Fandom Attack on Titan: Chapter II

[Flame Demon]

Victoria is saddling her horse and she pets Bookworm "Yeah buddy" she whispers, she obviously preferred to be around horses if given the choice, but she always took a liking to animals, sadly her aunt doesn't want to give her a pet since she joined the Recon Corps, but hopefully she'd be able to convince them soon, a horse can't exactly sleep in your room. Not that she slept tonight, since she couldn't, despite the fact she distanced herself from everyone, since Lucas is gone, she still has nightmares every time someone died "I'll be fine, we need to get you home when we come home too, Lucas wouldn't want you with someone else" she whispers and she pets the horse one last time before going back to taking care of her own horse.

 

[Two Fives]

Niklas props on Silver Steed's saddle, a hunk of hardleather hide worn by wear and weather. He mounts his horse, steel-soled shoes slotted into both steel stirrups, and draws his reins in a particular way to start his ride. His horse obeys. Sometimes his horse sputters and spits, to which Niklas responds with, "Easy, easy boy," and all is well again. As well as it can be, at least. Some minutes pass and Niklas and Silver Steed catch up with the others.

"Yo. Numbers check. Who's here?" asks Niklas, several words spoken to end the insufferable silence. He says name after name for confirmation as they, along with many and more groups, pass through the camp, exiting, riding the fields on their way to the forests.

Flame Demon Ella Victoria Allo Coco Adel Loki The Trickster Ethereal_Dreams Appawlezz Maki

 

[Allo]

Astrid draped her cloak over her shoulders, buttoning it at the top. "Time to get to work..." She mumbled to herself, hooking her foot in the stirrup and mounting Chise. She patted the neck of Chise, awaiting for her name to be called. After a few moments, she heard Astrid Haraug. Her head perked up and raised her hand. "Here." She called out, but instead of riding onto the fields to the forests, Chise strode next to Silver Steed. They were part of the same squad, so it felt natural for her to be by Niklas. Her nose scrunched at the bright light of the sun, grabbing her hood and dragging it across her pink hair and shielding her eyes from the vicious sun.

"Damn sun..." She groaned, hiding in her makeshift shade of the hood.

 

[Maki]

Mizuki sat beneath the shade of a towering tree thinking back on the events of yesterday. The titan ambush took a heavy toll on her small unit, transforming it from a 6 man squad to a mere 3 man. The more she thought about it the stranger it seemed. She had trained with the poor folk who were unlucky enough to be eaten, even became friends with them. But now they're just gone, erased from the world. It was disheartening but they had it coming for trying to be heroes. Her head raised as the scouts around her began to get into formation, breaking her free from any sad thoughts still lingering. This was the world she signed up for.

Mizuki and the remnants of her squad had already spoken with the commander, who decided to divvy them up amongst other groups. There was no point in keeping them together when other fuller squads could use the help. She really didn't mind, and even if she did she really wouldn't have a say against it. Mizuki's new squad suffered a loss of its own and it seemed like she would be the replacement.

The girl took a moment to get geared up, checked to make sure her ODM was working properly, and loosely tied her hair back behind her head. She then mounted her horse, Blockhead, and trotted over to where her new group was situated. Her eyes darted around the group, surveying them before her arrival. Mizuki's gaze hopped from one person to another before finally falling upon a younger-looking blonde boy, deciding that he was the closest thing to their leader. She gave the reins on her horse a sharp tug stopping only a few feet away from Niklas, raising a hand into the air. "Yo." She began, a tiny smile forming on her lips. "I'm Mizuki Kohaku and I'm joining this group, Commander's orders."

