Honor the Dead

Alan sat on a branch, looking at the sky. He could almost drift off and relax, if it wasn't for the constant howling and barking of the beast under him.
Alan tsked and looked down. "Can't you be a bit more quiet?" he shouted at the wolf. It replied by scratching as the base of the tree.
Over time, 2 more wolves joined the large one. "OH." Alan shouted at them out of frustration "YOU GOT A WHOLE PACK. ISN'T THAT AWESOME."
The sun was growing low. Alan was unsure how well he could survive the night. Maybe he could try and sneak off as the wolves slept.
Alan suddenly listened. He heard a faint sound that was very familiar to him. It was hard to make out due to the howling of the wolves, but it almost sounded like...
"Maneuver gear." Alan said, looking around for the source of the sound.

Alan looked at Connor when he arrived with an expression of relief on his face. He must've looked pretty bad, with all his bruises and cuts and scratches. Alan became more aware of his bloodstained shirt. He quickly dusted it off with his hands when Connor arrived.
"Oh? This? No, I've just been standing over wolves for a couple of hours without blades, I didn't se-OF COURSE I SENT THE FLARE."
In retrospect, Alan found his manner of speech quite rude, but considering the stress he was under he didn't seem to notice that at the time.
Alan was pretty surprised that Connor found him, of all people. It made it a bit more embarrassing, considering just a day prior they made a vow to ride out together. Alan thought Connor may be feeling regret about that now.
Alan sighed. "Look, I have no horse and the forest is far away from the stables. These are persistent wolves. If you could help me out somehow, that would be great."

Alan watched his friends attempt different things, and tsked quietly. He didn't want to critique his saviors, but his high intellect couldn't help but notice the high inefficiency of their maneuvers. It seemed like each one was trying something different at the same time. While Cora was probably trying to intimidate the wolves, Connor was preparing for a stealth strike. While that was happening, Mitsuo grabbed the wolves' attention and started running. The wolves quickly started chasing their game. Alan, not one to let his friend be in danger, jumped off the branch and swung in a wide arch past the running wolves and Mitsuo. He landed near Mitsuo, and shouted at the wolves. "Oi! Over here, you giant potatoes!" he yelled at the wolves, as he swung around a tree using his 3DMG. The wolves, not very intelligible, quickly started following him instead. Alan was relieved. He kept swinging around, not letting the wolves catch up to him. He knew, however, that one wrong move and they'd be upon him.
"Hurry up, guys!" he shouted back at his friends as he kept swinging.

Alan looked at Cora, feeling slightly unsettled. She handled the wolf upon her deftly, but perhaps with too much ferocity. It almost appeared as if something was upon her, but Alan wasn't sure.
"Can I borrow any of your blades?" Alan asked politely. While he wasn't looking forward to killing the wolves, he analyzed doing so would be the best course of action. Their horses are long gone, and the way back to safety passes through a great field, where they won't be able to use their 3DMGs. The only logical course of action would be to eliminate the threat, so he could make sure his friends aren't harmed.
He eyed Cora, who appeared to have some knives, and Connor, who he expected to have a weapon of some kind. While he didn't look like it, Alan was very capable of dealing with confrontations. It was one of his stronger points as a soldier.

Alan nodded in thanks as he grabbed the small blade from Cora. He quietly examined it and checked its balance in his hand. He wasn't used to use small weapons, but he guessed it was either this or nothing.
He turned to look at a wolf that was distracted for the time being. He approached it slowly, arms raised and knife wielded. The wolf quickly noticed him and started howling at him. Alan kept advancing towards it, quiet as ever, slowly circling it. While he felt rather afraid, he didn't particularly fear for his own life. He was fairly certain should things get ugly, his friends would be able to help. He was just afraid his friends could be harmed at all.
After a while, the wolf finally lunged at him, fangs raised. Alan quickly brought his blade down, and stabbed the wolf's body as it jumped at him. The beast let out an inhumane whimper as blood spilled from the wound. Alan was personally made a little sick by the action, but he took his knife out and looked at the wounded animal for a second. It was definitely hurt, and Alan wasn't sure if it was alive or dead. At the moment, it didn't matter, because it certainly wasn't posing a threat anymore to his friends.
Alan sighed and turned to look around for any more wolves that could attack.

Alan stood silent as he watched the animals feast upon their own kind. He was reminded of how the titans eat not for survival, but for joy.
He hooked up to Cora and approached her slowly. She looked like her usual self again, her expression less... distant.
"Good thinking back there." he said simply, nodding his head to the beasts near them "An optimal solution that saved us a lot of time."
He wiped the bloody knife on his already rather tainted shirt and handed it to Cora with a slight bow. "Your knife, Cora. Thanks."
The Military Policeman looked down and searched for horses. He saw the total of two - enough to get the entire group back to safety.
"We better get going." Alan shouted back to everyone as he got onto one of the horses. He looked back at his friends, then at the wolves. He felt like he should feel regret for stabbing the eaten wolf, but a simple solution to a big problem was he needed to keep his friends safe. According to Alan, the better good demanded sacrifice.

Alan waited for Connor to get on the horse, then started riding away. While he was weak and tired from the hours of training and the wolves encounter, his mind was still strong enough to remember the way back to the the stables. Alan looked around as they rode through the forest, keeping an eye out for any wolves, but it seemed like nothing was following them. Alan sighed and kept riding. When they got back into the open fields, Alan sighed with relief. From here it was a straight shot to the stables, and it was clear that they were finally safe.
"Thank you for saving me." Alan said to Connor, but he was unsure if Connor could hear him through the wind blasting at their faces "I.... I wasn't prepared for an encounter like that. I shouldn't have been so reckless..."
Alan thought about his encounter with the wolf. He handled it coldly, and without fault, like he was trained to. This reassured him that he could take care of himself, should he one day venture beyond the walls to the land of the titans. He sat up in his saddle, and kept riding.