LOCATION: SHINGANSHINA SLUMS - Year: 845
ABANDONED CANNING FACTORY
With a twist of a handle, Deacon Ross locked the abandoned building he called home. Not much could be said about his life that he hadn't already told people.
He was homeless. He was an orphan.
He hated homeless shelters and orphanages.
They were cramped, had no real help, and most of the people there were only there to make sure you followed the rules, no help or care for the kids.
No thanks.
Besides, ever since his parents died, he's been better off by himself.
Not to say his parents were bad parents. On the contrary, they were great parents. They kept him fed, showed him love, played with him…
And then they were murdered.
And Deacon was alone.
And he liked it that way.
Until a few years ago, anyway.
He had met a boy his age, John, who was insanely tall for his age. Most people mistook him for a teenager or adult, rarely ever assuming he was an actual child.
But he got along well with him.
They were both outcasts, he due to his orphaned status, and John, due to his height.
Today, they were set to take a hike through the Forest of Giant Trees.
Well, one of them anyway.
They would be joined by their friend, Rex Luke.
He was a bit of a hothead, but he was a loyal friend and he was always down to hang out.
It was the only thing he could ask for. Good friends.
John had led him to meeting not only Rex, but also another three people: Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert.
Eren was the son of the famous Grisha Yeager, and had cured Shinganshina of a devastating plague before any of them had been born. It was how he had met Mrs. Yeager.
Mikasa was an orphan who Eren's parents had taken in. Her parents had been murdered, but he knew nothing beyond that. John knew exactly what had happened, it was how she had met Eren and John so there was more to it than they thought, but John refused to tell past that.
"It's a bit too personal for all of us." That was what he had said.
Armin was admittedly the brains of the group, although that apparently meant he had to be as weak as a daffodil. His brains were on par with the likes of the Scouts, but he couldn't lift much of anything or throw a punch to save his life.
This unfortunately made him a target for bullies.
This also had the upside of making said bullies good target practice.
Assuming John wasn't around to scare them away.
Thanks to John, Deacon had gone from one friend to six in a matter of days.
Made the time go by easier.
Some of the best things they all would end up doing together almost always ended up in an earful from either Eren or Rex's parents. Probably had to do with a lot of the stuff they did ending with something getting trashed around Shinganshina.
Not that Deacon would complain.
No arguments ever broke out over who's fault it was. They all accepted equal responsibility.
They looked out for each other.
One friend Deacon had though, one who was always by his side long before John, was his childhood friend, Sarah.
He often called John his best friend, but that was because Sarah was in a class all on her own. They had known each other so long, they would wager to say they were born hand in hand. They honestly couldn't remember when they had met.
But through thick and thin, better or worse, no matter what happened, or how bad they argued, they never let it separate them for good.
Deacon was thankful for that.
She was the one who had helped him find somewhere to stay when his parents were killed. And while it definitely wasn't the best, it worked as a home.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to hang out with him or the others that often, since her parents made her help at their flower shop.
Still, today was a day he had to look forward to. He had that hike with John and Rex