⚠︎︎Pursuit⚠︎︎
☠︎︎☠︎︎☠︎︎
Whatever the hell Erwin said to the brass worked. The scout regiment's recall to the capital and you and Eren's incarceration were rescinded. Instead, they were charged with guarding Annie Leonhart in her holding cell deep underground, where they kept strict vigil day and night. Sadly, however... it would take a far longer time... and cost a great many more lives... for humanity to discover the true nature... of what it held captive.
It was now night. And after a day or so of rest you all were now in Stohess. Mikasa and Eren prepare a carriage.
"Great." Eren sets aside a tank of gas, "Somebody explain to me what this means."
"I don't know." The two of them look over in surprise to see you and Armin walking towards the two of them "But their titans, right? Would they really break a wall with titans in it?"
"Wouldn't be the first time." Eren voices "That's how they got into Shiganshina."
"That's not it exactly, when they broke through in Shiganshina..." Armin trails off as he looks Eren in the eye "...That was a gate."
"Armin, Y/N. What exactly are you two getting at?"
You and Armin glance at one another before turning back to Mikasa and Eren "The walls are different. There are no signs of stress, no cracks, no crevices between rocks. Hell, we don't know how they were constructed." You say you tone was confident and it was easy to see that you believed everything coming from your lips.
"So what if the walls are made with the same stuff Annie's trapped herself in." Armin picks up where you left off "It must be versatile material, and we know it's virtually indestructible."
"So the walls are made of titans?" Eren questions. You and Armin nod.
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"Sorry to keep you waiting!" You look over to see Hange waving at you all Levi standing next to her with his usual bored face and then one of the wall cultist, the one who warned not to let the sunlight touch the titan in the wall to be more specific, trailing behind the two of them. "Took longer to prepare than I thought."
The three of them slide in the carriage with you all so that it's You, Armin, Eren, and Mikasa on one side and Levi, the priest, and Hange on the other. "He's, uh. He's a priest from the order of the walls." Armin mutters.
"I know!" Hange throws an arm around the priest shoulders "Ol' Nick and me are thick as thieves!" A smirk tugs as your lips seeing how uncomfortable the priest is. "It's fine. Makes as much sense for him to be here as the rest of us, don't 'cha think?" Hange peers over the priest shoulders to Levi "We're random."
"No, on the contrary." All attention goes to the injured, although he doesn't act like it, Captain "Erwin's thrown us together for a reason."
As the gate opens your attention is drawn to Erwin as he rallies his troops "The status of Wall Rose is unclear, but everything up to Ehrmich is safe. That's the route we'll be taking. Let's move out!" And as always, Erwin goes first. His white horse being like a beacon to the rest of the soldiers.
And out of the pan and into the fire you all go.
"...Wait wait! Back up!" Eren speaks up "You're joking, right? This guy knew!? He knew and he kept quiet?!" Hange had been filling Eren in about the titans and the walls and such due to him being passed out when the discoveries were made.
"Uh-huh. Afraid so." Hange nods as she side eyes Nick "Just about sums up where we are with him. Cat's out of the bag now, of course. He's not willing to talk yet, but we'll see how he feels after a harsh dose of reality. His faith keeps him quiet. First hand experience, though?"
"To hell with that!" Eren stands up, easily shaking the blanket he had around his shoulder off he slams his hands down on the small table in the cart. "If this son of a bitch knows something he needs to come out with it! Humanity's on the brink of extinction and all you care about is keeping your oath?" Eren pauses as he grimaces in pain. You boredly watch as Mikasa coddles the boy.
Levi cocks a gun and aims it at the priest through his suit jacket "There's more than just one way to get at the truth. Granted I may not be in top form at the moment, but it doesn't take much strength to squeeze a trigger. That said, i'm genuinely hoping I won't have to blow a hole in you to settle this. How about you," Levi glances at you "Y/N?"
A dark grin comes over your face as you take out a folding knife you stole from someone in Sina's home. "Well I like to make my deaths slow," You flick open the knife and inspect it "I don't like using guns unless it's to blow a hole in the kneecaps." You twirl the knife in your hand as you look up at Levi "Torture's more my style." Armin quietly scoots away from you.
