Titan Turn; A TDS Story

Chapter 19

The sun shined brightly against the fresh coat of snow. Since last night the forest had seemed to calm down... A moment of peace and quiet... The rays of sunlight lit up the sleeping figure of Gravedigger, who was snuggled close to Scout. He tiredly rubbed his eyes, careful as to not wake up his friend he hoped off the bed. Down the wooden, somewhat creaky stairs was the warm living room that also doubled as a kitchen. He walked around peaking outside the window to see his uncle up early cutting wood for the fire, not far away from the cabin.
There was this fuzzy almost nostalgic feeling Grave could not shake away, he remembered the winter mornings back in his village, when at this time his family would already be out to cut logs for the locals.

A small creak pulled him out of his thoughts, the door opened to reveal Krampus coming back inside with the fire wood. Grave shivered slightly at the sudden breeze from outside.

"Child? Why are you up so early?" asked Krampus as he shook the snow of his boots.

"I don't know... Guess I am just used to waking up early!" shrugged Grave.

He grabbed some of the logs his uncle was holding, helping him place them next to the fireplace.

"Did you sleep well my boy?" asked the man as he arranged the wood in the cabinet.

"Yeah... Well.. Kinda? I did wake up at like the crack of dawn..."

"Was it cause of the noise outside?"

"You heard it too?!" blinked Gravedigger, taking a seat on the couch. His uncle nodded.

"Of course. But don't fret! It's normal to have an avalanche on the mountain every so often."

"... It was an avalanche?!"

"Mhm. You two came right after the 'winter' season... Though it always snows around here... That's when landslides like these happen the most... I hope it didn't scare you too badly!"

"Oh no, no... More like... Confused."

Krampus chuckled, ruffling the boy's green hair as he went on about making breakfast. Soon enough, down the stairs came Scout, still stretching his arms, his eyes half closed.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" laughed Gravedigger.

"Hey!... Rude!" giggled Scout. He took a seat next to Grave, lightly punching him in the shoulder.

"Owww hey!" said Grave as he pushed back Scout.

"Calm down you two!" yelled Krampus, a small smile creeping on his face. He remembered the way him and his brothers would play as well, the pushing, the roughhousing... Ohh how he missed them!

"... Sir are you ok?" asked Scout seeing Krampus tear up all of a sudden.

" Oh, oh yes!! Don't worry child, I am fine. Now, how about you two help me prepare something to eat? I figure both of you are hungry, yes?"

The boys looked at one another before nodding eagerly. They jumped up from the couch, ready to help with anything needed. Scout was put on potato pealing duty whilst Gravedigger on vegetable washing. His uncle had a little garden where he would grow his own food, very important in a barren place like this, Grave thought. He always knew his uncle was very good at this sort of  stuff, cooking meals, reparing things around the house, not to mention his skill in carpentry. No wonder this cabin looked pristine compared to the others. Thinking about it now, that is actually how he and Krampus became close... His skill with wood combined with Grave's engineering ones made them unstoppable when inventing something new... His uncle was the only person who knew about this 'talent' of his and for that he was grateful. He looked back at Scout and Krampus, seeing them happily chat about their day, it was so peaceful.. Who would've thought Titans and Towers can coexist..

They continued to prepare the ingredients waiting for the water to start boiling over the fire. They put the vegetables in and let them cook.
Grave found himself relaxing for the first time in a while, leaning on Krampus's shoulder on the couch as Scout tried to explain to him how his gun worked. Grave chuckled to himself, his family only ever used old style weapons like swords and bows, almost no Titan used modern guns so it was understandable why his uncle was so confused by the firearm. Hearing him laugh made Krampus grin, raising an eyebrow.

"Who are you laughing at?"

"... Nothing." said Grave trying to surpress it.

"Laughing at an old man for trying to learn about the modern world, how could you?!" he joked, cheeckily tickling the child.

"AHH- UNCLE NO!" yelled Grave as he tried to get away from him but it was too late, Krampus already had him wrapped up in a bear hug. Scout laughed at the display.

"You're ticklish!!?" he asked.

"NO!" screamed Grave. His uncle allowing him to settled down on his lap still trapped in a tight embrace.
Grave turned to face him, seeing his uncle laugh whole heartedly made him happy too. They pressed foreheads for a few seconds, relaxing after back on the couch.

"... Why do you do that?" inquired Scout curiously.

"Do what, my boy?"

"The forehead thing? I have seen you do it when we first met as well... Is it some sort of greeting?"

"Oh right, Towers don't do this, do they? ... Well you are correct somewhat, it is used as a form of greeting too but not only that, think of it as a sort of hug-type gesture, a very old one too. Since the ancient days, Titans believed the mind was one of the most important aspects of the body, it being linked directly to one's soul. And back then they thought if they pressed their foreheads together it would create a connection between their opposing spirits, so you only wish to do it with those you trust, otherwise they could take control of you and use you. That is why Titans only do this with people they love and care for, doesn't matter what kind of love really, family, friends, partners... Of course the whole 'steal one's mind' was proved fake many years later but the tradition was still kept so, if a Titan ever does this to you means they trully care for you. "

Scout paused to process all the information, " Oh wow... I never realized it was that meaningful.. Your culture is so different from ours... "

"To some extent, yes. But we do have things in common as well-"

His sentence was cut short after a loud growl was heard at the door. They stayed still, listening closely as something was clawing at the door. Scout got up, keeping his gun close, Krampus watched him evenly, ready to help in case things got out of hand.
The young man opened the door, carefully peaking outside to reveal-

"WOLFEY!" yelled Scout excitedly as he kneeled, embracing the wild animal he had saved.

Grave burst out laughing as his uncle looked at the two of them dumbfounded.

"I think you forgot a detail when you were telling me how you got here..."

Grave just continued snickering as Scout greeted the rest of the pack.

"Long story short, we found an injured pup, Scout bandaged it's wound and the pack lead us to this village as a sort of 'thank you' I guess.." reported Grave eventually.

"... You boys never seize to amaze me"

"Hey, Grave?" yelled Scout from the door.

"Yeah?"

"I think they want us to follow them again"

....

Author note: Expect more chapters in the upcoming days since I have entered spring break :)