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A dark haired soldier from the Garrison panted loudly as he crouched down, Pyxis standing right in front of him. "I see.. So there was nothing wrong with the wall?"
"Yes sir!" The soldier replied before chugging down a bit of his water. Pyxis mumbled. "As I suspected..."
The soldier from before yells suddenly. "H-However, there is a bit of a situation!" Sweat dripped down his brow. "We were heading back to Trost to give our report, when we ran into the Scout unit led by Section Commander Hanji." He explained quickly.
"Along with them, there were recruits from the 104th without their equipment. And it turns out, three of them... three were Titans!" He yells out, causing everyone to gasp at his statement. Jean was shocked in particularly. He shook his head with stubbornness.
"W-what are you talking about?! There were more of them?! T-three more of them?!" Jean shouted at the poor soldier who did nothing but report the news to the rest. "Who was it?!" He begins to yell at the man.
Erwin's eyes turned serious, you were with them after all but he had no doubts about your abilities. "What happened when their titan forms were revealed?" The commander asks the dark haired man who had brought the news.
"The Scouts engaged the Colossal and Armored titan in battle. But by the time we joined up with them to fight... It was all over, they took Eren Yeager, another scout member and the third titan... " The soldier stuttered out.
Jean put a hand on his forehead in frustration. It didn't add up to him. How could the people he trained with be Titans? Nonetheless the Titans who created havoc over the walls more than once.
"Who were they? Who else was taken by the Collosal and Armored Titan?" Erwin placed a gentle hand on the soldier's shoulder.
"Uh.. the other Titan.. a dark haired girl named Ymir I believe..." Jean groaned loudly, people around him eyeing him.
Levi perked up from his seat in the carriage, climbing down to meet up with the commander who was taking too long. "The other soldier?" He asked loudly, not really interested in the whole situation. Eren seemed to only be a pain in the ass for the small amount of time he had been in the Scouts.
Erwin noticed that Levi was standing next to him now and gave him a small nod in understanding. "Could you tell us?" The taller blond asked the soldier this time, a lot less intimidating.
The soldier shook his head. "I didn't.. I didn't see her that well... "
"You gotta be kidding me!" Jean groaned. "What did she look like?"
The soldier shook his head again. "Like I said, I didn't see her well enough... Though.. I heard her name being said a few time.. [Y/N].. was it? Yeah, her.." He said nervously.
Jean turned to the soldier, a grim expression on his face. "What did you just say?" The soldier gulped. "[Y/N] was taken as well.." Erwin bit his lip, his heart dropping. No. This couldn't be happening. Levi closed his eyes, inhaling deeply before making his way over to the soldier, rolling up his sleeves.
"You're fucking joking me, aren't you?! You little shit!" Levi screamed at him, grasping onto his shoulders tightly. The innocent soldier could only whimper and shake his head. "N-no sir! I'm just telling the truth!"
Erwin stepped in and grasped onto Levi's arm. "Calm down Levi, your anger won't do anything good now. Let him go."
"Tch.. fine" He said, letting go off him and turning away from the rest of the group. The dark haired male made his way over to the carriage, trying to untie one of the horses. The commander followed Levi with big strides. "What are you doing, Levi? Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going to save my sister, Erwin. What the hell did you think I'd be doing?" He replied extremely annoyed.
"You're injured..Levi.. you can't go.." the other male objected.
"And who's going to stop me? You? Don't make me laugh.. I'm going." Levi stated.
"No. Levi, you're not. As your commander I can't let you go on a dangerous mission like this while being injured" Erwin said, placing his hand on the other man's shoulder. Levi shook off his hand and turned around angrily, glaring up at the taller blond.
"Don't you understand, Erwin?! Every fucking time I tell her to stay back for her safety, she gets taken from me! I can't lose her, not again. Not when I can do something" He shouts angrily which caused Erwin to sigh.
"What can you do, Levi? Come on, tell me. You're injured, you don't even have your gear on yet, you're angry and we're up against two or three Titan-Shifters! You'd be useless in battle!" Erwin yelled back, losing his temper. "I can't allow you to go, not this time. We'll go, I'll go. We'll save them all, including [Y/N]. You have to trust me on this one, Levi. You know how much she means to me already..." he adds, running a hand through his neat hair in frustration.
