The crackling of fire did very little to disturb Mikazuki Augus from his thoughts as he sat with his back against the chassis of his Gundam, and as things were now, it served as suitable background ambience as he remained quiet, content with the silence that he was basking in at the moment.

One of his knees was bent up and resting close to his chest, with Augus having propped one of his arms up onto it all the while, and his Tekkadan jacket was draped over his shoulders, acting as a makeshift blanket for his small form as he sat in silence. The small flame he had created was a suitable source of heat, that much was clear to him… but there was only so much it could do to keep him from freezing to death, after all.

As he pulled his jacket closer towards himself, Mikazuki found himself closing his eyes in exasperation as he frowned a bit more than usual whilst once again acknowledging the situation he was currently in… and what a foul situation it was.

It was probably best to start at the beginning of all this… or rather, close to the beginning, IE about three days prior. Back then, amidst the disaster that many came to know as 'The Fall of Maria', Mikazuki Augus had made use of his Gundam to fend off as many of those big humans, which he subsequently learnt were called Titans, as he could. He didn't know when he felt the urge to kill them… but even so, it felt… right, so to speak, to be doing so.

Three days prior

And he would not deny the rush of pleasure that came with utterly dominating an opposing force.

That sickly bittersweet sensation wouldn't last, however, as those soldiers, the Survey Corps and Garrison as Mika would soon come to learn they were called, eventually came down upon him, albeit mostly from a distance. They were mostly out of sight, but Barbatos sensors, whilst damaged, were still precise enough to detect them with enough focusing on Augus' part via the Alaya-Vijnana system, and he was usually able to avoid their attempts at ambushing his unit with very little issue.

He had been ambushed once, though the result of that twenty-soldiers-against-one-Mobile Suit engagement ended in the former's defeat, albeit without any actual casualties. Mika had simply roughed them up, with him seeing no reason to kill these people. They may have wanted his unit destroyed, but if he were honest, he couldn't blame them, considering the fucked up world they lived in.

The humans weren't the most annoying things he had to deal with, though. No, that was reserved for the cannons that constantly rained Hell down upon him. Though a direct hit did nothing more than scramble the unit's scanners, Mikazuki knew that multiple direct hits would more than likely be able to bring his Gundam down, especially in its damaged state, and as such, he kept out of their range. He was glad to know that the area he had been in, Maria as he soon found out, was incredibly large, which made staying out of range a lot easier than it probably should've.

Despite this, however, Mikazuki still had his unit hover into the cannon's firing range in order to do some reconnaissance on his whereabouts, and with very little issue, he soon came across a wall, very similar to the first one that had been breached, and he ultimately set his sights on it. Based on the scans on his unit, the pilot confirmed that the wall was over Fifty metres in height, a height that his unit could easily clear with a single thruster assisted jump.

Sure, jumping over a wall that was guarded by tons of soldiers wasn't exactly a smart thing to do… but it sure beats just sitting out here forever in his Gundam. And besides… he did have a plan for getting inside… even if it was a stupid one.

He just needed to wait for the cover of dusk to mask his approach.

Night came a lot quicker than even he had expected, though that was probably because he busied himself with ramming through hordes of Titans, avoiding soldiers and cannonfire, observing the general area and cataloguing the information in his Gundam all the while. Along the way, he had also made several attempts at contacting Tekkadan, though none of his attempts ever made it through. He had, at one point, also made an attempt to contact Gjallarhorn out of desperation, though that had yielded no results either.

He had taken his frustrations out on a Fifteen metre Titan by pulverising it with his unit's bare manipulators.

By the time the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, Mikazuki's Gundam pinged his bodycount to him offhandedly, and though he knew he had killed a lot of those things, he noticeably flinched in surprise when he saw that he had taken down over a hundred of those Titan things over the course of the past few hours. Perhaps they'd give him and his unit a medal if they just revealed themselves to those soldiers.

Or not. They'd probably kill them on the spot.

Regardless, as soon as night casted its dark shadow upon them, Mikazuki set his plan into motion. Immediately, he set his unit down to low power mode. The thrum of the Ahab Reactors became nearly impossible to make out, and the lights on his unit dimmed to the point of being unnoticeable to the untrained eye. Likewise, the thrusters were deactivated in favour of the unit running physically, something that was rather difficult to pull off, though thanks to the Alaya-Vijnana system, the pilot was able to do so with minimal issue.

As soon as he was upon the wall, which he subsequently came to call Trost, his unwitting new home, Mikazuki narrowed his eyes at the top of the wall and tapped his unit's main monitor several times over. The Gundam's optics were versatile tools, and as such, amidst other options, they came with a night vision setting that assisted it in night operations. With this feature active, the unit's optics flashed a dark green colour before its four sub-optics scanned the top of the wall once more, and after a moment of silence, the data feedback informed Mika that there were less guards on the Eastern side of the wall, with there being at least one present for every four given in the western wing.

With that in mind, Augus scoffed… and brought Barbatos' arm up and aimed its Autocannon in the general direction of Trost's western wall. Though inaccurate at long range, the Alaya-Vijnana system more than made up for it with its neural link between pilot and Mobile Suit, and as he took aim with his unit, an aiming reticle appeared on the optic-to-cockpit display, assisting him in lining up his shot, and at the same time, the Alaya-Vijnana system helped him correct his aim… and once he had his targets locked on… he fired.

