I don't own Attack on Titan: just my OC's and the plot.
The Awakening
Chapter 3: Awakened
Somewhere deep in the Marian forest:
Darkness
Breathing
Heart beating
That's all he was aware of at first.
As the hazy nothingness of darkness left, conscious and awareness began to stir him to life, and bring him back to the waking world.
He took another deep breath, and could taste the staleness of the air, the smell of decayed leaves, moss and earth; and the sensation of cold stone pressed against his back, legs, arms and head.
'What is this?' he thought, as his mind began to wake up, and his senses began to take in his surroundings. He clenched his hands: feeling the stiffness leave as their strength steadily returned; flexing his legs, chest and abdomen, he felt life return to his form, and the heat of his blood warming up his otherwise cold flesh.
'I'm awake?' he thought in total confusion, 'But...what am I doing here? What is this?'
It was then he realized he was lying down flat in a small confined space, almost like a coffin, with many dozens of thick tree roots intertwined around his body, as if forming a protective cocoon around him.
Feeling their aura and their life-force pulsating around him, he closed his eyes again, and reached out to them. The darkness fell away into many soft hues of green, as he felt his spirit leave his body and venture out beyond his confinement to see where he was; through the roots he traversed up the trunks all the way to the branches, where he felt the omnipotent presence of the forest all around him. Its countless lifeforms glistened like morning dew to his ethereal eyes, their auras shining bright as stars, scattered far and wide amid the giant trees: as their energies sang their ancient songs of life and ages past. It warmed his heart and made him smile to hear such sweet songs again; it was so strange though, it felt as if he hadn't heard them in a long time... almost for an age in fact.
...Which was strange, given that he only fell asleep yesterday...or at least, it felt like yesterday?
Gazing down to see where his body was: he shuddered in dread when he saw what was laying at the base of the tree.
'A tomb? ...' he gasped in shock, 'I'M IN A TOMB?!'
Recalling his ethereal form to his body, his eyes snapped open and stared up at the flat stone lid in a panic: the tree roots that clung to his arms and torso shifted and snaked back off his body, as if they had a life of their own. Placing his hands on the lid, he balled them into fists and started punching the lid has hard as he could, with every hit creating a loud resounding BOOOOM!
At the same time, elsewhere:
BOOOOM!
Pascal grasped the arms of his chair as the whole cottage vibrated: "What the hell?-
BOOOOM!
"What was that?!" West panicked as another loud explosion rocked the building,
Getting up out of their armchairs and glancing around, another loud BOOOOM! Echoed through the forest, this time, followed by what sounded like heavy hailstones striking the roof of the cottage; glancing out the window, they saw it was all the pine cones being shaken from their branches in the trees high above.
"What was that? A cannon?" West stared at his friend in alarm,
"That's one hell of a cannon to make a sound like that!" Pascal breathed as he tried to steady himself,
BOOOOM!
This time, they realized it was coming from somewhere out in the forest, and it wasn't that far away: "...That sounded like it was only a few miles away" West breathed,
BOOOOM!
"Whatever it is, we ain't sticking around to find out!" Pascal stated as he headed for the closet in the corner, and reached in to get the muskets propped up in the corner: "Grab some water and food and head down to the basement: we ain't gonna take any chances!"
At the same time, elsewhere in the forest:
Ariana glanced up all around in a panic: what the hell was that noise?!
BOOOOM!
It sounded like it was coming from the direction she was heading in: up somewhere beyond the incline.
BOOOOM!
She'd never heard such a sound before in all her life: even the fireworks that were let off as part of the summertime festival were never this loud: but then, this didn't sound like a firework, more like something pounding hard with tremendous force, almost like a punch.
BOOOOM!
Swallowing hard, she tentatively carried on, heading in the direction of the sound...
Elsewhere:
Light appeared through the crack in the stone: one more punch, and...
BOOOOM!
The lid cracked in half and flew off, landing with a deep THUD! As it hit the earth outside; all at once he felt fresh cool air all around him, and saw moonlight streaming through the canopy of the giant trees as the smells of the forest filled his nose. For a long while he just lay there, basking in the relief of having finally been freed from that awful prison, and letting the forest fill his senses. It felt good to breathe the fresh night air; it smelt like summer: rich with life, greenery, flowers, fruits and nuts, and through the canopy he saw the stars shining bright, their distant auras radiating their spiritual energies down through the sky.
As he gazed up into the night sky, he began to realize there was something off about himself: for starters he was completely naked, ('okay?' he thought offhand: disconcerted, but not particularly alarmed); and for some strange reason his mouth felt particularly odd: flexing his tongue around, he couldn't feel his cheeks, only his teeth.
Raising a hand up to try and feel his mouth, he paused just short of his face when he saw the strange tattoos on his hand and arm, raising the other arm, it too was covered in tattoos: 'Those weren't there before?' he though in confusion as he sat up. Glancing down at his body, his eyes flew open at the sight of the well toned muscles bulging off his frame, also covered in tattoos: 'Those are definitely not mine!' he thought in alarm. Feeling his head, he felt his hair was much thicker, longer, and fell all the way down his back: 'How long have I been asleep?!' he panicked, and as his gaze fell downwards, that's when he saw his crotch, and saw what was there...
Or rather, what wasn't there anymore...
He cursed out loud in shock, but instead of words his voice came out as a bellowing animalistic roar: 'WHAT?! My voice! What happened to my voice?!' he really started to panic as he clutched at his throat: he tried to say something, anything, but nothing coherent came out, just one loud booming roar after another: what was happening?! His lips wouldn't form words properly; and that's when he realized he couldn't feel his lips, or his cheeks for that matter, clasping a hand to his mouth, his stomach dropped when he felt only teeth in place of his lips and cheeks. Feeling his face up and down, his panic turned to horror as he realized his face was monstrously deformed, feeling up to the sides of his head, he was even more dismayed to find his ears were long and pointed, and could flex about and around like any other animal's ears.
'What in all-father's name has happened to me?!'
Feeling dizzy, he tried to stand up, but found himself falling head-over-backside into the earth with a loud THUD! His body felt so heavy, so strange and unlike what he was used to: this made no sense at all, and as he tried to catch his breath, he didn't know what to do. Then, he noticed a stag standing some several meters away, watching him in bemusement: but something wasn't right, the stag looked absolutely tiny, which didn't make any sense at all either. As he slowly got back up, that's when the stag seemed to get even smaller...
No, he was the one getting bigger!
As he stood up, growing more shocked with every inch he stood taller, he finally stood up straight, and gazed down at the stag in a mix of confusion and horror: the stag was over thirteen meters away below him, or was he over thirteen meters up in the air? Gazing down at his body, nothing was different (except for all the muscles); he wasn't flying or floating, he was standing on the ground. Holding one hand up to his eye level, and placing the other hand on the top of his head, he reckoned the distance must have been about two meters...
He was over fifteen meters tall.
'...Whoa' he mentally breathed.
Staggering over to the nearest giant tree, he winced as he felt his feet make a loud booming THUD! with every step he took: resting a hand against the tree, he gently sat down amid the roots, crossed his legs, and began concentrating on his breathing...
This was a lot to take in; his mind pulsed with so many questions that he felt his head begin to hurt, he couldn't focus on which one to address first, never mind try to find a way to seek answers; it was too much all in one go, and he felt so powerless and weak. Looking down at his hands, and studying the tattoos, he suddenly remembered where he had seen this pattern before: 'The hand of the ancients...'
Glancing back over at the tomb and the two halves of the broken lid sitting next to it, he noticed the exact same patterns carved into the stone; that couldn't be just coincidence.
