Slight AU: The story starts a year before Eren joins the Scouts and will cover seasons 1 to 3. It will be largely canon-compliant, but of course there will be deviations, seeing as there is an additional character, after all. What's more, the canon divergence will become more pronounced as the story progresses. That should also keep you on your toes, hopefully. ;)
Thank you for checking out my work.
Chapter 1: Becoming
Back when she had been twelve, she had imagined this moment differently.
For one, she would have been ten years younger than she was now. She would have been eager, excited, feeling ready for everything, invigorated by a false, naïve sense of freedom. In that scenario, her mother would have been back at home, alive and healthy, though no doubt sick with worry about her only child.
That would have been nice.
Would have been. How useless to dwell on that.
Instead, her mother was in the fortunate position of not giving a fuck anymore whether—or rather how soon—her daughter died. The one perk of ceasing to exist.
Life didn't give a shit about your carefully devised plans, your hopes and dreams. Nora had learned that lesson at the age of sixteen, and lived with it ever since.
As long as there was a single person more important to you than yourself, you couldn't be free.
Well, her mum was gone, ashes in the wind, and Nora was free now—or as close to it as was possible for any human in this time and this world. For better and worse.
She could not feel eager or excited about it, no surprise there. Instead, she felt nothing aside from a twisted sense of relief, born of years of self-sacrifice and hardship, and a whole load of guilt resulting from it.
Still, she was standing in front of the Survey Corps headquarters now, waiting for someone to come and get her. Trying to distract herself from her gloomy thoughts, Nora passed the time watching some soldiers currently involved in combat training, far enough away that she could not make out more than silhouettes. Hand-to-hand combat had always been her worst discipline, but she made up for it with her sword and ODM skills. Unfortunately, she had barely been able to make use of those in her years with the Garrison. She sighed, brushing her unruly, sandy blonde hair behind her ears. She hoped that the training she had managed to squeeze into her free time was enough to stay sharp and keep up with the Scouts in these regards. After all, it had already been 10 years since she had been ranked second best recruit due to her knack with manoeuvring her gear, combined with the deadly accuracy of her blades. Well, utilising both of these skills had worked with the titan dummies, at least. To her, nothing was more satisfying than flying through the air and slicing through their necks one after the other, hearing them drop down to the ground with a heavy thump. Something stirred in her chest at the memory, filling up some of the emptiness inside of her. Once again, Nora wondered how different it would be with a real titan.
When she turned her eyes from the training cadets, she saw a woman in uniform approaching her from the main building. Her brown hair was gathered back in a messy ponytail that swished from side to side with each energetic step she took. She wore glasses, a rare sight on a soldier.
"Nora Weiss?" the woman asked, a huge grin on her face.
"Yes, hello," Nora answered, a bit stunned at the enthusiasm the slightly older woman emanated. She held out her hand, which the other shook eagerly.
"Great! I'm Hange Zoë! I'm here to show you around. But first things first—" She brought her face uncomfortably close to Nora's, "Erwin told me you were interested in titan research, is that right?" Hange's eyes were wide open, eagerly awaiting her answer, the expression bordering on crazy. A strange woman, but one that got right to the point. Oddly informal for military, as well, nothing like her former peers at the Garrison. Nora relaxed imperceptibly.
"Yeah, that's right. I'm interested in anything outside the Walls, really."
It was obvious that Hange could barely contain her excitement. "Yay! I have so much to tell you! Well, as soon as I'm allowed to share sensitive information with you, obviously," she added.
"Sounds good to me," Nora said. It was no surprise that they wouldn't reveal their secrets to a newcomer from the Garrison right away, least of all one that had been stationed at Wall Sina. Nora barely knew more than what was public and general military knowledge—which wasn't much at all. Her proximity to the Military Police hadn't done her many favours.
She followed Hange into the main building, trying to take in her new surroundings while listening to the rapid chatter of the bubbly woman. By the time they had reached Nora's new sleeping quarters, which she had to share with four other women, she already knew where the dining hall was, when the meals were served, when the next expedition was going to be (in six weeks), and several other things, including the names of some squad leaders she could be assigned to. What she really wanted to know, however—
"When can I start training?"
