Wings Of Freedom

Chapter 4

Eren was having another nightmare, but this one was different from the others. Despite it being dark, Eren could see clearly, but the colors were off, with reds showing up as a dull brown and blues appeared even more vibrant. But that wasn't what concerned him at the moment, it was that he was surrounded by Titans, but these ones were different. They were in an enormous cave and the Titans were wearing clothes and looked more normal, but what disturbed Eren the most, was that the Titan were his friends.

What the hell is going on!? Eren thought in a panic as he hid behind another Titan who was passed out. Mikasa was looking down at Eren with murderous eyes and would have had him, if Armin weren't holding her back "Mikasa calm down! We don't know what's going on!" Armin tried to reason with Mikasa as he held her back as best he could. But Mikasa just continued to stare daggers at Eren "that thing hurt Eren, that's all I need to know!" she shot back as she struggled.

Eren's mind did backflips as he tried to process everything and get his panic under control what's happening? And what the hell is Mikasa talking about, I'm right here. And why are they Titans!? Eren pondered as he managed to calm down a little a dream...yah, this is just a crazy dream. It has to be Eren thought, but then he realized something wait...if, this is a dream, then why am I so lucid?...

Eren's musing were cut short by Mikasa braking free from Armin's grasp momentarily and nearly getting Eren before Armin got hold of her again. But what really got Eren's attention, was his body moving on it's own what the hell!? he thought and would have winced as he felt a pain on his back what is going on!? Why can't I control my body and why am I...on all fours? Eren trailed off in confusion as he finally took notice of his current state. And that was when Eren noticed that he was not only on all fours, but he also hand and elongated neck, a tail tucked under him, and wings on his back, one of which was hurting really badly.

Eren went into a state of shock as he realized this and his head looked up at the Titan he was hiding behind, to see that it was Eren, knocked out with his head lulled to the side and drooling a little. Eren felt his panic skyrocketing as he looked up at himself a dream! This has to be a dream! he thought. But then, Mikasa finally broke free from Armin's grasp and there was no restraining her again as she lunged for Eren. And in that moment, Eren just knew, this was real. The fear was real, the pain was real, and if he didn't do something now, then he was going to die at the hands of one of his closest friends.

Just then, as Mikasa was about to grab Eren, he felt his mind being pulled out of his head and everything went black. Then when Eren opened his eyes, he was in the very position he'd seen during that strange dream, and he was looking down at the little hatchling from earlier as Mikasa was about to grab it.

Eren still wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew he had to do something, and acting on instinct, he quickly reached out and put Mikasa's hand in a death grip, before she could grab the hatchling. Mikasa froze then and when she looked up, her breath hitched in her throat. Eren was giving her the same murderous glare, she had been giving the hatchling. Eren then pulled up his legs and kicked Mikasa back to the other side of the cave.

Armin caught Mikasa before she hit the wall and held her so she couldn't go after them again, but he couldn't help but looked up at Eren in shock at what had just happened. Mikasa also looked up in shock, once she had recovered and a plethora of emotions, ranging from hurt to confusion, ran through her as she sat there.

Eren was also in shock at everything that had transpired since that egg hatched, but he didn't let up on his glare as the hatchling hid behind him and Eren felt fear gripping him for some strange reason.

Mikasa blinked a few times as she recovered "Eren, what are you doing? you need to get away from that thin-" Mikasa's words died in her throat as Eren's glare intensified "don't you dare touch her!" he yelled and his friends just sat there in shock "h-her?" Armin hesitantly asked and Eren froze up for a second, then looked back at the little hatchling with confusion why DID I say that? he thought. Eren didn't understand what was going on or how he knew it was a girl, all he knew was that he felt incredible fear. Fear of Mikasa to be precise, which only confused him even more, seeing as Mikasa is the last person he would ever be afraid of in this way. But Eren also felt like he needed to protect the little hatchling hiding behind him.

