Author's Note: It's finally out! This took forever to finish, and I got a little impatient so there are probaly some parts that don't make as much sense, or have spelling errors, so I'm sorry. This is still just a chip in the iceberg, so I'm glad I finally finished it. Let me know what your thoughts are if you want, but I'm excited to write more!

Chapter 7: Titans in Trost

Mya watched as the Captain and Asher galloped away leaving a small cloud of dust behind them. She sighed.

"Mya! Help me load these!" Kathryn yelled from behind her.

Mya spun around and looked at Kathryn who was busy loading gas tanks into a wagon. She ran over to her and helped lift the heavy artillery.

Together they loaded several tanks into two separate wagons, each with a horse to pull it. After the crates were secure, Kathryn got on one of the horses.

"Get on and follow me!" Kathryn instructed. She pulled on the reins of her horse before bolting forward.

Mya nodded, hopping on the opposite horse, quickly rounding the corner after Kathryn.

They rode at full-speed in silence towards the Trost District. For the next half hour, the only sound Mya could hear was horse hooves and the gas tanks clanging against each other whenever they hit a bump on the dirt road.

Soon Mya started to see buildings made of stone and within minutes they were galloping through the city with its narrow street paths that made turning more complicated.

Mya followed Kathryn up to a very tall building that looked like a castle. In fact, it was a castle.

They rode past a tavern and under a bridge before coming to a halt in a shaded area next to the castle. A man wearing a military uniform spotted Kathryn and started quickly walking towards her as she got off her horse.

"Kathryn! I'm glad you're here…"

Mya rode her wagon next to Kathryn's and gently pulled on the reigns to stop. It seemed like every male knew Kathryn's name. Which should come to no surprise because of her beauty, smarts, and nice personality.

"..I can grab others to help unload these tanks, but you're needed up front. The rest of your squad is taking care of the titans in the city right now."

Kathryn nodded and ran up the steps.

"Where should I unload these?" said Mya to the man.

The man gave Mya a funny look. "Are you with a squadron?"

"No, I'm a trainee."

"Ah," said the man, trying to sound a little less confused. "Help me carry these up these stairs."

While each grabbing an end, Mya and the man carried a crate filled with gas tanks up the lengthy staircase to the rooftop where several other members of the military were located. After setting the crate down, Mya quickly glanced around. On the rooftop there was about fifteen-or-so members of the survey corps dressed in uniform, each wearing a green cloak over their shoulders that showed the wings of freedom on their backs. They all seemed to be huddled in groups, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"C'mon! There's more!" the man yelled to her.

Mya rushed down the stairs and with the man carried crate after crate up the forty steps that lead to the top. After the ninth crate, they were done. Mya stood on the roof, letting the breeze cool off the sweat that now ran down her brow. As she caught her breath, a loud sound rang out.

It was unlike anything Mya had ever heard before, but her first thought was that it came from some type of animal.

Several heads turned towards the sound and everyone seemed to gather towards the edge.

Several rooftops away, something very tall reared its giant, ugly head in the direction of the survey corps. Its large eyes making contact with the group.

Mya felt a chill run down her spin. Staring at them … was a titan.

She watched as two titans made an appearance half a mile away from the rooftop. With their heads slightly reaching past the tops of large buildings, they looked like humans that had been enlarged nearly 60 times over, until they were larger than a crop field.

A sinking feeling swept through Mya as she looked at the creatures that managed to nearly wipe humans off the map entirely. She looked at the three titans expression that seemed to be frozen on their face.

She couldn't look away. Something about just their faces alone made Mya shake slightly at the thought of facing one.

Over to the left, Mya could hear something retracting and saw glimmered against the sunlight, silver rope reflecting its light towards her. To the far left of the titan, a person wearing 3D maneuver gear rose above the buildings, leading a group of others who were also dressed in maneuver gear, towards the giant creature. Mya stared as each member sped towards the titan, leaving a line of gas behind them.

With several rooftops blocking the action, Mya shuffled back and forth to try to see what was happening. Suddenly, a building next to where the three titans were located, completely broke apart leaving a giant cloud of dust.

