AN: Welcome to my first SNK fic! I've always been a fan of the show/manga but I've never really contributed to the fandom (besides reading a ton of Levi/Mikasa fanfics) so this story will be my first! If you're here and you're following my Hetalia stories, don't worry. I'm not dropping them or leaving the fandom. I'm just juggling two at once! Yeah..

-Also I do not own SNK that belongs to Hajime Isayama. Thanks man you rock!

~Beyond the Boundaries~

Thin shards of grass swayed in the breeze that rippled over the small hills in the field just outside of the village. A young girl sat still in a soft patch of green and watched, as the sun was about to set for the night. The sight was beautiful at the same time disheartening. She loved the gentle light and warmth that the sun gave off during the early mornings and late midafternoons such as the one she basked in now. The sun at any other hour was too harsh on her fair skin, so she kept indoors as told and did her chores like a suitable young omega would.

The breeze suddenly shifted course and blew at an angle against her that caused her to shiver. It was still early spring so the warm weather was still on its way to their lands. Spring meant young flower buds pushing their way up as animals did the same from hibernation. She saw it as a season of fresh new beginnings and peace, but to others it was just the opposite. There wasn't a more stressful time of year than spring in their village.

Spring was the season when the omegas of age were given away to their new chosen partner and protector, an alpha.

It was always hectic around this time of year. With a shortage of omegas recently within their village, alphas would sometimes fight for the right to mate. This of course would led to horrendous brawls between the two if they decided to shift into their titan form and battle that way. The stronger shifter would be given the omega and hopefully their powerful genes would pass on to spar new alphas and so on.

Did omegas have a say who they were assigned to mate with? No. Because when omegas started to become more and more scarce within the village, only the strongest shifters were allowed to mate.

There was once a time when alphas even had several mates the elders had said. The idea seemed wrong to have several partners, but they did whatever possible to keep their kind alive and strong. The more plentiful and powerful shifters they had, the more they could protect themselves against their kinds sworn enemy from another land, the betas.

Betas were told to be far off decedents of their kind, evolved into something entirely new all on their own. Stories were told that instead of changing into a shifter form, they changed into a creature with long blade like arms and swung from webs that shot out of them like a spider. Betas to them were nothing but insects that kept coming back no matter how many you squash. Apparently betas could mate with other betas because there was no class structure within the kind.

The thought seemed barbaric, but it got you thinking… Did the betas see themselves as equal then? Were they really that bad?

"HEY, HEYY!"

The girl with raven hair jumped, slightly startled all a sudden by the brash yelling that disturbed her reconciliation. She looked back up at the sun and how it still hadn't set. Good, it wasn't time yet for her to return indoors.

"HEYY, MIKASA!"

"Eren."

A light smile graced her petite pink lips as she turned in time to see her friend excitedly running up the hill to her, flaring his hands in the air in eagerness. His teal colored eyes were wide just like the grin he bared on his lips. He huffed as he finally reached the top and nearly collapsed over before catching himself by grabbing at his knees. She watched as his dark auburn hair swayed to the side like the stands of grass did, so light and careful.

It took him a few more minutes before he caught his breath and looked up at his friend with a wide grin on his face as he tried to breath evenly. She caught sight of sweat treading down his forehead and it made her wonder what excited him so much that he'd sweat in the early days of spring. It was so cool outside that goose bumps were evident on her pale arms.

Finally he seemed calm down and stood straightly back up, blocking the view of the setting sun from Mikasa but she didn't protest with the new enchanting sight before her.

"D-Did you hear, Mikasa?" he breathed, watching her face to see some sort of reaction like she would if she had. He grinned wider when she just shock her head slowly as a no. "There's about to be a match between two shifters as soon as sun sets! Isn't that awesome?"

The smile on her lips fell. "What for?"

Eren looked as though he wanted to roll his eyes at the senseless question. "For an omega of course?" he then plopped himself down on the patch of grass next to her, spreading his legs out and leaning back to stare at the sky while lost in his imagination.