Bullseye. The first 170mm Autocannon round sailed through the air, and within moments, it impacted its intended target, one of the many cannons mounted atop the western side of the Wall. On impact, the cannon folded inwards before exploding, staring a fire that was hard to ignore, though Mika knew that it wouldn't be enough chaos for him to exploit, and as such, he turned his attention towards another cannon and fired.

Three more Autocannon shots were let loose before the unit lowered its arm, with two shots hitting their intended marks and destroying two other cannons while the third ended up striking the side of the wall and blowing a hole into it. The boy had the decency to feel a little sheepish at that, though he got over it relatively quickly as he moved to enact stage two of his plan, which was to approach the wall with his unit.

Surprisingly enough, the unit's footsteps were practically unheard by any of the soldiers present, though then again, almost all of them were rushing to investigate the damage he had just dealt to three of their cannons and part of the Wall. Their response to the issue was admirably fast, though in their haste, they had left the entire eastern wing of Trost completely unguarded, something that would usually not be that big a deal.

Unfortunately for them, however, on this day, it ended up being quite the issue, as the Gundam was an unforeseen factor in all this. By the time he was sure that the eastern wing of Trost's wall was clear, Barbatos crouched down and jumped up into the air, with its leap being assisted by all six of its remaining thrusters, and with very little issue, it managed to leap straight over the Fifty metre wall.

Or rather… it had overshot the jump as, rather than jumping the intended sixty metres, the unit had made it past seventy! Mikazuki let out an audible gasp as this happened, with him staring down at the encroaching ground as Barbatos plummeted downwards. As the ground drew closer, Augus kicked down on the thruster steppers of his unit to slow his descent, and though it was effective in slowing him down, it still caused a massive amount of dust and dirt to be kicked up into the air upon landing. The area his unit had landed in was a relatively forested area, with trees that stood higher than Barbatos' maximum height, and as the unit landed, several of them shuddered from the shockwave its crash landing had emitted.

"... that could've gone better," commented Mikazuki to no one in particular as he stood Barbatos up to its maximum height, with its optics scanning its surroundings for any close-by threats. As it did so, the unit, via the Alaya-Vijnana system, sent him an unexpected burst of data that felt like a sarcastic "you don't say,", prompting Augus to raise a brow as he scoffed in bemusement.

That sensation of surprise at Barbatos giving him some sass via the AV system was quickly quelled, however, when the local comm-links picked up on several inbound targets. Swiftly, the finger sensors scanned the area and located several inbound targets, all of which were part of the flying soldier brigade or whatever they were called, and upon noticing this, Mikazuki went to work in an instant.

Killing all the lights in his unit, Mikazuki had Barbatos lunge backwards, out of the impact crater it had created, and into a close-by grove of trees. The unit had just barely gotten out of view when the first few soldiers landed by the impact point, seeming bewildered at the sight of it as they stared down at it in confusion, and though Augus did find some amusement in seeing them wonder just what had caused the crater in the first place, he reckoned that it was best for him to move on as he quietly moved his unit out of view.

He didn't know how long he had been sneaking his unit around for, but before long, the pilot found a rather dilapidated structure that seemed to be just the right size to hide his Gundam in. It was a barn, abandoned and rotting, and by all means, it looked inconspicuous enough to serve as a hiding space for his unit, and without a second thought, Mikazuki moved to investigate it further. He quickly found out that there was a hole on the top of the barn, and it didn't take much effort for him to jump his unit inside of the aforementioned hole…

When he had first stepped foot into the barn, Mikazuki, after kneeling Barbatos down to one knee and shuffling it a little to the side to minimize the possibility of someone spotting his unit from above, had made contacting Tekkadan his top priority, but after several attempts ending in miserable failure, his efforts inevitably stopped as he made peace with the fact that he could not establish a connection to them. Not even Gjallarhorn, who owned the solar system as a whole at this point, were reachable, as that blasted OUT OF RANGE message kept popping up on his unit's monitor screen, much to his growing irritation.

He eventually quelled that irritation, however, and moved on to get used to his surroundings. The barn that he had made his home was, by all means, very plain looking, which was probably for the best. Wouldn't want anyone to walk in on Barbatos, after all. The barn itself was more or less stripped bare, with Mikazuki having found very few items of interest inside it when he rummaged through the place. The only thing of note was an abnormally large piece of cloth that he found folded up in a corner, one that housed a small litter of rats. He promptly shooed them away before he dragged the cloth towards his Gundam and turned it into a makeshift bed. He had slept on it in silence for the night.

The next day, Mikazuki, after shooing a handful of birds that had mistaken his sleeping body for a corpse, and after he made a few more attempts at contacting Tekkadan, with every attempt ending in failure yet again. It was late in the afternoon when he had finally given up on the prospect of contacting his comrades, and though the despair threatened to overwhelm him at first, he got over it relatively quickly before changing his priorities.

Rescue wasn't coming for him, he'd more than likely never see his family ever again… and by all means, this place… Trost was now his new home. He needed to familiarize himself with it, and with that in mind, he promptly left the barn, and by proxy Barbatos, in favour of getting accustomed to his new surroundings.

