Attack on Titan

And The Sky Turned Red

By

Saints & Kings

Chapter 1: A Stubborn Boy

"But I don't wanna go to some stupid farm…"

The young brown haired boy stomped his foot petulantly at his father, as said father attempted to get his unruly son to A: understand this wasn't up for debate, and B: somehow wrangle a jumper over the wriggling boys head. Looking down at his seven year old son, Grisha Yeager couldn't help but sigh, memories flooding through him of the family that he'd failed back in the Liberio internment camp, Marley.

'Zeke and Dina'.

Suddenly, the boy's conflagrations died away as his mother leant down and smoothed out his hair and placed a kiss to his forehead, which was followed by him pouting and scuffing his feet gently on their homes floorboards. "You go with your father to other patients Eren". Carla Yeager spoke, kneeling beside her son. "And besides you might meet some new friends. You, Mikasa and Armin are always so inseparable I sometimes wonder if you're going to marry each other".

The response from the boy and from Mikasa, standing at the sidelines of the conversation, was a simultaneous reddening of their faces, followed by a spluttered "n-n-no... we're practically siblings... just friends..." Carla simply giggled at her son's, and foster daughter's, embarrassment.

"Oh come now Carla", Grisha responded to his wife's teasing, "I'm sure they'll be fine someday. Meanwhile..." diverting his gaze back to Eren, Grisha rebegan the earlier conversation. "This trip is will be slightly different than any others because I'm going within Wall Sina".

The young boy's petulance instantly vanished only to be replaced with open disdain. "If I wanted to spend my time around arrogant snobs, I'd seek out those bullies who prey upon Armin!"

Carla and Grisha both frowned at their son's choice words, yet before they could interject Mikasa walked forwards and pulled the collar of his jumper up over his mouth before dragging him over to the front door; and pointing to Wall Maria. "You don't have to like them but think of this as a chance to leave Shiganshina district".

The disdainful scowl eased slightly as Eren pulled the jumper's collar off his mouth, staring at his dark haired foster sister; and the look in her eyes that were pleading with him to calm down. And somehow, after a deep sigh, all the fight left him. "Fine", he frowned. "Dad I'll go with you to this person in Wall Sina", he stated refusing to give up his contempt towards the inner wall dwellers.

Blinking in disbelief that Eren had agreed, and that someone had changed their son's mind, Carla and Grisha both couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh Eren", his mother chuckled smoothing out his hair. "You should listen to Mikasa more often. She'll never lead you astray".

Looking torn between confused and embarrassed, Eren chose to wriggle out of his mother's arms and make his way over to the rucksack currently sitting on the table, and throwing it over his shoulders but he did see out of the corner of his eye; Mikasa watching him with a blush across her face.

Standing outside their home, after about forty minutes of finalising their packing, Eren and Grisha Yeager were ready to leave. The boy then found himself being hugged his mother, and being peppered with kisses, making him struggle all the more to escape her loving clutches. Whence he finally became free, Eren turned towards Mikasa. "I guess you'll be the one around to look after Armin", Eren patted his adoptive sister on the shoulder, grinning.

Running a finger through her long dark hair, Mikasa felt her heart skip in her chest as she watched the figures of Eren and his father become smaller and smaller as they walked away towards the canal, where a boat would take them through the lands of Wall Maria, Rose before arriving at some canal dock in Sina.

Audibly but unconsciously sighing, she didn't notice, until the last minute, that Carla had knelt down before her and wrapped her arms around her. "They'll be fine, Mikasa. They're only away for a week, and then you'll have Eren all to yourself again". A sudden coughing fit erupted forth from the younger girl, as she desperately tried to hide her embarrassment, which only abated once they had gone back inside the house and Carla had given her some water to drink.

"Mrs Yeager, I-it's not like that... w-w-we're just friends..." she stammered, face blushing even more red than she had been before. Ever since the day when she had been adopted by Grisha and Carla Yeager, Mikasa had purposely tried to block out the memories of her parents demise, and the men responsible.

However, the nightmares of that day kept tormenting her. Eren's scarf, which she wore was very good at keeping her fears at bay during the day, but at night she often revisited that moment and became terrified all over again.

And so with the boy who had saved her life now away on a trip into Wall Sina, with his doctor father, Mikasa knew that during this week she was barely going to get any sleep. She knew that Eren needed to venture outside of his comfort zone, and see other humans inside the walls but she couldn't help but fell left out.

