Disclaimer: All characters, names, places, intellectual property, etc... belong to their respective owners. I do not own Attack on Titan or any of its associated media.

Vengeance… is a funny thing. It can be an excellent motivator, but it can also tear you down in an instant. It can push you to train harder and longer than you ever did before. However, it can also push you to make extremely rash decisions in your quest to exact your revenge on your target. The key, though, is making sure you keep a clear distinction between vengeance and justice. If you lose sight of the difference between the two, the two begin to look the same. You are then no longer caught up in a personal quest for vengeance, but a righteous crusade to bring someone to justice. The inherent danger then, is that now you perceive yourself to have a righteous cause. If your cause is righteous and just, then no action is unjustifiable. You will stop at nothing to achieve your "justice".

- An excerpt from the journal of an Eldian soldier, 850

Spike "Skip" Reid, 12 years old, sat staring blankly at the sky. It was a calm day in Shiganshina, just like any other. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and- oh? Skip's ears pricked at the new sound. It sounded like… a fight? Skip's eyes lazily drifted away from the sky, and in the direction of the new scuffle. Unsurprisingly, it was a fight between some kids. On one side, a short, blonde kid with a bowl cut was being defended by an angry- looking kid with brown hair. What was his name again… Eren? The larger boys seemed to be ganging up on Eren, but Skip wasn't too concerned. He had seen this fight play out numerous times before, and he was sure that this one was no different.

'Wait for it…' Skip thought, as he listened for the soft, but speedy footsteps that heralded disaster for the larger boys. Sure enough, his sharp ears picked up the footsteps of a young oriental girl, red scarf around her neck, as always. He watched as the girl (he was pretty sure her name was Mikasa) beat the living daylights out of the boys that were too stupid to run away, and scare off the slightly smarter ones with what passed for a glare. As the dust settled, Skip heard footsteps behind him, accompanied by the slight clinking that he recognised was only made by ODM gear.

"Well, looks like the situation has already been handled, and I didn't even need to lift a finger this time," a most likely drunken voice slurred next to him.

Skip turned to see Hannes, a member of the Garrison Regiment stationed in Shiganshina. The man, as was the case with many among the Garrison, had a penchant for drinking on the job, and this time was no exception. A natural product of having no real threats to guard against, when you considered the 50 meter tall walls that surrounded the city. Although he wasn't as far gone as he had sometimes been, Skip could tell Hannes had already had a little too much to drink. Skip turned back to the aftermath of the fight, gesturing to Mikasa.

"Once she arrived, it became less of a fight, and more of a massacre. She tossed those guys like they were empty potato sacks," Skip noted, slight amusement in his voice.

"Haha! Yeah, Mikasa's a strong one. Sometimes her strength frightens even me," Hannes replied, mirth evident in his voice. Hannes' smile faded slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Skip, nor did the seriousness and concern in the soldier's voice. "Eren there's always getting into trouble, even though he can't fight worth a damn. It's gonna get him really hurt one day."

Skip shrugged, "He'll probably have those two to pull him out, he'll be fine."

Skip's words seemed to reassure Hannes to a degree, since Hannes also shrugged. "Probably. Mikasa is very attached to 'im. She rarely lets him out of her sight." He paused to glance at Skip in contemplation, "Say, are you friends with 'em?"

"I wouldn't really say we're friends, but we know each other's names."

"Oh, I figured you'd be friends with 'em, considering you hang out here all the time."

"Nah, I've just never really felt the need to."

Hannes looked thoughtfully at the young boy for a moment, and Skip wondered if Hannes wasn't really drunk. After all, Skip didn't know many people who actually used their brain when the alcohol came out.

After a moment, the older man spoke, "I don' know about you, but that doesn't seem like a good way to live to me. I think you'd get lonely after a while." He went silent for a moment. "Isolatin' yerself like that just makes ya seem sad…"

Skip watched as Mikasa and Eren picked up their blonde friend. 'Maybe Hannes has a point,' he thought to himself. He looked back up as he saw Hannes turn back to his post.

"Anyways, I 'ought to be going now, seein' that the situation's been handled. Stay safe, Skip!"

Skip watched as the blonde soldier walked off before answering, "Thanks Mr. Hannes!"

Deciding that he had been entertained enough, Skip elected to wander off somewhere else. He continued to think about what the older man had said to him as his body went on autopilot. He really only had one friend, which never really bothered him. 'Still,' he idly wondered, 'maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have more friends.' Before he could continue his line of thought, his brain registered stepping into an abnormally large shadow. His mind now firmly in the present, he glanced around, trying to figure out where his legs had taken him. He was greeted by the sight of the largest building in the city; the Shiganshina Arsenal. The walls aside, it was the largest structure Skip had seen, easily dwarfing even the largest houses in Shiganshina. It was also tall. He was pretty sure that you could see out over the walls from atop the Arsenal. 'I wonder what the city looks like from up there, or even what it looks like outside of the walls…' he pondered as he stared up at the highest tower. After a moment's thought, he was shaken from his musings by a cheerful voice to his right.

"Well hiyah, Skip! I was wondering whether I was going to see you today."

