Chapter One
The instructor looked out over the new trainees with a deep frown etched into her features.
"… So this is what they've sent to me... This is all I have to work with?" She passed by a young man who was smiling optimistically. "Wipe that stupid grin off your face, kid."
Some members of the crowd began to tremble.
She stopped in front of a girl who barely cleared five feet, having to look down to see her. She didn't look particularly strong either.
"Name and age..?"
"Sara Klein, ma'am. Fifteen years of age, ma'am." Sara looked just as positive as the first boy she criticized, with the difference being that she looked pretty braced for impact. Instead of raining down a barrage of all the things she had to say just in regards to her stature and build, the woman gave a faint sigh and continued on through the ranks.
There were students she ignored completely as she moved along, and others that she mercilessly heckled over the way they were standing or their demeanor, before she returned to the front of the group, leaving a few kids shaking in their boots.
"I'm required to tell you, before we begin your training, that over half the people present won't last a year after graduation."
Murmurs of shock and fear ran through the group.
"The Titans are ruthless adversaries. They will take you down in a heartbeat in your current condition. My job is to try and ensure that as many of you as possible stay alive. For the next three years you will be trained to kill. Some of you might drop out. Or, tomorrow, if you fail the aptitude test, some of you will be withdrawn from this squad and sent back to the landfills like the under-qualified worms you are."
The woman pointed out a path of trampled down earth. "You see that track? Give me five times around."
Everyone took off down the ½ mile running track, a few already regretting their decisions to sign up. Sara frowned slightly at some of the boys who took off at full speed right from the get-go.
They're going to exhaust their stamina in one lap…
She caught up with the guys as they started slowing down and passed them by. However, by lap three she was already getting exhausted herself.
"Do you think we'll pass tomorrow, Ilsa?" a teen with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes asked his running partner.
"Yeah, we will." She just looked forward as they started their fourth time around.
The two finished fairly close to the head of the pack and headed for the bunkers to settle in.
"I'll see you later, Dieter."
"At dinner, then. Later." With few words they parted, Dieter heading for the boys' side of the camp and Ilsa heading to the girls' side.
Sara, however, was sitting on the ground, trying to catch her breath. Some boys passed by, breathing hard, looking down at her. She ducked her head faintly at the looks of disdain sent her way.
Forcing herself to her feet, she resolved to keep from looking too weak by pushing herself as much as she could. She passed a boy easily a foot taller than her and shook her head a bit to signal that she was alright. That he should worry about himself.
With her legs already starting to ache, Sara entered the sleeping quarters and flopped down on the nearest unoccupied bunk she could find, right under Ilsa's. A groan escaped her lips as she suddenly regretted everything.
"You're not the only one who's tired," another girl laughed breathlessly, taking the top bunk of the set next to Sara's and Ilsa's.
"I'm not… tired. I'm just lying down before dinner," Sara insisted. She then thought better of it and decided the girl looked a hell of a lot kinder than the boys from outside. "Okay, that was a lie. I'm exhausted, and it's nice to know I'm not alone."
"Half of those guys have already exhausted themselves as well, so we're not doing too badly, in comparison."
Sara rolled her eyes. "They were just trying to show off… You've gotta make a good impression on the first day, I guess."
"None of that was very 'impressive', if you ask me. What really impresses people is stamina. If you can run for extended periods of time? That's something that can really pay off later on."
The two girls were a bit surprised to hear Ilsa speak for the first time.
"Yeah. It shows you won't get worn out, right? They'll just have to learn, or drop out. If you can't handle it, then you don't belong here."
The smallest girl rolled onto her side at these words from the girl in the bunk across from Ilsa. "Yeah… I just hope I do alright with the aptitude test tomorrow."
The bell rang for dinner and Sara got to her feet. Taking notice of the girl in the lower bunk in the set next to hers and Ilsa's, she reached out to touch her shoulder lightly, thinking she was asleep. "Are you—"
"I'm awake."
Sara pulled her hand back. "O-Oh. Sorry."
Everyone headed off to the Mess Hall to eat dinner. Sara and her two new companions stuck together, making small talk along the way.
