Fandom Attack on Titan: Birds of Paradise

[AI10100]

Mentions: The Prophet [Siegfried]
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Sean’s vision seemed to tunnel straight onto a corpse laying in plain view, mangled beyond recognition, not even eaten. Oh he remembered now, that was the trainee who was holding onto the emergency gas canisters who was caught by a strike from one of the titans. He had heard the sickening crack her body made when the titan's hand connected with her body. She was dead before she even hit the ground... or at least that's what Sea hoped. He couldn't imagine how painful it would have been to live through that first hit. It looked like she had gone ignored by the titans. It’s just like what they said in the lectures. The titans didn’t need to eat them. Did they do this just for fun? Some sort of sick recreational activity that their non-existent brains could think of?

Sean didn’t think of many things as disgusting, but titans were definitely one of them.

He looked back for a moment when Siegfried made his presence known before looking back down. He snorted at his warning before jabbing his thumb to his chest, puffing it out with a grin. “Come on Sigs, it’s like you don’t know me. I always play safe.” A bold-faced lie. Anyone who knew him for more than a day knew that he was the biggest risk-taker. There had been a rumor going around that the instructor had even said that he would be the first one to die on the battlefield because of how reckless he seemed to be. Well, he could at least go back to the Northern Division and confidently say that he hadn't died first, at the very least, and they should be proud of that. That is, if he ever got the chance to go back to them.

“Anyway…” Sean looked back to the basement and gestured to it with an idle wave of his hand. “Looks like there are four titans down there. I guess the others might have wandered off?” He looked towards the entrance of which the titans had created thanks to the congregation of humans inside. Now that there were no more humans in the basement, they probably headed out in search for more and these select few decided to idle around. Probably. Hopefully. He really didn’t want to deal with more titans all at once in a place with way limited mobility as compared to their forest runs.

Fighting and killing a titan was way harder than just running away like they did earlier. They escaped with their lives that time but what about now? Sean momentarily wondered if he would hesitate like this if he was placed in the vanguard. Would he be constantly questioning if he was capable or not? His results spoke for themselves, after all, but theoretical and practical were two very different things. The constant rumbling made him nervous. Despite being on the taller side of the trainees, he felt so utterly small in that situation.

Sean let out a small sigh, turning to Siegfried. “Four titans, easy peasy, right? I mean, we took down like a lot of cardboard titans in one go before.” He attempted cracking the joke to alleviate his own growing nerves. “So, do you have a grand plan for us? ‘Cause I don’t know about you Sigs, but I’m not sure I can slice up a titan’s neck while the other one is breathing down mine.”

 

[. D O V E]

Gwen Bulwark​

The expression of gratitude on Laurie's face immediately shifted as he reached out for her shoulders, eliciting a wince from her as she felt the painful warmth of her bruise spreading throughout the area. The boy was quick to ask about others, her squad leader specifically, causing a vacant smile to form on the redhead's lips. She removed his hands off her as he shamefully corrected himself. "I am hurt, you oaf. Asking about her first right after I save you... If you listen closely, you can hear my heart breaking." She quipped, her typical impish energy returning as she pressed one hand against her forehead. It was almost as if she wasn't telling him he didn't belong in the regiment a mere minute ago.

"Nonetheless, fret not; we have no need to name our firstborn after Jo just yet. I don't think we lost anyone in our squad either, at least as far as I know." She reported with a nonchalant shrug, seemingly uncaring whether anybody from their camp became titan chow. "As for why I'm here... I guess you can call it destiny." A wink followed suit before she examined the area around them. The destruction and the dissipating mist reminded her of a sight she had beheld earlier. In that instance, the mischievous light in her eyes dimmed.

The absence of Laurie's squadmates suggested that the boy probably tried doing something heroic, most likely volunteered to act as a bait of some kind. "Ah... you truly are a self-sacrificing idiot. Your lack of regard for your life is pissing me off." She focused her gaze on him and flashed him her usual smile. What would've happened to him if she didn't appear on time? The plan, her mission- everything could've fallen apart. "Now then, since you're done playing the hero, let's take you back inside the walls."

Tags: Colorless Spectrum

 

[The Prophet]

&

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TO SECURE AN HQ
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“So, do you have a grand plan for us? ‘Cause I don’t know about you Sigs, but I’m not sure I can slice up a titan’s neck while the other one is breathing down mine.”

Siegfried crouched down, icy-blue irises silently scanning the environment and the enemies inhabiting it. Four titans, ranging from 4 to 8 meters. A 4 and 7 meter on the left-wing, and a 5 and 8 meter titan on the right. Honestly, the only way their formation could get any better was if they split up on their own. It would have at least made having to take them down with just the two of them easier. Siegfried's hand fell to his blades. If only titan killing was as easy as surgery. "A grand plan won't be found here. I can offer you a regular plan, however. The key to-"

Suddenly Siegfried turned his head behind him while slightly drawing his blades.

"H-hey." Came the voice of someone Siegfried hadn't expected to come down. It was the two other survivors, Tristan and Alyssa. Siegfried looked upon them without acknowledgment before turning back. "Be as quiet as you can, and report the status of your equipment." He hadn't expected them to come, but looking back on it, it made sense. It was human nature to fear death and want to live, and if they continued to hide they would certainly die. It was a drive fueled by fear, but a drive he could use. After a moment to gain composure, the two fell into a crouch behind Sean and Siegfried.

"A little banged up, but I've got most of my gas."

"I-I've barely used anything, I'm good to go."

"Then I will continue. The key to this is speed. We will split into two teams and each take down one of the titans on the left. If one kills their Titan before the other, then aid the other team. Our goal is to kill the two on the left before either can help the other, and the right titans don't get over before we've killed them. Should we fail, each team will have to handle two titans, and my confidence in your abilities does not fall in acceptable ranges." Siegfried explained, obviously meaning the two who just joined. Alyssa spoke up, nervousness poorly hidden in her voice. "How are we supposed to split the two of them? They seem fairly close." Siegfried immediately picked up the loose forearm of a fallen soldier and inspected it carefully, before throwing it towards the far wall in the left-wing. The organic smack it made had its intended function; the four-meter titan turned around and waddled over, likely assuming something was still alive and worth eating.

"There is your answer. You two will handle the four-meter; decide which one of you kills it now. The other will distract and cripple it where possible." Leaving the now pale Alyssa to whisper something to her partner, Siegfried looked over to Sean. "Both of us are more than sufficient for either role, but you will be the one dealing the killing blow to the seven-meter. We can switch for the eight-meter if need be, but your cuts should prove adequate as long as there isn't any hesitation. Is this acceptable?"

Sean turned around to look at the two other trainees who had finally mustered the courage to join them. Opposing Siegfreid’s cold reception of them was Sean’s bright smile and an energetic wave, though he kept his movements small just in case. Alyssa was the only one who responded in kind. It was good to see that they had backup— now he didn’t have to worry about there being too many titans and not enough humans to kill them. Even if there should always be more humans dispatched for a titan force but he couldn’t be picky about it.

He listened intently to their plan, watching with mild interest and a little disgust as Siegfried flung a stray loose arm towards the titans with one of them ambling towards it. There it was again. The feeling of cold water washing over him followed by a searing heat as his heart began to beat faster and faster. He felt all of his joints lock up in that moment, like earlier, before it began to loosen up and the want to move came back full force. Now, he had a purpose. Now, he had something to do. His eyes were practically glued onto the target that Siegfried had chosen. The seven meter titan, practically furthest from where the group was stationed. He was chosen to be the person to kill it.

“Yeah.” He responded with a wide grin. The rush. The intensity. He could definitely get used to this. After all, isn’t this what he had always been looking for in the boring days while he was in Orvud? He wanted excitement and this was the ultimate form of it. “We can definitely switch on the eight meter if we can, I wouldn’t want to hog all the glory.”

He patted Alyssa’s back and the nervous girl looked up at him. “You two will do great, I know it. Good luck.” Sean gave her an encouraging nod and gave the same to Tristan who looked more and more unsure about his decisions in life. It was a little hilarious to look at but he didn’t want to poke fun at someone during such a high stress situation. The last thing he wanted was to scare off the guy who might be the key to taking back the headquarters.

Sean stood up from their perch, stretching his arms for a moment before dropping them down to the hilt of his blades and sliding them out. “Well, I’m ready to roll. You guys?”

"Then we'll switch off for phase two. Now, if there's nothing else, the operation may begin."

Siegfried gave little pause before lurching forward and taking off, softly tapping his foot on the perch's railing before jumping. His goal was to draw only the attention of the seven-meter Titan, and as his ODM gear purred a quiet fury, Siegfried would do just that. The right-wing Titans seemed to be preoccupied with something, perhaps a soldier who hadn't quite died just yet or a fascination with something yet unknown. Perhaps it for the best, because once combat began in earnest they would be sure to notice and begin making their way over. Hence why they needed to be as fast as they could safely manage.

After a spat of hesitation, Alyssa and Tristan took off as well, cutting left sharply as they leaped upon their quarry. Siegfried didn't know what to make of them just yet, but he at least hoped they kept their mark off of him and Sean. Siegfried's wires found purchase in a beam just above the Titan, and Siegfried swung low to put him on an intercept course with its knees. The seven meter surely noticed him by now, slowly turning to what it believed to be it's next meal. That was exactly what the blonde wanted. Detaching from the steel wire Siegfried slid across the destroyed floor, kicking dust and light rubble as his speed slowed in front of the Titan. In a surprising show of speed the Titan raised a foot to slam down on Siegfried, and in response Siegfried twisted and shot his wires into a pillar off to the left. The titan's foot slammed down with tremendous force, yet all it resulted in was a shattered floor and an ankle and calf sliced deeply. Siegfried had cut it in the midst of his gas-fueled exit. The large Titan started to buckle to one side under its weight but didn't quite fall as the other team reached their own Titan.

Alyssa and Tristan had decided to come from above, the smaller Titan in question looking up and smiling grossly at the defending cadets. It seemed that Tristan was the diversion; he broke off suddenly to draw the Titan's eyes elsewhere while Alyssa continued to come down blades drawn.

As Siegfried took off, Sean did as well. Aiming to get out of the way of the titan’s line of sight first, he made sure to stick by the walls of the right-wing as his partner began his diversion tactics. Knowing that he had to trust Alyssa and Tristan so that the four-meter titan wouldn’t be able to stop him, he kept an eye out for Siegfried’s signal. When their target stomped and buckled, Sean had already taken flight.

His wires shot and hooked onto the titan’s neck as it struggled to keep its balance. Sean didn’t have a lot of time before the titan would recover. As Siegfried stated, this was a matter of speed. Taking them out in one shot was their goal— the element of surprise would be the only thing holding them back from death. He zipped forward as the ODM wires reeled him in and as the nape grew closer and closer, he prepared his swing. His target was right there and steel met flesh and it ripped straight through the muscles of the titan in practiced precision. The sound of the blades shredding flesh almost brought a smile to Sean’s lips, only second to the excitement of getting his first kill.

“Whoo!”

As soon as he passed the titan, he quickly unhooked himself and hooked onto the pillar, reeling himself in and slingshotting him straight for the wall once again as his target fell to the ground. He laughed to himself, loud enough to be heard by others amidst the rumbling of the titans’ footsteps as even those at the left flank took notice of the four flies that had decided to join the fray. He turned towards the four-meter and watched as Alyssa, though a nervous wreck earlier, managed a clean slice straight through the nape of the titan’s neck with practiced grace. As she zipped up to take a breather, Sean gave her a thumbs up.

“Sigs! I’m going ahead first!”

Loud. That was another thing his instructor called him. If you want to make yourself useful on the field, make a spectacle of yourself. If he was gonna be a distraction, then he’ll be the best one there is.

He quickly unhooked from the wall and leaped off. The sound of their hooks almost working overtime filled the area as both he and Alyssa headed straight for the left-wing. As she banked to the right and towards the five-meter while Sean turned left towards the eight-meter. He licked his lips in anticipation as he hooked to another pillar, bringing himself up and right past the face of the titan. It made its move, attempting to grab him off of the air. He twisted and shot his remaining hook back at the pillar.

Both the burst of gas and the reeling of the wires were the only reason he didn’t get caught in the titan’s grasp. Despite this near-death experience, Sean knew he couldn’t breathe easy yet as the eight-meter started moving towards him. It lifted its hand and sent it straight towards where Sean was and he dropped from his position. He felt the air burst from the collision of hand to pillar but he was grinning. He managed to upright himself in his descent and hooked straight to the titan’s face, shooting himself upwards and dragging the blades through the titan’s eyes and using its head as leverage to get to the wall, to a safer location.

Siegfried didn't need to look back to know that Sean had killed the target, Instead gracefully hooking onto the pillar he used to dodge the seven-meter's slam before spinning and taking off once more towards Sean. Out of the corner of his eye, he examined the other team's work before observing the handiwork of his partner. A deep cut, clean, and expected of a fellow top ten. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he carried on.

Sean's laugh and declaration made Siegfried's brows furrow, despite responding with an even "understood." and blitzing forward with a burst of gas and well-placed wires. Human psychology was one of his favorite subjects, and even in the fray of heated battle he couldn't help but wonder what made Sean tick in a manner that allowed him to experience such jubilation. There were theories of course, but it was still an admittedly confusing insight into his big question.

Reaching the eight-meter before Alyssa reached her five-meter, Siegfried banked across the outside flank of the Titan as it attempted to grab at Sean. The quiet whirring of his gear served as the sole noise coming from him as the Titan turned towards Sean and attacked. The burst of air from the blast made Siegfried's blonde hair back, but his expression remained the very image of neutrality. Cutting his wires short Siegfried re-hooked to a beam above the two, using gas to rocket up the spine of the eight-meter. With Sean's efforts, the titan was blinded, and Siegfried took advantage of such to leave deep slashes up his way to his true target. Unhooking to let momentum take him up, icy eyes locked onto the titan's nape. His left blade struck out, and a deep gash split surgically where the blade's edge waved. It was dead. Siegfried leaned back and landed a heel to the back of its head, pushing off to elegantly flip back away from the titan corpse. "Down." He spoke simply as the Titan slowly fell, devoid of the cheer found in his fellow blonde. Admittedly, Siegfried was waiting for the supposed rush.

His instructor commented often on his lack of character, often saying that he would garner an exhilarating rush from his first kill. As it stood in reality, however, there was nothing. Not thrilling, not sadness, not relief, not anxiety or disappointment; there was nothing. Simply the movements made to kill the titan and get away from its corpse. After righting himself and still not getting it, Siegfried let out a small sigh. At least he could observe how the other two would react to their own ki-!

Suddenly a barely stifled cry sounded out as Siegfried looked over and saw Tristan slam hard into the cracked wall and cough up blood. Alyssa gasped and hesitated in response, and cut shallow against the five meter's nape. "D-Damn! Tristan!" She cursed, hooking to a fallen pillar and retreating as it turned its head towards the pest who dealt the unsuccessful killing blow with a haunting grimace.

