Title: o valkyrie, arise

Rating: T

Summary: In the year 843, a strange young girl shows up on the doorsteps of Grisha's clinic in Shiganshina. Consequently, the future takes two steps to the right and skips sideways. [Tybur!OC, AU]

Warnings: Descriptions of violence, injury.

AN at bottom.

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o valkyrie, arise

"01: descent unto paradise"

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"Dr. Jaeger? Dr. Jaeger, there's another patient waiting for you outside."

Grisha Jaeger straightens at the call, turning towards the doorway. "Ah, thank you for letting me know. I'll be right over."

The young nurse bobs her head in a quick nod, then disappears behind the doorframe. It doesn't take long before the sound of her footsteps fade entirely in the corridor. Clinics are always busy places, and as one of the few medical clinics of Shiganshina, it's no surprise that everyone is constantly hurrying back and forth between their tasks.

Grisha carefully sets aside the files he'd been working with, then heads for the doorway himself.

Just like his young coworker had mentioned, his next patient is waiting for him on one of the rickety old chairs right outside his office, leaning back against the hallway. Curiously enough, it's a quiet young girl sitting there alone by herself, with no family or friends accompanying her. While Grisha is a trusted doctor after all these years, usually patients tend to be accompanied by others when visiting the clinic –even children who look to be in their late teens. Come to think of it, hers is a new face. Perhaps she's visiting from another district?

Regardless, the doctor smiles gently and does his best to put the young woman at ease. "Hello, there. What's your name?"

A slow blink, and the girl raises her head. For a moment, she does not speak, only regards him quietly, and Grisha does his best to remain open and friendly despite the unexpected scrutiny. Dark hair, fair skin, gray-green eyes. Although looking a little scruffy and beat-up, as if she's seen some rough days on the road, it doesn't look like there's anything wrong with the teenager's health –but he could be wrong.

"… Hilda," she finally says after a brief pause. Then, with a certain sort of deliberate inflection to her next words, "My name is Hilda Tybur."

The good doctor freezes, eyes widening.

In this moment, it's almost as if a bucket of ice-cold water has been upended over his head, numbing his veins. For a single instant, Grisha Jaeger can do nothing but stare blankly at this self-proclaimed 'Tybur' in front of him.

A child of the Tybur family…? No, it was impossible. Impossible!

The Tybur family, though highly honored, always kept to themselves with their isolationist traditions. Their rare public appearances, few as they were, had always been solely limited to the upper circles of high society. So a Tybur, traveling to Paradis Island, the 'Land of Devils,' sitting in the decrepit chair of a run-down clinic and staring blankly into his face? Unthinkable.

And yet.

Grisha's fists clench as he is abruptly forced to reevaluate the 'harmless' young woman in an entirely new light.

"… If you are truly a Tybur… then… what are you doing here?" he asks hoarsely. Thump, thump, goes his heartbeat, gradually accelerating with a nauseating mixture of fear and alarm. Why is there a Tybur sitting here in front of him? Is this another one of Marley's twisted plans, perhaps? Is Marley finally making a move for the Founding Titan?

The girl cocks her head at him, ignoring his question entirely. "Don't be like that, now. Is this really any way to be treating the daughter of one of your old friends, Grisha Jaeger?"

Old friends. Old friends?! Grisha certainly had not ever had contact with anyone from the Tybur family, not even back when–

"Oh my, is that why you insisted on seeing Dr. Jaeger? I'm afraid that the good doctor has amnesia regarding most of his past memories."

Grisha jerks, spinning around only to find the young nurse from earlier smiling apologetically towards the young girl. The Tybur. Hilda Tybur, she'd called herself–

"… Amnesia?" the odd girl repeats, with a strange sort of twist to her voice. Blatant disbelief, thinly-veiled skepticism. It's nothing short of a miracle that the young nurse does not notice anything amiss.

"Yes! It was lucky that he was found by the Scouts before the Titans –I mean, before anything –err…" The woman fumbles and breaks off in the middle of her words, clearly flustered. "Sorry, Dr. Jaeger, I didn't mean to imply that anything would've happened! Shiganshina is lucky to have you here with us."

