I don't own Attack on Titan: just my OC's and the plot.
The Awakening
Chapter 7: First Introductions
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest:
Hecate leaned against a giant tree with her arms folded, staring at Javorin with a sharp scrutinizing gaze: having heard him out over his reasons for keeping Ariana a secret from her and the others, she let out a sharp "TCH!" as she rolled her eyes and gazed up into the canopy: "...Well? ...At least you take your responsibilities seriously, which is more than I can say for some gods..." She glanced down at Herne, who was horsing around with Ariana: letting her sit on his head and holding on tightly to his mane-like hair while he galloped around several trees in a wide circle, chuckling in a set of deep throaty grunts while she squealed with delighted, telling him to go faster. "...So? Did anything come of that blood?" she asked in all seriousness.
"I'm glad to say no, and I think it's highly unlikely anything else is likely to manifest" Javorin stated: "I know it's not your policy as a goddess to take these kinds of matters for granted: believe me, I'm fully aware of the consequences of a god's blood being transferred into a human"
"Even so, you could have at least told me you were addressing the matter in person: you didn't have to go behind my back" she frowned at him. "Don't get me wrong, I know this kind of falls under your 'divine jurisdiction': but let's face it, you're not exactly good with children, and especially not ones as young as her" he gestured to Ariana. Hecate huffed in annoyance, she knew he had a point: "...I suppose?" she shrugged casually. "You suppose?" Javorin glanced over at her with a cheeky glint in his eye: "If I recall correctly, you prefer them sautéed and grilled with mint and apples". She couldn't help but smile: "...Heh, I always did enjoy scaring them out of their little skins: they make the most delightful screams of terror"
"Well you're plum out of luck with this one I'm afraid" Javorin smiled, "She'll have you sussed in no time" he glanced down at his feet; following his gaze downwards, Hecate was surprised to see Ariana standing between them, gazing up at her with intense curiosity. Bending down and gently picking her up, Javorin carefully held her close to his chest as she leaned out over his hand to get a closer look. "... 'Ariana', was it?" Hecate glanced at Javorin, "Ariana..." he nodded, "And have you two thought of your chosen pseudonyms? As I've already explained, it wouldn't be a good idea to reveal our real names at this current time"
"No I suppose not..." Hecate glanced away as she thought about it, "...Okay, Midnight" she stated, gazing back at him. "You'll be 'Midnight?'" Javorin couldn't help but smirk, "How original for one of the night roamers...But, it does suit you" He assured her. "And with these fine-looking ivories-" Herne smiled as he stroked one of his tusks, "Call me Boar". "Boar? How original for the god of the hunt" Hecate deadpanned: "Meh, it's short, sweet and easy to remember" Herne shrugged, "But 'Shadow?' That's a little maverick for the overseer of mankind isn't it? Something like 'sentinel' or 'watcher' would suit you more, wouldn't it?"
"Well? Actually, Ariana kind of chose it for me" Javorin shrugged: "This is a new world we have awakened to after all, in addition to staying hidden, it seems only fitting we should have new names to go with our new forms..." he held Ariana up near his face, as he waved his free hand, and formed the words, : Everything's okay now; time to introduce you to my family:
"About time, you guys were taking forever with that staring contest of yours" she stared up at Javorin with a weird look. It was easy to forget that humans couldn't hear the telepathic thoughts of a god: even the most sensitive and powerful of mediums couldn't hear their secret thoughts between one another. So to Ariana, or any other human: while Javorin and Hecate were deep in conversation, it simply looked like they were staring off one another intensely; while at the same time gesturing the typical body language and postures that would be unconsciously made during the act of talking. It was strange and kind of funny for the five year old to watch.
: This is Midnight,: he gestured to Hecate, :And this is Boar: he pointed to Herne, : There is one other, but she's not here right now, I'm sure she'll turn up eventually:
"She'd better" Hecate frowned, "Where'd the brat sneak off to anyway?"
At the same time, elsewhere in the forest:
Gazing up at the sky through the green canopy, Carla was suddenly stirred from her musings when she heard a twig snap: gazing over in the direction of the sound, she didn't see anything; until suddenly Angel reappeared out of thin air, and happily chirped as she bent down and greeted her with a nose-boop on the head. "Finally, I was beginning to wonder what was keeping you?" she smiled as she stood up and stroked the side of her face: Angel chirped something in reply and shrugged in a casual manner: "Well, you're here now: shall we go to our usual spot? I'm not expected back until this afternoon, so we've got plenty of time today" Carla gestured to the large trail that led up further into the forest.
Elysia grinned broadly and leaned right down, allowing Carla to climb up onto her shoulder and seat herself in her usual position. Over the past month Elysia had been offering her friend shoulder rides to their secret meeting place, Carla had acquired a knack for balancing on the avian titan's smooth bare shoulder, even when she jogged through the trees at a quick pace, the woman managed to hold on tight and position herself onto the back of her shoulder when she leaned forward to balance the weight of her huge tail feathers. Of course it hadn't been without the occasional mishap: there had been a few slips and falls that resulted in Carla going home with some sore bruises, but by and large, Carla found she could sit atop her giant friend with ease now. The other highlight of their time together, was when Elysia had demonstrated to Carla that by remaining in physical contact with her, she too could become invisible: a rather useful trick for avoiding anyone on the roads.
As Elysia started making her way up the trail, heading towards the secret place where they would meet weekly for her 'human studies': Carla smiled as she held on to some of her hackles, and caught her attention with a casual glance: "So, how have you been this past week? Did you get up to anything interesting?". 'Oh not much really' Elysia shrugged, letting out a long casual warble: "So? Not much?" Carla raised an eyebrow, to which Elysia nodded. 'You know, you could stand to loosen up a little and have some fun' Elysia thought with a smile, unfolding her wings and flapping slightly, as if to indicated that she wanted to fly: "You went flying again? Where did you go this time?" Carla smiled; 'No, I mean: you and me go flying together...' Elysia frowned in slight annoyance. Using the bend of her wing, she pointed at Carla and then to herself, and started flapping again. "... Wait, you want me, to come with you when you fly?" Carla blinked in surprise: 'That's the idea!' Elysia nodded with a big smile: "Oh goodness," Carla pressed her forehand to her head, slightly taken aback, "I've-, never thought about that before" she worried slightly, "-But, I'm not sure if I could? You must be able to fly at such great heights; and at speed too. I don't know if I'd be able to hold on tight enough?" she thought aloud. 'Well that's no problem, there're plenty of feathers back there to hold on to: it'll be a breeze!' Elysia thought confidently, letting out a string of sure chatter.
"You really think I could do it?" Carla asked her, half wondering if the avian titan knew what she was doing. Elysia nodded with that big smile of hers, and spreading her wings out, crouched down ready to take off: "WAIT!-" Carla shouted, Elysia stopped, "Uh? How about we give it a go another time? I think I need to pluck up my courage first..." she sheepishly smiled, before sighing in regret and coming clean: "...Seriously Angel; it sounds like an exciting idea, it really does, and I'm sure it must be very different up there in the sky compared to down here on the ground, but I-..." She hesitated slightly, "Look, I'm willing to give it a try, just-, when I feel I'm ready for it, okay?". Elysia regarded her with a disappointed rueful look, but smiled weakly, and nodded in understanding; she didn't want to force Carla to do anything she didn't want to do. But at the back of her mind she was sure once she got her up above the clouds, and got her to see the world from way up in the sky, she'd very quickly forget her fears.
Seeing the look of disappointment on her fair white face, Carla stroked her jaw, and smiled: "Hey come on, cheer up: there're still lots of things we can do together down here on the ground". 'Like what?' Elysia regarded her with a slightly old fashioned look, and trilled in non-serious curiosity: "Well? I always used to enjoy cloud watching when I was little. Oh that reminds me, I was browsing the book shop the other day, and I found an interesting book on how to predict the weather by telling which clouds are which" she told her: Elysia snapped her head round and stared at her in amazement: 'Seriously?! No way! Why'd you need to teach me about the clouds when I can control them! I'm one of the Tempus gods! A weather goddess for crying out loud! Surely you know how I can-
It was then Elysia's eyes widened in astonishment: she realized she hadn't shown Carla what else she could do, besides turning invisible and flying. Regaining her control over the weather had not been all that difficult; once she learned how to fly using her wings, controlling the winds to keep her airborne, the rest came naturally (with a little help from Javorin). Summoning and controlling the weather through a corporeal form was vastly different compared to wielding it in her elemental form: in terms of mental concentration and calling upon the sum of her power; Elysia found she could focus the weather more accurately, and into a more concentrated localization. Creating intense bursts of a wide variety of weather: from rain, fog, snow and hail, to intense thunder and lightning storms; from gentle breeze's that stir dandelion seeds up into the air, to howling raging hurricane winds that could flatten houses and fell trees. Needless to say, much of her weather-control practice had to be done far out beyond wall Maria, when the Scouts were not present, and the Garrison were not patrolling along the top of the wall; there had been quite a few days where the citizens of Shiganshina and the surrounding region had observed some strange yet spectacular weather fronts blowing past the outside of the wall.
Gazing back at Carla, a wide smile broadened across Elysia's face as she puffed out her chest, held her head up high and started strutting with long proud strides: "What's up with you all of a sudden?" Carla couldn't help but laugh, as Elysia looked like a rooster boldly flaunting across the farmyard; 'Oh just you wait Carla... ' Elysia smiled with complete surety as she faced forward with a proud smile, 'Have I got a treat for you today!'. "Is there something you want to show off? A new kind of flying trick?" Carla asked offhand, assuming it was one of the many flying stunts Elysia had been keen to show her during their meetings. 'Nope! Waaaay way better!' Elysia thought with excitement.
The avian titan trotted along a little further, until she recognized the layout of the giant trees: the meeting place wasn't too far now, as she crested a tall sloping rise and descended down into a broad glen. But as she carefully made her way down the slope amid the giant trees, something at the bottom of the glen made her train of thought come to a halt, and compelled her to stop. "What is it Angel?" Carla asked in concern, seeing the look of confusion on her friend's face: with a hushed warble, Elysia unfolded one wing and pointed to the sight below: turning herself and Carla invisible at the same time.
Approaching closer, but being careful not to stir the leaf-litter too much: Carla and Elysia both watched as two wall cult Pastors rode into the glen atop two huge black horses. One was broad in the chest with slicked-back pale ash blond hair, and pale blue eyes that looked like frozen ice: the other was slightly leaner with black hair and dark brown eyes, so dark they almost looked black. Though they were different in appearance, they both wore the same expression: cold and serious. Something about them didn't seem right, and what were they doing here, this far from the road? No one besides Carla and Elysia knew of his place, so why would anyone have any reason to come here? With a small knot in her stomach telling her these two were up to something, Carla frowned as she invisibly watched, and listened.
Elysia was confused as to why these humans were here too; she didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling in her stomach: it wasn't a physical pain, but it felt bad, as if a hand were reaching in and twisting her insides into knots. She didn't like it, it didn't feel right...No, these humans didn't feel right: their expressions were so different to Carla's; they looked unfriendly, devoid of happiness and compassion. She didn't know why but she wanted to fly away out of here really badly, but being this close she couldn't take off without kicking up the leaf-litter and giving away her position: so she remained still, and watched as the two humans turned to face one another.
"So? What news of the Hafer property? I haven't had time to be filled in on all the details since arriving yesterday" The blond pastor spoke frankly. 'Hafer? ...' Carla frowned: she recognized the name; some wealthy farmer that lived in the central valley north of Shiganshina, who apparently owned the biggest tracks of land in the whole region. "We successfully purged the property of its occupants and buildings: all witnesses have silenced and disposed of accordingly, Hafer escaped the initial purging and took to the forest, our brothers are hunting him down as we speak, as well as checking the surrounding forest for any 'vermin' that might have made their homes here" the other pastor replied casually.
Carla felt her stomach turn to ice: 'all witnesses have silenced and disposed of accordingly?! ... What?!-' her mind spun with dread. Elysia too didn't feel easy at all hearing that.
"Good, we should be able to get started on the construction of the sanctuary by the end of the week" the blonde one replied: "Judas asked me to come here to oversee it: he wants you to oversee the temporary depots and half-way houses; make sure nothing happens until we can find more suitable locations to place them permanently"
"Very well..." the other Pastor nodded offhand: looking around, he spoke in a more relaxed manner "...No one is here you know? We can speak freely". "I know..." the blond one turned to him, slightly relaxed, "What is it?". He hesitated a little before saying: "...I spoke to father the other week: he wants to know what's going on in the cult; he wants to know, is it time yet? I didn't know what to tell him, I simply said I'll confer with you"
The blond pastor dropped his gaze in thought for a moment, before stating in a frank tone: "...There never seems to be a good time..." he gazed back at him, "Judas is ambitious: he won't be willing to yield: after all, as far as he is concerned we are but an inconvenience, a 'shadow royalty' that has no place in his walled world...I don't think now is the time to implement the plan; not until these new 'expansions' are complete, and things have died down in the interior"
"I understand that, but father-
"-Will just have to wait..." the Pastor frowned, sighing in disappointment: "...Believe me, I don't like having to wait like this either: but we have no choice. Until the cannons atop the wall are removed, we have to remain as we are. Understand?"
"...Yes. Of course," he nodded reluctantly,
"When you return to Sina: tell father we have everything in hand; it's just a question of finding the right moment to slip away" the blond pastor smiled,
The black-haired pastor was about to say something else, when the sound of galloping horses began to echo down the glen: Carla and Elysia watched as three hooded riders dressed all in charcoal and black and wearing eerie-looking white face masks approached and stopped before them. "I trust you have results to show?" the black-haired pastor addressed them coldly: "Indeed brothers, we have successfully purged the last of the outcasts from the Hafer property" one rider replied as he reached behind him, and opened a black cylindrical box that was buckled to his saddle: pulling out its content and holding it up for them to see.
Carla quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming, as the colour drained from her face and her stomach dropped entirely: Elysia's feathers all stood on end in equal shock and horror at the sight before them. The rider was holding a severed human head: an older gentleman who had probably been in his forties or fifties, his dead glazed-over eyes stared off into space, while his skin was a grim pale colour, and a few drops of blood dripped from the neck. Carla felt the breath in her lungs shaking as she tried to keep herself composed: she and Elysia may be invisible, but they could still be heard; stealth was the only thing keeping them safe at this point.
"Ah, excellent," the Blond pastor nodded with approval, "Alright, return to the depot and dispose of him: you two will return to the hunt and inform them to finish up their sweep and head back. We'll be overseeing our brother's work up at the property: make sure your back after dark". "Yes brothers" they nodded: the rider placed the head back in the box and buckled it shut, taking off out of the glen; the other two riders turned their horses around and rode back the way they came, while the two pastors turned around, and also left the way they came in.
