I Don't Own Shingeki no Kyojin or Ayano no Koufuku Riron. Both belong to their respective creators!
Red Scarfed Hero
I once read stories, about how humans roamed this land freely, a world without Titans. Technology greater than our 3D gear and buildings taller than the walls that surround our homes, or even the Colossal Titan. Weapons more advanced than our current cannons, blades, and guns. It made me imagine what it would be like to live in such a world. And wonder how such a world regressed with the Titans' appearance.
Then there were the legends that came with those stories, about how ordinary humans gained supernatural powers, capable of changing the fates and destinies of the world and the people that surrounded them. Saviours in their own right.
One legend in particular, gave me a second reason to wear the scarf that Eren gave me almost constantly.
One person in that legend, said, "Red is the colour of a hero!"
When I first read that, I thought 'Of all the things that person could have said about the colour red, why would it be that it is the colour of a hero?'
Red described many things: food, clothes, certain animals and plants, or even gems. But when one saw the colour red in our world, our time, it best described the colour of blood and fire. A colour of death and destruction brought about by not just Titans, but the people themselves.
Then I read further into the legend, and understood. Red eyes made the children this person was taking care of feel like monsters, and she had to prove somehow, the colour was not to be feared. So, she donned a red scarf, and said that her red scarf made her seem like a hero.
It did what was needed, and made them more friendly. But the more I read, the more I understood how tragic that person was.
A mother dead, a father doing experiments on two of her friends, and his obsession with the children's red eyes. The girl decided to do what a hero should, and tried to gain those eyes to protect her friends and the children, even if it cost her life and abandoning the person she loved. Yet in the end, it was a futile effort.
That legend ended there, but it set the path for her lover's own story.
In the end though, I had to ask myself, "Would I be able to give up my life to defend or protect someone I cared for? To protect their happiness?"
Before my parents were killed and Eren saved me, maybe not. But after that, after I risked my life to save Eren that day, I swore never to be so weak as to be unable to protect those I cared for.
The irony of it all was that Eren gave me a red scarf that very night he saved me, a scarf that represented my conviction to be a hero and protector.
Over the years, I've tried my best to follow this conviction. Sure, there were more than a few times that I ended up being the one that needed to be protected, and a large number of times where I was not able to stand by my best friend and protect him, but I more than made up for it by supporting him in his decisions and promising to watch his back. Promising a happiness that came with the hardship.
A red scarf represents a hero. I understood the hardships that came along with that sentence now. But I won't go back on it, since Eren would need me to be around to keep him alive!
And in another world – Or was it the afterlife? – A red scarfed hero looked down on the young Survey Corps member, and smiled.
Please try to remember that word I loved;
"Happiness" is a curious thing,
So I hope you can love tomorrow…
As usual, this is a random oneshot I came up with due to a certain red scarf. Stupid plunnies wanted me to write the damn idea out. And so, write I did. Read n Review!
