The Guardian's Tale (AOT fanfiction)

-The Beast Titan-

I quietly sat next to Reiner as him and Bertholdt played chess. We had been placed in an old Scouts HQ on the South of Wall Sina for some reason. I hummed a song that my brother had taught me, resting my head on Reiner's chest while he held me close to him. Suddenly, I stopped humming, shook my head and grabbed Bertholdt's wrist.

"See...if you do that then you're giving him a huge opening to win." I explained. "While if you do this..." I slightly moved his bishop. "Then you're blocking him off completely and forcing him to sacrifice multiple pawns to get past you."

"Wha-...HEY you can't do that !" Reiner exclaimed, turning his head to me. "You're supposed to help ME win !" He half joked as he frowned and held me tighter.

"Woah...you're right..." Bertholdt remarked. "Wow Yuki you're good at this !"

I simply smiled and went back to quietly watching their game. I let out a small squeal as Reiner pulled me onto his lap and rested his chin on the top of my head. He rubbed my sides and slightly turned his head as Connie talked about going back to his village that wasn't far from here.

"Connie. I'll help you if you really wanna go." He said, his deep voice making his chest vibrate against my back. 

"Yeah ? Why would you ?" Connie asked as he turned around, looking half bored to death.

"Doesn't this feel a bit strange ? We're on standby in our plain clothes. They won't let us wear our uniforms and we can't even train." He looked outside as I took the opportunity to help Bertholdt win. "What's even more suspicious...our superiors are armed to the teeth. We're inside the wall. Not the front line. So who exactly are we fighting ?" He gently smacked my hand away from the chess board and kissed my neck.

"Footsteps..." I simply said. "I hear footsteps from the South." Those simple words made everyone gasp.

"So what ? Are you trying to tell us Titans are coming ? Come on...that would only be possible if Wall Rose had fallen..." He said with anguish in his voice as he pulled me in closer as if he was trying to protect me.

"Look...I'm not pulling your leg I swear I hear something !" I exclaimed as Sasha agreed.

Suddenly, one of our superiors appeared at the window, making me jump and almost fall off of Reiner's lap. Luckily, his arms held me in place.

"What is it Nanaba ?" I asked as Sasha opened the window.

"We've got company. Approximately 500 meters to the South and closing. Titans headed this way." She replied. "There's no time to suit up with your ODM gear. I want everyone on a horse STAT ! Evacuate every home and settlement to the area. GET TO IT !"

"Do we know if the Wall's been breached ?" Reiner whispered to Bertholdt as he covered my ears. 

Reiner lifted me off of his lap and we immediately ran to gear up our horses. I rubbed Arashi's forehead and helped everyone with their horses. We then quickly rode off and were given our orders. As soon as the Titans reached the woods, we would split up into 4 separate teams. Connie offered to take us to nearby settlements then go to his village and Miche agreed. Reiner, Bertholdt and I offered to go with him and he reluctantly gave in. Suddenly, the Titan started heading towards us full speed and Miche headed off to hold them up.

We soon reached the woods and, as planned, we split up. My eyes widened as I heard Miche's scream and a strange deep voice in the distance. Was he alright ? Reiner placed his hand on mine and kissed my forehead, giving me a questioning look. I shook my head and smiled, covering my worry up as if nothing happened.

(........)

As we got to Connie's village, we noticed that the houses were destroyed but there were no bodies or blood anywhere. When we finally reached Connie, a Titan with tiny arms and legs was laying down on its back, on Connie's back. We got off of our horses and I gripped Reiner's sleeve.

"H-How...did it get here ?" I asked. "Its legs can't support its weight... and look...there's no bodies or blood anywhere."

"They must have fled ! They...must have escaped. Your family too." A female Scout told Connie. "It's the only logical explanation as to why there's no sign of..well...carnage."

When I looked up at Reiner, I noticed that him and Bertholdt had the same look on their faces.

"Wait...what did I tell Reiner last time again ? " I asked myself. "That he was the...no way...I thought he was the armored Titan...does that mean..."

We got back on our horses and rode on our way to evaluate the breach. When I noticed Connie wasn't following, I went back, followed by Reiner. I tapped his shoulder and snapped him out of his daze.

"Come on we're falling behind." I looked away. "I'm sorry Connie but we have to go."

"Did you hear that ? You had to...that Titan..." He started.

"I know....I heard it too...It welcomed you home...listen now's not the time. We have to go." I replied. "Look if we don't see this through...hundreds...thousands of people could die."

Reiner and I rode away with Connie on our tail. It spoke...how was that possible ? Reiner reached over and gripped my hand. His warmth against my skin made my shoulders relax and I focused on the road ahead.

(........)

I let fire envelop my right arm and I lit everyone's torch. Then, I focused the heat around my upper body so that I would be able to use it as a torch. We all rode silently, scared to death as we crossed the heavy darkness. Any second, Titans could lunge at us from the shadows. Suddenly, torches appeared in front of us and I made the fire around me vanish, just in case. It was Nanaba's team but something was off. We hadn't found a breach but them either. I concentrated heat in my right arm again so that the other squad would see me.

"W-Wait...but we didn't find a breach either...the wall's perfectly intact...are you sure you didn't see anything ?" I asked. "W-Would it be possible that...Titans were somehow transported inside the wall or...transformed ?" I suggested as Reiner gave me a scared look.

Our squad's leader suggested that we go along the wall again to check if we had missed it. Nanaba countered, saying that the horses were on the verge of collapsing just like us. Suddenly, the clouds moved away from the moon and the light illuminated us, revealing a path leading to an old castle.

TO BE CONTINUED !