Hello lovelies. This story is on AO3 as well in case if you were wondering, under my wingsoffreedom_jeager account. I have posted 5 more chapters on there than on this website so if you are curious about the story please visit ao3 to read ahead. This story is gonna be a long one so sit back and relax. It starts off with a young Eren and he grows older with Levi, so I hope you enjoy the ride. Pairing is LeviXEren and there will be GORE as well as mild child abuse so if you're sensitive to that, I'm warning you ahead of time. With that out of that way enjoy!

The sun's rays shined brightly as they crept through the slight gaps of the tree branches, creating eerie shadows and patterns as the boy trudged through the snow. It had begun to snow again, making the air crisp and cool. Each breath he took was like drowning in icy water and the air stung his eyes. He watched the flakes of snow, silver and dark, fall obliquely against the sunlight. Each breath he made caused mist and puffs of air to form like little clouds while blurring his view as they disappeared into the crisp air like smoke.

The snow had created a blanket of white on the barren trees, giving the appearance of tranquility and peace like a mother's embrace among the otherwise cold and dreary mountain. The boy's soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly like the descent of their last end, upon all the living dead. The heavy crunch of snow under his brown, worn boots gave way, creating a lonely path as he trudged as far as his small body could take him. A sudden wind caused him to shiver and try to shield his dainty body from the chilly air, as if warding off a cold embrace. For days he had been tracking this horde, climbing higher and higher the mountain with each step, wishing that his frail body could travel with speed that the same creatures he had sworn to hunt had. Agility and speed had been the few of their deadly features that he wish he possessed the farther he had travelled.

Taking a deep sniff, he threw his head back and almost appeared feral among the foliage of nature. The odours, the sights, the sounds, everything played a role in his world, now, and he was the apex predator of this world.

He had hoped that all the wind and snow from the previous night would have died down making the track up slightly more bearable after being accustomed to such weather for so long, but his journey farther up had proved wrong. His spider-like limbs and thin frame could not protect his hollow like body from the harsh winter. His tattered shirt and flimsy pants doing nothing to block the wind. His shoulder-length, tangled, soot-covered brunette hair was only causing him annoyance as the wind swept his hair and made it cover his field of view; only allowing him to see his dirty, brown boots buried six inches deep in snow. The silence of his trip only made him more aware of his lonely and dangerous mission. The only company he could rely on was the dreary snow and bare trees with which he had grown to love during his isolation.

He could see the area finally clearing of trees and becoming more destitute, meaning he was finally reaching the end of his track. The sudden realization made the long, cold steel of the axe hidden underneath his clothes a friendly reminder of what was to come. His cobalt blue eyes were focused on the path ahead, but his body was rigid on high alert, tightly sprung like a coil ready to burst into action if needed. His sunken eyes were vigilant of anything that moved; to the sudden fall of patch of snow from a tree branch, to the brisk bout of icy wind that passed by. The fall of the snow caused a rush of nostalgia from the boy.

He remembered two winters ago how cold it had gotten one night. He had tried to find some dry wood to bring back to his cabin to light a fire to keep warm for the night but came back with a pathetic bundle of thin sticks instead. He had started a fire and was bedding down when he heard a loud thump like that of a large body echo within the walls of his cabin, causing his heart to race wildly. He thought at first they had found him, that he was done for but his fear dwindled as he saw a pile of snow that had fallen from his frost coated window. He had been seven at the time and had learned from the incident to always ensure no snow piled onto the roof again.

The boy stopped in his path to warm his frozen limbs and rub his hands together to warm his fingers. His hands had turned a blood red due to the harsh cold and making his limbs burn and tingle from his hot breath. The sudden color of red had caused him to remember his first kill he made a year ago. He could remember the incident as if it was yesterday; all in clear detail right down to the sights, smells and sounds. The blood was red, like the early sunsets he would see when he would rise for another chilly morning. The air smelled of rotten flesh, ozone, and iron. The creature was just as ugly as he had remembered when he was six. It was tall and lanky with limbs all gangly. Its arms were skinny and the rest of its body was thin to the point of undernourishment. Its skin was pale and seemed like a pasty grey in colour and was stretched so far on its limbs that every bony protrusion was visible, right down to the ribs.

Each breath it took was rancid and smelled of ozone making the air putrid to breathe in. The creature's long tongue was forked at the tip like a snakes would be, making it seem deadly. Along with the long, sharp corded-like nails ensured the sudden death of its prey all the more frightening. Its pointed hairy ears were made to snuff out anything hidden and its snout was elongated for a quick capture of prey. Fangs had protruded from its chapped, stretched thin lips causing it have an overbite due to the sheer size of its teeth. He remembered its hunched back and spinal cord being distorted, exposing deadly spikes acting as the perfect armour against any veteran hunter.

