Hey everyone, and welcome back to Heroes and Titans! I see I already have a few followers and a favorite! It may not seem special to some of you, but since this is my first go at all of this, I'm glad I have seem to have already caught someone's eye, so welcome aboard people! I hope I keep your attention and that you enjoy the story. Before this chapter begins, I'd like to mention something about the AoT side of this story. I am basing everything you read here off of the ANIME ONLY. I have not read the manga at all, though I plan on it in the near future. So if you do review or have criticism, please don't be all like "mAnGa tHiS, MaNgA ThAt" because I'll have no idea what you're talking about. I'm sure they're very similar in most ways, but until I read it I have no idea. On top of that, most of the dialogue will be from the English dub, at least until things get... different. Anyway, enjoy this long chapter!
PROLOGUE II: Graduation Night
Year 850
104th Cadet Corps - 2 Years After Enlistment
"Pick up the pace, you lead-heeled laggards!" A commanding voice yelled. The sound of heavy rainfall accompanied pounding footsteps as a group of trainees ran through a forest.
The Commandant, Keith Shadis, turned his head to look behind him from on his horse. He shouted back a blond-haired trainee, who was falling behind.
"What's wrong, Arlelt?" He slowed his mount down a little and was beside the soldier in question, who was obviously winded.
"Your boots waterlogged, Arlelt? Let's see some hustle! Gear too heavy for ya son? Hell, drop it! Leave it in the mud! The Titans'll have and easier work digesting you without all the excess baggage."
The poor kid was exhausted. Physical training was never his thing. He was more of the studious type, who would spend every waking moment with his nose in a book. When he wasn't getting an earful from his Commandant, of course. In the military here, education was also important. But the physical aspect was still very demanding.
"Damn it!" The blond whispered to himself as he was practically gasping for air as he ran.
"Seriously?" Another trainee on his right said, yanking his pack off of him. He also had blond hair, but it was much shorter. "Focus on staying upright. We are being graded on this you know." The other trainee sounded tired too, but he hid it well.
"Thanks, but, uh, won't they demerit you for helping?" The winded cadet said.
"Yeah, if they find out. Just make the cut and we're even, alright?"
Shadis glanced behind him, studying the two cadets. Reiner Braun. The mind and constitution of a grass fed ox. Respected by his comrades. He was a well built, almost adult looking teen. His facial features are sharper than most people, even those older than him. He was taller and had tanned skin.
The tired cadet pushed forward, determined, and despite his overwhelming exhaustion. "I'm no one's burden, you hear me?" He picked up his pace, and snatched his pack back from Reiner, who was startled by the sudden action. He broke into a sprint, passing by a few other trainees.
The cadet who was falling behind is Armin Arlelt. Built like a daffodil, but academically brilliant. He was still physically fit from the years of training, but one of the smallest of his comrades, including the girls.
Several young cadets zipped through the forest on Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, steel cables flying and piercing branches literally left and right, fired via the triggers on their dual sword handles. A giant wooden cutout of a humanoid creature rose from the ground in preparation of the approaching cadets. The first three of them came down fast, bringing their sharp steel blades down onto a soft spot on the nape of the neck. They each made quick and precise slashes, in pointed oval shape that cut out a chunk in one slash. The third person to strike didn't make as deep a cut as the first two.
The first was Annie Leonhart. Gifted with a sword, but does not exactly play well with others. She has moderately short, light blonde hair, tied up at the back with her right fringe draping over the right side of her face. She may appear short, but makes up for it with a passively intimidating gaze.
Next was Bertholdt Hoover. Heaps of native talent, but too mild mannered. He was arguably the tallest of his comrades, but didn't look as threatening. He has short black hair.
Third was Jean Kirschstein. Head of the class on ODM. Also an insufferable smart-ass, with a hair-trigger temper. Relatively average looking, in height and muscular build. He has short, light ash-brown hair with the sides shaved, making them appear darker. He has small but intense light brown eyes, and his expression is often scowled.
Shadis watched them from a think tree branch as he made his evaluations. Jean leaped off of a branch to make his strike.
Jean grew frustrated after his slice. "Think those showoffs can slice and dice? Best hope you see a Titan before I do!" He continued to maneuver through the trees, swiftly and expertly. Military Police, save a place for Jean!
He chuckled as he saw the next dummy, already prepared to strike the nape.
