A few days had gone by after Eren invited you to join their training group that one afternoon and it later resulted in sending Jean to the medics for a possible broken nose.
You grimaced at the memory. You didn't break Jean's nose, but you still felt pretty guilty about the whole eblow-to-the-face ordeal and when you had apologized he laughed it off and gave you a friendly side hug, which you awkwardly accepted, not that you had a choice really.
Erwin had also cleared an old room for you over the few days, Thomas as well. His room was a bit far from yours, much to your distaste, but you still met up easily and walked everywhere together.
Since the time you've been here your black haired friend looked less like a starved and sleep deprived shell and more like an actual healthy human. The black bags under his eyes faded and his hollow cheeks filled in with a more natural color than previously. You liked seeing him like this, it made you feel like you did somethings right for once.
You on the other hand still looked rough around the edges. Your eyes still held a trace of a feral girl and you barely slept, nightmares plaguing each dream you received. They mostly consisted of Lark, a distant ache throbbed each time you thought of the willowy boy. You missed him, you missed his happy humming and soft brown eyes, you missed his tree sap and juniper smell, and most of all you missed his voice. You'd probably give up your left hand if you could see him again, yet you knew you'd never catch sight of Lark ever again.
You sighed sadly and rubbed your tired eyes, wrenching them away from the small necklace pooled in your palm that Lark had put in his bag for you. You rubbed your thumb over it fondly and carefully set it on top of the book on your nightstand.
Today was one of Thomas's assessments that determined if he could move on to more advanced techniques, and you were excited for your friend. Erwin had asked you if you'd help out with it, not specifying what exactly he wanted your help for. But you agreed anyways. You wanted to help Thomas any way you possibly could.
Lightly treading through the quiet stone hallways. you spotted a certain blond and teal-eyed boy chatting with Mikasa.
Eren's eyes spotted you instantly and waved. "Hey, (F/n)!"
You gave Eren a small wave and nodded hello to both Armin and Mikasa as you walked past the trio. You still weren't sure how you felt about making new friends inside the walls, their culture here was so different than what you had grown up with and to be honest, it frightened you a little.
It did feel kinda nice having more people to talk to other than Thomas, but it was still awkward. You felt out of place when you were with Eren and Armin's friends, they were all so persistent on gaining your attention that it got to the point you thought all people inside the walls were like this. Much to the boy's disappointment, you mistook their flirty attitudes for kindness.
Thomas was doing fine with making new friends, completely at ease, which made you envy him slightly. It was beyond you how he had already made fast friends with a girl and a boy; twins you later discovered. Yet it was better than him hanging around Doctor Ramirez who was entirely too touchy for your liking.
You learned their names yesterday at dinner when Thomas had invited the twins over to sit at your table. The girl had beautiful platinum blond hair that was elegantly twisted in a french braid while the boy had his nearly white hair shaved on both sides with the longer patch on top of his hair smoothed back. Out of all the similarities they shared, their eyes were completely identical. Bright honey brown eyes ringed with gold and flecked with a deeper brown and streaked with a subtle white.
The girl had eagerly introduced herself and her brother as Talia and Warren Reece from the 105th squadron that had graduated very recently, first and second in ranking. You didn't really know what she meant but you assumed that must be some kind of training camp that fed into the military factions.
Warren didn't say much compared to his sister, content on just listening in on the conversation with an occasional word or two. You took a liking towards them both, much to Thomas's pleasure and you were oddly a little excited to see them again.
When you met them both you wanted to reach out to them for Thomas but whenever you tried to connect all that came out were choppy sentences and awkward mumblings. But somehow you weaseled your way into the twin's hearts with your odd quirks and gruff exterior and they understood you still needed time to adjust here.
When you stepped out of the doors, a blast of heat fanned your face and the bright sun greeted you, your name was called.
Squinting at the sudden adjustment of light you saw Jean waving his arm above his head while the other was cupped around his mouth. "Pipsqueak! Hey Pipsqueak!"
Your eye twitched at the nickname and folded your arms across your chest and glared at the boy who sauntered up next to you. "What."
"Just thought I'd say hello to the Pipsqueak." He grinned, giving you a flirty wink.
