Age of Titans Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Age of Titans! The final day of the survival training for the group and then they have to head back to the Cadet Training Headquarters. Hopefully they’ll be together or with Sasha and Krista next time. Survival training is done every month to harden up the soldiers. Most of them will be headed for the Garrison Branch of the military, after all.

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So without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 5 – Lesser Shifters

“This was a great idea.” Ymir grinned as she pulled in another fish with the simple fishing poles they’d made.

The group of four was downstream from the pond they’d bathed in together to fish. A few tree limbs, some cordage from their packs, and hooks made from the bones of their rabbit catch had seen fairly good success. Ymir had just caught her second fish, Annie had pulled in her second a few minutes prior, Mikasa had three catches, and Eren had two of his own.

“You think we have enough?” Eren asked as he looked at their collected catches.

“We should be good for the rest of the day with this many.” Annie agreed as she pulled her hook out of the water.

“Alright,” Mikasa nodded as she copied Annie’s motion and stopped fishing. “It’ll be a good lunch today.” She smiled as they all disassembled their poles, taking back the cordage for later use.

The four soldiers cooked their fish over the fire with a few wild herbs. Adding crushed up hardtack to the fish added salt and made the midday meal even better. After eating, the four discussed their plans for the future. Annie informed the group of what she knew of the interior, who all the higher-ups were, and their stated stances on certain things regarding the situation within the Walls. She also warned the group of the Military Police and the group that acted as the unseen assassins for the real royal family.

“Commander Erwin, Commander Pixis, and Commander-in-Chief Zackly…” Eren looked deep in thought as he went over what little he knew of each man.

The group of four agreed that if these three could be convinced to overthrow the current regime, then their direct subordinates would be sure to follow. That would be two of the three Branches along with the General of the Military. Commander Erwin was known to have the absolute loyalty of the Survey Corps and Commander Pixis was respected by almost everyone in the Garrison for his leadership. If both of them joined their side and became Lesser Shifters, their subordinates would most likely follow and they could build up a substantial force to solidify their position.

“How do we even make any headway with these three though?” Ymir asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

“We likely can’t while we’re still Cadets.” Annie shook her head with a grimace. “It would be easier to approach them after we become Soldiers. Erwin Smith is the most important though. The Survey Corps is by far the most powerful in terms of combat. If we have him on our side and the entire Survey Corps as Lesser Shifters, I don’t see us losing the fight to take the throne.”

“Agreed,” Mikasa nodded to Annie’s assessment. “If the Survey Corps is on our side, then the other Branches can be stalled or stopped outright. The secret assassins might pose a threat, but against a fighting force of Shifters…I don’t see regular people winning, even with ODM Gear.”

“If they all knew the Hardening power too, it would barely be a fight.” Eren murmured while thinking about the power that Annie had told them about and Mikasa’s variant Titan had demonstrated.

“We should definitely bring Krista and Sasha in on this too.” Ymir spoke up after sharing a quick glance with Annie. “They’re our friends and we know that we can trust them.”

“If possible I’d like to bring Armin into the planning too,” Eren looked into Annie’s cool, blue-eyes. “He’s smart and Mikasa and I know we can trust him.”

“I don’t mind, we need capable people as well as numbers on our side if we’re going to pull this off.” Annie accepted the idea of adding Armin to their side easily. For all of the short teen’s lack of physical prowess among the Cadets, Armin easily had the sharpest mind hidden under his nervous personality. Making him a Lesser Shifter would quickly correct any physical deficiencies in the blonde boy.

The talking and planning went on for most of the afternoon. Toppling a regime and installing a new King wouldn’t be a walk in the park. They’d have to plan out as much as they could while gathering trustworthy allies. They were also on a time limit, since the Shifters from Marley had been specifically sent to Paradis to try and take the Prime Founding Titan. If results weren’t presented from this mission after a few more years, then Annie was certain they’d send the Beast and Cart Titan Warriors to the island along with a contingent of soldiers to investigate.

