A Promise (An Attack on Titan Fanfic: Erwin Smith)

The Fall of Wall Maria II

The clopping hooves of her mare and the loud whistling air ringing in her ears were the only sounds Isanna could hear as she galloped her way across the top of the walls back to the inner gate of Shiganshina, where soldiers both Garrison and Scout alike were stationed and busying themselves with the current chaos.

The raven guided her ride through mess towards Erwin, who was currently in the middle of a serious discussion with the Commander of the Garrison; he had a balding head and a wrinkly face, but it didn't stop the air of command permeating through his stance. Dot Pixis. Just like Erwin, he wore a solemn face empty from the sheer panic the rest of the soldiers around them had.

"At this rate, humanity will have to abandon Wall Maria."

Isanna clenched her jaw when she was at a hearing distance from their conversation, hopelessness and frustration building up inside her at the thought of humanity giving up their third wall, but she knew it was the only option they had.

Commander Pixis noticed the raven woman in the corner of his eye and turned to face her. He was about to ask who she was when he finally recognized her. "Ah, Vice Captain Isanna."

Following his gaze, Erwin looked and finally saw Isanna, who upon noticing the attention of the two Commanders, hastily unmounted her horse and respectfully gave a salute. She didn't want to correct him that she had in fact just been promoted that same day, because they had more pressing matters at hand.

"Commander Pixis, sir."

Commander Pixis nodded at the girl in acknowledgement, having been acquainted with the girl a few times in the past. "At ease, soldier."

Isanna lowered her fist and looked at Erwin, but before she could make her report, he had already given her another order: She was to go down and relay Pixis' command for half of the Garrison squads to pull back and send messages to every town in Wall Maria to alert everyone and assist in evacuation in the other regions.

"Your report will have to wait," Erwin added, "after you relay our orders, proceed to provide assistance against the titans with Levi and the others."

Saluting, Isanna affirmed his instruction before she briskly turned away to follow through with her new orders. Isanna latched a hook on the side of the wall and allowed herself to fall, her tied hair whipping upwards as gravity continued to pull her down. Using her line to decelerate her descent, she landed on the nearest rooftop and zipped across the town of abandoned buildings to where their vanguard was.

In less than a minute, the girl could see some Scouts fending off the titans in the frontlines; she felt bad that they had no time to rest, but they had a duty to uphold.

Grunting, Isanna shot a hook towards the nape of an unsuspecting titan and bursted forward in quick speed, bring down her blades in a wide arc and causing titan blood to spurt out. She pushed off the falling body and landed on a nearby rooftop, scanning her kill as steams began to rise from the titan corpse.

"Isa!" Hanji called from about two buildings away. "Glad to see you've joined the party!"

Isanna didn't answer her, because 1) this was far from your average kiddie party, and 2) she was not in the mood to humor the brunette. While the girl had her lazy days, she knew when to joke around and when to take things seriously, and their current situation just so happened to fall in the second category.

Jumping off the roof, Isanna hooked a line to the next building and whizzed forward. She managed to kill two more titans before she saw something in her peripheral view.

Snapping her head, the girl narrowed her eyes at the trio of children who were running towards the inner part of the city where the ferries used for evacuation were located in the harbor. The three darted around crashed boulders, fallen buildings and bloody corpses on the streets.