Chapter 3: The Year they Spent. Part 1

A/N: So, this is going to be a ??? part section that will cover the first year spent within wall maria. Hopefully this will get you all fully acquainted with the kind titans personality and attitudes, expect a lot and I mean A LOT of titan fluff (never thought I'd write that). As always please let me know what ya'll think about this chapter, expect the next one asap. (9475 words).

The first month…

He crouched low, blue eyes scanning over his surroundings, nothing seemed to be out of place, but that could have been just a trick to lure him out into the open clearing. But no; he was going to stay safely tucked away in the dense shrubbery of the massive forest he had found himself residing in for however long. As long as he remained here, he'd be safe from view, safe from his predator. Ears perk up for any out of place sound; the crunch of leaves under-foot, the scratching of sharp nails against tree bark. He listened intently for anything. But nothing could be heard, except for the usual sound of those even smaller creatures that made that clicking sound, and the sound of those feathered creatures singing in the morning. Still nothing else though. He internally growled in annoyance, he could make that distance before anything got him. If he sprinted as fast as he could, he'd make it; no doubt. So, stealing his resolve, his eyes scanned one final time. Nothing, again.

3… 2… 1

His titanic form broke through the dense forestry, feet crashing against the woodland ground as he willed himself to move as fast as he possibly could, and as he reached the halfway point of the clearing, his safety seemed all but certain, it was impossible for anything to get him now. Oh how foolish he was. One second he was about to reach the other side, the next; he was forced to the ground as something crashed into him.

From above!

Damn, he had forgotten to look upwards, he never looked upwards. As he fell, he rolled with his momentum and managed to land onto his back, unable to capture his attacker in the meantime. Instead, his predator had leaped into the air once again as he fell, and landed heavily onto his chest, he tried to swat it of him, but the smaller creature managed to duck and weave through his grasping hands, before it rushed towards his jugular. He tried to stop it, but once again it was too fast and before he knew it, the monster was upon his face, sharp-pointy nails heading straight for his face. And in acceptance, he closed his eyes, unable to defend himself further.

He had lost. Which was only further put forth when he felt those sharp nails poke his nose.

"Ihhhh Whhhiin".

He grumbled… of course she won, she always won.

Because she was a cheater. He opened his eyes to see those smug grey eyes staring into his, that large, intimidating jaw stretched into a crooked smile. He could only glare, and shooed her of his chest with his hands, something akin to a gutteral chuckle was her response as she neatly hopped onto the ground. He pushed himself into a sitting position and turned to fully face the much smaller titan. Unable to keep his half-hearted glare up for any longer, and a happy smile broke through.

He couldn't believe what had transpired this past month.

He and Ymir had quickly become fast friends, him with his overly protective nature and her smug and snarky nature should have made each other hate the other, but instead he found her attitude refreshing and even endearing, especially when he figured out that in reality, she really did care for him, like when he had broken his legs by not judging the drop from their cave correctly, she had gotten to his crippled form in record and had chastised his 'stupidity' in her incredibly basic 'human' speak. And for her part, she may outwardly show her distaste for his overly caring nature, she would never admit but everytime he huddled around her form when they rested at night made her admiration for the big lug grow ever stronger. He had kept her safe undoubtedly, from slaughtering large packs of roaming titans, to carrying her form around on his shoulders when they went wandering. Although they had yet to wander past the forest walls, unsure if they wished to see what the rest of titan infested land held for them. Especially after Ymir had managed to convince him that any human survivors would have died long ago if they weren't already behind the next titanic wall. It was a incredibly saddening and sobering realisation, and he hadn't left their cave for a few days after that news, silently hoping his little ones had managed to get to safety. They had also developed ways to pass the time; such what they were doing now; Ymir had called it 'thag', and they played it most days at this point, after their usual rounds of clearing out any titans that had ambled too close to their abode.

Ymir had also been teaching him how to speak, very basically at that, and at this point he had not managed to produce any coherent words. However, it was the exact opposite when it came to writing, when she had shown him words via a stick being dragged through mud, he had picked up that knowledge amazingly quick. Able to write some basic sentences and knew many 'human' words. That was another thing, Ymir had informed him what the little ones were actually called; 'humans'. It was strange word to him, he honestly prefered little ones, especially when referring to his little ones. He also learnt about names. What people were called, he knew Ymir was Ymir, but he had not been able to think of a name of his own, even with the 'help' of Ymir.

"Teeethhh?"

"Rhhed?"

"Mhuuum?"

That last one had been a joke apparently, but it did make him wonder if he even did have a mum. All he could remember was the constant watching and wandering, he didn't know how long he had been doing it for, he just did it. It was one of the many question he didn't have answers for.

Another thing he had questions for was for Ymir herself; he had asked through writing about her past, how she was different and everything else that plagued his mind, but when his questions made her shrink into herself, eyes losing their happy shine, he immediately stopped. He could live in ignorance if it meant his friend was happy. That was just who he was.

A; "seeelfles idihot" according to his smaller companion. He wasn't sure what either word meant, but he could just guess that it wasn't necessarily a kind comment.

