Yet another new story to take a slot of a day of the week. I wrote this a few months ago, and I plan to post this as soon as an original book of mine is published. But until then, I am once again finally branching out of RWBY and writing fanfiction for an anime/manga that I truly enjoy. I love Attack on Titan, and by the time I post this, the manga might be completed. Maybe not. But either way, I will show my love for the story with one of my own, adapted and with the hope that it can at least match the masterpiece of a story that Isayama has been able to create.

Note 5-18-2021: Okay, still haven't posted this yet. In the event that I publish this first chapter, I will probably be in Basic training for the National Guard. Or I might post it earlier, later, depending on whenever I decide to just push the button.

Note 7-4-2021: Alright, I got tired of waiting. Here we go!


Beta: CrowSkull


Soldier of Humanity

Chapter 1- The First Vow


A woman clutching her babe to her chest, swaddled in beige ragged cloth once rich with expense and weeping anxiously, ran for her life. Six feet stomped after her, belonging to three men who laughed and teased her as they gave chase. Hermina district of the innermost Wall Sina was hardly the easiest place to run from someone, especially not so soon after a woman gave birth. Her lower body was still hot and numb, she felt weak and tired, but she still forced her legs to keep moving forward, so that her baby may yet live to learn and understand what life was and all it had to offer. The happiness, the sadness, the greys, blacks, and the whites. Her child must experience them all. But, she knew that it'd be impossible to shake them off, not when the Military Police were the ones who paid these men to chase her down and most certainly not in her current physical state. They were cruel men, disgusting men, big and brutish as well. She feared for herself almost as much as she feared for her child, would they take her before they took her baby? Would they force themselves onto her while they stomp her newborn son - who was just born a few days prior - to death? It was a terrifying thought, and it drove her to keep running even when her body begged her to stop.

"Sh, sh, sh," Kori stroked her son's black hair as she pressed her back up against the corner of a wall, taking a short break after checking that the men were far behind her. "It's okay, my son, everything is going to be okay. Don't worry, I won't let him erase you, I won't let him. I swear it. I'll protect you no matter what." Delirious, Kori began running again. She felt slower still, and her stamina was draining. She realized that she was going to run out of energy, she was going to fall, and they were going to catch her, and hurt her, terrify her. She wanted to cry out for help, but knew deep inside that help would not come no matter how loudly she screamed and begged. This was a cruel world, and former whores like her never got the light of day from those who lived normal lives. Whores were killed every day, either by an unsatisfied customer or someone who didn't want to pay for the experience. It was rare that they would be killed because they bore a child - it was an inevitability, after all, working in such an occupation was bound to cause such a reaction in one's body. But she and her boy were apparently exceptions. The lord she'd bedded didn't want the stain of a bastard son on his name and dynasty, and so he wanted to erase it before it could become public knowledge. She had heard that this lord did this for all his bastards, and yet she still believed that she wouldn't have gotten pregnant. How wrong she was, she loved her baby boy so much, and unconditionally. But it was an undeniable fact that his birth was the reason that she was about to die.

Even if that were to happen, Kori forgave her boy before that death would come. He had no idea what was happening, right now he was just scared and in need of a mother. She couldn't leave him without one, she just couldn't. The world was cruel, especially to those who weren't strong enough to protect themselves. People like her, a common whore who was bred to satisfy the sexual needs of rich men and women alike and in whatever fetid fantasy they desired. She hated it, she hated it ever since she was born. If only she could have escaped before this happened, she should have run away the second she found out she was pregnant! Now she was suffering the consequences, just as her friends did when they tried to protect her.

Kori heaved and felt like she was going to throw up when she sprinted down an alleyway and found herself with a stiff dead end with a massive wall blocking her escape. Wall Sina may have protected the wealthiest of humanity from the Titans, but it also prevented the poorer ones from escaping to a better life. Her freedom laid on the other side of that wall, but she couldn't hope to climb it or get through it. Escape was impossible.

"Ah, that's just plain cruel now, ain't it?" One of the disgusting pigs teased as he toyed with a knife between his fingers. He was a spindly fellow, the smallest of the brutes that had just now cornered her inside that alley. "After all that runnin', cryin', and bleedin', you come across a black dead end. Me and the boys here were just wonderin' whether or not we should make it quick for you or not, since you put so much effort into runnin'."

