The Awakening

by SniperGirl0907

The gods have been gone for too long: cursed to exist as giant voiceless monsters, they have awakened to find humanity at the edge of extinction, & at the mercy of the creatures known as 'titans'. Now, with the help of a young adventurous girl, a brave courageous mother, and their equally intrepid friends and family, they must find a way to save all mankind.

9. Chpt 8: The Storm

I don't own Attack on Titan: just my OC's and the plot.

---

The Awakening

Chapter 8: The Storm

841, March, The Marian forest:

Dawn:

The air was cold. So cold it was like a blade, cutting deep to the bone and freezing the blood: so still and silent that the songs of the birds echoed far and wide out of the deepest reaches of the forest. Amid the melting snow and ice, the frost covered everything in sight, glistening in the dim light of the overcast sunrise: the first daffodils of the year covered the forest floor in large clusters, bringing some much needed colour to the monotone landscape, while the last of the crocuses and snowdrops bloomed their last hues of the late winter. The cloud cover was so thick and grey that it turned the sun white and made it look as if it were shining in silver:

The forest was slowly waking up from another long winter's sleep: encased in an eerie cocoon of grey, mist, cold, and the sound of running water. Like the butterfly's that would fill the air come the summer, nature was slowly transforming itself for the shifting of the seasons. Still, quietly, and in its own good time.

Though, the same could not be said for the lone masked rider, and he forced his steed to gallop as fast as it could go: "-FASTER YOU STUPID BEAST FASTER!" he screamed: his voiced laden with fear, dread, and utter disbelief; while the blood of his comrades dripped from his cloak, and stained the frost and snow with specks of deep crimson. Seven hours ago, he and his fellow Disciples had set out to investigate the disappearance of twenty five of their comrades only the week before: but when they got the location of the alleged disappearance, they very quickly found out why they went missing, and realized that they had become prey...

He was the only one left now...

He had to get back to the others, he had to warn them at all costs: for he had seen the creature that had been stalking the Disciples all winter long; the beast that had hunted the others before him, and was now chasing him. As the sun began to peek over the eastern side of wall Maria, he recognized the layout of the trees, and realized his campsite was just up ahead; and for a moment, as he listened to the silence of the forest, he allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief... But it was short-lived as he rounded the next giant tree: and yanked the reins hard as the scene before him turned his stomach to rot...

The entire campsite was in ruins: tents torn and ripped to pieces, provision carts broken apart and lying scattered everywhere, the remains of the campfires dusted about as if they'd been thrown up in the air and scattered all around, with some of the dying embers still burning red. But worse, was the blood and ripped up uniforms; splattered all over the frosted ground in streaks and drips of crimson and burgundy, the biting metallic smell hung in the air mingled with the cold: while the tattered and torn uniforms lay all over the place, soaked in their owner's blood. And on the sides of the giant trees up to fifteen meters above the ground: giant claw marks testified to the beast's rampage in this place of slaughter; several meters long, and dug deep into the wood, whatever this beast was, it was truly a monster.

But more disturbingly, was the fact there were no bodies anywhere; this beast had already had its fill.

The rider dismounted, dizzy and disorientated, and leaned against the side of the giant tree as he vomited: he was well and truly at the end of his tether, wracked with fear, horror, and at a loss what to do now: he couldn't think straight for the fear of being picked off too; what was this thing? How was it doing this without getting caught or sighted? Why was it feeding on them? And why hadn't they found any other human remains anywhere in the forest? Why was it only hunting them?

As he hyperventilated, his breath suddenly hitched in his chest, as he was suddenly overcome with the crippling feeling of being watched by something terrible; suddenly, his horse nickered before galloping off back the way they'd came, leaving him without a quick means of escape. Frozen to the spot in fear, the rider slowly turned around to where he felt the eyes where: and there, standing in the dark shadows of the trees, was a huge humanoid mass of pure darkness over fifteen meters tall, like liquid or cigar smoke, it seemed to 'flow' through the air as it gazed down at him with fierce violet eyes that glowed like fire.

He didn't have time to scream as the mass lunged down at him with its long sharp claws...

---

It didn't take Hecate long to consume the last of the Disciples: as she wiped the blood from her lilac lips, she rematerialized into her titan form, and casually gazed down at the former campsite. Holding one hand up, she made the sign of a certain charm symbol, and recited the incantation to go with it:

"Inveta-Io, Asseau-menn-velor, fre-qua-en-salou: let it be known that evil was vanquished in this place of death, let those who did wrong against their fellow man find redemption in the eternal realm, and do not linger to haunt the living: Esass-nihmm-olure-wessva-knol: let this place be cleansed of its wounds, and let the forest reclaim what was once taken in falsehood and blindness"

As her mind's voice echoed out into the spirit world and into the soul of the forest itself: the spirits manifested out of the trees and undergrowth, flickering like tiny green and yellow candle-flames as they floated down into the clearing, and began to dance around the carnage in a clockwise circle. Working their strange magic in voices no human had heard for many ages: the forest all around seemed to come to life as the blood soaked into the earth, and fresh grass and other plants began to sprout and grow amid the remains of the campsite, until hardly anything could be seen and the spirits drifted back into the trees, whispering to the goddess as she watched them leave.

Daughter of the moon and death

Hunter of all evils in the world

Consumer of darkness and corruption

Guardian of the shadows

We praise your name and give thanks

No evil will linger here

And none shall come to hunt those who honor us

With a courteous bow, Hecate silently walked away and headed for the nearby waterfall just several hundred yards away. Taking a few minutes to wash the blood off herself, and perform a cleansing spell to banish the scent and aura of death surrounding her: she made herself ready for the day ahead, fresh and sweet with the scent of rain water. As she got up to leave, she noticed a small root cave some two hundred yards further down the stream, with something pale standing out against the gloom inside; wandering over to investigate, she noticed it was a small box wedged between a few large roots. Prying it out with the tips of her claws, she gingerly opened it and found a large rolled up parchment tucked away inside. Using the tips of her claws like a pair of surgeon's tweezers, she gently unrolled the paper, and studied at its contents.

It was an old map: large and fairly detailed, depicting the forest and surrounding farmlands near Shiganshina, with the names of the various villages and hamlets listed; it had multiple dotted lines in different coloured inks between the different areas of the forest (trails and pathways no doubt), and various red crosses in what looked like little clearings among the trees, each with a number of deaths, horses lost, and provisions and carts destroyed. It was a map listing the locations of where the Disciples had 'gone missing'.

'So?' Hecate thought offhand: 'you finally decided to get your act together, and investigate your comrade's disappearance's, hm? ...' she grasped the parchment in her hand, and burnt it to ashes with her purple flames: 'As if that will make any difference,' she thought darkly, 'So long as you continue to inflict your rule upon the people of this region, you will not be welcome in these forests'

Turning herself into her shadow form, she melted into the darkness of the forest and moved swiftly like a fish through water: heading for the grove of giant trees.

---

Sometime later, mid-morning:

As the sun reached up high into the blue sky, the day had warmed up into a pleasantly clear spring day, with enough heat to thaw the last of the snow, and stir the hibernating animals from their long winter sleep, prompting them to go foraging for their first meals of the season.

As she rematerialized and strode into the grove, flicking her long black hair from out of her face, Hecate blinked in surprise when she saw Javorin reclining against his favorite tree, enjoying the sunshine; albeit he looked rather worn and tired: "You're back early" she thought aloud as she sat down on a large root next to him: "Which can only mean the Scouts had to call off the expedition; when did you get back?"

"Last night, not long after you left" he sighed as he repositioned himself into a more comfy position, glancing down at the daffodils amid the roots with a distant look in his eyes; Hecate knew that look, which could only mean one thing: "...How many this time?" she asked frankly, deciding not to go beating about the bush.

"...Twelve dead and six wounded" he sighed regretfully, "That's three less than last time" she offered a small smile, trying to sound encouraging, "It's all the same to them, and frustratingly difficult for us" he replied in a slightly drained tone.

"Like that's anything new. As far as their concerned we'd be fair game, remember?" she pointed out.

"Actually, I've been thinking about that" he replied, perking up slightly,

"Thinking about what?!" Elysia chirped as she came gliding down into the grove, and stuck the landing right in Herne's hollow. The god of the hunt followed after her in his sky lark form: changing back to his titan form ten meters above the ground and landing on all fours. Bouncing up out of the hollow towards them, the weather goddess perched herself on a root next to Hecate while Herne galloped over to their sides: "Indeed" he grinned, "You haven't had an idea in a long while, let's hear it"

"Before that, let's take care of business first;" he stated as he sat right and crossed his legs, "How did this morning and last night go?" he glanced at all three of them in a more professional manner,

"Not bad at all," Hecate smirked smugly, "Those additional hunters that were sent down from wall Sina? Turns out they were here to investigate the 'disappearances' from the other week. As if the other eight before those didn't matter," she deadpanned,

"What? Seriously?!" Elysia gawked, "We've been getting rid of those bastards since last summer and they only now decide to investigate it?!"

"Worshiping a false god is bad enough" Hecate frowned, "But it would seem nothing is sacred to these pieces of filth: not even the lives of their fellow Disciples... After all the losses they've incurred and the inactivity to try to counter it: it can only mean that someone somewhere covered it all up"

"Well if that's the case, then that works in our favor" Herne pointed out, "Their only now just learning about it, which means they should be forced to reconsider sending any more Disciples here"

"And with the investigation team now 'missing in action', it's sure to send a chill up the spine of whoever's organizing these hunts..." Hecate added, before changing the subject slightly and gazing over at Herne, "And, speaking of missing in action: how'd things go on your end?"

"Pretty fruitful I'd say" Herne nodded with smile of satisfaction: "We cleared out the last three depots, and last four halfway-houses last night: as of this morning, the Disciple's supply chain to the entire southern region of Maria is officially out of commission; permanently"

"And we made sure they wouldn't come back to rebuild them any time soon" Elysia smirked, "Herne made sure the bears and wolves would keep an eye on those places: along with a few bad luck hexes for good measure"

"Meh, I'm not one to brag: I like to let my work speak for itself" Herne smirked. "Modesty ever begets you brother," Javorin couldn't help but smile: "And how did your mission go Elysia?" he turned to the avian, who puffed out her chest feathers proudly; "Well? I'm pleased to say I found a good sized thunderstorm heading up from the south west beyond Maria: it'll be here by tomorrow, so that'll give me plenty of time to work it up into a proper tempest!"

"Very good, but remember to keep the rain to a minimum, it's the lightning we want;" Javorin reminded her: "The rivers are already saturated with melt water, and the southern Marian river is quite full as it is; if there is to be a downpour, make sure it falls before it crosses over the wall"

"I know I know," Elysia nodded confidently, "Don't worry, I totally got this. Those summer storms I stirred up last year did a good job, right?"

"Well, they certainly had the desired result" Hecate grinned as she remembered the chaos said storms created for the wall cult: "Who knew a building site could go up in flames like that?"

"I know it's been a long winter, but I can still aim a lightning bolt straight" Elysia stated: "Don't sweat it: it'll be the best demolition work I've done yet! (And the wall cult will be tearing their hair out yet again, for sure!)" She grinned.

"Well then, come tomorrow we'll leave you to your own devices..." Javorin regarded her with a courteous nod: before addressing all three of them; "...We've made great progress these last eight months: pushing the wall cult out hasn't been easy, but now that the last of the depots and halfway-houses are gone, and the sanctuary's construction will be rendered dead in the water after tomorrow. The Disciples will be quite hard-pushed to want to attempt anything further in this region..."

"But?" Hecate regarded him with a knowing look, "I sense a 'but' coming on"

Javorin sighed in a deadpan tone as he continued: "...But: while this has been a great achievement for the people of Shiganshina, and the Celts hiding out there in the Marian forest. I came to a realization over where we go from here, in term of, what our priorities should be"

"Priorities?" Elysia blinked in surprise, "But-, we've got our priorities: we're keeping everyone safe from the wall cult, we're keeping Carla and the kids safe. And we're keeping the Scouts safe every time they go out beyond the wall. As far as our priorities go, I think we've been on point" she pointed out, wondering where he was going with this.

"Which brings me to what I've been 'thinking' about" Javorin stated as he reclined against the tree, "...During this month's expedition, I overheard two squad leaders talking and they motioned something that got my attention. These 'explorations of the outside world' they conduct: according to them, the Scouts incur an average of ten percent losses per mission, and around thirty percent of all new recruits don't survive their first year. Since we started tailing the scouts and helping them to survive each mission, they've lost a hundred and eight soldiers; that's an average of thirteen to fourteen solders per month. If we had the freedom to move around unhindered, we could've cut that number by three quarters at least; but, as things stand, we can only do so much, on account that we have to remain invisible"

"And you, in all your wisdom have been trying to come up with a way in which we can be more effective at keeping them safe without freaking them out," Hecate deadpanned, "haven't you?"

"There really is no keeping anything from you is there?" Javorin couldn't help but smile: "...Okay, so I have two ideas: which, I'm still contemplating and am not a hundred present sure will work effectively or not, just yet, (I'm still trying to figure out all the details)"

"Okay, so what are they?" Herne shrugged: Javorin hesitated a little, before he explained, "...Well? Idea number one: we make ourselves visible to the scouts, and let them see us killing the titans: maintaining a safe distance of course, and making sure they can't get within striking range of us. I know this will have complications tied into it somewhere down the line, but if we can convince them that we mean them no harm. At the very least that will afford us a little more flexibility in being able to dispatch the titans effectively, and not risk putting anyone in danger"

Herne and Hecate both glanced at one another as they mulled it over for a moment: they could see the advantage in that plan; it would mean not having to tread so carefully around the humans, especially if they were in the middle of engaging the titans whilst invisible: "...Okay?" Herne nodded, "That does have a good line of logic, sort of?" "I can't say I totally agree with it" Hecate sighed, "But I do see where you're coming from...So what's idea number two?"

"Ah- ..." Javorin frowned as he rubbed his forehead, "It's a stupid idea now that I think about it"

"Try us" Hecate smiled as she folded her arms,

"We approach one of the soldiers, convince them that we mean them no harm, and try and get them to introduce us to the rest of the scouts as their allies" he sheepishly stated, face palming in disappointment while Hecate's own expression fell flat into a reprimanding deadpan glare: "You're right, it is a stupid idea"

"... Oh bro" Herne sighed as he came up alongside his brother and reached a hand up to rest on his shoulder, "You've been over-thinking again haven't you?"

"I kinda like the second idea" Elysia smiled, "If you pick the right scout, I'm sure it'll work"

"But it's no guarantee kid: not with humans as twitchy and wary as them ..." Herne sighed, turning back to Javorin: "...Look, I know you can't stand to see them die like that bro: believe me I feel for them too: there isn't a single expedition we haven't come back from, and haven't recited a prayer in their names-"

"-I haven't" Elysia interjected, "I haven't tailed an expedition yet; when will I get to go?" "When you learn to let go" Hecate stated frankly, "When I learn to let go?" Elysia echoed in confusion: "Let go of what?" "Of them..." Hecate gazed at her with a dubious look, "When you can watch a human die, and learn to let go of them: then you'll be ready" Elysia was about to retort when Herne stopped her: "Ah-, probably best you just go with her on this one kid; trust me, you'll know what she means, in time" Elysia frowned at him in confusion for a moment, not quite sure what he meant by that: but rather than drag it out into one big long complicated explanation, she decided to just go with it, and leave it at that.

"...My point is..." Javorin stated, getting back to the subject at hand: "The only way I can see us being able to help the Scouts more effectively, is if we work together, us and them. Maybe not closely, maybe not directly; but what we're doing right now is just not working as well as I thought it would. And then there's the matter of our other priorities to consider"

"You said you'd been thinking about that, care to elaborate?" Hecate asked offhand.

"Trying to keep the Scouts safe aside. Forcing the wall cult out of the Shiganshina district has been an accomplishment: but this entire region is not the only part of wall Maria they occupy; there's everywhere else, as well as the heart of their organization in the interior of walls Rose and Sina. If we go elsewhere to start pushing them out, they'll only move back in here again and all our work will have been for nothing..." Javorin explained, "On top of that, we've hardly made much progress in trying to decipher our curses: every time we think we're onto something, we find out it's a dead end and we're right back to square one. And the tombs have not yielded much else either: other than the fact that whoever cursed us was not your run-of-the-mill wizard, witch or mage; this was someone who knew the magics they were wielding, and knew exactly what to do...In addition to that, with all the chaos manna being given off by the titans interfering with our telepathy, we cannot locate any of the other gods, if they are even within the walls at all? Or on the other side of the world? Either way, we don't know if we're the only ones who're cursed or not"

"It's a grim state of affairs for sure, but I don't see your point yet" Hecate stated,

"We may be gods" Javorin sighed, "But we are limited, and we can only concentrate on so many problems all at once; which got me thinking: there's only two choices in being able to stay on top of all this. We either pick one and focus on that together, or, we split up and handle each one individually"

There was a long pause as everyone let it sink in for a moment: "Split up?" Elysia began to panic, "You mean like, 'go our separate ways and never see each other again' kinda-split up?!"

"Oh calm down kiddo, you can't get rid of us that easily" Herne cooed as he patted her on the shoulder reassuringly, "He just means we might have to work different hours is all. I mean, we're still gonna touch base with each other, right? You know? Keep each other up to date?"

"Well of course" Javorin tried to clarify: "I mean, choosing a problem and handling it on our own individual terms; and yes, I think touching base would help keep us all up to date on each others progress, as well as stay in the know about what's going on in other places"

"So like, meeting up once a week? Or once a month?" Elysia realized in slight relief, "Probably, I don't know? But until we can find more gods and ask for their help, it's just the four of us" Javorin added, before thinking about it some more, "...You don't have to agree with me of course; I just feel that-, we can get a lot more done if we're all willing to pull our own weight and try to cover more ground"

"...It's a good idea..." Hecate sighed offhand as she thought about it, "However: did you consider that it might be a tad risky if we spread ourselves too thinly over a wide range? Pushing out the wall cult and keeping an eye on the Scouts is one thing: but like you said, we haven't even scratched the surface of our curses yet; we don't even know what magics their comprised of, never mind for what purpose they were cast for in the first place. And, that chaos manner has me really bothered: we don't yet know if screwing up our telepathy is the only problem it presents; and we can't risk experimenting with it in case we trigger something by accident" she paused a moment as she let out another dubious sigh: "...I'm not saying your idea doesn't have any ground to stand on: it is a good one, and we're all capable of doing our own thing; even the brat here is competent enough to handle herself without screwing up"

"Uh, thank you?" Elysia raised an eyebrow, not quite sure whether to take that as an actual compliment (she hated the fact Hecate could be so vague at the best of times).

