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The following EIGHT chapters are available for Patrons.
Chapter 14 (Trust), Chapter 15 (Titan Captured), Chapter 16 (Alone at Night), Chapter 17 (Blessed Titan Shifter), Chapter 18 (Mikasa's Titan), Chapter 19 (Ymir's Night), Chapter 20 (Subjects of Ymir), and Chapter 21 (A Monster with Tears) are already available for Patrons.
The sun was high in the sky, dry land all around them, and their horses were doing much better than them. Everyone felt their throats dry. Eren was leading the group! When Keith had chosen him as the leader, even he had been surprised by that, but nonetheless, he wanted to do this Exercise as well as he possibly could; Armin was writing word per word on what was happening. He knew with Armin's help, this exercise would be nothing, but unfortunately, a horseface was on his group as well.
Connie and Marco were talking about who could jump higher for some reason, Eren wasn't sure what that was about, but he didn't really care. His annoyance was primarily directed at Jean, who was mostly not caring about this exercise; he acted as if they were out there to simply look at the nature. Nature was quite beautiful, but that's not why they were out here, getting roasted by the sun like pieces of meat.
Sasha rode over to Eren, seeing him all gloomy. "Ere, you alright?" She asked, concerned, tapping him gently on his shoulder, making the boy escape his thoughts, turning his head to face her.
"I'm fine, Sasha, just thinking about the survival test," Eren answered with a little smile; the girl felt her cheeks flush at his smile.
"Ohh, now you're our leader. It is your job to watch our backs, but don't worry, Eri. I will personally watch your back," Sasha said with a cute smile; Eren grunted at the stupid nickname. He decided to say anything else and simply focus on the exercise.
Seeing that Eren wasn't saying anything to her, Sasha decided to tease him more. "Come on, Eri, Er, Eru, Erein, Era, Erere, EreH," she kept teasing, her head leaning closer to Eren the more she talked; Eren rolled his eyes, looking the other way.
The boy, head to hand, sighed, hearing Sasha's nickname for him and almost relenting until an unlikely savior came in the form of his bald friend.
"Jeez, Sasha, get off his back. It almost sounds like you like the guy," Connie said half-heartedly, still in a bored daze on his horse.
Had it not been for the timely intervention of the small blonde in the rear of the group, no doubt everybody would have seen the brunette, face red in embarrassment, failing to form some semblance of a reply. "Sasha's just worried about a comrade, right?" Krista said, aiming the statement and a slightly smirked face at the other girl.
The girl from Dauper, having recovered slightly, quickly fumbled out a hurried, "Yeah...yeah, that's all it is..."
Eren chucked, and after a few minutes of silence, he noticed they were very slow.
"Jean, if you're going to ride at a snail's pace, I'm going ahead," Eren said.
Eren tried to ride forward but was stopped by Marco, "We need to do this as a group..." the boy started, "Jean, what do you think we should do?"
His friend answered, "Like I care." The gray-haired teen said flatly, "It's not like this is gonna get me into the Military Police."
"Let's just focus on the exercise then," Armin suggested.
"Not gonna happen," Jean said negatively, riding beside him.
"Hey," Eren responded, "it's too soon to give up." Turning towards Jean, he finished. "Stop being such a baby."
Ah, Shit, Here we go again...Armin thought.
Jean wanted to retort when his eyes caught a new friend walking beside them.
"I wonder if he's more useful than Eren," Jean commented, breaking Eren out of his thought.
Eren looked at the creature skittering along the ground and realized his stomach was grumbling.
"You don't see lizards too often," he heard Marco add.
Damn, am I that hungry?
The rations they were given for the exercise were "suitable," but the fact that Eren had to think of the last time he had meat only made the creature more desirable.
I am that hungry. Is this what Sasha feels all the time?
"They're really tasty..." Sasha said if like she read his mind.
"No kidding?" The teen found himself replying.
"Yeah," the brunette said with a smile, "We used to have them all the time back home."
Well then
"They taste like chicken."
That's settled
"You know how to cook them, then?" Jean added.
"Of course!" Sasha replied enthusiastically, "It's easy."
