Lara (Long-Fic Levihan | Armin Arlert X OC)

Chapter 35 - Female Titan

As soon as they left Karanes District, they made a long-range formation planned by Commander Erwin, where they would communicate through colored smoke signals, in case they needed to rearrange themselves, they could be guided by the location of the smokes.

Lara was on the second front line on the left with Hange and, as they advanced, they took turns to shoot smoke signals in case they encountered any Titans. They could see Erwin from a distance, who, with his own smoke pistol, reoriented the entire group's formation when needed.

The girls didn't encounter many Titans along the way, and luckily, no abnormal. Lara really had to hold back her mother from time to time, as for every Titan the Squad Leader spotted, she wanted to capture it to make her experiments, and Lara argued that on their way back home, she could take one.

She noticed that Hange was constantly looking back, as if searching for something, with a worried expression on her face.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"He's gonna be fine, okay? He's Captain Levi, remember? Humanity's strongest soldier!"

Hange gave her a sad smile.

"You're right, sweetie... You're right."

As Lara didn't know where was the mission's real destination (for it was confidential), she soon realized that the formation was redirecting to the Forest of Giant Trees, and they continued riding there until they definitively entered the forest, joining Erwin and some other soldiers.

As Lara rode through the huge trees, she felt a certain chill. Everything was completely silent, only the quick hooves of the horses could be heard. A cold breeze waved her hair and she sought Hange's eyes.

"Mom?" Lara almost whispered.

"Yes, baby?"

"Can you already tell me what we're doing here?"

Hange stared straight ahead, with a serious look.

"Soon, you'll know."

Lara felt a strange sensation. The whole mission had an air of mystery and when she previously asked Hange or Levi for more details, they changed the subject. But, because they have lived together for so long, Lara had acquired a big level of trust in her parents, no longer bothering them about this matter and just reminding herself that they knew what they were doing.

At least, they were now in a place entirely conducive to the use of ODM gear, in case they had to face a Titan. For a moment, Lara had a flash memory of when she had been in this forest, alone and scared, which made her shiver even more.

Then, when she least expected it, they arrived at a place that left Lara very intrigued. They were in a sort of clearing, with several giant trees surrounding it. On the edge of the clearing, there were many devices that looked like large wooden boxes full of holes. Inside each hole was a large, very pointed spear, held together by ropes. When Lara looked around to see the whole scheme, she understood that it was a big trap. But, what would they capture?

Erwin commanded everyone to put their horses in a more private area and to prepare to position themselves on the big branches of the trees, while some soldiers would stay hidden on the ground to trigger the trap at the proper moment. Hange ordered Lara to climb high onto one of the trees, as her mother would stay on a lower level to help trigger the trap.

But, before climbing up, Lara felt the ground shaking. As if big steps were hitting it very hard.

"Commander!" she exclaimed. "There's something coming!"