"I just think," Hecate continued, "Despite our powers being intact: it's still too early to start getting ambitious; yes it's been nine months since we broke out of those tombs, and yes I'm well aware nothing else has manifested since then. But we know next to nothing about what's happened to us, and to push ourselves and our powers to try and cover more ground might incur more problems than actual solutions ..." she then softened into a more sympathetic tone, "...I'm not saying it's an idea that won't work: I'm merely saying-, perhaps we should keep it as an option for if things get difficult, and we need to split up. You know? If the situation calls for it?"

Javorin let his gaze drop as he contemplated it: "...I guess your right" he thought aloud: "...But if something happens, and we have to rethink everything from scratch, you'll promise me you'll be honest with me?"

Hecate stared at him as if his brain just popped out of his head and Herne fell over on his side in a fit of laughter, while Elysia just stared at him, not sure at all what to say. Realizing what he just said, Javorin facepalmed so hard that he created a powerful gust of wind that blew everyone's hair and feathers back. "Oh All-father!" Herne laughed as he got back up and patted him on the back, "You've been working way too hard bro! You need to go back in that tomb and sleep for another thousand years!Let that brain of yours get some beauty sleep!"

"I don't think honesty will be much of a problem for me" Hecate narrowed her eyes at Javorin: still amazed he actually said that. Blushing in embarrassment and covering his face with both hands, Javorin tried to stifle the giggles that threatened to overwhelm him, "Oh cheer up! Even us gods are allowed to have senior moments-" Herne assured him, before realizing what he just said, and doubling over in hysterics yet again. Javorin lost it, and broke down in convulsions of laughter as he fell over backwards against the tree, while Hecate rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering how and why she got lumbered with these two idiots; Elysia stared at everyone dumbly, wondering what was so funny. "I don't get it?" she blurted out innocently.

"Because we're gods, get it? We're immortal? So, we should be getting a load of senior moments at our age!" Herne laughed as he tried to get his breath back. "Or not enough in our case!-" Javorin howled hysterically, falling over his brother while Hecate deadpanned at them. Since their vocal chords couldn't produce viable sounds that could be formed into coherent words: their laughter came out more as an ugly guttural roaring laugh, one that echoed far into the forest and would've sent chills up the spine of anyone who heard it. Fortunately though, no one was around, and for that one moment neither of them cared as they enjoyed the hilarity.

Hecate was about to interject another dry quip, when something caught her eye: "As much as it pains me to break up this little 'senior moment'? You two idiots might want to straighten up; we've got company..." she pointed to the black fork-tailed hawk that was flying this way. Recognizing the bird immediately: Herne's excitement piqued he scrambled to get back up, and ran over to greet the bird as it swooped down to land on a large protruding root: "Evernight! Great to see you again! Is it that time of the week again already?!"

"Indeed"the hawk replied in its own secret voice: the one only the gods and spirits could hear and understand:"The man-fledglings await you"

"Well then you better get back to Falken, and be sure to tell the ravens we're coming..." Herne smiled, and without another word the hawk took off back the way it came, flying swiftly through the giant trees: "Race you guys!" the hunting god smiled as he transformed into his sky lark form and took off after the hawk: "-Hold up!" Javorin laughed as he turned into his hawk form, and quickly gave chase, "-Wait for me!" Elysia called out as she changed into a pure white dove, and tried to keep up with them. Not being one for indulging in childish behavior, Hecate heaved a deep sigh as she transformed into her raven form, and took off flying at her own steady pace.

'Honestly?' she deadpanned in dry thought, 'the human brats are enough of a handful'

---

Elsewhere in the forest:

"How're those tents coming along?" Tyto asked offhand as he inspected the kid's handiwork: "Nearly done dad, we're just packing up the last pieces," Ariana replied as she gathered the wooden tent poles, while Ashlyn rolled up the dark green canvas tarp and Dale gathered up the pegs and ropes: depositing them in a large backpack.

Having spent four nights out in the forest, learning how to read animal tracks, finding north without a compass and learning how to conceal a tent from sight (among other things): it was a relief to finally be going home to a warm bed and readily available food. The thaw had come unusually early this year, and with the weather having warmed up to a nice mildness that kept the worst of the cold at bay, Tyto, Evrard, Falken and Eraman decided to chance the first spring camping trip of the year with the kids. It wasn't as bitter as it had been during the winter, but they still brought their fur blankets and jackets along for extra warmth.

The winter had been long and hard, but it proved to be the perfect test for the children to attempt their first proper winter hunts: and over the past several months they had began to show some real improvements, and blossom into their own particular fortes. Clay and Hazel, both proved to be exceptionally skilled with a bow and arrow, with Clay being able to hit his mark even under the most difficult of circumstances; Ash, Rowan and Dale proved to be the best at setting traps: knowing how to conceal them and understand which trap was good for catching which particular animal. And Josefa, Jaye, Hawk and Ashlyn had proven to be excellent stalkers: being able to track an animal over a good few miles, and then kill it at a good range before it realized what happened.

But it was Ariana that proved to have the sharpest nose and the keenest instincts (no surprises there, as far as her siblings and cousins were concerned): she had a knack for being able to sense what was what, and discern between different smells to get a good reading of the quarry and/or terrain; in addition to her own stalking skills, which by now, everyone was thoroughly of the opinion that it was a gift: her uncanny ability to sneak up on anything or anyone was astounding, and the fact she could now sneak up on her father and actually surprise him proved that she was a capable hunter (much to her brother's annoyance, as they could no longer get the drop on her anymore: much to everyone else's amusement).

"Ah Evernight," Falken smiled as he held up his gloved hand for his hawk to land on, "Where did you sneak off to? Trying to get a nice fat rabbit eh?"

"And you lot have been awfully quiet," Eraman gazed up at his ravens, who were all perched on a stout branch above his head, curiously watching him pack his things away, "Are you waiting for your treats?" he smiled: all at once they all perked up with a happy chorus of "prruk-prruk-prruk", and flew down to the ground as Eraman got out his pack of deer jerky, the one he always kept just for them, and threw out several large pieces for them: "Well here you go, you earned it anyway" "Don't give them too much or they won't be able to get up off the ground" Evrard joked, "We need them for tomorrow's trip"

"Why can't we come?!" Clay whined as he packed the last of his things away into his backpack: "We've proven we can shoot a deer, surely an Elk ain't no problem?" "Ah not this elk son," Evrard shook his head firmly, "He's an eight-pointer; a one of a kind once in a lifetime opportunity that only a skilled hunter can handle; he's too big and too strong for you" "He's right you know" Tyto nodded in agreement, "From what I saw last month, he's going to give us a run for our money come the autumn"

"Wait-you're not going to kill him?" Ashlyn blinked in surprise: "What? Of course not, calving season's not far off and he'll be busy with all the cows" Falken replied as he tended to Evernight: "No, tomorrow we're just going to check out if he's moved into the dale near Eiche-Glen: if so, then we know exactly where to go when the elk hunting season rolls around" "We shouldn't be gone too long: it's a simple stalk and observation trip, three days at the most" Evrard added.

"And when we get back..." Tyto addressed the kids as he got out his hunting knife and pointed to the symbol on the blade, "You will begin the next stage of your lessons: we will teach you how to read our kin's language properly"

Though they were careful to hide their excitement, the children paid attention: after pestering their fathers all winter to show them how to read Celtic symbol-runes, it seemed their pressuring finally paid off. And there was a good reason why they wanted to learn it so badly...

As the last of the equipment and stuff was packed away, and everyone slung their backpacks, bow and quivers over their shoulders: the children and their fathers all gathered together and headed for the main road. "You guys take care of each other you hear?" Falken bid Evernight farewell as she flew up into a nearby tree, followed by Eraman's ravens: "See you guys tomorrow..." Eraman waved goodbye; but stopped when he spotted a dove, hawk, raven and sky lark all sitting in the same tree together, with Evernight and the ravens all perched together next to them, watching the humans intensely as they left the clearing.

"Those four birds are there again..." Eraman thought aloud as he adjusted his backpack on his back for a more comfortable fit: "I'm thoroughly convinced they used to be someone's pets" "Could well be?" Falken shrugged, "They followed us around all winter, and Evernight and the ravens haven't kicked up a fuss. Who knows?" As they walked behind him, Ariana and Ash both smiled at one another: they knew who the birds were: as did the other kids, who kept it quietly to themselves, and waited for their chance to slip away. After a twenty minute walk through the bare undergrowth, the main road was finally in sight: as they approached the grassy verge, a large delivery cart came trundling along, with several familiar faces riding in the back and up on the box seat. "Hey guys!" Belle waved as she jumped out the cart and ran up to them.

"Ah hello Carla," Tyto smiled as Carla pulled the reins and stopped the horses: "Just getting started on today's deliveries?" "Only the one today" She smiled, "Though, it's all the way up in Grunenweg" "Ah, that'll be the Mayvels" Evrard remembered, "Ol' Whinny sure loves her sides of beef" "Indeed, she ordered double this time: said she wanted to stock up for the floods" Carla replied: "Floods? But the river's well within its limits, even with all the melt water it's hardly overflowing," Eraman frowned in bemusement. While the grown-ups continued to talk, the kids all shared a knowing look; with her eyes Gale gestured for them to get on the cart: Ariana nodded in understanding while Belle took that as her cue to start helping the others load their backpacks onto the cart. Tugging on her father's arm, Ariana discreetly asked: "Hey dad, can we go play?"

"Huh?" he glanced at the cart, then at the kids, and then back at her, "But Mrs Jaeger's going all the way up to Grunenweg, that's a four hour round trip" "It's okay, I still got some jerky left over" she shrugged with a smile, "Us too, we got enough jerky and biscuits left over to tie us over lunch" Ash added, "And I got water?" Hazel offered with an innocent. "It's fine really," Carla smiled, "I like to have the company on such a long ride" "Well alright" Tyto sighed, "Just be sure to come straight home when you get back; we need help packing the provisions for tomorrow"

"Sure thing, thanks dad!" Ariana and the others quickly clambered up into the cart and sat themselves down with the others next to the one grocery box. "Stay out of trouble, you hear?" Evrard pointed his finger, "Oh I don't think we've got any plans to go joyriding, have we kids?" she smiled, glancing over her shoulder at them: "No Mrs Jaeger" they all giggled. "Well, see you later Carla: and tell Alvin and Whinny I said hi"

"Sure thing Evrard" she waved goodbye as she flicked the reins, and the cart carried on its journey, heading up along the forest road, "So? Did you kids have fun camping?" Carla asked offhand. As they watched the cart disappear down the road, and listened to the voices for their children disappear into the distance, Tyto and the other fathers turned and carried on walking. "...You know? It's kind of funny: I never pegged Carla for being a delivery driver" Eraman thought aloud offhand.

"Well the pay's good, which is what she wanted: and let's face it those school books aren't cheap. Not that Eren's probably going to use them much, he doesn't quiet have the patience for reading. Armin though? Now there's a kid that's got some real smarts" Falken thought loud "He must've read every book in his grandfather's house by now"

"Speaking of school books," Tyto sighed as he glanced at the others in a serious tone: "We need to discuss what we're going to do come the autumn: all the kids are of the proper age where they can attend school now: and if we're going to be staying in Shiganshina long term, we need to weigh up whether to have them learn regular things like regular folk..."

Evrard, Falken and Eraman all glanced at him with mixed looks: thought it was unavoidable, they clearly felt uncomfortable addressing the subject; seeing the looks on their faces, Tyto sighed in exasperation: "...Come on guys, we discussed this already, and the reasons why it would be a good idea to have kids attend school"

"Look, Tyto: I'm not saying it's a bad idea; we all knew when we first moved to Shiganshina that we'd have to change our ways a little, to try to blend in an' such. And I get why it's important for the kids to go to school, but-" Falken sheepishly hesitated as he scratched the back of his neck. "Having the kids learn about regular things isn't a terrible thing" Eraman glanced at Evrard, "It'll help them blend in, help them to know what's what an' all that; know how to go unnoticed better?"

"Evrard..." Tyto tried to get his attention, but Evrard just continued to walk, staring straight ahead with a stubborn frown: "At the very least the kids need to know how money works, how to count and do sums properly, how to read a book without stammering, and how to write straight without getting ink all over the parchment"

"So? We taught them the alphabet and how to spell their names? They had hardly any trouble figuring out the rest," Evrard stubbornly pointed out, "That's not the point and you know it" Tyto sighed in exasperation, "Look, I may not agree with how they teach history, but we can't-

"-How they teach history?!" Evrard stopped suddenly and gawked at Tyto nonplussed: "... Their entire concept of history is wrong! And you damn well know it! I will not have my son and daughter being taught a pack of blatant lies, being taught there's nothing but what only exists inside these three walls, when we all know the truth! How the hell will we get them to believe us if we're teaching them one thing and they're being taught the complete opposite somewhere else?!" he fumed: calming down a little as he continued: "Tyto, our culture is dying with every year that passes: our children are the only way our heritage and traditions will live on long after we're gone; it is only through us they can learn the true ways of the world and how to survive it. And now you want us to destroy all that, by letting them be brainwashed by the royal government's propaganda?! Why don't you take your knife and stab me in the back while you're at it!" he stormed off down the road.

Tyto rolled his eyes and took off after him at a quick stride, while Falken and Eraman watched in silent awkwardness: "Evrard please!-" Tyto ran in front of him and stopped him: "...Where is this coming from brother? You weren't like this when we first discussed it; what's changed your mind all of a sudden?"

Evrard let out a long frustrated sigh, shaking his head and meeting Tyto's gaze with an apologetic look: "...The day before we left: you remember I went down to the market?" "Yes?" Tyto nodded. "...While I was passing by the church, I overhead a couple of the pastors talking in the doorway; they didn't seem to think anyone was listening as they had let their guard down...I heard one say there's talk going around in the interior. Apparently the royal government is reviewing a new decree for the cult to teach 'religious studies' in all schools. It hasn't been approved yet, but-...They seemed optimistic that it will be passed," he frowned bitterly.

Tyto and the others stared at him in surprise: "It-, sounds disconcerting, but-"

"-But what if it's true?" Evrard challenged him, "What if it's not just hearsay and rumour? If those wall-worshiping bastards are allowed into the schools, they will poison the minds of every child they preach to, including our own! And what if it's just a cover? What if it's the excuse they need to hunt those of us hiding in plain sight? What if they've sussed how to pick us out? They will target our children directly, and Gia forbid, they trick them into betraying us-"

"-Okay Evrard stop!" Tyto held up his hand to him, "-This is ridiculous! Will you listen to yourself? You seriously expect us to believe the wall cult would really go to all that trouble just to hunt us down? As far as they know, we still live deep in the forests, how could they possibly pick us out from the many hundreds of people in this world? Do we have the word 'Celt' branded on our foreheads?..." he tried to reason with him; there was a long pause as Evrard stared off into space, his face reflecting his worry and doubt: "...I know it's difficult brother" Tyto sighed worryingly: "But we cannot let fear dictate our actions. If we become scared we become paranoid, and when we become paranoid, that's when we're likely to trip up; and that's exactly what they want. So don't let them get to you, please"

"He's right Evrard" Falken placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "You can't keep doing this to yourself: I know your scared, I'm scared too; but we know living among the regular folk and assuming their ways is the only way to keep our family's safe. In all the years they've been hunting us, the wall cult have never thought to search the towns and villages, and it's worked thus far"

"I know it seems like I'm asking you to go against our principles" Tyto pleaded, "But please Evrard: are our traditions so important that they take greater priority over the well-being of our children? If our kids don't know how to handle themselves out there in the rest of this walled world, then what hope do they have of surviving, if hiding in the forests is no longer an option?" he sighed in rueful contemplation: "... As much as I don't want it to be a possibility: there may come a day when we won't be able to hide any longer, when it may be necessary to step out into the open and confront the world head on...I pray and hope that day never comes, but in the meantime; I feel it would be negligent to let our children grow up ignorant of the rest of humanity. Not understanding why it is the way it is, and assuming that the whole world is out to persecute them. If that happens, they will only retreat into the forests, and the dark riders will try to find them, and the cycle will never be broken. I'd rather sacrifice some of our traditions and customs, rather than let my children go through life believing that humanity is comprised of nothing but bad people: if they do not experience humanity's more honorable qualities at least once, then I can't honestly say I have been a good father..."

Evrard stared at him in surprise for a moment as he let his words sink in: he really didn't know what to think: "...Tyto...How can you say that?" he dubiously gazed at him: "After everything they've done: after everything this world has done to us and our kin; you still dare to hope humanity can find redemption?"

"...I do..." Tyto sighed honestly,

"But how? How can a society so lost and cruel ever hope to find redemption? And from who? Our kin? Our people's blood has been spilt in the name of 'maintaining the peace' within the walls: and for what? Because we remember what came before the walls? Because of a fable our grandfathers told us? If those 'regular folk' had any redeemable qualities to begin with, this world wouldn't be in the mess it's in right now..." Evrard frowned at him angrily, "...I don't pretend to understand why you believe what you believe Tyto, all I can say is that I don't agree with it: humanity has nothing left to show for itself, and we are on our own...There's no such thing as 'good people' anymore, even our neighbors would sell us out at the first opportunity"

Tyto stared at him in shock, but didn't say anything as he continued, "...If the children go to school and the wall cult get their way and teach them how to worship the walls? I will take Bestla, Clay and Hazel, and we will leave Shiganshina and return to the wild. You may be willing the sacrifice our heritage for the sake of our survival Tyto, but I'm not" he stated, and started briskly walking down the road.

