A/N- I noticed that I made a small mistake in the spelling of Oluo's name. I have fixed it for this chapter and I will try to fix it in the previous chapters before the Raid on Stohess begins.
Also I will begin to give my thoughts on what is happening in the story in the next chapter, and answer any questions you have with the storyline... until then Enjoy!
"Captain Levi, what happened to Gunther? Is he alright." Oluo asked him after they had gained some distance from the Female Titan.
"He's been secured, he only had a slight concussion from the looks of it." Levi replied, still holding the spit covered Eren easily under his arm.
"Now that we've gained some distance from her, now would be a good time to explain why Eren decided to transform when your job was to keep him out of danger." Levi continued on with.
"It was my idea Captain." Oluo spoke up. "I thought that-"
"No." Nick interrupted. "It was my idea to involve him in the fighting." Nick told him.
"Why on earth would you think that putting him in danger would be a good idea?" Levi questioned him.
"I thought that if we kept our hoods up and kept Eren with us that it would minimise the risk of us being killed, if she didn't know who we were then she wouldn't have risked it." Nick explained to Levi.
"Hmm, not going to apologise for putting him in danger?" Levi asked him.
"No Sir, I believe it was the right decision at the time given the circumstances." Nick told him, confident that he had made the right choice.
"Good, I didn't expect you to, and I would have made you clean the whole castle when we got back if you had, although letting him transform was a risk, the only thing that came out of that was the extra effort needed to bring this brat back."
"What about Eld? Did you collect his body?" Petra asked Levi.
"His body was prepared for transport a short while ago." Levi simply said. "We're coming up to HQ, since we lost our horses, Petra, you and Oluo will have to share with Meier and Ackerman since we'll need a cart for this idiot." He told them.
Once they had reached HQ, Eren who was still unconscious from the fight that he had lost to the Female Titan was loaded onto a wagon so he could be given some rest for the way back. Gunther, who had woken up a few minutes ago with a headache was in the wagon with Eren to keep an eye on him in case something happened while he was asleep. Gunther didn't know who it was that cut his wire since he had been unconscious for the whole time the Female Titan had attacked, he also hadn't seen Eld, Petra or Oluo, just Captain Levi who had dropped Eren onto the cart. Gunther hoped that his friends were alright, especially since he felt bad that he wasn't able to join them in the fight against the Female Titan.
The bodies from the Female Titan that had been left along the trail of the forest had already been prepped for transport, so that their loved ones will at least get to see their body one last time. One of the bodies that had been prepared was Eld's, both of his legs had been severed at the waist, cutting them off from his body completely, so his legs had to be tied to his body in order to bring his whole body back, since it wasn't in one piece.
The Scouts had stopped after a little while of travelling so that they could gather up more bodies that the Female Titan had left behind, the bodies being wrapped in cloth and being tied down to a stretcher to prevent their limbs from flailing all over the place.
Captain Levi had taken the liberty of finding Eld's body, it was easy to discern from the rest since it was the only one with a bite mark on his hand, also the fact the legs were tied to his chest instead of being where they should be. He walked up to reveal the patch that had the Wings of Freedom on them, he looked at it for a moment before taking it off, deciding that he would carry on Eld's memory, using Eld's strength as his own in the future, promising that the Titans would be exterminated one day because of his ultimate sacrifice.
Armin and Jean were part of the team that had to load the bodies onto the wagons for transport, Armin having a bandage on his head from his encounter with the Female Titan, who had spared him surprisingly, but that was her mistake because Armin had an idea of who the Female Titan could be, especially after seeing Marco's gear being presented by Annie at the inspection. He had come to the conclusion that Annie had killed the two Titan test subjects and had went on to decimate the Survey Corps in her attempt to capture Eren.
"This is the part of our job I'll never get used to." Jean spoke quietly so that Armin could hear him.
"You're not alone in that." Armin responded still dejected at seeing all the dead bodies that had to be piled up.
"Seems like death's just everywhere. All I can think about is how it'll end, which one of us is next and whether it'll be me." Jean told him.
"Try not to obsess over it." Armin told him. "Only thing that train of thought is good for i breaking your nerve, believe me. Push it out of your mind."
