A woman in a different world wandered for nine years alone, casted out by her own village. She wandered on her own surviving off of the skills she had come to learn in her youth. She harnessed these skills to develop a knowledge on basic hunting and defensemen skills. However, upon arriving to this new found world, she didn't think that she would need to fight for her survival against monsters. She was forced to fend for herself against these creatures and eventually learned how to kill them or generally avoid them.
After years of searching for other humans, she finally found a mere glimpse of hope. After trying to proceed with what little hope she was able to obtain, the truth of her future was near at hand. Little did she know that standing before her was her ticket back to society. However, in the mere shock of finding other humans she was in the middle of an intense battle between uniformed soldiers and one of the unwanted. When she first encountered the group, she ran in front of men riding horses. She was hesitant to move and let them go right past her. One of them did take notice however.
"Was that just a person we ran past?" he asked.
His comrade responded, "It looked like it, but we can't stop now. Do you think it was one of ours?"
"No I am certain it wasn't, but something doesn't feel right. I'm going back!"
He turned his horse around and made his way back to the person standing there. Just as he reached the person before any of the unwanted could, he grabbed the hood of her cloak and yanked it so that he was able to grab her. With a lot of strength he was able to help the woman onto his horse.
"Look I don't know who you are or even what you are doing out here, but you must know it is illegal to leave the walls unless under some sort of direction from the MP's. If you even want to make it out here alive you're going to listen to me," he said as he was riding back to his group.
Once back, everyone around took notice to the mysterious stranger. They confirmed right away that she wasn't anyone that they have ever seen before. The woman remained silent and only nodded in response. Unsure of what they would do, she kept her guard up and one hand free so that she can grab her weapon.
"Here we are, the edge of the forest. The minute that I jump up off the horse, I want you to keep riding and find the others alright. But make sure you stay down and hidden if you can just in case."
She nodded. They all got closer to the forest. As the others dismounted their horses she kept going as she was told. For all that she knew, she was riding right into a trap of some sort, but for the sake of her own freedom she kept riding into the forest. It was almost as if the horse knew exactly where she needed to go. She kept going deeper inside and began to hear the screams of people. She found a group of wagons but followed her order of staying out of sight. She dismounted the horse and lowered herself into the bushes. She began to write down everything that was going on in her journal, however as she was writing, one of the unwanted ran right by completely ignoring her. She quickly closed her book and got up from the ground. The unwanted didn't get very far away before a loud bang was heard. A second bang was heard shortly afterwards. Confused the woman wanted to know what was going on, but refused to leave her spot.
It was a while before a loud scream was let out. The scream was strong and loud enough that it shook the ground below her feet. There was a brief moment of silence before the rumbling of large feet were heard. More of the unwanted were coming into the forest at an incredible rate. The woman stood in amazement, but soon realized the circumstance that she was in.
The woman could hear the sound of gears being turned and it seemed that the fight with the unwanted had died down as people in uniforms began to appear through the tree top. They all landed on the ground and quickly approached their horses. Quickly, the woman jumped into the back of one of the wagons that was closest to her. As she leapt in, an arrow head pierced through her hand. Blood began to drip out of her wound. In as much pain as she was in, she was able to calmly grab a hold of the arrow head and pull it out of her hand. Chucking it aside, she watched as steam began to slowly rise from the wound. She wiggled her hand and fingers as the wound began to seal and the blood dried up. She knew that by jumping into the wagon she would ride back to where the strangers were from in secrecy without causing anymore confrontation than what had already occurred.
She could hear people approach the wagon which caused her to be slightly scared. From her memory, people have not been so kind to her in many different ways or forms. So her first instinct was to crawl to the back of the wagon where large canisters sat to try and hide.
She sat down tightly holding onto her bag containing her sword, bow, journal, and few memories of her family, and began to realize her situation. After nine years of being alone amongst these unwanted monsters, she was finally in a place where people are. She could hear some sort of gunfire being shot. Slowly she opened the drapes of the wagon to investigate, and that's when she saw the green colored smoke, the same as before. Finally she had found who she was looking for. However, it occurred to her that the wagon was no longer attached to the horse. In fear she sat back and realized that they were abandoning the wagons. She remained in a dead silence until the silence was broken by an intruder.
