Even though the elite soldiers had their hands covering their ears, the loud ringing noise cause their heads to to hurt. "An acoustic shell?!" Eren asked slightly surprised. Levi turned around at the Titan-boy, "Tell me, what is your job again? Is it to surrender to your emotions of the moment? No, it's not. This squad's mission is to do everything possible to keep these brats unharmed. Down to our last breath."
Eren's eyes widened slightly as he stared into space. Alex kept her usual straight face; emotionless eyes and her lips in a thin straight line. "We're going to keep pushing ahead on horseback. Got it?" Levi stated.
"Understood, Sir!" Petra said with a nod, her honey colored hair flying back as she pushed against the wind.
"Push ahead?! But for how long?! Not to mention, it's almost on top of us now. More.. More reinforcements! They'll get killed too if we don't hurry up and help them!" Eren said looking back at the female Titan.
"Stop whining and face forward. Trust me, if she gets to close to us, I have my ring," Alex said lifting up her hand with her family ring on it and wiggling her fingers, "so calm down."
Eren frowned. "Calm down?! How am I supposed to calm down, when our comrades are sacrificing their lives for us?!" Eren shouted at the black haired girl, his anger getting the best of him.
"They signed up to die the minute they joined the Scout Regiment. They were going to die eventually anyways," Alex said bluntly. She was speaking the truth; hoping Eren would calm down, but her statement only made him angrier.
"Are you serious?! Are you heartless?! Do you even care about anyone except yourself?! You're so selfish!" Eren shouted at her. Alex's eyes met his in a flash and darkened. Their usual bright blue turned a darker shade. "Selfish? Do you remember that time I pushed you away from that Titan in Trost and ended up getting eaten by it? Or that time I helped and encouraged you when you were carrying the boulder to the hole? Or maybe about the time I gave you advise about the 3D Maneuver Gear so you wouldn't fail and have to back to the fields?!" Alex said, her darkened blue eyes piercing into Eren's green sea ones. Eren frowned - all of that was true. But still, his anger got the best of him.
"Maybe you did! So what? Because right now you're a heartless bastard, not caring about the lives of our comrade right now!" Eren shouted gritting his teeth. The rest of the group stayed quiet as they listened to the two arguing. Levi was amused by it, but his face only showed coldness.
"There will be a time where all of us are dead. If it's today, or tomorrow, eventually all of us will be dead. Those soldiers know that they are facing death, otherwise they wouldn't be trying to kill it. So shut up and be quiet," Alex said, her voice becoming low and more scarier. Eren turned away from her and glared at the moving ground.
"Don't fall out of step! Maintain top speed!" Eld ordered, breaking the awkward and uneasy silence.
"Why?!" Eren asked looking back at the blonde. "Who can possibly stop it, if not the Levi Squad?!" Eren continued. A soldier yelled out from behind them, and Alex turned her attention to him, only to see the Female Titan smash him into a tree like a bug. His blood splattered and stained the bark; his body unrecognizable as his insides slid down the base of the tree. Eren gasped at the bloody sigh, "Another one's dead! We could've saved him too! One person's still fighting! There's still time to save him!"
"Eren! Focus ahead and keep moving!" Petra shouted at him.
"Are you telling me to ignore the fighting behind us?! Just to run away and abandon my comrades?!" Eren shouted back at her.
"Yes! I am! Do as the captain says!" Petra answered.
"I don't understand why we're letting them die! And I don't understand why he won't explain! Why?!" Eren asked.
"He doesn't need to explain," Alex said calmly, "you just need to listen."
Eren frowned and looked down in thought. His eyes stared down at his hand and he slowly brought it up to his mouth. He hesitated - in thought - and then opened his mouth to bite down on his thumb. "Eren, no." Alex said reaching over and pushing her hand down onto his lap. Her slapped away her pale hand and brought his hand back up to his mouth again.
"You're only permitted to do that when your life is in danger! That was our agreement, remember?!" Petra asked. Eren's white teeth were now on the skin of his hand. He sat there thinking if he should do it or not.
"Eren!" Petra tried again.
"You're not in the wrong. If you wanna do it, do it. I can tell. He's a real monster, and not because of his Titan ability. No matter how hard he's restrained, no matter what cage he's put inside, no one can ever tame him. Eren. Our difference in experience is why we don't see eye-to-eye. But you don't need to rely on that. Choose. Will you trust yourself, or me, these guys, and the entire Scout Regiment? I don't know the answer to that, I never have. Whether I trust myself, or the choices of my dependable comrades, there was no telling how things would turn out. So, just do the best you can and choose whichever you'll regret the least," Levi spoke calmly, still facing forward.
