First new chapter of this book basically, redid her backstory so it doesn't mess with the timeline of the show as much. Expect A LOT of changes to this story to not effect the main story as much, but I'll keep the vibe and personality of Aiko and her interactions with others mostly the same!

The backstory of Aiko

  Aiko let out a soft huff a breath through her lips, tilting her head back and closing her eyes as the rain pattered down her skin, dark brown hair becoming darker and sticking to her face and neck. A grumble drew her attention, and her eyes opened as she turned her head to face the giant beast beside her. That beast being her father.

  His large body, covered in thick skin and hard scales and plates that was almost like armor against the actual beasts they'd fight if it ever came down to it. Light purple eyes watched her with a kindness, his large tail wrapping around to keep her from wandering off without him noticing. The young girl was quite good at that surprisingly. The large head of the dragon came down the her, and Aiko grinned as she placed a soft kiss to the small scaled muzzle of her father before grabbing onto his horns.

  Said structures jutted out from the top of his head, curving back and ending in a sharp point. What would be menacing to others, was merely something the girl would hold on to when her father took her on rides. Pulling his head back, the large dragon picked her up, standing to his large four legs and spreading his wings while his daughter let herself get situated on his neck, careful of the many spines that stuck out along it. "Are you ready?" Arthur asked his daughter, Aiko nodded quickly, saying a small 'mhm' so he could hear her.

  Large wings spread open and the dragon took flight with one beat of his wings, the wind and rain pattering hard against the two beings as he had angled himself upwards to take the two higher into the sky. Aiko couldn't wait until she finally transformed for herself, she may have only been eleven now, but once her birthday came around she would finally be able to transform and fly with her family. Bask in their freedom and ignore the humans that had been condemned to life inside walls.

  Humans did not like the dragon shifters, they saw them as monsters, creatures that parents told their children about to keep them from going out at night. Or keep them from exploring the world outside the walls. They were treated much like the Titans, and it would stay that way as long as they stayed ignorant to the way things were.

  Aiko kept her head against her father's neck, hiding her face from the pounding rain as she gripped onto the slippery horns that she used as leverage to stay on.

~~

  It didn't take long for the two to arrive home, as they landed in front of the cave, Arthur lowered his head so his daughter could get herself down without the possibility of getting hurt- or worse. Aiko  started to make her way up to the cave, a soft yellow glow emanating from the lamps placed deeper inside. The sound of her father's shoes against the stone made her glance back at him, and he smiled and took her into his arms, holding her close as he carried her towards the entrance to the more house like structure inside the cave. "Did you enjoy your day?" Arthur asked his daughter, looking over to her with soft blue eyes.

  Aiko nodded, a bright smile on her face, "Yeah, it was nice outside, until it rained. But when you fought that titan earlier it was fun!" She exclaimed, laughing at the questioning look on her father's face, though before he could say something the gentle voice of her mother called out. "Fighting a titan, huh?" Cho hummed, rounding the corner with the middle child Damian beside her. "Here, I told you it was going to rain." The boy spoke with a small grin, raising up two towels.

  "Yeah I should've listened, but Aiko deserves some time out of the cave, she can't shift yet so she can't go alone." Arthur sighed, drying out his blonde hair with one towel while ruffling Aiko's brown hair jokingly with the other. "Dad.." Aiko huffed, grabbing the towel and drying off her hair and her skin as best as she could. "Dinner has been ready for a little while, it should still be warm but the boys already ate." Cho spoke, turning to watch as Damian moved to chase Aiko through the halls.

  The cave the family resided in had been passed down to them from the past dragon-shifter, he was kind but grew tired of living in a big space all alone, so he was moving out. This cave had been carved out for hundreds of years, it looked like the interior of a modern home but with more rooms and hallways. It was perfect for the family of four, with extra rooms to spare.

~~

  Dinner didn't last for too long, mid-bite, Aiko noticed how both her parents had frozen up. "What's wrong?" She asked, slowly putting her spoon back down into the soup her mother had made. "Aiko, get up, Arthur you take her." Cho stood abruptly, rushing towards the cave entrance, Damian had come running as well. "Damian? Mom..?" Aiko went to move after them, but Arthur gently grabbed her hand to stop her. "Go wake your brother, come to the cave entrance when he's awake okay?" Aiko nodded.

  Rushing through the hallways as the nervousness began to settle in, Aiko rushed into her brother's room, "Akira! Akira!" She called, jumping onto her brother's bed and pulling at his arms. She didn't move him over one bit, which was a given being she was only eleven and her oldest brother was nineteen. "Akira!" She yelled, pulling so hard that when he shot up in annoyance he nearly flung her off of him.

