"104th CADET CORPS, DISMISSSED".
The ordered rows of recruits disband and the uneasy silence is cracked by the shuffling of hundreds of footsteps. Not a word was uttered, yet the crowd was bustling with silent conversations, the warm expressions of friends giving the reassurance through their gazes to eachother, greetings to new comrades, exchanged through looks of gratitude, sympathaty to the Shiganshina victims, and several eyes of daggers that bellow jealousy towards those stronger than them.
As the sun began to set, amber flooded the training estate like a bucket of spilt paint, a breeze trickled through the surrounding trees, causing their leaves to whisper like the souls of the dead. The murmurs from the clumps of recruits who were establishing friendships and rivalries were also carried by the gentle breeze.
Then you had potato girl, plodding until the sky's golden flood had ceased and finally, one solitude girl sat in the middle of it all, cross legged with eyes that shined like diamonds with curiosity, watching the sky's aurora of colour gradually fade into the night.
TALL BOI POV:
"Ugh, you sure about this Reiner? Playing "cadet" with these weaklings just so we can retake the founder...there must be an easier way...can't you see? These devils -"
"It's the only way Annie - besides were already trained soldiers - we're....we're warriors, unlike all these other kids, were sure to make the top 10, then were straight into the MPs, we'll be right below this kings ass in no time".
Reiner has changed so much...
The sound of bones being crushed accompanied by a young boys cry of agony echo through my mind...
That must be why...
Marcel...
Part of your soul seems to have latched onto Reiner...not that its a bad thing...it's kind of creepy, however, I prefer the less timid and more brotherly Reiner...it's comforting...
"Hey Bertholdt? Bertholdt?"
"W-whaaa...? D-did you say something" why does Annie always catch me in deep thought....it's embarrassing...
"Where you even listening? or is that rock you were staring at more interesting than our mission" the blunt words roll off Annie's tongue.
She can be so rude sometimes...bad mood I guess...
"Nah, just tired, that's all, everyone is heading to mess hall, let's head over too, we don't want to stand out too much" I murmur.
"Bertholdt. You are literally the height of a Lamport, you already stand out."
Fuck you Reiner, atleast I don't look like an ox.
We pass a girl on the way over, the one horseguy was taking the piss out of, she was staring at the sky again...the sky is pretty, however something is rather off about her. It's not normal to be this obsessed.
"Should we ask her if she's gonna stop staring at the sunset and come to dinner?" Annie whispers.
Wow...Annie being friendly to a stranger?....quick mood change....must be female hormones....
"Yeah we should, its not nice to leave her -"
"We don't know her, let's just leave it" Reiner cuts me off.
He'd usually say yes...seems like him and Annie have had a personality swap....strange....
Or maybe it's something else...he couldn't keep his eyes off her in the entrance inspection... and I do admit she isn't the worst looking...she's also got alot of guts to stick up to people the way she does...well not be spooked by Shadis atleast...
Annie wouldn't even say stuff like that to superiors...
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Y/N POV:
Violet...indigo...amber....magenta....and the fading ball like a flaming candle hovering over the horizon....who knew that all these colours could paint the sky so wonderfully....
"HEY, Y/N, WANNA COME TO DINNER WITH US?" An angelic girls voice yells....Krista...?
I turn and see the petite girl waving her arm eagerly, the remnants of the sunlight radiated off her, giving her the appearance of an angel. Next to her is a taller girl with oak hair with her arms crossed in an unwelcoming manner.
She seems like the opposite of an angel.
Regardless, I sprint over to them and we make our way over to the mess hall.
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The lamplit wooden hut was filled with a cacophony of people's conversations, the tables were crowded with recruits....just like the brothels in the underground....
"Krista" I whisper, "I don't have the money for this...you see...I've never been able to afford food like that" Bread, stew and apples...all of that costs a fortune underground...everything there is expensive, apart from sex and mushrooms...I don't like either.
How embarrassing.
Why do I have to be the only broke underground rat here.
"It's ok Y/N you don -" Then the girl who I learned is called Ymir butts in, clearly trying to make a joke out of me as she raised her voice.
