A/N;[Butterfly Chibi and TheHeart'sCompass]: This is the reuploaded version of The Outsider. Intrigued has made the personal decision to delete her old account and make a new one. We hope that you will continue to support our story! ^~^ I hope everyone enjoys this chapter guys because there is more sure to come. XD

We don't own Attack on Titan or it's characters. The only character that is up for ownership is my Oc Arika Welsch...

The liquid rays of the sun were seeping into her every pore, giving the girl a sense of clarity that she had been lacking for the longest of times. She couldn't remember the last day she had felt this peaceful. Ticklish blades of grass grazed against her relaxed face, drawing out a soft smile. A warm breeze wrapped around her, blanketing her with the tunes of songbirds and the hum of passing insects.

Her chest fell as she let out a soft sigh of contentment. She wanted to capture this moment. Save it in some part of her mind that she could retreat to during harder times. An escape from reality.

There was no such easy way out though. If it had been that easy, she wouldn't be stuck in this dangerous tango with fate. It was a tug-of-war. A fight to recapture an identity.

Not only for herself, but also for him. Of course, he wasn't capable of helping her.

Everything was weighing heavily on her shoulders. Moments like this helped her forget that. The burden felt lighter somehow.

Breathing in a breath of fresh air, a faint trace of chemicals hit her nose, immediately causing her face to scrunch up in disgust. Cement. Most likely for patching a weak spot in the Wall. From where she lay, the girl was able to hear the commotion of the humans. This close to the Wall, it was undeniable that she would get annoyed of their constant ruckus.

If she squinted upward with enough force, she would occasionally make out the forms of soldiers making routine patrols of the perimeter. Out of all of the times she had come to this field, she had never been once been spotted.

Tall grasses provided great cover and with the combination of laying down made it near impossible to be seen from the towering Wall. The outcome of her being found out would probably be disastrous, so coming within range of humans was most likely not the wisest of choices in the first place. Still, the idea of being so near human civilization was too intriguing to keep away.

These chaste glances of the Insiders always made her curious. She never went any closer, though. She knew her place. They were Insiders, and she was an Outsider. At one point, the girl, too, had been considered an Insider, but those days had long since passed.

This meadow was the closest she would ever get to being on the Inside, and the realistic reminder stung worse than any wound possibly could. But this was an undeniable truth; nothing could be done about it. All she could hope for was that her sacrifice would be worth all of the suffering.

Thundering booms shook the ground beneath the girl. She recognized those footsteps better than any other. Raising a hand to block out the harsh sunlight, she turned and cracked an eye open in the direction of the footsteps' source. Stretching like a cat after a long nap, the girl languidly got to her feet. Snatching a burlap sack off the ground, she swung it over her shoulder and turned to leave her sanctuary. Then she paused and turned back to catch one last glimpse of the Wall. It was so close, yet so out of reach.

Resolutely turning her back, the girl walked away from humanity's precious civilization. Someday I will be able see those Walls from the inside again, the girl vowed. But she wouldn't return to the inside until he was able to return with her. And until that day came, she would remain here, on the Outside.

In the Titans' land.

"Patrolling duty is damn close to topping my list of biggest ways to fucking waste my time," Auruo complained for what could have been the twentieth time in the past five minutes. Everybody was nursing a headache from his insistent whining, and if the man closed his mouth long enough to see all the glares he was receiving, he might realize he was quickly climbing up his comrades' lists of biggest annoyances.

"It's our turn to patrol, Auruo. Just because we are in Levi's Unit doesn't mean we are exempt from regular duties," Petra commented, lacking her usually chipper tone. Walking Wall Rose for the past hour with constant commentary from Auruo had drained her of her patience.

"Just keep a lookout for anything abnormal. Stop using that foul mouth of yours, and start putting your eyes to use, why don't you?" Erd said forcefully, trying to focus him back on the task at hand.

"Yeah, man, let's just get through this without any problems. We already have enough of those as it is. It's not even that hard of a job. No need to be complaining," Günter added.

"Oh, easy for you to say! Maybe you should pull your head out of your ass and actually look around! There's nothing! Nothing abnormal, nothing strange, nothing even remotely worth our time! It's always the fucking same! Same old Titans, same old wall, same old fighting to get absolutely fucking nowhere! And you guys are telling me to open up my eyes?! Un-fucking-believable." Auruo gave an angry grunt, crossed his arms firmly, and walked on without a word.

Erd shook his head in exasperation, but didn't say anything else. He would have continued walking like nothing had happened, but stopped when he realized they were lacking a squad member.

"Levi? What are you doing?" Erd asked when he caught sight of the Corporal who was standing quite some distance behind the rest of his unit. He didn't respond. Erd started to backpedal when he saw Levi inching closer to the Wall's edge, fixated on something on the other side. Auruo, Petra, and Günter quickly followed his lead when Levi crooked a finger their way, waving them over.

The Corporal's face was torn with indecision and puzzlement. His eyes squinted toward something on the ground with the same inescapable, searching gaze that could pinpoint a single spec of dust in an otherwise spotless room. When his teammates reached his side, he pointed in the direction he was looking.

