The Cost for Freedom ➶ ｡˚ [ Attack on Titan ]

Uncover

Lying on the slightly damp morning grass, she stared into the clouded sky above her. The white puffs of air slowly drifted along as the spring breeze pushed them across the open blue field. While her vision of the vast abyss that was above was slightly blocked by the tree that shadowed her being, she could still make out the shapes of the clouds that were blocked. Far up from where she was, the animals that could leave had taken flight, soaring across the area without any inconvenience. The birds sang their tune and left, never to be seen by the five-year-old ever again. The grass beneath her lightly tickled her skin, with some sharper edges pricking her arms, hands and legs – but she didn't mind. The comforting feeling of the ground under her body connected her to the nature below. The sun was still in the sky, radiating its heat onto the world. While it wasn't as harsh as the summer, it could possibly cook something if left out long enough. As she took a breath in, an aroma of fresh grass, lavender, bread and dirt had tickled her nose. 'Bread...' She thought, scrunching her eyebrows as she took a deeper sniff of the smell that came from the kitchen behind her.

"Kira! It's time to come back in!"

"Okay, Nana!"

Brushing off the dirt from her skirt, Kira dashed back into the brick house, curious about the scent she caught while she was lying in the sun. As she opened the door from the yard into the kitchen, fresh loaves of bread were kept in a basket in the centre of the table. Along with the bread was a bowl with steam floating out, 'Carrot stew...!' Kira thought, taking a seat behind the table.

"Thank you, Nana!" Kira smiled, as she grabbed the metal spoon, scooping out the soup to slurp up in one go.

"Eat well, my darling." Kira's grandmother, Rosa, said. As she sat adjacent to Kira, she also started to eat the dinner she made for the two of them.

Pausing, Kira took a munch out of the bun that was still floating along the thick orange stew. Humming in delight, Kira tapped her grandmother's arm, as she swung her legs jovially, "It's so good...!"

"Why thank you, Kira." Rosa grinned, scrunching her nose as Kira did the same. "Now, eat up, we'll be leaving early tomorrow."

"Okay."

It wasn't long before both of them had finished their filling dinner. For the five-year-old, Rosa's carrot stew with chicken and potato would always bring the child to bliss. It was one of her favourite meals her grandmother would make for her. Once she demolished her meal, she only could lie down after stuffing her mouth full of the soup. Similarly, Rosa was sitting on the other side of the double bed, reading.

"What does it look like outside the Walls?" Kira asked, catching a sight over her grandmother's shoulder of the book Rosa was reading to her.

"It's a beautiful vast land that doesn't seem to end. When people talk about the outside, they say it's dangerous. Mostly because of the Titans outside the wall." Rosa started, slowly closing the book while using her finger to bookmark her position. Sitting up, Rosa wrapped her arm around Kira to scoop her closer. "I used to think that too. But after going on many expeditions, I got to see many different things that you don't see here. While Titans still roam and the land doesn't change too much, it's outside this cage we're in."

"A cage?" Kira questioned, her childlike mind creating the imaginative images of the Walls looking like a cage.

"Well, that's how Kuklo describes the Walls as. Like how we're birds and the Walls are the cage." Rosa explained, "We're free to leave, but Titans force us to stay in the Walls. The 'cage' is safe, but we aren't free because of it."

While Kira took a small percentage of what Rosa said, a name she didn't seem to recognise had captured her attention, leading her to ask another question, "Who's Kuklo?"