Authors Note. Skip if you don't care.

Welcome to my first Attack on Titan Story. It'll follow the story of some of our favorite characters as they encounter a new developing threat that could challange the peace that Eren and his friends fought so hard to obtain.

This story assumes a few things. The first being that the battle that took place in season 3 episode 17 was a complete success. Many died, however temporary peace was garnered. The Colossal Titan and Armored Titan were captured, while the beast Titan still escapes. Also, and this is important. The character death that happens at the end of the mention episode (Hint Hint Cough Cough) never happens. I won't spoil, but yeah. That fucked me up and now I write this story as a sad boi.

Anyways, Enjoy!

Trost District.

Eren ran his fingers through his hair and yawned. It's gonna be a good day.

After all that had transpired within the past few months, he and the rest of the scouts, and even the whole city for that matter, deserved a break from the hellish confines of war with the Titans. With Reiner and Bertholdt being held prisoner deep underground, Everything seemed peaceful. For now at least. The beast Titan was still out there, watching, waiting for a perfect time to strike. Wall Maria was also reclaimed, springing to life the promise of more agriculture and food.

We did this. Eren smiled slightly. Usually, those three words would be used in a negative sense if anything bad had happened to him or his friends, but right now, he enjoyed the small miracle of feeling like they had a decisive victory. They were no longer the hunted, that title belonged to the Titans.

Eren glaced around his room. Armin, Connie, and Jean were not present, meaning they had already started their day. Time to get up. Eren threw his sheets to the side and sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes.

"You're awake." A familiar, soothing voice said from the door.

"Yeah..." The teen replied to Mikasa, who wore regular civilian cloths. Seeing her without her 3D maneuver gear was rare, but witnessing it now meant to Eren that there was nothing to worry about. The pain was over, and now they could partake in their well deserved rest.

Mikasa sat across the room from him on Armins freshly made bed. "Today's gonna be busy. You should get up and eat."

Those words hit the boy like a truck. Busy? "Wait, what? Why is it gonna be a busy day?"

"Levi wants us to be within Wall Maria for the next few days to monitor the construction of the farmhouses."

Eren laid back down on his bed and groaned into his hands. "That's so stupid. Why can't we just have one day to ourselves? Just one? I think we've deserved that much, right?"

"I agree." Mikasa nodded. "But our mission still isn't over... You know that."

Eren squinted in thought for a moment until he remembered something he himself had stated last night at dinner after the monumental fight with the Armored and Colossal Titan - "It's not over yet. It'll be over once humanity has a strong foothold within wall Maria. Right now, all we have is a large plot of land with no farmers and no stake of our claim."

"You do remember, don't you?" His best friend questioned with a frown.

"Yeah... I remember." Eren leaned forward and shook his head, mostly out of exhaustion, but also due to regret. Maybe if I hadn't have said that, I could still be sleeping.

"Come on, Eren." Mikasa stood and held out a helping hand to her friend.

Eren ignored the gesture and stood on his own. "Alright, alright. I'm up." He brushed past his friend and made way for the door, ready to eat breakfast.

"Um, Eren!" Mikasa stuttered.

He stopped in his tracks just in front of the door. "Yeah?"

"Levi wants all soldiers to wear their usual gear. 3D Maneuver and ODM." She knew he wouldn't take kindly to this, so she braced herself for a barrage of sighs and groans.

Two Hours Later, Wall Maria.

The scouts were split into dozens of small, three to four man teams, each monitoring one farmhouse as it was being built by citizens from Wall Rose.

"They're pretty fast." Eren commented after a few minutes of silence. Him, Armin, and Mikasa sat on a few hay bails roughly thirty feet from the construction. Most of their day consisted of being on the look out for rouge Titans that may have survived last nights battle, or common thieves, the ladder of which was probably not even a threat at all. Eren had concluded that this mission was most likely just a formality, something to show the people of Wall Maria that we will continue to watch over, and protect them.

"I'm bored." Armin picked at some loose hay straws and yawned.

"Well..." Mikasa mumbled. "If any of the scouts were to see a Titan, it'll probably be us. Just look how close we are to the gate." She pointed south where the hole that led to Shiganshina used to be, now covered in Erens Titan hardening.

"We'll be alright." The young Titan shifter nodded in assurance.

The builders talked loudly to one another as they tried to coordinate the construction process. Much to the friends surprise, they were very quick, nearly completing the entire frame in under an hour and a half.

"Wow." Armin curled his lower lip and nodded approvingly. "Maybe those builders are a new type of Titan shifter." He joked.

Eren let out a breathy chuckle. "Yeah. The Builder Titan."

