"Fear really shows us who we are. It can drive you forward or hold you back…It shows us the type of people we truly are"-Edith M. Brown Diary, 850
57th Scouting Regiment Expedition
Beyond Wall Rose
Riding through Titan territory solo and covered from head to toe in Titan vomit was not how Edith had wanted to spend her day. Thankfully she had recovered her ODM gear relatively unharmed and using some basic alchemy had seen to the dented canisters.
She had found her mare not too soon after, trying to remount her though had been a task in of itself, not that she blamed the mare. It was understandable really, seeing how she reeked to high heaven, despite trying to clean herself up as much as possible.
Once she had regained her mount, Edith sent a red signal flare up into the sky and continued moving forward, hoping to find another squad sooner rather than later. Her toes curled against the cold stirrups at the thought; she had had to discard her boots as they were tattered and burnt to hell. There was no saving them, so she had dumped them and had peeled off her wet and stinky woollen socks, stuffing them in a jacket pocket.
Checking herself over, she found that she hadn't gained too many injuries, most of them being minor ones that she didn't bother to use alkahestry on. Some damp bandages saw to her burnt feet (after the odd bits of leather had been pulled out of her soles, of course) and another dry bandage was wrapped around her left ankle in hopes to help ease the sprain somewhat.
She had been lucky that a sprained ankle was her biggest problem from that bumpy landing. Sure she had a bit of a limp, but that was nothing in the grand scheme of things. As well as this, several scrapes and bruises littered her body, but otherwise she was relatively okay.
She tried not to think about what happened to her squad as she rode passed, turning her head when she locked gazes with Giliian. She hoped to find another squad soon, one that was alive and well. Thankfully, she didn't have to look for long.
A familiar series of sharp whistles caught her attention off to the left, where it seemed someone was trying to recall their horse. Making her way over as fast as she could, Edith soon came across the source of the whistling. It was a couple of her classmates.
Having come in too fast, Edith ended up clutching tight to the reins as Tui reared up at the sudden stop. "Woah! Watch it!" Ryan called hoarsely as the mare's front legs came in contact with the ground no too far from where he was standing.
"Sorry" apologised Edith as she came up on Krista's right side. In front of her Ryan and Jean were tending to their horses while Armin and Reiner were already atop their own mounts. Edith focused in on Ryan, her eyes taking in minute details in the way only a medic could.
His eyes were rimmed red like he had been crying and the hoarse voice backed that theory up, he clutched to his reins in a vice like grip and his shoulders were tense as if he were expecting something bad to happen any second. Things must've gone to shit on his side too.
"Ugh! What happened to you?" Reiner asked covering his nose at the smell as he took in Edith's appearance.
"Weren't you on the right wing, Edith? What happened out there?" Ryan piped up, concerned.
"I don't wanna talk about it" Edith replied spitting out some Titan bile that still clung to her face as she filed away Ryan's appearance for a later date,"Are you guys okay?"
"Better off than you, apparently" snorted Reiner. Edith childishly stuck her tongue out at him, wincing at the taste that entered her mouth as she did so. Ryan cracked a small grin at his friend's expression.
"Oh no! Armin, your head! You've been hurt!" Krista cried speaking up as she noticed the bandages.
"It's nothing, I promise" replied Armin.
"I'm impressed someone responded to our distressed signal" commented Jean.
"Well, I wasn't very far away so…that and I found the horse" Krista blushed.
"A lot of people wouldn't have risked the trek over here. You're as noble as the steeds you tame. We're in your debt" Reiner complimented.
"It was nothing, I'm just…I'm just glad you're all okay. What would we do without you?" Krista wiped away the tears from her eyes much to the adoration of the boys who were ogling her.
So sweet! cooed Ryan.
She's an angel! thought Armin.
A Goddess! Jean gaped.
One day my wife! Reiner thought. Edith just rolled her eyes at the boy's reactions that were so clearly painted on their faces.
"Are you sure you're okay, Edith?" Krista asked, turning to the girl in question.
"I'm fine, promise. I mean I'd love a bath, but otherwise I'm fine" smiled Edith all too aware of her appearance.
