A/N: As the saying goes: "Patience comes to those that wait." But in the meantime, I'm pretty sure that the suspense was KILLING my dear readers! So to make up for that, I'm making extra long chapters, starting with this one. Updates will be slower though because of school, but fret not- this story will NOT be discontinued. Lastly, here's a shout out to "a loyal reader" (you know who you are ^^) and everyone else for reading and understanding the situation: GRAZIE~!!!
Third Person
Upon arrival to the scene, you were greeted with the sight of the female titan's backside. You saw it release the protective hold that it held against it's nape, just in time to spot Annie Leonhart slip out and slide down the body. She ran into the thicket as the titans appeared and proceeded to devour her titan.
You trailed behind her whilst dodging the titan stampede. This was the part where Annie was going to make her move and kill off most of the members of Squad Levi, but you were not going to allow any of that.
After she snagged the cloak and the 3dmg off a dead soldier, you struck.
Your P.O.V.
Without even bothering to stop running, I rammed myself into Annie. She screamed in agony and shock as we collided and she dropped to the ground.
She tried to roll away and stand, only for me to keep knocking her down, flat on her face. When I saw her reach for her knife-ring to inflict pain to herself and shift once more into a titan, I started to stomp on and kick her.
Blood was getting everywhere, but it steamed away into nothingness as I continued attacking her. Her titan regenerating powers were instantaneously healing every wound that I inflicted upon Annie.
Every bruise, cut and laceration faded and sizzled away. Every dislocated limb and broken bone popped back into place. I kept on attacking her. I know she murdered many people, and will continue to kill if I didn't do something... But I couldn't bring myself to actually kill her.
This place may be an alternate dimension of fiction, but it all felt so real. Even though I'm physically a horse now, I still have the heart, mind, and soul of a human. To kill another being (even if it is a titan shifter on the enemies side), would make me a monster.
I am not a monster.
These attacks aren't even killing Annie. Methinks one would need to decapitate or slice the nape of her neck while she's in human form. So the least I could do was stall her long enough for Squad Levi to escape from her clutches.
I was brought out of my thoughts when Annie started her own assault.
Even when flat on her back, she was fighting! She landed one of her killer kicks to my leg and that made me stumble over, head over hooves. I landed hard and a loud grunt escaped my throat.
In the corner of my eye, I saw that she was unsheathing one of the dual swords while I was down; murderous intent in her cold, hard gaze.
NOPE!
Using the front leg she didn't kick, I tripped her as she charged forward by swiping my limb under her feet. She fell backwards, and I took that moment to stand back up.
At least, I tried to. Of all times, my horse body decided to act like it was a newborn giraffe again.
I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP!!!
Before she could grab the sword (it dropped when I tripped her), I rolled onto her like a rolling pin over pizza dough.
She gasped as the air was squeezed out of her lungs. I heard ribs snapping, and she screamed.
Annie was weakly struggling to push me off and pull herself out from under my horse weight, but I stayed firm over her stomach and torso.
I'm gonna lie here until she passes out from exhaustion and then I'll high-tail it outta here. But if a titan comes while I wait her out, then I'll just leave while she fights that tian off. If that were the case, then hopefully I could hide in the forest if I couldn't out run her.
Annie was still screaming and struggling. Looks like the second plan would happen very soon if she kept this up. That will attract the other titans for sure.
And I jinxed it. The presence of several individuals were approaching- wait. THOSE AREN'T TITANS!
Eren's P.O.V.
When the abnormal titan started to get devoured by the other titans, Commander Erwin ordered us to protect it. Normally, I wouldn't care less for titans, but order were orders. I begrudgingly followed them. This titan, this... monstrosity had killed several soldiers while it was chasing after us.
We could have saved them! Even now as we are fighting off the other titans from our catch, I feel that I should transform to better aid in fighting. But I still couldn't do that even if I wanted to because I needed permission to do so. THIS SUCKS!!!
No matter how many titans we killed, they still kept coming. Eventually, we were given the order to retreat after it became too overwhelming.
All that work and sacrifice for nothing!
As we grappled and blasted our way through the trees, I looked back from the direction we came. I don't know why, but I did. That's when I heard someone screaming in the distance.
