She probably trained hardest out of his entire squad. Out of most everyone in the Survey Corps. Hell, maybe even out of everyone he'd ever seen, from his time back in a past not worth remembering to his days upon days in the winged regiment of scouts.

It was a day of rest, but the Lance Corparal himself had been up since early morning, when shadows were still young and the air was still crisp and filled with the music of birds. He ran his laps about the headquarters at a steady run, breathing level and inane thoughts none too plenty. Around the back way he ran, first, toward the more foresty side of the building where the sun had yet to rise high enough to reach the ground. He was past the stables and through the side courtyard, three quarters way done when he reached the training grounds.

Ice blue eyes lingered for a second on the various structures in the area, some still shining with the light sheen of morning dew when they landed on a new figure and widened ever so slightly.

Levi slowed his run down to a steady jog as he eyed the new figure.

Obviously female and dressed simply in baggy pants and a loose t-shirt, she attacked one of the training dummies with a vigor he had long since forgotten that others could still posess outside the heat of battle. Her short, caramel-orange hair fluttered wildly about her face as she ducked invisible punches and kicks, aiming deft and damn near graceful ones in return. He could almost see the opponents that she seemed to envision stumbling back upon themselves, wide-eyed and terrified of her unrestrained power.

His pace was nearly at that of a speedy walk, but the man couldn't quite bring himself to speed up, to leave behind the view of this flurry of a woman dancing her way through an imaginary battle. A sharp beauty, if any, poetically lethal and swiftly fluid. He caught a glimpse of her face, lips parted as she breathed heavily and concentration painted heavily across her expression.

Her hazel eyes widened as she noticed his presence, and the woman snapped to attention, stiffening her posture and performing a flawless salute. The rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed was still obvious, but Levi had to give her credit as she tried her best to maintain her salute.

He changed his direction, walking toward her leisurely, his slowed down run leaving him no need to be winded. The sweat dripping down her face was more visible now, and Levi scrutinized her face, trying to place a name to it. But, unfortunately, he could not; she must be a part of the newest recruits for this year, even though she looked older than they usually came.

"Captain Levi," she greeted, inclining her head slightly.

He nodded at her, although not entirely sure if she saw. "At ease, soldier," he replied, and watched as she let her arms fall carefully to her sides, bringing her head back up to look at him. She was about his height, which the captain admittedly appreciated. "What is your name?"

"Petra Ral," she answered, voice smooth and breathing surprisingly level after what he had just seen her do. "I'm- ah- I'm one of the new recruits here," she added, gaze flickering away from his shyly. The stark difference between her soft voice and the skill she had just displayed minutes earlier did not go unnoticed by Levi, but remained unmentioned, tucked away in his brain.

"Well, Cadet Ral, what are you doing out training? It is a day of rest, after all, in case you newbies didn't know."

The red that rose to her cheeks and the slight widening of her ground-fixed eyes were all too obvious.

"M-my apologies, Captain! I had no idea we weren't allowed out here—"

"I never said you weren't," Levi interrupted calmly. "I was simply inquiring why you were. After all, everyone else is sleeping and not expected to wake up until the sun is well past the point of morning."

"You aren't," was Petra's innocent reply, and she re-met his gaze briefly, only to realize what she had said and have her hazel gaze fly back to the ground.

Levi barked a short laugh, not too cold, but not exactly warming, either. "Observant one, aren't you? You've caught me, Cadet; I was out on a morning run."

The way she looked back at him was hesitant and tentative, like a child looking up to a parent after they had just admitted to breaking their grandmother's flower vase. Levi's gaze remained apathetic.

"I was merely practicing," she offered in return. "My father always tells me that the largest room in this entire world is the room for improvement."

"Wise man," Levi commented. "It seems his advice was put to good use, seeing the way you fight."

It came again, the reddening of her cheeks and the shy flit of her eyes away from his. Annoyance began to tug at his mind, and he wondered if the young woman was always like this or if it was simply because she was new and still innocent, unused to the presense of those who had seen and experienced much more than she had. While he wouldn't maliciously wish those horrors upon anyone, he hoped that her over-formality and excessive shyness would fade more into the figure he had seen fighting moments earlier.

"Thank you, Captain," she muttered smally. "I'm flattered that you would think so."

"Top of your class, Cadet?"

"Third, actually," she corrected humbly; he simply hummed in acknowledgement.

"Duly awarded."

The silence that filled the air afterwards was just that— silent. Her eyes were flitting about ground, at what, Levi didn't really care to find out, while the captain was looking somewhere past her, at the patch of foliage and sky between the structures of the training ground. Birds twittered faintly in the background, and at last, Levi spoke, causing Petra's attention to shift back to him.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Cadet Petra Ral."

She saluted him, snapping into position with a shuffle of shoes on ground and fabric being rustled.

"And to you."

"Perhaps we'll cross paths again," he mused absently. "If that were to happen, I do expect to see some form of improvement in your skills, of course."

She blinked, eyes widened slightly upon the hint of challenge that rang in the captain's seemingly impassive and automatic remark, but a small smile made its way to her lips and her hazel eyes shone with determination as she nodded; Levi saw that fighting spirit ebbing its way into her little by little.

Carefully lowering her arms to her side, she gave him a bow of the head, telling him, "I will see to it, Captain Levi."

He didn't reply, only nodding and walking off the training grounds soundlessly, back to his jogging path around the headquarters. When he looked back, Petra sent a swift jumping roundhouse kick to the training dummy's head, shaking it on its wooden frame.

She twirled behind it, grabbing the one and a half foot taller structure by its makeshift shoulders and propelling herself into the air over it, still gripping the shoulders and spinning the heavy thing on its stand before jumping off. She landed lithely, and the dummy tipped precariously behind her. She turned around just in time to see it falling down and rolled out of the way just as it crashed right where she had been.

The captain caught her panicked gaze darting about, seeing if anyone had noticed her, and when her eyes landed on him, she quickly averted her gaze and scrambled to try and heave the bulky dummy back into place. A quiet scoff escaped his mouth and Levi shook his head slightly as he took off jogging, leisurely and slow for a moment. He eventually sped up into a run, and, absently, he wondered if Petra Ral was still fighting.