"Thank you," Grisha says faintly.

The Tybur girl blinks slowly. Her gaze cuts back towards the doctor himself, sharp and unnerving. "… So, you do not remember. Is that right?"

No. Of course not. Grisha remembers his past, he remembers everything –how could he forget, how could he ever forget what Marley did to his comrades, his fellow patriots– but the open hallway of a medical clinic within the Walls is hardly an appropriate place to be discussing such topics.

"Take her home with you today, Dr. Jaeger," the oblivious young nurse suggests. "If you were once acquainted with her parents… maybe she can help jog your memories? And, she arrived by herself to the clinic today, I'm worried… I'm worried that…"

Grisha gives the teenager a look that he dearly hopes communicates the message of Not here, we will discuss matters elsewhere, before he turns and smiles at the nurse. "Of course. That would be for the best, I think."

Hilda Tybur watches their exchange silently.

To say that Grisha is hesitant to bring this unexpected visitor home with him is a massive understatement. But if not him, then who? Out of all the people living within the Walls, Grisha is the only one who understands the danger of what a Tybur's presence here implies. He cannot leave her unchecked to her own devices. Moreover… she had deliberately sought him out. Which meant that there was something she wanted from him, surely? And if she couldn't get it from him directly, then…

Eren. Carla.

No. No, Grisha would not risk his family. But for a Tybur to find him like this… there's only one possible explanation that Grisha can think of for it.

They know.

The Attack Titan. The Tybur family knew that Grisha held the Attack Titan, and had finally tracked him down to reclaim it for Marley. To think that such a day would come…

No, things cannot end like this!

In the evening after Grisha finishes his practice in the clinic for the day, he leaves with a young dark-haired girl in tow. But he does not take her home. Instead, Grisha heads for the forests, deeper and deeper into the secluded woods. Even though he knows that his family would surely worry at his late return, that his son would scowl and his wife would bite her lip in concern, Grisha cannot risk it. He cannot risk bringing a Tybur directly to his home.

"Is this far enough?"

The two of them are deep into the woods right now, the entire world cast dark by the missing light of the setting sun.

Grisha stops walking and squares his shoulders. "… Yes. It is."

A beat of silence. Then, "Perhaps we started off on the wrong foot. That's my mistake, and I apologize for any undue alarm. You may not believe me, but I truly am not here under the orders of the Marleyan government, nor the Tybur family."

The doctor stiffens, then spins around. What?

"I was not lying earlier, when I told you that my father was one of your old friends. Or… I assume that you would've at least known of each other, even if you were not personally well-acquainted with him in particular." The girl blinks seafoam-green eyes up at him, calm and unperturbed. "He was, after all, one of you Eldian Restorationists."

Grisha stares at the girl, a girl who's far too young to know the true weight of the words coming out of her mouth. Information that couldn't possibly be true…!

The doctor swallows roughly, throat dry. "There were no Tyburs among the Restorationists."

"None that you knew of," the young woman counters serenely. "My father never went by the Tybur name, during his time in Liberio. He called himself Sige Tyr, but he was born Sigebert Tybur."

Sige. Sige Tyr… Grisha remembers the man. Dark-haired, green-eyed, just like the young woman standing before him right now. Sige had always been a solemn, quiet sort of man –but the passion inside him to restore their fallen nation had burned, just as brightly as it had in any true Eldian. And like all the others, Sige had worked tirelessly for the cause, for the future of Eldia–

Until Grisha's own son had betrayed them all, selling out his own parents and the entirety of the Eldian Restorationists to the Marleyans.

A twinge of pain, guilt, lances through Grisha's heart at the reminder. All the Restorationists, all his fellow comrades who had believed in him –dead. Dead, or turned into Titans, which was arguably a fate worse than death itself. All because Grisha himself had been a failure of a father, of a leader. Yet here he stood, the only one still alive and human.

