For a moment, it's quiet. And then, it's the trumpet's cry, the sharp inhales of the scouts, the onlooker's shuffling footsteps giving way to the dusty trail stretching outwards, peeking out from the mechanical plodding of the heavy metal gates. Dust sprinkles down to the rough ground, letting the view beyond the gates seem like a theatrical opening behind glooming curtains.
All for what lay beyond — a green yard of a dilapidated town.
The elites have lured the closest titans away.
It's time.
Hooves thump against the Earth in unison, leaving behind dust trails, perhaps their last in human settlement. Their pessimistic audience jumps away. Soon to return to their lives without a beat, shaking their head in pre-conceived defeat.
Like yin and yang, the scouts leave Karanes District with a different outlook. Where the citizens accept their fate and role of the prey, the scouts hunt the hunters. Where humanity's weakest wills cower inside the walls, the strongest charge out. Despite their shaking hands and tightened muscles, there's hope.
Every expedition, there's hope.
And the starkest of hopes rings louder than the heavy footsteps of the titans heading their way, louder than the gates falling behind them, coming from the bellow of the commander.
"Advance!"
The air is clearer outside the walls.
That's the first thought that hits y/n as soon as their party cuts through the fresh breeze, carrying hints of earthy scents across the abandoned town.
Nature has a beautiful way of taking over.
And the aberrants roaming the aisles stick out like a sore thumb.
A distance behind her, she hears a smaller mass of flesh and limbs hot on their trail. A shout of 'staying on track' keeps them grounded. Wires fire into the air, and with a sickening slice, the ground shakes with the fall of the titan. Y/n doesn't look back.
In her heart, an eerie feeling arises. In Trost, they had the shelter of buildings and rubble. As the town begins to fade out, and the plain grounds take over, a gut-wrenching realization settles in — it's the titans territory from here on out. There's no shelter, barely any trees to hide behind if her horse falls short.
It's been something the trainers have been drilling into their head, of course. But, it makes all the more sense now.
Without a horse, you're nothing but food here.
Her mare heaves out heavy breaths. A shadow passes by her, and then two more. The experienced scouts form a triangle to her right, eyes locked on the commander in wait.
The order comes before she could fully process the world outside.
"Assume long-range scouting formation!"
She swerves the reins right. The spare horse she's in charge of follows behind until it becomes her only companion for a distance. Familiar figures become tiny green spots in every direction. Ahead, to her left, Jean's silhouette hides behind thick foliage. A distance from him, Reiner should be situated. Armin is in front of him, the closest relay to the upper right flank.
Everything is in place.
Good.
All that's left is for them to reach the titan forest, and then make the recall.
After that. . well. .
She just hopes Reiner doesn't do something impulsive and throw everything off script. There's no way of knowing if Annie told them she wouldn't go through with the plan, or if she's kept her quiet.
Regardless. .
A red flare goes off from the far right flank. Another swish comes from the middle of the formation, green wisps of smoke shooting to the left.
. . they need to survive this first.
A heavy weight falls to the ground somewhere. Her horse neighs in distress. Y/n urges her faster, if only to distract the animal from the monstrosities around them.
Thank god. .
Freya is not with them.
Flashes of bright red liquid burn in her mind, and she closes her eyes tight, willing the image away.
At least, she can't regret that now.
If her injured hand saved Freya's life. . .
Y/n can never regret it.
The mare suddenly jolts sideways from an obstacle on the ground, almost throwing y/n off balance. Y/n curses, and then grabs the reins tighter before glancing back at what caused her horse to freak out.
Her eyes can't believe it at first.
It has to be a plant, right?
A green cloth, a familiar green cape, lies on the ground with spots of red splattered on the fabric — spots eerily like blood.
Y/n snaps her head back to the front. A plant. It has to be a—
A white stallion lies in a pool of its own blood, belly swollen and eyes glassed over.
The world slows as her mare runs past the carcass.
It stops completely when a human body passes by. Broken and scattered on the ground in pieces — but the face she knows.
The face she's seen around the scout camp — aiding, training, living.
Y/n can't look back at Ness's bloodied face. Nausea churns in her gut.
This isn't supposed to happen.
He isn't supposed to—
No. . not unless. . .
Her eyes dart to the sky, and barely in time to find the hint of black smoke in the clouds.
How did she miss that?
Her horse picks up speed, and the wind slaps at y/n's face like the harsh bite of a horrifying realization.
Why is Annie here?
Ahead, she catches a glimpse of a small body lying on the ground, seemingly frozen in place as they stare into the direction in front of them. Blond strands fly around his face in a tangled mess.
Reiner reaches Armin before she does.
She hears murmurs of their conversation — too unintelligible, but she can guess what transpired between them until her horse catches up to the two.
"Armin, are you alright?" Her voice comes out more panicked than she expected. The thumping of her heart overtakes her judgement — and Reiner suddenly seems like a mortal enemy.
"An abnormal." Reiner says with a calm analysis, before snapping his reins, "We can't stop here. Come on."
