Attack On Titan: Wings Of Freedom

A Different Kind

((AN: this is a separate story from Wings of Freedom and is only a one shot))

Only those who went knew what really happened to the first expedition, but they never came back to tell. The second started the rumors: that the Titans were so powerful we couldn't make it more than a few miles without being wiped away. Before anyone had time to change their mind the third expedition was set into motion.

Rumors of the earlier expeditions fates ran through my head, stuck on a continuous repeat. My hands shook holding the reins, but I was not the only one. Out of the entire legion, consisting of a little over 30 men, only one man was not scared. He was our commander, the only man alive who had experienced outside and survived.

Our goal was pretty simple: we just needed to go outside for a few hours and come back. It was a quick scouting mission, according to all the higher ups, but that didn't change the fact I was terrified. I was so caught up worrying about what could happen I didn't even realize we were outside until the gate had closed behind us.

I rode in the back of the formation, but that didn't offer me much comfort. We all kept our heads moving as we continued to ride away from the walls. Some of the others started to speak softly as none of them appeared and a few even relaxed a bit.

"Hey, this isn't so bad." One of the men near the front of the formation called, loud enough most of us heard him. At that exact moment a giant hand came out from behind a nearby barn and snatched the man right off his horse. We all seemed to freeze as the Titan lifted the man to its mouth. The man was screaming, even as he's slid into the Titan's throat.

The formation then fell apart. Many of the horses spooked, bolting in various direction. My own horse didn't bolt as they did but as soon as I tapped her with my heals she took off, back towards the wall. There was seven or eight of us heading that way.

I saw the second Titan out of the corner of my eye and pulled Light to a stop. At least two of the others didn't see the Titan in time and were quite literally stepped on. This Titan was much bigger than the other and I was barely about to avoid his hand as he reached for me.

"Go, Light." I kicked my horse into action and Light ran. I left the group behind as I aimed for the giant trees. By some miracle I avoided running into any more Titans and the woods offered me a small sense of safety. I had Light slow, since I did not want her waste her strength.

After a moment I sighed and glanced back. "Now what?" I muttered under my breath. Light's ears flicked towards me, but then she stiffened -and her ears and head twisted towards a spot in the woods. "Light?" I asked softly, scanning but not seeing what was worrying her.

A bush started to rustle and my hand tightened around the pistol I carried. I figured it was to small to be a Titan, but at this distance I wouldn't be able to run away in time regardless. I was shocked by what did come out of the bush: it was not a Titan or an animal. It was a girl.

She was less than half my age, little more than a child, dressed in nothing with hip length brown hair. She slid to a stop when she saw me and after a moment she turned and bolted back into the woods. "Wait!" I leapt off Light and ran after her.

I was faster than she was, but she could turn on a dime and dodged me several times. But the time I was able to catch her arm I had no idea how far away Light was. "Hold on. Calm down." I kept a gentle, but tight grip on the girl's arms as I tried to reassure her.

The girl continued to struggle, trying very hard to get away from me. Finally she shrieked, so suddenly she startled me and I accidentally loosen my grip. The girl bolted again and I ran after her.

The woods suddenly fell away, revealing perhaps the biggest Titan I had ever seen. The Titan was bending down, to rest his hand on the ground. I slammed to a stop, but the girl didn't hesitate. She ran right into the Titans hand.

The Titan closed his hand slightly and picked her up without actually hurting her. The Titan straightened as he did and then let the girl climb onto his shoulder. She hid half behind his ear, keeping a tight grip on a lock of his hair.

"What the..." I could not understand what exactly was going on. It seemed impossible: not only did this Titan seem to have no interest in eating the girl, but he almost seemed to care for her.

A roar shook the earth and another Titan ran at the one before me. The newcomer clearly wanted to eat the girl, but the larger Titan knocked him aside. The two began fighting and it was evident that he was protecting the girl, which only made me further confused.

The battle was short and ended when the newcomer stopped getting up. The winner, with the girl, eyed me before he turned to walk into the woods. Another Titan roared in the distance and the Titan stopped. He picked up the girl gently as they stared in each other's eyes for a moment, then the Titan turned and bent to give the girl to me.

I took her and looked at the Titan. His eyes told me 'protect her' and I nodded once. He stood and turned towards the incoming noises. I whistled and a moment later Light came out of the woods. I set the girl on first and mounted behind her.

I pulled off my cape and wrapped it around the girl before I urged Light towards the wall. The girl's eyes did not move from the wall, but I couldn't help but glance back. The large Titan was holding the others back all on his own. I didn't watch for long before I turned my attention forward and focused on where we were headed.

After riding in silence for a while I finally tried speaking to the girl. "Do you have a name?" I asked her. She looked at me with a tilt of her head and I got the impression she didn't understand me. "That's alright. I'll give you one." I gave her a smile and started thinking.

I looked around and my eyes were upwards, to the sky. "Do you like Sora?" I asked her. She tilted her head again. "Sora." I repeated clearly, gesturing to her.

"So... So.... Sora?" She stuttered, surprising me. I nodded.

"That's right. Sora." I agreed and she smiled.

"Sora." She said again softly. Then she started staring at me.

"Yes?" I asked her and she set a hand on my chest. "Oh. Ian." I told her.

"I... Ian." She said, motioning to me. "Sora. Ian. Sora." She motioned back and forth as she spoke and I smiled.

"You are very intelligent." I told her. She didn't know what I had said, as indicated with a tilt of her head. We approached the gate then and I waved, trying to get the attention of the men on the walls.

"Hey! Open the gate!" I shouted. "hey! Open the gate!" I shouted again, louder this time. I was about to try again when the sound of a flare being fired came from behind me. I turned to see a handful of the men who had left the walls with me earlier.

"Ian, you're alright!" My friend called and I smiled, joining their formation.

"Somehow. But you will never believe what happened." I told him as we entered the walls.

"Oh?" He asked and I shifted so he could see Sora, who had hidden when I started shouting. "Who is that?"

"Sora. Somehow she was living out there." I told him.

He hesitated. "Ian, are you sure it's okay to bring her inside the wall? We still don't know how Titans are formed."

"It'll be fine. Sora isn't a Titan and if she can survive out there then so can we." I said, giving Sora a smile.