When I joined the Survey Corps in the low light of the last day of September, there were only three of us remaining from a crowd of fifty-six potential recruits. A faint, pale purple lingered behind the imposing silhouette of Wall Maria, darkness fast encroaching. Firelight flickered on the faces of my comrades; two sweaty, disheveled, hot messes that had been my family for the last three years. I scratched my head, gazing at my shoes, shifting my weight anxiously.
The Commander had made a speech devoid of the uplifting notes that might have saved my fellow recruits the sloshing of stomach fluids. He gave us cold, hard facts, garnishing no reality with placation or promises of valor. This was no rally and as he walked off of the stage grimly, there was no cheering, no feasting or party favors, no congratulatory celebration.
I thought perhaps I should be regretting this decision, perhaps I should be frightened. This wasn't supposed to be taken for granted, was it? Shouldn't I have had second thoughts, at the very least? Yet, with Locke and Rivka at either side of me, each looking like they might need to change their pants at any moment, I found myself unable to relate. Instead, I was elated, almost as if the wings of freedom would sprout right from the sinewy concavities of my shoulder blades and fly me clear over the moon. A warmth waltzed up from my belly and into my chest, my arms, my fingertips. I looked down at my right hand, scanning every ridge of the scar across my palm, the only vestige of who I was before—whoever that was.
"I think I'm gonna be sick. What kind of initiation was that?" Locke groaned, combing a hand through his dark, choppy hair. "I can't believe I let the two of you talk me into this."
"Nobody talked you into a damn thing," Rivka huffed. "Don't tell me you didn't realize this would be dangerous."
"Well, of course I did. That's why I spent three years trying to talk some damn sense into the two of you," he grumbled.
"Ha! You couldn't talk sense into Thales of Miletus," I cattily replied, punching him on the shoulder.
"Who?" He responded, sending me a withering look.
Scoffing, I turned my nose up. "Philistine."
"Again, who?"
"Seriously? That one's not a person, it's an adjec… Never mind. You really didn't pay attention in class, did you?"
Rivka pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know about you, Locke, but I'm too on edge for another session of The Classics with Currer. We should all get back to the barracks."
"Seconded," Locke replied, grimacing as he rubbed the back of his neck. "The Commander said we'd be meeting our squads bright and early."
"You guys go ahead. I think I'll roam for a little bit. Try and work off some of this giddiness."
Rivka contorted her lips into a distasteful frown. "Only you would be giddy at the thought of being eaten by a giant."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm scared, too, obviously, I just don't feel much like sleeping with that image in my head." Not strictly true, but…
"Fair enough," Rivka conceded. "I guess my more immediate fear is making a bad impression."
Locke cleared his throat. "Are you… sure you want to stay out here alone, Currer? Maybe you'd better come back with me, just to be safe."
"Oh, please, I'll be fine. I'm not a little kid anymore, Locke." He seemed skeptical.
"Exactly! Currer can take care of himself," Rivka concurred. "On the other hand, a lithe and supple beauty such as myself could really use an escort."
Scratching his head, Locke hesitated. He edged over to Rivka, but kept his eyes on me. "Don't stay out too late," he warned.
"Relaaax," I replied, waving dismissively. "I won't be long."
Locke and Rivka lingered only for a few moments before shambling back to the barracks, conversing solemnly. I sighed. Crickets began to chirp as I made my way to a fencepost, sitting contemplatively.
I clutched my fluttering heart, scolding it softly: "Only you would break out the fiddle to play a funeral march".
"Tch. This isn't the fife and drum corps, recruit. Take your 'fiddle' to the fire and head to the barracks. You won't be able to sleep in tomorrow."
I lifted my gaze to meet that of Corporal Levi Ackerman, who grimaced at me out of the corners of his eyes. Beside him, the Commander observed quietly. The height difference between them was hilariously conspicuous. I had wondered why it didn't occur to the Commander to boost morale by parading Humanity's So-Called Strongest on the stage, but now I had my answer. The contrast made it hard to take either one seriously.
