The Guardian's Tale (AOT fanfiction)

-The Town Were It All Began-

We traveled towards Wall Maria under the cover of the night to begin our operation. All of us had our hoods on to hide our identities to make it harder for the enemy to identify which one of us was Eren. As I yawned, I looked to the side and slightly jumped when I noticed a Titan but quickly calmed down when I realized that it was asleep. After a bit more walking, Mikasa, Armin and I noticed Eren's nervousness and I placed my hand on his wrist.

"What's wrong ? You're shaking." I asked, worried. "Are you scared ?"

"H-Huh ?! Of course I'm not scared !" He exclaimed as I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Look at your hand...it's shaking. Seems like nerves to me." I said calmly before he brushed it off, saying it was just the cold. "Is that all it is...?" I gathered a bit of heat in my palm and placed my hand on his just in case. "I've been shaking a bit too if I'm honest and I'm terrified...I can't really tell if YOU've every been afraid of Titans. For most people...that fear's all consuming...It was for me until I had to save Armin and Jean's asses." I joked. 

Armin then added that he was scared of them too, matter of fact, he was almost eaten by one but Eren saved him. Armin then asked the emerald-eyed boy how he did it. Eren simply replied that he had a flashback to the day that Armin showed him his parents's book. Apparently, before then he'd never even considered a life beyond the walls but then realized that we were trapped by Titans. He added that whenever it came to taking back our freedom, he felt a strength flow through him. He thanked Armin and told us both that by this time next year, he bet we'd be looking at the sea. 

Then, Mikasa stopped and pointed out that the woods they were in were the ones where her and Eren went to gather firewood. Before any of us had time to react, a Scout ahead of us called out that he'd found a trail. As we walked further, I recognized this place...Shiganshina...where my brother and I grew up and...where dad and our eldest brother were murdered. 

(............)

As the Sun started rising, we charged on horseback for the Walls of Shiganshina district and when we got close enough, we switched to ODM gear and scaled the Wall. The Commander's plan was simple, we would seal the inner and outer gates of Shiganshina district. This would isolate the town and allow us to kill any Titans still inside. 

Erwin landed on the wall first and all 100 of us appeared behind him, hoods on, capes flying and blades in hand. We followed after Levi as Eren and I were to get to the outer gate to plug it. Suddenly, Armin and I spotted ashes from a kicked out fire and we stopped, signaling the Commander. So...Reiner and Bertholdt must be nearby. I gritted my teeth and started running again, catching up with Levi and our squad. 

After scaling the wall to the Outer Gate, I noticed that it was strange that we hadn't seen a single Titan yet. Then, Eren and I noticed Hange's green flare and we nodded at each other. We both hurtled over the Wall and dove down to the breach below as he turned into a Titan. I landed on his back and as he hardened his Titan, I placed one hand on the wall and one on his back to control the crystals coming from him. I formed my own on the sides of the Wall, forming them into sideways pillars and helped Eren control his. 

When he broke out of his Titan, he gave me a high five and I grinned at how surprisingly effortless that was. Blood came rolling down from my nose and rolled my eyes. Jeez I just had to prove myself wrong. Mikasa came to retrieve Eren and we headed back up the Wall. I wiped the blood from my nose and seeing as he was missing his cloak, Mikasa gave him hers and I sighed and smiled while tilting my head. Cute couple.

The 2 Scouts at the bottom fired off green flares to signal that the wall was plugged and Eren bumped his fist to mine before we headed for the inner gate. That was...surprisingly easy.

"We're not finished. You guys can plug the gates all you want but they can just break it again later." Captain Levi pointed out. "Until we've killed Reiner, Bertholdt and whoever else may be with them, the operation to retake wall Maria won't be over."

"Yeah...I'm well aware sir." I replied, glancing at my ring.

After awhile, we spotted a red flare which meant for us to halt the operation. Hange then ordered us to scatter and standby on top of the Wall. I then spotted his group heading towards us, tapping the Wall with their blades and I quickly understood. They were trying to find Bertholdt and Reiner. I signaled the Captain and headed down to join them. After awhile of tapping my blade on the Wall's surface, I heard a hollow sound. 

"RIGHT HERE !" I yelled a Armin who was right next to me. "THIS PART OF THE WALL IS HOL-" My voice trailed off when I saw the Wall open and I came face to face with him. "Rei...ner."

I spotted something around his neck, it was his ring...on a piece of rope tied around his neck. He was about to stab my stomach when he looked at my hand and froze. 

"M-My love...wh-" He stuttered.

I quickly headed back up the Wall before he had the chance to change his mind about stabbing me and as soon as he emerged from the opening, the Captain dove down on him and sliced into his neck. My heart stopped for a moment as the Captain wasted no time and stabbed into Reiner's torso as the two of them hurtled towards the ground. Before he could crash, the Captain pulled his blade out of Reiner's chest and pulled himself back up onto the Wall.

"Shit..." He cursed. "What are these guys made of ? A blade to the neck and the bastard still won't die."

I looked back down at Reiner and as soon as I did, a bright yellow light emerged from his eyes and mouth and I froze. Once the light had vanished, the Armored Titan was laying down on the ground. So it did come down to it after all...whether I was willing to kill him or not.

"KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN ! WE STILL NEED TO FIND HIS ALLIES !" Commander Erwin called out.

Right after, multiple flashes of Titan transformations appeared behind him. He pulled me close to him and as soon as I turned around, I was face to face with the Beast Titan and an army of Pure Titans. The Beast Titan wasted no time and threw a boulder right into the hole of the inner gate, preventing us from getting our horses through to the other side. 

"WE CAN LET THE TITANS CRUSH US...OR BRING THEM CRASHING DOWN !" The Commander yelled.

I went to stand next to Eren and I looked down as the Armored Titan slowly stood up. What...was I supposed to do ? Give my heart and soul to humanity and kill the man I love...or let him live and doom humankind ?

TO BE CONTINUED !