Mikasa whispered "oh" before pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them as if suddenly cold. Of course the alphas were going to fight over something. It was in their nature to be so dominant.

"So do you wanna come with me?" Eren spoke up, still gazing at the orange and pink sky of colors above their heads, oblivious to the atmosphere as Mikasa recoiled from his words.

"I can't…" she mumbled into her arms that were still wrapped around her knees.

"Whaa?" Eren then looked at her with a confused face, clearly missing the obvious reason to the rejection. "Why not? I could sneak you in and out of your house easily without your parents knowing."

Mikasa rolled her eyes before lifting her head from resting upon her knees. When she turned to look at her friend she saw that he was staring and the clear reflection of her face in his large eyes made her feel guilty when she knew she shouldn't.

"Eren…I'm an Omega." She scanned his eyes for any sign that he finally got it but he didn't even twitch. "Only alphas are allowed to watch those sort of things. I could get in a lot of trouble or-" she stopped herself and quickly looked away with a slight blush on her face.

That's when it clicked in Eren's head for her reasoning of resistance but she didn't catch it in time to see. She was trying her best to distract herself by watching the last few moments the sun had before it set, but the news of the fight from Eren made it hard to concentrate and she wished the sun would freeze where it was. As soon as one last slither of light is put out, an omega would loose her freedom while others fought for their right to poses her while she had no say in the matter.

Mikasa wondered if the girl was watching the sun also in that moment. Watching her final moments of sovereignty slip away as the sun fell slightly behind the hills.

"Hey."

The sternness in Eren's voice drew her from her thoughts immediately and made her look at him stunned. He was glaring at her with one hand fisted into the grass in between them. The sight made her slightly nervous but she didn't do anything wrong and she knew he would never hurt her.

"Don't doubt me when it ever comes to protecting you from those big idiots, Mikasa. Those sick bastards will never lay a finger on you as long as I'm around to make them second guess themselves." His fist in the grass grew tighter and tighter and Mikasa could hear the strands snapping.

"Eren…"

"If that's the reason you're scared, then don't be. I'm here for you Mikasa, and I may not be as strong as them now but I know one day I'll be the strongest shifter out there and no one would dare mess with me or anyone I care about!" Eren shot up from the grass and stood tall over Mikasa as she watched speechless. "I go to these fights because I want to learn from them! You'll see this Mikasa because one day I'll be out there fighting for you!"

Eren…

He continued to stand there before her, huffing as he came down from his sudden and typically common type of outburst. He left her sitting there with loss of words of own her while his kept repeating in her head. She was sure that her face was scarlet red and she wanted nothing more than to hide it from Eren but she could tear her eyes from his heated teal ones. Lost in his gaze of determination and inner frustration. He was strong and she knew it, even when others didn't quite yet. Yes, he one day would fight for her and she was positive he would even win.

Eren closed his eyes as he let out a low sigh before opening them and appealing more clamed down as he watched Mikasa silently sitting on the ground. Her cheeks were red but he thought it was nothing more than just being cold from the breeze and the loss of sunlight. Neither of them noticed that sun had already fallen behind the hills and sky was numb with color.

He grabbed the ends of his red scarf and started unwrapping it from around his neck. When untangled, he kneeled down at his friends level and started lazily wrapping around her neck and letting it fall around her shoulders because of the size. "Here," he finished and smiled tenderly at her, noticing how he covered part of her face. "You don't ever have to worry as long as I'm around, got it?"

She nodded and grabbed at the tip of the scarf that covered her nose and pulled it closer, taking in Eren's faint but evident alpha scent. She knew that it would grow stronger as he grew older and actually shifted for his first time.

Her eyes widened when she felt Eren grab her hand and pull her upwards to stand by him. "I'll walk you home."

Her smile was hidden behind his gift when he didn't make any attempt to let her hand go, so she held on supportively.

