chapter 1

"Wow!" Isabel yelled. The red haired girl was staring up at the beautiful sky outside Wall Maria. It was the first time she'd ever been out and the lights shining through the clouds were amazing.

Levi, the young man riding the horse on her left, smiled softly, "Yeah. Not bad at all." It was his first time out too, him and his best friend Farlan.

The young man looked around at his beautiful surroundings and a thought crossed his mind. Why were they in a cage in the first place? Why was humanity stuck inside walls, caves, small towns. Why were they all the equivalent of mice?

Levi let the wind rush through his hair as he rode forward on his horse. His black hair got pushed back and he turned to his blonde friend who was also looking every direction in awe. Then he turned back to Isabel and the younger girl was smiling wide at every little new thing around her.

"Everyone halt!" A voice shouted up ahead.

"That sounded like Erwin," Farlan mentioned as everyone pulled in their reins to slow their horses.

Up ahead of the small squad, Commander Erwin was staring silently at the scene in front of him. He was in the front of the pack, and it hadn't been long since they left the safety of Wall Maria. While every other person around him was gawking in shock, he'd seen too much in his life to be astonished by something like this, though it was weird.

"Is that, a footprint?" One of Erwin's squad asked as they stared at the paw print pushing the grass down. No one responded so the man continued, "And that guy, was he... stepped on?"

Every pair of eyes focused on the figure in the middle of the paw-shaped dent in the ground. He was wearing a red and white striped shirt that was unbuttoned down the middle, dark green pants, and a light green waistband that matched his hair. "Someone should probably check if he's alive right?"

Levi, Isabel, and Farlan finally made it up to the front where everyone was crowding. There were watchers on the sides to make sure no titans got the jump on them, but almost the entire 23rd Expedition Beyond the Wall started to gather at one of the strangest sights they'd ever seen.

Giant rampaging titans, many of them were used to that. This guy... "Hey!" Isabel called down as she pulled her horse right up to the ledge of the footprint. "Are you alive?! Whoa," she whispered as she got a closer look at his chest.

Through the opening on his shirt, the crowd began to observe him closer. This guy had scars all over his body, with an impressive one going diagonal across his whole torso, and his torso was really muscular. "What could have caused that scar?" Farlan asked his friend who was also staring at it.

Levi was looking at the slash that was obviously made by a sword of some kind. "I doubt it was a titan," Farlan continued.

"Helloooo?!" Isabel called down.

"Forget it, there's no way someone could survive out... here..." The uniformed man shouting it lowered his jaw further as the man in the hole sat up and stretched his arms over his head.

Roronoa Zoro lifted his head up feeling one of the biggest headaches he'd ever had in his life. "What the Hell just happened?" He grabbed the right side of his head with his hand and rubbed it a little before roaring from the pain in his chest. That's right, that Admiral showed up and shot a beam through my chest. No, most of this pain is still from Kuma. Wait, who's whispering?

The green haired man got to his feet and looked around him. "Oi," he stared straight at an uneasy looking girl with brown pigtails. The woman was probably in her early twenties, older than the three teens next to her who were all staring at him too. When he spoke directly to her she jumped and sweat started dripping down both sides of her face. "Where am I?"

"He doesn't know where he is?" Isabel wondered to her two friends.

Levi looked away from the strange man and towards Erwin. It was the reason he was even there in the first place. He got caught, 'on purpose,' and he 'reluctantly' accepted to join the Scout Regiment. In reality, he was here for the secret documents, and to assassinate Erwin. Everything was going along with their plan so far.

"Titan sighted!" One of the guards around the pack shouted.

"Back in formation!" The commander of the Scout Regiment shouted. As most of the horses started scattering to the sides with their riders, Zoro stared at the small platoon that stayed with him.

Levi's group wasn't really staying with this weird man, they were just supposed to be farther back in the group so they were waiting for the others to get ahead before following. The green haired man wasn't looking at them though, he was looking where the three newbies were also staring and his jaw lowered, "What the fuck is that thing?"

"That's a titan?!" Isabel shouted.

The huge, red, fleshy monster was walking forward with an evil look in its eyes. "Two ten meter class titans are heading for us from behind!" Another voice shouted.

Zoro looked far in front of the hole he was in at the monster rapidly approaching. He glanced back at the ones coming up from behind as well. What are these things? What can they do?

In the front of the pack, one of the leaders shouted out, "Prepare for combat! Equip your 3D Maneuver Gear!"

The swordsman watched as the whole army of men and women on horseback got into action. They all seemed pretty trained in what they were doing and he was impressed by their gear that allowed them to fly. I have to get back to my crew... but this doesn't look like Sabaody. I could be anywhere, what the fu... the man's thoughts were halted and his eyes turned huge.

One of the men using his strange flight gear got chomped by the largest of the three titans in the front. "Holy sh-" the pirate started and then stared in awe as another man jumped off his horse. Flagon used his gear to spiral around the fifteen meter titan and slice it at the back of the neck, causing it to fall.