Standing before her was a shorter man with dark hair wearing the same uniform that the others were wearing. His piercing gaze immediately met hers. The man came off as very intimidating to her given his smaller stature. The woman reached into her bag and grabbed a hold of her sword. He turned his head and peered through the drapes to see if there was anyone around. Thankfully someone was nearby and he called them over.
"Under no circumstance must we abandon this wagon, do you understand?" he stated.
"But sir, the Commander ordered…"
"I know what the Commander ordered, but this wagon contains important materials that we cannot replace easily. Hook it up to a horse now and head out once I'm refilled."
"Yes sir,"
The man turned back towards the woman sitting in front of him. He calmly approached her without losing any eye contact. He leaned in and stared right down into her eyes. The woman couldn't help but to shake a little out of pure fear. The man calmly reached over her shoulder as she flinched and closed her eyes. However, the man wasn't reaching for her, he was reaching for the canisters that were by her. Once the ones he had attached to his device at each side of his hips were replaced with the ones he had grabbed, he returned his focus back to her. He grabbed some cables that were nearby and calmly approached her. He held his hand out gesturing towards the sword that was in her hand. The woman gazed back into his eyes and began to feel oddly comfortable with him. She began to see him as no threat towards her. However, given the new circumstance she knew that she was caught, and judging by the cords, he planned to tie her up as a prisoner of some sort. She put her sword back in the bag and held her wrist out to him. He grabbed a hold of her wrists. Without resisting at all, the woman surprisingly let him tie her hands together. Nothing was said during the entire time he was there. He jumped out and immediately set off as the now horse drawn wagon did as well.
The woman wasn't too sure as to what type of situation she was in, but she knew that if she would resist in any sort of way, then her situation would only be worse than it already was. She decided to just let things go with the way they were going. So far there were two people she has come across that didn't threaten or try to kill her.
The sound of horse's hooves could be heard as it seemed that they had reached others. She decided to slowly crawl forward with her things in hand to see where they were. As she poked her head out she was able to see that they were surrounded by many men and women in uniforms. However as she leaned out slightly, a large bump caused the wagon to jostle tremendously. In that movement she had lost her grip on her bag from her arms. The bag flew out of the back hitting the ground. In that moment she realized that without that bag, she has no reminder of her home. Everything that she held onto that kept her going was gone.
There were three things in that bag that she held so dear. The journal where she had documented almost her entire journey, the sword that was given to her by someone very dear to her heart, and the forbidden book which had caused it all. As she reached out towards her bag, tears began to roll down her face. She pulled herself back into the wagon and sat in the far back in a state of shock for what she had just lost. Her already unstable mind caused her to lose focus on all of her senses as she began to completely block out everything that was going on around her. She felt empty inside.
The tied up woman remained seated in the back of the wagon without the knowledge of anyone else knowing that she was there. A few more gunshots could be heard, as yelling and screaming followed behind. Giant footsteps were present amongst the screaming of some of the men. Eventually the screaming stopped and the footsteps became distant. Soon afterwards, the sounds of bells could be heard. Commands were ordered as the sound of large chains could be heard moving about. Murmurs could be heard beyond the drapes.
The wagon continued to move as the murmurs began to disappear. There was nothing but the rattling of the wagons and hooves of the horses until it all came to a complete stop. Orders were made to some of the men. It sounded like treatments were needed to be done on those who were injured. She sat there alone as she could hear the rustling and moaning of many.
Soon afterwards when it sounded like things were calming down, the shorter man had pushed himself up into the wagon. Although this time his demeanour was different than what it was before. It may not have shown it on his face but it was almost as if the man had suffered a great loss. He walked into the wagon with a little bit of a limp and crouched down in front of the woman.
