Fandom Attack on Titan: Birds of Paradise | Flashback Thread

[Moonlessite]

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[Demon Shinobi]

Meeting in the Mess Hall
Collab with Serei2477 ​

August shook his head, absentmindedly picking at the plate of food set before him. He was by no means a picky eater, nor was he the type to waste. But he was a little more sore than usual. It seemed Krause was picking up on the fact that he “wasn’t being pushed hard enough” and wanted to make sure he got the same treatment as all the others. She was not a fan of his ability to just keep going regardless of the regimen she ordered. He was pretty sure she was making it her business to break him before their training was over.

Still, raven haired young man didn’t mind. He liked the challenge. He was quickly learning that about himself with each passing day. It wasn’t so much about being the best as it was about moving beyond what he thought he was capable of. Overcoming obstacles could only make him stronger right?

Admittedly though, August could see now how other cadets felt. At least, he could a bit. He took a small breath, taking his loaf of bread and breaking it in half. He knew he didn’t have much time, but he could at least enjoy this for a moment. Although, he was realizing now that it was almost too quiet. There was nobody else at his table, was there? Well… there as always time for making more friends later. Sighing softly, August closed his eyes as he bit into the left half of the bread munching softly as he leaned forward, just barely resting his elbow against the tables.

Jewel had been sitting nearby August at a different table, silently eating his food as he stole glances at the other boy. Bee was just about losing her mind watching August pick around his food while she herself was still hungry after her dinner. After Jewel stood his ground and told her she couldn’t have his dinner, she went off sneaking around the tables for anyone not keeping an eye on their meal.

Should he warn the food picker? Honestly, he had half a mind to ignore him and let him stay in his own world. But, they were comrades; a family. Krause and the Commander were doing their best to drill that thought into their heads. It was why they had to train together, live together, and most recently, be punished together…

He could still feel the soreness in his muscles after that recent punishment. Damn Leon and Jericho for not just fighting somewhere away from everyone else. It just had to be in the mess hall…

Maybe he could try to make friends with the food picker. Jewel did hear this one was a damn good soldier, and he didn’t seem like a bad person.

He could already hear Gabriel nagging him to go make friends. So, Jewel grabbed what was left of his food and slid over to August’s table, resting his head in the palm of his hand as he looked at the other.

“I’m not an emotional person,” He began, “but if I keep watching you pick your food and sigh I’ll start feeling sad and tired with you.”

Jewel tore a piece of his bread off then ate it, looking at August. “You want to share your thoughts?”

His mind had wandered far and away from the place his body seemed to be glued to until a voice called him back to reality. It was soft, nonthreatening, and carried a hint of sympathy. His eyes fluttered open as he took a moment to fix his posture and turned to lay eyes on the person who'd approached.

Jewel. One of two, if he remembered correctly. He'd never met a twin in his life and here within the 104th, there were two sets.

"Huh?" Confusion settled, but barely for a moment before he realized what this could have been. "Ah! Um... Me? Oh... right." A medley of questions, words and sounds left his mouth much like one would expect from a lovestruck fool, or at least someone shocked by the beauty before them. Of course, that wasn't what was happening. Jewel was beautiful, that wasn't in question. August just wasn't the time to fumble over words for something like that.

"Was I...?" He shook his head. Maybe he'd given the wrong impression. "Crap, right, yeah." August couldn't help laughing a little as he regained his composure. "I'm fine really. I mean, I'm kinda far from home, and most of the friends I'd started making have dropped out of the 104th" Thinking about it, that did just sound like more than a little reason for someone to be sad. "But honestly... it's been weeks, and I'm more exhausted and sore than I've ever been."

August laughed a bit harder, wincing at the sudden movement. "Commander Krause decided that since the normal workout she gave everyone didn't cut it in pushing me to the limit, she was gonna give me more. Soooo here I am. Dying." He looked away for a moment before taking another bite of his left half of bread. "Probably a bad joke for a cadet to make, not that I think about it," he mused, chowing softly.

Jewel fought back an amused grin seeing August stumble with his words. It reminded him of his time in the Underground, where a few touch starved men would give the shirts off their backs for a pretty woman who gave them a crumb of her attention.

He couldn’t think poorly of those men; it was because of them he and Bee were still alive.

He remained quiet as August explained what was going on. His friends dropped out, and Krause had been giving him a lot more exercise to deal with. So, exhaustion and a bit of loneliness. Jewel did come here to potentially make a friend. Thank you August for that opening.

“I can’t help with your exhaustion, but if you’re tired of sitting at an empty table, my sister and I always have room at ours.” Jewel offered August. Jewel and Bee had only known and trusted each other for the longest time, with them only recently trusting Gabriel. More friends meant more people to look out for him and Bee.

Speaking of Bee. She’d gone around under the tables and snatched about two pieces of bread from unfortunate soldiers that hadn’t been paying attention. After stuffing her face with it, she was on the prowl for maybe one more piece of food before she could say she was satisfied.

Her hunt led her to the table where she heard Jewel and some guy talking. She slowly poked her head up, only her eyes and the top of her head above the table. She caught sight of the right piece of bread, eyeing it like a hungry predator.

No, of course not. August shook his head, a smile ever present on his face. He certainly didn't expect Jewel to help him with his exhaustion. What would that even be? He stifled a small laugh, taking the moment to nab the last piece of the left half of bread.

He chewed and swallowed, musing still. August's smile returned though. He gave Jewel a small nod. "Yeah sure," he said, accepting Jewel's offer. "I'd like that. Might at least help with the fatigue a bit to hang with a few friendly faces at the end of the day," he added calmly. Having a friend to share meals with might have been fun, after all.

"So," he began turning as he lifted the right piece of bread to his mouth. "By the way, where is your sister anyw-" Almost as if on cue, August caught sight of an unfamiliar, familiar face. "Motherfu-!" he shouted, reacting almost instantly, swatting at the invader, unexpectedly smacking Bee, in an attempt to get her away, with the piece of bread in his right hand. Perhaps he'd used a bit more force than he meant to or was necessary, but he hadn't expected to find her... THERE! What the hell?! At least it wasn't his hand... or fist? Maybe the piece of bread being the weapon wouldn't have hurt as much.

Jewel was glad that the conversation, though short, was going relatively well. August could have given him the cold shoulder and guaranteed being alone, but he was kind enough to accept the offer. Now his and Bee’s table would be a little more livelier.

Then came the question of where his sister was, and as if whatever God out there heard August’s call, Bee had popped her head up to try and snatch the piece of bread on the table. That bread became a weapon and was used to cushion the smack against her face.

Bee would have been fine even if August had punched her with his bare hand. She’d taken a lot worse from grown men after all. However, it was the shock of getting smacked with a piece of bread that made her freeze for a second.

“Did...Did you just smack me with bread?” Bee stood up completely and wound her fist back. “Why you-”

Jewel was quick to stand up and put a hand between her and August. “Krause.” was all he said to remind her what would happen if she started a fight.

That name alone was enough to make her angrily pout and plop down in the spot next to August. Her arms still ached from those damn pushups, and due to her height, running laps would feel like an eternity.

Jewel smiled at her, “Bee, this is our new friend.”

She looked at him confused, then at August. “New friend, huh? Who are you again?”

August blinked once, twice, and three times as his "attack" sunk in. Bee's question was certainly warranted. He had indeed smacked her with bread. Why with bread? Was it okay to eat the bread now? Why were she hiding and poking out from under the table? No... wait...

"Why were you coming out from under the table?!" August, more than absolutely anything else, was confused. Still, he appeared ready as all hell to brawl as she raised her fist. A smirk appeared on his face though, a look that could mean nothing short of 'bring it'. Luckily, Jewel's had rose to put a stop to the potential scrap before it could spiral into anything more.

Just like that too, the tension of a potential fight was gone and Bee was sitting next to him. "I'm August. I guess I'm your new friend now?" He said, though it came out more like a question as he tilted his head to the side. "Are you... still hungry?" That was the only thing that he could think of. "If you really want it, you can have the piece of bread. You could have just asked. Just... let me eat the rest of my food." Obviously, he wouldn't make a regular thing of something like this. If he did, he'd never make it through training. But... well... if she was that desperate for more, why not?

Bee looked at him with a raised eyebrow at the offer. Her guard went up instinctively, her body stiffened, and she watched him carefully. Much like Laurie, she would have asked him what he did to the bread that he would offer it so willingly. What sort of freak would be so nice as to just offer their rations?

But then Jewel cleared his throat.

“She is, August. Thank you.” Jewel then looked at his sister and calmly told her. “Take the bread, Bee.”

The only reason Jewel was telling her to take it was because he literally watched August eat it. Jewel, in his head, subconsciously repeated to himself that August could betray them at any moment. But he knew that there was no reason for him to do that. What benefit would August get from feeding a new friend tainted bread? If anything, it would hurt his credibility with the rest of the recruits and possibly send him to wherever they sent criminals.

He looked at Bee, quietly communicating with her with his eyes to trust him. Bee seemed to receive the signals, and hesitantly took the piece that she’d been smacked with.

Instead of just eating the whole thing, Bee stole glances at August. She looked at the bread, then back at August. Bee then broke the bread in half and gave August the smaller half.

“Thank you.” She told him, eating the bread she kept with a ‘nom’. Seems like Bee didn’t have any intention of answering his question.

Jewel smiled. Well it was a start at least. “Bee’s always had a big appetite. Though she looks grumpy, she really appreciates your kindness.”

Bee glared at her brother with a pout. Why the hell did he have to call her out like this?!

August was confused. If she was stalking his bread like a predatory creature of habit, she should have seen him eat the other half. What reason did she have to be sus-

It didn't matter. Jewel quickly snuffed out the suspicion, calling his sister out in the process. August had to stifle a laugh as she took the piece and proceeded to break it into two smaller uneven pieces. He took back the smaller piece as she offered it and nodded, immediately biting into it. "No problem. I know being hungry sucks." Though from the looks of it, he totally didn't know as well as they would.

Shifting from the bread to his plate, August spooned a bite into his mouth. He was content to leave it at that, but Jewel continued. This time, he couldn't stifle the laugh. He was just lucky he'd swallowed. After all, he wasn't sure that he'd be able to come back from a bread slap and spitting on her.

"You two are pretty interesting, huh?" he asked as his laughter died down, allowing him to take another bite of the bread.

Though he embarrassed his sister a bit, Jewel’s small goal of obtaining a potential friend for himself and Bee went well. August seemed to like them enough, Bee seemed to be okay enough with him that she was able to hold off from starting a fight, and Jewel could see this becoming something that relied on trust.

Trust…

Yes, he and Bee needed this.

“Not the first time we heard that.” Jewel smiled.

“That mean we’re gonna see your face more?” Bee asked August after she finished the piece of bread. “Been a while since we made friends with a not psycho.”

Jewel had the brief thought of embarrassing Bee a little more by asking if seeing August more would make her happy, but decided to shut his mouth and let it pass.

“Well,” August began as he ate another bite. He was almost done now. Sad. “I guess you don’t really have a choice with how many people have dropped out,” he joked with a small shrug. It was kind of true though. They were gonna be seeing a lot of each other assuming none of them dropped out.

He chuckled. “Besides, I’d be lucky to spend hang out with anyone as beautiful as either of you,” he said, inhaling yet another bite. “I just hope none of the other cadets try to kill me for getting too close.” He continued to joke, but part of that was serious. August didn’t want to be put in a situation where he might have to actually hurt someone.

August did tell the truth. With how many people were dropping out constantly, it was difficult to make and keep friends in the recruits. August didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon, and the twins didn’t have a choice but to stay.

Their entire reason for being on the surface was to join the military. Gabriel would put them right back where he found them if they went back on their word. And well, Jewel and Bee weren’t exactly ready to give up seeing the world just yet.

August’s next words caught Bee off guard. She stared at him for a bit, blushed, then turned in her seat to look away from him. She was used to Jewel getting that kind of attention, but her? The only time eyes turned her way was to ask her what Juli liked. Was August just trying to be nice?!

Jewel, on the other hand, seemed unphased by the compliment. “Aren’t you sweet. I doubt that’ll be the case. I’ve seen your fighting; most they’ll do is threaten you.”

Both twins had seen August’s capabilities in hand to hand combat, and he was certain the other recruits saw it too. Only a fool would try to challenge him… A fool, or someone desperate. Either way, the match outcome was predictable.

August blinked a few times, tilting his head to try and get a better look at Bee as she looked away. His attention turned to Jewel. "Sweet? I'm just being honest," he admitted, laughing a little bit as he rubbed the back of his head. The praise didn't fall on deaf ears either.

"Ah, I'm not all that impressive. A good enough fighter could probably kick my ass. And we've got a few of those, right?" he smiled, though he stole glances at Bee. She still wasn't facing him. He tried to bury his curiosity, but it seemed her couldn't.

"Hey... Bee. Beeeee," he called out to her, saying her name a bit louder the second time. "Are you blushing?"

'Cuuuuuute...' he couldn't help thinking.

"Come on," he began. "You've gotta get called beautiful and pretty all the time."

The only person listening to August right now was Jewel. Bee was staring down at the floor, using her hair as a curtain to try and shield her red face from everyone else. Her eyes were wide and lips pressed together in a line, slowly processing the compliment that August had given her.

15 years had gone and passed with her being accustomed to Jewel getting all the attention in that way. She’d grown accustomed to and accepted being uglier than her twin brother. By how much? She wasn’t sure. But today was the day! The day that she received a compliment like that from someone who wasn’t gross or creepy looking! Of course the question of it being out of kindness or being genuine went through her mind, but right now she was trying to figure out how to respond to getting called beautiful.

Jewel, meanwhile, found it difficult to hold the conversation. Mainly because Bee’s reaction was too good to pass up. The poor girl wasn’t used to compliments, and boy did it show~ No, it wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t help his appearance, but he did try to help her by pointing her crushes in her direction. Of course that didn’t work either…

Maybe, just maybe…

“She gets called beautiful left and right. You’d better catch her quick before someone else does. In fact, I think you’d have a better chance than the oth-”

Before Jewel could finish his sentence, Bee had reached across the table and grabbed Jewel’s shirt collar with both fists and shook him. Her cheeks were still beet red and her face was flustered.

“Shut your mouth before I shove my shoe into it!”

It was odd seeing a girl react like this. For a moment, with how little mind Bee was paying August, he'd almost thought that he'd upset her or something. He'd opened his mouth to speak again when Jewel started.

"Oh yeah?" he asked softly. This only confused him more. So why did it seem like such a big deal?

He wasn't even registering everything else Jewel said when Bee reached across the table. "Wha-?" he was shocked by the turn of events, but couldn't help laughing. Jewel seemed cool as a cucumber and Bee's face was crimson. "Oh my god~" he said cheerfully. "You guys are priceless. Thanks. You really brightened up my night," he said spoon his last bit of food into his mouth.

August shook his head, still stifling small fits of laughter as he stood up. "Anyway. I'm gonna head to bed. You two should too. Ya know. Beauty sleep and all that," he said giving a small wave as he began to walk away from them.

 

[Raiden]

1. August Ackerman | 2. Bianca Hatton​

Halvor Verdende & Bianca Hatton
104th Training Corps
847
Collab with Serei2477
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Hal didn’t like hitting girls.

Even if they were strong and capable of defending themselves, any sane boy would have still cringed at the thought of giving bruises and nosebleeds to a girl. ‘Probably not Leon, though,’ his thoughts spoke in jest as Hal looked over his sparring partner for the evening; Bee, she had called herself upon exchanging introductions almost half an hour ago. He knew next to nothing about her, which seemed to be all-too-common for his side of things.

“Here,” Hal produced a flask of water from the inside of his uniform jacket, holding it out for Bee to share. He stared down at the small mirror of contusions along her face, reminded of his own shiners and bringing his left hand up to make sure that his jaw wasn’t misaligned. Being a full head taller than she was, the boy’s underestimation of Bee had led to a bit of a rude awakening.

I should’ve learned my lesson after Ackerman. “Sorry for doubting you earlier,” he offered an apology for his earlier patronizing behavior, flinching slightly as he fiddled around his chin. Hal was rather intrigued by his sparring partner; there was no ordinary kid who grew up knowing how to fight that well without some sort of story, and he felt inclined to give respect where it was due. “How’d you learn to fight like that, Bee?”

Bee, on the other hand, didn’t like to be underestimated.

Due to her smaller size and gender, Bee had a more difficult time finding sparring partners; especially among men. Some because they shared Hal’s sentiment, and others because they had a crush on Juli and didn’t want to be the ones to upset her by beating up her sister.

She had half a mind to tell those dickheads the truth, buuut she’d rather let them find out for themselves.

Thankfully, Hal had agreed, but she could tell since the beginning that he was underestimating her as well. Probably trying not to hurt her too bad.

At least this training session served as a way to prove something, and to remind Hal that just because he was taller, it didn’t mean he was at an advantage.

Seeing the flask of water, Bee’s first instinct was to decline. Her thoughts quickly went to the possibility of it being tainted somehow, but Jewel’s reminder went through her head.

‘August gave you his bread and you were fine. I know it’s hard but try and trust your comrades. Not everyone is out to get us.’

“Thanks.” Bee responded, grabbing the flask and pouring some of the water into her mouth, not letting her lips touch the opening and handed it back. ”At least you know better, hm?” She asked him with a smile. However the smile was short lived when he asked his next question.

Trust… Trust. Trust in her comrades. Even if her instincts told her not to, Hal was one of the people who could potentially keep her from being Titan food.

“I’ve been fighting men your size since I was a kid.” She answered, “I had to learn and learn quick for the sake of survival.”

She then asked him, “What about you? You’re pretty skilled.” Bee touched her own face as the reminders of Hal’s good hits felt tender against her finger tips. There would definitely be bruises.

With his suspicions partially confirmed, Hal couldn’t help but accept the stroke to his ego. Setting his flask back in its respective pocket, he managed to pop his jaw back into place, clicking his teeth together to make sure. “I’m from Shiganshina,” the boy started off the beginning of the typical sob story, finding it a bit difficult to recount his ‘normal’ life before the Fall of Wall Maria; it all seemed so minuscule in comparison to the new world of hell that they lived in.

“I was the new kid on the block, and some of ‘em didn’t take kindly to an outsider on their turf,” Hal continued on. “So I had to learn how to fight in order to protect Elke, Luka, and myself,” he was sure that even if their names were unfamiliar to her, Bee would pick up on the fact that they were his friends. He took a moment to ponder on the other girl’s words, realizing that his own experiences seemed rather mild in the face of what Bee had mentioned; their definition of survival must have been greatly different during those times.

“I take it you had it way worse, yeah?” Hal figured that it wouldn’t hurt to take a guess.

In all honesty, Bee couldn’t relate to him; at least to the first part. She was never the “new kid,” and she didn’t have many chances to meet kids back then when they died of disease, malnourishment, or weren’t interested in becoming friends. She was just one of the many rats that scattered the Underground.

But she did recognize the word “turf.” It had to be the same as when she and Jewel would end up somewhere they shouldn’t be… If that was the case, then she wasn’t totally clueless.

She knew she and Jewel could definitely relate to the reason why he learned how to fight. Nowadays, everyone wants to protect something; A person, a reputation, themselves. Halvor just happened to have two people… Two whose names she heard of but couldn’t think of faces to match. Maybe Jewel knew who they were? Or she could ask August...

At his guess, Bee paused to ponder a bit. After making up her mind, she asked him. “You ever go to the Underground? Or heard of it?”

Hal’s brow raised at the word, drawing a complete blank on any possible location that was underground. “That a nickname for someplace’?” he shook his head, leaning forward with genuine interest. If Bee was fighting adult-sized individuals as a kid, then it must’ve been a terrible place. Is it actually, physically, underneath the Walls? He just couldn’t see the possibility. “Sorry, can’t say I have.”

“Not surprised. My, uh, caregiver told Jewel and I that no one really knows about it.” She paused again, wondering where to start. “The Underground” is a nickname for the abandoned city literally underground. That’s where Jewel and I were born. No medicine, no sunlight, no grass, no skies.” Bee looked down at her fingers, touching the roughness of her skin as she talked. “There’s no honest work down there, so you either hunt bugs, steal bread and water, sell your body, or you die. Starvation and dehydration deaths are both common as hell. I’ve seen people as old as Krause too weak to walk, and I’ve seen guys gutting themselves to take the easy way out.”

She turned her attention to Hal. “Down there, I was stealing food and water every chance I got. Sometimes I’d get caught, and next thing I know I’m fighting a bunch of adults. I’m either let off with a warning or I’m beaten ‘til I’m spilling blood from every hole on my head. Those beatings just made me faster, sneakier, and stronger… Jewel on the other hand. First off, Jewel’s a guy in case you didn’t know. He looks the way he does because in the Underground, a pretty girl like Jewel got food, water, clothes, and maybe even shelter for even just a crumb of her attention… So he’d do whatever he needed to then bring home enough stuff for us to survive the night.”

Bee didn’t know exactly what her brother did to ensure they received the supplies, but he never talked about it and she never thought to ask him. She sighed. Some memories of her childhood haunted her, and she was able to overhear stories from other recruits of just how shitty a hand she and Jewel had been dealt. They thought it was normal until Gabriel introduced them to the surface.

“That give a good idea or you wanna hear more?”

The taller boy mouthed a wow in awe at the shorter girl’s explicit account of the Underground, which seemed like an almost entirely new world from the precision of language in which Bee explained that cloistered society. It seemed that Hal was more than respectful of the woman after listening, now knowing exactly why she was someone not to be trifled with; whether or not it was pity was out of the topic.

"A clever guise," Hal complimented in regards to the explanation on the other twin; though he'd been perceptive enough to see through the appearance, he knew that there were people like Luka who would fall for it convincingly until revealed. "Your brother, I mean. He sounds like a damn good person to rely on, at least for your sake."

With much of the problematic painting pictured in his mind, Hal may not have seen the need to listen to more at the present moment. "All o' that sounds all too bad of a place for the two of you to have grown, but at least you're here, still pushing forward," he was genuine in his response towards Bee, pointing to the bits of bruises that lined his face from her earlier strikes. "Proof's right here after all, nothin' but respect for it. I'd say yes to hearin' some more, but I feel like I should earn it first after thinkin' you were weak before."

“You have no idea… If it wasn’t for him, I’d have starved.”

Maybe one day Bee could properly return all the kindness her brother did for her. He deserved it for all he’d done… She might have gone around stealing, but Jewel had to degrade himself for their sakes.

Hearing his next words, Bee couldn’t help the small smile. “You’re right. A story like mine and Jewel’s isn’t something I should throw around all willy nilly. Once you can knock a tooth out of my mouth then I’ll consider telling you more. Until then, for as long as Jewel and I are on the surface, we’re gonna do nothing but fight and push forward. Don’t fall behind, got it?”

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Laurence Arnault & Gwen Bulwark

A Walk to The Stables

It’s been three weeks since the training started. Three weeks since the first day they all ran laps, the fight at the mess hall that had them running through the night, and after that, it had been training after training. Laurie doesn’t mind, it helped take his mind off of things. Like his grandparents… and his mom. “It’s almost been a year now.” He said to himself as he sat by the porch of the cabin holding on to a back he borrowed from Jo.

“What was that?” A voice beside him asked. It was Noah, leaning on the rails with his signature frown.

“Nothing.” For a split second, Noah noticed the glassy look on Laurie’s eyes, but it was gone far too quickly. Bright eyes and a smile greeted his view instead. “Anyway, are you excited for tomorrow? We’re having hand-to-hand combat right?” Laurie asked to change the topic so that he wouldn’t be asked any further.

“Hell yeah. That’s why I’m sleeping early to conserve my energy. You should too, you know, you can’t train properly with a sleepy head.” He criticized the older teen, knowing the other’s habit of sleeping late and waking up really early. “Also, you should stop reading. It’s already dark.” Noah left off to sleep, slamming the door gently behind him.

Laurie couldn’t help but give a low chuckle. He closed the book gently, a shame he couldn't finish it. It was a very addicting fairy tale of a girl and a devil. Noah was right, reading a book this late would just worsen his eyesight, and sleeping early would be beneficial but he’s not really in the mood to sleep yet. With a sigh, Laurie had gotten up from his seat, stretching his back and arms. “Maybe a walk would help.”

The training field was quiet during these dead hours. The surrounding trees gently rustled with the cool breeze; the blanket of stars above shining with fervor as a few clouds lazily rolled by, somewhat masking the moonlight which soaked Laurie’s dark hair. It was a serene scene. No doubt perfect for clearing one’s bothered mind…

If only there wasn’t a mysterious figure following Laurie for the past five minutes now.

A petite silhouette could be seen tailing him, only about a dozen of steps behind. Whoever the person was, they sure have zero regards for subtlety. They didn’t even bother to mask their footsteps as the obnoxious crunch of foliages beneath their soles reached his ears seamlessly.

It bothers him. Every step he made was accompanied by another, there is usually no one out of the cabins at this time of night other than him. It made him wonder if these additional footsteps were all in his head and that maybe when he turns around there is no one there.

He stopped, taking a breath to help calm his now rapid beating heart. He turned around to see a teenage girl just about almost a foot smaller than him with that red hair and uniquely green eyes. It was easy to remember her for those emerald eyes, they were rare. Gwen Bulwark, “It’s you, hey. Can’t sleep?” There was a momentary relief that could be seen on Laurie’s face before he switched back to that same old smile.

Before him, Gwen merely rolled her shoulders to a shrug, as though she wasn’t creepily shadowing him for the past few minutes. She returned his smile, however, and it was the perfect copy of the ones she’d shoot Laurie whenever he would catch her staring at him- which may be disturbingly frequent given the fact that they’ve only met each other about a week or so.

“I’m actually sleepwalking.” She flatly replied, expression unchanging as she bore her eyes to his blue ones.

Sleepwalking was a foreign term to him, he can’t really tell if she’s telling the truth or not. He waved his hand in front of her, gauging to see if anything would happen. “If you really are sleepwalking, aren't your eyes supposed to be closed?” It was more of a question to himself, but he would just ask Jo tomorrow.

Laurie, as much as he would not say this in front of others, found Gwen’s smile a bit eerie especially since it’s directed at him. Nevertheless, it wasn’t in him to be rude and while he doubts that the smile is genuine he wasn’t really one to talk. Not all of his cheery attitude is wholly sincere. Besides, she might just simply want to walk with someone on an evening such as this. “But really, what are you doing here at this time? And since you’re here, wanna walk with me instead?”

The girl looked slightly shocked at the offer, her brows raising and her lips forming a small ‘o’ as though he just told her he can grow a second head. What followed afterward was a small giggle, smooth like honey, albeit it somehow ended with an obnoxious snort. “My eyes are simply sleep-open. Yes, that’s a word.” No, it wasn’t a word. “Knowledge is power, use it wisely.” There was that nonchalant shrug again.

“Sure, I’ll walk with you… but only because you asked nicely.” Her smile shifted to a smirk as she took a couple of steps to stand beside him. “You know, you walk slowly even if you’re getting tailed. Kinda weird.” Big words coming from the stalker herself.

Laurie continued walking. With Gwen beside him, he trudged on to match with her steps. If she hadn't told him, he wouldn't have thought that he was being tailed. He thought that she was just walking the same path as him, but he is doubtful of the sleep-open eyes. "Well, I am trying to enjoy the cool breeze of the night. I have to admit it was kinda hard to do so when you were, uh, trailing behind me."

"I thought I was imagining things." He said with a bashful smile and the same relief he had earlier. He looked at Gwen and saw the marks near her left eye. He always wondered where she got them. "Those scars, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get them?"

“When I was twelve, I decided to take a night walk by myself. I noticed someone was following me but I was too dumb and trustful of people that I thought I was hallucinating. Suddenly-,” Gwen abruptly maneuvered to lock a leg around Laurie’s while her hands grabbed his nape and shoulder, exerting opposing forces. In a blink of an eye, the two of them were midair.

"Hmm?" Laurie gave an innocent questioning look at Gwen as the story felt familiar to his ear. Unbeknownst to him that she was referring to him and herself. Suddenly he found himself imbalanced, it felt like he fell down slowly. It only registered to him when his body collided with the ground, a jolt of pain coursed through his body as Gwen pinned him to the ground. "Gwen? Wha-"

“That person pinned me against the ground and pulled out their knife.” The hand on his nape moved to slowly trace three lines beneath his left eye. “Maria. Rosa. Sina.” She whispered, one name per stroke, as her emerald gaze darkened.

The touch sent shivers down his spine, it was a frightening story to him. But it wasn’t as nightmarish as what had happened years ago to Shiganshina. “D-did that really happened to you?” He asked with a slight quake in his voice thinking how frightening it must have been for Gwen.

At that moment, silence engulfed the two of them. There was no noise except for the faint rustling of the floras dotting the camp. A moment of stillness. Something which Gwen hated.

So, the woman threw her head backwards and loosened her grip on Laurie, dead eyes looking straight to the dark sky above them. Watching the glimmering stars reminded her of her destiny. It was then when she broke the silence, releasing a light laugh before rolling off Laurie and laying beside him.

"I lied, these are actually from Whiskers, my old cat. He's somewhere up there now." She raised a hand to point at the sky before glancing at her companion. "The part where I implied you're naive is true, though."

