Humanity's Strongest Hope

Chapter One

"Eren?" A firm feminine voice called. Mikasa Ackerman pulled tighter against the red scarf around her neck before reaching out to shake the titan shifters' arm. The first day of training with their new scout leader had started rather peculiar. Armin Arlert had followed his taller friend through the crowds of people while Mikasa had chased after them that morning. Armin had informed him about the identity of their new scout leader the night before, and Eren Jaeger spent that night fighting with his excitement to at least get a few hours of sleep. It was no secret that Eren held deep admiration and respect for a certain Captain in their ranks, in fact, many soldiers did, but Armin knew that his friend's hero complex towards the man was more than considered professional. Due to his incredible abilities of observation, Armin had noticed the way Eren looked at the Captain and knew that Eren harboured feelings for the man. The shifter didn't even know his feelings until Armin had voiced his curiosity, and Eren spent the first few days in denial. Of course, his blonde friend and encouraged him not to be ashamed and simply accept the fact that his heart longed for the Captain, but Eren was just as shy as he was reckless.

Their new base was large. It was sectioned a few miles outside of the main scout's regiment stronghold, just like the rest of the squad leaders own base grounds. However, while every other squad's base was surrounded by trees that offered great training courses for their ODM gear, their new scout leaders was completely deserted.

At first glance, the massive two-story unit along with the large stable and open field training grounds seemed oblivious to keeping itself hidden. But as Eren surveyed the area with Mikasa and Armin, he realised just how wrong he was.

The entire scene was a front, covering and diverting anyone's attention from the main and top-secret base ground. In retrospect, none of them should have been surprised. Their new leader was known for being overly cautious and extremely suspicious of anything. Eren remembered his first chat with the man and what he had said when discussing his imprisonment.

"Better to be paranoid and safe than oblivious and dead."

Those words had stuck with Eren, even though they weren't to comfort him.

As they entered the fronted house, Sasha Blouse had to lead them to the cellar and down a dark tunnel.

"So the new scout leader actually cleaned this place?" Armin had asked. They continued to follow Sasha as she led them through the dark and shallow underground with a lit candle.

"Yep." She replied, pointing to the smooth walls surrounding them. They had been walking for almost thirty minutes, but it felt like an hour.

The air was thick and hard to breathe in, reminding Eren of the fact that he hated confined spaces.

"But we're literally underground!" Armin exclaimed, walking past Eren to stand by Sasha's side. "He would have had to clean dirt. Dirt, Sasha. I get that he's a bit of a germaphobe, but that's just ridiculous!" Sasha giggled.

Eren bit his lip to hide his laughter. He could easily imagine the Captain cleaning the tunnel, and the thought of what his expression might have looked like was quite amusing. "Eren? We're almost there." Mikasa grabbed hold of his shoulder, slightly pulling him along. He didn't realise that he had fallen behind.

"O-oh, yeah! Wait up Armin!" Eren called out. The blonde boy's form jumped as he turned around to glare at his friend. "Don't do that Eren! You know I'm afraid of the dark." The brunet just snickered as he rushed to catch up with the two in front, Mikasa hot on his heels.

As the end of the tunnel came into view, Eren found himself rushing ahead of Armin and Sasha. The air surrounding him felt lighter the closer he got to the exit, and what he saw after stepping out of the tunnel made him gasp.