Yes thats right im updating, can you believe it. It's just been a combination of a full time job and trying to squeeze school in between the little hours i had free. I have the next chapter already done, and I will update it as soon as i edit it =). enjoy the chapter guys.

Edit: This is an edited chapter 11, Much love to SmittiMJC for her amazing work.

Chapter 11: March

It was just as Erwin had predicted. In only two days a mere whisper had turned into an almighty roar. The rumors had trickled down from Humanities Strongest Soldier and his Elite Squad to the drunken ramblings of the veterans of the Survey Corps, all the way to the drunker still Garrison. Before long, wiry old merchants were rehashing the tale to their buyers, the busy consumers then spreading it amongst themselves and eventually to the small nearby villages in the hills, the mountains, and the forests. Bored housewives made it the subject of their daily gossip; their children listening close by with young minds shining with curiosity and lips now ripe with a legend to impress their peers.

Not many knew what he looked like or his real name, but imagination wove the grand enigma into flesh. Some had described him as nearly eight feet tall, with hair that shined so bright that it could blind. It was said that from his throat floated a kind and gentle voice that resembled the benevolence of an angels, simultaneously reflecting the malevolent wrath of a demon. Some said that he was simply an orphaned child that had decided to take matters into his own hands and rid the world of the evils of slavery. Others pictured he was a slave himself and had broken his chains, fed up with life as a servant.

Some had simply called him the boy with the Broken Leg.

In the end it didn't matter. To them the boy symbolized their grief and their hopes.

The victims that had escaped had returned to their families and their homes with glee, happily regaling the tale of their savior and his actions that had led to their rescue.

News of the debriefing had made it to the ears of the people as well and now that they had heard so much about this boy, the populous was no longer satisfied with the story. They wanted the man. They also wanted answers. Nearly thirty slaves had been returned to their loved ones, but the fact that a slave operation had existed under the very noses of the Military Police demanded outrage from the people.

Questions were now being raised.

How long had this been going on? What about others who had gone missing?

Parents who'd had their children thieved and had subsequently considered them a loss, now had restored hope. For the first time in a long time those who had learned to be complacent with the forfeiture of the people they cared about within the walls, were now furiously shouting to know their whereabouts.

They marched along the gates of Wall Sina, united by their struggle, held together by the phantom who represented their cause.

The Boy With The Broken leg.

The frightening aspect of the ordeal was the sheer number of people. Now that so many had summoned the courage to speak for their missing persons, the amount that had shown up saying that someone they knew or loved was missing was staggering.

It was too many.

Far, far too many.

The righteous fury of dozens upon dozens of people collided with Wall Sina on this day. Irate, their fists banging against the concrete barrier in their unyielding demand for entry. Their demands for justice and change.

Nile Dawk swallowed back a pained lump in his throat as he watched below from the top of Wall Sina. His men were struggling to keep order. The shouting and screaming was reaching its peak, smothering their warnings and directives. If he allowed this to continue he would be dealing with a full blown riot. He hated to admit it, but he was in dire need of help. With their lackluster training and discipline, his men were ill-equipped to deal with this. Nile clenched his fists in frustration before scanning the area and finding his closest subordinate. He made a gesture for him to come closer.

"You there-I need you to deliver a message!"

In a delayed manner the soldier gave him a sloppy salute and stammered out a, "Y-yes sir!"

"You are to ride to the trainee Academy and speak to head instructor Keith Shadis! I want you to tell him that this is a request directly from Nile Dawk, Commander of the Military Police!"

Armin Arlert bit his lip to stop the scream of agony that would have erupted from him as he was prepped, once again, to be delicately loaded into the back of his caravan.

He did not like this. He was being carried off again? And this time he did not even have the luxury of knowing where he was being taken to.

