Foresight
Chapter 1
Cold steel biting though his neck. A pair of hands holding his head gently, and tender warmth on his lips.
Eren awoke with a gasp, startled into reality by the afterimage of a vivid nightmare.
Birds chirped in the distance and he could make out the sound of chittering grasshoppers and running water nearby where he lay.
The first thing he saw was the crown of leaves and multitude of branches that grasped at the sky.
He lifted a hand to block against the glaring sunlight filtered through the canopy and felt his heart beat so hard and loud against his ribs that he was afraid it would explode.
For a moment he just lay there, taking deep breaths, bound by an eerie silence.
The sound of footsteps crunching on grass broke the spell, and his eyes flicked over to the incoming figure. Mikasa.
For a moment he just stared at her face, her black hair, her misty grey eyes.
A thrum of something jolted him, jogging a foggy memory.
Mikasa sat across from him, teary eyed.
"Ever since I was a kid... Mikasa, I've always hated you."
It came and went in the blink of an eye. So sudden, he was unsure if he'd seen it at all. Slipping even as he tried to recall it, the way dreams always did. The only proof of its existence the sadness squeezing at his heart.
"Eren, are you alright?" Mikasa's voice sounded worried.
"Huh? Mikasa?"
"... We should hurry back."
He watched her pick up her pile of wood and secure it on her back, then face him. Light gusts of wind caught her hair, and she tightened the scarf around her neck.
His scarf. The one he'd given her, what felt like a lifetime ago.
"Why am I here?"
"You were sleeping that soundly?"
"No, it just feels like I was having a really long dream." Eren replied. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What was it again? I can't remember a thing."
He stood.
All around him chords of soft light speared down from above, bathing the grassy fields in gold. Nearby he spied a patch of lilac flowers, glinting with little sparkles when the light caught them just right.
"... Eren? Why are you crying?"
Startled, he brought a hand up to his eyes, and felt the tears trail down his cheeks.
He tuned out the pattering of feet on the cobbled stone path that led to Shinganshina district. All around him people walked past, chatting amiably. He could vaguely make out a priest, preaching about the holy walls somewhere to his right.
When they arrived in front of the gates, he saw Hannes.
He'd seen them too, apparently, because he was coming to meet them with a broad smile on his face.
Yet again Eren's heart lurched, and for an instant, cheerful, joyous Hannes was replaced by a bloody corpse, missing the lower half, intestines dangling for all the world to see. His stomach lurched.
"Eren?" Mikasa's voice broke him out of his stupor, and absently he noted that he'd halted in the middle of the street.
With each step his pseudo uncle made towards them, he felt the sickness settle deeper, until he couldn't take it anymore and darted past the man in a sprint.
"Huh? Oi, Eren?!" Hannes's voice called out behind him, but he just kept on running until he was out of earshot.
"What did I do?" Hannes asked, baffled.
From the look on her face, Mikasa was just as surprised as he felt.
Shallow breaths racked Eren's body.
Just picturing that scene of Hannes's lifeless body, brutalized, and laying in a pool of blood made his stomach churn.
Feeling the bile rising up his throat, acid stinging his oesophagus, he clapped a hand over his mouth to stop from retching.
It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. It-
"Eren?" Hannes asked as he came around the corner and took a knee beside him. Next to Hannes, Mikasa watched silently, her face set in a mask of worry.
"Eren, you alright? You took off so suddenly, without any warning. What's wrong, kid?"
What do I tell him? That I saw him dead? He'll think I'm crazy!
"... I-it's nothing." Eren replied.
Hannes raised an eyebrow doubtfully.
"... you sure you're alright? Want me to take you home?"
Eren just smiled unconvincingly, "yeah, I'm sure." He stood and dusted his clothes off.
Just as he was about to move, the familiar sound of bells ringing sounded throughout the city.
Eren felt a smile tug at his face.
"The Survey corps is back. Let's go, Mikasa! The heroes have returned!" with that, he set off towards the outer gate. She nodded hesitantly and made to follow.
Hannes sighed knowing Eren wouldn't budge. The kid had a stubborn streak a mile long. "Fine, you go along then. Just be careful, you hear!"
"Yeah, got it! Thanks Hannes. See ya!"
Hannes rubbed the back of his head in exasperation. "See ya, brats."
They arrived to the sight of a weeping woman, clutching something wrapped in a bloody cloth, and a teary eyed man on his knees in front of her.
Around them, the survey corps stood silent. Some had tourniquets wrapped around their arms. Others sat quietly atop their horses. Others still in the carts.
