Jean and Sasha, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 1
"You honestly expect me to eat that?"
Jean Kirstein peered loathingly at the dead rabbit that Sasha Blouse had presented him with. While his first suggestion had been to go after prey with their Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear and flesh-paring blades, the girl who had spent most of her life hunting animals like this one had laughed it off and gone about setting traps. This rabbit had been the first creature unfortunate enough to stumble into one of them.
"We're not going to eat it like this, silly", Sasha answered as if she were speaking to a child and not a peer. "We need to build a fire first. Then we can have all of the savory meat that we desire."
He grimaced noticeably and wiped his forehead with one hand.
"For this next exercise, you will be broken up into pairs", Keith Shadis had told the 104th Trainee Corps. "Each pair will be taken to a different location in the forest to the north of here. The purpose of this mission is to test your survival instincts. Those of you who venture beyond the walls to fight the Titans may end up being separated from your companions, and if that happens, the safest places to hide will be forests.
"In your pairs, each trainee will be responsible for the honesty of the other. You must make sure that each of you follows the rules without exception. You will also, of course, be tasked with looking out for one another. There may not be any Titans within these walls, but there are other threats that you should be wary of.
"In order to properly simulate the experience, each trainee will carry with them only the clothes on their back and their Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear. Each pair will also be equipped with one flare gun to use for specific purposes. As soon as each pair has reached their designated location, a yellow flare will signal the start of the exercise. Exactly seven days later, I will send up a green flare, indicating the conclusion of the exercise. During that time period, you may use a red flare to signal an emergency, but only when absolutely necessary. Any team that inadvertently lets off their red flare will be docked points upon the conclusion of the mission.
"I don't expect many of you peons to survive for the entire week. I'll be surprised if half of you make it out of the forest alive. That being said, I wish you all the best of luck."
Jean kicked the dirt at his feet.
"Why did I even have to come out here? There's no way I'm ever going outside the walls. Not once I join the Military Police, anyway."
"Look on the bright side." Sasha grinned longingly at the rabbit that she still held out in front of her. "We're going to have a delicious feast tonight once more of my traps get sprung. In the meantime, let's go gather some firewood. What do you say?"
"I guess I have nothing better to do", Jean grunted.
"You never know what you might see in the forest", Sasha said as she used her Maneuver Gear to scale a tree and place the rabbit safely in its branches. "You might even run into your beloved Mikasa."
"Shut up", Jean barked, glaring at her as she descended. "Besides, it's not very likely. She and Miranda were assigned to a spot on the other side of the forest."
"That's too bad." The two of them set out in search of tinder to use for a fire. "In a place like this, you might have finally been able to tell her how you feel."
"But instead, I'm hunting rabbits with Potato Girl. I'm all out of luck, I guess."
Langston and Reiner, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 2
"I'm out of luck over here. Can you see anything?" asked Langston Pyrite.
"Barely." Reiner Braun shook his head. "There are too many trees out here. It's almost impossible to see the sky if we just lie around."
"That's true." Langston sat up, running a hand over his shaved head. He and Reiner had already found their dinner for the night, and there was nothing for them to do but wait for morning.
"H-hey, Reiner", he piped up after an indistinguishable amount of time.
"You don't need to be so nervous", Reiner replied. "I'm your friend, Langston. We all are."
"Yeah, I guess." He looked down at the manchild who still lay flat on the forest floor. Langston and Reiner were both among the most athletically gifted of the male trainees, but the blonde hulk was far more socially dominant than the boy who was his partner during the exercise. "I was just going to ask... Do you know who the closest group to us is?"
"That's a good question." Reiner joined him in a sitting position. "If I remember correctly, it should be Vic and Franz, somewhere to the east."
"Yeah, I remember now." Langston laughed softly to himself. "Franz got all bent out of shape when he found out he'd be away from Hannah for an entire week. She and Eren got assigned somewhere far off to the south."
"Why did you need to ask that?"
"I just wanted to make sure that they wouldn't have the same idea that I've got."
Langston stood up and began equipping himself with his Maneuver Gear. Slightly confused, Reiner followed his lead.
