Hello~

I know, I know. I have other stories to update but I got back into Attack on Titan and I wanted to write this and I will update this casually. I've added another Trainee Squad because of reasons... You'll see! I hope you enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: ALL does not claim ownership of any of the AoT characters or the plot. Her characters and their plots are her own.

Prologue

"Hey look, Alyx. There's a pond over there. Let's go swimming."

Alyx, who had been gazing off into space, snapped back from her thoughts. Her sister was tugging gently on her arm, pointing to a small pond nestled away in a bed of cattails. She smiled, taking a quick glance around them. There weren't any around them - at least not yet.

"Yeah, sure. But not so loud," Alyx and Iris quietly crouched through the brush and stripped away their clothes down to their under garments.

The girls slid into the pond without a sound. They swam silently for a long time, laughing quietly and flicking water into each other's faces. Soon the sun was beginning to dip begins the trees. Alyx decided it was time to call it a day.

"Come one. Let's head back already," she whispered.

Her sister nodded and ducked back under the water, coming up to spit a stream of water at her.

"Ugh! Gross! This water tastes like piss!" Iris spat, sticking out her tongue in disgust.

"Shh! Quiet! Do you want them to he-"

Low rumbling shook the ground, rippled the water, shed the trees of their leaves. Alyx felt her spine stiffen. She grabbed Iris and pressed a finger to her lips. Both girls took in a deep breath and submerged into the pond.

Alyx could feel her heart pounding in her ears. The water muffled every sound but intensified the rumbling footsteps. Could they hear her heart beating? There was no escaping if they discovered them there under the surface. She opened her eyes. The water immediately stung but she forced them to look up.

There it was. Thirty meters high, skinless, the mouth of a corpse spread across its face in an eerie forever grin and short brown hair. A Titan. It sauntered farther into view and, to her horror, stopped right at the edge of the pond. It gazed around, almost clueless. Alyx could feel her lungs burning. She needed to breathe. She felt Iris shift uncomfortably next to her. If this Titan didn't move away, they were going to drown. Alyx's body was screaming for oxygen. The edges of her vision were going black. Finally, it turned its back on the pond and slowly moved away. The two girls broke the surface of the water and took in silent breaths.

"I thought... My lungs... Were going to... Collapse," Iris gasped, clutching her chest. "C'mon... Let's go find Mom and Dad."

"Yeah."

The girls dressed in silence and crept back the way they came under the cover of the trees. Just on the horizon, they could see the jutting thorn of Shiganshina, their home. Alyx and Iris, along with their parents, were breaking the law just by being outside of those walls. If the Military Police found out they had snuck out of the walls, even for a minute, they faced time in prison, or worse - execution. The thought of breaking the law was thrilling, but uncomfortable.

"Look! There they are!" Iris pointed at two figures huddled beneath an overhanging of rocks, out of sight from the Titans.

"Hey girls. Where did you run off to?" their dad greeted quietly.

"We found a small pond over there by the forest edge and we decided to take a swim," Alyx said, pulling her sundress away in places it was sticking to her still wet skin. "But we were quiet, don't worry!" she added when that had earned them worried looks from their parents.

"Well, we're just about finished up here. Help your father and I pack up and we can head back home," their mother placed her eagle feather quill in the stuffed leather notebook she kept with her and snapped it closed.

"Dad! We saw a Titan!" Iris said as she helped her father put papers in a small case.

His eyes lit up immediately, "You did? Where was it? What was it doing? How tall was it?"

"It was nearly thirty meters!"

"An Abnormal! How wonderful! What did it look like? What color hair? Or did it even have any?"

"Did you guys get any more research done?" Alyx asked, helping their mother pack away the complicated equipment they used to study Titans as Iris and their father prattled on.

"Oh yes," their mother nodded. "I guess we can safely say we're close to figuring them out. But then again, I could be wrong."

"What'd you do today?" came Iris' voice. The girl wasn't by their father any longer. Alyx began wondering where she had gone when she noticed her standing on the branch of a nearby tree, staring at them waiting for an answer.

Their mother placed her hands on her hips. "Iris, please. Come down from there before you hurt yourself. You know how I feel about heights."

"Oh mom, I'll be fine," Iris rolled her eyes and continued to climb.

"I swear, I don't know where she gets that attitude of hers," their mother sighed.

"Alright. C'mon everyone. Let's get this stuff back to the wall before-"

The rumbling the girls had felt earlier that day shook the ground once more, but it was much closer this time. Fear-stricken, Alyx slowly raised her gaze upward. It was the same Titan that had stopped at the edge of the pond where they had been swimming - and it was looking directly at Iris in her tree.

"Oh my God..." Alyx could feel the fear returning. It created an icy cage around her lungs. She couldn't breathe.

"Iris get down from there!" she screamed when she realized the being was reaching out a hand to snatch her from the branch.

Without looking where she was going, Iris leapt from the tree as the large hand crushes the trunk in half. She tumbled down, hitting a splintered branch on her way to the ground. She landed in a crumpled heap at the base.

"Iris!" Alyx scrambled to her feet and rushed to her twin's side.

"It hurts," Iris cried, clutching her face. "It hurts, it hurts!"

"I-It's going to be okay, Iris," Alyx gathered the girl in her arms. "I got you."

"Girls move!"

Someone picked the two off of the ground and lurched away as the Titan's hand came crashing down to grab them. Their father rolled, releasing his daughters to safety. It was there Alyx noticed the large stick lodged in her sister's right eye. Blood mixed with tears trickled out of the sides.

"Iris..." she choked.

"Girls you need to get out of here," their father urged. "Run back to the wall as fast as you can and don't you dare look back."

"B-but what about you and mom?" Alyx felt panic rising in her chest. Was this the end? Were they going to die here?

"Don't worry about us," he shook his head and pushed his daughters to their feet. "Now run, go!"

"Come on Sis!" Iris grabbed Alyx's hand and began leading her away.

A second Titan had appeared, slowly making its way to their parents. Alyx watched as their mother was scooped up by the first. Her eyes widened when her screams were reduced to gurgled strains as it ripped her body in half at the waist before dropping the remains down its throat. She was going to be sick. Why was this happening?

"Don't look back! You'll be okay! I promise you will!" their father shouted at them. He screamed as the second Titan plucked him from the ground. It clenched it's fist, crushing him in seconds. With his body limp, possibly lifeless, their father couldn't fight back as the creature bit his head clean off and threw the rest aside. Alyx couldn't take it. She opened we mouth to scream.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Her vision blackened.

~X~x~X~

"Captain! We found two citizens!"

"What? On the outside of the walls?! How did they manage to get out without anyone noticing?"

"Hey, are you girls alright?"

Alyx lifted her head. It felt heavy. Her thoughts were buzzing, making every noise around her sound as if they were being tossed through a long tunnel. There was someone in front of her. Were they talking to her? What had they said to her? She tried to focus on their face.

"Can you hear me, sweetie? Are you okay?"

Who was this person? Their face swam in her vision. She couldn't make out his features.

"This one is wounded, sir!"

Wounded? Was she hurt? Where was Iris?

"Ackerman! Take them on your horse. They need medical attention immediately."

Horses? What were they talking about? Alyx tried moving her head but it only slumped forward.

She felt firm hands on her shoulders. "Easy, easy... We're going to take care of you... Just hang in there," a new voice said softly.

"How two young girls ended up outside the walls is beyond me... Where are their parents?"

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