The day Wall Maria fell to the Titans, soldier Arden Keiser selfishly chose to save herself. She disobeyed direct orders and abandoned her role within the Garrison Regiment, taking the life of another as she did so. She made an attempt to escape fro...
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The month slipped by quicker than Arden expected, and soon enough the expedition was only hours away. The air of the Scout Regiment was heavy with dread and panic. Of course, Arden felt no different.
The idea of death buried itself further into her mind as the venture beyond Wall Rose grew closer. The idea went on to plague her dreams and her nightmares once again. Just as they had been in prison, her nights were once again full of Titans, but at least Johanna was long gone in most of these nightmares.
In that cell, Johanna was all Arden could sense when she closed her eyes. The scent of iron-rich blood, the sound of bones being crunched, the look of fear in her eyes... Now those sensations were Arden's own as she dreamed of Titans pulling her own body apart with their yellow teeth.
There had even been some dreams where Arden was the reason behind another soldier's death. Just like what Arden had done to Johanna in Shiganshina.
In truth, she was terrified of being the reason behind another death, but beyond that, her greatest fear was dying herself.
But even if she was scared of losing her life to the Titans, she knew that Erwin had other plans for her. She had picked up by now that the commander would travel to any lengths to reach his goals, whether they were for his own sake or for the regiments, and in this case, Erwin couldn't allow Arden to die out there. Who knew what that man would pull out of his sleeve during the expedition? Arden wouldn't put anything past him.
Still, no matter what Erwin had planned in secret, there was still an irrefutable chance of dying, and Arden was still more terrified than she had been when the Titans invaded Shiganshina.
As she prepared her horse (who was in a particularly disobedient mood today), she took deep breaths; it was a weak attempt to ease her pounding heart and to clear her busy head. Staying calm seemed impossible with so many soldiers buzzing around her, running from one place to another, double-checking that they were prepared to embark beyond Trost.
Standing nearby was Levi, who had already prepared everything of his. His horse, his gear... If it had been any other day, he would've mocked Arden for taking so long.
"Levi! I've been looking for you."
Arden looked over her shoulder, her eyes landing on Hange, who held a handful on envelopes in her hand.
"It's a message from Erwin," the squad leader hastily explained, handing an envelope to the short man.
Arden blurred out the rest of their conversation. She had more to worry about, like why her damn horse wouldn't let her buckle this properly—
"Ard, how're you feeling?"
Hange had moved closer, close enough to stand right at the soldier's side, and she even placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Arden shook her light grasp away. "Fine," she grumbled.
