A/N: Soooo I realized that I haven't posted anything since, like, 2013... And I kind of fell off the Earth after that. I really want to get back into writing on here since I've honestly just been reading other people's stuff all these years and not putting anything up myself, so I decided I'd actually whip something new up and get back on here! (Also I don't ever plan on getting back to my old stuff considering how much I believe my writing has changed.) This will be a series, not sure how long, but I'd like to keep it running as long as possible. I honestly don't plan on abandoning this, and I will definitely say something if I'm ending it. This is gonna be a Yumikuri fic and will bet set in a medieval times kinda AU with appearances from many other characters of SNK. So, without further ado, here's the first chapter c:

I saw men and women of all kinds coming in and out of the famous city of Trost, where I lived and worked, but none were as strange as the man in front of me. The look on his face was quite belittling for such a short gentleman and despite his size, the muscular build he had could easily be responsible for many an injury. Even his somber eyes felt intimidating, making me feel as if I had something to hide... even though I certainly didn't. As a simple merchant and craftswoman, I had not committed any sort of crime that should lead a man with that kind of look on his face into my shop... which was more like a messy wooden booth than an actual structure. This man's gloomy eye was twitching fiercely, and I noticed that every few seconds he appeared as if he were about to mutter something, but stopped himself. The disgusted look on his face was increasingly prevalent, "Sir?" I tried to awaken him from his nearly motionless state, but he remained without even a modicum of any other emotion besides pure frustration. Was I in trouble for something? This wasn't good, the man in front of my wares was the one I recognized as none other than the monarchy's personal blacksmith, Levi Ackerman.

I wanted to ask what was troubling Mr. Ackerman, but I figured it may not have been the best idea. The chance of angering him further was too great of a risk to take, and his eyes spelled "Don't talk to me". Either way, the silence was getting too weird. I had to say something... "How may I help you?" I said this more like I was asking myself than Levi, but finally the question managed to break him from his preoccupation.

Still looking vexed, the man rose his arm to reveal a poorly done drawing of a young man. Considering how bad the artwork was, it was amazing that I could actually tell what exactly it was. The only feature that was distinguishable, really, was the fact that the depicted man barely had any hair. That was about all I could tell from the picture. Levi glared at me, "Christa Lenz, right?"

"Um, yes. That's correct," I replied timidly.

Why was he here? I had never even visited the castle before, where he worked, or even where he lived. His scowl told me my question was about to recieve an answered, "Has this man ever bought anything from you?"

Even if he had, there would have been no way I could tell that by the drawing. There were probably about a million people that had come by to see my wares that resembled that in some way. I assumed that Levi had sketched it himself, so I had to be nice about it. Realistically, though, it wasn't detailed enough for me to be able to pull out any sort of conclusion to his inquiry. I tried to grin at him despite my myriad of fears that he was about to explode in anger, "Sorry. I don't think I've seen anyone like that lately. I'll let you know if I see him." He simply scoffed at me with equivalent irateness of a father glaring down at his poorly behaved child and glanced around at the back of my stall where I kept most of my supplies.

"Clean it up," He muttered under gritted teeth as he walked off to another merchant. For a second, I simply stood in silence. Never before had a visitor told me to clean up my shop. Perhaps he was right, though... The back was getting a little messy. I wanted to apologize for the unsightly image of my extra goods, but he was already gone. Quietly, I began to tidy up. My first order of business was to organize each product into the box or barrel it belonged in. This process was a lot longer than I'd expected as none of the boxes had been labeled even though I asked Sasha, my apprentice, to do it months ago. Looks like she never got around to it. I decided that I had some time on my hands, no customers were showing up, so I began to carefully mark each container after I was finished organizing.

When I finally set my tools down, something glimmering in the corner caught my eye. I sighed, must have missed another jewel. But as I drew closer I knew that this was not a gem... it was a tooth, and a sharp one at that. I didn't sell the merchandise of a huntsman, that was the job of the Jaegers on the other side of the city marketplace. Perhaps it belonged to them. Carla Jaeger bought from me often, it wasn't unlikely that she'd accidentally left it here... but there was something peculiar about the fang. I was no expert in beasts, but never in my life had I seen a tooth that looked like the one in my hand. The tip of it almost naturally twisted before it came to a point, and it didn't appear carved. Balling my hand into a fist and dusting off my dress, I began to make my way out of the back of the shop. I needed to give the tooth to the Jaegers, surely they would appreciate the likely valuable item being returned.

By the time I arrived at the Hunter and the Beast, which was the small shop belonging to Eren, Grisha, and Carla Jaeger, the sun had already set and their stand had closed. To reach them I would have to instead go to their residence, which wasn't too far away. The Jaeger family were friendly folk, if a bit presumptuous. Even so, it was always nice to visit their home. Grisha was often away, but his presence was still strong within their household. The boy and mother talked of him like he was some sort of legend, which was understandable due to his many achievements. The Jaeger household was always jovial, and had a deep connection with one another. It was refreshing to see a family who cared for each other so much.