He came back from his reminiscing as Ymir was starting to shake his head, a common occurrence as he found himself losing to his thoughts as the days went by. He arched a brow at her, to which she simply pointed to the darkening sky. It was time to head back to the cave, night was going to fall soon. And they had found that whilst Ymir became drained incredibly quickly, he actually could stay awake and alert for a much greater time, the lack of sun still drained his energy, but he could manage it for hours on end. So the safety of their cave was considered the best place to rest until the sun returned. It wasn't like they had much to do anyway. Heaving a breath out of his chest, he stood, his hand held out towards the smaller titan, who quickly accepted the hand, and allowed herself to be pulled upwards to his shoulders, once high enough, she'd gently wrapped her gangly arms around his neck for stability and sat herself down on his shoulder. It was just easier for them to travel this way, and he unapologetically enjoyed the idea of being 'hugged' by his 'friend'.

Ymir? She secretly enjoyed doing it, but couldn't let him find out, he would never let her live it down.

The second Month…

It was early morning on this day, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, in all essence, this day would seem perfect to most. And it was perfect to him; perfect to hunt. He stalked his prey, easily able to keep sight of the many aimlessly shambling monsters. This was what he did most mornings, he'd head out before the sun had fully risen in the sky and go on the lookout for any titans that had wandered too close to their cave. Sometimes, Ymir would come with him, other times she would call it too much of a; 'drahhg', he had no idea what a 'drahhg' was, but from the way Ymir would simply go back to sleeping, he assumed it to be less than stellar.

Her loss.

He happened to enjoy this morning ritual, it made him happy, happy that whilst he may not be directly saving litt-humans, but that through the continued hunting of his 'kind', he'd end up saving humans anyway, that was how he justified it anyway.

He crouched low to the ground, blue eyes glued to them, it was strange today however, there was far more than usual, at most he'd come across packs of 4-8 titans each morning, but this morning? There were at least more than 12 titans, all heading in the same direction; not towards his cave, but just around his abode. And he couldn't help but wonder why. So he stalked them, unwilling to attack just yet, both due to his curiosity of where they were headed, and because whilst he'd consider himself quicker, stronger and smarter than the average titan, he was not too keen on testing his luck against a pack so large. Especially if there were any 'strange ones' hidden inside the group.

He followed for a while longer, and now the sun was high in the sky, illuminating the forest floor through the many gaps in the tree branches and foliage. This was when he began to notice things not natural to the forest, he'd come across these little pitched objects made of a thin cloth and sturdy sticks, as well as weird net-like objects attached between two adjacent trees. And for pure interest, he leaned closer to one of these objects and sniffed it, his nose much more powerful than any average titans, as well as Ymir's, which to his chagrin gave her fuel for a new 'name'.

'Dhog'.

And yet again, he didn't know what that was, but from the description Ymir gave him, he was both jokingly affronted and excited to meet one of these 'fluffhy mhongrels' they sounded cute, and he liked cute things. His little ones had been cute after all.

So, give it a sniff he did, and immediately his concern grew tenfold, he recognised the smell, not who it was specifically, but what it was; a human's smell. Which meant that there were humans here, or at least had been here very recently, if the strength of the scent was anything to go by. But why would the humans be out here? In titan territory, could they want their territory back? But, that'd be suicide, his kind were far too overwhelming to be pushed back. And yet, here the humans had been; doing something. He had to admire they bravery at the very least, he was on average taller then every titan which meant he could handle most of his kind quite easily.

However, he could ponder these thoughts later, perhaps even ask Ymir her opinion, for now, his kind were still shambling onwards, onwards to where the scent had gone to. Which meant his kind were also hunting.

He had to hurry.

He lowered himself to the ground, hands placed firmly onto the floor, his legs were stretched behind him, he took a deep breath, and released steam on the outhale, and then he bolted, he had to move fast if he was going to circumvent his kind and get to the humans first. He didn't know how, but he was going to warn them to escape, to run. And hopefully, he'd have figured something out by the time he reached them.

Later…

He hadn't figured anything out.

But he had found them, there wasn't that many, around 10 or twelve humans, all garbed in their little clothes and their sharp objects, called 'swohrds'according to Ymir, heald at their waists. They seemed to be discussing something, so he strained his acute hearing in the hopes of picking something up.

"... upid! Why're we here… ing a myth…"

"...ot a myth! Many people corr… the event… so exciting!"

"OI!... itty glasses… ep your excitement in your… nts"

There seemed to be some kind of argument between a rather short human, and a taller human called 'itty glasses', they were looking for something apparently, and for a brief moment, he thought they meant him, and almost wanted to step out into their vision to try and confirm he suspicions, but he then remembered the oncoming horde of titans. So, he did the first thing that came to mind, he tried to scare them off.

Silently skulking away from the group, he moved towards the general direction the pack was coming from, ducked behind a large tree, inhaled deeply, squared his shoulders, planted his feet, narrowed his predatory eyes and stretched his maw as much as he possibly could, feeling his cheeks tear in the process; revealing his entire set of shark-like teeth. He exhaled, steam billowing from the gaps in his teeth, he reared his head back and roared. Just like he had done when he saved Ymir, he roared so loudly, he wouldn't be surprised if she heard him all the way in their cave. The birds in the trees scattered like leave sin the wind, woodland critters fleeded in terror, and the very forest around his shook in fear at his earth shattering roar. He also knew that the horde itself would be paralysed for a brief moment as his roar continued. He didn't know why or how this worked, just that it did, which he was grateful for. The guttural roar lasted for a few moments longer, all of his breath escaping his maw, his jaw ached as he pushed his mouth open to the absolute limit, and then pushed it even further.