Or at least, as human as one could be considered, when they held the power of one of the Nine Titans.

"I… I remember Sige," Grisha admits to the girl. To Hilda. To the daughter of one of his brothers-in-arms, who had died for Grisha's own arrogance and foolishness. He remembers Sige, and with bittersweet memories drifting to the forefront of his mind, he finally sees the resemblance now. Hilda has her father's eyes. "He was… a good man."

"… He was, wasn't he?" The dark-haired girl muses, with the sort of vague, detached wistfulness that comes when one looks back upon a fond childhood memory. Her next words, however, are chilling to the bone. "He cut his ties to the Tybur family and left because of the world's injustice towards the Eldians. But when the Marleyan soldiers came… he sent me back to the family that he'd worked so hard to escape. I guess that's the only reason why I'm not dead or wandering this island as a Pure Titan today like him."

Grisha flinches at the quiet, matter-of-fact tone that the girl's voice had taken.

"Are you… here for revenge?"

The young girl blinks as if genuinely surprised by that question, and promptly shakes her head. "No. My father died fighting for what he believed in. What is there for me to seek vengeance for?"

"Then, why are you here? Why find me?" Grisha asks. What could possibly drive such a Marleyan child to Paradis, the island where 'devils' resided?

For a moment, silence reigns in the forest clearing. While it's clear by this point that Hilda Tybur is not a danger, it's still far too early for Grisha to rest easy. Even if the girl was the child of a Restorationist, considering that she had been raised by the Tybur family–

"I suppose… well, there's no good reason, really. I guess I just wanted to know."

Grisha blinks, surprised. "Excuse me?"

"I just wanted to know," she repeats slowly, with a distant look in her eyes. "I wanted to know… why my father fought so hard for Eldia. He was a Tybur. The suffering of Eldians… has never touched the Tybur family. But he left. Was this really worth becoming a mindless Titan for?"

A child, asking him why her father was dead. Why her father chose death, chose the tortured existence of a Pure Titan on Paradis Island, rather than lower his head and return to the safety of the Tybur family.

Grisha's lips move, but no sound comes out. What can he say? There is no right answer to this, and it's not something that he can even answer for in the first place. It's something he has no right to answer for, not anymore.

"… Why didn't my father return to the Tybur family with me?" Hilda asks softly, a quiet whisper that's barely audible in the nighttime wind. It would've been better if her voice had trembled, if she had cried out plaintively and anguished –but no. This entire time during their conversation, her voice has never wavered once from its dull, lifeless cadence, and that's perhaps the worst part about it all.

Grisha can't answer her questions.

He can't do anything, aside from numbly telling her, "I'm sorry."

For a long moment, Hilda does not respond.

"It's not your fault," she finally says. The words should be absolution, but it isn't. It was Grisha's mistake that had cost the girl her father's life, and any future that the Restorationists would've had. "I suppose… I'll admit, it was quite impulsive of me to sneak aboard one of the prisoner ships to Paradis like this. But I couldn't… I didn't want to wait any longer, before I… I just wanted to finally find some answers. That's all."

Grisha stiffens, jerking up with sudden shock at this new detail as he looks at her in incredulous disbelief. "You ran away from the Tybur family?"

The girl glances and shrugs stiffly, suddenly looking every inch the rebellious teenager her age. "It wasn't like I would've gotten permission from asking nicely. My father did the same thing when he ran away to Liberio, didn't he? I guess… I'm just living up to the blood here."

Grisha stares at the teenager, stunned into silence. Is she insane? He'd thought she had a good head on her shoulders from his initial impressions, but clearly that wasn't the case. What sane child would run away to a dangerous island infested with Pure Titans for something as vague as 'answers,' for heaven's sake?!

"But how did you know I was here?" he eventually asks with no small amount of confusion. "You couldn't have possibly known I was still alive. The only one who…"

The only one who would've known that Grisha was alive and well in any manner, was the Owl. Eren Kruger. But Kruger was dead. He was dead, because he had chosen to pass on the Attack Titan to Grisha, because Grisha had devoured him alive–

"I had a hunch," the girl responds, which is a non-answer if he's ever heard one. "Did you think that you were the only one Kruger saved?"

