Eren woke up with a start. His body felt hot and tired and there were several deep scores in his face around his eyes where the muscle from his titan body was grafted to. His vision was greeted by thick branches sprawling with leaves and the orange-blue afternoon sun. Eren shot up only to feel himself begin to fall forwards.

Realizing he was sitting on a branch and was about to fall off, he tried to grab on and save himself, only to feel that his hands were gone, replaced by steaming stubs. Before he could slip off the branch, he leaned back and wrapped his arms as best as he could around the branch, his body covering the surface of the branch enough to break his fall.

Eren climbed back up and sat on the branch, panting heavily over his brush with death. Now having time to observe his surroundings, he looked to his left, seeing an expanse of trees down the way. Clearly he was in a forest. Looking to the left, he jerked away at seeing Ymir sitting next to him, her steaming right wrist and left ankle missing its hand and foot, respectively.

“Looks like you’re awake,” said Reiner’s voice.

Eren turned to see Reiner and Bertolt standing on branches out on the tree in front of him which stood at the very edge of the forest, leading to the grassy, hilly horizon. From Eren’s vantage point, the sun was setting to his left, telling him that he was facing north. Bertolt stood on the furthest branch while Reiner stood on the branch closest to Eren and Ymir.

Eren looked at both Reiner and Bertolt, almost confused by their appearance. Both Reiner and Bertolt were out of their Military cloaks and jackets and wearing their shirts with their Maneuver Gears and harnesses exposed on their bodies. Eren, now beginning to fully come to, looked at the steaming ends on his hands, becoming freaked out by them.

“What the–!” Eren shouted.

Eren began to pant harder, heavily disturbed by his mutilated body.

“Calm down, Eren,” Ymir spoke. “Look at me. I’m all cut to shit too.”

“Why?” Eren gasped. “Why are my arms gone?”

“I’m sorry about that,” Reiner answered. “That was my fault. We were in a hurry, you see, and I cut your arms off trying to get you out of your titan body.”

“I see,” Eren sighed. “I’ve lost…”

Eren gave Reiner and Bertolt a fierce, angry glare while Ymir looked at Eren with a sense of apathy and indifference. Eren quickly placed his arm into his mouth and prepared to bite down.

“EREN!” shouted Bertolt stepping further out from his spot on his branch. “STOP!”

Eren was beyond listening, and began to clamp down. Just then, Ymir’s left hand grabbed the end of his arm and pulled it away before he could break the skin.

“Hold it, Eren,” warned Ymir gravely. “Just look around you. We’re in a giant forest inside Wall Maria, and I don’t think we’re close to the walls, so we’re right in the middle of titan territory.”

Ymir leaned to the right, prompting Eren to lean in as well. Clawing at the bark of the tree they were sitting on were two seven-meter titans with hungry, starved faces. Lying next to the tree on its back was a fifteen-meter titan with a four meter titan sitting on its stomach, the two of them looking up and Eren and Ymir.

“We might be consider that one an abnormal,” Ymir said, pointing at the titan lying down. “It looks like it’s relaxing there, but its kept its sight on us the entire time.”

Sure enough, as Eren swayed around, his eyes on the titan’s eyes, the titan’s eyes shifted to his motions, looking at the center of the titan’ eyes the entire time. Eren looked around to see about half a dozen three-meter titans trying to climb up as well.

“All those little ones there are quite troublesome too,” Ymir mentioned. “And back there is a really big one.”

Ymir and Eren turned around to see a fifteen-meter titan hiding behind a tree, keeping half its face and body hidden, its face giving them a warning, foreboding look.

“It’s just looking at us without approaching us,” observed Ymir. “He must be some kind of softy. And of course,” Ymir growled, turning back with Eren to face Reiner and Bertolt, “there are those two sons of bitches right in front of us. They’re the only ones with Maneuver Gears. Yours is right down there.”

Pointing directly below her, Eren looked down to see his 3D Maneuver Gear on the ground, the sheaths, main body, and operational devices strewn about.

“I don’t think going and turning into a titan is smart right now. Not only can Reiner and Bertolt do that too, they can retreat to higher trees. Not to mention, we’re surrounded on all sides by titans. Even if you have the titan’s power, surviving in titan-land is going to be next to impossible. You’re in no position to go on one of your rampages.”

“Nah,” scoffed Reiner, “you couldn’t even transform even if you tried. Right now, your powers are busy trying to heal your arms. That power isn’t so convenient; it too has its limits.”

“Moron,” Eren seethed. “Like I’m going to believe you.”

