*7 Years Earlier (age 11)*
"You stupid little shit!" I yelped as that familiar hand came down and struck me hard across the cheek. The same hand that was supposed to soothe me and comfort me. "Do you have any idea how disrespectful you are?!"
"M..mama, please..." I sniffled; kneeling on the ground with my head hung low.
It hadn't been my fault. We were a step beneath nobility, and apparently our prior guests had been important. It wasn't my fault that their daughter had called me a freak. It also hadn't been my fault when she had attempted to tear my favourite book apart. Though, it had been my fault when I shoved her to the floor.
"I've had it with you! You're disgusting! Why couldn't you have been like Felicitas?!" My mother hissed as she delivered a harsh kick to my side. I often wondered why I didn't turn out like my elder sister. She was simply beautiful, and she was loved by everyone. Even so, she was empty headed and cruel to me, just like everyone else. Everyone except...
"Mother, that's enough..." I peered up through tear stained eyes to see my brother holding my mother's arm back before she could strike me again.
"Dimitri, she has to learn! You don't understand how fast words spread! I don't want everyone behind wall Sheena to know we have this spoiling our bloodline!" My mother pulled her arm away and glared at him sharply, but she would never dare to hit him.
Dimitri (L/N), second eldest son of the (L/N) family and member of the Garrison. He lived in the shadow of our eldest brother, but in no way disappointed our parents. Strong, smart, and incredibly kind-hearted, he was the only person who didn't treat me like horse shit.
Letting her arms fall limp to her sides, my mother clicked her tongue before striding off towards the door.
"Fine...Keep that girl away from me. Perhaps take her to the barracks...at least the soldiers could find some use for her..." I gladly welcomed my brother's embrace as he kneeled down beside me, and I buried my face in the material of his uniform jacket.
"Hey, I'm here now, (N/N)..." He scooped me up and carried me into his room, as I didn't have one of my own. "She's been doing that a lot more these days, hasn't she..?" I nodded against him before peering up; wiping at my tears with the sleeves of my shirt.
"U..uh-huh...s..so has big sis a..and big bro..." I confessed, and he brushed away the strands of (H/C) that were sticking to my cheeks.
"I shouldn't have joined the military...I should be here looking after you..." Dimitri sighed, but I was quick to jump up on his lap and grab his face between my much smaller hands.
"No way! You're so cool, Meat Tree! I wish I could join the Garrison like you! And Nichi and Willy!"
My other brothers...Nicholas (L/N), who was already a member of the Garrison, and Wilbur (L/N), who was currently in training before he joined the cadets when he was of age. Every day I would dream that I was a part of the military, just so I could stand by their sides and prove that I wasn't worthless. Dimitri was the only one who believed that I could make that dream a reality.
"That nickname is never gonna go away, is it?" Dimitri chuckled as he tried to balance me so I wouldn't fall off. "You'll make it, I know you will. Why else would I train you when I have time off?" He smiled at me softly, and I beamed right back.
"Can we do some ham to ham combat now?!" I asked excitedly, and he snorted in amusement.
"It's hand to hand, (N/N)...and sure, but first let me make sure Mom didn't so any serious damage..."
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"It's about time you got back..." I shifted to stand behind Dimitri when we reentered the house to find our father standing there; tall, proud and frightfully intimidating.
"Sorry, Sir...We were just over by the barracks..." Dimitri bowed his head a little. Even he felt small.
"(Y/N), I want you to go clean up and change your clothes. I'm taking you somewhere tonight." My father looked down at me and I clung onto the straps around Dimitri's leg.
"Wh..where are we going..?"
Clifford (L/N), captain of the Garrison. The only person that wasn't scared of him was our mother. His military ideology didn't rest, even at home. It was exhausting, but he provided for us. He deserved our respect.
"I'm taking you up to the wall...Your mother punished you again, didn't she? Consider it an apology...You'll love the view..." I suddenly felt excited. My father rarely ever spoke to me, let alone took me anywhere, so this was big.
"Yes, Papa, right awa-" Dimitri cut me off by placing his hand on my head; daring to meet the captain's eyes.
"I would like to come, too." He announced, and even I could feel the heavy tension between them.
"So be it. You're both excused." Father waved us off and we went our separate ways to prepare.
We lived rather close to the western side of the wall, in a district known as Stolz. It was close to the outer edge of Wall Rose, and it was mostly populated by military families, so it didn't take us long at all to be stationed on the lift platform and rising into the air. Nicholas had joined us, too, but I was far too nervous to even attempt to talk to him. He was almost as tall as our father, except his features screamed our mother, just like mine. Despite our close relation, we had hardly ever exchanged words, and he was a complete mystery to me.
"Whilst we are up there, you are to listen to everything I tell you, (Y/N). Is that clear?" My father was looming over me from behind, and I nodded stiffly.
"Y..yes, Papa..." I murmured as I shifted a little closer to Dimitri. Something was off. I may not have been good at socialising, but I could pick up on the smallest details, and there was definitely tension in the air. Nicholas hadn't uttered a word; not even a greeting, and our father kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other. I didn't like it.