Being a doctor meant having to find, buy or make for yourself remedies to treat patients of varying levels of infection or injury; and so it was that Grisha Yeager kept his medical supplies in the basement of his house, away from rivals whom were already jealous of his high medical success rate and wanted to steal his knowledge.

Only when he had business in the interior and was away for awhile did he lock up his supplies, and whilst he had done so this time he had also taken extra supplies with him, due to the potential for other maladies presenting themselves when he reached his patient.

Grisha was a mobile Doctor, he had initially; or so everyone thought, setup in Shiganshina but during a particular bad outbreak of plague, his skills and low mortality rate caught the attention of interior folk who saw him as brilliant and eminently better than their own private physicians. As a result, Grisha ended up with a lot more clients within Walls Rose and Sina, from which he earned enough money to buy a horse and wagon for long distance travelling.

Eren would usually stay at home with Carla because he still had to attend school, of which his mother refused to let him miss any time of, during the week. However, whenever Grisha had an assignment on the weekend, he'd take Eren with him. It gave him a chance to spend some time with his son, and realise just how different he was from Zeke. Zeke... just thinking about his first born son, as well as his first wife; Dina, and his mistakes, was almost enough to make Grisha want to abandon the task given to him by the Owl.

After disembarking the canal barge at the

Watanabi Dock in eastern Sina, Grisha and Eren climbed aboard their wagon and set off to their destination. Sitting upfront in the cart, holding the reins of the horse, Grisha looked over as his son, whom was staring at the sky. "Don't mope Eren," he said noting the small frown on the seven years olds face. "There will be other children to play with when we gat there. It's just as Mikasa said: see this as a chance to learn about the interior".

"But I'll be missing the Scout Regiment coming back", Eren pouted. Sighing, Grisha didn't need to turn his head to know that his son was both curious about Wall Sina but also upset about missing his favourite military branch returning from their explorations outside of Wall Maria. "I see you are still talking about joking the Scout Regiment?" Grisha replied plainly, not a hint of displeasure or acceptance in his voice. "You know your mother is vehemently against this notion of yours Eren. Besides, the outside world is nothing what you or Armin think it is".

'It will never live up to your expectations. Hope just doesn't exist for us... devils'.

An angry scowl graced Eren's lips, and a snarl emerged from deep within his throat, as he looked up at his father and snapped back. "I don't care! The Scouts get to see the outside the walls and travel to the farthest reaches of this land! If the world really is as bad as you say it is, then I want to see and judge that for myself!"

Grisha stared flummoxed by his son's outburst of logic. Such stubbornness… yet a part of him was still lost in disbelief at the difference in his two sons, now separated by the ocean and Marley. Zeke the quiet intellectual whom chose loyalty to nation in order to protect his grandparents from the naivety of his parents, and Eren; the hardheaded idealist whom dreamed big regardless of what society wanted him to do.

Whilst Grisha still secretly wanted to restore Eldia to its former glory, he now recognised that his methods had placed far too much pressure on Zeke than was healthy for a child to have to burden. It was this realisation that kept him waking up in tears and silently praying for Zeke's forgiveness, as well as a chance to see Dina one more time.

Grisha agreed with Eren, about wanting him to see the greater world and judge it for himself, yet he also understood that the outside world despised and often talked about killing off the 'race of devils' as a means of restitution and 'pest control' for the last two thousand years of suffering and horror committed by the Eldian Empire. And ever since the end of the End of the Great Titan War, a century ago, the world's rage and hatred was now squarely centred on Paradis Island.

'The Tybur and Ashanti families never cared about another us… they can burn in hell for all I care!'

Shaking his head, Grisha turned back towards the road and continued to lead the horse and cart through the gateway of Watanabi Dock towards the road inside Wall Sina that they would take. Thinking about the future was hard to do sometimes but in this instant he found himself smiling at Eren's determination. The seven year old had been going on about how he wanted to join the Scout Regiment and see the outside world for the best part of two years now, ever since he had read an ancient book about the world; that somehow Armin's grandfather had managed to acquire.

Needless to say Carla was less than enthusiastic. "Its safe in the walls," was her only real response to the times when Eren's arguments pronounced themselves, and as the boy's mother, she tended to have the final say on his decisions. "No son of mine is going to be fodder!" She, in no uncertain terms, absolutely forbade him from even talking about such a thing. Even as far as being brutally honest about the exceedingly high death rate, the chances of survival and the hopelessness of the work within the Survey Corps.

