"Hmm.... A lovely day" I said, as myself, Annie, Reiner and Bertoldt made our way through packed streets. We were walking through Trost district wearing our trainee uniforms as I headed to the wall for maintenance and patrol. We had graduated 2 days prior and were stationed here for the time being.
I tilted my head back as I walked, soaking in the sun. It was pleasant, warm. I looked to my left at Annie and Reiner, both walking with their heads lowered and scowling. Not in a good mood today, were they?
"What's wrong, you two?" I said, turning and walking backwards so I could face them. "Don't tell me you are getting cold feet now".
"Of course, not" Annie replied sternly, looking up but avoiding eye contact with me. "We have a mission to complete, let's get it over with".
I smiled at her, before turning my gaze to Reiner, who was no longer burning a hole in the stone road but, instead looking over to his right. I followed his gaze and saw Bertoldt wearing a concerned expression, his index and middle finger tapping on his ODM gear in an unmatched rhythm.
I gave a small smile, narrowing my eyes slightly. I stopped walking, causing Bertoldt to bump into me, knocking him out of his trance. He took a small step back, looking up at me in surprise. Reiner and Annie had both stopped walking a few steps away, looking back with slight confusion.
"You are thinking too much Bertoldt" I said, walking forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at it in surprise before looking back up at me. He quietly gulped.
"I know, it's just...it never gets any easier" he said, looking down. "What if they catch me after I transform back? What if they see me before or during my transformation? Then you all will- "
"Too many 'what ifs' cloud your vision. You need clear focus and a resolute will if you are going to carry out what needs to be done" I said gently, placing my other hand on his other shoulder, gripping it tightly.
"You are going to be all right. All of us. We will go home and see our families soon" I said comfortingly.
"Just breathe"
Bertoldt took a second before steeling himself, straightening back up and squaring his shoulders. I gave his arm a light pat before letting go, facing up at him for a moment.
"Now go. Destroy it" I said, before turning back and walking towards Reiner and Annie. They both looked back as Bertoldt took a different road away, heading for the interior walls.
"What did you say to him?" Reiner said as we resumed walking, him on my left, Annie on my right.
"Words of encouragement" I said as we entered a busier street. A crowd of people lined the sides of it as men and women on horseback and in green coats moved past us, heading for the open gates of Trost to make their way into Titan country. These were the infamous Survey Corps, the ones Eren was constantly bursting blood vessels screaming about.
The three of us stood to the side for a moment, watching before a loud cheer erupted from the already chatty crowd. A tall man with neatly combed blonde hair rode past, an air of authority and civility surrounding him as he rode, paying no heed to the crowd that surrounded him. On his right, a brunette woman wearing glasses followed, a smile on her face with bright eyes looking around. And, on his left, a short man with neatly combed hair that parted either side of his face. With narrowed eyes, he rode with an annoyed look on his face.
I narrowed my own eyes at this. Those were the eyes of a soldier. A killer.
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After another little while of watching, we moved on. I bid Reiner and Annie farewell and made my way up the wall using my ODM gear. I joined Eren, Sasha, Connie and a few more recruits at the top, where we began our maintenance service on the wall cannons.
I was cleaning the interior of one of the canons on the far right, away from the others. As I finished and made my way back, I heard a commotion.
Surprise surprise, it was Eren.
"The hell you mean you're joining the scouts?!" Eren said, looking over at Connie whilst he cleaned the supports of a cannon.
"What happened to being a MP, that was you whole thing" he continued.
"Don't worry about it" Connie replied in an annoyed voice. "A guy's allowed to change his mind, okay?
"I think your speech yesterday light a fire under him" A girl with pigtails chimed in, walking over and standing next to Eren with a smile looking over at Connie. Mina, I believe her name is.
"Ain't nobody talking to you" Connie chimed back. "His temper tantrum had nothing to do with it" he said, looking over his shoulder with flushed cheeks and an embarrassed look on his face.
"Take it easy" another voice said, this time of a young blonde-haired man. This one was Thomas.
"It's not like you're the only one" Thomas continued, scratching the side of his face in clear embarrassment as well. Everyone else looked on in surprise.
I smiled to myself as I walked over. Eren certainly was a born leader, rallying troops like that.
