The Cadet's Origin

Chapter Two - Forever Changed

The wind whipped through Kenna's hair as Olly worked to move them to safety. Kenna watched in horror as people were devoured by the Titans. Kenna wondered how many people would actually get to safety behind Wall Maria. Silent tears ran down her cheeks. She felt sick to her stomach. Flying through the air only made it worse. She looked back in the direction of where their house was. It seemed so far away now.

Kenna's heart dropped as they dropped. She let out a little screech and held on even tighter to her brother's neck.

"It's okay," Olly reassured her as he returned them to the place they once were. "I just had to grab a little lower. You're okay."

Olly kept pushing forward. Kenna looked to Wall Maria. She could see people flooding into the inner gates.

"OLLY! ABNORMAL!" her uncle's voice cut through the air.

Kenna felt something pull them back. Then, she was falling through the air. Kenna screamed as her arms flailed. She was vaguely aware of papers fluttering by her as the sound of wind rushed through her ears. All she could do was look to the sky as she plummeted downwards. Someone scooped her up in their arms. She hit the person's chest with a thud. Kenna felt all the breath leave her body, but the person who caught her didn't even make a sound. Kenna was being held like a princess. She looked up and saw that her uncle was the one who saved her. His face was stone cold: there was no trace of emotion on his face.

"HELP!" Olly's screams pierced her ears. It sounded like he was in agonizing pain. "HELP ME!"

Kenna looked over her shoulder. She saw Olly's top half sticking out of a Titan's mouth. He was still screaming.

"You have to go back!" Kenna screamed at her uncle. "You have to save him."

"It's too late for him," her uncle's voice was cold. Olly's screams were silenced. Kenna looked as her brother slid down the Titan's throats.

"Let me go!" Kenna screamed. "I want to go home! Let me go home!"

Her uncle ignored her screams. He continued to soar through the air until they reached the gate. Her uncle didn't put her down when he touched the ground. He carried Kenna through the crowd. Kenna was screaming, kicking, and punching at her uncle. She needed to go back for her brother. She needed to go back for her entire family.

"Let me go!" Kenna cried. "I need to go back to them."

"ENOUGH!" her uncle shouted at her as he set her on the ground. He knelt in front of her and put his hands on her shoulder. "Kenna, that is enough. You can't go back for them."

"I want to go back home," Kenna sobbed. "I want my Ma and Da."

"They're dead," her uncle's words were harsh. "They're not coming back. It's just you and me now, and I have to help the rest of the people trying to evacuate. I know you're hurting, but this isn't the time for this." Kenna didn't say anything. She just sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You're going to get on the ferry. That will take you to Trost. When you get there, I want you to find Mary Tucker. She's the housekeeper for my estate right outside of Trost that's inside Wall Rose." He reached into Kenna's father's bag.

"Don't touch that," Kenna screeched as she pulled the bag away from her uncle.

"Kenna, stop it," her uncle said as he grabbed the bag. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. He started to scribble something on the paper. He handed it to Kenna. "Find her at this address. Tell her that you're my niece, and that she's to take you to my estate. Do you understand me, Kenna?" Kenna was silent. "Do you understand me?" Her uncle's voice demanded that she look at him.

"Yes," Kenna whispered as she nodded.

"Good," her uncle stood up. He grabbed her by the shoulder and lead her to the ferry. He pushed through the crowd and walked up to the soldier who was letting people onto the ferry.

"Captain Dressler," the soldier saluted.

"At ease," her uncle said. "I'm just here to get my niece on the ferry, so I can return to the evacuation efforts."

"Of course, sir," the soldier nodded.

"Go," Kenna's uncle pushed her onto the ramp that led on to the ferry. Kenna stumbled just a little but regained her footing.

Kenna walked onto the boat and managed to find a little bit of space on the side of the railing. Kenna took the bags off of her shoulders. She opened hers first. She grabbed her sketchbook and the soft, stuffy cat that she had for all ten years she had been alive. Kenna held the stuffy close to her chest as she opened the sketchbook. The drawings she had made of her family throughout the years stared back at her. Kenna closed it as quickly as she had opened it. What she thought would bring her some comfort only brought her pain. Kenna looked to her father's bag instead. She opened it up to see what went missing during her fall. Of the ten notebooks that had originally been in the bag, four had been lost alongside numerous loose sheets of paper. Kenna closed the bag and held it tightly to her chest.

Kenna could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks, but she couldn't bring herself to actively cry anymore. Kenna couldn't do much of anything. She just felt numb. Her entire world had been torn to shreds in a just a matter of minutes like it was nothing. The Titans came and went through Shinganshina like a hoard of locusts. Humans were nothing compared to them. They could do nothing against the creatures that seemed to exist solely to kill them.

Kenna didn't know how long she had been sitting by the railing before the ferry started to move. It could have been ten seconds or ten hours. As the ferry moved, Kenna felt a strange sense of relief. The carnage she had just witnessed would be left behind. While it was horrible what had happened, it could be contained within the walls of Shinganshina.

Almost as soon as Kenna had the thought, she heard a loud crashing sound. Her heart sank and the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up at the sound. It was the sound of a wall crumbling. Kenna shot up to see what was happening. Her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. It was another abnormal Titan. It seemed to be covered in armor from head to toe. Kenna ran to the back railing of the ship. She wouldn't believe what she was seeing, she couldn't.

The Armored Titan had blown a hole through Wall Maria.

Kenna felt sick as she saw the Titan hoard start to flow through the wall. The people who were stranded on the bank of the canal started to run. They were screaming. Some from fear. Some from agony. Kenna just watched as they tried to delay the inevitable. There was a part of her soul absolutely hopeless as she watched the scene play out in front of her. She wondered if her uncle had been lucky enough to scale the wall. Kenna couldn't tear her eyes away from the horror. She gripped on tightly to the railing of the boat.

"Don't keep your eyes on that, child," a man's soft voice said as he put a hand on her shoulder. Kenna allowed the man to turn her around. She looked up at the kind stranger. It was an old man with a floppy hat. "You've seen enough bad things to last you a life time."

Kenna nodded at the old man. After a moment, she walked past the old man. Kenna was glad that the man turned her away from everything. Kenna didn't know if she would have had the strength to turn away on her own. She returned to her spot on the side of the railing. Kenna pulled her knees up to her chest as she kept a hand on each of her bags. Kenna wanted to cover her ears to shut out the screams from the people and Titans on the shores, but she didn't. It wouldn't change that people were dying and that the world would never be the same.