Sean didn’t have enough time to celebrate Siegfried’s success as he heard something hit the wall followed by a weak cry. His head whipped towards the other pair and he spotted how Tristan practically laid flat against the wall before falling towards the ground with another thud. “Oh…” He looked back at the titan to see that Alyssa hadn’t cut deep enough and that the titan had turned its eyes on Alyssa.

“I’m going for the ankles!” He alerted Siegfried, heart thundering against his ears as he shot towards the titan. Some part of him was thankful that it wasn’t paying attention to them at that moment as he zipped through the air, gaining as much speed and momentum as he could before making a full swing around a pillar. He prepared another strike as he was nearing and put all of his force in it.

Only to belatedly realize that the blades had dulled.

His right blade got stuck right into the titan’s flesh, effectively stopping his forward momentum before he even realized it. He quickly ejected the blade before rolling to the side, barely avoiding the kick that was aimed by the titan. Sean hooked onto the opposite pillar from where Alyssa was. “Sorry! Blades dulled!” Though, at the very least, it seemed like he had managed to divert its attention away from Alyssa which he considered as a win.

"Make space and recover." Siegfried called out to Sean before hooking left towards Alyssa. When he reached them, he spoke bluntly. "Your emotional distress is negatively impacting your performance." He left the question of whether she can perform in the air. It didn't need to be said, as Alyssa heard it as clearly as if Siegfried had yelled it. "I-I know! It won't happen again, promi-"

"Move."

The two of them separated as the five-meter, alerted to their conversation attempted to slap them into the pillar, blowing dust and debris about as Siegfried twisted around to get the Titan back in his sights. "Sean and I will act as a diversion and you will attempt to kill it again. If you fail and there is an opportunity, one of us will take it." Tristan was highly likely dead already; offering them the chance at revenge might prove beneficial. After Siegfried quickly explained the new plan, he dove at an angle towards the five-meter. It was currently focused on their future killer, and that wouldn't do. Getting low Siegfried sliced open the back of it's left knee, before dropping even lower to slice its right ankle. Grinding along Sean's wedged and discarded blade like it was a ruler for him to cut along, sparks flew before Siegfried flipped back and used gas to get out of there with the titan's attention squarely on him now.

Sean ejected his left blade and replaced both with newer ones. Better safe than sorry. He had to learn that the hard way now of all times huh? He looked up and watched as the titan was drawn towards both Siegfried and Alyssa and he let out a relieved sigh to see them both alright after the attack. He could try to go for the eyes again but it wouldn’t be ideal from his position. If Alyssa was still going for the kill…

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t forget about me!”

As the titan turned to lock onto Siegfried, Sean took the opportunity to knock out the remaining ankle. He hooked onto the ground behind the titan and jumped off. This time, he couldn’t fail. With his now sharpened blades and forward momentum, he sliced through the ankle with no problem. His feet touched the ground and he slid forward, unhooking from the ground and letting him slide out of the way of the unstable titan. He bent forward, pressing his hand down to slow down his momentum before turning around.

The titan began to teeter forward. Without its ankle support, it had no way of standing up. And as it fell forward, Alyssa was quick on the draw. With righteous fury clear in her eyes, she descended upon the titan and dug straight into its neck— pouring every single part of her strength into that one slice. She stood right at the neck as it fell down.

“Nice kill!” Sean called out before jogging towards Tristan. Before he could even get a full view of him, Sean already knew that he was dead. He could only hope that Tristan had died quickly instead of an agonizingly slow one. He looked over to the two and shook his head. “I’m sorry.” This wasn’t their first death but Alyssa, as it stood now, was the only survivor of the Southern Division in the supply squad.

As the girl walked towards them, he gave her a pat on the shoulder. “We’ll handle the supplies but we have to move fast, okay?” She only gave back a nod and knelt down beside Tristan’s body.

Sean looked at Siegfried and gestured towards the tank. They needed to fill their own canisters as well as the emergency ones for those who would come in as needed.

Siegfried observed the body of the 4th supply squad member from a distance, ceasing his agile movements once the titan ceased to be. Unhooking from a fallen beam he skidded to a halt, making sure his glasses were in place. From the lack of blood present save for his mouth, his best guess was internal bleeding and complete organ failure by way of shock. If for some strange reason he didn't die near instantly, it would have been excruciatingly painful. Though he supposed they'll never know. The dead stay dead, after all. Electing not to divulge this information to Alyssa, he instead made for the tanks like Sean responsibly gestured towards. Every second spent here ate away at the invisible clock that signaled their demise; Siegfried could hardly be blamed for wanting to hurry.

Despite having just cleared the area and secured the HQ, Siegfried was cautious when re-filling his primary and emergency gas. The moment it was done he secured it to his person and found the gas they were supposed to distribute nearby. It seemed that the person who had the bag was trying to get as much gas as possible before escaping. "To think of the frontline in death….how strange." Did soldiers lose their sense of self-preservation once they joined a Corp? He was eager to study it further. "There are…. four canisters the soldier failed to fill in time. Fill yours first, then I will fill these." Securing the bag, Siegfried looked over towards the cadet whose name he still did not know. "I estimate that parts of the frontline should be in need of gas; we should hurry. He will still be here when this is over." A cold statement, but a true one.

After a few long and silent seconds, Alyssa responded with a simple "Yeah." Standing up and wiping away at her face for a moment, she mustered some sort of courage and jogged over. Making a fist in some show of resolve, she smiled. "Let's hurry up and do our duty, alright?"

Sean tilted his head as Siegfried pointed out the intentions of one of the dead supply squad members. He knelt down and began to refill his own canisters. “I mean, yeah, aren’t we technically doing the same thing? We could have just continued to hide but, as per our duty, we decided to come back and reclaim this area. I don’t think it’s strange at all.” To Sean, it really did make perfect sense. They were trained to do their duty and that person did so. In a way, they were the same— it’s just that one survived and the other didn’t.

“Geez, how cold Sigs.” Sean teased with a lighthearted shake of his head. He was right though. They didn’t have the luxury of time to mourn for the people they lost. They were probably going to lose a lot more if they didn’t secure and deliver these gas canisters to those in need of them. He grinned at Alyssa, bringing up his own fist to bump with hers. “That’s the spirit! Gas up and let’s go up. We’ll…” He paused, looking at the gaping hole where one of the bigger titan’s leg was blocking it. “We’ll figure out how to get out of here once we finish prepping.” He remarked before getting a bag of emergency gas canisters. He wondered how many were still alive out there and how quickly they could get these to them.

"I suppose such a technicality suffices, though I believe that our actions stem from a more basic desire to live rather than selfless service to the cause." Siegfried shrugged, not waiting on Alyssa to finish refilling her gas as he examined where they found themselves. Headquarters was surprisingly intact, and as he approached the lift which went directly to the roof, all that was required was that he kick off a few bloody rocks. He paid no mind to Sean's teasing; he was far too used to it and knew he meant nothing by it. He was far too accustomed to being called things like cold to mind anyways.

"The lift seems functional. Once we are prepared, we may go through here. There are far more titans out there than here; caution is recommended." Taking his glasses off to clean them while he waited for the two, Siegfried looked over the destruction once more. For the Titans to get back here, perhaps it was already too late, and they were merely approaching their deaths. If so, this would be incredibly demoralizing. Not that Siegfried was in any way demoralized, but alas. Putting his glasses back on, he listened to the familiar tune of someone filling gas canisters, that someone being Alyssa. They were quick to retrieve their top-off, and jogged to join Siegfried on the lift with a bag of their own.

“A basic desire to live huh… well! We can agree to disagree!” While Siegfried wandered off, Sean stayed with Alyssa, watching as she refilled her gas. Surprisingly, she wasn’t shaking as much as she was earlier. For someone who must be battling with grief, she was taking it well. He filed the idea of checking on her later when they get out of there at the back of his mind. When Siegfried called out that the lift was still functional, Sean perked up.

“Awesome. Getting right back into the heat of things!” Once Alyssa was done, he jogged along with her towards the lift, giving Siegfried a pat on the shoulder. “Maaann, I can’t wait to get back.” He commented with a light chuckle as the lift began to creak and bring them up top. Oh, he really couldn’t wait.

"We'll be on the move once we get up and out; the three of us have to cover substantial ground to make up for the lack of numbers. It shouldn't be an issue, however." Siegfried forewarned, watching the light poke out as the lift eventually stopped on the roof. Immediately Siegfried stepped out, placing a foot on the roof's railing to scout out their first destination. "We should likely head to the middle squads first; they may be dealing with the main force and we can see the left and right squads from there." Alyssa was close behind, peeking over to perhaps look at what Siegfried was looking at.

"Alright! Let's get a move on then!"

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Laurence Arnault

Gwen was right. She saved him and he was insensitive to not ask about her first. He felt like a jerk, and he even dared to call himself her friend. There was nothing but a guilty expression on his face as he let go of his savior. But hearing that Jo and everyone else was okay had put his heart slightly at ease. He could only hope that they were still safe and on their way back to safety, still nevertheless worried for everyone. Despite the destruction around them, his Wall Worshipping friend still had the gall to quip and give a wink which he could only respond with a momentary wistful smile.

"No, I-" He wanted to speak up, Gwen's words hurt but she wasn't wrong. It was a terribly foolish idea to have become bait just so everyone else had the chance to run away. He never meant to be in this position but his attention was taken away by something never before seen in history. It was a mistake, he wanted to say but he kept his mouth shut.

"We can't," Laurie said to Gwen, "It's punishable to retreat without command. If we go back inside the Walls they'll kill us." Thunder roared behind him as if the sky was in agreement with his words. "We should go to HQ. We need to resupply, I think everyone will go there too." He continued, remembering how Noah had lost a lot of gas, assuming everyone else had too. "Hopefully, someone will issue a retreat when we get there."

mention: . D O V E || interaction:

 

[Raiden]

Central Trost District — Battle of Trost District, 850
Interactions: Arcanist (Lena), M Moonlessite (Vivian & Elke), @jrink (Katsu)
Mentions: ShadyLady (Nina), Danidify (Elyse), Colorless Spectrum (Noah)
​

Luka's wildest nightmare continued to paint itself into reality when an already-fragile Squad 26 found themselves prey to an ambush of Titans from several directions. His struggle for composure continued to falter in favor of crumbling apart, dumbfounded to see that their enemies had already broken this far into Trost District. A five-meter and an eleven-meter simultaneously approached from their flanks, forcefully breaking their formation while an eight-meter shimmied into view from the street ahead. His heart sank when Elke's blood-curdling scream spoke volumes to him, realizing that Vivian had fallen victim to the former-most Titan. Though the earlier casualties weighed heavily on his shoulders, the potential loss of Vivian wore differently than others did; she was one of his closer friends, the person whose shoulder he had wept on. Years had passed after he swore to never cry to her again, yet here he was, on the verge of tears for her as they were too far to turn back. Only Lena remained within his proximity as the other detachment, consisting of the other remnants, lagged farther behind the pair. "Break... break through that eight-meter!" the boy shouted over the madness that threatened them, knowing full well that the two of them would make first contact.

They were without enough resources to deal with each individual Titan and reach the headquarters, so they had no choice but to keep moving forward. Preparing a fresh pair of blades urged his partner to do the same as they rapidly approached the eight-meter Titan, its long nose complimenting a frigid stare. His hopes of an uneventful advance were stifled by the Titan's sudden precision; as Lena came forward to try and take out its eyes, the monster lashed forward to seize the soldier from the waist down between its teeth. Her bravado had quickly degenerated into cries of help as Luka lodged both hooks into the Titan's forehead, anchoring his feet against its chin and taking Lena's right hand in a vain attempt to free her from its maw. His eyes rumbled as her bones crunched from the Titan's feast, her voice quickly deafening into the throes of death. Even as the light disappeared from her face, Luka continued in his futile effort to save just one person, seeing his purpose defeated before his very eyes while she died right in front of him. He stuck his left sword into both of the Titan's eyes, but still, it did nothing to prevent it from continuing to devour Lena.

Knowing that it was impossible to rescue Lena, Luka regretfully turned to re-focus his efforts on survival, only to find that the other soldier's grasp on his hand prevented him from doing so. Panic began to rise in his chest as he tried to pry himself from the girl's hold, feeling his hand suffocate under her death grip. If I don't do something, I'll die as well... Yet, there were no obvious actions to take in this scenario. Except... The boy wore a pained expression full of conflict as he couldn't bear to bring himself to the realization, cursed with hesitation towards the only method of self-preservation. His hand trembled uncontrollably, raising the left sword high over his head as he whimpered in a mad sweat from the stress. He swung the blade down against the deceased soldier's wrist, his first cut partially severing it from the forearm. He was forced to make a second, final slash in order to completely amputate the limp. Blood from the exposed flesh splattered all across his face and uniform as her severed hand fell to the street below, and Luka made an expeditious retreat.

His mind was too preoccupied with what had recently occurred and what lay ahead that Luka had to take a moment to himself, as much as going on by himself was a death sentence. His bloodied sleeve came up to wipe the snot that dribbled from his nose, trying to grasp an ordinary breathing cycle as he carefully climbed rooftop over rooftop towards the southern section of Trost District. Like a lost animal, his eyes scoured the descending streets for any sign of Nina's squad as visibility had vastly improved from earlier. He could only pinpoint Noah near an open plaza from the boy's unique hairstyle right away, seeing that he was assisting Elyse. Is she injured? Where are the others? The boy wasn't necessarily in shouting distance, but he was certain that they would also be able to see him if they looked his way. They were not alone, however; two fifteen-meters stumbled into the clear space from opposing sides of the street, approaching Elyse and Noah. One of the fifteen-meters raised its hand, preparing to swipe at them with its palm. His stomach turned at the beginning of a familiar sight, urging himself to turn away.

But in one heartbeat, the pendulum stopped.

The opposite fifteen-meter Titan suddenly stepped forward, its right fist crashing into the other face with such force that it decapitated the other Titan and sent its head flying through the air. As the headless one collapsed to the ground, its nape was stamped out under the foot of its attacker with premeditation. This sight roused a dumbfounded gasp from Luka in this pocket of time, unable to believe what he'd just witnessed. Even from the distance, he could hear the Titan's roar when it opened its mouth. The stormclouds seemed to part for it alone as sunlight filtered across Trost District and its features. Long dark haired adorned the Titan's sunken, faded eyes and hooked nose, its lack of flesh at the cheeks and lips revealing two long rows of bestial fangs. Tight muscle wrapped around its tall, lean frame in one concentrated mass of power. "A Titan... killed another Titan?" he mumbled to himself in disbelief when it chose to ignore the two soldiers, opting to engage other Titans with its course set for the central garrison. The mysterious Titan was clearly an Abnormal, but the fact that it wasn't mindlessly going after humans was an unknown variable. Though it was still untrustworthy, following after it cleared a path seemed to give them the best chance of surviving the nightmare. "Just what is going on here?"

