5 Back to the Walls

Gohan stared at the girl before him. She was wearing the same green cloak as he had found on one of the plains near his forest. She had it wrapped tightly around herself, though he could spy the grey shirt she wore underneath. She had short black hair, parted to her right side. She also had freckles on her cheeks just below her eyes. Speaking of which, her golden eyes were locked right on his, despite the fact that she was still writing in her notebook mechanically.

He raised his eyebrow at her, before turning to look at the Titan he had killed. It had been a surprisingly problematic kill. He'd only been going for a late night walk through the treetops when he had heard the Titan attack. Gohan had ran through the trees and spied it placing the girl's head in its mouth. Lacking a weapon, Gohan made a snap decision. Breaking off a small branch, he had leapt down and stabbed it in the neck. Piercing the nape before he wrenched it to the side and ripped it open. The problem had not been from stabbing the Titan, the branch had fortunately been quite sharp and Gohan had used a small burst of ki to amplify his strength, the issue was that when he wrenched the stick to the side he was fearful it would snap and fail to kill it.

So had tried one of the new techniques he'd developed. Supercharging the stick with his ki. By flowing his own ki through the branch, he could almost treat it like an extension of himself. Augmenting it so as to increase its durability and damage. Had he failed, it would have broken pitifully in half, and the girl would have been eaten.

Gohan sighed, indebted to his abilities for his success. His ki had certainly risen since leaving Shiganshina two years ago, though not as much as he would have liked. He'd had few chances to train living in isolation, only able to safely move around at night. Even then, he'd had issues at night.

Gohan snapped his head up. His ki senses had begun warning him of company. Several Titans were heading his way, presumably attracted by the wail of the one he'd just killed. He shifted his focus back to the girl just as she opened her mouth for the first time since his arrival.

"H-hello. I'm Ilse Langnar. Thank you…thank you so much."

Her eyes were puffy and red, her cheeks still slightly damp from her now absent tears.

"Do you…do you have a name?"

"I'm Gohan Son."

He looked around nervously, feeling several hideous Ki's continue to close in.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude but uh…there's some Titans closing in so…we should probably go."

She gasped. Eyes wide, she looked around her for any sign of the beasts. Though she saw none, it failed to calm her down.

"Oh no."

She looked around in a panic.

"Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no."

"Hey uh…I know a safe place. We should probably go there."

She stared at him dumbfounded. Of course he knew a safe place. This was a boy who was dressed like he'd lived in the woods his whole life!

"Where!?"

As it turned out, Gohan had himself a small treehouse set up high off the ground. So high in fact, that the ground had disappeared from view several levels ago. Fortunately for Ilse, Gohan had made a rope ladder for himself early on.

…

When they had finally reached the top, Ilse had taken a moment to collapse on the branch and rest. It was getting very dark now. She could even see the stars coming out.

"We're almost there."

Gohan wasn't even breathing heavily.

"How can you be fine after all that climbing?"

He gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his head as he did so.

"I've been up and down a few times, I guess. I do all of my hunting on the ground as well, so…"

Another chuckle. Ilse looked away from him, focusing instead on slowing her breathing.

After a few moments, she stood up once more and signalled for him to lead the way.

"So uh… How long have you lived here?"

"In the forest? Um… How long ago did Titans break through the wall in Shiganshina?"

She stopped. Truthfully, she didn't know what answer she had expected. But that hadn't been it.

"That was three years ago!"

"Oh?" He turned thoughtful. His lips moving slightly as he seemed to recount the events he'd experienced since then.

"Oh hey you're right!" He smiled widely at her. "Anything exciting happen since then?"

She continued staring at him. Was this boy serious? How did he…she just had to know.

"How have you survived out here!?"

"Oh, I hunt." He looked around the tree. They hadn't moved very far, and it was getting dark quickly. "Um…could we talk when we reach the top? It'll get dangerous when it's really dark."

She nodded mutely, her mind still racing with questions.

When they reached the top, Ilse got her first look at Gohan's…home. It was mainly just a few cloaks and furs spread around to make himself comfortable. For his bedroom he'd actually created himself a little roof. Wedging a stick into the side of the tree above his bed, he'd then hung several cloaks from it. The heavy cloaks provided a surprisingly effective protection from the rain and…other things. Hung up on several of the nearby branches were what seemed to be burlap sacks?

Gohan showed Ilse to a small seating area he'd made. She sat down and waited patiently as Gohan grabbed four of the bags, handing one to Ilse and keeping three to himself.

She accepted it graciously, opening it to see it was filled with fruit. Apples mostly, though a few others helped to fill it to the brim. She looked up from the bag, ready to give her thanks when she noticed that Gohan had already begun to stuff his face enthusiastically. It was ludicrous watching him eat. It was like he was simply sucking the food directly into his mouth, not even taking pause to chew his meal.

