Chapter Text
Green eyes stared up at the clear blue sky, lazily blinking. Mud brown feathers ruffled in the slight breeze. The scent of freshly baked bread sauntered past the boy’s nose, riding along on the gentle wind. The sound of the moving water mixed with the background noise of the market lulled the child deeper into his own mind.
It was a calm day with no pressing duties to accomplish. Just another day with nothing special planned. The citizens of Shiganshina milled and moved around the street, going about their day, following their daily schedule.
The sound of wingbeats neared the boy which was accompanied by the passing of two shadows. A young couple flew overhead, briefly blocking out the sun before continuing on their way. Eren Jaeger watched them as they flew across the river to the meadow closer to the wall. He blinked when they disappeared out of sight.
How boring.
“Eren!”
Frantic, unsynchronized wingbeats broke him from his trance as Eren turned his head to see his two best friends gliding towards him. Armin Arlert and Mikasa Ackerman.
Armin touched down on the stone road a little clumsily, his landing interrupted by a large book gripped across his chest. Excited blue eyes twinkling in the sunlight and wide, light brown, almost golden, wings practically glittering in the light.
Mikasa landed smoothly behind the blond boy, her dark, raven-like wings folding neatly against her back, hardly upsetting the red scarf wrapped around her neck. Her face was as stoic as ever with the exception of a slight glint in her eyes that betrayed her true emotion.
Eren felt the telltale boiling of jealousy when he saw his friends land. He inwardly frowned at the bright gold of Armin’s wings and the charcoal black of Mikasa’s. He wished for his wings to stand out like that, instead of his muddy brown speckled appendages. Eren instantly squashed down the envy. It’s not like color affected their ability to fly. Besides, if anything, it made him glad to have unique friends!
“Hey Armin, Mikasa,” the boy greeted them. “Whatcha got there?”
Armin and Mikasa placed themselves down next to Eren on the bank, Armin a little winded from his quick flight and Mikasa making no noise, as usual. However, she did give Eren a small smile in greeting.
“You won’t believe this, Eren!” The blue-eyed boy gasped excitedly before slamming the book on the pavement. Then he froze and glanced around, looking for any eavesdroppers. Armin lowered his voice and whispered, “It’s a book about the outside world!”
Eren’s mouth dropped open in awe. “Really?!” He shouted.
“Shhhh!” Armin waved his hands frantically in front of him, wings puffing out in alarm, as if trying to dissipate the exclamation. “Quiet, Eren! Someone might hear us!”
Eren grinned sheepishly and nodded apologetically. Books like those were illegal, so they had to be quiet about reading them. He quickly glanced at Mikasa, the silent spectator in the exchange, before speaking. “Well, where did you find it?” Before Armin could answer, the brown haired boy’s wings flared out in anticipation and he cut the blond boy off. “Hurry up, then! Show me! What’s the outside world like?”
As the trio flipped through the thick book, gray and green eyes widened in delight as Armin kept up the commentary on each of the pictures. Burning water, land made of ice, fields of sand… and most of all…
“Huh? The ocean? What’s that?”
“It’s like a giant lake that stretches on for miles and miles! You can’t even see land on the other side!” Armin exclaimed, reaching his arms out, wings fluttering in glee.
“Armin,” Mikasa said, pointing to the words on the page. “It says that the ocean is salty.” Her voice was still monotone, but it was a pitch higher than usual with her downy feathers twitching with emotion.
Armin nodded enthusiastically. “It is! The world is mostly covered by salty water!”
Eren gasped. “Merchants can make a fortune selling salt! Are you sure they haven’t taken all the salt from the ocean already?”
“That’s the thing, Eren! There’s so much salt that they can’t take all of it! It’s impossible!” Armin’s eyes shone with curiosity and wonder. “The outside world is bigger than everything that’s within the walls! I-I want to see it! I want to see it all with my own two eyes, Eren, Mikasa! There’s-There’s so much beyond the walls that we…we…” The boy’s eyes dulled slightly and he looked back down at the book solemnly. He was silent for a few seconds before he finished, “That we may never see.”
The trio sat in silence as they all absorbed the weight of Armin’s words. Eren didn't like the sad look on his friend's face. Not after he expressed all that emotion over a book. If Armin gets so excited over a book, imagine how happy he would be to see the real deal! Suddenly, Eren hopped onto his feet. “No.” The boy said, gaining his friends’ attention.
