A/N: I've had this idea on my mind for quite some time. I love both Chirin no Suzu and Attack on Titan and seeing how they had similar themes yet drastically different messages, I wanted to see what it would be like if Chirin was placed in a much more depressing yet considerably more uplifting environment. I also wanted to take on a large challenge by keeping everyone in character yet changing them up just enough to fit into the setting while keeping an exciting, massive world as depicted in the original SNK canon while throwing in some elements from Chirin's canon.

Anyways, this prologue is very short compared to the length I wish to write for later chapters, but I hope it sets the mood for what will undoubtedly be my biggest writing challenge yet! If you feel like it afterwords, don't be afraid to leave an honest review!

The sky was covered in large gray clouds, darkening the seemingly lifeless forest below. The ground was covered in splotches of blood both dried and fresh and multiple corpses dotted the landscape. The sounds of anguished screams came from all around, never seeming to end. The soft chime of a bell joined the screams as a small lamb walked through the forest. Mud, dirt, and blood covered most of the formerly white pelt of the creature as his somber, frightened gaze lingered on the ground. Around his neck, a torn, messy collar hung as a small, battered bell, the source of the weak chimes, made small noises as the animal walked on.

The lamb's legs suddenly gave out, bringing him crashing to the ground. The body of the small creature screamed in agony, but he resisted the urge to yell. The smell of blood filled his nostrils and the pained screams simply got louder. He raised his forelegs and placed them on his head, pressing his ears against his cranium. The sheep shut his eyes tightly.

"Make it stop," he whispered, but the howls only continued to rise in volume. The sheep's stomach churned in disgust and fear as he pressed his ears further against his head. However, the screams still got through his makeshift defenses and were all too clear, as if the screams were embedded into his skull. Then, the noise stopped altogether, making the sheep open his eyes and put his forelegs down.

He winced slightly as he brought his head up slowly. The lamb's eyes settled upon a limp form lying not too far away. The sheep crawled over with immense effort and plopped down beside the figure, panting heavily. He glanced up at the other body, but the lamb's eyes only met the back of the body's head. The sheep slowly raised a foreleg and settled it on one of the figure's shoulders and gave the body a light, weak shake.

"H-hey…" the lamb spoke softly as he shook the other form. No response came from the being, so he set his other foreleg on it and gave a slightly harder shake.

"W-wake up…" he said weakly, fear evident in his voice. The figure still did not reply to the lamb. The sheep proceeded to force himself to stand on his hind legs and rolled the body over to face him. The effort it took to roll the figure unbalanced him, causing the sheep to fall backwards. He yelled in pain briefly before scrambling onto his legs and looking at the body. What he saw caused him to freeze up in horror.

The face of the figure was frozen in a horrified scream, tongue lolling out to the side. Fresh blood covered the body's entire front side. They stared at the sheep with wide, glazed eyes. The lamb's own eyes widened when he realized that the figure looked familiar, but he couldn't figure out where he had seen them before. Then, a much more terrifying realization came to him.

"...Owner?" the sheep muttered quietly, unable to form any other words or noises. However, his thoughts were cut short by a soft thud and the ground shaking ever so slightly. The sheep looked around in a panic, but he saw nothing else. Then, a louder thud followed, causing the ground to shake again. The thuds grew louder and louder and the ground shook more and more violently, causing the lamb to lose his balance and fall, closing his eyes on impact. He pushed his upper body up somewhat and opened his eyes to see that everything was even darker than it had been before. He brought his head up further to see that he was in the shade of something large with a vaguely humanoid shape.

Frightened, the lamb started to turn his body towards the source of the shadow, but the thudding started again as the shadow grew bigger and bigger. The sheep stood up and quickly took off despite the agonizing pain that coursed through his body. The shadow stayed on him as the ground continued to shake violently. The small sheep could feel his heartbeat skyrocket as he panted harshly. The small animal swerved through the lifeless forest, not even caring where he was going. Anything was better than being chased at this moment.

The stomps faded out and the ground returned to a stable level. Not risking the chance that it might still be there but wanting to check, he began to look back at whatever was or was no longer chasing him, but he suddenly slipped on something, sending him to the ground harshly as he landed in something sticky.

He pushed himself up and rubbed his face with his foreleg. Opening his eyes, his vision was greeted with red splotches on his foreleg and the ground. He immediately shut his eyes again, unwilling to stare any longer. However, he forced himself to look ahead. What he saw made his eyes widen as his mouth hung slightly open as he tried to form words or screams, but only small choking sounds came out.

The lamb was gazing at a large mass of white and red that sprawled out before him. Four legs like his were attached to the mass and were spread out from it at unnatural angles. The sheep could see a large, gaping hole in the middle of the mass, filled with only complete darkness and infinite red pouring out from it. The small sheep could only gawk at the body before him before he managed to choke something out.

"M… mama?" he slowly asked as if the corpse could respond, but nothing came from the body of his mother. The lamb forced himself to walk closer with shaky legs through the stick, crimson liquid that continued to pour through the hole in her body. Upon closer look, he saw that his mother's face was much like his owner's in expression, with her eyes glazed over and her mouth caught in a terrified scream. The lamb began to make sobbing sounds as his back legs gave out, making his upper half land on the red-stained body.

His mourning was cut short by the sounds of loud thuds and the ground shaking. The sheep couldn't bring himself to look behind him, burying his face in the corpse's pelt. The thuds got closer and closer before stopping suddenly. The lamb lifted his head a bit to see that he was shrouded in the darkness of the beast behind him. He lowered his head back into his once living mother's wool and began sobbing again.

"No…" he weakly cried out in between sobs. He then brought his head up again to see that the shadow had lowered. He froze a bit to see that the shadow of a humanoid arm was starting to cover him. The sheep vigorously shook his head, causing the bell to chime.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he shouted, but his pleas were futile as the hand's shadow completely covered him in darkness. He started to look behind himself, but he was abruptly lifted into the air as the anguished screams from before started up again. He flailed and struggled in vain to get loose as he got higher and higher. He reached for his mother's dead body as he screamed. Then, he suddenly was no longer being lifted, although he was still in the air. He looked down as he shook violently to see a black hole beneath him.

The sheep shook his head from side to side weakly as he gazed into the abyss below him, mouthing all kinds of pleas. Then, he started to fall as something let him go. The lamb screamed as he fell into the gap, reaching for the light futilely as he went further and further down until he was shrouded in pure darkness.