The next day…

Y/n was seen riding the back of a horse with his comrades Connie, Christa and Ymir in front of him. 

Their mission has already begun.

Connie: Wait so where the hell are you gonna go?

Y/n: I'll be surveying the area. Don't worry, I'll be sure to check on you three again soon. 

Ymir: I still don't understand why you can't just stay with us longer.

Christa: I know it's orders, but couldn't they at least inform us that you'd leave before we went out.

Y/n: I wish I was able to, but I'm sure Commander Irwin had a good reason. I'm not even allowed to disclose where I'll be specifically.

Connie: Damn it…

Y/n smiles at his squad.

Y/n: Don't worry, I'll be back.

Y/n jumps off his horse as it runs up besides Christa. Everyone watches as the moment Y/n hit the ground, lighting blinded them leaving a large dust cloud behind them. Two dark wings burst out of the smoke as the dragon took to the sky and began to head towards the right side of the formation.

Christa: Be safe Y/n… please.

Y/n soars the the sky as he scans the ground below him. The dragon growls as he sees multiple squadrons have been wiped out… No wonder he hasn't seen any smoke signals in a while. All that was left were titans wandering aimlessly. Wait… Riener… jean… and Armin, weren't they positioned at the right, yes, by the front. Y/n suddenly sees multiple Yellow signals up ahead. Y/n begins to pick up his pace as he sees a group of soldiers hanging by a thread against a horde of titans. 

Y/n swoops down as a man is about to be bitten by a titan. The man's eyes widen as he sees a pair of talons stab unto the back of the titan. As it loses its grip on the man, Y/n bites down on the nape of the titan before ripping its head off. The man looks up in fear at the great reptile, before it leaped away towards a Titan that just bit a woman's leg. Y/n bites down at it's head causing it to drop the woman allowing her comrade to swoop in and picking her up. Y/n places all of his weight on the titan head. Turning it into paste, he then stops on the nape delivering the finishing blow. Four 3-6 meter titans began to charge at Y/n. However he stands tall towering over them, he begins to flap his wings causing a large amount of wind to push them back. 

Once they were a few meters away, Y/n jumped onto two of them, before swiping the other two away with his razor sharp tail. A 13 meter abnormal is seen charging towards Y/n before leaping at the great dragon. The two roll over the ground as the abnormal bites down at Y/n's throat. The titan's teeth struggle to go through his hard scales, as Y/n tries to push it off. Y/n places its claws on the side of its head before crushing the head and pushing the titan back. The skull of the titan steams as it attempts to stand up, Y/n then walks over to it before holding the titan down, Y/n's mouth slowly opens as it begins to give off an orange glow. A fire ball begins to form, before a wave of flames expell from his throat turning the titan to ash. Y/n huffed and puffed before looking down at all of the soldiers left. 

Y/n: What. happened.

The group flinched at the beast's deep and powerful voice. One of them clears their throat and hesitantly takes a step forward.

Soldier: An Abnormal ran past us and it brought a horde of titans with it!

Y/n: An abnormal… where did she go.

The soldier pointed ahead… 

Y/n: *Thoughts* armin and the others should be positioned there. I have to get there quick. *out loud* Get to safety. Issue, a flare.

The man nods and goes to fire an SOS signal. Y/n stands tall as he raises his arms before flapping his wings and taking flight.

—

Elsewhere… in a small forest. Reiner is seen fishing up bandaging Armin's forehead. Jean is seen trying to call for his horse, as their run in with the mysterious Female titan spooked it off. It's been 10 minutes and being out in the open like this, it'll 9nly get worse by the minute.

Reiner: How’s your 3D Maneuver Gear looking, Armin?

Armin: It’s okay… The clasp released as intended, so it seems it’s not broken.

Reiner: I see… I’m glad to hear it. But what do we do? We only have one horse. If Jean’s horse comes back, the three of us can move, but… 

We then hear Jean whisting for his horse one more time.

Jean: *thoughts* Damn it, why? Reiner’s horse returned, so why didn’t mine? We can’t stay here any longer. In the worst case, we’ll have to leave someone here… But how would we decide who to leave? 

He then looks at the two…

Jean: *thoughts* Armin, since he’s wounded? Reiner, since he’s big and would have trouble riding with someone else? Or should I run and try to find my horse?

Jean clenches his fist and grits his teeth.

Jean: *thoughts* Damn it! Why the hell do I have to think about this?! We all made it through that fight alive. This isn’t fair…

Jean continues calling for his horse. Armin remembers how the Female Titan stared down at him.

Reiner:Armin…Hey, Armin!

Armin: Ah…!

Reiner: Are you still out of it?

Armin: Yeah, my head’s still a bit fuzzy…

Reiner: I see… But we must decide. It’s a hard choice, but someone will have to stay behind.

Jean: Ah…

Armin: Wait! First, let’s fire a smoke round. If the formation continued straight ahead, the row 4-3 team should be nearby.

Jean then takes out the flare gun and fires a purple smoke round.