"Way to lead the charge!" someone shouted from behind. Jean gasped as a trainee with a buzz cut flew from the trees. He laughed before saying, "You don't care if I steal your thunder, right?" he said as he leaped in front of Jean and struck the target before he could.
Or at least he was about to.
As the other trainee brought his swords up, someone else beat him to the punch. He gaped.
"Yaaahoooooooo!" A brunette girl with a ponytail cheered, as she gracefully fell and dipped down, then back up using her momentum to gain height. She whooped in excitement as she flew up.
Sasha Braus. Unusually fine instincts. Rarely shares 'em with her teammates.
Connie Springer. Agile on the switchbacks. A few sandwiches shy of a picnic.
"Get ready!" a soldier said to another as he spotted trainees headed for their location. The other soldier began hoisting up the next dummy for them to take out.
Two cadets came flying in toward two dummies, one boy, and one girl. The boy has very tanned skin, messy black hair, and a sharp look plastered on his face as if he were always angry. The girl was rather pale compared to her comrades, had similarly messy hair, but in a straight bob cut style. Her facial features were soft, yet cold at the same time, as if she was calculating her next move. She also donned a dark red scarf around her neck.
She readied her swords as she neared the targets and made two very precise, clean cuts across both targets in the span of a second. The boy followed her, and struck the targets true like she did, but not nearly as deep as she did. He grunted in frustration.
"Dammit! Still not deep enough!"
Mikasa Ackerman. Model cadet. Excels in everything. In fact, it's no overstatement to call the girl a genius.
Eren Yeager. Lackluster in the classroom, marginally better in the field, but... Shadis studied him more closely. Driven by a sense of purpose that's almost terrifying.
Eren growled loudly as he flew further into the forest in search of his next target.
Reiner charged at Eren with a fake knife and a war cry. The latter easily side-stepped and countered his assault, grabbing his wrist and putting a hand to his adversary's chest, effectively stopping him in his tracks. Eren then grabbed Reiner's jacket and used his own force against him as he flipped him to the ground.
Reiner groaned in pain as Eren extended a hand out to him.
"Sorry man," said Eren, "I've really gotta learn to hold back." Reiner took his hand and was pulled up.
"Eh, it's alright. Let's see how you do as the rogue." He held out the knife to his comrade.
Eren just stared at him, his expression unchanging.
"What are you waiting on?" Reiner inquired.
"This training doesn't make sense," Eren said while taking the knife from him. "we're not exactly picking fights with someone our own size. A guy would have to be stupid to use this. I mean, a knife?" An image of his younger self appeared in his mind, holding a knife. He exhaled as the memory left him.
"What if there's not an option? Reiner replied. Eren looked up at him. "The fight doesn't give us a say. If it wants to get ugly, it gets ugly. It's our job to be prepared. The enemy comes in many forms." A girl grabbed another cadet by the neck as she held his hand with the knife away from him. "Artillery's not always gonna be the answer. Soldiers, the ones worth their salt, anyway," Eren continued to stare at him, a surprised look on his face. "are ready for anything." Reiner finished.
"Don't believe me? Look." Annie walked leisurely around the training yard.
"Yeah?" asked Eren. "What about her?" She stopped to glance at them. "Only thing she's ready for is a chance to slack off."
Reiner grinned smugly. "Ya think so? Maybe someone ought to give her a talkin' to. Give her a little... hard knocks lesson in preparedness."
"Huh?" Eren asked again.
Annie walked up to them, glancing behind her. She stopped when she turned around right into Reiner's chest.
"Hm?" Annie said.
Reiner was still grinning. "Commandant not beatin' ya down enough? Keep it up, you'll be as flat as the dirt you're walking on. I suggest you think back to why you enlisted in the first place."
Eren came up to them. "Uh, what are you doing?" Annie glared at Reiner. Whoa, she's pissed. Wow, I thought she looked scary before. You couldn't pay me enough to be on her bad side. Reiner grabbed his shoulders and moved him toward her.
"Okay, now go get 'er!" He encouraged.
"What the hell? Wait!" Annie took a strange stance. Her hands were in front of her face, leaving her torso completely vulnerable. Her right leg was behind her with her knee, bent slightly, and her heel was up. "Right. I hope you don't expect me to hold back." Eren charged at her with the knife. "Heads up!"
