The Grumble of thunder(part 4 of storm arc)

Leif perked up from his digging, hearing Vasquez shout. I've been digging back below the cave for a while now Leif thought calculatingly, so the entrance should be right above me he thought crouching. going up! Leif thought, springing upward. He began to spin, forming a rough drill of spines. He quickly got to the surface, coming up right behind Vasquez and the red haired girl. He landed, quickly scooping Vasquez up. huh? he thought noticing Kronos standing nearby. He raised his hand to the sky. Lets see if I can do it on purpose he thought focussing on his fingers and palm. Now! he thought, spines shooting out of the edge of his palm and encasing his fingers. The spines slammed shut around the redheads eagle, trapping it in a cage with only spec of air to get in or out. Look! Look! Leif thought excitedly, showing Vasquez and Kronos the caged bird.

Leona lifted one of her crimson brows as someone else followed them in to the cave. He didn't appear to be wearing any sort of military attired and for a second she questioned why he was even in the training forest. Letting the thought go she became more focused on how overly casual he was, apparently looking for a friend of his? "I don't think the person you're looking for is in here..." Ignoring the Garrison member's comments she was about to try and convince the other man to leave when the ground began to shake.

As the titan erupted from the floor of the cave behind them Leona quickly turned, drawing out her swords once more. His sudden and destructive entrance felt threatening enough to make her want to defend her self. Under normal circumstances she probably would have tired to help free Vasquez from the titan's grasp, but as the titan seemed to be his pet she saw no need to help him at the moment. When the titan snatched Horus out of the air, however, a blinding rage lite inside her. Despite being so distant from other humans she'd come to love her pet, and even if the falcon was only caged the titan still could have easily crushed Horus if he had closed his hand too tight. Though she would have been perfectly happy to let the spiny titan and his handler walk away, touching her bird was crossing the line.

Using her gas jets Leona leaped in to the air, gaining enough altitude to launch her hooks directly in to the titan's collar bone area and sip up toward the front of his neck. Hanging from the titan's body the scout did not hesitate to drive her blades in to the titan's throat, pushing them just deep enough that she knew she wouldn't hit the spinal column on the other side, but still deep enough to threat that she could go deeper. "Release him, now! Or I swear by whatever gods still exist in this world that I will end you!"

Kronos growled at Vasquez as the girl slices through his neck, "Restrain her and put her in a cell this instant. She will be dealt with accordingly." he nodded his head to him, "Please." He then turned his attention to her and shot a harsh glare, "You will pull your blades out and apologize to him for the pain you've caused. The severity of using a feathered animal as a test of skill in a harmless manner is minuscule. Driving your blades through a sentient being's neck is worse." He fixed the hat on his head and huffed, "I may report to the king, but I don't need his influence to teach someone a lesson.." Kronos growled and stretched his arms, "I expect her to be behind a cage so that I may explain to her the situation... Yes, commander Vasquez?" He raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes at the perfectly unharmed bird, "And someone put that fucking bird in a cage with her... All this shit over a flying fuck, literally." He leaned against a tree and looked up at Lief, "Sorry hun, I'm sure it'l heal. We need to get those out of you though." he crossed his arms and shook his head, "What a fucking drag.. I only came to visit you and bring you some food. Sure you can't digest them, but you can at least taste them. I don't know.." he scratched his head and shrugged.

Vasquez was picked up by the titan and threw a slight smile at Leif as he showed him the caged falcon, it was a pretty nifty trick.  However, seemingly in a matter of a few milliseconds, the crimson-haired survey scout had lunged herself at Leif and proceeded to run her blade through his throat.  This would no longer be the first time that Leif was injured, but now the second time.  Vasquez barely had any time to react to how Leif might respond to Leona's actions.  Well, it wasn't necessarily her violent gesture to the silver-eyed titan, but more so how Leif would react.  Would he maintain his composure?  Or would he lash out in pain?  Being that he was already in Leif's hands, Vasquez simply braced himself for what might come next.

"L-Leif?"