The late afternoon and early evening was spent relaxing their minds and bodies. Mikasa was straddling Eren as they kissed, the pair’s hands wandering over each other’s bodies. Ymir grinned as she teased Annie, trailing her fingers over the blonde’s uniform. Annie rolled her eyes before shucking off her jacket and letting Ymir touch her. The brunette was all too happy to play and even stole small kisses from Annie’s lips. Mikasa would only be satisfied, temporarily, when she let Annie and Ymir each have time with Eren. Annie was relaxed and languid in her caresses of Eren, pressing their bodies together as they kissed. Eren seemed to like playing with her ass and Annie couldn’t deny how much she enjoyed it. Mikasa became Ymir’s next playmate and the ravenette let out quiet mewls as Ymir worked her up. She only allowed quick kisses of her lips though, she seemed uncertain of her feelings when it came to ‘romantic’ intimacy with Ymir or Annie.

“Mmm~” Ymir purred as her lips separated from Eren’s. “You’re a quick study when it comes to things like this, huh?”

“I suppose,” Eren grinned at her as his hands squeezed her ass and pulled her closer. Ymir quickly captured his lips again and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Annie and Mikasa watched on, both lightly exploring each other and getting more comfortable together. Ymir was definitely the most physically affectionate with their entire group. But Annie and Mikasa did feel close and wanted to try things with each other as well. Eren would be King should their plans all work out. A king needed his lineage to survive, that’s why they often had multiple women. Ymir had jokingly called it the King’s Harem and then laughed at the blush it had gotten from Mikasa. Annie had merely grinned in amusement at the thought. Not like she was against the idea, after all.

That night, just after the sun had fully set, Annie, Mikasa, and Eren all transformed into their Titan forms for practice. Eren and Mikasa both took fortifying breaths before the transformation to help their concentration and focus. When they’d transformed, both were pleased that they’d remained in control of themselves. Annie had slowly walked them through the forms of their Combat Training. As the duo of new Shifters was getting a better feel for their Titan forms, Annie even added some of her own fighting style to the mix. Ymir’s Jaw Titan was ill-suited to this type of hand-to-hand combat, so she merely watched and would practice it with them during combat drills normally.

That night, all four slept in Eren’s tent again, happily curled up together and enjoying their closeness. It would be back to the normal schedule when they returned and they knew they wouldn’t be able to enjoy this again for a long time. Fraternization between Cadets was forbidden and would be punished harshly, possibly even seeing those involved booted from the Cadet Corps. It was why Franz and Hannah always insisted they weren’t a couple, even though everyone could clearly see that they were.

-Next Morning-

“Excellent work, Cadets.” The Instructor that had come to pick them up commended the four of them. “You’re looking well after your first survival training.”

“Thank you, sir!” All four saluted together.

“At ease,” The Instructor nodded before motioning towards the horse-drawn wagon he’d brought with him. “Place your packs into the wagon and then get settled for the ride back.”

All four of them were quickly in the back of the wagon as it began the journey back to the Training headquarters. They talked quietly of inconsequential things while occasionally answering questions from the Instructor. It was an uneventful ride and soon enough they were back at the training camp. They hopped off the wagon with their packs and joined up with the rest of the Cadets lining up in front of Shadis for inspection. Some of the other Cadets looked rough from their stay in the mountain forest and it appeared a few were missing.

‘They failed, huh?’ Eren quickly deduced the drop in numbers. It was to be expected, he figured. Honestly, he was kind of surprised that Jean had made it through. The other guy had clearly had a higher standard of living than most of them, but he’d managed to pass the first survival training.

After inspection and being dismissed to their barracks, Eren met up with Armin and the two chatted about their time in the wilderness. Armin had been mostly foraging and collecting firewood for his group. Eren mentioned that they’d gotten lucky with a rabbit in a snare and had managed to fish on the last day. This got Sasha’s attention as she nearly tackled Eren to ask about the food.

“Eren! You have to let me be part of your group next time!” Sasha begged the green-eyed teen. She was obviously forgetting that the groups were randomized by the Instructors.

That night, Eren realized how much sleeping alone in the crowded longhouse sucked. The snores and grunts of the other Cadets were annoying and he missed the warmth of Mikasa, Ymir, and Annie. With an annoyed sigh, he turned over and tried to block out the noise of the others. How weird was it that the rough survival training in the wilderness was actually preferable to the barracks?

-Barracks Three-

“I missed you so much, Krista!” Ymir was practically snuggling the blonde girl happily.

“I missed you too, Ymir.” Krista smiled with pink cheeks at the taller girl’s hug.

“Eren said you guys got rabbit and fish, no fair!” Sasha pouted at the other three girls, her brown eyes watering a little.

“We just got lucky,” Mikasa patted Sasha’s head and the brunette hugged her around the waist.

