A harsh sob racked Theresa's body.

A Titan would undoubtedly find her with all the racket she was making, but she didn't care.

Her mother and father... They'd left her! Everyone was gone!

Theresa was normally a loud, sassy girl who bounced off the walls. But now she could only huddle in the doorway of her house and sob, her energy gone with her parents. The Titans had broken through Wall Maria. So everyone had run. But the somewhat klutzy little green-eyed girl who'd tripped and fallen hard enough to knock herself out had been abandoned. Left for dead.

Theresa gave up trying not to cry. She gave up, grinding the heels of her palms into her eyes as she bawled.

Her noise didn't attract a Titan, but it did attract something else.

Crouching in the shadows behind an overturned vegetable-cart across the street was a boy, only a little bigger than Theresa. His name was Liu. Liu's parents had been born outside the walls— Naturally, he was too. But, having seen the Titans break down the walls, he'd curiously stolen inside.

Something, like the sensation of being watched, made Theresa look up. Liu shrank behind the cart, still watching her. Why was this girl left alone in this hollowed-out husk of a town?

"Um... Hello?" Theresa called timidly, standing up and looking about. When nobody answered, she was prompted to call again, "Hello?"

Liu moved the tiniest bit. As he did, his long hair brushed over some pebbles on the ground. The small stones clattered, the noise amplified by the deathly silence of the town, and Theresa jumped. Her gaze shot to the overturned cart. Suspecting an animal and fearing her mother's tales of imps and bogeymen, Theresa picked up a stick lying in the street and began approaching the cart.

Not looking forward to having his skull beaten in with a club, Liu slowly poked his head out over the cart.

"Shit!" Theresa yelled, jumping.

Liu blinked calmly, standing up.

"Don't do that!" Theresa yelled furiously, throwing her stick at the strange, scruffy boy. His brown eye widened, and he ducked. "I thought you were a wolf! Or a bogeyman! You sonova bitch!" Theresa ranted, stomping her foot.

Liu didn't answer, brushing his bangs out of his face.

"Ooh!"

Theresa froze, mouth hanging open as she stared. This boy had strange eyes. Hers were green, like the forest. She'd seen many shades of blues, browns, greens and golds, even people with eyes that had red, purple or orange tints to them. She'd seen grays and a multitude of mixed colors. But never before had she seen someone with eyes of two different colors. His right was dark brown, like chocolate, and his left was a blue that was almost crystalline, reminding her of gems rich men wore on gold chains. His face was calmly expressionless, but his eyes were... intense, deep pools of secrets and emotions one might be able to read with the right training.

Liu let the girl stare for a while before softly saying, "You'll catch a fly like that."

Theresa blinked, as if surprised that he could speak, and said, "Huh?"

Liu shook his head, t'ch-ing. "My name's Liu Hanningworth."

"Mouthful. You look like a ghoul, standing in the shadows like that. I'm Theresa. Theresa Manes."

Liu didn't reply, examining her, and Theresa stepped closer, absently wondering if he'd bite her.

"You're alone— Where is everyone else? Don't they know the Titans are coming?" Liu asked softly.

Theresa broke down crying again.

Understanding what was going on now, Liu emerged from the shadows. As gently as he could, he awkwardly wrapped his arms around the sobbing blonde. Perhaps a tad too roughly, he patted the smaller child's head.

"Ouch." Theresa mumbled into his chest.

Suddenly Liu grabbed her hand and started running.

"Hey, what—"

"They're coming." he said shortly.

Liu was twelve, but he'd grown up in a kill-or-be-killed world. His mother died in childbirth. His older brother had been eaten by a Titan. His father and older sister were slain by rogues, who had left Liu alive and enslaved him. Liu had survived two diseases that'd taken many lives, four Titan-attacks, and a harsh world where he often fasted days between meals. He'd killed three men and two small Titans.

The traces of blood and decay had drifted to him on the wind. Faint vibrations had tickled his bare feet.

Titans were coming.

Theresa didn't know how the dark-haired boy had sensed the Titans— She certainly hadn't, and could find no evidence herself. But she put her faith in the sprite-like boy and ran with him.

Neither the ten-year-old insider or the twelve-year-old outsider knew that they'd just embarked upon a really fucked-up journey of friendship.