Chapter 5: Changes
A/N: More mysteries and answers coming your way!
Deep in the forest, the humming continued. It was not a sound that could be heard by ears alone, but with a mind. One mind, completely new to the environment, heard the song as it echoed through its brain. The thing in the forest listened intently as it faded away.
Meanwhile, back in Tanakibo.
Eren's friends carried him through the town, gazing at the destruction around them. Even though only a handful of buildings were destroyed, it still weighed heavily on them. An entire corner of the city reduced to piles of rubble, rocks, and remains of giant insects slain by a rogue shifter.
The group reunited with Connie and Hange as they came halfway towards the Town Center. Hange was perched on top of a Kamacuras body, no doubt an unfortunate victim of the Survey Corps.
"Armin!" Connie yelled out as he saw them, "Everyone else alright?"
"The three of us made it out alright," Armin answered, "Levi will rejoin us shortly. Other than you, we haven't made any contact with the others. Did the message get through?"
"It went through alright," Connie replied, "thanks to your idea, we managed to take down four of these things. The rest seemed more interested in something else."
"Any idea where they went off to?" Eren asked.
"Our group saw them head out to that large patch of forest out there." He replied. "They just…up and left."
Hange leaped down from the enormous carcass and landed right beside the group.
"This specimen is very unusual," she said, "It's definitely non-Titan. None of our equipment or any of my tools can cut through the exoskeleton, so I'll have to do a chemical analysis."
She placed a few vials of what looked like the creature's blood into her bag, no doubt to study later.
Eren's mind was still focused on what Connie said. It wasn't just the creatures he tussled with, but the entire swarm just ceased and left. Did it have anything to do with the voices he heard?
He finally had enough strength to stand on his own two feet again. As the rest of the group debriefed one another, he had to walk a few feet, just to get the blood flowing again.
"He's not gone you know." A voice said.
Eren turned around, noticing the old man sitting just behind him.
"I'm sorry," Eren said, "were you talking to me?"
"He's not gone," the old man continued, "he just left. Left for a short time, went way up north. The trip changed him something terrible too. Stabbed you in the back, he did, and he'll be stabbing it again."
Before Eren could ask any more, a younger man came into view.
"Sorry about my father," the young man said, "he gets very delusional around sunset. Pay him no mind, he probably just spouted out nonsense. Deliverance be with you."
The man took hold of his father, taking him back inside the house. Something about the words the old man said felt like they just might be for him. Was it a warning? Some kind of message? Or was it really just some old fool rambling nonsense?
Meanwhile…
It was getting dark in the forest. Thanks to the enormous canopy of gigantic trees, it was twice as dark as outside. Reiner and Ymir had trekked for at least two hours from the edge of the ocean, coming back from a disappointment and a shock.
"Any word from The Beast?" Ymir asked.
"Not one." Reiner said, "It's been so long since he last shown his face. Given the odds I wouldn't…"
They both stopped dead in their tracks, shock at the new discovery. The small shelter they built, the one that took days to assemble and camouflage was completely demolished.
The large area of ground seemed to collapse in on itself into a giant chasm. Inside this chasm, other than the remains of their hiding spot, was a mass of large purple structures. The structures looked like gigantic crystalline stones, jutting out in profound shapes.
Another oddity was a large shell, almost cradled among the crystals. The shell resembled the remains from a Goose's nest. Whatever was inside was now out and about.
"What the Hell happened here?!" Reiner shouted. "First the tremor now this? Must nature itself torment us today?"
Ymir looked around, seeing if there were any clues left behind. She did find one. Plenty of them. She touched Reiner's shoulder, alerting him to what she found. The area outside the crevice was littered with footprints. Giant footprints.
One set looked like some kind of reptile, lizard maybe. The other set were stumpy and hard to identify. It almost looked like some creature was chasing another, given how hectic the layout patterns seemed to be.
"Whatever it was that did this," Reiner continued, "probably hatched from that egg there."
They looked around again, noticing the footprints that lead deeper into the forest.
"We should follow them." Ymir said, "It wouldn't be wise to ignore something that could do something on this scale."
Reiner nodded. If it could do this, then it could do even worse later on. They walked in the direction of the tracks, ready to investigate the other cog in their plan.
Besides, Reiner had some bottled up aggression he needed to let loose on something.
