Hello everyone, I just wanted to say welcome to my story. I hope you enjoy; I just finished binging all of Attack on Titan and my soul has been utterly consumed by the show and this project for the last month, and I just thought to post it into the vast Internet webs.

I also just want to have a quick mention that I am still learning and researching as much as I can about the world-state! As a non-manga reader I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, but hopefully that's all right. I will say in advance that I've changed some locations/details to canon, although normally I do try to be as faithful to the published material as possible. :)

Anyway, that's pretty much it. Thank you and have a great day!


Yavena had never been one to shy away from mystery. Most of the world was a mystery in and of itself. There was so much about the world that was unknown… anything that lay before or beyond Wall Maria, for example.

Wall Maria was large enough for most people, but not for Yavena. She had grown up reading stories of love and science, mystery and politics… but her favorites had always been stories of adventure. They were the simplest and most satisfying of all: there were heroes and villains, victories and defeats, friendships and sacrifice. And best of all, the worlds in those stories seemed so much larger than what Yavena had been given to live her life in.

In a way, some of those stories reminded her of her own world… particularly the victories and defeats. She always thought of the Scout Regiment with those words… and she thought of her parents, Louis and Vanessa Verman, who were part of its branch.

"These books must be kept secret, Yavena," said Louis one day when Yavena wished to take her reading outside. "You cannot speak of them to anyone, or we will all be in trouble. Keep these stories for yourself while taking what you wish from them, like a secret only you and your mother and I can know."

Yavena had never been one to shy away from fear. Her parents had told her at a very young age about the dangers that accompanied the allure of the outside world. They told her of beautiful forests, lush and green, filled with animals and flowers: deer, rabbits, berries of all kinds. They told her of birds, colorful and free, and how many formations they flew in the sky. They told her of waterfalls—spouts of water that cascaded down cliff-sides, some taller than the Walls themselves, and the raucous noise they made.

And they told her of Titans: large monsters in the general likeness of men, who ate humans not to survive, but because they liked it… and that those Titans were constantly arrayed just outside of Wall Maria, ready to kill and eat any unfortunate human who strayed into their grasp.

"The real world is different than in your stories," Louis Verman had said. "It is beautiful, yes, but it can also be cruel. You must understand this, Yavena. In this world… some victories cannot be won without sacrifice."

Her parents told her of their missions. They spoke of comrades they had lost; they did not hide her mother's missing leg. They showed her their wounds and taught her how to tie a tourniquet, how to handle a knife, how to find healing herbs were she ever to be caught in the wild.

"You never know what can happen," said Vanessa, as she revealed how deep some of her scars and bite-marks ran. "It is our job to prepare you for the world, dear girl. And the world will not hold back for you."

Yavena had never been one to shy away from duty. She saw the way the Scouts held themselves; the way they always planned out mission after mission, no matter the status of the one that preceded it. She knew that her mother and father were responsible people; that they held their duty to humanity above everything else, save perhaps for herself.

But even on that, Yavena was not sure. Many nights she wondered: if her parents had to choose between herself and saving the world from Titans, what would they choose?

She hoped they would choose the world.

Yavena had never been one to shy away from a challenge. At twelve years of age she signed up for the Cadet Corps, saying farewell to her Aunt Dorothea with whom she had grown up, in favor of chasing adventure and duty. She wanted to be like her parents, to be in the Scout Regiment—her uncle Kitt was in charge of the Cadet Corps, and he encouraged her to enlist with the Military Police.

"You are an excellent soldier," he had said, with a heavy hand on Yavena's shoulder. "But the Scout Regiment has many great soldiers already. I do not want to outlive my only niece."

But Yavena was not persuaded. Her dreams of adventure, her longing to fulfill a noble duty, her wish to make her parents proud, was too great.

And so she trained and trained, longing to be great. Yavena did not want preferential treatment. She wanted to be great because she was great, not because she was a great man's niece.

What Yavena had been one to shy away from was other people. She had never been good at making friends. She enjoyed the company of her books and her own thoughts. When she had been young, the neighborhood children skirted around her, always whispering about how she was the 'quiet' girl. When she had grown a little older, Yavena had ignored her Aunt Dorothea's insistence that she should meet some of the others who were playing tag in the dirty streets.

But even so, almost impossibly… Yavena made a friend in the Cadet Corps.

Hange Zoë was different, too. They showed a penchant for Titans rather than the hatred every other recruit kept in their heart. Hange was interested in learning more about them—they too were not one to shy away from a mystery. They also pursued adventure, albeit of a different sort.

And when Yavena realized this, she decided that if there was ever a person to reach out to, it was Hange.

As the years passed, Yavena and Hange realized how much of themselves they saw in the other: a desire to do something good for humanity, a longing to see what lay beyond the Walls, a passion for learning of the world they inhabited. The others that encompassed the 78th Division did not want much to do with either of them—but Yavena could not care less, for she had never been one to dwell on others' opinions of her.

She had a friend, one whom she could confide in, and she was happy.

It was the Year 837 that Hange and Yavena finished their training in the Cadet Corps. Both of them graduated in the top ten of their class, meaning that should they wish, they could enlist in the Military Police within Wall Sina, and live a comfortable life.

They both refused, for neither of them would shy away from duty.

And when her uncle Kitt asked her of where Yavena wished to go, she wasted no time in giving him the answer.

There had always been whispers of the Scout Regiment. There had always been complaints that their entire branch was a waste: of resources, of good soldiers, of taxes.

But Yavena knew that only in the Scout Regiment would she find all of the things she so desired—and so with her friend by her side, she chose to follow all of the things she idealized in childhood, and embrace the fear and grim responsibility that came with it.