Disclaimer- I don't own anything but my OC(s) and plot.

Prologue- [Signature Here]

The sky was painted a deep golden orange, the deep blue of night quickly receding from the light of the rising sun. Clouds floated high above the drowsy city, wispy and indefinite on invisible winds that carried them swiftly out of sight. Trost still lay heavily in shadow, the great wall obscuring the early sun from view and blocking any beams of light from shining directly on the buildings.

Even so, time could not be forgotten, and the sleepy sounds of awakening citizens could be heard echoing throughout the town. Gentle coils of yeast-scented smoke rose from the various bakeries, and the rustlings of stalls being set up resounded throughout the market places. Shuffling tiredly, workers returning from night shifts inside the walls trickled in as the gates opened for the day, accompanied by any early traders and deliveries of supplies. Drunks stumbled from bars as they were politely shoved from the doorsteps, leaving the owners with mere hours to prepare for day customers (mostly night workers and the like). The city seemed to be caught in the midst of an enormous yawn, a great sigh that swept over the occupants in a lazy attempt to wake them.

It was in this sleepy setting that a young girl traversed the alleyways, delicately avoiding the drowsing vagabonds who cradled their half-empty drinks like they were the keys to the city. She looked half-asleep herself and walked with an empty expression whilst holding her small body loosely. Covered by a large,worn cloak, it looked liable to collapse at any point in time in submission to the cloud of unconsciousness that followed the child like a smoky shadow. The girl stepped into the mostly-empty streets, avoiding the tired and just-waking people with surprising agility as she walked towards some unknown destination.

A meow made her pause before the mouth of an especially narrow alleyway, and she leaned down to pet the sudden gathering of cats that came to greet her. However, the girl didn't stop for long and tossed the group of alley cats a small fish before continuing on her way. Such stops were common for the girl, and if one had been keeping tally as they had followed her on her walk they would have counted over seven pauses, totaling over four dozen strays petted and treated.

She waved sleepily at many of the morning food stall owners and stopped to exchange greetings with a tavern worker, baker, and butcher before stumbling off in that sleepy gait of hers. All the people she greeted seemed happy to see her, and her pockets were quickly lined with their small scraps of leftover snacks, most of which she promptly gave away to either her feline friends or her other acquaintances. The rest of the gifts she gave to herself, munching away on her odd breakfast of a burnt roll and a portion of slightly overripe fruit.

Turning her gaze to the sky as she paused to stroke an orange, three-legged tabby, she smiled at the delicate chains of clouds. I see a pod of fish. She thought to herself, What do you see, sister? Suddenly melancholy, she brushed aside the clinging tendrils of sadness as she continued down the road. With a sense of finality, she stopped yet again before a tall, official-looking building.

Military Services. She read on the worn, but clean, wooden walls. Her eyes drooped, and her body sagged; for all appearances, she looked as if she had fallen asleep. After a few minutes, she jerked forward, eyes still shut, opening the door slowly. Opening her eyes as she crossed the threshold, she was greeted by a cheerful-looking receptionist who sat primly behind the tidy desk.

"Good morning, dear. What can I help you with?" She said statically, in the sort of robotic tone that could be easily repeated again and again. The girl who had arrived could tell that the woman thought her to be little more than a child, probably a little boy, not that the receptionist could be blamed for the assumption, for the girl was small enough to easily be mistaken for a seven year old. She walked forward sleepily, leaning on the desk with one arm and resting her chin on her palm. Her other hand soothed the wood with drowsy circles, creating a calm atmosphere from the steady rhythm.

"I am here to enlist." She said simply. Her voice was slurred, but beneath the tone of weariness was a husky, calming voice. The woman reacted strongly to the words, taken aback by a statement she obviously did not expect. But she reached for a file anyways, laying a paper before the girl.

"You're early, most people will be signing up a month from now!" She said as if to excuse the lack of organization, "The rules of enlistment are simple: you must be a willing candidate of acceptable physical and mental ability and have reached the age of twelve years." At the 'twelve years' the woman enunciated carefully, gazing into her eyes with a sense of 'are you sure?' hovering in the back. The girl nodded in understanding, but the receptionist seemed unconvinced.