He was out for an indeterminate amount of time, but in the aforementioned timeframe, Mikazuki was able to get a good grasp on his new surroundings. He learnt of its name, he was quickly familiarizing himself with terms such as 'Garrison' and 'Survey Corps', and he also found himself bumping into several dead ends whilst cutting through alleyways and mentally mapping out shortcuts he could use to navigate the place.

Once a rat, always a rat, Mikazuki reckoned. A cold thought that barely brightened his dampened spirits as he exited an alleyway and emerged out in the open, only to step back into it when a handful of civilians, refugees from Shiganshina and Maria, no doubt, rushed past him. They were sprinting off to get some rations that were being distributed, and though he seemed uninterested at first, Augus' stomach subsequently growled in protest, prompting him to frown a little as he rubbed it. He knew that he could only sustain himself on raisins for so long…

With a sigh, Mikazuki moved up and lined himself up to get a ration or two. It would take god knows how long for him to actually get up there… but even so, it was a better alternative to starving himself to death. He didn't really care to budge or shove like most of the others, though he had to say that it was very annoying, to be pushed around every so often by some random bastard that wanted to cut in line.

After god knows how long, Mikazuki found himself at the front of the line, seeming mostly bored at that point as he stared up at the soldier that was offering him a stale piece of bread. The soldier, a tanned young man affiliated with the Garrison with a shaved head and a decent looking beard, stared down at Augus with a remorseful look in his eyes as he handed him the piece of bread, to which Mika accepted it with a nod.

"I'm… sorry, kid," apologised the soldier bleakly as he looked away from Mika, who raised a brow at him when he heard that, only to nod a little when he realized that the soldier had assumed that he was another refugee, which wasn't exactly an incorrect assumption. Regardless, the boy didn't feel too good about leaving without a word, and as such, he simply said the first thing that came to mind.

"You did your best," was all Mikazuki bothered to say as he bit down onto his stale piece of bread. It was dry and tasted like sandpaper, but by all means, it would be enough to sustain him for now, something that Augus acknowledged with a mild nod of his head before he moved to leave the area. The sky was growing dark by now, and he should probably get back to the barn to get some shut eye, though before he left, he did overhear the Garrison mutter to himself.

"Our best wasn't good enough, though…"

Mikazuki thought it prudent to not comment on that.

Two days prior

"Hey… did you hear about that… Titan?"

"What? The Mechanical Titan?"

Upon hearing that comment from a random refugee that stood not too far from him, Mikazuki turned his attention away from the piece of bread that he was chewing on. He had gotten a little hungry sometime in the afternoon after making a few more futile attempts at contacting Tekkadan. Though he knew it was a futile gesture, it still didn't stop him from trying, and by the time he had finally stopped for the day, it was mid-afternoon, and his stomach was groaning in discomfort.

He had gotten his rations near the center of Trost rather quickly, as no one was really lining up whilst the sun was blazing down upon them, and though his initial plan was to just grab one and go, it was quickly foiled when he overheard a nearby conversation, prompting him to turn towards its source with a raised brow.

The pilot remained as discreet as he possibly could as he listened in on the conversation, which, admittedly, was very discreet, as he wasn't particularly noteworthy, even if his Tekkadan jacket did draw a bit of unwanted attention thanks to its symbol. He'd have to remember to not bring it around with him the next time he decided to venture out. Regardless, from where he stood, he was able to make out bits and pieces of what the other refugees were saying.

"That's the name they gave it, huh? Guess it kinda fits, being very machine-ey and all," commented the first person as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, to which the second scoffed.

"Yeah. It even had a big weapon or two in its hands. Swung em around like no one's business," added the second fella as he took a bite out of his piece of bread. The first seemed surprised at the fact that the 'Titan' could wield weapons, though he didn't seem adamant on rebutting that claim as he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, whatever that thing is… I oughta thank the thing for helping my family and I out of Maria," commented the first guy silently as he rubbed his chin stoically, with his words catching Mikazuki off guard as he perked up a little and glanced over at the two adults more noticeably. The second man seemed taken aback by his words as he raised a brow at him, to which he elaborated. "It was just outside the gates to Trost. There were, like, Five Titans, all having broken through the Garrison blockade-"

"Psh, doubt it. The Garrison are weasels, but I doubt they're that bad," scoffed the second man as he shook his head, to which Augus snorted softly to himself whilst taking another bite from his bread. He wasn't wrong there. Whilst he was still beyond the borders of Trost, very few of the Garrison that he could make out even dared look in his unit's direction, with the Survey Corps being the primary ones that had observed him back then. The only exceptions to this were a young woman with platinum blonde hair and a young man with light brown hair, who had enough guts to actually confront Barbatos at one point in a failed ambush attack.

Their efforts were in vain, of course, though Mika could respect their bravery.

"Pft, whatever. But as the Titans were closing in, we heard a weird roaring noise. Then, not even a fucking second later, that Mechanical Titan flew in and crushed the other Titans underfoot!" continued the first man, to which Mika rubbed the back of his neck and blinked a little. Did that really happen…? Oh yeah, he remembered that happening. He was just roaming around Maria at that time when he encountered some Titans getting past the Garrison.