Eren lowered his hand and looked back at the running Titan. It still had one hand covering the back of it's neck, but the other one was swinging back and forth as it ran at full speed toward the group. It'd often use it's other hand to smash the soldiers that tried to kill it - her - as she tried catching up. Eren let out a frustrated sigh and turned back forward, and raised his hand up again.
"Eren. Trust us," Alex said looking at him. He lowered his hand down slightly and looked into her blue eyes. How was she calm? Why wasn't she trying to use her powers to help the dying soldiers behind them?
Did she know the plan?
To Eren, it would explain it - all the other members of the elite squad obviously didn't know the plan or what was going to happen. They, themselves, were panicking on the inside, too. But only Alex and Levi stayed calm about the situation.
Eren stared at Alex in deep thought, thinking back to when the group misjudged him when they were experimenting and they all bite their hands like he does before he turns. Behind them, the Female Titan was catching up, but the brave soldiers were stalling her with their lives.
"Eren! Hurry! Decide already!" Levi shouted back at him.
"I'll go with you!" Eren shouted, making his decision. He then closed his eyes, wondering if what he chose was right. Only time will tell, though.
"Let go!" shouted a fearful soldier as the Female Titan grabbed him with her hand then smashed him as she kept running. Eren stared back with an opened mouth, but quickly shut it and turned away. The Female Titan lowered her upper body; pushing the weight forward so she could move faster and more efficient. Dust and dirt flew up behind her; covering the trees in layers.
"Target is speeding up!"
"Keep moving! We're going outrun it!"
The target was directly behind them, it's hand was reaching out towards Alex and Eren. It's blonde hair flowing behind it's face, revealing it's blue eyed smirking face. They kept running, but then it seemed like everything slowed down. The soldiers that were at the front in the beginning of the expedition with Commander Erwin were scattered on the ground and in the trees. They had multiple traps set up in many different angles and spots. The Female Titan slowed down some and stared in shock that she fell for the trap.
"Fire!" Erwin shouted, then all the soldiers pulled down on the cords connected to the traps and they all shot out iron grapple hooks into the Female Titan's flesh. The Titan quickly covered the back of it's neck with both hands and stood still, allowing the iron hooks pierce her skin. The elite squad continued riding forward on their horses as smoke from the trapped blocked their vision of the now trapped Female Titan. Eren stared back in shock.
"Hitch your horses a little further ahead, then switch to your gear. I have to leave for now. Eld's in charge of the squad. Hide Alex and Eren a suitable distance away from that Titan. Look after my horse," Levi said then shot a hook into a tree and used the gas in his tank to go back to the trap, leaving his horse with the squad.
"You don't mean.. They're going to take that Titan alive?" Eren thought out loud. Petra's mouth was open still from what happened minutes ago, while Auruo and Alex kept a straight face. "What do you think of that, Eren, Alex?! We caught that Titan!" Gunther said excitedly.
"This is the might of the Scout Regiment! Don't underrate us you idiots! Now do you see?" Auruo asked. Eren smiled, "Yes!" But soon after he said that, his smile was replaced by a small frown. "Is it a variant or like the Colossal Titan? Commander Erwin could already be.." Eren mumbled to himself, but was cut off by Aurou's annoying shouting.
"Hey! Look sharp!" he shouted.
"Eren! You can think later. Our job is to stand ready further in," Petra explain. "Right!" Eren said with a nod. More explosion sounds came from behind the group. Eren frowned and looked at Alex.
"You knew the plan the whole time, didn't you?" He asked, causing the other members to look at her with questioning looked. Alex side glanced him, "Yes." They're comrade's eyes widened. "What?! Commander and Captain told a newbie like you?!" Auruo shouted in disbelief as they got off their horse and tied them up. Alex looked at him with a bored expression, "You would be correct."
"But why?!" He asked grabbing onto her shoulders and shaking her. He felt betrayed in some way - that they would tell a rookie but not him. It didn't make sense.
"That was his plan from the very beginning, wasn't it?" Eren asked her as Alex shoved Auruo off of her then used her gear to get on one of the high branches. The rest of the group did the same thing with nearby branches. "I can understand why he wouldn't tell rookies like me, but I don't see why he didn't tell you Scout veterans but told a rookie like Alex," Eren said furrowing his eyebrows.
"Shut up!" Auruo shouted at him angrily.
"Are you saying that the commander and captain don't trust us?!" Petra asked swinging on of her blades in the air. Eren turned around nervously, "No. But isn't that how it looks?"