Tyto, Falken and Eraman all stared at one another in shock, before taking off after him "Wait Evrard! Let's talk about this sensibly!-" Falken pleaded, "Come on brother, now you're just letting that pig-headed stubbornness get the better of you!" Eraman concurred as they tried to keep up with him.

As the four men left the forest: perched on a branch overhanging the road, a hawk, a dove, a sky lark and a raven watched them curiously: never taking their eyes off them until they crested the next rise, and disappeared over a vast meadow; after which they flew off back into the forest.

---

"...Think their out of earshot yet?" Poppy asked offhand as she craned her head up high to look as far back down the road as she could: "I heard them talking, so I think we're good" Jaye waved off, "So where's Bemadette? She' still working on that 'secret project' for Breck?" Ash asked offhand.

"It's very nearly finished, she said if she worked on it today, it'll be ready for tomorrow" Lucy smiled, "She let us look at it yesterday, and you wouldn't believe how awesome it looks guys!" "I think its incredible Breck came up with the design all by himself" Dale chipped in, "He showed me the designs a while back, and it looks amazing; I think it could really work you know?"

"I'm so bummed we got deliveries to do tomorrow" Ariana huffed, "I'd love to see the look on Bryson's face when she presents it to him: and to see him on his ODM gear when he tries it out. That'd be sooo cool!"

"Well he's not going anywhere," Carla smiled dryly, "I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities to see him work his magic on that contraption" "You still don't like ODM gear very much, do you Mrs Jaeger?" Ariana smirked, "After that crazy day last July? You can be sure you won't see me using one of those things any time soon: or ever," she deadpanned, before regretting her choice of tone: "...Don't get me wrong kids, I like Bryson, he's a good man: and I'm sure he'll be delighted with his 'late' birthday present; It's just-, that day sort of left a bad taste in my mouth"

"We know" Ariana shrugged, "But it wasn't all bad, right?"

"No..." Carla smiled, "...It wasn't"

As they traveled on, they carried talking and laughing about various things, whiling the time away in carefree abandonment: after a good half an hour they turned off into, what looked like an overgrown clearing, but was in actual fact the beginning of a smaller slightly overgrown logging road, one that hadn't been used in a good many years; their secret route to their secret place. The long winding dirt road soon brought them to a small clearing where they could go no further: Carla pulled the reins and parked the horses next to a giant log, and everyone got out and started walking down a smaller trail, heading through a gloomy area of the forest where the shadows were dark and covered most of the forest floor in twilight. After a twenty-or-so minute walk, they soon emerged into the grove of giant trees, passing the hollow where Angel's tomb was situated: looking around, it didn't look like anyone was home...

Ariana was the first to smell Shadow, as a smile crossed her face she whispered "Abin-suul": within a second or two, Shadow appeared out of the gloom of the trees and walked over to the group, followed by Midnight and Boar. Craning her head right back to look up at the canopy, Carla smiled as Angel appeared out of nowhere, gliding down into the grove and landing next to the group, being careful not to kick up the wind too much as she flapped her wings before folding them up.

"Hey big guy!" Ariana smiled as she jumped into Shadow's waiting palm, and reached out to stroke him on the nose as he brought her up to his face. "Angel..." Carla smiled as the avian titan chirped her usual greeting, and bent down to give her usual nose-boop on the head: "Have you been staying out of trouble?" she chuckled, to which Angel chirped something to the effect of: As if!

: I take it the camping trip went well? : Shadow spelt out, "Meh, same old same old" Ariana shrugged as she climbed off his hand and sat down on his right shoulder: while Gale, Poppy and Belle climbed up into his other hand, and Shyla and Fox climbed up to sit on his other shoulder. The four titans all sat themselves down in a semi-circle, allowing the children to climb up onto them, and take their usual seats in their hands, laps and on their shoulders, while Carla found her usual perch up on one of the large tree roots next to Angel, and sat herself down.

Since the previous summer, Carla and the kids had been meeting up with the titans on a weekly basis: with her delivery job affording them the perfect cover, they were able to meet up at least two to three times a week. Over that time, they had grown close to their giant friends: and they in turn had warmed up to the human's company. In particular, Ashlyn, Hawk, Clay and Hazel had taken a liking to boar: practicing their archery while riding the titan at full gallop, and learning to stalk animals together: both sets of siblings had really improved their skills, and on the rare occasion where time allowed, they even managed to squeeze in a hunt or two. Angel was drawn to the Cooper twins, and really enjoyed searching for them when they tried to hide in her massive plumage: Ariana was still Shadow's favorite human, although Gale, Poppy, Belle, Bemadette, Shyla and Fox had grown quite fond of the blue-eyed titan too; while Ash, Rowan, Dale, Josefa and Jaye had been drawn to the aloof and serious Midnight: trying to get the female titan to crack a smile had become a sport for them, and trying pester her with jokes and pranks had become a regular thing. But the titan took their shenanigans in her stride, and didn't budge an inch, much to their annoyance and amusement.

"So tell me" Carla asked as she stroked Angel's wing, "I know it's been a while, but what news do you have of the Disciples?" The kids fell silent as Shadow raised his hand, and with his tattoos glowing blue, spelt out: We have them on the run; and tomorrow, we intend to destroy the sanctuary once and for all: "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that place" Poppy suddenly remembered, "Word through the grapevine in the Black Stallion is that they've been trying to rebuild that place over the winter; apparently they've had all kinds of things go wrong for them"

"You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Carla shot Shadow a sly smile, : I couldn't possibly comment: Shadow smiled with a light chuckle. For the humans, being able to turn yourself and others invisible was the least of the breathtaking powers the titans possessed. From being able to make plants and trees grow at will, to summoning shadows and darkness to put on light puppet shows and play hide and seek, opening up the ground to pluck out precious and semi-precious gems, and even creating miniature rain clouds to make rainbows appear in mid-air. The titans never failed to amaze, astound, impress and leave the humans in awe: their use of strange names and reciting odd verses fell short on the human's ability to understand what their importance was; all they knew, was that it was part of their peculiar rituals, and so didn't really question it.

"Ten pieces of jerky say's they're gonna burn the sanctuary down with lightning again" Rowan smirked as he idly fiddled around with one of Midnight's long bangs. : Now you've ruined the surprise: Midnight spelt out as she waved her hand in mid-air, glancing down at him with a mock reprimanding gaze: but unlike Shadow, her words appeared as purple light. "You gonna create another lightning storm Angel?" Lucius asked: poking his head out from beneath her flank plume. Angel nodded with an affirmative chirp, and as the markings on her face and her eyes glowed ice blue, she gazed up at the sky, and above the canopy a large dark cloud began to appear, growing bigger and darker as the wind kicked up, and the sound of rolling thunder could be heard echoing over the forest. "Okay Okay!" Carla tried to stop her, laughing nervously: "We saw the first time round!" "And got completely drenched" Lucy giggled; and with an understand chirp, Angel stopped, and the cloud dissipated into nothingness, with the wind dropping completely. "So if you're going to create a fire with lightning, we can expect a downpour tomorrow" Carla thought aloud, making a mental note to be prepared "We'll have to take the rain-cloaks along"

"Oh, I nearly forgot!-" Ariana suddenly remembered, "My Dad says he's going to teach us our kin's language when he and my uncles get back from their trip; you know? The marking's that're on your bodies?"

: Really? : Shadow blinked at her in surprise, : We can read that to you know? :

"Really?" Ash gawked "Why didn't you tell us?", : You never asked: Midnight deadpanned at him.

"You know?" Dale thought aloud as he gazed down at the elaborate markings on Midnight's back, "I don't think we've ever asked you guys what these markings are for?"Shadow and Midnight both stared at one another in mild surprise, as if taken aback by the question: Angel and Boar both gazed at one another too. "You really don't know, do you?" Hawk realized, noticing the looks on their faces. : It's a mystery, but I think we'll work it out eventually: Shadow replied with a casual shrug.

"How will you do that?" Ariana asked. : Brains and instinct: Boar spelt out in golden yellow words, : And finding out what's important, when it's important: "I don't quite understand what you mean by that," Carla asked in slight confusion, : All good things happen when they're supposed to: Shadow spelt out, : Some come sooner, some come later; but they all come eventually... I wouldn't worry about it. We'll handle it when the time comes: Everyone didn't know what Shadow meant by that, but they figured he had it covered, and so left the subject at that.

"...Well, anyway" Ariana changed the conversation, climbing down off Shadow, and addressing the rest of the kids: "Who'd like to learn some more Celt-style survival skills?""Oh what'd you guys learn this time?" Belle asked enthusiastically as she and her sisters climbed down to join her, followed by Shyla and Fox: "The usual stuff, only on this trip we learnt how to find north without a compass, learned how to read animal tracks, and learned how to hide a tent from sight; think you 'regular folk can handle that?" Clay grinned as he and Hazel got down off of Boar, and joined Ariana at her side. Lucy and Lucius followed suit, and after climbed down off their high perches, the kids headed off into the grove to begin their lessons with their 'instructors'. "Hey come on!" Jaye tugged at one of Midnight's bangs, "let's go make sure they stay on their toes!"; heaving a sigh and rolling her eyes, Midnight carefully got back up, and followed the kids to their designated 'training' area, with Boar and Angel following close behind.

: They've really improved these last few months: Shadow wrote, "They have come along quite well, haven't they?" Carla thought aloud, "Not five months ago they didn't even know how to hold a bow and arrow; now Shyla and Gale can both shoot as well as them, and Belle and Fox can hide from anyone walking by"

Ever since that close call with the Disciples last summer: Ariana, her brothers and cousins decided to teach their non-Celtic friends the ways of their kin's hunting customs, and how to survive in the wild with virtually nothing to hand. So that if they ever found themselves out in the forest, alone and vulnerable, they'd know what to do to get home safely. After teaching them all that they already knew over the summer and autumn, they took the opportunity to learn new things from their fathers on their winter hunts and camping trips, and then relay what they'd learnt to them the first opportunity they got to go visit the titans. It was a rather basic system, and one that worked well: and the titans were obliging in helping them any way they could; Carla joined in on the lessons on occasion, learning simple things from identifying certain edible plants, berries and mushrooms, to recognizing how to spot concealed traps. She wasn't quite as committed as the children, but she could be a good learner when she put her mind to it. But by and large, she only came along to meet up with Angel and to keep an eye on the kids when they came to visit the titans. Until she knew for sure the Disciples no longer posed a threat, she wasn't willing to let them out of her sight.

As far as the other titans were concerned: Carla was amazed to how much the children had taken a liking to them, and she found herself being pleasantly surprised by their different characters and personalities. Boar was a bit of a big kid and a goofball, he liked to indulge the kids in their more wilder sides: horsing around and galloping off into the forest, leaping and bounding over glens and hollows, climbing and swinging through the trees at astonishing speeds, and playfully wrestling with bears, wolves and elk. There were times she was terrified one of the kids might get hurt, but he proved that he was always conscious of his surroundings, and never once did he let anything happen to them, or her: and the fact he was somehow able turn into animals delighted the kids to no end, as he would transform himself into all manner of amazing and wondrous beasts, and let them ride him around the forest.

Midnight was a lot harder to place, as her quiet secretive nature always had her wondering what she was thinking: her cold stern gaze would send shivers up anyone else's spine, but for Carla, she just struck her more as someone who wasn't into idly chit-chit, and was just content to sit back and let the kids do their own thing; nothing ever seemed to bother her, not even the kid's more sillier antics. Unlike Boar Midnight was much more laid-back and measured in her approach to things: she had the power to manipulate darkness as if it were clay and create elaborate shadows, and she could also control water and get it to do a myriad of different things; and the fact she could elongate her fingers into razor-sharp four meter long claws spoke of her more darker side. Carla was aware Midnight was more of a dark horse, and that she liked to maintain her privacy; though she wasn't a extrovert when it came to socializing, when she did have something to say she was usually matter-of-factly and to the point: except on the days when she was in a good mood, and willing to indulge in a little dry humor.

Shadow on the other hand, was a very easy titan to get along with: a proper gentleman with manners and courtesy in spades, Carla had enjoyed many pleasant conversations with him while the kids were either learning bush-craft or playing with the other titans. He gave off a friendly aura that was welcoming of anyone who gazed up into those striking blue eyes of his; it was as if they radiated with a warm loving magic that drew you in, and let you know that you were in good company. He had been the one to show them the tombs, and explain how they had been asleep for goodness knows how long: he also let them in on their endeavor to keep the Scouts safe on their expeditions, as well as 'take care of' the Disciples presence in the forest. He was rather vague when it came to his past, and what happened before he and the others wound up in those tombs; all he would say, was that humanity and the world was a very different place; one that had no walls, where people were more considerate of one another, and the titans never existed to begin with... whatever happened to change all that, happened in the time they were gone.

: You needn't worry you know: Shadow told her, : their strong, all of them; I see it in them: . As she watched the kids listen to Dale explain how to set a snare trap: Carla's mind began to ponder on all that had happened over the past several months, and she couldn't help but ask: "...Am I doing the right thing? Letting this all happen I mean?"

: You're doing what you feel is right. As a mother, it's natural to doubt and to worry; but that's okay, its part of what caring is about: Shadow assured her; Carla couldn't help but smile: though he wasn't talking with a voice, she could practically feel the reassurance radiating from those words as they hung in the air. Her thoughts then turned to her son, and something occurred to her that had been on her mind for a while now: "...Shadow, I wanted to ask you something... You know I told you how Eren loves to go down to the gate every time the Scouts embark on one of their missions? And how he loves listening to Bryson's stories about his time in the Scouts?" she smiled sheepishly; Shadow nodded in understanding as she continued: "...I'm beginning to think that's what he'll want to do when he's older: sign up for the military and join the Scouts I mean," she gazed up at him with a slight look of concern in her eyes, "If he goes beyond the walls, will you be able to protect him? Make sure he comes home safely?"

Shadow gazed down at her, his eyes softened into an unreadable look; in her gut Carla had a good idea what he was going to say: but she asked anyway, if only to confirm what she already knew. Shadow waved his hand, and spelt, : Carla, I cannot promise Eren's safety. Even if something changes and the Scouts become our allies; there are no guarantees that his chances of survival will be any different to theirs: he gestured to the children,: ...I'm sorry:

"No it-," she hesitated meekly, "its okay, I was just-, curious is all..." Shadow gazed down at her with an understanding look, and added, : But listen, no matter where life takes him, no matter what he decides to do with the time he has. You are a good mother and you're doing a great job at raising him: "How do you know that?" She smiled, "You turn into a bird and spy on me in my own home?" : No : he replied, : I see it in you. You are a strong woman Carla, and your heart is very big, you care for everyone around you, and you are not afraid to step into danger to protect those you hold dear. On that note, I have a little something for you...: Shadow reached down towards the root that Carla was seated on, and as the tattoos on his hand and arm glowed blue, a small tree sprouted from the earth beneath the root, with something dangling from one of the twigs.

Grabbing it as the tree continued to grow, Carla saw that it was a pendant: carved from a white quartz crystal, it was a dove with a Celtic symbol-rune carved on its breast, perched on a nest with three chicks inside, and had a leather cord thread on. "What's this?" she smiled as she ran a finger over the intricate detail of the feathers,: Your spirit animal: Shadow explained, : the dove is the totem of motherhood and family; it is the spirit animal that is reflected in your soul, and is the guiding strength by which you live your life:

Carla wasn't too sure if she understood all of what he said ('What does the word 'totem' mean?' she thought offhand, but decided not to ask), but she understood that it was a great gesture of kindness, and the pendant was beautiful ('how on earth did he carve it?' she couldn't help but think). "Oh Shadow, thank you..." she smiled as she put it on, and gazed up at him, "But, what does this symbol mean?" she pointed to the tiny symbol-rune, : It is the symbol of your greatest strength, the one that is the guiding light in your life, and defines you, as you...it say's, Love:

"...Why did you make this for me? ..." she couldn't help but think aloud. : It's a thank you present, for being Angel's friend: he smiled, : Until you came into her life, she didn't really know a lot about humans. But because of you, she's learnt so much, and she's a better person for it:

A better person

At that moment, Carla's whole view of these four great giants changed on a deep and profound level: it was true she knew they were highly intelligent, intellectual and wise. But up until this point, that was all she thought they were; titans, and nothing really more. Words like beings, sentient, and 'a better person' were not supposed to apply. But now, as Shadow's words echoed throughout her mind: she gazed up at him, and for the first time, she saw something she could only describe as human in those strange bright blue eyes. Gazing over at Angel, as she helped Belle and Shyla try construct a hide out of pine branches and twigs: she realized she wasn't just a simple naive titan who was curious about everything, but a child who awakened to the world, and glimpsed at something she'd never experienced before. Looking back down at the pendant, she felt bad for considering her (and them) to be beneath her and the rest of humanity. These titans? They more human than some humans she could think of, and she couldn't believe she didn't see it sooner.

Gazing back up at Shadow, Carla smiled a sincere smile of thanks: heartfelt, and true; "...Thank you..." Shadow tipped his head in a courteous nod, and smiled warmly at her: "Hey Shadow!" Ariana came bounding up to his side, "We could use an extra set of hands, mind if we borrow yours?"

As she watched the titan get up, and follow Ariana around the giant tree to join the others, Carla smiled as she watched them work. Such an unconventional friendship, between such contrasting beings: human and titan; such a thing was considered impossible, outrageous even. But here in this secret place deep in the Marian forest, it was real: and as she slipped the pendant beneath her shirt, Carla was thankful for having such good friends. "Hey Mrs Jaeger! Come on!" Lucy beckoned her to join them. "Coming!" she smiled as she climbed down off the root, and wandered over to see what was up.

