(Year 839, Wall Rose Territory)
"Listen up shit stains!" The Commandant yelled at the top of his lungs at the children that were all assembled wearing their standard cadet jackets. "My name is Alexander Freed! I will be adressed as Sir or Commandant for the next three years that I waste training you all!" He yelled, the heavy sun not doing anyone any favours when it came to sweating.
"For the next three soul shattering years you will be stuck with me! If you can't handle what the 96th Cadet Corps has to offer, then you might as well fuck off right now!" He screamed down at them. "This is going to be your worst nightmare multiplied by ten! That is if you're not stupid enough to understand that! You will learn to hate me, and I will learn to despise you, I will have you run until you collapse if you disrespect me in any way, shape or form!" The cadets all glanced at one another at that, they didn't want to run until they collapsed.
"But most importantly, this is where you learn to fight! When you leave here you should be able to take on a Titan by yourself! But that's only if you don't freeze up like a coward! Many soldiers have died because of their own fear! It is my job to make you more afraid of me than the Titans, because if I hear if you died because of that, I will bring you back to life and unleash hell upon you!" He yelled at them, finally finishing his inspiration speech. "Now form ranks!" He ordered.
"You there! Girlie!" He yelled, stopping in front of a girl with short blonde hair. "Who the hell do you think you are? Staining my vision with your presence, what's your name?" He yelled in her face, getting her to gulp in nervousness before replying.
"Sir!" She saluted him. "My name is Nanaba-" She started before she was cut off by him.
"I don't give a shit who you are!" He yelled at her. "You look like a boy with that short hair!" He stated. "Did you do that to stop being discriminated against for being a woman in the military? Well tough shit! Nobody's going to fall for that, it's gonna be even worse from now on! Now why the hell are you here?"
"I'm here to offer my heart to humanity's cause Sir!" She yelled back, not breaking her salute for a second.
The Commandant stared at her for a second before replying. "Then I'm sure the Titans will love to find out what you taste like! I bet you taste like shit!" He yelled just before he moved on to the next poor soul.
"Hey pompadour!" He yelled at a boy in the next row after finishing off the first row. "What kind of shitty haicut is that? Why the fuck are you here?" He yelled in his face.
"Sir!" He saluted him just like the others had done. "My name is Gelgar-"
"I didn't ask for your name fuck stick!" The Commandant yelled down at him. "I asked why the fuck you decided to grace me with your presence!"
"I joined so that I could help humanity in it's fight against the Titans!" Gelgar yelled out, getting the attention of some of the recruits for his bold statement.
"Oh, is that so?" The Commandant asked him. "Well I hope you enjoy getting chewed on by one thats only twice your size." He whispered in his ear. "I hear that's how the Scouts survive longest, by getting eaten by the smallest Titans." He said, walking away to terrorise one of the other recruits.
Off to the side, two men and a women were conversing, the woman had been in the Scouts for just over two years while the two men had been in significantly longer than her.
"Anyone here catch your eye?" The tallest one asked to the two others.
"Not particularly." The woman answered. "Then again, I spent the last two years hating the Titans, but now I'm going to convince Commander Shadis to let me capture one for experiments!"
"How are you going to do that? You going to seduce him?" The tall one asked with a smirk on his face, getting the woman to blush at his suggestion. "If he won't accept Erwin's long range scouting formation then why would he risk his soldiers lives to capture a single Titan?"
"Because science is important Mike." The woman replied. "Imagine the data we could gather with one prime specimin, I could give him a name, and become friends with him. I wonder if they can talk, hey Erwin- Erwin?" She asked, seeing that he was staring at one of the recruits in particular.
The boy in question was probably twelve years old, about four foot seven inches tall, short black hair. His eyes were noticeably black as well, which was strange since she had never met someone with black eyes before. But the thing was that he was shaking, was he that scared?
"He looks like he's about to shit himself." Mike commented. "Wait till the Commandant gets a look at him. Probably send him running for the hills after one look."
"He actually looks kinda adorable." The woman commented.
"Seriously Hange?" Mike asked. "Don't tell me you've set your eyes on a kid."
