Glad that you guys and gals enjoyed the last chapter. Hope it came out alright with descriptions and such, and cast was in character as much as possible. Lil'Manuel.G and GuineaPigOP That's actually what gave me the idea of making a winged shifter in the first place lol. Originally I was going to have him be more ground based and reptillain, like Zilla from Godzilla 98, but I remembered Pacific rim and seeing Otachi. Glad someone else caught that! EverydayWeaboo I know it must be hard, I too want a happy ending in this and the real story, but this is AoT we're reading here lol. This is far from over, so i do promise to make a happy ending for this story, but I'm also thinking of quite a twist. Not sure if I'll do it, but I'm thinking about it as a possible alternative epiloque when that time comes. So this chapter will take place just after the escape and begin to lead into the southern arc. Now there will be a difference here than when it happens in the show. The Stohess Raid took place during the twelve hours after the events of the season 2 opening. It was a little confusing when I first saw it but made sense after. Those events in season two here will take place after the raid instead, meaning that Sasha, Reiner and the rest are all alive and cut off away from the rest of the scouts. Just wanted to clarify that for the next 5 chapters, which will lead into the Clash of the Titans Arc. this Arc will be known as the Aftermath Arc, and it's hopefully short. As usual drop a review. Let us begin.

Aftermath-Flight

'I've wanted to do this for soooooo long! I love the feeling it gives my wings, oh how I've missed the wind!!' James thinks as he soars through the air with glee, careful not to drop Annie in his excitement. His dredlocks flow past his head, and his tongue sticks out to the side like a dog, but he doesn't care. He's free. Annie's regenerated her fingers, and now he doesn't have to claw up her sides to keep hold, since she can just grip onto his chest. They're heading towards the forest of giant trees that resides inside Wall Rose, though it is considerably smaller than it's counterpart in Wall Maria.

He calls out to her "We're going to be landing inside the forest for a few hours, and we'll make one last stop before we head for your village." She looks confused for a moment and questions his last statement with a small hiss. "Why are we stopping? They',ll be searching for us soon, even after the toll it took them to try and stop us. Where are you stopping at?"

He stays silent and they enter the border of the forest where he hovers in place to drop her onto a large branch, before landing on one next to her. He signals to exit their Titans, and she mirrors him as she emerged from her Titans nape. They both pull themselves out and walk across the huge tree limb until they're in each other's embrace. He pulls away and sees that she still waits for an answer, he closed his eyes and sighed.

"I still need to say goodbye Annie, even after all I've done today. I never got the chance to because of Marco, I figured he would've told them from hearing the reports about me going rogue during the expedition. So I decided not to return at all, it would've been like walking into my own ambush again." She nods a little, starting to understand what he might be planning next. He gestured for them to sit on the branch and continues.

"I stayed near the scouts though, observing their movements from afar, where they were headed. Marco must've told them about you, Reiner and Bert knowing my secret as well, which is why they suspected you. I noticed that after they returned they split into two groups, presumably the rest of our friends are in the other since we didn't see them in Stohess.

But I don't think they know about us, because I think they would've refused to fight us. Only those who knew the plan were there, so it has to mean only some of them know everything. Which means I can still sneak in and say goodbye before they link back up with the rest of the scouts. I'd rather them know our side of the story first before theirs, because then they'll understand why we have to go.

And..it'll be easier this way. I made the mistake of leaving my family years ago out of the blue, and regretted it ever since. I'm just trying to do this the way I know I can live with. I know where they are, or rather I know how to find them. It'll take a few hours, a day at most, but I promise it'll be quick Annie. Then I'll fly us straight to your village. Please?" He asks, and Annie stays silent, thinking to herself.

'Its not seeing them that's the problem, it's that I won't be able to signal Reiner or Bert without him noticing something's odd. I hope he hasn't already begun to suspect them, otherwise this could end in utter chaos.' She pictures the reveal in her head, be it a slip of the mouth from someone, or James putting it together on his own. The rage, the hurt, the betrayel...and she would again be part of it. Because she knew who his families killers were and never told him.