Jean: That’s the signal for an emergency… But I can’t imagine they’ll understand our inventions from just that.

Reiner: Armin, we can wait another three minutes. By then, we must decide --

Armin: I’ll stay.

Reiner: What?

Armin: But there’s something I want you to tell them for me. Preferable to Commander Erwin alone --

Jean: No, Armin.

Armin: Ah…

Jean: You should tell him yourself.

Suddenly Armin notices that the shade around began to grow larger as gust of wind began to suddenly hit them. The three get out from under the tree and see Y/n's dragon from landing in front of them. Armin looks at his wings to see they have burned up… has he been flying for an hour? 

Armin gets up and runs towards the dragon.

Armin: Y/n!

The eyes go dark as it suddenly slumps over, the three watch as the body begins to steam. Y/n burst out behind the nape of the dragon and takes a deep breath. He looks down at the three and lets out a sigh of relief.

Y/n: You guys are okay… good. What happened? I heard something about an abnormal?

Reiner: You won't believe it, the thing had tits. 

Y/n looked at Reiner dumbstruck.

Y/n: What…?

Armin: W-What he means is it was a Female Titan! I think she's like Eren and you!

Y/n: Another one… damn it, where did she go?

Jean: Armin believes she's looking for Eren. 

Armin: That's right! You think you could make it?

Y/n: Not right now… I can't fly, I'll be too vulnerable if I'm just on foot.

Jean: Just great. Just what we needed, now two of us have to stay behind… what the-

Jean looks in the distance and squints as he sees three objects approaching. Everyone turns to look his way.

Jean: Looks like someone’s here… And with two more horses!

Armin: Huh?

Jean: That’s… Ahh… Krista!

Krista: Is everyone okay?!

Jean: Oh, that’s my horse…

The runs up beside Jean, Jean smiles and pets his horse.

Jean: Haha! Woah, woah, calm down, Buchwald.

Y/n: Krista, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the squad?

Krista: W-Well this horse ran toward me, terrified…Did you engage the Titans? Armin, what happened to you? Are you okay?

Armin: Yeah, I think so.

Krista: Ah… That's good. I'm sorry Y/n, I saw the flare, and I just had to help…

Reiner: I can’t believe that smoke brought you here.

Krista: Well I was nearby, and already had Jean and Y/n's horse…

Y/n sighs and walks up to Krista before patting her head.

Y/n: Well, thankfully you came anyway.

Krista blushes and smiles at him stunning every one of the boys.

Krista: But I’m so glad… that the worst didn’t happen to you. I really am glad.

Armin: *thoughts* God…

Jean: *Thoughts* A goddess…

Reiner: *Thoughts* I want to marry her.

Y/n: You're perfect…

Everyone looks at Y/n with wide eyes, as Krista and Y/n's faces begin to heat up immensely. Y/n clears his throat and climbs onto his horse and decides to change the topic. 

Y/n: A-Anyway, we should rejoin the formation as soon as possible.

Jean: Yeah, there should be orders to retreat.

Armin, Jean, Reiner, Y/n and Krista continue on. Krista silently looks towards Y/n and smiles.

Krista: *thoughts*  I'll remember that Y/n… thank you.

Jean: But to think we’ve been pushed back, it's been two hours out of the walls… Things are even bleaker than I’d imagined. And, it went in the opposite direction from the vanguard command team.

Krista: It?

Near the horizon, several green smoke rounds are fired.

Jean: Wha…! A green round?

Armin: Looks like they’re continuing the operation, only changing course.

Krista: What? That wasn’t a retreat command?

Jean: What is Commander Erwin thinking?

Reiner: In theory, any soldier has the authority to determine when mission completion is no longer possible. Did command not see our smoke round somehow?

Armin: Even if we don’t know what’s going on, there’s still only one thing for us to do.Follow the order!

Armin shoots a green smoke round.

Y/n: Armin's right we have to trust in his judgment, for now at least. And if I'm not mistaken…

Y/n's eyes narrow as over the horizon they seem to be getting closer to the Forest Of Giant Trees…

Y/n: I'll have plenty of ground to transform in case anything goes wrong.

—

About thirty minutes later the squad is seen approaching the gigantic forest.

Jean: Hey, what are we doing at this tourist spot? We’re totally off from both our original destination and our return point.

Armin: I don’t know… I don’t know, but the order came from Commander Erwin, after all. He must have a plan.

Jean: What kind of plan? Are they planning to hold a welcome ceremony for us new recruits at a tourist spot?

Armin: No, I don’t think so.

Jean: That was a joke. Anyway, that giant woman is following us. No matter what his plan is, we can’t stay here. The only thing I can imagine is that we’re passing through on our way to somewhere else.

Y/n: I don't think that's what's happening. 

Soldier: Everyone, halt!

A soldier on horseback approaches the five of them.

Armin: Uh…

The group halts as the soldier gets ofd his horse.