"I suppose you're right, no I know you're right." Jean said as he moved over to bring the other body onto the wagon for transport. "I mean, look at Nick, he fought against the Female Titan three times from what I heard, and he looks fine to me. Never seen anything scare him." He said as he nodded over to Nick who was talking to Petra at the moment at the other side of the field they had stopped at.
"It's just how he is." Armin responded with. "Both him and Mikasa never get scared of anything, no matter how bad it seems."
At the other side of the field, Petra was talking to Nick about his experience on his first expedition.
"How do you do it?" She softly asked him, confusing Nick for a moment.
"How do I do what?" He asked.
"This is your first expedition, and you didn't seem scared at all." She explained. "On my first expedition, I was terrified when I saw a Titan for the first time."
"Just because I wasn't scared of the Titans doesn't mean I'm not afraid of anything." He told her.
Her face scrunched up in confusion. "What are you afraid of then?" She asked, hoping that he would satisfy her growing curiosity.
"I don't think I should tell you, it's pretty childish." He explained to her.
"It's okay Nick, I wont laugh, I promise." She replied to him.
Seeing her look at him like that made him think that maybe he could tell her and she wouldn't laugh like the other kids back in Mitras had at him when they found out about his fears.
"Okay then." He started, as he got ready to tell her. "I'm scared of needles." He told her.
To his surprise she didn't laugh like he thought she would, maybe his fear wasn't as childish as he thought even though it was rather strange as to how he had aquired his fear of needles.
"You aren't laughing." He stated.
"I told you I wouldn't, what kind of person would I be if I did." She pointed out to him. "How come you're scared of needles. If you want to tell me of course."
"It's fine, I'll tell you. Let me start by saying it wasn't something that happened to me that got me afraid of needles, it was something that happened to a friend of mine." Seeing her nod sliently, he continued. "When I was ten, a friend of mine, a girl was... sick at the time. The doctors thought that giving her an injection would fix her and she would be better."
"What happened to her?" Petra softly asked.
"After she recieved the injection, she became a completely different person, almost like her personality was wiped away at times and replaced altogether." He looked down at the ground before continuing on, his voice getting much softer as he went on. "Because I was so young and didn't understand how it worked, I thought that I would end up like her, so everytime I was sick, I refused the treatment if it involved an injection." He gave an emotionless laugh as he went on. "There was even a time when I threatened to fight the doctor that was trying to give me an injection when I was twelve, my mom had to hold me down so that I could get the injection." He explained.
"I know it's childish, stupid and even ignorant, but even though I know it can't happen, I'm still scared that what happened to her, will happen to me." He finished with.
"It's not ignorant, or stupid, and its definitely not childish to be scared of something, everyone has their own fears, even if they won't admit to them. It's part of why I respect Captain Levi so much, because he's able to push down his fears and fight for a cause greater than himself." Petra told him with a soft smile on her face.
"You seem to have a great deal of respect for the Captain." Nick pointed out.
"I do. I wrote about it in the letter that I sent to my father, about how much I respect him of course." She replied with.
"It's not my place to ask, but do you have a crush on Captain Levi?" Nick asked her.
Petra's face burned red with embarrassment at the accusation being thrown around. "What? No! Where did you get that idea from?" She asked, flustered by his suggestion.
"Then who do you like? Oluo?" Nick asked.
"What? Oluo is far too annoying for that, he's a good soldier and all, but he pretends like he's Captain Levi all the time. It just gets so frustrating with him sometimes." She told him, her flustered state now gone at the mention of Oluo.
"It's just that you seem to have a lot to say about someone you claim to annoy you, and have you ever thought about why he imitates the Captain?" Nick asked her.
"No, but the Captain did save his life once, I thought it was because of that." She explained.
"I'm not an expert at relationships or anything, but from the way it looks to me, it seems like he imitates the Captain because he wants that same respect from you."
"Eh! What are you saying?" She demanded to know.
"Talk to him about it, I'm sure he would like that." Nick said to her.
Before Petra could reply they could hear someone shouting and turned around to see what the commotion was about.
"No! I refuse! It's inhumane!" One of the Scouts cried out.