"Not now though," The largest man practically drooled as his predatory gaze eyed her up and down. Kori pressed her back up against the wall as tightly as she could, her blue eyes were wide with terror, and she hugged her baby even closer to her chest as she watched them get closer. "I was able to get a nice look of your ass as I was chasing you, and well, you made me tired. I'm going to make you pay for that." The bastard licked his lips as his large knife shined in what little sunlight was still out in that late afternoon. "Not that it would be torture for a wench like you, would it? You're just another whore, after all."

"Come on you sick bastard," the last man complained. "You can have as much fun as you want after she's dead, the body's still warm for plenty of time after that. This is just work, kill the two of 'em quickly and let's get back to Kenny. No point in dragging this on any longer than we have to and having to hear his mouth yap about how we took too long."

"Ah, you're probably right." Disappointed, the man held his knife in a reverse grip and started moving faster toward her. "Let's just get this crap over with."

"S-Stay here, my son," Kori said as she laid her child down on the ground in the corner of the alley. His shining blue eyes blinked up at her as tears ran down his pudgy cheeks. She brushed her black hair to the side and kissed her child on the forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't think of a name for you yet… but if we make it out, I promise I'll give you one. I won't go down so easily, don't worry, Mommy's strong." She stood back up and clenched her fists, holding them up in front of her face in a reckless stance to defend herself. "If I am going to die, I am going to die fighting!" She proclaimed. "I won't let you pigs get me and my son without making you bleed for it!"

Kori immediately regretted what she said as the man quickly bashed away her weak punches and grabbed her by the neck. Pushing her up against the wall and tearing at her clothes. "That's why you were my favorite whore," the man said as he pressed his knife against her neck, preparing to cut her throat open. "Always so energetic. Mmm, I love it!"

No! She was going to die like this? Without ever being able to do anything worthwhile with her life? She was still so young, she wasn't even thirty yet! She was supposed to run away with her son and live out the rest of her days in as much happiness as she could manage. Her son would grow up loving her, and she would be the mother to him that she never had in her life. All of those future memories she was never going to experience flashed through her mind, all of her sorrow and her anger and her hope coming through as she gasped for air and frothed at the mouth. Her grip on the man's wrist tightened and tightened.

"Not like this," Her mind screamed. "Not like this, you won't hurt my son!"

A jolt of shock ran through her body. Her onyx eyes widened and she felt something within her that erased all the pain that she felt in that moment. Only one thought was in her mind, and that was protecting her son. Nothing else mattered, and the men in front of her were putting that son in danger. As such, they needed to die. She jerked forward with a newfound strength that seemingly came from nothing. Her hands wrapped around the wrist of the man who would have been her murderer if he were stronger.

"A-Ah hey!" The man tried to slit her throat, but he found himself surprised when he couldn't push the knife any closer to her neck. "Holy hell- where'd all this strength come from!?"

"Come on Bry, don't tell me you've let yourself get that out of shape." One of the other men teased. Laughing as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a carton of cigarettes.

"N-No!" Bry exclaimed, choking on his own air as he felt himself become overpowered. "I can't hold her back... H-Help me!"

"YAAAH!" Kori screeched like a banshee as she forced the man's knife hand away from her neck and into his own neck. Blood splattered out of his throat and onto her chest and face, the warm liquid felt cool against her skin, and Kori watched with a silent mind as the man fell back, clutching his neck and quickly dying from the loss of blood. She glared at the two other men as she held the murder weapon in both of her hands, her brow furrowed and her black hair fluttered over her face. To the pigs, she must have looked like some kind of evil spirit, for the sudden fear in their eyes had them all reconsidering their actions. Kori gripped the knife as tightly as she could, squeezing the hilt until she felt her own bones begin to crack under the pressure of her own strength. Even then as the hilt splintered in her hands and as the veins under her skin bulged as they pumped so much blood throughout her body, she charged forward with a feral scream that struck even more fear into the hearts of the men that were just about to kill her and her baby.

One of the men turned to run away while the other tried to stand his ground. Kori didn't react to the pain as she felt something slash against her side, and she jumped onto the larger man and easily pinned him to the ground with strength summoned up through sheer will, and stabbed him through his eye, killing him instantly. Somehow, she knew exactly how it would happen. The man's body jerked as she wrenched the knife out and stabbed him in the other eye for good measure. Once she was sure that the man was dead, her glare shifted to the final man, running for his life and screaming for help from the Military Police.