Looking around the forest, he realized he'd never seen this place before; that alarmed him deeply, for he knew every forest of the earth: from the tropical rainforests of the equator to the frozen pine forests of the Arctic Circle. Standing back up, he ran both hands up the side of the tree, and summoning his power, reached out to the spirits all around him.
'Hear me, spirits of the forest...' his mind's voice echoed through the energies of the trees: 'I, Javorin, god of wisdom, guidance, nourishment and balance: do hereby invoke your secret names; lera-nea, asseth-mea, naros-fenmea, and ask that you tell me where I am'
All at once, little by little, he sensed the trees attention's now focused on him; 'Well? My powers are intact, so that's a positive' he thought, allowing a moment of relief to calm his nerves. Sensing the life-force of the forest gather around him, flowing through his being and acknowledging his divine presence, up in the canopy, the branches seemed to glow with a faint pale aura, as the spirits of the trees revealed themselves and drew closer to him.
My lord
Long have you been gone
But returned to the world, you have
To a mortal, it sounded like many voices talking in sync together: but to Javorin, it was a singular consciousness expressed through many voices, all talking as one; a vast collective with a singular will, spread out across the forest, in every plant, insect and animal: vast, ancient, and powerful.
'Please, can you tell me who you are?' he got straight to the point: 'I know every forest upon this world, yet I do not recall ever meeting you; who are you? And how long have your trees stood here?'
They call us Maria
'Maria? That sounds like the kind of name a human would bestow' he thought offhand,
We are Aang-suvea
Long have we stood here
We have stood through five ages of men
Through the time of plenty and the time of darkness
The time of sorrows
The time of uncertainties
The age of the fall
'The age of the fall?' Javorin asked: pressing his hand to the trunk of the tree, the spirits showed him the tree's memories: Javorin gasped in shock as they flashed through his mind like lightning.
Blood staining the earth and waters, turning everything red
People screaming, running for their lives, only to be picked up and eaten by-
The thundering sounds of giant footsteps, the screaming of horses and men dyeing together as they fight to the death
Giant humanoid creatures with dead expressions on their faces, lifeless, unfeeling, with dead bodies and blood dripping from their mouths
Javorin pulled his hand away in shock
All fell
All died
All became one with the root of our trees
But some survived
Yet they no longer remember
They have forgotten
They fear them
'Them? Them who?'
The ones that came
Abominations
The ones that consumed
Not wanted here
The ones that drove them in, and forced them to stay here
They are corruption
As he sensed their memories and power swirl around him, Javorin realized something was wrong; though he couldn't quite put his finger on it, he decided he'd heard enough, for now. He had his own set of problems to deal with.
'... Alright, thank you' he bowed his head courteously, and the spirits in turn, melted back into the darkness of the forest, vanishing from sight: though their presence could still be felt, as it lingered like smoke in the cool night air.
Leaning against the tree, and gazing over at his tomb: Javorin, for the first time in many lifetimes, felt a very human chill run down his spine; '...How long have I been gone?'
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest:
"You're sure this is where you last saw her kid?" Hannes asked Clay as he held the flaming torch up high over his head.
"This is where we had the fight" Clay explained nervously, "We were over by that log, and Ariana fell about here" he gestured to a nearby patch of trampled grass, "By the time we stopped fighting Ariana was gone"
As the assembled search party looked all around, many of them sighed in worry at the prospect of searching the forest. This whole area was vast and wild, only the most experienced hunters would go venturing beyond this point. From here, it was nothing but forest and mountains all the way up to the walled city of Melbeck, on the Eastern-most side of Wall Maria.
"Okay Tyto, you're the master hunter, what'd you think?" Hannes gazed over at the worried father.
Tyto said nothing, as he, Evrard, Falken and Eraman all scanned the undergrowth in minute detail, picking out every little discernible feature, and scrutinizing it carefully; years of experience in reading the signs had taught them what to look for, and before long, Evrard could make out what they were looking for. Bending down and expecting the bushes, he could smell blood, sweat, and Ariana's scent.
"She went up through there" he pointed up the inclining ground.
"Alright, then that's where we'll search" Hannes nodded, glancing over to the assembled garrison troops and Military police: "Okay, I want you guys to fan out and begin looking through the undergrowth, make sure you leave no stone unturned!"
"Yes sir!" they all saluted,
"The rest of you go with them" he addressed everyone else; practically everyone Tyto and Freya knew had come along to help with the search: the Jaegers, Armin's grandpa, The Cooper twin's father, the Willums, Mabel, Bren, Derek, Bryson, Breck, Claude, and the whole family: and since the children couldn't be left home alone, they were left in the care of Rosemary and Lucille, who waited with them by the cart. "Stay in sight of each other's torches, and don't shout out unless you find something got it?"
They all voiced in agreement,
"Okay, Evrard, you got her scent, lead the way" Tyto ordered, and without another word, Evrard took off through the bushes following the scent, while everyone fanned out and formed a line that stretched a good twenty five meters long on either side of the trail.
Heading back the short distance to the carts with his own torch: Clay soon found the rest of his cousins and the other kids: all waiting in anxiousness.
"Well?" a tearful Hazel asked desperately: "Dad's got her scent" Clay tried to sound positive, but in his gut he felt awful; he felt guilty for not taking the time to look for Ariana, and now she was gone, lost somewhere up in that deep labyrinth of a forest.
"Well that's something" Rosemary assured him as he climbed back aboard the cart, "Don't worry, your fathers and uncles are some of the best trackers in all of Maria, if anyone has a chance of finding Ariana, it's them"
"But what if they don't find her?" Hazel sobbed, "I don't want her to die!"
"There there dearie" Lucille cooed as she patted her on the back and pulled her in for a hug, "Let's not think about that right now"
"It's your fault she ran off in the first place!" Clay glared over at Rowan, who simply sat on the back of the cart with his feet hanging over the edge: gazing off into the darkness in silence: "If you hadn't had said those things and punched her in the face she'd be home by now!"
Everyone in the cart bar Hazel, Ash and Dale, gasped in shock as their heads snapped towards Rowan: "You punched Ariana?!" the Cooper twins gasped,
"Is this true?!" Rosemary demanded
"...It's true" Ash admitted nervously, "We did fight, and it-, really got outta hand"
"Rowan said some things he didn't mean" Dale glared over at Rowan: "He lost it and lashed out at Ariana"
Angry, Eren got up and stomped over to Rowan, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and glared him right in the eye. Taking Rowan completely by surprise: "How the hell could you do that?! How could you do that to your own sister?! You may be a jerk, but no way do you do that to someone you love!"
Rowan's eyes widened in surprise, and he realized what Eren just said,
"Eren stop that!" Rosemary ordered, pulling him away, and directing him back to his seat: "...Now listen, all of you; I know we're all worried for Ariana, I'm worried too, but that's no excuse to go pointing fingers and losing our heads over who said or did what. There's and time and place for sorting out such problems, but now is not it. Your parents are looking for her right now, so all we can do is wait"
The sound of someone running through the bushes back towards the cart made everyone turn their heads, just in time to see Carla appear, and untie of the saddled horses that was hitched to the thick branch of a tree.
"Mum?! What're you doing back here?!" Eren called out,
"Carla! What's wrong dear?" Rosemary called out to her.
"I just had a thought," Carla replied hurriedly as she mounted the horse, and grasped the reins in her hands as her feet slid into the stirrups: "What if Ariana managed to cut back to one of the main roads? We don't have anyone searching there"
"The main roads?" Rosemary breathed in worry, "But Carla, you know how dangerous those roads are at night. Please let one of the men go with you!"
