I don't own Attack on Titan: just my OC's and the plot.
The Awakening
Chapter 17: First Impressions
847, May, Trost:
"Hey sir? I can't find the wad screw"
"Huh? Isn't it in the chest?"
The senior Garrison soldier stepped over to the side of the cannon where the two new recruits were busy cleaning out its bore, glancing over the younger man's shoulder into said chest, he huffed in frustration as he picked up said wad screw from beneath the pile of other tools, "Seriously? At this rate you two are gonna pass for lousy gunners!" he reprimanded, "Next time check the chest more thoroughly, and don't waste my time!"
The soldier huffed again as he walked away, gazing out over the wall across the city of Trost, as he continued his inspection of the new rookie's performances.
The morning was crisp and clear as the sun steadily climbed up into the bright blue sky, as all along the wall, the Garrison were busying themselves with the care and maintenance of their canons: while down on the ground below, the fortifications around the outer gate were in the final stages of their construction. Three deep wide trenches surrounded the immediate area in a huge semi-circle, stretching from bulkhead to bulkhead, with only a single wooden bridge allowing access to the gate. Between each trench, a series of large wooden reinforced barricades stood firmly rooted to the spot, facing the gate: designed to minimise the amount of flying stone and debris, should the colossal titan ever decide to reappear.
The Garrison had not been idle over the past two years: the severity and shock of the titan's attack was enough to shake things up, and forced the military to reassess its defensive measures and procedures. Every walled city in wall Rose had been required to fortify their walls with additional cannons, to build 'anti-titan trenches' around their outer gates, and to implement a city-wide evacuation plan for if a second attack were ever to occur: thus ensuring the safety of the citizens. However, these new defensive measures were not welcomed by everyone: a number of merchants complained of the evacuation drills interfering with their businesses, and the wall cult raised a ruckus over the new cannons atop the wall. But their outrage fell on deaf ears, as most would rather have a safe means of escaping a second titan attack. By and large, humanity was slowly recovering from the fall of Maria: it hadn't been easy, and it was still a struggle to regain some sense of normality; at least, enough to carry on with life and meet the demands set forth by circumstance and happenstance. But little by little, everyone within the walls was adjusting and adapting: albeit slowly, and with a pinch of salt. For there was no telling, if lightning might strike a second time.
As the soldier turned his attention back to the cannons, he couldn't help but stop and listen, as he caught part of a hushed conversation between three young rookies, all of whom had their back to him...
"Where did you hear that from?" one young boy asked in surprise.
"From my older brother, he's stationed up in Chlobra: he said he saw it moving across the plains heading into the wind; and the way it moved? He said it almost looked alive. Like it had a life of its own" the second boy replied.
"Oh come on, seriously?" the older girl folded her arms as she eyed him dubiously.
"But that's not all," the boy continued eagerly, "He said: that as it passed by, he and the other soldiers could hear some kind of weird sound coming from inside it, like it was singing or something. And get this, every titan in the area, even the one's around the wall all started walking into it, like they were being lured in. And as it moved up towards the hills and away from the wall? All the titans that walked into it were lying dead on the ground. Killed by something inside it"
"Now you're just bullshitting us" the girl scoffed, "I'm serious!" the boy pleaded, trying to keep his voice low, "My brother, his captain and several other Garrison soldiers all saw it! And since alcohol's been prohibited, they can't say they were drunk and just seeing things!"
"That's true" the first boy concurred. "I'm telling you guys, something really strange is going on out there. I'll bet my rations the top brass knows about it too, and they're just not saying anything so as not to cause a panic among the citizens" the second boy surmised.
"-What are you three gossiping about?!" the older soldier sternly interjected as he made his presence known: after nearly jumping out of their skins (and very nearly off the wall), the three rookies all scrambled to attention and salute "SIR!". "It was just idle gossip sir!" the first boy stated nervously, "Nothing to worry about sir!" the second boy concurred in equal anxiousness, "We were just slacking off sir!" the girl added, half worried they were going to be reprimanded. "Slacking off eh?" he eyed them sharply, "You know that kind of behaviour is no longer tolerated right? Maybe two years ago when things were slow and easy, but now, you'll have to slack off on your own time!" he reprimanded. "SIR YES SIR!" they all yelled in unison.
"Oh, don't be too hard on them soldier..." a friendly laid-back voice interjected: turning around to see who interrupted him, the soldier nearly jumped out of his own skin as he quickly saluted, "Commander Pyxus?!". The Garrison commander and his escorts approached, and stopped before the three recruits: "A little idle chatter doesn't hurt to while away the hours, so long as it doesn't distract from the task at hand: right soldiers?" he glanced over at the three nervous rookies, who were now doubly anxious as they realized they were standing in the presence of the commander for the entire southern region, "Uh-, yes sir, of course sir!" the second boy swallowed hard. "Very good. As you were," he waved off with a smile, before continuing to walk along the wall, with every soldier saluting him as he went along.
"Uh-, commander? To what do we own the pleasure of this visit?" the soldier nervously asked, "Oh? No particular reason," Pyxis smiled as he pulled out his hip-flask and downed a swig, "I just came to see how our new recruits are doing, and to enjoy this lovely sunny day" "Sunny?" the soldier raised an eyebrow, "Why yes, there wasn't a cloud in the sky when we left headquarters this morning" he remarked as he gazed up at the blue sky. "Um? Well? Not anymore sir..." the soldier pointed behind him, "It looks like we got fog heading this way".
"Hm?..." Pyxis turned around to look at where he was pointing: and there, an enormous bank of thick white fog was slowly creeping its way across the grassland and patchy copses, moving parallel to the wall just under a mile away. Towering a few miles up into the sky in a tall swirling column, and stretching several hundred meters across, the fog was so dense that everything it passed over disappeared in a matter of seconds, shrouding the land in a grey gloom that almost seemed to drain the colour from everything, and exude a strange eerie feeling.
"How odd," Pyxis smiled as he watched the uncanny weather front slowly approach, "Can't say I've ever seen weather like that before"
As the strange fog came within a quarter mile of the wall, the soldiers all stopped what they were doing and watched as every titan in the area started walking towards it: even those that were scratching and clawing around the outer gate suddenly stopped, and turned to start lumbering towards it. "Hm? That's never happened before" Pyxis thought aloud, "No sir" one of his aides concurred in equal surprise. "...What's that sound?" one of the female soldiers frowned in confusion. "...I don't know? It almost-, sounds like someone, humming" the soldier next to her replied.
Sure enough, as they all strained their ears to listen, everyone could hear a strange sound echoing out from the fog: it almost sounded like a low thrum, or a hum. Or many people all humming together at the same tone: deep and high-pitched simultaneously; it was so weird, and haunting, like nothing anyone had ever heard before. As the fog moved closer, the entire wall was shrouded in a dense pea-soup and the sun was completely blotted out: it was so grey and dark that it could've been mistaken for dusk, and no one dared to move for fear of accidental wandering off the wall (never mind the fact they couldn't see the ends of their outstretched arms). The strange humming was closer now, and coming from somewhere down on the ground some couple of hundred meters away: but over the constant droning, other sounds could be heard too. The hiss and pops of ODM gear in action, the thundering of enormous hooved animals moving at a galloping speed, the soft booms of titan footfalls striking the ground as they ran; and the unmistakable sound of pairing blades striking a titan's nape, followed by the booms and thuds of multiple titan bodies hitting the ground.
"Is that-, the Scouts?" one soldier thought aloud, "Can't be, they're not due to leave for another week or so" another soldier replied, "I didn't see them down there to begin with, did you?" a third soldier added tentatively. "What should we do sir?" one of the aides asked the commander: "Wait until the fog passes: it's too dangerous to use ODM gear practically blind" he replied with a nonchalant shrug.
Another several minutes passed before the fog started to move on, creeping along the wall as it headed eastward: still remaining in one huge bank that towered into the sky. But as the sun caught the edges of the cloud and lit it up in a blinding silvery-white aura, the solders caught a glimpse of something moving up and down very fast through the vapour; something, that almost seemed to resemble the tip of a giant bird's wing. But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished in the blink on an eye.
"What the-, oh my god!" one of the soldiers exclaimed as he glanced down at the ground, "Sir! Look!" another soldier pointed in the same direction, on the Maria side of the wall. Stepping over to the edge: the commander, his aides, and all the other soldiers were met with a most startling sight. Stretching for at least two miles out beyond the wall, numerous steaming titan corpses littered the ground: their napes slashed and cut. There were too many to count offhand as the steam began to fill the air, and the furthest ones began to fade from sight.
"...Who did this?" one of the aides thought aloud as they scanned their eyes over the many bodies that were quickly turning into embers and steam, "Or what did this?" the other aide added. "Hm..." Pyxis scrutinized the scene carefully: glancing over at the fog that was now gaining ground as it headed for the eastern horizon, "...Very curious" he thought aloud to himself. Despite his laid-back demeanour, his aides could tell the cogs in his head were turning at full tilt, as he turned, and carried on walking along the wall.
As the three young recruits watched the fog move along the wall in a mix of confusion and surprise, the second boy then elbowed the girl with a smug look on his face, and smiled to her "I told you it was real".
Three days later, at the Scouting legion headquarters in Trost:
"... Seems like forever since any of us could just pause for a moment, and take stock of what's around us" Pyxis thought aloud as he strolled through the central courtyard of the military base, with the commander of the Scouts at his side, "Every day that familiar fear continues to linger, reminding us of that terrible day. In a way, one could say it's almost become like an unwanted acquaintance: never welcomed, but not able to leave, (for the obvious reason of course)". "The days of idle musings and carefree abandonment have always been numbered: it was only a matter of time before the titans would reminds us why we hid behind the walls in the first place," Erwin replied stoically, his unwavering poker-face not giving anything away, before a small polite smile crossed his lips, "But you didn't come here to muse over days long since past: to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?".
"What? Can't a couple of old friends catch up on old times?" Pyxis chuckled as he took a swig from his hip-flask, "... I hear you've been making some real progress with the supply route of late. The titans don't seem to have been much of a bother, from what I've heard" Pyxis glanced over at Erwin with a cunning smile.
Erwin immediately picked up what he was hinting at, and obliged "The last several expeditions were more expedient that initially predicted, and our casualty rate seems to have been steadily dropping over the last year. This spate of good luck proved useful in securing our budget for the next five years, and with the new funding we can finally prepare for the second phase of the battalion route" he stated. Though at the back of his mind, his instincts were telling him it could be something more than just a random spate of good luck.
Ever since the strange encounter at the castle in Stinestadt a year ago, the Scouts began to notice a steady decrease in the number of titans along the designated supply route. Even with the long-range scouting formation ensuring they avoid as many titans as possible, confrontations and fatalities seemed to be steadily going down with each new expedition: no one was complaining of course, as the mission was starting to go more smoothly. On the surface, one could brush it off as just being lucky, that fate was finally starting to smile upon the Scout's endeavours: but deep down, Erwin couldn't shake this feeling that something else was at work. Thinking back to the first several months following the breach, simply trying to set up the first few depots had been hell: before the attack on Shiganshina, the scouts losses averaged at about ten percent per expedition; but now, with so many titans all over Maria, the scouts lost between twenty to forty soldiers per expedition. A grim statistic, and one that seemed to test even the veterans to their limits at times: this macabre reality seemed to have become the new way of things, until last year when they stopped off at the castle in Stinestadt...
The strange encounter with 'the lady in white' and 'her children' had been a real head-scratcher for everyone concerned: it certainly didn't make straight-forward reading in the expedition reports, and while the military top brass knew Erwin wasn't the kind of man to exaggerate or be prone to chasing shadows, the unusual nature of the encounter left the higher-ups wondering what had actually happened that night. On the one hand, Erwin had no evidence to confirm the encounter took place, but at the same time the statements of his squad leaders all backed up what he said, as all of them claimed to have seen the same thing too. In the end, the sighting was taken with a pinch of salt: it wasn't dismissed as a fluke, but it didn't present enough of a concern to warrant further investigation. Some woman and her family got lucky in avoiding the titans, and for reasons unknown they didn't want to be rescued. Since then the Garrison had been instructed to look out for anything unusual, that could indicate the presence of survivors out in Maria: and Erwin, with his priority being the establishment of the battalion route, carried on with said mission.
However, the thought of that woman and her children had intrigued him, and every once in a while he wondered if they were still alive: still out there somewhere in the wilds of Maria, avoiding the titans. Who would wish for such a life? Whatever their reasons were for staying out there, it was known only to them.
"And I take it you still haven't run into your 'lady in white' again?" Pyxis asked offhand, "Unfortunately no," Erwin stated plainly, "Wherever she is, we can only hope she and her family have managed to survive". "Hm, maybe some of their good luck rubbed off on you and your troops that night," Pyxis joked, "And speaking of strange encounters, I take you haven't heard the news?"
"Of what? I only just got back from the capitol last night" Erwin glanced at Pyxis with his brows farrowed together in concern. "Huh, well that explains why you didn't pick up on it sooner then," the Garrison commander shrugged, before explaining "Three day ago I was up on the wall inspecting the cannons, when virtually out of nowhere, this huge fog rolls in and shrouds the entire wall in a thick pea soup; a clear sunny day with not a cloud in the sky, and this fog just shows up totally out of the blue", "If you're seeking my advice on the nature of the weather then I'm afraid you're out of luck" Erwin smiled offhand. "If that was all it was I would've just brushed it off as some odd fluky weather. But when it covered the wall, something else happened..." Pyxis glanced over at Erwin with a serious look in his eyes, "A strange noise could be heard on the ground below: something, I can only describe as a choir humming and singing at the same time, all at the same pitch and without discernible words or a tune; it was quite spooky in a way. Now I know what you're thinking, and trust me I wasn't hearing things; at least thirty other troops heard the same thing. But that's not the strangest part...". Both commanders stopped walking as Erwin listened with intrigue, "As the fog drew closer, all the titans in the vicinity started walking towards it, and disappeared inside: the way they were gazing up at it? It was like they were being hypnotized, or something of that nature. And when the fog finally moved on, there were dozens of dead titans everywhere. From where we were atop the outer gate we counted about sixty five corpses: fortunately, that day we were also running some maintenance tests on the cranes, so we had some horses available up on the wall. I ordered some of the troops to follow the fog and see if anything else happened. They followed it for about six miles before it veered south-east and headed off over the plains: the fog remained visible for up to ten miles before it dissipated and vanished, the two riders reported seeing over forty eight dead titans left in it's wake; a hundred and thirteen in total... And to add to the mystery, not a single titan has approached the wall in that area since, it's as if they're staying clear of the whole area. Quite a strange occurrence wouldn't you say?"
Erwin simply gazed at Pyxis with an unreadable look: although his expression didn't give anything away, Pyxis could tell he'd piqued his curiosity; gazing out over the courtyard, Erwin simply replied "... Strange indeed: but stranger still, since when does the commander of the southern Garrison personally conduct an inspection?"
"Heh, Nothing gets past you," Pyxis chuckled as he took another swig, "Truth be told: this isn't the first time that fog has been sighted, only the first time I've laid my eyes on it. For the past year I've been hearing strange rumours of a 'titan-killing fog' that's been seen sweeping across Maria: strange singing heard coming from within it, and luring the titans away from the walls to be killed in large numbers. Everywhere from the Chlobra to Karanese districts, and even as far north as Nedlay and everywhere in between, the rumoured sightings had been circulating for months without letting up. And the thing about rumours, is that they seldom ever go away unless there's an element of truth to them. So, three days ago I decided to go see if there was anything to it: needless to say I wasn't disappointed"
Scrutinizing Pyxis up and down, Erwin then asked "I take it you haven't told the top brass about this yet?"
"And say what? That a giant singing titan-killing fog is trying to out-do the Scouts? One word of this gets back to Mitras and they're going to think the whole Garrison is drunk (again). There may be no such thing as a mass-hallucination, but it's still going to be too incredible to believe; the 'lady in white' was one thing, but this is something else entirely; hell, even I didn't believe it to be true until I saw it for myself" Pyxis sighed as he downed another swig. "...Say I do believe you, and that this 'fog' really does exists. What do you want me to do? Between establishing the battalion route and the rest of our assigned duties, I don't have the manpower to spare for an investigation" The Scout commander stated. "Ah I'm not asking anything of you Erwin: I'm simply here to ask that when you embark on your next expedition, keep an eye out for anything unusual," Pyxis replied, before stating frankly "...I don't know what it is we saw up on the wall, but all I know is that my troops are wary, and worried, that there may be something else stalking the wilds of Maria. Something, that is able to kill titans with relative ease: and no one knows if that's a good thing, or a bad thing"
Pausing for a moment as he watched his Scouts go about their duties in the courtyard, Erwin then turned to Pyxis, and respectfully dipped his head in acknowledgement, "Well? If we do see something, you'll be the first to hear about it upon our return"
Meanwhile, at the Lodge on the island of Yggdrasil:
"Hey dad! Where're the spare cables?" Dale shouted down from the tree, "In the box by the front door!" Tyto shouted up as he helped two of the Ranger's move some equipment to the edge of the training ground: while all around the Lodge was bustling with activity, as everyone was gearing up for this month's Hunt.
From where she watched the Celts and Rangers preparing everything they needed, Ariana was preparing for her own mission: as she rechecked the contents of her hip-bag and pack, she looked around the room to make sure she hadn't missed anything, "Okay, that should be everything..." she mumbled to herself, before suddenly remembering "-Oh! Gotta go over the maps with Shadow". She grabbed her ODM gear, suited up, and took off for the southern end of the island. As she sailed through the giant canopy, Ariana glimpsed down at the town below, up at the arboreal neighbourhoods scattered throughout the trees: and couldn't help but be both amazed and impressed with how much the place had changed over the past year.
Ever since the five hundred survivors of the failed retrieval operation took up residence on the island: the community had grown in more ways than one. Taken in by many of the Celt and Ranger families, the survivors had gone through a period of adjustment as they tried to get back on their feet, and try to fit in with their new neighbours. It wasn't easy, as the harrowing memories of those two long months out in the titan-infested wilds had left some with deep scars: lingering nightmares that deprived some of sleep, and a constant sense of alertness that refused to be put to rest easily. But as the Celts and Rangers helped them back to some sense normality, many found it was an opportunity to start anew: to live their lives as they saw fit, and to not have to live in fear of the Wall Cult or Royal Government.
With many of the survivors having been farmers, a good number were able to chip in by caring for all the farm animals that had been rounded up for the purpose of feeding and clothing the now nearly two thousand strong populous. On the western side of the lake, where the deciduous forests bordered vast expanses of wild meadows and grassy fields: many of the cows and sheep were kept on a series of small farms that sat alongside the Silver and Red fox clans home-camps, along with several of the Ranger families who had close ties with said clans. Further south, the Badger and Grey squirrel clans resided with another handful of close Ranger families in a small village: in addition to hunting, they would help protect the livestock by ensuring bears, wolves and other predators stayed away from the pastures, in return for the best cuts of meat, fresh milk, and wool.
On the eastern side of the lake, the Black and Blue wolf clans, along with the Bear, Mountain cat, and Golden eagle clans and over a dozen Ranger families had made their home-camps on the slopes of the great eastern mountain, all within sight of the great mountain god-titan, King Freyr. There, their gigantic animal-titans could roam free with all the forest they could ever need. The Heron clan and their close Ranger allies, who also lived on the eastern shore, chose to make their home-camp further north alongside the marshes, which were home to the water-snake titans: who had become quite tolerant of them being there, since one of their animal-titans was a water-snake titan by the name of Emerald (so called because of her rich green scales). As for the Island of Yggdrasil, the Sparrowhawk and White owl clans helped to settle many of the survivors alongside their kin and god-titans. With so many people now living on the island the communal gardens had to be increased in size, and several of the larger ground-based buildings had to be expanded or renovated in order to accommodate the new cotton and wool mills, as well as make room for a new indoor market square, water pumps and fountains, and additional pumping stations for the newly expanded indoor plumbing, as well as part of the boat yard getting an upgrade. It was a real community effort on everyone's part, and a good number of the survivors were keen to help; if anything so they could have hot running water and lavatories that didn't stink.
But plumbing and building were not the only skills some of the survivors were able to offer. A small number that had worked in the interior as blacksmiths, engineers and even machine workers for the industrial city, put their skills to use in Gustav's forge and machine shop: catering to all the needs of the community, as well as providing additional help for the Hunt whenever they needed their ODM gear servicing. Some had worked in the mills and factories along the Marian rivers, and were skilled in most industrial crafts: from weaving cloth and spinning wool, to building carts and wagons, throwing clay to make ceramics, carving stone to make building blocks, turning and carving wood to build furniture and other useful appliances, and even making tools and equipment to make other practical items. It was a wealth of knowledge the Celts and Rangers could never have anticipated: learning the ways of the regular folk and learning how to better understand what made a town run and function. And on the flip side, the survivors learned how to live in harmony with the forest through the Celts teachings and ancient wisdom, how to trade and get by without money like the Rangers, and how to get along with the god-titans that lived in the Hidden land, as well as those the islanders considered part of their families...
Learning to live alongside the Hidden land's more bigger neighbours proved to be a slightly different kettle of fish: on the one hand many were quite taken with the god-titans, and through the Celts and Rangers they learned to respect and abide by their new giant magical friends. Some of the farmers were highly impressed by their power to grow all manner of plants, and were most eager to work alongside them in the communal gardens: others, particularly those who used to work as fisherman and bargemen on the rivers, were amazed by the lake titans and their ability to herd whole schools of fish into their nets; it made for a very easy working relationship.
But on the other hand, the trauma of surviving the regular titans had left some deeply scared, making them wary: most would go about their daily business out of sight of the god-titans, walking the paths and trails hidden from above by thick foliage, and instinctively taking cover whenever the larger god-titans walked by. Their fear was understandable, and the god-titans respected their space: the pain and terror they experienced would not go away just because some new type of titan proved to have a destain for human flesh. Even if Queen Aurora gave her word that no regular titan shall ever find the Hidden Land; but many could agree, being accidentally stepped on was a far more easier hazard to live with, than to have to run the gauntlet of being eaten.
But by far, the one thing that left the greatest impression on all the survivors, was the city of Omnes Scientiam. As curiosity got the better of them, little by little various groups and sometimes whole families would go on the barges into the mountain: the survivors were blown away by everything the city had to offer. From the giant crystal cavern carved from the heart of the mountain, to the great tree of knowledge that crowned the tiered city: the beautifully lush gardens that lined the outside of each tier, and the assortment of ornate titan-sized buildings and their endless labyrinths of archives, libraries and museums. It was a feast for the senses, and one that no one person could ever hope to completely experience in a single lifetime. For those of a more academic and curious nature, that found pleasure in the pages of a good book, it was paradise without end, and a certain number of the more educated survivors were eager to join Claude and Derek's titan research team (if only to experience the city on a daily basis). While others were happy to help out on the 'floating libraries': bringing a regular rotation of books to the island and mainland, so that everyone could experience the city's vast knowledge of the outside world, and the history of mankind prior to the coming of the titans.
Despite the ups and downs of the past year, the town was now starting to feel much more like a veritable close-knit community: most people knew each other on a first name basis, many were willing to help out and not demand anything in payment, and everyone had come to trust one another, and abide by their fellow human and god-titan. Overall, Ariana and her whole family couldn't have imagined it would turn out like this: what started out as just them, the first to witness and survive the titans attack; was now a little kingdom in its own right. Ruled under the care and command of Queen Aurora, and shepherded by the counsel and the Keeper: in this place, everyone was allowed to be themselves (within reason of course), no one would be punished for speaking out against the wall cult, government or king, or even the council or queen. No one would be taxed or forced to pay for the privilege of living here, people were allowed to keep their property and homes without fear of being forced out for disobliging reasons, and neither would they be forced to conform or bow to another's personal or cultural beliefs. Everyone abided by each other, and though the Celts and Rangers ways were a bit of a culture shock in places, it was taken with a mix of curiosity, humbleness, humiliation, and forgiveness.
The restitution of freedom was as long as it was complex: but here, in this land that had been hidden from the world for goodness knows how long, it was as plentiful as the leaves of the great tree, and though it was a tiny kingdom, it was their kingdom, and one they could be both proud of, and grateful for.
As she approached the treeline, Ariana flew down to the ground and travelled the rest of the way on foot. Here, at the southern end of the island, covering an area over four and a half square miles wide: instead of thick giant forest there were rolling meadows with solitary trees peppered here and there, and filled with a myriad of wild colourful flowers. This was the home of the fairest and most beautiful of the god-titans, what everyone had affectionately come to call the 'flower-titans': three to six meter class female god-titans with radiant and fair complexions, skin as flawless as pearl and eyes as green as emeralds, with elfish pointed ears and long flowing silky-soft hair dressed in garlands of flowers and other creeping plants. They were the most tender and gentle of the god-titans, true innocents with a particular fondness for growing flowers, and filling the island with colour. As she walked over a small knoll, Ariana smiled as she watched a trio of flower-titans playing with several girls from the Red Squirrel clan, letting them sit on their knees as they grew garlands of daisies into their pleated hair. Rounding another hill, she saw three boys playing hide and seek with another flower-titan, who had magically disguised herself as a large flower-covered grassy mound, with only her radiant green eyes watching them: and on the other side of the same hill, a larger flower-titan was showing off her magics to a small group of mothers and their little ones, bringing smiles all round as the children reached out to grab the rapidly growing flowers.
Near the south-eastern cliffs, overlooking King Freyr's 'throne' and the entire south-eastern mountain range, there stood the tall crumbled ruins of a huge series of buildings: the god-titans said it had once been a monastery, dedicated to an order of monks and nuns that worshipped the great tree; now long since gone, with the building falling into ruin shortly thereafter. Ariana remembered first coming across the ruins not long after first arriving on the island: one of many discoveries she, her family and friends enjoyed exploring, though not being able to get very far on account of all the brambles and stinging nettles that covered the ground in and around the stone structures.