"How dare you… beg for help…?" Kori asked under her breath as she stood up and shifted her grip so that she held the blade by three fingertips. "How dare you… how dare you… you disgusting pig… Die!" Kori held the knife next to her head and flicked it as hard as she could with her newfound strength. The knife flew forward like a bullet with unpracticed finesse, traveling through the air at impossible speeds before stabbing the man in the back of the neck all the way down to the hilt so that the blade stabbed out his throat. The pig dropped down to his knees, clutching his neck to futilely try and stop the flow of blood from spilling out his mouth, throat, and nape. She'd never thrown a knife before, but she didn't care how she was able to do that now. He died quickly, and that was all that mattered. Suddenly, she was alone in that alley with her crying son still at the back of the alley. There was no guilt in killing the men, none at all. But when she heard the cries of her son, she ran back to him with stamina and strength she didn't know she had and cupped the boy back in her blood drenched hands.

"I did it…" She said as she looked down at her son, gazing up at her with confused wails. She laughed out of relief and hugged her son, uncaring of the blood of the pigs she'd slaughtered getting on him. "I did it… my son… I did it, I saved us… we can escape now, we can get out of Hermina and into Wall Rose- no, even further than that! We won't ever have to worry about men like this again, I swear it."

Kori tore the shirt off of the man she stabbed through the eyes and ripped off the parts drenched with blood and used the fabric to wrap her son up in warm drapes. The sudden expenditure of strength and stamina had her limping as she stepped over puddles of blood and the bodies and made her way back onto the sidewalk of a district she no longer cared for. Getting to Rose wouldn't be too difficult, she could use her talents to get herself and her son on a carriage to get out of Sina, and do the same to get them to Maria. It would be a long and arduous journey, but she had to depart on it now. Hermina was not safe, clearly. If that Kenny man went after her directly after hearing about those pigs' death, she and her son would surely die.

"I suppose I can give you a name now, son." Kori said as she staggered through the empty streets of Hermina. "Let's see… My name is Kori Ross… I don't want your father's name to be related to yours, so I want something different. How about…" she gave it some thought. She had an idea of a name for him if he were a girl, and that was going to be Davina, so perhaps she could simply adopt that name to sound more masculine. "David… yes… David Ross. I like it, do you?"

David merely grumbled in a baby speech in response. It didn't sound like a no, even if he didn't like it she could just change it sometime in the future. There was still time before little Ross was no longer a child.

"Just hang on for me for a little while longer," Kori said as she patted her son's head. "We'll be safe soon, I swear."


More than a dozen years later, David Ross heaved as he lifted a heavy bundle of hay onto his shoulders and waddled his way with the added weight over to one of the horse's stables in the barn. With a grunt and another heave, the thirteen-year-old boy threw the hay into the stable. Clapping his hands clean as he inhaled deeply to refill his lungs with fresh oxygen.

"There you go, horsie," he said with a grin as the horse immediately started lapping away at the hay. "Eat up as much as you want, just try not to shit- I mean, poop too much. I'm the one that has to clean it up all the time, you know." David brushed away his thick strands of black hair out of his face and worked to tie it back up in its usual man-bun, just like his mother showed him. He never had his hair cut before, so it was more than long enough to be able to play around with it all the time. Although the owner of the plantation they were living and working on kept telling him that he should cut it since it would make it easier for him to not only see what he was doing, but also make his head cooler while working in such extreme heat all the time. But he wasn't really bothered by it, he liked his hair long, and his mother always told him she loved it as well. So that meant it had to be good! Besides, he didn't trust anyone to cut it either, not even his own mother. The owner tried to get his mother to cut his son's hair once, and she - respectfully - royally screwed up. Never again, they both decided. They were lucky the son found it more funny than offensive, and the owner still kept them around to help out on the plantation.

His job was simple. He was growing to be a big boy, so he had to handle the bigger and heavier workloads on the farms. His mother did the same - she was even stronger than he was! Much stronger, in fact. She acted as both a maid and a farm woman, actively helping around as much as she could. David yearned to be just like her, so hard-working, so dedicated, if it weren't for her they'd be homeless. Sure, they slept and cooked and ate inside a barn, but it was home, and it was comfortable and happy.

"Ross!" Tyler, the owner of the plantation's son, exclaimed as he ran up to him. He had brown-red hair and green eyes and was much shorter and smaller than he was. He was like a brother to him, and David loved him as one. "Are you done with the horses yet- Woah, dude, you smell like shit."

"Language! You never know who's listening and ready to snitch on us!" David hissed, looking around to see if his mother had somehow heard him swear. Tyler didn't look too concerned. Not that he had too, he was the owner's son after all. "And I know, why do you think I took off my shirt? I'm sweating like one of the pigs over here."

"Oh really?" Tyler took on a teasing expression. "Are you sure you don't want to just show off those rippling muscles of yours that always get the girl's attention?"

