(I finished this chapter within four days. I don't know what car hit me, or the license plate number...but I do know that whenever I get the feeling to actually do something, I do more in less. Anywho, this chapter features my first "fight scene" ever done on this website. Forgive me if it's shit but I'm new, dammit! ;-;)

'Single Quotation Italics': Thoughts

"Double Quotation Normal": Speech

Italics: Emphasis

Underlined Italics: Move/Attack Name

'Single Quotation Bold Italics': Titan/Tailed Beast Thoughts

"Double Quotation Bold": Titan/Tailed-Beast Speech

"Double Quotation Bold Italics": Tailed-Beast Telepathy

Chapter 4: Pikale's Melancholy and the Foxy Titan's Reappearance!

First Person - Carlo Pikale

The very night following Kuklo's arrest that early afternoon...

At the moment I just finished meeting with soldier that had shed tears, admitting that he was afraid—many of the newer blood were, and just as well as some of those that have already served for longer periods of time—and requested transfer to the Garrison regiment; a request I okayed amongst the many I had already received this afternoon after returning from the expedition. I've been writing and signing off on the transfer documents all afternoon and into the early night...a sigh escapes my lips and I put my pen down beside a stack of documents.

'This is a blow that the Survey Corps. suffers whenever troops are incapable of further braving the terrors beyond the walls,' I frowned and stood from my seat before turning to face the windows behind me, 'not to mention the mortality rate that comes with the job. 'Nonetheless I couldn't blame a single one of my men that want to leave, for the horrors of the titans...the families that could be potentially left behind...it's too much for people, especially for soldiers that fight for those people; no soldier wants to leave family behind, and no self-respecting person—soldier or not—wants to die via titan. I've seen how brave men and women are broken into a pitiful desperate and panic-stricken mess when a titan gets ahold of them. Just after that thought I began to ponder the current situation of the stowaway boy from the expedition.

I recalled just standing there as the trap the unicorns had set up was sprung to take the titan's chi— 'He's not a titan, dammit! The boy has a name and he deserves to be called by it!' The thought of considering the boy, Kuklo, any less than human made me sick, and the habit of referring to the boy as the son of a titan was something that needed to be rectified. Immediately.

It's sickening...facing the result of my folly; a boy that could've lived a normal life if it were not for the irrational fear humanity had for the titans. Irrational, because there is nothing to fear of the monsters as long as the three walls stand great and strong, a fact that has not, and will not, change for many years to come. Unfortunately, no matter how many times one is exposed to a monster, a person may never become desensitized to the terrors generated by that entity of horror; the fear factor is even worse if someone's never experienced the fright and alarm from having seen that monster. To humanity, to us all, that monster is the very entirety of the titan population that we so desperately struggle against. It was that very irrational fear that let us easily cast an innocent child into the pits of hell on Earth. Anyhow...watching Kuklo be taken away from the peaceful life he was probably living was like being stabbed in the soul—a second time, that is. After having realized what I had doomed the boy to the day he was born, I wanted to wreak havoc; I wanted to hurt myself for ever throwing a defenseless infant into what amounts to the largest pack of wolves in the world. My discipline as a soldier had not allowed that destructive behavior, however. 'It's my fault, all my fault.' I thought I had left that regret behind, buried it under the soil of my conscious; unfortunately, or fortunately...the boy had reappeared before me.

'If only I kept my wits about me! —if I didn't assume how titan reproduction worked! There're so many ifs...and one regret that weighs a ton.' I'm not someone that should be leading if I made a choice that condemned a child to a horrible fate...my melancholy and regret is my punishment. The job of leadership comes with responsibility, a great one, multiple ones; so by the time I had thought of Kuklo several times in the past, I couldn't step down any time soon—at all, actually. The Survey Corps.

I'm not a person that exactly believes in fate, yet the boy's reemergence could have been a sign that I'm still capable of redeeming my unjust actions all those years ago on that specific day: the act of abandoning a child that could not even speak for himself. That's if I were to make the attempt of saving the boy from his sentencing, unfortunately, this could bring even more trouble to the Survey Corps. if any wind of us is caught aiding a fugitive. As it is, we're already in danger of being disbanded.

I sighed, a solemnness coming over me as I further pondered the situation. 'It's clear that compared to father's generation, the quality of the Survey Corps. has...fallen.' This was something that plagued my mind relentlessly, and at this point it's only gotten worse; I've been able to keep the thoughts at bay for a great deal of time but the results of the expedition today had only made the dilemmas of the Survey Corps. even clearer to me. There's no keeping these musings from my mind anymore. The quality of the Survey Corps. has been undoubtedly in decline... 'For goodness' sake, I'm in no position to say anything about my subordinates.' This train of thought would have traveled further if it weren't for the voice of one my men hollering from the other side of my door. "Captain Pikale! You have a visitor!" The masculine voice called.

