AoT: The red thread of fate: A new world

Chapter 25: A attitude adjustment

(Eighty-seven years ago)

Armin Arlert's POV

I was sat dressing the wounds that I received from the daily beating I got from the bullies. Today was calm and quiet, like the alleyways of an empty city, nothing being interesting at all. My face was all bruised up and sore, as I tried to clean myself up with the gentle stream of blue water that passed through our city. My parents had told me they were going to sneak out of the walls soon, to go see the outside world, the place from my book.

My time spent living in these walls were dedicated to learning more about these so-called, untouched lands of frozen tundras, sand tombs, forests. It was said that no human was left outside of the walls, but my parents think it's a lie. They think that there's some civilisation out there still surviving, and waiting for newcomers to arrive. I asked and asked them if I could go too, but they ruled it too dangerous for me and thought I'd be better off here with my grandpa.

Fasting footsteps then started to approach me as I jumped down to hide in the water. Its cold wet stinging pain making me grit my teeth, while my fingers tensed up against the hard concrete. I looked up to see my bullies looking for me, all huddled up together like a pack of hungry wolves. Soon they left with me dragging my drenched legs back out of the cold reservoir, my shoes overfilled with it.

I decided to take myself home back to my grandpa's, seeing it starting to get dark. I walked down the empty streets of what used to be life and only saw big overgrown miserly people, who looked down at me blankly with no interest in my freezing condition. Passing by those I could I retreated into an alley seeing my bullies yet again, it was like being on a prison site, and I was the prisoner being hunted down.

But a tough stiff hand clutched my shoulder making me jump and nearly scream, but another stiff hand covered my mouth. "Be quiet, or you'll have them on top of us." He whispered with a blank expression on his face, as I looked confused to him. He turned me around to see my tormenters just at the end of the light, seeing a member of the Garrison regiment squandering their time.

"You're lucky he got in their way, or they would've found you here. Name's Eren Yeager. Annd you are?"

"U-umm... A-Armin Arlert." I shakily disclosed to the brunette kid, with him smirking and tapping the side of my head. "Armin, huh? Y'know, I've seen you quite a lot lately. Must be rough being bullied all the time. I would know from experience." He said. He wore a light burgundy loose jacket with red sole shoes and a tainted shirt that looked uncleanliness and not well looked after. Also, his hair looked to be greasy as if his hair was dumped into oil, and he tried to fix it by messing with it with his hands.

"Hey, you don't look so good, that's not me being rude or anything it's just you look hurt. Do you see a doctor? My dads a doctor, he can help you out if you want?" He offered to me, but my unwillingness to trust him was holding me at my tongue to give him a response back. He still stared with uncertainty in my fragile state, as my hand mustered up the courage to take his hand.

"T-that would be g-good actually. Thank you, Eren."

"Don't mention it. Now come on, let's get you fixed up." He said pulling me out of the darkness and into the lightened streets, with most people staring their questionable eyes at us like a pair of animals. Walking through these streets was like walking down a gated path for prisoners, where citizens of the public would boo and point fingers at us like we were not within the natural norm.

Because we lived in Shiganshina, we were seen as lesser commoners, people with little money to give, and not an ounce to take. Soon we were free of the people's critics and made our way up to Eren's house that was on the far side of the city, resting on an upward pathway. "You know my father right? Grisha Yeager?" "Y-yeah, my family usually go there to get prescriptions for their medical needs. He's a popular guy in the area, you get that sorta attention too?"