AN:

Hey guys just wanted to say that this is my first time writing a fanfic so there'll probably be some things that are wrong here and there.

I want to improve each chapter as much as I can so I'm open to any constructive feedback anyone has in regards to improving this chapter and any other chapters.

It gets much better along the way.

Chapter 1 - For the Greater Good of Humanity

Year 849 - Celebration of the Top 10 Graduates, 103rd Trainee Corp, Utopia Branch.

The Top 10 Graduates had been announced and the celebrations took place in the mess hall, all the cadets had gathered there and were congratulating those lucky to become the Top 10..

"Jay!" a young teenager called out as he rushed after him. He was quite tall and had a lean figure, light brown hair kept in reasonable size with a fringe covering part of his forehead and fairly large grey eyes. He was wearing a simple white long sleeve shirt with a light blue vest on top, white trousers and dark knee high boots.

The other teen,Jay, slowly turned around and fixed him with a dull stare. He was an inch taller and had a more toned build, with long, messy black hair and smaller, narrow dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white shirt with plain black trousers.

"What is it Dante?" Jay frowned as he blinked at Dante, who was grinning, "Stop grinning...it's offputting…"

"Where do you think you're going?" Dante asked as he put his arm around his shoulder, "This is time to celebrate. We graduated! And you are ranked first! Most people would think that you'd stay around and celebrate!"

Jay breathed out in annoyance as he carefully peeled Dante's arm away, "What I was hoping to do was to get some fresh air before going to sleep…" he muttered as he was about to walk away but found another person blocking his route. He was the same height as Jay but had a more muscular build in comparison to him with similarly long black hair but kept neatly into bangs that hung over his forehead and on either side of his brows with larger, mesmerising golden eyes. He wore a light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, beige coloured trousers and also wore knee high boots like Dante that were dark brown.

"Oh please what do you want Al? Don't tell me-" Jay began in annoyance.

"Tell you what? That you're missing out on such a great celebration back in the mess hall with all sorts of food and drink all just for us. And you are missing out on it all…" Al said.

Jay breathed out, annoyed, "It's for the best...Let's just leave it at that…"

"How about we don't leave it at that and get back to celebrating?" Dante grinned as he ruffled Jay's hair, only to have Jay slap his hand away and glare at him. "Oh, come on don't be so damn antisocial…"

"Don't be so damn happy," Jay muttered aloud, "...Besides, who would want me there celebrating with them...it's better if I just stay out of this…"

Al sighed as he glanced at Dante before quickly going back to the mess hall. "We can see about that when we head back to the mess hall."

Jay reluctantly followed Al into the mess hall and entered to see everyone standing up silently holding their mugs, Al standing at the forefront.

"Fellow cadets! Let us offer a toast to Jayden Talbot! The 1st ranked cadet!" Al called out, raising his mug up and everyone following suit behind him cheering. Jay glared at Al, clearly unimpressed by his actions. Al on the other hand gave him a wide smile and nodded to him as a gesture. Jay grumbled to himself and slowly raised his mug, the cheering grew even louder as he did so, "If you can't beat them you may as well join them…" Jay muttered to himself, reluctantly walking over to the benches and joining the rest.

Year 849 - Graduation Ceremony of the 103rd Trainee Corp Utopia Branch

The cadets all stood outside in the large auditorium waiting while Commander Erwin gave his speech to muster new recruits for the Survey Corps. After a short while Erwin concluded his speech, "Those of you who do not wish to join us may leave now."

Dante looked hesitantly back as the huge amount of people who began to leave. He swallowed and licked his lips anxiously as his eyes darted from his friends to the huge amount of people leaving.

"You having second thoughts?" Jay asked, tilting his head to his direction and raising an eyebrow.

"We won't blame you if you decide to leave," Al looked at him, "You deserve that place in the military police you kn-"

Dante shook his head and exhaled, "It's not that… It's just… I can't believe we're here making this choice now...and we don't know what the hell happens next…"

Jay lowered his gaze, his eyes narrowed and pursed his lips, not saying a word. Al sighed and shook his head as he faced forward. 'Dante's right…' Al thought dismally, 'If we actually go through this...What happens then? Who knows what would happen to us?' He looked down at his hands dangling by his sides and clenched them. 'All I know is that I'm the first of my family to join the Survey Corps...and to go beyond the walls and finally help humanity… And I will give my heart and soul to the task if I have to...'