---

Where there's more.
Kill them all.​

As there were more fiends to kill in the path towards the central garrison, the Attack Titan set the headquarters as its destination in mind. The blood of freshly-butchered TItans had already evaporated from its knuckles and feet; only their leftover decomposing carcasses were evidence of the Titan's extermination. It showed no interest in any human unless provoked, and after witnessing its frenzy against other Titans, there was no soldier who dared to test it. Leaving the plaza, it crossed into a street with a two twelve-meters in close proximity. In comparison to the grubby fingers that reached out, the Attack Titan took a forward square stance, its fists raised just below forehead level. When the left one was first to come forward, it struck the twelve-meter with a sharp left horizontal elbow, sending the twelve-meter tumbling onto its back with a straight punch. As the other one approached, it used its momentum to wheel to the left, sending the enemy into a building with a spinning kick to the midsection. It promptly finished off the twelve-meters in their dazed states, crushing the nape of one underneath its foot and battering the other at the building with its fists.

Turning left, four more Titans were stuck between the Attack Titan and the central garrison; a four-meter, seven-meter, ten-meter and fifteen-meter. It let out a roar to grab their attention, breaking into a dash and punting the four-meter Titan into the air with a strong kick. The shorter fiend flew into the ten-meter with exact precision, sending both of them backwards as the tallest one made an attempt to grapple at the Attack Titan. Ducking below its arm, it responded with a takedown of its own, snaking its right arm up to seize the free arm and the fifteen-meter's neck to bring it to the ground. The enemy's growls were stifled by a series of downward elbows, crushing its neck under several blows. The Attack Titan had relished in the slaughter for a little too long when the seven-meter Titan interjected, climbing onto its left shoulder and tearing out a mouthful of flesh from its bicep. Enraged, both of the Attack Titan's hands came up to wring the seven-meter's neck, tearing the head from its shoulders with great force. It crushed the nape from the falling body as it rose to a standing position, As the last two Titans were attempting to recuperate, it held both of them down with a foot, adjusting the ten-meter's gaping mouth around the four-meter's nape. Forcing the former to consume the smaller Titan's vulnerability, it would absentmindedly finish off the ten-meter with a quick stomp.

Its smaller 'injuries' had fully regenerated by the time that the Attack Titan stumbled into the central garrison. Much of the frontline's chaos had spilled into the outskirts of the district headquarters, and whoever remained within the castle was surely pinned down by the numerous Titans that invaded the perimeter. Not that it cared about those birds, anyway; the Attack Titan was going to purge this wicked world. The Titan let out a furious roar as it approached the first devil, the sun failing to flicker any semblance of light within its colorless eyes. It brought a foot into the other's shin, forcing it to lean forward and opening itself for an upward knee strike before killing it. The Attack Titan wheeled around to deliver a back fist to a flanking fourteen-meter, the force of the blow tearing off part of the fiend's forehead. Just as it went to finish it off, an eight-meter Abnormal suddenly leapt onto the Attack Titan's back, forcing the latter to drive part of the fourteen-meter's upper body into the headquarters' higher floor. The fangs of the eight-meter tore into rippling muscle, yet it did not change the fourteen-meter's fate flurry of blows. A decent amount of flesh had been taken from the Attack Titan's latissimus dorsi before it intentionally fell back to the ground with great force, slamming the eight-meter against the ground and performing a reverse somersault to come back up.

The Attack Titan shifted into a different fighting stance as it patrolled to a different part of the perimeter, facing an ambush from another Abnormal. The enemy sprung towards it from an elevation with its maw wide open, prompting the warrior to deliver a jab straight into its mouth. The six-meter Abnormal managed to take off its right hand as it flew back from the strike, filling the Attack Titan's eyes with a deranged look. Its fifteen-meter frame cast a long shadow over the smaller Titan, planting a foot down on its neck. It proceeded to rip off each of the Abnormal's limbs one by one with its only usable hand, letting it wallow helplessly for the following moments. For that duration, a mindless twelve-meter had approached and started to bite at the Attack Titan's chest, but the latter chose to ignore it in favor of tearing off the Abnormal's freshly-regenerated legs. In due time, it would apply downward force to crush the six-meter beneath its heel before shoving the twelve-meter away from its feast. Standing eye-to-eye with its enemy, the Attack Titan did not hold back in its first and only haymaker from a regenerated right hand, which launched the twelve-meter's head towards the headquarters' courtyard.

Seeing that it had eliminated all of the current Titans in the perimeter, the Attack Titan roared in a bask of its masterful slaughter, its empty gaze seeking to continue the dance of death. Another feral lightning strike suddenly rattled Trost District from a nearby street in the broad daylight, briefly pulling the Attack Titan's attention. The distinct figure of the Armored Titan shambled into the vicinity from three streets away, much to its surprise.

 

[Moonlessite]

MENTIONS: Raiden [Luka], @jrink [Katsu]



​

The sequence of events around her shocked Elke into pure silence for a couple of harrowing seconds. The Titan’s attack had split their group into two, and without Luka’s guidance, she realized that she had to take charge for the time being. “We need to get back to headquarters--!” the girl told Anke and Katsu, glancing over her shoulder at them. Her whole body quivered with emotion as her hands clenched around her set of controller grips. It was true that they had to get somewhere safe, but which way would they go? Titans lurked around them, and cutting through them in a straight line would be suicide. Elke was running out of gas already, and she wasn’t sure how low on fuel the other two were. Swallowing the panic that slowly rose into her throat, she shouted out towards the two again as she changed her path in order to head to the south. “This way!”

Elke was no leader. She didn’t know if her plan for a potentially safer and alternate route would work. This slight change in plans could get them all killed. And yet, there was no other choice.

Luckily for them, there weren’t any Titans that crossed their path, but as they cut through streets she noticed that the many squads that had once lined Trost’s streets were now reduced to shambles. Blood soaked the floor and mixed with rain puddles. The sun poked out from behind the clouds, making the crimson cast an eerie glow over the gray cobblestone. In her peripheral vision, Elke noticed shattered buildings and motionless bodies on the floor. They couldn’t stop to help. They couldn’t. They only had a little bit further to go, and after that they’d be safe--

A massive Titan, almost big enough to block out the bright sun, loomed not far off from their route. Elke glanced up and noticed that was currently prowling the streets next to them, headed in the direction of the central garrison. The sight of it almost made her freeze up. There was no way that it didn’t see them. It was so close, and they were practically in plain sight. They were dead, weren’t they? It’d attack them for sure, and there was no way three fresh recruits would be able to take it on. Elke’s heart almost stopped as she stared up at it, the remnants of her squad blowing straight past it and earning little to no reaction from the massive creature. How did it not go after them? Were they going too fast? Was it too gorged on their fallen comrades that it had no interest in eating more?

Elke was still confused by the time that they reached the central garrison. Terror struck her once again once she saw that the population of Titans had gathered there-- no wonder why they didn’t have any gas being delivered to them. Her eyes darted around the area, panic once again swarming her body as she felt fresh tears sting her eyes. There wasn’t any escape. Headquarters was being overwhelmed, the Titans only went deeper and deeper into Trost, and they were nothing better than a mouse being played with by a cat. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud splutter from her gear. They would have to land, and fast. Elke’s eyes flitted over the rooftops, trying to pick a safe spot to stop, when she saw Luka standing on one of the roofs.

“Luka!” Elke cried out, both terrified at the sight of his blood splattered uniform and comforted by the fact that he was still alive. She landed not far from him and ran across the roof to meet him. “What happened?!”

A horrible roar cut through the air and rattled Elke to the core. She turned to see that the same fifteen meter Titan from before had arrived at the central garrison. The panic-stricken girl thought that they would have to move away from it in order to avoid being attacked-- though, how could they do so with such little gas left? If they weren’t doomed before, they were certainly doomed now; they were caught between several regular sized Titans and a massive one. A low whimper drifted from her as she wanted nothing more than to break down in tears and give up. Elke had tried so hard to keep everyone safe… what was the point of that if she led them straight into a death trap?

Like before, the fifteen meter Titan was not interested in them. Instead, its attention was completely on the other Titans that littered the area. Elke watched in a combination of awe and shock as the Abnormal Titan attacked the others with nothing other than a killer intent. Titan after Titan fell in its presence; the Abnormal spared none, especially when it was attacked by the others of its kind. Flesh ripped, bones cracked, and heads even flew as the strange creature wreaked havoc on the Titans around it. Elke didn’t know what to say, and if the others said anything, their words fell on deaf ears; her focus was entirely on the vicious monster in front of them.

Why… why is it attacking the other Titans? Aren’t they its allies? Elke thought, continuing to stare with her mouth partially agape. Within only a few minutes, the number of regular Titans thinned to only a handful, and then practically nothing. Do we actually have a chance of surviving this?

Elke’s thoughts were interrupted when another figure lurked towards the Abnormal. It was another Titan, but this one she immediately recognized. Clad in brass-colored plates, it stood not very far from the rampaging Titan. Curved horns, one intact and one broken, protruded from the top of its visage as it stared at the other Titan with monstrous intent from behind what looked like a visor. It was almost as big as the Abnormal, though it was obvious it was larger in mass. Its footsteps were like demonic thunder as it strode across the open area. Its long, pale hair drifted in the wind as it set its sights towards them. There was no mistaking what it was. Elke had seen it before all of those years ago in Shiganshina. The world seemed to slow down around her as it sprinted toward the Abnormal-- and them-- at a dreaded speed. All Elke could bring herself to do was watch.

“Elke!” Anke suddenly screamed. In an instant, she found herself being shoved roughly against Luka and sent tumbling out of the way. The Armored Titan’s body slammed low into the other Titan’s body, knocking it off balance and sending it toppling down towards them. Elke turned just in time to see her sister crushed beneath the weight of the two dueling monsters-- and just like that, her sister was gone.

A high-pitched shriek ripped from her throat as the roof began to crumble beneath her feet. “ANKE!!!”

Luka's hand clamping around her right forearm brought her back into reality, if only for a short moment. Elke had to keep moving, she had to get out of here. Her sister had sacrificed herself for her, and if she died then it was for naught. Tears streamed down Elke’s face as she sent one of her hooks toward a nearby building, earning her an escape from the renewed battle. This landing was much rougher than her previous ones, with Elke collapsing on all fours as she did not have the strength to lift herself. Tears simply kept coming, and her body tensed and wrenched as she tried to withstand the dismay and terror that washed over her in waves.


Though the Attack Titan was aware of the Armored Titan’s presence after eliminating the nearby threats, it seemed to be caught off guard by the latter’s charge. A surprised whine sounded from the monster as the attacker hooked both arms around its waist, partially crashing them against a nearby building and bringing both titans to the ground. Glaring up at the Armored Titan, it let out an enraged bellow towards its new adversary, the colorless spectrum within its eyes now lighting up with a faint blue glint.

The Attack Titan’s knuckles rebounded from the Armored Titan’s sturdy face, the punch producing no visible effect on the enemy. Seeing this, the Attack Titan immediately went for a grapple, attempting to lock its right arm around the Armored Titan’s right arm and pull it away.

Noticing the intent of its opponent, the Armored Titan did not allow its enemy to assume an advantage in their grapple. When the Attack Titan reached forward in order to instill it in its own grapple, the other Titan reached forward to grab the limb and twist it behind its head. The hold it had on the Attack Titan was a brutal one, merciless even as it continued to pull back on the appendage.

The Attack Titan growled as its right arm was caught in the counter-grapple, its biceps tightening in an attempt to resist the Armored Titan. Inevitably, its right arm was gradually forced back from the advantage that its enemy had from gravity and the upper position, but that wouldn’t be enough. In fact, the Attack Titan welcomed the response; its right forearm came forward to lock around the Armored Titan’s wrist, steadying itself. It used this hold as a solid pivot, forcing its lower body past the enemy’s left leg so that it was now laying partially sideways.

In one swift motion, the Attack Titan swung both of its legs up and around the Armored Titan’s left arm that dangled aimlessly. Its own left arm rose to wrap around the back of the enemy’s neck, pulling the Armored Titan’s head down into its chest while its ankles crossed together and forced the left arm down. The Attack Titan’s left arm increasingly applied pressure to the enemy’s head as it tried to bring its fist lower and lower. The legs tightened around the Armored Titan’s left arm, threatening to shatter the protection at the shoulder.

The Armored Titan’s arm was suddenly put into a vice grip by the Attack, held in a sort of lock with nowhere to go. For a brief moment, it seemed like the Attack Titan had earned an advantage over its foe; its legs retained their fierce hold over its limb, even as the Armored attempted to pull away. The Armored let out a growl as it raised its fist and slammed it straight into the side of the Attack’s head. The force of the blow allotted enough time for the Armored to break away from the grapple, and it began to stand back up in an attempt to assume advantage over the situation again.

An armored fist slammed into the Attack Titan’s cheek, growling as the blow addled it enough for the Armored Titan to pry itself from the grapple. It slowly rose to its feet to come eye to eye with its mortal enemy, the flesh from the side of its face torn off and exposing jagged teeth along its left mandible. The Attack Titan bared its fangs before letting out a thunderous roar towards the Armored Titan that shook Trost District, steam emitting from the wound as it was already beginning to regenerate.

Now free from the Attack Titan’s hold, the Armored Titan stood to answer its challenge with a silent snarl. It stood still for a second before it once again leapt at its opponent. Though, instead of aiming low to take its quarry down onto the ground again, the Armored Titan lunged forward and shoved the Attack Titan against a building. Awnings and tiles alike collapsed to the floor as the Armored Titan pinned the other under its weight. Its hand went to grab its right arm, and with a terrible sound of tearing flesh and sinew, the Armored tore the Attack Titan’s appendage away from its body and flung it askew. The monster gave its enemy a guttural roar as it went to grab at its other arm in an attempt to do the same to its other limb.

The weight of the mountain crashed against the Attack Titan and seized it against the structure that barely withstood the combined mass. It howled in pure resentment as its right arm was ripped off by the Armored Titan, the shimmer of blue in its eyes slowly fading. With its free left arm, it repeatedly slammed its fist down against the cranium of its enemy in a helpless struggle, trying to wrestle itself forward from the confinement. Weary groans of weak defiance soon replaced the guttural roars as the Attack Titan reached a state of exhaustion from prolonged combat.

The Armored Titan remained undaunted at the Attack Titan’s blows, its gaze blazing with fury as it grabbed its other arm. It pulled at the limb more violently than the last, pulling it straight from its shoulder. Now seemingly in complete control over the situation, it secured another hold on its left shoulder as it raised its right fist. With a ferocious roar, it sought to land a final blow on its skull.

As the last arm was torn away from its body, so too did the last speckle of color from the eyes of the Attack Titan. To the spectator, defeat was inevitable; now, nothing would stop one of humanity’s mortal enemies from breaching the inner wall. In their minds, it was all over.

In the Attack Titan’s mind, however, it was all over for the Armored Titan.

Clarity washed over the demonic expression of the Attack Titan as it welcomed the plated fist, but something was entirely different. A crystalline formation braced around its head, absorbing the full brunt of the Armored Titan’s strike. Not a single crack could be found along the sheen of the hardened skin; it was nearly identical to the latter.

