Creation began on 03-11-25

Creation ended on 03-27-25

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan: We Need Shelter!

One of the only benefits of being in this large room was that there were accommodations for each member of each of the chosen survivalists' relatives. These included small rooms for them to rest in, a large pantry and at least five bathrooms.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about going crazy while we're here," went Grisha as he and Hagen Sogen had stepped outside to find themselves atop a large mountain under a night sky the likes of which they had never seen before, with stars and lights beyond their comprehension.

"Maybe we won't," Hagen replies, "but can you say the same for our children? Kaede has never had to spend the night out on her own anywhere. I'm concerned for her safety out in the open."

"You know, what my son did to your daughter… I don't condone it at all. He was out of line."

"I still stand by what I said earlier," Hagen states. "When we get out of this current predicament, either you and your wife deal with your son…or I will deal with him myself. I say this not as a man, but as a father that needs to protect his child from someone else's child that doesn't know where the line is drawn or cares who gets hurt by him."

Grisha sighs and acknowledges Hagen's threat to deal with Eren when this was over.

"Your daughter," utters, changing the subject to the current situation. "What do you think are her chances of surviving out there on her own?"

"Kaede's strongest ability is her ability to stay positive," Hagen says. "She doesn't scare easily and doesn't panic until she's tried everything she knows that she can do."

"But…she's not a survivalist."

"No…but she has her family and friends to help her survive out there."

-x-

Every single one of the twelve chosen individuals in the wilderness of Titania's Lake were reacting to their current situation as well as they knew how to. Some were trying to make sense of their predicament while the rest were trying to find the others, only to be met with some resistance by Mother Nature herself. Thickets of trees and bushes that weren't around earlier seemingly acting up to keep those trying to find others from doing so. If the aim of what they were supposed to do is survive out here, it would have been better to be as a group, but whoever brought them out here was, this may not be the case.

"Attention, survivalists," the voice of the man that informed them all of what they were here to do earlier utters, sounding like he was up in the trees. "This game is all about surviving out in the wild, away from civilization. Part of the game involves being able to do everything on your own. Only those that have been paired with another person are those that require an emotional support of sorts to keep their moral compass pointing north. Those of you by yourself are stable enough to not require such. The ones paired together are Eren Yeager and Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman and Levi Ackerman, Historia Reiss and Ymir, and Reiner Braun and Annie Leonhart. The remaining four of you are emotionally stable enough to handle solitary living, as you are not completely cut off from your clans. This game is a trial by fire. The last one that weathers the tribulations that await you is the one that becomes the hero of your world. They will go down in your history as the one that saved the rest of you from certain doom. But which one will it be? That isn't up to me or any of you out here. It is up to your clans and their faith in each of you. Remember, the spheres paired with you enable your clans to see and hear, but you can't communicate with them. And all over the terrain of Titania's Lake, mainly in the trees, are spheres similar to your own, giving your clans unlimited visuals of your whereabouts at all times. They're watching you right this very moment, some holding onto their faith that you will survive this night without anything, and others having to see as you are pitted against your predicament and how well you will overcome its trials. How long you can survive out here will depend on your inner strength to handle the lack of societal limitations. Good luck until morning. Good luck to you all."

Kaede, hiding from whatever large animals that may be in the wilderness with them in a makeshift shelter of branches placed against a large rock, lays down and tries to get some sleep.

"Just need to get through the night," she says, "and survive on my own out here. I hope you guys will help me out from a distance until we meet again after this game is done. Goodnight."

-x-

"We're with you, Kaede," utters Christine Sogen as she sits down at the large table assigned to everyone representing her daughter, watching on the large screen as the sphere watching her shows a black and white picture of the girl laying down.

"…It's one thing that we both have to be out here," they could all hear Eren as he and Armin are sitting in front of a fire, "but why did this person bring that gray-haired girl into this? What, it's not like she's going to win."

"What is his problem?" Connie's father questions, trying to watch as his son sleeps beside a fallen tree. "Worry about yourself, not what anyone else is doing."

