Paradis Island, Outside Wall Maria
Year 845

Paradis Island, home to the Eldians that escaped from the Great Titan war, where they live unaware of the existence of human life outside their walls, while the rest of the world wishes for nothing more than them to just disappear. Marely, the nation who had suppressed Eldians to the state they were in now, would turn Eldians into Titans and send them off to the walls of Paradis where they would eat their own kind. This twisted tradition and act continued for centuries, until the world began to revolutionize technology, and the power of the Titans were beginning to wane. Not wanting their forces to grow anymore weaker, while trying to keep up with the evolution of technology, Marely decided to try and secretly steal the power of the Founding Titan, that was currently being held on the island of Paradis. Sending in an Eldian force who were chosen as 'Honorary Marelyans' a group of four young children were sent off with the power of the Titans in their possession, in an attempt to steal the Founding Titan from the Royal family that still lived on the island. The power of the Armor, Jaw, Female, and Colossal Titans, the four children set off towards the walls to begin their mission to not only strengthen their forces, but save the world from the threat of the Rumbling, a world threatening event that could occur if the Founding Titan ever decided to unleash the millions of Titans within the walls. Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, Marcel Galliard, and Annie Leonhart, these four would be the ones who would save the world from the threat of the Rumbling. Though due to unforeseen and devastating events, the Warrior team had lost the Jaw Titan to a pure titan that disappeared, and now stood outside of the first wall unsure of how their plan would go without the the power of the Jaw Titan.

"Hey, Asshole, just what the hell are we going to do? Marcel is gone and there are canons on those walls! Bertolt will get blasted in the face the moment he turns into a Titan." Annie informed Reiner about the risk Bertolt would be taking.

"No, he'll be fine. They've probably never encountered the Titans face to face, so they'll be in too much shock to know what to do. Bertolt, once you kick open a hole in the wall, Annie will summon Titans from the surrounding area, and we'll sneak in during the chaos. Once you get the wall open, come out of your Titan and Annie will get you." Reiner said as Bertolt nodded nervously while Reiner turned his nervous eyes back to the walls. "We have to do this. This is our only chance. Let's go." Reiner said as the three of them rushed out to enact their plans.

Annie ran to a deeper part of the woods and made sure her surroundings were clear before she flicked the small blade in her ring out and cut herself. A second later, a strike of lightning came down in the forest and she walked out in her Female Titan form. Hearing another lightning strike from her right, she looked to see Reiner in his Armored Titan, walk out next to her as they exchanged glances before nodding in acknowledgement. Annie and Reiner turned towards the gate as they saw Bertolt standing nearby it, and Reiner raised his hand to signal him as Bertolt turned back towards the wall before looking down and cutting his hand with a knife. A massive strike of lightning shook the entire area and at the same time while Bertolt was turning into the Colossal Titan, Annie unleashed her scream and began to summon the pure Titans that were in the area. Soon, the front of the wall was being surrounded by pure Titans as Bertolt stood up tall in his 50 meter Colossal Titan, peeking down Shiganshina District, as all of humanity who was hidden behind the walls, stared up in disbelief and shock. Reiner and Annie moved closer to the wall when they saw Bertolt raise one of his legs back before sending it forward, blowing a massive hole in the gate of the wall as debris went flying everywhere. Stopping a few meters away from the wall, Reiner stopped and gestured to Annie as she just nodded before her head leaned down and steam erupted from the nape of her neck as she came out. 

"Alright, now where's that asshole?" Annie pulled herself out of her Titan as Reiner walked over and held out his hand for her to climb into. "Let's get Bertolt and get inside. Hurry!" Annie yelled as Reiner turned and began to walk towards Bertolt.

After walking closer to the wall and up to where Bertolt's Colossal Titan was disappearing after he exited from his nape, they found their comrade with a confused face standing atop his Titan as Annie stood up and held onto one of Reiner's fingers. She reached out for the young boy as Reiner lifted his hand closer to her.

