-๑-๑ ஜ ๑- Chapter 34: Sometimes violence is a solution -๑ ஜ ๑-๑-

It was scary.

The level of ignorance that surged in their rows.

"Great, look at that!"

"It's like we finally get to see some action-"

More and more voices acted up as the troup glanced down from the top of the tree crown.

Morning had risen with no sound and the troops, despite having been told to keep watch, were all tight asleep. Kida, as well as Izaya.

And now they were there.

"Izaya-" Shizuo whispered, even more quiet than the rest of the group.

Stirring in his sleep the raven blinked quite confused as he took in his surroundings.

They had approached without sound. Titans.

A horde.

Standing below their camp they seemed to wait for something as they didn't move a single muscle.

Shizuo was suddenly extremely glad Izaya had forced them to drag their luggage up into the tree, and the rest of the group was too. Where had they come from? When did they arrive?

"We should just kill them, one after the other," one of the recruits whispered as they glanced down the tree.

Stirring violently, Izaya jerked up from the branch and rushed towards the group.

"The hell you do-" he ordered between tight lips as he took in the situation at hand.

Dozens.

Abnormals, small titans, large class ones- it was as though someone was offering them a buffet of variety in front of their eyes as Izaya scanned the area.

"Oh wow, our captain is finally awake." One of the recruits sarcastically added, only earning a glare from Shizuo.

"Shut up."

"We should get down, all at once. Everyone takes on one titan, they won't even see what's coming," one of the soldiers said and Shizuo's hair stood on ends at the idea.

"No you don't, you have no idea whether these are all of them. What if ond starts screaming gathering more titans?" Izaya quickly scolded, only meeting disdain as the recruits averted their gaze.

Only the recruit called Kida seemed more than ready to protest against all judgment.

"Then we kill them too! We have all been training, if not for this then what are we even carrying weapons for?" His expression told a story of demise, despair, regret and revenge.

He was blinded by his wish to end the war all by himself- and the thirst for blood was contagious.

Nodding slowly the recruit's expressions changed as they agreed in low murmurs.

"Our mission is not to kill, but to investigate." Izaya reminded them harshly, only meeting a wall as their gazes intensified.

"That's the enemy! They are right in front of our eyes! If we finish them off there won't be any need to further investigate shit!"

"That's right!" more and more voices started to get louder, setting Izaya back just a bit.

Clicking his tongue his expression shifted to a glare.

"Are you willing to sacrifice lifes just for a random killing spree?"

But it was too late to try to reason with the guy. A stare of pity was directed at their captain as Kida hissed.

"I'm at least not too scared to risk my own." And with that he moved- shot the wire and jumped down-

"Hey!" Izaya barked, only for more wires to shoot past his sight as the recruits followed.

Mindlessly, dumb, like a sheep jumping down a cliff.

Too fast they moved for Shizuo to react- "Wait!" his eyes glanced after them, not able to follow as he couldn't control the gear and so his glance turned to Izaya next.

And his expression told it all.

Again.

Izaya had failed to control his people.

The madness of their enclosure, the rage when first spotting their enemy and the sheer thirst for glory had driven them down there.

They were going to die.

And again Izaya would be to blame.

Shizuo gritted his teeth as Izaya rushed down, into the midst of the battle field.

He was hurt, he was exhausted in so many ways- those clueless bastards were again forcing the raven to go to his limits.

And what for?!

The wire shot from his gear faster than Shizuo was able to comprehend his own actions.

Piercing the tree right in front of Kida's face he brought the recruit to an ungraceful halt as he crashed into the stem.

Too far up for the titans to notice but too close to cause commotion the soldier glared.

"What the hell are y-?!" but he didn't get very far as Shizuo's fist connected with his jaw.

Shizuo was by no means gentle and a spit of blood flew to the side as Kida groaned.

"Get the fuck back!" Shizuo barked, wiping around to glare at the rest. "All of you, or I will personally make sure you won't return to the wall!"

Hesitation spread through the rows like a virus. With Kida, the one responsible for their mindless charge, gone, they slowed down.

Surprised, Izaya came to a halt as well.

Assaulting a recruit of one's own ranks was forbidden so the thought of silencing the bastard didn't quite cross Izaya's mind-

But damn.

It really got the job done.

"What are you waiting for?!"

Snapping out of their stupor the recruits moved, partly out of fear partly because the titans were starting to stir.