But there was another pressing matter on her mind than lies being revealed, the Beast Titan. It was here in the walls, possibly heading further in, towards one of the cities, or the scout group out there separated from the rest. She knows Reiner and Bertoldt need to know this, but how could she tell them without revealing themselves? An idea forms in her head, a spark of hope. 'I'll get James to tell them. Then I can signal from behind him to keep playing the part. Then they will know we have to move quickly, getting our friends out of there, and that we have to return home now.'

It was daring, but so was her other plan to convince James to come with her. Annie knew it was a longshot, but one that looked very promising to her. It was time to start the plan, as she turned to talk to him.

"James I understand what you want to do, but there is another thing we need to talk about The reason behind why I was sent here for the Coordinate." His ears perked up a little and he looks at her to go on. She obliges him, and continues.

"Listen James, the outside world is many times bigger than the world you know inside the walls. There used to be settlements of both human and Shifter about a hundred years ago, who lived in peace. But around this time there came to be a great enemy, the enemy responsible for the creation of the Titans. We call them the Furred Giants, or hairy Titans sometimes. Anyway, when they first appeared and began changing people into the mindless creatures we kill, one of our kind who was a coordinate, chose to use its power to construct the massive walls. He used it to only seal in the humans, and anyone human or shifter whowas left outside, were left at the hands of the haired giants."

She pauses to let the information sink into his highly intelligent brain, and from his expression, he's disgusted at this individual for doing such a thing. 'How could a person just let innocent people die, even your own kind?' He asked himself, and tells Annie to keep going.

"Now for a hundred years we who were left outside waged a bloody war against these creatures, not winning but not losing either. We simply survived, until about 10 years ago, a new variant appeared among the haired ones. This one could speak and had frightening intelligence. It led it's Titans like an army instead of animals, and we began to suffer heavy losses. Entire villages that were once able to last weeks or months now were wiped out in hours or days. We tried to plead with the wall king, who claimed to still have the power, but he refused. He killed our messengers, and declared that if we persisted, he would wage war on shifter kind."

James face is downright angry at the threat of war, and Annie fears what she will tell him next, if he'll go berserk on her for knowing this. She feels her words get stuck in her mouth, and swallow as she tells him "Our people raised me and a few others to become warriors and take the coordinate by force. And so 5 years ago...we attacked Wall Maria."James froze at her last sentence, and he studies her scared, shameful face. She's avoiding looking at him, just like in the forest when there were captured. Her frame shakes slightly from fear and anxiety as his gaze bored into hers, and he doesn't give any initial reaction at first.

She watches as he calmly stands, walking over to the trunk of the tree they are on. He looks blankly at the wood for a moment, and violently strikes it with his right hand, breaking several of his fingers and showing blood from his knuckles. She yells in surprise. "James! What-" but stops when he turns to face her, and her blood runs cold. His face is one of pure anger, his eyes and pupils almost absent as he looks at her with deep hurt and betrayel. He turns back to the tree and strikes it with his left hand with even greater force, and snaps his wrist, which she winces as she sees the bone jutting through his skin. He doesn't yell, doesn't grunt in pain, nor give any reaction at the physical harm he just inflicted on himself.

He turns and sits down on the trunk closing his eyes, and takes a couple of deep breathes. She watches his hands and arm steam as they heal, and she stays silent until finally he speaks. "What else are you hiding from me Annie? And don't lie." He growls out the last part with barely restrained anger at her, trying not to lash out at her for something that is driving his mind back into that predator mode he unleashed on Eren just a few hours ago.

She looks down in shame again, and begins to apologize. "I...James I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell you until we were already leaving. I knew you would lose it if I told you earlier, and I didn't want you to do anything that you would regret later on. I did it to protect you, just like you-"

"You knew the identities of my families killers and hid it from me!! There's a difference Annie!!" He yells out as he slams his healed hand into the wood, breaking it again. He growls as he watches the flesh steam and repair itself. She starts to get angry as she stands to face him.

"Yeah I know its different, but I did what I had to!! It's not just us whose lives are on the line here James, the lives of everyone back home, the people on the walls, It all sits on my shoulders! You have no idea how hard it's been for me to do this!"

He looks at her, and sighed as tells her "Then make me understand. Please don't lie to me anymore."