"All right then," Jean replied, rushing ahead of the group and whipping out his swords
What happened next was a blur; somehow, the Lizard was caught by Eren. Seeing everyone happy, Eren looked at the group. "Point of the exercise is to keep focus during this trip even though we're not at war, right?"
Armin nodded. Eren, who handed the lizard to Sasha, who, unbeknownst to everyone, was looking at the boy like he was some conquering hero, continued, "Keeping focus means we keep ourselves well supplied in the event that we should run out of rations, right?"
Connie, now somewhat confused, scratched his head. "I guess?"
"Good" Eren smiled as he sheathed his blades and remounted. He turned to Armin, "Should we keep moving, Armin?"
His friend, recovering from the shock of the incident, took a moment before responding, "Yeah...of course."
As everyone resettled into trotting along, Marco turned to Eren, who now rode alongside him. "That was some pretty great stuff you said back there. I didn't know you were so invested in this exercise Eren."
"I'm not. All of that I said was bullshit." Eren said with a smirk.
"WHAT?!" Marco replied with shock.
Eren was about to add something to their conversation when he looked over to Armin, who he had not realized was riding alongside them, "Wait...Armin, you haven't been writing this all down, have you?"
The blonde gave an equally guilty look.
...
That...was totally worth it.
Eren slipped the final piece of his cooked lizard into his mouth. Sasha had spoken true. While not tasting exactly like chicken, the meat had been pretty close. Most of the company had enjoyed the meal, the hesitation of even Marco and Armin fading away as Sasha cooked the beast on the fire. Eren was pretty sure Krista was somewhat upset at him, her kind heart not too keen on him killing an innocent creature, but the boy was sure that that same kind heart would forgive him at some point.
"Sasha, you're an amazing cook. If you get hired by someone rich, you're settled for life," Jean said, enjoying the meal. Eren grunted, looking at Jean with annoyance.
"That if you think the walls will always be there," he said, not trying to keep his voice down. Jean stopped eating for a moment, looking up at Eren.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Do you really think we will get to live the rest of our lives away from the Titans," Eren couldn't help but say that; sometimes Jean could talk as if he was smart, but sometimes he really annoyed him.
"Oh boy," Connie commented, knowing this was just the beginning.
Jean turned to Eren with an indifferent look. "If you want to make a point, then go ahead," he prompted.
"Do you really think we are safe behind the walls? If The Colossal Titan taught us anything was that we are not safe behind the walls; sooner or later, the walls will fall again," Eren said, barely keeping his voice in control; he reminded himself that he was the leader and was supposed to have a cool head all the time.
"No matter what kind of soldier you become, if you manage to keep your cool even under the most stressful of situations, you will always be better than everyone else,"
Shadis's words to them repeated in his head again and again.
Armin noticed the slight flinch from Krista and Connie when Eren mentioned that the Colossal Titan would attack again. He couldn't fault them, even if they never saw it; the colossal titan was the stuff of nightmares.
Jean grunted in annoyance but not standing up yet; he wouldn't be the first; that place belonged to Eren.
"If what you said is the truth, so what? What do you think we can do against something like that? It is better to live the rest of your life comfortable rather than die as soon as possible," He countered; Marco looked ready to stop them if it came down to blows.
Eren frowned and looked at Jean in annoyance.
"So it's better to hide like a coward than fight the threat?!" the boy snapped, getting up aggressively. Damn it!
"I only have an appreciation for my life..." Jean stood up and loomed over him. "Unlike you, who seems eager to want to die outside these walls!"
Marco rolled his eyes at the impending discussion. And he was not the only one; everyone rolled their eyes at what they knew would happen.
"Then why did you join the Training Corps?!" Eren yelled indignantly. "Was it so you could flee like a coward to the inner walls?! You train for three years to be able to fight against the Titans so that later you can be from the furthest place from them! Why are you so good to be part of this charade?!"
"I told you, this is reality! Accept it!" Jean yelled as if he were explaining something to a toddler, "I do very well with this farce. It is better to take advantage of the system than to be a slave. What's wrong with wanting to live a quiet life? The only thing outside the walls is a horrible death."
