I don't own Attack on Titan: just my OC's and the plot.
The Awakening
Chapter 20: Trost
850, April, The city of Trost:
The atmosphere was electric as the crowds gathered at the sides of the main street, everyone was jostling about to try and get the best vantage point, while some opted for a better view from the windows of the nearby businesses and houses. There was a real sense of optimism in the air as everyone waited for the Scouts to appear.
A little ways back in the crowd, but not so far that they couldn't see the main road, Eren, Armin and Mikasa waited: Mikasa, her usual stoic self, whilst Eren and Armin were almost giddy with anticipation. "Just think Armin, this time next week we'll be training alongside them" Eren smiled, "And next month, riding out with them", "I know, the sign-up can't come soon enough" the blonde youth smiled, "Just a few more day's and we'll soon have our wings". "Strange, how three years just seem to fly by" Mikasa commented offhand, "Yeah, but it's all been worth it to get to this point" Eren smiled.
"Heads up! Make way for the Scouts!-" one of the Garrison troop's in charge of crowd control shouted out. The crowd all turned and craned their heads up, trying to get a good look as the Scouts came into view. Eren's eyes lit up as the unmistakable green cloaks appeared over the crowd, as the Scouts walked their horses at a relaxed pace down the street: it seemed they were not in a hurry today, nor too concerned by the more excited, outspoken member's of the crowd...
"Go get' em Commander Erwin! Give those bastards a good thrashing!"
"Look, it's commander Levi!"
"They say he's like an entire Brigade unto himself!"
Levi wanted to cringe at that last comment, "Tch!- Spare me, please" he sourly scowled: Hange smiled and discreetly told him "That scowl will crush your fans, not that it's any of my business, but from a public relations stand-point, you might want to lighten up"; the captain muttered something under his breath, and kept his eyes on the wall as they neared the outer gate.
Hange however, had a sparkle in her eyes and a silly schoolgirl grin plastered across her face as she gripped the reins with excitement: seeing this, Petra leaned across from her saddle and asked "What's got you all excited, Hange?" she smiled. "Oh?" Hange was caught off guard "I couldn't help but think, maybe today will be the day we run into our old friends again? It's been such a long time, and I couldn't help but wonder if they're okay, you know?"
The Levi squad exchanged mixed looks: "It's been nearly a year Hange, I think if they wanted to 'run into' us again, they'd have done so by now" Petra gently offered, trying not to sound pessimistic: "Maybe they've been busy with the titans? We have been seeing a lot more of them of late" Gunther offered, "You know? I was thinking about that just the other day," Eld pondered aloud "These last several months, the titans number's have been on the increase, more so than four years ago, and yet we still haven't lost a single soldier: maybe the hunters have been busy keeping them in line, and just haven't had the time to check in on us like they used to?" he suggested. "You could be right there, Eld..." Hange smiled, before her expression turned serious, "Still, I don't get why Erwin hasn't ordered us to try and find them again. I know he said it'd be prudent to give them a 'cooling off' period after that 'incident' last February, but eleven months is long enough, don't you think?". "Or maybe he just figured it's more sensible to leave them be?" Oruo scoffed, "After all the trouble those unruly brats and their giant pets caused us, a year-long cooling off period has been a welcome reprieve" he smirked, "How can you say that? They saved our lives, and you would call them unruly?" Petra reprimanded him. "Whatever the case, you can bet they've been watching us, as usual" Levi added.
Later that morning, somewhere out in Maria:
The forest was unusually quiet as Ariana stalked through the undergrowth, silently treading along the animal trail as it snaked its way down through the dale. With her bow in one hand and a venom-coated arrow nocked into the string, she remained focused on the forest: the sights, the sounds, and the smells all giving her a detailed picture of what was going on. She soon stumbled upon a partially open area of the understory where the canopy was thin, letting shafts of sunlight beam down, peppering the forest floor with patches of light: nearby was a series of small streams cutting through the undergrowth, with massive boulders protruding out of the ground from beneath a huge crown of giant trees.
A soft noise in the undergrowth some several meters away caught Ariana's attention: she stopped and froze as she listened, and watched that area of the foliage; carefully, she brought her bow up in readiness to fire if need be. But instead, the bushes and grasses rustled, and a mountain cat emerged with a dead doe clenched in its jaws. The huge feline paused as it locked eyes with the young huntress, and the two of them stared off against one another for what seemed like the longest time, before the cat realized the human wasn't interested in stealing its meal: and so, nonchalantly, it dragged the doe away into the undergrowth, and disappeared back into the forest. 'A European mountain lion' she thought to herself, remembering it from one of the many books Drake had shown her 'I can see why regular folk back then would think it to be a lion'. The sight of a Mountain cat would worry most hunters, as they were renowned for their stealth, strength, and lighting-fast ability to pounce and tackle their prey with very little effort. But Ariana wasn't worried or sacred in the least, she knew the cat was already preoccupied with sating its hunger, and wasn't interested in her.
Deciding to go a different route to avoid the feline, Ariana turned to walk around the crown of giant trees from the other side, but as she gazed up through the canopy, a familiar sight caught her attention...
Broken tree limbs some several meters up, the telltale sign of a titan passing through: 'Shit...' she cursed mentally. Replacing the arrow into her drawstring quiver and slinging the bow over her shoulder, she reached for her handgrips and took off up into the canopy. But as she gained altitude above the undergrowth, she saw the broken tree branches extended for a dozen meters across the underside of the understory, while the forest floor was covered in titan footprints. Quickly landing to assess said tracks, Ariana breathed deep as she smelt the air, even squatting down to sniff the freshly disturbed soil and leaf-litter: judging from the number of footprints present, she surmised there had to have been well over several dozen titans pass through here, all ranging in various size classes. As she gazed up, trying to gauge what direction the tracks led, she was stunned to see a huge trail cut through the forest, where the titans had trodden all the foliage of the undergrowth flat, creating a huge corridor that seemed to go for quite a distance. "...Strange, since when do titans opt for taking the path of most resistance?" she thought aloud, in a voice so low and soft that only she could hear it.
As she stood back up and readied to follow the trail, she paused as a familiar presence silently crept up behind her: turning around and gazing up, Ariana saw Shadow gaze down at her with a serious look in his dazzling blue eyes. Squatting down beside her, he let out a frustrated sigh as he raised one hand and spelt out with his smoke-light :Another trail?:
"Yeah, and this one's even bigger than the one Clay and Fox found yesterday. There had to be at least several dozen pass this way, and judging from the scent, I'd say they were here at least a few hours ago" Ariana replied. Shadow stood back up, and she flew up to perch on his shoulder as he started stalking along the titan trail, his footfalls hardly making a sound as he kept his eyes forward and his ears pricked up.
Seeing the serious look in his eyes, Ariana huffed, and with a frustrated sigh, asked "Okay, what's up?". Shadow looked at her quizzically, and then with a look and shrug that seemed to say 'What? I'm fine'. Knowing he was lying, Ariana frowned as she stated "You're not fine, you've been edgy all morning: you, Midnight, Boar and Angel, as well as all the other god-titans" her expression soften as she pleaded "Come on Shadow, something's obviously bugging you guys, what's wrong?"
Seeing the ripples of concern flash through her aura, Javorin suddenly felt a pang of regret for worrying his young friend; his gaze soften as he let out a regretful sigh, and with one hand, he spelt out :I'm sorry Ariana, it's just, something's off, and none of us can pinpoint what it is or where its coming from:. "Could it be the titans? Is the chaos manna too thick in the air today?" she asked, :It's not just thick: he spelt out as he gazed up at the canopy :It's like a fog shrouding everything from sight. That, and something in the air doesn't feel right:. "What?" Ariana pressed, :I don't know. But it feels, familiar somehow. Maybe it'll come to me later. But right now, let's press on:
"Okay..." Ariana nodded, and gripped one of his long strands of hair as he took off along the trail: she could tell he wasn't being entirely honest, but decided not to press the matter; he'd tell her in his own time, he usually did. Javorin felt guilty for not being straight with her, but he didn't want to cause any unnecessary alarm; not that Ariana was the kind of person to panic, but he figured it'd be better to not make a fuss over something that could well turn out to be nothing.
But, in his gut, he knew the chances of that being the case were slim...
These past eleven months had proven to be a strange and concerning time for the gang and the Hunt, as the titan's numbers had continued to increase by the month. And every month, they continued to keep the Scouts safe from their hungry jaws, all the while trying to figure out where they were all coming from. The Wraiths on the other hand, had proven to be less of a problem and more of an unpleasant experience, as only three more were sighted and dispatched by Midnight. But, those had only been when they were out in Maria, which was always once a month so as to coincide with the Scout's expeditions: at any other time, it was impossible to guess just how many others could be wandering around the wilds of Maria, and have not been found yet.
It was clear something was going on: something unseen, something that was vast in the scope of complexity, and something that kept Queen Aurora restless most nights, as she sensed something stirring in the dark beyond the walls, beyond the eyes of mortal men. It had been irking her for several months now, and all the other god-titan's could feel it too.
Something was happening, something was coming: but what? No one could explain it, and it was as vexatious as it was alarming.
Ariana worried for Shadow: these last several months had been frustrating as he and the other god-titan's had split their time between continuing the Hunt and trying to find the source of all the new titans. With no additional breaches in Wall Maria, it made no sense as to how they were all getting inside unseen. A tunnel of some kind was the only logical explanation, but to allow passage for all the new titans seen of late, it would have to be huge, or be a series of tunnels that allowed multiple titans to commute at once. But no such tunnels had been found, and as the list of other possibilities began to dwindle, everyone had reached a dead-end.
In an effort to curb the titan's numbers, the Hunt had grown in size with new hunters and god-titan's joining the ranks, and this month's hunt was the biggest to date. With over two hundred and fifty humans and a hundred and eighty god-titan's, the 'butcher's bill' quickly racked up, as huge areas of the forest and plains were systematically cleared, and baiting chimes hung up to trap any stragglers. It was just like how it used to be during the first few years, when wholesale slaughter was the way of the Hunt, and the daily kill-tally's numbered in the dozens, even hundreds at a time. For the Scouts sighting the steam plumes from far off, it was both worrying and reassuring, but for the Hunt it was business as usual.
Time passed, and the titan trail soon brought Shadow and Ariana to the treeline, where the forest gave way to the plains. Shadow stopped, and signaled for Ariana to fly up to get a better look: she flew on up to the trees that bordered the edge of the forest, and as she perched on a branch to gaze out over the vast expanse of grassland, the sight ahead made her eyes widen in surprise. Stretching all the way out to a row of tall hills some three or so miles away, the plains were covered in titans: normal's and abnormal's alike in every size class, there had to be dozens if not well upward of a hundred present, all heading in the same direction. "Shit!..." Ariana cursed under breath, before rejoining Shadow back on the ground. "There's at least a hundred out there, what'd you reckon? I'm good for gas, and I still got all my poison arrows. Want me to thin the herd first?"
:Might as well, I don't feel any more coming this way: he replied, "Alright, just be sure to save a few for me, okay?" she smirked as she took off back up into the tree, grabbing her bow and opening the drawstring on her quiver, she nocked a poisoned arrow into the string, and aimed at the first titan she saw...
Some time later, somewhere in the Marian forest:
"Wow Red, you guys picked one hell of a spot for a look-out post" West smiled as he admired the view, "I know right? Me an' Adeena found it yesterday when we were scouting the next valley over," the young Ranger grinned as he finished replacing the gas canisters on his ODM gear "Good thing we're so close to the Wolfstal highlands, you can see everything from up here" he added as he then turned his attention to Ginger, his deer-titan partner: while his human partner, Adeena, saw to her bird-titan companion, who chirped in agreement.
The look-out post in question was a small clearing in a vast stretch of scrub and heath, perched on the edge of a steep craggy cliff that rose over a hundred meters above the giant trees below, and carried on up to the Grauerberg mountain behind them. To the north, stretching out from east to west as far as the eye could see, were the farmlands, villages and towns that hugged the Great Southern river, peppered all over the quilted patchwork of fields and meadows, and just over ten miles away on the horizon, Wall Rose divided the earth and sky, with the walled city of Trost protruding outwards like a vast monolith: silent and enormous. The whole gang had decided to stop off here in order to get some down time, whilst waiting for news of the Scouts movements from the next look-out post further west: by and large it had been somewhat boring...
And yet, for reasons no one could put their finger on: the morning's hunt had left everyone with a feeling of something being... Off, somehow...
"And then some..." Ash commented offhand, from where he and his brother's sat on Midnight's shoulders, "Hey dad, loaded question, but if we don't stay with the Scouts all week, what'll our next stop be?"
"That little village just outside of Frog's Hollow" Tyto replied as he studied the map, "Although..." he sighed as he lowered the parchment, and let Bryson take it to have a read, "Judging from what we saw during the pre-dawn count, I have a feeling we might have to head further north to try and intercept the herds"
"It is just me, or has anyone else noticed all the titans seem to be heading in a northward direction today?" Clay threw in as he counted the arrows in his quiver, "You're right..." Hazel replied in surprise, as she gazed through her telescope at the plains beyond the edge of the forest, "They are heading north, take a look...". Confused, everyone reached for their telescopes: and sure enough, far out on the plains and across the surrounding farmland, every titan was walking north. "Weird, I've never seen them do that before" Shyla blinked in surprise. "Is anyone working the plains today?" Falken thought aloud as he stroked Evernight's back, "I know Warren and Dakota's teams are on the treeline down by one of the hamlets in Pike Falls, but I don't think anyone's supposed to go further than the quarry road?" Adeena commented offhand, glancing over at Red, who simply shrugged in confusion.
At that moment, Eraman's raven's all cawed in excitement as Shadow landed on the cliff nearby; changing from his elemental to titan form, he caught Ariana as he commanded his updrafts to release her, and let her land into his waiting palm.
"Ah, so you two finally decided to join us" Bryson joked "Got sidetracked?"
"You could say that," Ariana smiled as she flew down to Red and Adeena, and set about replacing her gas canisters with the spares they'd brought along "We stumbled across a herd of about a hundred and ten, and decided to take care of them". "A hundred and ten?" Carla blinked in surprise, her motherly concern kicking in "Did you have enough arrows?", "Enough to cripple two thirds of the herd" Ariana smiled over at her, "Don't worry, Shadow took care of the rest, as usual. Speaking of arrows, did you guys-"
"-Way ahead of you" Red smiled as he handed her a large bunch of poison arrows, and began helping her load them into her quiver. "So what else did you come across?" Evrard asked offhand, "Not a lot to be honest: I think the herds are moving northwards; most of the tracks I saw were all heading in that general direction" Ariana thought aloud, to which everyone exchanged concerned looks.
"That confirms it," Hecate frowned "Something is going down for sure" she gazed up at the sky: through her powers, she watched the thick fog of chaos manna roll across the land, covering it in a thick shroud that clouded her divine vision. "With that many titans putting out this much chaos manna, our minds eyes are about as useful as a bucket full of holes" Herne thought aloud, "... Is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling of deja vu?" Javorin frowned, the god-titan's were quiet for a moment, before Elysia spoke up "... Kinda, I mean, the wind has been stalling on and off all day, and not for any good reason" she worried.
Seeing the looks on everyone's faces, Ariana frowned in concern "...What did you guys find?" she asked warily. Hawk replied in a serious tone "Tracks heading north, practically all over the place: and the herds we sighted and counted at dawn, have all headed in the same direction": "Seriously?" Ariana blinked in surprise "Is there anything in the titan journal that mentions something like this?" she asked, "Not that I recall," Bryson replied offhand "I know it mentions the magics the little and long hummers use to lure them, but that's only effective up to fifteen miles in diameter at the most: whatever's drawing the titan's attention, is much further away than that".
Ariana was about to say something else, when a deep cawing announced the arrival of one of the raven's from the western look-out post: it flew straight to Eraman and landed on his outstretched arm, where Jaye was ready to untie the small cylindrical tube tied to its leg. Opening it and removing the small rolled-up parchment inside, he read it aloud "Scouts spotted heading south-west via western river road. Turned south at Guilder's bend, conducting possible reconnaissance between Langerweg and Brolm Town. Titans have been encountered and dispatched. No casualties sighted, No fatalities sighted"
"Reconnaissance between Langerweg and Brolm Town? That's nearly twenty miles from here" Ashlyn blinked in surprised, "They must've stayed along the river all the way from Trost" her brother surmised: "Which means it's going to take us the rest of the day just to catch up to them" Lucy threw in, "Still, at least they'll be okay: we cleaned out that whole region five months ago, remember?" Lucius pointed out. "So what do we do? Go and catch up to them today? Or head out to try and intercept thier route in time for tomorrow?" Gale pitched in.
As the rest of the gang talked among themselves, Ariana stepped over to where Angel was perched by the cliff, with Carla standing atop a huge bolder, gazing out across Maria: climbing up the side of the rock to join her, Ariana smiled as she folded her arms, "I don't know about you, but I thought I could smell rain in the air when we left this morning". "Hmm..." Carla smiled as she gazed up at the sky, "I think you could be right, Angel reckons we might get a shower sometime this afternoon" she smiled up at the bird-titan, who trilled with a nod. The two stood in silence for a moment, both gazing towards Trost, before Ariana spoke up again, this time in a more concerned tone: "... Something about all these titans heading north bothers me: I know they've been giving us all a headache this past year, but today-... Something just doesn't feel right...". "You could be right..." Carla replied offhand "At least it makes tracking them easier: save us beating around the bushes to flush them out, so to speak"; "Yeah, but the last thing we need is any unpleasant surprises appearing out of the blue" Ariana sighed, to which Angel chirped in agreement.
Suddenly, a bright flash illuminated the sky as a huge bolt of golden lighting ripped up through the sky...
"Wh-... Did you just see that?!" Ariana gasped, blinking in surprise, "-What the hell?" Carla was as equally stunned. Catching the flash of gold light at the edge of their vision, everyone turned around, and just caught the end of the lighting shooting up into the sky. "What the hell was that?" Ash blurted out: everyone stood watching the spot where the lightning had come from, and within several seconds, a loud booming thunderclap rolled across the sky, and echoed off the mountain: disturbing every bird in the forest as the air filled with their countless caws and squawks, as well as making everyone jump. "What the hell?!" Pascal blinked in surprise, "Hey, where'd that steam come from?" Adeena pointed northward. Off in the distance, in the area where the lightning had shot up from, which just happened to be right in front of Trost's outer gate, there was now a huge plume of steam rising high into the sky: seemingly from the outside of the wall.
Grabbing their telescopes once more, everyone focused in on the source of the steam. Despite being over ten miles away, they could just make out a large reddish-coloured humanoid form, with disproportionately long lean arms and hands, and huge robust oversized legs and feet; it didn't appear to have any skin, but instead, its whole body appeared to be just muscle, with copious amounts of steam being emitted from the hulking form. But more prominently, it stood about ten meters higher than the wall...
All at once, the world seemed to grind to a screeching halt, as memories of Shiganshina came back with horrifying clarity; the first of which was the face of that monster, looming over the wall and gazing down at the whole city: the moment before he unleashed hell...
"...It's him..." Bryson breathed in dismay, as he felt that familiar chill shoot up his spine.
"The Colossal titan..." Tyto gasped as felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Though they were over ten miles away, the sight of the sixty meter monster filled the humans with a mix of dread and indignation: and more so, the feeling of utter helplessness as they watched him peer over the wall. "Great Gia..." Red breathed in awe and fear "That's the Colossal titan?!", "That's him" Evrard growled "Where the hell's that bastard been this whole time?!".
"Where the hell indeed" Hecate growled as her hackles began to rise.
With eyes glued to telescopes, and sharp divine eyes cast across the land, everyone watched in horror as the behemoth raised one arm, and in one swipe, destroyed the entire top-side of the wall: knocking off the whole wall-mounted artillery above the outer gate. All the while countless titans were swarming around his legs, and around the base of the wall: and more were arriving in droves.
"How the hell are all those titans able to swarm the wall with a repelling charm in place?! They shouldn't even be within three miles of the outer gate!" Elysia realized in horror: "Not unless another, more powerful magic is cancelling it out" Herne replied, "In other words, him" Hecate scowled.
Everyone watched as the Colossal then braced both arms against the bulkheads nearest to him, and then steadily, began to swing one leg back and up...
"-Oh good god NO!-" Bryson clenched his teeth as dread filled his stomach, and everyone else let out their own exclamations as they could do nothing but watch what happened next...
The monster's leg came down, and the outer gate caved in like a house of cards: the shock-wave hit Javorin and Herne's ears and auras like a kick in the gut, at the same moment, a plume of dust and steam erupted out and upwards on the opposite side of the wall, with huge pieces of rock and rubble flying out all over the city. The rubble fell around the breach, and all at once the titans started pouring in like a raging flood. The Colossal titan stood there for a moment, before a cloud of steam erupted from the back of his shoulders and the nape of his neck; and within a second, the giant disappeared from sight. No dissipation, no evaporation, he was literally gone in the blink of an eye: much to the horror and dismay of everyone. For a moment, no one could move or speak, as they slowly lowered their telescopes, and their brains quickly tried to make sense of what they had just witnessed.
"... So that's how the bastard disappeared so quickly five years ago, no wonder we never found any footprints..." Herne thought aloud with a frown.
"...Oh god..." Belle was the first to break the silence, "...Oh god this is it, isn't it?"
"Yep," Dale swallowed hard, and Hawk nodded in equal distress "Pretty much"
"He-..." Adeena tried to remain calm, as her bird-titan friend tried to pat her on the back with the bend of his wing, "-He just kicked in that gate as if it were made of dry twigs!". "And with that many titans swarming the gate, there's no way the Garrison will be able to evacuate the whole city in time, never-mind mount an effective counter-attack!" Red began to panic, as he turned to Tyto, "What the hell can we do?!"
With his eyes turning from a look of horror into a gaze of steeled determination, Tyto stated "Whatever we can, however we can..." he approached both Adeena and Red, laid a hand on each of their shoulders, and looked them both in the eye as he ordered "Listen to me, both of you: go find Ratatosk and the rest of the Hunt, tell them to drop what they're doing, load up on gas and poison arrows, and get over to Trost immediately. The Colossal Titan has attacked, titans are overwhelming the city, and the Armored titan won't be far behind"
"O-o-okay-" Red took a deep breath as he tried to calm his nerves, "-B-but which god-titan's should we tell them to bring?"
"Everyone" Bryson stated without hesitation "The entire Hunt, we're going to need some serious muscle to keep those titans from swarming the city, and to help dispatch the ones already in Trost" he approached them with an air of authority "Time is of the essence, and every second wasted is a potential life lost. Now get going!"
"You heard him, you two move your asses, and don't stop for anything!" Hecate ordered the bird and deer titans "Yes Hecate!" they both nodded nervously. Red and Adeena both rushed to their partners, mounted up and were off like a shot, with Ginger galloping down into the forest, while the bird-titan took off over the mountain. "All of you check your arrows and gas! You've got one minute to load up!" Bryson ordered; no one wasted a second as they began preparing and double-checking. "We should send Shadow to fetch the Scouts, we're going to need Erwin's help coordinating this" Rowan said as he loaded a full set of tanks onto his scabbards, "The Scouts are too far away, by the time Shadow intercepts them and leads them back to Trost, it may already be too late. Right now, we're the closest to the city, and with Shadow and Angel's wind magics combined, we'll be the fastest to get there!" Bryson retorted.
"I don't doubt we can carry everyone in one go, but the kinda speed he's talking about, you're gonna have to hep me out!" Elysia fretted as she let Carla, Lucy and Lucius reattach her talon-gloves, "You handle the updrafts and tailwinds, I'll take care of the levitation spell, alright?" Javorin replied as he summoned his crystal spear. "Okay, so what's the plan?" Herne interjected, "Get to the city and go from there, if this is anything like five years ago, we're going to have one hell of a fight on our hands" Javorin stated. "Oh you think?" Hecate sarcastically shot back, to which he ignored, "Well, good thing I didn't have any plans for this afternoon"
"Okay, but what do we do when we get there?" Evrard asked as he helped Clay and Hazel double check their supplies, "I've no idea, let's just get to the top of the wall and see what's what; we'll plan from there accordingly" Tyto replied as he, Evrard, Eraman and Falken grabbed their masks, while everyone else donned their neckerchiefs and bandanna's.
"Does anyone mind if I just say, I'm scared shitless right now!" Poppy's breath hitched as she began to tear up: everyone paused a moment as she hastily continued, "...I know this day has probably been a long time coming, and as much as I want to dish out some payback to those titan bastards, it doesn't change the fact that we're about to charge into the same hell we survived five years ago. And, it doesn't change the fact I'm still as scared now as I was back then!" she paused to catch her breath, "...If, it's okay with you guys, I don't want to lie and pretend I'm fearless: I'm scared, for me, for all of Trost, and for all you guys, okay?"
"Are you kidding?! I think my stomach's about to drop outta my ass I'm so terrified!" Belle laughed nervously as tears streamed down her cheeks, "Ugh..." she huffed as she removed her neckerchief to wipe her face "... Poppy, I ain't going anywhere without you sis, who else is gonna drag your ass outta trouble?", Gale interjected as she half laughed half cried "And what the hell am I supposed to tell Aunt Miriam if I come home without you two? She's gonna have me scrubbing dishes and sweeping the bar for the rest of my life!". "Okay, we're all scared shitless, everyone got it outta their systems yet?" Pascal nervously stated, "Have you?" West elbowed him in the arm with a cheeky smile "Don't worry bro, I got your back, like always".
"We've hunted and fought a lot of titans together," Tyto addressed the whole gang, "But this is the first time we'll be going into full-on battle against them..." everyone paused as they listened to him, "Listen to me: no matter what happens, I'm proud of all of you; I'm proud to have been your father, I'm proud to have been your uncle, I'm proud to have been your brother, and I'm proud to have been your friend; I have no regrets, and despite my own fears I don't fear death: I've made my peace with the choices I've made and man I have become... However, I have no intention of dying today: we keep Erwin's promise, and we save humanity, one way or another. We are not the same as we were five years ago, we are stronger, wiser, and ready to bare our arms; and despite all our fears, we will fight, we will stand between humanity and the titans, and we will do it together, as a family"
"Hell yeah, Dad" Ariana nervously smiled, "Hell yeah indeed," Carla climbed up onto Angel's back, and loudly proclaimed "So let's get going and kick some titan ass!". Everyone couldn't help but loudly concur; hell was awaiting them, and this was as good a day to die as any.
"Shadow..." Tyto smiled up at the god-titan as the wind began to kick up "... Let's fly"
As they yelled out their battle-cries, everyone took a running leap off the cliff, and were snagged by both Shadow and Angel's powerful winds, with Midnight and Boar following suit as they turned into their bird forms, and Evernight and the raven's following close by. Together, everyone shot up into the sky like leaves and feathers dancing in a hurricane: as the powerful tailwinds drove them north at an unbelievable speed. Riding the wind with effortless ease, they soared over the land, following the river northwards; and despite their growing fear and dread, everyone secretly, for a brief moment, allowed themselves to enjoy the ride: as they all knew it could well be their last.
As the walls of Trost quickly approached, the number of titans steadily ambling towards the city grew more and more with every mile they covered, as they seemed to number in the tens of dozens. "Sina..." Bryson breathed in astonishment, "Yeah, This is gonna be bad" West swallowed hard, "Oh ya think?!" Pascal retorted. "Okay guys!-" Tyto gazed up at the god-titan's over his shoulder, "Just like we discussed: titan forms only and keep any magic to the bare minimum, things are going to be chaotic enough, we don't need to cause unnecessary panic!", the god-titan's all nodded in reply. As the wall came within less than a few miles, Boar turned back into his titan form and raised his huge arms above his head, to which Angel effortlessly caught him, and with her powerful updrafts, kept him aloft as she carried him along. At the same time, Midnight resumed her titan form and remained airborne with Shadow to keep her from falling.
As they passed over the area immediately around the breach, the gang spotted several dozen human corpses littered all over the ground, all dressed in Garrison uniforms: the wall-mounted artillery along the lower tiers of the gate's red brick structure were all ripped out, while a huge chain net that had been strung across the breach, had been torn down and discarded; all the while, the titans continued to pour in by the dozens. "Looks like the Garrison's first line of defense didn't go too well" West shouted over to Bryson, "With this many titans? I can't say I'm surprised" the former Scout called back: secretly dismayed that the Garrison could fail like this.
As they reached the base of Wall Rose and the outside of the breach, the hurricane-strength winds gusted upward, and they flew up the side of the wall alongside the nearest bulkhead. Shadow then shifted back to his titan form, and commanded the winds to soften as they neared the top. "Get ready! And remember to stick the landing!" Bryson shouted as their momentum slowed: everyone swung their legs up and forward, at the same time Angel let go of Boar, and all together they landed on the remains of the wall-mounted artillery, which was now a pile of rubble.
"Ah, now that's how to travel express" Pascal panted as he tried to catch his breath: "Sure as hell beats running, right big guy?" Ariana smiled half-heartedly up at Shadow, but paused when she saw the look of horror etched onto his face. "Guys... Look..." Ash pointed towards Trost. And as everyone gazed out across the city, the sight before them made their blood freeze...
Ambling aimlessly throughout the labyrinth of the city, dozens upon dozens of titans filled the streets and main roads: the ten meter classes and above were easy enough to spot, but there had to have been just as many smaller ones that were too short to be sighted over the rooftops. As the wind rose up and blew over the wall, the sounds of a city in the throws of panic echoed up into the sky; the screams and yells of terrified civilians trapped like rats in a sinking ship, while the hopeless battle cries and desperate whispered prayers of dying soldiers could be heard echoing out from the center of the city, as they tried in vain to stop the rising flood of hungry maws.
Javorin, Hecate and Herne gazed upon the rising carnage, and felt their resolve rise like a storm: no way were they going to let history repeat itself. Shiganshina fell because of them, thousands dead and thousands more displaced because they underestimated one titan; the ghosts of Maria would be avenged this day. As Elysia gazed upon the destruction, she thought back to that day and how she hadn't been there to help in any way: one minute the world was as it should be, the next, it had descended into hell. So many lives lost, ruined and crippled: she wasn't the same naïve god-child as she was back then, she wasn't going to stare on, frozen in fear as the world fell head-long into hell again; this time, this day, she would bring the thunder, the rain, and the whole damn storm.
Gazing up into the sky, using her divine vision to see past the chaos manna up into the ether of the world: she reached her heart out to the ancient ones, and with her power, spoke the first true prayer she'd ever said in her whole life...
Great All-father, Sacred All-mother: I beseech thee; please, lend us your strength this day. That all who give their hearts for humanity, may live to see the day this time of sorrow finally passes. And to those who fall, may they die an honorable death, and shall not have been in vain...Please ...Don't let us fail again: don't let mankind pass into memory...
As she felt the power carry through the ether, and into the realm beyond the world, there was a strange calm come over her, as if something was softly stroking her aura, and assuring her everything would be okay. Cautiously gazing over at Javorin, Hecate and Herne, she was surprised to see all three of them gazing back at her with soft understanding smiles, even Hecate's usual cold stoic face had seemed to have melted away for a moment. She blinked in surprise, wondering what was going on for a second, before Herne reached up to pat her shoulder, and assured her "Well spoken kid" with a fatherly smile. "You heard that?" she blinked in further surprise, "Of course we heard it, brat. No prayer spoken with truth of heart, and courage of conviction ever escapes the ears of a god" Hecate replied with a small smile of her own. "And judging from your aura, I think you're ready for this" Javorin smiled: "Your damn right I'm ready for this..." Elysia frowned in determination, as she gazed over her shoulder at Carla with a small smile, "We both are". "You ready Angel?" Carla patted her on the cheek: her golden eyes alight with determination as a half-crazy smile tugged at the corners of her mouth; Angel nodded with a serious caw, "That's my girl" she smiled proudly.
"Okay dad, what's the plan?" Ash turned to his father, along with everyone else. Gazing down at the titans coming through the breach, and back across the city, the Grey Owl addressed the whole gang: "Divide and conquer: we'll split up into four teams and fight two fronts. Ariana, Belle, Poppy, Gale, Shyla, Fox, Bryson, you're with Shadow. Ash, Rowan, Dale, Josefa, Jaye, Pascal, West, Eraman, you'll be with Midnight. Clay, Hazel, Ashlyn, Hawk, Evrard, you're with Boar. And Carla, Lucius, Lucy, Falken and myself will head out with Angel... Midnight and Boar, your our heaviest hitters: you and your teams will remain here and try to stem the flow of titans, try to block the breach if you can and make sure to limit the numbers as best as possible. Eraman, keep your ravens airborne and keen, we'll need message relay in case something goes wrong. Shadow, you and your team will run search and rescue along the western half of the city..." he pointed due west of the military depot, "Help anyone who wasn't able to get to the inner gate, assist the military any way you can, and of course, take out any titans along the way. The same goes for us..." He turned to Carla and Angel, "We'll run search and rescue along the eastern half of Trost, and Angel and Evernight, you'll be our eyes in the sky... If this is anything like what happened five years ago, then it may only be a matter of hours before the Armored titan shows up: our first priority is the people of Trost, and giving the Garrison the advantage of extra numbers. For now, we hold out, until the Hunt arrives"
"Sounds like a plan" Herne thought aloud "You got any idea how we're going to handle the breach, Hecate?" he gazed over at the black and white goddess, "I've got half an idea, and fortunately, I've still got quite a bit of venom stored up: the brat's hummers will come in handy too". "Okay, half an idea's better than none" he shrugged, before glancing over at Javorin, "It goes without saying, but will you be okay, bro?", "It goes without saying, but I'll be fine, bro" Javorin smiled back as he readied his spear, "Heh: just do me a favor and don't die this time, okay?" Herne shot back with a smirk, "Ditto" Javorin smirked. "If I catch anyone at my father's doorstep, I'll drag your sorry asses back to life myself, understand? No one's allowed to die as long as I'm here" Hecate stated seriously. "Trust me, I have no intention of dying today" Elysia smirked as she gazed out over the city.
"And what do we do if the Armored titan arrives early?" Hazel asked worryingly, "Then we drop everything, and he becomes our top priority" Tyto stated in all seriousness, "It's going to take all of us, and everything we've got to try and stop him. No matter what, when you engage that bastard, you give him hell; and nothing less, understand?"
"Yes uncle Tyto" Hazel nodded meekly, "Everyone understand?!" he boomed to the whole gang, "YES!" they all shouted back. He reached for his handgrips, locked his crystal pairing blades in place and proceeded to mount Angel: taking a seat behind Carla, "And remember: pseudonyms only, no concealment stones or fire crystals, stay sharp, watch out for each other, and good luck. Now get going!"
Everyone sounded their good lucks and farewells as they split off into their teams and took off. Midnight, Boar and Shadow jumped down off the wall, landing on the ground with three loud booms, killing several titans in the process with their younger friends on their tails: while Angel jumped down from the wall, spread her wings, and took off for the eastern side of Trost with Evernight trailing by her tail.
