.

To you, the Swallow

Chapter 2: Cadet Ziegler

- 4 YEARS BEFORE THE FALL OF WALL MARIA-

The wagon was full of recruits like me. Most looked to be older than me, some maybe the same age. I knew I was young to be enlisting, but if I had it my way I would've enlisted when I was twelve. Mr. Martin had talked me out of it, saying that I should wait at least another year. I valued that old mans opinion, so I did what he said.

I glanced around the wagon once more. I was sitting near the end on the bench, as I glanced out of the opening I was able to see out. We were out of Shiganshina but still within wall Maria. The people around me chatted to one another quietly. Most were anxious about getting started with their training. They talked about how they were going to be in the top ten and join the Military Police. I laughed at them; I wanted to join the Survey Corps. They could stay inside their precious walls. I've seen what's out there; I've lived their worst nightmares.

The wagon came to a stop. The murmur increased within the carriage, most anxious to get started and find out what our training would entail. The man next to me was the first one to rise. He pushed he cloth out of the way and jumped down from the carriage. I followed closely after him, lifting the hem of my skirt so that I could hop down easily. I glanced around my new environment. We were in the middle of a courtyard, inside what appeared to be a large barracks. The barracks was only two stories high, with windows facing into the courtyard and around five doors on the first floor going to different rooms within the barracks.

The rest of the recruits filed out of the three carriages and came to stand in a big cluster in the center of the courtyard. I gazed around, waiting for something to happen. Finally I spotted a man emerging from one of the doors. He was a tall man, with slicked back blonde hair and narrow brown eyes. He was wearing the official uniform, with the short brown leather jacket with the symbol for the training corps on the breast. Talking immediately stopped when this man approached us.

"Afternoon, Cadets!" He barked out. His hands folded behind his back. His brown eyes scanned over our group quickly. "I'm the head instructor for the Southern Division Training corps, Leon Koch. I'll be the one who whips you all into shape for the next three years," he paused, and began pacing up and down the length of the group. "Today, you'll be paired off into three groups of fifteen. Within these groups you will be eating, sleeping and training with. You'll head off to get your own uniforms and get acquainted with the barracks. Tomorrow is when your real training begins. And be warned, over half of you won't last the week. The person standing next to you may not be here tomorrow."

I heard the nervous mumbles of people around me. I stared down Leon Koch, I was here for a reason, and I wasn't going to give up. Leon Koch pulled out a large piece of paper and rolled it out. I guessed it was the groups that had already been set up.

"When your name is called out, grab your belongings and head over to the north door. An instructor will be waiting to take you to your dorms and uniform fittings."

I listened for my name, but it never came in the first group. I watched as fifteen teenagers and adults shuffled off with their belongings towards the door where a stoic woman stood, her posture as rigid as a tree. Leon Koch started reading off he second group.

I hadn't really been paying attention, which was until I finally heard my name being called. "Ziegler, Hope."

I snapped to attention, my gaze finding Koch's as I approached him and diverted to where the entire luggage had been set out. I found my small suitcase and grabbed it tightly, holding it firmly between my hands. I waited until the rest of the names had been read out and then we headed to the east door where a man was waiting for us. It didn't escape my knowledge that I was only one of four girls in my group. It seemed to be that way with all the recruit groups. Female presence was seriously lacking in the military.

We entered the barracks. It was lit with torches hung equally spaced along the walls. Windows helped bring the light in the corridors too. The walls were solid stone and the floor wooden. The man leading us looked to be middle aged, with short brown hair.

"I'm Ernst Ludwig, I'm your group leader. I'll be the one who oversees most of your training here. Instructor Koch is the one who assesses you on your skills and declares if you're skilled enough to go on."

Ludwig took us through a few doors that I know I'll get lost trying to find my way back, and into a large room. It had four long tables, each with three large candles in the middle as decoration. Well, at least they tried…

There were two doors at the back and one to the left. "This is your common room. This is where you'll eat your meals. The left door at the back is the male dormitory, the right the female. Over to the left are the bathrooms; they are split into two separate areas for men and women. Meals are served at six am every day, lunch at midday and dinner at seven. Training starts at seven am everyday except for Sundays which are half days in the afternoon."

