HOUND
Chapter rewritten - 9/19
Another rewritten chapter now including some elements of the original chapters.
It was about 3,000 words and is now about 6,800? So there's a good chunk more and an important detail. ;)
There is a reason for all this stuff happening. The titan itself, its specific abilities and resilience.
It's not going to be explained until later on, where both the OCs and the canon characters will have to find out in their own time.
I hope yall enjoy!
Shiganshina was in ruins. She was there to see it, the homes and shops crushed by boulders from the shattered wall, the wild titans devouring anyone unfortunate enough to be too close to the breach. People screamed and ran, cried and pleaded for a savior. It was indiscriminate slaughter, everyone met the same agonizing fate.
It was a horrible sight to witness, blood painted every surface she saw. She had even watched a large titan collapse a bridge and fall into the river below, it was enough to submerge a close smaller titan, but not enough to stop the bigger one from advancing on the people. It was scary watching the sheer determination of the titans, how they needed to reach their goal, the food running from them.
She leered over the people from the rooftops, her hands grasping the edges of the building. As the titans across the river caused the people to flee to her direction, she leapt into action. The force behind her jump enough to knock down the sides of the building, the roof tiles shattered from the weight, and the ground beneath her shook.
The crowd beside her stopped, her wide animalistic smile stunning the people. With a deep inhale, her roar bellowed out through the streets and secured the fate of the people desperate to escape. She lunged, her mouth wide open. People ran in all directions, trampling others in a desperate attempt to avoid being devoured.
Some were unlucky and had been caught in her massive jaws, her mouth crushed anything in her teeth and she swallowed what she could. The remaining body parts and limbs falling from her teeth, she turned around and caught sight of the people she lunged into, those crushed by her enormity and others clinging to life.
Her elongated limbs reached out for those still alive and unable to run from her. She had her own private feast, other titans in the area too busy following the other survivors that ran away at the sight of her.
All anyone could hear was screaming, the rumbling of the titans, and collapsing buildings. It was rampant destruction, she had a small hand in it even though the plan that caused this was not of her doing; her was simply an instrument for devastation.
During the attack on Shiganshina, this one wild titan had done more damage than all the others. With its abnormal behavior there wasn't a thing anyone could do to survive it. Other titans found a victim and spent their time devouring it, but not her. She didn't just devour, her destruction didn't center on devouring. Her acts against the innocent people of Shiganshina were as grotesque as the rest of the titans. Her constant and merciless slaughtering of the people in the city was carried out mindlessly, she was wild, without sentient thought.
She had seen her fair share of the military that resided within the Walls, what is known as the Garrison. A few tested their luck with her and all of them failed. They classified her as an Abnormal Titan, her actions did not line up with the average titan and as such, she was targeted differently. This was not something she understood in any capacity, though she appeared to target all soldiers that dared near her. They spun around in front of her, appearing to glide in the air without wings. It was good for her that the Garrison had not fought a titan in a long time, many of them had never even seen a titan and those that had, only saw them wander outside the walls harmlessly.
Her wild movements, her speed and flexibility, made it near impossible for the inexperienced Garrison troops to attack her. She ran through the streets alternating between her feet and all four legs. The first that attacked her had been unable to hook onto her for a clear shot. A team of two soldiers had managed it later on, but had not the foresight to check the area for other titans that lurked behind buildings and one had quickly been devoured while the other escaped to fight another day. There had been other attempts, only one having any semblance of success.
As she hunted for more, smelling the air gingerly she picked up the scent she was looking for, but did not see it coming. It moved through the air, spinning and weaving through her hands. This soldier was smarter than the others, he had brief experience outside the Walls. It was a fresh transfer from the Scouts and he was leagues more skilled, but still lacked the experience and confidence needed to survive an Abnormal titan. None of this made it into her head of course, she would hunt and devour, slaughter without purpose. However, the Garrison soldier managed to land a few deep cuts into the rampaging titan.
The wide toothy smile on her face twitched, began turning into a scowl. She was enraged, wild, and tired of this flying thing whipping around her head. Her arms hindered the man, he knew he couldn't get close enough to her nape with her hands constantly reaching for him. He needed to find his opportunity to cut her hands, then move to her nape.
