"What happened..." You thought to yourself as your thoughts and consciousness were the only things available to you in that moment. "It's dark...I can't feel a thing...where am I...?" You thought as you tried to force your senses to return. "M-my body won't...move...help me...Sarah..." Your thoughts and consciousness soon died out as you laid in the mouth of the Female Titan who was currently fleeing from her three pursuers.

"Are the two of them dead?" Levi asked Mikasa as the raven haired teen turned her angered eyes back to the Female Titan.

"They're alive. The target appears intelligent, and its goal seems to be capturing Eren and Y/N. If it wanted them dead, it would've crushed them." Mikasa explained as she remembered seeing the Female take a careful bite from the nape of Eren's Titan where you tried to grab him. "The target is fighting to escape after going through the trouble of putting him in its mouth." She explained to the two of them.

"Its goal may have been to eat Eren. If that's the case, he's in its stomach. It's more reasonable to assume that he's dead. Chewing the other brat that tried to save Eren would just be collateral damage." Levi proposed the assumption.

"They're alive!" Mikasa shot back in denial.

"But why capture my brother? There's nothing special about him other than he's stronger than most. He's not a Titan, just a plain man. Why go through the trouble of wanting someone with no special power?" Sarah tried to piece together why you were taken along.

"I don't know. The target didn't try taking Y/N out of its mouth or chewed on any part of him. Y/N went into the mouth exactly like Eren did. They're alive!" Mikasa repeated once more as the two of them just stared at her before turning back ahead.

"I hope you're right." Levi said as Mikasa had enough of his attitude towards her.

"If you'd only protected Eren, this wouldn't have happened!" Mikasa barked back to the Captain as Levi finally remembered her while turning and flying backwards while staring right back at Mikasa.

"I see...You're the one from back then. I remember your brother from that day in the courtroom also, Sarah. Eren's close friend?" Levi said as he stared closely at Mikasa and put her in a nervous state for a moment before he turned back ahead. "We'll limit ourselves to a single goal. First, give up on killing the Female Titan." Levi ordered as Mikasa was confused while Sarah was shocked.

"Captain, you can't be...!" Sarah protested slightly at the order.

"It killed many of our comrades!" Mikasa also raised the point of getting revenge on the Female.

"As long as it can harden its skin, we can't kill it. Do as I say." Levi said as he raised his forward blade in front of himself. "We'll pin our hopes on Eren and Y/N still being alive, and rescue him before it leaves the forest." He said while tightening his grip around his blade. "I will tear away at it...You two draw its attention!" Levi laid out the plan.

"Roger!" Sarah responded instantly as she and an uneasy Mikasa flew ahead by the Female Titan's feet.

The Female Titan continued on its course to try and get out of the forest while Mikasa and Sarah flew ahead enough to be in her line of sights. Meanwhile, high above and a few meters behind the target, Captain Levi only had one thing in its sights, the nape of the target. Feeling his presence behind her, the Female Titan glanced back and awaited the moment he would attack.  Flipping his right blade to face backwards, Levi patiently waited out his enemy and a few moments later, the target decided to attack first, turning around fiercely and throwing her right fist towards him. With godly reactions and speed, Levi began spinning at high speeds and rolled all the way up the target's arms, cutting huge slices into the flesh with his blades before bouncing off her bicep and stabbing both blades into her eyes, all within the span of five seconds. Dislodging his blades to keep them in her eyes, Levi jumped high in the air and reequipped a fresh pair of blades before flying full speed downward and slicing the target's flesh all over her body, not losing any momentum. In the blink of an eye, he was already high enough and behind her nape as he struck once more and a huge splash of blood came from the back of her head as the Female Titan dropped hard on her rear end against a tree from the force she had just been hit with.

"He's fast...So fast that it has no time to harden its skin!" Mikasa thought in sheer amazement of the offensive power that Captain Levi of the Survey Corps was capable of.

Mikasa and Sarah circled around and watched as Levi flew circles and circles around the female, heaping flesh off the target like it was butter. Muscles, tendons, arms, legs, shoulders, Levi was hitting every vital spot of movement as his blades echoed through the area. Using full speed of his ODM gear, he continued to hack away at the target and within moments of within moments, the Captain accomplished taking down the target's defenses, five times faster than how long his subordinates took. The arm protecting the nape of the Female Titan lowered to the ground as Mikasa took notice of this opening.