I was trying to keep up with all the information he was giving us. All I could focus on was that I was going to be sharing a bathroom with the men. I really hoped none were going to try and sneak a peek, or the Titans weren't the only ones getting slaughtered.

"Each year is broken down into sections. First year you'll be taught combat and techniques. Second year is strategy and history and third year is survival and your final grading's. I'll be frank with you lot," Ludwig said as he turned and faced us. His eyes scanned over each and every one of us. "Instructor Koch was right when he said over half of you will drop out within the first week. This life isn't meant for everyone, the training is tough. Only a select few will make it to the end, and even less into the top ten. Now split off and drop your belongings off in your dormitories, we're heading out to get your uniforms next."

I stood in line with the other cadets. This part was boring; it took around fifteen minutes for each person to receive their uniform. And thanks to my pickiness on picking out the perfect bunk for myself, I had been one of the last to emerge from my dormitory so I was stuck near the back of the line. My arms were folded over my chest as I waited my turn.

When it was finally mine I walked up to the older woman sitting behind the desk and told her my name. She ticked me off with her pen and then led me to another area behind a curtain. She took a while to pick out my jacket and trousers, probably because I was so short.

She finally returned with a few selections on her arm. "You look like the shortest recruit this year. Try these on and come out when you're done."

I did as she asked. The trousers were a whole other issue in themselves. Both pairs were way too long for my scrawny legs, though the second pair not as much. I chose them and decided I'd cut the hem off later so that they'd fit better. The boots were my size thankfully and were easy to slip on. The sash around my waist was another tick. One size fits all apparently. She had given me three jackets to choose from. The third one did the trick, fitting snug over my shoulders and allowing me the room I needed to swing my arms around in a circle. I folded up my old clothes and left the discarded ones on the bench and left the curtained area. I showed the woman my attire as she gave me the nod of approval and sent me on my way.

S

I was back in the common room. Dinner was served; buffet tables had been wheeled in from somewhere else in the barracks into the front of the room where we were able to serve ourselves. My mouth immediately started to water. I had been living in poverty for all my life, only ever having one meal a day, two if I was lucky. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

One table had various meats, some I had never tried before. Another was full of vegetables, again some that I had never had before but was eager to try. The last table was desserts and drinks. Mostly juice but I thought I smelled something like tea. Never had it before but I had smelt it in the markets back at Shiganshina.

I piled the food onto my plate; I knew that I'd never be able to finish it all, but I wanted to at leas try everything. I got strange looks from some of the older cadets. Some baffled that a tiny girl like me had so much food. Jokes on them, I wasn't going to eat it all.

I sat back down at my table. A few young boys were at the end of it, I didn't feel like being social on the first day, and I wasn't ready to share my story yet. I could hear them from here, telling each other how they wanted to fight Titans even though they had never seen one before. I'd seen one—two actually. They plagued my dreams every night.

"Can I sit here?" A voice said to my right, jolting me out of my thoughts. I turned to the voice, and saw a pretty blonde girl smiling down at me. I recognized her from my group; she had been one of the first to get her uniform.

"Uh—sure," I said, scooting over a little to let her in—and to give me more space. I gave her another one over. She was older than me, maybe fifteen or sixteen. Her hair was cut to above her shoulders and fell in curly waves. Her eyes were a murky green, or brown? I couldn't really tell in the dim lighting.

"I'm Ingrid," she said politely.

"Hope," I replied. She grinned at me.

"That's a pretty name. Sorry if I was being so forward, there aren't many girls in our group so I thought we should stick together." Ingrid giggled.

"It's fine," I said reassuringly. Ingrid seemed nice enough—too nice to be here. She ate some of her food and glanced over at me.

"Your eyes are amazing. I've never seen anything like it," Ingrid told me, creepily staring at me.

