Chapter 11: Chapter 11
Lying in a tree near the Shiganshina district was a brown-haired boy dressed in a brown coat over a green shirt and a red scarf wrapped around his neck. The young man was in the middle of a terrifying nightmare, until suddenly his eyes opened wide, as if he had just been startled.
"What is it, Eren? Did you have a nightmare?"
The one who asked this was a girl with black hair and slightly grayish eyes who was sitting next to the sleepy boy. She was wearing a white dress with a pink coat overlaying it.
"I think so...What was it again? I can't remember..." - Eren.
"Why are you crying?" - Mikasa.
"Huh?"- Eren.
Finally noticing the tears streaming down his face, the boy quickly wiped them away.
"Let's go back, our mothers are already waiting." - Mikasa.
"Yeah..." - Eren.
They both took their two stands made of wood, used to carry the small and medium-sized branches they collected from the trees to carry them to their house and use as firewood.
After a few minutes the two children, still somewhat quiet, were already near the gate to enter their home town. It was then that Eren finally decided to break the silence.
"Don't tell anyone I was crying." - Eren.
"I won't tell, but shouldn't you ask your father to examine you? It's weird to cry for no reason." - Mikasa.
"Idiot! It's not even like I can say that to my father!"- Eren.
"Why were you crying, Eren?" - Blond man who suddenly appeared in front of them as soon as they had just entered the short corridor leading into town.
"Mr. Hannes?" - Eren.
"Did you fight with Mikasa about something?" - Hannes.
"Why would I be crying?! Besides...you stink of alcohol!" - Eren.
"Well, we stay here watching all day, so naturally we get hungry and thirsty. Alcohol is only among our drinks." - Hannes.
"And you guys would be able to fight when the time comes?!" - Eren.
"Come time? What do you mean?" - Hannes.
"Eren, I think you already are-" - Mikasa tried to interrupt another of her friend's yelling, but failed.
"Isn't it obvious! The time they break through those walls and invade the city!" - Eren.
'Again with that same story...' - Mikasa.
"Hey, hey, Eren, don't start screaming out of nowhere." - Hannes with his hand on his head due to the pain he felt from the child's scream.
Upon hearing this, another soldier who was drinking near them stood up and inserted himself into the conversation.
"hahaha, good thing you're feisty, doctor's son. If they can break through the wall, we will definitely fight, but that hasn't happened even once since 100 years." - Drunk soldier.
"But my father said that times when we get like this are the most dangerous!" - Eren.
"Doctor Yeager said that? Well, it's true that in the past he saved this town from an epidemic, and I dare not say I know more than he does, but for these people it's different." - Hannes.
"Should you become a garrison soldier, you will have a chance to see the titans walking outside. I've seen them many times, but I still don't see how they could pass through those 50-meter walls." - Hannes.
"So...you guys aren't the least bit determined to fight them?!" - Eren.
"No." - Hannes.
"Why!? Then stop calling yourselves garrison troops and go help strengthen the walls!" - Eren.
"That might even be good, but Eren, when soldiers have to act, then yes it means we are in trouble, but at times when we are called useless and only eat..." - Hannes turning his head to look at the city.
"It's that everyone can live in peace." - Hannes.
Hearing this, Eren bit his own lip slightly and closed his fist quite tightly.
"Sure, we could live our lives here just eating and sleeping, but this is like...It's like we're just cattle." - Eren.
"HAHAHAHA, how much courage for a child! Although you can't do anything about it, can you, Hannes?" - Another drunken soldier sat near the entrance.
Eren simply ignored the mockery and continued walking along with Mikasa, heading for his home.
"Hey, Eren!" - Hannes.
He pretended not to hear the blond-haired soldier's call and kept walking, without even looking back.
"Wait...Does he want to join the Exploration troop?" - Hannes.
In a few moments, both were already climbing the stairs built into the hillsides and getting closer and closer to their home, until Mikasa decided to speak again.
"You know Eren, you'd better give up this idea of joining the exploration troop. We would be sad and worried if you do that." - Mikasa.
"Why? Are you going to mock them too?!" - Eren.
"I'm not mocking anyone, but-"
*DING* *DONG* *DING* *DONG*
Before she could complete her sentence, she was interrupted by the shrill sound of the bell coming from the church near the entrance of the maria wall.
"The scouting troop is back! They're going to open the main gate! Come on, Mikasa! The heroes have returned!" - Eren.
The green-eyed child suddenly ran towards the main gate of the sea wall. Mikasa then decided to follow him as she was also a bit curious about the results of this expedition.