"We can go for the neck...It's tired..." Mikasa thought as she watched the Female Titan lean forward seemingly exhausted and out of strength. "I bet it can't move! I can kill it!" She thought as she fired one of her anchors into the back of the target.

"Wait, Mikasa!" Sarah yelled as Mikasa flew towards the nape with her blades ready.

"Stop!" Levi yelled out a warning as he noticed the Titan wasn't focusing on healing anything.

Mikasa yelled as she flew as fast as she could towards the nape, but before she could, the nape had hardened and the target suddenly raised her left hand to hit Mikasa. The raven haired girl was shocked by this move from the target, but gasped when she was suddenly pushed and grabbed by Levi. Because the hand was moving towards them, Levi's foot came into contact with the limp and unfortunately twisted with a cracking noise as he grit his teeth and groaned.

"Ngh! Sarah!" Levi yelled out as he pushed himself and Mikasa away from the Female Titan.

"HAAAA!!!!" Sarah flew in pass them at great speeds and headed straight towards the face of the target as she cut the flesh keeping the mouth closed, and in that moment, the Female's jaw dropped and revealed you covering and holding Eren in a slimy coating.

"Y/N! Eren!" Mikasa yelled in worry.

Sarah and Levi both flew in at the same time as your sister grabbed you while Levi grabbed Eren and the two zipped away. The Female Titan's hand dropped as she remained sat there healing and unable to move while Sarah and Levi landed on a branch just above Mikasa.

"Hey!" Levi yelled at the girl as Mikasa looked up at them. "We're getting out of here!" Levi said as Mikasa looked relieved when she saw you two were okay, especially Eren.

"Y/N, Eren..." Mikasa sighed with a smile before growing worried when she noticed you were both unconscious.

"I think they're okay...they're alive! But filthy..." Levi scoffed as Sarah flicked away some of the Titan spit from her hand that she got from you. "Forget about it...We'll retreat." Levi ordered as the Titan blood on his face began evaporating to steam while he looked over at the immobile Female Titan. "Don't lose sight of the core objective. Is it more important to get what you want? Aren't they important friends?" Levi said before and Sarah both zipped off ahead as Mikasa was stunned by the question.

"No, I..." Mikasa struggled to answer before she gave up on the topic and flew off as the five of you were making your escape.

Levi turned back to see what was happening to the Female Titan, but when he did, he was shocked by what was happening to her. Tears poured from the eyes of the Female Titan as it sat there in defeat. Farther and farther they grew before disappearing into the forest, meanwhile steam erupted from the Female Titan's nape and Annie came out in frustration and anger.

"DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!!" Annie screamed in rage while punching the flesh of her Titan as tears streamed down her eyes. "I WAS ALMOST THERE!! I WAS SO CLOSE!!!" She yelled as she remembered the image of her father. "I WAS ALMOST HOME!!!!" She punched the decomposing Titan body one more time as blood flew onto her cheek and she broke down. "IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT!! Who the hell was that man and woman!? Why was Mikasa there!? Why do they always get in my way!?" She clutched her hair almost pulling out huge clumps of it as she stared up to the trees above and tears dropped from her face. "I could've gone home...and I could've saved him..." Annie thought as she imagined you and her living a happy life for what time she had left. "I could've been done with this bullshit war...! Y/N...!" She cried in frustration and anger over her own failure, as her one chance to capture the Founding Titan and the one person she wanted to be with, had slipped from her grasp and were on the way back to the walls.

Riding back to the walls, the Survey Corps were close to the half way point and the distance between them and the forest of giant trees grew farther and farther. You and Eren were laid in the back of a cart being pulled by horses as Mikasa and Sarah were sat with you two in the back. They rode in silence for most of the ride until you suddenly began to stir and wake up.

"Y/N!" Mikasa spoke up in worry as she and Sarah both crouched down next to you when you opened your eyes weakly.

"Where...?" You spoke weakly as the two girls came into your vision.

"We're heading back to Karanes." Sarah said as you turned your eyes and saw Eren laying next to you unconscious.

"Eren...is he...?" You tried to turn over to check on Eren, but winced from the pain in your arm.

"Don't push yourself!" Mikasa laid you back down flat and covered you with your cloak. "Eren is okay. He's just unconscious." She said as you looked at her with a sad look.

"I'm sorry...I wasn't thinking rationally, and risked Eren's life and the key to taking back Wall Maria...I'm sorry, Mikasa." You apologized as she held your hand.

