848.
3rd POV
.
.
In a forest a few miles from wall Rose, we could hear hasty steps followed by frantic writing noises. A young woman moved into this forest devoid of humans, being the only survivor of her team. She still managed to survive, while writing her tale, which could be the only reminder of her struggle.
She was recording pieces of information about how she managed to survive so far, in the hope to be useful to anyone who would stumble upon her diary if something bad had to happen to her. It Pushed her to continue, despite the fear of sudden and painful death, she still wrote.
Filled with unfailing determination she declared in her diary:
I'll record every moment in this notebook, and do everything I can.
She suddenly entered a beautiful clearing that seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale, if only the fear of death did not run through her veins, she would've stopped to admire the scenery.
I will not give up! I will... Not Give up!!
She declared firmly until she lifted her head and crossed the sight of two large beady eyeballs. Her breath got caught in her throat as her eyes widened in horror.
A titan
She barely had time to shout that the beast threw itself on her jaw open, ready to eat its meal. The young woman barely dodged but unfortunately, found herself back to a tree. Horrified and shaking in front of the creature, she slid down.
Imagine having to face one of your greatest fears, and knowing that you won't come out alive would cause anyone in this situation to lose hope. The face of the beast was only a few centimeters away from the frightened young woman, releasing heavy breaths as it stared at its prey in hunger.
The wind caused by its breath, blew some brown strands from her face, as tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked down at her notebook, hands shaking as she continued to record despite the situation she was in.
"I... Will not... Give up..."
I've encountered a titan. A 7-no, more like a 6 meters class. She looked up to observe the creature. It hasn't eaten me yet... Is it abnormal? She looked back at her notebook, clenching it tightly. I now stare at death in the face... This is the end for me. More tears rolled down as she blinked rapidly to clear her vision. I lived for myself. I haven't done anything for my parents yet... I feel sick. Her shoulders sagged at her sudden realization. I'm a goner...
"Peo..ple... Of... Ym..ir..."
The sudden hoarse voice snapped her from her dark thoughts as she looked at the beast from which it came. The creature straightened up, putting space between them.
It... Spoke? She blinked, stunned by the sudden turn of events. The titan...spoke. Impossible...
"Ymir-sama..." it prostrated itself in front of her. "it's an...Honor."
The woman stared at the prostrated creature, astonished. Its words make sense... "People of Ymir."..."Ymir-sama"..." It's an honor." rapidly writing, she observed the titan's features. I'm certain of it. This titan's expression has changed. It's paying its respects to me. She wiped a tear from her eye. Unbelievable... Probably for the first time in history, a human managed to communicate with a Titan...
After an inner battle about what to do, she gulped down and shakingly asked: "Wh- what are you...?"
I ask for the reason for their existence. It moans. No reply. "Where are you from..?" I ask about their origin. No response. The titan stayed immobile while groaning.
Unbeknownst to the frightened woman, heavy footsteps approached the scene.
With a surge of courage, she asked "Why do you eat us?" I ask for their objectives. It held its face as if struggling against its urges. The woman snapped, a desperate look on her face."WHY DO YOU EAT US?! YOU DON'T NEED TO EAT TO LIVE! SO WHY?!" She yelled at the monster who was receiving her hate."YOU'RE JUST A GIANT USELESS LUMP OF FLESH!!" The titan froze. "VANISH FROM THIS WORLD!!"
The woman immediately regretted her words as the monster finally looked up fingers firmly plunged into its face while blood flowed from the wounds it inflicted on itself. She watched, startled as the titan tore more of its face.
"W-What..?"
Facing this gory scene, the young woman hastened to flee. The titan's eyes suddenly landed on the fleeing woman while grunting in pain. It quickly sprung after her and grabbed her terrified form. She released a horrified shriek as tears of fright escaped her widened sockets.
But before she could meet her impending doom...
"Release her, this instant." a sudden voice boomed in the clearing. Both titan and human jolted in surprise.
'Wha..?'
An immense figure appeared from the trees, walking to the two frightened beings while the ground shook due to the heavy steps it took. The woman blinked rapidly, looking at the strangest titan she's ever seen. She shakingly wrote in her notebook.
The titan I had tried to question is currently holding me in its hands. She gulped a sob. I was yelling at it when it caught me, but... Another one, an 18-meter class came out from the woods, stopping it...from eating me..? She jolted when the smaller titan released her. On the ground, she looked at the smaller one as it bowed to the bigger one.
"what the.."
"Don't you think that yelling at a man-eating monster was, perhaps, a bad idea?"
The new titan rhetorically asked, voice soft but commanding, as it crouched down in front of the young woman. The latter instantly took a few steps back before falling on her butt. She quickly wrote while intently observing this new...titan?
"...?"
This...This 18-meter class doesn't look like any titan I've seen so far. This is the first time I have ever seen one with female features. Hastily scribbling data, she continued her observations.
It or should I say, she? has long charcoal hairs which reach its knees, dark grey skin, and..gold pupilless eyes surrounded by black long lashes. But the most important feature I noticed first, was the golden horn on her forehead and an opening present on her jaw, showing sharps golden teeth.
She blinked rapidly before realizing the titan had spoken too. She can speak too!! Like the first one, she is capable of spee-
The Grey skinned titan cleared her throat, startling the woman, interrupting her scribbling.
"You're an incredible person, girl. Facing the monster that could end your life, you still find the courage to write everything that is happening. Truly impressive.." the titan chuckled lightly.
The one who was still bowing whined to get the taller titan's attention which she gave. The woman saw this and quickly tried to escape as the beast was occupied. But unbeknownst to her, the horned titan had noticed her.
Quickly, the creature grabbed the young woman in her giant hands. This made the human scream in fear, believing that her hour had finally come.