Laurie was vehemently confused the moment Gwen started laughing. He didn’t really understand what was going on, but he was thankful to have finally been let go. He was relieved to hear that such a thing never happened to her and if she hadn’t pointed it out he wouldn’t have thought that she was actually referring to him. He laughed, “So that was me that you meant on the first part.”

He can’t deny he was a bit embarrassed after the realization, “I’ll do better to be more careful next time.” He said as he rubbed the back of his neck, but what was important right now is that the book that he borrowed was safe. Well, as safe as could be, there was dirt all over and a small dent by the book spine. He should have been more alert and careful with it.

Laurie got up, offering his free hand to Gwen. “By the way, what you did was really amazing. Where did you learn that?”

"Back home." Gwen answered as she took his hands and pulled herself back on her feet. She let go of him and dusted herself, her original smile gracing her face once again. "I can teach you how to do it some time. I feel like you'd need it." She stretched her arms, letting out a small yawn in the process.

“I’d love to learn, it would be handy for tomorrow’s hand-to-hand combat training!” Laurie had always liked learning, and with tonight’s events, the technique is certainly something he’d need to know. Being a person who dislikes conflict, he is certainly not one who knows how to throw a punch.

"Enough questions about me, though. Why did you become a cadet? You feel out of place here." Gwen said as a matter-of-factly.

“I do?” Laurie hadn’t really thought much about it, but he did wonder why Gwen thinks that he is out of place. He scratched his head, not really knowing the answer to the former question. “You could say that I want to help humanity in its fight against the Titans. I was there when the Colossal Titan destroyed Wall Maria. I lost my home years ago, I have nothing to lose so why not?” He shrugged, his fingers gripping the book more tightly than before.

"Nothing to lose…" She mindlessly repeated his words before bursting into yet again another fit of laughter. This time, it sounded more amused than the last. "So, to you, your life is worth nothing. Good to know." Laurie was probably one of those suicidal idiots who'd 'sacrifice' himself for the good of others. This makes things less boring, at least.

"I take it you're gonna join the Scouts once we graduate. Do you truly believe humanity stands a chance against titans?" Laurie had seen their prowess with his own eyes after all.

The question had him deep in thought. There was only the sashay of the trees and the sound of the crickets as he pondered the question over. “No, at least not now. The Titans are frightening, they’re too big, too strong and too many. Maybe in the future, but definitely not now.”

He let a moment pass, he moved his gaze to stare at Gwen’s forest-colored eyes and said, “What about you? What’s your plan after graduation?”

The female in question cupped her chin, as though in deep thoughts. “I’m thinking of entering the Military police and settling in Wall Sina, maybe with a certain someone.” Her brows began bouncing up and down in a suggestive manner.

Laurie couldn’t help but grin widely. He was glad to know that Gwen was planning on living the best life possible out there. “Oh? Who’s the lucky someone?” He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t curious and who wouldn’t be. “Got a certain someone back at home or here with the Cadets?”

The impish twinkle in Gwen’s eyes brightened with each word from Laurie. She placed a palm over her heart, the moonlight making the scene much more dramatic than it should be. “Unfortunately, he’s a cadet who doesn’t value his life. Even though he already knows that humanity doesn’t stand a chance against the titans, he’s still going to join the Scout Regiment. Purposely endangering himself because he thinks he got nothing to lose, when in truth…” She tightly clutched the fabric over her chest and sorrowfully looked away, “he’s risking losing a future with me.”

Benedikt? Alastair? Doesn’t seem like the type who gets along with others. It was weird, he found it weird. Laurie has been trying to figure out who Gwen had been talking about. There was little that she knew about the other that it was hard to think, and the points that she had made don’t really resonate with any other cadet that he knew. Unless…

No, that couldn’t be the case, right? “Do you mean-” Was it really alright to ask? Would he like it if the answer really was, “-me?” He asked in disbelief, not that Gwen doesn’t seem like a fantastic girl, no. He just never entertained the idea of romance and there is also the fact that they just properly met tonight. “Y-you barely know me and I hardly know you!” He said with a quake in his voice.

For once, Laurie was flustered. A smile wasn’t on his face as it was filled with utter confusion. He doesn’t know how to respond to this. “Are you sure? Is this another one of your jokes?”

In response, Gwen bit her lips and tucked a stray lock behind her ear. “But that’s where you’re wrong. We actually know each other for far longer.” Her eyes once again found his, but this time, they were glazed with tears. “Laurie… I was the girl who used to collect firewood with you near the brook in Shiganshina….”

Laurie was taken aback, there was a girl who used to collect firewood near the tavern back then. His memory of her was hazy, but there was someone and he used to talk to her too. “For real?! What are the chances of us meeting! That’s amazing…” His voice faltered on the last two words, “I’m sorry though, for what we went through. That… that was a nightmare.”

Gwen silently nodded, wiping her eyes. “I’m so happy we found each other, Lauey.” She inched closer to him, arms open and ready to envelop him in a hug.

“I don’t think you called me that before but-” He was glad too, but this girl in front of him had just confessed two minutes ago. “I’m glad to see you again too,” He started taking her hand instead of giving the embrace that she wanted. “But this is the first time I heard of it and I am in complete shock. I hope you understand but this feels too fast.”

“...Too fast? The Colossal Titan may appear at any minute and kick the wall down, killing thousands of people in a blink of an eye. We can be one of those people, Lauey. I just… don’t want to live a life full of regrets.” She sniffled with a small shake of her head.

“Look, Gwen I-” He stopped, he had lost his cool and had no idea what to do to calm her down. This was out of his element and he’s just wishing for something, anything to diffuse the situation.

And that was when a horse suddenly barged its head in front of them with a neigh and grabbed onto Jo’s book with its big teeth. “What!? No! Bad horsey!” Laurie screamed as he struggled to take the book away. “Gwen help!”

However, Gwen only stood there, mouth slightly agape as though she couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before her. It completely came out of nowhere that she couldn’t keep the act anymore and burst into a fit of high-pitched, obnoxious laughter. She clutched her stomach, almost keeling over from the hilarity of it all.

It was only after a few moments did she intervene with the tug of war. She placed a hand on the horse’s crown while the other one brushed its mane. She could feel the animal relax under her touch and eventually loosen its bite on the volume. Once she was sure it was completely calm, she took the worn-out book and handed it to Laurie.

He couldn’t believe that Gwen had laughed at his misery first before helping him but then again in another’s point of view perhaps the turn of events really were funny. He watched in awe as she calmed the horse down and retrieved the fairy tale that has gone through so much this very night. “Thank you!” His eyes shone with gratitude to the teenage redhead.

“Consider this my apology. I told you plenty of lies tonight.” She flashed him a smirk, and it was only now did it become apparent that their walk led them to the open stables.

“Plenty of lies…” He said quietly as if a sack of heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He was so relieved that a peal of small laughter escaped his lips, what an idiot he was to believe. “You’re strange, but I think I learned a lot from you tonight.” One thing was for sure, he won’t be taking her words at face value from now on. “I still hope that you’ll teach me that technique you’ve done earlier.” Laurie said with a small smirk on his face.

“Of course. After all...not all of them were lies.” She shot him a wink, letting him process the implication as she turned around and walked… to the stable broom, sweeping the messy hays on the ground thereafter.

He thought that she would walk back to the cabin but no, instead Gwen was sweeping the stables. He blinked twice making sure that what he was seeing was right. "What are you doing?" It was obvious what she was doing, but he meant why she was doing it. "No, that was the wrong question. Why are you sweeping the floor?"

Gwen paused, looking at him with a raised brow. "Because it's dirty… and I accidentally threw dung onto the instructor's shoe a few days ago. Don't ask how it happened." Yep, this girl was serving her sentence in the dead of night for unruly behavior. It was safe to say that it was her third day cleaning the stables, explaining why the horse relaxed under her touch.

It was one surprise after another with Gwen, but this one had made him let out a chuckle. Krause must have had quite the day that time. He put down the book on a table by the end of the room and grabbed another broom and proceeded to sweep with the other teenager. It wasn't his punishment but he couldn't leave Gwen like this.

Speaking of the devil, she was staring at him as though he just grew a second head. “...Did you accidentally throw dung onto the instructor’s shoe too?”

“No, I just want to help you out,” Laurie said with a smile as he continued sweeping the floor, not leaving behind a single speck of dust.

“Huh.” Gwen muttered before shifting her gaze from the boy to the night sky. The stars were still shining above them, still as bright yet untouchable as ever. Somehow, though, she felt like they shone kinder tonight.

She silently smiled to herself.

mention: || interaction: . D O V E

 

[Demon Shinobi]

Sera Mayer
Collab with homintales ​

Another night among the 104th cadet training corps saw August having about as peaceful a night as his morning had been. Ever since he'd joined, he'd found it harder and harder to get a decent night's rest. Some nights he had no issue. Some nights, he tossed and turned, his body refusing to let go of whatever it was that was forcing it into activity. Tonight was one of those nights. No... maybe it was worse.

"Ngh... Ugh... Don't..." His body tensed. He gripped the sheets of his bed. "Stop... N-no..." August's head jerked left, then right. He tugged at his sheet and kicked. His movements only got worse until finally he shot up.

"Misha!"

This restrained shout was the only noise on an otherwise quiet night. He swallowed hard, his chest heaving with every breath he took. Why? Why did this keep happening? The past year... Ever since he'd enlisted. It was slow going, but it'd gotten worse hadn't it? He couldn't remember this happening so much back home. At least, it'd never happened to this extent. Maybe every once in a while. Once in a blue moon, a nightmare. But he'd wake up fine. It was starting to get a lot harder to stay asleep though. That wouldn't be good for training.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it," he said to himself as he swung his legs out over the edge of his bed. The fabric of his clothes felt suffocating despite being so light. It was nightwear. Pajamas, a plain black t-shirt.

August needed some air. He put on his shoes and silently made his way out of the bunks. He didn't stop until he felt the night air against his face. He took slow, deep breaths. Each time he exhaled it was a little shaky. Maybe he just needed to tire himself out. A run. Yeah. Maybe. He was readying himself for a long trek when something caught his attention.

"What was-"

There was a noise. Who else could possibly have been up at this time? And why? He shook his head. No. Maybe it was just his imagination. There it was again. He began walking, towards it. As the sound grew louder, his pace quickened a bit. What would he find, he wondered?

Sera made sure to stretch a bit prior to getting started. Her arms and legs felt like they were ready to crack off. She was clearly tired, physically as well as mentally. Despite all of that, Sera still managed to find reasons to train while everyone else was off sleeping on their nice warm mattresses. It was a necessary sacrifice if it meant reaching the top.

Sera checked to make sure the coast was clear. She especially took the time to make sure Krause was nowhere in sight. Last thing she needed was for the Commander to catch ‘er off guard. At last, thinking no one would cause any disruptions, Sera commenced the private and solo training.

Unlike with Sera’s earlier training, which were usually cut short out of fear of Krause catching Sera, tonight’s was to consist of pain Endurance training. In other words, she needed to make sure she could take a hit or two when fighting the Titans.

In Trost, Sera was known for being able to take a lot of extra punishment whenever faced with a tough situation. It was one of the many perks that came with joining the Gang she chose to work for. Kids would always talk about the way she would catch MPs off guard and leave them unconscious in alleys, their money and sometimes weapons no longer in their possession.

Silently walking over to the wooden plank she propped up on a rock, Sera began to strike the wood with nothing other than two unprotected hands. This was of course only going to be the first step. And she wouldn’t allow herself to stop until either the skin on her hand began to fall off or the plank snapped in two.

August was quiet. He didn't want to risk whoever might have been skulking around out there to his presence. Could have been a rogue, a thief, or worse... Maybe Krause was patrolling looking for cadets breaking curfew to make an example of. He shuddered at the thought. Nope. Certainly didn't wanna be caught out like this. But whoever was out and about was making a little more noise.

It was a sound he knew all too well. Knuckles were pounding against wood. Maybe. That was his best guess. It could have been kicked, maybe some other form of strike, but the target was clear. Wood had a sound distinct from flesh or stone, or anything else really.

Still, as he drew closer to the sound, August crouched down a bit, slowing his breathing. He didn't want to be made out. What if the person were... As he came upon the sight, his eyes narrowed a bit, a look of confusion emblazoning his face.

It was a girl. A girl he knew. He swore he knew her. Sandra? Sasha? Samantha? "Sera?" He whispered to himself, inaudibly questioning the name he'd settled on. No... That didn't sound quite right. What the hell was she doing up and out here this time of night?

After several more painful and aggressive strikes, the plank finally cracked into two separate pieces. However, Sera didn’t exactly feel like celebrating when ‘er skin was peeling off. Taking a small Canteen of liquid, she poured a good portion of it on the new wounds.

Originally, Sera’s training was to continue a while longer. But with the pain she was feeling, she wanted nothing more than to call it a night. Picking up each side of the plank. Sera tossed them into a bush where they were no longer visible. Didn’t need anyone asking questions.

With everything settled, Sera started to pack up. But then she swore she heard someone whisper something. She quickly turned around to face where the quiet, yet noticeable, voice emitted from. She called out to whoever was responsible for the whisper. “W-who’s there?” She said, making sure not to speak too loud. “It’s not ni-nice to sneak up on someone.”

August had watched to the very end. It was that girl. He'd seen her. Never spoken or held a conversation. One could say he knew her, at least in passing. She'd punched until the plank had broken. She seemed to be in pain. What the hell? Didn't she feel like they got enough punishment during the day? If not on the usual training day, during sparring surely.

He jumped at the sound of her voice. Wait... he jumped? But he was watching... Well that wasn't embarrassing at all. He'd stayed silent for a while almost as if waiting for someone else to answer.

"Oh right!" He straightened himself up some, eyes going wide for a moment as thought he'd realized waiting for another was stupid given his position as the only other person there. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Sorry... uh..." A pause. He'd paused. He hadn't fully remembered her name. "Se-ra?" he moresoe asked, then stated, internally cursing himself. There was no way that was it!

"I didn't mean to sneak up on you," he said, choosing to continue rather than let the awkwardness of the moment settle. "I just... couldn't sleep. So, I came out and heard noises. So, ya know..." He was slow to approach, hands up as he softly laughed. He was a little nervous. "Here I am?" Last thing he needed was her thinking he was just out and about following her or something. Come to think of it, who would do that?

For a while, Sera just stared at him, not sure of what to respond with. It was clear that stalking Sera was not his goal, at least not the main one. Nevertheless, Sera was glad it was anyone other than Krause she had to face. Instead it was August.

Aside from his name and introduction with Krause, Sera was unable to recall any other notable information about August. Which was at least somewhat kind on Sera’s part. At least she had the respect to remember a person’s name. Meanwhile this one needed to pause just to guess.

She wondered if August had seen the violence against the plank. “Y-yeah, it’s Sera.” She said, arms now in a crossed position. “You’re August, right?” She asked, not giving him time to confirm his name. “Don’t apologize. I c-can’t seem to sleep either.” Of course their reasons were most likely contrasting from one another.

Hands still wounded, Sera rubbed them. “C-came out to train alone.” She admitted, not seeing any reason to withhold any information from August. He seemed like the kind of guy where you could give him information and it wouldn’t find its way to Krause. After taking a seat on the ground, she continued. “Well, since you can’t s-sleep and I can’t train anymore…” She pointed the Canteen towards August. “Wanna chat for a few?”

August sighed. She didn't seem upset or anything. But from her posture, the way she acted before noticing him, how she'd poured water on her hands...

"Really? I was sure I was wrong," he said. He laughed, rubbing the back of his head. Was it rude that he wasn't sure? Well, he'd tried to learn some names, but even with all the people who'd left, it was hard. It was worse if he didn't interact with the person often enough. Well, it wasn't like she'd be mad about something like that. "Guess sleepless nights are going around."

Her reason was certainly different though. He shook his head. She rubbed her hands. She was honest. "You should probably wrap those or something. Would be pretty bad if something happened to your hands." He might have warned her against pushing herself so hard and so long, but who was he to judge. "I was initially planning to go for a run, maybe tired myself out, but sure," he smiled.

"I think getting to know a new friend would be better than running alone and hoping Krause doesn't come along." Could she be considered a "new friend" when they'd technically been acquainted for a year? Well, he chose to see it that way. "So..." he paused briefly, glancing at her hands once more. "Any particular reason you were looking to bloody your hands this late at night?"

Sera took a quick swig from the Canteen. “Of course there is.” No one would do something like that for no good reason. Unless they were into that sort of thing. “W-wanted to train m-myself to take more pain without giving up. I’ve gone through with this a few times now. This is the first t-time anyone has caught me.” With any luck it would remain the last time.

She placed the Canteen on the ground in case August wanted a sip. “It’s important for w-when we get to ODM training.” ODM gear training was on Sera’s mind constantly. ODM gear offered Humanity the most efficient way to kill Titans. If anyone was going to take advantage of it, it was Sera. “Need to impress Krause and get as many kills as po-possible once we reach training.” She chose to use the term “kills'' even though the Titans they would face wouldn’t even be alive. Then again, calling Titans alive in the first place is a stretch. “Competition isn’t too fierce, maybe I’ll need to watch out for Anke. But aside from that, I’ll reach #1 easily and get into the Scouts.”

Now it was time for the most important of questions. “Wh-wh-” Sera stopped for a second. “What Regiment are you aiming for, August?”

"Heh... So, am I lucky for waking up to catch you or are you unlucky for getting caught?" he asked in a rather cheerful manner. In truth, he hated being awake. Not because of the time or the company or the chances of Krause showing up to spook them, but because of the reason he'd awoken. Still, he didn't wanna think about the nightmares let alone talk about them. It wasn't like he remembered much from them anyway.

Regardless, he shook his head. "But ya know, you're less likely to get results just working on enduring the pain like that. Strengthen your wrists, knees, working on how you use your fingers. Any way you can learn to handle controls better or brace yourself for a fall would be much more beneficial than bloodying your hands and risking infection." Course that was just what he thought. ODM training in and of itself would help strengthen your body, but preparing for it was what they were doing all the time anyway. Wasn't it? Going this far could be worse off for her than anything.

August didn't think Sera was the type to listen all that much though. Well, maybe she was. But she'd have no reason to listen to him. Would she?

"Besides, there's no way you're impressing anyone or making it to number one when you're dead on your feet during training hours," he was partially joking, waving it off as he shook his head. "Especially not with me around." Or maybe it was just a little competitive ribbing. "You and... Anke. One of the twins, right? Well, you two are free to fight for a second," he laughed a little, picking up the Canteen to take a sip. He lifted it to his lips and took a quick drink. As soon as his touched his tongue he pulled the canteen away. He swallowed hard. “Blegh… That’s not water,” he groaned. He shook his head, sticking his tongue out for a moment. Certainly that wasn’t something he was used to.

Thinking about his joke though… whether she took it the wrong way or not didn't matter. Her next question was one he'd heard a lot. "A year ago... I didn't have any idea. Didn't even know why I enlisted. Even now, I'm not fully," he sighed, looking down as he replaced the Canteen with a small thanks. "Honestly? I thought about the military police for a while. But... Ugh... it didn't really feel like the right fit? That wasn't why I left my mom and brother back home." He crossed his arms. When it got right down to it, August was as straightforward and honest as it got. "All I know for now is that I want to be someone that my brother can be proud of, and working in one of the factories in the Utopia district wasn't the answer. Plus, maybe I can help some people along the way. Make things better... safer for my brother." August's eyes found their way back to Sera for a moment. "What about you?"

There was never a point when Sera tried to hide why she wanted to join the Scouts. If someone wanted to know, they would get the answer. “Titans killed my Father when the M-military sent over 200,000 people to die for nothing. He and the others were tasked with reclaiming wall Maria from the Titans. Obviously, t-they failed. But I won’t. I know that joining the S-scouts will lead me to Wall Maria.” Sera was most likely one of few people who actually wanted to go to Wall Maria. Most people said she was crazy for even considering the idea.

None of the criticism, not even any that came from Sera’s own Family, had any effect. Sera’s mind was made up as soon as the news of the excessive quantity of casualties made its way to Trost. Her Mother, and even a few friends, recommended that Sera join the Military Police. “Well, w-wherever you go, don’t aim for the Military Police.” She warned. “Same goes for the Garrison, though it certainly isn’t as sh-shameful.” That left only one Regiment. After consuming the greater majority of what remained in the Canteen, Sera resumed after a few coughs. “At this point, I’ve only met a few other Recruits th-that are interested in joining the Scouts.” She didn’t outright say it. However, it was clear what she was implying.

It seemed that August's advice and friendly ribbing had fallen on deaf ears. That certainly wasn't fun. But suddenly things felt much more solemn, more serious. August's arms unfurled, his left hands coming to rest on his hip as his right lifted to rub the back of his head. He drew in a breath and sighed softly as he exhaled. "Wall Maria, huh?" he asked, thinking hard about it. The fall of Wall Maria had affected so many lives. Even the Utopia District wasn't free from a semblance of ramifications. It was hard to see things change so drastically. Of course, he didn't fully understand. How could he? He and his home were so detached from it all.

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. What could he even say? "I think if you're dedicated enough to hurt yourself like this, you'd make a great scout. Maybe you'll even get to lead the charge," he chuckled softly, his right hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "But that's assuming you don't destroy your hands or something before then."

"Your family, at least, seems worried about you. Your mom and friends. I'm sure my brother worries. I send him letters every once in a while. The little twerp is already better at writing than me." He couldn't help laughing at that. "Wish him or mom had given me an indication of a preference." Of course, his mom hadn't been able to pry herself away from the bottle for a long time. He wondered if she was ever sober enough to take care of Misha or if he helped her out more? Shrugging, August let go of the girl and turned away. "Like I said, I don't really know what it is I want." He had to admit though, listening to her was kind of inspiring. "But, maybe helping humanity, at least our people, wouldn't be so bad." It was definitely something to think about.

Sera looked away when August placed his hand on her shoulder and complemented her excessive amount of Determination. “Um, thanks.” She said, still not used to receiving genuine compliments outside of the Trost Gangs. She looked down to her fists, which sure enough looked worse than they felt. Nothing a quick visit to the infirmary couldn’t fix.

She laughed at August’s small rant towards his Brother’s superior writing skills. She didn’t really know what to tell him. He could try for the Scouts just like she was. Of course, that would put him in positions where it’s likely you won’t survive through the night. Then again, she was looking to do the exact same thing. After one last swig, the Canteen was empty. It was a shame to see all of the Alcohol she smuggled into training now gone.

There was nothing more true than the fact that Sera’s Family constantly worried about their only Daughter. It was the same way prior to the fall of Wall Maria. It was annoying, and even managed to piss Sera off to the point where she would stay away from Home for multiple weeks until the same Father she lost to the Titans managed to track her down. Even without her Father to keep it together, Sera still loved her Family. She placed a hand on August’s. “Screw it, co-come to the Scouts.” She said, maybe just a little bit intoxicated. “You wa-wanta serve Humanity right?” Hiccup “Well, what could serve Humanity greater than killing all of the Titans?” Hiccup

"No problem. Honestly, I wish some of the others who'd joined had as much resolve as you," August replied calmly, taking note of each swig Sera took. That definitely wasn't a drink he'd want more of. Still, it couldn't be that bad. Once in a while. Unlike...

He was pulled back to his senses as she laughed. It seemed his little rant had brightened the mood some. "Oho? So you aren't the super solemn serious type?" he asked teasingly. "I wasn't expecting such a cute laugh," he added, giving her a light nudge. Then, she finished the canteen. Ah... Maybe he should have said something about pacing herself. Well... What harm could it do? She'd seemed fine so far. Surely she wouldn't...

August blinked a few times. "The scouts?" he questioned. He looked at her hand on his. "Ahaha... Wait... what? N-" Well it wasn't like he hadn't said he would think about it. And she certainly had a point, but this wasn't a decision a person just made on the spot. Especially not when the recruiter was on the edge of tipsy and sober. "Sera, we should probably get you back to your room. Maybe sneak by the infirmary first." Maybe changing the subject would be the better way to handle this.

Sera was flustered once more, only this time she didn’t possess the energy to keep it a secret. She let out a few coughs, all of which were clearly fake. No one ever called Sera cute once. Mainly thanks to the fact they were all too scared of Sera thanks to the violent reputation she gained in Trost. But then again, she liked it when people were afraid of ‘er.

With a few shakes and a frown, Sera made it clear she didn’t want to leave. “N...no!” She shouted. Her words were messy thanks to the Alcohol, not any condition. “I’m not r-really....” She retreated to a nearby tree where she proceeded to release the greater portion of the Alcohol. “Hold on, I’m good.” She proclaimed. Not even a second later she started again. Clearly this was the last time Sera would ever drink again.

She wiped all of the vomit away then for a few seconds stared at August with an intoxicated gaze. With a few groans, she agreed, on one condition. “C-carry me?”

August was startled by her sudden shout. "Wha... Shh... S-Sera! Are you trying to call Krause or something?!" he asked, hushing his voice much more than he had before. It was just another one of the reasons dealing with anyone drunk was always at the bottom of the list of things he would want to do. He placed his hands on his hips and sighed, looking down. "Aw man..." he muttered under his breath.

"Listen Sera, I thi-"

Ah... she ran...

His eyes followed her, then quickly found another target to focus on . He thought about leaving for a moment, but what if somebody had come? What if Krause came? He wouldn't have wanted to leave Sera stranded on her own. He glanced her way to see if she was alright. "Again?" he asked. If not for his annoyance, he might have found himself laughing.

When she seemed alright, August made his way to her side. It wasn't like it was a long trip after all. He looked down at her, his eyes meeting her gaze for a moment before she spoke. Part of him wanted to be annoyed, be mad, walk away because of the smell, but he couldn't. He took a deep breath and exhaled before giving the girl a small smile. "Right. Whatever gets you patched up and back to bed," he relented as he took her in his arms and lifted her off the ground into what could only be seen as a good old fashioned princess carry. "Just don't make too much noise, okay?" he added as he began to walk. First stop: the infirmary.

 

[Raiden]

1: Leon Monar | 2: Nina Polgar | 3: Joanna Schreiber | 4: Vivian Schweiss | 5: Laurence Arnault ​

[4] Luka Soroka & Vivian Schweiss
104th Training Corps
Late Autumn 849
Collab with M Moonlessite ​

It was late at night, and the perfect time to start a fire. Stars twinkled above their heads as Vivian meandered back to their makeshift camp, carrying a bundle of branches that would be needed for their fire. She wasn’t sure why she had to be paired with Luka. He was more of a bane than a boon, someone that she had to drag along with her in order to make sure he kept up. Yet, there was something about the boy that had softened her heart and granted her a bit more patience when it came to dealing with him.

“It’s pretty chilly tonight,” Vivian grunted as she dropped the sticks on the forest floor in front of Luka. “Best get that fire started unless we want to catch cold.”

Survival training was one of the many core exercises where the cadets were subjected to the fury of nature; in whatever weather, they would be paired off or grouped together, depending on the Instructor’s mood, and sent off to a random destination away from civilization. For the next day or so, Luka would have to work with his partner, Vivian, using the skills that they’d learned in the classroom to brave the wild. As always, the boy proved to be much of a liability despite his best efforts, but it didn’t seem to bother the silver-haired girl that much for some reason.

On top of Vivian’s bundle, Luka had gathered more than enough wood to keep their prospective fire burning through the remainder of the night, intending to put the surplus of thicker bark to good use later. “M-mhm,” the boy stood with an awkward stiffness as he looked down at the single bedroll that they were expected to share with a blush. He seated himself on the long edge, eyes narrowing while he attempted to start a campfire. His bandaged hands spun the stick between his palms to gradually create friction.

“There’s a lot of poisonous plants around here,” Luka randomly mentioned with a voice full of uncharacteristic confidence, thinking back on the hours of studying under an especially astute individual for such a brief classroom topic. His memory traced back to the nearby bed of water that was practically surrounded in them, nearly forgetting to continue his firestarting effort. “Oenanthe crocata, arum maculatum,” the blond listed two of the lethal ones that he’d spotted. “Adder’s root might seem alright because of those red berries, but that’s how it gets ya. Good thing they taste so bad that you’ll probably throw up before it gets ingested. It’s the water dropworts you wanna watch out for...”

Vivian knelt down on her knees as she began her efforts to produce a spark among the branches. Luckily for them, Luka was able to find more wood, which he had added to her pile. Even though he was a bit of a burden, he was reliable in some other aspects. What she didn’t expect from him was for him to start spluttering out scientific names of poisonous plants.

“Well, we’ll stay away from the adder berries and the water dropworts. You know what to look out for, so I’ll put you in charge of gathering,” Vivian grumbled as she leaned close to her work. A light blinked in the midst of the pile of bark, brightening her expression. She leaned closer and blew at the ember, and within a few moments it had grown into a small flame.

Soon enough, a fire crackled in front of them. Vivian sighed in relief as she warmed her cold hands. She sat next to Luka, glancing over him and then down his figure before her gaze rested at his bandaged hands. “What happened there?”

Luka’s spiel about poisonous plants had distracted the boy to the point of not realizing that he’d made an ember with the sticks. His concentration broke off when the surprise set in, panicking at the possibility of frustration of Vivian before seeing the girl take charge in feeding the flame. Within moments, they had a healthy fire burning to create a sanctuary for their boundaries, prompting the boy to sift through his belongings.