Meanwhile, At the Trost Military Base:
"All squad leaders assigned to the middle guard, assemble and get ready to move out! Those of you assigned to the rear guard, meet up with team leader Dietrich and await further orders!" the officer called out across the courtyard; but the response was less than enthusiastic.
As the cadets tried to compose themselves and swallow their fears, one acceptation eagerly got his gear together, and helped his friends prepare for battle; though his more diehard attitude did little to ease the tension that lay thick in the air. "You know Eren? With that attitude of yours, I wouldn't be surprised if you actually manage to scare a few titan's back through the breach" Krista nervously said offhand as she helped Ymir with her ODM gear, "Oh please..." Ymir dryly scoffed, "Mr suicidal bastard here's probably gonna get eaten right off the bat", "Ugh! Why do you always have to say stuff like that Ymir?!" the smaller blond girl retorted in annoyance, "Just ignore her Krista" Eren frowned nonchalantly "Everyone's nerves are kinda frayed at the moment". "And the fact yours are not is what worries me" Bertholdt worried as he helped Reiner out with his gear, "Don't sweat it Bertholdt, Armin's got his back, right Armin?" Reiner smiled over at the smaller blonde boy, "Uh- y-yeah, of course," Armin nodded with a nervous smile, "And Eren's got mine, right Eren?". "All the way, naturally" Eren grinned.
"-WHAT?!" everyone heard Captain Woermann exclaim loudly.
Pausing a moment, the cadets and other senior officials nearby listened in as the tense conversation ensued: "O-our firing crews just reported in, no more than a few minutes ago, sir!" the nervous soldier explained, "A group of strangers on ODM gear appeared atop the wall, right above the breach: and they had four titans with them, two fifteen meter classes, a seven meter class, and one we couldn't confirm the size class of sir!". "COULDN'T CONFIRM?! What the hell are you talking about, soldier?!" the Captain angrily demanded, his face turning redder as the soldier continued. "W-well sir? We can't be sure: the initial reports stated it's not a titan, but some kind of giant white bird. And the reports about the other three are kinda weird too: the cannon crews reported that they're covered in strange black markings, one looks like a boar with huge tusks and a tail, one's carrying a spear, and the other is all black and white and looks like a female"
The cadets stared at the soldier in surprise; Sasha's mouth dropped in shock, as she eagerly tapped Reiner on the shoulder, and whispered "Oh my god! Reiner! Didn't you mention something about titans covered in strange markings once?!". Reiner's eye's widened in amazement, "No way..." he breathed in disbelief, "It can't be the same ones from Shiganshina, could it?!" Bertholdt whispered back in equal shock, "I don't know?" was all Reiner could say, but fell silent as the captain continued.
"What?! …. They must be with the Colossal and Armored titans! They must be part of the attack on the city!" he panicked, "-What of the humans who were sighted with them?!". "We lost sight of them amid the city, the black and white female titan and the boar titan have been sighted by the breach, the giant bird is circling the eastern half of the city, and the spear-wielding titan has been seen heading through the western half: we think the humans are shadowing them from the buildings. In any case, no one's managed to get close enough to investigate further, sir" the soldier stated. "Investigate?! What is there to investigate? They're clearly the enemy! One half is guarding the breach to ensure we cannot get close enough to close it, and the other half are advancing towards the base, in an attempt to attack and destroy us!" The captain fumed, before turning to the officer next to him and ordering "Relay this order to the vanguard and artillery: anyone who see's one of those titans and their human accomplices is to kill them on sight! And if they can get a clear shot, the artillery is to take them out!".
"Yes sir!" the officer saluted, and ran off; Woermann then turned to the cadet's and boomed "YOU HEAR THAT?! IF ANY OF YOU SEE THOSE TITANS, YOU ARE TO CUT THEM DOWN WITHOUT HESITATION OR MERCY! WE ARE AT WAR, AND WE'RE FIGHTING FOR THE SURVIVAL OF ALL MANKIND!" he then turned and paced away with the soldier and other officers at his side.
The cadet's all gazed at one another in shock for a moment, wondering what new hell this development has brought...
Meanwhile, somewhere in the south-west of the city:
"Magpie! Bluebird! On your seven and five!" Free-wing barked, and the two girls immediately singled in on the eight meter titan reaching for the window of the house nearby; one slash from both pairs of blades on either side of the nape immediately felled the monster, and it keeled over dead.
"-Bullfinch!" the man cried again, and the boy in the pink-ish red cloak shot in through the window, emerging seconds later with a small crying boy in his arms: "There's two more inside! I need another pair of hands!" he called down. "-I'm on it!" Yellow Warbler ran inside, and not half a minute later, emerged with a man and a woman leaning on both her shoulders; the man had a bad gash on his left arm, while the woman held out her arms as Bullfinch returned the crying child to his mother. "Oh William!-" she cried in relief. "Come on everyone! We have to keep moving!" Free-wing ordered as the crowd was herded down the street. All terrified as the onslaught raged around them: the one thing that kept them from panicking outright, was the sight of the fifteen meter 'painted' titan, Shadow, mowing down its kin with a giant blue crystal spear, clearing a path to the inner gate, while some of the other 'titan slayers' backed him up, and the rest guarded the crowd; like loyal sheepdogs fending off the wolves.
"...Thank you, thank you for saving us!" the woman smiled as tears ran down her face: "Don't worry, it's what we're here to do" Yellow Warbler replied as she helped her husband; "Here, let me, you need to go help your friends" one young gentleman offered as he took the husband from her, and propped him up against him as he clutched the wound on his arm. "Thanks!" she smiled beneath her neckerchief, before reloading her blue crystal pairing blades, and flying off to rejoin the fight: "What's your name?" the mother called up to her, "Yellow Warbler!" she called back. "Yellow warbler? As in, the bird?" she echoed in bemusement, "They've all got bird names: they say its a family thing" one older gentleman interjected as he hobbled along, trying to keep up, "Don't worry though, they got us covered!" another young gentleman added. "So much for that damn evacuation drill! Where the hell's the Garrison anyway?!" the old man grumbled.
At that moment, the sound of ODM gear coming from up ahead caught the stranger's attention, as a squad of Garrison troops descended on Shadow. He covered his nape right away, and ducked as the troops tried to take a few swipes at him. "HEY! DON'T KILL HIM YOU DUMBASSES! HE'S THE ONLY THING STANDING BETWEEN US AND CERTAIN DEATH!" one man in the crowd called out, to which several others loudly voiced their pleas for them to stop. The hunters were quick to rush to their giant friend's side to protect him, while their leader took off after the squad leader.
"HEY!-" Free-wing shouted, "Calm down! We're not you're enemy!"
"Like hell you are!" the squad leader was about to take off after him, when a huge fifteen meter titan grabbed his cables and jerked him violently: sending the squad leader crashing into the nearby roof, and ricocheting off; breaking his leg on impact.
"-OH SHIT! Where'd he come from?!" Bluebird was quick to kill the titan before it could advance towards the crowd, while Free-wing, with a sudden burst of speed, dived down and caught the squad leader in his arms before he hit the ground. As he turned to face the stranger, he saw the huge 'painted' titan trying to fend off the other titans, while also trying to stay out of the way of his squad as they continued to try and attack him; much to the annoyance of the other strangers as they tried to deflect their attacks.
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?! WE'RE ON YOUR SIDE!" Bullfinch shouted angrily "We're all fighting the same enemy here!" Cuckoo threw in in equal annoyance. "What the hell are you doing?! Call your men off! This titan's keeping us from getting eaten!" one woman in the crowd shouted, "Yeah come on! He's trying to help!" another young man protested angrily, followed by many others. "Wh-what?" the squad leader blinked in surprise: "Are you insane?! We're in the middle of a massacre here, and these people are trying to help us get to the inner gate!" the old man shouted.
"INCOMING!-" Cuckoo shouted as two large ten meter titans appeared from behind, and charged at the group in single file; "-SHADOW!" she called out, just as the titans were about to reach down and grab the people in the rear of the crowd. Everyone screamed and took off towards Shadow, but the blue-eyed giant pivoted on his heels and threw his spear straight at the titans, impaling them both through the necks and napes; killing them in one go. The Garrison troops were stunned, as was their leader: "That titan...It just killed two of its kind" he blurted out; "That's what we've been trying to tell you! Idiot!" another angry gentlemen shot back. "Free-wing!-" Flame coloured Tanager flew in, perching up on the porch roof of a nearby Inn "We've managed to secure the street up ahead, we've got the nearby titans lured away, but more are approaching from the rear: we gotta keep moving!". "Acknowledged, we'll be with you momentarily" he replied, and she took off; having come to the realization that 'Shadow' was no threat, the squad warily flew down to rejoin their leader, as he gazed back at the green-cloaked stranger and demanded "What the hell is going on? Who are you people?!".
"We are friends, and we're here to help" Free-wing replied, before asking "I presume the Garrison had some kind of evacuation plan in place for this? What happened?". The squad leader was about to reply, when one of his subordinates beat him to the punch "We got caught off guard: the Colossal titan appeared one second, destroyed the outer gate, and was gone the next. Titans started pouring in by the dozens and we couldn't respond fast enough to keep up with the attack. The advanced squads already left to try and fight them outside the breach, but no one's heard back from any of them yet". Free-wing was silent for a moment, before solemnly replying "...I'm sorry, but the advanced squads are dead": the squad stilled in horror, as did the crowd. "Wh-what?!" the squad leader stared at him, eyes wide in shock: "We saw several dozen dead Garrison soldiers outside the breach as we approached, I can only presume it was them" Free-wing added, much to the crowd's ruefulness. "So basically, we've got no one covering the breach right now" one of the soldiers began to fret: "Not necessarily," Free-wing explained "Half of our team are at the breach trying to limit the number of titans coming into Trost: with any luck it'll help ease the strain on the Garrison's defenses; the rest of us are going through the city, trying to rescue people who were unable to reach the inner gate in time; tell me, is the gate still open?".
"For the time being, yes" the squad leader replied hastily, "But with the sheer number of titans, and the speed at which they all spread throughout the city, the evacuation plan is falling apart". "I knew it!" the old man snapped: "Is this all the people you could find?" one of the troops asked, gazing over the agitated crowd, "Pretty much, everyone else has already been eaten, or was crushed by the rumble when the gate was destroyed" Free-wing replied, "And right now we need to get to that gate! Before they close it!" one young woman added nervously.
"Hey guys come on! What's the hold up?!" Bluebird demanded as she flew down to Free-wing's side, "Be right with you, 'Blue..." Free-wing gently placed the squad leader down on the ground, letting him lean against him as he felt the weight on his legs, and the pain in his broken Fibular, "Sorry, but you're going to have to sit the rest of this fight out" he told him. "Yeah, no shit..." the leader winced as he gritted his teeth in pain; "Here, take him, make sure he gets to a medic" Free-wing handed him to two of the troops, before turning to address the crowd, "Okay everyone, keep moving and stay on Shadow's heels! We'll be right behind you!". Without having to be told twice, the whole crowd took off down the empty street, running after Shadow and the others as they continued to clear the way: while the old and the injured tried to keep up as best they could, being helped along by those who willingly lent their strength, as well as some of the other titan slayers who could spare some time from the fighting to ensure no one fell behind.
"...Th-thank you..." the youngest soldier nervously blurted out, "Don't thank us just yet, this fight is just getting started," Free-wing stated as he reached for his handgrips and locked his pairing blades in place "And right now, Trost needs all the help it can get". "Agreed..." The squad leader nodded, before he turned to his two other troops, and with a look of determination in his eyes, ordered "Listen, I ain't going anywhere on this damn leg, so here's what's gonna happen: you two get back to Woermann, and tell him these people and their titan ain't our enemy. There are civilians en route to the inner gate that they are protecting. And to tell the vanguard and the middle guard to leave them the hell alone!". "Yes sir!" the two other troops saluted as they turned to leave, "Wait-" Free-wing interjected, they paused as he added "You also need tell your commander that reinforcements are on the way": "Huh? The Scouts are returning?" the squad leader raised an eyebrow, "No, the Scouts are too far away to get back in time: it's our reinforcements that's coming". "Your reinforcements? There's more than just you guys here?" one of the troops gazed at him in alarm, "What do they look like? We'll need to keep an eye out for when they arrive" another soldier added, "Trust me, you'll know them when you see them..." Free-wing pointed up into the sky, "They look like her..."
The squad gazed up to where he was pointing, and were blown away to see a giant white bird-like creature with a human face gliding over the eastern half of the city.
Meanwhile, in the eastern quarter of Trost:
Another shrill avian caw announced Angel's attack, as she stooped down at high speed and slashed at the titan's nape, ripping it out with her metal talons; and with a powerful upward leap and flap of her wings, she was airborne again, and started looking for another target.
On the rooftops, Lucy and Lucius stayed ahead of the fight, using their little hummers to grab the titan's attention and keep them distracted, while Carla mowed them down. Her's was a dance of strength and death, flying between the titans with seemingly effortless ease, as she slashed nape after nape. And at the rear, Falken watched Evernight as the hawk flew over the rooftops, announcing the presence of any new titans with a sharp loud "Kee-kee-kee!"; and relayed their location to the others accordingly. Meanwhile, on the ground, Tyto was doing his best to herd the frightened civilians along to the inner gate, with the assistance of some Garrison troops who'd run into them not too long ago...
"Man, how the hell is she able to move like that?!" one of the younger troop's watched the white titan slayer in awe, as she felled three fourteen meter titans in one go "... What did you say her name was again?" he glanced over at the masked hunter. "Dove: though, we affectionately call her 'Mother Dove'" he replied with a small chuckle: "And you're-, Great Owl?" another rookie asked offhand as she helped an elderly lady along, "Grey Owl" he corrected. "Shouldn't you be up there helping her?" she asked offhand; "Dove? Heh, trust me, I'd only get in the way; the way she fights? She's practically a whole battalion in one" Grey Owl smirked beneath his mask.
"GREY OWL!-" Black Hawk called out from atop the roof of a nearby guest-house, "We got several titan's inbound! I'll need a hand soon enough!". "-COMING!" Grey Owl shouted back, before turning to the troops as he reached for his handgrips "Will you guys be okay down here while I go sort them out?" he thumbed over at the oncoming titans. "Don't worry about us, we'll be fine here" the eldest soldier replied, "Go, we got you covered!" the female troop smiled; "May the goddess Rose bless you, Grey Owl" the old lady smiled as she waved him goodbye. "Be back soon!" the masked man replied offhand as he shot his lines and flew off.
"I don't get it?" the female soldier turned to her colleague in a mix of confusion and worry, "Why would the cannon crews report this titan being part of the enemy, when she's clearly here to help" she nodded up at Angel, who was in the process of attacking a five meter abnormal, "I mean-, weird as it is to be getting help from a titan: it makes no sense". "Maybe those were just the initial reports," her colleague speculated aloud, "With all the panic and confusion throwing things out of sorts, plus the evacuation plan falling apart: can you really blame them for stumbling at the first hurdle?" he glanced behind him, and caught a glimpse of Grey Owl and Black Hawk tackling a rather podgy-looking fifteen meter titan, "But listen," he gazed back over at her, "I'm sure the reports have been updated by now: the breach has been open for over an hour, and our new friends have been in Trost for well over half an hour. Someone somewhere will have seen them killing titans by now"
"That's if anyone has seen them," she worried, "We're not even past the city center yet, and the inner wall is still a way's off; that's where all the artillery crews have been ordered to position themselves: I don't think anyone is covering the outer wall" she gazed up at the eastern wall: which seemed to be devoid of any human activity. "Yeah, but at least the middle guard will have us covered: speaking of which; we should've seen someone from that division by now... Where the hell is everyone?" the male soldier glanced up at the sky, wondering why there didn't seem to be any other Garrison troops around.
"You're doing great everyone! Keep up the pace and we'll be at the inner gate in no time!" Carla shouted down to the crowd as she took out another titan; "- DOVE! THE CHURCH!" one of the bystander's yelled in a panic, pointing to the nearby church, which was surrounded by four various sized titans. The largest one, a seven meter, stuck his arm in through the huge stained glass windows, and a chorus of screams and panicked cries echoed out of the building. Carla flew at the titan and felled it in double-quick time, while Angel was quick to attack the other three: and as the monster keeled over dead, it collapsed in through the window and demolished the alter. More screams ensued as all the worshipers leapt to get out of the way, while the horrified Pastor stared up at her in complete shock, as she stood upon the slashed nape of the dead monster. A moment of uneasy silence hung in the air for a brief moment, before Carla's maternal instincts kicked in, and she jumped down from the titan's back and approached the crowd "... It's okay, you're safe now: we're here to help" she spoke softly.
"Wh-who are you?!" one of the worshiper's nervously approached, "My name is Dove. Please, you need to leave right now, it's not safe here! More titans are on the way and we need to get everyone to the inner gate before it closes!" she pleaded. "Praise be to the goddess Rose-" the Pastor huffed as he quickly scrambled to his feet, and addressed the congregation "You heard her everyone, we need to get to safety!". "B-but-" one young woman in the crowd nervously clutched at the holy chains around her neck, "Won't the goddess Rose keep us safe?". "Martha my child, the Goddesses work in mysterious ways, and their angles come in many forms: question their workings later and concentrate on saving yourself. Now come on everyone! We need to go!" the Pastor ran to the door and ushered everyone out, with Dove bringing up the rear, "Stay with the crowd and keep moving!" she shouted over the congregation. "Bless you, child: I was at my wits end, wondering how to get them all out of there; I'm afraid panic and fear had the better of them" the Pastor smiled at Dove, "Don't sweat it, just concentrate on surviving and sing your praises later" she replied before taking off and rejoining the fight.
As Carla flew up over the rooftops, Angel glided down to her side and chirped in concern, "Don't worry Angel, I'm okay: just concentrate on keeping our path clear!" she called back, to which the avian nodded, and took off for the nearest titans on the ground. Hearing screams and battle cries on the wind, Carla chanced a glance over towards the middle of the city. Several hundred yards south of the military base, the air above the rooftops was filled with Garrison troops and cadets flying about like angry bees defending their hive. Giant hands and gaping maws jumped or reached up to try and grab them: some missed, some succeeded. Between the various sized buildings and the distance it was hard to tell how the battle was faring.
'Those cadets...' Carla thought to herself ruefully, 'How many of them will not be going home alive?...'
But she was quickly snapped out of her thoughts by the screams of three cadets; quickly gazing over at where the screaming was coming from, she saw one young girl in the clutches of an eight meter titan, while two of her comrades were in the grasps of a ten meter. "ANGEL!-" she barked, and the huge bird-shaped shadow looming over her quickly confirmed Angel had her back; Carla attacked the two titans, slicing off their forearms as the bird-titan zeroed in on their napes. As the severed limbs fell to the ground, their grasp relaxed, and the three cadet's tumbled out and into the street. "You kids okay?!" Carla asked worryingly as she landed, helping the girl and her friends back up onto their feet. "You-...You saved us?" she stared up at her in disbelief. "It's what I'm here to do. Are you sure you're all okay?" she gazed over the three of them, checking them over for injuries. "Y-Yeah, Holy Sina I thought we were dead for sure!" one cadet, a young blond boy sobbed as tears ran down his face, "You're okay now" Carla assured him as she laid a soft hand on his shoulder.
The three cadets gasped in horror, as Angel passed by overhead, "Wh-what the hell is that thing?!" the third cadet yelled in horror, gazing back at her in alarm "-A-and who the h-hell are you?!". "That's Angel: don't worry about her, she won't hurt you. And I'm Dove" Carla added calmly. "Dove? As in, the bird?" the first cadet raised an eyebrow, "The same," he smiled beneath her neckerchief, before turning serious again "Now, are you three good to get back in the fight?". "N-No, the three of us are just about outta gas, that's how those titans caught us. We were trying to get back to the base to get a refill" the second cadet replied nervously.
"Well? I guess you're with us then..." Dove replied, waving her hand in the air: within seconds, Angel landed and crouched right down to the ground, glancing at the cadet's with her usual bright smile. The three of them stood there shaking in their boots for a moment, before Dove unceremoniously lifted them up, one by one onto the bird-titan's shoulder; telling them "Okay, listen up: there's a crowd of people not far from here who weren't able to evacuate in time, my friends are helping them get to the inner gate. I want you guys to help them out: there are other Garrison troops helping them, they'll fill you in on what's what..." she patted Angel on the shoulder, and the bird-titan stood back up, much to the alarm of the cadet's who all held on for dear life, as they desperately grabbed fistfuls of feathers. "What about you?!" the third cadet called down to her: "I'll be fine, don't worry: I'll catch up to you later..." she smiled up at them as Angel took off. Shooting her lines and flying up onto a nearby roof, Carla gazed out across the city, and as she thought about the rest of the gang, she couldn't help but sigh "... I hope you guys are doing alright..."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Trost:
"Man, I knew it was bad, but wow..." Thomas said offhand as he cast his eyes across the city, and scanned over the dozens and dozens of titans ambling around the streets.
From where Eren and his squad stood perched on the rooftop of a tall warehouse: they had a good view of the whole southern half of the city. Trost's topography was not all that different from Shiganshina's; the entire city sat on one huge hill with the military base sitting right at the peak, in the dead center of the city with the walls surrounding the base. The only flat ground was found alongside the river, in the eastern half of Trost. And being less than five hundred yards from the military base, the squad had a real bird's eye view of the main battlefield. There was so much movement and chaos, that it was impossible to tell what was going on most of the time: hardly any word had been heard of the Vanguard's progress (if any were still alive at all by this point), while the middle guard was have trouble digging in and pushing back, as the titans slowly advanced towards the military base.
"Well? It's not like we were expecting this to be easy..." Eren sighed as he studied the cityscape, "Still..." he turned to Armin with a gung-ho smile, "Just think Armin: This is a golden opportunity, to really prove our worth as soldiers. If we can kill either that giant bird, or that spear-wielding titan, we could practically be promoted on the spot. Before long, we could be leading our own regiment and bypassing rookie status altogether". Armin gazed over at him for a moment, before he smiled back "Sounds good, I'm with you all the way". "Now now boys..." Mina interjected in an equally chipper tone "You're not the only one's in your class, save some of the glory for the rest of us". "Good luck beating us to the punch a second time, Eren. No head-starts for you this round" Thomas threw in: "Is that a challenge?" Eren smiled back; "Listen up: whoever kills the most titans gets bragging rights" Thomas addressed the rest of the squadron, "Heh, better not fudge your scores" Eren added.
As the squad continued to banter: nearby, two Garrison support squad troops kept their telescopes trained on the action down in the city; until, something in the sky above the breach caught their attention...
"Huh? What's that? A cloud?" one soldier pointed to the object in question: the other troop trained his telescope in the same direction, and tried to focus on it. It was so far away that it seemed to be part of the mirage on the horizon, but from what little detail could be made out, it didn't seem to be behaving in the manner a cloud should be; "...I don't think so, it's moving against the wind...". The first soldier was about to offer a suggestion, when he suddenly spotted one of the Vanguard's troops signalling to him. "It'll have to wait, the Vanguard needs back-up-" he turned to Eren's squad and called over to them "SQUADRON THIRTY FOUR, MOVE OUT! THE VANGUARD NEEDS ADDITIONAL SUPPORT!"
Eren took a deep breath, put on his game face, and turned to his squad: "Right, Give 'em hell!" he ordered, and together they took off for the front line. Moving at high speed, they soared over the rooftops as they headed for where the Vanguard should be: as they approached the front line: the sight ahead sent chills up their spines. "There're so many of them!" Mina gasped, "The Vanguard's been completely overwhelmed!" Thomas realized: "I don't believe this, those guys always talk so big!" Nack thought aloud.
Suddenly, the sight of one titan crouched down on a rooftop caught Eren's attention "WATCH OUT! WE GOT AN ABNORMAL!-" he shouted, "-PULL UP!". Everyone recalled and fired their lines, sharply sailing upwards: right as the titan leapt straight at them, and clumsily landed onto the side of a church tower. The squad barely managed to land on a nearby rooftop, and Eren nearly didn't make it as he caught the guttering just in time to break his fall. Suddenly realizing Thomas was missing, the whole squad turned back in time to see the titan peering around the corner of the tower, with Thomas dangling upside-down between it's lips.
A horrifying moment of silence hung in the air for a second, as the squad could see the look of despair in Thomas's eyes, before the titan promptly threw its head back, and gulped him down the same way a heron would down a fish. It then leapt back down to the ground, and carried on ambling down the street. Filled with rage, and shaking all over, Eren focused on the monster as he took off after it "-YOU BASTARD!" he screamed in abject indignation: much to the alarm of the whole squad. "EREN!" Armin called after him, but to no avail, "-STAY WITH THE GROUP!" Nack added as the squad took off after him.
But Eren was lost in his rage as he flew over the city like a comet, hot on the titan's heels as he chased after it: unaware of just how many other titans were in the immediate vicinity; it didn't stop him from going on his tirade "GET BACK HERE! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR KILLING MY FRIEND! YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY! YOU'RE-
As he sailed over one narrow street with his blades ready to strike, a small six meter abnormal jumped up and bit his left leg clean off: the motion of the bite threw his balance right off, and Eren went careening into a nearby rooftop, crashing and rolling over the tiles and bouncing off several dormer windows until he came to a complete stop, face down on the edge. Dazed and concussed, the world slipped away in a blurry haze, and he was soon near-dead to the world as Armin was the first to arrive on the rooftop opposite him, with the rest of the squad close behind. "EREN!" Armin nearly panicked, "-Oh god, no!" Mina gasped, just as Nack was swatted out of the air in a blur of red.
From there, the whole situation quickly went belly-up: as Mina's lines were snagged and jerked by another titan, making her crash into a nearby wall, half knocking her out as she slid down to the ground. And as Milieus went in to save her, another titan blind-sided him, grabbed him by the waist, and soon made short work of him: with Mina following him shortly as another titan seized her. All the while, as the air filled with the panicked and desperate screams of his friends, Armin completely froze up...
Shaking all over, his hitching breaths cut like glass though his lungs as he tried to summon the strength to move, but as his eyes filled with tears, his knees buckled and he fell down: utterly devoid of the courage needed to do anything. '… Why... Why...' his mind tried to grasp at what sanity was still in place, '… My friends are being devoured, and all I can do is watch...'. Booming footsteps to his left announced the arrival of a fifteen meter balding titan with a long grey beard, who picked him up by the back of his uniform jacket, and lifted him up as it tilted its head back: '… What's wrong with me? Why can't I move?...' Armin wondered, as the titan opened its maw, and dropped him in. It wasn't until he landed on its tongue and started sliding down towards the back of its throat that his fight-or-flight reflex finally kicked in, and he started desperately struggling to climb back out, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs.
But then, just when it seemed as if struggling was pointless, a firm hand gripped him by the wrist, and he stopped sliding down the titan's throat. Gazing up, Armin was stunned to see it was Eren, clutching his wrist as he held the titan's jaw open: one arm pressed against the roof of its mouth while his remaining leg braced the bottom-row teeth. He pulled Armin up and out from the back of the throat, and summoning what strength he had left, threw his best friend back onto the roof.
"EREN!-..." Armin quickly sat up as his best friend struggled to stay upright between the titan's teeth, trying to keep them pried apart as he reached for him; "I refuse to die like this, understand? ..." Eren grunted through his clenched teeth, before his tone softened a little "... Armin, listen... We're still going to the outside world, the things you told me about..." he stretched his arm as far as it would go "...I have to see them...I have to-...
"-EREN! NO!" At that moment, Armin snapped out of his stupor, and crawled as fast as he could, reaching out towards Eren's outstretched arm: but in that same moment, the titan's jaw snapped shut, slicing off Eren's arm, and swallowed him down...
Armin felt everything in his being go numb, as the horror and terror of it all exploded out of him; as his head began to spin, the only sound coming out of his mouth was nothing but one long scream. Everything felt as if it was spinning too fast: and time lost all meaning as the world faded into a comfortably numb darkness...
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Trost:
The air rang with the panicked screams and cries of despair as the battle was no less than a couple of blocks away by this point: and as Tyto's team pushed onward towards the inner gate, their own situation was beginning to grow more dire by the minute...
"GREY OWL!-" Dove called out as she felled a small four meter titan, before it had a chance to pounce on Tyto from behind. Breathing a sigh of relief as he saw her land at his side; she huffed as she glanced over at him, "Thanks..." he nodded, before asking "What's the situation?"
"Getting dicey," She replied bluntly, "The more people we pick up, the harder its getting to keep them safe. The Garrison troops and cadets are handling the crowd okay, but there're too many titans coming at us from behind and from the flanks..." She gazed at the Master Hunter with a look of concern in her eyes, "Tyto, I don't know how much longer we can keep holding out like this?". Tyto heaved a heavy sigh as he was about to reply, when Falken suddenly shouted "GREY OWL! DOVE!-"
Turning to see where he was, the two hunters gasped as they saw the Black Hawk get his lines grabbed by a tall skinny twelve meter titan, and dangled within mere feet of its gaping maw; all the while Evernight was trying to attack the monster via its face. Without hesitation they both flew at the titan: Carla went straight for the nape, while Tyto caught his friend as the now-dead titan dropped him. "-You okay? He didn't damage your gear, did he?" Tyto worried as they landed on a nearby roof, with Evernight perching on a nearby chimney stack: "No, I think I'm okay..." Falken fired his lines, and sure enough, they fired without hindrance, "...Just caught me off guard is all. Do me a favor and don't tell Swallow and Swift, okay?" he assured him. As Dove returned to land next to him, Angel flew overhead, and circled over them with a concerned caw: "It's okay Sweetie! We got this!" she shouted up to her, and with an uneasy nod, the bird-titan took off to resume her place above the snow twins; taking out titans as they lured them away from the citizens.
As she continued her work, Elysia couldn't help but worry, and so summoning the bulk of her telepathic power, reached out to the others across the span of Trost; "Hey! How're you guys holding up? What's the situation on your ends?" she called out.
"Not the best, but not the worst..." Javorin replied as he felled two eleven meter titans with a single roundhouse kick, before spearing both their napes, "-Though I'd be lying if I said we weren't half way there. We found some more Garrison troops and cadets who got injured or ran out of gas: they're helping us keep the citizens moving along, but its getting more precarious the more people we rescue"
"Yeah, same over here," Elysia replied back, "Call me skeptical, but I don't think the Garrison had a contingency plan in place for an attack of this speed and strength"
"Your skill at stating the obvious is truly remarkable, brat" Hecate dryly remarked as she diced several titans in one swipe: "How's that breach coming along?" Javorin asked, "As good as its gonna to get, bro" Herne replied as he charged a fourteen meter abnormal head-on to the belly, eviscerating its guts and causing it to fall down into the outer most trench next to the breach, which by now was almost filled with dead or dying titans, "We managed to plug the hole enough that there are now only several coming through at a time: more manageable than when we first got here. But still, we're going to need to plug it permanently somehow". "Tell Dale and the twins to get their thinking caps on: between his brains and their resourcefulness, they're bound to come up with something" Javorin stated as he ducked out of the way to let Magpie and Cuckoo tackle a fat thirteen meter titan; "Will do" Herne nodded.
"How far are your teams from the inner gate?" Hecate asked as she let Ash shoot his lines into her waiting palm, so she could catapult him at the nape of a fifteen meter titan,while she effortlessly ripped the head of a five meter abnormal clean off. "We passed the military base ten minutes ago, and are now in sight of the inner wall, heading alongside the river: the gate's gotta be less than a mile away by this point: what about you, Javorin?" Elysia stated: "It seems we've stumbled into a quagmire, of sorts-" He replied as he caught sight of a five meter abnormal running for the crowd, and promptly speared it through the gut, holding it up in the air as Bullfinch sliced its nape, and the blue-eyed god then tossed it off and away like a piece of dog crap. "From what I can hear and smell, the main battle's got to be just a few blocks over, and all the abnormal's in the area seemed to have keyed into our position. We're still moving, and haven't suffered any casualties yet, but-..." he hesitated a moment, "... Without back-up, I don't know how much longer we can hold out in our current state"
"What's this? The Overseer of mankind starting to despair?" Nyiera's voice smiled over the either, "Haven't seen that in a good few thousand years"
"Nyiera!" Elysia smiled in excitement, "Finally! What the hell took you guys?" Hecate frowned as she gazed skyward, "Give me a break, dear sister: we had to hot-foot it over two mountains and across the plains. Not to mention slice, rip and tear our way through at least a couple of hundred titans that couldn't be asked to move aside" the giant bird-titan shot back. "A couple of hundred?! There're more still coming?!" Elysia panicked: "How far away are you?" Javorin asked seriously, "Me and the flyers? Two minutes out: everyone else? Five minutes, give or take a titan or two" Nyiera replied. "Good, Tell Ratatosk and the others to come find Tyto, he'll fill them in" Javorin ordered, "Understood..." Nyiera replied as her voiced faded.
"Well? This is it: the cat's about to jump out of the bag; no going back after this," Herne threw in offhand.
"Like that even matters right now: everyone's already seen us, what difference is a couple of dozen more god-titan's going to make at this point?!" Elysia shot back as she helped Carla face off against a trio of ten meters, while the Snow twins helped a family of seven out of their partially demolished house, with assistance from some of the crowd. "It will matter once you get close enough to that wall, and the artillery crews can get you squared up in their sights, brat!" Hecate retorted.
"Oh yeah?" Elysia frowned in determination: "I'd like to see them try..."
A short while later, up on the top-side of the inner wall:
"Unbelievable..." the captain breathed in astonishment as he kept his telescope trained on the giant white bird: "-And you say that's a titan? A titan that can actually fly?!"
"I know it sounds unreal sir: but you gotta believe us, Angel's no threat!" the cadet pleaded, "And neither is Shadow. Hell, my whole squad is still alive thanks to him, as well as the other cadets that chose to stay with him to help get the citizens to the inner gate" another soldier chimed in. "Yeah, you and about several other people who've told me already..." the Captain replied as he lowered his telescope to address the small group of cadets and troops. He was about to speak, when three more Garrison soldiers came running up to them: "Captain Hannes!-" the senior soldier saluted as he came to a stop, "-We've just received word back from the support squad's observation unit. The two titans out by the breach aren't trying to open it wider as previously thought. They're-, trying to plug it, and appear to be succeeding, sir"
"Plug it? Using what?!" Hannes blinked in surprise, as did the rest of the group, "Well sir? They're using the titans to block the breach as best they can: disabling and crippling them somehow, and piling up their bodies into the hole. They're having some success and have managed to reduce the number of titans coming into the city considerably. But some are still getting through"
"What?! They've been here for nearly an hour! Why the hell are we hearing about this now?!" the Captain exclaimed. To which the soldier anxiously replied "Well sir? Captain Woermann ordered us to concentrate on attacking and killing the 'Painted' titans: despite protest's from the other Garrison Troops and cadets that encountered them first-hand"
"And where the hell is Woermann now?!" Hannes demanded angrily; "He and the others have fallen back over the other side of the wall, sir. He said that they'd be able to command the situation more efficiently from a strategically safer position" the soldier replied. "Did he now..." Hannes dropped his gaze as a look of annoyance soured his expression. "Sir, what are going to do about the painted titans? I know it sounds insane, the idea of titans that don't eat people. But right now those titans and their human allies are the only force keeping the citizens and our comrades alive. We've gotta help them somehow!" one of the other cadets pleaded.