And I saw something that made my eyes widen:
It was a horse. But it appeared to be attacking one of the soldiers!
"GUYS!" I shouted at the rest of Squad Levi. "There's someone back there being attacked by a horse!"
"What?!" Gunther yelled. "Where?!" Eld screamed. "Back behind us!" They looked. "We have to do something!" "We were ordered to retreat, you little brat!" Olou retorted. Petra smacked him in the back of the head. "Come off it, jerk! That soldier needs help!"
Then we turned and launched ourselves towards the helpless soldier. We charged with our blades drawn, some of us screaming to in attempt to scare off the mad horse.
However, the (h/c) beast just lowered it's ears, snorted, and refused to move. That poor soul was probably getting crushed under it's weight!
Gunther gave the horse a whack to the rear with the side of his blade, and it squealed. For a second there, I wondered why he didn't bother to slash the horse instead. Then I remembered that we were outside the walls. We had to preserve our blades for titans until they dulled out.
The horse still didn't move, so Olou picked up a rock and threw it. The projectile bounced off the horse's neck, making it sit up in shock. Then we all bombarded it with rocks. Eventually, the horse rolled off the person before it skedaddled away. Then we chased after it a little to ensure that it was gone. Can't help the injured when the threat's nearby.
Good riddance.
Third Person
Annie's identity was concealed behind the cloak and hood (which miraculously managed to stay in place, albeit the teared up fabric and blood stains that were slowly disappearing). For that, she was very grateful.
That blasted horse did a number on her, and now she was too weak to fight them off. She didn't even have the energy to change into her titan form!
Luckily for her, the Special Operations Squad was too preoccupied with chasing off the (h/c) horse to notice that she had finished up healing her broken bones, and snuck away.
Annie choked back her screams while she used her abilities to speed up the regenerating process- which hurt really bad, by the way. However, she couldn't risk getting discovered. After all, she was supposedly with the Military Police, within the interiors of the walls.
If anyone saw her- specifically Eren; who graduated alongside her from the Trainee Corps, that will definitely raise suspicion.
Annie decided to hide from Squad Levi until they left. The order to retreat had been given a while ago, so that shouldn't be long.
Using her small build, she hid beneath the roots from one of the gargantuan trees.
----------Time skip, brought to you by Commander Eyebrows---------
Your P.O.V.
Is this the thanks that I get for trying to save some lives? This is more like punishment for attempting to change the plot.
That wasn't suppose to happen! Squad Levi should have gotten away while I held back the female titan, but noooooo. They had to come back to their impending doom!
I would have kicked whoever decided to smack my butt with cold steel, but I didn't want to hurt the very people I was trying to save. I think I've got bruises from those freaking rocks...
When I noticed that Squad Levi was no longer chasing after me, I headed back to make sure they were still alive. No telling what Annie would do.
My hooves padded softly against the mossy grass- careful not to step on a freakishly-oversized leaf from one of these big trees as I approached the place where I fought Annie.
Surprisingly, she wasn't there, and the Squad was searching around frantically for something whilst calling for their own horses. The screaming they did while chasing me off had attracted the titans, and I saw at least three of them fall on my way back from "running away".
Long story short, Eren and Petra wanted to retrieve the victim from my righteous assault, while the others were stressing out over the fact that the order to retreat was given ages ago.
The more they stall, the more likely they will be left behind. When the Survey Corps retreats, it's every man for himself. One Squad alone wouldn't last long out here without the rest of the Scouts. After a yelling session, Squad Levi decided to continue the search until their horses arrived. And eventually, they left empty-handed.
I didn't know whether to call that a good, or a bad thing they couldn't find Annie. Heck, even I couldn't find her! Huffing, I ran in the direction that the others went. If she dares show up again, I'm gonna flip. I was lucky this time I got to whoop her real good when she was human. Quite frankly, I dunno how I'll handle her if she were to go titan.
------------- Another Time skip! Courtesy of the Queen's Guard Dog's "Woof"-----------------------
Third Person
Due to the deeds of a certain (b/c) horse with a (h/c) mane, (e/c) eyes, and a (black/white) Wings of Freedom cutie mark, several things had changed from the original story line. Once again, they were minor details that were not too big of a threat (at least, for now).