"Oh, shut up," David squirmed, thankfully his face was already red, that way Tyler wasn't able to make fun of him for getting embarrassed. "It's just hot, is all. Besides, not a lot of the girls our age work on the plantation. Who would I be trying to impress?"

"What about the Scouts?" Tyler asked. "The Scouts are always looking for more men, and you're big and strong. They'd probably take you in a heartbeat. Ever think about it?"

"Hah! No thank you," David laughed at the thought. "Mom would resent me if I went and joined the Scouts after she managed to get us out of the Underground all the way here. Besides, have you ever seen their faces when they returned from an expedition? They always look so sad and defeated. I don't envy that, they look so dead, heck, even their commander looks like that!"

"Wow, way to burn down the mood Ross, ugh. They are the only ones daring to even try to expand humanity's borders, you know." Tyler groaned. "Oh, and my dad is looking for you, by the way. He has one more job for you today, he needs some help getting a wheel on a carriage, and your mom isn't strong enough to do it on her own this time."

"Really?" David felt surprised, usually his mother was able to do something like that all the time. Did that mean she was getting old? She was in her forties, after all. "Alright, I'll go help out."

"Come over for dinner again tonight!" Tyler said as he threw him his shirt. "And put on a shirt! You're gonna get burned again!"

"Fine!" David laughed as he caught the fabric and stuffed his head and arms through it. It felt stuffy and hot, but when did it ever not? Even when he washed it, it was always the same. It would just get dirty again anyway, working as a farm boy did that to clothing, unfortunately, and he didn't have enough to get any more. It was fine though, for some reason he actually enjoyed sweating and getting a good workout in every day's work. That meant he was getting stronger and would be able to get as strong as his mother than he'd be able to help out a lot more on the plantation. He made a good friend in Tyler as well, so maybe after his father passes away and he inherits the farm, he could help them out more financially. That was the dream, anyway. Hopefully, everything will work out for everyone involved.

As David made his way out of the barn, he found the sun glaring down at him, baking him in his own clothes. It wasn't anything he wasn't already used to. He opened the gate to a wooden fence and let himself out, only laughing and pushing a goat back in before it could run out with him. "Sorry, not this time buddy," David said to the goat as he left it behind the gate. "I got some more work to do, maybe later you can step out for a bit."

David walked through a wheat field on one of the beaten paths, it always smelled nice, walking through it all the time to get from one part of the plantation to another. There was another more used way to get there by using a dirty road, but that always got his shoes dirty and it was annoying cleaning up the mud and poop from the horses off of it all the time. He waved at some of the other working farmers as he moved, and some of the other kids who were playing as well. As he expected, one of the other big kids locked in with him, trying to wrestle him to the ground in an unasked challenge. It was always fun, but he was in a rush at the moment.

"Sorry man," David said as he wrestled the kid to the ground and pinned him quickly. "I still have work to do. Can't mess around for too long or else I'd get in trouble."

"Ah, that sucks," the other kid said, waving him goodbye as David kept moving forward. He opened the gate on the other side of the wheat field and stepped through it, making his way to the owner's house and through another gate which had a large sign which had the words 'The Opal Plantation' inscribed on it. He walked around the large house and to the back, where he saw the grey-haired owner and his mother chatting while sitting on top of a carriage with only three wheels.

"Ah, there you are, Ross." The owner greeted him. "I see Tyler got to ya, good to see. Your mother's age here seems to be catching up with her at last, ain't that right Kori?"

"Seems so," Kori sighed exaggeratedly. "I'm sorry, Mister Opal. Time beats down on everything, even me."

"Ah, don't worry about it lass," Mister Opal replied. "I know more about that than any of you. Now c'mon, let's get this wheel on and you two can get ready for supper."

"You really couldn't do it on your own, mom?" Ross asked as he bent down beside his mother, preparing to lift while Mister Opal got the wheel in position.

"Not this time," Kori replied, sighing heavily as she stretched out her arms across her body and stepped away from the downed carriage. "I think I must have sprained something… it's no matter, that's what you're here for, Ross, to pick up after my slack"

"Anyone actually call your boy by his first name?" Opal asked.

"Sometimes." Kori shrugged her shoulders. "Ross doesn't mind though, does he?"

"Nope!" 'Ross' exclaimed cheerfully. "I like it, it has a good ring to it."

"Hm, so be it. Lift whenever you want, I'm in position." In unison, David and Kori lifted the carriage easily together, high off the ground so that Opal would be able to get the wheel in place without too much issue. As soon as it was set, they let the carriage back down. "Lord, you two are strong. Good to have you both here."