Vasquez looked at Leif and attempted to speak in a very calm and soothing manner.  Vasquez acknowledged Kronos' presence and heard everything he said, but didn't really want to take his eyes off of Leif given the current situation.  To signify this, he gave Kronos a thumbs-up with his left hand while his right hand was still slightly raised towards Leif to signal him to try and ignore the pain...if there was any.

"You okay in there big guy?"

Vasquez was genuinely worried about Leif, but also himself.  Really, he was this close to an incredibly large titan who may or may not go on a rampage given his injuries.  Anxiously, he waited for some kind of response from the Spined-Titan.

Ow..., Leif thought trying to keep his composure. Take a deep breath and count to ten He thought trying to stay calm. He put Vasquez down, releasing the bird, but keeping his fingers encased in spine. 1...2...3 unable to continue, he roared, luckily unable to be heard by the trainees. . He grabbed at his chest, Grabbing the dazed red-head. He held her in front of his face, tearing her hooks out of him in the process. His eyes glowed pure silver, his back more hunched. He stepped outside, extending his spines once more. He breathed heavily, seen in the cold air. More spines erupted from his back. His arm blades and knee blades became serrated. All sensible thought left him during the transformation. He sliced a nearby tree like butter. He roared primally, knocking some small rocks from the cliff above the cave.

"It's still raining, huh?" Tobias said quietly to himself as he gazed up into the sky. The cold air was soothing him from the earlier distraught feeling. He had laid the girl against the tree on the branch everyone was on. "Humph, the least I can do is keep her warm." He tugged off his Scouting Legion jacket and lay it over her. I wonder how this girl got hurt so badly...Ugh, why'd I have to spend my time babysitting, when I could be fighting that Titan back there... He let out a deep and tiring sigh. He looked back at the girl. "Should I take her over to the training groun-" Tobias was then immediately cut off by a roar off in the distance. Alarmed, he stood up. "Could that be? The Titan?" He was stuck with a choice; Leave the girl and go for the Titan or stay and take care of her. His grasp on the gear's hand grips tightened. He was unsure of what to do. "Damn." He cursed under his breath. "Sorry, but I gotta leave you here for a while." He shot his hooks at nearby trees, then flew off. His white undershirt was soaked, since he left his jacket for the girl. Hopefully I don't catch a cold He thought while zooming past tree after tree.

After about 5 minutes or so, a cave was able to be seen from the distance, along with a few familiar figures. It's the redhead and the Stationary Guard guy...That means the Titan must be in the cave! He landed hard on the ground, causing him to tumble.

Once Horus was released Leona withdrew her blades, though it seemed she was too late to keep the titan from going in to a frenzy. She was about to jump off of him when his booming roar caused her to cover her ears. Before she could release her hooks Leona found her self snatched up in the titan's hand. Shit! She thought trying to squirm out of it, his hand around her preventing her from redrawing her blades. "Please don't eat me..." She thought out loud, worried that her worse fear of being eaten alive might now come true.

Back out in to the rain, though the redhead didn't seem to mind it she actually seemed to be growing bored while waiting to see if the titan was going to kill her or not. As he smashed a few trees she covered her head with her arms to avoid getting hit by any debris. Horus circled over head with worried cries and screeches, unsure of how to help his 'mother' while she was in the titan's grasp. "Baby I'm fine!" She tired to reassure her pet, though from the shaky tone in her voice she didn't sound to fine.

Paul had been hearing the roars from the forest. Titans? He thought to himself. His first reaction was a tiny bit of fear. Next, it was excitement. "I was starting to get bored anyway..." He thought outloud, tightening the black bandana tied around his head, and tucking his apron into his pants, He slipped on his maneuver gear and began moving through the trees. As he moved through the forest, the roaring was getting louder. "HaHa!" Paul laughed. "Where are ya, ya big hunk o' stupid?"

He looked over to his right, and he noticed the roaring was coming from a nearby cave. Oh good, friends. Paul thought to himself, landing just outside the cave. He jogged over to the soldier who appeared to be without a jacket, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What's the sitch? You ok?" The Jokester peppered him with questions. "What happened to your jacket, man?"

