Attack on Titan: A Blacksmith's Tale

Chapter 36: The Battle of Castle Utgard

All eyes were on the pastor when that name left his mouth. So many questions were going through the cadets' minds as they stared in stunned silence only for the door behind them to slam open, thus breaking said silence.

"Important message!" Sasha shouted, clutching a piece of paper tightly. "I'm with the 104th Cadet Corps. Oh, and my name is Sasha Braus."

No one paid any attention to her as they were still taking in the news.

"No way," Eren whispered.

"Who?" Hanji asked, turning to the cadets.

Sasha cautiously approached her, trying to hand over the message. "Sorry. This is for you, Section Commander."

Despite her efforts, she was still ignored.

"You must find her with all haste," Nick told them. "She is the key. She may know things we understand, but poorly. And with that, we come to the end of what I'm free to share. The rest I leave in your capable hands."

"But, if she's in the 104th Cadet Corps, she's at the front lines by now," Hanji said.

"Then, let's go. There's no time to lose." Eren started running towards to stables only to immediately crash into Sasha, who fell onto the ground harshly and dropped the letter.

"Watch where you're going," Hanji rebuked.

"Sasha?" Eren asked, surprised.

"Where did you come from all of a sudden?" Mikasa wondered.

Carefully, Dillon began helping the girl up. "You all right?"

She let out a groan, massaging her forehead. "Yeah, I'm all—" She gasped loudly and picked the letter back up, running towards Hanji. "I was sent to give a message to Commander Erwin, who then entrusted me to deliver this to you, Section Commander!" With a dramatic bow, she held out the message to her.

Hanji didn't quite know how to respond to that other than, "Oh, uh... okay, then. Excellent work."

She placed a steamed potato in Sasha's hands, whose face lit up with pure joy. She took a large bite out of it, thrilled to taste real food once again.

"So, who was Nick talking about?" Hanji wondered while the cadets began strapping on ODM gear.

"She was the smallest one in our class," Eren explained as Mikasa made sure his gear was attached correctly.

"Golden hair, blue eyes," Armin described. "In fact, she's, uh, kinda cute."

Annie couldn't help but smirk at that. "Sounds like you have a crush, Armin."

His face flushed with embarrassment, but he didn't comment on it.

"She's the one always hanging around Ymir," Mikasa added for good measure.

Hanji gasped at that statement. "Excuse me?"

Dillon tilted his head in confusion. "What is it?"

She shook it off for the moment. "I'll tell you all later. Right now, we have to finish getting ready."

"Annie!" Sasha practically crashed into Annie to give her a hug. "It's so good to see you again."

Awkwardly, the blonde hugged her back as she tried to breathe. "It's nice to see you, too, I guess. Can you let go before you crush my ribs?"

She released her quickly. "Sorry. I just didn't expect to see you join the Scouts. What made you change your mind?"

"It's a long story that we don't have time for," Annie answered.