"That's not an abnormal— No, it's too. . " Armin trails off, rearing the spare horse Reiner offered him ahead.
How much does Reiner know?
How much has Annie told him?
No. . she can't think about this right now. She pushes her stead to catch up with Armin.
"Armin—"
"Far too intelligent to be an abnormal, or a titan. No, this is just like Eren. She—" He shakes his head, and the next words that come out of his mouth are more confident. "They are a human controlling a Titan's body."
"That's impossible." She snaps a little too quickly.
In the corner of her eye, she notices the quiet tilt of Reiner's head towards her.
No, no, no—
"How would that be—"
Reiner cuts her off, "That doesn't matter. Look where it's going."
Armin follows his head nod and takes in a sharp breath. "The middle of the formation." He glances over to where the female Titan came from. "They must have broken the front right flank. This isn't— this isn't good. Weneedtowarntherest."
Armin's hands tremble with the flare. His mouth splutters out another sentence too quick to catch. But, y/n isn't looking at him. She locks eyes with sharp hazel eyes.
There's a deep. . unsettling feeling in her gut.
A flare goes off behind them, and she turns to catch black smoke broken through by Jean, his horse arching by to catch up with them. Halfway through, his eyes lock on the muscled female Titan running in the front. There is a silent change in his demeanor.
"What is that thing?" He all but hisses once he's in close range.
"A human." Armin says, eyebrows furrowed. "But, why are they here? What do they gain by this?"
The gears in his mind click, and his blue eyes widen, "Of course."
"What?" Jean says, gaze switching from the titan in front of them, and Armin. "Well? If you've got something to say, then quit dallying!"
"There's only one thing that's a threat to the titans here. Something that they could want." It's y/n's eyes that Armin finds next, "They're here for Eren."
He's seeking confirmation from her.
She feels her throat itch.
"If that's the case. . then we're all damned. Where the hell is Eren?" Reiner asks, concern etched with precision on his face.
"He should be—"
"Where she came from." Y/n's fingers grab onto Armin's reins, not wanting this to continue any further. "We have to go and see if he's alright."
Her panic is enough to stun him into silence and y/n slows both of their horses down, sending the other two a last look. "We're the only relays left on the right flank. You both need to warn the others. We're going to find Eren!"
She steers them forward, refusing to look behind. Only one sentence repeated in her mind.
Don't follow. Don't follow. Don't follow.
"Iris, stop!"
There's no hoofbeats behind them. Y/n listens closer — their horses, the leafs sliding against the ground, Armin's voice—
"Iris!!" Her horse skiddies to a stop. With tightly clutched reins, she whirls to look at the small hands clinging to her horse's muzzle.
"If there's anything I'm completely certain of, it's that Eren is not that way!"
"I know." She glances around the still world— too still. They can't stop in one place. "Come on."
Turning the steed around, she makes for the center of the formation — only to be stopped by Armin blocking her way. The horse shifts on its hooves, mimicking its rider. His eyes waiver for a minute, before determination peeks through his irises.
"We need to warn Eren about this. Not just Eren, the commander, Captain Levi, everyone. Why—" He points at the direction she was heading off to, "—are we going the wrong way?'
Frustration comes out painfully in his tone. Noticing a wisp of movement, y/n's eyes draw towards his shaking hands — which he quickly hides under his cloak at her appraisal.
When she meets his blue eyes again, guilt pinches her heart. She hasn't told him anything. His confusion must be wreaking a storm in his mind.
"Armin. ." Y/n hesitates, "I—"
An ear-piercing inhuman shriek forces her to cover her ears. Armin's eyes widen at something behind her. Her horse senses something before she does— and the next couple of seconds blur in time.
When the dust clears, she finds herself with a desperate grip on the reins, and an abnormal on her heels.
"Iris, watch out!"
Only a second after Armin's shrill scream, the lumbering mass behind her horse throws itself onto them. She dodges with a hard right, bending the steed's ankles at a painful angle — but there's no time for her to regret. The titan misses by a hair, but gets up without a moment to lose.
It's faster than a normal one. Black, loose hair cover the most of its face, and wide, grey eyes lock onto her like an animal after it's prey.
Y/n curses, urging her horse to make sharp turns to throw off the beast.
It's too fast to outrun. There's no other way. They need to kill it.
But, where is Armin?
The titan lands on her flank, large, alien eyes staring at her sideways with an eerie smile to top off her fear. She circles around the opposite way.
In the middle of the shaking ground, the harsh wind biting at her face, and her horses constant signals of overwork — she takes a moment to find the familiar mop of blonde hair in her surroundings.
Only foliage and the remains of a windmill are in sight.
"Shit."
Did she lose him?
The titan had her going in all sorts of directions. She lost track of where she came from and where she's going.
Is she even in the long range formation anymore?
Anxiety mixes in with the fear, churning her gut and stirring further nausea to the point that it's painful.
. . she's not stranded, right?