{~.~}

"MIKASA! MIKASA!"

Immediately Mikasa looked up once hearing that voice. Her eyes filled with more tears as she tried her best to speak. Only sobs and sudden gasps came out and she'd bite on her bottom lip to hold them back, tearing at the pink flesh and making her mouth taste like salt.

The knife in her hand fell to the ground and clanked loudly throughout the wooden room that smelt of iron. It made her want to puke. She looked at her hands and saw nothing but red.

Red.

Everything was red…

Another sob escaped from her throat right as her knees gave out and she went crashing to the floor, only to fall in more red. She felt soaked in the substance. Was it even her own?

The longer she stared at her dirty hands they began to shake so she just closed her eyes. If everything she saw was going to be red then she wanted nothing of it.

"MIKASA!"

Her eyes flew up and she was met with the sight of a tall alpha looming over her, wobbling slightly from side to side with a broken alcohol glass in one hand. She froze, wishing she'd just melt into the puddle of red where she sat.

"Y-You little tramp!"

Then without warning she felt something hit her hard across the face and she found herself now lying sideways on the floor and shooting pain in her head. Her vision blurred as she watched the towering alpha step forward. The taste of salt in her mouth grew so she opened it and felt it slid sideways from the corner of her lip.

The man stepped closer and she saw a gashing wound right above his knee. Blood poured from it and soaked into the man's trousers, staining them crimson. Her eyes darted to the knife that was a few feet away and back to the alpha who was now too close for her to do anything about.

He saw her eyes glance towards the same knife before he darkly chuckled. "Ah no you don't. Not again!" He then kicked the knife with his good leg as Mikasa watched in silent horror as her only chance of survival slid across the room.

Mikasa groaned when the man grabbed her by her soaked hair and lifted her up to his eye level-several feet off the ground. He croaked a sideways smile as he examined her face, bringing her closer and inhaling her light omega scent. "You aren't there quite yet, but hells why wait?"

He leaned in closer and she held her breath to keep his strong alpha scent out. He smelt absolutely disgusting to her. The smell of blood became the last thing on her mind because this alphas stench over powered it. Just as Mikasa felt the tip of the others noise against her neck, it was gone and she fell hard to the floor once again. It hurt but relief filled her when she felt the man's hands no more on her or tangled in her hair.

Her skull ached and vision blurred, but she forced herself to climb to her hands and knees. Just as she was about to lift her head to find the beastly man, she heard horrid screams. Steam soon started to fill the room so she kept her head down, staring at her reflection in a puddle of blood below her. A tear slid down her face and her nails dug against the wooden floor.

"All this blood…in my home…" the screams in the rooms fell silent in her ears, as she stared longer at her own reflection.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HER!"

"STOP! PLEASE!"

"Mom? Dad?" More tears escaped her eyes.

"YOU UNGRATEFULL LONESOME BEAST!"

"GET OFF ME!"

"W-Why me…?" the screams of pain stopped and the room was filled with pained sobs as she hid her face away in her hands. The floorboards creaked in front of her but it didn't faze her as she continued her weeping.

"Mikasa…?" there was that voice again, only this time it was much lenient. A hand touched her shoulder and finally she reacted by throwing herself forward and into his arms, clinging to him for dear life as she cried into his shoulder.

Eren wrapped his arms securely around her and started soothing the back of her head attempting to calm her. "Shh its ok, Mikasa. They're gone…They're gone…"

Yes, and so are my parents.

{~.~}

Once her and Eren arrived back at town covered in blood, everything for them both changed. She was moved to live with an old lady who lived on her own and knew how to care for young omegas. Eren was taken to court for his crime of murder of two Alphas. The usual sentence for this crime was death, but they voted against it since he saved an omega from forced mating at a young age and possible murder. They couldn't risk loosing anymore omegas.

