By the time you opened your eyes, you couldn't decipher if what you'd seen was real or not. You could see the interior of the cabin, and it felt as though your memory was simply paused. You lifted your head and looked outside the window. It was daytime. Your horse was standing near the stable. It was quiet.

"I really should go back out." You muttered.

A gentle clink caught your attention, causing you to jump in your seat. You instinctively reached for your blade, but found both arms immobile. You pulled against the ropes again but couldn't find an end to tug on to free yourself. Your eyes swept the space, looking over the cabin until you finally spotted the newest feature. A man sat at the table, sipping snobbishly from a teacup. You couldn't help but notice as he held it oddly.

He looked down at the cup in a bored manner, seemingly lost in thought. You didn't speak again, instead gently letting your head lull as though you were still passed out. Your fingers worked behind you, probing your binds meticulously. To your luck, you'd been put on the couch so your motions were hidden for the most part. Your fingernails were gnawed to stubs, but as time passed, you began to wiggle your way into the knot successfully. The ropes slowly loosened, giving you more room.

The door swung open again, almost causing you to break your act in surprise. "Captain Levi! The horses have been saddled and the cadets are recovered. We're prepared to continue headed towards Wall Rose." The voice was familiar, the same woman whom you'd heard earlier.

"Alright. We'll head out then." The man, captain Levi, grunted in an annoyed manner. Your hair stood on end. He paused for a moment, setting down the cup. "Do you want to die here or back within the walls?"

You tried not to react, though the question confused you. The woman didn't respond, sucking in a sharp breath. The other day he'd seem to trust her, or perhaps that wasn't entirely true. You couldn't know for sure. He couldn't have known you were awake yet either. He hadn't reacted when you moved briefly, and couldn't have possibly noticed your brief glance toward him. Or you'd assumed so.

"Hey! I asked you a question brat." The captain repeated. You didn't move. The girl cleared her throat, stepping forward.

"Um, sir? Did I do something wrong? Who are you talking to?" The cadet asked sheepishly, finishing her querie with an uncomfortable laugh.

"The girl. She's pretending to be asleep still. But I heard her muttering earlier about going outside. I'm not deaf you damn brat!"

You flushed of color, forgetting you'd woken up talking to yourself. It was such habit you didn't even think about it.

Your effort to unbind yourself renewed with great vigor. You sighed, llifting your head. You looked first looked at the captain, taking in his look properly. His eyes were severe and cold, plugged into a pale, rugged pale. It seemed like he wasn't even able to unclench his jaw given his expression of annoyance. His hair was dark and thin, danging down just far enough to barely brush his matching thin eyebrows. The sides and underside were shaved more closely to his head.

He looked down at you now, steely grey eyes peering at you coldly from underneath his bangs. You tried to remain emotionless, matching his gaze. You weren't sure why, but the feeling of horrible annoyance and mild intimidation seemed injected within you, though you'd thought the first time seeing another human might fill you with joy. "You could always just leave me here, let me be titan food." You suggested, your tone level.

His nose screwed up in disgusted, him letting another odd noise out in response. "Tch. We both know that wouldn't mean anything to you. You need to be punished for defecting solider."

You chuckled under your breath, tilting your head as you looked at him. "How do you know I'm a soldier, a defector no less? Every solider I've ever met would tremble at the thought of not coming home to a shitty cot and a lacking meal."

"Yeah, maybe, but no sane person to survive that hell would hide from people who could get them somewhere safe. Not only that but you seemed awfully well handled when you tried to take a chunk out of me earlier."

"Maybe I grew up in a rough situation? You know Captain, assuming makes an ass of you and me." He grimaced at you, walking so he towered over you. Well, as much as he could. He definitely sat on the shorter side of men.

"Who do you work under?" He snapped.

"God." You sneered, hands working furiously behind you.

He growled, leaning dangerously close to you.

"What unit are you assigned to?"

"None of your damn buisness."

He clenched his teeth, scowling. You kept his venomous gaze, not noticing as he wound back and shoved a fist against your stomach again. You couldn't help but cry out in pain, gasping for breath again.

"Captain Levi!" His cadet gasped, reaching out.

"Go outside Petra." He ordered.

She hesitated, but nodded dutifully. As soon as the door closed behind her, Captain Levi grabbed you by the hair and pulled your head back, forcing you to look at him. His face seemed stuck in the same scowl, making you smile. "Am I frustrating to you?" You asked teasingly. "You should just leave me out here and forget about me."

