The Whole Road

by Keirube

The story follows closely to the anime and manga of Attack on Titan. There will be plenty of spoilers throughout, particularly in the later chapters, but it will also have my twist on things. At the very end of the story, I will add in a couple of my own characters.

6. Open Season

The rights of Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan is owned by Hajime Isayama, its creator.

***text*** - indicates a flashback and/or dream sequence

… - indicates a change of pace and/or a change of scenery

Chapter 6: Open Season

Early in the morning, before the sun gave its first beam of light, the faithful soldiers of the Scouting Regiment made their final preparations for the long journey that awaited them in the coming hours.

In the rush, Mikasa got a glimpse of Eren's team saddling up their horses. Taking a moment to slip away from her group, she made her way over to him.

"Eren" she called as she approached.

Gunther caught sight of her and started to move to turn her away, but Levi stopped him. He told him it was alright, and Gunther nodded, letting her through.

Eren moved to greet her and asked, "Mikasa shouldn't you be preparing with your team? You can get in trouble by wandering around."

She nodded, "I know. I just wanted to tell you to be safe out there. This mission could take weeks or more to complete, so I don't know when I'll be able to speak with you again like this."

"I'll be alright." he encouraged her. "I'm being accompanied by a team made of the best titan slayers in the Survey Corps. Plus if push comes to shove, I can use my ability to transform as a trump card."

Not entirely sure about it all, she simply nodded again. Turning around, Mikasa walked up to Levi having a somber expression on her face. He met her gaze with one of question.

"Everyone here may see Eren as a monster." she began, "Yet he's one of the few family I have left. He means so much to me. I can't bare the thought of losing him."

"Mikasa" Eren breathed out. Mikasa glanced at him, and then turned back to Levi.

"Can I trust you to protect him?" she asked.

Levi didn't immediately respond, silently admiring the bond she shares with the young man. It reminded him of friends he cared for long ago, when they first joined the Survey Corps.

"You doubt the captain's ability young soldier?" Oluo objected. Walking up to her, Oluo spoke, "As you should know, Captain Levi is the strongest soldier in the Survey Corps. He's more than capable of protecting your friend from any titan onslaught.

Oluo placed a hand on Mikasa's shoulder, but immediately drew back when she shot him a fierce glare. Levi laughed inwardly, seeing she was definitely an Ackerman.

"You have my word" said Levi, "I will protect him from danger and bring him back safely."

Mikasa looked in his eyes. Seeing no falter in them, she said, "Thank you."

Before she left to return to her group, Eren called out to her and said, "Mikasa you be careful out there as well. At the end of this mission, we'll have retained our home once again."

She smiled at him saying, "Definitely."

Watching her go, Eren never thought he would be so happy as to be in Shiganshina again. He always dreamed of going beyond the Walls, and hated living in that city all his life. Yet now, he couldn't wait to see it again and rebuild it.

…

…

…

Around noon, the large factions of Corps soldiers were gathered in front of the outer gate and along the street leading up to it. The crowd to see them off was unusually small, however the people of Karanese weren't used to expeditions leaving from their gate.

Eren looked out among the people and found two small children discussing how cool they looked. 'Some things never change.' he thought with a smile.

Up above, members of the Garrison gave the thumbs up, signaling there were no titans in the vicinity of the gate and were prepared to lift it.

One of the section leaders sounded off, "Alright everyone look alive! In the next few moments the 57th expedition of the Survey Corps will begin!"

As the rest of the section leaders finished calling their squads to attention, Commander Erwin signaled to the Garrison officers to lift the gate. When it was fully opened, Erwin reared his horse and shouted, "Forward!"

Everyone followed the commander out of the gate, galloping through the outskirts of a village just on the other side. Once they reached opened land, they would then proceed to split into long distance formation. Many sections spread across a wide array of land to better detect and avoid unnecessary battles with titans using colored smoke flares. If all goes smoothly, they won't have to stop until they reach Shiganshina.

Continuing through the village, they caught sight of a ten meter titan. It took notice of the large convoy and began moving in. Those among the cover team immediately engaged the beast in a fierce battle.

Sasha yelped as the titan smashed through a building in an attempt to grab one of them. Riding along side her, her squad leader placed his hand on her head and directed her attention to what was in front of her.

"Don't worry about what's going on behind you. That is the first response team's job." he told her. "You focus on your duty and continue forward."

Being that this was the rookies' first expedition, they were placed among those with the care of handling the extra horses and relaying messages. Should anyone lose their horse on the battle field, they would be sitting ducks.

Having finally reached open land, Commander Erwin gave the signal for them to branch out and enter long distance formation. Many of the rookies wished their teammates well as they moved out. Eren's group came up far behind the pack, as they stayed in the center of the formation.

All went relatively quite, traveling for several kilometers to the southwest, heading toward the outer edge of Trost district. At the rate they were headed, they would reach Trost's outer gate within a few hours.

Within the inner left flank, Sasha passed by a row of abandoned houses. Unbeknown to her, a titan lurked behind them. Its presence went undetected by the left flank of spotters. In an instant it jumped out, lunging for her. She managed to direct her horse away in time to avoid the initial charge, but the titan continued for her, crawling at around the same speed as her horse could carry her.

In panic, Sasha dropped a red flare that would signal the presence of a titan.

"Blouse!" her squad leader called out to her. His second command riding along with him fired off a red flare.

"It's after me!" Sasha screamed in panic.

"It's moving too fast to outrun." said the second in command to the squad leader.

"Your right, we have to try and distract it from Blouse." he responded. Cupping his mouth with his hand, he shouted, "Blouse, try leading it in our direction!"

Sasha frantically nodded, and began turning toward their path. The titan made another attempt for Sasha, narrowly missing her again. It then caught sight of the other two members, and began following them due to two meals being better than one.

The squad leader pointed up ahead to an area near a small cabin and the second in command nodded, understanding his intention. The two traveled close together, giving the titan a single target reference between them.

Coming just in range to make a reach for them, they suddenly split off to the left and right, leaving the titan confused as it collided face first into a tree.

Sasha watched the whole scene play out in wonder, seeing the coordinated experience of the veteran soldiers. As they rode up to her, her squad leader said, "Come on, get back into formation. That titan has worn itself out for the time being so let's move before it comes back."

…

…

…

Within the top-center right flank, Armin kept pace with his squad leader Dita Ness and teammate Luke Siss. While at the academy, he and his fellow cadets trained intensely in the use of maneuver gear and combating titans. Yet once he entered the Survey Corps, most of their training went into detecting and avoiding titans as much as possible.

Armin began to smile at the thought of how frustrating this mission must be for Eren so far, having to pass by so many wandering titans without taking them out. Yet then a dark thought crossed his mind. 'If avoiding titans plays a major role in recon missions, then those who are the first to engage them are the ones who end up dying the most.'

***…"They are simply wild animals that need to be put down and nothing more. That's why I intend to join the Survey Corps, and eliminate them all."…***

Even with Eren's shifting ability, Armin knows his friend has limits. 'Eren don't do anything stupid out here'.

"Arlert, try to stay focus! The slightest distraction out here could spell the end for all of us." Dita warned, snapping him out of his musing.

"Ah, yes Sir. I'm sorry Sir." Armin apologized.

Dita smiled, his eyes fixed looking ahead. "No need to say you're sorry." he spoke, "I remember my first expedition. I was a nervous wreck, but you kids seem more confident than most rookie groups."

Just then, a black round fired off in the distance. Luke noted and said, "Looks like they spotted an abnormal."

Dita nodded in response. A couple of minutes later, a titan came into view, walking at a very brisk pace. "So one broke through" mentioned Luke. "Ness Sir, what are your orders?"

"We have to take it out." he answered, "No telling what it will do, being an abnormal. We can't let it break the formation." Turning to Armin he ordered, "We'll handle this, you stay ahead of us."

With that, they headed in the direction of the abnormal titan as Armin continued on, with the extra horse in tow.

Pulling alongside the titan as it continued to walk, Dita balanced himself and stood atop his horse, keeping a hand on the reins. With the other, he drew a blade from his gear. Timing it just right, he jumped forward and fired a hook into the back of the titan's leg. Propelling himself toward it, he made a clean swipe at the achilles tendon, causing the creature to fall on the ground.

Luke wasted no time in reeling himself toward the downed titan, and making a deep cut to the nape. Up ahead, Armin was relieved at the success of his team as the titan began to dissipate. Yet from afar he could see something large coming in their direction.

Dita whistled for his horse and rubbed its head when it came to him. "That's a good boy." he encouraged. Getting back on the saddle, he began to move to catch up with Armin, Luke right behind.

Looking up at him, they saw Armin with his flare pointed toward the air. In that moment, Armin fired off a black smoke round, catching them by surprise. It was rare for two abnormal titans to break through the front lines. However, sure enough, as Dita and Luke turned behind them, they saw a titan jogging toward their location. This one had the rare appearance that of a female.

"What are the spotters doing? Surely they would have noticed this one jogging through their ranks." Luke muttered.

Dita sighed and said, "As unlucky as it may be for us, we have to take this one down as well. Plus I don't want it getting near Arlert."

No sooner than they drew the blades in preparation, did the female-like titan accelerate her pace and was on top of them. They narrowly had enough time to breakaway, giving her space to run right between them.

'I never seen a titan move so fast' Dita mused to himself. 'I won't be able to target this one's legs at that rate. It looks like we'll have to strike the nape directly.'

Dita managed to give Luke his command through a hand signal. Luke rose on his horse and took aim at the neck. Seeing the Female Titan turn its head toward Dita, he fired his cables and moved in for the kill.

Dita smiled, thinking they were able to bring down two deviant titans on their own, but he was suddenly filled with horror as the Female type swatted Luke away just as he came close to the neck. Its eyes never left Dita, and suddenly made an attempt to crush him.

He jumped off his horse and fired hooks into its shoulder. The Female-type grabbed hold of the cables and rip the hooks out of her skin. Not letting go, it swung Dita through the air before slamming him into the ground, killing him.

Armin could not help but shake in fear after seeing his squad leader and teammate meet their end at the hands of this new titan. It came to a halt and stood for a few seconds, before turning in his direction.

Armin's breath caught in his throat as he realized he was now in danger. He turned away and began to push the horses as fast as they could go in an effort to get away. The Female Titan took off after him, gaining ground with every massive step.

'Oh no, it's moving too fast, I'm not going to get away!' he thought in panic. He heard the giant's steps getting closer and closer. At this point, Armin realized this wasn't just another abnormal titan. It was a special type, that of the Colossal and Armored. 'How many titans like this are out there? They display so much intelligence that it even Eren would have a tough time bringing them down! It's hard enough fighting against mindless ones given their size. To have size and acuity is downright unfair.'

Realizing his impending fate, Armin let go of his extra horse, knowing the titans only cared for human flesh. Seeing it escape successfully he then prepared himself to jump off his own horse, however, the titan was now right over the top of him. With one stride, it slammed its foot in front of the path of his horse. The resulting force sent him and his horse flying in opposite directions. He rolled along the ground before coming to a stop. The hood of his cloak came up over his head, blinding his vision from the titan as it crouched down beside him.

'This is it! I'm sorry everyone, Mr. and Mrs. Carolina. I won't be able to protect you.' He remembered the letter he read from Mina, just before they left on the expedition. How much she desired to see Eren and him accomplish their goal of seeing the world. 'Mina, we'll always be together after this.'

To his surprise, he wasn't eaten nor crushed to death. Instead, he felt a tug at the hood of his cloak. He lifted his head in shock as he stared directly into the eyes of the Female Titan. The moment went on for another few seconds, and Armin could almost swear he saw the titan smiling at him.

Afterward, it stood up and took off running further within the right flank, leaving him with breath in his body.

"It-it didn't kill me." he stated in disbelief.

Looking over to his side, Armin saw his horse on the ground, dead from breaking its neck along the ground from the force earlier. With no other choice, he began to walk, hoping to run into a fellow recon member before any more titans showed up.

After walking for 15 minutes, a voice called, "Hey Armin!"

Up behind him came Reiner, hauling a spare horse with him. He spoke and said, "Where's your horse, it's dangerous to be out here on foot?"

Armin shook his head, "It died while I was attacked by a titan."

"Really, a titan managed to get this far into the formation? How in the world did you survive?" asked Reiner.