"Don't worry about it anymore. You did the best you could." Mikasa tried comforting you before she and Sarah both grew surprised when they saw you fighting back tears.

"Sarah...!" You sniffled while turning towards your sister and speaking through gritted teeth. "Eld...Gunther...Oluo...Petra! I was too weak to do anything...!" You said as Sarah instantly wrapped her arms around you.

"It's okay...It's okay, Y/N...!" Sarah tried her best to comfort you as continued to weep and fight back the tears that were already pouring from your eyes as tears welled in her own. "They did what they had to...so we could live..." She said as she began to cry as well over the loss of her comrades.

After riding for a little longer, the Scouts came to a stop and set up a small operations camp in order to take count of the amount of soldiers who were wounded or dead. You were sat in the cart with your knees tucked up to your chest that your tied up arm was against and your head down. While sitting there in silence, you heard a set of footsteps coming from behind you.

"Y/N?" You heard a voice from behind you and you turned your head to see Sahsa come around the cart.

"Sasha..." You spoke weakly as she climbed into the cart and came over with a water pouch.

"Here, drink. Mikasa told us what happened to you and I thought you'd need some. It's not much, but..." Sasha said while sitting next to you as you took the pouch from her.

"Thanks, Sasha..." You said as you leaned your head back and used your good arm to raise the pouch up and took a few swings before lowering it down. "How are you?" You asked her.

"Ah, I'm fine. Nothing really happened over where I was at, after that loud scream, all the Titans left our area and headed into the forest. Mikasa went off on her own, and I tried warning her, but she--huh?" Sasha was suddenly surprised when she felt some weight on her right shoulder and turned to see you leaning on her.

"Why does it have to be like this...?" You asked as Sasha remained silent, unsure of what to say. "Why do so many have to die, just so we have a chance to continue living...?" You asked her.

"I don't know..." Was all Sasha could reply with as you tightened your grip around the water pouch.

"I...I was the top of our class...I slayed close to a hundred Titans in Trost...I was let into an elite Titan killing squad..." You gritted your teeth in frustration as Sasha began to feel worried about your mental state. "Despite all that, I was still too arrogant to realize the situation right before me...and it got so many people killed...!" You began to break down as Sasha wrapped her arms around you and held you close. "I'm so sorry...!" You wept into Sasha's arms as she continued to hold onto you.

"I don't know what happened, Y/N...or who was killed...but I think there was a reason that you survived all these horrible things..." Sasha said while stroking your hair gently and in a comforting manner while you sank deeper into her hold. "...Maybe they died so you could protect us, your friends...I don't know what kind of feelings are going through you right now, but I know that after everything that's happened...I'm just happy that you're alive." Sasha said as there was a slight breeze in the air and she just realized what she had said to you and blushed bashfully. "I-I mean, I'm glad that all our friends that are with us are alive! Not that right now is a good time to be happy about anything, but--!" She was cut off when she heard audible breaths coming from you and she looked to see you had fallen back asleep as she just stopped talking and wiped the tears from your face. "You are strong, Y/N...and I'm thankful that you survived..." She said while remaining still as you slept while Connie and Jean stared at you two from a distance.

"It must have been hard..." Connie said to Jean while the two continued to stare at you.

"To think the elite squad of Captain Levi would be taken down in such a manner to that thing. Y/N's always been the type of guy to rush in when his friends depend on him. I envy him a bit for being kinda cool like that, but honestly I'd rather not know what he's feeling right now...he probably thinks he failed." Jean said as he lowered his head.

"Hey, you two, help with the bodies!" A scout called out from behind the two as they turned to see more covered bodies being unloaded and lined up for counting.

"Yes, sir!" Connie and Jean responded as the two walked off but glanced back as they watched Sasha lay you back down. "At least Sasha was able to help a little. Y/N always seemed calm and relaxed whenever she's around. We'll leave the rest to her." Connie said as the two walked off to continue helping the Scouts.

After taking a count of the dead who were accounted for, and the few that were still missing, the Survey Corps resumed their formation and journeyed once more to Karanes. Sarah and Mikasa were given horses and rode near the cart you and Eren were in, but while riding in silence, the calm of the journey was suddenly broken when someone yelled from the rear.

"Titans!" Someone called out from the rear carts as everyone near the rear turned around in shock when they saw two Titans running after a pair of scouts that were riding with a corpse on one of their horses.