“Look,” spoke Ymir, “I might not be an expert about this power, but I’m with Eren on this one. Reiner, didn’t you say you’d tell us once Eren wakes up? Now, answer me. What are you going to do with us?”

Reiner looked to Eren and Ymir, who looked back with them with angry scowls that demanded answers.

“We’re letting you into our hometown,” Reiner answered, “so sit tight. Of course, I don’t expect that you’re just going to follow us willingly, but Ymir’s right. We are in titan-land. This is no place for us to settle any scores unless we want to get eaten in the process.

“This means we need to stay here until nightfall so the titans can stop moving. Whether you want to take your chances and make a run for it, or we take you ourselves, the fact still stands: we have to move at night.”

Ymir looked at Reiner with suspicion.

“Why are you even here?” she asked. “Why aren’t you running to your little hometown as the Armored Titan? Are you so exhausted that you have to take a break?”

“I think you’re smart enough to figure out that one by yourself,” Reiner remarked.

Ymir sunk back down to her spot. However, Eren looked down, deep in thought.

Think, he plotted. It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard to try and make a break for it. But is it true that I can’t even transform? Reiner doesn’t even sound like he can’t, considering that he has to rest here. Does that mean that if I try to turn into a titan, I’ll be too weak to run and get eaten?

But if we sit here and wait, they’re not going to wait for us to fully heal. They’ll certainly subdue us before we have the chance. I can’t do shit in this state. I need some sort of weapon.

Eren looked down at his scattered 3D Maneuver Gear, suddenly realizing something.

What happened to everyone? thought Eren. What happened to the Scouting Legion? The ponies? After what happened, they… they couldn’t be coming here, could they? They’d be taking a huge risk coming here. Even with the ponies’ help, I bet Reiner and Bertolt would only make it difficult. Maybe Rainbow Dash… Rainbow Dash…

“Sure,” responded Ymir, “but those titan’s at Castle Utgard could move about just fine at night. What about the titans here?”

“The titans here can’t move at night,” said Reiner. “Shouldn’t you of all people know that already, Ymir?”

Eren looked to Ymir’s listless disposition with surprise, a shroud of mystery suddenly surrounding her.

That’s right, thought Eren. Unlike me, Ymir seems to have an idea about what’s going on here. Is she on our side? I don’t even know what she wants. In fact, I don’t even know her that well at all. Alright, fine. I’ll get some information first; get all I can from them, and then find a way out of this mess. So for now, I got to stop this urge of mine to murder these bastards right here and now.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Reiner and Bertolt sat and waited while Ymir thought of something to say to them. Eren continued to mull over his situation.

Where should I even start? Eren wondered.

“Reiner,” Ymir croaked, “you got any water? You’d better give me some, or I could shrivel up and die.”

“Yes,” Reiner spoke, “I can understand that you need something to drink, but we can’t get any in our current situation.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Our situation fucking sucks.”

Just then, Reiner’s stomach began to growl, and Reiner put his hand over it with a grimace.

“Come to think of it,” Reiner mentioned, “we’ve been out and about since yesterday morning when they titans appeared beyond Wall Rose. We haven’t had much to eat or drink during that time, and worst of all, got little sleep. I guess at least the wall is in one piece. We can rest for now and talk about our rewards later.”

Eren’s head shot up, becoming gravely offended at the use of the word “rewards.”

“Reiner,” Bertolt spoke with a surprised tone.

“Nah, I think we accomplished something great here,” interrupted Reiner. “We did well during that surprise invasion. Continuing to act like a soldier after all that deserves some reward, don’t you think?”

Eren grit his teeth, angered by Reiner’s nonchalance.

“Reiner,” Ymir groaned weakly, “what are you even talking about?”

“Huh? I already told you, we don’t have to talk to our superiors about promotion.”

“That’s… not what I mean.”

“Oh, right. You guys managed to find that cannon and bring it down, didn’t you? You really saved our asses back there, didn’t you? As for Krista, well, no matter how you look at it, it’s obvious that she has a thing for me. I mean, she’s exceptionally nice to me all the time, and–”

“HEY!” screamed Eren. “Are you shitting me right now?”

Reiner, looking genuinely confused, stood up and put his hands up innocently.

“What’s wrong, Eren? Did I say something wrong?”

“Don’t start talking like everyone’s going to forget what happened! Like hell anyone’s going to forgive you!”

“Cool it, Eren,” Ymir warned, keeping her gaze at the forlorn Bertolt. “I think even they know that they’re talking completely from their asses. Ain’t that right, Bertl? If you have something you want to say, then spit it out and quit keeping it to yourselves.”

