"An abnormal? No she's more like- more like the colossal Titan. Wait, so does that mean commander Erwin was-" Eren's pondering was quickly cut off by Oluo and his shouts from the mans side.
"Hey! Snap out of it runt!" The words earned a growl from Mikasa, and Petra quickly moved in to diffuse the situation.
"You can puzzle it all out later. Right now we need you focused on pushing ahead." Her tone was much sharper than she had intended, though the harrowing chase they had just endured had sent her nerves far over the edge. It would take her some time to calm down.
"Right!" Eren quickly snapped his focus forwards, watching the path in front of them even as his mind continued to focus on what was behind them.
"Eren, it'll be okay now. You need to relax." As always, Mikasa was quick to try and reassure him, though she herself was feeling the same adrenaline in her veins as everyone else. "Did you feel it? When we went past?"
What did she- Eren cast his mind back, remembering all the feelings he'd felt. Mostly a lot of terror, but with his ki senses he'd been feeling the world too. Always, faintly connected to everything. There had been people, lots of them, all participating in the ambush. That had been no surprise, so she must have meant something else…
That's right, there was one above all he had felt even in spite of his distraction. "Gohan…" he whispered.
"That's right. He's there. He'll keep an eye on that Titan, we'll have nothing to worry about." Mikasa herself, did not believe that, and was as worried about their friend as Eren. However, she put her trust in his strength.
For Petra however, her own concerns had quickly begun to rise.
From atop their perch, Captain Levi pulled his blades out, ready to move down and engage. Gohan stood uncertainly, studying the creature in front of them. They had been rather limited in being able to practice with Erens Titan form, especially given the Ki training the team had been going through at the same time, which meant he was now free to learn all he could. So long as the Titan remained trapped. The captain made to move before a small shake from commander Erwins hand halted him.
"Not quite yet Levi, a little more insurance." The commander raised his sword along with his voice, signalling down to those below. "Second and third waves! FIRE!"
Another barrage of explosions, and more harpoons were loosed into the female Titan, piercing her body all over and locking her even more firmly in place. It took several seconds before the volley finally ended, with all three of them confident that she was now safely contained.
In part thanks to her quick reflexes upon noticing the trap, and thanks to the trap itself, her hands were gripped tightly over her nape. It would likely take some time to pull out whoever it was inside of that thing. Gohan remembered the feeling of those who had engaged her, those who had died. He wanted his answers.
Why?
He knew evil people, those who were far worse than this creature. Monsters like Cell or Frieza. But he didn't understand why someone would do this. What motivation could they have had for attacking the scout regiment like this? It would take some time, but at least he would have an answer to one of his questions soon.
Who?
Waiting on the outskirts of the forest, Christa watched as a Titan reached its hand out and gripped the trunk of the tree. Far too big to grab an actual purchase on the trunk, the Titan instead sunk its hand into the bark, tearing a small section out just enough to wrap its fingers and gain a hand hold before it started to climb, with another hand just barely managing to grasp a branch.
"Nanaba, they figured out how to climb." Despite the swords ready in her hands, Christa was not eager to fight the creature, especially with how many had gathered around them, lured in by either the movement of other Titans, or some innate ability to smell their food.
"I can see that." Though she was no squad leader, Nanaba showed no concern for the Titans potentially dangerous actions. Like others in the scouts, she was a veteran survivor, and had seen more than her fair share of bizarre Titan actions. "Well, if they can make it up this far we can always go up a little further I suppose. Anyway, I doubt we'll be here much longer, I suspect the order to withdraw will be coming any minute."
"What makes you say that? Those explosions just now? I hope everything's alright in there."
"Me too."
Nanaba truthfully had no idea what was happening inside of the forest, but she would do her duty and wait until she received any new orders. Until then, she kept her eyes locked on the creatures below, who gazed back with unflinching eye contact.
"Hannah, you think that's cannon fire or what?" Sasha was sat crouched on her branch, eyes looking up at the sky as she watched a flight of birds flee from the forest. Her voice wavered only slightly, anxiousness still prevalent after waiting for so long. "I mean, nothing else makes that kind of racket right?"
The occasional boom was still echoing from the trees, almost sounding like a thunderstorm that was out of sight. Hannah herself let out a sigh of worry, unsure of what was going on, with most of her mind busy worrying about Franz. "I don't know Sasha. I didn't think we brought any cannons with us, but I can't think of any other reason."