 

[Ella Victoria]

Isa quietly got her horse ready. The silent monotony of the camp was starting to get to her --- although, she preferred this to talking. Talking led to questions. The more questions the more lies.
"Olive, c'm'ere. Your the only sane one left, mkay? You gotta keep me sane," her accent dropped to her more comfortable one and much more street like --- although, the crook she was knew plenty more. She turned round at the arrival of a black haired lady. Isa rolled her eyes as the girl forced herself on their group. `You could at least humble yourself' she thought, trying to disguise her irritation with curiosity. Isa hoped she hadn't come off so demanding when she joined the group. She glanced at the girl who claimed herself Mizuki. The girl was honest. That was something. There was no hint of mystery. She said as she was. More than likely she wouldn't lie about what happened to her group. Isa tugged Olive over to her. At least this girl wasn't a shell of a human. At least there was a spark that hadn't been put out.
"Hey, my names Isa, I actually just joined the group last night and just a heads up," Isa said whilst privately wondering how stupid you could be to not notice the obvious greiving of the group --- that or Mizuki didn't care, "The group lost someone recently."
It wasn't a question or suggestion. It was a fact. What Mizuki chose to do with it would reflect her character. If she acted like nothing was wrong then Isa would find joy in wiping the smile off her face. Isa didn't care if she was a hypocrite. She would do as she did.

Maki​

 

[Flame Demon]

Victoria mounts her horse and heads towards the group, for some reason Bookworm refuses to be left alone and follows her, how much she'd rather be at home right now, but she'd have plenty of time for that later, she hoped at least "I'm here" she says, her face void of any emotions, she didn't know how to feel to be honest, so she's gonna stick with locking her emotions away for the time being. She was told by everyone who fully understood what she was doing, so not her younger brother, that she absolutely shouldn't do that, but if she didn't she'd do something stupid and reckless.

 

[Two Fives]

The sun in the centre of the sky marks the advent of afternoon. Clouds are nowhere to be seen and only a long, unceasing sheet of turquoise reaches across the horizon. With no cover from the clouds, many if not all will find the sun to be overbearing, the heat beating on their faces, their sweat making matted mops of their hair, their dry throats yearning for water.

“We'll be at the forests soon,” explains Niklas. He sticks his heel into Silver Steed's stirrup, brining him closer to Chise and Astrid. From a compartment of his horse's saddle, he produces a flagon of water, after which he takes a long draught and tosses it over Astrid's way. “Shade will do us good.”

“Gotcha,” replies the man to Mizuki as she rides alongside the others. He looks her over, an up-and-down look from head to heel, and musters up as friendly a face he can manage. It isn't hard to see through the facade... his skin like the hard porcelain of an actor's mask. Similarly to how one can see the eyes behind a mask, one can see his--two sullen sapphires that speak wholly of his horrific experiences. “Name's Niklas. Niklas Dok.”

After Isa speaks her piece, he remarks, “Seems everyone has. Doubt there were many if any squads that came from those southern hills without casualties. Is what it is. Gotta complete this expedition. That way their deaths meant something.”

Black shadows collect around all of them as the ride brings them closer to the forest. When they arrive in the deep dark woods, the wooded canopies make shadowy shapes of the sunlight. Juxtaposed on the shrubbery underfoot and under the horse's hooves are dappled shades of light and dark. Along the forest floor are trails of lichen. The moss leads into the trees where they soak into the trunk bark like an ivy's strangulation. As the horses pass over the coppices and creepers, several sounds carry through the forest—a rabbit scurrying, a deer skulking, some other shy animal scuttling in the shadows.

“Keep on your guard,” warns Niklas gravely; to Victoria in particular. “They're less active without sunlight, yes... but those things are dangerous all the same.”

 

[Loki The Trickster]

"Too slow," whispers the woman witheringly.

These are the first words Akai has spoken for the day or so she has spent with these people. One or two of them may have tried for a conversation in that time, whereupon they promptly came to realise conversing with a wall would be a less difficult endeavour. "I was too slow."

She says these words almost as if they're stray thoughts, not meant for anyone's ears save her own, a soliloquy with a tragically sombre delivery. Like how Niklas has his mask, Akai has one of her own, wrought not of perfect porcelain but of shadow and secrecy. Even though her hood is drawn, shadows as black as the deep dark wood's cast over her face, one can still see through her facade, discerning that she has suffered a loss, mayhaps more. As she rides alongside the others, she holds onto her horse's reins with fists. Fists so tight that the blood has been wrung from them, her fingers so deathly white one can distinguish the lapis lazuli blue of her veins.