If this didn't scare the humans away, he didn't want to know what would.

With the humans…

"What the fuck is that!?" Shouted a hort individual, hands clasped tightly over his ears, the overwhelming roar hurting his ears. His companions were faring no better, all covering their ears in risk of permanently damaging their hearing. And then, just as it started from nowhere, it ended suddenly, and the forest was left in an eerie silence. He gave it a few more moments before hesitantly removing his hands from his ears, grateful for the noise stopping. Quick as a flash, he turned to a much taller blonde haired male, who bore a narrowed inquisitive look in his calculating eyes. "Erwin, you have a plan? Or with that look, you may be constipated, which is it?" The short ones words were sharp and crude, but Erwin didn't visibly react, most likely used to his crass subordinate. He continued to stare into nothingness for a few moments before turning to his team.

"Pack everything up, we're heading back to Trost!" His voice was commanding and calm, the exact opposite to the glasses wearing woman who bounced in excitement; "but Erwin! What about where that roar came from!? It could be an abnormal or maybe something even more exciting, are you sure we can't just take a quick peek? I'm dying to know!"

Erwin chose to ignore the short ones response of "we could only hope you'd die to know…" Or he didn't hear it, his team had their quirks after all. Instead he focused on the human who was currently pleading to him with their eyes; "unfortunately not Hange, we have to get back to HQ and report our findings, I'm sure we'll be back in the foreseeable future".

"But what about our mission to find the defender titan? We haven't found anything about it" asked another of his subordinates, the only other male to be taller than Erwin.

"I still think the Rogue titan sounds more accurate" mumbled Hange, kicking at a loose piece of bark on the branch they stood.

Erwin only turned his head to look at Mike; the one who had asked the question, a knowing look in his eyes.

"What do you think just roared?" And he then zipped away, followed by the rest of his team, one of them squealing in utter happiness.

And when HE would return to this place, with no sign of the humans, and their scents long gone, he would breath a sigh of relief; knowing he had saved more of them. He would then head back to the cave, his head held high. That was until he encountered a furiously worried Ymir midway home.

And he just knew he was in trouble.

Worth it.

The Third Month…

He was right, he was in trouble with Ymir, for quite a while after his incident, him telling her as best he could through his improving speech and writing what he had done that day. She had been very angry, shouting insults and obsenaties he was sure he'd never want to know what they meant, about how he was stupidly reckless, how he could've been killed, and after she had calmed down, the steam flowing off her in buckets, she had leapt to his face and hugged him tightly around his neck, her form shaking. And he then realised the worry he had put her through was the most painful he had ever felt, even more than when he was ripped in twain by the armoured one. So he had taken the verbal abuse willingly, and held her tightly for the rest of that day, reassuring her of his constant presence; he wasn't going anywhere.

And go nowhere he had done, he had not even left the cave unless Ymir had accompanied him, her obvious worry about his well-being weighing greatly on his mind. This was the first time he had ever hurt someone through committing a 'good' deed. Unfortunately, he was almost positive he'd end up doing it again at some point, being far too 'selflees' as Ymir had put it, for his own good. So he decided to spend the foreseeable future simply talking to Ymir, well; talking as best as he could anyway, and he realised something horrible about his first friend;

He was sat inside their cave, back against the hard wall, Ymir sat across from him.

He wasn't sure how to ask the question, and he knew he'd have zero chance with speech, so he had grabbed one of the many large sticks they had for writing and thought of the best way to ask. Once he was done, he pointed at what he wrote.

How you not like rest of titan?

It was poorly written, the grammar was all wrong and he knew he even missed a few needed words to complete the sentence, but it had worked and Ymir had read it, and had gone ever so quiet once she had. Her eyes downcast, gangly arms wrapping around her own form. And for a moment he was about to insist that she could ignore his question, that he had been stupid for asking. But she had already begun to write with her own stick, her words much more better written.

I was like the rest. I wandered like them, devoured like them and was mindless like them. She physically shook as she finished her first line, it taking a minute for him to fully understand what the words meant, and as she continued, he could see her hands shivering terribly.

I was like that… for so… so long, and I hated it so much, able to 'see' what I did but unable to do anything about it. He held back a choke, he wanted to grab her and comfort her, but his damn inquisitiveness won over his initial care. He carefully picked up his stick once again and wrote; how long?.

This was the big one apparently, as the stick in her hand snapped from the shear strain she was putting on it, however, she persevered, and with her finger now, she wrote the answer.

60 years…

She then found herself immediately wrapped up in large muscular arms, held tightly, yet gently to his large welcoming chest. She reciprocated his comfort, huddling herself into his overwhelming warmth, thankful for once in this world that she had someone who cared for her, who was her friend, someone who didn't just treat her like she shouldn't exist, even if he was a big lug of a titan, he was her friend, now and forever.

And he finally realised why she had been so utterly worried about him; he was probably the first kind soul she had met from what he could garner, someone who wanted to spend time with her, and so he would continue to do so, for now and forever. On that emotional day, he had allowed for Ymir to finally feel something she had not felt in a long time;

The smaller, more abrasive titan had found her hope.