"Don't be ridiculous." Hange scoffed. "I was merely stating that I find it cute that he's so afraid of the rite of passage. But I will admit I'm curious as to how he handles the Commandant, he was a notorious MP before he retired to the training corps."
"Looks like you'll get to see." The other blonde man commented. "The Commandant is storming towards him right now."
"Hey short stack!" He yelled into his face. "I can't tell if that's your actual hair colour or if you never fucking wash it! Why the fuck did you bring your filthy ass to my training camp?" He screamed, spit flying into the face of the terrified boy.
"This ought to be good." Mike smirked at the prospect of the boy being terrified out of his mind.
The boy pounded his fist over his heart, determined to show the Commandant that he wasn't afraid. "I've come to join the Survey Corps!" He yelled back at the Commandant, who glared back at the boy, breaking his resolve slightly.
"Is that so?" The Instructor asked. "Then I assume that you have no problem being eaten by a Titan then? Or maybe they'll ignore you since your so fucking filthy."
"I joined up knowing that I might have to make the ultimate sacrifice Sir." The boy responded. "And while I may not want to die, I am prepared to do so to ensure that humanity continues to survive!"
In all his years of being an Instructor, Freed had never came across someone who had willingly tried to argue with him at the rite of passage. So he did the one thing that he felt he should do, and that was yell at the boy.
"I think you're full of shit!" He yelled back at the boy. "All the Scouts do is get paid hard earned money that came from the people to fatten up the Titans! That's why they always come back with half their forces eaten, because the Titans love to chew on them for fun!"
"That's not true!" The boy cried out, surprising the Commandant and the three Scouts who were all watching with a keen interest now. "Every time the Scouts come back they prove that they can fight back against the Titans, and until we stop fighting, humanity will never be defeated!"
"You little shit! You dare disrespect me, infront of the whole class. I'll show you discipline boy." He said, raising his hand into the air, a fist formed ready to strike until a voice stopped him.
"Commandant Freed!" The voice boomed, getting the attention of him and everyone else there. "Were you just about to strike an unarmed child for not only providing an inspirational speech for fighting against the Titans, but also because you feel he disrespected you for doing so?"
"Erwin." The man growled out. "How I treat my recruits is none of your business. Don't you have an expedition to be eaten on or something like that? You'll do better at that than trying to persuade any recruits to join the Scouts."
"I suggest you leave the boy alone before I report your behaviour to Premier Zackly." Erwin threatened. "I'm sure he'd love to hear about the abuse of soldiers to be from a former protector of the people."
"Fine." He conceded, but not before leaning into the boys ear and whispering somethinh into it. "I'm going to make your life a living hell here you filthy shit."
"Second row, about face!" He yelled out as he continued along the path of the other cadets, insulting them, degrading them, but leaving some of them out as some didn't need to redo the right of passage after already experiencing something traumatic in their past.
"Why'd you stop the Instructor Erwin?" Mike asked him. "Physical abuse, no matter how bad it may seem to children, is quite a common occurence in the cadets. Even Premier Zackly ignores the cases that are brought up to him about it."
"The boy, he intrigues me you could say." Erwin responded as they watched the rest of the rite of passage for the other cadets. "It's not often that you see a fresh cadet stand up to the views of the non believers such as Instructor Freed. Plus, the speech was quite good, he seems to be a natural born leader, especially if he could produce speeches like that constantly. This will definitely be an interesting batch of recruits."
Later that night after the Instructor had put them through some rigorous physical training such as push ups, sit ups and running around the training camp, they had all been allowed to retire for the night, with their third meal of the day, which was just soup and semi stale bread, they were allowed rations of beef on the second Friday of every month though, despite the price there was still plenty of farmland throughout Wall Maria to supply the trainees for the next few years.
The boy that was grilled by the Instructor for wanting to join the Scouts was sitting at a table by himself currently, the Instructor had a field day with him, his body was aching from the days training, couple that with the old clothes he had to wear because his family lived in the woods meant that it wasn't a pretty sight, his clothes were ragged and worn out, but he still looked proud of himself, there were many others who had dropped out after only the first day of training.
