"You can't be serious." Connie said, deadpan. He was the first of their dumbfounded troop to speak up as the rest of them were staring at Armin and Arya with their mouths open, unsure that they had heard them properly.

It was early afternoon the next day, not 15 hours before they were meant to leave, and the two of them had finally explained the roll Arya would be taking on now that the groundwork had been laid.

"I know it's a little crazy," Arya responded, an anxious half-smile on her face "but it's the best option we have as far as gaining intel on Historia's location. Besides, Jean did say it was time to cash it in, and he was right."

Jean shifted uncomfortably in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I did, but this is insane. You'll be killed on sight before they even know who you are!"

Oz was stroking his beard thoughtfully. Over time he had come to understand Arya's kindness and courage, yet this particular avenue of dedication has his mind buzzing.

Armin was even less happy with this course of action than they were, but he unfortunately still agreed with Arya. "As with every aspect of this endeavor there is definitely a great deal of risk, but if Arya is able to infiltrate back into the Jaegerist body we would have a significantly higher chance of locating the queen before our presence on the island becomes known; not to mention having a double agent on the inside would drastically improve our chances of an actual rescue."

Gabi was shaking her head back and forth in silent horror as Quinn raised her hand. "Are we even sure that the Jaegerist's would accept Arya, sir? It's going to be difficult to convince them that she's been held here against her will all this time."

Arya nodded respectively. "It's going to be a hard sell, certainly, but I think with the right factors I'll be able to pull it off well enough to be brought in front of the council, especially given my relationship to General Loren." She looked down as she said this with a sour expression. "If he catches wind that I've returned, he will summon me."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pieck had risen from her chair and placed a hand on Arya's shoulder, her face full of worry. "You've already done so much for us to risk yourself in this way." Looking back at Pieck kindly, Arya nodded again.

"I have been hiding from my past for too long. If who I used to be gives us a better chance at this, I will use it to the fullest extent." She looked to Armin. "Mikasa will tail me from a distance the moment I land back on the island. Once I am certain of Historia and her family's location, she we relay this information back to you once you've arrived at the muster point. After that," she said, patting a flustered Connie's hand gently, "They only difference on your end will be that you'll have one more person to rescue."

The group looked among one another with panicked faces. Whether they were ready or not, the time had come at last to put their plans into motion.

After a pause the conversation turned back to tactics, and Levi let out a perturbed sigh from his perch above Armin's open balcony door. With his brows furrowed and mouth set in a hard line, he walked quietly down the length of the roof and jumped down in front of his own living quarters, vanishing into the dark room behind him.

The sun had barely crept over the horizon as the 12 members of Armin's company urged their horses from under eaves and into the winding forest path that would take them North through the mountains and onwards. This route would be longer, but keeping out of prying eyes would be key to their success; since the Cardend incident they couldn't be sure of anyone's intentions anymore, nor could they be absolutely sure that the Jaegerists hadn't been involved somehow.

Cresting a ridge halfway up the path into the foothills, Connie looked back over his shoulder at the city laid out behind them with longing. His farewell had been just as painful as it had been years before, but at least this time around Connie had the comfort of knowing his mother was safe and waiting for him when, or if, he returned. He shook away the anxiousness that was creeping up inside his chest and was about to turn back to the group when he spotted a plume of dust rising along the path below them.

"Hey!" He called out, guiding his horse quickly back to the group. "Someone's coming!"

His companions came to a halt and whipped around tensely, many of whom reached for the hilts of their swords instinctually. Before their blades could be drawn a lone horse came barreling over the crest carrying a single rider, who slowed his steed to a trot as he approached them.

"Captain?" Jean said, confused.

Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Levi grunted. "Well? Are we going to stand around until nightfall, or are you hoping to make it passed Cardend sometime this week?" His remark was met with astonished silence as he passed by Arya without meeting her puzzled stare, and up the trail ahead as if this had been the plan all along. Armin let out a surprised chuckle.

"You heard the captain, let's go."

5 miles North of Cardend two ships sat waiting for them: waiting for Arya, more specifically. Once they arrived, she would board the smaller boat tied onto the back end and allow the larger vessel to put her out of the harbor. Just as the island came into view, Arya would detach from the main ship and make her way to Paradis alone. A white flag baring the Jaegerist coat of arms would hopefully allow her to enter the port unscathed, though from there the ruse became murky at best.

It would only take a few days to reach this make-shift port even with their circuitous route, but the terrain was difficult once they exited the mountains. What was once a large stretch of flat farmland was now pitted with hills and ravines caused by the colossals' deadly march, now covered in a thin film of grass and wildflowers. As they guided their horses around the first massive gorges, the mood was solemn and reflective. Though the fallout from the Rumbling was still felt in every corner of the world, in was in places such as this where the pain could be felt the strongest. For people like Armin, Jean, and Connie, it was a stark reminder of their guilt. Was there anything they could have done back then to have prevented this destruction? Had all of this been created by their blindness to the horrors Eren struggled with, or had there been nothing other than this as their future?

Days passed in this fashion; more than once Armin had to lead his company farther West than anticipated to skirt around the impassable terrain, extending their stay in the scarred lands around them. The troupe spoke very little, though Connie was mindful to the fact that Arya hadn't spoken a word since their departure. As they followed the ledge of a particularly large canyon, he was attempting to keep her mind occupied.

"That locket is beautiful." He said as they trotted side by side along the ledge. "Did your parents give it to you?"

Arya reached up and touched the dangling chain thoughtfully.

"No. My mother said it was around my neck the day I was adopted. They always just assumed it was left to me by my birth parents, a kind of token." She smiled back at his inquisitive look. "The hinges were broken when they found me; I don't think it's ever been opened. To me it's a reminder that no matter where someone comes from, there is always something good out there, maybe just around the corner."

Connie shook his head in agreement, and Arya laughed lightly. Feeling eyes on her as she did, she glanced over her shoulder to where Levi was riding silently behind them. A subtle shift in his chin confirmed that he had indeed been looking at her, though now he only had eyes from the back of Jean's head. They hadn't spoken since he had unceremoniously joined their fellowship, thought somewhere in the back of her mind she couldn't help but speculate that it had something to do with her.

Connie, looking to regain Arya's attention, leaned back in his saddle to see what she was staring at just a fraction too far. Within seconds he was tumbling off his horse and down over the lip of the gully, screaming as he went.

"Connie!" Arya cried, ushering her horse closer to the edge as Armin and Jean turned back to them in alarm. Peering over the side she traced the path his fall created and let out a huff of relief. Connie was sitting up at the bottom of the hill, ODM gear in hand, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ouch." He said, and Arya burst into laughter. Jean and Armin shook their heads at each other and turned their horses back down their intended path while Falco and Gabi chuckled. Coming up alongside her horse, Levi looked down at him with a reprimanding smirk.

"Back on your feet, Springer. There's no time to be sitting around on your ass."

Heaving himself to his feet, Connie dusted the dirt from his clothes and peered up them. "Yeah yeah, I'm coming." He mumbled, stepping around a large stone that had dislodged from the hill as he had fallen. He could see the path his fall had cut out of the slope and planned to follow the same way out, though when he saw the hole where the boulder had once been, his entire body froze.

There, bearing witness to his clumsy fall, was an enormous eye.

Fear tore through his entire body and filled him to the point of suffocating as he recoiled and screamed.

"TITAN!"