As the man continued to speak, Mikazuki found himself remembering what had happened more clearly. After he had done the Garrison's job for them, he was rewarded by being blasted upon by the overhead cannons, and though they were taking potshots at him so as to not accidentally blast the civilians, he had found it prudent to retreat. He never did realize just how… helpful he had been back then, nor did he really notice the civilians that he had inadvertently saved by stepping in either. He had just been doing his thing…

"Between you and me, I reckon that the Garrison should've thanked the damn thing, rather than try and shoot it! Did their job for them!" complained the first man as he finished his recollection of events, to which the second snorted in bemusement.

"It'd be a cold day in Hell before anyone in the Military Brigades actually thanks a Titan, regardless of how helpful it's been," laughed the second man as he shook his head. For whatever reason, Mikazuki felt himself wincing a little at his words, with him having seen a bit of truth behind them, as he slumped his shoulders down a bit, though before long, the first man spoke up in defense of his unit.

"Yeah, but even so… it saved a lot of lives during the Titan invasion. If I could, I would totally thank it," admitted the man sincerely as he leaned his head back a little, prompting his acquaintance to chuckle as he thumped him over the head with his free hand.

"Yeah, whatever, you crazy fucker…"

And as their conversation moved onto other, less interesting topics, Mikazuki found it prudent to perhaps leave the area. His bread had been eaten by then, and he had no reason to stick around any longer, and as such, he departed back to his new 'home' without much fanfare.

Whilst he walked back, however, the boy did feel a little lighter than he usually did. He'd pretend to not know why, but deep down, he was most certainly elated at just how much… good he had done, intentionally or not, when he slaughtered those Titans back at Maria.

It wasn't enough to cover up all the bad he's done in the past… but it was certainly something.

One day prior

After a few more failed, desperate attempts at contacting Tekkadan, Mikazuki, having grown a little irritated, opted to leave the barn once more (with his jacket wrapped around his waist like a kilt) and venture out to get to know his surroundings a bit more, and by all means, after a few hours of walking around… Augus could say with a sense of finality…

… that he was fucking lost.

One couldn't really blame him for this, however. Thanks to the Titan Invasion, which was dubbed the Fall of Maria by most at this point, the district of Trost had found itself overcrowded with refugees. The same could be said for the neighboring districts, whose names Mika had trouble remembering, though based on what he's heard recently, the Military Brigade was apparently working on the issue.

There were probably other solutions to the issue, though at the moment, Mikazuki could only think of two; to allow the refugees into Rose, which had a lot more space when compared to Trost, or, to put it simply, cull the refugees, a thought that didn't sit too well with Mika. he may have been a close to irredemable, murdering piece of shit… but even he had limits to people he'd put ten feet under, and he tended to draw the line at sending innocent civilians to their death's.

As such, that only left the second option, which was to effectively kill as many of the refugees as possible. It was sickening to think of, sure… but even so, it was the most likely outcome in a situation like this. Augus could only silently hope that it would not come to that, as, despite it not being his business, he still had enough compassion left in his heart to actually hope for the best when it came to these refugees.

A mild smack to his shoulder snapped the boy out of his trance, prompting him to raise a brow when he saw that he had bumped into a man whilst spacing out. The guy glared down at him in annoyance, though Mikazuki didn't even give him a second glance as he continued walking onwards. He may have had some decency in him, but considering just how crowded Trost currently was, the man had no one to blame but himself if he had not expected to bump into someone beforehand.

"COME ONE, COME ALL! GATHER ROUND, AND LET US LOWER OUR HEADS IN PRAYER TO OUR ONE TRUE SAVIOR!"

The fuck?

Blinking a little at the unexpected words being shouted out from a close-by area, Mikazuki, out of curiosity, slowed down and turned his attention towards a nearby crowd of people and stared at them curiously. The person that they were crowded around was certainly an energetic sonova gun, as he kept yelling about saviors and salvation like there was no tomorrow, and out of boredom, the pilot approached the gathering crowd and elbowed his way past them.

The young pilot was suitably taken aback when he saw a middle aged man standing atop a box near the center of the crowd. The aforementioned man had a dark robe on, alongside some jewelry, namely a necklace with three decently sized gems in them, that more than definitely cost a small fortune. Silently, Mikazuki stared at the jewels and wondered how much their resell prices could be, though he was swiftly snapped out of his thoughts when the man continued to speak.

"THE POWERS THAT CLAIM TO PROTECT US, THE MILITARY BRIGADES! THEIR WORDS HOLD NO MEANING, NOT BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE WALLS THAT PROTECT US!"

Not entirely true… but slandering the military didn't seem to be a smart idea. Then again, the attire and jewelry on his person suggested that he was an aristocrat of sorts. Maybe he had some sway over how the military operated? Likely, but it was more of a stretch than anything.

"BLOOD AND SWEAT MAY BE DROPPED UPON THE BATTLEFIELD, BUT KNOW THAT IT IS ALL UNNECESSARY! HAD THE MILITARY BRIGADE BEEN MORE FAITHFUL TO THE WALLS THAT GUARD US, THEN THEY WOULD HAVE PREVENTED SUCH A FATE FROM BEFALLING MARIA AND BEYOND!"