"Wha--!? Idiots! They went back for the body!?" Sarah thought in shock of how the two scouts who were running from the Titans, jeopardized the formation with this risky move. "Mikasa! Stay with them! I'm going to ride up and get orders from Captain Levi!" She said before riding off as a red flare was fired from the rear and the front of the formation took notice.

"The rear line has sighted Titans!" One of Erwin's subordinates called out as Erwin turned back ahead.

"Onward at full speed!" Erwin ordered as everyone began to try and increase the speed they were riding at.

"I don't see any tall trees or buildings. Fighting out here will be difficult." Levi pointed out the few offensive options they had.

"We're better off outrunning them till we reach the walls." Erwin said as Levi scoffed in annoyance of the situation while Sarah caught up to him.

"Captain, what do we do?" Sarah asked for orders.

"Continue ahead at full speed. We're going to outrun them til we reach Karanes." Levi said as Sarah glanced back at the Titans who were catching up to the rear.

"B-But...!" Sarah found that task to be a tall one as she turned around to see more Titans approaching from another side of the formation and beginning to catch up.

"Sarah, pass this order along..." Levi called to her as she turned and listened, but was beyond shocked and mortified.

"...huh?" Was all Sarah could muster as she couldn't believe the order she was given.

The two scouts from before were caught in their own dire situation, with one of them being swallowed alive while the other was grabbed by the same Titan who ate his friend. The scout screamed for his life as he was being lifted towards the Titan's mouth, but was blessed with luck when Mikasa showed up in time and killed the Titan in one slash. Landing on one knee and her horse riding up beside her, Mikasa looked to see if the scout she just saved was still alive, and much to her relief, he did walk out from under the Titan's hand mostly unharmed. The cart in the back dragging the dead bodies had a Titan closing in on them as they readied to defend themselves as best they could.

"It's no use! They'll reach us!" One of the scouts in the cart yelled in despair.

"I'll get behind them! I'll draw their attention, then you--!" The other scout in the cart was cut off when someone called out.

"No." The two scouts turned to see Sarah riding along side them with a traumatized look on her face. "Abandon the bodies...before they catch us..." She said in a pained voice while staring at the bodies covered by a bloody cloth.

"B-But...!" One of the scouts was about to protest, but was interrupted when Levi fell back next to Sarah and spoke up.

"In the past, many bodies haven't made it back. These guys aren't anything special." Levi said as one of the scouts in the cart dropped and covered the bodies with his own in a desperate attempt to not follow the order.

"Are we doing this?!" The scout asked as he couldn't believe what he was told to do and the other turned around with conflict in his eyes over the order. "Are we really doing this!?" The scout trying to hold on to the bodies of his comrades asked with sadness as his comrade was still unsure and turned back toward the chasing Titan before gritting his teeth with anger and frustration.

"WE HAVE TO!" The scout in charge of the bodies said as he kicked open the flip bed of the cart and with heavy hearts, they rolled one of the bodies off as it bounced harshly against the ground and the Titan ran over the corpse.

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Sarah could only watch in sadness as tears fell from her eyes when she witnessed the discarding of her comrades dead bodies. The dead wouldn't even get returned to their loved ones, and even though she had witnessed this sort of sight before, it was still hard on her. Levi and Sarah watched closely as one of the bodies was thrown off the cart, and the cloth around the body somewhat came undone and revealed Petra's lifeless face as her body flew in the air. Sarah tensed up at seeing one of her closest friend's body get tossed to the wayside and her heart ached knowing that this was the only way they could outrun the Titans. She screamed in pain as Levi stared at Petra longingly as her body crashed against the ground and rolled out of sight and the rear cart began to gain distance from the chasing Titan, and soon enough, with all the bodies gone, the Survey Corps had once again escaped the Titans, though losing more than they had wished for. Soon after changing course and making sure that they were out of harms way, the Survey Corps resumed their journey back home, and you all had finally made it to the gate of Karanes. You had woken up before the gate was opened and leaned against the rail of the cart you were in with your head hung low while Eren had finally woken up, but remained lying down as he was beyond saddened and despaired when he learned of the defeat that was laid upon him and the Survey Corps. Riding through the main gate where people gathered to see you all, you heard them mumble and talk about how few there were left, and how this was expected of the Scouts. You wanted to talk back, you wanted to shout at them, but you didn't have the energy nor the right since you had all failed the mission in such a catastrophic way.

