The Walls We've Built - ◈ ARMIN ARLERT X OC ◈

Chapter 14 - The things we know and the things we don't

Looking up to the sky, the birds rustle the branches as they flee the trees. My heart is racing at a hundred kilometres an hour, I hear it pounding in my hears while looking at my comrades in what feels like frozen time. A scout launches themself into the opening of the trees, "We have one objective! Stop those damned titans!" she screams before she is thrusted in the direction of the titans by her ODM gear. Rosette and I look at each other before taking off after the titans with our comrades.

We fly through the forest at a rapid pace, the titans are still far ahead of us but we are gaining on them quickly. "What the hell is going on!" Jean yells coming up next to me and Rosette with Armin, "I have no idea!" Rosette yells over the loud wind, "I think that sound we heard earlier came from the female titan!" I exclaim, Jean and Rosette quip their heads in my direction. "What?" Rosette asks confused, "That horrid screech we heard before, I think it came from the female titan, a calling or pleading for help of some sort. That's why all the titans who were focused on us ran off in her direction!" I state, trying to piece the information together. "So you think she can communicate with the others?" Jean asks sarcastically, not sure of what to say I can only shrug my shoulders in response. Jean scoffs looking over at Armin who is caught up in his own mind, "Armin?" he questions. He quickly looks at Jean then at me, "Well, it does explain why they all simultaneously left in the same direction without any form of communication!" he replies.

Rosette pulls forward ahead of Armin, Jean and I looking back at us, "If that's the case we need to alert Commander Erwin and Captain Levi immediately!" she states, looks towards the titans again. We all pick up our pace with the new found urgency weighing us down, "Everybody halt!" the same scout instructs in front of us. We all stop abruptly hanging in the open spaces of the gigantic forest, I look to Armin above me. He looks in my direction as his blonde hair falls in front of his eyes over his bandaged forehead. He gives me a stern yet worried look before returning his attention to the scout who is hanging from the side of a tree trunk. "We have to keep going! We have to alert Commander Erwin about the titan or at least try and stop them!" Rosette cries desperately.

"It's out of our hands, Adam here has told me we are not to advance past this point. It is up to the higher ranking scouts to deal with it now." I quickly look past the scout to see Adam, the man from the scout recovery base standing with his arms crossed on the branch next to her, my expression lightens at the sight of a familiar face. Adam sees me too and nods his head in acknowledgement, "You lot are to wait here for future instructions." He announces wacking his sword on the truck on his tree before taking off after the titans. Armin, Jean Rosette and I lower ourselves onto the branch underneath us. "This is ridiculous." Jean scoffs sitting down with one knee up for his arm to rest on. I look to my left at Rosette beside me, she gives me a small smile of uncertainty and irritation. I feel the same way but there is nothing we can do, I guess.

I shrug my shoulders and nod towards Jean gesturing that we should sit down as well. I sit by Jean and Rosette joins me, Armin sits down as well, completing our circle. There is a long moment of silence as we are all tired, restless and overall irritated. Not long after, the familiar sound of ODM gear approaches us from a distance west of the way we had come, most likely the scouts from the outer left wing. Gen and Jacob!

The leader of their group stops to talk to the scout who has been leading us. Behind them are the remaining scouts from the left wing, my eyes desperately search the faces trying to find Gen and Jacob. I look at Armin and Jean who are doing the same thing, I guess Mikasa and the others must be a part of the left wing too. The scouts talk to the group but they are out of ear shot making their speech muffled and impossible to understand, slowly the other scouts join us as we wait. I continue to frantically look for my friends but still nothing, I become impatient and go looking for them myself, leaving Armin and the others behind.