Wings Of Freedom
Chapter 5
"RRRRAAAAHHHH!" Roy yelled with rage as he punched the black void of the lake he had spent the last hour, attempting to scry with.
This was the forth time he had attempted to find the egg by scrying, but once again, it came up a black void. This meant there were four possibilities. One, the egg was warded against scrying, which was impossible here, since the people here didn't use magic. Two, the egg was deep underground, where he couldn't reach it with normal magic, which was the most likely, since apparently there was an enormous underground city here, which Roy stumbled upon during one of his explorations into the cities. Three, the egg hatched for someone and was therefore no longer an egg, but that was the least likely, given where he lost it and the ferocity of the Titans. Or four, the egg had been destroyed. This last possibility would normally be impossible, because of the magic the protects Dragon eggs, but the Shade that chased them here was using powerful magic as well, and could have damaged it, and Roy and Thalia were worried that might be the case.
Roy gazed into the void of the lake for a moment before giving a defeated sigh and fell on his but as he cut the flow of energy to the spell and the lake returned to it's natural, clear blue. Thalia hummed in sadness as she let her head fall to the ground with the rest of her body and Roy could feel her depression. The Rider tried to touch his Dragons mind, but all he got was an image of the egg. Roy sighed and set a hand on her head "we're not giving up Thalia. We'll find it" he reassured her, but he felt her depression and anger flare "you don't know that! For all we know, the Shade may have-"
"THALIA!" Roy cut her off before she could sink any deeper "Thalia, we WILL find the egg" Roy swore in the Ancient Language. Thalia's eyes shot wide in response and a plethora of emotions ran through her "Roy..." she trailed off. Roy grabbed Thalia's jaws and pulled her head close and looked deep into her eyes "everything will be alright Thalia. We will find the egg, it will hatch for a fine Rider, and when we're ready, we're going back and making the traitors pay for what they've done" he swore.
Thalia stared at Roy for a moment, then gave a hum "thank you" she said as she nuzzled Roy and the Rider hugged her snout. Roy smiled as he felt his Dragon snapping out of her funk. She was still scared out of her mind for the egg, but she was doing better. Roy couldn't help but feel guilty though. If he hadn't been so weak after killing the Shade, then he could have Scryed for the egg immediately and they'd have the egg now. But what was done, was done and all they could do was move forward.
Roy and Thalia felt a static zap! in the back of their skulls and Wyvern burst into flames as Roy unsheathed it and turned in the direction the signal from the alarm ward had come from, along with Thalia, who growled at the approaching Titan.
Roy jumped up in Thalia's saddle and she took wing before the Titan could get close "damn it. It would be easier to search if not for those things" Roy cursed and Thalia growled in agreement "if we could quell their numbers then maybe we could actually make some progress" Thalia growled, returning to her old self. Roy hummed and looked to the outer wall "yah, maybe..." he trailed off in thought "Thalia, once we're done searching, let's head back out to the breach and see if there's anything we can do" Roy said and Thalia looked to the wall out in the distance, then up to her Rider "you have a plan?" she asked and Roy hummed "maybe" he answered as they flew.
[Later With The Others]
Mikasa awoke feeling refreshed and well rested. So naturally, after a few seconds when she realized that she had actually gotten any sleep, meaning Eren hadn't woke her up, she panicked "Er-" Mikasa's cry was cut short by a hand clamping over her mouth and she looked over to see Armin "shh" he whispered and then released her.
Mikasa blinked a few times in confusion as Armin looked to the other side of the cave and Mikasa fallowed his gaze and gasped slightly when she saw Eren "he's finally sleeping" Armin whispered as they watched Eren laying there with the hatchling on his lap. Both of them actually looking peaceful, with a wing stretched out and covering half of Eren's face.
Mikasa just stared for a moment as she processed what was going on. Mikasa was happy that Eren was finally sleeping, but she couldn't help but wonder "why now?" she asked herself. Armin yawned and stretched as he thought over the question, feeling wonderful now that he could actually think strait "you may not like it, but I think it's that thing in his lap that did it" Armin answered.
Mikasa grimaced a little as she glared at the reptile "why would it help him if the first thing it did was hurt him and knock him unconscious?" she growled. Armin looked at Mikasa with worry, then back to the hatchling "your assuming it hurt Eren on purpose" Armin pointed out but Mikasa continued to glare at it "intentional or not, it still hurt Eren badly. I've never seen him in that much pain before" Mikasa shot back. "true, but almost everything, especially human, go through a lot of pain whenever something is born" Armin reasoned.