All he knew was that a strangely exuberant lady with brown hair and glasses shadowed subtly by a tall blonde, broad shouldered man with a mustache, had been assigned with guarding him. Levi was also there- along with his Squad, Armin had seen them take position on nearby buildings with their 3D gear. A deep sense of uncertainty settled and solidified in the pit of his stomach. Caution was natural. This particular caution being exercised was excessive. Dozens of questions flooded his mind. One in particular disjointed itself from the flow and hung heavily against his brain: Why did he need so much security? And why was he being dumped somewhere again? Logically, he knew that the place that he was being sent to was his original destination at a Sina hospital. But there was a tenseness in their faces. Even behind the joviality something more disciplined tainted the act, as if something more was going on.

"There you go little buddy!" The brown haired woman patted him on the head as he was finally loaded onto the back.

"T-thank you, Miss Hanji." He really liked this woman. She had been the only one to approach him without inquiry surrounding the incident. She had apparently seen his Academy records and had declared him her disciple in all but formality. Armin rarely had long intellectual conversations with people, but she had matched him word for word and passion for passion.

His comfort in Hanjis presence was breached when her looming blonde shadow, Mike Zacharius, came in close and began to sniff him.

Armin squeaked and backed away.

The assault didn't last. After a few seconds Mike pulled away and a broad smile spread under his nose, making Armin shudder.

"Don't worry about it little buddy! He does that to everyone."

Armin looked skeptical, but nodded his understanding.

Without missing a beat, Hanji and Mike stepped into the caravan to sit on either side of him. Hanji pounded the wooden vehicle twice, signaling that they were ready to go. There was an experienced but startled whinny before they began to move.

I hate caravans..." Armin muttered.

Break

Annie Leondhart scowled as she mumbled obscenities under her breath. She was still tired and sore from the punishment that she had received in the bitter rain. Now she faced dozens of lined up trainee's and assumed Shadis had thought of a new stupid exercise to wear away at her body.

Her ears perked as she caught a stray conversation of two trainees nearby. "I just got some kind of letter from my mom. She said that there was something big going down at Sina..." The taller said.

"Something big? Like what?"

"Hell if I know, but she said something about some kind of kid."

Annie turned her attention away from them as Shadis appeared at the front of the lineup. Several other instructors strolled up as well, flanking his daunting form.

"Alright, Trainees, this is the time to prove yourselves! I received a message some time ago, that our esteemed Commander of the Military Police is facing a crisis at the gates of Wall Sina."

Annie felt her curiosity peek. Wall Sina was going to be a big part of her life if things went according to plan and naturally, this interested her.

Shadis Continued to speak to the crowd of trainees, "He has informed me that he is undermanned and in desperate need of aid. Unfortunately, the only form of reinforcements he has is the lot of you!"

Sudden conversation burst into the pause he left for reaction- an air of excitement permeating from the trainee's. It was understandable. Even Annie herself was a bit excited at the thought of doing something else besides endless drills.

A sudden thought came to her mind. The academy wasn't exactly far from Wall Sina, but it would still take a while for them to reach it, even on horseback.

'Do they plan to make all of us use our gear to get there?' She thought to herself.

Annie narrowed her blue eyes and let them sink impassively across the organized rows of nearly one-hundred trainees.

That would be a chaotic mess...

"Of course, for this sudden change in schedule, I will make sure that your body still gets the appropriate exercise!"

Annie let out a string of curses, realizing all too soon what was about to happen.

The Academy trainee's as a whole felt themselves deflate as they too caught on.

One by one they were strapped with gear and lined up according to their class and finally told to march, the instructors in front of the line on horseback.

Of course she was with the 104th. Eren, Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, Sasha, Krista, Connie, Marco, Jean, and Ymir.

Against damp earth not yet dried to solidity, they marched in a practiced rhythm all soldiers learned, as a single unit.

The hours necessary to reach the Wall that contained the elite of their society passed sluggishly. By now they could hear the screaming and already they could see groups of people scattered about on the rooftops.

The trainees continued on wondering what they would find inside these privileged walls.

"I can't believe we're actually freaking here! We're inside Wall Sina guys." Connie's words were filled with so much awed elation, Annie rolled her eyes.

They were settled, temporarily, in dirty makeshift barracks and Keith Shadis had headed off to inform those privy that things would be made clear soon. The 104th were left lazing about, waiting for some kind of order with only their thoughts and anxieties to fuel conversation.