"Easier said than done, sir," went one of Kaede's friends, Kylie, in response to his suggestion. "How's your son doing out there?"

"The same as everyone else, just trying to survive out there."

On a screen displaying Historia and Ymir, Frieda and Rod Reiss can see a large bear walking by their shelter of sticks.

"Ohh…" Frieda worries, and then the bear walks away. "Whew."

"They're all in the midst of potential danger out there," Carla Yeager expresses, but her concerns were of her son's attitude; as she was the primary person that had control over Eren's fate in this game, she alone could decide whether or not to extract him whenever she chooses…and made a personal decision to extract him if he didn't let up about the Sogen girl. Just let it go, Eren. Based on the layout of where you and Armin are, you're nowhere near her, and she's nowhere near you or even thinking about you. Why do you have to bother with her so much? I mean, you bother with her more than usually, and just because she expressed an opinion.

"What are you thinking, Mrs. Yeager?" Another of Kaede's friends, Mimi, asks the woman.

"Honestly? I'm thinking Eren has a prejudice issue against Ms. Sogen."

"I'm just among those that hopes he stays away from Kaede throughout the whole thing."

"And what should happen if he…if he doesn't?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean…what should happen…if he doesn't stay away from Ms. Sogen?"

Mimi sighs and responds, "I'd hate to be your son if he chooses to cross a line out of spite."

Carla nods her head in agreement on her choice of words.

"Do you think your friend can win this game of survival?" She asks her.

"She'll try to," Mimi says. "So long as she can stay positive, and as long as we can help her, she has a shot. Maybe not a great shot, but she has a shot."

-x-

Omnipresence, omnifarious, but not omniscience; to be everywhere and be anything, but not to know everything…was the way Brother Correction was playing in this game as a spectator. Not knowing everything…but knowing just enough…was how any of the survivalists were going to get through this. Each of the twelve would have to rely on their own, limited knowledge and recollection of past learnings, and the aid of their loved ones, to endure living out in the wilderness. But as he observes them, he takes special focus on both Eren and Kaede; while the young man could change his tone if it meant winning the game, letting go of his hatred in order to survive, the gray-haired girl, with or without power of any sort that excluded the mundane power that came with love and friendship, a true power that everyone was capable of when they wanted it, when they deserved it, when they could prove they could earn it, was likely demonstrating hopeful passion since her body wasn't in pain from the injuries the boy had inflicted upon her earlier.

Only none of them possess the power of the Titans in this universe, Brother Correction thinks as he watches each of the survivalists on several spheres floating around him. Nobody in this universe can manage the power of any of these Titans because of their lack of a twitch in their own chemistry, so no Titans with intelligence were present at any point in their history. The Walls were built over a century-and-a-half ago, keeping the Titans at bay. Unfortunately, people from other parts of the world have been misled into believing that some sort of salvation lies on Paradis Island to defeat the Titans. There is no such thing, but if one of them lasts longer than the rest, they can choose to save their world, regardless. In the end, it all comes down to who wants to be the hero of their own story…and who chooses to be the villain.

-x-

The adults in the HQ all wake up to the new day in their rooms and return to the large room to observe their loved ones.

Christine and Hagen can see their daughter crawling out of her shelter and looking around her current location, accompanied by her sphere.

"It's morning," they hear her say. "I made it through the night. Thank you."

"I'm glad she pulled through," her mother says.

"She's a fighter," her father adds. "She's gonna get through this."

"Thank you, Ymir," they hear Historia praise the older girl with freckles, handing her over a large jacket that she had on prior to ending up in their current location.

"Don't mention it," Ymir replies. "I think if we're among those paired together, the only way either of us is going to get through this is together."

"She should have let her freeze to death," they all hear Alma express, and most eyes were split between glares and disgust towards her choice of words.

"What crawled down into your heart and laid bad eggs there?" Julietta questions her; since last night, she and the other friends of Kaede had gotten nothing but vibes of resentment from this woman that was Historia's mother, like she hated her own child for just existing.