Mya could see from behind the cloud a group of three people taking down one of the titans, as the other two along with the rest of the squadron was covered by the cloud.

After a moment, a single person with long, blonde hair rose above the dust cloud. She hovered for a second before propelling herself downwards. As the woman was about to re-enter the cloud, the titan revealed itself, extending its long arm towards her. But before the woman could do anything, the titan made a quick jolt as a blade sliced the back of its neck.

She watched as its body slowly fell forward on top of the rubble it had destroyed only moments ago.

Mya stood in amazement over what she just saw.

She watched as they re-grouped, gliding away from the scene, squinting at the member with the long, blonde hair.

Mya realized the person was none other than Kathryn.

As Mya squinted at the blonde-haired soldier, a large arm suddenly rose up from behind the woman in mid-air.

The next two seconds seemed to happen in slow-motion.

As the group retreated away, the third titan appeared from behind a large house. It moved much more quickly than the last titan. Its eyes were locked on Kathryn, whose back was turned to it.

Before Mya could do anything, another figure emerged, slicing the titan's arm off. In top speed, they swung around and sliced the other arm as well, before finishing with a large cut into the nape of the titan.

Mya watched as Kathryn's head fully turned around in the amount of time it took for the person to take down the titan. It would have likely killed her if the person didn't have her back.

"I can't even see it when he does stuff like that. How do you get that good at taking down titans in the blink of an eye?" said a soldier to the right of Mya. He spoke with a small group of people around him as they stared off at the fighting a mile away.

"It's Captain Levi. He's the only one capable of it as far as I'm concerned," said another soldier next to him.

'Wow… so that's what the survey corps of capable of' she thought to herself, feeling her eyebrows rise up.

"Mya? What the hell are you doing here?"

Mya turned around to see Asher standing behind her.

"Oh, uh, hi- um, Kathryn needed an extra rider to bring the gas tanks here, so… here I am," said Mya awkwardly as she shuffled in place.

She stared up at Asher who was dressed in the same gear from earlier.

Asher seemed less than pleased by Mya's presence. He groaned under his breath.

"Well, someone is going to get in trouble because as far as I know, this is the last place a trainee, who hasn't even completed her training yet should be. I don't know what the hell Kathryn was thinking- like, ugh!"

Asher raised his head up to the sky and ran his palms through his hair. Mya stood in place until Asher seemed to have calmed down a little.

"… I guess you're stuck with us for awhile. It's good that they'e managed to keep the titans away from the fort, for now anyways.."

Mya nodded. She looked over where Captain Levi and Kathryn were, but everyone seemed to had disappeared.

Asher walked up beside Mya and looked out into the distance as well.

"This is my first time seeing a titan," said Mya quietly.

Asher stared straight ahead. "What do you think?"

"… they're so terrifying."

Asher nodded.

Behind her, Mya could hear the clattering of metal. She turned to see the soldier around her checking their blades before soaring away from the fortress.

"What are they doing?" she asked.

Asher quickly checked his blades and then adjusted his cloak.

"More titans must have been spotted."

Asher headed to the edge of the roof before stopping to turn around one last time.

"You. If you move, both of us are dead. Okay?"

"Okay," said Mya.

"Okay."

Asher sped off with the rest of the group straight ahead.

Several minutes passed as Mya waited for Kathryn to return. After hearing nothing, and being too shy to talk to anyone, she sat down near the edge of the roof and adjusted her gear that she had left on from earlier.

As she leaned forward to pull her boots back up towards her thighs, she spotted someone from down below.

Running down the street was a young boy who appeared to be around eight years old. Mya recalled someone saying that the city had been evacuated. So, what was this boy doing all by himself?

Then a new figure caught her eye. Crouched down several yards away in a street corner, a titan eyed the boy.

Mya's stomach did a small somersault.

Her eyes darted to the boy and then back at the titan, its eyes not blinking. She slowly turned her head to the corps behind her. They were just far enough away so that there might not be enough time to tell them.