Mikasa jerked her head around and stared at Armin with wide eyes "Armin! This isn't anything like that, Eren just found it's egg, he didn't give birth to it!" Mikasa shouted, but froze as she heard Eren stirring. They both looked to Eren and sighed in relief as he simply lulled his head to the other side and continued sleeping. Armin then looked to Mikasa "I know perfectly well that's not what happened, but nothing about that thing is normal. I mean, feeling each other's pain and emotions..." Armin trailed off as he tried to rationalize everything "besides, the first thing it did was hide behind Eren when you went after it, and it's stuck with Eren after, so It's clearly imprinted on him. And then there's Eren suddenly getting protective of her, which I suppose might be partially because of their link" Armin summarized.
Mikasa grimaced as she looked to the ground, then to the hatchling. As usual, Armin's logic was undeniable. Mikasa's expression softened a little as she grabbed a piece of her scarf and looked at it as she thought over Armin's words. Mikasa's mind traveled back to the days right after her parents died and Eren's family took her in. Back then she often had nightmares, just like Eren was now, unless she had Eren there with her or the scarf he gave her, which had resulted in her getting heatstroke once because she refused to take it off one day during a heatwave. Not unlike what had happened yesterday.
Mikasa looked back up at the hatchling as she thought everything over it is helping Eren sleep and hasn't hurt him since the first time, so I guess it might not be that bad Mikasa thought, but then her eyes narrowed but if it does anything else to hurt Eren, then we're finding a way to get rid of it She decided and released a sigh of defeat "alright, I guess we don't have any choice but to take it with us" Mikasa relented and Armin smiled as he looked back to Eren and the hatchling "you got to admit, it is beautiful" he commented and Mikasa couldn't help but begrudgingly agree.
Then, as if awoken by the sound of praise, the hatchling's eyes opened and it looked up at them. First it saw Armin and cocked it's head to the side in curiosity while giving a few chirps. But then it saw Mikasa and the hatchling drew back and hunkered in as close to Eren as it could. Then Eren began to stir and he gave a yawn as he stretched his limbs.
Eren blinked a few times and looked around as he got his bearings. Despite still being malnourished, unwashed and wearing worn and tattered clothes, Eren was looking a lot better. Eren then saw his friends "good mor...ning" Eren paused as he realized that it was actually nighttime, and that he had actually slept. Eren then looked down at his lap to see the hatchling sitting there, eyeing Mikasa with fear.
Eren blinked a few times "so...that part wasn't a dream" he said as he looked up to his friends "apparently not" Armin commented as he looked the little reptile over with more detail, then he looked to Eren "so how are you feeling?" he asked. Eren gave another yawn as he stretched again "better" he answered with a smile and his friends sighed with relief. Armin then looked to the hatchling again "what about her? Are you still feeling anything from her?" he asked a little hesitantly.
Eren looked down at the little hatchling as he recalled the events of the previous day "not like before. I can still feel her there, in the back of my head, but it's not nearly as intense as it was when Mikasa was after her" Eren answered as he started stroking the hatchling's back and she started to relax a little and even purred.
Armin put a finger to his chin in thought "fear might have played a hand in that" Armin thought aloud and Mikasa grimaced a little, still feeling conflicted about the little reptile. Any further pondering was put on hold though, as a monstrous growling, erupted in the cave. Everyone clutched their stomachs as their hunger caught up with them again "great, we finally get some descent sleep, only to wake up to this" Eren moaned as his stomach growled. Armin rubbed his eyes as he tried to think of a solution before they starved "Mikasa, you didn't see anywhere we could find food in a hurry before we hid in here did you?" he asked. Mikasa strained to think "sorry Armin, but I was really out of it before and most of the food I saw, we'd have to hunt or was out of reach, but like I said, I was pretty out of it" Mikasa answered and Armin nodded "we've all been out of it, but now maybe we can find something" he said and started to exit the cave.
The others fallowed Armin out, though the hatchling yelped and hid behind Eren when Mikasa got up and the young girl felt a stabbing pain in her chest as Eren seamed to recoil slightly too. Eren shook his head as he fought down the foreign emotions and looked back at the hatchling "hay, wait guys. What do we do about her?" he asked. Armin paused before crawling out of the cave and looked back "we can't leave her behind or she might get hurt and it'll effect you, so I guess we better take her with us" he answered and continued on.
Eren looked between Mikasa and the hatchling for a few seconds, then sighed before looked to the hatchling "alright, come on out, we have to go" he said and to his surprise, the hatchling obeyed as she came out from behind him, though she kept Eren between herself and Mikasa.
