We rode in a silent formation along the west side of Wall Maria.

Levi and I headed up the group of joined cadets, our horses keeping pace with one another, although we hadn't said a word to each other since leaving the safety of the city.

As we started to enter the thick bracket of trees that lined the far side of the West wall, I heard the sound of a flare go off to our right and Johnson called out from behind me, "Black flare to the North, Corporal!"

I heard Levi swear under his breath and looked over his head to where the flare was just fizzling out in the daytime sky. He pulled up on his horse and I followed suit, the group of cadets coming to a close stop behind us. I glanced over at him, his dark eyes flashing annoyance at the development, and said, "The abnormal? You think it's headed this way?"

He spit onto the ground beside the horses in frustration and then said, "Tch. If it's that close already, it's obviously headed for the wall. And we're at the wall. So yes, (L/N), I think it's headed this way."

I gritted my teeth, stopping myself from retorting something back at him, and then whirled my horse around to face my squad of nervous looking cadets. "You heard him. There's an abnormal headed our way. Let's hide the horses and get set up in the trees. And don't mess this up, idiots."

After hiding the horses in a dense area of thicket a few more hundred yards down the wall, we all gathered our gear and hiked back up to the place where we had seen the black flare from. Using the 3DMs, I watched as my squad of cadets flew into the air, one by one, and disappeared into position in the thick foliage of the trees above us. Soon, only Levi, the special forces trio, and myself remained on the ground.

Levi flicked his fingers at Jaeger and the angry looking boy came up to him. "Jaeger, I'm trusting you to stay in control here. We only use the titan if we absolutely have to. Is that understood, brat?"

The boy nodded. "Yes, sir."

Levi's flat eyes moved to the girl and blonde boy who stood behind their companion. "And you two, keep an eye on him. Don't let him get worked up, and watch each other's backs." He lifted his chin at them. "Get into position, brats."

The trio hooked up into the trees and were gone in the blink of an eye, leaving Levi and I alone on the ground. I pulled my blades from their sheaths and twirled them a few times in my hands, checking their flexibility and feel.

"Tch." Levi pushed past me, his 3DM wire whirring out to a tree above him. "No time for practice, (L/N). Are you ready?"

I glared at him as he paused before taking off from the ground, looking over his shoulder boredly as he waited for my answer. "Just keep your damn titan kid in control, and everything will go perfectly." I snapped back at him, whipping out my 3DM line and hooking it to a tree as I flew into the air.

I landed lightly on a large branch next to Johnson, and unhooking my gear, glanced over at him. He was sweating nervously, the hands clenched around the handles of his blades turning white with exertion. I was about to call out something slightly reassuring to him, when a crashing could be heard coming toward us through the trees, and suddenly one of the cadets from ahead of us called back, "10 meter headed this way, corporal! And it looks like there's two 15 meters close on its heels!"

The smaller titan burst into the clearing below us, its arms waving wildly at its sides as it ran clumsily through the tightly knit trees. Almost instantly, two taller, broader titans followed in its path, their gaping mouths open as they sprinted, their heads hanging back on their misshapen shoulders.

I glanced across the clearing to where Levi stood and he flicked his fingers at me. I recognized the signal and turned to Johnson, motioning to the smaller titan. "They're ours, Johnson. Take out the ten meter. Don't worry about the other two. I'll be right behind you."

He nodded, the sweat pouring down his brow now, and readjusted his grip on his blades as the first titan barreled toward us. When it ran past us, he launched himself from the tree, swinging down, sword raised, aiming straight for the titan's exposed neck.

I took my eyes off of him for a brief moment, long enough to motion to the cadet who stood in the tree next to me. "Miller, let's go. We need to handle those fifteen meters."

The girl nodded in determination. "Yes, corporal."

She instantly dropped from the tree and swung a wide arc around one of the fifteen meter titans, headed for its shoulders. I followed close behind her, the cool air stinging my cheeks as I free fell from the tree for just a moment before catching on my 3DM line and swinging upward again, right toward the far fifteen meter titan. I swung past Miller, just as she yelled in effort and swiped her blade cleanly and deeply across the first titans neck, sending blood spraying into the air as the titan collapsed to the ground. She pulled up and manuevered her 3DM, landing cleanly in the branch of a far tree, unscathed.

I swung around the back of the second taller titan and, whipping my blade through the air, brought it down on the monster's flesh. Blood spattered and speckled my face as the sword cut easily through the titan's neck and sunk into its core. The titan crashed to the ground, sending up a cloud of debris and tree branches. I corrected my trajectory, narrowly dodging a large tree that had sprung up in front of me, and landed beside Levi.

I wiped my hand across my face, removing some of the speckled blood from my skin, and glanced out over the clearing to check on Johnson. The ten meter titan was down, I could see smoke rising from its toppled body, but where was that idiot cadet?

I heard one of the cadets yell something from behind me. I whipped around in time to see two more ten meter titans enter the clearing at a sprint. I swore under my breath and glanced at Levi. "So it wasn't the beast titan then. Just a bunch of annoying smaller titans grouped together, which is abnormal."

Levi looked in disgust on the new, disfigured titans that were coming toward us and begrudgingly said, "Tch. They must have seen the abnormal. Titans don't group up like this if it's not around. But it's not coming for the wall. Something's wrong here."

Suddenly, Miller landed beside me on the tree branch, her eyes wide. "Corporal, we have a problem!" She pointed a finger behind me, toward the three downed titans, to where the two new titans were headed, and said in a shaky voice, "Johnson's down there. His 3DM malfunctioned and he can't get off the ground."

I spun around, looking to where she was pointing, and saw the small, waving and shouting figure of Johnson among the large, smoking titan bodies. I swore under my breath. "Damn idiot."

Without thinking, I shot out the line for my 3DM and took off from the tree, blade out, headed toward the incoming titans, who were running straight toward Johnson.

"(L/N), don't be a damn idiot!" I heard Levi call from behind me, but I ignored him.

I had already promised he wouldn't distract me, and no lives were going to be lost today, not if I could help it.