A/N: It's been a while but I wrote another one! Here is the obligatory fairytale AU for Eremika. I hope you enjoy!


Her gloved hand was wrapped around the doorknob, a basket of food hanging from the crook of her arm. The sun was setting but if she left now she'd be sure to get to her grandmother's house before dark. If it was too late to return home she'd just stay the night. She was sure her grandmother wouldn't mind. "I'm leaving now, Levi," she called out.

As expected, her cousin's head popped out from the workshop. "Don't go," he said. He wiped his brow with the handkerchief that hung from his hip pocket. "I'll deliver it in a few minutes after I finish welding the horseshoes for the king's horses. I'm just about done." Like hell he was. No matter how badly he wanted to take Mikasa's place, she knew his obsession with perfection would prevent him from completing the horseshoes before it was dark outside.

"You know that's not true," she said. "It'll be dark out by the time you're done and by then it'll be too dark outside and our grandmother would have starved to death."

"It's dangerous out there," he growled, glowering at her.

Despite his short stature, Levi's stern gaze would have made even the bravest man cower but Mikasa didn't bat an eyelash. "I'll be fine," she told him, flashing him the dagger that hung from her belt. He was always going on about how dangerous it was at night, how the evil things in the forest came awake when the darkness came. She wasn't scared. She was more than capable of protecting herself.

Levi's mouth tightened into a thin line but she knew he wouldn't argue with her. He couldn't, not when he knew she was right. The most he could do was grumble about it while she went about her merry way. Honestly, she was eighteen now and didn't need him to baby her anymore. He could just be so stupidly protective sometimes. "Okay, but remember what I told you about that forest," he said, walking over to adjust the scarf around her neck. The rest of the town thought he was a bitter, grumpy man who could bite off someone's nose if given a good enough reason but Levi was really just a fussy mother hen, Mikasa thought.

"Right, right," she said, pulling away from her worried cousin. "Big ass tress."

He growled. "No, the other thing. The forest –"

"Comes alive at night," she said, rolling her eyes. "Fairies, goblins, wolves. Don't worry about it, Levi. I'll just spend the night over at Grandmother's if it's too dark to come back."

"Why does she need to live out in the middle of nowhere anyway," he grumbled.

"The woman likes her peace and quiet," Mikasa shrugged. "I'm surprised you haven't followed suit, considering how much you hate people." She smirked at her cousin.

He scowled and shoved her outside. Gently, of course, because he was a huge softie. "Just be back as soon as possible."

She rolled her eyes and waved him goodbye. He was such a worrywart. When she first came into his care, a child of only seven that had been orphaned after a rampaging fire had burned down her house and killed her parents, he was barely eighteen and the only relative nearby that was close enough to take her. Their grandmother had offered to take care of her but Levi had refused, stating that the woods were no place for a child to be raised. Except now she wondered if something in there really did spook him. He never let her in the woods when it was broad daylight to deliver things to their grandmother's house and that's only when he absolutely had no time to do it himself.

Several feet away from the house she turned and saw that the door was still open, Levi standing in the same spot he had been when she left despite the fact that he hated the cold. She had no doubt that he would leave the lights burning well into the night even though she might not make it back until the next morning. Well, it's his fault if he freezes his ass off, she thought as she pulled her hood over her head.

But, now that she thought about it, it was pretty quiet in the forest. She could hear every footstep she made. Each step she took seemed to echo throughout the forest. It was like there was nothing else there. While she could understand that most of the animals would probably be asleep right, she found it hard to believe that the forest would be this eerily quiet. She folded her arms across her chest, gripping her sides tightly, and quickened her pace. It wasn't that she was scared, she told herself. It was just that she wanted to get her grandma the basket of food before it got too late.

The wind blew by, whistling a sad song through the trees. Mikasa thought that the addition of sound would make the forest less creepy but she was wrong. The wind did more than rustle the leaves. It caressed her cheeks with cold fingers. It called her name, echoing it throughout the trees. She shivered, pulling the scarf closer to her face so it only left her eyes uncovered now. There was little she could do about the voices whispering in her ears so she forced herself to ignore them. They were probably just a figment of her imagination anyway, her paranoia running away with the idea that there really was something in the woods to fear. There were only trees and her silly mind, she told herself.

