Hello and welcome to my first Aot fanfic. I hope you enjoy. :)
Eren knew two things. He was fascinated by humans. Humans hated Titans.
There was no problem with that in general, any other person would agree that Titans were terrible monsters. Except Eren wasn't the "general'
Eren was a four meter Titan, who desperately wanted to interact with them. He often hid in the treeline and watched their strange little formations go by. He had watched them kill countless Titans and then watched the Titans kill twice the amount of them.
Eren had built up a collection of human things. He kept them hidden in a tree, he had grown quite the treasure trove. He had hats, boots, those weird line things they zipped around on, and even more.
Eren was well aware that he was…different. He had never eaten a human, he had never even thought about it. He often argued with himself about whether to go save the little humans when they became outnumbered by Titans. But he knew if he went out to help, they would only try to kill him.
He found one human quite amusing, the human was a bit crazy and was very obsessed with Titans. She was often squealing and talking quickly, much to the dismay of the other humans. She and her other two friends were usually the focus of his observation.
It was a better day than most, his favorite humans were out of their strange wall. The woman was talking animatedly about Titans once more, while the smaller than usual human rolled his eyes and looked like he would rather die than listen to another minute of her talking.
Eren couldn't blame the tiny human, sometimes even Eren wishes the little woman would stop talking for a few minutes. While Eren knew most human words, sometimes he wouldn't recognize one and he would try to figure it out later when the humans had left.
Eren had been slowly following them through the trees the whole day. He hadn't seen any Titans, which was very odd. He often saw at least two or three. The smallest human of the trio was arguing with the blonde one, they were using a lot of words he didn't recognize so Eren didn't really bother to listen to their conversation. Instead he opted to watch the other humans interact with each other and pray that they dropped something he could add to his collection.
The humans were always on high alert, and a few times Eren had almost been caught. Thankfully he'd been able to run off before they got him but he just couldn't stop himself, even if it got him killed.
The female had been talking on and on about how she had found a new way to store Titans remains without them disappearing and how she had to test it out. That must have been what they were out here for, to find Titans.
Eren's head snapped to the right, he could have sworn he heard something. He narrows his eyes and stares at the spot. Then he sees it, a small horde of Titans. They're ot very big but there are so many of them. Too many for the humans to handle and the humans were just about to stumble by them!
If Eren could warn the humans, he would but they have the scary little human with them today, so they'll be okay. He watches as the horde of Titans stumbles out of the tree line and right in front of the squad.
The humans immediately yank their….Horses, that was the word! They yank their horses to a stop and the blonde human is yelling something. The humans beeline it straight to the trees. A few are snatched off their horses and eaten while the lucky few surviving break through the treeline and abandon their horse to zip to higher ground.
Luckily his favorite humans make it to the treeline, leaving Eren to let out a sigh of relief. His favorite humans had never been in trouble enough for him to try and help. But if they ever did end up needing help, Eren was happy to supply it.
The horde of Titans followed them into the trees, and started snatching the humans that were too slow, out of the air. Eren watched in horror as more than a third of their squad was slaughtered by the Titans.
Eren often felt anger towards Titans and when he could, he killed them himself. Hoping that maybe if he killed enough it would give the humans a better chance at survival.
His three humans landed safely on a tree branch, far out of the Titans reach. The smaller human swung back down and killed at least ten Titans before zipping back up to the branch.
What both Eren and the trio had failed to notice was the large Titan that was climbing the tree opposite to them. It wouldn't have been a big deal if the trees were farther apart but the trees were only ten feet apart and the thing could easily reach out and snatch them.
Before Eren could even think, before he could move the Titan swung its massive arm and swept all three of them off the branch. The small human and the woman caught themselves but the blonde didn't, leaving the small human to snatch him out of the air.
The tree climbing titan lunged from the tree and went flying through the air, straight at the trio. Eren roared and charged towards the thing, he wrapped his arms around the middle and tackled it.
Eren could bear the thought of losing his small funny trio and to keep that from happening he would gladly let himself die to save them. Eren, logically, knew to go for the nap and used his teeth to rip it to pieces. The Titan fell dead on the forest floor.
Eren roared as smaller Titans bit chunks out of his legs and lower body. They had always been very hostile towards Eren, maybe they sensed that he was different then them but it didn't matter because they were just as aggressive if not more aggressive towards him than humans.
Eren easily dispatched the little Titans and whirled to search for his trio. They were on the branch again, the small human and the woman were crouched next to the blonde, we were unconscious.
Eren felt fear for the very first time, what if his little human was injured? How could Eren not have seen that Titan!
The little human noticed Eren immediately and nudged the women. They whispered a few words between each other before ignoring him. Eren definitely couldn't reach them, even if you jumped so they were safe unless he decided to climb trees.
Eren wanted his little humans to be comfortable with his presence, which was highly unlikely to happen but he could wish. He sank to the forest floor and crossed his legs, Eren observed the little humans who were now wrapping the blonde's head in some kind of white cloth. He believed the cloth was called "bandages" but he wasn't sure.
Eren turned his head and watched as the remaining survivors of the squad turned tail and ran back to their walls; they didn't even check to see if anyone else had survived.
