Countdown [Gengar x Pari]

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After the 57th Survey Corps expedition, everything went downhill from there.​

The 60th was a disaster, rivaling the 57th in terms of casualties. Recruitment plummeted.​

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Now, a little after a year later, with a select few Garrison and Military police soldiers assisting them, the Scouts are ready to embark on the 61st expedition beyond the walls.​

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As per usual, every detail that was planned down to an individual soldier's movement is blown to pieces. The situation only becomes worse when a couple soldiers, fresh from training, are separated from the formation and are unknowingly left behind in the titan-infested lands.​

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Ilse Lagner, anyone?​

 

"...."

Sooroon Sorin looked around her, at the people gathered at the gate as they waited for the signal for it to be opened. Her first expedition as a member of the Scouts, and she couldn't be more afraid. The knot in her stomach didn't seem to untangle, and as if sensing her uneasiness, her horse stirred warily, letting out a snort. The 60th expeditions was unheard of to none, and looking around, it almost seemed like there were more roses and unicorns than the iconic Wings of Freedom. Even thinking about the last journey beyond the walls made her nerves fly through the roof. No one could ignore the statistics.

She stared straight ahead, trying to block out the whispers around her. Whispers that carried fear, anger. Because why should they have to sacrifice their own lives for a faction they didn't even choose? They specifically chose the Police and Garrison so they didn't have to charge to their deaths in a fruitless chase that would get them nowhere. Anger and blame directed towards Commander Erwin Smith. The "man who would kill all for humanity", as the MP's liked to call him. Despite her nerves, she scowled. So what if it was him who had asked the king for the extra help? Was it such a crime? The Legion was on the verge of dying out; he had to do something.

Her brother always did tell her she wore her faith on her sleeve. Maybe that was true, but with so few numbers, the Legion was a tight knit group that relied on trust to get through the expeditions. She was relatively new, and she knew that. Her brother was a liar, anyway. "Tch." Pushing her brother far from her mind, she stared at the gate, waiting. Her palms started to sweat and she rubbed her hands on her pants, fearing she would lose her grip on her reins. One last time she checked to see if her hair was tied back tightly. It was. She breathed in, then out, to try to calm herself.

Slowly, the gates started to open. Time seemed to slow down for Sorin, the voices around her faded into white noise, the only thing she seemed to be able to see was the gate opening, revealing the green rolling hills of the abandoned Wall Maria. The gate creaked to a stop, and everything stood still.

A single voice sounded above the murmurs. "ONWARD!" bellowed Commander Smith as he spurred his horse, passed under the gate and archway, and entered titan territory.

The 61st Expedition had officially begun.

SNARK SNARK SNARK. FIN.

 

In all her sixteen years, she never imagined she would be able to go back home. Of course, she wasn't truly going home - but Sorin had grown up in Wall Maria, in a district similar to Shiganshina. It had been quite a shock to find that it had been invaded. All her life she had grown up believing she was safe behind those 50-meter walls, only to wake up one day to her mother's frantic crying.

As it was, exiting the safety of Rose with her evergreen cloak bearing her Wings soaring behind her, she felt liberated. Exhilarated. There was something thrilling to her to be beyond human territory, yet as they traveled through the abandoned town that sat right outside the gate, it was a bit haunting. The dark, empty buildings, some broken and crushed, no doubt by the titans. Around her, some people expressed unease, knowing titans could be lurking out of sight. It was slightly nerve-wracking.

Their fears were realized when shouts of an eight-meter class reached them, though the voice heard over them all was of course Hanji's, declaring she'd love to examine that specimen. Orders were shouted among the ranks to keep facing forward, something that the Scouts were used to but Garrison and Police weren't. The support group had deployed and were circling the creature to take it down before it could disrupt the formation. Sorin raised an arm to shield herself from debris as she galloped by. She had just passed when the titan was killed, the hissing sound of steam filling the air. Sparing a glance around, she noticed the pale faces of the soldiers around her, noting that each one was wearing either the roses or unicorn. Clearly, they were out of their element. "This is only the beginning," she mumbled under her breath. If a single eight-meter had rattled them that badly already, she couldn't wait to get past the town ruins.

