Fandom Misgivings (Private)

[catatonic]

The sound of the wall crumbling was her cue. Taking off in a sprint from the wall as it came crashing down, the white haired woman just barely dodged the falling debris as it came to the ground. She huffed from where she was on the ground, listening to the screams of the poor people that had been nearby. It was a small farming village, one she took refuge in in the coming months of the attack, simply stating she was a orphan of a farmer that died at the hands of the dumb titans that compulsively ate any human in sight.

The howling inside her was hard to ignore as she got to her feet to run once more, barely registering the pain in her knee as she did. She had to get far from the disaster as possible, lest she be figured out by her fellow Marley Warriors. They had broke the first wall in this land of Paradise in effort to draw her out, knowing her beast of a titan could cause hell for the people. But the longer she had been in their presence, the less she saw them as "devils" and more innocent by standers in the world they lived in.

And what a harsh world it was. She didn't remember a time since she got to the island of Paradise that she didn't feel pity for the people that lived within the walls. There hadn't been a time in her life she had questioned her King on them before, but as she grew to befriend the people she learned things weren't as black and white with them as they had been told growing up. "Fuck." She hissed at the pain in her knee, looking down at it as she ran to see a fresh spot of blood that formed on her pants, ignoring it as she knew she would heal rather quickly with her titan regeneration abilities.

She ran until she reached the second wall, and was let in before the titans could attack her. The screams of the people being devoured would haunt her dreams. "The wall fell." She told the garrison solider that let her into the wall, panting from her long run and wiping sweat from her brow. He grunted in response, but motioned her to continue on her way like he couldn't be bothered with what she just said. She knew the scouting regiment would have acted, and probably were already getting ready to do so. She hoped they'd let her join during their next recruitment session. She dusted off her clothes as she walked, pushed back her long white hair from her face as her red eyes looked around at the seemingly peaceful villagers as they went about their day unaware of the first wall falling. What chaos will ensue if they find me? She thought to herself as she walked, silent as she was the odd one out and feeling their gazes on her as they whispered amongst themselves about the white haired girl.

 

[Gnomar]

For those born within the confines of Maria, Rose and Sheena it was almost impossible to picture them being breached. Over fifty metres tall of perfect white stone that lined the horizon and defined what might as well be the edge of the world itself. Safe. Imposing. Even holy, if you were inclined to believe so. Most would never leave their confines or even stand atop them, getting the chance to see the rolling green fields or sparse populations of trees that made up the surrounding land. This, in Nico’s mind, was probably for the best. If as many people as possible could be spared from having to look upon the unsightly beasts that kept them all so reliant on their precious walls, then he could live with them missing out on the otherwise spectacular view. No need to remind them that although the walls were a shield against the enemy, they were also a cage. That out there, we weren’t the ones in charge.

So to see Maria’s gate fall on that fateful morning chilled Nico to his very soul. The aberrants appeared without warning, mutated titans the likes of which he, or anybody else, had ever seen. These weren’t like the mindless shells that the scouts were accustomed to, each one of the aberrants moved with a purpose and intelligence that went against everything they knew about titans. The first blow was dealt by the behemoth that towered so high it could peer over the walls themselves, a devastating kick that blasted apart humanity’s stone bulwark with apparent ease and allowed the titans to begin flooding inside to begin feasting upon the helpless civilians within. An icy fist clenched around Nico’s heart as he watched the carnage unfolding from his perch upon one of the inner walls, terror catching in his throat. As a scout in training he’d been preparing to fight the titans on their home turf, but had never prepared himself for the possibility that they’d bring the fight to humanity's front door. There was nothing he could do but watch in horror as titans filtered down streets full of fleeing people, casually picking them off as they pushed deeper within the walls. He was just a trainee, not even assigned to a regiment yet… the only reason he was even up here to begin with was so that he could help with canon maintenance! Running to the other side of the wall he peered down to see that people were being funnelled into safety, but with so many trying to get through one gate the process was slow and many were panicking so much that they were only making matters worse. Gritting his teeth Nico tore himself away from the destruction and used his ODM gear to swiftly descend the wall, landing in the now crowded area just beside the gate. It was only now that he was down here that he realised how heavily the silence had been weighing on him above. The streets were an orchestra of pleas for help, screams of terror and barked orders from members of the garrison. It was utter pandemonium and a struggle for Nico to even push his way through the squabbling crowds towards a more open bit of courtyard.