Yeah, that was a lie. Mikazuki knew that the Fall of Shiganshina and Maria were very much beyond freak occurrences. This guy was literally talking out of his ass at this point, and though that point was rather obvious to him, the people around Augus were eating it up like there was no tomorrow, with all of them mummering in agreement with the man as he spoke. Hell, if anything, Mikazuki seemed to be the only person present to not be swayed by the man's ludicrous words…

That wasn't to say that the man wasn't entertaining in a strange sort of way, though. His energy was commendable, to say the least, and the way he spoke was truly something to behold. It was just a shame that the things that left his lips meant less than dirt to Mikazuki, whether or not he was from here or not.

"Man, this guy again, huh…?"

Blinking a little at that unexpected voice, Mikazuki turned his attention to his side and saw a rather tall guy standing beside him. He seemed mildly annoyed as he watched the priest looking fella rant on and on without pause, and though his eyes were focused on the speaker, his gaze was distant enough that it told Augus that he wasn't really paying attention to him all that much. His question was probably directed at no one, either. More of him just talking to himself than anything… and yet…

"Is this normal?" asked Mikazuki out of curiosity as he glanced up at the taller guy with a raised brow, to which the aforementioned dude glanced back at him with a mildly surprised expression, though after a moment or two of consideration, he shrugged.

"Kinda. The Wall Cultists really wanna spread their religion around as best they can. We usually see them around Trost quite frequently, though after Maria…" a brief pause in the taller guy's words made Mika raise a brow as he glanced up at him, prompting the guy to cough into his fist as he hastily changed the subject, much to Augus' confusion. "Well, that's not really important. Point is, they'll be scarcer in Trost than they are in Rose as the weeks roll by. They're not the type to mingle with the common folk, after all."

Upon finishing that statement, the man standing at the center of the crowd began to swing his arms up dramatically, asking for those around him to engage in prayer alongside him, eliciting an irritated eye-roll from the taller guy beside Mikazuki as he shook his head in exasperation.

"Sounds annoying," muttered Mikazuki, with his voice just barely audible over the sounds of the prayers, which sounded more like the crowd around him singing the praises to the Walls than actual prayers… not that Mika even really knew what an actual prayer would sound like. His words seemed to strike a chord with the taller guy beside him, however, as he grinned and nodded in agreement.

"You've got that right…" agreed the taller guy silently as he grinned down at Mika, who raised an eyebrow up at him curiously. Past experience has taught him not to take everything at face value, and by all means, the fact that this tall guy was being so nice to him, or rather as nice as he could be to anyone, was setting off quite a few alarm bells in his mind, and as such, it set him on guard.

And yet, his guard almost immediately faltered when he saw that small smile on the taller guy's face. Years of being tricked by those older than him has taught him how to differentiate a fake smile from a genuine one, and the grin that the taller guy was giving him was most certainly a real one. Hell, it was so genuine that it caught Mikazuki off guard momentarily, and though he was taken aback by it, he was quick to recover and nod in response to the taller guy's words.

"Hm…" hummed Augus to himself as he nodded, seeming mostly dismissive of the taller guy as he nodded and watched as the priest looking guy rant on and on in the background.

And from there on, no more words were exchanged between the two boys as they watched the priest speak on and on with seemingly no end in sight. When it came time to leave, Mika simply grunted and waved goodbye to the taller boy, who waved back at him with a grin. The pilot found himself amused by his friendly nature, though he didn't comment on it whatsoever as he walked off.

After all, what were the odds of them meeting one another in this vast area, anyways?

Present day

… and, as he reopened his eyes, Mikazuki found himself sighing briefly as he stared up at the night sky above him through the hole in the barn's ceiling. A small part of him was grateful for the trees that surrounded the barn he had made his temporary base of operations, as they were tall enough to shadow the structure and hide Barbatos from the Garrison above whilst leaving enough space for him to stargaze through.

And as for every other part of him, Mikazuki still felt pissed off at him even having to be here in the first place. The mere fact that he was even here at all… irritated him, and though the situation could very well be much much worse than it already was… Augus simply wished that things were better.

As the seconds ticked by, the flame that he had created in front of himself slowly flickered out of existence, with the cold midnight breeze of Trost having overpowered it by now as it found itself extinguished. Mikazuki grimaced a little at that as he huddled himself into a fetal position, with him attempting to preserve as much of his body heat as humanly possible as he did so.

In an attempt to get his mind off the coldness of the night, Mikazuki allowed his thoughts to shift elsewhere. He attempted to think about that guy that he met earlier today… he didn't exactly get his name, but at the same time, he found himself feeling rather nice, recalling just how nice he was to him during their limited interaction with one another. Likewise he found himself grunting a little as he recalled the words of that annoying priest, and he also cracked a small grin when he recalled seeing the ravine over by the western end of the district whilst he was walking around the place.

Inevitably, however, Mikazuki's thoughts had ended up drifting back to Tekkadan, and as it did so, the pilot found himself needing a lot more willpower than usual to stop himself from attempting to contact them again. One couldn't blame him, however, as the organisation has always been his family, and to be separated from them… to be unsure of their current status, it ate away at him like nothing he's ever felt prior to now.

Orga Itsuka, Akihiro Atland, Norba Shino, Kudelia Aina Bernstein… Atra Mixta… Mikazuki worried for them tremendously. His lack of emotiveness made it seem as though he didn't, but his fear for their safety was very much present, and for him to be so utterly powerless in potentially helping them in some way… it really ate away at what remained of Augus' conscience as he balled himself up into a tight bundle and closed his eyes in silent protest.