After having acknowledged the fact that someone was here to see me and called for their entrance, my office door parted its full berth to reveal my unexpected visitor. I couldn't help but grin somewhat at the girl that stood in the doorway.

"Welcome, Miss Sharle Innocencio."

Third person

Present day...

This was it for Kuklo and Cardina, the day they would either make their lives all over again or lose them. Both hoped for the latter of the two fates; a new start is better than nothing at all, and Kuklo had no plans on dying before living his life to the fullest. Neither did Cardina, if it wasn't already obvious as she Kuklo made plans to run North in the hopes of finding their freedom. Kuklo has his reasons for wanting to escape and so did Cardina: the boy to return to the only loved one he has, and the girl to simply escape from the literal death trap that politics have placed her in. Over the course of the two weeks the two spent in the prison within Wall Sina, Kuklo and Cardina had become nothing short of friends; something that Kuklo greatly appreciated.

The boy hadn't had any friends within the walls except for Sharle, and even then he felt lonely at times, this was due to the fact that Sharle had to work to keep the two of them in a stable accommodation. Kuklo would've helped if it weren't for having to become acclimated to the wound that rendered his right eye useless, throwing off his hand-eye coordination. That's without mentioning having needed to heal and recover.

Kuklo silently cursed the ropes he was bound with as he struggled to no end in vain. Along with the hopes of getting free from the cords that keep him secured, Kuklo couldn't help but let a negative thought plague him.'...Dammit...we won't be 'free' at this rate, the gates'll be opened up and the wagons sent out with us tied and helpless!' Raged Kuklo within himself. The one-eyed boy looked besides himself to see Cardina attempting the same thing as he himself is: getting out of the binds. It won't be long now before their fates were set in stone, Kuklo felt, unless they miraculously freed themselves before getting too far from the wall. Despite the need for a miracle, the prison companions continued to struggle against their binds and against the odds stacked, attempting to unsettle and loosen the ropes at least somewhat in order to set their plan into action.

Even with all the cards set against Kuklo and Cardina, no one was able to account for the miniature Nine-Tailed Fox that had leisurely strolled into the wagon holding the male-female duo with a light-bending illusion around his fuzzy self. Kurama had stretched after returning from checking on the other prisoners, his tails splayed out behind him as he laid down upon the wood of Kuklo and Cardina's wagon; there were three other people, too, but the fox found that he frankly didn't care much for their pressence. The majority of people in the various wagons are criminals that have been arrested, those were easy to distinguish with the fox's empathetic abilities, as well as those that weren't guilty of any crime. Kurama had assessed every person within each wagon and saw no worth in those that had resigned themselves to a fate that wasn't set in stone, a destiny that could be moulded unless they did nothing, tempted to leave every single person there to die. Those that wish to fight against their predicament, however, Kurama would gladly fight for. Although... 'Naruto would be willing to give them a chance to choose for themselves...guess that means holding back the titans until their choice is clear...' In all honesty, Kurama respected life in and of itself ever since Naruto had shred his malice away.

Due to Naruto, Kurama became capable of seeing the good in those that had even a modicum of it, whether by empathetic ability or not; however, it has been Kurama's belief that those that don't wish to be saved, those whom simply resign their lives to whatever has befallen them, shouldn't have resources wasted on them.

For instance: Naruto befriended Kurama and made the gargantuan vulpine see the error of his hateful ways, afterwards, although Kurama had his new outlook, he still viewed the Uchiha as a lost cause until Naruto managed to force-save the Uchiha brat in the end. All it cost Naruto was his left arm at the culmination of the battle with the Uchiha; and that's without mentioning that the time spent searching for the Uchiha scum could've been used by Naruto to improve himself tremendously prior to the beginning of Kurama's and Naruto's friendship. Some people just aren't worth the trouble they cause.