Annie dodged easily and countered by kicked his shin. Eren grunted in pain as he fell forward to his knees. "Son of a... that was a dirty move! Ah..." He fell back down as his leg pulsed in pain.
"Are we done here?" Annie sounded bored.
"Not just yet," Reiner said, face now serious. "You know the drill. Take up the dagger."
Annie sighed at this.
Eren was mildly afraid. "No, wait! This isn't how..." Annie came at him this time. "Oh crap!" She grabbed him by the chin, her fingers in his mouth. She swept his legs out from under him, using his head as leverage, and flipped him to the ground. Before he could even let out a noise, Annie had disarmed him and threw the knife to Reiner.
"There." she said, still bored. She brushed her hair out of her face. "So, you ready to take me on yourself yet, or what?" she dared him.
Reiner gritted his teeth. "Uh, not exactly."
"Don't you dare." Eren said from the ground. "She's got a lesson coming, right? You go get her."
Reiner stared back up at Annie. "Yeah. A soldier can't really afford to back down, either." He steeled himself. "Get ready, here I c-"
He was already on the ground, Annie walking away.
"That's some technique you've got. Who taught you how to fight like that?" Eren asked.
She brushed her hair out of her face again. "My father did."
"Did he like pioneer it, or-"
"Does it really matter?" Annie interrupted. "It's pointless, just like all this."
"Wait, you mean the training in general?"
"Hand-to-hand doesn't really count against our final grade. The smart ones blow it off." She looked over at two cadets who were fake fighting. "It's a crap-shoot anyway. Only the top ten cadets get to serve in the interior. The rest of us, forget it. Point is, only idiots like you take this part of boot camp seriously." Sasha made a silly karate pose, and Connie made a terrible fake stance, holding the knife in his mouth. Shadis walked up to them.
They noticed him, surprised. "Oh, hello, shir," Connie's voice was muffled from the knife as Shadis grabbed him by the side of the head an lifted him up. Sasha put up her hands in surrender.
Annie grabbed the knife and started forcing it toward Eren's chest, but he stopped her. She spoke up. "First rule of this life, kid? The better you are at dropping the bad guys, the further away from them you get. That's what this whole stupid farce is about."
They stared each other down. "Sure! Whatever you say!" said Eren as he went to disarm her. Annie reacted accordingly, once again sweeping his legs from under him. She dropped him to the ground and pointed the knife down at his chest. Eren gasped, struggling to keep her from going further.
"Face it," Annie said. "you don't fight the nature of things and win." Eren was wide-eyed as he took in her words. She relented, standing up. "Look around you, Eren. All the sons of bitches expect us to do is play the game. Don't be a pawn." She walked away.
Reiner spoke up. "Yeah, well I still stand by what I said earlier."
Eren thought about what Annie said. I've been so fixated on building myself up, I couldn't see it. She's absolutely right. They're not honing their skills to fight. They're honing their skill to run.
"I know, okay? And look, I'm not saying it's right, it's just the way things are. Before Wall Maria was compromised, ODM experts were rare. Only Scouts ever risked proximity to the Titans, and their regiment-" Eren tuned Armin out, listening to another conversation.
"-for a second. That's how you conserve fuel. Let your momentum do the work for you." Jean said to the cadets at his table.
Marco was listening with interest. "Still, that's pretty advanced." he said.
"Duh," Jean replied. "it's called having a sixth sense for the finer points of your gear." He rested his head on his hand, elbow on the table. He glanced over at Mikasa, who was silently eating her food, then back at his table. "You gotta do the strut if you wanna make the cut!" he declared. "The MP only recruit the best." Another cadet looked up and sighed.
"Man, that'd be amazing! Working within a stones throw of the King... no greater honor than that."
"Shut up, Marco." Jean said as he smacked him on the back of the head, making him spill his drink on himself. Jean had a smug look. "We're not children, you can drop the misty-eyed BS. Honor doesn't have any damn part of it. You just want a nice, cushy job on the interior, playing glorified sentry."
"That's not true! That's not me at all!"
Eren decided to intervene. "Listen to you guys," Jean and Marco looked at him. "Interior... five years ago, this was part of it."
"You got a point to make, friend? I'm right here." Jean said forcefully.
Eren took a long swig of his drink, eyes closed. He swallowed slowly.
"Poor Jean. So misguided. And besides..." he opened his eyes. "I don't think your head'll fit in the interior, anyway." Jean's eye twitched.