He didn't know how long it took him to fall asleep in the cold, alone and bitter with his lot in life. But eventually, he managed it, and his dreamless sleep was accompanied by the soft yet somehow reassuring hum of Barbatos' Ahab Reactors that kept the critters away from his body as he slept.

When he had woken up, Mikazuki felt himself groaning in annoyance as his neck began protesting in discomfort. His sleeping position was horrible the night before, and by all means, it was coming back to bite him in the ass today.

Thankfully enough, however, Mikazuki was able to mitigate the aching sensation in his neck with a handful of stretches, and after a few minutes of stretching (and working out. Wouldn't want to lose any of his built up muscle, whether or not he was with Tekkadan, after all!), the tension in his neck was mostly silent. It did protest from time to time, though Augus reckoned that it would've been worse had he not numbed it with some stretching.

Regardless, after he had gotten over that issue, and after a few attempts at contacting Tekkadan once more, Mikazuki (once again with his Tekkadan jacket wrapped around his waist like a kilt) ended up venturing into Trost yet again, with him slowly but surely getting used to all this as he departed. The boy almost chuckled at that thought, with him finding it amusing, how he was getting used to something so… strange, so to speak. Or at least, strange to him, as he was technically an outsider to this bizarre world.

Regardless, Mikazuki didn't really think too much on that as he walked onwards, through the streets of Trost, with very little regard for his final destination. That was more or less his life now, to wander around the district, to memorise the most efficient paths he could take to get around the place when in an emergency… and to get some bread whenever possible. It was a simple life… and though he couldn't really complain too much about it, there was something very… off about all this.

Then again, the transition from being a former child soldier to a homeless vagabond with a giant robot hidden in a barn would probably feel off to… well, anyone, really, but that's besides the point.

Without much hassle, Mikazuki found himself walking towards the innermost regions of Trost today. The past few days were mostly spent looking around the outermost regions of the district, and though the view of crammed buildings and, in the case of the westmost side of Trost, low end industrial factories and rice fields were definitely… something, staring at them quickly became boring, and as such, Augus opted to go deeper towards the northern end of the district to hopefully find something more interesting to look at.

And… he found nothing of note, really. To be fair, the shops that were situated closer towards the walls to Rose were certainly more prestigious looking, but even so, a good majority of them were just as worn down as the other structures in the district. Mika did pause to take note of a bread store over by a corner that had raisin bread on the menu… though considering how he was broke at the moment, he supposed that looking at it twice wouldn't be a smart idea.

After a few mundane minutes of walking, Mikazuki stopped his little trek by leaning his back against a wall that was situated rather close to an alleyway. Reaching into his jacket pockets, Augus pulled out a raisin and popped it into his mouth, with him chewing it a little before swallowing. The small, dried grape tasted a lot less sweet now, as he stood in a mostly uncharted territory, but even so, its nostalgic taste still brought a small amount of comfort to him as he reached into his jacket's pocket to grab another one.

Before he could bring the raisin up and into his mouth, however, the pilot flinched a little when he felt someone rushing past him at a worrying pace, with the person taking a sharp turn as soon as they got to his position and rushing into the alleyway he was standing next to. They came close enough to bump into his shoulder as they ran past him, and when they did, Mikazuki ended up losing his grip on his raisin, causing it to fall to the ground seconds later.

"... tsk," groaned the pilot as he crouched down and picked the raisin up. Lifting it up to his mouth, he blew on it briefly before popping it in. He didn't want to waste it, even if it was a little dirty now, and as he chewed on the raisin, the young pilot turned his attention towards the alleyway that the person had ran off to just in time to see them rounding a corner within it. Curiously, the boy pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and, more to keep himself from succumbing to boredom, was ready to pursue them, only to stop when he heard something in the background.

"I DON'T CARE WHERE SHE WENT! FIND THAT TWINTAILED BITCH! NO ONE STEALS FROM ME!"

The owner of that voice was undoubtedly enraged, and by all accounts, he wasn't too far off, as Mika could hear him quite clearly. A small part of him wondered if this had anything to do with that person rushing past him, though he shelved that thought for now as he began walking into the alleyway to satiate his curiosity.

As he ventured deeper into the alleyway, the sound of people bustling about became less audible, and before long, it became nothing more than background noise to the pilot as he rounded a corner with very little issue. His ears remained sharp as he did his best to pick up on any subtle vocal cues as he could, and though the sound of people walking and chatting (alongside the sound of that same man yelling) did do quite a bit to muddie his sense of sound, Mikazuki did, inevitably, pick up on something faint emanating from a deeper part of the alleyway he had entered.

Though it was hard to discern at first, as he drew closer towards the source, he realized that it was the sound of panicked breathing, and as his foot landed atop a puddle of drainage water, the breathing intensified drastically, and in response to this, Mikazuki found himself narrowing his eyes quite a bit as he focused just a bit more. Unless his ears were failing him, the panicked person was more than likely hiding behind a close-by corner in the alleyway, and with that in mind, the pilot picked up the pace and approached the aforementioned corner.

And when he rounded it, he found himself raising a brow in bemusement when he saw the person that was attempting to stay hidden sitting down with their back resting flat against the wall of the alleyway. Vice versa, however, the person… a girl that was no older than he was, could only widen her eyes in fear when she looked up and made eye contact with Augus.

