They had just reached the ocean a few days ago but it still filled Armin with wonder. Every morning when he woke up the sun glistened over the uneven waves, he felt as though he could stare at it forever. He wanted to explore its depths and discover all of its secrets. But alas that wasn't their mission but it was all he could think about as he ate breakfast with the others.

"Alright," Hange said, silencing everyone's side conversations and thoughts, "We have to get to building an outpost here. With the winter months rolling in we will already be cold in our tents and with the wind from the ocean the cold will likely become unbearable and we cannot afford to abandon this post, we can't let Marely attack or attempt to send more titans this way. We should also find a way to sustain ourselves out here, it would be easier on supply runs as we are nowhere close to the walls. Armin, I want you to work with me on figuring out the best place to build a shelter and what one may look like."

Armin nodded silently.

"Sasha, Connie, and Jean, I want you guys to see what kind of sustenance is out here."

"Understood, "Jean replied. He looked over at Sasha who had crumbs from this morning's breakfast all over her face and shirt and Connie who still looked half asleep. Really you two? He thought.

"Captain Levi, you take Eren and Mikasa and scout out the area around us. Try and see what building materials are around or anything else that may be of use."

Captain Levi grunted, finishing the last of his tea.

"I want all of you in your ODM gear; there is still a chance of titans being out here and if you encounter a titan or anything else that requires immediate attention I want you to send out a flare. If you see a flare, doesn't matter the colour, I want you to drop everything and rush over," Hange paused and looked everyone over, yes they were a small group but they could overcome any obstacle placed in front of them, "I want you all back here an hour before sunset, dismissed."

Everyone got up and started clearing up their breakfasts with the exception of Hange and Levi. Hange didn't move from their place and let out a deep sigh, being a commander wasn't easy.

"Hey four eyes," Levi said, even though Hange had lost one of their eyes Levi still insisted on that nickname, "Erwin would be giving the same orders if he were here."

"Thanks, Levi."

Levi got up and left Hange to their thoughts.

"Come on you brats," Levi called, "We have orders to follow."

"Hiccup! How much longer are we going to chase after this dragon!? It's long gone and I'm cold!" Snotlout whined, which he did hourly now.

"Snotlout how can you be complaining, you've got the dragon with a built-in heater?" Hiccup replied though he wasn't sure how much more complaining he could take, between Snotlout and the twins he was losing his mind.

"Yeah, well Hookfang is tired. In case you haven't noticed we've been flying for days!" Snotlout retorted, throwing what could only be called a temper tantrum on top of Hookfang who just rolled his eyes and huffed smoke out of his nostrils. Hookfang stopped flapping his wings and began to dive down with Snotlout screaming in terror but he didn't fall for long and quickly rejoined their flying formation. Hookfang was getting sick of Snotlout and just wanted him to shut up or maybe he was just too tired to deal with anything. The past few days had passed by in a blur for everyone and they were all exhausted.

"Hey Ruffnut, I have an idea!"

"Ooo, what is it, Tuff?"

Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose, this couldn't end well.

"How about we wrestle on our dragon? First one to fall off loses and falls to their death!"

"Ha ha! I'm in! Ready?"

The two heads of their dragon looked at each other in terror and moved apart, but they could only pull so far away.

"GO!" Tuffnut shouted. The twins leaned into each other and began trying to push the other off of the dragon.

"Could you two knock it off!" Hiccup shouted.

"That's what we're trying to do," Ruff said.

"Trying to knock the other off," Tuff said, finishing Ruff's thought.

"You two need to stop," Astrid said from on top of Stormfly, "You realize that one of you is going to die if you continue that game."

The Twins froze in the middle of grabbing and punching each other.

"Could you live with yourself if the other died?" Astrid said.

The twins silently pulled away from each other and their dragon Barf and Belch breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," Hiccup said to Astrid.

"Don't mention it. But we're all getting tired, Hiccup, I don't know how much more of this everyone can take."

"I know, but I can't disappoint my father, nor can we let this reckless dragon stay on the loose. Does Stormfly still have the scent?"

Stormfly made a low pitched chirping sound nodding her head.

"It looks like she does but it's not strong any more." Astrid said, patting Stormfly on the side of her head.

Hiccup sighed, he didn't need Astrid to tell him that she was getting tired too, they all were. They had been flying over open water for what felt like forever, they could have just been flying in place at this point.

Hiccup's dragon Toothless made a supportive gurgling noise but it felt half hearted, he was getting tired too.

"Hey Hiccup, I think I found something!" Fishlegs said tossing Hiccup a telescope.

"What is it?"

"I think I spotted an island over there!"

