Creation began on 07-26-21

Creation ended on 11-21-22

Attack on Titan

Live or Die: Crude Attempts

A/N: When faced with a life-altering choice that only you can make, what do you do?

Standing atop the wall that overlooked a small, enclosed settlement that had been untouched for almost a century, a fourteen-year-old-looking boy dressed in a dark hakama with a bandolier of shotgun shells strapped over it and a shotgun scabbard, with pale skin and dark eyes gazed down at the targeted location where one of his objectives resided. He didn't like having to do this task he was given by the one that approached him, but it was a task that only he was trusted to carry out, and it was one that he was allowed to carry out however he chose in the amount of time he had to do so in. One year was all he had to deal in the fates of four people here, and then decide the fate of three more lives before he needed to leave. He wasn't the least bit pleased with who some of his targets were, but knew that they needed to be dealt with before they could cross a line.

A boy so full of anger that he would be willing to tear the world apart if he ever came into possession of a power that he would use to force others to choose a harsh path that they need not choose at all, he thought as he took out a picture of one of his targets, looking at a young boy that seemed harmless were it not for his expression that made the pale boy think he was anything but considerate of other people's comfort zones. I can put off his fate for a few days, but whether or not he lives or dies is up to him, and I'd rather see that he goes out in a way befitting a brat. I'll go after the other three first…and then decide his fate.

He turned away from the enclosed town and jumped off the wall, unseen by anyone that was looking out at the expanse of land. Using his right arm, which wore a metal gauntlet that covered his entire limb, engraved upon the wrist was one word: "Death", he descended the wall at incredible speed, landing on the ground quietly.

"And after some animals we go," he uttered, walking away from the wall.

-x-

One month later

The three members of the Warrior Unit from Marley, Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover and Annie Leonhart, the current holders of the Armored Titan, Colossal Titan and Female Titan, respectively, were faced with running for their lives against this mysterious, older boy that approached them shortly after the loss of their alleged leader, Marcel Galliard, the former Jaw Titan holder, and, for some reason, they were unable to use their Titan powers to defend themselves from his firearms or that bizarre blade of his.

"You can run all you choose to, but you must hear me out to make me stop chasing you," his voice echoed through their heads.

"Aaurgh!" Bertolt groaned as he fell to the ground, out of breath.

"Hoover, get up!" Reiner yelled back as he and Annie kept running. "Damn it!"

He looked back and saw the pale-skinned boy steadily approaching Bertolt. There was no way he was going to turn back and get him; without the use of their Titans, they were no better than mere foot soldiers sent into a slaughterhouse against this strange enemy. While Annie tried to stab him earlier, they discovered that he was not like other people in any way that could be understood by people.

"You can't kill what is no longer among the living," he had told them, the stab wound on his chest sealing up after they saw that his heart, which should've been beating…was as still as a heart that had already stopped. "Those that see my face are those that don't know whether to flee or accept their fate. Which can you do when faced with adversity?"

Reiner ran faster, wanting to get as far away from this man as he possibly could.

Annie then ran away from Reiner; if this man couldn't get either of them, she had a chance of getting away with her life.

Swish! A strange sound was heard by both children.

"Rrraurgh!" She heard Reiner yell, looking over her left shoulder and saw him sporting that strange blade lodged in his chest, connected to a long chain.

"Ah!" She gasped, but then tripped over a rock.

Thud! Thud!

"Graugh!" Annie heard Bertolt as he was dropped in front of her…along with Reiner.

"Work!" Reiner struggled as he cut his right hand with his small knife. "This has to work!"

Try as he might to become the Armored Titan, desperate for its strength and protection, he wasn't turning into one of the Nine Titans that gave the former empire of Eldia its infamy.

Bertolt, his face now stained by his tears, raised his arms up as the pale-skinned man slowly walked towards the three.

"Please!" He begged. "Please! Don't kill me! I'm sorry for killing those people! I'm sorry I chose to become a Titan! I'll do anything! Just don't kill me! Please!"

The pale man looked at him and yanked the chain, pulling the strange blade out of Reiner's chest, earning another groan from the young boy.

