I stood on top of the wall with everyone else. The sun was beginning to set and our time had come for us to venture outside of the wall, so we could reclaim Wall Maria. There was a slight breeze that blew my hair before I gathered it all up and tied it back. I looked around and saw my fellow comrades staring out the city underneath our feet. My gaze trailed to the right of me when I heard screaming and cheering.
"Flegel?" I was confused to the see the leader of Reeves and company all cheering for us.
"Take back Wall Maria for us!"
"Humanity's future is in your hands!"
"Captain Levi!" I looked over my left shoulder and saw Levi standing behind me. He took a few steps forward and stood beside – which caused more cheering to erupt from the crowd that gathered.
"Thank you for saving this city!"
"Please return safely!"
"But be sure to take back the land!" I looked over at Levi and saw the smallest smile form on his lips. My hand reached over and my pinkie finger wrapped with his. He turned his head to look at me. I knew that he was surprised by the physical contact that I had initiated.
"You have to come back too, Ryder!" My head snapped back at the direction of the cheering.
"Get married all ready!" I quickly pulled my hand away from his and I began to laugh at the outburst. My cheeks began to warm up from embarrassment, but I smiled as I shot them a thumbs up.
"There go those selfish citizens again." Levi sighed.
"Of course, after that sort of ruckus…" Hanji's sentence trailed off.
"Well…the Reeves Company did give us the meat to eat last night." I reminded them. I looked around me and saw Hanji standing on my right and Erwin standing on the other side of Levi. I looked behind me and saw that the rest of the Survey Corps had gathered to see all the commotion.
"Leave it to us!" We all turned to our right to see Jean, Sasha and Connie yelling down to the citizens that had gathered. I laughed at their outburst.
"How long has it been since the Survey Corps had such support? Let me think…had is ever? As far as I know, this is the first time." Erwin commented on the situation. I looked at him to see him smiling before he yelled down at the citizens. You could hear the excitement and the pride that resided in his yell. For the first time in so many years – he felt as if other's now believed in all the possibilities that we fought for. Erwin received the send off that he rightfully deserved at that moment.
As the sun began to set the darkness followed. Luckily, with the new lighting stones that we found we were able to see the path that was made for our travel. Our horses slowed down as we climbed off them and guided them through the forest because the terrain was muddy and rocky for them. I pulled up next to Levi as we guided our team.
"Do you know where we are?" I asked the black haired man beside me.
"Not a clue. Erwin!" The blonde looked over at the two of us while Levi asked, "Are we still not at the foot of this thing? It's almost dawn." Levi was correct – we have already been travelling for hours and we knew that the sun would be rising shortly.
"We'll be close to Shingashina District if we can just get over this hill." Erwin informed us.
"And I'm guessing we have no idea how much more we have to go?" I pondered out loud.
"We conveniently left the map at home." Levi sarcastically said. I rolled my eyes at his comment.
"I didn't ask for your sarcasm." I told him. I sighed as we continued walking. I had an uneasy feeling as we continued our journey. No matter how many times Hanji told me that the Titans will be sleeping – I was still nervous. My guard was up as we walked because there was still that slight chance that we could run into a Titan that was still awake when the moon was out.
"What's wrong?" I looked over and saw Levi staring forward.
"I'm just on edge." I answered. Levi didn't press any further, so I spoke again. "It's hard enough predicting Titans movements in the daylight, so having to do so at night is even more stressful."
"Well you can't turn back now." Levi commented.
"I'm not saying I want to leave. I guess I'm just worried. There are so many opportunities for the Titans to come out and we'd be completely off our guard. I know that this is the only way for us to make it to Shinganshina with no casualties." I was silent as my thoughts continued to swirl around in my head. "God, why are we always betting our lives? I swear we have a gambling problem."
"The edge of the hill is in sight!" I looked up as I heard the news.
"We're almost there." I said as I looked at Levi.
"Perfect timing too because the sun is going to start rising." He said.
OMG WE HIT CHAPTER 30! IS THIS A MILESTONE OR SOMETHING?! I think so! Sorry for the late update - if you knew me in person then you'd know that I'm one of those REALLY busy people who does a million and one things...LOL! But I did this to myself, so I will not complain! Anyways, I hope Monday has treated you well and I hope the rest of your week is fabulous as well! Leave me a review! :D