Steam was floating up towards the orange and cloudy covered sky and the wind felt cold as it brushed your cheeks. You were too frozen with fear to care about it though and continued to stare at the wall that stood tall above you. So many thoughts spun round in your head to the point where you thought you'd collapse.
There, a large titan, taller than the wall itself, looked down at the crowd of civilians. It was covered in red muscle, which was the only type of body part that was seeable. You stood by your younger brother Eren and two of his friends as you felt the titans eyes stare into your soul. Your felt tears fill within your eyes and there was a chain of emotions you felt. Horror, denial, fear and finally, acceptance.
That was the day everything changed in your life.
*Earlier that day*
As usual, you woke up to do your morning chores around the house while your mom got breakfast ready. Eren and Mikasa could be heard walking down the stairs slowly, which wasn't a surprise to you, neither of them were morning people. You were about 3 years older than them and definitely more mature. You couldn't really say anything though, with them being 10 years old and all.
Mikasa was a friend of Eren's and was taken in by your family the night her parents died about a year ago. She was also kidnapped by the murderers, but you never spoke about the subject. She was a quiet girl, who had a mean streak in her if anyone started on Eren, which was very often. He was a boisterous and reckless young boy. He was always getting into fights to help out their friend Armin, who was shy and timid.
Armin was a good friend and he had this ideas of what the world was like outside the walls. He talked about these large amounts of water that had salt in them and called it the sea. He said about fields of sand that went on for miles. Hearing these ideas wrapped you up with hope and you hoped that one day, you wouldn't have to hide behind the walls.
Sure, you could join the scouts and venture out there yourself. However, you hated the idea of violence and having to kill titans. You saw previous scouts walking back from the outside and the shape they were in was almost too hard to bear. They would come back with blank expressions plastered on their faces. It felt dark and nightmarish to see them that way. The injuries as well were horrifying and if you came home like that to your mom, she would be heartbroken.
"Y/n, can you take Eren and Mikasa to get some firewood please, we're running kind of low" Your mom spoke as she looked in the firewood box and you were pulled away from your intrusive thoughts.
"Do we have to?" Eren groaned behind you as he sat at the table. He never really liked doing his chores and always tried to get you or Mikasa to do it for him. You couldn't help but chuckle to yourself. That was another reason you didn't want to join, you would miss the troublemaker and guardian friend too much.
"Sure thing mom" You gave her a light kiss on the cheek and sat down at the table for breakfast. You guessed that your dad started work early and tucked into the food that lay before you. Your dad was always on the road caring for the ill and you missed him dearly.
Once you finished breakfast, Eren, Mikasa and you each grabbed an open wooded backpack to carry the wood back from your usual gathering spot. It was quite handy and easy to use when you had to carry a heavy load on.
"Bye, see you when we get back mom" You waved behind you as your mom stood at the front of your house.
You walked through the busy morning streets and weaved your way around people. It was filled with food stalls and other shops or taverns and people doing their daily shopping. You walked through the gate that led you to a field outside of Shiganshina.
You walked through the passageway that led you through the other side of wall Maria and headed to a nearby hillside where you began to pick out the dry pieces of wood. Gathering sticks wasn't the hardest job to do, except when you have a younger brother falling asleep under a tree. This would happen on occasions and when you studied the boy, you saw his eyes fluttering rapidly. Bet it's a good dream, you thought as you carried on.
"Should we wake him up?" Mikasa asked as she peered down at him with a mix of annoyance and slight worry.
"Nah, let him sleep, he must've stayed up late again" Eren had a tendency of not wanting to go to sleep and read about the scouts or he was worried a titan would break through when everyone's asleep. You thought it was just a phase and he would finally learn to relax. The girl nodded and continued to pick up pieces of wood and placed them into her wooded backpack.
What felt like hours of picking up sticks, Eren's eyes shot open and quickly sat up. When you turned to lecture him on being lazy, you saw that he looked as though he had been crying.
"What happened?" He finally asked.
"You fell asleep and left me and Mikasa to do all the work" You sighed out of disappointment.
"Sorry, I had a dream and now, I can't even remember what it was about" The boy said gruffly.
"Yeah, well, at least do the heavy lifting or I'll tell mom you've been slacking off" You rolled your eyes at your brother.
"Have you been crying?" Mikasa asked and Eren moved his hand to one of his eyes, feeling the dampness around them and the line that trickled down his cheek.
"No" He answered swiftly and made his way to one of the filled packs. You laughed to yourself before you picked your pack up as well.
"If you say so" You replied and followed the young kids back to the wall of your hometown.