Meanwhile…
The rest of the Survey Corps had rejoined, tallying up the damages from the fight. So far, at least 37 casualties were reported. 12 of those were Corps members. 48 were injured, 35 of them civilians.
This was on par with an average Titan attack, back when those attacks were commonplace. It had been a long time since anyone had seen this kind of carnage.
While the debriefing went on, a large ruckus was heard. There was a massive gathering of people in the street. Eren decided to go off, activating his gear, leaving his comrades to themselves. As he landed firmly on the ground, he saw a familiar face.
It was Monroe and his followers again. This time, they had a much larger audience. Half of the town was here listening to him.
"See what happens?" Monroe yelled out, "See what happens when you run off from the truth? All of you were welcome within the walls, and you turned your back on them. See what your follies have brought upon you?"
The crowd howled at him. Many were outraged at the sight of him.
"Where was this 'Guardian protector' you all put your faith into?" he continued, "Nowhere. This noble beast you all follow has left you here to die. Come with us, back to the embrace of the three goddesses. They are permanent, stationary, and don't sleep on the job like the Great Predator."
The crowd still roared, but some were starting to see his side.
"The predator has deserted us!" one man said, "It should have been here!"
"This Deliverance is becoming less and less reliable." A woman said.
Eren became distraught; they were starting to believe him. The crowd howled with different opinions and viewpoints. Mothers had to comfort their children as the crowd became more and more violent towards each other.
"I know it's upsetting," a voice from behind him said.
He turned his head to see Mikasa.
"But we can't let this get to us." she continued.
"Not let it get to me?" Eren said, his anger rising, "how can I just sit here and not feel disgust? This, this town here, is what we've been training three years for. This is what we've been fighting for and barely made it out with our lives!"
Mikasa stood there, taking in everything he was saying.
"We can't let this town go to waste." He said, "Not after everything and everyone we've lost along the way."
Eren activated his gear, swinging back to the others. His mind was clear on what had to be done. He landed right next to Hange as the Survey Corps were wrapping up their discussion.
"Very well," Levi said, "we'll place more protection along the border, then we'll be ready for them at any time."
"Sorry sir," Eren said, "but that's not going to cut it."
This caught Levi's attention.
"Alright," he said, "What do you propose Yeager?"
"We need to send a party into the forest," Eren continued, "we need to hunt the rest of them down at the source. Make sure they never resurface again."
"Are you insane Yeager?" Jean cried out, "going in there without even knowing how many of those things are out there? That's suicide!"
"You saw what he did to those things earlier." Armin spoke out, "He took out a majority of them with his bare hands. I think we should consider sending him out there to deal with the problem directly."
"Last I checked," Jean continued, "he almost got torn apart by the last ones standing. What will happen what they decide to try it again?"
"I agree with Jean," Levi said before anyone started a fight, "Yeager is our best weapon, and we shouldn't risk losing him out there."
Jean smiled smugly as everyone else stood in silence.
"That's why you'll be going with him." he said.
"What?" Jean cried out, "Are you serious?!"
"Mikasa, Connie, Armin, and Hange, you'll also be accompanying Eren. You'll all have to watch his back while he takes care of them."
"What about you commander?" Hange asked.
"I'll stay here." he said, "Someone has to command the pigs here. You'll head out tomorrow morning before dawn with as much spare gas as we can spare."
Eren gave a sigh of relief. His plan was allowed to go forward. Tomorrow, he would fight to keep the dream humanity has had for over a century yet again.
But how many of these monsters were out there? And how long would it take to eradicate them in that deep, dark forest?
Meanwhile…
The deeper the shifters traveled into the forest, the harder it became to navigate. Structures identical to the ones back at the base became more and more commonplace as they went further. Not to mention, there was a small bit of fog covered the ground they walked on.
Ymir became confused at all of this. None of these things were here when they arrived. They must have gone through this area at least a few dozen times before, but none of this was ever here.
As if to make matters worse, the ground began to shake again. Ymir and Reiner braced themselves for what was about to happen….
A/N: well, that's the latest chapter. I'll be taking a small vacation for a week or two, so you might not get the next one right away. In the meantime, check out our other stories. Till next time!
Ps. While we appreciate the reviews, comments, and questions, we would like to remind you all: WE CAN ONLY RESPOND TO COMMENTS BY REGISTERED MEMBERS. If you don't have an account, we CANNOT answer any of your questions. Don't take it personally, it's just how the site works. You can still comment and review, but any guest questions cannot be answered.