"A plot bunny that pulled a John Cena on Author-san. The idea was born when he imagined Bunyan in the position of the Colossal Titan, peering over the Wall to say hello."

(-)

Something was seriously wrong with the current situation. It was not some kind of mistake or mix up, but a type of wrong that would fly in the face of common sense and slap it so hard that their head would spin around. Glancing to his left, Erwin noticed that Hange had pulled up alongside him and was frantically looking over the map in her hands. A futile practice, as there was no way they had deviated from the route utilized for missions beyond the Walls. It was a path that Erwin had spent weeks planning out in advance, making use of every last bit of information available to him in order to salvage something from the loss of their Trost district gate. Not only did he have to adapt their old route to take into account the added distance they would need to travel, but the entirety of his plan to capture the enemy required them to pass through a prime ambush point. And it was determined that the best location for said ambush would be the forest of giant trees to the south-east.

It was never discovered just how the trees came to be so tall, as there were a number of these exceedingly large forests scattered about both inside and outside the Walls. Regardless of the reason behind the immense height that the foliage could reach, it was without a doubt the best terrain for deploying ODM gear. Not only were there plenty of surfaces to swing from, but the sheer size of the trees provided a safe haven from even the tallest of Titan's (except for the Colossal). The trees were made to last, as Erwin could count the number he had ever seen fall on just one hand.

So what the hell happened here?!

What was once a vast expanse of trees that climbed towards the sky, was now reduced to an empty clearing of stumps. The only thing that stopped Erwin from ripping his hair out in frustration was just the sheer absurdity of it all. Not only had the entire forest been cut down, but the felled trees had been further broken down and organized into giant piles of logs. For as far as his eyes could see, not a single tree was anywhere in sight.

It made no sense! He had sent out a small squad a couple weeks back to do preliminary reconnaissance for their ambush, and the forest was still standing at the time. Could it be the enemy were already aware of his plans and made preparations to counter it? And even if that were the case, Erwin had to wonder why the enemy would think that cutting down an entire forest would be the best and most efficient means of thwarting him, let alone take into account how they'd be capable of pulling off such an asinine feat.

Unless they had some method of turning hundreds of Titans into professional lumberjacks and supply them all with axes, he just didn't see how else they could succeed in doing so. Sure, the Colossal Titan could probably manage to clear an entire forest, but there would be obvious signs of collateral damage to the surrounding area. But that still didn't explain why the hell all of the trees had been trimmed and stacked into piles of perfectly cylindrical logs! Titans aren't capable of things like this!

For a moment Erwin paused in his thinking as he realized something; the 'forest' was silent. Without all the trees standing to dampen sound from travelling far, he could hear even further than before. Yet where was the unmistakable sound of Titans stomping about? Hange yelled something at him from the side, but he paid her no attention. Dismounting his horse and using his ODM gear to maneuver his way atop the nearest log pile, Erwin gazed out to confirm his suspicions.

There were no Titans to be seen for miles.

However such a lucky break meant little in the current situation. Titans roaming about or no, he still had a massive problem to deal with. That being he had an ambush to setup for a rapidly approaching enemy and he suddenly found himself lacking said location for the ambush. He had already condemned countless men and women to their deaths in order to assure the missions success. Even now his soldiers were dying in a futile attempt to stall the enemy long enough for him to ready the ambush. He could feel the eyes on his back as the ambush team were looking to him for instructions.

He wanted to give them an answer to the incomprehensible questions they held, yet his mouth refused to open for fear of what words would spill forth. Each passing second felt like a year to the Scout Commander as his brain went into overdrive trying to think up some means of salvaging this catastrophic scenario. Steeling his resolve, there was really only one thing that he could do. Returning to his horse, he rallied his men.

"This change's nothing! We must proceed with our mission as planned!"

It was pure bluster, something that both his men and hisself realized. Everything they had planned was now certain to fail, but in their moment of despair their minds blocked out all the doubts and they forcefully convinced themselves that so long as they stick to the plan then everything will work out. That foolish bit of hope was all they could muster to prolong the illusion of survival.

That same hope is the very thing that saved them and ensured their victory that day…

Riding onwards as fast as he could with his men just seconds behind him, Erwin's mind was a frantic storm of theories, questions, and half-baked plans that relied on improvisation utilizing resources that he did not have.

Stick to the ambush plan? Too much open ground, they would be spotted easily.

Overwhelm the enemy with numbers? Too many casualties, certain death.

Explosive traps? The only gunpowder they had was used for firing the capture cannons, not nearly enough to salvage into a bomb.

Keep running, drain the enemy's stamina? They would be dead long before that happened.

Eren? Plausible, but not without risk. Could go berserk and attack anyone around him. Capture by enemy is also possible.

Levi? The best option. He might be able to defeat the enemy, but Erwin couldn't be sure of that considering the odds they are up against.

Stopping his thinking for a moment, Erwin lifted his gaze and noticed something in the distance, smoke. Someone had started a fire and judging by the amount of smoke billowing into the sky it had to be of considerable size.

"Head towards the smoke!"

It was all he could think to do at the moment. Just maybe there would be something at the source that could be of help to them. Numerous possibilities of what awaited them were cycling through his mind, yet the answer was something he would have never been able to guess.

Aside from the large blaze, the first thing Erwin spotted upon their arrival was a well-built log cabin that seemed completely out of place. Next was the blue creature whose color stood out the most from the rest of the surroundings. Erwin had no idea what the animal was. It resembled a bull of some sort but was strangely round, not to mention the abnormal color of its body. Last to garner his attention was the young-looking girl sitting by the fire, her arm extended while holding a stick out that had some meat skewered on the end.