'Why is everyone walking away? Don't they want to fight for humanity?' Jay exhaled and lifted his head defiantly. 'Cowards...I'll prove them wrong...every single one of them… I'll stand here and fight against the titans and prove them wrong...Never again...'

"Soldiers… Welcome to the Survey Corps…" Commander Erwin called out, his voice echoing in the open clearing that had now formed.

Year 850 - A small cave between Wall Rose and Wall Maria

"It's been a month, a whole fucking month and we've covered only 50 miles!" complained Dante while tending to the horses.

"Commander Erwin did warn us in advance that we'll be out here for at least a few weeks, but he mentioned nothing about the possibility of us being out here for a whole month" replied Jay.

"It's not like we've sitting on our asses this entire time" retorted Al.

"But a fucking month Al, our supplies were only supposed to last us two weeks tops. Through some sort of miracle we've managed to sustain ourselves by rationing like hell but now we only have enough for a few days. Now tell me this Al, once we've run out what then, uh, tell me what then!" exclaimed Dante, annoyance building up inside of him.

"Well then I guess we have no other choice but to hunt our own food. It shouldn't be too hard, hell even you're not too bad at it Dante"

"If you need maneuver gear though I'm afraid we don't have enough gas to spend on hunting" asked Jay.

"That's fine, the sound of the gas would be picked by any animals within the vicinity and they would just run away," replied Al.

"So what do you suggest then," Jay asked, "You're the hunter here. It's uncharted territory for me really so it's your call."

Al reached down into his pocket and produced a folded map. Unfolding it he laid it down on the ground for Jay and Dante to observe as well, the two of the crouched down on either side of the map. "So according to the map we're currently right here," Al pointed out on the map,"and the nearest forest is over here about a few miles south east. I say we head over there at first light and then head on down south to our destination." Al explained, tracing his finger over the route on the map.

"Looks to me that forest of yours is the one with the big ass trees" Dante pointed out,",Perfect for using our gear if worst comes to worst."

"Best solution would be for all of us to go in. We stay back a bit to let you do your thing and when it's done you pop a signal flare and we'll head back together" Jay told Al and Dante.

"Sounds all fine then." Al smirked, folding the map up slotting back into his pocket.

"But…" Jay added in to Al's annoyance slightly.

"But what?" Al asked.

"We don't have a lot of gas left to use on hunting. We need to save if for the rest of the journey if we're going to make it back." Jay informed Al and Dante.

"Well I can make do without….Right now we should get some sleep. We head out at first light." Al advised, the other two abiding by it.

The next day

Al grunted out in pain as he crashed into the ground, tumbling around in the grass. He forced his eyes open and coughed out as he staggered onto his feet, clutching at his shoulder. He looked up and his eyes widened in shock as he saw two titans emerge from the trees, staring at him intently and slowly lumbering towards him. Not taking his eyes from the oncoming giants, his hands fumbled for his belt. He looked down and cursed. "Crap! Where is it!?" Al thought as he looked around on the ground feverishly. His eyes focused on the shiny metal handle half-buried in a bush and felt his hopes flare up. "I need to warn Jay and Dante first before I deal with them" Al thought as he looked up at the giants towering above him. He let out an annoyed sigh as he rushed forward. He slid to the ground and pulled the trigger of his handle, sending a hook shooting out and embedding itself into a tree behind one of the titans. He sped forward just before the titan swung and sent his fist crashing where he was milliseconds ago. He skidded under the first titan's legs and looked up to see the second titan raise his foot. Al flipped onto his feet and fired a second hook up into the Titan's arm. He felt himself getting yanked upwards from the ground and sent spiraling past the titan's arm. Al quickly glanced back at the titan he had just sped past and looked at the ground where he was speeding towards. He holstered his handles and covered his head with his arms, bracing for impact. He hit the ground and rolled across, his arms and thick coat absorbing most of the shock. He slid on his back and plucked the flare from the bush. Instantly he pulled back the hammer and fired, sending a column of green smoke shooting into the air.