Mya looked back again at the boy, panic swept all over his face. Panting, he came to a stop. He seemed have been running for awhile.

Within that moment, Mya and the titan made eye contact, and the titan saw its opportunity.

The titan ran on all fours towards the boy.

Mya jumped off the roof and fired her grappling hooks into the side of a building below. She had to beat the speed of the titan.

She swept across the street only several inches above the ground. The boy turned as Mya grabbed him in her arms. A second later, the titan snapped its large jaws behind her, nicking the top of her shirt collar.

Mya landed against the side of a building then shot her hooks again, swinging them up over several rooftops until they landed blocks away from the titan.

She gently let go of the boy.

"Are you hurt?!" she said with much concern in her voice.

The little boy seemed to be speechless, only staring at Mya.

Mya knelt down so they were eye-level. In a more calm tone she repeated the question.

"Are you hurt? Are you alright?"

Again, the boy said nothing.

"Where is your family? Do you know where they are?"

Mya started to feel as if the boy didn't understand anything she was saying. Perhaps he was too terrified. She looked into his eyes and saw her own worry reflected back at her. Dust from the street had kicked up and got on the boys clothing. She gently brushed off the dust off of his clothes, then realized that he was soaking wet.

"Why are you all wet?" she said out loud, though mostly to herself.

She waited again for the boy's response, but instead he continued to look into her eyes with fear. Mya stood up and observed her surroundings. Down every street, houses were squeezed next to each other, separated only by the occasional church building or school house. The city had been evacuated for a couple hours now, supposedly. So where could this boy have come from? Did he have parents or a guardian looking for him? Should she just had back to the castle fortress?

Mya sighed. Asher wasn't going to be too happy with her.

She collected herself and looked around the area for the best strategy. Mya looked around for the titan that had nearly the boy but couldn't see anything. She had to move quickly.

She turned to the boy, "it's going to be okay," even though he might not understand her, then pulled him against her as she took off.

"I better take a large loop around .. that way … we could put some distance between that thing.." she thought to herself.

But as they flew overhead, Mya noticed a large mass of water nearby: the river. As she felt the boy's wet clothes stick to her own, it occurred that perhaps he could have been-

The sound of a building being smashed to pieces rang out from behind her. Mya turned, panic sweeping over her face as she saw the titan from earlier come hurtling towards them. He had left into the air, wearing the same creepy look on his face, opening his mouth as he got closer.

Mya swings to the right around a corner as the titan collapsed onto another building from behind. The wind whipped through her hair as she tilted her head back to see if they were being followed. She took another sharp turn, shooting down the street and then over to the left until they found themselves at edge of the river. Mya haunted, landing on the street tiles. She let go of the boy and scanned the area for more people.

"Is anyone here?! I have a lost boy!" she shouted, looking around franticly. Nobody answered.

Well, she tried.

Perhaps he got wet some other weird way. Maybe he was swimming and nobody had bothered to check the river. But why would he be swimming in the river? Rivers can move pretty fast, so it would be easy to be pulled upstream.

Mya looked at the river in front of her. It stretched across for several feet before other street tiles could be seen on the other side. Looking to the left, she observed a large tunnel where the water flowed into the city. It didn't seem to be flowing too quickly, so perhaps someone could swim in it. But it wouldn't be the smartest idea. No, someone would only swim in a river if they had to. And if that was the case, why would he when titans were in the city?

Mya paused. She squinted at the tunnel. It was several feet wide.. and was very large overall. It also stretched for several feet up.. meaning that … possibly… something could have come from the tunnel itself.

A scream rang out. Mya turned to see the boy screaming beside her and pointing at something from across the other side of the river. A titan larger than the one they had encountered early stood on the other side of the river where she had been looking no more than two seconds ago.

Mya ran to the boy as the titan catapulting itself over the water as the boy stood frozen. As the boy looked up with his arm still held out pointing at the titan only inches away from snapping its jaws completely around him, Mya grabbed the boy. The titan's teeth closed, making a loud snap but missing its meal. With no time to slow down, it slid into a large house not far from the river. The building now collapsed around the titan, trapping it.

