Night settled over the Forest of Giant Trees like a heavy curtain, swallowing the last faint traces of daylight. In the darkness, only the small bonfire Lock and the others had prepared kept the shadows at bay. Each crackle of burning wood echoed softly in the vast forest, reminding them that even far from the walls, there was still warmth and life.
The flames reflected in their eyes, and for a moment, the constant tension that came with living outside the Walls eased. Lock, Erwin, Petra, and Zeke sat in a small circle, the quiet air mixing with the faint scent of wood and simmering food.
Petra lifted the lid of the metal pot they had set over the fire. The aroma that escaped was rich and warm, drifting through the camp and instantly drawing attention.
Zeke was the first to comment, leaning slightly closer with exaggerated appreciation.
"It smells good. Your cooking is impressive."
Petra's expression barely changed. She simply nodded politely, her amber eyes calm but distant. Zeke noticed, of course. He was used to being met with suspicion now — Petra was no exception.
He forced a smile, but his gaze dimmed. Lock had been the only one treating him neutrally so far. Everyone else regarded him as a threat, an enemy, or something worse. And while Zeke understood why… it still stung.
Lock's voice broke the silence.
"Petra, how much longer?"
Petra clicked her tongue lightly.
"A few minutes. Be patient. Even as the commander, you're still hopeless in the kitchen."
Lock's shoulders tensed a little, as if struck.
"…That's harsh."
Petra laughed, soft and bright, the sound momentarily warming the cold night. Even Erwin gave a small smile. Somehow, the familiarity of everyday scolding made the unfamiliar forest less intimidating.
While waiting, Lock shifted closer to Erwin.
"How are you holding up?"
Three days had passed since Erwin consumed Pieck and inherited the Cart Titan. Through Zeke's guidance, he had learned quickly, but Lock still needed confirmation.
Erwin exhaled, watching the moonlight glitter across the metal bracers on his forearm.
"Better than expected. No strain so far. The endurance of the Cart Titan is… impressive."
Zeke nodded.
"The previous inheritor could maintain the form for nearly a month. With your physical fitness, a week is nothing."
Erwin shook his head.
"That only means I have to work harder."
The weight behind his words wasn't lost on anyone. Becoming a Titan was not something he took lightly. But now that he carried that burden, Erwin threw himself into it with the same resolve he brought to every mission.
He had seen the state of the world through countless fragments of inherited memory. Marley's armies. Their expanding fleets. Their artillery. Their sheer numbers.
Their unstoppable appetite.
The realisation had changed him. Paradis Island had been slow, sheltered, stagnant. A place forgotten by time. Even now, with Lock driving it forward, the gap between them and the outside world was terrifyingly wide.
Erwin knew that if they failed to narrow that gap soon, then Paradis Island — and the Eldian people — would eventually vanish.
Lock understood this, too. He'd seen it in Erwin's eyes the moment he awakened from the transformation.
Zeke poked at the fire with a stick.
"You know… with the way you think, you'd fit well in Marley's Central Command. They admire competence."
Erwin's brow twitched.
"They can admire me from a distance."
Petra burst into laughter — a release of tension they all needed.
Silence settled again, but a warm one, the type shared by tired comrades.
Eventually, Zeke spoke once more, more seriously than before.
"Once we reach the coast, don't approach the shoreline until I say so. Marley has patrol ships sweeping the area. If they spot us—"
"They'll fire without hesitation," Lock finished.
Petra frowned.
"Even at the sight of a Titan? I thought you were valuable to them."
Zeke's smile twisted into something brittle.
"Valuable tools are only valuable until they threaten the hand holding them."
Petra's eyes softened. Lock didn't respond, but Zeke could tell he understood.
"The world is changing," Zeke continued quietly. "Marley is consuming nations like wildfire. The Volunteers you keep asking about… they're survivors. People whose homelands were crushed, whose families were slaughtered. Their hatred for Marley is… quite real."
Lock nodded.
"Then our interests align."
"Only if you earn their trust," Zeke warned. "But yes… your goals and theirs intersect."
There was conviction in Lock's gaze, steady enough that even Zeke found himself believing in it.
Petra suddenly gasped.
"The soup—! I forgot to stir it!"
Erwin blinked.
Lock closed his eyes.
Zeke sighed.
"We are going to die because of your cooking someday," Lock murmured.
Petra's embarrassed shriek echoed through the forest, scattering a few night birds.
◆◆◆
That night, none of them slept poorly. High among the towering trees, they were safe from wandering Titans. For once, Lock's mind was quiet.
Morning came with soft rays piercing through the canopy. After a simple breakfast, the group continued toward the southern edge of the forest.
The Giant Forest was dense and tangled, slowing Erwin's pace. In his Cart Titan form, he crushed whatever blocked the way, while Zeke — now in his Beast Titan form — dispatched the Titans that stumbled nearby. Despite the hostility between them, Zeke and Erwin worked efficiently, almost instinctively.
Lock observed them with quiet calculation.
Zeke was cooperating for now. But there would come a time when their paths diverged. Lock could already see the ideological abyss between them, one that could never be bridged.
Petra walked beside him, brushing leaves from her hair.
"We're almost out."
"Good."
The forest thinned. Sunlight grew stronger. The trees parted.
And then—
Grasslands. Endless, rolling, golden grasslands stretching into the distance.
Zeke pointed ahead.
"Cross that plain, and you'll see it."
Lock's chest tightened.
The sea.
His first step beyond the walls.
His first glimpse of the world.
A world he intended to change.
A world he intended to challenge.
A world he intended to conquer — if that was the price for Eldian freedom.
Lock's eyes sharpened.
The wind carried the faint smell of salt.
And for the first time since leaving the Walls, he felt gravity pulling him forward — toward the unknown.
Toward the future.
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