"Hey, Bertolt! Come on!" Annie yelled as Bertolt seemed too shocked to move as he stared towards the hole in the wall. "Bertolt!" Annie's voice seemed to snap him out of his trance that time as he looked around before spotting her. "Let's go!" She yelled.

"R-Right!" Bertolt said before grabbing her stretched out hand and leaping onto Reiner's hand as the two were carried towards the hole in the wall.

The two of the rode in on Reiner's Armored Titan and snuck into the Walls with the rest of the Pure Titans they had let loose into the civilization that was set up there. After sneaking in and finding a place that was void of human life, Reiner let down Annie and Bertolt to run while he went off on his own to destroy the inner gate. Annie and Bertolt both ran as fast as they could to the other side of the district they were in and while passing through the district, they saw all the destruction and death they had unleashed on these unsuspecting Eldians. They couldn't believe how much carnage had unfolded just from having the gate kicked open, but they knew how much destruction Pure Titans could cause within a matter of moments if let loose with no warnings. After sneaking through the inner gate and acting like kids trying to escape from hell, Annie and Bertolt hid nearby and watched as a few moments later, Reiner came smashing through the inner wall, blowing the gate away along with anyone nearby it. Smoke covered the nearby area and visibility nearly became zero as Reiner's Titan remained in a knelt down position, with its silhouette being the only thing visible that everyone was staring at. Running towards the river bank, Reiner broke through the smoke and looked around before spotting Annie and Bertolt and running over to them with something in his hands.

"Annie! Bertolt!" Reiner called out as the two of them turned towards him as he stopped in front of the pair and held out pieces of cloth. "Here, we can use them as hoods. We still have signs of our transformations on our faces, so we have to cover our heads and wait for them to disappear." Reiner said as the two of them took the pieces of cloth and they all covered their heads before hearing more commotion come from the boats that were trying to escape the scene. "Let's get on before we're left behind!" He said as the three of them ran towards the last departing boat. 

Barely making it on board, the Warriors of Marely were able to sneak on board without too much suspicion, and hid in one a little corner where no one would bother them. After the last amount of people that could fit on the boat were boarded, the vessel made a hasty escape and traveled at its max speed along the river, though it wasn't as fast as the Honorary Marleyan's expected. Due to such a hasty and rash plan, Annie grew tired from their actions and fell asleep as Bertolt and Reiner continued to make sure no one would notice anything off about them while they healed from the marks of their transformations. After a long journey to the inner wall, the three of them all made it to the refugee camp that was set up in Wall Rose where they came to the hardest part of their mission, blending in among the rest of the Eldians until they locate the Founding Titan, and the best way for them to obtain information and move about freely with little question from authorities, was to join the ranks of the military.

5 Years Later

After waiting a grueling five years to be old enough to enlist for the military, Annie and her comrades on the mission were finally old enough to enlist in the military. After going through background checks that they were able to fabricate, and undergoing an interview, the young blonde was now stood in a courtyard on a military base inside Wall Rose. Annie and the rest of the recruits were all waiting for the carriages to arrive and take them to the training camp, and whilst waiting, a sudden urge to relieve herself came to fruition as she put her bag down next to Reiner.

"I'm going to the restroom." Annie said before leaving.

"O-Okay." Reiner acknowledged her before returning to chat with Bertolt.

Walking through the base and making it to the women's restroom, Annie walked in and locked the door behind her before heading over to the toilet to take care of business. Whilst doing what she needed to do, she couldn't help but sigh in tiredness and frustration over how long they've spent living amongst the Eldians of the walls, and even though she had comrades, there was no helping how alone she felt during her time on the island. Washing her hands and splashing some water on her face, she leaned against the sink and stared at herself in the mirror as she tried to mentally strengthen herself to be around more people she didn't want to be around. Annie opened the door and closed it behind her before turning and walking down the hallway. On her way though as she rounded a corner, she heard the sound of talking coming her way and stopped herself from going around the corner as two people came around the corner. Two men came around the corner and were both dressed in the uniforms that would be worn during the training camp, except one of the men was a lot older, bald, and had a small beard on his chin. The other man was much younger, almost looking as if he were the same age as Annie, and he had E/C eyes with S/C skin and H/C hair. His build was more on the muscular side and Annie noticed that he was almost the same height as Bertolt. 