And so, foolishly, I deliberated upon my response. On the one hand, I thought, I should probably stand in salute and do as I was told. On the other hand, wasn't I technically off duty until morning? My internal compass shrugged and I cleared my throat. The Corporal and the Commander raised their eyebrows.
"Oh, my friend, how did you come to trade the fiddle for the drum? Oh, my friend, what time is this to trade the handshake for the fist? You say that we have turned, like the enemies you've earned, and when we ask you why, you raise your sticks and cry. Oh, my friend, we have all come to fear the beating of your drum."
A stunned silence followed my recital. Commander Smith's mouth hung open slightly in his affront. Levi scowled.
"What the hell was that?" The latter asked at last, turning toward me fully and intimidatingly.
I grinned sheepishly. "Uh… A poem… sir?"
The Corporal stepped forward, reached his hand out, and pulled me to my feet by the shirt collar. "Do you think this is a joke, you quivering piss ant?"
I raised my hands in surrender. "N-no, sir, of course not, I—"
"'Of course not'? Do you think I'm an idiot? Do you think I need you to state the obvious for me?" His voice was low and collected, like a dark, placid pool, and yet I glimpsed the maw of the lake creature beneath.
I gulped. "No, sir, I'm sure you're very intelligent!"
His eyebrow twitched and I began to see teeth in his scowl. "Didn't they teach you how to speak to a superior officer? Are you stupid or something?"
"Yes, sir! I mean—no, sir, I'm not! I mean—Can you please ask one question at a time, sir?"
"What's your name, soldier?" he growled.
"C-Currer Bell, sir."
"That's a stupid name. Call yourself Piss Ant from now on."
"Wha—"
"Run laps until morning. If you stop running before then, I'll make you do chin ups until noon."
"B-But it's only nine-o'clock!"
"Then you only have to run for nine hours."
I began to protest, but he threw me aside and planted a kick on my rear, sending me stumbling down the path with my tail between my legs, wondering just what could have possessed me.
Levi dusted himself off compulsively and resumed the path to the officers' barracks. Commander Erwin lingered briefly, watching as the spastic recruit skittered into the wooded path, shrieking softly in fright.
"Who was that jabbering moron?" Levi asked, adjusting his cravat in an effort to stifle his annoyance.
"As it happens, that was Former Commander Valentine's only child."
Levi tilted his head to look up at his commander, nonplussed. He hadn't really been expecting an answer and had really been muttering to himself.
"She was raised by that hard-ass? You would think he'd have disciplined her better."
Erwin raised his eyebrows, evidently surprised by something. 'She?' he wondered internally. He hadn't realized that the Corporal was quite so astute. The Commander himself only knew because he had met her several times before. He composed himself and made a dismissive noise. "You would think. Unless he never meant for her to join the military. He may have spoiled her instead."
"What sorry squad were you thinking of dumping her on?"
Erwin grunted uncomfortably. "Special Ops," he replied, trying to disguise his words beneath a cough.
Levi stopped abruptly, turned, and narrowed his eyes at the much taller Commander. "Hey… Did I hear you right? You're putting that idiot on my squad?"
Erwin scratched his jawline, flattening his bushy eyebrows grimly. "Yes, well, she was top of her class, and you're one short ma—er—short one man, so…"
Levi flinched at the mention of the soldier he had lost to an aberrant during the last expedition, to say nothing of that slip of the tongue, and closed his hands into tight fists before resuming his path. He wasn't happy to have Erwin meddling in his decisions like this, but… "She'd better hope she can fill his shoes."
"Have you seen Currer?" Locke sleepily asked, regarding Rivka through droopy eyes. He hadn't been able to sleep last night, and the same seemed to be true of his fellow recruit, though she appeared to be dealing with it better.
"No. Not since last night after the ceremony."