"Okay. Now, let's see if this works."
Langston used the surrounding trees to propel himself into the air, Reiner still following close behind. Soon they reached the ceiling of the forest and broke free, feeling the caress of the cool air as they took their place atop the highest trees.
"This is exactly what I wanted to see all along", Langston remarked, grinning as he stared up at the boundless night sky.
"You didn't have a view like this back in the interior, did you?"
"Not at all." Langston couldn't take his eyes off the starlit expanse above him. "But now that I'm here, I just have to try something."
Langston took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Hey, it's me, Langston! Hey, everyone!"
Ymir and Ava, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 2
"Hey, Ava", Ymir nonchalantly called out, "Did you happen to hear what area Christa was assigned to? She's the only person I want to see right now."
"There's no point in trying, Ymir." Ava Miller shrugged and stretched her arms out behind her head. "You're never going to find her in this forest. But I'm sure she's in good hands with Marco. He wouldn't try anything."
"This is so horribly dull", whined Ymir. She hadn't been separated from Christa for this long since before their training days had started. Ava was by all accounts a bombshell, and Ymir would be lying if she said that she hadn't checked out the other girl's body on occasion, but she had nothing on Christa Lenz.
"Why are so into Christa?" Ava asked casually.
"Why are you so interested?" Ymir shot back.
"I'm not, to be totally honest." Honest was usually an apt word to describe Ava. "I'm just trying to make conversation, but it's fine if you don't want to."
"Good. I don't want to. Maybe you'd prefer to talk about your crush on that suicidal bastard."
Ava turned away as she blushed. This was one of the few subjects on which she had trouble sharing her true feelings.
"No, that's not right..."
Nap and Armin, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 3
"Is that right?" Armin Arlert asked, chuckling a bit to himself.
"Every last bit of it", Napoleon Pixis answered. "But I guess that's Annie for you. She hasn't changed at all."
Their third day in the woods had been just as mundane as the first two. Nap and Armin were both extremely clever and resourceful, and they had had no trouble adapting to the isolation that they had been thrust into.
"I wonder what Annie thinks about you and Mina."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You two love each other, don't you?"
Nap laced his fingers behind his head as he leaned back against the tree trunk.
"I suppose we do. Of course, it's not very likely that we'll ever admit that to each other."
"Yeah, I know someone else like that. I swear, you two are more similar than you realize."
The two of them laughed awkwardly amid the pseudo silence of the night.
Miranda and Mikasa, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 4
"I swear this is where the flare came from", Miranda Sieyes protested.
"Maybe you were hallucinating again. Or maybe you're just that stupid." Mikasa Ackerman had quickly grown tired of the taller girl's antics.
"Aw, you're gonna make me blush."
They had reached the clearing where Miranda claimed to have seen the red flare go off. They were still able to see the faintest hint of smoke in the air, but there was no sign of any other trainees as they scanned the area.
"I guess whoever fired it was in a real hurry to get away from something", Miranda speculated.
"If they're no longer here, then there's nothing we can do", replied the black-haired girl.
"You don't have to be so heartless, Mikasa. It's okay to-"
"Mikasa! Miranda!"
Both girls looked up as Connie Springer descended from the treetops, followed closely by Abigail Frauke, one of the few trainees who was actually shorter than him.
"Why did you guys set off your flare?" Connie asked as he approached them.
"We didn't." Mikasa continued to search the clearing with her eyes. "Invisible Girl claims she saw one go off over here. I guess she wasn't lying, seeing as how you two saw it as well."
"I told you so", boasted Miranda.
"What does that mean, then?" Abby questioned. "Did the person who set it off just vanish?"
"There's our answer", stated Mikasa, pointing to a cloud of red steam that had just appeared over the ceiling of the forest.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" asked Connie. "It's our duty to help them out."
"Hang on", said Abby cautiously. "There's another one over there."
"Two red flares?" Connie looked back and forth between them.
"Either that or Sasha ate more than her fair share of beans", Miranda unnecessarily joked.
"We should split up and check out both of them", suggested Mikasa. "But be careful."