Instead of the bodies of the Special Operations Squad as seen in the anime and manga of this alternative universe, the carts were filled with several bodies of other (anonymous) soldiers. Squad Levi had joined up minutes ago, all in one piece. If the plot were to remain untouched, nobody would have considered to collect the corpses of the anonymous soldiers, and Squad Levi minus Eren would have died. Either way, the anonymous soldiers would have still died during this expedition.
As of now, these poor souls would be turning in their graves if they were actually buried six feet under. The reason being is because everyone else outside of the cart was arguing.
Three titans were chasing the retreating soldiers, and were steadily gaining up. The literal dead weight on the carts -aside from the wounded- was bringing these Scouts at a terrible disadvantage. They were slowing down the horses that were pulling them. And hardly anybody had any gas, energy, or blades left to fend them off.
During this chase, Armin was feeling a little guilty for riding someone else's horse. That someone else was drifting in and out of unconsciousness as his blonde-headed friend steered his own horse on. There wasn't enough room in the cart for the wounded brunette, and that poor horse was getting tired, having to carry two people. It was galloping as fast as it could, but it still lagged behind the others.
Suddenly, the brunette soldier dropped and skidded across the ground. The blonde man gasped in shock and abruptly halted his horse. Then he steered it around, only to freeze in shock as he saw one of the titans approach his unmoving comrade. Another soldier who had been riding alongside them launched off his steed to confront that titan, but it grabbed him in midair and proceeded to slowly bring him up to its mouth.
He screamed loudly, and that brought the blonde soldier out of his daze. He urged his horse to run towards them, but at the rate it was moving, he would never make it in time.
Meanwhile at the carts, Captain Levi had convinced the reluctant Scouts to dump the bodies. "Several dead people were left behind on expeditions. It wouldn't make a difference if we brought these ones back or not. They are still dead!"
Armin sighed. It was his idea to dump the bodies, but nobody would have followed through with it if Captain Levi didn't intervene. As the cart sped up faster and faster with each corpse getting released, he became more worried for the soldiers that were still far behind. He turned to check on them, but before his vision could focus, something grabbed him from the back of his collar and hoisted him up and off the horse he was riding. It happened in a matter of seconds!
"WHA-!?" Armin couldn't even finish as his back landed harshly against the splintered wood of a cart. It knocked the air out of him, but he abruptly sat up to see... "Hey! It's that horse again!" Eren spoke his exact thoughts.
Where did that wild horse come from? He could have sworn it wasn't there a few moments ago, otherwise he would have heard it's approaching hoofbeats. That's when he realised that it's gallop was mirroring that of one of the other horses. With the running patterns in sync, it would be near- impossible to hear this horse as it approached him.
The (b/c) (mare/stallion) neighed loudly at the horse he was previously riding on, and it snorted. Then it turned around and started heading back towards the titans that were chasing the Scouts. Then the (mare/stallion) sped up a little so that it ran alongside Captain Levi. It proceeded to take a sword from his gear with it's mouth. "HEY!" Levi shouted.
The horse paid no mind and charged towards the titans. It was faster than the other horse that was only halfway there to the titans. By now, they were specks in the distance since the cart was moving in the opposite direction. However, even from far away, everybody witnessed as the (b/h) horse dashed in between the legs of a titan while simultaneously slicing it's heel with Levi's sword.
The giant fell before it could consume the soldier that it had grasped tightly in it's hold, and Mikasa, who also came out of nowhere from behind, sliced out the nape and proceeded to take care of the other two. Meanwhile, the (mare/stallion) helped the now conscious blonde soldier onto his own horse in a similar way it handled Armin, albeit much more slower and gentle.
You had saved three extra soldiers that would have died that day. Everyone was at a loss for words at what had just happened. So they decided to do nothing about it for now since they had to return to the walls.
The intelligent horse seemed to have joined their little group as they rode on towards Wall Rose on it's own accord. Once at the Survey Corps Headquarters, they would figure out what to do next.
As they galloped, you ran in circles around them with your head held high with a little prance in your step. You had succeeded in saving Squad Levi, plus three extra soldiers. Nothing could stop you now!