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

40. Opening

AUTHOR'S POV:

Erwin was leading the charge.

"Let's move!" Erwin ordered.
.

On Wall Rose, lying on her stomach, Hange was peering over the edge.

"Hange-san?" Moblit said when she began crawling to the other side.

"G-Get me a horse." Hange said.

"Squad Leader! Where are you trying to go?" Moblit asked, kneeling by her.

"To that village where we captured the Titan who couldn't walk." Hange said.

"You mean Ragako?" Moblit asked.

"I need to see it... with my own eyes." Hange said.

"Don't say something so ridiculous!" Moblit said. "Your body can't take riding a horse right now!"

"I have a hunch... that we need to investigate..." Hange said and grunted as she continued crawling.

Moblit closed his eyes and relented. "Alright. I'll go there on my own, so you just stay here and faint or something." He ran by her.

She slumped to the ground.
.
.

The Survey Corps raced through an open grassy field.

Erwin threw out his arm. "Spread out! Take formation to locate any enemies!"

The formation began to split.

Connie, Historia, and Sasha were together while Petra, Faye, Hannes, Armin, and Mikasa were in another group.
.

'Eren...' Mikasa stared grimly ahead.
.

Near the edge of a forest, Reiner stood on a tree branch.

"Oh, Eren? You're awake?" Reiner said.

Eren stared at them, eyes glazed over, steam rising from him. He blinked.

Eren leaned in and blinked again, looking down.

Ymir watched, right arm and leg healing, as Eren struggled.

Finally, he moved his arms to reveal stump. "What the hell?! My arms!"

"Eren." Ymir said. "Look at me. I'm in the same shape as you. Guess we're both having a bad day."

"Ymir... Why... don't I have one of my arm?" Eren asked.

"That's my bad." Reiner said, crossing his arms. "I'm the one who did that. I was kinda in a hurry. When I rushed to bite your nape, I neglected to take your arms into account."

"I see... I... must've lost." Eren said and met Reiner's eyes.

A thick silence filled the air as Bertolt and Ymir watched.

Eren brought up his arm and bit into the skin.

"Eren, stop!" Bertolt said, standing up.

"Hold your horses, Eren." Ymir said and took his arm and pulled it from his mouth. "Take a good look around us. We're in the giant forest within Wall Maria."
.

Seven Titans of various sizes hung around the base of the trees.
.

"It's not even close to any of the Walls. In other words, we're deep in Titan territory. Take a look. I think that one down there's an Abnormal." Ymir explained. "It looks like he's just lounging around, but he's not taking his eyes off us. There's a lot of small ones down there, too. That alone is dangerous. Over that way's another big one."

Eren followed her gaze and saw the dark-haired Titan half hiding behind a tree.

"He's staring at us, but won't come any closer. I bet you that one's a scaredy-cat. And then you've got these chumps here." Ymir said, referring to Reiner and Bertolt, placing her left elbow on Eren's shoulder. "Those dirty bastards. They're the only ones with any 3D gear on. Reiner's wearing gear he took from you. So I don't think changing into a Titan at this point is going to solve anything. Not only can they do that, but they can also escape high into the trees. Those two aside, there's Titans all around us. Escaping out of this Titan territory would be tough, even with Titan powers. Understand? There's nothing to gain by acting up."