A/N: It's been a decade (or more) since I have felt the itch to sit down and write. I came across this anime/manga randomly through an SFX YT video about two years ago and have been hooked since! This story has taken months and months to develop and I was terrified of posting it because I was no longer comfortable making my presence known on this site, even if I did lurk in the shadows reading other peoples stories.

Consider this my come-back story! I have read and re-read this chapter so many times, my eyes are sore.

As of late, I am up to date on the manga and anime - you may see slight cross-over's in terms of the information and detail. Please don't try to look too deeply into it - I adore this series like any other otaku, but I'm not that concerned about details that wont effect the story line.

Also, you might find some spelling slightly off compared to American or British language. This is because I am Australian. We make up our own words (Ha, not really but we do spell some words differently).

For reference, I have also created a private Pinterest board with reference photos (to the best that I could locate) of particular imagery described in this story. If enough people are interested, I am happy to share the link.

Finally, if you have made it this far into my tangent and still want to read my story, thank you and I hope you enjoy it :)

Chapter 1

"Treat those as you wish to be treated." – Unknown

"Bitch!"

Her fist made contact with the side of my face and if reaction times could have a winner, I was definitely a sore loser. My eye sight went white and there was a high-pitched ringing in my right ear. I could hear people talking, a chorus of yells along with 'ohs!' and 'ahs!'

I had lost my balance for a moment but after blinking hard, I regained my composure. My brain and entire head was on fire, but sure, I was about as composed as one could be after taking a direct punch to the face from Annie.

Yeah, Annie. You know, the little blond girl who displays zero percent interest in everything, speaks little to no words during conversation and for some reason, is capable of taking down a grown man, four times her size.

Yep. That Annie.

"Say it again." She stood, shoulders squared and staring at me.

Lifting my head slightly, I pushed a strand of hair away from my eyes. She had literally knocked my hair out of its braid with one swift hit.

We were roughly the same height, size and weight. Annie was rather limber, her figure more like two parallel lines with a slight pinch at the waist. Comparable to a ballet dancer. Me, I was womanly in appearance – my breasts and hips wider than my waist, my long, lower-back length hair pulled into what was a neat braid. I was maybe an inch or two taller than her, but this wouldn't play a factor in a fight.

Instead of opening my mouth to reply, I sniggered. I could taste blood.

She gritted her teeth in response, pulled her knee up and swung a round-house kick towards my head.

Not this time. I ducked, shoving her leg in the direction she was propelling, causing Annie to stumble. In that moment, I knocked her out from under her feet and we were both suddenly in the dirt, grappling.

I'll be honest, I have no idea how to wrestle. I have maybe seen a few things here and there, but I was no pro. If anything, I knew how to fight dirty simply for self-defence. You know – if someone tries to grab you, stick your thumb in their eye – that sort of stuff. I had zero formal training. Maybe this was an advantage.

Amongst the kicks and punches, a crowd had suddenly surrounded us. I could hear people cheering, jeering and yelling, but I couldn't afford to pay more attention to them. She had managed to pin my arm down and for a moment, I thought it was over. Then I noticed she was not grounded. She was kneeling lightly, not paying attention to how open she was.

Pushing against the ground, I swung my legs up, over and onto her, locking her in place. This forced her to let go of my arm, allowing me to use both my own and her weight against her. She fell back onto the ground, my legs tightly wrapped around her. I secured her arm back so that if she attempted to push against me, it would snap.

"That's enough."

The crowd parted and Levi stepped into the small circle that had formed around us. I glared up at him, my eyes watering slightly from the intensity of the moment. Annie resisted slightly against me and I pushed harder. A small yelp escaped her lips. My focus never left Levi's.

"I said that's enough." Levi's grey eyes narrowed as they pierced right through my glare, like a knife through wet paper.

I reluctantly released Annie and stood up. She slowly followed and stood next to me.

"That's enough training for today. Pack up and head back for clean-up." Levi instructed everyone in his monotone drawl. There were whispers and slowly, everyone started to peel away and gathered their belongings.

I pulled my eyes away from Levi and looked at Annie. Gazing back at me, her face expressionless, not even a hint of anger or disdain. She turned and left without a word. Something tickled my lip and I wiped it with the sleeve of my shirt. Blood. I touched my nose and realised the force of her punch had impacted my nose so hard, that my nose stud had pierced the inside of my nostril. That, or Annie just hit me fucking hard and gave me a nose bleed.

Reaching over to my jacket sitting in the dust, I collected it in one swoop and start walking towards base.

"Why did you do that, idiot?" Levi asked from behind me.

"What?"

"Purposefully pick a fight with her," his voice followed me as I continued walking. "You know she could have severely hurt you."

"Well, she did." I hit back at him with a sniff of my bloodied nose, a little sarcastic.

"Are you trying to get my attention?" Levi asked, his tone of voice never changing.

"No," I scoffed lightly, my pace never slowing to allow him to reach me, "But somethings gotta give, Levi!"

"Picking fights with people capable of killing you isn't the way to – "

Without a second thought, I had spun around to face him. My ragged braid flew around, landing on my right shoulder. He also stopped, now standing only a few steps away from me.

Standing there in his white shirt and beige trousers. Standing there with his boots and gear fitted snuggly against his muscular body. Standing there with that handsomely chiselled face and steely grey eyes.

"Fuck you, Levi." I spat.

Just as I turned away from him, I saw his expression change.

I'd hurt him.

Good.

I guess you want me to tell you how this all happened. How a girl from the suburbs, a girl with a regular nine-to-five job, a girl with bills to pay and a girl who at twenty-seven, dreamed of owning her own home – ended up here!

Well let me tell you; I have no fucking idea.