In a matter of minutes, the two children reached their goal. However, a crowd of people had already formed, hindering Eren and Mikasa's view.
"Damn it! I can't see anything!" - Eren.
It was then that he spotted two wooden boxes standing on the ground and the two of them ran towards them. Upon reaching it, they climbed on each of them and had a clear view of the soldiers who had just returned.
However, Eren was in shock at the scene that appeared before his eyes. Most of the soldiers from the raiding party were severely wounded. Some were bordering on death, others had lost a limb or two, there were even those who had lost their senses or their very sanity.
"Hadn't they left with a much larger number of people? So many died this time..." - Peasant from Shiganshina.
"It's horrible." - Shiganshina Peasant.
"You see, Eren? That's why we would be sad and worried." - Mikasa.
The boy was at a loss for what to answer back. After a while, all the survivors had already passed through the crowd.
"This way our taxes are only being used to fill their bellies." - Shiganshina peasant.
Upon hearing such words, Eren pulled out one of the twigs they were carrying and held it firmly, and then immediately struck a blow to the man's head.
"*aaaargh* What are you doing, brat?!" - Shiganshina peasant.
Before the man could move forward to strike back at Eren, Mikasa pulled him by his scarf and dragged him running away from the place, giving the man no chance to catch up.
After a few seconds, they finally stopped and Mikasa let him go.
"After seeing that, your decision still hasn't changed?" - Mikasa.
The boy was silent for a moment, until he started walking again towards his house, without giving any answers to the girl's question. She already understood what this meant, and chose to follow him.
For the rest of the way they both remained silent. After a few minutes they reached their home and Eren opened the wooden door to enter.
"I'm home." - Eren and Mikasa.
"Welcome" - Sukasa and Carla.
After that, Eren walked towards a wooden crate beside the wall and began to put away the firewood he and Mikasa had collected, while the girl washed her hands.
"Gee, Eren, you really worked hard today. How rare." - Carla.
"Y-yes." - Eren.
It was at this instant that Carla approached her son and tugged on his ear.
"*aargh* what is it?"- Eren placed his hand on his ear.
"Your ear has turned red. It's proof that you lied. Mikasa helped you, didn't she?" - Carla.
*sigh* - Eren.
"hehe, thanks for the hard work, daughter." - Sukasa appearing next to her daughter.
"No need to thank mommy. I need to try my hardest until Zirken returns." - Mikasa.
"Yes, let's work hard!" - Sukasa.
Since the sudden disappearance of her brother, Mikasa and her mother still maintain a strong confidence that someday he will return. At first, both were devastated and depressed for a few months, especially the girl who has become strangely more attached to her brother since the incident in their home. However, both managed to find the strength to get back on their feet again after some time.
Soon after a few moments, everyone began to eat their lunch. The mood was strangely quieter because of the two children, but the two mothers and Grisha finished their meal first. Following that, Sukasa began washing the remaining dishes, while Carla helped her husband pack his things for the trip he was about to take.
"Are you going out, Dad? Is it work?" - Eren.
"Yes. I have some exams out of town. Should take about two or three days." - Grisha.
It was then that Mikasa realized that this was the perfect time to enter the conversation.
"Eren told me he wants to join the scouting troop." - Mikasa.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room remained in a momentary silence, until Eren broke the silence first.
"Mikasa, I told you not to tell!" - Eren.
"What are you thinking, Eren?! Do you have any idea how many people have died outside the wall?!" - Carla as she approached the boy and held his shoulders.
"Exactly! Do you realize how dangerous that is?!" - Sukasa.
Sukasa was also annoyed, because after living with the Yeager for over a year, she already thinks of Eren as one of her children as well.
"I know!" - Eren.
"So-" - Carla was about to speak, but was interrupted by her husband.
"Eren, why do you want to go outside?" - Grisha.
"I want to know what is happening in the world outside.... I don't want to live the rest of my life inside these walls like a bird trapped in a cage." - Eren.
"Besides... If I don't have anyone to carry on what the others have done.... The death of everyone who fought for it so far will have been for nothing!" - Eren.
"I see." - Grisha after a second of thought.
"My ship is already leaving, I'm going." - Grisha stood up and walked to the door.
"Wait, darling! Convince Eren!" - Carla going after her husband.
"Honey, when someone is searching for something, there's not much the others can talk about." - Grisha.
He then turned to his son and faced him.
"Eren, when I get back, I will show you the basement that I have always kept secret." - Grisha.
"Really?" - Eren getting excited.