"I should really work on my landings." He said while he dusted mud of his clothing. He then felt a hand touch his shoulder. Shocked, Tobias quickly turned around, his blades pointed right at the newly arrived soldier. "Oh, you startled me there..." He put away his blades, feeling quite relieved. He stood up to meet the tall man. "No need to ask such trivial questions. It's not relevant at this time. Anyways, I'm Tobias." He tried his best not to seem too mean. It never hurts to make new friends, right? "You must've heard the commotion too, right?"

Kena wakes up alone on a tree. "What am I doing here? Where is the the others?" She was clueless and scared not knowing what to do. She then got an idea and some how got down from the tree and ran to where she was hearing noises.

Kronos simply shook his head and reached in the back of his satchel, pulling out what looked like a jar full of herbs. He slowly approached the ravenous titan and smiled, "Come here; I will try to ease the pain. Put the hotheaded girl down. No one is going to hurt you anymore..." he stood not far from the titan, awaiting him to respond, "I know it hurts, but titan's have been shown to heal their wounds quickly. After we sedate the pain with these herbs, your body will heal it in no time.." Standing there, Kronos rolled his eyes as the annoying bird squawked. "Commander Vasquez, when we detain the girl, we will tell her everything. I know it's risky, but I'm pretty sure this girl will fear me when she realizes what I'm capable of, and keep all this a secret. Can't have her go blabbing to the whole city that we're harboring a sentient titan here..." he folded his arms and looked back to Leif, "Come. I will try my best to alleviate the pain."

Vasquez was set down by Leif and immediately afterwards, watched the titan go into a rampage.  Vasquez wasn't sure if Leif was going to eat the crimson-haired soldier or toss her away in rage.  Once again, the Survey Corps succeeded in meddling in affairs that were relevant to them.  This girl was now possibly about to die.  This entire situation could have been avoided if they never attacked Leif in the first place.  The silver-eyed titan was destroying all the trees around himself and even flinging some boulders from around the cave at the surrounding soldiers, unintentionally of course.  Vasquez used the gas from his 3DMG to leap away from Leif.  Any amount of distance from the titan would be good at this point.

"LEIF!  LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE DOING!  COMPOSE YOURSELF!"

Vasquez yelled out to the titan in an attempt to get his attention.

Leif turned towards the calls, unable to understand them in his primal enraged state. Somewhere, deep in his mind, he recognized them, but it was out of reach, and only enraged him further. He turned seeing the man from before and a newcomer. hurt..., he thought, remembering the pain in his hand. He looked around, kicking a nearby boulder at the two. He picked up one of the trees he sliced earlier. He slammed it into the ground, causing a small tremor and snapping it. He then ran, jumping in the air. He curled up, becoming much like a wheel. He threw the red head into the air, reaching his arm out and grabing the base of a tree. He use it to make a sharp turn, heading back towards the clearing. He pushed off the ground, uncurling and slamming into the rock wall, and began to climb.

Leona kept her head down, covering her neck and the back of her head with her arms trying to avoid getting knocked out or letting her brain bounce around too much as she was shaken. Upon being thrown in the air, the hot tempered redhead barely knew what was going on any more. It wasn't until talons ripped the sleeve of her surveyor's jacket that she realized Horus was trying to grab a hold of her, because she was falling. In a sudden panic she managed to launch only one of her grappling hooks catching it on to a near by tree which she promptly swung in to the trunk of successfully knocking her self out.

Horus fluttered down to perch on Leona's dangling unconscious form where he began to screech what was suppose to be his alarm call, not seeming to realize the only one who knew what his different screeches meant was Leona.

Tobias Weisz wrote:

"I should really work on my landings." He said while he dusted mud of his clothing. He then felt a hand touch his shoulder. Shocked, Tobias quickly turned around, his blades pointed right at the newly arrived soldier. "Oh, you startled me there..." He put away his blades, feeling quite relieved. He stood up to meet the tall man. "No need to ask such trivial questions. It's not relevant at this time. Anyways, I'm Tobias." He tried his best not to seem too mean. It never hurts to make new friends, right?  "You must've heard the commotion too, right?"

