"ERWIN!"

The titan crunched on Erwin's arm, lifting him right off his horse and lumbered forward, dragging the commander in its jaw.

It happened in a flash, but in Isanna's eyes, it was like time slowed down for her.

It was probably because of the stress from the recent events combined with the exhaustion and the fact that her commander was quite literally ripped off from right in front of her face after saving her, but there were black spots blurring her vision.

The ringing in her ears was deafening, like a sound grenade had been shot mere inches from her; she even vaguely heard a soldier yelling for Erwin, but she was too preoccupied with the sudden surge of anxiety to care.

Isanna was aware her mind was becoming a whirring mess, and she recognized this feeling—it was the same emotion she'd felt back during her first expedition, when she saw her friends being devoured, rendering her in a haze.

A million thoughts ran through her head, as she dropped to the ground in a grunt and rolled away.

So many yelling.

"Shit—the Commander!"

"Isanna-san!"

"The Sergeant fell!"

"Advance! Eren is right in front of you!"

More screams.

It was probably just five seconds at most, but Isanna felt like she was lying on the grass for hours.

Her entire body was sore. Isanna sat up, and she had to remind herself where she was and what she was doing.

The whinnying of a horse grounded her back to reality. Fish was okay—thankfully—and came back for her. Isanna forced herself to stand, jaw clenched, and hoisted herself back on her saddle. The anxiety was ever-growing. Fuck—because of me, Erwin's—

She debated going back, but Erwin's orders rang loud and clear in her ears; a loud "Advance!" repeating over and over.

She looked at her hands and realized they were shaking. She cursed. Grabbing her reigns, she threw away all logic and headed back. There was a literal pandemonium happening ahead, but securing the commander's safety was her current priority.

She cursed a thousand times, over and over, while fighting back the shaking of her hands. With a fierce glare, she leaped off her horse and shot a hook at the nape of the titan that was lumbering away on all fours like a dog.

The moment she propelled herself, her muscles screamed in protest. The wind slapped her skin and whistled in her ears as she zipped through the air and swiped her blades across the titan's nape.

"Let go !" she snarled, a gurgle threat rippling from her throat. The titan's jaw slackened and released its hold on Erwin's arm.

Isanna lunged to catch him, the both of them crash landing. She'd made sure to twist her body so that her back received the brunt of the fall. A pained grunt fell from her as the wind got knocked out of her lungs.

Unfortunately, she had no time to wallow in her pain when she heard him groaning.

"Erwin—" she gasped and hastily sat up, helping him in a sitting position— "your arm—" she had to stop herself from continuing, feeling a sinking churn in the pits of her stomach when her eyes scanned the mangled mess of his limb.

Isanna frantically looked around for help. She was not one to lose her wits in the midst of a battle excluding her first expedition, but the fear and panic creeping in her mind pushed away all rationality in her. The loud anxious pounding in her ears was why she couldn't even hear Erwin calling for her attention.

Biting back a groan, he held her face with a hand and forced her to look at him. "Calm down. I—" He winced, heavily panting. "Cut off.. my arm."

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in. "What?"

"Cut it," Erwin repeated. "Now."

"But that's—"

"My arm is beyond saving," he persisted, closing his eyes tightly. Isanna was finally able to notice his face turning pale, rains of sweat trickling down.

Her eyes trailed back to his right arm, lips quivering at the thought of slicing it off with her own hands. She knew she had to act quick—they were sitting ducks in a battlefield, she had to make a decision immediately.

After a quick debate, she ripped a piece of her cloak and twisted it into a gag before bringing it up to Erwin's face, which she noticed was turning as white as a sheet of paper. "Bite on this."

Once he did as he was told, Isanna gripped her blade and shakily got on her feet, her hands still trembling.

Quick and precise. She gathered her courage. She brought her blade down, a sickening rip filling her ears as she cleanly chopped off the damaged arm just below Erwin's shoulder. Spurts of blood poured out, exposing the flesh inside.

Isanna was thankful she hadn't eaten anything that day, else she would have wretched it all out.

Erwin harshly bit on the cloth and winced, a muffled groan leaving his lips as he shut his eyes tighter; noticing this, Isanna quickly let go of the blade and kneeled in front of him, pushing his head to rest on her shoulder while her jittery hands quickly tore another piece of her cloak and made a tourniquet around the nub of where his arm had gone.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled continuously, a prickling feeling in her eyes while she hurriedly wrapped and tied the cloth around his injury. "I'm sorry."

Once she deemed it an acceptable first aid, she placed two fingers in her mouth and released two loud distinct whistles. Her eyes caught the sheer hell that was happening far from them, where the Scouts were battling the titans while trying to rescue Eren from the armored titan at the same time.

In the next seconds, she could finally see two horses—Maximus and Fish—galloping over towards them.

Isanna looked at Erwin, who was still breathing heavily, face still buried on her shoulder.