"Well, that's hard to answer; I'm not exactly sure how I survived myself." Armin began, "Yet anyway we have to catch up to it and warn the others with a smoke flare." Armin quickly got on the spare horse, and led Reiner in the direction the Female Titan headed toward.

It didn't take too long before they caught glimpse of it.

"Wow, now there's a titan you don't see everyday." Reiner commented.

"Yeah" Armin responded. Reaching for his flare, he began fumbling around for a black round. Yet before he could load one up, a shot fired off just behind him.

"Looks like Jean beat you to the punch." said Reiner, smiling at him as he rode up beside them. "A yellow round?" he asked him.

"Yeah" Jean answered, "Most of the spotters on the right flank have been wiped out by a large group of titans." Jean informed.

"What?" Reiner and Armin stated together in surprise.

Jean nodded and said, "I've been sent to relay this message deeper into the right flank. That monster up ahead apparently led the titan multitude. After crippling the right side I doubt we can continue this mission to Wall Maria. From the looks of it, this is the most difficult abnormal titan the veteran soldiers have ever dealt with."

"Not to mention it must be difficult for our male soldiers to not be distracted by such a tight looking ass." Reiner commented.

"Come on" Jean grin, "Now is not the time to indulge in any of your lustful fantasies." This caused Reiner to chuckle a bit.

"It's not just another abnormal." Armin said out of the blue.

"Huh? What else would it be?" asked Jean.

Armin looked at him and declared, "After seeing it's capabilities first hand, I originally placed it in the same class as the Colossal and Armored Titans."

"Those two again eh?" Reiner smiled, "So there are more titans out there like them?"

"That's right." Armin confirmed, "They are no doubt our greatest enemies out of all the titan classes. I watched as this Female Titan meticulously struck down my team. It didn't even bother to consume them. Afterward, it then turned its attention on me."

"That reminds me, you still haven't said how you survived that encounter, not that I'm sad to see you alive or anything." Reiner joked.

"No offense taken." Armin reassured, "The fact is I shouldn't be alive right now, but I'm starting to think there is more to this titan than meets the eye. You see after it knocked me off my horse and had me cornered, it took a moment to examine my face. It was as if it was looking for someone in particular."

"It was looking for someone?" Jean repeated questioningly.

Armin nodded. "Yeah, but even stranger than that, it seemed to recognize who I was. I figure that is why I'm still alive. To put it simply, it refused to kill me."

Both Jean and Reiner couldn't believe what they just heard. Is it possible for a titan choosing to have mercy on their prey?

Armin continued on to say, "I don't think this is all by chance. Guys, you remember that day when we discovered the titan that saved us outside of the HQ building in Trost was actually Eren?"

Reiner asked him, "What are you getting at?"

"Perhaps Eren isn't the only one who can transform into a titan." Armin concluded, catching them both off guard. "I'm starting to believe this titan before us, is actually a human in her transformed state."

Jean laughed and said, "Come on Armin, isn't that a little far-fetched? Wasn't it Eren's father who knew the secret how to turn someone into one? You're saying he experimented with someone else?"

"I can't answer that, but this Female Titan being a human is the only thing that makes sense." Armin assured. "It also stands to reason that whoever is inside that body, knows who I am and perhaps all of us."

Reiner turned toward the Female Titan and began to grit his teeth. 'He's beginning to put two and two together, though it's not surprising giving his smarts.' he contemplated. 'Ugh, why did you let him live? It would have been difficult for Bertolt or me to finish him off, but I didn't expect this out of you.'

"I think its Eren she's after." said Armin, causing Reiner to be shaken from his thoughts.

"What, Eren?" Jean questioned.

"Yes. I mean who else would she be after? I'm thinking if this is a titan shifter before us, surely she would be interested in Eren. Besides, that would explain why her attack has primarily been along the right flank. That's where we were briefed concerning Eren's location."

Jean shook his head and said, "That can't be. My group was told Eren is situated on the left flank."

Armin looked thoughtful at this before announcing, "We've been given differing reports concerning Eren. It seems the Commander is up to something and by the looks of it, whatever suspicions he's had is now turning out to be very real."

"So, if he's not within the inner right or left flanks, where do you might think he is Armin? Right behind the Commander within the center rank?" asked Reiner.

Armin considered his question and answered, "Actually, a better bet would be within the center-rear. It's the absolute safest place in the formation."

The two went silent as they mulled over Armin's hunch. All the while, the Female Titan's pace began to slow down to a jog.

"She's starting to tire." Jean pointed out.

Armin looked and said, "I don't think so. She was running at that pace when my group first spotted her, before accelerating and over taking us. I believe she is simply looking for more squads to pursue."

Jean gritted his teeth. "In that case we have to slow her down before she reaches command. If that were to happen, our formation will lose its sense of direction and won't know what's going on."

"I agree." Armin nodded, "Though we can't attack her nape. She'll see us coming and will take us out. I propose we strike the tendons in her legs. That will slow her down for a couple of minutes."

"Roger that." Jean consented.

Reiner could see the fortitude in Jean's eyes and commented, "You've changed a lot since our days at the academy. I can't recall you ever being enthusiastic about fighting titans."

"Yeah well, let's just say I have no desire to see any more of my friends staring at me with eyes that are void of life." Jean stated with a sad smile. Knowing he was referring to Marco, Reiner nodded and the three proceeded to move in on their target.

Armin held his hand up to get their attention and said, "I'll pull to her right and try to get her attention. Once I have it, Jean, you attack the legs. Reiner you stay behind and follow through with a second attack to her leg muscles." As they acknowledged the plan, Armin added, "Oh and one more thing. Pull your hoods up to veil your face. Indeed if she is looking for Eren, she won't kill you until she know who is under the hood."

Increasing his horse's stride, Armin pulled up alongside the 14 meter titan, though making sure to keep a good distance between them. He continued to increase his speed and got out in front. At this, she turned toward him taking notice.

'Now's my chance!' Jean determined.

Standing up in a crouched position atop his horse, Jean jumped and launched a cable toward the titan's legs. Picking up the sound of the initial firing with her acute hearing, the Female Titan immediately shifted her direction, causing the cable to hit the ground a few inches away from her legs.

"What?" Jean breathed out as he landed on the ground. She eyed him for a second before turning and advancing on Armin. With one swift move, she knocked Armin's horse right from under him.

He violently tumbled along the ground from the force, suffering cuts and scrapes to the head.

"Armin!" shouted Jean.

Armin struggled to stay conscious as he laid face first on the ground. He noticed his hood no longer veiled his face, and turned back to look as his attacker drew near. Figuring she would resolve to kill him this time, all he could do was wait for the inevitable. However, again the titan stopped as she looked upon his face. This time it wasn't a hint of a smile that he saw, but a pained expression. Something clicked on the inside of his head as he stared into her eyes.

Immediately Jean shot another hook. It connected with her arm and he began to close in. Reacting quickly, she turned and attempted to catch him. Using his momentum, he successfully flipped his body away from her left hand, and propelled himself behind her.

Jean fired another cable connecting with her back. He planned to make an attempt for her nape. Yet clearly underestimating her knowledge, she covered and clenched the hook in her skin, making it impossible for him to disconnect the cable connected with his maneuver gear.

'Oh crap!' thought Jean. 'It might have been foolish of us to engage this titan in open terrain.' Unable to break free, he continued to swing around and the Female Titan prepared to knock him out of the air with her free hand. 'This is it, I'm dead!'

"Jean, avenge the suicidal bastard who rushed to his death!"

Suddenly the Female Titan froze mid swing and ceased moving altogether. Her hold on Jean's cable even lightened up enough for it to break free as he swung toward the ground.

"That's the titan who led the horde that killed my friend! He always wished to fight them and now he is dead because he wanted to be a hero! I saw him crushed underneath a titan's foot. Jean, avenge his reckless blood!"

Running over to a set of nearby trees, Jean looked over toward Armin as he continued to shout, wondering at what he was saying. Fearing he may have gone delirious, he was surprised the Female Titan was not attacking them in this vulnerable moment. That was when he noticed the effect Armin's words were having on her.

'So, it seems this titan can understand our speech.' Jean mused. 'It looks like your hunch was correct Armin. This is definitely a human in a titan body.' Continuing to look, he saw her form began to slightly shake from tension.

In that moment, Reiner closed in on the still giant. Against Armin's earlier suggestion, he took off his hood and made a clear attempt for the Female Titan's nape, firing a cable wire into her neck. Jean clenched his fist, thinking Reiner might be successful as Armin continued to distract her.

Just as he reeled himself in, she turned his way and caught him in an instant. Jean and Armin's breath were taken away as they watched Reiner struggle to break free.

The Female Titan flexed her hold on him in her fist, positioning her thumb on his head and began to clench. Reiner disappeared deeper into her closed fist leaving his friends looking on in horror as he was being crushed.

Instantly blood splattered everywhere, yet not Reiner's blood. With all his strength, he managed to cut through her fingers using his swords and escape with his life. Quickly swinging down, he scooped up Armin and began running away from her.

"Come on Jean, we've held her long enough!" Reiner shouted. "If she's not a regular titan, she won't follow and eat us!"

Not wasting another minute, Jean ran as fast as he could after them. The Female Titan stood somewhat dazed looking at her steaming fingerless hand. After a moment of letting it heal, she got up, and began running in another direction.

"Ah, look!" Reiner smiled. "I don't know where she's off to but I'm glad my hunch was correct."

Armin watched as she continued to run when suddenly, he realized which section within the formation would meet her next.

'No, why is she headed toward the center rear?' he thought. 'Did she see through my bluff?' All he could do was look and hope Eren remained safe.

...

…

…

Running full speed ahead, Levi's squad continued on through the plains of Maria territory. Eren looked out upon the vast horizon, remembering the very few times he had a chance to travel with his father to visit patients. It was so long ago that by now, the territory looked unfamiliar to him.

"It's been a while since we saw our last red flare." Gunther stated to the group.

Eld nodded and said, "Yes, it's pretty strange for that to happen on an expedition. It looks like the commander has steered us in a good direction."

No sooner did he finish speaking, a black flare round shot off in the distance to their right.

"An abnormal?" questioned Gunther, "Looks like it made it pretty far into the formation."

Levi turned his head toward Eren and gave him the signal to fire the same colored round. Eren complied and shot it off. After a few seconds, the group caught sight of a messenger from the right flank galloping toward them.

"Captain." he addressed Levi, "A group of titans have infiltrated the right flank and most scouts have not survived the battle. Also, it appears there are a large number of abnormal titans among them, one wiping out squad after squad and traveling deeper into the formation."

The group gasped at what they heard, but Levi seemed almost unaffected by the news. He nodded to the messenger, allowing him to return to his group. Turning to Petra he spoke, "Go relay that message to the left."

"Yes Sir!" Petra affirmed with determination. As she broke away to fulfill her order, Eld asked Levi, "Sir without the spotters on the right flank, do you think it's wise for the commander to continue the expedition?"

"Who knows" Levi answered. "Once we reach a safe area and set up camp, we can fully assess the situation. Though finding an area of rest out here is hard to do. The titans are always on the move and we won't be able to stop until nightfall."

Another black round fired off in the distance.

"That one was closer." stated Gunther. He then shot off his round to forward the signal. "It seems that abnormal titan that was referred to us is headed toward our direction. Even for an abnormal, it's unusual for it to take out so many soldiers and still not met its end already."

Eren listened and continued to watch the flares in the distance. Underneath the smoke, someone was fighting. Someone was giving their life. The thought pained him greatly.

For all the soldiers who died in Trost, his friends, their bodies were collected and properly put to rest. Yet to die out here, chances are their bodies will be left behind to rot away in the open sun. He wasn't apart of the clean up effort of Trost, having the honor of sending away his comrades with dignity and respect. These soldiers will not receive that tribute. Grimacing, Eren continued to ride on.

…

…

…

"You're one tough dude I'll tell you that!" Reiner laughed

Armin faintly smiled as Reiner helped him bandage the cuts on his head. "Speak for yourself." he responded, "I would not have been able to escape the clutches of such a titan in the way you did. I imagine perhaps Mikasa and Captain Levi are the only other ones who could have stood their ground."