His wings snapped open in determination and he clenched his fists, glaring at the walls that protected them.
“Eren?” Mikasa asked in surprise.
Eren huffed. “We’re going to see the ocean.” He declared, still looking at the walls. “One day we’re going to go outside the walls and see everything that’s in the book with our own eyes, even if we have to fly over the walls ourselves.” He looked back down at Armin and Mikasa, who were still looking at him in surprise. “The outside world is our birthright and I’m going to make sure that we get to see all of it. Let's join the Survey Corps so we can go beyond the wall! Then we’ll get to see everything outside of this cage! We’ll be free to explore what's meant to be ours!”
“Moom,” Eren whined. “Can I go try and fly with Armin and Mikasa?”
Carla paused while washing a plate for a second before continuing. “Eren, your father said that your air sacs aren’t ready for you to fly yet.” She scolded him gently before putting a plate to the side to dry. “Thank you, dear,” she murmured to Mikasa as the girl helped clear the table from breakfast.
“But Armin and Mikasa are already flying!”
“Gliding, Eren.” Mikasa said as she picked up his bowl and cup. “We’re not flying yet, we can’t even get more than two meters off the ground by ourselves.”
“Well that’s still more than me.” Eren muttered angrily.
“Everyone develops at their own rate, dear.” Carla hummed soothingly, dunking the dirty dishes in the soapy water.
Eren pouted. “Well my wings are already almost twice my size, I don’t see how air sacs are supposed to be helpful.”
“Didn’t you listen to your father when he explained that to you?” Carla turned around to look at him with an eyebrow raised. Eren shrunk under her gaze and found the table very interesting. His mother crossed her arms. “Eren, your air sacs are supposed to lighten your body to lessen the strain on your wings. You could seriously hurt yourself if your air sacs aren’t ready for flight. You could end up straining or pulling a muscle in your wing, or you could fall and break something.” With each word, Eren sunk deeper into his seat.
After staring at the table in silence, Eren nibbled his bottom lip a bit and puffed his feathers out in distress before slowly looking up at his mom. “What if… What if they don’t… develop?”
Mikasa stopped moving by the sink with her own dark appendages curling closer to her back. Carla softened at the sight of her son, her own wings twitching in sympathy. She walked over to her son’s side and knelt down next to his chair. “Eren, honey, you’re only ten. You’re still young and you have plenty of time, don’t worry. Like I said, everyone develops at their own rate.” She smiled at her son and cupped his cheek. “Besides, with how long your wings are, I bet you’ll be able to fly faster and farther than anyone else you know!”
A smile slowly broke out on the brown-haired boy’s face. “Really?”
Carla nuzzled his cheek with her nose. “Really!” She affirmed as Eren giggled at the action. “Maybe that’s why your air sacs are taking a bit,” the woman suggested, “maybe they just need to be bigger to handle how fast and high you’ll be able to go!”
“Yeah, you’re right mom!” “I always am,” Carla chuckled as she stood up and kissed the top of his head. “Now go outside and play with Armin, I’m sure he’s looking for you.” She glanced at the black-haired girl by the sink. “You too, Mikasa. I can handle everything else from here. Go have some fun!”
Eren perked up and hopped out of his seat to grab Mikasa’s wrist. “Let’s go, Mikasa! See you later, mom!” Mikasa waved in passing as the boy excitedly pulled her along.
The mother shooed the two children out the door and watched as they disappeared down the street. Once they were out of sight, Carla sighed and returned to the sink.
“Look! The Scouts have returned!”
Eren paused and looked up. The Scouts! “Come on, Mikasa! Let’s get a good spot to see them from!”
“Eren!” Mikasa protested as the boy slid carelessly down the steep slope towards town, wings fluttering behind him, the length almost scraping the floor. "Eren, wait! You're gonna-"
"Waah!" Eren shrieked in surprise as his foot slid on damp grass and he tumbled down the rest of the hill, landing at the bottom.
"Eren!" Mikasa shouted in concern, picking her way down the slope quickly, but more carefully than her adopted brother. "Eren, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
The boy sat up and ran a hand through his hair, dislodging dirt and debris from his hair. His face red with feathers fluffed in embarrassment. He cleared his throat and waved a hand at the concerned girl. "Y-Yeah, I'm good! I'm fine!" Then green eyes spotted the growing crowd and remembered why he was running. "The Scouts are back, Mikasa! We have to go see them!" And without another word, Eren took off towards the town, leaving Mikasa to trail after him.