Annie looked across the room to see Eren and Mikasa in a corner. She observed the tenseness in his shoulders, and the slight frown on Mikasa's face. She didn't need to be very good at reading people to know exactly what they were thinking. They didn't know the details, but Wall Sina was supposedly facing some kind of crisis that had warranted the help of inexperienced Academy Trainee's. Not only that, one of their family members was supposed to be somewhere inside these walls and was possibly involved in whatever this was.

Annie herself thought about the blonde with the kind smile, trying to quell the feeling of worry that followed the image. In her mind she knew that even if something was wrong within Wall Sina, it was unlikely that Armin would be in the middle of it.

'He's probably in the Wall Sina hospital, drugged up his ass, while they try to fix his leg.' Annie thought, trying to reassure herself, but oddly enough it did nothing to stamp out her fear for the trainee. She stole another glance at Eren and Mikasa. She could practically see the same process of pacification being attempted in their own minds. Just as it had for her, it was failing for them.

"Did you see all those people outside? We barely managed to get inside..." Jean said, absentmindedly wiping his gear with some cloth. His eyes were unfocused and he was clearly lost in thought rather than the task of cleaning the metal object in his lap. "Just what the hell is going on...?"

Marco, intuiting his friends distress, put his hand on his shoulder "Don't worry, Jean, I'm sure that this will blow over by tomorrow. I don't think that they would allow trainee's to handle something really dangerous."

"Yeah, probably not." Jean stood up, loosing Marcos hand in the process, and began to strap his gear back on.

Connie spoke up, "Hey, you think we might run into Armin? He did leave for wall Sina a few days ago." He spared no notice of the three people in the room that stiffened at his words.

"Oh yeah," Ymir mumbled with contrived thoughtlessness, "I forgot that little runt is here...Maybe we'll run into him going about his business in the streets."

"Yeah, that would be so weird!"

Ymir smirked as several members of the 104th chuckled. Connie Paused. "What?"

It was Annie who spared him, "His leg is broken you idiot..." she deadpanned, then rolled her eyes for the second time that day at his dumbfounded face. "That means he's not walking anywhere anytime soon..."

"Oh!"

The door to the room opened slowly and all conversation came to an end. A tall blonde with no nonsense clear blue eyes and a dark haired man a foot shorter, filled the room with impression alone, followed by Keith Shadis. Annie recognized the darker one as Nile Dawk, the Commander of the Military Police. Lined up they appeared to be King, Rook, and Knight, respectively.

"Is this the last unassigned squad?" Nile asked Shadis.

"Yes. They are by far the most talented group I have. They may lack experience as they are trainees, but I am confident that they can handle any job you throw at them."

"Good." Nile stepped ahead of his follow soldiers. "Alright, listen up!"

The 104th immediately stood to attention.

"As you know, there has been an incident involving Wall Sina. This is a hectic situation and all information will be on a need to know basis. So trainee's like yourselves will only be told something that is directly related to your job." He cleared his throat before continuing, "Your assignment is as follows: you are to be personal guards to a person arriving here in a few hours, and he should not be in any immediate danger as far as we know. But he has turned into a public figure in the last few days so precautions are necessary."

Nile gestured to Shadis "Your instructor will give you the specifics. You will separate into two groups. One group guarding the boy and another will clear a path for the caravan, is that understood!"

The trainee's gave a chorus of "Yes sir!"

"Now, he will possibly arrive here in less than 2 hours, so I want all of you to be strapped and ready to go in a moment's notice. Any questions?"

Annie looked to the silent trainee's around her. Was she the only one who felt like this was something they needed to know?

She raised her hand. "Who are we protecting sir?"

Nile found her small form among them and his expression relaxed. The moment their eyes met, Annie understood that he had been expecting the question. "It is a young boy that recently helped expose and arrest an entire slave trading operation. His name is Armin Arlert."

"What!?" Annie had not meant to let out the cry, but her emotions acted before her mind could. Luckily it had been drowned out by a much louder one.