An unspoken conversation was had between the three female Shifters, their eyes darting between each other and their friends a few times. They needed to find the appropriate time to tell Sasha and Krista the truth and bring them into their plans. They’d need to get lucky enough to be paired with both of them to awaken them as Lesser Shifters too. That would be the hardest part since the groups were chosen at random. Not to mention that survival training would only happen for about four days each month. The survival training was meant to toughen them up to survive the rigors of Garrison work or going out beyond the Walls as part of the Survey Corps, considering only the top ten Cadets of any group could join the Military Police.

-Second Survival Training-

‘Damn…’ Eren lamented as he rode towards the secluded campsite with the group that had been randomly chosen. Armin, Franz, and Hannah were his fellow Cadets on this trip. He’d been hopeful when he’d heard Shadis call out Sasha and Krista in the same group. Those hopes had risen even higher when Annie was paired with them both, then he’d been shocked when Mikasa had been called. Two Cadets sharing the same group twice in a row would likely not happen often. ‘It might be for the best though, Annie and Mikasa can talk to Sasha and Krista and get them into the plan. I’ll need to find time to talk to Armin while we’re out here too.’

The first day started out well enough, firewood was gathered, a latrine dug, water collected, filtered, and boiled, and tents set up for the duration of their stay. The five gathered what edible plants and nuts they could find from the forest and paired it with some of their hardtack to make it more palatable. They all turned in for the night and Eren decided he’d talk to Armin tomorrow.

-Annie, Mikasa, Sasha, Krista group-

“Krista, Sasha, can we talk?” Annie asked as they sat across from each other at the campfire. The serious tone in Annie’s voice made Sasha blink and Krista looked curious at the sudden shift in mood. Mikasa sitting next to Annie seemed to have been expecting this though.

“What’s up, Annie?” Sasha tilted her head slightly.

“We’d like to tell you two, something important.” Mikasa spoke up next. Her dark-eyes looked between Krista and Sasha and both girls sat up a little straighter.

“Tell us what?” Krista questioned the pair across from her.

“The truth,” Annie stated plainly making both Sasha and Krista look confused. “The truth about this island, the world outside the Walls, and what’s really going on.”

“Island?” Sasha questioned, now completely confused.

“Outside the Walls?” Krista blinked at Annie in disbelief.

“I didn’t believe it at first either.” Mikasa shook her head, her long, black hair swaying from the motion. “But it’s all true.”

“I’m really confused right now, you two.” Sasha admitted and Krista nodded in agreement. “What are you even talking about?”

“The history that was hidden from every Eldian within the Walls one hundred years ago, and the current state of the world outside of Paradis Island.” Annie replied before looking into both Krista and Sasha’s eyes. “Everything I tell you is the truth, I promise you that, so please listen until the end.”

“Alright, I trust you, Annie.” Sasha agreed, even though her eyes were still filled with confusion.

“Me too,” Krista nodded to Annie and Mikasa. “I’ll listen to everything you have to say.”

Annie began to speak, telling Sasha and Krista the two-thousand year history of the Eldians. She left nothing out, not the triumphs they’d accomplished or the horrors they’d committed. She spoke of the rise and fall of the Eldian Empire, the betrayal that had ended it entirely and how Marley had taken over and subjected the Eldians to slavery. The two learned of the treatment of the Eldians throughout the world, how they were seen as dangerous monsters, less than human in many places. Krista and Sasha learned that they were Eldians, as was everyone they’d ever known or met in their lives. They learned of Paradis Island, the land they lived on, being only a large island off the coast of the Nation of Marley. Annie revealed the Power of the Eldians to be the Titans and their ability to shift as well.

“This…how?” Krista looked lost at all of the new information.

“This is real?” Sasha blinked, dumfounded at what Annie had told them.

“We can prove to you that it is.” Mikasa gave them both a small smile.

“We’ll show you the power, once you see it I’m sure you’ll understand.” Annie agreed and they both stood up from the fire and headed several meters away.

Annie took out her ring with the small hidden blade and cut her palm. She handed the ring to Mikasa as blood welled up from the small wound. Mikasa repeated the action before handing it back. The two shared a look as yellow sparks leapt from their injuries. Twin bolts of golden lightning struck the blonde and the ravenette as they transformed simultaneously. The bones of their Titans formed first, raising both of them high into the air. The ligaments, tendons and muscles formed in short order to cover the bones. This was followed by the skin and then the hair atop their heads.