Reiner, Connie, and a bunch of others started giggling.
Jean looked back at Eren. "Very funny."
Eren had a scowl on his face. "Seems a little backwards to me. Fine tuning your Titan killing skills so the brass'll station you somewhere you'll never see one."
"You'd rather I was good at getting killed? Thank you, but I'll pass. Better to play the system than get gnawed on." Eren growled at him and stood up suddenly.
"You son of a bitch!" he yelled.
"Bring it on, you little bastard!" Jean shouted back as he stood up as well. They approached each other.
Armin stood up too, trying to stop them. "Eren, please! Stop it!" Mikasa stood up and made her way to them.
"Gentlemen, please." She separated them and grabbed Eren's wrist, putting it down gently. She looked at Eren calmly. He was glaring at her now. After a second, he glanced down and away from her, a little ashamed. Jean grabbed his collar suddenly.
"You think you can judge me?!"
"Huh?!" Eren said, confused. "You rip my shirt, and you're dead!"
"I don't give a damn about your shirt, you pissed me off!"
"What?! Are you crazy?!" Time seemed to freeze as he looked around the room. Almost everyone in the mess hall was staring at them. Most people weren't making it obvious, and some were. He focused on Annie in particular.
Oh, wait. I did it. He has something to prove. He thought of other times he snapped. Sounds familiar... Sorry to do this. He grabbed Jean's wrist on his collar, pushed it away, and swept his legs out from under him. It's only to end this before things get out of hand!
Annie noticed what he did, and gasped. Eren had used her technique to flip Jean, who was a little larger than him, to the ground.
"Ack!" Jean hit the ground hard on his back. Everyone else in the mess hall was gaping at Eren, who turned around to look at his now grounded opponent.
Jean grunted as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "Dammit!" he winced. "What the hell was that move?!"
"Little something I picked up this afternoon. While you were busy with your thumb up your ass." They stared at each other in intense silence for a second. "You honestly think the Military Police is your ticket to the good life? You're not a soldier. You're a joke." Eren finished.
Most of the cadets were stunned, while Mikasa watched passively. The wooden door creaked open, and everyone was startled at the sudden break in silence.
When the door revealed Shadis, he had a dark glare leveled at the occupants of the mess hall.
"Would someone care to explain the little ruckus I heard just now? I do hope everything's alright."
Eren and Jean sat back down at their tables, both fuming internally. Mikasa raised her hand.
"Sasha passed some gas, Commandant." Sasha gasped, extremely embarrassed. People started giggling.
"Why am I not surprised..." said the Commandant. Sasha was still at a loss for words. The other cadets were struggling to contain their laughter. "For the love of god, learn some self-control." He closed the door.
Sasha was tugging on Mikasa's hand asking what she did to deserve that. Eventually, she picked up a piece of bread, and shoved it into Sasha's mouth to silence her.
The Graduation Ceremony
Of the original recruits, 218 graduated. They all stood lined up, and in formation in a courtyard. The only light came from brightly burning torches on the outside of the block.
"Do you have heart?" a voice shouted, projecting his voice so everyone could hear him.
"Sir!" all of the cadets said, and saluted in perfect, practiced unison. The salute had them bend their right arm at the elbow, fist over their heart, and left arm behind their back. It was simple, yet the symbolism was clear.
"As of this moment, you have three options open to you! Choose wisely!"
He continued. "The Garrison Regiment, whose job is to reinforce the walls! The Survey Corps, also known as the Scout Regiment, who ride out into Titan country to take back what was once ours! And the Military Police Regiment, maintaining law and order under orders from his royal Majesty!"
"Those cadets eligible for the MP have already been named! The rest of you, take a look! These are the top of your class!"
The top 10 stood at the front of the block, in order of their rank. Mikasa Ackerman, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Annie Leonhart, Eren Yeager, Jean Kirschstein, Marco Bodt, Connie Springer, Sasha Braus, and Krista Lenz. These were the only cadets eligible for the Military Police. The rest could only choose between the Garrison, or the Scouts.
This is it. We've made it. Eren thought, his flame of vengeance reigniting. Our time is now. Titans, be ready.
After the graduation ceremony, they went to the mess hall to celebrate. Drinks clattered as people chatted and ate their fill.
"Alright! MP, here I come!" Connie shouted.
"Three square meals a day for life!" Sasha said, excited.