"Yeah well in any case, we can't have your head being damaged. When it comes to your smarts, you have no rival." Reiner stated upon finishing up.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. My horse took the worse of it, dying from the blow."

After running a short distance, the three found a small section of trees they could temporarily use to rest behind. Knowing they couldn't stay on the ground for long without a titan finding them, Reiner and Jean tried whistling for their horses. Reiner's came back, but Jean continued to call out for his without success.

"Hopefully Jean's horse will come soon." Reiner observed.

Armin noted with only one horse, someone would have to stay behind as Reiner's horse couldn't carry all of them. Yet that wasn't the only thing on his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about the Female Titan, the look in her eyes when she saw him bloodied on the ground.

'She definitely knows who I am.' he weighed over. 'Not only that, but she responded to Eren's nickname. That can only mean whoever is inside that titan, is also from our training regiment. Yet why would a comrade do this? Who among us would be capable of possibly killing their friends?'

Then something donned on him. The look in the Female Titan's eyes, he understood why it felt so familiar, so distinctive. It was of a person who rarely showed any emotion at all, that once it did show, it threatens to flood out all at once and the person quickly attempts to snatch it all back. The same look Annie gave him the day he told her and Connie his reasons for joining the Survey Corps.

"Could it be?" Armin voiced all of sudden, catching Reiner's attention. Before he could ask Armin what he was referring to, Jean came up to them with a disappointed look on his face.

"It's no good guys." he said, "I can't get my horse to come to me."

Reiner shook his head, "It looks like one of us will have to stay behind then."

"Gah, after all we just went through and surviving" Jean gritted his teeth, "Only for one of us to die out here alone."

"Wait a minute Jean." Armin interjected. "We can still send out an emergency flare. Hopefully, those that were behind us should still be within the area to see it."

"You're right." he agreed.

Jean took out his pistol and loaded it with a purple smoke round. Taking aim, he shot upwards, praying someone with an extra horse would see it.

"Just in case no one arrives" Reiner spoke, "We will have to decide who stays behind."

"I'll stay." Armin immediately volunteered, leaving the two speechless. He continued, "The Scouts will need as many talented fighters as possible right now, so I'm expendable."

"Armin-" Reiner began to protest, but he stopped him and said, "Listen; I do need you two to relay something to Commander Erwin for me."

"Hold that thought Armin." Jean addressed. He pointed out into the distance and the three could make out a person on horseback coming toward their location, with two spare horses at their side. "It looks like you will be able to relay that message yourself."

As the person got closer the three realized who it was, their former fellow trainee, Krista.

"Man it's good to see you Krista!" Jean greeted as they all ran out to her. "…and look, you found my horse!"

Krista smiled and said, "Yes, he was running around at a frantic pace. I was able to catch up to him and calm him down. Shortly afterward I saw your signal. What happened to you guys?"

"Ah we ran into some titan trouble, this particular one unusually hard to bring down." he answered. Rubbing his horse's mane and neck he asked it, "Are you okay Otto? Sorry we left you back there."

Reiner grinned, "You named your horse Otto?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Jean asked with an annoyed look.

"Nothing, nothing." he held up his hands in compliance with a cheeky expression.

Krista quietly chuckled, being reminded how much of a jokester Reiner was. However upon seeing Armin's bandaged forehead, a look of worry spread across her face.

"Armin you're hurt!" she stated.

"I'll be alright, you don't have to worry." he assured.

Reiner smiled at Krista's demeanor. She always seemed to care for others before herself. Even now when they needed help, she was there to answer their call.

Tears began to roll down her face. Wiping them away she told them, "I'm glad all of you are okay. After so many of our friends died in Trost, I can't bare the thought losing any more."

A beam of sunlight bounced off her tears, causing something of a prism-like effect to shine from her face. The three were stunned into silence at her beauty.

…

…

…

Within the head of the center flank, Commander Erwin took in the amount of black rounds consistently being fired off in the distance. From the reports given by those relaying messages of what has happened in the right flank, he concludes the happenings are not by chance.

"We'll be changing course toward the east." he announced to his assistant squad commander. "The capture operation is now underway."

Directing the group eastward, Erwin fired a green round into the air, signaling to the formation the new direction. Little by little, the message began to transfer as groups responded and fired green rounds.

Mikasa watched as her section leader fired off the green smoke, and immediately she took notice of the change in direction. Connie rode up beside her and asked, "I wonder what's going on? This way certainly doesn't lead to Shiganshina."

"It appears so." she responded, "This may have something to do with the reports concerning the right side of the formation."

"Man, we haven't been traveling for a couple of hours and already things are falling apart." Connie sighed. "I hope the others among our class are alright."

Mikasa looked out onto the plains, hoping the same for her friends.

Elsewhere, the round of signal flares made it to the back of the formation, reaching Levi's squad.

"That's odd." said Petra, "It seems we've completely changed course."

"Given the direction, we're headed straight for the Forest of Giant Trees." Gunther spoke. "It looks like Commander Erwin is changing tactics after all the losses on the right side."

Oluo chuckled and said, "Yes, yes, I imagine he plans to lose the damned titans among the trees."

Petra looked ahead to Levi. "Captain" she asked, "Do you think that is the best way to shake the titan horde? Within the forest, it will be harder to communicate with everyone in the formation."

Eren looked toward his captain, anticipating the answer to her question. He remained silent for a moment before simply responding, "I suppose it can't be helped. Something has to be done about that bothersome aberrant titan."

His answer seemed to quell their curiosity. Eren smiled at how gracefully his superiors could deduce changes in strategy. In no time, he will also learn to pick up on their experience and become a highly skilled scout.

…

…

…

Once Reiner, Jean, Krista, and Armin caught up with another regiment at the entrance of the Forest of Giant Trees, they were instructed to circle around, with only the center of the formation being allowed to enter.

After traveling around a bit, they were given orders tether their horses and take positions up in the high trees. They were called to keep all the titans that were pursuing them outside the forest, which Armin found eerily similar to the strategy they used during the battle in Trost.

While Reiner and Krista went off as far as they were allowed to check on their friends within other sections of the forest, Jean and Armin waited patiently within a tree for something to happen.

"This blows." Jean stressed. "We should be returning to Karanese and cutting our losses. What is the Commander thinking?"

Armin couldn't help but think about that question himself. Simply by coming here would put a damper on the whole expedition. So if the mission was already off, why not head back behind the safety of Wall Rose and fight another day?

'Could it involve the Female Titan?' he wondered. 'Yes, that must be it. He must have deduced this wasn't a normal titan we're dealing with all along.'

"Hey Armin" Jean brought him back from his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah?"

"I can see the gears are turning in your head. You have an idea as to what's going on?"

Armin wasn't sure if he put it together just yet, but considering the Commander gave them differing information as to Eren's location within the formation, it was more than likely he was planning to encounter a unique enemy.

"I believe all this has to do with the Female Titan." Armin began. "It's quite possible the Commander knew there was another titan shifter out there who would come after Eren, thus this operation's main purpose was to draw them out."

"Heads up everyone, a five meter titan approaches!" yelled one of the section leaders.

Everyone turned their gaze toward a titan in pursuit of a squad reaching the outer edge of the forest.

"So you're saying this whole expedition was about luring out that female-form titan?" Jean asked Armin, eyes fixed on the five meter titan as it stopped in front of a tree the newly arrived scouts escaped into.

He nodded and said, "Possibly to capture her, the real her that is."

Jean turned to him in curiosity. "You sound like you already know who might be inside that creature. Is that the message you wanted us to relay to Erwin earlier?"

"Yeah" Armin answered. Jean watched as Armin eyes became downcast all of a sudden.

"Hey what's wrong Armin? Who's inside that thing?"

"Listen Jean" he started, "Would you think it's possible for a friend to kill their own comrades?"

"What? That would be insane." Jean answered. "What kind of person would kill their own? Wait, you're saying the person in that titan is a fellow soldier?" Then it struck him.

*** "Jean, avenge the suicidal bastard who rushed to his death!" shouted Armin. The Female Type suddenly froze up upon hearing the statement. ***

"It's-it's someone from our trainee squad, isn't it?" Jean whispered, realization dawning on him.

Armin looked at him sadly and said, "I believe so."

Jean clutched his fists and began to grit his teeth. There was no way he could believe someone from their own camp would do something like this. He bonded with all his classmates over those three years they spent at the academy, and even learned to tolerate Eren. Yet the person inside that titan thought nothing of ending his life had it not been for Armin's shout.

"Who is it?" Jean hesitantly asked, anger starting to take him.

"Jean, even though I'm sure it's someone from our trainee squad, I can't fully say I know who it is just yet."

"Cut the crap Armin, you know who it is! You pieced it together during our fight with her or is that not what you were going to tell the Commander?"

Armin looked away, Jean taking that to mean he is right in Armin knowing. Placing one hand on his shoulder, Jean continued, "She willingly killed soldiers and would have killed me as well. There's no need to defend her."

Armin silently nodded in agreement.

"Who is it Armin?"

"It's Annie."

…

…

…

Levi's squad was among the last to make it at the forest's entrance. Being in the center rank, they continued on inside. Eren noticed some of the other squads waiting on the outside as they passed through, and immediately questions began flooding his head.

"Levi Sir" he asked, "Why are there squads waiting outside the forest? I thought we were attempting to lose the titans in the cover of the trees?"

Levi didn't turn to address him, only simply kept his eyes forward as he continued to lead them through the forest.

"Captain?"

"Use your head for once rookie." Oluo spoke up, catching Eren's attention.

"Sir?"

"This forest is an excellent environment to use our maneuver gear, unlike the open plains." Oluo proudly stated. "Naturally we avoid having to fight normal titans but abnormals cause us headache. So if we have to engage, this is the spot to do it."

"Oh, I see." Eren acknowledged.

"Yep, you little brats will catch on at some point." Oluo sighed. "Just keep watching me and you'll *SCRUNCH*-YOOOOOOWWWWW!"

"Learn not to bite your own tongue." Petra finished for him.

Eren smiled but inwardly he knew Oluo was right. He needed to learn to figure these things out for himself, and not expected to be spoon fed what to do in every circumstance.

After traveling for another few minutes, the group heard the familiar sound of a smoke flare going off. Looking up, they saw the color of black smoke rise over the tall trees.

"It seems an abnormal entered the forest." stated Gunther, "It may be the strange one the other squads were having trouble bringing down."

"Listen everyone" Levi announced. Everybody turned and waited for his command. "Be on guard. We don't know what kind of titan we are dealing with here. Something tells me we won't have a lot of time to respond if it catches us by surprise."

"Sir!" Everyone resounded.

All was silent except for the hooves of the horses as they continued down the dirt path of the forest. Eren's eyes darted from left to right, looking for any disturbance that might indicate the location of the titan. Suddenly his eye caught sight of a Corps member swinging around the trees off a slight distance to his right, blades drawn. He could see the person looking behind, but couldn't tell what he were looking at until suddenly, something large zinged effortlessly out around the trees, smashing the helpless soldier to the ground.

The group's eyes grew large as they caught sight of the creature. Its speed was unbelievable, easily matching the speed of their horses, if not moving faster.

It continued to run off to the side, pulling evenly with the group. Levi cautiously watched, trying to predict its next move. When the titan slightly turned its head toward them, Levi shouted, "Everyone duck!"

Instantly the titan lunged toward the group, more specifically towards Eren. Eren slid to the side of his horse, hanging on for dear life as the titan's hand made an attempt to grab him. He could almost feel the warmth of its fingers as they moved over the top of his horse.

The momentum carried the titan over, landing off the side of the road as the group continued forward. Undeterred, the titan gave chase. Eren pulled himself back to a sitting position, and couldn't help but look back at the titan coming after them. It appeared to be looking back at him with a thrilled glint.

"Move it!" Levi commanded

They pushed their horses to their limits, galloping down the path. However the titan kept pace with ease, and began to gain ground.

Eld spoke, "It doesn't look like we can outrun it."

"Look, reinforcements have arrived!" Petra informed looking over her shoulder.

They watched as two soldiers caught up with the titan using their maneuver gear, briefly causing it to slow its pace. One of the soldiers got out in front to be a decoy, while the other made a break for the nape, shooting their hook and cable at the neck. It anticipated and dodged the shot, grabbing the wire as it passed. This caused the soldier to be yanked forward and the titan squashed the soldier against a tree. The soldier out in front panicked, allowing the titan to move in and catch one of their wires before it could retract.