That was when Vivian pointed out the bandages that were wrapped around his hands, causing the boy to laugh nervously. “Oh, these,” he wheeled around after producing a carving knife, taking one of the small logs from the pile and holding it up to his face to study its dimensions. “I started learning how to woodcarve, but I’m too clumsy, so my hands pay the price sometimes.”

A weak smile wore on his lips when Luka thought of the reason why, holding out the log before him and starting to bring the carving knife along its form. His work was methodical and slow; Vivian would be able to tell that special care was being put into his activity. “I’d like to think I’m getting better at something, at least,” his smile deflated. “Even if it’s something not related to being a soldier. It helps when things get too hard to deal with...”

Vivian kept her eyes planted on Luka’s face as he spoke. He wood-carved? That was a curious pastime. She didn’t know many people that liked to carve wood. Settling for watching him begin to chip away at the wood with the knife, she only perked up when he continued to speak. She didn’t want to admit it, but his words held a solemn tone that pulled at her heartstrings.

“Is something bothering you?” Vivi asked him.

The girl’s words didn’t seem to register with the blond as the next few moments were spent in quietude, his hands trembling while they struggled to keep a stable grip on the block of wood and the carving knife. “I-it might be the only thing I’m any good at, really,” Luka broke the silence, his voice crackling as if a lump welled in his throat. “I’m no good at anything else. You've seen me; I can’t even march properly. What kind of idiot can’t even follow left, right, left?”

A nervous laugh passed his lips as his expression tightened with mixed frustration and grief, feeling the rush of insecurities finally overwhelm him after so long. His body quivered in anxiety, yet he continued carving away at the wooden piece without discretion. “I can’t even bring myself to talk to people like a normal boy, I just stutter away and they all laugh at me, make fun of me for this and that… Because I’m weak, short, a crybaby, because they all hate me. Because I don’t belong here.”

Luka’s voice fractured at those final words as moisture flooded his blue eyes, impairing his vision. Tears fell into his lap like drops of rain, the boy breaking into a full sob as the tears struck his bandages. His hands fell down to his thighs, dropping the knife and staring down at the imperfect canvas of wood; it was almost like looking at his own face in the mirror, and it made him sick. “She probably doesn’t even like me… just smiles out of pity for someone as pathetic as me.” the daggers drove deeper, weeping full of self-loathing. It might’ve hurt to use his hands in their state, but it was nothing compared to the desolate abandon that was his heart.

His mind spun from all of the unleashed negativity that had been internalized over the first year, bringing his right hand up to try and wipe his eyes as the tears continued to come. The small log crumpled to the dirt below as the little boy instinctively turned and wrapped his arms around Vivian’s torso, burying his face into her shoulder like a child to its mother. “How can I promise that I’ll protect her smile-- protect my friends, if I don’t even have anyone to protect?”

Well, whatever Vivian expected, it definitely wasn’t this. Luka’s sorrow hit like a tidal wave, making her somewhat falter in his wake. The boy cried right in front of her as he blabbered on and on about being pathetic and not belonging and not having friends. The tidal wave became a sharp spear that drove through her heart. Suddenly, he was upon her, arms wrapped around her form tightly.

For a long time, she didn’t say anything. Hell, she didn’t even move. How was she even supposed to react? Did she push him away? Did she embrace him back? She had to do something. Before she knew it, her arms were already around him, and she held onto him as if she was cradling a child.

“Listen here. Screw the people who think you’re pathetic.” She told him. “Their opinions don’t matter. They don’t know anything about you-- where you’ve come from, or what your goals are. You might be struggling now, but I know you’ll make it.”

She pulled back, and offered him a big smile. It was a rare sight to see her grin in whatever situation was at hand. But Vivi knew it was important to show him that she cared. “And when you get bigger and stronger, you’ll be able to protect whoever the hell you want and prove those assholes wrong.”

The small boy continued to cry deeply against the other girl as Luka let out a muffled scream into her shoulder. He had been internalizing all of this pain for such a long time, and it had only been a matter of time before it would all come out like a rush of blood. Vivian's words struck a chord within his chest as they laid into his ears, prompting him to withdraw from her shoulder. His face was flush with grief, eyes crimson in the wake of tears as Luka stared up at her, wide-eyed like an innocent animal.

"Y-y-you re-really think s-s-so?" his tone remained downtrodden as the boy repeatedly recoiled in hyperventilation.

Vivian looked back down at Luka as she would a child. “I don’t think so, I know so. I was bullied a lot when I was younger, so I know how it feels… it made me feel very lonely and useless. But then I made friends, and it made everything better. Sure, there were still some people who disliked me and made my life hell, but being with my friends made me feel a whole lot better about myself.”

She sighed, pulling away from him slightly. “You have friends, right? Elke and Anke seem to like you, and so does Jo and Jericho. I’m sure they don’t find you pathetic or weak.”

Luka took a moment to consider the silver-haired girl's words. "She… y-yeah," his thoughts drifted to all of the times that he'd spent with the other cadets, feeling the void of his heart evaporate with the memories. Vivian's right-- they do give a damn about me. His puffy eyes envisioned the silhouettes of his friends' faces, feeling his chest rise with determination when he thought about each of them.

Jericho could've just kicked him to the curb like a stray dog, yet he did not. Jo didn't have to teach an idiot like him, yet she still did. Laurie didn't have to show him the beauty in cooking, yet he insisted. Here and now, Vivian didn't have to listen to him, yet she was. Nina didn't have to smile for him, play chess with him, be so kind to him-- yet she did.

More teardrops trailed down his face, though these ones were almost in joy. How could I betray the character of my friends by thinking all of this? "T-thanks, Vivi," Luka had his forehead leaned against her shoulder for a few more seconds before drawing back, his forearm coming up to wipe the tears from his face.

He took the imperfect canvas of wood into his hand, tossing it into the campfire and watching the flames feed on its old form. In that instant, his eyelids felt heavy as the weight of the day came over his body, prompting the blond to lay his head on Vivian's lap. "I won't… doubt them again..." his tone lightened, slowly closing his eyes and drifting off into long awaited slumber.

Vivian said nothing as she watched Luka’s mind whir with information. Yet, she was more than aware of what he was thinking; he had come upon realization. She allowed him to thank her, only giving a nod of her head as he threw the old bark into the fire. The campfire swallowed the wood with a crack and a spittle, and she remained watching as the wood shriveled and became ashen in the fiery flames.

She didn’t even realize Luka shift into a laying position. Vivian wanted to pull away, but the sight of Luka’s restful expression made her stay in place. She looked down at him, then sighed. “Great.” She glanced up at the sky, her eyes watching the moon for a brief moment. This will be harder than I thought.

 

[Arcanist]

Index
1. Jo & Anke
(stay tuned for more)​

• Mutual Aid - Jo & Anke

• 
  When Jo awoke, the first thing she noticed was that her cheek was slathered in drool. The second thing she noticed was that the page of a notebook she had been reading was damp with drool. She mumbled some incoherent half-asleep thoughts before she sat up, lifting her notebook. Jo rubbed at her cheeks, hoping to wipe off the drying drool as she examined the pages. Her writing bled off the side of the page but not everything was completely illegible.
  
  She had to stop falling asleep while rereading her lesson notes though.
  
  Jo glanced around the cabin. She could make out the shapes of some of the other girls sleeping in the dark. Though, when her eyes landed on another bunk, she found the sheets were crisp and neat as far as she could make out in the dark without her glasses aiding her. She remembered who owned that bunk. Anke and Elke. Jo remembered coming in to choose one for herself, and Anke standing guard at a top and bottom bunk for her and her sister.
  
  Danner and Frederick would have been desperate not to share bunks together. Brothers must have been different though, she assumed.
  
  Jo stood up, leaving her notebook on her pillow. Anke must have been outside. Feeling an urge to check on her, she lifted her glasses, grabbed a lantern, and stepped over creaky floorboards to head outside.
  
  Not too far from the cabin, Anke was grabbing hold of a makeshift pull-up bar going up and down at a steady pace. She was completely focused on her movements and breathing. She was already behind when compared to some of the older cadets and that somewhat peeved her. But it also gave her a goal to reach and then surpass.
  
  She knew that pushing herself this much would worry Elke, but that would only matter if she found out. Anke had to become strong. She was determined to do whatever it took to make sure that she could keep Elke safe that it didn’t even matter to her whether she was tired or not. Once she finished her set, Anke didn’t even pause before transitioning to doing sit-ups. She didn’t even notice the other light source exiting the cabin.
  
  Jo didn’t have to take much time to search for Anke, for she found her a short distance from the cabin. Or rather, heard her grunting. When she matched the sound to the moving figure in the dark, she started to walk towards her. Anke hadn’t noticed her yet, and so to avoid scaring her, she called out quietly to her, “Anke. A little late for training, isn’t it?” Even if her call to her was quiet, there was still something sharp to her words, a tone that wasn’t intended to sound so scolding.
  
  “Four. Five. Six -” grunted Anke before she was cut off by a surprise figure. The young teenager whipped her head to look at the source of the voice to see the taller girl looking down at her. Crap, had she not waited long enough to leave. She started standing up but moved a tad too quickly and did stumble just a little. Once her eyes got over the light right beside the girl she recognized the redhead before her as Jo. The smart one. “It’s never too late to get a little extra work in. If I’m gonna make it to number one I’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
  
  As Anke stumbled, Jo stepped forward as if to help stabilize her. However, Anke regained her balance in no time. Jo hummed. She thought she might say something like that. “Perhaps. But it’s no good if you’re only working at half your potential tomorrow. Number ones need their rest too.” She liked to think even the best of the best took a momentary break, even if it was to think or stare at the sky. “How long have you been doing this for, Anke?” She ventured.
  
  The blonde girl huffed. She was getting plenty of rest. She didn’t need anyone to worry about her. “I’ve been fighting for the best since the day I was born. No need to worry about me, I can handle the extra workload. What are you doing up so late?”
  
  Jo raised an eyebrow at that, though, she didn’t see it as her place to prod further, not if Anke didn’t want to share. “I woke up not so long ago,” she explained, subconsciously rubbing at the side of her lips as if to check if the remnants of drool remained. “Fell asleep reading. I saw your bunk was empty, so I thought I’d go find you.” But what compelled her to do so? Concern? Nosiness? A mixture of both, perhaps. “Just out of curiosity.” She added.
  
  “Well, I’m doing fine. Should be about done anyway.” That was a lie. Anke had never been great at lying but this girl didn’t really know her so it may slip by. “What were you even reading that kept you up so late?” Asked Anke as she sat back down to continue her sit-ups.
  
  Jo set her lantern down and decided to sit down too, though, she hadn’t any intentions of doing sit-ups herself. “Some of the notes I had taken during today’s lesson,” she explained. “How the ODM gear works, its parts, things like that. Next thing, I woke up drooling on one of the pages,” she sighed, rubbing at her eye. “Guess I wasn’t the only one tired today.” She said, watching Anke doing her sit-ups.
  
  Once Jo sat down Anke paused momentarily but then continued her workout. Seemed this girl wanted to have a full conversation late in the night. Fine, may as well turn on nice mode. She stopped then put her arms on top of her knees. “I wish they would just plainly tell us what each piece was instead of putting it on a board or in a book. It’d be much easier to grasp this stuff if I could actually get my hands on it when they are trying to tell us what it is. How could anyone sit still long enough in those cramped desks for so long? Such a pain.” Since it would be difficult to continue talking while doing sit ups, Anke adjusted to sitting in a Butterfly Pose.
  
  Jo did snort at that a little but she nodded. “Those ones are pretty bad to sit in. But other than that, I don’t mind sitting and reading, or even listening for that matter,” she said. She thought more on Anke’s words, blinking, before she answered, “So, you’re more of a ‘learn-by-doing’ kind of person. At some point they should be able to let us handle the parts. We’d have to be able to handle them and know what part goes where if we’re going to use them.” She’d like to think they would be doing that. Then what was the point of reading or learning about them?
  
  The red-head scratched the side of her head. “Has it only been the stuff ODM parts that have been difficult for you to pick up?” She’d have offered to help Anke with that if she wanted.
  
  “Kind of. When they say what the gear does that’s simple enough really. I know most of the names of the parts now but I don’t have anything to match it to. There weren’t even any pictures.” Anke was getting frustrated. Looking at that book and just hearing the instructor ramble on just caused her to be more confused. She didn’t have any reference when inside that room and telling anyone what was wrong was just too embarrassing. Maybe Jo was right. She likely was as they needed to know how to take care of their gear. She wondered if maybe she could fake it once that time came. She reached her arms back stretching and looked at the bespectacled girl next to her. She was smart. Maybe Anke could ask her help. “Do you like reading?”
  
  Jo didn’t interrupt. She just listened, nodded. Visually, it was difficult to match what ODM parts were which without a clear image of what they looked like. Had she known where the gear was kept, she would have at least gone to find it and get some visuals. Though, knowing Krause, she would probably have had the gear well secured. She didn’t blame her for doing so.
  
  “Yeah,” Jo nodded again to Anke’s enquiry. “I think my earliest memory is me sitting with a book. I always loved learning things, and teaching people the things I learned. I guess I would have liked to be a teacher,” she mused, though, something in her tone was distantly forlorn. She shrugged, sighing. “Not quite where I ended up obviously.” Jo paused for a moment, thoughtful. When she thought more on Anke’s frustrations, the questions she had been asking, something seemed to click. Of course, why didn’t she see it? Even Anke’s bewilderment during class should have been the biggest sign of them all.
  
  “Anke. You’re not able to read, am I right?” Jo couldn’t have been any blunter. Better to head straight to the root of the problem than to dance around it.
  
  Almost as if she were thrust into the vacuum of space, Anke froze up not taking a breath. She slowly shifted her gaze to her feet as a deep red began growing on her visage. Well, that was straight and to the point. Anke usually liked that but for some reason she felt embarrassed by the question. It’s not like everyone in the walls can read. Her mind went back to the aforementioned classes and she just felt insecure. She remembered how some of the bullies from Shiganshina would mock her when they found out she didn’t know how to do some of the simplest things. Them saying that just made her mad and not care. But she could tell Jo didn’t bring it up to insult her. But she still found herself clamping her mouth shut unable to answer the question.
  
  The silence was telling. Who knew that no words at all could speak one simple and undeniable truth? Jo could tell that the question had shaken Anke, causing her to retreat into herself. After a moment of silence lingered between them, she continued, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I know a lot of people don’t have the privilege of being able to read or learn.” Why it was a privilege and not a fundamental right, was beyond her. She adjusted her glasses. “I don’t know what life has thrown at you inside of these walls, but I can tell that this is something that’s been out of your control.”
  
  Still with her nerves on edge Anke opened her mouth, “It’s not that I didn’t have the opportunity. There was just always something more important at the time.” Going to those buildings to sit for hours as an adult talked at her was too much a waste of time. She never saw the point in wasting time to learn random things when there was always some sort of work that could be done. She still believed she made the right choice so why was her face feeling so hot now. “There’s nothing I can do about it now. I’m not as smart as basically anyone here. That’s why I have to make up for it by being faster, stronger, and better at killing Titans than anyone else.”
  
  Jo shook her head. “I wouldn’t say that,” she told her. She refused to believe it was impossible for her to do anything about it. If anything, it made her blood boil that she would even think like that. She turned back to Anke, “Let me teach you how to read, and how to write as well. You’re smarter than you believe, Anke, and I think you could pick it up rather quickly.” Her determination would push her far, and if Jo could have gotten Sera to see she was capable, it would only propel her further.
  
  Anke was quite surprised. Why would Jo want to waste her time teaching basically a stranger something so mundane to the majority. It’s not like it would make her a better soldier either. ”Why would you want to help me? We barely know each other. I’ve seen how you’re close with Laurie But being nice to a stranger has its limits.”
  
  “You’re right.” Jo agreed. “It doesn’t reap many benefits for me. If anything, it would be a better advantage to me to not teach you at all, and continue leaving you to struggle, especially during class lessons.” She smiled then, recalling memories of her and Laurie reading. “But I’m a little selfish. I want to show you just how smart I am. And I can expand those horizons further by learning things from you too.” Her mother always did say you learned something new every day.
  
  Sometimes difficult lessons.
  
  “We’re comrades now, Anke,” Jo added, “whether we want to be or not. I don’t think some mutual aid hurts either of us.”
  
  “Fine then. But I’m not gonna just accept free help without giving you something in exchange. I’ll help you out with the things you have trouble with.” Anke rolled back slightly and then quickly pushing off she kipped up onto her feet. Extending a hand out to Jo, “We got a deal?”
  
  Jo smirked before she pushed herself up onto her own feet. She grasped Anke’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “We have a deal.”
  
  

 

[Raiden]

1: Leon Monar | 2: Nina Polgar | 3: Joanna Schreiber | 4: Vivian Schweiss | 5: Laurence Arnault ​

[3] Luka Soroka & Joanna Schreiber
104th Training Corps
Summer 848
Collab with Arcanist ​

When another summer came to life for the 104th Training Corps, Luka was perplexed to find that he’d actually been improving at a gradual pace; while the same probably couldn’t be said for the physical assessments, it seemed like he was very much more receptive towards the classroom side of activities. Yet, his experience with reading books had been limited to all of the kid’s stories that his mother had read to him before things changed, and he found himself always struggling with the higher vocabulary that was all too common during the classes.

Which is why the boy had chosen to seek out Joanna Schreiber last summer after seeing that he wouldn’t be the first to request her tutelage. He’d been initially intimidated by her manner of approach at the start, but through her instruction since then, Luka steadily became a vocal contributor in their classroom. His bolstered confidence was directly attributed by his growing intelligence, but it’d been practically drilled into his mind that there was always something else to learn.

“Umm, Jo,” the blonde broke the silence during one particular study session when a curious question popped up in his head. The soldiers were learning all about the anatomy and biology of the Titans, but there was still so much to their oppressors that seemed to go unanswered by even the classroom instructors. “Why do you think the nape of a Titan is its weakness?”

Luka’s eyes rose from the chart and looked towards Jo from across the table, hoping that it wasn’t a stupid question in Jo’s opinion like the teachers would say.

“Eh?” Jo’s eyes ventured over the rim of her glasses, after staring at a wall of text, monotonously rhyming off how Titans had no notable digestive organs to speak of. Most people would have thought Jo’s look signalled to her belief that was a stupid question. Though, her forehead creased in thought. That was a great question. She was glad to see Luka questioning things like that, rather than being like all the other recruits who simply took their instructors’ words as if it were gospel.

But it was a question she didn’t immediately have an answer for. And she despised that.

“Well, uh,” Jo started, hoping that if she stalled for long enough, she’d come up with something logical. But theories refused to solidify and logic wouldn’t come to her quick enough. Luka had stumped her, the first in all of their sessions together. “That’s a good question,” Jo chuckled a little, though, she hadn’t admitted to an ‘I don’t know’ mentality yet. She took the book she was reading from and flipped a few pages back. “Well, how about we take a closer look and come up with a theory?” She asked, returning to a page with a diagram of a Titan itself. Then she grabbed another book, skimming through the pages while waiting for Luka’s answer.

Luka figured that his mentor would advise a conceptual approach to his question, tapping the other end of his pencil against the back of his head in thought. The boy actually had an inkling of a potential theory to the subject, but he had never shared it with anyone else in fear of sensitivity to its controversial nature. “Well, I’ve always had this theory,” he began to sketch on a piece of parchment as his voice maintained a strong composure.

The student took a moment to finish the rough outline of a brain; his drawing skills left nothing to be desired, but it would get the message across. His pencil hand trailed below the brain to sketch a line with a slight curve, returning to the top and gradually traveling down the line to draw a series of lines that intersected the integral structure. It was only after its completion that one could tell that it was meant to represent a spinal cord.

Holding it up in his free hand for Jo to see, Luka pointed his pencil towards the diagram. “There’s many instances where Titans seem to defy the laws of nature, but there’s one thing that’s always bothered me about them. Defining them as humanoid creatures is the widely accepted concept, but I saw them with my own eyes in Shiganshina; they have a closer resemblance to us humans than you’d imagine,” a bit of fear caused his astute tone to slightly quake, though it settled down and he digressed without issue nonetheless. “Even though Titans are generally incapable of intelligence, I believe that they possess a brain and a central nervous system, much like we do. Yet, the impulses sent from our brain to move our muscles or communicate thoughts is different in that of Titans; taking the fact that they’re only active with exposure to sunlight, it could be said that solar energy is what allows those same exact impulses to be issued through a Titan’s central nervous system for them to act.”

Luka was very sure of himself, bringing his pencil to the section of the spine where a Titan’s nape would be located. “This would be the location in our own physiology where the brain and the spinal cord would be connected the most in order to be capable of these impulses,” he briefly laid the parchment on the table to print a large ‘X’ over the area, raising it back for Jo to see. “That location, for the Titans, is their weakness; their nape. When you sever this connection, they ‘die’ because their brain is no longer integrated with their central nervous system. Just like in humans, the spinal cord isn’t so easy to reach in conventional manners, hence the requirement of two ultrahard steel blades to cut hard and deep enough for Titans.”

Of course, before Jo could even think to start brainstorming a concept, Luka had been a step ahead of her. Well, several steps ahead. She paused as he grabbed some parchment and started to sketch. She narrowed her eyes, concentrating on the crude outlines Luka had been drawing. Jo hoped Jericho didn’t put him up to some cruel and insensitive joke to irk and waste her time. Unlikely but Jo wouldn’t cross out such a possibility.

When the blond finally displayed his diagram, she recognised the structure of what he had drawn - the brain and the spinal cord. She rested her chin on her fist as Luka walked through his theory. She nodded along as he started to explain more about the brain and central nervous system, knowing fully about it in relation to them as humans.

And yet when it was related back to Titans, the nape, its weak point, it all clicked. It made perfect sense. Jo practically grabbed the page, creasing its sides as she stared at the ‘X’. “Luka, this is…” She was bewildered by the logical conclusion. She couldn’t even be annoyed at him thinking up this whole concept before she could. “Incredible! To think Titans could have a similar anatomy to us, for their - well, theoretically, their brains - to operate in a similar capacity to our own!” Even if they didn’t use it in the same way that they did, surely their brains allowed for some hidden form of potential or intelligence? It was like a new door had opened to unlocking their secrets…

...to reveal more closed doors.

“Ah, but…” Jo pushed up her glasses, rising from her seat with the page still in hand. “How similar though? Their motor functions must be much the same as our own. But their sensory functions? Do they feel pain in the same way we do? How many of their senses do they actually register? And we can’t even forget about the automatic functions that come along with it.” She continued, pacing a little now, still staring at the page with a new fervour.

“I wonder if their automatic functions are limited...they have no digestive organs and their body temperature sits much higher than we do. But yet, their bodies can regenerate in a matter of minutes. I wonder if a lack of functions like in digestion means the brain can focus its efforts elsewhere…” The information was priceless, the potential and the knowledge they could gain from this was extraordinary.

So why had no one pushed for pursuit of knowledge? Why was anything to do with a Titan’s anatomy described so vaguely? Had people really not come up with the same theory as Luka had?

“Ah! Luka!” The girl exclaimed, forgetting about the boy in her musings. “Have you mentioned this to anyone before?” She asked, turning back on her heels to face Luka.

Truth be told, as Luka listened to the additional characteristics of the Titans that were known to them, the boy could see exactly why it was rare to tread into the uncharted territory regarding their origins. He pondered on all of the different violations in the laws of nature surrounding their massive predators; even the preliminary reports from the Survey Corps’ observation on the severed limbs of Titans revealed that said appendages were rendered almost weightless, which completely nullified the common sense that Titans were extremely heavy because of their height.

"One meter deep, ten centimeters wide…" Luka recited the exact measurements of the lesion necessary to incapacitate a Titan to himself, his eyes blinking rapidly when he seemed to come back to himself. "I haven't. It just seems impossible for those monsters to be like us in any way, let alone, as much as they are, in my theory," the boy admitted with a fearful undertone, his stare meeting the table where the pencil between his hands quivered with fright when he thought back to the Titans from that day. "Making that comparison might terrify people, and they wouldn't believe it. To be honest, ma'am, even I couldn't really believe it if it were true… at the end of the day, the Titans are our apex p-predators. They scare me so much already… but to think if they derive even some aspects from us-- that possibility scares me even more."

Jo was silent for a moment, pondering. It made sense. Who wanted to be compared to a Titan? Was that even possible? She had never seen one up close, not like Luka, or Laurie, or anyone else from Shiganshina had. If only people weren’t so driven by fear, that they would challenge things beyond just what they read or what they hear…

But she could empathise with the fear that gripped Luka. That distant glaze in his eyes, transporting him back to the day where it all fell apart. She frowned. How could they ever be like them? How were they so mindless, so willing to eat and tear apart humans, if they were anything like them?

Jo returned to the table, thoughts heavy and her expression grim as she sat down. “To think we’ve gone all these years fighting them, and we still don’t know nearly as much about them as we should,” she sighed, glancing down at the Titan’s figure in her book. “Then again...that means we’d be the ones to make those earth-shattering discoveries, huh?” She pointed out, trying to lighten the mood. What titles those would be to have.

The boy didn’t want to feel so gripped in his fears, but Luka just couldn’t believe that it’d be possible for anyone not to share those terrors about Titans, even if someone like Hal claimed otherwise. “Y-yeah, and there’s still Aberrants to account for, like the one that’s taller than the walls and the one with armour,” he thought back to the two Titans that were capable of breaching Wall Maria, wondering if his theory could’ve applied to them as well.

“I hope we can uncover all those unknown variables in due time, but...” Luka let out a long yawn, his eyelids feeling heavy as he clutched his stacks of books closely. He glanced over the one at the top whose subject was woodworking, extending his arm over the sturdy top of the tome. “But… for now… I think… I…” his head gravitated down to lay atop of his bicep, the blue in his eyes disappearing behind the curtains as the young boy succumbed to his weariness. A few more unintelligible words drew past his lips before they pursed entirely, his breathing soft as the blond began to snore lightly.

Of course, the Aberrants were an entirely different story. Jo had to wonder what forced them to behave in such an erratic way, especially if they weren’t capable of intelligence. And yet, the mention of that armoured Titan and the one that peered over the wall...they had the sense to break the Walls...but how was that possible?

Jo hadn’t noticed Luka’s unintelligible mumbling or the yawning, too caught up in her own thoughts. So, when she glanced at Luka again, and heard him snoring, she did flinch in some surprise. “Luka? Luka…?” She called to him, hushed, though, sleep had gripped him, and refused to release its hold. She sighed, sitting back in her chair. Could she blame him with all the studying they were doing? And it was so hot today...

​

 

[Raiden]

1: Leon Monar | 2: Nina Polgar | 3: Joanna Schreiber | 4: Vivian Schweiss | 5: Laurence Arnault ​

[1] Luka Soroka & Leon Monar
104th Training Corps
847
Collab with Castello ​

How do I do this? Can I even do it?

A baby-faced Luka grinded his knuckles against the side of his head as he shuffled nervously in his seat. It was the tail end of the cadets’ dinner, and it was the right opportunity to approach the boy that Hal always talked about sparring with. Very often, when he saw Leon throughout the day, she was also there with him, which had to have meant that they were friends. Hal mentioned that the three of them all played something called chess, but the boy realized that he was getting nowhere when the dark-haired boy’s explanation simply escaped his mind...

He’ll just think I’m weird, or something… maybe they’re already together! Ah… “It’s not even worth it, Luka,” the boy quietly chided himself while shaking his head, realizing that it was very possible that Leon had noticed his self-confliction from across the mess hall. This revelation solicited more panic from Luka until the blond closed his eyes, swallowing hard as his palms rose to gently tap against his cheeks.

“N-no, I can’t run from this,” Luka assured in an effort to quell his mounting insecurities. Anything but this, I can’t just let it slip. With fragile bravery, he rose from the table and slowly trotted towards the table where Leon sat, keeping his fingers crossed for the entire journey. “M-mind if I sit here?” he chirped sheepishly upon standing before the other boy, offering him a weak smile. “Leon, right? H-Hal talks about you a ton. He says you’re really strong.”

Leon was enjoying a nice, piping cup of tea when Luka approached him. He offered the boy a gesture to the seat across from him, not noticeably bothered by Luka’s offer, Leon even offered him a meek smile. When Luka began to ingratiate, Leon provided him a quick chuckle. There was a warmness in his chest when he mentioned Hal’s opinion of him, however. Of course, there was a far more interesting matter on hand that overshadowed talk of Hal.

“You don’t need to flatter me, you’re interested about Nina, aren’t you?” He said frankly. Leon began to sigh, shrugging. “I am not sure what your draw is to her but ask away, I’ll humor you.”

Seeing the straightforwardness of the other boy lead directly into his vested interest caught Luka completely off guard, his right eye twitching as he recoiled from Leon’s exact decoding. “H-h-h-h-h-h-huh?!?” in fear of creating a scene for others to notice, the blond quickly took a seat, leaning inward while his eyes looked around to see if anyone else was watching. “H-h-hey, how do you know about t-that?”

Leon looked to Luka as if he was the biggest idiot on the planet. He could only offer the love-struck boy a sigh and a shake of his head.

“Well, first off it you were sitting over there glaring at me. Now, that either means you’re here to kill me, propose or ask something embarrassing. Since you also stare at Nina a lot, I take it you’re probably hoping to get information about her out of me.”