"Damn you shut up!" One of the officers yelled back at him.
"We can't just leave him out here, he was there, I saw Ivan's body, he was right infront of us!" He yelled at the Commander.
"And if you didn't notice there were Titans nearby, go back and we could wind up dead ourselves." The officer replied to him as Commander Erwin was quietly watching the scene unfold.
"So if they attack we'll fight, it's what we do right?" The Scout said.
"Ivan and me, we grew up in the same town together, his parents are like family to me. I can't face them again if we leave him." Another Scout said to the Commander.
"Sentimental garbage!" The officer yelled back.
"Stop shrieking." Levi said as he walked up to them.
"Captain Levi!" The Scout said, surprised that he was there.
"If you've already confirmed his death then there's nothing more to do. Whether we have his body or not makes no difference now, he's still just as dead either way." Levi coldly told them.
"That's cold." The brown haired Scout replied.
"Ivan and the others will be listed as missing in action. That's my decision and its final, now let it go." Erwin told them, having had enough of their behaviour.
"You heartless bastards!" The blonde Scout yelled. "That's the kind of respect you show the men who give their lives for you!" He roared at them.
"Unless you want to be M.I.A, then I suggest you shut your mouth." The officer told him after his outburst.
After that the Scouts began to move out once again, making haste for the Karanes District after the mission to capture the Female Titan had failed. Nick was currently having to share his horse with Oluo who had to leave his horse behind after the reappearance of the Female Titan while Mikasa shared hers with Petra, running alongside the wagon that had both Eren who was still unconscious, and Gunther, who was saddened at Eld's death, but relieved that Petra and Oluo had survived the attack.
"Wait!" A shout came from behind the rear of the column of Scouts.
"Heads up, we've got company!" The same voice yelled as Nick and Oluo looked behind them to see what was happening.
"Titans!" Another voice yelled out from where the first came from.
Nick saw the two soldiers from before that had been shouting at the Commander about leaving their friends body behind being chased by two Titans, he noticed that one of them had a body wrapped around him.
"Those idiots." Oluo growled out. "Are they trying to get us all killed?"
"That damn fool." The officer from before spoke as he shot up a red smoke flare into the sky, alerting the Scouts further ahead that there were Titans on their tail.
"Enemy spotted at the rear!" A Scout called out.
Commander Erwin took one look behind hil before giving an order. "Full speed, all soldiers!"
"Our best chance might be to circle back, make a beeline for the trees." Levi suggested. "We can't put up much of a fight out here." Levi pointed out as he was riding alongside the Commander.
"No, our best option now is to continue to the wall." Erwin told him.
"Tch." Was all Levi said as he started to slow down so he could get closer to the rear where the Titans were.
One of the Titans chasing them swiped it's hand at the two soldiers, causing the body to fall off the back of him. He looked over to see his friend get grabbed by the other Titan as he slowed down, letting the other Titan pass by in the process. He then activated his gear as he went off to try and save his friend.
"It's about to be right on top of us!" Armin pointed out as he rode alongside Jean in the formation.
"Looks like we've got no choice but to fight." Jean stated.
"Ground is too flat to engage ODM gear, and not only that, we'll soon be outnumbered." Armin told his as he looked over to see three more Titans converging on the formation.
"Perfect." Jean sarcastically spoke. "Then what do you suggest we do genius?" Jean asked him.
Armin took one look at the wagons carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades before realising what had to be done. "The only thing we can." Armin said.
Back at the rear the friend of the soldier had just been eaten as the horse carrying Mikasa and Petra was running alongside it as the other Scout got grabbed by the Titan.
Petra and Mikasa quickly got off the horse to save the Scout, Petra going for the muscles of the arm so he couldn't be eaten while Mikasa went for the nape. They both struck well as the Tiitan lowered its arm before falling to the ground as Mikasa killed it.
They quickly mounted the horses in order to catch up with the formation so they wouldn't be left behind.
"We're done! It's gaining on us!" One of the Scouts in the wagon with the bodies cried out.
"I'll jump behind the bastard and distract him, give you a chance to put some distance-" The other Scout began only to be interrupted by the Captain.