Reiner stood nervously on the tree branch, one leg bouncing as he tapped his heel against the tree branch over and over. If he was right and some kind of ambush had happened, then he didn't know what was going to happen in there. With any luck the commander had pulled something ingenious, and they could return with their heads held high. His close call with that Titan still haunted him, and he just wanted to get back to base. Maybe if he was lucky he could receive a commendation of some kind for his close call with the Female Titan-
His tapping abruptly stopped, and he squeezed his hands tight, nails digging into his palms.
"What the hell's with all the noise, seriously?" Ymir let out a sigh of annoyance, almost casually watching the Titans that reached out to her from the forest floor. "Give me a hand here Bertoldt, you happen to see what tree Christa scuttled up?"
"Sorry, I don't have a clue." The man was stood on the same branch as her, though had no where near the same composure, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his cheek.
'Nothing makes sense anymore. What are we even doing here? I just want to go home.' For Connie, the whole situation was agonising. Sat waiting with no news of what was happening, all the while death was such a short distance away from him.
His thoughts turned to that of the rest of his friends, as he hadn't seen all of them arrive. Were they dead? Or were they just out of view?
He had seen some arrive including Mina, and he was thankful about that at least. There was none of the awkward air around them in a situation like this, and if he wasn't so on edge he might have thought it time to apologise. Then again, he'd said sorry before, and that hadn't helped. Perhaps things were best just left alone.
Besides, from the way he'd seen Jean hovering over her and checking on her headwound, he suspected she may have completely moved on. Though that was just guess work really, he felt like he hardly knew Jean anymore, so surprising was his change of mind to join the scouts.
"So that was the plan from the start? We weren't flying by the seat of our pants? Look, I'm not complaining, I get keeping it from me, but come on keeping you guys in the dark? You'd think you'd earned a little more trust than that right?" High up in the trees, the Special Operations Squad stood waiting for further orders as Eren continued pondering.
Despite the fact that Mikasa whole heartedly agreed with his questions, she couldn't help but notice how annoyed the others were getting. Case in point was when Oluo rounded on Eren frowning. "Damn you're annoying."
"I hope you're not suggesting the captain kept the plan from us because he thinks we're a liability?" Petra's rather uncharacteristic snap was only further evidence of how frustrated they all were, in parts thanks to the fading away of their adrenaline.
"Eren's not saying that, he just doesn't want to be kept in the dark." Though she was waiting for the snap of annoyance from Eren, he actually didn't say anything, instead letting her continue. "We're meant to keep him safe, so why didn't he tell any of you anything about the plan?"
Oluo growled, pointing his sword at her as she instinctively stepped in front of Eren and tightened her grip on her blades. "Keep talking like that and I'll knock your teeth out."
"Look I hate to say it but they have a point." Elds words quickly cut the tension and drew their attention over to the man leaning against the tree trunk, his eyes looking elsewhere and thoughtful. "For being as supposedly instrumental to the plan as we were, the Captain didn't give us much to go on."
"So what?" Asked Gunther, who had been listening in on the whole conversation.
"So it means he doesn't trust us, kind of a big deal. Come on you guys, think about it, maybe Eren isn't the only one who can change. Maybe someone in the regiment's a Titan spy."
The idea left them all shocked.
'Someone might have betrayed us, and they're trying to help the Titans wipe us out?' Mikasa felt a white hot rage begin to build inside of her. 'That same person tried to attack Eren. They'll never get him, I'll kill them before they so much as touch him.'
"A spy? Are you sure about that?" Asked Gunther.
"Well, no. But I'm sure the commander believes it." Continued Eld. "He'd have to, and I'd wager you anything that the only people in the know in this are the survivors from five years ago."
That left a list that cut off a large amount of even the veterans. Hange, Levi, Mike, Nanaba, Dieter, and a sadly small number of others.
"Of course, that's gotta be it."
"I concur wholeheartedly." Olue cut in before turning to Eren and Mikasa. "Hear that you sniffle drops? There was a good reason."
Mikasa snarled slightly at him, and Oluo narrowed his eyes back at her. Before either could say anything, Gunther cut in with another question of his own.
"Right, yes, a perfectly good reason." Petra's shoulders relaxed as relief flushed over her. "It adds up. After all, in their position it narrows down the list of suspects to a manageable number, Shiganshina's probably when the spy got in."
"What about Gohan?" Several heads turned to look at him quizzically, waiting for him to elaborate. "Gohan is as fresh as the rest of the recruits, yet the Commander pulls him to be by his side for the whole expedition?"
"You're not seriously suggesting Gohan is a spy are you!?" The anger that laced Eren's tone came as a surprise to no-one. "He saved my mother's life!"