"Don't mind her," went Frieda as she carries a cup of a steaming beverage in her hands. "She's been like this since before she and my father met."

"How so?" Delilah asks, curious.

"Are you familiar with the group known as the Disgraced Ones?"

"Men and women with delusions of grandeur and animosity towards people to the point of envying them. Oh, my… Miss Alma here is one of them?"

"Was one of them. One night of poor choices led her to my father, and the two ended up spending the night together."

"It wasn't like that!" Alma yells, but Frieda looks at her with a frown. "I never asked for her to begin with."

"But nobody stopped you," Frieda reminds her of her decisions. "You could've done away with Historia before she was born, but you chose not to. Despite her trying to open her heart up to you, you reject her at every opportunity. You push her away out of your displaced resentment. You blame her for something that you chose to do, Alma. You might be her mother…but you'll never be the one she turns to for aid and support if you can't open your heart up to her. Ever."

"You have some nerve, girl."

"More nerve than you have ever shown," Mrs. Reiss utters, getting her attention. "You can't even answer the question that is asked more than once of you."

Alma simply glares at them.

"What is the question?" Carla asks.

"Why did she choose to have Historia if she doesn't even love her?" Frieda reveals. "That is the sole question that deserves to be answered, except Alma here refuses to do so."

"In the eyes of any child," went Christine, "there's nothing worse or monstrous than a parent that hates their own child, especially if there is a reason behind such and they don't know what it is."

"It's only worse if there's no reason at all," adds Armin's grandfather. "If you can hate someone else without any justification to why, then…then you're already lost."

Alma then decides to leave the room; she didn't need this from any of them.

"What a terrible woman," Connie's mother expresses.

"But wait," Christine goes in confusion, looking at the Reiss family women. "She has apathy towards her daughter, but the rest of you don't, right?"

"I only found out about my husband's affair because he told me shortly afterwards. Frieda found out about Historia soon after…and asked us to open our home to her. She might be illegitimate because of my husband's weaknesses stemming from a bad night of bad choices, but that doesn't mean I blame her for any of it. She's a good person…who was just dealt a bad hand by being born to someone that won't own up to her own faults and change for the better."

"Any insight on who the girl is with her?" Delilah asks. "This Ymir girl?"

"She's a friend of Historia's," Frieda explains. "Sort of. She's more like her bodyguard when out and about…half the time."

"And the other half of the time?" Julietta questions.

"I guess it's safe to say that Ymir…carries a torch for Historia all the time."

"Oh, really?" Connie's father says, intrigued. "At such a young age?"

Frieda sighs and responds, "All that matters is the mutuality of those involved. If you can't understand it or have something against it, then I suggest you turn away before you do something you will come to regret later."

CLANG-CLANG! An alarm goes off, alerting everyone within the HQ.

"Attention, clans," they hear the man's voice say to them. "It's time to begin your first supply drop to your survivalists. A supply room has been set up with limited essentials for you to choose from. These include the following: Food, warmth, water, tools and fire. Each prime member of the clans must choose a fellow member and enter the supply room, where you will receive an empty crate to fill with supplies. You will each have only one minute to do so. Remember that supplies are limited, so anything that you do or do not take will affect those before and after you. The order in which you will be chosen is at random. The supplies must be able to fit inside the crate with the latches secured before one minute expires, or your survivalist will receive nothing. Best of luck."

This was a heavy weight of pressure on them all. They only have one minute to go through supplies and figure out what each of them needs, and if they couldn't close the crate before then, their survivalist would get nothing until the next supply drop.

Reiner's mother, the prime member of his clan structure, approaches the man he has a resemblance to, and the woman sighs.

"Can you help me get what Reiner needs, please?" She asks him.

"Why me?" He responds, clearly not up to this. "Why not one of them (he gestures to her relatives)? They must know him more than me."

"The only reason he's out there in that wilderness right now is because of us."

"I didn't do anything."

