Fallen but Found || PoruKoru

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YEAR 854 - SHIGANSHINA DISTRICT

Colt sat on a piece of stone at the riverbank, taking a bite of his apple (it was green) and dipping his feet into the water, letting the cool liquid wash over his toes as he stretched them out on the sandy shore bed.

He looked at the water as his toes made a ripple effect, distorting his reflected face. Ignoring the scar on his neck, he took another bite of his apple before he looked back up from the water, eyes wandering in the direction he had gone those fateful two days ago- in the direction of the wall.

Why he went there, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was to look at the same wall that plagued his dreams at night- that finally touching it would stop the nightmares and bring him back to reality. Maybe it was just curiosity after not touching the walls for so long.

Maybe it was a combination of both.

However, what he wanted was a sign. A sign that would tell him that he wasn't alone. It was probably the main reason he left. He almost died then, looking for someone, anyone, even after it had gone so wrong the last time. He knew that he shouldn't be putting so much hope into finding someone just for him to find nothing, especially because of last tiime, but he felt more confident now.

His trip hadn't been entirely fruitless. He had noticed that the volume of titans in the area had decreased, and they were all going to a specific area in the area. Where exactly, he wasn't sure, but he knew that titans only went somewhere in large groups if there were people. And as his eyes wandered to the wall again, he knew what to do.

It was time for him to make a difference. No one was going to save him, no one was going to tell him if anyone else was possibly still alive. (Even though he thought there were- the titans were the biggest hint.) He had to take the initiative here and find out.

He just hoped that it wouldn't be like nine years ago- ending with him waking up and finding everyone gone or dead.

He wouldn't let there be a repeat.

YEAR 854 - TROST DISTRICT

"What do you mean by Reiner's the titan?" Annie asked, whipping around to face him. Everyone was looking at him now because of his outburst, and Porco felt very put on the spot. "I know that you're sad Reiner died," Bertholdt said, walking up to him and putting (what Porco assumed to be) a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But we need to accept that he died, not make up crazy theories to combat our grief."

"I'm not sad about Reiner dying!" Porco burst out, pushing off Bertholdt's hand. Realising how bad that sounded, he corrected himself. "I mean, I am sad about Reiner dying, or I would be if he was dead. Seriously, that titan must be Reiner!"

"That makes no sense!" Sasha exclaimed. "There's no way Reiner is a titan!"

"But there is!" Porco stressed. His hand drifted to his jacket pocket, hovering over the worn cover of Marcel's notebook. Too wired up to think about how personal it was, Porco forgot his hesitation and pulled it out.

"A diary?" Annie asked, crossing her arms. "Is that supposed to do something?"

Porco rolled his eyes, opening it and showing everyone the page he was looking for.

" I expected the titan to eat me once it had cornered me against a tree, but it didn't. Any attempts to escape I made were met with a glare and an attempt to eat my hand. After a long while, the titan spoke. 'Subject of Ymir,' it said. Then it bowed. I didn't know what to do- I had never heard of a titan speaking, then bowing before someone. It went against everything they had taught me in the training corps. I asked it a few questions: 'How can you speak?' 'Are there any other titans like you?' 'What do you mean by Subject of Ymir? '" Bertholdt read out, voice a small mumble in the- ignoring the fight happening a few feet away from them- silence.