---

Later that day, late afternoon:

With the hours ticking by, and that one delivery still to make, Carla and the kids stayed in the grove until gone past lunchtime, before heading back to the cart and setting off for their destination. With very little traffic on the road, the kids and titans continued their 'play date' together by following the cart close behind, and staying invisible while they continued to chat, joke, laugh and try to take liberties with their giant friend's size (much to Shadow's alarm, and Midnight's mild annoyance). Ash, Rowan, Dale, Josefa and Jaye indulged in using Midnight's long hair as rope swings to try and 'tag' one another, as well as Ashlyn and Hawk, who were riding on Boar's back and trying to avoid them, while Clay swung back and forth on his right tusk, trying to knock Hazel off her perch on his left. The Copper twins were riding Angel, and were (unusually) on their best behavior, preening Angle's feathers and combing her long hackles, stroking any stray feather back into place. Ariana, Gale, Poppy, Belle, Shyla and Fox where not as hyperactive as the others as they rode on Shadow's shoulders and in his cupped palms, the girls mostly whiled the time away by pleating Shadows long thick hair, while Fox mostly tried to jump up to and pluck leaves from out of the overhanging branches.

Up to Grunenweg they went, and back again through the eastern forest road, playing and chatting when no one was around, and as soon as someone came along, they'd all immediately fall silent and waited until they passed by, before carrying on as normal. But when they reached the last few miles of forest, just short of the crossroads, everyone was rather surprised to see a huge log lying across the road with a sign attached to it: "Wha?- ...That wasn't there when we passed by earlier" Ariana thought aloud. As they approached closer and Carla stopped the horses, they saw it wasn't a log, but a tree that had just been cut down: and the sign read 'detour', with an arrow pointing to a smaller road right next to it on the right. "Why would someone fell a tree right over the road?" Carla frowned, puzzled as to what the person who did this was thinking.

"You can blame my idiot son and his good-for-nothing friends for that!" an older gentleman gruffly stated as he emerged from the undergrowth with a large axe in one hand: "I'm so sorry ma'am, I should have this tree out of the way by this evening, my brothers are coming to lend me a hand: in the meantime you can take the eastern road" he pointed to the detour road.

"Will it go past the inner gate?" Carla asked offhand,

"If you follow it down for a couple miles, you'll come to a turning on your left, follow that road down through the giant trees, over the bridge, and up to the crossroads: you'll see the wall from there, and just follow the road accordingly" he smiled, tipping his cap to her. "Thank you sir" she waved goodbye as she turned the horses to the left, and carried on her journey. "Take care when you get to the river, it's close to over flowing!" he called after her.

Watching them for a moment as they disappeared down the road, the old man turned to start chopping one of the limbs off: but practically jumped out of his skin when he saw the tree was now lying alongside the road on the grassy verge, completely out of the way. Gawking at the tree with his eyes the size of oranges, he quickly glanced all around, but no one and nothing else was around; how the hell did it move by itself? And without making a sound to boot; quickly taking out the hip flask from his pocket, the old man uncorked it and started pouring the contents onto the grass: "Good grief! Emma was right! I really need to start cutting back!"

Down the road, the kids were in hysterics as Boar trotted along smugly, rather proud of his little prank: "I don't know what you're all laughing for!" Carla tried to put on her best mother-hen impression as she tried to stifle her own giggles, "If he'd caught us, we'd have been done for!" "Oh come on Mrs Jaeger that was funny!" Belle snorted as she fell about Shadow's shoulder in stitches. "So? If the tree's out the way now, why're we continuing down this road?" Fox asked offhand. : A chance of scenery won't hurt: Shadow spelt with one hand, "he's right," Ariana concurred, "I don't think I've been this way before anyway"

They followed the road for a good two miles, as it sharply twisted and turned down into a hidden dale covered in giant trees, the roots of which formed large tunnels over the road: the cart passed beneath them, while the titans, being sure footed and very light on their feet, easily scaled the roots in effortless leaps and bounds, hardly shaking the earth when they landed back on the ground once they were out of the dale. The road then crested a small hill, before they came to the left-side turning the old man spoke off...

Only, it was three roads branching off in different directions, and there wasn't a signpost anywhere in sight. "Oh great" Carla huffed in annoyance: "Well? Which way do we go?"

Looking all around, Ariana smiled as she pointed: "Hey Shadow, put me down a sec, I'm gonna go ask for directions!" Turning in the direction she was pointing, everyone saw a small house some fifty yards off the road, nestled in a thicket of hawthorn trees, with a small crooked path leading up to the front door. Placing her down on the ground, Belle, Gale and Fox stepped off with her (in Maria, it was common for most folks not to approach a strange house alone: you never knew who might be on the other side, and there was always safety in numbers). "Hang on, I'll come with you..." Carla said offhand as she dismounted the cart and followed after them. Noticing lights shining in the windows and hearing muffled voices, they knew someone was inside, they just hoped it wasn't some unsavory character. With the kids at her back, Carla knocked on the door, and didn't have to wait long before someone opened it...

"Hello how can I h-

But the gentleman stopped as he locked eyes with Carla, and she with him: they were both completely dumbfounded as they recognized each other immediately; the kids too were equally flabbergasted when they saw who'd answered the door. "Pascal!" they beamed.

"Wha-, how the hell did you find us?!" the ginger haired rouge tried to compose himself, "Uh?" Carla wasn't too sure what to say at first, "... We didn't, we're a little lost and don't know which way to go" "You guys live here now?" Belle gazed up at the house, "We sure do!" West smiled as he leaned out of an open window above them, "Not a bad little place is it? How've you guys been?" "Hey!-" Pascal frowned up at him: "We got customers coming tomorrow! Back to work!" he turned back to Carla, and leaning out his front door, looked all around: "... Those uh, 'big friends' of yours aren't around are they? Only, we can do without any more craziness from those guys" he deadpanned. "What're you talking about? We ain't seen them since that day last year!" West called down from the window, "-Speaking of which," he climbed out and sat on the windowsill, "We ain't seen hide nor hair of those Disciple guys either, did your big friends eat them or something?"

"Maybe?" Ariana shrugged with a sly smirk, "Who can say? I don't how they chased those guys out?" "I suppose they had something to do with that 'sanctuary' burning down as well?" Pascal folded his arms with a deadpan stare. "You know about that?" Fox blinked in surprise, "Kid, we may be trying to stay outta sight of the MP's, but we ain't a couple of bumpkins cut off from society: we do go to the city to hear what being said down the grapevine you know?" "What is being said down the grapevine anyway?" Belle asked, "We ain't allowed in the bad part of Shiganshina so we don't know about these things"

"What? Do I look like the town crier?" Pascal frowned, "It was nice seeing you brats again, but unless you want to by an ODM gear, would you kindly leave now? We got a business to run!"

"Uh Pascal? Aren't we at least going to invite them in for a cup of tea for their troubles? It wouldn't hurt would it?" West called down, "...Plus, I think these guys are rather please to see us again" he pointed to the side of the house; glancing up, Pascal nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel grinning down at them, with the other kids waving down at them from their shoulders. Glaring back at Carla, she merely shrugged with a sheepish smile, "Just fifteen minutes, I promise"

"Fine," he grumbled, "But the brats are getting water, I ain't wasting the good tea on them"

---

A few minutes later:

Pascal stepped out the house, dressed in a scarf and jacket with two cups of tea in hand: on one side of the building West chatted with the kids, with Angel and Boar listening in, while Shadow and Midnight sat cross-legged just beyond the hawthorn trees, with Carla sitting on Shadow's knee. "Thank you," she graciously took a cup from him, "Want a seat?" "I'll stand thank you" he huffed as he took a sip from his cup. "... You seem awfully comfy with these guys since last we met" he commented, noticing how calm and relaxed she was. "They're actually pretty friendly once you get to know them" Carla smiled up at Shadow and Midnight:"You seem to be a little more 'placid' towards us too: any particular reason for that?" he asked offhand, "Well, it's been a good eight months since we last met, and given everything that happened and how it could have turned out differently? I figured there are worse people we could've run into that day" "You don't say?" Pascal deadpanned as the memory of the dark riders came back to mind. "Besides, they've been very diligent in keeping the Disciples out of the forest; since last year, they've been dispatching one hunting party after another" Carla glanced up at the titans.

Pascal frowned at her, "How many?" she pointed up to Shadow, who held up nine fingers; "That many?" he blinked in surprise, "How many individuals in total?" : Around one hundred and fifty two by my count: Midnight spelt out. "Geez" Pascal stared off into space in amazement as he took another sip of his tea, "... No wonder they're getting so riled up"

"Who are?" Carla frowned,

"The wall cult," Pascal sighed, "We went to Shiganshina after-, you know. And laid low like we said: while we were 'house hunting' I asked around to see if anyone had heard any rumours, you know, anything strange going on up in the forest late at night? Besides the usual gangs and poachers? Turns out something was going down: apparently those 'dark riders' had been sighted by a number of people: the ones who were lucky not to get caught by them. They say that wherever those 'sanctuaries' pop up, those creeps usual follow soon after, and that's when people start disappearing during the night, especially out on the roads"

"Huh...Well that confirms our suspicions," Carla thought about it as she took a sip of her tea, "We knew those sanctuaries must serve as a kind of 'base' for them: but while the titans have been busy 'seeing them out', they never saw them actually come or go from that place. Most likely because it's not been built yet"

"I guess? I dunno what you guys have been up to this past winter: and frankly, I don't think I want to know..." He gazed up at Shadow and Midnight, who both glanced down at him as if to say: wise choice; "Anyway; their plans to built one on that farmland didn't seem to go so smoothly: as soon as the foundations were laid the whole building site was struck by lighting and burnt to cinders. Then the whole place froze over with ice right over the winter and they couldn't work on it until the thaw. Such an investment, and now all that money's gone down the drain. Apparently, the wall cult's been ripping their hair out over it since last year" Pascal smirked.

"...Wait a minute..." Carla suddenly realized, "How would word of anything the wall cult gets up to, reach the ears of the criminal underworld?"

"Heh, you're sharp..." Pascal smiled as he took another swig, before turning serious, "...Actually, there's a reason the underworld knows about what the walls cult gets up to, because they've been their customers and their masters for decades now"

"What?" Carla stared at him in surprise: "My exact reaction too," Pascal nodded, "I didn't believe it either: so I got in touch with an old buddy of mine who used to work the rackets in the guilds up in the interior: the guy's an old-time crook through and through, knows everything about everyone in the underworld, even all the way out here in Maria; the guy owes me a few favors so I called one in... Turns out, the wall cult have been buying, trading and blackmailing the loyalties of some of the biggest criminal gangs for years now. The gangs kick up a percentage of their loot to the cult, with the odd slave or whore thrown in as interest, in return for protection from the MP's. And the reason the MP's haven't done anything about it? They're in on it too: the crooked ones at least, the cult pays them to turn a blind eye where necessary in return for payment. The really corrupt ones are even willing to go as far as making certain individual's 'disappear' for a fee on the side: of course the legit ones are aware of this, but the reason they can't do shit is because they know they'll 'disappear' too, or their families. Not that the royal government gives a damn, practically all their families are some of the cults longest-standing worshipers: been attending the cult for generations, along with the majority of the other noble families in Sina. The cult keeps their pockets well lined in return for their loyalty and resources, as well as political and military connections... I tell you, I knew the system was corrupt, but I had no idea it went that far up the chain" he frowned,

"I-, ... I'm shocked. I knew the MP's were crooked, by my god" Carla stared off into space as she tried to digest it all: and then she suddenly realized "...You don't seem very surprised"

"Heh" Pascal smirked as he took another sip of tea, "When you've been in the game as long as I have, nothing really surprises you anymore: human nature is what it is. Just trying to look out for number one"

"...Somehow, I don't quite believe that" Carla noted: "Oh really? And why's that?" Pascal smirked, "Because I don't think you're a bad person at heart," she explained; a little surprised to hear that, Pascal glanced up at her with his poker face as she elaborated: "You say human nature is about looking out for number one. Well? We never told our families about the two of you after that day, and we didn't ask for anything in return; plus, West is your friend isn't he? Or is he just the butler?" she smirked.

"West?" Pascal glanced over at him through the trees as he cracked a joke to the kids, "...He's the acceptation: we practically grew up together, like brothers in every way but blood; we learned how to survive the streets and make a living by dishonest means" he thought aloud as he reminisced on the past, "...I'd do anything for that kid: and I'd like to think he'd do the same for me"

"You think he wouldn't?" Carla blinked in surprise: "Hell no," Pascal smiled, "The kid's practically a choir boy, which is kinda 'not becoming' of a thief" he let his gaze drop as he spoke more honestly: "...No: I want to say we'll always have each others backs? But when push comes to shove, when the chips are down and there ain't no way out but one: people do what they must to survive, even if it means treading over the one's they care about; I wouldn't take it personally of course, it's just human nature, and you can't fight what you're born to be"

"And what are you born to be?" Carla gazed at him curiously: "...A survivor" he sighed, "We made it this far, I'd like to think we can stay in this nice green place until we die as old men..." he gazed up at the trees and smiled, "For the first fifteen years of my life we had nothing but darkness day and night over our heads, only glimpsing the sky maybe several times in all those years, and even when we finally got out, all we saw the night sky. But that was the first time we ever saw the moon, and we both knew there and then she was smiling down on us; that's when we promised each other that we'd get out of that life one day. And last year we finally did: we packed what we could, forged documents to get to Maria, and we never looked back..."

"You're lucky" Carla thought aloud, "There must be a lot of people where you come from, who're unable to achieve their freedom" "...Too damn many" Pascal frowned, "And every one of them will die in complete obscurity: since no one has the heart or guts to give a shit" "That's not true" Carla tried to sound hopeful, "There are good people in this world: it's just-, they can be pretty hard to find; you really got to look for them"

Pascal glanced at her with his poker face, and smiled offhand: "...Tell me, you know what I am, and I ain't got a clean slate: I come from a world that's much darker and more dangerous than the one you live in. I've known people who'll kill you for the stupidest and pettiest of reasons, and won't give a damn about the people you leave behind. So what makes you so sure, that I'm a 'good person' at heart?"

"I suppose? ..." Carla took another sip of her tea, "It's because I don't hear any conviction in your voice...You tell yourself you're a bad person, because that's the world you grew up in, and you had to make bad choices in order to survive. But I think, somewhere in the midst of that darkness you dared to hope for something better, and the first opportunity you got to taste freedom, you knew it could be real: but you didn't want to say it aloud in case it was fragile and fell apart, so you kept to yourself, and waited for when you could achieve it, and only then could you be sure that it was for real...So? No, I don't believe you're a bad person at heart: I don't think anyone is truly bad at heart. That day last year: you could've chosen not to help the kids, but you did: you could've chosen to hide from the titans, but you thought Ariana I were in genuine danger, and you risked your life to 'save' us. Fortunately it all turned out to be one big misunderstanding. But it could have turned out very differently"

Pascal stated at her, though he didn't let it didn't show on his face, he was amazed and taken aback by her wisdom: "...So that's how you see it..." he sighed; gulping down the last of his tea and stared off into the forest: "...What happened to you in your life, to make you so hopeful?"

"Hm..." Carla smiled, "Honestly? I don't know? Life's not easy, and I've had my struggles just like everyone else: I'm nothing special, and I don't believe you have to be anything special to achieve great things in life; for the simple fact that we are all born to this world, and we are born free. I think compassion comes more naturally to the human heart, rather than greed or selfishness: I think we all have the ability to know a good thing when we see it. Even if we don't know the words for it or it's just a feeling in our guts, if we're given the chance to discover those good things for ourselves without being told what's good for us, because it's what others want; then maybe everyone would find it a little easier to be compassionate to one another"

Pascal smiled as he glanced back over at the kids: "...Do me a favor will you?" he gazed back at her with his poker face back in place: "...No matter what happens to you in life: no matter what shit gets thrown your way or whatever happens to make you doubt yourself; promise me you won't go back on those words. The world's fucked up enough with people not being able to find their own way in life, it doesn't need someone like you turning their back on 'those good things', just because life hits you were it hurts the most...if life strikes you down, I want you to get back up, you hear me?"

Carla wasn't entirely sure why he said that, but she could guess he was saying it from experience: it certainly sounded sincere in his voice. Sipping the last of her tea, she handed him the cup, and slid down off Shadow's knee. "You don't have to worry" she smiled, "I'm a mother, it takes a lot to strike me down" "Yeah everyone says something like that" he sighed, "It tends to be quite different when it actually happens" "Well? Hopefully, I'll be able to keep that promise" she replied, turning to the house: "KIDS! Time to go! ..." she called over to the children. "Listen, next time you're in Shiganshina, head for the Black Stallion, and tell them Carla said you can have one on me"

"Thanks" he smiled as he headed back towards the house, "You used to be a barmaid?" "For a time...-Oh, I nearly forgot: which road do we take back to Shiganshina?"

"Middle one, just head straight down to the crossroads"

"Thanks Pascal" Carla smiled as the kids climbed back up onto their titans, and they took their leave; stepping back inside the house and placing the cups in the kitchen sink, Pascal gazed out the window, as he watched the titans and their passengers turn invisible, while Carla was the only one to be seen as she disappeared down the road on the cart. "Well that was nice, seeing them again" West smiled as placed the wooden drinking cups in the sink; seeing the distant look in Pascal's eyes, West smiled with a cheeky glint in his eyes: "What? You starting to feel 'something' for her?"

"What? Hell no! She ain't my type!" Pascal waved off dismissively, "...I was just thinking: whoever her husband is, he's one damn lucky guy to have a woman like her for a wife; her kid too, for a mother" he thought aloud as her words came back to mind: "...'good people'...They are damn hard to find"

---

Shiganshina, early evening:

"What took you so long getting back?" Eren asked offhand as he held one of the horses by its lead rope. "Oh I'm sorry sweetie: it's just been one of those days" his mother sighed as she put the harness away, "You run into everyone you know and you can't help but stop to chat" she smiled.

"Must've been a whole damn parade for acquaintances for you to be out so long," Miriam commented offhand as she strode into the livery, running her bony fingers over the wad a of money she was holding, counting out a certain sum, before depositing said sum on the cart next to Carla, "Your pay for the week: don't spend it all at once," she affirmed before striding out back to the Inn. "And what about you Ariana? Me an' Armin ain't seen much of you over the winter?" Eren turned to Ariana, who was helping Gale to muck out one of the stalls: glancing over at him with an apologetic look, Ariana sighed with a wistful smile: "...I'm sorry: dad's just really been pushing us with the hunting season: but, now that we're going into spring, and it won't roll around until autumn, we can spend some time together if you want?"