"Calm down, nothing will happen, I won't eat you." but the word 'Eat' strengthened the young woman's struggling to escape. Seeing that nothing was working, the titan sighed in exasperation. "If I release you right now, what do you think will happen?"
This however worked, since the woman froze. The titan sighed.
"That's better."
Breathing heavily and trying to keep her composure but failing, the woman shakingly tried to ask the titan she was held by. "Y-You... Wh..how...?" but failed miserably.
The female giant smiled slightly, calming a bit the frightened human in her hands. "It's Okay, hum... It's kind of weird to only call you by your gender...do you mind telling me your name?" She asks kindly to not scare the little creature in her hands.
The young woman blinked, bewildered by what heard. A titan asking her for her name? Strangely, the soothing aura she felt pushed her to respond.
"I-Ilse... Langnar.."
"Ilse? What a lovely name! Mine is Lith! Nice to meet you!"
Dumbfounded by this new information, Ilse blurted: "Titans have names!?" before realizing her outburst. She curled up in fear that the creature will decide to change its mind and devour her.
Lith smiled, amused. "Don't worry, your curiosity is well placed, yes Titans have names." She pointed to the little titan sitting beside her. "Her name is Mavea. Luckily I ran into you, she wasn't one of the titans I had ordered."
"Or...dered...?", Ilse dumbly repeated before realization dawned on her.
"During the previous explorations, the scouts began to notice a strange behavior coming from certain titans...it is said that these titans completely ignored the soldiers and continued on their paths...those weird behaviors... it was you.?"
Lith chuckled. "Indeed." she proceeded to stand up, making Ilse squeak as she grabbed one of Lith's fingers for balance. "How did you find yourself here?"
"I hum..." Hesitant, she started explaining her predicament to the friendly titan. They walked, more like she was carried, in the woods while discussing. Ilse found herself being more at ease with this titan. How was this possible? How could she, a mere human, be able to speak with two titans the same day? Was it fate?
"Say...hum, Lith ?" the titan hummed in response, showing she was listening. Ilse mentally encouraged herself before finally asking: "Why are you, a titan, helping us humans?" she bit her lower lip before continuing. "We've killed your kind for decades... doesn't that hurt you?" she looked up at Lith, gauging for her reaction.
'Oh my God, is she going to eat me? Why do I have to ask questions that could end up killing me?! God, Ilse are you such an idiot-' her Internal panic was interrupted when she heard the giant woman's response.
"So did the titans. I am really surprised that you're not sprouting your hatred on me as you did earlier on Mavea." she threw an amused look which made Ilse's cheeks warm.
'How can a titan be this beautiful???'
"I huh... It's because you didn't try to devour me, and took the time to listen..." She shyly scratched her cheek with her index finger." And I find your presence oddly comforting so..."
"hmm, I see." They reached the end of the forest. Lith crouched down with a questioning Ilse in hand. "I think this is where we will part ways, Ilse," she says, putting a panicked Ilse on the ground.
"WHAT?! How am I going to reach the-", A whistle from the titan interrupted her, and a few seconds later, a brown horse galloped towards the two individuals. Ilse's eyes widened as she frantically looked between Lith and the horse. "H-How?"
Lith put a finger in front of her lips "Secret~" she giggled then her expression suddenly became serious. "What just happened will be something important to humanity, but could you please keep this secret?" she asked in a soft voice. "I know it's too much to ask from a titan, but I have my reasons...so could you promise me that?" She looked at the human pleadingly.
The little brunette looked down, torn between informing the Corps of her discovery or keeping her new friend..? Yes, friend from harm. Because she knew, what Hanji could do, if she knew about Lith. She shuddered.
'I don't know what to do... This could help clear the weird behavior some titans have, but...if I do that, what would happen to Lith...? Would they hurt her...? But titans don't feel pain! Or maybe...they can't just tell us!' Her eyes widened as she quickly looked at a waiting Lith. 'I... I can't do that to her, she saved me..'
With a resolved nod, she answered the awaiting titan: "I won't tell anyone!" she tore pages from her diary, where the appearance of Lith was mentioned. "It's the least I can do, knowing that it's thanks to you that there are fewer casualties in our ranks." The torn pages were blown away by the wind andshe looked up at the surprised titan with a smile, "Thank you, for what you're doing for us."
"I...Wow...I thought...", a small sigh of relief escaped her lips as a thankful look appeared on her face. "Thank you, Ilse." the titan then 'patted' carefully the little human's head with her index finger. "Now you can go, nothing will happen to you on your way, I guarantee you.", she slowly stood up while an unsure Ilse threw her a worried look.
"A..are you sure..?"
"Yes, I promise you that you won't encounter any danger." She assured, "you can tell your peers that you found a horse on your way and that you kept traveling at night since it's the time where titans are inactive."
This information was good to know, Hanji would love that. "Alright...this is weird but, I trust your judgment, Lith." She got on the horse who neighed, she stroked its mane.
"Well...it was nice meeting you." she flushed a little embarrassed. "Hum...I huh, hope that we'll meet again..." with that said, she departed but not before waving goodbye.
Lith stood there, surprised by the turn of events as she watched the tiny human disappear from view.
'Daaaaamn, I went full bullshit on this one. Didn't think it would be today that I'd meet Ilse, but guess my "sneaking out to train as a titan and checking Old man Arlert." was a good idea.'
She hummed.
'Now I need to go back asap! It's fun to sneak out when you know you can leave a clone, but I ain't gonna risk it~.'
She turned on her heels and headed to the forest, to an awaiting Mavea.
"You missy, are in big trouble." she motherly scolded.
Mavea's shoulders slumped in defeat