Not affording its adversary a moment of awareness, the Attack Titan slammed its hardened skull down into the back of the Armored Titan’s head. Its opponent pulled away upon realization, but even without its arms, the Attack Titan assumed the offensive once again. The crystalline bracer drastically weakened around the titan’s head, now culminating around its right foot as it stepped into a straight push kick.

For a moment, the Armored Titan’s victory seemed certain. But as soon as its fist slammed into the Attack Titan’s head, it was met with resistance rather than the caving of its skull. The Armored snarled in surprise as it pulled its hand away to attack somewhere else-- but its shock had caught it unawares for its enemy’s next move. In an instant, the Attack Titan’s hardened head slammed straight into the back of its neck. Roaring in anger, it went to grab hold of its head, though its opponent was much faster than it was. The Attack Titan was able to send it away with a powerful kick, and the Armored found itself collapsed on the building right across from it. Disoriented, the Armored struggled to recuperate from the strike as it struggled to stand straight before the Attack Titan was upon it again.

The Attack Titan’s regeneration factor shifted to the vacancy at its two arms, unrelenting in its assault against the Armored Titan as it led a head-on charge for the enemy. Hardening its cranium once more, a stray hand from the latter barely managed to intercept the headbutt as it drove the enemy further into the building. Its measly efforts at defense hastily crumbled as the Attack Titan began to slam its head into the Armored Titan, easily shattering the fortification that coated its palm. Reminiscent of laughter, the warrior unleashed a feral grunt with each time that it struck the Armored Titan with its head, eventually tearing past the bare hand.

Thrash after thrash, the enemy’s blood decorated the crystalline formation as it smashed the Armored Titan’s head into smithereens with only its skull. The Attack Titan
had become so preoccupied with the slaughter that it hadn’t noticed one of the mindless titans come towards them from the side; stifling the left arm’s regeneration, its right arm immediately materialized in acceleration. The titan’s lack of hair didn’t make it any more difficult for the Attack Titan to clasp its mighty hand around the former’s neck. It cried of anger as it drove the bald titan’s head straight into the Armored Titan, forcing both of their faces to line up together.

The Attack Titan did not bother to harden its knuckles, and instead, remained with its current repertoire. The force behind its crystallized head was enough to simultaneously smash through the nape of the bald titan and reach the Armored Titan’s face underneath. It continued to wail on its mortal enemy until the latter was a bloody, unrecognizable mess of blood and fragments. When the Armored Titan’s body surrendered and went lifeless, the Attack Titan took a step to seemingly revel in its work before letting out another deafening roar. The crystal formation around its head came apart as blood dribbled near the titan’s mouth, its serrated teeth fulfilling the expression of a smiling devil.

Yet, this was the end of the line for the Attack Titan. Its body finally submitted to exhaustion as it crumbled to its knees and fell on its face, each part of its fifteen-meter frame inanimate. Steam began to spout from every single pore of its defunct figure before a segment of flesh at the nape suddenly tore apart. Strings of flesh adorned a healthy humanoid shape as it slowly emerged from the monster’s body, its back decorated with the crossed swords from the Training Corps. The tissue that enveloped their face ripped off to reveal the unconscious yet eerily-peaceful slumbering expression of a young man for all the witnesses to see.

It was Hal.



At this point, Elke could not help but watch the fight. Still practically on her knees, the girl stared at the two bodies, though mostly of the one of the “heroic” Abnormal that had saved their skins. The young recruit was in a state of shock as she stared at the corpse of the Abnormal opened up at the nape to reveal a human. Not only that, but a human with a very, very familiar face.

“Is that… Hal?” Elke’s voice was not only hoarse, but very quiet as the shock was enough to make her shakily stand up to her feet. Her knees were skinned raw after their impact against the tiled roofs, but that didn’t stop the shell-shocked and still-crying girl as she hobbled to the edge of the roof. Carefully, she sat on the edge and stared at the scene below as she remained nearly expressionless, her eyes void of light and instead filled with exhaustion and sorrow. Green flares soared high up into the air from afar, signalling the successful evacuation of citizens and giving the order for them to fall back.

 

[homintales]

Sera Mayer: Observer
Mentions: Raiden Demon Shinobi ​

Sera’s original strategy, which really wasn’t anything too special, was to run as fast as she possibly could until she finally reached the HQ. Once there, Sera would’ve made sure to refuel and take as much gas as the canisters were able to carry. Finally, once organized, she would find a way to reconnect with the others and continue the fight against the titans.

But… she couldn’t stop thinking about the Abnormal titan that previously charged towards the frontlines, towards the other titans. The same one that acted as though it possessed no urge to eat anyone. It was truly a strange sight. She could still make out it's figure. And at the same time, Sera could also see the HQ, which was slightly closer.

There was a clear choice Sera needed to make. Should she submit to curiosity… or continue on to the HQ. After a short time thinking, Sera opted to follow the Abnormal. Maybe she would get a second kill in? But it wasn’t like she could follow the thing without any gas. There was no way she could/would ever make it without using the ODM gear.

Luckily, there were some nearby and unlucky corpses lying all chewed up across the lower streets. Paying little respect to the fallen comrades, Sera took the two weightiest canisters she could find, telling the corpses, “Don’t worry, I’ll actually put these to some good use.” as she quickly left the area.

Now equipped with some actual gas, Sera zoomed across the skies as fast as she was able to. Along the way, Sera realized the Abnormal had changed its original position, and through some other nearby recruits, these ones mostly intact, Sera learned that the Abnormal was now, ironically, making its way towards the HQ.

Already turned around and returning to the HQ, Sera passed multiple evaporating titan corpses as she moved forward. Though she understood there were many recruits currently in Trost, Sera could tell no person(s) was the one who eliminated the titans in such a vicious way. For a second, Sera wondered, “Could it ‘ve… no, no… no way.”

As impossible as it sounded, there actually was a way. Just as Sera landed on one final rooftop, which was kind enough to provide Sera with an excellent view, she was able to look upon the Abnormal all up close and personal like. And, once again, as unlikely as it sounds, it was occupied with killing titans.

Sera, and many others who came to witness the supposed titan on titan slaughter, were unable to move or even look away. For many, pure shock was the reason they were seemingly forced to watch the conflict. Obviously, anyone living within the Walls would find themselves shocked upon witnessing a titan killing its own people. And while Sera most certainly felt this shock as well, there was something even stronger maintaining the visual connection. Something the world, and something Sera, seemed to lack. Wonder. It was genuine wonder.
Sera started to quietly chuckle as the Abnormal continued to pumble, kick, and rip open every other titan it came across. She thought about moving in closer to possibly find a superior view. But Sera could only assume she would just turn into yet another victim were she to take even a small step closer. That was fine, she could still admire to show from where she was.

“So… you’re a titan who likes to kill your fellow titans…” Sera spoke quietly to the Abnormal, not that it was in a position to listen. “Are there… even more like you?” Theories started to form within Sera’s mind. Were there really other Abnormals such as this one, then perhaps there was a way to permanently stop the titans.

And then, once the only titan left standing was the Abnormal itself, it released a great roar, most likely to announce its great victory. For a second, Sera considered clapping to applaud the Abnormal’s victory. But she quickly realized even she wasn’t that crazy.

As Sera looked to a small group containing mostly recruits, who she intended on joining, a lightning strike erupted very close to the Abnormal’s own position. Blinded, Sera recoiled and, as a result, nearly collapsed onto the ground, which would’ve ended awfully, seeing as there was no August to stage a rescue this time around. Fortunately, Sera’s ODM gear was strong enough to maintain Sera’s position.

Her vision returned, Sera’s gaze once again returned to the Abnormal… titans? “It’s the Armoured Titan!” Sera shouted, recognizing the other Abnormal through Fabio’s story on it and the Colossus titan. Clearly, the friendly Abnormal recognized the Armoured variant as well. Hence why it started to attack the Armoured in such a vicious fashion.

Brutalization wasn’t a kind enough word. This fight was something entirely else. Blood, gore, limbs getting pulled straight from the muscle, even more shouting. It was like something you would find in a story. Sera’s mind was so focused on the fight itself, she was unable to guess at who would actually come out on top.

In the end, it was a… Draw. Sorta, that’s at least what Sera viewed it as. Fighting wise, the Abnormal absolutely won. The Armoured titan’s… everything was completely shattered. It was going to get up again. Now the greatest threat was the Colossus titan, which was still out there. Things were looking good. But as soon as the Armoured was 100% finished, the Abnormal soon collapsed as well. It had used up everything to make sure the Armoured was dead.

"Dammit... there goes our greatest asset." Sera released a great and loud sigh as the Abnormal who was able to take out so many titans, including the Armoured, slowly evaporated. But when the majority of the tissue was gone, there was yet another surprise in store. "Wha-what?! Hal?"

 

[AI10100]

Mentions: The Prophet [Siegfried] Raiden [Hal]
​

Sean was stunned, watching this one abnormal titan run into the fray and started slaughtering every titan in sight. He brought his hand up to rub his eyes before looking back at the scene, trying to see if he was just having a hallucination. He looked to the side to Allyssa who also watched with complete awe. This was definitely happening. Whatever this was. "Erm..." He looked between Allyssa and Siegfried as the abnormal titan began making his way towards the HQ. He could see a couple of cadets fly by the titan and the titan simply ignored them, much more interested in the other titans than the humans. "Should I... uh... you know... is it an ally...?"

Calling a titan an ally is... weird to him. But how else was he going to describe it? A titan with anger issues? A traitorous titan who would much rather attack things of his own size rather than some pesky ant flying around with hooks?

"I... I guess?" Allyssa replied as bewildered as he was.

As the titan drew closer, Sean wasn't quite sure what to do. Leave? Well, whatever he wanted to do, his body wasn't following. He stood there, practically rooted on the ground as he watched the titan get rid of those that were surrounding them this entire time. There was a delay in his reaction upon seeing the fourteen-meter titan fall towards them after the traitorous titan let go of its limp body straight into them. "Fuck!" He ran to the opening and his hooks shot out, pulling him out of the HQ by the time the titan had fallen where they were standing. Sean skidded onto the roof, looking around for any sign of a titan that might get them but every single one had its focus on the traitorous one. Thankfully, Siegfried and Allyssa were still with him— safe from death. "Damn, be careful!" He shouted as if the titan would understand him as if it would actually take his words into consideration and not just turn on him right then and there.

He turned to face the incoming cadets, waving his arm at them. "Hey, we got gas do you—"

He was cut off by a sudden lightning strike not too far from them despite the relatively clearer skies. He flinched, bringing his arm up to block the sudden intrusion of light. He turned to the source, closer to the abnormal, and saw it.

He didn't know what it was. Not really. He didn't recognize it. It was probably the Armored Titan that had attached Shinganshina all those years back, the one he heard of from his grandmother's tales. However, the ensuing feelings flooding his heart— an indescribable feeling of heat and anger flowing throughout his entire body was unmistakable. He hadn't felt like this before... as far as he could remember.

Some part of his brain questioned it. Why are you angry? His body replied with nothing more than reaching behind him and unclasping the bag that contained the extra gas canisters. It fell to the ground with a thunk, safe but without a carrier.

You'll die, you know? Sean didn't care. Every part of his body was screaming to move— to use its learned skills to kill that titan.

Why? Muffled cries and screams of voices he didn't recognize filled his ears. Was it real? He wasn't sure. It struck him with pain and longing though. Who were these people?

Sean's hands dropped to the hilts of the blades when he felt someone hold his wrist tightly. He blinked. His mind went blank, his body relaxing almost immediately. What was he doing? He turned to whoever had held him down, facing Siegfried. The look his friend was giving him was almost terrifying, gazing upon him with such seriousness that his body almost went cold.

"If you're about to try what I think you are, don't. We haven't even joined a Corp yet; Those are two 15-meter abnormals, with strange characteristics and knowledge of its own biology and human fighting techniques. Fighting each other. That's certain death as we are now, even with how we placed in training. Do you understand? Zero percent chance of survival. I'll chase you down myself before I let you throw your life away doing something stupid like that. That's not your fight. Not today."

"... Yeah." He responded. He looked down at the discarded gas canisters and reached down, clasping it around him once again once Siegfried let go of him. "I... guess we'll just hope that guy finishes that Armored guy off then." He muttered, still a bit dazed from the experience. What was that? He felt another touch on his right arm. Allyssa shot him a worried look but he was fine now. Maybe. Probably.

Sean felt some sort of sick satisfaction watching the two titans fight each other, tumbling around. Every time the traitorous one landed a hit, Sean couldn't help but cheer a bit. However, it seemed like the Armored Titan always had the upper hand. A feeling of dread washed over him as the Armored Titan ripped an arm off of the traitorous titan yet it was unrelenting in its fierce attacks. However, it seemed to be fatigued (did titans get tired?) and its left arm was also ripped off.

Oh. This was bad.

Or maybe it wasn't? Unexpectedly, the traitorous titan had made some sort of crystallized form in its head and used that to fight back. Sean hadn't wrapped his heads around two titans fighting like humans in a fighting ring yet, but this had thrown him off the loop again. He knew that the Armored Titan had... well... armor, but other titans were capable of that too? A random titan had appeared and was promptly used as a makeshift weapon against the Armored Titan. It felt like it went for forever until the Armored Titan finally went limp, lifeless under the pressure of the traitorous titan's attacks.

"The Armored Titan... is down?" Allyssa muttered beside him in disbelief. One of the two Titans that had spearheaded the breach of the walls had been slaughtered by another titan.

Sean was half tempted to go down there to check. To watch as the Armored Titan dissolved into nothing. Maybe take a few stabs at it. Maybe that would scratch the new itch in his hands. Even with how content he felt seeing its annihilated body was not enough to settle himself down. However, as it stands, he knew that Siegfried would stop him. It was not safe yet.

The entire situation was surreal but the traitorous titan had reached its limit. It fell down, much the same as any other titan, and steam began to spew out. Unlike the other titans, however, this one formed a shape at the nape. Sean took a step forward to get a closer look, squinting his eyes. The first thing that caught his eye was the symbol of the trainee squad as it rose up. A human? Out of a titan? What was going on here?

A gasp to his side caught his attention. "Is that Halvor?" Sean's questioning gaze was immediately answered. "He's part of the 104th... he's one of us."

Sean looked between her and the titan... and Halvor. "What the fuck have they been feeding you guys here in the South?"

 

[. D O V E]

Gwen Bulwark​

Tiles clunked beneath the soles of tainted boots as Gwen landed on one of the many Trost roofings. The sound of whirring wires soon followed as she retracted her hooks and flung her gaze forward, meeting the familiar form of Laurie. With his back facing her, he seemed to be deeply engrossed in watching the abnormal titan's rampage against its own kind. She followed his gaze and reveled at the sight of its hulking figure. The closer look made her realize that it looked far too different from the usual titans her eyes had been feasting on for the past hours. Amidst the odd infighting and heavy footsteps, Gwen's mind wandered back to what had transpired certain minutes ago.