Ilse's own stomach grumbled loudly. She'd almost forgotten, she hadn't eaten in over a day. Spending every moment she could running from Titans, desperate to reach wall Rose. She lifted an apple out of the bag. It was a healthy red. Perfectly ripe. She bit into it, enjoying the juice that seemed to ooze out of it. Then she took another bite. And another. And another. And another. Until she seemed to be speeding through the bag's content at the same pace as her saviour.

Somehow, Gohan had still finished before her and was waiting patiently for her. Despite her surprise, she handed him her bag and watched as he hung them up on another branch. What question should she lead with? She had so many. He sat back down next to her.

"How have you survived in Titan territory!?"

He seemed somewhat taken aback by her sudden question. She had to remind herself that despite how strange her circumstances were, he was still only a child.

"Um…did you mean, how did I get here or…"

"Uh, sorry. That was rude of me. I mean…what do you eat? How do you avoid the Titans? How did you even get out here to begin with?"

"Heh heh. Um, mostly I eat fruit. A lot of these trees actually grow them near the upper levels. It's usually just apples, but I've found some berries and pears around too. Boy, you have no idea how happy I was when I found them. I mean, I like food, but I'm not such a fan of apples anymore."

"I could imagine so."

"Yeah, but it's not so bad actually. I can hunt deer and other animals for their meat as well. Just wait in the branches above their trails and swoop on down. They don't come through very often, but there's a lake not far away, sometimes they'll come through in my direction. Unfortunately it doesn't keep very well, otherwise I would have had some to offer you."

He gave another nervous chuckle and rubbed his head. It seemed like this was a trait of his that he did often, though she wondered how he'd coped with no-one to talk to.

"And the Titans?"

"Oh yeah, them. Turns out they aren't very active at night. So I stay up late and sneak around when they're sleeping. You'd be surprised what you can find just lying around."

"You mean, all of this was just lying around."

"Oh that, uh no. There's some houses nearby too. I made a really late night trip and found all of these green cloaks lying around."

Discarded green cloaks? Oh no.

"Those…would be from the failed scouting expeditions."

He turned his head away.

"I thought something bad had happened. They'd all been caught by the wind and blown here. And some of them were… I left the ones with blood on them. It didn't seem right."

Multiple cloaks? That didn't seem right. The Survey Corps didn't head in this direction very often. They mostly concerned themselves with clearing a path straight from Trost to Shiganshina. As opposed to where she was now.

The only reason she had been so close to the forest was due to her position as the commander of the left wing. When her comrades had been killed, she'd fled in the opposite direction from the rest of the Survey Corps. Initially she had just been running from Titans, but she'd stuck with her heading as the Titans would undoubtedly be attracted to the large groups of soldiers.

So if it hadn't come from the Survey Corps, it must have come from…

"The reclamation attempt."

"Huh?"

Ilse looked at Gohan. His innocent eyes staring back at her. Not knowing that the cloak he had wrapped around himself would have had an owner. That it had belonged to a refugee. A survivor from wall Maria. One who had then been sent off to their death just a year later.

"The reclamation attempt. A year after wall Maria fell. The government organised an effort to reclaim the wall from the Titans. 250,000 soldiers were sent. But barely a hundred returned."

Gohan had a look akin to a mix of shock and horror on his face.

"Wait. If there were so many soldiers around, how come no one found you? Surely they would have rescued you!?"

Gohan looked away. Was he… No. She must have been wrong. For a moment it looked like Gohan was…panicked. But why? He had no reason to seem afraid of that. Did he?

"Did you…did you see anyone?"

"No."

He answered quickly, not looking at her. Instead he was staring at his arms nervously.

He seemed to catch himself in the act and turned back to her, answering more confidently as he elaborated.

"No, I uh…didn't see anyone. I must have missed them."

"Missed them? But…we aren't even that far from Trost."

"I don't think I was here at the time…"

"You weren't here?"

"No. I think that must have been when I was closer to wall Maria."

"You went to wall Maria?"

Something wasn't adding up. First he was panicked about the idea of soldiers having been nearby. Then it turned out that he was conveniently out as far away as possible.

"How did you get to wall Maria?"

"I have a horse."

Wait. What?

"You have a horse?"

"Yep. A soldier gave him to me to escape Shiganshina."

Ilse's heart almost burst out of her chest in excitement.

"You have a horse! Now we can get to wall Rose!"

"What?"

Ilse stared at him. "Wall Rose. I know the way."

He stared back silently. His face was devoid of all emotion. This made no sense! He should be happy. Shouldn't he?

Gohan, however, was stuck in deep thought. Go to wall Rose? But he wasn't ready yet. He didn't know how long it would take, but he would master it. Then, and only then, would he go back to civilisation. If he went now and failed… No. He had to stay here. Alone in this forest.

