna looked at each other for a few seconds, both girls greatly intrigued by the other. The air was thick and anxious as, for the first time in years, someone flat-out disagreed with Mikasa over something and gave a calm and logical argument.

At last, Luna spoke again, further explaining her opinion, "Not only is there no need for rebellion, every member of the clan owes their life and the lives of their ancestors to the Aquila family. Cato and Columbus Aquila saved us all, guided us, cared for us, and welcomed all into their arms, young, old, male, female, saints, evil-doers, the handicapped, the ill. Even those who did not deserve their mercy, they still accepted them as part of the clan. Do you know why?"

Silence hung in the air among the small audience Luna's words had attracted.

Scanning the eyes of everyone listening to her, the auburn-haired Ninja said, "It was because they were all human beings.

"They were all in danger of being devoured by the Titans. They shared fear, struggle, and desperation. All people were the same at that moment, terrified, losing hope and their minds, regardless of whether they were pure or tainted. Columbus had pity for them all, and Cato had the dignity to leave no one behind. All of us in the clan now are descendants of those who were saved and taught the art of stealth in order to survive without the protection of the Walls. None of us would ever think to rebel against the clan leader, especially not when Estelle has done no harm to us."

A part of Eren thought that what Luna had said was rather naïve; how could she be sure that no one wants to overthrow Estelle and take over the clan leader's position? But another part of him was in mild astonishment at the story she had just told and her faithfulness towards the Aquila family.

"So please," Luna now looked at Mikasa again, "do not suggest that there are those of us not loyal to Estelle. No matter how much foul blood may run in some of our people's veins, humans are not without gratitude. That, I am certain of."

Eren had to admit to himself that he was impressed by how convincing Luna made her argument and yet still managed not to say anything that was meant to cause pain to Mikasa. She had listed her facts and politely asked Mikasa not to say such things again.

Even so, the Titan-shifter could tell that if there was one thing Luna could not tolerate for long, it was the doubting of her allegiance.


"I can walk on my own, Estelle," Valentine said, giving the clan leader a soft smile before gently shaking Estelle's hand away from her elbow and picking up a twisted, wooden cane that was propped on the wall.

Estelle looked like she wanted to protest as her grandmother took a few steps on her own to the three Survey Corps officials, but she reluctantly stood back as the old woman leaned on the cane a little and studied the faces of Erwin, Levi, and Hanji carefully.

A hunched over old lady who had to use a walking stick was not what Erwin had in mind when Estelle first mentioned someone named Valentine. When she stopped in front of him and motioned for him to bend down to her level, the commander did not think twice before lowering his head a little.

Valentine's blue eyes glinted with a strange light, and before Erwin could react, her cane came down on his head much – much – harder than someone her age should have been able to manage.

Thankfully, Erwin did not fall over, though his head throbbed where he got smacked by the long wooden stick. As Valentine hobbled over towards Levi, Erwin clutched the knob that was forming on his head and glanced toward Estelle for an explanation as to why the old woman had done that, but Estelle wasn't looking at him; she had a straight face as she stood behind her grandmother and hadn't even blinked when Erwin got knocked in the skull.

Next was Levi. He and the hunch-backed Valentine were about the same height, but as soon as Valentine faced him, she forced her back to straighten, making her two centimeters taller than the Corporal.

After seeing what happened to Erwin, Levi wasn't going to let himself get smacked by the cane too. He was ready to duck or catch the cane when Valentine swings it.

But the former clan leader just stared at him for a while with an unnervingly knowing smile on her thin lips before passing him and moving on to Hanji.

Apparently, Estelle thought Hanji was the most dangerous to her grandmother, as she took a step towards them, "Valentine, you don't have to – "

Valentine waved Estelle's concern aside and looked up at Hanji with the same knowing smile as she did Levi. "You seem to be a bright young woman," she commented. "Would you mind telling me the real name of your friend?" She pointed in Levi's direction.

"Oh," Hanji was caught off guard by the odd request but she answered truthfully, "That's Levi."

Valentine nodded with approval and looked back in Levi's direction.

Levi made a "tch" noise.

Then, without taking her eyes off of Levi, Valentine sacked Hanji in the head with another arch of her cane. She appeared to be satisfied with the noise that was heard when the staff connected with the Squad Leader's skull, as Hanji winced and rubbed the spot where she was hit.

"What was that for?" she demanded.

Valentine ignored her and walked back to Estelle with a sly grin. "Come, my guests, please sit," she invited, sinking to kneel on the ground and motioning generously for the Scouting Legion officials to take a seat beside her.