On one of her fingers, Akai wears a ring. On it shines a diamond. Half of the stone, however, is flecked with blood. Diamond or ruby or a hybrid of the two, only a jeweller would know for certain. She casts her eyes down at it, along and across the blood-brushed sleeve of her Scout Regiment uniform she didn't care to wash this morning, and has one thought run through her hopelessly troubled mind.

I was too slow.

She loses this train of thought, hearing Niklas out... taking in those last few sentences.

I must make his death mean something, ruminates the woman.

 

[Maki]

Mizuki looked over as another girl strode over on her horse, introducing herself as Isa. Her face formed a small scheming smirk despite the fact that was bestowed before her.
"Well, Isa-ppose its a pleasure to meet you!" She said, her lips immediately curling back to contain any laughs. It was an inappropriate time to crack a joke but she couldn't help it. With a little cough to clear the air her face calmed down at the mention of losing someone. Paying closer attention Mizuki could feel the grief in the air as if it was almost a solid object. "Damn." She couldn't really say that she was sad about this loss. She never knew the kid and was experiencing some grief of her own. All she could do is hope that those affected wouldn't let their emotions get the better of them, putting everyone in danger. The scout knew that one of these days she would get eaten but she didn't want that to happen today. However what Niklas said gave her some hope. "I couldn't have said it better."

As they grew closer to the forest Mizuki found herself looking up at the large trees. The size of these units never failed to amaze her and the shade it provided was very appreciated. However it didn't seem like they'd be having a nice stroll through the woods today. Titans could be just around the corner or playing peek-a-boo behind a tree. Just because we're on our homefield doesn't mean that we're invincible. Her horse filed in towards the middle of the group, her eyes and ears looking and listening for any signs of danger.

 

[SerenityAngel]

How long had it been? Days? Weeks? Months? No. Not months. The seasons had not changed even a little bit so it had to have been just a couple, a few, weeks at maximum. It felt like longer. So much longer alone. How could they have left her behind as they rode back to the wall? Why would they leave someone that was still alive out in the abandoned forest like that? Sure, her squad was not he best but she had hoped to make it better with her contribution.

Serenity Alabast had been abandoned in the forest before the excursion of the other squads. Why did she get left behind? Her supplies were gone, swords had broken, gas was empty, though she went as sparingly as she could, so she had to do what she could with what she had on hand. She had fashioned a basic hook and rope from her pack and was able to stay up in the trees in safety. She hunted as often as she could but did that mainly at night since the titans were less active then. She needed to find people and not more titans. At least the time out here had given her valuable experience in bringing the monsters down and on her own, even thought she could only do the very small ones at first with the gas but now she just had to avoid them. The time out here gave her insight and valuable information to report back. Because she was only one on her own the titans didn't notice her as they would have a number of them. She stayed up in the tops of the trees to keep safe at night and never lit a fire. So far it has all kept her alive even though she looked pretty beat up and tired. She even lost her horse, Moonlight, when they left her.

She had no idea what day it was anymore, except that the new scout troops should be filing in soon. She wondered if she could find them and return home. It was worth a shot. If they were coming out, then they would most likely stay near places that would refresh their water supplies and that would be the river so she would run up and down the river through the treetops every day. Surely either she would see someone or someone would see her. If she found no one she would continue to jump or swing from branch to branch to try and find someone, anyone. When she looked down she spotted a small group of scouts with their horses. She could not tell if they were her squad or not. No, they couldn't be. Why would they come back? Surely they thought she would be dead by now. One person alone out here for weeks? No way she would be alive but she came out stronger for it. She stood strongly on a tall branch before calling down with authority, with her broken swords drawn, "Hey! State your names and your mission!" Her voice clear and strong as her ears were also focused and listening carefully for anything and everything. She knew she could be out of line but right now she didn't care. She was starved, weak, out of supplies and a bit unstable from her adrenaline being on 24/7 the past few weeks. "Did they finally decide that they needed to put my name on their list of dead? Or are you here for a completely different reason?"

The weeks in solitary out here had done a number on the girl that stood up in the trees. Her cheeks that originally had a touch of flesh on them were sunken in a bit, her waist was slender, more than normal, and her odd colored eyes had bags and dark circles under them from lack of proper sleep. She looked completely drained. On her shoulders was donned the coat that every military personal had. On the back were the wings of freedom that she had earned from training and graduating in the top ranks. She may have the composure and aura of someone in perfect health, but her body showed that she was needing a full meal soon if she was going to be of any use.

