"If I had to spend more than eight hours in a tiny room with a group of gassy, grass-fed teenage boys, I think I'd go mad…They'd probably knock me out or something…and then I'd be gone like a fart in the wind (excuse the pun)…I don't envy you, Krista. No, I do not"-Edith M. Brown Diary, 850

Spring 850
Utagrd Castle Ruins, Ehrmich District

With no visible breach found in Wall Rose along with the remaining refugees rounded up and sent inwards, the rookies were then corralled into Utgard Castle that lay abandoned within the Ehrmich district as they waited out the Titan-infested night.

"Someone was here not that long ago" commented Reiner sitting close to the makeshift campfire in the middle of the room.

"A place this close to the Wall?" Nanaba questioned, crouched on the floor on the other side.

"Bandits probably used it as a hideout" Krista suggested with a shrug from her place by the stairs.

"A sign on the way in said 'Ruins of Utgard Castle' I didn't know there was a historical sight around here"

"You should see Quakers" Ryan huffed, warming his hands in front of the fire. "That place's supposed to be haunted with demons and shit"

"And your people hid there? Willingly?" Mary asked affronted at the thought.

"Eh, it's just some old stories used to scare kids" Ryan waved off.

"Ruins of an old castle, construction date unknown…The interior is outfitted with canons, lending it considerable defensive power, but it is unknown what it was constructed to defend against"-Public Information: Utgard Castle Ruins

"Hey, take a look at what I just stumbled on" Crowed Gelgar, coming into the room with an old bottle of wine.

"You're kidding! Is that what I think it is?" Lynne asked, looking over her shoulder at the man in question.

"Uh huh, can't really read the label though"

"You're not gonna drink it now, are you?"

"Ah! Don't be such a smart-ass, I'm gonna save it for later"

"Y'know there are worst ways to spend a night, then having access to top shelf contraband" Henning chuckled.

"Careful, you're starting to sound like an outlaw" Nanaba laughed.

"I want you kids to try and get some rest" Gelgar stated, standing over the tired rookies, "There shouldn't be any Titans crawling around at this time of night. But we'll take turns keeping watch, be ready to leave four hours shy of daybreak" Ryan tried to contain his groan at tomorrow's early wake-up call; like Edith, he was not a morning person.

"Excuse me" Krista piped up, "What if it turns out that Wall Rose isn't actually compromised. Where do, uh, where else could they be coming from?"

Gelgar jolted at the question, "…It's our job to find out. Starting tomorrow" Before making his way back up the stairs to take first watch.

"I'm just saying, the situation isn't good, sure, but is it as bad as we think? Ya never know, right? That's why…" Krista turned to the other superiors in the room.

"She's right" Henning admitted, "We haven't really seen that many Titans, I mean for them to have busted through the Wall, anyway"

"Only other than the initial sighting, it's been a relatively modest handful" Nanaba added on.

"Hey, Ryan? How was your village? Did you make it in time?" Krista asked, turning to the man who sat practically petting the flames at this point.

"Ah, y'know, typical Titan invasion" he shrugged, "Thankfully a few people made it to the bunker on the edge of town"

"Really? But how would they made it out of the valley in time?"

"It was only by sheer luck that Andersson was moving his herd down to a lower paddock, so he let the group take them out of the village. Two birds with one stone, I guess"

"A warning woulda been nice!" Mary piped up with a grin, making light of the situation "They gave me a helluva fright when those reindeer came out of the tunnels"

"Reindeer?" Ymir repeated.

"Oh yeah, rode 'em like fuckin' woodland elves"

"…You're village is weird, Hill"

"Preaching to the choir, Ymir" Ryan smirked.

"Connie? What about your village?" Ymir asked, turning to the uncharacteristically quiet boy who sat to Ryan's left.

"Totally destroyed, it was crushed to timber and bits of rubble" Connie replied.

"I, uh…I'm sorry"

"Nobody got devoured though; looked like they all got out. So there's a silver lining at least"

"I thought that you said it was destroyed?"