The next instant, everyone left the house together to say goodbye to Grisha who was going to work far away and would be a while to return.
"Bye!" - Eren.
"See you!" - Carla, Sukasa and Mikasa.
After Grisha Yeager was out of the four of them' sight, Carla turned to speak to her son again.
"I do not approve of you joining the scouting troop. That's foolishness without limits." - Carla.
"Idiocy? To me, people who are content to live like cattle are much more idiotic!" - Eren.
After saying that sentence, the boy took off running through one of the alleys near the house. Leaving behind Mikasa and his two mothers worried by what they heard from him. The girl was also about to leave to follow him, but was stopped by her mother and Carla.
"Please daughter, try to put some sense into his head." - Sukasa.
"Mikasa, that boy only gets into trouble, so please help him when he gets into something risky!" - Carla.
"You got it." - Mikasa.
After that, Mikasa easily caught up with Eren and within minutes they came across their friend Armin Arlet being harassed by bullies. The reckless boy tried to push the offenders away, but almost got caught along if Mikasa wasn't around.
Soon after helping him, the three headed near one of the rivers that ran through inside Shiganshina.
"And when I said that one day we humans should go outside the wall, they beat me and called me a heretic..." - Armin.
"Damn! Why does everyone give us ugly looks just for saying we want to go outside?" - Eren.
"Well...it's because just by being inside the wall, we are at peace for a hundred years. They fear that going outside without care could draw them into the wall. And the royal government has declared that expressing interest in the outside world would be considered taboo." - Armin.
"We risk our own lives. We decide what to do." - Eren.
"Not at all. Our mothers have already said they are against it." - Mikasa.
"Really, why did you tell?!" - Eren.
"I don't want to lose any more relatives..." - Mikasa.
Consequently, after Mikasa said this sentence, the atmosphere became awkward and silent. Then to change the subject, Armin spoke up.
"Have you guys heard the rumors that you are close to discovering the cause of the mysterious light?" - Armin.
"You mean that big light that came out of nowhere and burned an entire hill?" - Eren
"Yes..." - Armin.
"That was a pretty scary thing. I'm pretty sure the whole city would be wiped out if that light appeared here." - Eren.
"That's right, that just proves my words. Humanity at some point will need to get outside the walls..." - Armin.
"I think people who believe that these walls will protect us forever are crazy...Even if the wall hasn't been destroyed for 100 years...Nothing guarantees that it won't happen today or tomorrow...Nothing at all." - Armin.
Seconds after the boy said such words...
*Boom
A huge bolt of lightning came down from the sky and a huge explosion was generated in front of the main gate of the maria wall.
'Looks like the time has come...'
The trio was thrown a few inches above the ground due to the shockwave from the explosion. The wind began to get stronger and a great commotion began to form.
Seeing a large number of people heading for another open area, the three children followed the crowd to also see what had happened.
When they finally got a good view of the entire wall, they noticed something terrifying. A huge hand, completely devoid of skin, was clutching the top of the great 50-meter high wall. In a matter of seconds the gigantic hand increased the strength of its grip on the wall and a large head, also without any remnants of skin, appeared.
At that instant, everyone was terrified, not knowing how to react. Until the huge titan lifted his right foot and unleashed a single kick at the gates of the wall, causing another strong gust of wind, much stronger than the previous one, to be launched, bringing along several boulders of different sizes to reach almost the entire city.
In only a few seconds, almost the entire city was devastated and several citizens of the Shiganshina district died, crushed or swept away by the wind.
"It blew...a hole in the wall!" - Armin with his already trembling body.
"THE TITANS HAVE ENTERED!!!" - Shiganshina peasant.
*KYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*
Several people began to run for their lives as the titans began to move in through the huge gap made.
"We have to run too!" - Armin.
Without even hearing him, Mikasa and Eren began to move. Their eyes were wide and their expression showed clear fear.
"My house is here...My mother is there!" - Then the two began to run quickly in the direction of their home with all the strength they had.
Every street and alleyway they passed, all they saw was disaster. People were crushed under rocks, others were still running with all their energy, and several houses were destroyed.
'It can't have hit my house! My house will be as good as ever!' - Eren.
As they turned the corner of the street that faced their house, the two children saw their house completely...
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ZirkenSensei
ZirkenSensei It may look the same as the first chapter of the anime, but I have made some changes. I don't know if you noticed, but did you notice how the relationship between Mikasa and Eren is different? hehehe.
Next chapter: Appearance of the hooded boy
Thanks for read!!
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