Leon’s smiles turned to one of a taunting nature. “Man, I should really haggle you for dinner, shouldn’t I?” He exaggerated. “Nina’s secrets? Her first words, favourite food, and even what she looks for in a man. Hell, I could write a book and you’d pay anything for it wouldn’t you?” Leon offered the boy a quick chuckle before taking a sip from his tea.

“What’s in it for me?”

Crap, this guy’s sharp! What if they really are together?! Luka rumbled to himself in a whine, his fingertips running through his front locks of hair. Visibly flustered, his gaze peered towards the dark-haired boy. “I-i-it’s n-not like that at all, Leon, I-I swear!” there was a desperate ounce of truth in his voice. “B-besides, I don’t really have m-much to offer you, s-sorry...”

His eyes dropped down to the table in dejection, wondering if it would all be a worthless endeavor. ‘Stay focused on your training,’ he could almost envision the silhouette of Hal scolding him. ‘Being a soldier’s no fun and games, Luka.’ Gritting his teeth, he stared back up at Leon, closing his mouth and attempting to maintain his composure. “Umm,” the boy started, cupping his hands while his thumbs twiddled together. “What’s a chess?”

He offered Luka a quick smirk and a tilt of his head, sipping his tea in midst of a small chuckle. “Yeah, sure.” Leon sighed, giving him a little shrug. “Don’t worry about it, this should humor me.”

“Yeah, you mean chess.” He told Luka like he was an idiot. “It’s that checkered board that Nina is always messing with, it’s a strategy game. I can teach you the basics I guess but I get a portion of your supper tomorrow.” He leaned into Luka. “Well, how’s that deal?”

His right hand instinctively went to pat against his stomach as Luka drew a long frown, letting out a sound of defeat. "B-but… I..." he started to whine before deciding that it was a necessary sacrifice, his eyelids closing tightly. Chess was a strategy game? If it was anything like the first lessons on military formations in the classroom, then he knew that he was going to be in for a rough time. But there really isn't any other choice, is there? This world really is cruel…

"FINE! I'll do it!" he accidentally shouted a little too loudly, his eyelids fluttering open to reveal resolve. Luka did not seem concerned about any unwanted attention, flattening both palms over the tabletop. It was easy to tell that Leon was finding amusement in their exchange, but something bothered him from the back of his head; to essentially use him solely to find a way to approach Nina just didn't seem right. "Leon, umm, which district are you from?"

Leon smirked widely at Luka, did he really think Nina was worth skipping supper for? The tall boy only offered the poor love sick puppy a coy shrug. “Hey, it’s win, win. Come to my bunk at night, I’ll show you the basics.”

When Luka prodded further, Leon withdrew slightly. His mouth twisted from a smirk to his lips being pursed. Leon shrugged the boy off. “I’ve spent the last two years in Dauper, before I was between orphanages.” He paused, tilting his head. “Anymore boring questions?”

Luka hoped that the other boy didn’t take serious offense to him asking about the latter’s background. Where’s Dauper, again? It took a moment for him to remember that it was a remote community of hunters that lived in seclusion from the rest of society. “O-oh, I think I’ve seen some traders come to Shiganshina from Dauper to sell some of their meat,” his response added on to those thoughts, his eyes growing wide when he also remembered Leon somehow being able to sleep while standing during the first day.

Oh shucks, is that a thing that people from Dauper do? “Sorry, I just don’t want to sound like I’m using you, Leon,” Luka was obliged to admit his fear, his knuckles knocking against the wood for good luck before cupping his hands together. “I haven’t seen the rest of the world outside of Shiganshina, so it’s interesting to see so many different people that come from different places all in one place here. Were there a lot of kids like you and me living in Dauper?”

Leon’s visage turned to that of impatience. What pissed Leon off so much about this boy was his incepit propensity for politeness. Did he really think asking stupid infatuation-ridden questions was some sort of grand burden for him? Leon’s annoyance turned into a sigh. His hands gripped the table, his posture closing in and veering away from Luka’s presence.

“Yeah, it was infested with those Ackerman brats. They got me sick multiple times, those flea-ridden bastards.” Despite the contempt in his words, there was a reminiscing smile creeping upon Leon’s face. With a pause, that smile turned into a small chuckle. That quickly halted when his eyes opened back up on Luka. A seriousness was instilled into his expression.

“Okay.” He spoke. “You’ve already overstayed your welcome. When we play chess tonight, I have three rules.” He paused, clearing his throat. “No questions not about chess, no unnecessary noises and…” Leon struggled to find a third question but three was such a tantalizing number. “Don’t be so damn polite! It’s pissing me off, okay?”

The boy was quite taken aback by Leon’s deprecating response to his genuine inquiry, grimacing at the mention of ‘Ackermans’ and their supposed spread of illness. Luka’s concerns were temporarily eliminated with the other boy’s smile, only for his body to straighten up as if it was Instructor Krause that he was listening to. He nodded subserviently, sitting at attention while his thumbs twiddled.

“S-sorry, Leon-- w-wait, crap!” Luka had started to apologize by habit in response to the final commandment, letting out a nervous laugh and putting on his best impression of Hal’s serious face. “I think there’s a board in the commons area,” he mentioned to Leon, although it was highly likely that the other boy already knew. “So, uh, I’m completely lost on this ‘chess’. W-what’s the first thing you’re gonna show me?”

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Laurence Arnault &

A Second Chance at Introduction

At nightfall of the day that followed the scuffle at the mess hall, Hal knew just where he would find that redhead’s companion would be at the given time. The boy was still trying to adjust to the drastic stamina requirement that military life demanded out of the young men and women every day, feeling like he would collapse onto his bunk when he entered the boy’s cabin.

Knew it. There his quarry was, seated on one of the upper bunks by the corner of the cabin. The other long-haired boy looked to be deeply invested in a book of some sort, as he didn’t seem to notice Hal’s steady approach. “Oi,” he chimed in, leaning against the structure of the bunk-bed with his arms crossed. “Didn’t get to catch your name the other day,” his eyes studied the other individual for a moment before looking towards the spine of the book. “Sorry, hope I didn’t interrupt you.”

Laurie had been rereading the worn-out book of the stars that Jo had given him when they were younger. It's not like he hasn't finished reading it, but it brought him a sense of nostalgia and it is one of the few things he brought with him. He heard footsteps echoing inside the cabin, he thought nothing of it as he was quite engrossed with the book until a voice called from his side.

He took a glance, a smile coming over his lips as he closed the book and placed it under his pillow. "It's you!" He remembered that first night sharing a meal with the others and how he wasn't able to finish his introduction because of the fight that had started. "It's okay, I've already read that book a hundred times and nothing beats the company of what could be a friendship for the ages." He dropped down from the upper bunker and stood in front of the other teenager, his hand outstretched. "Laurence Arnault, but just call me Laurie."

Hal was taken aback by the boy’s overly-polite response, though his eyes narrowed upon remembering Laurie’s ‘sincere condolences’ for his balls. It wasn’t often that he could say that he felt comfortable around someone, but given the lack of expletives and/or fists being thrown between them, he got the impression that they weren’t the type of person to cause any sort of trouble. His eyes watched Laurie climb from the bunk and stand nearly half a head taller, causing him to scoff in reaction.

“Well met, Laurie,” Hal found it hard not to reflect his new friend’s smile, reaching out and clasping Laurie’s hand firmly. The act of a peaceful greeting was quite foreign to him after so long, though it was a nice change of pace-- is this the first in years? “Halvor Verdende, Hal for short. Let’s do our best, Laurie.”

“For sure.” He said freely, he was glad that Halvor was reciprocating his smile. He'd usually seen the other teenager with such a serious look he's worried there might not be a sense of fun in his bones but such might not be the case.

"So," Laurie started as he started to lean back to the bed frame. "What's your story, Hal? Oh! And why did Krause give you a knee to the nuts?"

"Ugh, she did something to each of us in that formation, will you just forget about it?" Hal might have been clearly frustrated at the ageless memory from the first day, though one could tell that his words were an attempt to save face rather than express anger. He shook his head with a heavy sigh, running a palm against his forehead. "Don't make me already regret shakin' your hand, Laurie."

The last syllables to his words transitioned into a very brief laugh. His expression maintained steel as he thought back on that day two years ago, somehow able to envision it all in greater depth. "Well, for starters, it isn't the prettiest picture, but you've probably heard similar things from others, so don't go givin' me sympathy," Hal looked up towards Laurie, meeting the other boy's gaze head-on. "I'd say I lost it all when Wall Maria got breached, but in all honesty, I didn't have much to begin with when I lived in Shiganshina. I didn't have the greatest father, but I had some good friends. Most of them are gone, including my father," his last few words were spoken matter-of-factly and methodical, almost. "But you've probably heard of Luka and the Vinter twins around here. We all saw the hell that walked into our lives that day… those Titan devils."

Laurie couldn’t help but laugh a little at Halvor’s attempt to not answer the question, people must have been asking him the same thing over and over again but his smile faded as the other teenager had started to talk about what had happened at Wall Maria. “Yeah, it really was hell.”

“Although my mom and I lived through it, she died from disease afterward.” He continued before stopping himself at that. “I guess I didn’t expect a lot of us from Shiganshina to sign up for the Military after everything that had happened.”

“But so far I like everyone that I met and you seem like a very reliable guy, Hal.” Laurie said with a cheery attitude as he pats Halvor at his shoulders, it was as if he didn’t just spoke of his mother and her death, he never did like to show his more somber side to others. “I even met Jo again, who is an old friend of mine from Karanes.”

Hal's eyebrow raised in suspicion upon hearing that Laurie had apparently also been a witness of the invasion, his memories racing back for any potential connection. Come to think of it, didn't Anke always run off to some other family, back then? "My condolences for your mother, I'm-" the boy automatically began to offer his sympathies before he found himself unintentionally interrupted by the other boy.

His eyes stared at Laurie with an inquisitive look when his entire demeanor seemed to shift to a more positive note almost immediately, finding the sudden change rather curious. Probably actually liked his mother, so it's a sensitive topic, if I had to guess. "Hopefully you're the same as well, Laurie," Hal responded to the boy's compliment, though there was a feeling that seemed to resonate within his spirit that told him that something was amiss; whether it was Laurie or something else completely escaped him.

"Oh, Specs," Hal thought back to the ginger-headed older girl that wore spectacles from back in the mess hall upon hearing the name 'Jo'. Where the hell was Karanes, again? His expression twisted with mischief as his lips curled into a smirk. "An old friend, huh? Sounds cute, happy for the both of you."

Specs, he never called Jo that but it was quite fitting. She did wear spectacles and is one of her defining features as not a lot of people do. "Thanks! It's great to see her after all these years, I expected that she would have become a teacher though. I think she'd be good at it." He said with a smile that remembers the good old days.

"How about you, Hal? Saw anyone from back then?"

Think this bloke completely missed the joke. Laurie would’ve seemed like an ordinary guy if not for the fact that Hal had the impression that something was off with the other boy’s disposition. Maybe it was just the cynic or the part of him that always seemed to look for the worst in others? “Other than Luka and those twins, can’t say I have,” he answered truthfully, a hand coming up to flick some hair away from his face. The steel in his expression was fixed to the floor in a bit of thought before peering back up towards Laurie in scrutiny when the prospect of a timid Luka came across his mind. “Why’d you join the military, Laurie? Nice lookin’ guy like you’s gotta have had different ideas other than getting anywhere close to Titans; unless you’re aiming for the Top Ten to head off for Wall Sina, that is.”

The twins and Luka? Well, Laurie didn't really venture out much in that one year that he was in Shiganshina. After all, he was helping out in their family tavern and wondering why they had to leave Karanes for the most part of his life there. "Thank you for the compliment." He laughed, his mother has always told him how good he had looked but for the most part he just shrugged it off as something all mothers do to their kids.

"No, I don't want to join the Military Police. You could say that I want to rid the Titans that destroyed my mother's home. I want to help humanity take back what was ours." It was partly the reason why. "Besides, I want to give meaning to my life by joining the Scouts. It's the most heroic regiment there, isn't it?"

”I’m the same way,” Hal started in response, feeling the compulsion to adjust his military uniform as his hands straightened out the jacket to fit the usual standard. He felt a genuine article to the other boy’s words, but he could sense that there were more pieces to the puzzle; he just didn’t know what, exactly, was it that nagged at him. “And I agree, humanity is only capable of moving forward through the wings of freedom, not by those lazy Garrison or corrupt Policemen I hear about in the capital.”

Remembering all of the destruction and loss of life on that day visibly frustrated the dark-haired boy, causing him to ball up a tight fist as Hal tidied his light-colored undershirt. “I just need to grow stronger, and when I learn the omni-directional mobility gear in and out, those Titans won’t stand a chance. Watch my back, and I’ll watch yours, Laurie. I know we’ll make it out of this hell together, if we do.”

A huge grin formed slowly on Laurie's lips, "Hah! Now that's what I like to hear." He said gleefully as he gave Halvor a strong punch to the shoulder. Laurie would never let anyone die on his watch, if he loses someone else important to him he doesn't know if he'll be able to take it. But he doesn't like the idea of others getting in trouble for his sake.

"Of course I'll have your back," Laurie said confidently, although he knew that he's not gonna give his all at every moment for the three years of training. “We’re comrades, a team! What’s more important than teamwork and protecting each other?”

It was a rhetorical question, never meant to be answered although the real question in his head was… “So, what’s up with you and Vivian? You guys looked like you had some tension the other night.”

Hal was caught a bit unawares from the other boy’s shoulder pat, awkwardly straightening his form after the fact with a scoff. From the flowery outer appearance of Laurie, one wouldn’t expect that sort of strength, but he wasn’t one that liked to judge a book by its cover; the taller trainee was deceptively muscular beneath the loose clothing. “Vivian?” his memory drifted to the previous day when he’d caught the thieving stare of that silver-haired girl several times.

Taking a moment to ponder on the curiosity of his conversation partner, even he didn’t exactly know why she seemed so interested in him. Hal didn’t think that anyone enlisted in the military with the sole interest in finding love in a soulmate; it just seemed like such an incredulous concept that had no place in the world that they lived in. “Just caught her watching me all throughout the day from the very moment Krause tried to euthanize any potential children of mine down there. Not entirely sure why?”

“Huh, and here I thought you knew each other.” He said as he gave a lopsided smile. Well, Vivian looked like it. That's what he thought of it but it didn't seem like Hal was lying either. Perhaps the white-haired teenager fell in love at first sight, but Laurie doesn’t really believe in that so he doubts it.

Laurie watched as most people in the cabin were starting to drag their feet to their respective beds. He hadn’t even noticed how late in the night it had gotten. “Excuse me.” Someone said to him with tired eyes, looking at the bottom bed of the bunk. He gave a sincere apology before moving to the other side.

He looked to Hal, a sheepish look overcame him. “Ah, I guess it’s lights out for us.” He said with a yawn as he felt jealous of the others who drifted to sleep in less than a minute. He wished he was like that, sadly sleep doesn’t come to him so easily these days. “It’s been a pretty long day, don’t you think?” He said as he started to climb to his bed. It was definitely a tiring day, not as much as the day before but almost.

“We should probably get some rest too, Hal. You know Krause seems to like working us to the bone.” Laurie’s eyes were already partway into closing, he could feel the sudden weight on his eyes.

The shuffle of nameless trainees began to enter the boy’s cabin in droves, signaling the final moments of their leisure time. “I imagine we’ll be acquainted by the time training’s up and finished,” Hal shrugged at the other boy’s initial belief, scratching the back of his head through their final exchanges. The sole of his left boot kicked off against the wooden frame of the bunk that his presence blocked off, watching Laurie return to his respective cot. “The only easy day was yesterday,” he snickered, wondering if his new friend would understand the meaning behind his words before opting to explain anyway. “Means things’ll only get harder from now on.”

Hal’s arms stretched into the air as he let out a long yawn, feeling the contagious exhaustion that rippled among the boys of their unit. “She should if we’re gonna become soldiers of tomorrow. I expect nothin’ but the best from you, Laurie, so rest up,” his knuckles tapped against the other boy’s bunk before he started off towards his own, wondering just how the future would play out for them.

Laurie gave Hal a lazy wave, offering a quiet good night as he watched the other teenager walk off before drifting in what would be a good sleep for the rest of his week.

mention: || interaction: Raiden

 

[Raiden]

1: Leon Monar | 2: Nina Polgar | 3: Joanna Schreiber | 4: Vivian Schweiss | 5: Laurence Arnault ​

[2] Luka Soroka & Nina Polgar
104th Training Corps
847
Collab with @ShadyLady​

During the brief recess that the trainees would have after their daytime activities and before light’s out, Luka always found it a bit difficult to approach many of the others that were outside of the people that he was already familiar with. Many of the other trainees already ridiculed him for being insecure and weak; he knew exactly who to avoid, but to seek out the good-natured ones to make friends seemed like a daunting task in itself.

Which is why his face was flushed as a beet when Luka brought up the confidence to approach someone that he’d been meaning to become friends with. The boy had opted to make his move just outside of the mess hall, the redness of his cheeks and the blue in his meek eyes shimmering by the torchlight. “H-hi, I’m Luka Soroka,” he introduced himself to Nina Polgar, who was the subject of his attention.

A fellow cadet within his class, Luka’s first impression of Nina was that she was very pretty; he thought that her hair and its style was appealing, in contrast to certain beliefs from other recruits. Beyond that, he was of the opinion that she seemed like the nicest person in their unit, not to mention one of the smartest as well. It was more than the usual arrogant or knuckleheaded stereotype that much of the other soldiers seemed to fall under.

“I-if y-you’re not busy, c-could we play some chess t-t-together?” Luka, in that moment, realized that he’d accidentally been saluting Nina as if she were Instructor Krause. Seeing that she was about the same height as he was, he offered the girl a gentle smile as his right hand quickly withdrew to the back of his head. His gaze traveled from the ground up to her eye level, nervously shifting his ponytail of blonde hair in his fingers.

Nina had been idling, boredom eating away at her as she wondered what she was supposed to do until lights were out. The dull side of her settled on the decision that she’d get some extra sleep, so she left the mess hall and was ready to head back to the girls' shared cabins until she noticed the approaching of a face she hadn’t expected to see. Pausing, she watched the younger boy near her, wondering if there was something wrong for him to single her out.

Listening to him introduce himself, Nina’s head tilted slightly as she noticed the deep flush that had settled on his skin, she wondered vaguely if he was ill. Regardless of her minor concerns, a polite smile tugged at her lips.

“Hi Luka, I’m Nina Polgar,” she greeted kindly, silvery voice mellow as she introduced herself. Inquisitive curiosity flickered in her azure eyes as she examined the other cadet. Nina recognised his face and pretty straw-coloured hair easily and she had seen him around on their busy days of training, though she hadn’t had a name to go along with it until now. There hadn’t been many opportunities for them to speak beforehand but seeing Luka approach her out of the blue sparked her interest.

At the unexpected question and sight of him saluting, the small smile she’d worn on her lips widened, brightening to an enthusiastic beam. “I’d love to play chess!” She answered eagerly, pale blue eyes lit with excitement. “I didn’t realise anyone else played.” She mused, thinking about the curious glances her and Leon had garnered during their occasional games but lack of challenge requests from her fellow classmates.

“Do you have a board we can use or are we using mine?” She asked, happy with whichever choice Luka settled on. It would be nice to play against someone that wasn’t a brat. Luka didn’t seem to be the type to be a sore loser either which was another bonus.

“R-r-r-really?!?” Luka stammered in complete disbelief as his voice shook with a mixed explosion of emotions. A soaring sensation seemed to sprout from the soles of his feet up to the confines of his chest where his heart palpitated wildly. His mouth hung open as the stars of the night sky twirled infinite rotations around his head in a pirouette, trying his hardest to suppress the celebratory compulsion by clasping his hands together tightly. Wa… was it always that easy?

“Y-y-yeah, u-uh, um, y-yes, I...” Luka’s expression mirrored Nina’s enthusiasm a million times over, finding himself starstruck for words in the moment before realizing how weird he must have been making himself out to be in front of her. Oh shucks, what if she thinks I’m a weirdo now? Relax, relax, relax! The boy took a deep breath, finding it hard to hold her gaze as the crimson darkened all over his face. “U-um, could w-we use yours, Nina?”

At the sound of his surprised stammering, Nina tittered, covering her mouth with her hand to mask the quiet laugh bubbling from her lips. Luka, she decided, was cute. There was something endearing about him, whether it be the sight of his hands clapping together into an excited seal or the bright flush painting his cheeks rosy. She hadn’t cultivated much of an opinion on the teen from the brief moments she’d noticed him beforehand, but he seemed gentle and kind, somewhat timid, the latter evident now.

“Of course we can, come with me and I’m sure we can fit a few games in.” She beckoned, curling a finger up at Luka for him to follow as she turned and began to walk. Heading in the direction of the common area where she’d stashed the chessboard, she turned to check if Luka was following, expression hopeful and azure eyes bright.

Prickly thorns ran across the skin of his body in fight-or-flight, his stomach fluttering with joy as Luka trotted in a skip while following closely behind. His stare wandered from Nina's hair to the sight of the common area from over her shoulder; the cabin was slightly greater in size than the usual barracks that they lived in, seeing a few other cadets hanging about on the outside.

"Wow," Luka uttered to himself when the two of them stepped through the doorway. Tables of varying lengths, from the desks in the classrooms to the long tables in the mess hall, were scattered about the expanse of space; bookshelves lined the structure, offering study for eager cadets. The boy was quick to reserve a table for themselves, waiting a moment for the redhead's return until his fascinated expression was looking over the chessboard and its pieces for the first time in his life.

There was an innocent glow in his eyes as he rolled the black queen piece in his fingertips, thinking back to when a certain individual called it the strongest piece on the board. "So cool," Luka held the queen out before him, feeling his cheeks redden again when he noticed Nina in his peripheral vision. He returned the piece to its respectful position on his side, remembering a certain custom that was generally adhered.

"U-um," the shadow of the boy's right hand loomed above the chessboard, vibrating slightly as Luka anticipated her hand. He bounced in his seat with excitement, a soft smile hanging beneath blue eyes that, for once, didn't exude loneliness. "L-let's have fun, Nina."

She’d placed the chessboard between them, leaving a scrap of paper and a pencil to the side of the table, ready for Nina to record both sides moves and analyse her own game play after. If Luka asked, she’d critique him too and offer whatever pointers she could.

Nina’s fingers moved like clockwork, mechanical and efficient as she placed all the pieces to their starting squares without much thought, only pausing at the sight of Luka holding the dark figure of the queen. A silent befuddlement claimed her features, a slight creasing of her brows as she stared at the boy and his transfixed gaze both on the board and it’s worn pieces, and then on herself.

“Good luck,” Nina murmured in response after a moment of watching the flushed blond with her inquisitive light eyes, a slender hand snaking up to meet her challenger and she shook his hand gently before pulling away, “have fun.” Nina pushed a pawn forwards, writing the move down. She continued doing so for a few moves, noting both her own and Luka’s. She hadn’t known what to expect off of her opponent, Luka had implied he was familiar with the game by asking her to play rather than to learn. By the time she witnessed too many blunders she could handle without growing concerned Luka wasn’t taking her seriously, she levelled him a narrowed glance, shifting her questioning gaze back and forth between the chessboard, paper and Luka.

”I… uh… I…”

Calling his ‘participation’ an embarrassment was quite an understatement. Though his mind was on the cusp of a migraine from all of the mental gymnastics that Luka didn’t expect chess to require, suffering defeat in less than a few moves over and over and over could’ve suggested a lack of intellectual thought throughout the span of their matches. He’d done exactly what Leon suggested, but beyond that, he was a headless chicken without any inclination of knowledge on how to proceed, despite the fact that he’d been thinking the hardest that he possibly could.

The young boy grinded his knuckles against the sides of his head as Luka couldn’t bring himself to look up from the lopsided result of their last match, unable to face Nina after such a pitiful display. When he was finally able to, the look on the redhead’s face looked to spell out complete disappointment; all of his fears seemed to slowly culminate upon her expression, and he was scared that she would just get up and leave in offense. “Sorry,” for the first time, his voice held on without any nervous stutter, though his words were spoken with a heavy heart.

“I know you probably don’t care, but I don’t really have any other friends…” Luka hung his head down in shame, staring at the wooden tabletop. Tears threatened to fill his eyes, but the boy held them back, his hands balled up in soft fists before they opened up. “I just heard you like chess, and I wanted to do something you like to see if I could maybe become friends with you. But you probably don’t want anything to do with someone like me who doesn’t know anything else about you or chess...”

The water in his eyelids came close to spilling over, prompting Luka to abruptly rise from his seat. “I’m sorry for wasting your time, Nina, I really am. I won’t bother you again,” he genuinely apologized to the girl, starting to turn away from the table.

Surprise widened her azure eyes as she listened to Luka’s confession, her scrutinising gaze melting into one of commiseration. Nina blinked, caught off guard as he rose from his seat. In the next moment she’d leaned across the table and caught Luka’s wrist before the blond could leave. “You haven’t wasted my time,” Nina reassured hastily, pulling him down into his seat before continuing, “I don’t care if you know nothing about me or chess, I just-” she hesitated and fretted for a moment, struggling to find the right words, “I assumed you knew how to play, that was my mistake not yours.”

Realising that she’d been holding the poor boy’s wrist captive with their hands hovering above the middle of the table, Nina released Luka. She cleared her throat, coughing into the back of her other hand. “If you want to go you can, but if you stay I’ll teach you how to play. If that’s what you’d like?” The redhead suggested, hopeful gaze landing on the blond as she shifted in her seat.

“I mean, for someone who doesn’t know anything about chess, you managed to play the basics of some openings.” Nina praised, recalling the past games and reading through both of their moves and considering the positions in her head. “Your main problem is failing to protect your king and blundering pieces.” Her finger began its steady tapping on her chin as she pondered over what else she could say without overwhelming him, nodding slightly to herself and adding, “The way you played was better than I did when I first started. I wouldn’t have played so aggressively if you’d told me you were new to the game, I’m sorry.”

Luka found himself stopped in his tracks when his wrist was caught by the subject of his attention, his face full of stupefaction upon hearing Nina’s own apology. He allowed himself to be guided back into his seat, watching the redhead with a sentimental gaze that was ready to fragment at any moment. Yet, his sorrow wavered through the passing moment and slowly began to turn into a rainbow of emotion that seemed so foreign to him; elation, happiness, rapture.

“Nina...” his voice uttered her name lowly before his eyelids closed down hard, withdrawing the tears as he struggled to find the right words within that pocket of time. When they opened, his blue eyes peered right into hers with pure jubilation, even more enamored by her sweeter disposition as his smile was bright and full. Much of her analysis on his chess performance flew above his head as he was overwhelmed with euphoria. “I-I’d love to learn from you! It’d be an honor, really!” a hand ran through his mess of hair, still in a state of disbelief. The young boy just couldn’t believe it, still; after all of the doubts and hesitation… “D-d-does that mean… we can be friends?”

The blond’s cheeks immediately flushed with crimson once more upon the wonder. “All the others call me Sunshine ‘cause of my hair, and I don’t really like it,” Luka unintentionally stumbled off topic in a bit of a ramble, his face reddening further as both of his hands shook out in a bit of rashness. “B-b-b-b-but you can call me Sunshine i-if y-you w-want to, Nina! I-I don’t mind it if you do...”

Nina blinked, a little taken aback by his eager confession and then question. “Friends…” She mulled over the word, her finger tapping her chin lightly as she thought. Luka seemed kind, somewhat nervous and happy all at once to be around her which she found both concerning and amusing. “If you’re nice to me, sure, we can be friends.” She decided, a teasing twist to her lips as she answered him.

“That’s a cute name, I think it suits you.” She smiled at him, her words genuine and soft as she glanced at his hair. “I’ll call you it if you want.” The redhead hummed for a few seconds, a saccharine and sugary sound as she mused to herself. Leaning her elbows onto the table, she quirked a brow at him and gestured vaguely to the chessboard, “Where should we start then, Sunshine?”

 

[Raiden]

1. August Ackerman | 2. Bianca Hatton​

Halvor Verdende & August Ackerman
104th Training Corps
847
Collab with Demon Shinobi​

Somehow close quarters day, as August came to know it, had somehow become a mix of excitement and anxiety inducing for the young Ackerman. He found that some days he was lucky if he found an available training partner, ever since the drop in numbers, and luckier if they were skilled enough to provide a challenge in a more drawn out battle. Even then, he was luckier still if he could truly go all out. There weren’t that many he could count on to push to the edge. Many of those, as of late, had seemed to be busy though.

Luckily, the sun seemed to be shining a beacon of light toward his salvation. Someone he hadn’t fight before, but had seen fight. He’d felt his blood pump harder, boiling with anticipation. Something deep inside him knew that he was one of the ones he could get a real, no holds barred, down and dirty scrap with.

“Yo!” He said, raising his hand to give a slight wave, his smile ever present and friendly as always. “Halvor, right?” When the numbers dropped, words, names, rumors, everything got around a little quicker, and a little more accurately even. “Today’s shaping up to be a pretty good day isn’t it?” he asked, looking around at the almost scenic weather. “Wanna make the most of it and have a little brawl?” Straight to the point was the best way to approach these things right?

You couldn’t really make friends if you wasted time beating around the bush. Plus, he’d learned his lesson from past experience, missing out cause he was too slow to act. He wanted a fight, and there was no better time than now.