Sasha and Krista could only stare up in shock at what they were witnessing. Hot air blew past them as the two Titans formed, but neither paid it any mind. The lightning and sparks faded away as two fourteen meter Titans stood before the stunned girls. Neither Krista nor Sasha could form words as they stared up into the faces of the Titans that their friends had become. When both Titans opened their eyes, revealing familiar gazes to the girls, Sasha finally spoke up.

“Annie…Mikasa…are you two in there?” Sasha asked cautiously and was rewarded with a smile from both Titans.

“Yes,” Annie’s Titan form spoke slowly. “We’re fine, Sasha.”

“This…is still…new…for me.” Mikasa’s Titan spoke in slow and choppy sentences. Both she and Annie wanted to learn how to communicate fluently in their Titan forms since they could both speak. That required practice though, and they could only practice during these survival training trips. That was also entirely dependent on if they were with other Shifters too. Needless to say, progress on speech was as slow going as the rest of their Shifter training.

“It’s real…” Krista seemed to almost sag into her seat at the campfire. “It sounded crazy…but it’s real.”

Annie and Mikasa’s Titans kneeled down before lying on the ground. Steam burst from the napes of both Titans as the girls emerged. Annie freed herself faster than Mikasa due to her experience, but Mikasa was free and back on the ground a few moments later. They walked away from their decaying Titan bodies and rejoined Sasha and Krista at the campfire. Both of the other girls noted the lines on the cheeks of their friends. Leading from the eyes and going down to cross their cheeks were multiple small lines. They were raised slightly from the rest of the skin, forming small ridges. In the next minute, Krista and Sasha watched as the lines sank back into the skin and faded away.

“…I…I don’t know what to say.” Sasha admitted as she sat next to Krista.

“We’d like you to join us.” Annie informed her friends softly. “Become Lesser Shifters like Mikasa and help us place Eren on the Throne.”

“Annie awakened my Shifter ability during the last survival training exercise,” Mikasa explained to the still stunned Sasha and Krista. “Eren was already a Shifter, even though neither of us knew. He learned how to control his Shifter ability with me.”

“Ymir too?” Krista leaned forward a bit and Annie nodded to the smaller blonde.

“We understand that you need time to take this all in and decide what you want to do.” Annie did her best to give her friends a reassuring smile. “We won’t force you into anything, but at the very least we hope you won’t try and reveal us to everyone either.”

“I won’t say anything.” Sasha agreed even though she was clearly still coming to grips with everything.

“We’re friends; I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.” Krista smiled at the two Shifters, once again appearing to have a divine light around her.

“That’s all we can ask, thank you both.” Annie leaned forward slightly to give them a half bow of gratitude. Mikasa did the same, giving Krista and Sasha a smile as well.

-Next Day-

“Armin, let’s go try and collect some food.” Eren suggested to his friend as their group took care of basic tasks around the campsite.

“Sure Eren,” Armin agreed as he walked over with a smile.

“You two need any help?” Franz asked from his spot next to Hannah.

“Nah, we’ll be fine, you two just do your couple stuff.” Eren waved off and both Franz and Hannah flustered as expected.

“Don’t call us a couple, Eren!” Franz waved his hands in front of him.

“Yeah, you can’t just say that kind of stuff!” Hannah pointed at the green-eyed Cadet.

“This is the only place that you can say that though,” Eren replied with a chuckle. “Out here in the wilderness there’s no one to care if you’re a couple or not. You should enjoy the time while you have it.” With his piece said, Eren walked off into the forest with Armin.

“That was nice of you, Eren.” Armin spoke up a few minutes later as they scoured the forest for edibles.

“It’s the truth,” Eren shrugged before looking at Armin. “Speaking of the truth, I’ve got something pretty big to tell you, Armin.”

“Huh, something to tell me?” Armin blinked at his friend.

“Something I’ve only found out in the last month, but it’s the truth, the real truth.” Eren looked Armin directly in the eyes.

“What do you mean, real truth?” Armin looked confused.

“Armin, your book was right, there’s a massive world outside of the Walls. It’s filled with all of the things we’ve never been able to see before.” Eren smiled slightly at the shorter teen. “But it’s not empty; we’re not the only piece of Humanity left in the world.”

“Eren…what’re you saying?” Armin placed his right hand on the tree next to him.