"Whoa, easy Eren." Eld waved placatingly, trying to simmer the boy down, though from the way Mikasa had suddenly gone rigid he had a suspicion he might have to deal with her soon as well. "He's not saying anything. Just trying to figure out what the commander might have been thinking."
"Eren's right, Gohan couldn't be a spy." Mikasa added. She knew her friend well, and there was no way he was a traitor.
"He's hiding something, that's for sure." The others looked at Oluo in a mix of confusion and insulted accusations. "Think about it, just how much does anyone really know about this kid? Family wiped out by some gangster nobody's ever heard of, and yet he's supposedly some kind of noble? How would something like that go unnoticed? Especially if one of them has a birth defect like a damn tail."
It was a question that many of them had asked themselves in one form or another, even Mikasa and Eren. They hadn't had long to get to know Gohan before they had been separated from him for an entire two years, however the trust and comradery that had been built up by saving Eren's mother and their three years in the military together, had more than gained him their complete faith in him.
"I think you answered your own question there Oluo" Gunther cut in. "Nobles aren't exactly likely to advertise a kid who was born differently like that. I think he mentioned he was home schooled too right?"
"He did." Petra answered, remembering some of their conversations about his past. He had been vague with certain parts, but the general upbringing he had he'd talked about freely. "I don't exactly get the newsletter about what the nobles have been up to, do you?"
Oluo rolled his eyes in concession, frowning as the others all seemed to likewise dismiss his argument. "What about the two years he survived in Titan territory? That's unheard of, nobody could do it!"
"Gohan did." Petra answered with complete certainty, looking just as resolute as Mikasa and Eren. "We all saw how he did it, ki."
"Petra, don't let your feelings get in the way of the fact that the kid's story just doesn't make sense!"
'Feelings?' Eren thought to himself in confusion, looking over at Petra who was now sporting a red tint. In spite of this, she did not back down and look away.
"I'm not letting my feelings distract me! Gohan taught us all ki, something no one could have figured out without him! Why would he do that if he was a spy!?"
"Well then-"
"Enough." Eld cut Oluo off before he could continue, and before Petra got even angrier. From the way she was standing, he was half expecting her to charge forwards and slash him. "These are questions we can all ask the Captain and the Commander later. For now, we continue to focus on the mission. Now, can everyone still sense the Titan?"
The team forced themselves to relax and shut their eyes. Mikasa was the first to nod her head as she felt the energy of the Titan they had captured.
"FIRE!"
At the commanders orders, Hange personally pulled the string to unleash the cannon by her side. Another volley of harpoons were released, only further pinning the Female Titan in place.
"Poor thing, can't so much as bat an eyelash can we?" Hange looked at the creature with a manic grin. She had been looking forward to this, the chance to study such a unique creature, as well as get some personal revenge for those it had killed. She knew those soldiers well, every one of their deaths she would repay a hundred-fold on the person inside. "Must be terribly frustrating. Get used to it my dear, biology can often times be a curse. Case in point, the more your wounds heal, the stiffer your joints become." She could help the giggle that escaped her lips, oh how she couldn't wait. Unfortunately, she had to. "Now, what is the hold up on the extraction of our esteemed guest? It won't get any easier, strike while the iron is hot I say."
Both Mike and Captain Levi were doing so, soaring towards the creature's hands with swords at the ready. Just before they struck, an icy blue crystal formed over the hands and their blades shattered on impact. They'd struck hard, Levi especially so with his now Ki enhanced strength, and sent fragments of their weapons scattering across the air.
They pulled back quickly, the two of them landing near the commander and Gohan to show the results of their efforts.
"I sensed a small power up when the crystal formed. Look, it's dropping at the same rate that she's letting the crystal break away." Gohan pointed to the creatures hands. Clear as day, they could see the crystal substance begin to crack and fragment, eventually breaking apart and dropping from her body, the smallest evaporating into pieces as they hit the ground. "It's not Ki usage though, not really. Must be part of her Titan form, and one that takes effort to hold, not something she can hold forever."
"An impressive ability." Erwin remarked. "She can harden her skin to protect portions of her body, similar to the Armoured Titan that breached wall Maria."
"We can't wait around for her to get tired of hardening her skin. We'd likely run out of blades long before then anyway." As he spoke, Captain Levi replaced his blades with a new set.
"Agreed. Levi, I want you and Gohan to blow off her hands with Ki." The commander turned to Gohan. "Would that be possible?"