"We don't have time! I have to make sure she's not there!" Carla frowned as she tapped the horse's flanks with her heels, and took off up the road and around the corner out of sight.
"Oh, I do hope she doesn't run into any trouble" Lucille worried,
Frowning in frustration as he watched his mother take off, Eren jumped out of the cart, snatched the torch from Clay's hand, and proceeded up into the undergrowth: "Eren? Where are you going?!" Clay demanded,
"To look for Ariana!" he called back, "They'll find her quicker if there are more of us out there looking for her!"
"What?! But it's dangerous out there in the dark!" Gale pleaded; "Please Eren! You can't search for her all by yourself!" Ashlyn pleaded as well: "Eren come back here!" Rosemary called out sternly,
"Ariana's my friend! And friends don't leave each other alone in the dark!" Eren called back as he disappeared from sight among the trees. Staring out into the dark as his torchlight grew more distant, Ash sighed as he took his torch and jumped out the cart.
"Where are you going?!" Belle exclaimed,
"He's right" Ash frowned, "The more of us there are out there, the better the chance we have of finding Ariana...Besides, she's my little sister, she's my responsibility, and I failed her: so please, let me do my job as her big brother, and let me go help look for her"
Everyone stared at him for moment, before the rest of the kids climbed out, grabbed the spare torches propped up against the side of the cart, and lit them from the one Ash was holding. Knowing it was now useless to try and talk them out of it, Rosemary and Lucille climbed down, and reluctantly grabbed some torches: "Oh alright, but if you insist on joining the search it will be with adult supervision!" Rosemary sternly wagged her finger.
"HEY EREN WAIT UP!" Belle called out as she grabbed Armin by the sleeve, and dragged him through the bushes as she started running after Eren, with everyone following as best they could.
Only Rowan remained on the cart: on the outside he looked calm, but inside a storm of worry and dread was churning about inside his gut and chest; after what he did, he felt he had no right to help, that this was totally beyond forgiveness. And for the first time in his life, he truly felt the gravity of the situation, and the damage of what he'd done: and it terrified him.
Seeing the dread in his brother's eyes, Ash approached him, and in a calm voice told him honestly: "...I know you didn't mean those things you said"
Rowan said nothing, as he continued to panic in silence,
"...Look, whatever happens: just remember that no matter what anyone tells you or what anyone says about us; your my brother, and I won't leave you no matter what"
Rowan glanced at him, and scowled in a mix of anger and guilt: "...She might be dead because of me! How can you say that?!"
"Because you're my brother, and you're my responsibility too, okay?" Ash placed a hand on his knee. Tears ran down his face, as Rowan began to sob: "But-, why does Eren- how can he-
"Because, he's her best friend, and that's what best friends do" Ash replied as he pulled him down off the cart, and held his hand as he lead him into the tree line, "Now come on, let's go and look for her"
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest:
As they sat cross-legged on the floor of their basement with a single candle for light, Pascal and West both clutched their rifles as they listened to the silence beyond the basement door.
"It's been quiet for a while now" West whispered, "Whatever it was might be long gone"
"Maybe?" Pascal frowned skeptically as he stared up at the door, "...Let's go and check it out"
"Okay, I'll take point, you cover my ass" West readied himself as he pushed the butt of the musket into his shoulder, and aimed up at the door with one hand, while he opened the door with his one free hand. Creeping as quietly as possible, they looked around the cottage, out the windows, and out the open back door. It was well and truly dark outside, with only the light of the full moon lighting up the forest floor in silver dappled light: as far as they could see, nothing and no one was out there.
"...I think we're good" West cautiously sighed as he lowered his weapon,
"Yeah, I think so" Pascal nodded,
"That noise" West frowned in bemusement, "What d you think it was?"
"Honestly?" Pascal shrugged, "I have no idea what that-
But then, something made him stop: another noise echoing out from deep in the forest; this time, it was much further away, and well beyond their line of sight.
Thud!-Thud!-Thud!-Thud!-Thud!
It wasn't loud per se, but it was deep and fast: the pace of it almost sounded like feet hitting the ground; like a set of very large heavy feet.
"...Now what? ..." West stared wide-eyed into the darkness.
As they both strained their ears to try and make out what it was, they both realized with horror that it was getting louder, approaching them fast. Without another word the two friends bolted back to the basement, shut the door and blew out the candle, as whatever it was ran past the cottage; the vibrations shook the building to its foundation, making things fall off shelves and rattling the floorboards and windowpanes; and then as swiftly as it came it was gone just as quickly, allowing the silence of the forest to creep back in again.
"Leave it 'till the morning?" West whispered, his heart hammering in his chest with alarm.
"Leave it 'till the morning" Pascal concurred in equal concern.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest
The forest had grown silent again since those loud booms had stopped: as Ariana continued her journey, the air was starting to cool into coldness, and her feet were starting to grow tired again. She wanted to rest so badly, to find somewhere nice and snug and just go to sleep, but she forced herself to push onward, she had to figure out where she was, so as to find a way home.
Stopping to catch her breath, she glanced up at the giant trees, and was astounded to see how big they were; she'd seen giant trees before, but none as big as these. They looked like they went on forever, all the way up into the sky, probably touching the underside of the clouds. Looking around at their roots, she saw how vast and thick they were, snaking their way all over the forest floor: rising and falling, curving around and over rocks and boulders, forming narrow gaps and gully's, and tall empty caves between the trunks and the ground. She had never seen a forest like this before, and the sheer scale of it amazed her to no end. As the moon filtered through the canopy, and lit up the undergrowth in hues of blueish-silver, the whole scene looked like something from a dream; mysterious, ethereal, as if there were magic all around.
For a moment, as she lost herself in the majesty of this place, a small smile tugged at her lips: she knew she couldn't stay here, but she would make it her mission to find this place, and come back here again. If anything to simply to be among these grand and beautiful trees. Letting her gaze drop back to the forest floor, she looked all around, wondering which direction to go next; when suddenly, she noticed something in a clearing nearby. It was a giant stone circle, just like the one not too far from the wall near Shiganshina. The stones had the same markings on them and everything, but these stones were far taller, and wider at their bases. As she approached closer, Ariana suddenly got a strange feeling in her gut; not a bad feeling, but one that made her suddenly aware of her surroundings, as if to be ready to move at any moment. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it almost felt like someone, or something was watching her...
This way
"Huh?" Ariana spun round: but no one was there.
Gazing in the direction behind her, she saw a trail leading through the darkest part of the undergrowth, completely concealed in shadow: it looked ominous and foreboding, the kind of darkness that predators would take advantage of to secure an easy meal. Staring into the pitch black, Ariana knew it had danger written all over it and her gut confirmed it as it told her to stay in the moonlight.
But there was something about it, something about that darkness that was telling her to go through there; it was stupid and dangerous, she knew that, so why this feeling that there was something waiting for her on the other side?
Go there
You'll be safe there
He will help you find your way home
It was weird, surreal almost: like it wasn't her instinct speaking to her, but rather, something else; a force of some kind that was greater than her. It made no sense at all: but with her curiosity now beginning to override her fear, Ariana held her pocket knife tightly with both hands, took a deep breath, and steadily crept towards the darkness, minding every foot fall so as to be as quiet as possible.
Meanwhile, not too far away:
As he meditated on his predicament: Javorin had managed to regain his composure and calmed himself right down: at the back of his mind he was still worried, but now he was processing his situation and contemplating on his current state, and what to do about it. On the one hand, it seemed his powers were unaffected, which was a relief to say the least: he could feel his elemental powers were intact too, as he could sense the still and ancient earth through his feet, and all around him he could feel the air and its energies as they intertwined with the spiritual auras of the forest.