Several tense minutes passed as Carla and Elysia waited to make sure they were far enough away that they couldn't hear them: and then Elysia turned visible again, quickly letting Carla down onto the ground as she staggered over to the nearby tree and leaned against it, trying to calm her spinning thoughts, as well as her stomach. "Was that-...a head?! A severed head he was holding up?!" she panicked as tears welled up in her eyes: what had she just witnessed? Who or what were those riders dressed in black? And what was the pastor's connection to them? None of this made any sense: but one thing was for sure, whatever had just happened, it was seriously bad.
Elysia was totally stunned, she didn't know what to do or think: that was a dead human (head) she just saw: no aura, no spirit, no energies that indicated it was alive; it was part of an empty shell. Of course she'd seen dead humans before: for there had been a few occasions she had been a cold wind that blew across battlefields and places of slaughter, simply passing through with no second thought. Looking back on it, she hated herself: back then she gave no consideration to it. But now, seeing death in person and smelling the horrible metallic smell of blood in the air; actually feeling the gravity of it: she felt sick, disgusted, and horrible for having no sense of mind to pay attention and care sooner. Suddenly, she felt something warm on her cheek steadily creeping down to her chin: with the bend of her wing she wiped her cheek, and was surprised to find water dripping down her face from out of her eyes.
"Oh, Angel..." Carla suddenly got her attention, leaning down to see what was wrong, Elysia was taken aback when Carla took out her handkerchief from her pocket, and started gently wiping her face: "Please don't cry, I don't know what we just saw, but it's okay, their gone now..." she cooed, trying to sound brave, "As long as I'm here you'll be okay, alright?" she smiled weakly; Elysia didn't know what to think: but she trusted Carla to know what to do, and so she uneasily nodded with a weak chirp. Taking a moment to try and gather her thoughts and compose herself, Elysia frowned as she wracked her brain on what to do: then, she suddenly remembered what that blond pastor said:
Return to the hunt and inform them to finish up their sweep
'Return to the hunt? ... Their hunting more people?!' she realized, her dread spiking tenfold: she started squawking at Carla in frantic panic, trying to get her back up onto her shoulder. "Angel? Angel what's wrong?!" Carla panicked. Elysia simply leaned right down, and pressed the side of her head to the ground; "What? Wait what are you trying to say? You want to leave?"
'YES! We need to leave right now if we're to have any chance of catching up to them!-' Elysia mentally exclaimed. Seeing the serious frown on her face, Carla quickly got back on her shoulder; but before she could say another word, Elysia unfurled her wings and took off up through the trees. Carla screamed as she held on for dear life, but Elysia paid no attention as she climbed above the canopy and levelled out: Carla quickly turned herself around to face forward, still clinging to Elysia's flank plume as her knuckles turned white. "OH MY GOD!-" Carla squealed as she saw the forest whizzing by below them, "Angel! Angel please go back down! This is too high up!" she pleaded, trying to shield her eyes against the wind.
At the back of her mind Elysia felt really bad, she'd make it up to Carla later, somehow (if she was still friends with her): but right now, she had to find those riders and stop them somehow, someone's life was depending on it. Summoning her power to read all the ambient auras of the forest, Elysia soon spotted the two riders as they joined a larger group galloping eastwards: much to her relief, she could see the three radiant auras of Javorin, Herne and Hecate only a few miles away. She was about to telepathically shout out to them, when a small cluster of human auras between them and the riders immediately grabbed her attention. Looking straight ahead, she spotted a small group of children heading west...
'Oh no!-' Elysia panicked, 'They're heading straight for them!'
Meanwhile, down on the ground:
"Uh? ...Guys?" Belle pointed towards a steady incline, as the distant sound of galloping horses fast approached them. "SHIT!" Ash looked all around in a panic, drawing his arrow back in readiness to fire, "-we got no cover!"
"But we can't outrun them!" Lucius panicked, "They're too fast!". "Then we stand and fight!" Rowan frowned as he drew back his arrow, "All of you get behind us and stay down!". "What?! Are you crazy?!" Poppy exclaimed in alarm, "Well do you have any better suggestions?!" Rowan shot back; "I'm sorry to say it but he has a point" Dale regretfully concurred, "We got no cover here and we can't outrun them: our only option is to fire our arrows at the horses so they fall, and hopefully trip up the ones behind them". "Will that even work?!" Fox panicked: "In theory?" Dale shrugged nervously, "I dunno! I'm thinking on my feet here!"
"Well think faster because here they come!" Ash frowned as he aimed his arrow: the riders reappeared over the crest of the incline, this time in greater number. Upon spotting them they immediately started galloping towards them; "You know what to do!" the lead rider called out, "Dead men tell no tales!". The Willum and Copper kids got behind the Celt kids and held onto them: their instincts screaming at them to run: "I hope you guys know what you're doing!" Bemadette nervously stated. Glancing at one another, Ash could see the fear in their eyes as they readied their bows and took aim: they didn't want to do this, they didn't want to fight; but they didn't want to die either. There was no alternative, it was either fight to win or be killed, the harsh reality of the nature of the world, staring them all in the face, and deep down they knew if they blinked, they were dead.
As the riders drew nearer, Ash took a deep breath: "S-steady..." he trembled, but held his ground as tears streamed down his face: Ashlyn and Hazel started crying as their arms trembled too, but no one moved as the riders bore down on them, and were now in striking distance...
"FIRE!-" Ash shouted as he released his arrow; it sailed through the air and struck the lead rider square in the shoulder: his body flung back in the saddle from the force of the impact, but he didn't fall.
But in the same instance all the other arrows were fired, and missed their marks (hitting the riders instead of the horses), the canopy up above them exploded in a hail of broken branches, leaves and splintered wood as something enormous crashed down to the ground. As it landed with a THUD! The kids all leapt and scrambled out of the way, as something huge and white swung over their heads, missing them by a foot. Looking up, they were amazed and horrified to see it was a giant white bird with an angry human face: over seven meters tall with an impressive plumage, it held its wings outstretched as it hissed loudly at the riders, who, with arrows embedded in their torsos and limbs, started turning around and taking off back the way they came. The creature gave chase and ran after them up the incline, squawking and crying with shrill ear-splitting screams: at the same time, a figure jumped off its back and landed in the ferns some distance away; terrified, the children all took off in the opposite direction.
Carla hadn't realized what Angel was doing, until she spotted the children down on the ground with their bows drawn, and saw the riders galloping straight towards them. Before she could even say anything, Angel was dropping down to the ground at an unbelievable speed, crashing through the canopy and landing with a sharp bump: if it hadn't been for her long hackles and flank plume to cushion the force of the impact, she would have broken several ribs for sure. As Angel spread her wings out and hissed at the riders, Carla jumped off and landed in a patch of ferns: quickly scrambling to her feet, she glanced over at the children, only to be taken aback as she recognized all of them. "Ash, Rowan, Dale? All the-" her mind reeled as she realized it was all the Grayson, Willum and Cooper kids, everyone minus Ariana, "What are they doing here?!" but before she could call out to them they all bolted and took off the other way.
Jogging back over to Carla's side, Elysia chirped with satisfaction: 'Well they won't be coming back any time soon...'. "Angel! You scared them off!" Carla exclaimed in disbelief, 'I know, I did good right?' she smiled down at Carla, pointing in the direction the riders bolted, "Not them! The children! Those were my neighbors kids and you scared them!". Glancing up, Elysia could just about see the children disappearing into the dense undergrowth some seven hundred yards away: 'Oh crap!' she huffed in annoyance as she facepalmed with the bend of her wind. "Okay, follow me but stay back and turn yourself invisible!" Carla ordered, "I have to check to make sure their okay" she added before taking off, trying to keep sight of them as they put more distance between her and them. Hanging back by a few meters, Elysia started jogging, keeping pace with her as she ran through the undergrowth: glancing over her shoulder to make sure the riders weren't following. Reading the ambient aura's, she saw they had stopped over the other side of the incline, some way down into a shallow hollow, but not so far away they couldn't come after them again; and worse, they seemed to be regrouping. 'You might want to hurry up Carla, and get those kids outta here!' Elysia swallowed hard as she turned herself invisible.
At the same time, a short distance ahead:
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Gale panicked as she ran for dear life,
"A BIG FUCKING WEIRD BIRD THING?! I DUNNO JUST RUN!" Belle shouted as she overtook her.
The kids ran with everything they had: they didn't care where they were going or how their lungs were starting to burn with exhaustion, just as long as that giant creature wasn't chasing after them. "Hey look! I see a house up ahead!" Clay pointed to a clearing in the trees, where in the middle a small cottage stood, with a stables and log bin on one side. "And look! The door's open!" Jaye pointed to the open front door, "-Maybe they'll let us hide!" Josefa added, "Quit talking and just run!" Rowan barked. Making a bee line for the cabin, the kids burst through the front door and looked all around the spacious interior for anywhere to take cover. "Look! A basement!" Clay pointed a trap door in the floor of the dining area, and without hesitation the kids all scrambled to grab the handle, lifted the door up, and jumped down into the dark basement with Ash being last one down: slamming the door shut behind him.
"Great! Its pitch black down here!" Belle fumed, with most of the others whining in agreement while they all tried to catch their breaths. "Hang on, I got a just the thing!" Clay panted as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out the pair of flint stones and one small candle he always kept handy. Feeling around for Hazel, he shoved the candle into her hand, and started knocking the stones together, creating small sparks with each strike; finally one spark caught the wick and the candle flame grew. "Nice going Clay" Lucius patted him on the back, "Where we can we get a pair of those?" Lucy asked offhand. "My dad's got a load of them back home: I'll ask him to spare you guys a pair... If we ever get out alive" he swallowed hard.
Looking around the basement, Shyla spotted an oil lamp sitting atop a small table, and handed it to Clay: after lighting the lamp, he held it up for a better look at the gloomy cobweb-ridden interior. "Guys..." Dale breathed in amazement as he pointed to something behind them, "Look". Stacked against the back wall on a large set of shelves, was a large collection of ODM gear, all lined up neatly with spare gas tanks, spare cable spools, and several rusted tool sets lying on the floor with a dirty old cloth; next to it, there were several large crates all staked up in four large piles, and what looked like a miniature cannon, aimed up at the basement's outside doors.
"What the hell is this place?" Ash breathed in amazement. "I dunno" Dale shook his head, "But I think we just found a way outta this" he smiled, "-Hang on..." Ash frowned as he held up his hand, "Do you guys hear something?". Straining their ears, the kids all fell silent: and sure enough, the sound of a pair of horses could be heard approaching, along with two male voices...
Pascal and West both stared at the front door in alarm; glancing over at West, Pascal mouthed: "You locked the door right?!" West nodded and mouthed back, "Both of them!". Seeing the numerous small footprints leading from the forest to the door step, and going inside, Pascal frowned as he reached for his knife and got off the cart, with West following suit as he reached for his knife too. "Cover me" Pascal mouthed as he took point and quietly headed inside with West at his back...
Looking around, they saw nothing had been disturbed: glancing down at the footprints, they led straight to the trap door. Glancing at one another and nodding in agreement: West crept over to the trap door, while Pascal reached for the musket that stood behind the front door. Quietly treading over to the door and taking aim: they both glanced at one another and nodded; West grabbed the handle and threw the door open, at the same time Pascal aimed the weapon down into the basement and shouted, "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!-"
A long awkward silence uncomfortably stretched out as the kids stared up at the two men: all equally shocked and surprised as they gawked at one other.
"Wh-...What the hell?" the brunette haired man stammered in disbelief: "...What the hell are you brats doing in our basement?!" the ginger-haired man frowned angrily, "You better explain yourselves or there's gonna be trouble ya hear?!". Looking up at the ginger-haired man, Gale, Poppy and Belle suddenly recognized him: he too must have remembered them, as he lowered his weapon and raised an eyebrow in debrief, "... Hey wait a sec: don't I know you three girls from somewhere?" he pointed to the three sisters.
"Yeah!-" Belle suddenly piped up, half-relieved he remembered them: "We stowed away in your cart to avoid the wall cult, remember?!" Frowning in bemusement, the other man leaned down for a closer look: his eyes widened in amazement: "Holy crap, it really is you three!" he exclaimed, "What the hell's going on?" the ginger-haired man frowned again, "What're you doing in our basement, and who're all your friends here?!"
"Uh? Pascal?" the other man pointed to the back door, "We got more company..." glancing behind him, Pascal stared out the window as a woman with long black hair tied up in a loose side-ponytail came running around the back porch, and carried on around back to the front. "... Oh great, what now?" he deadpanned.
Carla was beginning to panic as she'd lost sight of the kids: looking all around, she wanted to call out for them, but if those riders were nearby they'd easily hear her and she'd risk giving her position away; she needed help, "Angel, I need a better look, let me stand on your shoulder!" she glanced behind her. Sure enough, Elysia reappeared right next to her: she was about to scoop her up in her wing, when suddenly Carla fainted, and dropped to the ground unconscious. 'Carla?! Oh no what's happened?!' Elysia panicked as she bent down and nudged her with her nose.
"Will you calm down? she's just asleep" Hecate's voice echoed through her mind: Elysia went stiff with dread as her feathers stood on end; standing back up, she swallowed hard as Javorin, Hecate and Herne stepped out of the tree line and into the clearing: "And a good thing too: we wouldn't want her to see what I'm going to do to you!-" the goddess fumed as she stormed over to her. But before either Javorin or Herne could do or say anything to stop Hecate: Elysia stepped over the woman, unfurled her wings, puffed out her feathers in a threat display and hissed loudly. Hecate stopped in her tracks, and stared at her in disbelief as she growled: "...You do anything to harm her and I'll fire a bold of lightning at your fat ass!", 'what the hell am I saying?!" Elysia panicked in the back of her mind, 'She'll curse me for sure!'
Javorin and Herne were equally taken aback for a moment: but Javorin was quick to step in and try to defuse the situation; "Alright: Elysia, calm down, no one's going to hurt anyone. And Hecate? Come on, is this really necessary?"
"As if one of us hiding a human is bad enough: you being the overseer of mankind is one thing; but this?!-" she pointed to the woman, to which Elysia hissed at her again: "Alright start talking brat! How long have you been seeing her and how much about you does she know?!" Hecate demanded. "Oh like I'll tell you anything!" Elysia brazenly hissed, "How do I know you're not gonna turn her into a toad or something!" Again, Hecate was stunned at the younger goddess's defiance and ballsiness: 'When did she learn to grow a spine?' she couldn't help but think offhand: "-You'll answer me or I'll turn you into something worse than a toad!" Hecate growled through her sharp teeth as she grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and tried to lift her up, but Elysia dug her toes into the earth and refused to budge. "Come on ladies is this really the way to resolve this?" Herne tried to break up the argument, but to no avail.