"Right. Let's go, Connie." Abby motioned for him to follow her, and they took off toward the flare that Mikasa had spotted first.
"Don't you think this is a little suspicious?" Miranda asked as soon as the two of them were alone again.
"Of course, but is there anything else we can do?" Mikasa didn't wait for an answer, swinging through the trees toward the second red flare.
Mikasa and Miranda quickly reached the location where the flare had been set off, only to find it once again completely devoid of human life.
"What the hell…"
Annie and Mina, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 4
"What the hell? Annie, look!" called Mina Carolina from the edge of the clearing. She nearly dropped her firewood as she stumbled backwards into the other girl, trying to get a better look at the flare that was rising into the sky.
"A red flare…" murmured Annie Leonhardt.
"We should follow it, right? That means someone's in trouble."
"Yeah, I suppose so."
Annie reluctantly took off after Mina and raced through the trees toward the location of the red flare. The trees provided optimal targets for their Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, and the two friends swung through them in silence until, about three quarters of the way there, they were joined by another pair.
"Mina, do you know who fired that flare?" called Jean as he and Sasha maneuvered their way through the thick branches toward the same destination.
"No idea", she answered. "I didn't think there were any groups in that area."
"That's what I was telling him earlier", Sasha said just before the quartet of trainees broke through the trees and into a small clearing that still contained traces of red smoke in its air.
"There's nobody home?" Jean growled. "What the hell is going on here?"
Nap and Armin, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 5
"What do you think is going on here?" Nap asked, breaking the silence that existed primarily in their minds. "Why did Shadis send us out here for a whole week?"
"He said it was to test our survival instincts", came the textbook answer. "Who knows? Maybe he just wanted to get a break from all of us."
"I'm not sure which of those answers I like less." Nap bit the inside of his cheek. "It seems odd, but I don't think you and I have been tested at all since we got here."
"I know what you mean." Armin stared at the dying embers that had once been their campfire. "Everything's gone a little too right for us. I can't help but feel uneasy, especially after the last mission involved our group getting robbed and Christa almost getting kidnapped."
"You're right. It seems like something should have happened by now." He sighed heavily and used his tongue to probe the spot where he had been biting his cheek. "Maybe Shadis will have an answer for us once we get out of the woods."
Miranda and Mikasa, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 5
"I still can't think of an answer for it." Miranda curled up on the forest floor, completely spent from the five days that she and the others had spent in the woods. "There must have been somebody setting off those flares, but we never found anyone. It's almost like we saw a ghost or something. Maybe this forest is haunted by some sort of vengeful spirit." She giggled and cast a glance toward Mikasa, who lay a small bit to Miranda's left with her head turned away from the talkative girl. "Though, if it really was a ghost, how did it get ahold of one of our flare guns? What do you think, Mikasa?"
After going a few seconds without an answer, Miranda sat up and peered over the other girl's shoulder. She was sound asleep, and probably had been for some time.
"Wow, talk about rude." Miranda shook her head in trademark fashion and returned to her previous position. "It's too bad, really. If only she wasn't an Ackerman, then I wouldn't have to bother, but this just annoys me even more."
Annie and Mina, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 6
"It just annoys me how obtuse they all are", Mina complained to Annie. The secretive girl had begun the sixth day of the exercise by doing some exercise of her own. She had been punching and kicking the trunks of trees since the crack of dawn, listening to the satisfying sounds as she landed successful blows with her hands and feet.
"I mean, I'm sure he feels the same way about me", continued Mina as she half-watched and Annie half-listened. "It's just too bad that neither of us is brave enough to say it."
"Then why don't you do something about it?" Annie landed a hard kick that rattled one of the trees, and paused to catch her breath. As antisocial as she tried to seem, she had come to appreciate Mina's friendship for what it was.
"You can't just tell a boy you like him." Mina giggled. "Come on, Annie, don't you have someone special like that?"
"Is it so bad that I don't?"
"It's no big deal. You're just missing out on the best feeling in the world." Mina gave Annie a friendly hug that was initially resisted but finally accepted. "Come on, isn't there a boy out there that you could see yourself with? Maybe Thomas? Or Marco? Or even Eren?"
