I don't own Attack on Titan: just my OC's and the plot.
The Awakening
Chapter 16: Narrow Escape
846, May, The Marian Forest:
It was the loveliest of days as the sun shone its warm rays down through the thick canopy of the giant trees into the patchy understory below: bluebells carpeted all the available space, covering the entire forest floor in a sea of rich blueish-purple, with yellow cowslips and primroses peppered here and there, white wild garlic and wood sorrel surrounded the base of the trees, pinkish fox gloves and red campion bordered the bramble patches, and ox-eye daisies blossomed along the verges of the overgrown road that snaked its way through the low-lying glen. The air was filled with the numerous chattering's, warbling's and whistling's of bird songs, while butterflies and bees flittered and buzzed about, taking full advantage of the rich bounty of nectar. And amid the colourful undergrowth, a herd of fallow deer were passing through; the hinds keeping a watchful eye over their fawns, and keeping their ears attuned for the slightest hint of danger.
The wind hardly blew at all, save for the gentlest of breezes that tapped at every leaf in the upper-most canopy, while high overhead the clouds raced across the bright blue sky: it was so still one could've herd a pin drop from across the other side of the glen. Instead, the distant thuds of titan footsteps echoed up from the neighbouring valley.
Then, the air began to ring with another sound, one that had never been heard in the forest before: it started low, almost like a gust that howls over the tops of mountains, and then it began to take on another form, or rather, a series of voices all mingled together. Humming, whistling, crooning: a strange continuous droning that sounded like a choir singing an uncoordinated chorale. To anyone standing within range, it would've sounded so odd, so strange: and yet, there was an eeriness to it, as if it were being sung by beings not of this world; some kind of spirit? The mournful cries of those long past? Or something else?
As the spooky droning reached beyond the valley, echoing through the trees and over the far-off ridge, it didn't take long for the titans to notice it, and before long the giant behemoths were lumbering their way into the glen. But something was different about the half dozen titans that were following the sound, their eyes seemed to be more glazed over than usual, and their pupils were fully dilated. As more titans filed into the glen, they too seemed to wear the same dazed expression, as if lulled into a trance of some kind. Soon enough, the glen was filled with about thirty titans all heading in the same direction along the road, towards the source of the sound, which was emanating from somewhere in the giant trees above a nearby abandoned hamlet. As the titans began to gather beneath where the sound was coming from, they all bunched together in a tight crowd, gazing up into the canopy: just standing there in a hypnotized daze.
Another ten or so minutes passed, by which time around fifty five titans had gathered: as the monsters continued to listen to the strange siren song, they were completely oblivious to numerous humans hiding in the trees above, and even more unconscious of the strange tattoo-covered titans hiding amid the base of the trees and dense understory of smaller trees: titans that somehow, didn't seemed to be affected by the sound...
Moving with the swiftness of a squirrel and the silence of a mountain cat, the humans all climbed into position above the group of titans, forming a wide circle that encompassed the behemoths from above, and gave them a good view of their backs: especially the napes. One of the humans waved a hand gesture, and as if on cue, the tattooed titans crept into position around the group, covering all sides and cutting off any potential escape routes...
The trap was set.
"NOW!" Bryson shouted, and all at once the hunters dived head first out of the trees, shot their lines, and flew down with their blades drawn: moving in synch like a braid being woven thread by thread, the hunters sliced their way through the titans in the centre of the group, taking it in turns to strike each one. While on the outskirts of the group, Midnight slashed at their napes with her elongated blade-like claws, and Shadow sliced them with a long blue crystal spear: Boar charged out of the undergrowth and rapidly shot up the trunks of the giant trees, climbing up effortlessly with his sharp claws, and then like a mountain goat jumped from titan to titan, grasping the napes and ripping them out with one strike; and finally, Angel swooped down with her legs outstretched to reach forward, grasped the napes in her metal talons and cut through them in the blink of an eye. As she barrel-rolled up and over to line up for another strike, Carla and the Cooper twins flew off her back, and joined the others in dispatching the monsters. All the while the titans remained completely oblivious to what was going on, as if nothing and no one was there at all, and only the strange melodious droning was all there was: death came swift, and unannounced for them today...
Between the hunters and god-titans, the fifty-five regular titans were reduced to a steaming pile of rapidly-evaporating carcasses in less than five minutes: and as the last titan fell, the hunters returned to their perches in the trees to regrouped, "Excellent work as always everyone," Bryson smiled as he put his blades back into their scabbards, and gazed over at one young Ranger sitting on a nearby branch with a notebook and writing stick in hand, "Is that all of them?" the former Scout asked, "Uh, not quite," the Ranger replied as he re-read over his notes, "We've still got three unaccounted for"
"They must still be down in the south-eastern valley," Tyto sighed offhand, "I knew that bluff would obscure the hummers". "Don't worry dad, we got this" Ariana smiled as she patted him on the shoulder, adjusting the neckerchief that concealed her nose and mouth, "Three titans less than five miles away? Easy, we'll back you up" Clay smiled as he readied his quiver and bow, slinging them both over his shoulder. "You sure?" Tyto asked, "Dad, come on: five miles plus three titans is hardly a challenge" Ariana stated as she folded her arms. "And we still got plenty of arrows between us" Hazel chipped in. "Okay then, but no sightseeing on the way back: we're putting the charm in place and heading straight back to camp, okay?" he told them. "Sure thing!" Ariana grinned as she dropped down out of the tree and into Shadow's waiting hand, letting him place her on his shoulder: Clay and Hazel both jumped too and were caught by Boar as he jumped down out of a tree and onto the ground below, carefully placing them on his shoulders as well, where they moved into position on his back. "Be back soon!" Ariana waved good-bye as the titans took off into the forest.
As he watched them disappear into the endless green, Tyto then turned his attention to the rest of the group: "Okay guys, we're done here!" he called up into the canopy. On the branch the titans had been staring up at, the four Rangers perched there stopped swinging their long hummers, and breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally! My arm was starting to ache" one commented offhand as he pulled the two meter long bamboo tube towards him. "How's that 'titan sense' of yours? Any late-comers?" the Grey Owl elder asked his friend, "Thus far we're good," Bryson replied as he threw back his hood and lowered the neckerchief that covered his nose and mouth, "Though I'll feel a lot better once the charm's in place", "You and me both: I just hope the kids don't dawdle" Tyto sighed in a worrisome tone, "Ah don't worry Grey Owl, Dove's got them covered" Eraman patted him on the shoulder. Gazing up and around, it was then Tyto realized Angel, Carla and the twins were gone.
As Shadow and Boar ran through the forest, their charges clung tightly to their long mane-like hair, making sure to remain braced against their napes so as to avoid their massive shoulders as they moved back and forth with each rapid stride. Riding a titan was no easy feat, but it was the most exhilarating experience: far faster than any horse, Shadow and Boar practically glided on the wind as they moved through the forest like shadows; swift, silent, and hardly kicking up any dirt, or making any loud booms as their feet struck the ground. "So guys, anyone feel like a triple-turn loop? Or a three-way dive-'an'-dodge?, if all three are above eight meter-class I'm going for the dive-an'-dodge!" Ariana shouted down to Clay and Hazel: "You know we're strictly triple-turn! It's only one we can do at the same time!" Clay shouted back, "Just thought you might want to try something different today!" Ariana smiled, "But okay, triple-turn it is!"
"Sorry kids, but no fancy tricks today! ..." Carla shouted down from Angel's shoulder: as the snow white avian titan glided down and flew above Boar's head, blocking off Clay and Hazel's space so they couldn't fly off. Carla then stood up, holding tightly onto Angel's feathery mane, and gazed up at Ariana: "We've got a schedule to keep today, remember?". "Fine, whatever" Ariana rolled her eyes, "Killjoy!" Clay and Hazel shouted up at the bird titan, who merely shot them both a mother hen look.
Before long, they found the three titans in a shallow hollow near a winding river: as Angel perched herself in a nearby giant tree overlooking the shaded spot, Shadow and Boar hid behind the massive trunk, and all three god-titans turned invisible, while their riders silently dismounted and gathered on the branch between the bird-titan's feet, crouching down low so as to try and remain inconspicuous. "Okay, one ten meter and two sevens: what'd you reckon?" Ariana asked offhand in a low whisper, "Bait and disable?". "At this distance it would be easy" Clay shrugged, "Or just let the guys handle it? It'll only take them seconds" Hazel thumbed over to where Shadow and Boar were standing. "Oh come on Goshawk, they've been doing all the hard work for three days straight: and anyway, I could use a little exercise" Ariana scoffed, "Alright then" Carla smiled as she stood up and walked along the branch, "Bait and disable is it".
"Yes..." Ariana grinned smugly as she stood up and walked along the branch in the opposite direction, clipping her blue crystal blades into the handgrips: slipping her hand into the hip-pack on her belt, Carla took out her little hummer; a foot-long section of bamboo that had been fashioned into a hummer with a luring charm carved into the side, and filled in with Shadow's blue crystal, attached to a three meter length of thick twine in the middle. Holding the twine, she gave enough slack for a good meter and a half, and started to swing the device around in a wide circle above her head, creating a high-pitched droning that sounded almost like someone whistling and humming low at the same time. Simultaneously, Clay readied his bow and three arrows, the heads of which were coated in Crystal's venom, and calculated his aim while Hazel assumed her position next to Ariana.
As the girls got ready to jump, all three titans stopped and stared in their direction: they paused at first, as if listening to the strange sound, and then they started to walk towards them. The three god-titans watched silently as the regular titans came within range, and Clay fired all three arrows in rapid succession, striking each one right in the jugular: within a matter of seconds the titans flesh began to turn a deathly shade of grey, and their movements became more ridged and sluggish. "Figure of eight?" Ariana glanced sideways at Hazel, "Figure of eight" the red-head nodded, and together they jumped, shot their lines and took off, flying towards the titans and flanking all three as they moved in a line towards the perch. In near-perfect unison, Ariana and Hazel both struck the titans on the left and right, and in one fast move sliced the nape of the remaining titan from opposite sides: both passing within inches of each other; a well-practised trick that took days to master, and days more to apply in the field. As the venom crippled the titan's bodies and they remained enchanted by the hummer's melody, their reaction time had been drastically reduced to nothing: even as they fell to the earth and crumpled up into a pile one on top of the other, they remained completely oblivious.
Flying back onto their perch, the girls sheathed their crystal blades and stood before Carla as she put her hummer away: "Okay, that's all the titans in this area taken care of: is it lunchtime yet?" Clay asked as he threw his bow and quiver back over his shoulder, "Should be, we've been at this for seven hours straight" Lucy chipped in a she climbed out of her hiding place on Angel's left flank plume, "I'm quite hungry myself" Lucius added offhand as he shuffled out from under the right flank plume. "Okay then," Carla smiled, "Let's head on back and see what's in the ration packs"
Remounting their giant friends, the hunters and god-titans set off back the way they came, and caught up with the group as they headed back to base camp: which was situated in a wide spacious clearing with a stream running through it, and hidden from prying eyes with a concealment spell. Up in the giant trees that boarded the clearing, the humans had pitched their tents: called drays, they were suspended from the branches and interconnected by rope ladders, they were also camouflaged to blend in with the canopy; and pretty good it was too, for if you didn't know what you were looking for, you'd easily miss them. The clearing was reserved for the god-titans, as they undoubtedly needed the space, with the acceptation of the campfires and tents set up to house the supplies, and the bird-titans that roosted up in the giant trees alongside their riders. As the group reconvention with those who had been charged with looking after the campsite, the hunters could finally relax and kick back, if only for a few hours: at least enough to get some lunch and take the weight off their feet.
Climbing down out of Shadow's hand, Ariana sighed with relief as she removed the neckerchief from her face, and breathed deep through her nose, taking in the scent of the camp: "Ugh! I hate not being able to smell properly with this thing on my face!" she huffed as she pushed aside the bangs that fell out from under her black bandanna, "You and me both," Clay sighed as he removed the neckerchief that had concealed his face too, "Unless we're using our concealment stones, these seriously compromise our sense of smell: which is just about the best line of defence in calculating the titan's positions".
"Ah come now, you know why we have to wear them," Evrard reminded them as he removed his wooden hunting mask, "There's no telling whether those Disciples might be out there: better safe than sorry". "I still don't see what there is for them to be getting up to out here, what with all the titans now running the place" Fox huffed as he removed his neckerchief, "I agree, but the walled kingdom is a small world Bullfinch: and absolute privacy is a luxury many can seldom afford: at least out here with a repelling charm in hand, you could do anything and no one would be none the wiser" Tyto replied as he removed his hood and hunting mask. "But let's not worry about that now: you've all done well today, so go grab a bite and rest; we'll start packing up in two hours" he smiled. "Finally!" Rowan exclaimed as he flew down off Midnight's shoulder's and made a bee-line for the rations packs.
"Ninety seven titans: not bad for a morning's work," Bryson smiled as he joined the others, heading to where the food was being prepared, "And we've still got another three days before we go home: this has probably been the best hunt of the season yet, and we might actually surpass last month's tally" Falken chipped in as Evernight flew down to perch on his shoulder.
Bryson couldn't help but agree with him, for he knew he wasn't speaking of their luck lightly: indeed, the hunt had proven to be unexpectedly successful in the last several months since it's beginning in mid-November of last year. Every month since, between seven to ten days, Tyto led the Celts, Rangers and god-titans out into Maria to hunt the titans, with his children, nephews, nieces and close friends at his side; with the acceptation of the Willum elders, Freya, Claude, Derek, Mabel, Bren, Breck, Bemadette, and the much younger children who all remained back in the Hidden land with the other humans and god-titans. With over a hundred and thirty humans and seventy five god-titans making up the numbers, it was a massive undertaking that had to be dealt with in a tight and orderly fashion: fortunately, between the Celt's and Ranger's own experience in living out in the wild, and Bryson's own military discipline, organization and coordination was a doddle.
In order to cover as much ground as possible, the Hunt was divided into four main teams: each consisting of both hunters and god-titans who would be assigned an area of land over nine to ten square miles wide, and wipe out the titans in that particular territory. The long hummers covered a range of over three to five miles in any direction, which added up to an area over nine to fifteen square miles wide (give or take the topography of the land and any blind-spots in which the hummers might not be able to reach), while the little hummers were more suited to mid-range distances of about five hundred to eight hundred meters. Between all four teams working together, an area over a hundred and fifty square miles could be cleared of any titans within a morning or afternoon (which was staggering to say the least), with the base camp centred right in the middle between all four territories.
Each team consisted of Look-out's, Message and Supply runners, Baiters, and Ambushers: the look-out's were mostly the bird titans and their riders, their job was to circle the sky above where their team was situated, counting how many titans were in their territory as well as keeping an eye out for anything else that might pose a problem. The message and supply runners were the team's main back-up: made up of mostly the smaller deer titans and their riders, their duty was to carry the supplies; which would be food, water, medical equipment, gas and emergency repair kits for the ODM gears, tents for if the team were unable to return to base camp, and anything else that might be needed. Their riders also cared for a team of ravens that had been trained to relay messages to base camp, or any of the the other teams in the neighbouring vicinities (with their sharp cunning, excellent memory, and knack for recognizing faces: ravens were a reliable form of communication, as well as acting as spotters for potential prey or danger; the same went for Evernight too, as she was quite a cleaver bird herself). The Baiters had one of the easiest jobs, as they were the ones who'd picked the short straw to use the hummers to lure the titans in: between each wave of titans they'd swap with the archers, so that everyone wouldn't run the risk of getting exhausted doing one set task; since everyone was proficient in archery and ODM gear usage, the issue of someone not being able to keep up for a lack of one particular skill-set wasn't a problem. Depending on the terrain and whether the titans heard the hummers or not, the archers would be used to incapacitate the them with their venom-coated arrows: thus dramatically lowering the risk of someone getting eaten. And then there were the ambushers, the main attack force of each team that took down the titans: the ambushers consisted of the hunters that were more proficient with the ODM gear, and the biggest and strongest of the god-titans; mostly the Elk, Bird, Tree and larger Deer titans, as well as Shadow, Midnight, Boar, Angel, and of course, Stormwing.
Each team would deploy a different set of tactics to bait and attack, depending on different topography and weather conditions: the forest was the favoured choice of course, as the ODM gear could be used to full effect and there were more places to hide. However the plains and any expanse of wide open ground posed more of a challenge, but the Hunt had the means and skills to pursue their quarry, and still be able to use their ODM gear by using the god-titans as mobile anchors and perches, as well as utilize the Bird-titans with the help of Bemadette's 'talon gauntlets'.
Though the first few months had been a learning curve, perfecting the little details and 'polishing off' one's skills at killing a titan: everyone had at last managed to get into a comfortable frame of mind in hunting the beasts, and utilize the skills that served them well the most. Even the god-titans were able to move and fight with ease amid their human families, using their powers and physical strength in a balance that could be put to devastating effect against their mindless counter-parts, whilst keeping everyone safe.
"...You know?" Bryson thought aloud with his brows furrowed, "...Even though we've been doing this for several months now, I still can't believe we've not had one single fatality: in a way part of me is starting to get paranoid that maybe this good luck won't hold up forever", "Well? It probably won't: but for now at least, we're doing it right, and we're not allowing ourselves to become complacent," Tyto patted him on the back, "We've taken every cautionary measure we can think of: all we can do is follow through with what we set out to achieve, and just go with whatever comes our way".
Gazing down at his hunting mask, Tyto couldn't help but feel sentimental: it was a wooden mask that had been carved and painted into the likeness of the Great Grey Owl, his clan's totem: his cloak, sash and sweater too were made to resemble the owl's plumage; grey with pale vertical bars and finely mottled flecks of greyish-browns. It had been carved long ago by his ancestors, and handed down through the generations, as a means of honouring the spirit animal they believed watched over their clan; it was one of the few things he managed to grab the day Shiganshina fell. Evrard, Falken and Eraman too managed to grab their clan's masks and kept them safe: donning their totem animal's colours as well.
Their children however, didn't have the luxury of wearing their own totem masks, as they were only meant to be worn after they had performed and passed their clan's traditional initiations (which wouldn't be for another good several years yet): so instead, they settled for hiding their faces beneath neckerchief's, bandanna's and larger neckerchief's that covered their necks and fronts. But, having chosen bird names as their pseudonyms: the kids and some of the grown-up's decided to do their own takes on the bird's who's monikers they'd borrowed, and donned the colours of their chosen bird's plumage; which had been met with mixed results to say the least. Gale's chosen bird was the yellow warbler, so it came as a surprise when she showed up to the first hunt decked out all in yellow, Belle, Poppy and the Raven twins too, as their birds were known for their bold plumage: Pascal's choice of clothing was met with scepticism too, as the Pheasant was a boldly plumed bird indeed, as well as the Bullfinch, Blue throat, and Magpie. While the Raven, Jackdaw, Rook, Cuckoo, Swallow, Swift, Waxwing, Goshawk, Snow Bunting and Snow Finch were more muted, more camouflaged in a sense.
But the one that really took the cake was Carla's choice of colour: with the pseudonym of Dove she was dressed all in white from head to toe, even the leather of her boots was a pale sandy-beige colour, and it was a pain trying to spot her on Angel's back when in flight, as she practically disappeared into the bird-titan's dazzling white plumage. Most of the other Celts wore their traditional hunting masks and totem animal colours, while the Rangers mostly wore a blend of green and browns, coupled with their ghillie cloaks and assortment of leather clothing and accessories. It was a bit of an eclectic mix, as the kids choices in hunting garbs wasn't everyone's first choice for blending into the wild, as some (like Gale's) stuck out like a sore thumb; but given the god-titans powers and the magics they could craft on a whim, the issue of camouflage wasn't too much of a problem.
Bryson, for his part, wore his new cloak with pride: and although the idea of wearing his old uniform for the Hunt was tempting, he decided it wasn't quite fitting. The Hunt was not the Scouting legion: though they were fighting for the same reason and were both proficient in their skills and knowledge, they were treading very different paths; and he felt his garbs needed to reflect that. But on the other hand, the Scout in him would not be so easily put to rest: it was part of who he was, part of what made him into the man he was today, and he still felt compelled to pay tribute to his brothers and sisters-in-arms one way or another. So, after inquiring with Freya and her sewing circle about making a few alterations to the clothing he'd had in mind: he settled for something that was more informal, more indicative of the Scout's principle of fighting for humanity's freedom, and the Celt's and Ranger's cultural connection to the forest. Though it wasn't his old uniform, he was happy with it: and felt it suited him in his new role as the Hunt's resident titan hunter. Dressed in green blue and white, with neckerchief's and a sash that sported some finely detailed embroidery, he could've easily passed for one of the wild men of Maria: and it delighted many in the clans and Ranger families to know he honoured them by donning their colours and patterns.
As everyone lined up at the camp fires to receive the dish of the day, a familiar smell wafted past: "-Is that...Beef?!" Ariana realized, "We're having beef for lunch?!" Belle bounced up and down excitedly as she tried to hurry the queue along. Glancing around, Bryson and the other elders noticed the large bullock carcass hanging from a thick branch, with two other Rangers still in the process of butchering the meat: "Huh, where on earth did you guys get a cow from all the way out here?" Eraman thought aloud, "Oh, it came wandering near the camp: so we thought some fresh beef would make a nice change" one of the cooks shrugged, "The hides a bit tough but the meat's still good, given the fact its been feral for nearly a year now" the other cook added, "Two of our guys followed it's tracks down to the edge of the forest, and they said there're loads of farm animals wandering about all over the place: I guess the titans aren't the only one's who now got the run of the place huh?" another Ranger offered as he tucked into a thick piece of meat.
"Huh," Tyto raised an eyebrow, "That might be an idea". "What's that?" Ariana glanced up at him as she waited to be handed a bowl of food, "Oh, something the counsel have been contemplating for this year's winter preparations: someone posed the idea of rounding up some of the now-feral farm animals and rearing them for meat, milk, wool and hides: thus saving us time and trouble hunting" he explained. "You know? Now that you mention it: I do miss omelettes" Poppy reminisced with a growling stomach, "I miss cheese; you need milk to make cheese you know?" Belle added, "Having fried eggs and bacon again would be nice" Dale threw in. "But we're hunters, there's loads of game in the Hidden valley to keep us all going over winter" one of the Celts commented. "True, but we have to think of the numbers: not to mention there're other animals in the Hidden land that rely on the game for their own survival: and besides, we really need a good supply of wool. Crystal's silk in nice but it's not the best protection from the winter cold: not to mention we need milk and eggs for our own dietary needs" Tyto explained.
"Dietary needs?" Evrard echoed in bewilderment: "Oh, it was something Breck came across in a book on how different foods are good for the body in different ways. Apparently milk's good for making your bones strong, and eggs are full of something called 'protein' that helps build up your muscles? According to Claude, it seems like it was a real tried and tested thing, (back when the book was written at least)" Tyto elaborated. "Wow, our ancestors really did a lot of sciencey things back in the day" Jaye thought aloud as he left the queue with his bowl of food in hand, "And a load of other stuff, according to all the books they found in the city's medical-sciences section"Lucius threw in as he and his sister went to sit next to Angel.
After getting her food, Ariana found Shadow reclining against a giant log on the edge of the clearing, alongside all the other Deer, Elk, Bird and Tree titans: holding her bowl in one hand, she carefully climbed up into his belly and nestled herself between his well-toned abs. "Hey big guy," she smiled as she crossed her legs, "Tired much?". :I'm okay actually,: he spelt out with a lazy wave of his hand, :Just enjoying a little sun:, "Yeah, it's really warm today," Ariana gazed up at the sky through the canopy as she started tucking into her lunch, "I just hope the rain stays away". "Well that won't be a problem, right Angel?" Lucius smiled as he patted the avian titan's side, to which Angel nodded with a bold chirp. A loud "TCH!-" grabbed their attention over to where Midnight was sitting against the side of a giant tree, half-hidden in the dark shadows of the thick foliage, "Well of course you like the rain, you got those fancy water-powers: you can control it however you want" Belle replied as she and her sisters came over to join Ariana up on Shadow's abs; "I dunno, I like listening to the rain, and it has a nice smell when it's pouring during the summer: I just don't like having to track anything when it's coming down heavy. It neutralizes every smell for miles around" Clay chipped in as he and Hazel went to sit next to Boar, who was lounging half-asleep on a giant log. "Ugh, I hate it when that happens," Ariana agreed as she ripped a chunk of steak apart between her teeth, savouring the juicy tender flavour with a satisfied smiled, "...Mmm, I can't even remember the last time we had beef like this"
"You guys have had beef before?" one of the older Ranger's asked in slight bemusement, as he tended to his Deer-titan's saddle pack, "What? You mean you haven't had beef?" Ariana blinked in surprise. "Well? No, you don't get cows out in the forest kid" he chuckled, "Still, I've always wondered what it tastes like" another younger Ranger thought aloud as he checked over his quiver, "Well? It looks like there's still loads left: why don't you go and find out?" Gale pointed to the cooking pots. Without another word, the young Ranger placed his quiver down and took off to the cooking station, eagerly grabbing his food bowl on the way over. "Well, I guess we won't be seeing him for a while... But, I'm curious though," the older Ranger stopped what he was doing, and gazed up at Ariana, "When did you get to try beef for the first time? I may not have eaten the stuff myself, but even I know it's expensive". "Oh, our aunt Miriam used to run the Black Stallion in Shiganshina, and a delivery service out of our livery. She had several clients who's produce she used to deliver, and one of them owned a beef ranch up in the north of the central valley: he'd send us some cuts of meat every now and then as a thank you, and she'd share it with her workers" Poppy explained, "My whole family worked for the Willum's, so we always got the good stuff to put in our pantry" Ariana smirked.