Was the road to her grandmother's house always this long? she thought to herself. The sky was a sunburnt orange now and the sun was probably near to touching the horizon. The trip usually only took fifteen minutes but Mikasa felt she had been walking for half an hour and her grandmother's house was still nowhere in sight. Her feet were beginning to ache but she didn't dare to slow her pace.

It must have been ten minutes later, the sun now setting for sure because she could see the cloak of night beginning to overtake the sky, when she heard tinkling laughter up ahead. Squinting her eyes, she could make out a faint light up ahead and she found herself running towards it, desperate to catch up to whatever travelers were there so she wouldn't have to wander around the forest alone. As she got closer, however, the laughter began to sound more like the jingle of bells. Mikasa soon found herself running towards a group of girls having a tea party. The light came from fireflies lazily flying about them, emitting more light than she had ever seen any of the little bugs give off. She froze in place, in awe of the strange sight. The girls were all blonde, blue-eyed, and had a sort of otherworldly beauty about them. A heavenly glow surrounded all of them and sparkles followed them whenever the moved. Wings were attached to their backs. They were so translucent and thin that Mikasa had thought she had just imagined them but perhaps she was imagining this whole entire thing.

One particular girl stopped mid-sip, noticing the girl with the scarlet scarf. "Oh look, it's her!" She delicately wiped her mouth with a handkerchief of lace before getting up to look over Mikasa curiously. "We've seen you, you know, whenever you go out to deliver to your grandmother. But you've never seen us until now." The girl was incredibly short and had to tilt her head up to properly observe Mikasa's face.

Mikasa blinked and shied away from the girl. No, she wasn't a girl. She was a fairy, Mikasa realized. But they only existed in fairytales…

"Don't be rude," another fairy said from the table. Her hair was short, only reaching her chin, and was a little more ginger than blonde but her eyes were just as blue as the others'. "Invite her to sit with us. She must be hungry having to travel so far when it's so late at night."

"Oh right!" the first fairy said. She tugged at Mikasa's sleeve. "Come, come! You should have something to eat. Don't be shy now. We always have too much food anyway."

"I'm really not hungry," Mikasa mumbled, trying to get her sleeve free of the little fairy's grip. She ended up being seated across from the last fairy, a girl with pale blonde hair done up in a ponytail and even paler blue eyes. Looking at her made Mikasa shiver. "I have to go. My grandmother…"

"At least have a cookie or something," the second fairy said, popping a sweet into her mouth. She shivered with pleasure as it melted in her mouth and then gave Mikasa a dazzling smile. When she saw Mikasa had not touched anything, she pushed a plate of cakes toward the girl. The pastries were decorated with flowers so detailed Mikasa would have thought they were real if the third fairy, one with short silvery-gold hair cut in a short bob and steel-blue eyes, hadn't just taken one and ate it.

"I couldn't possibly," Mikasa said but she couldn't take her eyes off of the different pastries. Just looking at them made her mouth water. It had been a while since she had a sweet and it all smelled so delicious as if everything were just freshly baked. She could just imagine all of that cream melting on her tongue and the rich, moist cakes filling her mouth. Tempted, she reached out but she remembered something.

She was sitting on her cousin's lap while he brushed her hair and told her a story, a nightly ritual of theirs when she was still a child. Tonight's story was about fairy sisters who held a feast in the forest at night whenever there was a full moon. "I want to eat fairy food," she said in the middle of the story. Her cousin wasn't very good at talking but he was a wonderful storyteller. He could make his words come to life and for a while she would believe in fairytales no matter how silly they seemed.

Levi let the brush clatter to the ground and whirled her around roughly. He gripped her by the shoulders tightly and she winced. "Mikasa, when a person eats fairy food they can never return to the human world," he said. His voice was quiet but was far from gentle. "Do you understand? They may serve the most delectable dishes before you but if you even so much as taste just a single drop of their wine or a crumb from their cakes, you can never come back."

"But it's just a story," she pointed out. "Isn't it, Levi?"

His grip on her loosened and he swallowed. "It's just a story," he repeated, although he didn't look like he believed that very much. His eyes avoided Mikasa as he picked up the fallen brush and he didn't finish the story. He only kissed the top of her head and told her to go to sleep.

