A/N: Hey everyone! I just wanted to post two quick things: 1) some of the characters from now on will be OCs, while some have names/likenesses to SnK characters (e.g. Darius) but are basically OCs as well, I just thought it'd be a nice touch to use names/likenesses from the actual series. 2) I don't wanna be THAT guy, but Koduka's story "Switching Sides" is great so go read it and then review telling her to hurry up with the next chapter! That's all really, but I hope you enjoy this and please review, I love hearing from people!

Level 100: Trost. The Forest of Giant Trees

The treetops were filled with the panic of the players that had survived the escape from Trost the day before. They had woken from their sleep to find that they were surrounded by Titans below. These Titans had not only discovered they were there, but they weren't just waiting for their prey to make a move; they had begun to attack the tree trunks in order to either knock the players off balance or break the trees to claim their lives.

Erwin looked around nervously, unsure of how to get out of this predicament; with the stakes so high, they needed an escape plan, and they needed it now. The first idea he'd come up with seemed to be the only viable option.

"EVERYONE!" He yelled, commanding their attention despite the loud groans from below, "WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SCATTER! GET AWAY FROM HERE, BUT DON'T GO ALONE! WHEN YOU ESCAPE THE TITANS HERE, MAKE YOUR WAY SOUTH TO SHIGANSHINA! GO!"

With that, even greater panic ensued. However, the players – even those from the Clearing Group who had not long arrived – had to trust in his judgement. This was likely the best way to survive, as even if a group was caught by Titans, the others may be able to escape.

The players bundled equipment and supplies into their Inventories quickly, but many left at least some of these items behind due to nervous instinct to get away from the area.

Erwin and Mike watched for a few moments as players scrambled and scampered, before turning and engaging their 3D Manoeuvre Gear into the thick branches that surrounded them, swinging through the trees away from the bulk of the Titan threat. Nine other players followed the two Squad Leaders, banking on them as a safe option for survival. Gunther and Eld – originally of Levi's Special Ops Squad – along with Darius and Gustav of the Survey Corps, who'd been in Trost with the others from the very beginning. Reiner, Bertolt and Annie of the trainees had also joined, who had grown close to Mike over the past few months, and two members of the Clearing Group had also joined; Brock and Luther didn't know much about the people they were going along with, but they felt confident with the Survey Corps' Leader.

Just as he began to catch up to the group – who were naturally more at home on the 3DMG having had months (or years) more practice – Brock was plucked out of the air by a jumping Titan, before being bitten in half by its oversized, asymmetrical mouth. While his body disappeared instantly into small blue crystals, his scream rang on long in the ears of the group that continued to move ahead.

"They can jump now?" Mike probed Erwin, more out of surprise than the hope of Erwin knowing any better than he did. Never before had they seen a Titan that could do that.

"Maybe they're programmed to adapt to our actions?" Erwin called back, trying to focus on not letting any more of those under his command die, knowing he'd already failed once today.

Mike and Erwin continued to lead the way for the group, with the Survey Corps members and trainees behind; however, Eld and Gunther had moved to the back of the group in order to offer some protection to Luther, who was naturally a little slower than his more experienced counterparts.

Luther was a young man in his early twenties, though his macho-sounding username was clearly a facade he'd developed for SAO before it turned out that players' avatars resembled their real-life bodies. He was quite skinny; not unhealthily so, but the kind of person you wouldn't expect to have been to a gym any time in the recent past. He had big, hazel eyes and a long bob of hair that matched; it flowed in the wind as he swung from tree to tree, desperate to keep up with those ahead, but equally grateful for the Special Ops' presence behind him. He had been a valued member of the Knights of the Blood Oath, but had never been particularly close to Heathcliff and Kimiko, and thus was not a highly ranking member despite his loyalty.

"Erwin." Mike called simply, addressing his superior to bring him out of his intense focus. When Erwin briefly glanced to him before returning his gaze to the trees ahead, Mike continued. "What are we going to do when we get out of the forest," Erwin was puzzled, having explained that they would continue to Shiganshina as a rendezvous. He was about to explain this – again – before Mike followed up his question.