"Watch your step..." Dimitri murmured as he helped me from the lift platform to the stone of the wall. A small snort came from our father, but I tried not to let it bother me. The moment I turned my attention from my feet upward, I gasped. Fields. Rolling carpets of grass and trees, as far as I could possibly see. Despite blanketed in the darkness of night, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my entire eleven years.
"H..how long does it stretch to..?" I wondered out loud as my (E/C) eyes gazed out over the stunning vista.
"Nobody knows, and nobody wishes to find out." I jumped a little as I heard my father speak from directly behind me, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the view. "Titans roam the land, killing and destroying everything in their path. I'm curious to see how long a person could survive beyond this wall..."
"What the FUCK?!" I spun around in an instant as I heard scuffling begin, and I could only squeak out as I took in the scene that had unfurled behind me. Dimitri was standing at my side, his hands gripping my fathers arm, which was poised to push.
W..wait...w..was he going to push...me..?
"What the fuck are you doing?! Are you insane?!" Dimitri was struggling against our father's power, and the stoic man barely batted a lid.
"I am simply doing our family...no...humanity...a favour..." He explained as though it were obvious knowledge. "This little piece of shit isn't good for anything. There's something wrong with her...I couldn't even marry her off if I wanted to go to the trouble. Step aside, and I shall consider ignoring this betrayal." I cowered in terror; my eyes darting from the two men in front of me to Nicholas, who was just watching with a solemn expression on his stubbled face.
"Betrayal?! She's my little sister! (Y/N) is your daughter!" Dimitri grabbed me and held my back close to his chest. "If any of you just took the time to get to know her...you'd realise how special she is! Sh..she's so smart, and sweet, and sure, she might be a little timid, but she's got so much potential! Why can't you just see that?!" The urgency in his voice was making me shiver, and I didn't need to feel the wetness of my cheeks to know I was already crying.
"Special? She's wrong. Your mother was pushed down in the street during that pregnancy...it explains so much..." My father looked down on me with such blatant disgust, and I couldn't do a thing. I was used to it, and now, likely because of how I had acted before when our guests had been at our house...I was going to pay the ultimate price. "Move aside or you'll meet the same fate. I don't take insubordination lightly..."
"We're your children, you fucking psycho!" Dimitri yelled, and that was what sealed our fate. It didn't take much; just a swift shove, and we were both tipping backwards.
"DIMITRI!" I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut, but we stopped tilting. Beyond scared, I barely had the courage to open my eyes, but when I did, I came face to face with Nicholas. He was holding on tight to Dimirti's collar, and his normally dull (E/C) eyes were wide and filled with shock.
"Nicholas...Release them..." Our father was standing there without a hint of emotion. Not a smile, nor a frown. There was nothing to read on his withering face.
"W..with all due respect, Sir...I don't think I can..." I don't think I had heard him speak since before he had left to become a cadet. His voice was deep and rough, but it was shaking, just like I was, and just like Dimitri was as he clung onto me for dear life.
"Release them." Again, that was all our father said, though the light of the moon glinted off his eyes; the same colour we shared, and it made me feel more broken than I had before.
"S..Sir...please...There has to be some other way...I can't..."
"Nicholas (L/N), release them immediately. That is an order." I could feel him flinch, even though he wasn't touching me directly. His eyes flickered between mine and Dimitri's, and I could almost see my reflection in those glossy irises.
"N..nic...Please...Don't do it..." Dimitri stuttered out as he nearly crushed the air out of me with his arms. The wind was licking at our skin, and everything was silent, save for our three ragged breaths puffing out in unison. Once more, Nicholas looked down at me and pulled his lip between his teeth; shutting his eyes and shaking his head.
"Y..yes Sir..."
Falling in itself wasn't what was terrifying. No, it was looking down and seeing the flat, unbreakable ground below; steadily growing closer to shatter our bodies and jumble our organs. I couldn't scream, I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't move. The only thing that tore me out of my trance was when I couldn't see the ground anymore. I could only see Dimitri, and the flurry of his ginger hair and tears wilding around his freckled face and up into the air we had left behind.
"I love you, okay?! I love you so much, (N/N), and I'm going to try to protect you, okay?! You gotta live for me, yeah?! Promise me that you'll live!" He was yelling, but between us, it sounded more like a hushed whisper. Holding onto him, I shook my head frantically, and it felt like the monstrous updraft was going to spin my head all the way around.
Dimitri...you're wrong...we'll be okay...it...it isn't that high up...
It was. Oh, I knew it was, and I knew there was no hope. Dimitri's fingers grasped onto me tightly; urgently, and he pulled me as close to his body as he possibly could, fighting for me against the force pulling me up and away.
"You're so special, (N/N)! You're the best little sister I could have asked for! You gotta promise me! You gotta promise me that you'll-"
The last thing I heard that night was a sickening crack...
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***Yet again, I made myself a baby just to kill him immediately...oof...Anyway, the whole 'Meat Tree' thing was an auto-correct but I thought it sounded cute? Same with Ham to Ham hahaha. In the chapter header is a quick lil sketch set I did of the other members of the (L/N) family, too.
Oh, and before I forget, I've changed it so that at graduation from the cadets, all the characters such as Eren, Mikasa, Jean etc are 18, for certain reasons. Thanks for reading!***