Locke ran a hand through his dark hair in an effort to revitalize himself. Currer swore she wouldn't be long, but instead she never came back at all. He tried to contain his anxiety. Couldn't she ever stay out of trouble?
"You don't think he turned tail, do you?" Rivka wondered.
"No, not a chance; where would he run to? That guy has balls of steel, anyway."
"Or brains of porridge."
"Yeah, probably that, too."
They straightened up when Commander Erwin approached them, hands folded behind his back. "Where's the other one?" he asked.
Locke shrugged and Rivka elbowed him discreetly in the ribs, eliciting an agonized moan.
"We don't know, sir," she said, smiling.
Erwin looked at Locke with concern as he keeled over, holding his bruising side. "Are you alright, soldier?"
"Y-yes, sir," he squeaked out.
"Well, we may have to get started without Bell, then." Erwin walked to the front of the room stoically. There were only three new recruits, but much of the Survey Corps had assembled to welcome them in the mess. The room was filled with hushed conversation. He wondered if Currer had taken Levi's orders on the previous night seriously. Had she passed out in the woods somewhere? Or had she managed to weasel her way out of it?
His thoughts were interrupted when a door burst open. Two soldiers came in carrying a third who flopped like a ragdoll between them. Currer Bell, just in time. They hoisted her into a chair and splashed a glass of water on her face. She jolted up.
"What happened to you!?" A concerned Rivka asked, barreling through the crowd to her friend's side.
Currer dragged a hand up her face and through her hair, collapsing back into the chair. Her face was bright red from exertion and she was covered in dirt and sweat.
"Corporal Levi happened," she managed to struggle out, reaching helplessly for another glass of water.
The entire room turned their attention to the Captain, who leaned coolly against the wall with his arms crossed. He seemed oblivious. A copper haired woman beside him stood aghast. "Wh-what did you do to that poor boy?" she asked, hushed.
Levi shut his eyes contemplatively before pushing himself off of the wall and casually ambling over to the drained recruit. "You ran all night?" he asked.
Currer furrowed her brows and mustered up a weary sneer, lifting her finger in preparation for a snarky retort.
Rivka interjected, slapping her friend's impudent hand down onto the arm of the chair and funneling the contents of a jug into his equally impudent mouth, effectively curbing disaster. "DRINK UP, CURRER, YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE OF DEHYDRATION!" She exclaimed, laughing maniacally.
Currer gurgled helplessly, drowning in Rivka's kind gesture.
"Uh, w-we were standing outside and he just came limping up the path before collapsing on the steps," One of the soldiers who helped her in explained.
Levi scowled at Currer. "I don't believe it," he said, mostly to himself. He took the jug from Rivka, who backed away shakily, a mass of nerves. Then, he grabbed Currer by the shirt collar and dragged her stumbling to the front of the room, shoving her unceremoniously into a flabbergasted Locke, who steadied her as she scowled at the Captain. Rivka hurried to join them.
"Let's get this over with," Levi huffed to the astonished Erwin.
Erwin cleared his throat. "Everyone; Today we are here to receive our new comrades in the fight for humanity's freedom. After the tragedy of the last expedition, each and every man willing to take up arms to regain our territory is crucial. Please, welcome them as friends.
"Locke Wagner, Rivka Reed, you'll both be in squad thirteen. Currer Bell, you'll be in special ops." The room came alive with whispers. A newbie on special ops? Moreover, the freak who just caused a big scene? Erwin nodded to a soldier who stood just behind him. The soldier hurried to the three newbies and presented them with their new uniforms, which they each took nervously.
Erwin smiled. "I wish the three of you luck."
Today's scene: sta . sh/0eprrff9ims
A/N: Woooooo-oh god I'm having serious anxiety about this. I haven't published a story in so many years. I hope someone out there enjoys it. Anyway, if you wanted to know what Locke and Rivka look like, they appear on this character sheet tinyurl ybfsezb6
Please review!