The rate of omega kidnapping and smuggling had started to increase and groups of paid alphas would kidnap and sell young omegas through out the towns for a high price. That's when they realized that omegas weren't becoming scarce in just their village, but in many others. Alphas were ordered to potral the streets at night in case of any more breakins or murders like what had happened to Mikasa and her parents.

Eren and his father were forced to move to another far away town as the price for his crimes. Mikasa was grateful that they decided to spare his life but sad to see him go. He was all she had left and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop it but watch as he was forced into his father's carriage and be taken away. He fought the best he could to escape and yelled out curses upon the guards for handling him like a child. Just before he was shoved through the door, Mikasa saw the pain in his eyes and knew the expression on her face most have appeared the same.

After the doors were slammed shut and the carriage with Eren in it gone, Mikasa knew that the chance of ever seeing him again was slim and that idea ate at her. In few more years she will be of age to mate, and be given off to some alpha that would have to fight for her and neither of them would be Eren.

{~.~}

Several years had gone by and spring was just in a few days. The old lady that raised Mikasa and cared for was always busy trying to fix her up and make her presentable to the towns alphas. She let the kind women -who she had taken a liking to- dress her up, but once Mikasa would leave the house she'd change into spare clothes she had hidden secretly outside. The clothes she wore did nothing to complement her figure nor did the foul stench of the spare clothes help attract other alphas. At all times she kept the red scarf that Eren had given around her and some of her face when in public. People had little to no idea to what she looked like except for the memory of her when she was a child.

Alphas would curiously glance at her as she moved through the streets but didn't get too close because of the horrid stench. Other omegas who hadn't been mated yet were pleased because to them that meant less competition for the strongest alpha. Mikasa didn't hate them as much as she felt bad for them. They were still young and didn't understand yet what kind of trap they were just getting themselves into.

The strongest shifters were usually the most aggressive and of high-class. That meant once alone the alpha had all the say and could do as they please to their omega, even beat them.

Two young children ran past her as she stopped in time from running into them. They were young but she could smell their breed already. The older Mikasa got the more she was able to smell others scents and tell thoroughly the difference between an omega and alpha. Omega scents were as strong to her because she was one herself, but alphas scents on the other hand…

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply from the red scarf around her neck. Even after all those years of being apart she could still pick up a light scent. Mikasa stood there in the middle of the crowded street as she daydreamed what Eren's scent must have been like by now. Surely it had to be strong if it were able to linger on his scarf when he was still so young and didn't give off much at that age. She then wondered if Eren ever thought about her own scent. Was he able to smell it back then? Does he remember it now wherever he is?

She frowned and casted her eyes downward to stare at her muddy boots. Last time she seen him was years ago and not once had she heard from him. With spring just a few days away she had a feeling that he wasn't going to be back to fight for her…

"You there."

Mikasa's eyes darted up on high alert to see a woman approach from across the street. Right away Mikasa was able to pick on her scent. She was an alpha.

The women appeared to be the same age as her if not a year older. She had blonde hair tied up in a bun on her head with a pair of side bangs that covered her right eye. She studied her face more until she realized that this woman wasn't from her town and that conclusion worried her more.

Her non-covered ice blue eye glared her down as she strode through the streets. Mikasa didn't have time to respond as the stranger grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her to the side of the street and into an alley. Immediately Mikasa's instincts went on high alert as her eyes darted for ways to escape and whether or not to scream. She greatly disliked drawing attention to herself but she would if it were to protect herself. The hand under cape twitched in the direction of the hidden blade she kept on the side of her thigh.

The woman said nothing as she studied her eyes for a few moments before releasing her hold of her wrist. Mikasa quickly yanked away and took a step backwards to give distance in case she needed to escape.

"What do you think you're doing?" the woman spoke with a low voice and as if agitated. Mikasa just stared at her slightly amazed that she was able to pick up on her scent when others couldn't. Whoever this new alpha was they must be undeniably strong.

"I was on my way to the markets." Mikasa responded back just as low.

The alpha woman raised an eyebrow at that. "And your alpha let you go alone?"