You scoffed and rolled you eyes and began walking again, Jean following. "Whatever."
You glanced up at the the two-toned haired boy and noticed a small cut on the painful looking purple and black bruise that spread across his thin nose.
You grimaced, "I-is, um, is your nose okay?" You asked, a bit unsure of yourself. Anthony had taught you to only look after your own self, but look at you now, pretty much asking a complete stranger if his nose was ok. His nose.
He smirked and gave you a sideways glance. "Well now that you mention it..." he contemplated, tapping his index finger against his chin. "It does hurt."
"Oh."
Jean saw your face fall and stare at the dusty ground, tugging your lip between your teeth and nibbling it guiltily, as bad as his nose looked, it didn't hurt that much. Butterflies erupted inside his stomach at the small habit you had, if only it were his lip you were bitting...
*Ahrg! No!, Jean scolded himself. He couldn't think like that right now, especially with you standing right next to him.
"Hey," he laughed, swinging an arm around your shoulders. "Im kidding."
Your guilty look shifter faster than Jean could blink. You scowled and raised your first, and dug your knuckles into his ribs with force.
"FUCK."
Jean cried out in pain and jumped away from your smirking self, his heavy arm slipped off your shoulders, allowing you to spin on your heel and leave the wheezing boy behind without a second thought or a glance behind you.
"Bye Jean."
*************************************
"(F/n)!" Dulcet tones called, catching your attention. "Over here!"
Talia smiled at you, her pearly white teeth were perfectly aligned. "Warren is with Thomas."
She ushered you to the two boys, Warren's athletic form stood still as a statue, eyeing Thomas's fidgety self.
"Stop moving so much." Warren said, his voice smooth and even.
"Sorry." Thomas mumbled to the taller boy, trying to calm his nerves before Erwin arrived. "It's just, I've only been doing this for, like, three days and Im scared something will happen."
Warren grunted and lazily glanced over to you and his sister, nodding in hello.
"(F/n)!" Thomas cried, pulling you over a little ways from the Reece twins. "Im going to fail."
You raised an eyebrow and scoffed, gesturing at the metal gear hanging against your hips. "Im helping you today, Thomas. I won't let you fail. Erwin asked me come here, for you."
His face dropped and gripped your shoulders, staring into your soul. "Im going to fucking die, Little Kestrel."
"Tch. Don't say that." You hissed, shoving his chest. "You won't die, you're good enough to pass. And anyways, you got the hang of it already."
He grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose and swore under his breath. "You aren't helping me, Kestrel. Erwin asked you and those two," he gestured to the twins who stared into the thick forest. "to help me as in 'trying to make me fail' kind of heylp."
Your eyebrows furrowed and huffed in disbelief. "Yeah right."
"Well, he's not wrong, (F/n)." A baritone voice interrupted, making you jump in surprise as the strong jawed Commander clapped a hand on Thomas's shoulder.
The Reece siblings saluted respectfully and stood at attention for their Commander. Erwin quickly dismissed their salutes with a wave.
"Ive asked the Reece twins and you, of course, to help with Thomas's assessment today."
"Why does he need to be tested?" You asked, still fuzzy with details on why they made such an effort to train Thomas in such a short amount of time.
"Since he's too old to join the 106th trainees and lacking in necessary skills to join with the 105th or the 104th squadrons, he has to be personally tested to be placed within one of them." Erwin explained, folding his hands behind his back.
"Why?"
"Because part of the deal with the Survey Corps having custody of yourself and Thomas, is that you must be registered soldiers that meet our standards."
"Oh." You muttered, a bit unhappy how stressful this was to Thomas. The boy was practically pulling out his hair.
Erwin gave you a small smile and started to explain the course and requirements that Thomas needed to make. You drowned out the sound, and subconsciously drifted over to Talia and Warren.
"Is that like a nickname or something?" Talia asked, her golden eyes curiously searching your face.
"What?"
"Little Kestrel," she said. "Is that a nickname or something? And also, where exactly do you come from? I overheard some people talk about some girl that came from over* Wall Maria and killed three titans with a knife. A knife!" She was nearly buzzing in excitement as she finished her sentence.
"Yeah." You said, a bit weakly. "That's me."
