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THE SOLDIERS OF THE SURVEY CORPS REGIMENT WERE BUSY, BUSIER THAN USUAL. They gathered food and water for sustenance, extra gear in case some appear to be malfunctioning, medical equipment and more others.
Carts were brought for almost every horse as they needed a lot for the things they planned to bring with them.
Eren placed another stack of tents on his cart and exhaled sharply, stretching his arms forward. His knuckles cracked and he rolled back his shoulders.
Armin approached his cart and laid down a satchel of bread with a sigh of relief before facing his friend.
"Do you think we'll be able to find her?" he asked, voice doubtful as his friend turned to him, "I mean, I'm not losing hope but... considering how large the place outside the walls is, she could be anywhere in any direction."
"We'll find her, I'm sure of it," Eren stated, looking up at the setting sun, "We'll find her and we'll treat her well this time. I don't know what we did wrong but we have to make sure we keep her safe."
Armin peered at his friend for a moment before looking in the same direction as he was. She could be anywhere but who said that they would give up? The boy was determined to find her, all of them were.
"Eren," a female voice called and the two boys turned their heads towards its owner, "Captain said to get ready."
"We're both already ready," he responded,
Mikasa turned to the blonde and blinked upon noticing the expression he had on his face.
"What are you thinking, Armin?" she asked, causing the boy to raise his head to look at her and Eren to turn to him as well.
"What? You're still on with that?"
"N-No! I was just..." Armin sighed, looking down at his shoes, "I was just thinking what made her leave so abruptly. If it wasn't because of us, there must be something else we're missing. A big point."
His two friends gazed at him thoughtfully before nodding their heads in agreement.
"I think that Captain Levi might know the reason why," he continued, "He was... um... a little upset."
Armin gulped as he thought back about the expression his captain had when he walked out of the room. He was heartbroken.
"When... When I read the paper," he explained, "It didn't make too much sense to me."
"It made sense to me," Eren claimed, "'It got me.' It's saying that there was something or someone in here that hurt her and made her leave."
"The only question is: who?" Mikasa backed him up.
Armin looked at his two friends, mind racing with possibilities that he came up with.
"No," he said, "I know it might make sense at first as it did to me. But when I thought about it again, who upset her so much for her to leave?"
There was a pause. A long pause as the two others thought carefully of that matter. A wind blew by and their hair flowed in the direction ahead of them. North.
"Hey, we need to leave," Jean walked in, followed by Connie with Sasha and Historia behind him.
"What happened?" Connie asked.
"Think about it," Armin said, dismissing the question, "We did all we could do to make her feel comfortable. Who upset her? No one. No one we know upset her."
"What are you talking about?" Jean asked.
"F/n," he replied, "F/n didn't leave because of us. She didn't leave because of any of us. She left because..."
"Because what, Armin?" Eren retorted, "She might not have left because of us but there must be someone who upset her."
"I don't think that's the case," Historia interjected, "Armin's right. The message doesn't fit with what we thought the reason was."
"'It got me.'" Connie repeated the phrase, "What is 'it'? If it was a person..."
"She would've used a different pronoun," Armin finished, "It would be least likely for her to be talking about a person."
"She just recently learned how to speak," Eren reminded them.
"She spoke normally to me," Sasha stated, taking another bite of the potato in her hand.
"Come on, Eren," Armin urged, "Think about it. It's very close to impossible."
There was a moment of silence as Eren stared at his friend, considering what he had stated. Mikasa glanced from Armin to Eren and back at the blonde, inhaling and exhaling softly before coming to a conclusion.
"Wait a minute, Armin," Jean spoke up before the girl could, "If that was the case, what made her leave?"
There was another moment of silence as the friends waited for his response. Armin glanced at his tall friend before speaking his own opinion.
"I'm not sure," Armin said, "But I am willing to find out. What I am sure about is that Corporal Levi, and possibly even Section Commander Hange and Commander Erwin, knew about it."
"And how do you know that?" Jean narrowed his eyes.
"I..." Armin swallowed thickly, not knowing how to respond to his friend.
They all examined him, the potato in Sasha's hand long gone. The expression he wore was an expression of someone trying to hide something. It was clear since the boy wasn't too good at hiding emotions in the first place.
But he also looked uncomfortable and one of his friends was quick to catch up on it.
"Whatever it is or however he found out, it must be true," Mikasa stated, taking away all the attention Armin had earlier, "Corporal and Section Commander are very close to F/n. Don't you remember the time when she had a panic attack? Or when she was injured?"
"They stayed with her," Historia nodded, "I don't know much but judging by the looks on their faces when we left that time, they were close to her."
"Possibly even closer than we are with her," Connie muttered.
"Listen," Eren finally spoke up, "Whatever it is, right? We need to do our best to search for her. We need to get her back, whatever it takes."
His friends nodded, exchanging a few words before facing away and marching towards their horses. The trio was left staring at the already dark sky as the sun had already set and the moon already appeared.
It was quiet. Just the sounds of the wind howling and the trees rustling. The footsteps of the soldiers away from them and the distant chatting in the air.
Eren broke the silence.
"Whatever it is..." he muttered out the repeated phrase before letting out a quiet scoff, "Whatever the reason is, Armin, tell us after this."
Armin sighed after hearing his friend's words but reluctantly nodded his head.
"Yeah," he said, voice almost coming out as a whisper, "I will."
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