Blue met grey as both pilot and civilians stared at one another in silence. For the most part, Mikazuki seemed to be a little disappointed at this discovery, with him having hoped for something more interesting to have happened when he followed the girl into the alleyway. Vice versa, however, the grey eyed girl seemed to be horrified as she stared up at Augus with widened eyes, and though the pilot was confused as to why she looked so… afraid of him at first, his confusion was quickly rectified when he took note of what she was clutching close to her chest.

'... bread,' thought Mikazuki as he took note of the small bag of bread that the girl was clutching close to her chest like a lifeline. She had most likely stolen them, he realized, and based on her reaction to his presence, Augus was quick to assume that she reckoned that he was going to rat her out.

By all means, a wiser man would've done as such. Theft was wrong, after all, and even Mikazuki knew that much… but even so, Augus couldn't really bring himself to turn this girl in. Having been in similar situations to her in the past, back when he was still a street urchin in Chryse, Mika knew exactly what kind of life she was living, and by all means, he knew about the circumstances that would bring her to committing theft in the first place. With all that in mind, the pilot couldn't bring himself to willingly hand her over to the proper authorities.

That and, by all means, Mikazuki never did consider himself to be a wise man, or boy for that matter, anyways.

Opening his mouth, Mikazuki found himself ready to assure the girl sitting before him that he wasn't going to do anything to her. Before the words could even leave his lips, however, Augus perked his ears up and focused a fair bit, only to wince a tad when he heard the sound of encroaching footsteps, prompting him to turn away from the girl on instinct. Focusing a tiny bit more, the pilot took note of how the footsteps were rushing towards their general location, and in response to all this, he turned back towards the cowering girl with a more serious look in his eyes.

He didn't comment on how the girl flinched a little when he turned back to regard her. Rather, he simply unclasped his Tekkadan jacket from around his waist and dropped it onto her head. Thankfully for the both of them, the girl's body was decently small, so much so that, whilst she was sitting down, Mikazuki's jacket very easily covered her, and though she was confused at first, she swiftly understood what was going on when she heard Augus speak.

"Don't move," ordered Mikazuki as he rolled his bare shoulders casually, to which the girl complied as she remained unmoving beneath his jacket. Thereafter, Augus attempted to act casual as he leaned his back against the cold walls of the alleyway they were in, and as he did so, the sound of two men rushing towards him became audible. The girl visibly shuddered a little beneath the pilot's jacket as she heard this, though a gentle nudge to her arm with Mika's boot made her freeze up. Not exactly the most elegant of solutions, but it would work for now.

Seconds later, two men arrived on the scene. The first was a Garrison soldier, or at least Mika thought that he was a Garrison. He wasn't too familiar with their emblems just yet, but he had a feeling that those with the emblem of two roses adorning their jacket sleeves, back and breast were part of the Wall menders, as many liked to call them. The other was a rather pissed off looking guy with an apron wrapped around his waist, possibly a store owner, a well off one at that, if his more fashionable clothes were anything to go by, and whilst the Garrison soldier looked to be rather uninterested in his current dilemma, the store owner looked pissed the fuck off.

Upon seeing him, both the soldier and the store owner paused briefly and gave the pilot their fullest of attention. If he were a weaker boy, Augus would've wilted a little under the latter's harsh glare, though as things were now, he simply remained stoic as he marched up to him and began to question him.

"You, did you see some girl running by just now? Short, pigtails, grey eyes?" interrogated the store owner as he glared at Mikazuki, an attempt at intimidation as he stood at his tallest in an attempt to scare the pilot into possibly speaking the truth. Unfortunately for him, however, Augus has seen much worse in the past, within and without his unit's cockpit, and as such, this man didn't scare him in the slightest, as evident by how he was able to very easily look past the guy's attempt at intimidation and respond accordingly.

"No," was the only thing that Augus bothered to respond with at that time, to which the man grimaced and narrowed his eyes at him, making an attempt to perhaps intimidate him into perhaps telling the truth as he grimaced, baring his fangs all the while. Thankfully enough, however, Mikazuki was barely phased by this attempt at intimidation as he simply stared up at the man silently, and before long, he relented and backed off.

"Hrg. If I find out that you're lying, kid, you're dead meat," grunted the store owner as he stalked off, seemingly oblivious to the tense jacket sitting close to Mikazuki all the while. He was probably too angry, Mika supposed, as he stomped off in a fury, though as he departed, the Garrison, a guy with ginger hair and golden eyes, bowed his head down awkwardly.

"I must apologise for his behavior, dear citizen. He… is not exactly a local," apologised the soldier sincerely as he bowed a little, with his words telling the pilot everything he needed to know about the store owner as he shrugged, seeming mostly disinterested in the whole ordeal as he did so. The soldier seemed to take this as a sign for him to take his leave for now, as he found himself nodding, bidding farewell to Mikazuki, before he rushed onwards to follow after the aforementioned man.

As soon as the two ran out of sight, Mikazuki stalled for a moment or two before he pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on and gently nudged the hiding girl's side with the tip of his boot, and as it made contact with her, the girl noticeably tensed up as she squeaked in shock. Augus found that mildly amusing, though he said nothing as he watched the girl peek out of his jacket with eyes filled with caution.