The corners of Skip's mouth tugged upwards into a small smile, as he turned to the owner of the voice. Amelia Schäfer, or Lia, as Skip called her, was a 16 year old member of the Garrison, having recently completed her training. She had babysat Skip when he was younger, and they had become friends as Skip got older, despite the age difference. She was really the only person Skip really considered a friend in Shiganshina. After she left to join the Cadet Corps, the two frequently exchanged letters, with Lia telling stories about her time in training, and Skip writing to her about the strange, unusual, or otherwise amusing goings on within the city. After graduating, Lia joined the Garrison Regiment, and was assigned to Shiganshina. Now, she and Skip often saw each other near the HQ, and frequently chatted.

"I haven't seen you for a few days, Skip. How's life been?"

Skip shrugged, a common gesture to see from him, "Busy. Dad has more or less drafted me to help with organizing messages and stuff for the Courier Service, so I've been doing work."

Lia nodded with a slight smile on her face, "I see. Well, I'm on break right now, and if you don't have anything too pressing, I was thinking we could go get something to eat."

Skip's smile grew a little, "Sure! I haven't eaten lunch yet today, so I wouldn't mind finding something to eat."

With a goal in mind, the pair set off into the city in search of their lunch. Skip's eyes wandered from colorful stall to colorful stall, taking in what they had to offer. His ears picked up fragments of dozens of conversations, mostly buyers and sellers haggling over the prices of goods. Although the pair had spied several food stalls, none seemed to catch their interest. Eventually, the pair settled on a Spicy Ramen shop just off of the main avenue on the north side of the city that they had frequented before Lia joined the military. Skip chuckled a little at the memory of when Lia first brought him here. He had initially been reluctant to even go, but after a few minutes of back and forth, Skip had agreed to go. When they got there, Lia had ordered him a bowl of the spiciest Ramen they had available, but had opted not to mention that fact to him. When he took his first bite, his face immediately went red as a tomato, and he scrambled for something to relieve the burning sensation. Eventually, Lia took pity on the poor boy and got him something a little more mild, but needless to say Skip didn't speak to her for the rest of the day.

"What are you chuckling about," Lia asked with a questioning gaze.

"Oh, just the first time you took me here and pretty much lit my tongue on fire."

She laughed a little at that, "Haha, that memory still sometimes comes up at times. Makes me chuckle a little, too."

The friends then sat down, and ordered their respective meals. As they waited, they discussed the happenings, or lack thereof in Shiganshina, and what they had been up to for the last few days. The conversation carried on even after they received their meals, and by the time they finished, they had just about recounted everything that had happened to them in the last few days.

Satisfied with their catching up, the two began the trek back to the Arsenal building. Having more or less exhausted their conversation topics, they walked in a companionable silence. After a few minutes though, Skip froze. He felt a pit form in his stomach, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He couldn't explain it, but he felt his attention being drawn to the outer gate. Lia, who by this point had noticed that Skip had stopped walking, turned to see why he had stopped. Skip tore his eyes away from the gate momentarily to meet hers as she opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong.

In that moment, the entire world seemed to stand still, and hold its breath.

.

.

.

A deafening crash echoed throughout the entire city, and their eyes immediately snapped to the direction of the disturbance before they both froze in shock and horror. On top of the wall, a few meters to the right of the gate, rested a massive, red hand. Their terror was only amplified, however, by the appearance of a massive, skinless head that rose over the wall, and peered down into the city.

"I… I don't believe it… That wall is 50 meters high! That's impossible!" Lia exclaimed, making no attempt to hide the fear evident in her voice. Skip, meanwhile, couldn't even speak. They were then shocked out of their frightened state by another resounding crash, the source of which became clear all too quickly. Large chunks of masonry had been launched skywards from the area of the gate, one of which was on course to hit them. Reacting quickly, Lia grabbed Skip, and used her ODM gear to grapple out of the path of the falling debris. With A sinking feeling in her stomach, Lia began to realize exactly what this meant. She set Skip down on the ground, and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Spike, I need you to do exactly as I say. You need to run for the inner gate as fast as you can, and get on to one of the riverboats. It will take you upriver to Trost. It's not safe for you to stay here. Do you understand me?"

Lia's use of his real name jarred Skip out of his unresponsive state, and he nodded. Then, a thought struck Skip, "What about my parents? They're further in the city, closer to the outer gate, can you go see if they're alright?"

Lia turned over her shoulder to nod at him, "Yeah, I'll go make sure they're alright and get them moving towards the boats. Now go!"

Letting his instincts take over, Skip bolted for the inner gate as fast as his legs could carry him, desperately trying to navigate through the throngs of other people attempting to flee the doomed city. When his mind finally caught up to his body, he realized he was already beyond the inner gate, standing alone on the road. His gaze snapped over his shoulder at the sound of cannons firing behind him. The Titans were getting closer, and the gate was still up. He looked over to the boats. There were still two of them docked, he could make it if he hurried.

"Spike! There you are, thank god you're alright!"

Skip's ears pricked up, and he turned to see his parents, unharmed, rushing over to him.

His father urgently tugged on his arm, "We have to get out of here, hurry!"