Talia's jaw dropped, even her brother looked a little surprised. "Im friends with a fuckin' badass!" She squealed suddenly, wrapping you up in her arms and twirling you in a circle, your feet leaving the ground as she spun.
You squeaked in surprise and tried wriggling out from her embrace, only escaping when Warren gave his twin a glare.
"Oops! Sorry (F/n)." She chuckled, "I can get carried away."
You grunted and brushed out your wrinkled cloak.
"Cadets!" Erwin shouted, facing the twins and your grumbling self. "Do you remember my instructions?"
"Yes Sir!" They said in unison, saluting and standing up straight and tall.
"Then go." He nodded, gesturing towards the forest.
Talia gave you a smile and slipped in the forest after her brother, the familiar clicks and whirs of the maneuvering gear sounding through the clearing as they left.
Thomas left five minutes later, a nervous smile being thrown your way before he also disappeared inside the greenery.
Erwin faced you, the forest quiet as the two of you stood alone. You stood still and waited for your task.
"The rules are simple, find Thomas before he finds a certain amount of targets before midday, got it?"
"Got it." You hummed, bringing the familiar gear to life. Before you shot off into the trees in search of Thomas.
"Good luck (F/n)."
*************************************
For a boy who just started using 3DMG, he was fast.
Your world for the past half hour or so had been blurs of green and hints blue and yellow. It was a familiar rush, the dropping of your stomach each time you spun or shifted accompanied with a sense of freedom. You loved it.
Catching a flash of white and tan, you shifted your angles and watched Talia's nimble body fly around a tree and fly in another direction.
"Talia!" You called after her, rapidly gaining on the platinum blonde.
She glanced to her side and gave you a smile. "Hey, Little Kestrel!" She laughed, keeping pace with your flying bodies. "You really do have wings!"
You rolled you eyes and veered off to the side, Talia falling from view for a moment and then reappearing.
"As much as I love this, can we rest a bit?!" She yelled, swinging around a thick tree and balancing on a branch.
Hooking yourself on the thick trunk, you hoisted yourself up and crouched on a limb slightly below her. Talia inhaled deeply, calming her ragged breathing.
"Damn, (F/n)." She panted with a chuckle. "How are you not dying."
You shrugged and picked a leaf from you hair. "Practice."
"Care to elaborate?" She hummed, tilting her head to the side in question.
The end of your mouth twitched slightly and you looked away, your past filling your mind once again. You wanted to tell Talia, but you knew deep down if you told her she'd be disgusted by you. Terrified even.
You settled on giving her the least information you could before she started asking more questions.
You sighed and gave the girl the faintest of smiles. "I learned when I was seven."
The blonde, knowing she wasn't going to get a better answer than this, she nodded smiled. Best not pry anyways..
A silence fell over the both of you, the distant chirping of birds and rustling of leaves filling the empty quiet. You closed you eyes and inhaled deeply.
Talia watched you with curious eyes, noticing how calm you were here. It was nice seeing your face relax instead of that scowl you always wore.
Suddenly the familiar sound of approaching 3DM gear interrupted your little meditation and ripped Talia's attention away from you.
You short figure tensed and leaped off the tree after your eyes caught sight of the user. Thomas was still a bit wobbly, but had speed that could match Talia's.
Not exactly knowing what Erwin ment by 'finding Thomas' you traveled above him, the boy oblivious of your silent movements. He spotted another target in the foliage and sliced through the foam material. A near perfect slice.
Thomas glanced up, his mellow expression morphing into a grim one as he saw you.
Hastily he took a right, and then a left, another right, and two more lefts before you were practically on top of the boy. "Thomas, I caught you."
"No you didn't!" He screamed back, turning in a random direction to shake you off his back.
Groaning you reached out and grabbed hold of his flowing cloak, a minute too late when you realized how stupid you were in this particular moment in time.
A stupid idea really. A very stupid one.
You cried out in surprise as your shoulder was ripped out of place with force and sent you flying towards a tree, unable to gain control before you made contact.
You heard your name being yelled, but it all was a blur. Your side smashed into the hard surface of the tree and you crashed to the forest floor, a sharp, burning pain erupting all over.
The last image you saw before darkness consumed your sight, was the horrified face of Thomas.