"I still can't believe you guys used to live in a city: never mind passing yourselves as regular folk for so long," One of the Celts commented offhand as he rested on the back of his Bird-titan: a large female that had a plumage resembling that of a collared dove. Ariana looked at him weirdly, as he'd taken leave of his senses for a moment: seeing the look on her face, the Celt immediately shied away, "Oh uh-, I'm sorry I didn't mean-" he stuttered anxiously, "-No no it's not that!" Ariana hurriedly tried to explain, "-It's just-..." she paused as she thought about it, "Mum and dad were the one's who moved to the city, along with uncle Evrard, Falken and Eraman and their wives. But, Shiganshina is where I was born: it's the only place I've ever known (beside the forest); it was my home; mine, and ours..." she glanced over at the Willum sister's, who's expression took on a more sombre tone, "Honestly? I didn't feel like I had to hide in my own home (much): we lived three streets up from the cult's church, and I can tell you, they never so much as gave a hoot to anyone else, never mind us... Well? Unless it was the Disciples of course, but those guys were never an issue for us: not when Midnight was on the prowl. Am I right?" Ariana smiled over at the black and white titan-goddess, who simply replied with a sly smile and dangerously narrowed eyes.
As the Willum sisters and the Ranger carried on their conversation, with Clay and Hazel chipping in: Ariana got up and wandered over to where Shadow had placed his spear against the giant log. Over eighteen meters long and topped with a spiral spear-head shaped like a broad Celtic bear-hunting blade, it was an imposing weapon made entirely from the blue crystal he was able to create: as the sun shone on it, the crystal refracted the light inside and out, creating a dazzling array of varying hues of blue; and as she ran her hand over the shaft, she felt how the strange substance was as smooth as glass, and as cool as marble. :Not bad for one of my first tries: Shadow commented offhand with a small smile; the light-smoke words drifting past Ariana's face before dissipating on the wind, "I still can't believe you were holding out on us all this time" she smirked up at him as she ripped apart another chunk of meat, :Hey, I had no idea I could do it. If it hadn't been for that fight with the Armoured titan, and saving Carla from that one titan in the forest? I might never have know of this power: he smiled as he held up one hand, and as the tattoos on his wrists glowed their characteristic shade of cobalt blue, the crystal in question began to form along his fingers, spreading out from his markings like water: soft, smooth and bright.
The way the crystal glowed was almost mesmerizing to watch, reaching out her hand to touch it, Ariana felt it softly thrum beneath her fingertips, as if the god-titan's breaths and heartbeats were reverberating throughout her whole frame: in a way it was loud as she felt each muffled pulse shoot through her arm and into her body, and yet, it wasn't deafening or painful. It just felt soothing, rhythmic: like the steady beating of a drum, or the low howling of the wind as it blew through the sky. Smiling, Ariana closed her eyes as she felt the steady pulses relax and ease her whole body: all the exertion from this morning's hunt melted away, leaving a feeling of calm and stillness; as if waking up from a good night's sleep. "...What is it about this crystal that makes you feel so relaxed when you touch it?" she thought aloud as she gently removed her hand. :It's the substance of my powers: Shadow replied as he recalled the crystal back into his hand, letting it dissolve into his tattoos like snow into water. :I am the god of wisdom, guidance, nourishment and balance. Of those four strengths, I believe it's my ability to provide nourishment that comes through the greatest; for the time being at least. Though I've only been utilizing this ability for several months it's still early days, and there's much we've yet to discover and try to understand:
Glancing over at Midnight, Ariana watched as Ash, Rowan and Dale were sitting on her knee, watching her elongate her fingers into her blade-claws, and covering with her own crystal, which was a pale yet vivid shade of lilac. Turning around, she noticed Boar sitting upright on the giant log with Clay and Hazel on his shoulders, letting out a low gravely chuckle in response to one of Clay's pun while Hazel cringed. "It's a shame Boar doesn't have his own crystal power: but then, I guess he doesn't really need it, given that he can summon any crystal stone or metal from out of the ground" Ariana thought aloud offhand. : I did ask him if he was okay about it, but he wasn't really fazed to be honest: Shadow shrugged, :And besides, that abdominal armour of his is pretty tough:. "Not as tough Midnight's crystal," Ariana glanced back over at the black and white titan-goddess, "With her claws coated in that stuff, she can just about cut through anything, bar your crystal of course...I wonder, if it's as tough as the Titan-shifters own crystal?".
An unreadable look came over her face as her mind began to drift toward something that had been quite the subject of interest over the last several months: reading her aura, Shadow knew what vexed her, and knew it was something that everyone (himself included) had been curious about. "...You know? I still can't get my head around the fact that there were once people who could turn themselves into titans: I mean actual titans; and the fact they had different powers too is just as incredible," she thought aloud, glancing back up at her best friend as she walked up onto his chest, "...I've been wondering about this for a while now: but do you guys think it might have something to do with that curse of yours somehow?". :Personally? I think so. The fact there is a degree of similarity between our powers and theirs is too coincidental: he nodded with a look of sureness in his dazzling blue eyes; a short pause hung in the air between them, before Ariana thought of something else "...Do you think? They're still out there? Somewhere in the outside world? I mean, I know there's a lot of stuff in the city's archives to suggest they were around a long time: but could they have survived the regular titans somehow?". :Who knows?: Shadow shrugged, :It's been seven months since Drake discovered the first information about them, and Claude and Derek are still trying to piece together everything they've found thus far. For all we know it might just be the tip of the iceberg? There's enough evidence to suggest they were capable of many things; who knows where it'll take us?:
"Beyond the walls, that's where," Rowan butted in as he climbed up over Shadow's shoulder and stood up on his chest, followed by his brothers: "I mean, if those guys really are still around, they can only be somewhere in the outside world, right?" he folded his arms, "Cuz' It's not like they're here within the walls: people turning themselves into titans? That wouldn't go unnoticed for long" he joked. "But still, it would explain that mysterious yellow crystal holding up the tree-houses on the island: if titan-shifters really did that, and they were the ones who helped to build the island community in the first place? Who knows what else they were capable of?" Dale threw in.
As the four siblings discussed the matter further, Shadow was about to offer his input, when the sound of soft footfalls made him glance up, and he saw Midnight standing over him with a smirk: "Still going on about the titan-shifters, hm?" she asked as she sat down beside him on the log, "Though personally, I'd rather wait until all the fact are in first, before we all start jumping to conclusions", "You and me both" Javorin sighed, "But you know humans: once they find a nugget of information they believe is relevant to them, they rush to try and find out more", "Claude has certainly been the poster-boy for that of late" Hecate smiled, "At the rate he's been hitting the books I'm amazed he hasn't completely cut off all ties to the island; I told Jarus he should start charging rent". "Given the fact we can expect more than our share of the unexpected: what's your take on this new discovery?" he asked, "...Professionally or personally?", "Both", "Okay: professionally, it might be something; whether it has anything to do with the regular titans remains to be seen... And personally? My gut's telling me its a can of worms we may not want to open"
Javorin raised his eyebrow in curiosity, "...I know your gut instinct, and I know it's seldom ever wrong: so what is there about this that's got it twitching in a bad way?". Hecate didn't reply at first, as she thought about the reason why; gazing at him with an unreadable look in her eyes, she sighed with a shrug, "...Honestly? I don't really know... But if I had to guess? I suppose it's the old notion of 'digging up the past only gets you dirt' that comes to mind...When you put anyone under a magnifying glass, everything shows up: even the worst of them", "Every human culture has had it's vices and negative qualities down the ages: the titan-shifter's own culture won't be much different, surely?" Javorin suggested, "True, but the question is how different?" Hecate thought aloud with a cool yet vexed look in her eyes, "It doesn't take a genius to work out they utilized some kind of magics to give themselves those tremendous hulking forms: magics, that we would never have approved of, in all likeliness... The fundamental principle of all the mystic arts is that all magics can only be achieved through the balance of universal equilibrium: nothing can be achieved without first giving something in return...So what did they offer up, in return for that kind of power?... In my experience: in every generation and in every age: the cost to achieve such power, was always too high"
"...I know..." Javorin sighed quietly as he gazed up at the sky, using his mind's eye to watch the chaos manna drifting through the upper atmosphere: it was rather patchy today; a good sign that they shouldn't encounter any problems (in terms of the weather at least).
Overhearing the conversation from where she sat perched on another giant log nearby, Elysia passed a deep sigh as she watched Carla eating her lunch, and pondered on what this all means for everyone. "It's pretty big, that's for sure" Herne interjected as he glanced at her with a knowing smile, "But then, humans always take big new discoveries with mixed feeling: in a way? I don't think anything is really unprecedented until its been criticized to the point of demonization, and praised until its all everyone can talk about" he offered. Knowing he'd read her aura, Elysia sighed again as she gave him a vexed look: "But this isn't just unprecedented, it's something that could explain a lot about the mystery of the titan's origins" she stated, "If that's the case: but Claude and Derek haven't found anything to prove that yet. Hell, they're still going over the general history of the titan-shifters, never mind the ins and outs of how they came up with the magics to create that power" Herne shrugged, "Look kid, don't go looking to worry yourself over this: Claude, Derek and Jarus have got it covered; they're doing their part, and we're doing ours. Okay?"
"Okay" she nodded, "Oh and kid?" Herne smiled, "We're gonna be going across the plains to our next base camp: you know what that means, right?".Elysia's face lit up with eager excitement as she kneaded the log with her feet.
"Ah, I take it you overheard us?" Tyto smiled up at the bird-titan as he and his brothers approached with Bryson and the other senior Celts and Rangers in tow. Seeing the large map he held in his hands, Carla got up and put her bowl down, straightening up as she tried to act professional: "I take it you guys have decided on the next campsite?" she surmised, "Yes, and it's a bit of trek: twelve miles north-east from here, on the northern-most side of the Danner mountains, just a few miles short of the Grey fells" Tyto replied, "I know that area well, my mother's family used to hunt up there regularly: there's plenty of cover, a stream, lots of dead-fall for firewood: and according to the map there's a stone circle just three miles east, in a cove on the side of the mountain, not far from the caves" Dakota explained.
"Caves?" Carla echoed curiously, "There's a huge network of caves that run all the way into the heart of the northern mountain: I remember my grandfather taking me up there to show me them when I was a boy; I reckon you could get a good few several hundred people in there, they're that big" he added, "But then, why not camp there? Caves are excellent ready-made shelters" she suggested. "Anywhere else yes. But unfortunately those caves not safe for humans: every bear in that mountain range goes there to hibernate in the winter, and at this time of year the mountain cats use it to birth and hide their kits; we'd be much safer down in the forest, closer to the abandoned village on the main road" he replied. "We're going to start taking down the dreys in an hour's time: have everyone get their kits together and be ready to move out by two. Hopefully if there aren't too many titans about, we should reach our destination by early evening" Tyto stated, "You and Angel will be revealing Florence and Swifty in taking secondary point alongside Stormwing: alright?" Bryson informed her, to which she smugly waved off with a smirk, "Fine by me. You know how we like to fly, right Angel?" she glanced up at the avian titan, who merely puffed her chest feathers out with pride, "Yeah, well?" Bryson couldn't help but chuckle, "If any titans show up, just remember to leave some for the rest of the guard team".
As the gentlemen left to see to other business, the twins came up alongside Carla and Angel, "We moving out yet?" Lucy asked offhand, "Not for another few hours: but you better make a start packing your things when you're done eating lunch, okay?" she smiled down at them, "Sure" they both nodded. As she turned to sit back down, Carla noticed both the twins smiling at her: "What is it?" she smiled back. "We were just thinking," they both exchanged a knowing look, before sitting down either side of her, "How well this suits you" Lucius picked up without skipping beat, handing her her lunch"This, we mean..." Lucy motioned to everyone sitting in the clearing: the entire Hunt, "...You've really changed these last several months; we were thinking to ourselves just the other day, how different things were before. Back when we all lived in Shiganshina"
"...Yeah..." Carla sighed as she let her gaze drift upwards to the sky, "...Back then, I couldn't see myself doing anything even remotely similar to this: watching you kids practise on the ODM gear used scare the hell out of me. I couldn't help but worry one of you might fall; never mind the idea of Eren flying on one of these things..." she smiled in nostalgia, as she lay her hand on the scabbard box of her gear. "And? Being here, carrying out this endeavour?" Lucy asked offhand, "I can't see myself doing anything else" she smiled, "...Flying through the air like a bird? Eren, Mikasa and Armin would've loved this"
"You know? Mum used to love watching us practise" Ashlyn interjected as she sat down alongside them with Hawk in tow: "She'd say the way we flew together? It was like watching the swallows and swifts dancing over the meadows,". "That's why you chose Swallow and Swift as your pseudonyms?" Carla realized, "Yeah: she'd have liked that" Hawk nodded, "But, you guys never told us why you chose Snow Bunting and Snow Finch as your names; does it have any particular meaning for you both?" he asked curiously. "Well?" Lucy hesitated a little, "Not really, it's just," they both pointed to their pale ash blond hair, "We've always had the 'winter look' going for us, and since Snow buntings and finches are winter birds (and they're cute to boot), it was kind of a no-brainer," Lucius deadpanned. "Seriously?!" Ashlyn chuckled, "With all the stuff you two know, I'd have thought there'd be some deep meaning as to why you chose them". "Nope: they're just our favourite birds is all" Lucy smiled: nearly falling backwards off the log as Angel nose-booped her and Lucius, "-And you too Angel! You're our favourite too!" she chuckled as she quickly scrambled back up onto her perch, pulling Lucius up by his sleeve.
As the others all chuckled and laughed: Stormwing, who was perched less than several meters away at the end of the log, simply rolled her eyes and shook her head as she let a small smile cross her pale icy lilac lips. "Idiots" she thought aloud, "Yeah but they're our idiots: and they know how to keep up with you" Hecate smirked, "Only because the brat knows how to steal my updraughts" the giant avian titan deadpanned as she shot a hairy eyeball at Elysia, "You're just pissed because she knows how to dodge those sharp talons of yours: and she now knows to throw lightning bolts at your feathered ass" Hecate teased, "...Are you baiting me?" Nyiera glanced over at her sister, narrowing her eyes dangerously, "Maybe?" Hecate smirked, "...Heh-" her older sister smirked, "Nice to know some things never change".
Everyone made the most of their lunch break, for when it was time to pack up and leave, they knew it was going to be a long walk to their next destination. In the time it would've taken fifty Scouts to dismantle their tents, load up their supply wagons and saddle their horses, the Hunt were packed up and ready to move out in half the time; the fires were put out, the dreys taken down, the Deer, Elk and Bird titans had their saddles and packs kitted up and loaded, and everyone had replenished their gas supplies. Replacing their blades however, was never an issue: with Shadow's crystal pairing blades being virtually indestructible, everyone only had to carry two sets each, and since they never dulled there was no need for Shadow to make more (unless someone lost theirs by accident). Once the tasks of clearing away and tidying up were done, Shadow and the Tree titans set about covering up the evidence of the campsite. Holding up their hands, the Tree-titans markings glowed green as they commanded the trampled plants to regrow, shrouding the campfires in a thick blanket of green and flowers: the mosses and lichens on the branches and logs grew back into place, and Javorin recited a variation of a wind spell to remove all the smells of the humans and god-titan's; and just as inconspicuously as they came, they were gone just as silently, as if they'd never been there at all.
The trek to the next base camp was long and tedious, with half the journey taking them over the plains: which suited everyone just fine as it meant there were no steep valleys or rugged trails to traverse. Walking in a long column three titans wide: the Elk-titans carried the supplies as they were strongest of the four-legged titans, flanking them with their spears make of green crystal and wood, the Deer and Tree titans would keep the column safe from any regular titans that got past Stormwing. Shadow, Midnight and Boar usually took point at the front of the formation, while up in the air, the Bird-titans and their riders would circle the sky: keeping abreast of all the titan's in the area, and dispatching any that were wandering too close.
These long journeys between base campsites would be time-consuming, but it was decided that a slow and steady pace helps to conserve energy for when it would be needed in an emergency. It was quite the contrast to what Bryson had been used to in the Scouts: first rule of being in the titans territory; stay on your horse no matter what, and if you hear giant footsteps don't stop for anything. Walking at such a slow pace used to make him really nervous at first, as it seemed really counter-intuitive to the rule of relying on speed to stay alive. But with the Deer-and Elk titans acute hearing, the Bird-titan's keen eyes, and most of the Celt's sharp noses: detecting the regular titans from any direction was simple enough. On a day like today when the weather was in their favour: the average distance a titan could be picked up, would be as far as over twenty miles away; thanks mostly to Boar's super-sharp sense of smell.
As he stood on Shadow's shoulder alongside Bryson and Ariana, leading the column with the map in hand, Tyto glanced up, and froze in alarm: "Shadow, do you see them?". :I see them: he wrote back, before activating his powers and throwing up a concealment spell over the whole column. "EVERYONE STOP!" the Grey Owl elder bellowed, "What is it dad?" Ariana swung round to his side via one of Shadow's long bangs, "What's up?!" one of the Ranger's at the front of the column shouted back.
Squinting her eyes to try and spot the problem, Ariana soon spotted dust clouds amid the mirage on the horizon: whipping out her telescope, she focused in on the hazy clouds, and could just make out the shapes of horses galloping at speed with green-cloaked riders on their backs; there were many of them all fairly spread apart over a good kilometre and a half, and were soon joined by some that were trailing large items behind them, most likely supply wagons.
"SCOUTS!" Ariana shouted over her shoulder: suddenly, Angel swooped down to land at Shadow's side, and Carla stood up to report "It's okay they're heading straight south! They'll miss us completely!". "Very good..." Tyto nodded as he addressed the column, "Don't worry! They'll pass right by us! Everyone just remain clam and stay where you are!" He then turned back to Carla, "Tell everyone to get above the clouds and stay put until they're gone". Carla was about to reply, when suddenly something caught her eye in the far distance.
Everyone watched as several signal flares trailed red smoke up into the sky, and off some distance away, the outline of five large titans could been seen running after them from out of a large cluster of pines. A pang of cold dread ran throughout the whole column as they watched the lumbering behemoths close the distance between them and the edge of the Scouts wide-spread formation. A green signal flare then went up: and like a herd of deer running together as one, every Scout headed in the same direction the flair went; one by one they all disappeared beneath the horizon with the titans still chasing after them, eventually vanishing into the dust clouds and mirage.
No one moved or spoke as they watched the clouds and coloured smoke dissipate: for fifteen nerve-wracking minutes, the whole Hunt silently hoped and prayed, that somehow, the Scouts were able to escape their pursuers. Breathing a deep nervous sigh, Javorin closed his eyes, and recited a secret prayer for them:
Great All-Father, I beseech thee: bless the Scouts with the swiftness and strength they need to defeat their enemy, and guide them to safety along their dangerous path
"Why not offer up a sacrifice while your at it?" Hecate glanced sideways at him, "With the amount of titans we've seen this month, they'll need something a little stronger than a prayer to get them through"
Javorin ignored her, and soon Tyto sounded the all-clear, and the column started moving again: "Wow, I think that's the first time I've ever seen the Scouts in action" Ariana realized. :What're you talking about? Have you forgotten that time I snuck you up onto the top of Wall Maria to watch them disembark on one of their expedition?: Shadow spelt out in mild surprise, "No, but that time they weren't getting chased by titans" Ariana pointed out. "It is just me or were they all spread out?" Bryson knitted his brows together in confusion as he hung onto Shadow's hair, "No, I saw it too: they were all spread about a hundred meters apart, and weren't being pursued from the rear" Dale replied as he folded his telescope away, repositioning himself on Midnight's shoulder. "And what were those plumes of red and green smoke?" Ash frowned, "Signal flares, we used them to communicate over long distances: though, I've never seen them used like that before" Bryson replied in mild concern, "A new kind of long-distance communication perhaps?" Dale suggested, "And as for being spread out, maybe it's a new kind of formation or something?". "That would be new" Bryson thought aloud, "Though, how that formation is supposed to work, I've no idea"
"TCH!-""Maybe they've finally started using their brains and figured out something?" Hecate deadpanned, "All-Father only knows they didn't have many when we were covering their asses", "Who can say? Maybe there's a new commander in charge?" Javorin thought aloud. Hecate was about to reply, when one of the look-out team's raven's flew down and landed on Eraman's outstretched arm: untying the small rolled-up parchment attached to its leg, Falken read it over, and sighed with relief. "What's up?" Tyto asked, "Just a note to say the Scouts got away: all five titans went down and they didn't lose anyone" Falken smiled. Hearing that, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief, and could now relax: knowing they'd be okay (and knowing they wouldn't be passing by any fresh corpses). "Well in that case, See you guys later" Carla smiled as she sat back down: and without having to be told, Angel took off and rejoined Stormwing on her left wing as she glided overhead.
"...Hey, dad? ..." Ariana hesitated a little, "Do you think it might be worth, maybe 'unpinning' that idea about keeping an eye on the Scouts? You know? For information an' stuff?...". Glancing down at his daughter, Tyto knew what she really meant was 'protecting the Scouts from being attacked': breathing deep and letting out a vexed sigh, he replied "...We've talked about this before, and I've already told you: not until something happens and we need to gather information. For now, we keep our distance and let them do their job". Knowing it wasn't worth getting into tiff, Ariana grabbed one of Shadow's bangs and swung back over his collar bones to her perch on the other shoulder, sitting down cross-legged and folding her arms. Glancing back over, she saw Bryson leaning forward, and gave her a wink: "Nice try" he mouthed; she smiled, knowing he was just as eager to help them too.
As they continued their trek across the plains, the column soon passed by the now-skeletal remains of the five titans that were chasing after the Scouts, still evaporating in mid-afternoon heat: and by the looks of how they had fallen, several Scouts must have converged on them all in one go, as they were only spread out several meters apart. Several horse and wheel tracks indicted the direction the Scouts had gone: and fortunately, they didn't seem to veer in the direction of where they were going.
Several more hours passed by, and by the time the sun was starting to arch towards the horizon, the Hunt had left the plains behind and started traversing through the forest, following an overgrown main road to their destination. As they followed the road up a subtle incline, it was clear to many that there were a good number of regular titans in this area: as most of the undergrowth alongside the road had been trampled flat. Regular titans, despite having no real intelligence to speak of, were creatures of instinct: and one common instinct of many animals was to take the path of least resistance; according to the journal, titans (apparently) would usually walk on flat ground or downhill, seldom ever going up an incline unless they'd sighted prey at the top, and likewise with dense forests. Here, the giant trees and understory were spread out quite wide, creating large open spaces between each tree. A risky place to be caught out by a titan, but for now at least, none were nearby (although their scent indicted several must have passed by not more than a few hours ago).
Another hour or so soon brought them to the designated campsite, which was a spacious clearing that boarded the edge of a large village: a quaint little place at one time, complete with a small church, a few shops, and a tavern for weary travellers; now, abandoned and overgrown with some of the roofs caved in.
Once everyone had caught up and the whole column came to a halt on the road, the first item of business before anything else, was to titan-proof the area. Shadow, with his spear in hand, wandered over to a giant tree nearest the clearing, and crouching down by the vast tangle of roots, used the tip of his spear to carve the repelling charm into the bark. He then placed his hand over the mark, and upon activating his power, filled it in with his blue crystal: ensuring that the charm would hold it's power...
You, born of chaos and desolation with a taste for human flesh: I command you, heed this sign and do not pass this way
He then placed his hand on the ground between the roots: and beneath his fingertips, blueish-green embers emerged out of the soil and wafted about, followed by an ivy that crept up the side of three, growing thick and wide as it completely covered the charm; following his hand as he trailed it up the bark. Despite the fact no one lived in Maria anymore, it never hurt to take precautions in covering your tracks, especially when the use of magic was concerned: there was no telling who, or what else might be out here. Thus, in every location they'd camped in, and every area of the forest they'd hunted and cleared of titans: Javorin always made sure the repelling charm stayed well out of sight. And since it could repel any titans over a twenty-five square mile radius (roughly three miles in any direction according to the journal), no one in the Hunt had to worry about constantly remaining on their toes all the time.
Without having to be ordered what to do, everyone immediately got to work setting up camp: the dreys and rope ladders were set up in the giant trees surrounding the clearing, a spot near the tavern was picked to be the site of the food preparation and storage area, another area near the church was made into the main gas-replenishing station, and another spot between two houses was set up to keep the Deer and Elk titans saddles and packs safe while not in use. With the weight finally off their backs, the Deer and Elk titans took a moment to stretch, bend, and trot around enjoying being free of their loads. High up above, most of the Bird-titan's flew down through a large space in the canopy, picking their perches to roost upon for the duration of their stay: each one of which was marked by a long length of rope tied around the branch, and decorated with a colourful pennant embroidered with various patterns and images: mostly the bird-titans themselves with their riders and totem animals.
By the time the camp was fully set up, the sun was low on the horizon and the air was slowly cooling as the forest echoed with the evening songs of the birds: the sun's rich golden light shone through the trees, casting long dark shadows and lighting up all that it touched in fiery gold. "Okay..." Pascal sighed with satisfaction as he finished his last chore and stood up, rubbing his hands in anticipation, "Now that we're all done: who's getting the first round?" he smiled as he headed for the tavern: several of the Rangers and Celts laughed as they followed him, diving through the door as they eagerly tried to sniff out any abandoned casks. "-Hold up!" West shouted as he brought up the rear. "Uh, what do we do if they're hungover in the morning?" Evrard asked offhand, "Simple, they'll be on camp-watch for the rest of the trip, and given a stern chewing out for drinking too much" Tyto shrugged, "It's been a long trip, and it's been a busy one this month: I think we've all earned a drink; you coming?", "'Course, someone needs to be on hand to peel you up off the floor" the red-headed giant joked, "I think you have that the other way round Evrard: usually, I'm the one picking you up off your ass".
