An Ackerman's Journey

Retreat

Entrance of the forest with the rookies

Explosion's could be faintly heard from inside the forest while the Scouts stayed on their branches with some having to move up as the titans were learning to climb up. "Where did we manage to store cannons in the wagons? There's no way we had any room for them with all the extra supplies we brought'' Elias said as he looked down at the titans that continued to struggle to climb up the trees. "I don't know but whaddya say we get out of the way?" Jean asked both him and Armin. Elias and Armin both nodded as the three jumped off of their branches and shot their gear up to get away from the titan that was only a few meters next to them in the trees. "Ugly bastard is really getting the hang of it. At this rate, he's gonna try his hand at buildin' a damn treehouse" Jean said as the three landed on new branches further away from the titan. "I don't think they have the tools for that,'' Elias said, looking back at Jean. "The alarming thing is that this shows that they can learn. Not a pleasant thought. Of course, they probably all develop at different rates" Armin said looking over at Jean.

"Hey, guys. They want us keeping these titans outta the forest right? I think I just figured out why" Jean said before looking back at the other two and continuing. "We're here to lure that Female Titan into a trap. C'mon. What else could it be?" Armin gasped while Elias sheathed his blades and sat down pulling his journal out again to continue his sketch. Jean jumped over to Armin's branch to whisper to him. "It's like you said. There's a person inside it steerin' the thing. Commander Erwin wants to find out who."

Elias continued to work on the sketch in his notebook. The sketch was starting to look more and more like a person as he worked on it. From what was able to be made out the person had a cadet uniform on and had their hair up in a bun with some of their hair resting on the side of their face. No other details were drawn on the figure yet and it was only seen from slightly below the shoulders and up. His attention was caught as the titan trying to climb before fell to the ground. The three looked down at it with Jean continuing where he left off after whispering to Armin. "Well he certainly wasn't in the right. Why put so many of our lives at risk just because one of us can't be trusted?" "Well to be fair the Commander was smart, putting us at risk that way,'' Elias spoke up, causing the two to look over at him. "What are you talking about? We probably could've smoked out the spy and saved some good people. You can't be serious with trying to defend him" Jean said confused at what Elias meant.

"No. Elias is right. What he did was necessary" Armin spoke up looking back at the ground. "C'mon not you too Armin. Don't you two know how many of us died so the commander could play intrigue?" Jean asked, looking over at Armin. "Of course I do. All I'm saying is it's easy to judge in hindsight. At the time, though, there was now way to know how things would turn out. He's a commander, not a soothsayer. He had to act on what he had. Period" Armin said looking over at Jean. "As much as I hate to say it, the losses in the right wing were needed in his view I guess. But the ones who died in my squad were on me. Same goes to the deaths in the squads that weren't ambushed by this Female Titan. Those deaths go to their squad members" Elias said as he started to write in his journal on a new page away from his sketch.

Armin nodded before continuing. "He had to choose: a handful of us, or all of us. What would you have done?" Jean stayed quiet as he looked to the ground. The titan that fell before still struggled to get up off of the floor. "He made a decision. He sacrificed a hundred lives for the good of mankind" Armin continued looking at Jean with a serious expression. "I may be naive but there's one thing I know beyond all doubt. Genuine harbingers of change must be able to do what others won't dare. Sacrifice their heart. Accept the burden of doing the unspeakable. Whether we like to admit it or not, the fact is this: To rise above monsters, we have to abandon our humanity. That's the irony, really. If you can't let it go, it's not worth holding on to."