"So are you sure you have achieved all requirements? We will need to receive a written note of recommendation from a neighborhood supervisor or verbal assent from a registered adult before you are allowed to sign your name." She stated, sounding unsure, wondering if the child had fallen asleep upon seeing her peaceful expression and closed eyes. The receptionist waved her hand in front of the girl's face, biting her lip in consternation.

As the woman worked up the nerve to poke her, the enlister suddenly moved, drawing a small letter from her pocket with the hand that had been making patterns on the desk. Reading quickly, the receptionist cleared her throat as she came to the official Trost stamp printed boldly in black ink at the bottom of the recommendation.

"It says here you are female?" The lady questioned, and the girl nodded. "Very well," she continued, "the contract I laid before you contains the formal military oath and waiver. You may read it now if you would like." When the receptionist saw the girl's apparent disinterest, she handed her an ink pen and said, "Please sign your name on the indicated line."

The girl nodded and didn't even pause before writing her name lazily at the bottom. The lady quickly slid the paper over, glancing down at the sloppy characters with a serious expression. "Just one moment, please." She said as she disappeared into a doorway. Muffled voices could be heard, hers and a different, male one. The woman's rose above the other's, sounding distinctly annoyed as she told whoever it was to hurry up. She appeared once more and sat back down at her desk.

"My associate is fetching your uniform for you, it will only take a few moments." She said, before realizing that the young girl had, yet again, appeared to have fallen asleep. When the girl nodded her head in assent, the woman decided to simply continue speaking. "You will be expected to arrive at the outskirts of the Trost district in two month's time to be picked up by governmental carriages to be transported to the training base. If for some reason you do not arrive at that time you will still be expected to attend the formal invitation ceremony two and a half months from now, under threat of a formal inspection by city officers and a fine of 200 Sina."

"Where is the base?" The girl asked suddenly, keeping her eyes shut with an air of laziness.

"The location? Ummm…" The lady said, shuffling through a cabinet full of documents, "Ah, here it is!" She exclaimed triumphantly, displaying a general map of the space between Wall Sina and Wall Rose. She jabbed her finger at an apparently barren part of the landscape. "It seems to be located here, on the outskirts of a small village by the name of Kitsuki. About a week's journey in a carriage." She stated cheerfully. The girl looked closely at the map, studying it intensely through half-shut eyes.

"Thank you." She said finally, and the woman put the map away. A thin man with a light beard and cheerful face walked through the door, a brown parcel in his hands.

"I have the uniform." He said in a voice the girl recognized as the one she had heard from behind the door, "It's the smallest one that we had." He continued, handing it to the lady, glancing at the apparently dozing form of the small girl, "Good day." he said before walking back behind the door, eyes lingering on the form of the woman.

The lady rolled her eyes, "Bloody pervert." she muttered, but appeared satisfied. She slid the package over to the enlister after jotting a few numbers onto a paper that she quickly attached to the contract with a small dab of wax. "I believe that is all! Don't forget to go to the proper location in two month's time! Have a nice day!" She said in that robotically cheery tone as her attention was diverted to the small line of people that had trickled in as she had dealt with the girl.

"Have a nice day." The girl told the lady with a slight hint of brightness that mixed with her characteristic weariness smoothly. The child almost fell over on her way to the door, collapsing onto the handle and shuffling slowly out the door without a backwards glance.

As the door closed, the woman shifted her attention from the jabbering man she was attending to, following the diminutive form with her eyes. She felt a slight tinge of sadness, seeing how young and small she was, wishing children wouldn't need to fight at such an age and silently cursing the existence of Titans. Continuing to ignore the complaining figure in front of her, she silently prayed to some unknown deity for the child's welfare, calling to memory the sloppy name at the bottom of the contract.

"Good luck, Jae Deyad."

A/N- Hello! Thanks for reading this far down \(^u^)/! I know this part is kind of boring and doesn't really have anything to do with anything, but that's why I called it a prologue. This was more of a warm up section than anything really vital to the plot, but I hope you can get a general idea of what my OC is supposed to be like...

Anywaysies, please tell me what I've done wrong (I know there is plenty) but don't be cruel about it 'kay? I'm still really new to this writing thing so please be gentle with me... not to sound suggestive *waggles eyebrows* (HuH)b

Also, I'm not really sure what pairing I'm going for her, but I'm welcome to suggestions (all but Levi because most of this story will occur during training, before they actually meet the cranky dude).

3 high-een-ah