The Hindsight of Perception

by Insert Valid Author Name

AU: Humanity had turned itself into cattle, mistake after mistake cropping up. Except this time around, someone isn't letting things lie - Humanity would be pulled out of its funk, even if he and his family had to drag it kicking and screaming. Not that his family knew, either.

And another one for you guys. Hehe… My HP fans are going to crucify me. I haven't updated that in a while, have I?

…ooOoo…

Chapter 1 – Shiganshina

Three years after the Fall of Wall Maria

"We're almost there, Ilse."

The young woman nodded, her smile bright as she looked up at the massive hole where Shiganshina's outer gate had been. "Yes," she agreed. Her smile faded. "Almost, but not quite. Getting over there's going to be hard though, there's no cover…"

A grunt from her companion affirmed that he'd reached the same conclusion she did. The area between the forest they were hiding in and the former gate was at least a few miles – had they had horses it would have taken them the better part of an hour to cross the terrain at a full gallop. The situation was only worsened by the fact that there were no trees, houses, or structures of any kind in between, meaning that when they crossed there would be no semblance of cover or places to hide.

Ilse glanced at the setting sun. "Another hour 'till sundown," she said. "Should we cross then or do we wait?"

The strange whirring sound that always accompanied her companion's movements made itself known as he rolled his shoulders; after more than two months at his side she'd finally gotten used to it. "We could actually cross now," he said. He reached into his cloak, pulling out a sleek-looking pair of binoculars, the lenses tinted red and glowing slightly as he put them up to his eyes, looking around at their surroundings. "I don't see any Titans nearby, and if we run we could be inside the Wall by sundown. That'd give us the rest of the night to find supplies and a place to sleep inside Shiganshina."

Ilse bit her lip. "I'm not sure… I don't think I could make it, at least not before any Titans notice us." Her hand unconsciously reached into her cloak's pocket, fingering the leather-bound notebook that held more than vital information.

"Ilse, please don't say that," came the exasperated answer as he stored the binoculars away. "Come on, how many times have you said that and proven yourself wrong? Have a little faith!"

Ilse scowled at her companion's smile. "Speak for yourself, Daniel," she said. "I'm not enhanced like you are!"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Fine, then have faith in me," he said. "If you get too tired, I'll carry you-"

"No." Ilse's scowl became a glare. "You are not carrying me. You've done enough for me, I can take care of myself."

Daniel didn't answer immediately, though his expression became sad. "Alright," he said after a few moments. "I won't carry you. But we still haven't decided if- Ilse!"

The young woman had made her decision it seemed, jumping off of the tall branch and falling to earth, rolling to minimize the impact. She'd barely recovered from the roll when she took off in a dead sprint, her eyes focused on the hole in Wall Maria that had been the Titan's entry point for three years into humanity's last safe haven. Daniel cursed, jumping off the branch and following after her, though he couldn't help but smile at her change of heart – behind Ilse Langnar's emotional countenance was a brave and dedicated soldier with a heart of iron.

Within seconds, he'd caught up to her, but he wasn't so cruel as to move ahead and leave her behind – he wasn't fully human, not really, and it wouldn't be fair to her. So, he kept his sprint the same as hers, silence reigning except for their breaths and their footfalls as they ran.

About six hundred meters away from the breach, they heard the roar.

Daniel glanced backwards and cursed. "Two Titans," he said, "Four and ten meters. They're running, but the bigger one's got longer legs, it'll reach us first."

Ilse whimpered as she ran, her legs feeling as if molten fire was coursing through them. She began to push herself harder, her breath labored by panic as she felt the earth beneath her feet begin to shake. After a few seconds the shaking began to be too much, and Ilse tripped, falling to earth with a cry of dismay-

-only for that cry to become a startled yelp as she felt a hand grab her arm and swing her. The next thing she knew, she was blinking down at the back of Daniel's head, the young boy – for that was what he was, no older than seventeen summers – having slung her onto his back.

Daniel glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "No time to talk, gotta run," he said, and then he began to run. The experience was awesome, in a word – Daniel had been running at a sprint, but the speed he was running at now made Ilse feel as if he'd been at a standstill before. Ilse gripped at her carrier, her arms crossed across his neck as she buried her head into it and closed her eyes – flying on 3-Dimensional Maneuver Gear was just as fast, but in those cases she felt in control. Now she felt as if her stomach would empty itself of its contents at a moment's notice, which was one of the main reasons why she hated being carried by Daniel.

That, and the fact that the back of his bodysuit was really bulky and uncomfortable.

