We had been riding our horses for over an hour now. We've had to change course several times in order to avoid any Titans. Earlier on we saw yellow shots fired up into the sky. Eren questioned us on if we might know why they were fired.
"What makes you think we would know? We're not even there!" Oluo told him. We continued to ride onwards.
"Smoke round. Green. Oluo, you fire it." I heard Levi say before I looked up at the sky. There were several green shots fired.
"Roger." Oluo pulled out his smoke gun and placed in the green shot and fired it above our heads, to relay the message to the left side.
"Reporting!" Another member of the Survey Corps rode up beside Levi. "Message to pass along! Right flank recon has been destroyed! Our recon system is partially inoperative. Pass this on, to the left." Levi looked over his shoulder to Petra.
"Did you hear all that, Petra? Go." He commanded.
"Yes, sir." And Petra left to the side, so she could relay the message.
"A black round? Aberrants?" I heard Eren say in a panic.
"Eren, you fire it." Levi ordered him.
"Yes, sir." As Eren reached for his gun I pushed forward beside Levi.
"What a mess. We let it penetrate deep within our formation." He muttered under his breath.
"So it's official." I said to him.
"Looks like it. You know what you're going to have to do." I then let my horse fall back into its position behind Levi. We continued onwards until we hit the Forest of Giant Trees. We took the only path there was and began to go right through it.
"Captain. Captain Levi!" Eren asked as we entered the forest.
"What?" Levi answered him.
"Well…we're in the middle of the woods! If the center enters alone, we won't know if Titans are approaching! It seems something is approaching us from the right. How are we supposed to dodge the Titans or protect the carts?" Eren pointed out the facts that were already obvious to the rest of the group.
"Don't go on and on about the obvious. We can't do that anymore, of course." Levi answer.
"Th-Then why?" Eren was clearly confused about why we were here, but he had every right to be.
"Look around, Eren, look at all these big ass trees. It's the perfect environment for 3D Manoeuvre Gear and try to use that tiny brain of yours, if you don't want to die, think."
"Yes, sir!" As we continued to ride I looked at Eren. He looked down at his reins and forward as his mind continued to think about what Levi had just said. He was trying to put the pieces together. However, he looked at Oluo and saw that he was biting his lip and mumbling under his breath.
"What the hell? Seriously? Damn it all…what the hell is going on here?" As Eren looked at the rest of our teammates I did so as well. I wanted to explain to them what we were doing here in the trees. I wanted to tell them the theories we had about this Titan shifter because they all had a look of fear etched onto their faces. Eren looked at everyone and saw what I saw, but then he looked at me. He stared at my face a while longer and he knew that I knew exactly what Levi was thinking because he saw that my face held no fear. Suddenly we heard the sound of a smoke gun go off from behind us.
"A black one!" Eren yelled.
"It's coming from behind us!" Oluo said.
"It's whatever was coming from the right." Eldo said.
"Draw your blades." Levi ordered. Levi took out his blade as everyone looked forward and stared at his back. "If we see it, it'll only be for a second." That's when we heard it, the stomping of the feet. The sound of the wire from a Manoeuvre Gear re-tracking. Then…it came. "Go!" Levi yelled to us.
It was coming from the right, but it jumped over a few bushes and hit a tree before landing right behind us.
"It's here." Eldo said.
"In these trees, there's no way to foresee and evade its attacks." Gunther said.
"It'll catch us!" Eldo yelled.
"Captain, let's switch to Manoeuvre Gear!" Petra yelled. Levi stayed silent. "Captain! Ryder tell him to make us switch!" She yelled at me. I stayed silent along with Levi. We were biting our time here, but we were cutting it short. We needed to make this plan work and it would all go into jeopardy if we switched.
"You won't escape!"
"Reinforcements from the rear!" Petra yelled as two more men came flying towards us with their Manoeuvre Gear. I refused to look behind me because I could hear the sound of their bodies getting crushed up against a tree and in the palm of her hand. I bit down onto my lower lip.
"Captain, your orders?" Petra screamed with her voice filled with terror. I also knew we were cutting it extremely close, so I spoke up.
"Levi, we need to do something!" I yelled at him. Its footsteps got closer and closer by the second.