That being said, she couldn't entirely blame them. Being her first expedition, and knowing it would be the last for many of the formation, was enough to set people off when the first titan showed its ugly face. And once they got past the ruins, the support squad wouldn't be able to help them. They'd be relying on themselves, and Commander Erwin's Long Distance Scouting Formation. Which, she recalled as they burst free of the city, stationed her to the far right, in the front. The spotting wing of the formation. The one that had been completely wiped out the past few expeditions.

Out in the open, everything seemed empty. Large hills that, if you squinted, could be called mountains, sat in the distance, with small strands of trees dotting the rolling green plains. After everyone had emerged from the ruins, Commander Erwin gave the order. With a hand outstretched, he shouted, "Long distance scouting formation!"

Sorin Reese peeled away from the formation, as did everyone else who wasn't in the center. Steering her horse to the right, once she was lined up in her row she continued on forward, following the formation. Her gaze swept the surrounding area, watching for any titans that could appear. One hand reached down to grab her flare gun, holding it and her reins just in case. Once she was actually in her row and on the watch, suddenly she remembered why everyone dreaded the right wing. Which did not help her situation at all. It was silent around her, the only sounds being the muffled hoofbeats of her horse on the grass beneath her. Again she scanned the plains to her right, where she knew no one else would be. She was on the edge of the formation, and she was still trying to figure out how she ended up there as a newbie when it occurred to her that suddenly she wasn't alone.

A titan burst forth from a section of trees. In the split second between it appearing and it spotting her, she took that moment to judge which kind it was. When it started towards her, hands already reaching out, she plunged her hand in her saddlebag. Heart racing, she grabbed a flare and fired a red signal into the sky. To her left, numerous other flares joined hers, and while keeping an eye on the titan, who was still fairly far away, she watched for the Commander's green signal. Seeing it, she pulled on the reins and guided her horse in its direction, looking over her shoulder to watch the titan fall far behind. A sigh of relief escaped her when she saw it was one of the stupider ones who didn't follow. If only everything went that smoothly, maybe... Maybe everything would go alright. Certainly not every expedition would be a failure, right? Though her optimism sounded fake and hollow.

A signal flare up ahead alerted her of another titan spotted. She prepared another red flare when an ear-piercing shriek sounded, startling her and leading her to drop the shell. With a string of curses she grabbed another one and fired it, spurring her horse to move faster to see if she could find the origin of the scream. Up ahead she spotted a titan, no doubt the one who had been the cause of the flares being fired, crouching towards the ground, holding a - oh, no. There were a few buildings up ahead where it was, no doubt the titan had surprised the soldier and had gotten to her. It raised its hands to its mouth, and then she couldn't watch, yanking the reins of her horse to the left, following the green flare.

Already a casualty, and an Aberrant hadn't even been spotted, which was usually the cause of most of the losses. What wasn't comforting was that who knew if that was even the first? How many had already died? How many would die? It made her sick, that she was already thinking in numbers. Shivering, she wrapped her cloak tighter around herself and warily watched the plains. Going past buildings made her increasingly nervous, so she tried to avoid them if she could.

A black signal flare flew into the air ahead of her.

 

After the black flare, it was quiet for a while. No more flares, no thundering footsteps. Just her, her horse, and the empty plains. Oh, and a feeling that something was about to go very, very wrong. Fum. She was beginning to become paranoid enough without that little feeling, thanks. Sorin rode on, gently digging her heels into Herz's side to go a little faster. It was worrying her; no titans in sight, no flares from the few people who were farther up in the formation. A knot settled into her stomach as she surveyed the plains, but still seeing nothing but green. Surely there were some somewhere? It almost relieved her when a titan burst from the trees. It was going so fast, and it looked so determined (though it was hard to tell on titans) that she mistook it for an Aberrant.

And that, that was her downfall.

She loaded a black flare, pointing it to the heavens and prepared to fire it. She had a plan all laid out. Once she fired the signal, she would use her 3DMG to slay the titan, and hopefully they could keep going. Of course, this all relied heavily on one fact - that the titan would leave her alone and charge straight towards the center of the formation, as Aberrants had learned how to do. The flare had barely left her gun when the titan caught up to her. She fully expected it to pass her, giving her a good aim to reach its neck.