The fourth month…

It was strange, very, very strange to him. For the past while, since Ymir had essentially allowed him to leave the cave again, she had come with him on almost every expedition he made to the surrounding area, that wasn't what was the strange part however, what was strange was how Ymir acted, she would still ride upon his shoulders and any random titans they came across were swiftly dealt with, most of the time the smaller titan tearing their napes apart with her teeth before he could even react, and he knew her quick destruction of their kind was because she didn't want him to be at risk. It was touching, it really was, even though he could definitely handle himself out here, as long as no bizzare titans like the armoured one show up at least. But even her over-protectiveness wasn't that strange, he really couldn't criticise someone else about being overprotective when he himself had dreams about keeping everyone safe. No what was strange was the constant looks Ymir sent towards where the towering wall stood, the one unbroken by the titans, they couldn't see it within the forest, but he knew that she was constantly gazing in that direction, getting lost in her thoughts. It was a stark difference between Ymir's usual attitude, that's why he had picked it up as strange straight away, but he hadn't probed her for details, it wasn't his business and if she wanted to tell him, she would.

He trusted her.

And she trusted him… He hoped.

He shook his head, it wasn't fair to Ymir to have doubts, she hadn't done anything wrong to him, so he had no reason to.

However, the constant staring was starting to worry him, not the actual staring itself, but the increasingly forlorn look that began to overtake Ymir's face. A very bizarre visual to be seen on a titan and yet there it was, proving just how different the both of them were to the rest of their kind. To sum it up, he didn't want his precious friend to look so down all the time, but he didn't know what he could do about it! And it frustrated him greatly. He glanced at the resting titan held to his chest, his overwhelming heat keeping her calm and safe, he noticed that some of her long hair had fallen over her face, and he didn't know what propelled him to do so; but he gently shifted her flowing hair back over her shoulder, taking extra care not to wake her. After, his fingers hovered ever so closer to her face, and he found himself wanting to stroke her defined cheek, but he stopped, and quickly retracted his fingers.

What am I doing?

He didn't know and it worried him, what he had done had almost felt instinctual, and it felt… right to do so. He stared at his fingers, as if they held the answers to his internal question, then his eyes noticed the small red gift still wrapped around his pinkie, his eyes widened, suddenly he knew how he could help Ymir stop feeling so sad. But he also knew he wouldn't be able to do what he needed to do with her with him, so he needed to go outside by himself, and knowing Ymir's protectiveness, he had zero chance of convincing her to stay behind. So in his determined and yet stubborn mind, he realised what he had to do. He only hoped his energy would last long enough.

Later…

He moved quickly, head down and shoulders tense, he wasn't worried about being caught by anything, more nervous about his limited energy supply, he was currently outside during the night, moving, something impossible for all of his kind, even for him before he finally stopped watching the world pass him by. But that didn't mean he had infinite energy like it seemed he did during the day, without the sunlight bearing down on him, he could feel his energy drain, his form slowly become more sluggish. It was a dangerously stupid idea, he knew, but he found it to be the best one he could think of. He traveled for a while, at least long enough to leave the intimidating forest, and when he found himself staring upon a grassy field filled with 'sleeping' titans, he realised just what a boon his ability to stay awake truly was. And even better; on the other side of the field was a small human building, partially destroyed by his kind, but hopefully he'd find what he needed there. But first.

He turned his gaze onto the slumbering titans, a vicious smirk breaking onto his face, and he felt the now familiar presence of his cheeks tearing.

It was time for a quick hunt.

Later…

It had been so, so easy! He had casually slaughtered his way through a whole 'sleeping' herde of titans like it was nothing, not even a single one of them stirring from their induced 'sleep', it was cathartic and almost ironic in a way, he had slaughtered them just like they slaughtered the humans. But he had finished clearing out the trash, and he now stood before the dilapidated human home. He sent a silent prayer to whoever had lived here, hoping beyond hope they yet still lived, and if not, then at least he hoped he had avenged them just now. He carefully latched his fingers onto the crumbling roof and with a quick tense of his muscles, he had it placed gently onto the ground, now it was time to search. His sharp eyes scanned everything he could see, there were wooden little structures and many other objects he didn't fully understand. Perhaps he could ask Ymir about them later, maybe she knew? He doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt to try, as long as he kept it vague where he saw these things. He really didn't want her find out what he was doing. His eyes looked over the home once more and then he spotted it.

Blue…

It was blue, he reached his hand in and cupped the object, he had to pull it off a weird soft and spongy object, but he had what he needed. He looked it over, and then glanced to his gift, what he held was definitely a different material, and it was much larger as a whole then his gift, but it could work. He built the image of what he wanted in his mind and hoped he could get it right first time. Very carefully, he pulled the fabric at two points, tearing it like tissue paper. It was still much longer than his, but it looked good enough, he smiled and was actually glad it was a different colour. Now he just had to get back to the cave before sunrise and hope Ymir liked it. He was kind of excited to be honest.

He had never given a gift before.