The two boys laughed hysterically, something they hadn't done in a very, very long time. Mikasa, however, just sat there, darting her eyes back and forth between her two friends. To her, the joke was lame and unfunny, however seeing her two companions genuinely happy made her smile ever so slightly.

Three Miles East, Wall Maria.

"Captain Levi!" A shrill voice yelled from some distance away.

Levi inhaled deeply through his nose and slowly turned to see who was calling his name. Oh great. He thought once he saw Sasha riding her horse towards him, accompanied by someone who he had never seen before. At least something's finally happening. I still can't believe Erwin is making us watch these oafs holler at each other while they try to build these farmhouses. What a day to be a scout.

Levi strutted his horse over to the two and stopped when he was an even six feet away. "What?" He asked in his usual, monotone voice.

Sasha quickly jumped off her horse and rendered a near perfect salute, however she was far too stiff.

Levi, never one to be impressed so easily, just shook his head. "Sasha... Just say what you're going to say, please."

The girl gave him an embarassed stare and nodded. "Right. This man," She pointed at the stranger, who wore a white shirt with black straps that ran from the waistband of his grey pants and all the way over his shoulders and back the other side. This kinda of apparel was certainly foreign. "He's from another community." Sasha continued. "They're in trouble and need help."

Levi blinked in disbelief. Is she really suggesting we help this total stranger? Is she serious? "With all due respect," Levi sighed, his disingenuous tone perturbing the stranger. "we have our hands full at the moment. You're welcome to stay in the city as long as you need, but right now neither me nor my scouts can be bothered with assisting your community."

The stranger's eyes widened. "Mister, you don't understand. We-"

"I do understand..." Levi's mind flashed images of all the comrades who had died in the hellfire of war. Who was this stranger to assume anything me?

The man continued. "Our town was attacked by those... things! We've heard stories of this place. You're the Survey Corps, right?"

Levi raised an eyebrow. This man seemed as though he was from a distant land, yet he knew what the Survey Corps was? "That's right... What's your name?" The commander responded.

"Rorick... My name's Rorick."

Levi, once again, sighed deeply, knowing he would regret the words waiting to come out of his mouth. "Alright Rorick, here's the thing. I'm not the one who makes the decisions around here. Quite frankly I don't want to be bothered with your issues. So just wait here with us. In a few hours, I'll take you to Captain Erwin. You can plead your case to him."

"Oh! Thank you mister! You don't know how much it means!"

The veteran soldier just shook his head and turned back towards the construction he was suppose to be monitoring. "Uh huh... Like I said, - I do." As he walked away from the two, he overheard their conversation fading away in the distance.

"Soooo..." Sasha droned. "What did you say happened again?"

"It was just a normal day... The last thing I remember before it all happened was leaving my daughters home sometime in the afternoon. I was a merchant, so anytime I had a long route to go on, I would say goodbye to her first. She's been my only family since my wife died two years back." The old man explained, pulling on his collar to try to catch a breeze.

"Oh... Sorry about your lose." Sasha tried to sound as genuine as she could, but after all the deaths she's seen and friends she's lost, it feels so natural to just dismiss it without a second thought.

"Eh, it's alright. She died to an illness, so I at least have that much to be thankful for. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if she was eaten by one of those monsters."

"I know what you mean... So, what's your daughter like?"

The old man smiled. "She'a a nice lady, I just don't like her choice of a husband."

"Oh, was he a bad person?" Sasha felt uncomfortable in conversations like this. She never had any idea what to say or how to react to things told to her.

"Yeah, I thought so, but my mother told me never to speak ill of the dead. He died during the first Titan attack.. Only good thing he's done is make two beautiful grand children... God, I hope their okay." Rorick sighed, scratching his head nervously. "I wonder what happened to them that day..."

"I'm sure their alright." Sasha comforted.

"Yeah. I hope."

Two Weeks ago, Town of Hilda.

Sweat dripped from Kace's brow as he carefully guided the screw into the small hole with the help of a driver. "Easy... Easy." He muttered to himself, gritting his teeth. He had to get this screw in. Just one slip up, and the entire project would collapse from the mounting weight.

Once he felt the metal tip slip inside the opening, he slowly began to turn it to the right, tightening it and effectively securing the whole mechanism.

"Aha!" Kace smiled wide in self contempt. "Mom! I fixed the door hinge!"

"Thanks sweetie!" His mother called from the other room of their small, bedroom home.

Kace glared at his project with pursed lips. "This... This is why I don't have friends..." He wiped the sweat from his chin and shrugged. The desert sun was rough this time of year. "Oh well." He tossed the screwdriver onto the couch and began walking towards the kitchen for something to eat just as the front door flew open and slammed against the wall behind it.

