Author note: I take full ownage of the original characters within this story, etc. To the point, because no one 'technically' has a title within the military and are just referred to as commander etc, I'm going to use my creative license and give them 'realistic' ranks (since there's a lot of debate and confusion as to why Levi is only a Lance Corporal instead of being a high rank since the military ranking in general and via translation is confusing, and whether Hange is older than Levi etc) and the first few chapters are set before Eren's time thus Levi, Hange and the others are younger and haven't achieved the titles we associate them with yet (i.e Levi is only a Lieutenant instead of Captain at the moment), also their mannerisms are a bit different. One last thing, which I'll bring up again in the next few chapters, in keeping with Hajime Isayama words on Hange Zoe, I'll be writing Hange as non-binary so you can decide whether you want our favourite titan-crazy scientist to be male or female. That's all - oh and I apologize for the sloppy writing, I just want to get the first few chapters out of the way. Peace.
I gritted my teeth as I stared down at the giant beings on the other side of the massive wall. They had taken everything from us except this enclosure, eating us purely because they could. But my hatred towards them was more personal as titans were responsible for the deaths of my entire family. I vowed I would avenge them no matter what.
"Ares." the gruff voice calling my nickname made my shoulders drop immediately, "You know you're not allowed up here."
"I know." I sighed not looking wanting to look at Kitcha. A clattering sound came from behind me as he moved to stand next to me on the wall,
"Then why do you keep sneaking past the guards? They get in serious trouble if you're caught." he said softly. I gave him a side-long glance. Kitcha Valentin, he was the one who pulled me out of the wreckage when Titans attacked our cart, killing my family. He'd looked after me ever since. Kitcha was a tall man in his late-20's, but he had a baby face so he looked younger than he was. His eyes were the colour of leaves in a dense forest and his hair was as dark as earth. There was a burn mark on his left hand, a scar he'd gotten saving me, and a crescent scar that reached from his right eyebrow to his cheek. He never told me how he'd gotten it, all he would say was that it was from his childhood days.
"I want to see them. The monsters that brought humanity to sink this low. I want to know everything about the things I'll be killing." I told him, my fists balling. Again Kitcha sighed,
"You're really going to join the Garrison?" I nodded immediately,
"Why'd you think I asked you to train me?" I smiled up at him. Kitcha scratched the back of his head,
"I had hoped it was bullies."
"RIDERS!" a voice bellowed out. Kitcha immediately went into soldier-mode and began shouting commands, one of which was for me to get the hell of the wall. I muttered my displeasure as I made my way back down to the town below.
"It's the Survey Corps!" children sang happily racing past me, "Lieutenant Levi is so cool!" Levi was here? He was only in his 20's, yet he was known as the greatest soldier humanity had ever seen - the one man army. Not much was known about his past, or rather not much was made public, but he'd shone in battle. I strived to be as strong as him.
I pushed through the crowds of people gathering to see the Survey Corps as they passed through the town just to get a glimpse of him. People were shouting, asking about their family members, one man called out several names, but the soldiers remained silent and stoic. I managed to squeeze through a gap between two heavyset men.
"Oi!" one roared down at me, "What ya think ya doin', brat?!" I looked up at him in confusion, I hadn't done anything. Suddenly, with violent force, he shoved me out into the middle of the street and I landed on my hands and knees.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" I demanded staggering to my feet and brushing the dust off.
"You were pick pocketing!" he roared. I frowned and huffed - typical. An orphan kid pushes through the crowds to get a look at her idol and everyone suspects a thief. Such luck belongs to me. I re-adjusted my hat and turned around to face him.
"I'm gonna beat you senseless, boy!" He announced. He was going to do what? Anger rushed through me like a hurricane; I stood to the side, planted my feet in the ground steadying my stance and raised my fists the way Kitcha had shown me. I wasn't mad because he'd called me a boy, I got mistaken for one too often to make me care. It was the injustice that caused my blood to boil. The big man took one step, his hulking, meaty fist raised and then froze.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked a low, calm voice. The big man's face dropped and he began to stutter,
"L-L-L-Levi..."
"That's Lieutenant." the voice replied unamused. I gulped and turned around to see the silhouette of a man atop a horse behind me. I staggered backwards, the entire convoy had stopped dead and, along with the crowd, were all looking at me. My gaze shifted back to the man on the horse; intimidating grey eyes looked at me with an unreadable expression. Suddenly he sighed, dismounted and began striding towards me.
"A-apologies, Lieutenant Levi!" I called bowing my head immediately. However he kept walking right on by. I took a moment to figure out whether I wanted to turn around or not, but the cry of pain from the direction of the fat man told me I didn't want to move. I shut my eyes tightly, waiting to experience the same treatment.
"Beating a dog like you is just a waste of my time and only pisses me off more." Levi said harshly, "You, girl, are you okay?"
"Girl?!" someone in the crowd cried in disbelief. I blinked rapidly an turned around, surprised that Lieutenant Levi was talking to me and that he knew I wasn't a boy. His back was to me and at his feet, bruised and bloody was the man who'd threatened me before.
