Almost Want To Love You {Attack on Titan Fanfiction}

Chapter Ten

    A young guard from the Garrison Regiment stood watch on Wall Maria. He lazed near one of the canons, tracing his finger along the rose design his jacket pocket bore. The sun was high in the sky, the heat beating down on his back.

    "You don't think the captain will mind too much if I take off my jacket, do you?" he asked a scout near him.

   She shrugged. "Not sure, Alaric. I wouldn't think so."

    Figuring it couldn't hurt, Alaric removed his uniform's coat, setting it on the canon beside him. He noticed a few of the other Garrison Regiment members had done the same. Just as he sat down cross-legged, the girl next to him said, "Hey, uh, could you come here a moment?"

    Alaric noticed her warily looking over the edge. Beginning to be worried, he went to her side. "Is something wrong, Edda?" he questioned, afraid of the response. One could never tell when his life would be put at risk in a job like his. "You look scared."

    "I am. Do you see that out there?"

    The caramel-haired boy squinted to see what she was pointing at. At first, he couldn't tell what it was. It seemed to be some dark blob dashing toward the wall. The solider scratched his head. "Any idea what that is?"

     "No. It looks too small to be a titan. I can't think of any animal that would be running toward us, either, unless the titans have decided to eat them too."

   Alaric wasn't sure. Why would the titans suddenly start eating animals? Not that he would mind if the beasts left the humans alone. But it didn't make sense.

    Whatever it was, the mysterious blob wasn't alone. Four titans followed behind it. Once the blob got nearer to the wall, things got stranger. It somehow started climbing up the side.

    "Crap," Edda said, grabbing Alaric's arm. "What is that? Some sort of massive bug?"

    He took a closer look, covering his eyes from the sunlight with one hand. He noticed a small trace of what looked like smoke coming from behind the blob. Something light brown around it became more visible.

    Alaric pieced it together. "Edda, I think that's a scout!"

    "What?!"

    "Remember how a few of them went out this morning after the red flare went up?" Alaric was on a roll. Turning toward Edda, he theorized, "What if one of them was left out?"

   "I...guess that would make sense. But they didn't come out in this direction earlier, did they?"

    The person climbing the wall was getting closer now. Alaric squinted his eyes to get a clearer look. "Well, it's definitely a scout, so I don't know how—"

    "What are you two looking at?" a man asked, coming from behind. "The others noticed you were staring at something or other. Somethin' wrong?"

    Releasing Alaric's arm, Edda turned toward the blond man who'd come to join them. Alaric, taking the responsibility of explaining, replied, "It looks like a scout."

    "Climbing the wall?"

    "It would appear that way."

    "Why the heck would a scout be outside the walls at this time? If he's alone, it's practically suicide!"

    Alaric shrugged. "Beats me. I've got no idea why anyone would be dumb enough to go outside alone."

    "Exactly!" The blond man put his hands on his hips. "Which is why that isn't a scout. It has to be some form of animal."

    "...with 3DMG? Are you drunk again, Hannes?"

    "Don't question me! It's possible, kid. You never know what's beyond these walls unless—"

   Hannes was cut short when a man in a scouting uniform went tumbling onto the wall. He'd landed close enough to the inner edge that, after a mere blink of an eye, the momentum he'd built up propelled him all the way off the side. Edda's hands flew to her mouth. Alaric, however, glared at the blond man. "I told you, Hannes. If you'd listened, we could have helped him!"

    "Shouldn't we still help him?" Edda fretted.

    Alaric waved his hand nonchalantly. "If he's from the Scouting Legion, he'll be fine. Don't worry, Edda, those guys are tough as nails."

    "He's falling off the wall!"

    "Yeah, but he's got 3DMG. He'll be fine."

    "I wouldn't be so sure..."

    While the two bickered, Hannes could do nothing but blankly stare over the edge where the soldier had fallen. A person had been outside Wall Maria alone?

    Hannes turned his head to the other two from the Garrison Regiment. "I don't know who that guy was," he muttered, still dumbfounded. "But if he'd survived out there alone, there's not a doubt in my mind."

    "No doubt about what?" Edda asked, tilting her head.

    Hannes smirked. "That he's humanity'sstrongest soldier."