He wasn't totally helpless: but still, he had no voice, his face was-, well? Something only a mother could love, and he was over fifteen meters high, with the body of a Spartan warrior, and then some. This had to be a curse of some kind, and a pretty powerful one at that; there was no other reason he could think of that would explain such a drastic change in physical form.
While mulling over his troubled thoughts, he suddenly felt a ripple in the earth and air; something was moving fast towards him. Standing up, he focused in the direction it was coming from, and sure enough, he spotted a huge black shadow creep its way towards him between the shadows of the trees. Using his power to get a better look at its energy's, he saw the giant dark aura emanating off it like thick black smoke, with flecks of violet light dancing off it it's humanoid/liquid form. It had the essence of a predator: something that was dangerous and powerful; something that was on the prowl, and it had spotted him.
Readying himself for a fight, the tattoos all over Javorin's body glowed a vivid shade of blue as he summoned the weight of his power: his unnaturally bright blue eyes glowed even more vividly, as he prepared for whatever he was about to face. "Whatever or whoever you are; know that I am a god, and you will not defeat me so lightly" he telepathically warned, projecting his will and power towards the entity in a show of defense, as he held up one hand in a gesture to stop.
"Relax Javorin..." a sultry feminine voice smiled, as the shadow-creature stood upright, revealing its giant humanoid form in full: "You of all gods know I would never pick a fight with the Overseer of mankind"
Javorin's eyes flew open wide in surprise as he instantly recognized the voice: "...Hecate?..." he squinted at the entity in confusion.
"Long time no see dear cousin..." the shadow replied as it hugged the side of a tree, gazing at him with ominous yet sultry violet glowing eyes, "Summer of '29, I believe was the last time we met? Quite a party wouldn't you say?"
"As I recall, it was more of brawl than a party: you slayed three dragons, ate an entire hoard of demon hogs, and enslaved a possessed minister before exorcising him of his demons" he frowned: "But then, I wouldn't expect any less from the gods mightiest" he deadpanned in slight annoyance; of all his divine kin, it just had to be her to show up at a time like this.
"Hm" she smirked playfully, "You haven't changed a bit; shame I can't say the same for the rest of you. That's one hell of a curse you got hanging over you"
"I know" he sighed,
"But then..." She added as she transformed into her solid physical form, and slipped out of the darkness with a smug grin on her face, "Who am I to talk?"
Javorin stared at her in amazement: she was fifteen meters tall too, and muscular to boot, while still retaining her lean voluptuous figure, but unlike him, her new form was a real sight to behold. Her entire body was covered head to toe in charcoal black and bone white, her legs and arms were completely black, while her torso and face were left white, with the black markings giving her face the appearance of a skull, while on her chest was the crude symbol of the god of death, while the rest of the black markings on her sides and stomach crudely resembled ribs and a spine; on her back was a more elaborate and detailed symmetrical pattern. Though one would never be able to get a good look, as her thick straight black hair cascaded all the way down her back and legs, nearly touching her heels. And unlike Javorin, her cheeks and lips were intact.
"...Whoa" was all he could say,
"Heh, nice to know I haven't lost my touch" she smirked as she treaded lightly over towards him, "Even on you, dear cousin" she grinned mischievously as she bummed him playfully against the hip.
"Yes well, glad to know your taking it in your stride" he deadpanned,
"Heh! Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?" another voice chuckled from out of the darkness, "'Taking it in your stride' just took on a whole new definition"
Javorin glanced past Hecate to see another familiar face appear from the shadows: "Herne?!"
"Nice to see you again too little brother" Herne grinned as he looked him up and down, "Eh, at least your curse was kinder to you, look at me, I look like that giant mountain troll I slayed on the Matterhorn back in the last ice age; mind you, he didn't have tusks and a tail..."
Herne was a far cry from Javorin and Hecate: he stood around seven meter's tall, but his oversized super-muscular arms came all the way down to his knees, while his legs were shorter and his feet were smaller. He looked more animalistic, with long curved boar-like tusks sprouting out from his upper jaw, a long robust tail that was tipped with red fur, and a robust protruding face with a big prominent nose, long tapered ears tipped with red fur, and a long thick mane of bright red ginger hair that ran all the way down his back. Like Javorin he too had a full body of tattoos with an elaborate pattern all over his back, but his skin was much more tanned and bronzed. The only thing that really stood out was the thick abdominal plates on his abdomen; they looked strange, as if they were made from kind of hardened shell or horn. His long arms meant his center of gravity was off, so instead of walking upright like a human, he instead shuffled along on all fours like a gorilla.
"Whoa..." he suddenly noticed Javorin's teeth, "That's some set of chompers you got there"
"I know, I can't talk because of them" Javorin sighed as he patted his face,
"I don't think it's that, we can't talk either, and we both got lips" Herne pointed to his mouth,
"Seriously?" Javorin blinked in surprise,
"Must be part of the curse" Hecate shrugged as she folded her arms, and regarded them both with a very matter-of-factly look: "I tried using a speaking spell on both of us, but no dice; whatever curse we got lumped with, it's a quality piece of work...Oh and to answer your question as to how I found Shorty here, his tomb was right next to mine"
"You were buried too?!" Javorin exclaimed,
"Yeah, not every day you get to crawl out of your own grave" Hecate sighed sarcastically, "But then, for a goddess in my line of divine duty, that's really nothing new"
"...Okay; so, what do we do? Because really? I got nothing" Javorin asked frankly,
"Well, I don't think we're in any immediate danger from this curse (not that I can sense at least)... Right now, I can't help but shake this feeling there might be another one of us out here"
"Another god?" Herne blinked in surprise
"Yeah..." Hecate sighed as she glanced back over her shoulder, "And it feels like they're in the same boat as we are" she turned back to Javorin, "I'm going to check it out, you wait here; Herne, why not try out that nose of yours and sniff them out for me?"
"Sure, It's not like I had anything else planned for tonight" he joked as he followed her into the shadows, quickly keeping the pace as she melted into the darkness, and transformed back into her shadow-creature form, swiftly taking off like a fish through water; silent and stealthily. Leaving Javorin alone where he stood.
It was then he suddenly realized: what had happened to all the other gods? Were they okay? Or were they cursed too? A pang of worry welled up inside him as he leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree, and at the back of his mind, he felt his worries begin to multiply.
At the same time, a short distance away:
Ariana emerged from the undergrowth, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief, having made it through the darkness in one piece; looking around, she saw she was in a new part of the forest where the trees were just as tall and vast as the one's she'd previously seen, but this time there was something different about this place.
Cautiously stepping out of the darkness and into the moonlight, she was careful to mind the uneven ground, as the roots of the giant trees here were even larger, and had thick bramble patches and dead branches littered about. Treading along one of the giant roots, she followed it to its base; when suddenly, the sound of heavy breathing made her freeze...
Whatever animal it was, it was huge, with a big set of lungs that slowly breathed in and out. As she listened more closely, Ariana realized it was right on the other side of the tree, and considering the size of the tree and the fact she could hear such loud heavy breathing: she began sweating bullets as she wondered just how big it really was. Clasping her pocket knife in both hands and readying herself to either run or fight, she silently crept around the base of the tree, slowly taking her time as he could hear she was getting closer: knowing she was now right on top of the giant creature; she glanced down at the ground to try and see its shadow...
