Disclaimer- I do not own AoT/Snk. I only own this plot line and my OCs.

A/N If you want to create a character the apps are still open. I will only be taking two more people though. If you want to make a character, use these guidelines:

Name:

Age:

Height:

Weight:

Appearance: Be descriptive. I don't want. She/He is pretty/cute. I want to be able to see them standing next to me.

Personality: For this give me the good, the bad, and the ugly. You don't have to have a character with all good characteristics.

Fun Facts: Basically stuff you feel I should know about them, but don't go crazy. Just important info will do.

Chapter 3- Stranger in the Forest

Sunlight shown through Sereak's window, easily filling the small room with golden light. Sereak opened her eyes and blinked slowly, like an owl. She yawned, stretched, and suddenly remembered the day before. She through off the covers of her bed and, quite literally, jumped out of bed and quickly changed.

She ran out of her room, into the kitchen, grabbed a slice of toast her mother was holding out, and ran out the front door.

"Be back before noon and don't bring back any baby birds, like the last time!" Her mother sighed, "Ask her to wake up and help with chores, she's like a bear in winter. She wants to go in the forest doing who-knows-what she's a rabbit on carrot juice."

Sereak kept running until she reached the meadow. She stopped to take a couple of deep breaths before taking a bite of toast. Sereak wasn't concerned about being early, after all pack life starts early, if not earlier than the current time.

She finished the piece of toast in a couple more bites, brushed the crumbs off her hands, and continued onward to the den. There wasn't much of a rush as there had been before, but she walked quickly.

The forest past the meadow was still just as empty as the day before. Nothing ran, moved, made noise, or was even there. Sereak still found it strange and unnerving, but she trekked on. Trekking through the dew covered grass; it wasn't long until her shoes started to squeak and her socks to get soaked.

Note to self: Next time, bring extra socks. She thought.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. Sereak rubbed her eyes; there was a glare in her vision, but nothing life-threatening…as far as she could tell. A stick snapped behind her. Sereak whipped her body around to face her right. A sliver of something white just darted out of view.

An animal? Is it the Wolf? A pack mate of its' perhaps?

Sereak walked slowly to where she had seen the white object. Another stick snapped behind her. Whipping around a second time, she scanned the tree-line, only to again see a sliver of something white dart away. A twig snapped a third time; Sereak was starting to get nervous. She crouched down into a better defensive position and took out a small two inch knife from out of her belt. She had never had to use it before, and she hoped she wouldn't have to use it now.

Sereak slowly crept forward. The bush in front of her rustled noisily. Sereak raised her knife slightly and continued forward. The closer she got the more violently the bush would shake. Once she was in arms reach, Sereak slowly reached out and carefully placed her hand on the edge of the bush. Holding her breath and raising her knife, Sereak pushed the branches aside.

There was nothing.

Slightly confused, Sereak let the branches snap back into place. With a sigh, Sereak got up and turned around. An even larger flash of light than the first blinded her. Sereak rubbed her eyes and opened them slowly. The glare that had left her vision only moments ago was now back. There was, however something else in Sereak's gaze, a stranger. The sight made her sheath the knife and get another look.

The stranger was a girl. She looked only an inch shorter than Sereak, even though she was wearing strange boots that had extremely thick soles. She was dressed in a short white skirt and shirt and (Sereak thought) a fancy pale-green jacket. Her eyes were a deep blue color and her hair was a strange shade of blinding blonde. Even stranger was the thing around her neck, it looked like a small box with a round glass piece in the middle and a skinny slot on the bottom.

"Hi my name is Allison, but you can call me Ali. I love this forest; there are so many things to take pictures of! What's your name? Do you live far from here? I don't, but it's not very close either. On the way here…" The girl said extremely quickly.

A little frustrated she had been made nervous by this stranger, Sereak stopped her. "You're from the city? From inside the walls?"

Allison looked at her strangely. "Yes. Who would willingly live in the forest? I mean I know it's pretty and all, but seriously, who would willingly live in this wild place, were, not only are they vulnerable to titans, they are vulnerable to all the wild and vicious animals out here!?"

(Sereak narrowed her eyes in anger, but if the girl or Allison noticed she didn't stop talking.)

"I mean I know I'm out here and all, but it wasn't because I chose to be out here. The main reason why I'm out here is because my father owned a clothing store. It had the best clothes and finest materials. It's not like Ms. Arachina's clothing shop though, close but no cigar. I swear that woman is such a fine seamstress you would thing that the silk and everything is made by her. Oh, but anyway, my father's clothing store started to fail once the demand for animal pelts started to come around. I never saw why it went into fashion. The skins look so ugly. Have you seen the way those rich ladies have the fox pelts across their shoulders? Egh, it's disgusting!"