But, I suppose all stories start somewhere…

"Today is the day, Boo!" I enthusiastically told my dog. Her large brown eyes and little eyebrows stared at me with interest. Oh, how I love those little balls of fur that were her eyebrows. They bounced around like they had a mind of their own.

"Today, Boo, today – we are going to do the healthy thing!" I pulled one of my sneakers on and started to tie the laces. "We are gonna go to that park and run around and be that Instagram picture everyone posts."

Boo continued to stare at me. She was waiting for me to say the word.

I finished tying my other sneaker and looked at her. "Go for walk?!"

Boo threw herself off the bed and started bounding around with excitement. I couldn't help but smile.

After securing her in a slightly too tight car harness, I let Boo jump into the back seat of my car and slid the seat belt into the harness and closed the door. I jumped into the drivers seat and began the short drive to the park.

It was 530am and still dark outside. I rammed up the heater to the highest setting.

The worst thing about being a young adult in the 21st century is that expectations for someone my age are too high. You are expected to be rich, fit and educated. Get a degree, travel, make lots of money, have a six-pack, buy a house in the suburbs, have your own business, marry and settle down – oh, no – don't forget! Babies before you turn thirty or you are just too old.

Ridiculous.

I took a turn down a familiar road and saw the bright lights of police cars and paramedics. Slowing down, a police officer in a bright reflective jacket approached my door and I rolled the window down.

"There's been a large accident," he said whilst rubbing his hands together for warmth, "several cars have been in a pretty bad crash."

I furrowed my brow with concern and leaned to one side to peer down the road. I could see a powerline pole had been knocked down – in fact, looks like it has been ripped right out of the ground – and more than several cars in a complete mess. They also looked as if they had been ripped open like a tin of tuna.

"Really?" I replied softly. "Wow, looks bad. A car crash did that?"

The policeman pursed his lips. "Apparently. It looks like Godzilla came through this street."

Blinking a few times, I looked down the street and settled on something on the road. My eyes widened as I realise what it is. An arm.

"Are you heading to the dog park? You can go around to the left, which will take you back to a main road." He stepped in front of my view.

I nodded slowly and thanked him before rolling my window back up and putting my car into reverse. Boo whined, seemingly noticing the drive was taking longer than what she was used to.

"That was an arm." My voice shook as I talked to myself. I began to follow the street around and end up on a main road lined with large trees. There are no cars around. Sundays are like that.

Forget it. Picking up speed, I focused on heading to the park. The road is longer than the usual route we take but I don't mind. The further we drive down the main road, the more secluded it appeared. It broke away into a side road with many trees and bushes surrounding it. I knew where we were but it still felt eerie.

"You just feel weird because you saw a severed human arm on the road." Reassure yourself. This isn't weird. At all.

I looked at my rear-view mirror at Boo. She was peering out the window, her ears pricked up and her body tense. A low growl rose from her throat.

We had slowed down because to enter the dog park, there was a slight dirt road you needed to travel on for about five or so minutes. I turned off my headlights because the sun was rising. Boo growled again and I looked in the mirror at her. She was now standing, still looking out the window. The fur on her back was standing up and she gave a loud warning bark.

Stopping the car, I turned to look at her. "What's wrong, bubba? There's no one he –"

Something large came crashing down onto my vehicle. Boo was barking loudly and we were both thrown forward from the sheer weight of the object crushing the front of my car. My mouth was open and I wanted to scream but nothing came out. I pushed against the steering wheel, pushing away from whatever had landed on my car. My car lurched forward and all I could hear was the sound of metal crushing into the ground and glass shattering. The windscreen and front passenger windows gave in and glass sprayed everywhere.

And that's when I saw it.

A foot. A giant human foot is standing on the bonnet of my car.

It suddenly started to lift and my car, which appeared to have curved and anchored around the foot, went with it. Boo had stopped barking. All I could hear was the groan of metal as we are lifted off the ground with the foot, trapped in a metal cage.

A few seconds passed and I could see the tops of some trees. My ears are ringing and I can't bring myself to move. The car groans loudly and jolts.

It's going to drop.

Before I can finish my thought, the hunk of metal that was once my beloved hatchback, released from the foot and for a moment, we are falling. It feels like forever. And then I am jolted from the impact of the ground. My body slammed against the driver side door and I am now on my side.

Ringing. Flashes of colour. Boo is licking my face. Did she break free from her harness? I knew that would break, it was from Ebay.

There is a whooshing sound followed by wires snapping and I could hear yelling. A male was shouting at someone else. Several more whooshing sounds and then a huge thud. The ground quivered around me, like a building collapsing into the earth.

Boo was standing next to me. Or maybe over me. I could feel her warmth, but my eyes are flashing still. The ringing is slightly easing but I still cannot hear properly.

Barking. She's barking angrily at something in front of us. Someone is standing in front of us. No, correction; people are standing in front of us. I managed to see several pairs of legs. White pants, brown boots.

People are talking but in a language, I can't understand. Wait, maybe it is English. It sounds weird. My ears sound like they have water in them.

Boo was removed from me.

"N-no – give her…" I tried to object. Hands tug at my seatbelt. They pull hard but it doesn't release. I don't feel the seatbelt button being pressed but I am suddenly being dragged from my car, through the opening of where the windscreen used to be.

The sky. I can see the sky.

"B-Boo. Dog – give her." I can see a face hovering over me but my eyes aren't working. My body is hurting. I can hear her growling, barking loudly. Someone yelps and there is a fuss. But she sounds far away.

The man looks away from me and at someone I cannot see. I can't turn my head. I try, but nothing happens. He says something. I can hear the tone of his voice, but I can't figure out what he is saying. The tone drips with authority. He is instructing someone. And then I can feel Boo next to me again, licking my face again.

And that was my first encounter with a Titan.