Though all was silent in the male dorm of the Survey Corps, one boy couldn't seem to get to sleep. Strangely enough, nothing had happened that previous day to trigger this, and he simply turned to his side to look at his companions. The multiple empty beds that littered the dorm sent shivers down his spine, many good friends dead at the hands of the titans. His eyes slowly settled on his sleeping comrades, all in many different positions.
His eyes first set on Connie Springer, a rather small shaven headed male with light golden eyes. He was one that no matter what had happened to him during the day, he stayed in the same sleeping position – arms and legs spread out like an eagle and drool slowly coming out of his mouth. He also snored the loudest out of everyone, mouth wide open as he slept peacefully – seemingly ignoring everything that happened outside his dream. He couldn't help but grin at the sight; the small male seemed to take up the entire bed even when his feet never reached the end of the bed.
The still awake boy scanned to another male, one whose position was vastly different. Jean Kirstein – a boy who had a strange hair style, light brown hair on top of dark brown hair, which covered the back of his head and the side of his head, and had light brown eyes. The two shared many petty arguments against each other. It was safe to say they didn't get along at all. But despite not getting along he had a slight twinge of sympathy for him. Jean was another one who used to sleep like Connie, but since he was taller his limbs dangled slightly over the edge. However following the death of his best friend, Marco Bodt, he had started sleeping on his side curling into himself – the arm that he was sleeping on underneath his pillow and clinging to it, though loosely. He always seemed to have a small frown while sleeping. Though like Connie, you couldn't tell what had happened to him during the day, good or bad.
Now his eyes settled to a bed that contained two people, one too tall for the bed and the other too bulky for it to be shared. The two sharing it were Bertholdt and Reiner Braun, two brothers that looked vastly different from one another. Bertholdt was much taller than the average male and had the lanky limbs to match, with a mop of brown hair that was near black and had large olive eyes. He was one that was easy to read, though he usually slept in a curled up position the severity of the curl would differ depending on how what had happened to him during the day, and what he was feeling before he went to bed. If he was in a relatively good mood he only curled up slightly, however if he was in a particularly upset or bad mood he curled tightly into himself – clinging to the sheets or pillows. He was also the one to be known for having nightmares, though only once had he woken up screaming. Reiner on the other hand was a blonde and muscular boy, though shorter than Bertholdt he made up for not being lanky or skinny. His hair was much shorter and his amber eyes matched. He slept in relatively the same position, only his face betrayed his emotions, and would always have a supporting arm around his brother. Though this comfort would also differ, if he knew Bertholdt had a bad day he'd wrap his arm further around his brother, and if it was the opposite case he'd keep at least a hand on his shoulder. No one really knew why, but Bertholdt couldn't get to sleep at all without someone he trusted sleeping right next to him. The wide awake boy presumed it had something to do with Bertholdt's past, considering that Reiner openly admitted he was adopted.
The last one was his best friend, Armin Arlet, a small and rather mediocre boy with somewhat long blonde hair and blue eyes. He wasn't a strong fighter, but he was incredibly intelligent. He had varying positions in sleep, and would move around when trying to get to sleep. Normally this shuffling wouldn't be too bad unless he started making too much noise, and either he or Jean would toss a pillow at him to 'Shut up and go to sleep!' He had a variety of facial expressions, and if he managed to be asleep when everyone else was awake the others would try and guess what he was dreaming about based on what he looked like at the time.
The boy, still awake and not growing close to being tired, rested into his pillow and looked at the ceiling and stayed there silently with a blank expression. He was bored, and desperately wished that he could get some amount of sleep. It wasn't until he noticed the sun rays coming through the dorm window that he groaned aloud, never to get a blink of sleep. He sat up and decided it would be best if he just woke up and got ready, getting out of his bed and changing into his uniform. In the middle of getting his trousers on, he heard someone shuffling and getting up, glancing to the tall boy that was now sitting at the edge of his bed and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Morning Bertl." He simply greeted, fastening his belts now, as Bertholdt looked up to him. "Oh morning Eren! Why are you awake so early?" he replied, gathering his clothes and ready to head towards a different room to get dressed. Eren shrugged, before answering "I didn't really get much sleep last night, so I just thought it'd be better to just get ready." Bertholdt nodded his head, before he went to the different room and closed the door. Eren looked back at the tall boy's bed to still see Reiner sleeping peacefully. He glanced around before getting his boots on and his shirt. He didn't notice Armin get up and sit beside him to get dressed, earning a jump from Eren as his weight moved the bed. "Morning to you too!" Armin started happily, a smile on his face whilst he started getting changed, "You're never really up this early."
"Like I said to Bertl, I didn't sleep last night."