Grisha startles, shaken out of his spiraling thoughts. "What?"

"… Ah, I guess you wouldn't have known. Kruger was actually the one who brought me back to the Tyburs, when my father… decided to remain with the Restorationists."

It's strange. She'd introduced herself as Hilda Tybur, but the way she talks about the Tybur family is markedly distanced, cold and clinical. Well. Grisha can certainly hazard a guess as to why that might be the case, given that her father had chosen to turn his back on his family and joined up with the Eldian Restorationists all those years ago.

But even so… even so, the Tybur family had still taken her in, after Marleyan authorities dismantled the organization. Had cared for her, these past years. It's hard to imagine that the Tyburs wouldn't care if one of their own ran off to Paradis Island as a stowaway, not to mention–

An entirely different type of horror seizes Grisha's throat as a sudden thought strikes him.

From the harbor to the Walls… it's quite the spectacular distance to travel. And with all the Pure Titans roaming around, dangerous. It's not the sort of journey such a young girl is capable of making by herself all on her own, not unless…

"I will not press you on matters that you prefer to keep secret, Hilda. But please answer me this one question, at the very least. Are you…" Grisha falters for a moment, "Are you the War Hammer Titan?"

The War Hammer Titan. One of the Nine. The power that was passed down from one generation to the next in the Tybur family, that allowed a human to wield the powers of a Titan.

Hilda's gaze drifts to the ground. "That's a foolish question, Grisha Jaeger. I told you, my father was an Eldian Restorationist. I ran away from the Tybur family on my own to come here, to Paradis. Do you really think the Tybur family would be so careless with such an important asset? That they would risk even the slightest chance of losing the family's treasure to the 'Island of Devils?'"

"… No, I suppose not."

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Hilda first became aware of something not right in this world when a man threw a rock at her head when she'd been cheerfully skipping down the streets. Entirely unprovoked, and for no discernible reason.

The jagged rock had clipped the side of her temple, and she'd let out a startled cry of pain, clutching at her face as blood dribbled down in long rivulets. No one else on the streets at the time had given the sight a second glance. In fact, some had even hefted up their own rocks to throw at her –and Hilda had fled, hurt and confused and terrified for her life.

"It's because we're Eldians," her father had explained to her, much later that day. His large, calloused hands had been firm and gentle as they carefully cleaned the little girl's cuts and wrapped coarse bandages around the worst of her injuries. Hilda relaxed into her father's touch. "Our blood is special. We are the only race able to turn into Titans –and the world both hates and fears us for it. For the sins of our ancestors in ages long past. For the crimes that we may still commit in the future yet to come."

In her memories, her father's hands were always warm.

Eldians turn into Titans when injected with a Titan's spinal fluid. Mindless, gigantic, man-eating monsters. It's why the rest of the world calls them devils. Looking at the facts objectively like this, they're not wrong.

But they're also not right, because Hilda knows that her father is hardworking and kind. Miss Ingrid is always willing to give the children an extra biscuit or two out of her own rations, and Old Amir knows the best ways to pick out skipping-pebbles from the riverbank, on the rare occasions that they are permitted to step outside the internment zone.

Hilda also knows that such thoughts are dangerous, and so she takes care to never voice any of them aloud.

Maybe that's why her father hurriedly bundled her off to Kruger, the night the Marleyan soldiers came.

You are a Tybur. The blood of a savior runs through your veins –this is the proud legacy of our family. We are not like the rest of the Eldian devils in this world. It's unfortunate that Sigebert could never understand that.

Well, he must've understood enough in his last moments, if he's seen fit to send his daughter back to the Tybur family.

Hilda remembers crying throughout the entire night. She's never known her mother. Her father is all she has –and he sent her away. Even though she'd vaguely understood that it was for her own safety, that her father had been trying to protect her… she didn't want to be protected. Hilda wanted her father!

