THIS IS THE SECOND CHAPTER TO UPDATE. GO BACK ONE TO READ THAT ONE.

Also short author's note as to reasons of not updating. GO BACK.

LAST WARNING- ok enjoy.

0.0.0

We woke early and gathered a few supplies. Apparently, if all went well, we would be back in a week and a half. I, personally, wasn't counting on it, but I followed the other's example and walked back downstairs.

The dining hall was quiet, since it was such an early hour. The rambunctiousness we'd displayed when training only a few days earlier was gone, in favor of somber conversations.

I slid into a seat across from Marco and smiled at him lightly. My bag dropped to the floor as I started to eat the small amount of rations we had. "Morning," I told him softly. "Tired?"

He nodded silently, taking a drink of the small mug of coffee he had on his tray.

"Jean's still asleep?"

"He's trying to get his stuff together," Marco said. "Dunno how long it'll take." He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

I ate some of the toast on my plate and took a sip of coffee. It was blazing hot- I sputtered and coughed softly. Jean sat down behind me as I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Please don't choke to death before we reach the Capitol," he said drolly. "I'd hate to have to bury you because of something as stupid as that."

I smacked the back of his head absently. He yelped and glared at me as I finally coughed a final time and took another sip of coffee. "You won't be rid of me for a long time, laddie," I said.

"Would you please shut up?" Marco asked quietly. "I'm trying to wake up here."

"Sorry," Jean said. We finished our meal in silence.

By the end of it, Marco was much more awake. We headed out into the courtyard to drop our packs off and get our horses saddled up. Tabitha greeted me with a gentle nose to the shoulder. I smiled and swung her tack onto her back, carefully tightening all the buckles and straps that I needed to. She followed close behind as I opened the gate to her stall and led her into the sunlight.

There were a lot of other people already in the yard as I readied myself to swing up into the saddle. Tabitha stood steady as I carefully put one foot into the stirrup and bounced twice, readying myself to jump up. As soon as I did, I threw my leg over Tabitha's saddle and landed firmly in the seat. She stood placidly, waiting for me to get comfortable.

Gunter rode over, on a stallion that was enormous compared to Tabitha. He was longing to go; he was dancing in place, stretching his neck and trying to test Gunter's lead. Gunter was having none of it, and kept the horse on a tight rein.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

I nodded, patting Tabitha's neck as she looked at the stallion with a calm eye. "Nervous," I told him. It would show on my face anyways- there was no use in hiding it. I lowered my voice and continued, "I don't like the plan."

"Neither do I," he said. I looked up, startled. "But it's what we've got."

I nodded as Krista and Ymir walked over to us, both leading their horses. "Good morning," Krista chirped brightly. "How are you?"

"Good, thanks," I said warmly. It was hard not to be nice to Krista. Ymir, on the other hand? Eh. Much easier. She didn't seem to be in a good mood right now. Of course, it was hard to tell with her- she seemed to be in a perpetual bad mood. "And you?"

"Fine. Ready for the ride back to the Capitol?"

I shook my head. "Not remotely."

She laughed and saddled up as well. The others were stumbling out, in various stages of wakefulness, to saddle their horses and get ready to go. Around 5:30 or so, everyone was in the convoy and ready to go.

Mike Zacharius nudged his horse in my general direction. I braced for the almost-inevitable scent check that almost everyone had undergone in the past few weeks we'd been at the castle, but he stopped a few feet away and sniffed instead. A brief frown blanketed his face, before he shook his head briefly and rode closer.

I watched him curiously, turned to look at him more and shifted uneasily in the saddle. "Where are you from?" he asked abruptly.

"Riesentöter, sir. Northwestern section of Wall Rose."

"Have you been home since leaving for training?"

I nodded slowly.

He turned his face to look at the rising sun, still frowning. "I've visited somewhere close to Riesentöter," he murmured. "You smell nothing like it. Actually, you smell nothing like anyplace I've ever smelled."

A shiver went up my spine. He seemed to know instinctively that I wasn't quite from here anymore. "Perhaps it's just Caddy's scent?" I ventured timidly.

Mike shook his head. "No. I've already identified metal and oil, like I said earlier. This is something different entirely."

Commander Erwin gave the shouted order for us to move out. "Sorry to cut this short," I apologized.

He shook his head briefly. "No. Have a good ride." With that, he wheeled his horse around and rode towards the front of the parade.

We rode out just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. I stayed near the others in our graduating class, mostly. As time went on and we grew more and more awake, we took to joking and laughing, making light fun of each other as we travelled up northwards.

It took us two days, less than the original run up to the Capitol with Eren in tow. This time, we were free to gallop all the way up there. When we reached a city a few kilometers away from the Capitol gates, a group of the Military Police met up with us. They brought carriages, at least five of them, and ordered for us to get into them. I stayed back, along with the Shiganshina trio, as Jean climbed into the carriage supposedly reserved for Eren. I couldn't even hug him goodbye- I had to sit calmly on my horse and wait as Jean- wearing a black wig- was ushered into the carriage. Most of the others climbed into other carriages as well, but Erwin made an exception for Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and me. He announced that we were part of the rear guard that had business in the city. The Military Police, fortunately, had respect enough for Erwin to allow it to happen.