Jay spiralled through the air, barrelling past the titan's arms and straight above it's head, He holstered one of his swords and reached out, grabbing a fistful of the Titan's hair and pulling it back. The Titan's head lolled back from the speed and the force at which Jay was travelling, sending him dangling right in front of the Titan's nape. Jay swung out with his right hand, creating a deep clean slice in the Titan's neck and sending hot blood splashing onto the front of his uniform. Jay let go of it's hair and kicked off sending him falling to the ground. Jay spun and corrected himself and looked up at two deviants rushing towards him. Jay reached for his triggers and pulled, sending two hooks into the Titan's lower abdomen and shot forward, sending a column of gas behind him . He swung beneath the titan's leg and sent him rocketing up into the sky.

"Two deviants, a 12 metre and a 15 metre..." Jay's eyes flickered between the two giants looking up at him, "Looks pretty straightforward, need to attack hard and fast without wasting whatever gas I have...even if that requires wasting a good pair of blades…"

He locked in the blades and flicked it upwards, sending two blades spinning upwards into the air. Jay clicked the triggers again, sending four hooks embedding themselves around the Titan's nape and sending him rushing forward towards its weak spot. Jay locked in two blades and sending them plunging it's neck. The blades had shattered completely as he pushed off and looked at the second deviant speeding towards him. Jay reeled in the hooks and fired them towards the titan, sending them embedding around the titan's eye. He fired forward and brought out his empty handles. Effortlessly, he locked in the blades he had dropped earlier and plunged it forward, sending it straight into its eye. It had burst like a balloon, sending blood splattering everywhere and causing the titan to tilt his head back and roar out in pain. Jay pulled his arm out of the hot gooey mess and pulled out the hooks. He leapt to the side and descended down the side of the Titan's head to it's neck. He swung his sword in an arc and sent it deep into the titan's neck just above the nape of the neck. Jay twisted the handle and swung down, cutting the nape of cleanly with blood gushing out from the wound like a fountain. The titan fell back and landed onto the floor. Jay pulled out the hooks and stepped down onto the grass, looking around dully as he holstered his swords. He turned back to the dead decaying titans and spat out in disgust,

"Hmmph...too quick for my liking...but efficient enough as it is…"

Dante somersaulted backwards, evading the titan's fist and gritting his teeth in annoyance as he saw two more titans approaching him. He landed back against a tree and darted forward, shooting out gas behind him, spiraling along the titan's arm and tore its nape wide open. Blood erupted from it, spraying onto Dante's back as he leapt off of the titan and shot out a hook into a tree, reeling himself in and traversing through the trees towards the other titans. Dante neared the first titan and shot up into the air, hurling his blades into the titan's eyes. The titan staggered back and roared in agony, swinging out blindly and knocking the other titan to the ground. Dante shot out both hooks into two trees on either side of him and swung down, attaching his blades to the handles of his gear and spun around, twisting the blades and pulling them back. The blades ripped the titan's skull open from the eyes to the back of the head till Dante pulled the blades out and retracted his hooks only to shoot them both into the titan's nape. "Now for the finisher" Dante thought as he held his blades in front of him and pushed the buttons on his handles, sending out a huge cloud of gas and shooting right through the titan's nape, erupting through the other side covered in blood. Dante pulled the blades out and landed onto the ground, looking back at the titan he had just dispatched as it fell onto the ground.

Suddenly he heard a roar and jumped back, narrowly avoiding a titan's open mouth. The titan went head first into the tree and went limp, laying perfectly still on the ground. Dante shot out his hooks into the trees above him and soared into the air, readying his blades to strike and dropped back down, his eyes focused on the titan's nape. All of a sudden the titan jumped up into the air, it's mouth wide open to swallow Dante whole. Dante instantly mashed his triggers furiously and reeled himself back up, "Why won't you reel me in faster you stupid piece of metal!" Dante thought in a mix of frustration and desperation. No matter how much he mashed the trigger the titan caught up with Dante, his feet were already inside it's gaping mouth, "Fuck it then" Dante thought as he kicked his legs out, his feet pushing against the teeth of the titan, barely keeping its mouth from opening. "Now then," Dante said out loud, pushing two specific button on his handles to produce two barrels on either side of both his blades, "How would you like a taste of the Blackwood pistol swords. Of course you have no choice so open wide would you." With that Dante pressed the two buttons on his handles again. Bullets roared out of the barrels and ripped through the titans jaw muscles, allowing Dante to relax his legs as the titan's jaw widened considerably and it fell to the ground, Dante remaining where he was in the air, retracting the barrels back into the handles of his gear. He watched the titan fall below him and saw a flash of green in the corner of his eye heading straight for the titan, severing its nape and landing against a tree and dropped down onto the ground. Dante swung down as well.

