ATTACK ON TITAN: 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖙 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗 // an erwin smith fanfiction

chapter twenty-two /// hanji

Secondly, I'm hoping that since the majority of Titans seem to come from the south, from the direction of Shiganshina district, we might be able to skirt around the outer edge of any Titan hordes by first traveling west and then south. The more roundabout way will take longer, of course, but in the end our destination will be the same, and we should definitely encounter less Titans. If my estimation of Titan behavior is correct, then most of them will be concentrated within Wall Maria itself anyway, but I figure it doesn't hurt to be extra careful.

And of course, I have an unspoken third reason that I can't voice to anyone. I don't want to go through Shiganshina because of the horrible memories it holds - the place where so many brave soldiers lost their lives. I couldn't do that to Levi, to Armin, to Mikasa, Connie, Eren, Sasha, Jean, any of them. And I couldn't do that to Sofia, either. There will be a time for her to visit the place where Erwin died. But none of us have healed enough for that time to be now.

Once we reach the countryside, far from any larger towns, I order the regiment to fan out into a more expansive formation. It's nowhere near the scale of the long range formation, but it mimics it in many ways: a central column with the special ops and command squad, flanked on the left by Squads Mikasa and Max, flanked on the right by Squads Armin and Jean, and backed up from behind by Squad Ferrence at the rear, who's also in charge of the majority of the supply carts. In total, it covers about 25 square kilometers, so I can just barely see the squads flanking us to the right and left.

We make relatively good time, but with the villages that crop up along the way, interrupting the formation, we get a little off track. At noon we have hardly reached the halfway point between Ermich and Yarkel districts, and I'm starting to get worried. At this rate, we might not even reach Klorva by dusk.

By three or so, our speed has dipped again, and I crane my neck in search of a marker that might indicate where we are. To the west, a river winds through a field of stumpy soybeans; to the east, nothing is visible except for a dense forest of thin pine trees, every so often dotted with a stand of thicker oak or maple. Every so often I can spot the squads on the right flank flitting through the gaps in the tree trunks.

I hold my horse back a bit so that Levi and his squad can pull up in line with me.

"What are you thinking?" I call to Levi.

He squints at the scenery around us. "I'm not sure. The last village we passed through was Arlien - that was what, a quarter of an hour ago?"

"Yeah." I reach in my saddlebag in search of a map. Maintaining my balance on my horse by squeezing my thighs together, I unfold the scrap of parchment and hold it as steady as I can. It's difficult, with all the jostling, to spot the tiny dot that represents Arlien Village, but once I locate it, my stomach falls in dismay.

"We're much too far east," I mutter to myself. "I bet because of all those damn trees, we couldn't see Yarkel just to the right."

"So we're altering course?" Eren questions.

In response, I remove a flare gun from its holster, snap a green canister into place, and fire in a northwesterly direction. Almost at once, the squads spread out around me echo the signal and fire their flares in the same direction.

"We're going to have to cross the river," Levi sighs as he turns his horse.

"Levi, you've had to deal with far worse on horseback than crossing a single river," I remind him. "Don't discourage your men."

The regiment manages to cross the river with little incident - although the squads in charge of the carts have to spend additional time finding a place that's shallow enough to roll through, instead of fording - and I have to restrain myself from bellowing with impatience.

My temper cools a bit as I realize I can see mountains in the distance, indicating that we must be on the right track. In between Klorva and Yarkel districts, there's a small range of mountains, exaggerated hills really, that run all the way up against Wall Rose. It's amazing, really, how the wall cuts straight through the range, severing the imposing heaps of earth clean in half.

Incidentally, I remember Dohna Village being close to here - on the very edge of the mountain range. I glance at Sofia almost unconsciously at the thought. We're probably just a dozen or so kilometers south of it right now.

"Hey, Commander Hanji," Sasha shouts over to me. "It's - uh - getting kind of late? Is it almost time to stop for dinner?"

I chuckle. "Not quite yet," I reply. "We've got to get to Klorva before we can rest for the night."

"We can't just stop for a couple minutes to eat something?" Sasha suggests in a hopeful tone of voice.

"Blaus, you heard your commander, now pipe down," Levi orders.

"Sorry, kiddo." I offer Sasha an apologetic grin.

"Are those ... what are those? They're huge!" Sofia calls out over the thump of hoofbeats.

Her sudden comment startles Levi and I both. I whip around, thinking she's referring to Titans or something, but there's no clear threat on the empty plain around us.

"What are you talking about?" Floch asks, snapping a little in annoyance.

"Those." She points to the purple and green mountains faint in the distance. "Mountains, right? I've never seen anything like them before."

"Sofia, I always forget you're from the Underground until you make some stupid comment like that," Connie notes brightly.

"Connie!" Levi's admonishing snarl makes the younger cadet flinch.

I follow Sofia's gaze and appreciate the view through her eyes. The mountains are rather majestic, awash in the pinkish-orange light of the sun which hangs low in the sky.

"They're so much ... bigger than I thought they'd be," she says, her voice small with awe, but I catch her words through the whistle of wind and hooves.

I smile to myself and pull up close to her side. Her shiny brown hair, gathered into a ponytail just below the crown of her head, tumbles behind her like a sluggish flag.

"You know, Sofia, we're awfully close to Leah Langel's farm." I nod my head northwards. "It's probably a ten minute ride from here."

"Leah Langel? You mean, where Asha is?" Her voice is breathless, excited.

"Yes. Just think, Asha probably wakes up and sees these mountains every - "

Before I can finish my sentence, the far-off pop of a flare gun interrupts me.

All of our heads snap in the direction of the sound: the right flank - off in the direction of Dohna Village. The smoke is purple. An emergency of some sort.

Shit, I think to myself crossly. We really can't afford any more delays.

Before I can think of how to handle the situation, though, another flare goes off, in the same direction.

This time, it's red. My brain screams into panic mode almost at once.

How can there be Titans? Within Wall Rose?