"You didn't have to do anything. He was convinced that if he was able to protect the nation from Paradis, we'd finally be together."

"You know it's not that simple."

"It never is."

"The first one up is Armin's grandfather," the voice announces, and the elderly man gets up and follows a lit path.

The supply room was akin to an armory of sorts in the eyes of the man, stocked with pretty much everything he understands is an essential resource. There were blankets, canned food, knives, fire-making kits, lanterns, tools for building, and probably other things he couldn't find a name for. In front of him, on a large table, was a wooden crate with Armin's name on it.

"Your one minute begins now," the voice informs him, and a timer starts up, counting down the seconds he has left.

He quickly moves to his left of the room, searching through items on shelves under a sign that reads, WARTHM, grabbing a large enough blanket and putting it inside the crate. Then, he moves towards some shelves under another sign that reads, TOOLS, grabbing a small knife. Upon moving to the items under FOOD, he grabs two cans of beans before grabbing a fire-making kit under FIRE. With just a little room left inside the crate, he grabs a metal canteen of water and jams it into the crate, closing the lid and latching it in place, with just three seconds to spare.

"Whew," he pants; he was worried that he wouldn't be able to get Armin what he needs.

A second later, the crate vanishes from sight on the table.

"Upon latching the crate closed," the voice utters, "it will be relocated for transport to the chosen survivalist's destination."

He then leaves the room, hopeful that Armin will receive the supplies.

Next up was Sasha's parents, who came into the room and picked what they believed would fit into the crate. Among the tools, the father finds a compound bow with eight arrows while the mother grabs a canteen of water. After fitting a can of beans into the crate and latching it shut, the crate vanishes with the selected items for their daughter.

"Do you think we got her enough?" The mother asks.

"I hope we did," her husband replies. "We grabbed what we thought she'd need and could fit into the box."

Carla and Grisha came soon after, but despite their best efforts, had to lock the crate in three seconds, forgoing the items associated with warmth and fire, packing only two cans of food, a canteen of water, and a small knife.

"One minute is not enough," Carla states to her husband.

"We grabbed what we could," Grisha tells her.

After them came Frieda and her mother; since Alma had openly refused to have anything to do with Historia, Frieda had to take it upon herself to elect the next best person to assist in getting her and Ymir what they needed.

Erwin Smith was selected soon after Mikasa's parents were chosen to gather what they could for their daughter, followed up by Reiner's parents, who were only working together in this because they both wanted to get out of this messy situation alive.

"Why don't you just have him extracted from the wilderness?" The man asks Karina. "You're the primary. You can do that."

"So long as he's convinced that he can outlast the others," she replies, "he'll endure living out there on his own for as long as he can. It's only been one day since this all started. It's too soon to extract him."

"Most people seem to have their hopes on that girl with the gray hair."

"Not me. And you shouldn't, either."

After filling the crate with a knife, two cans of food, a blanket and a lantern, the unmarried pair vacated the room when their crate vanished.

"So, what did you get Armin?" Carla asks the grandfather.

"Only what I know he can use to survive out there," he answers her. "That room is amazing, having these things that can enable people to survive someplace. If we had access to rooms like that on Paradis, we could persist against the Titans."

Grisha looks up and sees the Sogen couple return from their sojourn to the supply room, but their expressions were unhappy.

"What's wrong?" The twins with blond and ebony hair ask them.

"There were no knives left," Christine informs them, "and I think we took the last can of food."

"I jammed an alternate tool for Kaede," her husband states, "but she has no experience with it."

"Whatever you did get for Kaede, she'll know that you mean well for her to survive out there," Kylie tells them. "Were you at least able to pack her a blanket or something for warmth?"

"Warmth, fire, water," Christine reveals. "We packed everything we know we can make sure she can survive with."

"Attention," the voice utters to them all in the room. "The supply crates are now being transported to the survivalists. Best of luck."

One of the screens showed at least twelve strange, flying creatures that appeared to be made of metal, carrying the wooden crates over thirty feet into the air towards the lake.

"What are those creatures?" Erwin wonders.

