Year 849: Snow training
The wind was howling, the strong gust whipping snow straight in your faces.
'I would never have thought that those little, tiny snowflakes could hurt that bad!'
Two years of hard bone breaking training was over, only one more year to go before you could officially call yourselves soldiers. Even though it was only one more year left it didn't mean you got cut any slack. If anything, training got harder from this point on, difficulty increasing as your abilities got stronger. None of you had foreseen a training exercise this horrible, however. During these past two years you had been put through a lot in the name of becoming soldiers. These experiences strengthened your friendships, and you truly felt like you were one big family, especially since you had no one else.
Now you along with the whole southern cadet corps marched your way through snow filled woods in groups. You had been walking for seven hours already, everyone freezing to their very core.
"Ahh!", someone yelled out as they collapsed to the ground. The hood of the thick winter jacket prevented you from seeing who it was without stopping and turning around completely. You really didn't want to stop because you felt like once you did you could never start walking again. However, your curiosity and compassion got the best of you. You turned around and saw a person laying face down in the snow, only a black braid indicating who it could be.
"Mina!", you exclaimed, hurrying over to her limp body as fast as you could. "Thomas, stop for a second, come help me!", you called out for him. Thomas was the group leader, in charge of deciding breaks as well as route. Your group was the last one to venture out, and you silently envied the first group for being closer to the destination than yours, even though that didn't mean they had to walk any less than you.
"What happened?", Thomas said as he assisted you in getting Mina up in a sitting position, leaning her back against a tree. The other people in the group joined you by the tree.
"I don't know, I just heard her fall", you said frantically. "Maybe she tripped and collapsed, or maybe she just got too exhausted?".
"Okay, it seems like she is still conscious. She is shaking and trembling but that's a good thing, it means she's not entirely refrigerated", Thomas said calmly, thinking about what to do next. "Y/N, remove your gloves and hold onto her cheeks while I think. The skin-to-skin method is always the best way to warm someone up, and I can see her cheeks are developing white spot's, which is concerning". You quickly did as he said, first breathing on your hands to warm them up a bit before touching her, since they were already very cold.
"Henry, Mia, Lara and Oscar, use your bodies to create a wall so we can shield her from the wind!", he then decided, while tucking Mina in using the little blanket he had with him on his backpack. The others quickly did as he said. You all looked at Mina with worried faces.
"It doesn't seem like she has got a fever, which is a good sign", Thomas then said.
After a good five minutes of you and Thomas trying to warm her face up with your hands, Mina finally opened her eyes. Her trembling had decreased during those minutes, which could be both a bad or a good thing. All you could do was watch her, hoping for the latter. You thanked the gods that she didn't fall unconscious and flung your arms around her.
"Mina!", you exclaimed, backing up, eyeing her worriedly.
"Hey Mina, we suspect you have a mild case of hypothermia, but managed to warm you up a bit. How are you feeling?", Thomas asked her.
"Uh... Cold?", she answered with a weak smile. The lot of you snickered.
"Can you walk at all, how's your legs?", you asked her.
"I can feel them", she said as she demonstrated by moving her feet in circles under the blanket.
"That's great Mina!", Henry said, and you all sighed in relief.
"Okay, this has set us back a bit, but no worries. The most important thing is that we keep each other safe!", Thomas said, helping mina up. You made sure her scarf covered her cheeks and pulled the hood properly down over her forehead.
"Just take it slow Mina, and let us know if you have any trouble, anything at all!", you told her firmly, but your voice full of warmth.
"Will do. Thank you guys, really", she said, struggling to move forward. You firmly placed your arm around her waist and lifted her arm around your shoulders.
"Let me help you the rest of the way", you said. She only smiled gratefully back at you.
"Okay, Oscar, you are in charge of documenting this trip, so write down the event's as we continue moving! Great job guys", Thomas said and started walking.
'Thomas really has this leading thing going for him. I can picture him being a squad-leader in the future, and I would feel perfectly safe under his leadership, I'm sure of it'
~
Two and a half hours later you could finally glimpse sources of light coming from some buildings in the distance.
"This must be it, guys, not much further now!", Thomas yelled out to you.
'Thank god! I would never leave Mina behind and I'm happy to help her, but the exhaustion of supporting her for over two hours through snow reaching up to my knees is really starting to get to me'
As you got closer to the light someone yelled.