"You really want me to be standing next to you when it begins?" The younger male talked while the older looking one flipped through a few papers on a clipboard he held.

"Yes, you've been around here much longer than anyone, having an extra hand would help me out." The older man said as the young teen noticed Annie.

"Ah, excuse me, ma'am." The young one called as Annie was acknowledged his call by making eye contact. "Are you a cadet waiting for the carriages?" He asked her.

"Yes. I was just heading back." Annie explained.

"Then you should hurry back, we're getting everyone ready to go. We depart in 15 minutes." The young man said to her with a smile.

"Right, thank you." Annie said as the two men walked pass her and she went off on her way after. 

After making her way back to Reiner and Bertolt, Annie and the rest of the new cadets were loaded onto the carriages and were transported to the training grounds where their new lives as soldiers would begin. After being settled into the barracks that were separated by gender, everyone was told to fall out in formation outside where they awaited their drill instructor. Some time passed and eventually, their instructor arrived, but what surprised Annie was when she saw the same old man standing at the head of all the cadets and the young man she encountered before, who was stood behind him. The young man and his superior stood firm with stern looks on their faces before the old man shouted aloud for every cadet to hear.

"We now begin the enlistment ceremony for the 104th Trainee Corps! I am Ketih Shadis, and I had the misfortune to be assigned to train you bastards! And I'm not here to welcome you at all! Right now, you're mere cattle, fit for nothing but Titan food! No, less than cattle...!" Shadis yelled out while Annie noticed the young man behind Shadis let out a small smirk at that last remark he made. "In three years, we'll take you worthless pieces of crap and train you! Give you the means to fight the Titans. In three years, when you stand before a Titan, will you still be food? Or will you be a noble wall, shielding the king? Or perhaps, one of humanity's glorious soldiers that slays Titans? You will decide!" Shadis gave his speech as everyone remained silent and composed before he continued. "Before things get started however, I'll give you maggots a fair warning. Meet your other drill instructor, Y/N L/N." He said as you stepped forward with a grin on your face. "This is my nephew and he's around the same age as most of you here, but don't think that he'll be a friend to you pieces of crap! This youngling is one mean son of a bitch, who likes to torment his peers almost more than I do!" Shadis said as everyone had surprised looks on their faces when they learned their other drill instructor was just as young as them, but more violent sounding than Shadis.

"Glad to meet you all! Let's do our best to get along with each other during our three years together." You said with a sadistic smile on your face as this made a few cadets a little nervous.

After intense introductions, you and Shadis both went down the lines of cadets asking them who they were and why they wanted to be soldiers, although your questions made it sound like an intense interrogation. The questioning may have involved a few headbutts, knees and grabbing a certain bald cadet by their head, but they were all brief and to the point. However, while walking through the lines and glaring at some of the cadets, your eyes landed on a familiar face further down the line and you picked up the pace before stopping right in front of Annie.

"Well, I'm sure you weren't expecting this kind of thing to happen, huh? I'm sure you must be a little confused on why someone the same age as you is going to be barking orders to you and everyone else. Don't worry, I won't kill you guys during this training..." You said as Annie looked you in the eye before growing a surprised look when she saw you grin while looking at all the cadets around you. "...but there might be a few broken bones, who knows? We'll see how things go." You said before turning towards her and getting a closer look at her.  "Am I scary?" You asked her.

"No, sir." Annie replied to you.

"What's your name?" You asked her.

"Annie Leonhart." She answered plainly.

"Why become a soldier?" You questioned her while stepping a bit closer.

"To become a member of the Military Police and work inside Wall Sina." Annie answered truthfully, but her reason for becoming an MP was related to her real mission.

"Hmmm..." You stepped much closer as Annie finally noticed how close you got  since you covered the sun from her face. 