"Dante!" he heard Jay called out. He turned around and looked over to where Jay was pointing to. 'Green smoke?' Dante's face creased with confusion but his eyes widened with shock, "Jay! That's-"

"I know, come on!" Jay remarked gruffly as he whistled out and soon enough, two horses galloped past and stopped right next to them, stamping their hooves. Both of them leapt onto their saddles and dug their spurs into the horse's sides, sending them galloping towards where the signal came from.

Al tossed the flare gun to the side and rolled over, dodging the titan's fist as it slammed into the ground where Al was just standing seconds ago. Al scrambled back onto his feet and took his glove off, revealing a carbon black gauntlet with buttons on the tip of each finger. He quickly looked behind him at the two titans lumbering towards him and saw his bow and quiver lying on the ground behind them. "I need to conserve my gas use," Al thought as holstered the triggers, "Thank God, I have these at least..." He pressed one of the buttons on his fingertips, sending a clawed grappling hook from his wrist. He flicked it out, sending the hook flying and embedding itself into the titan's forehead. Pressing another button on his gauntlet, Al jumped as he was reeled in and swung over the titan's head, the hook dislodging from its forehead. Retracting the hook into his gauntlet, Al took out the handles of his gears and attached his blades to them. Using gravity instead of his gas, Al turned upside down and struck his blades, tearing through the titan's nape down to the entire length of its back before landing onto the ground.

The titan fell to the ground behind Al and shook the ground slightly. Quickly grabbing his bow and quiver, Al shot back up into the trees and looked down at the other titan below him, a 15 metre class that seemed to have forgotten that Al was right above him for some reason. Taking advantage of the titan's seemingly ignorance, Al shot out a hook into the titan's nape and reeled himself in, using some gas to speed him up. He pulled his blades back and swung them forward, slicing right through the titan's neck and decapitating it. Al rolled over onto the ground and stood back up, looking at his surroundings and sitting down against a tree, gaining his breath his back. Al's ears perked up after a short moment as he heard the bushes near by rustle slightly and the sound of movement. He climbed up a tree next to him and stood on one of the branches, gazing down at the small group of deer grazing the grass below him. Slowly Al held his bow and loaded an arrow into it, drawing the bow back and aiming at the nearest deer, and let the arrow shoot out into the deer's head. The surrounding animals immediately perked their heads up and begin to run away. Al quickly reloaded his bow and fired another arrow, killing another deer. The rest of them had run away and Al was left with two kills.

"Should be enough for the time being." Al muttered to himself, dropping down and cutting the meat from the deer. Once he was finished, Al shot up into the trees and flew through the trees with ease, heading in the last known direction of Jay and Dante, hoping they hadn't run into the same trouble as he did with the titans. As Al was gliding through the trees he heard the sound of multiple branches moving when suddenly he looked to his side and saw a large titan standing in the cover of the trees. It had an unusually large torso with a small head and long slender arms, not to mention it was covered in fur, like a animal. Al avoided dwelling on the abnormal titan's appearance and instantly reeled his hooks back in. The titan suddenly swung out at Al who shot out another hook of his gear and attempted to reel himself away but realised he was a second too late. He felt an explosion of pain in his leg as he flew back into a tree and fell down to ground with broken bones, bruises all over his body and the bottom half of his leg below the knee torn off of his body. Al raised his head slightly, blood running down his face from a gash in his head, and looked at the fur covered titan further away from him. That's when it spoke...

An:

Hope you enjoyed.

Like I said before any feedback is very much appreciated.

Till next time.