Another Story: After Autumn (Attack on Titan AU)

A Commander and a War Chief

Porco harbored a displeasure towards the Scouts.

It wasn't anything too deep, just that he found it difficult separate his past and present; every time he saw a familiar face that belonged to a Scout, he couldn't help the urge to scowl. He was never that skillful when it came to controlling his temper (he'd learned his lesson the hard way before). His brain just automatically associated them as 'Scouts: annoying', and it only worsened when he met with that Ackerman.

Unlike that guy, the brunette with glasses whom he'd come to know as Hange Zoe (Pieck had told him to stay away from her if he valued his sanity) was unreservedly loud. She definitely seemed friendlier, but that didn't mean Porco was willing to be friends in the first place.

And then there was Isanna.

Pieck had already relayed to him all the juicy details of the recent 'conflict' between his former War Chief and the Scouts' former Commander (she liked to gossip like that). When he'd first heard that Isanna, one of his close friends, used to be a Scout before, Porco hadn't known how to react. It definitely changed how he viewed her, but it wasn't in the negative sense—while it came as a surprise at first, Porco realized it actually made sense.

He first met Isanna through Zeke, back when Porco visited Pieck at the countryside during their college years. At the time, Isanna Herrmann came across to him as a woman with amazing patience (the fact she was able to keep up with the antics of his former War Chief was testament to it), and a warm heart (it was most likely that side of her that had drawn Zeke). But then there were moments of subtlety where Porco managed to get a glimpse of something entirely different from her.

Like the time where they were at the downtown side of the rural areas where Zeke and Isanna lived. The four of them had been on the way to their most visited café after school, just for some de-stress. While the countryside certainly had comparatively lesser population density than urban cities, it did not stop your average money-grubbing thieves from pushing their luck. Porco remembered how, the four of them stood, shellshocked when a man whizzed past them with speed like the wind, carrying a bag of jewelry that he'd stolen from a local pawnshop. They had only realized what was happening when the shop owner yelled in frantic, urging someone to stop the thief.

Then, Porco remembered how Isanna had been the first one to move, chucking her bag at Zeke (who efficiently caught it as if it wasn't the first time it happened) and sprinting after the thief with breakneck speed. Till then, Porco had never seen Isanna run that fast. It had taken her roughly thirty seconds to catch up—long story short, the thief was apprehended, and the shop owner had decided to pay them a hefty sum in appreciation for Isanna's help (Porco even remembered how Isanna was asked whether she'd been in a track-and-field club).

Then there was another experience when they were at a bar. Zeke and Isanna had took it upon themselves to visit Pieck and Porco in the city for a nice change. Marcel, his older brother, had also been there. It was supposed to have been a fun hangout, but then Isanna caught an asshole who had sneakily dropped a pill in Pieck's drink (even till now, just thinking about that bastard made Porco's blood boil). Their night ended with Isanna nearly gouging the man's eyes out with a glass shard from a shattered wine glass. They would have contacted the authorities, but then Isanna would have been exposed for having an attempt at murder.

To be fair, had Isanna not been there, Porco was certain that him, Marcel and Zeke would have been the one to do the honors, or maybe even Pieck herself.

Because new life or not—the warrior blood still flowed in their veins; the only things that held them back were the laws of this world.

Another memory, last but not least, was the notorious moment when Isanna had stormed the house of Pieck's ex when she found out he was cheating on her. Porco would never forget that memory.