Prologue
"Sir, she's still breathing " the doctor informed the tall man. He stepped away from the bed, where a small girl was laying. Her arms were covered in blood soaked bandages. " I'll need to refresh her bandages every two hours. From now on, she's to fight to survive " the doctor packed his bag and sat inside a chair next to the girls head. "I don't understand why she wanted to kill herself. Was I a bad father to her? I always tried to fulfill her wishes" the tall man on the other side of the room complained. "Mister Kupin. Your daughter is probably just hurt over the loss of your wife" the doctor consolated him. "Anyways, I have to take care of business. Make sure Shura doesn't die" the father said and left the room. The doctor brushed a strand of the girls dark brown her out of her face. "I'm not sure if you can hear me Shura. But you have to know, that your father is very concerned about your health. Also, your granny asked me to look after you" he whispered. It took six hours into the evening, until Shura awoke. Just the doctor, who fell asleep on the chair, was with her. The room was dark and empty. There was only her bed and a small closet. This wasn't her room. It was probably in the basement, next to the kitchen and rooms of their employees. "Doc, please wake up" Shura whispered and shook the doctor. The man opened his eyes and met her blue eyes. "Shura" he said in surprise. "Doc, I want to visit Granny" she said. "That's impossible. You know your father opposes" the doctor insisted. "Go to sleep, please Shura" he said and pushed her into the pillows. When she awoke, the room around her was shaking. "Where am I?" she asked without opening her eyes. "We're almost at Granny's" her father answered. Shura sat up and looked outside the window. They were inside a carriage. It was dark outside. "How long have I been sleeping?" she asked and looked to the ground. "A few days. I told your father that you wanted to visit your Granny, so he made it possible" the doctor explained. He sat across the carriage, next to her father. Then it went silent inside. Just the rhythm of the hooves of the horses were audible. The sound echoed from the walls of the houses across the street. "We arrived, Mister Kupin" the coachman said and opened the door. Shuras father left the carriage as first, followed by his daughter and at last the doctor stepped on the street. The coachman put their suitcases next to the door and left them. A butler opened the door, after Mister Kupin knocked twice. "Anush Kupin. Your mother awaits you" he greeted the small company ouside the house. He showed them inside, taking their suitcases with him and showing Shura to her room. The doctor checked on her, before she went straight to bed.
She had slept for two hours, when her door opened and someone crept into her bed. By the hands of the man, who now spread her legs forcefully, she knew it was her father. Shura closed her eyes and prayed, it wouldn't hurt. But she screamed anyways in incredible pain. When she woke up on the next morning, her father was nowhere to be seen. But her granny sat on her bed, ready to console her. Shura threw herself into the arms of her granny. They both knew what happened the night before. Granny heard Shura's screams. It was nothing new that her son abused his now 15 years old daughter. And it wasn't a secret either. But no one talked about it or tried to help Shura. "Are you okay, hummingbird?" her granny asked. Shura nodded. "yes. Can we go outside today? I want to stay away from him for a while" she pleased. Her voice was raspy and dark. She sounded like a raven. "what happened to your smooth voice little bird? It must have hurt like hell" granny whispered. She stood up and reached for a black dress. "This is a present" she said and gave it to Shura. Shura squealed and gave her granny a kiss. "Thanks" she said and got up to change into her new dress. Granny realised, that Shura wasn't very tall, but very skinny. Every bone was vincible on the small girls' body. "Shura. Would you like to live with me?" she aked her granddaughter. Shura nodded, without looking at her. Granny helped Shura into the dress. She combed her long hair and braided it to a bun. "Put on this hat" granny told Shura and gave her one of her own black hats. "We can go now, if you want" she told her. Shura nodded again and blushed. She wasn't used to decide what to do. "You look amazing" granny whispered as they slipped outside the back door. Shura really was beautiful. Her light blue eyes sparkled and her smile felt like sun after a long time of rain. This happiness only lasted a few moments. The dress covered all her self harming scars and the bandages, it made her look healthy skinny and not almost starved. Granny took Shuras hand and showed her the way through the streets of Trost, towards the gate. "Here's the market. Let's look for vegetables. I want to make a soup for dinner" granny said and smiled. Shura nodded and followed her. "Young Lady, step aside for Mister Lloyd" a tall mal shouted at her. Shura rushed to step aside and said sorry. She didn't want to get involved in trouble.
A few days later Granny and Shura sat outside a small restaurant. A woman in her mid thirtys served them tea and cake, the sun was burning down on them. But Shura wore a closed up black dress. Ever since they arrived in Trost, her father was acting weird around her. He even abused her every time she was around. And he kept fighting with granny, they screamed at each other and told each other bad names. Shura didn't want to think about it. Her granny fought for her. She didn't want to go back with Anush. But whatever he told her to to, she would do it. "The gate is opening! There was a titan attack in Shiganshina" someone shouted. Shura stood up in panic. "We have to go granny. Maybe there's something we can do" she screamed and dragged her granny towards the river. Three boats arrived, and the streets filled with people. Shura slipped through the crowd towards the food resources, where the refugees were gathered. Food rations were given and people were registered. "You will go with Hanfu Grau" a Garnison member told two women, who cried and held each others hands. They lined up with other people from Wall Maria, who followed Hanfu Grau, a rich factory director. Shura looked over the small place, where only a few refugees were left. Three children and a old man caught her eye. "Where are you staying?" she asked the elder. He smiled at her. "Still nowhere, young lady" he answered her question. "Do you want to stay with us? I can use a little help at home. You will get a bed and food, good work and friends" granny proposed. A Garnison man approached the group and Shura suddenly turned silent. She looked to the ground, shaking. "If it's okay" the elder said. The Garnison man was happy to get rid of the four refugees. "My name's Arthur, and that's my grandson Armin" the elder told granny on their way home. "I'm Eren. Eren Yeager. And that's Mikasa Ackermann. My parents adopted her when her parents were killed" one of the children said. They were the same age like Shura, only taller. Armin was shy, he cried and hold Arthurs hand. But Eren seemed grim, Shura still noticed that he had cried a lot. Mikasa followed them, quiet and observing. "Let's be friends" Armin suddenly said to Shura. In surprise Shura screamed and fled into granny's arms. "I'm sure you'll be good friends" she said, laughing.