I looked away from her. "Um—thanks."

She laughed again. "Sorry, I have a habit of getting too personal too quickly when I meet new people."

"It's fine," I waved her off. That seemed to please her as she leant closer to me and inspected my eyes.

"One blue and one hazel, it's so cool! Do your parents have the same?" She asked. Oh boy, here we go. I was dreading this conversation coming up so soon into my stay here.

"I wouldn't know," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I never knew my parents. I was raised in an orphanage."

"Oh," Ingrid looked like she had jus stepped in mud. It was obvious that she was regretting her question. Most people did when they found out; they didn't know how to act around people like me sometimes.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure one of them must have had it, how else would I have gotten it if not from them?" Ingrid seemed to feel better about that. She then delved into her own life story that I tried to pay attention to as I dug into my food. The meats were glorious, and the mashed potato? Don't even get me started!

Ingrid told me that she was from Wall Rose and Krolva district. She had both her parents and a younger brother. She wasn't sure which division she wanted to go in at the end of her training.

We chatted for a little while longer, and before I knew it I was already full and Ingrid had polished off her plate. I saw a few of the others were heading off to their dorms to get some rest before our training started tomorrow. I dumped my waste in the bin and placed my plate with the others in a stack and followed Ingrid into our own dorm.

For the first time, I was really thankful that there were only four girls—including me—in our group. That meant it was peaceful and quiet. I headed on over to the bunk that I had picked out beforehand. My small suitcase was sitting on the bed as I walked over to it and flicked it open. Ingrid was over at her own bed and wasn't looking in my direction so I took the chance to change into my nightclothes quickly. Once that was done I folded up my uniform neatly and placed it at the foot of my bed, my boots on the floor at the end. I took another look around at my home for the next three years and then climbed into bed.

Training was a bitch. We had started the day at six am. I had gotten up and ran to the showers quickly, changed into my uniform. I had discarded the blue blouse that I had worn yesterday and opted for a plain white one that I had packed with my stuff. I had arrived at breakfast early and helped myself to the food that had been laid out. Ingrid joined me a few minutes later after having her own shower and getting changed. Her undershirt was a yellow blouse.

At seven Ludwig returned and took our group back out into the courtyard. We had then proceeded to get yelled at by Leon Koch. He had screamed into our faces about what we were doing here and whatnot. It was pretty intimidating and I saw a few of the people from other groups look like they had just about wet themselves.

After that was thankfully over and done with, (I myself had flinched numerous times at Koch leering at me. Calling me a scrawny little chicken leg, and Titan fodder and whatnot. Really I had heard worse on the streets of Shiganshina.) We split up into our here groups. Ingrid and I stayed together for the most part. To be honest, it was nice to have someone by my side for this. Ludwig took us outside he barracks and into the open areas surrounding the compound. It was the first time I had actually gotten a good look at where we were. Large clear lands surrounded the compound, a whole bunch of obstacle courses and balancing contraptions set up for our training. Further out I could see a large forest, with trees taller than Titans. I had over heard that the forest was where we did most of our ODM gear training and Titan simulations.

For now, Ludwig led us over to the balancing contraptions, which I assumed would help us with learning how to use the ODM gear.

Ludwig demonstrated what we had to do, and then brought out boxes full of he leather straps. One of his subordinates showed us how to put the straps on, and we all go to it. And then we finally started our training.

S

After the first week, ten recruits had dropped out. One had been from my group.

After the first month, one third of the recruits had dropped out. My group was now down to ten, the lowest out of all of them. Some said it was because Ludwig trained us harder than most. But we all knew it was because they were weak.

When the third month rolled around—and just like instructor Koch said—we were down to less then half of what we started with.

When the sixth month rolled around…I was still getting my ass handed to me…

S

"Block it, Ziegler!" Ludwig bellowed at me.