Hannes thought about it for a moment, but before he could issue any orders, someone came hurrying along: gazing over to see who it was, he recognized them right away: "Captain Hannes..." the female soldier greeted, "Rico..." Hannes sighed in relief, "Boy am I glad you're here, we've got a situation"
"I know" she replied sternly, "Why have you ordered the remaining rear guard troops to leave the painted titans alone? They're slaughtering our troops left right and center!". "What?! Who the hell told you that?!" Hannes incredulously shot back, "Captain Woermann. He said both the vanguard and middle guard are overwhelmed. The elite squad and I only just arrived, but we've already been fully briefed on the situation: the painted titans have inflicted heavy casualties, and need to be taken out" she stated.
"WHAT?!" Hannes exclaimed, before explaining, "-Rico, I've been up here watching two of them for the last fifteen minutes! And I can tell you, as Rose as my witness, These titans aren't our enemy!". She blinked in surprise, before squinting in an incredulous glare "What? ...What're you talking about?". "It's true, we only just got back from the eastern quarter: the bird-titan, Angel, is killing every titan in its path!" one cadet threw in anxiously, "And that spear-wielding titan, Shadow, over in the western quarter? He's been taking them out like terriers in a rat-infested barn" one of the other soldier's threw in, "And those other two near the breach? They're trying to plug it up, not keep it open!" another soldier added.
"With all due respect, Rico: you're gonna assume everyone here's lying?" Hannes glared back at her, "These cadets and soldiers have encountered them, and their human allies first hand: they've been going through the city searching for and rescuing the citizens we weren't able to reach! Right now, both Angel and Shadow's groups are half-way to the inner gate, with about a hundred citizens each. You're going to stop them?"
Rico regarded Hannes carefully for a moment, as she contemplated what he was saying: "...If what you say is true, then why did Woermann give the order to attack?". "That's what I'm going to find out right now," He stated, before turning to the rest of the group: "The rest of you, come with me: I want you all to tell Woermann in person what you saw, and what our new allies told you..." he then turned back to Rico, and handed her his telescope, "Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself: but one way or another, we need all the help we can get".
Suddenly, a loud avian shriek echoed across the sky from somewhere far off beyond the wall...
"... What the hell-..." Hannes gazed up at the sky with a raised eyebrow: "Was-, that a bird?"
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city:
Another, much louder avian shriek echoed across Trost, and all around the walls of the city, as dozens of giant bird-shaped silhouettes silently glided above the clouds. For a brief moment, the battle paused as everyone gazed up; and all at once, the chaos of the whole situation got ramped up yet again, as the sky was filled with dozens of loud bird-like shrieks, caws, trills and warbles; and the most prominent of them all, sounded like it was coming closer and closer...
Suddenly, the giant form of a huge female bird-titan glided down from out of the clouds, and soared less than a hundred feet above Trost: its wings were gigantic, nearly measuring fifty feet across, its whole underbelly was as white as bleached bones while its entire top side was as dark as a moonless starless night. Its black iron-like talons were like giant meat hooks, while it surveyed the battle with it's cold steely violet/amethyst eyes, chilling the blood of all who gazed up at it, and instilling a whole new kind of fear in the hearts of every Garrison soldier and cadet.
All except for the gang, who gazed up at Stormwing and smiled with relief, as dozens more bird-titans glided down out of the clouds and started circling Trost alongside her; all with the members of the Hunt on their backs and shoulders. Followed by their ravens and birds-of-pray, which arrived in the dozens: until the sky was filled with caws and shrieks, and the beating of wings. "Ah finally..." Tyto sighed with relief, "Now we can even the odds".
"Th-that's your back-up?!" one of the cadets panicked, as did the rest of the crowd: seeing this, Tyto was quick to try and allay their fear "It's alright everyone, the rest of our family has arrived to help! Just remain calm and keep heading towards the inner gate: we'll be right behind you!"
Not wishing the stick around to see if the new bird-titans were friendly or not, the crowd picked up the pace and ran with the Garrison troops and cadets as the snow twins and Black Hawk continued to clear the way, while Angel and Dove protected the rear.
Stormwing let out a long loud caw, to which Angel shrieked in reply: and the massive avian banked a sharp right and flew to Tyto's position. Spotting him easily, she carefully landed on the roof of a huge warehouse: her massive wings kicked up storm-force winds that nearly blew the Grey Owl off the roof, but he held on thanks to his lines being anchored into the beams beneath the tiles. And as she rested her clawed digits on both sides of the roof, twelve familiar faces peered over her shoulder. "Grey Owl!-" Ratatosk smiled beneath his red squirrel mask, as he slid down off Stormwing's shoulder and wing, and leapt down onto the roof, followed by Bowen, Warren, Dakota, Tarka, Crow, Aquilus, Silvester, Lupus, Berg, Orion and North; all the team leaders of the Hunt, and the heads of their respective clans and families.
"Got the party started without us? First rounds are on you tonight!" Ratatosk chuckled, "Yeah, but we got to survive it first" Tyto smiled back. "Sorry for the delay, but things are pretty chaotic outside the city: more titans are arriving and we had to cut down a fair few just to get here" Dakota apologized, "Seems things are just as bad here" Tarka sighed offhand. "It's going badly for the Garrison and Cadet corps, and we're starting to reach the point of flaking ourselves, if we don't act now, and get this battle back in humanity's favor" Tyto stated, before noticing the lack of the other god-titans "Where're the other animal titans?" he asked worryingly: "Don't worry, they're taking care of the titans outside the breach: we got additional archers and lurer's to help them out, and they'll build on the blockage Midnight and Boar have on the inner side" Bowen explained, "Besides, even if they came into the city to fight, there'll be no way to get them out if the breach is sealed permanently" Warren added; "Good idea" Tyto nodded.
"Okay, so until then, what's the plan for in the meantime? We follow your lead, brother" North asked, to which Tyto explained: "Okay, we don't know how much time we have left until the Armored titan shows up, so we can't afford to drag our heels. Our first priority is to get these people to the inner gate before it closes, and get the cadets and Garrison troops back up over the wall..." he pointed to the inner wall, "Once that's done, we'll pull back and wait for the Armored titan to show up: he's going to be a tough bastard to tackle, so we'll need everyone ready to fight. One way or another, we will not let Wall Rose fall today: have our brothers and sisters lend you their wings, and fight and defend every soul that needs our help. Understand?"
"Yes brother, it will be done" Crow nodded, as did the others: Tyto then gazed up at Stormwing: "Stormwing, you'll lead the defense from the air: all your brothers and sisters who have no riders are to guard the breach, or stop any titan in their path where they find them; understand?". She nodded with a low soft deep-throated trill, and cawed up into the sky, summoning several of the bird-of-pray titans down to her side on the nearby roofs. The members of the Hunt wasted no time mounting up and reaching for their pairing blades: "May Gia go with you, brothers!" Lupus called out, "And you brothers, remember, humanity is counting on us to pull through!" Tyto shouted as they all took off, followed by Stormwing, as she gained some altitude, and started picking out her first targets.
Meanwhile, near the breach:
"One hundred and twenty nine!" Jaye smiled as he flew up and away to rejoin his sister, "Seriously? I thought we stopped counting, like, forever ago" Josefa raised an eyebrow at him: "Meh, old habits die hard I guess?" he shrugged with a nonchalant grin. "Whatever, just get in position for the next lot" she waved off, before swinging her little hummer, and grabbing the attention of three nearby titans, all of which Jaye felled in less than a few minutes. Once that was done, the twins then took off: flying in the direction they saw Dale heading off in...
The scene around the breach was a veritable butcher's shop of carnage, as dozens of dead and dying titans littered the ground, with the bulk of the corpses piled up and jammed hard into the hole. With Midnight's venom poisoning them from the inside, the bodies remained intact, and suitable enough to serve as the bricks and mortar for the temporary 'patch job', until a more sufficient solution could be found. Despite the 'corpse wall' being a good eight meters high, there was still a sizeable seven meter gap at the top, through which all the other titans clumsily clambered over (as well as each other) to get in: only to be met with Midnight's deadly claws and teeth, or Boar's razor-sharp tusks and powerful fists. And if they were lucky enough to get past them, the gang were waiting for them amid the rooftops of the nearest buildings.
By this point however, the number of titans was beginning to wane drastically, as the animal titans on the other side of the wall wasted no time in mowing them down by the tens and dozens: before long, the air on the Maria side of the breach was thick with the steam of evaporating titan bodies, while the ground around the trenches on the inner side was slick with poisoned blood, slowing turning from dark crimson to black; until not an inch of the cobbled and paved ground was clean.
As the jay twins flew over the rooftops, they soon spotted Dale on the roof of a large warehouse: "HEY!-" Jaye called out as they landed alongside him, "What's going on, Jackdaw? Why're you so far from the breach?" Josefa asked. "I've been trying to come up with a solution for that, and I think we might have found it..." Dale pointed to a huge bolder in the middle of the square nearby. The twins blinked in surprise, "That?! But that's gotta be sixteen-,seventeen meters tall at least! Not to mention how many tons it must weigh!" Josefa exclaimed, "Plus, its over a league from the breach, how're we gonna move it all the way there?" Jaye pointed out. "That's what I've been contemplating..." Dale explained. "Between their earth-wielding magics and strength: I think it could be possible for both Shadow and Boar to shift it out of its current spot, roll it across town, and then wedge it into place and seal the breach ...Of course, it means the gate won't be rebuilt, on account that whole boulder's made of granite. But still, it could well be our best option for winning back Trost"
"Okay, fair enough" Jaye threw in, "But if we're gonna do it, we best get Shadow back here, and go let Boar know what you've got in mind". "One problem though," Josefa pointed out "We don't know if Shadow and his team managed to get all the people to the inner gate yet?". "Good point," Dale sighed as he gazed up at the raven's circling overhead, "And with the threat of the Armored titan still looming, we can't afford to sit tight and wait...". He whistled a distinctive tune, to which Brandy responded and stooped down towards him, Dale then reached for his note book and writing stick, and leaning against a nearby dormer window, began scribbling his message while the raven patiently waited: "We best get back to the breach and make sure to get everything ready. I'll let dad know what I've come up with, and take things from there; after all, we can't see a damn thing from here, as far as the main battle's concerned. For all we know the situation might've changed..." he thought aloud, before ripping the message out of the notebook, rolling it up and binding it with the small length of thin leather cord tied around Brandy's leg; once he checked the small scroll was secure, he gently took Brandy in both hands, and turning to face north, he leaned down to discreetly whispered to her "Okay Brandy, go find Tyto: Tyto, okay?". The raven began to fuss as she squawked enthusiastically, understanding what to do: knowing she knew, Dale then threw her up into the air, and watched as she flew northwards.
"Man, I hate this" Jaye admitted with a frustrated huff, "Not knowing when that armored bastard might show up". "I know, so we best get going," Dale replied as he reached for his handgrips, and locked his crystal blades back in place, "Right now, time is as much our enemy as the titans are, and survival is the victory we're fighting for" and with that he took off, followed by the twins.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Trost:
The cacophony of bird calls and beating wings filled the air above the city as the bird-titans rained their terror down upon the titans, alongside the mystery humans on ODM gear: all dressed in strange hunting attire and animal masks, while others were dressed in a myriad of greens and browns, and their faces concealed by neckerchiefs and bandanna's.
Those who were fortunate enough to find a safe perch up and away from the titan's reach, watched as the strange creatures and their equally strange human comrades practically danced through the air and over the rooftops as they took it in turns to bait and kill every titan in their path. Wielding bows and arrows alongside pairing blades, the bird-titan's were equally armed: some with long sharp talons of their own, while others wore glove-like boots with long talons made of ultrahard steel attached. Both were equally effective, along with their sharp teeth and powerful jaws which they used to rip the titans napes out. It was as horrifying as it was incredible, and as the battle began to shift with the odds quickly stacking against the titans: some of the Garrison and cadets began to let an uneasy sense of hope grow, where once fear had lease...
As she flew across the city, heading in the direction of the main battle, Mikasa couldn't help but wonder if this really was mankind's salvation, or if it might be another problem to contend with once all the regular titans were dead; but the thought was soon pushed aside, as she continued onwards: looking for Eren and Armin...
Further away, on a tall rooftop situated just within spitting distance of where the main action was going down, several squads had practically a front-row seat to the carnage and decimation: as they watched the bird-titan's making sport of their grounded counterparts, while the mystery humans took it in turns to swoop in and snatch stranded cadet's and troops from the titans fist's and maws. Flying away on the backs of the smaller bird-titans, and dropping them off at a safer distance.
"-Incoming! Two more incoming!" one of the stranger's shouted out, as he stood on the shoulder of a bird-titan that resembled a Hoopoe. The avian swooped down and landed on the chimney stack, and with its wings still spread out, the stranger and his friend let two more cadets jump down to the roof, before taking off again: "Hang tight! We'll be back to help you get to the base!" he shouted. "Thank you!" one of the cadets called back: "Hey, you guys okay?" Reiner worried as he ran over to meet them, "We are now, but holy hell! Of all the times to run outta gas-" the other cadet panted as he tried to get his breath back, and calm down enough to collect himself; gazing at all the other cadets on the rooftop, his eyes widened in amazement, "Whoa, did you guys all get rescued too?".
"Some of us did, but the rest of us are too low on gas to risk carry on fighting" Jean chimed in, "Overall, we've probably got enough to get us back to the base: there we can refill and head back over the wall once they sound the all-clear" Marco added. "But, they can only sound the all-clear once all the people have been evacuated; and we've not heard anything from the support squad for a while now" Krista added worryingly. The two cadet's eye's widened in horror, as they realized what that meant, "You don't mean-, there're people still trapped in the city?!": "Unfortunately, that appears to be the case" Annie replied stoically. "And we don't know if the Garrison managed to find them all, if anyone is still alive by this point..." Bertholdt ruefully sighed. The two cadets glanced at each other with growing despair in their eyes, "...So, we can't retreat? We can't leave this hell yet?!"
"Maybe not yet-" one of the stranger's wearing a Deer mask (complete with antlers protruding through the hood) replied as he landed on the corner of the roof with three of his friend's in tow, "-But don't worry about the people, they're safe and sound on the other side of the wall" he added, smiling beneath his mask. Everyone gazed at him amazement: "They got out?!" Connie gasped, "All of them?!" Sasha added without skipping a beat. "Well? Grey Owl's group did: there're fewer titans north of the military base. Despite the fact the whole building is now swarming with titans, the rear guard managed to get a foothold and beat the bastards back with us. They took the citizens the rest of the way, freeing us up so we could concentrate on getting any survivors out... I'm sorry to say: we looked all over for any vanguard troops still alive, but-... I don't think there are at this point. I'm sorry guys" he explained in an apologetic tone.
"No, you've done so much for us already" Krista smiled with tears welling up in her eyes, "We-, all of us owe you our lives!"; "Just who are you guys, anyway?" Ymir asked as she protectively put an arm around Krista's shoulder. "We are allies of humanity, and we're here to help" the Deer-masked stranger replied, but before Ymir could ask him anything further, the sound of ODM gear drew everyone's attention, as Mikasa landed on the roof.
"Mikasa? Weren't you with the rear guard?" Marco asked, surprised to see her here.
'Mikasa?...' Bowen thought offhand as he studied the raven-haired girl, '...Where've I heard that name before?...'
"Annie!-" she approached the stoic blonde in a slight fluster, not even noticing the three masked strangers standing nearby, "-I know how bad things have gotten. I know it's selfish, putting personal matters in the forefront, but have you seen Eren's squad?" she asked pleadingly. "Some squads made it back, but I don't know about Eren's" she replied, "We found Armin, he's over there..." Reiner thumbed over to the far end of the roof, where Armin sat in a slump against a huge chimney stack: his head hanging low, and seemingly dead to the world.
Relieved to see he was still alive, Mikasa strode over to him: "Armin!"
'Armin?...' Bowen doubly blinked in surprise, as he thought 'Wait- didn't Joseph say his grandson's name is-'
Armin's head and shoulders jerked as he was suddenly snapped back to reality by the sound of her voice: but a new sorrow filled his heart as he was at a loss for words; how to explain why Eren wasn't here. How could he tell her? How could he explain why he was here, and Eren was not? "Armin? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?... " Mikasa asked worryingly as she kneeled down in front of him; Armin was silent for a moment, his frame tense and ridged as he trembled like a rabbit in the presence of a wolf: Mikasa stood back up and looked around the various faces of the cadets, "Where's Eren?..." She asked. Tears began pouring down Armin's face as he balled up his fists, and leaned on his knees as he sat up, "... Armin?..." she pressed him. He gazed up at her, and right away she saw the horror in his eyes; he tried to muster the strength to remain calm, as he blurted out between chocked sobs "... They were-...The cadets of squad thirty four: Thomas Wagner, Nack Tierce, Milieus Zeremski, Mina Carolina, and Eren Jaeger... These brave five, upheld their duties: they died valiantly on the field of battle..."
"...Please, no..." Sasha whispered under her breath: everyone stared at Armin in disbelief, and with a growing sense of dread; "His-, whole squad was wiped out?" one of the other cadet's nervously breathed, "The same will happen to us if we try to take on those titans..." another cadet nearly broke out into tears. "I'm so sorry Mikasa..." Armin sobbed in a hushed voice "...It should've been me that died, not Eren...I-...I couldn't do a thing!... I'm worthless-...".
'… Eren Jaeger?...' Bowen frowned as the cogs turned in his mind, before his eyes grew wide in realization '… Wait a minute, Carla's last name is-'. Bowen felt his breath hitch as he suddenly remembered Carla, and how she told of loosing her son in Shiganshina. '...No way-, there's no way it could be the same kid!...' his mind reeled, but then suddenly realized '-Oh Gia! Is this Mikasa? Carla's daughter!? And Armin, Joseph's grandson?! Is it really them?!'
"Armin..." Mikasa simply kneeled back down, and gently placed her hand upon his: as he glanced up to meet her gaze, Armin was completely taken aback by the lifelessness in her eyes; "... Calm yourself: we haven't got time for you to get emotional right now..." she stated in a stoic tone, "On your feet..." she pulled him up, but all he could do was stand there in stunned silence as she turned to stride across the roof: the three strangers glanced at one another in confusion, wondering what this raven-haired girl had in mind, as her voice suddenly took on a more authoritative tone. "Marco, if we eliminate, or bypass the titans at HQ, we can there refuel our gear. Allowing us to get back over the wall: is that assessment correct?" she questioned, "Well, uh?- Yeah I guess so? Sure" Marco stammered, before pointing out "But there's just too many of them out there, even with you on point"
"I can do it" she stated flatly, drawing her blades: "What?" Marco gazed at her astonishment, as did the rest of the cadets; while the strangers watched on in amazement. "I'm strong, real strong..." she continued "None of you come close: you hear me? I am a warrior! … Know this, I have the power to slay all of the titans that block our path, even if I have to do it alone. As far as I am concerned, I am surrounded by a bunch of unskilled cowardly worms!" she pointed one blade at the cadets, "... You disappoint me: you can just sit here, and twiddle your thumbs, and watch how its done".
"Wait Mikasa! Are you outta your mind?! That's crazy!" one of the other female cadets exclaimed,
"You can't be serious?! Trying to take them out by yourself?!"
"There's no way you can hope to beat them!"
Mikasa merely gave the cadet a sideways glance, as she flatly stated "If I can't beat them, then I die: but, if I win, I live. And the only way to win, is to fight!" and with that, she shot her lines and flew off. "-HEY!" Connie shouted after her, but she paid no attention as she took off for the military base. "Ooookay?..." one of strangers thought aloud uneasily, "Well? I hope she knows what she's doing".
"You know? I was expecting something more motivational, your way with words was kind of a let down" Jean muttered under his breath, "I blame everything about this on you Eren..." he fumed as he turned towards the cadets, raised his blade, and with a stern loud voice, took the intuitive as he shouted "-HEY! Don't just stand there! We weren't taught to let our comrades fight alone! Unless you are a coward, in which case stay outta my way!" he then fired his lines and took off to follow Mikasa. "Never expected that from him" Reiner frowned as he sighed; knowing they had no excuses, the rest of the cadets mentally prepared themselves as they reached for their handgrips, and warily walked to the edge of the roof.
"You guys gonna be okay?" the deer-masked stranger asked, "We'll be okay: just help the others who've got no gas: we'll go on ahead and meet you at HQ, alright?" he glanced over at the other cadets. "Okay, just don't get yourselves killed" one of the cadets replied nervously; Reiner smiled as he waved them good-bye, and took off with the others. "Hey! Seriously! Come on you bunch of chickens!" Sasha shouted as she took off.
"No offense to her, Bowen, but she didn't sound like she knew what she was doing: not really" one of the Celt's whispered solemnly in the ear of his clan leader, as they watched the cadets shout out one more battle cry, before storming off across the rooftops in the direction of the military base. "Yeah, that was grief, not confidence pouring out" the other concurred in a hushed, rueful voice: "Do you think she has a chance?" the other Celt pondered aloud.
Bowen paused for a moment as the shock of the situation began to sink in: was that really Carla's daughter who flew off just now? Was that really Armin bawling his eyes out? And was it really Eren who'd died? Were they really the same kids Carla, Joseph and Tyto's family had spoken of? How many other teenagers in the three walls were (or could be) named Eren, Armin and Mikasa? As he thought about it, part of him wanted to rush off to find Carla and tell her what he'd just witnessed. But, another part of him began to picture the horror of it: informing her that her son and daughter, plus Joseph's grandson were still alive, only to be informed that her son had died a second time? What parent could go through that? To endure that kind of heartbreak all over again? Sure, at least two of the kids were alive, but still...
Heaving a deep sigh with fear tugging at his heart, he wondered if he should do it: after all, the way this battle was going, there was no guarantee they'd survive, even if they did reach the base in one piece. But he could not neglect the task he'd been set either: all of humanity was hanging in the balance, and his clan were depending on him to lead them out of this hell alive. And so, with a heavy heart laden deep with regret, Bowen bitterly put it aside. He would either tell Carla and Joseph of this if they survived, or he would take it to his grave: he would wait to see if he survived this day...
"... The spirit of the one she lost: they give her a chance..." Bowen replied quietly, before turning to the other cadets, and announced "Okay, who wants to go for a ride?".
At that moment, as if on cue, a huge bird-titan with the plumage of a cuckoo swooped down and landed on the chimney stack, greeting the terrified cadet's with a friendly "Cuck-coo-cuck-coo". "Don't worry, ol' Greywing here's already had a big breakfast today!" one of the stranger's joked.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Trost:
"You guys have done enough! We can take it from here!" the Garrison captain shouted in a grateful tone as he and the other Garrison troops led the citizens down the street, "Just make sure to cover us until the gate's shut!"
"No problem captain! And thank you!" Free-wing called back, before taking off to return to the others. As he approached, he saw one titan that was about to blind-side Shadow, and swooped in to kill it before it could take a bite out of him. Shadow turned to see the titan fall over dead, and regarded Bryson with a respectful nod as he continued fighting the remaining titans around him. "Did everyone get to the rear guard's defense-line okay?!" Ariana asked worryingly as she flew alongside him, "They're okay, the titans are few and far between north of the city center: they managed to dig in and carve out a secure passage. If all goes well, they'll be at the gate in ten minutes, and the Garrison can finally send out the order to retreat" Bryson sighed with relief "For our part, we just gotta hold down the western quarter"
"Fine by me!" Belle grinned wildly under her neckerchief as she came up alongside them, "-Now that we unloaded everyone, we can finally cut loose and have a little fun!". "Don't go getting cocky" Bryson gazed sideways at her, "There still might be a few smaller titans hiding in the alleyways" he added. Ariana was about to chime in, when a huge fifteen meter balding titan with a long grey beard caught her eye at the far end of the street, "-Whoa, I call dibs on baldy over there!" she flew off as Belle chased after her, "You take his legs I'll take his nape!" she called after her teasingly, "Nice try, but his nape's mine!" Ariana shouted back as she swooped over and around to line up into position to strike the nape, while Belle flew around the other way to aim for the titan's legs. At the same time, Shadow saw the titan in question, and jogged over to join the girls, in case it turned out to be an abnormal...
But as the titan staggered along down the street towards them, something about its aura was seriously off: it fluctuated wildly; like a fire that had just been doused with oil and was blazing out of control. "What the hell? What is this?" Javorin thought aloud as a cold ball of ice suddenly lay heavy in his gut, and his instincts screamed at him to get ready to fight, but why?. Using his divine vision to analyze the titan's aura in more detail, he saw something in its stomach that made him gasp in shock, and stop in his tracks "...What-...".
As he trailed the girls from behind, Bryson suddenly felt that familiar chill shoot up his spine, but much more powerful this time as he felt it grip every vertebrate in his back, and sink its icy talons into his gut. How was this titan different to the others? Sure his 'sixth sense' had been warning him of titans left, right and center all day, and every day he and the gang hunted and fought the monsters together, and even before then when he was still a scout. But this time it was practically screaming at him fight, not matter what... But why?
He didn't stop as Ariana and Belle were about to make their move, when suddenly, a huge arm exploded out of the titan's mouth...
"WHA?!-" Belle gasped. "WHAT THE-" Ariana exclaimed. Both girls pulled up and away at the last second, both sticking their landings as they dived for the nearest rooftops, and ducked down on the other side of the apexes. Bryson quickly hid behind a rooftop of his own, while Shadow got into a fighting stance. But this time, a look of worry flashed through his beautiful blues as the titan staggered some more, before falling over and landing face down. The titan seemed to contort into a stiffened position, as the grotesque sound of skin and sinew stretching and tearing, and bones breaking could be heard coming from inside its body: its whole torso then suddenly swelled to three times its size, and its entire back blew open in an explosion of blood, bone and tissues. Everyone shielded their faces as they ducked down to avoid the entrails that shot out in all directions: and when they glanced back, the sight before them was nothing short of astonishing...
Through the steam gushing out of the titan's remains: another titan, soaked in its now-evaporating blood, stood up out of the carcass. It was a fifteen meter with a lean muscular frame, short brunette hair that grazed its shoulders, pointed ears, a prominent hooked nose with eyes that were deeply sunken into their sockets, a set of teeth just like Shadow's with the lack of any lips or cheeks, and green eyes that glowed like fiery emeralds. Ariana, Belle and Bryson all stared at the creature in a mix of shock and amazement: more taken aback by its resemblance to Shadow than anything else. The monster then straightened up, and after breathing in a deep breath, snapped its head back as it let out a loud angry roar that echoed far across the city, grabbing the attention of every bird-titan in the immediate area, and Stormwing, as she circled overhead. "Holy hell!-..." Belle whispered, her eyes wide as saucers; "What the hell?! That titan-..." Ariana gasped in shock as she studied it up and down, "...Why does it look like Shadow?!".
As the humans gazed on in shock, unsure what to think or what to do, Javorin had every reason to be on his guard; as he gazed deep into the creature's aura, his worry spiked ten-fold.
It was rage, nothing but rage.
The hottest fire raging out of control until not even carbon was left, the coldest ice freezing until the atoms themselves were suspended in perpetual inertness. This titan, this monster: was consumed by a raw anger that burned with an unbridled fury, the likes of which he had not seen in so many thousands of years. Not since a time when the earth was witness to darker forces, reaching out to cast their shadows upon all mankind, had he seen such a horror made into flesh. Every instinct in him as a god screamed to let loose his power, to summon the winds and the earth to swallow it up, consuming it before it could do any harm. But such a force, such level of power from a deity of his caliber would destroy everything in a twenty mile radius, and leave a caldera the circumference of Sina in its wake. But as he gazed into the raging fire of the titan's aura, Javorin noticed something that got his attention; at the heart of the inferno, fulling (or feeding off?) the anger, was a presence. An aura, a human aura: but the chaos manna surrounding it was so thick and fluctuating so wildly, that he couldn't even make out if it was male or female, never mind try to make out their face...
But something about this person was, familiar, somehow: as if he'd seen this person before; "...Who are you? … And why does your aura ring a bell?" Javorin frowned in unease.
Suddenly, the titan turned its head and looked right at him: "-Shit! I can't let him see us! He's too dangerous for us to fight, not like this!" Javorin nearly panicked, and quickly, he summoned a discreet concealment spell, and cast it over Bryson, Ariana and Belle, as well as himself. The titan paused a moment, as if wondering whether or not it actually saw another titan standing there just now.
But then, a smaller five meter came crawling along on all fours, and the titan narrowed its eyes at it. The smaller titan reared up on its legs, and with a powerful leap, pounced at the taller monster. But to everyone's shock, the green-eyed titan raised its fist, and with a solid punch to its open maw, blew out the titan's nape from the inside-out. The titan collapsed to the ground, where the fifteen meter monster proceeded to stomp down on its nape, and then the rest of its body: again and again, harder and harder, until it was a steaming skin sack of pulverized meat and bone shards. It spotted more titans in the next street further down, and with another bellowing roar, took off after them like a Viking Berserker barrelling headlong into battle: and in the fray of the carnage it proceeded to unleash, it disappeared from sight. Although its aura was hard to miss, as it continued to burn like a raging inferno, with the 'flames' reaching high above the rooftops, even above the tallest buildings.
Cautiously, Javorin dropped the concealment spell, and Bryson, Ariana and Belle warily stood back up: approaching the edge of the roofs as the blue-eyed god-titan approached them. They all gazed at one another for a moment, registering the shock and incredibility of what they just witnessed. "GUYS!-" Gale landed behind Belle, followed by Poppy, Shyla and Fox, "Finally! We wondered where the hell you'd taken off to-": she was about to ask Belle if she was okay, until she saw the look in her eyes. "...Belle? What's happened?" she asked worryingly: everyone was present and accounted for, so what was wrong?.
As Belle tried to explain in a panic what just happened, a familiar voice snapped Javorin out of his anxiety: "Javorin? What happened down there just now?" Nyiera asked in a serious tone, "And why the hell is there a titan with an aura hotter than the sun?". Javorin shook himself from out of his shock, frowning in concern as he replied "... Nyiera, keep your eyes on that titan, don't loose sight of him, and warn everyone to steer clear of it! No one is to engage that titan in combat, under any circumstances: understand?". "Sure, but considering how angry that thing is, I don't think avoiding it is going to be much of an issue..." she deadpanned, before adding, "Oh, and head's up, he's heading to the area where Bowen and his clan were dealing with the stranded cadets; speaking of which, it looks like a bunch of them are making a last-ditch effort to make it back to their HQ before they run out of gas: they might need back-up to get to the wall". "Okay, keep me posted" he nodded, "Seriously though, what happened, where did that titan come from? ..."
"I-..." Javorin hesitated as he tried to make sense of it, "...I don't know: we'll talk later". "That, we will" Hecate chimed in, in her no-bullshit tone "Whatever the hell that thing is, I can smell its rage all the way from here!"
Seeing the intention in Bryson's aura, Javorin quickly grabbed him before he could fire his lines: "Hey!- what the hell?! Shadow let me go! We've got to go after that thing!". Shadow frowned down at Bryson like a disapproving father, before nodding up at Stormwing: "She's got eyes on him? Okay, well at least we got that covered..." Ariana realized as she flew up to land on his shoulder, followed by Belle as she added "But seriously, guys: that titan just killed another titan! And it wasn't a god-titan! If he's got a hatred for his own kind, why kill him when we can just let him do the leg-work for us?"
Shadow glanced down at her with a stern glare, he then had to remind himself that she was only human, she didn't see his aura; she didn't see, or felt what he saw. Letting out a deep regretful sigh, Shadow signed with his one free hand: Do not follow. Dangerous. "...Okay big guy," Ariana patted his jaw, "If you say he's too dangerous, then we'll leave him be..." she turned to a now-calmer Bryson, as Shadow gently unfurled his fingers, and let him stand up in his palm: "The titan journal never mentioned anything about this..." he thought aloud, gazing back up at Shadow, "In all the time we've combed Omnes Scientiam for knowledge of the regular titans, we've never found anything even remotely related to their existence, never mind how they came to be"
"And that titan: he not only came out of another titan, he's the strangest abnormal yet. He kills other titans: the journal didn't mention that either!" Belle added. "...Do you suppose-..." Ariana though aloud warily "That titan, could he be the key to understanding the regular titans? I might be getting ahead of myself here, but I get the feeling we just witnessed something seriously important". "Yeah, no shit!" Belle concurred. "Magpie, can you flag one of the raven's down, please? I need to get a message to your father: he's going to want to know about this" Bryson asked, "Yeah, give me a sec," she nodded, and whistled up to the ravens circling overhead, while Bryson pulled out his notebook and writing stick.
"Uh guys? We got more titans incoming" Shyla pointed to several titans coming up the street from behind them: "Ah shit... Okay, Warbler, Tanager, Cuckoo, you're with me: Bullfinch, stay here and cover Magpie and Free-wing: Shadow?" Belle gazed up at the god-titan, and with a sure nod, he followed them as they proceeded to attack the herd.
Meanwhile, less than a quarter mile from the Trost military base:
"Whoa, look at all those titans swarming the base; there's gotta be over three dozen at least. And it looks like there're maybe several dozen more in the streets surrounding the building's perimeter" Lucius pointed to said base, as Angel glided over the city center: "There must be people still trapped inside," Falken thought aloud. "Question is though, why are there still people inside? And if they're the Garrison's support squad, why haven't they been running supplies to the front line?" Lucy thought aloud. "Good point..." Tyto replied offhand as he watched several of the other bird-titans ferrying cadets, circling over the base, "The Garrison and Cadets have been running out of gas left right and center all over the city, and with that many titans surrounding and climbing all over the building, no wonder they can't get out"
"Great All-father..." Elysia thought aloud, as she spotted the raging aura of the new mystery titan, a half mile over the other side of the battle-grounds, "That one's not gonna be too obliging: I'll have to go in hard and fast if he comes at us" she worried. "Angel! Down there!-" Carla pointed downwards, as she stood on her shoulder with the snow twins, Falken and Tyto clinging onto her back, with Evernight tailing her left wing. "More cadets?" Tyto asked, "And more titans," Carla replied, to which everyone stood up, drew their blades and got ready to fight; "Five cadets, six titans: one a piece!" she smiled as she jumped off and dived head-first at the titan in her sights...
Jean was frozen in place, fear paralyzing his whole frame as he watched the unfortunate cadet get chewed in half, while several other titans crowded around to try and snag a piece of the entrails that dripped from the ten meter titan's maw.