But with the expansion of the communal gardens, it was decided this would be the site of a new garden: and after five months of back-breaking work to clear out all the weeds, tilling the soil and arranging the beds, the ruins were now the largest of the communal gardens, and the one which boasted the most variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs and medicinal plants. It had just about everything a gardener could ever want in a working garden: an irrigation system drawing water from the island's hot springs, an apiary for wax, honey and pollination, an orchard full of various fruit trees with a pig pen next door, so as the pigs could graze the fallen fruits as well as provide a steady supply of pork. There was also a large pond and small fenced-off meadow for the ducks, geese and chickens, which were useful for keeping the slugs and other pests in check as they were allowed to roam the various plots, as well as provide eggs, meat and feathers. The island's native wildlife was also drawn to the plentiful garden, and the gardeners had been careful to leave some of the plants aside for them: particularly the birds that specialized in feeding on berries and fruits (though the thrushes were good at disposing of the snails). And taking care of the larger pests like rabbits, rodents and deer wasn't a problem either, as the god-titans simply told them to feed elsewhere. Overall, a remarkable achievement, for a garden that had only been put together in less than six months.
As she followed the little dirt path that cut between the squash beds and the brassica beds, Ariana spotted Shadow with several of the gardeners, growing a new grape vine up the wall of the decayed tower: one of several parts of the ruins still largely intact. Watching him, she couldn't help but smile as he stood back to admire his work: being the benevolent soul that he was, she knew this was one of his favourite enjoyments; growing things and bringing life to the land. Sure he was a formidably strong and skilled titan hunter, but it wasn't a job that brought him joy or pleasure: he considered it more like necessary pest control that had to be carried out; quick and clean with minimal fuss. But here, on the island and around the Hidden Land, helping everyone and watching the community flourish was what made him happy.
Turning around as he sensed her approach, he smiled warmly as he crouched down to offer his hand to her, :I thought I felt your footsteps approaching: he spelt with his free hand, :So what' up?:. "Nothing important, I just need to go over the maps for the next expedition. But, if you're still busy here I can come back later?" she offered. :It's okay, I'm just about done here anyway: he spelt back as she climbed into his palm, and let him place her up on his shoulder.
"Going so soon?" a familiar voice cheerfully called up to her, "Sorry Mr Arlelt: official Hunt duties" Ariana called down to him as Shadow stood back up, "Very well, I won't keep you then; be sure to give my regards to your mother for that lovely brandywine of hers!". "Will do!" she waved good bye as Shadow carefully stepped over the garden fence, and strode across the meadow towards the treeline. "How's he doing?" she asked discreetly in a concerning tone. :Much better. Breck said he hasn't had an lapse for over three months now, I think the new elixir is really doing some good: Shadow replied, "That's a relief" Ariana smiled weakly, before sombrely thinking aloud, "... That whole memory loss really took a toll on him: not being able to remember half your life? What a horrible thing to endure..."
Armin's grandfather had been one of the lucky five hundred to survive the failed retrieval operation: though for a time things were bleak, as the extent of his injuries became apparent, and his chances of pulling through were fifty/fifty. But with the help of Breck and Claude's healing elixirs he managed to make a full recovery: albeit his memory was never the same. After researching memory loss through head injuries in the city's medical library, Breck and the other doctors were at a loss how to help, and the god-titans couldn't do anything, as manipulating one's memory (even in an effort to get it back) was forbidden by their laws. Joseph's memory was sketchy at times: he could remember most his life in Shiganshina and all that happened there, but the day of the breach and everything after that was a patchy blur he couldn't make sense of. And every time he tried to remember, it only caused him distress or to feel faint: and sometimes, would cause his memory to lapse altogether, creating 'momentary amnesia' that would last for several hours.
For everyone who he called his neighbours and friends in Shiganshina, it was a bittersweetness having him back. Gustav used to enjoy laughing over a pint with him in the Black Stallion while Miriam would reprimand them both for behaving like a couple of fools: and they still did, albeit they tended to reminisce on the good old days, with Gustav filling in the blanks. Bryson, Breck and Claude used to enjoy talking with him about all kinds of things, from their lives up in the interior to the local gossip circulating the street, now the 'Sina trio' were usually filling him in on all the new things they discovered in the city, and how the Hunt was progressing . And for Carla, who enjoyed his company and his council: having to be both parents and grandfather hadn't been easy for him after Armin's parents left, and there were times she'd help him where she could. But now, with the memory of Armin's fate blurred out by that head injury, it had left a painful scar that didn't seem to heal: not knowing what happened to Armin was painful for Joseph to remember, and for everyone else, it was like watching him being stuck in some kind of suspended limbo.
If Armin had died in the jaws of a titan that would be one thing: horrible and painful, but at least they could lay him to rest in their memories. But if by some chance he'd survived the breach and made it to Wall Rose, what happened after that? Did he become one of the conscripted, sent back out into Maria alongside his grandfather a year later? Or worse, did he get captured by human traffickers and sold into slavery? Or to one of the wall cult's cornucopiam's or sanctuaries? The thought of seeing him in chains, all skin and bone beneath dirty rags with dead eyes devoid of life and hope: it was a worse fate than the titan's hunger. For Ariana, it was like loosing him all over again, and with no way of knowing what happened for sure, there could be no closure. If he was still alive, she would have Shadow fly her over that wall, and she wouldn't stop circling the skies until she found him and brought him home: or, if he was dead, she'd bring his bones back to burnt into ashes, so that on the day mankind finally reaches the ocean, she could set him free; letting him become one with the wind and the endless salty waters forever.
In her heart, she had a feeling that's what he would have wanted: he'd have liked that.
Ariana took in a deep breath as she wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes: thinking about it always hurt, but she learned to get on with life. Pushing it aside and focusing on the task at hand, she smiled up at Shadow "...But, it's okay: at least he's happy here, right?". :Indeed, as are all the other's who've come to call this place their new home: he smiled as he gazed around at all the tree-house's, and the people going about their daily routines.
"Finally! Where've you been all afternoon?! Tyto's been searching half the island for you!" Pascal shouted as he flew by on his ODM gear, "He's been in the southern garden, where else?" Ariana called back, "Yeah well just get your chiselled ass back to the lodge, the boss-man's waiting for you two!" the former thief added before speeding on ahead. Picking up the pace, Shadow strode through the forest until the Lodge appeared through the trees: Ariana shot her lines and jumped off his shoulder, landing on the front porch , walking in through the door, and headed upstairs to the meeting room where everyone was gathered. "Sorry we're late, did we miss anything?" she apologized: but stopped when she saw only Bryson, Carla, the Cooper twins and her father sitting at the huge oval table.
"Actually you're early, the meeting's not for another fifteen minutes: but since your particular assignment is pretty straightforward, we thought we'd get that out the way first..." Tyto smiled as he unfolded one of the large maps and laid it out flat on the table: "Uh? Sure," Ariana replied offhand (making a mental note to remind Pascal not to be so uptight about keeping meeting appointments), taking a seat next to him, as he pointed to a small town on the parchment. "Okay, this month, the Scouts are estimated to make Stonestead the site of their new supply depot, it's pretty close to the river but quite removed from the forest: so you'll have to find cover on the outskirts of the town if you're to keep an eye on them" he told her, before addressing the others, "As you all know, the titans have been pushing them around all over the place these last few months, throwing them off course and forcing them to take the long way round to their destinations" he glanced back at Ariana "But thanks to your diligent efforts, their fatalities have been steadily decreasing". "It's not been easy, but we've managed to help keep them on track accordingly," Ariana offered, trying to sound professional.
Since their close encounter with the Scouts in Stinestadt last year, the Hunt decided to convene to decide what to do, should such an encounter were ever likely to occur again. Since the Scouts had been chosen as the likeliest candidates to aid the god-titans in their endeavour to restore humanity to the world, the Queen and the Keeper were both keen to know more about them. Bryson's own knowledge had been insightful, but being out of the Scouts for twenty odd years meant he'd been out of the loop for quite a time: and from what Carla and her team described of the new commander, 'Erwin', and his squad leaders, Levi, Mike, and Hange (or crazy-as-shit-four-eyes Hange as Belle described her), it sounded like quite a lot had changed. But regardless of whether the Scouts were likely allies or not, their mission to lay the ground-work to take back Shiganshina and eventually seal the breach was something the whole walled kingdom was relying on right now: setting up a supply route was crucial in allowing a much larger force to advance south: so it made sense to try and help them where they could.
But at the same time, the Scouts need to be observed and studied: their movements, protocols and procedures taken note of, and who was who among the ranks. From what was described of him, this 'Erwin' fellow sounded like a real tactical genius, or at least, someone who wasn't a fool; one who knew how to think on his feet, and knew how to stay one step ahead.
To that end, it was decided they'd act on Ariana's original proposal, and have someone watch over the Scouts and study them: to follow them on their monthly expeditions and gather every bit of information they can on them, with the help of a god-titan for back up and support: and where possible, help them to their final destination. Of course, Ariana was the first to volunteer (seeing as it was her idea in the first place, she claimed she got first dibs), and after much debate (and stressing out on her father's part), it was decided she was the more logical option anyway: since Bryson trained her one-on-one 'scout style' in the use of ODM gear, she knew all the Scout's basic manoeuvrers, as well as their rules and regulations; and the fact she was the stealthiest of all the Celts meant she could get really close to them without arousing their suspicions. Having Shadow to back her up was the only thing that gave her parents (and everyone else) peace of mind: though it did mean the Hunt would loose one of it's best ambushers. But this didn't turn out to be too much of a hindrance, as members of the Bear, Blue wolf, Black wolf, Mountain cat, Golden Eagle Sparrowhawk, Silver fox, Grey Squirrel and White owl clans, along with about a hundred and fifty of the new Ranger families, volunteered to become part of the Hunt: and with their particular animal-titans making up the ambushers and look-out's numbers, the Hunt got a major boost in the number titans they were able to kill, as well as the range of ground they could cover on every hunt.
Since then, for the past year, Ariana and Shadow would go out with the hunt into Maria, and then head off to locate the Scouts: judging from the locations of the supply depots they'd found, they knew the Scouts were staying within range of the southern Marian river, following its path as it wound its way towards the Shiganshina district. The only problem however, was that there were places where titans would linger, sometimes in sizeable numbers, and then push them off course: forcing them to retreat to one of the depots, or camp out in a safe location and wait until the danger had passed. With half of Maria consisting of open prairie and grassland, tracking the Scouts or even finding cover was a real challenge at times. But both Ariana and Shadow were resourceful in their abilities to hide, even staying down-wind of Mike, the human hunting hound (who everyone was convinced was a Celt, or had Celtic heritage at least)
"...Speaking of routes, where's the Hunt heading to this month?" Ariana asked offhand, to which Bryson explained "Between the plains below Whitefall and the hills near Goldale, the ground rises and falls quite high in places up round there, so we'll have plenty of cover. However, the cliffs next to Whitefall are going to be a major blind-spot for the titans up there; we won't be able to clear out both the plains and the forest at the same time. So we'll concentrate our efforts on the open ground, and put some chimes up in the forest for next month's clean-up sweep"
Tyto then added, "Stonestead is over twenty miles to the west of our route, so we won't have to worry about running into the Scouts" Tyto handed Ariana a smaller map, "Here's the map of Stonestead and the surrounding area: be careful, and watch where the wind blows"
"Seriously dad? a god-titan who can command the wind as my back-up?" Ariana dryly thumbed over to the window, where Shadow was listening in. "I know, but even Shadow has to sleep at some point, and if the wind changes direction what will you do?" he frowned in concern, "You may have been doing this for a year now Ariana, but that's no excuse to start getting complacent: don't forget, we don't know if these Scouts are trustworthy or not. It'd be best to stay out of their way"
"I know that," Ariana huffed in annoyance, "But it's not easy. This Erwin guy, he hardly gives anything away, even his own squad leaders don't know what he's thinking half the time. And Shadow can't get a good read on his aura because he's so ambiguous and guarded: he doesn't make it easy, he knows how to stay one step ahead, even unconsciously"
"That's why we're here," the twins both spoke up in a chipper tone: "Since we're two of the coordinators and tacticians for the Hunt, we thought we'd lend you a hand, and check out commander Erwin for ourselves: granted our first impression of him was-, well? You know," Lucius sheepishly smiled, allowing Lucy to pick up "It never hurts to have a second opinion, and after nearly a year since our last 'encounter' with him, we figured we're ready to try and check him out with an impartial set of eyes", "or two sets in our case" Lucius added. "Plus, Angel's weather magics can provide some fog if finding cover gets a little dicey out on the plains" Carla suggested.
"I don't have a problem with you guys tagging along: hell if you two can pick up something we missed that'd be great..." Ariana smiled at the twins, before turning to her father with a more serious look, "And speaking of fog: I heard Silvester's team ran pretty close to the wall by Trost three days ago: on that secondary clean-up sweep? I know he's been doing this for a while now, but don't you think that was a bit reckless on his part? Even with a fog bank to hide them from sight: did he really have to do it on a bright sunny day with no other clouds in the sky? Even if the Garrison troops didn't see anything, they would have been close enough that they'd have heard the hummers and ODM gear"
"I did have a word with him about it, and he's promised me he won't go so close to the walls next time. He did manage to place a repelling charm by the outer gate, but I know that's beside the point. From now on, any hunting near the walls is only to be conducted at night, and with the use of a concealment charm only, no hummers allowed. It's risky I know, but we have to be sure the titans stay away from the walled cities; if the armoured and colossal titans ever come back, it might be the only thing standing between the people of those cites and certain death" Tyto explained.
"I get that," Ariana sighed in irritation as she leaned back in her chair, "But what if word about the fog and all the dead titans left in its wake got back to Erwin? He's not going to ignore that". "Maybe not, but from what you've gathered on him: he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to simply drop everything to go chasing smoke and shadows. He doesn't seem to make decisions based on rumour and conjecture: therefore, I don't think he's going to veer off course unless he's got good reason to" Bryson surmised.
"That maybe, but even so. He's still going to be curious," Ariana frowned as she folded her arms: sensing there was something weighing heavy on her mind, Tyto and the others all glanced at her in concern. "What's wrong magpie?" her father asked. Deciding there was no use in hiding it, Ariana spoke what was on her mind; what had secretly been vexing her thoughts for a long time now: "... I just-, can't help but wonder how long this is going to go on for, before we're finally sighted..." she gazed up her father with a dubious look, "You keep saying we've got to stay out of sight of the Scouts, that we don't know if they can be trusted or not: well? If we're going to find out if they really are up to the task of helping us with the god-titan's endeavour, then we're going to have to get much closer at some point. Maybe even close enough that we'll have to talk to them: and you can't keep working by the whole 'let's put a pin in it for when it come up' strategy forever. Maybe out in the wild trying to out-think the titans it may work? But these are human beings we're trying to stay ahead of, and with a guy like Erwin leading them, it won't work for long. We've got to come up with something more substantial, more organized if we get stuck and need a plan B"
Everyone gazed at her in slight surprise for a moment: even Tyto had to take stock of her words, for he knew she was right: but that didn't mean he had to like it, "I know I don't have to remind you that I'm a hunter, not a military strategist: but I'm doing the best I can under the circumstances. I have the Hunt to oversee, as well as your assignment: which by the way, still keeps me up at night" he told her matter-of-factly. His tone told everyone he wasn't angry or upset, just frustrated by the situation. "I know" Ariana sighed in an apologetic tone, "But it feels like you need to do more: I know I haven't been able to gather much on Erwin's train of thought or what makes him tick: but I do know, that from what I've seen of the man, we're going to need a plan in place for if something happens, and he starts to suspect he and the scouts aren't alone out in Maria. You told me once that no matter what, always always trust your gut instinct: well? My gut is the only thing I have to go on with Erwin, and it's telling me he's seriously smart"
Tyto paused for a moment, and folded his arms as he leaned against the table, "...Okay, just for the sake of this discussion: what do you reckon we should do?"
"...I don't know? I'm not smart like Dale or the snow twins, or cunning like Pascal and West: I just know that we've got to start taking extra precautions: Erwin may be be smart, but truth be told? They're all smart in their own crazy ways...Kinda like us," she smiled offhand, to which everyone blinked in surprise. "Back in the day, before the breach: we took a few crazy measures to ensure Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel wouldn't get caught. And we also took a few crazy risks in the name of unravelling their mystery...I don't know if Erwin's trustworthy or not, but I do know he kinda thinks the same as we do, he's not afraid to take risks if the pay-off is worth it, and he's not afraid to think outside the box. Remind you of anyone?" she smiled over at Bryson, who was a little taken aback; to which her father couldn't help but smile, "I think you and he would get along quite well you know?" she mused aloud.
"Um? Thanks" Bryon smiled sheepishly, "...Actually, from what you've described: he does sound like someone I'd be interested to meet"
"That's another thing," Ariana continued, "You may be the Hunt's resident titan expert, but you're also our resident Scout expert. Everything we know about the Scouts comes from you, and I think you should be on board with this assignment: I know you haven't been in the military for a long time, but I still believe you've got a lot to offer Bryson" she paused a moment, before glancing back at her father, "There's a couple of other things I think you can do too: but overall, I just think it wouldn't hurt to discuss having something in place for if everything goes to hell. Castle Stinestadt was a close call, but what if one day, our luck finally runs out?"
Tyto contemplated her words briefly for a short moment, before nodding in agreement: "...Alright, we'll discuss the matter when we get back, but for now, let's just get this month's hunt out of the way". "On that note then, do you want me to go with her on the assignment?" Bryson asked offhand, "Of course, duh!" Ariana deadpanned, "I'm okay with it: we can go a hunt without you" Tyto assured him. "Great, then I guess we're all set for the assignment?" Carla asked offhand. "With you guys? Yes, Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get ready for the main meeting" Tyto excused himself as he stood up and turned to leave for the room next door, "Oh and, Ariana? Don't go taking any liberties" he deadpanned. "What me? Never!" Ariana waved off as she stood up and left via the other door, followed by the others, "You know I'm good for this dad!". "I know..." he sighed.
"Seriously, you don't go taking liberties, right?" Carla asked in concern, "Carla, it's called jesting: as daughter of the master hunter it's my job to make sure the ol' grey owl keeps his wits about him," Ariana smiled slyly "With Ash, Rowan and Dale on his team, he needs to stay sharp". "That's certainly true" the twins agreed as they followed her outside.
As Ariana and her new team went around the side of the Lodge to where Shadow was sitting cross-legged on the ground, a couple of familiar faces brought a smile to their faces: "Mabel! Bren!" Carla beamed as she strode over to meet them, and inspect the little bundle Mabel was holding in her arms, "I didn't think you guys would be finished 'till later". "Miriam gave us the rest of the afternoon off, so we thought we'd surprise you guys" Mabel smiled as she handed the bundle over the Carla, revealing it to be the latest addition to the Fitzsimmons family, "And how's Lily today?" Carla smiled at the baby as she carefully took her in her arms, "Fussy and restless, so we thought some fresh air was in order" Bren smiled as he glanced over the team, "I take it you just got your orders for the next assignment? Where're the Scouts off to this month?". "Stonestead," Ariana replied as she looked all around, "Hey, where're the girls?"
"Oh, no idea where they could've snuck off to?" Bren shrugged with a smile. Glancing up at Shadow, the god-titan turned away and pretended not to know: everyone knew this little hint by heart, as it was Marigold, Phoebe and Clemmy's favourite game. Deciding to indulge the girls in their fun, Ariana glanced up at Shadow's neck, and tucked behind one of his long thick bangs, she caught sight of Marigolds smiling little face; trying her best to hide. "...Oh really? ..." she smirked as she went around Shadow's side, and silently climbed her way up his arm and into his thick mane of hair, "Are you sure they're not, HERE!" she pounced on the girls, making them jump out of their hiding place with giggles of glee as they purposely tumbled over Shadow's neck into his cupped hand, where he ticked them gently with the tips of his fingers, while Ariana assumed her usual perch on his shoulder. "You girls are going to have to find a much better hiding place than that if you want to beat Ariana!" Bren called up to them, "I wanna play hide 'an seek daddy!" Clemmy laughed as Shadow set his palm down on the ground, "Then why don't you go and pester Josefa and Jaye for a game, huh?" Bren smiled as he helped the girls down out of the god-titan's hand, and let them run off to where the Raven twins were talking with the Willum sisters.
"Hard to believe they've grown so much," Carla smiled as she held baby Lily, gently stroking her cheek with the side of her finger "And you young lady, not two months old and you're getting so big already," she cooed: utterly smitten by her sweet little face. With her pale ash blond locks, rosy cheeks and bright blue eyes, Lily took after her father with his eyes and jawline, but her cheeks, ears and smile were undoubtedly her mothers. Leaning down for a closer look, Shadow let out a low soft purr as the baby smiled up at him, and waved her chubby little hands around with a giggle of excitement: "Oh, you want to say hello to Shadow? Here you go..." Carla smiled as she gently placed the baby in the god-titan's cupped hand. She was absolutely tiny compared to him, like a newborn baby mouse: as she gazed up at the giant in excitement, he smiled warmly as ever, and with a gentle wave of his free hand, summoned a handful of butterflies to come and dance around her; much to everyone's delight.
"Oh, we must ask Poppy to sketch a picture of this" Mabel smiled as she lost herself in the cuteness of the moment, "I think we already have one with her and butterflies. Or am I thinking of the one with the humming birds?" Bren thought aloud. As baby Lily continued to giggle and wave her arms around, trying to catch one of the butterflies, Bryson couldn't help by feel his own heart flutter a little: not out of fear for the baby, but out of ceaseless wonder for how such an enormous and powerful being can be so caring and gentle; it never failed to instil a sense of awe, and he couldn't stop smiling over it.
"Sorry we dawdled," Lawrence announced his presence as he, Drake, Brendan, Brendis and Bren came around the corner of the Lodge, with Bemadette, Gustav and Claude bringing up the rear, "-But someone had to take their sweet time stacking the books in our room" he gave Brendis a sharp look. "I already said I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know you arrange them by colour?!" Brendis shot back. "Oh, and we picked up some additional travellers along the way" Lawrence thumbed over his shoulder at Bemadette, Gustav and Claude. "Thank you Lawrence" Mabel smiled as they approached, "Long time no see ol' chums! Time certainly flies when you get stuck into a good book," Claude beamed as he adjusted pince-nez "With a whole city full of them, I'd have thought you'd be getting bored of all that reading by now" Bryson teased, "Me? Bored of a book? Bite your tongue!" Claude playfully punched him on the shoulder: "So I take it the research slacked off early today, seeing as you're back so soon" Carla surmised, "Eh, we've made some good strides this week, and I figured it would be nice to get back during the daylight hours for once" Claude shrugged. Seeing Lily in Shadow's hand, Lawrence climbed up onto the god-titan's wrist and gazed up at him, "You remembered to wash your hands?" he asked dubiously, :Of course, cleanliness is next to godliness after all: Shadow smiled at him, letting him take Lily out of his hand, and giving her back to her mother. "So, I take it Miriam gave everyone the day off if you two are here" Bryson smiled, "It's Friday?" Gustav raised an eyebrow, "Oh yes that's right, Miriam said she was going to put a pig on the spit tonight" Carla suddenly remembered. "A whole pig?!" Clay and Hazel suddenly appeared out of the tree on Shadow's left, "If it's the chops you two want you better get going, Red and his brothers are already fighting over who gets first dibs" Gustav thumbed over his shoulder: without another word, the two siblings took off on their ODM gear at breakneck speed, making a bee-line for the Inn.
"Aren't you gonna try and beat them to it?" Drake asked offhand, "Hell no, let 'em fight it out and sneak the best cuts when they're not looking: besides, chances are it's one of the colossal boars, so there'll be plenty to go around" Ariana replied as she crossed her legs. "So, did you boys have another good day in the city?" Carla smiled, "It's a city full of books and weird stuff, what's not to like?" Lawrence shrugged dryly. "I think what Carla means is, did you find anything new today?" Mabel sheepishly suggested. "-Ohohoh! We found this giant flying machine up in the engineering museum called a blimp! It's absolutely huge! And it floats in the air using a gas called helium!" Drake excitedly bounced up and down on his heels, "Oh heaven's yes! Quite an extraordinary feat of engineering! You have to see it to believe it!" Claude added in equal excitement, "In fact, I wanted to have a word with you two about it" he glanced over at Gustav and Bemadette, "YOU WANT US TO BUILD YOU A DAMN FLYING MACHINE?!" Gustav exclaimed in utter disbelief, "Really?!" Bemadette's eyes lit up as she clasped her hands together in eager anticipation. "Uh-, heh, no not quite: I was actually wondering how you two might feel about a little 'restorative' work," Claude sheepishly clarified as he beckoned them to follow him, "Catch you all later!" he bid farewell, before explaining more in detail as he led the two blacksmiths in the direction of the Willum's Inn, with Drake trailing close behind on Claude's heels.
"Well? I dunno know about you guys but I'm gonna go get first dibs on the pig!" Brendis smiled as he took off after them, "Hey wait up!" Bren and Brendan took after him, trying to keep up as he disappeared into the thick undergrowth of the forest: "Don't push if you get stuck behind someone in the queue!" Mabel called after them. "Hm, boys will be boys," Carla sighed with a small smile, "You know Eren was just-..." She paused a brief moment in slight hesitation, before continuing in happier nostalgia, "...He was just the same: always restless, and always unable to stay still long enough". "You know? I think he'd have been a good companion for the boys: he certainly would've had the energy to keep up with them" Mabel grinned; "And then some" Carla couldn't help but chuckle. "Say, do you want to help me give Lily her bath? We've hardly had time to talk this week, and the pig won't be cooked for another hour or so" Mabel suggested as she handed Lily back to Carla, "Oh, really?" she smiled in delight as she got the baby comfortable in her arms, "Certainly, Bren's got the girl's covered: well, as covered as he's going to get if the Raven twins are joining in the fun" Mabel smiled as she watched her husband try to hide behind a large tree stump, only to be pounced upon by Marigold, while Lawrence tried to brush some leaf-litter off Clemmy's dress. The two woman continued to chat as they walked back towards their home-tree, laughing and gossiping all the way until their voices faded amongst the trees.