"Is this seat taken?" Someone asked, taking him away from his thoughts, he looked up to see the girl from before, Nanaba he believed her name was.
"You can sit there." He responded, hiding his nervousness at meeting new people, living in the forest meant wuite a sheltered childhood, although not to the extent that his sister had so far, after he had signed up for the cadets, his mother made it her mission to protect her only daughter from any harm in this world.
"Thanks." She smiled at him, setting her food down. "My name is Nanaba." She politely introduced herself, seeing that he made no move to further the conversation, she continued. "I liked how you stood up for what you believed in against the Instructor. It was brave to do that."
"It was nothing." He insisted. "I just thought that the Instructor was wrong, so I gave him my own opinion on the Scouts." He replied to her, realising he hadn't given her his name. "Sorry, where are my manners?" He jokingly asked himself. "My name is Lucas, it's nice to meet you Nanaba." He gave her a small smile.
"Hey guys." The boy with the pompadour haircut came up to the table. "Room for one more?" He asked.
"Sure." Nanaba replied. "Don't see any problem with that."
"Thanks." He sat down next to Lucas. "I'm Gelgar. Nice to meet you two." He greeted them.
"I'm Nanaba, nice to meet you too." She replied.
"I'm Lucas. Nice to meet you as well." Lucas replied to him.
"Saw you getting grilled by the Instructor." Gelgar nodded at Lucas. "He seemed to be going pretty hard on you today. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to piss him off." Gelgar suggested.
"You've been here for less than a minute and you're already talking about that." Nanaba deadpanned. "I think the speech he gave was good, it suits you." She said to Lucas.
"You sure about that?" Gelgar asked. "I think he may be more suited to the support kinda role. Given his lack of height... and muscles."
"What's your problem?" Nanaba asked. "Just because he isn't physical doesn't mean he can't be a good soldier. It takes more than brawn to be a soldier, I'm sure there are plenty of soldiers who can attest to that."
"I don't have a problem here." Gelgar insisted. "Look, sorry if I offended you in any way." He apologised. "I didn't mean anything by it, I just pointed out that you should try and improve on certain areas with your training."
"It's fine." Lucas replied. "I've always been a small kid with no strength. My dad always told me that there's something hidden within, that my true strength just needs something to come to life." He told them both. "He wouldn't say what he meant, only that I would know when it happened."
"Hmm." Gelgar sounded out. "Sounds rather cryptic, you sure he wasn't just talking about something else entirely?"
"No, he said that I had the potential to go further than any soldier that came before me." Lucas replied. "That's the main reason that my mom let me join the cadets, on the basis that I realise this supposed potential of mine. If not, I'm supposed to join the Garrison. But the Scouts is the only option I see myself going for, I've always wanted to see the world beyond the Walls."
"I'm sure your mom is just worried about you." Namaba said to him, taking a bite out of her bread. "My dad was totaly opposed to me joining up, we fought and I stormed out."
"Hey, your dad said you could become strong right?" Gelgar asked, getting a nod from Lucas in return. "Then he must be strong as well, how strong was he?"
"We live in the woods, me, my mom, dad and little sister. My dad often goes out hunting, I once saw him carrying a fully grown deer once. I tried to drag it but could only move it a few inches." He replied, getting Gelgar to scoff at him.
"No way. That's gotta be at least two hundred kilos. No way he could lift that." Gelgar didn't believe him, but Lucas didnt tell him that his father didn't seem to break a sweat in lifting the deer off the ground, it was like a feather to him.
"If that's how strong you could be then I hope we can stay friends." Nanaba laughed. "I'd hate to get on your bad side only for you to break me in half."
"Looks like he has a long way to go." Gelgar commented, albeit in a joking manner. "But if you believe you can do it, then go for it. I won't try and hold you back."
Thanks guys." Lucas said to them, grateful for their words. "I hope we can stay friends as well. It'd be great to fight alongside you guys one day."
"Easy there." Gelgar tried to calm down. "We've still got three more years left to go here. Don't think you've graduated just yet."
"Hey, you said you had a sister, right?" Nanaba asked him.