"Now that I have your attention," he told the three, "this is what I shall say to you. Your series of choices have clearly led you to where we are…as have my own series of choices. I will offer you a new choice, however: Leave this island, never to return, and live…or stay…and meet your deserved fate. It is time to choose. Live…or die."

"But…the Founding Titan of the king…" Reiner spoke, and he looked the boy in the eye that looked as though he was seeing into his past, all of his crimes, all of his victims.

"Leave and live," he repeated, "stay…and die. Choose."

But Reiner didn't want to leave; even if he chose to live, his life wouldn't have been long. He would be dead in less than thirteen years due to the Curse of Ymir. And his family would be killed because of his failure. What life could he even have if he turned his back on his country?

"The people that sent us here will kill us if we return without the Founding Titan of this island," Annie told the pale man. "Even if we chose to leave and live, we would still die."

"And if the people that sent you here were…no longer alive and could no longer decide your fate," he suggested, "would you leave and not return?"

"I would."

"Same here," went Bertolt. "Who…who are you?"

"I am…the whispers in the dark," he stated cryptically. "I am the tears of blood shed by the fallen innocent. The Pale Rider of the Heavens. Those that speak of me will say that I shed innocent blood. Even if I were to kill you three right now, they would say I killed three innocent children, but you three are far from innocent if you were manipulated into killing others by some soulless head honchos. But those that don't know you would say that you were innocent…until nothing else matters. However, those that stop, that can choose to stop, to say 'no' and walk away…regain some of that lost innocence in their souls…and can live once again."

For some reason, despite being unable to turn into their Titans, their healing powers weren't impeded by their encounter with this man. As Reiner began to heal from his injuries, the pale man turned and walked away from them. He had to consider that, by choosing to forfeit the mission to take the Founding Titan from Paradis, they had chosen to live, and that was why this man was letting them go; by choosing to live, he no longer needed to pursue them. But by choosing to live, he may have condemned his family to his fate.

Or did he? Did any of them?

"Go back to where you came from!" He told the three, and then a pair of large wings, like those of a bird's, only dark and different from those of a bird's, emerged from his back as he then levitated from off the ground. "Go home and live!"

"A man that can no longer die…is a threat to those that still live…and those that choose to bring harm onto others," Annie expresses, "but those that choose to walk away from the path of harm…are the ones that can be overlooked by him if he seeks the souls of those that refuse to stand down, disregarded in favor of the truly cruel."

"An angel of the fallen," added Bertolt, "an angel of vengeance for the fallen innocent. We have to live with knowing that we met the angel…and he gave us a choice to live or die."

But Reiner feared for his family. All he could do was go home…and explain what he knew to his superiors and hope that they would be lenient on him.

-x-

In the night, in the darkness, unseen in the air, the Horseman of Death looked down at the district of Shiganshina, pondering the next question he had that would have repercussions no matter which choice was made. But, as he was being requested to deal with this task by a higher order to preserve the stability of mortality, the balance between right and wrong, in exchange for something he himself needed for a later time, he knew that if he didn't do this, he would have difficulty in his later times. And his threshold had been crossed long ago; all he could do was continue on this path he chose to stay on…until he found a greater threshold…and crossed that one, as well.

"I've put this off long enough," he told himself. "As much as I prefer not to do something like this now that she still has her life, unchanged because those three were dealt with before they could trespass upon personal territories, you are a liability if left to continue going against the subtlety that will eventually lead to a different outcome when patience is enforced. Whether you live or die is up to you. Don't make me shed your blood unless I absolutely have to."

He descended to the town below, once more unseen by the eyes of the living; as a member of the heavenly damned, he was afforded many abilities that made his profession as a being of vengeance for the innocent extremely effective. He could go places others couldn't, be seen and unseen, be spoken about by those that didn't even know if he existed or not. As he stood in front of the house where his next target resided, all he could do was hope that there would be a silver lining to this predicament, as he had other things to do before he was done with this island…and every single one of them would decide the future of the people on it.

To be continued…

A/N: At first, this was going to be a single, but then I decided to add more later on. Yeah, I have my Shinji Ikari/Death, the Endgame character involved, but he's among the effective characters I've used due to his status as a damned soul that does what he does to ensure the innocent live. I hope you'll be guessing what he does next to who and why, and more importantly, who he was sought by to do all of this.