Ymir and Ava, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 6
"Eren…"
Ymir opened her eyes, but otherwise stayed motionless. She had been hoping to sleep longer, but to her disappointment she had ultimately failed. The end of the survival exercise would come on the afternoon of their seventh day, and the sight of Christa after such a long time could not come soon enough for Ymir.
"Eren…"
Her attention was pulled away from that thought by the only noise that polluted the night. The small bit of moonlight that penetrated the trees allowed her to make out the shape of Ava slumped against a tree a couple of meters away, head rolling slightly onto her left shoulder. It didn't take long for Ymir to realize exactly what was going on.
Disgusted, she once again closed her eyes and tried her hardest to doze off while accompanied by the orchestra of moans emanating from the half-asleep girl.
"Eren… Eren…"
Nap and Armin, Year 848: Survival Mission Day 7
"Eren and you are both from Shinganshina, right?" asked Nap.
"Yeah, that's right", Armin replied, sitting up and brushing himself off. The exercise would end any minute, and the boys were on the lookout for a green flare. "Mikasa, too. Why do you ask?"
"If you don't mind, could you tell me what it was like on that day?"
If nothing else, Nap's question was blunt. He didn't even need to specify which day he was referring to. Armin, and everyone else for that matter, knew exactly what "that day" meant.
"I didn't experience it the same way that Eren and Mikasa did", Armin began. His head still faced the sky, but his eyes were somewhere else entirely. "I barely even saw the Titans, save for the Colossal and Armored ones that knocked down the gates."
"So, that's why Shadis ignored them on the first day, yet still felt the need to get all up in your face." Nap had been wondering about that for some time.
"Yeah, I guess that must have been it." A slight breeze drifted through the clearing, ruffling the hair on both of the boys' heads. "You know what Eren saw that day, don't you?"
"Doesn't everyone?" Nap's jaw tightened. He and Armin had been careful to conserve their fuel during their week in the forest, so that they wouldn't have to return to the starting point on foot.
"It's still hard for me to imagine", Armin admitted.
"I have one more question for you." Nap finally turned his full attention to the boy from Shinganshina. "Why did you choose to enlist, Armin?"
Armin froze up, just as a signal flare rose into the sky toward the east. He looked at Nap, who smiled and nodded his head.
"Just forget about it. Let's head back. We've completed the survival exercise."
104th Trainee Corps, Year 848: End of Survival Mission
"You have all completed the survival exercise. However, there is an issue that still needs to be addressed." Keith Shadis stomped around in front of the assembled trainees. They had only just returned to the training grounds, and already they were to be lectured. "My spotters noticed several red flares go up on the fourth day. That means that some of you worthless maggots broke one of the only rules that I specifically stated at the outset."
In truth, none of the trainees had ever found out who among them had fired the flares. Everyone who had searched the forest had run into dead ends.
"If, later on, it is found that one of you is responsible for this violation, you will be sent packing immediately. But if you choose to come forward now, in front of everyone, your punishment will be far less severe. The choice is yours, peons."
Shadis was slightly curious as to what the trainees would choose to do. He knew that none of them had fired their flares. It had been his group of instructors that had hidden themselves in the forest and set them off one by one. If the trainees simply waited without saying anything, they would all get off without any punishment. But if Keith Shadis had been a betting man, he would have wagered everything he owned against that outcome.
The trainees were silent for several moments, each one of them casting suspicious glances at the others around them. As soon as Shadis was just about ready to announce the true intention of the mission, he heard a loud gulp from the front of the formation.
"I fired my flare", said Armin, stepping forward.
The moment of silence that followed was much shorter than the previous one.
"So did I, sir", added Sasha.
"I fired three of them", Miranda followed.
One by one, the other trainees came forward and admitted their guilt. It took most of the instructor's self-control for him to keep from smiling.
"Very well. Since you have all admitted to breaking the rules, you will all face the same punishment. Here and now, you will give me one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and ten kilometers of running. Get moving!"