As she watched them wander further and further away, Ariana couldn't help but smile, "...She just love's spoiling Lily huh?", "Why not? She's a sweet little thing: and as a mother herself she can't help it" Bryson smiled, "For sure: I'll just be glad when the whole 'crying at night phase' is over" Ariana thought aloud in slight weariness, "Amen to that" the twins concurred as they shot their lines and flew up onto Shadow's other shoulder, followed by Bryson. "But aside from that, Mabel certainly did a good job: and she's an excellent mother" the former scout added, "That's certainly true: and I think Bren's over the worst of the whole 'am I gonna be a good dad?' thing" Ariana thought aloud. "Fatherhood is no easy task: its a lifelong commitment you dedicate the sum total of your heart, energy and time to; and for what it's all been worth, I think Bren has surprised himself" Bryson replied as he watched Bren chase the girls around the training ground, followed by the Raven twins, Ashlyn and Hawk, : he certainly knows how to have some fun along the way: Shadow smiled.
After watching their antics for a little while, Bryson changed the subject "...Well? I guess we'll be the one's finishing up the prep-work then?" he smiled. "Looks that way," Ariana glanced up at Shadow, "What'd you reckon bud? Shall we go home, get the rest of our gear together and get Angel ready? Just don't tell her Lily's taking a bath or we'll never get her away from Bren and Mabel's place"
Shadow nodded and carefully stood back up, steadily making his way back to the Grey Owl home-tree. As they walked through the forest, Ariana glanced over at the twins and Bryson on Shadow's other shoulder: and wondered offhand, if this new team arrangement was going to work out okay. Working virtually solo for a year had been a good way to not have to worry about anyone else's safety: she only had herself and Shadow to worry about, but with others in tow, there was always the possibility for something to go wrong. Not that she doubted Bryson, Carla, Angel or the twins, she knew they were all good at what they did, and knew how to hide themselves well: but still, the knowing that you can never predict the final outcome made her wary...
She made a mental note to check everyone had their concealment stones before leaving.
The following week, mid-morning somewhere in Maria:
"Is it just me? Are we damn lucky today?" Oruo called out to Gunther as they galloped across the open prairie, "Two hours we've been out in the open, and not a single titan in sight!"
"I have to admit" Gunther replied, "It is a bit strange"
"Don't say that! You'll jinx it!" Petra reprimanded Oruo, "Oh? I didn't peg you for being the superstitious type Petra dear?" he raised an eyebrow with a smug grin, "Remind me to find you a rabbit's foot in the market place upon our return". "Ha! You can keep it!" Petra shot back, "You need it way more than I do: especially for if you keep flapping your jowls like that"
"Like wha- GHA!" Oruo nearly lost his footing in the stirrups as he accidentally bit his tongue, much to Petra's amusement; while the captain simply kept his eyes on the horizon, paying his squad no attention.
Indeed, the morning had passed without incident as the legion headed south in their long-distance scouting formation: spread out for over kilometre in their various positions, the Scouts were making good time as they passed by scattered villages and solitary farms. And as the edge of the great Marian forest began to loom on the horizon, Erwin turned to Mike, as the squad leader held the map in one hand: "We can't be too far off the main south-western road by now?" he called to the human hunting hound, "About another few miles give or take," Mike replied, "Stonestead should be near the river town of Bargeton, beyond a wooded glen: we should see some windmills come into view before then". "Very good," Erwin replied as he scanned the horizon, keeping his eyes peeled for the slightest hint of trouble...or anything else.
The Scout's commander was not a superstitious man, nor one to indulge in outlandish rumours: it was true he was unorthodox by his peer's standards, and certainly not one to give orders sitting on his ass. But when certain threads of information came his way which pertained to the scouts appointed duties, he wasn't one to ignore something that piqued his curiosity. It came as quite as a surprise when, just the other week commander Pyxis approached him with a story about he and his garrison witnessing a 'singing fog' roll past Trost, leaving over a hundred titans dead in its wake, and leaving the witnesses completely dumbfounded. If it had been anyone else, it would be considered the ramblings of some drunken old fool: but Erwin knew Pyxis well, and despite his eccentricities, the man was not one to go telling tall tales (even when drunk). But something about the whole thing didn't seem straightforward: why would Pyxis approach him with such an unbelievable story in the first place? Even if he didn't believe him, it was still a risky thing to do: if the top brass ever got wind of it there would be questions raised pertaining to the commander's state of mind, among other things; ergo, Erwin kept the conversation strictly to himself, even his squad leaders were not informed of their meeting.
Erwin didn't know what to make of the incredible story, and so had pushed it to the back of his mind, and concentrated on the expedition. But still, Pyxis's words wouldn't leave him be, and it was a vexation that refused to let his mind be still...
...I don't know what it is we saw up on the wall, but all I know is that my troops are wary, and worried, that there may be something else stalking the wilds of Maria. Something, that is able to kill titans with relative ease: and no one knows if that's a good thing, or a bad thing
The titans were one thing: but something that could bait and kill them? That would be something indeed... But would that something, whatever it was, be approachable, or dangerous?
"Hate to break it to you guys, but it looks like the titans might have other ideas for us!" Hange pointed to the red signal flair shooting into the sky on their left. Within seconds, several more red flairs went up, and soon the thunder of titan footsteps could be heard steadily approaching from beyond the rise of a low-lying hill. Taking a deep breath in through his nose, Mike confirmed it: "Eleven of them, and it smells like they're coming straight up from the south-east"
At the back of his mind Erwin cursed his luck. "But-, that's right where we need to go!" Hange realized, "Indeed, but we have no choice" Erwin replied as he took his flare gun and shot the green smoke westward, steering his horse in that direction. Soon, every Scout in the formation fired a green smoke signal to confirm the change in direction: and as the titans appeared over the hill, Erwin turned to Mike again, "On this current heading we'll reach the forest in less than a hour, are there any roads to Stonestead from there?" he asked as he saw the forest steadily come into view: "Not really," Mike studied the map at a glance, "This is one of the more remote areas of Maria, hardly anyone lived out here. The only village near to our current heading is Whitefall, just a few miles south of here: there's a road leading out from there that might just take us to the main south-western road; albeit the long way round," he then glanced at Erwin with a look of disappointment, "But I'm afraid it'll be too far to reach Stonestead by nightfall from there"
"...Alright," Erwin nodded as he fired another signal flare, telling the whole formation to head south, so as to follow the tree line: rather than risk going into the forest and being split up, as well as confronting any titans that could be hiding in there...
Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the Marian forest:
The forest was bright and bold today, as the 'Scout watchers' made their way through the maze of giant trees. To their left, a stunning view of the open prairie and grasslands fell in and out of sight as Shadow walked parallel to the nearby cliffs, using his blue crystal spear as a walking stick. Through the trees to their right, at least a few hundred yards or so away, a couple of titans could be seen lumbering by: dazed, as if in a trance, and completely oblivious to their presence.
"Well at least the baiting chimes are working," Ariana thought aloud as she watched another hypnotized titan wander on by, also completely out of it, "Silvester and his team will have a good clean-up sweep next week"
"For sure" Lucy agreed, "You know? I can't believe how many titans we killed yesterday: this month's tally is sure to be the highest of the year thus far" Lucius thought aloud from where he sat on Shadow's right shoulder alongside his sister, "Definitely, I lost count after thirty two" Ariana replied from Shadow's left shoulder, "I got about twenty" Lucy replied, "Nineteen for me" Lucius threw in. :Glad we stuck around to help out with the spotting too, it got pretty crowded down on the prairie: Shadow thought aloud, "And making sure everyone got to the first base-camp was a good call, that bolder-field below the treeline was some pretty tough terrain" Lucy added, "Yeah, but now we're going to have to fly to Stonestead to make up for lost time: as soon as we get back to Whitefall, you guys hitch a ride on Angel while me 'an Shadow take point, okay?" Ariana replied, "Sure thing!" both twins smiled with a nod.
Lucius was about to say something else, when Shadow abruptly stopped: with their ODM gear's grappling hooks embedded into his skin the kids didn't fall off, but as he glanced to his right, they realized something was up: "What's up Shadow? Is it a titan?"
:No: he spelt out with a look of concern on his face, :I can feel horses hooves approaching from the north:
"What?!" Ariana gawked: knowing right away who it was.
High above the trees, Angel soared in a wide circle as she kept an eye on Shadow and the kids below, while Carla and Bryson scanned the edge of the forest several miles away. As the white bird-titan banked left and came around to face the north, both humans spotted something rather disconcerting: several green smoke plumes shot into the sky in a westward direction, and although the shooters were obscured from sight by the trees, it didn't take a genius to figure out who it was.
"The scouts?" Carla blinked in surprise, "But-, they're supposed to be over ten miles to the north-east!", "Looks like they had to avoid a few titans: they must be going the long way round" Bryson surmised as he watched the smoke dissipate on the wind, "But, if they continue to head along the edge of the forest, they'll-
"-DOVE! FREE-WING!" Ariana shouted as she and the twins flew up in Shadow's cupped hands, hovering on his updraughts as he flew alongside Angel in his elemental form, "Shadow just picked up the scouts horses! They're heading west along the treeline!", "We know! We just saw their signal flares!" Bryson shouted back over the rushing sound of the billowing winds. "Whitefall's less than five miles ahead! The chimes we put up in the forest are less than a mile from the village, and all the dead titans will still be evaporating! What're we gonna do?!". Thinking about it for a moment, Bryson had an idea, "...We'll split up into two teams, Dove and the snow twins will go with Angel to keep an eye on the chimes, and I'll come with you and Shadow to watch over the scouts". "But what if they take the chimes? When they see what they can do, they won't just dismiss it as a fluke!" Ariana shouted back, "Then let them take them, we can just make another set: it's not worth getting caught for the sake of one concealment spell: we'll just take a wait and see approach, and report back to your father what they do" Bryson replied, "Okay then, come on!" Ariana beckoned him to join her: Shadow placed the twins on Angel's back, while Bryson jumped off over the edge of her wing, allowing the master of the winds to catch him in his updraughts.
"Seriously though, what if you guys run into trouble?!" Elysia worried, "Don't worry, we got this, you just concentrate on keeping your team concealed: and if something happens, just keep one foot on the trees, I'll be able to reach you wherever you are, okay?" Javorin told her "Good luck"
"Good luck!" Ariana shouted as Shadow banked away, and flew down in the direction of the village, "You too!" Carla called back as Angel banked the other way, and circled down to a clearing in the forest.
Whitefall was a small village situated on a steady incline next to the edge of the forest, and a vertical cliff-face that dropped some sixty feet down to open prairie below, connected via a winding road that was carved out of the rock: here, the Marian forest stood divided by the cliffs with only the giant trees to bridge the gap, and a series of small waterfalls dotted along the edge, cascading down to the forest below; which then joined up into one large river that cut through the prairie in a winding serpentine line of blue amid the endless green. As they descended down through the trees, Shadow assumed his hawk form and began flying through the canopy: summoning the winds to blow southwards, keeping them downwind of the scouts. And as Ariana and Bryson felt the updraughts soften, they took that as their cue to engage their ODM gear, and fly off on their own: keeping pace with Shadow above.
"The Scouts are sticking to the edge of the forest to avoid any titans, while we're heading in a straight line: from this distance we've got at least three miles on them" Bryson speculated aloud, "Then that gives us enough to time to find somewhere to hide," Ariana called back as she flew ahead, "Since they're ten miles off course, that means they now got an extra thirty miles to cover. There's no way they'll reach Stonestead by nightfall from here, they'll have to camp out in the village and resume their journey in the morning". "In which case we better find somewhere to sleep tonight" Bryson replied, "Are you okay to cover the scouts while I go and search for a place to camp out?" he asked offhand, "Sure thing, just make sure it's far enough away from the village" Ariana instructed, "Okay then, good luck you two!" the former scout bid them farewell as he took off, heading deep into the forest.
"Okay Shadow, just you and me: like always" Ariana glanced up at the hawk, who glanced back at her with a sure nod. Pressing onwards, the village soon appeared up ahead through the giant trees, and the smell of horses and people soon began to drift by: 'They can't be too far off now' Ariana thought offhand as she scanned the trees and undergrowth for a good spot to hide.
Meanwhile, a short time later:
As the edge of the forest continued to curve southwards, and the incline steadily grew a little steeper, the village of Whitefall soon appeared through the giant trees, with a sparse copse of birch, ash and horse-chestnut surrounding it's northern side, and a wide shallow river running through it towards the cliff-edge. As the front of the formation came together and galloped through the copse, the entire scout regiment soon came to the edge of the village, and stopped to wait for the rear to catch up.
"Well, that was a close one" Eld thought aloud as he watched the scouts file into the village, "And no one died this time, thank heavens" Petra breathed a sigh of relief, "This time, " Levi shot her a cold look, "We've still got a long way to go, and we're way off course now," he glanced over at Erwin, "So what're your orders?". "We won't reach Stonestead by nightfall as planned: so we'll camp here tonight and resume first thing in the morning" Erwin stated, turning back to Mike, "Have the troops see to their horses first, and then pick out some branches amongst the trees to hang the hammocks from. We'll continue the prep-work for the supply depot and plan out a route from here to Stonestead". "Yes sir" Mike nodded, and headed off into the village to give the troops their orders.
"Hey Erwin!-" Hange came galloping up and stopped alongside him, "Kinda weird how those titans just broke off their pursuit and wandered off into the forest like that huh? Maybe it might be worth investigating?" she grinned as she wiggled her eyebrows, dropping the obvious hint, "Weird yes, worth investigating? No, we're already too far off course as it is, and we need to prioritize on securing the area before it gets dark" the commander stated firmly, turning to the stone-faced captain, "Levi, you and your squad are on the first watch, replenish your gas if need be and then assume your positions around the village". "Yes sir" the captain acknowledged. "But it's not even lunch yet! There's loads of time to have a quick snoop! You never know, we might just come across a truly amazing specimen this time!" Hange threw in with eager puppy eyes.
Erwin was about to shoot her down with a firm no, when the sound of a commotion somewhere on the other side of the village grabbed their attentions: one of the newer rookies came galloping up to them in a fluster and interrupted "Commander! You need to see this right away sir!". Glancing at one another in slight surprise, the commander, titan-scientist and Levi squad all followed the rookie up through the village to the cliff-side, where several of the other troops, including Mike, were all gazing at something down on the prairie below. "What's going on?" Erwin demanded, "I-, I don't know sir! We just saw them and-, well? See for yourself!" another soldier answered, equally confused as he was surprised.
As they pulled their horses up alongside the cliff edge, Erwin, Hange, and the Levi squad were all totally taken aback by the sight before them...
Spread out over a two to three square mile radius, were tens of dozens of dead titans scattered about the prairie, all varying size classes and all had their napes slashed and cut: but something was very off with this scene, the titan's bodies were all black and grey, as if they were decaying naturally like any other dead animal, and their corpses were giving off very little steam as they evaporated at an unbelievably slower pace. It was quite a sight, and for once, Hange was at a complete loss for words as she gawked at the scene. "The winds blowing south, that's why I didn't smell them..." Mike frowned, "Who or what did this?" he thought aloud.
"... That's what I'd like to know" Erwin replied as he knitted his brows together, the cogs in his mind turning as his curiosity piqued tenfold: "Titan's don't decay" Petra thought aloud in confusion, "So? What happened to them? What could cause a titan body to decay?", "Search me if I know," Gunther shook his head, "Nothing like this has ever been seen before". As the troops speculated amongst each other, Levi gazed out over the numerous dead titans with a rare genuine look of surprise, before he resumed his ice cold glare, and began to wonder who or what did this: and if 'it' or 'they' would be a problem to contend with.
As the moment of shock and surprise quickly wore off, Hange's face lit up like a firework display, as she was suddenly filled with a whole new boundless excitement and wonder, "OH MY GOD! ERWIN!-" she turned to the commander, "You must let me take a team down there to check it out! I mean- decaying titan bodies?! This is a first in the history of mankind! There's no way we can squander a discovery like this!" she practically bounced up and down in her saddle. "She does have a point, nothing like this has ever been reported before" Mike pointed out. "... Alright, take a team down there and see what you can find, but don't go out too far: this is still titan country remember" Erwin stated, but Hange was already galloping off towards the cliff-side road as fast as her horse could carry her, yelling mad ramblings and laughing with elated joy, with her assistant Moblit trying to keep up. Sighing in exasperation, Erwin turned to Levi "You better go keep an eye on her", "As if you needed to ask" Levi deadpanned as he turned his horse and took off after the crazy brunette, with his squad bringing up the rear. "What do we do? Once Hange's finished inspecting them; do we continue to Stonestead?" Mike asked: Erwin thought about it a moment, before glancing over at him, "Obviously the supply route takes precedence, but we can't just glaze over this either: we'll spend the rest of the day collecting every bit of information we can find; to that end, arrange some additional teams to go down there and start taking notes and sketches. Like Hange said, we mustn't waste this new discovery" the commander stated.
A short time later, three hundred yards away up in the forest:
As she watched the scouts along the cliff-edge and down on the plains via her telescope, Ariana couldn't help but sigh as she gazed over at Shadow, who was perched next to her on the same branch, "Well? It can't be helped, and there's no way they'll back-shelve this", she thought aloud, to which he nodded in agreement.
It had only been less than an hour since the scouts discovered all the dead titans, but they'd been remarkably tight and efficient in the gathering of their scientific data: Hange in particular was having an absolute ball as she scribbled away in her journal, while the rest of the investigative teams took their time with each corpse; writing down their observations, while the more artistically talented scouts sketched the bodies and their strange form of decay. As she trained her telescope down on Erwin and his entourage, Ariana felt a cold knot tie up in her stomach as she saw Hange holding one of the venom-coated crystal-headed arrows, showing it to Erwin with much enthusiasm: "Ah shit, They found the arrows" she cursed with a sigh; Shadow pecked her lightly on the knee, grabbing her attention as he spelt out :It can't be helped:. "Yeah I know but-, even so, it's a clue that could lead them to us" she sighed in worry, :That maybe, but they got to find us first, remember?: he replied; even though his bird form didn't betray much emotion, Ariana could tell he was smiling that knowing smile of his. "...I know we're both good at being stealthy an' all? But how the hell can you remain so relaxed?" she frowned down at him: wishing he wouldn't be so blasé about this, :Experience, and I can sense them coming a mile off. Well? Many miles off in fact:
"I just wish you'd take this a little more seriously," Ariana huffed, "They may not be able to wield magic like you, but they're not idiots; not by a long shot..." Ariana frowned as she trained her telescope on the Levi squad, who were keeping watch from the cliffs near the road; a couple of times Levi glanced over in their direction, but Ariana knew that he couldn't see them, not from where they were perched amid the dense dark canopy.
Of all the Scouts Ariana had come to know over the past year, Levi was the one that unnerved her the most: from his blunt abrasive personality to his lethal proficiency as the scouts most powerful soldier, everything about him seemed cold, distant and unkind. He was not the sort of person she'd want to run into, and he was definitely not the one she'd want to face in a fight. The very thought of him going after Shadow and cutting him down mercilessly never failed to send a pang of dread through her. Despite her position on the legion being potential trustworthy allies, she had to wonder, if, with someone like Levi in their ranks, would their task be that much harder to accomplish?
Ariana felt another peck on her knee, as Shadow replied with a flap of his wing :I do take this seriously, and I'm sorry if that's how I come off. But you need to trust me, and trust that I know how to handle them if something happens. Alright?:. Ariana gazed down at him a moment, before letting out a sigh of regret: gently stroking his breast feathers, as she mentally reprimanded herself, "...I'm sorry Shadow, I just worry for you is all... I know one day our paths will cross with the scouts eventually, I just-, don't know what they'll do when they see you?". :It's okay to worry, with a guy like Levi in their ranks it's certainly an iffy proposition. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's just focus on the task at hand:
Ariana was about to say something else, when the scent of a titan made her turn around. Through the giant trees, she saw three large ten-meter class titans coming around the edge of the eastern-side treeline, up into the copse below the village. From the way they were slowly lumbering along with dazed expressions on their faces, it was obvious they were being lured in by the baiting chimes: but even though she and Shadow could see them, it was evident the scouts hadn't yet spotted them. Glancing back at the cliff-edge and the village, they didn't seem to have heard the footsteps yet either.
Ariana folded her telescope away as she mused aloud, "Huh, Mike's nose is usually pretty good, and the winds blowing south so he should at least-
But no sooner had she spoken, a red signal flare shot up from the north side of the village, and within seconds they heard Erwin shouting orders, and everyone readying for battle, "-Oh, spoke too soon..." Ariana smiled offhand. As she watched the scouts race back to the opposite side of the village, while those down on the plains galloped back up the cliff-side road: the three titans turned and slowly made their way into the forest; much to the scouts confusion as they came to a screeching halt at the edge of the copse. As the scouts grew more and more bewildered, Ariana leaned forward like a cat that had just spotted a mouse, "Looks like this is about to get interesting" she smiled. :This is quite new for them: Shadow spelt out with an outstretched wing.
"However..." Ariana glanced behind her, to the rise where the incline came to its highest point, "Even though the titans can hear the chimes, the scouts won't be able to hear them until they clear that hill back there; let's see what they do..." she smiled, before suddenly remembering, "-Oh hell I nearly forgot!" she turned to Shadow, "You better go and see where Bryson got to, make sure he's hunkered down somewhere safe!". With an affirmative nod, Shadow took off and disappeared into the forest, while Ariana readied her concealment stone and hand-grips: "Better get ahead of them: since it looks like they're not going to kill the titans on the spot, they're gonna see where they go instead," Ariana surmised, "This is definitely going to get interesting...", she shot her lines and took off in the direction of the baiting chimes, glancing over her shoulder to check the position of the titans, and calculate the likeliest route they were going to take through the giant trees.
Meanwhile, back in the village:
As the three ten-meter class titans headed up into the forest, Erwin and the scouts were somewhat at a loss what to think: "I don't get it? It's like they didn't even notice us," Eld thought aloud, "What's got their attention so badly that they'd ignore a whole bunch of humans?!" Oruo raised an eyebrow. "Ohohoh! this is so exciting!" Hange bounced up and down in her saddle, "-Let's see where they're going!" she beamed as she galloped off after them. Intrigued (as well as concerned for Hange's safety), Erwin chased after her with Mike and the Levi squad close behind, "Ness! You're in charge of the camp, we'll return when we can!" Erwin called out behind him, "Yes sir!" said squad leader replied.
Since they were going at such a slow pace, the scouts easily caught up, and found they could trot alongside the titans as they followed behind them up the incline; as they crested the rise, they spotted several other titans steadily walking in the same direction. All completely ignoring them, and seemingly staring off into empty space. "What on earth is with them all? I know abnormal's behave differently from normal titans, but this is totally new" Petra thought aloud, feeling very uncomfortable being near to so many titans, "And why are they all heading in the same direction?" Mike frowned as he gazed ahead, but the giant trees and thick understory obscured the rest of the forest from view. "Hehehe! Two major discoveries in one day! This is one for the history books for sure!" Hange continued to fidget and bounce in restless excitement: "Question is, what're we going to find when we reach the same place as all these oversized shits?" Levi glanced over at the titans in destain: right now he was very on edge as he kept one hand on the reins and one on his hand-grip. "We'll find out soon enough..." Erwin replied as they pressed on.
Before long, everyone began to notice a strange sound over the bird calls and other ambient forest noises: it sounded distant as it echoed through the trees, just noticeable through the rustling of the canopy high above. But as they started to ascend downhill at a slight angle, the sound could be heard more clearly. A strange eerie low humming and mournful whistling, both rising and falling on different notes, and 'singing' a very inconsistent tune. "What is that?" Petra thought aloud as she gazed up and around at the giant trees, trying to determine where it was coming from: "Whoever they are, they're the worse choir ever: can't even carry a tune right!" Oruo frowned in destain.
Following the titans for about a mile deep into the forest, the scouts soon spotted a large clearing up ahead with a big wide fast-flowing river snaking through it: with many more titans all standing in a tight cluster together, all gazing up in the same direction: whatever it was they were looking at, was obscured from sight on the ground by the giant trees. Signalling for everyone to stop, Erwin grabbed his hand-grips and discreetly spoke, "Whatever it is, we'll have to get up higher for a closer look: stay close and keep quiet"
Shooting their lines up into the canopy, the scouts flew up off their horses into the thick greenery, and made their way to the trees on the edge of the clearing: as they stepped out onto the outer-most branches and gazed down into the wide open space, they stopped and stared at the sight below; completely taken aback. Hanging from a long stout branch in a particularly tall giant tree, was a set of giant bamboo wind chimes: consisting of eight tubes ranging in size from one to eight meters, they hung from a large metal hoop supported by several small ropes which fed into a huge greased swivel, suspended by a long thick rope looped and tied around the branch. The whole thing gently spun clockwise while the tubes whistled and hummed as the wind blew through them, on the side of each tube was strange set of symbols; the likes of which the scouts had never seen before. And as they listened to the strange haunting melody, they saw all the titans were gazing up at them in a hypnotic daze, as if they were the loveliest things they'd ever heard: there had to be about fifty odd titans here, and more were arriving from all directions.
Yet again, Hange was lost for words as her overexcitement took a back-seat to her amazement and disbelief, "...They're-, attracted to those wing chimes?" she blurted out, leaning down for a better look, "No, they're being hypnotized by them! Actually hypnotized!". "Unbelievable," Mike blinked in surprise, "Who made them?" Eld thought aloud, "Indeed," Erwin concurred. "Hehehe! This is way better than I could've ever imagined!" Hange beamed with glee, "Someone actually discovered how to hypnotize titans and lull them into ignoring humans! Oh the potential here is just way too great!". "... You're not wrong there Hange," Erwin knitted his brows together in contemplative thought.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the clearing above the river:
Even though she could see the scouts up in the canopy from where she was hiding, Ariana was too far away to make out what they were saying, plus the loud thundering rapids of the river didn't help: "...What're you going to do Erwin?" she murmured to herself with a frown of intrigue; already having a good idea what they might do. As the scouts continued to talk, Ariana glanced down and looked around the clearing, checking for any hints of Angel's position; "Wherever they are, they sure found a good spot to hide" she thought aloud.