'Why couldn't I stop them? …' he thought as his dread gnawed at the fringes of his mind, '...I'm the last person that should've been given the reins!' he gritted his teeth. All the while, Marco, Sasha, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Ymir and Krista hung back several meters across the roof, anxiously waiting for the all-clear to go; "Hey! Horse-face! Is it safe to go or not?" Ymir impatiently yelled out.
Then, the sound of ODM gear from high above made them snap their heads upward, as a giant white bird-titan dived feet first at the ten meter, attacking and ripping out its nape: while five other masked strangers attacked the remaining titans, dropping them all in seconds, before gracefully flying back up to perch on the roof, alongside the huge white avian that landed on the corner by the chimney stack. The cadets backed up, and Jean in particular was quick to give them at least a few meters (if only to make sure he didn't get hit by those giant wings and long tail feathers) "Holy hell!-" he gasped.
"Whoa, easy there cadets, we're here to help" the stranger in the Owl mask assured them, "Are you trying to get back to the base?". "Yeah, but we've hit a bit of a snag" Reiner replied as he cautiously approached, "We noticed" the lady dressed all in white replied, "And you should know, there're more up ahead: we can give you a lift to the base while we clear a path" she added in a courteous tone. As Jean looked the strangers up and down, he felt the eyes of the the huge bird-titan upon him, as she bend down to get a closer look at him and the cadets: "Th-thanks, but we really need to get inside the base sooner rather than later..." he replied, trying to maintain his composure; then, an idea suddenly occurred to him. Steeling his courage, he approached the strangers and anxiously proposed "... It's just-, we need to secure the base so as to refill our gas: so, if it's okay, could you guys-, maybe, cover us while we make a break for it?".
The strangers glanced at one another skeptically for a moment, before the stranger in the Owl mask replied "That shouldn't be a problem, but you'll have to be quick, and try to stay above the rooftops where you can: there're a lot of smaller titans hiding in the narrow streets and alleyways". Bertholdt approached and pointed to the bird-titans circling over the base "How come they haven't attacked any of the titans on the base?". "They're carrying cadets who've run out of gas, and with the titans swarming the base, there's nowhere safe for them to land" the Owl replied, "Then we better get going, and make a safe landing spot for them" the lady in white added. "Hold on-" Ymir interrupted, "You're really going to take on all those titans? The five of you against that?" she pointed to the base: "You mean, the six of us..." the white titan slayer smiled beneath her neckerchief, as the white bird-titan leaned in close to her with a smile and happy trill "Angel here can take on the toughest titans: she knows how to put them in their place, don't you sweetie" she cooed as she stroked her cheek. "Angel? That's her name? It suits her perfectly!" Krista smiled: smiling even brighter in delight, Angel bent down closer to Krista, trilling happily, as if she understood what she said, and booped her on the top of her head with her nose.
"Aww! What cute little aura you have! So sweet and gentle: and filled with such selfless compassion for others. Were you one of the Anthosia in your previous life? I don't think I'd be surprised if you were" Elysia thought aloud as she glanced at the blonde girl's aura.
"Hey, don't go getting cosy with them: we still don't know who you guys are" Ymir shot a dubious look at the Owl as she sided up alongside Krista: Angel frowned at her in confusion, and studied her up and down carefully, sniffing her head and shoulders. "-Hey, feather brain, butt out!" Ymir shot her a stern look as she pushed her snow white face out of the way, to which Angel snorted in frustration, and stood up straight and out of her way; "Ymir, seriously? She's just being friendly" Krista scolded her, "Hey, considering the crazy-ass shit going down here today, I ain't taking no chances" she flatly stated.
Angel sighed in sarcastic annoyance: but unbeknown to her friends, as she looked over the cadet's, she locked eyes with Annie; as the blond girl met her bright ice blue eyes, the bird-titan seemed curious for a moment, before quickly glancing away, as if embarrassed to be caught staring. Annie frowned slightly for a moment, before dismissing it as nothing.
"We're friends and we're here to help" the stranger in the black hawk mask replied; "Yeah, so you and your buddies keep saying: why though?" Ymir pressed him. "Because we're human, and believe it or not, this walled kingdom is our home too" the younger boy replied, "We've as much right to fight for it as you guys" the girl added without missing a beat. The cadets all glanced at one another in surprise for a moment, before Jean decided it was time to get going, "Yeah, okay, you guys can explain later: right now, we need to go, so let's move!" he approached the edge of the roof with the other cadets in tow.
"Angel, Dove, you're both on point: Snow Bunting, Snow Finch, Black Hawk, help me guard the flanks" the Owl ordered. "Huh? You guys are named after birds?" Sasha glanced over at them, "It's a family thing" the Owl smiled beneath his mask "I'm Grey Owl, by the way" he added. The cadets all gazed at him in surprise, "Wait-, are you the Grey Owl the others were talking about? The one who led the citizens to the inner gate?" Marco pressed, "The same: we handed them over to the rear guard a little over ten minutes ago; with any luck they should be on the other side of the inner wall by now" Grey Owl replied. "So-, they should be sounding the retreat any second now!" Marco realized, "Then we better get moving, come on!" Jean took off, and together, the group head for the base.
Trying to save what gas they had left, the cadet's ran and jumped over the closer-set rooftops, only shooting their lines over the gaps three meters wide or more: all the while, the strangers guarded them from all sides, with Dove and Angel leading the charge, as they mowed down every titan in their path. "Man, look at them go..." Sasha breathed in amazement as she watched them fight in synch together, "The way they move and fight-, it's almost as if they're one and the same". "Well? Angel and Dove have been together a long time; they're practically like mother and daughter," Grey Owl replied as he ran alongside her "Where there's one, the other won't be far behind". "How did you manage to tame her?" Bertholdt asked offhand: "Tame her?" Snow Finch raised an eyebrow, "You make it sound as if she were a wild animal" Snow Bunting added without skipping a beat, "Nah, ain't no taming here, she's as smart as any human". "Whoa, seriously?!" Marco exclaimed, "Titans as smart as humans? I find that hard to believe" Jean scoffed, "Believe what you want, but she'll fly rings around you, and then some, if you try to slice her nape: not that you could anyway, given the thickness of her feathers" Black Hawk replied.
"Hold up!-" Grey Owl interrupted as they approached the last few roofs before the base, and came to a stop: Angel flew off to perch on the roof of the base's tallest structure, where she watched them patiently. Studying the titans that were crawling up the side of the building, and all the ones wondering around the surrounding city square and streets, the cadets looked on in dread: "Whatever you guys have in mind to fight them off: you best try to get the drop on them while you still can..." Reiner threw in. "Don't worry, that won't be necessary..." Grey Owl replied, before turning to the snow twins, "...Let's grab their attention with a little music...".
Knowing what that meant, the twins nodded in affirmation before splitting up, and taking off in opposite directions, with Snow Bunting heading to the eastern side of the base, while Snow Finch headed to the west: going around the base via the taller buildings, and being careful to stay low and inconspicuous from the titan's gaze. "Huh? What're they doing?" Sasha blinked in confusion, "Wait and see..." Dove replied with a smirk beneath her neckerchief.
When both twins were on opposite sides of the base, and had found safe perches high above the titans reach, they got out their little hummers and started swinging them over their heads . "What's that weird noise?" Bertholdt thought aloud, as within less than half a minute the strange one-note humming/whistling sound filled the air, echoing off all the nearby buildings; and within less than a minute, all the titans in the area starting lazily ambling over to them. "Wha-, they're using themselves as bait?" Jean realized, "Not quite, look..." Grey Owl pointed to the titans: as the monsters crowded around the spots were the twins were perched, but made no attempt to try and grab them, and instead, just stood there staring up at them in a daze. "They're not trying to grab at them?" Annie realized, blinking in surprise, "Exactly" Dove added; "It's like, they're all in a trance of some kind" Krista observed: "That's exactly what they're in, and as long as they hear that note being played, they're practically harmless" Grey Owl explained. "Holy shit-" Jean realized in amazement "You guys-, can stop titans from attacking with those things? How?". "It's-, a little complicated," Black Hawk hesitated, "-Sorry, but we don't have time to explain," Grey Owl interrupted as he pointed to the base, "Your opening is about to come..." he pointed to the windows in the highest level of the building.
As the strange noise continued to fill the air, the titans that had climbed up the side of the building, began to slowly climb down, heading in the direction of the hummers. "Okay, now's your chance," Grey Owl turned to the cadets, "We'll take care of things from here, you concentrate on getting back over that wall once your gas is replenished". "Thanks for your help, we really appreciate it" Reiner smiled as he took off with the others "Yeah, you take care" Marco added. The gang watched as the cadets shot their lines and flew up to the windows: barrelling right through them with Angel watching them from above...
As she watched the cadets enter the building, and then turned her attention back to the titans down below, Elysia couldn't help but frown in bemusement: "...Strange..." she thought aloud, "Those two girls...What was that energy wrapped around their auras? It looked like they were tied together somehow, and yet, both were different in their own way... Are they witches? Sorceresses? Alchemists?" She sighed in defeat, before going back to concentrating on the situation at hand "... -Ugh, I'll have to ask Javorin about it later: right now, I got more titan's to kill-"
But as she spread her wings and got ready to take off, a noise on the north side of the base grabbed her attention: turning and stepping over to the other side of the structure to get a better look, Elysia was stunned to see upward of two dozen titans crowding around one particular area of the building, paying no attention to the hummers whatsoever: and worse, a downdraft of wind was carrying a large cloud of chaos manna down over that area. "... Shit! With all that chaos manna, no wonder they can't hear the hummers!" she panicked. Gazing back over to the gang, who by now were busy felling the still-hypnotized titans, she started flapping her wings and cawing loudly: trying to grab their attention...
"What?" Carla paused as she noticed Angel calling to her, "Grey Owl, something's up!" she called out worryingly, "Go! We got this covered!" he shouted back as he killed a six meter titan.
"Hey brat!" Nyiera called down sharply, sensing the worry in her voice, Elysia paused as she continued, "-Head's up, that new 'rogue' titan is heading your way". "What?!" Elysia panicked as she turned to gaze southwards, and sure enough, her mind's eye spotted the raging aura of the mystery titan heading straight for the base, with three cadets staying just ahead of it as they flew hell for leather through the city, "Shit! What do I do?! With that much rage he ain't gonna go down easy!". Javorin then interrupted, "Elysia, gather everyone up and find somewhere to lie low, I'll deal with him", Elysia worried even more, "Javorin? How far away are you?!". "A few minutes tops, but you need to get everyone out of the way: this is going to get messy" he stated in all seriousness, "One other thing Javorin, there are people inside the base: you might want to try and steer the fight away from there" Nyiera added, "Duly noted, thanks," he then turned back to Elysia, "Elysia, try and keep the other titans from swarming, okay? I'll be with you soon enough", "Yeah, sure" she nodded, trying to stay calm as she took a deep breath. "Angel? What's wrong sweetie?" Carla asked worryingly as she flew up and perched on her shoulder: the avian god-titan let out a distinctive double set of sharp chirps, which Carla instantly recognized as her warning signal for imminent danger approaching. "Danger? Where? From what direction?" she hesitated, eyes wide in surprise.
Elysia stretched out one wing, and pointed in the direction of the 'rogue' titan: at that same moment, as if on cue, the roaring and crashing of the titan's rampage was heard approaching. Realizing something bad was on its way, Carla quickly leapt off her shoulder, and made a beeline back to Tyto: "Grey Owl! We need to move! Something's inbound and it sounds really pissed off!" she shouted. Hearing the alarm in her voice, Tyto didn't hesitate as he bellowed "EVERYONE FALL BACK TO ANGEL! MOVE!". "What? Why?" Lucy asked in concern, as another, much louder roar announced the rogue titan's arrival as it came charging into the main street around the base's perimeter, punching and swiping at every titan in its path. "... What the hell?!-" the girl's eyes widened in disbelief as she watched the fifteen meter beast tear into all the other titans. But Lucy was quickly snapped out of her amazement as Tyto grabbed her by the shoulder, "You heard Mother Dove, Move!" he told her sternly, "This way, come on!-" Carla led the way as she flew around the base to the northern side of the building, with Angel flying overhead to cover their backs.
On the western side of the building, Lucius watched the rogue titan in stunned amazement: "What-, No way. A titan attacking its own kind?!". As the monster continued its rampage, Lucius noticed three cadets fly past the titan, before banking up and crashing through the upper windows of the base's tallest structure, seemingly unnoticed by the titan. "...Huh? it ignored them?" he paused in confusion. But his bewilderment was quickly set aside when he heard Angel give her loud regrouping caw from the north side of the building; after quickly stashing away his hummer, Lucius took off, and soon spotted the others perched up high on a warehouse roof near the base.
"You guys saw that titan, right?!" Lucius blurted out as he came in to land, "Kinda hard to miss," Lucy replied offhand, before turning to Carla and asking "Where the hell did he come from? And why are we pulling back?". Angel bent down to meet the twin's gaze, and started chirping in alarm, to which Carla gently placed a hand on her cheek to calm her down "Angel must have gotten a telepathic warning from one of the other god-titans" she gazed up at her coolly, "Sweetie, did whoever give you the heads up, say we mustn't engage him?". Angel nodded in affirmation, to which Tyto sighed "Guess someone else must've encountered him and came off worse," he surmised.
Angel was about to reply, when something caught her attention; over a dozen titans were gathered around one particular section of the base: a large door where several three to four meter class titans were walking inside; curious, everyone else turned to look at what caught her eye. "Huh? The titans found a way inside the base?" Falken frowned in confusion, "Oh my god..." Lucius's eyes suddenly widened in realization, "What if that's the supply depot? The place they keep the refill tanks for the gas": "But that means-" Carla suddenly realized, "-The cadets are gonna get eaten!" Lucy panicked.
"-Kill them! Quickly!" Tyto barked, and without another word everyone flew at the titans around the doors, and dispatched them within minutes: all except for the smaller titans, that had already gotten inside. As they stood at the doorway and peered into the gloom, barely illuminated by candlelight, the gang could hear the titans footfalls somewhere at the far end of the depot: "Shit, they're already all the way back in there, and Angel's too big to fit inside!" Carla cursed, "Hang on-" the twins replied in unison as they reached for their hummers: but more thundering footsteps forced them and the others to retreat up the side of the building, and Angel up into the air over the roof, as several more titans tried to garb them. "-Shit! That was close!" Lucy gasped in relief, but her alleviation was short-lived as she gazed back down at the ground, and was dismayed to see twice as many titans as there were before: "Oh Hell!-, where did they come from?!" Falken exclaimed as several more titans climbed over the building from the north and eastern sides, and tried to reach for them. The gang drew their blades and got ready to fight again, when suddenly, a huge blue crystal spear came flying out of nowhere, and went right through the nape of the titan nearest to them.
"GUYS!-" Belle exclaimed in delight as she and her team flew over the building and landed at their sides: "Glad to see your all still alive," Bryson smiled beneath his neckerchief, "You doubted us?" Carla teased, "Not at all, but the way this battle has been going, you could be forgiven for loosing a limb or two" he replied offhand; and together, they started taking out the newest titan herd. "-True," Tyto agreed as he attacked a seven meter, "It has been pretty dicey thus far". "And speaking of dicey, you won't believe what kinda titan we ran into" Ariana smiled as she dispatched an eleven meter, "Yeah, we noticed" the snow twins replied as they killed a five meter together, "Where is he now?" Falken asked as he killed six meter with Evernight close behind, "On the north side of the base, Shadow's keeping an eye on him: funny thing is though, he doesn't seem to be interested in humans. We flew right past him, and he didn't notice us" Shyla replied as she took down a ten meter. "Yeah, I noticed: three cadets made it to the building, and he seemed to ignore them" Lucius added as he and Lucy attacked a twelve meter. "Does that mean we can rest easy, and not have to worry about him attacking us?" Belle asked offhand as she sliced the nape of a fat four meter. "That's what Shadow's assessing right now, he told us to back up you guys while he takes care of him" Bryson replied as he killed a fourteen meter.
As she backed up Carla, Elysia couldn't help but 'magically eavesdrop' in on the battle on the south side of the base: glancing over her shoulder when she could to catch a glimpse of the auras, and read them to see what was going on.
Meanwhile, near the breach:
With the flow of titans having been slowed down to a steady trickle of around one or two at a time now, the gang finally had some space to divert from the fighting, and start the prep-work for sealing the breach. Galloping through the streets with Clay and Hazel on his back, Boar soon found the enormous boulder Dale had discovered earlier, and came to a stop near where it resided in the ground. "Whoa, Jackdaw wasn't kidding when he said it'd do the job" Hazel eyed the huge rock up and down in amazement, "No shit sis, this'll be perfect for sealing the breach" Clay concurred.
"Well?" Hecate's voice echoed across the ether, "Will it do?"
"Oh, it'll do alright" Herne replied as he rested one of his huge hand's against the side of the boulder, "But Dale wasn't exaggerating its size: even with just our divine strength alone, it's going to take me an' Javorin a while to roll it across town, and firmly ram it into place". "Then we better wrap this up soon and get Javorin back here: before that armored bastard shows up. We're running low on poisoned arrows; and I'm starting to run on empty with my venom" she replied as she killed another two titans.
Gazing northwards, up at the military base atop Trost's highest point, Herne could see the angry aura of the rogue titan dancing about, along with Javorin's own aura moving back and forth: both clearly in the throws of a fight. "...Um? Call it a hunch, but I think he's gonna be busy for a while yet"
Meanwhile, back at the military base:
"...Great All-father..." Elysia breathed in disbelief, "Whatever's keeping him going like that, it must run deep!". "And then some, I'd wager," Javorin replied as he danced around his opponents.
The rogue titan was still lost in his rage as he continued to fight and kill every titan that came at him, so much so that Javorin decided not to push his luck, and kept his portion of the fighting to the west side of the base, out of the monster's line of sight; while the rogue seemed preoccupied with all the titans on the south side. All the while, the rest of the gang remained on the north side of the base, keeping the depot doors free of titans.
"What's interesting is that the other titans are actively attacking him: trying to take a bite out of him, as if he were a human" Javorin thought aloud as he speared a ten meter through the nape, "That is weird, but why 'though? What does it mean?" Elysia replied as she circled overhead, surveying the building's perimeter; "I don't know-" Javorin replied as he roundhouse-kicked a twelve meter, before spearing it in the nape from the inside out via the throat "-But as long as that anger of his continues to burn like the sun, none of us can risk getting too close: that much rage and unbridled fury is too dangerous to try to temper, at least, not without resorting to some pretty extreme measures, and even then there's no guarantee it would work"
"So what do we do if he turns on any humans?" Elysia worried; Javorin hesitated a moment, before solemnly stating "... We put him down, and hard. I know we all agreed not to use any magic here, but I'm afraid this might have to be the acceptation..."
Elysia didn't know what to think as she tried to reply to that, but she didn't have time to contemplate as she stooped down on a seven meter and slashed it's nape. But just as she was about to pull up and away, a large fifteen meter grabbed her right leg, and dragged her down to the ground. "ANGEL!-" Carla panicked as she saw her dear friend kick the titan's hand away: she managed to get back on her feet and got ready to take off again; until she inadvertently locked eyes with the rouge titan, and he saw her...
"... SHIT!-" she panicked as the beast charged at her with a mighty roar. Sensing the titan's rage was now aimed at her, Javorin quickly dashed to her side, and blocked the rogue's fist with the shaft of his spear. The monster's hand exploded into a mess of broken bone and sinew upon impact: he jumped back and staggered away a few paces, seemingly in shock while the god-titans took the opportunity to retreat. But to their alarm, the rogue's hand quickly regenerated, and he charged after them, angrier than before. "Oh hell! Now he's even more pissed! What do we do?!" Elysia panicked as she kept pace with Javorin above his head, "You stay with the others and keep them out of his way: I'll shake him off; not matter what happens, don't engage him!".
"Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice!" Elysia replied as she banked up and away, heading back to the north side of the building, where Carla was quick to check she was okay. Meanwhile, Javorin ran hell for leather around the base with the rogue on his tail.
This wasn't complicated: he just needed to get far enough ahead that he could round the next corner of the building out of the rogue's line of sight; that way, he could throw up the discreet concealment spell he'd used on him earlier, there by making a quick escape. At least, that was the basic idea, but with all the titan's present, that was easier said than done. Like a black mamba chasing down its prey, Javorin quickly weaved his way through the regular titans, pushing some of them at the rogue to slow him down, but the beast only punched them out of the way as he continued to chase him. As they both rounded the north side of the building, Elysia and the rest of the gang remained out of sight atop the tallest roof of the base, and as he ran by the open doors, Javorin heard the distinct sound of gunshots echo out of the supply depot; was it the cadets? Who could say? He didn't have time to stop and find out. Then, as he rounded the north-east corner of the base, he picked up the pace, and sprinted for the south side in record time.
But the rogue had other ideas, as he quickly caught up to Javorin and tackled him before he could even duck behind the south-eastern corner: the two giants went tumbling head-over-heels and crashed into a couple of nearby buildings; with Javorin loosing his grip on his spear, as it went flying out of his hand and disappeared into one of the nearby streets. The rogue was quick to pin the stunned god-titan down by straddling him as he lay in the rubble of the buildings, and with another angry roar, brought his fist down on him: but Javorin was quick to shift his head to one side at the last second, and returned the punch; breaking the rogue's left cheek bone. Another few fast upper-cuts stunned the rogue long enough for Javorin to flex his back and get his legs beneath him, tossing the rogue off his hips and sliding out: jumping back onto his feet just in the knick of time as the rogue leapt up and lunged for him.
Javorin took the opportunity to take another swing at him, but to his shock, the rogue blocked his fist, and countered with a punch of his own, knocking the god-titan back a few steps. 'He blocked my punch? He's actually thinking this fight through, and not just recklessly going berserk?' he realized. The rogue then tried to land him on his ass with a roundhouse kick to the neck, which Javorin dodged easily, and floored him by sweeping his leg out from under him. This allowed Javorin enough time to back up and put some distance between them: if this were the forest he could just run and hide, but here he couldn't risk it, not without the rogue chasing him again, and potentially leading him to the rest of the gang; no, better to keep the fight here than to risk putting anyone else in danger. And as the rogue scrambled to his feet, Javorin assumed a fighting stance, ready for round two.
The rogue charged him again: and this time, Javorin dodged and weaved each incoming punch and kick; keeping him at a distance. But all the other titans nearby were starting to get in the way as they tried to attack them both: and as a trio of ten meter titans lunged for the monster, Javorin took the opportunity to slip away and duck down into one of the nearby streets; staying out of the rogue's line of sight. And as luck would have it, it was the same street his spear had landed in.
"Hey bro, you good to talk?" Herne's voice suddenly echoed across the ether: "I am now, what's up, Herne?" he sighed: half relieved, but still worried as he picked up his spear, "We finally have a plan to seal the breach, but we're gonna need you back here, asap". "Sure thing, just let us-
"-ELYSIA! LOOK OUT!" Nyiera shouted across the either
BOOOM!
The sound of a cannon blast echoed over the city, followed shortly by the crash of a cannon ball obliterating brick and mortar: the screams of his human family immediately forced Javorin to his feet, and he bolted back to the north side of the base: being sure to keep a concealment spell between him and the rogue as he passed by. "What was that?!" Herne demanded with panic in his voice, "Hold on!-" was all Javorin could reply as he came around the north side: amid the steam of the evaporating titan corpses, he soon spotted a gaping hole in the wall of the third floor, ten or so meters over from the depot doors, with smoke billowing out.
"OVER HERE SHADOW!-" Shyla called to him from the roof on the opposite side: he rushed over, and found his human family ducked down behind the crenelations of the second level: "They tried to shoot Angel! Damn-near got her too if she hadn't taken off when she did!" Ariana added. Gazing up, Javorin spotted a flash of white disappear into the cloud cover high above: "Elysia?!" Javorin called out, "-I'm okay! But shit! They nearly clipped my wing!" she frantically replied. A second blast announced the firing of another cannon, and on instinct, Javorin dropped to the ground amongst the dead titans with a booming thud, just as a cannon ball struck the wall where he'd been standing. Gazing up at the inner wall, he used his divine power to focus on the artillery, and could see several cannons aimed directly at their position.
Meanwhile, inside the depot:
"Was that-, a cannon firing?" Connie stared at the depot doors in confusion, "And what the hell was that thud just now?" Sasha added in equal concern. "Stay here, I'll go an' check," Reiner stated as he jogged over to the doors, "Wait!-, there may be more titans out there!-" Bertholdt caught up to him with Marco and Jean at his side: their gas fully replenished and fresh blades in their scabbards .
As they cautiously stepped outside the doors, they were met with a pile of steaming titan bodies almost completely blocking the way : but then, movement to their right drew their gaze, and they nearly gasped at the sight of the spear-wielding titan lying face down on the ground...
"Javorin?! Talk to me bro, what's going on up there?!" Herne panicked: "It's the Garrison's artillery, they're trying to fire at us!".
At that moment, all the bird-titans in the vicinity started squawking, cawing and screeching in a panic, as they took off up into the cloud-cover with their riders and passengers: trying to stay out of the cannon's line of fire, while everyone else who was perched on the rooftops, ducked down out of sight.
Chancing a quick glance up at the wall, the snow twins saw the cannons through their telescopes, and came to the same realization. "Shit!" they both cursed in unison, "-They're aiming at Shadow!" Lucy added. "What?! Don't they know there're people still inside the base?!" Carla fumed, "Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Either way, we gotta draw their line of fire away from the building. It's the only way to keep them safe" Bryson stated. Thinking about it for a quick moment, Tyto stood up and shot his lines, "Wait here! I'll be back in a sec!-" he ordered as he flew down to the ground, and landed on Shadow's shoulder as he got back up on his feet, "Shadow, listen to me: if they're really aiming at you, then we can't stay here: we need to draw their aim away so the cadets can get out safely". The god-titan nodded in affirmation, but then, he noticed the four cadets standing in the doorway of the depot entrance. Glancing down to where he was looking at, Tyto saw them too, and flew down to meet them on the ground.
"Grey Owl? What going on?" Reiner demanded, "The Garrison are firing at us: they just missed Angel, and they narrowly got Shadow too" the masked man sated bluntly. "What?! But- they're people still inside the building!" Marco exclaimed in disbelief, "I know, which is why I need you guys to stay here for the time being: stay as far back into the center of the building as possible, while we draw their fire away. Only then, will it be safe for you and the other cadets to make a break for the wall"
The other cadet's all gazed curiously towards the depot doors, as they caught sight of the masked hooded stranger talking with Reiner: "Holy hell, he's still alive?!" Sasha blinked in surprise, "That's Grey Owl?" Armin asked offhand, "Yeah, that's him...". Suddenly, another stranger appeared at the doors, a woman dressed all in white: "Mother Dove?" Sasha stared at her in wide-eyed amazement, before sighing in relief, "… Oh thank Rose she's still alive!". "Why do you say that?" Mikasa asked curiously, "You should've seen her fighting the titans Mikasa, it was really something! All that strength, speed and ferocity. She may look like an angel, clothed all in white like that, but she fights likes a demon; and her bird-titan, Angel, she was just as lethal". "Whoa, seriously?!" Connie pressed her, "Oh yeah..." Sasha grinned, "If she's still here, I think we'll be okay". "Yeah, but what about the rogue titan? He's still outside the base" Ymir pointed out; to which Sasha's face dropped, "Oh, Shit ...". "What? What's wrong?!" Connie panicked, "I honestly don't know..." Sasha glanced at him, her eyes wide in a mix of awe and horror, "...But I'll bet, it'll be one hell of a fight if they cross paths"
"Clearly the Garrison still think we're a threat: we're going to have to try and convince them otherwise," Dove stated, to which Grey Owl nodded: "Alright, like I said before: you cadets remain here until we're clear of the base, then head for the wall". "Understood, and again, thank you" Reiner smiled, "Don't thank us just yet, there's still the problem of the breach-
BOOOM!
"SHIT!-" Javorin cursed as he threw himself in front of the depot doors: activating his crystal power, his tattoos glowed blue as he covered his back, nape and neck in his blue crystal, just before the cannon ball struck him square in the lower back and bounced right off, smashing into the ground. "... That was way too close..." he realized, as he recalled the crystal back into his flesh.
Tyto ran outside, his aura laced with worry as he ran up to his face: "Shadow?! What just happened?! He nearly panicked. Letting out an annoyed grunt, Shadow thumbed over his shoulder, and after running around his head and shoulders, Tyto immediately spotted the small crater in the paved stone, with the still-smoking cannon ball sitting in the middle. At that moment, Angel landed behind him, and chirped for Carla to join her. "We better not waste any more time-" Tyto gazed over at Carla, who simply nodded as she flew up onto Angel's shoulder. "Good luck guys, and take care!" Tyto bid the cadet's farewell as he climbed up onto Shadow's shoulder, and together, the humans and titans dashed off into the steam. The sound of ODM gear overhead made them look up, just in time to see several more strangers flying off and away.
"...Man, I hope they make it out of this..." Bertholdt thought aloud, "Me too..." Reiner agreed, the rest of the cadets ran to the doors, but Jean stopped them: "Hang on! We can't leave just yet! It's still dangerous!" he stated sharply, "Those explosions, did they say what they were?" Krista asked: "Cannon fire: the Garrison tried to take them out". The cadets all exclaimed in shock and fury, but Marco was quick to step in "-HOLD ON!, they said they're gonna try to draw their fire away from here, so we can make a break for the wall: but we gotta wait until it's safe". "But how will we know when it's safe?!" Sasha panicked, "I guess, if we hear the cannon ball hit a far-off target?" Armin reasoned, "If we listen for the sound of a building being struck some distance from here, we can use that as our gauge to know if it's safe or not"
"Makes sense," Anne shrugged: "But what about the titans?" Connie asked, "Grey Owl said they've dispatched most of them, and the rogue titan's still keeping the ones that are left at bay; I think we'll be okay, but let's wait until we hear another cannon being fired. Besides, not all of us have refilled our gas yet..." Jean glanced over at the refill tanks, where several of the other cadets were still in the middle of replenishing their gas. "Sound's fair..." Mikasa replied, before also mentioning "But what I don't understand is, why're the Garrison firing on the strangers? It's clear they're not our enemies, so why give the order to attack?"
"That's actually a pretty good point," Armin agreed "So the question is, what's going on, on the other side of the wall? Are the top brass aware of what's been going on these last few hours? Because, I find a break-down in communication highly unlikely"
At the same time, on the other side of the inner gate:
"Look I'm telling you! Those strangers are not our enemy!" Hannes exclaimed angrily, "-They helped round up all the citizen we couldn't reach, and even rescued our downed troops from the vanguard and middle guard, and brought them to safety! They went outta their way to save our people! And now we're firing cannons at them?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he fumed, his face turning a shade redder.
"Look..." the officer stated in frustration, trying to keep his composure as he felt the captain's proverbial foot stepping on his last nerve, "Captain Hannes, I'm not the one who gave the order, Captain Woermann was: if this is really such an issue, I suggest you take it up with him"
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO YOU IDIOT!" the captain blew up, "-I've been trying to reach him for the last half hour damn it! But you knuckle-heads keep telling me he's 'unavailable'!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm down "... Since when the hell, does a captain refuse to see a fellow captain?! What the hell's Woermann playing at? What's so important that he can't talk to anyone else besides you and the other higher-up?!"
"Like I said, I'm not at liberty to discuss the matter with anyone else" the officer scowled at him, "Now for the last time, either you follow protocol and gather your troops to prepare for the assault, or I'll report you to the top brass and have you clapped in irons for insubordination". Hannes was about to blow his top again, when Rico placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hannes-". He glanced over at her in incredulous disbelief, but seeing the look in her eyes, he knew it wasn't worth pushing his luck; not under these circumstances. The officer grunted something under his breath, and walked away with his nose held high.
Huffing in frustration, Hannes had to sit down on a nearby bench, his head still spinning in confusion and disgust, as he tried to make sense of it all: "... I don't get it Rico, I just don't get it! These people, these titan-slayers and their strange bird-titans: they appear out of nowhere and turn the battle in our favor; save our civilians, our soldiers and cadets without hesitation or question. Hell, if it wasn't for them, the casualty list would be so much higher. And now, we're being told to kill them? For what?!"
"I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me either," she frowned, "I saw what you showed me, I saw it with my own eyes: and although part of me still doesn't quite believe it, I'll admit, we would be far off worse without their help" she reasoned, "And worse... If Woermann attacks them, and they suffer casualties as a result, it could turn mankind's newest allies into potential enemies: and if those titan-slayers and their bird-titans are that formidable against the titans, what hopes would we have of stopping them if they turned on us?"
Hannes gazed up at her in surprise: realizing she had a point, his anger quickly gave way to fear, "Holy Rose..." he breathed, "But-, what the hell can we do? We can't just march up to him and tell him to stop". "The only person with the authority to overrule his command would be Commander Pyxis, and no doubt, Pyxis has already been briefed on what's going on" Rico thought aloud. "But does he know about the order to attack the titans-slayers? That order only got sent out five minutes ago, he won't know about that until he gets here, and by that time it could be too late!" Hannes panicked. Rico was about to reply, when suddenly, a younger soldier ran up to them "Team leader Brzenska, Captain Hannes. Have either of you seen Captain Woermann? It's an emergency!"
"What's happened?" Hannes frowned in concern, "Commander Pyxis has been delayed in the town of Hendelsposten. Apparently the wheel of his carriage broke and he won't be arriving for some time yet: the captain asked to be kept informed of when the Commander will be arriving, so I need to find him, asap!"
Hannes and Rico both glanced at each other, and Rico got an idea: "Go ask that officer, he'll point you to where he's at..." she pointed to the officer they'd just been arguing with. After the solder ran off, Rico turned back to Hannes, and told him in all seriousness: "-Go to the livery, get a horse, and get to Hendelsposten as fast as you can: tell Pyxis what's going on, and then get back here, asap. I'll cover for you while your gone"
"... You realize we can both get into serious trouble for this, right?" he smirked, "We'll be in even worse trouble if we don't, now get going" she shot back, "Yes ma'am!" Hannes smiled as he shot up and bolted in the direction of the livery. Rico mentally face-palmed as she strode away to find her squad "...I must be out of my mind..." she sighed under her breath.
Meanwhile, in the town of Hendelsposten, less than three miles from Trost:
The commander and his aides all stared down at the broken wheel in confusion, while the driver tended to the still-skittish horses: "Well? It's the damnedest thing, wouldn't you say? By all rights the carriage should've completely turned over on its side when it broke, but it didn't... Kinda peculiar if you ask me" the commander scratched his head in bemusement. "It's a real mystery, sir" one of the aides shrugged in equal befuddlement.
As the Garrison soldiers following the carriage dismounted their horses and proceeded to push it over to the side of the road: no one seemed to have noticed the large white butterfly with pristine white wings; radiant as starlight, sitting on the corner of the carriage roof...