He was familiar with this fear. He didn't want to die, he had left the Scouts because he knew he wouldn't cut it for long. While Shiganshina was being leveled, he knew he had to try again. Terrified, but driven by pain and desperation; he made his first strike.
The titan wailing and swinging at him gave him too much of an opening when it reached high for him, one hand near the ground, the other resting on a roof. She was hunched over, still trying to find him and stop him when she felt the slicing pain in one arm. A powerful and precise stoke of twin blades successfully severed her right arm mid forearm. She howled, still unable to catch him and now she was missing a hand.
With his first attack down, he felt pride. This titan wasn't so tough, he managed to cut the hand off and he never took a hit. He could do it. He could save lives.
Feeling brave, while the titan struggled to catch him, he aimed to dive for her last hand. Without wasting a second, he made quick and clean work of her last hand. With titan's blood raining down around him, he heard the loud crash of its hand hitting the ground and knew he had done it.
Now, he had his opening. The titan roared and raged, unable to properly fight back without its hands though it still tried fruitlessly. He couldn't help the grin on his face when his anchors locked into the nape of the titan. "Die, you ugly bastard!" He pulled his blades back and used as much gas as he could to make this cut perfect.
His blades sunk into titan flesh, from end to end, and he ensured that cut was deep. He turned, landing on the next rooftop beside the titan and looked back at his work. A massive chunk of titan flesh had been completely severed from the Abnormal's nape.
Relief washed over him, somehow he had managed slaying this beast on his own. It was a hard won fight but- CRACK!
The arm of the titan came crashing onto the building he was standing on. With its head hanging by a thread, the titan reared its torso upright.
"What the- No! That's not possible!" He panicked, shocked at the sight before him. A titan missing both hands and its nape sliced clean open was still moving. "You should be dead! Why won't you die!" The soldier screamed at it as hopelessness washed over him.
Before he had a chance to come back to his senses, the titan's arm ripped through the building. The rooftop below him crumbled and he fired his ODM gear to escape. As he did, the other arm of the titan swung straight up and hit his cables. He gasped as its arm tangled the cables and brought him down.
There was nothing that could be done, he couldn't win this fight. The titan was lashing out blindly, unable to see or really hear much of anything. But its hands and nape were healing, soon it would be back up and destroying Shiganshina. He didn't know what to do, how he could stop this monster.
In truth, he had picked a fight he couldn't win from the beginning. It was rigged against him and though he fought bravely to save innocent lives, there was truly nothing he could do. This titan was perhaps the only titan in the ruined city that he would be unable to kill. An unlucky pick.
When he tried to pull himself free, using his ODM to propel himself away; the titan had already started to get its senses back. It didn't take long for any wild titan to heal and this one was no exception. With a bloodied and steaming stump, it easily knocked the soldier into the next building across from them. He hit the roof hard, but he was still alive.
Inside the severed nape of the titan a bony protrusion began to form. The cut spinal column was healing and stitching itself back together, allowing her to finally move her head back up. Smaller muscles began to twitch as they reconnected, then the massive jaws of the titan opened to reveal uniform rows of teeth. Some flat teeth and others unusually sharp and jagged.
As the soldier struggled to his feet, he hadn't but a second to look up and see the towering monster above him. Its jaws open, already within a few feet of him. The titan's head crashed onto the roof, taking up the soldier and rubble with it. It took a significant amount of force that slowly crunched the rubble before she finally heard him cry out.
Then, there was silence. The soldier lost his fight, through no fault of his own. This titan simply had an advantage he could not have predicted. As the monster rose to its feet, it continued through Shiganshina on its rampage.
What is this?
A thick haze obscured her thoughts, her vision. There were shapes and details that should've been recognizable, but this fog made it impossible for her to connect the dots. So much was happening, it was simple too, yet nothing made sense.
What is... happening?
There was blood and sinew decorating the cobblestones below. What were once people with their own lives now reduced to streaks of red, lumps of limbs that had fallen from the jaws of massive monsters; the rest of them disappearing down their gullets... This isn't what she saw though.
She couldn't see much of anything through the darkness. Shadows danced across her sight leaving so little left. While nothing was wrong with her eyes, her mind was falling apart. Such a deep split left her stumbling in circles, colliding into the walls beside her.