"That'd be great" Eren smiled offhand, "Say, when you get back from helping mum with her deliveries tomorrow, do you wanna come over to my place to play?" "Sounds great, I'll be there" she smiled. "Eren?" Grisha called from just outside the livery, "Coming dad!" Eren handed the lead rope to Gale, and took off out of the stables: "Tell your father I'll be home as soon as I'm finished up here!" Carla called after him, "Sure thing mum!" Eren called back. As soon as his footfalls were out of earshot: Ariana and Gale stopped working, and gazed over at Carla; "...So um? ...That 'thing' we discussed the other week, you know? About: introducing Eren to our 'mutual friends'?" Ariana awkwardly hesitated.

"I remember..." Carla sighed: knowing what she was referring to: "And, to be honest with you Ariana? I don't know," "You don't know?" Gale frowned in confusion, "You mean, you haven't made your mind up? Or no?" "I mean..." Carla turned to face them, "I'm not sure if it's a good idea to let anyone else in on our 'shared secret'? It's tricky enough keeping it under wraps between all of us as it is, and I don't think our 'friends' would approve of it, not before we bring it up with them and we discuss it thoroughly before agreeing on a decision... It's not that I don't think they'll scare Eren, or that he won't get along with them... It's just-, I don't know if Eren has what it takes to keep a secret like that? So please, don't bring it up again; not until, as his mother, I'm confident he's up to the task. You understand?" Ariana and Gale both nodded, "... Yeah, okay" Ariana quietly nodded.

Although it had its moments, ultimately, keeping a secret like this wasn't easy: not least because it felt as though they were going behind their family's backs. It was complicated enough, being best friends with the very creatures that humanity had come to fear and despise: the fact they had a mysterious past and strange powers posed far too many questions as well. And then there was always the risk that if someone new was brought into the picture, for whatever reason/s they might buckle and let their tongue slip. For Ariana it was frustrating and upsetting, Eren had been her best friend since she could remember, and she knew he and Shadow would get along like a house on fire: having to keep the titan's secret from him and Armin felt wrong, not least because she believed she was betraying their trust. Ariana knew why Carla wasn't willing to let Eren in on their secret, and as his mother her word was final. But at the back of her mind, she hoped and wondered if maybe Eren and Armin were able to keep such a secret? But how could she be sure? Could there be a way to test them somehow? She made a mental note to talk to Shadow about it when they next meet up; surely a guy as smart and clever as him could have an idea tucked up his proverbial sleeve?

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! GET THE HELL OUTTA MY ESTABLISHMENT!-" Miriam's angry voice snapped Ariana out of her thoughts, followed by the sound of a door slamming open and glass breaking. Carla and the girls ran around to the front of the Inn, just in time to see Miriam and Gustav kicking a couple of shady-looking gentlemen up their asses, and landing them face first into the street, tumbling head over heels as Miriam threw a small pouch of coins at them. "You two idiots think I don't know fake gold when I see it?! If I ever see your rat-assed faces around here again I'll do far worse than kick yer asses in!"

As the two gentlemen quickly got back up on their feet and took off running down the road, from around the corner of the opposite street, a gang of large burly men strode over to the door where Gustav and Miriam were standing: this lot had trouble written all over their faces, and Miriam could see it right away as she locked eyes on them, and immediately went on the offense while Gustav headed back inside: "-And you lot!-" she pointed to them, making them stop where they were in the middle of the street: "You think I didn't see you talking to those creeps earlier?! I know they're part of your gang and I know why you sent them here! If you think I'm some senile old woman who's business is ripe for the picking, you're sorely mistaken!" she ranted as Gustav reemerged and handed Miriam her gun, before they could even react, she held the weapon on her hip and fired at the ground in front of them: they quickly beat a hasty retreat down the road as Miriam fired another shot at them: "And don't you ever come back! Your lot ain't welcome here!" she added: heading back inside with Gustav, leaving some of the Inn's regular customers rather concerned, but not overly worried (the fact Miriam just used a gun was nothing new to them, they knew she didn't tolerate trouble-makers in her establishment: and knew the consequences would be pretty much the same for them too if they tried anything).

Wondering what just happened, Carla and the girls quickly ran to the service entrance on the side of the building, and entered the Inn's kitchen, just in time to see Miriam walk into her office and put the gun back on its mount on the wall by the door; glancing over at Lucile, Rosemary, Poppy, Belle, Shyla and Fox who were preparing the evening meals, Carla gawked in astonishment: "What the hell just happened out there?!"

"Oh Carla darling, so sorry if we scared you," Rosemary apologized as Miriam locked the office door and pounded her fist on the counter top "-That's the fifth time this week those bastards have tried their luck again! Five times they've tried to muscle their way in, and five times they thought I was a complete fool!" she ranted angrily. "Well I think you pretty much dispelled that illusion" Gustav commented nonchalantly as he entered the kitchen, picked a carrot from out of the vegetable bucket and started eating it: "-It's not just them!" she continued, getting up into his face, "-They were the forth! The forth gang to try and offer their 'protection services' in as many months, and every time they wouldn't take no for answer unless I gave them the incentive to want to keep their piece-of-shit lives! I mean seriously?! Do I have the word 'idiot' branded across my forehead?! Where the hell have all these creeps started coming from all of a sudden?! And it ain't just them! Last week I had to throw out two clients because they were pimping their whores from out of the guesthouse! And one of them thought Bemadette and Mabel were for sale!" she paced around the kitchen like a wet hen, now well and truly in a rage: "Oh I remember that" Lucile nodded, "He was lucky to get out of the place alive after you were done with him dear sister"

"We have got to do something about this Gustav!" Miriam pointed at him, "Either keep Tyto and his brothers in the bar full time as security, or try and get a hold of someone who'll see these bastards off!" she stormed out of the kitchen and headed upstairs to her privet room: "I'll have a word with him when he gets back from his trip!" he nonchalantly called up the stairs.

"What?-" was all Carla could say: "I don't get it? What did those men want?" Ariana gawked in confusion. "Ah it's an old trick some criminal gangs use to get a steady income" Gustav explained, "They send their lackeys into a place of business, like an Inn or shop, and harass the proprietors to no end: then the gang steps in and 'see's them off', asking for a 'thank you fee' in return. Then they send a bunch of different lackeys in to do the same thing some time later: and it keeps on going until the owners ain't got no money left"

"It's been quite a problem these last several months" Rosemary sighed as she started peeling the potatoes: "That gang you saw out there? They were the fifth to try their luck with us; hopefully they've gotten the message"

"But-, that's terrible!" Ariana gasped, "Can't the MP's do anything about it?"

"Those good-for-nothing-crooked-as-fucked weasels?" Gustav frowned, "They get paid under the table by those kinds of gangs to leave them alone: and that pimp Miriam threw out? The one who thought Mabel and Bemadette were for sale? I know him, his brother's a squad leader with the Shiganshina branch, and he's as sick in the head as his brother: been covering his ass for years now; everyone knows he's a creep, but they know they can't rat on him or he'll beat the shit outta them, or get his MP buddies to arrest them for stuff they didn't do" "It's not a good position to be in" Rosemary sighed, "And since we threw him out, that gang's really tried to pull one over on us" she turned to Carla with a tired smile, "but we'll manage: we've taken on far worse than them"

"...Oh, I nearly forgot-" Ariana suddenly remembered, "Is Bemadette around? only, I heard she's nearly finished Bryson's late birthday present and I wanted to see it before tomorrow" "Oh..." Rosemary sighed, "I'm afraid she's gone down into town with Mabel and Derek to see her mother; but if you're up early enough tomorrow, I'm sure she'll let you see it" "Thanks Mrs Willum" Ariana nodded.

"Ariana?" Freya poked her head in the doorway, "Here you are, I was wondering what was keeping you," "Ah, totally my fault, we got sidetracked" Carla apologized, "fair enough" she shrugged, "Time to head off home, dinner's on the table" "See you tomorrow!" Ariana waved goodbye as she ran out the door, to which the kids voiced their good-nights: "Carla-" Freya stepped inside and handed her a list with an apologetic look: "I'm so sorry to have to heap this on you at such short notice, but we had an additional six orders come through this morning: all of which have got to be delivered by tomorrow. If you can handle it I'll be sure to pay you double for your troubles"

"There's no need for that" Carla smiled, "Though, I have got a sneaking suspicion it might rain tomorrow, so we might need to borrow the rain cloaks and boots" "Rain?" Freya raised an eyebrow, "But it's been dry all week? ..." she shrugged with a sigh, "Well whatever: will you be able to make the deliveries? If not I can get Bestla and Skadi to lend you a hand with the auxiliary carts" "No it's fine really, I can do it; it won't be a problem, right kids?" she gazed over at the children, who all voiced in agreement: "Well, alright then, and thank you Carla, you are a life saver" Freya smiled as she left.

---

The next morning:

"You smell that?" Tyto breathed deep, "...Seems like your intuition about that rain was right on the mark Carla" he turned to her as she and the kids loaded up the delivery wagons; there was so much stuff to deliver today that two wagons were required, with Gale being the second driver: "There's a storm coming, and it smells like a big one too" "Called it..." she smiled before changing the subject, "You guys going to be alright out there?" "Oh we know plenty of places to hide from the rain" Falken waved off, as he said his goodbyes to his children: "It's makes tracking impossible of course, on account it neutralizes all the scents, but we'll manage" Eraman smiled as he double-checked his backpack, before bidding his son and daughter farewell.

Gazing over at Evrard, who was seeing off his son and daughter, Tyto sighed in vexation as he checked his supplies: the red-haired giant was in a sour mood today, and it hadn't escaped everyone's notice. Discreetly leaning close to Tyto, Carla asked in a hushed tone: "Is Evrard alright? He seems a bit off today" "We uh," Tyto sighed sheepishly, "had a bit of a falling out yesterday: he hasn't really left it alone," he gazed over at him.

"But dad, do we have to?" Clay pleaded in a hushed voice, "I mean, how do you know for sure if it's just a rumour?" "My decision is final" he stated firmly, "And your not to breathe a word of this to your mother until I get back, understand?" he pointed a finger at him, "Dad, she's going to find out one way or another, even if we don't tell her. And she's going to skin you alive!" Hazel deadpanned: "Besides this is stupid! You want us to move just because you don't like the idea of other people teaching us what's what?!" she hissed: "This discussion is over!" he glared at them both, making it clear the conversation was over: "We'll discuss this further when I get back, and then I want you both to start packing your things; you are not going to school and that's final!" he picked up his bag and strode away: "Come on boys we're supposed to have set off already!" he grumbled as started heading down to the bottom of the street.

"...I'll talk to him later" Tyto sighed as he looked around, "Now? Where's my magpie flown off to?" "Here dad!-" Ariana waved as she ran out of Gustav's forge with Bemadette trailing after her, carrying a large long object wrapped in a hessian cloth: "Bemadette was just showing me Bryson's late birthday present! It looks so cool!" "-That's nice dear," he hastened as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead, "Now, listen to your mother and don't pester your brother's too much: I'll see you Friday night" he picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and patted his three sons on the head, "Stay out of trouble you three!" "Sure dad" they replied.

Before long, the wagons were packed and Carla and the kids all set off with Tyto, Evrard, Falken and Eraman following close behind. "Farewell you lot-" Freya waved goodbye, "take care now!" "Well, see ya Mrs Grayson; I got a special delivery to make!" Bemadette beamed as she ran down the street towards Bryson and Claude's bookshop. Freya was about to head back inside, when she saw Mabel walking towards her, "Oh, hello Mabel, what can I do for you?"

Glancing down the street, Mabel sighed in disappointment as she caught sight of Tyto disappearing around the corner of the bookshop: "Oh, I see I missed your husband" "Oh, did you need Tyto for anything?" Freya asked offhand, "Well? Miriam does actually, she sent me to try and catch him before he left...I take it your aware we've been having a bit of trouble with some 'unsavory characters' of late?" "The gangs?" Freya sighed, "Yeah Carla filled me in last night, and the gunshots were a bit hard to miss; what about them?" "Miriam wants to talk to Tyto, about hiring him and his brother's full time, to act as security for the Black Stallion" Full time?" Freya blinked in surprise, "But Mabel, we can't afford to spare our time anymore than we already can; between the delivery service, the market stall and the livery they can't possibly do it" "Miriam knows that, and she's willing to raise your wedges as compensation, but she doesn't really want to hire someone she doesn't know; she wants people she can trust and rely on, and Tyto and his brothers are as trustworthy as they come"

"MABEL! These carrots won't peel themselves you know!" Miriam's stern voice called out from the Inn's kitchen window, "Just-, tell Tyto to think about it okay?" Mabel added before running off back to the Inn; "What was that all about?" Derek asked offhand as he came out of the alleyway between the pub and the Grayson's house with a huge basket of fresh laundry in both arms: "More work as usual..." Freya sighed as she pressed her hand to her forehead in exasperation, before noticing the basket, "Oh I wouldn't put those out on the line if I were you Derek, it's going to rain later" she added offhand, and headed back inside. Derek glanced down at the laundry and huffed in annoyance; trust Lucile to do the laundry on a soon-to-be rainy day.

After bidding their fathers farewell at the inner gate, the kids set off for the central valley with Carla leading the way; gazing up at the sky, they saw how the south western sky was dark with distant thunder clouds. The smell of ozone was thick as it hung in the unusually warm air, and every now and then, the low rumble of thunder could be heard echoing over the top of the wall.

"Looks like Angel's conjuring up one hell of a storm" Belle smiled as she heard a distant thunderclap rumble its way through the sky: "Should be quite the show" Rowan grinned, "I just hope we're passing the sanctuary when it happens" "... Yeah I guess" Clay sighed quietly as he watched the country side steadily roll by, seeming rather dejected and down in the dumps; Hazel was just as depressed as she swung her legs back and forth over the back of the wagon. "What's got you two so down?" Ash asked offhand. Clay and Hazel glanced at one another, and then at him as Clay explained: "We overheard dad and uncle Tyto talking down in the basement last night...It's not good,"

Some thirty or so yards up ahead; Ariana scanned her eyes over the list of addresses they had to visit today: "Oh hell, we gotta go all the way up to Flussetor? It's going to take hours to get up there!" "Which is why we're going there first, and working our way back down south" Carla explained, "And then we have to go over the river to Eichenhain, and then all the way across to Wenigweg on the other side of the valleys" "It's going to be a long day" Ariana sighed offhand, "And we're not even going past the forest" "Ah but remember what Shadow said the other day? They're going to be busy, remember?"

---

Elsewhere, deep in the Marian forest:

"You're over thinking again" Hecate taunted with a sly smile as she sat down next to Javorin: the god was so deep in thought he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw her sitting there: "...Sorry, I was miles away" he sighed.

"What's got your goat this time?"

"What Pascal said yesterday: about the wall cult being involved in illicit activities and paying off the MP's to stay compliant" he frowned: "Oh don't tell me you want us to creep into the MP's station in the city and take them out too?" Hecate sighed in exasperation as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "That's a bit of a tall order, even for me"

"What? No!" Javorin was quick to clarify: "...I was just thinking; now that it's transparently clear that the wall cult isn't so much a religious organization, but rather a criminal organization masquerading as one. This means their reach into the fabric of this walled society is deep and insidious"

"And you think this is going to create additional complications in our efforts to keep the Disciples out: don't you?" Hecate deadpanned. "...I just realized," Javorin worried, "If these cultist (the high ranking ones at least) are more like criminals than actual worshipers: they might resort to using criminal means to try find out who's been picking off their Disciples...I have a bad feeling, we might have inadvertently put innocent lives at risk"

"Hey," Herne interrupted as he came bounding along, "I just picked up Elysia's scent moving this way, the storm too: it's almost at the wall" "We can fret over this later" Hecate stood back up and followed the hunting god out of the grove: "Right now we've got work to do"

Javorin got up and followed them both, leaving the grove and turning into their bird forms; flying off to wall Maria.

---

Later that morning, back in Shiganshina:

"Whoa!" Bren smiled as he watched Bryson fly over the rooftops: "You said it" Hannes smiled, "I knew the guy had some skills, but man, he practically owns it!" "That's because he's a Scout!" Eren grinned as he and Armin watched in awe, along with the rest of the small crowd that had gathered to watch the 'demonstration'.

Over the street and rooftops, Bryson sailed through the air on his ODM gear: gracefully swinging and leaping with hardly any effort, pulling off the sharpest of turns and the fastest of jumps; shooting over every rooftop and chimney, missing them by mere inches. Standing outside the Black Stallion, Bemadette, Claude, Derek, Bren and Mabel watched in amazement, while Break had the biggest smile spread across his face: his heart leaping with pride and joy as he watched his brother fly again, and could practically feel the happiness radiating off him like heat from the sun. "...Bemadette, I really don't know what to say?" he nearly chocked: "Just say you'll let me pad your bill so you'll pay me extra" she grinned: Hannes, Mabel, Derek and Bren all burst out laughing while Claude tried to stifle his giggles: but Breck wasn't paying attention as he kept his eyes glued to his brother: watching as he pulled off an incredible 1440 degree spin, before landing graceful beside the Inn; the crowd erupted in cheers and hollers, patting him on the back and congratulating him on a terrific performance. "Does this mean we can expect to see you back the Scouts any time soon?" Hannes joked, "I don't see why not!" he laughed, "Wow, I still got it!" he grinned with sheer delight.

"And the brace held in place too" Bemadette smiled as inspected the full leg brace attached to Bryson's right leg, "You felt no pain on the landing, right?" she glanced up at him, "No, nothing" he laughed, "It actually works!" turning to his brother, Bryson hugged him tight: "...This is the best birthday present ever! Thank you so much bro!" hugging him back, Breck smiled, "Well? I can't take all the credit, Bemadette was the one who actually built it" letting Breck go, Bryson suddenly scooped Bemadette up in his arms and hugged her too, "Indeed! Such a remarkable talent for a remarkable young lady! Thank you so much!" "Aw come on, enough with the mushiness" she waved off.

