HEY YA'LL I'M BACK. Sadly, I have not creative flow to write more Naruto stuff, maybe it'll return. However, I have a newfound love for AoT so... enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own AoT
Cold, grey eyes surveyed the disarray of recruits talking jovially to one another in the mess hall. Hardly any familiar faces from when he had first joined the Survey Corps. Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman had been a soldier long enough to know that the survival rate in this regiment was zero to none. Just the thought of that excited his usual bored expression, the thought of being on the brink of life or death thrilled him. It was the only way he could feel. The young captain gripped his mug of coffee a little tighter, anticipation coursing through his veins. He hated the downtime between expeditions, it made him feel lazy and unprepared.
"Ne, Captain," He heard his subordinate call, "What do you think of the new recruits?"
The Lance Corporal's bored eyes slowly drifted to Gunter who was messily gobbling up his breakfast.
With a disgusted look, Levi snorted, "As long as they don't get in my way I don't give two shits about them." He paused, "And clean your face, you're a fucking pig."
The table erupted in snickers as a red-faced Gunter mumbled something incoherent and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Levi looked around the table consisting of his squad members. Gunter, the messiest eater known to man, and one of the most dependable soldiers in the regiment. Erd, Levi's second-in-command. Petra, the squad's only female and proudest soldier to be placed with Humanity's Strongest soldier. And Uluo the brag King of the special ops squad.
Levi brought his mug close to his face and drifted over to the tables of new recruits. They were all so naive. Unlike the tables of veterans who quietly consumed their meal and went about their day, new recruits always stood out. Unaware and inexperienced they laughed and sang praises of their abilities in training, forgetting that Titans are nothing compared to practice dummies.
The door to the mess hall opened softly and the tables of new recruits fell silent. Levi's squad curiously looked over at the newcomer.
With daylight shining behind her, a very petite young woman strolled in, her midnight blue eyes blank as she stared straight ahead toward the cafeteria line. She wore a plain black, zip-up sweater with the hood drawn, strands of pale silver hair peeking through. Standing at about 5"0 exactly, she walked with confidence that matched Commander Erwin. Shapely legs were clothed in black workout pants cinched at her knees with athletic tape. One sharp look towards the tables of new recruits caused them to look away hastily.
The noise swelled once again however the tables of new recruits kept eyeing her.
"Who the hell is that?" Gunter asked, his eyes wide staring at the young woman's back.
"I heard she's the top of the new recruits," piped Petra, playing with the hem of her jacket and eyeing Levi who stared impassively at the mysterious recruit, "They say her skills match the elite's!"
"Sure, sure, and my grandma is the Queen of the Titans." Drawled Uluo scratching his grey-black hair, "They always hype up new recruits and they end up shitting themselves the moment they see their first Titan."
"Like when Petra pissed herself on her first mission?" Snickered Gunter, earning a well-deserved punch by the strawberry-blonde girl.
"You all did, too!" Petra said hotly, her cheeks heating up.
Levi tuned out his squad yet again as they began to argue amongst themselves, as he contemplated the silver-haired woman. Skye Grey. Commander Erwin had told him that she was a cadet to watch, her skills far surpassing even the veterans amongst the Survey Corps. She was a lone wolf, mainly because her teammates were afraid of her strength. No one wanted to work with her. All Levi knew was that she experienced something that made Commander Erwin advocate for her to have a place in the Survey Corps without going through the necessary years of training beforehand.
She sat by herself at a lone table, silently eating her food. He noticed that she kept her food from touching and obsessively touched the silver bracelet on her right wrist. Her dark blue eyes were blank as she flicked them from her food to the book she was reading. The captain felt something stir within him as she pushed back a lock of silver hair that had fallen from her hood. Suddenly, her eyes snapped up looking directly into his stormy grey eyes. Unflinching, Levi stared expressionless as did she, until she raised a slender pale brow and looked back down at her book, her pale cheeks coloring slightly.
"Anyways, she's probably gonna get put with us," Petra squeaked, "It'll be nice to have another female on the squad."
"Hey, you." A male voice called.
Skye continued to read her book and pick at her food, ignoring the man. She knew Bernard was upset that she beat him once again during training and wanted to avoid confrontation.
"I said," The man grabbed her hood and flung it off her head, displaying her long silver locks, "Hey. Look at me when I talk to you, freak."
Continuing to ignore him, she shook her hair out of her face and turned a page in her book. She remained calm yet her unseen hand underneath the table began to quiver with pent-up anger.
"You think you're better than me, don't you, grandma?" He taunted, grabbing her book from her spot and tossing it across the room. The mess hall fell silent once more, while every eye was watching the pair.
Sighing, Skye stood tapping her fingers on the wooden table. Bernard towered over her small frame, but his cocky smile faltered a bit as her dark eyes stared menacingly at him. With a half-smile she answered sweetly, "Did you need something, Bernard?"
The taller man laughed loudly, "Y'know I don't get what the fuss is over you. You're puny. You might be good here, but against a real Titan you're lunch."
She steeled herself and quelled her anger, she was going to pummel his cocky ass in about 2 minutes if he didn't back away. She pushed her seat against the table, making room for herself.
"Have you seen or fought a real Titan, Bernard?" She asked, staring up at him unblinking.
"Well, no, but I know I can fight them, you on the other hand are a privileged little girl playing soldier," He sneered, "And just because your scores might be better than mine doesn't mean you can-"
Before he could finish his sentence the silver-haired woman swept her leg up and crashed it against his, toppling him over. He formed a small O with his mouth as he crashed to the floor. Before he could even attempt to get up she dug her heel into his chest with a monstrous strength that did not match her tiny frame.
The mess hall was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
Levi's squad swiveled in their seats to see the young woman take down the huge man without blinking or breaking a sweat.
