Ymir's Legacy

Ch. 24; Home

The cold wind brushed against Aila's skin, her cloak swayed in the breezes that cycled. As she and the rest of the scouts walked through the wooded glen, she stared at the ground where her light shone. Memories of her home began to flood her mind, everything became muffled, her surroundings were silenced by the drowning sound of memories. ".. Ai... Aila.. Aila!", Annie snapped Aila back to reality, she walked beside her, staring up at her with concerned eyes. Aila looked down, "I.. I'm alright" "Aila, it's ok. Just look at Mikasa, Armin and Eren, they all are saddened by their memories of the home that Rei-...", Annie stopped, her face gained a look of regret and sadness. "The home that... I took from them.. from you", Annie continued, Aila looked at her, but before she could say anything, Mikasa stepped in, "No, you knew what Marley had you do was wrong.. you turned against them and now, Para- Eldia has a chance at living again". Everyone wiped the sad looks off their faces, replacing them with determined ones, Mikasa was right, Annie wasn't to blame, it was Marley's hatred that festered for thousands of years. "TITAN! TO YOUR LEFT, SEVEN METER!", a scout shouted from up ahead, everyone pointed their lights towards the said direction, the titan was peacefully seated, seemingly in a kind of sleep. Erwin spoke up after examining it himself, "Leave it, it means no harm to any of us as long as the sun is down", hesitant, some scouts cautiously walked past it, Aila and the others' however, walked past it with remorse on their faces, knowing that this titan was once a person who was turned for wanting their freedom. Ymir backed from the front near Hange and Erwin, she stopped when she was next to her friends, "You know.. even though I chose to stay fighting on the front lines because I hold jaws... I'm still terrified of leaving the walls", Sasha raised an eyebrow. She cocked her head in confusion, "Why did you chose to stay? Even if you have jaws... you could've stayed with H- queen Historia", Ymir let out a chuckle with a sigh in it, "You're just as dumb as ever I see huh potato girl". Sasha's face turned red, Mikasa smirked at the adorable girlfriend next to her, Ymir looked up at the sky, "Don't you see... I'm still fighting because I want to be safe with Historia". 

Aila continued on, but stopped when she passed a tree. She doubled back and saw a book laying open on the ground, decayed and covered in nature, she bent down and picked it up, she turned it around and gasped at the sight. Annie quickly noticed Aila wasn't present, she stopped, "Guys where's Aila?", Mikasa and Sasha halted and looked around for her, but were met with the realization that she wasn't with them. Annie abandoned her horse and ran back down the path they had followed, stopping when she saw her fiance on her knees staring at an old book with shock and tears in her eyes. She ran over to her, "Ail?! What's wrong are yo-" "This is it..", Aila said, Annie frowned in confusion, "What is?", footsteps crept from behind her, "This is... where we all used to hang out when we were kids...", Mikasa finished the sentence. Annie looked back at Aila, setting her light down and embracing her fiance who shed tears of sadness yet had a scent of anger and hatred lingering in them. Sasha held Mikasa by the side, rubbing her shoulder and back lovingly, knowing the harsh and sad memories that took place in these woods were flooding her mind. Aila raised the book up, "Th-This is where... where I last sat before..", Annie tightened her embrace, now realizing that the book she was holding, was the last thing that gave her peace within her home. Once Mikasa and Aila regained their composure, they continued on, Annie had found her horse she had left behind. The day began to break, and the walls of the abandoned city of Shiganshina were right before their eyes. Everyone was stopped by the commander once they had exited the woods, "Alright soldiers! Time to continue on horseback! Remember to keep your hoods on and to blend in, protect the titan shifters at all costs!", he shouted, the scouts saluted and shouted their understanding as they mounted onto their horses, putting their lights away before continuing on their route. 

As they got closer to the wall, Annie started to become highly suspicious of the non-existent titan's anywhere near the wall. She looked down at the ground and scanned the grass, skimming the tinniest of details with her eyes, she gasped when she saw a certain clue. She turned to Aila, trying to stay calm, "Ail... we've got company", Annie said, Aila looked up and saw what had alarmed Annie, it was the foot and hand prints of a titan. This wouldn't be a big deal if they hadn't known about the truth of Marley and the nine titans, but since they do, Annie quickly recognized the prints from when she was still new to using her titan alongside the other warriors, including a woman named Pieck Finger, the holder of the cart titan, was present. "Cart is definitely here, the prints are a give away", Annie whispered to Aila, Aila realized that whatever the warriors of Marley had done, was now set for everyone. "Ok, I'll have the soldiers send the message up to Erwin and Hange, warning them", Aila replied, Annie cautiously looked around for the four legged titan, having a feeling that Pieck had been watching them this entire time. "Mika", Aila whispered to the black haired soldier in front of her, "Yeah?", she replied, Aila swallowed her fear, "Cart is here, Annie saw it's footprints back there". Mikasa stayed as calm as possible, Sasha however had heard what was said, visible fear and panic spread across her face. Mikasa bit her lip in anxiety, "Shit.. this isn't good, Marley brought backup" "What the hell are we gonna do if cart drops in on us?!", Sasha whispered loudly. Annie frowned and looked ahead, "No, Pieck- I mean, CART wouldn't do that, she's not reckless", Mikasa passed the message down to Marco, Eren, Armin, Ymir, Connie, Nanaba and Gelgar, who then passed it to the chain of command. After a moment or three of waiting, Erwin sent a message back, "Remain calm, don't act as if you know cart is there, or else it might just kill us all now", Aila and the others swallowed their pride and fear of death, acting as if they didn't see a thing. They stayed like so, riding in fear, but they were given a feeling of relief when Erwin raised his hand signalling for the horses to go faster, and to proceed with closing the inner wall of maria first.