The streets were nearly empty at this time of evening, I could barely see a soul aside from a couple of town guardsmen. It was peaceful out, and the weather was perfect. A soft breeze came by every few seconds and tossed a few dead leaves around. Winter was coming, which would normally mean less customers because of harsher weather, but Trost was not a normal city. Here, rain or shine, there would always be people out in the daytime. The people of Trost loved the snow, and they sort of had to because of how commonplace it was. Come wintertime, there would be heavy snow nearly every day until summer. Spring didn't exist here, it was always blocked out by blizzards. Most would avoid extreme weather, but Trost embraces it. As I walked I wondered if snow would arrive soon. It felt cold enough to snow, but according to the chatting nobles that came around merchant's quarter, it wasn't quite cold enough yet. I wondered if they really knew what they were talking about.

Click, click, click, click. The sound of someone running in thick winter boots rang in my ears. It started getting louder, breaking the ataraxis I felt a few moments ago. I didn't bother to turn around, it was probably just a child running home. But the clicking noise soon engendered a suspicion in my mind... those were the footsteps of someone older, definitely too heavy for a child. Before I could react, a tug on my fist caused me to lose my balance. For a second I stumbled until I regained my composure, unsure of what just happened. It didn't take too long for me to realize that the tooth was missing. That clicking was the sound of a thief.

"Hey!" I tried to yell, but it came out as more of a whimper than anything else. I was too late anyway, the sound was gone and it was far too dark already to see where the culprit went. The only source of light were a few torches placed around the road, which didn't provide enough light for me to see any further than right next to me. I didn't even get so much as a glance at them before they escaped. I figured I was just lucky to be alive, but the frustration quickly set in as I remembered how potentially valuable that tooth was, and it must have been if someone wanted that badly to take it. The poor Jaegers had probably just lost a lot of money, all because I was too stupid to turn around.

"Mrs. Jaeger, it's all my fault... I'm really sorry that happened. I should pay better attention. But don't worry, I went to the sheriff immediately and he said they'll do their best to catch whoever stole it." Carla stared at me for a long time before stifling a laugh. Confused, I stuttered, "A-are you mad? I-I'm really, r-really sorry."

The woman simply shrugged and sat down in her chair, facing me. Her expression was calm and somewhat amused, like nothing I would have expected. Her midnight hair shook as she chuckled. It was definitely not the look of someone who just had a mound of gold stolen from them, "Christa, that fang most certainly did not belong to us. In fact, I've never even heard of the type of tooth you described. Are you sure it wasn't artificial?" I nodded, "Well, I feel sorry for whoever it belonged to, but you don't need to worry about a thing. I'm positive it wasn't mine. But if the guards happen to find it, would you bring it to me just so I can take a look at it?"

"Of course! No problem." I grinned, feeling relieved that I hadn't let anyone down. Still, curiosity led me to wonder what exactly that tooth was and how exactly it had gotten in my shop. It hadn't been there a couple of days ago, so how did it suddenly appear this afternoon?

I said goodbye to Mrs. Jaeger and her son, Eren, and headed straight home. The dark wind had grown more powerful now, as it usually did during the nighttime. With the air brushing against my palm, I recalled the forceful tug I'd felt as the burgular brushed past me. This time I was incredibly cautious, thieves could be everywhere as far as I knew. Each little rustle, every small creaking noise I heard had me spinning around, searching for a source of suspicion. Luckily, I got home without another encounter. My mind was still reeling when I entered the door of the cottage, who was that person and why did they take the tooth? How important was it? It must have been worth a lot. No one came around the back of my shop besides me and Sasha, and I was almost positive that Sasha didn't have a trinket like that. I needed answers, and there was no way I was going to sleep without them.

But there was one problem.

At this time of night, citizens weren't supposed to be roaming around outside unless they had official business. I didn't exactly have a good excuse... but I didn't need one if I didn't get caught.

No.

"You're a good girl, Christa. There's no way you could sneak around at this time of night. The guilt would be impossible to deal with." My wooden chair creaked as I set myself back down, convinced that such an adventure was impossible. Maybe I would just have to wait... but although I was a good girl, that didn't mean I was a patient one. Every muscle and joint in my body wanted to spring up at the same time, put on my cloak and sprint out the door. My fingers twitched vigorously, expressing their need to find out more. This mystery, it was undeniably filled with unparagoned excitement. In my boring old life as a broker, sadly enough, this was one of the more interesting moments of my career. That felt depressing somehow, but I needn't digress! Either way, I felt jittery just thinking about the word, adventure. Oh how foolish I was, something had been stolen! This wasn't something to be excited about... A subtle throb of fear reached me. Perhaps there was someone after me, after my valuables? I wasn't a materialistic person, but the thought of going out of business because of a thievery problem wasn't a most pleasant one.

In my mind I declared that once the sun's rays reached me once again, I would notify the other merchants in town of the issue and see if anyone else has come across the same lithe figure scampering about when the moon appears.

That was my plan, until a heavy pounding collided with the old timber wood of my door, causing my fear to resurface.