-x-

"Attention, survivalists," the voice utters across the wilderness to the young people with nothing at their makeshift shelters. "Your clans have sent you crates with supplies. Please, head to the lake where they will be dropped for you to retrieve them."

Kaede looks at her floating sphere beside her and smiles.

"Thank you," she says to her parents and friends, hoping they could hear her praise. "Whatever you were able to get me, I know you did your best to make sure I got it."

"Whatever my grandfather got me, I know he did his best to make sure I got them," went Armin to Eren as they head to the lake. "I know it's the same with your parents."

"What could they possibly get us out here?" Eren questions. "What can we use out here, huh?"

Armin has to consider the likelihood that Eren is not in his right mind for this game they were all playing to save their world. The boy is being consumed by his anger, practically mad at everything and everyone, and he doesn't want to let go of that anger, even though he should. All he can do is hope that he can refrain from saying or doing anything he would come to regret while they were here.

"Whatever they can send us is whatever they think we can use, Eren. Even if my grandfather was only able to send me a blanket, I'd be grateful that he did. If your parents were able to send you a fire-making kit, that would be helpful, too." Armin states.

"You know what would be helpful out here? A map…or at least a tent."

"I pray that we will be able to make do with anything your family sent us, Historia," Ymir tells her friend as they reach the lake.

"Knowing Frieda," Historia replies, "she helped to send us whatever we can make use of. Some food, a knife, anything."

Soon after they had arrived at varying spots of the large lake, the twelve survivalists see these small, flying objects that were carrying these large crates in the air, making a strange, buzzing noise, making them worry that they were a threat. When they were close to the edge of the lake, they all let go of the crates, letting them hit the ground or splash close to the ground, and then they flew away.

"Thank you, whatever that thing was," Kaede says as she goes over to the crate that splashed down near her, picking it up upon seeing her name was written on it. "I should get you back to my site where it's safe."

"Here's your crate, Annie," went Reiner to his companion, handing her over her crate so that he could pick up his.

"Thanks," she replies to him.

"I don't care what's in this crate," Sasha states as she carries her crate back to her campsite, "I know you packed me up something good."

-x-

"…It's nice to see that they appreciate that we were able to pack them what we could before they even open their crates," went Sasha's mother as her daughter returned to her campsite with the crate.

"Almost everyone," Grisha utters as his son and Armin return to their site with their crates.

Armin opens his crate…and a smile of gratitude forms on his face.

"Thank you, Grandfather," they hear him express, removing his supplies from the crate. "A blanket. A knife. Two cans of food. A fire-making kit. And a canteen of water. Thank you, Grandfather. Thank you."

"You got more than I did," they hear Eren utter as he opens his crate. "No blanket or a fire kit."

"Maybe there's a time limit that restricts them all from being able to send us what we need, Eren. Don't blame them if there are rules and restrictions designed to impede us in this game." Armin tells him.

"The only rule I'm understanding is that we need to outlast everyone else out here. What else are we expected to do to outlast everyone else out here?"

"Is he going to be like this until God-knows-when?" Julietta questions the Yeagers.

"If I knew the answer to that, I'd be the one that knows how to save everyone," Carla says in response. "Restraint is not his strong suit."

"Restraint?" Frieda replies to hearing this. "No offense, Mrs. Yeager, but your son sounds like he's just angry at the whole world."

"I second that opinion," went Annie's father; he had seen some angry people in his life, and there were none worse than those that were angry at the world.

"Oh! Oh!" They hear Sasha gasp, holding up a bow and a quiver of arrows. "Thank you!"

"Whoa!" Delilah reacts. "You were able to send her that?!"

"We hunt small and large game," Sasha's father claims.

"Nice."

"If your daughter has to hunt for food out there," Hagen says, "she's a threat to whoever tries to steal from her."

"I believe the same could be said of your daughter, sir," her mother claims, pointing to the screens, and they see Kaede holding a small blade that looks like a knife, but the shaping was off. "It's rare that you see a blade like that in the hands of children."