Jean sat alone at a table with his drink. "How in God's name did I get ranked under Eren? Tch." He took a gulp of his drink.
Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Marco, and Thomas stood by the wall. "You're really gonna turn your back on the MP for the scouts?" Marco asked. "Why in the world would you do that? You're in the top 10!"
Eren looked straight ahead. "The Scouts have always been my goal. I don't want the easy life. Not with all the work I've put in. I trained to fight Titans."
Thomas looked at him incredulously. "Are you insane?!" Everyone in the mess hall paused to look at the source of the sudden outburst.
He got nervous as he continued. "How many people have died? We're talking a fifth of the population. If that doesn't paint a picture for you, I don't know what will. This is our life now. We can't beat them."
Everyone kept watching was Eren spoke. "Yeah, so what? We buckle? Take it all laying down? Things have changed. Maybe not a hell of a lot, but enough. They aren't the mystery they were five years ago. There's still a long way to go, but we've made progress. Every battle we've lost taught us a lesson. Gave us the tiniest in-road toward something like hope! You telling me it's better to cut our losses, let all the death and destruction be meaningless? To just ball it up and accept it? Not on your life! Humanity's future lies outside the walls, and I'm gonna clear the way! I'm gonna take back what was ours. I'll drive them out. And as long as at least one of us can say that, we're not done."
Everyone stared at Eren silently wondering if he'd keep going. It was Eren after all.
Tears pricked at his eyes as he close them, and he bolted out of the mess hall. Armin and Mikasa followed. "Eren, wait!" Armin shouted after him.
Jean watched them go. Hmph. Yeah, good luck out there, hotshot. I'll root for you from his Majesty's barracks.
Trost District, outside the barracks
Eren sat alone on a staircase, rubbing his tears away. He turned around when he heard Mikasa and Armin approaching, and turned back around. They sat next to him.
"That was, uh, quite a speech you gave us there." said Armin.
Eren chuckled. "Yeah, most of it was yours. All that stuff you used to say back in the day."
Armin looked away, a determined look on his face. "Yeah, well, I'm joining the Scout Regiment, too!" Eren gasped.
"Now your just being stupid. Come on, you're not a fighter! Your life is with books."
Armin looked down. "I'm through with letting other people fight for me." he said. Eren was surprised.
"Guess it's the Scouts for me too, then." Mikasa spoke up. She didn't talk often, except when she was with Eren and Armin. Her voice didn't really match her actions in combat.
"Oh, come on! You were top of the class! You'd be wasting your shot!"
"Understand this, Eren. Where you go, I go. I made a promise to your mom before she died. I'm not letting you die. I've got your back whether you like it or not, so just deal with it." she declared as she looked over at him.
Eren put a hand up to his head. "Yeah, well mom's not here." he whispered.
"A lot of people I used to care about aren't here, either."
Eren sighed, then looked up at the stars. The other two did the same, in comfortable silence as a shooting star flew through the night sky. Then, there was a bright flash behind them, a multitude of colors reflecting off of the stone buildings around them, accompanied by a strange sound they've never heard before. They tore their eyes away from the pitch black abyss above them, and looked behind them. They saw a green blur fall to the ground, and heard the sound of metal clattering against stone. The figure didn't move once it fell.
Mikasa was sprinting over immediately, while Eren and Armin looked around for any other signs of possible danger. They only saw a few people strolling the streets, but in the distance, a ways away from them.
When Mikasa got to the figure, she noticed it was a boy, probably a few years younger than herself. His eyes were open, but half-lidded, and he looked dazed. He clutched a small, shiny blue object in his hand, and the object had a crack in it. Whether or not it was from the fall or not, Mikasa didn't know.
She at the ground around him and saw a golden sword, with silver crisscrossing the gold making a diamond pattern, and a brown handle. It was beautiful, really. Mikasa had never seen anything like it before. On the other side of the boy was a metal shield, silver in color, with blue as some sort of background. In the center was a red bird of sorts, and below the bird was a set of three golden triangles. There were other markings, red and silver, but she couldn't tell what they were.
A child? Mikasa thought. He can't be more than 10, 11 at most. Why does he have these weapons? Is he okay? A million questions raced through her head. After a few seconds, Eren and Armin came up to them, confusion evident on their faces.
"What happened?" asked Armin. Something was odd about those flashes earlier.
"Who's that?" demanded Eren. He's armed. He could be dangerous. Luckily he seems about to pass out.