On another side of the clearing, between the scouts and Ariana's position on the other side of the river, some thirty yards back into the giant trees, Carla and the twins watched the scouts from Angel's back, invisible to all as they maintained their watch. Suddenly, the wind picked up sharply for a second as Shadow's elemental form invisibly blew through the trees, depositing Bryson silently onto the avian god-titan's back. "Sorry to just drop in unannounced (no pun intended). But Shadow's just told me what's happened" he whispered, "Where's Ariana?". "We can't see her anywhere" Carla sighed in worry, :Don't worry: Shadow spelt out on the side of the tree, making sure it faced away from the scouts line of sight, :I can feel her heartbeat nearby, she's up in the trees above the river: he pointed to where the river flowed out of the clearing, although no one could see her, they breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay..." Carla turned her attention back to the scouts, "Let's see what they decide to do"
At the same time:
"Regardless of the reasons why, this is way too important to leave be! And just think! With these babies handy we would never have to worry about another titan sneaking up on us whenever we're out on an expedition! We just hang them up somewhere and voua la! Instant titan protection!" Hange beamed maniacally, "For once, I actually have to agree with shitty-glasses: those chimes would come in handy for keeping our troops safe" Levi threw in, "But, what'll happen if whoever hung them up comes back, and finds they're gone?" Petra pointed out, "Tough luck: the scouts have full claim on whatever property we deem useful in the name of aiding our mission, and these chimes look pretty useful" Levi deadpanned. Thinking about it, Erwin had to agree "This is indeed too big an opportunity to pass up, and there's no guarantee they'll still be here if we pass this way again," he turned to the group and ordered, "Mike, head back to the camp and prepare one of the wagons for a heavy load: once that's done arrange a couple of teams to come up here and retrieve the chimes. The rest of us will remain here and clear this area of all these titans, and dispatch any others that come into the area". "Yes sir" Mike nodded, and took off back to where the horses were waiting patiently: "Okay," Erwin readied his pairing blades and jumped off the branch, "Let's get to work!"
"Ah shit, " Ariana sighed in frustration as she watched the scouts start dispatching all the titans, "Gustav's gonna bust a blood vessel,"
"Wow, look at them go," the twins both blinked in amazement: "... So that's the Levi squad huh?" Bryson frowned as he watched the five scouts in question move with incredible speed and dexterity: their movements so attuned and synchronized to one another that Levi didn't need to give any orders, nor did any of them need to communicate; they just simply moved as one, like a murmur of starlings. :Yep, that's them: Shadow spelt out, "You weren't kidding when you said they had some serious moves" the former scout thought aloud. Carla couldn't help but feel her hackles rise in dread a little: she'd heard about the Levi squad, and from what Ariana and Shadow had described of them, she knew they were pros; but seeing them in action like this, even against hypnotized titans really put their proficiency into perspective. It made her fear for Angel and Shadow's safety, and in the back of her mind she hoped to never have to take them on in a fight: "Whatever happens, you better not engage them" she gazed up at Shadow with a stern mother hen look: "Dove," Bryson placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, if anything happen we'll all be careful, and have each other's backs, alright?". Taking a deep breath as she tried to keep her cool, Carla tried to push her anxieties aside as she watched the scouts, "...You're right: I'm sorry it's just-", "-We know," the twins patted her other shoulder, "We're worried too, but that's not gonna stop us from loosing our heads" Lucius assured her, "Don't worry okay? You got this" Lucy added.
"Seriously Javorin, has she got this?" Elysia worried as she read Carla's aura, unsure how to quell her dread. "It's the first time she's ever seen the scouts in action, never mind the Levi squad, it's only natural for her to feel worried: as are you" he assured her, "But don't worry, I'm right here: and I can sense everything happening through the forest and the winds". "Hmm..." the weather goddess groaned in worry, "Just promise me if anything happens, you'll get them all to safety", "Hey come on, it'll be alright: you'll be alright; don't focus on what might be, just concentrate on what's happening now" Javorin coolly told her.
Glancing up at him, Elysia saw that knowing smile of his, and knew he had this in hand: swallowing hard as she tried to focus on the task at hand, Elysia couldn't help but feel her hackles rise, with her entire neck and back feather's standing on end. "Hey-" she suddenly felt Carla's soft hand on her cheek, as she got up and leaned forward to comfort her, "You'll do just fine: you always do; I'm just as scared as you are, but that's okay. We're in this together, and I'm with you whatever happens" she smiled. Elysia was amazed: 'Even under these circumstances, you're still worried more for me and the others...' she thought, as a smile crossed her lips, '...Yeah, I am scared: but I'll do this no matter what' she thought as she continued to watch the scouts: daring to hope that no matter what happened, they'll all be okay.
"That's the last titan..." Lucius pointed out as the final titan in the clearing fell dead from Erwin's pairing blades, and the group then flew up onto the branch the chimes were hanging from, "And it looks like they're now gonna try and take the chimes down" Lucy added. :As long as they stay up in the tree they'll be okay: Shadow spelt out, "More titans nearby?" Carla glanced up at him in worry, :Seventeen coming from the east, and less than a hundred and fifty yards away from them. The sound of the river is masking their footsteps, and all those trees are keeping them obscured from their line of sight. If those chimes come down they'll snap out of their stupor: they better have the sense of mind not to go down to the ground, or else they won't be able to get out the titan's way in time: Shadow worried as he watched the scouts closely...
"Who the hell can tie a knot this big?" Oruo thought aloud as he gazed down at the huge length of rope, which was just as thick as his wrist, and the knot keeping the chimes tied in place was the size of a large melon: "We better try and take it all in one piece, but don't start trying to unravel the knot just yet: we'll wait for Mike and the others to return"
"Hmm," Hange leaned down over the side of the branch for a closer look at the chimes, "You gotta wonder who built this, and how the chimes are able to hypnotize the titans: what makes them work? And what's with the strange symbols?" she pointed to said symbols on the sides of the tubes, as she quickly whipped out her journal and scribbled them down on a blank page. "...It's no language anyone is familiar with, and certainly not one that already exists within the three walls: the only place they could have come from, is somewhere beyond the walls" Erwin surmised: to which everyone gazed at him in surprise.
"Beyond? As in, from the outside world?!" Petra gasped in astonishment: so caught up in the shock of Erwin's suggestion, that as she stepped back she slipped on a piece of loose moss, and fell over the side of the branch, landing on the hoop below. The swivel, (evidently not designed to take any additional weight) warped and snapped under the young woman's weight, and before anyone could reach down to grab her, Petra and the chimes fell straight down together...
"SHIT!-" Ariana hissed as she watched Petra and the chimes fall...
From their position, Carla and her team watched in equal shock and horror as the scouts were unable to grab her fast enough: "Oh no no no no!" the twins both clasped their hands over their mouths as they stared in wide-eyed fear. "This is going to be bad" Bryson frowned as he lay his hands on his hand-grips...
As she fell, Petra instinctively reached for her hand-grips and shot her lines, but as she swung into the side of the tree, a sudden jerk on her left foot stopped her from being able to take off, and as she gazed down, she was horrified to see the ropes connecting the tubes to the hoop had gotten tangled around her leg. The chimes were not so heavy that they caused her great pain, but were still an uncomfortable hindrance, and she had to get them off. "PETRA!-" she heard Oruo call down to her, "Are you okay?" Erwin shouted, "I'm fine! But the chimes are caught around my leg!" she shouted back up. "Stay put! We're coming down!" Hange shouted as she readied her blades and got ready to jump...
But just as the scouts were about to descend, the thundering of fast-approaching titan footsteps made their blood freeze with dread: and as Levi jumped down to cut the ropes off, several titans came barrelling out of the understory at the edge of the clearing, and made a beeline for Petra at breakneck speed.
What happened next, happened so fast that hardly anyone had time to react: as Levi drew his blades to cut the ropes, the nearest titan lunged for Petra, but missed her and caught the longest tubes instead. Practically turning on a sixpence, Levi aimed for the titan's nape and sliced it hard: but as the titan indistinctly jerked in shock, it flung both its arms back and over hard, flinging Petra free of the chimes, but before she could react, she hit her head on the branch of a nearby tree and fell into the river unconscious. "-PETRA!" Oruo tried to go after her, but three more titans blocked his way, forcing him to quickly retreat before they too tried to grab him. Within seconds the clearing was filled with titans, and more were fast approaching; as Petra disappeared into the frothing white rapids, the scouts could do nothing but retreat back into the giant tree, and scan the river, trying to spot her.
"Does anyone see her?! Can anyone get a fix on where she is?!" Hange panicked slightly. "...I don't see her anywhere, do you?" Gunther turned to Eld, who simply shook his head, "...No...".
No one spoke as they silently lamented on their fallen comrade and friend: stoic as always, Erwin glanced down at the titans below. "..We have to remain here" he stated. "Sir?" Hange glanced at him in slight surprise, "As long as the titans are fixed on us, it'll give everyone back at camp time to retreat or fight: we have to buy them as much time as possible"
Levi looked like he wanted to go against the order for a moment: angry and embittered at loosing Petra, and unwilling to accept she was gone; but as he tried to hold his emotions in check, something at the edge of his peripheral vision caught his attention, and he snapped his head round in its direction, only to see a dark blur of movement disappear into the canopy across the clearing. "What is it?" Erwin asked, seeing the look of slight confusion in his steely blue eyes "...I could've sworn I just saw something move through the trees over there..." Levi replied: unsure of what it is he actually saw...
Watching the titan lunge at Petra made Ariana's heart skip a beat, as all she could do was watch the poor woman get eaten: but at the last possible second, the titan missed, and flung her away in the same instant Levi killed it. But the moment of sheer relief came crashing down as she saw Petra's head strike a branch, and she fell into the river. None of the other scouts, including Levi himself could go after her as the titan hoard barred their way: and as Ariana watched Petra's petite frame get tossed about in the white rapids, she knew the woman had only seconds before she drowned...
Deciding to hell with it, Ariana quickly but discreetly leapt to her feet, and dropped down into the understory below, flying over the river as she tried to find the scout amid the turbulent waters...
"This is bad! This is really bad!" Lucius panicked a little, "What happened to Petra?!" Lucy gazed up at Shadow, "Is she alive?!". :She's somewhere in the water, I can't get a proper read on her!: Shadow replied anxiously, "Erwin and the others are okay: but even if they have enough gas to get back to camp, the titans will only follow them, and it'll turn into massacre!" Bryson realized. Carla and the twins glanced at him in alarm, "We gotta do something! We can't just stand by and do nothing!" Lucius pleaded, "And we won't-" Carla frowned as she readied her pairing blades, "Bryson, cover me! I'm going in! You two wait here with Angel!" "Wha-, now hold on a sec! I want to help them too but we need a plan of attack! We can't can't just rush in half-cocked!" Bryson stopped her as he grabbed her sleeve.
Between listening to the team bicker and watching the scouts as they remained up in the giant tree with the titans trying to reach them: Javorin suddenly sensed Ariana's hammering heartbeat moving away; extending his power out through the trees to 'see' what was going on, he watched with his mind's eye as she chased after Petra. The woman, remarkably, was still alive as she continued to drift down the river unconscious, being tossed about in the rapids like a rag-doll: somehow not taking in enough water to swamp her lungs completely. Ariana could see her, and was trying doggedly to try and grab her, but to no avail... Closing his eyes, he reached out to the spirits, and to the great powers that lay in the world beyond...
Great All-father, hear thy plea and receive thee, give these souls the power to overcome this tribulation: let those who fall be caught, let those in peril be spared death's hand; and let all who bare witness to thy strength, live to know thy true name.
"Javorin! What do we do?!" Elysia panicked, "Don't worry, I have an idea..." he stated. He then waved his hand in front of the humans, grabbing their attention, and spelt out :I'm making a call. Hang back and stay where you are, and if it all goes to hell get out and don't come back for me:. The invisible god-titan then drifted off into the trees, and before anyone could stop him, he was gone: "What the hell's he doing?!" Carla panicked, "Whatever it is he's got in mind, I got a feeling we're all about to find out" Bryson frowned. "...For the love of All-father, don't get your nape slashed!" Elysia huffed in fretful worry, realizing what he was about to do...
Ariana tried to keep pace as she scanned the rapids for Petra, but as they moved further downstream, a loud thundering sound made her glance up, and gasp in horror as she saw the top of a waterfall fast approaching.
'It's now or never!' She realized, '-only got one shot!'
Suddenly, the scout's pine green cloak reappeared amongst the white foam, and like a kingfisher diving for a minnow, Ariana quickly aimed herself downwards, recalled her lines and dived straight down with her arms stretched out: disappearing beneath the boiling rapids. A few seconds later, two lines shot out of the water, and Ariana flew up out of the river with Petra over her shoulder, just as the current was about to push them over the falls. She swung forwards with a sharp jerk and crashed into the river bank, tumbling ass over head into the ferns, with Petra landing on the grassy verge nearby.
Quickly scrambling to her feet, the young Celt kneeled down beside her as she checked her over for injuries. She was bleeding from a wound on her forehead, her left ankle was twisted in such a way that it was definitely broken, and she wasn't breathing: "Oh no..." she began to panic. Trying to keep a level head as she recalled Breck's first-aid lessons, particularly the technique in how to expel water from the lungs: Ariana placed the heel of her right hand over the middle of Petra's chest, and placing the other hand on top, began a series of steady chest compressions. "Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die" she murmured to herself over and over: willing the young woman to come back to life.
Suddenly, Petra jerked violently as she began coughing up water by the mouthfuls, much to Ariana's relief, but she remained focused as she realized her body was fighting hard to expel the water. "-Hey it's okay! I got you!" Ariana assured her as the young woman scrambled to her knees to cough hard, leaning forward as she desperately gasped for air, all the while Ariana held her steady so she didn't fall forward. After several more hard coughs, Petra took several deep breaths, gasping for air as the life returned to her: but as she turned to look at Ariana, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and she collapsed with a pained moan. "Oh no! Come on! What's wrong now?!" Ariana panicked as she checked her over again, wondering what in the hell just happened. It was then she noticed the wound on Petra's head was bleeding quite badly now, and her face was starting to turn slightly pale.
Realizing she was now bleeding to death, Ariana quickly reached for her hip pack, and flipping open the flap, pulled out a small bottle of one of Breck's healing elixirs: one of the higher concentrations that was only meant for life-threatening injuries. Pulling out the cork between her teeth, Ariana carefully held Petra's head as she dripped a few drops of the glowing blue liquid onto the wound: within several seconds the injury stopped bleeding and had closed up, with a pale white scar forming in its place; the colour returned to Petra's face, and she began to breath more normally.
Now turning her attention to her broken ankle, Ariana carefully scooted down to her legs, carefully pried off her boot (It wasn't what she was supposed to do to help with a broken ankle, and knew Breck would chew her out for it later; but right now she had no choice), and inspected the injury. The skin hadn't been broken, but the area around the break was swelling up with blood fast: taking the elixir and sprinkling a few drops into her hands and rubbing them together, Ariana gently massaged the ankle on all sides, and within thirty second or so the swelling began to go down and the ankle returned to normal. When she was sure the bones had completely reset and healed, Ariana flexed her foot back and forth to check it was okay, and sure enough, the joint was fine. Slipping Petra's boot back on and making sure she was comfortable, Ariana replaced the cork back on the elixir bottle, placed it back in her pack, and then rushed down to the river to wash the excess off her hands.
As she stood back up and sighed with relief, Ariana noticed they had travelled quite some distance from the clearing, probably a good several hundred yards at the most: standing at the base of a huge rocky moss-covered incline, they were on a small grassy verge with the top of the waterfall only ten or so yards away, she wandered over to the edge, and felt her stomach drop at the sight of the protruding sharp rocks some sixty or seventy feet straight down. Talk about a lucky escape. Returning to Petra's side, Ariana started wringing as much water out of her clothes as possible, although she hadn't been in the water long enough for her boots and pack to fill up, it was still uncomfortable having to move about in wet clothing.
Suddenly, a soft gust of wind blew through the trees, and Shadow materialized back into his titan form beside them. "Holy shit you took your time! Where did you take off to?!" Ariana hissed up at him, hoping not to wake Petra up. :My apologies, I had to make sure Bryson and the others were safe: he glanced down at Petra with a look of relief, :But it looks like you've got everything under control here: he smiled. Calming down and mentally face-palming herself for getting worked up again, Ariana passed a deep sigh as she gazed down at Petra, "...What do I do when she wake's up? Her gear's broken so I can't just leave her here, and with the chimes down the titans are bound to notice us: I can't use my hummer to get rid of them while babysitting her at the same time" she whispered, noticing one of the grappling hook's on Petra's ODM gear had snapped off; probably from when that titan yanked her off the tree. :I'm heading back to address that situation now, though, what I have in mind probably isn't got to make me very popular with your father and the rest of the team: Shadow spelt out with an apologetic gaze. Ariana gazed up at him with a raised eyebrow, "Huh? What'd you have in mind?", :I'll explain when we meet up later, for now, just make sure she gets back to the scout's encampment, and make sure no one else sees you, alright?:.
"Okay, just-, whatever it is you plan to do, be careful: she whispered back, :Of course: he smiled as he held his hand over her, and as the markings on his skin glowed blue, all at once Ariana felt a warm humid breeze encircle her from every direction, blowing through her clothing and gear, until after a few seconds she and her clothes were completely dry, Petra's too, much to her amazement. :There, that should help. See you later, and good luck: he spelt out as all the tattoos on his body glowed, and his blue crystal grew out from the palm of his free hand, forming into his spear: "Yeah, you too big guy" She bid farewell as she watched him silently crawl up the boulders with his spear at the ready, and disappear over the top into the dense understory.
'Don't let Levi anywhere near you' Ariana silently hoped and prayed, as she stood up to maintain her watch over Petra: with the thundering waterfall and rapids, hearing any titans approach would be near-impossible; she'd have to keep her eyes attuned to the whole forest for even the slightest hint of trouble. Before long, she heard Shadow's footfalls running away off in the direction of the clearing, much to her alarm: 'What the hell's he going to do?! The scouts will hear him coming a mile off!'
"I think we can safely assume Mike smelt the titans: I don't see him anywhere nearby, do you?" Hange tried to glance through the more sparse openings in the canopy, and between the giant trunks on the outskirts of the clearing, which was now crowded with titans. With no room anywhere in the clearing, all the titans bunched together, trying in vain to reach up for the scouts, who were still trapped on their perch. "I count about fifty? Maybe sixty or more sir"Gunther glanced over at Erwin, "Even if we try to lure them in the opposite direction of the camp, there're just too many eyes on us to be able to slip away unnoticed" Eld realized. "And even if we do try to lure them off into the forest and wait 'till dark to return, we'll run out of gas long before then" Hange sombrely added. "We're going to have to make a move sooner or later" Levi pointed out.
As Erwin tried to think of a way around this, the sound of yet more titan footsteps could be heard echoing through the trees: only this time, they were running straight for the clearing. Glancing up as the thundering footsteps drew closer, Erwin's train of thought stopped abruptly as he laid his eyes on the massive form a fifteen meter class titan, running with everything it had: the thick canopy cast dark shadows through the trees, making only the titan's outline visible: but as the unusually large giant came barrelling through the greenery at breakneck speed, everyone else saw it too, making the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up and their blood run cold.
"This one looks like trouble, get ready!" Erwin frowned as he readied his blades, as did everyone else. But as the titan came within range of the clearing: it swung what looked like a massive blue staff up and over its head, and brought it down hard like a sledgehammer; knocking ten titans off their feet and sending them flying into the tree-line as it came to a screeching halt.
Time almost seemed to slow to a crawl as the whole situation was suddenly flipped on its head, and the scouts all gazed in stunned amazement at the titan, now standing before its kin with a giant blue crystal spear in both hands, assuming a fighting stance. The behemoth was enormous even by normal titan standards, with a lean but broad frame that was all muscle and raw power, with long thick light brunette hair that cascaded down its back, long pointed elfish ears, and a face that could instil terror in even the bravest of souls: for it had no lips or cheeks, just a row of exposed teeth. But unlike all other titans, its entire skin was covered in an intricate network of black swirling, pointed interconnecting shapes and patterns: almost beautiful in their design, but totally alien as it was no pattern or art form any of them had ever seen before.
The tension in the air was palpable for a brief moment, as all the titans in the clearing stopped: gazing at the intruder now in their midst, before charging at him like a stampeding herd of cattle. The titan raised his spear like a Spartan warrior with his feet planted firmly on the ground: his form was perfect, and as the titans nearest to him lunged to attack, he thrust the spear straight through the base of their necks, punching out the napes from the inside-out, and quickly drawing it back; killing five titans in one move and in one straight line. From there on the scouts watched in silence, as the strange titan practically danced around the clearing in a coordinated attack that felled titan after titan. With every thrust of his spear, every kick, punch and body-slam, he moved with ease and confidence: like flowing water his moves were as graceful and synchronized as they were powerful and fast. He used a range of different attacks and defences, utilizing the terrain to his advantage as he leapt up to grab the lowest branches of the giant trees to take flying drop kicks, and using his spear like a bo staff to double up as a secondary weapon, as well as block his opponent's from trying to bite him. All the while he remained calm and focused, never loosing his temper even once, as he continued to mow down his quarry.
As the scouts watched the mysterious titan's dance of death, Hange's mind was practically doing back-flips as she watched him weave between several large titans, swiping their feet out from under them with his spear, and then swung the weapon up and around to slice the napes all in a row: '...He's-...He's fighting them: he's fighting and killing those titans! How is this possible? What kind of titan is this?!' her train of thought raced by with a million questions as she watched and studied his fast-paced movements, 'He's fighting with coordinated moves, actually thinking on his feet as he moves from one titan to the next: but he's not just attacking, he's also blocking the others from trying to get at him, and using a range of different tactics to boot!' her stunned expression morphed into a look of pure elated madness as a huge smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she continued to watch with titillated glee, 'An intelligent titan that kills its own kind, can fight with the brains and brawn of a whole army, and knows how to use a weapon', "Ooh this day couldn't get any better!" she squeaked as she blushed, trying to hold back the excitement that threatened to burst out like a volcano.
"That titan-, it's killing all the others?!" Oruo gawked, having finally got his breath back, "Quiet! Don't let it spot us! There's no telling what it might do next!" Eld firmly ordered as the mystery titan felled three more of its kin with another spear thrust. From where he stood on the branch, Levi was at a loss what to say or think: never in his life had he seen a titan like this, one that moved in such a way that it was obviously intelligent; tactically minded, and able to get the better of its prey again and again. Glancing over at Erwin, the expression on the commander's face told Levi right away that this was a big game-changer for the scouts: his intense look of concentration reflected his focus and sharpness of mind; taking stock of every last move, analysing every different technique, thinking through and working out this new titan with everything he had in his mental arsenal.
Within the span of about five minutes, the attack was over as the last titan dropped dead, and the strange titan stood in the middle of the clearing: leaning on his spear as he slowed his breathing, and calmed right down until his body was totally relaxed. From where they watched him atop their perch, (hoping and praying the steaming titan corpses would at least mask their scent) the scouts realized he hadn't seemed to have notice them, as the titan began looking all around the carnage, as if searching for something. Then, he stepped over to the edge of the clearing, and bent down to pick up the bamboo wind chimes that had been kicked aside during the ruckus: holding the tubes tucked under one arm, he held the hoop in one hand as he inspected the broken swivel between his finger and thumb. The scouts all watched in alarm, as it suddenly clicked into place who, or rather what, had hung the chimes up in the first place.
'So he's the one who hung them up!' Hange thought in excitement, trying like crazy to remain still and silent, but her body kept hitching with every suppressed laugh 'This titan somehow figured out how to create a set of wind chimes that hypnotizes titans and lures them in, and then wipes them all out in one fell swoop! Oh sweet Sina on a unicorn this is way too incredible!'
As he inspected the broken swivel, the strange titan let out a low disappointed sigh, as if slightly annoyed he'd have to repair it. Glancing up at the branch where it had been hanging, his eyes shot wide open as he locked eyes with the scouts, and they froze on the spot. An unbearably tense moment of dread filled the scouts to the brim as the titan stared at them for what seemed like the longest few seconds, before a frown lowered his brows, and after placing the chimes back down on the ground, warily approached the branch. Acting on instinct, Levi and his three remaining squad members drew their blades, and the titan froze "Wait!-" Erwin snapped as he held up his hand to stop them; the titan didn't seem to respond, and simply kept its eyes on them.
It was only now that the scouts noticed his eyes: an incredible radiant and vivid pallet of blues that seems to glisten like sapphires and blue opals, and it was only now that they noticed he wasn't staring at them threateningly or with any kind of malicious intention; but rather, his expression seemed to hold a kind of calm. A tranquil presence that held no ill will, and seemed more curious than threatening. Cautiously taking a step closer, the titan glanced each scout up and down, studying them carefully: he made no sudden moves or sounds, as if sensing their fear. Taking a step to one side, he gently slipped the tip of his spear's blade beneath the rope, twisted it sharply to cut it loose, and caught it as it slipped off the branch.
He then stepped back over to the chimes and tied the rope around the tubes so as to hold them together, and rested them on his shoulder like a fishing pole while he held his spear with his free hand. He walked across the clearing to the north-east side where the river was flowing from, carefully stepping over the dead titans: he then stopped and glanced back, taking one last look at the six stupefied scouts, and walked up into the forest, disappearing into the dense gloomy understory; his strange markings practically making him vanish amid the dappled sunlight.
For a moment no one spoke, no one knew what to say: glancing down at all the dead steaming titans, and glancing at one another; Erwin adequately summed up the collective thoughts of the entire group "...This is unprecedented..."
"Well, this changes things," Lucius sighed as he continued to watch the clearing, "...No going back now". "That's certainly true" Carla sighed: "But perhaps? ," Bryson thought aloud, "This wasn't a totally bad call on Shadow's part", "Huh? What do you mean?" Carla frowned in confusion, "I'll explain later: right now, let's wait for them to leave before we can slip away" the former scout advised.