She also wanted the scary images that had started flashing across her eyes the moment Eren Kruger had taken hold of her hand to go away.

Wire spin, hissing, brave soldiers flying through the air.

Titans roaring, biting down. Blood, blood, blood–

Enemies, enemies everywhere. The entire world is our enemy?

…

A low tremor. A violent shake. One, two. Again and again.

A Rumbling that drowns the world in red, leaving only fire and ashes in its wake.

Hilda is all of six years old when she loses her father to a fate arguably worse than death, left with nothing but the threadbare clothes on her back and strange memories that don't belong to her filtering through her mind.

But that shouldn't be right, because knowing the past and future should be an ability that belongs to the Attack Titan–

How does she know that?

… Hilda doesn't know.

It takes a long time for Hilda to find any semblance of balance in her life again, after her father is gone. The Tybur family is cold, cold, cold. Her aunt looks at her with thinly-veiled distaste in her eyes, and her uncle regards her with something approaching pity. Hilda's father was the black sheep of the family, the only Tybur who insisted that Eldian is Eldian, we are all the same! Why should all Eldians throughout the world suffer just for being born who they are?

"From this day forth, your name is Brunhild Tybur," her grandfather informs her. Severe, unmoving. "Since your father has seen the error of his ways and has decided to use his life to atone for it, I will allow his blood to return to the family. See to it that you do not make me regret this decision, child."

"Yes, Grandfather."

Aunt Lara sniffs and leaves the room without so much as a second glance. Uncle Willy gives her a vaguely apologetic look, but turns and hurries after his sister.

Her father had left the Tybur household when he turned eighteen, denouncing the family's traditions and declaring that he would work to make a difference for the Eldians of the world. Hilda runs from the Tyburs a week after she turns seventeen, curling herself into the storage box of a prison barge bound for Paradis Island.

Paradis. The infamous island that King Fritz had retreated to when the Marleyans claimed victory in the war, where he'd raised three massive walls of Colossal Titans and threatened to destroy the world unless he was left in peace. Paradis, the land of devils.

… Assuming that her father hadn't been executed, this was the land where her father was wandering around as a Pure Titan as well.

Finding Grisha Jaeger hadn't been something that Hilda had planned deliberately, not exactly –much as the man himself seemed to believe otherwise, given the way how things turned out. Although, there's no denying that Hilda had certainly been… curious.

She just had to know. She'd wanted to know if reality really matched up in any way with the scattered visions she'd experienced for months, after coming into contact with Kruger that day. She'd wanted to know if the Eldian Restoration had really been worth it, all the pain suffered and lives lost.

She'd wanted to know if her father had truly meant it, that night when he'd hugged her with all the desperation of a man who knew that this would be the last time he would ever be able to hold his daughter again. When he'd looked at her with such a torn, anguished light in his eyes, then bent down to whisper against her ear, "I love you, Hilda. Don't try to avenge me, don't try to rebel against Marley, just… forget about everything and live happily, please."

Her father had sucked in a long, shuddering breath, laughing shakily. A broken laughter that bordered on tears as he lamented, "Ahh, your father is such a foolish man, but I really wish… I just really wish that I could've seen you grow up…"

"I love you too, Dad," Hilda wishes she had responded. But she hadn't thought to, not at the time. She'd been groggy and disoriented at being woken up in the middle of the night, panicked screams and shouts filling the air around her, and then someone had roughly yanked her out of her father's arms, and–

And Hilda never saw her father again.

Grisha Jaeger is nothing like her father. The doctor is a slim man, soft-spoken, and there is a light burning in his eyes –the sort of flame that her father's eyes have ever only hinted at, for all his fervent belief in restoring the Eldian Empire to its former glory once more.

But he takes her in, that day after she finds him in his clinic. Even though she is a Tybur, he still takes her in and welcomes her into his family, despite his misgivings and internal conflict.