"When we have no horses?"

Hange offered her hand out to Levi as he sat watching the Titans groaning; he gratefully accepted it. Hange then pointed out an area below them where there were fewer Titans, and they set off into the unknown. Hange glanced over her shoulder as she swung, seeing that they'd been joined by Petra and Oluo from Levi's Squad, along with Luke, Nanaba and Henning from the Survey Corps.

Luke had been in Hange's Squad for the entirety of his time in SAO, and was a tall young man with chin-length brown hair swept back in a ponytail that flew out behind him as he swung through the trees. Nanaba had been a part of Mike's Squad, and shared his quiet disposition most of the time, often lost in her own thoughts. She had short blonde hair in a centre parting, while her sharp blue eyes were locked on those in front of her, making sure they weren't swept away by the Titans below. Henning was a more stocky man, with a sharp cheekbones and jaw; his short, brown hair was swept backwards, though appeared spiked due to its shortness. He'd been a part of Mike's Squad along with Nanaba, and in truth, he wanted to remain with Mike and Erwin, but couldn't be sure he'd make it to them without getting caught.

They made their way through the trees, remaining high enough to be out of the Titans' reach, although they didn't really know where they were going; Levi's attention still hadn't caught up fully to the situation, while Hange worked more on instinct that plans.

Levi's brain was still consumed with images of Isabel, Farlan and Maria. He felt an intense longing for his children, wanting to stop all this madness and see them, hold them. This wasn't how he felt for Maria anymore: he knew it had failed and they weren't meant for each other. And by now, she'd have probably found some-

The grappling hook from Levi's 3DMG missed the next tree trunk, and he began to freefall towards the Titans below, who were virtually salivating at the prospect of a free meal. They began to reach up with their long, slim arms to catch him for themselves, battling it out for this prize snack.

Levi's arms and legs began to flail, his 3DMG stalling and unable to fire as he repeatedly – desperately – clutched at the triggers in his hands. The mental image of his kids began to intensify as time appeared to slow during his descent, with his internal critic screaming out.

'they'll never see their dad again they'll never see their dad again how could you you promised me you promised YOU PROMISED'

His descent then ended as he was plucked out of the air.

Kirito took off from the branch as soon as Erwin's command ended, rushing over to find where Asuna had been resting; Lisbeth and Agil also headed there to meet up, and arrived just after Kirito. Kirito embraced Asuna, physically reassuring her that they'd be okay. As the hug ended – more quickly that either would have liked due to the urgency of the situation – Kirito saw that Dale and Kunimittz of Fuurinkazan had joined them on the branch, along with Julia, Shawn and Rick from the Clearing Group.

Julia and Rick were close companions of Fuurinkazan; despite being members of the Knights of the Blood Oath, they tended to unwind between battles with Dale, Kunimittz and the others rather than their own guildmates. Julia's blonde hair was tied back roughly in a clip that matched her guild colours, while Rick's hair was devoid of any hair, just as in real life. Both had welcoming, rounded features, making their appearances match their personalities: both were as upbeat and easy-going as they could be in this world, which allowed them to get along with Fuurinkazan's members so well.

Meanwhile, few knew much about Shawn other than his appearance, which was something he seem to put much effort into; he had shaggy brown hair hanging down to his chin, with a matching beard that extended all the way up to his upper lip in wispy curls. He was a quiet, mysterious character that got on with his business and didn't have much to do with anyone; there were rumours among some players that he had been part of a small guild – not too dissimilar to Fuurinkazan – but once they'd all died in SAO he retreated into himself until he became the enigmatic solo player he now was.

Kirito led the group off into the trees, followed by the other Clearing Group members that had put their faith him once again. Suddenly, they were joined from behind by two of the trainees that had protected them from the Titan threat they had arrived to when they first came to Trost. Jean and Marco caught up to the Clearing Group members quickly, flanking Kirito and Asuna at the front of the party.

