A hooded figure made their way down a dark corridor. The only sound of was their footsteps echoing as they made their way deeper underground.
The figure approached a guarded door, met with a new kind of weapon, a gun. They would know, their boss created them.
So it was no surprise when the cloaked figure found themselves face to face with the muzzles of 4 rifles.
"You have 10 seconds to tell us how the hell you got down here" one of the guards barked.
"Now now boys, you can put your new toys away...I'm an invited guest."
"Prove it!"
A slender hand reached into the interior of the cloak, and pulled out a small, smooth black stone.
One of the guards snatched it from their hand, another pulling out a vial of liquid. The guard let a few droplets but the stone. It began to smoke.
"See...I told you I'm an invited guest" the visitor said plucking the stone out of the guards hand.
"Right the way" the guard opened the heavy door.
"Ah our guest has arrived. I take it Master Zeke won't be joining us then."
"He's a bit busy at the moment, it takes some time and effort to reason with the devils of East." The figure removed her hood, relieving her short, cropped blonde hair.
"I see your guards are enjoying the gifts"
"Well no one's blown their fingers off yet so"
"I'd say that's a win."
"Sit please, you must be tired Yelena"
She sat down and accepted her wine from the servant.
"So any news from Master Zeke?" The man inquired.
"Well if he can get the Dragonborn tribes of the East to work alongside us, things on our end should be moving along just fine. We can also use some of their lands to creating more foundries which means.."
"More guns" the man laughed. "The Honor Guard knights won't know what's coming"
"Speaking of the knights, I hear they are admitting girls into the academy now."
"By order of the King, after his daughter was attacked. They had a few women in their ranks unofficially, but now they have a fresh group of pages. I hear from our man on the inside that some of them are pretty skilled in combat"
"Is that so?" Yelena said raising an eyebrow.
The man nodded.
"Curious as to why King Reiss decided to expand his forces?" Yelena asked fiddling with the ruby ring on her finger.
"Well it didn't hurt that his youngest daughter was one of the first to join up"
"Well I guess that gets rid of one problem. She was just be collateral damage"
**********************************************
"Wonder how long he's gonna make her run?" Eren asked as he looked out the window.
Sasha's little stunt during archery class earned her discipline from the embarrassed Sir Nok.
"Knowing Shadis, he will have her run all night" Colt said. "You have to admit though. It was pretty badass"
"It definitely looked hot" said Connie with a dreaming look in his eyes.
"Gross...go think about your lady friend in private" Jean said through a piece of bread at him.
"You're just jealous that you can't get a girl to even look at you" Connie snapped sticking his tongue out.
"Well he's gotta let her eat at some point...right?" Armin asked.
The other boys just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.
Across the dining hall, the girls were too tired to talk. They all felt bad for Sasha. In an effort to stand up for them, she was stuck running for who knows how long.
"She's got good aim" Mikasa said. "Too bad she's a moron"
"Lighten up Mikasa, it's not like you did anything" Annie said curtly.
Mikasa shot her a look that could kill.
Historia tapped on Pieck's shoulder. "Hey you gonna eat your bread?"
"No you can have it"
**************************************************
Sasha's legs finally gave out. She knew she was going to have to pay for scaring the sh*t out of their instructor, but she didn't think it would be this bad.
"Pretty sure that asshole isn't even watching at this point." She thought.
Her stomach growled, and her throat was aching. But she was too tired to move.
"Sasha...are you out here?" A quiet voice called out.
Sasha barely had the strength the raise her hand.
"There she is" called a familiar voice.
"So Shadis finally cut ya loose?" Connie asked as he knelt down beside her, brushing her hair from her sweaty forehead. "Are you ok?"
"Water" she croaked.
"Right...here" he opened up his flask, and cradled her head in his arms. Sasha felt instant relief as the cold water flooded her system.
Her eyes suddenly popped open. "I smell food...bread to be exact!"
"Oh yeah, I snuck some out of the dining hall for you." Historia sat down beside Sasha. "Here"
Historia was lucky she didn't lose her hand as fast as Sasha was.
She nearly choked as she scarfed down the meager dinner.
"Careful Sash, you'll make yourself sick" Connie said.
"Mmffmdmghs"
"I didn't quite catch that" Connie said.
"More water"
They were finally able to get Sasha to her feet and made their way back to the barracks.
Before they split to go to the girls dorms, Sasha gave Connie a quick kiss.
"Thank you for the water. Remind not to piss off any senior knights again"
"Good night Sasha"
"See ya Historia, thanks for the help"
"Well you know us girls gotta stick together" she said with a smile.
Historia managed to get Sasha to their section of the barracks, helping Sasha change and get into her cot.
"What no thank you kiss for me?" Historia asked with a small laugh.
"Maybe next time." Sasha mumbled before falling asleep.