At the same time, back in Trost:
After running for cover in the nearby streets, and staying low to avoid the cannons, the gang all stopped when they saw the rogue titan: half-collapsed into the side of a building, with several titans eating him alive. "Whoa, cannibalism?!" Belle exclaimed in surprise: "Why isn't he fighting back? Is he too tired?" Poppy thought aloud; reading his aura, Javorin could see that indeed, fatigue was starting to get the better of him. Shadow nodded with a soft affirmative grunt, to which Ariana replied "Considering how hard he's been fighting, I can't say I'm surprised".
Glancing over the axis of a nearby roof, Bryson then interrupted, "...Okay, let's try now...": Shadow nodded, and carefully, with his back to the inner wall, slowly stood up. Everyone was nervous as they waited on the cobbled ground, and sure enough, the flash and boom of another cannon being fired signaled another attempt to kill the spear-wielding titan. But this time, the god-titan was ready as he immediately dropped to the ground, just as the cannonball blew off part of the roof and chimney stack. "-Okay, GO!" Tyto ordered. And together, everyone took off: Shadow up and running at a break-neck pace while the humans all flew after him, heading for the south side of Trost: out of the cannon's line of sight on the other side of the hill. Glancing over her shoulder, Ariana noticed one of the cadets standing on the roof of the base: she figured the cadet's must have taken that last cannon blast as their signal to move; and sure enough, she caught sight of about twenty other cadets flying up and away from the base, all heading north. 'Whoever you guys are, you all did good' she thought, hoping and praying that no one else would have to die today.
As she watched the strangers running south into the city, Mikasa then spotted the rogue titan collapsed into a building, being eaten alive by all the other titans, and looking much worse for ware. "What're you doing? We have to leave, now!" Armin pleaded as he, Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie landed next to her: but the look in her eyes immediately made them pause. "Look, down there..." she pointed. Gazing over at the rogue titan, Armin was totally taken aback; "Cannibalism?" he blurted out, "Can- ...Can he not regenerate like the others?". Mikasa frowned as she spoke her thoughts aloud, "This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us: that he'd help mankind break the cycle, to turn the tide just long enough to give us a little ray of hope". "She's right" Reiner interjected, much to her surprise, "He's too valuable to just let die, there's too much we can learn from him. I think its perfectly clear our priority should be to ward the scavengers off him. He's no good to use picked apart" he elaborated. "Are you outta our mind?!" Jean exclaimed, "-We've got a path outta this nightmare, and you want to stay?!": "Think about it, having an abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage, right? A cannon's got nothing on a titan who likes to rip apart his own kind" Annie pointed out, to which Jean only stammered in disbelief "You- … Do you hear yourself? He's not like a new friend!".
But then, the booming footsteps of another titan approaching caught Armin's attention: "Oh no, it's the one that ate Thomas!" he realized. Suddenly, and without warning, the rogue shot up and charged the approaching titan: angrier than ever before, his emerald eyes glowed green as he ran with everything he had, ignoring all the other titans still latched onto him with their teeth. One titan succeeded in ripping his right arm off, just as his left arm was detached by another, but he didn't seemed to care as he lunged at the titan and sank his teeth into its nape, then hoisted it up in the air: much to the surprise and horror of the cadets. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a smaller titan approaching, and with one hard swing, he used the titan in his maw to beat down the smaller creature, before swinging around again, and hitting another fifteen meter titan hard enough to crash it into a nearby building: decapitating his prey in the process.
"...Holy-..." Was all Jean could utter, as the rogue dropped the titan's head, and let out one more angry bellowing roar, "...What was that you were saying? ...": Then, the beast dropped to his knees, and fell down flat on his face; steam evaporating from the stumps were his arms used to be, as well as all the other serious injuries incurred over the course of his rampage. "...Because I think it's a moot point now" Jean added, before turning away "Alright, enough of this. Let's leave now while we still can. We're lucky the ugly bastard didn't get bored, or we'd have been next on the menu..." he dryly scoffed. But as he glanced over his shoulder, he was surprised to see everyone was still standing in place, staring down at the rogue's body with a look of surprise in their eyes: "Look, a titan's a titan-
He was about to argue further, until he spotted what they were all looking at, and paused as he watched what unfurled before them. The titan's nape let out a flurry of steam as it opened up vertically, and as the muscle and ligaments evaporated away, Eren emerged from the nape: unconscious, and still connected to the titan by several large strands of sinew.
While everyone else stood there in stunned silence, Mikasa's eyes lit up as she flew down to him: "Wait-, Mikasa!" Armin tried to stop her, but she didn't care as she flew down and landed next to the titan's body. As she ran up to him, she hoped beyond hope that this was Eren, that this wasn't some dream she'd strayed into, or some afterlife she'd unknowingly died and gone to. After scrambling up the side of the body to reach the nape, she threw her arms around his still-unconscious form and embraced him tightly: his breathing was so soft and weak that she could barely hear him inhale or exhale; leaning down and pressing her ear to his chest, the slow drum of his heartbeat was what finally confirmed he truly was alive. As tears welled up in her eyes and her breaths hitched as she sobbed, she hugged him again as she let her relief, her grief and her dismay all out, lost in her happiness as she cried aloud; silently thanking whatever gods were listening, for this miracle of miracles.
Seeing no other titans around, the others all flew down to join them, and no one wasted any time in getting the unconscious Eren to safety atop the highest roof of the base. There, Mikasa continued to embrace him as she continued to cry: Armin on the other hand, was completely stunned; this made no sense at all, he saw him get eaten, he saw his leg and arm get bitten off. And yet, he was alive, with both limbs fully regrown, as if they'd never been bitten off at all. With tears welling up in his eyes, Armin kneeled down next to Eren's side, and gently holding his left hand, laced his fingers between his own; "How is this- … Possible?" he sobbed. Still not quite able to believe this, Jean turned and gazed down at the devastation, and after finally finding his voice again, uttered nervously "... Okay... So, uh-, … Eren, did all this?"
Meanwhile, three miles south of the base:
"Okay, I think we're good! Everyone stop!" Tyto shouted, and everyone slowed to a stop in the middle of one of the larger market squares: "No cannons up on the east or west walls, we're good" Bryson confirmed. "-Holy Maria!, what are the Garrison playing at?!" Belle fumed "We've been in Trost for what, over two hours now? And in all that time, what did we do to give the impression we're hostile?!", "Yeah, I mean come on! Surely they must have had people up on the wall watching our every move? What part of rescuing civilians and stranded soldiers equivalate's to being enemy action?!" Fox added. "Agreed, something's way off here," Bryson turned to Tyto, "I know this is a bold move to say the least, but why not let's go up to the wall, and try to assure them we're not here to harm anyone...": everyone stared at Bryson in surprise, but no one argued as he further elaborated, "Look, we don't know how much time we have left before the Armored titan shows up, and when that happens, we're going to need those cannons aimed at him, not us. Why not let's extend the olive branch now, rather than leave it until its too late. What've we got to loose at this point anyway?"
"You get all that?" Javorin asked aloud, "Yep" Herne replied, "Pretty much" Hecate: "Under the circumstances, not the worst idea" Nyiera commented. "He's got a point though, what do we have to loose?" Elysia added, "-And if anyone's gonna be flying them up onto the wall, it's gonna be me!" she stated in a 'don't bullshit me' kind of tone. "Not a bad idea actually, you look the lest intimidating: but let Nyiera cover you; just in case" Javorin ordered, "Fine, whatever" Elysia shrugged as she circled overhead, before dropping down to where they were positioned. "Just don't go getting any ideas, brat" Nyiera added, before addressing the rest of the flock "The rest of you, remain on stand-by and await further orders".
After thinking about it for a moment, Tyto nodded, "Okay, let's give it a try" he turned to Carla, "Dove, you're with me, the rest of you head to the breach...". As if on cue, Angel dropped down and landed in the square by the fountain, "..Ah, Angel, good timing as always" he smiled as he and Carla flew up onto her back, and took off for the inner wall.
At the same time, atop the inner wall:
"Sir!-" one of the soldiers grabbed captain Woermann's attention: but he didn't have to ask what the problem was, as he spotted the white bird-titan approaching the wall, heading for the far north-east corner. "What the hell?!-" he nervously hesitated, as he watched the creature swing its legs forward, and landed on the edge of the wall; the rest of the Garrison watched as two people jumped off its back, and stood by it as they watched them in turn. "It landed on the wall?" one of the soldiers blinked in surprise. "After we just tried to kill it? What's up with that?" another soldier blurted out, before turning back to the captain and nervously asking "What do we do, sir?"
"We kill it, that's what we do!" the captain angrily stated, "-ALL ARTILIARY CREWS, RE-AIM AND PREPARE TO FIRE ON THE ENEMY! All troops ready your weapons and fire on my command!" he angrily bellowed; the cannon crew nearest to the bird-titan set about aiming at the now-alarmed creature, while all the Garrison soldiers armed with rifles drew their weapons and aimed them at the humans. "-WAIT!" one of the two stranger's shouted: despite being some distance away, his voice boomed across the distance "Please! We mean no harm! We just want to talk!" he added, as his friend, a woman dressed all in white, stayed at his back with her blades drawn; his voice was laced with worry as he slowly approached the nearest Garrison troops: who nervously aimed their guns at his head. The captain and all the other soldiers ran over, and stopped several meters from him as he paused too. "...Please... We're not here to cause trouble" the masked stranger pleaded.
"I highly doubt that. What is this? Some cheap trick to make us drop our guard, so you and your monsters can swoop in to attack?!" the Captain demanded: the two strangers stared at the captain in shock, but they both kept their cool as the masked stranger replied calmly "...No, we're not here to attack, we're here to help. Believe it or not, this kingdom is our home too, and if it falls, we all fall to the titan's hunger" he didn't give the Captain room to reply, as he continued in a more confident tone: "We came here to help mankind fight back against our common enemy, and we have done so to the best of our ability: but this battle is not yet over, and the breach is still open to the titans rampage. Please, we ask that you aid us in this fight: lend your strength and courage, rather than lash out in fear; help us to win back Trost, and save all of Rose from becoming another bloodbath". The lady in white then added her piece, as she stepped forward: "-Please sir, at the very least, allow us to return your cadets and troops: they couldn't return to the inner wall for lack of gas and fresh blades; and considering the carnage they and all the others have witnessed this day, they deserve a chance to keep their lives"
As she watched Tyto and Carla try to plead with the Captain, the growing fear and paranoia in the man's aura made her very nervous "-Javorin, this isn't going to work! Not with this guy!" she hesitated; "Alright, do what you must to get Carla and Tyto out of there, but you'll have to be fast" he replied, "Yeah, no shit!"
The Captain glared at the two strangers furiously, "You seriously expect me to believe such lies?!" he exploded, "I know exactly what you're planning! And I won't let any of you monsters take this wall without a fight!" he raised his arm to give the signal to attack "ALL TROOPS FI-
But before they could fire their rifles, the Garrison were completely taken aback as the two strangers and bird-titan jumped off the wall at the same time: as they fell, the creature swooped down and caught them on her back, banking up and away as they beat a hasty retreat.
"Well? That could have gone a lot better," Carla sighed in frustration, "How the hell did that guy get to be in charge? If he's the one calling the shots on this whole mess, no wonder every Garrison troop and cadet we've run into thinks we're the enemy!" she fumed, to which Angel angrily chirped in agreement. "Forget that now," Tyto sighed, "We'll just have to stay out of the Garrison's way, and concentrate on sealing the breach ourselves". "And if the Garrison decide to attack us?" Carla frowned, "... We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Remember, we're here to help; one way or another, humanity will not fall this day. Not while there's still a chance to fight back".
As she breathed deep, trying to let go of her anger, Carla glanced over her shoulder at the wall, and caught sight of one of the wall lifts slowly being hoisted up on the far north-western corner: there appeared to be several people inside, though she was now too far away to make out if they were troops or cadets. In any case, at least it was several more souls who made it out alive...
Turning back, and gazing towards the outer wall, she couldn't help but feel a bad vibe tugging at the back of her mind, 'Such fear like that, clouding reason and judgement... If he's been commanding the battle this whole time: I don't even want to think what'll happen when the Armored titan shows up' she thought dubiously.
"So? What do we do about the cadets and troops?" one of the more senior bird-titan's asked worryingly, "Yeah, I mean-, we can't just keep circling like this, we gotta put them down somewhere!" another replied anxiously. Gliding over the inner wall, and surveying the land on the Rose side, Nyiera got an idea: "Listen up, there're some fields a few miles north of the inner wall, running alongside the river well out of the cannon's range: drop them off there and take off as quick as you can. There's hardly anyone out there, so you should all be fine: I'll hang around and cover you" she ordered, to which all the bird-titan's concerned sounded their agreement, and turned north, being sure to stay above the clouds.
Meanwhile, the Captain and the other soldiers watched as the bird-titan flew south: "...What now, sir?" one of the soldiers asked, "We wait, and the next time they're all in range, we wipe them all out" he stated as he turned, and proceeded to get into one of the wall elevators. "Sir!-" another soldier came running up to him, half out of breath as he hastily explained, "-We just got a message from one of the supply squad's observation teams. There's been a development: one of the cadets is a titan!"
Meanwhile, back at the breach:
By this time, with all the citizens safely evacuated, and the Garrison's troops and cadets out of danger too, the Hunt took this opportunity to catch a quick breather, and regain some strength. All the bird-titan's and their rider's rested upon the outer wall above the breach: replenishing their gas and poisoned arrows, while some took it in turns to fly down to the nearest water wells to refill their water bladders: while the Hunt's healers and field medics tended to the injured with the healing elixirs; fixing cuts, lacerations, minor bite wounds and even broken bones within minutes. All the while the various clans and family's ravens and birds-of-pray circled overhead, or sat perched with their handlers; their various caws and cries continuing to echo on the wind, while the calls and songs of the bird-titans resonated off the walls.
As Angel approached to come in to land, some of the bird-titans moved aside to make a space, and she was finally able to rest her wings: relieved to be out of danger (for the time being at least). Ratatosk and the other clan leaders came running over as Tyto and Carla dismounted: "What happened? We saw you land up on the wall, and were approached by the Garrison" The Red Squirrel clan leader asked anxiously, "It looked like they were aiming guns at you" Dakota added in an equally worried tone. "Yeah, that's exactly what it looked like," Carla frowned as Angel leaned down to nose-boop the top of her head with a comforting chirp, while Carla returned the gesture with a gentle pat on the cheek: "... We tried to offer an olive branch, but, the guy in charge (I presume), seems to have let his fears get the better of him" Tyto offered. The other clan and family heads all glanced at one another worryingly, "So-, does this mean we can expect an 'attempt' on us from the Garrison?" Warren asked in a concerning tone: "Well? I don't think they'll be stupid enough to try anything directly: even he must've figured by now that we somewhat outnumber them..." Tyto reasoned, as he gazed back at the inner wall, "...Still, when the Armored titan shows up and we have to engage him, it probably wouldn't hurt to have some eyes on the cannons: just to make sure we can stay out of their line of fire": "Not a bad idea" Tarka nodded.
The sound of ODM gear approaching made them all look down in time to see Ariana, Bryson and Dale flying up the side of the wall, and landed beside them: "Dad!" Ariana ran up to hug him, "-Thank Gia your okay..." she sighed with relief, "Ah, it's gonna take a lot more than just a hoard of titans to clip this owl's wings..." he smirked as he hugged her back, before turning to Dale, "Jackdaw, I got your raven: good work locating that bolder, son", "Thanks dad" he smiled, "Are Shadow and Boar going to start moving it soon?", "Presently, as soon as we've cleared a path to the breach, and make sure no other titans interfere during the procedure".
As they continued to talk, Ariana slipped away to Carla, and the two embraced each other in relief: "I know it takes a lot to kill you, but thanks for not dying" Ariana couldn't help but chuckle, "You too, darling" Carla smiled back nervously: "Hey!-" The snow twins ran up to Ariana, "That was some battle, huh?" they both sighed in relief, "Yeah, some battle..." Ariana patted them both on the head with a smile. "Check this out, the animal titans have been busy whilst we were in Trost..." Lucius walked them both over to the edge of the wall, and pointed down to the external side of the breach.
The sight below made both Carla and Ariana gasp in astonishment: it had been an all-out bloodbath, as poisoned titan blood had turned the green earth all dark red and black for over five hundred yards in every direction around the rubble. A huge pile of titan corpses and body parts had been built-up and packed tightly into the breach, essentially sealing the hole; and as more titans continued to arrive, the Celts and Rangers took it in turns to shoot them with poisoned arrows, crippling and downing them, after which the wolf, bear, mountain-cat, and fox titans would drag them to the breach and add them to the 'flesh wall'; cramming them in tightly, and even ripping the bodies to pieces so as to make them fit.
"... Holy Maria, no wonder no more titans have been getting in" Ariana thought aloud, "Yeah, looks like the animal-titans have been having a little bit too much fun," Carla agreed, "Uh-huh, the flesh wall's completely sealed the breach: and check it out, more are still coming..." Lucy pointed to the horizon; where, amid the steam of the evaporating corpses, dozens upon dozens more titans were lumbering towards the wall. "Where the hell are they all coming from?" Carla blinked in surprise "And why so many all at once? I mean, I can see why Shiganshina had been completely overwhelmed, but what's drawing the attention of the one's farthest away from here?". "That's what we've been trying to figure out..." West replied as he and Pascal approached: "Maybe it's some more titan hocus-pocus? Some kinda 'silent dinner bell' only they can hear?" Pascal offered, before huffing in frustration "I don't know, the point is: if the Colossal titan was able to attract titans like bees to a sugar beet, then we have to consider the possibility the Armored titan might just have the same ability"
"That's not good" Ariana sighed worryingly, "Your telling me..." Pascal frowned as he folded his arms and changed the subject somewhat, "Anyway, I heard you guys ran into a pretty weird abnormal: some titan that was ripping apart his own kind?": "Yeah, what was up with that?" West pressed them. "It was-, weird, and scary to say the least..." Ariana recalled as she thought back to the green-eyed rogue, "He was killing titans left right and center, hardly slowing down to even take a breath: we lost him for a time, but then he showed up at the military base; where he managed to help us keep the titans distracted long enough for some of the cadets to refill their gas... But-, that rage... I've never seen anything like it since-
The memory of Eren killing the human traffickers flashed through her mind for a brief moment: and the look in Eren's eyes, it almost seemed to resemble the rogue titans own hate-filled gaze. '...Why am I thinking about that-, why am I thinking about him, at a time like this? ...' she thought offhand in confusion.
"... Since what?" the twins both asked: snapping back to reality, Ariana was caught off guard, and didn't know how to respond; fortunately, her father inadvertently saved her as he approached, "Magpie, make sure to check your tanks and get them swapped out if necessary; after replenishing your poisoned arrows and water, I want you to rejoin Shadow, he'll need help keeping the titans off his back whilst he and Boar move the bolder". "Yes dad," she nodded, before something else came to mind: "-Hold on a sec, something's just occurred to me"; "Which is?" Pascal raised an eyebrow, "We can safely assume the repelling charm was knocked out of place near the outer gate, when the colossal titan smashed open the wall, and can also safely assume that, judging from the titans numbers and the fact they're still flocking here, the repelling charm was kicked a good three miles away, since Shadow's crystal is indestructible and that's the furthest range the charm repels, right? … If that's the case, why not just put another repelling charm in place? Somewhere inside the city. Keep the titans out of Trost altogether, and make sure it'll just be the Armored titan and us"
"We already considered that, and decided to leave it for the time being" Ratatosk interrupted, "What? Why?" Ariana pressed him disbelief, "Because it didn't repel the Colossal titan, if it did, he wouldn't have showed up in the first place: not to mention our hummers haven't been working so well in certain places around the city. We thought at first it was the acoustics, that the sound wasn't able to carry through the tight streets and narrow alleyways the same way it does in the forest or out on the planes; then our brothers and sisters," he gestured to the bird-titans "Warned us it was the chaos manna, the same kind the titans give off. It's in such a high concentration here, that its interfering with the magics instilled in the hummers. And if the hummers are being affected, there's a chance the repelling charm might be too". Ariana gazed at him in surprise, as did the twins, "Seriously?" she stared at him in amazement, "But ours have been working fine" the twins stated, "Yeah, but we were in the north of the city, where the titans were fewer in number..." Tyto pointed out, before throwing in his own opinion "Besides, if we were to just carve out a repelling charm somewhere in the city, and the military found it, it could be misinterpreted as a secret code, or something to that affect. And the last thing we need is any more misunderstandings..." he dropped his gaze in disappointment, before adding "It's best we wait until the breach is sealed, the titans have been culled, and we'll come back to replace the repelling charm in a few days".
As they discreetly eavesdropped from the base of the wall, Herne glanced over at Javorin and Hecate, "He's got a point" he commented: "Yeah, no use creating any further panic" Hecate thought aloud, before adding "Still, the fact the repelling charm didn't chase away the colossal titan has me bothered: if they're more than just abnormal, and conventional anti-titan magics don't work on them, then what the hell are they? … This sounds crazy, and I could be getting ahead of myself here, but is it possible they could be titan-shifters?". Both Herne and Javorin glanced at her in surprise for a brief moment: Javorin furrowed his brows as he thought about it, "...It's a possibility ..." he nodded, thinking aloud "But if so, what kind of titans are they? We must've gone over the historical records with Claude and the research team about a dozen times by now, and there's nothing even remotely similar fitting their description. Of course, they could be titan varieties that came about some time after the inhabitants of the city and island left the Hidden land, which would explain the abrupt gap in the archives and records". "It makes sense" Herne agreed, adding "And if they are titan-shifters, then its likely anti-titan magics won't work on them anyway, since they have a human mind and soul 'piloting' them. And with all that chaos manna the titan's body gives off, there's no way to lay a spell, charm or curse on them without the magics going buck-wild; you'd have to physically pry them out of their titan bodies to magically subdue them".
Thinking back to his encounter with the rogue titan, Javorin began to wonder: if that really was a titan-shifter inside, it would account for the human presence he felt; but then that begged the question, who was piloting the rogue? A person with such rage in their heart, such determination to destroy their enemy at all costs, resonating through the titan's being to such a degree that its aura burned as hot as the sun: that kind of anger, has a dangerous way of making someone truly unpredictable. Sensing the worry in his aura, and the thoughts flitting through his mind, the other god-titan's could tell Javorin was trying to think out his next move carefully. "... You think the Rogue you saw was a titan-shifter too? Bro?" Herne asked in equal worry, "Maybe... But if so, what does that mean? For us, for humanity, for this whole mystery that is the titans?" Javorin thought aloud "It was clear their rage towards the titans was unquestioning: they despised them through and through. But another enemy of the titans doesn't necessarily equal a new ally for mankind; they're not the same thing. And with that anger getting the better of them, I'd be concerned where their allegiance lies, if they have any to begin with". "So what your saying, essentially, is that the Armored titan might not be the only titan we have to fight today, correct?" Hecate frowned dryly. "We saw the rogue titan fall, but we didn't stick around to see if anyone came out of the nape or not: we can't discount the possibility the rogue could be a shifter" Javorin glanced at her in all seriousness. "... You catch all that, sis?" she spoke up to Nyiera, "Pretty much" she replied "If that bastard had a human in his nape, he can't have gotten far, I'll sweep the city around the area where he fell: we're just about done dropping off the last of the Garrison and cadets, and good thing too, the locals are starting to get a tad curious". "Okay, once you have eyes on him, give me a location: I know a good retraining spell we can keep him down with", "Will do" Nyiera nodded, and turned to head back to Trost.
"Great All-father… As if this day wasn't complicated enough, now we might have to put that angry bastard down too if he shows up again?!" Elysia grumbled in annoyance, "Well? Its not like anything else can blow up in our faces at this point"
BOOOM!
"... You just had to say something, didn't you? Brat" Hecate frowned in annoyance.
The distant explosion made everyone pause: eyes gazed towards the inner wall as telescopes where whipped out and focused on the source of the sound; "Was that-, another cannon firing?" Tyto blinked in surprise, "Yeah but it wasn't at us" Bryson replied as he scanned the artillery through his telescope, "He's right, there's a cannon aimed down at the river-, on the Rose side of the wall?" West added, confused as he focused on said cannon, "What? They fired at something down on the other side of the wall?" Carla raised an eyebrow, "Look!-" Gale pointed the the inner wall, "Titan steam!"
"What's going on?" Ariana stared at the inner wall in disbelief: as did everyone else as they watched a tall plume of steam rise up into the air from the other side. "Nyiera?" Hecate raised an eyebrow, "I'm on it" the giant avian replied.
Dropping down out of the clouds and gliding over the town on the other side of the wall, Nyiera soon spotted the titan steam, and came in to hover near it, some twenty or so meters above the wall, right above the river. But instead of a titan, she found something, somewhat different. At the base of the wall alongside the embankment, was part of a titan body: a partial torso and head comprised of mostly muscles and bone, with the rib-cage exposed, and what looked like the remains of the left arm, having been obliterated by a cannon ball. And yet, no other bodily remains could be seen: no legs, right arm, blood, organs, bones; nothing. While atop the wall some sixty meters away, one of the cannon's was pointed down at the titan, with smoke still drifting out of the end of its muzzle. The scene surrounding the remains was even more confusing, as soldiers on the ground surrounded the body with pairing blades drawn, while back up on the wall, several more cannons were being maneuvered into place, obviously preparing for a volley. As she gazed more closely at the titan, Nyiera could see two cadets sat on the ground, inside the rib-cage of the titan; a boy with blonde hair, and a raven-haired girl wearing what looked like a red scarf.
"What the? ..." she watched as the titan's one fully formed eye twitched in its socket, as if in a spasm: the head then twitched slightly, as the nape suddenly exploded with a burst of steam, and a boy emerged from between the fibrous sinew of the remains. "... Great All-Father, he's the titan-shifter?..." Nyiera thought aloud, much to her own surprise. But the sounds of panicked cries and shaky voices drew her attention back to the humans, who were all gazing up at her in complete shock, awe, and fear: even the two cadets and newly-discovered titan-shifter were gazing up at her in stunned surprise. Despite the tenseness of the situation, Nyiera had to keep this titan-shifter in her sights: so she softly glided down to the wall, and landed on the far north-western corner; using her three-digit 'hands' to crawl along the structure, and with her talons latched onto the wall, she leaned over and as far down as she could, trying to get a good look at the three youngsters.
"C-Captain Woermann?!" one of the officers trembled as he gazed up at the giant black and white bird-titan, "-ALL ARTILIRY CREWS, RE-AIM AND FIRE UPON THE MONSTER!" The captain shouted, nearly all but loosing it as he trembled in his boots.
"Oh no!-" Armin realized in a panic "She must think your one of the titans!", "Huh?! What do you mean?!" Eren frowned in alarm, "Those bird-titan's, they've been killing every titan they lay their eyes on: they must see them as their prey. And this one seems to be no acceptation!" the young blonde fretted. "I'd like to see her try," Mikasa glared daggers up at the giant, as she held her blades at the ready, "What?! Mikasa are you crazy?! Look at the size of those talons! And those giant claws on its wings! I'm willing to bet that creature can slice through titan flesh like a hot knife through butter! A human would hardly be much trouble!" Armin panicked, hardly taking his eyes off her as they watched the colossal avian approach closer: her head bobbing up and down as she let out a series of trilling caws.
"You wouldn't be wrong there, brat" Nyiera grinned, her pointed shark-like teeth parting slightly as a puff of steam escaped through the cheekless gaps in her face, creating a low guttural hiss.
The sound of the artillery crews prepping the cannons caught her attention, and as they positioned them in her direction, Nyiera frowned as she weighed up her options. 'Hmmm... I could knock those pesky things off the wall, and leave you lot to flee for your lives: but then, I know Hecate's only going to chew me out later, as will the others. Plus, it won't be setting a 'good tone' for this endeavor as a whole' she thought.
"All cannons ready!" the commanding officer atop the wall shouted down to his comrades on the ground. For any other creature, this would send them into a panic: but for Nyiera, it was hardly much of a concern. Reading the auras of all the artillery crews, she could read their intentions with great accuracy, and knew they'd fire within the same moment of the command being given. These humans were well trained: they wouldn't dawdle or miss.
"NO! WAIT!" the blonde boy shouted, grabbing everyone's attention, "-IF YOU FIRE ON HER, SHE COULD BE PROVOKED INTO ATTACKING!"
With everyone's attention distracted in that brief moment, Nyiera took the opportunity to get out of dodge: with one smooth powerful kick of her legs, she sailed some forty meters up into the air, spread her wings, and with a silent command of the winds, glided silently back to the breach. Leaving everyone stunned, and some, breathing a sigh of relief. 'Thanks, brat' she thought with a small smile.
A short time later:
Things had quietened down even more since everyone decided to regroup, every bird and bird-titan sat perched on the wall above the breach, alongside their human families, whilst down on the ground on the other side of the wall, the animal-titans and their human partners were still at work dispatching all the titans approaching the wall; though, the pace had slowed considerably.
As they watched the inner wall, the gang were now more concerned with trying to gage the Garrison's next move: as things seemed to have changed somewhat, going by what they observed. "It's quiet..." Bryson frowned, "Too quiet," Pascal concurred "Considering what a ruckus they raised over that titan-shifter, what the hell's going on back there?". "Dunno, maybe they took him into custody? Considering how nervy the Garrison were when they saw Stormwing, we can't get another set of eyes over the wall now" West pointed out. "Look at it this way, at least we now know there's a titan-shifter" Rowan threw in, "Yeah, but who's side is he on?" Dale frowned, "Was he the rogue titan? If he was, that's one titan I wouldn't take on lightly" Ariana worried. "Agreed" her father nodded, "But still, this doesn't make any sense... Nearly all the troops have been called back from the top of the wall, leaving it practically empty; they're up to something. Question is, what?"; "Maybe they're calling in reinforcements? In any case, it's not like they can sneak up on us" Evrard suggested.
"Hang on a sec, someone's coming up..." one of the Range's interrupted, as he watched through his telescope: four people stepped out from one of the wall lifts on the Rose side, and started strolling along the wall at a laid-back pace. "... There's four of them: too far away to make out any faces, but it looks like three cadets, and, a senior officer, I presume? He's wearing a red sash" the Ranger added. "A red sash?" Bryson blinked in surprise, pulling out his own telescope, and quickly locating the individual in question: "... I take it a red sash is important?" Ratatosk asked offhand, "Only the commander of the Garrison wears a red sash". "The commander? Like, the guy in charge of the whole Garrison kinda commander?!" Belle piped up in excitement, "Not the whole Garrison, there's the northern Garrison and the southern Garrison: this guy must be the commander of the southern division" Bryson reasoned, "So if he's here, he's now the one in charge, correct?" Carla reasoned, "Definitely..." Bryson nodded as he continued to watch the figures "I think it might be best to play it cool, and see where this goes". "Agreed: hopefully, this commander won't be as flighty as his underlings" Evrard frowned.
As she sat perched on the wall, Nyiera watched the aura's of the four humans as they walked along the wall: "...Guys? That titan-shifter, the one the Garrison were itching to kill? I think he's back" she stated, grabbing every god-titan's attention: "What? Where?!" Elysia worried, "I said I think, brat: I can't tell for sure. All this damned chaos manna's too think to make anything out clearly". "What can you make out?" Hecate asked, "Only that it's one of the brats: and he's got a burning need to seek vengeance upon all his enemies" she smirked; "The goddess of vengeance, justice and retribution sensing a soul in need of revenge? What a surprise..." her sister sarcastically shot back, before adding in a more serious tone "Specifics, Nyiera: anything else to take note of?". Watching the four humans, Nyiera shrugged, "Hard to say: though, from what I can see of the other two brats. The little blonde mouse is surprisingly moxy, for such a little thing: and the girl looks like she can hold her own in a fight ...Their auras resonate well together: I think its fair to say these three have been friends for a long time... The old geezer however, his aura is piratically shining with eccentricity"
Meanwhile, atop the inner wall:
"Heh, quite remarkable creatures, wouldn't you say?" Pyxis smiled as he watched the bird-titans rest atop the outer wall, "And what a distinct advantage they offer: being able to fly over Rose-knows how many miles, and stay well beyond any titan's reach. Truly remarkable..." he glanced back over at Eren, while Mikasa and Armin stood by his side; nervously wondering and dreading as to how this 'chat' with the commander will eventually conclude. "...So, visiting your father's cellar should clear everything up?" the commander turned to face Eren, who nervously replied "Yes sir, well? At least I think so": "For the moment, there is no way to validate all of the claims you've made, for now I'll just catalogue them in here..." Pyxis taped the side of his head "With that said, I can usually tell the difference between the unctuous and the sincere: which is why I personally guarantee your safety".
The three cadets all quietly sighed with relief, before the commander addressed Armin "You're cadet Armin Alert, correct?", "Y-yes sir!" Armin saluted, "You mentioned a plan to harness this so-called 'titan ability', and then utilize your friend's power to retake the city: in addition to extending an olive branch to our new allies, and calling upon them to help back him up... Do you believe it could work? Or were you just grasping at straws to try and save your hides?". Armin paused a moment, before anxiously explaining "...Um? ...Well? Both, sir..." he admitted, before explaining "I was going to suggest that Eren, using his strength as a titan, could lift that giant bolder, we could use it to block the wreaked gate... That was the best idea I was able to come up with on the spot; I just wanted to make everyone to see how Eren's ability might be able to provide a solution to the problem we all face".
"Hmmm..." the commander sighed with his poker face in place, as he turned to gaze over the city: "-Granted, I was pretty desperate to survive" Armin added quickly; "Desperate to survive, huh? That's as credible a reason as any, son" Pyxis smiled as he whipped out his flask and took a quick sip, then approached Eren "What do you say, cadet Jaeger?", "Say sir?" gazed up at him in confusion, "That hole, do you think that you can plug it up, son?"; Eren stared at him in surprise for a moment, before sheepishly replying "Well I-, I don't know: its possible, but at the moment, I don't understand my power any more than you do... It's just-, I sort of feel irresponsible giving you an answer, 'cuz, I don't really know". "Ah yes, of course, my apologies: I asked you the wrong question..." Pyxis smiled, before looking the boy dead in the eye, and with all seriousness in his demeanor, stated "...Are you willing to, cadet Jaeger, or not...".
Eren was taken aback, as he realized the gravity of the situation: Pyxis glanced behind him, directing his gaze to the lands of Rose behind them, and all that they stood to loose if they lost this battle. The stakes were high, and they had to play to win; and so, with a look of determination in his eyes, Eren met the commander's gaze, and stated without hesitation "I'll do it...I don't know if I can seal that hole, but-, I will; I swear!". The commander smiled as he patted him on both soldiers, "Excellently said, you have the heart of a lion!"
Pyxis was then about to face the wall to call down to his staff-officers, when one of the supply squad's observation team came running up to him, "Commander Pyxis, sir: you said to report any unusual activities observed in the unknown humans their titans, well? Something's going on around that bolder, the one about a league from the breach? ...".
