Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I part of the Attack on Titan franchise. I do not own any of the franchise's characters, ideas, or concepts.

Author's Note:

If you are reading this chapter it means you like my story so far. I am very grateful to all the people reading who have taken interest in my story and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I will try to post frequently, at least having a few days, since I have everything re-written already.

Please leave a comment, a review, or PM me your opinions and critiques. I love to see criticism and the things you guys have to say about the story. Enjoy.

(Spoiler Alert: There will be lots of blood on lots of faces.)

Ch 2: The Blood on Their Faces – Titan Invasion of Shigashina Part II

(Nate Orne)

The year is 845; the day started off like any normal day would, except, after all of the things that have happened, it doesn't feel like today is the same day it actually was. I still can't believe today was the day the world I knew changed, but I had always hoped it would come, yet now I wished it had never happened. My father was most likely dead, the gate to the wall that separated Titans from the people of Shigashina had been breached by a never before seen 60 meter Titan. The Titan was unheard of, yet I wasn't terrified or surprised, no I wasn't, I was frozen in this unusual aura of curiosity and a new sense of wonder, like my father always was when he talked about the various of Titans he killed or saw outside the walls. He even noted down anything that made them look significantly different. If he was here now he would realize how this particular Titan wasn't trying to get through the wall, it wasn't climbing or trying to break through the wall. It just tried to break the entrance into Shigashina, so this meant this Titan was intelligent, so it was a lot different from the Titans my father told me about. But right now the 60 meter Titan was the least of my concerns, unless it came through the wall. I just kept thinking about how I needed to get to my house. I need to find Ms. Calle. I needed to find my mother. I needed to find Jade, but as I turned to go to my street, there was Eren and his foster sister Mikasa running in the same direction. They lived at least a few blocks away from my house. I have never mentioned this before, mainly because I have an enormous amount of self-pride. but I envied Eren and Mikasa. Even though Mikasa had no family, at least not by blood, she was very strong, physically and mentally. Eren was very optimistic and strong-willed and he wouldn't let himself stop fighting to achieve his goal, even if it ended up killing him. Hopefully they would be alright and would be able to survive through this outburst of hell. As I ran, I looked at the atrocities that were occurring around me; left and right there were people dead and injured with shards of the wall all over the place, but I kept thinking to myself that nothing had happened to my house and that it would still be there. And then I took a quick look at Eren and Mikasa as they began to turn; Eren cried "Mom!" but I couldn't worry about their problem now, I needed to get to Jade and our mothers. I tried not to look towards Eren's block, but as I passed his block, I quickly looked at their direction and swiftly stopped at what I saw; it was shocking, there was a huge boulder on their house! They needed my help, but what if that happened to my house? I would have to help them on my way back, if they were still alive. I decided to continue for my house. When I turned on my street, right in front of my eyes, I saw Jade, Ms. Calle, and my mother running away from a 7 meter Titan that appeared to have jumped onto our now demolished house. Man was it huge and it had these crazy bug-eyed stare and an small mouth with a creepy grin. I was frightened, but I couldn't move and I just stood there in terror, but then I thought of a plan; I picked up some of the wall fragments and ran towards Jade and our moms; I knew I was faster and quicker than Jade and our moms, and I figured I was small enough to out maneuver the Titan, at least that's what I thought I was capable of, warning them with my scream, "Jade, Ms. Calle, mom, go right after you pass me, I got a plan!" They each wore a worried face, but no one's looked more worried than my mother's.

My mom yelled, "Nate what are you-"

