The Grey Angel (Attack on Titan x OC)

Chapter 36

-Nora POV-

Just before sunset, the horses were going over the wall.
It was finally time to retake Wall Maria.
People were cheering us on...
'When has this ever happened?'

"Yeah! You can count on us!" yelled Jean, Conny and Sasha.
And then, Commander Erwin yelled. Making the people yell back...
"Oh my God. This really a first" I said.

"The operation to retake Wall Maria, begins now!" he shouted.
We all got over the wall on our horses. "Scouts, move out!"
We rode out to Wall Maria. We rode out to fight back.

~

We walked in the dark. In the cover of the new moon. They even managed to make portable lights from the crystals in the caves. We all had our hoods up, so that the enemy wouldn't know which one of us was Eren.
"Sorry that you got stuck with my horse" said Eren to Mikasa.

"Don't worry about it, you should be saving your energy" said Mikasa.
"Yeah, I get it but still..." said Eren.
"She's right, Eren" said Conny and I rolled with my eyes. "We need you at your best"
I smacked the back of his head. "Don't say his name, you idiot" I said.

"Sorry, I forgot" he said.
"Titan on the left!" shouted Jean. "Everyone hold!"
The Titan was way too close for comfort...

"It's all right, pretty sure he's asleep. Doesn't look like this is one of the new Titans that can move at night. Well isn't that a shame? Leave him be" said Hange and we walked further.
"I can't believe we had to get that close to notice the thing" said Eren.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that point. But it's worth it" said Hange. "The moonless night is protecting us. Light from the moon is actually reflected sunlight. And from what we can tell, that minuscule amount of reflected light is all that these new Titans need to move. It's good that we're using the new moon cover. There's no guarantee that we won't have a repeat of before. For all we know, that sleeper might have been a moonlight Titan himself. Maybe we can capture one someday"

Suddenly Eren grasped his own wrist.
"Are you okay?" asked Mikasa.
"What's wrong? You're shaking" said Armin. "Are you scared?"

"Heh? No! Of course I'm not scared!" said Eren defensively.
"But look at your hand" said Armin. "Seems like nerves to me"
"This is just... because it's cold out here. I feel like my hand's gonna freeze off" said Eren.

"Is that all it is? I've been shaking a bit too. And I'm terrified. Just look at me" said Armin, he was indeed shaking a bit. "I can't tell if you've ever been afraid of Titans. That fear is all consuming for most people. It was for me, the first time I saw a Titan in the flesh. I was so frightened that I couldn't move. I was gonna die, and then you came and pulled me out of a Titan's mouth. But how did you do it? Where did you find the strength?"

I was terrified when I first heard what had happened back then, how close I was to losing Armin.
"I had a flashback" said Eren. "To the day you showed me your parents book. Before then, I never even considered the world beyond the walls. I would just spent my day staring up at the clouds. But then, I heard your story. And saw the look in your eyes. They were filled with this amazing dream, like nothing I had known for myself. That's the day I realised that I had never been free. The world was vast as our cage was small. Those monsters had stolen it from us. Once I realised that, I couldn't forgive them. Couldn't tell you why though, but when I think about that lost freedom, I feel strong, fearless in a way" Eren's hand had stopped shaking. "Thanks for that Armin. I'm good now. You know what? This time next year, I bet we'll be looking out at the sea"

"Yeah, I think so too" I said and smiled.
"This area, it's familiar" said Mikasa. "I think... we came here for firewood"

"I see the foot of the mountain!" shouted a soldier. "There are signs of a trail ahead!"
"Well, looks like we're close" said Eren.

"I'm pretty sure I can hear the river" said Mikasa.
"We made it back, after all that's happened" said Armin. "This is the first time we've seen it since we've fled as kids. Our hometown... Shiganshina"

"When we take it back, you can show me around. Where you grew up, your favourite places" I said.
"Yeah, that sounds good" said Armin and he finally smiled.

~

The sun began to rise and we rode on our horses. We finally saw Wall Maria...
"There can be Titans anywhere! So keep your guard up! This operation has officially begun! All troops, switch to ODM-gear!" shouted the Commander.
We used our ODM-gear to get on the wall. And we looked out at Shiganshina. Eren was staring at it.

"Don't stop! You get to that outer gate!" shouted my father.
"Right!" shouted Eren.
Armin suddenly stopped running.

"What's wrong?" I asked and he pointed down. To ashes.
'Shit, someone was here recently'
Armin raised his blade and the Commander saw it.

He ordered me and Armin to search into it. We found a kettle and 3 cups.
"3 cups?" said Armin and smelled it.
I felt the kettle, it was cold to the touch.
"Shit, Armin. We have a problem" I said and he looked at me. "The kettle is cold, completely cooled down"

"I have another problem" said Armin and showed me the cups. "There are 3 of them"
"Why don't we ever catch a break? I mean, really. Can't we have any luck sometime?" I asked and sighed. "We should tell the Commander. Let's go"

We got back on the wall and went to the Commander.
"We looked into it" said Armin. "It's clear that someone was camping on the wall"

"We found cups and a cold pot on the ground, near where Armin spotted those ashes" I said.
"They were drinking something like black tea. There were 3 cups and they all had the same black liquid in the bottom. So I'd say there were 3 people camping up here at least" said Armin.

"Wait, there's a third?" asked a Captain.
"Was the pot completely cooled to the touch?" asked the Commander.
"Yeah, that's what's worrying me" I said.

"Why is that?" asked the Captain.
"You've never set a pot of tea?" I asked and raised my eyebrow.
"Nora, play nice" said Armin.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself. We charged here at full speed on horseback. Even switched to ODM-gear. If they had noticed our approach by sight or even perhaps by sound. They couldn't have had more than 2 minutes to react. But a pot over a flame wouldn't cool down over such a short amount of time. Which means, good Captain. They must've known we were coming for 5 minutes or more" I explained.

"Which means, they've had plenty of time to prepare for our arrival" said the Commander.
"There's no way, how did they know?" asked the Captain.
"Well, it's possible that they had a scout in addition to the three on the wall" said Armin. "Yeah, we should assume that we have many enemies and that they could be anywhere"

"You need to sharpen your focus to the enemy nearby. I trust you. That mind of yours, you've saved us from disaster countless times. Now do it again, we're in dire need of your help. You can take as many soldiers as you need. Eleanor, you help him too. If the enemy is hiding near the inner gate. We'll find them" said the Commander.

Many soldiers surrounded us. "As of now, you will obey Armin Arlert's commands. He'll tell you how to proceed" said the Commander.
They all looked surprised, but in the end they all said: "Understood!"
"We searched the wall's perimeters" said a soldier.

"What are your instructions, Arlert" asked a female soldier.
"Geez, don't crowd him" I said and they took a step back.
"We'll send one group to each side of the wall. Search the interiors of any buildings near the gate. If you find something, fire off an acoustic shell! Does that work for you?" asked Armin.

"Understood!" they shouted and did what he asked.
"You know, that was kind of hot, Armin" I said and his face turned red like a tomato. "Let's go"