“Armin, we’ve been lied to for over a hundred years.” Eren started the explanation with that. Seeing Armin’s eyes sharpen inquisitively, Eren pressed on, knowing that now Armin’s intelligent mind wanted to know all the details. “It started two-thousand years ago…”

Several minutes later, with a few stops to answer Armin’s questions, and the two boys were both sitting against a large tree in the forest. Armin was looking at the ground and quietly mumbling to himself. The teen was going over everything he’d been told, the entire history as best that Eren could retell it. Several things suddenly made more sense about life behind the Walls. Most especially how the Walls could’ve possibly been constructed when Titans were roaming the lands as the altered history books they were taught with stated. It also brought to light just where his grandfather’s old book filled with knowledge of the outside world had come from.

“Eren…are you okay with this, the Titan Power, I mean?” Armin looked over at Eren, seeing him staring up into the canopy and watching the light shine through the leaves.

“I’ve hated the Titans for so long,” Eren admitted with a heavy sigh. “But to find out that the Pure Titans are people like us, condemned to a fate worse than death, I can’t hate them for not even being in control of themselves. After what happened in the past, the people that were suddenly freed from under Eldia’s boot had a reason to lash out against their oppressors. But to then take their place, steal the Prime Titans and use them to try and conquer the world, how does that make them any better than the old Eldians were?”

“True,” Armin was happy that Eren had been thinking about this new history that had been revealed to him. “They became the exact thing they hated. If we do this, people are going to die, Eren.” He looked into his friend’s eyes. “To put you on the Throne means getting rid of the current regime. They’re not going to go quietly.”

“I know,” Eren sighed as his shoulders sagged slightly. “I don’t want to kill our own people, Armin. But we can’t live hiding behind the Walls forever, just waiting to be slaughtered. At the very least, we need to stop Marley and try to show others that we’re not the monsters of the past. We can be better than they were, make a new Empire and forge relationships with other countries.”

“Hey, you’re already thinking like a king.” Armin chuckled at Eren and the Prime Founding Titan holder laughed lightly with him. “I’ll help you Eren, you have my word.”

“I knew I could count on you, Armin.” Eren smiled at one of his oldest friends. “We’ll have to wait until we’re with another group of Shifters to awaken your ability.”

“That’s fine; we still have about twenty-eight more of these survival trainings to go before we finish our three years as Cadets.” Armin quickly did the math in his head. “Statistically speaking, we’ll be paired together again at least two or three times. As long as it’s three Shifters then it’ll work out.”

“Let’s find some food, I’m sure Hannah and Franz haven’t noticed us gone yet, but even their couple stuff can only keep them distracted for so long.” Eren stood up along with Armin.

“Isn’t it kind of odd to call them out for being a couple when you have three girls?” Armin revealed that he’d noticed the increased closeness between Eren, Mikasa, Annie, and Ymir.

“…shut up, Armin.” Eren retorted and Armin chuckled as they actually started gathering up all the edible plants they could find.

When they got back, they found they didn’t have to worry about Hannah and Franz noticing they were late. The couple had retreated to Franz’s tent and they could both hear the make-out session going on. Armin looked apologetic, but snapped a branch under his boot to alert the couple that they were back. The sudden quiet from the tent and then the muffled whispers said more than words.

“H-Hey guys,” Franz poked his head out of his tent. “We were just talking…”

“Yeah,” Eren held up the wild vegetables he had. “We have stuff for dinner. You two make yourselves decent and help out, alright?”

“Sure thing, Eren.” Franz agreed even as a squeak from Hannah was heard.

Needless to say, dinner preparation and the meal itself were both a bit awkward that night. Hannah’s face was nearly glowing and Franz had a hard time looking Eren and Armin in the eye. It wasn’t until they decided to turn in for the night that Eren passingly mentioned they only needed three tents now. Franz and Hannah had both nearly choked on air, but they got his meaning. The two crawled into Franz’s tent together with warm smiles on their faces.

-Mikasa, Annie, Sasha, Krista camp-

“Are you both sure about this?” Annie had her shirt and jacket off as Mikasa delicately extracted the syringe from between her vertebrae. Annie had already extracted the proper amount of blood and now the mixture was ready.

“We want to help.” Krista nodded resolutely. “I’ll go first, I’m sure I won’t be hard to subdue, if it’s necessary.” The short blonde was already rolling up her sleeve.

