Mikasa released her breath in a sigh of relief from where she laid concealed underneath the bramble of a wiry tree, nestled along the edge of the outcropping that looked over the port. Following what appeared to be a tense stalemate, the soldiers on the pier were now dragging a small woman from her ship and along the docks to the main building. The woman was thanking them fervently now, tears rolling steadily down her bruised and bloody face.
This girl can act, I'll give her that. Mikasa thought, trying to inspect the woman as much as she could before she vanished through the doors below. Armin has spoken frequently of this Arya's kindness, of her skill in both combat and medical practice. He was convinced of her ability to see this mission through, and although Mikasa was not exactly quick to put her trust into this unknown person, Armin was very rarely wrong and deserved the benefit of the doubt.
Feeling mostly certain that the plan was still a go, she settled back down in her hollow and waited.
Hours passed but eventually the doors to the complex opened once more, revealing a small envoy that encircled the woman yet again, though this time she was walking freely between them. The group headed for the stables, and within minutes they were racing along the dirt path that headed Northward, a small cart holding Arya directly in the middle.
So, she's important and convincing enough to be seen by the Council. Mikasa mused as she slid down the far embankment from her hiding spot and hurried to where her own horse was tacked. Jumping into the saddle she turned herself around and took off into the hot sand, maintaining her distance behind the dunes but keeping Arya in her sight at all times.
Who is this woman?
Sweat was dripping down the side of Oz's neck as he barked out orders to the crew and frantically worked the controls. The Northern tip of the island was closing in on them now, massive dark peaks breaking through the clouds and piercing the sky.
"Well, here goes nothing." Reiner mumbled as the rest of the team rushed to the forward bulkhead, staring incredulously out the front windows.
"Initiate manual control!"
The airship gave a sudden lurch sending several of them careening into the wall, then it began to climb steadily up from their original cruising altitude. It didn't take long for their initial triumph to turn sour though, as the mountains were still approaching much too fast.
"Oz, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we are about to be bugs on a windshield." Levi said through gritted teeth, yanking Gabi and Falco to him and gripping tightly to a support beam.
"We are coming in too hot! Change engine trajectory; push us up and back!"
The plane gave another enormous jerk and their speed slowing dramatically. With a grunt Jean reached out and grabbed Connie by the back of his shirt as he was thrown forward by the momentum, the rest of them holding on to whatever they could to keep themselves upright. Even with the engines pointed away from the island, their window of opportunity was shrinking fast.
Giving the engines everything they had, Oz gripped the wheel in front of him and yanked it as far back as he could. The plane's nose tipped upward, and when the sheer cliff faces were a hairs breath away, the company closed their eyes and waited with bated breath for the inevitable impact.
It never came. Peering through half squinted eyes, they could see Oz grinning wildly from ear to ear and hear him crying with jubilation at the landscape before them. Dawn was breaking behind the plane as they soared over mountain tops the old Paradisians had dubbed Marotsara, the first jagged peaks skimming dangerously close to the underside of their airship.
"We did it. We actually did it." Jean slid a trembling hand through his hair as Connie collapse onto the floor next to him. "Good stuff, Oz."
The view was extraordinary; snow-covered spires reached up towards them, the sun bouncing off the glistening ice and refracting light into dazzling patterns on the cliff faces. Their winged shadow dodged and weaved up and over the landscape like a bird in flight. The air was thin and cold at such a dizzying height, and they all donned the thick cloaks that Pieck had so wisely suggested they bring.
Standing as close as he could to the flexible glass, Armin peered down transfixed as they floated gracefully over a huge lake between several peaks that had been frozen solid, and he sucked in an unsteady breath.
"Looks like that's one more thing crossed off your bucket list."
Armin started. Levi was standing close behind him, taking in the same view that had caught his attention. Turning back, he watched as it sailed beneath them.
"Yes, I suppose it is." He sighed.
"You don't seem to be very excited about that."
Armin faced Levi with a morose smile.
"No, I am. It's just… I was supposed to see this with Eren and Mikasa. Feels a little less momentous without them here."
Levi bent his head in response, as there was little he could say to that. Before too long they would be making their decent, and there wasn't a whole lot he could do that would provide Armin any comfort.
"By the time we reach our destination we will have three days to make it to the outskirts of wall Sina. I don't estimate more than a day to get through the foothills, as complex as they may be. Looks like we will be a little early to the party."
Armin inclined his head thoughtfully. "Better to be early than late. The sooner we can get them out of there the sooner we can put this whole thing behind us." He said, though a surge of uncertainly quickly followed.
Would that really be the end of it?
"I don't think you believe that for a second, Armin. This isn't the first time I've seen that look on face and I doubt it will be the last, so spill it." Levi was regarding him intently, a crease forming between his eyebrows.
Picking his words carefully, Armin answered. "Why are you here, Levi? Because if it's the same reason I am here, then you know already. Since the moment the others and I shipped off for the peace conference, I've felt it: the same feeling I had when we saw the colossal standing outside the walls for the first time in Shinganshina, only this time I can't see what's looming over us. It started off slow at first, but now it's snowballing out of control. Something is coming… something that was left undone, and Arya is a part of it in somehow."
For a moment Levi looked defensive, as if his true motive for joining them hadn't been blatantly clear. Armin didn't quite understand what kind of bond the two of them had found within each other, but he did know that whatever it was had swayed the captain into this journey just as much as it had for him.
"How does Arya play into this? She is just another person like the rest of us; a rather… formidable one I'll admit, but a person nonetheless." He looked back at him with a grave look. "I hope you're not about to tell me that you asked her to risk her life based on a hunch."
Armin shook his head sadly. "No, I'm afraid she made that decision all on her own. Though, it does make me wonder if she feels it to."
Having stepped a few paces away, Armin was looking sightlessly into the distance. "I don't want her mixed up in this just as much as you do. I really hope that I am wrong."
"We are coming up on a potential landing zone, gentleman." Oz said brisky, having not paid any attention to the conversation going on around him. "This range is long but not very wide; we can be on the ground headed for the walls in less than an hour, that's if you still… wait, what the hell is that?"
The two men whipped around, following Oz's hand in the direction he was pointing. In the distance the mountains were giving way, rolling out in long jagged lines into the flat planes of the North. They were coming up on a large valley that was tucked in between some of the last of the larger peaks, the best landing pad they could ask for, but it wasn't this that had caught Oz's attention. Dotted along the low eastern side the cool white and grey of the mountains was the unmistakable form of dark and dilapidated structures.
Armin's thoughts were raced around his head in a frenzy, mouth hanging open at what could only be described as a village. Just like the colossal buried under the earth, there was no way this could be here.
A settlement? Here? That's impossible, no one could have survived outside the walls in over 100 years!
"Hm. Looks like your intuition is as sharp as ever." Levi muttered, walking away from him and down the hall to gather everyone up. "That doesn't bode well for Arya."