Hange stopped right in the midst of explaining to her the hows and whys of their preparation for the expedition. Nora had never been great at back-and-forth conversation, an attribute she seemed to share with Hange, though in a more… reserved way.
"Uh, well, I'd have thought tomorrow, but we could start today, right after I'm done showing you around, kiddo."
"Okay," Nora said without hesitation, choosing to ignore the unfortunate nickname. The broad smile returned to Hange's face, and Nora's lips quirked up a bit, despite her nerves.
Before they headed off to the compound, Hange went to get her Survey Corps uniform. She needed the smallest size, same as with the one she had worn at the Garrison. The emblem on the jacket was the only difference, really. But what a difference it made to her. She ran her fingers over the Wings of Freedom once before she threw it on. Done with changing, she carelessly scraped her long hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck and joined Hange, who was waiting outside her room.
"Now look at you, in your new uniform! Suits you!" With these words, Hange bent down—and pinched her cheek, as if she was teasing a little sister instead of interacting with a fellow soldier she'd just met. Nora scowled at the taller woman. Not for the first time she cursed her height—or the lack of it.
"I've been a soldier for a while, you know. I'm not a child on her first day of school," she said evenly, earning a carefree laugh from the brunette woman, utterly unperturbed by her complaint. Figures.
#
Hange continued her tour of the HQ and the surrounding grounds, not really going into organisational details anymore, but instead mostly spouting scientific facts about titans she deemed safe to tell Nora, who warmed up noticeably at the topic. Some of the facts were even new to her, no matter how many books she'd gotten her hands on over the years.
Curious, and morbidly fascinated, she occasionally interrupted Hange's monologue with a few questions, who seemed delighted and answered every one excessively. When the bespectacled woman casually mentioned that she planned to catch one alive, Nora said, "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard. And utterly brilliant," which earned her an enthusiastic "You get it!"
After the little tour, they went for the copse of tall trees at the edge of the compound. "The Special Operations Squad should be training there at the moment, so they can help pull the ropes and see you in action right away!" Hange explained, as loudly as she had said everything else.
Just my luck to have an audience, Nora thought. She kept her voice neutral and said, "Well, then I hope I don't suck."
"Don't you worry, we won't kick you out." Hange winked at her. Not exactly reassuring, but it couldn't be helped. At least she would get the whole ordeal out of the way quickly.
"Hey, Petra! Mind operating the dummy ropes for our newbie here?" she called out to a red-haired soldier at the edge of the wood.
Newbie. For a moment, Nora felt sixteen years old again, like a greenhorn Cadet Corps graduate. She straightened her back and shook her head inwardly. Nothing could undo the last ten years, that much was painfully clear to her.
Petra introduced herself with a broad smile on her pretty face, immediately making small talk and asking about her decision to switch over to the Scouts. By the Walls, are they all that nice?
Nora was relieved when they reached the trees—she could only evade such questions with vague replies for so long. With her heart in her throat, she tightened the straps of her gear one last time and, at a nod from Hange, lunged herself onto the nearest tree.
As soon as she was soaring through the air, her nerves settled, as if she had left her worries on the ground, right there with her new comrades and her emotional baggage. All that remained was blissful calmness in her mind, paired with the exhilaration of flying, of freedom.
She flew at her first target—an immobile sixteen-metre titan dummy—with single-minded focus. Avoid the arms, be mindful of her gas usage, and kill. She swung around and upwards, using nearby trees for momentum. Then she dived down, drawing her blades and slicing through the thick, wooden neck in one clean, scissor-like swipe. Yes.
Pushing off the disposed dummy with one shove of her legs, she was up in the treetops again, choosing her next stationary target and keeping watch for any others that could appear right underneath her at any moment, pulled up by ropes that were currently operated by a kind, but certainly experienced redhead.
And there, right when she lifted her blades at the nearest dummy mid-fly, a solid wooden titan popped up. In full speed, she jerked to the right, narrowly avoiding a crash, and manoeuvred herself around both dummies, disposing of the stationary with one stroke first, and without landing, shot herself right onto the neck of the moving threat from behind and scissored through. This time, maybe a bit over-enthusiastically; she distantly felt a shrapnel of wood slicing at her cheek.