Eren frowned slightly at Jean's words. He wasn't mad at him. In fact, he recognized his words and couldn't blame him for wanting to live a quiet life. Or, at least, as quiet as possible within these walls.
"So you plan to spit on the sacrifice of all the people who died fighting!?"
Jean snorted at that as he crossed his arms.
"That was their decision to want to fight something we cannot defeat. Don't put me in a battle where we already know how the outcome will end. With us in the mouths of those monsters!"
Eren growled angrily and grabbed Jean's shirt.
"You're a bloody coward!"
"It's better than being a bastard in a hurry to want to die!"
Eren clenched his teeth in anger, ready to punch him, perhaps a missing tooth would get the point across, and it seemed Jean was waiting for him to strike.
Eren Yeager is the leader of Group B.
Eren reminded himself that he was the leader; if he ever hoped to actually save anyone, to ever lead his people to safety, to a better future, then he needed to be able to control his anger, to be better.
Jean was actually surprised when Eren let go of his shirt and just sat down where he had been sitting a second ago.
Fixing his shirt that Eren had grabbed, he sat down without a single word; he looked at the Yeager, who was staring at the flames as if he was seeing something.
"Eren, why are you so fixated on fighting the Titans?" Marco reluctantly asked; everyone knew of his mother, but he wondered if it was all just pure revenge.
The others flinched, especially Armin, knowing that discussing was still a sour subject to Eren despite how much he tried to hide it.
Eren's green eyes moved to meet Marco's eyes, who didn't break eye contact.
"The day the colossal titan destroyed the wall, before that, I had a heated argument with my mother; my last words to her were that everyone who was comfortable living inside the walls was nothing but cattle. I ran away, and when the Colossal came, a big rock crushed my house; my mother was still alive but stuck under the destroyed house. Me and Mikasa tried, but nothing worked; she begged me to run away with Mikasa; Hannes, who was a good friend of my parents, carried us away. I saw my mother getting eaten by a Titan; back then, I could do nothing but cry. That day I promised the world that I would get rid of all the titans and that our people would never suffer again. That day will not be repeated," Eren said with conviction; despite what he said, there were no tears, and his eyes were as blank as a void.
Krista moved close to Eren, putting a hand on his shoulder. She didn't say anything; she just wanted him to know that she was there for him. Soon Sasha did the same, followed by Connie.
"I believe in your dream Eren; if anyone could make it happen is you,"
Eren looked at the baldy with a sincere smile. He was actually surprised by his words.
Jean frowned before looking down at the fire. "Idiot," he murmured, but more to himself rather than Eren.
Later
During the late hours of the night, strangely, Eren woke up.
He got out of his sleeping bag and made sure not to step on anyone as he went deep into the woods to "water" some bush.
When he had heeded the call of nature, Eren sighed in relief.
It was when he heard the snorting of a horse that he turned to look at a small lake that was very dark due to the lack of a moon in the sky. Intrigued, he leaned over to watch and noticed someone sitting by the lake, lost in thought.
"Krista..."
The blonde girl turned to watch Eren approach her.
"Is something wrong?" He asked. "Can't you sleep?"
"No, it's not that," she denied. "It's just ... I can't help but feel that I'm not made to be a soldier, that there are much better and stronger people than me,"
"Do you know what quality every soldier must have?" He asked.
"Uh,... good handling of the ODM?" She asked, "I mean, it's something all soldiers should know; the reason why the training takes so long is so that we can use the equipment correctly."
"A soldier would be useless if he doesn't know how to handle it properly; that's what they teach us ..." Eren agreed. "... But I don't think the same."
"Huh?" Krista looked puzzled. "Don't you?"
"They are very indispensable qualities, yes, but the most important thing for a soldier ... is the desire to want to help others of wanting to serve and protect those people who are unable to protect themselves. A soldier must want to protect humanity. A soldier is useless if he is unable to protect a civilian."
Krista was stunned by his words. It was a very noble way of looking at the work of a soldier. Whereas others saw training as a way to prepare to fight the enemy.
Krista looked at the lake carefully, feeling much better after hearing the words of her good friend.
"Thank you, Eren," she said. "It's good to know that someone thinks I'm capable of being a soldier."