'What the hell was that?!' Ariana thought in alarm, 'What the hell did that big lug get up to?!'
Ariana had seen Shadow take on many titans before, and the fights that involved close-quarter combat with multiple titans were always the loudest: they rang out like a thunderstorm and shook the earth with every punch, kick and footstep; it was as awesome as it was terrifying to watch. And from the sounds of the fight she just heard, there had to have been upward of fifty titans, at least. If the scouts had been watching she could only surmise they've either been scared shitless and retreated, or worse, think Shadow was a threat and try to kill him. The fact Shadow could run and fly like the wind (literally) was the one thing that stopped her from totally panicking: and she knew he wouldn't let them come to any harm (whether they realized it or not). And if things got dicey he'd find a way to counter their attacks without hurting them: he was always careful like that.
Ariana didn't know why she was getting so worked up like this: she knew he knew how to handle himself, but it still didn't stop her from worrying none the less; whatever happened just now, goodness only knows he'd have quite a bit of explaining to do later.
Then, a soft moan snapped Ariana out of her vexing thoughts, and as she gazed down at the source, she saw Petra was coming back around, and suddenly a whole new slew of worries began to bubble up from within as her mind raced with alarm, trying to think through what to do. Petra was one of the best most proficient soldiers in the scouting legion, hand-picked by Captain Levi himself to be part of his special operations squad: she'd come to know her for over a year now (albeit at a distance), and knew she was a kind and sweet woman with a good and caring heart; but she was also a very capable soldier, one who knew how to hold her own in a fight. Ariana knew she had to play dumb, she couldn't let her know she knew her real name (among a number of other things), that would be both awkward and suspicious.
As Petra groggily lifted her hand to her head, rubbing the area where the laceration had been, Ariana silently stepped out of her line of sight: trying to keep calm and collected as she thought through how she was going to do this: when suddenly a familiar soft breeze blew through the trees, and as she spotted Shadow's glowing blue eyes watching her from the canopy above, she mentally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing her best friend had her back...
'Okay, come on: you used to do this all the time back when you kept Shadow a secret, you can still pull it off' she told herself as she hid in Petra's blind-spot, and reached for her concealment stone.
The first thing she could hear was the thundering of a waterfall, and as she opened her eyes, Petra blinked in surprise as she saw a magpie perched next to her on a mossy rock, gazing down at her as it gave out a fast chatter, before flying off out of sight.
Sitting upright, she heard the magpie chattering close behind her, but didn't turn round as she rubbed her head, and gazed up at her surroundings: "Huh?...Where?- ...Where am I?" she thought aloud. For a moment she didn't know where she was or what she was doing here, until she gazed down at herself, and noticed her uniform and ODM gear; that's when it all suddenly came back to her. "Oh my god!-" she leapt to her feet as it all returned with frightening clarity: the chimes, the fall, the titans, and then nothing; the last thing she could vaguely remember was water fast approaching, and feeling weightless as coldness enveloped her. "Did I-, fall in the river?" glancing down at her dry clothes she knew that couldn't have been possible, she'd be soaking wet. Glancing over at the river, she noticed she was a good several feet from the bank, and that's when she realized, "But-, if I didn't fall into the river, how did I get here?"
The magpie chattered to her again, this time, hoping onto another rock closer to her: "... You're awfully bold" she smiled offhand, staring at the bird as it chattered again while flicking its tail. Noticing the waterfall, Petra turned to see how far a drop it was to the bottom, and was amazed by the view of the forest and plains spread out below, "... Where're the Captain and the others? I hope they're all okay" she worried.
"I'm sure they're fine" a young female voice spoke behind her.
Nearly jumping out of her skin, Petra turned on her heels: and where the magpie had been perched, there was now a young girl squatting on the rock in its place. She was dressed a little oddly: wearing a white shirt with blue and white sleeves, covered by a large black cloak that was a good several inches longer than the scout's standard-issued cloak, a dark green sash with long ends turned out loose, black trousers and military issued boots, and a black bandanna over her unkept dark auburn hair; with a black neck-chief covering her nose and mouth, and a bigger black bandanna around her neck. Something about the arrangement and colours of her cloths almost seemed reminiscent of a magpie: but her ODM gear was what really got her attention, as Petra noticed the scabbard boxes were wooden, not metal, with the sides engraved with a collection of strange images and symbols, and the hand-grips were made with a different kind of wood.
Staring at her in alarm, Petra nearly took a step back as the young stranger jumped off the rock, "I'm sorry if I scared you, but please, do be careful where you step: you don't want to fall over the edge". "Uh-, no, thank you..." Petra replied as she tried to calm herself down. Gazing into the face of this child, she was thrown off by her right eye: it was the most brilliant, unnatural shade of blue she'd ever seen: like a dazzling jewel, it almost seemed to shimmer in various hues of azure, sky and turquoise; it was rather odd, if not quite unique.
"...Um? Who are you?" Petra asked in slight confusion, "I'm Magpie" the young girl replied, even though her neckerchief concealed her face, Petra could tell she was smiling: "Magpie? As in, the bird?" she raised an eyebrow, "Yep, same one" she nodded, "And you're one of the scouts, I'd recognize that wings of freedom crest anywhere!" she pointed to the crest on her jacket sleeve. "Uh yeah, how-" Petra stopped as she suddenly realized, "-Wait a minute, what're you going out here?!", "Uh? Same as you? Killing titans? Duh," she shrugged, "No I mean-, this is titan country! How have you been able to survive out here?!", "Eh, I have my ways, I am a hunter after all: being stealthy kinda comes with the territory" Magpie shrugged nonchalantly. "Okay? ..." Petra replied, not too sure if she was taking this seriously or not: deciding to stay on track with the situation at hand, she changed the subject, "Well? Can you help me at all? I seemed to have been separated from my friends, and I don't know where I am". "Oh that's easy, your camp's just half a mile from here..." Magpie stepped over to the edge of the cliff, pointing to the right, "The village is just along here: it's an easy walk if we follow the cliff" she added.
"Okay, thank you-" Petra smiled as she grabbed her hand-grips, "Ah-, I wouldn't do that, your hook's broken off" Magpie pointed to her left piston, which indeed, was missing its grappling hook: Petra gasped in alarm, "-Oh god no! How're am I going to get back alive with all the titans about?!", "Hey calm down, that's why I'm here," Magpie assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'll help you get back to your friends in one piece okay? I'll take care of any titans that come our way". Petra gazed at her in surprise, "You-, will take care of any titans?" she echoed in slight disbelief, "Well yeah? I've been doing this for a while now, and I'm pretty good at it" Magpie smiled nervously. She was about to say something else, when the sound of distant titan footsteps made her pause and listen: Petra glanced up in dread, but Magpie simply narrowed her eyes, "...We better move, it's not safe to stay in one place too long: come on" Magpie beckoned her to follow as she took her hand-grips out of their holsters, "Oh-, you didn't tell me your name" she glanced back at the redhead, "It's Petra" the young woman nervously replied. "Well Petra, nice to meet you".
As they walked along the cliff edge, Petra was as confused as she was alarmed: this girl, she was just a kid; probably just past the age of ten or eleven. There were so many questions she wanted to ask her, but she decided to try and stay on point with the most important ones: and so trying to play it cool, she changed the subject to a lighter note, "So uh, Magpie, You live here in Maria?", "Born and raised, you?", "Oh, a little place several miles south of the capitol", "The capitol? As in, Wall Sina? Interesting, even before the breach we hardly ever saw anyone from the heart of the interior: unless they were a merchant who owned some big company and came to trade for high-end goods". "Did you learn to use ODM gear all by yourself?", "All by myself? Eh, not quite," Magpie sheepishly chuckled, "We had a family friend who used to be in the military, he taught me... Mind you, that was before-," she paused anxiously, "Before what?" Petra asked curiously, "...That day..." Magpie gazed at her ruefully. "...Oh...I'm sorry," Petra apologized, knowing full well what she was referring to, "What happened to him?": "...He donned his wings one last time, and flew into battle against the titans" Magpie sighed, Petra's eyebrow's flew up in surprise, 'he was a scout?' she thought offhand; making a mental note to tell Erwin about it later.
Petra was about to ask her something else, when Magpie stopped her, "Hold up, we've been spotted..." she gestured to three large titans that were lumbering towards them: with the cliff behind her and her gear broken, Petra was absolutely terrified as the three slack-jawed monsters lazily walked towards them. Magpie pulled her over behind a giant tree, and forced her to kneel between two large roots: "You stay down and don't move 'till I come back, alright? I just gotta see to these guys, they won't be too much trouble, honest" she locked her blades into the hand-grips, fired her lines and flew off and up into the space between the trees. From her hiding place, Petra watched in stunned amazement as Magpie skilfully fought the titans: using their hulking bodies as anchors, she zipped and circled up and around, directing their attention on her for a brief moment so that they'd try to grab her, only to crash into each other. Seizing the opportunity, Magpie then darted back and forth across their napes, slashing the flesh with very little difficulty. Although she was young, Petra could see this girl had some really well developed strength and skills, in fact, her fighting style was not all that dissimilar from what she herself and the rest of the special operations squad used: she could certainly give the captain a run for his money.
As she continued to watch the girl fight, Petra noticed her pairing blades were coloured blue; 'huh? Why would she paint-'. But when Magpie circled back around, flying right over her, she saw the blades were not metal painted blue, but rather, they were made from some kind of blue crystal. Whatever it was, it was quite sharp as the blades cut through the titans flesh like a hot knife through butter.
Within hardly a minute the fight was over, and as the third titan fell dead, Magpie flew back down to the giant tree where she left the redhead, putting her blades away: "See? Hardly any trouble at all" she smiled. "Wha-" Petra stood back up with her eyes wide in amazement, "How-, are you able to move like that?", "Eh, just practice really? I'm out here all the time so I don't really need to train like you guys. Come on, we better keep moving," the girl motioned for her to follow as she hoped over the roots and resumed walking along the cliff, "I'm serious! How did you-" Petra paced after her, but stopped as something else suddenly occurred to her, "...Magpie, how old are you?", "Twelve?," she shrugged nonchalantly, to which Petra nearly gasped; Magpie simply kept on walking, and the scout quickly followed. Thinking this was an opportunity not to be wasted, Petra asked upfront "...How would you like to join us?" she smiled, trying not to sound desperate, "Huh?" Magpie glanced at her weirdly, "The scouts: you're the right age for conscription, and you have some amazing talent, the very kind the scouts are always looking for. You could teach us how you managed to avoid the titans all this time, how you fight them: and more importantly, your strength would aid humanity greatly; what do you think?"
Magpie stopped as she gazed at her in amazement for a moment, seemingly taken aback by the offer, "...You-, really think I'd make a good scout?" she asked curiously, "But of course, you're a natural on the OMD gear, and the way you took down those three titans back there? Hell, even the commander would be impressed" Petra beamed, trying to sell it without sounding too eager. Magpie dropped her gaze in contemplation for a moment: and although her face was concealed, a look of regret seemed to fill her eyes as she met Petra's gaze again: "That's-, very kind of you: I'm flattered and honoured, really I am. But I can't just up and leave, not with my family and friends out here" she ruefully explained as she pressed on, "You have family out here?" Petra blinked in surprise, quickening her pace so as to keep up. "Yeah, pretty big too: I doubt there'd be enough room in the whole interior to fit them all in!" she chuckled anxiously before turning serious again, "...But, even if they approved: we can't go into the interior; it's too long and complicated to explain, but basically, we wouldn't be welcomed much"
"Huh? Why not?" Petra blinked in surprise, now really curious: "...When I was younger, I realized that being different is scary to some people: some aren't bothered by it, and some even welcome it. But others, hate it so much that they'd kill you: just so they don't have to look at you. Don't get me wrong we're not criminals or anything like that, it's just-, who we are, what we believe, the company we keep: it might be too much for everyone; and come to think of it, it'll probably frighten a lot of people," Magpie replied cautiously, as if trying to be careful about how she worded her explanation: Petra could tell there was something more to what she was saying, but decided not to risk putting her off by prying; she made a mental note to mention it in the debriefing later. "Basically?" Magpie sighed, trying to sum it up as best she could, "We have our reasons: not bad reasons, just-, reasonable reasons. Does that make any sense?", "Uh yeah, of course" Petra nodded, deciding to just go along with it: she knew Erwin and the others were going to want to hear all about this, so it made sense play along and try to see what she could glean. "You've gotta do what you gotta do: family always comes first after all" she smiled as she scratched the back of her neck. "Oh yeah, and speaking of family, yours is straight ahead" Magpie smiled as she pointed forward.
Between the giant trees some several hundred yards away, the village of Whitefall lay straight ahead, and between the buildings they could see the scouts were okay by the looks of things. "Looks like they're alright," Magpie sighed with relief, "You better go: this is as far as I can go anyway; you'll be fine from here". "Thank you Magpie" Petra smiled in appreciation, "And, if you ever change your mind, we're out here every month" she added. "Heh, Thanks, I'll be sure to remember that" Magpie chuckled.
"Oh!-, one last thing," Petra suddenly remembered, "Before I woke up by the river, me and my friends discovered this huge set of wind chimes hanging in the trees: it was somehow hypnotizing the titans and luring them towards it; did you and your family make them?" "Oh that..." Magpie gazed at her with a slightly sly twinkle in her eyes, "Yeah that was us: not the easiest thing to put together, but it does the job pretty good. Titan's are not the most cooperative creatures, even when you're trying to kill them they're very disagreeable: so we took some measures and hung them up to draw them in; that way we can just come back and dispose of them at our leisure. No harm no fuss, no fatalities" she smiled, before turning dead serious, "-Wait a sec, you didn't try to cut them down did you?". "Uh-, no not at all," Petra lied with a nervous smile, hoping this kid was as naïve as she sounded: she didn't feel good about lying to her, but under the circumstances she didn't know how she'd react if she told the truth. But her fears were quickly deflated as Magpie sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness, you don't want to cut them down with the titans gathered around them, believe you me! The second they stop they all snap outta their trance, and then you're in deep shit. If you ever see them again, just leave them be okay? It used to be hard enough just hanging them up, never mind the repair-work involved if they get damaged".
"Used to hang up?" Petra raised an eyebrow, "Oh, my best friend does all the heavy lifting, he's really good at that kinda stuff: quite a titan-hunter too, really formidable. But he prefers a spear rather than pairing blades: weird I know, but it's a prudent choice; goodness only knows he's way too big to use blades anyway. If you ever see him around, do be sure to stop and say hi," Magpie smiled as she turned to leave, "Well? I've spent too much time hanging around as it is, I gotta get going or else dad's gonna chew me out. You take care of yourself... " she paused hesitantly next to a tree stump, "... And-... One last thing... No matter hard this fight gets: no matter how many titans we have to face, Maria will be reclaimed one day; it's gonna take a while, and it's not gonna be easy, but we'll get there eventually. You just keep fighting the good fight, and we'll keep at it from our end. We're out here all the time, and you guys only come out once a month: someone's gotta remain on the front lines to make sure humanity's best stays in one piece...Just-, remember that no matter how different we are, we're all the same underneath: our hearts all beat to the same tune, and they beat for humanity. You just gotta look closely enough, because not all things are as they seem: some things that seem scary, are really just misunderstood. And some things that appear bad, are probably just broken, and need someone kind and open-minded enough to help fix them... Keep that in mind, the next time you think you're in danger"
She wasn't too sure what she meant by those cryptic word's, but Petra could tell she was trying to get something important across: "I'll-, be sure to remember that. Thank you, Magpie" she smiled with respectful bow, and turned to leave, "Take care Petra," the girl smiled as she remained by the tree stump. As she looked towards the village, Petra allowed herself to relax a little, as she could hear the voices of the other scouts drifting out from between the trees, "...Oh, Magpie?" she suddenly thought of something else to ask. But as she turned around (thinking the girl couldn't be more than ten or so yards away), she saw Magpie was gone, and standing on the tree stump right by where she had been standing, a magpie watched her with a chatter, before flapping its wings and taking off.
Gazing all around, Petra was both alarmed and confused: even if she'd taken off on her ODM gear she'd have heard the piston's popping, and there were no trees or bushes in the immediate area which she could have quickly run to and ducked behind. She just, vanished. Feeling slightly uneasy, Petra picked up the pace, and starting trying to get her thoughts straight: Erwin and Levi were going to want a full report; and she didn't even know where to begin.
From her hiding spot way up in the dense canopy, with a good view of the forest-side of the village below: Ariana watched with relief as she saw Petra emerge from the trees. One of the scouts ran up to her, and soon a few others ran up to see who it was. She watched as Erwin, Hange, Mike, Levi and his squad rushed over to see what was going on, and were totally dumbfounded and relieved to see she was alive. Deciding to leave them be, Ariana silently crawled back into the trees, and climbed her way up to the top of the canopy, where the dense dappled green gave way to the open blue sky. Standing on the top-most branch, she spat out her concealment stone, reappearing practically out of thin air: and then held out her arms as the wind picked up, and Shadow carried her up and off into the sky, heading back to where Carla and her team were still hiding.
"Well? ..." she gazed up at Shadow in an uneasy mix of relief and worry, "... I guess we made the first move huh?". He nodded, but gently stroked her cheek with his warm breeze in reassurance: before long, they were back at the edge of the clearing, where the dead titans were starting to turn into skeletons, as most of their soft tissues had evaporated. Landing Ariana down on the branch next to Angel, Shadow materialized into his titan form again and stood nearby, as Carla leapt off Angel's back and ran over to hug her: "It's okay Dove, I'm fine" Ariana patted her in reassurance, before letting her go. "You scared me half to death, we didn't know where you'd gone!" Carla sighed with relief: "Where did you go?" Lucy slid down Angel's outstretched wing, "We saw you take off down the river, did you managed to rescue Petra?" Lucius asked anxiously, "Yeah I saved her, and got her back to the camp alright" Ariana replied, to which everyone paused. "You-, took her back? As in, you walked her back?" Carla blinked in surprise, "Yeah, and before you ask no she wasn't any trouble: it's okay, I had the situation well in hand" she smiled sheepishly. "So, what happened?" Bryson asked eagerly.
Thinking back on it, Ariana wasn't sure where to begin: she couldn't quite believe what had happened, she'd just met one of the Levi squad, and it went okay; actually okay. Gazing up at Shadow, who gazed down at her with a proud fatherly smile, she sighed as she felt her mind weigh heavy with questions and cautious optimism. "...I'll explain back at camp: right now, I just want to lie down somewhere and not do anything for like, the rest of the day"
A week later, back in the Hidden land:
As she gazed up at the enormous canopy of Yggdrasil from the branch that ran alongside her bedroom window: Ariana's mind refused to remain still, as she tried to process what happened the week before. She still couldn't believe what went down: of all the likeliest scenarios she'd expected to meet the scouts under, that had not been it; and the fact Erwin and his team didn't attack Shadow was just as remarkable. At the time it was incredible, but in looking back on it now, it kind of made sense as to why they didn't initially attack: "First rule of surprising the prey..." she thought aloud: feeling stupid for not remembering it sooner.
"The first one's always a freebie, because they're too stunned to move" her father smiled as he climbed out the window to sit down beside her. "...Not a totally illogical call on Shadow's part: but then, he wouldn't have put on that little display for the scouts if he sensed they were going to snap out of their shock" he then sighed in regret, "...I should've had more faith in him in that regard". Sitting upright, Ariana gazed over at her father anxiously, feeling unsure of how he'd react to the question that had been on her mind for the last few days: "...Are you angry at me?", "What? No of course not," he gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug, "You did the right thing, saving Petra and returning her to the scouts...I'm just-, sorry I came off as thinking that they're bad people: it's just-"
"-I know dad," Ariana patted his back, "... Look, I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Captain Levi may not be the most approachable guy, and Erwin's pretty hard to pin down for sure; but, if people like Petra are in the scouts, then surely some of them must be good people? If not most?". "I've no doubt they are, but, we still need to be certain that they're beyond the wall cult's influence: even If they're not directly involved with the cult per se, the royal government still has power over them through the military, and if they can control the MP's under the noses of the top brass, then what's to say the scouts are not in their pockets too? ..." Tyto sighed in shame, "...You know? There was a time once I'd have agreed with you about them without a second thought: but knowing what we know now? I hate how the cult have forced us to be so guarded: that we have to question everything, and even question the very people fighting to reclaim Maria from the titans," he gazed at her with a mild look of resentment in his eyes, "Even here, cut off from the rest of the walled kingdom, the cult still instils fear and doubt: so much so, that I never even considered that something like what you encountered with Petra, could be a possibility; and I'm sorry for loosing that faith in basic human kindness", he let his gaze drop in further guilt, "Also-, I'm sorry I didn't take a more active role in your assignment: I should have been more attentive from the start, more involved; I know I had the Hunt to consider but that's no excuse. And, now that the scouts know we exist, and they know about Shadow-..." he paused in slight hesitation.
"... But when the rest of the herd jumps into action, you pay full price..." she gazed up at him with a small smile: leaning in for another hug as she thought aloud, "...I know they'll come for us: maybe not to hunt us, but they will have questions, and we'll need to provide answers one way or another; otherwise, I don't think they'll leave us alone". "I know, that's why I asked the queen for an audience with her and the Keeper: we need to decide our next move and how best to go about it", Tyto glanced over up Carla, who was looking rather down in the dumps as the Cooper twins sat with her on a branch nearby her cottage, with Angel sitting next to them, "...You know? She feels pretty bad too for not stepping in to save Petra sooner: but then, that's Carla for you, she always did have a habit of letting her priorities get a tad muddled sometimes. She means well of course, but she's eager to prove she's a capable team leader too. I'm going to talk to her later, let her know that she needn't worry: and that if she wants to step aside and let someone else be team leader, she can, there's no shame in admitting your shortcomings... I just hope she can be honest with herself"
Ariana nodded, changing the subject slightly, "So? What do you want to do? I assume you want to come on board with the assignment?". "Yes, which is why I called the meeting with the Hunt tonight: I'm going to pass the position of Hunts-Master over to Ratatosk" Tyto stated, "You think he's the right guy for the job?" Ariana raised an eyebrow, "He's been on my team since day one, and I know he's a strong, decisive and capable leader: he'll do a good job in my stead. Besides, I'll need Evrard, Falken, Eraman's help: Pascal, West, Bryson and Carla's too. If we're going to deal with the scouts, I want all the people I can count on; your brothers, cousins and friends included" he explained. "What about Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel?" she asked, "Them too: we're going to do this together, just like old times: that way none of the others have to risk their lives unnecessarily; I know you all, I know what you can do, and I trust you. Sound good?" he smiled.
"Yeah, thanks dad..." Ariana smiled offhand, "You know? Back during that meeting, before we set off for this month's hunt? I said there was something more you could do; well? Honestly? I couldn't put my finger on it at the time, but I think you just hit the nail on the head. I know I'm not smart enough to figure everything out: but my gut was telling me we had to do something different...And, things are gonna be different from now on". "For sure," Tyto sighed as he ruffled her hair, "... I just hope we're not wrong about them"
Meanwhile, in the garden of the great tree of knowledge:
"A bold move on your part, dear nephew," Aureia smiled as she reclined amid the giant roots of the shimmering white tree, "...You do realize you've made the first move in a rather precarious game, do you not?"
"Change always is Aureia," Javorin sighed as he gazed up at the giant crystals on the mountainous cavern roof, "Better to break the ice with a performance, rather than a show of fear: and Erwin certainly has a lot to think about before he makes his next move,"
"Indeed," Jarus glanced over at his brother, "And that rather 'serendipitous' encounter between the scout and your little friend certainly added an interesting twist to the mix: no doubt she'll be quite the talk back at the barracks" he smirked. "Since when were you one for indulging in risky moves Jarus?" Hecate folded her arm as she gazed at him sceptically, "When were you one for becoming so cautious, Hecate?" the one-eyed god-titan glanced back at her, "Of all the risky ploys a god could take, this was far more up your street", "Given the situation ol' goody two-shoes here wouldn't have even let me anywhere near the clearing," she huffed with a loud sharp "TCH!-", "That's not true Hecate" Javorin corrected, "You are bolder than me, but you know how to exercise your strength just as well as I do: I still would've appreciated your help if you'd been there", "But you can't deny, I might've probably scared them into attacking for sure" she frowned at him, "Maybe? Maybe not? This time was unique: an incredible first for them, and they'll be wondering what to do next month; but they'll be more ready, that's for sure" Javorin explained.
"Which is why we need to be adequately prepared," Aureia stated to the assembled meeting of her fellow god-titans , "From what you have observed of their auras, many if not all the scouts are committed to their duty: but we have to be certain they are truly beyond the wall cult's influence. Now, we need to ascertain if their hearts are truly dedicated to humanity, and that they are open to the possibility of an alliance. This, I have stated before, but now that we have revealed our presence, we must be prepared to meet the challenge that lies ahead"
"All well and good, but what have you got in mind?" Hecate asked offhand, "Tyto is going to use today's audience to request permission to form a new team: one consisting of those closest to him, that will exclusively deal with observing and studying the scouts in more in-depth detail, as well as keep them safe from the titans. This, I will approve, and of course, you four will oversee it," Aureia stated: to which Jarus added "From what I have observed, gazing into the time that spans this new period: I do not see any particular incident that would pose a threat to us as a whole. It will be risky at times though: Erwin will be persistent, but I do not sense he is motivated by selfish intentions; not wholly at least. He's complicated, as all humans are: but I don't think he'll take things too far. The question is trying to ascertain how he and the scouts will fair, when removed from what their usually used to dealing with. In other words, a test must be devised to determine their true hearts and minds"
"A trail of the gods?" Hecate's eyes lit up in eagerness, "We haven't had one of those for a good few millennia", "Kind of a tall order don't you think? Given none of the humans remember us anymore" Herne raised an eyebrow. "Not a trial per se" Jarus explained, "Merely, an assessment of the scouts capabilities and morals: and thanks to our young Magpie's 'off the cuff' thinking, the scouts have their first conundrum in which to contemplate. How you and the rest of Tyto's team wish to 'test' with them, we'll leave to your collective discretion; but it wouldn't be totally unwise to heed caution, and don't rush to conclusions... After all, thing are not always what they seem..."
