Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction for Shingeki No Kyojin/Attack on Titan. I hope you like it! ^_^


He couldn't move. Never in his life had he been this scared; not even on that day. At least back then he actually had a chance to get away; now it seemed hopeless. Armin tried to will his arms and legs to move, but they seemed to be locked - frozen in place. There was no doubt about it now; he was going to die.

He had excelled in his training, but now it was if the past three years had meant nothing. What good was all the hard work if he didn't have the strength use it when his life depended on it most? Now he was face to face with the enemy and he couldn't even move a muscle to run, let alone kill the monster. Its bulging eyes stared at him intently, an ugly grin stretched across its face with the prospect of devouring the small boy.

The titan picked Armin up by the back of his jacket, dangling him over its mouth. It wasn't until the titan's fingers released the fabric that Armin truly started to panic. He tried to grab hold of something, anything, but was unable to through the slick saliva of the titan's mouth. He couldn't let himself be eaten, he had to try and fight.


All Eren could feel was pain. It spread throughout his body, the worst of it residing in his leg. He'd failed to kill the titan that had eaten Thomas, and ended up being taken down by one himself. He could feel his consciousness slipping, the darkness pulling him farther and farther into its clutches. Eren fought it as much as he could; now was not the time to give up, he'd surely be eaten if he did. He found himself looking at Armin on the opposite rooftop through half-closed eyes. He couldn't think straight as the pain began to numb his body, and it took his mind a few minutes to register the presence of the titan that had come up to Armin.

Eren watched in a dazed horror as Armin was swallowed up by the titan. He couldn't let his friend die, not like this. Armin and Mikasa were the only ones he had left. Anger rose and raged inside of him. He had already seen countless people eaten by the titans and he'd be damned if he let that happen to one of them. He would save Armin even if it was the last thing he did.

He willed himself to stand and used his maneuver gear to get over to the titan, landing in the beast's mouth. Eren grabbed Armin's hand, using his other arm to hold open the titan's mouth. He mustered up all the strength he could, and used it to pull Armin up. Eren threw him back onto the building, ignoring his body's aches of protest.

"Eren!" Armin shouted as he landed on the tiled roof, spinning around so he was facing the titan again. Eren was holding its mouth open, clearly struggling against the tremendous force. Armin knew that Eren would be crushed if he didn't get out of there. Armin could feel himself started to freeze up again. No - not now - not again!

"Hey, Armin," Eren said, a strangely calm but confident tone to his voice. "You told me about the outside world, so…I'm going out there." Eren reached out to him, and Armin knew what would happen if he didn't do something.

"Eren! Hurry!" He yelled, tears rolling down his face as he reached out to grab his friend's hand. He was too slow, and the titan slammed its mouth shut, biting off Eren's arm in the process. The titan swallowed Eren, and Armin let out a horrified scream.

Even before joining the Recon Corps, Armin knew that their lives would constantly be at risk. He knew that one wrong decision could mean life or death. He'd learned that when his grandfather and hundreds of other men hadn't come back from the scouting mission years ago. He just never imagined that he would be losing his best friend.


Please review! They are greatly appreciated! ^_^