Armin watched nervously as he held Mikasa back. He was amazed he was able to restrain her at all, which just goes to show how malnourished and sleep deprived they were. Regardless, Armin knew he wouldn't be able to hold her much longer, so he needed to defuse the situation quickly "Eren, what's going on?" he asked hesitantly and Eren snapped out of his musing and looked up at them "I...I honestly don't know" he answered, a little shaky.

Mikasa grimaced and started struggling again "then get away from that thing before it does anything else!" she exclaimed and Eren glared at her again while moving to block the little reptile behind him from Mikasa's view. Armin struggled to hold Mikasa back "hold on Mikasa! We don't know enough about what's going on yet!" Armin said as he struggled and Mikasa glared at him "we already saw what it did to Eren when it touched him! Why risk letting it stay near him!?" Mikasa demanded "because we don't actually know what it did!" Armin shot back.

As Armin and Mikasa devolved into argument, Eren's temper flared. His arm was killing him, he had a splitting headache, he was hungry and hadn't slept properly in days and on top of that he was struggling to understand what was going on.

Finally, Eren snapped "QUIET! EVERYONE JUST BE QUIET!" he screamed at the top of his lounges and Armin and Mikasa froze amid their arguing and looked at Eren with wide eyes as he gripped his head and breathed heavily.

With the silence, Eren was finally able to collect his thoughts and rubbed his head as he tried to short through everything. He was still feeling an enormous amount of fear that he couldn't seam to shake off, but something about it didn't feel right. As Eren was processing everything, he reach up to rub his hurt arm, only to freeze and his eyes to shoot wide as he reached over his shoulder towards his back what the..? he thought as he realized he was feeling pain in a limb he didn't have. Eren then looked down at the hatchling behind him and how she was holding her right wing tightly against her body. Eren reached down and hesitated for a moment before giving an experimental touch to the wing. Eren and the hatchling both hissed in pain and quickly pulled away from the touch "Eren!" Mikasa called with worry, noticing, but Eren quickly held up his hand and glared at her "I'm fine" he said, then looked down at the hatchling with a contemplative look "I'm not the one in pain" he muttered, barely above a whisper as he finally realized what was going on and why he was so terrified.

Armin noticed Eren's expression of realization "Eren?" he asked and his friend looked up to them with a calmer expression "ok I know this is going to sound crazy but bare with me" he stared and moved so the hatchling was visible "I...I think she's in my head..." Eren tried to explain. Armin and Mikasa just looked at him in confusion "in you head? What are you talking about?" Armin asked. Eren sighed as he tried to piece it all together "I don't really know how to explain it, but, while I was knocked out, I was still conscious, but I was seeing everything from her perspective" Eren gestured to the hatchling as she tried to hide behind him.

Armin and Mikasa both blinked in surprise "Eren, what are you saying?" Mikasa asked with concern and Eren gripped his head and shook it in frustration "I don't know. All I know is what I saw and felt..." Eren trailed off and rubbed his shoulder "and still feeling" he finished. Armin gasped then "wait, are you saying your still experiencing everything that way?" he asked and Eren shook his head "no, everything is normal now...or, mostly normal..." Eren trailed off as he finally noticed that he had this weird feeling in the back of his skull, like a sixth sense. He shook it off though for the time being and refocused on Armin "but I think I'm still feeling her emotions. I know I've been terrified this whole time...mostly of you Mikasa" Eren admitted and Mikasa felt as if she had just been stabbed in the heart. Eren then grunted as he continued rubbing his back, for all the good it did "also I've been feeling pain in a limb I don't have, and it flared up bad when I touched her wing" Eren finished.

Armin's eyes widened "wait, Mikasa you got a hold of it's wing before I got a hold of you" he pointed out, and with those words, Mikasa felt another knife enter her heart. Even though it was unintentional and she was just trying to protect Eren, she had hurt him instead. Mikasa then grimaced as she glared at the floor. She didn't trust that thing hiding behind Eren, she couldn't remember ever seeing Eren in as much pain as when it touched him, but she couldn't do anything to it without hurting Eren, and they couldn't lave it or it might get hurt and Eren would suffer the same.