Meanwhile, at the Scouts HQ in Trost:
As she sat with her cup of tea in both hands, Petra started up at the clouds as they raced across the sky: her mind wandering back over the previous week, and trying to make sense of it all. To say that her encounter with Magpie caused a great deal of intrigue among her comrades was an understatement: Erwin and Hange in particular were eager for details, and after being filled in on what happened while she was gone, Petra was even more astounded, especially when she realized what Magpie was talking about when she said:
My best friend does all the heavy lifting, he's really good at that kinda stuff: quite a titan hunter too, really formidable. But he prefers a spear rather than pairing blades
The mystery titan and the girl were connected: but a titan making friends with a human? That was an unprecedented first, and one that had a lot of the scouts very dubious. After a hundred years of fighting and dieing at the jaws of the titans: to suddenly come across one that was killing it's own kind seemed way too good to be true; and Petra couldn't blame them for feeling that way. Had Erwin, Hange, and Levi not seen it for themselves, even they would've been highly sceptical of the idea of a benevolent titan. But on the flip side, she now knew what Magpie was referring to...
Who we are, what we believe, the company we keep: it might be too much for everyone; and come to think of it, it'll probably frighten a lot of people
If that titan was her friend, and she was trying to protect him: then its wasn't surprising why she was being careful around her; she knew of the scouts and knew what they did, it was a no brainer really, and she couldn't blame her for taking precautions. But still, there were so many questions left unanswered, not least the mystery of how her clothes dried out so quickly after being saved from the river: that had everyone scratching their heads, and even Hange was at a loss what to make of it. In the time it took for Petra to return to the camp, and the time Erwin and his team lost her, there was no way her clothes could have dried out that fast, and if Magpie was the one that rescued her, why hadn't she been wet too? Unless something else happened; Magpie never did reveal how she saved her, and if she wasn't the one, then what-
"Hey..." Eld smiled as he sat down beside her on the bench table, stirring the redhead from her musings "-Oh, sorry Eld, I was a million miles away" she smiled sheepishly, "Still thinking about Magpie huh?" he asked as he took a swig of his drink, "How can I not? I still can't make sense of it all," she admitted, downing the last of her tea, "And, what you guys saw after I fell-, I still can't quite get my head around that either". "No one can," Gunther sighed as he joined them, "A titan killing his own kind? That's a first by itself: but humans in league with titans? It's a big pill to swallow. On the surface it may seem as if we have a possible ally? But there's no way it can be that straight forward" he speculated aloud in a dubious tone.
"If there are other people out there and they got that titan for a guard dog, then it'll hardly be a match for the captain," Oruo stated obnoxiously as he sat down and adjusted his cravat, "True, the brute was quite formidable, but if he's got half a brain he'll be sure to stay out of our way". "Must you really talk like that?" Petra shot him a look of disdain, "We just discovered something incredible: something totally unprecedented in the history of mankind, and your first assumption is to assume the worst?". "Hey, a titan is a titan is a titan: it's always the worst whichever way you look at it; and at least one of us still has the sense of mind to remember that" Oruo stated matter-of-factly as he folded his arms. "But still, the fact that titan didn't attack us counts for something: if it really is friends with that girl then it must have seen us as 'friendly' too: it makes sense," Eld threw in. "Maybe, but if that brat's in league with the beast then it's no surprise she snubbed your invitation to join us: with that thing for an attack dog, she must think we're second best!" Oruo smirked obnoxiously, "If had been me, I'd have had her marching back to the camp and licking the captain's boots"
"-Ugh! The next time you bite your tongue I hope you bleed out!" Petra fumed as she got up and stormed off: "... You do know the captain would shudder at the very thought of anyone's tongue touching his things, right?" Gunther smirked, "Even his boots". "Yeah well, it's just an expression, not to be taken literally" Oruo quickly brushed off. "Regardless of how we feel about it: it's up to the commander what we do next, and what he says goes..." Eld thought aloud, as he gazed up at the window of the commander's office...
As he gazed out beyond the base's outer wall, and across the city of Trost, Erwin sat in silence, alone with his thoughts: on his desk was Petra's full transcript of her conversation with Magpie, a composite sketch (courtesy of Hange's assistant Moblit) of the strange bamboo wind chimes and the mystery titan, (or 'painted' titan as Hange nicknamed him, on account of the strange markings all over his body), the data on all the dead titans found below Whitefall, and some of the crystal-headed arrows found embedded in their flesh.
Although the remainder of this mouth's expedition didn't yield further discoveries, what they had found near Whitefall was huge: a serious game-changer, and one that demanded the right care and attention in handling it properly...
A 'rogue' titan in league with humans: at first glance it was incredible if not unbelievable, but Erwin knew there was more to this than meets the eye. Between Petra's encounter and his own experience, he felt as if they'd just caught a brief glimpse into something mysterious, something profound that was going on: the question was, did it pose a threat to humanity, or are there truly people out there fighting to reclaim Maria back from the titans?
The questions this put forth were numerous to say the least: but a certain few stood out to him the most; based off what they found in terms of the physical evidence...
The number of arrows they found in the dead titans below Whitefall indicated that there had to be tens of dozens of skilled archers, one's that shot the behemoths from a downwards angle, indicating they had been on the ground, while others were on hand to finish the beasts off. A very dangerous ploy for any scout, but for these people, they evidently had the means to pull it off safely: since they found no human blood at the scene. And then there was the mystery of the arrows themselves: all the arrow heads were carved from rose, smoky and clear quartz, or amethyst, and had been coated in a bright green substance that smelled like sweet vinegar and cucumbers. Was this what caused the delay in the titan's natural decomposition? That instead of being completely gone in less than an hour, they evaporated over a much longer period of time? For what purpose did that serve? Or could it be that the green substance had another affect on the titans? One that only worked whilst they were alive, and the slowed evaporation time was merely a by-product.
Then there was the issue of Magpie's ODM gear: besides not being a standard military-issued unit (on account of the wooden scabbard boxes and different hand-grips), there was the question of where she got the gas from. Erwin knew that for a few decades now, there had been uncommon rumours among certain individuals that the ice-burst stone caravans beneath the industrial city, might not be the only ones in existence. Some people had speculated that there were other caverns in the far remote areas of the Marian forests and mountains, but that they were too far and too inaccessible to ever be properly mined: plus the fact there was no absolute proof of their existence. Was it possible Magpie and her 'family' stumbled across one of these fabled undiscovered caverns? But even so, turning ice-burst stones into gas was a task that required specialized machinery, the likes of which could only be found in the industrial city (not to mention building the ODM gear in general required iron bamboo and ultra-hard steel: also near-impossible to come by outside of the industrial city, except for on the black market). So unless she and her family had looted the abandoned military depots in the walled cities, and pillaged the corpses of fallen scouts, where did the gas and gear come from? Plus, Petra's observation of her 'blue crystal' pairing blades also confirmed her connection to the painted titan, since he had a spear made of the same substance (presumably).
But more prominently, the symbols on the wind chimes and the markings on the titan's flesh were of the same style and design: where did they come from? what was their relevance? What meaning did they carry? Was it a practical or symbolic purpose? Or was it something else entirely? These questions and many more kept coming up again and again as Erwin tried to connect all the dots: trying to make sense with what he had, and trying to fill in the gaps with what made the most reasonable sense and logic.
We have our reasons: not bad reasons, just-, reasonable reasons. Does that make any sense?
Of all the evidence of this mystery collected, those words in Petra's transcript kept coming back to him for some reason...
You just gotta look closely enough, because not all things are as they seem: some things that seem scary, are really just misunderstood. And some things that appear bad, are probably just broken, and need someone kind and open-minded enough to help fix them... Keep that in mind, the next time you think you're in danger
Magpie was definitely trying to send them a message: which led Erwin to wonder if Petra's 'encounter' had really been an accident at all? Was it an opportunity to get close? To say hello and leave a good impression? Or was it something else? Between the painted titan's performance and Magpie's own behaviour, he knew there was something at work here: his gut, instincts and intuition were sure of it...
A knock at the door stirred him from his contemplations, and he turned his gaze upwards to see Levi come in. Somewhere on the same floor, Hange's elated chatterings and laughter could be heard echoing loudly down the corridor: the scout's resident titan-scientist had been on fire since returning to the base, and despite it being a week since the expedition, she was still having a ball with what they'd found. "You keep brooding any louder and the whole damn building's going to come down," the captain deadpanned as he took a seat by the desk, "We haven't even been back a week and already the whole base is wondering what we're going to do next month: not to sound naïve but I assume we're going to be investigating this matter? Even I can't deny this is big,"
"Actually, you caught me in the middle of compiling the report," Erwin laced his fingers together as he leaned back in his chair, "I'll be sending it express this month, sealed and for the Zackly's eyes only: the last thing we need is for the rest of the military to get wind of this; but it's not like we can keep it to ourselves either". "Obviously," Levi dryly replied as he folded his arms, "But still, it's not like our financiers can back out if they wanted to just yet: we got our budget approved, remember? We can look into this if we want to". "Yes, but that budget was approved with the view to establishing a supply route to Shiganshina: if we're to start an investigation into this particular matter, then we're going to require additional resources, and for that we'll need Zackly's approval on the new budget" Erwin explained. "Not to sound like a neigh-sayer but what makes you think the old man's gonna say yes? He's not one for bullshitting, and suffice to say: even I'm having a hard time accepting what we saw," Levi frowned: "True, but I think the evidence speaks for itself: in the numbers as well as the evidence we found in Whitefall" Erwin smiled with a cunning twinkle his eyes.
"Hm?" Levi blinked in surprise, "What'd you mean by that?" he pressed him, wondering where the commander was going with this: Erwin obliged as he explained "For the past two years, particularly over these last twelve to fourteen months, we've seen a dramatic decrease in the number of titans sighted around Wall Rose and out on the expeditions, as well as our own fatalities. If this 'painted' titan and his human allies really are the ones responsible for the drop in their numbers, then its a safe bet they're highly proficient in their unique methodology. Being able to kill titans on a massive scale, and all with a minimal loss of life. After all, every time we go out on an expedition we always pass by the bones of our fallen comrades, but never anyone else's. Especially, anyone wearing custom-made ODM gear..." he glanced down at the papers and arrows on the desk, "... Regardless of how they feel about the Scouting Legion in general, the financiers will have seen the monthly reports over the past year, and when they inspect the profits and losses, they'll see all that tax money doesn't seem to be going down the drain as much as it used to. At the end of the day, money and numbers is what speaks to them the most: and that could be enough to pacify them, if only to let Zackly have the final say in whatever request we send through. As for Zackly himself? I'll explain it all as best I can: the arrows are the only physical evidence we have, plus our eye-witness accounts and Petra's transcripts; it'll be tough to convince him, but we'd have nothing to gain by keeping this a secret"
"Fine, but what do we do if we run into that giant painted beast again? I don't care how 'friendly' he might be with that brat: he's still a titan, and he's fair game as far as I'm concerned" Levi stated, his tone telling the commander where he stood on this particular concern. "A valid concern: and one I'm not taking for granted," Erwin nodded, "But we could take advantage of this, if we handle it correctly: it's simply a question of figuring out the right way to go about this" he stated as he got up, and wandered over to the window. "So what've you got in mind for next month? There's no telling how Zackly might respond, so what do we do in the meantime?" the captain pressed him.
"We continue with the supply route as usual, but we'll spend what time we can trying to get a lead on this: the painted titan will be a challenge, but if his benevolence is focused on Magpie, then she'll be our best bet in trying to get closer to him", Erwin explained, "Fair enough, but Maria's a big place, and if she really is good at hiding from the titans, then she won't be found unless she wants us to find her"
"True, but I was thinking more along the lines of letting her find us: it's a long shot, but there might be one way we can entice her out..." Erwin replied as he gazed down at Petra, watching her as she chatted with some of the younger scouts in the courtyard down below.
"...By the way," Levi suddenly remembered: "What Petra said: about the brat's mentor possibly being a scout: any leads yet?"
"Thus far no luck" Erwin sighed, "The civilian identification records are still in a mess from two years ago, and our own records show no sign of any current or former scouts residing in Shiganshina... Whoever he was, he taught her well..."
One month later, June, somewhere deep in the Marian forest:
"Okay, the gang's all back together," Pascal smiled facetiously, before deadpaning, "...So how the hell are we gonna do this?"
"With quick wits and cunning, just like we used to do back before the breach; the aim is to get up real close without being seen, so all we have to do employ the same tactics we used to keep Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel hidden, only, in kinda reverse" Belle stated boldly.
"Quick wits and cunning are all well and good, but this time it ain't a bunch of half-drunk Garrison soldiers or slacking-off MP's: this is the Scouts we're talking about. It's going to take every once of skill combined just to make sure we don't get caught" West pointed out.
"Yeah, if your monthly assignment reports are accurate-" Dale turned to Ariana, "-Excuse me, they are" she folded her arms as she shot him a dry look: ", Then, we're going to have to pay particular attention to the special operations squad, Hange, Mike, and Erwin in particular" the young Celt sighed as he too folded his arms. Bryson decided to throw in his opinion, "They're all formidable, but can we establish a line of communication? That's the question. Since Magpie's encounter with Petra last month I feel we might have broken the first hole in the ice: the question is whether we can chip a little more away": "Awfully optimistic of you, considering a guy like Levi's in charge of the squad: if that pipsqueak's really got a hate-on for the titans like you said, then he's gonna be the trickiest of the bunch" Pascal glanced over at Ariana; "Undoubtedly: but he respects Petra, and I think if he knows she's okay, along with the rest of his squad, that might be enough to make him reconsider any negative views he might have of Shadow" she surmised.
:I think Petra's a safe bet, in terms of human-on-human contact: Shadow spelt out, :Though, how she'll react to me, or any of us may prove to be quite different: he gestured to Midnight, Boar and Angel. "Yeah but let's not forget," Evrard threw in, "She'll have told Erwin and the others about her 'rescue': between that and his own encounter with you, they're going to realize your both connected, and that might get them thinking". "Or not?" Jaye shrugged nonchalantly, "Not to sound like a neigh-sayer, but we still have to take into account the scouts might've reacted negatively to last month's encounter: maybe to them a titan is a titan is a titan, no acceptations"
"We don't think that's likely," the Cooper twins shook their heads, before Lucius explained, "Going over Ariana' reports and from what we saw last month, we don't think Erwin's likely to assume that. The guy's astute and shrewd to a tee, he's gonna be thinking of a way to try and find Shadow and Magpie again: preferably both together". "Hardly a pressing issue, given how well you two can hide without the concealment stones" Hawk threw in, "But what do we do if more of us are sighted, what's he going to do then?"
"These are all valid points, and I'm well aware of the need to maintain our secrecy" Carla stepped in, "But aren't these the people who we're hopefully going to approach with an offer of an alliance one day? Forgive me if I sound naïve but why continue to hide from them if we're supposed to be reaching out?"
"I know it's not a simple or straightforward situation: but we need to have all our facts straight before we can take the next step," Tyto stated as he addressed the whole group, "I know it sounds counter-intuitive: trying to keep some distance while trying to get up close at the same time, but for everyone's safety, including yours," he glanced up at the god-titans, "We must not let the scouts become aware of the Hunt's presence: what happened last month can't be helped, and given the circumstances we're all very lucky things turned out okay for everyone. Which gives us an opportunity to continue where we left off on that good note"
"So, that being said, what've you got in mind?" Clay asked: Tyto turned to Bryon, as he stepped forward to voice his thoughts; "After careful consideration: we've decided to play this simple and straight-forward, for now. First we've got to get a idea of what we'll be dealing with: you and Shadow may know the scouts well, but we've got to get up to speed and get an idea of who and what we're dealing with. A report written on paper only gets you so far, before a face to face encounter gives you a true idea of the person and their ways,"he glanced over at Ariana, "For this reason, we will both trail the scouts and bait them where necessary: drop them some 'breadcrumbs' so as to keep their attention on us, that way the Hunt can continue without risk of interference. We will essentially be allowing them to observe us, and vice versa it'll be an opportunity to get close to them. But, in the moments when the scouts have their eyes on us: it is important to exercise restraint and discretion. The idea of a benevolent titan working alongside humans is one thing, but I think it's fair to say the scouts are not yet ready to see the god-titan's true powers. Ergo, we will rely only on the concealment stones, and our good friend's illusions to manoeuvrer around the scouts" he glanced up at said god-titan's, "Whatever you guys decide to do in terms of handling the scouts, we'll leave solely to your discretion: we all trust you to handle this; okay?". The four god-titan's nodded, before Bryson gazed back at the humans, "This is basically going to be a game of hide and seek: who will be hiding and who will be seeking will change constantly between us and the scouts. Going on what Magpie told Petra last month, the scouts believe I died in Shiganshina, so unfortunately I have to keep my head down, for now: call it a hunch but I don't think it'd be prudent to let the Legion see there's a former scout in our ranks; it could give the wrong impression. So in the meantime, I'll be watching everything that happens and make sure nothing gets out of hand: I won't be far off. Alright?"
Everyone voiced their agreement, while Ariana stepped out to the edge of the forest, and gazed out over the open grassland: "The scouts are unlikely to go back to Whitefall: since they saw you take the chimes away, they'll think that's a dead end" she glanced up at Shadow: the giant nodded in agreement as he knelt down, looming over her, "We need to watch them and be able to get close, but how're we gonna do that if they're galloping all over the place trying to pick up our trail? We need to set up something to lure them in: something that'll convince them to hang around and investigate. We could put up another set of chimes? But then, they might try to take those too" Ariana speculated aloud as she leaned against a giant tree.
"It's one thing to hunt a wolf by tying the bait to a tree" her father suggested, "But quite another when he picks up your scent on the bait itself: if Erwin really is as smart as you say he is, then he's going to realize something's up. We might get away with it once, but not continuously: we're going to have to take our opportunities where we can get them, and just remember to stay sharp. After all, I wouldn't put it past the scouts to lay a trap for us too: this is going to go both ways, and once they realize we're observing them, they're either going to take advantage of our curiosity, or rethink their whole approach so as to try and maintain the upper hand. Last month was a fluke, but this time we'll both be expecting something to happen"
"I don't know about you guys but I'm kind of excited," Belle smiled as she practically bounced on her heels, "For what?! Probably nearly getting caught or getting chased by Capitan Levi?!" Poppy worried, "Hey, if the pipsqueak's around, I'll knock him down a few pegs" Rowan boasted, "You can try, but he's already short enough as it is" Ariana smirked, to which the other kids couldn't help but chuckle.
"I have to confess, now that we're out here, this 'pipsqueak' intrigues me" Hecate mentally sighed as she folded her arms, "Trust me, he won't disappoint you" Javorin smirked. "I'm interested to see just how crazy Hange is," Herne grinned as he picked his teeth with one of his claws, "She sound's like a real little firecracker". "And then some" his brother nodded. "You guys better not saddle me up in the trees," Elysia shot them all a dry look, "Carla's going to be needing me on point to make sure the scouts don't take any liberties: I have a job to do you know!". "We know, as if we didn't need reminding the last three times already," Hecate shot back with a sharp "TCH!-". "We each have our part to play in this little game, just remember not to overreact: we don't want the scouts thinking we're aggressive towards them" Javorin stated, "It may seem like a tall order, especially with the more stubborn scouts: but if we're patient and play our cards right, then in time even the testiest of them will come to see we're no threat". "Of course, but to do that, we've got to interact with them: even briefly if need-be. This whole 'maintaining distance' thing Tyto's got in mind is a fair ploy: understandably. But it's not going to be practical forever" Herne pointed out as he scratched behind his ear, "Look, I'm not saying we should let the scouts 'run into' the Hunt 'by accident'; but they know something's up by now. With the drop in their monthly fatalities, and all those arrows they found in the titans near Whitefall, they undoubtedly know there's more than just one hunter out here". "For sure, and while they have the first few pieces of the puzzle, Erwin won't jump to conclusions before he too has all the facts: he may be unconventional for a scout (nevermind a commander), but he's anything but reckless, and he won't jeopardize a chance to learn more" Javorin replied. "So what? You'll be taking point on this?" Hecate raised a sceptical eyebrow, "For the time being at least" the blue-eyed god nodded, "We don't want to give too much away before we've had a chance to begin: but on the off-chance things somehow get out of hand, then intervene if you must. Just-, don't get too ahead of yourself, alright?": "Me? Never..." the black and white goddess smirked like a cat that just ate a canary, "Well? Except maybe with one or two: the 'pipsqueak' sounds like he'll be fun", "With you? I bet he will" Herne chuckled.
"Hold on..." Javorin held up his hand to silence them, "...I have them". Seeing Shadow gaze out over the grassland with a serious expression and his elfin ears pricked forward, everyone stilled as Ariana and Tyto both flew up onto his shoulder. "What's up Shadow? Do you feel them?" the Grey owl elder asked, :Fifteen miles north-east and baring south at a steady pace: he replied as he felt the distant echoes of horse hooves pounding the ground, reverberating through the roots of the grasses and trees, all the way to the forest...
Meanwhile, fifteen miles north-east:
As the long range scouting formation thundered across the open grassland, passing by sparse copses of pines and scattered trading posts and hamlets, everyone's head was on a swivel, more so than usual. As he scanned the surrounding landscape, Erwin thought back to his meeting with the Commander-in-Chief, Darius Zackly, not three days before they set out on this latest expedition...
You did the right thing in bringing this to my attention, though you do realize the incredibility of it, do you not? Understandably I can't just take this as it is without further evidence to back up your statement, but what you have initially presented does raise some interesting questions to say the least. If you can collect further information on this 'painted titan', and these supposed 'titan hunters', then we'll see where we go from there. If they prove to be truly committed to humanity's survival then we'll need to find them and bring them into our fold: but if not? Well then, I'll leave it to you to take care of the issue. But in the meantime, I suggest a wait-and-see approach will be your safest opposition: find them, but do not engage unless absolutely necessary... Think before you act, and watch your step; after all, we've yet to see what the truth really is.
Erwin hadn't intended to do it any other way: he figured the best option would be to try and find another set of those wind chimes, and wait and see what happens (if anything might happen at all?). At this point he couldn't safely say what would or wouldn't happen, this was still too new a discovery, and he didn't want to put his soldiers in unnecessary danger. Jumping the gun was not an option: better to play it safe, rather than be sorry if something happened; for now though, he was just thankful Zackly's curiosity had afforded him the opportunity to look into this matter.
From where she rode behind Levi and Eld, Petra tried to keep her mind on the expedition, and reaching their destination in one piece: but being out here in Maria again, and knowing Magpie was out there somewhere, she couldn't help but wonder how the young girl was fairing. Was she okay? Were her family getting by alright? This and other concerning questions had her curious, and wishing to hopefully run into her again; if anything, to see her 'big friend' for herself...
Petra's encounter near Whitefall had the whole Legion talking: the idea that there were survivors of the breach living wild in the forests of Maria alongside a benevolent titan was weird to say the least, and disconcerting at the most. The whole regiment was split down the middle on what to believe, and it left everyone wondering what this month's expedition had in store. As she pondered on the squad's recollection of the painted titan: it reminded Petra of a rumour she'd heard being passed around the Garrison once or twice, about how three strange-looking rouge titans seemingly appeared out of nowhere during the breach, and how they fought the titans back with 'the fury of the gods' (as some had described it) before disappearing into the fray; could this painted titan have been one of them? And if so, what happened to the other two? As for Magpie's 'ODM gear teacher', upon further investigation everyone was surprised to learn of another rumour the Garrison circulated from time to time; the story of the lone scout, and how several Garrison troops who were stationed in Shiganshina at the time saw him fly into battle, taking on a whole hoard of titans single-handedly before disappearing amid the carnage and chaos. Who we was, no one knew: not even a name had surfaced; but whoever he was, he must've been a truly formidable scout. From what Petra described of Magpie's fighting style, and it's uncanny resemblance to what the Levi squad commonly used in combat against the titans: he must've been a veteran of several years at least, and a powerfully fast one at that.
But as serendipitous as it seemed, it also raised the question: if he taught Magpie how to fight like a scout, what else did he teach her? Did he disclose anything about the Legion to her? Did he teach her their rules, protocols and procedures? And if so, was this how she was able to evade them in the first place? It was possible, but no one knew of anyone then-currently living in Shiganshina who had been a scout, so the only other conclusion must be that he was either discharged or retired; both very highly unlikely given the scouts occupational dangers and high fatality rates, but not impossible. But the records from the time of the breach had been a complete mess: between the influx of refugees, the rush to rehome and feed them all, and the selection process for the conscription of the failed retrieval operation the following year, the record keepers had lost track of a fair amount of people; and the fact the royal government had provided no additional support didn't help at all.
Regardless of how she learned to use ODM gear, there was no denying Magpie was as capable as any scout, which meant getting the drop on her was going to be a challenging proposition: especially if she knew how to hide, and could (most likely) see them coming a mile off.
Glancing over at the Captain, and seeing his ever present stone-cold face, Petra could tell he wasn't fazed by this: he was wary, but Captain Levi wasn't the kind of man to second-guess himself, or his squad; he had taken on many titans and wasn't one to run from a fight. Although she hadn't seen the painted titan in person, Petra could tell from the looks on each of her squad member's faces that the encounter had left them shocked and dismayed; even the Captain, for the briefest of moments, seemed to hold a slight quiver of uneasiness in his steel blue eyes, before brushing it off and dismissing it as nothing. He wasn't foolish or boastful (unlike Oruo), but he wasn't entirely modest: his professional pride did have a habit of showing through at times, and the idea that a titan could take him on and stand a chance of winning, was like waving a red rag at a bull. If he ever saw that titan again, Petra knew it would only be Erwin's orders that would stop the Captain from charging in and dispatching the titan without question: for him, it was just another titan, regardless of any friendliness.
Somehow, something about that didn't feel right.
