I do not own Attack on Titan

The room echoed the sharp crack of gunfire, the sparks that appeared at the end of the barrels peppering the dim space like lightning. I flinched at the bright light and loud sound.

On cue, the cadets hiding in the rafters emerged, making their cuts. Five titans fell. To my horror, Sasha and Connie's titans were still standing. They missed the vital point and now they were in danger. Both titans turned around to face them, unpleasant expressions gracing their faces. My stomach dropped at the sight, unable to do anything to help them.

Bertolt cried, "Sasha and Connie missed!"

"Lead them the hell back!" Jean growled.

Cried out in terror, Sasha ducked out of the way when her titan grabbed for her, screaming sorry as she lay sprawled on the floor. Connie was back up against a pillar, swords in hand as he stood petrified. Thankfully, Mikasa and Annie came to the rescue and took down the remaining two titans.

The titan corpses billowed steam as they disintegrated.

When the cadets on the ground regrouped, Jean called up to us, "They're all dead. Start loading up supplies!"

The lift was lowered fully to the ground, and everyone rushed with a bounce in their step to refuel. Among the gas stations, I found a barrel of fresh water. I ladled water in my mouth, the cool liquid coating my dry throat in moisture. I sighed in relief, dipping a handkerchief in the water and wiping my sweaty skin.

I was beyond relieved that we were in the clear. It was like taking a breath of fresh air for the first time. The feeling was so strong I wanted to cry. But I couldn't—not in front of everyone else. I would live to ensure another day would pass without another wall falling. This experience made me realize one thing, and that is how precarious our existence was. Just a small breach in the wall—the tiniest hole could affect thousands of lives.

A life wasn't worth living in fear. Fear could destroy us as much as titans could, if not worse. The thought of being eaten and dying a horrible death at the hand of a titan was much more terrifying than actually confronting them. It was then I remembered something my Papa told me.

Back when the Sindhi roamed the land, we were partnered with Ursari in a circus. They got their name from their long tradition of training bears. During this time, many of the gypsy clans were still roaming the land in nomadic clusters. We were most accepted within Wall Maria, the few clans within Wall Rose already assimilated into a settled lifestyle.

The Sindhi clan and Ursari clan were close partners in entertainment. While the Usari put on bear shows and acrobatics, the Sindhi entertained with music and simple magic tricks. In our great caravan trains, we wandered from town to town, preparing for circus show after circus show.

One time, Papa took me to see one of the bears. I had already seen the albino doe, enormous cat, agility dogs, show ponies and talking bird, but Papa never let me near the bear trainers as they trained their bears or approach the cages. As the striped tents and trapeze wires were being assembled around us, we stood in front of a large cage.

The cage was a large wagon with iron bars lining the perimeter. Inside, a brown bear with a frilly collar of green and yellow sat hunched against a wall of its enclosure, scratching his belly while munching on some grapes. Around him were old, dirty pillows and straw. A wide wooden basin was full of fresh water, set aside in a corner of his enclosure. His name was Howard. Within his cage he seemed docile.

At the time, I was enchanted by the huge animal. Pressing my face up against the bars, I grinned in awe at him.

"Hi Howard," I cooed. "Papa, he's so adorable. I wish I could pet him."

Papa crouched down to my level, admiring Howard from my point of view.

He told me, "He may be subdued, but with one swat of his paw… whack! Howard could snap your neck. Man once feared the bear because of his strength. Until we learned to coincide in peace together, we were at odds for a long time. Why do you think I brought you to visit Howard?"

I thought momentarily, scrunching my face up. "To teach me to not underestimate him?"

Papa's black hair was slicked back with oil, signs of old age barely visible in the form of grey hairs intermixing with his sculpted mustache and hair. His dark brown eyes were alight with delight at my answer.

He smiled and petted my head affectionately. "You catch on quickly, petunia. Never underestimate any animal, because although you are brighter than them, they know the ways of the wild much better than you do. Remember this."

He hoisted me up over his shoulders as Howard rolled over to sleep atop his mountain of pillows.

"Any animal can be tamed, but a man must learn his secrets to conquer it."

A titan was just another animal. We only had to find a solution to be able to find peace. They could one day be as harmless as Howard the bear.

While I was refueling, I saw Marco and Jean sitting together and talking. Occasionally, their glances would come in my direction. I pretended that I didn't notice their eyes, trying not to read too much into it.

In no time, everyone was stocked up on blades and fuel, and as a hopeful group, we entered the courtyard to take off. Now out of the dark, cadets gave a hoot of joy as they sped towards the wall, no longer afraid for their lives. While taking off, I saw Mikasa, Armin, Reiner, Bertolt, Annie and Jean standing on a roof. Making sure everything was alright, I changed course and landed next to them.

"What's going on? We need to get out of here," I said, staring at the scene before me.

For the first time, I got a good look at the Abnormal that got everyone excited. It was a tall, muscular body with shaggy dark hair covering its face. Pointed ears protruded through the head of hair. Cornered up into a building, it was being feasted on by other titans. I stared in bewilderment, never encountering the sight of titans eating each other. It was just unheard of.

Mikasa answered, "This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us. That he'd help mankind break the cycle, turn the tides just long enough to give us a little ray of hope."

"She's right," Reiner remarked. "He's too valuable to just let die. There's too much information we can learn from him. I think it's perfectly clear our priorities would be to ward the scavengers off him. He's no good to us picked apart."

"Are you out of your mind? We've got a path out of this nightmare and you wanna stay?" Jean asked incredulously.

Annie coolly responded, "Think about it. Having an Abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage, right? A canon's got nothing on a titan who likes to rip apart his own kind."

"What if he's the one that changes everything that we know as of now?" I added. "This could be the first and last opportunity to take back what we've lost."

Another titan progressed toward the Abnormal.

I heard Armin give a cry of worry. "It's the Abnormal that ate Thomas!"

It had brown stringy hair, and nearly stood to the good Abnormal's height. The good Abnormal suddenly pushed against the titans eating its flesh and charged the Abnormal directly in front of it. Like a feral animal, the good Abnormal went for the other's neck, its teeth cutting through flesh. By this time, the good Abnormal had lost both limbs and for some reason couldn't regenerate. Using its own neck, it lifted the other Abnormal above it and swung it around like a ragdoll.

As another titan closed in on the good titan, the good Abnormal threw the Abnormal in its mouth. The two titans crashed into a building, leaving a large hole where they entered. Giving a bloodcurdling cry, the good Abnormal finally gave out. It crashed to the ground face first with a loud thud.

Seeing the good Abnormal finished, Jean was ready to go. But what happened next was enough to make me dizzy with shock. Through the thick steam of its decaying body, a hole revealed itself at the nape of the titan's neck. Inside, it looked like a human body. As it slowly seeped its way out of the flesh, a face appeared.

It was Eren.

Mikasa was already rushing down to get him before anyone could stop her. Climbing over the decaying corpse, she scooped Eren in an embrace. Then she started crying uncontrollably, the first time I'd seen her convey any emotion since hearing of Eren's death. I almost wanted to cry with her. It was just amazing he was alive.

I knew immediately things were going to get more complicated.