  "Shit, sorry Aiko, wh-" Akira paused, getting out of bed quickly despite his exhaustion. He had been out scouting all morning and afternoon, and he was worn out, but the scent of titans pumped adrenaline through his veins. Aiko's brows furrowed, but she got up and quickly followed after him.

  Before she could fully exit the cave the scent of blood filled her nostrils, causing her face to scrunch up and her feet to halt her motions. Akira had shifted as soon as the top part of the cave opened up to the sky, his large tail nearly wacking her to the side as he flew out of the cave and into battle. -Why were there so many titans? Where did they all come from?- Aiko watched with wide eyes as her family fought the gruesome creatures.

  Cho wasn't a small dragon by any means, bigger than Damian by a few meters(as he was still growing) but smaller than Akira by at least 15(who was also still growing), but when being overwhelmed by 3 titans it was obvious she needed help. Akira had swooped in,  claws digging in to the soft skin of the 15 meters, digging his teeth into it and pulling until it's head was pulled from it's shoulders, his large foot crushing it's nape to prevent regeneration. Her father was beside Damian, his size was useful for many reasons but it also slowed him down in such close combat. Which was why Damian stayed beside him, his smaller body allowing for easier maneuverability around the titans and his father.

  Aiko let out out a scream when a titan had made its way to her, backing further into the cave. Yes, Aiko did have enhanced hearing and smell, but those abilities were repressed until her first transformation, leaving her like a normal human until then, a huge disadvantage when living outside of the walls. Akira was the first to get to her, tearing the titan back from her with a growl, baring his teeth in a predatory display before looking to his sister with  a look of concern.

Before Akira could decide if he should take her or not, a pained roar came from Cho, as the onslaught of titans had successfully gotten her onto her back, gaining access to the soft skin of her underbelly and beginning to eat and tear at her body. The oldest sibling was rushing to help in a moment, and Arthur had rushed to Aiko. "Get on now!" He ordered, barely able to get into the cave far enough for the young girl to climb on. Arthur wanted to help his wife, but with Aiko there helpless he had to get his daughter to safety too.

Though the mood was thrown off, and with Akira and Damian's minds set on helping their mother it was easy to get distracted. Cho was barely clinging on to life, not healing fast enough to bring herself back into the fight without risking only gaining more injury. Damian's scales weren't nearly as well developed as Akira's or his parents, being only fourteen. Without the protection of the others Damian was exposed to the dangers of teeth and hands that aimed to rip him apart.

The mindless beasts had taken out Cho, and Akira could barely shake off the titan who had his head between it's hands, mouth biting down on the hard scales of his neck and starting to puncture through. Damian tried to fly up, gain some sort of stability to regain his thoughts, he was pulled down by his tail, and killed before he could do much more than cry out for help.

  Aiko kept her face buried in her father's neck, the heat radiating from his scales kept her from shivering too much, she could already tell things went south. It had gotten noticeably more silent despite the thunder and pounding rain. Arthur called for Akira to come, with an exertion of strength the tired and bloodied dragon was able to pull himself into the sky.

Aiko was too shocked to really cry, her family seemed invincible to her, though dying to titans was a fate many dragon shifters were given. The whole thing confused her though, where had the titans come from? Why were there so many at once?

After a few hours of flight, Akira finally started to really get effected by his wounds, and Arthur allowed them to land at a high up perch of rocks.

~~

Many things had happened in the passing months, Akira was sickly, and Arthur was gone nearly every day in an attempt to get the right medicines for his dying son. Aiko stayed beside her brother while their father was gone, laying next to him, getting him something to eat and drink. Anything she thought she could do to help him get better. When her father had accidentally given out the fact he was a dragon shifter, he was quickly chased away from the walls, nearly killed in human form before he was able to shift and come back safely.

  The wounds Akira sustained were gone, but the sickness wasn't going away, he ended up dying without the help of the medicine and her father fell into a horrible depression. He felt it was his fault the rest of his family had died, he was the biggest dragon after all, he felt should've done better. Aiko tried her best to comfort him, and with the promise that he would try to give his daughter a better life, he went back to the walls in the last month of the year.

  He didn't exactly keep his promise, and Aiko assumed he had died before her birthday, her first transformation. Of course, Aiko didn't know actually, but the Interior Police had killed her father before he could attempt to find a kind family to take his daughter in. Of course he would stick around for her first transformation, but he felt the life outside the walls was not a life he wanted his daughter to live.

NOT EDITED