Walking on the path back into Shiganshina, Mikasa was trying to get Eren to see their dad about the crying you heard drunken laughs nearby and saw a few men sat in a circle by the entrance. They were Garrison soldiers who patrolled the walls in case of any breakthroughs. Except, they were just playing a game of poker while drinking and you couldn't blame them. Titans hadn't been able to break in for 100 years. Even when they were at the walls, all they did was scratch at it.
"Hannes?" You recognised the man who had short blonde hair and a small mustache.
"Ahhh Yaeger, good to see you" The man you recognised stood up in a struggling and wavy way. The way he spoke was slurred and his cheeks were tinted with pink. You didn't even need to stand close to smell the alcohol on him. You pinched your nose to stop inhaling it when the man came closer to you.
"Lord have mercy" Your voice was deeper and more muffled while you pinched your nose inwards and rolled your eyes so show him you weren't impressed. Hannes chuckled and looked towards Eren and Mikasa.
"How are you guys then?"
"Are you even prepared to fight?" Eren asked abruptly.
"Why would I need to fight?" Hannes scratched the top of his head in confusion.
"If the titans somehow break through the wall" You rolled your eyes at Eren's response. Here you go again. There were some chortles from the other soldiers and amused smirks placed across their faces.
"Eren, that's not gonna happen, do you know how thick that wall is? Plus, it's like 50 metres high" Hannes retaliated and you knew he had a point. The was no way in hell that the titans could break in. Not unless there was a titan bigger than the wall and the scouts haven't mentioned any that tall yet so the possibility was highly unlikely.
"Stilll, what if something happens?" Eren looked as though he'd blow an eye socket from the glare he gave the older man. You gave Hannes an apologetic look and looked back at the young brown haired boy. Eren always had this kind of passion and although you loved that about him, sometimes you can't help but wonder if it'll smack him across the face one day.
"I think our mom is waiting for us, nice seeing you Hannes" You pushed the boy in front of you to get him to carry on walking. Embarrassment entered your body as you passed the Garrison men and you could feel their stares behind you.
"Y/n, you know that the titans can get to us anytime right?" The boy looked at you with pleading eyes. You didn't believe him on that part, but you couldn't shrug him off either. Eren had a good heart and he meant well so you nodded your head a little.
"Sure" You smiled softly and carried on home. That convinced him enough and he started to pick up the pace a little.
Halfway home, you heard the bells tolling and that meant one thing; the scouts were back from another mission. It also meant that more lives had been lost for no good forsaken reason. You clenched your fists tightly at the thought of mothers never being able to see their children again. Before you could even get a word out, the kids were gone a fair distance away.
Gritting your teeth, you ran after them and stopped on the side of the path behind a row of people. You had your brother and Mikasa in your sights and when you looked at Eren's face dropping, you turned and became overwhelmed with sadness.
Men were being carried on carts, their fellow soldiers and lying on top of horses. They were covered in blood stained bandages and some of their blood had dried on their uniforms. As you watched the men downheartedly walk past, you made eye contact with one man.
He had smooth, blonde hair that was neat and mainly parted to the left side of his face. He had bushy eyebrows, which were very noticeable to the naked eye. You heard of him often, being know as Erwin Smith. He was a well built kind of man and you felt your breath slightly hitch when you looked into his piercing ice blue eyes. He didn't hold the contact for long and dipped his head down with a pained expression.
The group was stopped by a frail old woman calling out for her son, and when there was no answer back, you knew what happened. You had to hold a hand to your mouth to stop a cry from slipping. The squad leader stood in front of her and you would never forget his expression.
It looked pained and frightened and a hint of guilt. That's what it meant to be in the scouts; to have to break sad news to family members all while watching them break into millions of pieces. Another soldier walked over holding something wrapped in a dark green and bloodied cloth and handed it to the woman.
When she opened it up with such slowness, she collapsed to the floor and began to sob while holding the cloth close to her and you saw why. It was an arm and at that point, you too wanted to scream. The woman spoke between sobs to the soldier and you couldn't quite hear what she said.
"THAT HIS DEATH DID SOMETHING!! TELL US HIS SACRIFICE GAVE US A BETTER CHANCE!" You squinted your eyes to stop the tears from flowing. You knew damn well that it didn't even scratch the surface of the scouts purpose. There was a painfully awkward silence before the scout even spoke.
"HE WAS BRAVE! But his sacrifice meant nothing" He said something more, but being so far away, you couldn't quite hear what he said. "WE HAVE NOTHING! YOUR SON DIED BECAUSE OF ME, I SENT HIM TO HIS DEATH! I SENT ALL OF THEM TO THEIR DEATHS!!" And that confirmed that the scouts had failed yet another mission. They lose more and more lives every time they leave the walls and showed no promise of hope for a better future.
The soldiers left and when they were out of site you turned to get your siblings. When you saw them though, Eren was picking a fight with an older man. Mikasa grabbed him and ran off before anything could escalate further. You profusely apologised for your brothers behaviour before chasing them down alleyway. That's when you saw Eren lying on the cobblestone floor and muttering something to the young girl.