As most of the hunters lined up outside the tavern, the kids and younger hunters (who were too young to drink) were left to their own devices. Gazing up at the evening sky through the giant trees, Ariana shot her lines and flew up into the sea of leaves and branches: as the sun shone through them, the whole canopy looked like it was on fire, as everywhere was illuminated with golden yellow light. Flying all the way up until she came to the top-most branches, Ariana found one sturdy enough to take her weight, and climbed up above the canopy. With the open sky above her, she gazed all around at the breath-taking view of the three mountains to the south, and the ocean of trees that seemed to go on forever in every direction; even the plains were obscured from sight.
A view like this never failed to stir the free spirit in her soul: being out here in the wild among the vast trees, deep hidden coves, secret hollows, and easy-to-miss glens and dales; one could simply walk in and never be found again. For most who didn't understand it was a scary thought, but for her, she couldn't think of a more wonderful existence: heading into the forest and just keep going. There was no telling how far it stretched, it could be so vast that it could take days or even weeks to find its heart...
But then, she'd only find wall Maria, no matter what direction she went. But beyond the wall? How big were the forests there? Did they go on forever? Were the trees as big as Yggdrasil maybe? Were there other secret lands hidden deep within the sea of green... Or perhaps? Did they lead to the ocean?
For as long as she could remember, it was the one thing that kept drawing Ariana back to the forest near Shiganshina, despite the risk of bears, wolves and criminal gangs. To everyone else, it was a dark and foreboding place: but for her, it was the gateway to many wondrous and mysterious places. Being part of the Hunt and being out here had rekindled that spark in her, as over the course of the winter and spring she'd gotten to see the rest of southern Maria. When she saw the plains for the first time, she was astounded at how there was not a single tree in any direction, and so much open space for as far as the eye could see. She saw the more well-off towns and villages that hugged the banks of the southern Marian river, and despite being abandoned, it wasn't hard to see why the closer one lived to the interior, the bigger and grander the buildings seemed to get. There were also places like stone quarries and mines, where enormous blocks of rock and stone were carved out of the ground for one use or another, creating artificial gorges and valleys that could hold whole towns and villages: and minerals or metals chipped out of long dark tunnels that snaked deep into the earth, and collected for various means. Never in her life had Ariana ever imagined that humans could shape the landscape in such drastic fashions: and it never failed to impress her, how vast and diverse the human world was. Even in the confines of the three walls, there was always something new to discover.
Feeling a familiar gust of warm wind at her back, Ariana glanced up and saw Shadow in his elemental form: hovering beside her while his updraughts blew her hair softly away from her face. Smiling down at her with that warm friendly smile of his, he gently cupped one and around her back, while he spelt out with the other :It's beautiful up here:, "Definitely" she smiled as she gazed up at the clouds, that by now were turning various shades of pink, orange and lilac as the sun began to sink beneath the tops of the trees. The western sides of the mountains practically lit up as the sun's dying light painted them in an orangey-pink, while up in the south-eastern sky, the evening star shone bright and clear: announcing the coming of night. "Looks like it'll be nice tomorrow" Ariana thought aloud: knowing that a pinkish-red sunset was indicative of good weather the following day, :It certainly feels like it: Shadow wrote back, :I don't know about you, but I feel like flying 'round about now:. "Me too" Ariana grinned as she glanced up at him.
Gently picking her up in his strong updraughts, Shadow shot up into the sky with Ariana safely in his grasp: stretching out her arms, Ariana smiled in sheer elation as the forest grew further and further away. Flying up into the clouds, they were soon joined by Angel, and as Carla stood up on her shoulder, she decided to join in on the fun: "Think you guys can keep up this time?!" she yelled over the whipping winds as she turned and did a backwards swan dive off the back of Angel's wing, flying down through the air, before Angel dived and chased after her. Chasing after them, Shadow and Ariana soon caught up as Carla flipped upright, and let Angel catch her with her own updraughts: flying up alongside them, she couldn't help but laugh as she barrel-rolled up and over, softly landing back on Angel's shoulder, before leaping forward, and twisting through the air in front of her; all the while Angel squawked and chirped with delight as she trailed a rainbow behind her, while Shadow whipped and whirled in a vortex around them, keeping them airborne as he chuckled softly.
Flying like feathers on the wind, dancing and weaving through the air without restrictions or anything to tie them to the earth: for these brief moments of joy and care-free abandonment, they could forget everything, and just be free.
Up here, Carla didn't even feel the cold, nor the blasting force of the air that could quite literally take one's breath away; in this endless expanse of blue and white, she could just be free and happy. And every once in a while she would catch a glimpse of Eren and Mikasa's faces in the clouds: smiling at her peacefully, and watching her as she flew. This was as close to heaven as she could get: to be with her children again, if only briefly, and to feel their presence in her heart. It filled her with such joy, that sometimes she couldn't help but cry a little.
They flew over the forest well into the dusk, before hunger and exhaustion forced Ariana and Carla to return to the earth, and to the campsite: where the smell of the beef left-overs sharpened their appetites. Sitting up on her perch next to Carla's drey, Angel couldn't stop smiling as she watched her human's aura glow with peace of mind and emotional tranquillity: it had taken her a long time to reach this point, and while she still grieved for her children in her moments of privacy; by and large, Carla had achieved a level of cohesion that enabled her to carry on, without the need to sate any need for revenge. She was healthier for it, and it showed in her mood and conduct: in a way she was much like her old self again, but now the task of being a titan hunter had instilled a greater level of confidence, courage, and more surety in her decisions. Although she was still green as grass when it came to being a team leader, there was no question that her resolve, tenacity and spunk made her one of the best hunters in all the Hunt: which was made all the more remarkable by the fact she'd had no prior experience in any hunting or fighting whatsoever. And with her motherly tenderness and sense of concern for all under her command, she was someone most special to everyone; and Angel couldn't be more happy for her.
The evening was spent at a leisurely pace: with only three day's left before they returned home, everyone was looking forward to getting on with the Hunt and wrapping it up for the month. After dinner and a keg of mead shared among the older hunters, the plans for tomorrow's hunt were discussed and each team were allotted their designated territories for the next three days: after which, as the full moon began to shine down through the canopy, everyone turned in for the night. The bird-titans flew up onto their perches to roost: Shadow, Midnight and Boar settled down in the clearing alongside all the other titans, and Stormwing perched up on the highest branch that could take her weight, and settled down to sleep. And as the voices of the campsite steadily died down and fell silent, the sounds of the forest soon began to echo through the trees: while the wind blew softly through, bringing a cold chill to the land.
Later that night:
Ariana woke up from a deep dreamless sleep: peeling her heavy eyelids open, she saw it was still dark outside, save for a slither of moonlight peeking through the smoke opening at the top of the drey. '...Why am I awake?' she thought offhand: lifting her head up, she could make out the forms of Belle, Gale, Poppy, Ashlyn and Shyla still fast asleep in their deer-skin sleeping bags, and as she gapped her mouth wide open to yawn, she felt her mouth was so dry, and her throat even more so. Reaching her hand out to feel around for the little bowl of water she kept next to her bag, she was dismayed to find it empty: huffing in annoyance, she crawled out of her bag towards the water bladder hanging up on the side of the drey; but was even more peeved off when she found that to be empty too. 'Damn-it Poppy! It was your turn to fetch the water!' Ariana thought as her face contorted into a look of sheer annoyance: with no water in the drey, and her mouth dryer than a bone, it could only mean one thing; she'd have to slip into her harness, get her ODM gear on, and fly down to the ground to fetch some water form the stream.
Begrudgingly grabbing her harness, gear, boots, and the water bladder: she quietly slipped out of the drey and onto the branch, and got geared up outside so as not to accidental kick anyone. All around, the canopy was quiet and still, except for the soft rustling of the leaves as the wind gently blew through the trees, the sounds of the nocturnal animals echoing from all different directions, and here and there in all the dreys, a few loud snores could be heard; while down on the ground, the heavy breathing of the titans was unmistakable. Once she'd finished gearing up and slung the water bladder strap over her shoulder: Ariana shot her lines and flew down to the ground; she winced as she looked back up, hoping the sharp pop of the grappling hook pistons hadn't woken anyone up. After a tense few minutes, she couldn't hear anyone stirring, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief: but as she turned to head for the stream, she nearly jumped out of her skin as she came face to face with a now-awake Shadow, who had obviously heard her, as well as Boar, Midnight and several of the Deer and Elk titans as they all cocked their head up in her direction.
:I thought I sensed you waking up: Shadow spelt out, still blurry-eyed as he tried to focus on her, :Where're you off to at this hour?:. Huffing in annoyance, Ariana stepped closer and whispered "Poppy forgot to refill the water bladder and my mouth's dry as hell, I'm just going to the stream to refill" she pointed to the bladder at her side. :Okay, just don't make too much noise: he replied as he lay his head back down on the grass. Quietly tip-toeing around the clearing: Ariana made her way through the centre of the abandoned village, heading for the stream on the other side of the road. With her eyes now more adjusted to the dark, she gazed up and around at the decaying houses, and realized just how creepy the place looked in the dark and moonlight. It was strange seeing a place that was once full of people, and now empty and devoid of a human presence: there was something haunting about it, and made her quicken her pace a little. Following the sound of running water, she soon reached the stream, and filled the bladder by a wide shore of sand and rocks: a spot that must have been commonly used for watering horses and livestock at one point; once the bladder was full she turned to head back.
But as she reached the road, a noise off in the distance made her stop and listen...
It was quite a way off, a good three or four hundred years at least: and it was steadily heading this way. Straining her ears to analyse the sound, Ariana froze as she realized it was four sets of two legs: too small to be titans, and too big to be deer or wolves...
They were human
Turning around, Ariana nearly gasped when she spotted four figures moving through the undergrowth, heading straight for the village! Two of them were armed with bows and arrows, while the other two seemed to be armed with knives, as she caught sight of the blades flashing in the moonlight. It didn't look as if they'd spotted her, and quick as a whip, Ariana treaded softly over to one of the abandoned building's, slipping in through the open front door and disappearing into the pitch black of the shadows. Waiting in fearful dread, she listened as they came closer: their voices tired and filled with exhaustion as one of them breathed heavy, almost panting. As they came up upon the road, just out of sight from where she was standing, Ariana listened as one of them, a young man whispered: "...Are we certain this is the place?". A second replied, "It has to be, this is where the smoke was coming from"
Smoke? How could anyone see smoke rising from a fire in a forest of giant trees? Not unless they were up somewhere high enough to see it: Ariana then realized 'They were up on the mountainside?'; she gazed up at the mountains through the wide gap in the canopy above the clearing, and realized that's the direction in which they'd come from. "Wait a minute, how do we even know they'll be willing to help us? For all we know they might be criminals that managed to avoid the titans!" a third male voice nervously spoke: "For a whole year?! Come on Gregory be sensible about this!" the fourth male scolded, "It's either the Scouts, or one of our sister clans"
Sister clans?
Hearing those words, Ariana was even more taken aback when the four strangers treaded by the building and stepped into a patch of dappled moonlight: one of them was dressed in tattered clothing and a large leather jacket that looked to be two sizes too big for his frame, one was dressed as a Ranger, and other other two wore long hooded cloaks with Celtic animal masks over their faces.
'Celts?!' her eyes widened in amazement. Immediately, Ariana started raking her brain, trying to remember the secret Celtic greeting her father taught her: and as the words came back to mind, she grabbed their attention with a soft whistle. The tattered clothed man nearly jumped clear off the ground, while the two bowmen aimed right at her: "... Wh-who's there?!" the tattered man demanded. Taking a deep breath, Ariana threw caution to the wind, and recited: "...Who are you that would stand before me? Den-ath-dore? An-preemare-wylf-my?". The two Celts and one Ranger nearly flinched in alarm, while the tattered man merely gazed at the doorway in confusion: a tense moment of silence passed, before one of the Celts cautiously replied "...Myan-cal, inley-nynyon: he who has walked the hidden paths of the green places, and slept in the shade of the father-tree".
Breathing a sigh of relief, Ariana stepped forward into the moonlight: the four men stared at her in confusion, before the Celts took off their masks and kneeled down to meet her eye-level: "... I am Lupus, chief of the Blue wolf Clan, and this is Orin of the Mountain cat clan. This is Arton Dale, one of the Rangers: and this is our friend Gregory Schmitt" he gestured to the others, "Tell me child, what clan do you hail from?" Lupus asked. "I'm Ariana of the Grey Owls: where the hell did you guys come from?! And how the hell did you manage to avoid the titans?!" she nearly gawked. "Um? Well? You see-, that's a little complicated to explain," Gregory nervously replied as he tried to keep his composure: "Listen, how we got here in one piece isn't important, the reason we're here is: please, this is a matter of life and death!" Orin pleaded desperately.
"Oh really?" Tyto frowned as he slipped out of the darkness with his bow and arrow in hand: the arrow locked into the string and pointed downwards as he approached: this time Ariana didn't jump, she'd heard him creeping up behind the building just at the same time she darted into the doorway. And the unmistakable giant silhouette of Midnight's voluptuous frame and glowing violet eyes at the edge of her peripheral vision, hiding in the shadows nearby, assured her they were covered. "...Forgive me, but being discovered at this late hour in a place where no one else is supposed to be, rather puts us all on edge" Tyto added as he relaxed, and stepped beside Ariana. "No, it's okay: honestly I don't blame you: we've been rather edgy ourselves what with all the titans everywhere" Lupus assured him. "Indeed..." Tyto nodded as he changed the subject and decided a proper introduction was needed: "I'm Tyto Grey Owl: you've already met my daughter and I overheard your names, so what is this matter of life and death you speak of? And how can we help?"
"We're in trouble, us and others who're travelling with us: but first, there's something I need to confirm with you..." Lupus asked as he reached into his satchel and pulled out a large piece of rolled up hide, handing it to Tyto, "...Do you-, know what this is? And have you created one of your own, with the help of your 'friends', yet?" he asked hesitantly. Confused, Tyto took the hide and unrolled it: and as he read over the contents inscribed onto it, his eyes widened in amazement. Wondering what caught his attention so aptly, Ariana peered over, and gasped in amazement: "A Semitam?!"
"Ariana," Tyto frowned down at her, "Go back and wake everyone up: tell them we've got an emergency"
Ten minutes later:
"Ugh! Someone had better be dying," Pascal grumbled as he slapped his cheeks, trying to stay awake as he and West lined up with the others on the ground. The whole camp had been woken up, and as soon as everyone was present, Tyto called the assemble to order: "Okay everyone listen up! This is Lupus, Orin, Arton and Gregory: they've risked life and limb to come down the mountainside to find us: so please, I want you all to give them your full attention!" Tyto introduced as Lupin stepped up into Shadow's palm so he could be heard and seen by all: "...Our Clans, along with the Bear, Badger and Red Fox clans, and our brothers and sisters of the Rangers and God-titans, have travelled far from our homes in the northern mountains of Maria, to escape the regular titans that have now invaded the land. We've been travelling for over four months now, following our Semitam's directions to try and find the Hidden Land. But then, two months ago, as we travelled with Wall Rose on the western horizon, we started coming upon freshly eaten corpses: not those of the Scouts, but ordinary people from within the interior..."
The whole clearing remained silent as everyone stared at him in a mix of disbelief and astonishment: no one said anything as Lupus continued, "...It was only a few dozen at first, but the further south we went we soon came across tens, then hundreds, and soon what had to have been thousands of dead bodies: all littered across the open plains not far from the gates; the regions just beyond Trost were by far the worst, but unbelievably, there were survivors who'd managed to avoid the titans". Gregory then nervously stepped forward, and climbed up to join Lupin at his side: taking in a deep shaky breath, he tried to hold his nerve as he explained: "...F-Four months ago, the Royal Government announced that they would be initiating a plan to try and retake Wall Maria, and that they'd be doing it in force by conscripting civilians to aid the military in the operation"
A collective wave of gasps resounded around the entire group, even the god-titan's were shocked by this: but everyone remained in check as Gregory continued, feeling a little easier as he felt Lupin place a reassuring hand on his shoulder: "Many of the conscripts, including m-myself: were required to got out into Maria on foot, get to Shiganshina, and try to find a way to seal the breach-
"-WHAT?!" Rowan exclaimed in utter disbelief, as did many of the others who all incredulously voiced their shock: "Settle down!" Tyto ordered loudly, "... Please, continue Gregory". "Uh-, Th-thank you, Tyto..." he nodded gratefully, "... I can't remember offhand how many of us there were to begin with? I know there were hundreds if not maybe a few thousand people that went through the gate at Trost, elsewhere in the other walled cities? I guess there could have been more? ...Many of us were picked off by the titans within the first several hours of leaving the gate: those of us that were lucky enough to escape the first wave of attacks, managed to make it to the forest of giant trees; from there, we all just tried to avoid the titans as best we could. Some of us went our own separate ways, others stayed in groups for safety in numbers: but one by one we were all picked off. I, and a few lucky survivors made it all the way to the great forests that lie to the south: and that's where we ran into the Celts and Rangers, along with their 'god-titan's'"
Lupin then stepped in to continue, before the crowd had a chance to get riled up again: "Over the last two months we started finding survivors all over the place, hiding in abandoned towns and villages, hiding deep in the forest living off whatever they could find: many were at the point of starvation, dehydration, illness and or injury, and exposure to the cold. We helped as many as he could, but I'm sorry to say we lost some along the way: the survivors who're with us now are alive, but we fear without proper food, water and healers, they won't have long left to live"
"How many have you found?" Ash asked, "Thus far? Around five hundred men women and children" Orin replied, to which another wave of gasps resounded around the crowd, "Children?!" Carla stared at him dumbfounded, "Please, between our own supplies and what the forest can provide, we're running out of time ourselves; will you help us?"
Everyone looked at one another, and with a collective sense of determination shared by all, someone called out from the back, "Show us the way!"
Some time later:
After the entire camp mobilized, Lupus and Orin directed the Hunt through the forest to the northern-most mountain: steadily climbing up the rolling slope, traversing through boulder fields and over a huge waterfall, until they reached an area that flattened out into a small plateau with a huge expanse of tall cliffs and vertical rock-faces on one side, and a sheer vertical drop on the other. The smell of humans and god-titan's was the first thing everyone noticed as they followed Lupin's directions across the plateau, until they eventually came to the huge opening of a wide jagged cave.
The faint glow of campfires could be seen flickering in the gloom, and the distant sounds of countless voices whispering in hushed tones echoing up from within; "...Great Gia" Dakota suddenly realized, "You used these cave to take shelter?! But how did you avoid the mountain cats?", "It wasn't easy, but our titans managed to convince them we meant no harm" Orin replied as he jumped down out of Shadow's palm, as the god-titan kneeled down to let his passengers off. Following the four men into the thirty meter high cave, the smell of dried blood and infected wounds hit everyone, making them contort their faces into looks of disgust and repulsion. "We've done the best we can to keep the sick and injured alive, even with the god-titan's healing powers it's been a real uphill struggle" Lupin explained, some how keeping a straight face.
After following the passage down a small slope, the whole group soon emerged into a massive underground cavern some fifty meters high: how far it went back into the mountain was hard to determine, as the whole rear of the cavern was shrouded in darkness. But in the centre, clustered around dozens of small campfires were hundreds of people and animal titans: all huddled together for warmth and nestled up alongside the giants for protection. It was a staggering sight, and as the stranger's suddenly became aware of the Hunt's appearance (namely Shadow and Midnight, as they were still at the front of the group), a collective wave of surprised gasps and alarmed whispers echoed around the cavern, as those that could stand tried to move back further into the cave. "Please! Don't panic!-" Lupin held up his hands, trying to get everyone's attention, "It's okay! They're Celts and Rangers too! They're here to help us!"
Hearing that, everyone stopped and nervously returned to their fires, though many looked like they were ready to try and bolt if they could; "Great Sina..." Bryson breathed in astonishment: casting his eyes over the crowd, he could see many of them were dressed only in rags, some had no shoes, and many looked as if they'd been dragged head-first through a bramble patch and down the side of a cliff. While most were up on their feet, a good portion wore bandages, some were strapped to make-shift stretchers: and some, even had limbs missing. The Celts and Rangers that were with them had handed out what clothing and blankets they had, but they didn't seemed to have faired much better, as a certain number of them had sustained injuries too.
"...All these people... They survived the titans, for two months?!" the former Scout stared at Lupin in dismay: "I know, we never would have believed it ourselves if we hadn't found them. We brought them with us and kept them safe-, well? Kept each other safe really, surviving the regular titans is a real team effort: introducing them to our titans wasn't easy, but they quickly realized they don't share the same taste for human flesh like the others do" Lupin gestured to the god-titan's scattered around the cave. The whole Hunt gazed in amazement at the menagerie of different animal titans: aside from Deer, Elk and Bird-titans, there were also wolf-titans, bear-titans, mountain-cat titans, and fox-titans; just like the ones that lived in the forests surrounding the lake of the Hidden Land. Then, a bedraggled-looking bearded gentleman approached the Hunt, and seemed to be both relieved and anxious at seeing Lupin's team again. "So, your search was a success then?" he smiled in relief, "I was beginning to wonder if we were the only one's to make it this far".
"Everyone, this is Doctor Samuel Jenkins: he used to be a physician in Wall Sina, and one of only five doctors we managed to find alive" Lupin introduced. "Wait-, a doctor from the interior?" Pascal frowned in dismay, "I can understand them using doctors from Maria for this 'retrieval op', but Sina?". "... I'm afraid the answer to that question is not so straight forward" the doctor replied anxiously, "But that can wait: listen, are you able to help us at all? We've done all we can with what we have to hand. But I'm afraid we're not going to last much longer without supplies"
"Tyto..." Evrard whispered discreetly as he placed a hand on his shoulder, excusing himself, Tyto turned and bowed forward a little as the giant red-head whispered "There's gotta be nearly a thousand people in this cave: we don't have enough for everyone here, not to mention we've only got one other set of clothes each, and medical supplies for only our number". Raking his brain to try and think of something, Tyto suddenly remembered: "Dakota, didn't you say there was a stone circle on the eastern side of this mountain?" he gazed over at the Rook Clan leader, "Yeah: come to think of it, it should be just over a kilometre from here," he realized. Hearing this, the two Celts stared at him astonishment.
"So I take it you have a plan?" Bryson smiled in relief, "What do we do dad?" Ash frowned in determination; turning and scanning over the Hunt, Tyto called out to one particular bird-titan and her rider " Florence! Swifty! Front and centre!", said bird-titan hopped to the front of the group with her rider on her back. "Yes Grey Owl?" she leaned down over the bird-titan's shoulder, as the bird-titan squatted down low: "You'll take Dakota with you and find that stone circle, get back to the Hidden Land and tell everyone what happened. Tell them to ready every scrap of food we can spare, every piece of spare clothing and every blanket: and tell Breck, Rosemary and the healers to ready the hospital, there will be multiple casualties arriving presently. Also, tell them to ready whatever empty buildings they can, they'll need somewhere to sleep" Tyto ordered. "Right on!" Dakota nodded as Florence helped him up onto Swifty's back, and together they quickly left the cave, carefully squeezing by the remaining crowd.
The Grey Owl elder then turned to address the doctor, "Samuel, do you think everyone is able to manage a kilometre walk, as well as an additional three miles?", "Those of us that still have strength yes, but there are many that cannot even sit upright they're so weak" Samuel worried. "I'll help you sort out who needs a ride" Gregory interjected, "And I'll make sure the rest know what to do" Arton added. "Okay," Tyto addressed the Hunt, "Listen up! I want you all to go with Gregory and Arton, and help ready everyone for the journey: lend your strength and your legs to those who cannot walk, and help in any way you can!"
Everyone voiced their acknowledgement before following Arton and Gregory into the cavern with their god-titan's in tow. Tyto was about to say something when Orin interjected, "-You've found the Hidden land?! Actually found it?!", "And a stone circle?!" Lupin gasped, "Oh, I'm sorry, I probably should've said before hand," Tyto suddenly realized, "We found the Hidden Land nearly a year ago now: we and five other of our sister clans, along with all the Rangers from their regions" he clarified, "Why didn't you all come sooner?". Lupin and Orin glanced at one another sheepishly for a moment, before Lupin sighed in defeat, "...To be honest? We didn't think the regular titans would be able to get to us in the mountains. When word first spread of the breach in Shiganshina, all the regular folk retreated behind Wall Rose, and us in our foolishness, believed we had the run of the land. Then several months ago, we started finding titan tracks 'round the foothills of our mountain, another month later, our sister clan the Golden Eagles sighed several large titans ascending the slopes near the pass to the Isscal district. It was only then we decided to abandon our home-camp and follow the Semitam's direction's south, hoping to find the land our Grandfather's spoke of", "But we couldn't know for sure if our brothers and sisters in the east were aware of how fast the titans had advanced north, so we, the Blue Wolves, Mountain Cats and Bears headed west, while the Golden Eagles and Black Wolves went East, hoping to find them. That's how we happened upon the Badgers and the Red Foxes, hopefully they'll have had the same luck" Orin added.