"Well, the houses and stuff were, but the people themselves must've all escaped. I mean they had to of. The thing is, we didn't see any blood anywhere, not so much as one drop. That's the only possible explanation, still though, there's something I still can't get out of my head. There was a Titan on top of our house, just lying there staring at me. It couldn't move on its own, thank God…But I just…I have no idea why, but it reminded me of my mom. Am I crazy?"

"Are you for real?!" Ymir laughed, "You actually think your mother is a Titan. Oh Connie, as itty bitty as you are…please! We all knew you were dumb as a bag of rocks, but this? Whoa man! This takes it to a whole other level!"

She's kinda laying it on a bit thick there. Ryan thought as he and the others stared wide-eyed at Ymir's sudden mood change, going from sullen and sombre to upright jolly in a heartbeat. "Ha ha, yeah, have your fun" Connie sassed cradling his head in his hands, "I guess I was kinda asking for it"

"Don't stop there, if mother-darling is a Titan, then it makes sense that dear old father-dearest would be one too. Basic biology, think about. How else-"Ymir taunted.

"Okay! I get it! Shut up and go to sleep!" Connie cut off and with that, Ryan chose to curl up next to the dying fire in order to claim what few hours of sleep he could.

Reiner picked his way over the snoring bodies of his fellow rookies who had clung to each other as the night wore on, looking for some source of warmth. Next to the dying fire, Ryan lay hugging onto Connie's right arm like a teddy bear with a steady stream of drool falling from his lips.

In turn, Connie lay practically starfished across the floor, with his arms out wide and mumbled odd things from time to time. Over by the staircase, Bertolt and Krista lay separately like little pills bugs wrapped in their blankets. In Krista's case, she wore not only her own, but Ymir's as well.

"Ymir? What are you doing?" Reiner asked, having found the girl in question rummaging through one of the wooden crates in the storage room by candlelight.

"Seriously? What are you doing?" She teased. "Here to ravage me? Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't think you were all that into girls"

"Really? Well since we're on the subject, I didn't think you were all that into guys"

"Hmph! If you must know, I'm scavenging for leftovers like a common street rat" Ymir turned back to search through the box in front of her, "I'd prefer not to meet my maker on an empty stomach"

"Look, the whole thing earlier with Connie" Reiner started, closing the door behind him as he stepped further into the room, "Were you teasing him to get his mind off of things? It'd be great if you could keep that up, the less he dwells on his family right now, the better"

"What are you talking about?" Ymir questioned nonchalantly, pulling out a can of food to inspect "Huh, this might be good. Herring's not my favourite, but whatever"

"Herring, huh? Can I see?"

"Help yourself"

"I can't believe there's canned food here" Reiner stated as he took the small can from Ymir and began to inspect the old label.What the…? What is this? I can't read a word of it! How do you know this says 'herring'? He thought. "This uh…label, it's in another language. Ymir, how can you…?"

Ymir was saved from answering Reiner's pestering questions when Lynne burst into view, yelling at the top of her lungs as she appeared. "EVERYONE! WAKE UP! GET TO THE TOWER IMMEDIATELY!"

Upon arriving at the watchtower that overlooked what remained of the courtyard. What had once been a group of a few small Titans ambling around the place, had now at least doubled in numbers. And all of them were headed their way.

"Holy shit" Ryan breathed, suddenly feeling very small and vulnerable up on the roof.

"Bother someone else! I should be drinking right now! You're standing between me and a tankard of ale!" complained Glegar as he and the other Scouts in charge readied themselves for battle, leaving the rookies to watch.

"ATTACK!" Nanaba cried as the superiors launched themselves forward.

"YOU THINK IT'S GONNA BE THAT EASY, BIG GUY? I GOT NEWS FOR YA!" Gelgar declared with a war cry as he sliced through the fingers of the first Titan; cutting him from the tower and giving Nanaba the perfect shot to go for the kill.

"Goddamn! You little ones should watch where you're going! Ha! Dumbasses!" Gelgar taunted, watching the dead Titan squash the two metres beneath it.

"I don't think you're one to talk, there's no call to be so reckless. Did you have to waste your blades?" Nanaba scolded.

