"Corporal Levi! I found something!" A voice yells, waking me from my sleep. My eyes shoot open and I sit up. Fear races through my body. I hastily grab the letter opener from behind my pillow. "L- leave me alone," I whisper. The man looks at me in surprise. I hear four pairs of footsteps through the walls. Suddenly, a group comes into sight. There is a woman and three men with her. The short man looks like he's the leader. His face is stoic. Straight as an arrow. And downright scary. Finally, the scary man speaks. "How the hell did a brat get out here?" He questions. Apparently, my fear showed on my face, so the woman talks to me instead of the man. "What's your name?" I look at her carefully. This one is sweet and gentle. "Kaitlin," I say softly. The woman smiles. "Hello Kaitlin. I'm Petra. This is Captian Levi, Olou, Gunther, and that's Erd over there," Petra introduces her entire squad. Her eyes shine with a caring sparkle. A small smile appears on my lips. I quickly scan their group. The one named Gunther is wounded. I carefully get up from my bed and walk over to him. Bending down, I inspect his leg. "What is she-" Gunther starts. "Come with me," I timidly say. I begin to walk to my cooking area. Grabbing some crushed herbs, I wet a washcloth in the basin, apply the herbs to the cloth, and wait for the group to meet me. When they finally make it, I sit the man down and tend to his leg. Curses fly out his mouth when the rag touches his skin. I must clean his wound before wrapping it. "S - sorry," I cringe as another 'shit' comes out. After his leg is thoroughly cleaned, I bandage the wound and sit back on my heels. "Done." It barely comes out as a whisper. Standing, I walk to the basin to wash my hands. "Filthy," I scowl at my hands. After washing my hands, I find the group some chairs. They all sit, except for the scary one named Levi. "So..." Erd trails off. I must find a way to get out of this. These people are kind of scaring me, but one is wounded so I guess they can stay- "Oi, brat. I asked you a question," Levi barks at me, interrupting my thoughts. "I'm s - sorry. Wh - what was the qu - question?" I stutter. He looks at me and glares. "How old are you?" Levi asked harshly. I panic. How old am I? That's right I'm 12. "Tw - twelve," I stammered. The group gasps. "You can't be twelve and live out here on your own! Where's you parents?" The man named Gunther exclaims. I bite my lip. "They're dead," I whisper. A sympathetic look crosses his face. "Well, a brat like you can't live out here alone. You're too weak- gah!" Olou yells as he bites his tongue. A near silent giggle escapes my lips. Then I hear something. Standing, I walk to the closet in the far corner of the room and grab a sword. "St - stay here p - please," I mumble before running outside. He's back. [LEVI POV] "Erd and I will follow her. I want the rest of you to stay here," I order. "Yes sir!" Erd and I exit the cottage to find the girl running around a titan. "What the hell is she doing?" I question. This brat was running around a titan! Is she crazy? I use my gear to get up close to the titan so I could kill it. "N - no! D- don't!" I hear before my sword could kill the titan. Another sword blocks the titan's weak spot. I am thrown back onto the titan's shoulder. "What the hell brat?" I yell at the girl. She looks scared shitless but she holds her ground. "This one i - is mine to k - kill," she states sternly. Before I actually know what is happening, the girl slices the titan's weak spot, grabs me by the waist, and gets us to the ground safely. When my feet touch the ground, the girl releases me. "I'm sorry!" She whispers before running off. "Hey! Brat! Get your ass back here!" I shout. What's with this brat? [NORM POV] 'I messed up. So badly. Why am I so awkward? What is with me?' These thoughts run through my head as I run away from the scary man. I run into the woods behind my house. I'll go around to the back door and quickly tell the nice one named Petra that they can help themselves to food. As quick as lightning, I run through the house to find her. I see her in the hall near my bedroom. "Mrs. P - Petra," I stammer. Her head turns to me and she smiles. "Hello Kaitlin," Petra greets. She is so nice. "I - I wanted to t - tell you th - that you and your comrades c - can help yourselves to the food you can f - find," I manage to say before running back outside. But before I can get to the back door, I run into the scary man. He grabs my arm and starts to drag me off to who knows where in the house. But I have things to do. " I - I'm sorry a - about this," I apologize after momentarily paralyzing his arm with a pressure point. As soon as he lets go, I run out the back door to the woods. My legs carry me as far as possible into the woods. I stop in front of the river. I think I'll catch some fish to bring back. Grabbing my fishing pole, I get to work. [TIMESKIP] A few hours later, I have six big fish ready to cook. I head back to the house to cook the fish when the sky turns orange. They must be hungry. When I enter the house, the first thing I see is a room full of panicking adults. "Where's Kaitlin? She should be in by now!" "That little girl defeated a titan without gear! How is that possible?" "Stupid brat!" The adults ramble on until they hear me close the door. Their eyes turn to me. I don't really want to talk to them so I'll just walk to the kitchen. I pass by the group with no trouble at all. I head to the kitchen and get ready to cook. A pan, six fish, potatoes, some grease, and a spatula lay on the counter in front of me. Time to cook. [TIMESKIP] Fish, potatoes, and bread lay on six plates. "Um, supper is r - ready," I announce to the group. The scary man, Levi, isn't present. Petra smiles. "Thank you Kaitlin, we will be there in a moment," she says sweetly. A scoff is heard. However, before a rude remark is made, I leave the area to clean the kitchen. I think when I finish cleaning, I'll take my food up to my bedroom. After a bit of cleaning, the kitchen is sparkling. When the group enters the kitchen, I grab my plate and begin to head to my room. "Excuse me, Kaitlin," Petra gains my attention. I look at her a nod. "Could you please take a plate out to Captain Levi? He's been on the front step all day. Would it be to much trouble?" I grab a plate, some silverware, and a glass of water and head to the back door. I walk around the house to the front door. Sure enough, Levi sat on the doorstep, looking around, as if searching for something. For some reason, my hands are shaking and my knees are wobbly. What's happening? When I get beside the man, his attention turns to me. Levi stands, and towers over me. "Where the hell were you?" He demands. His face looks angry, yet his eyes held a glint of concern. Averting my eyes, I whisper,"The river." "Tch,"