The half-breed nodded thoughtfully. "It would. But we'll have to hit the wrists to avoid damaging whoever is inside." Not for the first time, he wished he'd had the forethought to learn the Kienzan from Krillin. Then this whole process would have been a simple matter. He could make an attempt, but now hardly seemed the time to be trying something new.
"A wise observation, see it done."
Gohan and the captain both moved only a short distance away, getting themselves better lined up for their shot.
"Before we start, I want to gauge how strong her body is." Gohan raised a hand, a small ball of energy appearing with a shining light and subtle hum of power. He released it, sending it into one of the wrists and watched it explode against it, blood and bone was blown over its body as the meat was gouged from the creature.
It was shocked, clearly. Steam rose from the wound, quickly followed by the same crystal as before. He watched as the creature began to strain against its bonds, but they refused to allow her even the slightest of movement. Some wounds seemed to bleed as the harpoons were pulled, but not one of them budged. She was truly stuck immobile.
Gohan watched as crystal quickly grew and formed over its hands and wrists, reinforcing the limbs as it knew what was planned to come next.
"Wound wasn't deep, and it's tougher now. But we can get through that."
Gohan turned his body slightly and dropped into a stance, waiting for the captain to follow suit. With both hands outstretched and stood side by side, both took aim at their target and began to speak.
"Ka…"
The two chanted in unison as their cupped hands were pulled in and to their side.
"Me…"
Ki flowed from their bodies, each able to sense the build up of energy within each other.
"Ha…"
The first whisps of energy began to appear, small specks of blue light in between their hands.
"Me…"
Blue light shone from their hands, pools of energy being brought out into their hands as their blasts neared completion. Gohan and Captain Levi readied themselves to unleash their power, when the Titan suddenly screamed.
"RAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!"
The scream echoed around the walls of the forest, each and every scout in the area suddenly clutching their ears in pain. Levi and Gohan both dropped their prepared attacks and covered their ears in protection. Had part of Gohan's training not covered how to safely back off from a Ki blast, there may have been a terrible accident. Wind billowed with the roar, sending the scouts' cloaks rippling in the air before finally easing back down when it ended.
"The hell was that, her final words?" Captain Levi wondered aloud as he and Gohan both returned to their normal standing positions.
Gohan however, froze. Their was a screaming alarm in his mind as his senses felt large amounts of sudden movement. It was so sudden, it took him a moment to register what he was actually feeling, before finally letting out a shocked gasp.
"THE PERIMETER IS BROKEN! TITANS ARE CLOSING IN FROM ALL SIDES! 34 IN TOTAL, FIRST WAVE WILL HIT FROM THE EAST!"
His shout to the commander caught everyone's attention, and sent them scrambling to their positions. Those on the ground quickly activated their gear and flew up into the tree canopy.
"Wagon defence squad, prepare to move and intercept!"
One of the teams zipped up and moved into position. The sounds of movement were just beginning to reverberate through the trees, the sound bouncing off of every trunk and giving no information on where it could be coming from. Had it not been for Gohan's warning, they wouldn't have the first clue which side would hit them first.
After a few tense minutes of waiting, the rumbling of the charging Titans became clearly audible, and mere moments later, the first of the creatures was visible. A five metre tall Titan swiftly followed by a ten and an eleven metre.
A team of five scouts quickly rushed forwards, cloaks billowing in the wind and swords drawn and ready. As they moved in however, the creatures simply ran straight past them, beelining towards the Female Titan.
"What's going on? Damn things passed right by us!"
Captain Levi watched as the monsters continued unabated along their path before he stepped off the branch and moved in himself. Taking a reverse grip on one of his blades, he surged forwards and took down the two tallest in one quick burst of movement.
The smallest one continued without hesitation, latching onto the Female Titans leg and taking a bite before Gohan zoomed in and cut it down. He sidestepped it as the corpse landed by him and looked around. He didn't need his Ki senses to know they were all around him, as they burst through the brush in a swarm.
All of them, from all sides, bearing down on the Female Titan.
"All hands, commence combat! Defend the Female Titan at all costs!"
At the commanders orders, each and every scout began to move, charging towards their opponents. Gohan himself fired off his cables and raised himself up and above, waiting to intercept any who broke through.
Despite the numbers and experience of the scouts, tragically few were slain before they managed to break past their defences and begin swarming over the Female Titan. Gohan moved in quick, dashing from nape to nape as blood spurted high in the air from each kill. However even his fast movements were not enough, as the Titans began to scramble over one another, whether they were alive or dead.