The throngs of people dispersed somewhat about 30 metres from the gate as they fled down the complex network of alleys back here, and with room to breath Nico turned to see that the unthinkable was happening. The great gears that controlled the gate were beginning to turn. No way. There were still hundreds of people fighting to get inside, but they were just planning to leave them out there? It all became clear when Nico spotted the large group of titans that were tearing their way through the crowd, making a beeline for the gate itself. Of course, with so many human bodies clumped in one space it was like chum in the water for those monsters. The garrison were simply cutting their odds and trying to prevent this wall from falling as well… Should he attempt to help? To fight? Isn’t that what he was training for? A ridiculous thought. He didn’t even have blades, let alone the skill to use them. Feeling what little fight had welled up in him drain away Nico let himself be carried away in the flow of people, unable to tear his gaze away from those who wouldn’t make it inside even as he himself was pushed to safety.

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After the gate was sealed Maria was declared a lost cause. What followed was a time of mourning within the walls, for those that had been lost and the delusion of safety that had died with them. But as time passed sadness hardened into rage. There was a push for new trainees, and those like Nico, who had just begun their own training before it was disrupted by the attack, would be pushed back to join them. The next wave of soldiers would have to be even tougher than those that came before them reasoned the higher ups, so it was worth putting everybody through the new training regimes they’d whipped up.

So the fresh recruits were shipped off to a specially built camp where their new lives would begin. Trainees from all 3 regiments would be trained together here, but for Nico there was still only one place he wanted to end up. He’d seen humanity's shield fail, so he’d put his faith in their spear instead. The scouts.

So a mere month after the attack on Maria he found himself sitting at boot camp, trying his best to enjoy a subpar meal that had been thrown together by a cook with very liberal ideas of what defines ‘fit for human consumption’. It was some sort of stew but what exactly it was that was floating around in the lukewarm brown slop he couldn’t tell you. Somehow it was mushy and hard all at once. Grim. Looking around to see how everybody else was handling the slop he found himself looking at the only other person sitting at his bench. She was a strikingly unique looking individual, with hair and eyes the likes of which he’d never seen. Ghostly white locks hung past her shoulders, and when combined with those crimson eyes she looked a lot like the old vampires of myth. She might have been scary, were it not for the fact she can’t have been taller than 5’5. Maybe a little less.

“Here, you want mine as well?” Nico asked, gently pushing the bowl towards the girl until it clinked against her own. “I have no idea how you’re keeping that stuff down…”

Considering he still didn’t have any friends here Nico figured this might be a chance to kill two bird with one stew.

 

[catatonic]

After the wall had fell, Valeris had wondered the streets of the city, unable to ignore the screams she could still hear echoing in her mind from her run from the first wall. So many good people lost to the mindless beasts that roamed these lands. Too many souls that didn't need to die. She made a small vow to herself to not partake in the actions of her fellow Marley warriors - deciding in that she would help the people of Paradise rather than fight against them.

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A month after the fall of the first wall, Valeris had been sent to a training camp where the new recruits for each branch of military would train together. She was sat a table with only one other, eating from her bowl but not really tasting the slop that had been served. For the most part, she had kept to herself seeing as the others didn't particularly like her because of her different appearance, so when the young man spoke to her and pushed his bowl to hers till they clicked she was a little shocked to say the least.

"Thank you, but don't you need to eat to keep your strength up?" She replied as she turned her crimson gaze on him, taking in the dark locks and light colored eyes as she did. He looked a little older than herself, but no more than a year or two. She pushed her bowl away when she was done, curiously looking at the man as she didn't understand why he wanted to falk with herself. "I'm Valeris," She introduced herself, holding a hand out in greeting. "Trying for the scout regiment." She added as bit of an afterthought, not too sure she cared where he wanted to go in the military or not. Just curious as to why he wanted to talk with her.