"Eren that's enough, you've seen the soldiers. Now it's time to go home" You said sternly to him and he collected the sticks back up with an annoyed glint in his eye. He never spoke a word to either of you the rest of the way home.
The walk home was quicker as less people were out on the street. It usually took all day when you had to collect wood for your fires for the month. Mainly because it was a long walk and it was harder to weave around civilians.
Dinner was just about ready by the time you got back and you were so worn out, that you slumped to the floor by the doorway. Your legs felt like jelly and you were still shaken up from the encounter between the old woman and scout leader.
"Dinners ready kids, so I want you to clean up before you eat" Your mom greeted as she turned from the sink and smiled softly at you. That single smile warmed and comforted you in an unexplainable way and you knew it would be okay. "I have something for you Y/n"
"What is it mom?" You lifted your head to look at your mom holding a beautiful necklace. It was gold all over and had small branches that twirled around each other. On the ends of each little branch, there was a stud of silver. "It's gorgeous, how could you afford it tho?" You instantly clipped it around your neck and the tree lay flat in your hand.
"That's a secret" She tapped her nose lightly and turned away.
She had walked over to your brother and speaking to him softly while playfully pinching his ear. Smirking at the young boy and talked about how she knew that you and Mikasa did most of the work. She always knew and you called it mother's intuition.
Eren and Mikasa had already moved all the sticks from the packs and into the wooden box. They raced to the sink and started to clean up while you used your knee to hoist yourself up and join them. You hadn't realised your dad was home until you finally sat at the kitchen table for dinner. Who could blame you when the man just sat there quietly.
"Hey dad, how was work?" You asked with a little enthusiasm. You were pretty interested in his line of work with medicine and human anatomy. You hoped that someday you could work alongside him. Whenever you can, you tend to read some old books on that stuff. You had read them back to front a million times and even felt ready to go on the field straight away.
"It went well, I actually have a client that I need to get to in another city so I best be heading off soon" Your dad replied as he quietly ate the prepared dinner and already nearly finished. You slumped your shoulders a little; he was leaving already when he just there.
"Can I come with you, you know I'm capable to join you" You huffed as you stared at your dad.
"Next time you can" The man responded as he was standing up. Eren and Mikasa had joined you at the table.
"Eren, wants to join the scouts" Mikasa muttered and you felt your face go pale.
"He what?!" You cried and glared daggers into his eyes. "Did you not see those soldiers today? Do you want to end up like that Eren?!!" You continued to stare at the boy, who was busy looking at Mikasa shocked. Your mom yelled at your brother and he yelled at her back. While this went on, your dad just sat in silence.
"It's a nightmare Eren, it's safer within the walls" Your dad uttered those words calmly.
"But it has to be better than this life, right?" Eren defended. "I know what being in the scouts would mean but, I can't just give up that kind of hope, cause if I do, the nightmare will go on forever" You felt your heartstrings being pulled. He always wanted to join the scouts and was passionate about it too. For a moment you thought he could stand a chance if he had the three years of training, but even then, the best always fall eventually.
"I have to get going now" Your dad just stood up and walked to the door. Your mom walked fast to stop your dad. He was never good at lecturing or disciplining you children and you expected nothing more from him.
"At least scold him for heaven's sake" Your mom folded her arms and waited.
"The boys just curious, Eren, if you behave I'll show you what I've been working on in the basement" Your dad showed a key that was tied to his neck and then walked away. Eren's eyes glinted with happiness and amazement.
While you stood outside to see your dad off, your mom went back to the subject of the scouts. It wasn't your place to say anything, but you thought it best for her to leave it for a bit. That caused Eren to yell back at her and he instantly stormed off and round a corner.
"Can you and Mikasa go after your brother please, honestly, what am I to do about that boy" She shook her in dismay.
"I'm sure it'll be okay mom. We'll be back soon, love you" With that, you rushed off in the direction of your brother.
It didn't take long for you to catch up to Eren and you saw his friend Armin pinned to a wall by three boys. You couldn't believe people would gang up on someone like that just to feel good about themselves and you sprinted in their direction. When they took one look at you and Mikasa, they bolted down the street. However, Eren believed he was the reason for their instant departure.
Looking at the boy, you noticed he had some scratch marks on his face and he struggled to keep himself standing. You slouched one of his arms along you shoulder and smiled.
"I gotcha" Armin smiled gratefully and you all walked to the kids favourite spot; the river.
Apparently, the boys who roughed Armin up overheard his thoughts about outside the walls. You summed it up to them just being afraid of the unknown, which was common in the people of your cities.