We rode on with our hoods up. I lived in constant fear that someone would see my face or one of the other's faces and it would all be over with. But luck was on our side- we weren't spotted, and made it all the way to Stohess.

Once we were safely inside the city, the four of us split off. I nodded briefly to the Military Police and we trotted away primly. As soon as we were out of sight, down a back alleyway, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin dismounted. I took their horses' reins.

"Be careful," I pleaded softly. "Please."

They looked back at me as I sat on Tabitha, silently watching them. "We'll be fine!" Eren said confidently.

And even as I tried to smile back, I instinctively knew that things would never be the same after today.

They left, and I lead Tabitha and their horses to a small stable, whose owner was close friends with Erwin. The horses were left there with a heavy bag of coins, paying for the stalls and his silence. I left as silently as I'd come.

I made my way, alone, to the designated entrance. There was a conveniently placed ladder a few alleys over. I made use of it and reached the roofs quickly.

Then I sat down to wait.

Elizabeth joined me after a while. She sat down beside me and we admired the view, staring up at the sky and the surrounding town. "It's so… barren," she said after a long silence. "Where I'm from, you can't go a few houses without seeing a tree. Here, it's just- houses. And streets. No trees in sight."

I sighed and nodded. "It's so crammed here, too. Some people might love living here, but I want to go back to the forests again. I need clean air, not this- smog."

"Good term for it," Elizabeth said softly. "It's heavy, isn't it?"

I nodded silently. "I don't like it. Not just this, even, but this whole mission."

She twisted to look at me silently.

"There always seem to be too many variables," I said after a long moment's deliberation. "There's always something that seems to have a 1 in 1000 chance of actually working."

"At least you've got a plan," Elizabeth said dryly. "I seem to always go in blind. But I've survived so far. You'll do just fine."

"I hope you're right," I said fretfully. "You should probably go soon. I think more people will be coming in from all over to help."

"Got it," she said. "See you around. Good luck."

"Thanks," I told her. She nodded and vanished.

*Rae, can you let Asteria know that I'm gonna need to use Caddy soon please?* I asked silently.

After a moment, her reply came back. *Sure. She says it's fine. Just be careful.*

*When am I not?*

Voices sounded from the street below. I flattened my body to the shingles and strained to listen. It sounded like Armin, but I couldn't be sure.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment to pray. When I next opened them, a column of green smoke was shooting into the sky. I swore and scrambled to my knees, then anchored myself using my 3DMG and braced for what was inevitable.

Annie's transformation took a long time in coming, but it did happen. It blasted me backwards. If I hadn't been attached to the roof, I would've been long gone for sure. When the burning smoke cleared, I was staring up at the Female Titan.

She was focused on something on the ground. I took a moment to make sure my hood was secured over my head, pinned in place to keep my face from being seen, and dragged the black cloth I wore around my neck over my nose and mouth. As I did so, the Female Titan roared loudly and slammed her fist into the ground. I swore softly and crept backwards, detaching my wires from the rooftop and dropping off the edge to land on the ground. Terrified civilians fled around me. I gestured for them to leave and run as fast as they could.

I slammed my hand into the watch face. "Standby for Titanfall," the woman warned. I crouched in the shadows and waited silently.

The next second, Caddy plummeted from the sky and landed hard on the pavement. I immediately took off at a sprint for her. She reached out a hand towards me. I launched into the air and landed on her palm. She quickly pulled me to the hatch and I stepped inside, sitting down in the seat as the doors closed and strapping myself in.

"AI disengaged. Switching to Pilot mode."

"All right, Caddy," I said. "We're fighting a 15 meter class Titan- and we can't kill her. We need to keep her alive. Don't know if you can understand this or not, but- we need to be careful."

Caddy started to walk as I pressed the pedals. She stomped down the street, loudly heading towards the Female Titan. We launched over a building and landed hard, just in time to see Annie plunge her hand into the street. Her fist emerged dripping with red.

I swallowed silently and switched to the machine gun. "Caddy, now," I ordered. "Open fire."

A hail of bullets erupted from the tip. I stared at Annie, willing her to focus on me instead of Eren. It worked- she swiped at me viciously. I dodged easily and fired off a few small rockets. They hit her face and seemed to blind her. She threw her head back and roared at the sky.

"Yes!" I shouted. "Eren, c'mon! Let's fight her!"

But he was nowhere in sight. As I watched, two figures emerged from the tunnel entrance and split up. One raced towards me; the other lead the Female Titan away.

"Armin!" I said on the external speakers. "What's going on?!"

Armin stepped onto Caddy's hand and rose to my eye level. "Eren's trapped in there," he said quickly. "We're leading the Female Titan away from here so we can clear him out."

"I'm going," I said immediately.

"Just one thing. I need you to get that slab?" he asked, pointing to an enormous chunk of stone lying across a hole close to Caddy's left foot.