"Ugh" snorted Ryan rolling his eyes.
"What?"
"Baths, they're so gross. You just sit there stewing in your own juices"
"What are you talking about? You've had baths before and as I recall, you've definitely enjoyed them"
"Eddie, I didn't enjoy the baths so much as I enjoyed the wet, naked lady" Edith rolled her eyes in response, the lovey dove atmosphere broken up by quiet spluttering from the younger boys.
"Okay. I suppose we should rejoin the formation now" Krista suggested embarrassed at the innuendo.
"Yeah, they'll order a retreat any minute now" replied Jean confidently "I'll just say it, I'm glad we survived but going back after only an hour? Not really something to be proud of, if you ask me. And while we're on the subject is anyone else curious as to why she'd headed away from the command squad?"
"She?" Krista asked her question going ignored.
"Wait, you're saying she came through this way?" Edith interjected.
"Yeah, why?" Armin replied.
"Shit" Edith cursed under her breathe, her thoughts going to the 15 metre that had destroyed the right wing like it was nothing.
"What?"
"Nothing, just thinking"
Suddenly a series of green signal flares light up off to the left, taking the group off guard. "Green smoke?" Jean questioned.
"It looks like we're not turning back after all. Just changing course" Armin observed.
"Yeah, but that doesn't make sense!" Krista cried.
"What the hell is the Commander even thinking?" Ryan added his two cents.
"Every one of us has the authority to declare the mission failed. Why isn't anyone speaking up? Is the command squad too far ahead to see the signals?" Reiner mused.
"Possibly, but either way I think our course is clear. Assume command's got this" said Armin firing a green flare into the sky and passing on the message.
"Right, anyway, you sure you guys are okay?" Edith asked the others.
"Uh, yeah. Why?" Jean asked.
"I need to pass on a message"
After separating from her classmates, Edith made her way over to the nearest squad so that she could deliver her oral message. As it turned out, that squad was Levi's. She was just thankful that she wasn't bothered by any Titans across that vast stretch of land; it seemed the Titan vomit was good for something.
"Reporting sir!" Edith called as she pulled in alongside the squad next to Eren and ignored the way Levi's face scrunched up slightly at the smell of her "An oral message: the right wing spotters have been completely wiped early warning system is compromised, one of you will need to relay the message down the line!"
"You heard her, Petra. Go on." Levi ordered the ginger.
"Sir!" Petra called splitting off to find another squad further left.
"Brown, you're the only survivor of the right wing spotter's squad, correct?" Levi then turned to the younger girl.
"Yes, sir!"
"Explain"
"There was an Abnormal, sir. I didn't get a good look at it before I was swallowed, but it looked to be around 15 metres, it was female and it showed intent. Like Eren" Many of the members within the squad appeared startled at the reply.
"You said you were swallowed?"
"Yes sir, I grabbed onto the uvula and invoked the gag reflex, effectively ejecting myself from the Titan"
As if to back up her report, a series of black signal flares painted the sky. "Eren! Fire the signal!" Levi commanded.
"Yes sir!" Eren hurried to follow orders. So close, too close. Just under that smoke, someone's fighting. Ere'n gaze locked onto Edith's form once more. Shit! She looks like hell! What the hell happened out there?
"This is a disgrace. A lot of good the formation does if the bastard's can pour into it that deeply" Levi muttered under his breath.
"Were you seriously swallowed?" Eren whispered to Edith.
"Uh huh" Edith replied before spitting some more Titan bile over her shoulder.
"Uh, Edith? I think you have a tooth in your hair"
"…Yeah, I know"
When the group approached the Titan forest, Edith peeled off from Levi's squad and rejoined her classmates at the boundary line. "…You're kidding me? Are we on a sightseeing tour now or what? How much further do they want us to stray off course? This is ridiculous!" Jean complained after the group was told to skirt the edges of the forest.
"It's bizarre, but so be it. Commander Erwin must have something in mind. Perhaps the situation had compelled him to improvise?" Armin mused.
"That gives me a lot of confidence"
"Maybe he's looking for a nice shady spot to throw a celebratory picnic" Ryan joked sarcastically.