"Yeah, I did. What about her?" He responded.
"What's her name? And what's she like?" Nanaba asked, getting Lucas to smile, he loved his little sister and would do everything in his power to keep her safe, especially since they were the last of their kind within the walls.
"Her name is Mikasa." He told her. "She's four years old now, she's just adorable with how innocent she is. My mom seems to have made it her mission to protect her, especially after I told them I wanted to join the cadets." He was full on smiling bow at the thought of his little sister. "But... she's also the last of her race, an Oriental, my mom is as well. That's another reason I joined up, so that I could protect them, human trafficking is a huge market in the underground, if they found out where we lived... they wouldn't be safe."
"Sounds like you care about her a lot." Nanaba observed. "Kinda makes me jealous that I don't have a sibling to look out for me like that."
The bell went shortly after, signalling curfew for the trainees.
"See you guys tomorrow for the aptitude test." Nanaba said to them.
"You bet." Gelgar replied. "We're all gonna pass with flying colours, isn't that right Lucas."
"I hope so Gelgar, I hope so." He whispered to himself. "See you tomorrow Nanaba."
(840, 1 year after aptitude test)
It had been a whole year since the aptitude test, and while Nanaba and Gelgar had passed quite easily, it took Lucas several attempts to stay upright. The Instructor was ready to throw him out if it wasn't for Nanaba and Gelgar sticking up for him, earning them twenty laps, but Lucas another shot which he barely passed at.
Now he was currently training with the ODM gear in the training forest, they were scheduled to move onto training with blades the next week, but those struggling had to pass the test on Saturday to see if they were fit enough to wield blades without killing one of their comrades on accident.
Now while he had been training for the better part of a year with the ODM gear, Lucas Ackerman as Nanaba and Gelgar had learned his full nane was, still strugged with the gear, he could just about move in a straight line but struggled to keep his balance while turning or adjusting his bosy in any way. So Gelgar and Nanaba had taken to helping him improve with the movement so he wasn't kicked out before he could join the Scouts.
"You have to keep yourself balanced at your core Lucas." Gelgar said to him. "If you don't keep yourself balanced then you're more likely to crash. Its only a matter of time before you get the hang of it. Right Nanaba."
"Guys, I really appreciate what you're doing for me, really, I do... but this isn't working out like I hoped it would." He sounded dejected now. "Maybe I should accept that I wasn't meant to be a soldier, the only thing I'm any good at is the classwork, and that means nothing in Titan territory." He sighed to himself. "Maybe I should just give up while I still can."
"You can't give up!" Nanaba practically yelled at him, grabbing his hand with her cheeks turning red, she may have developed a small crush on him over the past year, it also helped that she was taller than him, which she found adorable, especially when he pouted.
"You're the most driven person I've ever met." She told him. "You always helped me with the classwork, even if I seemed like a burden you always helped me, so that's why I'm always going to help you, even if it looks bad for you now. I'm sure we'll find the light somehow, you always seem to after all."
"Thanks Nanaba." He said, his cheeks also turning red as she was still holding his hand, to which Gelgar smirked at, it was obvious that she liked him, he was either too dense, or too stupid to see it. "But I'm out of gas now, looks like I'll have to walk back anyway. You guys can go on without me." He insisted.
"I'll go on ahead." Gelgar offered. "I'll tell the instructor that both of you ran out of gas. It'll give you some time alone in the forest." He winked at Lucas as he took off towards the camp, with Nanaba glaring daggers at him.
"What's that all about?" Lucas asked Nanaba, but instead of a reply, all he got was a chuckle out of her.
After a few minutes of walking through the forest they both heard rustling in the bushes to their right and out stumbled one fof their fellow cadets covered in blood with claw marks on his face and a chunk of flesh missing from his shoulder.
Before either of them could step forward and help him a brown bear followed him out of the bushes, it's face covered in what looked like the cadet's blood, Lucas also noticed it's claws also had blood on them, indicating it was that bear that had attacked him.
"Shit! What do we do?" Nanaba asked, panick setting in now, she didn't want to leave the boy to die, but she didn't particularly want to get mauled by a bear.
