At the Inner Gate of Wall Maria leading to the Shiganshina District where the poorest people lived within the walls, aside from the Underground District, a group of 5 horses were trotting along the stone paved streets leading further into the outermost district on the south side of the walls.
Four of the horses in question formed a diamond shaped pattern around the lone horse in the centre on which a boy who had turned 14 only 2 days prior rode. The 5 horses turned some eyes from the local residents, mainly because they were not used to seeing the Interior Military Police this far outside of Wall Sina. The fact that Interior MP's were in Shiganshina was already gathering attention and some people had begun speculating on why they were there.
The truth was that even the MP's did not know the purpose of their visit, only that they had been told that it was of paramount importance that they make the trip before it was too late.
The boy in the centre however was off in his own little daydream while looking at the sky wondering if humanity would ever be free from the Titans century long reign of terror.
"She always said that she would be the one to free humanity from its prison of the walls, but that all changed after-"
"Do you mind telling us where exactly we're going Sir?" asked the MP to the boys right getting a bit frustrated at the lack of knowledge of the journey they had taken.
"You'll see when we get there" replied the boy with a huff, "Oh and don't call me "Sir" when my parents aren't around Jerome, you know I don't like it"
"Right, sorry Nick" Jerome replied while looking down at the ground as if he had taken a sudden interest in the stone paths.
"Don't apologise Jerome" replied Nick to the downtrodden MP, "Anyways we're almost there I think, Do you have the money Ella?"
"Yes, but I'm still confused as to why you had us bust numerous MP's who were illegally selling Government property just for the money, or do you get some satisfaction seeing MP's actually doing their job" she replied with a smirk on her face.
"Although it is nice seeing MP's actually work for their pay, I wanted the money so that I could give it away"
"WHAAAT???" The four MP's shrieked, flabbergasted that all their effort in subduing the corrupt MP's was all for naught.
"Aha we're here" exclaimed Nick rather excitedly.
"Uhh, where are we exactly" asked Olivia , confused as to why they had stopped outside a rather run down building that looked as if it would collapse at any given second.
Nick however ignored her question and got off his horse and signalled the others to do so, he strode up to the door and knocked firmly on the dark brown wooden door 3 times.
About 10 seconds later a women who looked to be in her late 40's or early 50's answered the door, after spotting the four MP's a look if panic engulfed her face as she spoke, "What business do the MP's have with me"
"Actually" Nick interrupted the women "It was me who wanted to come here because i have something to give you".
The women looked surprised before asking him to continue
"As i was saying, the reason I came here was to donate money to your Orphanage"
The woman was well and truly shocked now as this 5 foot 3 tall kid from the interior had just expressed a desire to donate his money to her failing orphanage.
At this revelation the women began to break down and cry in front of the 5 Sina residents, at the sight if this Nick stepped forward and brought the crying women into a hug as she whispered "Thank you" into his ear over and over again.
"Would you like to meet the children" she blurts out after she stopped crying at the act of kindness, "Yes I would like that very much Mrs?" "Fischer" the now named woman replied.
"All right then Mrs Fischer lets meet the children" he then turns around "You four stay out here and hand me the money Ella" He replies with a quick thanks after the redhead hands him the pouch of money which would save the Orphanage.
As he stepped inside he quickly noticed the children that were playing in the main room, there were 8 girls and 4 boys from ages 5 to 10 separated into groups until Mrs Fischer got their attention.
"Attention children, we have a special visitor today who has been kind enough to donate money so that the Orphanage won't have to close down anymore" to which the room erupted into cheers and the children rushed over to thank the mystery man for saving their home.
"It was no problem" he modestly replied to the praise he was getting from the children as he knelt on one knee so he could engage in conversation without having to look down at the children.
"What's your name" asked a small blonde haired girl, "My name is Nicholas Meier, but you guys can call me Nick, okay?" "Okay" came the chorus of replies from the ecstatic children.
(Outside)
"He's far too nice, one day somebody will take advantage of him and he will look like a right idiot"
"He's a lot smarter than you Olivia, now thats for certain"
"You shut your damn mouth Alex" Olivia retorted "At least the rest of us are taller than him"
Alex narrowed his eyes at Olivia "At least i didn't join the military because i had daddy issues"
"At least I have a dad, asshole" muttered Olivia
"You wanna come over here and say that to my face you bitch" Alex shot back.
"Would you two idiots shut up" Ella interjected "You're attracting unwanted attention" as she said this she motioned towards the crowd that were gathering around them wondering what the shouting was about.
As the crowd gathered the bells signalling the Survey Corps' return rang, this caused the crowd to shift their focus to the battered soldiers who looked like they had just gone to hell and back.
As the scouts moved their way through the district towards the inner gate the MP's standing to the side caught the attention of one of the squad leaders at the front.
He goes over to them and asks "What business does the interior military police have this far south of Wall Sina?".
"We don't have any" Ella responds with.
"Then what are you doing here" the scout counters with.
"We're here because our... boss you could say wanted to give money to save this Orphanage"
The man goes wide eyed for a split second before returning to his calm expression and says "That's very noble of them, may I meet your boss if thats alright with him"
"Sure let me get him" responds Ella as she knocks on the door 3 times and says "Nick get out here, someone wants to meet you"
Footsteps can be heard coming towards the door as it slowly opens from the inside revealing the "boss" that they had been told of. What the scout didn't expect was a 14 year old boy about 5 foot 3 with messy light brown hair and dark green eyes, wearing a white shirt with no collar, no cuffs and short sleeves, black trousers and brown shoes. "You wanted to speak with me?" The boy asks.
"Yes, I was curious as to why there were Interior MP's this far south, and they told me that their "boss" wanted to save this Orphanage"
"I bet you didn't expect a teenager to walk out the door did you?"
The scout chuckles "I can say that i did not expect someone like you to be their boss"
"Well I'm not technically their boss, my parents are, but they do what I say so I can't complain" he explains and continues with "Whats your name?"
"Erwin Smith" he replies
Nick offers his hand and Erwin takes his hand in a firm grip "Nicholas Meier, and before you ask, yes I am from the noble family in the Capital" he pauses as he studies Erwins expression of initial shock as to learning his identity.
"It was nice meeting you Mr Smith, I hope one day you and the rest of the scouts can free us from this prison"
"Especially because she cant, not anymore" he thinks.
"I hope so too Mr Meier, I hope so too" Erwin replies with a dark look on his face as he grabs his horses reigns to go rejoin whats left of the scouts after their most recent mission outside the Walls.
After he leaves Nick tells the 4 people next to him that he wants to explore the District for a while. As they begin walking down the main street further into the city he overhears a man talking to his friend about an "annoying brat" who hit him with a stick because he said that the Survey Corps were a wast of taxes before the kid was dragged off by girl about the same age as him. He chuckles after hearing this rather upset that he had missed this altercation between the so called "brat" and the old man.
(45 minutes later)
They had just passed the river where he had noticed 3 kids about his age reading a book, and while the two boys seemed heavily invested in it the girl did not, as if she didn't care about the book at all, although he didn't get a good look at their faces he saw the girl wearing a red scarf even though it was quite warm outside.
They had just begun walking back up one of the narrow streets back towards the inner gate when there was a flash behind them which illuminated their shadows onto the paved street for a split second.
When they turned around there was a pillar of smoke rising from behind the outer gate.
"Please don't tell me that's what I think it is", he spoke quietly so none of the others could hear him.
Just at that moment a hand gripped onto the top of the wall and a massive skinless head peered over the wall looking at the inhabitants with his eyes focused on the main courtyard of the city.
And at then all Nick could think was "They've come for her"