Tch, that guy. There was never a dull match when it came to Leon; it seemed like whenever their fists crossed, the lost piece to a forgotten puzzle would click back within Hal’s mind. Regrettably, it made his other opponents pale in comparison, even if they were good enough to not go down in a couple of seconds. The dark-haired boy was taking a drink of water from his flask when an unfamiliar face entered his trajectory, trying to match a name to the new arrival but failing to do so.

Hal wiped the sweat from his brow, furrowing it slightly when the cadet called him by his name and made a bit of small talk. “Yes, that’s me,” he confirmed his identity for them, pocketing the flask with a breath of relief when he was asked for a sparring match. “Before that, you are?” he questioned, tilting his head.

August's smile formed into a little grin. He was glad Halvor didn't seem the type to ask the age old, "Who's asking?" question in any of its variations. To be honest, August never really got that. But still, he couldn't help laughing a little bit. "Oh right, manners," he said, rubbing that back of his head. "My name's August," he said rather nonchalantly. "Honestly, I'm as surprised at this turn of events as you must be, but given how many people have left our ranks, I've sort of found myself without many suitable combat partners."

Though he wasn't sure the explanation was needed, he gave it anyway. His stance was relaxed, his demeanor casual as the day was long, and his aura about as threatening as that of a lost puppy (if you believed in that sort of thing). "So, I'm here hoping to get a taste of some real action. Gotta be honest, seeing you and the other recruit.... Leo?" he shrugged. Close enough. "Seeing you fight really piqued my interest." At the very least, he seemed confident. "So, with introductions made, is that a yes?"

His scowl transformed into an expression that was anything but modest upon learning that August also happened to be seeking worthy opponents. Does this guy even know how to fight? Hal sized up the other boy beyond the niceties that exuded from him, finding it quite convincing that he’d just be another pushover to trample. Yet, there was always the gut feeling to never underestimate any of his adversaries, no matter how weak a character they seemed on first impression.

“Ah, Ackerman,” Hal pieced the surname to the forename, although it was the small talk that was getting to be the most uninteresting part of their conversation. August had apparently witnessed at least one of his previous contests against Leon; that would certainly work in the favor of the mysterious boy. That’s if he’s any good. If not… “You’re a lucky one,” he responded by locking his feet firmly, curling his elbows and raising his fists high in a predatory stance. “I’m always fresh for a fight.”

August nodded in confirmation of his name. Halvor paid attention to things. To be honest, August had a little trouble getting some of the names together and it'd been weeks. Even then getting the first name was a challenge, forget the last names. Still, he brightened up a bit. Halvor could easily have turned him away after all.

"Now that's an attitude I can get behind." His knees bent ever so slightly, his hands balling into loose fists as he got into a lower, slightly more forward leaning stance. He took a deep breath. August's eyes remained locked onto Halvor, examining his form. In terms of physicality (height, reach, build, etc.) they were pretty similar. That meant finding a clear advantage or disadvantage in the other wouldn't be easy. In many ways, he expected a battle for control of the pace and momentum of the fight. Then again, that was a vague statement that could apply to any fight wasn't it?

Regardless, August didn't want to waste time. He'd been the one to challenge Halvor after all. Didn't want to keep him waiting now. He stepped in, launching two quick jabs at his fellow cadet followed by a heavy cross. A simple maneuver, one he could easily use to gauge Halvor. After all, he couldn't be too sure just how skilled his opponent was from an interesting fight or two. He had to see, to feel, for himself.

His knees buckled under the familiar shot of adrenaline that his body seemed addicted to. Hal rolled his eyes when Ackerman finally stopped talking and shot forward to take initiative in their match, maintaining his composure. The dark-haired boy watched the choreographed moves come his way, easily weaving around the two jabs as they whizzed past his form. He kept his forearm raised in the direction of August’s cross punch, purposefully absorbing the heavy strike in order to see just how hard his opponent could hit.

His arm stung quite a bit from the attack, seeing that Ackerman was deceptively powerful. Maybe this will be some fun, after all, heh. Hal didn’t waste any bit of time as his body immediately shifted the momentum towards his lower body, his right leg springing up for a roundhouse kick towards August’s head.

There was something about feeling the impact of your blow landing that August just couldn't help enjoying. Whether it was blocked or not, there was a satisfying feeling that didn't come from your attack being avoided. He was impressed all the same though. Hal's reflexes were quick, and he clearly knew what he was doing. There wasn't a wasted move in his form.

August braced himself, tucked his head a bit lower behind his left arm to form a cushion against the blow. It hit about as hard as he'd expected. Halvor was strong. Still, as he felt the kick connect, his right arm was already in motion, swinging a sledgehammer like fist toward the other's midsection.

Hal clicked his tongue upon seeing that his kick was half-deflected, expecting the counterattack while his leg was returning to the ground. Both of his palms sprawled before his midriff in an effort to restrict the fist from exploiting his momentary vulnerability, only able to lessen the severity of the oncoming blow by a small amount. The other boy’s punch sent his own knuckles back into his stomach, his expression flinching as the force sent his body back a few inches.

“Good shot,” his stance remained absolute despite the slight pain, suggesting to himself that he would have keeled over from the blow had he not intervened minimally. Shots to the body had been one of his key weaknesses learned from the many matches against Leon; somethin’ I need to work on, and fast. Hal was quick to close the distance again, shambling forward as his left leg shot forward in an attempt to crack against August’s right shin. The boy stuck to his offense, his right elbow also lunging forward for his opponent’s chin.

August prepared himself for Hal's charge. The body blow had done more than he had expected. Maybe Hal could do with a little extra work on his core. August winced, planting his foot as he felt the sting of Halvor's kick. Low kicks to the shin. They didn't do a whole lot of damage at once, but enough of those in a row and he'd be better off trying to fight while sitting in a chair.

Fortunately, August's body was good at taking a beating. Plus, he knew to look out for something like losing his footing. What came next was far more important though. A blow to the chin was far more worrisome than a blow to the shin right now. He weaved his body to the left, moving in an almost figure eight like motion.

Using the momentum from this narrow evasion, August launched another powerful left hook toward Halvor's face. Only, this time, it was a feint. Before Impact he'd pull back, shifting all his weight to his right as his body twisted at the hip, aiming his own right elbow at Hal's jaw.

'Shit,' frustration manifested within his head as Hal had not reacted to the feint at an ideal pace. His face reared back to avoid the right elbow, only for the sharp attack to swipe directly against his nose. There was a momentary stagger, blood shooting from his nose as the boy was not inclined to let some lucky hit decide anything for their bout. His right arm looped through the gap between August's elbow and forearm, trying to grapple his opponent. His right foot stepped forward around the back of the boy's right leg, setting it back and attempting to overpower the Ackerman in order to send him tumbling back.

There were many words that August could have used to describe Halvor, but predictable wasn’t one of them. Most wouldn’t have been able to avoid the elbow in any capacity, and even those that had, would likely have put some distance between themselves and the assailant. Halvor chose to move in. August's surprise though came when he felt his elbow hooked by Halvor's. He grit his teeth. He was off balance. His weight had primarily shifted to his left during his previous attack and now that was coming back to bite him in the ass.

Soon, August was falling back just as Hal had planned. He sucked in a deep breath, repositioning his body the best he could to use his shoulder and make sure the full force of the impact didn't reach his head. "Ngh..." he groaned, wincing before his legs shot up from the ground. The left came up under Halvor's right arm as the right leg hooked over his left shoulder. "You're a real interesting guy, Halvor," August said, his voice a bit hoarse as he attempted to force Halvor down toward himself. If August managed well, then maybe, he could force Halvor into a triangle hold. On the off chance that his weight wasn't enough to drag Halvor down, he'd have to take a different approach.

Though Hal was quite pleased with himself when he managed to take down August to the ground, his achievement seemed to be short-lived as he found himself in quite the opposite situation that was intended. He’d been too slow to capitalize on the decisive moment-- no, Ackerman and his instincts were simply faster. His eyes went wide as his arm went under, immediately feeling pressure from his opponent’s grapple. Finding himself in relatively uncharted territory, the boy briefly lost his cool when he tried to break from the other boy’s chokehold, only to entangle himself further when he tried to go into the wrong direction.

“You’re good,” Hal unintentionally wasted his breath, refusing to tap in as he continued to try and release himself from the triangle hold. Even though his opponent had him entirely locked down, he continued to wrestle about in search for a way out, until he lost consciousness after nearly a minute of submission.

August hadn’t expected this to work. He knew simply trying to scramble away and get back to his feet wouldn’t have gotten him anywhere. But this… This move just felt right. He grinned.

“Thanks,” he replied. “You’re good too,” he said, tightening his hold as Halvor struggled to escape. August expected him to give up. Otherwise, they’d just keep going. He couldn’t risk losing the advantage though. But Hal wasn’t giving up. “Hey. Give up. Tap. Retreat. Whatever Krause is always saying. Just live to fight another day,” he urged Halvor to give in. The stubborn bastard didn’t wanna let up though. “Hey! Hal!” he called as Hal finally got out. It was maybe a minute. A minute? Really? No… It felt like so much longer.

Even so, when August was able to let go, he breathed out a sigh of relief. He was panting, breathing heavily as he pushed Hal off of himself and got up to check on the unconscious boy. August laid the guy on his back, kneeling beside him. “Hal,” he asked, frantically checking Hal’s breathing. “H-hey Hal!” he called once more. This was the first time he’d put someone to sleep like this… he was starting to worry a bit.

His mouth hung open as his blue eyes slowly rolled within their sockets, a series of hoarse inhales sounding from his throat and nose. Some of the blood that ran from his nose sucked back into its receptacle with each involuntary pant before the light returned to his empty gaze, blinking rapidly when the dark-haired boy finally returned from his brief unconsciousness. Only remembering the moment just before darkness overtook his senses, Hal wore a scowl as he had to hold himself from seizing the opportunity to grapple the prone Ackerman, sitting up from his back.

“Hmph, looks like I’ve still got miles to go before I’m in the Top Ten,” the defeated trainee mused in slight disappointment, bringing up his right fist to brush off some of the blood from his nose. Hal never enjoyed losing, especially at something he proclaimed himself to be the best at, but he knew when to cut his losses and learn. “I didn’t have a chance against that chokehold; drove the wrong way and put myself in deeper shit. What a pain, honestly...”

Hal intercepted the eyes of his challenger, his fingers pressing around his nose to check if it was broken. “Yes, I’m fine, and no, I’m not angry,” he spoke out before August could go on about his health and mentality.

“Well, that’s the whole point of training isn’t it?” August asked, a small smile returning to his face after exhaling a sigh of relief. “You know, get stronger and all that.” He’d really thought that things had gone a little too far there. Of course, Hal’s own stubbornness would have been his own undoing, but that didn’t stop August from worrying. “Honestly, I doubt anyone would expect something like that from down below. In most cases, I’m sure they expect to gain the upper hand.” In truth, August might have thought the same. When he saw the chance though, something just clicked.

Still, this was good. The young man took a small breath, pushing himself up to his feet. He held his hand out to Halvor. “Glad to hear you’re alright,” he mused. “Although, I can’t imagine why you would have been angry. Ya know the old saying. Uuuuh something about fish.” August shrugged. He was sure he’d heard that before. The essence was, there is always somebody smarter, more skilled, better, etc. “Now, I think I can help you figure out to get out of the hold before it's locked in if you wanna have another go.”

Hal’s brow narrowed at August’s musing about some metaphorical saying, taking a bit of offense as he assumed that the boy was comparing him to a fish. “Okay, Ackerman, I’ll show you exactly why I’d be angry,” he shook his head with feigned contempt, reluctantly accepting the extended assistance with a hard grasp and pulling himself from the ground. The trainee patted off the dust that stained his jacket and pants, feeling compelled to straighten out his uniform to look presentable. “Joking, of course. Sort of,” Hal wore a mild expression as he now stood firmly on both feet. Underestimating this guy was a bad move, but I’ve got plenty of time to learn his tricks. He’d have to bring on new techniques in his fighting style over the next three years, anyway, if he wanted to show up someone like Leon or Ramiel. “You’re on, Ackerman; now, get on your back.”

 

[Moonlessite]

+ Leon Monar
A collab with Castello [Leon]
​

Freetime was one of Elke’s favorite times of day. Heck, it could probably even be her absolute favorite; she got to hang out with her friends and make new ones in the process. Not to mention, it was also a good way to relax from the constant onslaught of tasks that Krause sent her way. But, as of late, she hadn’t seen one of the recruits around. Leon. He always looked so lonely… maybe it was because he didn’t have any friends save for Nina?

And so, onward Elke went on a search for the tall boy. She looked everywhere-- she even peeked into the boy’s cabins in her pursuit of him --until she found him in the stables.

“Leeeeee!” she called as she ran up to him. “Where’ve you been? Taking care of the horses?”

Leon gently stroked the chunky mare’s mane. The horse was a deep auburn color, her eyes a warm amber. The horse had a subtle spotting pattern of white and black and apart from the extended abdomen, she was truly a sight to behold. She huffed as Leon went through the locks of her mane, tiredly offering him gratitude.

The stable itself was quiet, no other horses were present other than a few other mares and their foals, along with a few barn cats that cuddled in the loose hay. Leon liked it this way, it was something to do and it brought back memories of his life back in Dauper. The less noise, the more he could escape the stress of being a soldier. Being stuffed like sardines with either layers of other soldiers or inside the tight dorms had begun to do a number on his sanity. When it was quaint like this, however, he would whistle a quiet tune in glee.

When Elke barged into the stables, both Leon and the mare he was tending to spooked slightly, the horse reeling away from the blond girl and back into its quarters. While Elke approached him, Leon braced with a sigh, turning back to face with as little exasperation as possible, biting tightly on the inside of his lip.

“Yes.” He offered. “What are you doing here, Elke? Your sister isn’t here, if that’s what you're wondering. She’s probably in the mess hall.” Leon said in a slightly dismissing tone.

He turned his body slightly, trying to urge the horse back to continue getting brushed.

Elke was very much unaware of Leon’s unwillingness to speak to her for the time being. She gave him a big smile and grasped her hands behind her back. “Nah, I’m not looking for Anke. I was looking for you, silly!” she laughed, circling around him to see what he had been doing. She was surprised to see that he had been taking care of a horse-- a mare, no less --and the beast was of considerable size.

“Awwww! She’s so pretty,” she brought her hand up gently as to not scare the horse any further than it already had been. “And she’s pregnant, too! So cute. I bet the babies are going to be adorable.”

Leon gave her a visible ‘huh?’ as she assured him. “Me?” He said, a confused inclination following it.

When she circled around him, he did not seem too worried. He looked to the Horse who no longer looked perturbed with the invasion of another human being. The horse seemed calmed and hardly bothered now. When her fingers went up to her face, the Mare offered Elke’s hands a sniff, sneezing in response. This made Leon smile, his expression lighting up a bit.

“Her name is Potato.” He said seriously, rolling his eyes. “It is a stupid name but I don’t name them. She’s the number one breeder.” He motioned over to a similar Mare, her Foal underneath her for milk. Her pattern was far more spotted but she shared a similar auburn color. “That’s one of her daughters, Molly.”

Leon walked next to Elke, brushing her Mane firmly, making sure any stray hay was taken out of it. He did not make eye contact this time but he did smile. “But yes, I suppose the babies are going to be cute.”

The horse’s name was Potato! That was an adorable name, but Leon certainly didn’t think so. Oh well, to each their own. “Awww,” Elke cooed again as she set her eyes on Molly. The sight of such a small thing next to her mother warmed her heart.

“I love foals. They’re so gentle, and sweet…” Elke murmured, reaching up to stroke Potato’s nose again. She was glad that the mare liked her. After a few moments of silence, and her fawning over Potato, Elke turned to Leon again. “But yeah. I came to see you, because I never see you around with the others… I was afraid that you were lonely, so I came to keep you company a bit,” she faltered then, blushing slightly in fear that the feeling might not be reciprocated, “i-if that’s fine with you, I mean.”

Leon looked to the foal, he nodded in agreeance with her. “That foal right there will be sent to the front lines, he’s bred specifically for speed and endurance. His father Spot was more than 2 meters tall.” He thought a moment, chuckling. There was a morbidness to his visage however, his tone reflecting that of regret. “In a year or so he’ll be just like us.”

He did not think much about her request, nor did he catch her blush. Leon nodded his head, not noticeably annoyed by it. “I could use an assistant.” Was all he said before handing her a broom. “You can clean the place, that includes the droppings of course.”

Elke smiled at Leon when he said that he, in fact, did want her to stick around. She was happy for that… even if she had to clean up horse poop in order to keep him company. “Sure!” she chirped happily, taking the broom from his hands. The girl promptly got to work, beginning to sweep up some of the nearby hay that had become dirty with time.

“So, what regiment do you wanna join, Leon?” she asked him as she worked. “Are you going for the MP?”

Leon was surely impressed she was so eager, offering her a small smile in response. He pulled out a basket of apples in the corner, each carefully halved and seeded. When he began to approach Potato, she neighed in excitement. The horses had been eating a steady diet of grain but Leon was able to find them scrap fruits for their dessert.

When Elke started to speak up, he sighed internally. Clearly she was not going to be a quiet little assistant, but Leon felt rude to give her the silent treatment.

“Hmmm.” He hummed, giving a moment to think as he fed Potato her carrot. “We breed the horses for the scouts, so I’ll probably go over there.” Leon ended there. The small foal opened up to him in excitement as he approached. “Come on buddy, open wide.” He said, imitating by opening his jaw and holding out the apple.

Elke’s eyes widened. Leon sounded so calm as he fed the horses, especially the small foal that never strayed from Molly’s side. “What?!” she cried out.

Leon began to walk over to feed the other horse, and she stared at him, almost dropping the broom in surprise. “You’d join the Survey Corps? But… you’re the third best recruit at training camp! Wouldn’t you want to join the Military Police?”

Maybe Leon had a noble cause for joining the scouts. She stepped closer, eyes wide in mystified curiosity. “I mean, I wanna be a Scout, too… but why do you want to be one?”

‘Third!?’ Was his immediate thought. Leon had at least seen himself as a second, who the hell were these people beating him? Leon digressed with a sigh, waving it off.

“I’m sick of these walls.” He said with a pause. “I hear there is more to it out there. I would like to see it.”

Leon turned to her genuinely, his eyes curling in on her. “I take it you have a death wish or something? You have a sister, like it or not your life has meaning. There’s no glory in the Scouts for someone like you, just…” He paused, sighing with a frown. “Grieving family members.”

“Hey,” Elke was taken aback at Leon’s words. Did he think she was just Titan fodder? Or maybe he cared about where she put herself? “It’s not like I’m going there to die. I actually have a reason for going to the Scouts.”

She looked down at Molly again, smiling at the sight of the small foal. Walking over, she ran a hand through her soft mane. “I want to help out people any way I can. I want to pave a path for the people I love, and since I want to have kids one day, I’d want them to have a nice, peaceful life…”

“Who knows? Maybe I actually do something useful during my time there,” Elke giggled. “At least, before anything bad happens…”

Leon almost threw up in his mouth. He did not know whether to call Elke naive or just plain stupid--Leon ended up settling on the line in between. Rather than submitting to a gag, he simply scoffed. Part of him wanted to be nice and tell her to chase her dreams, but an unconscious voice was forced out of him.

“Why?” He mustered up. “This world is terrible, what kind of dream is bringing another soul into all this futility? Ask anyone who has seen that Colossal Titan and they’d tell you our days are numbered, and I frankly agree with them.” His inflection went from advocating to almost angry with her.

Leon sighed as he finished feeding the horses, he paused for a moment to contemplate his situation. ‘Why the hell do I care,’ echoed through his skull, preceded by a shrug.

“Whatever.” He digressed.

Elke didn’t expect Leon’s reply. His response was negative. Saddening, even. Her eyes widened, her smile dropped. Now a frown was evident on her lips, and tears stung her eyes. “You… ask why…?” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s true I have friends I want to protect… but…”

Something stirred in her. Was it anger, frustration? Did Leon not understand where she was coming from? “I’m going to help end this war against the Titans. I’m going to help forge a world where no one ever has to worry about them ever again.” Elke glared at him through her tears. “I’ll make sure that, if I have children, that Titans will only be a myth to them. All they’ll know in their life is peace.”

Leon did not say much more, he left the bucket where he had retrieved it and bid farewell to Potato. He glanced back to Elke. “I hope your dream comes true. Thank you for your help.”

 

[homintales]

Sera Mayer​

Thanks to the increase in Military Police activity around Sera’s living area, there was a severe lack of criminal operation for anyone to accept. As a result, Sera’s folks were on the verge of returning to poverty. In no way would Sera accept that.

Of course there were still the more… questionable positions available. Like when someone asks you to make sure this particular person doesn’t show up at this particular place, and then they promise to pay you a little extra if they never show up again.

That wasn’t a line of work Sera could accept. At least not if she wasn’t 100% sure the person earned it anyway. Luckily, she wouldn’t need to enroll as an Assassin. Word spread quickly throughout Trost of an operation that strangled Sera’s curiosity.

It was another smuggling job, of course, that’s what she was most skilled at. However, that’s not what got Sera to accept the contract. It was what was labeled on the package she was to transport. It read, “Highly Explosive, Transport with Caution” which needless to say made this particular operation that much more interesting.

Part of Sera wanted to refuse transporting such a threatening package. But then she realized that would take a toll on the reputation she accumulated over the years. With careful hands, she agreed to take a treacherous walk through Trost.

It didn’t take long for night to arrive. Even though it meant Sera could move with less of a risk getting caught, she also knew that the Military Police would increase their searches and add more men to the streets. “Goddamn…” Sera said to herself, getting a glimpse of the amount of MPs patrolling the area.

She was close to the point of extraction and could easily get around the MPs with only a small amount of stealth required. It was just so odd for so many of them to patrol the same area at once. It was almost as if they knew that someone was… “Found ‘er!”

‘Fuck.’ Sera thought to herself. Her smuggler instincts took control and right as the MP was about to charge at Sera, she quickly sprinted away from the area in a matter of seconds. While she ran, Sera decided to give the men the finger.

Hours passed until Sera was absolutely sure she was clear of any pursuers. She wasn’t taking any chances when it came to getting caught with such an illegal item. Anything else she could explain away. But a fucking EXPLOSIVE?! ….not even Sera was that charismatic.

With the coast clear, or at least it seemed that way, Sera walked out into the now empty street. Then she decided that if she went through so much trouble to transport the thing, she obtained the right to know what was inside of the package.

She already knew it was some kind of explosive. But she wanted to get a good look at it. After sweeping the area one more time, Sera opened the package.

Sera couldn’t exactly tell whether or not it was actually an explosive. Not because she didn’t know what an explosive looks like, it was because she was more focused on the giant spider that was also taking refuge inside of the package. “Ah, sp-spider!!!” She shouted… then chucked the package into the middle of the street.

As soon as the package touched the ground, it erupted in flames and sent a shockwave all the way to Sera’s position. She didn’t regret making the rash choice though, even if it did most likely manage to attract every MP in Trost straight to Sera. That spider needed to die.

 

[Raiden]

Halvor Verdende & Elke Vinter
104th Training Corps
Spring 848
Collab with M Moonlessite
​

Good enough was never going to be satisfactory for Halvor.

The boy simply couldn’t accept the fact that he could possibly look any sort of pathetic under the likes of certain cadets. Just the compulsory exercises drilled into them wouldn’t do for Hal; he had to devote himself to training even harder during the trainees’ downtime, which is why he approached his longtime friend for some assistance. Although the very idea sounded absolutely ridiculous (which it was), Hal was ecstatic to see that Elke had agreed.

The gigantic figure shambled through daybreak at the training camp as deep, exhausted pants sounded from its outline, scaring off an unwary cadet that screamed from the unexpected sighting of a Titan. In actuality, that Titan was a sweat-drenched Hal with a fifty pound backpack slung over his back, with the shorter Elke using it as her seat as she straddled high on his shoulders and the boy jogged with his makeshift weights.

Hal had been at this for a considerable amount of time, sweat pouring across every fiber of his being as his jog slowed to a near crawl. While Elke added more weight to bear, it was the liability of her safety that he sought to trivialize; if he didn’t keep moving forward, they would both come tumbling down. His legs began to shake as exhaustion ticked higher, feeling the pressure buckle at his knees. “I-I…. can… keep… goin’,” he barely managed to speak through his heavy exhales.

Yes, the sight itself was quite comical. Elke held on tightly to Hal’s shoulders as he paraded her around. The night breeze streamed through her hair as she giggled wildly from atop of Hal’s shoulders, finally feeling tall for once. And Hal was so amazing! He had been running around and around and around for ages, without getting tired. How did he do it?

That was, until she felt him slump forward a bit, as if he was almost on the verge of collapsing. Elke poked him gently in the side of the neck. “Uh, no, I don’t think you can! I think we should get to the infirmary to get you some water before you black out.”

”Me… okay...” Hal croaked rather unintelligibly as his eyes struggled to remain focused on the scenery before him. One by one, his limbs curled under duress, feeling as if he was carrying the burden of the heavens above. His spirit urged him to press beyond the racking exhaustion, but it was far too late; his glare went awry while every impulse within his body surrendered to the darkness. He came down to his knees, fruitlessly rebelling against defeat before his existence embraced the earth and his face kissed the dirt, rendering him unconscious.

Elke blinked in surprise when the boy’s body seemed to slowly collapse underneath her weight. Even though she was able to get off of his back before she fell with him, her worrying turned into a frantic concern. Ohh, why did he have to suggest her riding on his back, on top of that massive backpack?! She ran around to the front of his body, bent down, and lifted his head up.

“Ohhhh, wake up, Hal…” she murmured as she tapped his cheeks comfortingly. When he didn’t respond, Elke straightened up again. She had to get him to the infirmary before he became even more ill. Grabbing hold of his wrist, she pulled on it, and began dragging him towards help.

Elke spent as long as she could at the infirmary, waiting beside Hal’s bunk to see if he woke up. It was only then, after about an hour or so of waiting, that she began to doze off in her chair.

I supposed that I should’ve expected to wake up in the infirmary. Hal had a bit of a headache upon his awakening, his vision slowly clearing up to see that Elke was seated at his bedside and nearly falling asleep. His eyes traveled to the wooden table nearby where two empty canteens had fallen over, running a hand over his face as he rose from the cot. At first, he went to shake the girl to her senses, but decided against doing so; instead, he trotted over to the opposite side of the infirmary where a dart board hung on the wall.

Taking the triplet of darts into his possession, Hal returned to sit at the head of the cot with his back against the cabin wall, taking only a second to gauge the throw necessary for the distance from his target. In less than a few seconds, the first dart soared across the walkway from his hand, striking the bullseye nearly dead center with little effort. “Heh,” he saw that Elke was beginning to stir from her drowsy stupor, arming another dart and aiming for a spot next to the bullseye. “How long’ve I been out, Elke?”

She had only dozed off for a little while before she felt movement at her side. Yet, Elke’s eyelids still remained half-closed, right on the cusp of dozing off again. It was only when she heard the thud of the dart against the board across from them. She raised her head and blinked the haze from her eyes.

“Oh… hi, Hal.” she yawned. “I think you were gone for an hour… you scared me out there!"

Elke watched as the second dart soared. It sunk into the board right next to the first one. “He-eyy, I didn’t know you were so good at darts!”

“Me neither,” the boy admitted truthfully; things just seemed to slow down around him when it came to things that required accuracy, whether it was throwing darts or shooting a rifle during training. It just seemed to come natural to Hal, for lack of a concrete reason. His eyes narrowed to lock on to the next designated target, spotting the number twenty and intending on pinning the final dart at the center of the zero. “Sorry for draggin’ you into that mess, I oughta find a different way to train myself that won’t cut into your own time.”

A smile wore on his face as his wrist flicked forward, not bothering to see the result over turning to look towards Elke. “Anke’ll kick my ass if she finds out you almost got hurt ‘cause of me,” the thought of the other Vinter twin made him scoff as he ran a hand through his dark hair, peering up to the roof of the infirmary. “Though, this takes me a bit back to Shiganshina, figuring out what kinda silliness we’d get into for the day when things were quiet-- me, you and your sis, Luka and all the others… it’s really been three years since then.”

“Hey, I actually found it fun. You don’t gotta apologize.” Elke giggled at him playfully as she poked his cheek. “Besides, I’m pretty sure I can handle a fall without Anke worrying too much about me!”

She settled back into her chair as he spoke about their past. Elke kind of missed those times, but she had enjoyed watching her friends grow into what they were now. “Yeah, I know right? It feels so long ago. I miss the times when we used to play hide and seek. I’d always find a way to find Luka!”

"Hah, or when I was figurin' out to save his ass from that Benedikt bastard every other day,'' the girl's reminiscing seemed infectious enough as it challenged Hal to think back, remembering one of the neighborhood's pathetic bullies that ended up as Titan fodder instead of a victim to his fists that day. His eyes settled off to the side with uncharacteristic despondency, wearing a sorrowful frown that edged towards a contained anger. "Those days might be gone, but we're soldiers now. This might be a cruel world, but we can make a difference with the chance we're given if we fight back against them. I'll bring back those years of peace for me, you, Anke, Luka-- for the others, too; I swear it."