The bear then pounced on the poor cadet who was trying to stumble away from it, and bit into his neck as the boy squirmed underneath, crying out in pain as he slowly bled out underneath the bear as it drank up his blood and ate his flesh, much like a Titan would.
"I didn't know bears ate people!" Nanaba whispered at Lucas, he was a good hunter and had a decent knowledge of hunting as a result of his rural upbringing.
"Bears don't usually kill people." He whispered back. "The majority of bears only kill humans in self defence. They aren't usually agressive unless you enter it's den or it has cubs, but even then they usually don't kill even if provoked, they'll usually just bluff a charge at a person."
"It's looking at us." Nanaba cut him off. "And it looks like it doesn't care about what you have to say about what usually happens in the wild. It's about to charge at us."
"You need to run Nanaba." He told her quickly. "I'll distract it while you get the Instructor, he may be cruel but he won't willingly let his recruits die."
"What?" She asked, shocked that he would suggest that. "I'm not leaving you here defenceless against that killing machine! You'll die!"
"I won't die Nanaba, now please go. If olnot for you, do it for me." He pleaded. "Please. I don't want you to get hurt." He whispered to her.
"I'll be right back." She eventually said to him. "You better be fine when I get back!" She yelled as she used her gear to hurry back to the camp, determined to be as fast as possible to give him the best chance at survival. He wouldn't die, he was too driven to let a bear be the end of him, at least that's what she hoped for.
It took twelve minutes for Instructor Freed to gather the other Instructors and assemble a rescue party for Lucas and the other boy. Nanaba was panicking at the moment and so was Gelgar, they both hoped that he was still alive and not dead, but given the size of the bear and the lust for human blood it seemed to have, it wasn't likely that he had survived this long, especially since he was one of the weakest physically amonge the cadets, he was barely over five foot tall and couldn't beat anyone in a sparring match.
"Please be alright Lucas." She pleaded to herself. "I couldn't live with myself if you died because I left you there." She whispered to herself.
When they arrived where Nanaba had reported the attack, she was utterly shocked to see that the bear was lying dead while Lucas was sitting next to it, breathing heavily with three claw marks going from left to right across his chest, it had ripped through his shirt and was bleeding a fair bit.
"Nanaba." Instructor Freed spoke up. "Escort Cadet Ackerman to the infirmary now. See that the nurse tends to his wounds, after that I want a full report of what happened from the both of you, is that clear?"
"Yes Sir." She responded, helping Lucas onto his feet and helping him walk back to the camp. When they were nearly there she stopped him to ask him what happened.
"What happened?" She asked. "It lookee like you killed the bear, but you didn't have any weapons on you."
"I felt it." He replied. "After you left it got me with it's claws all I could think about was how it was going to kill me and I'd never see my family, Gelgar or you again. It pinned me down, but then when it tried to bite me, I grabbed it's leg and twisted it. The leg bone snapped like it was a twig."
"How is that even possible?" Nanaba asked him. "You do realise how much strength would be needed to do something like that."
"I don't think it was all about the srength Nanaba. I think... I knew what had to be done, that I had to kill it." He told her. "It was either me or the bear, and I felt it, like a surge of energy coursing through me."
"What do you mean?" She softly asked. "I don't think I understand."
"Nanaba, I think I'll pass the ODM test on Saturday. And before you ask, I know what I have to do now." She was about to protest but he grabbed her hand like she had done earlier that day. "Don't worry Nanaba. I'll pass, then I won't have to leave. Not before I join the Scouts."
She smiled at him right at that moment, because she believed him, she believed what he told her, about the bear, about the power. But most importantly, she believed in him.
(February 842, Trost District)
The week after the final winter training exercise was a week off for the cadets, and Lucas had decided to go home and visit his family for a few days since he hadn't seen them since he left, and despite his attitude problem that his mother had been concerned about, mainly because he had become extremely blunt and his mouth seemed to have no filter at all. Which lead to some heavy scolding for his swearing while Mikasa was in the room, she had smacked him on the head after he revealed his scar to them and casually told them about the ordeal, apparently Mikasa was to be sheltered as much as possible. His only saving grace seemed to be his father, who said that he was the same when he was younger. Despite all that, it was a happy reunion for them all, despite his reluctance to show it, he did love them all very much, especially Mikasa.