Estelle, however, did not sit. She looked like she was waiting for the "guests" to sit first. She studied them challengingly for a moment, making it clear that she would not sit until they did.

Erwin decided that he had to give in, for Estelle clearly had a stubborn will and was far too prideful to admit defeat. They could be standing there for hours, each waiting for the other to yield first.

The clan leader's stance relaxed a little and she smoothly crossed her legs and sank down to sit beside Valentine.

Valentine continued to smile, as if she was completely oblivious to the tension in the room. "Estelle, would you care to inform me as to why you brought these three fine young people to see me?"

Erwin quickly jumped in to answer before Estelle could respond, knowing that the clan leader would not give them a ceremonious introduction. "Please excuse our intrusion into your forest, ma'am. I am Erwin Smith, commander of the Scouting Legion from behind the Walls and these are my subordinates. We have come to negotiate a pact – "

Estelle, clearly not pleased that Erwin was leaving her behind in the discussion and not impressed with his curtesy, cut him off, "You are a visitor in my house, Erwin Smith," she growled, her eyes narrow with anger and sparks of venomous hate reflected in her irises. "You will speak when spoken to. I did not bring you to Valentine so that we may discuss what you want to discuss. Something you said earlier captured my attention and it is only for that purpose that I allow you to converse with Valentine. You claim that you have met one of my people, Claudius. What evidence do you have of this?"

Valentine held a hand in front of Estelle's chest, as if stopping her from doing something impulsive. "Estelle, perhaps we should let these wonderful people explain themselves first," she suggested.

"No!" Estelle shouted at first, but quickly lowered her voice, turning to Valentine urgently. "This is important, Valentine. What if others have – "

The clan leader abruptly stopped herself before saying something that the Survey Corps officers could understand. She sharply switched to whispering to Valentine in Latin that neither Erwin, Levi, nor Hanji could comprehend. It didn't really matter though, since her accent had gotten thicker while she was angered and they wouldn't have been able to understand her even if she hadn't spoken in Latin anyway.

At last, Valentine turned to Erwin with an apologetic look, "Pardon me, but my granddaughter is a stubborn one. If you don't mind, she would appreciate it if you could answer her questions first."

Erwin knew he didn't owe Valentine or Estelle any favors, but he nodded. This was all for the sake of the Plan.

Estelle appeared to relax a little. "How was it that you came to meet Claudius?" she said.

"I met him in these woods several years ago. After the first time, I met him twice more. The last time I saw him was about seven years ago."

"Have you met any other of my people since then?" Estelle continued to question, staring intensely at the floor in front of her as if her mind was whirling, trying to connect dots based on the information Erwin was providing.

Erwin shook his head. Though he did not know why this was so important, he could tell that both Estelle and Valentine were affected by the news; they appeared thoughtful, glancing at each other once in a while and exchanging worried looks.

In the end, Estelle nodded with satisfaction. "We are not finished discussing this, but for now, I will listen to your request, Smith. Get to the point quickly." She did not thank Erwin for the answers she had received from him.

And so, Erwin began his story, starting with how he had figured out about the Aquila Clan though A History of the Walls and The Complete Collection of Traditional Fairytales for Children and ending with the arrival of the Survey Corps at the Great Forest. He explained the difficulties the people behind the Walls were facing and his proposal of an alliance between the Wall-people and the Ninjas. Surprising enough, Estelle did not interrupt or criticize his plans. She only sat still, looking as if she was thinking carefully.

When Erwin finished, Estelle gazed at him still with distrust, but also with interest. "What reason do you have for my people to help yours?" was her simple question. "How do I know you Wall-people aren't completely at a loss and are going to rely on us to get you out of the pit you've dug for yourselves?"

Eren was the first thing that came to Erwin's mind, of course; he was supposedly humanity's last hope. But the commander hesitated in communicating that to Estelle. He did not know if the Ninjas were aware of the Titan-shifting power and if they would be alarmed to hear about Eren's unique ability. But Estelle was still expecting a decent answer, and the commander could not think of anything else that could be more convincing if he presents the information strategically, so he decided to take the chance. He's been taking a lot of chances as of late.

"One of our soldiers, Eren Yeager, is said to be humanity's last hope," Erwin began, choosing his words carefully. He noted the way one of Estelle's dark eyebrows raised ever so slightly. "The secrets of the Titans lie in the basement of his former home, south of Wall Maria. If we can reach that basement, we will understand the Titans and how to defeat them. And in order to get to Eren's basement, Wall Maria must be reclaimed. "

"And how do you plan to do that?" Estelle asked, hiding her interest and acting highly unimpressed.