In the air, Mya held the boy close to her, glancing back at the titan.

But another large head had made an appearance, and saw its opportunity in front of him as its prey looked the other way. As Mya turned her head back in front of her, there was the titan from before, standing patiently in front of them. It reached its hand out as Mya and the boy were about to enter it.

It was then that Mya realized that it was her time. She had failed. And now, it was time to die in a very painful way.

As she braised for impact, blood shot into the air, and the titan's arm was now separated from its body.

She looped around, watching the arm fall to the street below and landed on a rooftop. As she caught her breath, she looked around to see who had delivered the blow.

Mya raised her head to look up at the titan as it stood in the street with large amounts of blood tricking down where his right arm was. The titan made a jerk forward as a blade from behind sliced its nape. As it fell, the killer was revealed behind it.

It was Commander Erwin.

The titan then fell to the ground and halfway into the river where it lay motionless. Steam leaked from its body as it started to decay.

The Commander landed next to Mya on the rooftop.

"Mya. What are you doing here?" he asked in a deep voice.

Mya stood across from him, trying to relax her breathing while gripping the boy. The Commander was very tall and intimidating. She suddenly felt that even though he had just saved them, he could very well punish her for disobeying her one order.

She started to explain, but the words weren't forming.

"You see…"

Nothing was coming to her. His eyes were starting right into hers, waiting.

A second later, three other survey corp members landed on the rooftop behind Commander Erwin.

"Commander! We're here to inform you that two more titans have shown up just north of here! Captain Levi's squad is dealing with them as we speak! We have also completed the wall inspection!" said one of the corp members very loudly and quickly.

"And?" replied the Commander.

The man's expression changed,"they couldn't find any holes in the entire area, sir," he said sorrowfully.

The Commander turned his head away, looking down at the roof tiles.

"I see." He put his blades back into their sheaths. "And you've made sure of this?"

"Yes, sir. We had multiple people stationed around around the walls of trust and we still could find no signs of entry by a titan."

Commander Erwin nodded. He turned and looked at the young boy next to Mya. He walked over and knelt down in front of him, placing his arm on his shoulder.

"Do you know where your parents are?" he asked calmly, but directly.

Again, the little boy said nothing, but this time clung to Mya.

Erwin stood up.

"We'll bring him back to base with us". His eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced back at Mya before turning to the other survey corps, who nodded in agreement.

Erwin lead the way as the others followed. As she followed behind the others, Mya took one last look at the titan that Erwin had slayed. Now only half of it remained, the rest evaporating into steam. She turned back around, tightening her grip around the boy as they flew through the air.

As soon as they arrived back at the castle, the Commander is immediately surrounded by people and is lost in the crowd.

Mya made her way past everyone, pulling the boy along with her. He seemed to be in awe of the soldiers, and the fear had almost disappeared. She looked around for Kathryn and the others, but quickly assumed they must still be fighting.

How long had it been since they got there? Have they really been fighting this entire time?

Mya lead the boy over to where she was previously before she had spotted him from down below. Then she heard another familiar voice.

Even though they were a few feet away from the loud crowd that swamped the Commander, Mya could distinct one voice from the others. She looked over to see Hange, who seemed a lot more serious than Mya had ever seen her. As the Commander walked, Hange followed and talked as the crowd slowly parted.

"… it just doesn't make sense. We've had several soldiers scattered all over Trost and we still don't have any kind of lead where the titans might be coming from. And all of the titans that we've killed so far have been over 10 meters. Interestingly enough they all were spotted past the river to the middle of town.." she spoke as Erwin listened silently.

As they walked away, Mya turned back to the boy. She stared down at the top of his head lost in thought as his hand gripped her pant leg.

Behind Mya Erwin nodded in agreement, taking Hange's information into account f=before being lead away by soldiers. Hange then spots Mya, catching her eye and the little boys. Her face broke into a grin and walked a happy trod over to both of them.

