Chapter 13

"Don't be ridiculous. You're making things - " Suddenly a shrieking roar erupted from deep within the forest, cutting me off. It seemed like a desperate cry from an animal on the brink of survival with nothing to lose. Every last screech resounded through the many twists and turns in the forest as it continuously went on. Everyone was shocked, afraid, and confused at what was going on. Pure panic and terror washed over many people's faces. Sasha was the most terrified, crouching near the tree trunk as she listened to the howls. However Mikasa still kept her cool façade and only looked suspicious of the noise.

I don't know what I felt at that moment. Immediately though, I felt a strong ominous feeling. Something is going to go terribly wrong. Shivers crept along my spine and hairs rose. Instinctively, I shivered and felt a wave of anxiety. What is this noise? Then, a rumbling noise was heard. In the distance was a horde of titans like Erik mentioned, but they couldn't possibly all be Aberrants. They were all frantically running like it would cost their life to stop.

"Lukas, what should we do? The horde of titans are coming directly at us!" I asked, gulping while sweat drenched my hands. At that moment was when the sun shined the brightest and I felt the heat. I could feel the sweat from nervousness and the sun, making my clothes stick tightly against my body. It almost felt like my blades were going to slip or I was going to accidently miss the trigger for the 3D Maneuver Gear. How could I fight now?

"Everyone intercept them! Grab their attention so they don't enter the forest! We must not allow any titan to go inside!" Lukas commanded forcefully.

When the titans approached, everyone intercepted them. I flew right beside the titan and dangled in front of its face but it didn't react. It was blind against my interception and kept on bolting down the forest. Confused, I continued to maneuver right in front of them but they kept on moving along and I was almost trampled. It seemed as if nothing could stop the pack of titans but I couldn't believe it. They were all Aberrants. There was only one thing we could do now.

"Begin combat!"

I hooked and grappled with Lukas and Erik while we chased the titans. However, we couldn't kill any one of them and just kept flying after them. Their movements were random so it was hard to get close or else we would get swatted away. This went on for a while but we gave up the chase. Then, a lightning struck and the forest shook. Another roar was heard, a roar filled with agony and grief.

"I think it's Eren. He must've turned into a titan already. Let's go see what's going on," Lukas considered.

"I'll lead the way," Erik responded with a serious face and for once, no smile.

Lukas and I followed Erik as he made his way through the forest, listening. I still couldn't believe that he could hear things from this far away and know exactly where to go. How did his hearing get so good? If he were to join the Survey Corps, it would be a huge help because it would be like having another Mike. Then both of them could keep on the watch for titans and locate them. In the distance, I saw Erik slow down to an abrupt halt.

"Erik, what's wrong?" I asked, but when my eyes wavered from Erik to the sight, I was mortified too. First, we saw a member of Levi's squad hung, dead. Peeking at his face, I could tell that it was Gunther. Who did this to him? A titan couldn't have killed him because it would eat him too. He was an elite on Levi's squad so how could he die with such short notice?

Later, as I continued soaring through the sky, I came to another scene. Blood was splattered on the trees and two bodies were found. Auruo was lying on the floor, dead. Averting my eyes, I saw Petra against the tree, most likely killed by being smashed into it. Horror swept through me as I realized what happened. Even though I wasn't close with them, I still felt the sadness, their pain, and their agony. How would Levi feel about this? At that thought, I felt even sadder because his squad was all gone. Where was Eld? I don't think I wanted to know. But then it came to me that if a titan killed all of Levi's elite squad members, then what we were really up against? Would I share the same fate? Would other people die from this titan too? Turning to Lukas to ask, I saw that he was still processing everything. Was he close to them?

As I watched Lukas grieve all by himself and face reality, I was confused at myself. Am I not human? Why do I not feel the same amount of pain as Lukas? Do I not have feelings? Why can I get over this so quickly?

"Lukas, we have to - " I started with a worried expression.

