Walking off the boat and onto the sidewalk I made my way to the refugee center catching up to Armin, Eren, and Mikasa. The streets of Trost were bustling with the masses of incoming refugees that were swarming into Trost from wall Maria. Getting into the refugee camp and splitting off from Armin and the others I stood in line for rations which were just a small loaf of bread.
After 20 minutes of waiting I finally got my loaf and headed towards the edge of camp to enjoy it in peace when I heard yelling in the distance. 'Great and I thought I could at least enjoy a meal in silence after all that wait.' Quickly pausing when I recognized it as Erens voice yelling back, deciding to walk over to see what had happened. Getting closer I could hear the conversation seeing Eren get kicked to the floor by a garrison member.
"You don't know what it's like! You haven't even seen it happen! How a Titan eats humans!" Eren yelled tears budding in his eyes. 'What did that soldier do to make him flip out like that,' I thought to myself.
"Shut it!" The guard responded walking closer to Eren threatening to hit him again. 'Is he really going to?' Thinking there is no way he would hit Eren.
"He's sorry!" Armin said standing in the way protection Eren before continuing. "He's frustrated because he's hungry that's why he lashed out. I'm really sorry!" Armin said before slightly bowing to the guard.
"Yeah, well. . ." The guard started seemingly shocked by Armin's apology, "you all wont starve because of what we're doing for you, Even kids need to have some gratitude." 'Easy for him to say when he was nowhere near what happened.'
"Okay!" Armin said enthusiastically back to the guard while they walked away. 'Nice job Armin.' I thought to myself
"Damn it, I'm not going to be grateful for someone like him." I heard Eren mutter quietly under his breath.
I walked back to my corner having heard enough and sat there for the rest of the day thinking about the events that happened today. 'There's no way this will last, there isn't nearly enough food to sustain this amount of people or space for that matter.'
A few days later and many refugees were put out to plough the fields however the food shortage could not be solved, and in the year following, 846, many refugees old enough to serve in the military were tasked with reclaiming wall maria. Of the 250,000 sent to reclaim the wall only 100 or so made it back alive. But the sacrifice of those people allowed the food shortage to get somewhat resolved.
'Next year is the cadets' I thought to myself while ripping out a particularly annoying weed from the field. 'I wonder if those 3 will be there. or if they will recognize me anymore.'
*****
1 Year Later:
"Attention!!!!" A voice boomed over the whole crowd and all chitchat and talking stopped. "Listen up you maggots! My name is Keith Shadis! And I was assigned the unpleasant task of training you scum, for the next 3 years I will be your instructor and take you from sewer rats to fully fledged soldiers capable of taking down a Titan!" 'He's quite the character.'
Shadis walked down from his ledge and went row to row screaming at them and breaking their nerves, ripping apart the weak willed people who had no business being soldiers.
"You there!" Shadis boomed at a blonde haired boy. 'Wait, isn't that Armin?' I thought to myself confirmed shortly after as he responds to Shadis.
"Yes, sir!!"
"Who are you?!"
"Armin Arlert, from Shiganshina!"
"Yeah? That's a stupid name. Did your parents give you that?"
"My grandfather did, sir!"
"Arlert, what are you doing here?!"
"Trying to aid in humanity's victory!"
"That is indeed wonderful... Then you will feed the Titans!" He turned away from Armin and continued his walk. "Row 3, about face!"
He carried on ripping apart cadet after cadet before with the same energy and passion as the first before reaching a boy with short light brown hair.
"What do we have over here?!" Shadis Interrogated.
"Jean Kirschtein, sir. From the Trost District!"
"And why are you here cadet?"
"To join the Military Police, sir. The best of the best." He said with an enthusiasm that would get him screamed at.
"That's nice." Shadis responded a little to calm for my liking and just as I had expected Shadis moves faster than anyone saw headbutting him and sending him to the ground. "No one told you that you could sit cadet! You're worthless to the military police if you go down from an attack like that!"