Where am I?
Her hand reached out and the hard crunch of plaster and ceramic gave her pause. Her body twisting blindly away only to fall onto another stone structure that crumbled under her weight.
What am I...?
She genuinely could not figure out why something so strong was so brittle. Her head started to clear up slowly, it felt like hours to her before her senses began to return. Not all at once, but there was a ringing in her ears and an ache in her body that traveled to her head. Daylight was too bright, blinding her as much as the fog had.
Her senses faded in and out like the breeze in her hair. Nothing sharp enough to tell her anything, but just enough to make her anxious for more. Despite her attempt to focus on anything, it wasn't much good. The same way her vision began to clear up, it faded once more and she disappeared into darkness.
Nothing was there this time and the body she inhabited moved on its own. It stood languidly before continuing on its mindless march into the devastated city. More were crushed by it and by the ruins it left behind, those lucky enough not to be snapped into its jaws.
The monster stood taller than most with a demented snarl on its face and dead eyes. A terrifying sight for anyone to witness coming for them, it was pure and painful death with an unfeeling gaze. What could be done with this thing approaching, what could possibly stop the march.
As it continued forward, it began to lose its footing. Once more that awareness began to return. The snarl faded, eyes appeared to be staring into the horizon. It took a step forward that ended up to the left and another that ended up to be even more left. Her body leaned into another building, her eyes blinked in confusion.
I can't see, I can't... see.
She didn't know the words to describe this blindness. Something else, well, multiple things were missing. Whatever was happening around her phased her far less than her inability to recognize anything she was seeing.
It was clear to her that this wasn't new... there was familiarity to it yet she couldn't name a thing she touched or saw.
The ringing began to quiet down and the world around her overtook it in a mean way. The ring had been loud, but this was so much worse. Screams and the cracking of bones, something terrible was rampaging through the streets.
I smell death, blood, and fire... something is wrong...
It didn't make sense at all to her and yet finally things began to sharpen and her sight honed in the real horrors surrounding her. Words didn't come to her, but feeling did. The reaction she had to seeing the gore smearing the streets and homes caused her to recoil briefly.
Somehow this wasn't new and violence like this didn't revolt her. It was more the blood she saw on her own hands and the sensation on her face told her there was more around her mouth, pouring down her face. She had been one to cause this pain and destruction, though she wasn't alone.
Others like her, other giant and small wandered through these streets. She could hear and see them finding the very smallest hiding away.
There's something... different...
Whatever they were, they were definitely the source of all this blood. Others like her were emotionless about it, showing no mercy to anyone.
She heard more screams, crying of a woman found by another monster. It didn't sit well with her, she didn't want to just stand there anymore. While she was learning how to control herself she took a step forward, stumbling slightly. Then another and another, each one a bit more confident than the last until finally she was moving with a purpose.
What a purpose it was too, as confusing as it was intimidating. As the world came back to her, she did what she could to find the source of that terrible sound. She wanted it to stop though she quite understand why she had such a strong reaction to it. The closer she got the stronger that feeling became until she approached it.
A giant with a slanted look on its face, a hand tearing into a building just as she spotted a smaller being leaving through a hole in the structure. It kept searching the structure, its expression never changing.
She saw the small being leave, running as fast as they could. They were staring forward but one did notice that she saw them. They weren't screaming anymore, just trying desperately to slip away. It didn't matter that they were leaving or that the screaming stopped, she wanted to follow them.
This giant was mindless opting to search the building until it was reduced to rubble. But this smaller being had a goal, somewhere to go, and they were racing away from death.
Only to run into the hand of another. A giant being had crawled from behind a building, reaching out and grasping the small thing so hard it cracked. It cried out, the sound disturbed her. It raised the small thing to his face, opened its jaw, and snapped down on it. The cries ended with a sickening crunch.
She didn't know what to do about it, she just knew she didn't like it. It was bad, everything was bad. Reality finally hit her, that something truly terrible was happening not just here, but everywhere.
The sounds of the crumbling city came to her and she could now recognize it. It was familiar and now she could put words to it.
Founder, the people, the titans, the Walls.