"Oh come on you two," Hange only laughs "Threatening him doesn't work!" Her tone turns dark "Trust me on that." A shiver goes down your spine. "Agree with him or not. There's no denying our priest here is a man of principle. Which of course leads me to wonder:" Hange's gaze shifts over to the priest once more "If he's so unwilling to talk, what in heaven's name do you imagine he's putting above the fate of humanity?"
You all lapse into silence and not too long later Hange takes out a strange looking... something. After her staring at it for a long time Levi speaks up "Hey four eyes. Since when are you a geologist? Or are rocks just that fascinating? Looks like your about to drool."
"What, this?" Hange looks away from the rock and towards Levi "It's not a rock. Not an ordinary one, anyway. It's a hardened piece of skin left behind by the female titan."
Armin gasp as his eyes lock onto the piece of skin "It didn't vanish?"
"No. This random fragment broke off when Annie reverted back into her human form. It didn't evaporate or simply go 'poof'! So that got me thinking And when I compared it to the sliver of the wall, it's texture and composition were, for all intents and purposes virtually the identical. In layman's terms we're hemmed in by a barricade of enormous titans. If my hypothesis is correct, the surface was constructed using consolidated titan skin."
"You're kidding me." Everyone turns to Mikasa, her eyes wide and face paling almost as if she can't believe it "That's what Armin and Y/N were saying."
You shrug "Eh, it was more of Armin."
Armin gasp shooting up in his seat "So that--"
"Easy!" A grin splits Hange's face as she presses her hand to Armin's face to keep him from talking "It's rude to steal someone else's thunder. As it stands, we'd be hard pressed to find a rock big enough to plug wall rose. It'd have to be just the right shape and size, and we don't have specifics yet."
"But on the other hand?" Armin's voice comes out muffled but Hange seems to hear him none the less.
"Where there's a will there's a way. Picture Eren using his hardening ability while in titan form."
"I could..." Eren looks down at his lap as he process what Hange just said "..Patch the hole."
"The sealant should be composed of the same material and the hardened bit won't evaporate once you've transformed back. This might be a less of a long shot than it sounds. Thoughts?"
"Well, anything worthwhile incurs a little risk. If we can manage to shore up wall rose, wall Maria stands to look very promising. Vital as it is, the outpost infrastructure slows us to a crawl. The time and resources needed to transport materials are immense. But if supply wagons don't have to be accommodated, we can make our way to Shiganshina much faster."
"If I may jump in, what if we decided to carry out the plan in the dead of night?" All eyes in the cart turn to you.
"Night?" Hange questions.
"Yes!" Armin agrees
"That is when the titans are effectively motionless, less risk that way." You further explain.
Hange brings a hand to her chin as she ponders what the two of you have said "That's not bad. In fact it's genius. Particularly if the group is small enough to slip by undetected." Hange inspects the hardened skin once more "The straight we're in are as dire as they come. But their might just be the teeniest bit of slack."
"Yeah, just bear in mind, though, the whole plan hinges on whether or not Eren can seal a hole, again." (Armin)
It's silent for a few seconds "It's uh, probably unfair for me to even ask." You all look at Hange "But do you think you can?" And now the eyes are on Eren. Eren goes quiet.
"What he thinks really isn't the issue." Levi looks away from the lantern he was staring out at and right towards Eren, staring him in the eye "You either will or you won't. That's the reality. Our comrades are breaking their backs but without you it's nothing. Failure isn't an option."
That prompts Eren to speak up and answer "Sir! I know! I'm prepared to do whatever it takes! That's a promise." Eren goes quiet for a little bit again "My father's cellar. That's where the answers are." Eren takes out the key he keeps under his shirt "If there's a grain of truth in what he told me, everything depends on us making it there."
Hange looks away from Eren and to the large wall "Here's Ehrmich."
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A/N:
I didn't think i'd have to say this but for the love of- PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT SPOILERS ON THIS STORY!!! Your comment will be deleted but if someone has already seen it the damage has already been delt. Once again DO NOT comment spoilers.