Eren watched in horror as the soldier was pulled back and struck down out of the air in a streak of blood. With them out of the way, the titan continued its pursuit.

Eld drew a blade from his gear and said, "We're going to have to fight it." Gunther drew his own blade in response.

Eren looked back at the titan and smirked. 'I almost feel sorry for you.' he thought. 'You've ran free all this time and having your way, only to come up against a group of individuals known for killing titans. Your reign of terror ends here!' He glanced back at Levi, waiting for him to give the command to take it down.

Yet, it never came.

"Captain, your orders?" Eld asked

He was met with silence.

The strange titan with the appearance of a woman got closer to the group with each stride. It would only be a matter of time before she was right on top of them.

"Captain!" Petra called out, fearing they won't be able to counter if the Female Titan got any closer.

Finally, Levi glanced back at the approaching titan, a cool and calculating expression on his face. Grabbing one of his signal guns, he instructed, "Everyone, cover your ears."

They moved to do so, not fully understanding what he was about to do. Pointing the gun in the air, Levi fired off a shot. However, instead of a smoke flare coming out of the barrel, a high pitch screening sound emitted. Even with their ears covered, the group groaned at the piercing noise. If Levi was bothered by the sound, he certainly didn't show it.

Eren looked back at the titan. Seeing its eyes twitching, he could tell the noise must be having a deeper impact on its ears than theirs. Yet it kept coming toward them.

Eventually the noise subsided, allowing them to uncover their ears. At that point, Levi address them saying, "Everyone, our main job has always been to protect Eren at all costs. Not only does he hold the key around his neck that unlocks critical information concerning the titans, but he is the key to finally overcoming this 100 year siege on humanity."

The team regained it's composure as they listened to his words. "Remember this" he went on, "Even if we should die, someone will take our place. Yet Eren must go on. He could very well be our last hope. So we will continue to move forward."

So they resolved in their hearts to continue on, following behind their captain's lead. However, Eren was confused by his order.

"Forgive me Sir but we should take this titan out." he argued, "It already killed many soldiers, so to let it continue running around is crazy."

"Eren!" Petra berated.

He turned to her and said, "I mean no disrespect, but we have to take it out before our entire unit is wiped out. If Captain Levi can't do it, then who will?"

She shook her head, "You must be patient and trust the Captain's judgment."

Eren clenched his teeth as he looked at the back of Levi. 'This is insane. Why won't he act?'

Hearing the familiar sounds of maneuver gear, Eren turned around and saw three scouts swinging around the titan, attempting to bring it down. Interestingly enough, the Female Titan covered her weak spot with one hand.

"Eren let them do their job." Petra told him, "Focus on moving ahead."

"We should be fighting with them."

His eyes were transfixed on the battle. He understood his value to humanity winning this war against the titans, but that doesn't mean his life should be so highly valued over the others. Was it not Squad Levi's original purpose to protect everyone from him in his transformed state? Why now is everyone willing to die for him?

With a lightning quick strike, the Female Titan shot down two of the three soldiers, the third barely escaping to the side.

"No!" Eren yelled, "They didn't have to die!"

Whipping his head back to Levi he called and said, "There's one more still fighting. We can still save him if we act now!"

Silence was his only answer, and it was beginning to drive him crazy. Never in his wildest dreams in his short time of knowing him, did he thought he would see a day where Levi would hesitate to fight a titan.

'Argh, I didn't sign up for this!' he raged inwardly. 'I swear, this titan is going down even if I have to do it myself!'

Then the idea struck him. 'That's right. I can fight on my own. Even though I should save my strength to plug the hole in Wall Maria, it won't matter if this titan ruins the mission. I don't think I'll be able to take it out with my maneuver skills, so I'll have to transform!'

Resolving the issue in his heart, he slowed his horse's pace little by little, making sure the rest were ahead by enough to not be harmed by the effects of him changing. With Petra being the closest to him, she immediately noticed him falling slightly behind. She started to call out for him, but that's when she noticed him raising his hand to his mouth.

"Eren no, you haven't been given the instruction to do that!"

Eld, Gunther, and Oluo turned at her voice, seeing Eren intending to bite his hand.

"I'm sorry but I have to do this." he responded, "I can't sit back any longer!"

"Eren think about what you're doing! To do things on your own is reckless. Disobeying your commanding officer's orders can lead everyone to their deaths. You're no longer training at the academy, this is live action!"

"We're going to die anyway if we continue to run from it. Eventually it will catch up and crush us all!" Eren cried. "If Captain Levi won't fight, then I will!"

"Eren!"

"It's alright Petra." Levi called, catching her off guard.

"Captain?" she questioned

Looking at her he commented, "I understand his desire to fight. It's his craving that truly makes him a force to be reckoned with, and not his ability to become a titan."

Turning to look over his shoulder at Eren, Levi addressed and said, "You have my permission to change and fight if you want to, yet you have a choice. The difference between you and the others is experience. They've learned to trust in the confidence of their superiors, having faith that their decisions will work out the best. So I offer you that choice. However, no one truly knows how things will turn out either way, so choose the one you will regret the least."

After listening to his words, Eren hesitated a little, questioning if what he was doing is the right course of action. Turning back at the titan, he caught glimpse of the remaining soldier dodging another blow.

'I have to stop it.'

Once again bringing his hand to his mouth, he suddenly looked up at the faces of his team. All of them were watching him, concern present on their faces. 'Are they worried about me?' he questioned.

Petra noticed his sudden reluctance. Smiling she called, "Eren"

Having his attention, she stated, "You can trust us Eren. We're with you all the way."

The others nodded with her sentiment, smiling back at him and encouraging him to trust Levi's judgment.

"You're taking too long to decide." Levi insisted, "What is your decision?"

Eren closed his eyes in frustration. He knew in his heart he could trust them. Even with his short time of training, there was no guarantee he could maintain absolute focus long enough to bring down his opponent.

He didn't know what Levi was up to, but after hearing him, he certainly wasn't afraid to face this abnormal titan. He remained cool the throughout the whole ordeal. The others saw that and put their faith in him. He will to.

"Eren" Petra called again.

"I choose to move on!" Eren cried out. "I choose to put my trust in your lead Captain!"

Petra gave him a big smile, as well as the others. Levi glanced over at her, seeing her excitement at Eren's decision. 'She managed to convince him to continue on. You're a special person Petra. Though I'll be lying if I said I didn't want him to fight. You're just like me, aren't you Eren?'

Suddenly the Female Titan jumped in the air and kicked the soldier as he attempted to strike at the muscles in her arm. His broken body went flying past Squad Levi, splattering against a tree. Eren clenched his fists around the reigns of his horse, silently apologizing to the fallen soldier.

With no one else to slow it down, the Female Titan began to accelerate at a greater pace than before. Levi still led his squad down the road, with no intention of switching to maneuver gear and fighting back.

Eren's mind screamed to transform, but he was all in on his decision to move. Leaning his head back, Eren looked into the face of his attacker. It stared back at him and he couldn't help but wonder why it seemed to be so interested in him. To his surprise, it began to reach out for him similar to before.

The instance genuinely puzzled him, but before he could do anything to avoid her reach, the ground slightly gave way underneath her feet with her last step, causing her to stumble.

"What the…"

Eren suddenly noticed all the scouts hiding within the area they passed, standing next to large grappling cannons surrounding where the titan faltered.

The group looked back when they heard someone shout, "FIRE!"

The Female Titan barely had enough time to cover her nape with both hands before being pierced with hundreds of hooks and cables. By the time it was over, she was successfully pinned down, unable to move an inch.

Looking down at the captured giant from within the trees stood Commander Erwin.

"The capture operation" he declared, "is a success."

…

…

…

On the outside of the forest, the number of titans steadily increased as they continued to reach for the scouts waiting in the tall branches. Some titans attempted to climb the trees, causing Krista to panic.

"It will be okay." Squad Leader Nanaba told her, "Even if they manage to reach this point, we can avoid them by moving to another tree. Don't worry; we won't be here for much longer."

Elsewhere, Bertolt had an anxious look for a different reason from the titans eyeing him down from the forest floor.

"Did you hear those sounds?" he asked Reiner who stood off to his side.

Reiner answered, "Yeah, it kind of sounded like cannon fire coming from the inside. I wonder what is going on."

Bertolt looked at him and whispered, "You think she's alright? Perhaps it was a mistake to let her do this alone."

"You worry too much Bert." he assured, giving him a faint smile. "She's got this. Pretty soon we will be on our way home again with the power of the Coordinate rightfully in our possession, earning our status as warriors."

Nodding, Bertolt turned toward the inner forest, hoping his friend is right.

…

…

…

After traveling ahead a short distance, Levi brought the group to a rest. Stepping down from his horse and giving the reigns to Eld, he address, "Continue up ahead and tether the horses. I'm heading back to report to Erwin. Wait for my return."

"Yes Sir." Eld saluted.

They watched as Levi took off back down the road on his maneuver gear until he went beyond their line of sight. Eld smiled and turned toward Eren.

"Congratulations Eren. The continued trust in your team has paid off with the successful capture of that titan."

Eren turned to him, still not sure what happened a few moments earlier. "Was that the plan all along?" he asked.

"Of course it was brat!" Oluo bragged. "If you weren't so busy whining the whole time, you would have figured it out as I have a long time ago."

"Ha-ha that's really funny Oluo." Petra scoffed. "Why don't you be honest and admit you didn't know what was going on anymore than Eren did, or the rest of us for that matter."

Eren gasped, "Why wouldn't Captain Levi tell you guys what was going on? I mean, all of you are among the elites, so why keep it from you?"

Petra and Gunther smiled at this.

"Well, its not that he didn't trust us." Gunther replied. "I'm sure the captain had his reasons. I'm willing to bet very few had knowledge of what was going on."

Eren seemed content with that thinking 'The Captain had his reasons, but sadly many lives were lost in the process. Even though this titan is unique, was it really worth capturing it?'

"I hope Hange's team can glean a lot from this new titan." he spoke up. "It seems to be of the quality of the Colossal and Armored, showing intelligence. If we can learn more about it, the lives that were loss will not be in vain."

The team looked at their youngest member with pride, seeing how well he was coping with the things he saw today. Usually it took newcomers a while to handle the ferociousness of what happens on the battlefield, but it seems he will be just fine.

"Let's go everyone." stated Eld, "We'll go up ahead and wait for the Captain."

…

…

…

"Wow, she's a beauty!" Hange proclaimed. Staring down at their catch, she impatiently began rubbing her hands together, wanting to begin testing on the titan's abilities. "I have to say this may be my most interesting specimen to date!"

"Hold your horses Major." her assistant Moblit Berner cautioned. "Remember this isn't a regular titan. There's someone inside."

"Well, that makes things even more fascinating." Hange grinned darkly, making him shiver at what she has in store.

Just then, Levi arrived and landed next to Erwin and Mike atop the trees.

"Good job Levi." Erwin congratulated, "Thanks to your team the mission was a success."

Levi shook his head, "We couldn't have done it without those who slowed her down in her pursuit, as well as all the others who gave their lives today. I thank them."

"I see." acknowledged Erwin. "Tell me, how did Eren respond to the situation?"

"He was restless at first. He wanted to fight, but the others convinced him follow me. It pained him greatly to see soldiers dying."

Mike smiled and said, "He's one of a kind isn't it he? I have a lot of respect for the kid."

"Indeed." Levi nodded. Turning his attention toward the Female Titan, he drew two blades from his gear. "Now, let's see who's inside this thing. I'm sure they're scared shitless at this point, I just hope they haven't actually pissed themselves."

Moving to launch himself toward the head, Erwin stopped him and said, "Wait a minute Levi. I want to make sure she can't move once we attempt to extract."

Giving the signal, they began firing extra rounds at the Female Titan. Some even struck the eyelids, making it impossible to even blink. Once the last cable was fired, Erwin turned to Levi and Mike, giving them the order to slice through the hands covering the nape.

The two launched toward her and aimed for the hands. Running their blades through, they were amazed to see them shatter upon impact. Levi landed on top of the titan's head to observe his broken blade, while Mike went back to Erwin to inform it's a no go.