"I..." Mikasa started. "I'm not sure..."
"Hey." she said to the boy. "Are you alright? You had quite a fall there."
No answer. He instead brought up his hand, his blue eyes moving to look at the shiny blue object with a crack, then promptly fell on his back, passing out. They started to panic, but calmed quickly. He didn't look injured.
She touched his forehead, testing his temperature. She recoiled immediately. His skin was on fire, and she felt some kind of static shock. It didn't injure her, but it definitely hurt like hell.
"Ow! Fuck! Why is he so hot? And he shocked me!" Eren and Armin were at her side right away. If it hurt Mikasa, it must've hurt a lot.
"Mikasa! Are you alright?" asked Eren. She uncovered her hand, and they all winced at the sight. A large red mark was on the back of her hand, and it was smoking, like it was singed. She winced. Luckily, it was on the outside of her hand, so she could still grasp things like her swords just fine, though with mild discomfort.
"Yeah, I'm fine. This burn hurts a lot, though. But I can handle it."
Eren sighed at her stubbornness, like he was one to talk. "If you say so. Just promise me you'll get that looked at later."
"Eren, I'm-"
"Nope." He wasn't having it. She didn't get to worry about him every time he sneezed, and then act like a serious burn is nothing to worry about. "I don't wanna hear it. Go get that looked at after we sort out... whatever the hell this is."
Mikasa huffed. "Fine." she agreed.
Armin was studying the boy. He was certainly out of the ordinary, with those green clothes. And that hat! Who had ever seen anything like it before? He looked dressed for battle, with a belt equipped with many tools and satchels. Curiously, he untied one of the satchels from the kid's belt, and opened it.
Inside was a large amount of brightly colored, pointy oval-shaped gems. They looked valuable. Is this kid a thief? We are in a part of town where they're common. But I've never seen this gems before. He picked one out at random. It was a silver one. It was light, like you would expect a small rock to be, and was smooth and cool to the touch. There didn't seem to be anything special about it, so he placed it back inside and tied the satchel closed.
He tried another, bigger satchel. It was a little heavier, and reddish brown in color. He opened it, and immediately smelled gunpowder. He gasped, but carefully looked inside. He saw a bunch of round, blue objects with what looked like wicks on the top of each and every one of them. Holy shit... These are explosives! Why would a kid have these things? Not even soldiers could carry something so volatile. Explosives were for the artillery squads in the Garrison. He very carefully tied the bag, and carefully placed it on the ground. Carefully.
The third and final satchel had strange nut like objects. When he tried to pick one up, he lost his grip due to its strange shape. It fell to the ground and for some reason, it shattered, emitting a really bright flash of light. He dropped the bag in surprise, as he could no longer see. Somehow, the rest of the nuts didn't go off.
Eren and Mikasa, who were talking about what to do with the boy, were interrupted from their discussion when Armin cried out and was rubbing at his eyes.
"Armin!" they both said as he ran to them. He crashed into Eren, almost knocking him over.
"Whoa!" He caught Armin. "You good?"
"I'm okay! Just blinded." After a few more seconds, he could see again. He couldn't see for about ten seconds in total.
"What could have done that?" asked Eren. Mikasa was puzzled as well. As far as they knew, they didn't have any sort of weapons or tools that could blind people. Not without shooting or stabbing them in the eyes.
"I'm not sure what they are, but the appear to be some kind of nuts. I dropped one as I was inspecting it, and it popped on the ground, and released a flash of light." he informed.
"Hm." Eren replied. "I noticed you were poking around other bags as well. Did you find anything interesting?"
"I think so? All of the stuff he has on him, I've never seen it before. And what kind of nuts blind people? He also had a bag what I assume are explosives, because they smelled like gunpowder. I haven't even looked at everything yet. I feel kinda bad for snooping through his stuff, but I couldn't help myself."
"Classic Armin," said Eren. Mikasa nodded her head, and if you looked close enough, you could see the barest hint of a smile. Those from her were a once in a lifetime sight.
Mikasa was curious now, too. "What else does he have? He dropped a fancy looking sword and shield when he got here. I've never seen anything like them before. The sword looks like it's made of gold and steel, and the shield has weird markings."
"The first bag I looked through had a bunch of different colored gems inside. They were all the same shape and size, and some were more common than others."