Eren, Armin and Mikasa all glanced at one another in surprise and confusion, before the commander asked "Oh really? What exactly?..." he asked as the soldier handed him his telescope, and pointed towards the bolder and the square it sat in: there, he saw the spear-wielding titan (Shadow, he reminded himself) and the tusked titan (Boar, he remembered), along with about a dozen humans on ODM gear, and a few bird-titans; it seemed like they were talking amongst each other, and judging from their hand gestures and movements, it looked like they were debating on how best to move the bolder, as one of them made a 'pushing' motion against the bolder, as if to roll it out of place, while another gestured to the direction in which to roll it.
"... We can't be a hundred percent certain sir, but we think they might be getting ready to try and move it across town, possibly to try and seal the breach?" the soldier added, much to Armin's astonishment: "What? Seriously? They're going to try and seal the breach too?!" he exclaimed; "Huh, looks like someone over there works by the same lines of logic as you do, Alert" the commander smiled, "Perhaps an alliance with our new friends may not be off the cards after all?".
"Sir?" the soldier questioned in bemusement: "Wait-, asking for their help?" Eren hesitated, "After nearly firing those cannons at that one bird-titan that hovered right above us. How can we be sure they won't be hostile towards us?". "Its a real gamble, I know" Armin tried to reason "But in all the time they've been here, the reports state that they willingly rescued our own troops, and the civilians we couldn't reach, despite nearly being attacked on more than one occasion. Several of the reports even stated that some of the vanguard tried to kill some of the bird-titans, but the creatures merely snagged their lines and disarmed them without causing any harm; their human riders too. They could have killed in retaliation, but they didn't, they simply put them down and claimed that they're here to help. If their mercy is as great as their patience, then it's not inconceivable that they must've figured the commander in charge of dispatching the troops was acting on fear, and not in his right mind"
"That's a good possibility," Pyxis concurred "From what I was told, I understand two of the titan riders landed on the wall shortly before I arrived, and approached the Garrison in an attempt to try and extend a friendly hand: but alas, captain Woermann chased them off". The cadets were stunned, but said nothing as the commander continued "No shots were fired, and those cannonballs they fired at the spear-wielding titan earlier didn't hit their mark: so the fact there're no casualties on their side is most likely the reason they're still tolerating our 'unwelcoming' behavior, and is probably the reason they've pulled back to the outer wall for the time being; better to give us our space than to push their luck..." he reasoned, before stating frankly, "...But still, the fact they haven't left means there must be something else, some part of this battle that's yet to conclude". "The Armored titan!" Armin suddenly realized, "You think they're waiting for him to show up, sir?"
"If they are, they'll have him out-numbered over ten to one: but whether they'll have the strength to actually put him down is another matter: numbers don't necessarily equal an advantage, sometimes, a good strategy, and the right soldiers in the right place at the right time can make all the difference..." Pyxis thought aloud. Though, secretly, he couldn't help but wonder what else these 'painted' titans were going to do next: as he thought back to the incidents with the crystal limbs, and all the shenanigans they'd dealt the Scouts over the past four years, the commander couldn't help but think 'You know how to keep your powder dry: time and time again you've proven to be as formidable as you are benevolent, and all the while tolerating our ignorance of you... So, how will you help win this day? If you can keep Erwin on his toes for four years straight, I've no doubt you've got a plan to put the Armoured titan in his place...'.
He then turned back to the cadets, and stated "...When that Armored titan comes, it's going to be the moment of truth, so to speak: the battle that determines whether humanity lives or falls. Five years ago, he was unstoppable, even our most powerful field cannons at the time couldn't stop him: and they, in all likeliness, know it..." he gestured to the bird-titans and humans, "If they're planning to take the fight to him, its going to take all of them to even slow him down: and that's when you come in, cadet Jaeger..." he smiled at Eren, who nearly flinched in surprise, as did Armin: "Wait-, so while the Armored titan is distracted by the strangers and their titans, I move the bolder into the breach?" Eren realized, "That sounds about right" Armin nodded, "But-, in order for that plan to succeed, someone would have to go over there, convince them we mean no harm, and then explain the plan... But, would they be willing to take such a risk on our behalf?"
"Who knows?" Pyxis shrugged, before pointing out "But I think it's fair to say: If they weren't willing to risk their lives for us, they wouldn't have shown up in the first place; don't you think?" he smirked, "Uh-...Yes, good point, sir" Armin sheepishly agreed. "Its a hell of a gamble: but then, what do we have to loose at this point? With the stakes as high as they are, I'll take a whole army of flying titans their human allies, and a boy who can turn into a titan, over just sitting by and watching as our world falls into hell," Pyxis stated, before smirking "Crazy as it sounds: but hey, you've got to be a little bit crazy to begin with, to try and pull something like this off..."
He then turned to the Rose side of the wall, and shouted down to troops on the ground "Staff officers hup! We've got a plan to flush out!"
A short time later, above the breach:
"Hmmm... They're definitely up to something now..." Falken thought aloud as he watched the inner wall via his telescope, while Evernight rested in the hood of his cloak, "Most of the artillery crews are back, and repositioning the cannons to the north-east corner: most of the cadets and what's left of the vanguard are back too, and moving to the same area, while the rest look like they're getting ready to move out" Bryson added as he readjusted his telescope, "Yeah, but then, what are those officers on the other end of the wall chatting about? And why have they got those three cadets with them?" Eraman added as he gazed through his telescope, while his ravens all sat around his feet. "It's starting to look busy over there," Tyto commented as he approached, "Anything new?". "Whatever's about to go down, it's going down soon, and it looks like they're pulling out all the stops" Evrard replied.
"The commander gave some kind of speech to his troops not too long ago: couldn't hear it clearly of course, but it sounded like they've got a plan. Question is, how will we factor in?" Dale thought aloud, "And will we be able to seal the breach without getting attacked?" Jaye threw in. "It goes without saying, but they must've figured that the Armored titan will be showing up at some point: and when he does, either we or they will be going in for the offense; meanwhile, the bolder will be defenseless. The regular titans still pose a threat, few of them as there are now" Lucy gazed out across the city, "In which case, it may be prudent to split the Hunt up into two main teams: have one half back us up with the Armored titan, as well as keep an eye on the artillery crews, while the other half backs up Shadow and Boar" Lucius reasoned. "All good points and good ideas" Tyto smiled, before pointing to the inner wall, "Or, maybe we can try talking to them, again?".
Confused, everyone focused their telescopes to where he was pointing, and saw a Garrison soldier waving a big white sheet tied to a pole, while several more soldiers watched them through telescopes of their own: "... So they wanna talk huh?" Pascal raised a dubious eyebrow, "Think it's legit?" he gazed over at Tyto, "Couldn't hurt to check it out: we're running short on time, and they probably know it" Tyto sighed, "Okay, Dove, Free-wing, you're both-
"-Wait" Ratatosk stopped him, putting his hand on his shoulder, "I'll go", "What?" Tyto blinked in surprise, "I'll go and talk to them, we need you here for when that armored bastard shows up, you and your family will need to be together for the fight; I'll go, and relay whatever they have to say. Alright?". Tyto paused in hesitation a moment, before smiling beneath his mask, and patting Ratatosk's hand, "Thank you, brother". "Yeah, well the first round's on you when we get home anyway" Ratatosk smirked, before striding away and whistling for his bird-titan partner "*PHEEE!* Snowtail? Where are you, sister?". Said bird-titan took off and flew towards him, and as she passed by him under the ledge, he jumped off and landed on her back; and together, they swooped up and away towards the soldier waving the flag.
"Dad!" Ash flew up the side of the wall, and landed next to him, "We've cleared a path to the breach, and dispatched all the titans in the area: we're ready to start moving the bolder" he reported; "Excellent, let's get started" the Grey Owl reached for his handgrips, and together, he and the rest of the gang flew off in the direction of the bolder.
Meanwhile, near the bolder, Ariana watched the troops and cadets along the wall from her perch atop the spire of a church: that cold feeling in her gut was telling her the final battle wasn't far off now, and those poor souls would be going straight back into hell. 'Don't worry, we'll make sure that armored bastard doesn't get past us a second time' she thought with determination in her heart. A familiar presence at her back made her look down, and she felt her anxiety ease as Shadow gazed up at her with his warm friendly smile: he reached up and patted her gently on the back with one finger, before signalling with the other hand, that it was time to get going; "Yeah, sure thing big guy...Let's do this..."
Meanwhile, outside the breach:
"Man, how many do you think we've killed today?" Red commented offhand as he knocked another poisoned arrow into his bowstring, "Too many to count, too many to care: all that matters, is that Miriam's gonna have the mead on tap tonight!" his older cousin smirked, "That's if she lets us have it on tap tonight; you know how stingy she gets if we don't behave in her 'establishment'" Red shot back with a cocky smirk, as he aimed and fired at another titan.
A little ways from the flesh wall, Coalhide, the alpha of the Black Wolf clan's wolf-titans, was pacing slowly across the blood-soaked ground, watching as his pack took on a small herd of ten meters: "Brother..." one of the Blue Wolf clan's wolf-titan's approached, his head bowed submissively as he informed him "...Our scouts have returned from beyond the hamlets that border the plains, There're fewer than a dozen or so titans nearby, it would seem they've exhausted their numbers at last; but-...", "But?" the alpha raised a skeptical eyebrow, "There's-, something else on the wind, a scent that smells like a titan, but is-, different somehow" the younger wolf explained. Running out far onto the open ground, far enough away that the scent of titan blood wouldn't contaminate the air, the ebony giant breathed deep the air, sniffing and sniffing around as the wind gently blew up from the south. Then, he smelt it: "You smell that?" the blue wolf-titan ran up to him, "I do, what is that?" he frowned in confusion, but before he could say anything else, something caught his sharp eyes...
In the tiny village a few miles away, on the side of the main road leading away from the wall: he spotted a figure dressed all in black move between some of the buildings, he was fast, and looked like he didn't want to be spotted. "Who is that?" the younger wolf blinked in surprise, "Don't know..." Coalhide frowned as he sniffed the air again, and began to growl, "... But they're not one of ours!"
Suddenly, the village disappeared in an explosion of golden light, as a huge thunderbolt tore up into the sky, and echoed for miles around. The wolf-titans howled and snarled angrily as the explosion and light tore through their sensitive ears and eyes, while the scent of an unknown energy laced with chaos manna assaulted their keen noses, and made them retch in disgust. "Uhgrrrrr!" Coalhide growled, now truly pissed off, "-What in the All-Father- he was about to fume, when the sight before them made him stop...
There, where the village used to be and was now a demolished heap of rubble, the Armored titan stood in its place: its hulking form was steaming hot as it gazed at them with cold unblinking eyes: "...Great Gia, it's him!..." the younger wolf growled angrily as his hackles rose and his teeth were bared, but before Coalhide could move to challenge the titan, something else made him stop. Off in the distance, almost on the horizon: a series of golden lights lit up the plains from one end to the other, what seemed like hundreds of them in sequence, followed by flurries of titan steam; quickly followed by the distant echo of thunder, reverberating across the plains from east to west. Then, as the steam cleared, the wolves could see via their divine vision, it was titans; hundreds of them. They all just stood there, unmoving: then, the Armored titan threw his head back, and let out a loud bellowing roar, and all at once, the titans began stampeding towards him at full speed, while the Armored titan got into a stop-start position, and then began running straight at them. Coalhide charged the beast head on, and only had time to order "-GO RALLY THE OTHERS! TELL THEM THE ARMORED TITAN HAS RETURNED!"
At the same time, atop the inner wall:
As Snowtail glided over the inner wall, Ratatosk spotted the commander waving at him from the middle of the structure, where a large portion of the top-side had been cleared of personnel: he couldn't see any rifles, or any cannons aimed in their general direction either. "Well? So far so good, let's see what they want..." he told his friend, who, with a nervous chirp, landed on the wall, and bent down to let him dismount. Gazing over at the commander, he saw he was flanked by several officers, as well as the three cadets they'd spotted earlier, whist everyone else stayed at a safe distance in either corner of the wall.
"Are you the leader of the strangers who came to help us?" the commander called over to him, "In a way..." Ratatosk shouted back, keeping his tone calm and collected, while Snowtail stayed at his back, "There's more than one of us leading, I'm afraid: suffice to say we're not an army, and don't organize ourselves as such". "Fair enough," the commander continued, "I'm Dot Pyxis, Commander of the Garrison for the whole southern territory" he introduced himself, "A pleasure. I'm Red Squirrel: head of the Red Squirrel clan, and second huntsman to the Master Hunter, Grey Owl". Most of the soldiers glanced at one another in bewilderment, wondering what was up with the strange name and title: "A most unique name, can't say I've meet many Red Squirrels in my time, except for the ones that live in the trees" Pyxis chuckled.
"Heh, yeah, I'm sure you haven't... So, what can we do for you? I presume the previous guy you had in charge of the 'welcoming committee' has been asked to 'politely step aside'?" Ratatosk asked, "In a way... I'm leading the charge now, and have been told of your heroic actions. I understand you're here to help us win this fight, that this walled kingdom is your home too?" the commander asked, "That's right: if humanity falls here today, this whole kingdom will fall. And we too will suffer as a result: I'm afraid its rather complicated, and lengthy to explain; all you need to know, for the time being at least, is that we have just as much to loose as you do, and that it is within all our best interest to stand together as one"
"I couldn't agree more..." the commander nodded with a smile, as he approached a few steps: Ratatosk in turn approached too, and signaled for Snowtail to remain where she stood, "...I have to say, you've been a big help thus far: if it wasn't for all of you and your bird-titans, our casualty rate would be over double compared to if you hadn't showed up. On behalf of the entire Garrison and the cadet corps, I personally thank you for your courage, sacrifice, and benevolence, and I apologize for my Captain's 'less than level-headed' behavior"
"Water under the bridge..." Ratatosk waved off in a friendly tone, "What matters now, is that we consolidate our forces, and make a united front. The Armored titan could show up any second now, and when he does, we're going to need to be ready. So, whatever you need, we'll provide". "Thank you..." Pyxis polity nodded, before continuing "What we need is strength in numbers, specifically, a force to cover our backs; we have a plan to seal the breach, and we're going to do it manually". Ratatosk's eyes widened in amazement, "That's-, quite an ambitious plan: how do you intend to pull it off?" he asked curiously. "Well? Fortunately, we have an ace up our sleeve, so to speak..." he gestured to one of the cadet's, the brunette boy with green eyes, "Allow me to introduce cadet E-
BOOOOOM!
The walls vibrated sharply, and every roof-tile and window in the city rattled as the shock wave washed over Trost, at the exact same moment, a golden bolt of lightning shot up into the sky from somewhere a few miles south of the outer wall. All the bird-titans started raising a ruckus as they flapped and cawed in alarm, whist every raven and bird-of-prey took to the air. Even Snowtail began to fret nervously as her hackles stood on end and her tail feathers fanned out in readiness to bolt.
"What the hell-, what was that?" one of the officers blurted out.
At the same time, back at the breach:
Everyone gazed around in alarm as the thunder died down: "What the hell?!-, quickly! Find out where that came from!" Dakota ordered: running to the outer side of the wall and aiming their telescopes at the source of the lighting, everyone paused in alarm; but before anyone had the chance to say anything, Warren immediately shouted "-ITS THE ARMORED TITAN!".
"Snowtail, what's going on?" Ratatosk glanced back up at his friend; but before she could call to her brothers and sisters, every bird-titan on the wall took off with their riders. Suddenly, the breach exploded in a red mess of titan bone, blood and sinew flying everywhere as the Armored titan came barrelling through, and came to a stop two hundred yards or so from the hole...
The whole situation seemed to come to a screeching halt for a brief moment, as the titan gazed up and around at all the bird-titans, who were glaring daggers down at him, cawing and screeching angrily. While over by the bolder, after ducking and hiding from the flesh wall being blown out, everyone in the gang was stunned for a moment, as they caught sight of the Armored titan. He was just as big and as terrifying as he was five years ago: practically his whole body was clad in that strange bone-like crystal armor...
As the fight in Shiganshina came back to mind, Javorin steeled his resolve, as he gazed at the titan with an unyielding sense of determination. He felt his power began to rise, like the flames of a fire being fanned by the wind, his tattoos flashed momentarily as he summoned his powers, and readied his spear...
The Armored titan got into a stop-start position, and leaning his weight forward, took off running at full speed towards the inner gate. At that moment everyone snapped back to reality and put their game faces on, as blades were drawn and cables from ODM's fired: Javorin leaped up onto the boulder, and using his divine power, aimed his spear and threw it hard, discreetly using the wind to carry it along its trajectory. The spear sailed through the air, and struck the Armored titan in the shoulder, causing him to fall and crash into a building. Seizing the opportunity, Javorin sounded the charge with a loud roar. "GET HIM!" he shouted across the either, to which every god-titan sounded their own battle-cries and took after the monster...
As they watched the scene from atop the wall, the Garrison were stunned as every bird-titan swooped down to attack the downed Armored titan, with the black and white giant leading the charge. "Commander," Ratatosk grabbed Pyxis's attention, "-Whatever you have planned to move that bolder, you better get it underway, now!" he rushed back to Snowtail, who had already leaned down to let him remount. "Don't worry, we'll do everything we can from our end: all I ask is that you give our troops room to work, and follow any instructions accordingly" the commander replied, to which Ratatosk nodded "Alright, good luck!" he waved farewell as Snowtail took off, heading off to the battle. Pyxis then turned back to Eren, Mikasa and Armin, and stated in all seriousness: "You heard him cadets, let's get underway!", "Yes sir!" they all replied...
As the commander started issuing orders, the three friends took the opportunity to discreetly move to one side, and glanced at one another in a mix of worry and tenseness: "I'm so sorry Eren" Armin confessed, much to Eren's surprise, "I was just talking out of my head, it wasn't my intention to get you pulled into all this" he added: "Stop apologizing, the fact is you have a gift for strategy, and you know it..." Eren told him flatly, before telling him honestly "I believe in you, Armin". "Eren," Mikasa grabbed his attention "I really think- "You're not coming with me" Eren firmly replied, much to her surprise; "You're on the decoy squad, period" he told her. "No way! I'm not leaving you alone!" she protested, "-I won't take another chance- "-Knock it the hell off!" he snapped angrily, "-Get it through your head that I'm not your responsibility! You're not my mother!". Unable to argue back, Mikasa dropped her gaze in ruefulness, until one of the soldiers interrupted "Ackerman...", she glanced over at him as he ordered "I want you on the squad that'll be providing Jaeger with back-up: we'll need your skill. Now hup to! We don't know how long the strangers will be able to keep the Armored titan pinned down, so let's not waste any more time!"
As the three of them split up and ran to join their respective squads, they silently wished each other good luck, and mentally readied themselves for the battle ahead...
As he caught sight of the battle across the city, Eren couldn't help but think 'You guys better not let us down, we're all counting on you'
Meanwhile:
The battle hadn't even been going five minutes, and already the initial charge was starting to flag as the Armored titan remained relativity safe, encased within his armor, as the larger bird-of-prey type bird-titans took it in turns to rip and slash at him, though to very little affect: until Nyiera attacked. With an angry hiss she latched her talons onto him, one foot on his side and the other on his shoulder, right where Javorin's spear had pierced him throughout the arm and shoulder blade. As her powerful feet tensed up, the armor around the limb began to crack and fracture under the strain, as the talons dug in deep and began sinking into the softer flesh underneath.
That was when the Armored titan took the opportunity, and grabbed her by the leg with his one good arm: with one tight squeeze he forced her to let go, and she reluctantly did so with an enraged screech. Still holding onto her, he threw her hard into the side of a nearby building, and proceeded to lift her out to try and slam her down again, when a loud angry roar announced Herne's arrival. He head-butted the titan right in the back, throwing him off balance and causing him to fall: but as he scrambled to get back up on his feet, Javorin grabbed his spear, and brutally wrenched it out from the wound, causing the titan to loose balance yet again.
"You okay?!" Javorin turned to Nyiera, as Hecate ran to help her up: "I'm fine" she fumed angrily, "-Just open up that bastard's armor already, so I can sink my teeth into his throat!" she spat, "Sorry sis, but I call dibs this time: I've got a score to settle" Hecate frowned as her fingers morphed into four meter long claws, "Don't we all?" Herne added as he ran back around to regroup.
As the gang flew in, bringing up the rear, Tyto saw Snowtail fly down so she was parallel to him: "Grey Owl! We're all good! And the Garrison have a plan to seal the breach!" Ratatosk shouted down to him, "Whatever it is, they better get on with it!" he called back, before adding "Grab anyone who's still available, and head to the bolder: but stay low! We can't let the Armored titan know anything's up!", "Right on!" Ratatosk replied as Snowtail banked up, and sped back to the bolder.
As they came within range of the Armored titan, the gang took a brief moment to look him over: "Holy hell! His wound's already closed up?!" Fox blurted out as said wounds finished regenerating a new layer of armor, "Yeah, well he's gonna be in for a world of hurt now!" Belle frowned with a crazy smile behind her neckerchief, but everyone had to quickly scatter as Angel swooped down with Carla on her back, "-Not before I have the chance to wrench my seven pounds of flesh from this bastard!" she angrily proclaimed: her eyes wild with fury as she brandished her blades.
As he quickly got back on his feet, the Armored titan realized he was surrounded on all sides, with every bird-titan hovering above him, ready to swoop down and strike yet again, along with every human on ODM gear who stood on the rooftops and the backs of their giant partners, waiting for him to make a move: while the three terrestrial titans had him locked in a triangular four-way stand-off. Did he remember them from five years ago? Did he think it was going to be easy to defeat them a second time round? Who could say? No one knew, and no one cared: everyone was ready to tear into him. This monster, who left so many dead in his wake, was going to rue the day; a debt was owed to humanity, and they were going to make sure he paid it in full.
As she stood at her brothers backs, waiting for the signal to attack, Ariana noticed movement out the corner of her eye: five people were running along the eastern side of the wall. Three Garrison soldiers, and-, two of the three cadets?
Suddenly, the Armored titan let out a loud bellowing roar, and as if on cue, the breach was abruptly swarmed by titans: dozens upon dozens of them charged the hole in the wall, all scrambling and clambering to get in, and race towards them. Thinking quickly on his feet, Tyto bellowed out "-HUMMERS! DEPLOY ALL HUMMERS! DISPERSE THE HERD! QUICKLY!".
Every Ranger and Celt quickly whipped out their little hummers, and with their bird-titan partners moving away from the Armored titan, they started trying to lure the herd away: but to their horror, not all the titans were ensnared by the magical instruments, and several dozen broke through, charging the grounded god-titans.
"What the-, he just screamed and it brought them all running to him?!" Herne jumped in surprise, "Sure looks that way," Javorin frowned as he readied to fight. Several teams of Rangers and Celts flew down to dispatch the wayward titans alongside the gang, but to everyone's horror, more and more of the monsters continued to pile through the breach. And as the god-titan's were attacked and started fighting back, the Armored titan slipped away ahead of the herd, and continued his run, heading straight for the inner gate.
"NO!-" Belle began to panic, "-He's heading for the inner gate!" Ash shouted. "I won't let him!" Javorin angrily grunted, as with one hard shove he threw the titans off of him, and reaching for his spear, aimed and threw it at the titan a second time: piercing his right arm, and causing him stumble slightly. Herne, Hecate, Javorin and Elysia took that opportunity to quickly catch up to him, and tackle him to the ground, while the rest of the gang set upon him, slicing through his armor with their crystal blades.
"Wow! These blades slice through his armor!" Jaye grinned, "Less talking more slicing, brats!" Pascal shot back, "-LOOK OUT!" Tyto shouted: everyone glanced up in time to see a giant dark shadow descending fast, and just barely got out in time as Nyiera struck the titan in the back, angrily digging her talons in as she screeched and cawed into his ear, Hecate joined her as she tried to grab his legs. But to their surprise, he kicked her away into the side of another building, and with both hands, pushed himself up and flipped to one side, causing the giant avian to fall to one side, and crash into her sister. He then pushed himself up and back onto his feet, where Herne and Javorin were quick to tackle him from both sides: but the titan blind-sided them in one fluid move, then reached for the spear and puled it out of his arm with hardly any trouble; discarding it as if it were an annoying splinter. He then kicked Herne in the face as he came at him, sending him crashing into the side of a church: pivoting on his heel and using his momentum to reinforce his strength, he roundhouse-kicked Javorin thirty meters up into the air, sending him flying over the houses and other buildings, landing some fifty meters away.
The gang were stunned for a brief moment, as their brains quickly analyzed what they just witnessed: "... This guy's got some moves for sure..." Rowan frowned incredulously, "Can we safely assume he's a titan-shifter, if he's able to think on his feet like this?!". "For sure, son: for sure" Tyto frowned.
White stars and black spots danced across Javorin's vision for a brief second, before he blinked, and carefully got back up: "... Great All-father, that could have been a lot worse..." he though aloud as he rubbed his face, feeling the last of the crystal reabsorb into the flesh along his lower jaw. "You're alive?! How?!" Elysia exclaimed in disbelief, "I crystallized my jaw, skull and spine at the last possible moment, right before his foot made contact with my face" Javorin replied as he got up, and spotting the Armored titan down the main street, discreetly hid behind a large row of buildings, "-It was a gamble, but hey, it worked" he smirked. "Great, now get your giant ass back in the fight!" Elysia huffed as she tackled the Armored titan yet again, this time aiming for his face, while Carla got to work trying to slice at his neck and shoulders: but to everyone's alarm, the armor only regrew in place, and within a matter of seconds to boot. "-This is bad! Every time we slice something off, more armor regrows back!" she fumed as she continued her attack. "Not just yet-" Javorin frowned as he watched the fight "If he begins to move up this way, I'm in a position to intercept him: just keep the fight were your at, and I'll try to think of a way to get the drop on him"; "Tch!- fine, but don't take too long!" Hecate sighed dryly.
Getting back up on her feet, Nyiera was now really pissed off: being manhandled and thrown aside like that, she was ready to rip this titan a new one "...That bastard's got some nerve..." she seethed. But just as she was about take off and catch up to the gang, another golden bolt of lightning exploding up into the air made her stop, and snapped her out of her anger.
Everyone in the gang glanced over towards the source: "That was right by the bolder!" Ash shouted, "What just happened?!" Hazel glanced over to Boar, "Nyiera, go check it out" Javorin ordered, she was about to protest when her sister interrupted "-Don't go throwing a fit, I'll be sure to save some flesh for you, now go!", "TSH!- fine..." she huffed, and took off for the bolder.
As she flew over the square the bolder sat in, Nyiera was surprised to see the rogue titan standing there, facing one of the building's that had three Garrison soldiers and one of the cadets standing on the roof: they saw her, but were more preoccupied with the Rogue. "The Rogue? But how did he-" Nyiera thought aloud: thinking back to the bolt of golden energy that appeared, and the partial titan body on the other side of the wall she saw earlier, she suddenly realized it had to be one and the same: "...So, this is the Rogue with his body fully formed: how did he learn to pull that off?" she speculated.
As she hovered some eighty meters above the square, watching the scene below: she was taken aback when the rogue tried to punch the female cadet, but she just narrowly dodged his giant fist as she leapt out of the way. He went to smash her again, but she was too quick as she flew off the roof, recalled and fired her lines into the sides of his head, and flew up to perch on the bridge of his nose whilst holding on via one of his long strands of hair. He seemed to pause as she looked him in the eye, one of the soldiers shouted something at her from the nearby rooftop: but it was near-impossible to make out over the din of the battle nearby, as the Celts and Rangers tried to thin the herd of titans that continued to pour into the city.
The girl shouted something at the titan, and for a moment the beast seemed to listen as he stared at her, but whatever she hoped to achieve was quickly quelled as the beast balled his fist and growled angrily: another of the soldiers shouted a warning, and she took off back to the rooftop, right as he smashed himself in the face in an attempt to try and hit her. "...Hm, well he's not too bright..." Nyiera deadpanned: one of the soldiers then took out a flair gun, and fired a red smoke signal up into the air ten or so meters away from where the goddess hovered. The rogue staggered back a few steps: dazed, his face looked like it had been hit with a cannonball, and then landed on his ass next to the bolder, slumped against it like some drunken fool.
"What the hell was that supposed to be?" she thought in confusion, "Maybe he was the ace up the Garrison's sleeve?" Snowtail interjected as she flew nearby, "What?" Nyiera blinked in surprise, "Yeah, the commander mentioned they had a plan to plug the hole manually, I guess he was it?" she shrugged. "What?!" the black and white goddess gazed back down at the rogue, who by now seemed to have passed out, while the Garrison soldiers argued amongst themselves: "... If this was their best plan for sealing the breach, I can't say I blame them; desperate times call for desperate measures after all. And it's not like they had much else going for them, unfortunately" she sighed, "Still, at least we know who's side he's on... For the time being at least: so I guess that's something...".
"-Whatever they're arguing about, they better wrap it up fast, we got titans inbound!" one of the other bird-titans called over to her: glancing around, Nyiera saw the titans were encroaching further towards the rogue, and the Garrison soldiers seemed to have noticed too. One of the males and one female soldier left, and flew off the join the fight, whist the remaining soldier talked to the cadet for a moment, before running off to join his comrades; leaving the cadet to guard the Rogue (presumably). As the girl in the red scarf gazed up at her, Nyiera gazed back, and noticed the nuances of her aura: "... If it were anyone else, I'd be inclined to think your superiors decision to leave you in charge of this rogue was rash to say the least... But you're not helpless, are you. No, I can see your resolve and conviction to protect this titan-shifter is strong, and I daren't say, you could well give us a run for our money... Hold strong, brat: you might just survive this day yet..." she thought aloud.
As she caught sight of the battle with the Armored titan across the city, Nyiera frowned: "... Hang in there guys, don't go paying my old man a visit just yet"
Meanwhile:
Seeing the red smoke signal, Armin was dismayed and alarmed: as a collective sense of dread and hopelessness began to grow amongst the Garrison and cadets, he gazed out across the city towards the bolder, wondering what went wrong.
"It's over... they failed..." Marco nervously thought aloud; "...But, how? ..." Armin replied offhand. Determined to find out what had happened, the young blond took off running for the outer wall; "-Whoa, Armin, where're you going?!" Marco called after him, but Armin didn't reply as he continued sprinting, heading along the outer wall, making his way to where Eren was.
As the strangers and bird-titans continued to fight, the Garrison's attempt to corral the titans into the north-east corner of Trost was somewhat hit and miss: with the bulk of the hoard in the center of the city, trying to get at the armored and painted titans, grabbing their attention so as to lure them away from Eren was proving difficult. So much so, that by now multiple teams were taking it in turns to head out into the city, and lure the titans at close range; and despite the best efforts of the strangers and their winged partners to help where they could, nearly twenty percent of the Garrisons forces had been lost by this point.
Upon his return from one such luring run, Jean flew up the side of the wall, and landed next to Marco and Connie: "What the hell's up with the red smoke, what happened to him?!" he demanded. "Uh-, I don't know, but Armin's gone to see... But I-, I think it'll be alright" Marco anxiously replied: "Yeah?" Jean pressed him, "Of course," Marco replied, trying to maintain his confidence "I mean, this is Eren we're talking about", "Right..." Jean sighed, trying to hold his nerve. "... I don't wanna be that guy," Connie tentatively interrupted, "But this whole thing feels kinda pointless": "Hell, when's the last time a fight against the titans didn't feel like that, huh?" Jean frowned, "The best thing now? Do what we can from loosing any more".
Connie turned and paced away a few steps, dropping his gaze as he thought the situation over: "... I don't like the idea of so many of us being dead for nothing" he stated; "We have to pick our battles. If we want to wage all-out war someday, we have to conserve all the manpower we can, this was the right call. Just be patient" Jean told him. "Was it the right call though?" Connie questioned him, "Yes! Of course it was!" Jean shot back sternly, "... Live to fight another day, is that it?" Connie thought aloud, as a nervous smile tugged at his lips, "... Alright, I'm in"
Meanwhile:
The battle was hard, and seemingly getting harder as the humans flew around the Armored titan like angry hornets: slicing away at the armor, trying to cripple him where possible, but he just wouldn't go down.
"This bastard's tough, and got some serious stamina: we're throwing everything at him and he just keeps getting up! How the hell do we slow him down?!" Evrard huffed as he sliced at part of the armor on the titan's thigh, only for it to grow back again, "At this rate we're gonna drop before he does! We haven't even so much as knocked the wind outta him!" Fox shouted over to Tyto.
'Knock the wind out of him? …' Javorin frowned as an idea suddenly formed: watching the fight from his hiding spot, he suddenly realized where he was in Trost. Gazing behind him, he saw the main street he was on led right to the inner gate, it was practically a dead-straight line; gazing down at his hand as he saw his tattoos glow, and felt his crystal power thrum through his body, he formulated a plan. "Hey! I have an idea, but your gonna have to let him go!" he called over to the other's, who all nearly jerked in disbelief, "WHAT?! Are you-
But before Elysia could argue back, Javorin flashed his plan through their minds, and right away, they understood. "Sound theory, Bro, but will it work?" Herne thought aloud, "... It had better work..." Hecate frowned as she grappled the Armored titan, "With any luck, it will; now do it!" Javorin ordered.
Carefully and discreetly as possible, Hecate, Herne and Elysia went in one more time, and 'accidently' let the titan knock them down in rapid succession; creating an opening for him to run, and take off for the inner gate. "SHIT!-" was all Falken could shout as the titan took off at full speed, "NO WAIT, LOOK!-" Ariana pointed to Shadow, who had jumped out of his hiding place, and took off running ahead of the armored titan: sprinting for the wall with everything he had.
As they watched the two titans running for the inner gate, right towards them, the Garrison and cadets began to panic, all the while Pyxis stood there watching them: half accepting whatever will be will be, and half wondering what the hell's going on.
"What the hell?!-" Jean gasped in horror, as he, Connie, Marco and Annie watched the two titans running hell for leather towards the inner gate, "What the hell's he doing?!"
Feeling the vibrations of the Armored titan's footfalls, Javorin could tell he had a good thirty meter lead on him, which was just about right for what he had in mind: the key here though, was to make sure he didn't have room to slow down and stop.
As the titan began to close the distance, gaining more and more speed, and the inner gate drew closer and closer, Javorin activated his power: his tattoos glowing bright blue and his eyes glowed white as he turned slightly, now running right towards the bulkhead on the right-side of the gate. And just as he was within the necessary distance, he slammed on the breaks, stretched his arms out forward, and with a secret prayer, let his power flow like a torrent: fast, powerful, and unstoppable...
Time stilled into one agonizing moment. The Celts, the Rangers, the Garrison, the Cadets, and all the god-titan's; everyone watched in helpless terror as Javorin hit the bulkhead, and a flash of blue light exploded out from his whole body: enveloping the whole northern side of the city in a radiant blue light. So bright that it momentarily outshone the sun, and lit up the inner wall, forcing everyone atop the Trost side to shield their eyes, as did everyone else who saw it.