"You'll be riding with me," said Isanna, despite knowing she wasn't going to be receiving any coherent responses from him any time soon.

Once the horses reached them, Isanna assisted Erwin up. He staggered for a bit, but they were luckily able to mount on Maximus. After Isanna tied Fish's reigns to the white stallion, she kicked Max to start galloping, keeping a hand on Erwin to secure him behind her.

His blood had been staining her uniform since earlier, but she paid it no attention. She looked over towards the situation up ahead; some of the 104th recruits were perched on the armored titan and trying to get Eren back.

"Closer," she heard Erwin mutter behind her shoulder in labored breaths. "Get.. closer."

"It's too dangerous. You can't—"

"Do it," he breathed, signs of exhaustion showing through his voice.

Isanna was left with no choice and steered Maximus away from the other titans, passing through the sheer chaos and heading towards the armored titan.

"You stay here," Isanna said while she readied herself to fly up. "I'll—"

She never got to finish what she wanted to say, because Erwin suddenly used his gear and flew past her in a sharp wind.

Isanna's stomach lurched.

She held back a screech of annoyance as she followed her commander with wide eyes, the blond slicing through the air, deploying his maneuvering gear using only one arm.

Reckless piece of—...!

She pulled out her spare blades, hefting herself and about to assist the commander when she heard another commotion.

"Historia, look out!"

Isanna redirected her attention. A twelve-meter titan was nearing an unsuspecting Historia from behind. The small titan whom Isanna remembered was Ymir's titan form released what sounded like a cry of warning, but Ymir was too far away to save her.

Shooting a grappling hook, Isanna zoomed towards Historia, cursing, as she curled an arm around her frame and wedged a blade between the titan's mouth before it could close on them.

"Serg—"

"Jean!" Isanna chucked Historia to him, whom he thankfully caught with a surprised grunt. She then flew to the back of the titan and cut its nape in quick seconds.

"All soldiers, retreat!"

Isanna whirled around, searching for Erwin amid the chaos, his voice of command still strong and firm and ringing through the air.

She saw him—miraculously still alive—one-armed, but still alive thank god—sitting on Maximus' saddle, leading all the soldiers back to the walls.

He looked unstable—he was unstable. Despite his efforts, Erwin was wobbling, his left hand grappling tightly onto the reigns while at the same time holding a blade. The fact that he managed to even ride a horse through this mess was a feat, but Isanna was afraid he'd somehow fall off like that.

She swallowed nervously.

Steering Fish closer, she rode beside the commander and made sure to keep a steady watch over him while monitoring their current situation.

She risked a glimpse at Erwin and tightened her jaw; his breathing was labored, and he was literally bathing in sweat. I need to take him to a hospital.

Ever since that painful situation, her heart had been thrumming erratically against her ribcage, the anxiety surge slamming her like a tidal wave, and if it weren't for the adrenaline and the sheer determination to get her commander and Eren back to safety, she would have already passed out from the stressful headache.

"Fuck," she mumbled, straining her vision ahead. The skies had already faded into dark orange tones, casting the same shades down below as the sun began to set.

She should have expected the gods were not letting them head back that easily.

Isanna gasped, her eyes snapping wide when a dark shadow zoomed past over her, and her eyes managed to catch a glimpse of a hurtling titan just as it landed right in front of their group; for a split second, she really thought one of her nightmares of a flying titan had come true.

As the humongous form crashed on the terrain, the force of impact caused flying rocks, soil, and trees to fly as dust swirled around the soldiers and blinded their vision.

The harsh wind whipped her hair back and her tie that had been holding on by a thin thread finally gave up, her dark locks running loose. Isanna shot a quick glare at the armored titan some yards behind them; the bastard was throwing titans at them.

After making sure Erwin was still situated on his saddle, Isanna scanned around, yanking her reigns and looking for Eren, making sure he wasn't somehow eaten in the middle of the chaos, else all their efforts would be in vain. Erwin's arm would have been lost in vain, and she wasn't having any of that shit right now.

Another round of frantic yelling and deaths. Then a loud crash.

Isanna turned just in time to see a titan leaping on all fours, about to pounce on Erwin from behind, but for reasons unknown to her, Ymir's titan sprung up and defended him.

Isanna didn't even have the time to be grateful. Her breath hitched, fear spiking up once more when Erwin was thrown off his horse. For the love of—

She cursed out loud and hastily unmounted. "Erwin!"

"No," he grunted, face grimacing. "Find Eren and retreat to the walls."

He breathed heavily, shakily, then added, "I can always be replaced."

Isanna froze in her tracks, a hand clutching her arm that she guessed she'd twisted sometime earlier.

As his words finally sank in, she glared at him and staggered forward, kneeling down in front of him while she hastily grabbed the front of his uniform. Without any warning, she reeled her head back and bumped their foreheads together, the force so strong the both of them flinched.

Isanna rested her forehead against his, ignoring the throbbing in her head that had worsened.

"You can never be replaced!"