"Hot damn." Muttered Gunter, "That girl is strong."
"Before you open your idiotic mouth," Skye said softly, crushing his airway with every word, "Think."
Bernard struggled to breath as he flailed helplessly underneath her. Her dark, expressionless eyes were suddenly alight as she dug her heel in further hearing little crunches along the way. She felt a woosh of air as the captain appeared behind her. Without breaking eye contact with her victim she obediently lifted her foot from his chest. Levi gripped her elbow hard and said with a quiet danger, "Stop making a fool of yourself, Cadet."
Bernard lay helpless on the floor catching his breath, his face reddening at his predicament.
"And you," the Lance Corporal said, shifting his stormy eyes at the man on the floor, "Picking fights is for losers. Grow the fuck up." The man reddened more, looking away from the captain.
Silently, Levi walked away, the young woman in tow and headed out the mess hall. His squad promptly followed in suit.
Once they were outside he tossed the girl to the ground and stood over her. His grey eyes looked bored as she stood slowly, brushing dirt off her pants. Her silver hair was like a curtain, shielding half her face from him as her eyes remained downcast. His team lingered behind watching their captain punish the new recruit.
"Control yourself."
Her head snapped up at his singular statement. Her face turned pink and she mumbled, "I apologize, Captain, for my disorderly conduct."
A fist flew, connecting with her cheek and sending her flying. Petra moaned pityingly for the woman. However, instead of landing in a heap she flipped and landed on her feet. Her eyes wide in surprise she wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth. Levi approached quickly sweeping at her feet.
She dodged deftly, flipping backwards and using the wall behind her as momentum, kicked off toward the captain. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at her creative use of her surroundings and dodged her attack. She threw a punch. He dodged, but felt a sickening crack as her knee collided with his ribs. She was very fast. Levi heard his squad whoop in encouragement for the new girl. He grunted slightly, and crashed his elbow into her collarbone quicker than she could react.
She gasped and fell to the floor feeling the wind get knocked out of her. Her head snapped on the ground and she felt a blinding pain.
A moment past and Levi stood over her with an inscrutable expression clouding his pale face. With her silver hair splayed wildly around her head, she looked quite beautiful with her pale cheeks flushed with movement. Levi's hand twitched in excitement.
"Welcome to the Special Ops Squad, Cadet." He said, holding a hand out to help her up.
She glanced up in surprise before shrugging his helping hand and getting up herself. He lowered his hand and motioned for his squad to approach.
"This is Skye Grey," Levi said wearily, wiping his hands with a handkerchief, "She will be the newest member of our squad."
His squad murmured their approval after seeing the display of strength she had shown in the mess hall and with their captain. Skye stared in slight awe at the elite members surveying her before quickly masking her expression and nodding slightly to them.
"I'm assuming that attack was an initiation?" Skye deadpanned, pushing her long silver hair out of her face.
Gunter and Eld chuckled. "Yup, that's our captain!" Petra chirped, "My name is Petra Ral."
"I'm Gunter Schultz." The dark haired man said with a wink.
"Eld Jinn." The blonde-haired man saluted.
"Uluo Bozado, the best of the best of the Levi Squad." The grey-black haired man said with a drawl, earning eye rolls from everyone save Skye and Levi.
"Alright, you lot," Levi looked to his squad, "Get to the practice grounds. I'm going to take Grey to her new quarters."
"Hai!" The special ops squad said in unison and ran at a full sprint toward the practice Titan grounds.
Skye looked ahead at them before turning to her superior, "New quarters?"
Levi did not respond and swiftly turned toward the housing building. Skye followed silently observing her new captain.
His dark grey eyes always looked expressionless, bored even, and his mouth was set in a permanent frown. His raven black hair fell short on either side of his face and was stopped short by his clean shavened undercut. He was not a very tall man, however he was still taller than herself by a couple inches. His height swayed no one due to his insane abilities and constant stony expression. His muscled body was noticeable underneath his uniform which displayed his awesome physical prowess. His jaw was set in a firm line, accentuating his attractive bone structure. He was actually very handsome, Skye noted, although blushing instantly at the thought of her captain as handsome. Levi looked down at her raising an eyebrow curiously at her pink face.
"Here we are," He said, boredom lacing his every word, "Your room is next to Petra's. We all stay within the same dorms. My room is down there." He flicked his head down the hall toward the last room.
Skye glanced around the small furnished room. A twin-sized bed sat in the far left corner of the room. Next to it was a window covered in grey curtains. Against the right wall was a small wooden desk and chair with a black desk lamp. The room was very bare.
"Hm." Skye grunted, "I'll need to get my things over at the trainee barracks."
Levi looked down at her, "Hurry up and get them. Then meet us at-"
"The practice grounds, yeah, yeah." Skye muttered, unaware of the blatant disrespect she showed the captain.
The Lance Corporal snatched the top of her head and turned her toward him, his other hand bracing the doorway jam. "What was that?" He asked in an ominous tone, his eyes darkening.
Skye gulped, feeling her head turn forcibly toward the moody Captain, "Uh..."
"I didn't hear you."
"I mean, yes, sir, I'll meet you and the team at the practice grounds, sir." Skye stumbled.
Levi said nothing as his face inched closer to hers, smelling her sweet breath as she breathed nervously at his silent anger. For just a moment he stared deep into her dark sapphire eyes, seeing emotion roiling in them. She licked her lips quickly causing the captain's breath to hitch seeing her tongue dart out and swipe her pale pink lips.
"Good." Was all he said, dropping his hands and walking out the hallway.
Skye stood stock-still against the doorway, breathing heavily at the odd encounter.
The captain is such a strange man, Skye thought, following in his path, but toward the trainees housing.
WOOOOHOOOO all done. Onto the next chapter!