"That's just how I roll. You better chalk that one up as an assist"

"Oh, aren't you the hero. I'll think about it"

Down below, Lynne and Henning took turns taking out the smaller Titans that were more nuisances than anything. Annoying things, but left alone could do a lot of damage. "Oh no, I'm too late" Lynne breathed upon spotting a broken door hanging off of its hinges.

She barely paused to stop next to Nanaba and Gelgar, to deliver her message. "The door's been kicked down!" Before she moved up to the rookies still stood watching the scene play out, "Titans are in the castle, get below and improvise some sort of a barricade. Be careful, retreat back up here only as a last resort"

Lynne paused for a moment, taking in the shocked and scared faces of the rookies before she continued, "Now hurry, the rest of us will keep anymore from getting in as long as we can. There are quite a few, so this might be it for us…but by God we'll fight with our last breath. Our heart and soul to the cause, right? Now go!"

"Got it!" The rookies chorused, heading inwards.

"I'll go see how far they've gotten in" Reiner declared taking the blazing torch off of the wall as he led the group back into the castle, "You find something to board up the entrance with whatever isn't nailed down"

"Reiner wait!" Krista protested as Bertolt moved through the group and followed after Reiner.

"Hang on! We're coming! Wait up!" Bertolt called impatiently after Reiner.

"Are you kidding me? Why's he always gotta be the first one to step up? Give us a break" Connie complained.

"I know, it's a habit of his"

"Yeah, him and every other guy in the military" Ymir scoffed, "What is it with you lot and the hero complex?"

"I don't have a hero complex!" Ryan defended as they descended into darkness. Ymir merely smirked and raised an eyebrow in response.

Are they in the tower? Reiner thought, looking down into the dark chamber the Scouts had occupied only moments before. It now looked dark and menacing with the shadows dancing and stretching in the torchlight. The door's still barred, not that that's gonna keep 'em out for long.

Stepping up to the barred door, Reiner removed the plank of wood locking the door in place and pulled the door ajar so he could peer down the stairwell. Despite his previous thoughts and confidence in his abilities, he still wasn't expecting the bright beady eyes staring back at him in the dark. "Shit!" he cursed, slamming the door shut behind him just in time since the Titan launched itself forward and began to ram against the wooden door, trying to find a way in.

"THEY'RE IN THE TOWER! GET DOWN HERE AND HELP ME!" Reiner called back up the stairs, his heart jackhammering in his chest as he leant against the door, trying to add what little weight he could to the already barred door. Not that his attempts were of any use as the Titan struck through (quite literally) the door, waving its hand around as if it were trying to swat a fly.

Is this it? Is this how I go out? Son of a bitch! He thought, childhood memories flashing before his eyes as he stood frozen in fear. Ones of a Titan reaching for him, his friend and brother pushing him aside and being taken instead, the Titan biting down hard on the boy, blood flying everywhere. And the fear! So much fear, it was deafening, enveloping everything it touched almost like he was drowning in it. He could taste it on the back of his tongue, could feel the leaden feeling in his stomach, rooting him in place.

No! Not yet! I refuse! I'm going home! Reiner ducked out of the precarious hold the Titan had on him, falling to the floor in front of the door, just in time to see the Titan poke its head through.

"Reiner!" Bertolt called, running forward with a pitchfork in hand and jamming it into the face of the Titan and injuring it. Reiner stood up and helped Bertolt bury the pitchfork further into the Titan's head. "Talk to me, man. Are you good?" Bertolt asked.

"Yes. Listen to me, we're gonna make it home. This is not how we die"

"Yeah, I know"

"Guys! Heads up! Incoming!" Ymir called from the top of the stairs, breaking whatever moment they were having. Both boys turned to look up the stairs at the call, only to see Ryan, Connie, Krista and Ymir gathered around a dusty old canon.

"Where'd you find…? Good work! Is there ammo?" Reiner asked.

"Yeah right! If only! You're lucky that we found this" Ymir replied, helping Ryan and Connie edge the weapon closer to the top of the stairs.

"Outta the way!" Ryan called as the group gave an almighty heave and pushed the canon down the stairs. Reiner and Bertolt only just managed to jump out of the way in time as the canon came rocketing down the stairs, headed straight for the Titan in the door.

