Cold wind had stirred Eren up in the morning, with the whistling just irritating him. The young boy climbed out of his bed, shrugging the blanket off while quickly dressing himself. The brunette child stared out the open window, towards the towering walls that lined Shiganshina. In truth, these walls were intimidating, their grasp was almost suffocating, and the idea of having to be trapped inside this, 'cage', was... infuriating. The boy rushed down the stairs, careful to not wake his parents up as he opened the wooden door, a creak that strangely sounded louder early in the morning than in the afternoon, where he would go out to play and talk with Armin. Sometimes he went to visit that girl, Mikasa.

Mikasa was strange to Eren sometimes, she wasn't like any other kid around, at least any he had seen. In short, Mikasa was peculiar to him. She was paler than anyone he knew, and her eyes were a cold, misty grey. It was strange to him, sure, but it was slightly familiar.

Mikasa watched her mother wash the dishes and pans, as she and her mother were home alone while her father was out with the rifle, hunting ducks like always. She was told to never play with the rifle, but why would she? It was big, scary, and it made loud noises. Even from across the lake, Mikasa could still hear the boom it made as gunpowder was ignited.

Eren rushed through the forest, the rustling of bushes barely bothered him. He had to be quick, before his mother and father had arisen from their slumber. Then, the brown haired boy bumped into a figure. It wasn't too tall, nor too short. It didn't seem fit, or fat. In fact, it looked like a stick. Like it could be snapped with the slightest amount of force. Nevertheless, Eren had seen an outline in the figure's right hand, which looked like a rifle.

The figure turned around, revealing a male face.

"Oh! Eren? Is that you? It's too early for you to be up."

Eren recognized his voice, but was too dazed to respond.

"Eren? You took quite a fall there."

Eren looked up, to see him extend a hand out to help him up.

"Mr. Ackerman?" Eren failed to usher out the words.

"Yes, it is me." Mr. Ackerman said with a friendly smile, as his hand was grabbed by the young boy.

"Why're you out here all alone?" The man asked, retaining the friendly posture, smile, and attitude.

"I was… Just coming to visit you guys before my father comes in a few days." Eren replied honestly.

"Well, I think Mikasa is still asleep. You'd best come back later on in the afternoon, but your little escapade is safe with me," – He added on, as his right hand searched for comfort with the wooden handle as his fingers wrestled with the brass metal trigger – "I'll see you later on today?"

Eren nodded and walked off, back to his home.

Pyxis shifted in the padded chair, his right hand wrapped around his silver flask. He sat adjacent to the Scout Regiment commander; Keith Shadis. Keith reached his hand down the right side, the room had a neat atmosphere, and the windows were covered with drapes, while the right had an auburn colored cupboard. Behind Pyxis, the door stood calmly, skid marks on the bottom could be seen from years of use. To the left, Pyxis noticed, was a display case with an almost pristine condition rifle resting under a glass frame. The red cushion sat underneath the rifle, keeping it up and steady.

"So, you want to talk about your retirement?" Pyxis said with a raspy voice. Nonetheless, he took a swig from the flask. "Honestly, where do you get this kind of drink? It makes my throat scratchy."

"If it's so bad, then why do you keep drinking it?"

"Because I like to drink. Anything wrong with that?"

"Ha. Calm down you old man." Shadis finished up the conversation on his taste in drinks.

"How's the Erwin lad?" Pyxis said after taking a long swig – though he was feeling quite parched even though he had a drink on hand – "I hear he's excellent."

"He is. I'd like to think he'd replace me when I leave." Keith said with an almost sort of fond tone.

"Well, will he?" Pyxis responded with a harsh tone.

Keith sighed, then spoke in a manner of seriousness – "In due time, yes."

Mikasa pranced around in the field, the breeze felt nice – at first at least – Mikasa didn't really know how to describe it, but she felt a sudden coldness – like a blanket – being draped down over the area. She stopped, and stared over at the large walls.

Eren is visiting soon, right? Mikasa thought.

Maybe he'll take me to see the Scouts again. Mikasa thought again.

He's probably just caught up with something.

Dad said he was coming soon. Is he waiting for his father?

"Eren, like I said, they've closed off the entrance for a few weeks. We can't go today, or even tomorrow for that matter. For today, you'll just have to run around with Armin or learn." Grisha stated bluntly.

"But, what about the boat?" Eren protested.

"We've talked about this. We simply cannot spend coin on anything we don't need."

"Yeah… keep saying that old man." Eren said in a low grumble.

"Carla, I'm heading off today. Eren, be good." Grisha announced, before gathering his things, opening his suitcase, and exiting the small home.

Eren waited a few minutes, before racing outside and running the opposite direction his father went. He dived into a nearby alley as his mother was yelling out for him.

"Eren!"

"Eren!"

He didn't move. He stopped, and turned to the right, speed walking down the dark alley, before coming across a puddle in the middle. To his right, a broom that had splinters down the sides caught his eye, however he didn't touch it. The strings on the bottom reminded him of hay, which just seemed too distant to him.

However, his peace and quiet was interrupted soon after his right foot was dipped into the water. Eren turned around as he heard yelling and screaming. As he ran out, he peeked his head over the right side as a carriage was being pulled into Shiganshina.

The young boy raced over, the Scouts had returned.

"How'd it go!?"

"Did you guys win?!"

"Hey!"

Those were some of the shouts Keith had thrown at him. However, he ignored them. The young boy to the right caught his eye, as he always saw him standing on that same box, in the same place, at the same time.

Earlier, Keith and the rest of the Scouts had run into a group of Abnormals, in which barely any of them had made it back.

Keith's entire right arm was bloody, as his right ear had been removed.

Erwin seemed to have suffered the least amount of damage, scratches and scabs were there for sure, and he would definitely have scars and bruises.

In the carriage, was a pile of dead bodies. Flies hovered around the disgusting smell.

It took bystanders a few minutes to realize what had happened, and by then the crowd was dissipating to escape the terrible smell. Wet blood was soaked into the cover on top of the lumps and mounds of bodies.

Keith and Erwin exchanged glances.

10 out of the 98 present in the scouting mission returned.

25 were missing, and the rest were dead.

Later on, it would be revealed that the group had come across a rare form of a Titan.

In later reports, Keith and Erwin would describe it as being on all fours, teeth that went from ear to ear, and an uncanny scream.