"What's going on?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing as a couple of MP's walked up to them, "What're you doing with that ODM gear? Don't you know civilians aren't allowed to own military equipment?" one of the MP's spoke in a curt tone: "Ah yes, we're well aware of the penal code gentleman, but Bryson here does have written permission from the military to retain his equipment" Claude quickly tried to explain with a nervous smile: "I used to be in the Scouts" Bryson explained as he produced a small envelope from his breast pocket: "When I was honorably discharged they let me keep my gear as a 'farewell' gift of sorts" he added, handing them the envelope; the second MP took it, opened it, and read through the contents of the discharge. After a moment or two, he nodded in agreement: "...Okay, everything appears to be in order: but I'm afraid ODM gear usage is not permitted within city limits: if you want to continue your fun you'll have to go somewhere outside the inner gate" he stated. "Don't worry officer, we will" Bryson nodded. "What's this thing on your leg?" the first officer glanced down at the strange looking device strapped to the former Scouts leg. "Oh this? It's a leg brace: quite a remarkable feat of medical engineering, it helps our friend here to get around without feeling any pain: it even helps to support the limb when using ODM gear!" Claude tried to explain in a more upbeat tone, trying to disguise his nerviness.

"Oh really?" the officer eyed the device suspiciously: "...Looks more like unauthorized technology to me" he stated with a less-than-honest glint in his eye. The whole mood of the crowd flipped in a heartbeat, from upbeat to nervous: while Bryson, Breck and their friends began to grow uneasy: "Who made it?" the officer demanded in a tone that told them he wasn't messing around. Bemadette opened her mouth, but wasn't sure if she should tell him the truth or not: but before she had the chance, Gustav stepped out of the Inn's front door and stated, "-I'm afraid if you want the guy who made it, you're out of luck, he left for the interior last week" he smiled in an unusually upbeat tone that had his friends wondering what he was up to. Everyone but Mabel, Bren, Derek, Bemadette, Eren and Armin began to discreetly slip away and return to whatever they were doing before; not wanting to stick around to see what might happen next. "Oh really?" the officer frowned skeptically: "He made this?" he pointed to the leg brace, "Oh yeah, a real genius that guy: came up with the design for his old man; poor old guy can't get around much these days so he wanted something to help support his leg without a cane. You know how we old folks get? We try to keep our independence for as long as possible. Anyway, we got talking and I told him about Bryson here, and how he had an unfortunate run-in with a titan back when he served with the Scouts, so, he asked if he could borrow my forge to make him a brace all of his own, he even paid me upfront for the cost of the metal. And lo and behold, voila!-" he held his hands to the brace in a show of presentation; "The guy was a saint I tell ya, never even charged Bryson a single coin for the work or time spent making it" he smiled proudly.

"Uh huh?" the officer frowned at him skeptically as he folded his arms, "So where about in the interior does he live?": "Huh? Oh, he didn't mention where specifically: just said he was from some town south of Mitras I think?" "And the name?" "Uh-, hmm, let me think..." Gustav scratched his head, "Jackson? No that's not it; Jameson? No that's our butcher; uh, was it Jacobson? It was definitely a name ending in 'son'. I'm sorry my mind's really starting to go these days-"

"-Augh whatever!-" the officer rudely waved off in annoyance, "Just be sure to dispose of that thing: people might start to think that kind of technology is permissible" he stated, "Uh? It's not?" Claude naively asked: "No, it's not" he frowned, "...Have a good day folks" he deadpanned as he turned and started walking back the way he'd came, with his partner flowing closely behind. Once they were out of sight and out of earshot, Gustav's face returned to its usual grouchy frown, and a dark look came over his eyes as he turned to everyone present, and stated in serious tone: "If anyone comes asking about that brace, you don't tell them the kid made it: understand?" he gestured to Bemadette, "As far as we're all concerned, some guy south of Mitras made it: got it?"

No one was quite sure what to say, but they knew better than to question Gustav when he used that tone, and so they all nodded in agreement. "Good" Gustav sighed. "I don't understand?" Bemadette nervously thought aloud, "How can the brace be an 'unauthorized technology'? It's helping Bryson isn't it? Why wouldn't that be allowed?" Gustav planted both his hands firmly on her shoulders, and kneeled down to meet her eye-level; his gaze telling her he was dead serious: "You listen to me kid," he stated, "You did no wrong by making this brace, it's an engineering achievement and one you should take great pride in; but the higher ups, being what they are? They won't see it that way. I'll explain why when you're older, I promise; but for now, if anyone asks you about it, you lie like a bastard and tell them someone else made it. Understand?" "But-" Bemadette hesitated, "I don't under- "Please! Just promise me okay?!" "-Okay Okay I promise!" she quickly nodded; a bit scared and confused as to why he just said that, as he let go of her shoulders and stood back up.

"...Um? Bemadette?" Claude gently placed a hand on her shoulder with a reassuring smile: "How about Bryson and I go saddle our horses, and we'll go out into the forest together and we'll field-test the brace properly there. Does that sound good?" he asked, "Yeah, okay" she sighed, "Go get your tool kit then," Gustav tipped his head to the Inn's front door.

Armin wasn't too sure what just happened, but something at the back of his mind was telling him it was a matter of life or death; deciding to keep it to himself, he didn't say anything. As he turned to leave he noticed the two MP's had stopped halfway down the next street opposite theirs, and were talking to a couple of Pastors from the wall cult. One of them pointed towards him as they talked: no, they were pointing at someone in the group, was it Gustav? Or Bryson? Or Claude? They were the only ones that spoke to them. What was going on? Whatever it was, it didn't feel right.

---

Sometime later in the day:

"Okay you! Time to get to work!" Elysia called out to the storm, as the winds steadily pushed it over the vast landscape, heading towards wall Maria. For the better part of the day since the early morning, Elysia had flown out far beyond the wall to summon the storm, and get it to follow her back to Maria: all the while using her power to build it up in strength and size, with the electrical charge now nicely up to a good high level, ready to discharge lightning as soon as they crossed the wall, and headed over the central valley.

Gliding beneath the giant thunderhead, she frowned in annoyance as she saw the rain was still only a steady shower, and not a torrential downpour: she had to get rid of all the water accumulating in the clouds, or the rivers would flood as soon as the storm hit Shiganshina: "OI!" she yelled out, "What did I say about that rain?! Let it out now!"

But nothing happened: wracking her brain for every nugget of knowledge she had on weather magics, she then remembered a certain spell that usually did the job of getting any storm-front to comply: "Hear me, spirits of the winds and sky! I Elysia, sister of the Tempest gods, cloud herder, rain caller, and child of the western winds: do hereby order you to yield and heed my command!"

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning cracked through the air, missing her by several meters: the immediate thunderclap practically knocked her out of the sky and sent her tumbling uncontrollably for over two hundred feet before she finally regained control: but she didn't have time to wonder what just happened, when the storm suddenly erupted in a blaze of lightning and a deafening cacophony of thunder. Flapping her wings like crazy, Elysia struggled against the rising winds as she tried to gain altitude: 'what just happened?!' she thought in a panic, 'That spell should have worked! It's never failed before!'

Finally getting above the cloud level and gazing down on the weather-front, Elysia gasped in horror at what she saw; the storm was quickly growing out of control; even by regular weather standards this wasn't a normal storm anymore, as the clouds began to turn so dark they were almost black, and the lightning was erupting in every direction, even upwards into the atmosphere. Some kind of chaos manna was now tainting the weather, corrupting the manna that made up its energies, and filling it with unbridled rage and hate: so much so, that Elysia didn't know what to do. This was totally unprecedented, she'd never seen this kind of chaos magic corrupt a storm like this before, and she was worried she wouldn't be able to control it.

"I've got to get back to Maria! I've got to get help!" she panicked as she started heading back in the direction of the wall: she had to beat the storm, and get Javorin and the other gods to help her somehow: but then she suddenly remembered, "Carla! I've got to find her and the kids! I have to get them ou-

CRRRRACK-BOOOOM!

A bolt of lightning struck her tail feathers and set them ablaze, electrocuting her simultaneously: she went into an uncontrollable spin as she lost all consciousness; plummeting beneath the clouds, and disappeared into the storm.

---

An hour or so later:

"How's the brace?!" Claude called out as Bryson flew by on his ODM gear, swinging from tree to tree while he, Breck, and Bemadette watched on from down on the ground. "Splendid!" he called down to them as he perched up in an oak tree, "Just like old times!"

"So you've been saying for the past hour!" Bemadette called up impatiently, "My neck's getting tired, do you mind giving it a rest already?!" Shooting his lines and flying down to the ground, Bryson was still smiling like an idiot as he approached everyone: "This really is the best birthday present ever!" "So you've been saying for the past few hours now," Claude sighed with an exasperated smile, "But I daren't say if you keep this up you'll run out of gas before you know it ol' chum" "He's right" Breck concurred, "You probably might want to give it a rest for today: there's always tomorrow?"

"Ah alright..." Bryson sighed as he went over to his horse, and loosened the reins that were tied to the branch of a tree: "Shall we?". Breck and Claude also returned to their horses and mounted up, with Bemadette being allowed to hitch a ride on the back of Breck's saddle. "Looks like it's going to rain soon," Bryson sighed as he looked up at the darkening clouds, "

I really don't want to be caught out in the weather" "Indeed" Claude concurred, "Let's go" And together, they headed up to the road, and started making their way back to the inner gate. As the sky grew darker, Bemadette noticed how the clouds were growing bigger and darker; she'd seen thunder and lightning storms before, but not one as dark as this; as thunder echoed across the sky, the first few specks of rain began to fall and hit her face, "Looks like we won't beat the rain guys" she thought aloud.

Turning a wide bend in the road, the sound of a roaring waterfall hit their ears loudly, but it was no waterfall: it was, what had once been a small stream, now overflowing and raging out of control; the small wooden bridge that stretched across it was wobbling dangerous as the water pounded it like sledge hammers. "That doesn't look safe!" Bemadette pointed to the bridge, "No it doesn't" Breck frowned, "We'll have to find another way around" Bryson stated as he turned his horse back: but as they rounded the bend again, the three men stopped when they saw a gang of twelve masked men armed with large knives blocking the road. "Give us the girl and the ODM gear, Scout!" their leader barked as he started walking towards them like a hungry wolf, his lackeys following in step.

Looking back at the distance between them and the flooded stream, Claude saw they had a good hundred yards; "Think we can make it?" he glanced over at the twins worryingly, "We're going to have to," Bryson frowned as he grabbed Bemadette off Break's horse and held her close as he reached for his gear's grips: "Take my horse, I need to get Bemadette to safety!" he stated as he took off up into the giant trees. "Right on ol' chum!"Quickly grabbing Bryson's horse by the reins, Claude turned his own horse around and took off after Breck as they galloped for the bridge with the men chasing after them. As the horses hooves hit the rickety boards the bridge's support beams began to give way, and just as Claude's horse reached the other side, the whole structure collapsed with a loud splintering crack: six of the men that were on the bridge disappeared into the white raging water as it keeled over and fell apart. Leaving the remaining men stranded on the other side; but the three friends didn't stop to look back as they crested the hill they were on, and disappeared into the forest.

"What the hell happened back there?!" Breck exclaimed; "I'd say we nearly got our throats slit ol' fellow! And Bemadette nearly ending up on the black market, along with your ODM gear!" Claude called up to Bryson, as he tried to keep a hold of both his reins and those of Bryson's horse as they galloped down the road. "Was it just me, or did anyone else not hear that one guy call me a Scout? I'm not wearing my wings, so how could he have known I was a Scout?" Bryson called down. Breck, Claude and Bemadette all realized he was right, much to their alarm: "We can try to figure that out later, right now we got to get back to Shiganshina before the whole valley floods!"

"The whole valley?!" Bemadette exclaimed in alarm, "That stream feeds down into the southern Maria river: if it's flooded, the main river won't take long to overflow; we need to hurry!" Bryson barked as he swooped down and smoothly landed onto his saddle, still keeping Bemadette tucked under one arm, as he positioned her onto the front of his saddle.

---

Elsewhere in the forest:

"Goodness," Tyto breathed in amazement, "I've never seen a storm like that before: it almost looks evil!" he thought aloud as he watched the dark ominous clouds rolling over the wall: thunder continued to roll across the sky in one booming clap after another, and rain began to fall as a steady light shower, while down in the valley, large sweeping squalls shrouding the landscape in dark grayness, almost making everything disappear from sight. "Then it's a good thing we decided to call off the hunt and take shelter" Falken called out from the mouth of the cave they were hiding in, with Evernight perched on his arm: "Are you coming in yet?" "In a minute" Tyto called back as he approached the top of the ridge with his telescope in hand.

Upon smelling the ozone growing thicker and noticing the rivers and streams were starting to overflow, the four Celts decided to seek higher ground and wait out the approaching storm; said shelter was a small cave at the top of a large steep hill, one of the very few that rose above the forest and overlooked the whole central valley. Scanning his eyes across the vast landscape, Tyto saw a good number of the lower fields and meadows were starting to flood, as many of the smaller ditches and drainage channels were starting to overflow and couldn't cope with all the additional rain water. But it was the southern Maria River that was really starting to flood, as all the land surrounding it steadily began to disappear beneath the brown and white rapids.

"...Whoa..." he couldn't help but worry, "You guys really need to see this!" he called out; Falken, Evrard and Eraman came running to his side, and gasped in amazement when they saw the rising waters: "...Whoa, that's bad" Falken breathed. "Whoever's in those wagons down there on the main road, they better get to high ground, and fast" Evrard pointed to the main road that cut through the middle of the valley: holding the telescope to his eye to get a better view, Tyto focused on said wagons, and gasped: "Th-... That's Carla, and the kids!"

---

Down in the valley:

As they traveled along the road, Carla and the children were beginning to grow really worried as the fields began to flood, and the sound of the raging waters began to echo across the hills as the storm began to pick up momentum. Suddenly, a lightning bolt ripped through the sky with a resounding boom, and in a few seconds the rain began to fall hard and in great quality, pounding everything like hailstones, and soaking everything within several seconds. "Mrs Jaeger! We need to get to higher ground!" Ariana shouted over the loud roar of falling water, "I know!" Carla shouted back. Looking around through the dark grey mist, Carla could make out a prominent hill in the distance: "Over there!" she flicked the reins, getting the horses to pick up the pace as she headed for the hill, and glancing over her shoulder to make sure Gale's wagon was still in sight, which it was, and following closely behind.

"Will we be alright?!" Lucius shouted worryingly as he and his sister donned their rain cloaks inside the wagon: "Of course, we just need to wait it out!" Carla called back. "Where're we going?!" Hazel called out to Gale, "To that hill up ahead I think? It's the only high ground in sight!"

The horses trotted up the slope, following the curve of the incline as it went around the hill; glancing behind them, Gale was astounded to see the floodwaters were already a few inches deep on the main road, and would be too deep for the horses to traverse within the hour. As they continued onward, they soon saw a wooden fence appear out of the rain, and up ahead the road was barred by a large fancy looking wrought-iron gate with a sign board chained on to it. Glancing up the hill, Carla couldn't see any house, or any other buildings: but as an opening appeared between the squalls, she saw a large building site where the main house should be; she could see people moving about around frantically, and had seemed to have spotted them as they stared heading towards the gates. Glancing at the sign and reading what it said, Carla gasped in alarm as she realized where they were: property of the wall cult, no trespassing.

It was the land where the sanctuary was meant to be built.

"Who're those guys?!" Ariana pointed to the people that were now climbing over the fence and approaching the wagons: they were all dressed like ordinary people, if maybe a little too well dressed, indicating they all had a bit of wealth: but they all wore the same triple gold chains with the heads of the three 'goddesses' on the front, indicating they were cultists. Before Carla had a chance to ask them what was going on, two men grabbed the horses by the reins, and turned the wagon around: another couple of men did the same with Gale's wagon. "Hey! What're you doing?!" Carla demanded angrily, "Removing you from our land!" one of the cultist's spoke curtly, "We don't permit outsiders to tread upon our sacred ground!" his buddy added. "Let go!" Carla demanded, but neither of them paid attention.

Climbing down from the wagon, Carla approached the second man and tried the wrestle the reins from him, "I said let go!" She shouted angrily, only to be punched in the side by the first man, and fell to the ground. "-Mrs Jaeger!" Ariana panicked, leaping out of the wagon and running to her, but was kicked hard in the side by another man as he came running down the hill. Seeing this, the other kids all swiftly leapt out of the wagons and were about to put up a fight, when suddenly dozens of cultists were on top of them, having poured out of the building site: they grabbed the children and held them roughly as they marched them back down the hill. A few of the cultists grabbed Carla and Ariana, dragging them by their ankles across the rain-drenched grass. Pushing through her disorientation, and seeing Ariana teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness, Carla's maternal instincts went into full mama bear mode and she was up on her feet in a heartbeat: taking the cultists totally by surprise as she delivered a couple of hard punches to the face and gut. "YOU SICK BASTARDS! She screamed, "How dare you beat up a defenseless child! Have you no shame!?"

But Carla's rampage was quickly subdued as one of the cultists ran straight at her, and drop-kicked her to the ground hard: Carla rolled over as few times before coming to a stop. Although dazed, she glared daggers at the crazed smiling man as he walked over and kicked her hard in the side a few times, while Ariana and the other kids watched in stunned horror; "...All who deny the divine architect will be punished in the fires and waters of their sins" he smiled, his terrifying rictus grin seemingly growing bigger, as his eyes reflected his insanity: "And it would seem, the floods have come to punish you and your spawn today..." he turned to his fellow cultists, "THROW THEM INTO THE WATERS AND LET THEM BE PURGED OF THEIR SINS!" he cried in jubilation.

The crowd erupted in cheers of delight as the children started screaming in a panic: pleading for their lives, for someone, anyone to listen to reason. Carla was grabbed by her hair and arms and dragged down the hill, as pain began to throb in her side: rendering her unable to fight back. The flood had now completely submerged the main road, and was steadily rising as its flow picked up speed: As they approached the water's edge, the crowd's disturbed enthusiasm began to boil over in a murderous cheer, as all at once the children were thrown into the rushing water, with Carla going in last.