Mikasa gritted her teeth at that. She would never need a person's permission to go. She had the right to go and do whatever she pleased without some controlling alpha following her around.

"I don't have a alpha." She made sure to make the sentence curt.

The blonde crossed her arms and leaned on the wall to her right. "So you're un-mated then. That's just as dangerous. You should return home to your parents until next week when given a mate."

"I-!" Mikasa was about to snap right back at her but bit her tongue, knowing the price she would pay for speaking back against an alpha or as so much laying a finger on them. She took deep breath then pulled Eren's scarf higher up to conceal more of her identity. "I'll return home now."

The alpha watched as the omega quietly dodged people and made her way swiftly down the street. She fiddled with the ring on her finger as she stared down the back of the girl's head and continued to do so until she was completely out of sight.

In two days the town would celebrate the first day of spring. Mikasa sat alone her bedroom, glaring out the window on the sleeping town. She had blown the candle in her windowsill out so nobody would look and she her. She thought how much her life hadn't already changed and how much more it was once spring arrived.

Sadly though, everything that had happened to her wasn't anything worth wanting to remember. Her parents were killed in front of her eyes when she was only 10. Eren had been whisked away just a few days after. Her entire family was gone and now in few days she was to be forced into a new one. She fiddled with the knife as she swung it around with her fingers lazily.

MIKASA!

She looked at the blade and at how clean it was compared to then. No longer was it stained in red like it had been that night. Eren had given it to her to protect herself with when he found out he had to leave town. She cried and clung onto it at night when no one was looking or listening. The knife was what she had left from that night with her parents and the scarf was what was left of Eren.

Such painful memories were attached to mere objects. But those objects saved her life and kept her warm when the rest of the world was cold towards her.

Mikasa jammed the knife's sharpened end into the wood.

"I need to escape…" the words didn't even sound real when she said them aloud for the first time.

She stood from her chair and walked over to her drawer and dug through her clothes before she pulled out a map that she kept hidden in there. It belonged to the old lady who took care of her. She took it without her even realizing it was missing but only because the lady literally kept everything and the house was full of useless items. Omegas were known to be collectors but that faded with age for some, but apparently not her.

She lit the candle from the window and carried it over to her desk where she sprawled out the map of the lands. Mikasa traced her slim finger over the old paper until she found where she was located. To the east of where she was, was a forest but nothing was written past that. To her north were the mountains where Eren probably was and beyond that were the names of others towns. Her town was the furthest east and on the very end.

But the end of what? What was beyond these borders? She wondered.

She paused in thought for a few moments until the realization hit her. "The betas." That's what must be further east from here.

Her thoughts went back to when she was once told stories of the betas. Said to be the titans sworn enemy since the beginning of time. Creatures small in size but quick and deadly in pace. She shivered just thinking about them and what they must look like. The image of how she was told of them flashed in her mind of a person with claws for arms and webs shooting from their sides.

She quickly folded the map up and went to retrieve the satchel she was given as a gift from her caretaker. Mikasa placed the map into the bag and filled it with her other items that were light and accessible for travel. Next she snuck down the steps and made her way into the kitchen to fill the rest of her bag with bread. There was a bell on the front door so Mikasa made her way back upstairs to open her bedrooms window as her escape. The candle was still lit so she blew it out and swung her long cape around her shoulders then tied her scarf around her face to keep her identity hidden.

The last thing she did was stuff pillows and furs under her covers to buy her a little extra time if her caretaker saw the lump and thought it to be her. It was a far off shot but she had to do whatever to buy time as she progressed further away from town.

Mikasa opened her window and easily leapt down without any trouble before she darted in a sprint towards the horses stables that was in the fields and away from town. Lucky for her they were located east and that helped her it when it came time to flee. She wouldn't have to go around town or have anyone hear the horse if awake or nearby.