She never fell asleep that night.

"I can't," she said, snapping out of her daze. It was then that she realized that she had already plucked a delicate éclair while she was remembering what her cousin told her. Horrified, she dropped it like it had burned her and she hastily wiped her fingers against her skirt.

If the fairies were offended, they didn't show it. They only observed her as she shoved her chair back and hurriedly got up, already walking away from the table.

"Come back soon," the first fairy called. Mikasa didn't turn back to look at her, afraid she'd be drawn in by their beauty and light.

"I don't think she's coming back," she heard the last fairy say. Her voice was very different from the others – cool and icy where theirs was friendly and warm.

It was strange. She was far away enough from them to be out of earshot but she could still hear every word they were saying. "Maybe she doesn't like sweets," the second fairy said. "Some humans are rather picky about their food, you know."

She didn't want to hear anymore. Mikasa was sprinting now, running faster than she ever had in her life. The wind was growing louder now, shrieking her name. It seemed she had stayed at the table longer than she had thought. She had only sat down for a few minutes or so but now it was pitch black. Glowing eyes popped out from bushes to stare at her as she ran passed. She swore she heard a goblin giggle once. A wolf howled. There were sounds of an animal behind her but whenever she turned around she couldn't see a thing. When she finally saw her grandmother's cabin she almost cried for joy. The light was out but her grandmother would no doubt shelter her from the horrors she had endured tonight.

Stumbling towards the little wooden house, Mikasa fumbled for the key in her pocket and hastily unlocked the door. "Grandmother," she said. She tried to hide the fact that she was crying but every word she said came out with a choked sob. "I'm here with the food. I'm sorry it took so long. The forest, it's so different at night."

She thought her grandmother would turn the lap on but she didn't. "Oh, dear, don't worry," she heard a voice say. It was quiet and raspy. She didn't remember Levi ever mentioning her grandmother being sick but perhaps she had just gone down with a sore throat today. "Just leave the basket near the door. Come sit next to me, dear. You must be so tired after walking all the way here."

Mikasa tentatively walked towards her grandmother's bed. She didn't know where her grandmother had put the lamp so she couldn't light it to see better but she still made her way to the bed. "Grandmother, your voice sounds…different," she said. "Cousin Levi didn't mention anything about you being sick."

"Just a small cold," her grandmother coughed. "Come closer, sweetheart. You know I love seeing your lovely face." Her grandmother's face turned to look at her and her eyes were a startling blue. Ackerman eyes were always gray though… Perhaps it was a trick of the light?

She sat down on the stool beside her grandmother's bed reluctantly. "It's rather dark in here, isn't it?" she said, pulling her scarf away from her mouth so her grandmother could hear her better. "Is it alright if I start a fire or light a lantern?" When she made a move to rise from her chair, a hand quickly grabbed her arm.

"That won't be necessary, dear," her grandmother said. Her grip on Mikasa's arm was like an iron vice. Was her grandmother always that strong? "The light hurts my eyes anyhow." Her grip on her granddaughter tightened and Mikasa gasped in pain.

"You're hurting me," Mikasa said, trying to wrench herself away from her grandmother. When she looked at her grandmother, her eyes widened in shock and her free hand flew to the dagger at her side.

Her grandmother wasn't the one sitting in the bed. A girl her own age was sitting there. She was wearing Mikasa's grandmother's clothing, the hood of her cloak partially hiding her face. Wisps of light blonde hair escaped her hood. Now that she was staring face-to-face with the stranger, Mikasa could see that her eyes really were blue but there was something not quite human about them. They were more animal than human. And her teeth, oh god, her teeth were pointed like a…

"Wolf," Mikasa whispered.

The wolf-girl smirked. "At least you're slightly smarter than your grandmother," she said, tossing her head so that her hood would fall. She sung her legs over, pulling Mikasa closer to her. "But you're still going to end up the same way as her. Dead."

Mikasa unsheathed her dagger and instinctively dug it into the wolf's side.

"You little bitch!" the wolf howled, immediately letting go of Mikasa. She clutched at spot where Mikasa had stabbed her and grunted in pain as she pulled out the dagger. The wolf frowned at it with distaste as she dropped it, letting it clatter to the floor.

