She grumbled as she tugged on her shirt. A small bag was next to her feet that couldn't touch the ground due to her small stature. Her red hair hung in her face, freshly cut to an annoyingly short length, yet still long enough to get in her eyes.

She had been lucky in life so far, staying a normal size as most twelve year olds. She knew her growing would stop soon, but nearing 150 cm wasn't exactly terrible for her age.

"I'm Erwin Smith."

She jumped at the sudden distraction, immediately looking up at an older blond teen. He towered over her, probably already at 183 cm. He had an odd smile, genuine, yet fake, like he was suspicious of her.

"Ducky Kelley," she greeted with a curt nod before going back to her shirt.

"I don't think I've ever heard that accent," she heard him comment. Her heart skipped a beat as she scolded herself for being so foolish to let it slip. "Where are you from?"

There was no hiding it. "There's a small village that surrounds a lake in the north, just behind Wall Maria. Lagoon Crater, we call it. Most call it Jack's Ale."

Every word was a lie. No, she was from a village just outside Wall Sina, a cursed place where only the damned can survive. She refused to be part of the damned any longer. Stupid experiments. Stupid scientists. She hated them all.

"Jack's Ale? I've never heard of such a place," he said curiously.

"It started off as a wheat farm and slowly turned into a distillery where a lot of alcohol gets shipped out. I'm sure you've heard of Daisy Yellow?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "My uncle loves the stuff."

"It's because it's a cold brew," she explained shortly.

All of that had been true. She had heard rumors about it in her village, since Daisy Yellow was the reason behind some of the experiments. She hated the stuff. It was also used as medicine sometimes to ease the pain of whatever experiment the scientists were conducting. She had many memories of the experiments, but without the memory of pain, some of the experiments could have been dreams.

"It's going to be an interesting three years," he sighed as he looked at the gathering boys. "And all of them want to be in the Military Police. Is that what you're hoping for?"

"Nah," she replied. "It'll be the Scouts for me."

She watched his massive eyebrows nearly fly off his forehead in shock, "You're going for the Scouts? That's suicide!"

She shrugged as she looked at the ground, "I didn't want to brew or farm, which is what my village does. Other cities aren't fond of people from Lagoon Crater because they think we're all drunks. Joining the military seemed like the best option."

"The Scouts is definitely an extreme," he muttered. "I'm glad I'm not going alone."

Now, it was her turn to be surprised as she looked at him, "Do you have a death wish?"

"No," he replied firmly. "I want to end this nonsense of being enslaved by these creatures. I am tired of living in fear."

Her eyes turned to her hands as she picked at her fingers, "You don't think the walls will hold either?"

"Of course they'll hold!" Someone announced, approaching the two. "They've lasted this long, haven't they?"

"With the right nutrition, a human can live a hundred years. For all we know, someone is still alive that's older than the walls," Ducky said.

The older teen stared at her, "What sort of freak are you?"

Her attention went to the ground. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder as Erwin stood up, giving the intruding teen a nasty look, "Don't just ask someone about something they can't change. People are different from each district. If you weren't some brat from a Military Police family, you would know that."

The stranger continued looking down at her before shrugging, "Whatever. You do you, but make no mistake. Those walls will hold."

A jingle caught her attention. She looked up to see him wearing a necklace with the symbol for Wall Sina on it. "You're a Wall worshiper?"

"Yep! If you have any questions, just let me know!"

"Where did the walls come from?" She asked before he could walk away.

He chuckled, "That's always the first question." He placed his hand on her head, "You see, even the priests don't know that answer. They've spent years and years watching and waiting, speaking with the walls and asking for guidance. The walls have always given us protection. We fear if questioning them too much may cause them to fail."

"Why Sina? Wall Maria is protecting everyone. Shouldn't it be your focus of worship?"

The teen snatched her from her feet, holding her a few inches off the ground as he held her eye level with himself, "You will not blaspheme Wall Sina in such a way. She has the most important job of protecting the King. That is why I am joining the Military Police. I must protect her."

"Why not the Garrison? They're actually on the wall," Ducky suggested.