"Can you guys keep a secret?" we heard another voice say, this time from behind Thomas. I looked left as Sasha made her way past me, something clearly tucked on the inside of her jacket.
"Cause I totally just helped myself to the officer's pantry" she said as she brought out a piece of meat, grinning the entire time she did. Meat was a rarity nowadays within the walls.
I smiled whilst the rest of my comrades freaked out. The military could and absolutely would throw Sasha in prison for stealing from the officer's pantry, but it was the sheer dumb smile on her face that made me laugh a little
"Seriously?" I said, still smiling. "What is wrong with you?"
"What isn't wrong with her" Connie chimed in, an unamused look on his face.
"It'll be fine, I'm willing to share" she said, with somewhat of a dreamy look on her face. As though that made the situation any less serious, but at least she had shown some self-growth.
"Oh, could you imagine the sandwiches?!" she exclaimed, drool beginning to form in the corners of her mouth whilst the rest demanded she put it back.
She moved to a nearby wooden box, opening the lid and stashing the meat inside.
"Just look at it this way. Pretty soon, we'll take back all the room we need for livestock" she said, an earnest smile spreading across her face.
I stepped forward.
"I'll take a slice" I said.
"Hey, if he gets one, so do I...just so you know" Connie also exclaimed.
"Me too, I am in on it too" Mina followed, leaning forward with enthusiasm.
As the banter ensued, I looked down at my right, at the ground beneath us. There were no Titans within the vicinity. I looked to a small tree just beyond the wall, seeing the slightest quiver of a branch. My smile remained intact as I moved slightly to the right, pretending not to notice a small stack of cannon balls balanced near the edge.
Slightly kicking out my heel, I pretended to nearly trip on the stack, knocking it over and sending 2 cannon balls falling to the ground below. I regained my balance as the attention of the group was turned to me.
"Everything alright? You nearly fell..." Eren said, walking over.
"Yes, I am alright. My apologies, I will go retrieve the cannon balls in a few moments" I said, reassuring him and the group.
As they all headed back to their stations, I looked down, noticing a small figure creep down from the tree, making his way to the open ground beneath us. I made my way over from edge to the cannon I had been working on mere moments ago. And waited.
A few moments later, the serene silence, the calm air, and the relaxed demeanor of the group was shattered by the flash of lightening and the bang that ensued as Bertoldt took on his titan form, face to face with me and the other cadets.
I and my comrades held a look of shock for a moment, unsure how to react, before a gust of blistering hot steam forced us all backward, off the wall.
Below us, we heard an all to familiar crash as the 60-meter abomination took out the wall once again, leaving a gaping hole whilst the original rubble plastered itself onto the defense mechanisms we had set below, as well as the surrounding houses and roads, destroying everything.
As we fell, my comrades and I latched onto the wall with our ODM gear, abruptly stopping out descent. However, one young man continued to fall, unconscious. He must have hit his head.
I was about to move, but Sasha beat me too it. She began running down the wall at a high speed, maintaining her balance as the flipped and moved through the air, before shooting one of her ODM hooks down, piercing the young man's foot but otherwise keeping him safe. With the other, she latched on to the wall, acting as an anchor to prevent his fall.
Needless to say, I was impressed. Those animalistic instincts and movements were clearly much more than she had made them out to be in the past.
As the rest of my comrades took in the sight below them, I drew my blades, hooking the handles into the holster on either side of me and drawing them back.
"THIS IS IT PEOPLE!!!" I heard Eren shout as I shot out from the wall, releasing gas from my ODM gear to power me through the air.
"THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TRAINING FOR!!!"
I heard him follow close behind as we both shot up the wall.
"EREN, WITH ME!" I shouted. "LET'S KILL THIS COLOSSUL BASTARD!!!"
"THIS IS OUR CHANCE!!" I heard him call to our remaining comrades below.
"DO NOT LET IT SLIP AWAYY!!!"
As I and Eren shot up over the wall, a final dispel of gas sending us spinning toward top, we landed, steeling ourselves for the battle to come.
Or perhaps he did anyway.
Landing in front of the Titan, we gazed up at its skinless form, one with pure hatred, and the other with cold calculating eyes.
"It's been a while" I heard Eren say, and I have no doubt Bertoldt heard as well.
"Well now" I thought as I sprinted left and Eren took the offensive immediately.
"How shall we play this out?"