"You okay Petra?" Gunther asked, stirring her from her vexation: "Uh-, yeah: just trying to keep my head straight is all," she replied nonchalantly, trying to keep her anxiety from being noticed, "You think that painted titan's going to show up again Gunther?". "Dunno, but if he is around, we'll be ready this time" he replied. "Ha! You can bet your ass we'll be ready: pairing blades an' all- GHA!" Oruo jerked as he accidentally bit his tongue.
Petra was about to reprimand him for his arrogance, when suddenly, several black and red signal flares shot up into the sky west of the formation. "Great," Gunther sighed. As the distant thunder of titan footsteps began to echo through a large expanse of pines and spruces, Erwin fired his green signal flare south-east: within seconds the whole formation fired their flairs to confirm the change in direction, and everyone veered sharply to the south-east. "Any alternative routes from here?" the commander glanced over at Mike, who quickly glanced down at the folded up map he had in one hand: "There's a small village several miles up ahead: with a main road leading up through the forest to Bridgetowen, we can get back on the main route from there. It's not the fastest way, but it's the most direct from here" the human hunting hound replied, "Alright" Erwin nodded, "lead on".
"Oh wow! Check out those fine fellows!" Hange grinned as several regular and abnormal titans came barrelling out of the trees less than a few hundred meters behind them, all varying in height as they tried to chase after the centre of the formation. "But not as fine as our big blue-eyed friend!" she beamed, turning to the commander, "So what's our next move if we see the big guy again? Follow him and learn everything we can?"
"Exactly" Erwin nodded, "If we encounter the painted titan again, your orders are to remain stationary and observe the titan's movements and behaviour; do not engage unless absolutely necessary," he glanced over at Levi with an expression that told him the subject wasn't up for debate, "And by that, I mean unless one of our own is in danger of being attacked", he glanced back over at Hange: "For now, we study him: gather every last piece of information, and then decide what to do once we have enough"
"What do we do if we run into Magpie?" Petra asked offhand, "She'll be a slightly different matter," Erwin replied, "We don't know how she'll react to seeing us as a group: we best be prepared for anything", "I take it we're going to try and question the brat?" Levi surmised, "Yes, but we don't want to come off as aggressive, so we'll take things easy and try not to scare her off". "And if she gives us the run-around?" Levi raised an eyebrow, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it: for all we know, we may not run into them this time" Erwin replied, "Let's just concentrate on the mission at hand, don't forget, we've still gut a supply route to establish"
As the scouts galloped onwards, the edge of the great Marian forest loomed into view, with a couple of low-lying rolling mountains on the horizon: the titans showed no sign of letting up, so a few teams at the edge of the formation broke away to engage them; quickly making short work of the monsters as they cut them down in succession. But as the scouts neared the sea of giant trees, those at the front and in the middle of the formation spotted several steam plumes rising up into the sky, from somewhere within the forest.
As he watched the steam rise, Erwin caught sight of something dart down through the clouds into the trees; it was too fast to get a good look, but no sooner had he seen the steam, everyone else confirmed they'd seen it too. "The hunters?" Mike raised an eyebrow, "Undoubtedly" Erwin frowned, "Your orders?" Levi glanced over at the commander, ready for action. Watching five more steam plumes emerge from the tops of the trees, Erwin got an idea: "Beat the bushes and see what flies out: at this distance there's no way they'll have time to run and hide". Knowing what he was implying, the squad leaders all nodded, and knew what to do, "Right on!" Hange grinned as she pressed her horse to go at full gallop, heading straight for the forest, which was now less than five miles away.
Meanwhile, about a mile up into the forest:
"GUUUUYS! WE'RE IN TROUBLE!" one of the Rangers shouted at the top of his lungs, as his bird-titan swooped down through the trees and perched on a branch above where the baiters were luring in the titans with their hummers, while the attackers waited patiently nearby; the commotion caused everyone to break cover and run to see what was wrong, "Whistler? What's wrong?!" Bowen asked in alarm as he noticed the man's flustered face, "-The scouts are fast approaching from the north! They're less than five miles away and heading straight for our position!"
Every Celt, Ranger and god-titan looked at one another as panic began to set in amongst the group: but Bowen was quick to put a stop to it before anyone had a chance to loose their nerve: "Alright everyone calm down! There's no need to panic!" he bellowed, grabbing everyone's attention, "Quickly dispatch these titans, grab your concealment stones and find a place to hide! We've trained for this, so just keep a level head and remember what to do! Those of you with bird-titans fly off and warn the other groups! Now get going!". The attackers quickly moved in and killed all the titans present as the baiters and archers gathered their hummers, bows and quivers and slung them over their shoulders: before engaging their ODM gear, and flying off to find their god-titans. Some of the bird-titans and their riders took off for the base camp and other three groups who were near the foot of the mountains: too far away for the scouts to reach at their current position, but not so far away they wouldn't be able to spot the steam plumes from the other titans they'd killed.
As the humans hunkered down with their giant friends, the god-titans cast their concealment spells, and everyone vanished from sight: those who were on their own or in small groups quickly blew on their concealment stones and popped them in their mouths, also vanishing from sight; while some simply threw up the hoods of their ghillie cloaks and found hiding spots amid the undergrowth and canopy to blend in with, slowing their breathing and getting into a comfortable position to remain as still as possible.
As the wind carried the scent of horses and soldiers through the forest, everyone waited as the distant sound of thundering hooves neared. From where he watched the brick road up in the dense canopy along with several of his hunters, Bowen frowned as he caught a whiff of Tyto's scent, and turning around, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Grey Owl elder climb into view, with his brothers at his side, along with Bryson, Pascal and West. "Holy-, how the hell did you get here so fast?!", "You can thank Shadow's wind magics for our speed: he also picked up the scouts change in direction, so what's the situation?" Tyto glanced all around, unable to see anyone down below or in the nearby trees, "We're okay, we all managed to hide: but the scouts will have seen the steam", "We know, and they're not likely to leave any time soon" Evrard sighed in annoyance. "Don't worry though, we have a plan (of sorts)" Falken shrugged, trying not to sound so sheepish as Evernight waited on the branch beside him, "Well? Sort of is better than nothing," Bowen shrugged. "We'll try and get their attention: get them far enough away so you guys can clear out of here" Eraman explained as his ravens perched on the branch beside Evernight, "Dove and Angel are keeping an eye on things from above, hopefully they won't have to intervene if the scouts get a little too close for comfort". "So who's doing the baiting?" one of the other Celts asked offhand, "Magpie and Shadow: actually they're not far away, they're just waiting for the scouts to come" West replied. "We'll be tailing them, so I'm afraid we can't hang around here guys," Bryson added, "Well then? I just hope the scouts are in a curious mood today," Bowen frowned as he continued watching the road, and listening as the first several scouts came into view, and headed straight for where the dead titans lay.
Suddenly, the sound of titan footsteps boomed from the rear right, as a large ten-meter titan gave chase: the rest broke away to avoid running into the behemoth, while a few others galloped on, chasing after the titan; presumably to kill it. One rider in particular stood out: "That one riding the pale grey, he must've been Erwin: he's the only one who rides a pale grey, right?" Falken glanced over at Tyto, "Right," the Grey Owl nodded "Let's go...".
"Well? No birds yet, but I'd say we've got the right bait at least!" Hange smiled over at Mike and Erwin as they chased after the titan: while up ahead, Levi and his squad held the beast's attention as it chased after them. "Hopefully, if we can lure this big-boy to where we spotted the steam plumes point of origin, we might just run into our big blue-eyed friend!" "That's if it's really him" Mike frowned, "Right now I can't smell anything else except dead titans: he could be using the corpses to mask his own scent,". "In which case he could be anywhere" Erwin frowned in concern.
Hange was about to suggest something else, when she began to notice the ten meter behemoth was slowing down, and its breathing becoming more laboured: "Huh? What's up with this guy?" she thought aloud, until a flash of colour near the titan's nape caught her eye: it was an arrow, and where the head was embedded in its flesh, the titan's skin was beginning to take on a more unhealthy shade of grey, quickly spreading over the shoulders and right down the spine, before turning black, as if the skin was turning necrotic. Noticing the titan was slowing down as well, Levi and his squad slowed their horses so as to keep pace, albeit while maintaining a safe distance: "Oh my god look! That wasn't there before!" Hange pointed to the arrow in excitement, "Someone just shot that!", "Which means-" Erwin's eyebrows flew open in realization, "The hunters are right over our heads! ..." he quickly glanced up, and through the thick canopy some hundred meters away, he spotted someone on ODM gear take off through the trees. "There!-" he barked as he quickly grabbed his hand-grips and took off, flying out of his saddle and up into the canopy, followed by the others; "Ha! Now we're cooking with fire!" Hange beamed.
"-Shit! Where the hell did they come from?!" Red cursed his luck as he took off as fast as his ODM gear could carry him, sweating bullets as he heard the scouts chase after him: down below, his best friend Ginger was invisibly keeping pace, even though Red couldn't see her, he could hear her cloven hooves strike the ground as the deer-titan bounded through the undergrowth at high speed. Swinging down until he flew some four meters above the ground, he hissed down to her, "Ginger listen! You got to get away! Find somewhere to hide, I'll try and draw them off!"
Glancing up at him in worry, Ginger repapered only to him, and bleated desperately to try and get him to come with her: "No! It's you they mustn't see! Don't worry about me, I'll find a way to evade them: now get going, and don't come after me no matter what!" he pleaded, aiming upwards and banking left while Ginger disappeared again. With a frown of determination, the red-headed deer-titan turned and headed up into the forest, running parallel to the scouts while keeping a safe distance: there was no way in hell she was abandoning her best friend; she'd think of a way to rescue him, the question was, how?
'All-father help me, don't let anything happen to my Red!' she thought as she swallowed hard.
"Hey-" Midnight invisibly flew down beside her in her shadow form, dipping in and out of the shadows of the forest "Follow me, I have an idea"
"Oh no..." Ariana worried as she watched the scouts chase the young hunter, flying alongside Angel as Shadow kept her aloft in his elemental form: "They found Red!" she called over to Carla, "He may be good at outrunning titans but there's no way he'll be able to outrun the Levi squad!". "That's not the only problem! Look!" Carla pointed ahead: the knot in Ariana's gut tightened as she spotted the fifteen titans approaching from over a mile away to the south. "Okay, I'll take care of the titans, Shadow, you get Red outta there: Dove, Angel, cover me!" Ariana shouted as she bent forward to dive, did a forward roll as gravity took over, and shot her lines down through a space in the canopy, flying parallel to Red and proceeding to close the gap between them.
Glancing behind her, she saw it was only Erwin, Hange, Mike trailing after the Levi squad: "Okay, no back up: good" she nodded. But no sooner had she spoken, several teams from Mike and Hange's squads came flying in at a right angle to Red, almost hitting him as they just barely spotted him in time, and quickly gave chase. "SHIT!-" Ariana frowned as she clicked the third trigger on her hand-grips, and engaged the increased speed mode; a handy custom-built feature courtesy of Gustav, which increased the ODM gear's speed by twenty percent, allowing her to fly at a much faster speed, and easily catch up to Red, who by now was all but panicking.
"Holy- what's with that speed?!" Oruo gawked as the second stranger seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and chased after the first, leaving the other scouts practically eating their dust. Noticing how the second stranger was clad all in black, white, blue and green: Petra suddenly recognized them, "It's her..." she breathed in amazement. Hearing this, Erwin then ordered, "Stay with the second one, whatever happens don't loose sight of her!". "Easier said than done!" Levi grunted as he tried to push his ODM gear to go faster, but to no avail.
"Red!" Ariana grabbed his attention as she flew up alongside him, "Magpie?! Holy shit! Those guys came outta nowhere! From where I was hiding I didn't even hear the horses!" he panicked frantically, "Never mind that now," Ariana replied as she spotted Shadow flying through the trees in his elemental form, visible only to her: he gave her a thumbs up, signalling he was ready, "Listen, veer left and head north, Shadow will cover you: there's a whole load of titans fast approaching, I gotta lead them away and keep the scouts on me! Okay?"
"O-okay, thanks!" he nodded as he banked sharply to the left, hoping and praying he'd be alright. As he broke away, four scouts from Mike's squad chased after him as he flew up into the canopy and disappeared from sight...
"Okay," Javorin glanced down at Ginger, as she kept pace with the larger god, "Here he comes, get ready now", "Don't worry, I'm always ready!" she boasted confidently. As Red flew through the canopy, whizzing by the god's face, Javorin instantly threw up two concealment spells: one behind Red and one behind the pursuers, so as to hide Red from the four scouts, and also conceal them from the main group. As soon as Red cleared the canopy, Ginger reappeared down below and signalled for him to join her, much to his relief: while simultaneously, as the four scouts were looking for the boy, Hecate suddenly appeared, and as they shot past her face she blew a cloud of glowing purple embers over them. The four soldiers instantly fell asleep, and Shadow gently caught them in his winds, yanking their grappling hooks out from their anchors, and lowering them down to Hecate's waiting palms, where Ash, Rowan and Dale grabbed them and laid them down safely. "Been a while since you used that trick," Javorin noted as he floated down to the ground and materialized back into titan form, "Well you can't really go wrong with the simple things" She shrugged with a nonchalant smile, "You better get back, I'll see to these guys". "Mh," he hummed with a nod, "Don't take too long" he replied as he silently jogged off back the way he came, turning invisible as he chased after the scouts.
"Thanks for the save guys: I thought my goose was cooked there for a second!" Red called up to the three brothers as he sat on Ginger's back, "Hey, that's what we're here for" Ash smiled as he squatted at the edge of Midnight's palm, "What I want to know is, how the hell did they spot you?"
Ariana was now the one being chased as the scouts stayed on her tail: as the scent of live titans suddenly hit her nose, she reached for the little hummer in her pack, grabbed the string to let it unwind, and started spinning it fast, producing that eerie whistling/humming noise that filled the canopy and made the air ring like a glass bell. As the fifteen titans appeared up ahead, Ariana banked a hard right, and suddenly the titans diverted and started chasing after her: completely ignoring the scouts as they lumbered along, falling into a hypnotized stupor as the hummer worked its magic. She heard some of the scouts shouting something, but couldn't make out who it was or what was being said over the thundering of the giant footfalls: glancing over her shoulder, Ariana saw the Levi squad was still on point, along with Erwin, Mike and Hange close behind, but everyone else was hanging back.
What were they up to?
"What the hell is making that noise?" Eld frowned as the strange ringing sound became more consistent: "It's that little thing she's spinning in her hand!" Hange realised in excitement, "It's just like the wind chimes, only smaller!"
"Whatever it is, it's the only thing keeping the titans from noticing us" Erwin frowned as the cogs in his head continued to turn at full tilt, trying to figure out what Magpie's next move was going to be: "Maintain your distance, if she stops spinning that thing the titans will snap put of their trance: we won't have enough room to get out of the way in time!"
"Not to mention she'll get away!" Levi frowned as he glanced over his shoulder at the commander, "So what do we do now?"
Whatever the scouts had in mind, Ariana couldn't keep trailing the titans forever: they'd all run out of gas eventually, and then there'd be trouble. But in the meantime, they weren't going to give up the chase: she could stop using the hummer and the let the titans loose on them, but then if the scouts fought them and someone got eaten or trampled to death, that could spell disaster for any potential alliance with them. No, she'd have to take care of the beasts here and now, and pray the scouts stayed at a distance too: glancing over her shoulder again, she noted there were five titans between three and five meters tall, six titans between six and eight meters tall, and four titans between nine to twelve meters tall, all randomly scattered as they stampeded together in a loosely spaced group. "Hm, this is going to be a hard kill..." she sighed to herself as she reached for a handful of smoke snaps and flash snaps in her pocket: then spun the hummer around her arm, until it was safely wrapped around her wrist and secured in place, cutting out the humming as she turned sideways to get ready for the first move of her attack...
"That sound, it's stopped" Mike realized,
"Hey, what's she doing?" Eld pointed ahead.
From where they could see her, the scouts watched as Magpie turned and dropped something out of her hand: suddenly, a series of loud bangs rang out as several clouds of white smoke blew up in the larger titans faces, followed immediately by several blinding flashes of white light in front of the mid-sized and smaller titans. "STOP!-" Erwin barked: everyone shot up into the nearest tree as the titans tripped over each other, and fell to the ground in a crashing cacophony that shook the trees to their roots. The scouts all watched in stunned silence as the one young girl swung up and over, before coming down hard and fast to slice one of the titan's nape. From there, the monsters scrambled to get back on their feet while trying to grab her at the same time: their miscalculated and clumsy coordination afforded Magpie plenty of openings to dodge and dive out of the way, as she proceeded to kill the rest of them.
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said she had some serious moves Petra!" Hange grinned as she glanced over at the redhead, who simply nodded as she watched in amazement: "Shit..." Gunther breathed in astonishment, "One kid against fifteen titans? And she's only twelve?!" he glanced up at Petra, "That's what she told me" she shrugged.
"Tch!-" the captain huffed sharply as he watched the girl take out another four titans, "Bet you she's older". "I BET YOU'RE A LOT YOUNGER!..." Magpie cheekily called over to him as she swung past them, taking the captain by surprise as she killed the last three titans in one go, before landing in a tree that was some distance away, "-BECAUSE I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE SOMEONE SO SHORT CAN BE A CAPTAIN!" she added, flying to the next tree over to be nearer to them, "And if that's the case, then it's probably a good thing I didn't take up your offer of joining the scouts: I'd outrank you within less than a month!" she chuckled, much to the captain's annoyance. He was about to shoot back a retort when Erwin stepped forward. "You've certainly got the skills to make the cut in less than a month, that's for sure..." he called back in humour as he walked along the branch, trying to get closer so as to not have to shout so far: "...Mind if we talk? We have questions we'd like to ask"
"... Sure, we can talk," Magpie called back as she shot her lines and flew over to them, perching up on the branch opposite Erwin and his squad leaders: "But only if you stay where you are: it's not safe to move so freely with so many titans about. And that little ruckus will have drawn some attention"
"Ha! Like those brainless brutes are any match for us! Let' em come!" Oruo scoffed, "I wasn't talking about those titans..." Magpie glanced down at the steaming corpses, to which Erwin and the squad leaders immediately paused as they realized what she was referring to: "...Is that 'big friend' of yours around?" Erwin asked coolly, keeping his concern well hidden. "Oh him?..." Magpie replied nonchalantly, "He's around, somewhere: can't quite remember where though. He tends to drop in and out: he's ambiguous like that"
"Indeed..." the commander studied her with an unreadable expression, knowing she wasn't going to give away the titan's position.
It was taking everything she had to hold her nerve, as Ariana studied the scouts: there had to be at least three dozen of them, plus Erwin, Hange, Mike and the Levi squad, who were all standing on the same branch barely eight meters away. She was outnumbered, but at least she wasn't surrounded, and knowing that Shadow could be nearby was the only thing stopping them from coming any closer. '...Shit!' she mentally cursed, 'Now that I'm actually talking to the commander himself, what the hell do I say?!' she thought as she tried to keep calm and think through her list of options, '… There's no use in using the smoke snaps, even at this range I wouldn't have enough time to use my concealment stone, and I can't smell any new titans heading this way, so that's a no-go'. Realizing she had no way out, Ariana reluctantly steeled herself for a mental chess match with the commander of the scouts; she knew how shrewd and perceptive he was, and it was going to take everything she had just to keep her guard up. 'It'll be alright; just stay calm and focus...' she told herself.
Then, an invisible Shadow silently drifted in his elemental form, up right behind Erwin and the other scouts, and spelt out :It's okay, just relax and talk to him: Carla and Angel will get you out soon enough, and I'll be right overhead: he smiled, before drifting up as a breeze into the canopy above.
'….Thanks buddy...' she mentally sighed in relief, feeling a fresh wave of confidence well up inside, now that she knew her best friend was covering her: 'Okay, what would Pascal say? He can weasel his way out of just about anything...' she thought, before something else came to mind, '…No...what Armin have done?...'.
Then, she remembered the chase: how they went after Red before her; and an idea began to form in the back of her mind...
"...So, you're Magpie" Erwin gazed up at her with an unreadable look. "Yep, I take it Petra spilled all the gossip on me?" Magpie smirked behind her neckerchief, "Speaking of which, nice to see your still alive," she waved to the redhead. "Um-, nice to see your alive too," she replied nervously, "How did you know Levi here is a Captain?" Erwin asked offhand: "Uh? Because I overheard you guys as you rode into the forest? Duh!" Magpie chuckled, "Seriously, with all the shouting and yelling you guys make? It's no wonder the titans are able to find you so easily: hell, I bet they could find you in the dark if they were able to move around at night". "You'll have to forgive our lack of 'tactful stealth', running and hiding isn't really in our nature" Erwin replied, "Meh, easily forgiven" Magpie shrugged casually, "Not everyone has what it takes to move around the forest unseen and unheard"
"Not everyone has what it takes to fight a titan either: nevermind fifteen..." the commander smiled as he changed the subject, "I understand you had an excellent teacher: tell me, was he a scout too?". Magpie paused a brief moment as an unreadable look filled her eyes, "...Yeah, he was". "And is it true he went into battle against the titans at Shiganshina?", "Yeah, I saw him fly and fight one last time: and before you ask, he simply went by the name 'L'; though, I always suspected that wasn't his real name". "Why do you suppose he kept it a secret?" the commander frowned dubiously, "Who knows?" the girl shrugged, "Everyone keeps different secrets for different reasons: some are too painful, some are too complicated. And maybe some are just too dangerous to be known: being careless can get you into trouble you know; sometimes, it pays not to be too curious about certain things"
"...I know..." the commander replied as he maintained his poker face: Levi wasn't sure where Erwin was going with this, but it was clear the girl was hiding something, and he was trying to feel his way around it. "...But, as I said before, we have questions we're eager to find answers to: and if being 'too curious' is liable to get us into trouble, then how about you tell us what you can, and we won't pry too much. Sound fair?"
"Hmmm..." Magpie glanced away as she thought about it: her eyes wandered off into the forest as she seemed to be tracking the movement of something: noticing this, Hange chanced a glance to where she was staring at, but saw nothing. Turning her attention back to Erwin, Magpie finally replied, "Okay...But, I just realized this presents a bit of a problem: what proof would you have that anything I say is the truth? And vice versa? I could preach on and on about how I'm fighting to save humanity by wiping out the titans, but then, for all you know that could just be a means to an end for something else? And likewise, even if I was to take up Petra's offer of joining you guys and getting my own wings, how would I know you having me in your ranks doesn't serve some other purpose? Neither of use are stupid, and we both don't have a solid reason to fully trust each other. So? How do we get around this?"
All the other scouts glanced at one another in confusion: "A fair point..." the commander knitted his brows together slightly, 'She's sharp, but has she entirely thought this through?...' he thought to himself, "What would you recommend?". "Well?" Magpie sighed as she scratched the back of her neck, "I'm no expert, but what would you consider to be a sign of unquestionable trust?"
"Simple. Pledge your heart to humanity and join us: if we're both fighting for the same reason, then there shouldn't be a need to remain separate entities. With your skills and courage you'd be a most valuable asset," Erwin reasoned, "I'm sure I would," Magpie grinned before turning serious, "Don't get me wrong, I am flattered and honoured you'd ask me to join you: but I already have responsibilities, as well as my family to think about, I can't just abandon them". "Fair enough" Erwin nodded, "But if it's your identity your worried about, no one need know who you are: you could create a whole new persona, for yourself and your family; that wouldn't be difficult for us to arrange"
Magpie paused a moment: although Erwin could tell she was smiling beneath her neckerchief, he saw hers eyes were filled with a kind of regret. "...It wouldn't be that simple..." she sighed reluctantly, as her gaze wandered down to the forest floor: watching the titan corpses as they continued to evaporate, "...Some secrets are not easily forgotten, especially by those who hold contempt in their hearts: it doesn't matter what face you wear, or what name you choose to go by: it doesn't change where you come from or who you are inside; and I refuse to be someone I'm not"
Now everyone was really dumbfounded, but despite her ambiguous choice of words, Erwin was taking stock of every last one: she was trying to convey something, and the conviction in her voice told him this was something important; of course she could just be making the whole thing up, but somehow, his gut was telling him that wasn't the case. "...Alright..." he replied, "But this still doesn't solve our shared conundrum" he pointed out.
"No, it doesn't," she met his gaze again, "And maybe? For the time being at least, that's how it should be: until we get to know each other a little better. One thing I learned a long time ago is that you must learn some things for yourself: it's one thing to rely on the wisdom of those who came before you, and to heed good advice from those you trust. But sometimes, some lessons have to be learned first-hand: otherwise we never truly learn at all. So rather than tell what you want to know and question the truth in my words, I'll instead, give you the opportunity to learn those truths for yourselves"
"What truths?" Levi frowned sceptically, "What're you talking about?"
"The big guy? ..." Magpie smirked slyly, as she diverted the conversation slightly, "Why else would you be so far off-course from your supply route? You tried to check out the dead titans on the way in here, and even tried luring that ten-meter in the hopes of baiting him; did you not?"
"You saw that?" Erwin regarded her with a cautious look, "Oh please, everyone saw that," Magpie waved off: "Everyone? You mean there're more of you out here?!" Hange perked up in excitement, before suddenly remembering, "Oh!-, that reminds me: who was the other kid we were chasing earlier?". "Oh, he's one of the family: third cousin twice removed I believe..." the girl replied casually, before she narrowed her eyes at Erwin, "... Which reminds me: what were you going to do if you caught him?..." she asked in a dangerous tone. Everyone suddenly became uncomfortable as Magpie drove home the point, "...'Captain Levi' was running point throughout the whole chase, and from what I've seen he's pretty dangerous with those blades of his... I've seen what he can do to a titan; so what was he going to do, to my cousin?"