Hilda meets his son, an energetic boy several years younger than her. The young boy looks up with clear eyes and says Hi, I'm Eren Jaeger, and Hilda is left to wonder if it's really true, the direction that their future is headed in. From the visions she had seen so many years ago, the future that awaits them all is nothing but a disaster.

Carla is sweet, is kind, is the mother that Hilda had never known she was missing in her life. She is also going to be crushed beneath the rubble of their fallen home and devoured by a Titan in less than three years, if the future visions that Hilda had seen are really true. Which is an alarming prospect that gnaws more and more at her with each passing day, but–

Who is Hilda, to try and mess with fate? To change destiny? … She hadn't even been able to do anything to save her own father. In this world, if the board has already been set… if everyone is a puppet, a slave to their given roles…

(The fate awaiting every Eldian Restorationist is death. Even if you're a Tybur.)

She's not exactly sure when things start changing for her, precisely. Maybe it's when she's fishing Eren out of a muddy puddle, after the little rapscallion had gotten caught up in another fight with the other boys in the neighborhood. Maybe it's when she's carrying groceries back from the market, and Mikasa quietly steps over to take a handful of groceries off of her arms. Maybe it's when she sits down at the table one morning and Carla puts down a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her with a warm smile, when Grisha glances up from where he's reading the newspaper and says, Good morning, Hilda–

Hilda isn't sure when Shiganshina starts becoming home, in a way that the frozen Tybur mansion had never been for her. When stepping into the Jaeger household and being greeted with smiles sets a warm flame alight in her chest, the sort of warmth she only has faint recollections of from her distant, short-lived childhood with her father.

It's… frightening.

And so she joins the military.

I'm aiming for the Military Police. It's a good way to get a better understanding of what's really going on within the Walls, is how she explains it to Grisha beneath the floors in the basement, when the man pulls her aside and valiantly attempts to dissuade her. I do not know Marley's plans, but I know that they have their sights set on the Founding Titan. Just as you do… or did, at one point. Don't look at me like that, Grisha. I appreciate your care and hospitality, but I've dallied long enough. This will be for the best.

Hilda gets scared, and so she runs. Isn't that what she's always done?

Of the entire family, only Eren is bright-eyed and supportive of Hilda announcing her intention to join the military –although the kid's expression quickly sours when Hilda says in no uncertain terms that she intends to join the Military Police. Carla relaxes in the background, while Grisha watches on solemnly.

And so, Hilda makes her escape into the 101st Training Corps.

The harsh training and strict regulations remind her of her days with the Tybur family. She'd grown soft, living with the Jaegers. Lost.

What was the reason why she'd decided to come to Paradis in the first place? What had she been thinking, playing family with those destined to die in imminent tragedies on the horizon?

What is she even doing?

"Spacing out again, Hilda?"

Hilda slants a quick look to the side. "None of your business, Petra."

"Rude!" The other girl pouts, cheeks puffing out in a small pout. "I bet you're homesick, just like Ilse. Right, Ilse?"

"Ehh?! Wait, why are you dragging me into this?"

… Homesick? Why would she be–

We'll always be your family, Hilda. Remember to come back and visit when you can, okay?

In the end, Hilda admits defeat. She doesn't know what she's doing anymore, if she ever even had in the first place. Coming to Paradis… was clearly a mistake. A mistake, because she somehow found herself a part of the Jaeger family, and…

And, she finds that she cares, she cares so fiercely and she wouldn't exchange this feeling inside her chest for anything else in the world, even if nothing comes out of her sentiments, in the end.

I love you, Hilda. Live happily, please.

It's time to stop running.

"RUN!"

Hilda freezes in her tracks, staring. No. No, this can't be! It's… it's too soon! Has it really been two years already?

She's still a ways out from Shiganshina proper, having finally been given leave for a family visit from her military training, but there's no mistaking it. There's no mistaking the clear silhouette of the Colossal Titan peeking over the walls, the boiling steam rising from its body hot enough to warp the very air itself, and–

It's almost as if the entire world itself shakes, when the Colossal Titan rears back and kicks, breaking the Wall.