He looked Ilse directly in the eyes. Opening his mouth to reject her.

But then he stopped. It wasn't just him in this forest. Ilse was here too. She wanted to go back. Needed to go home. She, no doubt, had a family waiting for her. Missing her. He couldn't make her stay. Even if he could force her to, it just wouldn't have been right.

But if he sent her off alone? No. She could die. She didn't know the surroundings like he did. No one did. She could get lost. Or get attacked by a Titan! She didn't look like she had any weapons on her, especially not anything useful for killing Titans.

He broke eye contact. He couldn't do it. He knew what he had to do.

"Yes. Let's go tonight."

He couldn't see her, but he felt her Ki light up with excitement. When he looked back at her, he could see the smile that was plastered across her face.

"We've already eaten, and it's almost dark, so we'll have our best chance to leave tonight."

"That's…that's great! With your horse, we can be there by tomorrow morning!"

She immediately whipped out the notebook that she had stored somewhere beneath her cloak.

It turns out that my saviour has a horse, and has offered to take me to wall Rose. We will leave be leaving soon, while it is still dark. The Titans are less active at night, so we should be able to sneak past them.

She turned away from her notebook to look at Gohan once more. He was busy packing up some supplies. Some food and blankets by the looks of it. The blankets were no doubt for the cold night coming up. The food however…with how much she had just seen him eat there was no way he could still be hungry. As she saw him take some of the food out of the supply bag and eat it, she began to reconsider it.

Turning away again, she returned to writing in her book.

My saviour is very strange. He looks to be barely a teenager, and yet he claims to have been living in the wilderness for almost three years, ever since the fall of Shiganshina. As impossible as his claim seems, he is also so knowledgeable about Titans and the surrounding area, that I believe him.

Is it possible to survive in Titan territory? All my training in the Survey Corps has always told me no. Yet this child has done so in relative comfort.

"Ilse."

She looked up from her book to see Gohan, having now packed some supplies for their trip, was smiling at her.

"You should get some sleep now, it won't be completely dark for a few hours. In the meantime, you can have my room!"

He gestured flamboyantly to the makeshift tent nearby.

"But…what about you?"

"I'll make myself a new one. It's just temporary, so all I need is a blanket and a pillow. Piece of cake to make."

Ilse blinked at him, momentarily dumbfounded.

"But, you're a child! You shouldn't be sleeping outside in the cold! You'll get sick."

Gohan chuckled. If only she'd known about all the time he'd spent in worse conditions while being trained by Piccolo.

"Heh heh, I'm no stranger to the outdoors. Besides I've lived here for two years now. I think I can rough it out for a few hours."

"But-"

"Hey, you're my guest. Isn't it rude to refuse your host?"

He was smiling broadly at her, seemingly proud of his logic. Her mind raced as she thought of counter arguments. As the seconds ticked by though, she realised just by looking at him that he wasn't one to give up on being polite to someone. She sighed as she spoke.

"Fine. I'll take your room."

He gave himself a small congratulations as he watched her take his bed. As she wrapped some of the many cloaks he had around herself, she spoke again.

"But if you get cold, you tell me and we swap."

"Yes ma'am."

Gohan gave her a quick nod, before settling down into his own bed.

…

"You lied to me."

Ilse was fairly annoyed when Gohan woke her a few hours later. Despite what he had said, he didn't wake her at any time during the night, and now she was shivering as she climbed back down the rope towards the forest floor.

"Heh heh, sorry."

He didn't look sorry. She really shouldn't be too surprised. The boy had been nothing but polite when he had talked to her. Offering her food and the nicest bed. What did she expect but for him to stay out in the cold to keep her comfortable.

As Gohan reached the bottom, he quickly looked around for any Titans, Seeing none, and also sensing none, he put his hands to his mouth and shouted.

"NIMBUS!"

As Ilse reached the bottom, she began to feel nervous. He may have been calling his horse, but any nearby Titan could have also heard that. Sleeping as they were, Gohan was easily loud enough to wake any human.

Her agitation grew as time ticked by with no sign of the horse. Gohan was still waiting patiently however, a small smile adorned his face.

Then she heard it, the faint sound of galloping. Moments later, a horse burst through the tree line, complete with a riding saddle and reins, though they all looked heavily worn. As soon as it locked eyes on them, it immediately headed for Gohan.

"Hey boy! Oh did you miss me?"

Gohan immediately set about rubbing his main, the horse clearly excited to see his friend again. Despite his excitement, he took the time to huff at him, immediately followed by a nudge with his nose.

"I know it's been a while since I rode you, sorry about that. I'd like you to meet someone, this is Ilse." Gohan gestured towards her, and the horse, Nimbus, walked around her. Apparently spending two years in the wild had undone its military training.

