Aleo grew up in the town just In front of Trost. When wall Maria fell, his family was one of the first refugees to enter Wall Rose. His father was forced on the military mission to retake Wall Maria. He has a little sister, Mary, and his mother suffers from a sort of muscular disease that makes her perpetually weak. He joined the trainees to join the scouts and find a way to better mankind, rather than cowering behind the walls. Not for a cliche "I wanna help mankind" reason, but because he figured every titan he killed is one less than could get in Wall Rose and hurt his family. But the day the survivors of the mission came back constantly haunted his dreams...
"A-Aleo? The army people came back," Mary, Aleo's younger sister said softly, pulling on her older brother's pant leg. His face drained of color upon hearing the toddler's words.
"Okay Mary. You stay here with mom then, alright? I'll go look for dad," he said, kneeling down and giving his baby sister a hug.
He quickly left the small house the government gave his family to live in just behind the rear gate of the Trost District. Aleo ran into the district, following the crowd of people to the front gate. When the crowd was smaller than he anticipated, he knew there was a problem. Over 250,000 people had left on the mission to retake wall maria...so where were they?
The few soldiers who had made it back, just over 100, were all quite sickly. Many were pale, bruised and battered. A few had poorly damaged stumps where their arms were. Aleo scanned the soldiers quickly. His dad was in the Garrison, one of the few Garrison soldiers who left with the civilian army. His coat should be easy to spot. But all he saw were scout cloaks, and civilian "soldiers."
"Dad?" Aleo called, getting panicked. "Dad?! Dad, where are you?!"
A powerful voice came from his right. "What's your name, child?"
Aleo faced a tall member of the Scouts. "A-aleo Fletcher, sir."
The man had a solemn look on his weary face. "I see..." he uttered.
From his pocket, he pulled a pendant. It was a small one, with the garrisons logo on the front and a wall rose symbol on the back, held on by a piece of tough string. "Do you recognize this, Aleo?"
Aleo gulped, and could feel hot tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He nodded slowly.
The soldier gave him the pendant, not saying anything for a moment to the boy who clutched it in his hand as he began to weep. Finally, he said. "Your father was a brave man Aleo. He kept the abnormal pursuing us at bay. We are forever in his debt."
Aleo didn't register the words, just kept crying as he fell too his knees.
~~~~~~~ (Year 852)
The sun above was beating down on the cadets lined up in the camp courtyard. The sweat on the brows was partly due to the heat, but mostly from their intimidating new Commander. A tall man with a shaved head and dark circles under his eyes, he struck fear into all of them, screaming insults and questions each one, save a few. He then came to Linden, who seemed more than a little unnerved by the toughness of his welcoming speech.
"Who the hell are you tomato head?!" She was taken aback. She knew he was referring to her strawberry blonde hair, but she always thought of it to be quite pretty. She pushed the insult aside and answered with a salute "Linden Malkin from Hermia, sir!"
He then asked, "Ohh so you're from the interior ehh? Why would you want to become a soldier? Hmm? Too soft and cushy where you're from? You want some action, right?"
She yet again pushed the insult away and tried to reply strongly. "Sir, I want to be of at least some help, so I thought a soldier would work, sir!"
The commander smirked. "Well you picked the wrong place pip-squeak! You should go and help in the fields and make the food shortage just a tiny un-noticeably better!" he then went to the next cadet, being Aleo.
And who the hell are you, cue ball?" He asked, making an insult out of Aleo's closely clipped hair. Aleo, however, didn't pay this any mind. He saluted the drill instructor, sounding off a loud response. "Aleo Fletcher of Narako, sir!"
"Ah, so you lived in Wall Maria, huh? Tell me, how was it to watch your friends at home get eaten alive?"
Aleo scowled but didn't look him in the eyes. "Gory as all hell sir! But it couldn't have been worse then those bags under your eyes!"
The very second he said that, the entire battalion got quieter than it ever would be again. Only the wind and the instructor's coat flapping in it were heard. Aleo's eyes darted from side to side as he smirked, gauging people's reactions, making it clear he was gonna be the jokester of this batch of recruits. Linden started at him with shock, admiring his bravery inwardly, but at the same time she tried not to laugh.
The instructor smirked at the recruit, and then delivered a swift kick to his knee. There was an audible thump as his boot collided with the boys leg, who cried out in pain and fell to the ground. "I'm gonna have fun with you, kid." He stated colicky before moving onwards down the squad. Several cadets looked at each other, pondering if it was wise to help him.