"Shhh, be quiet and everything will be alright," the man said, his cold eyes staring down at her with that piercing gaze. He crouched down and made sure that she wasn't hurt herself. Once he thought that she was not severely injured in anyway, he stepped out of the wagon and called for someone by the name of Erwin.
The woman out of straight fear and curiosity wanted to know what was going to happen. She slowly and quietly crawled her way towards the drapes to listen. As soon as she reached the opening, the drapes flew open. In front of her was a fairly tall man with blonde hair and thick eyebrows. She panicked and quickly threw herself to the back of the wagon.
"This is quiet the surprise. I don't know who you are or how you got here, but you have nothing to worry about. I'm Commander Erwin Smith," he proceeded to say as he got in, crouched down and held out his hand.
With her years of experience, she couldn't decide if she was to trust him or not. Even after finding people for the first time in nine years, she couldn't help but to be reminded of how cruel people really are. The shorter man followed in and leaned up against the side with his arms folded across his chest. She didn't say a word and began to curl her legs into her chest and just stared at him. Her doe green eyes showed many different things to Erwin. They showed fear, confusion, and pain. He stood up and jumped out of the wagon. After a moment of silence the shorter man followed. She could hear them speak just outside.
"I trust your opinion but we still need to proceed with proper questioning. And we need to do a full body examination. We need to find out who she is, where she is from, and how she got to be here. For all we know she could be the one we're after. Use caution."
The shorter man came back into the wagon holding onto a green cloak and some more cables. With a stern look on his face he draped the cloak around her and used the cable to tie her up in it. The woman accepted her fate and didn't resist. With fear in her eyes, she made eye contact with the man. He looked down and pulled his hand to the back of her neck gently holding onto it. With a sigh, he grabbed the hood of the cloak and pulled it over her head.
"It's not you," he whispered.
He helped her up, lifting her with great ease, and brought her to the entrance of the wagon. Leaving her there, he stepped out of the wagon and stood next to Erwin.
"Gather around," called Erwin with his low stern voice. "I know the excruciating pain you all must be feeling, but this may not be all for nothing."
Gasps and whispers could be heard as the sound of people gathering was present.
"We have retrieved a stowaway," the man continued.
The drapes flew open as the shorter man stepped back inside. Whispering continued as some proclaimed nonsense. The shorter man pulled her closer to the edge of the wagon and threw her down onto the ground. In shock at what he just did, the woman fell face first into a pile of mud. Silence fell as she hit the ground hard. As she regained her composer, she was able to look up. As terrified as she had felt, the fear that were in the eyes of the ones before her did not compare.
"It's her, it must be her!" some yelled as others agreed.
Some of the men and women grabbed their blades and held them in defence. The entire group fell into a panic.
"What are we waiting for, kill her now!" yelled one of the men as he flew one of his blades up high.
"That's enough!" yelled the shorter man as he jumped down from the wagon. "We can't say for certain that what we had witnessed earlier is at the hands of this woman."
"And what makes you say that?!" Another man yelled.
"I came across the Female Titan while she was in the wagon."
The woman looked back at the shorter man in confusion. She looked back at the group who began to lower their weapons. She began to remember what she had witnessed before she had gotten onto the wagon. A large unwanted that had no skin on it. It resembled that of a woman and was able to run through the trees with great ease. It was a more skilled version of the unwanted creatures that the woman identified with. If the people in front of her were referring to the unwanted, then that must mean that they are comparing herself to one of them. Which would indicate that she was one of the beings. But then that would mean that she was capable of turning into one of the unwanted creatures. However, her gifts are unique, the creature she witnessed today alongside the other men and women was not her.
"Don't give me that crap! We've all seen now that there are people who can look completely different when they turn. For all you know she could have escaped and staged it to make it seem like she was there the entire time." yelled a woman.