Paulie held up his hands the minute the soldier pointed the blades at his neck. "Woah there, buddy! Do I look like a titan?!" He remarked jokingly. He lowered his hands once the soldier put away his blades. "Sorry 'bout scarin' ya." The Scout said to his new ally. He smiled when this new soldier told him his name. "Good to meet ya, Tobi. I'm Paul. Most people call me Paulie." He looked over in the direction of the noise. "Yeah, I heard the noise. Must be a titan, right?" He asked. Before he continued speaking, he removed his green Surveyor's cloak and gave it to Tobi. "Here, take this. You need something to cover you up."

As Leona's pulse was taken her falcon Horus fluttered down to sit on Kaito's shoulder, the sharp eyed bird looking to his handler then to Kaito, as if waiting for the man to tell him if she'd be alright. Leona gave a light groan as she was shook, but didn't wake till Horus leaned forward to give a loud squawk at her face. It was his usual method of waking Leona up in the morning when he was ready to go out side and hunt.

Leona jumped a little at the squawk looking around in confusion as the bump to her head had left her mind a bit fuzzy. Hearing a the commotion of the titan's rampage, however, seemed to jog her memory. "They still haven't done anything about that?" She muttered to her self before shifting to sit up a bit straighter as her emerald eyes moved to look at Kaito. "Thanks." She said, still not quite sure what had happened to her after the titan threw her, but it seemed obvious this stranger had helped her.

Kronos had brought his gaze to Vasquez, "You try to calm the titan down and speak with him. I'll escort the redhead girl to a prison cell.." He looks up in a tree at her and another man. Ignoring the man, the boy sighed and called out, "C'mon. I'm gonna lock you up until you and that bird decide to calm down and listen. Don't even think about running; the king would have your head. Then again, as I said before, I don't need the king to show wrath, so I'll just trust you to believe me on that. Now come, before I send Vasquez and the whole army after you; by asking them politely..~" Kronos wasn't in the mood for a chase, but he sure as hell didn't mind sending others to track her down if she ran, "I'm not gonna hurt 'ya, as soon as I tell you the whole story, from behind a cage, I'll set you free. Got it? Now get down here."

Kronos had approached the tree and pulled out his silver handscythe, swinging it at the base of the tree and cleaving off bark and leaving deep marks out of boredom, "C'mooooon~... I don't have all day, I gotta see if he's okay from the wound you gave him.." He looked up from hooded eyes.

Leona wobbled to her feet, stumbling she nearly fell off the branch but used the gas release on her gear to stabilize her self and reset her footing. Leaning on the trunk of the tree she held her head trying to force her self to focus. Once she felt balanced enough Leona held up her forearm a signal to Horus who pushed off of Kaito's shoulder with a few powerful flaps, fluttering over to land delicately on the redhead's arm. Walking up her arm her came to rest on her shoulder so she could drop her arm back to her side.

Those emerald orbs shifted from from Kaito to Kronos. Though she had information to add Leona felt it best to remain silent and wait to see if the squad leader could defuse the situation first. She gave a simple nod in agreement.

Vasquez realized that he was going to have a lot of work on his hands. Why did titans have to be so heard to control. Vasquez quickly thought of something and wondered where Kena was. Maybe she could help calm Leif down quicker, but she wasn't even near the scene where the chaos was taking place. Vasquez sighed and tried to think of a plan. If the worse came to pass, he would have to subdue Leif, forcibly. Vasquez might have needed some help, but he sure as hell didn't want to rely on any Survey Scouts. Surely enough, that's all he was surrounded by.

"..................................Just my damn luck..."

Leif was too irrational to deal with alone this time. Reluctantly, he stared at Kaito for a second. Even though he hated to acknowledge it, Kaito was a strong soldier and a very valuable asset to humanity. Vasquez growled, looked away, and swallowed his pride.

"...........Kaito..............can you help me in recapturing this titan? If you help, I'll be willing to make Kronos overlook some of the offenses that have become a result of this incident..... "

The simple plea for help to a survey scout stung like 1000 hornets.