Levi yanked on your hair causing you to yell, tears welling up. "I'm well aware you're apart of the Survey Corps. What I don't know is why you're out here? Why wouldn't you be in wall Rose with the rest of humanity?" He asked.

"I wanted to use a stove. As simple as that. Made some bread. Tasted great. With all those people gone I had access to all the baking stuff I needed." Levi hesitated for a moment, trying to decipher what you meant. His face twisted with anger, releasing you and shoving you back.

"Why the hell would you break out of the wall to scavenge a city in titan country? You realize those are people's homes! They'll return there and you treat their panic as a treasure hunt! What about all the people who died?! The food shortage is no excuse to be found outside the wall, much less for some fucking scavenger hunt!"

"I didn't have to." You retorted bluntly.

Levi stammered, staring at you. "What?"

"It's a mystery isn't it? Might as well just leave me here to die, huh?" You smiled as brightly as you could, only making him all the more frustrated. Your grin was bitter. You bit back your pain with gritted teeth. Your mind worked as quickly as possible, trying to figure any way that you might be able to escape without any severe damage.

He growled at you, shoving you roughly back into the couch. "Petra!" He called harshly, leading to her quick arrival. She entered, saluting him without hesitation. "Sir?"

"She going to ride with you. Leave her bound just in case she tries to run off." He ordered.

Your eyes widened and you suddenly felt the tension. "What, really? You're not just gonna leave me here? You know it'll be harder with more people right? Why even bother bringing me?"

He glared at you coldly for a moment but turned to Petra rather than responding. They nodded to one another. Petra moved behind you, cutting the rope in one swift motion. Petra was a small, muscular girl with warm auburn hair. She pulled you up to your feet and tried to smile at you, but it seemed stiff and ingenuine. With your hands in front of you, she replaced the rope with two iron cuffs.

"Come on, you can ride in front of me." She said. As she led you outside, you looked at the horses that now surrounded the front of the house. With the amount of noise they were making, you were surprised a titan hadn't tried to attack. You looked at them all, finding the horses well-fed and packed over with their supplies. With no wagons, you could only imagine how much weight was on them. Looking back at your own horse, she was barren of supplies, tied to the post that barred her in her stable.

"Hey, are you guys gonna load her up?" You asked, shoving your head towards your steed.

Petra frowned as she looked at the horse. "Uh, no." Her tone seemed mechanical and cold. You stopped,, pulling back against your restraints and digging your heels into the soft dirt. She stumbled, looking back at you. Your face read cold. Your severe expression seemed to surprise her. Sighing, she continued on. "She's kinda on the unhealthier side. She didn't seem to be have eaten a lot recently."

"Well don't leave her tied up there! There's no water here!"

"We weren't going to! We were just thinking we'd set her loose before we left. She seemed pretty determined to get to you so we had to tie her back. You two must've been through alot."

"Not really." You said bluntly. "I just don't treat her like an ass."

Petra seemed taken aback by your words. You tried not to betray any of the joy her surprise gave you. "She was already here. She was left behind still tied in her stall. I just let her loose."

"O-Oh..."

You didn't say another word after that. Ignoring Petra's helping hand as you stepped up on to her horse. The other members, all men you noticed, bustled around you. Each gave you an odd look, either disgusted with you or morbidly curious. It didn't take long until everyone was set. Petra finally saddled up behind you. You drifted into your thoughts as the team set off, quickly working through the forest. To your surprise, your own horse seemed to follow not too far behind.

You immediately broke from the thick wall of timbers and out into the open fields that stretched far between the cities of wall Maria. You lifted your head and looked out over the greenery, taking your captive moments to relax and observe. Of course, the few clueless titans dotted the hills, looking more entranced by the wall itself than any far off horses. A glittering lake seemed to glistened a few kilometers away. You couldn't help but remember days you'd go to the lake with your family and friends as a child, jumping from the docks into water so clean you could almost see to the bottom.

You couldn't help but sigh with the sweet memory, closing your eyes to delve into the memory further. As you slipped more and more into memories, you let yourself drift to sleep. You had no intention of ever going back to the walls, but you didn't really have the motivation to fight those who kept you captive either. If you rolled off the horse now, there's no chance you'd get away without at least a broken limb. Sadly, a sovereign life had yet to get you an inherit knowledge of medicine. It seemed as though the Captain was obsessed with keeping you around as well, having the rest of his squad behind Petra's house in a sort of V formation. You felt tired and useless, letting sleep take you as they transported you back to a world built of cowards.