“I don’t want my family to be killed for something they don’t even know about.” Sasha shook her head, her normally cheerful eyes were darker this evening. “If making Eren the King will prevent that, then I’m all for it.”

“It helps that you both like him, I’m sure.” Annie mentioned as she put on her shirt again.

“Annie!” Krista nearly whined at her fellow blonde.

“Well yeah, what’s not to like?” Sasha tilted her head, as if not liking Eren was odd. Mikasa almost wanted to pat Sasha’s head for her words. The mountain girl clearly saw Eren’s best qualities, just as Mikasa did.

In short order Annie transformed along with Mikasa. Sasha carefully inserted the syringe into Krista’s arm and depressed the plunger. The brunette pulled the syringe back out and then booked it into the forest as fast as she could. She didn’t want to be caught up in the possible fight that could break out.

“Hmm…it’s hot…my arm feels weird…” Krista murmured before a spark danced along her arm from the tiny bleeding hole that the needle had made.

A bolt of bright yellow lightning struck the blonde as she transformed for the first time. The bones of her Titan formed first, giving some indication of her height. The growing Titan looked to be a thirteen meter, slightly shorter than both Annie and Mikasa’s Titan forms. They watched on as the ligaments, tendons and muscles formed in order to cover the bones. The skin formed to cover the muscles and the skin tone was a near perfect match for Krista’s soft skin. A full head of long, blonde hair fell down the Titan’s back, stopping just above the butt of the giant.

“I’m starting to think that my form slightly influences the one’s that receive the serum made from me.” Annie thought inside her Titan form as she noted that Krista’s Titan form also had a matching figure to the shorter blonde, looking very feminine.

“Raaaahhh!” The new Titan let out a shrill cry into the night air as her brightly glowing blue-eyes snapped open. The same eyes blinked when Mikasa’s Titan form covered her mouth from behind and pinned her arms to her sides with her left arm. The Prime Female Titan moved in and sandwiched the shorter Titan between her and Mikasa. Both of the Shifters felt a spark in their heads as Krista’s Titan struggled against them. Mikasa almost let go before shaking her Titan’s head and tightening her hold. Annie grimaced inside her Titan as she helped Mikasa gently bring Krista to the ground.

‘Of course Krista would be a Founding Type,’ Annie thought as her Titan form held Krista’s. Mikasa held her from the back and the two used their ability to speak to try and soothe the new Shifter as they held her close. ‘Nothing is going to be simple while we’re stuck in the shadows playing Cloak and Dagger.’

It took a couple of minutes before Krista’s Titan form stopped struggling. The blonde tapped Annie’s thigh three times in the standard tap out. Annie let her go and Mikasa followed her example a moment later. Krista tried to speak, her Titan’s jaw moving, but no words came out. She tried again and finally managed a single word.

“Sorry…” Krista’s Titan forced out before she seemed to relax back into Mikasa and began to look her form over. It would seem that Krista’s Founding Type could talk, but maybe not well. It was always a coin flip when it came to Titan Forms. The only ones that Annie knew had never spoken were the Colossal Type.

“Is Krista okay?” Sasha spoke up from the tree line. The mountain girl had seen the short struggle and had been worried for her friends.

“She’ll…be fine.” Annie spoke through her Titan’s mouth.

Krista reinforced this statement by waving at Sasha and smiling. That was Krista’s smile and Sasha could never mistake it. She walked into the clearing and placed her hands on Krista’s Titan. Noticing the heat emitted by the body, Sasha leaned against it fully and enjoyed the warmth.

“You’re next.” Annie spoke up as she emerged from her Titan’s nape partially. “Just use the second syringe on your arm and we’ll be here to stop you if you go wild.”

“Right…” Sasha inhaled and then exhaled slowly. She moved over to Annie’s bag and opened it. Sitting on top was a prepared syringe, the one Annie had made before they made a second to awaken Krista. Sasha took it and walked a good distance away from the others, just in case she was a Colossal Type. She injected herself with the syringe and then tossed it to the side.

“Here we go.” Annie slipped back into her Titan and stood up along with Mikasa and Krista. The new Shifter seemed a little shaky in her form, but could manage standing and walking.

“Ugh…ow…” Sasha grimaced at the burning sensation as sparks danced around the injection site.