"Hey Kirito!" Marco yelled in greeting, his voice almost lost in the rushing air as they swung tree-to-tree.

"We can take you to the cave where we stored the horses if you want." Jean added, and Kirito and Asuna dropped back behind the pair in response. They knew that without horses they wouldn't be going far past the edge of the forest.

Jean and Marco veered slightly to the left of the group's original direction, with a trail of slightly slower players following behind like a tail, twisting and turning between Titan arms and tree branches in a slalom of life and death.

Eventually, Jean and Marco began to slow down and edge closer to the ground, cautiously picking lower branches away from the Titans so as not to be eaten during their descent. Jean was the first to reach the ground; there was a soft crinkle as his boots came into contact with the dry grass that provided the base level of the forest. Marco, Kirito and then the rest followed him back to solid ground, and they could soon see that below a lower-hanging tree's leaves, a small cave was hidden; it was around 2 metres tall, and around 10 metres deep. The players were all on edge: the forest was swarming with Titans and they were practically asking to be eaten or crushed by remaining on foot for too long.

Marco and Jean continued to lead the way, with Kirito, Asuna, Agil and Lisbeth providing immediate combat support, flanking the pair in a V-formation.

Erwin called the group to a halt, each landing in turn on a couple of thick, parallel until all ten players had congregated above the groaning Titans below. They formed a circular assembly, waiting for Erwin to address them. First, Erwin took a moment to register those who'd joined him in escaping: whose hands he'd be putting his life in. It also gave Luther a moment to see who he had joined on this journey.

Erwin, Mike, Gunther and Eld were players he already knew well from back in Trost, while Reiner, Bertolt and Annie had helped to protect the new arrivals such as Luther himself during the Titan invasion in Trost. The other two, however, were less familiar to Luther.

Stood directly opposite him was Gustav: a tall, broad-shouldered man of mid-twenties. His side-swept brown hair and light hazel eyes – combined with the green cape and brown underclothes – meant that he could have blended into the landscape, had it not been for his strong presence. His face had a youthful quality – despite a sharp jawline – and he seemed to be well trusted by the other members of the group.

On the edge of the group nearest to the tree trunks was a Darius of the Survey Corps, who was a much shorter, older man: he was by no means elderly, but was nearer the top end of the players who could succeed in such a physically demanding game in his late forties. He had greyish-black hair swept behind his head, with a bushy greying beard to match.

"Mike, you and a few of the others here hid the horses away last night, right?" Erwin probed.

"Yes. Darius and the three Trainees helped last night."

"Could you lead us back to the cave?"

Mike simply nodded, before looking to each of the others who'd accompanied him the previous night; Mike trusted and believed in each, but could tell that he would be the navigator on this return trip. Erwin gestured forwards to Mike, who took off into the trees, leading the group onwards.

Mike dodged a variety of Titans and trees, before landing on a tree branch and waiting for the other players of the group to catch up to his position: they stood in line along the thick branch, barely able to hear their own thoughts over the top of the guttural groans of the swarm of Titans in front of them. The cave had been surrounded, with Titans scrabbling past each other to try and reach into the cave. Erwin turned to Mike, disheartened by the fact the horses were surely gone.

"There are still horses there!" Gustav yelled in a desperate tone, "Otherwise the Titans wouldn't still be scrabbling!"

The hands grasping Levi felt strange; they seemed too small, too gentle. He opened his eyes, and he could see slithers of the sky through the gaps in the tree cover; he glanced left and right, seeing that Titans had not clutched him, ready to devour, but in fact Oluo and Hange were gripping his arms to their own, using the momentum of the swing to carry him away from the angry mobs below.

Each had wrapped their arm around his just below the shoulder, allowing them to keep a firm grip without letting him dangle below them, tantalisingly close to the desperate reach of the Titans. They brought him up to a tree branch where the other four that they'd been travelling with so far had been waiting momentarily. They landed on the branch, releasing their grip on Levi but holding him steady, as he still didn't seem able to focus on the situation at hand.