Shaking his head and heaving a heavy sigh, Javorin glanced down at Ariana, who was still seated in his palm close to his chest: "Guess it's a family thing huh?" Ariana offered a sympathetic smile, to which Javorin nodded with a sheepish yet apologetic smile. Staring down at the giant white bird titan, Ariana was amazed by all the iridescent colours in her feathers: "Wow, she's really pretty" she smiled, "So what's her name?": Angel: Javorin spelled out, : She's our 'little sister', she's young but we care for her deeply:
Noticing the unconscious woman between her feet, Ariana stood up in his palm and pointed to her: "I think we should get her somewhere safer, you know? In case someone accidentally squishes her?". : Yes, That's a good idea: Javorin agreed. While the two goddesses were still telepathically slinging insults at one another, Javorin discreetly summoned a levitation spell, and floated the woman from out between Elysia's legs, bringing her around to the back of the cottage, safely out of the way. Kneeling down beside her and letting Ariana down so he could use both hands: Javorin watched as Ariana gently grabbed the woman by her shoulders and rolled her onto her back.
Ariana stared at her in astonishment as she recognized her: "Mrs Jaeger?!" she exclaimed in disbelief.
Inside the cottage, the kids and gentlemen remained silent as the thundering footsteps approached, rattling the windows and making everything vibrate. Something big was moving around outside, but what? Suddenly, a loud angry hiss echoed off the nearby trees; the kind of hiss an owl makes when threatened. Then, another set of giant footsteps could be heard coming around to the back porch. Staring out the back window, frozen in place as fear crept up their spines; both Pascal and West gawked at the sight before them. The black haired woman: was now floating in the air encased in some kind of strange blue aura, drifting near the porch as she softly landed on the grass. And then, a sight neither of them would forget... A giant pair of feet covered in strange black markings walked by and stood before the building: the gigantic figure then bent down, and they saw most of its body in full.
"..I-is th-th-that-...A-a t-t-titan?!" Pascal squeaked in sheer terror, the colour draining from his face as he trembled in his boots: "-I-I-I th-think is it!" West swallowed hard as he too tried to keep it together; behind them, the kids gawked with their jaws practically slamming against the basement stairs and their eyes were the size of dinner plates as they stared up at the huge behemoth outside. But what nearly tipped them over into an all-out panic, was seeing Ariana step out of the titan's hand, and approach the woman.
With her back turned to the cottage she didn't see them, and with the door locked and windows closed she couldn't hear them; since they couldn't see the titans head (and thus were out of its line of sight), they assumed it too must not be aware that they were inside. Grabbing West's arm with a vice-like grip, nearly making him jump: Pascal slowly began backing down the stairs into the basement, dragging West down with him. The kids all backed up to give them some room, as Pascal grabbed the door, and slowly closed it shut. Once down at the bottom, everyone began to quietly freak out.
"Oh my god what the shit was that thing?!" Clay hissed as he grabbed both sides of his head, and nearly started tugging at his hair. "That kid..." Pascal swallowed hard as he wiped the sweat from his brow, "-Was a titan; I think?". "What?! A titan here inside the walls?! How the hell's that possible?!" Gale squeaked, clasping her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. "Forget how it got in, it had Ariana! And it's about to eat that lady too!" Hazel panicked.
"Hang on a sec-" Pascal stepped over to the other side of the basement, next to the doors that led up outside; next to the door frame there was a small window with a curtain drawn across: drawing the curtain back and glancing outside, Pascal's entire frame hitched and the hairs stood up on the back of his neck as he froze in place. "What is it?! Oh god it's not eating them is it?!" West panicked: "...It's not eating them..." Pascal stated in an unnervingly calm voice as he turned round to face them, his face completely drained of colour and his eyes wide in fear; "...It's not the only one, there are three more out there". "Three?!" Everyone exclaimed in a whisper: "...A black and white one, one that looks like an animal of some kind...and one-, that looks like a bird but has a human face, and-, is completely white"
West stared at him in astonishment, as flashbacks of the tomb and huge white feather began to play over in his mind: "Are they okay?!" Ash demanded, "Tell me is my sister okay?!". "Wha?-, your sister?!" West snapped back to reality, "She's standing out there with that woman, that thing ain't doing anything right now but-," Pascal hesitated, trying to wrack his brain for a solution whist trying to keep it together, frowning as he tried to think straight: "...It might only be a matter of time, before it gets hungry". "Then we gotta do something!" Dale pleaded, "Please!, you got all this gear, we need to do something!" Belle tugged on West's shirt.
Glancing over at one another in dread, neither Pascal nor West had the faintest idea what to do: using ODM gear to pull off a heist or outrun the MP's was one thing, but taking on four titans at once? That was suicide, they weren't Scouts in any way shape or form: any other time, if someone had asked them if they'd take on a titan for money, they'd laugh so hard they'd burst. It was ridiculous, they'd both get eaten in no time at all, there was no way either of them could do this. But looking at the terrified faces of the children, and seeing the tears well up in their eyes as they pleaded for them to save their sister/cousin/friend; Pascal began to feel horrible: but at the same time it was stupid, why stick out his neck for these brats?
"Mister? ..." Shyla spoke up quietly, gently tugging on his shirt, "If you're scared, it's okay: we'll help you", "WHAT?!" Pascal and West both exclaimed, "We know how to use ODM gear too, and we're real good at it: if we all work together we can save Ariana and the lady" Shyla explained: "-ARE YOU INSANE?!" Fox grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, "Those titans will eat us if we step outside!" he angrily exclaimed. "Then you should reconsider joining the Scouts, because that's a possibility you'll have to face" Shyla stated in a calm monotone; Fox gasped in shock, as did everyone else, "...This world is very cruel, but that doesn't mean we have to be cruel to survive it: not by leaving our friend to die. You can all stay down here and hide, I won't think badly of any of you: but I'm going to save Ariana" She stated as she picked up an ODM gear and started slipping on the straps; "HOLD ON!-" Pascal exclaimed in disbelief as he snatched the straps from out of her hands "Are you crazy kid?! You'll die if you try to take those beasts head on! You don't stand a chance! I'm sorry but your friends a goner!"
"If I die, then I die" Shyla frowned up at him, "At the very least I can distract them long enough for one of you to run out and grab her and the lady, and get them down here before the titans realize what's happened; besides, what if the titans realize we're down here, and they tear the place apart to try and get us? We'll be dead anyway if we stay put". Everyone stared at her for a moment, completely taken aback by her logic: "Uh Pascal? ..." West glanced out the tiny window, "That big one out the back? He's still just standing there: the kid and the woman are still on the ground and the other three haven't moved. There still might be a chance to save them, but only if we act now"
Knowing this was about to turn into every level of crazy imaginable, Pascal nearly pulled his hair out as his face contorted into a look of pure frustrated anger, and cursed under his breath as he facepalmed and dragged his hand down the side of his face, trying to keep it together as his instincts screamed at him to cut his losses and get the hell out of there: "...Fine..." he scowled in ire, "-But, you brats own me big time for this!" he glared daggers at them, especially Shyla: "Okay: West , grab a gear and suit up, you kids grab one of those crates back there, and do exactly what I say"
Ariana sat next to Carla, watching in curious bewilderment as Shadow tried to break up the silent altercation between Midnight and Angel, while Boar simply paced around them, trying to grunt something in the way of a 'stop it'. This had been going on for a while now, and it almost looked like they were arguing about something; 'How do they know what their saying if they're not actually saying anything with their lips? And Shadow doesn't have lips, so how does he know, or, how do they know?' she thought offhand, glancing down at Carla: 'And what's Mrs Jaeger doing here? This is turning out to be a really weird day'
Suddenly, the doors leading down to the basement slammed open, grabbing the four titan's attention: but before any of them could react, several small white things flew out up into the air and exploded into thick clouds of white smoke. "-SHADOW!" Ariana yelled out as she scrambled to her feet, but as Shadow rushed over to her and Carla, another round of projectiles flew out and exploded in his face, making him jump back and clasp his face: it didn't hurt per se, but the smoke clouded his vision and caused him to cough. The other three titans stopped and rushed to help, but this time several small black canisters flew out of the smoke and landed on the ground: emitting a loud ear-splitting ringing noise that forced them to cover their ears and back away; at the same time, another round of smoke bombs were fired and went off right in front of their faces, blinding them. Over the loud din, they couldn't hear the sounds of a pair of ODM gear piston hooks being fired into the nearby trees, as a figure flew from out of the basement and disappeared into the canopy.
"WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT IS THAT?!" Herne covered his sensitive ears as he felt his eardrums throb in his skull, "We're blind and deaf: someone's trying to get the drop on us!" Hecate frowned as she stomped on the black canisters, silencing them. Summoning the wind to clear the smoke, Javorin saw the open basement doors but Ariana and Carla were nowhere in sight. Then, as the smoke cleared away, the four gods were taken aback to see a man standing at the bottom of the stairs, lighting the fuse to a small cannon: which was aimed right up at them...
"Oh shi-
BOOOOM!
The explosion rocked the whole building, and the smoke filled the basement as the kids held their ears: "Okay! I'm going out there, you kids stay put and don't move 'till it's safe okay?!" West ordered as he fired his hooks up into the trees and flew up into the air. At the back of the basement, Ariana was kicking up a fuss with Hazel and Clay trying to retrain her, while Ash, Lucius, Gale, Belle and Bemadette moved Carla into a safe spot by the stairs; meanwhile the other kids helped each other to get into the ODM gear's weight-support straps. "What the hell are you guys doing?!" Ariana exclaimed as she wriggled free, "-and what are those guys doing here?!"
"Their names are Pascal and West, and their gonna get those titans away from here so we can make a break for it" Dale replied, "With Mrs Jaeger of course, we're gonna fly out on the ODM gear: which you'll need too-" he handed her a gear and set of straps: "Here, get strapped in, we don't know how long we might have!"
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Ariana yelled in sheer disbelief, "THOSE TITAN'S WON'T EAT ANYONE, THEIR MY FRIENDS!-..."Ariana gasped in horror as she realized what she'd done; everyone in the basement stared at her, not quite sure if they heard her right. "...What do you mean, they're your friends?" Ash frowned: knowing the cat was now out of the bag, Ariana facepalmed as she took a deep breath: "Okay, so what happened was..."
Outside, Javorin and Hecate had just barely missed the cannonball that flew right between their heads; smoke bombs and sound grenades were being fired at them left right and center as the two men on ODM gear flew rings around them: keeping their hands clamped over their ears and their eyes tightly shut to keep the smoke out, the gods could only track the men by sensing their auras. They were fast and maneuverable, but they were keeping their distance and actively trying to avoid landing any blows.
"These two fools are keeping us pinned in place, keeping us away from the building" Hecate mentally grunted, "Who else is here?". Glancing over at the cottage, Javorin sensed the auras of Ariana, Carla and-, her cousins and friends? 'How did I miss them?!' he thought in alarm; "Ariana, Carla and the other children are in the basement: they must be trying to draw us away so they can make a run for it". "Any suggestions?" Herne frowned as he held onto his ears, "Oblige them: allow them to believe they'll be okay" Javorin stated. "What about Ariana?" Herne glanced up at him. Javorin thought about her for a moment: it was more than likely this was the last time he'd see her, after this fiasco there'd be no way her family would let her sneak off up into the forest again; hell, they'd probably never come up into the forest period. It was unfortunate to lose a friend like this, but it was probably for the best, and he did complete what he originally set out to do; no other complications came of his blood being in her eye, and thus, it was safe for her to resume her life: "...She'll be fine," Javorin stated, "Come on, let's back out of here". "What about Carla?! I can't just leave her!" Elysia pleaded desperately, "She'll be okay too, I promise, now come on we have to go!"
Backing away into the tree line, the gods stomped on the sound grenades and watched as the men flew overhead, obviously trying to garner their attention as they whooped and hollered: "HEY! You dunderheads fancy a snack? Come and get me!" the ginger-haired one yelled, "No such thing as a free lunch, so get moving ya slow-pokes!" the other one threw in. "Now what?" Hecate frowned up at them, "Like I said, oblige them" Javorin frowned as he reached an arm up, and deliberately tried to grab them in a clumsy manner: "Keep it slow and dumb, let them think they have the upper hand" he added as he tried to grab them again, but to no avail as they flew between his arms and around behind him. "That's the spirit! Now come on! How about we take a stroll!" the ginger-haired gentleman nervously mocked as he and his friend flew away into the forest.
The four gods took after them, purposefully running with a lumbering gate; but being more concerned for Carla than anything else, Elysia turned and began running back the other way "Hey brat! Get back here!" Hecate ordered, "Elysia! Don't!-" Javorin tried to plead, but she wouldn't listen. "Aw SHIT!-" the brunette-haired man cursed, "I'll go after that one you stay on those three!" he barked to his friend as he turned and flew after her, "GOOD LUCK!" his friend called out as he stayed ahead of the other three gods; "Great, now what?!" Hecate glanced at Javorin with a stern gaze. "Have a little faith in Elysia, she can handle herself better than you think" he stated.
"-And then Eren woke me up and-, well you know the rest..." Ariana panted as her finished explaining the events of the night she met Shadow for the first time: "Ever since then I've been sneaking outta the house to go meet up with him in the forest every week, he even helps me hunt so I don't go home empty-handed!" Ariana pleaded desperately, "Look, I know I've lied to you all about sneaking out to hunt and I'm sorry! But believe me when I tell you, Shadow wouldn't hurt anyone! He loves humans and he loves watching what we do! He knows how to write, he can turn invisible, make plants and trees grow, and all kinds of other cool stuff you wouldn't believe! Please guys I'm begging you, you don't have to be afraid of him! If he wanted to eat me he'd have done so by now, which he can't 'cuz he hates the taste of human flesh anyway! ..."
Everyone stared at her, unsure what to say or think: terrified they wouldn't believe her, Ariana began to panic as tears welled up in her eyes and she started to sob: "Please..." she hitched, "-I swear I'm telling the truth! He's my friend! The same as all of you! And I only wanted to protect him from the military, especially the Scouts! He's so kind and gentle, and funny and smart, he wouldn't hurt a fly! Please I just-
"-I believe you..." Rowan hugged her, taking Ariana completely by surprise: "Please I-...I believe you okay? Just don't get upset," he gazed at her with a concerned look, genuinely worried for her; "If you say he won't hurt anyone, then that's fine with me". "Seriously? Why're you getting so upset?" Jaye stared at her in bemusement: "Okay, so you lied about sneaking out of the house, but you wouldn't lie about something like this...That titan, he really won't hurt us?". Ariana wiped away the tears with the back of her arm, and nodded as she sniffled: "Hell no: which is why we gotta stop Pascal and West from hurting him: I don't know what he'll do if they piss him off, I don't think he'll deliberately hurt them, but-..."
Glancing at one another, Ash and Rowan and thought about it for a moment, and handed Ariana one of the ODM gear, "Okay, you better go after him and try and calm him down: If he'll listen to you, then you're our best chance at stopping this whole thing" Ash stated: "Rowan, Dale, help her into the straps" he glanced at his brothers, who obliged and started helping Ariana into the complex system of straps and buckles.
