Dedication and Sacrifice (AoT AU Fanfiction)

Introduction

"What stupid-looking creatures,"

Kaede Amari could only nod. Naomi Rune had been right—the giant, man-eating creatures below them were purely hideous beings. They bared mangled faces and logic-defying anatomy, and to picture that being the last face you'll ever see...

"Yeah, and as part of the Garrison—you'll get to see their mangy faces everyday." Kaede replied grimly, her gaze slowly peeling away from the human-desperate Titans. "As the Garrison, it is our duty to maintain the walls. So, as you probably would've guessed back at training, you'll see a lot of Titans on the outside."

"Had an abnormal tried to climb it?" Naomi asked, her wide blue gaze interested and alert—still peering down at the enemy. "You know, the wall?"

"Not that I've heard of, and the probability of that happening is very slim. The wall stands at 50 meters and is particularly smooth-surfaced. Unless if an abnormal with wings appeared... then we'll be screwed." Kaede let out a sigh, finally slumping to the ground and guiding a rogue strand of hair behind her ear.

As a member of the Garrison, it was true they maintained the wall. They also got to patrol around the district they were assigned to, which in Kaede and Naomi's case, was Trost. Trost was a district branching off Wall Maria, one of the three walls protecting humanity from the Titans. The three walls were Wall Maria (the outer wall), Wall Rose (the middle wall), and Wall Sina (the inner wall).

There were also two other choices a trainee could choose from—the Survey Corps and the Military Police. The Scout Regiment ventured outside of the three walls in search of answers of the Titans. This was the most dangerous of choices, as shown when they return. They regularly return with only a third of the Scouts they left with, the other two thirds killed. The Military Police get to live a relatively easy life behind Wall Sina. They serve the King, King Reiss, and often are ridiculed being lazy cowards because of their laid-back choice. Only the top-ten cadets have the choice to enter in the Military Police.

"Kaede! Hey, get your head out of the clouds! There's a fight in Town Square. Help Dale sort it out. I'll take Naomi to a stand to get her a snack. This is a lot of information to take in on the first day." Kaede blinked back into reality and realized Murphy Took was ordering her—considered being the best Garrison member to the people of Trost.

"Yes, sir," Kaede saluted, placing a fist over her heart. Giving a brisk nod to Naomi, she turned over to the district's interior and could already detect some type of commotion happening from her rather high placement. Slowly approaching the edge, she sprung off—hesitating to use her Omni-Directional Maneuvering gear (ODM) to enjoy the wind racing across her.

Finally, she used her hooks to latch onto a nearby village decoration—a random pillar for dress. Kaede gracefully swung to the ground, sending a cloud of dust in her wake. Looking back up, she could barely make out the humanoid figures of Murphy and Naomi as they skirted the wall to find a launching point close to the bread-selling stand.

Turning back to her objective, she could easily spot Dale's shaggy platinum-blond hair among the crowd of chanting villagers. Picking up her pace, Kaede sped towards Dale's side—having to push past a mob of people just to get there.

Elbowing Dale's side, she gave him a brisk nod of greeting and then followed it up with a question. "Do you know what's happening?"

The blond Garrison member nodded. "A storekeeper stated that this mangy child stole some dairy," his amber gaze drifted to his side where he tugged a rugged girl into Kaede's sight.

Her skin was a concerning dusky-white and bared chapped lips. Her brunette ratty hair was messy, long, chopped, and uneven—the color of that a dirty rodent's pelt. She possessed cold, eye-catching black eyes that seemed to even droop with depression. She wore a baggy white dress with several tears and so dirty she could barely tell it was once white. On top of the damaged dress, she wore a mud-splattered yellow cardigan with a single tear reaching from her left shoulder all the way diagonally to the end of the left side, splitting that side in half.