"Eren Yeager also has an incredible ability that can be of great use to us in the retaking of Wall Maria," Erwin said. "It is an ability that, I assure you, we are can learn to control and use effectively. That ability is called Titan-shifting."

Judging from the look of panic mixed with slight fury on Estelle's face, Erwin could tell that she already had an idea of what Titan-shifting was, only based on the name. But, not wanting to jump to conclusions and seem like a fool, she did not react spontaneously, but her hands were curled into fists.

"Eren Yeager has the power to generate a Titan's body and control it. This power we have already seen in action more than once, and its usefulness is beyond anything we've ever seen. With it, we have a chance to take back Wall Maria."

"Where is this Eren Yeager?" Estelle questioned seriously, her fists still clenched as if she's trying to restrain herself from moving.

Erwin assumed he was with the rest of the Survey Corps in the Caves.

Upon hearing this, Estelle's jaw visibly stiffened, but she quickly masked her emotions and gave a nodded, but did not ask more about Eren, which Erwin found odd.

While the clan leader was silent, Erwin found another opportunity to squeeze in some more reasons for her to accept the proposal.

"If you accept the alliance, I will find a place for you and your people within the innermost Wall, and we will provide you with food as well. You won't have to sleep in the cold or hide in trees anymore."

However, the commander's plan back-fired on him, as Estelle was not appear pleased with what he offered. She bit her bottom lip with agitation, "Did you seriously think that would be reason enough for me to move my clan within the Walls? For food and comfort? We are coping well on our own. We do not accept the hospitality of the Wall-people."

"You're making this decision for all of your people, thinking they all want what you want," Levi spoke, having remained silent all throughout Erwin's explanation. "Stop saying 'we' when you don't really know. You sound like a clingy housewife."

Color flooded the clan leader's face, both of humiliation and anger at Levi's words. But Levi didn't let her object before he continued nonchalantly, "Are you so fucking stubborn that you're disregarding the opinions of the people you claim you care for so much?"

Upon hearing this, Estelle's pupils dilated and the temperature of the room seemed to drop ten degrees. The blotchy redness that had covered her cheeks before drained as quickly as they'd come, leaving the clan leader's face cold and pale. She now glared at Levi with such fury that her hazel eyes seemed to be an inferno of Greek fire, far worse than the sparks Erwin had gotten before.

The clan leader leaned closer to Levi, using the same method as she had used with the commander to show that she did not fear him. She held his cold stare with her burning one and spoke startlingly lowly and steadily, "Everything I do, I do for the good of my people."

It was a statement, a definite fact. There was no hesitation in her eyes when she said it and even afterwards, the words left an atmosphere that dared anyone to claim her sentence false.

In that moment, as he and Estelle had a battle through their stares, Levi realized two things. The first was a rare thing. He saw that there was truth in her eyes; she meant whole-heartedly what she had just said and would fight to the death to prove it. And the second was something that Levi found even rarer. He knew from the first five seconds of their staring contest that no matter how intimidating he may appear to everyone else, Estelle would never be afraid of him. His sharp glare that would send people backing away and cowering in corners didn't even make her blink. Maybe she was just stupidly stubborn. Which could get her killed one day.

After a while, Estelle backed away from Levi's face, and dropped her gaze, but not in defeat. It was more of a "we will continue this later" sort of gaze. Then, she turned to Erwin again and said, "Your subordinate doubts my leadership skills, Smith. That does not do anything to motivate me to go with your Plan."

"What would convince you, then?" Erwin inquired, completely sincere, but beginning to feel uneasy.

At this, Valentine, who had momentarily lost herself in her thoughts, perked up. She beckoned for Estelle to lean closer so she could whisper in her ear.

The clan leader frowned at her sudden excitement, but obeyed with a small sour scowl on her face. As Valentine spoke quietly, Estelle shook her head at what she said, but the older woman insisted. Estelle continued to refuse, glancing over at Erwin suspiciously every few seconds.

Hanji waved her hand in front of the two Ninjas' faces to get their attention. "Yoohoo~ Would you mind letting us in on your discussion? We're here too, you know."

Estelle and Valentine separated, with Valentine nodding at the clan leader encouragingly. With reluctance, Estelle crossed her arms and said to Erwin, "What can you offer me?"