"We should go to HQ. We need to resupply, I think everyone will go there too." Laurie protested, "hopefully, someone will issue a retreat when we get there."

"I suppose I cannot argue with that." She gestured to her half-spent gas canisters. "Although, I do wonder if there's anybody left in the HQ to entertain us. Alive, at least." Throughout her stay in Trost, not once did she see anyone from the supply section doing their job out in the field. The cruelty of reality made her think of nothing but awful fates befalling the aforementioned individuals.

A deafening roar pushed Gwen to take Laurie by the arm and lead him to the direction of its source. "Lucky for you, I may have found us a shortcut."

That was right. It was all thanks to this rampaging titan that Laurie and she made it to the HQ's vicinity free of any danger. It basically carved a safe path for the two of them and all they had to do was follow its lead at a safe distance.

Gwen's reminiscing was promptly cut by a descent of lightning so similar to the one she had witnessed before. Akin to the rampaging titan's entrance, an odd silhouette of what appeared to be another titan formed beyond the clouds of dust that had been generated by the blast. Seeing the same show twice would typically kill Gwen's intrigue; however, she found it hard to stifle her amusement once the infamous Armored Titan stepped out of obscurity. Nonetheless, the female immediately took a step forward and put on a defensive stance in front of Laurie. The peculiar behemoths quickly recognized each other's presences; the armored one bullrushing to the other without dally thereafter.

The red-head wasted no time and strongly gripped Laurie's arm just in case he ever had the foolish idea of jumping and trying to save their batchmates who were dangerously close to the eventual battlefield. Gwen watched as one of them got reduced into a bloody mess by the sheer weight of the rebel titan after it crashed with the armored one. The pained shriek of one of their classmates was easily drowned by the titanic rumbles.

Her strong grip remained on Laurie as the feuding titans continued, each one delivering blows so powerful that Gwen could feel the phantom pain. At first, Gwen was convinced that the rebel titan would stand no chance against the armored one, seeing as it lacked any type of protective covering unlike the latter. However, she was proven otherwise once it developed a hardened skin out of the blue. With wide eyes, she watched as the rebel titan used its hardened head as a literal weapon against its opponent, decimating a passing titan that was unfortunate enough to get involved in the process. Amidst the rebel's loud wailing, the armored titan eventually collapsed in defeat, succumbing to the ground in a seemingly lifeless manner. A few moments later, the rebel titan shared the same fate.

It was only then when Gwen loosened her grip on Laurie's arm, albeit her eyes stayed on the strange shape which emerged from the rebel titan's nape. Once the mist has cleared, the undeniable figure of a human revealed itself to the world. Genuinely shocked, Gwen unwittingly pursed her lips and stepped closer to the edge of the roof to take a gander at the mystery man.

"Oh?" She mused, lips slowly curling with mirth that failed to reach her eyes. "My, my, Halvor grew up so fast." Chuckling at her own joke, she shortly shifted her gaze to the armored titan's dissipating carcass before returning it to Halvor.

To think that humanity's wrath, given form, was underneath their noses all this time...

Tags: Colorless Spectrum Raiden M Moonlessite

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Laurence Arnault

It was a crazy idea, and he would have opposed it if he had the chance but Gwen was right. The more they followed the Abnormal Titan, the easier it was to travel on the way back to HQ. It smashed every Titan in its way, and he couldn't help but think why. It was as if it knew... The way it moved seemed familiar but that was, even more, crazier than Gwen's earlier suggestion.

Another flash of lightning had grabbed his focus and the sight made his blood go cold. It really was Shiganshina all over again. Seeing Gwen's red hair had him questioning why. A word he asks himself a lot lately, why. Gwen always seemed to watch him, follow him... Protect him. Laurie watched as the Armored Titan rushed to the Abnormal Titan. Seeing familiar figures as he watched the bloodbath of the giants, equally surprised.

"She's dead..." Somehow it was easy to know what happened from a single scream. Anke was dead, he could hear Elke scream. Gwen's hold on him had stopped him from going over to her, it was an instinctive response for him. He wanted to help but there wasn't much that he could do when two Titans are fighting each other and someone was holding him back. He didn't know how to feel, Anke was a constant presence during his time in Shiganshina and even during their training but Elke, her cry was painful to hear. Reminded him of himself when his mother died.

Until finally, the brutal fighting had ceased. The Armored Titan laid lifeless as steam dissipated from it, the Abnormal Titan that had the anger of all of Paradis had also slumped to the ground. "It's okay now, Gwen. They've stopped fighting you should let go." He said even when his eyes were glued to the Abnormal Titan. He followed her to the edge of the room to get a better look at the strange sight of a person seemingly emerging from the Titan.

It was Hal.

Laurie's eyes widened, his mind couldn't truly process it but all he sees was Hal. What was Hal doing there? Was he the Abnormal Titan? The same Halvor who he promised years ago to watch each other's back, who also wanted to join the Scouts like him. His hands moved without much thought. It felt like the right thing to do, shooting his wires to the nape of the dissipating Titan and going to help his friend. "Hal!"

mention: . D O V E Raiden || interaction: M Moonlessite

 

[The Prophet]

Spoiler: Appearance

​

Standing atop the highest rooftop of headquarters, Siegfried was able to watch nearly all of Trost, and what he saw filled him with confusion on the level of which he hadn't felt in a long time. Down the great height of the rooftop into the death and destruction wrought by the titans, down the streets lined with bodies and soaked in blood, stood a titan so large that it looked down on the dilapidated rooftops that were once homes. Normally this wouldn't be cause for much concern, but this titan was so incredibly strange.

It was fighting its own kind.

Ignoring any human it passed or was otherwise in the vicinity of, it tore a path of its own through titans large and small like it was legitimately on the side of humanity. In fact, he watched several cadets even follow the beast in their direction, using the resulting titan-free route to get to safety. But a titan working with humanity was impossible, right? Countless studies, accounts, examinations, and analyses have near unanimously defined titan's as creatures who are united as a threat to humanity. So what was this 15-meter abnormal doing fighting against its own kind?

Not only that, but there was something about it's movements; it carried a sort of practiced savagery. The attacks it made were unmistakably brutal; it ripped and tore away at flesh and bone with about as much finesse as a rabid dog, but there were times where it showed a soldier's training. As it approached two 12-meter titans, it took the near unmistakable stance of a human fighter. It was a stance many of his fellow cadets fell into while sparring. There was no way a titan could have learned such a thing; where would it even see someone employing it against a titan or otherwise? Those moves were made by humans, for use against other humans. So where did this titan get the knowledge?

Siegfried was rooted to the spot; not due to fear or awe, but in rapt curiosity. As the titan dealt blow after blow, Siegfried wanted to know more and more.

"A shame. If only it were possible to anatomize such a creat-" the fruits of the titan's violent labor was sent careening towards the supply squad survivors, and Siegfried fluidly moved to get out of its way. As the blonde softly touched down with Sean and Alyssa, Siegfried observed the damage to the Titan head for a few moments, taking in the strange titan's destructive power. As the signature steam started to eat at it's body, Siegfried turned back to study the beast. As soon as he did so, however, the situation became all the more curious.

A lightning strike hit the ground not far from the abnormal titan, one with incredible power and energy. Light glinted brightly off his glasses, and when it cleared, there were even more questions. Light had given way to steam, and steam had given way to muscle and armor. "..." Siegfried was silent as he regarded the new variable, taking in it's form as well as the looks of those near himself. It was for this reason he noticed a peculiar shake in Sean's form. He didn't often see him angered, and the cause wasn't hard to deduce. He watched Sean unclasp his bags of gas briefly, before Siegfried's hand shot out to grip Sean's wrist to stop any further action. That was when the fellow blonde turned, and it was also when Siegfried fixed the northern cadet with a cold and serious gaze. Not one of anger or fury, but of a dead seriousness.

"If you're about to try what I think you are, don't. We haven't even joined a Corp yet; Those are two 15-meter abnormals, with strange characteristics and knowledge of its own biology and human fighting techniques. Fighting each other. That's certain death as we are now, even with how we placed in training. Do you understand? Zero percent chance of survival. I'll chase you down myself before I let you throw your life away doing something stupid like that. That's not your fight. Not today."

Siegfried picked his words carefully; Siegfried knew Sean's skillset, and Sean knew his. If he was so determined to throw his life away, then Siegfried would just have to stomp such a delusion out. Strong emotions did not kill titans.

"...Yeah."

With that one word, Siegfried's cold gaze morphed into its typical unexpressive form. "So you can still see reason." Removing his hand, it returned to Siegfried's side as he watched the two peculiar titans brawl. Each attack carried a savage barbarism; to the unarmored titan, the loss of its own limbs were but a momentary setback. The battle reached its crescendo when the rogue titan suddenly hardened its head and used it as a bludgeon, violently crushing it's opponent into submission. Siegfried couldn't help but peer closer, putting his boot on the railing. "What raw output…but it seems the victor has burnt themselves…..out?"

How strange.

What is that?

What is that inside the titan's head?

Who is that?

Why is there a person inside it's head?

Why is it alive?

Someone answer.

As the head of the titan burned away to reveal a perfectly intact human, Siegfried's icy blue eyes were dialed in on the man. The corners of his mouth twitched briefly, a small flicker of something else as Siegfried gazed upon a sight that had undoubtedly become history for many fields of academia. He wanted to learn more; did the South district know about this? Did they make this? What even are titans? How did he become such a thing? Were there other's? What would you even call them? Questions swam in his mind repeatedly, only to be cut short abruptly. He heard someone speak, the voice bringing him out of his hyperfocus and back to reality. Was that Alyssa talking? What is his name? Halvor? Halvor. Halvor was a titan. As he watched someone rush to the man named Halvor's aid and a green flare signaled their retreat, Siegfried turned to look at his fellow Northern transfer out of the corner of his eye. He shared his sentiments.

"The Southern District has proved to be an incredibly strange place."

 

[SpookyBones]

Interactions: ShadyLady (Nina)
Mentions: Raiden (Hal), The Prophet (Siegfried), AI10100 (Sean) ​

Milo cursed himself for the moment of weakness, more borderline insanity, that he had displayed. All of his thoughts had come cascading recklessly leaving his mind teetering on the edge of submission to the darkness. He’d been beyond grateful for Nina in that moment, though fully aware she didn’t take great pleasure in his company, she'd temporarily saved him from himself and a gruesome death.

He followed her slender figure through the air, admiring her subtle movements to control her balance as she expertly cut through a path that would lead them safely to their destination. His attention was readily caught by something which bewildered his senses - an Abnormal that struck immeasurable fear within him. Its accentuated features made it stand out from the others who all looked like they hadn’t a thought behind their eyes. It was only when he saw the monstrosity tearing apart a series of Titans in its path that Milo almost flew into the back of the redhead as he called out to her, “Nina, stop! That Titan- something's not right, we have to stop.”

The thought occurred that yeah sure nothing is right in our world have you opened your eyes, whatever, but as they landed atop high ground for a better view of this anomaly, Milo noted desire within its eyes. The other Titans displayed nothing but hunger. There was something deep-set, something more, a purpose of sorts to its actions it seemed.

The monster tore ruthlessly through the flesh of its assailants, though it appeared consciously methodical in its approach to killing every last titan that tried to get a hold on it. Torn off skin was sent reeling in all directions around the carnivorous scene; Milo tried to reach any sort of rational conclusion for the inexplicable acts unravelling before their eyes, pondering how even the likes of Siegfried would struggle to be calculative with such a sight to behold.

Milo attempted to dispel his nerves, biting his lip to restrict the quiver that once again sought to bring him to tears. He turned to fix Nina with a gaze that offered as much courage as he could muster, though he knew she carried enough for the both of them. “That thing, its- its beyond an Aberrant, beyond anything I could’ve imagined the Titans to become,” he paused, scrambling for his own thoughts, “has it evolved? Is it a traitor? Just whose side is the bloody thing on?”

“I don’t know,” Nina replied unhelpfully, “but it’s our best chance of making it back. We need to keep moving.”

Without another word, Nina set off on their course once more. Milo was still fixated on the beast, disbelief dutifully simmering in his chest. He barely noticed when Nina had abruptly stopped once more, he came to land next to her. “The hell are you doing? I thought we needed--” The boy swallowed his words as all the air in his lungs collapsed, seeping into the open space around them.

Tiles beneath him shook as a Titan, clad in some form of shield from head to toe, made its way to pounce at the Abnormal. He took this to be the Armoured Titan, if he recalled correctly from the endless stories that kids in the Southern Division would share with him repeatedly, granted there were some disparities compared to the killing machine that he now witnessed. Where had it come from though? Why now? The two beasts battled one another, sparing no mercy as their enormous limbs connected with the other’s body relentlessly. Milo found himself rooting for the Abnormal; it felt inherently wrong, though as far as the boy could tell, it had only killed fellow titans and well the Armoured- he’d heard enough tales of Shiganshina to justify his thoughts. Milo had taken to a crouch, planting his fingertips firmly on the roof to steady himself, watching intently as the renowned Armoured Titan had been defeated, falling lifeless as steam dispersed into the air. The Abnormal let out a deafening roar of accomplishment forcing Milo to bring his hands to his ears, falling back onto his rear as he did; though he would’ve toppled over at what came next regardless. There’s a human. Inside? A human, just like me. It was none other than the boy he’d nervously referred to as ‘mister’ just the night prior, though he came to know him as Halvor; his presence had set Milo on edge but this was incomprehensible. Milo knew the transfer to the South would be rough but what the fuck. The boy let out a shaky breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding hostage as though it would be the last he’d take. Milo simply turned to stare at the ground and mumbled barely audibly, “I miss Sean.”

 

[Arcanist]

Jo Schreiber
Mentions: Colorless Spectrum (Laurie), Raiden (Omg Hal????), homintales (Sera) | Interactions: Pretty much everyone smh idk

(commission by @kalatl!)​

Sera was right. They couldn’t just stand there and think about what the hell was fighting in front of them, not when they were at risk of being attacked. She moved off once more, feeling surprisingly lighter than she had before. She wrapped her knuckles against the cannister, which returned a hollow sound. ‘Not good.’ She had to hope she would get to HQ, and that there would be some cannisters remaining to switch out.

So much for the supply squad running out to them to keep them well stocked.

When Squad 19 arrived on rooftops near their HQ, they were just in time for another showing of the abnormal Titan they witnessed earlier pummelling more titans. Its rage was undeniable with the sheer force it put into its punches, its kicks, and yet, it was almost as if it knew exactly what it was doing. This titan was more than one who would just mindlessly swing at humans. Jo heard Sera's mutterings, or rather, wanderings, about whether there were more strange titans like the one causing havoc to its own kind.

Perhaps. And if there were, how fascinating would the idea be? It changed everything they thought they knew about their apex predators.

Another strike of lightning, despite the darkness giving way to brighter skies and the rain finally letting up. And then it appeared. The Armored Titan, one whose presence reverberated across every Wall. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that it would show up with the Colossal here. It would be the same story as it was in Shiganshina. And it seemed it would take the Abnormal with them in the process.