Hiccup in disbelief looked through the telescope and there was indeed an island forming, he thought Fishlegs was seeing things like he was last time.

"There is definitely an island over there. Let's make for it and stretch out."

"Solid ground!" Snotlout shouted, "Last one there has to eat yak dung!"

But before Snotlout could lean into Hookfang the twins soared past him;

"Yeah ha! Who's eating the yak dung now!?" Tuffnut called. Ruffnut only cackled in response.

"Come on you guys! That's not fair! You know Meatlug is the slowest!" Fishlegs shouted, "It's okay girl," He muttered to Meatlug, "You're still the cutest dragon." He didn't want to hurt her feelings but he also did not want to eat yak dung again.

Hiccup just sat back on Toothless and watched his friends race off in front of him, a little bit of normalcy had finally returned to the dragon riders. There was a blur then a sudden gust of wind beside him.

"Come on Hiccup!" Astrid called, standing in Stormfly's saddle. "Don't you just LOVE yak dung?"

Toothless glanced up at Hiccup and made a little murmuring sound.

"We can't just let them win, can we bud?" Hiccup said, leaning into his saddle and wriggling his foot in the pedal on Toothless's side.

Toothless hummed a response and with a click of Hiccup's heel they sped after the others.

The members of the Survey corps, with the exception of Commander Hange and Armin, have all donned their ODM gear. It was specialized equipment originally designed to combat titans. It consisted of many straps, which made it a pain for new recruits to put on. But once on the user could launch grappling hooks like ropes from their waist to pull them in any direction. They could also release gas from canisters also attached at their hips to give them more speed. Proper use of this equipment with some training can allow someone as short as Captain Levi, who is only 160 cm tall, to slice open a 15 meter titan's nape with ease.

The six of them mounted their horses and took off in the direction of the woods, no one had ever been in these woods and they had no idea what lay in store for them. They rode in silence taking in everything around them; the tall grass that had yet to be trampled, the occasional tree that was a home for many birds and other creatures, and even the sky looked bluer. Everything around them had not been seen by humans for 100 years and here they were, it was liberating in a way.

The only person who wasn't affected by this collective thought was Captain Levi, he kept alert constantly scanning their surroundings for danger, particularly the titan kind.

Eren, who was originally captivated by the thought of being somewhere uncharted, felt that feeling wear off quickly. He knew that there was a bigger battle ahead of them, that their journey was far from over. He glanced up at his comrades that he knew he would eventually betray, Connie and Sasha, two peas in a pod, they were inseparable and they also would have been joking around if it weren't for Captain Levi being so close and serious. Eren half wished for them to goof off a little bit more, he had a memory from the future, albeit it was hazy but he didn't like the bits that he could make out. This memory wasn't clear just yet, like some of the others it might just take some time for it to sort itself out, but Eren did not like what it implied.

Eren turned to look at horse-face Jean who, unlike him, was a natural leader, something that Eren was jealous of but would never admit.

But Jean would never admit that Eren's call to join the Survey corps had been the best decision he had ever made. Yes, it was full of death and hard times, but what they had accomplished, and discovered was worth it. Everyone here now had unbreakable bonds, they trusted each other through and through.

Then there was Mikasa, probably the last person of Asian descent on Paradis Island. Eren didn't have to look at her to know she was looking at him, she always seemed to be watching him, wanting- no needing to protect him. Why? Eren wasn't entirely sure, he used to think Mikasa wanted to save him the same way he saved her from the kidnappers and she wanted to thank his parents, who were now dead, for taking her in. But she's stuck around for years now following him everywhere and Eren wasn't sure why. And she still wore that red scarf that he gave her when they were nine. They're 16 now, the scarf is worse for wear, it needs to be replaced.

A large forest came into view, the trees were huge and the underbrush was thick but it was stunning.

Sasha just stared at the forest, "So this is what a forest looks like when it's untouched by humans for 100 years," She started drooling, "Imagine all of the meat waiting in there."

"Yeah, and all of the things we can cook with the plants," Connie said.

"I swear all you two think about is food," Jean said, shaking his head in his palm.

"We could make a really good rabbit stew," Connie said.

"With really big meat chunks," Sasha said, drooling even more.

"It's best to tie up the horses out here, they'll just slow us down," Levi said, dismounting his steed. Everyone else followed suit and tied their horses to the nearest trees. Connie made a move to tie Jean's ODM straps to a tree but was met with; "What the hell, Connie!" And a rough push to the ground.

Sasha burst out laughing and Connie was doing his best to hold back laughter but couldn't. Mikasa buried her blushing face in her scarf and Eren was snickering.

Levi just rolled his eyes, "Let's get moving you brats."