Before you could even process it, the loud clanking of chains straining to lift a wall awoke you. A crowd waited on the other side, their reactions being a large range between bitter and elated. Their cries and shouting seemed almost loud enough to almost drown out the clopping of the horses' trot.

You sat up and looked around, your disheveled look far from that of those holding you. The eyes of the public seemed fixed on you. Who was she? Why was she the only one who looked so bad? Was she hurt? The mysterious stranger clanged with the chain of a prisoner. You growled and put your head back down, ignoring the crowds in favor of sleep.

"Are you okay?" Petra asked quietly, nudging you. To your complete surprise, her tone was gentle.

"I'm fine. Just not jazzed to be back." You muttered. "It's too loud."

She didn't respond, your response making her just slightly uncomfortable. As your caravan pulled deeper into the walls, it quickly grew quieter. The city grew distant and on the horizon rose a large castle like structure that you assumed would become your destination. "Is this the place?" You asked, keeping your gaze fixed.

"Yeah..."

"Did my horse follow us?"

"It seems so."

"Can you take care of her?"

That question seemed to put Petra off most. "Oh... uh, I guess sure."

You turned and smiled at her, causing her to flush red just slightly. "You know what Petra, you're my favorite one here so far. You're actually rather pleasant."

"Thanks..."

A few minutes later, the horses slowed and you arrived to the castle. You looked up at the castle finding it to be surprisingly non-oppressive. "How lovely!" You exclaimed loudly, taking the groups' attention easily. "So will I be getting a room all to myself or am I just too unbearably untrustworthy."

"Will you just shut up already?" Captain Levi snarled, dismounting fluidly.

Petra dismounted with the same level of ease, then moving to help you off as well. Almost as soon as your feet touched the ground, your shackles were snatched away, pulling you into the castle. You looked up to find the Captain himself pulling you and sparing no time to let you look around. Before you could comprehend what was happening, you were swung into a cell with no remorse, rolling and hitting the wall as he closed the door behind you.

You winced in pain as you slowly sat up. You couldn't massage yourself to ease the pain, not with your cuffs, but that didn't stop you from glaring at Levi with as much distaste as you could possibly hold. "Get comfortable. I'll be back later with the Commander."

"Alright Undercut, I suppose I can't do anything to stop you." You mused. Slowly, pushing against the wall for support, you stood and walked over to the cot that remained as one of the few items in the block. You pulled a thin blanket over yourself, facing the wall and letting the idea of sleep become your newest favorite pastime. Levi seemed annoyed with your smart-assery but turned and left nonetheless.

"How annoying can one guy be..." You mumbled. You turned over and looked outside the window, a few rays of sunlight being the only light to filter through your cell. It seemed level to the ground, grass trickling in just slightly from outside. You stood, walking to the window and plucking a blade of grass from the tufts and flipping it between yours hands. Pressing it between your fingers, you tried to blow through the blade, only a wet buzz resulting. You furrowed your eyebrow, readjusting and trying again. After a few blows, finally through it came a high-pitched whistle. To your delight you were able to manipulate it, in some way making a subpar melody with the grass whistle.

Your lips soon began to buzz, but you persisted with the whistle until the grass tore, then plucked another blade from the window. It was as much as you could do not to drive yourself batty. A few hours passed as you watched the small sliver of sky you could see turning into a pale pink. Finally you sat back on the cot and laid back, turning into the wall to find some sleep. You'd already expected to have seen whomever was now directing the Survey Corps, as threatened by Captain Levi. In a sense you wondered who it was nowadays, seeing as at this point the last one must have died. He had been so overconfident and clever in his plans, it's had to catch up at some point.

However, just as you began to close your eyes, you finally got the wonderful sound of heeled boots tapping across the stone floor. You muffled a quiet laugh, acknowledging the irony of the timing as it coincided with your thoughts. "Get up." Captain Levi snapped harshly.

"Yes your majesty." You cooed wistfully. "Shall I curtsy for you as well or will a simple nod be enough."

You rolled off the cot, hitting the ground. You'd forgotten how thin they were. Wincing, you pushed yourself up again, rolling back and using the momentum to stand. You opened your mouth to make another witty quip, but fell hopelessly silent upon looking at the Commander. Your words felt caught in your throat as you looked at him. Mouth gaping open and shut, unable to form any sounds. The commander seemed just as alarmed to see you, his severe blue eyes softening when they met yours. You couldn't help but smile. Despite your efforts, you could feel your eyes water just slightly.

"Hi, Erwin." You said gently.

"(Y/N)..." He said with astonishment.