"Petra! Yank the brat's teeth out and stuff them back in his mouth!" Auruo said turning around and waving his blades.
"No. Eren's right," Alex spoke up running her fingers along the sharp side of her sword.
"Huh?" Auruo asked.
"I think the commander had a simple reason for being unable to trust us," Eld explained. Everyone turned their attention to him except Alex.
"Like what?" Auruo asked raising an eyebrow.
"There's only one reason why you can't trust a fellow soldier. There's someone in the regiment who is a Titan or is working for the Titans as a spy," Eld explained looking away.
"A spy? Do you really think there's someone like that?" Gunther asked.
"The commander at least thinks so. It's likely the ones who were told of this plan were the soldiers who've survived five years," Eld said.
"I see. That makes sense. But why was Alex told?" Auruo asked staring at the black haired girl.
"The person inside that Titan body is most likely the one who killed Sawney, Edgar, and Bean," Alex explained, trying to get them to catch on.
"Yeah.. After that happened the commander asked me a question about it.." Petra trailed off.
"So that's why he asked me that question.." Eren muttered to himself.
"If I had been able to answer that question, I might have been able to join the main operation.." Eld said then looked down thinking.
"I knew what was going on. But I chose not to answer. Do you guys know why?" Auruo asked in a bragging manor. Alex rolled her blue eyes.
"Why?" Petra asked.
"Gosh.. don't you know? I suppose people at your level wouldn't know. You haven't reached my level yet," Auruo bragged.
"That's funny, because we only had two meetings discussing the plan and you weren't at either of them," Alex said tapping on her chin with her pointer finger and tapping her right foot to make it look like she was remembering something. Auruo deadpanned then glared at the girl across from him.
"Are you pretending to be Captain Levi again? Captain doesn't say such things," Petra said annoyed.
"Do you think the commander made the wrong decision?" Eld asked but when Eren didn't answer he continued, "Eren, you don't know yet, but one day, you'll understand why Erwin Smith was entrusted with the Scout Regiment, the hope of humankind."
"Captain Levi trusts him implicitly!" Petra assured.
"This is, if you're still alive when the time comes," Aurou said in a snotty voice. Alex rolled her eyes - again - at the annoying man.
"Has anyone every told you how annoying you are? 'Cause you're really fucking annoying," Alex said leaning her head to the side and placing a hand on her hip.
"You stupid bi-" Auruo started and flew over to her branch with his gear to punch her, but was cut off when she twisted the black rose on her ring and put up the almost transparent black force field. "What were you saying?" Alex asked innocently, tilting her head and giving an innocent - yet creepy and strange (according to Auruo) - smile. Auruo's eyes narrowed and he pounded his white fists on the rock hard barrier.
"What the hell?! Why is this thing so hard?" Auruo asked rubbing his bruised and bleeding knuckles. Alex shrugged as the force field slowly disappeared. Auruo frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but a loud inhuman scream came from inside the forest. Everyone in the group turned to where they had came from and stared with open mouths. Alex furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"What the hell was that?" Alex asked.
The scream ended, but moments later there were loud, heavy footsteps. Many of them, too.
"What the hell.." Auruo muttered as the loud stomping dialed down. A gunshot noise caught Alex's attention and she looked up. A blue flare. "Looks like it's over. Get on your horses and prepare to withdraw!" Gunther ordered turning to the group. "You heard the man. Let's go see what that bitch inside looks like," Auruo said standing up.
"Do you think we'll find out who she really is?" Eren asked tapping on his gas tank. Everyone was checking everything and adjusting everything before they got back on their horses.
"It's all thanks to you, Eren," Petra said and smiled at the brunette.
"But I haven't done anything," Eren said confused.
"Exactly. You trusted us and didn't turn," Alex said landing beside him.
"Well I suppose they did pretty good to make it back alive on their first mission. But we can't give them credit for that until the operation is over," Auruo said with a smirk.
"Auruo, Petra. For two people who wet their pants during their first battle, you've done well for yourselves," Eld said as they all flew in the air using their gear.
"Don't say that! Don't take away our dignity, Eld!" Petra screamed at him frustrated.
"What dignity?" Alex chuckled and earned a glare from both elites.
"Whoa! So it's true?!" Eren asked staring at the two embarrassed soldiers.
"It's a fact. Just so you know, I didn't wet mine," Eld said with a chuckle.
"Bozo! I have more kills than you! I'm better than you!" Auruo fought back.
"You can't judge who's a better soldier just by kills," Eld smirked.