"You can become a great soldier ... Maybe even much more."
They were both in pleasant silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company.
It was then that they heard the sound of a branch breaking. They both turned to see what had been, but due to poor visibility and the natural darkness of the forest, they couldn't see much.
"What was ...?"
"Shhh," Eren silenced her, straightening up slowly so as not to make a noise.
He had a strange feeling hammering in his head. As a warning that whatever had caused that branch to break was not a wild animal.
He heard the sound of bushes stirring from the same place where the branch had broken. The two young recruits watched closely for whatever might emerge until they both heard the sound of footsteps behind them.
Eren was the one who quickly turned around, only to watch a rifle aimed at his face.
Armin
A scream caused all of them to wake up abruptly; he didn't even manage to properly stand up from his tent before he noticed a gun aimed at his head.
"Don't move," one man ordered, pointing a pistol at each of them; the others had raised their hands in surrender, and at least ten men surrounded them; the blonde quickly noticed that Eren wasn't around.
"Where's Eren?" Armin questioned, only for a second later to see Eren and Krista walk out from a bush; two guns pointed at their heads.
"You bastard," Jean growled, seeing them.
"Take their ODM gear, and hurry," The man shouted at his man, who started collecting the gear; none of them protested; Armin bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, something noticed by Krista, who found it a bit odd.
Armin knew he could transform and knock them down, but he was way too close to his friends; his transformation would no doubt harm them or maybe even kill them.
"Why do you need our gear, and why do you need us?" Eren questioned surprisingly with a calm tone. His cheek was bleeding as if someone had punched him.
"To sell your gear, of course, you cannot defeat the titans, as for you two. You will make fine slaves," the man explained with a really unsettling smirk.
Eren barely reacted; instead, he stared at the blonde girl beside him, who flinched when she heard his words, and her body started shaking. "Don't be scared, Krista. I won't allow them to harm you," he promised, his words only heard by the blonde girl who felt better hearing his words.
Soon their gear was collected, and Eren and Krista were put in separate carriages that rode away.
"What should we do?" Connie shouted the moment the carriages were far away.
"We should find the other teams and find our friends," Armin said with a commanding tone that even he didn't know where it came from. The others seemed to be listening to him.
"If we wait until Shadis and the others are informed, we might never find them," he quickly added before turning to Sasha.
"You're a hunter; we will need you to..."
Eren Yeager
Has been an hour since they were traveling; he was paying close attention to the carriage that Krista was in; he knew her carriage was several meters away but not far enough; he turned to the man who was holding a gun aiming at him, with his finger on the trigger.
Eren quickly noticed he was nervous; his hands were sweating, and so was his face, and his trigger finger was moving a bit too much.
"What will you do once the Titans break in? You know we are not safe forever, and you are taking the only thing that gives us a chance to fight them," Eren said with an emotionless tone, just as his carriage passed a big bump on the road, causing the carriage to rock back and forth. Still, he kept his balance; unlike the man whose gun fell, he quickly grabbed it, pointing at Eren, who was unfazed now, paying attention to Krista's carriage behind him.
There were three carriages; he was in the first one, and Krista was in the third one.
"What does it matter? You can't kill them, so we are making your jobs easier," the man replied without much thought.
Eren heard a loud noise, the wheel of the third carriage had fallen down when they passed the big bump.
"What happened?" The man shouted, seeing the carriage was getting away from them and not moving anymore.
"The wheel has fallen; we are trying to put it back," a voice shouted; the moonless night made it very hard to see.
Eren knew they were far enough; he turned to the man in front of him with a frown.
"So you're simply surrendering your fate; you would rather put your own life in the hands of someone else," he spoke with disgust; the man didn't like the boy's attitude before punching him in the face.
"Who are you to tell me anything, boy? You know nothing about how the world works," the man shouted angrily; Eren lifted his head, looking at him with contempt, his lips bleeding.
"I know quite a lot. I know I will not allow what happened three years ago to happen again, and I will keep moving forward," Eren spoke, his eyes glittering...
The man felt his whole body turn cold, the eyes of a devil looking back at him, electricity dancing around the boy whose lips healed in Steam.
"Until I Destroy All My Enemies,"