Kace's jaw dropped, emitting a loud, drawn out gasp from his mouth.

Tatum, his little sister of seven years old, walked inside, looking upset and fairly defeated. "Where's mom?" She pouted as she placed her textbook on the ground by the door, which was now once again broken at the hinges.

Kace dragged both palms from the top of his face, slowly down to his chin, where he used the tips of his fingers to hold his face up. Keeping his eyes closed, he took a deep inhale and and whispered. "She's in her room."

"Thanks." Tatum brushed past her brother, who was still standing there, frozen. Kace never liked getting mad at his family, even if they did sometimes get in the way of his inventions or ideas. He especially never wanted to get angry at Tatum. She was too innocent and friendly for him to expend any frustration out on her. Kids at school often gave her a hard time since she was very engaged with her studies. Kace chalked it all up to jealousy, and he told her not to let it get to her. However today, Tatum obviously fell victim to the spite of others.

The door closed behind the boy, leaving him alone in the living room. "You're welcome." He grumbled, finally opening his eyes to survey the damage. To his horror, the door was now missing six screws. "Damn... gotta find them all and do it all again. First grandpa breaks it, now-"

He was suddenly caught off by a blood curdling scream from just outside. "Their here!" The scream called out, after which another array of panic seemed to web out in all directions.

"Kace?" The teenage boy heard from behind him. It was his mother, who held a crying Tatum by her side. "What's going on out there?"

Approaching the door, he peaked outside and scanned his eyes around at the various buildings, roads, and people, but he saw nothing to garner any panic. Turning back to his mother, he shrugged. "No idea-"

Boom!

A thunderous eruption rang through the air, causing everyone outside to scream even louder in fear.

"Kace!" Tatum cried out. "What's happening?!"

Not wanting to simply shrug again, Kace stepped out onto the porch and glared over his roof. His face dropped, the pupils in his eyes went large, dominating the iris. It's... huge... way bigger than ten meters. The Titan placed both of its abnormally large hands on the top of the wall and glared into the town, an angry, gum toothed frown plastered on its face. To make things even stranger, it had hair. Not like seeing hair on a Titan was out of the ordinary, but it just made this one in particular seem too outlandish to be real. It was just a black bowl cut, however, the fact that it was so nonchalant sent chills down the teens arms.

"Oh my god..." Was all Kace could muster. He ran inside, closing the broken door as much as he could. "Get in the bedroom and hide! It's them!"

His mother gasped and carefully pulled Tatum into the back room, slamming the door closed once her son entered. "Quick! Behind the bed, away from the window." She instructed.

The two children follow her orders and sat with their backs against the bed frame, hearing the towns wall being crushed and torn apart as the less fortunate civilians wailed in fear, trying to get out of the towns square. Ever since the wall began construction, our people obtained a certain demeanor, one in which they believed we as a village were invincible thanks to the wall. Clearly, this delusion was being crushed likewise to the defensive structure outside. With a Titan this large rampaging through our town, it's hard to imagine that our string out luck would prolong any further.

"Mom? What do we do?" Tatum asked, holding both hands to her ears to drone out the screams coming from outside.

"We just need to stay here, honey." Their mother whispered. "No loud noises, and don't move a muscle. We'll be okay."

The three sat there in silence, the sound of their neighbors and friends being crushed and eaten bounced off the walls like a bullet.

What if there's more? Kace thought to himself. I only saw one, but that's only because I barely caught a glimpse of it. If there's more, this could be the end of the town entirely.

After a while, the screams grew more distant, and the thundering footsteps echoed further and further away, deeper into the community.

Their mother, flustered with what to do, slowly rose to her feet and tip toed over to the bedroom door. She opened it just a crack and peaked through. Nothing. She sighed in relief. "Come on, children, we need to make it to the safe building."

The safe building was a tax funded structure that was built deep underground and was designed to keep larger Titans from reaching the townspeople. It was small, so only a handful of people could fit, but it was better than risking their stay here.

Kace and Tatum rushed to her side and follow her through the living room. Just before she could reach the front door, a large, skinny hand burst through and gripped the woman tightly as she let out a terrified scream. A Titan, probably six meters tall, got down on all fours so it could see through the window in the front of the house. Once it saw what it had grabbed, It's hand began to squeeze around the frail human.

Tatum just stood there, watching it all happen with a blank, stunned glare. "M-Mom?" She asked softly, her eyebrows raised. It was almost as if she didn't understand how much pain her mother was in.

Their mom in response, tried her best to turn her head to look at them. "Run!"

No! I have to do something! Kace thought of something, anything that could save his mother, but before he could conjure up an idea, his mother was squeezed so hard that blood began to spew from her mouth due to internal bleeding. It was... horrifying. She coughed, spit, and hacked up blood so forefully that it got on the ceiling and walls.