"What do you want?" Erwin returned the question back to her.

Estelle appeared to know what he was trying to do, so she turned the question on him again, "I am asking you what you can offer me."

Once again, Erwin found himself in the position of being forced to give in to the clan leader's wishes unless he wants this to go on for hours. "I have already made my offer. We will provide food for you and a place to sleep. Also, the safety of the Walls. Think about what is truly the best for your people."

Estelle snorted at that last part. "I don't need you to tell me that. And besides, can you still call your Walls safe? If the Wall-people have fallen so hard that they are asking for the help of me and my people, can you still say with confidence that the Walls provide any comfort?"

Erwin knew Estelle was mocking him again, but he remained calm and said passively, "That is why I ask you what you desire that could convince you to join forces with us."

Valentine looked at Estelle expectantly, and the clan leader hesitated for a split second before regaining her composure and getting to her feet. She walked over to one of the shelves that lined the walls of the room and picked up a scroll of paper from a low ledge. Then, she returned to the debate, holding the scroll delicately as if it would break if she wasn't careful.

"Are you familiar with this language?" she said, slowly unrolling the scroll in front of the three members of the Survey Corps.

The scroll contained what appeared to be an extremely detailed blue print that explained how to build a large boat, much bigger than any of the ferries found in the Walls.

With relief, Erwin recognized the language as the one many Wallists used while conducting special religious ceremonies in Wall Sina. He told Estelle that he could read the scroll and many others in the Wall could too.

Estelle exhaled and Erwin couldn't tell if she was also relieved or disappointed. "Do you have the technology and resources to build several of these?" she said, pointing to the detailed diagrams of the boat.

Erwin frowned at Estelle, "Why would you need these – "

"Just answer the question," she snapped back.

"Yes, I would think, but – "

Before Erwin could finish, Estelle had stopped listening and quickly turned to face Valentine with an unreadable expression. Valentine just smiled and nodded back to her.

"If you can guarantee that you can build these ships for me," Estelle began, though Erwin could still see calculation and doubt in her eyes as she looked at him, "I will agree to the alliance."

Erwin could honestly say that he was surprised at how quickly Estelle reacted, how quickly her opinion on the alliance changed. He did not understand of what significance these boats could prove for a ninja clan, but he could tell that he was extremely close to achieving his goal, the one he had been striving towards since he snuck out of the Walls. He wasn't going to waste the chance. As for the boats… Erwin would convince the King somehow.

"Do we have an accord?" Estelle asked slowly now, clearly sensing that she was close to getting what she wanted as well, the ships.

Erwin glanced at Levi and Hanji; the corporal shook his head, but the scientist nodded eagerly, happy that she would be able to interact with the Ninjas more later on when the official documents are signed.

"Yes," the commander nodded at Estelle, and heard Levi's agitated sigh behind him.

"Let us swear by blood that you will provide me the ships and I will help your people in whatever way I can," Estelle drew one of her knives and hesitated for a split-second before making a small cut in her right palm. A little trail of crimson blood flowed out.

Valentine presented Erwin with a tiny blade, which he used to copy Estelle's actions before holding the bleeding hand out to the clan leader.

Estelle exhaled, staring at Erwin's hand intently. She was going to do it. She was going to trust this man from the Walls whom she had only met that day with the fate of her people. It was highly foolish and she imagined how her father would have reacted to this same situation, and some of her doubt was erased.

She concentrated on the thought of the ships. Those ships were all she wanted. Perhaps she desired them even more than Erwin desired the alliance between the Wall-people and the Ninjas. The ships would save her people.

As she reached out and firmly gripped Erwin's hand, Estelle's only comforting thought was This is all for the good of the clan.


A/N: Oh, gods above, I am so sorry for the long wait. I have no excuses. *bows head with shame* Here's an extra-long chapter for you all (over 6,000 words), for staying with me for so long and for reading my story in general. I love you all so much.

Quick question, do you guys think these chapters are getting boring because they're so long? Are my descriptions getting a bit boring and not needed? I'm just asking because the lengths of these chapters are never as I plan them and I feel like I'm stretching the chapter much longer than I need too. Am I being boringly descriptive? Are you guys okay with reading chapters this long? Please let me know. It helps a lot!

Next time: Well, Estelle knows about Eren's Titan-shifting abilities now… Will she keep it a secret from her people? How will Luna react when she finds out? Will the Survey Corps and the Ninjas finally start moving back towards the Walls now that the agreement has been made? See you all next time~