Well I've been working on this fic for a while. It's still incomplete but I figured might as well post it anyways. Of course a disclaimer, I in no way own Shingeki no Kyojin or any of these characters.
Prologue:
"Carla! Pack your things quickly!" Grisha yelled as he stormed into their house, wearing the scouting legion uniform and looking absolutely frantic. He quickly began throwing things into large burlap sacks; pots and pans, clothing, rope, bedding, silverware and utensils, anything he could grab.
Carla, who had been sitting on the couch after enjoying her lunch when he ran in, jumped; startled by his behavior. She quickly struggled to stand; maneuvering awkwardly due to her bloated belly and silently cursing the fact she still had another three months left in her pregnancy, before wobbling over to Grisha.
"Honey, what do you mean? What's going on?" she pleaded, cradling her stomach in her arms while he turned and shot her an exasperated glare. She shrunk back, for the first time fearing the man she loves and hating the look in his eyes, but he didn't waver.
"Damn it, Carla, for once just listen to me! We don't have time for this! Pack your belongings, we're leaving," he instructed before reaching into the bag he had slung over his shoulder. "Be quick, and change into this," he ordered, throwing a scouting legion uniform into her arms.
Carla opened her mouth to argue, to ask questions, anything, but Grisha was already gone, gripping two empty burlap bags as he stalked down to the basement, slamming the door behind him. She stood her ground for a few moments, debating her options, before quickly stripping and pulling on the tight uniform.
Thankfully, even though she was six months pregnant, her stomach wasn't too big, allowing her to pull the stretchy material on, albeit a bit uncomfortably. She then grabbed the cape, pulling it around herself, hiding her belly before grabbing an empty bag and heading to the dresser that she stored all her clothes in.
She stuffed as much of her clothes as she could, some of Grisha's old, ratty attire into the bag, as well as some rolls of fabric, a sewing kit, and some of the baby clothes she had made for her unborn child. She couldn't help but feel like they would not be returning to their home, so after filling her first bag with clothes and clothing material, she filled another with nonperishable foods, and a few canteens she quickly filled with water.
Propping her two bags against the door, she went to the closet and pulled out the spare, roll-out futon and dragged the heavy mat to her bags just as Grisha emerged from the basement hauling the two bags, loaded to the brim, on his shoulders.
"Are you sure you have everything?" he asked gruffly, while she nodded, tugging the straps of the uniform awkwardly. "Good. There is a carriage outside, lets load the bags," he grumbled, grabbing the heaviest of the bags while Carla dragged the bag containing her clothes out with her.
Once everything was loaded into the back of the carriage both Grisha and Carla seated themselves in the front while Grisha took the reins, snapping them and encouraging the horses to move forward. Carla sat quietly next to him, feelings exhausted and terrified. Part of her wanted to ask what was going on, but she stayed silent, fearing another one of Grisha's outbursts.
"Draw your hood up and keep your face hidden. Don't say anything to anyone, just sit up straight, look forward, and make sure your cape hides the baby," he commanded and she nodded again, following his orders.
However, she could feel her heart drop when they turned the corner and she saw a line of horses, much like their own, some with carriages and some without, and all of them mounted by scouting legion soldiers. "What's going on?!" she thought as Grisha steered them so they were lined up behind the other horses.
No one seemed to take notice of them; they were all too focused on the gates ahead of them as they were pulled open by the stationary guard. Carla opened her mouth to say something, but Grisha shot her a menacing look, silencing her, before urging the horses forward just as the line began to make its way outside the walls.
Carla could feel sweat pooling on her forehead, and she desperately tried to stop herself from shaking. To the other civilians watching, she looked like a soldier, nervous and terrified of going outside, but she was more afraid of what was going on with her husband.
Why was he doing this? They had a wonderful life inside the walls. The people of Shiganshina love them. Not only was Grisha highly respected by the community, but everyone saw him as a hero for saving humanity from the plague that hit. Why was he throwing all that away and dragging her outside?
When the gates closed behind them, Carla had to bite her tongue to stop herself from sobbing. She forced back the tears that desperately wanted to fall, and slowly stroked her stomach in the most inconspicuous way possible, hoping not to draw attention to herself. They continued following the scouting legion until they could no longer see the walls anymore, and Grisha pulled back on the reins, slowing the horses down before reaching into his shoulder bag.
"Coat yourself in this. Make sure you cover all your skin, and saturate your hair with it. I know it seems disgusting, but bear with me, it will keep you safe," he explained, handing her a jar full of clear blue slime before grabbing a second jar out of his bag and started coating himself with the goo.