As much as she hated it, however, she couldn't argue with the results. Within a little more than half a minute – thirty-seven seconds, by her count – he'd sprinted the distance and entered Shiganshina. Ilse's heart leapt as they crossed through the hole in Wall Maria; the last time she'd gone through there was more than three years ago, and there'd been a great metal gate in place then. Also, the city around her had been teeming with life, alive with both civilians and soldiers as they survived within their walled confines.

Now, there were just ruins. As Daniel ran, Ilse looked around at the sheer devastation in the area. She'd read the reports on how Wall Maria had been breached of course, on how the Colossal Titan had kicked the gate down with a single blow. The area around the destroyed gate described in great detail the truth of those reports – houses and streets had been blown away in the immediate area, and the large metal doors that had kept the Titans at bay for more than a hundred years laid warped and bent beyond repair a few dozen feet away from the breach.

Daniel reached the first of the still-intact houses, little in quantity as they were, and quickly hid behind it, out of sight of the titans that were just outside the breach. He was breathing heavily, hands on his knees as he recovered, and Ilse took the moment to slip off of his back. She pressed her back against the stone and slowly, ever so slowly, inched her head to look to where they'd come from.

Her breath hitched – the first of the Titans, the ten meter one, had just made its way through the breach. Behind it, its four-meter companion was quickly catching up as the taller one looked around for their missing prey.

"They're here," she said, her voice steady but her soul quaking in fear.

"I know," said Daniel, before coughing harshly. She glanced at him in worry – his jet-black hair was matted with sweat and his expression pained as he coughed. "I know," he repeated once he'd calmed down. "I can hear them."

Ilse glanced over the corner at the still-searching Titans. "We need to get to the Garrison Corps Supply Depot," she said. "I don't know what supplies we'll find, but even a couple of swords would make me feel a lot better."

Daniel scoffed. "Swords," he muttered. "You want swords when you should be focused on getting a 3DMG. At least here you can use it to scale the wall or something."

Ilse winced at the reminder of her lost 3DMG. Back when he'd found her, her gear, every single piece of it, had been destroyed by a Titan that had cornered her after her group had been slaughtered. It had been then when Ilse had first felt true despair – the Titan had plucked her gear off, crushing it in its fists before scaring Ilse out of her mind by speaking. Not that what it had been saying was understandable, as it gone on and on about "Ymir's people" and how she was "Lady Ymir." Not that its restraint mattered – when she'd tried to escape, it had chased after her, laughing gleefully and screaming for "Lady Ymir" again and again. She thought she'd die then, but her savior, her guardian angel, had appeared then.

Even today, two months after Daniel had rescued her, she still couldn't get over the fact of how terrifying and powerful he'd looked when he'd commanded the Titan to stop.

They'd been travelling together ever since.

"Come on," said Daniel, drawing Ilse out of memory land. "You know place better than I do; where's the supply depot?"

She pointed to the other side of the wall, where the second breach that led towards the inside of Wall Maria was. "It's next to the other gate… or, it used to be. I can't see it from here."

Daniel shook his head. "Doesn't matter, we'll find something," he assured her. Ilse was struck by his confidence – while Commander Erwin Smith's countenance extracted a similar response from his soldiers, their type of confidence was different. Commander Erwin's was confidence that stemmed in his faith in his own ability to lead, while Daniel's was more along the lines of confidence from knowing what was going to happen, like that of a student who walked into an exam with a cheat sheet in hand.

Ilse shook her head; now wasn't the time to judge the differences between her commander and her companion. "So what's the plan?" she asked.

Daniel switched places and peeked over the corner of the house. "They're getting closer," he noted. "Let's see… I can take out the big guy, but honestly I'm more worried about the smaller one. They're usually quicker, more nimble because of their size." He glanced appreciatively at Ilse. "How quickly could you make your way to the Supply Depot?"

Ilse glanced in the direction of the depot. "Without any Titans in the way, and if I don't trip over any debris… ten minutes?"

Daniel nodded once. "You'll get them," he said. He reached behind his back with both hands, drawing two knives sheathed on his lower back, the handles pointing downwards just above his hips. He flipped the knives so that they went from an Icepick hold to a slashing hold and pressed two buttons on each hilt. With a schling-like sound, the knives seemed to unfold, becoming three times as long.

Daniel twirled his swords a couple of times before handing the one in his left hand to Ilse. "Here," he said, "Just in case. I'll be back for it."

"I know," she said, taking the deadly weapon. It wasn't the first time she'd used it, though once more she couldn't help but marvel at the material – whatever the blades were made out of, they were most certainly more durable than the replaceable swords the Survey Corps preferred to use. She'd never even seen Daniel sharpen them, not even once, and they still maintained their razor-sharp edge; she'd once split a hair on the blade in an experiment. The drawback, however, was in the weight – they were at least three times as heavy as the blades she'd learnt to fight with.