In quick succession the wires shit back up into the tree's crown.

It was hilarious really- after all this time of Izaya trying to control the sheer madness if his new recruits Shizuo had just managed to get them under control in seconds.

He should be feeling humiliated as the entire point of him being the captain had just been rendered useless, and yet he only felt relief.

Relief he didn't have to watch his men getting slaughtered.

Wire embedding into the bark next to Shizuo, Izaya followed up quickly.

"Need a hand?" Shizuo couldn't quite control his maneuver gear, even now. Knowing such the blond nodded, ripping that hook out of the wood with sheer brute strength.

"Idiots should have listened in the first place," he growled annoyed, only causing the relief Izaya felt to express itself in a smile.

"Thank you."

Pausing in his motion the blond blinked.

"For what? It's high time those retards learned to show some respect."

Yeah they really should.

Izaya you'd think help but snort at the hypocrisy- after all, wasn't Shizuo the worst when it came to ignoring his orders?

Punching his recruit was literally a protocol breach.

It was a bit funny how Shizuo failed to notice it as such. But also, quite endearing in its own funny way.

"Yeah but they only did because of you." Izaya added, shooting his own wire up to the tree crown. "They are scared of you."

Shizuo nodded, not seeing the slightest issue as they made their way to the top.

"Well, they should be."

Assembled like a group of students in a morning lecture the recruits had gathered. Unreadable expressions decorated their faces as they avoided Izaya's eyes.

"You might get into trouble for assaulting Kida though." Izaya whispered, pointing his head towards said recruit, sitting just a bit off from the rest. Blood was dripping from his nose and he pressed his sleeve against it in order to try and suppress the flow.

"Don't care." Shizuo shrugged.

"Captain Orihara-" one if the other recruits suddenly came forth.

Feeling his body tense, Izaya's eyes narrowed.

What now? Would they try to take over his role as the captain? Did they want to complain about the order?

None of that seemed to hit the mark as the recruit suddenly bowed- all along with the rest.

"We are sorry!"

A stupefied moment of confusion took over as Izaya looked at the recruits, searching for a hint of sarcasm.

But none was to be found.

They actually seemed… sorry?

A soft breeze blew across the scenery causing the tree's leaves to stir.

"... what brought about the change of attitude?" Izaya questioned, his eyes traveling towards Kida.

Again he avoided his glance, almost seeming like he felt…. guilty?

"Izaya, look-" Shizuo suddenly called, and the captain shifted as he moved to his side.

Standing at the edge of the tree's branch Shizuo's hand pointed towards the ground.

Izaya's sight was somewhat impaired by leaves and several twigs at first as he tried to make out what he had seen.

But then he did.

And his guts dropped.

An abnormal titan.

Bigger than anything ever seen. sitting on the ground cross legged it was seemingly entertaining itself by knocking a few of the smaller titans over.

Guttural sounds stemmed from his throat riberating throughout the entire forest as it seemed to …laugh?

Izaya had never seen anything like this before and goosebumps traveled down his back thinking about just how close all of them had been to attract that monster's attention.

Nevermind the sheer amount of titans that would have swarmed them, Izaya was quite confident he could have taken care of those with few losses.

But this?

If they had gone down there it would have killed them all.

Including Shizuo and himself.

"Well I guess we found something to report." Izaya announced bitterly, his eyes scanning the rest of the area.

The nauseating idea of this monster having a friend or two of the same magnitude nearby gnawed at his mind and he swallowed before retreating slowly from the branch.

So that's why they were sorry.

That's why they regretted not listening to his order.

They realized they were about to get their existence wiped from this world.

For better or worse this monster had achieved what Izaya had kong dreamed of. Obeyance in his troops.

"Everyone, pack up, we are heading back to the wall," Izaya announced between tight lips. It seemed close to a miracle that the monster hadn't spotted their horses yet and Izaya really hoped it wouldn't. "We will wait until night falls and then leave."

It was funny.

This might very well be the first mission they returned from with more information, than losses on their side.

to be continued~

Yo~! I know this time the chapter is cut a little short, but fear not! I have an especially nice plot part planned ahead that will make up for it xDD

See you next Saturday~ C; xDDD

PS.: Ast will not update today as I need to make some final adjustments xD I finally thought of the perfect end for the story and needa revise a few things xD As for SD- similar reason, I am adjust the plot somewhat and therefor gonna spend some more time thinking about what exactly will happen next chapter xD