But instead of the shadow of a huge bear or colossal boar, there were two tall long shadows: were they smaller trees? Ariana frowned as she stared at the shadows, and nearly gasped aloud when she saw them move; trees don't move like that, especially not the trunks! Then, glancing away from the tree, she saw the rest of the shadow stretching far across the ground.
It wasn't a tree at all; instead, it was the shadow of a man: a gigantic man!
Slowly leaning around the truck of the giant tree, Ariana indeed found herself staring up at the back of a HUGE man. Nearly fifteen meters tall at least, with muscles on muscles, leaning against the tree as if deep in thought. Mouth agasp and eyes as wised as saucers, Ariana couldn't believe what she was seeing... 'Is that...A titan?! ...' her mind began to reel in disbelief and shock: and in that one moment, as all of Bryson's stories began to play back over in her mind, she knew right then and there that she was very serious danger.
Holding her breath and never taking her eyes off the behemoth, slowly, Ariana backed up: her body ached all over as she strained her muscles to remain in her control, while trying to hold her breath so he couldn't hear her.
She was totally silent: until a twig snapped under her feet, and the giant snapped his head round and saw her standing there behind him, eyes wide in equal surprise.
Ariana's breath hitched in her chest as she stopped herself from screaming, as she looked up at the giant's face, and noticed the lipless maw with two rows of incisor-like teeth; her body began to scream at her to run. Her and arms legs trembled as her breathing began to quicken: never in her life had she been so scared and overwhelmed, she'd hidden from a bear once before, but this was a titan! She was dead for sure and she knew it!
As they both stared at one another, that moment seemed to stretch out into one long agonizing eternity: as Ariana gazed up at the titan, and he, merely stared down at her, frozen still, and his breath now almost silent.
What was he doing? He was just staring down at her doing nothing; Ariana didn't know what to think, except get out of here and run to find cover somewhere, fast! Hoping not to spook him, or trigger his instinct to pounce on her, Ariana began to back out slowly again: she managed to get a few steps back around the tree, when suddenly, the root beneath her feet gave out, and before she knew it she was falling down into darkness, and as she hit the soft ground knees first, she felt something sharp going straight through her left eye...
Ariana screamed her lungs out as pain ripped through her eye.
Javorin was so lost in his thoughts; he nearly jumped out his skin when he heard the twig snap behind him.
Spinning round and glancing down at what was behind him, he saw it was-
A girl?
The tiny child stared up at him, eyes wide with fear and breath caught in her chest; her hands were tightly gripped around the hilt of a pocket knife, as if she were about to wield it like a sword: her legs and arms trebled, making her whole tiny frame shake.
She looked quite young, probably around four, five or six years old: her messy Auban-brown hair was tied up in a loose equally-messy pony tail with bangs all around her face, her eyes were deep brown, and she wore a simple dress with trousers and boots underneath, with a sash belt around her waist (a hunter's daughter no doubt).
Using his power to read her aura, he could see the fear coursing through her like a fire out of control: her little heart was beating so hard and fast he could feel it was almost painful for her, and her mind was racing so fast he could hardly make out any coherent lines of thought.
The only thing he could pick out clearly, was that she knew she was in danger, and she only had one chance to try and run: as she noticed his teeth, he felt her fear increase tenfold.
Deep down, Javorin felt his heart ache with sadness; was this, the purpose of the curse? To strike fear into the souls of humans and have them believe he was a monstrous hulking beast? This little child certainly believed it, and without his voice to try and convince her otherwise, he was powerless to do anything. The only safe thing to do was to let her run: least he might scare her even more, or worse, if he might accidentally trip and fall right on top of her; the thought of it made him sick to his stomach. He slowed his breathing, and remained as still as a statue.
Slowly, the child began to back away, creeping around the base of the tree, never taking her eyes off him; she managed to get about ten meters from him, before an old rotted root gave out from under her feet, and with a surprised yelp she fell down into one of the narrow root gullies.
He gasped in horror, was she okay? But his worst fears were only confirmed when a loud shrill scream pierced the night air, as the child started screaming as if it were the end of the world. Quickly, he got down on his knees and glanced down into the small gully: he clasped his hand over his mouth in shock as he saw her laying there with a small dead tree branch skewered right into her left eye, her hands clasped to her head as pain shot throughout her eye socket.
Javorin felt his hands tremble; he was terrified to touch her, for fear of crushing her in his huge muscular hands: but as he saw her whole aura quake and rock in pain and agony, he knew he had to do something, the wound was bleeding badly, and there was a chance she might not survive. Mustering up his courage, and biting down the gut-wrenching dread in his stomach, he carefully reached into the gully, grabbed her around the torso between his finger and thumb, and carefully pulled her out, laying her on his cupped palm.
As she continued to scream and cry, he was able to see the full extent of the wound, and it was bad: the eyeball was beyond all mortal means of repair, as it was completely destroyed by the branch that was pierced right up into her eye socket, and was dangerously close to her brain.
There was only one way to heal a wound this bad, and Javorin knew it was the only way to save her life; holding his free hand to his teeth, he bit down on his knuckle hard, making it bleed, but instead of deep red blood, out of the wound came a thick opaque bright glowing blue liquid that radiated a blue aura. Letting his blood trickle down to the tip of his finger, he carefully lifted his finger right over her head, letting the melon-sized droplets fall onto her wound.
Almost right away, her screaming subsided into a couple of pained moans, before her right eye glazed over and her eyelid grew heavy, her body went totally limp as she flopped back against his palm, seemingly falling into a torpor-like state; staring off into space, until her crying stopped completely, and she just stared up at the sky as if in a trance. The glowing blue blood trickled down the side of her face, and into the wound.
'Thank the all-father' Javorin let out a deep sigh of relief: now to get that branch out; but it was so small and his fingers were so big, there was no way he'd be able to grab it and remove it without causing further injury to the girl. If only he had a pair of tweezers, that would be just the thing to remove it.
Suddenly, the markings on his finger and thumb glowed blue, and a strange blue crystal-like substance formed over the fingertips and elongated into small fine points: turning them into, essentially, a pair of tweezers. 'Whoa, I definitely couldn't do that before' he thought in amazement. Carefully, he grasped the branch between the points of his now crystal 'tweezer-fingers', and slowly and gently, he pried it out of the eye socket, allowing his blood to seep into the wound. The blood began to glow white as its power began to restore the eye to its previous state, all the while the girl remained in a trance-like state, seemingly under heavy sedation. Looking at his fingers, Javorin blinked in surprise as he watched the crystal reabsorb itself back into his fingers.
When the blood had finally completed its task, Javorin gently stroked the girl's face, wiping the blood away, but when he saw her newly-healed eye, he sighed in disappointment: 'Oh dear: looks like I used too much' he thought to himself.
Ariana didn't know where she was, or if she was even still in the forest anymore: all around her there was white and blue light, and she felt so light, she could have sworn she was floating in mid-air; her head felt like it was swimming in honey, as she felt the pain turn into a blissful sensation of hazy sleep. She felt her eye twitch in its socket, as if something had been gently pulled out. As quickly as the sensation had overwhelmed her and pulled her into the strange dream-like state, she could feel herself returning to reality again, as she felt the cold night air against her skin. Only now, the pain was gone, and she could feel she was laying down in something really warm and soft, flexing her hands to try and feel what it was, she felt it was...skin?
Opening her eyes, she nearly jumped when she saw two huge bright blue eyes staring back down and at her; then she saw that lipless maw, and right away, she remember what it was. Terrified, Ariana was about to try and move, when the giant raised his hand, and gently began stroking the side of her head with his finger: the same way a parent would gently caress their child's face.