Erwin observed the titan's hands, narrowing at its crystallized texture. 'So, she can harden her skin as a means of defense. Not as effective as the Armored Titan, but useful enough it seems.'

Holding up his hand, a member from Hange's squad landed next to him waiting for his command.

"Keiji, inform Hange to have her team prepare an artillery round." Erwin advised. "We will blow off her hands."

"Sir, there's a possibility the person inside may be taken out as well." Keiji informed.

"You are correct. Let's minimize that outcome by aiming below the wrists."

"Sir!"

…

…

…

"Armin, I think we better move to another tree." said Jean. A titan managed to balance itself between two trees opposite from the tree they were in, climbing to their height.

"Right"

The two swung over a couple of trees out of its reach, and landed in the branches. Jean sighed, "It looks like even the regular titans have the ability to show some intelligence. They're not completely animalistic in nature."

"Yeah" Armin agreed, "It makes you wonder all the more about where they came from and what they are."

"Hey" Jean called, "Why do you think Annie would do something like this? When did she gain the ability to turn into a titan anyway? Bah, all of this is so confusing."

Armin nodded, "I know it is, but now we know why Erwin kept the real intent behind this mission a secret. I'm also willing to bet he believes the Colossal and Armored Titans are shifters as well, and might have been expecting them to come after Eren."

"What? You mean there are two more traitors within our ranks?"

"Unfortunately yeah. Well, I guess you could call them traitors, but the truth is they were never on our side to begin with. As strange as it sounds, it seems they came from outside the Walls, sneaking in after they broke through Maria."

"Damn it!" Jean pounded his fist against the tree. He didn't know who the other two were, or if there are any more of them out there, but Annie was their friend. Even with her lone wolf personality, he had great respect for her throughout their training. She had a desire to join the MP just like him. Yet now all of that has changed. She and her partners played a key role in the death of all their friends, in the death of his best friend Marco, and even could have led to the death of his own mother.

'Annie I swear' he thought angrily. 'I will make you pay for your actions!'

…

…

…

"I wonder how they are going to bring it back to Karanese." Eren openly wondered.

The Special Operations Squad followed Levi's command and took to the trees to wait for him to return.

"Usually we cut off all the limbs and torso to make it easier to manage." Petra told him. "Afterward we put it on a cart and cover it from the rays of the sun with a sheet, in order to slow down the regeneration."

"Oh, so that's how it works." Eren admitted.

Gunther laughed and said, "Hauling it back to town would be a lot easier if the damn thing was a shifter like you wouldn't you say Eren?"

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah of course. All we would have to do is cut her out of the neck, the same way we do you. Then it's just a matter of binding the person up and getting out of here."

He rubbed the back of his head and continued, "Now that I've mention it, I wouldn't be surprised if there was someone inside it. Would explain why she knew the capabilities of our gear and was able to counter them, all the while protecting the sweet spot at the back of the neck."

Eren shook his head, "That's not possible Sir. My father is the only one who knows how titan shifting works. I doubt anyone else have that kind of information."

Oluo spoke up and in annoyance said, "Hmmm, well no disrespect to your father, but don't you think it was kind of selfish of him to keep that information to himself? If he knew how the titans operated, he could have told the government and we might already been on our way to defeating them."

Knowing he was right and not knowing what to say, Eren became dejected.

"Oluo give him a break." Petra warned, "There's no need to ask him such questions right now."

"Ha, as you wish, my queen!" Oluo bowed, causing her to become very irritated.

…

…

…

While they prepared the rounds, Levi continued to stand atop the captured titan, trying to get a feel for the person's desperation.

"You've caused us a lot of trouble today, killing off our soldiers." he remarked. "Yet here you are, bound up and at our mercy."

He paused, almost as if expecting her to say something, and then stated, "I can only guess as to what you were trying to accomplish here today, that it had something to do with Eren am I right? Perhaps you know he is the only one that can stop you and your kind, and want to kill him the same way you killed our test subjects. Well, I have news for you. I'm not letting that happen, and now, you will become our newest subject for testing. How do you like these turn of events?"

At this, he felt very slight vibrations from the body, indicating his words must be sinking in. "There's no need to panic just yet. Take this time to reflect on your life. Once we cut you from this abomination, you will know that in the end, you are nothing but a complete failure."

"Hyah"

"What" Levi uttered. The sudden sound that escaped the titan's lips caught him off guard.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHH!"

The roars filled the whole forest, able to be heard miles away. Those on the outside wondered at what the noise could be. Then something happened none of them expected. All the titans that were previously scratching for them at the base of the trees, made a mad dash inside the forest.

"What happened? Are they reacting to those noises we heard a second ago?" Jean asked Armin.

"It's the Female Titan." Armin concluded. "Annie called for them."

They then heard the order from section leaders all over the forest for them to engage in combat.

Jean drew his blades clenching his teeth, "Great, now we have to fight these things."

On the west side of the forest, Mikasa drew her blades, ready to pursue the fleeing titans.

"Mikasa wait!" Sasha bellowed

"We have to comply with our orders Sasha. Don't worry; I won't let the titans eat you."

"No that's not entirely what I'm concerned about." she gulped. "Whatever made that sound is a hundred times more dangerous those titans. I've heard similar sounds from prey my family hunted back home. It's the cry of an animal with its back against the wall. That's when they are at their most aggressive state."

Sighing, Mikasa comforted her saying, "We can't afford to be afraid. Don't forget I grew up in the mountains among dangerous creatures."

"That doesn't count, you are a vegetable farmer. You don't understand the thrill of the hunt!" she screeched.

'Well, Sasha's instincts are usually sharp.' Mikasa supposed. 'I wonder how Eren's group is holding up. I didn't see them in our section outside the forest. Could it be he's on the inside, battling that creature?'

Back on the inside, the Female Titan ceased her roaring. Erwin was left wondering what that stunt was all about when he ultimately got his answer.

Sniffing the air, Mike warned, "It stinks, we've got titans approaching our position."

"How many do you think there are?" Erwin asked

"All of them." he replied quickly.

Alarmed, Erwin turned toward Hange's team. "Are the guns loaded?" he yelled down.

Hange called back and answered, "Enough are loaded to make a dent, but we need more time to load the amount we need to break through given her ability!"

Erwin nodded, ushering them to hurry. "We will need to buy them time should they arrive before hand."

Mike nodded, "Understood."

Within the next couple of minutes, the faster of the first wave of titans appeared.

"Wagon defense team, engage!" ordered Erwin.

They roared as they took off to face the giant newcomers. In an effort to keep the titans from coming closer to their catch, the defense team swung close enough to catch their attention. Amazingly however, the titans ran pass them and continued toward the Female Titan.

"Captain Levi, their coming right at you!"

Levi began stomping the Female Titan's head in frustration. "You just had to call your friends for help didn't you? Tch!"

Connecting fresh blades to his hilt and flipping one over in his left hand, Levi took off toward the tallest titans out of the first three approaching. He shot a cable into one and used it as a sling, swinging and cutting both titans' napes in an arching motion.

The third titan broke through, being of smaller height. It reached the Female Titan and unexpectedly began eating away at her kneecap.

'What's this, the titans are eating the Female Type?' Erwin questioned

"Commander" Hange shouted, "We're ready to fire the shots!"

Erwin looked out and saw more titans coming in fast. Even if they succeeded in taking out the hands, they may not have enough time to cut the person out of the nape. If this person could crystallize any part of their titan's body, it's not inconceivable they would just harden the skin around the nape, making everything moot.

Turning to Hange's team he called, "Hold that order for now. I want all units to defend the Female Titan, even if it means giving your life!"

Immediately everyone went out to meet the incoming titans head on before they could reach their target.

Erwin watched as titan after titan fell to his soldiers' strikes. The effort was great, but as soon as one fell, four more moved ahead getting closer to their stationary meal. The sheer numbers were even too much for Levi and Mike to take down.

Some of the soldiers who were waiting on the outside of the forest made it to the spectacle, getting their first look at where all the titans were headed. Bertolt was among them, and his eyes widened at the secured titan.

"Annie!" he gasped. Before he could do anything rash, Reiner caught him mid air and landed within a nearby tree.

"Let me go, she needs our help!" Bertolt argued.

"Shhhhh, keep your voice down, someone might hear you!" Reiner urged.

After calming down, Reiner stated to him, "She will be fine on her own. She called the titans for a reason, and now we know why. No doubt she will use this opportunity to escape."

After thinking on it, he nodded in agreement.

After some more intense fighting, the titans finally closed on her, tearing away at the arms and legs. The cables and wires were being pulled in all directions, causing the grappling cannons to be pulled out of position and rendered useless. At that point, Erwin could no longer deny, they had lost.

"All units fall back into formation! Prepare to return to Karanese District!"

Everyone stood back at their commander's orders, watching as the Female Titan was devoured by the multitude, more arriving from the far side of the forest. Erwin himself continued to look on, half acknowledging Levi's presence as he landed next to him.

"That look doesn't suit you Sir." Levi observed, "I suppose we should be used to failing by now, but we're a stubborn bunch."

"It wasn't a total failure." Erwin informed him, "The one inside that titan clearly didn't expect this much resistance. Yet in the end they decided death was a more favorable outcome than divulging their secrets."

"Yeah well, I wonder how Zackly is going to take all this?" Levi asked. "A lot of lives were lost today and Eren's ability wasn't put to the test. He may decide to lock him up again or find him better off as a specimen for dissecting."

Erwin replied, "We'll worry about that later. Now we need gather everyone and head back behind Wall Rose."

"Right, I'll go retrieve my squad."

As Erwin continued to watch the steam rise from gorging titans, he stopped Levi and said, "Go refuel your gear first."

"I should have enough to make it to them and retrieve our horses"

"That's an order Levi." Erwin answered, finally turning toward him with a stoic expression.

Levi blinked a little, but responded, "Yes Sir. I trust your judgment."

…

…

…

A cool breeze passed by Eren's face as he gazed upon the trees of the forest. Even though he's never visited this place while he was younger, he's heard plenty about how tall the trees would grow here. He even heard some of the trees could be thousands of years old.

'If it wasn't for everything that happened today' he thought 'I would have been thrilled to see this place. There must be much more interesting sights out there in the world.'

*POP* *POP* *POP*

The sound of smoke flares filled the air, rousing the group from their thoughts.

"It looks like we're heading back to town, look." Eld stated, pointing at the columns of blue smoke rising above the forest. "I'm guessing they successfully tied it down to a cart and are heading out."

Oluo laughed and said, "It serves that titan wench right. She must have put up a fight judging from those shouts earlier."

Eld smirk at his companion's comments, "In any case, let's head back to the horses." Turning to Eren, he congratulated him saying, "It looks like you've made it through your first mission, though I'm sorry we didn't make it all the way to Shiganshina."

"It's alright Sir." Eren smiled, "This just gives me more time to train in my titan form at the old HQ."

Eld return his smile, and the five took off toward their horses. Down the road, they heard another smoke flare go off.

"A green flare?" Gunther questioned. "It must be Levi, wanting to know our position."

Stopping to land, Gunther fired off his green flare.

"We can wait here for him to catch up."

Underneath the prior shot, a cloaked figure turned toward the direction of the response signal. Drawing two blades, they proceeded toward its location.

….

…

…

With the titans occupied with the Female Form's remains, Erwin lead the center rank back toward the entrance of the forest.

"Commander" Hange spoke riding next to him, "I saw Levi back there refueling his gear. Do you mind if I ask why?"

"Call it a hunch." he addressed

"Sir?"

Thinking for a moment, he asked, "While the Female Titan was being consumed, did you see the person inside be eaten?"

"No, I can't say that I did." she confessed, "Of course it got difficult to see with the steam and all. Either way, it's not likely the person escaped. Even if they could leave the body on their own, it still would have taken time to detach from it."

"Given the tactfulness of our enemy, we can't base our assumptions of their ability around Eren's experience with his titan form. Whether it is the Colossal, Armored, or the Female Titan, they have at least five years experience of handling their forms."

"So you believe the person inside the Female Titan got away?" she asked.

"Yes" he acknowledged, "…and given their MO, they could have donned our uniform and have maneuver gear. Meaning they are currently hidden among us, waiting for the right moment to strike again."

...

…

…

After waiting a couple of minutes, Squad Levi saw someone pull out ahead of them off to their side.