"May miracles never cease, hazar" Ymir prayed sarcastically as the group watched the dust cloud dissipate to reveal the implied Titan stuck beneath several planks of wood and the broken pieces of the canon.

"Yeah, it's not getting up from that" Reiner agreed, "Good thing it was a little one"

"What now? A knife's the only thing we've got" Connie asked staring down at his dagger which was really no bigger than a butter knife, "Should I cut the nape or…?"

"Don't risk it, you'll get hurt" Reiner replied.

"Then I think it's best if we head back up stairs for now" Krista suggested, this time taking the lead with torch in hand as she made her way back up the stairs. "We have no way of knowing if that's the only one who got in…"

Krista trailed off as she peered over her shoulder just in time to see another Titan appear in the doorway; unbeknownst to the others. "CONNIE! LOOK OUT!" she cried as the Titan cracked open its jaws and went in for the kill.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, one moment Connie was staring up at the jaws of death and the next he was flat out on the floor with Reiner standing defensively over the boy with his right arm caught in the Titan's teeth. "Reiner, no!" Krista cried, racing to help her comrade only for Ymir to block her way. The group could only watch on as Reiner heaved the two metre over his shoulders and shuffled up the stairs towards the closest window.

"Holy…what are you doing?" Ryan asked wide-eyed not quite sure what he was seeing.

"A-are you gonna jump out the window with it?" Connie added, still laid out on the floor.

"We've got no other choice!" Reiner declared, mounting the window sill with the Titan hanging headfirst out the window.

"No, wait!" Connie cried racing up next to the pair and stabbing his small knife in the side of the Titan's face. "Just gimme a sec, I think I can slice its jaw open"

The others could only watch as blood splattered across the two and a loud crack was heard as the Titan was forced to spit out Reiner's arm. The Titan remained relatively unharmed as Connie and Reiner rejoined the group surrounding the window on the stairs. So it was with a sickening grin that the Titan leant forth to snap up the closet rookie, intent on eating at least one of them.

In a fit of panic, Ryan launched the piece of splintered wood in his hands, straight towards the Titan where it lodged itself in the back of the beast's throat. It seemed to take the creature completely off guard for a moment or two as it sat there choking and gasping on the wood that was now impaled through the back of its throat, bleeding profusely. Ymir didn't even waste time thinking about what to do next as she took the chance to kick the Titan out the window; Reiner and Bertolt joining in at the last minute to push the legs out as well.

The beast tumbled all the way down the tower and landed on the ground with an almighty crack, no doubt breaking most of its bones. But it the Titan steam was anything to go by, it wouldn't stay down for long.

"What do we do if another one gets in?" Connie asked as he and Ymir haphazardly nailed some planks in place to barricade the door further. "Not likely to find another canon lying around, am I right?"

"Probably. Lightning doesn't strike twice" Bertolt replied from off to the side where he was holding another plank of wood in one hand and the torch in the other. He looked over to the left where Krista was helping Ryan tend to Reiner's injured arm.

"This might sting a little" Ryan warned as he poured some of the whiskey over Reiner's wound as Krista held it still; intent on helping in some way.

"Sorry, I know it stings. Plus the bone's most likely fractured" Krista sorrowfully added.

"Course, that's just my luck" Reiner sulked.

"We'll need a splint and a bandage" Ryan continued, searching through what little supplies he had. Unfortunately, he had used the majority of his bandages of Eren earlier, leaving him only with his surgical tools and tape.

"Easy enough" Krista replied, standing up and ripping off a section of her skirt, leaving the hem to fall just below her thighs.

"Thanks" Ryan muttered as he took the dirty cloth from Krista and tore it in two. The smaller portion he paired with the piece of wood he'd picked up, began to make a splint for the blushing Reiner.

"The cloth's filthy, I haven't been able to wash it in forever. I'm sorry" Krista apologised softly.

"No problem, it's fine. Does the job well" Ryan replied, moving to tie the larger excess fabric behind Reiner's neck, forming a sling.

"So you gonna be alright, or what?" Connie asked as the other trio came over after throughly barricading the door.

"I think so, probably" Reiner murmured, looking down.

