“G-Gunther…” I finally managed to brace control of my quivering voice, the sound slowly finding its footholds at the sides of my croaky burning throat.

Gunther. The image of his hanging corpse projected at the back of my head, fresh and clear, swaying to and fro freely in the breeze back where we left him. Like dead bait dangling on the end of a string helplessly.

How many more lives were still left on the line?

Get a hold of yourself, Hazel.

That bitch was asking for it.

Right, emotions. That stupid little bag of moody explosives we all couldn’t seem to get rid of that could potentially get us all killed, as if we weren’t secured tightly enough on the titans’ five star menu. I was obviously selling my soul if I had even considered something so senseless on a battlefield. Don’t even TRY, Hazel, don’t even.

Do your thing, yeah? My thoughts was siren calls for the reviving strength circulating within my veins, drawing back the hate which lay dormant deep down at the bottom of my soul all this time, Shove your blade down her fucking throat. Watch her scream and gurgle on her own blood.

Fuck praying, fuck hoping, fuck emotions.

Fuck everything.

The wind did its usual thing, howling past our ears like mourning hungry souls. The pulsation of my heart was the only thing that wrestled against the silence clawing out from their earthy graves as the ounces of adrenaline dispersed within my blood.

Death lurked by in his typical dark cloak illustrated on the inside cover of Grimm Tales, caressing the atmosphere with his sickening unwelcomed aura. 

Then it all happened at once. Like a retarded delayed clash of thunder that had lost its leading lightning. In an instance, the colossal piece of shit we were dashing from not so long ago emerged from the darkness those neutral sheltering trees had so hospitably provided.

The Female Titan.

My blades lashed out, my eyes fuelled with hate. 

It was time to kill this power abusing bitch. 

Female Titan my ass. 

______________________________________

Worthless blood emitted steam the moment it ruptured free from the skin bagging it in.

Slash after goddamn slash, pieces of muscles and tissues were sheared away. Every drop of bead-like sweat rolling down my forehead reflected on every coarse grain of revulsion, of determination, of everything that could possibly flood one’s mind after witnessing another intolerable soul snatched away.

I’m gonna have a good old talk with Death once I meet the douche.

Erd shot me a quick silent glance, and our wires pulled our little summersaulting frames back into the air, which if written in a ratio score would probably be about 1 : 100 compared to the Female Titan’s massive structure. The open air enveloped our bodies once more, our gear coils heaving with the sharp sound of contraction, sounding almost like the crackling and shrivelling of smouldering flames desiring for air.

My eyes latched onto the charging figures of Petra and Auruo’s below as they swirled forward with their loaded wave of assault. And we followed after.

Whoever the fuck was hiding behind all that shitty skin, they were really asking for it.

They were begging for it.

Popcorn in my arms as I’ll witness them burn in hell.

My steaming blades dug under more red muscles and excessively clingy flesh, and finally for Christ’s sake, the Female Titan’s arms flopped down, as dead as she will become once we get to her. Immediately, Erd glided forward, determination stained his angry eyes as he aimed his shrill edge at its exposed nape.

He pierced through the air like an eagle, his blades glimmering hungrily.

Man, everything was going so well, I wished life was always this easy.

But my muscles twitched uncomfortably after my sharp pupils caught the mere sight of the slim movement behind its gigantic eyelids that could serve as a blanket for ten. Could I possibly be imagining that?

Everything was too easy. Way too easy.

“Erd!”

The whole forest practically flinched to the sudden sheer shriek, and two seconds was all it took for me to identify that it was nothing else other than my fearful lilt. The wind picked up instantly, rolling over my smooth skin as I instinctively advanced forward, attempting to draw the line where Death couldn’t cross.

Fighting the bitch and Death at the same time.

The red plasma splashed across my cheeks, warm and thick, sending my mind plummeting into a deep state of shock.

Please be titan blood. Please just steam up already!

But instead, it just slowly made its way towards my chin, leisurely trickling down like raindrops across glass panes.

Erd is fine. Erd is fine. Erd is fine.

But Erd wasn’t fine.

My mind chanted and pleaded what I’d love to believe, that Erd had simply sliced up that giant evil bitch and had stabled himself up on a secure branch above in one piece, when really … I was just miserably rejecting the sight of Erd’s other bloodied half, bones and a drippy fleshy stub, tumbling towards the ground below like a sack of potatoes for dinner.

Nothing crossed my mind but the simple image of an additional finger flicking up, his devious grin expanding as a whisper slipped off the brink of his tongue and into the cold air; “Two.”

“We need to regroup!” My pupils stiffly shifted onto the desperate Auruo. “Hazel! Petra!”

