"...To Stay by Your Side..." (AOT Alternative Universe)

26. Erwin Smith

AUTHOR'S POV:

The Female Titan was trapped. She gritted her teeth, one visible wild eye.
.

"An Abnormal..." Eren muttered, watching her. "Or is it like the Colossal Titan?" He looked ahead. "Wait, did Commander Erwin actually-"

"Hey! Quit spacing out!" Oluo scolded.

"Eren! You can think later! We need to get further ahead!" Petra said.

"Right!" Eren replied.

The five continued to ride on, leaving the rest behind.
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Levi pulled out another sword, ready to attack.

"Wait, Levi." Erwin said. "We need to be cautious. Squads 2 and 3! Fire!"

Hooks and wires once again began shooting out and piercing the female titan.

"Use the reserves too!" Erwin commanded.
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On the outer edges of the forest, the recruits waited in the trees.
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Three Titans crawled on the ground.

One titan was trying to climb the tree.
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Christa glanced down. "Umm, they're starting to climb up."

"Indeed." Nanaba replied. "If they make it up this far perhaps I'll step out of the way. Although I suspect we'll soon be given orders to withdraw anyway."

"Does it have something to do with those explosions inside the forest?" Christa asked.

"Maybe." Nanaba said.
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Elsewhere, Sasha looked up, listening to the sound of the cannons. Then, she looked at Faye. "Faye, what do you think those sounds are? Are cannons being fired inside the forest?"

"Yes, may be." Faye said.

Mikasa was silent, listening keenly.
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'I didn't see them bring any cannons in though.' Reiner thought.

"There's a real racket coming from inside." Ymir said and looked at Berthold. "Hey, Bertolt, do you know where Christa is?"

"Sorry." Bert replied. "I don't know."
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'Nothing makes sense anymore.' Connie sighed, sitting against the tree. 'What are we even doing now, and why? I wanna go home.'
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The booming of the cannons continued through the air.
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"Armin, let's move away." Jean said.

"Hmm." Armin said.

The two jumped off and flew away to another branch.
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"Looks like Titans have the capacity to learn... It's getting better at climbing." Jean said with amazement, looking at the Titan which was trying to climb a tree.

"Yeah... That's scary." Armin said. "I guess, it's probably different for each Titan."

Silence fell upon them.

"I think I've figured what they are doing in the forest." Jean said, looking back. "They lured that female Titan here to capture her or may be... to capture the human inside."

"You think so too?" Armin replied.
.
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Inside the forest, Erwin and Levi were staring coldly down at the restrained female titan.
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The Levi squad was standing on a tree branch.

"That was Commander Erwin's goal from the very start!" Eren said. "Wasn't it? Still, I can understand keeping it from us rookies, but you guys too?! You've been Scouts a long time!"