As she sat there, allowing this giant monster of a titan to stroke her, Ariana's fear steadily turned into confusion; he wasn't tryin to eat her, or harm her in any way, in fact he was being soft and gentle, handling her as if she were a fragile cherry blossom. And as she gazed up into those big blue eyes of his, she saw just how radiant they were: they were the most vivid shade of blade she had ever seen, they looked almost unnatural as the moonlight lit them up and made them glisten like starlight. But what really allowed her fear to subside, was how friendly and warm his gaze was, how it seemed to hold a deep love that radiated down upon her; those weren't the eyes of a monster or a hungry predator, they were those of a being, like another human; kind, gentle, and peaceful.
Wiping the tears from her face, Ariana sat upright, and that's when she noticed she was sitting in the giant palm of his hand; realizing just how big he was, her eyes grew wide again as she took in the sheer size of him: "...Whoa..." she breathed.
'Whoa indeed...' Javorin couldn't help but smile (at least, smile as much as his lipless maw would allow): relieved that she was okay, and no longer in a panic; little by little he sensed her fear giving way to mix of confusion and curiosity, as she stared up at him, no longer afraid of his appearance.
Carefully standing up, the child looked him up and down, before taking in a nervous breath, and boldly asking him: "...So? Are you a titan?"
'Titan?' Javorin raised an eyebrow in confusion: 'What's a titan?'
At the same time, elsewhere in the forest:
As she rode further along the road, Carla couldn't help but begin to worry; not only for Ariana's sake, but for her own as well. She knew traveling the forest roads at night was dangerous: but she had to make sure Ariana wasn't here; deep in her gut, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe some human traffickers got to her first?
No, she couldn't think that, she had to remain optimistic, for Freya and Tyto's sake: and for Ariana, who was no doubt lost, and alone.
As she scanned the tree line on either side of the road, a loud sound forced her to stop the horse, and listen closely as she heard something way off in the distance snapping branches and breaking trunks. What on earth was it? It sounded like something knocking trees and bushes aside; a bear maybe? A colossal-sized boar? Those animals could clear whole pathways through the forest. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was a good quarter mile away, and heading in the direction of the river ahead of her.
Suddenly, a deer shot out of the bushes and flew across the road, spooking the horse: as it reared up and screamed in fright, Carla was thrown from the saddle and fell to the paved ground with a bump; the horse took off back the way they'd came, and Carla was left to pick herself up and dust herself off. Considering how some ridding accidents resulted in bad injuries, she thanked her lucky stars she only had a sore backside and arm.
But the rustling in the bushes nearby made her freeze, and her stomach dropped as she saw four mean appear our of the darkness: wearing hessian sacks over their heads with eye holes cut out, and brandishing ropes, knives, and large machetes. For a long moment they just stood there staring at her, while she stared back in fear: hoping and praying these men were not what she thought they were...
Alas, her fears were confirmed when one of the men spoke to one of his partners: "What'd you think? Might she be worth something?"
"She's still got some youth and colour in her cheeks" The other man replied in a cold tone: "We might be able to sell her at a discounted rate: after all, not all those old pervs like 'em very young: some prefer a whore who's old enough to handle a man just right"
Hearing that, Carla turned and ran with everything she had, but she barely made it ten meters before one of the men tackled her to the ground, and flipped her on her stomach: tightly grabbing her hands and tying them up behind her back, while another man quickly gagged her with a cloth, before grabbing her legs and holding them tightly while the third man tied her up by the ankles.
As tears began to run down her cheeks, Carla's mind ran a thousand miles a minute as she thought of her husband and child: Grisha, Eren: she was being kidnapped by human traffickers, alone and helpless with no one to come to her aid, and no one would know what happened to her. She was never going to see her family or home ever again, and the realization broke her heart.
Panicked and desperate, she violently tried to wriggle and shake free of her bonds: but the first man knelt down, and grabbing her by the back of her shirt, pressed his knife to her throat; "...Now..." he spoke with no emotion as he stared down at her with a dead look in his eyes, "You're gonna be as quiet as a mouse, or I'll open up that pretty neck of yours and let the wolves have ya, understand?"
She reluctantly nodded: "Good, now I don't want any fuss or any trouble from you" he turned to the man nearest to him: "Take her back to the wagon, and let's get outta here" he ordered. But as the man grabbed her painfully by her hair and started dragging her down the road, his buddy elbowed him, "Hey! Watch the merchandise! She may not be premium but something's better than nothing!"
"Here, let us do it" the first man stated as he hooked his arms under her armpits, while the second man grabbed her feet, and together they lifted her up and carried her down the road towards a wagon that was parked up by the tree line.
But before they reached the wagon, a loud crashing could be heard fast approaching: "What is that? A boar?" one man thought aloud, "Nah, that's a bear" his buddy shrugged; "Do bears really get that big out here?" the third man piped in.
Whatever ever it was, was now really picking up the pace as trees and bushes could be heard breaking and crashing as they were pushed aside and uprooted. The men all stopped to listen, their guts telling them something serious was up, as they suddenly realized it was neither a bear nor a boar, and it was heading right for them. But before any of them had the chance to run for cover: the tree line opposite the wagon exploded with torn branches, leafs, twigs and small trees flying out all over the road, and something huge ran at the men with a deep angry hiss.
As the men tried to shield their faces, Carla was dropped and left lying on her stomach face down; the horses panicked and took off with the driver just barely holding on for dear life, while the men took off running for dear life into the forest on the opposite side of the road, not wishing to stay and see what had just emerged from the forest.
Still bound and gagged, Carla began to panic as she heard the sound of heavy breathing, and deep heavy footsteps circle around her; she's daren't move, for fear of provoking whatever it was to attack. But as she listened to the sound of its breath inhaling and exhaling, there was strange deep trilling sound with every breath it took, and series of bird-like squawks and chirps, as it loomed over her.
What on earth was it?
Carla flinched when it placed one of its huge feet right up alongside her face; but instead of a bear's paw or a boar's cloven hoof, she saw a giant bird's foot, long and grey with scaly flesh, complete with three long toes tipped with small sharp claws.
Chancing a glimpse at the giant creature, Carla slowly looked up over her shoulder, only to be met with a giant bird-like beast over seven meters tall. The moon was directly behind it, so she could only see the profile of its body, as the rest was obscured by dark shadow: but what she could make out was its huge folded up wings, glistening white feathers, and pair of bright pale blue, very human looking eyes staring down at her with curiosity.
Suddenly, the creature bent over and dipped its head right down, until its face was right above her. And that's when Carla saw, it didn't have a typical bird's head; instead, it had a female human face, white as snow, and covered in strange black markings running over its forehead, eyes and cheeks; fair and youthful, almost like that of a teenager. Carla gasped in horror, it was so huge, it was nothing she had ever seen before, and worse, was it checking her over to see if she was an easy meal?
But to her surprise, the creature noticed her bonds, and as gently as possible, it parted it's lips, grabbed the rope between its teeth while pushing her hands out the way with the tip of its tongue, and started gnawing at the rope, cutting through it and freeing her hands: it then moved down to her feet and gnawed the rope binding them too: the second she heard the rope snap Carla was up on her feet and running with all her strength back the way she came, throwing off the gag as she didn't look back.
But then, she suddenly realized the creature wasn't following her,
Stopping in the middle of the road, she suddenly realized it had freed her, and it hadn't tried to eat her; turning back, she saw it just standing there, gazing at her with a look of surprise and confusion, as if wondering if it had done something wrong.
