Girl From Outside The Walls

Survey Corps

"You will be questioned further when we reach H.Q."

"Understood," she responded as she met the commander's eyes. She followed orders well enough as the group made their way home and her away from hers. Goodbye, mom. Leaving wasn't easy though it has to be done.

~~~———~~~

The cart bounced, jolting her awake. She had been sitting on the cart with the injured– which was like one or two other people– though she hadn't been and she even had both her bags with her. She looked over to see a large wall that the group was approaching. "Woah..." she stared up at it in a bit of amazement and anxiety built up within her. This place is either really cramped or spacious. She tried to calm herself down since she didn't want to have what she believed to just be a stupid panic attack.

She ducked down as they entered the walls. Her body shook as she hid herself from the surrounding people. She felt something fall onto her head causing her to look up. A green cloak rested on her shoulders and the hood covered her hair. She glanced at the guy– the one she saved– riding close to the cart. "You're probably not used to being around people in general, Ava." He spoke as he returned his hand to steering the horse, "Considering that you've been out there alone for God knows how long." She remained silent, accepting that she was going to have to get used to being around others.

She watched the gate open and her eyes widened at the mob people that had gathered. Her entire body stiffened as the group she was with entered: feeling like she stuck out like a sore thumb. "Dumbass, get down," A guy– the one she saved– practically ordered her. She glared at him, "My name is Ava- not 'Dumbass'." He chuckled slightly, "And my name is Hunter- not 'Hey'." She blinked, unimpressed and turned back to the crowd of people. Some people seemed distraught or worried– others were happy– then some seemed like they wished those that left died.

~~~———~~~

She followed the commander and his second into his office once they arrived at the H.Q. She took notice of the guy she saved from titan jaws following them as well. "Hunter, why are you coming along?" She asked, watching his amber eyed remain forward. "I was the one that caused you to come with us." He kept pace quite well for someone that had been within close proximity to an exploding titan. "Shouldn't you get your injuries taken care of?" She was trying to get him to go away, she had enough anxiety dealing with the two in charge. "I will once we're through with you being questioned," he half growled at her.

She followed the higher ups, trying not to bother with Hunter any more. Why did he have to be there? She turned her gaze to the surrounding corridors– the walls reminded her of descriptions of castles. She gazed at the stone, mapping out the separate stones and the designs of the structure. "This place is castle-like.." she mumbled under her breath, sure no one heard her. A hand on her shoulder took her attention, "Ava, we're here." She looked over at him as he guided her to the now open doors. "Please. Have a seat," the commander gestured to a chair. She instantly followed the request more so than a demand.

She watched the commander's second stand by the wall and Hunter moved to stand behind her shoulder. She felt herself tense up slightly, but tried her damn best to appear relaxed. "Okay, let's start simply, miss–" "Just calling me Ava is fine, sir," she told them. The commander nodded to her. "Okay Ava. To start, we're going to ask you some questions." She nodded in understanding. He continued with the questions.

"How did you get outside the walls?"

"I was born out there, sir. How my parents got out there, I cannot tell you." The commander gave a nod as he continued.

"Were you alone when our soldier found you?"

She gave a nod. Hunter then spoke abruptly, "She more so found me rather than the other way around, sir." Everyone turned to look at him as he explained how she'd saved his life. She found herself then admitting to bringing along a back pack of explosives. The expressions of the commander and second gave said that they were skeptical of her being able to keep such destructive devices. "I only use them on titans," she spewed a bit of word vomit trying to make it clear that she had no ill intent when she was bringing them. "I had handed the bag to Hunter to carry initially since he'd be more trusted than myself when he was bringing me to meet with your bunch before I was brought back here!"

After they managed to come to an agreement that until they deemed her trustworthy, the explosives would remain in the possession– unused– of her caretaker. She was able to calm down the rest of the way as they managed to get through the questions. One of the harder questions to answer finally got asked, "What happened to your parents?" Her eyes dropped from maintaining eye contact to the floor. It took her a moment to respond and the silence became near deafening. "My mother- she was torn apart by a titan when I was either seven or eight." Her voice was quiet as she forced herself to regain eye contact with the commander.

"And your father?" He asked her. She could feel Hunter and the second's eyes boring into her back and skull. She had a different calm about her as she responded. "I don't have any memory of him, sir. He either died before I was born or was still too young to remember him." She struggled to think of anything other than her mother's death. The memory of her mother's death was the last one she had of her. Her body shook slightly as she thought more about it. She finally shook her head.

After the interrogation finished, she heard the commander say that she would be under Hunter's care since he was the one who brought her with and that they'd work on getting her citizenship. "You won't be able to join us until after that is settled." She listened calmly to his orders. "Until we get you a place set up, you'll be staying in the barracks, just as he does."

"Yes sir." Hunter nodded. He grabbed her by her upper arm, pulling her to her feet. "Why do I have to be your damn caretaker?" He spoke only after he dragged her out the room and the door closed. "I don't know. Why'd you have to drag me back to your glorified cage?" she shot back. She dodges a slap to the back of her head. She kicked the back of his knee, laughing as he fumbled. The pair gave each other a couple jabs as he showed her around. Once she saw other people sparring in the training field she just gazed in amazement. "Hey, dip-shit," she name-called her caretaker, "Think I could learn some of those moves?"

"Maybe when you learn not to be such a rude bitch," Hunter crossed his arms, turning to her. They glared at each other for a moment. Ava broke the silence, "Asshole."

"Takes one to know one." Hunter stared her down. She smiled walking past him, "Going to finish showing me around HQ?" He sighed in annoyance. She found herself following her caretaker once more. Damn, he's easy to piss off. She smiled to herself, slightly.

~~~———~~~

She was worn out after some time. She found herself sluggishly dragging herself to the mess hall for dinner. She had already pulled out some of her own rations for dinner and followed the numerous people to the tables. She sat down and began to eat her stew cold. "So, you're the kid that was brought in today?" She turned to meet the eyes of a new person. She remained silent as she ate too. "So, what's your name?" he tried asking her. He looked to be around the same age as Hunter, perhaps a little older. She turned her eyes to focus on her food. Not interested in conversation.

"Hey, Erwin," Hunter's voice called to the blond male. "Let her get acquainted with being around others before trying to get friendly. She's going to probably be a bit like an agitated animal until then." She flashed a glare at Hunter as she stuffed her mouth. She was probably going to get him back later for that comment. Wild animal. Like hell. She quickly finished and stood to clean her place. The one named Erwin had to sidestep her in order to avoid getting run over though she was shorter. She was quick paced and found herself outside before anyone could say anything. There were definitely too many people.

She sat on the steps to the mess hall, working on calming herself. "Damnit," she muttered beneath her breath as she brought her hands to her face. "Anxiety is not something I ever thought I'd have." She was quiet. After some time of her sitting like that, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She followed the arm up to see Hunter as he sat beside her. "I know this is all new to you," he sounded like he was trying to be serious yet comforting. "You were alone out there for probably ten years or so. Not knowing how to interact with other people isn't going to come easy for anyone who spends a lot of time alone."

She sighed through her nose, but remained silent. She was listening nonetheless as he continued talking. He then said something to which she finally responded. "What?" She looked at him with widened eyes. "I said that we're going into town tomorrow. I got permission from the commander to take you to get you around others and probably get you some new clothes." He stood up and helped her to her feet. The only thing that she was excited about was getting to see the other buildings. She went off to bed after he told her to, though she found herself unable to sleep. To be more accurate, the anxiety was just a lot in the back of her mind.