 

[Two Fives]

Looking above, Niklas Dok scans the treetops with narrowed slits for eyes, trying to locate where exactly the voice is coming from. Faint and feeble as it is, he finds her, after which he arches his eyebrows at Serenity Alabast. He can make her out in the shadows of the canopies--a figure, a slender finger... an unhealthily slender figure.

She looks dishevelled. This is to be expected of anyone who has spent several weeks Beyond The Walls--rags for a uniform, blunts for blades, air for her ODM's reserves. Despite her uniform being in such a condition, he can identify its handicraft, how the cloth is sewn, how the cloak is tailored. When he rides his horse over for a closer look of the woman, he sees, too, the Scout Regiment's insignia, two pleated wings embroidered into the cotton fibre.

“Niklas Dok,” declares the corporal after a long pause. “Didn't you hear Captain Camilla when she briefed us?”

Shortly afterwards, two seconds or three pass before it all clicks in his head. This woman, he muses, must've been left behind in a previous expedition Beyond The Walls. Only Wall Rose knows how she survived. He figured she must've found her way to this forest, knowing that's where her chances of survival would be highest. Sometimes the Scout Regiment would find corpses now and then of earlier expeditions Beyond The Walls, those who were unable to make it back for one reason or another. Only, this time, their find was alive. “How long have you been out here?”

 

[Flame Demon]

Victoria's eyes land on the figure up in the trees before looking back down, if the woman was to join them she would need a horse wouldn't she? She glances around the forest, the trees were tall, and her being short as hell wasn't making looking up and more fun, though she'd probably have a pretty good advantage up there, she stays quiet, hoping to hear danger before she sees it, seeing as she has an extra horse with her at the moment, which isn't such a good advantage now that she thought about it "Can't leave him behind" she thinks when she looks at Bookworm for a few seconds, she was going to bring him to Lucas' family.

 

[SerenityAngel]

The woman continued to gaze down at the small group of humans. Did those jackets always bring such unease when she saw them? Or was it just because she was abandoned and the last she saw of those wings were them riding away and getting smaller while she lay on the ground, wounded? Either way these were clearly not the same team that she had left with. She could not expect the same reaction as they would have had to her. They would not be as cowardly, right? She took a deep breath before answering. "Voices in this forest get muffled by the trees and the stomps of titan feet. I try to avoid sound louder than a fox's growl, so no. I did not hear, nor do I particularly care at the moment." she replied to his first question to her. Then his second came and she had to pause and really think of how long she had been out there.

She turned her head away a bit for a few moments to count and recall just how many days and weeks she had been alone out here. She muttered to herself a little bit before returning her eyes back to them. "A little over three weeks, possibly just over a month. I've lost track with trying to keep out of titan reach being my top priority out here." She called back. She considered this might be their first excursion out Beyond The Walls, as it was hers and she survived this long on her own, despite that. She was starting to get a little light headed now from hunger. Thirst was never a real problem with the river not too far off but food was a big problem. She had to ask for help now, she hated doing that, but this situation was dire for her. "You wouldn't, by chance, have some food you could spare?"

 

[Two Fives]

.

.

Beyond The Wall

the deep dark woods

Serenity is right. Not much is heard above a titan's footfalls. As rickety and rumbling as they are. Speaking of which, try as they may, Serenity and Niklas find that their voices don't carry so well... especially not over that oh so familiar thud thud thud of titans trudging...

“Two titans,” yells Niklas, immediately after which he unhooks himself from Silver Steed's harnesses and unsheathes his swords. “Damn it! They must've followed her here! No, no, no! Another three!”

The first of the titans the corporal spots are two five metres. These blood-curdling beasts encroach from the deep dark blacks of the woods. You see their eyes in the darkness at first, eyes that hunger for you... that make you feel as though the skin on your bones is merely a crisp barbecue crust to be eaten, that your blood is merely a drink to wash all the meat down. You are food. Nothing more, nothing less. Die.