Without even thinking … because Death never really stops to wait for you, the gas tanks by my side discharged clouds of fume after me, sending my figure soaring after Petra’s sinking one. She stumbled, her fearful glowing eyes watching the recovered sprinting titan who dashed eagerly after her like some hard core one-eyed athlete.

Its oversized and so terribly blue eyes, in the size of humongous carriage wheels, rolled wide open as the Female Titan locked onto her next target; the strawberry blonde.

I slipped past and reached out my arms.

“Petra!”

My hand frantically stretched out and fumbled tightly onto hers. For once, something was finally leaning onto my side on the winning scale, just slightly angling towards my way.

Please… just don’t let go.

“Hazel!” I watched her bottom jaw quiver, but even with all the lies in the world, it couldn’t possibly overwrite the fact of the growing darkness shading over both of us. The most dreaded darkness of all, like all the dark stray clouds had found their rightful place above us that very moment.

But it just wasn’t harmless rainclouds indicating a coming storm I wouldn’t mind getting stranded in, it was something far worse than that. An eager closing foot projected an equally gigantic fearful shadow, ready to stomp us down into flat skin-coloured laundry sheets.

Instincts feeding off desperation and terror, my blade immediately dug into the shoulder of its muscly foot, doing anything, anything at all to halt its murderous move.

“Haz-”

“PETTRRRAAAAA!!!” I could no longer tell if that was the voice of my own or if it was the horrified Auruo’s as the elevated gravel clouded my vision.

Dust and rubble showered me as I was welcomed into the arms of air and lifted soil once again, but only dragged back helplessly with each step the Female Titan jogged. Garden-fresh blood covered my uniform, and my hand had never been so horrifyingly empty. Her sweaty hand once in hold of mine was completely gone.

“Petra!” My voice couldn’t travel evenly as I was weakly tugged by. My sense of balance was trying ever so hopelessly to find ground level again as I jostled ungraceful in the air, my cable still attached to the bottom of her goddamn foot. I felt as if my guts were at the back of my throat, and that my head was a termite nest.

The ringing had claimed my sense of hearing after my dainty rag figure had been thrown back into the air once again with a violent kick of its feet, sending me off course by the shitty laws of physics.

The air slipped through the gaps of my desperate fingers as I reached out for something to hold onto, my restless lids fluttered open, fighting against the nauseous feeling and fear that looked me right back in the face.

Too late.

Time always seemed to be playing with me, if you haven’t picked up on it yet.

A big muscular leg whipped over again instantly, not even giving me a split second on earth to draw defensive blades as it launched me flying back mid-air the second time, ruthlessly beating the living heart and lungs within my bag of skin.

The cold air ate into my cheeks along with the stiffening numbness that proudly sacked the circulation in my limbs. The gang of salty metallic taste loitered the perimeters of my mouth, my lifeblood erupting up my throat in their red gory form.

My voice had totally wimped out on me, not even offering me another chance to scream.

Everything in my body had slammed down their hands; demanding for a resignation like I once pulled with Erwin.

I was looking into the eyes of Death once more.

And he was so real this time, smiling in a friendly manner, holding out his hand, waiting for me to finally take it.

No one’s coming; his dark calm voice seemed to murmur while he grinned victoriously, No one’s coming for you.

A cold harsh force collided with the back of my head just when I reached up for the bright orange sphere, which slowly withdrew behind the horizontal line that separated the bloody grounds from the tawny streaked skies. Withdrawing, perhaps a nicer way to say ‘giving up on you, Hazel’.

Rustling leaves mocked me as my worn out body was left sinking onto the damp soil beneath, next to the column of cold hard timber which marked my position of death.

“Auruo…” I breathed mournfully, my hope deserted eyes watching the tiny figure of the once cocky wrinkled face descend towards the ground. No wires were shot out to halt his fall. Nothing. He simply landed like sand but with a distant, yet audible thump which sent my eardrums flinching.

Female Titan.

We’ve underestimated it.

I’ve underestimated it.

And it roared after its triumphant success. Just her voice was as sharp as daggers, piercing my sensitive throbbing ears and sending an aching feeling swirling within the hollow space of my cranium.

The contrasting darkness was crawling in ever so quickly, leaving vague dark spots in my vision.

Vague spots that gradually grew, spreading like disgusting mould on an old image, spreading like a holocaust that couldn’t be supressed.

I’ve failed, haven’t I?

I’ve failed so miserably.

The faint sensation of the rusty iron-filled liquid oozing out of the corner of my mouth accompanied my regretful thoughts.  

The spots continued their ceaseless battle, taking over the orange light, which was the only piece of evidence backing up the fact that I was still alive as it seeped into my slowly dying view.  

Taking over until I saw no more of the world.