When it had completed its lap around her, the horse stopped and huffed. Gohan smiled widely at him before turning back to Ilse.

"He likes you." He turned back to the horse and climbed up, offering a hand out to Ilse.

As she reached out to grab it however, she noticed something…strange. It was wrapped around Gohan's fur coat, some sort of furry brown rope. What began to alarm her however, was that there was a hole in his furs to allow it to poke out. It was through that hole that she could see that he wasn't wearing the rope, rather it was attached to his lower back.

"You have a tail!"

It was less of a question and more of a statement. Ilse immediately pulled away out of surprise.

"Why do you have a tail?"

Gohan looked away almost out of shame. The smile that had been seemingly forever stuck on his face had disappeared. Dissolving instead into a frown.

"It's a genetic thing."

She didn't look satisfied with his answer.

"It doesn't do anything, I swear. Everyone on my dad's side of the family has one"

What should she do? She couldn't walk away. Especially not over anything as simple as him being born…abnormal. She walked back over to him and accepted his hand again, quickly pulling herself onto Nimbus.

"Sorry about that. That was mean of me. You just…surprised me is all."

His smile returned, wider than before.

"It's okay. Everyone has that reaction on their first time seeing it. Now, to wall Rose!"

Without even a snap of the reins, Nimbus immediately took off galloping, almost throwing Ilse off before she wrapped her arms around Gohan for support.

…

As the sight of a wall began to materialise, Gohan let out a small laugh to himself. He was finally here. With the sun just beginning to crest over the horizon, he could easily make out the coat of arms on the wall's gate. The sunlight was shining brightly onto the gate's crest, marking the 50 metre tall wall as that of wall Rose. He turned back to look at his passenger. Ilse had fallen asleep during their trip and was now snoozing against his back. Chuckling once more, he nudged her gently with his elbow.

"Wha…what?"

Her eyes slowly drifted open as she tried to recollect where she was.

"Hey, wakey wakey. You fell asleep. We're here now."

"I fell asleep?"

"Heh heh. Yep. You're even drooling."

She flushed and immediately wiped at her mouth. Her cheeks turning bright red as she felt saliva hit her hand. Gohan simply laughed and turned back towards the wall. He was telling the truth, there was Trost district right there. Speaking of which…

"How did we get here?"

Gohan looked back to her, confused by the question.

"We…rode."

"No. I mean how did we make it? If I fell asleep, then how did we make it here? I wasn't giving you any directions."

"Oh. Uh…well you gave a general direction…heh heh…"

She didn't buy it. Narrowing her eyes, she began to glare at the boy.

"That doesn't make much sense, Gohan."

"Oh…it doesn't? Heh heh…ummm…oh look some soldiers are coming."

He quickly changed the subject by pointing up towards the top of the wall where, true enough, several soldiers were approaching them in their 3D manoeuvre gear.

"Hey, you! Stop right there!"

Gohan pulled on Nimbus's reins, slowing him to a stop. As the soldiers landed around them, they quickly pulled their swords defensively.

"Identify yourselves!"

"My name is Ilse Langnar of the Survey Corps, squad leader of the left wing of the second brigade."

"What?"

Several of the men shared nervous glances. As Garrison soldiers, they knew very little of the Survey Corps' command structure, outside of public icons like Captain Levi and Commander Erwin.

"How do we know that's true?"

One of the men barked at her, stepping closer than any of the others, marking himself as their commanding officer.

Ilse turned to face the man, pulling on the cloak from around her body to show the symbol of the Survey Corps displayed proudly on the back.

"That means nothing. Look, even that kid has one!"

It wasn't their commanding officer this time. Instead it was one of the others who had been circling around them.

"Quiet, cadet!" The officer quickly berated the man before turning back to the two suspicious people before him. "If you are who you say you are, then what the hell were you doing outside the walls? And with a cadet no less?"

"He's not a cadet, I found him in one of the forests and he saved my life. I was part of the latest expedition beyond the walls."

"The expedition returned yesterday, how could you have survived a whole night beyond the walls?"

As Ilse opened her mouth to reply, she was cut off by a shout from one of the members of the garrison.

"Sergeant! Two Titans approaching to the south-east!"

The group quickly twisted around to see that the soldier was correct. Two Titans, a 7-metre and a 12-metre were closing in. Although they were still quite some distance away, it became readily apparent that holding a discussion in the open was no longer possible.

The sergeant growled and swivelled back to Ilse and Gohan.

"Fine. Get inside the wall and we'll take you in for questioning. You'd better hope that Commander Erwin vouches for you."

The soldiers swiftly headed back towards the safety of the wall, disappearing up high with a burst of gas. Gohan wasted no time in getting Nimbus going again, making his way towards the gate which slowly opened several minutes later.