He was now in Trost wearing his uniform since it was basically the only clothes he had that fit him now, plus the winter jacket they were allowed to keep during the winter. He was only supposed to be passing through Trost on his way back to the training camp since the week was nearly over, but he couldn't help but stay for a few more hours, it had been snowing in Trost, so the roofs and streets were covered in a thin blanket of snow.
There was also something that caught his eye, there was a girl about the same age as him who was giving a child an apple. He could only see her from behind but she was wearing a winter coat as well, more expensive than his, he could tell that instantly. Her hood was down so he could see the straight black hair that reached her shoulders along with the thick pants she was wearing to keep her legs warm presumably.
There was something about the interaction that irked him though, and that was that she had just given food to what may have looked like a homeless child, but he was wearing a brand new pair of shoes, so she had been conned by a kid, all because she had tried to be nice. So being the unfiltered and blunt guy he was, he went over to say something as she waved to the boy who was running away from her now.
"If you feed a stray cat, It will keep coming back, expecting to be fed again." He said as the girl yelped, surprised by his sudden appearance.
"You scared me." She said, holding her hand over her heart. "I think you might've almost scared me to death." She joked, but not getting a laugh from him. "And I wasn't feeding a cat, I was feeding a poor boy who lives in the orphanage."
"You're very naive." He observed. "Don't tell me you actually believed that shitty brat lives in an orphanage."
"You don't think he lives in the orphanage?" She retorted. "What would give you that impression, and for the record, I am not naive."
"Sure you're not." He started walking in the direction the boy ran off in. "Follow me and you might learn a thing or two."
"You're a trainee." She stated, having noted the symbol on the back of his winter coat as he had started to walk off.
"What gave it away? Was it the boots I wear? Or maybe it's the way I carry myself. Or was it because of the bluntness of my previous statement?" He sarcastically asked, trying to irk her in the process.
"I know someone who acts a lot like you." She replied. "And I despise that man, always thinks he can do what he wants all the time with zero consequences."
"Surely you don't despise me!" He feigned hurt. "I don't even know your name and I'm already hated by you. Oh what did I do to deserve this?" He spoke sarcastically again, definitely trying to annoy her now.
"I don't despise you, but I'm seriously considering it. You're already acting like an insufferable child, and I've only known you for like three minutes!" She ranted.
"Tch, learn to take a fucking joke." He deadpanned. "Seriously though, it's far too easy to annoy you, and it your hair looks awful today." He told her, getting her to gasp in horror.
"What's wrong with my hair?" She demanded, grabbing onto it and looking for any part that wasn't brushed properly. "I was sure I brushed it today, where... you're doing it again, aren't you?"
"Told you. If you insult a girls hair they're bound to get annoyed to some extent. I learned that the hard way." He said to her. "On a serious note though, lose the naive attitude, it's something that people will take advantage of, especially if they can see it on you."
"I can't tell if you really meant that insult, or you were trying to give me advice." She spoke carefully. "But I still don't understand where we're even going."
"That kid that scammed you out of an apple, his shoes were brand new. It's easy to tell when your family basically lives in poverty and can barely afford any clothes." He explained to her. "That and the fact he was laughing at you, not smiling at you."
"Is that why you joined the cadets?" She asked. "What I mean is, did you join to get into the Military Police to get your family out of poverty?" She clarified for him.
"Tch, I didn't sign up to join those self absorbed assholes." He spat out. "I joined because I was an idiot, I was naive and thought that I could make a difference." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I declared to everyone on my first day that I would join the Scouts, got into an argument with the Instructor about it. I was one of the worst in the class for about a year, then I watched another cadet get mauled by a bear right infront of me."
"Thats awful." She interjected. "They didn't die, did they?" She asked carefully, not wanting to overstep her boundaries, especially if it was a sore subject for him.