"Sure."

I set Armin down on the ground and reached out to the slab. With one good pull, it lifted out of the way.

I screamed and clamped a hand over my mouth.

Eren was half-crushed under the debris, eyes closed, with an enormous pole piercing his chest. Armin scrambled to his best friend's side and began lifting chunks of stone out of the way.

"Help me!" he begged.

Tears welling in my eyes, I complied. My hands shook on the controls as I carefully maneuvered piece after piece out of the way.

Jean arrived after a minute. "What are you doing?! Eren should've transformed by now!" he shouted angrily.

"He- he couldn't, he didn't want to fight Annie!" Armin shouted. I methodically cleared out the hole, silent with horror as they bickered on. Jean finally turned to me.

"Pilot, Erwin wants you to go keep the Female Titan occupied. People are dying over there. We'll take care of this," he ordered.

I saluted and moved Caddy. We stomped away towards the Female Titan, who was visible in the distance. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Eren Jaeger, if you die, you'll take 2 more to the grave," I muttered. "So get your head on straight and FIGHT."

Then I took a deep breath, wiped away the tears, and began running.

I crashed into the Female Titan from behind, catching her off guard. There were faint cheers that echoed through the air as I rolled to my feet. The mech and I were no longer two separate entities, I realized. We were one, Pilot and Titan. Caddy was an extension of me.

With that knowledge, I plowed into battle.

Annie swung hard for the cockpit. I dodged quickly, thankful for the capabilities of the Stryder class, what Asteria had explained Caddy was. I threw a punch, which was easily dodged, but the other fist caught her off guard. Her head whipped to the side. I nimbly leapt backwards.

The next thing I knew, I was falling backwards. Annie had used her leg, I realized as I hit the ground hard. "Dammit!" I growled. Annie stomped towards me and raised her hand to smash me. At the last second, I used the jetpacks in my feet to blast her back. It gave me enough time to clamber back to my feet and fire off another round of small rockets. They impacted and took off both arms to the elbow at least. I braced myself and fell into a fighting stance that mirrored the Female Titan's own.

"C'mon, Eren," I growled, noting that Caddy was already down almost half her health. "I need your help."

Humans whorled in and out of the Female Titan's sight, trying to distract her. I stomped forwards and slammed a fist into her face. Annie roared in pain. I smiled and stepped back, watching the people with no small amount of pride in my heart.

That was, until Annie stood up and punched me unexpectedly.

I flew backwards and crushed a house. My screen flickered. I took a deep breath and tried to stand up, only to be pummeled back into the ground by Annie.

"Did I- piss you- off, big bitch?" I growled, trying to shove myself to my feet. The Female Titan just roared loudly and punched me again. With growing concern, I noticed that Caddy was now below a quarter of her health- and dropping fast.

*Hey, Rae,* I asked, mental voice strained. *What happens- if Caddy runs out- of health?*

*She'll probably have about 10 seconds before she self-destructs. Not sure what kits Asteria has equipped. If it's Nuclear Ejection, as soon as she runs out of health? She'll kick you out the top, high as she can, and blow up with a low-level nuclear explosion.*

I swallowed silently. *That's classified as a last resort, then.*

*Out of curiosity, why do you ask?*

*Ugh- no reason. None at- ALL!*

With one good kick, Annie was shoved back. I slowly stood up.

"That's it," I growled aloud. "All out."

I'd refrained from using the big rockets until now. Now, though, I equipped them and fired off three in a row. Annie dodged the first, but the second and third impacted into her torso and leg. It didn't last for long, though.

The Female Titan regrew an arm at an alarming rate and threw one hard punch. As soon as it hit, I knew Caddy was doomed.

The health bar at the top of the screen changed from a red bar to one that was flashing yellow and black. It slowly began counting down. "Eject now," the woman said, quite worriedly. "Eject now."

"I'm working on it!" I yelled, and grabbed the ejection handle in front of me. *Three. Two. One-*

I pulled hard.

The top of the mech opened. I fired into the air and drew both blades as I came to the apex. As I started to fall, I aimed towards the Female Titan's neck, aiming to take off some of the flesh. She wouldn't know I was coming, I thought-

Until she grabbed me out of the air.

I gasped as my lungs were squeezed cruelly tight. I coughed and sliced at her fingers. Annie snapped my blades easily and threw them away. I was sure she was going to pop me, but instead she turned and hurled me at the end of the street.

I slammed into the ground and skidded, coming to a halt at the end of the street. My lungs screamed in pain; my limbs felt like they were going to fall off. Caddy exploded behind the Female Titan as she stormed towards me. I slowly shoved myself as upright as I could and stared her down, trying desperately not to be afraid.

I was, though. I was afraid.

But I would not face my death with a dropped chin and closed eyes.

"Come on then, bitch," I growled, pushing myself to my elbows and dragging in a deep breath. "Do your worst."

She stopped a scant few meters away and stared at me. Slowly, one fist drew back. I lifted my chin and stared her in the eye as it plunged towards me...