"Auruo! Petra! Eld! Gunther! We were all going to get back home together. Your families are waiting for you! Come back! You should've at least died peacefully. What did you guys do to deserve this? It's not fair! It's not fair..." Lukas yelled with tears streaming down his face. He punched the tree as he vented out all his grief, regret, and anger. That was just like me when Erik died. If only Levi was here to calm Lukas down.

"We have to go, Lukas. We have to meet this titan and make sure Levi is okay," I urged, tapping his shoulder.

Lukas shook my shoulder off and started to fly ahead of us, just going to any direction.

"Wait! That's not the right way! Just follow me!" Erik reminded.

Lukas made no move so Erik quickly caught up with him and led the way. I heard some noise but I couldn't exactly pinpoint its location unlike Erik, who seemed to know where he was going. After a couple minutes, the noise seemed nearby. Just past the tree were two titans. One had steam coming out while the other was being pursued by Levi and Mikasa.

"Hei - mnhmn," I mumbled as Erik put his hand over my mouth. He looked at me and shook his head while signaling for me to be quiet. Even Lukas who still seemed upset watched silently. Levi and Mikasa seemed to converse and then they split up. It seemed that Mikasa was distracting the female titan while Levi was trailing behind. That must've been the titan that killed Levi's Squad and roared in the forest. The female titan turned around and shot a punch at Levi which made my heart stop. But then Levi dodged it by slicing up its arm and then stabbing its eyes. He left the blades in to stop regeneration and then got new ones out, continuing his attack. Afterwards, it fell down with its back against the tree as Levi continued to chip away at its flesh. He's so fast, the female titan can't react to his attacks. I bet even Mikasa was surprised. Well that's what you expect from the number one soldier. I was shocked and full of wonder seeing that Levi easily overpowered the female titan. It was as if he was channeling his anger and grief onto the titan for losing his squad members. This was the first time really that I saw Levi be serious when it comes to killing titans.

It all seemed to go well until Mikasa hooked onto the titan's neck. However, just when she was about to slice its nape, it raised its hand. Levi saw this and sliced its jaws so it can release Eren and retreated. I'm glad Levi was there or Mikasa would've died. She probably let her emotions control her and made mistakes. I started to follow them but when I looked back, I saw tears coming from the titan's eyes. Tears... why is it crying? Why does it want Eren?

"Heichou!" I yelled as I sped up trying to catch up. He was a bit surprised when he saw me and that means I did a good job of hiding there.

"Why are you here? You should be back with the others," he reprimanded while curiously looking behind me.

"I know this isn't a good time for you but, meet Erik. He's my brother!" I sheepishly said, hoping not to ruin the mood.

He just sternly gazed at me and Erik and then continued moving forward. I probably shouldn't have said anything to him. Hopefully he's okay. If my close comrades died, I probably wouldn't want someone pestering me either.

~*~

We were back with everyone else and the dead bodies were organized into long columns. They were being moved to carts and Levi was standing by his squad's bodies. There was this tension in the air that no one was ever going to get used to. I am alive but those bodies aren't. When am I going to die? Sadness overcame me again as I watched Levi get the patch from Petra's uniform.

Then, there were two soldiers who were upset about not retrieving their friend's body. Commander Erwin said he would say they were missing in action while Levi told them that the confirmation of a dead body was enough. While they were leaving, Dieter, the soldier who was upset shouted, "Don't the two of you have any human feelings?"

I walked up to him and said, "It's okay, there are plenty other people who feel the same way. You're going to have to abandon your friends. Why did you join the Survey Corps? You joined to help humanity against the titans knowing that you might die. Since your friend took that risk and died, there's no helping it. Having the body won't change anything. It's cruel but it's reality."

Later, when we were on our way back to the walls, there were two titans in the rear end approaching us. In front of them were the two soldiers from before but one carried a dead body. I watched the scene unfold with the body falling, the guy next to Dieter being eaten, and then Dieter almost dying, Mikasa saving him. However, the titans kept on coming and there were two options: drop the bodies and flee or fight and risk dying. I was riding by the wagons and Levi slowed his pace to reach us.