"That's a blade?" Christine asks.

"It's a kunai," Mikasa's mother informs. "It's a multi-purpose tool."

"Is this…some sort of a knife?" Kaede's voice expresses concern as she examines the tool she received in her crate. "I wish I could ask you how to use this right now. But I know you wouldn't send me something like this if you thought I couldn't use it. How I'm ever supposed to use this, thank you for sending it to me."

"Your daughter is…very grateful, ma'am," Karina says to Christine.

"Thank you," she replies.

-x-

Levi was grateful for the inclusion of a fire-making kit in his crate; fire would serve to keep certain animals at bay in the night. Just as he was grateful for the knives that he and Mikasa received; if they came across small game, they would come in handy.

"I hope Hange is enjoying herself right now," he says, getting Mikasa's attention as she sets aside her blanket.

"Why?" She asks him.

"Despite the voice saying that she's among the four of us that is emotionally stable enough to be out here on her own, she has a tendency to get a little unhinged."

"Unhinged?"

"She's a Titan fanatic to some degree, but I've seen her go crazy over other things."

-x-

"Oh, my gosh!" Hange gasps as she pulls out a hatchet from her crate. "So beautiful! So sleek! So useful!"

-x-

"She's in a good mood," went Frieda as the clans all saw Ms. Zoe's reaction to receiving a hatchet from Erwin Smith.

"Levi is good with a knife," Erwin explains. "Hange is content with anything she can use to defend herself and more."

"So, Levi's claim of Ms. Zoe being a little unhinged?" Mimi asks him.

"No," he sighs, "that's true. She can be a bit of a fanatic."

"Sometimes, there's an advantage to being a little crazy," Grisha claims.

-x-

With more motivation after starting a small fire at her site, Kaede builds up more of her makeshift shelter with branches and large leaves. She looks up at the sphere that floats in front of her and smiles at it.

"If being able to save the world means being able to protect those that mean everything to me," she says to it, "then I can endure this. I mean, who wouldn't want to do something as simple and understandable as play a game of survival of the fittest here where the last one standing is the one that gets to be the hero? The hero is the one that gets to save everyone and everything. The good, the bad, the indifferent, friends and strangers… Being able to see you all at the end of this…will be my reward for holding out as long as possible."

With her aim clear, Kaede enters her shelter and crawls under her blanket.

-x-

Mikasa misses her parents. Even in her own makeshift shelter, it just doesn't feel like home right now; to play this game with such high stakes, being one of twelve people that had to try to outlast the other eleven in a competition of survival in order to save their world, it just makes her homesick a little.

"I'm not sure if I can do this," she says to her sphere as she lays down on her blanket. "Or even how long I can do this. There were other people more suited to do this, but why us twelve? Why a bunch of kids?"

-x-

"…Maybe one of these twelve is the only one that can actually do something to save everyone else," went Christine in response to Mikasa's unanswerable question.

"Maybe," replies Mrs. Ackerman.

Among those on the screens being depicted includes Reiner, who sits in front of a fire with a look of woe on his face.

"I won't lie," the people inside the room hear him say. "This could be the most challenging thing I've ever done in my life to try and get my parents back together."

"Your son became a soldier," went Grisha to Karina, "because he wants you and his father to reconcile? Who does that?"

"It's complicated," Karina says.

"It's only complicated," Frieda states, "when nobody knows everything."

"Sometimes," went Reiner's father, "it's better not to know."

"But secrets have a cost," Christine expresses. "The truth, too."

To be continued…

A/N: Here's the second chapter. Some of the survivalists have personal motivations for playing the game, but others will be tempted by immoral intentions that will lead to reconsiderations regarding their involvement in the game. Despite this, Brother Correction stands by his aim in this; he's leaving their fates at the hands of their loved ones, letting them decide to go on in the game or pull them out, as he's only a spectator who just makes sure they have what they need to continue. It's going to be anyone's guess on who will win as this story progresses. Until the next chapter, everyone, see ya!