"Don't bother." He told them. "We've got to jettison the extra weight. Dump the bodies." He ordered.
"Bu- but Sir?" The Scout questioned.
"Do you know how many corpses we've already left behind, these aren't special. Dump them." He commanded. "Consider it as their last service to the cause.
"Are we doing this!?" The other Scout cried out. "We can't seriously be doing this!"
"Damnit." Levi muttered to himself, feeling the pain in both of his legs after suffering two injuries that day. One was just a flesh wound, but the other was at least a twisted ankle, perhaps even broken, it would take some time to heal, even for humanities strongest.
"I'm sorry! There's just no other way!" The Scout yelled as he opened the back of the cart as he began to throw the bodies out of the cart, some of the bodies being crushed by the chasing Titan.
Captain Levi took one look back at the bodies being thrown out, and he could swear that he caught a glimpse of Eld's face, as it was thrown overboard by the two Scouts.
"Thats it! We're losing him!" The Scout shouted as the cart started to speed away from the chasing Titan.
Once the Scouts returned to Karanes District, the civilians started to murmur about them and the failure of their most recent mission.
"Am I miscounting or are there fewer of them than when they left?" One asked.
"No, there's a lot fewer." Another responded.
"Must've been a bad one." One of the other citizens commented.
"I don't get it, they were all piss and vinegar this morning."
"They're already back?"
"Well, why bother leaving in the first place?" One of them asked.
"No idea, I'd say by the looks on their faces they hoped to be gone longer." Someone replied to the question with.
"Our taxes, hard at work ladies and gentlemen." The same man sarcastically said.
Eren slowly sat up to give them a piece of his mind for daring to insult the Scouts, but he didn't when he saw a boy and a girl, both looking at the Scouts in awe. "Awesome! Beat but they're still ready to go." He shouted out. "You gotta be made of nails to ride with these guys, they're unstoppable." The child told the girl next to him.
"Excuse me Captain Levi." A man called out as he started to walk alongside him. "Good evening, I uh... yes, I'm Petra's father Sir, might I borrow your ear before she sees us. I recieved this letter from her somewhat recently, apparently you hand picked yourself. She's very excited I can assure you. In fact it sounds like she's utterly devoted to you in every way." He said. "So devoted that well, to be honest her mother and I are a bit concerned you see." He laughed nervously before going on. "Now I know that fathers can have trouble letting go, but still I feel she's far too young to be thinking about marriage, she has so much left to experience before settling down."
"Dad!" Petra called out as she was catching up but had heard him say that. "It's not what you think dad." She told him as the insults had begun to fly against the Scouts.
"Give us some answers damn you! We have a right!" One yelled at them.
"How many lives were lost on this mission?" A women called out this time. "Was it worth it? Was it really worth it?"
Commander Erwin knew that they would be summoned to the Capital soon, and they needed to act fast in order to catch the Female Titan before they made another attempt, or the Scouts lost Eren to the MP's, luckily Erwin would get his wish three days later when they passed through Stohess District on their way to Mitras.
(The next day, Scout Headquarters)
The next night Eren was sitting in one of the smaller rooms in the Scout Headquarters alongside Captain Levi, Oluo, Petra and Gunther, who still had a bandage wrapped around his head due to him hitting his head after Nick had severed his line right before he could be killed.
"What's taking Erwin so long?" Oluo sighed as Petra continued to steal glances at him. She hadn't been able to talk to him since they got back from the expedition, still taking Nick's advice about her and Olou's relationship into consideration.
"Maybe he's taking a shit." Levi suggested as he took a sip of his tea. "Duty calls I suppose."
"You're awfully talkative today Captain." Eren tried to joke with him a bit.
"I'm always like this." Levi blankly responded with. "And who said I was talking to you." He said as he stared Eren down.
Before Eren could reply the doors to the room opened, revealing Commander Erwin who was being followed by Mikasa, Armin, Jean and Nick, who all took their seats at the table, Mikasa and Armin next to Eren, Jean across from them next to Oluo and Nick next to Gunther, with the Commander sitting in the middle of Petra and Oluo.