Ilse looked at Daniel worriedly. "Are you sure you can handle them?" she asked.

Daniel grinned at her. "Of course!" he said. "Have a little faith, yeah?"

Boom.

Simultaneously, Daniel and Ilse looked up, meeting the grimacing gaze of the ten-meter tall Titan peering over the house they hiding behind. Daniel reacted immediately by kicking Ilse away from the Titan's reaching hand while shooting a cable out from a mechanism under his left arm towards a house across the ruined street. The cable retracted, pulling him out of the way and safely away from the Titan's hand.

Ilse may not have had her 3DMG, but he, on the other hand, had the spiritual successor to it – the Omni-Directional Maneuver Gear Portable, or ODMG-P.

"Ilse, run!" he yelled, disengaging the cable from the wall and shooting it again, this time at the Titan's hand just as it was pulling it back. Daniel was pulled along with it, and as he retracted it at the same time he was just at the right speed to swing around the limb and land on top of it. Ignoring the heat of the Titan's flesh, he ran up on the limb towards the shoulder, only to jump off when the Titan attempted to bite at him, shooting his cable into the shoulder, swinging up and slashing at the nape with his sword on the upper swing.

The sword, sharp as it was, didn't make the cut deep enough, and the Titan roared in pain. Thanks to his momentum, Daniel kept flying upwards a little, enough for him to kick off of the back of the Titan's head and land on the roof of the house. A glance towards the gate to Wall Rose revealed that Ilse was running, but no Titans were chasing her.

They're focused on me, he thought. Good.

The Titan he'd attacked turned around, and Daniel fired his ODMG-P cable from his free hand again, his cloak flapping in the air as he was pulled to the side by the gas-pressured cable. The Titan's hand crashed into the roof, missing its intended target just as Daniel reached the edge of the roof, detaching the cable, jumping over the edge and firing it so that he could land on the ground without injury. Retracting his cable back, Daniel ran, making sure to not make much noise-

Only to find himself face-to-face with the Four-Meter tall Titan. Daniel threw himself to the ground, sliding between the creature's legs feet first, kicking up on a rock and jumping in the air, slashing once with his sword. The Titan didn't even have time to react before it died, Daniel's sword cutting through the nape of the creature like it wasn't even there.

Daniel ran again, not looking back as the 4-meter fell to earth with a crash. The 10-meter was still around, he knew – the damn thing should've died with that hit, but he'd miscalculated his swing and his sword hadn't cut through enough to kill. Still, no worries – Ilse was doubt almost to the barracks now, so he'd have backup soon enough.

Daniel glanced towards the Shiganshina ruins. He needed to get to higher ground, and with that in mind he ran deeper into the ruins of the city. What followed was a deadly game of cat and mouse – Daniel sneaking around in the ruins while the Titan attempted to follow, tracking him down with its damnable sense of smell. Daniel made liberal use of his ODMG to maneuver around the Titan, buying time until he could get into a favorable position to take it out.

With that in mind, his eyes landed on a church steeple, the Titan standing about fifty feet away from it with its back to the church. Daniel immediately rushed into the ruined temple, firing his ODMG cable towards the ceiling, pulling himself up. Climbing up through a hole in the roof, he stealthily made his way to the church steeple, climbing up the side manually so that the sound of the ODMG didn't attract the Titan's attention.

Unfortunately, he hadn't counted for the Titan's change in behavior patterns. The large creature turned to the steeple with a roar, its beady eyes landing on Daniel as it charged.

Daniel scowled. This is a great time to find out it's an abnormal, he thought.

And a great time it was, considering he was almost thirty feet in the air, with no tall structures nearby which basically meant that he couldn't use his ODMG to run, and that meant the only direction he could go was down…

"Well," he said, his eyes on the charging Titan, "that'll do."

The Titan roared its challenge, and Daniel prepared himself to jump, only to laugh when the back of its neck exploded in a geyser of blood, gore, and steam. Ilse twirled around and landed with a dancer's grace on the Titan's head, riding it down as the creature fell to earth with a resounding boom.

Daniel grinned at the two rectangular silver boxes hanging from her waist.

"Need a little help?" she called up at him, smiling widely as she sheathed the blades she'd used to cut down the Titan.

"Nah, I'm good now," he called back. "You were just in time!"

"I could tell!" From his position, Daniel could see her roll her eyes. "Now get down here, we need to get a move on!"

"Right, right, hold your horses," he said. He clicked the button on his sword, and the weapon folded back to its one-foot length, storing on the sheath on his lower back before using his ODMG to rappel himself down the church.

