Just Live
Chapter 1:
Commander Erwin and squad leaders Levi, Hange and Mike stood in front of the Survey Corps headquarters, watching the lone figure riding a tan horse with a white mane towards them in the distance. Dust swirled through the afternoon sunlight and clouded out behind the thundering hooves. As the rider closed the last few miles between them, Hange remained surprisingly quiet. Although she was excited for the arrival of the newcomer into the Survey Corps, she was one of the few who knew the truth about Adira Northcote and felt sympathetic to the woman. Bringing her horse to a trot and stopping her, Adira dismounted and handed the reins to an awaiting stable hand who led her horse to the stables. Striding over to the group of four, who were her superiors, Adira saluted over her military uniform and waited to be addressed. "At ease, soldier." Commander Erwin waved his hand in a gesture for her to follow him. She did so, walking with him and the squad leaders through the headquarters to his office. Once inside, he sat in his chair in front of his desk, pulling out some paperwork as the others took their places in the room. Mike walked right up behind her and sniffed her hair before taking up position beside the door, Hange perched herself on the open windowsill looking out onto the training field and Levi leaned against a bookshelf, a bored expression gracing his features. "So, you wish to join the Survey Corps along with the fresh recruits we'll be getting in two days' time?" he questioned. "Yes, sir." She said. "And you haven't had any training since you were forced to drop out of the 89th Trainees Squad five years ago?" he continued, staring at her as though he could see right through to her soul. "No sir." She replied once again. "Well, I can't really say no; we need as many soldiers as we can get. However, I am placing you under Levi's care so that he can make sure you get back into shape to be fit and ready to fight for humanity." He stood and came around the desk to stand in front of her, his hand held out. She took it in a firm handshake and saluted once more. "Hai, Commander Erwin, I will deliver to the fullest of my ability." She avowed. "Very good, Hange will show you to your room." Hange jumped down off the windowsill and lead her away and through the hallways to the dormitories, chatting friendlily the entire time. Although Adira truly liked this vivacious squad leader and was imminently grateful to the woman for making her feel welcome, she was a little bit glad when she announced that they had arrived. "You're very lucky you don't have to share!" Hange sighed wistfully even though, as a squad leader, she didn't have to share either. "There's a little bathroom through that door there with a toilet and a sink but the girls' bathroom are just down that hallway to the left. Dinner's not for a couple hours so you can unpack or explore or do whatever until then. I'd love to stay, it's nice to have another girl around for once, but I have to make preparations for the new recruits. See you later!" she called the last bit over her shoulder as she was already running down the end of the hall and disappearing around the corner. Closing the door behind her, Adira let out a small sigh and unpacked her possessions from the bag that had already been delivered. Opening the door to the small bathroom, she turned the sink faucet on and splashed her face with cold water. Patting it dry with a handtowel, she looked up at her reflection in the mirror. Sunlight filtering through a small window caught her eyes and made the gold flecked green stand out. The rim of darker green made them noticeable against the whites of her eyes. Wisps of brown hair had escaped the simple ponytail and she raised a slender hand to tuck them back. She had grown paler and thinner over the past five years and her expression had hardened. Exiting her room and heading for the stables, she came to the painful realization of just how difficult it was to be here. The sun overhead had yet to set and the sky was only just beginning to be streaked with pink and lavender clouds. The grass crunched beneath her feet as a result of the drought they had been experiencing for four years. Food had henceforth become scarce as it was hard to grow or produce anything in this climate. Upon reaching the wooden structure of the stables, Adira perused through the horses, looking for her own. She found her mare, Nephelle, in the very last stall next to a dark brown horse with a black mane. She was about to open the stall door and give her a pat when the back wall caught her eye. She turned around and saw swirly gold writing covering the wood. Craning her neck up, she read aloud the words on the wall. "Gone, yet not forgotten, although we are apart, you spirit lives within us, forever in our hearts." Below that was a list of names. Hundreds of names were recorded at the back of this stable. Frantically, her eyes scanned the names, looking for a certain one in particular. "Fiona Beryl, Peter Larkin, Trixie Yuri," she muttered before pausing. Reaching a hand out, Adira ran her fingers over one of the names near the end of the list. "Drew Cohen." She whispered, resting her head against the cool wood. She knew that he had most likely died in the field while she was gone, but it was still a blow to see it finalized in writing. "Forever in our hearts." She breathed.