Carla wrinkled her nose when she opened the jar, the grotesque fumes invading her nostrils as she took a hearty handful of the stuff and began rubbing it on her neck, flinching when she felt how cold it was. When she finished covering her skin, she rubbed it into her hair, and for good measure, smoothed some of the slime over her pants, cape, and shirt. When they were both covered, Grisha told her to keep the jars open and on her lap, before veering the horse off course and turning left, galloping west towards the mountains.
Thankfully none of the soldiers ahead of them seemed to notice their departure, and once they were about a mile away Carla finally lost it.
"What the hell is going on, Grisha?! Why are we out here? Have you gone crazy?!" she screamed, tears spilling down her cheeks as she gripped the fabric of her shirt tightly trying to control her breathing.
"I'm so sorry, Carla, it wasn't meant to be this way, but we had to leave. You see I've been doing experiments involving Titans, and I was able to make a few discovers. For one, the substance we have covered ourselves with is the slime that coats the pellets the Titans regurgitate when they consume too many humans. The smell repels them due to the fact that the slime is actually stuns them, making it harder to regenerate, which is why they dispel the crystals immediately after the goo forms around it.
"I also found a way to create a plant hybrid using this slime that excretes the smell of the slime, thus repelling them from the area. In other words, as long as we're covered with this, or the plants are around, Titans won't bother us," he explained, smiling in a way that showed how proud he was of his work.
Carla cringed, momentarily disgusted in the fact that she rubbed Titan vomit all over herself, but she quickly recovered. If it meant the Titans would stay away she really had no room to complain.
"That's great, but why do we have to leave? Isn't that a good thing? It's another weapon to use against them!" She exclaimed, noticing the irritated look the crossed her husband's features.
"That's true, but you see, in order to experiment on Titans, you have to have permission from the commander of the scouting legion, permission I wasn't granted. The bastards underestimated me. They thought because I was just some doctor I couldn't possibly discover anything they couldn't. I knew they were wrong, so I continued with my experiments anyways, and thank the Gods I did.
"However, I couldn't share my discoveries with anyone. If anyone found out what I had been doing I'd be executed for treason, which is why we had to leave. They started catching on, it was only a matter of time before they attempted an arrest," he finished, griping the reins so tightly his knuckles were turning white.
"But how do you expect us to survive out here? We have nowhere to live…" she whispered, petrified with the idea of her baby being born homeless in such a dangerous place. Grisha could sense her distress, and reached over, gripping her hand softly and rubbing her knuckles with his thumb.
"Don't worry, Darling, I've made preparations," he simply stated, leaving it at that. They continued their journey in silence. Carla wept silently when she saw her first Titan, but just as Grisha said, it paid no mind to them; completely ignoring their presence. In fact, it actually appeared to turn away from them to try and avoid them.
After a few hours the sun dipped below the horizon and Carla climbed into the back of the carriage and laid herself down amongst their belongings. The stress of the day's activities was finally getting to her, and she no longer had the adrenaline to keep herself awake. So after finding a partially comfortable spot to lie down, she curled around herself, rubbing her stomach gently and hummed a lullaby until she fell asleep.
Grisha, too, stopped the horses and allowed them to rest a few hours after Carla had fallen asleep, taking the opportunity to join his wife for a few hours of rest. When they awoke, the sun was high in the sky, letting them know it was around noon, so Carla quietly got some of the food and water she pack out of one of the burlaps sacks, and they quietly ate, gave the horses water, and then were back on their way.
They repeated this for the next couple of days. Sleep, eat, travel, rest, eat, travel, rest, eat, then do it over again. Carla actually began to worry about their food supplies, however, on the fifth day of traveling; she woke up to Grisha already on the move, heading into a heavily wooded area that led straight into the mountain side.
She couldn't help but grimace when she thought about what he said before. "I've made preparations." Were they going to live in a cave for the rest of their lives? Was she going to have to raise her child in the side of a mountain like an animal?
However, after another hour of traveling through the thick forest, they finally broke through into a large clearing, causing her jaw to drop. In the middle of the clearing sat a small hut made of logs, rope, and what appeared to be mud. It was tiny, probably only eleven feet long and ten feet wide, but it was well crafted and would definitely make a good home for the two, soon to be three.