The teen threw her to the ground, causing a small dust cloud to form around her. Ducky clenched her fists in the dirt trying to not react to the assault. Everything was fine. She needed to make a good impression.

She got to her feet, dusting her clothing off while glancing up at the enraged teen, "I wasn't trying to offend you. The Military Police may be for those that graduated too of their class, but it's also for cowards. You say you want to protect the walls, but you're trying to protect the King or more likely, your own life. Don't claim your title to be a Wall worshippers when you don't even know their basic history." She snatched the necklace from his neck, "Did you know that wearing the medallion backwards was a sign of treason about thirty years ago? Try again another day to convince me you're a worshipper."

"At least I can speak normally. I don't know why some of your words are longer than others, but it makes you sound stupid."

"I would pick sounding stupid over looking like you're about to commit treason any day," she replied as she sat down once more.

She noticed Erwin was looking at her, almost awestruck. He finally smiled, "Well, Ducky, I'm sure we'll both make it to the Scouts."

When the carriage finally arrived, she saw Erwin hesitate to pick up her bag for her. Before anyone else could catch it, she snatched it from the ground and slung it over her shoulder' pretending not to notice at all. The long trip took a few days, and over that time, she became close to Erwin. At night, they slept next to each other, and during the day, sat next to each other.

It was nice, on Ducky's part, but she had noticed the change in Erwin. On occasion, he would hesitate before deciding to help her with something. She could only conclude that he knew her secret. As long as she kept it from others, she would be fine, she hoped.

When they first arrived, they were directed to the cabins they would be staying. It was a huge almost bunker like place filled with enough bunk beds to hold all the recruits and a few more.

She claimed a bunk with Erwin, who took the top so she wouldn't have to climb all the time. Soon, they were taken outside, told to stand at attention, and wait. Ducky stayed perfectly still and silent while some of the others began to talk and let their stances falter with their casual conversations.

"This is the saddest group I have ever seen!" A man yelled.

Ducky could hear all the soldiers scrambling to get back into place in a still salute. Refusing to turn her head, she could only hear and wait for the man to appear. As he came into view, she realized what respect truly was. Commander Richard Johnson was his name, and he had been with the Garrison.

In his green eyes were stories of nightmares past. It was hurting him to look at them, knowing in his heart, some of them would die. Some of them were stupid enough to join the Scouts, and it was evident that was where his experience came from.

She imagined he would probably be considered a veteran even though he was so young. Only in his early to mid fifties, the man had seen far too much and must have volunteered to train the next generation of idiots that wanted to either live an easy life, wash a wall, or get eaten alive by titans.

"Now, if you think this is going to be easy, you are mistaken!" He yelled. "Most of you will give up during this training! Some of you will probably die during this training! Joining the Military is not a joke! Anyone that acts out of line will be subject to be sent home or face a severe punishment! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone answered.

And so, the yelling in someone's face began. Brainwashing or something. As he neared Ducky, she wondered what would happen. Would she be able to fool him like she had so many others?

"And what's your name, freak?!" He yelled at Ducky.

"Ducky Kelley, sir!" She answered loudly.

"What sort of name is that, boy?!" He screamed.

"The one I was given, sir!" She answered.

"What's wrong with your voice, cadet?!"

"Everyone in my village has this accent, sir!"

"Second row! About face!"

Everyone turned around where she was staring at nothing, everyone else behind her. She had done it. She had fooled the commander. This was a good start.

Women weren't allowed in the Military. They were considered a distraction and weak. They were supposed to cook, clean, do things, and make babies. That was not the life she wanted. In her village, she was already kept from doing many things. Reading was a primary that she did her best to self teach, but she had very rocky results. She couldn't write, but she could draw. The only way for her to write was to think the letters as pictures. It was difficult, but it worked.

As the first day came to its end, she had ventured around long enough to know she would need to find a way to learn how to read and write. They were going to have classes that required both skill sets. As she sat in the mess hall, she tried to think of ways to ask someone to help.

"Hey, Duck," Erwin greeted as he sat by her. "You look like something's bothering you."

"Just nervous, I guess," she replied.