"Do you see that? The tiny spot where the grass is flattened?"

Petra scrunched up her eyes and tried looking from the same angle as Levi. To her, the tall patch of grass just appeared to blend together into a continuous body of land, but when a breeze caused the grass to bend and ripple she was able to catch the slight difference Levi had spotted.

The grass dipped unnaturally in a certain spot, and for a brief moment it revealed a body splayed out in the sun. It was something that somebody could only see if they were intentionally looking for it. Leave it to the clean-freak to find the one thing out of place in any given situation.

"Yeah I see it, too! Is that a person? What are they doing outside the Wall?" Petra's face fell into the same confused state that Levi was sporting.

"Aw, who cares? They're probably dead already, or they will be soon enough." Auruo pointed toward a large ten meter class Titan that had also apparently discovered the person's secret hiding place. The monster was making its way directly toward the soon-to-be victim. "Look. The idiot's gonna be Titan food soon enough either way."

The Corporal's eyes narrowed further. Then a spark ignited and his eyes shot open. His hands nimbly seized the handles of his 3-D Maneuvering Gear, fingers ghosting over the gas triggers. Another breeze combed through the grass, and when it did the scouts were able to see the outline of a girl standing tall amongst the grain. A very not dead girl.

"No. She's alive." The words had just barely left Levi's lips when he was launching himself off the Wall. He disappeared from view, and Petra ran to the Wall's edge to watch him take the heart-wrenching drop before he shot a grappling hook to stop his fall. The man hit the ground running, not sparing a second. With the Titan fast approaching, Levi would be lucky to make it in time.

"LEVI! What are you going to do?! Your equipment is nearly useless on land this flat!" Petra screamed her throat raw. Undeterred, the Corporal kept sprinting at top speed.

The female scout threw her hands up in the air and caved. "Oh, screw it!" Readying her own Maneuvering Gear, Petra followed swiftly on her leader's tail.

Erd couldn't believe his eyes. "You've gotta be kidding me," he mumbled to himself, but he grabbed onto his Gear's handles, nonetheless. Günter followed by example and both were ready to leap into action when Auruo stopped them.

"You're joking, right?! You guys can't be fucking serious! Why are you gonna go so out of your way to save one person?!"

Erd's tone was threateningly cold when he responded. "Because we can save one person. If you don't remember, that's kind of the reason why we fight in the first place. To save people.

Maybe you've become a little too numb to death if you've forgotten that so easily." Erd brushed off Auruo's hand and followed his other comrades, Günter by his side.

Auruo stood dumbfounded for a second before his instincts kicked his ass in gear.

"Fuckin' hell," he spat out as he followed suit and threw himself into Titan territory.

Scratchy blades of grass were biting at Levi's skin as he ripped through the field. She had to be around here somewhere. This was the right direction. This was where he had spotted her.

He should have found her by now. Where was she?

In an instant, the grass opened up, and Levi found himself in the dip of grass where he had first spotted the girl. Well, she obviously wasn't here anymore. Levi quickly scanned the clearing for any clues as to what direction the girl had taken. The parting of the grass wall slightly to his left was all he needed to continue his pursuit.

It wouldn't be long now. He had to be closing in on her. That also meant that the Titan would be, too, though. Levi pumped his legs faster and craned his neck to look above the sea of grass. He couldn't spot her anywhere, but he was made very aware that the direction he was heading in was leading straight toward the Titan in the distance.

"Dammit, that girl is walking right into the Titan's hands and doesn't even realize it," Levi growled under his breath. He needed to stop her from getting any farther right now.

"OI! BRAT! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Levi bellowed at full volume, not breaking pace. He wasn't expecting her to call back to him, but he at least hoped it would get her to stop momentarily.

And stop she did. She hadn't heard a human's voice in so long, so she at first thought she had imagined the masculine sound.

The girl's face went deathly pale when she heard rustling that was progressively getting louder and closer. No figment of her imagination would be chasing after her.

This was really happening.

Staggering backwards a few steps, she froze up, blindsided by surprise at her discovery.

How did he find her? The girl had never planned what she would do in case of being found, and she now found herself at a complete loss as a result. All she knew was that she couldn't will her leaden legs to move. She wasn't even able to move herself out of Levi's way when he came barreling into her.

He collided with her full force, throwing both of them to the ground in a tumble of limbs. Not missing a beat, the first thing Levi said was not an apology but a verbal beating.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Levi hissed out at the girl crushed beneath him. "Why are you out here?!" The girl couldn't make her tongue move to form words, so she just stared at him, wide-eyed.

A human. After so long, so agonizingly long, she was staring one right in the face. Her shocking encounter was cut short when Levi jumped to his feet, pulling her up with him.

"What am I saying? We don't have time for this. Come on, get moving. The Titan is nearly here and we need to get back inside of the Wall before that happens."

Levi started back in the direction he had come, but the girl didn't budge an inch. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" The Corporal gave a hard tug on the girl's arm.

His words didn't get the result he had been hoping for. The girl's face tensed and she ripped her arm out of his grip. "No." Taking a step away from the human, she held a stance that signified that there was no moving her from that spot.