“Reiner,” Bertolt spoke.

“Huh?” questioned Reiner as he turned to face him.

“We’re not soldiers anymore. We’re warriors.”

Ymir and Eren growled at Reiner and Bertolt, knowing full well what their term meant.

“Yeah,” Reiner sighed. “Right.”

Just then, Reiner sat down on his branch, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers and breathing heavily and solemnly.

“What…” mumbled Eren, “…the hell?”

“I don’t know how,” Ymir spoke, “but I think I understand now. I thought it was strange that the man who destroyed Wall Maria and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths would risk his life to save Conny and Pinkie Pie. You saved them out of instinct rather than let that ‘warrior’ bullshit of yours allow them to die.”

Reiner dug his eyes into his palm, concealing the tears that ran onto his hand and fingers. Bertolt sat against the bark of his tree, taking in Ymir’s painful, but truthful words.

“My guess is that you and your warrior bunch went out to destroy the walls,” Ymir hypothesized, “but you couldn’t deal with all the suffering and grief you caused and decided to become a soldier as some kind of cheap atonement. And at the moment when you thought you reached your physical limit, you decided to forsake all of your friends and let them die at the titan’s hands. Is that it? I’m impressed. For someone with such a straight personality to get whacked out like that–”

“SILENCE!” Reiner bellowed.

Reiner’s eyes bore into Ymir with an intensity of a white, hot sun.

“Shut up, you fucking bitch,” he growled back.

“Whoops,” Ymir chuckled, “I think I might have touched a nerve there.”

Eren could tell from Reiner’s violent reaction that Ymir had hit bull’s-eye with her assumption. However, despite Reiner’s kindness and supportiveness in the past, he still couldn’t allow himself to accept what Reiner and Bertolt have done.

“Quit fucking around,” demanded Eren. “What are you playing the victim for? What tricks are you trying to pull here? On the day before I passed my aptitude test, what were you thinking then while I was talking with you. Bertolt, you dumb sack of shit, I talked about it, right? Right in front of you.

“I told you about how my mother was eaten by a titan. How a piece of the gate that you kicked landed on our house and pinned her down so she couldn’t get away. You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you? Because I told you!”

Bertolt emotionlessly looked to Eren, whose eye were wetting with forming tears.

“How did you feel?” asked Eren. “Back then, how did that story make you feel?”

Bertolt remembered the conversation all too well. Despite what he did, he knew what he felt.

“Back then…” Bertolt said. “I felt… sorry for you.”

Eren suddenly stood to his feet. While Ymir looked up to him, Reiner and Bertolt continued to sit in their own personal grief and regret.

“I see…” gasped Eren. “You… you aren’t soldiers… and you’re not warriors either… You’re murderers… who let hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children die by your hands… you’re mass murderers!”

Reiner couldn’t let any more dread hold him down. With a clenching of his fist and teeth, he turned to Eren in fury.

“I know that already!” Reiner shouted. “I don’t need you to tell me!”

“THEN QUIT TALKING ABOUT IT LIKE YOU’RE HUMAN!” screamed Eren. “YOU AREN’T HUMANS ANYMORE! YOU TURNED THIS WORLD INTO HELL, YOU FUCKING ANIMALS!”

“What do you want from murderers like us?” Reiner yelled back. “Do you want to reflect on our actions and realize how wrong we were? Do you want us to apologize like that’s going to do a goddamn? Do you want to keep telling us that, ‘Killing is wrong!’ like that’s going to make a difference? What do you want from us? The Reiner and Bertolt that you knew are gone! If you want to cry and scream your head off about it, then be my fucking guest!”

Eren’s eyes shot open. It was true. His friends Reiner and Bertolt were dead. All that he saw in front of him now were the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan incarnate. Eren suddenly smiled, frightening the two of them.

“You’re right,” Eren softly spoke. “How could I have been so naïve? If you’re no longer my friends Reiner and Bertolt, that means, when the time comes, I won’t have any problems in making your deaths and agonizing and excruciating as possible.”

“Shut up,” Ymir squawked.

“What?”

“Please, Eren, I can’t expect to take you seriously with you spouting such childish, hypocritical bullshit.”

Eren, becoming angered by Ymir’s words, turned to her with a growing scowl.

“Huh?”

“I’m saying that killing them isn’t going to do shit… well, except, of course, satisfy that insatiable bloodlust of yours.”

Before Eren could retort, Ymir turned to Reiner.