Soldier: All right, listen up, recruits. We will now make preparations to launch a counterattack. Draw your blades, and wait above in the trees. If any Titans try to enter this forest, stop them at all costs!

Jean: Huh? U-Um, sir, what do you --

Soldier: Shut up and follow orders!

The soldier activates his ODM gear and grapples onto a tree before flying away.

Jean: Seriously? What’s going on?

Y/n: I don't know but I have a bad feeling about this…

Y/n and Krista jump into their own spots of the tree lime as Reiner follows, leaving Armin and Jean to go into their own spots. After a few minutes past Jean lays his back against the tree and looks down.

Jean: *Thoughts* This is insane. We’ve abandoned the original mission to cache supplies, and when we abandoned it, we should’ve turned tail and run. But instead, we’re forging ahead to a tourist trap. And now, we’re just standing here to stop any Titans that enter the woods? *outloud* Damn him for giving a crazy order.

Armin: He’ll hear you.

Jean: And this no explanation thing is innovative, too. Of course, I’m sure he has his own concerns…

Armin: What do you mean?

Jean: A commander deemed worthless by his men in a critical situation quite often succumbs to a mysterious attack from behind. I’m just saying it wouldn’t surprise me.

Armin begins to shake as he stares at Jean.

Armin: Jean, so what are you going to do?

Jean: Don’t be so serious. This situation’s got me a bit worked up, that’s all. What am I going to do? Obey my orders and keep Titans out of the forest. You also think it’s the right move, don’t you?

ArminHuh?

Jean: You look like you know something.

Armin: Well…

Soldier: Five-meter class incoming!

Armin: Ah…!

A Titan runs toward the forest.

Armin: *Thoughts* Why bring the formation here? What is Commander Erwin thinking? No, that isn’t what we should think about. The Female Titan is pursuing Eren. And the Commander knows that. Assume these two things, and see what you can deduce…

—-

In the heart of the forest. Eren and Levi’s group are seen riding on horseback through the forest.

Eren: Captain… Captain Levi!

Levi: What?

Eren: Well… We’re in the middle of the woods! If the center enters alone, we won’t know if Titans are approaching! It seems something is approaching us from the right… How are we supposed to dodge the Titans or protect the carts?

Levi: Don’t go on and on about the obvious. We can’t do that anymore, of course.

Eren: Ah…! Th-Then why?

Levi: Look around, Eren. At all these big-ass trees.

Eren: Ah…

Levi: It’s the perfect environment for 3D Maneuver Gear. And try to use that tiny brain of yours… If you don’t want to die, think.

Eren: Ah Yes, sir! *thoughts* I see. I just can’t keep up right now because I’m still new.He won’t just tell me the answer. I have to figure it out for myself. I’m sure that’s how they all learned to fight.

Eren suddenly hears Oluo muttering.

Oluo: *mutters* What the hell? Seriously? Damn it all… What the hell is going on here?

Eren looks around at the rest of Levi’s group, who all look nervous.

Eren: Huh? *Thoughts* Wait! Wait a minute… No one knows what’s really going on? …Maybe not even Captain Levi?

—

At the edge of the forest. Armin thinks about what is going on.

Armin: *Thoughts* The Female Titan is after Eren… If I’m right about that, then there’s only one reason to come here. This is where Commander Erwin intends to deal with the Female Titan.

Jean: Armin.

Armin: hm? 

Jean: Our orders were to keep the Titans out of the forest, right?

Armin looks down toward the ground, where many Titans are gathered and clawing at the trees. Armin takes a small step back.

Armin: Ah!

Jean: In other words, there’s no longer any reason to fight… right?

—

Back inside the forest. Eren and Levi’s group continue through. A black smoke is suddenly fired in the distance.

Eren: A black smoke round?!

Gunther. It’s from directly behind us!

Eld: It’s whatever was coming toward us on the right.

Levi: Draw your blades.

Eren, Eld: Tch…!

Levi draws his blades, and looks back.

Levi: If we see it, it’ll only be for a second.

Behind the group, a soldier flies through the air. As Eren turns to look, the Female Titan sprints forward and swats the soldier out of the way.

Eren: Ah!!

Levi: Go!

The Female Titan aims to grab Eren but smashes through a tree.

Eren: Ahh!

Eren continues forward, and the Female Titan continues to chase after him.

—

Over with Y/n, his eyes are shut as his ears began to pick up screams in the forest. 

Krista: Y/n? What's wrong?

Y/n looks up deeper into the forest, and clenches his fist.

Y/n: Okay, no matter what, do not, follow me. Understand? Somethings wrong, I know it.. I'm going to look for Eren. If something goes wrong, I'll transform.

Kirsta: Wha- Y/n! 

Y/n activates his Maneuver Gear before jumping from tree to tree as he maneuvers his way through the forest. Eventually Y/n made it to a clear path, and bit down his hand. Lightning struck down as a burst of flames expanded as Y/n moved through the narrow forest. Y/n grips onto a tree before jumping off and expanding his wings.

Y/n: *thoughts* Hold on Eren…