Suddenly, the creature let out a low warbling trill, as if calling to her to come back. With her gut telling her to stay alert, Carla slowly approached the creature; it bobbed its head up and down as it kept its eyes fixed on her, much like a bird does, as it too slowly approached her with an excitable gleam in its radiant eyes. As it came up close to her, it bent down to have a closer look as her, and Carla could see, it actually looked happy to see her, as it gave out series of chirps and trilling warbles, similar to those of a song thrush.
Carla wasn't too sure what to think: on the one hand it was evident that this creature wasn't going to eat her, but at the same time, she was still on edge with worry and confusion; looking at its face, she wondered if it could talk.
"...Who are you?" she nervously asked,
The creature gazed at her, and smiled, letting out another series of chirps and warbles; it didn't speak her language, but it obviously understood her. 'Okay, well? It's something' Carla mentally shrugged.
"I'm Carla" she pointed to herself: "Do you have a name?"
Again, the creature merely replied with more bird calls: obviously this was its language, which made sense given that it was part bird.
"Well..." she conceited defeat, as it was evident that the language barrier wasn't going to be broken, "...Thank you, for saving my life"
The creature nodded in delight, as if acknowledging that it did something good; when suddenly, its smile dropped and it stood upright, staring into the forest intently, as if something had caught its attention.
"...What is it?" Carla asked worryingly,
The creature looked down at her with an apologetic look: its wings drooped down as it reluctantly headed back into the tree line; looking back over its shoulder, it saw her standing there looking up at it in confusion, and it let out a more saddened string of trilling warbles, as if apologizing for leaving so soon. All Carla could do was watch as it retreated back into the forest, its long tail feathers trailing behind it, as it vanished into the darkness: and before long, she was alone on the road again.
Holding her hand to her head as she breathed a deep sigh, Carla's head was spinning; did that really just happen? She didn't know what to think, but looking down at the ground and seeing the chewed rope, she knew it hadn't been a panic-induced hallucination (if such a thing were even possible?). But, what was that creature? Why did it save her? What was it doing here, where had it come from? ...or flown from for that matter?
The distant sound of angry voices snapped Carla back to reality, as she could hear the human traffickers returning to the road through the undergrowth. Without another thought she booked it up the road, making her way back to the search party; all the while, the encounter played over in her mind.
Meanwhile, elsewhere deep in the forest:
"So? If you don't eat people, what do you do?" the girl asked curiously,
The last few minutes had been a real head scratcher for Javorin as he continued to hold the tiny girl in his palm, listening as she asked his some truly perplexing questions: 'Are you a titan?', 'Do you eat people?' (What?!) 'How did you get up over the wall?' (Wall? What wall?), and 'if so, how did you slip past the Garrison and Scouts?'
None of this made any sense, and on top of the confusion he was already dealing with, this only added more vexation to the situation. It was clear things had changed in the time he was gone, but just how much had it all changed? He needed some basic answers: a starting point from which to reference, and he thought of a way to get them. Holding his one free hand up to her, Javorin's tattoo's glowed as he summoned a sleeping spell: 'Sleep' he told her body and aura, and just like a candle being blow out, she plopped down in his hand, completely out of it.
Making the sign of a memory charm with his hand, Javorin summoned a basic mind reading spell, something that would allow him to see this child's world, and see what he was missing; breathing deep as his tattoos continued to glow, he focused on her aura, and called it to answer him: 'Let that which is known to you, also, be known to me'
All at once, his mind was filled with sights, sounds, smells and all other kinds of sensations; memories laced with wonder, innocence, curiosity, imagination, comfort, familiarity, family, and friends: the memories of her world, seen through her eyes. But while to her they were good and happy memories of her life and the lives of the family and friends all around her, Javorin was starkly alarmed by what he saw: and a handful of memories in particular stood out to him the most.
A giant wall keeping everyone inside: with no one being allowed to venture outside.
A picture in a book of a thing called a 'titan', a giant humanoid-type creature that apparently ate people for the fun of it.
Bryson: a man who was once part of 'the scouts', telling stories of his time in the military, going out beyond the wall and killing these 'titans' in an effort to save humanity (What?)
Shiganshina, her home city, surrounded on all sides by the giant wall, with only a gate standing between the citizens and the titans outside.
The stone circle deep in the Marian forest: covered in markings he hadn't seen for a few ages.
The Wall Cult, people who worshiped the three walls (three walls?!), saying they were gifted to mankind by the 'divine architect, and were the goddesses called Sina, Rose, and Maria (so that's where the name Maria came from?); they were bad people: if they caught you trying to climb the walls, they would brand you a heretic, and burn you at the steak.
All interest and talk pertaining to the world beyond the walls is forbidden under penalty of death: no acceptations, and any who dare to defy the rule of the Royal government, will be punished forthwith without mercy or considerations.
Javorin held his head in shock: how long had he really been gone?! How much time had passed?! What was this place?! What was this world he had woken up to?!
But he didn't have time to worry, as another set of memory's emerged:
Because she's a stupid little brat who's too friendly for her own good!-
The sight of blood bleeding from her nose, and being punched in the face made him wince as he experienced the altercation between her and her brother: before she run away, up into the forest, and just kept going and going, until she found him.
'Ah, so that's how you ended up all the way out here...' he thought as he gazed down at her, letting the spell's magic ware off and letting her sleep soundly: 'For one so young, you sure traveled a long way. Your parents must be fraught with worry by now...' Gazing up at the trees, he pressed his free hand to the nearest trunk, and through the vast interconnected systems of roots that was spread out for miles and miles in every direction, he searched through their energies, looking for any humans that were within the forest tonight. There was a goodly number, many living on the edge of the forest in small houses and cottages, while a certain number (vagabonds and criminals no doubt) were moving around near the roads; he picked up Hecate and Herne's energies, and the energies of a third god following them close by, one he'd never sensed before: it must be the one Hecate sensed earlier. Going further, he soon sensed a collective of worry, concern, and sadness.
Ariana!
Ariana where are you!
A whole search party was out scouring the forest, calling her name and searching every nook and cranny, and two auras in particular stood out: her parents, as their sadness and worry emanated outwards, as if searching for their lost baby.
'Well, we better let them find you then' Javorin thought as he let go of the tree, and held her close to his chest; looking back at the tomb, he figured it might be good idea to not let them find this place, and at the same time it might be wise if they didn't see him, least it would open up a whole other can of worms he'd rather avoid all together. But also, it wouldn't be wise to take too long, least Herne, Hecate and the forth god might come back only to find him gone; but the humans were too far away for him to simply walk there and back again, and he couldn't run without every footfall sounding like a miniature earthquake.
There was only one way to get her to within range of the search party without letting them see him, traverse the long distance to them, and still make it back before the others might reappear: it was a gamble though, considering Hecate's domain was the darkness of night, and she could sense anyone and anything moving through it.
Well? It couldn't be helped: this child needed to get back to her family, and he couldn't wait around; glancing down at her, he breathed a sigh of doubt as he gazed at her left eye: 'Nothing I can do about that now, what's done is done...' he shook his head in regret, hoping deep down that no complications might arise from his mistake. Holding her close, he summoned his elemental power, tattoos glowing blue as the wind began to whip up all around him: he focused on the direction in which the humans were, and in the blink of an eye, his whole physical form vanished from sight as he transformed into a gust of wind, and blew through the trees at break-neck speed; all the while the sleeping girl flew through the air in his invisible hands, clutched tight and snug to his chest, making sure she didn't fall, as he carried her towards the search party.
