Chapter 30 - Horrifying Sight

                                    

                                          

"Erwin!" Vien screamed in horror as a titan snatched him by his hand
                          
Immediately, she pulled the reins and readied to chase after him, but she halted when Erwin yelled
                          
"Eren is just ahead!" He angrily pointed towards the hoards of titans "Keep moving forward!"
                          
Vien's eyes water after witnessing him in that state, and she hurried to go after him until one of his soldiers went to slaughter it. She glanced over her shoulder, and found the cadets continuing to ride towards Eren. Pulling her reins to move forward, she cursed herself for leaving her own brother behind
                          
"Mikasa, Jean, you two go straight for Eren" Vien ordered them, as she already caught up to their pace
                          
Vien darted on a titan's shoulder and swung off her horse saddle. The abnormal tried catching her with its arm, but she used it as a bridge to the titan's nape. Upon slitting it, she flew to the next one before the other fell to the ground
                          
After slaughtering 4 abnormals, she darted her attention away when Erwin ordered to retreat
                          
Vien caught a short glimpse of Mikasa carrying Eren away, so she separated from the titan and fell back to the formation. After remounting her horse, she felt relief as the mission was completed
                          
"I survived this expedition, what a miracle it is" She quietly thought
                          
Just as they thought the expedition was over, the horses jolted in shock when titans began falling from the sky. It blocked their course, so they all looked behind them only to realize that Reiner was throwing the titans towards their direction
                          
"Reiner that asshole," Jean angrily muttered "What a fucking joke"
                          
The impact caused large explosions of rocks and dirt, which caused the air to be filled with debris and gray fog. Vien continued to follow the formation, but she couldn't see Eren and Mikasa's horse behind
                          
"Armin, Jean" Vien called, as the three of them halted "Have you seen Mikasa and Eren anywhere?"
                          
They looked behind them, and realized the two weren't there. Armin yelled their names, but none of the two answered him
                          
The blonde stated "We'll find him"
                          
As the two went to look for them, Vien continued moving through the gray air to find the Commander
                          
A familiar figure kneeling on the ground caught her gaze, and made her jump down from her horse. Vien rushed to him and gaped at his missing arm. She took a cloth out and tried to stop the bleeding
                          
"What are you doing here Vien? You need to find Eren and retreat to the base immediately" He stated
                          
"So do you!" Vien yelled at him "I won't be able to help your arm if you keep refusing to be tended to"
                          
By the time Vien finished covering his wound, she helped Erwin mount his horse and rode by his side. The titans were still falling everywhere, so the air visibility was zero. It made it hard for them to comprehend the surroundings
                          
"I'll find Eren, you try to find the rest of the cadets" Erwin ordered
                          
She nodded in response, and they slowly parted ways inside the fog
                          
It took her a few minutes before she was able to get out of the mess. When she was finally under the sunlight, she could finally see what was going on around the battlefield
                          
What's that? Vien wondered, she halted her horse after seeing three titans circling a tall oak tree nearby
                          
Since they were all looking down, she immediately assumed it was a solider being cornered by titans. As she charged her horse towards them, she shot the hook on the nearest one's shoulder and aimed straight for the titan's open nape
                          
When she went to lunge at the next one, the titan's eyes suddenly went red. It stopped trying to catch Vien and turned to walk away instead, including the other titans as well
                          
It caught her curiosity and attention, but someone called her name from the ground. She looked down and gasped when she saw Armin, and Jean who's passed out
                          
"Jean!" Vien quickly jumped down from the branches and rushed to hold the cadet's face, his nose bled and he passed out which meant he had a concussion not long ago. She wrapped a cloth around his head
                          
She turned to Armin, "How about you Armin? Does anything hurt?"
                          
"No, I'm fine" Armin responded
                          
After his horse arrived, Armin mounted his horse and the doctor helped position Jean behind him
                          
"Find Eren and Mikasa, and try to stay out of danger this time please"
                          
Vien blew a whistle and called the horse she trained. She followed Armin from behind and went to find Erwin. The fog gradually vanished and all of their troops were finally able to see properly
                          
"Erwin!" Vien called from behind, but his eyes were glued onto something that he didn't look back
                          
She stopped the horse beside him, and saw that everyone else was also gawking towards the same direction. When she trailed their gazes, her eyes fell upon the group of titans lunging to Reiner's titan
                          
They were all shaken that they didn't realize their chance to escape. She hastily snapped Erwin out of his thoughts "Erwin this is our only opportunity to retreat!"
                          
"Full retreat!" Yelled Erwin
                          
His loud voice caught the attention of everyone, and all the remaining soldiers fell back into formation. As they retreated from the forest, she looked over her shoulder again and saw Mikasa leaning on Eren's back
                          
Vien smiled faintly at the scenery, and felt lighthearted when they all travelled back safely to Wall Sina.