Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Christa gets separated from her squad, she starts to get nervous. When her 3DMG starts sputtering and the gas canisters are on fumes, she starts getting scared.

When she spots the Titan, she almost wets herself.It’s half submerged in a forest river- the roar of the water is part of the reason she hadn’t heard it’s heavy breathing, or footsteps.

Even by Titan standards, it’s an ugly one. Matted brown hair falls in its eyes, partially obscuring the yellow, beady eyes underneath it’s brow. It’s skin is a dark brown, and splotches of discolored skin dapple it’s face and back. When she takes in the inverted, point ears, Christa half believes that the Titan is a goblin from one of the old stories instead.

When it opens its mouth to… sigh? yawn? exhale?, Christa can see neat rows of triangular, serrated teeth that fit together perfectly.

It’s the teeth that make her move. Her body pulses in a head to foot ache that reminds her of comrades that have been devoured right before her eyes, and their screams of agony as they went, piece by piece.

Christa isn’t stupid enough to turn her back, so she creeps back quietly, her eyes riveted to the Titan. She’s so focused on using her cloak to mask the clink of her 3DMG that she doesn’t see the protruding root.

Her boot catches on it, and she falls.

The second before she hits the ground with a crash (and it’s a long, long second), Christa sends up a quick prayer. If she is to be eaten, she wants the Titan to eat her head first.

And then she’s on the ground, almost sobbing with fear. She raises her head, and she locks eyes with the Titan, who is now staring right at her. Christa freezes, her hands stopped on the buckle of her 3DMG.

Her breath stutters in her chest, and she chokes on the tears that begin to run down her cheeks. She doesn’t want to die-

Christa squirms out of her gear, and stumbles to her feet. She’s sprinting through the woods, and she’s not sure whether the Titan is pursuing her, or if the pounding of her heart in her temples is just that loud.

Except something hits her, hard, and sends her sprawling. Christa tries to keep going, but a huge hand slams a meter from her face. It kicks up dust that blows into Christa’s nose and mouth, blinding her and making her cough.

When she clears her eyes, her heart drops. The Titan is looking down at her (It’s not grinning, which is a small consolation. She was always terrified when the Titans looked perpetually scary) and it’s huge hands are too close-

Air leaves her lungs with a rush as the Titan presses her into the ground. The loam is hard on her back, and she cries out when her head snaps back into the ground. Hands the size of horse carts hold her down- but don’t crush her, which is surprising, because usually there’s blood and screaming by now-

Oh god, the Titan was leaning down.

It sniffed her, the rush and exhale of air ruffling her dirty hair and pushing hot, wet air on her face. It pulled back slightly, focusing those yellow, slitted eyes on her.

Christa had never felt more like prey.

The Titan opened it’s mouth slightly, and Christa whimpered tugging on her trapped arms more desperately. She could see the glint of the teeth through the Titan’s lips, and her throat closed in fear. The rush of her blood in her veins, the pressure on the ground at her back, the hot, tepid breath of the Titan on her face mixed with the soft forest smell- Christa didn’t want to die.

“Please.” Christa whispered. Her tears were making the Titan’s face blur into a giant, looming shadow above her.

There was a pause.

“What will you do, if I let you live?” The voice rumbled like an earthquake, vibrating in the air and through Christa’s chest cavity.

The Titan was speaking. The Titan.... was speaking.

"W-what?" Christa gasped. "What did you say?"

“I said," the Titan growled, leaning even closer, until one large yellow eye was a mere foot from her face. Christa felt like she was under a microscope. "What would you do for your life, human?”

And Christa felt the stirring of hope in her chest, as frail and weak as a baby bird. “Anything.” she breathed.

“Then you are mine. Forever.”