The three friends exited the cave and shivered in their wet clothes as the wind blew "well we're still cold and hungry, but at least we're not sleep deprived anymore" Armin said in a slightly joking manner, trying to lighten the mood but it was hard for any of them to laugh with their stomachs killing them and their soaked clothes making the cold, night air even worse.
Eren yelped as the hatchling jumped up on his shoulder and looked around and Eren had no doubt she could see just fine, even in the low light, with the moon behind the clouds. The hatchling then chirped happily and hopped off Eren's shoulder to jump around in the grass and chase bugs and small rodents and Eren shook his head as he felt a bit of her happiness leak over.
The kids watching the hatchling frolic around and trip over herself. Armin would have chuckled at the display if his teeth hadn't been chattering, but he shook it off and looked around him to get his bearings. Armin then gave a defeated groan "I knew it" he said and the others looked to him with concern "what's wrong?" Mikasa asked and Armin pointed to crushed and burned down house "we checked that house for supplies a few days ago. We've been going in circles" Armin told them and they all grimaced.
The hatchling seamed to sense Eren's dread and hopped back up in his shoulder and rubbed against his face while giving a sad purr and draping a wing over him. Eren didn't know why but he couldn't help but feel a little better under her wing, but there impending doom and his aching stomach, snuffed out any comfort he might have felt.
Eren glanced over at the hatchling's face, then looked to his friends "so what do we do now?" he asked. Armin looked over the land one last time "right now we need food, and to warm up before we catch hypothermia" Armin started as he analyzed the situation "Mikasa, you and Eren go and see if can find some food, nuts, berries, anything. I'm going to see if I can get a fire going so we can dry off and warm up" Armin instructed and they set off to there tasks.
As Eren and Mikasa set out, he glanced nervously between her and the hatchling, still perched on his shoulder. Neither one had made a move one way or the other, but Eren could literally feel the tension. The hatchling was more nervous now that it was just the three of them, and Eren caught Mikasa glancing at the hatchling occasionally.
Finally, Mikasa sighed "Eren I'm...I'm sorry that things got out of hand before" she said and Eren looked at her with surprise. Eren then looked down with a thoughtful expression "it's alright, you were just trying to protect me" he said and it was Mikasa's turn to look at Eren in shock "that's not like you Eren" she thought aloud and Eren grimaced as he gripped his hand "you didn't feel what I did when I touched her" he said while looking at the hatchling and she folded her ears back and hunkered down a little, and Eren felt shame coming off of her.
Eren looked back down at the ground as they walked "that was easily the most physically painful thing I've ever experienced. I probably would have reacted the same way if it had happened to you or Armin" Eren admitted. Mikasa blinked with surprise as she watched him and she was relived to know that Eren understood how bad it had been. But Mikasa grew worried as Eren stopped and his eyes widened a little "huh?" he said as he rubbed the spot in his palm where he had first touched the hatchling "what's wrong?" Mikasa asked and Eren looked at his palm and gasped a little "whoa!" he yelped and held his hand a little further away for a second before bringing it in for a closer look.
Mikasa's eyes narrowed a little "Eren, what is it?" she asked, a protective edge to her voice. Eren looked to Mikasa with a bit of concern in his eyes and he gave a hesitant sigh before showing her his palm and Mikasa gasped a little herself when she saw a silver mark on his hand "IT BRANDED YOU!?" Mikasa yelled and the hatchling yelped before jumping off Eren and hiding behind his legs.
Eren waved his hands in front of him in a playacting gesture "whoa, whoa, calm down Mikasa" he said, knowing she was about to loose it again as she glared at the hatchling with furry "calm down? Eren how can you ask that? How can you be ok with any of this?" Mikasa demanded. It was at this point Eren lost his temper again "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I AM!?" he yelled back stunning Mikasa. Eren took a deep breath to calm his nerves as Mikasa stood there a little dumbstruck "I'm not ok with any of this Mikasa. I don't know what's happening to me, what this thing is or why it's happening at all. And on top of that we're on the run from Titans with no food and nowhere near enough sleep" Eren admitted while looking down at the little hatchling hiding behind him "but I do know that there's something special about this little thing, and we can't just leave her behind. I don't know how I know it, but I do" Eren added as he reached down rubbed the hatchling's head a little, causing it to relax a little.