"Hold on a minute!-" A stern female voice made everyone jump out of their skins: the kids spun round to see Carla striding over to Ariana and kneel down in front of her, clamping both her hands on her shoulders. They'd almost forgotten about her, and were even more alarmed to see she was now awake, and giving Ariana the full mother-hen glare as she addressed her: "You'll do no such thing young lady! Do have any idea how dangerous that is?!" she glanced over at Ash, "And you! Sending your little sister out alone?! How reckless can you get?!-" "But Mrs Jaeger I- , Ariana tried to plead, but Carla silenced her by stating: "-You're not going after that titan!" she ordered, "...Not without supervision you're not..." she added, calming down a little. The kids all looked at one another in shock and confusion: "Say what?!" Hazel squeaked. "I heard everything as I was waking up" Carla admitted: "...You're-, not the only the only one who ran into a titan that night" She admitted sheepishly: "...I-, kind of had an 'encounter' of my own; that 'bear' that saved me from those human traffickers? Well? It wasn't a bear at all...". "Huh?" Ariana stared at her in surprise.
"-HEADS UP!" West called out as he landed in the basement: "What're you all standing around for?! That bird titan's heading back this way! We got to move right now!" he glanced over at Carla, "-Oh good your awake" he sighed with relief, but before Carla could ask who he was and what was going on, West swept her off her feet, and with the ODM's hand grips in both hands, he fired his lines up out of the basement, "-Move it now kiddies!" and flew up with Carla protesting loudly for him to put her down. The sound of heavy footsteps running drew closer, skidded to a halt, and starting taking off away again. Glancing at one another, the kids realized they had to move: "Quickly! Get the gear on!" Ash ordered, and everyone racked their brains to try and remember how Bryson did it: "Dammit! Bryson made it look so easy!" Ashlyn huffed in annoyance.
"Put me down right now!" Carla fumed as she held on tight to the man: as much as she'd have wanted to wriggle free of him, doing so whilst being carried along while he was using ODM gear, would have resulted in a very bad fall; "You are kidding right?!" he frowned at her as if she'd lost her marbles, "Have you seen what's chasing us?!" Several meters behind them, the giant bird-titan was chasing after them, chirping and squawking as if desperately pleading for them to stop. "-Look, I know this is going to sound crazy, but she won't harm you! Just put me down and she'll stop chasing you!" Carla sternly told him. "What?! Are you off your nut woman?! That thing will eat us the first opportunity it gets!" West exclaimed, "Oh really? Says who?" Carla challenged him, "Uh? Oh I don't know maybe the Scouts?! Those over-proud fruitcakes kill 'em for a living, they know titans front to back: and if they say they'll eat you, they'll eat you! Now pipe down and let me find somewhere high up to land"
Glancing down, Carla could see Angel had caught up and was now running parallel to them right below: knowing this man wasn't going to listen to her, she knew it was time to do something to get away from him; and she was already kicking herself in the head for what she had in mind. With a reluctant sigh, she called down: "HEY ANGEL! CATCH!" and with one hard push, she fell out of his arms. He panicked as he watched her fall, but his mind then did a back flip as he watched what happened next. In one move, the bird titan jumped forward, and the woman landed on its back, grabbing it's hackles and holding on tight as it came to a stop: acting on instinct, he fired his lines and swung back to where the creature was standing, with the woman confidently standing on its shoulder, giving him a stern gaze as he came to a halt and hung there in confusion. "It's-...It's not eating you?" he dumbly blurted out. "Of course she's not eating me! I told you she won't harm you!" the woman called back, "This is Angel, and she's my friend: so you can stop your nonsense this instant!"
The bird titan merely smiled and chirped happily, waving its wing as if to say hello: the man pressed his head to his forehead as his mind reeled; this was just-, so weird and surreal. "You named it 'Angel'? ...Geez lady who the hell are you?!" he blurted out. "I'm Carla, and you are?" she smiled smugly, "Er? West"
Carla was about to say something else, when the sound of multiple ODM piston hooks firing off grabbed their attention as they fast approached them; turning back to see what was going on, Carla, West and Angel gawked at the sight of the kids flying through the trees on ODM gear, with Ariana leading the way. "MRS JAEGER?!-" Ariana gawked as she flew past, "-Stay put! We'll be back soon!" Ash added as they whizzed by into the forest, heading in the direction the other titans went.
Glancing at one another in surprise, Carla and Angel both frowned: "What the hell?!" West gawked in astonishment: "Come on Angel let's go!" Carla held onto her hackles, and with a determined squawk Angel took off running. "-Hey wait!" West took after them, keeping pace as the titan begun to pick up speed: "What'd you plan to do once you catch up to them?!". "I don't know, I'm thinking on my feet here!" Carla glanced up at him, "You're crazy! You know that right?!" West frowned, "Don't remind me!" Carla shot him a look.
As he flew through the trees at high speed, Pascal was still sweating bullets as he glanced over his shoulder and saw the titans were still following him: now that they were a good few miles from the cottage, perhaps it was time to give them the slip. Reaching for his pocket, he took out another three smoke bombs, held them behind his back so they were coated in the gas vapors from the ODM's exhaust valve, and with his other hand, pulled the fuses with his teeth; a spark lit on each one and started burning fast. He then lobbed them over his shoulder, and they exploded in mid air, creating an enormous cloud of smoke that the titans ran right into. In one fast move, Pascal shot his lines straight up into the canopy, and darted for a branch that was hidden by several other branches laden with leaves: squatting down and hugging the limb to try and hide as best he could, he watched down below as the smoke cleared, and the titans had come to a halt: they were looking all around, but didn't look up into the trees.
"You see him?" Hecate frowned as she sensed the man's aura in the tree right beside her: "I see him," Javorin replied, "He's trying to slip away, just keep your eyes at ground level and don't look up"
They stood there for a long tense moment, as if contemplating what to do: and then, they walked off into the forest, and didn't double back. Pascal sighed with relief as he wiped his brow, and sat himself down: he wouldn't dare move until he was sure they were far enough away that he could make a break for it.
But then, the sound of more ODM gear could be heard approaching, along with the thudding of heavy footsteps. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Pascal glanced down, and gawked as he spotted all of the kids flying through the forest on ODM gear, with the bird titan chasing after them: but even more unbelievable, the woman was standing on its left shoulder, with West keeping pace on its right side. "What the hell?!" Pascal nearly choked, but his blood went cold when he spotted the other three titans.
Standing there stupefied, they turned and began running towards them. "SHIT!" Pascal cursed as took off out of the tree, and flew towards them at break-neck speed: he had to stay ahead of the titans, and figure out what the hell was going on with that bird titan.
'Just keep swinging! Just keep swinging! Just keep swinging!' Ariana repeated in her head over and over again; using ODM gear like this was nothing like what she had expected: she was using virtually every muscle in her body to, A, stay upright and maintain her balance, B, keep up her momentum and C, try to control her steering and avoid crashing into the trees, and it began to hurt as her joints began to ache in protest at the strenuous physical demand. The other kids were all equally taken aback by how much they had to work just to stay upright; and worse, they were all going so fast and they didn't know how to stop.
But all of that was quickly forgotten as the bird titan gave chase, steadily closing the gap between them: the three other titans were fast approaching too; Pascal sped ahead of them, spun a tight turn around a birch to fly parallel with the kids, and came up alongside to take point: "PULL UP!" Pascal barked as he shot his lines straight up, and swung up into the canopy. But to his utter horror, the kids just kept on swinging, and headed straight for the titans: "-NO!"
"SHADOW!" Ariana yelled out as she recalled her lines, and flew straight at the larger titan with long light brown hair: to everyone's amazement, he held out both hands and caught her delicately; the other two titans quickly reached out, and snared the other kid's lines, eliciting a cacophony of panicked screams as they spun over their heads. Eventually they lost all momentum, and dangled from the titan's hands like fish on a line.
"... That was way too close..." Javorin breathed a sigh of relief as he cradled Ariana in his cupped hands; "No kidding, at that speed they'd have broken their necks for sure" Herne concurred as he glanced down at the kids he was holding: staring up at him in a mix of amazement and dread.
When they saw them coming, Javorin could tell right away what Ariana had planned to do: the confidence and surety radiating from her aura told him she planned to prove to everyone that he and the others were no threat. And although their own auras were emitting fear and doubt, the other kids, for the most part, had confidence that she had told them the truth: the proof just needed to be in the pudding; and he made up his mind to help her with that. As she flew at him, he almost panicked: Ariana had been moving so fast he was terrified that simply catching her would result in a serious injury; quickly thinking on his feet, he summoned a levitation spell in record time, which slowed her down just enough that he could catch her, and swing his hands away so as to halt the momentum gradually, rather than suddenly stop, which would have been equivalent to crashing into a wall.
Seeing how fast the other kids were moving as well, Herne and Hecate saw there were too many to catch all at once, so instead, they caught their lines and swung them up over their heads: allowing them to swing back down and come to a stop.
Gazing down at the exhausted five year old in his palm, Javorin smiled with relief as she gazed up at him with that big silly grin on her face. "Thanks buddy" she panted. 'It's okay: that's what friends are for, right?' he mentally smiled.
"Are you okay?!" Carla yelled out to the kids in a panic, as Angel came running up and stopped in front of the other three titans. Glancing up and down at all of them, Carla gasped when she saw the larger two looming over her: for a moment she almost froze in fear, but with Angel at her side, she felt she could handle this (albeit she had no idea what might happen now). West had stopped further back than her, too scared to dare approach. Up in the canopy, Pascal watched the scene unfurl in a mix of disbelief and panic, carefully making his way over to where West was hanging by his lines.
"Hey Mrs Jaeger! ..." Ariana stood up in the larger titan's palm, and was taken aback to see her standing on the bird titan's shoulder: "...Whoa, that's definitely not a bear!"
Carla couldn't help but smile and laugh, "...Are you okay?" "I'm good: tired and outta breath, but good..." she called back: glancing down over the edge of Shadow's palm and addressing everyone else: "Hey guys! This is Shadow! And this is his family! Midnight, Boar and Angel" she pointed to each of the titans, who then proceeded to put the kids gently down on the forest floor. Carla blinked in surprise, 'Wait- she knew about Angel beforehand?'; "Hey Angel, put me down a sec'" she discreetly tapped her shoulder with her foot, and Angel obliged, leaning down far enough that she could jump and land safely.
Getting back up on their feet, the kids all watched as the titans kneeled down, and Shadow placed Ariana back on the ground. "See? He won't hurt you". Gawking up at the titan in question, and then back down at Ariana, Ash pressed his hand to his head as he felt his mind reeling: "I don't even-...Holy shit you weren't kidding when you said he was big!" "I know right!" Ariana beamed, "-Hey big guy! You think you're pretty big?" Shadow nodded with a happy moan: "Yep, he knows it!" Ariana smugly nodded, before looking around, and realizing two people were missing, "...Hey, where'd Pascal and West go?"
Shadow pointed behind them: turning around, they saw the two men dangling from the trees like a pair of deer caught in the light of a hunter's lamp; "...If you two have been hanging there long enough, then you know there's nothing to be worried about!" Carla frowned at them, "Why don't you come on down and introduce yourselves properly?" Both Pascal and West glanced at one another nervously, before lowing themselves down to the ground and recalling their lines.
"So uh? I take it Angel was the one that saved you from those human traffickers that night?" Ariana asked sheepishly: "Pretty much," Carla sighed with a small smile, "And, what you said about your eye turning blue, Shadow really did that?" Ariana glanced up at Shadow for a moment, before shrugging: "It's kinda complicated, but basically, his blood can heal any injury"
"Whoa, he told you that?" Belle blinked in surprise, Shadow waved his hand, and the markings on his hand glowed blue as the words materialized out thin air, and glowed as if they were made of light: In a way, yes: taking everyone completely aback. "What the-, he just made words appear outta thin air!" Dale gasped, "And that's not all he can do!" Ariana smiled as she patted Shadow on his knee.
"Uh? Excuse me? Do you guys mind telling us what the hell's going on?" Pascal interrupted, as he and West stood several meters away, still on edge and unwilling to come any closer. Glancing over at them, Carla shook her head and sighed in exasperation: "We better go over and talk to them, I don't think it'd be fair to force them to do anything their not comfortable with" she glanced down at Ariana: "Yeah your right" she nodded in agreement, "Hey Shadow, keep an eye on everyone for minute huh? We got some things to sort out over here" she thumbed over her shoulder to the two men.
As Carla and Ariana explained everything to Pascal and West, the gods turned their attention back to each other. "Well, this has certainly turned out to be an interesting day" Herne smirked, "And I think now's a good time to straighten out a few things, right Elysia?"
Knowing there was no point in making excuses, Elysia sighed and admitted: "Look, I was gonna tell you guys about Carla, I swear, but-,"
"But what?" Hecate frowned at her; annoyed, Elysia scowled as she got up in her face: "I knew you wouldn't be pleased with it! I dunno what the hell your problem is but you don't get to tell me what I can do with my life or my powers! I saved Carla from human traffickers the night we broke out of our tombs, and she's been my best friend ever since! We do stuff together, we talk together, she's been teaching me all kinds of amazing things, and today we saved these kids from a bunch of murderers who would've killed them for sure! How's any of that bad?! I don't know why you don't like humans Hecate, but that don't mean you get to treat me like shit just because I like them! Okay?" she ruffled her feathers as she backed away, calming down a little, but still riled up: "...Carla's okay with me: if she wanted to tell anyone about me I think she'd have done it by now. She's been sneaking away from her family to come and see me: this secret friendship thing goes both ways you know? That's why we both look out for each other; the same way you and Ariana look out for one another, right?" she glanced up at Javorin, who merely smiled in reply.
Hecate frowned at him, and sat herself down against a giant tree: "...You knew right from the start, didn't you?" she glanced at the three of them with an icy stare: Javorin gave her an apologetic look, and after a long awkward silence, her own expression softened a little: "...Am I really that disagreeable?" she sighed in defeat. "You don't make it easy on yourself" Javorin approached her, and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder: "...Look, what's done is done, and although things could have transpired very differently, can you honestly say anything really bad has come of all this? Elysia has learned much about the humans this past month, and from a reliable source to boot; can you have done a better job? I know I couldn't,"
Hecate stared at him in confusion, but didn't say anything as he continued: "...Listen, for whatever reason we have yet learn, this curse does not allow us to assume human form, (which, suffice to say limits our options considerably). But even if we were to disguise ourselves as humans and blend into the masses of Shiganshina, and teach Elysia about the humans in their own world, it wouldn't be the same ... Every time I died and was reborn as a human, I was a different person every time: I lived a life and gained experience from that life, and over the eons it imbued my power with the spirit of humanity, and the strength needed to do what I needed to do to fulfill my duty as a god. But every time I came back into existence, I knew I was Javorin the god; not the human, not entirely. I could remember all of my past lives and I knew the powers I wielded: but humans? They only have one life to live, and they are their own person for the entirety of their lives: for good or evil, for better or worse; they are a dynamic and ever-changing being that experiences so much over the course of that one life..." His let his gaze drop as sadness filled his vivid blue eyes, "...I will never get to experience that: and regardless of how much I know about them and how they think, the fact I am a god means I can never truly be one of them. And I am not going to insult them by pretending to know what it means to live a mortal life... If Elysia wants to remain friends with Carla I have no problem with that: what better way for her to learn about the humans than from a human first hand? And she's gained a lot of valuable insight for it" he smiled.