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"Um, excuse me, but what are you doing?" the sixteen year old girl looked up to see one of her fellow trainees looking down at her. "Do you think that one day we'll win?" Adira sat up from her position in the grass before the lake to gaze up at her comrade. "What do you mean?" he sat down next to her. "Do you think that someday we'll win against the titans? That someday we won't be imprisoned inside these walls? That someday, our children will be able to have futures in freedom? That they can venture out into the world, see the lands of endless winters, and the endless bodies of water?" Adira flopped back down and gazed dreamily up into the stars. "That someday they'll live without the fear of mankind's extinction? I read in one of the old forbidden books that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." The silence that ensued was not an uncomfortable one, but rather one filled with trains of thoughts that the quote had triggered. "I will fight for it, protect it." He said suddenly. "I'm Drew by the way," he said, sticking his hand out. "Drew Cohen." She took it and shook it. "Adira Northcote." She replied. A breeze rippled across the lake, making the long grass sway and Adira's elbow length wavy hair to flutter across her face. Brushing it away, she looked at Drew properly for the first time. Studying his profile subtly, she noticed that his eyes were brown framed by thick lashes. His floppy dark blonde hair was longish, reaching his strong jawline which was free of stubble. There were still two and a half years of training before cadets would choose which branch to serve: The Garrison, where most went, The Military Police, where only the top ten graduates could go, or the Survey Corps, where Adira knew she wanted to go. She wanted to fight for freedom, for humanity, and for the future.
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"Ahem," Someone cleared their throat behind her and Adira suddenly became conscious that she had slumped to her knees in front of the wall. Rising to her feet and turning in the same motion, she became face-to-face with Corporal Levi. "Captain." She saluted, noticing that she must have been reminiscing longer than she thought as the sun had now set, leaving only dark red and purple streaks in the sky. "Erwin told me to show you to the mess hall, its dinner time." He said briskly, turning on his heel and striding back to the building before Adira had a chance to respond. After a short walk across the grass, and then through the halls of headquarters, Adira heard voices. Pushing open a pair of double swing doors, she saw a large room filled with long tables, which were all empty due to the recruits not arriving and all the other Survey Corps members being on leave. "Adira, over here!" Hange waved enthusiastically from a table where Erwin, Levi, Mike and she were already seated. Cautiously sitting down in front of a tray of food, she looked up to see she was seated across from Levi and next to Erwin. "Until the cook arrives in two days with the recruits and other members, we each take turns in cooking. Tomorrow it's you turn." Mike informed her. "Yes sir." She echoed. She picked at her food, eating small morsels with refinement, as she listened in silence to the others chattering and teasing. "So what about you, Adira? Dear? Dearie? Imma call you Dearie. Anything interesting we should know about you?" Hange probed, taking another swig of wine from her glass as her dazed eyes fixed themselves on her. Everyone followed suit. Just from listening in the last two minutes or so, she had learnt that Mike sings, Erwin used to want to be a carpenter before his father died and that Hange didn't graduate in the top ten of her year. Adira struggled to find anything interesting to say that didn't reveal too much about things she didn't wish to discuss. "I have a tattoo." She blurted to be received with shocked faces. Ink was expensive these days and tattoo artists were extremely hard to come by. Just under her left collarbone, a heartbeat line ran on into the words 'just live'. "OOH! Can we see it!" Hange begged. Adira blushed slightly and shook her head. Aside from the fact that she'd have to practically strip to show them because of its position and her military uniform, it was personal and she didn't feel like sharing. "One day perhaps." She promised as they all stood to clean up.