A/N: Aaaah!

I don't deserve you people! Some of your reviews really made my jaw hit the floor! Thank you all so much for your support and love!

On with the show!

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{Chapter Thirty-Seven: Beyond What's Known, Part 1}

"Seriously?" Eren gaped, the only one still capable of speech among the cadets.

"It'll only be for a short while, but yes. A small group will escort the wounded back to Rose and inform everyone as to what we're up to. The rest of us will be heading outside. Erwin thinks that if we can teach you enough, maybe we can... maybe we can lure all the Titans here and trap them inside Wall Maria, then escort everyone outside. Personally, I think that's pushing it— At most, we'll be able to teach you how to survive even with the Titans... But if you want to opt out and return to Wall Rose with the wounded, now is the time to say so." Ghoul said firmly, standing over them as dawn began shedding faint, wavering rosy light across the horizon behind him. The gentle lighting seemed to turn Ghoul into a black cutout against the purpling sky.

"Are you kidding? We didn't drag our asses out into Titan-controlled territory for nothing." Eren said firmly, eyes shining. Would 'a short while' be long enough to see some of the world's wonders...?

"Turn tail and run when all we need to do to get out is jump? When we're this close? Besides, I've already lived in the scary Titan-ruled lands for five years, what's another month?" Theresa snorted dismissively. It should've been obvious that she would follow Ghoul.

It was obvious that Armin and Mikasa would follow Eren. But it wasn't so obvious what the rest of the cadets would do.

"... How do you know we'll be safe?" Connie whispered.

"You're soldiers. It's an occupational hazard." Ghoul said bluntly, shrugging.

At the same time, Theresa jumped up and spun around, saying, "Because we'll all be there to protect you!" with a happy smile.

"Come on, guys! You didn't join the Scouting Legion just to sit and cower behind the walls like we always have, did you?!" Eren urged, climbing to his knees. "Think of it! We'll be some of the first insiders to go beyond what the Scouts have already mapped out, we might get to see some pretty incredible things!"

When everyone still looked indecisive, Ghoul turned thoughtfully away.

"What?" Theresa asked.

"... Trying to think of what to help Eren out with. But I keep drawing blanks. I don't want to spoil too much of what's out there before you all see it with your own eyes."

That made everyone pause, thinking. What incredible things were there out there? Eren, Armin and Mikasa knew some, but Ghoul most certainly knew more, and his 'pupil' Theresa must've known a fair bit as well. What exactly would they miss out on if they went back to the wall with the wounded? What stories to smugly tell gawking MPs would they not have?

"... If any of us die, I'll be the first to kill you both." Jean said irritably. Everyone else nodded, voicing their agreement to go outside as well.

Ghoul nodded absently, staring at the slowly pinking sky. Threads of gold were starting to lace their way through the soft color that was beginning to give way to blue with an edge of lavender between and a half-sky of indigo. Birds were beginning to fly about, calling to each other. The world was starting to wake up, but it was still in bed with it's head under the sheets as it groaned and griped about it being too early. Ghoul knew this, and wasn't sure if he should take advantage of it or hang back.

After all, while it's true the early bird gets the worm, the second mouse gets the cheese.

"Ghoully-ooly, can I talk to you? Alone? For a minute?" Theresa asked, sensing his concern.

Before anyone could actually reply, she was dragging the ravenette away, through the other soldiers, to a less-occupied stretch of wall. Spinning about, Theresa grabbed him by the shoulders, fixing him with a Look. It was uncharacteristic of the amber-blonde, mildly surprising Ghoul.

"Now what?" Theresa said sternly.

"What if they're not ready?"

Now it was Theresa's turn to be mildly surprised.

"I'm about to help lead a little more than fifty, give or take a few, inexperienced people into the wilderness from which they may never return. But they're soldiers, they can handle that... What if they're not ready to see anything yet? What if that's something that should wait for when the Titans are gone?"

Theresa blinked, then tilted her head, still gripping his shoulders as she smiled. "Ghoully-ooly, if God wanted men to fly, he'd've given them wings. If he wanted them to walk seven leagues in one step, he'd've given them really long legs. If he wanted them to survive, he'd've given them brains— Oh, wait! We have those!"

"... I wonder..."

"Point being, if they think it should wait, they'll tell you. They're big kids, not toddlers."

"You make it sound like I'm taking a bunch of schoolchildren on an outing."

"It's a gift, Ghoully-ooly, a gift." Theresa crooned, reached up to peck his cheek before practically choking him in her haste to tug him back to the group.

"You're sure we can trust these people?" Levi was asking Erwin at that moment, watching Theresa drag Ghoul around like an oversized ragdoll.

"Ghoul trusts them enough to allow Staghorn to clap him on the shoulder and pull him close without his freezing up or his eyes going wide, so I'd say yes. There aren't many of them, and they're just trying to survive." Erwin replied.

"That's what worries me..." Levi grumbled. Yes, the Ghoul-argument was valid. The boy seemed to become stiff and nervous when forced into close contact with others. If this supposed giant of a man was capable of practically sharing skin with Ghoul, that meant the he could certainly be trusted. How far was the question. The man, Staghorn, had his own party to think of. If things got bad, would the outsiders turn on them? They were just trying to survive, but what would they do to survive? Look at Ghoul— The nine-year-old had slit three throats and later eaten the same flesh. Survival instincts pushed humans to uncanny and twisted lengths.

"I don't think they'll try anything, Levi. They have children with them, it'd be risky trying to attack us with little ones about. Surely you can understand that?"

Levi rolled his eyes, striding to the edge of the wall.

Below him, Staghorn stood with his second-in-command, another young man by the name of Hawethorne.

"You're sure we can trust these people, Stag?" Hawthorne asked skeptically, staring up the sheer stone face.

"D'ya remember Hanningworth when we first found him? Tears, blood and dirt, screaming at us not to touch him while he cowered in the bushes? Right? Something happened to him to make him not trust people, remember?" Staghorn reminded, reclining under one of the trees.

"So?"

"Dumbass. If Hanningworth trusts them, I trust them. Hanningworth went through some bad ordeal we don't know about that lead him to not like people, so if he's risking his skin running out here to find help for someone, I'd wager my balls that person is as good as gold. Understand?"

"Eh. These people... Don't they supposedly sit behind these walls and pick out unlucky saps to throw to the Titans while the rest while away the time with whoring and drinking and that shit? Why would Hanningworth trust them?" Hawthorne replied, deciding to sit next to his friend and superior.

"I guess the popular belief is wrong and they don't, then."

Hawthorne sighed as Staghorn shrugged. Reaching down, he plucked a long stem of grass and stuck it between his lips, rolling the stem back and forth with his tongue. Hawthorne understood where his friend was coming from to some extent. Liu had been a good kid, but even the purest of golden hearts could be corrupted. They hadn't seen him for just about seven years. There was nothing preventing Liu from having turned into a cold-blooded killer who killed for fun, not that he could think of.

Unless whatever had happened to him kept him with high regard for life, that was.

Hawthorne nibbled thoughtfully on the grass-blade, swallowing the bitter juices it surrendered as his thoughts went in circles.

Morning was just about up. Staghorn watched the shadows on the wall steadily shrink down towards the ground, but his eyes were more fixed on the tiny figures he could now see milling about at the top as the sun's warm rays flowed down on them. He and Hawthorne were left in the shade, dewdrops moistening their surroundings. In the ground under him, he could feel a few vibrations, but they all came from directly ahead of him, behind the wall.

As Staghorn watched, one figure tumbled down the side of the wall. More followed.

"C'mon," he told Hawthorne, standing up as the small crowd came to rest, "We better go say hi."