The distraction was all that Finn needed as his fist came headed straight for my cheek. I failed to dodge as I felt his fist connect with my flesh; a loud grunt escaped my mouth as the force of Finn's punch had me falling back through the air and onto my ass. My back got scraped up from the hard gravel as I sat up and wiped my cheek from he blood that had pooled in my mouth. I had bit down on the inside of my cheek at the punch.

I heard Ludwig sigh in exasperation. I glanced over at him, watching as he shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. He moved off to watch the other pair, which were Ingrid and Anton. Ingrid was amazing; she had improved incredibly over the six months we had been here. She was holding her own against Anton, one of the bulkiest guys in our group as he came at her with the wooden knife. Ingrid sidestepped, smacking his hand away. Anton stumbled and Ingrid was able to get behind him and force her elbow into his back. Anton spluttered, hitting the ground on all fours as Ingrid came up and kicked Anton in the stomach to flip him over. She then straddled him and grappled for the knife. One arm pinned his neck down, the other bending his wrist so that he dropped it.

Once it was over Anton and Ingrid laughed together as Ludwig walked over and congratulated them both on a job well done. I sighed, looking longingly at the praise that I wished to receive from Ludwig and then down at my feet. I wasn't improving. I had been doing this same damn exercise for six months and I still wasn't getting anywhere.

"Hey, don't let it get you down," Finn said to me. I looked up at him, a pout on my face. Finn was seventeen, small for his age but quick and agile. He had short brown hair and kind blue eyes.

"Easy for you to say," I retorted. Finn extended his hand down for me as I grasped onto it as he pulled me up. "You're actually able to win a fight."

Finn sent me a kind smile. "You'll get it one day, Hope. Is your cheek okay?"

I looked away, embarrassed and rubbed at it. "I'm fine."

"I can see it getting red already, maybe you should go and see the medic?"

"I said it's fine," I snapped back. Finn gave me a pointed look as I glared at him. I crossed my arms over my chest and marched away like a child.

After dinner, I had showered and changed into my normal clothes. I came and sat in the courtyard on one of the benches. It was nice out here at this time; everyone was inside eating and talking.

I sighed and rubbed at my cheek once again. It had become swollen and bruised after a few hours, but I refused to go and see the medic about it.

"Hey?" I recognized the voice. It was Ingrid. I turned to look at her from over my shoulder; she too was dressed in her normal clothes. "Can I join you?" I gave her a shrug, not bothered if she did or didn't join me. I heard Ingrid chuckle quietly as she came and sat next to me on the bench.

"Finn told me what happened today."

I sighed heavily. "Ludwig's going to kick me out."

"No he's not," Ingrid scoffed.

I frowned over at her. "Yes he is. He told me so after training today!"

The older girl rolled her eyes at me. "They don't kick you out of the Training corps, Hope. The only choice you have is to complete it or drop out."

"He may as well have. He said that if I don't improve within the next month then there's no reason for me to be here at all," I grumbled and leant forwards, leaning on my hands. "I'll never be able to face Anja now."

"Who's Anja?" Ingrid's tone of voice changed. I froze for a split second. I had done o well to keep my past a secret, to not mention anything that would draw attention to myself. Ingrid had been a good friend to me over the past six months; maybe it was ok to open up to her?

"She was my friend. We lived in the orphanage together since I was little."

"She's dead?" Ingrid asked, but it was more of a statement.

I nodded somberly. "It was her dream to be in the Survey Corps, but she died three years ago."

"Can I ask how?"

I swallowed thickly. "It was…a Titan—she was killed by a Titan."

Ingrid gasped. "Oh, Hope…I'm so sorry." I felt her arm come around my shoulder as she hugged me tenderly. "Wait—if she never joined the survey corps, how did she come across a Titan?"

I pulled away from Ingrid and stood up from the bench. This was something that I never wanted to relieve. I could still hear the screams. Klaus and Stefan screaming in pain. Anja saying her final goodbye and watching her get eaten alive.

"We went outside."

"Outside the walls?" Ingrid repeated, the surprise in her voice. I nodded and faced her.