I looked at her and gave her the face my father would have worn in this case, a face of confidence, "Mom, trust me! I have a plan!" My mother nodded and they ran passed me, I couldn't hear what they yelled back to me as I saw them turn, it was something like "See you at the wall gate!" I couldn't tell who said it, but it didn't matter. The Titan stood up and it ran towards me, I threw the fragments at it and one of the fragments hit it directly in its right eye and it tripped over its own feet as it yelped in pain. I ran around it into an alleyway, but then I began to think about how this was the way to Eren's street! Could he and Mikasa possibly attract the Titan? No it wanted me, especially after I hit it in the eye and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been able to see them; their house and the boulder would block them from its view. That's when I got to his street and about 50 meters left of me was a 15 meter Titan, over twice the size of the one that was chasing me, and had this opened elongated smile; it had something in its hands, a person, a women. It was Eren's mother! I could see Eren another 100 meters away from me as him and Mikasa were being carried away by a Garrison soldier. I was paralyzed in fear as she was fighting it, but it then lifted its right hand and snapped her spine as blood spewed out of her mouth, eyes, and nose. I was left motionless in a mixture of fear and disgust as the blood slowly dripped out of her. It began to lift her up and then put her into its mouth, violently chomping down on her body. Her blood spewed everywhere. I turned to see the 7 meter Titan, but I didn't move as it picked me up, but instead I kept looking back at the bigger Titan, the Smiling Titan. The blood had splattered everywhere in all directions. Eren's mother, her blood was everywhere, I was covered in it, the Smiling Titan was covered in it, the 7 meter Titan was covered in it. I was paralyzed in the 7 meter Titan's hand and I wasn't resisting it. I looked up and thought that everything was over, but then an old-looking Garrison soldier appeared and landed on the Titan's face, stabbing it in the eye; it let out a monstrous roar, but soon after it had started the yelp of pain suddenly ceased. Another Garrison soldier, in his late-20s, cut out its nape, the Titan's only weakness, and the older gentlemen grabbed me and sprung to the top of the closest building. The Garrison soldiers were Mr. Ven, an old man with white-gray hair and silver-white beard standing a good 1.8 meters, and Arnold Cap, a relatively young man with raven black hair standing an enormous 2 meters.

In a calm voice Mr. Ven spoke, "Nate, it's me, Norbert's grandfather. Me and Arnold are here to escort you out of the city. It's not safe here, we have to-" he paused in mid-sentence and immediately started to examine the blood that had consumed the innocence of my body, "Nate who's blood is that all over you?"

I stood there in silence as tears rushed down my face for a minute, I couldn't accumulate enough courage to speak, but a word was able to slip out, "Hers."

Mr. Ven and Arnold were astonished, Mr. Ven knelt down in front of me and we stared eye to eye and he serenely said, "Is it Jade's blood? Ms. Calle's? Your mom's? Nate we need to know whose blood it is."

I let out a cry, "Eren's mother, it's her blood. I saw a Garrison soldier take Eren and Mikasa away, but that huge Titan ate her. Eren still saw it though, I still saw it." I uncontrollably cried, I was no longer able to stop my tears from falling down my face, I was no longer able to push aside my cowardice, "I could've saved her, I could've-"

Mr. Ven wiped the tears off my face, trying to reassure me as he talked to me, "Nate, there was nothing you could do, just go with Arnold." He turned to Arnold, a sense of fulfillment covered his old wrinkled face, "Arnold I want you to take him to the boat, Norbert's already there. Nate where are the women at?"

I stood up now; I couldn't cry no more, the survival of my remaining family depended on me now, "They went for the gate to Wall Maria, I drew the Titan you guys killed to help them get away, it was chasing them and I had to save them. It's what my father would want me to do."

Mr. Ven nodded proudly, "Trust me Nate, your father would definitely be proud in you. Now, let's hope your mother is alive so she can be the same. Arnold take Nate now, I'll deal with incoming Titans, try and spare some time for the rest of the civilians to evacuate." Mr. Ven pulled out his swords.

A harsh yet professional voice emerged from the usually silent Arnold Cap, "Negative Ven, you can't do that all alone, and there are already Titans beyond this point. Let's fall back and assist the civilians as they evacuate. We can then receive orders when we return to the gate and stop the Titan's advancement into the walls from there. It is our best bet." Arnold stood tense, ready to argue his point if he were dared question.

To his surprise Mr. Ven put his swords away, "Arnold why must you keep me from the only battle I have ever seen in my life?" he let out a small chuckle, "I'm very surprised though Arnold. And to think that you were a few ranks away from being in the top ten for your Trainee Corps. I guess fate planned for you to save me, huh, well let's fall back then. We'll figure it out when we get there."