Eren walked over to the still unconscious boy. On the side of his belt, he had a line of six bottles, each with a different liquid inside. There were three red, one green, one blue, and one white. Medicine, perhaps?
These bottles appeared to be made of glass, and somehow didn't break from the impact with the stone. Eren opened one of the red ones, and inhaled the scent. Huh? It doesn't smell like anything? What is this crap? He smelled the green and blue ones, and got the same result. The white one, however, smelled of alcohol. What the fuck? He has alcohol on him? First explosives, now alcohol. He has to be some kind of thief. Kids around here loved to steal what they couldn't have.
"Guys!" he shouted back at them. "This one smells like alcohol!" He held up the white bottle.
"Really? I've never seen a drink that looks like that before. Except milk." said Armin. "So what now?"
"Well, the closest doctor is the one the barracks has" Mikasa offered. "so we'll take him there."
"Alright then, help me get him up." Eren grabbed his legs. He noticed what looked like a mask on the backside of his belt. What could that be?
Mikasa grabbed him again, and got shocked again, though less severely than last time. "Ow! Again?" It left a much smaller and lighter mark on her other hand.
"Huh? But I can touch him just fine. See?" He was still holding his legs.
"Armin, you try." He did so, and he didn't get shocked.
"Weird..." he said. Together, Eren and Armin carried him while Mikasa carried his stuff. The shiny blue object looked delicate, so she placed it in her pocket. Her hands were a little full, but she managed.
When they got to the barracks, there weren't any people around, so they must've still been at the mess hall. Good. No one to ask questions we can't answer, Armin thought. They made it to the clinic and the nurse sent a questioning gaze their way. She looked away when she saw who was carrying the new patient.
"I'm not even gonna ask." she said in a monotone voice. She got up as the two teens rested the boy on a bed, and walked over to examine him. Mikasa placed his belongings down next to the bed, out of the way.
The nurse couldn't believe how hot the child's skin was. Whatever it was that did this to him, should've killed him. Something didn't sit right with her.
Eren, Armin, and Mikasa were seated in chairs around the bed, possibly hoping for him to wake up. They had plenty of time, and were off tomorrow morning anyway.
The nurse began removing his clothing to examine him closer. When his shirt was off, she noted how fit the boy was. He didn't have a six-pack or anything, but he was certainly toned, and didn't seem unhealthy. What was unhealthy, was the amount of scars that lined his entire torso and arms.
The three teens saw from their seats, and were stunned.
What the hell has this kid been doing? Did he take on a damn army? Eren wondered.
"Holy mother of Maria..." Armin said aloud.
The world is a cruel place... Mikasa thought bitterly. She hoped he didn't deserve these scars.
The nurse, after examining his breathing and heartbeat, concluded he was fine, and was just resting. He'd probably wake up in a few hours.
"Thank the gods..." Armin said.
"Maybe he can answer our questions." said Eren.
"Just let the boy breathe when he wakes up?" the nurse said, sorry for the kid who was about to be bombarded with questions from these three. "Now, girl, I've been worried about that burn,"
Mikasa complied, holding out her hand. The nurse froze. Mikasa gasped when she saw it, too.
What? Where'd it go?
A few hours later, they had all fallen asleep. Armin was leaned back in his chair, as well as Mikasa, and Eren had his head in her lap.
Mikasa was the first to stir, noticing Eren's head. She looked down at his sleeping form, smiling to herself. As noisy as he is and as much trouble he causes, he sure looks cute when he sleeps. She couldn't stop looking at him.
Armin was beginning to wake up as well when Mikasa heard the bed sheets rustle. Her head snapped up to the bed and she saw the boy, waking up. She rushed over, and Eren fell unceremoniously onto the floor, which woke him up.
"Ow... Mikasa, what the he-"
"Shhh." she said, staring at the boy. Armin walked over to her and Eren rubbed his head. He got up and looked at the kid. His eyes were closed as he stretched.
The boy stopped moving as he felt he was being watched. All three of them held their breath.
His blue eyes opened.
Here we are! This is the end of the Prologue, and the main story will start next chapter. While I was writing this one, I was still thinking about where to put Link's arrival, and I decided that night was good since they had free time. Everything up until Link's arrival was straight out of episode 4, The Night of the Graduation Ceremony. Hope you enjoyed, and get ready for the next chapter! Let the story officially begin!
ACT I: The Battle For Trost