Meanwhile, not too far away:
Eren looked back as the rest of the search party was fanned out through the trees, calling out Ariana's name while looking behind every rock, log, tree, bush and fern cluster, glancing down into every hollow, and inspecting every tree that had low-hanging branches which could easily be climbed.
Looking forward, he proceeded up over the next rise, and down into a shallow hollow: "ARIANA!" he called out, but no answer came back.
Then, he heard the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, and suddenly, a strong gust blew through the hollow: throwing up all the leaf litter, blowing the flame of his torch out, and nearly knocking him off his feet while forcing him to shield his face with his arms. Then as quickly as the gust came, the wind completely dropped and the forest was still and silent once again; leaving Eren very perplexed: What the hell was that?" he thought aloud, "...It's almost like the forest sneezed"
He was about to proceed onward, when suddenly, he saw something lying on the ground at the top of the hollow amid a patch of ferns: cautiously approaching, he saw it was a girl lying on her side with her back to him; the pattern on her belt-sash instantly told him who it was.
"ARIANA!" Eren cried as he rushed to her side, dropping to his knees and grabbing her shoulders, he shook her awake: "-Ariana! Ariana wake up! Are you okay?! Talk to me!" he pleaded desperately.
With a groggy moan, Ariana rubbed her face, and as she peeped her right eye open, she glanced up at Eren and smiled: "Hi Eren, where'd you come from?"
"What kind of question is that?!" he exclaimed, "I've been looking all over the forest for you! Do you have any idea how worried we've all been?!"
"Wha?-" Ariana stared at him in bemusement as she rubbed her left eye: "What're you talking about? I was just-..." She paused as she tried to remember what happened: why did she fall asleep like that? One second she was standing in the palm of a giant friendly titan, the next she was-...here? Looking around up at the trees, she realized she was in a part of the forest she passed through earlier in the evening; but, why was she back here? How did she get back here? This didn't make any sense, and what was Eren doing here?
"... What happened?" Was all she could say, utterly perplexed as to what happened before she fell asleep.
Eren stared at her in wide-eyed confusion: "Wait-, you mean don't remember?"
"Remember what?" she stared at him as she continued to rub her left eye
Suddenly, the awkward moment was abruptly broken when Hannes came running up to them, took one look at Ariana, and called back over his shoulder: "EREN'S FOUND HER GUYS! SHE'S OVER HERE!"
"Mrs Hannes?" Ariana stared up at the Garrison troop in confusion: "What's going on?"
"Great Maria kid!-" he laid a hand on her shoulder in worry, "Do you have any idea long we've been out here looking for you?!"
"Huh?" She stared up at him dumbfounded: "I don't understand?"
Realizing she hadn't a clue what he was talking about, Hannes sighed in exasperation, and lifted her up onto her feet, "Never mind, the important thing is your okay"
"Ariana!-" her mother called out as she and Tyto came barrelling through the undergrowth towards them; followed closely by Bryson, Claude and Armin.
"Mum!" Ariana immediately perked up, and held out her arms as her mother scooped her up and hugged her tightly: "Oh my little magpie! I was worried we'd lost you!" she sobbed as Tyto hugged them both: "Please, don't ever run off like that again" he chocked as tears ran down his face.
"I'm okay dad, really" Ariana smiled as she hugged her mum. Craning her head up over her shoulder.
"Well thank Sina you're alright," Claude smiled as he stepped around Freya's side to address Ariana face to face: "But next time you run off, just-
Claude paused and his smile dropped as he stared at Ariana: "...Umm?" he adjusted his glasses, wondering if it was a trick of the light, "I might be mistaken, but, aren't both your eyes supposed to be brown?"
Wondering what he was talking about, Hannes stepped around, and went wide-eyed as he stared at Ariana: "Whoa kid, what happened to your eye?"
"What?-" Freya pulled Ariana away and stared at her face: both she and Tyto gasped when they saw her left eye, "Oh my-, Ariana, what happened?!"
"What?" Ariana only stared back at them in confusion: where were they talking about?
"Bryson, go fetch your brother and Grisha right now!" Tyto ordered the former scout: he took one look at Ariana, and blinked in surprise at what he saw; without hesitation he took off through the undergrowth back towards the rest of the search party.
"What's wrong with my eye mum?" Ariana held her hand to her left eye,
"I-..." Freya wasn't sure how to describe it, neither was Tyto, as they both stared at each other in confusion: "I don't know darling"
"I have to say, that is a fairly unique-, um? 'Development' of sorts" Claude commented as he wiped his glassed on his handkerchief, before positioning them back on his face: "How on earth did that come about?"
"Your guess is as good as anyone's Claude" Tyto sighed as Freya placed Ariana back on the ground, and Eren and Armin got a look at her eye.
"Wow..." Eren breathed in amazement: "Ariana! Your left eye's turned blue!" Armin smiled in astonishment.
Meanwhile:
"GRISHA!" Bryson called out
"Bryson?!" Grisha replied, as he, Breck, Gustav, Miriam, Mabel and the Willum sisters all turned to see him come to a halt: "What's wrong? Did they find her?"
"Yeah, we found her-" he huffed as he tried to catch his breath, as a wave of sighs of relief rippled among the others, Bryson held his hands up to get their attention: "-Listen!...she alive and okay, but Grisha, Breck, she-" he tried to find the right words to describe what he saw.
"What is it 'Bry?" Breck grabbed his shoulders: "Is Ariana okay? Is she injured?!"
"No she's not injured, she-" Bryson sighed in exasperated frustration, as he beckoned his brother to follow him: "...You best see it for yourselves, come on" he led the way with Grisha and the others flowing close behind.
Down by the road Carla appeared from around the corner, exhausted from her long run back and rattled by the trauma of nearly being kidnapped; as she leaned against a nearby tree to try and catch her breath, she was totally oblivious to the fact no one was here. But she wasn't concerned with that, as she tried to calm her dizzying thoughts and regain her composure; looking down at the marks on her wrists where her hands were bound earlier, she started wracking her brain, trying to think of what to tell everyone. Grisha would worry to no end if she told him about the human traffickers, and how they nearly succeeded in kidnapping her... But, how would he react if she told him about how she was saved?
A giant human-faced bird-creature saving her from human traffickers? It sounded too ludicrous, not even remotely believable in the least; but then, that is what happened: regardless of how ridiculous it sounded, she was there; she saw it all happened, and she knew she wasn't going mad.
Wandering over to the cart, Carla sat down on the grassy verge next to the horses, took a deep breath, and started thinking about a suitable cover story to explain the marks on her wrists, why she looked disheveled, and how she got away from her kidnappers: she hated having to lie to anyone, not least her own husband and son, it didn't sit well with her at all, under any circumstances.
But then, this wasn't just any ordinary circumstance: this was well and truly exceptional, and truly exceptional circumstances required truly exceptional measures to meet them head on.
As she sat there mentally going through her list of plausible options: she was totally unaware of the fifteen meter high giant watching her from the darkness of the forest: his radiant blue eyes gazing down upon her as they almost seemed to glow in the dark.
'Hmm...' Javorin thought to himself, '...Interesting'
And as silently as he came and stood there, he was gone again: leaving no trail or scent; the forest was totally silent, save for the rustling of the leafs as a sudden soft wind blew through the trees.
So, here's the second half of what would have been chapter 2: And wow, what a night for everyone :)
Oh & BTW: since the gods can't speak verbally on account of being turned into titans (and thus possessing no vocal cords of course), their telepathy-speach will be highlighted in bold type face, so as it stands out as different from regular human speech: it just makes writing the dialogue easier okay? :)
Do let me know what you think by R&R, thank you! :)