"Mya! Didn't expect to find you here." she said in a happy but strained tone. "What are you doing here?"

Mya explained her situation as Hange listened, nodding her head while staring off.

After Mya was done talking, Hange squatted down so that she was eye-level with the boy next to Mya. His grip tightened slightly on Mya's pants, shrinking back aways as Hange started into his blue eyes.

"He hasn't spoken to anyone yet," said Mya.

Hange knelt down by him and pulled out some food in her pocket and offered it to the boy. The boy seemed hesitant, until Hange took a bite out of it to show that it was good. Then he grabbed the cracker and began to wolf it down. She ruffled his damp hair, and Mya remembered her concern with the river.

"Umm, … Hange… Titan's can't … swim, right?"

Hange spoke in a slightly confused voice. "What do you mean?"

Mya shuffled slightly before continuing.

"You see, when I found him, he was all wet, and it looked like had been swimming, so scanned the river for his parents, but I didn't find them. However, that is where a titan appeared. I know it sounds crazy, but…"

Hange brushed off the patches of dust off the boy as she spoke.

"…I would think that the titans wouldn't be coordinated enough to swim, especially the normal ones. They need sunlight to move, and if they are hidden from the sun's rays, I think that would slow them down. There are also bars in the tunnels that prevent things from passing through."

"… But, if the water from the river flows into the city, would they need to move? Wouldn't the river do that for them?"

Mya felt like she was seconds away from being called an idiot, or loosing all of the respect that Hange had for her.

But instead, Hange stood up and called a woman over and instructed her to take the boy to be examined for injuries.

"Mya," Hange spoke in a serious tone, "show me where you crossed a Titan."

Mya and Hange flew using their maneuverer gear to the spot where Mya and the boy were previously. The titan that had been slayed by Commander Erwin now had disappeared.

"Careful, be on the lookout while we're on the ground" said Hange.

They scanned the river. The water was very clear and flowed steadily to the right along the city. To the left a dark tunnel stood, allowing the river's passage through the wall into the city and further inward where humanity resided. It was a pretty wide tunnel, wide enough for something big to hide inside of it, but it wouldn't be able to pass through because of the metal bars that blocked degree from flowing upriver.

Hange beckoned for Mya to follow her cautiously. Together they entered the dark tunnel, using their metal hooks to grip the stone walls so they didn't get swept away by the water.

The river wasn't loud by itself, but it's sound echoed thanks to tunnel.

Eventually Hange stopped, then reached into her pocket, lighting a small match. She lit a small shape before throwing it.

Suddenly, a bright light lit up the tunnel for several seconds, illuminating metal bars in front of them, before the light fizzled out.

The bars that were usually never bothered, had a large gap in the middle.

"The bars are missing..something crashed through them.." said Hange as she held a candle stick to illuminate the bars. They both stood between the large gap, examining it.

She then spoke in a whisper.

"Which means that… Mya… the Titans…they got in through the tunnels-"

As soon as the words left Hange's mouth, the candle light revealed a giant face between the two of them.

Commander Erwin and Mike both turned as they heard what could only be a Titan as they stood on a rooftop in full gear. Several other heads turned to the noise as well, their faces alarmed.

"Move out!" shouted Erwin to the soldiers nearby, pointing towards the titan's cry. "Find that titan!"

As the soldiers sped towards the sound of the Titan's cry, Hange and Mya frantically make their to the tunnel's exit as the giant titan loomed only several feet behind them. The titan clawed at them both, missing by inches, and instead scraping bits of bricks off the tunnel that fell around them.

"Go! Go! Go!" shouted Hange, and they both parted in different directions as soon as they reached the open sky.

A second later, the Titan burst through the end of the tunnel, destroying it. Hange veered around in the air to take in the titan in the daylight.

It was as tall as a house, and cried out into the open as the tunnel entrance behind it crumbled into the water. Hange looked across to the other side of the river and saw Mya standing on top of a house further away, watching the titan. The Titan slowly got out of the water and walked in the direction of her.

"Mya!" shouted Hange, but the sound of more bricks falling into the water drowned her out.