"Glad to be here," Kori replied gratefully.

"Hm. You two can take the rest of the day off, not much else to do anyhow - at least not anything that requires your monstrous strength." Opal laughed. "Are you coming to dinner again tonight?"

"As if I can say no," Kori laughed. "Your son seems infatuated with my own. They haven't stopped being friends since the day they met."

"Who am I to tell my son who he can and cannot be friends with?" Opal asked. "As long as he's happy, I don't care. So are you coming or not?"

"I'll be serving the food anyhow, so of course, I'm coming," Kori said.

"Same here," David added. "Tyler invited me, so it's only polite."

"Hah! Polite he says, funny kid." Opal patted his head. "See you tonight, then."

Night came quickly, and as usual, David sat at the dinner table with his friend Tyler and his father while his mother set out plates of food for them. And again, as usual, David jumped into the meat with his bare hands with no care about the silverware set out for them. He couldn't help it, even as Kori smacked the back of his head and told him to use his manners. The meat was just so rare, and he couldn't let it go to waste. Whenever it was put out in front of him literally on a platter, he just had to dig in. Dinner came and went with nothing spectacularly special going on. It was just how he liked it, he idly chatted with Tyler while Mister Opal and his mother exchanged some words and before long they were sent to sleep in the barn. They were lucky enough to have some spare hay and some cloth to form some makeshift beds that were much more comfortable than they looked. His mother sat down beside him and removed her overshirt, falling into the bed beside him as exhaustion finally took hold.

"Another day, done." Kori said as she reached over and pulled her son closer to her. "Good job, son. I'm forever grateful to have you in my life."

"Y-Yeah, thanks mom," David said as his mother began to stroke his hair. He felt sleep come along quickly as he closed his eyes, just as his mother did as she snuggled him into her side as she always did. He would always complain that he was too old for that now, but Kori wouldn't have any of it. It wasn't unpleasant though, David would never admit it now, but he liked the constant affection that his mother gave him most nights when they slept.

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer sleeping in the hay, but in sand. Blue sand with blue light and a blue sky. He absentmindedly stretched his arms and fingers as he shifted around in the substance. He didn't know what this was, only that it was some kind of dream that had been recurring as of late. It was the same every night, and as he sat up in this dreamlike state, he stared up at a girl with no eyes staring back down at him. She was blonde, wearing rags like he often did. She never spoke, and he couldn't speak in turn.

"This dream again…" David thought in his head as he looked at the pillar of light in the back of the dreamscape. "This has been happening for six months already. What is any of this supposed to mean?"

He felt pain in his skull as he saw flashes of a horrific scene. The Wall, Wall Maria, the gate that led into Shiganshina District was shattered, and Titans were devouring humanity. The dream was short, but it had an impossible impact. It was so vivid and detailed, so real. When the vision ended just as fast as it came, David felt his voice explode out his lungs. Sweat dripped down his face, and as he blinked his eyes, he was sitting up on that makeshift bed with his mother shaking his shoulders.

"David!" She shouted, shaking him until he looked up at her. "David! Are you okay? You were just screaming, what happened!?"

"A-A nightmare," David whimpered. "I saw… Titans… eating people. The gate-" Widening his eyes, David shot up to his feet and sprinted out of the barn with his mother close behind him. He bashed through to the outside and looked at Wall Maria, more specifically to its gate.

It was intact and without a single scratch. David let out a long sigh of relief.

"David!" Kori grabbed him and made him look at her. "What are you doing? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing…" David said, relieved. He fell into his mother's embrace. "I thought the gate was broken through… It was just a bad dream, nothing's wrong. Right, mom?"

Kori didn't understand what her son was going through, but she stroked his hair and hugged him back instantly. "Of course, nothing wrong. The Titans can't break through the walls, that's what the Garrison is for, remember? Most of them may be drunk off their asses most of the time, but they know what they're doing." They shared a laugh at the amusing thought.

"Now come on, I've been trying to wake you for hours now, think you can still get some work done today still, or do you want to take a break today?"

"I'll be fine, I actually want to go check on Tyler-" David cut himself off as he heard something akin to a sonic boom which was so loud he could feel it shaking the ground. David looked over to the wall with wide and panicked eyes. "W-What was that?" He asked, seeing that the gate to Shiganshina was still there in one piece, but hearing the screams of the Garrison soldiers as they used their 3D maneuver gear to get up and over the walls or to move faster to the gate. There was also a massive cloud of steam he could see blowing into the sky from the wind all the way on the other side of the other part of the wall in front of the gate.

