Another installment-yay! Honestly, though, not sure about this chapter. It felt a little disjointed while I was writing, and it's more fluff than anything else. I'm still trying to pin down everyone's characters-the SnK cast is so emotionally complicated! But anyway, hope it's still entertaining :)

Enjoy!

Ren dug her fingernails methodically into the soft flesh of her upper arm. One finger at a time, until each small, chalky crescent mark turned pink and raised.

She was determined to stay awake.

Akiko murmured fitfully in her sleep, small head resting on Ren's outstretched legs while the rest of her body curled into a tight ball. Perhaps it was surprising that the girl could sleep, at all, with the rough movements of the wagon in which they were situated. But Ren suspected, after the past couple days, that she and Akiko could probably sleep through just about anything. They were completely drained, and Ren's body longed for sleep, her eyelids bobbing at half-mast and her limbs like noodles.

So she carved small dents into her skin, and allowed the dull pain to jolt her brain, forcing herself awake and aware. Every so often, she glanced up, and her eyes flickered to the strange soldiers that flanked the wagon on horseback.

She didn't trust them. Not even a little…and that reaction was both confusing and disappointing.

On the one hand, she was thrilled to find other humans—and people who could fight the giants, no less. She would probably feel indebted, for the rest of her life, to the boy who had taken her place in death at the hands of the giants.

But on the other, she saw something unpleasant in each of the hard, appraising stares they shot at her and Akiko. Especially the dark-haired, steel-eyed man that stood mere inches taller than Ren, herself. He seemed to have a particular intensity, and she got the distinct feeling he didn't like her any more than she liked him.

Plus, he had a thug face. Completely untrustworthy.

To top it off, Ren couldn't understand a single word out of her saviors' mouths—she could only assume they spoke the same, bizarre language she had read in the journal. A serious complication in the scheme of things.

For what must have been the hundredth time since their narrow escape from the giants, Ren lamented the loss of that journal. She could almost picture it, lying amidst the wreckage of the plane crash. Assuming it had survived…

What answers could she have found there?

Akiko released a groan, and Ren stopped attacking her arm to observe the girl carefully. Her dark eyes opened slowly to stare out the back of the cart at greenery that passed beneath and beyond. Her gaze was bleary, eyes at half-mast, clammy sweat on her brow and a grayish cast to her skin. She'd lost more liquid than was good for her in repeated vomiting, and she was still in shock—if Ren was honest, they both were. They'd been surrounded by death, probably for the first time in either of their lives, for the past twenty-four hours. Ren swallowed thickly as Akiko whimpered.

"Hey," she said gently, placing a hand on Akiko's hunched shoulder. "It's okay. We're okay." The girl pushed herself up, and Ren clicked her tongue. "Lay back down—you need more rest. You've only been asleep about thirty minutes…"

Akiko shook her head and scooted back to sit shoulder to shoulder with Ren, back pressed against the back of the cart. She wiped furiously at her eyes to clear tears that tracked through the grime on her cheeks, and leaned her head on Ren's shoulder.

"We made it," she sighed tonelessly, a stubborn quiver to her chin. Ren wanted to tell her it was okay to cry…but she respected the girl's resolve.

"Don't relax yet," she warned. Akiko merely nodded, seeming to understand Ren's distrust as her black eyes flickered first to the thug-faced man, and then to the brunette in glasses.

Ren reached for the Jansport backpack in the corner of the wagon, rifled around inside until her hand grasped a block of crinkled plastic. She pulled it out and handed the protein bar to Akiko. "Eat this," she commanded.

"I'm pretty far from hungry right now," Akiko complained, face haunted. Ren could guess at the nightmarish images in her head.

"I know. But you're dehydrated, and you haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Trust me, you need this."

"Logical reasoning doesn't make me less nauseous," Akiko grumbled, but she took the bar anyway and peeled away the plastic. Ren made a point to stare until she took a bite, chewed, and swallowed.

"When you're done with that, I want you to drink at least half of that water bottle," she pointed to where the plastic Aquafina jutted from the backpack's side pocket.

Akiko nodded, mouth full, and Ren swore she could see a bit of color return to her cheeks as she polished off the food. Ren's own stomach felt knotted with hunger and the special anxiety of trauma, but she resisted the urge to eat her own protein bar. She felt like a wild thing—too distrustful to eat with suspicious people watching. Almost instinctively, her gaze returned to the soldiers around them.

"Oi." She startled when the dark-haired man abruptly locked eyes with her. "Do you need something?" Ren blinked—she couldn't understand what he was saying, but she didn't appreciate the tone. Everything about this man, from his expression to the tambre of his voice, announced his disdain for her and for Akiko. Arrogant thug…

"Who are you people..?" she muttered, fully aware that he probably couldn't understand her, either. He simply raised an eyebrow, then sighed and directed his gaze back ahead of his horse.

