chapter 3

Here." Grandpa handed Armin four bread rations. "Go find your friends and give them a piece."

"Thanks, Grandpa!" I look at Armin. "I saw Mikasa go inside the storage building, so she's probably getting Eren. Let's go."

Grandpa has sort of taken Eren and Mikasa under his care, seeing as neither of their parents are here. I'm beginning to wonder if Dr. Jaeger is still alive. He would've come to make sure his son and daughter were okay, wouldn't he?

"Y/n, slow down!" Armin calls out. "You're going to bump into someone!"

"Don't worry! We're almost at the storage building!" I yell over my shoulder.

We've almost been inside Wall Rose for a day now. The boat arrived here at the warehouse really early in the morning.

Armin and I were informed by Mikasa that instead of sleeping on the boat, like the three of us, Eren stayed up the entire night, so Mikasa has to wake him up in the storage building.

I stop, once I'm in a clear opening and the storage building is in front of us. I immediately spot Eren and Mikasa walking out of the building. "Hey, guys!"

They both look over in mine and Armin's direction, as we both run over to them. Armin is being very careful to not drop the bread rations.

"Y/n...Armin..." Eren says, noticing us.

We both stop, as we reach them. "I'm glad we found you." Armin nods down toward the rations. "Here. Grandpa was able to scrounge up a little extra by telling the powers that he had kids."

I grab three bread rations from Armin's arms and hand one to Mikasa and Eren, then I keep the last one for myself.

"That was nice of him." Mikasa notes quietly.

"He wasn't lying when he said he had kids either." I take a really small bite out of my bread and quickly swallow it. "I mean, he's looking over four of them."

Someone clicks their tounge, sounding annoyed from behind Armin and I. I look behind me and see a Garrison member walking away from us.

"What's his deal?" Eren asks, looking at the Garrison member funny.

I start shaking my head. "Just ignore him, Eren. There's a shortage on food here right now."

Armin nods. "Yeah. The poor man's probably hungry." He then looks at the bread in Eren's hand. "By the way, I'd make that last. They had already been dealing with famine before we got here, so it's an ugly situation."

I sigh. "Not to mention that this far in there's greater disparity of what people have or don't have..."

"There's nothing more gratifying then seeing your rations go to animals." That terrible statement came from the Garrison member from earlier. "I guess we've got to beef up the herd, though. Hey! Eat up! The Titans like a little meat on their bones!

I'll admit. I'm shocked and a little angry because of what he just said, but I'm not going to do anything about it, because I don't want to get beaten up by a trained member of the Garrison.

Eren starts stomping toward the man, looking very mad. I grab his sleeve, but he just yanks his arm out of my grasp. "Eren, wait! You're thinking irrationally!"

"We might as well keep you in cages." The man continues. "Shove all of you out to the frontlines as a buffer."

Eren kicks the man really hard in his shin, making him groan. "Ow! D*mn it! You picked the wrong man, a*shole!" He punches Eren and the other man with him kicks Eren to the ground, making me gasp.

Eren just glares up at the two men. "You're spineless cowards! All of you! You don't...you don't know what it's like! Have you seen one?! Have you seen what they can do?!"

"Huh?" The mam only grimaces at him and walks toward him again. "Why, you little piece of sh-"

I was already running toward them with a sudden burst of courage and jumped in between Eren and the man. "He's sorry, sir!" I hang my head and pant a little. "It's just...he's gets like this when he's hungry..."

"We all get that way, right?" Armin asks, laying a hand on my shoulder. "We speak our minds out of turn sometimes?"

I drop to my knees and look up at the man. "Please...will you forgive him?"

The man scoffs. "Yeah? Well, keep in mind who's giving up their share, so you can eat." He walks away from us. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're all hungry. Tell your buddy a little gratitude goes a long way."

"Sure!" Armin and I exclaim in unison, as Armin helps me off the ground.

"B*st*rds..." Eren mutters. "I'm not about to show gratitude to a coward!" He gets off the ground and walks over to a wall that is apart of the storage building and sits on it.

Wanting to stick together, Armin, Mikasa, and I walk over to the wall with him, but stay standing on the ground in front of him.

He shakes his head. "I can't do this. I'm going back to Wall Maria. The Titans have to pay for what they've done to us."

"Hey, now." Armin starts. "You're not serious. That's your stomach talking."

I lay a hand on Armin's shoulder. "I don't think it is, Armin. He is being serious. The Titans destroyed our homes."

"Exactly!" Eren exclaims, looking up at us. "Wake up! The guys standing between them and us are just a bunch of talk!" He looks at his bread and snarls at it. "To h*ll with all of them! Here! I'm going back!"

He throws the bread at Armin, who bounces it from hand to hand with it, before finally catching it.

I take the bread out of Armin's hand and shove it into Eren's chest "Eren. Don't starve yourself. Eat this."

"I don't want it!" He aggressively shoves it back at me. "When are you going to get sick of their charity? Too much is handed to us! We have to stand on our own two feet!"

Armin pulls me back. "To do what? Get killed by a Titan? I don't know about Y/n, but I used to think our future was beyond the walls, but it's like you told that man. I'd never seen what they could do to us!"

"So, that's it?!" Eren asks. "This is just the way life is?! We run away and take what we're given?!"

"Eren!" I shout, gaining a few eyes from the crowd behind him. "Look at us! Remember what happened to our homes! What other choice do we have here?!"

