Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

ONE-HUNDRED-AND-TEN

'There is a fine line between courage and idiocy. Only the great pioneers of our world choose to walk that line.'

-An unseen extract written by the late scholar and journalist Aksel Briggs.

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ONE-HUNDRED-AND-TEN

Somewhere in Northern Titan Country

As the sun rose, the Scouts set off again.

Erwin was now relatively confident they were not being followed. He'd sent out a couple of Scouts at daybreak to survey the area and report back. Nothing. It was safe to say the enemy had lost sight of them.

They took off from the forest with cautious confidence.

Titan Country was open and quiet. They travelled many days on horseback, barely stopping to rest and prioritising speed above all else.

The days became monotonous. The landscape, while beautiful, was repetitive in the many vast, grassy fields and rich forests. The land seemed to go on forever.

To Lorelai, it was tiring beyond words. She missed the city. She missed sleeping inside and eating something that wasn't field rations.

To Erwin, it was paradise. He, who had dreamed of the outside world for his whole life, couldn't get enough of the repetitive grass fields.

He and Lorelai spent some time together in command, occasionally reconfiguring their route and discussing the enemy. Lorelai, as always, was impressed by his resolve.

After three days, the entire battalion was in low spirits. They were all sapped of energy and bored with the mission's monotony, and yet, Erwin remained excited for the road ahead. It wasn't exactly a common sentiment.

Though casualties remained low, supplies were beginning to dwindle. The once unpopular field rations became a luxury. One night, Levi had to break up a brawl over a pack of crackers.

Of course, they'd expected this; but it still surprised the higher-ups how badly the supply shortage had hit them.

Things got even worse as they travelled further North. The weather hit morale hard as the grassy fields turned to icy tundra. Nights were cold and brutal. Many came down with illness; others began to question if they'd make it at all.

Nevertheless, the Scouts trudged on. It was a slow, gruelling process, filled with a great deal of complaining and growling stomachs. But, they continued despite it all.

It was all they could do. It was further back than it was ahead. All the Scouts could do was keep moving toward the distant light that had appeared on the horizon: Havas.

After six long days of travelling, they had reached the final stretch.

The Larkathi Salt Flats were a foreboding sight.

"What the hell!" Thomsen exclaimed, pulling on his stallion's reigns. "It's a damn wasteland!"

Miles upon miles upon empty miles lay before them. The Larkathi Salt Flats were a barren wasteland of uninterrupted white that seemed to go on forever.

Though the outer wall had appeared on the horizon, it was distant, far off and tiny in comparison. Havas was in sight, but it may as well have been on the other side of the world.

"Lieutenant," Iva rode up beside Lorelai. "Is this it?"

The battalion had assembled on the edge of the Flats. They were a tired, weary-looking bunch, half-starved and desperate. They still had a hell of an ordeal ahead.