Elke watched Halvor become agitated; she always knew he had a temper brewing under his sweet words and personality, but she feared that such a drastic change in attitude might take a bigger toll on his body. “Whatever you say, Hal,” she giggled in an attempt to change the mood to a more cheery one. Elke stuck out her tongue and reached out to poke him in the cheek again. “But you can’t do anything when you’re stuck in bed being a stinky soldier! So it’s best to get some rest.”

Hal felt his temper diminish in the wake of Elke’s affection, his face loosening up as he drew a sigh. He couldn’t help but crack a smile towards the shorter girl’s direction, shaking his head. “Speak for yourself,” he scoffed, laying back down with both of his hands underneath his head. “No time to rest when we’ve got a world to save.”

“And no time to save the world when you’re falling asleep on your feet,” Elke shot back almost immediately. She leaned back in her chair again, turning her gaze towards the dartboard. All of the darts had landed near dead center. It was kind of hard to believe it was luck. Maybe he was just embarrassed about his skills at playing darts? “You do need to take care of your health, though. Seriously. I tell my sister the same thing…”

"Blockheads will be blockheads," a short laugh brushed past his lips as Hal kicked one leg up over the other. His fingers tapped against the sides of his head, looking towards the blonde from the corner of his eye. "I do take care of myself plenty, Elke," his tongue clicked in her direction, omitting all of the times thus far that they were both in the same situation in the infirmary in a light-hearted manner. "Least I'm mostly here 'cause of fatigue rather than gettin' my ass kicked. Just means I'm workin' hard, that's all."

Elke tried to keep up her serious facade, though it was hard to when Hal was being Hal. Her stoic demeanor cracked to reveal eyes that once again shone bright with mirth. “Oh, Hal. There’s no convincing you, is there?” she giggled. “You’ll always be as stubborn as you were when we were kids. I’m just glad you’re alright after all of this time.”

His arms came together and crossed over his chest, turning his head to face Elke directly. “Stubborn? Look in the mirror, why don’t you,” Hal’s voice communicated in jest as the boy slowly rose from the cot like a corpse from the ground. His legs carried him away from his resting spot, moving to reclaim the darts from the board and returning to the blonde. He held out the triplet towards Elke, his other hand pointing towards the dartboard on the opposite side of the infirmary. "Here, if you land a single one near the bullseye, I'll take it easier for the week since you're so inclined to mellow me out."

Elke watched as he retrieved the darts from the board and returned to bed. She looked down at the darts’ pointed tips, then back at Hal. “Promise?” she asked him as she took the darts from his hands. She weighed them in her palm, wondering how exactly to hold them and how to angle them when she sent them airborne. Frowning slightly, she took one of them and sent it flying across the room. With a light thunk, it sunk into the wall next to the board.

“You better keep up your end of the bargain. I got two more left to go!” Elke sent the other one towards the dartboard again, but it landed only a few inches from the first, at the very edge of the board. Elke couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed; was she really going to embarrass herself? But when she threw the last one, it struck the dartboard near dead center-- leaving the blonde to look at the dartboard, and then at her hand, in awe.

She dusted off her hands. “Looks like you have to take it easy after all, Hal!”

His eyes went wide when the final dart landed near the bullseye, near the very same spot that one of his own had pinned before. "Pfft, that was all chance," Hal scoffed in the girl's direction, waving his palm around in the air in momentary denial. The boy knew luck when he saw it, letting out an exasperated sigh with a weary face. "Whatever, Elke. I'll just bounce right back next week with two times the energy."

Elke’s lips curled into a smirk as she jabbed him in the cheek once again. “Come on, just admit that I won that bet fair and square,” she teased, leaning back into her chair. At his new proclamation, she puffed out her cheeks. “Overwork yourself, and I’ll get my sister to make you get enough rest!”

“Oi, do you really need to do that?” Hal wore a scowl with tempered fury, as if his head were a tea kettle that whistled aloud, and one could envision the steam flowing from his ears as the heat rose. Yet, his voice was a dull blade, his agitation fictitious and fleeting. He’d grown accustomed to the typical poking nature of the one Vinter twin, though he responded to her finger jab by swatting her hand away. “Can poke my eye out with that damn thing, sheesh!”

His hand extended outward in a similar fashion, but instead of a simple prod, his finger flicked against her puffed-out right cheek. “Oh-ho, I’d love to see Anke try,” Hal spoke in jest, offering Elke a shrug. “Top Ten ain’t a list for slackers. If I don’t sweat more than the other names in the 104th, I won’t even get close,” his index finger poked her face this time, narrowing his glare towards the blonde. “Same goes for you too, Elke. Even if you’re just aimin’ for the Scouts, you’re gonna need to be the cream of the crop to make it there, so I expect you to continue followin’ along.”

Elke’s brows furrowed even more when Hal reached over to flick her cheek. But she remained quiet, even as he poked her cheek with his finger. She didn’t understand why he had to work so hard if he only wanted to get into the Scouts; sure, she was certain that the Survey Corps wouldn’t take kindly to any sort of slackers. But to the point of him wanting to be one of the best out of the 104th?

“You can bet I’m gonna try my hardest. Just you wait-- I’ll be even better than Anke by the time we graduate!” Her words were filled with determination. “Instructor Krause won’t know what hit her!”

 

[Arcanist]

Jo & Elke
​

Jo snuck off early from dinner back to the cabins. She got a parcel and a letter earlier that day, though, shoved it under the bunk to look at it later. It had been bugging her the moment she hid it away. She figured while everyone was busy stuffing their mouths she would get a moment of privacy to look at it.

She wished she hadn’t.

Jo sat on the edge of the bunk, staring between the letter and the box, opened to reveal a pair of goggles on the inside. They were a simple pair with its brown leather straps, its square frame. Perfect for keeping on your face with the ODM gear. But the lenses. They were catered to her line of sight, exactly as her spectacles had been. That shouldn’t have been a problem but it had been to her.

It pissed her off.

“You idiots…” Jo mumbled, lifting the letter to stare at their names, almost wanting to burn through them with her eyes. They had no need to. It was her problem, not theirs. They shouldn’t have wasted that money on her. But yet, even as the crinkles started to rise on the page from Jo’s grip, fury started to dissipate as it made way for a stronger emotion.

She looked down at the patter that sounded on the page and realised a few tears had rolled away and escaped. She missed them. She hadn’t realised just how much, but reading their letter now, and looking at that stupid, smart gift she got, she realised they were just being good kids.

They just wanted to help, like they always did.

Despite what people thought of her, Elke was actually very observant. She was able to keep track of things around her; what people did, how people reacted, and especially who was in her presence. So, when Jo left the mess hall rather early, Elke couldn’t help but feel a little worried. She was usually the social type, and seeing her sneak away without telling anyone peaked her curiosity. The girl followed after Jo soon after she left, trailing way behind her towards the girls’ cabins.

“Hey, Jo?” Elke murmured as she peeked around the door. She saw Jo sitting on her bunk, looking down at something in her hands. The look on her face only concerned her more; what had happened? Had she gotten bad news? “Are you alright?” she asked, stepping deeper into the cabins. She wasn’t sure if she should give her her space, or perhaps just leave. As she waited for the girl’s reply, Elke stood nervously, wringing her hands as she looked at her friend with wide, concerned eyes.

Jo jerked, looking up to the sight of a nervous Elke. Without missing a beat, she lifted her glasses up with one hand, wiping tears away with the others. To think Elke would find her like this, blubbering like some baby over a stupid letter and delivery. “Ye-yeah. Fine, Elke,” she sniffled, bringing her glasses back down again. Her eyes still threatened to well up, mind you, but she was determined not to bring attention to her eyes again. “It’s just stuff from home. It’s stupid, really. Nothing worth crying over,” she tried to explain, though, the few extra tears and the sharp breaths signalled otherwise.

Elke gazed at Jo sadly. She didn’t like seeing others cry, especially people she looked up to like Jo. She carefully stepped into the cabin, wringing her hands together as she slowly walked over to her side and sat down next to her. “Sometimes it’s good to cry. Crying means you’re strong,” she told her gently, as if she didn’t know what to say. “And because it’s you, Jo, that means you’re extra strong!”

She smiled a nervous smile, one that was a bit too big and strained her cheeks. “What did you get sent?”

Jo never enjoyed crying and most certainly not in front of other people. She couldn’t do that where the boys were concerned, for it would definitely make them feel worse than they already could have felt. But she couldn’t bring herself to say such things, not in front of Elke. So, she just smiled, managed a nod all the while, and kept rubbing at her eyes.

Though, she couldn’t avoid Elke’s question of what had been delivered. Jo swallowed back, clearing her throat a little before she opened the box again. “It’s, um…a pair of goggles,” she murmured, lifting them out of the box for the first time. “You know how my glasses keep falling off during training. My brothers…” She paused before she sighed, “they thought it was a good idea to send me these…”

Jo’s smile strengthened her own. Elke was pleased to see that she was able to comfort her somewhat; at least she didn’t have to be too upset anymore. When Jo lifted the goggles from the box, her eyes went wide with amazement. “Oh, they’re so pretty!” she murmured, her smile only becoming wider. “I bet they’ll look amazing on you Jo!”

She kind of wished that she got stuff sent from home, but at this point, it was impossible. A pang of hurt went through her heart, but Elke knew it wasn’t good to dwell on it. “What are you waiting for? Try them on~!” she said eagerly.

Jo looked to Elke, blinking. "Wait...now?" She asked. She hadn't considered trying them on. She supposed she had to if she was gonna make sure they wouldn't fall while dozens of feet above the ground. "Alright…" She murmured, taking off her glasses and setting them on the bed beside her. The goggles weren't hard to figure out. Jo just had to take the straps and secure them around her ears, and of course, put the actual goggles around her eyes.

After some adjustments to the straps so that they sat comfortably, she blinked, looking around the cabin with them on. Jo wasn't sure what she expected with them on, but she was pleased to note that she could see just as well with the goggles as she did with her own glasses. She turned to look back at Elke, though, feeling somewhat sheepish all of a sudden, asked, "Do...they look okay? Be honest. They're not silly, are they?"

Elke’s smile grew so much with her excitement that it practically hurt her face. The girl watched as Jo slipped on the goggles and readjusted the straps so it fit around her head and ears. A proud light twinkled in her eyes as she clasped her hands in front of her lips.

“You. Look. So. COOL!” she whimpered out the words, the emotion in her chest swelling up and leaking into her voice. “They’re so, so nice on you! I think they make you look even prettier than when you’re wearing your glasses!”

Jo blinked at Elke’s reaction. She felt herself going to adjust her goggles with her middle finger as she was prone to do, though, realised that wasn’t needed with these. Her cheeks flushed. “I...uh...really? Thank you,” she smiled. For once, she had been rendered almost speechless. She wasn’t sure how to answer that, which was odd even for her. Vulnerability was a cape she rarely donned, and there was a reason for that.

“They...didn’t have to do this for me,” Jo said after some time in silence. “My brothers. They...we don’t really have the money to be spending on stuff like this.” She threatened to start tearing up again but she just sighed, shaking her head as if it would stop it. “I was so...annoyed with them, at first. That they’d waste money on me like this.”

Jo’s face flushed further, shame colouring her cheeks. It always came back to money. She hated it, and yet, it was the very thing that motivated her. It wasn’t a choice, at least, to her.

Elke nodded her head in affirmation at Jo’s question, her smile still broad and bright as she gazed at her with admiration. She was happy that she was happy; seeing someone pleased with a gift or some other pretty piece of treasure made her feel all warm inside. Though the smile dropped her from her face when she saw that Jo was still upset.

"Think about it this way. That just means that you gotta be even more happy that they sent this to you. The message behind it is even stronger than before." She reached out and took one of Jo's hands in hers. "You… you need to try even harder now. Not for you, not because of the Instructor, but because of them. And I know you'll make the Top Ten, Jo," she smiled again as she gave her hand a squeeze, "I can feel it!"

Jo looked up to Elke, blinking at the girl when she had taken her hand. She pondered over her words, silently assessing them. Of course...this hadn’t been all just for her sake. It was for Danner and Frederick too. When Elke squeezed her hand, she couldn’t help but squeeze back, just for that comfort alone. She smiled at Elke and she nodded. “I’m glad you think so, Elke. Because I know I will,” her smile growing into a smirk.

She was glad to see that her words had hit home. Elke returned Jo’s nod, her smile broadening at the sight of her joy. “That’s right! You will!” she chirped happily as she threw her arms around Jo’s shoulders and brought her in for a hug. “Teach all of those stinky boys who’s boss, Jo!”

Jo smiled a little more when Elke pulled her into a hug, laughing a little. Trust Elke to turn her mood around and make her see the bigger picture. She eventually did hug her back, though commented, “You know, that applies to you too, Elke. No slacking, you hear me?” She chuckled. It hadn’t taken her long to get back on track. She pulled away from the hug, looking at Elke. “I guess we should go back. Maybe I could show the others what I got,” she suggested, raising the goggles up from her eyes.

“Slacking? I don’t know what that word means…” Elke rolled her eyes. She found that the more time she spent around other recruits, the easier it was to tease and fool around with them. Jo was no exception. She giggled and bounced up to her feet in a less than graceful manner. “But I do like that idea! Let’s go show everyone! I’m sure that they’ll be just as amazed as I was!”

Jo let a rare but welcomed smile appear and she nodded, rising to her feet. “Maybe. Thank you, Elke.” The smile only grew a little brighter, a sign of appreciation for the younger girl’s comfort as they left the cabin.

 

[Moonlessite]

Jo Schreiber & Vivian Schweiss
A collab with Arcanist
​

It was another day of survival training. Vivian was starting to become better and better at learning how to survive in forests and rough terrains, so much so that it almost came naturally to her. If left alone, she would be able to find her way to camp in no time, and with little effort. The same, however, could not be said of her partner, Jo.

It was getting dark, and it was just about time to lay out their traps. Hopefully withint he passing hour or so, they’d have something in their snares. That was, if Jo actually hurried up with tying the necessary knots.

Vivian watched her from across their fire, tipping her head to the side at the red-head. She seemed to be struggling, but she wasn’t sure if she should say anything outright. But as the sky darkened even more, and a crisp breeze cut through her uniform, she decided to just shoot her shot.

“Uhm,” she stammered, tying another knot in her snare. “Do you need help, or something?”

Jo was struggling. She knew she would struggle when it came to traps. It was always the silly little practical things that she struggled with in life. Reading about traps, how to set them up, what their purpose was, those were all easy to pick up. Actually pulling them off was a different story. She despised not being able to pull something off. The girl who knew everything couldn’t even tie the right knots.

So, when Vivi had called to her, asking if she needed her help, she debated on ignoring her. Or well, acting like she didn’t hear her. She wouldn’t admit help. She never needed help with anything before now, so why would she need it now?

Jo swallowed back. “I’m fine. Just clumsy with my fingers. I’ll be just a moment.” Though with Vivi’s eyes stuck to her, her thoughts gravitated towards their intensity, and neglected to see how tight she had pulled the knot. Her fingers scrambled towards it to try and loosen it, avoiding Vivi’s gaze all the while.

Vivian’s frown deepened at Jo’s reaction. She was being stubborn, wasn’t she? It was kind of obvious; not only that, but Vivi was also quite the stubborn individual, so she knew what it looked like. The blonde watched the other girl for a long moment in silence before she heaved a great sigh and reached out her hand across the space between them.

“Here, I’ll untie it,” she murmured. “If you keep pulling on it like that, the knot’s only gonna get worse.”

Even as Vivi had closed the space between them, stretching her hand out to help her out with untying the knot, Jo snatched it away out of pure instinct. She sighed then, closing her eyes. So stubborn. There was no way she could do it on her own. “Sorry, I...here. Take it.” She relented, handing it back to Vivi. She readjusted her glasses with a sigh. How embarrassing. She couldn’t even tie a knot on her own and with how much she had been hyping herself up before.

Vivian blinked in surprise when Jo pulled her rope away. For a moment, she thought that she was going to reject her help, but thankfully she ended up giving it to her anyway. Gently, she took it from Jo’s hands and put her own trap to the side.

“If you have a knot that’s too tight, you don’t keep pulling on it. Instead, you grab the loose end, twist, then push it through the loop.” She did just that, and the tight knot in Jo’s rope began to melt away. Within a few moments, it was straight again. Vivian held it up to show her. “See?”

Jo tried not to let her cheeks light up, she really did. Instead, she watched the girl, trying to learn from her, burying her embarrassment deep down. She sighed when she saw where she had gone wrong, readjusting her glasses. "Of course…" Jo murmured. "That makes much more sense."

At least she knew now where she had gone wrong, and that Vivi was the only one to see that. "Thank you, Viv. Guess traps are my weakness after all," she gave a weak chuckle.

“No problem. Everything and everyone has a weakness, so no need to be ashamed of what you’re adept at or not,” Vivian stated in a matter of fact tone. She didn’t know why she had to give Jo affirmation, or comfort her when she felt upset with herself. Maybe it was because she saw herself in her?

“I wasn’t…” she stammered, avoiding looking at Jo directly, “I wasn’t very good at making traps when I was little, but since I lived on a farm, I needed to figure out how to hunt and snare my food. I didn’t really have anyone to teach me, so I found out how to do things myself. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’ll become good at it with time, so don’t feel too bad, alright?”

Viv was right, when it came to that. No one was perfect. She knew she had her shortcomings. The patterns in her training were glaringly obvious. She wasn’t the worst cadet, but she would never rival the likes of Sera or Anke, or even of Leon or Jericho in physical pursuits. Her head was her most valuable asset, and she was proud of that.

Still, stumbling over a knot?

Jo smiled nonetheless, and nodded. “Of course. Thanks, Vivi. Practice does make perfect, after all.” She moved her gaze from the rope to the pale-haired girl,, watching her downcast gaze. Viviwas someone who she respected. In her eyes, she was a great comrade, friendly, protective of their friends. A mentor too with this tutoring being taken into account. Jo felt the two of them had some sort of silent, mutual understanding, most likely because they were both aiming for the Military Police, albeit, for different reasons.

Maybe they would be working together more often in the MP. Well, if they could make it into the Top Ten.

“So, what did you do on your farm?” Jo broke the silence. “Did you have a lot of animals to tend to? Sounds like it would be hard work for a wall girl like me.”

She was glad that she was able to comfort Jo somewhat. Out of the corner of her eye, Vivian saw that she had eased a considerable amount, so much so that she had begun to ask questions. Questions about her childhood. Well, this was awkward. No one really asked her that before.

“I did everything on the farm. Bred and raised cattle and sheep and pigs and all sorts of livestock you can think of,” she replied. “My mom was responsible for gathering crops. I was responsible for slaughtering hogs and cooking our food. Well, my food mostly…”

A squeak sounded nearby. Vivi perked up and immediately rose from her seat. It seemed like one of her traps had snared something. She trotted into the wood, disappearing for a few moments, before she returned as quickly as she departed. Hanging from her hands and by the ears was a whimpering white rabbit.

“Dinner,” Vivian stated simply as she once again sat in front of Jo. She held the prey in the crook of her arm, readjusted her grip on its skull, and twisted its head in a jarring way-- a loud crack sounded from the rabbit’s neck, and it fell still within an instant.

It sounded like dirty work to Jo. Not in a bad way, just in that it was a lot of physical labour, and she could imagine the...slaughtering could get messy. She supposed a farm would be peaceful, much more than Karanes or any of the other walled cities, though, there clearly was a lot more work involved with it than she was aware of.

Jo’s head snapped up at the sound, a sudden tension wracking her, though, noticing Vivi running towards the wood, it was clear something had gotten caught in Vivi's trap. It was even clearer when she brought back a white rabbit, whimpering and squirming in the girl’s grip. Jo frowned a little. She understood what its place was in the food chain, but the sight was pitiful to watch.

As Vivi sat down with the rabbit, nonchalantly explaining this was dinner, Jo nodded, finishing up her trap and turning to face her. “Okay,” she breathed out, “So, how best do we go about--”

The question was not heeded. Vivian’s hands changed positions, gripping the rabbit in a way that made it squirm more, desperate to escape, wriggling, and wriggling, and something snapped. And the rabbit stopped. Jo had flinched at the sound, and when she looked properly, she tried to force a brave face. She wanted to look away, but was compelled to keep staring at the once live animal.

Vivian made it look effortless. It was swift, clean, and it was done. She supposed it had to be. She would have been used to it, having to kill pigs too.

Strangely, Jo thought about their apex predators in that moment, what Luka had dubbed them as. She wondered if they felt anything when they butchered and ate humans, just as they did the same to animals below them in the chain.

Jo looked back up to Vivian again. “Could you...ah...would you...maybe prep it? I’d be useless at it,” she shook her head, rising to her feet. “I can get more of a fire going, help with actually cooking it, if that sounds alright.” A small smile strung across her face. Whether it was visible or not to Vivian, there was a tension on the strings of her smile.

Vivian was confused. Her companion had suddenly gone quiet upon the death of their quarry. Did she not like rabbit? Maybe she would have preferred venison instead… oh well. It wasn’t like they had any other choice in the matter. Vivi was hungry, and the quicker they prepared the food, the quicker they could eat.

“Alright. Don’t take too long,” she muttered, pulling a knife from her belt. Vivian’s eyes lowered to the rabbit once again as she pressed the tip of the blade into the rabbit’s chest. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

Jo nodded, wasting no time to head back over to their campfire, a sudden unease gripping at her shoulders. As she added more fuel to the fire, watching orange flakes burst into the air, she hummed in agreement with Vivian. “Yeah. Same.” Her appetite, however, had vanished. City girls like her forgot about the grim reality of their situation, of what it took to put food on their plates. She stoked the spitting fire. She wondered if she truly had the stomach for the military like Vivian seemed to.

 

[homintales]

Sera Mayer​

Training continued to go well for Sera. And now, Sera and the others were reaching the point where they would actually receive proper ODM gear training. There wasn’t a thing in Trost that excited or motivated Sera more than such a prospect.

As long as she could maintain a proper sleep schedule that aligned with the extra training she went through, Sera would easily surpass the others. For now though, all Sera really wanted was some sleep.

She felt quite sick, somewhat tired, and above all else… itchy. It was easy for Sera, and a few others that noticed she was sick, to assess that she managed to catch something.

Not willing to get marked with a tardy, Sera was forced to push herself quite a sum in order to get through the evening. When night finally came, she was immediately ready to get to sleep.

But just as Sera was about to get some needed sleep, she spotted a closed envelope sitting on one of the pillows. Her name was written on it, all letters capitalized, and not written in a very neat fashion. “Jory…” Sera muttered, recognizing the awful handwriting from anywhere.

When she first arrived with the others, Sera was quite surprised to learn that sending out and receiving letters, and even packages, so long as they were first properly searched and didn’t contain any contraband, was allowed.

Though Sera never took the time to send out any letters, she had received quite a few. Four came from Sera’s own Mother, Fiona. Her letters were simple. Only urging Sera to stay safe and remain careful whilst training. Sera never made a response, quickly finding the letters annoying.

Eventually, one of Sera’s Sisters, Sigrun, also sent out a few letters. Though, in a way, it wasn’t even from Sigrun. See, it was really from a few of Sera’s friends who also chose not to operate on the legal side of things. Of course, as a result of their chosen occupations, they couldn’t send out any personal letters. Luckily, Sigrun was willing to send their thoughts to Sera.

These letters Sera actually cherished. They provided Sera with encouraging words and wishes of good luck. Whenever she would return to Trost, she would make sure to treat them all to some whiskey.

Opening Jory’s letter, Sera started to analyze it. Though it wasn’t easy to read, Sera found that the letter carried a nice message with it. Jory was clearly proud of Sera and certain that she would make it into the Survey Corps. Or as Jory accidentally spelled it, Survey Corpse. Which… if you’re accounting popular opinions, isn’t all that incorrect.

Sera considered taking the time to write to Jory, maybe tell ‘em about the upcoming ODM gear training. But she knew she couldn’t manage such a thing while so sick and weak. Hopefully she would feel more alive in the morning.

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Laurence Arnault

A Mother's Last Wish

NOTE: TRIGGER WARNING DEATH. SET A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE START OF THE RP

"Laurie!" A young girl called out joyfully, running towards a teenage boy carrying a crate of ingredients. "What are you still doing here? You promised to come with me!" She demanded with a pout, puffing one side of her cheek with air.

Laurie could only give back a sheepish smile, he did promise to join her on the hill today to play but… "I'm really sorry, Risa but I need to get home to my mom. She's very sick." He said to her, going down on his knee so that they were facing each other at the same level. "When my mother gets better, I swear we'll play on the hills as much as you want."

A pause and a glare before a big bright smile once again encompass her lips. "Okay! You promise!" She cheered before running off again, this time out of the kitchen.

From behind him, he heard a quaint giggle. "She's really taken a liking to you." Risa's mother quietly mused as she washed the vegetable on their sink. "You can just leave that there and go home to your mom."

With a nod, Laurie gave his thanks to his employer and took off the apron he had been wearing all day. "I'll be going then, Mrs. Thatcher." He said stepping out the door before he was stopped once again.

"I don't know how much help this would be but perhaps you could have your mother checked on by a physician." In her hand was money that could certainly help. A generous gift that he doesn't deserve. He hasn't worked for these yet. He hasn't- "Take it, please. You've been such a wonderful help to us and I hope it will help you and your mother too."

A tear rolled down his cheek, such kindness felt undeserving to receive and yet he smiled, thanking the woman from the bottom of his heart.

With this money… I can find a physician tomorrow and have her checked. A small ember of hope glowing dimly in his desperate heart.

By the time he came home, he could smell the savory scent wafting in the air. When was the last time his mother cooked? It felt like it's been way too long. "Mother, you shouldn't be up." He said anxiously, walking briskly to Leticia's side.

"It's okay. I'm feeling much stronger than the previous days." She said happily, mirth was clear on her face as she stirred the pot to keep the food from sticking.

It's been so long. "Still, I can't have you overworking yourself so just sit down and let the better chef handle this." He placed his hands on her mother's shoulders and slowly pushed her away and gestured for her to sit on the bed.

"Well, now who taught you how to cook exactly? Hmm?" Her eyes were playful, sticking her tongue out as she pretends to be angry. Laurie could only laugh in response to their banter, his mother did too. It made him happy that she seemed more energetic than before despite her frail frame. It was torture to see his mother trying to smile through the pain. Smiling within her hollowed cheeks, a smile that never seemed to reach her eyes anymore.

With their dinner already transferred to a plate, Laurie made way to the small table that they owned beside his mother’s bed. “I was taught by the best mother in the world.” He answered proudly as he set their table, taking a chair afterwards so that he and Leticia could finally eat.

After a hearty meal and putting everything away, Laurie was already by the couch drifting to sleep. A pleased sigh escaped his lips as he remembered their meal earlier. It felt just like the old days, for once, and with his mother’s own cooking came a blast of nostalgia that he sorely missed. He wondered, I wonder how they’re doing… Jo and everyone else.

His mother’s quiet steps found itself just beside him, wanting to take a seat with her son. Side by side, he lay his head at her shoulders. He could feel the exhaustion in his bones but every moment spent with his mother is precious. “It’s okay to sleep if you’re already sleepy.” Her voice whispered, a soft no in retaliation flowed from his mouth.

He felt the shake of her shoulders as she laughed, but it only made him even more sleepier. “You know, Laurie, this necklace… it was given to me by your father.” He heard her say, taking the necklace off. He wanted to ask why she was suddenly speaking about him after all this time, so fondly too. “I want you to have it, and hold on to it no matter what as a reminder of me when I leave this world.”

Laurie’s brows were buried in a knot. “No, no. Tomorrow, I’ll have a physician check you and then you’re gonna get better.” He slurred as he drifted between sleep and staying awake all the while giving his mother a lazy smile.

She let her fingers run through his hair to help him sleep. He couldn't see it, but her eyes were that of sorrow. “Still, I want you to hold it for me. Wear it and keep it close to your heart.”

He merely nodded in response, sleep was overtaking him but he still heard everything his mother said. “You came to my life when I was at my worst. You saved me, Laurie, and every passing day since then was brighter than the last. I am content with my life…” She paused, watching her son in silence. Continuing when she was sure that he had begun slipping from her shoulder and placing his head back in place. “And perhaps my only regret is that I won’t be there by your side in the future anymore.”

She carefully stood up and guided Laurie’s body to lay by the couch, it was hard for her with her weakened body but she couldn’t disturb his way to slumber. “When you wake, I know that I’ll be gone. I’m sorry that momma can’t stay with you even if I want to. It will be hard and it will take time, but it’ll get better someday. I promise.”

She placed the necklace at the palm of his hand, twisting it around his fingers. “Laurie, even when I’m gone, I want you to live.” She gasped as her tears stained their wooden floor a darker shade. “Live your life and be happy. Find someone to love, cook food until you can’t eat anymore, and smile even when I’m not there.”

“Tonight was our last meal together, the last meal I cooked for you and as much as I don’t want this day to end, the result will be the same. I’m so sorry, my sweet boy.” She said to him, kissing his head before walking back to her bed.

“I love you, mom…”

Laurie muttered in his sleep, making Leticia crack a smile one last time before she herself went into a peaceful sleep.

mention: || interaction:

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Laurence Arnault & Jo Schreiber

Promises, promises

Something wasn’t right with Laurie. Jo had buried the feeling when they had first reunited. She slowly dug it up the more time she spent with him. Now, she wanted to unearth it as the two were making records of the training regiment’s inventory. Best to do it when they were alone like this.