I hate arguing. I especially don't like that we're now arguing for the first time with our friend. Mikasa needs to step in and stop us now. I would, but...Eren is being irrational again.

"We can d*mn-well leave!" Eren replies. "If you two want to scrape by on the charity of cowards, then that's both of your things! I'm not a parasite!" That sent a sudden pang through my heart.

Suddenly, Eren is punched to the ground, courtesy of Mikasa, who just stands there with her fist still up in the air. I knew she'd stop us soon and I'm glad she did.

"Mikasa..." Armin says softly and looks down at Eren.

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Mikasa asks Eren, now lowering her fist. "All of us are parasites. We couldn't run from certain death without help. Tell me differently. Don't take your shortcomings out on them. For God's sake, we can't even find food on our own. We're parasites. We're cowards. Titans are at the top of the food chain. Period." Eren growls and looks away from her.

She continues. "Pride be d*mned. We do what we must to live. Your mom didn't ask us to be brave." Then, she walks besides me and takes the bread out of my hand and forcefully shoves it in Eren's mouth.

"Mikasa!" Armin and I exclaim softly.

"Eat it!" Mikasa demands. "She asked us to stay alive! I'm not about to let her down."

Eren begins speaking, but it's muffled because of the bread, so he just gives up and starts crying. He's probably been storing up all his emotions, so that makes sense as to why he's crying now.

⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡

"Armin, Y/n. Don't worry about me." Grandpa instructs. "You just worry about using those sharp minds of yours to keep you alive."

It had been a year, since we'd been brought into Wall Rose and we've had the most terrible luck. Months ago, many of us refugees, including Grandpa, Armin, Eren, Mikasa, and I were put on a field to plant crops, but absolutely nothing grew.

As of right now, they're sending everyone off that's old enough to join the military to try and reclaim Wall Maria. Grandpa is currently saying goodbye to Armin and I. With his age, I'm afraid...he's not going to last long, so...this may be the last time we see him.

"I want to give both of you something, before I go." He informs.

I keep my head hanging, as I sniffle and rub at my eyes. "W-What is it, G-Grandpa?"

"For Armin..." He starts and says nothing, but places his straw hat on top of Armin's head. I start bursting into more tears and begin sobbing softly.

"Y/n..." He lifts my head up and wipes away my tears. "Don't waste your tears on me."

I open my mouth to say something, but I couldn't even speak, because of how much my lip was trembling.

He takes a chain off from around his neck and puts it over my head. I look down to see two rings.

"Those were your mother and father's rings." He informs. "I get the feeling that they would've wanted me to give them to you, and so I wouldn't forget, I always wore them around my neck."

"Thanks, Grandpa..." Armin thanks, his voice wavering.

I nod and grip the rings in my hand, still crying a little. "T-Thank you..."

"Now..." He lays a hand on both of our heads. "I'd best be off now, kids." We both nod and watch, as he walks away from us, probably to never be seen again.

⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡

Armin and I are now sitting against a wall. He's holding Grandpa's hat out in front of him, crying. I'm staring at the wall with no emotion, fumbling with the rings that hang around my neck.

Just as we had suspected, Grandpa never made it back. Over 250,000 people were sent and not even 200 came back. The Titans are killing too many people, and they need to be stopped.

"We have to find a way to stop them." Eren remarks. "Our lives will never be our own until we do..."

With the same emotionless look, I look up at him, since he's still standing beside me. "This world will never feel like home again..."

He slides down the wall, sitting down by me. "That's it. Next year, I'll be applying to join the Survey Corps, so I can become a Scout. To become strong enough to fight back."

"Then..." I stare at him, before looking at the rings. "Then I'm going to join too..."

"What?" Armin asks, looking at me in bewilderment. "I thought you said if you joined you were going to join the Military Police."

I glare at the wall, as if it had done something wrong to me. "Not anymore. I want to become a Scout and try to retake Wall Maria. Sure, I'll be scared out of my mind, but I'm joining, even if it means I'll die! They took all of our homes and families. They deserve to die."

Armin's hand touches my shoulder. "I'm with you. I'm not leaving your side. Ever."

"I'm joining too." Mikasa adds, making me nod at her.

"D*mn it!" Eren exclaims. "I'm not trying to drag you three in. Look. There's no point in following me to my death!"

"Yeah, and if I can help it, then it won't be your death." Mikasa replies.

"Eren." I get his attention. "We might not show our hate for the Titans as verbally as you do, but we hate them with a burning passion as well. You can't change our minds. We are joining the Scouts with you."

He stands up and nods firmly. "Alright. Together then."

Now, I'm a little scared for the next year to come. I'm scared, because the Scouting Regiment is the riskiest regiment to join, because of all the deaths, but I will get revenge on those d*mn Titans for taking our homes and families.

I know that I'll at least have three people looking out for me. Armin: He's my twin brother. He's always looked out for me. Mikasa: I'm sure she's going to become even more intimidating and protective, as we grow older. And Eren: He's kept our promise, since we've made it and I don't think he's going to break it anytime soon.

A/N: Hey, cadets! I'm excited for the next chapter, because they're going to start their training!

Anyways, if you can't tell, I'm trying to building Y/n's confidence up little by little. Please let me know how I'm doing. I hope you all enjoyed. Bye, cadets!

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