Tyto gasped in alarm "-Wait a minute! Are you saying there're other clans still out there? Journeying to the Hidden Land as we speak?!", "Hopefully, but we don't how well they've faired over the last few months: we know their god-titan's will have kept them safe, but if they came across any survivors from the failed retrieval operation, there's no telling how many titans they would've had to fight off" Lupin explained worryingly. But before he had a chance to explain further, Tyto turned to leave the cave, "All riders to your birds and follow me!" he shouted into the cavern in a booming tone: to which every bird-titan and their rider ran back and followed Tyto out of the cave, as he made a bee-line for Stormwing. The knowing look in her eyes told him she'd overheard everything, and with an affirmative nod, told him she knew what to do, "Alright listen!-" Tyto ordered as every rider nearly bumped into the back of him, while the bird-titans filed out of the cave mouth, "Lupin and Orin just told me there're other clans who headed out into the east to try to find our brothers and sisters, I want you all to take wing and fly out to find them! Fly all night if you must, but we have to know if they're alive! Take the map of the stone circles with you so you can get back home fast, and use the lands between the districts of Chlobra and Wenrass as your starting point. Now go!".
Without another word the riders quickly mounted up, taking off as Stormwing opened her colossal wings and jumped up into the night sky. "Good luck sister" she heard Hecate's voice ring through her mind, "You know I don't need it: not when a good finding spell will get the job done in half the time" she smirked.
Heading back into the cave, Tyto was about to join the others when the Doctor nervously stepped forward to ask, "...Um? So, I haven't had time to ask anyone have it explained to me in full detail yet: but, where exactly is this 'Hidden Land'? And, what do these 'stone circles' have to do with getting there? Are they navigation markers of some kind?". Pausing a moment, Tyto knew there was no real way to answer him without making it sound totally fanciful, and so with a deep sigh of vexation, he replied "Trust me Doctor, it's probably better you see it for yourself..."
Later:
After Dakota, Florence and Swiftly returned from the Hidden land, the mass evacuation of the survivors began, and from the cave to the stone circle a quarter of the way around the mountainside, following Dakota's directions, the survivors followed one another in a long line several people wide. Flanked on both sides by Celts and Rangers carrying torches and lanterns, the more stronger hunters ensured no one lagged behind or tripped up on the more dangerous parts of the trail, while the rest and their god-titan's carried those who were too weak, sick or injured to move on their own. When they arrived at the stone circle in the cove, the 'regular folk' survivors were perplexed as to why they were there: deciding to transport everyone in groups of forty at a time, the god-titan's took it in turns to awaken the stone's power and take them to the Hidden Land. It nearly turned into pandemonium at first, when the first group disappeared into the swirling fog without a trace: but after being calmed down (at least enough to not try fleeing down the side of the mountain) and assured they'd be okay, the rest of the survivors would only go through if one of the Celts or Rangers went with them; it was slow going, but one by one everyone was organized into a group and sent through. Once on the other side, the mass rescue was led through the rich green forests towards the Gateway Mountain, all the way up to the giant stone gates, and through the long tunnel that went under the mountain. From the cave beneath the falls at the other end, Midnight used her water-powers to create vast thick ice-sheet so everyone could walk to the island.
From the moment they left the stone circle behind, the survivors were acutely aware they were now in a very different place: but was it somewhere in Maria? Or somewhere entirely different altogether? Their fear of the titans was momentarily suspended as they passed by the great standing stones, and noticed the strange patterns and shapes carved into their withered aged surfaces. The sight of the great stone doors made many hesitant, wondering what lay on the other side: why have doors so big? Unless something big was meant to go through them? The walk down the long dark tunnel was nerve-wracking, but once they stepped into the cave, onto the ice, and followed the Celts and their god-titan's over the sapphire waters of the lake, the sight of the island and the towering form of Yggdrasil immediately grabbed their attention.
Once everyone was on the island, the survivors were both perplexed and surprised to find a whole community of people waiting for them with food and water, clothing and blankets, bowls of hot water for washing, and just about everything but the kitchen sink. Organized in record time thanks to Miriam and Gustav, the islanders worked all night to see to everyone's needs: Breck, Rosemary and the healers treated everyone with the most serious injuries, using the various elixirs he'd created, as well as various medicines and herbal remedies he, Claude and Rosemary had stockpiled, while the 'healers-in-training' and those with a basic understanding of first aid saw to everyone with the least-critical injuries. Meanwhile, the god-titan's helped out where they could, providing a second pair of hands where needed and using their particular powers for whatever was required. Needless to say, Shadow was mostly growing fruit and vegetables while Angel and the other bird-titans were plucking their feathers and shedding their tears (thanks to a batch of particularly strong-smelling onions, courtesy of one of the gardeners) to brew up more elixir.
With over a thousand humans and a hundred and forty-something titans to see to, the community worked well into the early hours of the dawn, making sure everyone was comfortable, well fed, and at least able to get a few hours of sleep: the best they'd had in a very long time. The sun was just peeking over the mountains by the time everyone in the Hunt had managed to get some shut-eye and much needed food, while the rest of the Island saw to the injured: many of whom brought them back to their homes so that Breck could allot beds in the hospital for the most critical. By the time early afternoon had rolled around, the hectic chaos of the night before had finally died down to a more manageable pace, and everyone took some time to see to their own well-being.
After waking up, taking a shower and dressing into some fresh clothes, Ariana headed down to the kitchen where her mother was busy cooking bacon for her still-half-asleep brothers, who were all sat at the table: over in the corner by the stove, Falken sat dozing with Evernight nestled in his lap like a cat; while perched on the pot and pan rack above the kitchen table, all ten of Eraman's raven's roosted fast asleep. "...Morning" Ariana groaned as she yawned, "Afternoon," Freya smiled, "It's past half-two", "How long did I sleep?" she asked as she sat the table, rubbing the sleep from out of her eyes. "A good seven hours at least: after all the work you did last night you certainly deserved it" her mother replied as she took the bacon rashers out of the pan, served them onto three plates, and placed them down in front of her brothers. "Thanks mum" all three groaned: "You guys get much sleep?" Ariana asked offhand, "Yeah, just still exhausted from last night is all" Ash replied as he tucked into his late breakfast. Ariana was about to ask something else when another set of footsteps coming down the stairs got her attention.
"Morning" Carla smiled tiredly as she wiped her wet face with a towel, "Or, I guess it must be afternoon by now huh?", "You'd be right" Freya smiled, "Go grab a seat, I'll go see if we got any bacon left". "Carla?" Ariana frowned in confusion, "What're you doing here?", "Oh, sorry, you were asleep by the time I finished up with Angel at the hospital: I was too tired to climb up all those stairs to the cottage so your mum let me stay in the guest bedroom" she replied. "Oh, okay," Ariana nodded, still not fully awake, "Did I miss anything important after I finished up?", "Not really, your father woke up an hour ago: the council have called an emergency meeting to try and figure out how to rehome the newcomers" Freya replied as she came out of the pantry with several large rashers of colossal boar bacon in hand.
"Can't be any different than last time?" Ariana surmised, "Everyone got sorted out into a new home: surely there's enough to go around?"
Elsewhere, outside the town hall:
The circular hall was packed by the time Tyto took his seat alongside the other heads of the council, as well a select number of the other islanders, including a few of the god-titans (Shadow, Midnight and Boar being among them) who were curious to listen in. The meeting was to be held outside, as the Keeper had been requested to attend (much to the newcomer's amazement). Seated before them were the heads of the new Celtic clans and Ranger families, as well as a handful of the survivors from the retrieval operation: everyone else took a seat in the small circular amphitheatre outside the hall, with the god-titans seated at the top of the stone seats.
"...First of all, before we begin: I'd just like say thank you, to all of you, for your charity and kind hospitality; it's-, been a very long time since any of us were treated like human beings, and to suddenly find ourselves in such generous company-. It's really left us lost for words..." Doctor Samuel smiled as he addressed the entire audience, to which Ratatosk replied courteously, "Please, think nothing of it: we too have survived the titan's relentless hunger to reach this place, and know first hand the horror of such a challenge. Suffice to say you were all most fortunate to run into our brothers and sisters when you did. We can all relate,". A murmur of collective agreements went around the amphitheatre, before falling silent.
"And by the way Doctor, thank you for you and your colleague's help at the hospital last night: we wouldn't have been able to get through nearly half the patients if it had just been myself" Breck smiled. "Oh it's okay" Samuel waved off bashfully, "I'm just relieved we didn't loose anyone else this time".
"Indeed. So," the Keeper spoke in his usual cool voice, getting straight to the point, "Who do we address you as? And how did you find yourselves out in Maria?"
"Well? You already know me and Gregory," Samuel replied as he introduced the others, "This is Peter Remmel, Ian Mallory, Deamond Fisher, and count Olaf Brenburn". "Brenburn?" Claude knitted his brows together, "As in, the Brenburn nobles from just south of Mitras?"; "Oh, have we met?" the count blinked in surprise, "Oh uh-, not formerly: I grew up in and around Mitras, I've heard the name circulated here and there. You too Mr Remmel: if I recall correctly you were a journalist that worked for the Royal Mitras newspaper, once upon a time?". "Wow, good memory" Peter smiled in surprise, "Though, it's been a good several months since I wrote anything that was published".
"And Mallory..." Bryson glanced over at said gentleman, "Wasn't that the name of a merchant company supplying high-end goods to the rich and nobles in Sina? I too grew up in the interior, and worked in Mitras for a number of years" he asked offhand, "That would be me indeed" Mallory nodded, "And if memory serves me right, the Fishers owned some of the biggest tracks of land in all of the interior" he glanced over at the other gentleman. "Is this an interrogation of some kind?" he frowned incredulously. "No, please forgive me: I didn't mean to come off like that" Bryson quickly apologized. "You'll have to forgive him, I'm afraid our time in the wild has 'sanded down' his manners a little bit" Gregory interjected meekly. "Please: don't worry, it's alright" Tarka assured them.
"But still..." Pascal raised an eyebrow while keeping up his poker face: although he wasn't on the council, he and the rest of Tyto's closest friends were allowed to sit in on the proceedings, "A count, a doctor, a journalist, a rich merchant, and an even richer farmer: kind of an odd bunch for a large-scale military operation, don't you think?" he smirked slyly, before donning a more serious expression. "And, when did you guys end up being arrested?" he glanced down at the ugly scars on their wrists, all still healing from having been shackled too tightly for too long, "...It strikes me as odd that even though you've all obviously lived in the interior your whole lives, you don't have that 'well-fed' look about you: the kind that only comes from being able to buy the best foods in all the three walls. So, while I can assure you all this isn't an interrogation: we're all quite curious as to how you found yourselves in such a predicament"
Sensing he was good at reading the situation, Samuel took a deep breath, and leaned on the table with his fingers laced together: "How-, we ended up in that cave is long and complicated, and it started last year, right after Maria fell to the titans..."
Everyone listened keenly as the doctor began their story: "...With all the refugees from Maria crowded into the interior, both Rose and Sina were under immense pressure to provide enough food to go around: it was decided that the farmlands would be worked over the winter to try and grow additional crops, at least enough to tie everyone over until the spring. But when the winter came, the ground froze solid and nothing grew: hundreds starved with dozens dying in the famine's wake, and civil unrest began to boil just under the surface as a result; soon the public were demanding for action to be taken. And so before the spring, the Royal Government announced that a large-scale military plan called the 'retrieval operation' would be set motion, and carried out by April of this year: the goal was to march to Shiganshina, fending off the titans along the way, and somehow try to seal the breach. Many thousands were conscripted: the jails were emptied of all their inmates, the mental asylums 'relieved' of their patients, and many of the poor, homeless; and refugees from Maria were made to return. It was a massive undertaking, and one many were not prepared to go through with... Those lucky enough to have survived the titans rampage and cheat death, had to relive the horror of that day all over again. Only this time, they were being marched to their deaths by the very people they fled to for help"
"Many were led to believe the operation failed because it had been rushed and ill-prepared, but the truth is, it was a purge: an exercise in population control designed to relieve the stress on the remaining populous. The hard truth of the matter is that there simply wasn't enough food and resources to go around and the rest of the kingdom simply couldn't cope...It was either some of us, or all of us" Remmel swallowed hard, rubbing his palms to try and stop them sweating.
A wave of hushed whispers and gasps of astonishment echoed around the amphitheatre, before the Keeper spoke: "... As cold as it sounds: it's not illogical to conceive such a plan, given the circumstances and the dire nature of it. But what I fail to understand, is why families with young children were included in the operation..." he gazed out over the top of the amphitheatre, to the hospital where he spotted a young woman and her two children being seen to by Rosemary, while a mother and father were having their baby checked over to by one of the Celtic healers. "The old, the sick, the poor, the infirm and the guilty I can understand: but children? Either the conscripts were chosen entirely at random with no consideration given for age, or something else was at work here" he surmised in a sceptical tone.
"Y-You'd be correct there..." Gregory replied anxiously, before Remmel picked up again: "...The official story was: that only people over the age of twenty-five would be chosen for the operation, given a month of training to prepare for combat, and then outfitted with weapons and what supplies could be spared; the truth however, was far from what the public were led to believe. While the Military Police oversaw the bulk of organizing the operation, and the Garrison supplied additional resources and back-up, it was the wall cult that controlled the whole thing"
"The wall cult?" Tyto frowned in alarm.
"Yes..." Samuel continued, "...It's no secret that the cult have had their hand in the government's official business for years now, and the fact they practically own the MP's is nothing new. But, even though they're essentially a criminal organization masquerading as a religion, to the many follower's who've succumbed to their hollow promises of eternal salvation: they are the one and only force that stands between us and extinction, at the hands of the 'demons' that lie beyond the walls. That's why, when the breach occurred, many thought this was the end for the cult: to know one of their goddesses had fallen would be devastating for them, that it would tear them apart from the inside. But unbelievably, it had the opposite effect: instead of fleeing, many of it followers rallied to make a show of force. By the time the worst of the winter had come, the cult's numbers had swollen to nearly double than what they were before: and with that many people at their disposal, the cult were now more formidable than ever"
"When the cult was first established a hundred years ago, it was done so with a view to ensuring humanity remained contained within the walls, that no one would look to venture outside, while maintaining the peace of society: and that's how it was for the better part of over sixty years. But when Judas Spencer succeeded as the cult's High Cardinal forty years ago, things changed for the worst" Mallory sighed.
"Spencer came off as a distant yet charismatic leader: reserved, resourceful, and well gifted in the art of telling people exactly what they wanted to hear. To many he was a man who stood firm in the face of adversity, that knew how to handle any problem quick and efficiently. But the truth is he has no interest in working to help protect the peace of the walled kingdom: he was, and still is hell-bent on amassing all the power he can get his hands on; he's a man without a conscience and for whom the ends always justify the means. Even extending his schemes so far as to using his family to do half his dirty work for him... A man like that, doesn't go about his business without making some enemies along the way," the Count explained. "... Spencer has only three ways of going about keeping his position, power and influence: either bribing those who he knows will be of use to him, blackmailing those he'd like to use but could turn against him without the 'proper persuasion', and making anyone who'll cause trouble for him to disappear entirely. This scheme has been used time and again to control everything from the government's policies to the military's jurisdiction: namely the MP's, since they're the one's who're in charge of tax collection and land distribution. And to ensure his cult remains loyal only him, he extents the same 'privileges' to a certain number of his pastors and more powerful, wealthier followers: forcing them to compete for his favours"
"Which is where we come in," Samuel elaborated, "All of us are from the Interior, and yes we all lived and worked in and around Sina's more 'well off' end of society. But the one thing we all have in common is that we could not be bought, blackmailed or bribed...Or in my case, simple had bad luck"
"I for instance (unlike my contemporaries who were more interested in applying their wealth towards their own 'indulgences') was more interested in the well-being of my fellow man, regardless of their status and 'financial situation'. Do you recall, the hospital my father had built for the poor?" the Count glanced over at Claude, "Indeed: the Brenburn hospital and asylum" Breck nodded, "I spent a year of my medical training there, it was a nice place". "I also recall that you and your father were one of the main financiers for the Scout's expedition budget" Bryson glanced over at him. "Indeed: many said we were mad, that it was a fool's errand to throw money at such a fruitless venture: I and my father however, always believed that the progression of mankind would come from exploring the outside world, and finding a means to expand our boarders. It was a belief he held close to his heart, right up until his dying day" the Count stated proudly. "... Well then? I suppose a thank you is in order, for I was one of the Scouts many a year ago"Bryson smiled offhand, "Oh, well uh, you're welcome..." the count bowed graciously, before getting back on track. "Anyway: my charity and philanthropy didn't earn me many favours among the upper classes of Sina; the only reason any of those dullards would pay me any kind of attention, was for the fact mine used to be one of the richest noble family's in all the three walls"
"Used to be?" Pascal raised an eyebrow, "I was born an' raised in the interior too you know, and the last time I checked you guys had so much money you didn't have to work a day in your lives; several lifetimes in fact. And you had enough nephews and nieces to keep a few hairs and spares handy to make sure all that coin did end up being reclaimed by the king"
"True, but after Maria was breached, Spencer felt the need to expand his empire to keep his lackeys in his favour; for years the cult's popularity came from their sanctuaries and cornucopiam's, boarding houses that took in their more poorer and 'mentally impaired' followers and put a roof over their heads, and farms that specialize in growing produce only for their followers. But for that the cult needs land, and after the breach many joined them as a means of ensuring a meal and a bed to sleep in at night (which was understandable, and hence why their numbers doubled). To that end, the cult started paying the MP's to seize land from farmers, ranchers and merchants: and, in most cases, even turn a blind eye to human traffickers who would capture the displaced families and sell them into slavery; kicking up a percentage to the wall cult. But worst still, a good number of sanctuaries and cornucopiam's bought these slaves to be used as their workforce. The cult has lulled the public into believing that it's an act of charity and good will, that they 'freed' these poor souls to give them a chance to live their lives again; but the truth? Animals in slaughterhouses are treated with more dignity and respect. The cult treats their 'workforce' appallingly, even to the point of working them to death..."
The Count paused for a moment as a wave of gasps and and horrified whispers went up around the amphitheatre, "Quiet down please" Warren knocked the gavel on the table, silencing the audience before Olaf continued in a more anxious voice: "...I, was one such slave" he sighed; that got everyone's attention as he began his story. "... During the autumn of last year, the cult approached me with an offer for my family's estate and lands: promising to pay over double than what it was already worth. Of course I vehemently refused, and that's when I realized they weren't asking; but regardless, I told them to leave...In retrospect that was a mistake, because one night the following week, I was awoken to the sounds of people entering my room: I tried to fight back, but got knocked out. And when I woke up, I found myself dressed in rags and shackled in irons, sitting in a large carriage alongside a dozen other people who were in the same dire straights. I demanded to know where we were going, and the driver told us we were heading north... That, was the last time anyone talked to me with any kind of respect or courtesy: because from that day on, I was a slave assigned to a cornucopiam somewhere in northern Rose; far from Sina, and somewhere no one knew who I was..." he took a deep shaky breath, holding it together as he continued "...I was forced to work in the fields alongside dozens of other slaves: working until our hands bled, trying to till the frozen earth. It was pointless to try and grow anything of course, and that was the point. For the cultists in charge it was their sport: a sick game of betting on who could work the longing before dropping dead of exhaustion... Eventually I couldn't take it anymore, and one night I fled that god-forsaken place: I don't know how long I'd been running before fatigue finally got the better of me, but the dawn was breaking by the time I reached a small town, and headed straight to the local MP station. There, I told them what happened and what the cult did to me, and all the other slaves back on that farm: I honestly believed I was saved when they told me everything would be alright, and let me sit by their stove to warm up... But alas, that too proved to be a lie: not three hours later I was arrested and shackled, and then one of the pastors from the farm arrived; he took one look at me, and said to the MP's 'Get rid of this one, if he escaped once he'll only do it again: you know what to to do'...Later that night, the MP's put me a carriage with blacked out windows, and I was taken away: how long we travelled for I don't know, but it was still night by the time we arrived at my final destination. A huge jail of some kind that looked more like a fortress, dark and foreboding as it was build entirely from black stone: and the guards weren't MP's, but people dressed all in black from head to toe, and wearing these strange white masks that covered their faces..."
Every Celt on the council and in the crowd felt a pang of dread go down their spines, except for Tyto who remained calm as he knitted his brows together in intrigue: listening closely as the Count anxiously continued...
"I don't know who they were, but they led me away inside: the whole place smelt like death and decay, and there were rows upon rows of corridors that seemed to go on forever. At least six or seven floors high, all lined with these huge metal doors that turned out to be cells. There, I was shackled to the wall, and left in darkness...I'd never been more terrified in my whole life, and as I heard the cries of all the others locked up in the cells, I really thought I was going to die... I'd have lost all hope, if I hadn't met Mallory and Fisher" he smiled weakly.
"My cell was one side of Olaf's, and Deamond's was on the other," Mallory explained, "There were some cracks between the walls and ceiling either side of the cell that allowed our voices to reach through: and so when the guards were not patrolling past our doors, we-, talked to each other... Believe me, it was the only way we managed to stay sane in that place". "Over the time we spent imprisoned together, I learned that Olaf and Ian's circumstances had been much like my own," Mallory explained, "I too had been approached by the cult, with an offer to sell my business to one of their wealthier followers. I refused, and the next thing I know I'm being dragged from my bed in the dead of night, knocked out cold, and when I wake up I'm being sold to a sanctuary somewhere in the far west of Rose, and being forced to wait hand and foot for a bunch of stuck-up cultists and pastors who expected me to be at their beck and call morning noon and night... I don't know what happened to my wife and sons: I can only guess they must have been sold to another sanctuary or cornucopiam: or someone else entirely? The place where I was sold was dark and horrible, but I could see there were a number of different people, not just cultists and pastors... Like Olaf I too tried to run but was eventually recaptured, and brought to the 'black dungeon'"
"How many times this has been repeated all over the interior I don't know, but the fact the cult were now targetting wealthy landowners and merchants was unheard of. If you weren't a cultist I can understand: but in the past, regardless of social status or 'religious' beliefs, if you had enough money to spare you wouldn't be hassled by the cult. But being strong-armed into giving up your land and wealth? Knowing that you're well known amongst the farming community? At first I didn't understand how it could happen and no one not notice my family and I were missing? Until I realized, the cult must have either bought their silence, or threatened them and their families into keeping quiet" Fisher explained.
"Okay, so you guys had some serious coin and land: but what about you two?" Pascal glanced over at the doctor and Remmel, "What did you two do to end up being dragged out of your beds and being sold on the black market?"
"Well, unlike Olaf, Ian and Peter, our particular circumstances took a slightly different route, one that bypassed slavery altogether" Samuel replied.
"Like the Count said, a man like Spencer doesn't go about building his empire without making enemies: and suffice to say, I certainly qualified as one" Remmel elaborated: "I don't know if either of you used to read the Royal Mitras paper," he glanced over at Claude and the Leon twins, "Oh we did, and your column always kept us going back to the paper stand: a man like you who knew how to 'stick it' to the caste system, was always noteworthy in our books" Claude stated proudly. "Then you also must've realized that it was those same columns that landed me in this situation..." Remmel sighed, leaning on the table with his arms folded as he explained his side of the story, "...It's no secret I'm somewhat of a 'liberal' when it comes to talking about the government, MP's and the cult, and how their unfair policies underscore the people, particularly the farmers and merchants who supply our food and goods. For a number of years my column's popularity among the working classes ensured that if something happened, the public would raise a stink; and in my hubris I honestly thought that was the case... Then one day, I received a tip-off from one of my 'confidential' informants that they'd caught wind of an' incident' that took place over six years ago; one that the cult went to great length to keep quiet... The story goes, that apparently: in the central farmlands just outside Shiganshina district, the cult had 'acquired' a prime bit of farmland owned by some rich farmer called Hafer, who sold it to them and moved up to the interior. They tried to build a sanctuary on the site but kept running into a number of construction problems; then after one particularly nasty storm and flood they upped and abandoned the place. But apparently, Hafer was well known to everyone in the area, and everyone who knew him stated up and down that he never made any mention of moving away, never mind selling his property. But more interestingly? There were rumours flying around that people used to see some strange things while the cult were in town, and that they were up to something... Deciding to see if there was anything to it, I travelled down to Shiganshina to investigate: over the month I spent there I talked to everyone who knew Hafer, and even the farmers who's property bordered the cult's land. What they had to say was... Well? Curious, and damn-right strange at times: many claimed that the cult had moved some of their followers to the site to help build the place: and that apparently they were a bunch of real die-hard zealots; very aggressive to anyone who wasn't a follower and would harass them and their labourers regularly. Then, on the night of that storm, one of the farmer's who lived nearby swore he'd seen a couple of wagons go up the hill to escape the rising flood waters, and that when the cultists ran out to meet them, they grabbed the drivers and passengers and threw them into the flood waters... He said it was a mother, and her children..."
Tyto, Evrard, Falken, Eraman, Gustav, Bren, Derek, Pascal, West, Bryson, Breck and Claude all stared at Remmel in amazement: as memories of that night came back to mind with vivid clarity. As did Hecate, Javorin and Herne, all of whom glanced at each other in wide-eyed surprise. No one said anything, and everyone listened as Remmel continued...
"He told the MP's what he saw the next day, but whether anything came of it he didn't know. But, many people in the area claimed the place was haunted ever since: some claimed they saw the figure of a woman walking up the hill at dusk, only to disappear: and disembodied voices of children crying would be heard on moonless nights; all plaguing the sanctuary apparently, as people said they noticed many of the followers leaving the place soon after; and then one night, they all took off at once...But, during the course of being told one of these 'ghost stories', another interesting bit of information came my way. In the weeks following the cult's acquisition of the Hafer property, a number of people who lived in the forest bordering the land disappeared: and in some of the properties, dried blood had been found splattered all over the place. And ominous still: some foresters and woodsmen that lived in the vicinity, claimed they saw a group of men dressed all in black, riding big black horses and wearing white masks that concealed their faces... One night, one gentleman claimed he saw a woman who was lost approach one of these riders, asking for directions: he said the rider slit her throat with a sword, and took her body away with him; he never went poaching again after that. A number of other people disappeared on the roads and in the forest too: always at night, and their bodies never found; it was as if they were made to vanish entirely.