Eren observed the humans for a little while before the sun started to set and the temperature dropped. Eren had never been affected by night time as much as the other Titans were. Sure he got sleepy, but he didn't become slow or imobile like most Titans.
Once the sun had set it became cold. Bone chilling cold. The little humans were shivering up on their branch and wrapping their little cloaks around themselves as best they could.
Eren was honestly surprised the smaller human hadn't come down here to try and kill him. The littler human was usually more aggressive when killing Titans then the others were. Maybe the little human got injured when he was knocked off the tree and that was why he wasn't coming to kill Eren.
When Eren started to be able to hear their teeth chattering, he stood and walked away. If he recalled correctly, he had some blankets in his collection and he was sure the little humans would appreciate them! Pride flickered through him at his clever thoughts.
He must have startled the humans because he heard the distinct sound of their blades being unsheathed. He hadn't even tried to hurt them, couldn't they trust him a little? Eren knew that it was only natural for them to be scared of him and hate him and he didn't blame them.
It was only a five minute walk to Erens tree, when he got there he reached in and felt around until he felt the soft fabric of the blankets. HE pulled them out and they were so tiny in his hand.
Eren smiled, well the best he could smile when he had no lips, and hurried back to the tree where the humans were. They startled again and only the smaller human drew his blade, the woman with glasses only stared in wonder.
"What's in his hand?" He heard her whisper to the short one. "It's a Titan. Does it look like I care?" The short one snipped back, eliciting a 'humph' from the woman.
Eren extended his hands up as much as he could, standing on his tiptoes he set the blankets on the highest branch he could reach. He went back to his criss-crossed sitting position and watched as the short one and the woman argued about whether they should grab the blankets.
Eventually the woman won the argument and sung down to retrieve the blankets. She was about to swing back up when she noticed Eren watching her.
"Hello?" She called, Eren blinked at her. She raised her hand and waved at him, which he copied and waved his giant hand through the air. The woman squealed loudly and shouted for the little one. She called him "Levi" . Was that his name?
The little human peaked his head over the edge of the branch and glared down at the woman. "Look! He's WAVING at me!" She cheered, bouncing up and down and side-to-side. "It's a coincidence." Levi? Said flatly. The woman groaned and shook her head, "No! It's definitely not! He didn't start waving until I waved at him! He's copying me." She exclaimed, she was practically vibrating from where she was standing. Levi rolled his eyes and went back to trying not to freeze to death.
The woman turned back to Eren with a wild grin. "I'm Hange. Ha-nge. Haaaaaaange." She said drawing the words out and pointing towards herself. Her name was Hange.
"Oh! What should I call you?" She questioned, Eren frowned, he already had a name. He didn't know where his name came from or how he got it but it was his name.
Eren voiced his concerns to Hange. He shook his head. "What? You don't want me to name you?" She questioned, arching a brow over her glasses. Eren continued to shake his head until he worked up the courage to try and tell her his name.
"Ehhran." It was the best he could do and he hoped she could understand it. Hange blew up, she started balling and throwing her arms around. "Oh my god! Levi?! Did you hear that!?" She yelled up to the small human. Levi once again peaked his head over the branch dn glared at Hange. "What? He's a Titan. They make dumb sounds all the time." He deadpanned, Eren scoffed, or the closest thing for a Titan and crossed his arms.
"Ehrennn." Eren tried again, Hange went ballistic once again and Eren noticed the widening of Levi's own eyes. Aren't such dumb sounds, now are they? Eren thought defiantly.
"What? Can you say that again, sweetheart?" Hange cried, Eren blinked at her and nodded. "Ehren." He repeated and Hange giggled to herself. "I told you Levi! I told you!" She squealed, Eren stared at her. "Is your name Eren?" She asked, Eren nodded quickly and enthusiastically.
Hange squealed again and swung back up to Levi where she started shouting and jumping around and going on and on about Titans behavior and how Eren was a scientific breakthrough.
Eren watched in amusement as Hange talked Levi's ear off. Hange eventually settled down and handed Levi a few blankets before she covered her friend and came back down to the branch Eren had put the blankets on. SHe curled up in her own blankets and started asking Eren questions.
Some he could answer, others he couldn't. Like when she asked if he could read, really? He was a Titan that lived in the forest, does he look like he can read?
Hange didn't sleep at all, though Eren doubted that Levi did as well. Hange had gone through every possible question she could ever ask and somehow she was still making up more.
She had scooted as close to the edge as possible without falling off. She had tried to get Levi to come down but he refused, claiming it to be "Stupid and a waste of time." Not that he had much to do other than sit on a tree branch.
By morning Hange was begging Levi to let her sit in Eren's hand. Of course Levi refused, saying she was going to get herself killed and tha she needed to stop being reckless.
Eren was very happy to see the blonde human had awoken and was talking to Levi as he inspected his head. From what Eren could see, he had a nasty bump on his forehead.
Hange came back into Eren's line of sight, she had found another question to ask.
"Do you have more human stuff?" She asked, Eren immediately perked up and nodded. He had so much! He had never been able to share it or show it to anyone!
Eren quickly stood and tried to make a motion for her to follow. Hange squealed and zipped after him as Eren disappeared into the trees. Leaving a very annoyed Levi and a concerned blonde behind.