Attack on Titan: A Blacksmith's Tale

Chapter 37: A Bitter Reunion

There were many things that Ymir didn't expect to happen today. She didn't expect to find Titans within Wall Rose with no breach. She didn't expect to be trapped in a tower surrounded by Titans that could move at night. Most of all, she didn't expect to reveal herself as a Titan Shifter like this.

When Krista fell off the tower, it was like she was watching a beautiful, wonderful dream shatter before her eyes. After everything the two had been through, after forcing Krista to face the truth of her reasons for enlisting, she was going to die by a giant ape? Her heart nearly stopped when she heard Krista screaming for her, begging for help when she was about to be eaten. Ymir knew what had to be done, damn the consequences. It was so easy to take Connie's knife, but it was harder to jump off the tower and go through with it. Now, her nature had been revealed.

"Y-Ymir?" Krista asked fearfully.

Slowly, the Titan nodded, trying to look as non-threatening as possible, which was hard considering her appearance.

"How is this possible?"

Before Ymir could answer, she noticed the Titans start to converge on her. Holding Krista tightly to her chest, Ymir started dashing away from them.

"Keep them off her back!" Mike ordered, once he got over the shock.

"Sir, she's a Titan," one of the Scouts protested.

"And she's not attacking us," he shot back, grappling towards the nearest Titan.

On top of the tower, the group stared down at Ymir, flabbergasted by what just happened.

"Talk to me," Connie pleaded. "Someone tell me this is all a dream."

Reiner's eyes were wide with horror. "It... it was her that day."

"She's the one," Bertholdt whispered, equally mortified.

The tower began shaking a bit, throwing everyone off-balance.

"Get away from the edge!" Nanaba exclaimed, pulling Reiner back. "This tower could give any second."

"Yeah, especially if that Titan tries to throw another..." Connie's voice trailed off when he looked at the Wall. "Wait, where'd he go?"

Several pairs of eyes looked in his direction and saw no sign of the Beast Titan.

"How did that thing just vanish?" Gelgar demanded.

"One problem at a time," Nanaba said. "We still have Titans below us, and the tower's going to fall soon. There's no gas in our tanks, so we're up the creek on this one unless someone gets us down from here."

The sun started to peak over the horizon, shedding light upon the ruins of Castle Utgard. They could see things far more clearly now. There were about a dozen Titans left, all of which started to converge onto Ymir, who was making sure that Krista stayed out of harm's way. Unfortunately, with Krista in hand, she wasn't able to really attack, leaving her vulnerable to whatever surprise attacks these Titans could launch.

"Cadet!" Mike shouted, catching up to her. "We need your full strength to win this battle. We can get her to safety if you would—"

Ymir let out a snarl, her way of warning him to back off.

"Ymir, d-don't," Krista pleaded, though her stuttering indicated she was still nervous. "It's gonna be okay."

The Titan's response was to jump away from a seven-meter that almost grabbed her. It was quickly taken down by one of the surviving Scouts.

"Don't be stubborn," Krista demanded, getting a little harsher. "They need you more than I do."

The tower continued to shake during the commotion, revealing that time was ready out fast for the people on top.