A tense but brief moment of silence hung in the air as Levi eyed the girl suspiciously, before Erwin coolly replied, "The same as we're doing with you now, simply talking". "Really?" Magpie smiled sarcastically, before shooting the commander a stern frown, "Three dozen scouts to talk to one kid? Yeah I'm calling bullshit on that. Normally, when someone threatens one of my family, I either shoot them in the ass with one of my arrows, or I get my big brothers to beat the shit outta them..." she glared at him, before taking a deep breath and sighing reluctantly, "...But, unfortunately, under the circumstances that's not applicable to you,". Everyone blinked in surprise as she explained: "For one, dad's gonna chew my ass out if he found out me an' brothers beat the scouts senseless: secondly, from a practical standpoint it wouldn't pay to stay on bad terms with you guys anyway, for a whole slew of different reasons (not counting the big guy of course); and thirdly, the captain's so short I don't think I could get off a clean shot anyway..." she shot Levi a sly smirk, and he in turn gave her a look that could kill a titan from fifty paces away; which she promptly ignored.
Hange tried the stifle her giggles, while Oruo glared daggers up at the girl as she continued: "...Though, that being said: I don't know what you had in mind for my cousin back there? But I can only surmise it would've involved you cornering him, and scaring him half to death. Like I said, I'm not going to shoot or beat the shit out of you, and I'll stand by that: but I'm not going to let you go unpunished for that little stunt either. So how about instead, you owe me one?" she smiled devilishly at the commander. "Owe you one?" Erwin raised an eyebrow, "Since we're in no position to argue back, alright: what did you have in mind?". "Oh, nothing too fancy or frivolous: we gotta stay realistic, you have got a supply route to put together after all, so we can't distract from that..." Magpie mused aloud, "Like I said before: I'll give you the opportunity to learn. The question is, would you be willing to humour me?"
"Learn about what?" Levi frowned darkly.
"About a lot of things you don't know: about the big guy, about the mystery of how the world was before the titans appeared; things you're not allowed to know when you're on the other side of Wall Rose..." she gazed at them cryptically, "But first, you have to prove you're worthy, and not careless or ignorant: and to do that, there are three things you must learn in particular..." Magpie held up three fingers, "Openness, understanding, and acceptance. Having the openness of mind and heart to be able to see the world with eyes unclouded by contempt or disdain. To see the unifying diversity of all mankind, and understand, how all our differences make us one and the same. And to accept, that no matter how much we strive to learn, there are things in this world we will never totally comprehend, and that it's okay to be afraid of those unknown things; so long as we don't let that fear keep us from wanting to learn and move forward..." Magpie put her hand down, "If you can learn these virtues and let them guide you through thick and thin: then maybe one day, you'll be ready..."
"Ready for what?" Petra asked,
Magpie was about to reply, when suddenly she paused and her head jerked up slightly, as if she'd just heard something: "...What's wrong?" Erwin asked as she glanced to her left; "...It would seem it's time for me to go," she sighed, "A shame too, I was rather enjoying this little talk"
"Go? Go where?" Hange asked offhand. Magpie pointed to where she was looking at, and as everyone glanced in said direction, they were all alarmed to see a huge mass of white fog steadily rolling towards them, engulfing everything in its wake, making the forest vanish from sight amid the luminous white. "Wha-, where the hell did that come from?" Hange blinked in surprise. "That's my cue to head for home" Magpie reached for her hand-grips, "Well, it's been a pleasure-, sorry, I didn't get your name"
"Erwin smith: I'm the commander of the scouting Legion" the commander replied, "... Yeah, you certainly sound like the guy in charge," Magpie smiled, "You take care now: rest assure we'll be keeping an eye on you a little more closely from now on. I'm already looking forward to next month"
"Likewise" Levi scowled,
"Oh, and one other thing..." Magpie smirked as she stepped to the edge of the branch, watching as the fog drifted closer, and enveloped the whole tree, "Remember to keep your wits about you: you'll need them for sure...". And within seconds, Magpie was gone from sight: the fog was so thick that everyone couldn't see their feet, and yet, there was a brightness emanating from all around, almost as if the fog were glowing. "What do you mean by that?" Erwin asked. But as some of the fog parted, he saw the branch Magpie had been standing on was bare: the girl had completely vanished. "Wha-, how the hell is that possible?!" Oruo gawked, "I didn't hear her take off, did you?". "None of us did" Eld realized, suddenly feeling a little unnerved.
As the fog thinned out a little, some of the outlines of the nearby trees became visible, and through the eerie whiteness, Erwin spotted something that made him pause: "Erwin?" Levi frowned in concern, gazing over to where he was looking at; the captain and his squad were totally taken aback. Standing on a branch some ten or so meters away in another giant tree, was a woman clad all in white and kitted out in custom-made ODM gear: dressed in much the same style as Magpie with her face concealed too, except she had long raven-black hair tied up in a side-ponytail cascading down over her right shoulder, and eyes so light brown they almost appeared golden, with what looked like a pale scar over her left eye. She simply stood there, silently watching them like a hawk would a mouse. "...Is, that her?" Petra gasped.
"Who?" Erwin frowned in confusion, "...The lady in white," Eld replied as he stared at her in amazement. Erwin was about to call out to her, but before he had the chance, the fog thickened and she vanished from sight. Overhead, the sound of a giant set of wings could be heard beating fast: whatever bird or creature it was, had to be absolutely huge to make such a heavy flapping sound. Suddenly, the winds kicked up sharply as a giant bird-shaped silhouette glided overhead, missing the scouts perch by several meters and making everyone duck down. But the scouts were even further dismayed when they stood back up, and saw the fog was completely gone: the air was bright and clear as the sun shone down through the canopy, and the whole forest was at peace, as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.
"...They're gone..." Mike's eyes shot wide open in alarm as he sniffed the air: "Yeah, quite a vanishing trick," Eld nodded in agreement, "No, I mean they're gone: there's no scent of them anywhere" the tall blond man clarified, "Could they have masked their scent?" Hange surmised, "No, if they used something to cover their smell I could pick that up: but there's no scent of anything or anyone. It's like they were never here to begin with" he replied, trying not to let his worry show. "..What're you saying Mike?" Erwin frowned in concern: not entirely sure what he was getting at, "I'm saying..." he glanced over at the commander with a look of confoundment in his eyes, "...I don't know what just happened: but as ludicrous as this sounds; I think you just had a conversation with-, something that wasn't really there..."
Unnerved, the other scouts all glanced around the forest, suddenly feeling vulnerable and exposed. "...What're you saying Mike? That she was a ghost or something?" Gunther asked with a raised eyebrow, "That shouldn't even be possible, there's no such thing as ghosts" Hange frowned in confusion: "I didn't say she was a ghost: all I'm saying is that she had no scent; which makes no sense at all" Mike clarified with a vexed look in his eyes. "Whatever," Levi waved off, "So what now?" he glanced over at Erwin, who was staring at the branch Magpie had been standing on, "...Return to the others and make ready to leave" he glanced over at the Captain, "Call it a hunch, but I don't think we're going to get anything else on this expedition: let's move out!" he barked. No one needed to be told twice as they all took off back the way they came.
Meanwhile, not too far away:
As they watched the scouts fly out of sight, the humans and god-titans breathed a collective sigh of relief, while Ariana simply sat in Shadow's palm and flopped over backwards, as if exhausted: "'L'? where did that come from?" Bryson couldn't help but chuckle, "I just-, your last name came to mind and the first letter was all I could think of" Ariana fretted, "I was trying to keep it as ambiguous as possible. You said they have records of every scout that's served in the Legion, well there's gotta be a lot of guys who's names begin with L, right?". "Well? For thinking on the fly it's not half bad, at least you managed to keep Erwin from pressing the subject" the former scout concurred.
"He didn't press you on anything else in particular," Pascal thought aloud sceptically, "And he followed your line of the conversation: I don't know about you guys but I got the distinct impression he was trying to figure out what hand you were playing", "Huh? What hand I playing?" Ariana glanced up at him in confusion, "It's an expression used when playing poker" West clarified, "He could tell you had your guard up, and so he was trying to figure out a way around it". "I thought he was being a bit too easy..." Ariana thought aloud as she looked back over the conversation, "But hell: I was sweating musket bullets the whole time. That was damn hard," she let out a deep exasperated sigh. "Hey, a battle of wits ain't to be taken lightly: and for first-timer, you managed to hold your nerve okay; that's a good a start as any" Pascal offered, "I suppose?" Ariana shrugged.
"Well..." Tyto stepped in as he flew up onto Shadow's palm, "The important thing is, you got Red out of trouble and put the scouts on notice for their blunder: so at least they know where they stand with 'the family' now..." he glanced up at Shadow with an unreadable expression: "...I know I said I trust you guys to handle the scouts as you see fit: but issuing this 'test of three virtues' to see if their hearts are in the right place; do you really think they'll be able to work it out, and prove themselves?"
:A mind as perceptive as Erwin's? Oh he'll cotton onto it eventually. The question is, will the rest of them be able to follow suit, and prove they're worthy. That's what we need to assess, and that's what the Keeper needs to know too: Shadow replied. "You gotta admit, as first impressions go: they're certainly an interesting bunch," West smiled as he folded his arms. "Captain shorty in particular" Rowan smirked over at Ariana, "The way he was shooting you that evil look? I'd have beaten him up for free", "He was a tad haughty, wasn't he?" Carla smiled as she stroked Angel's cheek, to which the bird-titan replied with a concurring chirp and nod. "Captain haughty-shorty!" the raven twins beamed as they high-fived each other, "Heh, yeah, Captain haughty-shorty: suits him to a tee" Ariana couldn't help but chuckle.
"So, why did Red break cover?" Evrard asked offhand, "He said he saw that ten-meter running towards Willow and Stone's position, and thought it had noticed them before they turned invisible: he fired the arrow thinking the coast was clear, but he didn't see the scouts from his position; the lower trees in the undergrowth obscured them from sight" Ash explained from where he and his brother's sat atop Midnight's shoulder. "He showed me his perch after you guys trailed Ariana and Shadow, and the understory does come up pretty high from over a hundred meters away, even a five meter-class wouldn't be visible from where he was" Falken added. "Okay, I'll fill Ratatosk in on the details once everyone's cleared out and relocated: we were damn lucky one of the look-out's spotted the long-distance scouting formation in time" Tyto sighed.
"You mean this time," Bowen interjected as he and some of his hunters flew in, and perched up alongside Tyto and his brothers, "Bowen? I though you and the rest of the Hunt were still hiding?" the Grey Owl blinked in surprise, "The scouts are pulling out back the way they came, and we were far enough away they wouldn't have been able to spot us" he replied, before adding: "We're going to have to move the whole Hunt five miles further east to make sure they don't pick up our trail on the return journey. We were lucky to be able to hide this time: but next time? What if they find us again?"
"There's no way the scouts could've known the Hunt would be here today," Tyto stated, "This area was chosen because it's over ten miles from their designated supply route: if the titans hadn't surprised them out on the plains, they wouldn't have had to divert their course; it was just bad luck they came this way and spotted the steam"
"I appreciate that, but even so, half my team were spooked: and why the hell did the scouts chase Red in the first place? Were they going to try and capture him?!"
An uneasy silence hung in the air, before Fox frowned: "...Three dozen scouts to talk to one kid? There's no way in hell they were going to just 'talk' to him. I don't know what they were going to do, but the fact they didn't call out to him, or even plead with him to stop makes me think they definitely had something elsein mind"
The hunters all glanced at one another in worry, before Bowen frowned: "They'd really be that desperate? So eager to learn of us and our secrets that they'd try to capture one of us?", "If that's their chosen path then what hope is there of an alliance?" one of the other hunter's sighed in despair. "There is hope!" Ariana stated vehemently, much to the hunter's surprise: "...Granted, the scouts are more stringent than we are: they're soldiers, they have a different way of doing things; but they're not bad people. I've been spying on them for nearly a year now, I know them, and they're not like the wall cult"
"Maybe not in a god-fearing way: but if kidnapping us is how they intend to get answers, then how are they any different to the cult?" Bowen stated. "That's fear talking," Tyto interjected, "This is the first time we've got a good look at them, and we've got a long way to go before we can safely say we know who the scouts are and what they're about"
"No one said this was going to be easy Bowen, and it sure as hell ain't gonna be straight-forward" Bryson added: "Things have changed in the scouts, and I'm not just talking about since when I was part of the Legion: just by watching the way they flew and the way they were coordinated, I can tell Erwin has shaken things up: he's not like any scout I've ever seen before, and he certainly doesn't let his pride dictate his actions. He had enough humility to admit defeat when backed into a corner, and he wasn't forceful or demanding, not even once. And despite vastly outnumbering Magpie, he never gave any discreet order to have anyone sneak up behind her and box her in. He let her dictate the conversation: he knew taking the strong-arm approach wouldn't yield the results he wanted, so he went for subtlety instead. Even letting her use that move against Red to threaten him... Which, come to think of it; probably might have been an intentional decision on his part"
"What?" Pascal raised an eyebrow, unsure of Bryson's line of logic,
"But, if that's the case," Dale suddenly realized as the cogs in his mind turned at full speed: "And Erwin already knew that he screwed up by chasing Red: then he must've figured he could turn his blunder into an advantage", "What?" Bowen stared at the young hunter in dismay, "Okay, now you really lost me" another of the hunter's rubbed his forehead as he tried to get his mind around the boy's logic.
"Okay, think about it for a minute," Dale explained "Erwin and the other squad leaders know Magpie isn't the only 'titan-hunter' out here: she hinted as such to Petra last month. They know from the arrows they found that there are many of us, and that we hunt in a coordinated group with a non-human-eating titan: on the face of it, it's incredible but it's nothing to sneeze at, and something well worth looking into if there's the potential to utilize it in a military capacity. So when they spotted the steam plumes from the Hunt earlier, they realized it must be the rest of 'the family'. Being close enough to the forest, Erwin must've figured they had the chance to get the drop on us, and so galloped into the forest hoping to catch sight of us before we could run and hide (obviously not knowing about the look-out's or the concealment stones). Then, Red breaks cover and he figures its a chance to get some answers. So they gave chase, and then the other scouts come swooping in to provide back-up: as part of their protocol or under Erwin's orders? We don't know; but he thinks he's got the upper hand to do-, whatever he had in mind to do originally. But then Magpie flies in and things change: she manages to flip the whole situation around, and he realizes he's no longer in control,".
"Right," Lucius nodded, as he suddenly realized where Dale was coming from, "He quickly realizes she's got the upper-hand and that he screwed up, but when she talks him into owing her one as punishment for his mistake, he realizes he's got a way to flip it back round in his favour,"
"By agreeing to the test of three virtues, and hearing that she'd be keeping an eye on them, he must've figured it'd be an opportunity to keep an eye on her as well. Maybe? He could try to use his situation to get close to us through her, try to see what he and the other squad leaders can learn if they play their cards rights, and stick to the subtle tactics" Dale concluded.
"Even though..." Ariana grinned with a sly glint in her eyes, "I said 'we'd' be keeping an eye on them: I never said anything about the 'big guy' being the one to do the watching" she patted Shadow on the hand, as he glanced down at Bowen and the other hunters with a satisfied smile and a cheeky look in his eyes. "Oh..." Bowen realized as a smile crept across his face, before he suddenly thought: "-Wait, how the hell did you come up with all that? How do you know that's what he's even thinking?!"
"Meh, it's what I do if I was him," Dale shrugged, "It's only logical" the Cooper twins shrugged as well. "You know, I think you kids have way too much time on your hands" Pascal smirked, "Either that or you've been hanging out with us too long" West smiled. To which Bryson smirked, "In any case: if your hunch proves correct-", "I'm pretty sure it will," Dale stated boldly as he folded his arms, "Then we're in the perfect position to watch and study the scouts, while you guys oversee your test" Bryson glanced up at Shadow, who nodded confidently.
"You know?" Tyto suggested as he thought about, "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to 'introduce' the rest of the family? Let them see some new faces?". "And let's not forget! They know we have a titan on our side, so they won't dare think to step out of line with us!" Belle added excitedly.
"Would you like some eggs with that ham?" Hecate smiled as she folded her arms, "Shouldn't you be asking Ariana? She just made our jobs that little bit easier" Javorin smiled back. "Oh, I'm not sure if I'd like it easy," the black and white goddess smiled slyly, "I think I'd like the challenge of testing our new little friends first-hand", "It wouldn't have anything to do with the good Captain now, would it?" Herne glanced up at her with a cheeky glint in his golden eyes, "Maybe?" she smirked in a sultry tone, "You're excited because you noticed his physique, didn't you?" Javorin raised an eyebrow at her, "Hey, a hot guy is a hot guy, regardless of whether he's a mortal or god: maybe if he's a good boy I'll turn myself into a succubus and have a little fun with him" she teased, "You'll do no such thing!" Javorin replied firmly, giving her the mother hen look, "Seriously Hecate, the guy may have some strength on him, but I doubt he'd be able to survive a night with you" Herne smirked, "Eh, a goddess can dream" she shrugged nonchalantly, "Seriously though, I get first dibs on him". "Fine, just don't let any of your 'fetishes' come to the fore: it could get very awkward for the rest of the squad, as well as him" Javorin grimaced, "Oh but that's half the fun!" she grinned wickedly.
"Well, I call shot-gun on crazy-bangs Hange" Herne stated, "And that Mike guy looks like he could be interesting: with a nose like that he'll certainly give me a run for my money". "Isn't that what we're trying to avoid? Letting the scouts hunt us?" Elysia worried, "Kid, I'm the god of the hunt, this is way within my divine jurisdiction! And as such, I will bestow my blessings upon the scouts and grant them a measure of good luck for the coming tests. All-father only knows, they're certainly going to need it" Herne smiled slyly as he held his head up with pride. "And what about you brat?" Hecate glanced up at the weather goddess.
"Me?" Elysia blinked in surprise, "Yes, Jarus appointed you to this task and you accepted; so how do you want to do it?" Herne shrugged, "Oh-, I didn't think-, I've never tested any mortals before: I'm a Tempus goddess, we're not usually into that kinda thing," she hesitated, "Brat, you haven't been a true Tempus goddess for nigh on seven years now: I think you can handle testing a few mortals on the limits of their morality; it's hardly alchemy for all-father's sake" Hecate shot her a dry look. Surprised, Elysia wasn't sure what to think, "I wouldn't worry about it too much," Javorin smiled up at her, "This will be a good exercise for you: and who knows? You might just get lucky and find a few scouts who make the grade"
"You-, really think I can do this?" she asked in uncertainty, before letting a small nervous smile cross her lips, "Honestly? I was fine with just following your lead: I didn't think I have to be in charge of anyone or anything", "Not in charge per se: that's not how this particular test is going to be carried out; more like, you'll have an equal say in whatever we decide to do. In other words, no one of us is going to be in charge," Hecate clarified. "Really?" Elysia perked up a little, "Oh, well I guess that'll be easy enough". "Ah trust me kid, it'll be a breeze," Herne grinned, "You did not just use a weather pun," Hecate shot him a deadpan look, "What can I say? I saw an opening and I took it" he shrugged.
As the two gods proceeded to playfully bicker, Javorin leaned in close to Elysia, and smiled confidently, "Don't worry about it, you got this: just follow Carla's lead as you always do, and just take note of what you sense along the way. Keep your focus and remember to keep your wits about you; this is going to go both ways after all, so just remember to stay calm during the heat of the moment"
"Heat of the moment?" she glanced at him weirdly, "Trust me, you'll find out," he chuckled, as he used his power to note the scouts position as they returned to where they'd left the main group...
"For someone who just got their ass handed to them by a fresh-as-fuck green horn: your looking kinda like the cat that just ate the canary" Levi glanced over at Erwin in ire, who simply stared ahead with a subtly satisfied glint in his eyes. "Oh, you managed to figure out a way to turn the situation to our advantage, didn't you?" Hange grinned gleefully with a sneaky look in her eyes. "We use the kid to get close to the rest of the family huh? I'm assuming that's what your thinking" Mike glanced over at the commander sceptically.
"Correct. We'll dance to her song and let her take the lead: if we're patient, and play our cards right, we could potentially get more than just a tamed titan" Erwin smiled cunningly, "Ohohoh I so hope so!" Hange giggled as she bounced up and down in her saddle "Granted the big guy is probably going to keep his distance for a while, given what happened here today; but hell! I'm willing to play it subtle if it means I get to gaze upon those perfectly chiselled abs once again!" she practically salivated in sheer elation. "Oh please..." Levi scowled, "We're only in this mess because we made the mistake of chasing after that other brat". "And that's something to keep in mind for next time," Erwin pointed out, "They always travel in pairs at the very least, plus they have a titan for additional support. Let them throw all the insults they want, but if we do this right and don't rush it, the pay-off could potentially be huge "
"I can't believe the lady in white was one of them this whole time: thinking back to that night in Stinestadt, it sort of makes sense now" Eld threw in, "Indeed," Erwin nodded, "And it proves they really have been watching us all along". "Forgive me sir, but if she really is Magpie's mother, and she was watching us the whole time: what might she have done if we tried to capture the boy, or her?" Petra asked worryingly. "For all we know she could've had the means to sic that painted shit on us like a guard dog," Levi concurred, "Then what would we have done?". "Fortunately it didn't come to that, and from now on we won't do anything to push our luck: if any of us see the girl, her mother, the titan, or anyone else that might be one of the 'family', we're to give them their space and let them approach us if they want to," he glanced over at Levi, "With the acceptation of any act of aggression".
"Well? As first impressions go, it could've been a lot worse," Hange pointed out in a chipper tone, trying to stay on the positive side, "And hey, she was pretty reasonable; giving us an 'opportunity to learn' rather than resort to fisticuffs". "You do realized half of what she said was complete bullshit right? For all we know she probably stalling for time until 'mum' showed up," Levi glanced over at the scientist with a his usual disdainful scowl: "True, but we can't rule out the possibility she might have been telling the truth either" Erwin replied, "I couldn't understand half of what she was saying" Mike threw in frankly, "Me neither, but it's very much along the same lines of how she spoke to me last month" Petra added, "There's definitely something she and her family are keeping secret: and I'm starting to get the feeling it's not the painted titan"
"You're right..." Erwin glanced over at her, "The question is, how far are they willing to go to protect it?", "Clearly it's to do with something, or someone on the inside of wall Rose: but what?" Hange thought aloud, "What could pose such a threat that they'd rather take their chances out here with the titans? Even with a tamed titan to protect them, this family are willing to run the gauntlet every day, even letting their own children put their lives on the line. And would we be in danger if we knew?" the scientist thought about it, before suddenly realizing, "...When she said 'it pays not to be too curious about certain things': did she say that as a way of warning us against something in particular? Something that, if we became curious about, would pose a threat to us if that 'certain thing' became aware of our actions?"
"And for all we know she could've just been telling us to mind our own business," Levi shot back, "We don't know anything yet," Erwin stated, "This was our first good look at one of the titan-hunters, and confirmation that the encounter at Stinestadt wasn't an accident after all. They've been aware of us for the last two years, and maybe even long before that: we have to be careful, for we don't know how much they truly know"
Hange was about to say something else, when suddenly, one of the rookies from the main group came galloping towards the veterans: his face flustered with panic,"SIR! We have a situation! Four of our number have been found alive!"
"Found alive?" Erwin frowned in mix of alarm and confusion "Explain", "It's-, well? It's rather hard to explain sir: I-I still can't believe it happened!" the rookie swallowed hard as he tried to keep his composure, "-Just spit it out already" Levi shot him a reprimanding frown, "Uh? Perhaps it'd be better if you see for yourself" he turned his horse and galloped back the way he came. Glancing at one another in confoundment, the commander and his veterans all took off after the messenger: following him through the forest until they reached the brick road, and followed it back to where the main group had been left to wait near the entrance to the forest. The rookie led them to the base of one of the giant trees, where the four scouts who chased after the boy were sitting with a couple of medics at their sides. The four of them looked like they'd seen a ghost: pale with fright, as well as looking slightly dazed and confused. Erwin jumped off his horse and stepped over towards them, they were so out of it they didn't even realize it was him until he was standing right over them: at which point they all nearly jumped out of their skins as they scrambled to their feet and saluted.
"What happened? Did you see where the boy went?" Erwin demanded, "N-no sir!" the first scout swallowed hard, "I regret to say we lost him!". "How the hell do you loose one brat?" Levi demanded as he too jumped out of his saddle and approached, "W-w-with due respect sir, I-I'm afraid something found us instead!" he replied, petrified as he tried to keep himself from shaking. "Something? You mean the painted titan?!" Hange's eyes lit up in excitement. "N-No ma'am: I say something because-, I regret to say we four didn't get a good look at it!"
One of the medics placed a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him as she explained: "About ten minutes after you ordered us to remain here, we were-..." she hesitated as she tried to find the right words, "...We encountered a new type of titan: at first we thought we were going to be attacked, but the creature made no move to harm us. It just stood there between the trees, watching us," she pointed to a dark shady area between a close cluster of giant trees, "Then, when it came closer and stepped out onto the road, we saw these guys in it's hand. We thought it was going to eat them at first, but then-, it just bent down and placed them by the tree here, before disappearing back into the forest. I mean-, none of us could believe what we were seeing: and when we checked them over for injuries, we found they were actually asleep"
"Asleep?" Erwin glanced at the four scouts sceptically, "Knocked out somehow, probably with the use of some kind of sleeping gas?" the medic offered, "Why do you say that?" the commander pressed her, "B-because," the scout replied as he tried to keep it together, "The last thing I-, we all remember before falling unconscious, was passing though a strange purple mist, filled with glowing purple sparks; next thing we know, we're waking up under that tree feeling like we've slept for days"
"The painted titan can emit a kind of sleeping gas?" Hange blinked in surprise, "Tell me! Did he do anything else while he was observing you?! Did he make any attempt to try and communicate?!"
"He?" the medic blinked in surprise, "N-no, this one was a female: and it was painted black and white all over, with long black hair reaching down to its heels, a face that had been painted to look like a skull; and vivid purple eyes that glowed when she stood in the shadows"
This chapter was a tad more harder to work on than I anticipated, as I didn't want Ariana and the scouts to get off to a bad start: but now that the stage is set, the next chapter should see some scout-spying shinanigans and titan-chasing fun (much to Levi's annoyance XD). Stay tuned, and hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Don't forget to R&R before clicking off, okay? :)