The fox was shaken from his reverie by the sensation of someone boarding the wagon. A male, if the distinct facial hair under the hood was any indication. There weren't any mal-intentions there...not even towards Kuklo, the boy that appeared to be the outcast of his people and beaten by the security forces of whatever ruling system governed this civilization. Trust never came easy, especially for someone like Kurama that had witnessed the rise and fall of the ninja era, and so he kept an eye on the hooded man. The stranger appeared to check the strength and security of the ropes keeping Kuklo and Cardina bound...but one of the many things Kurama had learned from living for so long— 'Not to mention something that Naruto's teachers never failed to repeat.' —is to look underneath the underneath. What Kurama had seen underneath...was a knife; a knife that just by touching it, Kuklo seemed to recognize, if the boy's visible expression of shock was any indication. Not just that, but being an empath let Kurama understand more or less what Kuklo's thoughts on the blade were; it was more a shock that stemmed from familiarity with the item and that it seemed to make its way back to the human's hands. The hooded man left promptly after having done his task.

This sudden turn of events had caught Kuklo off guard, the boy's thoughts immediately flickering towards the image of the Survey Corps. Captain, Carlo Pikale, which he had briefly spoken with before turning himself over to the Military Police. The knife was comfortable in Kuklo's grip after it was left to him, yet the boy's mind was wracked with thoughts of what his receiving Sharle's knife meant. 'I'm to use this to escape?!' This is a score in Kuklo's book, the fact that someone was likely on his side aiding him...and that he received Sharle's knife... 'She must've talked to that captain and got 'im to help...Sharle...even when you're not around you somehow manage to take care of me.' That was all that Kuklo was able to come up with at the moment, because otherwise? The boy drew blanks.

A rumbling caught Kuklo's attention and he looked out towards the front of the wagon. The gate was being opened. 'I need to undo these ropes as soon as I can!' As soon as there was a gap large enough for the horses to drag the wagons through, the personnel around them sent the equines running.

It has begun.

First Person - Kuklo

As soon as the gates began to open, the horses took off, by then I had already unsheathed the knife and flipped its blade up against my ropes. Without a second wasted I began to move the sharp edge of the blade against my binds, doing whatever I could with the limited mobility my hands had; even then, with the restricted movements of my wrists, I felt the blade slicing through the material of the ropes keeping me stuck in my position. The longer I took, the further away the carriages made it from the safety of the walls being left in our trail.

Just barely a hair's width was left of the ropes upon my wrist before— 'Yes!' —as soon as my bindings had been cut apart I tore my arms away from each other and immediately ripped off the gag placed over my mouth. "Gah!" That had stung! I shouldn't have torn the gag from my face without having taken a second to simply undo it...then again, time is of the essence; without a moment to waste I took a knee behind Cardina and removed her gag without hesitation, a sleight of hand I never knew I had allowed me to quickly manage that gag removal and even quickly slice through Cardina's restraints. Afterwards I went to work on the ropes of the three others in the wagon, as fast as I could I cut through the others' binds as well; on the third person I was working on freeing with the knife, Cardina questioned just when it was I managed to get the blade. It wasn't until I finished the last of the ropes that kept everyone on this wagon prisoner that Cardina let her alarm be verbally expressed. "This is bad...very bad! We're over a kilometer away from Shiganshina!" The Baumeister was visibly shaken by the fact, something I didn't expect from her, someone that seemed ready to commit her very life to achieving her freedom.

Nonetheless that meant that we had to do something, and fast else we become dinner to the monsters that lay further out. "We need to jump!" Cardina called back to me.

"What?! Jump?! What about the wagon?!" I rebuked heatedly, the horses would serve as rapid transport back to the wall where we could make our way around the construct in easy time. If we were on foot...it could potentially, undoubtedly, be much, much worse than if we were with the wagon. Cardina, unfortunately or otherwise, unbeknownst to me, had a completely valid reason to refute my words. "The Military Police might do something if they realize something's wrong! Granted they won't send anyone...but they'll probably...shoot their cannons at us..." Cardina's voice was strong at the start of her speech but degraded into a shaky and almost incomprehensible muttering. Cardina tore apart my idea without even trying, and worst of all? I knew she was right; if we're caught commandeering the wagon, the Military Police might take action against us and attempt to take us out via cannon-fire. I very much would like to not be blown to bits. The instant Cardina leapt from the wagon I nearly panicked at the sudden movement...however, I needed to go next if I wanted to live, and so I, too, jumped ship and bailed from the mobile death trap. As I temporarily soared, I kept my arms crossed, one across my face to keep debris from getting in my eye and one over my head with a hand to the back of my skull to keep from taking any damage.

The landing was rough, although I wasn't hurt any badly, and it stung; only a number of scrapes and some light bruising was caused by the impact, followed by some rolling on the ground. Something I don't I'd ever mention...is that I seem to have gotten dirt in a specific area that made it uncomfortable to keep the rags that made up my trousers on any longer.