Levi was fed-up and at the end of his patience. He was about to snap and say that she should be grateful and cooperative after he put his neck on the line for her, but a booming footstep demanded his attention. The Titan had found them.

No longer caring if the girl protested, Levi yanked the girl behind him and readied his blades for battle. It didn't matter in the girl was okay with being stupid enough to get herself killed.

All that mattered was that Levi had decided that he wouldn't sit back and let it happen. Not when he could take action to stop it.

"The terrain is flat so I can only take it down by slashing its feet. By then everyone else should be here to get her out of here and I can give them enough time to escape safely…"

Levi was mumbling his plans out loud, hands always adjusting on the grips of his weapons as if itching to cut into Titan flesh. The girl's eyes widened in horror.

"Wait… You mean you're going to—"

Levi held up his hand to silence her without even turning around. "Just stay behind me and out of my way and you'll be fine. I'll deal with this." Levi was using his commanding voice, a tone that everybody knew not to question.

Apparently "everybody" did not include this girl. The second Levi's weight shifted to his toes to charge forward and attack the girl had launched herself onto his back.

"Don't!" she exclaimed, holding him back in a deathgrip. "Don't you dare hurt him!"

Levi struggled to free himself, yelling at the girl, "What the hell is wrong with you?! What part of 'stay out of my way' didn't you get? Let me go! Do you have a death wish?!"

He could feel her fiercely shake her head, but her hold only tightened. "No, but you're making a huge mistake! What you're doing is wrong! Listen to me!"

The Corporal completely discarded everything the girl said. She was looney. He should've guessed it. What sane person would be outside the Wall anyway? Tearing away from her, he started charging forward again, only for the girl to dart in front of him.

Standing directly between him and the in range Titan, the girl grabbed onto both of his deadly sharp blades without hesitation. Levi tried jerking the weapons out of her grip, but twin streams of blood from the cuts the blades inflicted on her palms made his stop. When he looked away from the wounds, he locked eyes with the girl. He could see pain blossoming in her eyes, but she didn't release the dual blades.

"Listen to me."

It wasn't exactly the best time to be chatting, and that point was only further proven when a throaty roar announced that the Titan was practically breathing down their necks. The minute the creature caught sight of them, it started charging. Levi's eyes darkened with an air of seriousness when he looked away from his nearing death back to the girl.

"Move. Now."

"No."

The arrival of the rest of his team saved Levi from having to knock the girl out so he could deal with the situation.

"Levi! Orders!" Petra shouted out, arriving first to help out. Erd, Günter, and Auruo, being faster runners, had been able to catch up with her.

"Aim for the feet and buy enough time for us to get out of here," Levi said levelly, eyes not breaking away from the girl standing in his way.

"Got it!" they all shouted in unison. His four teammates bolted past him and fanned out, blades gleaming in the sun's glare as they prepared to take down the ten meter class.

Then something changed. The titan started acting differently.

The sight of so many threats surrounding him caused him to slam on the brakes. Its eyes darted back and forth between the soldiers and the girl he had come all this way for. There was no doubt it was torn about something, but it looked like its will to stay and fight was losing out. Cornered, the beast did something the scouts in all their years of service had not experienced.

Hesitantly, the monster started edging backwards before turning around and fleeing the scene.

All of the scouts were shocked silent, but they weren't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so they took the opportunity for what it was worth. Sheathing his blades, Erd took control of the situation.

"Get the girl and get out! We're getting back before any more Titans show up!"

Petra approached the girl and gently pried her hands away from Levi's swords. She could tell this girl could probably flip the switch very easily if the wrong thing was said, so she spoke as soothingly as possible. "You're okay now. Calm down and let us take you back to the Wall. You'll be safe there."

The girl wasn't listening to her. She was watching the outline of the retreating Titan with blank confusion. "I don't get it… Why would he?... That isn't something he would…" Her whispered thoughts were incomplete and couldn't be made sense of.

There was no more fight in her; she was too enraptured in what just happened to realize what was happening until it was too late. She didn't register she was being thrown over Erd's shoulder to be carried until her world went topsy-turvy.

"What's happening? Put me down!" Nobody paid her any mind.

"You sure you'll be able to carry her back, Erd?" Erd nodded at Petra. She looked to Levi who was eyeing the red stains on his blades.

"All set, Corporal." He looked up long enough to bark out a single order.

"Head back." The words were monotonous. His head was elsewhere, and he had to shake himself back to attention. Now wasn't the time to be unfocused; he could worry when they were safely behind the Walls. They could deal with complications when they returned. The Corporal's eyes fell back to his blood-stained blades. A hospital would be a good place to start.

The scouts systematically navigated their way back through the maze of grass toward the Wall. Levi brought up the rear of the group. He was supposed to be keeping an eye out for any nearby threats, but he couldn't bring himself to.

The only thing occupying his mind at the moment was how odd it was that the girl was beating her fists against Erd's back to release her. After so much trouble, this girl showed no gratitude for being saved. A prominent frown took over Levi's face as he continued to watch the girl relentlessly trying to escape.

It just didn't add up.

It was almost like she didn't want to be rescued in the first place.

Please read and review~