The pair hopped up on wooden crates to see over the heads of the crowd, getting a good view of the men and women of the Survey Corps. Eren watched in awe and delight as the explorers of humanity stumbled through the gate, and into the eyes of the public. What Eren believed to be the courageous band of people who dared to tempt fate by venturing beyond the walls of their safe haven.
"There's less of them than when they first left…" One person noted.
"Did they actually accomplish anything this time?" Someone scoffed.
"What a waste of tax dollars."
"They just leave the walls to get eaten."
"I bet they don't actually have a plan when they go out there."
Eren's excited smile slowly faded as he listened to the criticisms of the citizens. Ungrateful bastards… they don't understand what the Scout Regiment is doing for us! Suddenly, the boy's eyes locked onto the soldiers trailing the Regiment leaders in defeat. He froze, a chill making its way down his spine.
Bloody wounds.
Missing limbs.
Broken feathers.
Black, blue, and yellow bruises.
Crooked wings.
Dirty clothes.
Sunken eyes.
Hunched backs screaming regret.
They all… they all looked like walking corpses. Zombies barely hanging onto life.
Eren watched his heros in a daze. Eyes drinking in the broken spirits, mind not fully comprehending the sight.
He watched as a mother ran to the group, demanding to know where her son was.
He watched as the commander broke down.
He watched as the bloody parade made its way down the street.
He watched as the brave titan-slaying soldiers grew smaller under the disapproving gaze of the public until they finally disappeared.
"What a bunch of morons, thinking there's a future outside the Walls."
Eren blinked.
"On the bright side, if people didn't join the Scouts to be eaten, we might've had a shortage of resources by now."
Feathers fluffed out in rage.
"This must be nature's way of weeding out the idiots." A man laughed.
Fists clenched, nails digging into the palms of his hands.
Eren turned to the group of men, "Shut up!" He snarled.
The men looked at him, dumbfounded that a kid would dare to yell at them.
"Eren," a hand tugged his sleeve. "Eren, leave it."
Eren didn't notice Mikasa pulling in his sleeve. He was too wrapped up in his own aggression.
"You all are just a bunch of cowards!" Eren grinded his teeth, eyes shining in anger. How dare they! How dare they say such shitty things about the Scouts! "You're the idiots! Not them!"
"Oi, I know you weren't just talking to us, brat." One of the men stepped forward, wings slowly unfurling dangerously.
"Eren!"
Just as the angry boy was about to take a step forward to accept the challenge, a hand gripped the back of his shirt and yanked him around the corner.
Mikasa dragged him down the alley and tossed him against the wall, knocking the breath from his lungs. Eren fell in a heap on the ground for the second time that day. He collected himself and pulled his flailing wings in tight against his back before sitting up, green eyes blazing. "Mikasa-!"
"Eren, stop!" The normally silent girl's voice was raised. "Eren, are you still planning on joining the Survey Corps after what we just saw?"
He glared at the floor heatedly, avoiding the piercing gray eyes, before looking away and standing up. He dusted himself off and ignored her question. "Tch. Let's go home. It's almost lunchtime." He shoved his hands into his pockets and, without another word, started in the direction of home.
Mikasa watched Eren walk away for a bit and sighed before following him.
Once they were closer to home, and Eren's anger has significantly lessened, Mikasa reached out and plucked a twig from the messy arrangement of brown feathers. "Let me groom your wings after lunch," she said.
"My wings are fine." Eren said gloomily, kicking a rock.
"They're dirty." Mikasa pointed out.
Eren pouted, spreading open a wing and scrutinizing it. "They're not that dirty."
Quick as lightning, the Asian girl grabbed and pulled out a feather. A pinprick of pain branched out from the agitated follicle. Eren yelped and flinched away from her. "What was that for?!"
Mikasa held up the broken feather. "Your wings are unkempt. I need to pull out the broken feathers."
The brunet snapped his wings closed. "Aren't they supposed to fall out on their own?"
The girl shook her head. "Not unless you want to wait until the replacement feather grows in weird." Eren frowned and gripped the hem of his shirt. "Feathers like that will affect your ability to fly." She added.