"Drop the bodies. It's the only way. Many bodies haven't made it back and these guys aren't special," Levi commanded, being true to his word earlier.

I watched in horror as the bodies dropped. We were getting rid of the bodies because they were a burden. They were once alive and now we were tossing them away. Looking over at Levi, I saw that he was in pain too as he saw his squad members including Petra, fall one after another. It must be hard for him seeing their bodies thrown away. They were all once alive and were probably the soldiers that Levi saw every day. Now he was losing his entire squad. But knowing that he had a squad before them, how many squads did Levi really lose?

Now that the bodies were gone, the titan slowed down and we moved up. Afterwards, we took a break to see what direction would be best to travel in. I watched Levi approach Dieter and give him Petra's patch, the wings of freedom symbol that was once on her jacket.

"This proves to me that they were alive. It's Ivan's," Levi stated and then walked away. Dieter broke down into tears and so did I. It was a surprisingly kind gesture for Levi to do, give up Petra's patch and give it to Dieter, saying it was Ivan's. I don't know what to say anymore.

"Heichou," I called while tapping his shoulder. He looked back and I continued saying, "That was really kind of you but I'm really sorry for your squad's loss," Step one complete. "Um, I don't really know how to comfort you because I don't think I have yet to feel the emptiness of one's death, but..." Step two complete. "Here," Onto step three.

It was the dreaded moment and was a big gamble. This would either destroy any relationship with Levi or comfort him. I took a step forward, spread my arms out, and hugged him. I closed my eyes shut, scared of what punishment would await after hugging him. Maybe he would kick me like he did in that Capture the Flag game. As long as it comforts him, I'll take the kick anytime. He did a lot for me I guess like training me so I have to repay him now.

However, he didn't kick me or anything. He just stood there, either hating or appreciating my hug. The mood was too tight so I said, "This is the thing I wanted before to comfort me. Isn't a hug nice?"

Finally, I stepped back and smiled, getting reminded of Erik's smiles. He didn't say anything still or didn't move but when I was walking away, I heard him mumble, "Thanks."

~*~

The return of the Survey Corps was a miserable one. Everyone was shouting, blaming us, and complaining about their taxes. They all wanted to know if this expedition learned enough so that the people who died haven't died in vain. The air was heavy with grief, regret, and anger. We were hopeless. What could we do right now? We just had to endure all of the comments and keep fighting.

"So cool! The Survey Corps is awesome! They got the crap kicked out of them and still fight!" a kid shouted while standing next to his little sister.

That's right. No matter what, we, the Survey Corps, must keep fighting. And I also have to find out the truth behind my past. Clutching my horse's reins, I gazed off into the sunset with that one thought. We have to keep fighting...

~*~

YAY CHAPTER DONE! I'm sorry this chapter is uploaded a bit late. I was actually going to finish it yesterday but then suddenly my internet went down. But even if I did post it yesterday, it would've still been late. Sorry again! This chapter and maybe the next two chapters will kinda be a review for stuff with the female titan arc. I'm going to add in a little more clues and hints about Ria and then after the female titan arc (maybe one or two chapters later) I will be skipping the Clash of Titans arc (the arc in the manga) and make my own story from there. I would say maybe 10 chapters the most until the end of this book (this may change). Oh and I tried to make shipping moments with Lukas last chapter and with Levi this chapter. I stink at shipping moments, I'm just not the best romantic okay? It would be cool if you could tell me if you ship Ria and Lukas (two OCs?) or Ria and Levi. Anyway, I would like to thank every single one of you who read my story, comment, and vote! I really REALLY appreciate it and this chapter's dedication goes to @Rainbowsnowcone! Congratulations, you really deserve it! I can't thank you enough for your votes and all of your comments! I enjoyed reading all of your comments too! You have no idea how happy you made me over the past week. It was like a miracle for me when you found my story and went away, voting and commenting. Well then, be sure to vote for me for SnK Watty Awards and Anime Watty Awards (SnK category) soon! Bye and see you next week!