Sereak scowled. "Define 'disgusting'"

Allison blinked. "All those ladies who put the furs on their shoulders don't realize how dull the furs look. The fur is supposed to look shiny, colorful, bold, and entirely breath-taking. Kill the animal and the colors dull and all the boldness gets sucked right out of the colors."

"Put the dead animal across your shoulders and call it fashion, it just looks terrible. The fact is the fur looks better when the animal is alive and kicking, rather than pathetically draped around some corpulent, rich lady's shoulders."

Sereak's scowl and narrowed eyes eased a bit. "But if your father owned a clothing store, why did you move out here?"

"Because, my father refused to sell animal pelt clothing. He wouldn't even sell rabbit fur muffs." Allison explained. "So my father started losing customers. Losing the customers brought less and less business; it wasn't long until my father lost the shop, the business itself, pretty much everything. He heard about the forest from a friend. He was told that the land was rich and was teaming with wildlife. The king was apparently selling sections of the land in the forest for dirt cheap. My father heard this and he wanted to start a farm. He liked the idea of living a rustic life, I think he was starting to get tired of the rich one, but my mom did not want to even hear about it. Once money started to run out my mom had to agree, the prices for meat and different crops were skyrocketing. Not to mention horses for the military would fetch a hefty price. Ah, enough about me though. What's your story, how did you end up out here."

Sereak's anger flashed. "I was born out here. I live here, willingly." She said calmly, but having an undertone of a threat. "If anything, I would rather be out here than in that cage of a city! Walls all around you, trapped like rats in a deep hole."

Allison raised a hand to her mouth in surprise. "I am so sorry… I didn't…I didn't mean to insult you or the forest." She looked down in embarrassment. "I'm just…really new to all of this. The city and the walls, they're all I have ever known and to be out of there is in all honesty… scary." She whispered. "Not to mention I know nothing about farming."

Sereak took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have been so offended. I forget, it's hard for a city-lover to adjust to the forest life. Like a beaver and a dam. When the old dam breaks, they have to start all over and rebuild their life; even so it is not the same as the old one."

Allison looked up bashfully. "Can you forgive me for insulting you and the forest?" She held out her hand.

Sereak stared at the proffered hand for a moment, then she held out her own and shook it. "Yes, you are forgiven. We should move away from this part of the forest. There aren't any animals here… we can go to my cabin, show you around."

Allison smiled. "Thanks… I never asked you your name."

"Sereak."

"Alright, Sereak. Thanks."

Sereak started to lead her away from the Wolves Den site. Thankfully, no wolves had made and appearance. With this newcomer in the forest, however, there was a new reason to worry about how long the den site would stay hidden. With only Sereak, her mother, and Old Sendri knowing where the den site was, it was hard to tell how much longer someone else would find out. The new farm would be bringing livestock along with it, animals that had grown stupid, fat, and lazy. It would be easy pickings for a hungry pack. Sereak just hoped that the wolves would just stick to the game in the forest.

It took a long time to get back to Sereak's cabin. Especially since Allison would stop every other few feet to use the strange box in her hand. Sometimes she would even turn it multiple ways, every time she did used the strange box there was always a "click" and a flash of light, then a small, blank slip of paper would slide out.

"What is that thing?" Sereak asked her, after what seemed to be their hundredth stop.

"Oh this? It's a camera" Allison answered, still using the "camera" to look at a bright blue flower on a bush.

"A camera…what does it do?"

"It takes pictures of things."

"But how does any amount of paint fit in that small box?" Sereak asked. She walked closer to Allison and examined the camera.

"Well, it's not really paint that's in there. It's more like ink, small bottles of ink. See this?" (Allison held out the small piece of paper that had just come out of the camera.) "I know it's blank now but, after a while, if I wave it around for a bit… (She started waving the picture.) the picture will start to show up."

She handed the picture to Sereak. Sereak held it and studied the surface. The blue flower, whose picture the camera had just taken, was starting to come into view. Sereak handed it back. "How many of these can you take?"

Allison shrugged. "As long as I have the picture paper and ink, I guess. I'm not entirely sure actually, I'll have to ask my dad. He'd know for sure."

The duo continued through the forest at the same slow pace as before. They looked at all the pictures Allison had taken beforehand and taking new ones along the way. There were many different colored flowers that they had taken pictures of, every now and then, however, they would find a small bird or mouse that would stay still long enough for its' image to be captured.

Together they lost track of time and once they got to the cabin, Sereak felt that they got there all too soon.