There was too much to take in. The shouts of other recruits, the constant moving of soldiers to avoid being caught up in the two titans’ destruction. And that was when she heard the scream.

‘Anke?’ Jo wasn’t sure if she heard that right. Maybe she didn’t want to hear of it, of another person from their training corps decimated. But as soon as she had started to process it, a fight of a whole different calibre began right in front of them all with the Aberrant and the Armored.

For most of the fight, Jo stood aghast and equally memorised by the two titans fighting. Never had she heard of two titans fighting before, especially ones of a whole different nature like these ones. It almost seemed like a rebellion against nature, to have one seem so traitorous to its own kind. Jo realised she was standing in the event of history changing, a thought she wasn’t sure she was excited about or afraid of. Though most of the fight had its twists and turns, and it seemed as if the abnormal was defeated, it was the armored who fell first.

“Is that it? Is it finished?” For good? Forever? She couldn’t tell with all the steam and limbs and the destruction around them. Perhaps it was. Though, the abnormal fell too, its body apparently giving into exhaustion. She had believed this abnormal had died too, at first, and she was devastated to see such an interesting development just fade away as quickly as it was born, just like Sera muttered.

The nape of the abnormal’s neck burst open. Jo already went on the defensive, her hands moving to her blades, only, to watch something – no, someone – emerge. She heard the same name reverberate around her.

“Yeah,” Jo uttered. “Yeah that’s…Hal!” Jo stared at the unconscious figure who emerged from the Titan in silent awe. She lifted her goggles from her eyes, astounded. She tried to make sense of where he came from in the steam and aftermath of chaos, and remembered her aids were specifically tailored for that purpose. As more people made their shock and recognition known, Jo continued to watch Hal’s – no, the Titan’s? – body evaporate and decompose. Her gaze stayed on the man of the hour.

‘…their weakness; their nape. When you sever this connection, they ‘die’ because their brain is no longer integrated with their central nervous system.’

Luka’s theory ran rings in Jo’s head. Hal emerged from the back of the neck, the nape. Was it destroyed in the fighting? No, she hadn’t seen anyone cut into it, nor had the Armoured done damage to it as far as she was aware. Had he come out of the Titan when the body couldn’t take any more? Jo was starting to gather more questions than answers to what all of this really was, and she wasn’t sure if it scared or excited her.

Would he be their chance to end all this fighting?

The girl watched Laurie rush down to his friend to check if he was even still alive. In the distance, she saw volleys of green mist unfurl in the air, signalling a successful evacuation effort. Now all they had to do was get themselves out alive. She started assessing the parameters around them and shouted to the others around them, “Everyone, listen up! No more dilly-dallying. We have to get ourselves and Hal to safety before more titans show up!” She went to replenish her cannisters, seeing a few of the soldiers kept in reserve to deliver those supplies hanging around a nearby rooftop.

She wondered, had they gotten to others earlier, would it have prevented anyone being left behind? Jo glanced for those she could see – Luka, Gwen, Laurie, Elke, Elyse, a few from the 109th. Where were the others she had spent the last three years with? Lost in the pit of a Titan’s stomach? Dead like Anke?

Jo took a sharp breath in, steeling herself and forcing a stony expression. No, she couldn’t think of any who she couldn’t find, those she saw fall. She would not allow herself a moment of vulnerability.

Not when humanity had just been given their greatest lifeline.

 

[ShadyLady]

Interactions: SpookyBones (Milo)
Mentions: Colorless Spectrum (Laurie) Raiden (Hal) Castello (Leon) Arcanist (Jo)
​

Whether Milo was keeping up with her, Nina wasn’t keeping check. Sparing glances back at the other cadet to see if he was managing would only hinder her, she could only hope he wasn’t on the cusp of another breakdown and rely on her hearing and the tell tale hiss of gas and accompanying hooks following after her. Instead, her eyes lingered on rooftops and streets, void of life and littered with the carnage of the day. A grimace twisted Nina’s expression, her brows furrowing as a thorn of worry dug into her side.

Where is Leon?

He couldn’t be amidst the fallen, Nina refused to believe it. He’d probably just made it back to Headquarters and she was unsettled over nothing.

When she wasn’t watching for any signs of her friend, she was keeping track of the strange Titan who’d taken to pummelling the rest of its kind. That Aberrant had been ruthlessly picking away the threats in its path, the sheer force of it’s fists crushing the flesh and bones of any who stood in its way. It fought with clarity, a preciseness enveloping every attack, sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the other mindless monsters whose attempts to fight back were almost laughable when compared to this Titan. Everything that stood against it was dealt with, some more cruelly than others. Was it holding grudges? Choosing to rip the limbs from a Titan that’d managed to sink its teeth into the Abnormal rather than end it quickly like the others was answer enough for the redhead. Was it truly in control?

Milo’s voice interrupted her thoughts, cutting her free from her musings and back to reality. Nina paused, considering his words as her eyes strayed to rest on Milo rather than the peculiar Titan. “I don’t know,” She eventually gave her hollow answer, following his gaze as she spoke, a slight twist to her lips, “but it’s our best chance of making it back.” The path had been carved clean for them so graciously by this Abnormal, a once grim situation was finally starting to have the bare bones of hope, but they weren't in the comforting clasps of safety yet. “We need to keep moving.”

But it seemed she couldn’t even follow her own words. Nina wasn’t too far from Headquarters until she’d ceased the use of her ODM gear again, landing onto tile with less grace than she’d like. Lightning had shattered the sky and struck Trost once more, and Nina could only stare at what followed. She’d heard the tales spun by the other cadets, dramatic retellings and sob stories, pitied those who’d come across the villain within them and remained with only the memories of what it had taken from them. The Armoured Titan had certainly chosen an interesting time to make an appearance. Whatever optimism that’d been budding within Nina had been smashed out all too soon. Frigid anger seeped into her bones at the sight of it.

To the redheads surprise, the Aberrant seemed neutral to the Armoured’s entrance, only reacting when the latter chose to charge. It didn’t take long for the tides of battle to favour the Abnormal. The armour that many had called unbreakable was no match against whatever twisted force of nature it opposed. Nina’s jaw pulled taut watching the brawl, her teeth gritted until the fight subsided with the Abnormal’s brutal bludgeoning of its own crystalline head to destroy the face of the Armoured. From her vantage point, Nina couldn’t tell if the nape of the defeated remained intact, but her attention flickered back onto the victor who’d slumped over in exhaustion and soon to the man who was strung free from a prison of flesh.

Hal.

Her eyes narrowed upon the scene, looking down at Laurie who’d moved to help their new saviour without hesitation. Relief acquainted itself with her as she spied more members of her squad who had made it back, alongside others from different groups. The number of missing people left an acrid taste in her mouth, but there was little use dwelling on it would do.

Nina turned to the crouched cadet beside her, frowning at Milo’s quiet mumbling before nudging him gently. “C’mon Milo, you heard Jo.”

 

[Moonlessite]

MENTIONS: Arcanist [Jo], Raiden [Hal], SpookyBones [Milo]

​

Splash, splash, splash.

The sound of Vivian’s footsteps colliding with grayish red puddles rippled through the air. She ran down a street lined with pallid faces and trembling bodies—cadets stunned and shocked into a mix of confusion, anger, and fear—though she didn’t stop for any of them. There wasn’t any time to catch her breath or offer a helping hand to the young recruits that had once been so eager to make their mark on the world. Instead, she kept her eyes sharpened for the man of the hour.

Hal.

She knew that she had made a grievous mistake the moment she set foot in the garrison proper. But what was the first sign? Was it Elke’s blanched and tear-streaked face? The emptiness in Luka’s eyes? The near complete absence of her squadron? Or was it the sight of Hal emerging from that… thing? If only she had been quicker, smarter—then maybe none of this would have happened. Her squadron would have been fine if she had been able to stick with Luka and provide support. Instead, all that was left was Luka and Elke. Katsu was nowhere to be seen. Their handful of bright-eyed recruits, cut down to two.

Vivian felt something trickling down her forehead and quickly gather on her left eyebrow. A curse emitted from between grit teeth as she brought up her arm to wipe away the blood. The Titan had gotten her good; if it had followed up with that blow, she’d surely be dead. But the attack had left her winded, tired, sore, and not in good shape. The fall had produced a large gash just above her forehead and to the left; hidden from plain sight, the blood dyed some of her hair a rust-brown color and in turn stained the topside of her face crimson. Though the wound was finally clotting, it had produced much blood and left Vivian tired. Her right leg, hurt from the fall, blazed with pain every time she put weight on it. She couldn’t rest. She had to keep going. If she wasn’t with Hal, who knows what the Garrison would to do him? He wasn’t a monster—she had known him for a long time, and their time together disproved that. Yet, drunk with fear and cornered in Trost, they would do anything to secure their safety. If she wasn’t there, they would more than likely kill him.

The young woman wheezed slightly as she slowed to a halt. Her throat burned and she was eager for a sip of water. Her body begged for her to turn to someone and ask for a water pouch, but her mind raced instead. Where the hell did they take him? she thought, a desperate grimace coming over her face as she glanced up at the wall. The gray face of Wall Sina stared down at her, almost as if it was taunting her. Blood crept into the corner of her right eye and signaled for her to brush the sticky liquid away from her face once again. As her eyes skimmed the top of the wall, she caught sight of a cannon pointed the way she just came. Two Garrison soldiers stood near it and stared down at something behind the buildings next to her. Why would they be manning a cannon so close to them? And why…

A knot formed in her chest. Her hand immediately went for her control grip and sent a hook into the roof of the building to her left. Still out of breath and with her heart rising in her throat, she scaled the side of the roof with a type of desperation usually not seen in her. When she finally reached the top of the roof, she peered over to the other side. Several dozen Garrison soldiers formed a ring around a small group of recruits, practically cornering them against the wall and under the downward facing cannon. Nearly each of the Garrison soldiers held a rifle pointed towards the three cadets, and when Vivian looked more closely, she was able to tell who each of them were. Jo, the new recruit from the Northern Division, and Hal.

Vivian didn’t think before she propelled herself towards her friends. She could practically feel the rifle-bearing Garrison soldiers quiver with apprehension as she touched down beside Hal and Milo.

”What are you doing--?! You don’t have permission to be here!” roared a voice from behind the line of nervous Garrison soldiers. The officer's tall visage glowered at her from behind a bushy mustache. ”Who are you? State your name!”

”Vivian Schweiss from the 109th Training Corps, sir!” Vivi spoke back at him with all of the vigor she could muster, though her voice cracked at the end of her proclamation. She offered him a pained salute in respect. ”I’m only here to help protect my friends. I mean no harm, sir!”

The man in command of this specific group of Garrison soldiers simply scowled at her. Vivian remained unflinching at his silent smolder, her jaw clenching as she awaited his response. She prayed that she would not be removed from Hal’s side despite her fragile reason for being there. After what seemed like an eternity, the officer’s sharp blue gaze turned back to Hal and then Jo, who stood in front of their little group. In a way, Jo served as a shield; there was no way the Garrison would gun her down with her being in the top ten. She could only hope that these nervous soldiers had some tact. With the officer’s attention now back on Jo, Vivian bent down to be somewhat level with Hal.

”Are you okay?” she whispered to him as she placed a hand on his shoulder. It was the first question that left her lips, and it carried some of the same desperation she exhibited before. Concern washed over her face as she awaited any sort of explanation. She cast a glance up and into the barrel of the cannon before turning her gaze towards Milo. ”Why would they even want to kill him?” she said under her breath, her grip on Hal’s shoulder tightening slightly. He wasn’t a monster— was their only chance in getting out of this hell.

The currently nameless officer spoke up again, this time towards Jo. ”Tell me again, why should we spare this creature? It’s no less monstrous than the other Titans we’ve killed today! Keeping it alive is taking a large risk—who knows if it will only cause more death and destruction?”

Vivian remained quiet at the officer’s question, though she turned back to Jo to await her response. It was best if she let her speak here—at least for now.

MENTIONS: ​

​

Elke never felt so alone. Sitting against the wall of an occupied house with her knees brought close to her chest, the young girl bore an absent expression as she stared across the street without really looking at anything. She was so tired, so very, very tired. She was sure that if she moved it would take all of her energy. She couldn’t even feel the wounds on her legs anymore, which had clotted and now felt sticky against her trousers. Elke didn’t even care. All she felt was exhausted and empty.

The girl nestled her face into her legs and wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to block out any sound that could rattle her. But she still heard the sounds of other recruits, other people crying and whimpering and nervously murmuring.

Why, why, why.

Why was this happening? They were trapped and she was alone. There was no going back and there was no going forward. They were all standing there and waiting to die. She wondered if the others knew that. Did they even care? Were they on the verge of giving up like she was?

For a moment she wondered how things would have gone if she didn’t join the training regiment. She would have been in a much safer place than she was at the moment. Her sister would have been alive, not crushed beneath a Titan. Elke shouldn’t have convinced Anke to join the training regiment with her. She should have just stayed quiet and gone to a safe place with her. They wouldn’t have had to worry about anything if she had just kept her mouth shut and behaved herself.

Elke, Anke’s dead, and she’s dead because of you.

The tears came rushing back. A long, drawn out whimper escaped her torn throat as she buried her face against her legs and shuddered. There was no escaping their predicament, and there was no escaping the blatant truth. She had blood on her hands and there was no washing it off.

”I’m sorry,” Elke cried weakly, her body quickly overcome with dry, shuddering sobs. ”I’m sorry!”

 

[The Prophet]

Spoiler: Appearance

​

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Siegfried rhythmically tapped his heel quietly on the stonework underfoot, focusing his attention to a notebook in his lap. Sitting on a large wooden crate against the wall of a house outside, Siegfried listened to the people around him idly as he wrote inside his notebook intently. Diagrams, theories, and illustrations of key events filled the page, accompanying a detailed count of events as he saw it. Properly putting this day to paper as soon as possible should prove invaluable to future research and study, and it was far more productive than what many of his fellow cadets were doing. After they were given the order to retreat, they were afforded some free time, and not being one to idle Siegfried kept himself busy. Crossing his legs via placing on his ankle on his knee, Siegfried continued to write diligently.

"If only it were possible to get in on that man's interrogation. It feels incomplete to end the recount here. Perhaps I could detail the psyche of various soldiers?" As he asked himself said question, another cadet came into view, the brunette clearly struggling to cope like many of his peers. The sight made him look at others very briefly, regarding them with a look of hesitation. Is this what the military was? Why did people preach duty and service if all they received in return was pain and suffering? It confused Siegfried, looking for something that would provide an insight. Why do they fight? Why are they so willing to die? Siegfried's look of hesitation became a brief look of discontent, before fading into the usual impassive expression as his eyes fell upon his notebook once more.

Subconsciously he used his free hand to rummage through the medical pack secured to his side, taking inventory with his right as he wrote with his left. During his time in the north, his backround and skillset made it effective for him to double as a sort of field medic in addition to normal training, and that would persist down south as well unless otherwise ordered. He kept his supplies light; he didn't want to be slowed down. Messing around with his supplies provided a sense of higher calm; Medical practices were practically his entire life before the military, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss the simpler days. Flipping the page in his notebook, Siegfried was brought back to reality as he stared back at the striking sketch of the armored titan. That's right, such thoughts became useless three years ago.