“Snap out of it,” Niklas orders, knowing full well the sight of a titan, especially two or more, can psychologically break the hardest of soldier's spirits, “Fight! You must fight! Fight if you want to live!”

One of the two fives lurches for Isa and Mizuki at a deathly frightening speed. When he closes the distance, his maw rips open. Lined inside are teeth that are more than sharp enough to tear through flesh and bone as a samurai sword would silk.

The other makes his way towards Victoria and Akai. Slightly smaller than his counterpart, this one is frightening all the same, if not more so. Except this one moans when he opens his fleshy and fat lips, a long foghorn of a noise carrying through the forests that could afflict any man for a lifetime with crippling nightmares.

The three titans that appear shortly afterwards are four metres tall. One emerges from the tree trunk of an eucalyptus, playing peek-a-boo as Mizuki satirically mused only a moment before, and makes his way towards Danira with only one intention: to eat.

From Niklas and Astrid's flank come the other two. They burst from the creepers and coppices in a foul blend of dust and dirt, one for either of the two soldiers. Their arms are outstretched and so are their fingers, fingernails pointed enough to function as organic shanks. Fortunately, Serenity is up in the treetops, above and thus a ways away from this grisly ambush. The soldiers who are below on horseback have no such luxury. Neither have they the luxury of fight or flight. Time isn't on their side. Their thoughts aren't either. It's kill or be killed.

How will they manage?

(Read this before responding) Titan Combat Guide SerenityAngel Flame Demon Maki Loki The Trickster Ella Victoria Allo Coco Adel

 

[Two Fives]

Grappling onto his titan with his ODM's cables following a spring from Silver Steed's back, Niklas reels himself in, skillfully scaling the woods with those winding wires of his. Gas shrieks from his equipment's reserves, shrouds of steam bellying out in his wake. He flies around for the titan's nape with his steel swords, then propels himself off a tree trunk with a twist of his heel, his body whirling into a disc of silver that rips through titan muscle fibre like an abattoir's buzzsaw.

 

[Allo]

Astrid clicked her tongue as they were ambushed. She looked to Niklas and gave a reassuring nod before flying off her horse with her ODM gear. She excelled in air acrobatics, she knew that much, but to test her skills was yet to come. She grapples to the hard wood of the tree, flying through the air with her gear as she took out her ODM blades. She readied them, one facing forwards while the other faced backwards. She threw herself at the titan, aiming for it's nape.

( I accidentally double clicked so just go with the first one!)

 

[Maki]

Mizuki wasn't too happy to see that titans decided to crash the party, her hand hastily reaching down to grab the handle of her ODM. The initial sighting wasn't something that spooked her, but the scout couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat as the 5 meter began to charge at them with breakneck speed. A small and quiet 'eek' escaped her lips as she used the wires to rip herself off Blockhead and up into the trees to regain her composure. Taking in a deep breath Mizuki looked back at Isa to check if she was still alive before once again using her ODM, grappling onto the back of the titan. "Watch this!" She said to no one in particular, angling her blades and zooming in for the kill.

(damn I really could've used that roll for a 15 meter abnormal)

The stars seemed to align for Mizuki as her blades seamlessly cut through the titan's neck as if it was butter, spraying the girl in a bath of steaming blood. She exited the attack pumped with adrenaline and landed on a nearby tree, wiping the blood from her face as the rest quickly evaporated. "What a kill!"

 

[Coco Adel]

Samira spots the Titan heading straight for her it seemed their new guest had led them right to them. As if this expedition hadn't been going fabulously already? It didn't seem to be that big for a titan, relatively speaking, not the smallest but at least it wasn't 15 meters. She jumps off her horse and aims for the Titan's feet, hoping to cut the ankle so she could knock it off balance, with itn running forward the way it was she had no doubt it would cause the beast to fall flat on its face then while it was down she'd go for the nape. Just as the beast planned to grab her she slid under its hand and cut its ankle. Just as she thought he fell forward onto its face leaving its nape wide open that's when she jumped up, hooking her anchor into i's nape and came down hard, citing it's vital point. It's hand fell to the ground making a loud thud as it went limp, dead. She then moves back to her horse Clover and continues in her way. "Not today!"