They eat people?! Zoro was confused by what was going on, but the ground was shaking harder and he remembered the two behind him. He spun and saw the teens close to his age from before looking at the incoming titans too.

They were charging fast, and the riders knew they should start moving forward like the rest of the group and even their own squad. Their squad leader shouted back to them as the three kept sitting there on their horses, "Get moving you three or you're going to get yourselves killed!"

"But," Isabel began and looked at the guy without a horse who took a step and winced in what looked like tremendous pain. "If we leave, he'll die."

Before the scarlet haired girl was finished talking, Levi had spun his horse around and was charging the titans. If they waited any longer the huge beings would be on top of them, so he had to act!

"Let's do this Isabel!" Farlan shouted and he and the girl spun their horses as well.

Zoro opened his mouth to call for them to stop, thinking they were rushing to their deaths, but a sharp pain rushed to his chest and he looked down to see he was bleeding. When he looked back up, he no longer felt the need to shout at them.

Levi shot his gear forward between the two titans' legs. When he attached to a tree behind them, he soared through and then spun up in the air and around the titan's neck. He wound up both swords, and them sliced a huge chunk out of the back of its neck.

That's twice now, Zoro thought as he watched the chunk of flesh fall from afar, must be their weak point. This was confirmed as the other two young soldiers worked together and took down the other ten meter titan. The girl got caught in its hand, having to slice one of its fingers to get out. Meanwhile, Farlan spun around while it was distracted and finished it off.

These kids aren't half bad, Zoro thought as he jumped out of the hole he was in and fifteen feet in the air.

"All of the titans have been defeated! Everyone regroup!" One of the captains shouted to the army that was moving out into its large formation again.

Levi thought he was going to have to help his friends when Isabel got caught, but he grinned proudly when he rode up to the two of them next to their rotting titan corpse. "Did you see that Levi?! We took down a titan all by ourselves!" Farlan was really excited about this.

"We did it big bro! We did it!" Isabel exclaimed with glee as well.

"Y-Yeah, you guys did well," the black haired teen replied.

While some of the other soldiers in their squad were admiring the new members' work. Zoro grabbed the horse of the man who no longer needed it and hopped on. It bucked for a second, but the swordsman put a hand on its mane and it calmed down fast.

"Who are you?" Flagon, the leader of the teens' squad, asked the swordsman who trotted over to them. He barely had any control over the horse and looked like he'd never rode before, but the animal seemed to like him.

"Roronoa Zoro," he responded and looked around a little. His vision was a little blurry and his chest screamed in pain.

Isabel was going to ask him all sorts of exciting questions, but her eyes fixed on the open part of his shirt that showed his chest and she gasped. "Ah! You need some bandages! And medicine!"

"No," he stated as he looked down, "just get me some booze and I'll be fine." His words left the people around him speechless.

Flagon was the first to remember what was happening and he yelled at his men, "We have to get moving into our formation. We're tightening up because of the storm ahead. You!" He pointed at Zoro, "you don't have any gear or training, so just stay out of our way and we'll take you back to Wall Maria at the end of the Expedition. Now let's move! Hiya!"

Everyone kicked their horses to follow the squad leader ahead. "Back to Wall Maria?" Zoro muttered in pain as he followed closely to these people. His horse seemed to know to follow the others so he didn't need to do much. "I need to get to the closest port."

The three teenagers pulled up alongside their new traveling companion and stared at the man as he looked back at them. "My crew is out there right now, and I have to get back to them. I'm a pirate."

"What's that?" One of the kids next to him asked. It was the blonde one, "I'm Farlan by the way. The loud one there is Isabel, and that's Levi." The boy pointed at his friends and Zoro glanced over both of them.

Seem like strong people, especially that Levi guy. "What's a pirate? Where have you been living, a cave?"

The joke fell dead on the three kids, "Yes," Isabel responded to the man who sounded like he was insulting them, even though he was obviously the dumb one. "I don't know what you mean by your friends are 'out there.' Where are they? Outside of the walls?"

"What are these walls you keep talking about?" Zoro asked the annoying girl who was starting to get on his last nerve.

The red head almost fell off her horse at the man's last statement. "Wh-What?" Farlan asked the guy.

"I'm a pirate," Zoro explained slowly as if he was talking to little children. "We sail our ship, around the world. We go to islands, look for treasure. I need to get back to my captain, so if you could just tell me which way to the ocean, I'll just..."

"Your captain?" Levi asked, the calmest of the three teens. In fact, everyone on a horse around them was listening to this insane man, but their eavesdropping left them all silent. "There are other people outside of the walls?"

"Other people?!" Zoro exclaimed aggravated. "Are you saying you've never been outside the walls of your home?" The black haired boy he was staring at was still waiting for an answer and Zoro sighed. "Yes, there are millions of other people out there. The world is full of them."

"But the titans..." One of the other squad members in front of them started. Zoro looked up and saw it was the girl with brown pigtails he questioned earlier.

"I don't know what island you're on, but there aren't any titans in most places around the world." At this point, the majority of the people there realized something. Why were they listening to this crazy guy?