In her shock, she was barely able to swerve out of its way as a giant hand descended upon the spot Herz had occupied seconds earlier. Heart thudding painfully loudly in her chest, she loaded another shell into her gun, shaking hands barely being able to keep hold of the shell. Sorin fired it, red smoke standing out with the black flares that had gone up. Soon other red streaks flew through the air, but she wasn't paying attention. "Where's that green?" she nearly shouted to herself, voice quivering, Herz snorting and neighing as her rider frantically switched directions to avoid the titan who was constantly grabbing at her. More than once she had felt the air from a swipe right above her head, and if she hadn't before she was beginning to fear for her life. At last, she saw a flash of green in the sky, and with a strangled cry of relief she steered Herz in the direction it pointed towards.

Or, she would have felt more relieved, if that titan had stopped following her. It didn't. She was wondering if she should have just used the 3DMG to confront the titan and slay it when she noticed they were coming up to the remains of another small town. An image of the squatting titan flashed through her mind, and she could still hear the scout's screams. But if she hesitated any longer, the titan behind her-

Movement from behind one of the buildings startled her, and as she passed a small gap between two of the ruins, time seemed to slow as she stared straight into a huge eye. Before she could even do anything a crawler-type titan skidded out from behind the row of buildings, and she screamed. She pulled harshly on Herz's reins, but flesh meeting shingles behind her reminded her of the presence she had previously been fleeing from. "We're gonna die," she whimpered. The titans were closing in on her, and heart in her throat she urged her horse into a gallop, going straight beneath the crawler titan. Sweating, shaking hands loaded yet another shell into her gun, shooting red smoke up. It wasn't until she saw the other flares go up that she realized where the rest of the formation was.But she had thought - she had thought - why were they so far away?

She didn't get time to focus on that, not with two of the beasts on her tail. Eyes wide, she frequently looked over her shoulder, and each time the titans were relentlessly hounding her, the crawler titan bounding ahead of the other one, large teeth gnashing together, saliva dripping from its unnaturally-large mouth as it honed in on its prey. Up ahead she saw strand of trees, and one thing rang in her mind. Not the hoofbeats, not the small sound of despair that she would soon realize to be her own, not the quaking of the earth from the monsters behind her. No, she only heard one thing, a piece of advice she had learned during her training in the Survey Corps. It had just been added to the strategy portion of the lessons after the 57th, where it had been used successfully.

"I'm not gonna die today-!" Everything cleared, focusing sharply. The titans' footsteps jolted her back to reality, and she narrowed her eyes, the trees ahead of her growing ever closer. "Herz," she leaned forward, whispering words of encouragement to the horse. Digging her heels into the mare's sides, she asked for a little more, just a little. Racing towards the trees, the crawler behind her so close she could feel its hot breath on her back, she pulled on the reins just as it appeared she was going to smash into the trees. Swerving to the left, there was a satisfying crack as the titan collided headfirst into the tree. It was out. Sorin didn't remember who, but one of the older Corps members had taught them that if they ever came face to face with crawlers.

She wasn't alone, though. Large footfalls still sounded behind her. Swallowing, she drew her blades. The bipedal titan was still chasing her, and she wasn't able to shake it. It was a normal titan, but she would have to take it down. Standing up in the saddle, she wheeled Herz around and confronted the thing, launching her cables into is shoulder. Reeling herself in, she propelled through the air, narrowly avoiding a hand as it reached for her. Swinging around to its neck, the sound of folded steel shrieking through the air could be heard as she mercilessly cut a large, clean chunk from the nape. The creature fell, and she stabilized herself on its back, jolting when it hit the ground. Herz cantered over, and as the carcass steamed and dissolved, blood evaporating from her blades she hopped down. "Good girl," she murmured, rubbing her horse's neck.

Once back in the saddle, she sheathed her blades and wiped the sweat from her hands and face. It wasn't until she nudged Herz along did she realize that she had absolutely no idea where the rest of the formation was. Sorin was utterly alone.