"We think we may know the identity of the Female Titan." Erwin spoke after a short silence. "Thanks to evidence provided by Cadets Arlert and Meier that is. We also have reason to believe that she was also involved in the murder of one of your fellow cadets, one Marco Bott."
"What!? Who is it." Eren demanded to know.
"Calm down Eren." Petra pleaded with him. "The Commander will get to that."
"Thank you Petra." Erwin thanked her for calming down Eren. "The five of you in this room are here because we can trust that without a shadow of a doubt that you are loyal to the cause." He said to the five Cadets in the room. "That being said, we believe that the Female Titan is a fellow soldier." Erwin stated, earning a gasp from Petra, and a look of shock from Gunther and Eren.
"Who... Who is it?" Eren finally managed to get out after a short while.
"We believe that she was a member of the 104th Cadet Corps. We believe her to be... Annie Leonhart." Erwin told them all.
"You... You think it- its Annie? Where's your evidence?" He shakily asked them.
"I think we should begin with the murder of Cadet Bott, if you would so kindly present your case Cadet Meier." Erwin spoke once again.
"Yes Sir." Nick responded as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "When me and Jean found Marco's body, I noticed that the top half of his harness was removed from his body instead of being bitten off like it would have been if he was eaten by a Titan."
"But he was eaten!" Eren exclaimed. "Why would Annie eat him?" He densely asked.
"She didn't eat him Eren, she removed his gear so he could be eaten." He explained. "When I examined the belt harness, I noticed a cut along the middle of the belt, which gave me the impression that it had been forcefully removed from his body."
"So what! That could have been from anything, why do you think Annie did that!?" He asked once again, losing his cool as he did so.
"Because I have reason to believe that she was the one who killed Section Commander Hange's two Titan test subjects." Armin spoke up.
"But there was that whole equipment inspection." Eren pointed out to them. "Annie's checked out didn't it."
"Yes, except the gear she presented wasn't hers, it was Marco's." Armin told him as Jean tried to keep a straight face from across him. "I recognised all the dents and scrapes from when we used to do repairs on our gear together."
"That doesn't prove anything." Eren tried to argue, but even he knew deep down that the evidence was enough to warrant a good deal of suspicion.
"Well she certainly looks like the Female Titan." Mikasa pointed out, and she wasn't wrong, there was a rather uncanny resemblance, the blonde hair, blue eyes, even the nose looked alike.
"What kind of evidence is that!?" Eren shouted as he stood up.
"So what you're basically saying is that our evidence is circumstantial at best." Levi concluded.
"Eren." Nick started. "I wasn't going to say anything about this but, given how you refuse to see the evidence in front of you, I see no other choice."
"What is it?" Eren asked, having calmed down slightly.
"During the expedition, you heard a very loud scream from the forest, yes?" He asked him.
"Yeah, we all heard it." Gunther responded. "Sent chills down my spine, what about it?"
"It attracted all the Titans in the area towards it, like it was calling to them." Nick explained.
"Where is this going?" Eren nervously asked him.
"Five years ago, there were far too many Titans that entered Shiganshina for it to be natural, and the scream from the Female Titan is the only thing I've seen capable of that, even the roar your Titan emits doesn't have the same effect." Nick explained to him. "So what I'm saying is, that I believe that the Female Titan lured other Titans to Shiganshina in order to slip in as another refugee and gain entry to Wall Rose."
"What? No. No! That can't be right! She wouldn't do this!" Eren protested, but he saw that the evidence was clear.
"Eren. It's just a theory, if she isn't the Female Titan then she'll be cleared, alright." Armin tried to reassure him with his usual words of wisdom.
"Now that our first problem is cleared up, we have another one." Erwin declared as he pulled some papers out of his jacket and placed them on the table for them all to see.
"What is that Commander?" Gunther asked him as he leaned over to try and get a good look at the papers.
"These are transfer papers, courtesy of our friends in the Military Police." He stated. "It seems that our dear friend Nile disapproves of Cadet Meier's enlistment in the Survey Corps, and has requested that he be transferred to the Military Police by tomorrow evening."
Nick nearly choked on the water he was drinking as Erwin told them what the papers were, with Gunther having to prevent him from choking by slapping him on the back a few times.