Mikasa's body relaxed a little and Armin exhaled in relief as he finally felt safe letting her go. Mikasa slumped against the wall in defeat and Armin did the same as his arms began to ache from holding her back. Armin rubbed his face and sighed. His adrenaline was wearing off and he wasn't sure how much longer he could stay awake. Armin looked to the little reptile "so your saying your minds are connected" Armin summed up and Eren looked down and rubbed his face as he too started to come down off his adrenaline rush and tried to make sense of everything "I don't know, but it's the only thing that makes sense" he said and Armin nodded "well we're hardly in any condition to be thinking strait, but ether way, there isn't really anything we can do" Armin summed up and Mikasa clenched her fists in frustration. Armin then looked back to Eren "so, I guess that's how you knew it was a girl?" he asked and Eren blinked a few time as he remembered blurting that out. He then looked down at the hatchling and there was no mistaking it. The feelings he was getting from the reptile were defiantly female "yah, I guess so" Eren admitted.

Everything was silent for a long moment "so...what do we do now?" Mikasa asked. Armin yawned "I'm too tired to think and I'm guessing you guys are too" he said, then looked to the hatchling "she doesn't appear to be doing anything else to Eren, and judging by how she's been acting, I'd say she wont hurt Eren again. So we should probably get some sleep and deal with it when we can think strait" Armin advised. Mikasa and Eren both seamed reluctant, for different reasons, but they both relented.

Mikasa cast one last glare at the hatchling before falling asleep. while Armin was out the moment his head hit the shack he'd been using for a pillow. While the others settled in, Eren looked back to the hatchling "it's ok, you can come out now" he said and the hatchling looked up at him with a level of understanding and intelligence in her eyes, that no mere animal could poses. The hatchling eyed Mikasa nervously but slowly came out from behind Eren and climbed up into his lap. Eren stroked her back as she settled in, careful to avoid the wing. Eren would have marveled at the little hatchling, but he was filled with dread as he felt sleep taking him. He knew he would have that horrible nightmare again and keep his friends up. But then, the hatchling seamed to notice Eren's condition and, despite the pain, stretched her wings over him, one covering his face a little "huh, what are you..." Eren trailed off as he felt a warm and comforting sensation wash over him and it felt like his mind was being filed with another, comforting one. As the feeling washed over him, Eren's vision darkened as he fell asleep.

When Eren opened his eyes, he wasn't in the same dream as before. Everything felt weird, like imagining something without experiencing it fist hand. On some deep level, Eren probably knew he was dreaming, but soon he didn't care, as he looked forward and to his astonishment, he was on the back of a much larger version of the hatchling, sleeping on his lap, and they were high up in the clouds, soaring through the air. Eren's back grazed a cloud and soaked his shirt, most likely do to him sleeping in inch high water, but he didn't care, all he knew in that moment, was that he was happy, and that he wanted to do this for real one day. He wanted to feel this kind of freedom for real.

And so, for the first time in days, Eren had a pleasant dream.

[Elsewhere]

The sound of metal slicing through flesh, echoed out, fallowed by the thud of a collapsing Titan, and standing on the nape of the neck, was Roy. The Rider looked down at the dead Titan, then the blood evaporating off his sword "so, the nape is a weak spot" he commented, then looked up at more Titans, out in the distance "well at least we know how to kill them now, without me having to incinerate them" Thalia added as she flew down and Roy jumped up into the saddle while she was still in motion and the Dragon took off back to a safe altitude.

Roy looked down at the Titans as they passed. He had learned of the weak spot watching cadets train while he tried to figure out more bout the land he was now stranded in, had hopefully learn there language.

Roy looked back to his Dragon "any luck with mental attacks?" he asked and Thalia gave a frustrated growl "no, the magic that protects their minds is unlike any I've seen before" she answered and Roy gave his own frustrated sigh "well at least we're making some progress. But that's enough experimenting for one day. Let's head back out to the outer wall and resume our search for the egg" Roy said and Thalia eagerly complied.

As they flew, Roy looked back to the Titan he'd just killed. Something about those things disturbed him, aside from being giant, naked cannibals. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he was going to find out.