She turned again to see two more Titans emerge from the tunnel, that was now wide enough to let in the average Titan. Hange clenched her jaw, but could feel the strange excitement welling up from within her.

She glanced over again at Mya, who now had her blades drawn and seemed to be waiting for the titan to come closer. But now the two new titans were headed in the same direction as well. Hange started shouting.

"Heeeyyy! Over here! What about meeeee?"

She called out.

She swung over towards one of the titans. It's large eye spotted her and suddenly reached out its hand in a fluid motion, nearly resulting with Hange in its grasp.

"Woah!" Hange said as she dodged its enormous hand. "Very fast reflexes!"

She spun out and managed to draw the one Titan away from the city as she landed on the other side of the river on the stone pavement.

Meanwhile, Mya held her blades tightly in her hands as the large titan walked steadily towards her, its head level with the roof of the building.

After seeing Hange fortunately dodge the sudden quick motion of the titan, she realized the titan in front of her might have the same ability. She felt fear running down her arms and legs, but shook her self out of it. If she panics, she dies.

As the titans's giant eyes focused on her, she glanced at a nearby church tower that stretched several feet higher than the titan. She shot her grappling hooks and swung sharply to the left.

As soon as she did, the titan's arm reached out, nearly grabbing her leg. It stumbled forward, smashing the roof's tiles. It regained its balance, slowly raising its head up, searching for Mya.

As it did so, a stripe of blood spewed out from the nape of the titan's neck as a blade cut through it. The titan's body slowly fell, revealing Mya from behind it, still in mid-air. She landed on top of the same roof she had been before as the titan's body made a loud noise as it hit the ground.

She looked around to make sure it was dead, and then quickly turned to see if any others were close by.

"I actually took it down,.." she thought as she collected herself.

Mya looked for Hange, but couldn't find her. Wasn't there another titan besides the one Hange was leading away? Was it hiding?

"Expect the unexpected… " she reminded herself as she looked around. Every titan seemed to be different, so that meant different strengths and weaknesses.

She sensed something wasn't right and turned around.

The second she did, a giant arm made an attempt to smash her body into the roof.

Mya dodged out of the way as the Titan's hand slammed on the roof, sending tiles- and Mya- flying.

She falls off the side of the building and shoots out grappling hooks from her gear before she has time to fall any further, latching onto a nearby wall. She then quickly maneuvers, and shoots herself away from the falling rubble. But one of the hooks looses its grip on the wall, causing Mya to spin and then roll down the road.

She's in pain, and has a hard time getting up, but from behind her we can see the giant Titan making its way towards her.

The road is too narrow for the titan, making her wonder if the Titan won't get through to her, but instead the titan crashes through the street, breaking off the sides of buildings as it does.

Mya starts to panic. She shoots her hooks out and pulls herself up to the roof of another building further away from the Titan as it runs towards her.

She tries to think.

The Titan is very fast. One wrong move and it could be her last.

She decides her best bet is to run away to an area too narrow for the titan to reach.

It isn't long before the Titan is on her tail and she is cornered. She realizes she needs to think of something or she will die.

She shoots herself directly up as the titan lunges at her. It misses her, and collides into the stone wall, smashing it to pieces.

Mya watches it from up in the air, then sees her chance.

She reels herself down at high speed to slice the titan's neck, slashing it in one stroke.

The titan's neck is cut and it twitches before dropping to the ground.

Mya lands on the road behind it and catches her breath. She turns and starts to walk away, recalling the pain she was in from the fall.

Distracted, she doesn't notice that the titan wasn't evaporating.

In an instant, the titan turns towards Mya and makes a leap towards her, hoping to grab her in it's hands. As Mya realizes what's happening, she sees a blur, and suddenly the titan's head is fully decapitated, and it rolls down the street before going still.

She see's someone standing on the titan's back.

It's Captain Levi, who arrived just in the nick of time.

Mya stares at him and then at her hands. They start to shake.

Seconds later, Hange arrives. "Is everyone alright?" she asks.