"I know, I was up then." Eren had finished getting changed, stretching and contemplating getting the rest up to avoid being yelled at by Levi, who was overseeing them by command of Erwin Smith. Levi was stern and considered amongst the soldiers as a clean freak. He hardly yelled, but his cold tone was enough to scare anyone even if they looked more intimidating than him. Thinking about this was enough to convince him to wake up his three still asleep friends, with Armin recognising what he was doing and waking up Jean, as Eren woke up Reiner and Connie. As Connie sat in his bed, yawning widely and Reiner standing up and stretching, Jean was already getting changed. "Man why are we up so early?" Connie yawned again, clumsily trying to get changed into his uniform and failing. He looked rather confused when he tried to get his head through his shirt's sleeve, before realising what was happening and tried again. "I don't feel like listening to Captain Levi lecturing us about waking up and cleaning up." Eren replied simply, already fixing his bed. Reiner gave a loud chuckle, waking up every other recruit, as he too started getting changed.
"I wouldn't be laughing. He'll probably find something else to moan about, he always does." Jean groaned, now stretching and getting ready to make his bed as well. It was one of the things Eren could agree on, something was always off to Levi. Whether it was something out of place, or a uniform not put on properly or even one soldier still dozing off. Eventually the tallest soldier emerged from the different room, fully changed and carrying his sleeping clothes and started to make his shared bed, before neatly folding up his clothes and placing them in the drawer next to his bed. The dorm became silent as everyone worked to avoid Captain Levi from standing at the doorway and rigorously commanding them to clean the dorm. After everything was neat the soldiers left the dorms towards the eating hall, meeting up with the female recruits. Eren was immediately greeted by his adopted sister Mikasa, who was followed by four other girls.
The smallest of them all was Christa, a blonde haired and blue eyed sweetheart whose kindness was near unrivalled. She was the one to break up fights and comfort others and the Survey Corps members greatly appreciated her, even if she wasn't the best fighter. The taller freckled one behind her was Ymir, brown hair tied back in a ponytail and with golden eyes, and with a very slender figure. She always stuck near Christa and was rather rude, getting into fights often and being at odds with Reiner – it was painfully clear that Reiner had a thing for Christa and not so clear, but could be concluded by her defensiveness, that Ymir also had a thing for her. Next to her was another girl with reddish hair, Sasha Blouse, already eating what looked like a potato. She was known for eating a lot more than anyone else, and would be yelled at by any senior who could be bothered to get her into trouble. She was a nice person, very close to Connie and smiled often. The final girl was Annie Braun, however it was known she used to be Annie Leonheart before her parents were eaten alive by titans during the fall of Wall Maria, and that she was adopted by Reiner's parents as the older sister. She was a near expressionless person, though there were very few cases where she did show emotion – only towards Reiner and Bertholdt though. Sasha had once said that she spotted Annie smiling whilst sitting next to her two brothers; though it was a small smile and could easily had been a frown.
The large group settled at a table and ate what rations were available, small talk being shared with the more talkative ones of the group. Suddenly a hand was slammed on the table, causing all but Annie and Mikasa to jump, with Connie and Bertholdt yelping. All looked up to see a forever frowning Levi with Petra and Oluo behind him, Oluo looked slightly bored whilst Petra wore an apologetic expression. "So this is the group that Erwin requested?" Oluo asked, eyes looking around slightly to look for something to lean on and not paying attention to the group that were sitting at the table. Petra elbowed him slightly, frowning and scrunching up her eyebrows, but it appeared that Levi also felt the same way that Oluo did. "Well they were picked for a particular reason!" Petra insisted, moving forward to stand next to Levi and offered a friendly smile, "So why don't we see what they can do, surely we can find a reason why he chose them by testing them?" her expression turned to worry, Eren supposed that she suddenly had second thoughts of this idea. However it seemed that Oluo agreed to this, a smug grin placed on his face. "I don't see anything wrong with that idea." He agreed, looking down at Levi, "Want us to get a part of the training ground ready?" Levi stood still, looking at each of the soldiers. Looking was an understatement, he was staring at each of them and only a few could return the stare with as much cold heartedness as Levi gave. Eren was not one of them. He finally nodded, before walking away with Petra and Oluo by his side.
"So what are we doing now?" it was a simple, yet very relevant to their situation question that Connie asked, slightly stunned and taken aback by what just happened.
"I suppose we go to the training ground and wait?" Jean replied, leaning his head on one hand but not with a relaxed expression. What did Commander Erwin want with them? Eren couldn't really argue with the idea, and after the last person had finished eating everyone got up and collectively went outside towards the training ground. There was a small group of seniors gathered around a larger space, with Commander Erwin Smith being very prominent. He glanced over to the young soldiers and waved them over, each exchanging glances as each other as they approached. "In a line soldiers!" Levi ordered, arms behind his back and eyes icily staring into their souls. All hastily rushed in line, standing to attention as Erwin stood back to observe them all.