'After seeing that I'd feel bad for the next person to get on his bad side,' as if on cue the next cadet so happens to get their salute backwards and the Instructor lifts him up from both sides of his head.
"You've got it backwards Connie Springer! That was the first damn thing I taught you maggot! That salute represents your resolve in your heart to fight those bent on the systematic destruction of our people!" Before Shadis could chew Connie out any more a crunch rings out through the crowd and grabs everyone's attention including the Instructor.
I looked to the right just as shocked and horrified as the rest of the cadets. 'Oh shit that girl is dead.' Shadis drops Connie as he collapses on the floor and walks over to the cadet.
"Hey you there, what do you think your doing?" He asks in tone so calm sending a shive down my spine, the person in question looks around and takes another bite of the potato before Shadis screams in her face. "You are officially on my shit list! Just who in the hell are you?!?!" Shadis bellowed, 'I am so glad to not be her right now.' Taking a loud gulp swallowing the bite she yells back.
"Sasha Braus from Dauper Village, Sir!"
"Well Sasha Braus, what is that your holding in your right hand?"
"A steamed potato! Sir! It sat in the kitchen begging me to eat it!"
"The theft I understand, but why? Why here?" He said. 'She better hope she makes it out of this with both her arms and legs.'
"It looked quite tasty and was getting cold sir, so I gave it shelter in my stomach."
"Why? Just why? I don't understand why you would eat that potato." Shadis said more confused than anything else.
"Are you asking me why people eat potato's sir? I'm surprised you don't already know." Taking the potato in her hand and splitting it taking off a third. "Here, half." As she offered him the third.
Shadis then stripped her meal privileges for the next week and ordered her to run until sundown before continuing down the line eventually reaching me. 'My turn,' I thought anxious.
"You there, what is your name maggot!"
"Y/N L/N sir! From . . . Shiganshina!"
"And why are you here cadet!?"
"To fight the Titans and reclaim my lost home, sir!"
"Well someone who's so short and pathetic will do nothing but be a light snack for the real soldiers!" He yelled in my face pissing me off.
"Sir! I will prove to you I am a worthy soldier!"
"You had better before you get shipped off with the rest of the failures! Row 6 about face!" He said before continuing on. 'That was intense.' Sighing and looking up at the sky. 'Well at least I'm still here,' I said chuckling to myself.
"Is something funny cadet L/N!" Shadis yelled half way down the row behind me.
"N-No sir!" I responded leaving snickers to erupt in the crowd and my face flushing.
*****
It was now the afternoon and everybody was in the mess hall eating dinner, a group was formed around Eren asking him about what happened when the titans broke through Shiganshina. I sat a few tables away eating by myself I didn't feel like introducing myself to any of the people here.
"Yeah, okay? I saw the big guy." Eren said with a slightly annoyed tone.
"Whoa really!?" "Wow, exactly how tall was he!?" 2 of people surrounding Eren spoke up amazed and desperate to hear more.
"He stuck his head over the outer wall." Eren responded.
"What, wait! I heard he stepped over it completely." The guy said questioningly.
"So did I."
"I heard that in my village to." 2 more chimed in. 'Ha are these guys serious if he could do that I think the walls would be more than just broken.'
"Nah, he was big but not that big." Eren said amused.
"What did it look like?"
"It had a mouth like a corpse. And no skin, just muscles."
"And the Armored Titan? The one that broke the inner gate?" A man asked. 'That was terrifying.' I remembered him smashing the inner gate.
"Is that what they're calling it? In all the panic it was just another Titan to me." Eren said in a cocky tone." 'Sure totally Eren.' I snickered to myself.
"No way. So, what were they like?" Eren paused his hand shaking before he dropped his spoon and put one of his hands on his mouth while clutching his stomach. Unable to listen to this stupidity anymore I left walking outside onto the porch and watched the stars. 'Ugh I can't wait for odm training I want to fight to learn to fight already.'