Mikasa stood there in silence for a moment as she processed everything. While Mikasa was still weary of the hatchling, she was actually relived to know Eren was actually concerned about what was going on. Mikasa sighed then "I'm sorry, I just..." Mikasa trailed off but tensed up a little as Eren place a hand on her shoulder " it's alright Mikasa. Just promise me you'll trust me and give her a chance before doing anything drastic" Eren pleaded and Mikasa held his gaze for a moment before glancing down at the hatchling. Mikasa sighed "alright Eren" she relented and Eren smiled a little "thank you, now let's-" Eren was cut off by his stomach growling and he clutched it in pain "find some food" he finished with a grunt.
The hatchling whimpered as she looked up at Eren with worry, but then her eyes became slits as he nostrils flared a little. The hatchling then turned and got low to the ground as she slinked over to some tall grass "what's she doing?" Eren asked as they watched her, then she suddenly pounced into the grass and a rabbit took off. The hatchling chased it for about a foot before tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground. Eren and Mikasa couldn't help but chuckle as the hatchling warbled angrily and seamed to pout "not bad for a first try. If she keeps it up she might actually catch something" Mikasa commented and Eren was a little stunned by the emotions he got from the hatchling and the gleam she seamed to get it her eye as she stalked back into the grass.
Eren shook his head clear of the hatchling's behavior "come on, I think she'll be fine for now. Let's fine something to eat" Eren said and Mikasa nodded in agreement as they started looking around.
Eren and Mikasa walked back to the bank next to the river where the cave sat and were happy to see the inviting yellow glow of a fire. Armin tossed a few more stick on the fire as he stood there in baggy but dry clothes he had grabbed from the abandoned house not far away. He looked up and waved at them with a smile "hay, any luck?" he called as they quickly went to meat him "hay Armin, and yah, a little" Eren answered as he held out the bottom of his shirt, which he and Mikasa were using as a makeshift basket for the few nuts and berries they found.
Armin looked at the small collection of food. It wasn't much but it was something "well, at least we have something to eat" he said, but then looked around with worry as he realized something "wait, where's the...thing?" he asked and Eren looked at Armin in confusion for a second before he got what Armin was talking about "oh, her? She's a few feet back that way, trying to catch another rabbit" Eren explained, but then his face twitched as if he were about to grimace but fought it down "and it feels like she just blew it again" he added and said rabbit dashed by.
Armin blinked a few time as he watched the rabbit go, then looked behind Eren to see the hatchling grumbling to herself as she moved in their direction "she's been doing that since we started scrounging for food" Mikasa added and Armin nodded "I see, so your still feeling things from her?" Armin asked.
Eren hummed in thought as he dumped the food he'd collected in one of their packs while Mikasa did the same and he munched down on a few of the berries "yah, but it's still not the same as the first time" he said though a mouth full of berries before swallowing "but the further away we are, the weaker the connection seam to get" he admitted "it doesn't go away, but at one point it got to where all I could do was tell she was still alive, and she had a panic attack and latched herself to my leg for a few minuets as soon as it happened" Eren explained.
Armin rubbed his chin as he ate a few barriers himself and they huddled around the fire "interesting, it is nice to know we can at least figure out how some of this stuff works" he said and Eren nodded in agreement. Eren suddenly perked up a little "she's at it again" he said but hummed a little in thought strange, it feels different this time Eren though in confusion. Eren froze then before putting another berry in his mouth. He felt joy and pride wash over him and he thought he tasted a hint of blood. Mikasa noticed Eren's pause "you ok?" she asked and Eren's head jerked around as he realized what was going on "I think she caught something" he said and the others looked at him in surprise.
They fallowed Eren gaze to see the hatchling trotting up to them with a spring in her step, and once she reached the fire, they saw a rat hanging limp in her mouth. The hatchling trotted up to Eren and set the rat down next to him and looked up at him expectantly "wow, she actually got something. Not bad for something that's only a day old" Armin said and Eren nodded in agreement as he scratched the hatchling behind her ear and she leaned into it with a purr "yah, not bad" he said and the hatchling chirped happily at the praise. But then the hatchling did something Eren didn't expect. It nudged the rat towards him.
The three kids watched with wide eyes as the hatchling offered Eren her rat "I don't know what's more disturbing. The fact that she want's me to eat a rat, or that I'm actually tempted" Eren admitted as his stomach rumbled at the possibility of meat. Eren shook himself out of it though "you know what, you go ahead. Your the one who caught it, and you...actually you've never eaten before have you" Eren realized. The hatchling looked a little conflicted at first but eventually ate the rat with gusto and Eren was glad to have the temptation to eat the rat gone.