"I… don't know." Kori gulped nervously. "L-Listen, son, go prepare some of the fast horses to move. I'll go get Mister Opal and Tyler, okay? Just in case we have to move, okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" David's fears were becoming more and more vivid as he heard the terrifying sounds of people screaming in fear on the other side of the wall. "Sure…"

His legs and arms started pumping without him knowing. He ran into the barn and got to the panicking horses, getting them out of the stables one by one. He started getting a saddle on a black stallion he knew was one of the fastest and strongest horses on the entire plantation, and started preparing a second one, another brown one not as fast, but still reliable to get them out of a bad situation.

"Come on, come on!" He begged the black horse as he tried to get it out of the barn. "We have to get moving now, come on!"

That was when he started to feel it, the sound of rumbling and trampling. It didn't sound like it was more than one entity, but it did sound like a single person who was amazingly heavy was stomping an imprint into the earth with each and every step. Panicking, David let go of one of the horses and jumped on the back of the black horse, kicking it in the butt as he felt something even more terrible was about to happen. True to his senses, right as he busted out of the barn with the black stallion, the gate to Shiganshina district was suddenly destroyed by some kind of explosion.

No, there was no explosion. David saw it happen with his own eyes. A Titan crashed through the gate, one that was covered head to toe in some kind of hardened rock. It released steam out of its mouth and stood upright. David was staring right at it, as it was almost directly ahead of him. He didn't realize debris was flying toward him until he suddenly realized the immediate area around him started getting darker as a shadow of rock from the gate started getting bigger and bigger.

"Shit!" David pulled the reins to the left and just barely dodged the first boulder. It wasn't the only one, using his mediocre skills as a horse rider, David kept track of the falling debris and where it was going to fall. Using that strategy, he was able to avoid all of them. However, just because he was safe from the rubble didn't mean that everyone else was. The entire plantation was destroyed, including the home that belonged to the landlord.

"Ah… Mom!" He cried out as he saw the house that used to be Mister Opal's was no longer a house, but a pile of wood and rock. "Tyler! Mister Opal!" He exclaimed as he kicked his horse, driving him even faster forward. The horse came to a skidding stop and David jumped off of it, loosely throwing the reins over a fence post as he ran to the pile of wood and rock. He dug through it with his bare hands but knew that he would never be able to dig through it in time in order to save his friends and mother. "No! Please! Mom!" He cried out loudly. "Where are you!? Please, Mom! Answer me!"

"R-Ross…"

David almost passed out when he heard the gasp. He rolled off of the debris and around the corner of the house, finding his mother trapped under it. However, it was just her arm stuck underneath the wood. "Mom!" He screamed, relieved, hugging her. "Are you okay!?"

"I-I'm stuck, Ross," Kori replied. "My arm… something's pinning it to the ground… I can't move."

"I-I'll get you out," David said as he pulled at her arm, stopping when he heard his mother scream in pain.

"You can't," she rasped. "Something is stabbing into my arm… I can't get it free, you have to go, David. You have to leave me here and run!"

"No!" David exclaimed. "I'll get you out! I'm not leaving you! If I can't get your arm out, then…" David's eyes looked at a log splitting axe that was still stuck in a log. He remembered that axe from before, he used it to split logs in half just a day or two ago, sometimes in just a single strike. "Then… I can…"

Kori knew what he meant as she followed his gaze to that axe. The thought terrified her, but she knew that unless someone took him away kicking and screaming, he would never leave her here alone to die and get eaten by a Titan. The Garrison would be too busy trying to stop the Titans, and everyone else was in a panic and running away. Steeling herself for the worst pain she was ever going to experience, Kori took her son's face in her one free hand, and nodded.

"Do it," she said. "One good chop. You're strong, son. Much stronger than you know. You can do it."

David shakenly nodded his head. He ran over to the axe and tore it out of the tree, and his mother moved as far away as she could from her arm to give him a good angle to chop her arm off. All that was visible for David to strike was the center of her bicep. He couldn't chop it off at the shoulder, because then he wouldn't be able to treat it as easily. And he had to do it in two chops or less, that way his mother would have the best chance of survival. He held the axe in two shaky hands, and he hesitated as his mother winced preemptively. Everything was happening so fast, he didn't even know if he could actually do it! His mind told him that he must, however. Because if he didn't, his mother would be killed by the Titans!

"Pretend it's like a log," Kori instructed, averting her eyes in preparation for the first and hopefully only chop. "Strike the joint connecting my arm to my shoulder, right here." she explained, pointing to the area adjacent to her armpit. "One, clean, chop."

David grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut. When he opened them, he swung down as hard as he could. The axe was sharp, with not a single spot of rust on it. It cleaved through his mother's arm easily and broke through the bone. Kori screamed as she felt her arm get lopped off her body, she rolled to the side, clenching the small bleeding stump that remained. Tears streamed down her face as David rushed to tear off the belt he wore around his waist and tightened it as hard as he could around Kori's stump. The blood was so much, his hands were slick and he was getting it all over his hands, shirt, and pants, and his mother was already beginning to pale. But he managed to tourniquet just in time.

"G-Great job, David," Kori said as David hefted her onto his shoulders and practically tossed her on the back of the horse. "A-a clean…"

"Where's Tyler and the old man!?" David asked quickly, holding her still as she settled herself on top of the horse

Kori looked at him with sorrow. "I-In the house… they… I barely got out in time when I saw..." She couldn't say any more, she lost consciousness from the shock. David had no choice but to assume the worst, with tears welling up in his eyes, David jumped on the back of the horse, and froze.

"What the hell are you still doing here!?" A member of the Garrison screamed at them as their horse trotted through the chaos. Ross looked his way, half keeping his mother on the horse and half giving him his attention. "You need to get out of here now! Ride boy, ride as far as you-"

A foot made of rock and muscle crushed the member of the Garrison, killing him instantly. David looked at the giant foot, terrified to let his eyes stray and further up. Against his better judgment, he did so anyway, seeing the gigantic and armored humanoid creature lording over him with two big glowing bright yellow eyes. Ross stared up at it with shock as it stared down at him. There was no mistaking it, it was looking right at him and his mother. Yet it didn't reach out and grab him, it merely stared, and David stared back with shaking eyes.

Then it looked away and sprinted off in the direction of the Garrison soldiers fighting the Titans that were making their way through the destroyed gate. Presumably to kill and eat them instead.

He had no time to question it. He almost bit his tongue when he kicked the horse and made it gallop forward in strides. David dared to look over his shoulder as he held on to both the reins and his mother in each hand respectively. What he saw traumatized him. People were being eaten alive, the Armoured Titan was stomping and tearing apart the Garrison Troops. People and soldiers alike were running for their lives, most not making it since not everyone had a horse. In the span of less than an hour, his entire lifestyle was destroyed. The plantation was being wrecked, everyone he ever knew was dying, being eaten alive by grotesque looking Titans wearing gleeful expressions on their faces as they tore apart everyone they got their hands on. The lucky ones were the ones who got their heads bitten off, the ones who got it worse were being eaten by the legs first. David tore his eyes away and rode for where he saw the crowd was moving - toward the river that led to Wall Rose. There, that was where he could get help for his mother!

"Damn it, where is Doctor Yaeger when you actually need him for once!?" David shouted as he sped toward the ship. When he got there, he put his mother over his shoulders and ran onto the ship. It was quickly getting packed, but he had the aid of still looking like a child, and with his mother, as injured as she was, the Garrison Soldiers present were not going to turn him away for any reason. "Can someone help me!?" David screamed over the crowd. "Is anyone a Doctor!? Please, someone help!"

No one came, people acknowledged him, but when they looked at his mother, resting on the floor of the ship with a bleeding stump pooling blood underneath her body, they turned away sorrowfully. They had already lost hope for her, and David couldn't believe it. After all of that… after everything he saw, it was over, just like that?

"Mom…" David held his mother in his arms, propping her up on his legs as he sat down against the guardrail. "Mom… I'm sorry…" he whined, feeling her warm blood flood against his body.

"David…" Kori weakly cupped his face with her remaining hand. "It's okay… I was doomed from the start…" she admitted, tears streaming down her face as David began to wail. "I knew you wouldn't leave without me… so I let you save me. You tried, you did your best, thank you, David. I love you so much."

"Mom…" David cried into her shoulder. "I-I… How can you say that? You're going to die… I… I failed."

"No," Kori pressed her head against his. "From the moment you were born, you've been saving me again and again. There was never a moment where I was disappointed in you."

David began to bawl his eyes. Unable to speak as his eyes felt hot and painful. He held his mother as life slowly drained away from her body. She held on to him as tightly as she could for as long as her body would allow her.

"Live… your life…" she said in her final moments. "Survive… forever…"

David wailed as his mother finally died, the suffering ending at last. He held her and continued to cry, holding her as tightly as he could. People walked past him and pitied him, they tried to offer him condolences, he shrugged them all off. He couldn't bring himself to even look at them. Something did, however, catch his attention.