'If I jump in there, I could get pinned inside, or even crushed to death.'
He knew that the Titans themselves were physically light, but the strength they could exert when huddled like that was not something he wanted to test out.
So instead, he pulled back. Pulling himself high up into one of the trees, he instead put his hand out and took aim, a Ki blast being summoned forth. Except then, he hesitated.
He felt it rather than saw it, the reveal of another human energy signature inside of the pile of Titans that tore away at the Female Titan's flesh. His eyes tracked over to where he sensed it moving, almost ready to try and dive in to save whoever had been caught inside. But then he saw them break free, and soar off into the trees.
It was a scout, according to what he saw, even down to the cloak and hood. Except, he felt the power level of the Female Titan drop at the same time the scout had moved from within the swarm. He also most disturbingly, knew that Ki signature.
He was moving before he even realised, following the energy as it fled into the trees. Somewhere in the back of the mind he knew he should be saying something, call out that he was in pursuit, but he couldn't think straight as he followed.
'I must be wrong, there's no way…'
But as he continued to follow them, he knew he wasn't wrong. They sped up as they realised they were being followed, and Gohan took chase with fervour, pushing out Ki and gas as he raced towards them.
Darting around trees, crashing through branches, he gained ground inch by inch, and his target looking back almost in panic as they failed to shake him.
"Tell me I'm wrong!" He called out, landing on the side of a tree trunk and kicking off with such power that wind cracked around him. "Tell me this isn't true! Tell me you didn't do this!"
Paying too much attention to Gohan's chase, his prey caught their foot on a branch and was sent tumbling down onto it, quickly struggling to rise to their feet as Gohan rocketed upwards from below, swords drawn and pulled back to strike.
"ANNIIIEEEEE!"
He roared as he smashed into her, his blades locked with hers and he was face to face with her. Their eyes looked back at each other, her panicked face as he stared directly at her did little to soothe his anger. Then, she broke away.
She pulled back and swiped at him with one of her blades, which he dodged with ease, leaning back just enough to let it sail by before stepping forwards again. She slashed again and again as he followed every step backwards she took, before lunging forwards with a stab.
His arms came down on either side of the blade and broke it to pieces, and he used the opportunity to sheath his blades and step close. Her other blade came up and he deflected it over himself, sending her into a spin before he stuck out his foot and tripped her. She gasped, falling backwards as she tried to land on her other foot and caught nothing but air.
Her arms flailed wildly to grab something as she began to fall, reactionary panic overriding her training to fire off her hooks. Then, she was suddenly stopped, as Gohan reached out and caught her wrist, holding onto her as she looked down at the forest floor, and then up at his softening, pained eyes.
"Annie…"
Annie hit the ground with a grunt, puffs of dirt being kicked up around her. The sparring grounds of the cadet training facility may have had space aplenty, but the dirt was hardly the softest of material to land on.
"That was much better, you're improving pretty quickly." As always, Gohan was there, leaning over with a hand outstretched to help her back up.
At first, she had been smacking it away, refusing to accept his pity and to stand by herself. It had been pride, frustration, and a mix of other emotions that had all felt childish over time. But again and again, he'd always offered her his hand.
She accepted it, and he pulled her to her feet like always.
The events were always the same. They would spar, he would knock her down, and he'd help her up before critiquing her, and despite having been training together for quite some time now, she had never managed to beat him. Part of her wondered if their limited availability to do the additional training was hindering her, but another part of her knew she was simply outclassed. For this round, he'd knocked her down by quite literally sweeping her off of her feet with a swipe from his legs.
"You hesitated with that spin kick, left you open long enough for me to counter instead of just dodge."
He was right. He was always right.
"I thought I saw you stumble when you changed stance, so I changed my attack." Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she bent down to rub her aching thigh when his leg had hit. Even in a spar, Gohan could pack a lot of power into his strikes.
"It was a good idea, and a good pickup for such a short space of time, but although it's important to use your brain, sometimes you just have to rely on instinct. Let your muscle memory guide you."
The boy bent down and picked up the water skin he kept nearby and passed it to her. She took it, uncorking it and taking a small sip, careful not to overindulge despite the instantaneous relief she felt. She couldn't help but lick her lips, wetting them even as the sun beat down and tried to dry them out again.
They had been at this for hours at least, and Annie really didn't know how much more she had in her. And she had some of the best stamina of all of the cadets! But of course, Gohan breathed like all he'd been doing was having a casual stroll.