At that same moment, a small loud THUD! indicated where Javorin had hit the bulkhead: but was unexpectedly followed by a much louder, more resonating BOOOOM!. The Garrison and Cadets felt the wall vibrate for a moment, before the light died down and everyone glanced around at each other, thinking the worst had just happened...
But as they gazed over the Rose side of the wall in a panic, they were surprised by what they saw: "Wha- ...Where's the Armored titan?" one of the officers blinked in surprise, to which one of the soldier's gazed right down the wall, and exclaimed "-Holy shit! The gate's still intact?!"
Hearing that, Pyxis was the first to tentatively peek over the Trost side of the wall, and was stunned at the sight before him.
The entire wall surrounding the gate between the two nearest bulkheads was covered in a smooth glass-like crystal, saturated in every hue of blue imaginable, and having 'grown' up and along the wall like the roots of a tree, spread out wide and reaching tall: almost thirty meters high by twenty five meters across. It was as impressive as it was beautiful. But what caught everyone's attention even more, was the fact that Javorin had 'merged' with his own crystal power; instead of being covered in a layer of armor like the Armored titan, Javorin's entire form was crystal. From his hair to his skin, his eyes and his nails, his entire body was one smooth seamless facet-less glassy surface, shimmering in hues of blue with a pale glow emanating from the inside, while his tattoos shimmered in electric blue and white, while his eyes glowed like stars: pale, bright and radiant.
For a brief moment, the battle seemed to pause as everyone who caught a glimpse of the amazing sight, gazed in awe at the now-crystal titan: shining like the brightest star, as his blue aura illuminated the inner wall.
"... Whoa..." was all Connie could say.
From where he watched the whole scene play out from atop the outer wall, Armin was as stunned as he was in awe: wondering just what this titan was, and whether or not he could be the deciding factor in this fight. "... Whoa... That's some power: he covered the inner wall in-, some kind of crystal? ..." He then noticed the Armored titan, and was blown away by what he saw...
Javorin took a step back, removing his hands from the bulkhead: having left a set of hand-prints in the crystal at the point it had spread out from his hands. As everyone gazed at him in astonishment, the Overseer could feel the surprise and shock of his divine kin reverberate across the ether, and the humans were not far behind, as their collective auras reflected their own amazement and awe.
As he glanced back over his shoulder, Javorin caught sight of his human family flying over the rooftops to catch up to him, and for a brief moment, he caught sight of Ariana; smiling beneath her neckerchief, gazing towards him with that look in her eyes that said: you never fail to surprise me, big guy.
"LOOK! The Armored titan!" one of the officers shouted from the top of the wall. Glancing to his left, Javorin saw said titan crumpled up against the wall in a half-crushed heap, before the monster pushed himself off, and staggered backwards: dazed and confused...
Javorin's plan had worked: he managed to get far enough ahead of the Armored titan, that when he activated his power and covered the wall in a layer of his crystal, enough of it gave the structure enough protection to save it from caving in under the titan's powerful momentum, as well as stop the titan dead in his tracks. At the speed he was running at, the momentum (in terms of weight) was virtually immeasurable: but being a god, Javorin's own power was far more than what that level of physical power could match up to. And so, as the Armored titan ran into the wall, all that force was knocked back right at him: the impact caused massive injury, and damage to his armor plating: over two thirds of which were now badly cracked and dislodged, with half his facial plates missing, and a good portion of his chest, shoulders, abdomen and hip plating badly fractured, with blood trickling out between the cracks...
The fact the titan was still on his feet after suffering such an impact, astounded Javorin: "... You're one tough bastard, I'll give you that," he admitted, "But I'm afraid this fight's not over yet..."
As the monster staggered backwards in a daze, he was so disorientated that he didn't hear Hecate charging up behind him, and driving her claws right through the back of his exposed right shoulder: so fast and hard that she almost severed the limb with the force of her impact alone. "Nice trick, where'd you learn to do that?" she grinned slyly. "Just now, I had to think on my feet" Javorin confessed as his crystalline flesh returned to normal, but not before he recalled his spear; "Nice one!" Herne grinned as he charged up the main street "Turning yourself into one big crystal? Now that's awesome!" Elysia grinned. "Nice trick Shadow!" Shyla shouted, "Way ta go, big guy!" Ariana brushed over the top of his head as she circled around him. "Unbelievable..." Bryson breathed in astonishment, before a smile tugged at his lips, "Shadow, I hope you never stop surprising me!", "Less talk, more slicing! We got a titan to kill!" Belle shouted: to which everyone flew up together as one, and descended on the monster with a resounding battle-cry.
The shock of the claws in his shoulder quickly snapped the titan out of his stupor, but it was too late to deploy any effective defensive moves, as the gang quickly swooped in, and started hammering at the exposed flesh with their pairing blades, tusks, claws, talons, and spear: prying off the armor little by little.
"GET HIM!"
"YEEEEAAAH! COME ON!"
"KICK THE FUCKING CRAP OUTTA HIM!"
The Garrison and cadet's cheers and roars echoed down the side of the wall as they watched the humans and titans go to town on the Armored titan, while the bird-titans and their partners were still dealing with the sudden wave of regular titans. Luring them away from the breach, making sure they didn't get at the rogue titan, and keeping them away from the fight by the inner gate. Although the situation wasn't totally out of control, it would be hasty to assume that victory was imminent at this point: as more titans continued to wander into the city.
Meanwhile:
"Okay, that was some move: disabling the Armored titan like that? Clever..." Armin thought aloud as he continued to run along the top of the outer wall, "... Still though, that was one hell of a gamble, and how did he know it would work?... I guess we're not the only one's taking big risks today..." he surmised.
Running along until he reached the start of the wall's curve, Armin then took off across the city, staying above the rooftops and avoiding the titans until he came to the boulder, and a passed out Eren: his face half gone, and steam rising up off his flesh. Seeing the state he was in, Armin was taken aback: "...Eren..." he panted as he tried to get his breath back after running and flying so fast, "..Come on! What're you doing? WAKE UP!" he shouted down at him.
"Wait, what did he call him?" Nyiera frowned, as she tried to listen to the boy over the din of a nearby skirmish, "Erol? Kevin? Can't hear a damn thing up here!" she cursed. But before she could move to hover closer to the rogue, she suddenly recognized the boy's aura: "... Huh, so you survived the Garrison too. Looks like you ain't the only brat with good luck on your side today..." she grinned slyly. But the sounds of the conflict drew her attention, and the sight of the now-quickly-encroaching titans forced her to act, "-Shit!"
As she killed three large titans in one go, Mikasa narrowly dodged a few of the bird-titans as they stooped down to dispatch their own prey, followed by their riders who flew off to attack the smaller ones that were too short for them to swoop down on. And as she killed another four, eventually ending up atop the roof of a nearby building, she gazed at the chaos around her, trying to figure out why there were so many titans here, and why so many seemed to be congregated in this area of the city. She wondered if Eren had something to do with it, until Armin's voice snapped her out of her thoughts...
"-Mikasa! Why'd the plan go belly-up?!" he called up to her from where he stood on the back of Eren's shoulders, "Armin?" she blinked in surprise, wondering what he was doing here: "Why on earth is he just slopped here like this?!" he shouted back, trying to raise his voice over the cacophony of the battle, "-Get away! It's dangerous!" she shouted back "-Something went wrong, he lost control and wound up like that! I tried to snap him out of it but I couldn't get him to respond. He's been out like this for the past few minutes!". "But, the plan-" Armin tried to respond, but Mikasa insisted "-We've had to shift tact, right now all we can do is protect him, he's defenseless, and this-, there's just so many!" she gestured to the battle with her blade, "-I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!"
"-HEADS UP KID! TITAN ON YA SIX!" one of the stranger's shouted down from his mount as they whizzed by overhead. Armin turned around, but only had time to gasp in horror as a titan jumped up and lunged for him: Mikasa watched in horror, helpless as the scene unfurled...
But the greedy monster didn't have time to snap its jaws shut, as the giant black and white bird-titan smashed down onto its back: creating a booming thud as it turned the titan into a red smear on the ground. The gust of wind created by her enormous wings nearly knocked the two cadets off their feet; shooting their lines into the roof and Eren's back at the last second was the only way they stayed in place. And as the titan stood up, rising to her full height with her wing's half-spread out: her sheer size and presence seemed to shroud the scene in a strange kind of darkness: with only her radiant violet eyes illuminating the gloom of her own shadow.
As he stood back up and recalled his lines, Armin locked eyes with her, and despite the initial fear coursing through his veins, he recognized her from earlier: "... You... Y-you saved me?" he stammered in amazement, to which she gazed down at him with a sly smile.
"ARMIN!-" Mikasa charged the giant with her blades at the ready, "NO MIKASA WAIT!-" Armin tried to protest. But to both their surprise, with unbelievably fast reflexes, the bird-titan snagged her cables between her finger and thumb on her right wing, and dangled her above Armin for moment, before gently dropping her on the top of the bolder: allowing Mikasa to recall her lines. "...Uh-, Thank you?" Armin sheepishly gazed back up at her "I guess you must remember us from earlier, huh?". The bird-titan replied with a trilling caw, nodding in affirmation.
"Nice that you remember me, brats" Nyiera grinned, before an odd thought crossed her mind, "...Armin, and Mikasa... Why do those names ring a bell? … Ah, it'll probably come to me later..." she dismissed.
As she stood back up, it didn't take Mikasa long to realize there was no danger here, and glanced back up at the imposing creature, "... Why did you save us?". The titan gazed down at her with those cold predatory eyes of hers, and glanced over at Eren: using her wing as an arm, pointed to him with one clawed finger, then to both her eyes, then to the military base. "You-, saw him earlier, when he was fighting the titans?" Armin realized what she was trying to convey, (much to his surprise) to which she nodded. "So, does that mean you're here to help?" he asked nervously: the titan nodded, pointing at Eren, then to the boulder, and then to the breach.
"Hey, listen up: I'm gonna cover the brats until they can get this bigger brat of theirs moving again; cover us where you can and keep the way to the breach clear!" Nyiera called to the nearby bird-titans, who all sounded their compliance.
With smiles of relief, both Armin and Mikasa watched as the giant avian planted both feet and wrists firmly on the ground, before leaping clear over Eren and the boulder, and charging into a group of oncoming titans: between her powerful talons, long curved raptor-like claw on each second finger, and her shark-like teeth and venomous canines, she butchered the titans in rapid succession, mowing them down in a bloody mess as she circled the square: keeping them at bay from the rogue.
With their backs covered, both cadets then turned their attention back to Eren. Thinking back over his earlier encounter with Eren and his titan form, Armin then had an idea come to mind "... From the back of the head to the nape of the neck, one meter high, and ten centimeters across" he thought aloud as he drew his blades. "Armin?!" Mikasa gazed at him in shock, "I'm pulling him out of here," Armin stated as he gazed back up at her, "You just help our new friend hold off the titans for as long as you can" he then stepped over Eren's back, so he was square in front of the nape. "But-" Mikasa tried to protest, but Armin continued "When Eren first emerged from this form, it was from the weak spot-" he shot his lines into Eren's titan flesh, and drew one blade from his scabbard: "-I don't know, but something tells me that's a big part of the picture, how these damn things work..." he nervously gripped his blade, raising it up and aiming in readiness to strike. "... It'll be alright, as long as I don't hit the center...", he then added under his breath "...It won't kill him, but, well? It is going to hurt...A LOT!-".
"-NO!" Mikasa screamed as he drove the blade into the neck, several inches over from the center of the nape: immediately, Eren's titan form snapped its head back as it let out a loud roar of pain. The beast then began violently thrashing about where it sat, trying in vain to dislodge the source of its agony: like a dog trying to shake off a flea. The black and white bird-titan saw this, and instantly rushed over to pin the titan down with her giant raptor-like claws: the immense strength of her wings held Eren down with very little difficulty, but the sudden jerky movement had Armin hanging onto his hand-grip for dear life, until Eren suddenly settled down a little. "Stop it! You'll get yourself killed!" Mikasa jumped down to try and pry him off, "-I'm fine! Just do what you can to keep the rest at bay! There's tons of other people you should be worried about. Now leave him to me and go do what you do best!" he firmly told her.
Mikasa reluctantly let go of him, and flew off with her blades drawn: Armin then gazed up at the black and white avian, and stated "You too: don't get me wrong I'm grateful for your help, but right now there're a lot of lives at stake; besides, I can take care of my friend. I promise..." he pleaded. The titan regarded him with a somewhat mother-hen look for a moment, before huffing through her cheekless maw, and as she turned to leave, shot him a look which seemed to say: okay, fine; and then got back to the business of killing titans. Effortlessly jumping up onto the nearest rooftop, and working her way down the street towards the breach.
Armin pulled himself up on the hand-grip, and hoped Eren was still conscious inside the imminence mountain of flesh as he called to him "Eren! Can you hear me? You've got to pull it together! If you stay like this we're all going to die! Whatever this body's doing to you, fight it! You're Eren Jaeger dammit! What's this steaming lump of flesh have you huh?!"
Eren could hear Armin, but was so far out of it that he couldn't remember where he was or what he was doing here: '...What is he talking about? …' he thought in a drowsy stupor, 'Fight it? What? ...I'm tired...'
"Come on dammit! Wake up! Get out of there, we need you! EREN!" Armin panted as he pounded his fist against the nape: trying desperately, hoping beyond hope that his words were getting through to him somehow "...-Your mum remember! Remember what they did to her! You were bent on avenging her death! You swore to massacre the titans!"
In his dream-state, Eren saw Armin pounding on the window of his kitchen, while Mikasa and his mother washed the dishes, and his father read a book at the dinner table; it was just another normal mundane day at home, nothing out of the ordinary. And as Eren sat on the bench seat wrapped in a blanket, he drowsily gazed up at Armin through the window behind him "... You're not making any sense Armin..." he gazed over at his mother, "... Open your eyes, mum's not dead..."
"Eren!-" Armin continued to pound at his nape, but to no effect "Eren please! You have to push through it! I know you're in there! Listen to me, if you don't get a move on the titans are going to kill us! It will all end right here!"
Armin continued banging on the window, much to Eren's confusion: "Armin, seriously, what the hell's gotten into you?" he gazed back at his family, wondering what he was shouting about, "...What's this 'get a move on' crap? I don't wanna move anything... Right here's good enough for me..."
But then, something familiar began to ring in the back of his mind: "...It's, not like I wanna be a scout..." he thought aloud, as his mother turned to face him: her warm golden eyes met his gaze as she smiled sweetly. And then, the door opened, and Ariana walked in: smiling as her eyes shone with happiness...
Meanwhile:
"-WHAT THE FUCK'S WITH THIS GUY?!" Rowan fumed as he flew in for another attack, only to have to dodge the titan's fist as he tried to punch him against the wall of a nearby building: "You're telling me?!" Clay exclaimed, "EVERYONE FALL BACK!" Tyto bellowed: no one wasted time in falling back to the nearest rooftops, while Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel remained in the streets, keeping the Armored titan cornered.
"Whoever this guy is, he's playing for keeps: he's not going down without taking us with him" Bryson panted as he tried to get his breath back, "Well what the hell can we do? At this rate we're gonna run outta gas before he runs outta- whatever's keeping him going!" Pascal shot back. "Dad, seriously, what do we do?!" Ariana pleaded worryingly: but as Tyto watched the titan, half-tired, half-confounded; he couldn't think of an adequate answer...
The fight had slowly turned into a stalemate: and although the gang had fought long and hard, the Armored titan was still worse off, as the battle had ensured he'd been denied adequate time to properly heal his armor in full. But that hadn't stopped him from keeping them all at arm's length, fighting with a fury and stamina none of them had expected.
This monster had no intention of loosing this fight; whatever he was fighting for, it must be truly worth all this, if not worse.
But that wasn't to say the god-titan's hadn't been paying attention to him, or the tactics he was using to hold the upper-hand.
"He's smart..." Javorin observed, "Look at him: he's made sure to regrow the armor around his nape: and on his fists and feet, as well as around the armpits and groin so we can't get in there and bleed him out". "On top of that, he's keeping his throat armored too: so we can't discount the possibility he's waiting for an opportunity to bring the titans running with that scream of his" Hecate added. "Hey, I don't wanna be 'that goddess', and I know magic's a big no-no here, but at this rate I think we're gonna have to try 'something' soon, or else we'll loose!" Elysia huffed angrily, "... Gotta say guys, I think the kid might have a point," Herne frowned in reluctance, "This son of a bitch's not giving us any free room, he's purposely dancing around to keep us thrown off: we're gonna have to do something to level the playing field here-
Suddenly, the Armored titan let out another scream, but Javorin wouldn't let him as he turned his whole body back into crystal once more, and punched him in the throat: hard. The shock-wave caused a thunderclap to boom through the air, as the titan crashed through three buildings before landing into the side of a warehouse. The other three god-titan's gazed at him in surprise for a moment, before Javorin stated "I'll hold my power at this level, for now: you three cover me", "Yeah, sure, whatever: let's just finish this already!" Hecate huffed.
But no sooner had the god-titan's readied themselves for another round: the thundering of titan footsteps announced another stampede, as many of the titans from the south end of the city came running in their direction. "-You guys handle the armored, we'll handle them!" Tyto barked, to which every human in the gang flew at the titans, and started dispatching them before they could reach the god-titan's: allowing them to charge the armored titan again.
But the monster wasn't having it, and was back up on his feet in double-quick time as he readied himself for another bout: only to be blind-sided by a fifteen meter regular titan that Poppy was chasing. As the titan crashed into the armored, the monster grabbed the titan by the nape, and with one hard shove, practically threw him into the oncoming god-titan's. Flying too fast to pivot in mid-air, Poppy flew around him in an attempt to fly back towards the others, only for the armored to lunge forward at high speed, and reached out, grabbing her cables; much to the red-head's shock and horror...
As everyone was stunned into silence, Gale and Belle could do nothing but watch in gut-wrenching horror as the titan swung their sister by her cables over his head like a slingshot, and with one hard pitch, sent Poppy flying high up into the air, so high and so fast that no one had time to intercept or catch her...
"-POPPY!" Belle screamed as she watched her sister disappear over the city: tears pouring down her cheeks and soaking into her neckerchief, before she and Gale both gazed at the monster with rage burning in their eyes. With their blades at the ready, Belle screamed "THIS IS FOR MY SISTER YOU PIECE OF SHIT!", while Gale followed up close behind "-WE'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!"
As the blood returned to her head, Poppy snapped out of her disorientation, only to find herself flying some two hundred feet above the city at high speed, with the ground starting to get closer: "WHA-, OH SHIT!" she quickly righted herself in readiness to fire her cables...
But as she fast-approached a nearby skirmish, she saw a male cadet in the grip of a titan, screaming and pleading for his life as the monster brought him up to its mouth: "-NO!" Poppy panicked as she quickly fired her cables and aimed at the titan with her blades ready to swing, flying in so hard and fast that she just about decapitated the titan on impact, right at the moment when it crushed the cadet in its jaws: biting into his side. "-NO!" the red-head continued to dread as she swung back around, practically pivoting in one hard spin, and catching the cadet in her arms, before sticking the landing in the middle of a main street: just as the titan keeled over dead.
As she held the now-going-into-shock teen, Poppy's panic spiked ten-fold: one didn't need to be a doctor to tell the cadet was in very bad shape; only minutes away from death. A good portion of his flesh had been torn out of his right side: from his right hypochondriac all the way down to his right Iliac, muscle and ligaments were torn to shreds, ribs were cracked and exposed, while his liver, kidney and intestines were at risk of falling out of place, and he was bleeding, badly. As if that all wasn't bad enough, tears fell down his face as fear mingled with the pain: he knew he was dying, this was the end, and he was terrified...
"Oh no, no no no no no, I'm not gonna let you die, cadet! Come on!-" She huffed as she ran into a nearby house for cover, quickly lay him down on the dinning table at the far end of the dwelling, and whipped out the small bottle of extra-strength healing elixir from her hip-pack: the 'extra-strong stuff' that was only reserved for fatal injuries. Prying the cork out with her teeth and spitting it out, Poppy held the bottle to the boy's lips, and gently poured it into his mouth, where he swallowed on reflex between panicked gasps and bloody coughs. "That's it! Come on, drink up, this stuff will have you back on your feet in no time, I promise!…" she encouraged him, trying to remain calm as her adrenaline kept her nerves at full tilt.
But the bleeding wasn't slowing down, so Poppy poured some of the elixir on the open wound, and to her relief, the potent healing magics began their work: the bleeding slowed, and the flesh, muscle, bone, and other soft tissues began fusing back together; all the while the closing injury was bathed in a soft blue glow, before leaving pale silvery scar tissue in its wake. The boy's panicked and erratic breathing slowed, and he began to relax as his body slowly recovered. "... That's better..." Poppy sighed in relief: feeling light-headed as she felt the tenseness in her body ease off a bit.
Noticing the blood and tears on his face, she used the back of her sleeve to wipe away the dark crimson that had come up through his mouth and nose, as well as the salty tears that had now stopped flowing: it was then, she was suddenly struck by how cute he was. Black short parted hair with light freckles peppered across his cheeks, and as his eyes half-opened, she noticed his light brown eyes; bright and soft. It was then she realized he was staring right up at her, and she froze in surprise...
With the immense pain in his side melting away into a strange warm feeling of comfort and bliss, Marco tried to open his eyes, and what he saw was not what he was expecting. A girl with long bright red braided hair half-concealed under an orange-red banana, and most of her face covered with a darker red neckerchief. The only part of her he could see was her eyes: bright, shining, and green as sun-bathed moss. She met his gaze: a strange mix of fear and relief, and yet, she somehow looked... beautiful...
"... I must be dead ..." Marco blurted out weakly, still quite drowsy from the blood-loss. "Uh-, No! No you're not dead, I promise!" she panicked: her voice sounded innocent; sweet in a way, much like Krista's. "... Really? Because, you look like an angel to me..." he blurted out frankly. Although most of her face was covered, he could see the blush on the tops of her cheeks; to which he blushed in turn as he suddenly realized what he just said, and felt quite embarrassed for it. The girl quickly diverted her gaze away, unsure what to say for a moment; "...Um- … Thanks, but-, I'm not an angel: I just- happened to be flying by..." she awkwardly replied: somehow, he could tell she was smiling beneath her neckerchief. "... What's-, your name?" he asked, managing to crack a weak awkward smile: "It's-, Flame coloured Tanager" she replied meekly. "Tanager? Like, the bird?" he raised a quizzical eyebrow, "Yeah, it's- kinda our thing..." she shrugged as she stepped back a little, glanced down at his side, and then replied in a more confident manner "Listen, I think you'll be okay now. So don't worry-
Suddenly, a loud booming set of footfalls shook the ground: feeling his strength return a little, Marco managed to sit upright, but before he could get up to run, the sight out the window made him pause, and stare in surprise. Glancing in the same direction to see what had caught his attention, Flame coloured Tanager immediately saw what he was looking at, and was just as surprised as he was: "... Holy Maria! ..." she exclaimed.
At the same time, elsewhere:
Near the inner gate, Javorin sucker-punched the armored titan into a row of tall buildings: landing him on his back. Hecate was about to drill her claws into him with Gale and Belle flanking her, when suddenly, the ripples of a familiar aura washed over the god-titan's; making them pause in shock.
"-What the hell?!" Herne blinked in surprise, "Was that-, the Rogue?" Hecate frowned in confusion, "Sure felt like it!" Elysia thought aloud, "But- something's different about him, almost as if … Something broke through the anger, and gave way to-, something else?" Javorin thought aloud in equal confusion. "Guys? What's up?" Bryson glanced up at Shadow, as the god-titan's crystal flesh turned back to regular flesh.
"Holy hell, LOOK!-" Hazel called out, pointing towards the breach. Everyone at both the top and bottom of the wall paused and looked out across the city, and the sight they saw was a surprise to say the least...
Slowly walking across town with the huge bolder balanced upon his shoulders, the rogue titan was making his way to the breach, all the while Stormwing and the other bird-titans was dispatching any titans that approached him...
"Holy shit..." Hawk realized, "-He's going to seal the breach!"
"He was the Garrison's plan to seal the breach?!" the Jay twins exclaimed in astonishment: "Damn, that's one hell of a plan!" the snow twins blinked in surprise. "Alright! Let's end this!" Ash shouted in delight.
But then the whole situation suddenly shifted yet again, as the Armored titan jumped back up on his feet: but this time, instead of engaging the god-titan's or re-establishing his defenses against the humans, he ran in the other direction; crashing through every building in his path like a stampeding bull, heading straight for the breach at full speed.
"WHAT?! Where the hell's he going?!" Pascal exclaimed, "He's heading for the breach!" Dale suddenly realized, turning to his father "-Dad! He's gonna stop the rogue! If he goes down it all ends here!"
"I WON'T LET HIM!..." Carla angrily grunted as she flew up high into the air, and whistled for Angel: the white avian immediately knew what to do, as she flew close enough for Carla to snag one of her shoulder-plume hackles and land on her shoulder: and together, they flew at high speed over the city, closing in on the Armored titan as he drew dangerously close to the breach...
The battle with this monster had been long, hard, and drawn out. Carla was nearing the end of her strength: her lungs burned as she breathed the fire in and out, whilst her joints made her the promise of a thousand pains yet to come the next morning. But right now, the only thing that was keeping her going was the need to settle the score: to bring this titan to heel, and make him pay for what he did to Shiganshina...
To her home, to her family, to her son and daughter; one way or another, he was going down: even if that meant she had to down with him...
Sensing her resolve, her conviction, and her need to end this: Javorin reached his power out to the crystal blades in Carla's handgrips, and discreetly channeled a portion of his might into them.
Seeing her blades glow bright blue, and feeling the energy of the crystal thrum through her hands and arms, Carla immediately realized this was Shadow's doing: and smiled "... Thanks Shadow, now let's finish this!...". She glanced at Angel, and with a confident gaze in her eyes, assured her, "You've done great today sweetie: but don't worry about me now. I'll take care of the rest..."
Knowing she didn't have to worry, Angel smiled and nodded, and as she lined up the Armored titan in her sights, Angel stooped down and dived; flapping her wings hard to reach full speed. Carla readied herself as the high winds kept her crouching low to avoid being blown off, and as the Armored titan turned to head for the rogue, that's when she made her move, and jumped...
Elysia was quick to clear the way with a shrieking avian scream: "OUTTA THE WAY GUYS! THE BASTARD'S OURS!"
The Garrison and cadets watched helplessly as the Armored titan barrelled towards Eren, completely hell-bent on stopping him as he demolished his way across the city: flattening buildings and even running over titans that strayed into his path...
"Oh dear god, NO!..." Armin shouted in dread
"What the hell?! Where'd he come from?!" Connie exclaimed
"What the-, where're the strangers?! Isn't anyone trying to stop him?!" Jean shouted furiously
"Oh no, it's over!..." Sasha whimpered
"Shit!-" Ymir cursed, "-He's coming right for Eren!" Krista panicked
"It can't end! Not like this!" Reiner grunted, "Oh Maria, NO!" Bertholdt panicked
"Wait, what's that?" Mikasa pointed up to the the sky...
The giant black and white avian, and all the other bird-titan's quickly flew out of the way as one all-white bird-titan descended down at high speed, aiming right for the Armored titan as it let out a long ear-piercing scream: but just as they came within range, a figure clad all in white, a woman, shot off their shoulder, and the bird-titan quickly pulled up at the last second.
Time seemed to still into one unbelievable moment, as the woman struck the titan with a spinning attack to the base of the neck: her glowing blue blades were crackling with energy like a thunderbolt, as the titan's head was sliced clean off, and the hulking mass of flesh and armor fell over forward and crashed into the street. Skidding to a halt and coming to rest some thirty meters from the breach; right as Eren was crossing the wooden bridge over the trenches, and with a mighty bellowing roar, he slammed the boulder into the breach...
Everyone, from the Garrison and cadets, to the hunters and the bird-titans paused, and stared in awe: both at Eren, and the lady in white, who was just coming into land atop the fallen monster's back. Her whole attire was drenched in red from head to toe: stained in the titan's blood, before evaporating away to reveal the whiteness of her clothes once more; like a white phoenix, born of crimson fire...
As she stood atop the Armored titan's back, gazing at the rouge as he slumped down in front of the boulder, Carla couldn't believe it: the day was won, this battle was over; and the Armored titan was defeated. But it was then she suddenly remembered the assumption that this was a titan-shifter, and with her blades still clutched in her hands, she gazed down at the nape, and got ready to start cutting...
But then suddenly, the nape violently exploded: a huge cloud of steam burst out of the seam between the armor plates, forcing Carla to shield her face from the intense heat with her cloak, and jump several steps back to avoid getting burnt. But just before the whole scene was swallowed up by the thick steam cloud, she glanced back over her shoulder, and nearly gasped in astonishment when she saw the figure of a man climbing out of the nape, and jumping off the neck; disappearing from sight.
As Angel came into land, the wind kicked up by her wings quickly dispelled the steam and cleared the air: Carla glanced up at her and demanded "Did you see him?! Did you see which way he went?!". Angel looked at her quizzically for a moment, before noticing the huge gaping hole in the nape of the titan's neck, and quickly put two and two together: hissing in frustration as she gazed all around, trying in vain to look for the titan-shifter. "Easy, easy..." Carla patted her on the leg, "... He's already gone... But at least we stopped him. For now..." she added. Angel sighed bitterly in disappointment, before leaning down to give her a nose-boop, to which Carla smiled and petted her on the cheek, "By the way? Nice aim, sweetie"
"-Holy hell that was amazing!" Connie exclaimed as he, Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt and Sasha flew down and landed on a nearby rooftop, "-Now that's what I call a head-shot, lady!"
"You think? ..." Carla smiled up at him, before recognizing Jean, Reiner and Bertholdt: "... Hey, nice to see you kids are still alive"; "Thank god you're still alive," Reiner smiled, "I dunno what the hell we'd have done if he'd taken down E-
"-BRAUN! HOOVER! BRAUSE! SPRINGER! KIRSCHTEIN! Back to work! We still got titan's to hold off!" one of the Garrison Captain's barked as he flew overhead: "Thanks for saving our lives, Mother Dove!-" Sasha gleefully shouted as she flew away with the others, "Don't wear it out!" Carla shouted back with a smile.
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
"... He did it, he actually did it!" Marco smiled as he gazed out the window at the now-sealed breach, "And-, who the hell took off the Armored titan's head?".
"That was Mother Dove" Flame coloured Tanager smiled, "Mother Dove?!" Marco blinked in surprise, "Yeah, she's pretty strong, and damn good with a set of blades...". She then glanced over at Marco, and awkwardly changed the subject "Well? Thanks for not dieing on me, and I hope you do well in the military. Bye...", then turned and headed for the door.
"Wait!-" Marco hopped off the table and chased after her, reaching the door just as she was about to take off: "-Where're you going?". "To find my family: my sisters are probably worried sick thinking I'm dead or something. I need to make sure they're okay too. That was some fight; taking on the Armored titan, I mean" she replied. "... Oh-, yeah, of course..." Marco realized, before something else came to mind, and he blurted out, "...Will-, you guys be sticking around? Now that the battle's over, I mean". Flame Coloured Tanager hesitated a moment, "I'm-, not sure: it depends on what Grey owl orders us to do..." she admitted reluctantly: "...Will you ever come back here?" He asked anxiously. "... I don't know..." she replied, dropping her gaze in ruefulness...
That was when Poppy suddenly got an idea, and perked up with a twinkle in her eye...
"... We live out in Maria, deep in the forest: and it's a long way to come that far out into titan country..." she met his gaze with an air of confidence, as a tiny spark of something akin to hopefulness seemed to twinkle in his eyes: "... So I guess? If you want to meet us again, you'll have to join the Scouts. They're the only people who journey out into the titan's lands after all, and we've run into them on a number of occasions... And I think, given what's happened here today, we'll be seeing a lot more of each other in the near future..."
Marco wasn't sure what to say at first, before a nervous smile crossed his lips "... Yeah, maybe...".
Flame Coloured Tanager was about to say something else, when the sound of titan footsteps echoing nearby made her push him back inside: "-Listen, you need to stay in here until the Garrison have wiped out all the titans within the city: that titan damaged your ODM gear when he took that bite outta you, so keep your head down, and stay outta sight. Alright?" she told him. "Yeah, sure thing-" he replied, glancing around the inside of the house: then, something caught his eye, "Oh, there's a basement in the kitchen..." he smiled as he headed for said basement between the sink and the stove, " ...Guess I'll just wait down here then" he smiled awkwardly as he opened the door and stepped inside, "Listen, thank you for saving my life: I owe you one. Flame Coloured Tanager" he smiled. "It's okay, really ...Oh, I never got your name" she realized, "It's-, Marco: Marco Bodt".
"Marco..." She smiled "... Cool...": she returned to the front door, and before stepping outside, watched him as he disappeared down into the basement. She then shot her lines and flew out the door, soaring up above the rooftops: scanning the cityscape for her family. But it didn't take her long to spot them, as she caught sight of Shadow (who's crystal flesh had reverted back to normal flesh by now, much to her surprise) and Midnight's massive forms heading for the area near the breach, while Angel and Carla were flying northward to meet up with them. Aiming for the area where they were most likely to meet in the middle, Poppy wasted no time in flying across the city towards them.
"POPPY!" Belle and Gale shouted at the top of their lungs, "-GUYS!" she squealed in delight as she flew down to meet them on one of the rooftops: her feet barely touched the tiles before her sisters tackled her in a bear-hug, followed quickly by the other kids. "-OH MY GOD! I thought you were dead!" Belle cried as tears ran down her cheeks, "-We thought we'd lost you! Do you have any idea how much Aunt Miriam's gonna kill us if we had to tell her that you died on our watch?!" Gale sobbed as she squeezed her tightly. "ACK!- She'll still kill you if I die from being hugged too tight!" Poppy wheezed: "Oh yeah, right" Belle chuckled as they all let go: "Seriously though? Well done for not dieing" Gale added in relief. "You too" Poppy smiled as she patted her and Belle on the shoulder. Boar quickly clambered up onto the roof, and with a happy guttural moan, scooped up the kids in one big bear-hug: "-Nice to see you too, Boar!" Poppy wheezed as she tried to catch her breath.
"Where'd you end up?" Ashlyn asked as Boar let them all go, "Oh-, somewhere over there..." Poppy gestured vaguely to the area of the city she'd just come from. For a moment she thought about mentioning Marco, but decided to save it for later: "He threw me quite a way away". "No shit" Fox blinked in surprise. "But hey, enough about me: Dove! I saw you take down the Armored titan! Holy hell that was some head-slice!" Poppy beamed as Carla approached. She was about to reply, when suddenly, the heads of the Celtic clans and Ranger family's showed up on their bird-titans.
