You stared at the titan in utter shock, and the titan stared right back at you. At first you thought you were hearing things, until the titan opened it's mouth and you heard talking again.

"A...lex..." He repeated. His voice was deep and raspy, and it sounded like it took a lot of effort to talk. You pushed yourself away from the tree and put all your weight on your legs instead, since the titan showed no sign of wanting to kill you.

"Alex?" You asked, causing the titan to nod, which definitely confused you seeing how you could communicate with the titan. The titan pointed at himself.

"A...lex..." He said, letting his hand drop back to his lap.

"Is... Is that your name?" You asked, causing the titan to nod. You decided to ask the titan questions, but only questions that he could either nod or shake his head to, since it seemed he was having trouble talking.

"Are you gonna...kill me...?" You asked, a little nervous about the response you might get. Alex seemed to furrow his eyebrows, shaking his head. You breathed out in relief until confusion washed over you again. You didn't think you would ever find a talking titan. A question crossed your mind, causing you to turn your gaze back over at Alex.

"Are you a titan-shifter?" You asked. Alex looked away in thought, shrugging as he looked back at you. You furrowed your eyebrows and tilted your head to the side in confusion. "You don't remember?" Alex shook his head in response.

"Huh..." You muttered, before bringing your head back up. "I'm (Y/N), by the way." You smiled at Alex, no longer afraid of him. Alex seemed to smile back.

"(Y/...N)..." He repeated, causing you to smile wider. You remembered where you were, and your smile left. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked down at the ground in thought, wondering how you'd get back. A thought crossed your mind, causing your eyes to widen somewhat and you brought your gaze back up at Alex.

"Did you bring me here?" You asked, your gaze locked on the blonde titan in front of you. Alex nodded.

"Safe..." He said, and you figured he meant that he brought you there to keep you safe, which confused you even more. Not only had you met a talking titan, but a titan that protected you.

You thought about how you'd get back to HQ. You didn't have your gear, you were too weak to walk all the way back and you were lost, so you wondered if maybe Alex could bring you back. He obviously knew his way around, anyway.

"Can you bring me back to the wall?" You asked, looking at Alex with hopeful and desperate eyes.

"Dark..." Alex said and pointed at the sky. Only then had you realized it was getting later and darker.

You tilted your head to the side. "You want me to stay the night?" Alex nodded before wrapping his hand around you, causing your heart beat to raise. You thought he was about to eat you, before Alex had laid down with you in his grip.

He held you close to his chest protectively, like he was scared someone would take you away. You looked up at him, seeing he had his eyes closed and was falling asleep. You didn't think titans slept, but decided to shrug it off.

Alex's grip on you wasn't hard or painful, but more protective. You snuggled up inside his hand, closing your eyes and bracing yourself for another nightmare.

--

Kadence forced her eyes open, gasping as she instantly shot up. She had been laying on one of the white beds in the infirmary back at HQ. She looked around, seeing basically the entire infirmary was full of injured people.

She instantly jumped out of bed and ran out of the infirmary, running like her life depended on it as she made her way towards the mess hall and pushed the doors open, seeing the 104th plus Hanji and Levi by one of the tables and running towards them.

"What did you do to me?!" Kadence yelled angrily at the brunette with glasses, catching everyone's attention. A look of guilt washed over Hanji's face as she looked at Kadence sadly.

"I'm sorry, Kadence," Hanji started sadly, sympathy in her brown eyes. "But you showed no sign of leaving on your own free will."

"Are you crazy?!" Kadence spat back angrily. The entire mess hall had turned their attention to the scene by then. "She's still alive! We could've saved her!"

"She's dead, Kadence!" Hanji screamed, shocking everyone. "She's dead and we'll never get her back!" Kadence looked down at Hanji's sitting form in shock and slight guilt. Hanji was never one to get angry, so that was definitely new. Hanji had her head down sadly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry..." She said sadly, her voice cracking. Kadence furrowed her eyebrows, her guilt from before disappearing and replacing with anger.

"Sorry isn't gonna cut it," she spat, balling her fists before turning around and storming out of the mess hall, slamming the door behind her. She stomped down the halls angrily, muttering curse words under her breath as she made her way outside.

She got her 3D maneuver gear ready, and was about ready to leave when she heard footsteps behind her.

"We all miss her, Kadence..." Kadence turned around, seeing Sierra. She had a look of sympathy in her caramel-colored eyes.

"I'm looking for her, wether you like it or not," Kadence spat determinedly, turning her back towards her friend. "I don't care what any of you say." Kadence heard the sounds of gear being strapped on, and turned around to see Sierra getting her 3DMG gear ready.

"I know," Sierra said, bringing her attention back up to the brunette with a smile. "That's why I'm coming with you."

----

I'm sorry this chapter was shorter than the others! I just really wanted to publish this! And I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter... Writer's block is a pain...

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story so far!

- Kate ⭐️