"So, how did this story get you in trouble with the cult?" Evrard asked curiously.
"When I returned to Mitras I decided to look into these 'mysterious dark riders' a little more: with so many people claiming to have seen the same thing, there had to be something to it. First off, I tried searching for Hafer: but when I found the location he was supposed to have moved to; no one had heard of the guy. So with that being a dead-end, I got in touch with an informant who worked the rackets on the black market in Mitras: he wasn't involved with human trafficking or anything of that nature, but he knew what went on behind the MP's backs, and knew people who had dealings with the cult's higher-ups. What he told me was a bit of a stretch, but apparently, something that's been floating around for nearly a hundred years now... When the cult were charged with protecting the walls by the king, they created a division of their order known as the 'Disciples'. The most devout of their believers who's loyalty was unquestionable, and would follow orders to the latter without a second thought. They were essentially the cult's own privet army, one that always worked behind the scenes, and who killed anyone who laid eyes on them, even by accident; so as to protect their secrecy. For the better part of sixty years their role was to hunt down and eliminate anyone who wished to 'do harm to the goddesses': namely try to scale the walls or damage them in any way, and that was about the gist of it. But when Spencer took over as High Cardinal, he used the Disciples for his own means: completely disregarding their original mandate, and using them to carry out his crimes'...Needless to say, I didn't know what to believe, but apparently the Disciples have been one of the longest running rumours in the criminal underworld: and one that never seemed to go away, as every once in a while people would disappear under mysterious circumstances: all at night, and all travelling along a roadway somewhere remote. So, many figured there must be something to it...and by that time: I couldn't help but agree with them... At that point in the investigation I'd written up everything I'd found thus far, and had planned to take my investigation further. But one night, I was awoken by the sound of people breaking down my door: and just as I leapt out of bed, there they were: men dressed all in black and wearing white masks. I put up a hell of a fight, but one of them blind-sided me. Next thing I know, I wake up in a coach with blacked out windows, and find myself being delivered to-, that place... " Remmel explained as he wiped his brow and stroked his hair back. "...I thought I'd been left to rot in that hellish place, along with all the other people there: and to be honest? It was the first time I'd been truly scared through and through..."
"He was in quite the state of shock when they first brought him in," Samuel interjected, "But then, everyone who was brought to that place had lost all hope by the end of the first first days; and if it hadn't been for that crack in the wall between our cells, we'd have never met" he smiled at Remmel, "...Like Olaf, Deamond and Ian: our conversations were the one thing that kept us from loosing our minds. We weren't in the same block as them, but it was nice to hear another human voice; even if they same position as myself" Remmel nodded ruefully.
"As for how I ended in that dreadful place? I had the bad luck of incurring the cult's wrath, for simply for doing my job... I worked part time at Mitras's main hospital, but I also made house calls to the outlining districts around the capitol. My skills and experience had garnered quite a list of patients over the years: some of whom were of 'high-status', 'well-off' and some who were even influential in the government's business. One day, I was approached by one wealthy nobleman who's daughter had taken ill: he'd heard of my past successes and believed I could help her. But, he was seeing to her treatment in secret because her husband and his family were devout cultists: and as you know, science and medicine are not looked upon favourably by the cult. I attended the girl and found she was suffering a mild form of river-fever: easily treatable, but her condition had been made worse by the fact she was with child, and her body had reacted more acutely to the disease than it normally would have. But in any case I cured her of her illness, and her father paid me extra to oversee her pregnancy: all while keeping this from his in-laws, as he wanted to ensure the survival of his daughter and grandchild... Things were going well, but the night before she was due to give birth, the husband had somehow found out: I rushed to the house her father had kept her hidden away in, and when I arrived I -..." he hesitated as a look of horror filled his eyes: "...I-, found the girl and her father dead: their throats both slit by her mother and father, and the child-...cut from her womb by the husband, and thrown into the fire by his sisters. All the while, their pastor was performing an exorcism: in their eyes, the medicines I'd given the girl had made her and her unborn child 'unclean', and so they had to kill them, for fear my 'evil dealings and dark magics' would incur the 'wrath of the goddesses'... I couldn't believe I was seeing this, what they had done to their own daughter, and grandchild: and worse, they blamed me for her death. I was the evil in their eyes; it was complete madness! ...I tried to run to get help, but those black riders in the white masks had surrounded the house, and proceeded to beat me up to within an inch of my life. The whole family and the pastor came out to watch, and they just stood there: smiling the way a cat smiles when it sees a mouse. Not even caring that I was pleading and begging for my life while bleeding all over the grass: but they didn't care; they just laughed as the riders threw me into the carriage... I must've passed out during the journey, and not for very long, as it was still dark out by the time I'd reached my destination... After being placed in that cell I'd resigned myself to the fact that I was going to die in that place: my conversations with Peter were the only comfort I had; knowing that at least, I was not the only one enduring that hell..."
The whole audience whispered among each other in a mix of shock and disbelief, even the god-titan's were at a loss what to believe. From reading their auras they knew they were telling the truth, but the sheer incredibility of their stories still made it hard to swallow. "Quiet..." Warren banged the gavel on the table, to which everyone hushed up. "...Look, I'll be straight will ya," Pascal huffed dryly, keeping his poker face in place "I was born and raised in the underground district okay? So bad shit happening to people is nothing new to me. I've heard of some pretty bad thing that go in in this walled world: but seriously? This is kind of a stretch, even for me". "Believe me, if none of us had experienced it for ourselves, we'd most likely never believe it either... And, the fact we have no real evidence to back our claims up doesn't help either" Mallory admitted sheepishly.
"True: under normal circumstances your stories would probably be taken with a pinch of salt. However, the fact I can sense your memories of your experiences, is the reason I believe you" The Keeper replied coolly. "Wh-what?!" Gregory gawked, "Seriously?" Pascal raised an eyebrow up the the blindfolded god-titan. "I can sense when someone is lying, remember? As do all my kin" the Keeper shot the former thief a dry look, "And needless to say: the truth in your words is most concerning" he glanced back at the panel. "...So? I guess we now come to the obvious question: how did you all come to be conscripted for the failed retrieval operation?" Bowen asked.
Samuel decided to explain, "One day, two months ago: there was a commotion going on in the 'dungeon', all the cells were being emptied and everyone moved outside. The 'masked guards' didn't say where they were taking us: they just piled us into these giant carriages with no windows and told us to stay quiet. Time had lost all meaning to us by that point so I don't how long we travelled for, and my legs were so weak I could just barely stand. There were many who'd been locked up in that place: men, women, children, even whole families: how many exactly I don't know, tens? Maybe hundreds? There was no way to keep track in all the commotion. Eventually, we arrived in Trost shortly before dawn: from what I could overhear of the MP's conversations, they'd evacuated the entire city so as to ensure no one would try to run or call for help. When we were herded out of the carriages, we saw the whole city was indeed deserted, and we were made to join a huge crowd of what must've been thousands that was lined up at the gate. Up on the walls I saw more of those masked riders, and several pastors and MP's who were with them: we were each given blunt pikes, rusted swords, knives with dulled blades, and a small bag of stale bread and a bottle of water: barely enough to last a few days. We didn't know what was going on, until one gentleman turned to me and told us they were about to head out to Shiganshina to try and seal the breach. Realizing that would mean facing the titans, many of the prisoners panicked and try to run: but, the inner gate had been closed by that point, so there was nowhere for anyone to go. Soon enough, the outer gate opened and we were forced to move, or get shot by the masked guards...We all had no choice but to leave: some though, tried to run back, only to be shot on site...They were the lucky ones: because no sooner had he walked several miles out, the first titans came for us at full speed...The rest-...I don't think I need to say..." Samuel sighed as he leaned on the table, rubbing his tired eyes as he felt the horror of that memory weigh heavily upon him.
The whole panel sat in silence for an uncomfortable moment: knowing there was no need for them to relive the hell they'd survive; "... No, I don't think we need to go there" Tarka sighed anxiously. "...One thing I am curious about though," Bryson leaned forward, "If all of you were locked up (presumably for some time over the winter and spring?), how did you come by all this information on the cult?"
"Between our time being incarcerated, and the last two months we spent together trying to survive: we swapped stories and formed a number of theories as to what had happened, and what was going on now; of course much of it was conjecture on our part, and only based on our experiences. But during my investigation, my research into the wall cult and their Disciples was confirmed by several sources I know are legit... As incredible as it sounds: the King and the Royal Government are not the true rulers of this walled world: not since Spencer came into the picture" Remmel sighed.
"So how did you end up with these guys? Were you locked up in this 'black dungeon' too?" Evrard glanced over at Gregory, who nervously replied "Ah-, no. Me and my family were farmers in south-east Rose: we weren't the wealthiest or most prestigious in the area, but we managed to keep the place running okay, and kept our labourers happy to boot. Like Olaf, Ian and Deamond the wall cult came for us too, but unlike them, the MP's suddenly showed up at our door one day with a couple of pastors in tow: they handed us eviction notices and told us to leave. They claimed that the cult had brought our land from us fair and square, and that we suddenly went back on the deal and refused to give them the property. To say this was staggering was an understatement. We told them there'd been a mistake and that I'd made no such deal: but the payment papers and deed's to the property had my signature on them; a signature I knew was a fake! It wasn't even my handwriting! But the MP's didn't listen or even care, and gave us one day to gather our possessions and leave: and as if to rub salt in the wounds, we were required to pay a compensation fee to the cult for 'infringement of trading' for not honouring the deal in the first place... That payment was all the money we had: we were homeless, destitute, and had nowhere else to go. As we travelled the land looking for work, we came across a number of other farmers who'd been forced off their land by the cult, and had not a coin or note to their name. They'd gathered in camps at the fringes of the wilderness, hoping to stay safe from human traffickers by looking out for each other, and sharing what they could. It was hard-going but we managed to make the best of it: then one day two months ago, the MP's suddenly show up in force and arrest everyone in the camp for trespassing; which-, made utterly no sense, as it was free land and owned by no one. They rounded up everyone and put us in chains, and I was separated from my wife and daughters as we were put into these large carriages, and led away to this huge jail in the nearby town: we were kept there for a few days, before being transported down to Trost... That, was the first time I'd heard of the retrieval operation: and it wasn't until we were ordered to the gate and given our weapons, that I realized what was about to happen. With what time I had before the gate opened, I searched desperately for my girls, but I never saw them again: then when the time came and the gate rose, we were ordered to move or get shot...I-...Pray my girls weren't there...But, I don't know what became of them?..." he explained in a shaky voice with tears running down his cheeks: Samuel gently patted him on the back, and the whole amphitheatre was on the verge of outrage, as half the audience discreetly wiped the tears from their eyes too.
"It wasn't just Gregory though, or Olaf, Ian, Peter, Samuel, or Deamond" Lupin sighed as he stepped in to say his piece, "The more survivors we found, the similar their stories were when they told us of their plights: while some were indeed old, weak, sick, infirm (and guilty of criminal acts in some cases), and theses were the reason's they'd been chosen for this 'purge'. But the rest had been treated appallingly by the very people who're supposed to protect them. Their homes and livelihoods stolen from them, their loved one's taken and sold into slavery: every manner of unjust cruelty that had been inflicted upon these poor people, had been carried out by the cult, or by those in their service or favour. Some for the sake of some wicked scheme, others, for the pettiest of reasons: some of those that survived hadn't even done anything untowards the cult or MP's: they were simply considered an 'inconvenience' to be disposed of; without any regard for their lives..." he frowned in ire. "Brothers, I know it is not our way to concern ourselves with the dealings of regular folk: but this? This injustice goes way beyond the pale for us! After everything these people have been made to endure, we cannot turn our backs on them!" he pleaded vehemently.
"And we won't," Tyto stated: "...The wall cult may have forced us to hide in the wilds of Maria for the last hundred years, but they didn't force us to abandon our humanity. Our survival has, and always will depend on the bonds we share as a family and a community. Small, and few and far between it may be: everyone relies on everyone else for their survival in one form or another; the rest of the walled world is no different... In many ways humans are like wolves: it's all well and good dancing to the beat of your own drum, but when times are hard and the going gets tough, we all have to fall in line with the pack and do what's best for everyone. To go our own ways for the sake of protecting what meagre possessions we own, or what beliefs we hold, puts everyone at risk; if that's the price you're willing to pay, for your own personal freedom...That's why, in this place: we will not turn anyone away; regardless of who they are, where they come from or what they've done, what they own or what they don't have, no one will be treated any differently or given preferential treatment... We are all a one peoples in this land, and we are all human..." he stated, before quickly adding "-And god-titan". Many of the god-titan's couldn't help but chuckle, even the Keeper couldn't hide his smile.
"...So? ..." Olaf changed the subject, "What now? Many of us had resigned ourselves to death before last night, but now? What do you intend to do with all of us?". "All who seek sanctuary are welcome to stay here: it is the Queen's decree that all who are without a place to call their own, may find one here, if they so choose" the Keeper stated, "The queen?!" Gregory gawked, "There's a queen titan here?!". "Yes, there is a queen, and very generous and hospitable she is too" Claude nodded. "While she maintains her charge as ruler of this land and guardian of the city of Omnes Scientiam, she has granted the council power to govern themselves and this community. And as the queen's representative, I was invited to become part of this council to speak on behalf of all the god-titan's who dwell within this land"
"If you wish to stay that's not a problem: but we must warn you here and now, we do things quite differently compared to what your all used to in the rest of the walled world. For starters, money is not part of our culture: we trade goods the old fashion way and when you give your word you stand by it" Ratatosk stated. "On this island, trust, compassion, understanding and honesty are the wheels that carry this community: and take it from a fellow Sinian, you'll do just fine if you keep your mind, and your ears open" Claude added in a positive tone.
"...Alright then" Olaf bowed respectfully, "You have my word as a nobleman and a gentlemen, I'll respect and abide by your laws", "Me too" Samuel nodded, as did Deamond, Ian, Peter. "...Of course. But what about everyone else?" Gregory asked worryingly. "They too will be extended the same invitation, providing they agree to follow the code of abidance laid down by this council" Dakota stated, "And if someone break's one of these 'codes?'" Mallory asked offhand, "Then there will consequences to face: but we don't believe in imprisoning or killing people for their wrongdoings. If something happens and the codes are defied, we will be diplomatic about it and handle it accordingly. We believe in finding peaceful solutions to our problems here" the Keeper replied.
"But what if someone wants to return to the interior? There're many people who still have families within the walls: families that should never have been separated in the first place; would you stop them from leaving? Even if they swore on their lives to take the location of this place to their grave?" Gregory asked pleadingly.
The council all glanced at one another in concern, but the Keeper merely replied: "If anyone wishes to go back, then we will not stop them: we will ensure they return to their homes safely...However, before anyone wishes to go: I will ask this question, and ask them to consider it very carefully... What would they do if they are discovered, and the authorities led to believe that they managed to sneak back over the wall somehow? What would the implications mean for them?... If their being here was due to the wall cult's doing, then what would they do if they were spotted by their captors? What would that mean for them and their families? ...This will not affect us as the location of the Hidden Land is well guarded, and cannot be found without the help of a god-titan: the likelihood of anyone within the walls finding this place in next to impossible. However, the Queen cares about the safety and well-being of everyone in her kingdom, even those who're visitors from distant lands: and if our actions lead to the injury or deaths of innocent people, knowing that there could have been a way to prevent it in the first place, then this will be a tragedy shared by all, and the consequences for which, will lay firmly on all our shoulders. As well as theirs"
"In other words," Pascal deadpanned, "Just let the interior think your all dead: it'll be easier for everyone all round. And if those death's ensure the safety of those who were blackmail leverage for the cult, then those loved ones will be better off for it"
"...Well?..." Remmel sighed in defeat, "When you put it like that: it's not like we have a choice". "No, you do have a choice: all we're asking is that you consider the consequences of what might happen if you go through with it" Bryson replied, before Pascal added "I mean, think about it. Someone who's supposed to be dead, suddenly showing up back at their home alive and well, after somehow scaling the wall? Or walls all by themselves? Take it from me bud' not everyone's a skilled liar, and considering the fuss the military will have been making over the Colossal and Armoured titan's attack last year: you can bet your ass they'll have been working long and hard to improve the wall's protection; if they catch anyone from the 'retrieval operation' back inside Rose or Sina, they'll smell a rat, and then what?"
"Don't get me wrong, I can see where you're coming from, and yes I agree going back would create a lot of complications if we're caught. But there're a lot of us that don't feel the some way" Fisher pointed out. "...If it's not too much ask, would it be okay if we explained this situation to them? Try to help them understand what's best right now?" Samuel asked. "It's not too much at all," Tyto replied with an understanding smile, "If anything, it would help if they had someone they know they can talk to; someone they can relate to... Me and my family were only out in Maria for a day and two nights after the breach...I can't even begin to imagine what two, or even four months of that hell was like: and I won't insult any of you by pretending to know...If you wish to stay, we'll do all we can to help you adjust; you have my word"
"...Thank you, again..." Samuel smiled in grateful appreciation.
"Excellent. And now, " Ratatosk changed the subject, "If we may, would it be suitable to bring up the subject of 'rehousing'? Only, there's something important we must address-"
"-Actually..." the leader of the Bear clan raised his hand, "If its not too improper, there's something I'd like to ask: with regards to us staying here?", "Um? Sure, please continue" Tyto nodded. "Well? While we were helping everyone walk up that giant tree root last night, I happened to catch a glance of the mountain with that big stone king seated at the base," he pointed eastward, "There wouldn't be anyone already living out there in the forest, per chance? Only, I fear our bear-titans will be far too big for this island: not to mention our clan is quite 'sizeable' too, and needs quite a bit of space". "I have to confess, our wolf-titans will probably raise too much of a ruckus with their howling and whatnot's: I can't really see them getting along well on this little island" Lupin sheepishly admitted, "Our Mountain-cat titan's don't get on well with other titans either, they need somewhere they can be free to take off, and enjoy their own company when they want to; and they won't really have that freedom on an island I'm afraid" Orin admitted sheepishly, "And let's not forget the fox-titans, those oversized scamps will be raising hell every chance they get: chances are they'll be fur coats before the year's even out if their not properly handled. And suffice to say, all these different god-titan's are way too much of a temptation for them" the leader of the Red Fox clan threw in sheepishly.
"I guess, what we're trying to say is," Lupin winced sheepishly, trying to put it as delicately as possible: "As much as we'd love to stay here on this wonderful island with all of you: we really feel our particular clans will fair better on the mainland; in the giant forest on the slopes of that great mountain, where our brother and sister god-titan's can have the space to live comfortably, and we ourselves will not be an encumbrance upon everybody here". "I mean, let's face it: we're Celts, we can sleep, hunt and live just about anywhere outdoors: but the survivors of the purge? They need the houses on this island far more than we do: they're much too 'domesticated' to live rough and wild like us; they'd be much better off here" the leader of the Bear clan added sensitively: "So? If it's not too much to ask: may we be permitted to set up our new home-camps on the mainland?"
The council all glanced at one another in surprise for a moment, before thy all smiled: "...Actually? This is exactly what we were about to propose" one of the Ranger elders smiled, "If you don't mind: you'd be doing us a big favour". "For one thing it'll save us putting a strain on the communal gardens to double their produce output, as well as all the other resources we got here" Derek commented, "Well, what's left of them: we got a lot of work to do to regain our winter stockpile quota" Gustav pointed out. "Actually? We'll have to completely reset the required quota if we're to avoid starvation over the winter," Claude interjected, "While everyone was being seen to last night and this morning, I did a head count and crunched some numbers-
"-TYTO! Where's Tyto?!" One of the Ranger's shouted from the top of the amphitheatre, as he burst through the rear doors of the town hall, "Can't you see we're in the middle of a meeting here?" Evrard frowned up at the youngster as he came running down the central aisle. But the Ranger paid no attention as he jumped up onto the stone stage and stood before the Council and assembled guests. "I'm sorry for the intrusion: but we found them!"
"Found them?!" Lupin gasped, as did the audience, "You found the other clans?!". "When?" Tyto demanded, "Not half an hour ago, I went on ahead to relay the situation: the look-out's found the Golden Eagles and the Black Wolves just east of the Calhoss fens, along with the Heron, Silver Fox, Grey Squirrel, Sparrowhawk and White Owl clans, plus over fourteen Ranger families and their god-titan's" the Ranger stated. "How many's that?" Evrard raised an eyebrow, "Overall? Five hundred and ninety two humans, and around a hundred and ten god-titan's. Seven hundred and two altogether". A wave of astonished gasps went up around the amphitheatre: but this time the council paid no attention as Tyto stood up: "I need to go get the Hunt reassembled, they'll need help getting out of there: are there any stone circles near where they are?" he asked as he turned to leave, "The one I used is the nearest, it's about three miles south of their position: but Tyto, there're too many titans between there and their current position; Stormwing and the Look-out's are doing all they can, but they need reinforcements on the ground to help clear a path" the Ranger stated worryingly. "You better go" Gustav waved off, "And don't worry about things here, we've got it covered" Derek stated as Evrard, Falken, Eraman, Bryson, Pascal, West, Shadow, Midnight and Boar all got up and left in a hurry, following Tyto as he led the way.
After watching them leave the amphitheatre, the newcomer's glanced over at the council in surprise: "So? I take it you have a 'rescue team' always at the ready for when you find more of your fellow Celts and Rangers caught out in titan country?" the Count asked. "Actually? That reminds me..." Remmel suddenly remembered, "I didn't get a chance to ask earlier: but, why were Tyto and the others out in Maria to begin with? And why were they kitted out with ODM gear?"
"Well?..." Gustav sighed as he ruffled his wild unkept grey hair, "It's a bit of a long story, but since it looks like we'll have some time to kill before they get back with the 'new lot': allow me to fill you all in on the 'major operation' we got going on here"
"By the way, this meeting is now adjourned, the new arrivals will be needing some help when they get here: so everyone please report back to your stations and await further instructions" Ratatosk announced to the crowd. "That goes for all of you too" Jarus addressed the other god-titan's, "It looks like we'll be busy for the remainder of the day"
Six hours later, at the Island hospital:
"...Well? I think we're just about done," Ariana sighed in exhaustion as she placed the tall pile of freshly-washed blankets on the bench: "Not even a few hours rest and we're back on duty with the newest new arrivals" Rowan grumbled as he threw a bowl of dirty water out the window, making sure it landed in the undergrowth below the windowsill "If this is going to be a frequent thing: finding our fellow Celts and Rangers wandering the wild avoiding the titans, we should start including rescue and relief as part of the Hunt's protocol!". "Look on the bright side, at least we only had clean broken bones, dislocated joints, and a several lacerations to deal with this time: nothing that needed going under the knife for" Rosemary smiled as she entered the room, wiping her hands on a clean rag, "I take it the new batch of elixirs are done?" Ariana asked offhand, "Just finished the last one right now: the boxes are on the table and ready to be taken to the recovery ward" she replied, to which Rowan, Ash and Fox proceeded to said table in the room next door, and took the boxes to their destination.
"Okay, Angel's back up in her nest and thoroughly out of commission," Carla announced as she entered the room, "Poor darling won't be able to fly until tomorrow at least: what with all the feathers she had to pluck out". "She had it easy; Old man Campbell was shoving onions in Blue-rain and Dusky's faces for half the afternoon just to get the tears Breck needed" Miriam stated as she walked in with two huge baskets of freshly backed bread tucked under her arms, "Hey, while you're on your feet, take these up to the recovery ward: the girls need these to go with the broth they're making for the over-nighters" she handed the basket's the Carla and Ariana, "Sure thing" the youngster replied as she followed the raven-haired woman out the door.
"Holy crap, five hundred and ninety two more people" Ariana thought aloud, "I know: I don't even want to think about the headache Claude must be having, redoing the head-counts and reorganizing the figures" Carla sighed offhand. "You know, we must have the damn luckiest of luck to not loose anyone," Ariana realized, "Never mind have enough room for everyone to stay here: specking of which, I saw dad meeting up with the heads of the new clans before coming over here, did you overhear anything?". "I didn't stay for the whole meeting, but he apprised them of what happened last night, and the 'living arrangement's' for the survivors of the purge: it seemed to go down okay? I didn't hear anyone object. At least, not while I was there," Carla shrugged, "Well? I just hope no one raises a stink over it, we're hard-pressed for free space on the island as it is" Ariana sighed offhand.
Another few minutes walk soon brought them to the recovery ward, in which every bed was filled, and several auxiliary beds from the storage room in the basement had been brought up via the elevator. It was crowded but not chaotic, as everyone had been seen to and treated accordingly: now, one doctor was making the rounds and checking on everyone. Spotting Carla and Ariana as they made their way across the ward, he paused to greet them. "Oh, are you Mrs Jaeger? Only, Breck said you'd be heading over here to relieve Samantha and Rebecca". "That would be me" she smiled, "And you must be-, Arthur?". "Ernest, Arthur went on break a half hour ago and I agreed to cover for him" he corrected, "Ah, right: sorry it's-, been one hell of a day; first a whole load of new arrives, and now six new doctors to remember," She smiled sheepishly, before turning slightly more concerned, "Listen, you're not too tired are you? You've had a pretty hectic day yourself": "Oh I'll be okay, I feel much more at ease when I'm doing something: I find I can't let my hands be idle for too long or I go out of my mind with boredom" he admitted with a sheepish smile, "Besides, Breck certainly looked like he could use the extra pair of hands. I mean, running this whole hospital all by himself? How'd he managed to do it? I mean, he's not even been up here to review any of the patients yet". "Dunno, he just does" Ariana shrugged, "Oh-, You're Tyto's daughter: Ariana, right?" he asked, "That's me" she forced a smiled, "Now where're the girls so we can deliver this bread? I got a hundred other chores to finish up in here before I need to go back an' find my dad". "Oh, right: Amy and Robin should be in the kitchen," he hastily replied, Carla was about to ask something else, when one of the Celtic healers interrupted, "Excuse me? Doctor Tenmer? The lady in bed three's asking for you", "Alright I'm coming" he replied, "Sorry, but duty calls; nice meeting you both" he waved good-bye as he briskly walked away.