‘People change when they grow up. Especially after something like Shiganshina,’ she reasoned with herself, rummaging through maneuver gear parts that she had already accounted for on her list. She changed over the years and she was sure Laurie had noticed the differences. Perhaps her memory and nostalgia of her close friend betrayed her when their paths crossed.

But it was unnatural for Laurie’s smile to wear thin when he spoke to her. He had never really been ‘there’ for Jo’s lengthening lectures and rants, but now, the distance in him put an uncomfortable wedge between the two. Tension became a bodily behaviour that she was accustomed to seeing in her daily life. Strained smiles and tight shoulders were instantly recognizable to her, acting as if your life hadn’t crumbled as easily as Wall Maria. And it was never just her that it happened to, like she hypothesized it was at first. Laurie stared through others with that same smile.

Jo sighed as she returned the box of gear parts back to its correct place in storage. Her gaze moved to a nearby window, frost teetering around the edges of the glass. Sunlight only rose to greet them for so long until it descended again. A better part of an hour passed and already the darkness grew. She wondered if now was a bad time.

‘Any time would be a bad time.’ Jo adjusted her glasses - thumb and middle finger on either side of the frames - and turned. She hesitated when she looked at him, though, shook off the feeling and gently called, “Laurie.”

There was a dread inside him the whole day. A sign that something he did not like was going to happen today but it's not always right. Still, it gnawed at the back of his mind, making him slightly paranoid. Just what is it? He thought as he heaved heavy boxes of parts back to the shelves.

They were graduating soon. He couldn't tell if he was excited or not. This was what he wanted for a long time but recent events had started to make him doubt. And now it's just a bundle of emotions that-

"Yeah?" He responded, cutting himself from his thoughts to answer Jo. He was still fixing one last box in place before he turned to face her with his usual smile but her expression had made him falter. "Is something wrong, Jo?"

Jo held back a cringe at the look Laurie gave her. She couldn’t help but feel it was like that of a hurt puppy’s. Her time in the military seemed to have softened her, not hardened her as others claimed it would. “That’s what I wanted to ask you,” she bounced the topic back. “You’ve been acting…” Upset? Distant? As if he was bottling something up? “Strange. I’ve noticed it for a while now. What’s wrong?”

Candid Jo, even if this was too blunt for her best friend, put the invitation forward. A space, for the two of them, to be transparently honest.

It was like his heart dropped to the ground. Panic was building up inside him, how was he supposed to answer that? He tried his best to hide whatever negativity he felt, bury it deep inside. He could feel his sweat form at the back of his neck, "Huh? Strange? I don't think I'm acting that way. I feel normal." At least I try to be.

He cocked his head slightly to the side. He should just be honest but he never liked the idea of worrying others. "There is nothing wrong, Jo. Don't worry." His own voice betrays him with a subtle quiver.

Jo sighed, raising a finger up to scratch up at her cheek. “You always used to sound so... carefree when you said nothing was wrong.” She wasn’t angry at him for lying. Disappointed was a more accurate description. What had it come to when her friend was lying to her like this?

She moved from the window, though, still maintained the distance between the two of them. “Tell me what’s wrong.” She repeated again. She might have sounded hard, but she let her usual stoniness drop from her face. “Is it graduation? Or something else? Is it…?” She raised her arms, gesturing at the air before letting them drop by her sides, trailing off. ‘Me?’ Jo couldn’t cross that out for sure.

Laurie let out a laugh. It was dry. He must have looked crazy with how unnatural that was of him. "Like I said. Nothing is wrong. Everything is going fantastic, we're graduating soon, we get to choose what regiment we're going to, I can get to see what's on the other side of the wall! So, no, nothing is bothering me." Perhaps he sounded odd. His vocabulary during this whole situation has only been 'nothing' and 'wrong' and that was very stupid of him. It's not like he never expected this day, if anyone would know him well it was Jo.

Maybe it was pride? Stubbornness? Maybe it was shame that was keeping him from telling the truth. The old Laurie who always smiled, laughed, and caused trouble became this lost soul who wants some pseudo-glorious death by joining the Survey Corps. What was there to even say? "I'm fine, Jo."

Anyone else would have just left it. Sweep it under the bed and hope it didn’t fester and crawl out to be some bigger, uglier thing later on. Jo, as much as she wouldn’t admit it, had a little bit of stubbornness in her, just like everyone else. “You’re still pretty shit at lying, Laurie.”

And a lot brusquer than she intended to be. Though, she knew just how direct she was being here.

“Is that what’s scaring you? Graduation?” She added, watching his face.

He didn't know what expression to make. Perhaps he was showing a mix of everything, perhaps he was showing nothing. He couldn't tell. His mind was running. "Graduation?" He repeated, thinking how it wasn't graduation that scared him but everything else. It's been years yet he still hasn't moved on from his mother's death. Why does he cling so hard to her when she's gone? Even he can't understand himself.

"No." It was everything else. He had gotten complacent. Whatever goal he had when he signed up seemed hazy. He met Jo again, and he had gotten so many friends. Sometimes, he forgets about what happened, other times everything felt unbearable. "Can we just-" And this was turning into one of those days. "Drop this?" Breathing was hard tonight.

Jo wasn’t sure what expression to show Laurie either or to bring to the forefront. Her frustration that he wouldn’t tell her, the subtle hurt she felt when he seemed to be in so much pain, and still wouldn’t tell her. She had thought back to their childish promises - so many that they surpassed the number of fingers and thumbs they had - and wondered, sadly, how many of those promises they had kept.

But Jo was pushy, stubbornly so, and she was prodding at what looked like an exhausted Laurie. She licked her lips, clearly trying to come to a decision as to what to do. “You don’t have to talk about it here if you don’t want to,” she told him. “But you know I’m here for you and your worries as much as you’ve been there for mine, right? I just…” Care. She cared, and she cared more having found Laurie. Caring had made her softer, where she thought the military would harden her. If she could pack him off to Wall Sina with her, she would. But it wasn’t what he wanted.

And well, she still had to make it there herself.

He thought that Jo would push further. He was at the edge of bursting. It was like something was squeezing his heart as he waited for his best friend to retaliate but that wasn't what he got. I'm so… selfish. Laurie thought to himself, placing a hand to cover a part of his face.

It was hard to keep up an act like this. "I'm sorry." He really was, and he couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks. If only it was easy, but how does he tell her? That her childhood friend was a coward who couldn't move on, opting to run away from his problems through death. Whatever he built up to prepare himself from Jo had faltered into sadness and self-pity. He felt pathetic.

She was taken aback. For a moment, she stood there, watching as the dams in Laurie’s eyes broke. Jo tried to recall a moment where she saw Laurie cry, and struggled to recollect in the moment. Soon, guilt flushed her cheeks, and she moved towards him. “Don’t be sorry,” she said softly, putting her hands on his arms.

“You’re allowed to be unhappy, Laurie. It’s okay to cry,” she reassured him, giving his arms a quick squeeze. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed it,” she sighed. “You’re not ready to talk about it.” The last thing she wanted to do was disrupt the peace between them. Not when the most important parts of their training were coming to an end.

I'm sorry. Even when she said not to be, he still felt that way. It was hard for him not to, but right now he was feeling a bit more at ease than before. Was it because he had only cried again after so long? Or was it because it was Jo that was with him?

He reached out, pulling his bespectacled friend into a hug. Tears still fell from his eyes but he was no longer shaking. Laurie's hold was firm, and in his thoughts, he wished that time would just stop. In a matter of days, they would part ways again, he and a few others would be risking their lives on expeditions. Who knew when they would see each other again after graduation? Not him, and not Jo either.

"Thank you… for understanding." He said before pulling away. His tears were drying and started to stain his face. "When I'm ready… I promise."

Jo didn’t deny the hug. In fact, she eased into it, feeling her arms tighten around him. Though it should have calmed her, a tumultuous storm brewed in the back of her mind. She wanted to fight with Laurie. She wanted to know what was wrong. But she refused to break the tranquility of the moment. Not when Laurie had just calmed. The fact she had even considered confronting him again...

The redhead found herself lingering with the hug, even when Laurie pulled away and thanked her. She looked up at him, and raising her hand, stuck out her pinky finger. She wiggled it with a knowing smile. Another promise. Would it too be left forgotten? Never fulfilled?

“And I promise I’ll be there to listen.”

Promise, when was the last time they said that to each other? "I promise, Jo! We'll live together when we grow up and I'll cook for you every day. Just like always." Laurie could hear his little voice in his head, an old childish promise of a kid who was ignorant of what's to come in the future. If only time could turn back to those days.

"Yeah." He said, a small smile on his face as he remembered those days of nostalgia. He looked at the last box left on the floor and to the last free space at the top of the shelf. "You should go first, Jo. I'll catch up with you after I put this back."

Jo opened her mouth to protest, about to ask if he was really sure she should do that...though, pressed her lips together, and nodded. “Alright,” she said quietly, rubbing his arm. She pulled back, walking to the door, though she walked away with a strange heaviness in her heart. Laurie would tell her, right? He told her everything. Or at least she thought he did.

Even as Jo left the storehouse, she pondered going back in there, disturbing the peace between them. But she had to have patience, maybe a little bit of hope too. She always would where Laurie was concerned.

mention: || interaction: Arcanist

 

[homintales]

Sera Mayer: Prejudice​

“You three need to stop w-worrying about me so much…” Sera’s eyes shifted as she looked over to Jory, who seemed extra worried when compared to everyone else. “...especially you, Jory.” Sera continued to speak in a manner that made it clear she thought she was invincible.

As Sera continued to walk through Trost’s populated streets, she tried to maintain a quick pace, as she was still operating on a schedule. All the while Jory and Sera’s other siblings refused to stop following as closely as they could.

Sera figured she couldn’t simply get them to walk away, at least not with a few words, anytime soon. She certainly wouldn’t were the roles reversed. They were a naturally stubborn family.

Five minutes passed, and Sera’s siblings still pursued. “And that unnecessary w-worrying is starting to get annoying r-real fast.” Sera’s tone made it clear she wanted, and in many ways needed, them all to take leave. Even so, younger siblings are often so persistent.

As they started to reach the more populated areas, Sera’s pace started to slow as she needed to take the occasional quick glance to make sure Jory and the others were safe. These streets were filled with every criminal incarnation in existence. And it wasn’t like the Military Police, even though they wouldn’t change anything, cared enough to stop them.

This time ten minutes passed and… they were all still following. Were they really so worried? Had Sera not already shown them she was more than skilled enough to evade anyone or anything?

Finally, one sibling spoke up to explain why they seemed so eager to follow Sera. “Mom told us you’re some… criminal.” Sigrun, Sera’s youngest sister, stated, which caused Sera’s eyes to widen as she slowly came to a stop. “What’d you say?” Sera spoke in a quiet voice, yet she also managed to speak louder than the other nearby citizens.

She turned around to face them all. “Dad said the same thing…” Sophia started, pausing as she noticed Sera’s weary stare. In the end, she chose not to continue speaking about Duncan.

Jory, the sibling Sera was the closest with, was the last to express his worry to Sera. “The Military Police came over a few times last night.” Jory’s arms started to move all over the place, his nervous sign. “Can’t you just stop all this unnecessary…”

Giving no warning whatsoever, Sera quickly walked over to Jory and lowered to the nine year old’s level. Jory tried to move and turn away from Sera, more than a little frightened. But Sera placed a tight grip on Jory’s shoulder.

“Unnecessary?!” Her grip tightened. “You all would’ve starved without me. Mom can call me whatever she likes. I’ve still aided this family more than mom ever has.” Sera, even after so many close calls with the law and so many other threats, still couldn’t understand why they were all so unaccepting. “I am NOT a criminal! Not when c-compared to all these other fucks.” She shouted loudly, getting a few passerby’s attention.

Sera released Jory, who was visibly shaken. “But the Military Police only likes to focus on specific gangs l-like mine ‘cause we target MP shipments.” She stood up. “While they exclusively target us, the worse folk all get away. You see it, r-right? They essentially let them get away, which m-means they’re the real criminals. Bunch’a flawed and incompetent pricks. I should-” She managed to stop talking just as she was about to say some things.

After taking a moment to relax, Sera released a great sigh. “Look… this is the l-last job I pull, at least for a while. It should set you all up for a while, at least while I’m in the Survey Corps…” She looked exclusively to Sigrun and Sophia. “...and yes, I am still going.”

Realizing she already wasted more time than she could afford, Sera was ready to leave. Before moving on, she gave Sigrun and Jory a headpat. Sophia, even though she was younger, was slightly taller than Sera. “Here…” Sera tossed them all a few coins. “Go get yourselves some cookies.”

 

[AI10100]

[Memories Lost to the Armored Titan Time]
​

The room he was in was terribly familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

Sean stood up and looked out of the windows. These were not the same houses in the Orvud District. In fact, it was an infinite expanse of fields and trees. His heart ached with longing. Perhaps he wanted to go out on an adventure? It wouldn’t be the first time he had wanted to do something like that.

Still, he needed to find out where he was. He had more than enough time to explore the outside later.

He pushed open the door, revealing a hallway with three other doors. He assumed they were all rooms. He could hear shuffling, ceramic hitting wood from downstairs, and, curiously, he headed down to investigate.

A woman with braided, blonde hair was arranging the plates on the long table. Six chairs, six plates, six pairs of cutlery for their usage. She was humming something under her breath and Sean could swear he could sing along with it.

He didn’t.

Instead, he stepped forward to approach her. His footsteps gave him away and she looked up. The humming abruptly stopped and Sean found himself missing the sound. “Oh, Sean! You’re up early today,” she said, pleasantly surprised. She continued to arrange the table. “Will you be a dear and get some glasses?”

He didn’t know who she was but she acted kindly. Sean didn’t want to be impolite. Instinctively, he walked to the cupboard and opened it to reveal ten glass cups neatly arranged in two rows. He grabbed them by threes.

“One day, you’re going to drop those with how lazy you’re being,” the woman admonished as he brought them over and laid them on the table. “You could just take them two at a time.”

Who are you, he wanted to ask. “It’s like you don’t believe in me!” was what he said instead. “I haven’t dropped them once in my life.”

She shook her head, disapproving yet her mouth quirked upward. “Yes, yes. Then when the day comes, we’ll be six glasses short and have to share among the four.”

Sean hummed and shrugged. They had finished arranging the table and the woman nodded to herself before turning back to the stove. He followed her, curiously peering at what was being cooked. Just some meat with eggs. It smelled delicious. Once again, he was hit with a strong sense of familiarity. It was likely because this was his favorite breakfast.

He dodged to the left as the woman grabbed hold of the two pans and spun around, nearly hitting him if he hadn’t moved. She didn’t seem bothered by this, however, and placed them on the serving plates on the other counter. She disposed of the pans into the sink and placed the plates on the table. She reached down and wiped her hands on her apron.

“Breakfast is ready!” She called out, her voice loud enough to carry throughout the entire household. She faced Sean. “I swear, you’re the only one who wakes up early, aside from myself, of course. You should help me with cooking sometimes, I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Sean did learn his way around the kitchen. His grandmother’s chefs called him a decent cook. Called him a natural even despite not remembering who had taught him.

She continued. “I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much. He’s working hard throughout the night and the others are just kids.”

Sean leaned on the backrest of the chair with his arms, tilted his head curiously at her. “Doesn’t stop me from waking up early.”

She flashed him a toothed grin. “Please, you were just as bad when you were younger.”

Younger? Sean wondered how this woman knew about him when he was younger. He didn’t know how he was when he was younger. He wanted to ask for more information. Sean was content in leaving the past to the past but he would be lying if he wasn’t curious about it. If there was an opportunity wherein he could learn more, then he was more than willing to learn about it.

Yet the words didn’t come out.

Instead, he also chuckled. “But I learned, didn’t I?”

“If only so you could get more food than the others, then yes.”

Before he could say something in return, people started coming down the stairs. The first one was a man with dark brown hair, mussed with sleep, and an unruly mustache. His eyes still seemed half closed as he scratched his neck and yawned. He walked over to the woman and kissed the side of her head, muttering a “good morning” to her and Sean. Sean returned it.

The second was a pair of twins, dark brown hair swept to either side and tied with bands as if to differentiate them from each other. They gave everyone there a quick hug, even Sean, before taking a seat beside each other. Sean missed the warmth instantly.

The last one that came down was a young boy, rubbing his eyes, with a mop of dark blonde hair. He almost tripped down but Sean had caught him before he reached the ground.

“Are you okay?” Sean asked, worried, heart racing.

The boy didn’t even seem to be fazed. “Mhm.” He yawned and headed to the table and sat down beside the woman.

It left one remaining spot for him next to the sleepy man who seemed to be slowly escaping the grasps of sleep. Sean sat down when the group looked over at him, wondering why he was still standing around. They only began to eat when the woman had told them they could.

Sean dined with them.

Once they were done, everyone scattered. The man went off to start with, what Sean presumed to be, his work. The younger children were dismissed to play however they wanted. They were still young. They had to enjoy the remaining days of no chores and no work to do. As long as they remained with their land, then it was fine.

Sean, however, stayed with the woman who was cleaning up.

He helped out, much to the gratitude of the woman, and was cleaning the plates as she swept the floor of the kitchen. Sean found out that most of his movements were like muscle memory, that he had done this multiple times before yet he could not remember when. That seemed to be a running theme in… whatever this was. He knew it but he didn’t. If he had been a more inquisitive person, if he had been more curious and more pressing, maybe he would have been annoyed and irritated. However, he was neither of those. Instead, he leaned back to the comfort of the familiarity.

“It won’t be long until you have to work as well, Sean,” the woman said after minutes of silence. He tilted his head, showing that he was listening. “I wonder if you’ll follow in his footsteps. Or… or perhaps you’d go into the military? Oh, that would be worrying. Those titans are terrible, I’ve heard.”

“I heard too,” he echoed. Unlike with his grandmother, however, he felt free to talk about it. “I… kind of want to join. Make my life a little more interesting. A little more exciting.” Because that’s all he ever wanted out of life, right? The hustle and bustle of the city did little to snuff out the feeling of longing for a different life. He wanted to be free of these walls. He figured that saying those to his grandmother would cause another lecture to go off. He didn’t like it when she got into elongated lectures about what he should and shouldn’t do.

He expected the same to come out of his woman. This woman he didn’t know yet he wanted to bare his wants to anyway. Instead, he found that she had a more resigned smile. “I can’t very well tell you what to do, even if you are heading into your death.” She moved towards him, held his face with such care that he could feel some of his resolve melting.

“Just be safe, okay?”

Who are you? Why should I promise this to you? Why am I telling you all these things? Why do I feel so comfortable in this house? Why? Why? Why?

Sean smiled, stretching his arms out and wrapping it around the older woman, burying his face on her shoulder. “I promise. I’ll come home and tell you guys all about it.”

“Ah, I’m afraid you won’t stop talking about it when you do.” Her arms snaked up. Warm. It was so comfortable, yet it felt like there was some sort of sick finality to it if he moved away. He didn’t want it to end. The woman didn’t pull away. Instead, she started humming one again. That familiar song. He could feel his eyes slipping shut from comfort. What was this feeling?

Ah, that’s what it was.

Motherly.

"Be brave, my little soldier."

---​

Sean woke up with tears streaming down his eyes. He brought his shirt up to wipe them. Why was he crying, he wondered. What had he dreamt of to elicit such a response? He couldn’t remember.

When his tears dried, he headed out and navigated through the mansion to find his grandmother and start their day— dream of familiar strangers and a small but warm house long forgotten.

"What is that song?"His grandmother questioned, looking over at him while he hummed a strangely melancholic yet warm tune as he read through a history book.

He looked up, tilting his head. He scratched his head and shrugged. "Dunno."

Amina nodded slowly. "Well, it's beautiful."

Sean grinned. "Yeah, it's my favorite!"

 

[AI10100]

Bonding in the Aftermath

Collab between: Sean AI10100 and Sera homintales ​

As she continued to run through Trost’s streets, giving one last look and smile to Fiona, Sera immediately realized there was no point in continuing to wear the ODM Gear.

She already used what little gas remained to get to the neighborhood. And without any more gas, it seemed like it was only an obstacle. And so, even though the precious equipment was expensive to make, Sera unbuckled the ODM Gear, leaving it somewhere on the street. In the event someone was to ask about Sera’s missing equipment, she would just tell them it was ruined while protecting Hal and the others.

Now that she was able to run without restriction, Sera continued towards the HQ, which is where she assumed everyone else, aside from Hal who was placed into custody once more, was now inside. She considered speaking with a few comrades, maybe getting some more advice.

There were a few survivors in the streets of Trost, surprisingly enough, and Sean figured that he should make another round to see if anyone needed any help. He was warned to not use too much gas considering it wasn’t exactly needed but he found himself on the rooftops nonetheless. He heaved out a heavy sigh as he landed on a nearly destroyed building. The previous few hours hadn’t been good on him— between being constantly on the move and getting slammed against a house earlier, he wasn’t in his best shape.

Still, what has to be done must be done.

He spotted someone moving down the street wearing their uniform and it took him a second to recognize her as one of his squadmates. Quickly descending from his position, he waved over to her. “Hey, Sera! Are you okay? Where’s your gear?” He asked while jogging towards her, a clearly concerned look on his face.

Sera momentarily paused as Sean approached. She wasn’t expecting to run into anyone, especially not another Recruit. “Hey, Sean.” She greeted in a casual tone. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just needed to check on something around these parts.” Concerning the missing ODM Gear, she told Sean the truth, “Ditched it.” She pointed to its location. “Outta gas, and I’m not gonna c-carry it around so long as I c-can’t use it to fly anymore.”

Were Sean a superior on the Military scale, Sera would’ve instead used the Hal story, where the ODM Gear was ruined while fighting the Titans and slowly fell apart. But since Krause was nowhere nearby, the truth seemed appropriate.

“Oh, and I’m glad you’re ok-kay.” She confessed. “Didn’t see you… or really anyone else when the fighting stopped. Except Hal and a few others.” Of c-course, everyone saw Hal. It wasn’t easy not to. “You’re on patrol, I assume?”

Sean nodded in understanding. That was fair, the ODM gears weren’t exactly the easiest to carry around especially in casual settings. “Ha, don’t let the higher ups hear that. They’ll probably make you run back to get it.” He joked lightly, waving his hand dismissively. He skidded to a stop next to her, laying his hands on top of his own ODM gear— a habit that he had gotten from the past few days.

“I’m glad you’re okay too. We kind of scattered after that to recover. I think Siggy is out there looking over the injured.” He gestured towards the HQ where most of the people had gone to recover and get back on their horses to retreat back into the Wall. “Halvor immediately got taken away after everything. Shame, I wanted to talk to him.” He huffed, though he didn’t look all too concerned with the lost opportunity.

“Finishing up patrolling, yeah. A couple of people managed to survive despite the titans that roamed around.” He gestured towards the area he had come from. “Not to pry any further but you seem a bit troubled. Care to share while we walk back?” He asked with a small shrug and an innocent tilt of his head.

Sera thought over the idea. She didn’t exactly want to share everything, especially not the awakening she just experienced. But conversing with someone did actually sound like a good way to pass the time. And so she agreed. “Sounds good to me.” She said. “And… I am.”

Starting a slow walk, Sera explained what she was comfortable with sharing. “Family lives over there.” She informed Sean, pointing to the location she was just sprinting away from. She coughed a few times, a way to show embarrassment. “I guess I wanted to make sure mom and the others were okay.” She continued to wonder why Fiona chose to stay rather than evacuate with the children. Was there something more important there than surviving?

“Went there too fast though.” She noted the anchor marks on a few nearby structures. “Even though there were no trees to smash into, it was risky.” She regretted not refueling at HQ when the chance was still available. “Plus it cost me all my gas.” She let out another cough. “You won’t… tell anyone about my equipment, right?” Sean was right. The superiors would not only force Sera to retrieve the equipment, assuming it was not already lifted and pawned. But they would more than likely add a few punishments just to make sure Sera learned a lesson.

Sean listened intently as Sera spoke of her home, nodding solemnly as she gestured back to where her family lived. There was no shame in that— everyone had their own priorities. It wasn't like there was much to do anyway once the titans had been killed. "Were they?" He asked, looking over his shoulder again to look at the house. It was in surprisingly good condition despite what had happened. "Okay, I mean. Did they get to evacuate on time?" In his short patrol, he had seen a number of… not so lucky citizens who were in the thick of the invasion.

He hummed. "Yeah, being worried about something overrides every rational thought." He chuckled, reaching out to pat her shoulder. "Of course not! If I snitched every time someone did something wrong, I won't have any friends anymore. I probably wouldn't have even gotten this far!" He snickered. And it was true. He and a couple of other recruits had gone into their fair share of rule breaking. Nothing so bad that it would cost them their position, but they had gone through a couple of punishments that Sean loved to laugh about nowadays.

He winked, bringing a finger to his mouth. "It'll be our dirty little secret, yeah?"

Sera giggled. “Hehe, yeah, sure, I g-guess it is.” Decreasing in pace, she let out a long yawn. Once more, Sera was getting sleepy. “Jeez… we’ve gone through a long week, am I right?” She joked, even though she was correct. “First we nearly lose a second Wall…” Her mind immediately went to the Colossal Titan. How she never got the chance to end it. “Vanguard gets w-wiped out. Which… I mean, c’mon. Vanguards don’t work against Titans.”

She considered adding everything she saw whilst escorting Hal to the Wall onto the list. But she still wasn’t ready to get so overly personal with someone, charm or not. “Then the Armored one shows.” She pictured Hal and the Armored fighting. “Actually, I g-guess that one was a good one on them. Losing the Armored saves us a lotta problems in the future.” She ran a little forward and acted out a scene she pictured while resting in HQ.

“Just imagine it.” She acted out the Armored charging. “That… right into the HQ.” She then made a crash sound effect. “Dead… Before we would even realize we’re gone.”

She smirked. “Maybe there are more Armored ones out there?” It was unlikely. But certainly not impossible. “Maybe even an Armored one… or a Colossal one like Hal.” She understood it was wishful thinking more than anything else. “Sorry… Don’t mean to get all… “Unnatural!” on you."

“Tell me about it! I just got here and suddenly titans everywhere! What a welcoming party that was.” He joked, making light of the situation. No one really anticipated it. When he hopped onto the carriage with Siegfried, he was expecting to have a boring week up until graduation. Not only did their skills get tested almost immediately, but their lives were also put on the line. A taste of what’s to come, as some would say.

With the mention of the Armored titan, he let out an aggravated huff. “Fuck the armored titan man. I’m glad Halvor took care of it! I wanted to get a swing at it but I don’t think that was the brightest idea in the world.” To be completely fair to him, he also wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t gotten a higher ranking than what he did. He watched as she sprinted towards the HQ and laughed. “Yeah, we barely got out of there when Halvor slammed a titan into it. Imagine if it was the Armored titan barraging into it.”

His eyebrows shot up, intrigued by what she was laying down on a table. “No, no, you have a point! Like come on, we have like… three titans who apparently have more in mind than just eating us. And we haven’t even completely left the Walls yet! The possibilities are endless! Do you think they have humans in them too like Halvor? What if there’s an entire titan society out there or something? That would be so…” He paused. Sean wasn’t sure what to think of that. Would it be cool? Would it make him angrier? “So… something. It’d be interesting at least.”

Sera was starting to find the conversation quite enjoyable. And when Sean mentioned that it was possible the Armored and Colossal were/are real people just like Hal, that’s when it started to get even more intriguing. “Holy shit… maybe.” It was a crazy idea. But it also made sense. Those two appeared just as intelligent as Hal when in his Titan form. But then again, people slaughtering other people didn’t make too much sense. What would such a thing accomplish other than Titan victory?

“There’s a good c-chance you’re onto something, S-sean.” A few seconds passed, in which Sera remained silent. “I wish I could turn into a Titan.” Sera confessed. Her arms were now crossed and she was speaking in a very childish tone. “Lucky Hal. I was already jealous. But now, with this conversation, even more so.”

She sighed. There was no point in wanting impossible things. “Ah well… wishes rarely come true anyway.” She returned to Sean’s side. “Besides, Hal seems to understand his own ability.” She realized that was an understatement. “Hopefully the Military will let ‘em go outside the Walls. I could use ‘em out there, once I join the Scouts anyway.”

"Dude, I know right? Like when Halvor completely annihilated those other titans without breaking a sweat, it was so cool! Made me want a titan myself too." Well, that was pushing it just a little. He wouldn't mind having one but he wasn't going to go out of his way to find out how to get one. Sounded like too much work. It's still something to dream about.

He laughed again, patting her back this time. "Come on, he may have cool titan powers but you were cool on the battlefield too!" Sean reassured her. They were merely support back then for Halvor, and he did take the spotlight eventually, but their efforts counted for something at least. "We can count two victories under our belts without titan powers so I think we're a bit cooler than Halvor, eh?"

He shrugged, nodding alongside her. It's why wishful thinking was a saying, and one his grandmother usually called his mutterings. And Sera had a point. Halvor seemed like he understood his newfound powers all too well. "Hm, must have been an epiphany moment." He mentioned with a shrug. "And yeah, I hope so too. He's such an asset to have that it'll be a waste to not use him, no offense to Halvor or anything." He waved his hand dismissively, realizing how cold that sounded immediately as he said it. "He'll be such a great help! And who knows, maybe he can teach us a thing or two."