Levi stayed quiet, his eyes focusing on the ground instead. "Save her.. Erwin. Or I'll cut both your arms off..." the dark haired male threatened as he clenched both his fists. The commander gave a small nervous chuckle in return.
"Roger that, Levi. You can trust her with me." Erwin replied with a small smile to reassure his dear friend. He was going to try and save you, no matter what.
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You were awoken by quiet chattering between two people on the tree branches away from you. You tried to move your arms but to no avail, they were bound behind your back tightly. However, no pain or burn marks, you noticed. How peculiar.
As you tried to sit up, you noticed a passed out Eren next to you, both his arms completely gone. Ymir, on the other side of Eren, had lost a leg and a arm. She shot you a quick look, now noticing you were awake. You looked down from where you were sitting, noticing many tall trees with Titans underneath them. This was the giant forest, you recognised.
Reiner noticed you up and about, staring down at you. Before he could say anything, Eren started moving a bit and opened his eyes. "Oh, Eren? You're awake, too?" The blonde asked the teen next to you.
He looked around a few second in utter confusion, before making frustrated noises, seeing how his arms were gone. "What the hell?! My arms!"
Ymir called out the brunet. "Eren. Look at me. I'm in the same shape as you. Guess the both of us are having a bad day. [Y/N]'s lucky enough she isn't a shifter, bet they would've cut her up even worse..." she added, showing off her limbs.
You shifted a bit, sitting up in a more comfortable position on the hard bark of the tree. You tried pulling on your binding but again, nothing. If only could reach your knife... wait. Reiner has your knife, since you stabbed it down his throat. Shit.
Steam came of Eren's arms heavily. "Ymir.. Why don't I have arms?" You scoffed, looking away from the two Titan-Shifters next to you.
"That's my bad.. I'm the one who did that." Reiner called down to Eren. "I was kind of in a hurry. When I rushed to bite your nape, I neglected to take your arms into account." The blond explained calmly.
Eren looked down in realisation. "I see.. I.. must've lost." He said before biting into his stump with his teeth. Berthold jumped up from where he was sitting, shouting down at the brunet Titan-Shifter. "Eren, stop!"
Ymir grabbed Eren's arm, well.. at least part of it.. and pulled it from his mouth. You hissed in disgust as you saw his saliva coming from it. "Hold your horses, Eren. Take a good look around us. We're in the giant forest within Wall Maria. It's not even close to any of the walls. In other words, we're deep in Titan territory." The young female Titan-Shifter explained a bit to the other.
"Take a look." She points down, Eren following her gaze. "I think that one down there's an abnormal. It looks like he's just lounging around, but he's not taking his eyes off us. There's a lot of small ones down there, too. That alone is dangerous. Over that way's another big one. He's staring at us, but won't come any closer. I bet you that one's a scaredy-cat." She gives some useless commentary. Ymir put her arms on Eren's shoulder before pointing up at both Reiner and Berthold. "And then you've got these chumps. Those dirty bastards. They're the only ones with any ODM gear on. Reiner's wearing gear he took from you. So I don't think changing into a Titan at this point is going to solve anything. Not only can they do that, but they can escape high into the trees as well. Those two aside, there's Titans all around us. Escaping out of this Titan territory would be tough, even with Titan powers. Understand? There's nothing to gain by acting up." Eren looked at Ymir, who's eyes were stern. At least they could turn into Titans, you were a human with no regenerating abilities, Titan-Shifting abilities, and with no gear on.
Reiner interrupted Ymir's little talk with Eren. "No. You two can't even turn into Titans right now. So don't count on that to help you. Your body is at its limit. It's taking everything you've got to repair the damage."
Eren glared up at the blond. "Are you stupid? Why the hell would I trust anything coming out of your mouth?" Both Reiner and Berthold stayed quiet at that.
Ymir sighed. "Well.. it's not like I know the specifics behind how Titan powers work. Unlike you guys, I'm pretty clueless about it. Hey, Reiner. You said you would talk once Eren and little [Y/N] here woke up. It's about time one of you says what you plan to do with us." That's what you'd liked to know as well. You could understand they would take Eren and Ymir. But why would they take you as well?