"Bye..." Ariana waved, before getting back to her conversation with Carla, "I thought he was Pepae for minute" she admitted in a hushed tone, "Me too, they do look alike" Carla nodded. "Maybe we should get everyone to write their names on their foreheads for the first few weeks" Ariana grinned, Carla was about to jokingly reply, when she suddenly stopped, and stared at something across the huge room. "Carla?" Ariana stopped as she noticed her change of expression: following her gaze, Ariana saw she was staring at an old man in one of the beds, his forehead bandaged and his left arm in a sling: sitting on a couple of stools by his bedside were two younger woman around Carla's age, one with pale blonde hair, the other black as her own. "...Joseph?..." Carla frowned in alarm as she slowly walked over to the bed: her face contorting from a look of confusion into a sudden look of horror, as she dropped the basket of bread and rushed to his side, "-JOSEPH!"
"Wha-, uh who're you?" the pale blond woman frowned in confusion. The old man stirred awake and gazed up at her in surprise as he tried to get his bearings: "Joseph?! Oh god Joseph! You're alive?!" Carla panicked as she gently gabbed his hand, "Carla?..." he stared up at her in equal shock, despite his fatigue, "...Oh my god..." he realized as he too recognized her, "...You're alive? But-, how is this possible?!". "...Mr Arlelt?!" Ariana gawked as she approached the bed. "Ariana?!" the old man gawked at her too, "You're here too?!". "Uh-, excuse me but who the hell are you?!" the other raven-haired woman frowned in a defensive tone as she got up from her seat: both Carla and Ariana were caught off-guard by her aggression, but the pale blond woman stood up and grabbed her arm, pulling her back a little. "Darcy don't!-" she pleaded, "-Darcy it's okay, they're friends of mine!" Joseph grabbed her hand.
"You know him?" she blinked in surprise, "Of course we know him! We were neighbours when we lived in Shiganshina!" Carla stated defensively. "Wait-, you're Carla Jaeger?" the blond woman blinked in surprise. "My grandson and her boy were best friends: they used to play together all the time, they lived five streets up from us" Joseph patted Darcy on the arm, "It's okay Darcy, really: you don't have to worry about anything with Carla; she's a good friend" he assured her. Glancing back and forth between them, Darcy sat back down and turned her gaze away. "Joseph, what the hell are you doing here?! How the hell did you get conscripted?!" Carla leaned down to meet his eye-level, while Ariana carefully climbed up onto the foot of the bed: "I-, I had to go: they needed every able-bodied man for the operation" he replied weakly. "But Joseph, how did you make it past the titans?!" she pleaded. "Oh, you can thank Darcy and Drew for that: I wouldn't have made it this far south if it hadn't been for them" he smiled over at the two sisters. "Sorry for my sister's short temper: she just-, well, Joseph has been such a good friend to us these past few weeks. He's kinda grown on us" Drew meekly smiled.
"Was Armin with you?!" Ariana pleaded in a panic, "Please don't tell me he got conscripted too?!", "I-..." Joseph's eyes filled with confusion and hurt, "...I don't remember?...All I remember were those titans coming at us: running so fast we couldn't-" He pressed his hand to his forehead as tears welled up in his eyes. "His memory ain't been too good since he took that blow to the head" Darcy frowned, to which Drew then explained, "We found him lying in a pool of blood on the outskirts of the forest a few weeks ago: we honestly thought he was dead, until we saw him breathing. Luckily for all three of us there was small cave nearby: we hid in there and tried to patch him up as best we could, but he took quite a knock to the head. Honestly? we'd all be dead if the Celt's hadn't found us a day or so later. We tried asking him how he ended up where he was, but he can't remember anything before that: at least, not as well as he used to, I think?"
"But did you see Armin with him?!" Ariana pleaded desperately, "Armin's his grandson, he'd be about Ariana's age: blond hair, bright blue eyes, kind of small and skinny? Did you see a boy like that anywhere near where you found him?" Carla asked. The two sisters gazed at one another worryingly for moment, before Joseph suddenly let out a hitched sob, "...Armin..." he wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve, "...He was-, I don't remember: but I know he was there! He came with me and we-... Oh god I wish I could remember!" he sobbed. Carla stared at him in horror, while Ariana ran off the bed and out the room; tears streaming down her face. "Hey!-" Breck yelped in surprise as she bumped by him, "Ariana?" he suddenly noticed she was crying. "Breck?!" Carla yelled out in surprise. "Carla?" the doctor ran into the room, wondering and worrying what was wrong, "Carla what-
He screeched to a halt as he suddenly recognized Joseph, "...Oh Sweet Sina..."
Later that night, back at the town hall:
"Holy crap..." Eraman sighed in wide-eyed amazement as he entered the hall, "...Did you guys hear about Joseph?!"
"We just got back from visiting him at the hospital" Evrard nodded, "Of all the people to survive this madness-, how the hell did he end up getting conscripted for the retrieval operation?!". "I've no idea..." Falken sighed in exasperation as he leaned back in his seat. "Old geezer like him? He's lucky to have made it as far as he did in one piece, even with the help of his new friends" West thought aloud. Pascal was about to throw his two coins in, when the doors opened, and Tyto, Bryson, Claude, Derek, Gustav, Bren and Miriam stepped in, followed by all the other council heads. "The Keeper sends his apologizes, but he had to return to the city to inform the queen of the latest developments, including our new plan" Bren told everyone.
"New plan?" Evrard knitted his brows together in confusion: "We'll get to that in a minute, but first: we reached a consensus with the new arrivals," Tyto replied as they all took their seats around the table: "The Heron's, Golden Eagles and Black Wolves will be joining the Bears, Blue Wolves and Mountain-cats in the eastern forest, near the base of the great eastern mountain. The Silver Foxes, Grey Squirrels and Badgers will be joining the Red Foxes in the western forest, near the Gateway mountain, and the White Owls and Sparrowhawks will be staying on the island. They said they wanted to ensure the survivors got settled in okay: as well help them 'adjust' to all the new god-titan's on the island"
"Seriously? They've been tagging along with the clan's and their god-titan's for nearly two months, and all of a sudden they're worried the island god-titans are going to start getting the munchies?!" Pascal exclaimed in disbelief. "I know, but it's not that simple Pascal" Derek sighed, to which Ratatosk added "Many of them are still on edge and mentally drained from the long journey. It's going to take time for them to adjust: just thank Gia the Count and his friends were on hand to explain things to them". "A number of the Ranger families will be joining the clans on the mainland too: they've all yet to find suitable sites for their new home-camps, but they've assured us they'll be okay: they'll start scouting the forests first thing in the morning; and before anyone asks, yes we did warn them about the water-snake titans and the marshes along the northern end of the lake" Bowen added.
"Now, to the main concern at hand, and the new plan" Tyto stated as Claude read over the bundle of papers he held in one hand, "Gentlemen, lady" he glanced over at Miriam with a respectful nod, "I've finished totting up the numbers for our latest population boom, and altogether (including us), the Hidden Land's human population stands at over one thousand nine hundred and ninety six: and their three hundred and twenty eight god-titan's". "One thousand nine hundred and ninety six?!" Falken exclaimed, "Oh my god..." West breathed in astonishment, "I know" Miriam sighed in exasperation as she folded her arms, "And we got a hell of a lot of work to do if we're to get in shape for the winter" Gustav grumbled, "Right now, our food stockpiles aren't even going to cover a quarter of the new population: we don't have nearly enough clothing readily available to ensure at least a third don't suffer from exposure, and while the hospital apothecary is stocked and able to meet the demand of the new numbers, nearly a quarter of the survivors from the retrieval op are lame, have limbs missing, are are incapable of hard labour due to their injuries, some of them can't even walk, and are likely to be bed-ridden for the rest of their lives". Derek then added, "I know we're not turning anyone out; but we've got a lot of work ahead of us if we're to accommodate everyone"
"To that end: we've approved the intuitive to collect the now-feral farm animals out in Maria, and keep them for food and other essentials" Ratatosk added, "That way, we and the clans on the mainland will still be able to hunt for our food: and with a third of the five hundred survivors from the retrieval operation being farmers, we won't have to worry about figuring out how to become farmers ourselves" Bowen commented, "I talked to Deamond and Gregory about it, and both said they'll be happy to help out where they can". "Which brings us to the new plan: as of right now the Hunt is officially on hold, until we can gather all the items on this list" Claude handed everyone the papers. "Another scavenger hunt? Big surprise there" Pascal sighed dryly. "Scavenger hunts," Clade corrected, "Between rounding up those animals and gathering the items listed, this is going to take more than a few trips, I can assure you".
"Claude, it's going to take at least a month to gather everything on this list!" Evrard exclaimed, "We'd practically have to scavenge every town and village across the entire southern region of Maria to get everything we need!", "Granted, it's not going to be an easy task: But if everyone is to stand a chance of surviving, we need to do this. Lucile and Freya have already organized the sewers, seamstresses and spinners to get started on the first load of items, and Crystal is spinning her silk as we speak: but we need animals for food, hides and wool, chemicals and specialized formulas for medicines, machinery for weaving cloth, and everything else to make this community self-sustaining" Tyto stated, to which Claude added, "Either that, or we keep scavenging three times a month, because that's how many times we'll have to go out into Mariajust to keep on top of everything; and the titans will still be there. So it's it's ether a month of intensive scavenging and getting everything we need as soon as possible. Or we just throw caution to the wind, and risk incurring shortage's on a regular basis"
Everyone glanced at one another worryingly: they knew there was no other way around it, and knew it would only be a matter of time before problems would start to arise from a lack of supplies and resources. "... When do we start?" Evrard sighed, "After last night and today we're in no shape to go back out into Maria," Tyto stated as he stroked his long beard, "Our stockpiles as they are now will last us a good few weeks, so we're in no rush. I want everyone in the Hunt to take the next four days to rest up and get their gear in shape: we'll start the first scavenger hunt by the end of the week". "Do we have any idea where we'll start?" Falken asked offhand, "There's a few places we might get lucky: some of the more industrial towns near the river, and farming villages that lay between the forest and the plains. We've already exhausted Shiganshina and the surrounding farms near there, so we'll start just north of the central valley, on the west side of the river, and work our way up from there. Okay?"
Meanwhile, in the city of the Omnes Scientiam:
"One month to gather all they need to accommodate the new arrivals: do you not think they are putting a heavy burden upon their shoulders?" Quetzathena asked worryingly. "Oh I've no doubt they can do it" Jarus stated confidently, "The Celts are anything but idle, and their friends certainly believe in taking the pragmatic approach. They'll get the task done"
"Of that I have no doubt..." Aureia coolly replied as she gazed out over the city, from edge of the garden where the tree of knowledge grew. "But still, the survivors recounts of their encounters with the wall cult have me deeply concerned"
"How far does the cult's influence reach, if they were able to organize this purge?" Jarus nodded, "I too have been pondering that. The purge itself I can understand. As cold and heartless as it may seem to many: if the remaining population within Rose and Sina were unable to sustain such numbers, then a cull of this nature was inevitable..." he thought aloud, "But it would seem the cult used it as a means to dispose of their enemies and 'undesirables': and the fact the military were compliant in allowing them to organize it has me concerned also"
"Are the military corrupt? And if so, how far and how deep does it go?" Aureia suggested: though her cool fair poker face didn't show it, Jarus and Quetzathena could tell she was worried, "...If there are no allies to be found in the military of this walled kingdom, then our endeavour will have increased ten-fold" She turned to face them both, "We need to ascertain who is beyond the cult's influence. We need to be sure our first choice of allies really are beyond their grasp"
"Is this your way of telling me you're approving Ariana's request to spy on the Scouting Legion?" Jarus asked, to which Aureia smiled cunningly: "...Maybe?" she glanced back over the city, "Tyto wishes to keep the idea for when the circumstances call for it...I have feeling those circumstances might come a lot sooner than he thinks..."
One month later, June:
The cool summer winds whipped across the lush green pastures, bringing some relief to the relentless late afternoon heat: as the grasshoppers and crickets chirped and buzzed in the long grasses, buzzards, hawks and other birds of prey circled the clear blue skies, keeping an eye out for an easy meal. In the slow-running stream that cut through the sea of green, a heron stood motionless in the reeds as he watched the fish circle about: while nearby, feral cattle and sheep grazed around the abandoned farmhouse; lazily going about their day, unconcerned by the approaching column of visitors.
Many of the animals looked up from their grazing as Shadow kneeled down by the stream to scoop up some water in his cupped hands, and splash it over his face and the back of his neck: while Ariana flew down off his shoulder to drink up what she could, and wash away the heat from her face and neck too.
"A little more cloud cover would be nice to cool down this heat" he thought aloud, "Sorry Javorin, you know that's not how it works" Elysia smiled as she landed next to him: bowing down to let Carla, Ashlyn, Hawk and the Cooper twins off her back.
"Don't go hogging all the water now, save some for us okay?" Clay glanced up at Shadow as he and Hazel jumped down off of Boar's back, "HEY! We found the stream!" Hazel shouted behind them. "Coming!..." their father waved back. "This should be the place, right?" he called over to Tyto. Glancing down at the map for confirmation, Tyto nodded, "Yeah, this is it..." he turned to the column and called out, "Okay everyone this is the place! Go find yourselves a pitch and get the animals settled down: Shadow?"
"-On it dad!" Ariana called back as she splashed another handful of water over her face, "...Where're you gonna put the mark this time? There ain't any trees for miles around out here" she glanced up at Shadow, :Don't worry, the mark doesn't have to be on a tree to work. It just needs to be on a surface that allows it to stay in one piece: he spelt out with a smile, before reaching into the middle of the stream, and picking up a long smooth oval-shaped rock the size of a cart wheel, and carving the repelling charm into the underside: before filling it in with his blue crystal, and placing back where it had been under the water. :There, that'll do:. "Huh," Ariana blinked in surprise, "I always forget how easy that is: I don't know why I keep thinking there has to be more to it?"
"Magpie!" Tyto called out, "Coming dad!" she shouted back, "Well, time to get to work" she ran off to where everyone was setting up their tents.
"Hey guys..." Boar smiled as he approached the feral cows and sheep, "How green's the grass this side of the river?". "Green, but not good my lord" one of the cow's replied in it's own secret tongue, "The rains are late" one sheep replied, "The grass grows thin" another added, "And our young struggle to survive". "Life has been tough since the humans left" a young bullock declared. "Well? In that case, would you like to come join us in our new home? It's a pretty sweet deal: lots of rich green pastures, humans to take care of you and your young in the winter, and you won't have to worry about wolves, foxes or bears troubling you. What'd you say?"
Without uttering any reply, the animals all calmly followed the hunting god across the stream, and joined the huge herd of other animals that had been tailing the column. "...How's he able to talk to the animals like that?" one young Ranger thought aloud, "Dunno, it's just one of his particular powers, or so I'm told" his older brother shrugged offhand. "Uh, all the god-titan's can talk to animals?" another Ranger deadpanned, "True, but Boar's the one who knows how to really sweet-talk them" Clay grinned as he replenished his water bladder, "Am I right bud?". Boar simply replied with an affirmative grin and grunt; "Damn right" he thought aloud.
Within half the hour the tents were all set up and everyone was ready to call it a day. Standing atop Shadow's head, Ariana scanned the landscape to get her bearings and watch as the repelling charm dis it's job, warding off a few regular titans that were passing by over a kilometre from the camp. The edge of great forest lay some five miles away, jutting out like the point of a needle into what was wild open grassland and prairie for as far as the eye could see: with gently rolling hills and a few knolls here and there, there were only a handful of farms that bordered the wild expanse here, as well as a small industrial-looking town about a mile to south. "...What's that town over there?" she thought aloud. "That would be Grenvald!..." Lucius called up from Angel's back as he read his map, "Raven and his team are going over there to scout it out in a while,"
"Speaking of Scouting..." Tyto announced, "We need to sort out who's going where tomorrow". Hearing that, everyone gathered around the Grey Owl elder, as he lay the big map of the region on a large smooth bolder, and pointed to the spot where their camp was situated. "...We've done well thus far, and we've nearly completed the quota for our stockpiles: all we need is a few more lucky finds and we'll be done. However, our supplies for this trip will only last us a few more days, after which we'll need to head back to the stone circle up in the Alder-fall valley and go home. So to cover as much ground as possible, we'll split up into multiple teams and head out in different direction's" he pointed to various locations on the map, "Raven and his team will be using the remainder of the day to go check out Grenvald over there. Free-Wing's team will be scouting the village of Magden to the north, Black-Hawk's team will be heading for Gorsenn-town, and Red-Boar's team will be rounding up whatever animals they can find near Heron's hollow. I'll be leading my team northwards to Willowvale"
"What about this town here?" Carla pointed to a large looking town on the map, "It looks pretty big, is anyone covering that?" she asked offhand. "Let's see...Stinestadt..." he read aloud, before checking his list, "No, it doesn't look like anyone's scouting up there. Do you and your team want to give it a shot Dove?" he asked. "Well? It's big market town, and it has a rock quarry nearby, so there'll have been a lot of trade passing through back when it was occupied: it just seems a shame to not take a look at least" she explained. "A place that size is going to take at least five or six hours to comb through, not to mention it's a good four hour journey on foot" Evrard thought aloud as he gazed at the map, stroking his chin in thought: "Four hours on foot is hardly any time by wing" Ariana pointed out. "How about?" Lucy suggested, "We go fly there now, use the remainder of the day to comb through it, and if it looks promising we'll send Angel back with the good news"
"It's worth a shot" Bryson shrugged. "Okay then: Dove, you and your team gather your things and take Angel and Shadow with you; check it out and report back first thing in the morning" Tyto ordered. "Thank you Grey Owl" she smiled with a polite tip of the head, "Okay kids, go get your packs" she ordered her team, and they all rushed back to their tents to gather what they needed. "Stinestadt," Ariana thought aloud as she grabbed her pack and satchel, "Sounds like one of the industrial towns alright", "Which means we should find a good haul, right?" Gale smiled, "And we'll have the whole place to ourselves for the night!" Belle beamed, "Now now, let's not get carried away, we're looking for clothing, equipment, and tools: you'll have to work first" Carla teased. "Oh come on Carla: the town's abandoned and Shadow and Angel will be keeping the titans away; what could possibly go wrong?" Poppy shrugged.
After gathering their supplies and saying goodbye to everyone: Carla, Lucy and Lucius mounted Angel, while Ariana, Gale, Poppy and Belle sat in Shadow's cupped palms, and together they flew up into the sky. In his elemental form, Shadow fell into place behind Angel's left wing: riding her updraughts as she soared over the land, keeping the girls aloft as they caught a good tailwind and followed it north-east towards their destination. The journey to Stinestadt only took less than twenty minutes, but it was a scenic one as they passed over the green patchwork of farmland, grassland, prairie and forest: divided by dark green hedgerows, brownish dust roads, and greenish-blue rivers and streams that wound their way like snakes across the endless green of Maria. As the town came into view, the team were amazed by its size and scale: it was huge for a market town, with a good number of large buildings making up the centre, and many smaller industrial-looking buildings lining the perimeter; with many more houses lining the roads that fed into what was once a prosperous and thriving community.
As the two airborne god-titan's circled around, they saw a magnificent concentric castle situated at the north end of the town, sitting snugly atop a grassy hill-like island in the middle of a large lake, connected to the main road into town via a long stone bridge, with a drawbridge at the castle end. "Wow! Think we can camp there tonight?" Belle grinned enthusiastically, "I don't think anyone will mind!" Carla called over jokingly, before turning her attention to Angel, "Okay Angel, put us down in the town square" she ordered. With an affirmative chirp, Angel banked left and started descending down towards the middle of the town with Shadow close behind. Rematerializing, he landed in the town square with a soft sharp thud, keeping the girls softly cupped in his hands, while Angel glided down, and landed next to the huge three-tiered fountain. "Wow..." Ariana smiled as she gazed around at all the ornate black and white timber-frame buildings, "This was definitely a plush place before the titans took over".
"Okay, we've got about seven hours of daylight left so let's make the most of it: this is a big town with tall buildings and lots of streets criss-crossing one another, so any smaller titans could easily be hiding here somewhere; for that reason, we're all staying with Angel and Shadow" Carla ordered as she glanced up at said god-titans, "Sound good?" she asked, to which they both nodded. "Good: Shadow, you'll take Magpie, Yellow warbler, Flame-coloured tanager and Mountain Bluebird north and scout out the businesses around there, Me, Angel, Snow bunting and Snow finch will head to the south end of town; we'll meet up at the castle an hour before sunset. Understood?" she told the kids, who all voiced their acknowledgement. "See you guys later" Poppy waved goodbye as Shadow turned and started heading up the road.
Later:
The next several hours soon flew by as both teams scoured the town looking for the items on their lists. Fortunately there were no titans around, and with the towns various workshops and businesses having been abandoned in a hurry, there were plenty of easy pickings to be had. The smaller, easy-to-carry items wouldn't be a problem to collect and pack up, but larger items such a machinery, would prove to be a bit more of a logistical challenge...
"Okay," Gale smiled excitedly as she rechecked her list, "Between the tools and other items upstairs, I think this place has just about all we need: the weaving looms are the last thing on the list!". "That's all well and good, but how're we gonna get the looms out the front door?" Poppy pointed to said mechanism near the doorway. The building they were in was one small-scale textile factory and workshop that had specialized in weaving various fabrics, mostly cotton and linen: and had three floors lined end to end with large foot-treadle operated weaving looms; perfect for making cloth as it would be faster than weaving entirely by hand, the only problem was figuring out how to move them. "Just have Shadow demolish the wall and pick them out one by one" Belle shrugged, "And risk causing the whole building to come down?! No way! There has to be a safer option than that!" Gale sternly stated, placing her hands on her hips. "Look girls, we can figure this out in the morning: but right now we need to head on up to the castle" Ariana pointed to said castle through the window: "Huh, is it nearly sunset already?" Poppy glanced out the window; outside the sun was nearly kissing the horizon, as it lit everything up in a pinkish-orange glow, while the now deep azure sky radiated with pink, orange, golden and deep lilac clouds streaking across the sky.
"-Race ya!" Belle yelled as she threw open the window and dived out head-first, "-Wait up Bluebird!" Gale shouted after her as she, Poppy and Ariana gave chase. Rolling his eyes with an exasperated sigh, Shadow jogged after them, keeping a steady pace as girls weren't flying particularly fast on their ODM gear. "Sooo? I take it you guys didn't hear the news before we left?" Belle grinned teasingly, "News about what?" Ariana called over to her as they all rounded a corner, "Mabel's pregnant!" the zealous brunette beamed as she pulled a forward flip, "Pregnant?!" Poppy squeaked, "How'd that happen?" Ariana raised an eyebrow. "Well?" Belle winced in awkwardness, "When a guy and girl love each other very much, they can sometimes-, "NOT THAT KINDA HAPPENED!" Gale retorted, "Seriously Bluebird we all know how that works!" Ariana shot back, to which Shadow couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I mean-, how long had they been planning it?" she specified. "I don't think they planned it? It just kinda happened, or at least that's what aunt Lucile told me" Belle shrugged, "Granny's happy as hell that there'll be a new baby in the family to spoil rotten, and Derek's looking forward to unclehood". "What about Bren? How'd he take it?" Gale asked offhand, "Uh, kinda 'rough' at first? ...Okay he fainted, and then needed a few glasses of Freya's extra-hard brandy wine; you know, the stuff that makes you see four of everything? He took it a bit better after that. Well? Actually he was real happy, Aunt Miriam said he just didn't know how t handle it" Belle offered a sheepish smile, "Hmm, sounds about right" Ariana shrugged casually. "Seriously?" Gale blinked in surprise, "Well yeah, remember when we first introduced him and everyone else to Shadow Midnight Boar and Angel? He fainted when we got back to Pascal and West's old place". "Oh yeah! Right after Bryson passed out!" Poppy suddenly realized, "Wow, it feels like forever ago since that day". "...Yeah..." Ariana sighed offhand, as a nostalgic smile tugged at her lips.
Soon enough, they ran out of buildings to use their ODM gear on, and came to the bridge that spanned the lake. Perching on Shadow's shoulders, the girls indulged each other's silliness further: "I say good sir, would you be so kind as to accompany us to dinner at the castle tonight?" Belle giggled as she pretended to seat herself like a lady in an evening gown, :Why it would be my pleasure, my lady: Shadow spelt out as he strode across the bridge. "HEY YOU GUYS!" Lucy shouted out as Angel flew right over Shadow's head, and perched up on the drawbridge tower.
