Natalie sat atop the wall of rocks her friends sat behind, running one of her hands through her chin length black hair.

"Hey," Jean spoke quietly. "You need to get down from there. Hange doesn't want us being spotted."

She turned her head to look at him, a blank look on her face, before she merely shrugged and got off the rock.

"Never letting me have fun, man." She said in a low voice, sniffling and rubbing at her nose nonchalantly.

She watched tiredly as a boat slowly approached the shores of Paradis.

"You think these guys'll kill us?" She asked, mostly to herself.

Connie side eyed her, giving her a weird look.

Jean answered."if both us and them play our cards right, hopefully none of us will die."

The freckled faced girl blew out a puff of air, leaning against the formation of rocks while limply holding the shotgun in her hands.

"I'm so damn tired." She said. "Why did we have to come?"

Jean just scoffed, not answering her. He was tired of her bullshit already, and they had barley been out here for two hours.

The conversations stopped there as Captain Levi motioned for them to all stay silent, watching as the boat was being lifted by Eren's Titan and dropped onto the ground covered in rock and sand.

Everyone looked on as Hange ran up to the edge of the cliff, their arms thrown out.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen of Marley!" They shouted out, a wide smile on their face. "Welcome to Paradis Island! Nice to meet'cha, I'm Hange! And it's an honor to welcome guests who have sailed oh so far across the sea to come here. The trip must've left you exhausted, so why not join us for some tea?"

Natalie began to tune it all out, her mind growing fuzzy with exhaustion, the bags under her eyes surely becoming worse.

But, as much as she wanted to, she had to listen.

She watched as Levi brought forth the prisoner that had come to the island days before, named Niccolo.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Hange said excitedly. "If you were curious about this guest of ours, he arrived just before you, and we're already getting along splendidly! Isn't that right? Tell them, Niccolo!"

They threw their arms around the blonde man, ignoring how he tensed and shuddered.

Levi pressed a sword to his back, urging him to speak.

"Please, captain! Forget about me, and run these Devils down while you can!"

"Huh?!" Hange exclaimed in false shock. "What are you saying, Niccolo?!" They laughed out.

"He's saying he doesn't want to be part of your shitty skit." Levi said, slowly getting annoyed with them.

The Captain of the ship muttered something Natalie was barley able to make out, all she saw was the angered look on his face, and the movement of his lips.

The man clothed in white shot up from his crouched position, raising his gun.

"Know this you wretched Devils! Marley doesn't negotiate with filthy bloods like you! And we're certainly not going to sit down and drink the pig piss you call tea!"

Natalie internally scoffed, a scowl overcoming her tired features. Didn't this asshole know he was outmatched? Seeing as there was a Titan Shifter very intent on killing them if he could?

"Aw, you sure about that?!" Hange yelled out. "Maybe you should be more polite! Unless you want to piss of the Titan looming behind you!"

The man never lowered his gun, never faltered, even when threatened. Good soldier.

"Marley will never bend to the power of Devils! This is all she has to say to you-!"

Before he could fire his gun, another went off.

It all happened in slow motion in front of her widening eyes. The bullet lodging itself in the side of his head, his body slowly falling to the ground, and his blood splattering all over the ships deck.

A tall figure loomed over him, their gun raised in the spot the man was just standing.

The other soldiers raised their guns, pointing it at them.

"Put your hands up, Yelena!" One soldier shouted.

The tall person, named Yelena, turned their gun to face their fellow ship mates.

"Lay down your weapons." They said, their voice low and hostile.

A man, who she was unable to see the face of, pressed his gun to the side of the soldiers face.

"Do as she says." He said, his voice low as well.

Yelena turned her body to face Hange, removing her helmet.

Natalie gripped her gun, narrowing her eyes.

A smile came onto the tall blondes face, as she spread her arms out.

"Hange, I'd like to accept your invitation!"

"Let's have some tea."

~~~

Natalie fiddled with a stray piece of fabric on her sleeve as her friends talked to one another about what had occured. If she was being honest, she didn't really want to contribute to the conversation at all.

As everyone was speaking, a Survey Corps soldier, who for the life of her she couldn't recall the name of, approached the group.

"Monet, your brother wants to see you."

Natalie scrunched her nose in annoyance, freckled cheeks puffing out.

Jumping off the rock she was seated on, she followed the soldier to the camp she and her friends had helped set up hours ago.

Seeing her brother, Maliath, standing outside one of the tents, she turned to the soldier.

"I got it from here." She said with a thumbs up and an awkward smile, before walking up to the brunette.

"What'd you need me for, Mal?" She asked, taking off the green cloak wrapped around her shoulders and shoving it into his hands.

"Hange wants you and I to gather the rest of the guns and other equipment from the ship." He said.

Natalie shrugged. "Ok, let's go then. Don't know why they want us to, but fine."

Maliath accompanied his sister to the ship, watching as other soldiers unloaded crates.

Natalie picked one of them up, grunting softly at the weight but still able to lift it.

"Where's Adri?" She asked, looking down at Maliath who was also picking up a crate.

He stood up, shrugging.

"Gathering up the rest of the soldiers who aren't affiliated with that woman who shot her captain."

Natalie nodded, walking back with Maliath to a tent.

He pushed open the flap of it with his shoulder, letting Natalie walk in before him.

Her gaze landed on the four people sat at a table, setting down the crate and saluting.

"Commander Hange, Captain Levi." She said, watching out of the corner of her eye as Maliath did the same.

Hange smiled wide, giving Natalie a wave.

She offered a small smile back before her eyes drifted to the other people seated at the table.

"Oh!" Hange exclaimed in surprise. "This is Onyankopon and Yelena! You know, the people who took over their own ship!"

Yelena let out a soft chuckle. "I think it's a bit more simpler than that, but yes."

Natalie eyed her, blue eyes giving off a apathetic look.

Although, internally, she was freaking the fuck out.

Now, some would say her brain malfunctioned, but she'd like to call it a gay panic.

Her thoughts went miles a minute, and the only thing that slightly gave it away was a clench of her fist against her thigh.

A nudge against her shoulder caught her attention, making her look over to her right.

Maliath gave her a knowing smirk, while she just rolled her eyes and walked out of the tent to gather the rest of the crates.

It was like a back and forth. Grab a crate, take it to the tent, catch a glimpse of Yelena, and repeat, until the last crate was grabbed.

As the sun began to rise, Natalie made her way back to her friends with a tired groan.

She leaned against the rock formation, before her eyes caught Erens.

His gaze was... Unnerving. Like he knew something no one else did.

Like he knew something about her that she didn't.

She sent him a smile, nevertheless. He was her friend after all.

The warmth of the rising sun flushed against her spotted cheeks, making her chilled body slowly warm up.

Facing the orange and pink horizon, her fingers lifted themselves and brushed against the jagged scar on the left side of her face, reaching from her jaw to her cheek bone.

She often reached for it absentmindedly, although the memories that came with it were far from pleasant.

With a sigh, she plopped on the ground with her back to the rocks, her eyes falling heavy.

Maybe a little nap wouldn't hurt.

The story of Natalie's scar will be revealed later on in the story. For now, I'll keep it a mystery.