Fandom The Grand Expedition

[Sleepless_Dreamer]

The smell was the first thing Danika noticed. That sick, coppery tinge was made worse by the wetness still-clinging to the air and trees after the rain. It made the scent thicker; stronger. It practically coated a layer on Dani's tongue. Her stomach dropped the second she landed on that branch... and that was before she even knew what she was standing in. Time seemed to slow as Dani looked down at her feet first. She could see a dark, greasy smear beneath her boots. Her pupils widened, and her heart started to beat a little faster.

Something dropped on her head.

Breathing starting to shake, Dani slowly tilted her chin upward, lifting her gaze to the source of the drip. Something thick and warm dropped onto her cheek. Then again, and again...

Crunch.

Dani's gaze snapped to the side. She was still as a statue, quiet as a dormouse, as she looked to the right. Her heart fluttered like a frenzy of beating wings, all frantically trying to leave the sense of danger that loomed. And yet she stood, positively rooted in place, somehow just... watching. Watching the titan, the abnormal, eating... eating Waren. Suddenly, all that anxiousness inside of Danika stilled. It was as if it collapsed in on itself like some kind of black hole and morphed into something different. A cold calm settled onto her shoulders. All life and expression seemed to drain from her face. She was completely somber as she reached for the ODM gear at her hips.

The titan's gaze snapped towards Dani.

She loosed her line and shot up into the canopy, leaving nothing but empty tree for the titan to lunge at. Dani got as high as she could go, standing on the last branch thick enough to hold her weight. With the bow of the tree swaying beneath her, Dani fired a signal flare into the sky. She didn't know if the others would even see it, but she knew she had to at least try. Give them the signal while she could. They needed to stay away from this spot. They needed to stay safe. She watched, waited and counted on bated breath. Dani reached for the mask hanging from her hip.

One, two...

She placed the mask on her face.

Three, four...

After five seconds, Dani dropped back through the canopy towards the titan below. This time, her swords were drawn.

 

[GrayLion256]

Haruka nodded with a small chuckle as he watched Lorenz's hand dance with the fog. It would have most definitely been easier without the fog, going out into the woods to light fires was already unnerving enough.

He nodded to Lorenz as he went to light the signal fire. He kept watch and listened intently to make sure nothing was coming; and so that Lorenz would be safe.

Once Lorenz lit the fire Haruka's gaze landed on a small almost invisible light way up past the trees. He zoned out as he watched it move slowly, he barely felt Lorenz's nudge before his hand moved to his ODM gear. He shot up into the fog leaving Lorenz behind.

"What is that?" He whispered as he raced to get to the highest point he could. A flare had been shot off. It had almost completely disappeared as Haruka came to the top. But when he saw where it had come from his heart skipped a beat. "No no no no no no," he muttered.

In a flash he was sailing back down towards Lorenz. Probably ripping up his uniform from the branches. Haruka was lost in his own head trying to think positively but a flare never meant anything good. Before he knew it he hit the ground with a smack.

He stood up, his adrenaline now completely spiked he couldn't feel any pain. "Lorenz, Dani and Waren are in trouble. They set off a flare, we need to get over there now!"

Haruka didn't even wait for Lorenz to respond before he was pulling on his ODM gear and racing through the trees. His blood pounded in his ears all the while he kept muttering and praying, "Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay."

AI10100

 

[capMARVELOUS]

Tobias "Toby" Groth
currently doing: finally starting to get the job done
with: Fiodor Tanz [ AiDEE-c0 ], currently-unnamed backup

That was the most satisfying thud in the world.

Tobias and the girl landed easily, close by the spot where Fiodor had fallen. The ground seemed to cling to their boots even more than usual as they closed the rest of the gap on foot and lifted the shifty man's prone form out of the muck. Tobias was no medic, but a cursory examination revealed that nothing seemed broken; this revelation, which might have disappointed the other recruits, gladdened him, because it meant that Fiodor was still intact enough to do his job. Tobias helped wipe the mud out of Fiodor's nose and mouth, and asked, "Can you still stand?"

When the other man nodded, Tobias took a step back to let him do so... and then gave the girl a "go ahead" gesture.

Never let it be said that he was not a man of his word.

The girl's punch landed squarely in Fiodor's solar plexus and drove out whatever wind was still left in his lungs. Before he could double over on his hands and knees, Tobias grabbed him by the shoulder to keep him upright, Leaning in so he could be heard over the rain, he whispered fiercely, "What's really slowing us down is shit like what you just pulled. We can't stop every five minutes to chase you down because you're too much of a coward to stay in a group with people you don't like. Don't you ever split from the party again, or I swear I'll string you up by your ankles and drag you facedown back to Captain Trott. Are we clear?"

He took Fiodor's wheeze for a yes.

Tobias shoved the shifty man back into the girl's arms and said, "Take him up to the fire with you. I'll watch for the others." When she had lifted off into the tree, he turned to face the ridge he had told Calahan he'd cross before he arrived. Sure enough, an orange glow began to dance up from the other side...

...

To the northwest, the sound of a signal flare was lost in the pattering of the rain.