Silver, Mikasa remembered. Her cousin told her that he had made the dagger out of silver for her when she was younger. And silver was always used to kill werewolves. For a split second she thought about grabbing it from the floor but decided against it. Even if she had been stabbed, the wolf-girl seemed like she had enough strength to catch Mikasa if she didn't flee first. So flee she did. Or at least she tried to.

She was only able to reach the door, hand almost at the doorknob, when the wolf tackled her from behind. Her face was pressed to the floor and she shrieked. A hand grabbed her head only to roughly rub her face against the ground. The wolf brought her face near Mikasa's and Mikasa saw the wolf flash her a toothy grin from the corner of her eyes. "Nice try, girly, but you're hardly a match for me even in my human form," she said. Her breath smelled like blood and death. "Any last words before I eat you?"

Mikasa struggled to raise her head against the wolf's hand. "Help me please!" she shouted. Her cousin was over a mile away but if there was anyone who could protect her it was him. He had to know she was in trouble. He just had to. "Please somebody!"

The wolf slammed Mikasa's head down so hard that she could taste blood in her mouth. "Don't be stupid," the wolf snarled. "There's no one out here except you, me, and the other wolves." And then she began to transform. If Mikasa thought the wolf's form was monstrous, with its human features combined with frighteningly animal-like eyes and teeth, then the wolf's true form was even more so. Her face elongated to form a snout and her jaw widened, allowing her to bare even more of her pointed teeth. Fur grew all over her body – a pale white-blonde like her human hair. She was absolutely massive, now twice Mikasa's size.

Mikasa closed her eyes as she waited for the wolf to take the first bite. Please make it quick, she prayed. She shivered when she felt the wolf's breath hot on her neck.

But before the wolf could dig her teeth into Mikasa's neck, the door broke open, sending a shower of splinters onto them. The next thing Mikasa knew, another wolf had dragged the first wolf off of Mikasa. It was shaggy and brown but just as large as the white-blonde wolf. The new wolf sank its teeth into the wolf-girl and she howled in pain.

Mikasa scrambled to sit up, trying to make sense of everything. Part of her wanted to search for the silver dagger the wolf-girl had discarded early but she doubted she would be able to find it in the dark. Her best chance for survival would be to run but somehow she found herself rooted to the spot she sat, unable to move. She watched as the brown wolf bit the first wolf in the neck and threw her across the room. The wolf-girl hit the wall with a hard thud and let out a pained cry. She got up and whimpered in pain. The brown wolf, with its mouth stained with blood, growled. It was a deep rumble that seemed to shake the whole forest, and the wolf-girl sneered back but circled around him to reach the door, never letting her cautious eyes leave it. It was only when she had left that Mikasa realized she was holding her breath.

She let it out and realized she still wasn't completely safe. There was still the other wolf. Frightened, her head snapped to where the other wolf last stood but in its place was a boy dressed in plain peasants clothes, blood dripping from his mouth.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked when he noticed Mikasa staring at him in shock The boy's eyes were a brilliant and hypnotic blue, very much like the eyes of the wolf she had seen earlier. She could have sworn the two were separate entities. After all, there was no way that wolf could be this boy…but the boy had blood smeared across his face and dripping down his mouth, just like the wolf had.

"You're…the wolf?" she asked.

"Werewolf but you can just call me Eren" he corrected. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the bottom of his shirt. Eren raised an eyebrow when he noticed Mikasa still hadn't moved from her spot. "What's wrong?"

"But…you saved me," she finally said.

He shot her a toothy grin and his eyes flashed, something of a wolf in them. "Of course I did," he said. "Not everyone is a bad wolf, you know."


This is a little long for a one-shot imo but idk here you go I guess.

As always, thank you guys for reading! Thanks for reading/favoriting/following. I'm just going to update this one randomly because I have to work on my multi-chaptered fics. My other readers must be getting annoyed, heh. But I'll still continue this unless I state otherwise, so don't worry! Expect updates every one or two weeks. (It's much easier for me to update drabble series, you know?) And if you want to see more of a certain AU or a have a prompt you'd like written, feel free to tell me!