The bound woman looked up. The group's once fearful eyes began to grow with rage, blades still held in their hands. It was at that moment that the woman knew she was right all along to not trust them. A small young blonde boy pushed his way through the crowd. His legs were shaking but his bright blue eyes stared at her with great curiosity. He slowly walked up to her and reached his hand out. Once he got close enough, he dropped down to his knees and grabbed a hold of her face. With a steady hand he reached up with his other hand to grasp her head firmly. The two made eye contact for a minute or two.
"The Female Titan pulled off my hood and stared at me. We made eye contact for barely a minute. It was a terrible experience, but one that can help confirm that these eyes are not the same ones I saw earlier," he stood up and faced the group, "I agree with Captain Levi."
"I can also confirm!" yelled a man as he pushed through the crowd. The blonde haired young man that stood before them was the same one that had found her.
"I found her outside and pulled her onto my horse during the attack of the Female Titan."
The men and women began to lower their blades, but still held onto a face of uncertainty.
"We will commence an interrogation, after which her fate will be decided. She will either be let go free, or handed over to the Military Police Brigade," Erwin stated.
"Come on, get up," Levi said as he grabbed the cords.
She was irritated with Levi after having him help her and then disrespect her by pushing her out of the wagon into the mud. More importantly, knowing how much everyone hated her caused her to be on edge.
She pulled away once he grabbed the cords. "I don't like to be ordered," She proclaimed and slowly got up on her own.
She looked back at Levi who had a disgruntled look on his face. Erwin couldn't help but chuckle at the moment. The woman began to see these people as the type of people who would attack her at any chance they got due to her unknown status to them. There was no hesitation on their faces, aside from the force of authority stopping them. She knew that this was not a situation that she didn't want to be in anymore. She wanted to get out as soon as she could.
"I guess she does have a voice," Erwin stated.
Levi grabbed her shoulder and guided her alongside Erwin inside the massive castle as the crowd of soldiers began to dissipate. She was led inside the main entrance and down a stairwell. Although admitting that she was in some form of defeat, she could feel that the outcome of her predicament may not end well. If her gifts were to be exposed to the group, she may very well die. However, there was a key component that stood out which had allowed her to live this long and to possibly be able to escape soon. There was the man who had initially saved her and pulled her up onto his horse, however there was still a level of uncertainty that was on his face when the crowd was formed together. He had swords in his hands like everyone else did, meaning that in all the confusion, he didn't exactly trust her either. After all she was a stranger to them. However, there was another. When Levi had initially found her, his instinct was not to attack but rather to intimidate her. He had every opportunity to kill her if he wanted to. But for some reason, no matter how much of a jackass he can come off as, he wasn't acting in such a way like the others. Neither was Erwin. The two of them had something else in mind aside from just keeping her in some sort of prison, but the woman didn't care too much of it, she just wanted out.
She was guided into a small dungeon room after walking down into a basement. As she walked in, Levi unbound the cords from her body and quickly tied up her wrists together. With enough cord, he tied her to the bed. As he walked out, he shut the caged door behind him and locked it. Erwin walked away and just as Levi was about to follow the woman spoke.
"Thank you," she quietly said to him, her head held down.
He stopped and slightly glanced back.
"Thank you for trusting me" she looked back up at him, "I saw her too."
He didn't say a word to her. Although it didn't show before, it was clear to her now. In his eyes was pain not just from an injury, but from emotional trauma like she thought. She felt that, that unwanted did something to him to cause him to be in this pain.
In silence he proceeded to leave. There was no one else in the hallway. She was alone once again. She crawled into the bed that was provided and curled up into a ball. At this time she couldn't help but to think. Was finding these people worth it? Is her fate sealed already? What is to become of her? All that mattered at that point was that she no longer had her precious items with her and she was now alone in a caged off prison room. It almost felt like a reoccurring dream to her, like a memory from long ago. She knew this feeling all too well. But this time she was hoping that things will change and that history will not repeat itself for her. At this point Levi, Erwin, and the young man who saved her, are the only three people she could really trust to some level. This was in consideration to how far she has come since she has found people. If it were anyone else, she would probably not be within civilization. She had to at least thank them for that. But in the end, her main goal remained true. Don't trust anyone and find a way out.