A few minutes later I saw Eren walk out and shortly after Mikasa, running behind them the guy named Jean I remembered from the ceremony, he has a flushed face and is looking in Mikasa direction. 'Good luck with that one buddy, she's always glued to Erens side.'
"Would you lay off." I heard Eren say in the distance to Mikasa.
"It's just that you get worked up so easily that you don't think things through." 'She is right,' I thought remembering that time in the refugee camp.
"Again with this? If you insist about worrying, worry about how long your hair is. It's going to get caught up bad when we start odm training." Eren explained, 'Nice diversion Eren.' I thought laughing to myself.
"Ok fine I'll cut it, how short do you think I should go?" She inquired. 'Wh-What I didn't think she was actually going to do it.' But looking over to see Jean he seemed more surprised than me, horrified even. Just then Connie walked by and Jean wiped his hand on Connies back as he desperately tries to get whatever Jean stuck on him off itching and scratching.
"What the hell dude? Leave my cloths alone! What'd you even wipe on me?" Jean with a stoic dead expression not even looking at Connie says.
"Don't worry, just my trust." Connie more confused than anything just walks away however Jean just stands there for a bit like he's in a trance before looking around and spotting me looking at him.
"What you looking at pipsqueak!" He said clearly still agitated from seeing Eren. I just looked at him about to blow a fuse. 'Fuck you too Jean.'
'This has been quite the fun day, excluding that moment with Jean I wonder what we're doing tomorrow?' Just when I was about to leave a taller short haired blond guy walks up next to me.
"What's up, my name's Reiner, saw the way you looked at the conversation with Eren like they were all stupid and knew I needed to say hi." He said with a smile sitting down across from me. I chuckled
"H-Hi Reiner, my name's Y/N." Taking a pause before talking about the people surrounding Erens table. "What a bunch of idiots I have a feeling those will be the people who piss themselves the first time they see one." He laughed along with me before talking a bit more. "So Reiner I didn't see you earlier during the ceremony where you from?"
"Oh, I come from a small little mountain village in wall Maria far away from the major towns." He responded.
"Hm, then I assume you guys didn't get the message until it was to late?" I said feeling bad for him.
"Yeah. . . Woke up in the morning and heard loud tremors getting closer and closer and looked out my window to see a big one starring right in." He paused to collect his thoughts, "everything after that was a blur I just ran as fast as I could and ended up here." 'Dang, that's rough I hope he's ok after all that.'
"Well at least your here now am I right." I said putting out my fist for a fist bump.
"Yeah, Right on man. How bout you?" He said giving me a determined look.
"Me, I'm from Shiganshina. . . Well at least I think I am."
"What do you mean by that?" He asked curious and confused
"Well I don't remember my past at all, I woke up in Shiganshina the day the walls were broken and made a dash to get out of there." He looked at me with a horrified face.
"That's terrible." He said looking down. "After all that, why? Why join the cadets. After all, you saw them and what they can do."
"Because I. . . I need to figure out my past and return to that city where I woke up, I can't live with myself knowing I'm missing a part of myself, after all, I can't even remember my parents, or where I lived, or if I even had any siblings." I paused to collect my thoughts before continuing, "I have to fight the Titans and win or else my life will feel like and in my mind have been a waste." Reiner looked up determined somewhat inspired by what I said.
"I feel you there man, I will return to my home after it's all said and done to." He said with a determination I envied. We talked for another 10 minutes or so about random topics before leaving.
"See ya later Y/N it was fun talking to you!" He said standing up me and walking in the direction of the dorms. Getting up and walking towards the dorms after he had left I saw everyone had formed their groups or cliques leaving me to sit alone in a small corner of the room. Settling for a bottom bunk in the which no one had claimed yet. Laying down I felt a rush of tiredness and was fast asleep shortly after.