Instead, he continued to count what supplies he was missing and write about the day. The only supplies he had used so far since arriving in the south was on Alyssa; once the adrenaline wore off, the woman had a gash on her forearm that needed tending to. It was a simple enough fix, but apparently they appreciated it. He obviously knew there were other injured, but frankly he had not the time nor supplies to get all of them. The most he could do was maybe a squad or two that wasn't being seen to by the medical team already, and he hardly knew anyone here. To be exact, he knew three, one of which he had yet to see since arriving.

"12...8..2..14...22..3...4. I shouldn't need a requisition any time soon. Now, what could the armoured titan's plates be made of?"

 

[AI10100]

Mentions: ​

Sean idly wondered what was happening with that titan boy, Halvor. They had collectively returned behind the walls together but after a rush of being ordered elsewhere, he found himself with the remaining survivors of those that were involved in Trost. He belatedly realized that the titan boy and a few people were not there, along with Milo. Well, reunions could wait, Sean thought to himself, they had all the time in the world.

He felt a tap on his arm and Allyssa gave him a strained smile. The safety seemed to have gotten her adrenaline down— they had done their duty, now there was nothing to do but waste away until the higher-ups could figure out what to do with the hole in their wall and the titan in a human's body (or was it a human in a titan's body?). Now, she had time to grieve. Sean wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "Do you want me to...?"

"It's okay."

"Well, I'll be around if you need me. Somewhere." Sean said, a little sheepish. Her smile turned a bit more genuine.

With that, he released her and watched her walk off. He hoped she would be fine. Maybe she had some friends who survived. That would be nice. Everything was a little better with friends around. He looked around, wondering where Siegfried had prowled off to. When they had arrived, the two of them separated and Sean honestly didn't know where the doctor went. He found himself missing the Northern Division even though it had only been a few hours since he had left. There, he knew practically everyone. Here, he knew two, maybe three people. He should really change that but...

He spotted a couple of people huddled together, whispering to each other before someone started to cry. Now was definitely not the time.

Sean headed over to the small supply area where he grabbed one of the flasks of water, giving the person in charge of it a small nod. He moved back and headed to a porch of one of the houses and took a seat. Sean leaned his head against the support beam of the porch. Man, it was really a wild few hours huh? He thought of how the other Northern folks would react if they were in his position. Would they freak out? Would they be dead? Well, they'd probably be questioning how titan boy was a titan but Sean really thought it was simple. Some guy can turn into a titan, new discovery, really helpful for all of them... probably.

He took a sip of the water, realizing that he had been parched all this time. His mind moved completely away from the new discovery in favor of drinking the water. Man, he hoped everyone was keeping themselves hydrated. This was some good fucking water. If this really is what was making these Southern folks turn into titans or something, he would gladly down everything despite all of that bullshit. That's how good it was.

 

[. D O V E]

Gwen Bulwark​

Questions ran rampant in Gwen's mind as she lay on a bench, eyes focusing on the clearing skies. A sardonic smile found its way on her lips; the humor of fate was truly astounding. The sun was nowhere to be seen when they were fighting for their lives, yet, here it was now- casting its bright light upon things that were better off not seen. The redhead turned to her side, her emerald gaze roaming around the area she found herself in. It was a humble camp that has been set up for the surviving soldiers to respire in.

Different kinds of people loitered in the area. There were the traumatized soldiers who had been plaguing the place with cries and sobs, the busy doctors tending to the wounded, and some authorities handling the provisions. A heavy and somber atmosphere encompassed the area, and Gwen couldn't find it in herself to stomach it. Dullness was never her thing, after all.

With a wince, the female pushed herself off the bench and back onto two feet. Parts of her body were still aching but at least the major wounds had already been tended to. She gave her bandaged right arm a pat. The titan she had encountered sure knew how to leave a mark on a lady. Probably way better than most bachelors in the city. With a nod of agreement to herself, Gwen beelined to the direction of provisions.

It took her a few minutes to get her dry bread and water. "Aw, you guys have no alcohol?" She didn't even bother to mask the look of disappointment on her face. As she turned around, she heard one of the servers mutter something about her being crazy. With a shrug, Gwen walked away with slight skips. Crazy, not crazy, alive, not alive- nobody truly cared. Why should she care, too?

She probably only has less than an hour before she had to get back to her duty, and she'd like to cherish every minute of it. A few moments later and she caught sight of a familiar face that brought a grin to her face.

After immediately finishing her bread, the woman crept up to the back of a blonde man who seemed to be deeply engrossed in his water. "BOO!" She exclaimed, bringing her free hand on his shoulder as an attempt to add to the shock factor. The girl would then burst into a free laugh despite whatever Sean's reaction would be. "I-I do apologize, wall bro..., but I certainly hope you still remember me. You do have a knack for forgetting things, after all." She flashed him a loopy grin before raising her hand for a high-five.

AI10100

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Laurence Arnault

Noah was crying in front of him. He didn't know what to do other than to stare. He had never felt as detached as he did now. "I'm sorry, Noah." He said blankly, as much as he didn't want to seem that way. Even so, he wanted to comfort those that needed comforting.

"It's just I can't believe she's gone." He said weakly, having been close with Lena other than Laurie in their class. "I'll be okay, I just... Need to process this for a bit." Tears had never stopped flowing from his eyes even as he looked at his older comrade.

Laurie gave a nod, knowing that his friend wanted to be alone for the moment. He wandered aimlessly and found himself by the supply are and grabbing a flask of water, passing by an unfamiliar blonde cadet. He wondered if he was also like Milo but before he could ask Elke had started crying.

He rushed over to her, kneeling down and caressed her back lightly. "Hey, hey." He whispered with every ounce of comfort that he could give. He knew what it was like to lose a family, but the one Elke lost wasn't just her family but her twin. Her apologies reminded him of the same apologies he screamed the day his mother had died. He would be lying if he said that her words didn't pull his heart.

"Elke, it's not your fault." He said to her, lament painted on his face. He didn't speak further and just stayed by her side for a few minutes, knowing that there was little he could say and perhaps it was best to have her let it all out. Much like with Noah earlier, he didn't know how to act or rather he's not sure if what he is doing is the right one at the moment.

Laurie stared at the flask in his hand, before squeezing Elke's shoulder, "Elke, you should drink this." Offering the flask that he had taken from earlier.

mention: AI10100 (blonde cadet) Arcanist (Lena) || interaction: M Moonlessite

 

[Arcanist]

Jo Schreiber
Mentions: Raiden (Hal), SpookyBones (Milo), M Moonlessite (Vivi) | Interactions: M Moonlessite (Garrison Officer)

(commission by @kalatl!)​

Joanna Schreiber always remembered the mantra her father taught her as a child.

‘Keep your nose out of things, your head down, and don’t ask questions. If you don’t know about it, chances are you don’t need to know about it.’

She discarded that flimsy mantra when their money was pissed away and she was forced to make everything her business. She believed curiosity and the desire to question everything was a gift to be fostered and nurtured, even if you didn’t always have the means to do so. Jo found it difficult to sustain that belief under the poised gaze of a cannon and a line of rifles. She stood ODM gearless and with no way to defend herself, believing she would appear less hostile, but even still, the Garrison’s officer and his soldiers stood with a heightened agitation.

Letting the Garrison take Hal, fearful and frantic as they were, was something she couldn’t allow. She didn’t trust one of them to not shoot their shot. They’d damn humanity without ever knowing what he was.

Jo turned her head at the familiar sound of burning wires and hissing, expecting to find a Garrison soldier doing just what she’d thought they would do. She let a brief sigh escape her, relieved that it had only just been Vivian who joined them. She expected the officer to turn Vivian away, though, she was allowed to stay. She felt a little bit of comfort knowing someone else was behind them.

Though, that comfort quickly gave way to tension as the officer turned his attention back to Jo. She steeled herself, taking in the officer’s words. This was their chance. They all needed this to go well.

“You’re right. We don’t know that. We know next to nothing about what Hal really is, what he’s capable of.” Jo started, knowing others would find it strange that she would start with an agreement. However... “But how much longer can humanity sit behind these walls without taking risks? Isn’t that what this fight is all about? I believe Hal is humanity’s greatest chance at survival.” She understood the fear that lingered on each soldier’s face, the hesitance in their eyes that a titan could even be remotely helpful to their cause.

If only they could see what she saw. A chance for them to rise above the devastation and heartache they had endured for so long.

“He isn’t like the other titans we’ve faced,” Jo continued, moving her gaze to the other soldiers. “He fought other titans, even defended countless soldiers from them. The titans even pursued him. There are dozens of eyewitnesses who can’t deny those facts.” She clenched her fist, speaking her own musings now. “There are so many things we don’t know about the titans...so, surely, having one cooperate with us meanings we can gain more knowledge about them, right?”

She didn’t expect the Garrison to understand, not immediately. She found she was an outlier in her thoughts for a long time, ever since she was a child. But if she could change a few minds, at least plead her case for Hal...for his sake. For knowledge’s sake. For humanity’s sake.

 

[Danidify]

ELYSE HILDEBRAND​

Peace and quiet had never felt so heavy.

In her team of composed and avid fighters, Elyse had felt like an outsider, as if something was deeply wrong with her and only her. Yet in the eyes of the sorrowful crowd before her, the noble learned a new truth both reassuring and hopeless- she wasn’t the outlier, they were.

Sluggish limps, aided by a simple walking cane, carried forth the spiritless girl as she moved around in a daze. Hopelessness oozed from every micro movement her bruised and injured body made. Though on the move, her mind wasn’t really there. Images of near-death experiences and mistakes flashed by intrusively in a seemingly never ending loop, eating away at her from the inside out. Fear was vicious, but the draining aftermath that followed was the true killer.

Uncertainty and confusion was the worst of it all. She had made peace with their imminent demise the moment those two massive titans started nearing Noah and her. It was simply impossible to survive, yet somehow, somehow they were still in one piece. And all because one of those very titans… saved them. At this point, was it all just a sick joke?

Between the haze of forceful reminders of the tragedies that passed, a worry within boiled up. She had seen some fleeting faces, but the whereabouts of most of her fellow soldiers were uncertain: Milo and Nina evaded her scope during the retreat, Laurie was already gone before that, and she had been split from Noah upon touchdown. Arguably most of her worry went to Leon, who had hastily disappeared into the rain after his act of self-sacrifice. Besides, what about the other squads, what about the number 1? Slowly, her understanding of the situation began to widen beyond just her own neurotic misery. Her pace suddenly sped up.

Anxiously, Elyse trailed past the visages of every wandering soldier, hoping eagerly to recognize someone. She would occasionally jump at seeing familiar features, only to be disappointed once the finer details came about. Eventually she reached closer to the supply area, but her stomach churned at the mere thought of eating or drinking. She couldn’t, not until she found someone.

Then, jackpot.

Pivoting on her stable foot, the brunette came to an abrupt standstill upon landing on a promising sight: Elke and Laurie. Her brown eyes glistened briefly, but the spark was swiftly flushed out when she realized the tears running over the blonde’s cheeks. Twin number two was nowhere to be seen. Surely, she didn’t..

Elyse discarded the walking aid against a nearby wall before kneeling down on the other side of Elke, a hand reaching for the young girl’s head to gently pat back and forth. Meanwhile, she tried to make eye contact with Laurie, hoping to nonverbally confirm the worst-case-scenario instead of having to spell it out. She tried to think of anything to say to somehow help the poor girl, but her head felt disarmed of any capacity to relieve herself, let alone someone else. As she stared at the girl, her periphery laid eyes on the stains of blood that lined her legs.

“She’s injured.” She mentioned blankly, her tone soft and armed with a vague absence upon stating the obvious. Elyse reached for the wooden cane as she began her ascent.

“I’ll go look for some supplies to care for her. I'll be back soon, okay?” It was an earnest gesture, though subsequently an instrumental means of getting away before she herself began to break down.

During her exploration of the morbid surroundings, Elyse found plenty of people that were tending to other’s wounds, the vast majority of which were overwhelmed and unresponsive to her requests for aid. She had been able to lay hands on a few ragtag bandages, some more water, and a bit of bread, but much more than that was out of order. It wasn’t much, but it was something, at least.

Elyse's mind had gone back into the dangerous headspace of repeated failure as she walked back. Seeing Elke like this elevated her worries for the others intensely, and she didn’t know how to cope. Her gaze was resultedly glued to the ground as she pulled a straight line back to Elke and Laurie, but it came to an abrupt end when her cane hit a blockade.

Coming to a stop in a slight stumble and gasp, Elyse snapped back into reality while she regained her footing. Her head raised impatiently to see what or who she had hit, but she immediately regretted doing so. Eyes widened intensely as a slight smile pushed through her stunted expression.

“Ramiel.” The name slipped off her tongue before she’d even cognitively comprehended it, revealing subconscious tones of relief and happiness that bit through the upper layers of monotony. She reached for a hug, but then the night before came crashing back.

The smile on her face was wiped off twice as fast as it had forcibly materialized. Memories of yesterday were admittedly hazy and incomplete, but the fight between Ramiel and her had made enough of an impact to bite through the alcohol-induced amnesia. Quite frankly, the Noble felt guilty, though at this point it was probably unnecessary to preface that. Guilt and shame seemed neverending these past couple days.

“I’m, uhm- glad to see you’re okay.” The words motioned anxiously and felt forced- not exactly the tone you’d expect someone to use when facing someone they’d known for years on end. Her eyes painfully blinked back and forth between Ramiel and the ground, incapable of properly facing him. There was a lot she wanted to say, but it would have to wait.

“Where were you?”

INTERACTIONS: M Moonlessite (Elke) Colorless Spectrum (Laurie) lion. (Ramiel)
BRIEF MENTIONS: Castello (Leon), Colorless Spectrum (Noah), SpookyBones (Milo), ShadyLady (Nina). Raiden (Vaguely mentioned Attack Titan). ​

 

[SpookyBones]

Interactions: M Moonlessite (Vivian)
Mentions: Arcanist (Jo), Raiden (Hal), ShadyLady (Nina)​

Milo was deaf to the world around him, all he could hear was his heart thumping inside his chest, desperate to escape like a rabbit caught in a deadly trap. Milo moved without a conscious thought as to what he was doing, his footsteps following suit to lead him to stand by Hal’s side though Milo couldn’t even fathom why.

A dull ringing hung in his ears as events unfurled before him. By the time Milo had come to his senses, 4 recruits including himself had been backed into a corner like deer caught in headlights, frantic to save themselves as countless Garrison officers aimed an array of cannons and rifles, clearly ready to shoot if they set one foot out of place. Milo stood to one side of Hal who still seemed extremely out of it after the chaos that ensued back there. Brief memories of the injuries and trauma he'd endured flashed before his eyes, he doubted that he'd ever fully stop shaking after today; he could still feel Nina's gentle touch on his hands to steady his nerves - if only she were here now. Milo was itching to know what exactly had happened and how on earth Hal got into that position. Had it been innate within him all this time? What were his intentions? The look on the boy’s face told Milo that he couldn’t have had full control over his actions. Most importantly Milo knew that he would not receive any answers if they were blown to smithereens before he could even search for the cause.