"Ah, y-yes." I replied still in shock at what had just happened. Levi turned on his heel, his face expressionless, and marched back to his horse.
"Then get the hell off the road."
Levi sat by himself eating soup and not thinking about anything in particular. He was alone because he wanted to be, a fact that Erwin seemed intent on ignoring.
"That little escapade in town has got everyone talking." he commented as he sat down. Levi stared into his soup, annoyed at the elder.
"Good for them." Levi replied.
"They're all wondering why you did it. Some are even saying she's your sister."
"Stupidity breeds stupid assumptions." he replied. Erwin gave a light chuckle,
"I do have to admit that I'm curious too. Why did you stop?"
Levi sighed, he knew this question was going to be asked especially considering it was completely out of his character to do such a thing.
"She had a look in her eyes that I liked." he replied honestly, "That's all."
"You! You're not allowed here, leave immediately!" The two men turned in the direction of the commotion. A Garrison soldier was trying to make it past two of their own, he seemed intent on talking to Levi.
"What do you want?" Levi asked abandoning his soup in favour of talking with this strange young man.
"My name is Kitcha Valentin, the girl in the street today is like a little sister to me, sir." the man said. Levi folded his arms over his chest,
"And?"
"Well...I uh, just wanted to thank you for what you did, sir." Valentin said before looking down and smiling softly, "See, she lost her parents and two brothers to Titans when she was younger and she's got a personality that makes it hard for her to make friends so she tends to cause trouble, especially being in places she's not supposed to be in..."
"Would you be getting to the point any time soon?" Levi asked pretending to be bored with the story, he wouldn't let on that Valentin's description of the brat reminded him of his old life.
Valentin stuttered momentarily before clearing his throat, "Sorry, sir. I get carried away sometimes. I guess what I was trying to say is that she really admires you, so it means more to her than most would realize when you stepped in and saved her from a beating." Levi shrugged and walked back to his soup, the steam that had been rising from it a moment ago was now but a memory as was the heat.
"Shit." he muttered annoyed, "My soup's cold because of you."
"Sorry sir, I've caused enough trouble so I'll be going." Valentin announced before saluting them and turning to leave.
"She would have been fine," Levi said still looking longingly at his soup but he knew Valentin had stopped, "I intervened because the pigs would have hated her more for beating one of their own. I hate unnecessary deaths."
The Survey Corps camp was dead quiet as I carefully picked my way through rows of soldiers. Although they'd lost men outside the wall there still seemed to be too many to rent rooms and they had looked too tired to continue back to Wall Rose. I wanted to thank Lieutenant Levi personally before he left but I knew they would turn me away immediately so I had to wait until the early hours of the morning when everyone was asleep. I smiled as I passed two soldiers cuddling in their sleep while scanning the area for the man I was searching for. A lone horse grazed happily near the outskirts of the encampment and I wondered whether it was his. The horse raised it's big head at my approach, ears flicking forward curiously.
"Hey there boy, why are you out here alone?" I asked him.
"I was about to ask you the same question." came a reply I was not ready for. I whirled around, hands raised in instant defeat knowing it was better to retreat than fight. I had expected to find a soldier standing before me, but what my eyes found was something far more scarier. Levi stood, arms crossed and an annoyed expression on his face, waiting for my answer.
"I-uh..."
"You were looking for me, were you not?" he asked already knowing my intent. I gulped and nodded. I felt so weak standing before him. I had seen Titans up close, watched as they brutally ate my family, yet why was this single man so terrifying?! He sighed and gave a nearby log a look of disgust before sitting on it,
"What's your name, orphan brat?" he asked crossing a leg over the other and placing his interlocked hands on his knee. I blinked at the ground wondering why he was talking to me and not telling me to go home.
"Everyone calls me Ares." I replied softly. Levi sniggered,
"Ares? The Greek God of war, bloodshed and violence? What a joke."
"I believe that was the intent." I replied before thinking.
"Really? And what kind of idiot destroyed every single one of his three brain cells to think of that?" Levi asked condescendingly. I clenched my jaw - he was nothing like how I'd imagined him to be. Instead of the quiet but remarkably kind man I had pictured him to be, Levi was rude, abrasive and cold. He certainly wasn't the type of person I could aspire to be, not anymore.
"Did I upset you?" he asked in an uncaring tone, "Don't tell me it was that blabbering fool who is oh so fond of you?" I glared at Levi no longer caring if he was as strong as what everyone said, or what he'd done yesterday - he had insulted Kitcha and I could never forgive anyone who did that.
"Say what you want about me, but don't you dare insult him. You know nothing about him, and I won't tolerate someone like you talking shit about Kitcha!" I yelled furiously. Levi's expression didn't change as he slowly stood, I held my ground as he began to walk towards me. I raised my fists and took a defensive stance although I knew I would be no match for him.
"I'm not going to hit you." he said stopping in front of me, "I don't know whether you're brave or just stupid so people like you piss me off, but you've got guts."