Green eyes rounded out in horror. "F-Fine then!" He quickly turned away and started marching to the house again. "You can groom them later!"
Mikasa hid a smile behind her scarf as she watched Eren's antics.
"Dad, when do you think I'll be able to fly?" Eren asked after finishing up his lunch.
Grisha paused in packing away his things. The man himself did not have wings due to what he claimed was a birth defect. People avoided addressing his flightlessness because they believed that it was a sore subject for the doctor. Nevertheless, they still respected him because he was able to save so many people from the plague. "It's hard to say, son," he sighed. "I don't want to alarm you, but the best case scenario would be next year and the worst case…" the doctor paused and glanced at his wife who was staring at him with hard eyes. He cleared his throat, "The worst case would be that you’ll be a few years later than your peers.”
Mikasa didn’t miss the silent exchange between the couple. She narrowed her eyes at Dr. Jaeger’s less than confident last statement.
Eren, however, missed the exchange entirely and glared at his torso, where he assumed his air sacs would be located. “Why are they taking so long to develop?” He complained impatiently.
Carla laughed, “Eren, you know the first flight age is around 12 to 15. There’s no need to rush, you’ll get there! You’ll be able to fly in 5 years!”
“But five years is too late!”
“Too late?” Grisha asked, an eyebrow raised.
Eren’s face reddened. “I-I didn’t…” He stammered helplessly.
Mikasa frowned. It was now or never. “Eren wants to join the Scout Regiment.”
“Mikasa!” Eren hissed incredulously.
Carla gasped. “Eren!” She quickly crossed the room over to him and knelt down in front of him. “What are you thinking? You can’t join the Survey Corps! That’s much too dangerous!”
“Yeah, well-well so is living here doing nothing!”
“Eren.” Grisha’s voice cut in. The man’s face did not change. “Why do you want to join the Survey Corps?”
Eren turned to his father and, without hesitation, said, “Because living behind the wall is wrong! This place isn’t a sanctuary, it’s a cage and the titans are the wardens! I want to join the Scouts to kill all the titans and help pave the way to humanity’s future! A future beyond the walls!”
The room was silent for a couple minutes, no one daring to speak. Until…
“I should probably get going.” Grisha said, standing from the table. “I’m going to miss my boat. I’ll be back in a few days.”
“W-Wait, Grisha!” Carla stood up, shocked. “You have to set this boy straight! He cannot join the Scouts!”
Dr. Jaeger looked at his wife with a sad smile. “Carla, it’s going to take more than a couple words to change that boy’s mind.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading to the door. He opened it and paused, “Eren,” he said looking back. Eren blinked at his father owlishly. The doctor lifted a key from his breast pocket. “When I get back, I’ll show you what I’ve been working on in the basement.”
Green eyes widened. “Really?!” Grisha nodded before putting on his hat and walking out the door, waving his hand in farewell. Eren followed him and stood in the doorway waving to his father. “Bye Dad! Have a good trip!”
“Why did you rat me out like that?”
Eren sat cross-legged on his bed with his hands in his lap, one wing extended out to the side. Mikasa sat close behind him with her sleeves rolled up above her elbow. A bowl of slightly steaming water with a rag in it stood on the table off to the side. She dipped her fingers into the warm water before running them through the dirty feathers, picking out leaves, pine needles, grit, and anything else the boy happened to pick up that wasn’t supposed to be found within the feathers.
“I never promised to not tell them.” The girl answered simply as she worked.
Eren slouched. “I mean, yeah, but I thought it was like… an unspoken promise between us and Armin.”
Mikasa hummed. “They were going to find out sooner or later.”
“I know that I just… I just kinda hoped it would be later.” Eren said meekly.
The young girl didn’t reply to this. She just continued grooming the boy’s feathers.
After a few moments of comfortable silence, both children lost in thought, Mikasa then shuffled sideways to Eren’s left side. “Other one.” She murmured. Eren complied and extended his left wing out. Mikasa cleaned out the other wing as well before returning back to the right one.
She took the rag out of the bowl of water and wiped down the whole wing before searching closely for any feather that was dead, bent, broken, or out of place. Once she found any, Mikasa would rub the skin around the feather with the warm cloth to relax the follicle, before easily pulling out the bad feather. She finished the right wing and, as she moved to the left, Eren cleared his throat.
