The battle of Trost arc: Terror

"Now… it's time to fight"

Uta said in her mind as she looked at the wall, her back now against the town.

There was already a titan behind her, it's hand reaching to her slowly.

Before it could grab her, Uta purposely fell down to the moat and waited for something. No. Someone.

Inside the moat, she heard the hook of her friend and the sound of titan meat getting sliced. The titan, now dead, fell over the moat but didn't fall down.

"—Uta! You okay!?"

Nicola peeked inside. He had thought Uta accidentally slipped down and was in pain. But the thought was removed by the sight of her giving him a thumbs up.

"You can come up, right?!"

Nicola shouted.

"Yeah!! You better go before y——"

Before she could finish her words, Nicola dreadfully screamed as a titan picked him up around the arms. He wasn't able to move or use his gear, he was done for.

"——NICOLA!!!!"

The wall of dirt in front of her cracked as her gear's hook violently stabbed it.

In a flash, She was already out of the moat and saw the titan had not yet eaten Nicola.

"READY YOURSELF!!"

Her body moved violently towards the titan because of the gas propulting her. Her hook was already on the titan's nape.

From where she was on the air to the titan's nape, she could save Nicola before he got eaten. But after that, she has to carry him somewhere safe before the titan behind it grabs him.

The sound of the sword cutting through the nape. Then her hook fired and stabbed the ground below her, she safely glided down towards Nicola who now has two broken arms.

[QUICK!!!]

Her left hand reached Nicola, grabbing him tightly. Then her right hook fired blind, she didn't know where it was hooked to but there was no time to think.

[Fwssssshh——]

They flew to a far away building, not near the hole.

"Nicola! Are you still alive?!"

"Koff! Koff! … Yeah… but it hurts so much!"

"Well endure the pain! I'll carry you to the supply room! Maybe there is someone that could help you!"

Without thinking for another second, Uta flew with Nicola on her back, tied up with her jacket.

.

.

.

The trees were enormous. She had never seen anything like that.

"We were out riding our horses when it was pouring..."

Even though their hoods were soaked and heavy, each scout was able to move around effortlessly, as if nothing was preventing them.

"Then, when we saw a giant, the commander commanded us to assault it."

Ten scouts were soaring through the drizzly air, their vision unaffected by the rain's swiftly dropping water.

[Fwsssshh!!]

"The trees were a big help. We used them as cover and to hook on to"

Uta Krugenberg was hovering in mid-air. While the rest of the scouts were afraid, Uta was beaming like it was the finest day of her life.

"But then, my smile quickly turned upside down"

She noticed then that additional titans were approaching her, and she had no clue what to do. To get out of that scenario, she needed to think quickly, but would she have enough time?

"I did… and I managed to kill two of the titans while my team killed the others"

[Slashhhh!!!]

"You tired?!"

Uta shouted.

"Yeah!! I'm gonna rest for a bit!!"

Her friend, Franz shouted back at her.

His hook fired to one of the thick tree branches and carefully fell onto it, not trying to hurt himself.

"Say, how much gas you have left?"

Uta asked as she too descended from flying with the odm gear. She landed gracefully on top of the branch.

"I still got plenty of gas and blades"

"Aight, that's good to hear"

"You?"

"I still got plenty"

"Glad to hear that"

In the distance, there were muffled sounds of titan flesh getting cut.

"Hey, I'm gonna check on the others"

"Go ahead, Uta"

"Stay safe!"

[Fwshhhh!!]

After Uta had left Franz on the branch, it had been five minutes. He had expected Uta to return within two minutes after she had left, but he had a strange sense something had gone wrong.

He'd regained some vigor and was ready to take to the skies once more.

He had his hook ready and fired accurately at the tree in front of him———…

——!!!!

"Huh…?"

What went wrong?

—He was certain he had pulled the trigger on his hook. He was certain he'd landed on the tree in front of him.

But he had the impression that something was missing from him.

He was missing a significant portion of his body. The section of his body that enabled him to walk, kick, run, jump, and climb.

The sound of a silver bell resonated in his ear. But suddenly he was brought back to reality by a faraway voice.

"FRANZZ!!!!!!"

"——?!!!!"

Someone was screaming his name and flying at him with their sword drawn, ready to slash through anything. The figure was swooping from tree to tree at breakneck speed.

He regained consciousness and felt a firm hold on his leg and wrists.

His heart fell and his life raced before his eyes the minute he glanced up to see what was grabbing his legs and wrists so tightly.

A shrieking cry resonated through the jungle as the massive maw closed on him and ripped him in half. He was the one who screamed, pleading for assistance.

Franz's hand rushed towards Uta, grabbing her on the shoulder and clutching her loosely enough that Uta could feel it move.