"He's here. Let's catch his attention." stated Gunther.

With that, they took off to catch Levi. Petra and Oluo continued to talk with Eren, each having opposing views on how he did on his first mission. Eren couldn't help but laugh at their shouting match.

Coming closer to their captain, Gunther called out to him, "Captain Levi!"

He didn't receive a response. That's when he noticed the two blades in the person's hands, immediately recognizing that it's not how Levi held them. With the hood covering the person's face, Gunther called out again and asked, "What's your name soldier, why are you out of rank?"

This time the figure quickly changed their direction by pushing off a tree, and headed straight for him. Before Gunther could react, the veiled figure sliced open the back of his neck killing him.

"Gunther!" Eren yelled rushing toward his body as it dangled from the wires of his gear. Reaching him and staring into his blank eyes shook Eren to his core. "Why?"

The attacker circled around the group, attempting to come in for another strike.

Quickly, Oluo swoop down towards Eren and picked him up. "Come on, we got to go!"

"But Gunther…" Eren began to protest.

"He's gone." Oluo stated plainly. He let go of Eren so he could swing through the forest on his own. "Eld, it looks like we're dealing with a traitor here."

Eren glanced back at the person pursuing them and bellowed, "Who are you? Why are you attacking us?"

"Don't try to reason with the senseless Eren." Petra called. Turning around in the air, she drew her blades. "I'm going to break you!"

At that point, the assailant fell back and dropped out of sight behind the trees. They all looked back, wondering what the person was up to when suddenly, a flash of light burst and filled the area. The next thing they knew, the Female Titan emerged heading directly for them.

"What! Wait a minute, where did she come from? I thought they caught it, so why?" Eren questioned. Then he realized the Female Titan appeared out of the same spot behind the trees their attack slip into. "Oh no, don't tell me…"

"It appears Gunther might have been right." Eld spoke with a grimace upon his face. "We're dealing with a titan shifter."

Eren persisted, "But…but that can't be! My father was the only one who knew how it worked, who knew the formula." Looking back at her he asked openly, "Did he give it to someone else?"

"We'll worry about those things later." Eld instructed, "Right now we need to rejoin the formation as quickly as possible."

The Female Type steadily gained ground in spite of their maneuver gear being faster than riding the horses. Eren grit his teeth and said, "We won't be able to outrun her. Even if we could, she would simply continue her rampage on other squads. I'll transform and fight her this time."

"Wait" Eld motioned just as Eren was readying himself to change. "We'll fight her Eren; you head on and rejoin the others."

"Sir I want to fight!"

"I know you do, but your power is still too risky." Eld stated. He could see in Eren's eyes his burning desire to fight and protect them all. Never have he seen such fire in one so young. "We now know this is no ordinary titan, but a person with cunning and experience. You're still new to this power so there's a good chance she would defeat you in combat."

"Sir I-"

"Remember what Levi said." Eld urged him, "You're special to humanity's cause in this fight. If we were to lose you, then we have lost period!"

"Hey runt" Oluo interjected, "Leave this fight to us. Or do you doubt the ability of the best titan slayers in the whole Survey Corps?"

"Eren" Petra called, getting his attention, "We'll bring her down. We won't let her escape to wreak anymore havoc."

Eren looked into their eyes, knowing they were probably right. Perhaps this fight should be experience versus experience. Taking one last look into the fierceness of the Female Titan's eyes, Eren turned and continued on full speed ahead. "I'm confident my team will win!"

Eld, Oluo, and Petra all nodded.

The Female Titan watched as Eren continued forward while the others turned to face her. She knew she would have to take care of them before she could reach her target.

Eld pushed ahead, meeting her head on. Preparing to strike, he suddenly stopped his momentum by using excess fuel and propulsion, creating a mass amount of exhaust steam, clouding her vision.

Under its cover, Petra and Oluo moved in close to the face. Appearing before her line of sight at the last second, they rapidly slashed through her eyes. No longer being able to see, all she could do was protect her nape with both hands.

Eren glanced back at the battle, seeing the Female Titan backing away onto a tree. 'Alright, they completely have her against the ropes! She should be without her vision for a minute according to battle tactics, I wonder if they can strike the nape by that time.'

Eld used hand signals and indicated they should attack the muscles in her arms. Without them, her arms will fall and leave her defenseless. They nodded and quickly went to work, sheering off muscle tissue after muscle tissue. Within a few seconds, she could no longer hold her arms in place, and they fell limp.

'So coordinated' Eren thought, amazed at the sight. 'Even with the lost of Gunther and in Levi's absence, they can still take down any titan, even a shifter. They will win!' Seeing enough, he turned his focus on joining the others within the center rank.

***"You have my permission to change and fight if you want to, yet you have a choice. The difference between you and the others is experience. They've learned to trust in the confidence of their superiors, having faith that their decisions will work out the best. So I offer you that choice. However, no one truly knows how things will turn out either way, so choose the one you will regret the least."***

For some reason, dread fell upon Eren's heart. 'What's this feeling?' he wondered. Turning around back at the battle, he watched Eld move in for the nape.

"This is for Gunther and all the lives you've taken!" he shouted.

In one swift motion the Female Titan turned toward him and caught him in her teeth.

"ELD!" Petra screamed.

He struggled frantically to break free, before the Female Titan clenched down, tearing him in half. Eld's lower half fell to the ground, before she spat out his upper half.

Eren couldn't believe what he just witnessed. Wasting no time, he broke off his current path, and made a mad dash back, hoping he could make it in time to save the others.

Petra began to fall away from the Female Type stunned, scaling the forest floor. "How could she see us?" she questioned. "It's only been about 30 seconds since we took out her eyes."

As she turned toward her, Petra then realized, only one of the eyes were restored. 'She cut the healing time by focusing on one of her eyes. Is that even possible?' Suddenly, the Female Titan charged for her.

Moving as quickly as he could, Oluo yelled out, "Petra you're too low! You won't be able to counter her at that position. We need to regroup!" Yet instead of heeding his words, she seemed spaced out, staring down her impending killer.

'We've failed.' Petra sadly thought to herself. 'I am so sorry Eren, Captain Levi! I wasn't strong enough.'

Eren pushed his mobility gear as fast as it could carry him, a death grip on the triggers. Then he realized he wasn't going to make it in enough time to stop the Female Titan. Not knowing what else to do, he cried out to the person inside her, "Please don't touch Petra! If it's me you're after, you can have me! Just don't hurt her!"

It was too late; the Female Titan was right on top of her. At the last second Petra snapped out of it, making an attempt to turn and escape. With tears in her eyes she cried, "LEVI!"

Her voice was silenced as her back was crushed against a tree. The Female Titan's foot was soaked with Petra's blood.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAGHHHH!" Eren wailed.

Oluo looked on, knowing there was nothing he could have done to save her. Yet now, being close enough to his target's weak spot, he would make sure he avenges comrades' deaths.

"Hey" he spoke. She raised her head to the voice behind her. "DIE!"

With a burst of speed, Oluo rocketed forward and plunged his blades across the nape. They shattered on impact.

Unbeknownst to him, the Female Titan was able to crystallize her skin just before he swung through. In a flash, she counter attacked with a spin kick, hitting and killing him instantaneously.

With no one else to interfere with her task, she turned to look for Eren. Picking up the familiar sound of maneuver gear getting closer, she knew he saw what she did. She heard his last plea, but they weren't going to let her have him without a fight. What's done is done.

"You…" growled Eren as he reeled himself nearer.

With one eye still healing, she turned in his direction, preparing to subdue him.

"I won't forgive you." he said, another burst of fuel taking him closer.

His words were expected, but still they shook her to her core.

Flying right above her head, he shouted, "I'll kill you!"

Putting his hand in his mouth, he clamped down with rage. The explosion of light that followed blinded her, leaving her stunned just for a second.

Eren's titan form emerged midair and landed right on top of her, forcing her to the ground. With the muscle tendons in both arms still healing, all she could do was watch as Eren straddled her, roaring with bloodlust.

…

…

…

Mikasa, Sasha, and some others were making their way back to the entrance of the forest to rejoin their respective squads. Before they could reach their mark, the blast of a titan caused them to stop.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRGHHH!"

"Oh no, it's another rabid howl." Sasha squeaked.

"No, this one…sounds familiar." Mikasa noted. After recollecting as to where she heard the sound before, she finally realized who it belonged to. "It's Eren!"

Mikasa turned and raced back into the forest toward the roars.

Sasha shouted, "No wait Mikasa, its dangerous!"

…

…

…

Levi searched the area where he last left his squad. Remembering that he told them to travel a little further ahead and wait for him, he continued to travel along the path.

Further down he spotted the horses tied to a couple of trees, but he group was no where to be found. He figured they would have returned to the horses once the retreat signal was given, yet no one was here.

'I wonder where they could be?' he questioned.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGHHHHH!"

Levi gritted his teeth at the sound. "Something has happened."

Hurriedly, he went in the direction of Eren's cries.

…

…

…

Eren balled his left fist tightly and brought it down toward the Female Titan with the intent smash her skull. She dodged the blow by moving her head, causing his fist to connect with the ground.

The force from the blow traveled up his arm, and caused bone to pop out from skin, ripping through tendon. Unable to move his left arm, he balled his right fist for another attack. Again she moved her head slightly to the side as it came down. This time the force traveled through the ground making an impact crater.

Eren looked at his right hand, and saw it torn from the joints in the wrist.

'I made the wrong choice.' Eren thought. 'If only I had decided to fight, everyone would be alive.'

*** Levi address them saying, "Everyone, our main job has always been to protect Eren at all costs. Not only does he hold the key around his neck that unlocks critical information concerning the titans, but he is the key to finally overcoming this 100 year siege on humanity."

"Remember this" he went on, "Even if we should die, someone will take our place. Yet Eren must go on. He could very well be our last hope. So we will continue to move forward."***

'Why? Why does my life have to be so highly valued over the others? I left them to fight this battle, and because of that, everyone died. I will take this fact to my grave.'

Tears began to form in his eyes from the guilt. Turning his attention back toward the Female Titan, he noticed she wasn't moving, but simply staring at him, perhaps waiting for her arms to heal before fighting back.

'I played a hand in their deaths, but it still remains that you killed them!' Eren raged within himself. The anger boiled over and he began to roar in her face.

"GGRRRAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH! WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHH! ROOOOOOAAARRRRRGHHH!"

It made him even angrier once she turned away from his pain, as if she felt sorry for him in some way. For a person trying to kill him, he probably would have found it funny if he wasn't so pissed off.

'You look at me you bitch!' he fumed. 'I am going to tear you to shreds! I'm going rip your fucking eyes out! I swear! I'll…I will…DEVOUR YOU!'

His eyes began to roll back in his head as he started to lose touch with reality. His mind was being consumed by his titan body. It wouldn't be long before nothing was left of him.

Then suddenly he felt his opponent grab his arm, snapping him back. He looked down and saw her body has fully regenerated. Looking at his hand and left arm, he realized his own body had repaired itself.

While he was still slightly distracted, she used her grip on his arm to pull herself free from his hold. Eren quickly responded and threw a punch with his free arm, narrowly missing as she hug his mid-section and brought him close.

Eren tried to break free of the hold, not realizing she was using his struggle to coil her leg against his stomach. She powerfully tossed him back as she extended her leg out, creating distance between them.

She took this second to gain her bearings and try to figure out how to deal with Eren in his transformed state. To her surprise, she realized a second was not long enough as Eren closed the distance between them in a flash and aiming to take her head off.

She narrowly dodged his attack, and barely saw a second blow, rolling along the ground to escape it. Attempting to get up again, Eren was right there to meet her, rage evident in his eyes. It seemed the more she resisted and evaded his attacks, the angrier he would become.

Eren entered his stance and began a full on assault. Putting everything Annie taught him to use. Who'd thought he would actually be able to use her style to fight titans. However, this wasn't a titan he was fighting, but someone who can transform like him.

'I will bring you down with Annie's technique!'

A right and left jab, a high kick, an overhead elbow strike, a knee to the center, for some reason, the Female Type was able to avoid and parry all his moves.