Reiner replied calmly. "We'll take you to our hometown. I realise that you're not going to listen and do as I say. But like Ymir was saying, this place is swarming with Titans. We could beat the shit out of each other right now, but when we're weak, the other Titans would just come and eat us. So until nightfall, when the Titans can't move, we have no choice but to wait here. Whether you try to run and escape from us.. or don't and we take you away.. either way, we wait until night."
Ymir thought for a second before speaking up again. "Why didn't you stay the Armored Titan and run home? What's the point of stopping here? Too tired and had to take a break?"
The blond warrior folded his arms. "Why don't you use your imagination?" God, could he be any more confusing? I mean, it's pretty obvious. Regular Titans don't move at night and then they would take you all with them.
"Are you simply waiting for it to become night?" Ymir asked again. "Maybe I am."
"What's it matter? Those Titans at the castle moved just fine at night. Won't these Titans, too?" The brunette gestured with her hands.
Reiner, who was still standing up with his arms folded over one another, replied. "The Titans here can't move at night. You should know all about it, Ymir." That statement took both Eren and Ymir by surprise. Both of them stayed quiet.
You spoke up for the first time in a while, rubbing your wrists together to move your binding but it failed. "So, you plan to take us to your hometown.. then why the hell did you bother taking me?" Berthold looked at Reiner nervously. The blond could only chuckle.
"At the castle.. those spikes. At Connie's village.. you saying someone's name. And the crest on your hand.." he starts. You hissed at him, not even knowing he saw that. Eren looked at you in confusion, after all.. he wasn't there when things happened.
"They all seem to point at one thing. [Y/N].. you're a Titan Whisperer." Reiner said, his hands now behind his back. You glared at him. "What kind of bullshit are you talking about, big guy?"
"It all seemed so weird, but with your behaviour and actions.. it all started to make sense." Reiner added. You could only stare at him with confusion. A what? "Must be shocking to hear, huh? I guess I can understand that, after all. No one has ever seen one of them in centuries. The clan was wiped out clean, they said. But, apparently not."
Ymir and Eren looked at you, but you couldn't say anything.
"Berthold mentioned it, he saw you sneaking away to the Levi Squad in the 57th Expedition. As if you knew about Annie, about her plans. I guess it's true you did" the blond continued explaining. You glared at him, your gaze piercing right through him as he gulped just a little.
Eren, who was sitting next to you gritted his teeth, putting his arm stumps on your shoulder aggressively. "You fucking knew?!" He yelled at you in anger. "I.. I did" you looked him in the eyes.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Eren asked you. "Everything could've been prevented.. just by a few words.. you're a coward!"
"Who was I to know this bullshit would all come true! I had no fucking clue! Random dreams start popping up, about your mom, Eren! About you dying, about the whole Levi Squad dying." You raised your voice at him, startling Eren as he never heard you like that.
"Wait, that's why you were with us and saved Gunther?" Eren's eyes widened at the realisation. So you knew they were going to die and he was the one that stopped you from doing that? Guilt started to eat at him.
"Mmh, didn't do much after all.. I wasn't able to save anyone.." you said, a bit more quiet this time. "but wait, if I'm part of that crazy ass clan, is Levi one as well?"
"Huh? What has Captain Levi to do with this?" The buff blond looked at you as if you were crazy, chuckling a bit.
"My twin brother?" You retaliated with a scoff. Eren already distanced himself away from you, not wanting to say anything.
"Shit, your brother is Captain Levi?" Reiner stared at you in disbelief. He put his head in his hand, forcing his brain to work.
"No shit.." you said sarcastically, feeling at the rope binding you. If only you could get free and use your hand to do... that.. again.
"Reiner, what if he's one as well?" Berthold asked him softly. Reiner shook his head, not wanting to believe it. "He isn't... hopefully.." Berthold agreed silently.
It was silent now, the wind blowing through the trees calmly. Eren had finally settled down and didn't seem as angry anymore. You, however, kept asking questions in your head. Your brain going wild at the new information you just heard.