"Petra, Oluo." Hange whispered, almost as if to shield Levi's ears from the words she was about to say. "There's a particularly outstanding tree there; it looks tall enough to be out of the Titan's reach and thick enough to withstand their attacks. Plus it looks fun to climb!" They glanced at each other before returning their gaze to the slightly mad Squad Leader. "The others should be fine, but I want you guys to look after this guy, right?" Gesturing with her head towards Levi, though no clarification was really needed as to who needed looking after. Levi was beginning to come round – his eyes were losing the glazed layer – and so the group moved out.

Hange led the way, followed by Luke, Nanaba and Henning, who followed her as she used 3DMG to swing up the branches of the "outstanding" tree as if she were a trapeze artist, before having to disengage the gear in favour of edging her way up using blades to dig in and pull herself up. Every few advances, she glanced back to check on the three backing her up, but more importantly how Oluo and Petra were doing trying to haul Levi up as well as themselves.

Levi's brain had caught up to his body, though he still seemed to be in a stunned state, unable to move as swiftly or fluidly as he usually was. Petra and Oluo did not want to let him go it alone, for fear of him slipping up once more, but were grateful for the movement he was able to contribute to the agonising climb.

'You almost got yourself killed there, idiot.' He pointed out to himself, blocking out the yearning groans of the Titans below. 'How would that have made the situation better? Hey? You're a coward.' Extra emphasis was placed onto that word, making it ring through his head for a few moments as he was guided through the treetops. 'If you had've died then, how the fuck do you think you would've seen them again, huh? You would've died a stupid, meaningless death after 3 years of fighting to get back to them, at the point where you're closest to getting there. Scum.'

Hange reached the top, finding it to be a similar height to the Wall they'd left behind that surrounded Trost. The Survey Corps members soon joined her at the top, eventually followed by Levi and his climbing partners. As they approached the top, Hange pulled Levi up by his arms in order to relieve the other two of the pressure.

The top of the tree was somewhat like a platform: while there were a few branches, it looked more like the tree had been cut long ago, providing a flat, round top that they could settle on. The tree towered over many of the others in the forest – although they could see a few others like it – but they could not see any of the other players scattering through the forest due to the thick canopy of leaves.

Jean saw inside the cave first, becoming disheartened at the realisation of the extent of the struggle they were about to face. He sighed a little, continuing on into the dim cave. Hiding at the other end were eight nervous horses, crouched and scared; they'd lost the majority of the horses that had been left here overnight.

"Great. Most have either died or abandoned." Jean lamented, looking back to the ten others he was stuck with.

"At least there's still eight..." Kirito mumbled.

"Hey, maybe some of the others were here but left the horses for us?" Marco called out, looking at the bright side as he often did. Jean glared at him behind his back, begrudged to admit that he admired his fellow trainee's undying optimism, despite also seeing him as delusional in his outlook.

All eleven had entered the cave, each trying to bond with the horses and calm them, so that they'd be able to continue their journey onto Shiganshina. Julia and Rick were towards the back of the group, only around halfway into the cave, discussing how they were lucky to have met up with Dale and Kunimittz of Fuurinkazan: their luck then ran out.

A huge Titan hand entered the cave, reaching with the tips of its fingers to find a meal. It gripped onto Julia, who screamed in protest and shock, before dragging its hand sideways: she was thrust into her fellow Knights of the Blood Oath member with a sickening thud, as Rick was squashed into tiny blue crystals, signalling his death.

Before any of the others could react, Julia's terrified body was dragged from the cave, still kicking and screaming; then, all noise came to an abrupt end at the clamping of the Titan's jaws.

The rest of the group backed up to the wall of the cave in shock, standing alongside the frightened horses, trying to make sure that no other players or horses died in the cave. The Titan that had killed the two guildmates soon returned, thrusting its long, extended digits into the cave; it could tell that the players and horses were there, but it was not quite able to reach them: its fingertips stopped around a metre short of the players' bodies.