She didn't understand why or how she knew. There was only so much she could recall. At least now she could finally see the truth. Her hands had blood on them just like the other titans. Though her memories of how the blood came to pour over her was hazy, she knew.
While she stopped, other titans passed her by. They didn't even spare her or each other a glance. There was nothing behind their eyes and they felt nothing.
Then she heard another cry, someone else still alive in the city. She turned and began to walk towards the cries.
There was no where to go, no one left to help. The gate was broken and the titans flooded the city so quickly she had no way to get out in time. She was slowed by the small body in her arms, a little girl she had found.
As she kept running everything began to close in on her. The distance she had to go to reach the gate, the aching in her body as she struggled to continue, the titans nearing them. So much told her to give up, just let her death be as quick as possible. Some dark part of her was thankful the child in her arms was unconscious, at least she wouldn't suffer.
Her lungs were on fire, she couldn't keep running forever. In her head she kept thinking all she had to do was reach the gate, then they would survive. The Wall wasn't much farther now, it was an incredible sprint to the Wall but she was almost there. She wanted to cry in relief, thank whatever was looking out for them that they were nearly there.
This relief was unwarranted and she knew it. There was still so much that could go wrong, all it would take is one titan and they'd be done for. As fate would have it a titan had spotted her running across its path. It wasn't like she had been hiding from them, she knew if she stopped for a moment she wouldn't have the strength to keep on. Her legs were threatening to buckle already. Stopping now would mean death.
Though it didn't really matter at this point. Even if she weren't carrying this child and the fastest woman alive, she couldn't outrun a titan.
It was after her with merciless purpose. She was too small and weak to do much of anything. Some irrational hope pushed her forward, but there was no way to know if the gate was still open or if there were any soldiers left. Hope was draining faster each step the titan took behind them. There was no way out, no chance she could outrun the titan, but she gave it everything she had anyways.
Her feet ached, blisters forming causing each step to be more painful than the last. She tried her best, she wouldn't just give up.
Then, the cracking of stone from the corner ahead of her caused the world to fall silent around her. It felt like forever before her foot touched the ground again and she face to face with another titan. Her eyes widened in shock, her hopes crushed, and she knew it was the end for her and this girl.
They were trapped, two giant ruthless monsters surrounded her. Helplessness didn't suit her, it made her angry and frustrated at the world; that this was their reality. That if there was something out there, a god protecting them, why would they let this happen? Why would these monsters even exist? Why would they let these titans extinguish the life of an innocent little girl?
She gritted her teeth, tears now flowing freely from her eyes as a snarl spread across her features. Desperation to survive and the overwhelming power of the titans made her feel weak and useless. Now all she could do it accept her fate, accept the agony she would feel before fading into the unknown.
Falling to her knees she tightened her arms around the girl. At least she wasn't aware of it, at least she wouldn't know.
As the titan's reached their scuffed and bloodied hands for her, she raised her eyes to them in defiance. Hoping that somehow they would understand her unbridled rage and hatred for them. That somewhere deep down they felt guilt for snuffing out their lives so cruelly. She just wanted them to suffer like the people of Shiganshina suffered.
The anxiety waiting for that bone crushing grip never came even though she heard the disgustingly familiar sound of bone's snapping. Her head whipped up to see the titan had reached for her but the titan in front had reached passed her. It took the arm of the other and snapped it at the wrist, steam exploding from the joint as it tried to recover.
No one had to tell her twice that this was a chance to escape. If this titan competed for food than she might be able to slip away. They weren't intelligent after all, they might not notice her. She didn't know much about titans in general, she never took the time to learn if this was normal behavior.
Still, she struggled to her feet and hoisted the girl up then with great effort, she began to run. This time she was noticeably slower even though the adrenaline got her on her feet, there was only so much abuse the human body would withstand. There was no way she could keep running for long... she just had to reach the gate to know if there was a chance to-
Again she paused, a second shock to her system as she finally saw the broken gate. Wall Maria had been breached just like Shiganshina.
There was no escape. This is where they would die.
She looked down to the girl in her arms, a thin stream of blood streaked down the side of her face. Whoever this girl was had a family once, but perhaps she had been spared seeing them devoured or crushed. It was unlikely, but she still had to hope for some good even if it was only that.