 

[Flame Demon]

Victoria looks at the titan and she glances at Akai "We have more chance if we go after it together" she says taking off and going higher using a tree, she wouldn't lose another comrade and the best way to do this would be by teamwork, guess she'd give that a try, as much as she wanted to behead the beast right now "We will get home safely" she thinks, in all honestly, she's scared, but she doesn't show it, no point in trying to run away when they're being ambushed, so with one last look towards Akai she heads towards the titans, swords ready.

Teaming with Loki The Trickster

 

[Loki The Trickster]

"You're right," answers Akai as she disengages from her horse, Midnight. "Follow my lead."

Under the wooded shade of the canopy comes Akai. With an excellent employment of her ODM's cables, this woman, Akai, seemingly rides the wind... rides it as any of these men and women do their mares. She's swift, shockingly so... so swift that her swords dissolve into a hurricane of steel and silver. So swift, in fact, that the very air around her warps.

Coming down on the titan, having wound her cables around his neck like a suicide's noose, this moment, this momentary moment where time seems to still, is where Akai relies on Victoria's assist a moment before making her strike--a strike built only for decapitation. Pressurised steam bursts from her gas cylinders and increases her velocity sevenfold, making her strike that much more deadly as her steel rips the titan to shreds. Windpipe and whatever else within range of the nape of the neck blow out in blends of sanguine and steam.

She's a painter. This titan is her paint, these swords her brushes, this forest her canvas.

This titan convulses, then collapses. Akai poises herself on this plinth of flesh and bone like an Olympian victor, shrouds of the titan's steam billowing out where she stands and making a shapeless silhouette out of her.

 

[Flame Demon]

Victoria lands next to the Titans, covered in blood and she looks at the corpse with a blank look on her face, guess she could learn to work together, her eyes cold when she looks towards the slayed monster, it's at moments like these that she was glad she joined the scouts, to help get rid of these men eating monsters, she glances at Akai "We make a pretty good team" she states simply before going back up to the trees to survey the situation.

 

[SerenityAngel]

There was no mistaking it. No way in any world would she be able to mistake those sounds that crept their way into her trained ears. They were close, no, they were here! How could they get so close so fast? Were they fallowing her? No way. She was careful and she knows how to avoid being caught by now. No way her attention slipped enough to let them fallow her. They must have been fallowing the others. That's what it was. It had to be. There were way to many to be after one human. They were after all of them. They didn't know how to hide themselves like she did. She wouldn't be of any help in this fight as she stood. She'd only be a hindrance at this point. Maybe she could call to them their weaknesses? Some of them she had seen before the others she hadn't. Two of them were persistent hunters and a third one she had only seen from time to time out here. Not often enough to make it a habit.

She was about to shout at them all to move but by the time she could blink, they were all dispatched with skill and talent. Skill that she didn't have right now. Right now, she could barely stay standing without being dizzy. She would not show her fatigue though. She watched each of those pesky titans fall. She would have loved to join in the fight but, with her gear being out of commission, she was useless and would only have been a target. She would have only gotten them or, most likely, herself killed if she tried to help.

With the threat neutralized, she was able to calm down a little. "Wow. You guys are quick and skilled. Color me impressed." She said without a smile as a normal person would have. A normal person would have been relieved and smiled, probably cried, to see fellow scouts out here, but not her. She had become accustomed to being out here now. She knew this forest like the back of her hand. She could offer some advice here but she doubted they would listen to a single scout that has gone half mad from hunger and fear for about a month. "You shouldn't linger here. More will be here shortly. There's a safer place further up the river or are you just going to continue on your mission?" She called down again, not wanting to risk being on the ground and not being able to get back up easily. Her long, messy white hair was gently lifted in the high breeze. Her odd colored eyes kept trained on each scout coat, counted the horses and saw one was missing a rider. Must have been killed. Most likely eaten. Sad, but inevitable out here. She wondered why they were all out here though. What mission could be so important to venture out only a month after her team was sent out?