"I can't understand a damn thing that comes out of this brat's mouth," Levi muttered. Beside Ren, Akiko scowled at the man.

"I don't like him," she said thoughtfully. Ren nodded.

"Neither do I…But we need these people, for now…"

"What an interesting language!" Ren had been so preoccupied with the thug to their right that she hadn't paid attention to the woman on their left. She had leaned forward from horseback, nose mere inches away. Ren flinched back and bumped Akiko.

"What?!" She demanded, obviously to receive no answer. The brunette's eyes were unreadable behind the glare on her glasses, but she had a wide grin on her face and the tint of color to her cheeks. What's got her so excited?

"You really don't understand anything I'm saying, do you?" she gushed. "I wonder how long it would take for you to learn our language. Here: My…name…is…Hange." She spoke with agonizing slowness and unnecessary volume, one hand curved to point back at herself. Ren's eyes widened—she recognized some words in there.

Had she said heisse nomen?

Ren frowned…she'd thought the language looked familiar; like a strange cross between German and Latin. No wonder Grandfather had me study so hard…

"My name is Ren Clarkson," she answered, speaking fully in German. The woman—Hange—blinked slowly before her face expanded in elation.

"Ooooh!" she breathed. "So interesting! I know some of those words…" she trailed off and stared back at Ren's, whose brow was furrowed in concentration. I have my work cut out for me, she thought. Sorting out this combination was certainly not going to be easy.

"My name is Ren Clarkson," she said again, this time substituting the word "name" in with the Latin. Hange's face positively glowed.

"That's it!" She practically screamed, and thrust a finger into Ren's face while she turned to the other one. "Levi! Did you hear that?! She can talk!" Ren glowered—Hange made it sound like she were some kind of particularly intelligent wild animal. But she had to admit, the language was starting to make sense to her; all she had to do was listen and pick out familiar words in Latin and German, though the structure was a little different…

The problems came when she tried to speak it, and she pretty much had to guess at which words were in which language, and what the order was. She tapped Hange's hand to get her attention, then used both hands, palms down, to gesture for her to slow down. Hange nodded slowly.

"She wants you to calm the fuck down," the man drawled. Ren quirked an eyebrow—there was a new word in that sentence; something she couldn't recognize as either German or Latin. But based on the rest of the sentence…she rolled her eyes. Probably an expletive. Latin didn't really have them…and they didn't function the same way in German as they did in English or Japanese. Less vulgar, more like aggressive adjectives.

"Please," she said carefully. "Talk slower." German. She received blank stares. "Slower?" she said again in Latin. Hange smiled.

"Okay," she said with a nod, appearing to understand. She gestured to Akiko. "And who is this?" she asked, speaking slow enough that Ren could keep up without being insulting.

"Akiko," Ren supplied. At the sound of her name, Akiko appeared distinctly uncomfortable. But her gaze rested mostly on Ren with a look of surprise. Ren smiled at her. "I can understand this language a bit," she explained in Japanese. "It's like a combination of German and Latin—my grandfather had me study both." Akiko nodded slowly, but appeared suspicious.

"You seem awfully well-prepared for this," she said. "You know the right languages, have the martial arts skills…pretty well adapted, if you ask me." Ren averted her gaze. At some point, she would tell Akiko her own, budding suspicions: that her grandfather had always meant her to land here, that this was where the mysterious "war" he mentioned took place. But she couldn't broach the topic while they were still treading water, surrounded by questionable military personnel.

"This is Levi," Hange interrupted, pointing to the dark-haired man. He leveled Ren with a steely gaze.

"How do you speak our language?" he asked. Ren merely shrugged—too hard to explain with her limited vocabulary. Instead she pointed at the emblem that decorated Hange's dark green cloak.

"What?" she asked. It was far easier to stick to one-word comments. Hange followed her gaze.

"We're called the Scout Regiment," she explained carefully. As she spoke, she moved her gaze back to the front and maneuvered her horse around a large rock. The wagon didn't have that luxury, and so Ren felt her stomach flop as it jostled roughly. Akiko grimaced, and Ren kept half her attention on the girl in case there was an injury she had missed.

"Scout Regiment?" she repeated. Hange nodded. "We go beyond the walls into Titan territory…" she paused with Ren's expression of confusion.

"Titans?" Ren mimicked, not recognizing the word. Hange nodded, and her face turned serious—something Ren was quickly understanding to be a rarity for this flamboyant woman.

"Titans," she held her hands apart to indicate large size. "Like giant humans? The monsters that attacked you."