“Hey, Reiner,” called Ymir. “What was that monkey thing that we saw on Castle Utgard early this morning?”

“Monkey?” wondered Reiner. “What on Earth are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. I saw you two looking at that thing back then. Your eyes were sparkling like gemstones.”

Reiner and Bertolt looked to Ymir with anger, feeling as if they could never get past her.

“Monkey?” Eren asked, dumbfounded by the word. “What are you talking about?”

“The monkey,” Ymir explained, “which your friend Conny has decided to call the Beast Titan, is the one who caused the titan outbreak inside Wall Rose yesterday and caused all of that chaos, and he’s the one those two are after. Because,” she mentioned, turning her sights to Reiner and Bertolt, “once you find him, you can return home, right?”

Eren’s confusion began to mount as Ymir revealed more and more new information to him.

“Hey!” Eren demanded. “Tell me everything that you know, now!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” shouted Ymir. “I’m not just going to tell you everything right off the bat. If you think that killing those two will end all of this, you’re gravely mistaken.”

“Who’s our enemy?” Eren shouted.

“Well, if I had to say, it’d have to be–”

“Ymir!” Reiner interrupted. “Tell me honestly, do you think this world has a future?”

Eren and Ymir’s eyes widened, but for entirely different reasons.

“If you understand,” he continued, “then think about your actions. You should come over with us!”

“Are you telling me to trust you?” scoffed Ymir. “Fat chance. You don’t trust me.”

“Yes, I do! You want to protect Krista, don’t you?”

Ymir’s eyes widened, knowing he unveiled an ultimate weapon that even she couldn’t avoid.

“We can trust each other on that!” assured Reiner. “This might sound like a trick, but don’t you think we should do something for Krista, or is the strength of Eren’s powers and the ponies enough?”

Eren looked frightened, especially as Ymir began to show a more deceptive and mistrusting look towards Eren.

“No, Ymir,” pleaded Eren, “he’s wrong! Ymir, we already changed the woman from inside the Female Titan! She knows that the ponies can help save this world, and Krista too.”

“And people still continue to die,” Reiner said, “and who knows when one of those people will be Krista?”

Eren gasped, unable to develop a rebuttal himself. Ymir was already slipping into Reiner’s grasp, and Eren knew it.

“You thought you’d be finished once we took you away,” Reiner continued. “Frankly, you’re right. We can’t guarantee your safety. Not after what you’ve done. But if only for Krista, we can at least try to ensure that she lives through all this. Your petty life, or Krista’s? The choice is yours.”

“Ymir!” Eren shouted again. “Who’s our enemy? Tell me!”

Ymir looked to Eren with a slight, victorious grin on her face.

“Beats me,” she answered.

Eren looked as Ymir’s hand and leg hand just finished growing back. Eren stared at her with a scowl, furious at her betrayal.

Looks like she’s finished healing up, Eren thought, looking at his own steaming stubs on his arms. Shit. Mine haven’t even gotten close. She’s not going to answer me. I’m left with more questions than answers, but at least we’re still waiting here.

Eren looked to the sun to his left as it neared the tips of the mountains far off in the distance.

The sun should be setting within the hour. If my friends are indeed coming. They have until then to get here.

Bertolt leapt down from his branch to Reiner, putting his lips close to his ear.

“Reiner,” Bertolt wondered, “do you really trust her? Her titan was small, but it was very fast. If we don’t control her properly, she’ll kill us in the blink of an eye… not to mention, she already killed Berik.”

“Exactly,” Reiner answered. “That fact alone should be all we need to trust her. After she killed Berik, she must have turned back to a human to hide amongst the people to avoid being killed. That’s when she met Krista: someone that she considered more important than herself; enough that she would jump into a swarm of titans to save her.”

“Reiner? You’re not becoming a–”

“Relax!” exclaimed Reiner as he shoved Bertolt’s shoulder with his palm. “I’m still a warrior. There’s something more important in her to us than her adorable looks. Don’t forget, although she betrayed us now, Annie still spied on those Wallists when we were still in training. They were looking out for Krista, who knows more about the titans than even us.

“Krista is a child of one of the Wallist families. In other words, if this ‘coordinate’ that we’re searching for isn’t Eren himself, then our mission is far from over. If we have Krista on our side, the search will be much easier.”

“Yeah,” Bertolt agreed. “Let’s finish it. Next time we come back, we’ll have Krista and the coordinate, and then we can return to our hometown, and our mission will finally be complete.”

Reiner couldn’t help see that Bertolt looked forlorn. Reiner’s eyes shot open upon the realization.