Later… With Ymir

She felt the few streaks of sunlight hit her face before she saw them, and instantly she found herself gathering the energy for the day, however, she immediately noticed something off about this morning. She patted behind her, where she would usually find the warm and chiseled abs of him, but he wasn't there, a moment of panic shot through her body as she jumped to her feet, her long gangly arms assisting with flipping her up. Her worried eyes scanned their cave, and she found her breath once again as she saw him, he was just sitting across from her now, staring at her, a calming smile on his face. Immediately she began to internally berrate herself;

Of course he's going to be nearby, you don't need to panic just because he isn't cuddling you dumbass when you wake up for once! She pointedly refused to acknowledge the internal blush she felt when her mind brought up the cuddling, it's not like she needed him to do it, but he seemed to enjoy it, so who was she to deny his happiness, he who had saved her from losing her hope. Never-mind that deep in her mind, she felt that if he wasn't there when she slept, her sleep would be a lot more restless. She shook her thoughts away, once again focusing on him, like she noticed before, he was smiling at her, but one of his hands was clenched, like they were holding something. And before she could ask anything, he did something rather unexpected;

"Clooossse eihs phleese?"

She stalled, that was probably the best he had ever spoken yet! But for the life of her she couldn't understand why he'd want her to do that. However, from the almost pleading look she was getting from the big lug, she found herself acquiescing all too quickly.

You're lucky I trust you, dumbass.

So she did, she closed her eyes and waited, she heard him shift closer to her and the she felt his overly large fingers on her nape, and instinctively she flinched.

"Truuuussst mehhh?"

She did, she really did, so she steeled her nerves and relaxed, his touch was so incredibly gentle for someone she knew for a fact could bench-press some of the trees in the surrounding forest. But his touch was nothing more than a feather brushing against her skin, it was relaxing, and she found herself enjoying internally, she'd never admit it of course. And all too soon he was finished and she felt something else over her nape, actually she felt the same bizzare thing around her whole neck.

"Ohpeeen!"

So she did, and what she saw filled her heart with so much joy it almost hurt. What the bizarre feeling was a blue cloth that was wrapped around her neck, like a neckerchief, it wasn't too tight and hung comfortably on her, she tentatively fiddled with the knot at the back and found that it was intricately tied, when and where had he found out how to tie knots like this? She looked from her neckerchief to him, whose mouth was held in a stupid smile, his eyes sparkling with absolute joy. And she found herself holding back a grateful sob.

"Whhy?"

His ginger brows rose at her question and he opened his mouth and then closed it, as if he couldn't find the right words to articulate his reasonings. Which was actually, most likely the case. However, she watched him struggle for a few more seconds before he suddenly reopened his mouth and practically made himself find the right words.

"Ghiift frrooom mehhh! Ghiift mhakes hhappy?"

She could only nod in shock, he had gotten her a gift to make her happy? Just for that? She hadn't been feeling sad, well unless her mind wandered to where the humans lived, and her mind carried her back to what it could've been like to have been born a something, instead of a nothing, but he couldn't have noticed that? Could he? But that didn't explain in her mind why he did all this for her. A loser, a nothing… just Ymir. She holds back the overflowing emotions, she would not break down again, not in-front of him, she would be strong. That's when she felt a gentle finger tilt her head up so she could see his deep blue eyes, they spoke so many words, all of the words that he couldn't pronounce, he said them through his eyes.

"Nohh sahd aneimoor." He removed his finger, and she watched, transfixed as he wiped away a stray tear that she had failed to keep locked away, his bright smiled fell into a sad smile.

"Smhile!"

He spoke so kindly, a far cry from when he would roar at titans, and instinctively she found herself doing so, she smiled, a let her tears fall, happy to have received such a kind gift for once in her long miserable life. These past months had been the best in her entire life. All because of the big over-caring lug in-front of her. She couldn't help it, she jumped up to him and hugged him as tightly as she could around his neck, and when she felt his large hands wrap around her, she ducked her head into neck to hide her crying and smiling face.

You stupid dumbass, how do you put up with me. But even if I never say this out loud, I will always treasure everything you've done for me. Thank you so much…

And as they hugged each other, a sudden thought occurred to her, so she reluctantly hopped to the ground and grabbed one of the sticks used for writing, and wrote;

Where and how did you get this?

And when she looked back up at him, she noticed his shifting eyes, following by his nervous chortle, and without even answering her, he started to crawl towards the exit. Moving quite hurriedly. And why wouldn't he?

He knew he was in trouble now.

The fifth month…

He felt incomplete somehow, he did everything the same way he'd normally do this month, he'd wake early, wait for Ymir to awaken and then they would head out on their daily hunt. They would come across varying groups of titans and exterminate them. They would then either play various games such as; hide-and-seek, tag and even race sometimes. If they didn't feel like playing, they would either head back to the cave so Ymir could help him with words more, or they would go exploring, trying to survey the entire perimeter of the forest in which they dwelled. After all that was done with, the sun would usually have begun to set, so Ymir would get ready to sleep and he would either rest with her, or sneak out during the night and hunt down some helpless titans. This was what he did and this was what he always did, so why did he feel incomplete, he enjoyed his days, the fact he would kill titans gave him hope that maybe he would save a human further down the road. Because in his mind; one less titan meant one less danger to mankind. Which in turn meant one less danger for his little ones.

He hoped they were doing well.