"It's my fault she's dead. I begged her to let me come with her. We went out, we had so much fun. I felt free, not trapped inside the walls. We all fell asleep beside the river and Anja woke me up, screaming at me that we had to run because it was daytime. It was no use. The Titans chased us—and Anja gave her life for me. I got lucky, the Survey Corps were returning from an expedition and arrived in time to save me. It's a criminal offense to go outside the walls, but I was a kid—they didn't know what to do with me. So they sent me back to the orphanage and I had to live with the guilt."

Ingrid was completely silent; she was processing what I had just told her. I knew it was a lot, it wasn't everyday that you came across someone who had been outside the walls, encountered Titans and lived to tell the tale.

"Anja and I promised each other that we'd both join the Survey Corps, so that we could be together forever. I wanted to keep that promise. I intend to keep that promise."

Ingrid stood up. "And I'll help you. You're not going to drop out, Hope. We'll practice every night if we have to. We'll sneak out to the forest and practice out ODM maneuvers. You'll make Anja proud, I know you will."

Thanks to Ingrid, the next month we did just that. We managed to sneak out every night for a few extra hours to get some more practice in. We go just a little bit over the hill outside the barracks; it was a place that was blocked from view of the top story windows. Ingrid would go through the basic defensive and attack moves, and then she'd make me attack her. She was a really good teacher. She would go easy on me when I was having difficult trying out a new move and we'd repeat it over and over again. For two hours we would practice and then head back inside. We had a feeling that Ludwig knew what we were doing as he would give us sly remarks about how I was steadily improving but never really outright said anything. Ingrid chose to be my continuous partner for the combat exercises from now on. Anton always wanted a rematch with Ingrid but she always politely declined. It was like we did our own training during the day, Ingrid would always make sure to go at my pace. She would always talk me through where to put my feet and where to block. It was all so confusing but I was starting to get the hang of it. I think.

S

"Titan on the left, Hope, you got this one!" Ingrid called out to me as we sailed through the air. My gaze settled on the Titan cutout. It was swaying from side to side slightly. I retracted my wires and fired them off at a branch lower than the Titan. I swung around it and fired my wires into a higher one and came flying over it. I gripped my blades tightly in my hand as I cut into the material neck of the Titan. It gave me a lot of resistance and I was barely able to hold onto the blades as I cut through.

"Good job, Hope!" Ingrid whooped happily from a branch near me. I moved over to her and retracted my wires and landed next to her. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that I had barely made a mark in the neck.

"Its not strong enough to kill a real Titan," I grumbled, glaring down at my weak hands.

Ingrid clicked her tongue at me in annoyance. "Well, that just means you've got to put some more muscle on those scrawny arms. We'll start doing more strength training tonight after dinner."

I smiled over at Ingrid. In some ways she reminded me on Anja. She had become close to me, she looked out for me. The same way that Anja did. Their caring and mothering personalities were exactly the same as each other. I just know that without Ingrid, I would have dropped out a long time ago. Some times I wondered why Ingrid even bothered with me. She was one of the best in this year's batch. She was easily able to cut through these fake Titans and take down men two times her size, yet she always focused on me. She hardly knew me and yet she was doing everything for me.

"Schneider! Ziegler! Get your asses moving!" Ludwig bellowed from the forest floor. Ingrid and I both peered over the branch to see the cadets zipping through the trees below us. Ingrid looked over at me.

"Hey," she placed her hand on my shoulder. "I'll make sure you graduate, and I'll make sure you're strong enough to take these Titans on." I nodded in thanks to her. Ingrid grinned and jumped off the branch, she let herself fall for a few seconds before firing her wires and twisting in the air and speeding off. I followed her quickly after a few seconds.

"Ziegler!"

I jumped when I heard my name get called. Ingrid had been going through some more tips and tricks to taking down my opponents, when somehow, Ludwig had snuck up on us.

"Yes?" I asked, turning around to face him. I saw Finn standing next to his arm. I could feel the dread pooling in the pit of my stomach.