"I'll kill them." A boy who had to be slightly younger than he proclaimed. Slamming his hands on the railing with thick streams of tears falling from his eyes. "I'll kill every single one of them. All of them! I'll eradicate the Titans from this world! I swear!"

The Titans… the world… David felt a similar goal grow from within him as he watched a girl wearing a red scarf start to pull the boy back and hug him. He wanted to kill the Titans too, but only one in particular. The Titan with the rock armour. It was that one. That was the one who killed Tyler, Mister Opal, and his mother. It was the reason he had to cut his mother's arm off, it was the reason why his mother suffered for far longer than she should have.

"I'll avenge you, Mom." David proclaimed as looked at Kori's dead expression, shutting her eyes with one hand so he didn't have to look into them. "I'll avenge you and everyone else. I'll kill that Armoured Titan. I swear it."

David looked up at the sky, his eyes shining with a wave of new anger and goal. What was it that Tyler said yesterday? That he should join the military? No, the Scouts. Well, he said no before, but now… Now it seemed like the Scouts were his only chance at avenging everyone he knew and loved. He looked over at that boy again and saw as he was getting comforted by that girl from before and a blonde-haired boy. He thanked him, mentally. He just helped him understand what he had to do now.


When David Ross was eighteen years old. He enlisted into the military. After years of surviving within Wall Rose in one of the many orphanages that were put up after Wall Maria fell, he finally had his chance. This was it, he was wearing the uniform and he was lined up with many other members of the newly instated 104th Cadet Corps. He stood next to a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was quite small in comparison to him, but he already recognized him as one of his future comrades. Keith Shadis, the current Head Instructor of the Cadet Corps was hazing anyone and everyone standing at attention in lines, no matter if they answered correctly to his question or gave him a stupid reply.

David stood still and at attention even as Keith grabbed the head of the boy next to him, making him look at him and saying "Well shit, you look just as scrawny as the wheat on the farms! What did your parents feed you before they died? Nothing but vegetables!?"

"N-No sir!" The boy stammered.

"No? Then give me the damn name you stupid blonde coconut head-looking shit! Who are you and why are you here!?"

"I am Armin Arlet!" The boy exclaimed. "I am here to help humanity win against the Titans!"

"Oh, is that so? Then you can be one of the other meat shields!" Keith said before whipping away from him and getting up in his face. "And you? You're one tall young fucker, aren't you? I might be able to make a soldier out of you yet! Who are you, Cadet!?"

"I am David Ross!" He exclaimed loudly.

"Ross!" Keith shouted. "Tell me why you're here Ross!"

David smiled, almost cruelly. "I am here to destroy the Armoured Titan- Oof!" He buckled over a fist that jabbed straight into his unprepared stomach.

"If you want any chance of not being considered future Titan shit, then you better toughen the fuck up then! Think you can at least do that!?" Keith exclaimed. "Now you're pissing me off, give me a better reason you girly-haired shit! Your hair is so long and smooth I bet you condition it every night, don't you!?"

David didn't know which question to answer first, but he settled for the former. He pushed himself back up to his feet and saluted, slamming his right fist into his heart and standing up straighter than ever before.

"I… I want to be a Soldier of Humanity!" David shouted back.

Instructor Shadis finally gave an approving nod. "Better! That's a goal you might actually achieve before dying! It's an easy one, after all, all you have to do is make it through me and graduate!" Keith took his shoulder and pushed him, making him turn around. "Seventh line, about-face!"

David turned with the rest of the Cadets in his line. The aching pain in his stomach hurt, but he knew that it was nothing compared to what he was about to go through for the next three years. Grueling training every single day with little breaks. His body was strong, but the instructor was right, he needed to get even stronger.

If he wanted to destroy the Armoured Titan, he needed to become stronger than the Armoured Titan. He welcomed the next three years. If that was what he had to do to avenge his mother and everyone else…

Then he'd welcome all the pain in the world.


And there we go, my next official story that is for once not in the RWBY fandom. I like the feeling, and I look forward immensely to the future of this story. It was a blast writing this, and I hope to do it more sometime in the future. Of course, this is past Gen, so whenever I get around posting this, that is when I am going to be much freer to continue this story. But if you're seeing this post now, then get ready for yet another story from me!

Also, I am aware that there are some similarities, or more like a lot maybe, with the original start of Attack on Titan. I mean, dream sequence, happy life stuff, secrets of the past, death of a mother, etc. Part of that is on purpose and the other part is a complete coincidence in all honesty. Hopefully, it doesn't matter too much Lol.