Armin chuckled a little "yah, I guess we need to factor her into our meals now too" he said as he watched her devoured the rat "but at least she'll be able to catch her own food as she gets older and maybe even a little for us" Armin added as the hatchling finished. The hatchling then cleaned herself off a little but then her attention turned to the river and she hunkered down and slunk to the bank "I guess she's still hungry" Mikasa noted as the hatchling pounced into the water and after flailing around for a bit, she came up with a small fish in her jaws.
Eren gawked at the hatchling as she bit down as hard as her young jaw muscles would allow and her baby teeth sunk in just enough to finish off her prey. The hatchling trotted back up to Eren and again set her catch next to him, but instead of waiting for more praise she rubbed up against him like a cat, before trotting back to the water.
Eren watched her tracking more fish and smiled "I guess fish are easier" he said, then looked down at the fish sitting next to him and a little drool came to the corner of his mouth "Armin, you wouldn't happen to have an extra stick would you?" he asked and looked up to see Armin already had one out "already on it!" he said excitedly and after Mikasa cut it's guts out, they stuck the fish over the fire to cook while the hatchling hunted for another.
Eren and his friends gave content sighs as they relaxed by the fire. For the first time in days, the three of them felt good. They were still deep in Titan territory with little to no hope of escape, but they were still alive and they weren't starving or sleep deprived "that was the best fish I've had in a long time" Eren said as he sat there and stroked to scales of the little hatchling in his lap. She had caught four more fish, one of which she also ate, much to the amazement of the three Humans, considering that the rat she ate was at least half her size. Now the little hatchling was tired from her hunting and was resting contently on Eren's lap.
Armin took the stick he had cooked his fish on and prodded the fire with it a little "I know what you mean, though I think any cooked food would test like the best after the time we've had" he commented and looked over at the sleeping hatchling "who'd of thought finding a rock floating down a stream would help this much?" he said with a smile and Eren chuckled a little "yah, I'd still like to know what she is though" he said and Armin hummed as he thought back to his book "sorry, but I don't think my book talked about anything like that" he admitted with a disappointed sigh.
Eren mirrored his friend as he looked down at the hatchling. Mikasa hummed in thought as she watched them and an old memory came to her "actually...I might know something" she said and the others looked to her with surprise "really?" Armin asked and Mikasa looked down as painful memories accompanied the relevant ones "my mom..." she started and the others grew tense. Mikasa didn't talk about her parents much, it was often too painful for her, even after all this time.
Eren eyed Mikasa worriedly "Mikasa, you don't have to-"
"It's ok Eren" Mikasa interrupted him, though she didn't look particularly ok. Mikasa took a breath as she forced down the bad memories, then looked to her friends "my mom used to tell me stories that our family had passed down since the walls went up. Most of it was in a different language though so a lot was lost, but a few mentioned creatures similar to her" Mikasa explained while gesturing to the hatchling "they were a little different, more snake like, but similar. I think she called them Ryū or a Tatsu, but I'm not sure what they mean in our language. Apparently they were water spirits or something like that and were revered as good omens" Mikasa finished.
Eren and Armin were quiet for a moment as they thought over what Mikasa told them "well aside from being snake like, it seams to match up so far" Armin commented and Eren nodded "yah, that and the weird mind stuff" he added, half jokingly as he gazed down at the hatchling.
The firewood crumbled in on it's self catching Eren's attention. His eyes shot wide with fear though as he realized something "oh crap! How long have we been out here!?" he asked with worry "relax Eren, I've been keeping track of the time while we've been sitting here and we still have time before the sun comes up. Plus I spotted a place where we can hold up while I was looking for firewood and I think we might be able to spend a few days there instead of packing up and leaving immediately after" Armin informed them and after looking at him in shock for a moment, Eren and Mikasa relaxed "guess you thought of everything while we were gone" Eren commented and Armin rubbed the back of his head "it was nothing. It makes a difference when you're able to think strait" he played it off "anyway, I guess we better get going if we want to get there with time to spare" he said and started gathering up his things.
Eren and Mikasa fallowed suit as they got up and Eren couldn't help but smile a little as he set the hatchling over his shoulders and she fell right back asleep. For the first time in days, Eren had hope. it was just a little, but it was there. They had survived it Titan territory in spite of it all, and they were still going, and as they set out after Armin's lead, Eren looked up to the clouds blowing by in the sky and his dream came back to him for a moment. Eren then looked forwards at his friends and Wall Rose in the distance with determination we're going to make it he thought as he fallowed Armin.