Chapter 2 – Eren Jaeger (Arc 1)

Eren Jaeger. The boy who wanted to explore. The boy who wanted freedom. The boy of the Iron Will. This is the tale of Eren Jaeger.

Eren Jaeger grew up in one of the outer districts of the Berkian Wall, called Shiganshina. He lived a somewhat poorer life, but still a good one, living with his mother and his father, who tended to be off helping people the people of their poorer city as it's healer. He still remembers his mother sitting him down next to their small, smouldering fire pit and softly telling them the story of how they met.

Many years ago, at the traditional Snoggletog festival in the Great Hall, a large batch of the ale distributed had been poisoned by Hunters, and Grisha happened to be sober at the feast and was able to heal near every single person who was affected; including the Chief's son himself who happened to be attending, leading to the Chief offering them a grander home in the interior, to which Grisha declined, stating that his duty was to healing his people. Upon hearing this, the Chief understood and fostered a great respect for the man's commitment, making a mental note to keep an eye on Jaeger. Whilst Grisha was happy that he had helped the chief, he was even happier when he talked one of the people he had healed; a pretty woman with green eyes and black hair who would one day become his wife; Carla.

Having two loving parents was a healthy environment for the child growing up; However, Eren was an angered child, not at his parents, whom he loved, nor his quality of life, which he enjoyed, but at the way that the world in which he lived worked.

He was angry at the fact that they couldn't live a truly peaceful life because some hateful people in some far away land didn't like them. Instead of being free and exploring the world without fear, them having to build walls around themselves, like cows in a pen. It made no damn sense to him at all and he hated it.

As a result, it was somewhat difficult for him to be social and friendly with all the other children, who he often scared off by accident, just by being his passionate self when he talked about the outside world. But whilst he didn't have many friends, he did have Armin Artlet, a young blond boy he found in the streets collecting bugs one day, who's mind was fascinating and he wanted to see the world just as much as Eren. Their friendship grew and blossomed as they became friends for the rest of their days.

It would be a while until Eren met the next important person in his life when his father had taken him to meet one of their family friends, the Ackerman's.

The Ackerman clan had met the Jaegers when they first arrived from the East as they helped them get settled into the Viking way of life, with Grisha always giving care when needed to the family he had come to call his close friends.

However, when they got to the house, blood painting the house's halls like the battlefields of Grisha's past, he reached desperately to cover his son's eyes, to stop his son from having to see the things that still haunted his dreams night after night. But it was too late. Realising they had stumbled across the homicide of the Ackerman family and the kidnap of Mikasa Ackerman. Eren felt something that was new to him, like a fresh drug, pulsing through a Bezerker's veins.

Pure. Rage.

Remained uncharacteristically calm and still when his Father explained that he was to wait in the nearby house and that he was going to get help. As soon as his father had left, Eren stepped into the house, his shoes' soles now coated in blood, feeling every drop of pain as if it was his own, looking around the home, he saw mounted on the wall a small ceremonial axe. Plucking it from the wall as one would a flower from the ground, he let his feet guide him to follow the path of the carriage's wheels, small patches of blood here and there outlining the lonely road which he now walked on as he subconsciously softly swung the axe experimentally.

As he reached a cabin higher in the mountain, the trail ended and he knew. A new bloodbath was about to be filled. He hid the axe behind his back as he knocked softly on the door and drew on a mask of innocence and worry. When the gruff bald man opened the door he was confused shocked and dare he say concerned that this child was all the way out here alone in the woods? He quickly turned to call out his partner, his lungs filling with air that was then to be pushed out to make the request but they were cut short by the curved blade of an axe embedded into the meat of his neck, his now bleeding form turned to the child, air being forced from his body, the life leaving his eyes, all he could see in the once innocent child was now rage and not a speck of forgiveness.

The child stepped over the corpse, the axe still in hand, he stalked through the corridor like a silent wolf, with each step, his heart growing colder than the last. Until he finally reached the room at the end form which he heard the crackling of a fire. Driving his axe into the lock, it quickly snapped open and before it could be registered, he had rushed upon the Hunter like an animal, burying the hatchet deep within his chest, screaming his rage.

As he retracted the now warm axe from the mangled chest of the corpse, quickly wiping it off before moving to free the girl from her bonds, explaining who he was and that he was here to help. He thought he heard her whisper something but it wasn't able to process what he heard in time as he felt the heavy presence enter the room, swinging the blade instinctively, it wasn't until the iron vice grip was around his throat that he felt the pain from his now broken wrist.

Eyes wildly scanning for some path to freedom, he saw the girl and he realised that she was trapped in her own head, just like he was trapped by the grip of the man before him, so he screamed the only words that filled his head at her to break her out of her shell,

"Fight!" He cried out "Defy! You have to fight! You die, you lose; you win, you live and you can only win if you fight!".

He saw something in her eyes but couldn't focus on it, feeling the air being crushed from his lungs. As his vision began to fade, he saw the light fade from his attacker's eyes, the thick and heavy crunch of steel cutting through flesh and into bone resonating through his body, and then it was silent and black as his body dropped to the floor…

When he awoke, his father had arrived with a unit of Scales now sweeping the area, taking them outside of the house of horror. Realising that she had nowhere else to go, Eren turned to his father, in a hoarse broken whisper asked if she could live with them. And so she did, and as a reminder that he would always be with her, he gave her the red scarf that he was wearing, not to mention she was shaking so much she would've frozen without one.

After his incident at the Ackerman household and introducing Mikasa to Armin, Eren's hatred of the Dragon Hunters grew stronger than a Bewilderbeast in his heart; As such, when he reached training age, he decided to enlist in Berk's military, dreaming of fighting in the Wings of Freedom, much to the dismay of his parents who pleaded with him to give up the violent dream. However, Mikasa swore to take care of Eren in the military, following him wherever he goes.

Knowing that this was a battle of wills, and theirs's was no match for the combined strength of Mikasa and their son, they let them go, with tears in their eyes and anxiety in their hearts. But hidden amongst the sea of fear in their minds, there was a drop of hope; that their son could finally live his dream and see the world and maybe, just maybe, make it a better place.