"Nice one Dove!" Warren cheered, "A damn fine kill if ever I saw one!" Dakota smiled: "Well? I would say it looks like the battle is won: the Armored titan's defeated and the Rogue titan has sealed the breach" Ratatosk smiled beneath his squirrel mask, "Indeed, well done, all of you: I think we'll eat and drink well tonight" Tyto smiled, "So what do we do now? Go break bread with the Garrison?" Pascal asked offhand.
Tyto was about to reply, when suddenly, one of the Rangers came flying at them, and landed on a nearby rooftop: "Grey owl! The Blue Wolf clan just spotted the Scouts coming this way! They'll be here within ten minutes! Everyone outside the breach has already taken off, and is heading back to the forest, what should we do?"
Everyone in the gang fell silent as they gazed at the Grey Owl, waiting for his next orders: "Dad? Are we really gonna run and leave the Scouts to clean this up?" Ariana asked worryingly, gesturing to the area near the breach, where the Garrison and cadets were still fighting the remaining titans. Gazing back and forth between the now-crystallized inner gate and the sealed breach: Tyto passed a sigh, before stating, "... We've kept Erwin's promise: now, we let him do what he needs to do, in order to move on to the next step..." he gazed up at the clan and family heads, "...Brothers, order a full retreat back to the base camp, we won't risk overstaying our welcome"
"Ah-, very well, Grey Owl" Ratatosk nodded: half-wondering what the logic behind this move was, as did the others as they sounded their affirmation. "You sure about this, dad?" Ash asked offhand, "He's right," Bryson added, "Considering how tense things got earlier, it's best to clear out of here, and wait to see what happens next".
"Okay, but how the hell are you guys gonna get outta Trost? Now that the breach is sealed" Evrard glanced up at Shadow and Midnight: to which Shadow simply replied with a knowing wink and a finger tap to his temple; he already had a plan. "Okay, that takes care of you two: everyone else, either hitch a ride with Angel and Boar, or grab a bird-titan. Let's move!" Tyto ordered.
The deep loud bluster of Ratatosk's hunting horn echoed across the city as his friend, Snowtail climbed the winds: everyone in the Hunt knew that was the signal to retreat to the forest, and without another word, everyone rejoined their god-titan's and took off up into the air. Followed closely by all the ravens and birds-of-pray...
Boar stood up and lifted up his arms for Angel to grasp, and lift him up into the air: with Clay, Hazel, Fox, Shyla and Evrard holding on tightly to his mane and shoulders; while Angel carried Carla, the snow twins, Ashlyn, Hawk, Falken and Tyto effortlessly, followed by Evernight. Ariana, Bryson, Belle, Gale and Poppy flagged down a near-by Eagle-titan and took off, while Pascal, West, Ash, Rowan, Dale, the Jay twins and Eraman managed to hitch a ride on a Crow type bird-titan, with Eraman's ravens bringing up the rear.
"Hey Nyiera, think you got enough left in the tank to give us a ride out?" Javorin smirked as he telepathically relayed the plan he had in mind to the avian goddess, who simply shot back "Please: what kind of question is that?"; she circled around and headed north "Just get into position and get ready to jump..." she added dryly.
Meanwhile, atop the inner wall:
"Definitely yellow smoke... Oh my god! The mission was a success!" one of the female officers exclaimed as the yellow smoke signal from the Garrison's Elite squad shot up into the sky near the sealed breach.
"Deploy all reinforcements, bring the elite squad home" Pyxis ordered, as he felt relief wash over him: though, he didn't let it show.
"But I don't understand, why're they all leaving?" one of the officers blinked in surprise as they watched all the strangers and bird-titans take off up into the sky.
"Who knows? Let's ask our friend..." Pyxis gestured to the bird-titan that was flying towards them: it was the one that brought Ratatosk earlier, and sitting on her shoulder, was the Red Squirrel himself.
"Pyxis!-" the man called to him as the bird-titan came into land on the edge of the wall: the commander was the only one to approach as Ratatosk leaned down to speak "... Sorry to just up and leave so abruptly, but Grey Owl felt we'd over-stayed our welcome". "Not at all" Pyxis smiled "... I thank you, all of you, for your bravery and your sacrifice: I don't know if we'd have won on our own, but you certainly helped to even the odds here today". "You too, Commander Pyxis" Ratatosk bowed his head politely "This kingdom still stands thanks to the courage and sacrifice of your solders; tonight, we will feast in their honor and sing of their memories... I do hope we can meet again someday". "Me too, Ratatosk: until then, farewell" Pyxis bowed his head in return, "Thank you Pyxis: and by the way, the scouts will be returning presently, so I wouldn't worry about dealing with the stragglers..." he gestured to the remaining titans pawing at the base of the inner wall, "Until next time: may you fly swift and safe!" he smiled as Snowtail took off, and flew up high into the sky: heading in the same direction as all the other bird-titans.
"Hm? What're they doing?" one of the officer's pointed to the black and white female titan, and the spear-wielding titan, who were both jogging towards the military base: once a few hundred yards past the building, they both stopped. The spear-wielding titan produced his crystal spear from his flesh, and as he grasped one end of the shaft, the female titan grasped the other: together they both gazed up at the sky above the inner wall, seemingly watching something. But as the officers turned to try and see what they were looking at, the sight of the giant black and white bird-titan flying straight at them sent the Garrison into a panic.
"-WHOA! LOOK OUT!" another officer shouted as everyone ran or ducked down behind the cannons, as the humongous avian silently swooped over the top of the wall, barely missing it by several feet. At the same time, the two titans on the ground started running at top speed, with both ends of the spear shaft in both hands held above their heads: and as the avian swung her legs down and stretched her feet forward, the two runners jumped, and the avian caught the centre of the spear's shaft in her talons; carrying the two titans up into the air. With a few powerful flaps of her wings, she was over eighty meters above the ground by the time she passed over the outer wall, with both passengers holding on tightly.
"Remarkable..." Pyxis breathed in amazement, before smiling at his aides "...If they ever come here again, remind me to buy the first round of drinks"
As she leaned over the side of Angel's shoulder, Ariana caught a glimpse of the Rogue titan as he remained slumped and unconscious in front of the boulder: '… I don't know who or what you are, Rogue, but thank you for helping us win this day...' she thought with a small tired smile.
As the whole Hunt flew over the wall, Bryson noticed movement out on the plains: it was the Scouts, galloping at full speed towards the former outer gate. At the front of the charge, he spotted Erwin on his pale grey mare, and could tell in his gut he was gazing up at them; '… So, what will you do now Erwin? We kept our word, how will you use this victory to your advantage?...' he thought offhand.
As he watched the setting sun, Evrard breathed deep the cool air, and passed long wiry sigh as his thoughts turned to those who couldn't be here: '...Ran, Bestla, Skadi: wherever you are, I hope you can rest a little more peacefully. We have avenged you, and all of Shiganshina this day...'
As she sat on Angel's shoulder, braced against the shoulder-plume, Carla removed her neckerchief and bandanna, and let the wind cool her face as she breathed in the evening winds. Gazing upwards at the darkening sky, and seeing the evening star shine bright against the sun's dieing light, she felt strange; as if a great weight she didn't know she'd been carrying was finally lifted from her. And as she contemplated the day's event's, one thing came to mind, as she thought about Eren: '…Rest in peace, my darling: I hope I did you proud today...'.
As tears ran down her face, she smiled, and for the first time in a long time, she allowed herself to be at peace: even if it was only for tonight.
As he gazed skyward, watching the strangers leave from where he stood on the back left shoulder of Eren's titan form: Armin couldn't help but think '...I don't know who you guys are, or where you came from; but, thank you...'
Suddenly, the titan's nape opened up vertically with a burst of steam: and as he jumped back in surprise, Armin could see Eren's back, shoulders and head buried amongst the sinew. "Eren! Oh my god, are you alright?!" he gasped in astonishment, but Eren was totally unconscious. After cutting some of the flesh and muscular tissues away to get a better foothold, Armin hooked his arms under Eren's armpits, and started trying to pull him out. His whole body was hot, almost burning as Armin pried him out of the nape.
"Armin! How is he!" Mikasa shouted up from where she stood on the bridge: "Unconscious and scorching to the touch! ...We have to get him up the wall!" he shouted back as Eren's top half came loose, while his legs and feet were still bonded to the sinew; fortunately, the now-evaporating titan carcass made the pulling a little easier. Both Mikasa and Rico flew up to see what was going on, "Dammit he's fused to the carcass! I can't work him free!" Armin grunted as he kept tugging. "Then we cut!" Rico lifted her blade up, ready to slice into the titan flesh: much to Mikasa's horror "Wait!- We don't what that may do!" she exclaimed, but Rico left no room to argue further as she swung the blade and severed the sinew attached the Eren's legs.
With a surprised yelp, Armin and Eren both tumbled backwards as they slid off the carcass's back, landing on part of the leg: cushioning their landing. But the relief was short-lived as Armin heard footsteps off to his right, and froze in fear as two fifteen meter titans approached. "Eren! Armin!" Mikasa cried as she readied herself to fight.
But then, without warning: as Eren opened his heavy eyelids, he saw a flash of green streak down the side of the wall, and darted towards and around the back of the first titan; its nape exploding in a blur of blood and motion as it was sliced clean out, before the second one was dispatched in equally rapid succession.
As the two creature's keeled over dead, Mikasa flew down to Armin's side, and after seeing they were both okay, the three friends gazed up at the figure that had come to land on the back of one of the titans. Weakly gazing up, Eren saw the wings of freedom on the back of the stranger's cloak, and right away, recognized the man's face.
"Pay attention, kiddos" Levi ordered as he gazed up at the huge titan carcass slumped against the boulder, "This is the part where you explain to me exactly what it is I'm looking at"
Three days later, in the garden of the Tree of Knowledge:
"Man, its not even been a week an' I'm still aching in places I didn't know I had" Clay grumbled under his breath, "You an' me both, bro" Hazel grimaced as she slumped in her seat.
"Sorry, I didn't know we were keeping you two from your beauty sleep" their father smirked jokingly as he nudged Clay with his elbow, "Sorry, dad..." he sighed as he straightened up, "Guess the fatigue's not going away as well as I thought it would, that ache in my side's been keeping me up at night"
"Well why didn't you just say so? I have some muscle relaxant that can take care of that" Breck quickly scribbled something on a page in his notebook, ripped it out and handed it Clay, "Swing by the hospital later and Rosemary will whip up a fresh batch for you, okay?". "Okay, thanks doc" Clay yawned as he stuffed the note in his pocket.
"Honestly Clay, why do you insist on suffering in silence?" Derek asked, trying not to come off as rude; "It's that Red-boar mentality," Falken smirked as he petted Evernight, who sat contently in his lap like a cat "Just like their totem: stubborn and pig-headed to a fault,". "Not to mention greedy; who else could've eaten all the dumplings in one sitting?" Jaye deadpanned at Clay, who shot him a look.
"You two quite finished?" Miriam shot them both a stern mother-hen look, to which they both straightened up and shut up, "Cuz' if so, let's get back to the business at hand"
"Which part? The fact that titan-shifters officially still exist, or the fact that they exist within the walls raises some serious questions? ..." Dale pointed out.
"But if they do exist within the walls, then how did the Armored titan get outside Trost in the first place?" Crow, the leader of the Black Wolf Clan added "After he destroyed the flesh wall, the animal-titans did all they could to stop the flood of titans he'd attracted with that scream of his: but before that, Coalhide swore up and down that there was a human standing in the place where the monster first appeared. If they got over the wall somehow, how did they avoid the Garrison's notice?"
"Well? They could've stolen a uniform and set of ODM gear, and simply scaled the wall. That's not impossible" Count Olaf suggested.
"If that's the case: then the fact they were able to grab a uniform and ODM raises two possibilities. Either they have connections on the black market, who're able to grab that stuff and forge a military ID: or they're already in the military, which posses another possible conundrum," Pascal sighed in vexation.
"They could've been the one responsible for the Garrison's 'misunderstanding' of our being there..." Lucius realized, "Or at least, at some point before they were able to scale the wall and make it out to that hamlet: but that makes no sense either..." he frowned as he ran his fingers through his hair, to which Lucy picked up without missing a beat "Considering how many pairs of eyes were in the air and on the ground by the time the Hunt showed up, it would've been impossible for anyone to scale the wall without anyone else noticing; unless there was another way. A secret door, or a concealed tunnel maybe?"
"I find that highly unlikely: after a hundred years of patrolling and maintaining the walls, how would the Garrison miss something like a door or a tunnel?" Remmel pointed out. "Um? It's a secret? That means they wouldn't have known about it to begin with?" Bemadette retorted sarcastically "Well, except for the Armored titan of course..." she threw in, before suddenly realizing "-But, wait a minute: if that's the case, and the Armored titan (and by extension the Colossal titan) has a secret way in and out of the kingdom that the military don't know about. What else has been going that no one knows about?!"
"Indeed... Long and short of it? Shenanigans have been carrying on, and there're rats hiding in the cellar, if you get my drift..." Miriam huffed as she folded her arms "Question is: who's side is the Rogue titan on? Yeah he saved Trost and all of humanity in the process, but how can we be sure that's not some other means to an end? Why did he decide to blow his cover and show his hand there and then in the heat of battle? Can we be sure he's not in cahoots with the Armored and Colossus titans? And how do we know those three aren't the only titan-shifters hiding in the interior? For all we know there could be a whole army of the bastards waiting for the order to strike... This whole bullshit raises too many questions, the kind that needs answering sooner rather than later!" she vehemently pointed out.
"I agree with Miriam," Bryson spoke up, "The idea of there being titan-shifters hiding somewhere in the kingdom is a troubling prospect: and I've no doubt Erwin will have come to the same conclusion by now. To that end, when we finally enter the interior, we're going to have to be extra careful about how we conduct ourselves in public; we don't know who might be watching"
"And speaking of the interior," Carla threw in her two copper pieces "What do you suppose the military will have done with the Rogue by now? If he is a titan-shifter and it's been made public knowledge, then the whole kingdom is probably still reeling"
"And I'll bet you Erwin was quick to seize the opportunity," Ash surmised "Having a titan in the ranks of the Scouting legion would be a major game-changer: putting them on the same footing as us"
"Which is why I don't believe the Rogue is dead" Hawk replied "I don't know how he would've done it: begged, borrowed or kidnapped them, but somehow, Erwin will have managed to get his hands on the titan-shifter. And whether they're willing or not, they're probably a Scout now"
"And knowing Hange and the Levi squad, I'll bet they've got some kinda countermeasure in place for if he decides to bite the hand that feeds; or, keep him outta being locked up in a cell somewhere" Dale added offhand.
"Going back to when the Armored titan first appeared..." Shyla interrupted, "I remember Coalhide also mentioned seeing hundreds of golden lights appearing somewhere across the plains, and then all those titans suddenly appearing in the same general location: what are we to make of that?"
"At this point, I don't know..." Bryson replied frankly, "But I don't think it's a coincidence, that all those titans suddenly showed up when they did following that 'phenomenon'. Until we can learn more on the subject, we'll have to put a pin in it to explore another time"
"And speaking of learning more, namely about titan-shifters, is there anything that might help shed further light on this subject, Claude?" Ratatosk glanced over at the titan scientist, who straightened up and offered "Well? As much as I wish I could say yes, unfortunately no" he sighed in disappointment "We have spent the better part of the last few days double-checking everything in the titan exhibition, as well as any other historical documentation pertaining to the subject: and while we have found certain historical records of similar titan variations, there's nothing on the Armoured, Colossal or Rogue titans. We can only surmise these particular 'variations' of titan must've been created some time after the Order abandoned the Hidden land"
Everyone sighed and huffed in frustration.
A long awkward moment of silence passed over the group, before Ariana changed the subject somewhat: "... Is it just me, or is anyone else weirded out by the fact that the Rogue titan was a near-spitting image of Shadow? ..." she gazed up at her best friend with a concerned look; Shadow sighed through his teeth as his shoulder's sagged a little, "Call me crazy, but my gut's telling me that, somehow, that wasn't a coincidence either..." she added.
"I'd been wondering about that too..." Javorin confessed, "And yet, nothing about him resonated with me; not his power, his aura, nothing. Whoever was inside that titan, they were a human, and they were filled with a rage I have not seen for a good few millennia"
"And yet, he had your face: maybe Ariana's right, maybe it's not a coincidence?" Hecate suggested "After all this time, after the many thousands of years we've been doing this 'job', even I know something like that doesn't 'just happen'; not without a reason of some kind, no matter how crazy it is"
"It was kinda spooky, and terrifying, seeing an angry version of Shadow like that" Belle admitted, before quickly glancing up at Shadow and hastily clarifying "-Not that you're anything like him big guy! Never in a million years!" she smiled sheepishly with an awkward chuckle.
"But still... Whoever was 'piloting' that titan body, clearly had a lot of rage to burn: whether they're allies or enemies of humanity remains to be seen: but, like you said before, the fact they've been hiding somewhere in the interior all this time is concerning. Did they do it alone? Did they work alongside the Armored and Colossal titan? Or could they have even had human accomplices? And the fact they showed up in the middle of Trost during the battle suggests its must be either one of the Garrison, or a cadet" Hawk suggested.
"In which case..." Hazel suddenly realized, her vexation reflected in her eyes "They would've undergone training at the academy: which means they have a full understanding of the military, how it's structured, every weapon, protocol, rank and standard procedure. All that information would be invaluable to a spy looking to sneak in and go about unnoticed"
"And on the off-chance there are no secret tunnels or hidden doorways that bypass the walls: then the only way the titan-shifters could've gotten into the kingdom was via the first attack on Shiganshina five years ago: they'd have abandoned their titan bodies soon after the second breach, and simply blended in with the flow of refugee's pouring into Rose" Dale added.
"...Which means, in all likelihood: that the first attack was probably a diversion for them to get inside..." Fox grimly realized.
Everyone stared at him in disbelief, before Derek quickly piped in "Possible as that theory may be, we don't know that for certain: not yet" he addressed the rest of the meeting, "Look, whatever their motive is: we can save it until we're in a position to catch up to them; for now, let's stick with what we know and what we can surmise based on the facts at hand"
"Agreed, all these theories are not unreasonable, but let's not get ahead of ourselves..." Carla added, before stating frankly "...But I must admit: I think this a matter we must address sooner rather than later: after all, there's no telling what else might be lurking in the cellar; so to speak" she glanced over at Miriam, who nodded in agreement.
"Hmmm..." Claude sighed, as his brows furrowed together in thought "... I agree; I too have a feeling that Shenanigans are going on somewhere in the kingdom, and probably have for a while... And if, by some wild off-chance the Wall-cult are involved somehow, then we cannot sit on this... Whatever the answer is, it's not here in the city of Omnes Scientiam, and the only ones that might have had any inkling as to what was going on, was the Order of the White Rose"
"But, as far as we know, they're all dead and gone" Count Olaf mentioned, "None of them returned to the city or the Hidden land once they left: what proof do we have that they're still alive?"
"And what proof do we have that confirms they're dead?" Bryson was quick to point out, "Look, we don't know why they left this place: but I think it's fair to say that something of a grave or drastic nature necessitated their departure. Whatever the reason, it must be part of why they left no documentation explaining why they abandoned the Hidden land; strange as that sounds"
"You're right, it is strange..." West interjected, his face reflecting his disbelief "That's something that's always bothered me: from the day we first learnt about the Order and what they did here, there's a whole load of stuff surrounding these guys that made no sense. I get that things were way more dire back when they lived here, and that things in the world were not as 'stable' as one might like to believe. But the whole 'initiation ritual' to become one of them: why so much secrecy? What was going on in the outside world back then that necessitated them to keep such a low profile?"
"Well that's what we've been trying to figure out," Remmel replied, "Me an' the boys must've combed the archives over a dozen times by now, and so far we've found nothing. Either there's another hidden archive somewhere in the city we haven't discovered yet, or the Order must've taken the historical documents in question with them when they left the city; either way, we're as stumped for answers as the rest of you"
Thinking over everything they had discussed, and all the implications attached to the subject at hand, Tyto then stepped in and offered his opinion: "... Whichever way you cut it, the fact is: what happened at Trost has raised some serious questions. Namely, the possibility that there are insurgents of unknown origin hiding somewhere in the interior, and that at least two of them are actively working to bring about the downfall of humanity... Erwin will have surmised this, and I have no doubt is working on, or has already come up with a plan to try and flush out the guilty parties: how the Rogue titan will factor into this, we don't know. But the next time the Scouts pass through the forest, I've no doubt that titan-shifter will be hiding somewhere among his troops"
:If that's the case, then we'll take the opportunity to get a better look at them: Shadow spelt out with his smoke-light, :See if their intentions are leaning towards humanity's preservation:
"And what if they're not?" Fox gazed up at him with a mixed look on his face, "What if this person, this Rogue titan, does not have humanity's best interests at hand?"
A heavy silence fell over the whole meeting, before the Keeper stated "Then, we will do what is necessary to ensure they do not pose a threat to anyone"
"Considering how he fought all those other titans in Trost? I can't say I like the idea of having to engage that Rogue in combat" Gale threw in, as the memory of seeing the Rogue's blood-thirst first hand flashed through her mind for a moment, "If, somehow, we're forced into a fight with that guy: we're gonna need a plan in place, something that ensures we'll have the upper hand"
"Of course Gale: but before we go jumping to any conclusions, we have to at least consider the possibility that they may genuinely be on humanity's side" Ashlyn pointed out, "After all, considering the risk it took moving that bolder into place to seal the breach, never-mind the fact that just lifting the damn thing could've killed them if they'd dropped it? That's one hell of a gamble, and one that could've so very easily failed"
"True, but until you guys can find the Rogue, get within range and peer into his aura, this whole subject is moot; we're just gonna be going around in circles" Ash gazed up at the god-titan's. "And then there's the subject of Erwin and the Scouts," Clay pointed out, "If that Rogue really is a scout now, and the commander brings him along on their next expedition: what do you suppose their orders are gonna be?". "Surely not another capture mission? Even if I had a week I couldn't list the number of reasons why that would be a stupid move: never mind the fact that we'd out-number the Rogue four to one" Evrard scoffed.
"Yeah, but given how hard and fierce he was in Trost, I can't say I'd be willing to take the risk with just the four of you guys, even if you are more skilled than him at hand-to-hand combat..." Carla gazed up at the god-titan's apologetically, "Look, I don't doubt any of you, and if I had to bet of course I'd put my jerky on you guys. But determination, skill and good tactics are not guarantee's that you'll win a fight. Given what we saw it Trost, I'd say having the whole Hunt at our backs would be the way to go, if combat was a likelihood"
"Erwin won't come looking for a fight, even he knows the Rogue will be outnumbered and outclassed..." Bryson thought aloud, "Regardless of what the top brass's orders are, I have a hunch he'll have his own mission in mind..."
"Which, in your professional opinion, is?" Claude smirked. Bryson gazed over at his friend, and smiled as he elaborated "...Well? Given the carnage surrounding the outside of the breach, plus all the giant animal tracks, Erwin now knows its not just Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel that're part of the family, not to mention all the bird-titans they'd have seen leaving Trost when we retreated. Plus, both he and Hange will have gone over the Garrison's supply squad's observation reports with a fine-toothed comb: so they'll know a fair bit about the Hunt; our general numbers, our fighting style, as much as they can gather and surmise... Broadly speaking, Erwin's going to be cautious: he knows that he's now dealing with an army numbering in the hundreds, not in the dozens as previously suspected. He knows there's more than one titan type, and the size classes are larger too, more muscle and manpower that's going to need to be negated in the event of a confrontation. He knows us, the gang, and we're his only reference point as to what we are and how we function: since we haven't deviated from our usual Modus Operandi over the past four years, he'll be expecting the unexpected from us, as per usual... However..."
"However?" Miriam quizzically raised an eyebrow,
"... This game of ours, this little dance we've been dancing with him and the scouts for the past four years: we both knew it would come to this. Or something just like what happened at Trost; testing the resolve of our conviction to save humanity, and proving to the kingdom that we are who we say we are... I don't know how the rest of the walled world received the news that Rose's southern-most city was saved by an army of strangers fighting alongside a strange new breed of titan, never mind that the attack was halted by a titan-shifter that risked their life to save mankind. But Erwin now knows for sure, that we are above reproach, and that he has a new ally in us... We've made our final move, now its his turn to complete the game, and play his last hand"
"Which is?" Gustav pressed him.
Bryson smiled, and with a cryptic twinkle in his eye, replied "...What happens when an unmovable object encounters an unstoppable force?"
Everyone glanced at one another in confusion for a moment, as they all tried to make sense of Bryson's riddle: until Dale suddenly figured it out, and let out an audible gasp as he then realized what he was implying. "-You really think Erwin would be willing to take such a big risk?!" he eagerly leaned across the table, "Especially with-, what is essentially his one and only trump card?"
"I've no doubt he's going to lay his very life on the line," Bryson further explained, "He knows that we saw the Rogue in Trost, and knows that they'll probably be the clincher to whatever agreement we come to going forwards from here on out. The question now is, what can we offer that will seal the deal, and convince Erwin once and for all that our cause truly is in humanity's favor?"
It was at that moment, Ariana suddenly had the biggest idea she'd ever had. Seeing the change in her aura, the god-titan's interest was suddenly piqued as she folded her arms and played it cool to the gathering...
"... Um? Well that's easy" Ariana smiled smugly: which took both Bryson and Dale by surprise, "This!..." she waved her hands over her head, "The city of lost memories! The greatest source of all human knowledge that ever was or is, everything you could wish to know about the outside world all housed in one vast city. Not to mention the Hidden land, a whole kingdom concealed from the world for hundreds of years, now playing host to the last Celtic and Ranger clans in existence, as well as the five hundred survivors from the failed retrieval op, all living side-by-side with the god-titan's in harmony..." she eagerly elaborated further "We have two incredible gifts to offer: knowledge that will technologically advance humanity by decades if not centuries, allowing us to travel and explore the outside world without ever having to fight the regular titans and incur further fatalities. And the wisdom to show how humanity can truly be a force for good in the world: how to live alongside each other without having to resort to selfishness, how we can be at our best without having to be underhanded and how we don't have to be fighting each other all the time just to survive. We are at our strongest when we work together: with compassion, bravery, humility, and love. All this and more, we have preserved and practiced through the best and worst of times, while the rest of humanity has forgotten. Don't you think it's high time we remind them what it means to be human once again? ..."
Everyone stared at her in confusion and surprise, unsure what she was getting at: seeing this, Ariana stated, "... Look: granted, it's not perfect, and not everyone's gonna be interested. But Shadow was right; we may not be able to change everyone's minds, but we can at least try to open a few: and a few's better than none, right?"
All the humans glanced at one another in further confusion, while the god-titan's merely smiled, knowing what was coming next...
"Um? Ariana, my dear: that's a fine point, to be sure: but could you possibly clarify as to what you're suggesting?" Claude smiled awkwardly. "She's suggesting we bring the Scouts here" Dale grinned smugly. "WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed. "Yep, invite them to spend their next expedition here, and let them see for themselves how we, as a united peoples can be, rather than just be stuck as we are now" Ariana beamed.
"Um? I don't know-" Count Olaf hesitated, "Would that really be such a wise idea?"
"Why wouldn't it?" Ariana argued back, as she addressed the whole gathering, "Look, for the better part of the last four years we've been stringing Erwin and the Scouts along, keeping him interested with our little cryptic hints here and there: and he knows we know more than we're letting on. Don't you think it's time we finally offered something to show for it? We can talk big all we want, but at the end of the day if we've got nothing to back it all up, then what's the point of trying to join forces in the first place?… We've already proven to Erwin that saving humanity is our priority: why not let's demonstrate how we can save it in other ways? How together, we can do something humanity hasn't seen for the last hundred years: restore hope, and build a future where we don't have to live in fear all the time... And, when all is said and done, isn't that the ultimate goal of the Scouts? To expand the borders of the kingdom and reclaim the lands lost to the titans? Why not let's give them a hand with that, and show them what mankind has truly lost to the titans, and each other..."
Everyone stared at Ariana in amazement for a moment: but before anyone had the chance to speak any objections or voice their doubts, Queen Aurora smiled brightly "I think that's an excellent idea"
"Er- it is?" Count Olaf blinked up at her in surprise.
"Yes, it is: I believe, in the wake of recent events, now is the time to extend a gesture of peace to the walled kingdom, and begin the next phase of the endeavor. Having the Scouts invited here as our guests will be a prudent and practical way of demonstrating who we are and what we aspire to be as a united peoples..." she gazed down at Ariana, who couldn't help but smile in delight "Well thought out, Ariana..."
Some time later:
As everyone filed out of the garden and began the long climb back down through the city to the waiting barge at the jetty: Carla noticed Ariana was absent, until she gazed over one of the many balconies, and spotted the auburn-headed huntress on the next level down; right away, she knew where she was going...
Slipping back into her ODM gear, Carla flew down through the city: past all the grand and opulent buildings until she came to the Halls of the Oceans, the museum that housed everything to do with the natural history of the worlds oceans, seas and fresh waters. The grand courtyard at its entrance was vast and encompassing with a huge circular, exquisitely painted mural over fifteen meters high, depicting a shoreline with crashing waves, tall ships and other sailing boats with all manner of sea creatures swimming alongside them, and a beautiful sunset adorned with rich golden hues: while its base was lined with a wide aquamarine bench that ended with a Roman dolphin and scallop shell at each end.
There, Ariana stood facing a small framed picture of Armin, Eren and Mikasa, along with Armin's favourite book about the outside world, three small candles that had long-since burned to the base of their wicks, a little boat carved from a piece of wood, painted blue and decked with red sails, along with a miscellaneous collection of other items: such as shells, gemstones, carvings of various Celtic totem animals, and rune stones that spelt out their names. It was the closet thing to a memorial shrine she could come up with, and the best she felt they would be proud of: she often came here during the first few years after the fall of Maria, when the pain of their absence weighed heavy on her heart; but as the years past and the hole in her heart scarred over, she found herself coming here less and less. And despite touring the Halls of Oceans numerous times, it just didn't feel right to enjoy its wonders and splendour, knowing they were not here to enjoy it alongside her.
As she heard Carla's soft footsteps approach from behind, Ariana couldn't help but smile nervously: "... I still can't believe Queen Aurora agreed to it..." she glanced over at the raven-haired women, as she smiled while laying a gentle reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I mean-, I know its a bold idea, and one that not everyone in the Hidden Land's gonna be comfortable with; but-, I don't see how else we can move forward; and isn't that point? To keep moving forward?"
"Yes darling, it is indeed..." Carla nodded: as she gazed down at the little shrine, something else came to mind as she reminisced "... I think Eren would be proud of you..." Ariana glanced at her in surprise "Mikasa and Armin too... You know? Sometimes I can still see the four of you together, off playing somewhere in the forest... Somehow, no matter how far from home you all ventured, you, always found a way to bring them back home again" She smiled. "Eh, I guess that's the Celt in me," Ariana shrugged, "Somehow, we always manage to find our way, no matter where or how far we go ...and, I guess this is much the same thing. As long as we remember what is true, and keep in mind where we want to go: we'll find a way, together"
"Hey you two..." Freya smiled as she, Mabel and Joseph entered the huge courtyard, each carrying a small stack of books: "...Bidding Eren, Mikasa and Armin a visit?"
"Sort off," Ariana smiled "You look like you've found something interesting: new recipes again, mum?". "Oh, just some new game stews we haven't tried yet: there's a nice one from south-east Asia that calls for pheasant and plums: I think your father will rather enjoy that one" Freya winked: "So, how did the gathering go? After what you told us about Trost, it sounded like there was a lot to cover" Mabel asked curiously; "Did you manage to reach a consensus on where we go from here?" Joseph asked as well.
"Well? ..." Ariana smiled sheepishly, "...I kinda proposed a rather daring idea..."
Some time later that evening, at the Deer clan's home tree:
Bowen sat outside on his porch, watching the hummingbirds and butterflies flit back and forth over the flowers of his garden, while his family were busying themselves inside the huge tree-house: chatting and laughing while preparing dinner. But the head of the Deer clan was not in much of a jovial mood...
As he thought back to what he witnessed in Trost, and wondering if that really was Armin and Mikasa he saw: he couldn't make up his mind what to do. Were they really the same kids Carla and Joseph had told him and the other member's of the Hunt about? The children who (supposedly) got eaten in Shiganshina five years ago: who's memories had haunted her broken heart for the last five years, alongside her son? If by some strange chance they were, then how did they survive? And did they survive the battle at Trost?
The questions and their implications weighed heavy on his heart and mind, and the possibility of having to come clean about the truth scared him to the core. He knew how Carla felt about loosing her children, Joseph too: she was a good and caring friend who was a like a mother to everyone, and Joseph, after the trauma of surviving the failed retrieval op, could he really endure hearing of his grandson's survival, only to be left wondering if he survived in Trost? As a father himself, Bowen couldn't even imagine the horror and pain of it, and knew it would be cruel to put them through that. And without any solid proof that it was really Armin and Mikasa, it was speculative at best: and he knew it.
Letting out a deep sigh, Bowen was about to get up to head back inside, when the sight of a huge white butterfly fluttering towards him made him pause, and sit back in his chair: as it came closer, he held out his hand, and the insect landed on his finger. He noticed how pure and pristine white its wings were, as they seemed to shimmer and radiate like starlight; it was then he suddenly recognized it, as one of the butterflies from Queen Aurora's garden.
The air around him felt warm, and the sun's light seemed to be more golden and radiant that usual: the whole forest around him felt as if it was filled with a comforting and assuring presence; as if, for a moment, he wasn't alone on the porch.
Do not be troubled, the truth will come to light in its own time...
The butterfly then took off, and everything around him seemed to return to normal: as Bowen glanced around the garden and the branches of the home tree, he suddenly realized he wasn't so vexed anymore: his anxiety and stress were gone, and in their place, a strange cautious sense of optimism seemed to have lease, as if something in his gut was telling him everything will be fine. "...That's strange..." he thought aloud, wondering where this feeling was coming from.
Just then, the front door opened and his wife stepped out: gazing down at him with her usual bubbly smile "Dinner time, my love"
"Ah-, oh, right. Yes..." he tried to snap himself out of his funk, and got up to come inside: "Are you alright, Bowen? I know you and everyone else are still recovering from the battle, but you've seemed especially off-put the last few days or so". "Yeah..." he sighed awkwardly "... It's not been easy: but you know? I have a feeling things will work themselves out... They usually do, don't they?".
She smiled as he took her hand, and let her lead him back inside.
Hey peeps! Long time no see! I hope it was worth the wait, as this latest installment had to be temporarily shelved on account of issues with my laptop: still, all's well now and full steam ahead!
Just to let you all know, I'll be taking a break from the story over Xmas and new year's: so as to catch up on drafting more chapters, as well as working on further plot-building and world-building (among other things going on in my life); so don't be expecting the next installment until late winter/early spring of 2020: it could come sooner, it could come later, I'm not making any promises. But the story will continue, rest assured. :)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to R&R before clicking off, & I'll see you all again some time in the new year. Cheers! :D