"Damnit!" Kace grabbed his sisters hand and yanked her into the back room. At first, Tatum was emotionless and frozen, like her brain hadn't processed what had just happened Once Kace carried her through the bedroom window and across multiple blocks of road, she slowly began to look around at her surroundings. Buildings were destroyed, bodies were strewn across the pavement, some bent in inhuman shapes underneath rubble and debris.

After what felt like nearly ten minutes of running, hiding, and evading, The pair finally made it to the safe house, which, luckily, was totally void of any sort of line. The safe house was designed to hold five hundred people, which was a small percentage of those who lived inside. Once they reached the bottom and regrouped with the survivors, it was all down to a waiting game. There's no telling how long this would last. The siblings found a comfortable spot in one of the five large rooms and hunkered down, waiting patiently for the all clear to be given.

As they sat there in total silence, too shell shocked to speak or move, Kace noticed his best friend Marcus sitting across from him. The two blinked towards each other, which was the only form of acknowledgment that felt appropriate for the time given the situation.

No one really said anything that night. Sleeping conditions were tight, but at least the two siblings had each other to depend on if things got rough. At some point during the evening, the realization finally hit a few of the citizens, including Tatum. She spent a half hour hugging her big brothers side, sobbing quietly into his shoulder. There was nothing else anyone could do but that.

Mom... He thought. If I had just fixed that damn door properly... She would still be here... That Titan wouldn't have been able to reach through. It's my fault. It's all my fault. There's no way to fight this. We have nothing to challenge the power of the Titans, and now that there are far fewer civilians, nothing would even be attempted. The town is in ruins, our people slaughtered, and we could do nothing but cower underground.

Kace clenched his teeth in despair, a single tear running down his cheek. No! Someone has to do something. I have to think!

The boy then remembered hearing tales of people up north using swords and equipment called ODM's - a piece of gear that allowed the user to fly and grapple through the air as they cut down their enemies with finesse and skill.

That wouldn't work here... nothing to grapple to... I'll have to think of something with a similar concept, just with a design that will allow us to do the same thing, just without the need to grapple to trees or rocks, as those things are non-existent here in the desert.

Now busy thinking of what he could invent to aid his community in their struggle with the Titans, Kace wiped the tear from his eye and wrapped an arm around his little sister.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I need to stay strong... Not just for myself, but for everyone.

Present, Twelve Hours After Monitoring the Farmhouses, Trost District.

Eren flopped onto his bed as soon as he finished getting dressed in his pajamas. "Today... sucked."

Armin and Mikasa, who were already in the room and dressed for bed, chuckled at their friend. "At least we weren't the ones building the houses." The blonde said.

"Don't give Levi any ideas." Mikasa taunted. "He'll have us all in a hard hat in no time."

Eren smiled into his sheets. That was the first time in seemingly years that Mikasa made a joke. "I hate both of you." he said sarcastically, voice muffled by his bed.

"We love you too, Eren." Armin smiled. "Maybe some day this week we'll have an actual day off where we can all spend time doing what we wanna do instead of sitting around all day."

The Titan shifter sat up and faced the two teens before him. "Yeah... That sounds nice."

"We should go to the lake. I bet it's super warm this time of year! Perfect for swimming!" Armin exclaimed.

"No, the forest near Wall Rose is beautiful." Mikasa countered. "I never got to take it all in because of the Titans. Now's our chance to actually enjoy it and explore, just like when we were kids."

"But it's gonna be too hot! Wouldn't you rather go cool off in the lake?"

Eren sat back with a calm, peaceful smile plastered on his face as he watched his two friends bicker about what they should do for fun. Those two never argue. But seeing them banter about something so innocent... so safe... It's reassuring. Maybe the fighting was over, and we could finally enjoy ourselves.

Armin and Mikasa went back and forth for five minutes until Connie walked into the room and sided with Armin, even stating that he would tag along if they went for a swim.

"Majority rules, Mikasa!" the young blonde cheered.

Mikasa smiled and shrugged. "Alright, it's settled then. We'll go to the lake."

Wow... Eren thought. This was a good day. I bet tomorrow will be even better.

That night, the scouts earned their rest. For the first time in years, they slept a whole eight hours with no interruptions.

To Be continued

Authors Note, skip if you don't care.

Chapter one complete. Not quite decided on an upload schedule. I think one chapter every 2 weeks is good. Don't wanna burn out too quick but likewise don't want to be so slow that I lose viewers. That is, if anyone even cares to read anyways ;)

Leave a review for feedback so I can know what you all think. Thanks.

-Galaxy