Soldiers in a Broken World

Adriane Matthews - 104th Cadet Corps

The 104th Cadet Corps was formed and many kids around his age filled the ranks. He was a proud fifteen-year-old who was going to help Humanity. Adriane stood tall in the second row. Commandant Sadies looked at him, paused for a heartbeat before walking past him. 'Good. He thinks I am ready.' He turned with the rest of his row and faced Annie. She lightly smiled. Sadies walked close and she went stone once more. He didn't even look at her. 'Go figure, of course he wasn't going to stop at her.' He stopped at Armin though and began to yell, to test him. 'Poor Armin, I hope he stays.'

By the time the sun began to set, those who Sadies thought weren't up to par were in a wagon and left the Corps for other work. Adriane didn't feel bad for them, or even pitied them. They just were the ones who didn't have the same fire as the rest of them. He wasn't that different. His fire was not in the right place.

"So, you made the cut." Annie walked up to him. She wore the sweater he gave her. Simple and functional. "Think you can keep going?"

He shrugged as the dinner bell rang. "We'll see. If I do, then I do."

She nodded. "Well, at least you finally thought about yourself." He looked at her. "By the way, why did you cut you hair down? Almost didn't recognize you."

He rubbed his stubble of hair. "Well, we are changing something in our lives, why not something else? I like it."

"I don't." She flatly said. The dinner bell rang again, and they made their way to the mess hall. "Makes you look too serious."

"Well, I am not changing it." He made a face and she rolled her eyes but smiled.

*

He sat alone at first. He noticed Eren had gathered a small crowd of people who weren't from Shiganshina and only heard about that day. 'Just like Eren. Get the crowd and boost.' He hadn't changed that much from those days. At least he wasn't fighting anyone...for now. Annie suddenly sat next to him. He looked at her in surprise. "I thought you would have sat alone Annie."

She glared at him. "Why?"

"We...both know you?"

There was a very small smile for a quick second. "I'd rather sit with someone I know than alone tonight." She bit off some bread. "So, is that the 'famous' Eren Yeager?" She nodded to Eren and the crowd.

"Yeah. The one who is..."

"...going to kill every single Titan!" Eren almost yelled as if to finish for Adriane. "Every one of them."

Annie looked at her soup and played with it. Adriane knew something was up with her. "He is going to join the Survey Regiment, The Scouts. Been his dream for as long as I have heard him say it. You still sticking with the MP's?"

"Yeah. Thinking of number one remember?" She looked around. "I don't want to be a solider fighting for a dying world."

"And the fact you want to be inside Wall Sina." He ate some soup. "I didn't forget that ether."

She looked at him. Could he have finally figured it out? No, he just knew her well. "How about you?" She asked.

He paused. "I hadn't really given it a real thought." He looked at her. "I have three years to figure that out though." He recalled what he told his mother long ago. That childhood dream to join the Scouts. The same one that most kids had at one point.

"How about you join the MP's with us?" Reiner asked as he and Bertholdt sat down. "I think you could do it with us. The four of us could do some real good!"