We were both lying in a patch of wild grass, staring up at the sky above.

"Look at that one!" I exclaimed pointing at a floating cloud "It looks like a cow!"

"I doubt you've ever even seen a cow, Hanji" He pouted

"I have!" I argued "You showed me the one your uncle owned. Remember, Erwin?"

"oh, yeah!... Look, over there! Look at that one, it looks like a person"

"Nuh-uh! It looks like a Titan!"

He scoffed "Now I know you've never seen one of them!"

"I did! I did!" I gently hit his arm.

"Where!?" He asked in disbelief

"A book! Father has a big book from his training days that has all types of information on titans. He showed it to me for the first time recently… He thought it'd be good to get a head start"-

"Hanji?" His voice hitched

"Aye?" I asked turning my head towards him. His blue-eyed gaze never left the clouds

"Are we doing the right thing? Joining the fight, I mean"

"Protecting humanity from titans?" I asked

He nodded

"Of course we are! Baka!"-

"But, what if"-

"Erwin, for as long as I've known you, you've wanted to join up. Don't forget your dream; living inside the inner wall. Imagine it! Rubbing shoulders and protecting our best and brightest" My heart was swelling with pride.

"I suppose" He didn't seem convinced.

"We can do it! I'm dyin- I mean, I can't wait to learn more about titans! I hope I see one for real! That would be amazing!" I clapped with excitement and squealed.

He sighed "I don't know how you can be so happy when it comes to titans, Hanji"

"I'll show you my father's book, then you might understand" I smiled.

"No thank you. I want to avoid seeing them whenever I have the chance" He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He stretched and groaned.

I sat up too, lifting my glasses off my face and rubbing my eyes.

"I should be heading home" he yawned, mid-stretch

"Me too" My arms fell to my sides as my glasses came to rest on the bridge of my nose.

He scratched the blond hair at the back of his head before dragging his hand over his face "I'll see you tomorrow, Hanji"

"Bright and early" I smiled

"You better have your uniform in check. I hear we have a real tough bastard for our induction"

"Don't worry, I'm ready" My glasses glinted.

He stood up and extended his arm out to me; I took his hand and got to my feet.

"Let's make a promise" He looked passed my spectacles and into my eyes "We'll survive" He had a determined smile on his face.

"Aye!" I nodded with the same amount of determination "We will survive"

...

"Good morning, Maggots!"

We were all in line. Uniforms pressed to perfection. I was in the twelfth row, last on the left, very last; we were put standing in alphabetical order. I could see Erwin a few rows in front of me, to the right.

The shouting man stood in front of us, receding brown hair and tanned complexion "I'll introduce myself! Shadis is my name. From now on you take orders from no one except me. For the next three years I own you! Everything you do, you do because I told you to; when to eat, sleep, wake up, hell, you won't even be able wipe your own asses without my permission! Now, you all know me"- he began pacing through the crowd of us -"time for me to get to know you"

He stopped in front of a boy; light blond/brown shoulder length hair. He was shaking as Shadis towered over him.

"What's your name, boy?"

He saluted; right fist over his heart, left fist resting on his lower back "M- Mike Zacharius, s-sss-sir!" He let out a little sigh of relief at making it that far.

"Zacharius, eh? Tell me, why did you join the Scouting Legion? Do you want to fight titans? Do you want to reside within the innermost wall? Or are you just here for the three free meals a day?"

The boy gulped "T-to kill titans, sir!"

"Tell me, boy, have you ever seen a titan?"

"No, ss-sir!"

"Let me tell you, killing titans is nothing like you hear in those stories" He took a step back and looked over the tops of all out heads "This goes for all of you; titans have no concept of anything. They won't hesitate to kill you! There's no glory! There's no being a hero! What's heroic about being eaten alive!?" He looked back to the boy in front of him.

Mike was so nervous. He was shaking "Try not to shit yourself, Maggot" Shadis said before moving onto his next victim.

"Who are you, shorty!?"