Not like she was told, there were zero alphas to be seen patrolling the streets. It didn't surprise her though. They were probably all off resting to get ready for spring. She couldn't help but be a little disappointed by how easy it was to sneak into the farm lands and untie the horse she thought would be fastest. The horse she picked out was all black and had a look in its eyes that Mikasa found somewhat familiar.

She leapt on its back and started off with a light trot before she got further from town that she was certain no one would hear and made the horse snarl before it dashed forward, its color and speed blending into the night.

Mikasa didn't let herself second-guess what she was doing. If she did then she'd probably go back to the house and wait for the day to come where she'd be given away. A part of her wished she thought about this sooner but she knew she had to hurry and do what she could with the little time she had left. Her mind didn't wonder to where she would sleep or what she would eat once she ran out of bread. All she cared about was getting away from a society that controlled and judged you the day before you could even walk, talk, or have a personality.

If running away and being alone for the rest of her life meant freedom, then she'd gladly take that road and ride it till her very end.

{~.~}

"We will move north until we reach Wall Maria and collect what information we can about the land since our last scouting there in the months past. The number of Titans surely must have increased over the year as they move closer to here, so this expedition will be tricky." A young woman with a ponytail scratched her head as she stood back up from the table where she had a map sprawled out before her.

A man with blond hair leaned back in his chair and crossed his fingers over one anther in front of mouth. "This expedition of yours has nothing to do with capturing and detaining two new titan test subjects, does it Hanji?" he raised an eyebrow in her direction as she just smiled nervously.

"Well now that I see that your interested about it as well, we could always pick up some along the way, eh? Two birds with one stone is a way I like to think of it." She was about to continue until a loud clank came from the other end of the table. Everyone glanced over in the direction of the disturbance to see corporal Levi glaring at Hanji from where he sat.

"Are you suggesting that we sacrifice what few soldiers we have left just to gain two new pets for you to get off on?" He shook his head before taking anything sip of his tea. "If I'm correct then I say we experiment on you instead."

Hanji just laughed as he rolled his eyes at the loud noise she gave off. "Ah Levi, you honestly think I'd be more interesting to study than a titan? What an odd thing for you to say." She wiped her eyes while Levi mumbled something into his cup before he took another much needed sip.

Commander Erwin stood from his chair as every eye in the room drew towards him. "We have no choice but to move further north anyhow." Hanji clapped her hands together excitedly at the statement. "But we will not be detaining any titans." He made clear and Hanji's hands fell to her sides as she pouted and Levi couldn't help but to smile.

"When do we leave?" Levi set his cup down and rested his arms on the wooden.

"Four days is enough time to prepare the supplies and get your teams mind-set for the ride and the new form positions. After our last expedition we had a heavy loss to our back flank, so those positions will have to be filled. Make your teams known of these changes and be ready until then. This meeting is over." Erwin gathered his things and walked around the table towards the doors but stopped near Hanji.

"Hanji, I would like to have a few words with you in my office about your recent test findings." He noted. Her eyes lit up and she rushed to gather her things and followed him out the door and down the hall.

Meanwhile everyone else was leaving the room and reporting back to their assigned barracks to inform their team on the new instructions. Levi watched the last person leave the room as he sat in his chair un moved. He lifted his teacup to his lips but then sadly noticed he had run out. He made no sound as he arouse from the chair and strode over to the window and crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the glass lightly. He glanced down at the pit where Hanji once had her pet titans. He scuffed at the memory that she actually had given them names. Titans didn't have names. They didn't deserve them or anything else in this world. Nothing but annoying oversized fools who wouldn't keep out of trouble.

He then tore his grey eyes away and looked up at moon and how it was almost full. In a few more days it was going to be full again and it was also going to be spring. He didn't hate the season but he particularly hated the obvious fact the titans were a lot more irrational during the time. It was almost as if they were aware of the season change too and it meant something to them.

AN: Leave a review and tell me what you think. Sorry if there are any grammar/spelling errors. I will give it a re-read once it's not so fresh in my mind.