"Ah," Ren ground out, her gaze lowering to the wooden floor of the wagon. Titans. So that's what they are… When she glanced back up to Hange, there was raw fury in her gaze, potent enough that the brunette was mildly taken aback. "They eat people?" Ren asked. For the first time, Hange seemed to have no difficulty understanding her, and nodded.

"Yeah," she said, then cracked a dark grin. "But we kill them." Ren nodded and lapsed into silence. She had the answers she wanted for the time being—more than enough to mull over. She looked back to the man, Levi, and he returned her stare coldly.

I still don't like him, she thought. But the look on Hange's face as she spoke of killing titans had struck a chord in Ren, and she made the silent decision to suspend judgement on this mysterious Scout Regiment.

ΩΩ

Erwin's face was stoic, composed, as he stared through the hole in Wall Maria. Levi flanked him, and glowered into the ravaged town on the other side. The sun had set an hour ago, leaving the world tinged in gray and silent but for the gentle whistle of wind through the wall. It blasted his hair back from his face and dried his eyes to the point of tearing. He remained expressionless, and almost relished the prickle of cold against his skin.

Behind them, the corps silently went about setting up camp. There was a marked lethargy—devoid of conversation, marked only by the slight shuffle of the medics, the occasional groan from the injured. The comparison between their bleak operation and the fractured town within the walls was a bizarre one.

For probably the millionth time in the past three years, he imagined what it must have been like during that first terrible, unprecedented attack.

"We should have been here," Petra murmured, coming up beside them. Levi set his jaw. She was right…but regret served no purpose.

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Erwin spoke before Levi could. His blue eyes almost glowed. "All we can do is move forward. We'll stay here for the night, and in the morning, we'll take back the wall." He said it so easily, Levi couldn't help but stare at him sidelong.

Erwin knew their chances as well as anyone; the likelihood that they would even make it to Wall Rose, let alone eliminate the titans between, was slim to none. And yet, his face was set, confident, as though their victory was assured.

"Titans first thing in the morning," Levi grumbled. "It's gonna be a shitty day."

"Don't swear," Petra murmured half-heartedly. Her eyes still rested on the wall, but as Levi watched she closed them and turned away. As always, her emotions played visibly on her face.

"Tch." Levi turned his horse and rode back into camp. Wearily, but with no lag in movement, he dismounted and relinquished the reigns to a dark-haired, baby-faced youth who tied it to a tree with a few others. Levi watched the boy give a gentle, exhausted smile, and Jackson's face flashed through his head. Levi gritted his teeth. Stupid brat.

"Levi!" He was in the middle of re-dampening a patch of crusted blood on the cuff of his sleeve—he had learned the stains came out much more easily if the blood was kept moist. He didn't bother to afford Hange so much as a glance as she danced toward him.

"Captain," Eld greeted tiredly as he approached behind her. Levi dropped his sleeve and glanced around at their camp in disgust. This was a part of expeditions he would never get past. The haphazard sprawl of white tents, the filth of soiled bandages and endless scrabble of the field medics. It made him tense—grime everywhere, and always the chance of titans, despite the dark. His hand rested on his gear.

"We're camping here tonight," Levi said simply. "We'll move into the wall tomorrow morning." His words were met with a silent nod from Eld, and a disturbing smile from Hange.

"I wonder how many titans we'll see tomorrow!" She gushed, near to drooling. Levi shot her a glare.

"Disgusting," he said and began walking toward the center of their camp, dodging stretchers and ghostly, white-cloaked smocks stained red. Hange trailed after him.

"Oi, Levi," she began, hazel eyes wide and hopeful.

"No." He didn't even need to look at her, simply kept walking forward.

"But—"

"NO."

"Give up, Hange," Eld chuckled drily. "You know the Corporal hates leaving titans alive." Levi rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he hated letting them live—he understood as well as the next person why a captive titan would be useful. But when it came down to it, capturing a titan alive always cost so many extra lives…lives he valued more than any extra information.

When it came to titans, Levi knew all he needed to: why to hate them, and how to kill them.

"Then, Eld…" Hange reached for his shoulders, face half-crazed, and Eld brushed her off.

"Don't look at me," he held up both hands. "I've been put on babysitting duty, anyway." At that, Hange stopped walking and looked at Eld.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. Eld nodded.

"Erwin asked that the elites take turns with the alien brats," Levi explained. "We need them to make it back inside Wall Rose or this whole thing was pointless."

"Oluo was with them last I saw," Eld added. "Though honestly, I can hardly think two traumatized girls are worth the man power. It's not like they're going to be in the line of fire, especially here in camp…" he broke off at Hange's grin.

"It's less to guard them," she said, glasses flashing. "And more to observe them!" Eld pulled a face as she blushed with excitement.

"Calm down, titan freak," Levi intoned.