Hecate stared at him in surprise for a moment (though she didn't let it show on her face), before passing a deep sigh: "... Well? As the overseer of mankind: I guess if you approve of it, I don't have much say in the matter do I?" she glanced at him with her poker face: before coming clean and admitting what was really on her mind: "...Look, Javorin; It's not that I hate humans: it's just-, I lived long enough to know that nine times out of ten, they tend to get a lot of things wrong, and sometimes it means me and the rest of my siblings having to come in and set things right again..." she regarded him with a more serious look, "There's a reason my father tricked them out of being immortal, there's a reason they only have that one life: and I don't have to remind you why, do I? You were there when it happened..."
Javorin looked away, he knew what she was referring to, and knew she had a point. "...But" she sighed: he glanced back at her, "That was the day I realized you were the right god, for the job of being humanity's caretaker; not because you tried to plead for them, but because you were willing to do what needed to be done to ensure the balance of the world remained in equilibrium: for their sake's, as much as ours. They hated you for it: they called you evil and cast you out into the burning sands of the wastelands. And for many years you endured their wrath and ignorance; but in all that time you didn't plead for mercy or fight back: you let them believe what they wanted to believe, because you knew they'd never understand the real reason why they have to die... I admired you, and I still do: not because you showed mercy, but because you knew how to be cruel when it was necessary" she let her gaze drop in rueful thought: "... I chose to stay behind, and be one of the lower god because I believed this world, as imperfect as it is, always had something good to offer; but somehow, when the humans came along and you and your father stood up for them, despite all the shit they're capable of. That goodness I liked to see in the world, somehow, began to grow a little less; until one day I woke up and I couldn't seem to find it anywhere... That was the day, I wondered what was the point of all this? Why do you do what you do? Why do you have so much faith in them, when they hardly have any faith in us?" she glanced up at him.
Both Herne and Elysia glanced at one another: neither of them had seen Hecate like this before; and deep down, Elysia began to feel really bad for the way she'd behaved earlier. Javorin merely gazed at her with a knowing look in his eyes: like a father teaching his child a valuable life lesson, he knew and understood why she was asking the questions: whether she could find and understand the answer was up to her. But being who he was, he was willing to help, and so with an understanding smile, he sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. "...I think, you've spent far too long being what you think you're supposed to be: why not try something a little different? Like, having a friend or two?"
"Say what?" she stared at him weirdly, "Look, you're asking a valid question, and you want to know the answer right?" he smiled: "That's kind of the point of asking the question in the first place, isn't it?" she sarcastically frowned at him. "Well? I'm afraid it's one those questions that doesn't have a straight forward answer; you're going to have to figure it out for yourself"
"What? By helping you babysit the brat?" she thumbed over to Ariana. "Actually, I had someone a little more, 'compatible' in mind," he glanced downwards. Following his gaze down, Hecate was a little surprised to see Ariana's three brothers gazing up at her: their fear ebbing away, and steadily being replaced with a sense of wonder as they cautiously approached. "At this age, there are countless possibilities for them to become anything; you say humans are only good for screwing things up. Well, what if you had the opportunity to teach them how not to screw up in the first place?" he pointed out: Hecate looked at him surprise, "Think about it, if you can teach them about the equilibrium of the world, and how it is important for both us and them to work together to maintain it, Then that's one, or three less humans you'll have to worry about when their grown up; and besides, isn't that what the Night roamers original duty was? To remind humanity of the balance between good and evil?"
Hecate stared at him for along moment, scrutinizing his words, before her expression hardened again: "...Yeah..." she sighed in defeat, knowing he was right: "...I do remember vowing something along those lines when I swore to protect this world from all evil..." she then raised an eyebrow at him, and heaved a heavy doubtful sigh: "...You seriously think having the brats tag along will do me any good?"
"Will it kill you to try?" Javorin pleaded, "Besides, what have you got to lose? Would it really be so bad to let someone into your life, and be there for you as a friend?"
"Why? I have you, Shorty and the feathered brat? We're friends aren't we?" she pointed out stubbornly.
"You know that's not quite what I mean," Javorin gave her a look, "And besides, I think it couldn't hurt for you to have a different perspective on things, and having a human friend can certainly offer that. You claim that humans have nothing to offer but their ignorance and stupidity, and yet these children and this brave woman have risked much for us, all for nothing in return, and at cost to their own safety. How is that ignorant and stupid?" he gazed at her in a more serious manner, "For too many centuries you have lingered in the shadows of the world, carrying out your duty from a safe distance where you don't have to get involved directly. You fought for the humans and protected them alongside me and the rest of our kin, and yet you do not know the first thing about them besides their failures and negative qualities... You claim to know them, but how much do you actually know?" he glanced down at the children.
Looking down at the three brothers, and seeing the looks of wonder in their eyes, Hecate felt uncomfortable: she didn't like where this was going, and it began to show on her face. As much as she wanted to wriggle out of this, she knew she couldn't; Javorin was right on every point and she knew it: "...Tell me..." she sighed, letting her ice cold poker face melt into uncertainty, "...Am I a coward, for not wanting to know them better?"
Javorin's gaze softened, "...I think, you are someone who has forgotten how to follow the principle of her own elemental power," he offered: Hecate stared at him in completely surprise: "My elemental power?" she echoed. "Yes. Your elemental control is over water right? Well, water is the element of balance and change: no matter how much it is shaken up, it always finds its own level again. It is patient, sitting atop mountains for hundreds of thousands of years as snow, before melting and trickling down into streams and rivers, and eventually flowing out to the sea: it can carve out vast landscapes and shape the environment through its rivers, floods, tides, rain and glaciers, not because it is powerful in great quantity, but because it is persistent in the tiniest of trickles. And above all, it is able to transition between the sky, the ocean and the land as vapor, water and ice, changing accordingly to the ambient conditions, and reverting back again where needed...No matter how much life shakes you up, find your own level and stick with it: be patient like the snow, be persistent like the trickles, and be open to change according to what is required of you..."
Hecate stared at him in amazement, of all the things she expected him to say, she hadn't quite expected that: but more profoundly, she couldn't believe she'd forgotten that wisdom. All gods, regardless of their strength, had power over one of the four elements: it was part of the great equilibrium of the world, and each element held a certain meaning and purpose that imbued every god and goddess with the qualities needed to fulfill their duties; and in Hecate's case, her's was the element of water, the most dynamic and flexible of the elements. So why was she so stubbornly rigid like this? Why was she so opposed to wanting to learn more about the humans, and trying to see their better qualities? She knew why, she knew all the reasons why, but had it clouded her mind to such a degree that she could no longer see past their sins? Had she really been so detached from the human world that she hadn't stopped to look long and hard for the goodness in them? If she had been a human, it would be understandable: and forgivable to become disillusioned by humanity's more undesirable traits; but she was a goddess, one of many who had sworn to remain upon the earth to ensure the world remained in one piece. She had no excuses for her disillusionment; part of her duty was to regard the human's impartially. She may have her own opinions of them, but she was never to be seen treating them less than any of the other gods, just because she didn't like the fact that they could be capable of great evil.
Glancing back down at the children, she decided to hell with it: she had no excuses for her attitude and behavior, and although she was many things, she would never let it be said that she wasn't a goddess who didn't abide by her family's council. If she was going off course in her duties, she had to get back on track, and if having to get back on track meant getting involved with the humans, then so be it. Glanced back at Javorin and weakly smiled as she passed another sigh of defeat: "...Damn you Javorin..."
"You can do that you know?" he smirked, "Damn me that is, though it might not be a good idea in the long term... So, have I succeeded in persuading you to give it a try?"
"Like I even have a choice: if these brats are going to be visiting us every week I'm never going to hear the end of it am I?..." she gave him an old fashioned look with a small smile, before glancing back down at the brothers, who were now standing next to her leg, tentatively testing how close they could get to her before she looked at them again. Sure enough, they froze under her gaze and waited for her to look back at Javorin again: "...So? How do you get them to come to you?"
"What? Seriously Hecate they're not chipmunks!" Herne laughed: "Look, just do what I'm doing" he smiled as he gestured to his hands, where three of the girls were sitting in his palm and inspecting the markings all over his arm and hand. "Just let them come to you" Javorin patted her on the shoulder. It felt silly, but Hecate obliged, and laid a hand down on the ground, holding her palm open: she didn't expect it to work for a long while; she didn't exactly exude a friendly welcoming aura. But to her surprise, the boys ran up and leapt into her hand and started trying to climb up her arm: using her other hand to cup them, she brought them up to her face and stared at them in confusion: "...What do I do now?" she glanced sideways at her cousin: Javorin, Herne and Elysia couldn't help but laugh, to which Hecate frowned in annoyance; this was going to take a while.
"...And, that's pretty much it" Ariana sighed, finishing up the last of her end of the story. Carla was both amazed and astounded, while Pascal and West just started at her in bemusement for moment, before Pascal heaved a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose: "...Look kid: it's a great story for sure, but I don't know if I even believe half of what you said. So, for the sake of trying to avoid aching my brain any further I'm just gonna take your word for it, okay?"
"Meh, that's fine" Ariana shrugged: "I guess it is kinda crazy looking back on it all now; I hadn't really noticed to be honest" "Ah but you're still young," Carla smiled, "things like that are easy to miss at your age"
"So? Are you guys keep them a secret? You're not gonna tell the Scouts on them are you?" Ariana asked apprehensively. Pascal stared at her for a moment, before a sly smile crossed his lips and a cunning glint seemed to light up in his eyes: "...Funny you should mention that kid, because we got a secret of our own we'd like you to keep; one that we'd prefer the MP's didn't know about". Carla frowned, she didn't like where this was going: "What secret?" she demanded, pulling Ariana closer to her side. "You were in the basement of our home: you saw all the 'stuff' that was down there, didn't you?"
"The ODM gear?" Carla raised an eyebrow, "Yes, I saw it; and I frankly I'd prefer not to know why you have so many gears, or what you do with them. I don't want to go looking for any more trouble today if you don't mind" she frowned, making it clear in her tone she wasn't kidding around. "Hey that's fine by us," Pascal smiled, "That saves us a fortune in bribery money: however, the brats are gonna have to give them back; unless their willing to buy them, the merchandise ain't for sale"
"I wanna buy one!" Ariana piped up in excitement, taking them both by surprise: "I've been saving up to buy my own gear! If you guys are ODM gear traders then you're just who I'm looking for!"
"What?!" Carla exclaimed, giving her the mother-hen look: "Absolutely not! You nearly broke your neck using that thing!" she pointed to the gear she was wearing: "As the responsible adult here, I forbid you to do any business with these gentlemen!" she folded her arms: Ariana was about to argue back, when West interjected, "-Actually, she's going to have to buy it I'm afraid", he pointed to the various parts of the device: "The mechanism's main valve's been knocked out of place from the force of landing in your friend's hand, the wires to the hand grips are half-yanked out of their sockets, and the flow valve on the left tank has been knocked loose. I'm sorry, but if you damage or break it, you buy it" he shrugged with a sheepish apologetic look.
"Indeed" Pascal grinned as he stepped forward, "So unless you got three hundred gold coins to pay upfront, you're gonna be spending a few sleep-over's with us until your folks can scrape the money together" "Now Hang on!-" Carla frowned as she forced Ariana behind her. "Excuse me?" Bemadette interrupted, "I couldn't help but overhear: You said the mechanism's main valve's been knocked out of place, the wires to the hand grips are half-yanked out of their sockets, and the flow valve on the left tank has been knocked loose?"
"Yeah?" Pascal regarded her with a skeptical look: "What of it?"
"I'm an apprentice blacksmith, and I fix ODM gear for a living (among other things): I'll do you a deal; if you let me fix and clean up all the ODM gear in your basement and have them all in mint-working condition, would you take that as payment for the busted gear?"
Pascal and West glanced at one another skeptically, "...How old are you?" Pascal asked offhand. "Seven" Bemadette shrugged, "Hmmm..." Pascal thought about it for a moment: "Nope, sorry kid, it's one thing to be pounding horseshoes, but this is ODM gear we're talking about: it's as complex and cutting edge as technology gets around here"
"Complex and cutting edge?!" Bemadette scoffed, "What the hell are you talking about?! Learning how to disassemble, clean and properly maintain ODM gear is hardly cannon science! Even an idiot can do it: but to really get the best results requires someone with a keen eye for the finer details. Something you two obviously don't have, otherwise these gears wouldn't be in such poor shape to begin with. I mean, when was the last time you actually cleaned them? If your gonna be selling them to potential customers, you don't wanna give them something that's gonna fall apart on the first line-shot: and if that happens and they come demanding their money back, and they just 'happen' to be the kinda guys that like to use their fists instead of their brains? Well then that's bad business for you two..." she smirked darkly, before beaming an innocent smile: "So what do you say gents? Have we got a deal?"
Pascal and West both looked at her feeling as though they'd been backed into a corner: she was right on all points and they knew it; knowing there was no room to worm his way out of this, Pascal reluctantly conceded, and held out his hand, "...Fine, deal". "That's great!" Bemadette smiled as she shook his hand, "And it just so happens, I always keep my tool kit handy" she reached for her oversized back pocket, and pulled out a large roll bag full of tools and two small tins of lubricant oil and metal polish; "Which way back to the cottage?" she asked offhand.
"Oh boy..." West tried to think as he ran his fingers through his hair, "We must have covered a fair few miles: but I think it's back that way?" he pointed off into the forest. "Why don't we just follow the titan's footprints?" Ariana pointed to the giant footprints that had been left in the soft earth. Rolling his eyes and feeling like an idiot for missing that, Pascal huffed impatiently: "Well come on then? Let's get going!" and without waiting for anyone to answer, he fired his lines up into the trees and took off. Ariana readied her lines to shoot, but Carla stopped her, "Oh no! We're walking back, no more shenanigans today!" "But it's so far, it'd be easier to go by ODM gear!" Bemadette whined. "Or, if you ask nicely, I'm sure you can get a ride" Carla smiled, gesturing to Shadow and the other titans.
Hearing that as her cue to let her get up on her shoulder, Angel scooped Carla up in her wing, and deposited her on her left shoulder: Carla maneuvered to sit down, only to find Lucy, Lucius, Ashlyn and Hawk sat amid her flank plume: "Oh hello, I see Angel let you up here" she smiled. "Mmmm, it so fluffy and soft" Lucy purred as she buried her face into the feathers, "And the colours are so bright" Ashlyn stroked one of the long hackles, "She's amazing Mrs Jaeger". "Yes," Carla smiled up at Angel, who smiled back in delight, "She is isn't she?"