Struggling to keep their heads above the icy cold water while still screaming and panicking, the kids all grabbed one another by the shoulders and collars of their sweaters and jackets, in an effort to try and stay together. Snapping out of her daze, Carla floundered about helplessly before Clay, Hawk, Rowan and Ash held her by both shoulders, keeping her afloat as best they could: "its okay! We got you!" they cried out. Glancing back at the cultists as they grew further and further away, they continued to cheer and holler in glee.

Carla couldn't believe what had just happened: had they all completely lost their minds?! They just threw her and seventeen children into a raging flood, without provocation and without reason, and were happy about it; what person in their right mind does that? And that's when it hit her like a ton of bricks: none of them were in their right minds: that one guy in particular was totally out of it, and not one of them tried to stop it.

As they got swept along, the children were still panicking and crying as they desperately fought to stay buoyant: as she struggled to fight against the current, Carla caught sight of a large giant tree branch drifting towards them, and it looked big enough for all of them to climb up on: "Quickly!" she pointed to the branch, "Get on that tree branch! Right now!" without needing to be told twice, the kids all grabbed the branch as it came up alongside them, and pulled themselves up out of the water, dragging Carla up onto the fork of the limb. The pain in her side was bad, but she ignored it as she looked the kids over to check they were all alright and accounted for: "Is everyone here?! Are you all okay?!" "We're good, I think?" Belle sobbed as she held onto her sisters tightly. "Mrs Jaeger, what do we do now? ..." Ariana cried as Rowan held onto the back of her jacket tightly. "I don't know..." Carla gasped for breath as she looked around, "But I'll try and think of something: please, just bare with me!"

---

Back up on the ridge, having just watched what had happened, the four fathers were now in an all-out panic as Tyto kept his telescope trained on the giant tree branch, and its lucky passengers: "Is that message nearly done yet?!" Evrard barked as he paced about the cave with Eraman, practically pulling their hair and sideburns out: his ravens squawking and cronking as they too were anxious. "Almost there! Almost there! ..." Falken panicked as he tried to write as fast as he could, all the while trying to keep his hand steady, while Evernight watched curiously from his shoulder. Finally finished, Falken quickly rolled up the tiny piece of parchment and slotted it into a small wooden tube, corked it, and tied it to Evernight's back with a long piece of leather cord.

"Evernight, I know you're not supposed to go to our usual place, but you're going to have to make an acceptation this time girl..." Falken told the hawk as he got her to perch on his gloved hand, and led her to the mouth of the cave: joining Tyto up on the ridge, he pointed to the inner gate and told her "... Go home you hear me, go home, and get us help! Now go!-" he swung his arm up to throw her into the air, and the hawk took off through the rain and wind, heading straight for Shiganshina.

"The flood's taking them towards the southern river..." Tyto swallowed hard as he watched the branch follow the current towards the submerged lower farmlands. By now, practically the whole valley was being swept away in the deluge: buildings, roads, trees, animals, people; anything standing in the flood's path was swept away fast and mercilessly. All the while the storm raged without letting up, the rain was now pounding so hard that it felt like nails and tintacks on bare skin, the wind howled and screamed hard through the trees like restless banshees, and overhead the sky was so dark it was practically twilight, as lightning flashed through the sky and thunder continued to drown out all other sounds. As he watched the flow of the water, Tyto suddenly noticed something: "...Wait a minute, the current's taking them right over the river and towards the eastern side!"

"But," Evrard suddenly realized, "-That means they'll be swept towards the forest!""Then we better hurry if we want to save them!" Tyto barked as he put his telescope back in his pocket, and took off down the hill, "-COME ON!" without another word, Evrard, Falken and Eraman chased after him with the ravens flying overhead, keeping pace as they let the pull of gravity speed them up down the steep slope: "Any idea where we're going?!" Falken called out, "The eastern-most forest road! That's the closest to the river! We get there and head further east we should be at the edge of the flood!" Tyto replied, "Just prey we get there in time brothers!"

At the back of his mind, Evrard was beating himself up for what he said to Clay and Hazel this morning: if they died, he'd never forgive himself.

---

Elsewhere, up on Wall Maria:

"Something's really not right!" Hecate tried to hold onto the wall as best she could in her raven form, "I don't sense the brat's magics anywhere in that tempest!" "Neither do I!" Herne concurred, turning to Javorin, "Brother! Something's gone wrong! I don't sense Elysia anywhere, do you?"

"Hang on a minute..." Javorin frowned as he scanned the landscape beyond the wall; although most of the storm was now over Maria, it was still rather turbulent out in the lands beyond. Using his power to read all the ambient auras, he soon saw Elysia's aura radiating out like a signal beacon, her fear and panic spiking wildly as she tried to reach out for help. "-OVER THERE!"

Turning into his elemental form, Javorin flew through the storm like a miniature hurricane: barging his way through the oncoming winds, using his power to shield himself and the others from the anger of the weather as it tried to blow them away and strike at them with its rain and lightning; but to no avail. For any mortal it was the most dangerous of gauntlet run imaginable: but for the gods, as they flew on the winds as wind themselves, it was a real nuisance. Gazing up through the clouds for a brief second, Javorin caught sight of a whirling mass of chaos manna, churning up the clouds and igniting more lightning down towards them: 'So that's what's causing this mess?!' he thought in astonishment.

Soon enough, the bright white of Elysia's feathers began to stand out against the grey gloom as they made a bee line for her, and as they rematerialized beside her: they were alarmed to see her lying on her side with a broken left wing, and her long tail feathers gone: burnt off, and in their place was a mass of black singed afterfeathers; her whole face chest and side was covered in mud, and behind her was a long skid trail some forty five meters long: testifying to the crash-landing she'd obviously attempted and failed. As raindrops mingled with her tears, she squawked and screeched in a pathetic-sounding sob: obviously in pain, and in shock. "...G-g-guys! ..." she wailed.

"-Hold on, don't try to move!" Javorin knelt next to her to inspect her wing, while Herne knelt down by her other side to inspect what was left of her tail: "What the hell happened brat?!" Hecate gazed at her with a look of genuine concern in her violet purple eyes, as she wiped the mud off her face. "I lost it! I lost control of it!" she sobbed, "I-I dunno what happened?! One m-minute the storm was following me, and the n-next, it's soaking up all this chaos magic and g-g-going completely berserk!"

"I don't understand," Javorin looked over the broken wing in alarm, "Why hasn't your injury healed?!" "I don't know! It hurts! That's all I know!" she cried as she tried to get the broken limb into a more comfortable position, but no matter which way she moved it, it only created more pain, which made her cry out some more. "Hold on, let me try something-" Hecate slashed her claws across her left wrist, and held her arm over where the break was: letting her pale purple glowing blood drip onto the injury, and be absorbed into the feathers and skin beneath. Within moments, Elysia stopped crying as the pain dulled into a comfortable kind of numbness, and the break healed with the bones in her wing clicking and cracking back into place; she breathed a deep sigh, dizzy as relief swept throughout her whole body, and she could finally relax. "...Better?" Hecate asked offhand, "Much" Elysia tried to get her breath back, "What did you do?"

"I'll explain later, right now we need to get you back to the forest" she replied as she wrapped an arm around the younger goddess's waist and lifted her up effortless, depositing her into Javorin's arms. "How the hell do we get back through that with the kid in tow?" Herne swallowed hard, gazing up at the storm as it continued to rage over Maria. "Forget about me!" Elysia stated vehemently, "It's the humans that are in danger! With that much rain coming down the valley will be totally flooded by now! Carla and the kids are still out there somewhere!"

"I know, and believe me I haven't forgotten!" Javorin told her in a serious tone, "But with all this chaos manna clouding our minds eyes, we can't see more than several hundred feet ahead! First things first, we need to get back over that wall!" he put her down on the ground,"Can you fly alright?" "My wings are okay now, but my tail-" she looked behind her, at where her long tail feathers used to be, "Here, you won't get a new set of feathers if these don't come out first!" Hecate reached behind her, and started plucking out the burnt feathers: as each feather came out, a new one started rapidly growing in its place: Elysia was somewhat taken aback, but didn't complain as her tail grew back into place, and she spread her wings ready to take off: "Thanks" she smiled at Hecate, "Now come on! Our friends need us!"

---

Meanwhile, back in Shiganshina, at the Grayson residence:

"Good grief, I've never seen a storm as bad as this before" Rosemary thought aloud as she watched the rain pound the windows, holding onto her cup of tea with both hands, trying to keep the cold out of her fingers. "...I'm worried" Freya confessed as she stood by the window with Bestla, Skadi and Ran, who were all equally concerned: "The farmlands will have flooded by now with this much rain, I just hope Carla and the children managed to get to higher ground in time"

"Carla's a capable woman: she'll know what to do in a pinch..." Miriam stated confidently as Gustav poured her a cup of tea, while Derek sat across the table from them, going over some paperwork: "Are those biscuits ready yet?!" she called to Lucile in the kitchen; "Just putting them on the plate!" she called back sweetly. "Now," Miriam changed the subject, "About extending Tyto, Evrard, Falken and Eraman's work hours to cover additional security for the guesthouse and bar; I'm willing to bump it down to three days a week at the least, with time off for important hunting trips and other duties around the Inn and at Coopers place, as well as that stall you have down in the market"

"Miriam-..." Freya sighed in regret as she and the other wives turned to face her, "Listen, I honestly don't know if-

Tap-tap-tap-tap!

Everyone looked around the room wondering what that noise was, it sounded like something tapping on glass: "Oh!-" Lucile pointed to the window as she held a plate of biscuits in one hand: "Freya! You have a big black bird perched on your window!" Looking back at the window, everyone was surprised to see a large black hawk with a prominent back-swept crest perched on the windowsill outside, tapping at the glass furiously. "Evernight?!" Freya exclaimed, quickly bolting for the door and running outside to retrieve the bird.

"Evernight?" Miriam raised an eyebrow, "I thought you set that bird loose ages ago?" "Oh no, she still comes home on occasion" Derek shrugged offhand: everyone looked at him weirdly, "How do you know Evernight? And how do you know she comes here?" Bestla frowned suspiciously. Realizing what he just let slip, Derek wasn't too sure how to answer that as he started sweating bullets: but he was interrupted as Freya ran back inside half drenched with Evernight tucked under one arm, and a small wooded tube in her other hand: "Quickly Skadi! What does it say?!" she tossed her the tube: Skadi uncorked the tube, jiggled the parchment out and unrolled it, reading it over with worry growing on her face. "What does it say?" Rosemary asked in concern getting up from her seat.

"It's Carla and the children!" Skadi began to panic, "They got caught in the flood and are trapped on a log somewhere near the forest!" everyone fell silent, "Falken says he and the others are going to try and intercept them as soon as they're close enough, but they'll be trapped if the flood continues to rise!"

"Wait a sec, the forest?" Derek suddenly remembered, "Bemadette, Bryson, Claude and Breck are out there too!" "But-, if the valley and rivers are flooded there'll be no way to get to the forest from here!" Bestla panicked. "There is one way" Miriam frowned, "If I take the main bridge across to the eastern forest road I can stay above the flood waters easily" she stated as she grabbed her coat and headed for the door, "-Hang on a sec!" Derek frowned: "You're going alone?!"

"Unless you want to give me a hand, yes!" Miriam stated vehemently; "I'm not going to let our friends be left to the mercy of this storm! If there's a chance I can save them I'll take it! You can either come with me or stay here! Either way I'm going!" she turned to leave, "-No you're not!" Freya frowned as she and the other wives approached her, "We're coming too! An old woman like you won't stand a chance all by herself! Besides, our husbands and children out there, we're getting them home!", "Since you insist on going, we'll just have to come along too" Rosemary smirked, along with Gustav and Lucile. Without a second thought or doubt, Derek stepped up and asked: "Okay, What do you need me to do?"

"Go fetch your brother and sister-in-law and tell them to close up the Inn, then ready the auxiliary cart and emergency provisions, we'll get everything we need ready! Hop to it!" Miriam ordered.

---

Meanwhile:

The ride on the branch had been terrifying, as they got swept out into the river and then across to where the forest began, at the very edge of the tree line. As Carla and the children continued to hold on for dear life, they knew they were going to have to make a move to get to dry land soon, as the cold and the wet had them shivering uncontrollably: they were soaked through and through, and the younger of the children were starting to become sluggish as hypothermia began to creep into their flesh and bones. As the giant trees steadily came within range, Carla turned to the kids, and shouted over the thunder: "Okay listen! As soon as we're close enough to the trees, we're going to jump for it!" they all nodded, too tried to shout back as they got to their hands and knees.

The current was fast and turbulent as they approached the water's edge: from out of the forest countless rivulets poured down the inclining ground, washing away dirt, rock, plants, twigs and branches; here and there overflowing streams had turned into raging torrents, washing down larger items like small trees, and at one point what looked like part of a wooden bridge. Carla scooted along the branch, trying to position herself on the end of the limb so that when they came close enough she could grab onto an overhanging branch. But just when the water's edge came within several meters, the current suddenly took them over a series of rapids, and the branch was diverted away from the tree line.

"NO!" Carla screamed in dismay, "Hey look!" Lucy pointed: glancing over to where she was pointing, everyone saw they were heading straight towards a large coppice of giant trees, one that was a good thirty meters separated from the other giant trees in the forest, and was right in their path. The branch turned to one side, floating perpendicular to the current: and as they floated through the coppice the branch snagged between two giant trees, pinning it in place by the force of the current, and jolting hard enough to nearly knock everyone off their perch: but by sheer luck, no one went in the water. "We're stuck!" Dale called out, "Now what do we do?!"

Carla was about to reply, when suddenly a loud deep creaking sound echoed all around them: it sounded like it was coming from the trees. Glancing up, everyone saw the giant tree that had snagged the limbs of the branch was starting to steadily lean away from them: the flood water was washing away so much earth and rock, that the tree's roots had nothing left to support them. The tree groaned as it toppled over, creaking and cracking as it crashed into the water: its vast enormous roots erupting out of the water and swinging the branch around between the current and the truck of the tree: effectively still keeping it pinned in place. Looking along the tree, everyone saw the flood wasn't washing it away, and the top of the tree had crashed right into the forest. "We got a way across!" Carla called to the children, "Everyone up on the tree! We're going to chance it!"

The children scrambled to get up onto the giant tree: their limbs so cold they could hardly feel anything anymore, and it slowed them down considerably; in an attempt to make sure no one fell off they all continued to hold onto one another, with Carla leading the way as she held Ariana and Ash by the hand tightly. "Just hold on! We'll make it okay!" she called to them: they all weakly nodded, still desperately clinging to what hope they had left.

Carefully, they inched their way up the trunk: the tree had to be nearly forty five meters in length, and there was thirty meters of torrent flood waters to cross, all the while they felt the tree bending and creaking under the strain of the current, feeling as if it could go at any moment; that thirty meters began to feel like thirty miles as they fought the wind and rain to stay standing, all the while they hoped and prayed that the titans were somewhere nearby. "Come Shadow," Ariana thought aloud, her voice drowned out by the thunder and roaring waters: "Where are you guys?!"

---

Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the forest:

"Great Sina on a Unicorn!" Claude exclaimed in dismay, as his horse struggled to persevere against the wind and rain: "At this rate we'll be cut off completely!" "I think we already are!" Bryson called back to him, keeping a tight hold of Bemadette as she tried to keep a grip on the saddle: "Have you seen how much water we got to contend with?!"

Although the eastern forest road ran parallel to the steady incline of the forest floor (thus diverting the floodwaters downhill): the amount of water gushing down the slope was unbelievable; the entire forest floor was virtually under a few inches of water, and looked like one huge endless cascade, pouring down towards the valley below, washing away everything that wasn't either attached to a tree or was deeply rooted to the ground.

Noticing something moving out the corner of his eye, Breck turned his head and saw four figures running towards them through the undergrowth: with the encounter at the bridge still fresh in his mind, he wasn't going to take any chances, and so turned his horse to face them. Though he had no weapons handy he could still run them over if they tried anything: but as they came bursting out of the undergrowth and onto the road, he stopped when he recognized them "Tyto? Evrard? Falken? Eraman?!" Bryson and Claude turned their horses around, astounded to see it was them: but the looks of panic and fear on their faces told them something was terribly wrong, "Good lord chaps! Whatever's the matter?!" Claude worried.

"IT'S CARLA! AND THE CHILDREN!" Tyto blurted out, struggling to get his breath back as he panted hard, "The wall cult-, they threw them into the water! I saw it with my own eye! Th-th-they got up onto a log and are drifting this way!" "If we hurry we can snag them!" Falken panicked as he and Tyto carried on running down the road and turned off down the slope, "Come on! Hurry!" Evrard barked as he and Eraman took off after them. "Wha-, hang on a minute!" Breck called after them as he tried to follow as best he could, with Bryson and Claude following as best they could. Weaving between the trees and hoping their horses wouldn't lose their footing as the saturated earth continued to gush around their ankles, before long they came upon another, more smaller road: and through the trees down the slope, they saw and heard the thundering waters of the flood. "Okay, where'd you see them go?!" Breck called down to Tyto, "They must be along from here somewhere; at the speed they were going they can't be any further up stream!" "Alright! Fan out and start looking!" Evrard barked.

Glancing up the road, Bemadette saw a sign post at the cross roads: one that Lucius had told her about only yesterday; remembering what he told her, she quickly swung her leg over the saddle and jumped down to the ground. "Bemadette?!" Bryson exclaimed as she took off running, "I know some friends who live nearby! I'm gonna get help!" she called back, not waiting for a reply as she headed for the crossroads and turned up the left-side road.

"Over there!" Claude pointed through the foliage to a giant tree that was lying across the current some sixty feet away, with eighteen figures all slowly making their way across: no one could make out who they were at first, until Tyto recognized the taller figure: "-oh my god, CARLA!"