“Mikasa?” The black-haired girl hummed in acknowledgement and glanced at the boy. Eren wrung his fingers together and there was a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. “Do you… Would you like me to groom your wings when you’re done with mine?” He asked bashfully.
Mikasa paused, her eyes rounding out. She blinked and tucked her chin into her red scarf, hiding a smile. Her own cheeks reddened. “Sure,” She accepted quietly.
Eren twisted and looked at her in shock. Then a large smile broke out on his face. “Okay! I bet your wings don’t even need much grooming! You always keep them in top shape!” He turned back to look at the wall, smile fading slightly. “Your wings are always nice looking; I wish mine looked more like yours.”
“I like your wings.” Mikasa admitted softly. “Your feathers are always soft no matter what state they’re in.”
“Then maybe we can groom each other's wings!” Eren blurted out. Mikasa looked up, mouth open in surprise, but Eren wasn’t looking at her. He kept his eyes on the wall. “We-We can keep an eye on the state of each other’s wings! Like-Like a pact! Then we can make sure both our wings stay healthy!”
There was a slight delay as Mikasa processed the words with Eren sitting stone-still as he awaited her response.
Then for the first time since her parents’ death, Mikasa giggled.
“I’d like that, Eren.”
Just like that, the peace shattered.
Yellow lightning exploded against the wall and electrified the air.
Feathers and hair stood on end.
People in various states of alarm.
A titan’s head blocked out the sun as it peeked over the 50-meter-tall wall.
It drew its leg back and, for a single moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.
In Shiganshina in the year 845, all hell broke loose.
The Colossal Titan broke the outer gate and released dozens of titans into the town. Debris from the wall rained down upon the buildings, knocking over towers and destroying homes.
People scattered like a flock of startled birds, only to be swatted from the air like insects.
Those strong enough to fly directly upward 50 meters made it to safety at the top of the wall. Those who weren’t were lost.
Greedy hands snatched panicking people from the sky before tossing them in impatient mouths. The elderly, the children, and the invalids who struggled to get airborne made their way to the boats or to the gate leading into Wall Maria.
It was chaos.
In the middle of everything, Eren, Armin, and Mikasa stood frozen like statues, bystanders to the atrocious acts committed.
Eren started forward. “M-Mom,” he said breathlessly, wings puffed up in fear. He met Mikasa’s wide eyes. “Mom is that direction, she’s still at the house!”
With that, the two children took off, leaving a shaking Armin behind to find his grandfather on his own. Armin wanted to help but he… couldn’t. He turned and ran the other way, wings flapping in a useless attempt to run faster.
Eren and Mikasa dodged through the people who were still running, fear so prominent one could almost smell it. They followed the familiar streets that led back to their home, turning the final corner and-
There!
To the children’s horror, the house was crushed under a giant portion of the broken wall. Eren spotted his mom pinned under the debris.
“Mom!” He choked out. He ran to her and without a second thought, tried to lift a beam off of her. “Mikasa, help me! Grab the other end!”
The girl hesitated a moment before joining him, both kids straining to lift the wood off the trapped woman. Both their wings beat frantically as if it would help them free Carla.
“G-Get out of here! Both of you!” Carla gasped out, tears in her eyes. “My legs are broken and I can’t feel one of my wings, I’ll only slow you down!”
“We’ll get you out mom!” Eren cried. “I’ll-I’ll carry you!”
“No, Eren please!”
“Come on, Mikasa! Lift!”
“Eren, stop!” His mother yelled. “Damn it, just listen to me for once!” She begged. The boy ignored her yet again so she pleaded with her adopted child. “Mikasa, please, please take Eren and run! You need to protect each other!” This made Mikasa pause and fill her eyes with determination. Protect Eren.
The sound of beating wings made them pause. Boots landed on the stone ground behind them. “Carla! Eren! Mikasa!” The Garrison soldier, Hannes, ran up to them.
Just as he made it to the group, terrible vibrations instilled fear into the hearts of the children and adults.
A large titan with a grotesque smile on its face was approaching them.
“Take the children and go, Hannes! Get them out of here!”
Hannes gave Carla a shaky smile, “Don’t worry, I got this! This is what Garrison soldiers are trained to do!”
He pulled out his iron bamboo sword and took off to meet the titan head-on, pale-yellow wings flaring out in anticipation.
Then he stopped.
Murderous, heartless eyes glared at him. Every muscle in the man’s body locked. Terror took control of his mind.
