Anyways, this story was one of those that had plot developments come along as I wrote it, as well as having a nixed romance thing because I figured it didn't make sense with the kind of character I was trying to develop with Renata, who is far more 'above it all' and busy being her own huge thing (literally/figuratively) to be involved with more mortal affairs.
Enjoy! Have yourself a lovely day, and see you tomorrow at eight AM for more!
Renata the Titan by Mackinley Clevinger, June 12, 2016
“Remember to keep running, no matter what.” Her face was turned away from the few men and women around her, a shadow masking any expression that may have crossed it before she slid her helmet over her head and twisted it, locking it into place with the rest of her armor. She turned her head to face the travel-worn group, the permanent sober expression of the helmet meeting their worry without losing resolve.
“You can’t… you’ll die, Renata!” A young woman in a yellow shawl stepped forward from the nervous group, looking through the slits of hard-glass in Renata’s helmet into the eyes protected beneath them. Sitting down, Renata’s eyes were level with the young woman’s, her gaze meeting the woman’s outrage for a few seconds before a thin yellow-light came to life around the glass, the glare blocking the woman from seeing inside the helmet.
“I’ll. Be. Fine.” Renata’s voice changed with each word as the light from her helmet grew stronger, the muffled sound from beneath the armor becoming a deep, intimidating growl bolstered by the activating suit of armor. Renata’s hand jerked, the metal gauntlet clenching the shaft of the hammer beside her, its handle that rose above Renata creaking as the massive head dug into the stone floor by her feet.
She flexed her fingers, staring at her open palms as the sound of metal-tendons being stretched filtered into the room. With the quiet sound of a hydraulic lift, Renata lifted a leg and set it back down, widening her stance as she brought her flexed arms by her side and drew herself up. With the release of her breath, she let her weight drop down and send another wave of cracks across the stone floor, small chips flying across the warehouse to strike the paralyzed men and women.
Renata slammed a fist into her open palm, the sound of clashing metal echoing throughout the warehouse while her face beneath the helmet strained as she tried to maintain control through the exhaustion and pain she felt. The yellow-light shone across Renata’s armor, concentrated around her eyes as she swung her head around the warehouse room, tilting her head down until the chin of her helmet met the metal of her chest to see the woman in the yellow shawl.
“Renata the Titan told you she would get you through to safety…” She hefted the enormous hammer into her grasp, one hand holding the thick handle while the other gripped it by the head. The hammer was as long as Renata was tall, and she slammed it into the ground head-first, the imprint in the ground it left behind as wide as her shoulders.
“And Renata the Titan will get you through to safety.” She gingerly pressed her weight against the hammer, sinking it further into the ground and reducing the stress on her left leg without making the action obvious to anyone present. The armor could survive any damage and repair itself in short-order, but she needed more time than was available.
“But… your leg, how are you… Renata, that thing was in shambles when we got here.”
“I am Renata the Titan, and I. Will. Never. Fall.” She swept a hand to her left, towards a set of doors that would barely fit Renata but would easily admit the rest of the group.
“We must go. I will keep watch and defend you against what lurks in the shadows, as before.” She lifted her hammer with both hands, gently bouncing it against her palm as she took a step towards the doors, the pain of walking a constant in her mind but set aside as she focused on the task ahead of her.
“You… even if we make it, there’s no way you can… there are too many, Renata.” The woman stepped up besides the hulking form of Renata and lay a hand over the shifting lights on her side, her other hand brushing at her eyes as tears welled up.
“We’ve only barely made it so far because of you, and we got so close… You don’t… you don’t have to die, Renata. We can… We can…” She shook her head, and sucked in a breath, hand clenching against the metal of Renata’s armor. Renata unclenched a hand from the hammer and gently brushed it against the woman’s back, comforting her.
“Titans do not die, my friend. We pass on. One day I will be immortalized in legend as so many before me, and another shall claim my name, but today…” The woman stepped back from Renata, nodding her head and wiping a hand across her eyes as she and the rest of her group gathered together and approached the door, keeping a wide berth from Renata as she drew her hammer behind her.
“Is not that day.” Renata charged the door and swung her hammer into it, shattering the barrier and sending metal scraps flying as light poured into the warehouse room from the hellish world that had lain on the other side. Monstrosities of flesh and bone turned towards Renata, mangled feet sliding on the quivering, fleshy ground that lay between the group she had promised to protect and a distant, swirling disc of light that promised freedom if they could but reach it.
Ahead of Renata lay a battlefield of carnage and constant threat that she would have to wreak havoc upon to protect her charges, different from the dozens she had already battled across before but similar in one simple, glaring way.
Their fate had already been decided the moment she set foot on the field of battle.
“I am Renata the Titan, and you are going to die.”