Arnold nodded and grabbed me. They both used their 3-D Maneuver Gear (Maneuver Gear) to whisk away towards the wall, but time seemed to be paused in my mind as I kept looking at that one Titan, the Smiling Titan had nearly walked out of my field of view. I will never forget that face. I will never forget all of the blood. I will never forgive myself; my eyes were closed and I cried. I began to realize how cruel the world actually was. The splashes of blood on my face was proof of that, but there was nothing anybody could do but to try and survive, but what was the point of falling further back into the walls if the walls would just fall? Even if it took 100 more years the walls wouldn't stand forever; the walls would fall and the Titans would come in; everything that happened today would happen all over again; I knew it, but I knew I couldn't let that happen again. I had to do something about it and that's when I heard the scream of a girl followed by Arnold scream, "Jade!" I looked down to see a beautiful girl standing at a 1.6 meters motionless covered in blood. Her luscious raven black hair drenched in blood. It was Jade.

(Jade Calle)

I was helping my mother in the little kitchen; we were preparing dinner for us, Mrs. Orne, and Nate to try to relieve the stress and tension in all of us from Mr. Orne's incident, in case he was still alive and returned, like usual. We started to prepare his plate first, but as I walked to the table, I saw a sudden flash of green light followed by some sort of explosion; I brushed it off thinking that it was just a storm passing by, but there wasn't any rain or clouds and it was as bright as a day could be, when another sudden explosion and chunks of wall fragments were sent drifting across the sky. I was shocked as I saw an enormous bolder land only a few blocks away. Me and my mother immediately dropped the dishes in our hands and went for the door when Mrs. Orne walked in. She was in a state of panic, "Jade, Mel have you guys seen Nate? I haven't seen him since this afternoon."

I immediately responded, also worrying for Nate, "No Mrs. Orne, I haven't seen him since we were all together." Mrs. Orne was freaking out as tears rapidly ran down her now pale face. I tried to think of what could've have happened, but I had a feeling Mrs. Orne knew, "Mrs. Orne is there something wrong? What happened out there?"

In a historical cry Mrs. Orne yelled out, "We need to find him! The wall has been breached!"

I nearly fell off my feet, "Mrs. Orne, how could they, the walls, there 50 meters." I stammered in fear unable to choose my own words as I usually could, just the words of my most inner fear slipped out, "But that means that Nate and Norbert could be-" I let out a faint cry as I fell down to my knees.

Mrs. Orne picked me and shook me yelling, "C'mon we need to go and find him! We can't lose someone else! Not like my Justin! I can't bear it, I just can't!"

My mom grabbed Mrs. Orne and told her, "Calm down Carrie, let's go and-" my mother stopped, wide-eyed and mouth agape letting out a shriek. Standing outside of the house was a Titan. It stood 7 meters tall with an insane bug-eyed stare and small mouth grinning. "Jade, Carrie let's go!" we ran out of the house, and we looked back as the Titan jumped on the house. I realized that it was happening, it was really happening. We ran 25 meters when Nate appeared, the Titan right behind us still trying to get up.

Nate was frozen for a second then he went to pick up some wall fragments off the floor and ran towards us, yelling, "Jade, Ms. Calle, mom, go right after you pass me, I got a plan!" he was willing to risk his life to save us, but we could all just get away. No, that would only get us all eaten by the Titan.

Mrs. Orne in shocked yelled, "Nate what are you-"

Nate gave her a familiar face his father would've given her, a face of confidence, "Mom trust me!" Mrs. Orne nodded, I didn't want to let him go alone, but what if I became a burden and ended up getting him or me killed. I had to trust him. We passed him and I felt like the other half of my heart rip apart from me as I looked at him running.

I turned my head and yelled, "See you at the wall gate!" We ran slower as we turned to the monstrous roar of the Titan and a loud boom. Nate had thrown the fragments he picked up and he hit the Titan. It was 10 meters from him as it began getting up and ran for Nate until he ran into an alleyway. The Titan tried to go in it, but it was too thick and could not fit in the relatively small gap, so it instead started to climb a building towards Nate's direction, but it was left stuck with its feet hanging. Mrs. Orne stood there motionless, I tugged on her and said "Mrs. Orne, Nate's safe, trust me. We'll see him later, we've got to go now!" Just then, we saw a Garrison soldier carrying 2 kids, 1 under his arm and 1 over his shoulder, but they were 50 meters away; the kids looked familiar; they were Eren and Mikasa. I tried to listen as Eren was screaming something, but it was indistinct to me. But his scream was followed by a splattering of blood; the blood drops scattered over us; Eren was paralyzed in the Garrison soldier's arms, as was Mrs. Orne, my mother, and I. I could tell if we all had the same question on our mind. Who's blood was it? A picture of Nate having his head bitten off came into my head.