She took care of the rest of the course in a similar manner. When she finally landed on the ground again, her breathing was heavy, heart beating fast against her chest. Nora wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and, looking around, noticed the handful of soldiers who seemed to have been watching her.
Hange approached her with a big grin, eyes gleaming, cheeks flushed. She couldn't have done too bad, then. Not that she had anyone to compare with so far. Before she could say anything, Nora heard the buzzing of wires and a soft thud at her back. She turned around and took in the soldier who had just landed right behind her. Even though she had never seen him up close, she recognised him immediately.
Humanity's strongest. Captain Levi's face was stony, slate grey eyes fixed on her, expressionless. The inky black hair, neatly trimmed into an undercut, further punctuated the sharp lines and angles of his face. Before today, she had only seen him once or twice from afar on his horse, but she knew from the gossiping of her former Garrison comrades that he was rather short. Yet, with that piercing gaze boring through her, she felt a lot smaller than him, even though he couldn't have had much more than two inches height on her.
"Who taught you to handle your blades like that?" he asked without introduction, a sharp edge to his deep voice.
Well, shit. Of course, wielding her swords differently than they were taught wouldn't sit well with her superiors. All throughout her time in the Cadet Corps she had gotten flack for it, even though Nora's ranking had spoken in her favour.
She forced herself to look into those startling eyes when she answered. "No one did."
The stony-faced man lifted his eyebrows, his cold glare unrelenting.
"It just… works for me," she added, eventually averting her gaze when she could not bear the scrutinising look anymore. The other soldiers at the scene were watching them, their expressions ranging from indifferent to alarmed.
"Are you the brat from the Garrison?" Levi asked. Nora still could not tell if he was bored, angry or both. At least now she knew that clearly not everyone here was nice and approachable. Her mouth drew into a tight line.
"I switched over from the Garrison division, yes."
His eyes narrowed. "I take it you've never fought a titan, then?" Was he planning to demean her in front of Hange and his squad just because she had never been outside the walls? Well, she absolutely refused to be ashamed of her decisions.
Straightening her back, Nora replied, "No, I haven't yet. When Wall Maria fell, I was ordered to protect the outer wall of Trost District." Her eyes hardened at the memory. "So I saw… them, I saw what happened. But I wasn't a part of the troops engaging in the ODM fight." And the Survey Corps wasn't either, that day, she mentally added, defiant. She braced herself for a verbal attack, or worse, more uncomfortable questions with a group of strangers as witnesses. Instead, Levi only scowled at her.
"I expect you at my office after lunch. Don't be late, brat." He turned away, gesturing for his squad to follow. Without looking back, he added, "And go clean yourself up, you've blood and sweat all over your face. It's disgusting."
Then, they marched off. Petra threw her a last, confused glance that must have mirrored the look on Nora's face.
Before she had the chance to open her mouth and ask Hange what the hell that just was, the woman was already on her, throwing an arm around her shoulders like they were old buddies. "That settles that, then. After your little performance just now, I wanted to ask you to join my squad. But Shorty had to call dibs."
In the process of wiping at her cheek and indeed discovering a smear of blood on her palm, Nora looked up at the gleeful woman. "What are you even talking about? I only got insulted and then invited to his office, either for interrogation or to be given shit about my sword technique, I don't know!" she said, the stress finally getting the better of her.
"Not at all! At least, that's not the main reason. Levi's always like that, with everyone." Hange thought for a moment. "In fact, this is one of his better moods. Believe me, he wouldn't call you to his office if he didn't want you in his squad. He has handpicked each of them, you know."
By now, they were walking back to the HQ. Nora, still firmly tucked under Hange's shoulder, stared at her with blatant incredulity. She wanted to outright deny that statement, but that would be ignorant of the fact that the brilliant woman walking alongside her had known the grumpy bastard for years, probably, while she didn't. At all. Either way, she still expected the meeting that afternoon to be rather unpleasant. However, a part of her was reassured by Hange's assertion about Levi's character. She could deal with abrasive, rude behaviour even—as long as it wasn't targeted at her as an individual, and her alone. Hell, she wasn't exactly sunshine and flowers either.