"Let's see how much of your nighttime training has really paid off, shall we?" I was just thankful that he hadn't given me Anton. It also proved that Ludwig was aware of Ingrid's and my late adventures.

I blanched at the thought of fighting Finn. Final examinations were still around three months away for the end of our first year, but I was pretty sure I was nowhere near ready to actually fight someone other than Ingrid. And we didn't even technically fight each other. Finn looked just as uncomfortable as I felt. The last time we had sparred he had punched me onto my ass and had felt horrible about it for days. It wasn't his fault I sucked at being a cadet. I swallowed and agreed to it, moving away from Ingrid. I thought I had until Ingrid clamped a hand down onto my shoulder and whispered into my ear.

"Just remember, watch his movements and wait for the time to strike. Use your speed and your size to your advantage." I nodded at her words. I was completely terrified of failing. Was this it? If I failed this was Ludwig going to kick me out?

I moved to stand in front of Finn. Ludwig backed off and to my horror I saw that the other eight recruits had come to watch. They formed a small circle around us and I seriously wanted to yell at all of them to mind their own business. Not only was I about to get my ass kicked, I was going to do it with an audience.

"First one with their opponent on their back wins—begin!"

I brought my hands up to block my face, just like Ingrid had told me. I wasn't going to make the first strike; Ingrid had drilled that into me from day one. Finn knew this and he made the first move. He lunged for me, and I noticed that it was different from the last time we fought. His moves were a lot slower and deliberate. He was making sure that I could read them. I glared; I didn't want any pity because I was the worst in the class. I was going to prove myself.

I sidestepped around Finn, he came at me with his fist but I brought my arms together. His punch landed on my arms, it made me want to cry out in pain from the force of it but I held it back. He kicked his leg to my side but I blocked that one. All of a sudden he changed direction and spun, going for a roundhouse kick.

Oh shit, Ingrid hadn't taught me how to block this one…

Finn's kick landed right into my side painfully as I caused me to stumble a few feet away. I made sure to catch myself before I fell. I wasn't going down yet. I turned just in time to grapple with Finn. I caught his wrists and tried to push him back. If it were a test of strength, I would loose each time. But I had something up my sleeve.

If all else fails, go for the groin. Those had been Ingrid's words. It was barbaric, but if it worked—it worked. I didn't have long before my strength would leave me in this grapple contest. I smirked at Finn as I suddenly kicked my leg out—but I didn't hit him in the groin, I pretended too. I got so close to his sensitive area that he gasped and flinched, leaving himself wide open. I ripped my hands off his wrist and tried out my very first roundhouse kick. I spun, pulling my body in tightly as I had seen Finn do. The momentum had me going as I thrust my leg into his stomach; I heard the satisfying grunt of pain. It had also thrown me off balance. I wobbled just as Finn hit the ground on his back. I lost my footing as I too fell to the ground, on my stomach though. Dust was kicked up as I coughed loudly, ridding it from my throat.

"Woohoo!" I heard Ingrid cheer loudly. It dawned on me that I had done it. I had won my first spar! The others clapped for me as I rolled onto my back and sat up. My eyes found Finn; he was holding his stomach but looking at me with a pleased smile. I looked over at Ludwig next; I was worried about his reaction. He stood there with his arms crossed stoically. I was waiting for him to say that it had been no good. I had fallen on my ass, not exactly the most graceful of wins.

"Look's like you've proved yourself today, Ziegler," Ludwig said monotony. I waited for the but, it sounded like there was a but. "I expect by the end of the year for you to win a match still on your feet."

Well, it wasn't a pat on the back—but it sure as hell wasn't a dismissal. Ludwig gave a brief nod to Ingrid, silently telling her 'good work' as he turned on his heel and marched away from our group. I only had to wait a few seconds before Ingrid was yanking me to my feet.

"You did it! Hope you did it!" She shook my shoulders forcefully as my head rocked back and forwards.

"Barely…" I said after she had quite finished trying to take my head off my shoulders. "I fell on my face."

"You still beat Finn!" Ingrid exclaimed happily.