Before long, the four titans were walking at a steady pace through the forest with eighteen amazed, nervous and hyped up children, all hitching a ride on them. Angel led the way with Carla sitting on her shoulder, and Lucy, Lucius, Ashlyn and Hawk riding behind her, Shadow followed close behind with Ariana sat atop his shoulder, and Gale, Poppy, Belle, Fox and Shyla sitting snugly in his cupped hands. Midnight followed next, feeling a tad unsure and uncomfortable with Ash, Rowan and Dale sitting on her right shoulder, holding onto her hair to avoid falling off: while Bemadette, Josefa and Jaye sat in her cupped hands; and bringing up the rear, Boar trotted along with Hazel and Clay sat atop his head, holding onto tufts of his mane-like hair. Ahead of Angel, Pascal and West flew through the trees on their ODM gear, leading the way back to the cottage.
"You know at this rate, we'll be back far quicker than if we were on foot" Lucius observed as he watched the forest pass by; with their giant strides the titans could certainly cover a fair distance. "I know! That's why Shadow's always good at getting places quickly, he just takes twelve steps and he's there!" Ariana called back.
"Don't you guys wanna take a rest already?" Ashlyn called yup to Pascal and West, "It's real comfy here!" "Hell no!" Pascal grumbled, "I've had enough craziness for one day thank you very much!"
"Hey! I'm the first human to ever ride a titan and not get eaten! How many Scouts can claim that privilege?" Ariana smiled. "You may be the first, but we're you're brother's to that makes us the second (times three)!" "Third!" Clay called out; "Forth!" Josefa and Jaye replied, "Fifth!" Ashlyn and Hawk joined in. "We're first of the Willums to ride a titan!" Belle proudly announced, "The First Coopers!" the twins cheered, "The first apprentice blacksmith!" Bemadette piped in; Fox and Shyla both glanced at one another, and smiled, "The first Bennet's!" they both pumped their fists in the air.
"Oh hell" Hecate deadpanned with a sour look, "This had better not be a regular thing": "Just go with it" Herne waved off, "Besides, someone's got to keep the mood happy with you around"
"So? What's with the weird markings?" Gale asked offhand as she ran her hand along the ones on Shadow's wrist, "I've never seen anything like these before" "Dunno," Ariana shrugged, "Shadow doesn't know how they got their either: but they must be for something, right?"
Her brothers and cousins knew she was lying: they knew the markings too, and knew where they had seen them before; at the back of his mind, Rowan breathed a sigh of relief, at least she knew how to keep the family secret. Though, he did feel bad for the Willum's and Coopers, not being able to tell them the truth. But after everything that had happened today, after what they had encountered and survived, would they really turn on them?
Glancing over his shoulder: West saw Angel staring up at him like a little kid who'd just seen a shop window full of candies and sweets for the first time: she chirped up at him as she tried to keep up with him. "What's with her?" he frowned in bemusement, "I think she's a bit taken with the fact you can fly without wings" Carla chuckled, "Oh yeah?" West raised an eyebrow.
"Well you gotta admit, that ODM gear is a cool piece of 'technology'" Elysia chipped in, "What else can the humans make like that?"
"Plenty of stuff" Javorin smiled, "Too much stuff" Hecate deadpanned, before lightening up a little, "...But, I guess the ODM gear's an interesting development: the scouts are certainly proficient at using it"
"...Umm?..." Elysia spoke up sheepishly, though she kept facing forward, Hecate could sense her mind's eye was glancing back at her: "Listen, I'm-, sorry for being a jerk earlier: I kinda over reacted". "Kinda?" Hecate raised an eyebrow: "Brat, do you know how many people have stood up to me like that?"; "... How many?" Elysia swallowed hard, "... You're the first..." she admitted reluctantly: "...There was a time long ago, when my reputation was such that no one dared to approach me, for fear of what I'd do if they spoke out of turn in my presence. I never did of course, a lot of the time there was no call for it; but still, it got rather out of hand when people who were terrified out of their minds would throw their loved ones before me as an 'appeasement' or 'sacrificial offering' to ensure my wrath wouldn't find them...That was one of the few times I actually felt lonely..."
Elysia glanced behind her and met Hecate's gaze; her face, instead being cold and concealing, was softened into a rueful kind of regret: "...You got balls brat, and the reason you found them, is because you had a reason to stand up and use them. I don't know if this whole, 'being friends with the human's' thing is going to work out for me in the long term; but for someone who's never been up close to a human in her whole immortal life, never mind actually bothered to give a damn about them in the first place? You certainly have the knack for being able to make friends with one..." She regarded her with a small yet honest smile: "I guess you have to be a 'people person' to be good at things like that: but whatever happens, wherever life leads you and Carla, just make sure you don't make any choices you'll regret in the long run. She's only got one life to live, so make it count for her sake, okay?"
Elysia nodded, and turning back around to face front again, she made a mental note to remember that.
"Ah, we're almost there..." West smiled as he recognized the layout of the trees: "Which means home is just through the next few hollows" Pascal smiled, relieved they hadn't got far to go now.
As Javorin flicked his right ear, the sound of distant voices made him stop abruptly; the other titans stopped too, and the humans instantly began to grow concerned. "What is it Shadow? Why've we stopped?" Ariana asked him: Shadow nodded in the direction of the cottage, and flicked his ears back and forth to indicate he'd heard something. "Oh great, what's up with him?" Pascal deadpanned: "Shush!" Ariana hushed him: "He heard something! Be quiet!"
"What is it bro?" What'd you hear?" Herne frowned as he came around Midnight's side and stood next to him: "I heard something up ahead; listen..."
The distant sound of a horse neighing echoed through the trees, along with the sound of a man shouting; everyone froze and listened, straining their ears to locate where it had come from. Another neigh echoed towards them, and Ash was the first to pinpoint it: "That came from up ahead" he whispered.
"That's where the-
But before West could saying anything further, he and Pascal gasped in alarm as Angel jumped up with her wing outstretched, snagged their lines with her primary feathers, and yanked them down out of the tree above: tucking them under her wing, but allowing them just enough room to maneuver around, and poke their heads out of the fold of her wing: "What the hell is the meaning of-
But Pascal was quickly silenced as Hawk covered their mouths with his hands, and glanced over in the direction the sound had come from: "There's someone at your place: be quiet or they'll hear us!"
"Shadow, turn invisible" Ariana stood up and reached for her bow and quiver. The titans all vanished from sight, along with their human's passengers: who were all in awe and slightly unnerved at the fact that they were now semi-transparent. With Shadow now taking point, the titans quietly maneuvered through the hollows towards the cottage: their footfalls hardly making any sound as they treaded through the undergrowth. Carla bit back her fear, as the memory of that severed head and those wall cultists came back to haunt her: the children too began to get a really bad feeling about this.
As the clearing came into view through the trees, everyone was alarmed to see the masked riders congregated around the cottage. A number of them were on horseback and keeping watch around the perimeter of the clearing, while the rest were dismounted and inside the cottage, searching it top to bottom. Pascal and West were sweating bullets as they watched them through the windows, rummaging through their stuff.
Approaching closer, Javorin summoned the wind to gentle blow towards them, so as to remain downwind of them: the smell of blood wafting off their clothes instantly sent a chill down his spine, and upon reading their auras, he could tell these humans were bad news. All their energies radiated ignorance, arrogance, pride, superiority, naiveté, utter unwavering loyalty, blind illogical religious belief, and a sick sense of enjoyment at seeing others suffering. He frowned in anger: though he loved humanity and understood its nature inside and out, it didn't mean he had to like the bad side of it, and there were exceptions when it came to his benevolent nature. Now within only several meters of the cottage, the titans and their passengers watched silently from the gloom of the shadows. Amid the hubbub of activity, one rider caught Ash's attention in particular: he was seated on the front porch by the door, having a wound in his shoulder being tended to by another two riders. Glancing down at the arrow he held in his hand, his eyes widened in alarm: it was his arrow, the one he fired as they charged them. This was the same rider. He managed to stop himself from panicking, and kept it together as one of the riders exited the cottage with an ODM gear in one hand: "Nothing but stolen ODM gear sir" he stated.
"Traders huh?" the wounded rider smirked behind his mask: "How many?"
"Only two by the looks of it: we didn't find any evidence of anyone else living here"
"And the children?"
Ash and the other kids felt their stomachs drop,
"Long gone" the rider shook his head, "...But, we found something else sir: something-, we don't know how to explain"
Getting up off the porch, the wounded rider and his medics followed him around to the back of the cottage, where the grass had been trampled flat, and four huge sets of footprints had been left in the soft ground. The gods mentally facepalmed as they realized they'd forgotten to use a concealment spell to hide their tracks: while the humans merely gawked down at the footprints in a mix of horror and panic. The riders stared at the footprints for a long moment, before the wounded rider strode back around to the front of the cottage with his comrades in tow.
"I've seen some pretty elaborate scare tactics, but titan footprints? That's a new one: original, but stupid to say the least..." the wounded rider scoffed, "Whoever the occupants are, make sure to come back here after dark and see if they return; if they're trading in stolen ODM gear this close to Shiganshina: that can only mean they're stealing from the Garrison and MP's in the city. Low-level traders are useful in one capacity or another, so be sure to mark this property down on our red list: I want to know exactly who they are, and if they know those 'children'..."
"Very good sir" the riders nodded,
"We're taking a great risk simply by being out in the daylight, having to clear out the regular vermin is one thing: now we have to contend with the fact there are Celts in these woods" the wounded rider held up the arrow, and inspected the quartz head: "... How many hunters are there in wall Maria that make arrows with stone and crystal heads?"
Ariana stared at the rider in horror: that confirms it; these guys are the dark riders for sure,
"We've got ten depots and seven half-way houses already in place along the main southern road and surrounding forests, the other fifteen near Shiganshina are almost complete: and with the new sanctuary we'll be building on our newly acquired land, we'll be set to start a new purge within as little as a year" one of the riders pointed out, "After all the purges we conducted in the far north, surely there can't be many places left for them to hide?"
"You forget," the wounded rider gazed over at his comrade, "Those purge's yielded nothing and no successful kills: they already knew we were coming and cleared out long before we got there. For over a hundred years we've been hunting those wretched parasites, wiping out their existence from the walls, and every year that's gone by they've been getting wiser to our tactics; god only knows where they are now, but they can't hide forever: sooner or later they'll slip up, and then we'll get them all..." he stated in a stern yet cold voice: turning to one of the other riders, he ordered: "Head back to the new sanctuary site and file my report. Tell our brothers back in Sina I want the budget for the new hunting teams approved, and I want it to clear in the next five weeks; twenty additional depots and half-way houses, in addition to three hundred more Disciples. If there are Celts in this region, I want them found and wiped out, understand?"
"Very good sir" the rider nodded, "Will you be returning later then?"
"Don't wait for me," the wounded rider placed the arrow in a small bag beneath his cloak, and returned to his horse, "I still have ten more miles of forest to clear out: this whole area used to be Hafer's property, which means any soul living here is no longer welcome: so unless they received their eviction notices and already cleared out, they must be purged"
"The only place left on this side of the property is that woodcutter's cabin near the river" one of the other riders thought aloud, "I think the couple living there have ten children, don't they?"
"They had ten children" the rider smirked as he mounted his horse, "We already purged that place earlier this morning: so you're free to return"
"Very well sir," the rider nodded as he returned to his horse and mounted up, "In that case I'll see you later!" he waved goodbye as rode off down the old dirt road. "Let's move!" the lead rider ordered, and after remounting their steeds, the riders all moved as one into the forest, heading in the opposite direction.
A long tense moment passed as everyone waited for them to be far out of range: then, the titans turned visible again, and cautiously stepped into the clearing; kneeling down to let everyone get off. For a moment they just stood there in a mix of dread and relief; relief for having been invisible, and dread at having overheard what they heard.
"Holy shit-" West gasped with an uneasy smile, "... You weren't kidding about them turning invisible" he looked at his arms and hands, relieved to see they were solid again, and not semi-transparent.
Pascal walked up behind Ariana, and grabbed one of the arrows from out of her quiver: holding it up to inspect it, he saw the head was carved from a pale purple crystal. "... Quiet a pretty little thing, for something that's designed to kill; wouldn't you say? ..." he glanced down at her with a knowing look. Ariana nervously met his gaze: she realized he figured out what she was, and there was no use in trying to explain it as anything else. Her cousins and brother's all looked at him in alarm, quickly wracking their brains trying to figure out what to do. "Guys? What's wrong?" Bemadette suddenly noticed the looks on their faces: "What's he talking about?" Fox frowned in confusion.
"Isn't it obvious?" Lucius interjected apprehensively, "Their Celts" Lucy stated; the silence was deafening, as Ariana and her kin stared at them in horror. "...What's a 'Celt'?..." Carla innocently asked, they all snapped their heads round and stared at her in surprise. "...Y-, you don't know what a Celt is Mrs Jaeger? ..." Ariana stared at her in amazement. "...Um? Well no, should I?" she replied worryingly.
"Allow me to enlighten you," Pascal smiled as he stepped up beside her, idly waving the arrow around: "The story goes: way back, long before the titans ever showed up, there used to be all kinds of breeds of people, all over the outside world, and one of them were the Celts. But when the titans showed up and chased us behind the walls, for some reason the king back then ordered them all to be wiped out," he stated as he put the arrow back in Ariana's quiver, "Dunno why of course, no one knows the real reason why they were exterminated. But, the story goes the survivors all escaped to wall Maria, and have been living in the wild places of the forests ever since" he glanced down at the kids, "...I take it you brats must be the last of your bloodlines? It wouldn't be surprising, given it's been over a hundred years"
"Are you going to rat us out to them?" Rowan scowled as he pointed in the direction the riders had left; Pascal gave him a deadpan look, and sighed: "Kid, those guys know we trade stolen goods, and they know where we live: we're as vulnerable as you are now" He folded his arms, "Besides, hardly anyone knows the Celts never mind actually heard of them: maybe once people might have been familiar with the name, but now? No one in the interior knows of them or the fact they ever existed, some people in wall Rose have only heard of them as myth, and here in wall Maria their hearsay and rumours. Not to be taken any more seriously than the word of a crazy old cat lady"
"In short," West clarified as he squatted down to meet Rowan's eye-level, gently placing a hand on his shoulder "You've got nothing to worry about as far as we're concerned. We're just trying to quietly live in peace and keep our heads down, the same as you. So don't sweat it, okay?" Rowan stared at West in a mix of confusion and surprise, of all the things he had been expecting, he hadn't expected this: "...No one's heard of us? But-, our uncle said we must never reveal our true identity's to anyone: our lives depend on it"
"Hey, you ain't the only ones who're trying to survive you know?" Pascal sighed, "There're people all over this walled world who're trying to live with more freedom than the law allows. For all kinds of reasons: the fact you're the last of a dying breed doesn't make you any more special than them. So don't go crying your eyes out over the fact you're marked for death by some idiots who think the world would be better off without you; because there's a whole slew of us out there, the world would rather see dead for the fact we're more free than they are, and prefer to be ourselves rather than get swept away by the status quo"
The kids gazed at Pascal in surprise: Rowan in particular was stunned, and was at a loss what to say; there are other people in this world like him? Who had to hide who they really were, or risking being punished for their differences? It was eye-opening to say the least.