"Uh, I rather doubt that" replied Armin.
"Lighten up, the point is. I'm praying he doesn't intend for us to camp here. Not with that female Titan on our ass, we'll be sitting ducks he's gotta know that. Yeah, we're just passing through on our way to somewhere else. No one in their right mind would make stop here" Jean rambled.
"Y'know you probably just jinxed us right, Jean?" Edith drawled. As if on cue, an officer up ahead called for everyone to halt.
"Alright rookies, listen up! We're assuming intercept positions within the trees. Unsheathe and find a perch, if any Titans attempt to enter the forest stop them whatever it takes!" ordered one of the senior scouts.
"Uh, excuse me sir?" Jean piped up, "What exactly is it we're-"
"I've given you an order!" interrupted the Scout who launched himself up a tree to find himself a perch. The rookies soon followed with some quiet grumbling.
"Do you believe this bullshit?" Jean quietly complained, not wanting to be overheard by his superiors but still aware that the people around him could hear. They had been positioned in the trees for quite some time now, some of the Scouts going so far as to relax against their chosen branches.
Edith was one of these people; she sat straddling the branch with a leg either side so that she could let rest for a moment and let her burnt feet breathe. She also used this time to clean herself up better (or as much as she could), pulling stray teeth and other assorted pieces from her prosthetic & only interesting thing that had happened in the last hour or so was that a covered wagon had followed Squad Levi into the forest.
"Am I the only one who wonders what happened to the whole logistics base thing? Or why we didn't go galloping home after the first lot of Titans showed up. Why are we all suddenly playing treehouse?" Jean continued, "Oh wait, no. I know the last one. No Titans allowed in the centre command's nature retreat. That fool, he's got no idea what's going on"
"Sh, he'll hear you" hushed Armin.
"What do I care? He's not explaining anything to the ones risking their lives. Look at him, he acts all tough and in control but you can see that he's petrified"
"What do you mean?"
"They say when officers in the field are deemed incompetent by their men, they can be relieved of duty or in more serious cases they can die from mysterious stab wounds to the back. I suppose there's all kinds of accidents that can happen out here"
"Hold on, whatever you're thinking of doing…"
"Don't worry Armin, anyone can see he's just venting" Edith interjected quietly, "Though some of those questions are valid"
"Look Armin, just answer me this: you agree with this strategy or is it just a bunch of crap? Really? Cause you look like you know something I don't"
"FIVE METRE TITAN APPROACHING!" called the Scout in charge, interrupting the one-sided conversation. Up ahead, the Titan was practically skipping towards the forest with its tongue lolling out of its mouth. Armin's eyes swept over his fellow rookies. Off to his left and behind, most of them stood tense at the approaching Titan, while others looked almost bloodthirsty in how they tracked the beast's movements.
Off the other right, the rest of the rookies congregated on their branches, many of them watching on in anticipation and fear. A few in particular caught his eye in the way they reacted, like Jean who stood just in front of him and was staring open-mouthed at the Titan headed this way. It was almost creepy watching the older boy switch from arrogantly confident to a frightened soldier at the flick of switch.
Another that caught his eyes was Edith who had risen into a crouch with her toes curled into the wood beneath her feet, she looked very much like a cat stalking its prey as she watched the beast approach with a white-knuckled grip on her blades.
He had noticed her injuries earlier, but had been unable to think of a way to bring them up without alerting the others. An injured medic, was a dead medic; that had been drilled into their heads since day one. It was also why everyone had to have knowledge in basic first aid.
Armin's eyes drifted back towards the Titan running towards the forest as he began to think over the day's events. Why did the Commander opt to bring us here? I can't make sense of it! What was he thinking? Armin stared down at his feet, his gaze narrowing as his academic brain kicked into gear.
No, that's wrong. That's not the question I should be asking; if the Female Titan is in fact pursuing Eren, does Erwin know? Is that why we're here? Break it down to its simplest elements: if the Titan really is after Eren, then there's only one reason for our being here. Commander Erwin knows and he intends to confront her.