 

By the time more flares soared through the sky, she realized exactly how far away the formation was. How far she had fallen behind. Even as she watched, she saw the faint sight of a green flare, in the exact opposite direction she had been going to avoid the titans who had been tailing her. Sorin swore loudly. Alone, a recently graduated soldier who had been separated from the rest of the Legion had little to no chance of surviving. Maybe in the night, as titans grew lethargic then. But looking up at the sky, at the sun's position, she knew she had many hours to survive until night fell. She felt like she was going to be sick. Urging Herz in the directions of the flares, she wondered if she would even make it. She hadn't been paying attention, who knew how many red flares alerting of normal titans had gone up? How many would she encounter?

"Wait." She eased her horse into a stop, wondering if she was imagining things. No, they were still there, and growing heavier with each minute. Swallowing thickly, she slowly twisted around in the saddle, seeing the crawler from before sprinting towards her. No, not her - another Scout! From the distance, she couldn't tell what branch they were from, but either way she was somewhat relieved that there was another person out with her. There was, however, the small problem of the giant crawling creature following them.

Turning her mare around, she headed straight towards the beast, attaching her blades to the handles of her 3DMG. With a wide ark around the titan to avoid being detected until she was behind it, she glanced warily at the one it was chasing. Evergreen cloak fluttered up once, revealing - revealing a green unicorn? She blinked. Out of all the people, a member of the Military Police had come? Though honestly, in their current predicament, she didn't care. Maybe, maybe with another person she'd have a better chance of surviving to reach the formation again. They both would.

Raising herself up, she fired wires into the back of the titan, reeling herself in with a cold look. If the boy could just keep the thing distracted for a minute longer-!

Raising her twin swords, she flew in fro the killing strike when the thing twisted its head and stared her straight in the eye. "Holy-" She was barely able to swing down out of the way on her wires before she would have been bitten in half. Sorin landed on the ground awkwardly, face pale as a sheet.

 

Sorin had desperately scrambled to get up as the titan turned its hungry gaze towards her. There's a reason they told us not to engage crawlers! she was shrieking internally. Off her horse, she would in no way be able to outrun the quadrupedal beast. She began to back away, nearly tripping over her own feet as she knew in one snap at the distance she was would be fatal to her. Or, would have been, if she hadn't ducked as the MP fired a flare that exploded right in its eye.

Using the distraction she whistled loudly, Herz trotting over. She barely let the mare come to a full stop before she was climbing into the saddle, urging her to go as the titan charged off after the MP. She followed, wondering if she should aim for the wrists and ankles when she realized they were quickly approaching the grove of trees again. She prayed they could repeat the same trick and then just attempt to get back to the formation. So when the titan jumped and cleared the trees, she just sat there. Until it occurred to her the MP and his horse were going back towards her and she got out of there before she nearly became titan bait.

Way too many close calls! Sorin shouted at herself in her mind as she rode alongside the titan but out of its line of site. Once they reached the ruins, everything seemed to go by so quickly she could barely keep up as she watched. She was so sure he was going to die, especially when it looked like he would spin right into the titan's mouth. But there was a reason he was able to enlist in the MP, a reason he was placed in the top ten. The next thing she knew there was a blast of hot air as the titan steamed and evaporated. The air cleared and there he was, laying on the ground. As she got closer she could see drops of red around his head. Dismounting Herz, she rummaged through the saddlebags and found the first aid kit.

His gear laid a few feet away and his horse wasn't far either. Watching for more titans, she kneeled down next to the boy and pulled bandages from the kit. Something must have hit his head when he was in the air. Judging by the chunks of stone and brick laying around, it wasn't hard to figure out what. Sorin lifted his head into her lap so she could wrap his wound. As she worked, it struck her that he looked rather familiar, but she just couldn't place where she had seen him before.

After securing the bandages she gently placed him back on the ground before calling his horse over. Inspecting his gear, she was relieved to find that it had disconnected as it was supposed to, and while a little scraped it wasn't broken. Then she realized she had a problem. She'd have to get his gear back on, and then somehow get him on his horse... Maybe it would be better if she got him up on the horse before putting the gear on, she decided. So there she was. For once she was glad that no one was around because it was slightly embarrassing trying to get the unconscious boy on the back of the tall animal.