"Kuklo!" Cardina cried, she was in a sprint headed towards me. I slowly rose to a kneeling position while clutching the right side of my cranium with a hand, I think I hit a stone after rolling for a brief period after my jump from the wagon.

Cardina was concerned for my wellbeing, which was a sentiment I was able to wholeheartedly appreciate among many others. "You still alive?!" Called Cardina, probably wanting to be sure I didn't break my neck in the leap from the wagon. "Yeah...somehow..." I replied, trying to shrug off my sluggishness that came after having bailed from the wagon and the hard impact with the barren land. My eyes were focused on the bare and stony ground beneath my legs, the stinging and dull sensations coming from my abrasions and bruises suddenly becoming a thing of the past as I realized that we were outside the walls. I looked up to see the darkness of the night; our surroundings were barely visible aside from Walls Maria which towered, seemingly reaching to the skies, and the torches atop the construct.

I took moment to take in the situation as I came to a stand. It was in that moment of rumination that I came to another realization. "Where're the others?!" I cried, turning my head to get a look at the rapidly retreating wagon.

"They gave up." Cardina instantly responded, so sure of her answer that she didn't bother to glance back at me while she gazed up at Wall Maria. My question to that was not verbalized but hung in the air anyhow. Cardina managed to pick up on my silent inquiry. "They gave up on life." She said solemnly.

Cardina turned around to look out towards the disappearing wagons, she and I wasted no more than a few seconds before she stretched her arms upward, parting her lips to speak. "Well then, we better get going, Kuklo..." Cardina turned towards the wall, "before we're set upon by the titans." I nodded with a soft grunt and turn towards the wall. We started off into a jog and paced ourselves into a run. As moved towards Wall Maria, Cardina questioned me on Sharle's knife; how and where I ended up getting the now-sheathed blade from. Even jesting that I was somehow going to be able to save us from the current predicament with it. Further in towards the wall we ended up stopping because Cardina couldn't keep up any longer. I urged her to hurry up but she wouldn't have any of it.

"I'm not slow! I'm quick on my feet, in fact! You're just abnormally fast!" Cardina defended. That was her excuse in my opinion. We remained where we were for a while longer so Cardina could catch her breath, and once her breathing began to ease up, Cardina looked towards the wall and spoke. "We're about five hundred meters from Shiganshina's gate, all we need to do is go around to keep going North—question is: East or West?"

That was a good question, either one could lead towards our goal. Even then, however, we still have to outrun the titans and survive in some way or another. It was just after pondering over Cardina's question that I noticed one of the torches over Wall Maria flickering in a strange manner, wavering in an even wider range than a normal flame.

That was when we heard it. Cardina and I had to cover our ears to keep our eardrums from shattering.

An incredibly loud and inhuman roar echoed...

Third person

Kurama was never one for pleasantries, yet he still kept himself cloaked within the wagon that held the three remaining prisoners that Kuklo had untied. 'My voice shouldn't be so earth-shatteringly loud anymore at this size...I'll expose myself to the boy later, right now I've got to see what the deal is with these pansies.' Thought the shrunken titanic fox. If the people on this wagon as well as the others were given a chance to properly run without the fear of being chased their so-called titans, then perhaps they would take it. However, if the people chose to remain resigned then Kurama would do no more for them; Naruto may have influenced him greatly but Kurama wasn't willing to make an effort for nothing.

Anywho, if Kurama were to drop the illusion affect around himself, nobody would believe the humans that would see him. The fact that a talking fox with nine tails spoke? No sane person these days, aside from the Survey Corps. and Kuklo, would believe it. It was this thought that allowed Kurama to calmly shed his illusion. Ever so subtle, or rather, without a single care, Kurama moved around the three that remained in the wagon, exposing himself to their eyes. Two were males with blonde-shaggy, hair that went no further down from the base of the skill, the third was female with short brunette hair in a more or less wavy bob-cut. The only one that showed any outward reaction was the male on the far right. The man stared at Kurama as if the fox had grown a second head.