"It's true," Finn said as he approached us. For once his normally tidy hair was unruly. I had to admit; I felt a little bit of satisfaction from that. "It's quite an achievement."

"Well done, Hope," a new voice said as the three of us looked over at Anton who had approached us. Anton was sort of my friend, as was Finn. Really they were more Ingrid's friends but as I was always around Ingrid—they were always around me. Anton was the oldest out off all of us. He was almost twenty and standing at six feet tall and packed with muscle. I had suspicions that Anton and Ingrid had a…thing going on. Some nights, after Ingrid and I had finished our late night training, she would go off somewhere else and return a few hours later. She'd never say where she went and I never asked. But some days I could see a flirty smile directed between one another.

"You know," Anton said, running a hand through his light brown hair. "If you ever need to get more practice in—I'd be willing to help you."

"Same here," Finn added in with a sincere smile.

I didn't know what to do. Even though I spent time around them both, I had never really bonded with them. Ingrid and I had kept our training a secret, as I was too embarrassed to admit that I was lacking. Now it was out in the open—and I felt…grateful for their offer.

"Uh—thanks," I stuttered out. I could feel my cheeks reddening from the embarrassment. "That's nice of you both."

Anton smiled, and I swear birds sang and babies stopped crying. Ingrid was a lucky girl. "No pressure. Hopefully it lets Ingrid off the hook for a bit," Anton smirked over at the tall blonde as she giggled and hugged me tightly.

"Hey, I don't mind doing it! You guys better be nice to her, she's like my little sister now."

Ingrid's words felt like a stab through the heart. I shouldn't have a reason to be sad at what she said, they were happy words—and true. Ingrid had filled the void that Anja had left in me. But having them said out loud still made her death a reality. No one noticed my current mood. They were too busy fighting over who was going to train me first. I grasped onto the small necklace that hung around my neck, it had been Anja's. She wasn't wearing it the night she died. She told me years ago that it was the only thing she had of her parents before they had died from a plague years ago. It was a simple silver necklace, with a pendant with the symbol of the sun on it. Intertwining the sun were flower petals and leaves. It was a rather beautiful piece of jewelry. It had me thinking about Anja again and what Ingrid had said.

"Hey, Ziegler!"

I jumped out of my thoughts, looking around for Finn's voice, as he had been the one to shout my name. I dropped the necklace against my chest and found him, Ingrid and Anton waiting for me near one of the doors.

"Hurry up and get over here!" Finn called with a smile. I grinned and nodded excitedly. I ran over to the three of them.

"Sorry, I was just lost in thought."

Ingrid tossed a smile over her shoulder as she walked ahead with Anton. "Thinking about that awesome roundhouse kick you did on Finn?"

"Hey! That still hurts, you know!" Finn protested, rubbing his stomach. I laughed as Anton fell back beside me and threw his arm around my shoulder.

"Don't worry, short stuff. I'll teach you how to throw out a proper kick. You'll be having even that Kurt running away from you." Kurt Fischer was currently the top cadet in this years recruit.

"I doubt that," I said with a side-glance. "But thanks for trying anyway."

A/N

Second chapter done! Next chapter will be the conclusion of her training cause I really don't want to drag this shit out for long. We'll also get a peek at Levi next chapter! Just to clarify ages...well this is a hard one. I did a lot of researching and math to figure this all out. So we know that in the current timeline (before timeskip manga readers) Levi is in his thirties. Subtracting all the years and shit put him at 21 at this moment in time with Hope being 13. Now, there is literally next to no information about what age Levi joined the corp or when No Regrets take place. Some forums put him at 17-18 when the OVA takes place. I took some liberty with that. That being said, there's not going to be any sort of romantic relationship while our girl is still so young...cause...ew. That will come later.

thank you to

Ms Sleepy Clover for your review! I agree with a lot of what you said, and be rest assured that I will try not to make those annoying cliches happen. I agree with them portraying Levi and Mikasa very heavily op and that's not going to happen with mine!