---

"It's alright; you're all doing so well!" Carla tried to encourage the children as they came to the last ten meters of the tree, now that they were in amongst the branches the going was really getting tough as they tried to climb over the limbs without losing their grip: meanwhile the tree was starting wobble steadily back and forth, as its roots began to lose the last of their anchor points in the ground. As Carla stayed at the front, climbing over a particularly large branch, the truck some two meters in front of her suddenly snapped in half with a loud CRACK! Sending splinters flying into the water and up into the air: and with a loud deep groan the whole tree swung away from the forest as its roots finally gave way, and floated freely with the current. The children screamed in a panic as the tree began to rock and roll: back and forth the truck rolled over, forcing them to run in the opposite direction of every roll, at the same time the tree remained within mere meters of the water's edge, but just far enough away that attempting to make a jump for it now wound be too dangerous.

"CARLA!"

Recognizing the voice, Carla snapped her head towards the forest, just in time to see Bryson, Breck and Claude ridding along the water's edge, with Tyto, Evrard, Falken and Eraman running after them. "DAAAAD!" Ariana screamed as she watched her father chase after them.

"HOLD ON!-" Bryson shouted as he took his hand grips and shot his lines at the giant tree; flying off the saddle, he ploughed through the water at high speed using his bended legs to essentially 'ski' over the water's surface, enabling him to hit the tree's truck without crashing into it. Carefully making his way to everyone, he looked them over and was relieved to see everyone was accounted for. "Bryson! What're we going to do?!" Carla shouted over the roaring water, "How're gonna get off?!" Gale pleaded. Looking behind him at the one large branch remaining, and noticing the proximity of the tree to the forest's tree line; Bryson suddenly got an idea. Quickly, he removed his gear, undid all the buckles on his straps, and somehow, in one smooth wriggling motion, managed to slip out of all his belts and harness: he took the harness and tied it to the base of the limb, buckled the triggers to limb with the hooks facing the forest, and using his hand grips, fired the hooks at a tree, the giant tree jolted as it swung around sharply, and ran aground next to the tree line, the limb creaking with the strain while the ODM gear began to warp slightly under the immense weight in had to hold: "QUICK! EVERYBODY OFF!" Bryson barked sharply. Nobody wasted a second in jumping off and scrambling up the slope to the tree line, just as Breck and Claude arrived, with four very relieved fathers who dropped to their knees and scooped their children up in their arms, crying every praise and thank you they could think of, with the Willum and Cooper kids hugging Carla in relief and thanks.

As she tried to breathe through her father's tight bear hug, Ariana saw Bryson leap off the trunk, just as the cables on his ODM gear snapped and the tree carried on its way downstream, with the ODM gear still attached to the limb. "Bryson, your gear" she pointed to the tree. "Ah don't worry: it saved more than one life this time; that's a pretty fitting ending I'd say" he sighed with a relieved smile, "Are you okay?" He asked her. "Yeah" she smiled: "I see the brace's is working okay too" she pointed to his leg brace, "Like a charm" he patted it proudly.

As she tried to get her breath back, Carla was taken aback as Evrard suddenly scooped her up into a hug: "Carla, you have no idea, how grateful I am to you for saving my children's lives!" he choked, overcome with emotion: "Thank you Evrard, but we're not out of danger yet" she told him. "She's right, we need to get to higher ground!" Breck pointed back up the slope. Too tired and cold to walk let alone run, the four fathers took their children in each arm (With the acceptation of Tyto, who took Ariana and Dale) and started trudging back up to the road, while Gale, Poppy, Belle and Ash were placed up on Bryson's horse, Shyla, Fox and Rowan held onto Claude on the back of his saddle, and Lucy and Lucius rode on the front of Breck's saddle, while Bryson helped Carla to stay on her feet as they brought up the rear. The cold and wet had really taken its toll on all of them, and Carla was finding it very difficult to stay on her feet: "Come on Carla!" Bryson looped her arm behind his neck and held her up as she tried to keep running, "You made it this far, just a little further! You can do this!"

Making it back up to the road, the torrent of water was now faster and greater in quantity, much to everyone's disbelief: "Come on! We've got to make it back to the city!" Breck shouted, "Will the bridge across the river even still be standing?!" Falken shouted back, "We've got to try or we'll die out here!" Claude shouted. Suddenly, a loud rumbling coupled with the cracking of wood, the groaning of rocks giving way and the roaring of water echoed down the slope, drawing everyone's attention uphill, just as a landslide laden with trees, rocks and other debris came barrelling down towards them. With a burst of adrenaline everyone bolted and narrowly missed the edge of it by mere feet: But Carla and Bryson were not so lucky as a stray log knocked them off their feet and tossed them into a nearby tree. As the landslide swept the road away, the tree began to lean over as the debris pounded it out of its anchor in the ground, and as Carla and Bryson scrambled to try and climb up towards the road, everyone was powerless to do anything as the tree gave way, and was swept down the incline.

"NOOO!" Breck howled as he watched his brother and Carla disappear from sight: with everyone else watching on in stunned horrified silence. But then suddenly, the sound gas-propelled pistons could be heard firing as two figures on ODM gear flew over everyone's head, and disappeared into the trees heading in the direction of the landslide. "What the-, who was that?!" Tyto gasped. Although they were blur and she didn't see their faces, Ariana could've sworn she'd seen a flash of ginger and brunette hair: "No way" she breathed, realizing who it had been. And sure enough, swinging out of the trees with Carla and Bryson safely in hand, Pascal and West landed on the road in front of everyone, "HEY! You got them!" Bemadette cheered as she came running along. "Cutting it a little fine wouldn't you say?" Carla smiled as she let go of West: "Eh, I like to think of it more as being fashionably late" Pascal shrugged as Bryson pushed himself off of him: "Fashionably late for our own funerals more like!-" Bryson frowned, "Bemadette, you know these two men?!" "Everyone this is Pascal and West: Pascal and West, everyone, now come on! We got to get to higher ground before the whole forest gets washed away!" "We can head back to our place! It's not that far!" West pointed down the road as he and Pascal took off running, "Please guys!" Carla pleaded with the group, "Their okay, trust me!" with not having much time to argue, everyone reluctantly followed Carla as she ran after the men, following them up the road as it curved uphill.

"You must have the damndest luck! Do you have any idea how long we spent looking for you guys?!" Pascal glanced back over his shoulder at Carla, "Never mind that now! Let's just get out of here!" she called back. But as everyone rounded the next bend, West, who was way out in front, came to a screeching halt: kicking up water as Pascal, Carla and Bryson slammed into the back of him, but just as they were about to demand why he'd stopped, they then saw the reason why. Coming down the road at high speed was a large wagon being pulled along by a huge draught horse, and guided by the light of a couple of lanterns that blinded them as the wagon narrowly missed the group. "STOOOOPP!" a loud shrill voice shrieked: the wagon slammed on its breaks, almost going off the road as the horse swerved to one side, damn near losing its grip on the saturated paved bricks. Looking back at the wagon in shock, everyone was half-surprised-half-relieved when Miriam jumped out the back, donned in a rail cloak with a lantern in hand, and called out: "It's them! We found them!"

Out the back of the wagon, Freya, Bestla, Skadi, Ran, Mabel, Derek, Bren, Rosemary, Lucile and Gustav all jumped out, and ran over to their families and friends with blankets and towels in hand. The mothers scooped up their children and hugged them tightly as they burst into tears of joy and solace: while Rosemary, Lucile, Miriam and Gustav hugged their granddaughters/nieces and wards in equal relief. All except Lucy and Lucius, as they looked in the back of the wagon for their mother and father, their hopes were dashed as they saw no one else was present: all at once both their hearts sank, as they wondered why their parents hadn't come to rescue them; seeing the heartbroken look in their eyes, Carla kneeled down in front of them, and hugged them both tenderly. "Listen...I know I'm not your mother, but, will this be okay? For now?" she asked with a nervous smile. With tears streaming down their faces, mingling with the raindrops that continued to pound their skin, Lucy and Lucius hugged her tightly as she picked them both up, and placed them into the back of the wagon.

Leading everyone to the wagon and helping them climb aboard: the rescue party helped to get everyone seated, and as she led her husband and children inside, Freya couldn't help but continue to cry with a big smile on her face: "How-, how did you find us?" Tyto panted as he gazed at his wife in astonishment: "You can thank Evernight for that" she smiled as she placed a kiss on his forehead; looking up at the canvass covering, he saw the black fork-tailed hawk peering down at them inquisitively: "Extra jerky for you tonight!" he smiled up at her, "Don't start celebrating just yet, we got to get back across the main bridge near the gate first!" Miriam stated as she handed Claude and Breck a couple of rain cloaks.

Glancing over at Pascal and West, and noticing their ODM gear, Gustav raised a quizzical eyebrow: "Who're these two?" he thumbed over to them: "Their friends of ours!" Ariana called out from the back of the wagon, "Their names are Pascal and West! And they saved Carla and Bryson!" Belle added vehemently: "She's right" Bryson spoke up as he helped the Willum sisters and Ash into the wagon, "They saved us from a landslide: we own them one". "Fair enough, you coming with us or what? Only this whole hill's about to come down!" "Uh-, yeah sure" Pascal blurted out as he pushed West towards the wagon, and they both climbed up in.

Once everyone was seated, and Claude, Bryson and Breck and their horses were adequately dressed for the weather, the wagon was turned around and they set off back to Shiganshina. "Thank Maria we reached you in time" Miriam sighed offhand as she drove the horse, "We would never have found you all if it wasn't for that bird of yours Falken", "Well Evernight, we owe you one girl" Falken smiled as Evernight sat contently in Ashlyn's lap, while she sat on his lap, trying to keep warm. "Eraman, what about the ravens?" Skadi asked in concern, "Oh don't worry about them dear, they took off as soon as it started to come down" Eraman assured her as he held Josefa and Jaye close under a large towel.

Peering out the front of the wagon between Miriam and Gustav, Pascal frowned in alarm: "Hey, did you come along this road before?" he asked offhand, tapping Miriam on the back: "No? we came via the road through Oberosten, but that place was about to go under: figured this route would be higher and quicker on the way back..." she turned round to face him to ask why, only to see Pascal had a scared look in his eyes, "You gotta turn the wagon back! Right now!" "What?" Ariana blinked in surprise, "Pascal what're you talking about?" "This whole road!-" Pascal tried to plead with Miriam, "It's controlled by the-

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The wagon jolted violently, and swerved dangerously to the side as the horse dropped dead with a huge bullet wound straight through its head: the wagon nearly flipped right over as its momentum made it swing hard to the left, breaking the shafts right off as it continued to swerve across the flooded road; the force making everyone knock into one another before they finally came to an abrupt stop. Behind them, Bryson, Breck and Claude were lying in the road, injured and dazed as their horses had been shot dead too: lying motionless some twenty feet behind them. As they tried to get their bearings, everyone looked out both ends of the wagon, and were taken aback to see a gang of about fifty masked men walk out from the trees, four of them armed with guns, the rest, all armed with axes, chains, knives and knuckledusters. "Shit..." Pascal swallowed hard, "It's them!" "Wait-, you don't mean-" West glanced out the back, and saw them advancing on the three gentlemen behind them, "...Shit!" was all he could say as he began to tremble with fear.

As he held his hand over the cut on his forehead, Bryson tried to get back up, only to be kicked in the side, so hard he went flying through the air, landing next to the verge: "BRYSON!" Breck tried to scramble for his brother, only to be kicked as well: Claude was grabbed by his hair and dragged to the side of the road where two men proceeded to beat him up. But before everyone else could react, the gang attacked the wagon head on, ripping the canvas apart and dragging everyone out; the women screamed as they tried to protect their children, fighting furiously with everything they had: while the men were trying to wrestle their attackers off, landing punches and kicks in every direction.

Miriam in particular was like a raging bull as she dealt blow after blow, letting out a continual string of profanities as she beat the living daylights out of every criminal she got her hands on. Gustav too wasn't far behind her as he laid into every man in his path. Tyto, Evrard, Falken and Eraman had their size and weight going for them: the four of them were like giants compared to the smaller men, and their wives weren't too dissimilar in build and robustness. Bryson had his military expertise to call up upon, as he'd been able to get to his feet and hold his ground: Bren, Derek, Pascal and West on the other hand simply slug it out as best they could, trying desperately not to get a knife or axe to the side. Rosemary, Lucile, Carla and Mabel gathered the children and ran down the road: but to their horror, five of the gang spotted them and gave chase; the children, Carla and Mabel immediately ran at them and tackled them to the ground, taking them completely by surprise as they tried the wrestle the weapons from our of their hands (Fortunately, these five were only armed with chains, had they been knives, it'd have been a different story).

Getting Claude back from his attackers and standing over his friend to keep him safe, Bryson kept his fists up as the (presumed) leader of the gang stepped towards him with a large sickle in one hand, his face concealed beneath a hessian cloth sack: "...You're good" he grinned, "I like the ones that can put up a fight" he chuckled darkly: Bryson didn't budge as he kept himself planted to the spot; no way was he going down without a fight: "We've got no money" he stated: "Oh we figured that" the masked man grinned, "It's the children we want: they should go for a good price in the interior, providing we get them all alive that is, your women too I'd wager. Sorry, but I don't have much use for the rest of you I'm afraid"

As one of the criminals grabbed Ariana by the scruff of her neck and threw her off, she landed hard on the soaked grassy verge, but as she scrambled to get back up, she caught a glimpse of four familiar faces staring down at her from the trees; she smiled, and right away she knew everything was going to be okay.

As the gang's leader advanced towards him, time seemed to slow as Bryson suddenly felt a sharp chill go right up through the center of his spine: 'What? ...' his eyes widened in confusion: "why am I-...'. He'd felt it before, long ago when he used to go beyond the walls: that sense of danger and dread that told him to be alert and get his head in the game, the one, that never failed to tell him when a titan was close and approaching; '...Why am I feeling this?...' he thought in confusion. But he was inside Maria, far from the titans: so why was he getting that feeling now of all times?

As the man raised his arm to bring the sickle down on him, he suddenly stopped: his eyes wide with terror as he stared up at something behind Bryson; in that one moment, the whole chaotic fray came to an abrupt standstill as everyone stared up at what was looming out of the trees. Frowning in confusion, Bryson was about to ask what was up, when he suddenly heard and felt the pounding of heavy footsteps behind him. His eyes widened with fear as his whole body froze: he knew those footsteps by heart, for they were the sound of death fast approaching; the footsteps stopped, and Bryson chanced a look up over his shoulder...

There, standing over everyone where four gigantic titans: two fifteen meter classes and two seven meter classes; one looked like a bird, one looked like boar, one was female and black and white all over, and the other had the most hideous lipless, cheekless maw anyone had ever seen: together, the four of them were all covered in strange curling pointed markings. As the rain pounded and the thunder continued to boom across the sky, the four behemoths stared down at the humans intensely, projecting their hatred down upon the attackers: the gang began to back off while everyone else was too scared or shocked to move; their desired effect seemed to be working, until Poppy ruined the moment: "YOU GUYS! WHAT THE FUCK TOOK YOU SO LONG?!"

Shadow and Midnight both rolled their eyes while Boar facepalmed and Angel shook her head in disbelief.

"Oh great" Hecate huffed, "now's the cat's out the bag!" "Never mind that, let's just get to work" Javorin sighed.

As the four titans stepped out of the trees, their eyes and the strange markings on their bodies began to glow in different colours: The big male one's were blue, the black and white females were purple, the boar-titan's glowed golden yellow, and the markings on the bird-titan's face glowed a pale ice blue; and all at once, the whole scene completely flipped on its head...

As the blue glowing titan raised his hand, trees erupted out of the road and verge like tentacles, grabbing the criminals in their branches and tossing them far into the forest as they shot up into the sky. The black and white female titan grinned wickedly as she held up both hands, and all the raindrops suddenly stopped in midair as if time itself had stilled them in place: the rainwater then froze into long shards of ice and shot down on the criminals hard, piercing their skin and causing them to flee yelling and screaming, and all the while not a single shard hit anyone else. The boar-titan pounded the earth with his fists, making the ground shake and rumble, sending out ripples of golden light in every direction: with every strike long narrow pillars of rock exploded out of the ground at high speed, knocking the criminals off their feet and sending them flying for a hundred meters through the air. And finally, the bird titan inhaled the biggest lungful of air and blew hard as she flapped her wings, kicking up a hurricane-force wind that scattered the remaining criminals into the forest, but left everyone else in place as if a gentle spring breeze merely brushed over them. With all the gang gone and those lucky enough to still run now beating a hasty retreat: everyone bar Carla, the kids, Pascal and West gawked up at the titans; their brains spinning with every thread of confusion, shock, amazement, and perplexity imaginable. "Wow, didn't know you guys could do all that..." West thought aloud as he gazed up at the trees that had sprouted from beneath the road.

Noticing one of the gang had dropped their gun: Bryson quickly kicked it up, caught it, and aimed it at the lipless titan. "NO!-" Ariana panicked as she ran to him, "-DON'T HURT HIM!-" she tackled his side, trying to throw his aim off, "He's my friend! I promise he won't hurt you!" Bryson stared down at her in astonishment, "Wha-...What?!" "Please Bryson don't hurt him! He just saved all our lives and this is thanks he gets?! Please just put the gun down and we can talk about this rationally!" Ariana continued to plead desperately.

Staring up at the titans, Bryson felt his brain stall as he tried to grapple what she just said: '...these titan's-...are your friends?!'. As if to try and convey Ariana's message better, the four titans held up their hands (and one wing bend) and waved in a friendly manner, while growling out something akin to an upbeat hello.

And at that moment, Bryson lost whatever collectedness he had left, and fainted on the spot.

"... Too much?" Elysia winced anxiously, "I'd say so" Hecate deadpanned as she gazed down at the other still-confused-and-terrified humans, "Hoooo boy... This is going to go absolutely swimmingly" she sighed sarcastically.

---

Well, Like Hecate said, the cat's out the bag now, and poor Bryson's in for one hell of a time: stayed tuned to see how Carla and the kids try to iron this out. BTW, while writing this chapter, I realized 'Carla and the kids' would make a great name for a 70's-type folk-rock band; I dunno? Is it just me? meh, I'm gonna do some fan-art on it when I get the chance. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, and don't forget to R&R before clicking off :)