I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

No humans live beyond the walls. Danger lurks from the outside. It was always a belief that they were the only humans left in their world.

A/N: Set before the Fall of Wall Maria

She was nearly getting to the highest branch.

Hanji was sure her gear wouldn't fail her as she gripped her handles, she was going too fast with so much momentum, a titan wouldn't have been able to catch her. She may have been too confident, she may have been too hyped on speed, something made her lose track of her surroundings; all she knew was that going up was good. She was desperate to get away from the ground.

But then something got snagged in her cables.

Her eyes were wide in horror when a large hand came from around the corner of her eye and snatched her cables away from the tree, causing her to be jerked forward and back until she found herself falling. The hand that held her cables were growing distant, she hysterically laughed.

She had to put up a strong suit.

"You caught me!" She screamed, letting her cables forcibly extend themselves. She quickly thought of lowering herself to the ground, abandoning her gear altogether, and then fleeing on foot. It was a stupid plan but it was something. She landed on the ground roughly, grass instantly filled her face and mouth, causing her to splutter and gag.

Her hands nimbly undid her gear's straps, leaving everything to themselves. Even her cloak was forced to come off.

She abandoned the only tool that would save her, she had no other choice. The damn titan was holding hers, she couldn't unhook it. It was a lost weapon anyway as her blades were already spent.

Where the hell is everyone? Why aren't they distracting them?!

She set off the flare a minute ago, she couldn't have expected anyone to see it though. She was in a damn forest!

Her legs tried to carry her far, at least to where she saw the horses. She was leaping over roots, stones, anything. She had to go somewhere, anywhere.

She rounded a tree and was met by a hand snatching her by the waist, causing her to lose contact with the ground. The impact knocked the wind out of her, she almost lost consciousness. As the fingers of a titan began to crush her, she struggled as best she could but no avail. Her body grew limp as her hands gripped at the hard skin, she was nearly going to see the titan's face until she had lost track of the world around her.

-...-

Levi cantered his horse steadily, hooves beat against the ground with such a perfect rhythm a song could have been written. His hands gripped the reins as he swerved the horse left and right to avoid the trunks of the great trees. Behind him were Petra and Auruo, both clomped by his flank rather closely.

"The flare was lit half a quarter mile from here," Petra reported as a reminder as she leaned a bit forward in her saddle. As a cue, her horse sped at her change of seat so that she would be ahead of them. In turn, the others sped up closely.

"The woman shouldn't have gone to be a decoy with them," Auruo called over to them,"fucking crazy of her."

They leaped over a fallen wood. Levi tightened the grip on his reins and responded,"Nothing is normal of Hanji, we can't expect any less of her but we can't lose her. Petra, are you sure you saw the flare?"

"If I didn't I wouldn't be leading you!"

They went on for a few minutes, in that time Levi's mind thought back to that morning. Hanji was excitedly sitting atop her horse, happily volunteering to be a decoy. Within an hour's notice she split from the main group in their attempts to draw a titan in for an ambush.

His eyes rolled in his head as her obsession may have brought the end of her. She had a few screws loose but it shouldn't count against her for stupidity.

The sound of horses crying caught their ears.

Rounding a tree they discovered a group of horses tied at the base. Jerking back their reins, they skidded to a stop. Levi evaluated their conditions and saw they were unharmed.

"Looks like they were nearly there at getting one," Auruo huffed.

Horses were tied down and hidden so that their riders could travel the trees. This was often done when a titan was in close quarters but only during an ambush. No sound of gears releasing cables or sight of mist from gas tanks were nearby, oddly enough, titans were not present as well.

Levi's horse anxiously pranced about as he checked above his head, his steed snorted and gave a few whines. As he circled about, Auruo dismounted to examine the half dozen horses tied down. A box of flare ammunition laid a few feet away from a dappled mare.

Petra reminded him,"It was red, things went array."

Levi trotted as the woman took a hold of Auruo's horse. Among the band was a sorrel one, it was Hanji's horse. She would have left with it by now but it was still there, patiently waiting. He deduced that whoever lit the flare was in the trees and had simply dropped the box.

"I'll check the area," he told her as he kicked at his mount's sides,"bring the horses back to the camp."

"Yes, sir!" She obediently replied.

He quickly rounded the base of the tree within seconds before a shining glint of silver caught his eyes a few feet away in the brush. He sped up to it and hauled back on the reins, bringing his horse to a walk and then a complete halt. He gave it a pat on the neck as he dismounted to find that a discarded gear and Scouting cloak were left in the brush. His hands checked the sheathes to find that the blades were gone.

The tanks were still full, it confused him at first of how the user was unable to escape to the horses. His thoughts were answered when he saw that the cables were extended outwards. His hand automatically reached for the hilt and pressed the lever to retract the cables, they didn't come back.

It must have gotten damaged. The belt and latches were undone so it looked like they were taken off by hand and not by force. A set of footprints in the soil were leading back to the horses, his eyes followed them but they only took a few steps before vanishing. ...the person didn't make it back on time.

He mounted his horse and cantered back towards their base of operations.

Hanji may have been irritating at times to him but she was still a comrade. Without any sign of her or the group of decoys, she had become another casualty.