"Hey, I see someone, it must be the last squad!".
Thomas mustered the last bit of strength he had and went to get the paramedics. They quickly ran over to you, taking Mina into their care. You could finally catch a breath. As you exhaled, you felt you knees give in and you fell. You were now on your knees, your arms holding you up.
"Y/N!", you heard people yell. Two strong arms wrapped around you and you let yourself fall into the embrace.
"Oh Y/N, I-, uh I mean we were so worried about you!", you realized that it was Marco hugging you. The though of it was enough to warm you up the slightest bit. Then you felt yourself being lifted up.
"Marco, you don't have to-"
"It's fine Y/N, I've regained my strength a bit. I was in the first squad after all, we arrived thirty minutes ago", he explained. The sound of crackling wood and an orange flickering light becoming brighter made you realize where he was taking you. He placed you down by a firepit on the outside of the buildings. The warmth from the fire felt heavenly, and you let yourself get as close as possible without actually touching it, even though it felt really tempting at that moment in time. The others joined you around the fire. Sasha and Connie simultaneously threw themselves at you.
"Don't ever scare us like that again!", they said in unison. You let out a little laugh and hugged them back as hard as you were able to. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again", you said warmly.
"Crista, Ymir and Daz are still missing", Eren said, and you looked up at him.
"Missing? Weren't they with squad three? They are right there!", you said pointing in their direction.
"Yes, however, Mikasa said that Daz wasn't doing so well. It's possible Crista and Ymir stayed behind to help him", Jean answered you. You Hadn't noticed Jean standing behind you, his hand on your shoulder. "I'm glad to see you are okay", he quietly added with a smile. You wrapped one arm around him, giving him a side hug.
"We kind of hoped your squad had seen them, since you were the last and all", Connie said, looking at you with a sad expression. "But then you guys didn't turn up for a while and we got worried you also got caught up in the blizzard", he added.
"Oh... Well, we haven't seen any trace of them. We got set back because Mina caught a mild case of hypothermia. We had to make sure to slowly warm her up before we could continue, or else she could have died..", you said, suddenly shivering at the memories and the realization that Mina actually could have been dead at this time. Marco quickly wrapped a blanket around you, this time keeping his arms around you.
"What a shit training exercise!", you exclaimed.
"Yeah you can say that again!", Thomas said as he joined the circle.
"I won't stand here and watch anymore, who want's to join me in venturing out to find them?", Reiner suddenly asked. Everyone agreed.
"I have some extra rations, just in case!", Sasha added with a smile.
You were just about to agree as well when Jean stopped you.
"You are in no state to help Y/N. I know you love them and want to help, but we can't go and have to worry about your safety as well. That includes you too Thomas", he said, motioning for both of you to get inside.
"But-", you tried to object, however Marco was already leading you towards the building.
"It's for the best Y/N, the less people we have to worry about, the better", he said smiling at you. You knew there was no point in arguing.
"Okay, I trust your word Marco", you replied, returning the smile. His cheek's flushed as he helped you sit down by a fireplace. He took off your jacket and gloves, as well as your scarf.
"You'll warm up easier without it", he simply said, holding your stiff hands in his to warm them up faster. The feeling of his touch made your face heat up and your skin tingled underneath his.
Reiner suddenly burst into the room, carrying Daz with him. The rest of your friends followed right behind him.
"Ymir just arrived with Daz. Said she had to part ways with Crista at the end because of difficult terrain. She is waiting outside for her alone".
"Shouldn't she come inside and get herself warmed up?", you asked, your voice worried.
"She refused. Said she had to meet Crista alone", Reiner shrugged.
The medics took Daz into their care, like they did with Mina. Things finally started to calm down, the rest of your friends taking seats around the room, finally relaxing.
"We better get the day off tomorrow, this was a total shit show!", Jean suddenly exclaimed. You started laughing and the others chimed in. Marco took a proper seat beside you, still holding your hands, as if he let go you would become freezing cold again. Your head felt heavy, and you let yourself drift off. The last thing you felt was the feeling of your cheek landing on Marco's shoulder, and him softly leaning his head on top of yours.
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A/N:
Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it.
Have a wonderful day!<3
~Jen