Sera went a little red from Sean’s praises. “T-thank you… But I’ve still got a few more areas I need to improve in.” Luckily, as a Scout, Sera would find more than enough training time. “But I wouldn’t say we’re “cooler” than Halvor.” She snickered as she made a pose. “Badass though, now that sounds more accurate.” Once she realized what she said, Sera cringed. “Ahhhhh… now I feel silly for saying that!”

The Military returned the conversation. “Well, seeing as our glorious Military has yet to show us anything… um, glorious… especially in the past…” Once more, she thought about the slaughter that came with trying to retake Wall Maria several years ago. But at this point, she really needed to let it go. “...I wouldn’t c-count on it.”

“Should they choose to execute Hal, we could always free ‘em and go rogue, march on Maria ourselves.” She laughed, even though it was a tempting idea. “That would make a great novel to publish, eh?”

"Like saving your gas." He joked. To be perfectly fair, he likely would have run out at this point if he hadn't gotten his refill to make another round. He watched and chuckled as Sera struck a pose before falling into embarrassment. "But you're right!” He assured Sera. “But did you see the Scouts in action earlier killing the titans? My goal is to be as badass as them." He claimed with a sagely nod. Sure, most of them had years of experience but that only meant that Sean had a chance on becoming that skilled.

He shrugged. "Fair point. But a new generation, new possibilities, right?" He gestured between the two of them. Halvor was a new piece on the table and that might just turn the tides to their favor. In the hypothetical situation of them executing Halvor, he placed a hand under his chin in thought. "Running away with a titan and going rogue… doesn't sound like a bad idea. It'll be hard though if we don't have our equipment." And the fact that literally everyone else would be more skilled than them, but it was an idea! "We'll be at the headlines of every newspaper." He raised both of his arms and stretched them out. "Idiot duo decided to break a titan out of imprisonment and run."

“Better than forgetting to sleep though.” Ah, those were the nights she missed. Though, ironically, she would usually miss the mornings as a result. “Remember when I collided with that tree while we were training?” She was glad she never got a scar from that crash. Having to explain it to Jory and the others would cause too much embarrassment. “Don’t want such a repeat.” However, seeing as she made such a good place on the list, maybe there was a secret to it? Still, it wasn’t exactly a theory she was willing to test out.

“We’ll probably run into them again when we venture outside!” Seeing as there weren’t too many Scouts as it is, it was likely. “Hell, maybe they’ll give us some lessons. For sure, we’re gonna some good teachers out there.”

Bursting out into laughter, Sera imagined and added on to the idea. “Haha, there isn’t a price I wouldn’t pay to get the c-chance to see Krause’s reaction.” Her laughing only increased as she pictured the superior’s reaction. “Equipment?” She chuckled. “I say pack some canisters and mead, we’re all set to take on the world.” She was joking, though now she really wanted some mead. She missed that easily accessible stash at training camp. Of course, she needed to install a makeshift security system since so many other recruits would steal from it.

She sighed while still smiling. “A nice conversation like this with someone like you is too rare. For me, I mean.” There was August and maybe Jo. But that’s where the list ended.

Sean waved his hand. “As much as I’d love to say, yes, I do remember, I trained in the Northern Division. Came here just as the Colossal decided to attack.” Though it did sound like these people were enjoyable to be with, he wouldn’t exchange his three years with the Northern cadets for the world. Milo and Siegfried likely felt the same, even though they had to integrate into the Southern division now. “But yeah, I love me my sleep. When I’m not doing anything, I like to find a good, shaded place and nap.”

“Just seeing them in action would have been enough for me.” He admitted. Sure, being taught would help a lot but he doubted they had enough time for greenhorns like them. So just being able to watch them and hopefully pick up on some skills would be more than fine to Sean.

He shook his head, shoulders shuddering as he tried to keep in his laughter. “My superior back at the Northern division would definitely shit his pants if he found out I did that.” They used to say that he’d amount to nothing more than just a body on the ground because of how easy going he was. “Mead for the courage? Definitely.” He chuckled. It wasn’t something he partook in, finding the feeling to be less than ideal. Still, he supposed his partners in crime wouldn’t mind a swig or two.

“What? Joking around? Is the Southern division filled with sticks in the mud?” He stuck out his tongue in a childlike manner.

“North, South… West, who really c-cares?” Sera attempted to salute Sean, though she got the pose struck in the opposite way. She quickly corrected the mistake. “The way I see it, we’re all Brothers and Sisters in the end, ain’t we?” As far as she was concerned, the moment two people were to join the Survey Corps, or, really, any Regiment, they joined the family.

“Hate the taste.” Sera explained. “But I love the nostalgia it gives.” She spun around and pointed towards the West. “Bar over there gives me the stuff at no cost whenever I ask.” She wrapped an arm around Sean. “I’ll t-take you s-sometime, sound good?”

“Hehe, no we’re the greatest.” She giggled while playfully punching Sean in his arm. “But really they’re cool, mostly.” A few ‘uncool’ individuals came to mind. “There were a few I wanted to punch in the… no, kick in the neck, every time I saw them.” Maybe that was just a little too aggressive? “The ones who think they’re superior than everyone else. Talking about status, parents, or just the surname they were given.” She pretended to gag. “Hate ‘em.” Then she smirked. “But all that superioness still didn’t get them in the top 10 though. Haha!” She raised her hand.

Sean agreed with a nod. At the end of the day, every single one of them had to rely on the other if they needed help, especially if they both joined the same regiment. It didn’t matter where they were trained and, even though Sean felt like the bonds he created with his fellow Northern cadets would be irreplaceable, they were all going to be staring death in the face shoulder to shoulder.

He looked over to where she pointed, humming. “Childhood memories huh? Whatever made you happy back then.” He snickered. Sean let out another thoughtful hum and nodded. “Yeah, sounds good! I don’t drink a lot but it sounds like a fun time.” Trost needed a bit of time to recover, after all. He doubted the residents all had it good but maybe when they come back from an expedition or something, they could potentially take a break at the pub.

Sean chuckled, rubbing the area where he was punched. “Ah, yeah, I met my fair share of those folks. Some people from where I lived before I entered the training regiment.” He waved his hand to the general direction of Wall Sina where his house lay beyond. “People who are just used to being handed things on a silver platter, you know? They never sat well with me. Not really.” He admitted. Even though he had quite an easy life thanks to his grandmother giving him whatever he wanted, Sean never felt it was right which eventually resulted in him doing odd jobs whenever he could.

“Here’s to hoping that training at least beats that out of them. We’re all equally greenhorns here now.” He said with a huff. “Think any of them are going to join the Scouts? Gotta keep my eye out for these guys.” He whispered conspiratorially, leaning in close to Sera as if there was anyone to hear them.

“I w-was always able to purchase whatever my siblings, friends, and I needed.” She admitted. Crime was more rewarding than most people cared to notice. Not that she was ever willing to commit something as serious as assassination or anything else above smuggling. “I worked as a smuggler since I was… let me think… somewhere around 9 or 10.” Sera was a little shocked to realize she forgot what age she was when she started the infamous career. “But I was the one who earned all that money, not my parents!” She realized she was getting a little carried away. There was no reason to go on an angry rant and ruin the conversation “Forget it, won’t let myself get worked up anymore.”

“Hm…” Sera tried to remember those who she conversed with who made it clear they were also looking to join the Survey Corps as well. “Never actually talked with ‘em. I got a few people who told me they’re joining. But they were usually nice.” She nervously giggled as Sean leaned in and continued to whisper even while they were alone. “We’re on our lonesome, no need to go all incognito. But yeah… should I find anyone out, I’ll get you.” She gave a thumbs up.

Turning away from Sean, Sera let out a quiet sneeze. “Achoo!” Her eyes widened and she looked slightly angry. “Dammit, c-can’t get sick now!”

Sean nodded, very little judgment behind his actions as she admitted her line of work. He hadn’t been exposed to the criminal side of things, as far as he knew at least, but he wasn’t going to judge someone for what they had to do to survive. “Hey man, they gotta give credit where credit is due! If you worked for it, then they should acknowledge that.” He wasn’t sure about the exact details of what had happened in her family but from what she claimed, well, he couldn’t help but agree with her.

“I hope so! I’d like to get along with the people I’m working with, thank you very much.” He didn’t butt heads with people often as he was a relatively accepting guy and he’d really rather not start to argue with the people he’d be spending the rest of his (probably short-lived) life with. He snickered. “Good, good, I need all the juicy insider information.”

He leaned a bit away when Sera turned to sneeze, wincing in sympathy. “Yikes, that’s what you get for not resting.” He teased and shook his head. “Maybe we should hurry to HQ so you can warm up and rest. Maybe get some water in you and try to avoid that cold huh?” He suggested, gesturing towards the building that had gotten considerably closer since the start of their walk.

Blankets and some water sounded like a good mixture, and so Sera agreed. “Yeah, sounds good to me. Besides, we really should-” She stopped speaking, an idea coming to mind. “Oh, when we get to HQ, could you fly us up to my window?“ Despite the previously mentioned lonesomeness, this time it was Sera who checked to make sure they were alone. “W-would rather not explain where I was to our superiors.” She gave a slightly nervous laugh. “Desertion, even though I would never attempt something like that, is still something they might try to stick on me.” At this point, with enough time to consider it, Sera thought it was an unlikely charge. But walking up stairs sounded so lame! “Sneak me up?”

Sean laughed. “You’re asking me to break two rules here. One being that I’m carrying someone while using the ODM gear.” He raised a finger. “And two, sneaking you up to the HQ because you don’t want to get caught.” He raised the second finger before looking at his companion with a raised eyebrow. For a tense moment, it would seem like he would deny her request. A second later, a wide grin formed on his face. “Of course I will! Hopefully, no one is paying attention outside but what’s life without a little thrill, right?”

 

[Arcanist]

Laurence Arnault & Jo Schreiber
A Desperate Plea
A collab with our darling Colorless Spectrum ​

He hoped it wasn’t real. He hoped it was just a nightmare. But it wasn’t, not when the very next day after Ambrose’s speech, he found Jo assembled with them. He could see her curlish red hair from where he was, a small glint from the shine of her spectacles. She wasn’t supposed to be here. No, no, that wasn’t what she initially planned. He needed to… he needed to talk to her. He can change her mind, “I can change it, right?” He said to himself, an inaudible whisper, maybe a prayer to some god that was out there. He’s not sure, all he knew was that he was scared of what could happen to Jo outside of these Walls, when they were already invaded by Titans twice.

“Jo?” He called to her, reaching for her shoulder. He hesitated a few times during the day, he wasn’t really sure how to approach her but he couldn’t keep putting it off. Still it was hard to start the conversation and he found himself stammering. “I…” He visibly gulped as if trying to push down the fear that was creeping up on his mind. “Umm…”

“What are you doing here?”

The reddish hairs on the back of Jo’s neck rose at Laurie’s call. She left immediately after Ambrose’s speech last night, unable to bring herself to justify her decision to anyone had they asked. She did not easily forget that she would be doing so, especially to Laurie. She hoped to prolong this confrontation, to keep things as they always had been between them, instead of staring down at the fissure threatening to separate them. Jo could no longer avoid it.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, turned, and tried not to frown at Laurie’s stammering. Her heart hammered harder than it had when she heard him call to her. “Change of plans,” she murmured, peeling her eyes off him. She forced herself to look back at Laurie. “It didn’t feel…” No, she had to be resolute. Show him this was the right decision. “It didn’t feel right joining the MPs. Not after Trost and everything that happened. So, I’m here.” It was not often that Jo found herself scrambling for words. She was never usually this afraid of what others thought of her. And yet, when it came down to Laurie, her friend, the thought of it weighed heavy in her head.

The words failed to process in Laurie’s mind. He flinched at the words, “So, I’m here.” He didn’t want to hear those words. He was expecting her to have joined Vivian to the Military Police, live a life inside the Wall, away from the Titans, and close to her family even if… he was actually relieved to be by her side. Still, it doesn't change the fact of how dangerous living the life of a Scout will be and if Jo- No, he shouldn't think about it. He can change her mind, just a few words will do.

"Jo, no." He said to her, berating himself for how well he started that conversation. "It's not too late to ask the commander to switch regimes, you should go to the Military Police. It's safer, you get paid more, and you'll get to see your family often." A bead of sweat rolled down his neck, "Wouldn't it be better to switch Regiments?"

No? Jo hadn’t expected Laurie to be as forward as he was. Perhaps more diplomatic for a start, though, that showed in how he listed the pros of joining the Military Police. A stark contrast to what the Survey Corps could provide her and her family.

Jo swallowed back, before she was firm in her resolution. “Maybe it would be better to switch, but I’ve already made my decision. The money might not be a lot to send back, but I don’t need much of it. Just enough to meet my own needs. I’ve coped well enough with little over the years.” And there she went justifying it to him, perhaps even herself once again. “I can’t be expected to sit in Wall Sina while you and everyone else are fighting for change.” She was adamant that she would not hide in an MP’s uniform. Not after what she saw at Hal’s trial.

Laurie could see it. He knew when Jo had decided on something and this was it. There was no changing her mind but he didn’t care, he just needed her to stay alive. “What about your family? The worry that they’ll have to endure when you go outside these Walls? Everytime the Scouts come back from an expedition they’ll be wondering if their daughter is coming home or if they’ll be burying nothing.” He said, his voice trembled as did his body. “So what if you’re just sitting still while everyone is fighting, at least you’ll be alive!”

Jo flushed with a righteous indignation. “The choice to fight outside the walls is mine, Laurie, not my family’s or anyone else’s. How the hell do I live for others when there might not be anything else to live for with these Titans tearing down walls?” She breathed heavily, something inside her burning hot and furious. She accepted Laurie joining the Scouts and never thought to dissuade him otherwise. It was his decision. She supported him. Why could he not respect her decision?

“And do you think I wouldn’t be the same, wondering about whether you were coming home or not?” Jo started on him, her stare hard and unyielding. “That you’ll be the one to never come home at all? But then maybe that’s what you want, seeing how reckless you are when it comes to throwing yourself at Titans.” Her words were cruel, ammo to use against Laurie. That fire in her wanted something to spill out of Laurie, the things he had been hiding and lying to her about. She had known it and did not push it ever since that night they did inventory together. Now though, she would coax it out of him. He would not hide it from her any longer.

Ever since the night of Ambrose’s speech he’s had dreams of Jo being eaten in half or swatted into a wall by a Titan. And always she says with a weak voice, "Laurie, why didn't you save me?" Since then he had to actively stop himself from thinking such things. He's too scared of losing someone so important to him.

He flinched visibly at Jo's words. He bit the corner of his lip harder at every jab at him to the point that he started tasting blood. She wasn't wrong, at first he felt like there was nothing worth living for anymore and so he joined the Military in hopes of joining the Scouts. Perhaps one day, people can talk about how he tried to live his life fighting…then on that very first day, Jo appeared.

He started wanting more moments with her and everyone else who formed a bond with him. He desired death less and less but there were times when it clung to his back and invaded his mind with its whispers. "You're right. Maybe I do," He said quietly but just loud enough for Jo to hear. He was pathetic and he never wanted her to see that but she knew him too well. "Volunteering myself to join Hal with the Sealing Operation, separating from my Squad during the Titan Invasion, you must have heard that one from Noah, huh?"

Jo got the answer she wanted from him, but she felt no satisfaction in hearing him say it. She swallowed back. Hearing it from his lips made it true, willed it into existence. It was real, and she wished for it to return to being a thought, a theory in her mind. “Yeah, that’s right,” Jo nodded, fire still stirring within her. “He was worried about you. You know whatever shit you decide to pull doesn’t just affect you, right? It affects him, and our friends, and…” ‘Me.’ She could not bring herself to utter it.

Jo broke her gaze with Laurie, trying to get a hold of herself. He had so much time to tell her, to speak to her about what was on his mind. She tried to give him space and look what good that had done. She never doubted his decision, even if she didn’t like it. He could have at least afforded to do the same.

She turned back to Laurie. “I’m sorry that you feel that way, Laurie, I am. I always knew this was what you wanted to do, and I said nothing because I can’t change that. I don’t know what you’re thinking, and it’s not my place to pry or try to dissuade you otherwise.” Frustration grew and feelings flew to the surface, and she could not help the things that spilt from her lips. She was always so careful with him, but she could not contain it. “But don’t you dare turn around and take my decision away from me. Whatever happens next is on me. You think you know me, but you don’t. I’m not the same girl you knew, Laurie.”

There was nothing more he could say and there really was no changing her mind. “I’m sorry too.” He started as he brought his hands to his face. He was ashamed of himself, his mother taught her better than this and, although their time was spent short, his grandparents too. “You’ve been respectful to me and my decisions, yet, I couldn’t do the same for you. Jo, I just-” ’I just don’t want to lose you too. But it felt like a lump was stuck in his throat.

“I’m not the same boy you knew before either.”He took a step back, his words devoid of the emotions he had at the beginning of the conversation. His chest was starting to feel heavy and empty at the same time, “I’m not gonna pester you about this anymore,” He tried to swallow that lump that he was feeling in his throat when it was really nothing. He took another step back, as if the distance would make things all the more easier. “But, Jo, if you had asked me… Maybe I would’ve changed my mind.”

But what was done was done, wasn't it?

 

[homintales]

Sera Mayer & Jo Schreiber
Chatting After Facing Hell:
Mentions: AI10100 (Sean) Raiden (Hal)​

There were still some missing from her squad. Sera. Gwen. Jericho. Trost turned turbulent, no less after Hal’s transformation and the subsequent chaos that followed. Jo was exhausted, but the thought of missing comrades kept rest at bay. Her eyes anxiously darted to anyone who walked through HQ, hoping it was a face that belonged to her regiment or her squad. She had counted a few faces, but she was yet to count more in the sea of distraught and war-torn faces who were showing up.

She tried to keep busy for the time being. See if any help was needed with supplies, water, food, the like. Jo had even considered helping to comfort others, though, they would just be empty promises, reassurances of blind hope if she got involved.

She knew she would be lying to herself as well as others if she did.

In the end, Jo ended up sitting on a box somewhere in HQ, tension coiling around her head and tightening. A moment’s reprieve. That was what she would allow herself.

After making sure there were no superiors nearby to ask any questions, Sera waved goodbye to Sean and walked through the now populated HQ. Halls with a chaotic sense, Recruits with expressions filled with emotions, some trying to ignore or forget everything that erupted in Trost. To Sera, it looked as though nothing had changed since she was last in the HQ.

All the same, Sera tried to move past the excessive chaos. She needed to find and connect with the others from the old squad. Jo, August, Gwen, Jericho… Sera wasn’t completely sure they were all able to return to HQ as she and a few others were.

But just as she was about to give up the search and move into the so-called quarters the Military provided, Sera spotted Jo, who, much like everyone else, looked significantly concerned. Given she was the squad’s appointed leader, Jo was more than likely worried about Sera and the other missing squad members.

Since there was already more than enough worry to go around in the HQ, Sera approached Jo and struck up a conversation. “Hey, Jo.” She said with a wave, speaking loudly since so many other Recruits were also conversing. “The others not show yet?”

Jo’s head shot up at the familiar voice. As soon as she saw Sera approaching, she rose, almost stumbling off the box in the process to greet her. “Sera, hey!” Her face slackened with relief, though, it only tensed again at Sera’s question. “No, not yet.” Yet, as if she was undoubtedly sure they would return. “I’ve been trying to keep an eye out for them here, but no luck.”

“I’m guessing you haven’t seen any of them either,” Jo sighed, rubbing her neck. Perhaps there was just a delay in returning to HQ. There were a lot of soldiers, and a hell of a lot more Titans. Sera seemed to have been one of those who had been delayed in the process.

“Sorry… no.” She apologized, giving Jo an apologetic look. “Didn’t pass anyone from our squad on the way to the HQ.” Not that she would’ve seen them anyway. She was lucky enough to run into Sean on his patrol. But anyone else willing to travel away from the Wall while a war was going on was likely nonexistent.

Jo’s nerves only seeming worse now, Sera assured the squad leader everyone was fine. “You saw us out there when we all fought those Titans.” It was a proud moment to recollect. An important one too. It taught Sera why cooperation is truly important. “We’re all able to t-take on anything that comes at us.” She patted Jo on the shoulder. “They’re fine, trust me.”

Sera took a seat and motioned to Jo to take one as well. “No use in w-worrying about all the things we c-can’t control, yeah?”

Jo had held out some hope for the rest of the squad. She looked deflated, feeling her shoulders drop at Sera’s apology. Though, she tried to smile at Sera reassuring her of them and their skills, their ability to even have gotten through Trost. She could only hope that the rest of them were as strong.

Jo sighed and accepted Sera’s offer at taking a seat on one of the crates. “Yeah, you’re right. We all fall into the same trap, don’t we?” She knew that all too well. There were too many things she wished she could change.

She turned to Sera, hoping to change the topic to something a little lighter than worrying over their missing comrades. “So, where did you come from? I didn’t see you when I arrived at HQ.” She couldn’t have been hiding or searching for her this whole time, could she?

For a split second, Sera considered concealing the truth from Jo. But she quickly realized nothing negative would arise from not lying. Much like Sean, Jo didn’t seem like a snitch. “Don’t share this with anyone…” She urged. “But Sean used his ODM gear to grapple us to my room’s window.”

She chuckled while remembering Sean’s enthusiastic reaction when she presented the idea. “Didn’t need our “glorious” leaders to ask me any questions about my missing equipment. And, more importantly, where I made my way to once the Wall was sealed.”

Taking a second to scan the HQ, Sera commented on it's chaotic nature. “Now that I’ve returned, I’m thinking I should’ve stayed.” She wasn’t entirely serious. “Would’ve given this place the time it needed to calm its nerves.” Not that limitless time was available.

The “don’t share this with anyone” only meant trouble for Jo, and she looked at Sera expectantly. When she explained how Sean had helped her sneak in through a window in HQ, she snorted a little, trying not to seem so amused by it. She knew rightly how their superiors would react to a scheme like that.

Look at what Gwen got herself into.

“I wouldn’t worry all too much. Plenty of ODM gear to go around, it seems,” Jo smiled, though she realized just why the reason for that would be, but didn’t dwell on it. “I don’t imagine HQ will calm down for a while. It’s been the shittiest day we’ve had since five years ago,” she murmured. She thought of Sera's last comment, and asked, “You have family here in Trost, right? Was that where you were?”

She was right. There was enough ODM gear to go around. However, this was only thanks to the sudden increase in corpses. Sera already looted a few canisters from several lost Recruits. She didn’t need to add the ODM gear to such a list.

“Yeah, wanted to c-check and make sure they escaped in time.” Sera explained. She already gave Sean the same answer, so it wasn’t something that needed to remain a secret. “My siblings all got out just fine.” She imagined Jory’s face filled with tears and running away from the titans. “My mom stayed so she c-could…” Sera paused, realizing she never actually learned why Fiona remained even with the surprise attack going on. “Well… to me it sounded like she needed to p-protect something important.” But what was more important than not getting eaten?

Letting out a long sigh, Sera explained they needed to move on. “Dwelling on everything we just lost isn’t going to return anything.” She said, trying not to sound so cold. “Especially since it’s only going to get worse from now on.”

Jo was glad Sera’s family were safe and made it out with the rest of those who evacuated. Many others would not get to breathe the same sigh of relief. She was lucky like many of the other soldiers who had filtered through HQ.

Factually, Jo understood Sera was right. They had to keep moving forward. This war against the Titans had already paved a long and difficult road full of tragedy, and it would only continue to be paved as such. She hummed for a moment before crossing one ankle over the other.

“I’m sure. But that’s why you have to celebrate the small victories in between, right?” Jo looked back at Sera. “Yeah, shitty things like Trost might happen again. And we’ll lose more people the more we fight…” That was the uncomfortable reality she had to come to terms with, even as she sat waiting for more of her squad to return. “...but living in doom and gloom is just…fucking depressing.” She sighed.

Aside from Hal’s revealed ability and the Armored Titan losing its life, it didn’t seem like there was much to celebrate. They were still losing. But Jo was correct about living in gloom. “Really, I just want to get outside as soon as possible.” Most people would never admit to possessing such a crazy goal. But then again, not many people joined the Survey Corps in the first place.

“I’ve still got to get to Shiganshina.” Sera pictured Wall Maria, its contents most likely filled with titans numbering in the thousands. “With Hal I’ve actually got a chance to get there now.” For a moment, Sera went silent. “During training, you and I didn’t speak much to each other.” Really, aside from a few memorable occasions, Sera didn’t speak to anyone at all, until she returned to Trost. “I remember we were running as a t-training exercise. We chatted about which regiments we were going to join.”

Another pause came and went. “You said you were going to join the Military Police.” Sera assumed Jo sensed an insult coming, since Sera made it clear to everyone that she possessed great prejudice against the Military Police. “That still what you want?”

Talk had turned to regiments, of Sera’s hopes to get to Shiganshina. The thought of trying to make their way there was a daunting one, and if anything, Jo was a little jealous of that blind bravery Sera adopted. She was curious about what was outside the walls, of course. But she never once considered the Scouts during training.

Jo had braced herself for another comment about the Military Police. She heard enough of the insults about those who joined them. That they were suck-ups. Greedy. Cowards. She made her peace with that some time ago - nothing was worse than the debt hanging above her family’s head. But now…

“Would be a waste if I didn’t, wouldn’t it?” Jo mused, sure that Sera had something to say about that. “I wanted to join the Military Police. I worked hard to be able to do that. But…” She shrugged, even chuckled a little. “Everything changed at Trost and with Hal turning into a Titan, he threw everything we thought we knew into disarray.” Questions, too many questions. She thought back to Luka, the conversations, the theories he had. “I kind of want to see where this goes.” Jo would veer off course if she joined anyone but the MPs. But was she selfish to want a front row seat to this development?

Sera chuckled and nodded. “I’m right t-there with you.” No one, Sera included, ever saw Sera as a particularly curious individual. But then again, people usually didn’t possess the ability to turn into a titan whenever they pleased. “I want to see the next ability Hal shows us, and then the one that c-comes next.” No one could predict what other powers Hal was concealing. “Hell, I’ll settle on getting to watch ‘em take on a few more titans.”

The conversation quickly returned to the Military Police, and whether or not Jo should join the ranks. Sera was unsure what to say. “Look…” She thought about the idea some more. “I’ll just say it as I see it, okay?” She sighed. “You’re… a good leader, Jo. Or at least you’ve got the potential to turn into one.” She stood up and leaned against the wall. “We could really use you out there. But you’re right… Hard work isn’t something you should just waste.” It wasn’t too long ago where she almost made the same mistake. “You wanna join the MP’s, that’s your choice. But…” Looking at Jo, she saluted. “Having you other there rather in these Walls will increase Humanity’s chances of winning this war, I’m certain.” Sera paused and smirked, realizing she managed to pull off that whole thing without stuttering.

Jo noted Sera’s eagerness at seeing what ‘more’ Hal could come up with and use in battle. It did make her curious, the way she spoke about it. It was as if transforming into one of their enemies wasn’t a magnificent feat in and of itself. Though…she was just as curious as Sera was.

There was very little that Jo thought could stun her - though Trost and Sera’s speech was quickly alerting to how wrong she was about those thoughts. She rubbed her nose, unsure of whether to seem appreciative or abashed at such praise. She didn’t feel like such a good leader, having lost half her team and not knowing where they had gone. But she wouldn’t voice those grievances when Sera had gone out of her way to compliment her like that. “Thanks, Sera,” Jo graciously accepted her words with a slight smile, smiling a little more at her salute.

“The Scouts will be lucky to have you,” she told her, genuinely meaning it. “You’ve come a long way from training, and after the past few days, you’ve been handling it like a pro. They need someone like you to keep looking forward.” After a pause, she slid off the box with a sigh, rubbing the back of her neck. Tiredness became more apparent in her weary eyes. “I think we deserve some rest, don’t you? We’ll need it for the next while, I’m sure.”

While Sera showed appreciation towards the polite words, she was unable to agree with them. She wasn’t exactly showing any professionalism when she cried like a small child while seeking guidance and comfort from Fiona. Still, that was effectively in the past. She needed to move forward and forget about it. “Yeah, well… they could use you t-too, that’s all I’m saying.”

Hand extended towards Jo, Sera laughed and agreed. “Damn straight.” Though she didn’t look like it, internally, Sera was ready to collapse. “Hopefully they’ll let me sleep in tomorrow.” It was unlikely. Everyone was going to need to pitch in in order to get Trost secured again. Sera paused, eventually letting out a long sigh. “Look… I’m not too good at this whole friend thing.” It was an embarrassing thing to admit. Though it was something most people were already able to guess after meeting and conversing with Sera just once. “But… um, I think you’re cool, Jo.” Both arms now extended, Sera smiled. “Hug?”

Jo looked at Sera, offering a smile. Sleeping in was a luxury to be afforded for another day. At the offering of a hug, she smiled again and nodded, "Sure." She extended her own arms and soon brought Sera into a hug. "For the record," she said quietly to her, "I think you're doing okay on the friend front." Especially given the circumstances. She didn't think going into this that she would make many. It was funny how things changed so easily.