He then drew all of his upper body strength into a powerful swing, but this time she countered. Crystallizing her right arm, she struck him in face, breaking his lower jaw. To her surprise, he didn't fall down. He again threw his upper body strength, scaling his upper row of teeth along her arm to keep her from moving, and landed an uppercut to her stomach, lifting her through the air.

She landed a short distance from him, and tried to balance herself against a tree. Eren once again charged for her not wanting to give her any time to recuperate. Jumping in the air, he performed a flying knee strike. The Female Titan forcefully pushed herself off the tree she was leaning against, allowing Eren to connect with it.

Stumbling away, she admitted her strength was beginning to decrease. After running for so long and having to transform twice, it was now taking its toll on her physical body. She had to end this with her next move.

With all his fire, the fight was also taking its toll on Eren.

'How is it that this person is able to stand up against my technique for as long as she have?' he wondered to himself. 'Annie would be ashamed of me if I couldn't bring this beast down. I'll end it with one move!'

Eren stood off the tree he just struck, and turned to face her. Readying to attack, he suddenly froze, eyes wide with shock. Amazingly, the Female Titan took up the same stance as him. Crystallizing her left foot, she performed a power angle kick to his head, cutting straight through it and the tree next to him.

Eren's titan body fell to its knees. He was defeated.

…

…

…

Levi continued through the forest towards where he last heard Eren's roars. He was starting to become concerned as they suddenly went silent.

Another thing concerned him. If Eren transformed to fight what was surely the Female Titan, somehow having escaped the feeding frenzy earlier, it must mean the others had suffered a harsh fate.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, his eyes fell upon Gunther, hanging from his gear. The worst part was looking at his wound at the neck. It's exactly the same type of strike that would kill a titan, but this was one his men.

Levi decided to move on. A little down the way he found Eld's upper half and a distorted Oluo. Then, once he found Petra, he stopped. He didn't know why he stopped for her. Perhaps it was because she was the youngest of the group, or maybe it was something else.

All he knew as he looked at her lifeless eyes staring toward the heavens, his life would be a little darker now that she was gone.

Firing a cable into the tree, he hoisted himself just above her. Taking a moment to wipe away the wet streaks around her eyes and closing them.

"You did a wonderful job Petra, all of you did." he spoke, "Eren will make all of you proud one day." Looking over to the side, he noticed some of the trees in the area were either cracked or moved out of place. It seemed to lead out like a path. "He must be having one hell of a battle."

With that, he took off to find him.

…

…

...

The Female Titan looked on Eren's headless titan form, her eyes steeped in sorrow. She remembered his words of never forgiving her, but once he finds out who she really was, she could only imagine the amount of pain he will feel.

Pushing aside those thoughts for now, she still had her mission to complete. She, Bertolt, and Reiner can finally return home in triumph once she retrieves Eren.

Steadying his body with her hands, she began to open her mouth. She took a huge bite out of the nape, and ripped Eren from it, securing him under her tongue.

From a tree not to far from her, Mikasa arrived just in time to see the act. She couldn't believe what she witnessed.

"Eren" she whispered, "Please...please don't leave me again."

When she thought he died in Trost, she almost gave up on her will to live. Yet she remembered him and that helped her to carry on, being elated later knowing he was still alive. Now, here was the feeling of emptiness again.

The Female Titan started to run off, and that's a when a fire lit inside Mikasa's psyche.

"Give him back!" shouted Mikasa. She fired her cables from tree to tree in a mad rush toward Eren's kidnapper. The Female Titan glanced back at her pursuer, covering her nape with her right hand. Mikasa caught up with her, and began her attack by cutting her cheek.

"I won't let you have him!" she snarled, cutting into the Female Type's side as she ran. Mikasa was much too fast to swat at with her free hand. Plus, it was hard to focus on running, securing Eren in her mouth, and fighting all at once.

A critical strike at her left thigh caused her to stumble. She momentarily removed her hand away from her weak spot to brace her fall, and Mikasa took this as her chance to kill her. Mikasa shot a cable into the tree next to where she fell, and zipped across her neck, making the blow, only to have her blades break due to the Female Type hardening her skin.

"What? Why didn't they penetrate?" Mikasa asked herself as she landed on the tree trunk. The Female Titan looked at her, and Mikasa returned the venomous glare.

Mikasa spoke, "I know he's alive, and I will take him back!" Through narrowed eyes, the Female Titan punched the tree Mikasa stood on, causing her to dodge. Taking the opportunity to move, she began to run away, Mikasa again giving chase.

Catching up to her, Mikasa prepared to unleash another barrage of attacks, but out of nowhere she was pulled back by someone.

"Let's keep our distance for now." the person said. Mikasa looked at their face, and saw it to be Captain Levi. He let her go, and she followed him a few paces behind the running titan.

"You're too reckless." Levi stated. "It's clear she was preparing for you to attack her blindly again."

Mikasa gritted her teeth in annoyance. "I don't care if I'm reckless." she told him, "I'm not going to let that thing get away with Eren."

Levi looked at the Female Titan's running form and somberly spoken, "I saw his disintegrating titan form back there. It looks like she took him right out of the nape and killed him."

"She didn't kill him. She has him in her mouth."

"How can you be sure she didn't swallow him?"

"As weird as it sounds, I just have a feeling this titan wants Eren alive."

Levi shrugged and replied, "Actually, it's not weird at all." He knew Mikasa didn't yet know the titan they were dealing with was actually a person just like Eren. "Yet still, I would like to base any action we take here on more than just a feeling."

"Well that's what I'm going to rely on!" she snapped, "Besides, you told me you would keep Eren safe. You gave me your word, and look what happened. I've already decided, I'm going to rescue Eren at all costs."

For a moment, he went silent. She was right in that he failed to protect Eren and even failed to protect his squad. Even if it's not likely, he owed her his trust.

"Alright" he agreed, "We'll work with the understanding that she has Eren in her mouth. Our mission will be to rescue him and head back to the others."

"What about the titan?" she asked, "We should get rid of her."

"Forget it. As long as she can harden her skin, we won't be able to finish her off."

"But she killed our comrades; we can't just let her go."

"Getting Eren is our priority. Adding to that will complicate things. There's still much we don't know about what she is so let's not take any risks. Besides, I'd like a second chance in keeping my word to protect Eren."

At this she gasped. Quickly regaining her composure, Mikasa agreed, "Alright Sir, I'm with you."

"Good. Now, it seems she is running at a slower pace than before, so there's a possibility she is tired. Ackerman, I want you to get ahead and distract her. Once you have her attention, I'll take that moment to strike and take out her ability to move. Once her defenses are down, that's when we go for Eren."

"Right"

Going forward, the two set the plan in motion to take Eren back. Levi steadily crept up behind the Female Titan while Mikasa swung low and out unto to her left.

'That's it.' Levi mused. 'Get out in front of her just a little more.' Levi drew his blades in preparation to make his move. This time, he flipped the blade in his right hand to maximize his rotation angle. He silently cursed himself for not being born ambidextrous.

Pulling out further ahead, the Female Titan finally caught sight of Mikasa, who turned toward her, blades drawn for attack. Yet she saw this tactic many times already during her rampage across the Survey Corps' formation.

Without hesitation, the Female Titan whipped around and threw a fierce punch in Levi's direction. To her surprise, it appeared her newly arrived challenger was waiting just for that reaction.

In a blink of an eye, he dodged and countered her jab in an almost vortex-like spinning motion, tearing her hand straight down the center and up her arm. Reaching her face, Levi plunged his blades into her eye sockets in an attempt to take away her vision. He gasped as they shattered before him.

'So, she can even crystallize her pupils.' he thought through gritted teeth. 'Looks like I'll have to be quicker.'

Using mostly the gas propeller in his gear and the momentum of his rotation, Levi slashed his way up and down her titan body. Mikasa looked on in wonder at the speed in which he was traveling and his efficiency. Yes, it was much more efficient than her attack earlier.

The Female Titan soon collapsed against a tree. All she could do was defend her weak spot, placing both her hands behind her lower neck. Yet, even that was proving difficult as Levi cut through all muscle tendons in her right arm, causing it to fall limp.

Knowing it wouldn't be long before her left arm became useless, she began to lower it as though it was already taken out.

Mikasa saw her nape come uncovered. Suddenly seeing this as her chance to simply end all this, she took it and began to move in for the kill.

Levi noticed Mikasa's movement, and knowing he had yet cut through all the muscles in the Female Form's remaining arm he yelled, "No, it's a trap!"

The Female Type immediately saw her coming, and used the last bit of strength in her hand to swat Mikasa away.

With the same speed he exhibited earlier, Levi managed to knock Mikasa out of the way. However, part of his left foot bristled with the titan's hand, causing it to snap out of place.

Grimacing through the pain, Levi launched himself toward the side of the Female Titan's face, and sliced through her temporomandibular joint. Zipping to the other side of her face and doing the same. When her lower jaw became slack and her mouth opened, Levi saw Eren's unconscious form began to slide from under her tongue.

'It looks like she was right. He was here the entire time.'

Quickly, Levi gathered him up, and took off. "Come on." he shouted to Mikasa, "We got what we came for, let's go."

Mikasa stared at the immobile titan a second longer before following after Levi.

"Sir, are you sure it's wise to leave her alive?" she asked him.

"Like I said before, we shouldn't complicate things. You said before that Eren was like family to you. Shouldn't your number one priority be to make sure he's safe?"

"Yes, of course it is." Mikasa confirmed both to him and to herself.

Levi looked behind them as they continue to move away. He wanted to make sure the Female Titan was still where they left her, and not being healed of her injuries and following them. Curiously enough she was where they left her and…

'She's crying?'

…

...

…

Atop Wall Rose around the city of Karanese, the guards of the Garrison Unit kept a constant visual of any wandering titans. As the sun began to set on the day, one of the guards caught sight of a green flare through his spyglass.

"Hey look, do you see that?" he asked the one next to him, "I thought the mission towards Wall Maria would take many weeks if not months to complete."

Handing the spyglass off, his partner took a look, and sure enough, he saw the familiar green smoke from one of their issued smoke flares. Not only that, but he also began to see a company of horses and their riders appear on the horizon.

He responded and said, "Well, it looks like that mission is another failure. No way they could have sealed up the wall and defeated all the titans within a day's time."

With disappointment on his partner's face, they began to alert everyone for the re-entry of the Survey Corps by ringing a grand bell.

By the time the Scouts reached the gate, the whole town was prepared to receive them, wanting to know how they fared. Once the gate was opened however, they could tell the mission was an utter failure. The amount of soldiers entering the city was less than when they originally left.

As they walked, murmurs could be heard among the crowd discussing their distaste in the continued efforts outside the walls.

"Why send our men and women out there to die for no reason?" one asked.

"If you ask me it's nothing but a waste of the public's money. We need to protect and live on the last bit of land we have left." commented another.

"It looks like that whole thing about the kid who could transform into a titan was a load of bull. We don't really have any hope going forward."

Laying down within one of the carts for the injured, Eren stared up at the sky. He was so angry at himself for all that happened that his vision started to blur due to tears threatening to fall down his face.

Riding next to him, Mikasa comforted him in saying, "Don't listen to them Eren. We will become stronger because of this. Next time, we will succeed."

Fortunately for the Survey Corps, they arrived at the gate during a time where it was free of wandering titans. So they could take their time and enter the city in calm fashion. Armin figured it must have to do with the Female Titan calling them all to attack the right flank, and that most of them were still in the forest.

Coming through the gate near the middle of the pack were Bertolt and Reiner. They both had serious looks on their faces. When they saw Levi and Mikasa arriving at the entrance to the forest with Eren in tow, they immediately thought the worst.

'Those two, did they…' Bertolt thought.

Further up ahead, a man spotted Levi from the crowd, and he walked over to greet him.

"Hello, Captain Levi! You selected my daughter Petra to join your operations squad." he announced. "She wrote me a letter a month ago telling her mother and I how excited she was when you picked her. Haha, of course she always admired you, in fact you were one of the reasons she joined the Survey Cops."

Levi remained expressionless as Petra's father went on to speak, not wanting to tell him his daughter died because of her devotion to him.

"I just missed seeing her off this morning." he continued, "So I'm sure she will be surprised to see me here for her return."

One of the last scouts through the gate was none other than Commander Erwin Smith himself. He rode in with the carts of those among the dead that they could recover from the battlefield. Once they saw the carts of bodies, people from the crowd immediately barraged Erwin with angered questions.