"You all are of course curious as to why I asked for your specific group. Well it has been reported that a new, intelligent titan has been spotted near the wall by the forest," Eren stiffened slightly. How much he hated the titans, and a new titan was not something that they needed right now. Especially if it was an intelligent titan, "We don't know what we're dealing with, and with any intelligent titan so far, it isn't a stretch to say that another may be lurking nearby to accompany it." This only increased Eren's loathing. More than one intelligent titan spotted nearby. Either this was the Armoured Titan accompanying it, or another intelligent titan. That would make four in total. Two was already too much. "Petra has proposed that you fight to see if you are actually good enough to send out and return relatively alive." The last one caused many in the line to flinch. Especially the more cowardly soldiers, who looked at everyone else in the line to see who else was just as scared as they were, "I trust that the three of you can manage this large group as you have been." And with a nod to Captain Levi and his two squad members, he walked away.
"Alright, you'll be pitted against someone that we normally wouldn't pair you up with. This is to allow you to go against something new and adapt to fight back." Levi explained and stayed still as Petra and Oluo stepped forward. Petra looked at the person to the far right of the line, Connie, and called "Connie Springer is up against Reiner Braun!" Connie's expression turned from surprise to complete horror, and looked down the line to find Reiner. Reiner didn't look to pleased either, obviously not wanting to hurt the much weaker male. Oluo coughed for their attention, "Reiner and Connie, please collect these knives and stand against each other on either end!" whilst holding out a small wooden knife in each hand. There was a moment's hesitation, even if they said they were pairing others with ones outside their abilities, Connie against Reiner was too much of a disadvantage. Even Eren, who normally understood the extremes that they needed to go to keep humanity safe, thought it was too unfair. "Hurry up!" Levi commanded, stern voice enough to scare the two into stepping out of the line and collecting the knives, and as they stood against each other a considerable distance away he continued, "If the opponent is taken down quickly the winner will be immediately paired up against someone. If the fight goes on for awhile both will be replaced by a new pair after a winner emerges!" his eyes shrunk considerably, "However we will not tolerate anyone deliberately losing. Anyone who loses on purpose will have to face one of us. The same also goes for going easy on your opponent." Eren saw as Connie's expression filled with even more horror and dread, whilst Reiner grimaced a bit. That was precisely their plan. Oluo and Petra stepped back as Levi held up his arm, before swiftly bringing it down and yelling "Begin!"
Connie immediately froze in place as Reiner charged at him, sheer terror running through his body. Multiple people began to yell at Connie to dodge out the way, but the fear that clearly came across from his eyes showed that he couldn't bring himself to move. Before Reiner was upon him he managed to shake his head and bring himself back to his senses as he ducked under Reiner's arms whilst he attempted to tackle him, and moved out of the way with one of his legs extended and tripping the larger male over. Reiner landed on his front, supporting himself with his hands before quickly turning around to catch Connie's arm as he attempted to take advantage of the situation, and was thrown over his shoulder to land on the ground yelping in pain. "Oh I forgot to mention, the opponent must be pinned to the ground for ten seconds for someone to win with the wooden knife to the throat." Levi deadpanned, as Reiner had began to stand up thinking he'd won. After hearing this, Connie immediately stood up again, though swayed slightly from dizziness. By this time the watchers forgot about the reason why they were fighting and were enveloped in seeing what was going to happen. Connie and Reiner stood against each other again, though Connie was panting slightly, before charging at Reiner. The blonde stood momentarily, confused as to why the smaller male decided to charge at him, before realising what was happening and was pushed over by Connie. They struggled on the ground, fighting to try and pin the other down before Reiner's strength overpowered Connie's surprise attack. He had let go of Connie's weapon arm to swiftly shoulder barge it, knocking the bald boy breathless as his grip on the weapon loosened and was then swiftly grabbed and thrown to his side, landing harshly on his back as Reiner swiftly got up and pinned Connie on the ground, knife to the throat and keeping the smaller boy from moving at all. Petra started the countdown, and when the ten second mark was met Reiner immediately released Connie and offered his hand to let him up. Connie graciously accepted it and stood up, though considerably shaken. Petra instructed the two to go back into the line and catch their breath, before going back and talking with Levi and Oluo.
Connie stood back in his place next to Eren and was panting heavily now. He was sweating and rubbed his neck with a little wince. "Hey that was a good attempt there!" Eren spoke up, smiling with encouragement to the smaller boy, who looked back with a sheepish grin.
"Th-thanks. I didn't think that charging him would work but eh." He managed to blurt out, rather pleased that he managed to catch Reiner at least off guard.
"Yeah I don't think I would've done that. I would've waited for him to charge instead. He probably wouldn't have done the same thing though." Eren shrugged back, patting his friend on the back before he earned an 'Ow!' and stopped.
The senior members stopped discussing, obviously talking about the fight that just happened before Oluo fetched the knives and Petra stepped forward again. She stood up straight, calling out:
"Eren Yeager is against Bertholdt Braun!"