"But they're just so interesting! Who knows where they're from, what their language is…aah, I want to dissect one!" Eld blanched, and she laughed. Levi walked a little faster. He hated when Hange got like this.

"How are they?" He asked, speaking only to Eld. The blond man moved to stand at Levi's side as they attempted to leave Hange behind them.

"The smaller one is sleeping," he said simply. "She seems fine, just shocked. It's the blond that concerns me…" Levi nodded.

"I agree," he said. Eld waited for him to elaborate, but Levi remained silent. He couldn't put a finger on it, but the look in that girl's eyes was too familiar. Messy, he thought. Brats like her were always messy. And in this case, he had a feeling she wouldn't prove worth the resulting filth.

"Well, we're heading straight for the tent," Eld supplied, unconcerned by his captain's silence. "If you wanted to take a look."

"Ooh—I want to!" Hange squealed. Levi stopped and sighed, a single breath through the nose.

"Get lost, four-eyes," he said. "Your zeal is going to give me constipation." Sadly, Hange had already practically skipped through the white tarps swaying in the breeze and as he approached, Levi could hear her talk in slow, too-loud tones.

"Good evening!" She said. "How are you feeling?" Levi brushed aside the tent and stood at the edge of the saffron glow from the single oil lamp inside. He crossed his arms and regarded its occupants with a scowl. The dark-haired kid—Akiko—was curled on a cot in the corner, asleep. A slight frown marred her brow and a few strands of onyx hair clung to her neck.

The blond, Ren, hovered at the edge of the cot. One hand absently pushed the hair away from Akiko's face as she regarded Hange. Levi frowned and allowed himself to stare while she was preoccupied. If he was honest, there was more than the look in her gray eyes that unsettled him. She was…familiar.

It was her features. Slanted eyes, pale skin, delicate features, a form significantly smaller than average, even for a female. No matter how he looked, she appeared to be oriental, despite the hair and the eyes. The same was even more true of Akiko. He narrowed his eyes, and couldn't help but wonder if these two girls could hold answers to the truth of the mysterious Ackerman name.

As he watched, her eyes suddenly cut over to meet his. In the glow from the lamp, they glistened, and a frown marred her features.

"What," she said, her voice low. "Do you with us?" Levi had to pause and unscramble her sentence—the correct words, in a nonsensical order.

"We don't know yet," he answered coldly. "Depends on whether you're worth keeping around." Ren seemed to understand the sentiment perfectly, and glowered at Levi with enough force that he thought she might leap up at swing at him, then and there.

He couldn't help but remember how she had charged the titan on the battlefield. She's either crazy, brave, or an idiot. He looked into her eyes and sneered. Probably all three. His gaze landed on the visible scab on one of her palms from where she had gripped the raw ends of Jackson's swords. They already looked well on their way to healing…

Suddenly Levi tensed, and his gaze became harder with intent. No longer appraising, but cataloguing. Her injuries…how had they already stopped bleeding? Come to think of it, he was sure he hadn't even seen any blood when they first scooped her sorry ass off the ground. More questions…

"First we'll just get you to Wall Rose," Eld smiled, unaware of his captain's tension. Ren quirked an eyebrow and redirected her gaze.

"Wall…Rose?" She glanced toward the back of the tent, in the direction of the wall. "In there?" She pointed. Levi nodded, and the ghost of an emotion flickered across her features. Relief? Determination? "People…others?" she said, looking at Hange.

"Tch, this is fucking annoying," Levi drawled, and turned to leave the tent. He needed to speak to Erwin. "New assignment for you, shit-glasses: teach this brat how to talk. She sounds like a toddler." With that, he left the tent. Behind him, he heard Hange chatter excitedly about the prospects of trading languages, and even Eld's laugh as Ren muttered something disgruntled.

He amended his opinion. She was a messy, inconvenient, alien brat…but potentially useful. He had questions—beyond what he knew Erwin already planned to ask.

As soon as Hange had Ren speaking like a fucking adult, he would have answers.

Ooh, Levi's making some logical connections! Wonder where this could lead...too bad he has to be patient since there's a language barrier ;)

Definitely a little bit of filler before we get into the Trost catastrophe (next chapter!) Let me know if things are still making sense. I'm trying to be realistic with Ren and Akiko's language trouble-I assume you've gathered by now that this AU has Paradis situated as a Bermuda's Triangle type situation: part of the broader world, but disconnected. And their culture seemed to be fundamentally German, with some other random influences, so I decided that a language combo of German and Latin might make sense...

Anyway, maybe this whole scene is boring, or unnecessary...but it was kinda fun to think about, so I included it.

Next chapter: stay tuned for more action! We'll finally reconnect with the broader canon in Trost, so maybe things will progress more smoothly.

Leave a review on the way out if you like ;) TTFN!