Another resounding crash boomed from behind Skip, and he watched as his parents turned around to see the source of the noise. His parent's eyes widened with fear, and his father quickly shoved Skip away from him. Not a second later, a large boulder crashed down on where Skip's parents were standing. He closed his eyes for a second, dazed, before opening them again, and seeing the boulder. His parents… were crushed. They were dead. Gone. He was ripped from his dazed and shocked thoughts by another familiar voice.

"Spike! Are you alright?"

He didn't even turn to acknowledge Lia, who had spotted him sitting, staring at a boulder that had narrowly crushed him mere moments before. When she reached him, she shook his shoulder, but got no response. She followed his vacant gaze, and saw the legs sticking out from under the boulder, and the blood seeping out. Lia blinked back tears of her own, as she crouched down next to Skip. She took his hands and quietly urged him, "We have to go now Spike, there's nothing we can do for them here." She took in a deep breath, "The only thing you can do for them now is to keep living. They wouldn't want you to die here."

Skip turned to meet Lia's gaze, and she had to fight harder to keep the tears at bay. While his eyes weren't always bright and shining, like many of the kids his age, she could see behind the indifferent exterior. She could see the glint of mischief whenever he thought of some shenanigans to amuse himself, she could see the contentment on the warm summer days when they would just relax in the fields behind Wall Maria, and she could see the excitement and curiosity whenever she told him about what she saw of the outside world from atop the wall. Now though, all she could see was a hollow, empty, vacant stare. He did seem to register her words though, as he nodded, stood up, and mechanically made his way towards the boat with her. What she didn't notice, however, was the glance he cast back behind him, at the 15 meter hole in the inner gate. At the armored beast that had plowed straight through it. Its red eyes glaring at everything in front of it. Its jaw unhinging, and releasing a jet of steam so hot that it looked to be glowing. Spike Reid looked, and Spike Reid remembered.

As Skip and Lia continued making their way towards the river, Lia noticed that the last boat was too full to take them. They would be turned back for sure. The boat in front of it, however, was a different story. Although the boat was relatively crowded, there was still space for a landing zone if Lia carried out the plan that was forming in her head. As she approached the boat, she spotted Hannes, leaning against an outer railing, looking inwards. She decided put her plan into motion.

"Hannes!"

"Huh?" Hannes turned as he heard Lia's voice shouting at him from the riverbank, "Wait, Schäfer? What are you doing with that kid down there? It's not safe out here anymore!"

"I know! The last boat was full, so I decided to see if I could hop onto any of the earlier boats!"

"Wait… you mean you're going to…" Hannes trailed off as he put together the pieces of Lia's plan. The kid. The boat. The ODM gear. 'Oh boy. I hope she knows what she's doing,' Hannes thought as he turned to the people behind him. "Alright folks, I need you to move away so we can clear a landing zone!"

Lia and Skip continued to keep pace with the boat as it made its way upriver. Lia threw a glance over her shoulder at the hole in Wall Maria's inner gate. The first normal titans had begun to saunter through the breach, and the people who were left behind were scattering in every direction. They were running out of time. She turned back to the boat when she again heard Hannes' voice shouting down at her.

"Alright, we've got a landing zone cleared for you. It's not ideal, but it should be enough!"

Lia nodded at him, "Thank you Hannes, just a second!" She then stopped and kneeled down to Skip's level, "Spike, I need you to hang on tight, okay?"

Skip nodded vacantly again, wrapping his arms around her midsection tightly. Lia then took a deep breath, and fired her anchors into the side of the boat. The reels started to pull her in, and she used a little bit of her remaining gas to push them up and over the railing, and a little more to slow their approach. The pair landed on the boat with a thud, with Hannes coming over to them. As he helped them up, Lia spoke, "Thank you Hannes. If it weren't for you, I don't think we would've made it to Wall Rose alive."

"I'm just doing my duty, or trying to, at least. Say, where are Skip's parents?"

Lia didn't speak, prompting Hannes to look at Skip. After taking one look at Skip's empty stare, he immediately understood.

"Oh… I'm sorry."

Before Hannes could say anything else, though, another Garrison soldier called his name, asking for his help in breaking up a fight that had broken out on the boat. Skip, meanwhile, sank down to a sitting position, his back against the rails, knees pulled up to his chest, with his head resting on them. Lia slid down into a similar position against the wall opposite of him, and they stayed like that for a few minutes. Skip was then brought back to reality by a voice. He lifted his head up, and turned to the source of the voice. He saw the three kids from earlier. The brown haired kid was gripping the railings tightly, with rage evident on his face.

"I'm gonna put a stop to this... I'm gonna kill them all... every last one of them!," the brown haired kid growled with barely contained rage.

Skip thought about all that he had lost to the titans. His home, his old life… his family. He looked down to his hands, feeling a strange hollow emptiness. Part of him refused to believe that this was real, that it was just some awful dream, and that he would wake up in a few hours and go about his life as if everything was right with the world. Wanting the nightmare to end, he rested his head upon his knees again, and closed his eyes.

Okay, the real chapter 1 has been rewritten. Hooray.

Up Next: Skip meets the mailman.