"If that's a compliment it's a real shitty one." I muttered lowering my fists and thrusting them into the pockets of my oversized brown coat. Levi scoffed, the corners of his mouth twitched almost like he was trying to smile,
"Have you eaten?" he asked suddenly, I shook my head as my stomach growled, "Come with me." I followed Levi as he made his way back to his tent, he flipped the flap to the side not caring that it almost hit me in the face, and motioned for me to follow him. I took off my hat and held it close to my chest as I glanced meekly around his makeshift bedroom. A small wooden table that doubled as both dinner table and desk had been placed in the middle and had a neat stack of paper to one side and a tea cup and saucer to the other. The second thing I noticed was that it was crushingly clean, not one single spot of dirt to be found. My understanding of Levi's character was beginning to grow - he was cold and abrasive, a neat freak, had an unconventional sense of humour and had a strange way of showing his nice side.
"Sit." he commanded, I did as I was told and sat opposite him, "Why do you want to join the Garrison?"
"Who told you that?"
"Your friend."
I glared at the table, Kitcha had been here and hadn't bothered to tell me. Sometimes that man really pissed me off, especially when he went around telling people personal things about me, he probably even told Levi about my parents.
"I don't know how much that bastard told you, but my parents were different from the people here. They believed that the reason Titans attacked us all those years ago was because humanity, being the easily scared and violent creatures we are, had provoked them. Why else would they leave every other living thing alone and attack us? So in an attempt to see for themselves and maybe even try to reason with the Titans, we ventured outside the wall."
"This idiotic field trip resulted in the death of your family, correct?" Levi asked, I gritted my teeth,
"Some people would call you idiotic for risking your life out there too." I replied stubbornly.
Levi sighed, "That is true. However those people are spineless cowards who have grown too fat and lazy sitting comfortably within this enclosure." he replied resting his cheek on his hand. I frowned, I was sure he just called my parents brave for venturing outside but I didn't want to voice my thoughts for fear I was wrong, so I just continued my story.
"I can still see it every time I close my eyes. It was clear as far as the eye could see and so beautiful, the sun was just setting on the horizon and the wind was refreshingly cool. I thought it would be just like Dad had said, that maybe we had a chance at really living again. And then they appeared, two silhouettes against the orange horizon. They ate my parents first, my mother kept screaming for us to run but we were paralyzed with fear and then my eldest brother, Isaiah, suddenly pulled Felix and I under the cart. It was useless though, one of the Titans pulled Felix out from underneath while the other smashed the cart on top of us. I would have died if Isaiah hadn't protected me..." I looked up from the table expecting Levi to be asleep or at least looking disinterested in my story, what I found was somewhat surprising. Although he wasn't looking directly at me I could tell he was still listening from the calm expression on his face. I took his silence as a signal to continue,
"Kitcha had been on patrol that evening and had seen everything but had been too startled to actually do anything at first, but when he saw a Titan lift up Isaiah's broken body he realized that there was a chance I was still alive under the debris and his body moved on it's own. At least that's what he told me, I don't actually remember what happened after that."
"Who would want to..." Levi said softly, "So you want to join the Garrison to do the man who saved your life proud?"
"I want people to stop looking at me like I'm just another burden they have to look out for..." I admitted. I had never told anyone the truth as to why I wanted so desperately to join the Garrison, not even Kitcha, yet now I was telling one man I wasn't even sure I liked. Levi's gaze shifted and for the first time he looked me in the eyes, his gaze was strong and intimidating and strangely passionate.
"Do you want to know why I did what I did yesterday?" he asked suddenly. The thought had never occured to me but now that he'd mentioned it I found myself curious.
"My reasons weren't as just as they may have seemed - saving a child from an adult. I did it because I knew you could beat him, I saw it on your face. However those fat, lazy cowards would have killed you for something as petty as defending yourself. People like that disgust me; those who unnecessarily kill don't deserve to live." he said. I blinked at the man in front of me, this was the Levi I had imagined. I began to feel ashamed at my judgement of him earlier, however it wasn't solely uncalled for, but it was very apparent that I knew absolutely nothing about the man I had called my idol.
"So that's my story," I announced sighing heavily and crossing my legs beneath me, "What's yours?" Levi's expression became stormy once more and he stood,
"None of your concern." he said sharply, "Don't you have a home to go to?" I pouted and folded my arms over my chest,
"You said you were going to feed me."
"Why the hell would I say something like that?" he asked raising an eyebrow, "I'm not your babysitter."
"Then why did you ask if I'd eaten?" I asked incredulously also standing. Levi strode over to me and took me by the elbow. His hand was surprisingly smooth and warm, and he gripped my arm firmly but not enough to actually cause me pain.
"I wanted to know if it was safe to eat around you." he replied as he led me out of his tent, "You might've stolen my food." With that he gave me a light shove, I stumbled outside confused at what had just happened. It took me almost the entire walk home to realize that he'd been joking.