Eren Jaeger had practically broken the windows with the force of his shout.

"What did you just say?" He screamed, struggling to brush off Mikasa's grip on his arm.

"Eren, stop."

"Damn it, let go of me, Mikasa!"

"Calm yourself, Jaeger!" Shadis ordered at full volume.

Eren was not listening at all. He stomped over to Nile and the room let out a collective gasp as he reached up and grabbed the higher ranking officer by the collar to pull him close "Who did you just say?"

For reasons Annie could not understand, Nile smiled. "Armin Arlert."

There was a lengthy fissure of silence and during its lapse not a single person dared to say anything. The 104th were in muted disbelief at the fact that one of their own had actually been involved. The element that it was Armin Arlert no less, added to the absurdity.

Annie took a deep breath and as Mikasa pulled Eren away she found herself hoping that no one in her immediate vicinity had seen her reaction. She still had an image to keep after all. Unfortunately the world had never given her any mercy and it was not about to start today.

"Wow, are you actually human?" She felt Ymir's breath on her ear, "That is the only reaction I have ever seen you have towards anything. You worried about the runt, Annie?"

Immediately, Annie adjusted her poker face, "No, go away..."

"I knew it," Krista said between them, "It's true lov-"

"Be quiet." Ymir flicked her in the forehead and Annie hoped to whatever God was out there that she was not in the same group as these two.

Guest: Have you read the breaker by any chance? XD

Choko-Chan: thank you for the kind review =) and i will try to press on, it can be difficult at times but i'll try.

IgnisFlame: wow ur first? im glad it could be me then.

Trudyann B: lol i loved that part too XD

WhipWhirlwind: Yes, it is always nice to make my readers laugh, and thank you for the compliment, characters that are in character is really important to me.

whitealmond: Yes, i have been told that this story has it all =)

Epic Otaku Cherry: I made you a long time didn't i?

RosalieVD: favorite? thank you so much, and i completely understand writing block now as you can probably tell.

BloodLily16: Erwin is the slyest =)

supboyyyyy93: well i updated XD

EatMyBrains: Ha thank you, once i got to write Erwin, i just ran away with all the ideas i had in my head, im glad you and so many other's seem to enjoy it.

lionharts: yes she is missing hi in her strange way, and Levi can be so unintentionally hilarious i love the little guy XD

Stiller3: wow thank you for the strong compliments, it is always nice to hear from you. this erwin i had in my head for awhile, and i refuse to change my vision of him no matter what the manga eventually does lol.

Toto Yoshio: Yes it will be interesting XD, the conversation is going to happen soon i promise you and also Annie and mikasa becoming friends? we will just have to see won't we? i got something fun planned and i know fans of either one will love it.

Random Thought: yes i took your advice to write my ideas down on a note, it really helped me as i managed to keep my vision of the story even after all this time =) so thanks alot for that

jrlara14: one the best eh? thank you =)

macrauchenia: HAha well it seems we really love each other's stories because i start every time i see an update from you lol. and don't worry i love the rambling, the interactions between the characters all have some sort of significance so im glad your're noticing, and you should be nervous when it comes to erwin...hell im sort of nervous when i write him, like he is standing over my shoulder and staring at the computer screen as i write.

Moochki: The last chapter of Crimson Tale was absolutely beast, especially the end, that was so epic, i am practically slobbering for the next chap...right um thank you for the review =). I agree Erwin and Armin are very similiar in certain regards and in my opinion you can't have a great Armin centric story without Erwin playing a large roll because we have seen how loud of an influence he has on Armin. yes i do seem to be hitting the right buttons with people, lets see if i can keep it up!

waterxeno:lol another long break did not do me any favors did it? well armin and Annie might meet soon, we will just have to see =)

Mikila94: Levi is bad indeed, it's so easy to write cause he is just so sassy.

Seseorang: it seemed you like nearly everything XD, yes i want more scenes with Levi squad too, im going to set something's up though, and i can't wait to see everyone's reaction towards it.