Retracting his cables, he looked at Ilse and smiled, the woman having jumped off of the decomposing Titan. "Good to see you," he said. He nodded at the 3DMG Ilse was carrying. "Got what you needed?"

"Yup!" she smiled. She handed back his sword to him, and with a flourish, he'd folded and sheathed it. "We got lucky – the bunker's practically overflowing with supplies. Gas, blades, spare 3DMG parts, you name it! There's a couple of wagons lying around, with horses too; we can load them up with supplies and take them with us!"

Daniel rubbed his chin. "Hmm… it'd slow us down a bit, but I think it'd be worth it. Since it's only the two of us, plus whatever horses we take… well it beats walking, that's for sure. Either way, it doesn't matter if we take or don't take the supplies with us; we're still cutting down time if we take the horses." He nodded. "Alright, let's do it."

Ilse grinned. "Great! Come on, the supply depot's this way!" Grabbing his hand, she pulled him away from the Titan's corpse, heading towards the large hole that led into Wall Maria, the lost territory of humanity.

Daniel smiled at her enthusiasm. Honestly, he could understand where she was coming from – having been sent on a suicide mission, abandoned outside of Wall Maria, and finally catching a break after more than six months of having left home… oh yes, he understood. Arriving at Shiganshina represented a lot of things for her – hope, home, humanity.

Speaking of which, it represented a lot to him too. He glanced around at the Shiganshina ruins with a frown. He had no idea where that old house was, much less the cellar… it'd take him weeks to search over the entire demolished city in search of one cellar. Hell, he didn't even know where the house was located.

I'd need to bring him back to Shiganshina with the key, he thought. Not an easy task. Too little time, no information… I'll look for that cellar when I come back. We never really knew what was in it. Daniel sighed, shaking his head and abandoning the idea to search for the Yeager cellar. So close, and yet so far. But there is something I can do…

Daniel pulled his hand away from Ilse, slowing his pace to a walk. "Daniel?" she asked.

"Give me a sec," he said, rolling back the sleeve on his left arm and exposing a display panel, the panel lighting up his face with an eerie yellow glow. Once it'd turned on completely, he began typing a series of commands into it.

"What are you doing?" asked Ilse, staring at the computer with a strange look – again, she'd seen it before, but didn't really question where he'd gotten it or what it did.

Daniel looked up from the wrist-mounted computer and smirked at her. "I'm calling the Jaeger," he said.

Ilse blanched. "That thing!?" she yelped, "You're calling it here!? Why!?"

He shrugged, ignoring her alarm. "This place is completely abandoned," he said. "But more importantly, it's both isolated and well-protected enough that Lucky Seven won't suffer any damage of any kind, especially from the Homeland Tribes. On top of that, Shiganshina's ruins are large enough that it can be stored here and still have space to spare, plus its close enough to Wall Rose that we wouldn't have to wait days for it to show up in case of an emergency. No, Lucky Seven's better off here."

He typed in one last command, and the console beeped its confirmation. "There," he said, "That should do it."

"Coordinates received," said a female voice, emanating from the computer. "Jaeger Lucky Seven incoming. Estimated time of arrival: four hours, twenty three minutes, twelve seconds."

Daniel turned off the console, covering it with his cloak sleeve once more. "Well, that's one thing taken care of," he said. He looked at Ilse with a strange expression. "Why are you so afraid of it?"

Ilse looked away from him, not meeting his gaze as they walked. "I… I'm not sure," she said. "It's just… that machine… it's so large and alien… I'm terrified of it."

Daniel nodded. "I… I'm sorry," he said. "I keep forgetting you're not used to it… I mean, I understand where you're coming from. I understand exactly how you feel." He frowned. "But I kind of feel insulted in behalf of Lucky Seven. It's not just large; a Titan's large, but Lucky Seven's designed for Colossal Titan combat. Saying that it's large is like comparing a child's toy with a Titan!"

Ilse shuddered. "All the more reason to be afraid of it," she said. "Either way, what's the point? You can't even use it, right? You said something about needing a… pile?"

"A pilot," he corrected her. "Yeah, it needs two pilots. I can drive it, but I'd need someone else to help. I can't handle the strain by myself."

"Right…" said Ilse. "So is that what you're here for? Another… pilot?" Ilse tested the unfamiliar word before continuing, "You never really said."

"Among other things," Daniel agreed with her. "The Jaeger is just something I… well, it's for combat. Enough said. I'm here to fight."

"Against the Homeland?"

"Yes… and no. The Homeland Tribe has their hearts in the right place – it's their methods I don't agree with." He gave her a look, "Something on which I have no doubt you agree with me."