Erwin stared back, puffs of breath leaving his parted lips in heavy breathing.

He saw the way her eyes flickered down at his lips before she lifted them back to meet his again, and he could clearly read the fear in her eyes at the thinning prospect of their return.

Screams. More deaths. At the corner of Isanna's eyes, she noticed a soldier being plucked right off their horse and thrown inside a titan's mouth.

"Listen—just in case we won't make it out alive, I just want to tell you that I—fuck." She cursed under her breath. "Oh fuck it all."

And then she pulled him into a kiss.

All around them was utter chaos; the titans that had been thrown by Reiner were chomping on any living soldier, dwindling their numbers at an incredibly fast rate. Screams tore through the air as everyone scrambled off to defend themselves, but with the lack of trees in the vicinity, they were at a disadvantage.

Yet, despite that, the both of them momentarily forgot the hell they were in.

It was brief, not longer than two seconds tops, but it held all the message needed. A quick stolen kiss in the middle of a bloody battlefield, unnoticed by everyone.

When Isanna pulled back, she didn't waste another second and stood back on her feet, brandishing her spare blades as she turned around, determined to fight her way through this mess—and that even if she'd die, then she might as well go out in the most badass way. At least, she wanted to die fighting and protecting the man she'd sworn loyalty to.

But before she could even take a step, Erwin latched a tight grip on her wrist, making her look back; something foreign flashed in his eyes—panic? Desperation? Fear?

Since when were you capable of making a face like that? she thought.

She wordlessly wrenched her hand from his grip, bursting into a sprint towards a titan and leaped off the ground, shooting two hooks right at its eyeballs and zipped forward.

Isanna didn't even bother to keep track of her kill counts. The only things she could remember clearly were the sounds of slicing flesh, swooshing 3DMG hooks, screams of the other soldiers, and streams of steaming blood. Her muscles were screaming in protest, strained from all the burns she'd sustain from earlier.

The titans never seemed to run out. For each titan Isanna killed, another one would pop up, and another one of her comrades would die in exchange. It was in moments like these did she think about how she'd feel much safer if Levi and Mike were here, knowing that those two always had her back, and she had theirs.

When the exhaustion finally caught up to her and her focus wavered, a titan managed to wrap its large fingers around her, and she could hear a click somewhere down her back, followed by acute pain.

Maybe she cursed in pain. She couldn't hear her own voice.

Her blood was pounding in her ear, vision blurry. More petrified screams from soldiers, and maybe she heard Erwin's voice amid the chaos, she wasn't sure.

Then when it seemed like all hope was lost and death was ready to greet her, there was a coarse, grainy cry, and the titan dropped her quickly and ambled away.

When Isanna flitted her eyes over to where the commotion was, she saw a titan with light hair being pummeled by the other titans, mercilessly ripping apart their own kind; just a few steps near the horde, she could make out Eren running away while carrying Mikasa on his back.

The next events that followed after that were a blurry mess; Erwin had come staggering on his own legs to help Isanna back on his horse, and she had to push through despite the increasing pain in her body. Because even though everything was a mess and she had a lot of questions, she knew they had to use the current change in their situation to their advantage.

The surviving soldiers rode back to Wall Rose, and Isanna didn't bother to wonder why the armored titan had somehow stopped chasing after them.

•

When they were finally back at Wall Rose, the Scouts and Garrison who had remained on top of the walls were busying themselves in applying first aid to the injured soldiers. There was a sheer difference in numbers compared to when the impromptu rescue squad had set out earlier.

After doing some errands in Ragako village, Moblit had went back to the walls to meet with the surviving soldiers.

"Moblit!"

When his ears recognized the voice, he snapped his head to see his Sergeant Major kneeling, and by her side was a bloodied blond—his Commander, who seemed like he was on the verge of passing out while Isanna desperately tried to steady him.

"Medic—" she gasped for breath, and Moblit was able to hear the panic in her voice— "he's losing a lot of blood! Take him to Trost! Now !"

Moblit hurriedly went to order the soldiers, and in a few seconds, already had Erwin lying down on a stretcher.

Isanna watched with fearful eyes as two soldiers lifted the stretcher, her gaze never leaving Erwin who was now completely passed out; she reached for his hand and squeezed it desperately as she held back a sob.

Now that they were finally away from that hell and the adrenaline rush had faded, the aftereffects of that close call on death were finally dawning, overwhelming her. "Don't you dare.. die on me..!"

"Sergeant Major! You're bleeding!"

She ignored Moblit, half of her mind screaming for Erwin and the other half throbbing in pain; she failed to realize her breathing had shortened, hands trembling, wheezes of panicked gasping escaping her as the surface below her seemed to sway.

Moblit's worried yells were now becoming a blob of blurry noise, drowning out as if she was sinking deep into the chasms of a river, dark spots filled up the corner of her eyes—only this time, she didn't bother to shake it away.

The last thing she heard before fainting were the choruses of the other soldiers yelling for her.