"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Annie wasn't usually one to act as the goodie-two-shoes, but this was a bit out of the norm for the group of four.
"It's taken some time, but I think I finally tracked him down. Everything will be ok." In the time since the Titan invasion Armin had become surer of himself in ways he never thought possible. Speaking his mind more, taking charge of situations when needed, etc. This was another of those times.
"If mom decides to kill us it's all on you." Eren mumbled, but nonetheless picked up rope they'd 'borrowed' from a snoozing MP, working with Mikasa to secure it to the entrance of the cave. Well it wasn't a true cave by geological standards, it was more like a bloated section of earth that erupted during one of the more recent quakes they knew to be Zilla traversing around below ground. After having not seen the lizard in three months Armin was ready to be reunited with his friend, military by damned. They were lucky that the sun was finally setting for the night; it wouldn't due to be caught in broad daylight entering an area the Survey Corps had cautioned civilians against.
"Alright, now the last time a quake happened was just two blocks to the East. So, I'm fairly certain that we should be able to find him within an hour or so, depending how deep the tunnels below are." Armin tossed the rope, now heartily secured, into the dark chasm before them. Griping the rope with some rough gloves the blonde slowly walked into the darkness, followed by Eren, Annie, and finally Mikasa.
"So what's the plan if we find Zilla? Just throw some food at him?" Mikasa couldn't help but let a little sarcasm slip. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in her friend, but he'd been surprisingly tight-lipped about what they were going to do once down in the tunnels. She didn't like that, especially since there was no telling what they'd find.
"Uh, no, not really. The idea is that once he recognizes my scent we'll be able to get him to stay with us. Considering how he was in the past I'm sure he'll listen to me somewhat." Armin was much more confident than usual, something that the other three were happy about since he was usually quiet and shy. That was the real reason they agreed to assist him with his plan. Whenever Armin managed to come out of his shell he was like the sun in human form; so warm and full of life.
While there was sunlight coming from behind them, the area around their feet was just dark enough for the group of four to take cautious, measured steps. It wouldn't due to have someone slip and fall who knows how far. For several minutes the group traveled into the tunnel in silence, keeping a tight hold of the rope so as to not lose each other. Eventually the jagged tunnel led to an open area large enough to hold five large churches within. Parts of the large cave were rather fresh looking, whilst some looked older and more settled. Both ends of the cave had further openings that led to different paths. However, within the one to the south Armin glimpsed something that nearly gave him a heart attack.
Near the mouth of the divergent path was what looked like a rat; only said rat was the size of three horse-drawn wagons. Its red eyes stared the group down like piercing rays from the sun. At first everyone was so stunned, even Mikasa, that they watched in horror awaiting the large rat to attack them. Only, it never did. After several moments of waiting for death Eren opened his eyes. The rat continued to sit where it was, indeed staring at them, but not moving a muscle. Fear left his face and was replaced by confusion, wondering what was happening and why the rat had not attacked. Slowly the other three also became more confused than anything. Eyes moving to glance at her friends, Annie took the opportunity to close the distance between herself and the mutated rodent.
Within seconds the blonde stood mere feet away from the beast, and yet it still did not move. That was when she noticed it also wasn't breathing, and now that she was closer she could see the reason why. The back of the rat's head was caved in to the point that it looked as if someone had tried to dig out the creature's brain. With little noise the others joined around her to stare at the mortal wound in wonder. Doing their best to see in the limited lighting, the four looked around to see if there were any clues as to what killed the rat, as well as search for signs of the mutant lizard that carved out the cave.
Mikasa squatted down to check the blood matting the neck and legs of the dead animal, wanting to get an idea of how long it had been dead for. Seeing that the blood was not completely dry, and noticing that a faint bit of blood could be seen on the ground, leading further into the cave, the young one decided to speak her mind. "If we follow the trail of blood we may find our lizard friend, but I'm concerned that we could also run into more of these rats." She was by no means scared of the fact they might find trouble, but it would not exactly by helpful if something tore their heads off while exploring the underground.