I was pulled back into reality as my mother screamed; she was now in the hands of a 10 meter Titan with a thin mouth and wide eyes, I started to go for her, but I was stopped by Mrs. Orne, who pulled me and ran in the opposite direction.

I howled in pain, "Mom!" the Titan put my mom in its mouth and chomped down, sending her blood flying in our direction. We stop about 20 meters from the Titan.

Mrs. Orne hugged me tightly and told me, "Jade run I'll hold it off," and Mrs. Orne began running back to the 10 meter Titan who was still devouring what was left of my poor stiff mother.

I just stood there and tried to argue, "But Mrs. Orne-"

Mrs. Orne turned and yelled, "Go now! I need you to go and find Nate!"

I nodded and whispered to myself, "Listen to her, she would rather die saving me than risk both our lives and if you can get away, you can go and get some help." I ran as fast as I could towards the direction to the wall gate, but I looked back when I heard a scream. Mrs. Orne had gotten pass the 10 meter one by throwing what was wall and building fragments, but right behind it was a 5 meter Titan, with a ridiculous frown, that immediately picked her up; she screamed for help, but the Titan started to devour her viciously tossing blood in all directions; buckets of blood drops were sent my way, hitting me, and making me step backwards. I heard someone scream my name and as I looked up I was grabbed by an old Garrison soldier and he sprung us up to a nearby building.

It was Mr. Ven, who had picked me up, and with him was Arnold Cap and a blood-covered Nate, was glad to see me as he spoke in anxiety, "Jade, don't freak out. It is only Mr. Ven and Arnold. Where's your mom at? Where's my mom at?"

I opened my mouth as tears ran down my face, but could only say one thing, "Nate, who's blood is that on you?"

Nate's green-hazel eyes began to tear up as he turned his face away from me, trying to hide his emotions; that's when Mr. Ven came up to me and answered my question, "It's Eren's mom's."

A deep silence came over me for a few seconds, but I was in too shock to remain silent, "I just saw Eren. Is that why he was screaming?"

Nate wiped his eyes, "Yes, Jade I- I saw it happen to her, but I couldn't do anything about it. But who's blood is on you?"

I just stared into his eyes and cried out, "Hers and-" but I could no longer talk as my voice began to be muffled as tears ran down my blood-covered cheeks; it was too obvious and everybody immediately knew that our mothers were dead and that the blood that covered me was the blood of our mothers.

In an emotionless but calm tone Arnold said, "Mr. Ven, we must continue to fall back, I spot 2 Titans, 1 at 10 meters and another at 5 meters... we must leave now, we are attracting them."

I let out a cry as I fell into Nate's arms, "The 10 meter Titan, it ate my mom, and the 5 meter Titan ate Nate's. She went back to distract the 10 meter Titan. She, Mrs. Orne, she saved me." Immediately after I stopped and cried in tears, we heard a brute roar as Arnold jumped towards the Titans, "No, Arnold don't do it!" He ignored my screams of disapproval as he struck both of the Titans swiftly and, unseen by the naked eye, killed them both instantaneously.

He landed and said, "Let us go now. Jade, Nate, I am sorry. I can't explain anything right now, but I want you guys to know that this is all my fault."

(Narrator)

Nate and Jade were escorted to the gate by Arnold and Mr. Ven, but they were soon abandoned as Mr. Ven and Arnold were tasked with killing Titans further in the wall. They entered the gate to Wall Maria's interior, but it seemed unimportant since their mothers were dead and there was nothing they could to undo or change it; the world they lived in was cruel, even before the wall had been breached, and this was proof that the worst had happened; everything had gone to hell. The world was cruel, Nate and Jade had found out the hard way; the splattering of blood they had bared witness to, the same blood on their faces carried a sort of abstractness of life. It was pitiful for them to walk with the blood on their face, but now wasn't a time for them to grieve, it was time for them to make their escape.

Probably wasn't what you expected, but tune into the next chapter to see who survives the invasion of Shigashina and see who doesn't make it onto the boat.
Thanks for reading.