CHAPTER ONE

Eren was surprised, which was a surprise in itself. After living for so long Eren was not prone to getting genuinely surprised. That was not to say that he did not like getting surprised, as long as his home, the forest, wasn't in danger. Eren wasn't sure how he was supposed to take the thought of humans camping near his home, which was really only a two mile walk from where the humans decided to pitch their tent.

Eren watched safely from the cover of the thick underbrush where, if he were to reach a hand out, could touch the ankle of one of the humans. There were three in total, two males and a female. The female looked like the youngest, with shaggy brown hair that when the sunlight caught it, seemed to be tinted red. It was done in twin pig tails and messy bangs were constantly pushed back as she continued to chatter on about a topic Eren did not quite understand.

The male who was nodding along with whatever the female was saying looked like a giant compared to the other male. He was blond, pale eyed and his bangs rested in the middle of his pale face. He had a small smile on his face as the his female friend continued to chatter mindlessly. It was nice to see such young people--they were all young to Eren--be carefree.

The last male was short. This was what Eren had noticed at first as he eyed the male up and down, wondering if he had any dwarf ancestors in his blood line. However, even if he did, Eren did not care so much for the dwarfs as they always played one too many pranks on him but this male was very interesting. Steely eyes were sharp and focused, his build was small and slender but he certainly wasn't lacking muscle. Black, straight hair was styled in an undercut and dark circles rimmed those stormy grey eyes that showed absolutely no emotion. It wasn't until the loud girl jumped onto the his back did the steely eyed man gave the slightest hint of smile which turned into a scolding frown.

Eren gave a quiet yet long sigh as he gazed at the trio forlornly. What he would give to have such normalcy in his life. Eren did not exactly hate what he was nor did he particularly celebrate it either. Yes he was helpful, he could do things people only dreamed of or seen in a story book but he wished to have the reassurance that his friends wouldn't leave him behind while he was stuck in a continuously long life. People like him did not have the pleasure of growing old and dying. One would think that was a good thing, why grow old and why want to die? Such an answer can only be the fact that not many creatures, human or not, did not have such an extensive life span. Those who did were few and far in between and Eren wasn't so fortunate.

"Levi! Tell us the story of the witch again!" Eren was shocked from his thought when the female called out to the short male--Levi--and bounced in place excitedly.

"You really do like that story don't you Isabel?" The blond male chuckled as the girl--Isabel-- nodded her head so fast that Eren worried she might break her neck.

"How could you not Furlan? I mean it is kind of sad but it's still cool!" Furlan gave the excitable girl a smile and sat on a log that they had dragged to their campsite.

Isabel immediately took this as a sign that the story was going to be told and sat down as well, looking expectantly at the shorter of the males. Levi gave a groan as he watched his two best friends look at his with seemingly innocent grins that contrasted starkly with the mischievous gleam in their eyes. They knew he could never say no to them, especially to Isabel. She was the sole reason he even considered camping in the first place, be it anyone else he would have said no on the spot. He spoiled her too much.

"If it will get you to shut up then I will." Levi placed himself on a another log, parallel to the one Furlan and Isabel were currently occupying.

"Long ago, two thousand years in fact, in a house like any other, a boy practiced magic. He was young, ten at the most, but he was strange. He could make the dishes wash themselves, the broom would sweep the floor without anyone needing to push. Even the windows--"

"Oh my god Levi just get on with it! Yes, we know you love cleaning, just stop!"

Levi glared at Furlan as Isabel laughed at the annoyed face the short male was giving to the taller blond. It was no secret that Levi enjoyed cleanliness and the idea of camping should really be a big red sign saying 'N.O' but when Isabel gave him those big teary puppy eyes...he broke.

"Whatever...anyway, he lived in a world where giants ruled the lands and devoured humans, driving them to near extinction. The last of humanity build walls to shield themselves from the giants--"

"I wonder how they built those walls though, with all the giants roaming around." Furlan asked, his chin resting in his hand thoughtfully but the gleam in his eye proved his intentions. He really got a kick out of interrupting Levi.

Seeing what Furlan was doing, Levi sighed heavily through his nose but otherwise kept his composure and did not let his friend to get under his skin.

"Shut up and listen! As I was saying...the last of humanity constantly hid behind the walls as the giants roamed through the land and continuously devoured more and more humans. Everyone lived in fear that one day these giants would somehow find a way to enter the walls so none ever tried to explore beyond the safety of the walls. However, that boy, remember him?, he refused to be enclosed inside the cage people called home and set out to find a way to eradicate the giants. He came from a long line of witches and inherited--"

"Wait a second! I just realized that he was called a witch, does that mean he was secretly female?" Isabel pondered aloud. She had heard this story for so long and yet she had just noticed that they called the boy in the story a 'witch'.

Levi sighed, annoyed with all the interruptions, they were the ones who wanted to hear the story in the first place!

"It's just an old tale, its not real! Anyway...he inherited one of the most powerful of magics in the world, the power to transform into the man eating giants that haunted humanities lives for so long. Of course, when the people found out about this power, they were so blind with fear that they had murdered the boy in cold blood. However, on that day, a man had said he had seen the boy preform a spell right before the villagers murdered the boy. Later that evening, a ginormous giant, fifty meters tall, kicked a hole in one of the walls. In panic, civilians fled into a forest, in hopes to climb the trees and escape their deaths. But, they soon discovered that all the trees grew in size! There was no way to climb such a huge tree and the civilians wondered just how such a thing could happen. Giants were leaking into the forest, smelling the flesh of humans and the heavy thuds f their feet could be heard. The people thought themselves as good as dead, especially when one of the grotesque faces of the giants appeared, snarling like an animal. The people pleaded to survive and as if God answered their prayers, a fifteen meter giants appeared and single-handedly slaughtered all the man eating predators. Victorious, everyone thanked the rouge and yet still could not help feel uneasy of their savior. So, as a plan, they decided to kill the giant before it thought about killing the humans it rescued. The giant, in a fit of rage towards the humans betrayal, ate them. That rouge was none other than that little witch boy who, after seeing what he had done with his people, cursed the forest with his hate and regret. Even after two thousand years, the magic boy kills any person that wanders into the forest, not beings able to stand the sight of another human and deal with the regret and remorse. He was known as the Trost Witch after the construction of the town in 1778. The forest we are in now is the exact same one as that day and people will always claim they hear the screams of the people as they were devoured. The End."

Eren stared at Levi calmly, his eyes narrowing slightly. Isabel looked dazed by the whole experience, Eren didn't blame her, Levi really knew how to spin a tale. Furlan looked similar but significantly toned down. He held a look of amusement and fascination that Eren could only assume to be due to the fact that the steely eyes male knew such a tale.

"I wonder if that legend is true to some extent..." Furlan pondered quietly, cheek resting in his hand.

"I doubt it, it's way too exaggerated for it to be real, even a bit." Levi protested, dismissing the idea completely. He stood from the log and stretched his aching limbs as he gazed at the horizon. Splashes of orange and yellow mixed with shades of pink signaled the setting of the sun. A grunt left Levi as a bone cracked into place and sighed.

"Lets get some wood and start a fire before it gets dark, tomorrow we can go to Rose Fall." Isabel nodded and dragged Furlan with her into the forest, chattering rapidly on the "epicness" of the legend.

Once the two were out of sight, Eren studied Levi. The male was unpacking and organizing materials quietly. Shifting closer, Eren failed to see the branch in front of him until his foot came into contact with it, snapping the brittle thing with a loud crack. Startled, Eren scrambled backwards and ran into the forest, only hearing the cocking of a pistol as he fled to his home.

Today was definitely a surprise.