"They're gone," stated Mikazuki with no small amount of finality in his voice, to which the girl blinked in surprise, seeming genuinely shocked that he had helped her in the first place. Thereafter, she stood herself up to her maximum height, causing the pilot to have to look up quite a bit as she was a fair bit taller than he was, whilst she kept his Tekkadan jacket draped over her head like a cloak. The bread she had stolen was still being clutched close to her chest, though Mikazuki didn't care much for that as he watched her pull the jacket off her head and hold it out towards him.

"T-Thanks…" thanked the girl awkwardly as she scratched the back of her neck meekly, to which Mikazuki shrugged, seeing no reason to be thanked as he stared at the girl silently. Aside from her grey eyes, the girl appeared to be around his age, maybe around a year or a few months younger than him, perhaps, with thick black hair tied up into twin pigtails that hung a little past her shoulders and an overall nervous disposition. Now that he was focused more on them, Mika took note of the dark rings under the girl's eyes, an obvious sign of sleep deprivation, alongside her attire; a grey shirt and ash brown skirt.

"Hm," hummed Mikazuki in response to the girl's thanks, and as he did so, the girl held his jacket out to return it to him. Grabbing it back by the collar, Augus nonchalantly slung it across his shoulders before nodding at the girl, who was still smiling brightly at him. For all intents and purposes, the pilot never did consider himself a fan of 'cute' things, with the sole exception being a certain pink haired girl, though in that one moment, he had to confess that he did, in fact, think that the girl's smile was rather adorable…

Evidently enough, however, he must've been staring at the girl, as she blinked a little and tilted her head curiously. At that, Mikazuki snapped out of his previous stupor and averted his gaze, eliciting a small smile from the girl all the while.

"... hey, what's your name?" asked the girl, sounding surprisingly sincere with her question as she smiled down at him. Her inquiry had caught Mika off guard, to say the least, as people rarely ever asked for his name.

Upon processing the question that was asked of him, Mikazuki stared up at the girl with a more cautious glint in his eyes. He was wary of people who asked more than they should've, and as with so many other times, he went on guard because of it, with him studying the girl's body language and expression before responding. As with the boy from two days prior, however, the girl didn't show any signs of malice. Rather, she simply stared down at Augus patiently, with a smile that was so genuine that it was hard to get used to.

"... Mikazuki. Mikazuki Augus," answered the pilot after a few moments of debate, sounding rather robotic as he spoke. He couldn't help it, introducing himself to others always felt awkward to him, and the issue was only exasperated in such a foreign environment. Despite this, however, the girl didn't seem to mind as she smiled gently at him and subtly hugged the bag of bread closer to her chest.

"Mikazuki Augus… that's a nice name," admitted the girl, sounding completely genuine as she looked Augus in the eyes whilst speaking. The pilot was, admittedly, caught off guard by this, though outside of a mild flinch that could be very easily written off as someone seeing things, he did not show this whatsoever, and by all means, the pigtailed girl didn't seem to acknowledge it either way as she continued, "I'm Mina, Mina Carolina!"

"Mina Carolina…" repeated Mikazuki, with him testing that name on his tongue as he spoke. A quick nod showed his approval in regards to how easy it was to say and remember, and thereafter, the girl held her hand out towards him and offered Augus a handshake. Once more, the boy was taken aback by the offer as he stared down at her small (in comparison to his) hand, and not even a second later, he slid one of his hands out of his pant pocket and stared at his palm uncertainly.

At first, he wished to decline the offer. His hands were dirty, after all, and to stain this seemingly innocent child with his tainted touch just seemed… wrong to him. But then… he remembered the reason why they had even met in the first place. This girl had probably done a lot just to survive in this accursed world, and her hands, whilst probably much cleaner than his, were more than likely still stained to a certain degree.

And, with all that in mind, Mikazuki nodded and accepted the handshake, though he made sure to not apply too much pressure when their hands intersected. He had a feeling that, despite the girl not being a toothpick by any stretch of the imagination, he could probably still break her hand by accident if he applied even one fifth of the pressure he'd normally give on regular handshakes.

Whilst Mikazuki properly adjusted his grip so as to not break his new… acquaintance's hand, however, the girl, Mina, found herself blinking a little in surprise when she felt just how… large his hands were. It was rather amusing, for someone who was (slightly) shorter than her to have such large hands, and apparently, her amusement had shone through on her face, as Mikazuki had raised a brow at her in confusion, eliciting an explanation from the girl.

"Your hands… they're pretty big, y'know?" observed the girl as they broke off the handshake, to which Mikazuki huffed to himself. Similar words were said to him by Kudelia back in the day, and though nostalgic to a certain degree, remembering those words made his stomach roll in sadness as he nodded.

"Yeah. So I've been told," responded Mikazuki, with him slipping his hand back into his pocket before shaking his head. "You should be going now. We don't know if they'll come back."

"O-Oh, right!" quipped Mina, seemingly having forgotten about her initial goals as she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "A-Again, thank you, Mikazuki Augus. I… I'll find a way to repay you someday!"

"Sure, I guess."

And with that said, and after a rather cheerful goodbye from the pigtailed girl, the two parted ways, with neither realizing just how much this one meeting would affect their lives in the foreseeable future.