Jason felt the sun. It hit his hands through the shadows of tree branches. As the wind blew, so did the branches. The shadows moved on his hands. He couldn't help flexing his fingers. It made the shadows dance in strange shapes.

What was this feeling? This feeling of emptiness? Of loneliness? Why wouldn't it go away? He stared at his hands.

He didn't know.

Returning his head between his bent knees, Jason closed his eyes. What am I doing?

He had done nothing but make a fool out of himself since he joined the Scouts. Letting his emotions take the wheel. He was so angry, he hadn't realized who he had beaten up.

It was that soldier. The one he met in Stohess. The one that helped him with the evacuation.

He couldn't even remember his name.

And yet, he knew that if Levi hadn't intervened, he would have killed him.

A cub who acts on emotion is always the first of the pack to die. It was one of the first lessons Jason remembered Lupa teaching him. He had been crying over his share of the food that day. If you want more, hunt for yourself. Those early days in the barn had been the coldest.

He felt the glare on him again for the third time that day. The same glare he had been getting since the safe house.

Jason raised his head to meet the bald headed boy's gaze. Connie, who had been sent to watch Jason, was across the small clearing Levi had detained Jason to. He had been ordered to stand down, and that punishment for his actions would come later.

Connie, noticing Jason's gaze, quickly looked away.

Jason rose to his feet. He was getting tired of Connie's routine.

Hunt for yourself. Lupa's words echoed in his mind.

The wolf that raised him may have been harsh, but she was always right.

"What's your problem with me?"

Connie, ignoring the voice of the stranger, leaned on the tree next to him. He was staring into the distance, wondering when Captain Levi would return. When his supposed teammate would be punished for his insubordination.

"I asked you a question." The voice repeated once more.

Connie hated the tone of his voice. Who does he think he is? The king of the sky?

Connie finally gave the boy his attention.

The stranger was dressed in a strange orange dyed shirt, with his strange blue pants, and his left forearm wrapped in white cloth. The only thing that looked familiar to him had been their ODM gear, and a hooded coat they were all given at the safehouse. How anyone, let alone the Captain, thought he was trustworthy needs to get their head checked.

The boy took a step towards him, "What's your issue with me?" He asked again, "You've been glaring at me since I joined the Scouts. Did I do something to you?"

Connie didn't answer.

The stranger scoffed. He was about to sit back down, when Connie mumbled, "Your attitude."

"What?" He asked aggressively.

Connie, deciding for once to be honest, glared straight at him, "I don't like your attitude."

He straightened his back, his anger giving him confidence, "You don't follow orders, you do whatever you want, and somehow, you always get away with it." He met his gaze, "I don't know why the Captain keeps you on. You're gonna get all of us killed."

Connie saw the boy's narrow his eyes before retorting, "In my experience, following orders is what gets one killed."

Connie felt his blood boiling.

"We didn't join the army to protect ourselves." His hand waving erratically in the air, he said, "We joined to protect our families. To protect humanity!"

"And how's that working out so far?" The boy asked calmly, but Connie felt there was an anger to it. "Would your government be hunting you down if that was the case? Would the Scouts be arrested en masse, Commander Erwin put on trial?" The blonde haired stranger crossed his arms, "You guys don't even know who your real enemy is."

His pompous tone struck a nerve in Connie. How dare he accuse them of not knowing who their enemy is, when the enemy hid in their ranks for five years? When they didn't even know that there was an enemy other than the titans.

The memory of the titan at Ragako flashed in his mind.

Pointing accusingly at his team mate, Connie yelled, "And how do we know you aren't!"

The stranger stood still, waiting.

Connie continued, "You come swooping in as we are trying to capture the Female Titan. Acting all innocent. I don't buy it."

The stranger scoffed, "That's what this is. You don't think I have an attitude problem, you think I'm here to sabotage you guys." His fist landed on his forehead at the realization, "You think I'm with Reiner's group."

Connie stayed silent only for a moment, then, "What would you think? Only a traitor would save Berthold."

For the first time since their conversation started, the boy's face showed worried, "What did Eren tell you?" He asked immediately.

Connie crossed his arms across his chest, glad that he finally caught him off guard, "It doesn't matter. I know enough to know not to trust you."

The boy took a breath. Then, "I don't regret saving his life." He said with conviction.

He doesn't regret it!?

Connie gave a wry chuckle before sarcastically saying, "Why wouldn't you?! Your buddy only KILLED half the population!"

Connie glared at the boy, and was shocked to see his seething anger. He thought he could see lightning flashing in his blue eyes. "It wasn't his choice." He said calmly.

"How was it not-"

Connie couldn't register the speed the boy used to approach him. Grabbing Connie by the collar, he slammed him against the tree behind him. The boy then yelled, "Do you think a ten year old boy wanted to murder a million people!" Connie's eyes were wide. He immediately shoved his teammate away from him, taking a breath.

Connie slid down the tree's bark, sitting at the base of it. The boy, seeing what he had done, took a step back. He took a deep breath, grabbing a lock of his hair.

Returning his gaze to Connie, he said, "What were you doing at ten years old Connie? Did you have a family? A mother that loved you?" The boy took a couple more steps back. Connie recalled the last memory of his mother. She had stood at the edge of town with the rest of his family, waving him goodbye.

The boy's sad voice took him out of the memory, "Would you kill a million people at that age? Did you even know what it meant to take a life at that age?"

He took another deep breath, closing his eyes as he said, "They were children, Connie. Someone told them to do it."

Who the hell would want to kill people of their own choice?!

Bertholdt's voice screamed into Connie's head. That strange conversation they had on Reiner, the one outside the walls. Connie hadn't understood any of it.

Reiner had saved him in Utgard castle. Bertholdt had insisted they were friends.

And yet…

Connie placed a hand on the tree for balance as he tried to stand, "Why would they listen to someone like that?"

Jason returned to his section of the clearing. Sitting down, he answered, "Because they were child soldiers. The only type of soldier that never disobeys orders. Even orders to kill."

A bird chirped in the distance as Connie had an epiphany.

The boy… no, Jason Grace, who was staring out into the never ending forest, was speaking from experience.