"Shut up!"
"Petra! Does that mean you sprayed in mid-air?" Eren asked which actually made Alex laugh.
"That's enough! You're not here on a picnic! This is outside the wall! For the record, I didn't leak either!" Gunther shouted back at the laughing and embarrassed soldiers.
"We're rendezvousing with the captain! Continue this after we get back!" Gunther shouted at them after noticing the green flare. He then landed on a branch and shot a green flare in the air, verifying and giving away their location. They continued traveling by gear when they noticed someone in a Scout uniform show up beside them.
"Captain Levi..?" Gunther asked hesitantly.
"It's not him," Alex mumbled to Gunther after looking at the person's figure.
"Who's there?!" Gunther yelled at the mystery person with a frown. Almost instantly, the person grew closer to the dark brunette and cut his torso and cord with their swords. Everyone gasped as his limp body hung down from a tree.
"G-Gunther! Wait! Why are you? Gunther!" Eren shouted and moved towards the hanging body. Eren stared in fear and shock when he saw Gunther's lifeless face. "Eren! Get away from him! He's gone! We need to keep moving!" Alex shouted at him, snapping him out of his trance. She flew right next to him and grabbed onto his shirt, "We need to keep moving! Go!" She then let go of his shirt and allowed him to move on his own.
"Dammit. This whole this is a mess," Alex thought to herself as she moved between two trees, "why does it want us anyways?"
"But Gunther is..!"
"Who's that?!"
"Protect Alex and Eren!"
"Dammit! Why now? Which way do we go, Eld?" Auruo asked looking back at the blonde haired man.
"There's no time to get our horses! Head for HQ at full speed!" Eld ordered. Everyone nodded and continued moving. Alex flew right next to Eren, and Eld, Auruo, and Petra surrounded them. "Is it the Female's operator? Or is there more than one?!" Auruo asked looking over at the hooded figure. "Damn! You'll pay for this! You're going down, even if I have to die too!" Petra shouted at them. All four sets of eyes watched at the figure disappeared behind a tree, and see the flash of lightning.
"I fucking knew it!" Alex shouted frustrated. She hated this - she hated her. "It's coming. The Female Titan!" Eld yelled as the Female Titan grew to full size quickly. The Female Titan quickly stood up straight and started sprinting at the group of elites. "Damn! How could you?! This time, I will kill you myself!" Eren yelled looking back at the sprinting Titan.
"Eren! Shut up and keep moving!" Alex growled at him.
"The three of us will take her down! You two just keep heading for HQ as fast as you can!" Eld ordered causing Eren to frown.
"We'll fight too!" Eren shouted back. "No! Eren, we need to get back to HQ now!" Alex shouted at him and looked at him with cold eyes. One of the soldiers pierced her eyes with two swords, making her go blind for about a minute. The Female Titan instantly covered to nape of her neck and then leaned up against one of the giant trees. Eren and Alex watched as they distanced themselves from the three fast flying soldiers and dangerous Female Titan.
"They're good! They have her total overwhelmed!" Eren thought out loud. "Yeah, they're good but we need to keep moving and not look back. We have to put all our trust in those three," Alex explained using more gas to go faster. Eren quickly caught up to her, "This is the most I've heard you talk within the four years I've known you."
Alex side glanced at him, "Don't get used to it."
"You think a lot like Captain Levi," Eren said, "and act too."
"Stop talking and start moving," Alex said changing the subject. Everyone compared her to that clean freak - and she didn't know why. She was her; he was him. That's it - nothing else.
Alex looked back at the group, only to see Eld get crushed in between the Female's teeth. Eren saw it too and let out a gasp. Alex shook her head and blinked, facing forward. "Don't look back," Alex ordered. "B-But-" Eren stopped talking and turned around. "Eren!" Alex yelled after him, but he ignored her shouting and kept moving towards the Female Titan.
"Fucking idiot," Alex muttered then turned around herself to go after him. She still had that promise to Mikasa; to protect him. Even though Mikasa probably forgot about it, Alex isn't going against her word. She doesn't want Mikasa to go through what she had.
She didn't want anyone to have to.
Alex quickly sped up to Eren just as they saw Petra get smashed against a tree with the Female Titan's foot. Eren let out a sad scream, as did Auruo. Auruo quickly got a hold of himself and went straight for the nape. But something happened; the skin over the nape turned into rock hard crystal material and caused the blades to break. Auruo, Eren, and Alex stared in shock as the Titan quickly reacted and kicked Auruo's fly body; the last one dead.
It was just Alex, Eren, and the Female Titan.