"I realised that when the bear pinned me that I couldn't be that naive kid anymore, that I had to get a grip of I would end up dead, either by that bear or by a Titan if it came down to it. So I killed the bear and now I'm the best in the class according to my friends."
"You went from being the worst in the class to the best?" She asked, almost in disbelief. "Are you sure your friends aren't inflating your ego?"
"It got to the point where the Instructor had the boys cabin searched for any drugs that enhance performance." He replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't care for any honourifics given to me, I just want to graduate and join the Scouts. Maybe I'll die on my first expedition, maybe I'll kill every Titan in existence. Who knows?"
They turned a corner to see that they boy from before still had the apple in his hands, but he was with two others this time, and they were all making fun of a boy that was about the age of Mikasa who was a bit chubby looking.
"Come on Jean-boy." The biggest one taunted. "You're fat, don't you want this apple that I scammed that girl for. It was so easy, like taking candy from a- whoa!" He yelled as he was lifted into the air by Lucas by the collar of his jacket.
"You two." He pointed at the other two bullies. "Beat it before I break your bones. It can be very painful when it's easier than snapping a twig." He growled out, scaring them off rather easily.
The boy that was being bullied tried to leave as well but before he could Lucas stopped him. "Stay." He commanded. "You might learn a thing or two."
"Don't you think you should put him down now. You're going to choke him if you keep doing that." She protested.
"Now." He said as he took the apple out of the boys grasp. "Is there a reason that you thought it would be wise to steal an apple from my girlfriend?"
"What!" She shrieked.
"I didn't know she was your girlfriend!" He cried out. "I'm sorry Sir, it won't happen again."
"You boy." He pointed at the other kid. "What's your name?"
"It's J-jean Sir!" He stuttered out, making Lucas click his tongue in annoyance.
"Don't call me Sir again, understand?" He asked to which the boy furiously nodded. "Now Jean, does it hurt when they call you names, when they insult you?"
"Yes, it does." He answered slowly.
"I really think you should put him down, you're going to suffocate him!" She protested once again.
"Ignore her, she's too naive for her own good." He told the boy. "Now Jean, there's only two types of people in this world, the one that only cares for themselves, which sane people should be. Or people like her." He nodded at the girl. "The ones who don't see the bigger picture, and care too much about other people and what they say around them. I used to be one of them, but I realised that I'd never become as strong as I wanted if I remained like that, so I adapted, and you should too. That's the only way you'll survive when everything goes to shit. Only by caring about yourself will you ever survive longer than anyone else, but then again, I made the decision to join the military, so I'm just talking out of my ass at this point."
He then looked to the kid who he was still holding who was turning blue in the face at this point so he dropped him and then threatened him. "Beat it you shitty brat before I shove my foot so far up your ass that you'd be able to spit shine my boot!" He hissed at him, with the kid running off with tears in his eyes and coughing loudly due to the lack of oxygen intake.
Taking the apple he kneeled down face to face with Jean and placed the apple in his hand but didn't let go. "Jean, don't let the insults of others get to you, it doesn't matter what they think about you. It only matters what you think about yourself. Don't be afraid to be who you are, don't hold back your words because your afriad you'll hurt someone's feelings, because they won't hold back either. You understand that." Jean nodded while Lucas looked over to the unnamed girl who was smiling at him now. "Now beat it brat! Before I shove my boot up your ass!"
Jean quickly took off in another direction while he stood up, dusting the snow off his knee where he had kneeled on.
"I see." She spoke up. "You can actually be nice when you want to be, you're just agraid of showing it because you think it's a weakness." She stated, knowing that she was probably right about that.
"I could cut out your tongue without breaking a sweat." He threatened her, knowing that she was exactly right about that.
"Frieda." She said. "My name is Frieda." She held her hand out to him. "What's yours?" She asked him.
"Lucas." He shook her hand. "I would say it was nice to meet you, but I'm regretting walking up to you now." He said, trying to pull his hand away only to have her hold onto it, he would usually force his arm out of someone's grip, but he was sure he would pull her arm out of the socket, and he didn't want to deal with that, definitely the only reason he hadn't forcibly removed his arm from her grasp.