But why…

Why, when he would stall in silence for more than a moment would he feel something empty within his soul? What was it!?

So wrapped up in his own thoughts, he didn't see the small palm smacking his cheek until he felt it. Broken from his musings, he followed said hand to see Ymir. Who was gazing at him worriedly, her blue neckerchief on full display.

"Yoooou ohkhay?"

He debated for a moment telling her his strange feeling, but held back, he didn't want her to worry about him, not when he could take care of himself, he'd figure this feeling out by himself.

"Ahmm fhiine Ymhhir."

His eyes widened; that was it!

Ymir, it was her name! Her Name!

But what was his name?

And very suddenly, that strange incomplete feeling was solved; he wanted something he did not have; a name, something his own for people to call him by, he had gone by since he 'awoke' with simply being referred to by joking nicknames from Ymir this whole time, yet he had not gotten a name of his own. How had it taken this long for him to realise this mistake? He felt pretty stupid right now. He even chuckled at his forgetfulness, his shoulders shaking. He stopped when he heard a surprised grunt from Ymir, he had almost forgotten she was on his shoulders like usual. But now that she was here, he had an important question;

"Ymhir. Whhatss mhy nhayme?"

In his mind, it was such a simple question, one that required a one word answer at most, so when his friends response was too have her eyes bulge, and brows shoot into her hairline, he found himself confused.

"Nhayme nhot somfhing ei chan teell yooou. Yooou haave too mhake nhayme yoorsehlf!"

His head cocked to the side, was that right? He'd have to find his own name? But how? How does one go about finding their name? How did Ymir find her name? These question that were itching to come halted when Ymir spoke again.

"Whe diffrent too humaans. Humaans ghet nhaymes wheen bhorn!"

His head remained cocked, humans got their names when they were born? He was aware of what being born meant, he had seen many animals give birth to their young, so humans went through a similar process and when born, they received their names? He found the process strange, what if the human hated their given name when they grew? What then? However, if Ymir's words brought more questions, it did finally allow him to understand the main point; he'd have to find his own name. But what goes in finding one's name? He'd have to think some more on this, perhaps he could find his name during one of his nightly hunts? By himself with no-one to disturb him, maybe he'd find it there?

He figured it was at least worth a shot.

Later…

He made sure Ymir was comfy as she slept before he left. And quickly found himself wondering the vast forest he lived in, just taking in the sights for once, he almost chuckled, he spent so long wanting to stop watching and here he was doing exactly that! Irony didn't even begin to cover it. He didn't know for how long he simply strolled, he hadn't even come across any 'sleeping' titans, perhaps they had finally taken the hint and found out this forest was off-limits, a safe haven for he and Ymir, as well as the humans.

Humans… Ymir isn't so happy about humans.

It was true, where he adored the small race, wishing to protect them constantly, Ymir was almost uncaring about their fate, seemingly more interested in her own and his well-being. Which was honestly touching, but he did wish she would at least see them the same way he did. He wasn't stupid, he was well aware that there were some very bad humans, ones worse than his kind, ones that would leave their young to be slaughtered by his kind so that they may escape. But then, for every bad humans, he'd recall a good one, one that would blindly rush his kind to give time for their young to escape. Ones that would willingly fight his kind to save others! And humans like his little ones; just so thankful for his help. Humans were both a beautiful and horrible race. And he loved them, he wanted to protect them, keep them safe from his monstrous kind, his kind who did not have the same complexity as the humans, who did not feel. That was what separates his kind from the humans; the ability to feel, and he was so grateful he could. So very grateful.

He stopped, his musings had touched upon his empty feeling; a name. What did the humans have to do with his name? He racked his mind for any possible answer but found himself wanting. He growled at himself, he felt like he was so close to finding his name, but as soon as he realised it, it slipped through his fingers. He sighed, steam flowing from his mouth, it was time to head back now, he could feel his energy waning ever closer to empty. So with a heavy heart he returned to his abode. Who knows? Maybe he'd find his name in the morning?

The Sixth Month…

He hadn't found his name. And it certainly wasn't through the lack of trying! He had spent almost most of his time trying to find his name, it frustrated him so much, it also frustrated Ymir apparently, as she had slapped him once again and told him; "dhon't fohcus soo muchh, yoor pisssin mehh offf!" Ymir had also assured him that his name would come to him in time and that he simply couldn't force it. So he had calmed down on the name front, however he then found his interest caught by something quite curious.

Those humans that swing with cables were back in the forest. And they were moving ever closer to their cave. Something ymir was not happy with at all! Which meant only one thing, he'd have to convince them to leave, he couldn't risk a confrontation between the humans and Ymir, who knows if they'd attack first or that even Ymir would attack first, he trusted her not too, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Obviously he could not go to the humans during the day, not with Ymir with anyway, so the logical conclusion was to go to them at night. A big risk for him sure, he'd be lethargic and if the humans decided to attack, then he'd probably be at their mercy, he wasn't sure if push came to shove that he'd be able to attack them back. In his mind, if he did that he'd be as bad as the rest of his kind. Something he internally swore to never become like.

He'd rather die than become one of them.