Ymir waved her hand, steam still coming off her healing wounds, just like with Eren. "Reiner. You got any water?" She asked the male who was sat down now. "If I don't get some soon, I'm going to dry up and die."
"Even if it's a matter of life and death, there's nothing we can do given our situation." Reiner said. "He's completely right.. This situation couldn't be any shittier" Ymir mumbled to herself.
"Speaking of which.. Ever since the Titans showed up yesterday morning, we've been working our ass off. With nothing to eat or drink and not even a wink of sleep." You stared at Reiner in shock, his behaviour flipping around a full 180. Berthold gaze turned grim and you felt your heart clench. Was this nothing unusual for Reiner to do?
"Fortunately, the wall wasn't broken or anything. So I think we deserve to take a break for once. We'll see about getting promoted later." Berthold interrupted his best friends rambling. "Reiner.."
"What? We've done plenty enough to deserve it. I think we've performed outstandingly considering all we've been put through. I know soldiers like us are expected to fulfill their duties, but.. I think we've all earned it."
Eren and Ymir noticed it too. "Reiner.. what in the world are you talking about?" Ymir asked. Reiner only looked at the brunet in confusion.
"Huh? What do you mean? I'm not saying we go demand to be promoted to captains or anything." He said. "That's not what I mean..."
The blond continued ranting on. "Oh yeah. Where did you all get that cannon from? That really saved my ass. It's a good thing Christa helped me after that. To be honest, I think she has a thing for me. Now that I think about it, Christa has always treated me especially-"
Eren stood up, yelling at him. "Hey!" Reiner stopped talking and stared at the brunet in shock. "You bastard... you've gotta be kidding me.."
Reiner unfolded his arms, looking a bit dejected. "Huh? What are you so angry about, Eren? Did I.. say something wrong?" You looked away, finding it hard to watch. Back in the Underground, you watched many people lose it too, just.. differently.
Eren, however, had no sympathy or whatsoever. "If you want to die, just keeping talking!" Ymir stopped the brunet Titan-Shifter with her arm on his leg. "Wait, Eren. This isn't normal, no matter how you look at it. Isn't that right, Berthold?"
The boy had his knees up to his chest, saying nothing. "If you know something, quit it with the silence and come out and say it."
"Huh?" Reiner stared up at his best friend flabbergasted. Berthold looked up from his seat, looking at the blonde. "Reiner... you're not a soldier, remember? You and I... we're warriors."
Reiner started shaking violently, his head in his hand as his shoulders moved aggressively. It continued a bit before he halted in his movements, sitting back up completely straight. "Right.. that's how it is" you bit your lip. This was indeed something usual for Reiner. What did these two even go through?
You looked up at Eren who was still standing. "Huh... what's he doing?" Ymir placed her hands next to her hips on the bark. "More or less, I think I've figured it out. I thought it was strange. Why would the guy who broke the wall risk his life to save Connie? Everything he does is contradictory, but he doesn't realise it himself." She started explaining, Eren and you listening to her intently.
"I don't know why he ended up like this, but probably... He was originally a warrior whose goal was to break the wall, but after pretending to be soldier for so long, he lost sight of who he was and couldn't tell which one was real. No... Unable to bear the weight of his sins, he convinced himself he was a soldier protecting the wall to maintain emotional balance within his own heart." She smirked. "And in the end, he believed it. As a result, his heart was split and his memories broken. This must not be the first time Reiner's talked and made no sense judging by Berthold's grim expression. It's amazing, really. For someone excessively honest like you to--"
Ymir was cut off by Reiner's distressed voice. "Enough!" His eyes widened as he helt his head in his arm. "Shut your mouth."
The young girl didn't respond and smirked. "Sorry about that. I might even pried too much."
Eren, however, didn't shut his mouth after that. "You've gotta be kidding me.. why are you pretending to be the victim here? What's your deal? That day, what the hell were you thinking when you talked to us? Tell me.. Berthold. I'm talking to you, you damn lackey. I told you everything... while you looked me right in the eyes. About the day that my mother was eaten alive... isn't that right? Thanks to the piece of wall you kicked that went flying straight into my house, my mother couldn't escape or run away. You remember, right? I told you my story. What were you thinking? What were you thinking when I told you?"
