Isadora 's family resided within the inner parts of Wall Maria. She lived as a farmer, harvesting crops and making a living out of them.
"Isadora, come eat," Her mother called.
She sat on their couch, in front of the window. She couldn't see the wall from there. How did titans look like?
"Isadora," Her mother said again, more stern this time.
She stood up nochantly.
A flash.
The sudden bright light jerked her attention back to the window. It was clear day, no grey clouds. Her parents looked up too, confused.
After a few moments of unanswered questions, she ignored the oddity and pushed it to the back of her mind to tell her friends later.
The three sat by the table, all quiet, sipping on potato soup and chewing bread. Isadora brought a spoon up to her mouth. The surface of the water caught the attention of her defocused eyes by its unnatural quiver. She glanced at her hand. Still.
She looked up, and her parents had similar looks of confusion. Then she heard a thumping sound, from a distance, but drawing closer.
Her mind finally caught up. A situation that she dreamed of for so many nights. It wasn't happening. It can't be. Many people live their peaceful life and die without ever seeing a-
At Isadora's direct line of sight was a bright blue eye, like the colour she'd always dreamed of having, it didn't look so desirable now, on a titan.
Her parents tracked her gaze. The three of them sat in silence for a few moments. What were they supposed to do? Run? They didn't have horses; all it was were crops and them on the farm.
The titan's eye disappeared from the window. It's gone away, was what Isadora repeated in her head, what she wanted to think.
The sound of their front door breaking into splinters caught Isadora's attention. While her parents remained glued to their shocked positions, Isadora ran to her bedroom and promptly locked herself in her closet.
As she sat, wondering whether the titan or suffocation would find her first, she heard her father scream, followed by her mother. The former of fear and the latter, a battle cry. Then they stopped.
She hadn't paid much attention while being forced to skim through books about titans, but now she regretted that. She didn't know if they had a strong sense of smell or how high their intelligence was.
The constant fear for her life was tiring. She didn't know how long, or short, she had been in there. It could have been a few minutes or a few hours. But she was starting to get the sense that the titan wasn't coming for her anytime soon, but suffocation was.
Her hands were trembling. With care, she pushed the door open, slowly, by just a little so that it wouldn't make noise.
It was staring right at her.
A million thoughts raced through her head on what she could do that would warrant her the highest chances of survival.
Wait for it to come and open her closet door, then while it was close to her, kick it in the eye. She'll run while its eye was hurt. And that was what she did. Except a twelve year old didn't have the strength or agility to kick a titan in the eye.
She only realized this when the titan opened the closest. Isadora bolted. The titan wiped its hand at her and missed, only by a little. She ran, passed the empty dining table, outside.
It seemed entirely normal. There were no more of that creature's kind. But there were no more of hers either. She ran through the field of crops.
Another mistake.
Could a twelve year old child out run a titan?
Not this one.
The titan's footsteps closed on her, and Isadora panicked even more. Should she just give up? There was nothing that could save her in this empty field.
The footsteps were so close. Right behind her. Until she was lifted into the air. Its grip was hot, and its breath smelled like blood. But she couldn't see the creature that was about to eat her.
She always wondered what happened to the little pieces of rabbit that went into her stomach. Did it slowly cook in her stomach like it did in her mother's pot? Would it be slow? How long would it take?
Are titan's stomachs even the same as a human's? If the titan swallowed her whole, could she feel immediate pain when the liquid inside its stomach touched her? How long before she turned into titan waste?
Isadora fell. Along with the titan, itself. Its head crushed her whole body, allowing only her head to breathe. What happened? What was this? Some sort of special ability?
Her focus went to her torso, where she could feel the parting of the titans lips on her back. Was it trying to eat her? She couldn't tell.
The weight on her body shifted, until it wasn't anymore. Isadora whirled around, fairly confident that the titan wouldn't do her harm anymore.
A man―no, a woman―stood beside the head of the titan.
"Are you alright?" She asked. Deep, but not hard.
Isadora nodded, her eyes still fixed on her savior.
Behind her, she heard a stampede. More titans. So much more. Half a dozen at least. Without warning, the woman carried Isadora. She was shocked by how easily she could be lifted. Isadora was in no way a heavy weight, but it would take some effort to carry anyone, she thought.
"Do you have any horses?" The woman asked, while running the other way.
And she could run! While carrying her!
"No."
The woman clicked her tongue. A bad feeling rested in her throat when Isadora saw her response. The woman didn't look mad at her, just determined. But if she did have horses, it would have been a lot easier.
"Hold on tight."
Isadora didn't know how much tighter she wanted her, but she was gripping the woman's neck with all her strength. Apparently not enough to not catch her off guard when they were suddenly lifted into the air.
They passed by a horse with a bloody wound on its back. It must have been hers. It disappeared out of sight quickly.
That's how much the titans could do.
Isadora was stiff at first, but then got used to the up and downs. It was kind of rhythmic. The woman had experience. They weren't going to fall anytime soon.
Finally, Isadora could observe the woman's face well, especially when it was up so close to her own. She had short, light blonde hair that was styled in an undercut. The strands of hair that was part of her bangs ruffled in the wind. She had dull blue eyes. Isadora had always wanted shining blue eyes, unlike her own boring dark brown that looked like it may be black, but right now, light blue seemed like the prettiest colour she's ever seen.
Isadora was too caught up in her features that the changed state of landing took her by surprise. The woman let her down, behind a large group of mumbling people.
She exchanged a few lines with one of the adults there, who was wearing the same brown coat as her. Isadora looked around. An invasion?
"Alright, I'll find others once I resupply," Isadora heard her say.
"Hey! Wait!" She grabbed onto her brown jacket. Now that the woman had her back turned, she could see the white and blue crossed wings on a shield.
The woman looked at her. Isadora realized she didn't have anything to say.
"W-what's your name?" She asked in embarrassment, hoping no one noticed that she made it up on the spot.
The woman smiled, "Nanaba."
And she took off.