A/N - Sorry for such a short chapter after a long wait but I'm having trouble coming up with filler for the stuff in between.But holidays are done now so hopefully I can get back in the swing of things.

Also sorry if author's notes and line brakes aren't showing up properly. I have to upload through the app and it's been weird lately.

Wings Of Freedom

chapter 27

The kids and their Dragons all gathered at the entrance to the treehouse, where Roy and Thalia were finishing there preparations.

The whole affair was met with mixed emotions. On one had there was a little excitement. They would have the place to themselves. But on the other hand there was concern and dread. They would be alone again while he was gone. Sure they had their Dragons and a comfortable place to stay that was safe from the Titans, but most of the Dragons were still hatchlings, incapable of even comprehending complex speech. But the biggest issue was worry over recent events and their condition. The knowledge of the parasites in their napes and how they were effecting them, still weighed heavily on everyone, even with the assurance that they would soon be free of them and the only reason Roy wasn't delaying his supply run for a little longer was that he could no longer do so without cutting it close with his existing supplies.

But more importantly he needed answers and to investigate these parasites further, otherwise he wouldn't be able to help his students.

Roy did one last check of Thalia's saddle and the packs attached to it that would carry their supplies "the flight itself to Wall Rose and gathering supplies, shouldn't take very long, but searching for Mr. Yeager and investigating these parasites to see if they are in other people here, will take quite some time. So expect us back by the end of the week" Roy explained as he tightened down a strap before turning to the kids "I don't like leaving you all alone, but we can't put this off any longer and I know you kids can survive on your own for a few days" he said, with a bit of a smirk at the end.

Eren rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly "yah, after all that time out and on the run, this will be like a vacation" he agreed, even if he wasn't eager to be on his own again with everything that was going on.

Scarlett walked passed Eren and Thalia turned to meet her as they began talking in private for a moment before nuzzling each other. The two Riders smiled a little at the display before Roy turned back to the kids and tossing Eren a book he'd been holding on to "remember to study your magic while I'm gone" he instructed, eliciting a groan from Eren as his shoulders slumped and Scarlett chuckled at his expense.

Scarlett quickly calmed up though, as Thalia growled lightly at her and gave her own homework, causing the red Dragon to almost deflate at her mother's orders.

Roy chuckled at the display and turned to his next student in line "Armin, remember to keep up your exercises as well. NOT JUST STUDYING" he instructed, punctuating the last part and earning yet another groan.

The Rider then turned to his final student "and as for you Mikasa…" he paused and found himself at bit of a lose for a moment "…actually I guess I don't need to tell you what to do since you stick to the training regime on your own already" he admitted, more to himself. He did notice a bit of a smug look, briefly flash across her face as the others glared at her though.

Roy just shrugged it off though and with his duties as a teacher fulfilled, Roy smiled at them and ruffled Eren's hair, much to his chagrin "alright, we'll be back in a few days. Take care of yourselves" Roy said in farewell before climbing up into Thalia's saddle and the kids smiled up at him and waved "good luck out there" Mikasa called up at him "stay safe" Armin added and Roy waved back with a smile as Thalia stood up "take care young ones" Thalia gave her own farewell before leaping out of the tree and snapping her wings open with a roar.

As they flew away and the sound of the kids and their Dragons calling after them, faded away in the rushing winds, Roy's smile slowly began to fall. Replaced with a worried frown.

Thalia glanced back at him "they will be fine without us for a few days. They have proven that" she reassured him but Roy still couldn't help feeling concerned "I know Thalia, but it doesn't make it any easier" he replied before looking back to the horizon and the wall in the distance "looks like we're on our own again for a while" he thought to his Dragon, who rumbled below him in response.

Meanwhile, back at the tree, the kids watched as Roy and Thalia grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

Armin sighed as the tree fell quiet, with only the sounds of the wind and the chirping of birds the fill the silence "well, I guess we have the place to ourselves now" he said as the size of the treehouse seamed to become more evident without the adult Dragon to fill it "yah" Eren said absentmindedly as he looked out to the wall, before turning to look around the interior on the tree.

The place had come a long way since they had arrived here two weeks ago. The balconies had been finished and lined with furniture and bookshelves ether grown from the tree or scavenged from abandoned houses. Many of the rooms had been finished as well, with Roy's workshop in the back next to the storage room and the wash room. The kitchen and dining area to the left, had been finished upstairs and the lower one removed to make more room for the training area, with a ring on the floor to serve as an arena and some practice dummies grown from the tree lined up against the wall with some makeshift workout equipment, and to the right were their rooms, lined up and similar in design to Roy's so as to accommodate their Dragons when they got older.

Eren was pulled from his thoughts by Scarlett butting her head against his back "how about we take to the sky for a while?" She asked but Eren grimaced a little while reaching down to rub the inside of his thighs "maybe next time" he said with a light wince of pain and Scarlett whined a little with guilt.

Mikasa noticed and turned her gaze to the two "what's wrong?" she asked and Eren looked a little embarrassed for a moment "settle sores. It's gonna take a while to get used to riding and I'd hate to find out what it's like to ride bare back" he answered.

His friends gave himself looks of sympathy at that. Armin smiled though as his own Dragon purred at him and dipped his head down into Armin's view and the boy could feel his Dragon's eagerness to fly "hay Eren…what's it like to fly?…I mean we already flew on Thalia but things were so chaotic at the time and we didn't have Dragons then" Armin asked.

Mikasa turned her attention to Eren as well, though she did feel a tinge of jealousy from her own Dragons. Eren grew a somewhat dreamy smile though "if I had to describe it in one word…freedom…" he trailed off "it's amazing. There really is nothing else like soaring through the air at high speed and making hairpin turns" he said while scratching Scarlett between her horns "especially when it's from her perspective" he added.

His friends gave him curious looks at that "her perspective? What do you mean?" Armin asked and Eren seamed to snap out of it "oh right, I guess you guess don't know yet…remember when I bonded with Scarlett and I saw everything from her perspective, like my mind was in her head instead of mine? Well we figured out how to do it again and it's like nothing else. It's like the lines between us blur until there isn't any difference, and we aren't two people anymore" Eren tried to explain though he was clearly struggling to fully express what it was like.

His friends were speechless though as they processed the implications of what Eren just told them. Mikasa couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of the connection between Eren and Scarlett though. She was starting to understand Eren's feeling towards his Dragon, thanks to her own, but she had yet to deepen that bond enough to truly understand.

The two Dragons in question hopped down and stared holes into Eren's head from behind Mikasa legs as they began sending simple images and intentions to each other, planing their revenge against Eren for stealing their Rider's attention from them. They quickly looked away though and buried the thoughts as Mikasa turned her suspicious gaze down to them.

Mikasa was confused by her Dragons' actions but shrugged it off as she turned back to her friends "well, we should probably focus on training for now. We still have a lot of work to do" she said and everyone groaned in response but didn't complain. Because for as unrelenting as Roy could be in training, they knew Mikasa was far worse.

And so they all sluggishly moved over to the training area and started doing warmups for their first day alone in the treehouse.