"I'm Angela, by the way," the girl with curled blonde locks said. As she spoke, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail using a tie around her wrist.
"Sara Klein, but you guys probably heard Ms. Rockwell call me out earlier."
"Ilsa Hauer." The third girl introduced herself simply, without looking at the others.
Angela fished around in her head for another topic. "Where are you guys from? I came from Trost, so…"
"Stohess, here," Sara replied.
"Shiganshina."
Sara and Angela both looked at Ilsa in surprise, knowing Shiganshina was the first district infiltrated when the Colossal Titan broke through. Before they could raise any questions, though, she branched off away from them to join Dieter.
"We'll see each other later, right?"
Sara smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we will, since we sleep in practically adjacent bunks." This made Angela laugh, and they too parted to receive their dinner and take their seats.
"How much has your brother been bugging you about the whole Scouting Legion thing?" she asked while taking her seat next to the tall boy from before.
The young man shrugged. "He still wants me to join him in the Military Police, but… hey. That's three years away. We still have to get through the aptitude test tomorrow—" He suddenly noticed the nervous expression on his friend's face and backpedaled a bit. "Not that we have anything to worry about. Either of us."
"Thanks…" Sara took a reluctant bite of her food.
"I know he just wants to keep me safe and crap, but… look at me. Six foot three and not doing too badly in the strength department, even if I do say so myself."
His companion laughed, watching him flex a little.
Meanwhile, Ilsa and Dieter sat quietly at a table by themselves, eyeing the other people in the room.
"How many of these guys do you think will quit?" Dieter asked, keeping his voice low.
"Maybe twenty. Thirty." Ilsa downed a swig of her drink. "You thinking about joining the Military Police?"
This brought on a sigh. Dieter knew all too well that Ilsa was really gunning for him to join the MPs. "Not really… I mean, why sit around in the Interior when you could be out there thinning out the Titans' numbers."
"The Military Police are the best of the best. And they're credited among the military ranks as the ones least at risk of ever having to face a Titan. Doesn't that sound appealing, at least? You need to aim for that, alright?"
"If you go for it, then I will too. There's no way I'm getting separated from you. Either we both make an effort, or we don't."
Ilsa sent her cousin a sideways glance, a bit tired of arguing with him over the matter. He was just as stubborn as she was, and even more hard-headed. A long silence passed between them.
"I'll just have to do my best, then…"
A different bell went off for the trainees to hit the hay. Sara got to her feet to put her plate in to be washed and went back to her bunk. As soon as she lay down, her eyelids started to feel heavy.
Around thirty minutes after everyone settled in, Sara turned over on her side, hearing a quiet noise.
"Adele, where are you going?" Angela asked tiredly, looking to the open doorway where a girl stood, silhouetted by the light of the rising moon.
She was thin with shoulder-length dark brown hair, wearing a plain grey tank top that lay rather loose about her torso and a pair of military-issued white pants. Her feet were bare and fell upon the wood floors without making a sound, causing her to give off an air of intangibility.
Adele looked back over her shoulder at her bunk mates and her brown eyes caught the moonlight, quieting any protests against her actions with a single glance. She turned and headed outside, closing the door noiselessly behind herself.
"What is she doing?!" Angela hissed under her breath.
"If she's not careful? Getting herself in trouble, probably." Sara kept her voice low, careful not to wake anyone who was already asleep. "I don't know how strict they are about curfew here."
"Should we go after her..?" Angela's voice held a caring tone; one of friendly concern.
Sara lay back down and closed her eyes. "It's late. No point in us all getting in trouble for her choices. Besides. She might have her own reasons for sneaking around in the middle of the night." A long yawn cut her off and she nestled her head back into her pillow.
"I guess we should respect her privacy, then…" Angela, too, turned onto her side to try and go back to sleep, feeling like rest might be a good idea as preparation for their first full day as trainees of the 103rd Trainee Corps.
Just thought that I should let everyone know that this is being moved to my new profile, GoddessAstray. I will keep this one up for one week, and then I will be removing it. I wish everyone a good day and hope that anyone who watched out for me on this profile might do the same on my new one (on which I plan to be far more active.)