{Chapter Fifty-One: This Hurricane}

"There. We can even see your wall from here." Staghorn pointed. Erwin nodded. "Thing is, it's late and everyone's tired, so we'll drop you off tomorrow."

"Agreed."

The lynx-episode two days ago had really taken a lot out of everyone. A lot of energy had been put into chasing it down, and food had been hard to come by after that. The Titans had also decided to get a lot more active, meaning everyone was essentially coasting along on adrenaline rush, which left them exhausted afterwards. It was a miracle they'd covered as much ground as they had in the past two days.

Camp wasn't even properly set up tonight. Everyone was too exhausted, and with the Titans romping about the way they had been, it was easier to run if everything was still put away. Tarps were left rolled up, and only a few blankets were dragged out. A fire was made, but not nearly on the scale they'd been before. Even the outsiders, used to fatigue, were completely spent.

The only one who wasn't so exhausted he couldn't stand was Ghoul.

He was suffering from another premonition again, one that something would go horribly wrong and that someone would wind up hurt— No, it was worse. He was sure that someone was going to die soon.

As if the world wanted to agree, a clammy breeze rustled through the leaves, kicking them up into little demons that laughed and pointed before vanishing. The sky was less indigo than it normally was, more of a gruesome dark red mottled with black, only a few stars shimmering weakly in the field of the sky. The clouds were thick and angry. The moon seemed larger than it normally was, a dull coppery color staining it. Somewhere, a lone wolf howled raggedly, sounding desolate, hungry and scared. The small fire looked like it was trying to hide under the sticks fueling it, whimpering rather than crackling. The smell of damp, leafmold, mildew and smoke filled the air.

Ghoul shivered, whimpering. Turning up his collar and hunching his shoulders, he grabbed onto his sister's locket. But the normally comforting action did nothing to soothe his thumping heart.

If anyone else had any such fears as he did, they were overridden by exhaustion. Even Levi seemed wasted, unable to move. Only Ghoul, adrenaline still surging through his veins, was awake and worried.

The wind couldn't seem to make up it's mind which direction it was blowing in. It blew one way, then slithered another, before spinning on it's heel and creeping in a completely new direction. It was only a breeze, but it was consistent, damp and cold. It seemed alive, like some sort of invisible hellish serpent was sliding swiftly along and twisting itself into knots. But as Ghoul focused on the direction of the wind, he felt how, while twisting and winding, it was headed all vaguely in one direction.

It was unnerving.

In vain effort to distract himself, Ghoul began to hum— One of the tunes Theresa sang to him, the one about the bluebird— and look about the camp. Even the outsider woman who'd taken night-watch was asleep. Snores, groans, whimpers, hums and moans rose from the sleeping forms. He was the only one awake, the only one worried.

The howling of the wolf had stopped for a minute, but it started up again now. Ghoul listened carefully, so he could discern the meaning of it. It sounded like a loner marking his territory, but he wasn't an expert. Perhaps it was wounded and separated from it's pack, calling for it's family. Or maybe it was scared by the blood-stained moon, just like he was.

The wind stopped. With it, everything seemed to fall silent.

A shiver ran through the ground, up Ghoul's arm. His eyes widened, and he pressed both palms to the ground.

There was more than one. And all of them were big.

... But everyone was...

Scrabbling to his feet, Ghoul jumped over sleeping bodies to Levi. "Captain!" he urged in an uncharacteristically loud voice, shaking the older ravenette by the shoulders. "Captain, wake up! We have trouble heading our way! Please, Levi!"

Levi was normally a light sleeper, shocked awake by even the slightest out-of-place noise. But fatigue had taken it's toll on him as well, and he was forced to swim groggily to consciousness like most were. He cracked his eyes open to see Ghoul on the verge of a heart-attack, tears pooling in the younger's eyes.

"What... What's wrong...?" he asked, having a little trouble putting words together.

"Titans! Several, all big, probably around fifteen meters! They've been downwind of us the whole time, our scent's been blowing right to them! They're coming this way!" Ghoul panicked.

That woke Levi up.

"But everyone's so sound asleep... Damn, what do we do...?!" Levi's eyes fell on the river they'd been following. "Ghoul, one of those horses has a bucket on it's back. Start waking people up, some of them are in desperate need of a bath anyway," he ordered, pointing to the water-body, "I'll keep an eye out for the bastards and do my best to keep them off us until you can supply me with some backup."

Trembling with fear, Ghoul hurried over to the draft horses in search of the bucket. Levi bit his lip, considering his gear. He hadn't used it much, not at all really, since they'd left Wall Maria, and everyone had made sure to refuel... But did he want to expend some of the gas he had for getting up to a higher vantage-point...?

No, he decided as Ghoul returned to the camp with his first bucket. He was fairly decent at climbing without the gear.

Ghoul chose to wake Staghorn, Peregrine and Erwin first, since they were the commanders. He ran over to where they were resting, arms thrown behind his body with the bucket. He skidded to a stop and flung the water over them.

"Gah!" "The fuck!"

"Hurry! They're coming!" Ghoul yelled in panic as he ran back to the river.

Peregrine and Staghorn felt the problem and quickly relayed it to Erwin. The three leaders were very quickly on their feet. They set about doing their share to wake everyone while Levi yelled down what he had going on from his perch in the tree he'd climbed. He was starting to be able to see the Titans, seven indistinct shapes approaching on the horizon. For all he knew, there were more, but that was what he could see.

The three in charge woke up their elites and officers, while Ghoul ran back and forth with the bucket. His method was faster than that of the others, waking up to five people at a time and adding to their numbers.

"This is bad... I can hardly stand, and everyone else is hardly any better...!" Armin whimpered, shivering with the icy water Ghoul had flung over him.

"Then we'll have to suffer while the Titans gobble us up, huh? I thought you were a soldier?" Theresa growled, even though she herself was wobbling.

"Don't worry. You'll wake up when they get here. Fear does amazing things for the human-body, including superhuman strength and stamina." Lukas reassured, gripping a polearm of some type.

The ground was shaking more obviously now, and Levi was able to make out seven greater-than-ten-meter Titans, an abnormal eight-meter, and a six-meter. Nine Titans total, against the exhausted, trembling-with-fatigue force.

In the distance, the wolf howled once more before it was abruptly cut off.

Like an ill omen.