Curious as to how they figured it out, Ariana turned to the Cooper twins and asked: "...How did you know we were Celts?" Lucius and Lucy glanced at one another, and explained: "Actually, we've known for a little while now," Lucy admitted, "We found a book in Bryson and Claude's bookshop on the hunting traditions of Maria some time ago, and it mentioned that the Celts made their arrowheads out of crystals and stone. When we came over to your house last week to drop off that delivery list to your dad, we saw a bunch of those arrows sitting on the desk in his study" Ariana stared at them in amazement: "But if you guys knew, why didn't you say anything?" The twins glanced at one another, and shrugged with a smile: "Because? We don't care what you are: you're our friend Ariana, and that's all what really matters to us"
"Come on" Gale chipped in, "Does it really matter what other people think of you? It's your life, you should be allowed to live it the same as us"
"And besides, Pascal's got a point" Shyla spoke up: "We're all trying to survive this world one way or another: maybe we could do it better if we all help each other?" she gazed up at the titans, "We're bound together by secrets now anyway: so maybe it'll be easier if we share the burden of it together?"
"Actually? ..." Carla thought about it: "That doesn't sound like such a bad idea" "So? You really don't mind the fact that we're Celts? ..." Hazel asked her worryingly: seeing the look of anxiety in her eyes, Carla knelt down before her and held both her hands gently: "Hazel, listen to me: I couldn't care less about what you are or where you and your family come from. All I care about is making sure you get back home okay, and that no one hurts you or your family. Your aunt Freya and I have been friends for a number of years now, do you really think after all this time I'd betray her just because she has a different heritage than me?"
"I don't know?" Rowan admitted ruefully, "... Our uncle said you can't put too much stock in people who're not one of us: people these days are usually out for themselves; be it for money or food or freedom, some people will sell out their whole families for a fast coin if they could. The world is cruel, and it doesn't tolerate difference well; that's why we have to hide at all costs; otherwise, people like those in the wall cult will kill us and our families"
"The wall cult?" West frowned in bemusement, "Why would the wall cult come after you? And just who the hell were those riders anyway?"
Glancing at one another, Ariana sighed as she reluctantly explained: "... We Celts call them the dark riders: their part of the wall cult, their own privet army who they call the 'Disciples': they're the one who've been wiping us out for the last hundred years. No one outside the cult knows they exist, and that's because they kill anyone who sees them, and their always careful to take the bodies with them so there's no trace for anyone to find"
"They hunt us, and anyone else the wall cult doesn't like. They usually hunt at night so they can remain unseen, but-, those guys we saw were out in the daylight; I don't understand why?" Dale frowned as he wracked his brain for a plausible explanation,
"But why would the wall cult go out of its way just to wipe out a whole other breed of human?" Pascal raised an eyebrow,
"The story goes, as our uncle told it," Ariana explained, "That we Celts possessed something the first king of the walls was scared of, something that posed a threat to him and his rule; It's said that we posses 'the memory of memories', whatever that means? He said he'd tell us about that when we're older"
"Fine. Whatever," Pascal shrugged: after all the craziness he'd seen today, he was unconcerned with how peculiar it sounded, "Basically their bad news"
"But then- ..." West thought aloud, "Those stories we used to hear in the capitol: about people out in the country disappearing on the roads at night?" he gazed as Pascal with a worried look in his eyes: "...What if it was them all along?"
"...You might have a point there..." Pascal sighed with a concerned frown as he folded his arms: "Looks like they weren't just stories after all?"
"Wait, the Disciples hunt in the interior too?" Ash blinked in surprise:
"Apparently..." Pascal regarded him with a serious look: "Growing up, we used to hear stories: rumours of people traveling the country roads at night, being 'spirited away' by some unseen ethereal entity; leaving no trace anything or anyone was ever there. Of course most people just brushed it off as horseshit, some ghost story into scaring disobedient brats into doing their chores. But the thing is, those rumours have been around since forever, and they never really seemed to go away. So part of me always wondered if maybe there was something to it? Of course I thought it could be some criminals who'd perfected the art of kidnapping poor folks to sell on the black market; but the people that went missing were rich and poor alike, which doesn't jive with the kind of criminal's dealing in human trafficking. But if it's the wall cult that's been responsible all this time, then it kinda makes sense: given how secretive and shady those nut-jobs are, I wouldn't be surprised if that's how they really subjugate the masses"
"-Wait a sec, let me get this straight," Carla held up her hand, trying to keep up with the conversation as her mind reeled: "You're saying, those riders we just saw, they're part of the wall cult?"
"You only just figured that out?" Pascal deadpanned; "Mrs Jaeger I'm telling you the truth: those riders are part of the wall cult, and they'll kill you if you see them, even by accident!" Ariana pleaded. "It's bad enough we have to hide our true heritage from the world just to avoid them, now they know we live here! ... How the hell did that rider get his hands on one of our arrows anyway?" she thought aloud.
"It's my fault," Ash admitted nervously, "When they found us again, I fired an arrow at that rider and I got him in the shoulder" his face contorted into a look of fear and dread, "It's my fault they know we're here and now they'll-""-Wait a minute, Ash" Carla stopped him as she kneeled down to meet his eye-level, "You said they found you again, have you ran into them before?"
"... Earlier, when we were looking for Ariana" Hazel explained, "We saw them in a clearing not far from here: they were chasing some guy and ran over him with their horses; we didn't see what happened per se but-, they did something bad to him, and-..." She hesitated as the memory of the incident came back to haunt her, "...I don't know what they did, but one of them had this black round box-
Carla's eyes widened in shock: could it have been the same black cylindrical box she saw earlier, the one with the severed head inside? Hearing this too, Elysia's eyes widened in shock and horror, and the other gods were quick to sense her aura shift in realization. "-He did something with it, I don't know what? But they tied him onto the back of one of the horses and rode off" Hazel finished explaining: "It's true, we all saw it" Gale sighed sombrely, "There was a big pool of blood where he'd been lying on the ground" "...Those 'Disciples': if no one knows they exist, who can we turn to for help? ..." Belle added in equal worry.
The gods all glanced at one another: they didn't need to read each others auras to know they were thinking the exact same thing; and needed no convincing otherwise.
Feeling guilty, Ash addressed everyone: "...Look, Mrs Jaeger? Guys?" he glanced at Carla, the Willum and Cooper kids "This whole thing sounds crazy I know, and I don't expect you to understand all of it. But what happened here today: the things we've seen and escaped? Meeting Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel?" he glanced up at Shadow, who smiled down at him reassuringly: "I don't blame you if you want out of it: it's a big responsibility keeping secrets; and it's not because I don't trust any of you. I just don't want this whole thing to get any more complicated than it already is. But-, now that the Disciples are here in the Marian forest, it's about to get a whole lot more complicated: and its way outta my hands"
Rowan then unexpectedly added: "... Being a Celt-, being different isn't easy, and it sucks that we have to be reminded of that every day. It's the reason I'm so angry all the time, because I can't be who I want to be: and sometimes I lash out at the wrong people; and they get hurt because of me" he glanced over at Ariana, who offered him a small weak, yet understanding smile.
It was then, Carla realized: "...That's why you fell out with Ariana that night wasn't it?" Rowan snapped his head up in surprise: "...You were arguing about it, and that's why-" she gazed over at Ariana; the look on her face pretty much confirmed it. Standing back up, Carla addressed the Celtic kids with a sense of motherly protection and surety: "... Listen to me: I don't know which of your uncles told you all about your heritage and why you need to hide it: but as a mother and someone who cares about her friends greatly, I can tell you this; the world is a hard place to survive, and your uncle wasn't kidding when he said there are cruel people who're willing to go to any lengths to get what they want. But that doesn't mean everyone is out to get you: most just want to get by as best they can, and they're not concerned with everyone else's business. It's true some people can do bad things for selfish and petty reasons: and some are good people at heart, they just-, go about things the wrong way" She glanced over at Pascal and West, who were both somewhat surprised to hear her say that last part: "...But that's just it, its some people, not all the people in this world. So don't feel like everyone's out to get you just because you're different: and if other people can't see you for who you are then that's their problem, not yours, okay? Don't let them define you, just because they can't see who you really are" she smiled down at the children.
The kids stared at her nonplussed, even West felt a little impressed by her wisdom: after a moment of thoughtful contemplation, Ariana glanced over at her brother's and cousins: "...You know? Maybe we've been over-stressing about this too much? If people really don't know about the Celts anymore, then what have we got to worry about?"
"Hell, I wouldn't know a Celt if one walked up to me in the street," Belle shrugged, "Seriously guys, your secret's safe with us okay? So don't go sweating over it: I mean we've been friends since forever, and let's face it we've done a shit-loada stuff that'd get us into way worse trouble"
"Oh really?" Carla raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms: "Like what?" "Uh-" Belle froze as she realized what she just said. "*Ahem!*" Pascal interrupted, "Much as it pains me to break up this tender little moment: you young lady-" he shot a look at Bemadette, "-Have your half of that deal to fulfill. Remember?" he tapped a finger on his ODM gear's right gas tank. "Oh yeah" Bemadette suddenly remembered: reaching for the tool kit in her back pocket, she smiled: "Okay, let's get started: everyone take off your gears and hand 'em over: this is going to take a while"
"In the house if you don't mind!" Pascal pointed to the front door, "And once you're out of 'em, make yourselves useful and help us to tidy up the place: we got some packing to do" "Packing?" Poppy raised an eyebrow, "Where're you going?"
Leaving the humans to their own devices, the gods stood back up, and discreetly excused themselves by moving to the edge of the clearing: "This day just seems to keep getting more interesting..." Herne frowned in grave thought, "So those riders were the Disciples"
"And it would seem they're looking to move into the neighborhood" Hecate frowned as she folded her arms; "You saw their aura's right? There's no way I'm letting those murdering bastards roam around free to do as they please"
"Agreed," Javorin glanced over at her in a serious tone: "They're dangerous: they can't be allowed to prowl this forest killing innocent people indiscriminately"
"So what's the plan?" Elysia frowned, "How can we keep Carla and the kids safe?"
"One thing at a time kid," Herne assured her, "We gotta have a plan first"
"...That rider..." Hecate thought back to the conversation the riders had between themselves, "He said they had depots and halfway-houses, and are building more; a supply chain do you think?"
"It has to be," Javorin concurred, "The forest is vast and isolated in many places: it would make sense to have somewhere safe to stay, as well as keep supplies and food readily available for long trips out"
"And this 'sanctuary' they spoke of. Could it be their central headquarters for this region?" Herne suggested, "They said they're about to start building it: so they're not ready to fully move in just yet"
"Which means we still have time to-, what was it the humans used to say? Throw a spanner in the works" Hecate smirked, "I think perhaps, the old 'haunted forest' approach would be suitable for this"
"Maybe, but rather than rush in blindly, I'd like to know exactly who we're dealing with" Javorin stated, "Find out who the Disciples really are: find out how they operate, along with their strengths and weaknesses, and then hit them where it does the most damage. And at the same time, make sure they don't prey on anyone else"
"Hey Shadow?" Ariana tapped him on the foot, "You might wanna do something about those footprints? You know, like cover them up with some bushes or something?" Smiling down at her with a nod, Javorin reached down and picked her up, "If you can send out your 'spies' to do a little reconnaissance on this 'sanctuary site' that would be a good starting point" he suggested as he walked over to the cottage. "I'll get started on it tonight," Hecate replied with a discreet nod "What're you going to do about the one's we just saw?" "I'll take care of them once Carla and the children are on their way back home" he replied.
"What can I do to help?" Elysia asked in all seriousness: "You want to help?" Hecate glanced sideways at her: "You control the weather: we might need some cover in the way of fog and rain" "You got it" she nodded.
"Hey Angel!" Lucy beckoned her over, "Can you help us out here please?"
"I just don't want them hurting Carla, or the kids, or Pascal and West" she added as she trotted off to where the Cooper twins and Carla were standing: "...Think she's still needs babysitting?" Herne smirked, "Not as much as I thought. Which is a bit of a relief I guess?" Hecate smiled, before a more serious tone overcame her fair features: "...You do realize though, we can't just forget about the Scout's either; nor our curses and finding a way to break them"
"I know," Herne sighed with a sympathetic smile, "We'll make it work somehow: we're just going to have to get a little more organized; All-father only knows, we're going to be busy for the foreseeable future"
"Yeah..." She sighed as she watched Ariana's brothers helping West carry several boxes out of the cottage. She noticed Rowan trying not to stare at her: reading his aura, she could see the anxiety and apprehension he had over the family secret being made known; but she could also see his longing to be free of his burden, and at the back of her mind she couldn't help but remember back to the time eons ago, when she too, longed to be her own goddess. When Javorin mentioned he had someone more compatible in mind for her as a friend, was this who he meant? If so, he certainly picked well: as Hecate now found herself, becoming a tad curious about Rowan... "...It's just a shame there are some things about humanity, me and Javorin can agree on"
A few hours later:
"Wow," West smiled as he scanned the ODM gears up and down in the crate, "They look like they just came fresh off the factory floor!" Looking over the gears with a critical eye, Pascal conceded that indeed, Bemadette had done a damn fine job, and held out his hand to her once again: "Well? A deal's a deal kid, and I have to admit, you got some seriously good skills" "I know" Bemadette smiled as she shook his hand.
"So? Where're you guys going?" Ariana asked offhand as she gazed over at the fully-laden cart and wagon: everything that could be carried, including the ODM gears had been packed up either into a crate on the wagon or under the cart's tarpaulin. "Anywhere away from here: the whole reason we moved to this spot is because we thought we were far enough outta the way where no one was likely to find us. And now that those creeps know about us, we ain't safe: so that means we gotta find somewhere else to live and do business" Pascal explained as he packed the last few items onto the wagon.
"You know it's our fault you gotta move right?" Gale thought aloud in regret: "If we hadn't been running from those riders and found this place, leaving those footprints for them to follow, they never would have come here"
"Ah don't beat yourself up kid," West waved off as he readied the horses, "If those guys are moving into the area then it would've only been a matter of time before they found this place anyway: trust me, it would've probably made no difference..." he gazed back at the cottage nostalgically, and smiled: "...Still, it was nice while it lasted"
"Will you be okay?" Carla asked offhand, "Ah don't worry about us" Pascal waved, "We got a buddy in Shiganshina who can put us up for a while, until we can find a new place""My granny could put you up for free in our guesthouse if you're willing to help out in the bar and kitchen?" Gale offered, "Thanks kid but we only work for ourselves: we're our own bosses, and that's how we'd like to keep it..." Pascal smiled as he headed back down into the basement, and re-emerged with a large metal can in hand; he headed inside the cottage, opened the lid, and started pouring a golden liquid all over the place.
"What's he doing?" Ashlyn asked offhand.