"Well we were lucky to bring some survival knives. If we run into anything unpleasant we can at least defend ourselves enough to get back to the main chamber here, then make our way back to the surface." Eren patted his belt, being pleasantly reassured that his knife was still attached. Although his mother was a bit reserved on the children carrying weapons, once she knew the reason for it she reluctantly allowed them to handle the blades. It was better to be protected against whatever they might encounter in the caves.
With one last look at the dead rat the foursome headed deeper into the south end of the tunnel system. The cave walls around them were ragged and blunted in several spots. It was evident that something had suddenly, and violently, broke sections of stone from its origin. At least the ceiling above them seemed stable enough to not worry about anything bad happening. The quiet exploration continued for the next half hour, with the only other thing they encountered being another dead rat, this one mostly chewed on and decomposing.
No sooner than the group began to think they may be going the wrong way did the cave open up once more into a substantially large area. The visibility was very dim, almost to the point that they couldn't see two feet in front of themselves. Wanting to be extra careful in case the cave dropped off into a chasm Mikasa brought up a hand to signal everyone to stop. However, before anything could be said, a strange noise started to fill the ears of the children. It sounded like someone was taking a piece of rubber and slapping it over and over with a wet hand.
Squinting her eyes and looking in the direction she thought the sound was coming from Annie spotted several large fish flopping around on the rocks and doing everything they could to stay alive. Speckled throughout the school of fish were numerous dead ones, mostly left in pieces and crushed remains. To the right of the large group of fish was a decently sized underground lake. It looked to stretch out at least 200 feet, and who knew how deep, with the very far end slightly lit up with a beam of sunlight coming down from a chasm in the ceiling.
However, the four didn't get much time to observe and enjoy their surroundings as a low growl filled their ears. Before them within the darkness a single spot of color appeared. A large circular dark orange glowed with an inner red tinge, only 50 feet away from where they stood. The dark shape before them shuffled about and began to move in their direction, the slight white shine of what looked like large teeth joined the orange within the deep black.
'Grrrr….'
The large shape moved to within 10 feet of the foursome, inhaling a handful of times in a clear indication it was taking in their scent. Armin swallowed the thick lump in his throat before moving closer to the shape of what he believed was his friend. Then to his horror he began to really make out the shape of the creature before him. Instead of seeing a back covered in large scutes the blonde saw that the creature had smooth, scaled skin of a tanned color. Where he should have seen a rectangular, iguana-like head he saw an almost triangular head in the vein of a komodo dragon he'd once seen in a book. The creature's length could not be measured due to it partially resting within a burrow in the rock, but what he could make out of it showed it was nearly the same size as Zilla the last time Armin saw his friend.
Armin took steps away from the unknown lizard until he backed into Eren. Feeling his best friend move his over slightly the sound of three knives leaving their sheaths filled his ears.
Mikasa moved to the other side of Eren, while Annie moved to Armin's left. Mikasa shifted her gaze momentarily from the monster to Eren then back once more. "If we can distract it, even for a second, we can run back to the smaller tunnel and put some distance between us. Annie on my signal throw your knife at one of its eyes and that's when we'll break." However the plan never got the chance to even attempt at success. The ground beneath them started to shake; at first a mild rumble, then a more rapid and frantic shaking. The lizard stopped eyeing them and turned its head to the lake, sniffing the air one or two times.
With a spray of crystal water an iguana-like head burst forth from the watery depths, announcing its presence with a familiar cry. Curved claws reaching out for the shore, Zilla exchanged gazes with the group of four before locking eyes with the unknown lizard.
'Hrraaa'
Just when the humans thought that they were about to see two mutated monsters fight in the cramped space, Zilla did something that shocked them to the core. Instead of biting or using his atomic breath, Zilla instead extended its tongue and gave the other lizard a long lick on a scaled cheek.
"Uh, what?" Four voices said at once.
Sorry about the wait on this one. Lately work has been murder and just leaves me with a feeling of struggle when it comes to writing. But, for a shorter chapter, which I might start putting out for this story in order to release them sooner, this one hits the marks I wanted. It introduces Zilla's home, brings Armin and Zilla together again, and also we get to see a new monster that is gonna keep Zilla company.