#
The cut on Nora's cheek was pretty shallow, but had left a smear of dried blood down to her jawline. Thick strands of her long, sandy hair had come loose during her exertions, forming a frizzy mess around her face. Her usually flat, dark brown eyes were oddly bright. All of this combined lent her a crazed look. No wonder Levi had rudely commented on it.
By the time Nora had washed her face and cleaned the wound, the bleeding had stopped almost completely. She dabbed at it carefully, deciding she didn't need to cover it. By tomorrow it would be scabbed, anyways.
She glared at her reflection, combing through her mane with her fingers, the hair tie back at its usual place at her wrist. Slaughtering a dozen training dummies had tired her arms out, so she didn't even consider to bother braiding her hair back.
When she deemed herself presentable enough for lunch, she went straight to the mess hall. She was pretty early, so there weren't a lot of soldiers staring at the new one entering the room, fortunately. Nora heedlessly loaded her tray with a little bit of everything they were serving: pea soup, bread, potatoes, nothing fancy. Her appetite was absent today, so she didn't care. But her eyes lit up when she spotted the tea kettle, and she helped herself to a cup, filling it close to the brim, needing it as fuel as much as the food.
Looking around, she intended to pick an empty table in an unobtrusive corner, but Hange had spotted her and waved her over. Even though Nora could have used some silence to recharge, she also felt relief. It was nice to have at least one comrade enjoying her company. Giving Hange one of her rare and rather short-lived smiles, she took the opposite seat.
They were about halfway through their meal when the seat to Hange's right was pulled back, only to be occupied a second later by none other than Levi. Were the two actually friends? She had known both of them for barely half a day, yet Nora could not wrap her head around the possibility. His tray mirrored her own, she noticed—a sustainable amount of food and a cup of tea even fuller than hers had been. Scowling at the table, he lifted it to his mouth, holding it in the oddest way she had ever seen; his palm over the open top and fingers on the brim instead of the handle. Without the faintest clunk, he put his cup back on the saucer, suddenly lifting his eyes to hers and catching her observing, fully absorbed in his peculiar mannerisms.
"What are you staring at?" he growled, full-on glaring at her.
Damn it. She hated feeling intimidated by anyone, and quickly fought to shake it off. But she wasn't insane enough to say "What a daft way to hold a cup", so she shrugged and opted to mumble "Nothing" into her tea. How pathetic.
Thankfully, Hange took Levi's menacing conduct as a perfectly normal conversation starter. Maybe it was, with him.
"Did Erwin already tell you that Nora here is interested in titan research? We've had a really interesting discussion earlier, and she even said that—"
"Shut it, Shitty Glasses," he interrupted, already annoyed with her, "I know. Great. As if we needed any more lunatics here."
Unperturbed, Hange continued shoving her food into her mouth. Without glancing up from her plate, Nora nonchalantly remarked, "Well, you have to be at least slightly crazy to become a Scout in the first place."
"You're not wrong about that. But it doesn't have to be on batshit-level." Levi's bored gaze was resting on her once again, at least not outright hostile, this time. Nora managed to return it evenly, with maybe the faintest blush on her cheeks. Just in case, she covered it up with her cup. She couldn't help that the man was so unnerving.
"You would know, of course." Nora said before she could stop herself.
His eyes narrowed. "Careful, brat. I could shut your big mouth before you even know what—"
"Aw, you guys are going to get along so well, I can already see it!" Hange squealed, causing Nora to almost choke on her last sip of tea. Levi was right. She is a complete lunatic.
"Stop talking shit already. I don't need it with my lunch," he said to the brunette, his face still remaining expressionless despite the vulgarity of his words.
Levi stood up, turning to Nora. "Come on. Let's get this over with." She had no choice but to follow him out of the hall, with at least two hundred pairs of eyes on them.
"Have fun, you two!" Hange shouted in a sing-song voice.
I think I might strangle her later, Nora thought, putting one hand over her face.
AN: I originally started this just for myself, for fun, and to improve my writing. As this work continued growing, however, and I remained dedicated, I thought what the hell. Could as well post it.
That said, if you feel like leaving any reviews, it is highly appreciated, be it a single word or an essay. They really make me ridiculously happy!
If you're late to this small party, same goes, no matter which chapter. :)
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