Berthold looked away and stared right in front of him. "Back then.. I thought.. I felt sorry for you."
"Oh... I see.." Eren muttered. "You guys.. you guys.. are neither soldiers nor warriors. You're just murderers. You're psychotic mass-murderers who've killed countless innocent people who never did anything wrong!"
Reiner looked up. "You don't think I know that?!" He shouted loudly. "I don't need you to point that out to me!"
"Then don't pretend to have emotions like you're one of us! You guys aren't even human anymore! It's you two who've turned this world into a living hell! Does that make you happy, murderers?!" Eren shouted enraged.
"What are you after calling us murderers?! Do you want us to regret it? Do you want us to apologise?! Would that give you satisfaction? The people you though we were no longer exist! If screaming will make you feel better then scream your damn head off!" Reiner shouted even louder back. The blond panted loudly.
Eren stayed quiet for a bit. "That's right.. I'm still.. too naive. I've gotta do what I can... Do what I can.. to make you guys.. suffer and die in the worst way possible.." He stated, wide eyes and a huge grin on his face, the Titan marks still imprinted beneath his eyes. "You've got it coming.."
Ymir looked away. "You can't be serious". Eren looked at her. "Huh?"
"Quit it, Eren. If you keep saying childish crap like that, I've got no hopes for you." The brunet almost growled at her.
"Hey, Reiner" she called out. "What's the deal with that monkey?" She referred to the Beast Titan that you and most of the 104th Squad saw in the night at the castle.
"Monkey? What do you mean?" He questioned Ymir back. She moved a bit to sit more comfortable. "Hmm? You don't know? That's surprising, given how much you two stared at it with stars in your eyes like two little brats. That monkey..."
"What's that? A monkey?" Eren asked her. "Just listen.. that monkey Beast Titan is what caused this recent fiasco. It made Titans rise up from within the wall. I wonder if he was trying to assess our strength. That's where these guys are trying to get." You had to give it to Ymir, she was a lot smarter than most of the people in the 104th Squad. "If you guys get to him, you'll be able to go back home, right?"
Reiner and Berthold couldn't say anything out of shock. Eren turned to Ymir. "You... knew this? What do you know? Tell me everything!" Ymir sighed. "Just wait. I've got circumstances of my own."
"What the hell do you mean by that?!" He shouted back at her. "Eren.. if you think killing these two will bring an end to everything.. you're gravely mistaken.." She says. Wait, that meant there were more people like them outside the walls?
"Huh?! Then who's the enemy?!" He yelled again. "Enemy? If I said that, the-- " she started.
Reiner interrupted her. "Ymir! Do you think there's any future for this world? If you know so much, think about what you want to do. It's not out of the question for you to join our side." The blond suggested.
"And trust you? Yeah, right. You two don't even trust me." She retaliated. "Wrong. We can trust you. Because your one goal, is to protect Christa. When it comes to her, we should be able to trust one another. You might think I'm joking, but.. is it that hard for you to believe that we might want the best for Christa as well? Or.. would you rather put your hopes in Eren and rely on him over us?" Reiner suggested.
You shot Ymir a glare, trying to loosen up your bindings again. Eren looked at you aswell, seeing you struggle.
"You're probably thinking your best chance is to use Eren to escape from here. Because if you're taken by us, there's a little chance for your rescue. To be honest, that's pretty much true. Even if you come with us, we can't guarantee your safety. But if it's Christa we're talking about, we might be able to do something for her." Ymir let out a small gasp.
"Will it be your petty life.. or Christa's future? It's up to you to decide.." Reiner asked the girl.
Eren called out to Ymir. "Hey! Hey?! Say something! Who's the enemy?!" He shouted at her desperately. "Ymir?!"
She looked up at Eren and then back at you. "Who knows..."
Reiner spoke up again. "It's settled then. Too bad, Eren. Also, [Y/N], it isn't too late for you to join us as well." You scoffed, glaring at him. "Tch. Never in my life."
He looked away, staring up in the sky. Was that's oemthing green he saw? Shit, flares.. he thought. The Survey Corps are close by.
You didn't see them as you had closed your eyes. You could only hope that your brother and Erwin were on their way to save you and Eren.
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