But what stood out to him, were the looks on their faces.
They looked broken.
Dead on their feet.
He heard some balding man in the crowd complain about their taxes going to fatten the titans. But he couldn't find it in himself to say anything.
Not long after, the man who'd been kneeling, stood and apologized. Then, they were moving again.
As they went, Eren watched their retreating backs, the wings of freedom stitched on their cloaks softly fluttering in the wind.
During dinner, Mikasa blurted his wish to join the survey corps out of the blue, which earned him a scolding from mom.
Dad, while not exactly supporting his decision, had not outright dismissed it either. He'd even promised to show Eren the basement when he returned from his trip.
Afterwards, after running away from home, he'd chased off Armin's bullies, and they'd made their way down to the canals.
"So, after telling them that mankind would have to go outside the walls eventually, they hit me, calling me a heretic." Armin said, arms wrapped around his knees.
"Dammit." Eren threw the rock he'd been fiddling with at the water, frustrated. "Why does simply wanting to go outside the walls make everyone turn on us?"
"Well, it's because it's been peaceful within the walls for the past hundred years. In order to prevent inviting them in through a reckless attempt to go outside, the king's government created a policy that made holding interest in the outside world taboo." Armin explained.
Eren scowled. "We' re risking our own lives. It's our choice to make."
"I won't let you." Mikasa mumbled. "You can't."
"Oh yeah, I can't believe you ratted me out!" Eren spat.
"I don't remember saying I'd help."
Armin turned to Eren with eyes wide and asked. "Wh-what did they say?"
"Well, they weren't happy about it."
"... Figures." Armin sighed. "True, I think those who believe the walls will protect us forever need to face reality. Just because the walls have stood for the past hundred years... doesn't guarantee that the walls won't be destroyed today... Not in the slightest..."
The words rang ominous in Erens mind and he gulped. Suddenly everything felt wrong. He shouldn't be here. Not now.
… The walls... Destroyed today...
Images played through his mind.
Blood. So much blood. Bloody flowers and bloody teeth. Sightless eyes. A windmill overrun by humans the size of houses. Titans.
A shadowed face peering over the forest canopy. A fireplace and toys on a bed. Corpses in the forest, pelted by rain.
A blood smeared maw and a smile impossibly wide, lined with an endless string of pearly white teeth. A blurry image of gigantic, fleshy hands plucking a woman from amongst the ruins of a house.
A burst of pain assaulted him, and he clutched his throbbing head, teeth gritted.
In the recesses of his mind, he could make out a faint voice, but far, far away. It screamed at him, desperate, pleading, begging him to move.
He scrambled to his feet and started running. He heard Armin and Mikasa shouting after him, but he couldn't stop. He ran as fast as he could, cutting corners, sprinting to the point where his legs burned, and breath came ragged.
He turned a corner, and his house was visible just up the street. Just a little further.
Then heaven came crashing down, booming like a clap of thunder.
The shockwave knocked him into the air before the ground came rushing up to meet him.
Pain shot through him, and everything hurt. His arm felt as though it was broken.
When he flipped onto his back, he could see Mikasa and Armin a short distance behind him, apparently having followed.
Beyond the wall, a tower of smoke rose into the sky. Then a face, humongous and red. No skin, only muscle and bone.
His own skin crawled at the sight.
... It's them...
He knew what came next.
He struggled to his feet, cradling his arms with one hand, and darted off towards their house.
He swung the door open, only to see his mother on the ground, picking herself up. Inside, everything was a mess. Furniture lay strewn about, some of it turned on its head, some broken.
"Mom!"
Wide-eyed she asked, "... Eren. W-what's going on? What happened?"
There was no time to explain.
He grabbed her by the arm, trying to haul her out with everything he had. She stumbled to her feet, still shaken.
Another explosion sounded far off.
Without a second to waste, he rushed out, dragging his still stunned mother with him.
They made it past the door and out onto the street where Mikasa and Armin watched the skies with muted horror.
Boulders the size of carts flew overhead, raining down on houses and streets and people alike.
A whistling sound could be heard, before something crashed down just behind them.
His mother pulled them close, putting her arms around them protectively.
When the shockwave passed and they turned to look behind, they were greeted by a wall of solid stone and broken wood. A rock, large and jagged, buried in the nest that had once been their roof.
AN:
So, another story. It just kind of popped into my head, so I decided to post a 'pilot' chapter. Just to see your response. I hope you like it. Leave a review, tell me what you think of it.
~Zenix404~