Oh, Walls...
Hannes slammed the sword back into its sheath before returning to grab Eren and Mikasa.
He ran.
He ran with the children, both bodies flung over each shoulder like sacks of flour. Eren kicked and screamed the whole time, making flight impossible. They left the poor woman behind.
“You two must survive!” She cried out after them. “Survive!”
As the trio got further away, tears rolled down her face uncontrollably. “I love you, I love both of you… take care of each other…” Please don’t leave me behind… Don’t leave me here… my sweet babies don’t remember me like this…
Eren watched in horror as his mother’s body was lifted into the mouth of a disgusting titan.
Every happy, loving memory of his mother flashed through his mind, leaving nothing but that last image that was burned behind his eyes forever.
They were refugees now. Hiding behind Wall Rose. Hannes got them to a boat, filled with people too weak to fly over the wall themselves.
After the Colossal Titan smashed in the gate, an Armored Titan destroyed the gate into Wall Maria before promptly disappearing, as if they were never there in the first place.
Eren woke up to Armin prodding him with a small loaf of bread, Mikasa already slowly chewing a small mouthful.
Eren palmed his chest to find the key to the basement of his house. He looked at it quizzically. When did he get it? He looked at it blankly before deciding that he was too tired to think much about it, so he banished the thought to the back of his mind and accepted the loaf of bread from his friend.
The trio moved to sit out in the plaza, watching people fight over a small loaf of bread or, if they were lucky, a single potato.
A single ration for the whole day. Laughable. They’re going to starve to death before either of them reaches their 11th birthday.
“I can’t believe we have to give up our food to these sorry bastards.”
“Yeah. Maybe if they closed the gate sooner then we wouldn’t have to share our food with this many people.”
After feeling numb since he woke up, it was a welcomed change to feel that familiar spark of anger.
He pushed himself to his feet, swaying slightly at the quick change in gravity before purposefully marching to the gossiping Garrison soldiers.
“Eren,” Mikasa weakly protested.
She was ignored. As per usual.
“Hey!” Eren snapped at the soldiers. “Don’t talk like that! You don’t know what it’s like to come face to face with a titan!”
The soldiers rolled their eyes. “What do you know, shortstack? You’re just a kid, you don’t understand anything.”
Eren growled. He picked up a rock by his foot and threw it at the men. “I know that we’re all livestock!” He yelled, gaining people’s attention. “We’re no more than chicken in a coop! We just flap our useless little wings to get away, but it never works! We’ll all be slaughtered before we’re free! We’ll all be killed and eaten because you are all cowards! Cowards that can’t kill a titan because all you do all day long is sit on your asses and drink and play card games!” Eren huffed, angrily. His chest tightened painfully and his breaths got shorter and faster.
“You little shit!” The soldiers advanced aggressively, fists clenched, feathers bristling.
“Wait!” Armin scrambled in front of Eren, hands out placatingly. “Please forgive him! He’s just hungry and frustrated! We all are! I’m sorry! I apologize on his behalf!” He squeaked out, then bowed his head.
The soldiers stopped and glared. “Tch,” one of them said, “Whatever.” The two uniformed men stormed off. “Stupid brats should learn their place.”
Mikasa dragged Eren back inside with Armin following behind them nervously. Eren struggled out of Mikasa’s grip, wings thrashing wildly. “Why did you stop me, Armin?!”
“Eren, please, the soldiers are giving us refugees most of their rations,” Armin said in a soft voice. “You don’t have to be grateful, but just try not to aggravate them.”
“So what?” Eren hissed. “You want me to just take their insults lying down?! Grovel at their feet like a damn worm?! I don’t want their stupid rations and I won’t eat them!” Eren threw the small loaf in Armin’s face. “I know you always did nothing in the face of injustice, Armin, but don’t make me act like yo-”
SMACK
Eren tumbled to the floor with a hand on his cheek. He stared up at Mikasa with wide eyes.
“That’s enough, Eren,” she said, taking the piece of bread from Armin’s grasp.
“I don’t want- mmpf!”
Mikasa shoved the bread into his mouth. “Eat.” She said, “I won’t let you starve.”
