Chapter 1 - Patrick

Chapter 1 - Patrick

'Is this how it's going to end?' Consumed by regret, a brown-haired teenager, with emerald green pupils was held in the hand of an 11-meter class titan.  He was just one amongst countless other meaningless deaths, trying to defend the Trost district from the Titan's invasion. 

'I swore an oath… I gave my heart for the cause, and for what? My death means absolutely nothing. Just another one of the uncountable victims of the Titans mindless feeding.' The teen was far too exhausted and the titan's grip far too tight for him to escape. As the teen was contemplating his life choices, the titan brought its hand closer to its mouth, its mouth opening wide in preparation for another snack. 

Time seemed to slow down as the teen neared the titan's mouth. 'I wonder how the others are doing? Eren is probably doing fine since he's got his "mother" watching over him. Armin has probably made countless strategies that kept him and his team alive. Mikasa is well… Mikasa. Reiner is most likely holding everyone's sanity in check, especially Jean's and Connie's. Bertolt is probably just following Reiner, as always. Sasha's stomach is likely killing her, hah! Ymir is probably taking care of Krista. Annie… Annie *Sigh* What I wouldn't do to go see them just one more time.' Those three years of training in the 104th Cated Corps were certainly hell, but it may just have been the teen's most treasured memories. 

The teen took in the sight of his soon-to-be killer. It was a disgusting-looking thing. A height of 11 meters, an oversized head, long legs, and long arms with stupidly large hands. Its soulless eyes glinted with childlike wonder, as a kid who had been gifted a new toy. Its mouth wide open and from it, a smell so horribly rancid made its way out.

The teen thought back to how he ended up in this situation. It was nothing special really. He was assigned to a squad that was supposed to help with the evacuation and cull the Titan's numbers to the east. 

The teen just like everyone else was terrified when the Colossal Titan showed up and breached Wall Rose with a kick, and 'kickstarted' the invasion of Trost. Luckily for him, his squad was a bunch of veterans from the Garrison, his squad leader even boasted about having slain a bunch of the bastards. He told the teen not to worry, and just follow orders. 

All it took was a moment of distraction and then his squad leader was dead. The squad's morale dropped to rock bottom and they were all frozen. With the chain of command broken, panic ensued, which made them easy pickings for the titans. In no time at all, the teen was the lone survivor, though not for long. 

Suddenly the teen found himself at the mercy of gravity, once again. Realizing the titan had dropped him and that he only had a few seconds left to live, his will broke. 

'I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I DON'T WANNA DIE' *Crunch* "NOOOOOOO-aAAAAARGHHH" With a sickening crunch, the arm of the teen fell out of the titan's mouth. The teen? Not so lucky. 

*Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch*

*GASP* 

Gasping for air, the teen was drenched in sweat and shivering. Suddenly he felt a tremendous force hit the side of his head and he fell face-first on the ground. Tasting the grass and the sharp pain seemed to snap him out of his daze. Struggling to lift himself off the ground he was met with the sight of a beautiful short blonde-haired girl with ocean-blue eyes. She had moderately short hair, tied at the back with her fringe draping over the right side of her face. Her face which always seemed to be stuck showing a bored expression, held a tint of worry, or so he liked to believe.

"Come on Patrick, I taught you better than that. Get up, or was a kick from a fragile girl enough to knock you out?" Slightly smirking the girl exclaimed. 

'Oh thank the heavens, it was all just a dream. Annie is standing right in front of me. Annie…' As Patrick stared at the girl, now identified as Annie, without saying anything, she realized something was off.

"Did kick you hard enough to give you a concussion or something? Oh shit, you're shivering! Are you alright?" looking down at him, the blonde's concerned tone hit Patrick like a bolt from the blue. Rarely has Annie ever broken her 'bored' facade so thoroughly. Tears almost threatened to spill out of his eyes, but he held them in. 

*Phew* Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it Patrick's shivering started to subside. Standing up he saw that Annie managed to suppress her concerned expression and went back to a bored look, but her eyes darting all over him spoke volumes about her current thoughts. 

Patrick resisted, or rather attempted to resist the smile that threatened to break out. Seeing him smile did not relieve Annie, quite the opposite, she was now afraid she might have put too much power behind the kick. Outwardly, she didn't show that though, "Who the hell smiles after being kicked down on the ground? You should probably check in at the infirmary." 

Shaking off his smile, Patrick realized that it was only the two of them around. Suddenly it dawned on him. This was nothing new, as he had often asked Annie for tips in hand-to-hand combat. A feeling of deja vu suddenly hit Patrick out of the blue.

He had asked Annie for a spar, as it was the day they would graduate he wanted to see how far he'd progressed. Later during the evening, the top 10 cadets of the 104th were announced. Mikasa was first. Reiner was second. Bertolt was third. Annie was fourth… Getting back on track, he had to say something before things got awkward. 

"I'm fine Annie, but I could definitely use a break to rinse my mouth of the dirt." Shaking his head a bit as if he was clearing his head, Patrick joked. Speaking in a lighthearted tone eased Annie's inner worries if her smirk was anything to go by. 

"That can be arranged"  Annie replied, before walking away for a bit, only to stop and look over her shoulder. "Are you coming?"

Taking in the sight of her, Patrick froze. He realized she'd never looked more attractive than now, with her head over her shoulder with a barely noticeable smirk gracing her lips. 

A few seconds of silence later Annie raised one eyebrow as if to ask "What's the hold-up?". 

Shaking his head to push away the distracting thoughts, Patrick caught up with her. As they walked side by side Patrick knew he had to say something to fill the silence, as Annie… Well, she would rarely, if ever start a conversation, even though it was obvious she wanted someone to talk to her. No matter how much she hid behind the "stoic loner" persona, it was obvious to him that she was craving interaction, just like everyone else.

"So, are you satisfied with your rank miss number 4?" Turning to see her reaction, Patrick was surprised to see her stop and look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure I didn't hit your head too hard?" Replied Annie, as she tilted her head but defaulted to a bored expression. 

"Hey, I said I was fine! I just asked how you felt about your rank, nothing too sensitive, right?" Patrick let out, scratching his head as he also stopped walking. 

"If this is supposed to be an attempt at a joke, just stop. You sound kind of dumb right now," Annie said, holding back a smile, "Why do you think I will rank only 4th place? And I'm curious who the three you think would rank higher than me?"

"What do you mean I look dumb?" Patrick mock gasped, "And of course, Mikasa was first followed by Reiner and Bertolt. They announced it yesterday, remember?" 

This time Annie looked at me like she was talking to a child, "You should probably visit the infirmary to check for a concussion, just to be safe." Annie "soothed" me, her smirk widening, "They haven't yet announced the top 10 cadets. It's later this evening, remember? And I understand Mikasa and Reiner, but how come Bertolt is higher ranked than me too?"

"Uhm… huh? Never mind, I think I really need some water." Patrick replied, whilst pondering inwardly, Were the rankings also part of that nightmare? What a long and weird dream. How come I remember it so vividly? Even the titan that ate me…' *shudder* His face paled and Annie noticed. 

"Go to the infirmary after getting some water. It's better to be safe than sorry." Annie glared at him and said in a tone that demanded absolute obedience. 

"Yes sir!" Patrick mock saluted in reply, 'She's right, I should probably get checked just in case. I mean, I'm about to graduate from this hell. Like hell I'm gonna risk fainting or something stupid in the last day.'