"Let's do it! It's dangerous! We should kill it!" Oluo yelled at us. It was gaining in on us. It was almost here. I heard Eldo take out one of his blades as he said,
"I'll rip you to shreds." He announced.
"Captain Levi?" Eren was confused as to why Levi had not given us any orders.
"Captain?" Petra screamed again.
"Give us your orders! At this rate it will catch up to us!" Oluo yelled. It was almost here. Within a few more seconds it would have finally reached us.
"We will kill it here. That's why we came to this forest! Right, Captain?" Eldo yelled.
"Captain, your orders!" Eren yelled. Levi finally looked back at the rest of us,
"Everyone, cover your ears." He raised his arm and I covered my ears with my arm and hand as he shot the gun up into the air.
"A noise grenade?" Eren asked.
"What is your job? To just let yourself be swayed by whatever you're feeling at the moment? No, it's not. Our squad's job is to keep the brat from getting a single scratch on him. Even if it costs our lives. We keep going on our horses, got it?" Levi ordered.
"Roger!" Petra agreed immediately.
"Keep going? For how long? And it's right on top of us. Again! The reinforcements! If we don't help, they'll be wiped out again!"
"Eren! Don't look back!" I yelled at him. He turned his head towards me and was about to say something until Eldo spoke,
"Keep up your pace! Stay at top speed!"
"But, sir…Why? If Squad Levi doesn't defeat it, who will?" Another gasp escaped Eren's mouth. "Another one's dead! And maybe we could've saved him! One's still fighting! We could still make it!" Eren yelled. The grip on my reins tightened as he narrated what was going on behind us.
"Stop Eren! We don't need you telling us every detail!" I yelled at him.
"But, Ryder…"
"Eren, eyes back on the road! Keep going!" Petra yelled.
"Are you telling me to look away? To abandon my comrades and run?" He asked.
"Yes, that's right! Obey the Captain's orders!"
"I don't understand why we're leaving them to die! Or why he won't explain! Why?"
"Because the Captain decided the reason should not be explained! You just don't understand! If you get it, then shut up and obey!" Oluo yelled. I saw Eren lift up his hand. You could tell that he was contemplating whether or not he should turn into a Titan. As he opened up his mouth, getting ready to bite into his skin, Petra yelled at him,
"What are you doing, Eren? You're only allowed to do that if your life is in danger! You promised us! Eren!"
"You aren't wrong." I looked towards Levi. "If you want to, do it. I can tell. He's a real monster and it has nothing to do with his Titan abilities. No matter what power you use to suppress him, no matter what cage you put him in, he will never submit to anyone. Eren, the difference between your decision and ours is experience. But you don't have to rely on that. Choose. Believe in yourself. Or believe in the Survey Corps and me. I don't know…I never have. I can believe in my own abilities or the choices of the companions I trust. But no one ever knows how it will turn out. So choose for yourself whichever decision you'll regret least."
Eren put down his hand and looked behind him once more. He looked back at his hand and lifted it up towards his mouth.
"Eren! Have faith! Have faith in us!" Petra yelled.
"Eren! You're taking too long! Decide!" Levi yelled at him. His head shot up towards Levi.
"I'll go forward!" He decided that he would put his faith in us.
"Target is accelerating!" Gunther yelled.
"Go! We will outrun it!" Levi ordered. As we accelerated our speed for a few more seconds we finally hit our destination. All of the traps for the Titan were placed in the spot that was specified, so as soon as we got out of range I could hear Commander Erwin yell,
"Fire!"
The Titan was no longer following us. We were finally safe from the Titan that we had theorized about.
"Advance a bit farther, tether the horses, and switch to Manoeuvre Gear. You guys will be off on your own for a while. Ryder, lead the squad." He looked over his shoulder at all of us. "Once you're a good distance away from the Titan, hide Eren. Take my horse." And his wire came shooting out of his Manoeuvre Gear as it grabbed onto a tree and he left us.
"He can't intend to…take that Titan alive?" Eren asked.
"He's the best soldier the Survey Corps has, Eren. Levi can take that Titan alive. Now, you all heard the orders, let's move!" I yelled at them as we continued down the path. I looked back just in time to see Levi arrive at the area where the Titan was captured. I finally got to see what this Titan looked like.
The body was made purely of exposed muscle. It had short blonde hair that was covering her face. Unlike the other Titans she had no visible skin covering any part of her body.