"Armin!" Jean called, breaking Armin from his thoughts, "Bare with me. Our orders are to keep Titans out, right? Right? So I mean, we don't actually have to fight them, yeah? Am I wrong?" There was something in the way that Jean asked that made Armin looked down the trunk of his tree. What he saw turn made his blood run cold.
Instead of the one Abnormal that had been approaching them before, there was now a small horde of Titans scrabbling at the tree trunks trying to reach the prey that was safely tucked away in the canopies.
Eren was at war with himself over whether or not he should bring up more of his questions to the Captain as they rode through the Titan Forest. His earlier questions had been shut down pretty quickly by the short captain, the tone he had used signifying to Eren that maybe he shouldn't push any further. But Eren was a curious person by nature, it was in his blood and coupled with his stubborn hard-headedness…well, it was usually a cocktail for trouble.
Thankfully some of Levi's bite had been taken down a notch as he told to calm down, keep a level head and actually use his head. It was clear Levi trusted Erwin's judgement, even if he wasn't quite sure of what was totally going on. Use his head? Ugh! Come on! Who did he think he was? Does Captain Levi not know me at all? Eren thought as he mulled over the captain's words.
I'm not that smart, that's Armin's division. I always prefer using my fists…But I suppose he's right, I'm new to this which means virtually everything about this is going to throw me for a loop. Civil answers are for children, the only way to learn is by doing. If I wanna cut it with these guys, I've gotta stop crying to be spoon-fed!
Eren's gaze drifted to the other members of the squad as he searched for something to comfort him, anything at all. That was not what he found. Instead they seemed to be in the same boat as him. "…Doesn't make sense! What are we doing here? There's gotta be a reason! I mean they know…right? They gotta!" Oluo muttered under his breath.
Eren's head then snapped towards a wide-eyed Petra, then Eld who was sweating bullets and finally a tensed Levi. Huh? Wait! Are we all in the dark here?! What the hell is going on? Does that mean even Captain Levi's clueless?
"Black smoke, behind us!" Eld called noticing the flare through the gap in the canopy, "Damn thing's been on our ass since we came in here!"
"Blades drawn now!" Levi ordered unsheathing his own, "It'll happen in the blink of an eye, be ready!" Eren could only watch through wide eyes and his blood pounding gin his ears as a Scout from the support squad was swatted from the air like a fly.
The Female Titan pounded down the path, intent on reaching her target and nothing would stand in her way. Not even the Scouts. "Go! Move it!" Levi shouted leaning down further over his horse. The Female Titan ran up alongside the squad, barely missing them as she brought her foot down in an attempt to squash them. Eren couldn't help the startled gasps and quiet cries that fell from his mouth at the sight of her.
"Holy shit! How the fuck are supposed to pull evasive manoeuvres in here?!" Gunter demanded staring back at the Female Titan who was gaining on them.
"It's catching up!" Eld called towards the front.
"Captain! Do we engage the ODM gear? Captain!" Petra demanded as a pair of the support squad flew in to help deal with the situation. It was no use, the Female Titan wasted no time in squashing the two Scouts into pulp after yanking them from the sky.
"Where are reinforcements?" Petra cried after receiving no reply from the Captain to any of her questions "CAPTAIN! YOUR ORDERS?!"
"IT'S DANGEROUS! LET'S TAKE IT OUT! TELL US TO ENGAGE SIR!" Oluo suggested exuding fear.
"I'll cut the bitch!" Eld spat venomously as he drew a blade from its sheath.
Stupid creature! Eren thought You're racing full speed to your own death! You're chasing the best damn team of Titan slaying soldiers in existence! "Huh, Captain?" Eren questioned when he didn't hear an order from Levi.
"CAPTAIN!" Petra wailed.
"We need your orders, sir!" cried Oluo.
"She's gaining on us! Let's just take her out!" added Gunter.
"That's the whole reason we're here isn't it? Right, sir?" questioned Eld.
"Captain! What are your orders, sir?! Please!" cried Eren. The whole squad could practically feel the Female Titan breathing down their necks.
"Everyone, cover your ears. Now" Levi ordered sitting up in the saddle as he pulled a signal flare from his pack and fired it up into the air.