Next to the hut, the ground was over turned, and she could see plants sprouting from the area, some she recognized as potato stems, carrot leafs, and even a few corn stocks. The clearing itself was mostly surrounded by the thick forest except for behind the hut, which was solid rock from the mountain side that stretched high above them, almost just like the walls back home. There was even a small stream of water that rain down the mountain side and emptied into a small creek that weaved its way through the corner of the clearing, and into the forest.
However, what stood out the most were the silvery blue plants that thickly lined the edges of the clearing right next to the forest, and wrapped around the hut. "I also found a way to create a plant hybrid using this slime that excretes the smell of the slime, thus repelling them from the area. In other words, as long as we're covered with this, or the plants are around, Titans won't bother us."
"Oh my… Grisha, how were you able to do all of this?" she breathed, still shocked while Grisha urged the horses forward again, stopping them near the hut and tying them to a make shift post.
"I haven't been entirely truthful all the times I said I was traveling for business. I've been really coming out here to study Titans more. I made this hut just in case something like this were to happen, I wanted to make sure we had a safe place to go," he explained as he began unloading the carriage, carrying the bags through what appeared to be a deer skin flap that covered the door.
"And these plants? Are these the plants you were talking about that repel Titans?" she asked, hearing a muffled "yes," from inside the hut while she too climbed out of the carriage. "They're beautiful," she remarked quietly before grabbing one of the bags and carrying it inside.
The inside was simple and barren with only a fire pit in the middle of the small space that Grisha was currently tending to, sparking a flame to life with flint, a hand-made table, and some old furniture she had asked him to throw out a year or two ago; including, a dresser, a chest, a bedside table, and a bookshelf.
"How long has he been coming out here?" she thought as she moved to the chest, putting away the sewing kit, fabrics, and baby clothes. She then went to the dresser and continued putting away her and Grisha's clothing while he went out and grabbed more of their belongings. Together they laid out the futon in one of the corners, and Carla was glad she decided to pack it when she noticed there only seemed to be an old, tattered sleeping bag in the hut.
Carla continued setting up their new bed, layering blankets and other bedding material on the futon, while Grisha continued carrying bags in, and unpacking. He left the bag with food and water on the table, leaned the pots and pans against the wall, and emptied the utensils into one of the bedside table's draws. When they finished, Carla couldn't help but note that the place seemed actually quite homey.
The rest of the day went by uneventful. After they both bathed (a terribly cold bath in the creek which Grisha promised he'd do something about,) Carla busied herself by collecting water, and tending to the horses and garden, while Grisha worked on getting them some stumps to sit on around the fire and at the table. Carla actually began liking the idea of living out here, even when Grisha entered the hut holding two dead rabbits that he proceeded to cook over the fire and serve to her after skinning and cleaning them.
As she laid down on the futon that night, curling into its warmth and watching the shadow of the fire dance on the wall, she thought she could get use to the idea. The only thing that bothered her was she never saw Grisha carry the two bags he brought from the basement into their new home.
Three months after they left Shiganshina, Carla gave birth to a healthy son, whom they named Eren. The three of them lived happily, soon becoming blissfully unaware of the Titans. As Eren grew older, Grisha taught him simple things like how to hunt and start fires, and by the time he was eight he was successfully providing enough food to sustain the whole family.
However, everything changed when Eren was ten. Carla was watching him play in the clearing, while sewing a new shirt for him while Grisha tended to the garden. Eren had been trying to reach into a tree for a pinecone and was becoming incredibly frustrated when he couldn't reach it. Finally he tried jumping, which caused him to accidently bite his tongue.
There was a sudden yellow flash, and Carla screamed when she watched smoke envelope the area her son had been, and when it finally cleared, taking Eren's place was a large, seventeen meter class deviant Titan. Of course Carla began to panic, screaming for Grisha who immediately ran to Eren with an axe in his hand. He used the axe to chop at the base of the Titan's neck, pulling Eren from the flesh that quickly started disintegrating.
Carla, who had been watching in horror, realized that he husband knew exactly what was happening. She screamed at him, demanding answers, even after Grisha carried Eren, who was half asleep, inside, and laid him down on the futon.
He tried to explain to her that Eren was more than fine. He was the ultimate weapon, a true master piece, but that only made Carla angrier when she realized this had been her husband's doing. She demanded to know what he did, and he told her he had been injecting Eren with Titan blood, creating a strong, unstoppable soldier, and Carla snapped.
She fled, running out of the hut, and into the forest, and Grisha of course chased after her while Eren watched before drifting to sleep. They never came back.