Chapter-11

The Titan emerges

Note: I do not own any of these characters

At the moment, it didn't look like anything would go wrong. As the troops moved outside Wall Rose, the defense squad did it's best to ensure that some of the titans which strayed by were immediately cut down before they could damage the formation.

The troops crossed Wall Maria and spread out into a gigantic arrow-like shape.

The soldiers were silent. Normally, one would find them in a jovial mood and ready for action, but now, they were just focusing keenly on their job.

In general, there were four categories of people among the Survey Corps.

First, the group of people who knew very little and talked too much.

Such as Joe.

"Man! I was so hyped about this, but it's boring! I wish someone would come and attack us already!"

"Are you stupid!" Connie yelled at him. "You should be happy that we're so lucky. And be on your guard. Who knows what could happen!"

"Be quite!" Christa warned the two. "You're attracting too much attention."

Next, were the people who were a bit more serious and talked less.

Such as Jean.

"Something's not right about this." He muttered.

"It's normal for people to feel like that Jean, so you shouldn't worry." said Petra Ral.

"Yeah and if those Titans come out of their stinking rat holes, I'll be the first one to tear them down!" said Oluo.

Jean sighed. "It's just that I feel that we shouldn't have rushed with this expedition thing."

"Nothing that's happened in the past can be changed. So it's best to forget it. All we can do now is move forward." Gunther advised.

Then there were the few who knew a lot but still stayed cool.

Such as Levi- Humanities greatest soldier.

"Grr .. This place reeks." He complained under his breath.

Eld Jinn- the second in command of Levi's squad was calm. "Just like Erwin predicted, the frequency of the Titan sightings here is much lower than it should be."

Levi turned to face Mikasa. "Oh, I heard that one of your teammates was seriously injured by that sneaky rat who killed those two Titans. So, How's he shaping up now?"

Mikasa gave him a stare which would have probably scared the living hell out of an ordinary person, but Levi didn't even flinch.

"May I ask you why you're interested." She said in a deadly voice.

Levi shrugged.

Mikasa looked down. Levi could sense the rage emanating from her.

"If I get my hands on that person.." She said "I will rip him apart."

Levi sneered. "Really? what happened to all that talk of yours about not keeping revenge as a motive."

"It isn't just revenge." Mikasa said firmly. "It's about setting an example." She looked at the gates which were now fading into the distance. "Fear is a powerful tool. I learned about it the hard way. And if anyone harms my comrades or betrays my trust, I will make sure they regret it."

After that there was silence.

Finally there were the two who knew too much for their own good and felt sick because of it.

Such as Ryan, who looked like he was surrounded by devils and jumped at the smallest of noises.

Other than Armin, there was no one within earshot which made it a bit easier for the two to converse.

"Ryan you really shouldn't be worried about this. You need to stay focused." Armin said.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who's being targeted by a blood-thirsty titan."

"I understand... If only Eren could recollect exactly what happened it woul have been much easier for us."

Ryan nodded. He rubbed his eyes and he looked like he was exhausted.

Armin noticed this. "Is there something else which is troubling you?"

Ryan shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Armin?"

"Yeah?"

"Hypothetically, if I was given a choice- to trust Eren or... the rest of the squad, What do you think I should do?"

Armin eyed him suspiciously. "Why? Did Eren tell you something?"

Ryan nodded.

Armin considered it. "Well Ryan, this might sound stupid, but I feel that if you're in a bad situation,You're the one who can analyze it the best and therefore, the one who makes the decision shouldn't be Eren or anyone else. It should be you."

"You mean to say that I should decide on my own."

"I'm saying that you can get advice from others, but in the end- it's up to you."

Ryan thought about it. 'Well, it does look like the best thing to do... but I don't think I'm strong enough."

And then, they saw a single projectile in the sky. It was a red smoke bomb.

A Titan had been spotted.

Eren's head ached like crazy. He didn't know which pain was worse, the one in his mind or his whole body.

It had started an hour ago when He had fallen asleep, but now.. things were getting much worse. He could feel the tension in his bones and flesh. It was like there was some poison in his body which was resisting his regeneration.

Once, he had even tried to leave the room hoping to join the rest of the Survey Corps but he had collapsed before he even reached the door.

He was then put back in his bed and got a nasty scolding from the nurse.

He grimaced as another memory hit him.

The time when he had fallen inside the bearded titan's mouth. The feeling as the Titan's jaws closed, severing his hand in the process. The horror he felt as he slid down the Titan's throat.

He tried to get out of his bed, but he felt another shock in his head and he fell on the floor.

He saw Gunther's body fly past him, his head nearly severed from his body.

He saw The female titan mercilessly bite Eld in half and spit him out.

He saw Petra getting smashed in a tree and Oluo's body getting decimated by a kick.

And he could no longer control his tears.

'So many people... dead because of me. So many lives lost'

"Why!" He yelled, smashing his fist repeatedly into the floor, ignoring the pain in his shoulders and the fact that his hands were bleeding profusely.

"Why do I always fail ?" He screamed,punctuating each word with another punch to the floor. His surroundings momentarily turned bleary.

And then he looked up and saw the blue titan. Thousands of smaller titans surrounded them and screeched as if to cheer them on. The Titan sneered at him.

"Broken already, Eren?"

Eren's pain turned to anger as he transformed and lunged at the Titan.

Just a few minutes after the first Titan had been sighted, someone had fired a black smoke bomb- indicating the presence of a deviant class titan. Such a Titan couldn't simply be avoided. It had to be taken down.

Luckily, the soldiers facing it were two of the most capable fighters in the Corps- Ness and Cis.

Ness jumped of from the horse and swung around one of the Titan's legs. He used his momentum to help make a deep cut the Titan's foot.

As the Titan slipped and fell forward, Cis sprang into action and delivered a powerful slash to the nape of the Titan's neck, killing it.

Before the two could celebrate, they spotted another Titan charging towards them. They proceeded to join the rest of the people.

However as Cis turned to look back at the Titan,he felt a chill run down his spine.

The Titan was now running extremely fast. It jumped over the two and continued to sprint towards the center of the formation.

"We have to stop her!" Cis thought as he and Ness both jumped off their horses once again.

Both of them used their gear to swing towards the New Titan.

But as Cis advanced towards the Titan, He realised that this was no ordinary Titan. It had a muscular build and definitely looked.. feminine.

He saw a giant hand advancing towards him. It was too late to change course. He closed his eyes and accepted his inevitable fate.

The Titan caught the soldier and mercilessly crushed him in her hand.

Before Ness could register the death of his friend, He saw the Titan grab the rope which led to his gear and swung him into the ground.

The Titan then continued it's journey towards the center, having something which looked suspiciously like a wicked grin on her face.

"He is near." She thought.

As the two squads reached the forests.,Armin noticed a single black streak in the air far away.

Normally this wouldn't have perturbed him much.

But then, he saw several other streaks rise into the air ,turning the sky dark.

And his heart beat harder and harder.

"She's coming."

Well this chapter is done. How will the two squads handle this new threat? And what in the world is happening to Eren!

Find out in the penultimate chapter of the Female Titan Arc!