Sorin wasn't short, but she wasn't tall either (though she was thankful she was taller than Captain Levi at least). It took her a few minutes, but finally she was able to get him up on the horse. And that was when she remembered where she had seen him before - he was part of her Trainee Squad, the 112th. She couldn't exactly recall what he had placed. Somewhere in the top five, no doubt. Third? Fourth? She didn't remember, and wasn't about to dwell on it at that moment.

Instead, she concentrated on reattaching his gear. Which went rather well, although she did end up having to stand one one of the broken walls to be tall enough. After that she puzzled over how to secure him so he wouldn't fall off the horse on the ride. She had gotten him seated in the saddle and then somewhat draped him over the horse's neck. She would have just laid him over the saddle, but with the 3DMG that would have been difficult, not to mention it wouldn't have been good for his head injury.

The longer it took her to figure out how to arrange everything, the more it stressed her out because she knew the formation was just getting farther away. And there she was, alone again. Well, not necessarily alone, but if a titan ambushed them, it wasn't like the MP could do anything while unconscious like he was. In the end, she had just decided to loop the reins around him. It'd be a little uncomfortable when he woke up sure, but hey, she figured that he'd appreciate that more than smacking his head against the ground again if he slipped off, right?

Ripping off another length of bandages, she tied the bridles of the two horses together, allowing room to move but not much more. Throughout the whole time she was doing everything, she was trying to keep a calm head so she could clearly assess the situation when she was internally flipping the flip out. They were who knew how far away from the formation, and while the boy (she couldn't even remember his name; showed how much attention she paid to the rest of the trainees) wasn't exactly a burden, he wasn't exactly helping her in his state either!

Sorin climbed back into Herz's saddle and settled it for the agonizing long ride it would take. Wiping her sweaty palms on her pants, she tried to calm herself down and tell herself everything would be alright. At least the boy - Car! That was his name, or at least, a nickname - seemed relatively stable. She just hoped he would wake up soon because were they screwed if they came across a titan and he was still out cold. As it was, she tried not to go too fast to avoid accidentally setting him off balance.

Well. At the pace they were going, a sun-deprived titan could catch up the them. Covering up the fact that she was nervous even if no one was there to witness it, she urged Herz to go faster. The other horse picked up the pace, and when she saw the blood beginning to stain through the bandages, she just sighed. Surveying the plains and seeing nothing, Maybe all the titans are going after the formation? Hopefully? Please? she pulled the roll of bandages from the saddlebags again and reached over to change them.

 

Thankfully she had finished changing his bandages before he woke up. Now that would have been awkward. At least he woke up quickly. He might not be in shape to fight titans, but she would feel less alone as they searched for the rest of the Survey Corps. Another pair of eyes never hurt either. As long as they didn't run into any more crawlers. Shuddering slightly, she continued to scan the plains surrounding them, whether it would be for titans or the Corps. Though the pessimistic voice in the back of her mind was telling her that they had a better chance of seeing more titans.

Sorin glanced over at Car. "Well," she started, exhaling audibly, "I don't know where they are. The last time I saw the flares was when you came in with the crawler." She had a vague sense of the direction they had gone in then, but after the whole thing with the titan, they could have been anywhere, knowing how to formation was constantly shifting directions to avoid the regular titans. They could be anywhere at that point. They could even be back at the wall. "Can you sit up and ride on your own?" she asked. The horses were still tied together, but now that he was awake, if he could ride on his own it would be easier. Especially if they encountered a titan, as it was awkward trying to use the gear to maneuver in such a tight space so close to another person.

Rubbing the back of her neck, she bit her lip. "I don't know where they are now. It's my first time beyond the walls, I only know the larger landmarks..." She was half muttering to herself. Some Scout I'm turning out to be, she thought to herself with a small sigh. "Would they have headed to the forest?" The forest of giant trees was a popular place for the Survey Corps to go when something went wrong, but then again, she wasn't sure if anything had gone wrong, or if they were still out in the open. Decisions, decisions, that were stressing her out while they were forced to move in a random direction, or else be sitting ducks for more titans.