Brushing her dark hair from her face, she went over to lean against Wall Maria. She sat down as she smiled at the girl. Together they awaited death. It was strangely quiet now though she didn't dare look up. Her last thoughts were to be of this girl, something good before she faced her end.
Without the hope of survival anymore she felt a remarkable relief wash over her. Now she wouldn't wonder if she did her best, if she did everything humanly possible to save the girl. She wouldn't die with guilt.
The soft rumbling of footsteps in the distance grew ever closer. Despite her fear she only gripped the girl closer to her chest. It was coming, the horrific monster drew near. She could see the sunlight being blocked out, a massive shadow cast over them.
She wasn't ready to die, this little girl deserved a long life as well. Yet she resolved herself to be brave all the way until the lights went out.
Warmth of the titan's hand washed over her, her body tensed; she wouldn't give in to fear...
Then, nothing. It felt like so long since the hand neared her, too long in fact. A titan didn't hesitate, it didn't spare a single person. So why wasn't she crushed already?
Her eyes dared to look up, gazing upon the open palm of a titan... No, the same titan as before. The one that came around the corner on all fours. It followed them, which was expected, but this was not. Even her lackluster knowledge of titans told her this was completely wrong.
It didn't move a muscle. It simply stared at them, palm facing up and flat against the ground like a platform. She didn't realize she was holding her breath and when she finally exhaled, she feared the titan would lunge. Not a move from the titan, its eyes focused entirely on them.
She placed her hand against the Wall, trying to push herself up with all her remaining strength. When she nearly fell over from the strain, the titan finally moved. It startled her even though she knew it was coming... She found the finger of the titan under her arm, supporting her. Then, the titan's expression changed.
What the hell is this? Her shock was only equaled by her distrust of the titan. Even if it was acting helpful right now.
When she stood up from the finger, the titan's hand returned to its position on the ground. Slowly, the titan nodded its head downwards only once. A gesture, an expression; things titans were incapable of and yet.
Swallowing hard, she steeled herself for the pain of her decision. Planting on foot on the fingertips of the titan to test the titan and it passed, technically. It didn't crush her, so she guessed that would do. Survival no matter what, even if it meant climbing into the hand of a titan.
With another brave few steps, she was standing squarely in the center of its palm. The titan look satisfied with this and began to rise from the ground. It stood on two legs now, turning towards the hole in Wall Maria. It was leading them out of Shiganshina and she couldn't understand why.
It didn't really matter why she supposed. She wasn't a Scout or a scientist, she didn't need to know why this titan wasn't devouring her and the girl. All she needed was a way out and if it meant riding a titan... Fuck it. She turned around to look at the hole in the gate, If we survive, who cares how it happens.
It wasn't over though. While this titan didn't want to eat them, the others most certainly did. When they neared the broken gate they all could see the person in its hand. They all wanted to eat, driven beyond all reason even if they didn't know what was going on.
The heavy footfalls, the rising and lowering of the titan's body, forced her to sit in the titan's palm or risk falling off. She could see how many titans turned their gaze to her and began their approach. Her titan, the one carrying her, didn't seem to notice at all or realize the threat.
If they kept on like this, the other titans would go through this titan to eat her. She turned to face the titan, "They're coming!" She cried out, but the titan didn't react. "Can you understand me?!" Still, nothing.
She growled in frustration before punching her fist into the titan's palm. It finally looked down to them and she pointed to the titans ahead. "Do you understand? They're going to eat us!"
The insanity of trying to talk to a titan, how ridiculous it felt to yell at the monster escorting them. But it seemed to do the trick and the titan braced, stopping before getting too close to the others. She glanced quickly between them and it was clear this titan was figuring out what to do.
It tried to retreat first, turning back around to avoid the hungry titans only to be met with three more approaching from behind. If they didn't move now, they would be overwhelmed. This singular titan would not be able to fend off ten others while carrying them.
Instead, it took another path. Looking up, crouching down on its haunches, it prepared to jump. She looked up, seeing only Wall Maria before she realized what was happening. "Wait... wait, hey, no-!"