So as he watched Ymir fall asleep, he pulled some foliage up to her covered neck, very recently, he had started to bring some things into the cave to better their comfort, soft foliage for bedding etc… after he was sure she'd be warm, he headed out into the night, not before brushing some of Ymir's long hair off her face and back over her shoulders. And for some inexplicable reason, he also placed his lips upon her forehead and planted a small kiss, he didn't know where the action had come from, but couldn't stop the wide smile that formed on his face, when Ymir seemed to unconsciously smile.

What a strange thing to do…

But he could ponder later, it was time to find these inquisitive humans, he only hoped he could make them leave peacefully.

Later… with the humans…

They were camped up in the trees, hammocks attached to strong enough branches, their non-essential gear held in wagons at the base of the trees, horses resting next to them. It was safe to do so, everyone knew that titans lost function during the night, it was too bad it was far too risky to use their 3DMG at night; it being too dark and all, most soldiers were more likely to kill themselves by crashing, then kill helpless titans. However a select few of these humans were not sleeping, instead discussing they very reason they found themselves in this forest.

"Okay, lets go over the plan one more time".

"Erwin, we've been over the plan four times already, if someone still doesn't know what we're doing, they deserve to be titan shit."

"Be that it may Levi, this plan is perhaps the most dangerous the scouting legion has ever attempted. So if I wish to repeat the plans a fifth time, I will do; we can't accept failure… not this time."

Levi was silent this time, accepting his commanders reasonings, Hange and Mike were already waiting for the plan to be relayed, Hange almost bouncing in her hammock from excitement. The imposing blond man takes a moment to collect his thoughts; "tomorrow morning we will be heading further into the forest, to where we suspect the defender Titan's home-territory is, this has been estimated over the past months due to the fewer titans that have been passing through the part of the forest. According to Hange, this is most likely because the defender titan has been hunting its own kind. Now for what reason this is, is purely speculation." Hange practically craned her neck forward; "I have theorised that the defender titan is doing what it can to defend us by killing his own kind." Levi simply quirked a brow in response whilst Mike rubbed his bearded chin; "that could be true, according to the many reports from the garrison about the defender when it attacked the armoured one, it seemed to have done so in perhaps an attempt to save as many humans as possible…" the other three stare at the tallest among them; who simply huffs; "I may be quiet most of the time, but I do my research."

Erwin chuckled; "of-course you do Mike, forgive my surprise." His amusement fades; "anyway. Even though Hange has theorised as such, I fully expect everyone to treat this defender titan as a incredibly dangerous titan, friendly or not, if we are attacked by it, I expect it to be dealt with; quickly, do I make myself clear?" His received three serious nods of the head. He smiles, "good, now if the defender is what we hope; friendly to the human race, our objective is to study it and perhaps find a way to have it assist us with retaking the walls." Levi leans back into his hammock, a pensive look on his face; "how come you haven't informed the upper brass about the defender's possible location Erwin?" To his credit, the calculating individual does not physically react, only twisting his sight to his much shorter comrade; "and if this was true, may I inquire as to where you got this news?"

"If you have to ask that, you're dumber than I thought… Sir". That was all he said to the question, before closing his eyes, fully intending to get some sleep before the coming dawn.

Hange tilts her head curiously at this 'revelation' "is this true Erwin? Why wouldn't you inform the Garrison or the Military police?" She gets no answer for a few deafening silent moments, the man in question showing no visible signs of thinking the question over, merely holding his answer to increase the tension. "If this were to be true Hange, let us say that I actually 'did not' inform the upper brass, why may that be?" Although, before the eccentric woman could answer, Mike voiced his own thought; "because if the upper-brass of the garrison and the Military Police found out about this potentially; incredibly dangerous titan, they would have an order for it's immediate termination out right, no questions asked." He narrows his eyes onto Erwins ever so slightly "isn't that the case sir?"

"Hypothetically, yes, yes that would be the case Mike. Besides a select few, both sections of our military might would want the defender dead. I however, find that idea very much foolish." An almost knowing smirk crawled onto his face "of-course, this is all based upon the mere 'rumor' that I have not informed them… is that understood?" Mike simply nods his head, whilst Hange gives an overly enthusiastic thumbs up, very much willing to keep such a 'secret' if it meant protecting this 'defender' titan.

Her intrigue was piqued far too much to be denied by some damn morons who had never seen a titan before, nevermind fought one.

"Very well, I'm glad you all understand, now I recommend that we all get ourselves a good night's rest..."

"Erwin! I smell a titan!"

In mere moments, the four were up onto their feet, the previously 'sleeping' Levi the first to have drawn his blades, eyes scanning the enshrouding darkness from all sides.

"Where Mike? I can't see a damn thing in this godforsaken darkness!" He hissed. Meanwhile Hange was muttering excitedly to herself; "but how could a titan be awake now? Could it be the defender? Is it a special one?" Levi was unable to slap the woman into her senses as Mike pointed his sword directly behind them "it's there!" the other three turned to see perhaps the most bizzare sight they would ever see. It was the defender titan, the one who attacked the armoured titan, it was just there, but what made it all the more strange was the titans demeanor; it was not charging them hungry for flesh, nor was it dumbfoundingly shambling towards them, no it just stood there, half hidden by a large tree, camouflaged into the darkness, if it were not for Mike's sense of smell, they'd most likely have never noticed it. Erwin realised this; "how long do you thing it's been there for?" he whispered, his eyes never leaving the titans now visible deep blue eyes, and he realised that its eyes were far too 'human' to be simply another mindless titan. Mike spoke up; "I just smelt it then, I didn't smell its scent draw near, I…" he pauses, as if unnerved by the next piece of information; "I think its been there the whole time…" And before anything else could be done, Hange swung forward onto a closer branch and waved enthusiastically "hi there! Oh my god! Aren't you just beautiful!" Levi, even knowing Hange for as long as he did could not comprehend her actions, he was just shocked.