"Well, he's not gonna die at least" Ryan added, clapping Reiner on his shoulder as he stood and stretched, popping his joints as he did so.

"Y'know, Krista…I got a little scratched up myself" Ymir purred, raising her hand as she did so. She clearly was wanting to pull the girl away from the Reiner; not that the others really caught on.

"So just spit on in it or something" Connie retorted, "Anyway, sorry about all that, man. Huh seems, like you're always having to save my ass. You and everyone else, even Annie put herself on the line for me once, I owe you. A lot"

"No, no. It's fine. We have each other's back; it's what soldiers do"

"I dunno how I could ever be that courageous" Connie turned to Bertolt who stood off in the corner, "Has he always been like this? The self-sacrificing type?"

"No, he's changed a bit. In the old days, Reiner was more of a warrior"
"A warrior? I'm not quite sure I understand" Reiner replied.

"Anyway, let's scrounge around for stuff we can use. If I have to die, I'd rather not do it 'cause were being half-assed" Ymir piped up, moving up the stairs and leaning out of the window that the Titan had been thrown out of.

"How's the view, Ymir?" Ryan teased, looking over the brunette's shoulder.

"Oh wow, well alright then, say what you will, but the Scouts get shit done" Down in the courtyard below, several Titan corpses lay steaming, dotted around the place like odd garden ornaments. That's not to say there weren't any still wandering around, 'cause there were.

"Well, at least their numbers have dwindled a bit" Ryan commented, his eyes tracking Nanaba who cut through the legs of a 7 metre, while Gelgar went in for the kill.

What happened next seemed to come straight out of a nightmare. "Holy shit" Ymir breathed, leaning further out the window "What the fuck is that?" She didn't receive a reply, not verbally anyway. Instead, the tower felt like it swayed on its foundations, shaking as something struck further up and bring the rubble tumbling down passed their window.

"Shit! Are those the horses?" Ryan muttered, looking down at what had struck the tower. When the dust and cleared, you could see the bloody and mutilated corpses of two of their horses just lying on the ground.

"So much for diurnal Titans"

"Oh shit!" Connie cried as he emerged out onto the roof of the tower, or at least what remained on it. The others were hot on his heels. Part of the stone turrets had crumbled away, leaving them exposed to any attacks from that side, but the worst part wasn't the broken wall. No, it was the dead Scouts laid flat out on the ground.

"They're dead, died instantly" Gelgar thought aloud as he set Henning on the ground next to the body of Lynne.

"Ah! He did this! The one who made a beeline for the Wall!" Connie ran over to the side in order to try and search for the Titan in question. "Hairy son of a bitch is randomly-!" It was upon the sighting of the new Titan horde that Connie cut himself off in shock at the numbers. "HEADS UP GUYS! WE'VE GOT TWICE AS MANY AS BEFORE!"

"You're kidding!" Gelgar gasped.

"It's like they're timing these attacks as some part of a larger strategy. This isn't random at all, we're being toyed with" Nanaba analysed.

Suddenly a bone-rattling roar sounded across the land, reaching from the Wall to the ruins of Utgard castle. In response, the Titans that lay within the courtyard made a beeline for the tower, intent on knocking it down in anyway they could. While the terror-stricken rookies huddled up on the rooftop, Nanaba and Gelgar set to work, knowing that this was probably how they were going to die.

Damn it! I'm running out of gas! Nanaba thought as she sliced through the nape of a 10 metre. "Come on! Go down!" she muttered, hoping she wouldn't have to go in for a second attempt at the kill. Thankfully she did not, but terror gripped her hard and fast as she watched the steaming corpse collapse against the empty tower, knocking it down to rubble and leaving the rookies with nowhere to run.

"The tower's…not gonna…hold" Gelgar panted as he came to a rest next to Nanaba who clung to the remaining tower.

"Yeah and my ODM gear's low on juice, how's yours?" she asked.

"Fresh out and my blades are worn down to the nub. Please tell me those aren't the only ones you've got left"

"Fraid so"

"How many dead Titans did the four of us rack up?"

"Couldn't say, I was too preoccupied to keep count"

"Yeah well, I'm thinking I didn't do too bad" Blood ran further down Gelgar's face, dripping into his eyes, "Oh man, what's a guy…gotta do to get a…drink around here?"