As a result, Carla had begun to subtly lead Eren to be a Doctor, like his father. And so whenever his Grisha had a patient to see, he was encouraged to bring Eren along with him on weekends, hoping that the experience one day enlighten the boy into taking the direction up as a career.

"Dad?"

Eren's voice was laced with tiredness but there was a glint of hope in his eyes. "Where exactly in Wall Sina, is this patient of yours?" With folded arms across his chest and a clenched jaw, the small boy looked even more petulant that he had before.

Dodging the question, Grisha pushed his spectacles up his nose and glanced over at his son. "You sure do put on quite a show when you feel impassioned about something, eh little scout?"

Never did he dare to call Eren by his nickname when his wife was around but hearing it now, obviously cleared away some of the obstinance and sulkiness within the boy now. Grinning slightly as he looked up, Eren placed both arms in the proper styled military salute.

"You know your mother only wants what's best for you", Grisha spoke softly. "As do I. I simply want you to follow what you think is right and just. And if that happens to be the path of the military: be it Garrison, Military Police or Scouts, then I will accept that". The expression on Eren's face morphed into a grin, glad for his fathers words. "Staying behind these Walls is not what I'd call in my best interest", Eren replied grouchily. Sighing, the older man leant over and ruffled the boy's hair.

"To be safe behind these walls. To live a normal life and to grow up in peace like a young man should... that is all your mother wants for you".

"This life is not normal!" Eren yelled back tempestuously.

"It is for us."

"Well I fricking hate normal."

"I want to see the sky," Eren continued. "Not just this..." he gestured upwards. "This doesn't count". Keeping his eyes on steering the horse and cart, Grisha responded. "And why not?"

"Because this sky is what we see from our pen. It is not the endless sky that Armin told me about. What I want is to never again see any fricking walls!"

"And the only way to do that— Is to join the Scout Regiment." Grisha concluded for him.

"Yeah…" Eren said grinning. Both father and son then sat in silence for nearly an hour, and whilst Eren slowly fell asleep Grisha focused on his internal musings. He didn't know what was worse, the knowledge that his youngest son wanted to go out into the world of Titans or that he personally wanted him to leave the mission that the Owl had given him many years prior and live out his life with his new family.

Many brave men and women never returned from beyond the walls. And he new that Carla certainly couldn't bare the thought of losing her son as another statistic in the Scout Regiment death files.

However, in reality, once Eren came of age there was quite literally nothing either of them could do about his desires even if they wanted to. If Eren still desired to traverse the land beyond, what could either of them do to stop him. Looking down at the sleeping boy, the father placed the blanket further around his son's shoulders. "There is nothing wrong with joining the scouts. I just want you you to be happy in whatever life you choose to live".

'Someday, Eren. You will get your chance'.

"Who are we going to see anyway that we need to stay a week with?"

Upon waking up, Eren had seemingly remembered his unanswered question, and badgered his dad into telling him.

"The patient is a man I met when I was on another trip into Wall Rose. He is a farmer by trade, although I suspect he'd be royally insulted if you called him that. He actually manages a large estate, and doesn't do a lot of manual labour. His name if Giichi Franklin. He lives with his wife Loren, daughter Alma and granddaughter. I am visiting him because he is a heart patient of mine. There are plenty of other children, including his granddaughter, around in the area for you to be occupied with during the times that I am working."

Eren sat quietly and readjusted the blanket around him, momentarily wishing that he had his scarf around his neck. He immediately shook his head free of that wish, knowing that Mikasa took great happiness and strength from his gift to her. And the last thing he ever wanted was to see her happiness suffer.

Looking up at the amber coloured sky, Eren saw that mid afternoon was giving way to sunset. 'We'll be arriving tomorrow', he mused, resting his head on the palm of his right hand and sighing.

"Into another prison", the boy bemoaned, "I really wish there were no more walls". Closing his eyes, Eren enjoyed the breeze on his face and the leaves in the trees rustling overhead. And ever so slowly, he once more fell asleep.

N.B.

Not quite sure how often this story will be updated, as my Food Wars story is taking precedence right now but I felt as if I should make this first chapter of AoT: And the Sky Turned Red public. :)

Let me know if you like it, and if you would like more chapters.

Saints & Kings