 

When he snapped at her she held her hands up for a moment, in the okay sorry wow gesture. "Okay, sheesh." Though under her breath she muttered, "'M not surprised he doesn't." It was more to cover up the punctured hole in her pride that she poked herself, knowing that she had pretty much screwed it up, both for herself and Carthaire.. In a louder voice she said, "But yeah. Yeah. You're right. I don't think Herz can go much longer either." She patted the mare's neck, getting a soft nicker in response. Scanning the horizon, Sorin frowned. Still no titans. She couldn't decide if that was a good or a bad thing. Good, because she'd be fighting them alone, plus it gave them time to think of what to do and where to go. Bad, because, well, it was always suspicious when it was quiet for too long. It always made her feel like something bad was about to happen, and so far on that expedition, the silence hadn't failed her yet. The girl shuddered slightly, not liking the feeling she had at all.

"If we find a house somewhere that isn't destroyed to bits, maybe we could hide there. Generally the titans will walk past us and leave us alone if they don't know we're there... We just have to be careful that none spot us if we find one we can hide in." At least titans were stupid. They'd have to be cautious. Most buildings had basements if she remembered, though it would be somewhat difficult to get the horses in and out of the spaces. If they could just find something to cover the windows with, maybe? The hard part, however, would be finding a house that wasn't smashed to splinters and gravel. Either from when the wall fell, or past expeditions. There were 60 before the current one after all, each to varying degrees of "success".

The abandoned towns still left her on edge. Being trapped between two titans and the houses had not been fun, she had decided long ago, and it was an experience she didn't care to repeat so soon. Though unless they somehow made it to the forest, the houses were the only option. The trees dotting the plains were too short and thin, the plains themselves too open. Then maybe they could figure out a way to get back to the Legion, though he was right. Their survival was the most important thing at the moment. Of course he was right. Of course...

"So? What do you think?" She wasn't looking at him. Sorin was still looking around them, searching for anything moving. Birds flew ahead, but from what she could tell they hadn't been startled from their perch, so that was somewhat encouraging. Though it still made her nervous that no titans had showed up. If she was right though, which she doubted as each second passed, they would be gathering near the formation. That many humans in one group was something hard to ignore for the beasts.

Since defeating the crawler, it had been a while that they were riding, and despite the slower pace had made relatively decent progress. It looked like they were going in somewhat the right direction, too! And she knew that from the crimson-stained grass and occasional body part they passed.

Sorin felt like she was going to be sick.

 

Hesitating, Sorin soon followed Car, wondering where he was going. The farmhouse was far too crumbled to be of any use, and the tall grass was more of a hindrance to them than a help. Whatever it was, she followed him and his horse anyway, Herz's hooves making soft noises as they moved through the grass. To herself she was still mulling over what to do when they heard a crack.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she peered down at the ground, seeing Macht's hoof right through an arm bone. "Oh... Oh, no..." Skeletons were littered around the grasses surrounding the farmhouse. Her sick feeling only increased, and she had to steady herself on Herz as a wave of nausea swept through her, her face pale as she looked around them. From what the rest of the Legion had said, sights like that weren't as uncommon as people would have wished, though... Something seemed off about the fallen they had uncovered, laying there silently for who knew how long. Obviously a while, since the bodies had decomposed until only the bones were left. As she studied the skeletons, she took note of the particular positions and the two that looked crushed.

Sooner rather than later she allowed her eyes to drift to the worn leather straps, the dull, in most cases broken, 3DMG, and the jackets. The jackets and the faded Wings, painted brown with the dried blood of those that had worn them so proudly. Sorin dismounted, still feeling uneasy around those particular remains near the farmhouse... "Why?" she whispered. It might have been the first time she had seen such a thing close up, and she doubted it would be her last, but something about those skeletons just wasn't right.