Eren was still annoyed that no one agreed with him being a soldier of the scouts and threw pebbles into the nearby river. It glistened under the setting sun and the sound it made while moving was somewhat calming to you.
"Someone's gonna hear you, stop talking so loud" Mikasa said in a tough tone. You quickly felt a strong breeze and the clouds moved in a faster pace than usual.
"Everyone has lived and died in these walls with a sense of security, it's only natural that they would feel fearful of the outside" Armin mumbled to your group and you nodded in agreement. "But the walls can't hold forever and it's only a matter of time" When he said that you turned to him and it felt like the wind just paused instantly. Something in your gut told you there was something wrong and you should run.
Just like that, there was a loud thundering sound that made your ears feel like they were bleeding. In the distance you saw what looked like yellow lightning at the edge of the wall where you knew the titans were. The ground shuddered with such force that you were lifted into the air and crashed back down onto some stairs. Your back cried out in pain as the air was sucked out of you. You felt like you banged the back of you head as you struggled to open your eyes.
The quakes in the ground stopped as soon as they started and you slowly got your bearings back. Looking to the source of where the lightning was, you saw a dark and thick line of smoke float into the sky. You scanned around to look for Eren, Mikasa and Armin and you saw the trio slowly get to their feet. What the hell was that?
You saw some people pointing and Armin rushed to investigate. That lead the other two to follow him and you followed to keep an eye on them. Seeing them a short distance away, you saw that they were frozen into place looking up.
Following their gaze you too froze with fear and you felt your legs begin to shake vigorously. A large titan, taller than the wall itself, looked down at the crowd of civilians. It was covered in red muscle, which was the only type of body part that was seeable. You wanted desperately to run away and protect the kids, but then you thought of your mom. Was she just as scared as you were?
The titan lowered its head and you saw its foot lift high behind it and you finally clicked with as to why. It was going to kick the wall open and the other titans were going to get through. You started to whimper and your vision became blurry as tears filled them to the brim.
Before you knew it, large pieces of rubble shot across the sky in your direction and even then, you still couldn't force your legs to start moving. Everyone else could, so why couldn't you?
As the rocks flew by, it also caused another fast wind to break loose, which swept some civilians up.Some rocks smashed to the floor in multiple areas, some hit peoples homes and others killed bystanders instantly. Parts of the buildings even zoomed across and fell over them. Their screams were hollowed out as you continued to stare at the large titan. It should've been impossible for one to be that size and there it was clear as day in front of you.
The large titan started to move below the wall and you let out a breath that you didn't realise you were holding in. Knocking back into you senses you saw Eren walk in the directions of the wall. Your home was there as well and soon Eren and Mikasa were running in sprints to find your mom. Hearing sounds of large and slow footsteps, you saw titans walking through the hole that was made by the collosal titan.
"Wait, we need to get out of here!!" Armin reached a hand out and you grabbed hold of it.
"Listen, I'm going to get those two! You need to run to the other wall and evacuate with the other people. Got it!" You yelled over the murderous screams and tried to sound calm. On the inside though, you were just as panicked and scared as the rest of them. The boy nodded and you let go to find Eren and Mikasa.
Turning the corner onto your street, you almost stopped in your tracks. Eren yelled out to your mom and the house had been completely crushed by a large boulder. You hoped that your mom was okay and safe. The kids were trying to lift the house rubble up and as you neared to them, your heart stopped. Your mom was trapped and looked like she was only just getting her bearings back.
"MOM!" You ran fast and tried to help your siblings.
"You have to leave and get somewhere safe!" She yelled to the three of you.
"NOT WITH YOU!!" You cried as you strained your muscles to pick up the heavy piece of wood. Hearing more footsteps, you saw that more and more titans were entering the walls. That was it, you were going to be devoured.
You saw a titan with floppy blondish hair and devilish closed grin. It was nearing closer and closer to you.
"LISTEN TO ME DAMMIT, SAVE YOURSELVES PLEASE!!!" You mom looked like she was going to cry. "EVEN IF I GOT OUT, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO WALK, MY LEGS HAVE BEEN CRUSHED!" Your eyes grew wide. If you got her out, you would all die and so you just stopped.
"WHAT'RE YOU DOING, WE HAVE TO GET HER OUT!" Eren yelled up to you as he struggled to lift the plank.
Without thinking, you grabbed the two children and ran for your life. Hannes met you nearby and when he saw your red and puffy eyes, he knew and hoisted Eren onto his shoulder.
"I LOVE YOU KIDS! STAY ALIVE!!!" You heard your mother scream and then the sound of pieces being chucked out the way confirmed that your mom had been grabbed. Mistakenly, you turned around and saw that titan bite down on you mom. Blood sprayed everywhere in the air and you felt sick to your stomach as you carried on running.
That was moment you knew, titans were top of the food chain and you became their prey.