"Hello," Kurama finally said as he sat back on his haunches, a grin gracing his vulpine features, "you three look deader than my last meal." The Nine-Tails had to bite down on his tongue to keep from laughing from the reactions he had gather from the remaining male and female. They all look at him with varying looks of shock and dumbfounded-ness. It was quite a sight. "Wha–What?" Answered the female of the group, her word having come out in a stutter as she placed a hand to her chest. 'At least someone can speak.' Kurama pondered with his amusement evidently fading. "What indeed, human, and what I'm about to say pertains to your lives. You will either forfeit them or keep them, depending on what you do when the titans get here." The fox stated as a matter of fact, giving no room doubts as he became, and remained, stern with his deep voice. The two males of the humans' small trio were skeptical. "And just what would you say that has to do with our lives, mutt?" The male in the center replied, more vocal with his thoughts than the man to the right. In response to that, Kurama shifted size, the chakra in his body influencing his mass as he grew to increase his weight. "I do not take kindly to your insolence, human. So either shut up and listen, or become my fucking breakfast." Kurama made no further threats and proceeded to target the centered human man with the maliciousness of his chakra. The murderous intention simply exuded by Kurama's will overrode all thoughts within the man's mind...and the human soon began to profusely sweat as he envisioned his own death multiple times over. The Nine-Tailed beast had no intention in shrinking back down.

"Good, you understand," Kurama backed up in order to have all three humans within his sights, "as soon as the titans show I'm going to take their attention off of every single human within the wagons; and once I do...you have less than five minutes to decide just what it is you're going to do." The humans remained quiet, feeling that the fox hadn't yet finished speaking. "If I decide that I like your actions, I'm going to keep the titans off of you all and allow you to escape. Otherwise? I'm disappearing to leave you to the titans." Kurama's voice was even throughout the explanation, not once did he raise his voice, nor did he lower it.

The fox spoke no longer and the humans looked to each other. They whispered amongst themselves thinking that the fox wouldn't be able to listen in, despite his rabbit-like ears.

"Well..." the human male to the right began, unsure of his words, "it's not as if we're tied up anymore; and if what the beast says...we might have a chance, unlike those kids that jumped from the wagon." The woman among them chose this point to be her turn. "Well, what if it can't grow any bigger than it already is? For all we know it's looking to kill us via the titans..." the woman took a pause, "but what if it's telling the truth? We'd all be able to get out of here without being harmed." The last person of their group said nothing, he was still thinking over the images of his own death that came to mind, still, the man certainly didn't have much doubts anymore, especially since once of his deaths included being swallowed whole by the very creature in the wagon. All in all, the three were soon in agreement.

Kurama smirked and promptly leapt from the wagon and onto the horses as soon as the distinct heavy steps of titans rushing were heard. He wasn't aware just when it was that it happened but Kurama noted that the wagon he rode on was at the forefront of the wave of prisoners. Right before the fox was a hoard of the hungry nudist giants...it was time to stretch his legs. "You humans better do something, fast!" With that immediate warning, Kurama dove off the horse and ran ahead on all fours. The more distance Kurama covered, the larger he grew, and the larger the nine-tails grew, the louder his own footfalls grew. Eventually the fox was his full height, and right before he charged through the hoard with a mighty roar. Kurama's roar caused a shockwave that decimated the titans' inner numbers, the majority of those hit by the shockwave were blown to chunks as the force of the shockwave shook up their very beings. It was as soon as the shockwave passed that Kurama stopped his charge and began to do what he did as a pastime before being sealed: causing mayhem.

The fox would club the titans with his arms and tails, smash them with merciless fists, leaving naught but bits and chunks of flesh with his indomitable strength.

At some point the titans managed to grown in numbers, some managing to learn how to climb and began to scale his hind legs while others grappled his arms and tails in futile attempts to stop him from swinging them around, seamlessly crushing the titans without mercy. A quick glance towards the wagons showed Kurama that the humans had risen above their resignation and commandeered the wagons, all of them turned around and headed west in a slanted route towards the round of the wall. To say that the fox was impressed is an understatement, Kurama sported a manic grin for but a second…then roared, a pseudo-toast to the lives that took the opportunity they had to live.

Once the humans were long enough gone, Kurama rose to his peak height and reared his head. Chakra began to gather, coming together to form a large sphere of compacted energy. Eventually the Tailed-Beast Bomb was complete.

Kurama trained the massive orb of chakra onto the ground beneath himself, all the while the titans in the area approached due the ruckus caused by the slaughter. The very food titans made of the humans were forgotten from their ravenous minds as they neared the gargantuan Nine-Tailed Fox.

As soon as Kurama was sure that all of his quarry was within range...

Kurama fired the Tailed-Beast Bomb.

Upon making contact with the terrain...

The Tailed-Beast Bomb...

Detonated.

(There you go, chapter five! Or four...depends on your opinion, really. The latest chapter in this Foxy Nine-Tailed story. Excuse my poor excuse for a fighting scene but I hope the rest of it makes up for it!)