"Are you stupid? why would we have to pay for the food, the military is payed for from the citezens taxes...geez...has nobody ever taught you anything...first you sit there gawping at the sky with your mouth open like a fish and next you -"
"Ymir stop! It's not her fault" Krista screeches.
At this point, the mess hall had fallen near silent and everyone was fixated on us.
Finally someone cracks the silence. Not as if they were intending to improve the situation.
"Heh, got the guts to shove your ass in the commanders face but act as if the sky is a new phenomenon, maybe those guts come from stupidity"
Horseface again.
At this point my flame of fury had ran out of fuel, so I stood there in shame.
"JUST LEAVE HER ALONE! -"
Who knew such an angelic girl could be such a flame of fury.
"Krista - it's fine, he's right...can we just leave it..." I place my hand down on her shoulder to calm her, my eyes focused far away from making contact with anyone.
Everywhere I go I'm always treated like scum, so I should be use to being trampled all over....so why now do I feel so defeated...
Maybe I feel embarrassed...because...she's standing up to me...for the first time in years I'm not defending myself....
She looks up to me, her eyes clouded with empathy.
I don't even bother to notice Jeans cocky expression.
Just as conversation began to return, a golden haired boy in the table next to where I was stood speaks up, causing the room to be silenced once again. For the second time in the past 3 minutes I was in the spotlight.
"Where are you from exactly?".
Another question, just great. More embarrassment for me.
I try to avoid his eye contact initially so I scan the room and notice a boy with eyes like emeralds, stood next to an oriental girl.
Emerald eyes...Isabel had emerald eyes...
8 years earlier:
The whiff of dampness... A candlelit cupboard under apartment building stair in the chill of the undergrounds eternal night...finally the warmth of her arms around me, I nestled into her lap as she stroked her silk-soft fingertips through my dirty H/C hair...
"One thing to remember when you are big and grown up Y/N...eyes are the gateway to a person's soul..."
"Really Isabel, so...your eyes..."
She giggled "what do you think? Am I secretly an evil monster" she playfully whispers, she then tickled me beneath my armpits causing an uncontrollable wave of laughter to escape my cracked lips.
"Hmmm....I see....joy.....mischief....I think that....they also look
determined because you are always trying to be free and escape this yucky city"
"Spot on Y/N, I think yours are the same but with far more curiosity than mine" she pats my head as I snuggle closer into her warmth...
*******
The ebony haired boys eyes are just like hers....sparkling like emeralds... sparkling with the will to seek freedom.
Finally my eyes meet with the boy who questioned my origins. I tense up.
What the hell Y/N, why are you tensing up? Nobody ever makes you tense up.
Wait.
This is the guy I was accidentally staring at in the entrance ceremony....the boy that stared at me as if....I was a freak...?...no... was he suprised...?.... was he curious.? Maybe that's just his resting expression?....no....this time it's genuine curiosity...
His frame was broad and muscular, clearly more mature than many of the other boys here, his eyes matched his pale yellow hair and they...they were the same as mine...they were filled with determination...warmth...but behind that....desolation...as if he was foreign to this world...
Something about him seems different to the others here....
Is he an outcast like me?
Or maybe I'm overanylzing things.
"Where I'm from...?...my mother's ass like everyone else here"
A few people chuckle in amusement, he smirks and raises an eyebrow. "And where is your mother's ass exactly?"
I hesitate, take a deep breath, will everyone reject me if they know...?
I can't avoid this question forever.
"I'm from the underground".
Several whispers are exchanged across the oak tables in the flame-lit cabin. The looks of disgust, empathy and wonder were cast on the pale skinned girl who stood there, like an artefact in a museum for spectators to gawpe at. The ox-built boy queried no more - for he was unaware of her 'underground' origins and to her suprise, the ashen-maned 'horseface' exchanged looks of apology as he sunk down onto the wooden bench.
Will they consider me a real person now....or am I still a goddamn outcast?
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If I'm confusing anyone because they don't know who Isabel is, she's from the spinoff 'No regrets' - she's one of the characters in Levis backstory (I don't wanna give spoilers so yeah, sorry for confusing anyone)