Squatting down next to the body closest to her, she reached out warily, as if afraid they would come to life and attack her. Moving the jacket flaps away, she carefully pulled the insignia off the pocket, running her thumb over its crusty surface from the blood. If they couldn't bring the remains back, that was the next best thing. Many Scouts did it, so why not her? It could be a way to remember those that had been forgotten there near the farmhouse. It didn't take her long to collect the rest of the Wings, carefully tucking them in the front pocket of her own jacket. Her expression was guarded as she stood up, climbing back onto her horse's saddle. "...It doesn't feel right, leaving them here," she finally said quietly. Sorin knew they had to, they had enough things to worry about besides figuring out how to get some bones back with them, but it didn't seem right. None of it seemed right, and the skeletons still bothered her, though she still couldn't pinpoint exactly why and it was frustrating and unnerving her.

It wasn't until she stared at the flattened, crushed remains that something clicked. Wait a moment... Glancing at the others, it was soon confirmed. "They're... they're all here. Intact," she said out loud. "Obviously, the f-flat ones aren't, but-! These look like whole skeletons!" And that, that exactly was what had been bothering her the whole time they were there. Usually, if there were remains to be found at all, there would only be parts because of the way the titans devoured the humans. But those, those looked like they were all there. The realization made her blood feel like it had turned to ice. "What even happened?" Quite honestly, it was even more disturbing than if they had just found an arm or leg or something or the sort. "W-why are they like this?"

 

At the mention of gas, Sorin rapped her knuckles against her own canisters. For the most part they sounded full, but she checked the percentages just in case. "Fifty-three percent," she murmured. She must have burned more than she expected while fighting the two titans... Then again, the crawler had been fast, without realizing it, she had probably used extra gas to catch up to it and reach the nape. Swinging her leg off Herz, she landed on the ground again, and then went over to inspect the nearest 3DMG. Unstrapping one of the canisters, she picked it up and examined it. "Just watch there isn't a hole in it or something." it wouldn't do well to change to empty canisters. "I think we can fit these in the saddlebags. They'll hang out a little, but I don't think they'll fall out." She went to check the percentage of the rod she was holding. "Ninety-one percent?" Her eyes widened. "Whatever happened here," she swallowed, trying to get her words past the lump that seemed to have formed in her throat, "whatever happened, happened fast." And that just made it even more terrifying.

Since she still had a little over half still in her equipped rods, she took the other one from the soldier and placed them in her saddlebags. When she ran hers dry she could switch the rods out. Having the extras was a small source of comfort for her, at least, so hopefully they wouldn't run out of fuel any time soon. That'd be the last thing she wanted, she had heard the horror stories from Trost when it had been invaded... Shoving the thoughts from her mind she loaded up two more canisters at eighty-six percent. "Thank you," she whispered under her breath to the fallen, still regretting there was nothing else she could do for them besides take their insignias. Their emblems, that didn't tell who they were, what they had done, how they died. They only proved the soldiers existed. Perhaps, she thought quietly, in the Scouting Legion, that is all that can be done sometimes.

Feeling slightly sad, she glanced around at the bones one more time. "We should probably leave now. The house is too broken to be of any use... Something smashed right through it." The whole scene was starting to get unbearably unnerving the more she thought about it, and she just wanted to leave. Besides, staying in one place in titan territory was generally not a good idea. And honestly, the more Sorin looked at the skeletons, the more she knew that the possibility she could end up like them, laying in a field somewhere rotting, or someone's horse stepping on her arm bone, or maybe not being found at all, was very likely to be her fate. While she had known that when she took her pledge and had saluted to Commander Erwin when she had enlisted in the Corps that night of her graduation, seeing it in the field was much, much different.

When the thought first occurred to her, she had been standing in the middle of the crowd of the 112th, as many people turned and walked away. Car had been one, she remembered, allowing her gaze to slide over to them as she settled into Herz's saddle. But back there, as she had been standing and waiting for the others to leave and she remained, one of the only people in the 112th to do so, it was easy to imagine that she'd survive the expeditions and contribute to humanity. That was why she had joined the military, wasn't it? To become stronger... Her gaze landed on the green unicorn on Car's uniform and she broke into a sweat, heart beating faster as something in her mind seemed to dance just out of reach-!

She shook her head, feeling sick. "C-come on, let's just g-go." Urging her horse along, Sorin steered around the skeletons and headed past the farmhouse, not quite looking at it and only staring straight ahead.