The castle was far more spacious that it appeared from above, albeit it was no longer used to ward off attacking armies: comprised of a wide inner ward with a courtyard that had once served as a decorative ornamental garden (now overgrown and badly in need of maintenance), and an outer ward with a curtain wall over twelve meters high. The whole castle sat some ten meters or so above the lake, giving an excellent view of the surrounding grasslands and prairie from every side of the concentric battlements, and especially from atop the roof. As the girls peered in through the windows, they could see the inside was just as fancy as it had been when it's former owners were in residence: only now, the red drapes and tapestries that faced the windows were faded, cobwebs covered every corner of the ceiling and furniture, and a thin layer of dust had settled on every surface. Despite being in need of a good spruce-up, it wasn't hard to imagine how refined and grand it had once been. "Huh, looks like they were worried about looters getting in" Ariana thought aloud as she turned the big locked handle on the huge oak door at the front of the keep. "Looter titans? That's a new one" Belle smirked.
"Technically, we are looters" Carla frowned as she inspected the door, "And despite the needs of our new neighbours, it's nothing to be proud of". Kneeling down, Shadow tapped his digit on the handle, and a small blue spark flew from the tip of his finger into the wood: a loud thunk sounded on the other side, and the door swung open. "Thanks big guy" Ariana smiled up at him, "You guys go find yourselves somewhere comfy to sleep: we'll throw you some pillows from the windows" she joked. "Or use Angel as a pillow," Belle chuckled, to which Angel shot her a look, "-Ah come on Angel I'm just kidding!" she waved off playfully, "Still, your feathers are so soft an' fluffy..." she smirked as she followed the others into the castle.
"So this is how the other half lives huh?..." Gale thought aloud as she and the others gazed up at the interior. lined with finely detailed tapestries, drapes baring the family coat of arms, paintings of various noblemen and their family members, and an assorted collection of weapons neatly displayed on the walls, plus ornately carved furniture and suits of armour flanking the doorways: it was certainly the kind of style one could expect from a typical nobleman. Grant and plush to the point of tackiness, and dripping with that old fashioned 'gaze upon the fruits of my wealth' gaudiness that only the snobbish nobles knew how to pull off. "...Kinda looks a little, over the top?" Ariana winced offhand. "Guess the folks who lived here liked to live it up a little?" Belle shrugged.
"Well? I'm going to go find the kitchen and get some hot water going for the tea: you kids don't go wandering too far now, and mind you don't break anything" Carla said as she walked off down the hall. "I'm gonna go check out the upstairs: by the way I call dibs on the master bedroom!-" Poppy grinned as she ran up the grand staircase, "Wait up!" the twins called after her as they gave chase. "Whatever, I'm gonna go check out the view from the roof," Belle smiled as she took off up the stairs, "I'll be checking out the ground floor rooms if anyone wants me" Gale waved as she turned to go down one of the corridors, leaving Ariana alone in the hallway: "I guess I'm exploring alone then..." she shrugged, before a loud rumble from her stomach convinced her to think otherwise, "...I wonder if there's anything good stashed away in the pantry?"
Outside the courtyard, in the outer ward below, Javorin and Elysia were trying to get comfy as the sky grew darker and a fat golden moon steadily skimmed over the horizon, while the sun slowly disappeared behind the western horizon. As she ruffled her feathers, trying to keep out the cold night air, Elysia couldn't help but smile, "...I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to when we can finally go home"
"Me too" Javorin sighed as he turned on his side: glancing up, he noticed she had a distant look in her eyes, "...What's up?" he asked. Elysia sighed ruefully as she watched Carla through the kitchen window, "...The day before we left for this last hunt, I watched one of the survivors sitting outside the Willum's inn; she was just a kid, probably no older than Lawrence is now; her parents had been eaten by a titan, and Bowen's family had agreed to take her in... Anyway, she came to return the food they'd handed her the day before, and when Miriam asked her why, she ask why were they being so nice to her?" she gazed out over the prairie, "...She told them no one had been nice to her and her family. That one day, some men dressed in uniforms and black robes showed up at their farm and told them to leave: they took them to Trost, and made them go out into Maria with the others..." although she didn't cry, a pained angry look filled her ice blue eyes, "...How the hell, could those MP's and pastors look that little girl in the eye, and throw them to the titans? ...How do humans like that sleep at night?". Elysia took a deep calming breath, as she added, "...They're scared of us you know? The survivors I mean: Tyto and the other Celts and Rangers have assured them loads of times that we mean them no harm, but still-..."
Javorin passed a deep heavy sigh as he replied, "...It's going to take time for them to adjust: the trauma they've been through? it doesn't stop just because they're in a safe place. Their survival instincts have been engaged non-stop, and it's not going to be enough simply telling them everything will be okay. They'll have to learn it for themselves"
"And what about asking the farmers to look after all the animals we've rounded up? Doesn't it seem a little too inconsiderate? Asking them to suddenly get stuck in and rear them for us? When they've barely had enough time to settle in?" Elysia frowned, "It's a bit fast-paced I know, but we don't have much of a choice: the meat, hides and other parts those animals will provide will be as much for their survival as it will the rest of the humans. Winter in the mountains is never forgiving, and we have to be sure they have those commodities in place for when Gia starts to test them," Javorin replied, "...Look, I know it's not the optimal circumstances for them right now: but then? When will any time be optimal?" he asked: Elysia regarded him with a weird look as he explained, "No one can predict the outcome (and suffice to say, this outcome of surviving the titans and making it to the Hidden Land is about as unpredictable as it gets). All you can do is be thankful for the opportunity to live the life you have, whatever that may entail, and try to make the best of it. Whether they'll be able to do that? It's up to them; all we can do is give them the opportunity... After all, we had to do the same when we awakened from our tombs"
Thinking about it, Elysia passed a deep sigh as she gazed up at the evening star: she was suddenly stirred from her thoughts as she spotted Belle climbing out onto the roof via a small window under the eaves, "Oh All-father, what's she up to now?" she huffed, "Taking in the view by the looks of it" Javorin smiled as he watched her get out her telescope.
Back inside the castle, Poppy, Lucy and Lucius's laughter echoed down the grand staircase as they indulged in a game of tag through the corridors, while down in the huge kitchen, Carla was reading through a cookbook whilst waiting for the black pot on the stove to boil. "Holy crap..." Ariana stared around the room in wide-eyed amazement, "They must've put on massive banquets with a kitchen this size!", "I know, and check out some of the recipes in this book," Carla smiled as she held up the book to show her a picture of a roast chicken dressed up in glazed fruits on a bed of roast vegetables, "Something like that would take at least three hours to put together: I hope they paid the cooks well enough to go to all that trouble". "Yeah..." Ariana nodded as she looked around. Spotting a door at the far side of the room, she decided to go and take a look to see if it was the pantry, "Hey, let's hoping they got some good stuff to eat in here" she smiled as she opened the door, only to find a long stone staircase ascending down into a dark gloomy room filled with huge barrels and crates of wine bottles. "Wha-, no food?" she gawked. Coming over to have a look, Carla smiled, "Huh, a wine cellar". "Wine cellar? You mean like the one Miriam had in the basement under the Black Stallion?" Ariana realized, "Yep: the rich and nobles usually have their own wine cellars to house their own privet stashes: that's why you never used to see them going into Inns and taverns" Carla told her. "Huh, is that so," Ariana wondered aloud as she picked up one of the lit candles off the counter-top and descended the stairs.
As she reached the bottom, Ariana gazed around at all the various beers, ales, meads, wines and other spirits stored up along the racks. But as she held the candle up to get a better look, she noticed something through the gloom that stood out from the barrels and bottles. Approaching closer for a better look, she saw dozens of large crates, rectangle chests and large sacks lined up along the back wall: all with the Scout's wings of freedom crest stamped or branded on them. "...What the hell? ..." Ariana frowned in confusion.
Opening one of the chests, she saw huge a couple of spools of cables: the same kind that are used in ODM gear. Opening another box, the smell of yeast hit her nose as she saw dozens of loaves of bread all neatly piled up inside. Another box revealed ODM gear cable housing reels and other essential items, including the grease used to lubricate the device (that too had a distinctive scent): another chest revealed riding tack and some saddles; the scent of horse still intact on them, and a large chest contained several rolled up sleeping bags. The whole back end of the cellar was filled with these boxes, all neatly stacked up and facing forward so the Scout's crest was visible.
For a moment Ariana didn't know what this was: why would the Scouts put all this stuff down here? And then it suddenly clicked; "-SHIT!" she yelled in a panic, quickly slamming all the lids shut and dashing back up the stairs. "Magpie?! What's wrong? What happened!" Carla worried as she rushed to her, "It's a supply depot!-" Ariana suddenly blurted out, before calming down enough to explain, "-This castle is one of the Scout's supply depots! There's a whole load of stuff down there with the wings of freedom crest stamped on!". Blinking in surprise, Carla took the candle from her and rushed down into the cellar, finding the boxes in question, and gasped at the sight of the crest, "Did you take anything out of these?!" she called up, "No!" Ariana yelled back, "Good! Then put the fire out in the stove and get your things! We're leaving!" Carla ordered sternly as she rushed back up into the kitchen.
Up on the roof, Belle was enjoying the view as the last of the day's light faded away, and the moon lit up the sky as it steadily arched upwards, turning from gold to silver. Looking through her telescope, she smiled as she watched a family of foxes playing along the shores of the lake, before an owl flying by made her glance up in surprise. She was about to put her eye back to the scope, when suddenly, a loud bang echoed across the prairie, making her jump: it sounded quite a few miles away, and as she scanned the grasslands to see where it had come from, she spotted a plume of green smoke hanging in the air about three or so miles away...
"Did you hear that?" Elysia blinked in surprise as she looked all around, "Yeah, that almost sounded like a flair going off" Javorin replied offhand as he rubbed his heavy eyelids, sitting upright to see what was going on.
Gasping in alarm, Belle held up her telescope to look, and as she zeroed in on the base of the smoke plume, she could see movement: between thin clouds of dust, the Scouts were moving at full gallop, heading straight for the castle; "OH SHIT!-" she panicked, nearly dropping her telescope. "-SHADOW! ANGEL! WAKE UP!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as she ran down the steeply pitched roof and took a huge leap off the eaves. Spotting her just in time, Javorin nearly panicked as he shot up and caught her in his hands: he was about to give her a stern chewing out for pulling off such a reckless move, when the pulsing panic in her aura told him to hold off and listen. "-The Scouts are heading this way! We need to disappear an' get outta here right now!" Belle nearly yelled up at him.
"Guys?! What's with all the shouting?! What's wrong?!" Gale nearly panicked as she rushed towards the kitchen, as did Poppy and the twins as they came barrelling down the stairs. "This castle's one of the Scout's supply depots! We're leaving right now!" Carla ordered as she slung her satchel over her shoulder. "What?!" the twins exclaimed, "A supply depot?!" Poppy gawked "But-, do we really need to leave now? I mean it's not like they're here and caught us red-handed" Gale reasoned. "They soon will be in a few short minutes!-" Belle shouted as she can running down the hall, followed by Shadow and Angel in their bird forms, "I just spotted them up on the roof! They're heading straight for here! There's no way we'll be able to get back to the town in time!". "What're we gonna do?!" Poppy panicked, "Okay everyone calm down!" Carla ordered. "Belle, close the front door and lock it: then get upstairs and come find us in the master bedroom! Quickly!"
Belle did as she was told, and ran back to lock the front door while the others ran up the giant staircase: "I trust you three found the master bedroom during your antics?!" Carla glanced over at Poppy and the twins, "Yeah, it's this way down the hall!" Poppy ran ahead, running to the very end of the corridor where a huge door led into a spacious bedroom with a giant four-poster bed. "Guys?!" Belle shouted from the top of the stairs, "DOWN HERE!" Gale shouted back as Shadow and Angel flew into the room and perched atop a huge oak wardrobe. Glancing out the window, the girls gasped as they saw the Scouts gallop across the bridge. "They're here!" Poppy squeaked in fear. "Okay, now's not the time to panic-" Carla ordered as she pulled out a blue crystal stone from beneath her blouse, "Does everyone have their concealment stones?". "... Holy shit, I nearly forgot about them!" Gale sighed with relief as she pulled her's out from beneath her shirt, as did the others.
The concealment stone was one of Shadow's more cleverer ideas: a handy magical means to let someone turn invisible and hide from both titan and humans alike. Made from his blue crystal, the concealment spell carved into the indestructible stone allowed anyone to use it by simply blowing on it: the only catch however, was that the user had to remain in physical contact with the crystal for however long they needed to remain invisible. It had a been a real hit and miss, testing different ways of keeping the stone in contact with one's skin, while also using the hands: jewellery proved to be impractical as bracelets and pendants could easily get snagged, and rings were too fiddly to remove in a hurry (and some could risk getting stuck on the finger altogether). Placing them on the sides of the ODM gear's handgrips didn't work either, as the users had to keep their hands on the grips while a titan was nearby: which was okay for engaging the titans, but less so when trying to keep track of one another. Finally, Dale discovered keeping the stone in the mouth proved to be the best method, as it could be slipped in quickly after blowing on it, and spat out quickly to turn visible again. So Shadow made the stones small (around half the size of a walnut), and curved with one side flatter than the other so it could rest comfortably between the tongue and roof of the mouth. Holding their stones: everyone blew sharply onto them, slipped them into their mouths, and vanished from sight.
To anyone who would have been standing in the room, the girls were totally gone from sight: but to those holding the stones, they could easily see one another; their bodies all appeared semi-transparent with a slight blue aura around their outline. "Okay, now what do we do?" Ariana asked, "...We'll wait for an opportunity: for now, just stay quiet..." Carla ordered as they all stood at the window, watching as the Scouts filed into the courtyard, and began dismounting...
Meanwhile, outside:
"Damn fucking titans!-" Oruo grumbled as he jumped off his horse and straightened his cravat, "I swear, those oversized bastards get faster every time!"
"Will you quit it already? You're gonna embarrass yourself in front of the commander!" Petra shot him a dry look as she dismounted her light bay mare, and gave her a scratch up on the withers.
"Well it's not like he doesn't feel the same way: we lost six good men getting this far today!" Oruo stated matter-of-factly, puffing out his chest in a show of superiority, "Fortunately for us the good captain had our backs the whole time, just as planned" he smiled boastfully, "Oh sweet Rose!" Petra rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well? It certainly seems like they're able to keep pace these days" Gunther commented offhand as he dismounted his dark bay stallion.
"Look alive you two, the commander's here:" Eld motioned over to the tall blond man atop the pale dappled grey, as he trotted into the courtyard and swiftly dismounted: followed by a much shorter man with a black undercut on a large black mare. "... Levi, did you happen catch sight of where Mike and Nanaba's team went?" he turned to the smaller man with a stony gaze, "They led the titans round the other side that hill near the river, just as we rounded for the castle" Levi replied in a cold tone, his colder steel-like eyes giving nothing away. "-Commander!" one scouts shouted as he rode into the courtyard, "We just sighted squad leader Zacharias approaching the castle, his team made it sir!" he smiled with relief, "And what of section commander Zoe?" the commander ordered; the scout hesitated a moment, before Levi let out a sharp "Tch!-, where do you think?"
"WOOOOHOOOO!-" a long loud happy shriek echoed through the drawbridge tower as a manic-looking woman with long messy dark brown hair and goggles rode into the courtyard at full gallop: the only scout behaving like a total maniac as she rode up to the commander. "You should've seen that twelve meter class Erwin! He was the very picture of magnificence!" she giddily exclaimed as she jumped out of her saddle and bounced up to him like an over-excited puppy, "And by Sina you should've seen the teeth on that big boy! Best bicuspids found thus far! UHG!- I just wish I could've gotten a look inside that glorious throat of his! And I'd have had a chance too if Mike hadn't thrown me back on my horse!" she glared over at Mike as he rode over to the commander's side and dismounted. "I trust the diversion went okay?" Erwin asked, totally ignoring the mad woman's ramblings, "Nothing we couldn't handle" Mike stated coolly with a respectful dip of the head. "Good..." the commander turned to head for the front door, "Hange, have your teams ready the supplies and get the rations out from the wine cellar: Mike, gather the items your maintenance team needs and have that wagon seen to," he pointed to said supply wagon, which was sagging on its rear suspension, "The rest of you see to your horses then come inside to eat; we've got a lot of ground to cover to make up for today!" he boomed, to which every scout bar the section commanders saluted "-SIR!"
"Did he just say they're going into the wine cellar?!" Ariana panicked as she face-palmed hard, "-Oh hell!". "-Hey, clam down Ariana" Carla assured her with a hand on her shoulder, "You didn't take anything, the boxes weren't locked to begin with and you shut all the lids: they won't know we were here, okay?", "Yeah, your right," Ariana sighed, trying t keep calm, "No one'll know we were down there" she told herself, trying to keep her head level. "Uh-, guys?" Gale pointed to the door as it creaked open, Carla was about to step forward to close it, when the sound of the front door opening made her freeze, for fear of making the floorboards creak. Ariana was about to try and careful tip-toe over to shut it, when the voices of the Scouts drifted up the stairs and down the corridor to the bedroom.
"WAIT!-" one older male voice sternly shouted.
Everyone froze, and held their breaths as they strained their ears to listen...
"...What is it Mike?" Hange blinked in surprise, snapping out of her over-excitedness as the tall blond man strode into the hall, and sniffed deep the air. Sensing something was up, Erwin and Levi both frowned as they came up alongside him. "If you're about to say a titan broke into the place-" "-Someone's been in here..." Mike interrupted Levi. Everyone stared at him in shock, "Someone?" Eld frowned in alarm, "As in-, survivors?!" Petra gasped, "All the way out here?!" Oruo gawked. "What can you smell?" Erwin pressed him, "...A woman," Mike replied as he walked further into the hall, sniffing the air like a dog, "... A woman: five younger girls and a boy, and-..." then, a certain scent made him stop in his tracks, "Covered in titan scent?"
"-SURVIVOURS WHO'VE HAD A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH TITANS?!" Hange nearly blew through the ceiling: "-Hange," the commander shot her a look, instantly shutting her up, before turning back to Mike, "How long ago were they here?". "Probably less than an hour ago, or..." Mike sniffed some more, before suddenly realizing, "...They might still be here"
Carla and the kids all gawked at one another: "How the hell?!-" Ariana mouthed as she tried to keep quiet, "How'd they know we're here?!" Poppy mouthed in equal alarm, "Never mind that! How do we get outta here?!" Belle frowned. Shadow flew down onto the bed, and with one wing stretched out, spelt out: "First, remain calm: we
"Hello?" a female voice nervously called up the stairs, "If anyone's up here, there's no need to be afraid: we're the Scouts, we're here to help you"
"We need to get down to the front door!" Ariana mouthed. :Okay, open the window and let us out, we'll be waiting for you outside: Shadow quickly spelt out. Leaning over to the window, Gale undid the latch: but as she pushed it open, the rusted hinges squeaked loudly, echoing down the corridor and making everyone wince, "I'm sorry!" Gale mouthed in a panic.
"What was that?" another male voice said, "Dunno, but I heard it come in here..." another female voice replied, followed by the sound of boots striding down the corridor towards the bedroom; "SHIT!" Belle hissed in a panic. Gale slammed the window on impulse and everyone quickly tip-toed across the room to the wall by the door, followed by Shadow and Angel as they turned themselves invisible and flew up onto Ariana and Carla's shoulders: right as two young Scouts entered the room and looked around with candles in hand. "That sounded like a window being slammed shut" the young man frowned in confusion as he strode over to the window, and inspected the latch, "But-, it can't have been, and besides: who could crawl out of a window that small?" the young woman suggested. "Okay, let's go check the other rooms" the young man shook his head as he followed his partner out the door.
Deciding to take advantage of the sound of the soldiers boots stomping along the wooden floor, Carla motioned for the kids to follow, and in a tight line they followed her out. There were several scouts on the same floor, a few in each room, and as they opened wardrobes, checked under the beds and anywhere else that could hide a person, the invisible team tip-toed back to the grand staircase, being careful to check all around and behind them so as not to bump into anyone. After missing a couple of scouts coming out of one room, they snuck down the stairs, staying to one side as another few soldiers went up to the second floor.
Through the hallway they treaded quietly, narrowly avoiding more scouts briskly walking by, but as they approached the entrance, they saw there were five young soldiers all cluttering the doorway, leaving no room for them to squeeze by. "Great, what now?!"Belle whispered as softly as she could, "There's a huge drawing room through there, the windows are big enough we could climb out" Gale pointed to a large door off to the right side of the entrance. "Okay, let's go" Carla motioned for them to follow, and they quickly ducked in through the open door: Lucius then turned to close it every so gently and slowly, so as to make it look as if the door was tilted on its hinges and simply being shut via gravity. Fortunately, the scouts didn't notice.
The drawing room was huge with big latched windows, a couple of tall bookcases lining the walls by another door, a writing desk in one corner, and a large oval ornate table in the middle. Reaching for the latch, Carla undid it, but stopped as the sound of voices approached the other door, "-Shit!" she hissed, and everyone quickly fanned out around the room: pressing themselves right up into the corners while Shadow and Angel flew up onto the top of the bookcases, just as two gentleman and rather crazy-looking lady strode into the room; the same ones they'd spotted in the courtyard from the bedroom window.
"-To think! People who've encountered the titans and survived!" the woman exclaimed ecstatically, "I mean-, what're the chances?! If they have a successful strategy we don't know about, we need to find them and find out what it is!"
"Which is why we'll search for them before leaving for Trost: even if we don't find them tonight, we'll be sure to swing by this way on the return journey" the tall blond stern-looking man regarded her with his poker face, "Hange, have your teams on standby: we don't know what kind of shape they'll be in, so be prepared for anything", "Not to worry Erwin! I'll personally see to them myself!" she beamed. "Seriously though..." The shorter black-hair man spoke up in a cold voice, 'Holy shit that guy's a grown man?!' Ariana thought as she gawked, 'He could pass for a kid at that height!'; glancing over at the others, they must have been thinking the same thing, as they too stared at the man in surprise. "A woman and her six brats surviving out here all this time with no horses and no ODM gear? In the middle of fucking titan country? Something's off" he stated.
"Ahahahaha," Hange wagged her eyebrows slyly as she stepped over to him, "You figured they have some kind of 'special' strategy too, huh Levi?"
"No shitty-glasses," he shot her a cold reprimanding glair, to which she totally ignored, "I'm saying something's not right with this picture: a family ripe for the picking, grabbed and then let go? I don't buy it: what can possibly force a titan to do that?". Erwin was about to reply, when another taller blonde gentleman with thick bangs and a thin dark moustache and a beard strode in, sniffing the air as he walked around the room, followed by four other soldiers as they stood in the doorway.
Carla and her team were now feeling very trapped: they knew he knew something was up, one wrong move and they were in trouble; and from where they watched atop their perches on the bookcases, Javorin was already thinking up several different spells to allow them some way out if the shit hit the fan, while Elysia simply tried to keep her cool, and kept her eyes on her Carla, as the taller soldier with the nose narrowly stepped right by her. ..
"...They hid in here for a while, and left through that window by the scent of it" he stated coolly, motioning to said window, which had it's latch undone. "But why leave through the window when the door can easily be unlocked from the inside?" the young red-headed girl asked as she stood in the doorway with the other three male soldiers. "... Because the door was not their main way into the castle" Erwin realized without even battering an eyelid, as he stepped over to the window and studied the latch, "They must've been here before: probably some time right after Maria was evacuated and everyone left in a hurry; there'd have been no time to lock up the place back then...They must've left the latch off so they had a readily available hiding place from the titans, and the few times we came here we must've missed it: they'd have seen us coming and going and knew we brought food and supplies"
"-Except," the taller gentleman interrupted, " There was a kettle on the stove wth the fire only just put out. And I could smell one of the girls had been down in the cellar, she'd touched the boxes and probably opened them but didn't take anything". "So they're looters!" one of the soldiers exclaimed: a slightly older gentleman with curly light brown hair styled in an undercut, "-They wait for us to leave and then sneak in and help themselves to our supplies! What a bunch of thieving rats!". "Seriously? If she's a mother with young mouths to feed she's hardly going to pass up the chance for an easy meal!" the red-head retorted. "Its understandable, given their circumstances, but our crest on the boxes make it clear those supplies are military property: would she really think we wouldn't notice?" another of the soldiers threw in: a younger gentleman with a crop of dark brown hair slicked back to a point on the back of his head. "If their desperate enough then they're hardly going to care," the forth soldier at the door threw in, he had his long blond hair tied up in a bun.
"So we almost caught them red-handed," Levi surmised, "The brat was about to help herself to a free meal, when suddenly we show up and they're forced to hide somewhere in the castle. There's no way they could've gotten outside and back to the town without having passed us on the bridge"
"If they'd taken anything to begin with that might be the case," the taller soldier with the keen nose interjected, "As soon as I smelt that kid's scent near the ration boxes, I had Nanaba pull out the inventory for our last few visits here, and everything is accounted for. Nothing was stolen now or previously" he stated, to which everyone bar Erwin glanced at one another in bemusement: he simply remained gazing out of the window, seemingly unfazed by this fact. "...But-, if they didn't break into the castle for food or equipment, why did they come in the first place?" the red-head thought aloud.
"And if they wanted help getting away from the titans, why didn't they just stick around and wait for us to show up again?" the dark brunette male suggested.
"You're all missing the most important question here," Hange began to grin madly, grabbing everyone bar Erwin's attention: "...Why did they choose to stay in Maria in the first place? Think about it, Levi's right: someone without a horse or ODM gear wouldn't last a few hours out here, and yet, this mother has kept herself and her six children alive for over a year; not an easy feat with so many giant hungry mouths all over the place. Even if they figured out titans are inactive at night, travelling in the dark is still an iffy challenge, given that not all titans sleep the same hours. Crossing the plains would be particularly dangerous: with not much cover about, being caught out in the open at dawn would be a death sentence. You'd think their first thought right after the breach would be to get to Trost and try to get the Garrison's attention, to pull them up over the wall to safety; and yet..." her smile grew wider, "We saw no horses as we came in, over twenty titans on the way here: and yet, this family are still alive somehow, and if they haven't been living here in this castle, then what've they been doing out here all this time?... Oooh this is way too fascinating!" she cackled.
