Kana had expected them to find her, yet she didn't expect that to happen so early.
It had been five days since she ate Zeke, and the reaction of other Warriors hadn't been pretty, at least not initially. But in the end, she managed to convince them that she had their best interests at heart while Zeke didn't, and they went back to being a little family.
Kana was now the Beast Titan, and considering how the Survey Corps treated the Beast Titan in the show, she was afraid.
Not that she would show it.
And then she spotted the one person that was to be her salvation. In the canon, the Beast Titan had vocal cords. She could use that.
She crouched down low in front of Hange.
"You must be Hange Zoe." she spoke "I am Kana, a fellow nerd. How about we strike a bargain? I will not pose any threat to you as long as you don't pose a threat to me or my 'children'."
Hange immediately squealed and started bombarding Kana with questions.
Her enthusiasm was infections, and soon she and Kana started babbling back-and-forth excitedly.
"Normally we would agree." Commander Erwin finally decided to interrupt "But in this case, we would like to meet these 'children' of yours."
"Certainly." Kana nodded "Follow me, then."
She led the Survey Corps members back to the cave.
"It's safe!" she called "You can come out!"
And one by one, they did. She noted the looks of surprise on their faces, especially Erwin's.
"Your 'children' are actual children?" he asked
"Of course." Kana raised an eyebrow "What did you think they'd be?"
"Other Titans." Erwin said
"The two boys are Reiner and Bertolt." Kana introduced, ignoring his last statement "The girls are Annie and Pieck. They had an adult with them, but he was a bit of a jerk, so I ate him and took his Beast Titan power."
"I see." Erwin said, contemplatively
"So do we have a deal?" Kana asked eagerly
"We do." Erwin said "But on one condition: you and your children must join the Survey Corps."
"..."
Kana turned to Annie.
"Use your power." she said
Annie took a deep breath and then she roared. It was not as powerful as it would be in her Titan form, but Kana hoped that it would do the job well.
"You see, us joining you puts us in harm's way." Kana said "So we're gonna have to refuse."
-x-
As if on cue, the Titans converged on the Survey Corps.
"That should keep them busy." Kana said
She picked her children up and walked away. With her goal of eating Zeke complete, there was no need to stay here, especially since the Survey Corps knew this location.
It was time for the change of scenery.
The Forest of Giant Trees was not an ideal home, but it had one advantage: no one would think to look for them in here. Plus, there was bound to be a cave nearby. And if not, then they'll just need to bring down some trees and use them to make a hut or something. And for that, they'll need tools. Fortunately, the Survey Corps didn't see Kana's human form, meaning that she could just go to one of the districts and buy the tools needed. The only problem was that she didn't have any of this world's money on her, meaning she'd have to find a job.
"Oh well." she muttered to herself "Rome wasn't built in a day."
"What did you just say?" Bertolt sat down beside her, curious
"Nothing." she smiled "I am gonna have to go and work in a city for a while. You be good. I'll be back whenever I can."
"Why not take us along?" Reiner chimed
Kana gave her eldest 'child' a flat look.
"Because those people from earlier have seen your faces." she explained "If they see you wandering around, they'll put two and two together and try to get us to join. We can't risk that. Everyone who joins them dies before their time."
"If it comes to that, we can take them on." Pieck pointed out
Kana used her finger to lightly flick Pieck's forehead.
"You are still children." she said "Besides, they are more experienced than you, so we can't win in that way. We need to use...alternative methods, like staying off their radar, and this forest is perfect for that. I need to work so we can acquire materials needed to build our own house in this forest."