"Oh, I do," said Ilse. The news that he'd given her about the Colossal and Armored Titans being humans made her blood boil. Hatred and betrayal dominated her thoughts whenever the topic came up. "But you say that we have allies?"

"Oh yeah," said Daniel. "Like I told you, I can't shift into a Titan, not like these people can. There are others as well, people on humanity's side, that can shift into Titans. We're not alone in this war – and believe me, we're at war."

Ilse didn't answer immediately. When she did though, her voice was filled with passion and determination. "Then there's no choice," she said, her voice resolute. When he met her eyes, they were like steel. "We have to get you to Commander Erwin. The information you carry and the weapons you use are too valuable to be lost. On my honor as a member of the Scouting Legion, I will make sure you arrive safe and sound to our Headquarters in Wall Rose."

For a few seconds, they kept walking in silence. "I don't doubt that," said Daniel at last. He looked at her with a serious gaze. "I'm glad to have you by my side, Ilse. I promise you – you're going home. I'll make sure of it."

Ilse didn't answer.

A few minutes later, they'd arrived at the supply depot, a bunker that was built into the wall with most of it subterranean. Exploration of the bunker revealed an entire room devoted to 3DMG supply and maintenance, including repair parts and gas distribution, while another section was devoted to the armory. It was in there that they found a surprise.

"Rifles?" asked Ilse, looking over the ballistic weapons. "But they're ineffective against Titans. Why would the Garrison have these?"

Daniel scowled. "Because they're not meant for Titans," he said. "Look at the state of ammo, the condition of these weapons. They're meant for humans; I guess the Garrison never found a use for them."

Ilse paled. "They… humans? But… why!?"

"Because the people who created these weapons are humans," he said. "The only other creature that can understand a human is another human… and at our most basic instincts, we hate each other. Humans beget war and strife, and without a common enemy, we will find it in each other. I speak of experience." Daniel's expression darkened, memories flashing before his eyes, before shaking his head and looking around at the armory. "Let's take the blades and the gunpowder. Leave the rest."

They moved on in silence, taking the supplies they needed through another tunnel that exited on the other side of Wall Maria. There, a couple of wagons awaited, the horses that had somehow survived three years of isolation on their own already tethered to the wagons; fortunately Titans as a rule ignore. Four horses, two wagons; more than enough to get to Wall Rose in less than a month, supplies and all.

…hopefully.

It took the two of them the rest of the night to load the wagon. By the time they were done, dawn was breaking, the sun peeking over the wall.

"Done," said Daniel. "We've got enough supplies to last us the month without burdening the horses too much." He paused. "Well, gas, blades and clothes, at least. We'll have to hunt for food on the way."

Ilse nodded, her breath labored from the effort. "Yeah…" she gasped, "Plus… plus the first aid supplies we found… how did they last for so long…?"

"I don't know," said Daniel, "and I don't care. I'm looking at a gift horse in the mouth." He began to untether the horses, leading the first of them to a nearby water trough. "We'll rest for today. We leave at sundown."

Ilse nodded. "Okay," she said, moving into the bunker. "I'm uh… I'm gonna get some sleep." She paused at the tunnel entrance, looking back at Daniel with a curious glance. "Are you coming?" she asked.

Daniel shook his head, giving her a sad look. "You know I don't sleep," he said. "But… thanks anyways. Get some rest." Upon seeing her hesitate, he shooed her teasingly. "Go on, I'll be fine."

Ilse nodded, and after a few more moments of indecision she walked into the bunker. Daniel sighed, leading the horse to drink; he hadn't slept in… almost a year, really. More, maybe. The dreams didn't let him. That, and there was never enough hours in the day to do everything he needed to.

Besides, he thought, I'll have enough time to sleep when I'm dead. He looked out at the expanse of land that was their obstacle for the next leg of their journey. One month, he thought, one more month.

With one last nod, he left the horse to its drink and moved back to the wagon to get another one. The year was 848 once more, and this time, humanity would not fall under the trap it had fallen before. Not again.

Not on his watch.

…ooOoo…

Differences:

3DMG and ODMG are not the same things, not in this story. While the words "ODM Gear" were used in the English Dub of Attack on Titan, I've decided that they're going to be two different things.

Ilse Langnar survives, but her canon mission has changed – considering that Daniel found her outside of Wall Maria, not Wall Rose, that's an obvious change.

The presence of Daniel, who carries vital information to humanity. His lack of last name is intentional.

The quicker introduction to elements that have not been explained in canon – factions like the Homeland and Ymir's People, for example.

The cellar, and Daniel knowing of it. He'll be back, this time with the key.