"This isn't the time for-" Nanaba cut off as she saw the state of her comrade.

"I'm sorry…Nanaba…I musta bashed my head…I-I don't think…I can…hold on"

"GELGAR!" Nanaba cried as he collapsed forwards and fell from the tower, straight into the hands of a waiting Titan. Fury running through her veins, Nanaba sliced through the nape of the Titan, pushing far too hard as her final blades snapped down to the hilts and she used the last of her gas. "GELGAR, NO!" she cried watching the Titan fling her comrade into the castle as it fell. That's it, that's everything I've got! Nanaba thought as the last of her gas fizzled out and still the Titans approached.

The rookies could only watch on in horror as Nanaba and Gelgar were plucked from their spots, kicking and screaming, wailing their last pleading words before they were summarily eaten by the very beasts they had fought so hard to destroy.

"Ugh! Goddammit!" Connie cursed, turning from the carnage and punching the wall next to him in frustration, "Now what? We sit around waiting for the tower to collapse and let ourselves get eaten alive?"

Ryan fiddled with the old copper scroll-shaped pendant that hung around his neck as Connie rambled. It's not like he was wrong though. Without their ODM gear they were sitting ducks, especially since their only 'weapon' was Connie's tiny knife. I suppose I could use my scalpel if I needed to. Ryan mused, biting his lower lip as he thought.

"That's it? There's really nothing else we can do? This is bullshit, we'll be wiped out before we get to finish what we started" Connie had fallen to the floor by this point, hugging his legs to his chest as he began to panic.

"No this…this isn't over yet. If I could find a weapon, I'd go down fighting. At least try to be worthy to the people who died for us" Krista declared.

"Krista, please" Ymir pleaded, unsettled by the sudden fire from the quiet girl, "Enough with that kind of crap already, okay?"

"Huh?"

"Don't use their deaths as an excuse, they didn't sacrifice themselves so you could fulfil some fantasy about going out in a blaze of glory"

"Ymir! You know that's not what I meant!"

"You damn well know you're not like Connie and the others, they're in this to give humanity a fighting chance. Deep down, all you care about is having the word 'Hero' carved on your epitaph"

"T-that's not it at all"

"Connie, where's that knife you had?" Ymir asked, effectively putting an end to the conversation as she skirted around Krista and made her way over to Connie. Off to the side Ryan shifted in his spot, a feeling of awkwardness washing over him as he unwillingly overheard their very loud conversation. Before he tracked Ymir's movements over to the shorter boy, suddenly very cautious about what she wanted to do.

"Why?" Connie asked.

"Just give it here"

"Fine, whatever" Connie rose and gave Ymir the blade, handle first.

"You're very sweet, thanks" Ymir patted Connie on the head, much to his chagrin.

"Why do you even need it for?"

"Not much…just gonna give 'em a little hell"

"Okay, then do you have a plan?" Reiner asked.

"If I do, we'll learn what it is together" Ymir replied as she made her way over to the edge of the tower.

"Ymir…" Krista trailed.

"Krista, listen to me. I realise you've probably forgotten" Ymir held Krista tight as the tower shook, "But since we're facing the end, try to think back. Remember that oath we made on that snowy mountain?" Krista could only stare up at Ymir and couldn't help but feel like Ymir was saying a final goodbye. "I have no business telling you how to live your life, it's not my place. So I guess when you break it down, this is just really more of a hope. Krista, live a life you can be proud of"

Krista still wasn't able to say anything as Ymir pressed a kiss to her forehead before letting her go. Ymir moved closer to the edge, testing the sharpness of the knife as she went. "Never forget the promise we made" Ymir smiled, before taking a running jump and leaping out into the open air.

"YMIR! WAIT! YMIR!" Krista wailed.

The group could only watch on with wide eyes as their comrade ripped the blade through her hand and lit up the sky in Titan orange. The burning ball of light illuminated everything in its path, turning Ymir into a beacon as she fell. Ymir had jumped into the burning light and from the light, a hungry Titan had emerged with a blood-curdling roar.