The stone shattered like glass beneath the power of her leap. It easily cleared the heads of even the tallest titans below. The long claw like nails of the titan dug into the Wall just enough to latch on. She screamed on the way up and kept screaming when she felt the momentary weightlessness before falling back on the titan's hand.
She didn't have the words to describe how terrifying it was to fly through the air like that or the knowledge that this titan's hand didn't come with railings. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing to stop them from falling to their deaths.
Now though, the titan was stuck. With a slowly growing number of titan's below them, they could not descend. Yet with this woman and child in her other hand, she could not climb. Unless she could free her hand to ascend, they would remain there until her strength gave out.
Daring to look down she let out a short squeak before falling back into its hand. "There's no way... You can't climb Wall Maria and we can't go down... What the hell do we do?!" She panicked, looking to the titan for an answer. It was impossible for a titan to have the intelligence to speak or, hell, do much of anything other than eat. As far as she knew anyways. With the strange behavior of this titan she still felt compelled to try.
It looked down, long hair curtaining around it's face as it pondered what to do next. It looked back up and knew it could make the climb, that wasn't even a question. It made the jump because it knew it could... thinking ahead didn't really come up for it.
With a deep swallow, it closed it's throat and opened it's mighty jaws. She stared in horror as she saw the inside of a titan's mouth so close. Her head was in a panic just seeing this source of humanity's suffering. The greatest threat to mankind and here it was, not but a few meters away.
When the hand below her moved closer, she crawled backwards in fear. "No! No, no, no, no-!" She thought she had found a way to escape, but ended up in a titan's gullet all the same. False hope was the cruelest thing of all. She cried out again, pleading with the titan not to eat them before it's teeth snapped shut around them.
She clenched her eyes closed and wrapped herself around the girl. The saliva of the titan quickly soaked into her clothes and hair, the disgusting feeling causing bile to rise up in her throat.
To her never ending surprise, they remained in the mouth of the titan. She couldn't stand to look, she just couldn't... It was too much, far too much to take. Her breath hitched with her sobs, feeling the occasional slight movement of the titan's tongue. She retched, shaking with fear.
There was no change though, the titan did now swallow them. Her eyes snapped open, but it was too dark to see. Thankfully, she was spared the sight of being in the titan's jaws.
Something else peaked her curiosity, the feeling of being lifted before a slight drop, then again, and again...
It's climbing the Wall! She realized it was only freeing it's hand to climb. They weren't swallowed because the titan wasn't going to devour them. They were safe inside it's mouth even though it didn't feel like it.
It was getting warm though, she felt herself beginning to sweat just as the lips of the titan opened up. With a deep exhale, all that hot air was expelled from it's massive lungs. With teeth still clenched, they were still secured within it's mouth, only now she could see.
The wrinkles on the roof of the mouth, the bumps on it's tongue... The gloss of it's teeth. She dared to look towards the throat of the titan to see the back of the tongue only letting air escape before closing back up. It kept them from it's stomach, it kept them safe.
She officially thought she was losing her mind.
Her jaw was slack in shock, though she snapped it shut when she realized there was titan saliva all over her. It sent a shiver of disgust down her spine, goosebumps raised on her skin as she tried and failed not to think about it.
When the cracking of stone stopped there was one heavy push up where they were even lifted from the titan's tongue for a second. Then it was done, they had reached the top.
The teeth parted and sunlight poured in. She could hear the titan's hand moving before she saw finger's reaching towards them. It was remarkably gentle with them once it's fingers scooped them out. The fingers closing around them, hand twisting to put them down the right way up caused her a moment of dizziness.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The day was only getting stranger and stranger. She could look up and see the sun, blue sky, and fluffy white clouds. If she ignored everything else, it was a beautiful day out. It almost made her cry just to know they had made it out of the city... even if she was standing beside a titan.
Looking towards the towering monstrosity she finally got to drink in the sight of this powerful being. It towered over them with unfathomable strength to demolish an entire city. They were helpless against the titans, the Garrison had completely failed to protect the city.
She had to tear her gaze away from the titan to the girl in her arms. Only as the adrenaline began to wear off did she feel the burn in her body. Muscles finally screaming at her for the abuse they pushed through and her arms shook from sudden weakness.