"Despite the way you said it, and went about doing it, that was really sweet what you did for that boy." She said getting closer to him.
"Tch, I didn't do it out of the kindness of my heart." He played it off. "It was someting he needed to hear, otherwise he'd spend the rest of his childhood being bullied."
Frieda smiled at him, it had been a long time since she had met a boy so sweet but yet so cold, in fact she wasn't even sure it was a good combination at all, but she couldn't explain it, it was like he interested her in some way.
"That's you being sweet." She said, eliciting an eye roll from him, but she leaned forward even more, they were both the same height at five foot five, so it was easy for her to plant a kiss on his cheek. "After all, it would be wrong for me not to reward my sweet boyfriend with a kiss." She teased him, leaning away from him.
"I am now very tempted to kill you and dispose of the body." He threatened her once again, but the red hue his cheeks had turned told her otherwise. "You don't seem very heavy so it would be fairly easy to carry your body to the nearest alley."
"Thanks for the compliment." She thanked him, taking his threat as a compliment on her body. "I hope we see each other again." She said as she walked away.
"I fucking hope not." He grumbled out. "Do I?" He thought to himself.
(842, 96th Cadet Corps Graduation)
"Do you have heart?!" The Instructor yelled out to the 116 graduating cadets of the 96th Cadet Corps.
"Sir!" They all responded, saluting him as they did so.
"From this moment onwards you have three options open to you! Choose wisely!" He yelled out. "The Garrison regiment, who's job is to reinforce all three walls! The Scouting Regiment, who ride out into Titan country in order to give humanity a stronghold in Titan territory! And the MP Regiment, maintaining law and order under orders from his Royal Majesty!"
"Those cadets eligible for the Military Police have already been named! The rest of you take a look! These are the top of your class!" He yelled, looking at the ten cadets who stood at the front of the others, with Lucas in first, Nanaba in seventh and Gelgar in ninth. "The rest of you have two other options, the Garrison and the Scouts. Usually the recruitment ceremony would be tomorrow, but due to unforseen circumstances, it will be held right now! First up is Commander Keith Shadis of the Scouting Regiment. Attention!"
"Good evening." He greeted them all. "My name os Keith Shadis as you probably already guessed, and I am the Commander of the Scouting Regiment, also knows as the Survey Corps, or simply the Scouts."
"Fucking get on with it already Keith." Lucas pleaded in his head.
"Im not going to sugarcoat this, the Scouts are the smallest of the three Regiments and for good reason, we ride out into Titan territory to give humanity a foothold into lamd that was lost to them a ninety nine years ago. We currently have more horses than soldiers at the moment. But despite the circumstances, I believe that if any of you were to join the Scouts you would succeed given the right amount of training. Some of you will die in the process, that is a fact, but can we gain anything without sacrificing anything?" He asked the cadets. "The point is that any sacrifice made is never in vain, we always make progress, whether it is clearing a battalion route or killing Titans in the way, the Scouts have always made progress and we will continue to do so. The Scouts are the spearhead for humanity in their fight against the Titans. I believe in my abilities to lead us against this threat to out survival, but most importantly, I believe in the men and women who serve under my command, I believe in their ability to kill a Titan, and I believe we can win if we keep on fighting. That is all, anyone who wishes to join another Regiment may leave now." He finished off with.
By the end of the exodus, there were only seven people left there, Lucas, Gelgar, Nanaba and four other brave souls who decided to stay and give their lives for humanity.
"I see." Shadis spoke grimly. "I applaud your courage and bravery to join the Scouts. You all have my respect." He then slammed his fist onto his heart. "This is a formal salute Cadets! I welcome you to the Scouting Regiment! I expect you to all gove your heart and soul to the cause!"
"I expected less people to be honest." Lucas thought as he looked over to the others still there with him. "But then again, they're only looking out for themselves, can't fault someone for that."
A/N- This is a story I have wanted to do for a while and I have the whole story basically planned out in my head somewhat. It will contain major spoilers for the manga a few chapters on and will heavily deviate from cannon material. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and I hope I have No Regrets about the next chapter ;)