"Hey that's my family's wagon!" Allison suddenly shouted.

"Come on, they're probably inside." Sereak said, leading Allison along.

Sereak slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Four heads turned in her direction.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, this is my daughter, Sereak." Her father introduced.

Sereak walked forward and shook Mr. Hayes hand. Mr. Hayes smiled. "Very nice to meet you, young lady. I see you've already met my Allison."

Sereak nodded and moved to Mrs. Hayes' hand. "Hello Sereak." She said. She was smiling as well but, unlike her husband's smile, hers didn't seem to reach her eyes.

(All the while Allison was introducing herself to Sereak's parents.)

"It's very nice to meet you both." Sereak greeted politely.

Mrs. Hayes looked over to her husband. "Charles, I think we should be going. We have to build the pens and fences."

While most people would have heard concern or worry, Sereak thought she heard…distain and even frustration.

"You mean you have all your animals walking around the wilderness!" Sereak's father said.

"Oh no, of course not, he animals are coming in two days' time. I just have to build the fences for them. The cabin was already there." Mr. Hayes explained.

"A single man alone will never get the job done in that amount of time. Why don't I go and round up some neighbors? We'll help you out and you get to know some of the folks around here." Sereak's father suggested.

"Excellent! That is a splendid idea. IF you could do that, I would forever be in your debt!" Mr. Hayes said excitedly, shaking his hand.

Mr. Hayes took his wife's hand as Sereak's father led them to the front door and followed them out.

"Allison!" Mrs. Hayes called from outside. "Come along!"

Allison looked at Sereak and smiled. "Bye, I'll see you around maybe?"

Sereak nodded. Allison smiled even bigger and left as her mother called for her again.

Sereak turned to her mother. "Can I go with Dad to get the neighbors and help the Hayes build the fences?"

Her mother shook her head. "They are going to be cutting down the trees to build the fences. I don't want you getting crushed by a falling tree."

Knowing better than to argue and say that she wouldn't get crushed, Sereak just nodded.

"Where did you go this morning? You left in an awful rush."

"I went to go see the wolf den. Sereak said. "But I wasn't going to get too close. She added in quickly.

Her mother nodded slowly. "If you're going to be looking at them, you're going to have to have even more precautions now. I feel that the Hayes family won't be the last to come out to live in the woods. With the failing tailor business, I fear more people are going to come." Her eyes started directly into Sereak's. "And, I can say, I know none of those who come here will like wolves. People from the walls never do seem to understand the animals of the forest or even the forest itself."

Sereak stared back with equal somberness. "I won't let any harm come to them. I promise." She said a little too gravely for someone her age.

Her mother knelt down to Sereak's level and put a hand on her shoulder. "You will try. IF you don't tell anyone where they are, they will live until they are found. That alone could take months, maybe even years. If you tell someone, make sure you are absolutely sure you can trust that person, for that secret holds the decision of Life and Death itself for those wolves."

Sereak nodded. "Can I go to the den? I'll make sure nobody's following me."

"Take the utmost care." Her mother answered.

Sereak hugged her mother tightly and ran out the door, once again, in the direction of the wolves' den. All along the way, Sereak checked, double-checked, even triple-checked, to make sure that she wasn't being followed. She even carried around a pine branch to wipe away any trail her feet had made. With all the precautions, it took three times as long to get to the den, but since it meant the safely of the wolves, Sereak wouldn't have cared if it had taken ten times as long.

Once she finally made it to the den site, she got down on all fours. Crawling on her hands and knees, Sereak slowly approached the den. She approached from behind a small hill that would keep her out of sight; the only drawback was that she couldn't see the wolves either. She could hear sharp barks and yips, as well as the occasional growl, but she didn't move any faster than turtles' pace. Even if she had seen the den before, the wolves wouldn't hesitate to spring to attack and defend the den and their pups.

Sereak went through all the things to do if something were to go wrong. Option number one: Climb up a tree and wait for them to go away. Or once she got up into the tree, she would hope from branch to branch (using extreme caution of course) and loose them that way. Simply running away would never be good; they were faster than her, not to mention there would be more than just one chasing her.

Sereak stopped for a moment, something wasn't right. She strained forward to hear anything. There was silence. She took a deep breath; she didn't smell anything, like a possible forest fire. She licked her finger and stuck it in the air. The wind was blowing against the front of her finger. She was upwind of the den!

A low growl emitted behind her.

Aw crap. Sereak thought. She turned around slowly and came face to face with three angry wolves. Each staring intently with their golden eyes and their lips peeled back to reveal glittering white fangs. Sereak's breath hitched in her throat. Sereak started to crawl backward, but the three wolves snarled violently and snapped at her heels.