 

[Two Fives]

After slaying her titan, Astrid finds a metal wire wrapped around his ankle. Should she follow it, it leads her behind some trees to a set ODM equipment. A scout must've encountered this titan previously, evidently not as fortunate as Astrid. With the titan heaving it along the forest floor for however long, friction has worked the equipment with so much damage only a tank of petroleum gas is salvageable, enough to refill her reserves for any encounters to come.

Fortunately for Isa, Mizuki--with swipes of her steel--downs the titan in her stead, skilful in a way Niklas didn't expect. Likewise, Danira manages to down her titan. Blood sprays in all directions and stains her uniforms in strokes of scarlet. Some moments after, however, it evaporates. All of the titans start to evaporate not long after, the fatty fibres of their flesh melting off their bones like soft meat in a boiler.

Putting his boot to his titan's scalp, Niklas wrenches his blades from the nape of the titan's neck. Blood sprays out in a vicious burst that paints his uniform red. He catches Akai and Victoria from the periphery of his eye, how they cooperate in their clash of the titan, how Akai moves so seamlessly through the air one could mistake her for a bird... like the Wings of Freedom insignia on her cloak was made of feathers, not fabrics. “You,” For a moment, Nik has to hold, completely in awe, “You were... incredible.” He senselessly continues on with a tangent, showering Akai with all kinds of kudos.

Sometime after, he collects himself, inspecting his blades. One of them is blunt, the other broken. He discards them. They weren't functional as weapons anymore, only weight to be carried. And weight gets you killed, contemplates Niklas to himself. He looks up into the forest at Serenity, narrowing his eyes so he can see her more clearly, and says, “You're right. Those sounds, this steam, it'll attract others.” He pauses. “We're to continue our mission. You might be able to help us with that. You've been here for weeks, yes? We're looking for the source of a radio signal. Seen any strange devices in these forests, anything at all, that might be the cause? Victoria, can she ride Bookworm?” Bookworm, Niklas explains to Serenity briefly, had been the horse of one of their fallen members, Lucas Lawrence. "She'll need a horse.”

SerenityAngel Flame Demon Loki The Trickster Coco Adel Maki Ella Victoria Allo

 

[Loki The Trickster]

She nods sombrely at Victoria. Some moments after, a wind catches the steam around her and casts it away, revealing Akai and her Artlert blonde curls--her Scout Regiment uniform, a blood-bathed cloak, some sweat-soaked overalls and dirt-dusted leather boots. Very abruptly, she interrupts Niklas. When he says, "You were," and pauses, this is where she stops him, saying one thing only before dropping her broken blades to the dirt, clangours reverberating through the forest stalks.

"Not quick enough."

She sighs. "No," replies the widow to Serenity at her mention of skill. "They were only small fries."

 

[SerenityAngel]

Serenity wasn't much of a conversationalist before she left the wall and even less so after being alone for weeks on end. She turns her eyes back to the one that called up to her. "That's correct." she called to him in response to her being out here for weeks. Hearing about the radio signal she tilted her head a little a bit in confusion. "That? Sure. I can take you there." she was simple in her response but hesitant to move from her branch. The explanation was just what she expected, however the woman's words of rejection to her comments was unexpected.

"It's a bit of a ways from here but not too far. I'll show you." she said before she sat down so she would not get dizzy. She needed to get down soon but she was apprehensive about leaving the safety of the branches. She took a deep breath before swinging her hand-made grappling hook that she fashioned out of the broken shards of her swords and some spare wire cord that she got from a discarded odm gear. She kept hers in working order in case of emergencies. It seemed that it was the wise decision as she could now get some air when she returned and be airborne again. So, with her grappling hooks she swung them with ease and embedded the blades into the bark of the tree and let herself fall as if she were wearing and using her gear. She landed on the soft grass below with barely a sound. Her moonlight white hair fluttering around her and encasing her blue and violet eyes with simmering strands like diamonds.

"We'll have to move fast. A large group like this will attract them." she said, though she looked like her body really shouldn't be standing right now. She was a soldier through and through, she would not go down without a fight, no matter her condition. She wound up her hooks and secured them to her belt. Once Bookworm was handed to her she didn't give the beast much chance to oppose her mounting him and using him instead of his original owner. She gently pat the horses' neck to assure him that she would not harm him and would not take his partner's place but they needed each other for now.