"Aren't there fewer than there were this morning?" One person from the crowd spoke as you scouts walked down the main road with lowered heads.

"Man...Far fewer..." Another commented.

"Another disaster." Someone stated a common line when regarding the scouts.

"Just this morning, they left raising a ruckus, but they're already back? What was the point?" A person yelled from the crowd.

"Who knows? But judging by the gloomy expressions, they managed to waste more of our taxes, if nothing else." One person said as Eren was getting angry at all the comments everyone was making, and tried getting up.

"Eren, just bear with it." Mikasa tried to calm down Eren.

"What's the point of saying anything Eren...when you know they're right...? We don't deserve to talk back to them when we've come back in such a sorry state..." You said with defeat completely present in your voice. "Just take it on the chin and let's get out of here already...I don't wanna be here anymore..." You said while tucking your knees to your chest and hiding your face in them as you felt more ashamed than ever in your life, but Eren stopped forcing himself up when he caught the sight of two young kids staring at them with huge smiles as he couldn't believe the look they had on their faces.

"So cool! The Survey Corps is so awesome!" One of the children said in astonishment. "They got the crap kicked out of them, and they still fight!" The kid said to his friend as Eren slumped back down and laid on his back and began to silently cry.

You and your friends all couldn't help but stare at the floor as you couldn't bare with the thought of staring at those who predicted this failure, and knew their predictions were right. Most of the scouts were traumatized by the experience you had all just went through, others were ashamed, and you felt like this was the lowest point of your life so far. While moping in defeat, Sarah walked next to Levi and the two were silent before a man suddenly approached the Captain with a paper in hand.

"Captain Levi! My daughter is in your squad...I'm Petra's father." The man said as Sarah and Levi were both wide-eyed, but still continued to walk ahead. "Before she sees me, I wanted to talk to you. She sent my this letter..." Petra's father said while raising the letter in his hand to show the Captain. "She mentioned that you respected her abilities enough to let her join your squad. That she was going to devote herself to you." He said as Sarah was even more horrified by this wholesome fact about Petra's devotion to Levi, and how that would never come to fruition. "Well, I guess she's too starry-eyed to consider how her father feels! Ahaha..." The father laughed before talking in a quieter tone. "Well, as her father, I think it's too early for her to marry. She's still so young, with so much to experience..." He continued on as Levi continued to walk forward with a stoic, yet somewhat mortified look stuck on his face.

"I'm sorry." Sarah spoke up as the father turned to her in confusion. "During this expedition, I'm sorry to inform you that your daughter, our comrade, one of my closest friends, Petra Ral..." Sarah spoke with her head hung low as the father grew wide-eyed. "...Was killed in action. I'm sorry." Sarah said as she and her Captain continued ahead while Petra's father stopped in his tracks, completely frozen after hearing the news of his daughter.

"Commander Erwin! Answer us!" The crowd yelled at Erwin who led his Corps down the main road and bared the brunt of the harsh crowd. "Did this expedition learn enough to justify the number of dead?!" One person yelled as he continued to walk ahead, baring the full weight of hatred the crowd threw at him. "Do you think the dead have no regrets!?" Was one of the nastier comments hurled at Erwin as he and the rest of the Scouts continued onward to base.

"Mom...Dad..." You stared at the rings on your hand as tears began to fall from your eyes and stain your pants. "I wanna go home..." You thought as this entire experience was too much for you to bare. "I wanna go home...!" You began to tremble and silently weep as your friends stared at you with worry, as they couldn't believe how the person they knew was one of the strongest in the 104th Cadet Corps, was now crying in pain and despair.

"Y/N..." Jean muttered in worry and disbelief of seeing the state you were in as you bit down on one of your fist in frustration while tears fell from your face.

The faces of those who died around you during the expedition continued to fill your mind. Your entire body trembled as you huffed out heavy and sporadic breaths as Mikasa went and sat next to you. She wrapped an arm around you as you leaned into her shoulder to hide your face, while she held onto Eren's hand as he was also trying his hardest not to fully burst out crying either. This crushing defeat of the Survey Corps was the last straw for its faction that supported it, and the Corps was completely discredited now and orders were given to hand Eren over to the Military Police, as all those who were responsible, were ordered to appear in the capital, as the dim light of hope that the Survey Corps had offered before, was now snuffed out in an instant.