Carla and the kids all stared at her in a mix of confusion and complete bewilderment: they didn't know what to make of her, she was either a complete fruitcake that somehow passed basic training and, for reasons completely beyond anyone's understanding, somehow was allowed to join the Scouting legion. Simply watching her made the mind reel; but the team didn't much care for the rest of the Scouts here either. This unusually short man, this 'Levi' who looked like he was suffering bad constipation with a massive chip on his shoulder to boot, he had bad news written all over him: those cold steely eyes of his made a sharp chill go down Ariana's spine, though he was a human, he had a wolf's look about him; something to be wary of and keep a safe distance from. But the one that had everyone on edge was the soldier with the nose: Ariana figured he must have some Celtic blood in him somewhere: there's no way in hell someone of 'regular' decent could have a nose like that without having a Celt in the family.
"A fascinating mystery..." Erwin replied as he stroked his chin, turning to face Hange: the crazy dark brunette paused a moment, as did everyone that gazed over at him, "But the one question that sticks out to me, is how did they know we were coming? I don't recall seeing anyone up on the roof or battlements as we rode past the lake; at least, not at a close enough distance where a human would be easy to spot, especially from the roof. Which would be the only logical place to spot anyone approaching from miles away. But this castle has four floors: there's no way anyone could've climbed down from the roof, back in through the attic window, rush down all four flights of stairs to the cellar to warn their friend, and then go find somewhere to hide. The only way to reach the ground floor quickly would be to jump off the roof: and since we didn't spot any corpses lying on the ground as we came into the courtyard-
"-So they DID have ODM gear?!" Hange burst out in a happy fit, "It could be possible," the human hunting hound suddenly realized, "With the scent of all our ODM in this place, I could've missed that".
"Unbelievable!-" the obnoxious male soldier exclaimed, "They pilfered the corpses of our fallen comrades for their gear?! What kind of sick twisted grave-robbing family are we dealing with here?!". Carla glared daggers at the man: if they weren't trying to stay hidden from him and the others, she'd have socked him right in the teeth for that remark 'Grave-robbing? Do you mind' she thought in ire. "-The kind who knows how to survive the titans like a bunch of bad-asses!" Hange cackled, "Erwin! We've got to find them and have them join the Scouts! If they know how to use ODM gear we might have a valuable soldier to add to the ranks! Not to mention six fresh recruits ripe for training!"
"Not a bad idea," Erwin nodded, "Hang on a sec-" the soldier with the blond bun suddenly realized, "Mike, you said they could've been here less than an hour ago: what if they're already outside hiding somewhere in the castle grounds, and are waiting for us to go to sleep so they can sneak away? If this family knows how to stay hidden from the titans then it's highly unlikely we'll be able find them now"
"Hmm, a good point," Erwin agreed, "Levi, take your squad and post up in the drawbridge tower: if they're on ODM gear then your the one to stand a better chance of catching them. Hange, have a couple of your teams ready to move if they put any resistance, and Mike, have some of your teams ready one of the wagons, we'll have to keep them stowed somewhere for the remainder of the expedition. We'll search the castle for our 'visitors' tonight, try and flush them out if they're still here, and if we don't find them this time then we leave at first light; with any luck, we should reach Grenvald just before noon. Proving the titans don't give us too much trouble"
"What do we do if they don't want to join us?" the red-head asked worryingly. "Like they got a choice? The commander's 'power's of persuasion' can be hard to wriggle out of," Levi stated as he folded his arms. "I'll talk to them: at the very least I'll make sure they have somewhere to stay in the interior. Even if they are born survivors, this is no place for a mother to raise her children" Erwin stated.
"That's certainly true" the dark brunette male sighed.
"...Go get something to eat first, and then get to work: we'll carry on as normal, but be discreet about slipping outside; they could be watching from anywhere, so stay alert" Erwin ordered: as the others all turned to leave, Levi was the only one who remained in the room; shutting the door behind Hange as she left, he turned to the commander and asked frankly: "...So what're you really thinking?" "...I'm thinking there's something that doesn't add up here..." Erwin frowned as he turned to gaze out the window, "...I'd rather not say, for now: I'd rather have some facts in place, rather then get lost in theories and ideas". "Fine," Levi sighed as he turned to leave, "Just don't spend too long waiting for something to pop up".
The commander gazed back at the latch, and without another word, turned to leave through the door by the entrance, very nearly tripping over Gale's foot. After he closed the door behind him, everyone breathed a quiet sigh of relief, being careful to keep their concealment stones in their mouths. "Holy shit that was way too close!" Belle whispered in a panic, "They're heading for Grenvald?! Tomorrow?!" Poppy realized, "We gotta warn dad!" Ariana glanced up at Angel, "-You gotta fly back tonight and tell them to leave! Even if it's four hours away on the ground they still need time to pack up and put some distance behind them!", to which Angel nodded furiously with a serious coo.
Carefully peering outside, Carla gazed around to check the coast was clear: luckily, the scouts that were still outside had hitched their horses to the stable posts on the other side of the courtyard, and seeing to the wagons in the same area: well over twenty meters away. Carefully opening the window, she looked out and around, and once satisfied no one was glancing in her general direction, she beckoned Angel down off the bookshelf. Landing on her outstretched hand, Carla moved to one side to let her hop down onto the windowsill, and told her, "Don't worry about us okay? Shadow will look after us, and we'll look after each other: you just concentrate on getting back to the camp, now get going!"
With an affirmative nod, Angel flapped her wings and took off: flying straight up into the night sky, and turning herself into a white owl as she passed over the rooftop. "Okay, that's dad and the rest of the scavenger hunt sorted, now how do we get out?" Ariana turned to the rest of the team, while Shadow flew down and perched himself on her arm. "We can't leave via the drawbridge, even if they can't see us they'll hear our footsteps" Poppy pointed out, "And turning back into your titan form to lure them outside won't work: they'll loose their shit and swarm like angry hornets, probably raising the drawbridge" Ariana glanced down at the hawk: "And swimming back won't work either" Gale realized. "We need to get out somehow..." Lucius pondered aloud, "Our ODM gear usage is very limited, we can't get out via the drawbridge or over the battlements; so our only other option would be to rely on Shadow and his wind powers to fly us back to the town. But there's no wind out tonight, and a sudden gust would appear very odd". "So? As long as no one see's us or Shadow, it's just a bit of freaky weather, right?" Belle shrugged, "But what if that Mike guy smells us? Even if he can't see us I'm not willing to gamble the possibility he could track us; he could smell Shadow's titan scent on me! On all of us!" Ariana stated. "Magpie's right" Carla agreed, "Right now, he's the one we need to get past". "Okay, so what do we do?" Belle shrugged. :Actually, I have half an idea, it might be a bit of a gamble, but if it works I'll be able to get you all to one of the farms on the east side of town. And keep the scouts from following us: Shadow spelt out with an outstretched wing. "You make that sound as if they're going to see us; what've you got in mind?" Ariana asked worryingly, :Do you trust me to keep you all safe?: Shadow asked, "Of course" Carla replied, :Then pay attention, I'll need your help if we're to pull this off without getting caught:.
An hour or so later:
The castle had fallen silent and the ground floor windows darkened as the scouts slept soundly in their sleeping bags: packed all together in the main banquette hall, the sounds of breathing and snoring echoed off the ornate wooden panel walls, as fatigue kept the scouts soundly in the throws of slumber.
...For the most part.
Outside, up in the drawbridge tower: Levi and his squad sat still and silent as they kept their eyes trained on the courtyard, battlements, outer ward and steep grassy slope beyond the outer wall; not uttering a single word to each other, not even breaking concentration. While in a few other places around the castle grounds, Hange and a few of her squad's members lay in wait: keeping their eyes on the blind-spots at the rear of the castle keep. By and large, the majority of the castle grounds was covered: trying to slip out would be quite near-impossible.
As she kept her eyes on the courtyard, Petra heard the hollow rushing of the wind as it moved through the sky high overhead: the silence of the plains, save for the wind in the grass and the sounds of the nocturnal animals was kind of eerie: but with the full moon shining bright overhead and lighting up the whole landscape in silver, there wasn't much to be scared of.
Suddenly, a small sound nearly made her jump, and drew the attention of the rest of the squad: it was the soft creek of a window opening. "...Down there" Gunther whispered as he pointed to the left side of the keep, the side the was shrouded in pitch black shadow. Straining their eyes to try and penetrate the darkness, the whole squad couldn't see anything, and no sounds of footsteps could be heard either. "...Where are they?" Oruo thought aloud, "They're staying the shadows to remain hidden" Eld realized, "In which case..." Gunther thought aloud as he noted the direction in which the keeps shadows fell, "...They'll try to get out via the left side of the tower"
As they watched and waited, the ghostly figure of a lady dressed all in white seemed to melt from out of the blackness, and seeming drift across the courtyard like a ghost: followed closely by six smaller figures, children, all dressed in darker clothing; also seemingly floating, without making a single sound. The unmistakable outline of ODM scabbard boxes could be seen hugging the sides of their thighs, but they didn't make any sound either: at least, not the typical muffled clunk-click of the boxes tapping the leg with each stride. This was weird, and eerie as they watched the ghostly figures move across the courtyard to the base of the wall, disappearing back into the darkness.
"What the hell? ..." Oruo frowned, "Is it just me? Or did they not make a single sound?!" he whispered, unsure what to make of it. "Damn light on their feet is all" Levi replied as he grabbed his handgrips from out of their holsters. Then, a cloud obscured the moon from sight, plunging the whole land into darkness: a few minutes of silence passed, and then the moonlight reappeared. But as the squad scanned the ground below, they were perplexed to see two of the children standing near the middle of the courtyard, seemingly staring up at the tower; "What the hell?" Eld frowned. But then, the children raised their arms and pointed up at the tower, right to the spot where the soldiers were stationed: "Shit! They spotted us!" Oruo hissed. "Guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way," Levi huffed as he stood up and opened the window, "Move in!".
But just as the squad jumped out the window and shot their lines into the tower wall to abseil down, another cloud plunged the castle back into darkness, and the children vanished from sight. Quickly running over to where they'd been standing, Levi reached out to grab them, but his hand only grasped at thin air. "What the-" the captain blinked in surprise, "Did you get them?" Eld asked, but as the moon reappeared, the whole squad were dismayed to see no one was there, and the entire courtyard was empty. "What? How the hell?-" Gunther gazed all around, "How'd they disappear like that?!" Petra exclaimed in a whisper.
Suddenly, the sound of children laughing echoed off the stone walls near the hitching posts, and several of the horses could be heard whinnying softly, as if something had woken them up. "The stables!" Levi realized as he took off with his squad on his heels: scanning their eyes over the horses, they saw no one amongst them: then, another little giggle sounded from behind one of the wagons; but as they rushed around to try and catch them, they saw no one was there either. "Now they're just toying with us!" Oruo huffed. Suddenly, more laughter echoed down the walls, and a roof tile fell to the ground and smashed on impact, nearly making everyone bar Levi jump. "Tch!- Damn shitty-glasses!" Levi grumbled, "Wish she'd be more quiet!". "I am most of the time," Hange grinned as she and one of her team mates stepped out from their hiding place behind one of the stables, "But enough about me, what're you guys doing here?! You're supposed to be up in the tower!"
Levi and his squad stared at her in surprise, "Wait a sec-" Eld realized, "Hange, if you and your team are down here, then who-". Another tile falling drew their gazes up to the roof, where a flash of white darted away out of sight. "They're up on the roof!" Gunther frowned. Moving as one, the Levi squad shot up the side of the castle like a flock of swallows: but as they landed on the edge above the eaves and ran up and over to the other side, they saw no one was up there. "...How?" Petra was at a loss what to think. "Look! Down there!" Eld pointed to the drawbridge, where the ghostly white woman and her children were running hell-for-leather across the stone bridge, heading for a huge fog bank that concealed the other end of the bridge and whole town from sight. "Where did that fog come from?" the red-head thought aloud, "After them!" Levi sternly ordered as he shot his lines and flew down to the ground.
The bridge was too small to use the ODM gear on, so once they were through the tower gate and across the drawbridge, the Levi squad had to run the rest of the way. The woman and the children had a good head start as they were over twenty meters ahead. But regardless, the squad didn't slow down as they watched them disappear into the thick fog, "They've still got another thirty meters before they hit the town!" Eld called out to Levi, "Don't worry guys! I've got this!" Hange shouted as she galloped by on her horse. "Hey! Wait up! We didn't get the chance to say hello!" she called out strangers, but to no avail. As she followed them into the fog, the moon's light dimmed considerably, and before long the crazy scout was forced to stop as the fog only grew thicker and thicker; to the point she couldn't even see her horse's head. "HELLO?! She shouted out, "PLEASE! WE DON'T MEAN YOU ANY HARM! WE JUST WANT TO TALK!"
Hearing the Levi squad run up behind her, the four soldiers and one captain came to a halt as she turned her horse to face them: getting a general idea of their location via the sound of their footfall through the dense fog. "There's no way we'll be able to catch up to them in this fog Levi, even using the ODM gear in the town would be dangerous!" Hange exclaimed in despair. "Dammit!" Oruo hissed, "They can't use their gear in this fog either" Levi told them "We'll follow them on foot". The sound of galloping hooves made them glance back in the castle's direction, in time to see Mike ride by: and quickly turning as he spotted them through the pea-soup. "Figured you guys could use some help" he stated as he pulled his horse up alongside Hange's. "You got their scent?" Hange asked. Sniffing the air, Mike suddenly paused and his eyes widened in surprise; he turned around, and seemed to be staring at something through the fog...
"...Uh? Mike? What's up?" Hange asked in concern.
"-Shhh: be quiet, or he'll hear you..." a female voiced whispered.
Caught off guard, everyone turned in the direction the voice had come from, the same direction Mike was staring in: and as the moon pierced through the thick veil of fog, the ghostly lady in white reappeared, standing several meters away. "Don't move, and don't make a sound, or he'll spot you for sure" she whispered again.
The Levi squad was about to give chase, when suddenly, the one sound no scout ever wanted to hear, slowly started coming towards them. "-Shit! Titan!" Oruo hissed, his hackles raised alarm. The lady in white seemed to walk backwards, disappearing into the fog again: and as the scouts readied themselves for a fight, the titan's heavy footsteps came closer and closer. Not being able to see the giant had them all on edge, and as the fifteen meter silhouette of the titan melted out of the darkness only several meters away, everyone was just about to make their move: when suddenly, the giant stopped. The scouts watched as the behemoth glanced over to the spot where the lady had been standing, and with a low gravely groan, turned and started heading in the direction she walked backwards in: as they watched it vanish into the fog, everyone remained still as a statue, and held their breath so as not to make a sound.
"She distracted him" a young boy's voice whispered a few meters away, "But it won't be for long" a young girl added. "You need to get back to the castle" another girl's voice whispered from behind them. Glancing all around, the scouts couldn't see a thing as the fog closed in around them: they couldn't even see their hands at the end of their arms as they reached out to try and grab the children; "Why don't you come with us? We'll keep you safe" Petra whispered loudly,
"You're the ones that need to be kept safe" another girl's voice whispered back, "We'll be okay, don't worry about us" the boy whispered, "Now get going, or he might hear you" another girl added.
The moon shone bright as the fog parted slightly, and the outline of the castle could be seen not too far away: little by the little, the fog began to move across the plains in a giant column ascending hundreds of feet up into the night air, leaving the scouts where they were standing on the town-side of the long stone bridge. Looking all around, they saw no one was anywhere to be seen: but a couple of hundred yards away, the steaming corpse of a fifteen meter titan lay motionless at the edge of the plains. "What?-" Eld stared at the giant in slight dismay. "How-, who killed that titan?!" Petra gasped in surprise. Galloping over to the corpse for a closer inspection, Hange glanced over at the nape: but instead of the usual sliced flesh made by a set of pairing blades, there was a deep puncture wound over five feet wide right in the centre of the nape, as if something huge had stabbed it clean through. Staring at the fatal wound, Hange sat on her horse in confusion for a moment, the cogs in her brain turning at full tilt: before a look of unbridled glee began to light up in her eyes. "They figured out how to kill titans!", she quickly turned her horse and galloped back to the group, but before she had a chance to share this new discovery, she noticed the look on everyone's faces as they watched Mike turning his head back and forth.
"I don't understand?" Mike blinked in surprise as he sniffed the air, "They were practically right behind us". "What's wrong?" Hange stared at him in confusion. "The scent's gone" Mike replied bluntly, "Which doesn't make any sense, there's no wind to carry it"
"Then-..." Eld glanced over at the giant column of fog, as it continued to drift across the plains, moving further and further away from the town. "How is that fog moving without any wind?"
Everyone glanced at one another in confusion: what the hell just happened? Who were those children, and that woman in white? Who or what killed that titan without making a sound? And what was with the fog? How did it suddenly appear out of nowhere, and move without any wind to push it away? These questions and more raced through everyone's brain as they tried to make sense of what just happened; Hange in particular, was beginning to brim with curiosity, as her crazy smile returned and she started to get jittery again. "We better get back; it's obvious we're not to catch them" Mike stated, "This time, at least" Levi frowned: he hated not being able to get a job done right, and being outsmarted by a mother and her children was certainly an annoyance, "Fall back," he ordered as he turned to start walking back to the castle. "I gotta get this down on paper! This is definitely going in the expedition report at least!" Hange grinned as she took off back over the bridge at full gallop.
"...What just happened?" Gunther glanced over at his team-mates as they fell into step behind the captain, with Mike bringing up the rear, "We got outsmarted by a bunch of brats and their mother, that's what!" Oruo huffed in frustration, "And they managed to somehow kill a titan without making a peep? In the middle of some fog? I tell ya, that's rubbing it in our faces!". "Being able to kill a titan practically blind is an impressive feat" Gunther thought aloud, "But how would you learn to do something like that? Training whilst blindfolded?". "But we didn't hear anything, not even ODM gear being used, so how'd they do it?" Eld threw in. "I couldn't care less" Levi flatly stated in a cold tone, "They got past us and we couldn't catch them: end of story"
The team fell silent for a moment: whenever the captain used that tone, it was usually his way of stating the discussion was over; but for Petra, something about the encounter compelled her to speak up. "...They said we're the ones that need protecting" she frowned as she pondered those words, "Why would they say that if they were trying to get away from us? And why distract that titan as well? ...Did they really go out of their way to save us?"
"Who knows?" Mike glanced over his shoulder at the dead titan, "...But it's clear we're dealing with individuals who chose to stay out here, for a reason"
As the scouts walked back over the drawbridge and through the tower gate, a giant fifteen meter titan with long hair, strange markings, and dazzling blue eyes watched them from the other side of town: invisible to human eyes, and once they were out of sight, he turned and silently walked away.
The next morning:
As the sun creped up over the eastern horizon, Carla and her team watched as the scouts rode out on to the open prairie and fanned out into a wide-spread formation, with the supply wagons bringing up the rear. As they disappeared out into the sea of green, the team stepped out from the barn they'd been sleeping in, and walked across to the fence that marked the farm's boundary. A shadow appeared across the grass as Shadow turned visible again, and knelt down beside the humans.
"Well? That was an interesting night" Belle thought aloud, "Kinda cutting it a little fine weren't we?" she glanced up at Shadow with a sceptical gaze. "Yeah, but then how else were we supposed to save them from that titan? We had to make sure they didn't get eaten!" Poppy reasoned. Folding her arms as she leaned on the fence, Carla gazed up at Shadow with an unreadable look. "So? What was the purpose of us talking to them? I thought the plan was to get away totally unseen?"
Passing a sigh, Shadow held up one hand and spelt out, :We knew when we started the Hunt, our paths would cross with the Scouts sooner or later; if last night is to be the start of more encounters to come, then we might as well make a good first impression:
"Okay, fair enough: but you don't think they're gonna come after us again, do you?" Gale asked offhand. :Hard to say?: Shadow shrugged, :For the time being they think its just you six. Maria is a big place, and it'll be like looking for six needles in a giant haystack for them. I hardly think they're going to divert manpower and resources just to go off on a wild goose chase:
"That's true" the twins both nodded in unison. "But not for lack of trying if that crazy-lady is one of them" Belle huffed as the memory of 'Hange' came back to mind, "I mean, either she's a complete nut, or she's got something to offer if she's allowed to be one of them!"
"So? You're a bit of a nut at times and you've got loads to offer" Ariana chuckled jokingly, "She must be good at something, or else why let her lead her own team; right?"
:Granted, it's a very unlikely bunch: Shadow nodded, :But I didn't sense any dysfunction amongst them; whoever they all are, they're all capable soldiers, and know how to handle themselves: he told them. "Yeah? Well I'll believe that when I see it; that 'Levi' guy looked like trouble" Belle folded her arms, "I wouldn't disagree with you there Bluebird" Carla concurred in a serious tone, "If I really were your mother, I'd tell you all to avoid him like a plague". "Yes mum!" the kids all chuckled.
"...Hey, look who's back!" Ariana pointed to the dazzling white form of Angel as she came souring down, and landed in the field before them: "Angel!..." Carla climbed up and stood on the fence as her best friend cooed happily and nose-booped her on the head, "I take it they got the message?" she asked. Unfolding one wing, the avian spelt out :They packed up and left as soon as I told them. They relocated to the forest, and Midnight cast a special concealment spell to hide their scent, so there's no way that Mike guy will be able to track them once he and the scouts get there: she smiled with a happy chirp. "Oh well done!" Carla smiled as she hugged her face. "Look, we got company," Lucius pointed across the field, to where a long line of elk and deer-titans came walking towards the town with their Celt and Ranger partners, followed by several bird-titans and their riders as they flew overhead. :Oh yeah I nearly forgot! I told everyone about all the stuff we found yesterday, so Grey Owl dispatched half the Hunt to go pick it all up. He reckons between the stuff they found in Grenvald and all the stuff we found here, we should be done with the scavenger hunt by tomorrow!: Angel spelt out. "Even better!" Belle smiled.
"You better go and give them a hand, they'll need to know where to find all the items" Carla told the kids. "Sure thing: race you guys!" Belle grinned as she jumped the fence and started legging it towards the town, "Hey slow down!" the twins shouted as they, Poppy and Gale took after her. "Well? I guess we better go find somewhere to put the repelling charm, right big guy?" Ariana smiled up at Shadow, who smiled back with a nod as he offered his hand for her to climb up into. But before she turned to leave with him, Ariana glanced over at Carla with an unreadable expression. "What's wrong sweetie?" she asked as she jumped off the fence. "You do know dad's gonna want to know about what happened last night, right?" she thought aloud.
"...Yeah" Carla sighed with a look of disappointment in her eyes, "Hey, you didn't do anything wrong: you did great as a team leader" Ariana assured her, "-It's just, we didn't know about the castle being a supply depot is all". "But it makes me think," Carla realized, "How many towns and villages have we passed through this last month, that might have had other supply depots hidden away somewhere amongst them? There'd be no way to tell from the outside, and it's not like we saw anything in the castle to suggest someone had already been inside"
"That's a good point," Ariana concurred, "Which is why I'm gonna ask dad about spying on the scouts again: at the very least, we need to know where their supply line is and how far into Maria they've managed to go. So when we resume the Hunt again, we can avoid them". Thinking about it for a moment, Carla then nodded, "That's not a bad idea actually" she offered with a smile, "And I'd be willing to back you up on that". "You would?" Ariana blinked in surprise, "Well yes, even if running into them again is only a matter of time: it would be better if we stayed out of their way for as long as possible, and we'd need someone to keep track of their movements in that regard" Carla reasoned before turning serious, "Though, that being said. I take it you still want to be the one to do it?", "Of course," Ariana smiled cheekily, "I am the stealthiest Celt in my clan, remember?". "And how long are you going to keep milking that excuse?" Carla folded her arms with a mother hen look, "For as long as I don't get caught!" Ariana chuckled as she backwards-flipped into Shadow's palm, and held onto his thumb as he stood back up, "'Later Dove!" she waved goodbye.
Letting out an exasperated sigh as she rolled her eyes, Carla mounted Angel as she bowed down to let her climb on, "I swear Angel, I don't know how Tyto does it," the woman huffed as she stroked her feathers. "Well? We better get to work if we want to finish up by tomorrow: let's go" Carla sat down, and held onto her hackles as the avian titan jumped up and took off into the sky, joining the flock of bird-titans as they circled above the town.
Welp! This officially marks the point where scout-spying hilarity and titan-chasing shenanigans are sure to ensue, with Hange taking point in the craziness of course XD I love Hange, she can be such a bouncy and animated character at times, but she knows how to be serious when necessary too; which is a good balence in my books; BTW, I know in the manga Hange's gender is left ambiguous, but in this AU they're a female. I think she works better as a female anayway, it ceratinly seems to work in the anime *shrugs* but hey, that's just me. And of course let's not forget Levi and his squad XD, with his attitude and hard-to-please personality, Midnight's going to have loads of fun teasing the shit out of him! XD I made a little comic strip of one such antic, it's up in my Devientart gallery if you want to go check it out.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope you stay tuned for the next one :) We will be taking a look at island life here and there, and Claude and Derek's research into the titan-shifters will get a look in eventually, but for the foreseeable chapters at least, we'll be focusing on the Scouts, and their 'discovery' of the 'mystery titan hunters'. It promises to be one wild ride! :D
Happy reading, and see you all next time!