"Was your grand adventure outside the walls worth the lives of our children Erwin?"

"We deserve an answer Commander!"

"Their deaths are upon your head!"

Silently, Erwin continued to ride through. This was his second expedition into titan infested territory as commander, and his first real defeat. He was now beginning to understand the strain Shadis felt when he was commander, having the weight of the dead on his shoulders.

…

…

…

Two days have passed since their mission. Back at the old HQ site, Eren and Levi sat down to another meal in the quiet dining room that evening. Levi was yet to replace his squad with other soldiers, so for now it was just them and the few attending staff.

"I'm sorry Sir." Eren repeated himself for what seemed like the hundredth time since their return.

"Like I keep telling you" Levi groaned, "It's not your fault."

"But Sir, had I chose to transform earlier, everyone would still be alive. We might have even been able to continue the mission to Shiganshina, or at least captured that titan shifter."

"Hmmm, things could have turned out that way, or they could have turned out worse. Remember what I told you, there's no way to know for sure what the results will be from our choices."

After pausing for a second, Levi continued, "For what it's worth, I believe you made the right choice. It's true everyone gave their lives in the end, but I can tell you this. When you decided to put your trust in them, you made the group the happiest I've ever seen them since my time knowing them, especially Petra."

"Really?" asked Eren

"Yeah" Levi replied somberly, taking a sip from his tea. "She probably seen you as her little brother, so she was extremely proud of your growth out there on the field."

Eren looked down at his dinner plate; thinking on the four who risked their lives for his sake. He silently vowed to them that he would become a great scout and protect those around him in their honor.

"Anyway, enough of this damn chatting" Levi annoying stated, "Eat your dinner and get some rest. Who knows what task we will have to take on for tomorrow."

"Uh…yes Sir."

Before Eren could pick up his spoon, a knock came at the door.

"Captain Levi" one of the servants called through the door, "Commander Erwin is here to see you."

A look of question appeared on both his and Eren's faces.

As Erwin entered the room it was quickly made apparent that he wasn't alone. Among his own officers, Armin, Jean, and Mikasa were also with him.

"Hey guys" Eren greeted with surprise, "What are you all doing here?"

Before they could answer, Erwin addressed his question, "Eren, Levi, we have something important to discuss. Thanks to Arlert, we now know the identity of the Female Titan."

"What?" gasp Eren, "You…you know who she is?" He glanced at Armin expectantly, but for some reason his friend didn't seem to be too enthusiastic with the situation.

Levi put a hand on Eren's shoulder and said, "Wait, let's have everyone sit at the table. I'm sure they have a lot of information to tell us. Am I correct Commander?"

Erwin nodded and so, everyone gathered around the table and took a seat, waiting for him to begin.

"Levi, Darius Zackly and the higher ups are calling for me to report to Stohess, to give a report on Eren's performance on the battlefield."

"And they also want to talk with me." Levi presumed. "Being his overseer I'm sure they want to know if he caused any trouble this past month. I'm also guessing that means they want us to handover Eren while in Stohess?"

Again Erwin nodded, always pleased at the fact of how quick his captain caught on to situations and events.

With a look of acknowledgment, Eren announced, "Don't worry Commander; I'll be ready to address any questions or accept any judgment they may give me."

"Wait a minute Eren." Mikasa hurriedly objected, "They could give the order to have you dissected!"

Eren swallowed hard. He knew he couldn't look her in the eyes for what he was about to say next.

"I'm sorry Mikasa." he began, "I wasn't able to bring down the Female Titan and we ended up having to turn back. Who's to say if I could beat the Armored or Colossal if we should run into them, or worse? Perhaps being dissected and examined is the best route to ensure our success. Perhaps whatever is in my dad's basement could be learned by studying my body."

Mikasa shook her head, angry at his suggestion, "Eren you're taking this too far. Have you ever stopped to think about the feelings of those around you? How would they feel if you were to die?"

For a second, her words flashed across his mind. She and Armin have lost many loved ones already. Not too mention all of his friends, who he inspired to join the Survey Corps. They would be devastated if they learned he was gone.

'And Annie' he thought.

He made her a promise that he would return to her and they would start a family. If he were to die, she would be absolutely devastated, and it would all be his fault. That was why she wanted him to forget her, to move on. She always knew he would die in this war one way or the other, but he gave her false hope.

Now should he die, Annie will be crushed beyond repair, and he wouldn't be around to comfort her.

Through clenched teeth, Eren spoke, "I'm sorry Mikasa. I…we can't be selfish about this. It's always been about what is best for mankind."

"Eren-"

"Hold on just a minute." Levi interrupted Mikasa's response. He then looked at all those assembled at the table. Turning to Erwin he asked, "You're planning something aren't you Erwin? Does this relate to the person inside the Female Titan?"

"You're correct again Levi." Erwin confirmed. Turning to Eren he spoke, "Eren, you're still much more useful to us alive. The enemy wanted to take you that way, so they deemed you special enough even to the point of canceling their plans to break through the other two Walls."

"I see" Eren breathed. "So, who is the Female Titan and where is she now? If she's still out there, she could possibly murder more people from the inside. In that manner she killed Gunther."

Levi's eye twitched thinking about how he found Gunther's body.

"According to Armin" Erwin started, "She's an MP and her unit is currently stationed in Stohess. When we arrive there, I plan on using you to draw her out. If we're successful, I'm sure I can convince the Commander in Chief of your continued usefulness to the Survey Corps."

Eren stood up in resolve. "Alright Sir, this time I'm sure we'll be able to capture her. I'm ready to make this person answer for her crimes, but more importantly I want to know how she has her abilities and why she used them against us."

"That's good to hear Eren." answered Erwin, "However I don't believe this will come easy for you considering who we are dealing with."

Eren shook his head and said, "No Sir, it doesn't matter who she is. I'm prepared to do what I have to." He noticed Armin flinch uncomfortably to his side. It then hit him the possibility he may know this person. Glancing up at Mikasa and Jean, he tried to pick up their vibes on the situation, but was met with something of a remorseful look.

Hesitantly speaking this time, Eren decided to ask, "Who is she?"

"She's a graduate from your former trainee squad." Erwin answered him.

"Wait a minute. That-that can't be Sir. Wait, if she is with the Military Police, no, don't…don't tell me…"

"Her name is Annie Leonhart."

Instantly Eren legs began to lose their strength and he had to sit down. All he could do was stare at the table, his brain tried and failed to compute what he just heard.

"No" Eren opposed, "This must be some mistake. What proof do you have?"

Levi's eyebrows rose at his sudden change in attitude. Eren was one who usually showed respect to his commanding officers, even to the point of nauseation. Yet now, he was openly questioning the Commander.

Instead of answering his question himself, Erwin turned toward Armin to answer. Armin told him that Annie and Eren were close friends. It's better if another close friend convinced him of this unfortunate circumstance.

Armin began to speak, "Jean, Reiner, and I encountered the Female Titan before we reached the Forest of Giant Trees." Eren gasped and turned toward Jean. He nodded in confirmation.

Continuing, Armin said, "During our battle, she made it a point to examine our faces before she attacked, meaning she was looking for someone in particular. On a couple of occasions she refused to kill me. So in all likelihood she knew who I was. After narrowing things down, I quickly surmised the person she was looking for was you Eren. I then yelled out and mentioned you died while fighting titans, using your alias from our days at the academy, and she froze up. Only someone from the 104th would know that name."

Pausing for a bit, he could see Eren was struggling with what he had to say. "The biggest reason why I believe its Annie is I'm almost positive she had something to do with the incident around Sawney and Bean's deaths. She would have had the skill to eliminate them and escape without notice."

"Wait a minute Armin." Eren interrupted, "Everyone was cleared in the investigation of their deaths, including Annie."

"Yes, she was cleared, but when we presented our maneuver gear for inspection, she didn't have her own gear but Marco's."

"What, Marco? What does he has to do with this?" asked Eren.

Armin sighed deeply. "I don't what she was doing with his gear, but we must assume she took it post-mortem or…"

"Hold on are you saying Annie killed Marco!" Eren angrily questioned.

"I don't know for sure Eren." Armin responded. "All I know is I saw her with his ODM gear at the inspection. I recognized his mechanical work within the slots of the blade compartments."

Eren clenched his fist and spat, "I think you need to have your damn eyes checked."

"Alright that's enough." Levi told Eren. He could really tell this news was unsettling the young man. Turning toward Armin he remarked, "That's a lot of evidence, but at best it all seems circumstantial. Is there anything concrete to say it's her with 100% certainty?"

"No Sir, I suppose not 100% certainty." Armin answered truthfully. "However after seeing her facial expressions during my battle with the Female Form, she does look like Annie."

That was the last straw for Eren. He got up out of his chair and grabbed Armin by the collar. Harshly, he threw him against the table and held him there.

"That's your proof? She looks like Annie!" Eren snarled, "How dare you begin to compare her to that monster Armin!"

Mikasa rushed over and attempted to lightly push Eren off of Armin. Never in a million years did she ever think Eren would treat him in such a manner.

"Eren what has gotten into you?" She berated.

"What's gotten into me? He's the one accusing our friends of murder Mikasa!" Eren contended, still having a firm grip on who he thought was his best friend.

Armin struggled against his hold, but Eren wasn't letting up, even at Mikasa's urging. He wanted to punch Armin for accusing Annie. His Annie!

Then Eren felt someone tug on his jacket at the shoulder, catching his attention. He looked and saw Jean, standing with an irritated look on his face. "I think you need to take a minute and calm down." said Jean.

"You better get away from me right now." Eren shoved his hand away.

"What you think this is easy for Armin?" Jean exclaimed, pointed toward him. Eren saw nothing but a very hurtful expression on Armin's face, perhaps partly due to Eren attacking him. Jean continued and asked, "You think this is easy for any of us? No one wants this to be her, or anyone from our trainee squad. Yet if she had anything to do with Marco's death…"

"She didn't kill him!"

"Eren" Mikasa called to him, momentarily catching his attention away from Jean. "You fought with the Female Titan in physical combat. Tell us, was there anything familiar in the way she fought you? Did she use any of Annie's techniques?"

He began to think long and hard. Interestingly enough, this was the first time he thought on his actual fight with the Female Titan since it happened. He found it strange how she seemed to know all his moves and was able to counter them. Though it was her last move, just before he blacked out, that truly caught him off guard. Her form, the angle of her kick, it was all too recognizable.

'No' He reasoned to himself. 'There is no way Annie is the Female Titan! The true culprit must have some ability to analyze and copy her opponent's moves.'

"No Mikasa, it's not her, it can't be." Eren solemnly answered.

"What makes you so sure Eren?" she continued to push, "Why are you so defensive of her?"

"It's not her!" he shouted.

"Alright everyone take a seat." Erwin's voice sounded.

They moved to do so, and waited for their commander to continue. At this point, Eren was too exhausted to say much of anything else.

Having the floor, Erwin announced, "Tomorrow we will head to Stohess. Eren, the Military Police will be expecting you to escort you to a waiting room while they deliberate your future. However, once we arrive at the gate, a stand in will go in your place, and you will enter the city along under the guise of a random soldier. Inside, you will draw Annie out and lead her to one of the underground tunnels within the city. We will ambush and capture her there, as she won't have room to move should she transform."

"Sir I-" Eren began.

"This is not up for discussion." Erwin cut him off. "If Leonhart is not the Female Titan, she will be cleared of suspicion. However, if she does turn out to be her, and should she transform before she arrives at the tunnel, you will engage and do your best to restrain her. We will assist you in any way we can if that were to happen."

Erwin could see the conflict that must be raging within him. "Eren, remember why you are here. It may be hard for you to hear our suspicions of a friend, but as a soldier you carry on, no matter how tough things get. I suggest you think on your reasons for joining the Survey Corps."

After going over a few more particulars, Erwin and the rest left to prepare for tomorrow. Levi also moved to head out to get some rest, but noticed Eren still sat at the table.

"Hey" he called to him, "I can't say I know what you're feeling, but I honestly hope your friend is not the Female Titan. Even though it would probably look awful if we're wrong about this, for your sake I would be willing to accept the consequences from the higher ups if we're wrong."

All Levi heard in response, "It's not her."