Mya nods, looking very shaken up.

"Levi, we figured out how the titans have been getting in. It was through the river tunnels. The one we looked at had the bars torn out, leaving a hole just large enough for average-size titans to squeeze through," said Hange.

Levi looked a hint surprised. "That would explain some things…"

"Yes, that's where three of them got in recently, before the tunnel collapsed. One of them chased me, and the other went after Mya."

They all heard a rumbling in the distance and stopped to listen. It sounded like a building collapsing.

"Maybe we should head back to the roof before one of these buildings decides to topple over on us.." said Hange.

They all used their gear to get back to the roof.

Back at base, Hange, Erwin, Levi, and several other members of the survey corps gathered in a tight circle and listened as Hange explained what she had discovered in the tunnel. From afar, Mya watches their discussion, hearing Hange's loud voice elaborate on her theories and how the titans were gone … for now. As Hange's voice got lower, Mya dipped down the stairs to help re-load the gas tanks into the carts.

After loading the rest, Mya wanders back up the steps to see if the meeting was done. Seeing that it wasn't, she wandered down another stairway which lead her to an area with several rooms.

"These are the ones who got left behind when the city was evacuated. All of them children. We don't know if they were abandoned or if they have family at all. We won't know anything until we can announce that it is safe for the citizens to return home," said a woman apart of the corps to Mya as they both observed the children playing together in a small room.

Each of the rooms had a long curtain draped in front of the doorway. Mya wandered over to a different door and lifted one of the curtains up. She immediately spotted a familiar face. It was the boy from earlier sitting on a bed, looking down at the floor.

As Mya quietly said hello, the boy looked up at her, not moving. She sat next to him, trying to communicate. He continued to say nothing, his eyes welling up with tears.

Mya's brows pushed against each other, feeling conflicted about what to say or do. After a moment of starting into each other's eyes, Mya put her arm around the boy gently. He accepted her touch, and started to sob deeply into her shirt.

She tried to put herself in the boy's shoes: no home, no family, nowhere to go, and no way of communicating. Her heart stung thinking about it.

Mya gently ran her hand up and down his back, trying to sooth whatever pain she could as the little boy's tears soaked her shirt.

"There were a total of nine titans in Trost today. Each was taken down a member of the corps. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but the situation could have been a lot worse if we hadn't located their hole in the river tunnel. Everyone performed their duties respectfully, so thanks to everyone's teamwork, the citizens of Trost will be able to return to their homes shortly after we fix the tunnel and ensure that no more titans are able to enter through it," said Commander Erwin in a loud voice to the survey corps gathered around him.

The people around Erwin listened intently, most looking relieved that the action was over.

"Because of Hange's quick thinking, the Titans now have no way into the city. I will send out a small group to access the damage to the tunnel while the rest will focus on heading back to camp."

With that the group parted ways, leaving the Commander with only Captain Levi and Hange Zoe beside him. They slowly make their way forward towards the stairs.

"You know Erwin, although I appreciate the complement for "quick-thinking", it wasn't me who figured out where the Titans were coming from. It was actually one of your new recruits who figured out where the Titans might be located."

Erwin raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"It was Mya… She was only here to help bring extra supplies, but ended up rescuing a boy, discovering where the titans were getting in, and even taking one down while I was too busy fighting one myself." Hange's voice rose up and down expressing her sincere surprise.

She struck me as a quiet person that shouldn't be training to be a soldier, but… you were right to bring her aboard as soon as possible."

As Erwin, Hange, and Levi walked off, Asher trailed from behind with Kathryn. He tells Kathryn to go on ahead and looks for Mya. She stumbles down some stairs and throws aside a long curtain.

In a small room, two people sit against the wall on a bed, leaning their heads against each other. Asher quietly walks in and recognizes one of them: Mya, who's shirt is still wet in the center, with her eyes closed, breathing softly, sound asleep with a little boy next to her, who also is fast asleep while leaning against her frame.

Asher shakes his head, placing his hands on his hips and sighs.

"Okay.." he says, before letting a little smile slip out.