"I don't get it." She said, before finally relenting and allowing herself to sit back down again. "My father trained me since I was young, and yet you…"
She wasn't too proud to admit it, she was jealous. She didn't have much she could take true pride in, but her martial ability was part of it. She had earned her skills, through years of blood, sweat, and tears.
Gohan sat down beside her, wiping some dirt off of his pants casually. "You should be proud, you're very talented Annie."
"But you're better."
He didn't deny it, instead only letting out a small sigh. "I didn't have much of a choice. I started when I was five, my mentor was brutal in a way, but he had to be." He hesitated, unsure of how to avoid describing the Saiyan's without avoiding it entirely. "He needed me to be strong, all of my family did."
Annie stilled, the feeling of kinship making itself known even if it was unwelcome. But her resistance was token at best. She was tired, she was hot, and damn it all… she was lonely.
"My father… he needed me to be strong too. It was why he trained me."
"But you didn't choose it." It wasn't a question, he knew the answer. Her silence only confirmed it, and he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I don't… like fighting, not like my dad does." He thought back to the times they had trained together, whether it was in the lead up to the androids, or in the hyperbolic time chamber. The sheer joy his father had felt, he lived for fighting. "My mom always wanted me to be a scholar instead, or maybe a doctor. Using my brain, not my muscles."
"But you can't."
Annie knew the answer, just like he did. This world was cruel and beautiful, so rarely did people get to truly live free and do what they wanted.
"No." It was with a sad smile that he said it, voice dropping momentarily to a pained whisper. "I have these abilities, and I can't ignore them."
The burden of ability. Bound by their gifts. "If only we lived in a better world…"
"We can make it better." There it was again, that same absolute resolution with which he spoke. "One day it will be. But, for now…"
"We are all on our path." Annie's eyes looked distantly away, her head turned to hide her guilty eyes. "A path we can't change. All we can do is walk it."
He looked at her. There was something unspoken, something he could see that pained her. "I don't think that's true Annie. I still choose to do this, to try and make things better."
"Do you think everyone has a choice?"
The instinctual answer was yes, that everyone had a choice in what they either did or didn't do. But he knew the sad reality was, that it wasn't always the case. He thought about the soldiers who worked for Freeza as a simple example, or others like Vegeta, who had been faced with the choice of serving the tyrant or death. Not a real choice, only an ultimatum. Except…
"I believe that sometimes, there are times where we can choose." She looked at him, not quite understanding. "There will be times where we don't have a choice, where we are compelled by circumstances to do something. But there will be times where we can change things, where we can choose to continue on our path or change it. When those chances appear, that's where we truly make our choice."
He'd had a choice once. To end things with Cell, to take care of the creature quickly, or to instead let his rage bleed out. To unleash his hatred on Cell not to stop him, but to make him suffer. He had chosen selfishness, and it cost him his father, and his home.
For Annie, she said nothing. Instead, she was left only with her thoughts and feelings, as the two rested from their training session. Did she truly have a choice? A choice to change things, to stray from the path that lay before her.
"Annie. Don't do this."
A tear dripped down from Gohan's cheek onto hers. Their eyes were locked together, their emotions on clear display to one another. Pain, hurt, anger, sadness… guilt. But Annie said nothing. Whatever thoughts were going through her mind, he didn't know and couldn't tell whether he would be able to convince her. He hoped he would.
He knew what she had done, felt the people she had murdered. But perhaps it was naïve, he still wanted to find a way to end it without bloodshed. To believe that she, his friend, would not have done this without reason, or that there wasn't a way to get her to stop.
She pulled herself up by the arm he held onto, flexing her bicep to lift herself closer to him. For the briefest of seconds, Gohan allowed himself to hope. Hope that the sadness in her eyes, the guilt she looked to feel was enough. Then, her gaze hardened, and she slashed at him with the sword in her other arm.
It cut across his eye, muscle memory pulling himself back enough that it hit only the flesh around it and not the eyeball himself. His hesitation over the belief that he could be wrong about her having held him so dangerously close to her. He hissed in pain, and blood quickly blinded his right eye. Reflexively, he let go of her wrist and threw his hands up to wipe away the blood, opening his eyes just in time to see her mid-fall and biting her hand.
The flash of lightning was instantaneous, and between the explosion of wind and the Titan body that crashed through the branch he was standing on, Gohan was flung high up into the air. He did not fire out his hooks, or use his Ki to adjust his path, instead landing on one knee on the forest floor, eyes gazing up at the near flesh-less Titan before him.
Without a word, he bent his knees, and dropped into his fighting stance.