Perhaps it was a stalker and a predator in its own regard, but he wasn't threatened or moved at all. It was no doubt displaying a dominant, aggressive warning sign for him, but he paid it no heed. Fear hardly struck in the depth of his heart, and he made a plan to advance in such ways that its life would be snuffed out like a candle in the darkness before it had time to even assess and read his movements.

Yes, a swift death was his gift to the creature. It didn't need suffering; only beautiful things deserved to suffer and meet the prolonged torture he often bestowed upon those creatures he deemed worthy of such a sacrifice.

It took him a few hours to kill it after he had stalked the thing. He had had the advantage because of its small, beady eyes that were partially blind; the milky white of its eyes finally giving him a chance to move swiftly in for the kill. He remembered limping back through the snow and feeling the light throb of the slashes across his back made from the deadly claws of the beast. His torn shirt and open wound was exposed to the bitter cold and never fully healed properly, leaving behind an ugly scar to be permanently etched into his otherwise unblemished skin. Blood had soaked the snow leaving behind a bloody trail of red, like rose petals in his track.

Recalling it now brought on a sense of satisfaction and strength that he longed for as his fatigue was blown away by the sudden burst of emotions from the event. It was exactly what he needed to push on and remind himself of why he was pursuing these beasts in the first place. That as long as these beings exist he would never be free and feel comfort. He was beyond exhilarated; he was liberated and free. That was a feeling he could chase to the ends of the earth, and it wouldn't be enough to satiate his burning needs. Feeling such emotions made the boy hunger for his next kill and anticipate the feeling of his axe slashing through the beasts as they attempt to gnaw and feed on him all the while knowing that they will ultimately fall to their deaths by his hands.

The boy quickened his pace in his sudden rush of excitement. He could feel it; he was so close to the peak of the mountain where he had last followed a small group of beasts that had strayed from the horde. He had to be careful since the snow was more slippy due to an under-layer of ice coating the snow. He had tracked the horde and knew that soon he would be able to destroy these fearsome beings. He started to jog to quicken his pace now that the sun was at its peak and he knew that this time was the very best since these beings hated the light. The time to act was now, when the sun was at its brightest, providing him with the best advantage and element of surprise. The creatures mostly feed at night, crawling around to scavenge for food. At night, these creatures were twice as strong, more foul and hungry and could see as clearly as he did during the day. For months he had studied these bat-like beings, trying to find out what makes them tick. Finally he had gained all the knowledge he needed to kill them.

He had learned that Iron metal was not the most effective method to kill the creatures since iron hardly damaged their leather-like skin. Silver was the better metal and proved to cause considerable damage. He also learned that their intelligence was not on the same level his. They proved to be stupid, basing all their attacks on instincts and relying heavily on their claws and teeth to kill. Their tails, although long and spiked at the tip, could be easily dodged, the only deadly aspect to them was their sharp claws and sudden surges of strength when they would leap in for the kill. Their teeth snapping and locking their prey in a deadly grip allowing for no escape. The spikes on its back did prove to be sharp and were stronger than they looked.

After careful analysis he had decided that tonight would be the night when he could make his move. Finally, after all this time, he could clear his home of deadly beasts. He no longer would have to fear a sudden attack or be weary of their large feet waking him in the middle of the night as they crept along the forest trail near the cabin.

He was brought back to the present when a faint sound of growling caught his attention. He stopped abruptly and paused, waiting for any signs of an ambush. The growls did more than merely prepare him for early battle, however; it fuelled his rage like the oncoming rushing of the waves of a wild ocean caught in the midst of a storm. He pitied and weeped for the fools who dared to challenge him on his own territory, on his ground. He was going to have to resolve this matter for himself, and he would enjoy it. Half the enjoyment of the hunt came from the pumping of the blood in his veins, and then that of the blood seeping out of his prey's corpse.

When the coast was clear he lowered his body, pulled out the axe and continued up. He could finally see the clearing at the top where a large cliff resided. The horde had hid beyond the cliff, in a small cave near the top and he knew it was a risky move to attack at their home, but he knew if he could possibly trap them under the snow and ice that the cave would collapse under all the snow and they would be buried in a snowy death. He ran to the top and stopped, peering down. Right below ten feet from the top of the cliff, he saw it, the largest horde of beasts he had ever seen.

He found it, finally.

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I hope you guys enjoyed this introduction chapter. This will be a slow build so expect a nice BURN while you all wait. Character perspectives may bounce back and forth between Eren and Levi so expect that as well. This is probably one of the shortest chapters that I have written for this story. The other chapters that I have posted on ao3 are usually twice as long, sometimes even being up to 8000 to 10,000 words per chapter so future chapters will be VERY long.

Chapter 2 will be up for easy access. See you guys soon