---
Ten years later
845, before the fall of Wall Maria
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It was so confusing.

The Survey Corps had been out on an expedition when they had found four fully tacked up horses. And that was after they found a Titan, asleep.

They had found a Titan earlier, but it seemed to be sleeping peacefully. They debated killing it, but ultimately decided against it. Hanji squealed about it a bit and took a quick look, waking it up, but it still didn't have any interest in them. It just rolled onto its back and went back to sleep.

But now they had found horses. Out in the open, fully tacked up. Four horses.

One was a bay Clydesdale. Another one was a normal sized paint, with reddish blotches. The third was all black and also a pretty normal sized, but it's mane and tail were all fluffy, unlike a normal horse. The third was normal, but was a buckskin. All of these were nothing like the horses that the Survey Corps had.

The ground started to rumble, which was a sign that a Titan was approaching. They looked over just in time to see the Titan from before running their way. A few people got ready to attack, but it just shot right past them.

The Titan tried to stop, but just ended up falling on it's face. It groaned and looked up at the Survey Corps. It clearly didn't have any intent to kill them, but it was still better to be safe rather than sorry.

Levi was about to shoot his hooks forward when he realised that it was backup and walking away. It roared and the four horses raised their heads up. The paint lead the way as it started trotting after the Titan, and the other three followed.

The Commander, Keith Shadis, ordered everyone to follow after the five creatures, and so they did. Not too long after, they came across some woods, where they spotted four people getting on the horses.

"When you get to the woods, switch to your gear! Don't let them get away!" Keith yelled.

The smaller group of people looked to the Survey Corps, who were quickly approaching. Emi started to panic as she remembered what had happened last time she had encountered them. Her aunt was killed in cold blood.

"Get to the hidden waterfall. They won't be able to find it," Emi told her friends. "I'm going to see if I can throw them off of our trail." With that, she kicked her horse so that it would run into the woods.

Her friends all broke away from her. They hated leaving her alone, but they knew she would be able to handle it.

Emi's horse flew through the forest faster than any of the Survey Corps's horses, so they switched to their gear. Emi looked up and noticed this, so she kicked her horse, urging it to go faster.

Emu looked back to see someone speeding closer. They readied their swords, and so she yanked left on the reins. The horse made a sharp left turn, making the person behind her miss. She mad a few more turns and slowed her horse to a trot as the hissing of the gear grew silent.

She stopped her horse, staying still for a moment to listen before hopping off. She looked around a bit before taking off the reins and shoving them in the horse's saddlebag.

"Stay close," she whispered to the horse.

She wandered around for a bit, jumping whenever she heard a Titan move or a deer hop away from her. After deciding it was safe, she took her hands off her sword hilts only to pull her sword out quickly as she whipped around.

She sighed in relief when she was just met with the baby blue eyes of her Titan companion.

"You scared the shit out of me," Emi quietly hissed to him. He grunted in response before running over a tree and putting his hands on it. He started reaching for the lowest branch with his mouth, pleased when he was able to grab it and tear it away from the tree.

Emi slid her swords back into their sheaths. She scratched the small Titan's head and grabbed the stick from between his teeth. She threw it in the opposite direction, hoping that he would run off, due to him being almost like a big arrow pointing to her location. She sighed in irritation when the stick his a tree close by and fell to the ground.

The Titan bounded over to where the stick landed and put his head down to grab the stick again. When he finally got the stick, he ran back over to her and she threw the stick again. This time, it went farther, but it still wasn't that far.

She jumped once again as she heard the bushes rustle. She got out one of her swords and tightened her grip around the hilt, prepared for whatever it was to jump out at her, but it didn't. After a moment, she moved the bush with the end of her sword blade and sighed in relief once again as all she uncovered was a bird, peacefully pecking at a red berry.

She looked around before her eyes settled on the tree above her. It was called the Great Oak, and it was easily one of the biggest trees in the forest. The branches were sturdy enough to hold her for as high up as she could see, and she was alway particularly good at climbing trees.

She started on her way up, one branch at a time. She eventually got to the top of the other trees, but there was still a while until the branches wouldn't be able to support her weight. As she climbed up higher, she realised that she could occasionally catch glimpses of people from the Survey Corps as the passed by. She stopped on one branch and watched as people passed her without even noticing.

She looked around for a hole in the tree that she knew was there. She had brought a bag of things a couple years before and started hollowing out a spot in the tree that she could fit though. She would sometimes go to it and just relax when she needed a break. It didn't hurt the tree, either.

She found her hidey-hole and climbed in. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't incredibly small, either. The tree still had a huge trunk, even at that height. She knew that she would be able to hide there for a bit, at least until the Survey Corps had left.

However, it wasn't that long until she got bored and poked her head out of the tree. This proved to be a huge mistake, because one person in particular had been climbing the tree. She knew of him from the stories that others would tell of their journeys.

Levi Ackerman. Humanity's Strongest Soldier. Granted, his abilities did seem pretty impressive from what she'd heard, but she knew plenty of people who she would say were better, though she couldn't really judge due to not having seen his abilities for herself.

She pulled her head back in, hoping that he hadn't seen her. If he had, it would be a problem. She couldn't whistle for her wyvern, Mage, because he would hear and get to her faster than the wyvern could, and it wasn't like she would be able to climb back down with him there, especially with his gear.

She would surely meet the same fate as her aunt if he did see her.

She then got an idea. She could still climb up the tree, and if she could get tonthe side that Levi wasn't on, that could've worked. She could climb far enough up that he would barely be able to hear her whistle for Mage, and by the time he got to her, she would already be flying off on the back of her wyvern. She would then be able to go to the hidden waterfall and meet up with her friends, and they could go out searching for her horse when the Survey Corps had left.

She climbed out of the hole and began to climb her way out, careful to make as little noise as possible.

---

Gavin, C, and Tristan were all waiting at the hidden waterfall. It was a huge cavern with a small entrance, making it very hard to find even though it was inside of a mountain. A large river ran down the mountain, and a fairly large hole was under the river, allowing water to fall inside the cavern and pool in a small area while still flowing down the mountain, hiding the cavern and the waterfall inside.

Emi had originally found the entrance and brought the other three there so that they had a spot where nobody could find them. It wasn't the only spot, either. She had a bunch of little spaces that nobody could find her, only some of which she showed her friends.

"She should be back," C said. "Whenever she runs off, it isnt long before she gets here. Something must be wrong." The brunette turned to leave, but Tristan grabbed her wrist.

"I don't like it either, but you know Emi. She isn't going down without one hell of a fight, and we'd know about it," he said. The girl looked down with impatience. "Besides, if anything does happen, she's got Buddy. He'd die before letting anything happen to her."

C sighed and looked back up to Tristan. She was Emi's closest friend, so of course she would be a bit protective.

"I know," she whispered. She yanked her hand away from Tristan's and looked to the entrance of the cave as the sound of at least a dozen pairs of wings grew closer.

Wyverns of all colors filled the cave, immedeitly going over to the pond to splash around. One in particular caught C's eye. A midnight blue wyvern hopped over to the group of people, clicking and purring as a form of communication as it tilted its head.

"Mage!" C said. The wyvern shook its head in shock at how loud she was, even though her voice was barely louder than normal. "Emi is outside, she might need your help! Go get her, boy!" C said, faking excitement to get the wyvern excited so that it would fly faster.

The wyvern hopped in a circle a couple times before rushing outside the cave and lifting itself in the air. C watched with a smirk as the wyvern shot forwards.