"Yeah right," Flagon said with a serious frown on his face. "Don't joke around with stuff like that Roronoa Zoro." He called back to the man riding with them. "Humanity has been pushed to the brink of extinction. Titans are everywhere," he glared back at the man, "I've lost countless friends to them, so don't make such jokes lightly."

"Whatever," Zoro said, not going to try and argue with these weird people. "When you head back to your walls, I'll just break off and find my own way back to my ship."

Isabel was still amazed by this man's stories, but Levi and Farlan shared a look before turning away and looking up at the stormy sky. The rain started coming down, and then fog quickly followed.

I can barely see the other squads anymore, Levi realized as he looked around in the fog.

"I didn't know rain could get this heavy!" Isabel shouted through the rain. All the Scout Regiment members had their green hoods up, but the man with green hair didn't look phased at all by the weather.

"If it gets any worse," Farlan began, "we won't be able to spot any titans until it's too late."

Zoro could feel his chest pounding and he wished his wounds would just get better already. They always seemed to just fix themselves before Chopper joined the crew, so he should be able to handle himself for a while right? He tried to keep that mindset no matter how dizzy he got while he rode.

He's the only one still with us, Levi realized the strange man had stayed with them the whole time. No matter, he has no interest in this anyway. It doesn't matter if he heard us. "This is our chance," he stated in a voice loud enough for his friends to hear. "We'll use this rain as cover and get close to Erwin."

Erwin, that's what they called that leader guy, Zoro analyzed the situation quickly as the other two asked if Levi was really going for it. "You're not really members of this army are you?"

The three looked at him and Isabel decided to explain in the short version. "If we do this one job, our friend gets let go, and we get to leave our cave." She still sounded a little bitter about the joke Zoro made before and the man shut up, realizing he had no idea what was going on again.

Levi waited until she finished talking to continue, "It'd be suspicious if all three of us were to break away at once. I'll go alone."

"True," Farlan looked to the side into the trees, "it's probably best not to carelessly move around."

"We're counting on you aniki! Go secure our surface citizenship." Isabel called out with an optimistic tone. Zoro decided then that the boy with black hair was the equivalent as the captain of a pirate ship.

"If anyone asks, tell them I went to survey the terrain."

"Got it!" Farlan shouted and then Levi kicked his horse. The horse booked it faster through the fog and the boy looked back once to see Isabel waving to him and Farlan smiling the same way as she was.

Zoro watched the teen go and frowned. Don't get involved, he thought about stopping the kid, but figured it had nothing to do with him anyway. There was also the doubt in his mind that if he went charging into the fog, he might get turned around if the geography around here changed and shifted like everywhere else, always trying to mess with him.

"So," Isabel started as the three of them kept moving and caught back up with their squad. "What's up with the three swords?"

Probably wants to keep me distracted in case I was thinking about ratting them out. Zoro grimaced and looked around at all these people, ill-equipped to deal with giant human-eating monsters. "I'm a swordsman."

"But why three?" She asked again. "I mean, we use two, but we also have two hands. It seems to me like there's no reason..."

"I use all three," he stated again. "If we run into another one of those titans, I'll show you."

"Titan straight ahead!" Their squad leader shouted and everyone stared forward at the fog before them. They didn't see the monster until it was right in front of them, and by then it was too late, stomping on a horse and its rider.

"Move into combat!" Another person shouted before they were snagged off their horse and lifted up in the air. It was the girl with pigtails and she screamed as the giant titan was about to chomp down on her.

Isabel was about to shoot off her maneuvering fear when she saw a flash of movement next to her and Zoro was gone. She looked back forward and since everyone else was fighting off the three titans that randomly showed up, she was the only one who saw the man cut the air from twenty feet away and slice the titan's fingers off. "No way," she whispered as she watched the brown haired girl start falling and then shoot away with her equipment.

Zoro landed on the creatures neck, but before he could slash it, he fell to his knees and coughed up blood. "Shit," he muttered and drew another sword. "I just need to cut a chunk out of the nape," he slashed and even in his injured state, it was like cutting through butter.

As the monster collapsed, he looked around and saw the Farlan guy took out one of the other two, while three members worked as a team to finish off the last one. At least he thought it was the last one for about three more seconds.

His vision was blurry, and he'd lost a lot of blood, but the next thing he saw he was positive it was not a hallucination. He saw something zip through the fog so fast that he could barely see it, and when it passed, it grabbed a girl right off her horse without her making so much as a yelp. This is bad, he coughed up some blood and rolled off the back of the dying titan he was on. A scream rang out, Really bad.

Levi stared around him at the piles of dead bodies all over. A black flare shot up and he saw a dying man point his hand in Levi's direction and whisper, "The titan."

The black haired boy looked down at the ground and saw footsteps right next to him. "No way. Did we pass each other?" His eyes followed the direction it was heading towards and they widened into saucers. Farlan! Isabel! He realized that whatever titan just killed all these people was now heading right towards his closest friends, the two people he considered like his family.

He kicked his horse to make it move as fast as he could, 'I need to make it there!' He passed a ripped off arm on the ground and he cursed under his breath. Make it!