Tears pooled in green eyes as Eren accepted the food. He lowered his head and continued to eat it, his stomach growling to make his hunger known. He knew it wasn’t the Garrison soldiers fault. Not directly. His mother’s death was fresh in his mind and grief cut his already short temper. He regretted snapping at Armin. He didn’t mean too. Everything was just so frustrating and awful and horrible and he just took his anger out on the people closest to him.
He was useless.
And a walls-awful friend.
Eren swallowed his mouthful of hard bread. He looked up at Armin who was pointedly avoiding his eyes. “Armin,” he began softly, drawing the blond’s attention to him. “I’m sorry.”
Armin shuffled his feet. “It’s okay, Eren. I get it.” Golden wings drew closer to his body. “Emotions are running high right now, don’t worry about it.”
He didn’t deserve this.
He didn’t deserve forgiveness right now.
Yes you do.
It wasn’t your fault.
It was the Titans.
They caused this.
The Titans.
Eren bowed his head and swallowed dryly. “Okay, Armin. Still, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say all that. I don’t mean any of it either.”
Armin smiled slightly. “I know you didn’t. I don’t believe you would say anything like that on purpose anyway.” His wings fluttered in response to his mood. “At least we’re all together, right?”
Mood lifted a bit, the three huddled together, finding solace in the fact that they’re okay for the time being.
The mass purge happened a year later.
Armin’s grandfather was lost in the hopeless attempt to take back Wall Maria.
Not that they were expecting anyone to come back anyway.
Eren, Armin, and Mikasa were put to work on the fields even though the food shortage was practically solved with the mass loss of lives.
Crop harvest after harvest seemed to fail due to one problem or another.
Soil was malnourished.
Insect infestation.
Sick crops.
Somehow, the fields that Eren worked on always seemed to flourish. Each harvest yielded a little more than the average amount per field.
Since those fields did much better than the others, the workers assigned to the flourishing lands were given a small bonus for their hard work, so Eren was able to return to Armin and Mikasa with a little more in his pocket to pool with the other childrens’ earnings.
Fortunately, with Eren’s extra earnings, the children were able to buy a thick wool blanket to share during the winter. They huddled together in the cold with Eren’s much larger wings keeping them warm while the wool blanket lessened the bite of the wind.
After Eren declared that he was still planning on joining the Survey Corps, Mikasa and Armin said they were going to join him. Mikasa’s mentality rubbed off on the two boys. She said:
“All we have left are each other, so I think it’s better if we stay together.”
It was a simple statement, but the boys easily agreed with it.
A year and a half after the fall of Shiganshina, Mikasa was able to fly. She had full control over her body and wings while in the air. She picked up a different job as a runner because it turns out that she can fly faster than the average eleven year old and can deliver messages and packages quickly. Her wings were built more for speed.
Armin was still a little clumsy in the air. His wings were shorter than both Mikasa and Eren’s. They were also more rounded which required him to beat his wings more often and faster than others to stay in the air, which also happened to be the source of his balance problems. Fortunately, a librarian took pity on the blond-haired boy and hired him to work in the library stacking and replacing books, successfully pulling Armin off the fields. A benefit of this job was that Armin was allowed to read any books in the library for free, so long as he replaced them in the condition he found them in.
This led to Armin’s discovery of a book about wing types. He read to them excitedly, pointing out that Mikasa’s wings were classified as “high-speed” which meant that her wings were optimized for sustained speed. Armin’s wings were “elliptical” which meant that he was more specialized in quick maneuvering rather than long flights. The book titled Wings of the World helped Armin in learning different flight techniques that could work to his advantage and help him gain control of his balance in the air.
Unfortunately, Eren was still stuck working in the fields, worse yet, he still could not get airborne. Not only was he plowing fields, planting seeds, and caring for small plants, but his wings were still growing longer and longer, interfering with his work and even just walking. He had to consciously shrug his wings up as he walked so his primary feathers didn’t brush against the ground, collecting dirt. Armin had trouble identifying his wing type. He said that they were somewhere between “active-soaring” and “passive-soaring” wings. His wing shape had the base of active-soaring, being extremely long and narrow, but he also had notches between the tips of his primary feathers, which was a characteristic of passive-soaring.
Eren supposed it didn’t matter. He couldn’t fly yet anyway. Almost 12 years old and he still couldn’t get off the ground. He looks like a startled chicken when he tries. How embarrassing.
The next six months passed by uneventfully and before they knew it, it was time to leave for the Cadet Bootcamp.
It was time to start their journey.