"I am going to kill her".

Scratch that, he was furious, however, before he could dispatch with Hange's due punishment for being a moron, the four were once again stopped in their tracks, as the titan ever so slightly moved from behind the tree and did something that Hange almost squealing in pure joy.

It waved back.

It fucking WAVED back!

Levi had to pinch himself just to be sure he wasn't having some kind of lucid dream/nightmare. Levi was only thankful that the rest of the expedition were much higher into the trees, and prayed they would not be woken by Hange's incesscent squealing.

They really didn't need that clusterfuck to happen right now.

"Oh my god! Do you understand us? Were you watching us this entire time? Are you a friend to humanity? How're you active at night like this?" Hange's questions came a mile a minute and even thought it was still so very dark, Levi could've sworn he saw an amused smirk appear on the titans face for a brief moment, it couldn't have been through, it must have been a trick of his vision, the darkness playing with him… right? Erwin just continued to watch, he had already sheathed his blades, and allowed Hange to keep with her questioning, determining it to be a decent procedure to test the defender's attitude towards humans. That is, until the titan revealed the rest of his form, and crept slowly towards them, stopping a decent distance away.

They could see it much clearer now. And if one word could describe this single titan in Erwin's mind it would be;

Dangerous.

Everything he saw about this titan was dangerous, It's physique was perfect to say the least, it's gaze; chilling, its mouth; horrifying with the few shark-like teeth that were peeking out over its lips. Its fiery red hair splayed all arounds its shoulders and neck alluded to a vision of a demon. And its claw like fingers, practically designed to rip and tear flesh. However, even though the titan just screamed dangerous, Erwin didn't feel like it was dangerous to them. As its deep, piercing eyes held a softness to them, how its razor sharp teeth poked over its lips because it was smiling. But it was dangerous alright;

Dangerous to its kind.

The titan moved once again, this time grabbing one of the many broken tree branches from the floor, its eyes never leaving the four humans. It weighted the stick for a moment, most likely judging its usability for whatever it deemed to do.

If that fucking thing has figured out how to use weapons, we're fucked…

But it was not a weapon. No…

The four highest ranked members of the scouting legion looked on as the titan; the dangerous defender of humanity began to use the branch to WRITE in the mud below. So shocked the humans were that they did not have enough time to react when suddenly the titan, finished with writing waved once again, and bolted into the night, as fast as it could possible go.

Which was pretty damn fast.

Immediately Levi and Hange began to move after, but Erwin ordered them to halt.

"But Erwiiin! My beauty's getting away!" The commanding man just raised a single blonde brow at Hange until she relented. He then swung himself down towards the floor, where the titan had finished writing. His fellow scouts right behind him.

"We need some light…"

"I got it." Supplied Mike, already lighting a candle he had grabbed from the wagon. He passed it over to Erwin, who illuminated whatever the titan had written. "Well, what does out precious baby have to say!" gushed Hange, filled with absolute giddiness over what just happened. Erwin stalled for a moment before moving aside, keeping the light over the writing.

PLEASE LEEVE. DANGER.

"Holy fuck…"

"Quite right" agreed Erwin, already his mind working a mile a minute to figure out their next action. And as Hange almost fainted due to the sheer bliss she felt, Erwin found their next move.

"Once dawn breaks, before the titans 'awaken', we return to Trost… I believe it would be best to follow our… 'friend's warning, I for one would hate to jeopardise whatever comradery we may gain with the titan if we ignore its warning. His fellow scouts simply nodded, either too freaked out/excited/shaken to form their words correctly. Erwin accepts their responses; "we can return at a later date and try to communicate with the defender again, so far we have already discovered it can understand our language and even write in it to a degree… the question is… where did it learn this?" No-one had an answer to that brain-teasing question.

And that was the scariest part to Erwin.

Later with him...

When he would return in the morning to check whether the humans had left, he had been pleased to find no evidence of their being there, as well as their collective scent heading back towards the wall. He had managed to prevent a confrontation and for that he was glad.

He honestly wasn't sure who he would side with if it ever came to blows between Ymir and the humans. He could only pray and hope it never came down to finding out

Now if only he could find his own name, it'd make this morning even better.

Alas it wasn't to be on this fine summer's day.

Maybe next month?

Chapter 3 finished

So, originally, this whole thing was going to be one chapter, but that would have taken up around 20K words in one chapter, and even though I prefer longer chapters, reading a 20K chapter can just get stuffed. I really hoped you enjoyed this part 1! Let me know what you think, what do you think about the kind titan? Do you like him? Hate him? As always I appreciate any comment/follow/favourite I get.

This is Gavin Tyson Signing off on this chapter and remember;

Better Things Are Coming.