"Can they even do that?" Levi asked. "He didn't get the top ten." Levi reminded them all.
"What!?" Petra, Gunther and Olou shot out if their mouths.
"I know." Erwin continued after the outburst from the Special Operations Squad. "However after reading the reports of his abilities at Titan killing, it seems like Nile has ousted him as a prime candidate for the MP's. He could even brand Nick as a hero for what he accomplished during Trost and for taking on the Female Titan three times." Erwin explained to them.
"Why does he want me?" Nick finally asked as he had stopped choking on his water.
"He seems to think that the Scouts are a dangerous place for you to work, and it seems like the Royal Assembly agreed with him, seeing as they have signed the papers authorising your transfer without my approval needed." Erwin told them.
"Who from the Assembly signed it." Nick asked, hoping that it wasn't his father that had.
"It was the the head and the only member of the Reiss Noble Family still alive, Rod Reiss."
"Father... what are you doing?" Frieda asked to herself, letting Nick hear her. She hadn't spoken much to him the past few days since he had been so busy.
"What does he gain by getting me moved to the MP's, unless he's trying to get me out of the way." Nick thought to himself.
"Where will I be stationed?" Nick asked Erwin, hoping that it wasn't in Yarckel or Orvud.
"Nile was originally planning to have you stationed in the Orvud District, but I called in a favour to have you stationed in Stohess, where Annie Leonhart is currently stationed. Our sources confirmed she reported in for work today, so she should be there when we make our move in two days time."
"Won't she get suspicious if I were to turn up there after what happened?" He asked, still insinuating that she was indeed, the Female Titan.
"Only if you were dressed as a Scout, but you'll be dressed as an MP, in full uniform." Erwin paused before continuing. "I know you don't like it, but it's the best I could do given the Scouts current position."
"I see." Nick replied. "I'll still be briefed on the plan before tomorrow evening right?"
"Yes, we'll hash out the finer details before then." Erwin stated. "You're all now dismissed, we'll need you in top shape for this next mission of ours."
"Well then Annie, looks like we'll get to speak again before you get the chance to run once again." Nick thought to himself.
"Hey Frieda."
What is it?" She asked after a few seconds.
"I need your help." He told her.
"With what?" She simply asked.
"I'm going to kidnap Annie if the opportunity arises when the Scouts make their move, and I'll need your help to question her." He explained to her.
"Are you sure thats a good idea?" She asked. "What's wrong with the Scouts getting her?"
"If the Scouts get her then she'll never join our side, they'll torture her for every drop of information they have, and it's too early for her to give that information away. The Government needs to go before that can happen."
Are you suggesting that we need to overthrow the government?" She asked.
"If we are to achieve the freedom that you truly wanted, then yes, the Government needs to go, especially Rod."
Then who will sit on the throne, another one of the Noble Families? Because there's no way that my father should be King." Frieda told him, making her stance on Rod perfectly clear.
"No, we already have another one with royal blood within the Scouts." He explained.
"Why would you want Historia on the throne, surely it would be better off if you or someone else claimed it."
"Frieda, that's not true. I think Historia is the perfect candidate, not Krista, Historia. This way she'll finally be able to be her own person, and not have to live for someone or something else. She will finally be free from her Krista personality."
Okay then, I trust you Nick."
"Thank you Frieda, it means a lot coming from you."
But about this kidnapping of Annie to turn her to our side, are you doing it for freedom... or is it because you care about her?" She asked him, already knowing the answer but she wanted to hear it from him first.
"Both." Was all he said as he entered his room to prepare for the next day.
Frieda smiled to herself at his answer as she began to think about it so he couldn't hear her, she could hear his thoughts most of the time, but he couldn't hear hers.
"I must say Nick, you have a stange taste in women, firstly picking a Titan shifter who had been brainwashed by her ancestor, and secondly by choosing to care about an enemy shifter, who has killed many of your comrades with little remorse, but, if it makes you happy... then I'll be happy with it as well. But don't think I wont try to get some entertainment every once in a while." She thought as she began to smirk at the thought of having some fun with Nick once again.