“Hey,” grunted Reiner, “don’t start giving me this, ‘Are you a warrior?’ bullshit and then get all mopey about Annie!”

“What?” Bertolt shouted. “What are you–”

“Don’t act like I don’t know about what you think of her by the way you kept staring at her. I’m surprised no one else noticed.”

“No! I–”

“Forget it,” Reiner dismissed, looking away from him towards the horizon out north. “It’s clear she’s not on our side anymore, so you can kiss your chances with her goodbye.”

As Bertolt looked out to the north sadly, his vision caught something off in the distance. Reiner saw it too, and what he saw caused him to gasp in fear. A pillar of red smoke rose out into the sky, followed by a plethora of others as they came closer towards the forest. Reiner grit his teeth, taking both of his operational devices from his harness.

“Smoke flares?” Bertolt exclaimed. “The Scouting Legion has come already? There’s no way that they should have been able to get all their horses off the wall that fast!”

“Not if the ponies helped out,” Reiner breathed walking to the edge of his branch. “Damn, their persistent.”

Reiner leapt off, launching a hook into the trunk of the tree Eren stood on right above his head. Reiner reeled himself towards the bark and pushed off landing on the branch right in front of Eren. As Reiner approached him, Eren backed himself into the tree.

“Reiner,” Eren said, “what are you doing? It’s still too early to leave!”

“It doesn’t matter,” answered Reiner, cornering Eren further in. “We’re leaving right now! Don’t try and put up a fight now, alright?”

“Hey,” Eren chuckled nervously as he put his arms up, “don’t need to be so rough now. How could I possibly fight with my hands gone? C’mon…”

In a flash, Eren jumped up and drove his forehead into Reiner’s face, knocking him down to his back. Before Reiner could get back up, Eren fell upon him and swung his arm into Reiner’s face as hard as he could. Bertolt swung down to Eren’s branch to help his friend.

“DIE! DIE! DIE!” Eren shouted on each strike.

Reiner tucked his leg underneath Eren’s stomach, allowing him to push off with his foot and throw Eren into the tree and press his foot into his gut, crumpling Eren into submission. Reiner quickly crawled on top of him and put his neck and right arm into a headlock, restricting Eren’s movements as he tried to squirm free.

“I’ll kill you!” declared Eren. “I’ll crush you!”

“Hey,” asked Ymir, “why are we leaving so soon?”

“Ymir,” Bertolt questioned, “after you turned back into a human, do you remember the person who you ate?”

“No. I don’t remember. It was only about five years ago. Was it one of your warriors?”

Bertolt’s silence seemed to be the only answer Ymir needed, although Eren’s grunting seemed to add to the feeling of anguish the Bertolt must have felt then.

“I see,” Ymir said. “Like I said, I don’t remember anything. I’m sorry.”

Eren managed to put his arm into his mouth, biting down. While Bertolt and Ymir looked at them with wary eyes, they were both surprised and partially relieved to see that Eren could not transform.

“I guess I can’t blame you,” Bertolt accepted. “The same happened for us too.”

Reiner’s grip on Eren’s neck was too much for Eren to handle, as Eren’s vision became hazy and his consciousness fading as he fell into sleep.

“Eren doesn’t seem to remember either,” added Ymir. “Do you hate me, Bertl?”

“I was thinking about that ever since I first saw you transform,” answered Bertolt. “The truth is, I don’t really know. I’m sure you didn’t want to eat anyone. Tell me, how long were you a titan?”

“For about sixty years. It was like I was in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.”

Eren’s eyes finally shut closed as he lay limp in Reiner’s arms.

“Bertolt, do you still have those cloths?” requested Reiner.

Bertolt pulled two long strips of fabric and rope from the back of his pants and waved them out to unfold them. With quickness and dexterity, Bertolt folded Eren's arms behind his back and tied them down. Next, he hoisted the unconscious Eren so his back was to Reiner’s back, wrapping the cloth around Reiner’s and Eren’s chest and tying them tight together. Bertolt then wrapped the last cloth around Eren’s face and the inside of his mouth, gagging him.

“Are we ready?” asked Reiner as he stood. “Ymir, hold on to Reiner.”

Ymir jumped onto Bertolt’s back, wrapping her arms over his shoulders and her legs around his waist above the hooks holsters on his belt. With everything gathered, Reiner and Bertolt jumped off and swung across the branches and trunks of the trees through the forest. The titans seeing the humans run away, broke away from their spots and made chase for them inside the dark forest.

To the north, the Scouting Legion and Luna’s guards were visibly arcing over the last hill down.