Another bolt of lightning struck Sasha as she transformed for the first time. The bones of her Titan formed quickly as she was lifted into the air. The new Titan looked to be about fifteen meters in height, matching Eren’s Titan form. The three watched the transformation as the ligaments, tendons and muscles formed one after another to cover the skeleton. The skin formed to cover the muscles and even through the bright sparks Annie noticed something concerning. A white covering quickly formed over the new Titan’s skin.

‘Oh no…’ Annie thought to herself as she watched Sasha’s Titan gain a covering of white hardening over its feminine body. Her nose and jaw were covered in a mask while dark-brown hair fell down to the new Titans shoulders form the head. “Warhammer!” Her Titan warned the other two and Mikasa moved in with her.

“Eeeerrrrggghhhh!” The new Warhammer Type groaned out just before being restrained by Mikasa and Annie. Sasha clearly wasn’t in control as spikes of Hardening lanced out from her form and impaled both Annie and Mikasa as they restrained her. The Warhammer struggled against the Prime Female and the variant Titan that held it. More spikes stabbed through Annie and Mikasa’ Titans, throwing steaming blood all over the clearing.

“Sasha…it’s…us.” Mikasa spoke into the Warhammer’s ear.

“Control it…Sasha…you can…do it.” Annie encouraged their friend to come back to them.

They were both rewarded with three more spikes through their Titan bodies. Luckily, the out of control Warhammer hadn’t aimed for their napes yet. But if they couldn’t get Sasha back in control of herself soon, it would only be a matter of time. Krista watched on, feeling useless even as a Titan. She reached out towards the three struggling Titans, her giant hand opened and the palm facing the trio.

“…stop!” Krista forced the word out and both Mikasa and Annie felt the jolt in their heads again.

After a moment, everyone noticed that Sasha’s Titan had stopped struggling entirely. The Warhammer Type seemed dazed as it looked around. Sasha’s Titan didn’t seem capable of speech but her hands reached out to touch Annie’s cheeks. The new Titan cocked its head to the side, very reminiscent of Sasha, before turning and locking eyes with Mikasa. The Warhammer began to sink to the ground, Mikasa and Annie following due to the spikes still stabbed through their Titan forms. A burst of steam from the new Titan’s nape and Sasha emerged, dazed and still half stuck in the flesh.

Annie and Mikasa both emerged from their own Titans and moved to pull Sasha out as the three bodies slowly began to disintegrate and breakdown. With Sasha safely on the ground, he cheeks striated by the familiar lines, Annie and Mikasa checked over the brunette girl. Seeing that she was breathing gently, both Mikasa and Annie blinked at each other before staring flatly at Sasha. Only she could fall asleep so quickly after all of that.

“…okay?” Krista got out from her Titan’s mouth.

“She’ll be fine, Krista.” Annie assured the gentle girl. She left Mikasa to watch over the sleeping Sasha and went to help Krista out of her Titan.

While Sasha slept off her first transformation, compounded by being the second most energy-intensive Type after the Colossal, Mikasa, Krista, and Annie began to talk. The three all knew Krista would be asleep soon too, but the short girl was determined to stay awake long enough to check on Sasha and speak with Annie and Mikasa.

“I swear; you all are nothing but trouble.” Annie shook her head, a small smile on her lips. “A Warhammer/Female variant, a Founding, and another Warhammer…it’ll be a lot of planning and luck to not get caught before we’re ready at this rate.”

“Sorry, Annie.” Krista apologized, only to be pulled into a gently side-hug by her fellow blonde. She smiled and leaned against Annie and was asleep before she knew it.

“We need more time.” Mikasa looked over at Sasha’s tent and then back to the sleeping Krista. “Training new Shifters is going to be almost impossible when we can only do it on these trips.”

“We’ll have to make the best of it,” Annie shook her head, holding Krista to her side. “We can’t risk alerting anyone until we’re ready.”

“I wonder what Eren is doing?” Mikasa looked up at the small sliver of a Crescent Moon in the sky and all of the stars.

“Me too.” Annie also looked up at the sky while wondering about the future King.

-End Chapter-

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Armin is brought into the fold! What will his Titan Type be? The intelligent young man will be an asset in the future for sure.

Sasha and Krista have become Lesser Shifters! Krista is a Founding Type! Perhaps her heritage played a role in that? Sasha is a Warhammer Type and unlike Mikasa’s variant, she has the full-body covering of white Hardening that the Type is known for!

Can the group keep their secrets until they become Soldiers?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!