Kirito considered attacking the hand with his Elucidator, either by stabbing or slicing the fingers, but he didn't want to get caught out or make the Titan more aggressive; as if reading his thoughts, Asuna clutched Kirito's right hand tightly, before giving him a knowing look, telling him to restrain himself. Kirito smiled meekly back: both knew that it may come to that regardless, as they would need to get out of the cave to progress towards their goal of completing the game.

Suddenly, the Titan's stretching arm swung violently into the wall to the players' left, having been knocked out of the way by another Titan that wanted a piece of the players. The two Titans barged backwards and forwards, both itching to pluck an unfortunate avatar out of the cave; above their scrabbling, the players could hear loud, booming footsteps, as more Titans approached in order to fight it out for the seventeen prizes that lay waiting in the cave.

Then, one boom was much louder than the footsteps; it seemed more like a Titan falling over, but they couldn't be sure with the rest of the commotion going on around them. The sound was repeated, and this time they were sure.

The players felt a glimmer of hope in the panic, as it sounded like other players had noticed their plight and were defeating the Titans on the outside.

One of the Titans that were just fingertips away from them suddenly went limp, its outstretched arm falling to the ground at their feet. The other Titan began to withdraw its arm to attack those outside, before it too was killed.

The players within the cave began to pull on the horses, rushing to leave the cave; the horses shared their sentiment and obeyed without hesitation. Each remaining member had their own horse, except Kirito and Asuna, who had doubled up. As they reached the edge of the cave and returned to the forest outside, they saw a group of ten players waiting for them; most remained in the trees above, but Erwin and Mike of the Survey Corps were waiting on the ground for them.

"Thanks for that." Kirito addressed the Squad Leaders, acknowledging he'd no doubt be dead if it wasn't for their intervention.

"No problem." Erwin simply replied, before adding, "Are those all of the remaining horses?"

"Yeah." Kirito sighed, knowing the situation was pretty dire. "Have you seen any of the others out there?" He continued, not knowing the situation of the other Clearing Group members that weren't in either of their groups. Erwin gestured to Marco, who doubled up onto Jean's horse so that Erwin could ride his own.

"No, but they'll be out there. We need to continue south." Erwin stated simply, taking charge of the now-merged group. "Mike, I want you in charge of those in the trees. We'll avoid Titans where possible, but you'll be responsible for taking them down where necessary, okay?" Mike nodded – though it wasn't really a question – before returning to the sky with his 3D Manoeuvre Gear.

Erwin led the group on horseback, with those in the skies following behind in a spread out group, scouting the Titan threat on all sides. However, they failed to spot a Titan running directly at them from behind until it was too late.

"TITAAAN!" Gustav yelled from the side of the group when he realised, though he wasn't able to warn Darius before it plucked the Survey Corps member from the trees, stuffing him hastily into its mouth without breaking stride. The blue crystals floated out from its gaping mouth as it continued to run, at which point Gustav and Mike swerved to the back of the group. Mike distracted the Titan's attention, causing it to lean into its run more to try and catch him with its mouth; before it could, Gustav lined up a clear path and shot across its back, dragging his blade deep into the nape of its neck to kill the mob, before catching up to the group once more.

There was no time to mourn the loss of a comrade and friend, as the group had to continue moving on towards the end of the game.

Fish On stick: That was the plan! Thank you :) I'm really glad that it worked well, I really wanted to explore that backstory in this AU and ngl I was getting emotional at a few points writing it! Hope you enjoyed this too :)

dicarten-ice: Thank you! And I stole it from my buddy Koduka because I liked the idea, I really like getting feedback and this makes it more of a two way thing so I can discuss things with readers :)

Koduka: Yoooooooo! Thanks for the review, your reviews are A* and I'll work on the things! As for Levi being out of character, it's gonna happen at times bc its not canon Levi but SAO!Levi, but I get what you mean... I'll try and keep him more in character in future chapters (except a few bits that may be deliberate). As for Hiro... yoouuuuuuu've already met him :p I'll leave you (and anyone else reading this bit) to think about that or wait for a while until I reveal it in the second last chapter xD