Turning around, she spotted a supply box the Garrison left behind in the evacuation. She had to lay the girl down somewhere, preferably not on the stone either. Waving her hand to get the titan's attention, she saw it look down to her quizzically. Approaching it, she tapped the back of one of it's hands resting on the stone.
Slowly, it turned it's hand over and she placed the girl in her palm. At least softer than stone, even though the idea of laying her there was scary and ill advised.
Heading to the supply crate she felt her legs stiffening, protesting any and all movement with sharp pain. Her feet felt like she was walking on glass until she made it to the crate, leaning on it for support. The top lifted off quite easily to reveal it was almost completely full, only a few things were clearly taken in a rush.
Digging around in the box while the titan watched curiously before she pulled out some wraps and a sealed bucket of water. It's water mostly kept there to clean cannons or anything that needed maintenance, but it was unused and clean. Returning to the girl in the titan's hand, she dipped her hand in the water and rubbed off the dried blood.
The wound was behind her hair, she couldn't see it clearly but it wasn't deep. Likely debris had hit her, but not enough to cause her serious harm. She was breathing steadily, the blood had long since stopped. Whether she was still unconscious from the blunt force or from shock there was no way to tell. All they could do now is wait and hope she would recover.
Everything seemed to slow down now they were out of immediate danger. The horrors she witnessed would never be forgotten and though she could not see herself resting now with those memories so fresh, she took some solace that she got this little girl out.
The titan leaned down, laying across the top of the wall with a leg dangling off the side. It was close enough now for her to see the small flicking of her eyes staring across the hills behind Wall Maria.
She almost didn't dare to look at it, the face of this giant thing instilled a deep fear in her especially from what she had just seen. Yet it was clear to her this titan didn't want to eat them. If it did, it had plenty of opportunities; they were even in it's mouth.
Her fear of this one faded to apprehension, she didn't trust it but her reasoning told her that for now, it was okay to relax. She supposed it wouldn't matter if she trusted this beast anyways, there was nothing she could do if it decided to kill them.
As her body collapsed into the titan's hand, she felt every muscle in her body throb with relief. After all that running, all that death around them, they had survived on blind luck. So many people didn't even survive that giant titan breaking the gate. The rubble sent flying killed so many, destroyed buildings that killed even more.
She struggled to raise a hand to her forehead, trembling as the nightmare she had survived hit her all at once. With a shaky breath, she looked back to the titan above her. The neck of the titan, the jaw hanging just above them offering some shade from the hot sun.
They would have to get back to Wall Rose somehow, Trost was the closest. Right now they could not withstand the escape there. All they needed was rest before the next sprint for their lives.
"What are you?" She mumbled lowly, but the titan did not move to respond. It didn't really understand and it couldn't tell the difference between the sounds she made before and those now. "You saved us... we would've been dead already... Just- why?" The titan's eyes glanced down to her.
Something about bringing a titan's attention caused her heart to skip a beat. "Can you even understand me?"
It looked around before moving it's face down to look at her directly. Eyes narrowing, brow furrowing; confusion and interest. It grasped that she was trying to do something, to communicate, but it didn't quite get it.
With a dry huff of laughter, she closed her eyes. "I shouldn't question it. I should just be grateful we're not dead, huh?" Her eyes looked down mournfully, "Yet I can't help but wonder why me? Why us? Why save us and no one else... Surely there must be some people more deserving."
The titan's head lowered until she felt it's breath. "Someone who could've fought the titans, saved others. Soldiers or... I don't know what I'm saying. I just..." She sighed, running her hand down her face. Her gaze met the titan's own, "I guess I'm trying to say thank you."
But it didn't fully understand what she was saying, it only looked at her with a softened expression. "You don't have any idea what I'm saying. I'm thanking a titan- a damn monster, for saving our lives. What the hell happened..."
It took all she had to stay awake, but she lost that fight. She fell asleep and the titan rested it's head on the stone, following them into slumber. The warmth of it's breath next to them warded off the cold of their altitude as night came.
For whatever reason they had survived where others did not. The destruction was widespread, not just in Shiganshina and Wall Maria, but everyone felt the effects. Terror washed over the rest of the cities and their people, titans had never breached the Walls before. This was a whole new monster to overcome, one they couldn't predict; one they had no way to fight.