"Okay, sorry, don't go near the den. Got it, sorry." Sereak whispered.

She scooted back to her original position. The wolves backed away, but they continued to growl and snap near her heels. Sereak's entire body was shaking with fear; cold sweat ran down her brow.

The wolves continued to snap and growl, but none of them made a move to attack. Suddenly the biggest of the three wolves pounced and grabbed Sereak by the ankle. While the wolf's grip didn't break skin, the sight was enough to scare the living daylights out of Sereak. She gave a high pitch scream, but clapped a hand over her mouth remembering she mustn't be found like this.

A large shadow passed overhead and there was a loud bark and a snarl. The pressure on Sereak's ankle was released. Breathing hard and quaking with fear, Sereak pulled her knees to her chest and shut her eyes. Grunts and whines made her open just one eye.

It was one of the most amazing sights she had ever seen. In front of her was the silver wolf she had seen the day before. It was the alpha male of the pack and he had just saved her life.

The three wolves that had been defending the den had their heads bowed in respect and their ears clamped firmly to their heads as the alpha male snarled and growled at them.

Sereak moved her foot to check her ankle, but her show scraped the dirt. The alpha male stopped growling at the three wolves and turned around to face her. He padded over and examined the ankle. Seeing nothing wrong with it, he gave it a quick lick and looked at Sereak.

"Thank you." Was all she could whisper, too stunned to say anything else.

The alpha wolf sniffed at her then walked away. Issuing a short bark that made the other three follow him without even a second glance at Sereak, who was still shaking.

Sereak watched them go and then disappear over the small hill. She was still shaking and she felt sick to her stomach. After about five minutes, Sereak had stopped shaking and felt well enough to stand. She slowly walked to a tree and leaned against it, trying to slow her heart down and stop the occasional spasm that shook her shocked body.

Once her heart rate went down the shaking and spasms of fear stopped all together. She climbed a three and for the rest of the afternoon she watched the wolves from above rather than below. Only climbing down and heading home when the adult wolves had gone hunting.

When she got back to the cabin, Sereak was still in a daze. She spoke very little about the wolves when her mother asked about them. She did catch her father say that the fence building was going well, but Mr. Hayes wasn't very handy with an axe nor was he really good at setting the posts.

Other than that, the rest of the night sped by. Before she knew it, Sereak was tucked in bed, saying good-night to her father and waiting for her mother to start the next chapter of the story.

"Are you all right Sereak?" Her mother asked.

"Yes, I'm fine… just a little tired and thinking about what this chapter is going to be like." Sereak covered.

Her mother nodded and began the chapter.

-:-

The creative magician started drawing in the dirt with his finger.

"This will be a sort of map to see where everything should fall into play." He said, carefully drawing shapes, and then adding runes next to them. "These here are your houses all enclosed in this circle, which is the barrier that you spoke of elder."

The elder nodded in approval.

"And this, this is the weapon's house that we are at right now." The creative magician looked to the elder of the village. "Can you draw where the King's Palace would be from here?"

The old man nodded and drew a large triangle about two feet away from the village, symbolizing only about two miles.

"Hm, that close, I see…where do you and your men train and practice?"

The village elder drew a target only about three inches from the town. "I'm afraid that we are a bit rusty on our soldiering. We are only used in desperate times, and there hasn't been a desperate time in over fifteen years."

"Do you all still know the basics?" The youngest magician asked.

The many men around them either nodded or grunted an affirmative.

"Alright then, you all need to practice a little more, then once we are there, we'll tell you more of the plan." The creative magician said.

All the men looked confused and a little angry. If the magicians were going to save them, why wouldn't they tell them the rest of the plan?

The magicians said nothing more and they followed the elder away from the weapon's shack.

The rest of the men saw no reason to follow and slowly they departed from the group. They went back to their homes. Soon the entire crowd was gone…except for one man.

The lone man stood there and stared at the retreating backs of the magicians and the elder.

"Hmmmm, this might get peoples hopes up… If this goes too far, King Malvus will be more than happy to put down this 'rebellion'"

-:-

The book closed and Sereak was silent. "The rebellion might fail because of that man!" Sereak finally said.

Her mother nodded. "Perhaps."

Sereak looked at her mother. "Okay, you have to read another chapter, this one was too short!"

Sereak's mother smiled and shook her head.

Sereak nodded sullenly and sank into her covers. "All right."

Her mother kissed her head. "Good night."

"Good night." Sereak answered.

Her mother left the room. Sereak could barely hold her eyes open. From the day's excitement, Sereak fell asleep after the first few hoots of the owl.