… No.

No, no, no!

Hilda starts running.

"The Wall has been breached! I repeat: The Wall has been breached! Everyone, evacuation efforts are underway, we will be –oi, where do you think you're running, you… cadet? Wait, what the hell is a cadet doing here?!"

Hilda doesn't stop, not even as she bumps into people again and again. Most have the good sense to be running away from the breach, towards the inner walls, towards the evacuation efforts, towards safety –but Hilda doesn't. She can't. She needs to go home. Home, to where her family is.

This is her world, her reality. Not just fragmented memories of a possible future, not when it's crystallizing into reality right in front of her eyes this very moment.

Eren. Mikasa. Carla–!

Her head is pounding as she turns the corner of familiar streets, a dull headache building behind her temples as phantom not-memories begin blending with the present. Shedding all pretense of illusions and becoming reality. Titans lumber through the streets, reaching out for terrified citizens to devour with a bone-snapping crunch. Blood showers down, but no one has the time or energy to care. Everyone is running, running for their lives–

Too late.

Hilda catches sight of a Titan's hand coming down at her from above, and promptly dives through the window of the nearest building. The wooden panels snap and break apart easily beneath her weight, and Hilda drops into a roll across the room, hurtling out of the building from the other side.

Behind her, the Titan's hand demolishes the entire building. Terrified screams ring out in her wake –but Hilda has already clambered to her feet, and continues running.

There's a long, jagged piece of wooden splinter clenched tightly in her fist. Hilda doesn't recall picking it up. It's entirely useless as a weapon for fighting Titans, but Hilda holds onto it with a death grip regardless. Pity that she doesn't have her vertical maneuvering gear with her, but cadets are not permitted to remove equipment from the grounds for the duration of their training period. To think that this would be the day that the Colossal Titan arrived–

There.

There, the last corner. Hilda pushes herself harder in a dead sprint, and–

"Move! C'mon MOVE! Mikasa, help me! Mom is stuck underneath, we gotta get her out!"

Too late. Too late.

In the single moment it takes for Hilda to round the corner to the Jaegers' home, she registers three things: That Carla is caught under the collapsed section of the roof, that Eren and Mikasa are desperately trying to lift the rubble to save her, and that there is a blonde, grinning Titan bearing down on all three of them.

Where's Hannes?

The Garrison soldier that Hilda remembers saving the children… is nowhere in sight. Hilda herself has no vertical maneuvering gear to fly and carry the children away with. Carla is crying, begging for them to run, to leave her behind.

The girl's hands slowly curl into fists at her sides.

… Fate? Destiny? If this is they way things in this world are meant to be… fuck. That. She refuses to accept this! Even if it's undeniably selfish of her, she… she wants to protect the people she loves. The people who she has grown to care for and love, has come to think of as family.

There's no more time to think. No time to deliberate. If she hesitates, they will die.

Hilda's grip tightens on the jagged spire of wood in her hand. Then in the next moment, she drives it cleanly through her entire palm.

Blood paints the air in a crimson arc, and the world is engulfed in an all-blinding explosion of light.

.

.

…

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Edit 1/14/23: Ch 1-7 revised for timeline/age discrepancies. Chapter 8 posted.

Author's Notes:

Hello! This plot bunny was originally posted in cabbage patch, where I stash random OC snippets that I don't plan on developing into longer fics. However, this particular plot bunny also kept breaking out every time I tossed it back in, so. Here we are.

The first three chapters will be more or less the same as the original versions, with extra tidbits here and there, as well as some additional editing. Basic premise is just a Tybur!OC who's also the War Hammer Titan. Which has probably already been written a lot in the SNK/AOT fandom? Still a pretty fun idea to play around with, though.

As you can probably tell by the format and pacing of the first chapter, this is intended to be a relatively contained, condensed sort of drabble-like work. Intended.

Updates Tuesdays/Fridays for the next 2-3 weeks, and I'll revisit the update schedule again after that. Thanks for reading!

-XxZuiliu