He stood in front of a rather short boy. I didn't even know there was a person standing there in the first place. The boy didn't answer.

"Didn't you hear me!? You deaf! Give me your name, Maggot!"

I heard a sigh "Levi"

"Levi? You don't have a surname or anything?" Shadis was extremely aggravated by this boy.

In a dead-pan voice the boy responded "Slow down, you'll have to buy me dinner first"

Several new recruits sniggered while others stood there in shock at the fact that this guy had balls.

Shadis growled "And what are you hear for, Smart-ass? What made you join?"

He sighed again "I'm just here to stay out of prison, although prison seems like a picnic compared dealing with the likes of you"

Okay, this kid has some serious nerve. I need to put a face to the voice.

As if Shadis had heard my thoughts, he grabbed and lifted the boy by his collar. Black hair resting lifelessly against his scalp, I saw his face in profile; small pointed nose, small almost lifeless eyes and a thin lip.

"Listen here, you little shit, no one, and I mean no one, says things like that to a commanding officer and gets away with it!"

"Yay, punishment" Sarcasm was obviously this boys best weapon.

"I swear I'll"-

"Shadis" A voice called from the side.

Shadis looked to where it was coming from.

"Ah, Pixis!" He froze "Pixis! What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on the new recruits" He was an older bald man with a moustache. He took something out of the pocket in the lining of his uniform jacket before taking it to his lips and tilting it to the sky. He took it away from his mouth and wiped his face.

Shadis put the boy back on the ground.

"Shadis. This is Levi Rivaille" Pixis stated.

Shadis looked back at the boy who was now dusting himself off.

"I have high hopes for him, Shadis. One of the best swordsmen I've seen in years" He patted the boy on the back sending him stumbling forward slightly. Pixis stepped over to Shadis's side and whispered in his ear. I coudnt hear what they were saying but it was something serious judging by the shocked reaction Shadis gave.

Pixis pulled away from his ear and waited for the man to make eye contact with him.

Shadis slowly turned his head so his gaze met with Pixis's

"Understand?" Pixis asked

The shocked man nodded in response.

"Good" Pixis smiled under his moustache. He turned his attention to the rest of us as Shadis gathered his thoughts.

"Right! I'm only going to say one thing and I'm only going to say it once so listen carefully; at the end of the next three years, less than half of you will still be standing here. Some will leave due to injury or sickness, others because it's simply too much but the majority of you will die. I hope you all understand; you have a greater chance of dying than living. You are the hope of humanity; try not to get yourselves killed. That's all"

"Ending on a positive note" I mumbled under my breath.

Pixis turned on his heels and began to march away "Shadis… with me"

"Eh" He watched the man walk away

"Shadis!" Pixis called back

"Coming!" He came out of his thoughts and turned to us "Disband!" before running after Pixis.

I saw Erwin making his way towards me "Told you he was a nasty bastard" He half smiled

"Aye" I agreed before asking "Hey, Erwin, Who's that Levi guy?"

He shrugged "Not a clue. Seems like bad news though"

"Hmm" I held my chin and thought for a moment "I'm going over to say hello"

"EH! What!? Didn't you hear him!? He said if he didn't come here he'd have to go to prison!?"

"Aye! I want to find out more about him… he seems… seems" I struggled to find the word

"Like a trouble maker?" Erwin added

"No!" I smacked his arm "He seems interesting"

Erwin sighed "Alright"

Together we made our way over to the short boy. People seemed to be avoiding him, they must have thought he was trouble too. Once we had gotten close enough, I held out my hand for him to shake it

"Hi! I'm Hanji Zoe and this is my friend Erwin S"-

"I don't care" He wasn't even looking at ,me and then he turned and walked away.

I stood there frozen and dumbfounded.

"Told you he was trouble" Erwin stated.

"Shut up!" I hit his arm again with a smile on my face.

He smiled and chuckled lightly as he raised his forearms in a mock attempt to protect himself

"Baka!" I said as I folded my arms.