Taking a closer look, Annie was able to make out all your facial features and physique that she couldn't lie, was very good looking to even her. Though, her thoughts didn't allow her to be excited as she felt you were going to be some asshole who likes to abuse his position and push people around. What confused her though was when you suddenly smirked and leaned closer to her before lifting her chip with your index finger.

"You're blushing..." You whispered to her ear as she went wide-eyed and shivered from the shrill of your voice. "...Is it because of me?" You asked in a slightly sadistic tone as Annie felt a jolt of energy run up her spine, but it wasn't because she was transforming.

"Huh? I'm red in the face? Why? I wasn't feeling anything except annoyed when he came up to me...but, why now..." Annie took a silent breath as she tensed up her body even more. "...why do I feel so hot in the face...?" Annie thought in confusion of what was going on.

"I'm sure this isn't true, but...are you perhaps, fluster--!" You were whispering into her ear but stopped when a loud crunching noise suddenly filled the air.

You leaned back to look around at where the sound came from, but when you saw what happened, you couldn't believe your eyes. Both you and Shadis, and the rest of the cadets stared with open jaws in disbelief as a brown haired girl chewed down on a potato nervously while staring ahead like she was just blending in with the rest of the cadets. You stepped back from Annie and Shadis dropped the cadet he was holding by the head as the two of you walked through the lines and went towards the potato girl.

"Hey, you...What are you doing?" Shadis spoke in a low tone while as his rage was building up, and to everyone's shock, the girl looked around wondering who he was talking to before taking another bite.

"YOU'RE THE ONE HE'S TALKING TO! YOU! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?" You screamed at her face as she immediately got scared swallowing the huge chunk of potato in her mouth and saluting with the potato in hand against her chest.

"Sasha Braus, from Dauper village, Wall Rose South District!" The girl named Sasha spoke straightforward with a serious tone.

"Sasha Braus, what are you holding in your right hand?" Shadis asked while looming over her.

"A boiled potato! The kitchen had a fresh batch, and I couldn't resist." Sasha admitted to her taking the potato.

"Did you steal it? Why? Why would you choose now to eat the potato?" You asked while staring at the crumbs near her mouth with a twitch in your eye.

"Letting it get cold would've been a waste, so I decided I should eat it now." Sasha gave her honest answer.

"No...I don't get it...Why would you eat that potato?" Shadis asked as this question seemed to confuse Sasha.

"Are you asking me why people eat potatoes?" Sasha threw a question back without knowing the severity of the situation she was in as both yours and Shadis' eyes were covered in shadows as a cold win blew through the camp.

A few moments passed before Sasha seemed to have realized what was going on in her situation, but to everyone's disbelief, she suddenly ripped the potato in uneven halves before scoffing and handing over the smaller half to Shadis.

"You can have half..." Sasha said as Shadis took the half in disbelief.

"Half..." Was all your uncle could muster to say as the two of you saw a strange and nervous smile appear on your face.

"Sorry, Uncle..." You said while taking the potato from him as you crushed it into pieces and the potato chunks went flying as tears formed in Sasha's eyes when she witnessed the murder of a potato. "...I think I'm gonna break this one sooner than expected." You said with pure rage in your eyes as this made the girl shiver and yelp in fear. "GET TO RUNNING YOU DUMBASS!!!!!" You screamed at the top of your lungs while ripping the other half of potato from her and smashing it on the ground with your foot.

"I'M SORRY!!" Sasha cried out in despair while running down the line as you followed after her in a fast paced walk.

Annie couldn't believe how crazy all the people of the walls could be, but before she could ignore everything like she usually did, you walked behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. The young blonde let out a very low gasp when she felt your breath near her ear once more.

"I've taken a liking to you. I hope you don't mind." You whispered to her as she felt a cold shiver run up her spine and she shivered from your voice, but a red hue appeared slightly across her cheeks as you grinned. "You seem like a cold person, but let's see if I can't thaw that cold heart of yours." You said while walking away as Annie couldn't believe what you had just done to her in the first day of being a cadet.