The girl was dressed in a green long-coat with a matching cap, leather work boots, and gloves with a large axe lying on the ground near her. Silently gazing towards the large inferno before her, the girl hadn't noticed their approach as she was entirely focused on the meat at the end of her skewer. Retracting the stick from the fire, the girl looked over the morsel for a moment before quickly scarfing it down. Reaching to her side, she grabbed another hunk of meat and stuck it on the end of the stick to repeat the process. She most likely would have continued on without noticing them had the small animal trotted over and nudged her foot with its nose. Tearing her gaze from her meal, her eyes finally landed on Erwin and his soldiers. The girls face was smeared with grease from how sloppily she had been eating, a bit of drool was trailing down the edge of one cheek, and there were a few splotches of dirt that marred her skin. She immediately perked up and hopped to her feet.

"Oh, we have guests!" the girl spoke as if she was being visited by a friendly neighbor, rather than someone who had been surviving in Titan territory for who knows how long. "I was wondering when I'd encounter other humans out here."

Placing her skewer on a platter at her feet, she patted down her jacket to shake free some of the wood chips and foliage that were stuck to it.

"My apologies for not being in the best state to welcome guests. I wasn't expecting anyone to stop by."

There was something fundamentally wrong with the current situation. Ignoring the fact that what looked to be a young girl was apparently alone in Titan territory, ignoring the strange blue animal that sat at her feet, ignoring the sheer insanity of her acting like there wasn't anything inherently dangerous as she acted like this was a normal house visit, Erwin couldn't stop the theory that was currently forming in his head.

Acting like this place was her home, covered in bits and pieces from trees, the large axe… He refused to acknowledge the thought that maybe -just maybe- this girl was the one responsible for levelling the entire forest.

"My name is Bunyan! So, what brings you out here?"

Erwin's brain switched to autopilot as a means to process the situation and respond accordingly while maintaining his rapidly deteriorating sanity.

"I'm Commander Erwin of the Scout Regiment. We are currently deployed on a mission beyond Wall Rose that is of utmost importance. A better question would be what a civilian such as yourself is doing out in such a dangerous place."

Hange had to hand it to her commander; he seemed to be handling the situation better than she could ever hope to.

The girl cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Dangerous?" a few moments passed as she mulled over the question in her head before snapping her fingers. "Ah! You must be talking about the wolves! Don't worry, I'm a lot tougher than I look. Those mean pups aren't a threat to me." Bunyan responded as she puffed out her chest in pride.

"I meant the Titans." Erwin replied with stoic deadpan.

"Oh, the big people?" the girl said as her eyes widened in understanding. "Well, they were a bit of an annoyance at first, but after some trial and error I learned their weakness. In order to make sure they stay dead; you have to destroy the back of their neck. I hope the information will be of use to you."

"Yes, we were already aware of that."

The situation was so surreal that Erwin and company had completely blocked out the world around them, meaning they were unaware of the fact that Levi and his squad were heading right towards them.

"Oh. Well that's good! That must make things much easier for you guys." She said with genuine optimism.

"Easy?" came a voice of disbelief from one of the soldiers behind Erwin. "You think killing those things is easy?!"

Bunyan shrank back a bit at the mans outburst. "Uh, sort of? I mean, for me it is."

"And how the hell do you manage that?!"

"L-like I said, you just gotta destroy the neck."

"So tell me; just what about doing that is easy?!" shouted the enraged Scout. "Do you have any idea how many of us have died fighting those fuckers?!"

Bunyan lowered her head so her cap hid her face. "My apologies. I spoke out of line. It was wrong of me to make that assumption." she said with genuine regret. "Master often had to remind me that I am unlike the others, that the way I see things can be drastically different from another's perspective."

Reaching down, the girl grabbed the massive axe off the ground and lifted it up with surprising ease given her size. "Allow me to deal with that one then."

The intrigue at just how the girl planned to take on a Titan with naught but an axe was quickly discarded as the meaning of her statement hit home. She was no longer looking at them, but rather beyond them. In the distance Levi's squad could be seen rushing towards them. With all the insanity going on, Erwin's brain going to autopilot, and the general denial of the situation resulted in chrono stasis. A state in which time continues to pass but the individual is unable to perceive it, instead thinking that time has slowed down or even stopped completely. For the Scout's it felt as if only a minute had passed due to the stressful situation, where in reality it had been much longer.

Now Erwin really felt like tearing out his hair. He was out of options, out of time, and would very soon be out of his mind. The enemy Titan was hot on the heels of Levi and his squad plus Eren, and Erwin had no ambush to launch. They'd just have to try and brute force the problem.

However it was at that point that Bunyan sprint past him and his soldiers, making a b-line towards the approaching group.

At the lead of his squad, Levi could see the girl running towards them from a distance. He had no idea what the hell was going on, why the hell the forest was missing, or how the hell Erwin planned for them to get out of this bullshit situation alive, but all that changed when he noticed something strange about the girl. She was getting bigger.

Not bigger as in, the distance between them is getting smaller so she doesn't look as small. But rather her actual size was increasing, along with the axe she hefted over her shoulder.

Levi was operating on pure instinct with his next order.

"Get down!"

The girl was less than ten feet away from them when her height suddenly increased at a much more rapid pace. Now she was even taller than the Titan chasing them. Said Titan had no time to react as the massive double-sided axe cleaved through its flesh and sent its head soaring from the rest of its body.