"We can't leave any trace we were here" West replied as he grabbed the reins of both horses, and led them away from the front porch, and into the tree line at the start of the dirt road about a hundred yards away, "You might want to step away from there!" he called back. Realizing what he was going to do: Carla grabbed Ariana and Gale by the hand and ran the other way to where the titans were standing: "-Quickly all of you! Out of the way!" she ordered; the children took off running after her, but before they could ask what was going on, they felt an intense surge of head hit their backs as the sound of a small explosion echoed through the clearing. They turned around just in time to see the whole cottage going up in flames, with Pascal calmly walking over to the cart and wagon, placing a match box in his pocket: everyone wandered over to the cart and wagon, and for a long time they just stood there watching the place burn.
As Ariana watched the dancing flames reach up into the blue sky, she couldn't help but feel a sense of responsibility for all this: after all, she was the reason her brothers, cousins and friends had come out here in the first place, to look for her and bring her home. If it hadn't been for her, they wouldn't have run into those masked riders in the first place. Deep down she felt bad, but at the same time she resolved to make it up to them somehow.
Carla too, couldn't help but feel as though she'd inadvertently seen something she wasn't supposed to: as if she'd just caught a glimpse into a dark other world, one that lay right beneath the surface of the one she knew, and one that felt far too close to home. If those dark riders and Pastors were part of the same cult, then there was a good chance she'd probably seen them heading to their church for their weekly prayers and sermons in Shiganshina: it was unnerving to think that some of those same parishioners, could have been any one of those riders; who could say? She didn't know. Carla knew the world was harsh and unforgiving, but today, she felt as though she had just seen a part of the really mysterious side of it: thinking of home, she thought of her son and husband, and wondered just how close that dark world was to them; how close within striking range were they to it? If they had to travel through the forest for any reason, and they saw those riders by accident, she would never see them again: and there wouldn't even be any bodies to bury.
As a mother and wife, it was her duty to keep her family safe: it was her responsibility to keep Eren safe from the dangers of the world, until he reached the age where he was strong enough to stand on his own two feet, and face the world as a man: and even then her work would never be truly done. But for now, she had to give him the best chance possible.
But what about Ariana and her family? The kids were still undertaking bush-craft and hunting lessons from their fathers, and they were due to go out back into the forest sometime next week. But what would they do if they knew the dark riders were our here? Would they pack up and leave? But if so where would they go? With the wall cult virtually everywhere all over the three walls, nowhere was truly safe. And then there was the Willum and Copper kids, they at the very least would still want to come back to the forest to see the titans again; seeing the look of wonder and awe in their eyes at seeing them after their initial introduction, she knew there was no way to dissuade them from their curiosity. But then, all the kids would want to come back and see them again, especially Ariana: and while the titans could afford them a level of safety with their invisibility; who would make sure they got to the forest safely?
And then there was Angel: given everything that had happened today she'd expected her to be more frightened and traumatized; but instead, she handled herself surprisingly well. Maybe she wasn't so much of a kid after all? But still, there was something about her she could only describe as naive and innocent: and at the back of her mind, Carla couldn't help but worry if maybe she might end up biting off more than she could chew? Thinking back to what happened earlier, she realized she'd purposely taken off after the riders to stop them from attacking the children: she was willing to risk her life for them, and she did it without hesitation or a second thought. Carla couldn't help but smile: at least she knew Angel's heart was in the right place; and more remarkable still, was the fact she was probably the first human to ever fly (even if the wings were not her own: it was still an amazing albeit brief experience). How many people could claim that privilege?
Heaving a heavy sigh, Carla knew she had her work cut out for her: so many responsibilities, so many to look out for; it was a challenge, but for everyone's sake's, she was willing to meet it head on.
"Well? This is where we part ways and say goodbye," Pascal sighed as he got up on the cart, while West climbed up onto the wagon and took the reins: "It's been fun, but we gotta get going"
"Will we ever see you guys again?" Ariana asked offhand,
"Hopefully not, and if you're ever in the 'bad side' of Shiganshina, don't ask for us by name okay? It's better if we'd never met to begin with..." Pascal replied, before glancing up at Shadow and the other titans, "And hey you big lugs! Let's not meet again okay? I've had enough weird shit to last me a lifetime!"
Shadow waved his hand and spelt out the words, : Same here, I wouldn't stand to have such young impressionable minds cavorting with criminals :. Pascal burst out laughing: "A titan with sensibilities? Holy shit! The Scouts would have a panic attack if they ever ran into you guys!" He then glanced down at the kids with a surprisingly honest look, "...But seriously, kid?" he gazed down at Ariana in particular, "If you think you're responsible for all the crazy shit that went down today? You'd only be half right: as bad as things got, a lot more good came out of it you know?" "It did?" Ariana blinked in surprise: "Well? In a way, you saved our lives" Pascal pointed out: "If we hadn't been invisible and overheard that conversation? It's likely we'd have been paid a visit from those guys and blackmailed into doing whatever they wanted of us; and chances are, it would've worked out far worse for someone else in the long run. So on that line of logic: you could say you saved a lot more lives today... And on that note: if we ever do meet again? We owe you one"
"We may be criminals, but don't let it be said we don't stick to our promises" West smiled, "Well? Anyway, take care of yourselves" he waved goodbye as he flicked the reins, and the horse began walking down the dirt road with Pascal following close behind, "You know, it's a damn shame you're already married, you might have made an honest man of me!" he shot a cheeky wink at Carla. "Somehow, I don't think that's even possible" she deadpanned at him, "You two stay out of trouble you hear!"
"Can't make any promises!" Pascal called back, "Take care and have a nice life!"
As the carts disappeared over the next rise, Carla glanced down at the kids, and back up at the titans: "I think? Perhaps it's time we all headed for home"
"Yeah" Ash sighed offhand, "I dunno about you guys, but I'm ready to do some chores" The children all voiced in agreement; Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel all bent down, and Shadow spelt out the words, : Given what's happened today, we'll escort you all back to the edge of the forest: "Thanks big guy" Ariana smiled as she climbed up into his free hand, and he placed her on his shoulder, followed by the Willum sisters.
The walk back to the edge of the forest closest to Shiganshina was relatively short for the titans: what would have taken a human at least three hours on foot, took only about half an hour for them; and with invisibility as a factor, they didn't have to worry about hiding along the roads. Stopping at the last crossroads before the forest met the open farmland and meadows, the titans let everyone down, and made themselves visible for their goodbyes.
: Don't worry about the riders, we have a plan to take care of them, and make sure they don't bother anyone else: Shadow wrote. "What've you got in mind?" Ariana asked offhand, : Something to ensure they don't want to come back. You let us worry about them okay? You just concentrate on getting home safely: he wrote.
Bending down and giving her a farewell nose boop, Angel chirped at Carla with an apologetic tone, as if to say sorry, and to plead with her not to stop coming back; somehow, Carla seemed to understand this, and smiled as she stroked her cheek: "Hey come on this isn't goodbye forever, I'll come back again, I promise; we just need to lay low for a while okay? Just until things have died down. You understand, don't you?" Angel reluctantly nodded, but smiled with a sense of understanding, "There's a good girl" Carla kissed her on the nose, "I'll see you when I see you: you take care of yourself, and your family you hear?" Angel chirped and trilled something like a goodbye, and waved farewell to the kids with her wing. "You remember we told you where the green fens are, right?" Ash asked Shadow, "That's where our dads are taking us camping next week". "I expect to see you there" Ariana pointed a finger up at the giant. : Of course; now go on, off with you all...See you next time: Shadow smiled as he and the other titans got back up, and slowly vanished from sight as they strode away into the trees.
Once they were completely gone from sight, everyone turned and started heading for home. As they left the forest, they saw wall Maria come into view: dominating the horizon and looming over everything in sight, Belle turned to Ariana and asked, "...Hey Ariana, is this how it felt? The first time after meeting him and having to go home?" "What'd you mean?" Ariana glanced at her, as she stared out across the farmlands at the wall: "... I don't know, but that wall kinda looks a little smaller for some reason"
"...Yeah..." Josefa and Jaye both sighed, "It kinda does doesn't it?"
"The first time I came home after meeting Shadow for the time..." Ariana thought back to that fateful day: "I think I must have thought every thought imaginable; there was so much stuff going through my mind, I didn't know I could think so much. I felt like I was on fire, that I could do anything I wanted; I guess it's what gave me the courage to want to sneak out very week, just to go and see him again. I mean, something-, someone that amazing, how can you just ignore it?"
"I know," Carla sighed admittedly with a small smile: "When I first encountered Angel, at first I was terrified and ran away: but then-, I don't know; something made me realize she wasn't a threat, which sounds totally weird if not a little disconcerting. But-, When I looked into her eyes, and saw just how human she was? Something deep down just seemed to 'click', and I wasn't afraid anymore..." she gazed off up into the sky as she let her mind speak her thoughts: "...It's a strange feeling: letting fear give way to curiosity: it's not really something anyone can teach you how to do, I guess you either have it or you don't? And I suppose, it's one of those things that can only happen in the heat of the moment, when you're actually there"
"... It's like killing an animal for the first time," Clay sighed as he gazed down at the arrows in his quiver, "You know you're taking a life, and that life will help you and your family to live; but it still means that animal has to die, and you don't know if you have it in you to kill it... It's not until you got it square in your sight and it's the moment to let your arrow fly, that you find out if you have what it takes to make that kinda choice, and be okay with it"
"Yeah but these are titans we're talking about; humanity's greatest enemy, and yet there are four of them living here inside the walls. They don't eat humans, they know our language, and they can turn invisible!" Dale pointed out: "Among other things: but I can fill you in on that later," Ariana added quickly, "My point is: this raises a lot of big questions, and one's I don't think the answers are going to be easy to find, or understand for that matter..." he sighed, "Call me paranoid (and excuse the pun), but I can't help but feel like we've stumbled onto something way bigger than ourselves"
"... You might be right" Carla nodded in concurrence, "But whatever it is, I just hope it doesn't cause more trouble than we're prepared to handle"
Changing the subject slightly: Ariana took a deep breath, and glanced at everyone: "... Listen guys, I'm really sorry for everything today: if it hadn't been for me, you all wouldn't have been out here at all, and you wouldn't have run into those riders and nearly got killed. If I hadn't been so selfish, none of this would have happened"
"What?" Ash blinked in surprise, "Ariana, if we hadn't known those riders were out there, we might die next week"
"What?" Ariana blinked in surprise at him: "If we hadn't discovered their presence here in the forest today, you wouldn't have warned Shadow and the others to keep an eye on us when we next go camping, and risk getting ambushed and killed. Despite everything that happened today, you and Shadow saved our lives: as well as you and Angel Mrs Jaeger" Ash smiled up at Carla.
Carla couldn't help but smile: "Oh, I don't deserve the credit: I was holding on for dear life wondering what the hell was going on. It wasn't until I saw both the riders and all of you down below that I realized what she was doing. I'm very proud of her for being so selfless and brave" She glanced down at Ariana, "And Ariana? Don't blame yourself for any of this okay? There's no way you could have foreseen any of this"
"You're not going to tell my mum on me, are you?" she nervously raised an eyebrow, to which Carla couldn't help but smile: "I think, telling your parents the reason you snuck off was to go play with a fifteen meter tall titan, is going to be a little hard to believe all round"
"Hell, I don't think anyone's going to believe us if we told them the truth: even those riders thought their footprints were fake" Hawk smirked, "... Shadow said he had a plan to take care of those riders: any idea what he was talking about?" "Dunno" Ariana shrugged, "But he's really smart, and can do a lot of cool things: if he says he's got a plan, he's got a plan; whatever it is I'm sure he'll make it work"
"Okay, so if his plan works and he manages to drive the riders out for good, do you think our folks will let us back up into the forest again, you know? To 'hunt' an' stuff?" Clay surmised with a knowing smile, "Our folks are okay with us going up into the forest as long as we all go together. But the question is how to make it full-proof? I mean, our dad's are going to be expecting us to join them for the big game hunts when we're older, which means it'll be impossible to slip away to go meet up with them: so these little 'rabbit and game bird hunts' are really the only way we can get outta the house by ourselves with a valid excuse"
"Not to mention there's the Inn" Gale pointed out, "We got our chores to do around that place, and Aunt Miriam won't let us out unless it's our day off, or we're helping Mrs Grayson with her deliveries" "And let's face it," Lucius sighed in disappointment: "If those riders are just killing anyone who trespasses on their property: and people start to disappear, rumours are going to spread around the valley, and soon enough we won't be let out at all. Not without adult supervision at least"
"Well then," Carla smiled with a cunning glint in her eye, "You're going to need someone to supervise you when you go out to meet them, aren't you? ..." she smiled at the Willum sisters: "Gale: is your aunt Miriam still looking for a second delivery driver to cover her clients along the eastern forest road?" Glancing up at her in surprise, and realizing what she was hinting at, the kids all smiled in delight: "...I'll tell her we've got a new driver" Gale smiled, "But will it be okay with Eren and Mr Jaeger?" "Ah we've been talking about a second income for a while now anyway" she waved off, "Something not too labor-intensive; although: navigating those forests roads can take a long time, you could be gone a whole day just getting from one end to the next" she winked with a smile.
"Mrs Jaeger you're the best!" Ariana beamed: the other kids followed suit as they realized they now had a safe way back into the forest. All they needed to do was wait: and let Shadow and the other titans make the forest safe again.
High above Maria: gazing down from the clouds in his elemental form, Javorin smiled fondly as Ariana and her family made their way back to the inner gate. Of all the ways this day could have gone so wrong, it was both a surprise and a relief to know some good actually came of it. '...That was one hell of gamble, but thank the All-father it paid off' he thought in relief.
Ever since overhearing that meeting in the basement of that Inn, Javorin knew that running into Ariana the night he awoke from that cursed sleep was no mere accident; just as Carla's encounter with Elysia was no random fluke either. There was a purpose to these happenstances, a reason they were brought together; so going on his gut instinct, he decided to take a gamble, and allowed Ariana and Carla to forester their friendships with him and Elysia: at the same time putting some buffering space between them and Hecate (at least, until he was able to sweet-talk her into going along with his ideology for once. And he didn't feel bad about it: Hecate, in the past had tricked him into helping her plenty of times; it seemed only fair to turn the tables on her for once. As family, having that sort of petty cousin rivalry came with the territory of being one of many gods and goddesses with many multiple relations; needless to say, it was complicated). Where this whole venture was going, he didn't know; but somewhere in the great secret workings of the universe, he could sense his hand was being guided by his ancient kin from afar. And although the uncertainly of the world was the will of those who came before him, he had faith that the answer would reveal itself in time. It was just a question of letting things transpire naturally, no matter how long it took.
Turning his attention to the valley north of the wall, and the land the wall cult now claimed as their own: he frowned as he watched the aura's of the riders move through the deepest parts of the forest, sweeping towards a small house just south of a river. '... No time like the present...' he thought, and with a powerful gust of wind, he plummeted towards them with the speed of a hurricane wind: his tattoos glowing with indignation as he summoned his power, and readied himself to bring his wrath down upon them.
'You're not the only ones who know how make someone disappear'
Well? the cats out the bag, and those kitty's are just going to keep coming out in the next chapter, as it'll be the grown-up's turn for meeting our four big lovies! hope you all enjoyed, and don't forget to R&R before clicking off :) Bye!