Attack on Titan Short Stories

A Cadet Remebered

".....Lobov....huh?"

Shadis voice caught in his throat. He read the next name on the list...and then again...hoping his eyes were just playing tricks on him. But there it was in black and white.

"Sasha Blaus."

It had been 2 days since the Survey Corps had returned from Marley. Shadis was in his office, reading the report about the raid on Libero. He had been reading the names of the 8 soldiers that were killed during the operation.

"Blaus....". He muttered the name again, still trying to process what he had just read. Shadis looked to the left side of the room, remembering where Sasha had stood just 4 years ago, too scared to sit down. He chuckled to himself remembering the young solider behind that Kirschtein fellow.

Suddenly a flood of emotions hit him. Sure, Shadis had grown accustomed to reading about numerous deaths of soldiers, especially those who were foolish enough to go into the survey corps, and he had learned to cope with the fact that many were once his trainees.

But something about the 104th cadet corps; Carla's son bent on revenge, the smart but weak blonde and the incredible girl with the red scarf who followed him, the arrogant boy who wanted a comfortable life, the moron who did the salute wrong, the quite but fierce one who was now sealed away in crystal, the 2 older boys who ended up betraying the corps, the young girl who was now Queen, & potato girl.

Potato girl, who had the nerve, and in a way courage, to eat a steamed potato during the opening ceremony. Shadis had been completely shocked, though his face didn't show it, it was something he had never seen in his life as the commander of the cadet corps. He couldn't believe how oblivious she had been, and even more so she offered him half of the potato, granted it was the smaller half. Shadis chuckled again thinking how he made her run the entire day. Then he didn't have much hope for her. Sure she had skills from being a hunter but to be fair, he always thought the potato was smarter.

It has surprised him when he learned that she, and the others had joined the survey corps. He surely thought that a girl who wanted to do nothing more but eat would have joined the MPs and had plenty of food and a comfortable life. He had also gained a bit of respect for the potato girl, it was rare for top 10 cadets to join the Scouts. He was certain that she would be killed, along with that idiot boyfriend of her's (Shadis had caught them once behind a barrack kissing) on the 57th and Expedition outside the walls. To his surprise, and relief, all of them had returned alive, but on the flip side he was disheartened at the loss of the special operations squad, especially since Eld and Gunther had been his trainees once.

As the years passed, his respect for Sasha grew as he learned how she took down a Titan without ODM girl, saving a small girl. How she became an incredible sharp shooter for the corps, and became a valued member of the new special operations squad. He wouldn't admit it but Sasha was one of his trainees that he was incredibly proud of.

Shadis keeps staring at the name on the paper. Racking his brain as to what could have possible happened. How someone as skilled as Sasha was killed. His heart sank, as he thought of her fellow squad mates, and of the idiot boy who was always by her side, of Levi having to bury another member of his team, and of Commander Hange who would be the one to tell her family. He didn't know much of her family, only that they were a small hunting clan from Dauper, but he had had his fair share of dealing with grieving families. He continued the report, "at least they had a whole body to bring back" he thought to himself.

Shadis finished the report, and continued to stare at the left side of the room.

*A Few Hours Later*

It was twilight when Shadis made it to the cemetery. It was pretty much empty. He walked among the graves looking at the names on the head stones. "Ral...Berner....Bozard....Freudenberg....Carolina...Schultz....Ginn" he stopped for a moment at Eld's and gave it a curt nod. He continued on through the sea of stone and grass.

Then he stopped. "Sasha Blaus 835-854 Survey Corps". Shadis shook his head...she had only be 20. He knelt down by the fresh grave, his eyes scanning the flowers and letters left on top. Out of his pocket, he removed something. It was a simple steamed potato. "Tell me Blaus....why do people eat potatoes?" He broke the potato in half, placing the slightly bigger half on her grave stone. He took a bite of the potato, and look up at the darkening sky.

"You can rest now....you did well...Cadet Blaus"

End