It crossed his mind to wonder why Jo and the tall pale haired girl, Vivian - as she announced, had also come to defend Hal. Having only been in the Southern Division for a mere week, Milo wasn’t certain of the specific bonds they all shared with one another, though the way Vivian had swooped down in a heartbeat told him all he needed to know- that she was willing to sacrifice herself for the boy. To Milo that seemed like enough reason to fend for Hal, if not only for his selfish gain, perhaps humanity, or to spare others any more grief.

Fear lavished his body and his legs began to lightly tremble as the full situation came to fruition in his mind. The whole display held semblance to public execution. Vivian’s frantic voice snapped him from his stupor before he could begin to spiral in the perilous possibilities. “Vivian, did you miss everything that happened? Where were you? Hal, well actually I’m not sure how to explain-” he paused to gather his thoughts, “all that matters right now is saving his life, we can talk about the rest later.”

Milo was mildly disgusted at the Garrison, numerous lives had been lost battling the Titans in an attempt to save Trost and here they were so willing to kill 4 recruits that had all placed in the top 10 of their divisions, the bastards weren’t even brave enough to go anywhere near the Titans. Milo realised that soon enough the officers would expect an answer out of him and his thoughts were still scattered. He replayed everything he'd witnessed in his mind. If Hal was on their side then fighting would be a lot easier, deliberately or not he’d allowed several soldiers to retreat to HQ safely, not to mention slaughtering Titans on his own.

As Jo made her speech, Milo became more steady in his own resolve, sharing most of her ideas gave him comfort that he was not alone and he could solidify her argument. The Garrison seemed taken aback by her remarks, Milo thought it best to use the brief moment of silence as a chance to speak his mind before they could double back and kill them all for defending the ‘monster’.

Milo’s voice broke slightly as he cleared his throat and started to speak, drawing the officers' attention toward him, “Halvor is a weapon that you could utilise for your own gain if nothing else and you’d gun him down in a heartbeat?” Maybe a little too bold to slander them off the bat, but the more he spoke the more pent up anger and frustration seeped like treacle into his tone, “His intentions aren’t clear, but what good would it do to kill him immediately? We can study him, experiment on him.” Milo glanced at Vivian hesitantly, “Sure, if he proves that we can’t trust them then by all means, kill him. But that boy saved countless lives out there today, far more than any of you ever have. Give him a chance. Prove that you’re not the cowards that everyone thinks you are.”

 

[AI10100]

Mentions: . D O V E [Gwen]​

If they weren't low on supplies, Sean would have turned back to get another flash. But, even in his water praising haze, Sean did have some common sense. He wasn't about to deprive someone of water because he wanted two. He saw a couple of people crying and the likes which meant that they'd need more hydration than him. It was a shame but he had to accept that fact. So he slowed down when he reached half of the flask and had a serene, pleased smile on his face as he let out a sigh. If he ever saw Siegfried, he'd tell him to get some water too. He took a deep breath and—

"BOO!"

"By the fucking Walls-!" Sean nearly jumped out of his seat, abruptly taken out of his pleased haze, and slammed back into reality. He accidentally threw his flask of water up and he quickly scrambled to grab it from the air and grimaced as he managed to catch it but most of the contents had gone to either the wood of the porch or droplets all over his pants and shirt. "Aw. I really liked that water." He pouted, finally lifting his gaze to the surpriser.

If he was being honest, the cackling already exposed her before she even spoke. His pout completely shifted into a large grin as his old friend from the Church teased him about his memory. "Man, I would never forget my favorite wall sis!" He reached up and gave her a high-five— a special one that she taught him that was just for greeting her. Sean once had the idea to use it with her father as well but somehow, his common sense actually came through and told him that it was a horrible idea. Once he had finished the sequence, he set his flask down and circled his arms around her in a big hug, and stood up, lifting her with him. He gave her a squeeze and put her down onto the ground, dropping his arms from her.

"I can't believe you're here! In the military." He said, words spilling out of his mouth faster than he could really think. "Like come on, your dad is the bishop and they always say—" Sean cleared his throat, posing in a way that was reminiscent of the Bulwark patriarch when he was preaching. In a vain attempt to mimic the bishop's voice, he continued. "The Walls are sacred and we must never step foot on them. Those in the military are performing great sacrilege by stomping all over the holy Walls." He gesticulated like that of a pastor preaching before rubbing the back of his head. "Or something like that." Sean rarely paid attention to the mass anyway. His grandmother made him go with her for most masses but it was just so boring that he nodded off a few times... most of the time. All talking, no doing and that's just a recipe for disaster on Sean's part. "Should have told me you joined up... or planned on joininh up. I'd have dragged Siggy with me down here in the South a lot sooner!"

He paused, a serious look overtaking his face for a moment as if remembering where they currently were, and what they had all just gone through. "You're okay, right? No debilitating injuries?" His gaze dropped down to her arm. "Yikes, you sure you're still gonna be an eligible bachelorette with that mark?" He asked this as if he hadn't asked her the exact same question years ago several times whenever Gwen appeared with another scar from who knows where.

 

[homintales]

Sera Mayer
Mentions: Arcanist M Moonlessite Raiden Demon Shinobi ​

For two vital reasons, Sera was stuck in a confused state. The most obvious reason, and the thing that was currently occupying everyone else’s mind, was the fact that Hal was, as impossible as it sounded, a titan. In fact, Hal was the same titan that was able to eliminate the Armoured Titan along with so many others. Sera was quick to accept the fact she would never completely understand what made Hal a titan, not that she even cared to.

Which adds on to the second reason, actually a question. Why was the Garrison wanting to take Hal away, and why were they acting so scared? It was Hal who just saved possibly everyone living inside Trost, including Sera’s own family. According to what Sera observed, Hal didn’t kill any real people throughout his long and spectacular massacre.

For now, she could at least think a few things over from a safe area. A few others were also nearby. A couple were trying to get as much rest as they possibly could, which wasn’t exactly much, while others clearly were still trying to forget everything that just occurred.

Jo, Vivian, and a few others were the only ones Sera couldn’t manage to find. Even so, Sera was certain they were all still alive, as she saw them when Hal left his titan. Anyone she didn’t stumble across while traveling inside the safe zone or spotted once the fighting finally came to a stop, Sera assumed was eaten.

How many were lost in just that single attack? How many more will we need to lose till this is finished? Sera slowly took a seat under what little shade she could find. There were no truly quiet areas. But this spot would at least give Sera a chance to remain alone.

So many things were wrong with Sera, at least that was the way she viewed it. Her mind was still running around all over the place, pulsing with concerning thoughts. She was thirsty, pissed that she spilled the canteen she was given. She felt as though she hadn’t caught some sleep in ages, which was something August and several others warned Sera to not allow time and time again.

But above all else, Sera just wanted to check in on the family she never gave the attention she should’ve. Mom, Sophia, Sigrun… Jory. The titans that invaded came in close to where Sera’s people lived. And with the tests she personally conducted, Sera understood it wasn’t an easy place to evacuate. Her fists tightened as she started to sniffle, small tears eventually appearing under Sera’s eyes. “D-Dammit!”

Making sure no one was watching, Sera took a stand and wiped away the few tears. She needed to stay calm and collected. Sera’s goal, only now possible, wasn’t even close. And should she give into weakness so soon, she would never reach it.

 

[Raiden]

Inner Wall Rose — Battle of Trost District, 850
Interactions: N/A
Mentions: ShadyLady (Nina), M Moonlessite (Elke), Arcanist (Jo), Colorless Spectrum (Laurie)
​

The ghosts of the 26th Squad followed its leader as the silence of the company tormented Luka all across the inner wall. From controller grip to canteen, tremors perpetuated across his hands in a shakiness after the adrenaline rush of confrontation. Lukewarm water dribbled from his lips as it failed to flush away the dryness in his mouth, prompting the boy to douse his entire face with the flask's contents. Without a word, his weary wanderers carried the wayward warrior away from the line of arriving survivors, finding a suitable structure to lean a weakened wrist against. The ringing in his ears did not betray his intuition of the faces all around; all of the thousand-yard stares, the crying, the contemplation. It all clashed against the surge of thoughts that circled his mind.

'It should've been me,' the deprecating demon assaulted him. 'Why am I still alive?'
​

Why was it that he survived and the rest of them died? The reality sickened him so much that his stomach emptied onto the ground before his feet, wheezing pathetically as he wiped the bile from his lips. Splotches of dried crimson stained the cuff of Luka's uniform, thrusting him back into the hell from moments ago. 'It was me,' the soldier lamented over the flash of blood and steel, his fist curling as tightly as Lena's hand had held on to his own for dear life. 'Anke, Viktor, Lena, Katsu– I killed them.' The weight of guilt dangled over his soul, entrapping him like a moth attracted to light. Their names, their faces, their dreams– all etched into memory, all reduced to flesh and bone in the cycle of consumption.

In a world of titanic fear, Luka felt small and powerless, more than the boy from three years ago. Looking around and searching for redemption, his eyes watered; yet, the boy couldn't cry, for even he was too weak to shed a tear for the lost. In a fit of panic, his bloodshot eyes glanced over his shoulder to find any semblance of makeshift relief. Glimmers of faith weakly resounded in his chest as the handful of his close one's faces briefly calmed him. "Thank the walls," he mumbled meekly, watching as Laurie approached a defeated Elke in an attempt to console her. A tear rolled across his cheek when the boy spotted Nina from beyond the flock, though his head would hang back down, whether or not she saw him. As relieved as he could have been, the shame that lingered prevented Luka from standing to meet her.

---

Inner Wall Rose — Battle of Trost District, 850
Interactions: M Moonlessite (Vivian & Garrison mofos), Arcanist (Jo), SpookyBones (Milo)
Mentions: Castello (Leon)

It was always the same dream.​

The rays of a bright morning sun stretched across a blanket of delicate clouds that overlooked the verdant terrain. The gentle western wind caressed him like a mother clutching an infant to her breast, blowing past the sea of bright flowers that adorned the landscape. The boy took in the smell of a vanilla spring from the shade of a healthy sycamore tree, spiriting away his inhibitions for even just a moment in time. The azure in his eyes shimmered with freedom; from here, the wall and all of its troubles seemed so small. It was like his own personal sanctuary from the world, and someday, he wanted to show it to the rest of his friends.

An astonished expression painted across the boy's face as he heard the voice of another person from the opposite side of the sycamore tree. Seeing who it was, he wore a smile and wheeled around the bark to come eye to eye with her. Yet, his disingenuous smile failed to ease her nerves, betraying the look from beneath her blonde hair. "Promise me," her voice carried with the breeze as she held out her pinky in the childish gesture, and he stepped forward to affirm his vow.

But something overtook him. In that moment, as the boy approached the girl, he was no longer in control of the body that he resided within. Cracks formed in the seams of the cerulean skyline as nightfall transformed melancholy into nightmare. His hand dug into a bandolier that was now strapped around his chest, brandishing a sharp knife from one of its many pockets. Every fiber of his being cried out in resistance as he attempted to stop himself from approaching the girl in a useless effort. "Promise me." Within striking distance, the boy lunged and drove the knife into her heart.

The heart of his enemy.

Darkness swelled around the figure of the boy as moonlight peered through intricate stained glass, maintaining the dim light within a small bedroom. A taller shadow, one of a man, loomed over him as he twisted the dagger in their chest. The sins crawled against his back as he withdrew the dagger from the body, only to impale them again and again, over and over. He climbed on top of the man even as they slumped to the ground in breathless absolution, ensuring that the objective was complete. "Promise me," her voice echoed in his ears as the door behind him creaked open, and he turned towards it. "I'll..."

*****

"I'll kill them all..."
​

Hal snapped into reality from his moment of stupor upon receiving a heavy blow to the back of his head. The soldier's mind felt heavily disoriented as the blurriness in his vision slowly dissolved to reveal the scenario that he was being faced with. His brow curled down in an alarmed appearance as several rows of rifle-toting soldiers from the Garrison pointed their weapons straight towards him. Where the hell am I? What happened? Seeing that Vivian, Specs, and the boy from graduation night surrounded him in some sort of protective formation, he couldn't understand the context behind what was coming from the transfer soldier's mouth. Study, experiment on me? Give me a chance? Exactly what the hell are they on about?

"Did you hear what it said, Captain?!" one of the Garrison soldiers, a young man with ruby-coloured hair, frantically exclaimed towards the officer who seemed to be in charge. "It's going to kill us all if we don't kill it right now!!"

The predicament only seemed to add more and more layers to the confusion as Hal's palm rubbed against the side of his head, feeling a headache pierce through the back of his right eye. Where's Leon? He could barely remember anything outside of that strange dream, where he was somehow fighting the Armoured Titan as one of its kind to prevent it from breaching Wall Maria. All he could remember was the pain in his legs and being defeated by the Armoured Titan. Yet, looking down to where his leg had snapped to the point where his bone fragmented skin, his limbs were completely intact below the patch of dried blood. "Sir, I don't understand-"

The captain of the Garrison remained quiet as the children in front of him attempted to prove their points. His expression, on the other hand, was difficult to read other than the fact his jaw clenched and unclenched every few moments. When the boy in question spoke out, a wave of shock and fear rippled through his men. Eyes widened and brows furrowed angrily, the captain finally spoke. "We might not know everything there is to Titans, but that makes him all the more dangerous! Did you not hear what he just said? He is too dangerous to keep alive, even to experiment on!" The tone of his voice wavered as he continued to speak. "Why should we take children's words for granted?! For all we know, you three might be Titans in disguise as well!"

"Titans in disguise? Me...?" Hal looked incredibly puzzled by the captain's declaration, thinking back to the struggle against the Armoured Titan in his dream. Was... that not a dream? "Oi, Specs, Vivi, what is he talking about?" he looked between the pair of Vivian and Jo, realizing that the question would have to wait as many of the soldiers confirmed their crosshairs.

"What are you going to do about the breach in Wall Rose?" the soldier rose from his kneeling position and brushed past Jo, staring directly towards the hairless captain as Hal stood at attention. They were all going to die if he didn't stand up and speak, but it all rode on a gamble once the Garrison was dominated by fear. "I fought and defeated the Armoured Titan," he wasn't sure about the validity of his statement because of the fragmented memories, hoping that it was the truth. "I killed many of those monsters, and for the sake of all humanity within the walls, I'll do it again until all of them are vanquished!!"

Hal could see the fingertip of the redheaded soldier curl around the trigger, but he showed no sign of backing down. "I'll use my Titan to stop them and plug the breach in Wall Rose!" he made an uncertain declaration, hoping to affirm his resolve in their eyes. "So entrust your hopes and dreams to me!"