"About what? Being caught?" He asked lowly.

She slowly turned her attention to the teen, watching him for any sign of joking. No, he knew. Her eyes went back to the stew in front of her. "Are you going to tell?"

"No," he answered. "I admire your courage. But, you didn't answer my question."

"Oh, I don't know how to read...or write. I lied about where I'm from and basically everything else. I'm not ready to talk about the set yet, if that's okay."

They were told to keep it a secret, unless someone found out. When someone found out, they were trained to kill. She was not a fan of the killing, having been forced to kill various creatures she held dear to her heart. She knew the difference between food and pets. Every child was given a pet, then when they turned ten, they had to kill it, as if it was someone that had found out their secret.

She was not going to kill Erwin Smith.

Erwin simply smiled as he ruffled her hair, "Don't worry, kid. Just think of me as a big brother or something. I'll take care of you."

Ducky looked up at him as she tore off a piece of her bread, "I don't need protecting. I just can't read."

He sighed, "Alright, we'll start on that tomorrow, and every day until you're able to read and write on your own. How does that sound?"

She nodded, allowing a small smile. "Okay."

"You know, I've never seen red hair before," he told her as he pulled at a lock. "Is it normal where you're from?"

"No, just me," she answered. "I'm part of a triplet set, and my brothers have black and blond hair, but their eyes are like mine. Killian has a green eye, and Peter has a grey eye."

"That's weird," he commented. "Did your brothers not want to join the Military?"

"No, the elders of the village assign the boys on what they'll do as they grow up. We have no choice but to do as they say. Orders straight from the King himself."

Erwin hummed in thought as he ate his stew. She could almost see the gears turning in his head, but he was brought from his thoughts when the bell to end dinner chimed. The door was opened with a force that could have thrown it from the hinges. "Tonight, you're going to start learning some responsibility! All of you will be cleaning this room until it is spotless!"

Everyone stared at each other, all trying to figure out how the hundred and twenty of them were going to clean this place. It wasn't possible for so many people to clean this area, was it?

"Listen up, everyone!" Erwin yelled, silencing everyone. "We have four brooms available! I want four people sweeping the perimeter of this room! When the perimeter is clean, I wand everyone to work on pushing the tables against the wall so we can sweep the middle of the room! We will only need ten people in the kitchen to do the dishes! Now, Ducky and I will distribute the cleaning supplies accordingly before joining!"

"And why should we take orders from you?" A man looking like he was in his early twenties asked as he stepped forward. Liam Howard was his name. His brown eyes were burning with fury, "I'm the oldest one here. I will give the orders."

Ducky stepped in front of Erwin before the man could get any closer. "We'll divvy up the soldiers. Whoever agrees with Erwin can clean one half of the room, the ones that agree with Liam can do as he orders."

Slowly the room started to part. There were enough people to follow through with Erwin's plan lined up while the others joined Liam, though he had not announced his plan.

Ducky passed out cleaning supplies as directed by Erwin before heading to the kitchen to wash dishes while he helped sweep the main room. Half of the kitchen was in absolute chaos. The half that Liam had been in charge of were scattered about, unable to do any job while Erwin's side kept a steady pace.

"How old are you?" A man named Walter asked as he dried off a bowl Ducky had handed him.

"I'm twelve," she answered as she rinsed off a sudsy bowl.

"Kinda young for the Military, don't you think?" He asked curiously.

"If it was too young, it wouldn't be the age limit," she commented. "I don't have a family. I'm not able to take care of myself, so I joined the Military to gain a new family and have someone to help me."

"So, you don't care about the Titans?" He rolled his eyes. "I bet you're trying to get into the Military Police."

She scrunched her nose at the thought as she handed him another dish, "That's stupid. I plan on being in the top ten, but I'm going to be in the Scouts."

"Scouts?! Are you crazy?!"

She pulled the stopper from the sink allowing the water to drain. "Nope. The Scouts have a goal, while the Garrison watches Titans gather at the edge and the Military Police ruin the public in Sina. I want to be rid of the walls. I want to know what's on the other side. There's no one to miss me if I die. Might as well die trying to save humanity."