Later after everyone was dismissed, Linden went over to him. "Hey, you alright?"
He slowly got to his feet, shaking his leg out. "Ahh...that's gonna bruise..." he met Linden's gaze. "Yeah, I'm fine, nothing hurt badly."
"Rub it." she advised. "It will help it to not bruise. At least not as much. It may hurt but rub it firmly."
He slowly knelt and began rubbing the side of his knee cap. "Thanks for the advice," he said. "So what's your goal after you graduate? Garrisons? MP's? God forbid, the Scout Regiment?"
Adjusting her jacket witch was askew or some reason, she replied, "Well my parents want me in the MP's, but I kinda want to choose for myself. I'm not so sure if I'll make it to the top ten, so probably the garrison. How about you?"
He stopped rubbing his knee and stood. "I'm thinking of joining the Scouts, to be honest."
She stared at him, startled a bit. "Scouts? Why so reckless?"
"Because every titan killed outside is one less that could get through the walls," he said simply. The alarm bell rang, signaling that it was time to head to the mess hall for the evening meal. "C'mon, let's continue this inside."
"Alright. I wonder what they'll have for dinner?" she wondered as they went towards the mess hall.
"Goat blood and moldy cheese," Aleo said nonchalantly, his face serious.
"Heh... heheh... you're kidding... right...?" she asked slowly.
He looked at her with a straight face. "Hey, waste not want not is their motto."
She looked heart-fallen. "Crap..." she muttered as she looked at the food being dished out to the cadets in line. She got a plate and got as little of the said food as possible, not wanting to make it look like she was disgusted even though she was..
As they sat down, Aleo took a large spoonful of the red liquid in the bowl, then looked up, trying not to laugh when he saw her face.
She took a small spoonful and sniffed it cautiously, and then plunged it in her mouth trying to get it over with as quickly as possible. She swallowed, and then sort of dry heaved.
"Ughh... no offense to the one who cooked this, but this is sick!" She exclaimed quietly, so not too many could hear her.
"I don't know, I think it's pretty good." He then picked up the bowl in his hands and began drinking straight from it, somewhat loudly.
She stared at him, and then looked down at her own bowl. "I think I'm going to be sick..."
He set the bowl down and grinned, teeth stained a bright red. "What, you don't like tomato soup?"
She stared at him with disbelief, and then a bit of anger. "It's just tomato soup?!" She said it a bit too loudly, and some of the other cadets looked at her. She blushed, embarrassed, and ate a big spoonful.
Aleo started snickering, and then began laughing louder until he was cracking up, eyes watering. "You...you should have...seen the look on your face! Priceless!" He stammered between fits of laughs.
Linden was so embarrassed that she started to cry a bit. She rubbed her eyes and tried not to show it, but failed, and just kept eating.
Aleo noticed her tears and promptly stopped laughing. "Woah, hey, sorry if I embarrassed you. I was just trying to have a little fun," he apologized, voice softening from its usual upbeat and snarky tone.
She looked up at him sheepishly "Ok... it's alright. I'm just a bit sensitive is all." Trying to cheer herself up, she gave a little laugh. "I have no idea how I survived ol'baggy eyes's rant about my tomato head."
"Yeah, I don't know what he was going on about about your hair," Aleo said. He reached over and brushed a bit of her bangs from her brow. "I think it's pretty."
She blushed and broke eye contact, not knowing what to say. After a pause, she breathed, "Thank you..."
He smiled softly at her. "Don't mind baggy eyes. Heh, it's gonna be my goal to annoy the piss out of him over these next three years, I'll get him back for it."
She smiled back. "Mind if I aid you in your epic quest'?"
"Not at all, the more the merrier. And you know we start gear evaluations tomorrow, so I'm trying to think of something already," he said with a laugh.
"Ohh tell me about it!"
(The next morning)
Cadets were lined up to try out the harnesses and test their balance on the gear straps. Aleo was in the middle of the line of his squad, with Linden parallel in the one next to him. As they slowly moved forwards, Aleo tried to keep from laughing, but failed and giggled a few times, making others throw odd looks in his direction. Linden also tried not to laugh, and the two exchanging glances often didn't help. After a while Aleo was up for his turn.
Aleo attached himself to the wires and the operator lifted him up. For a moment he actually tried and found balancing was incredibly easy. Then he deliberately flipped himself upside down, dangling in mid air with mock surprise on his face. The instructor noticed and stormed over to him.
"Well cue ball, not so easy is it?" He remarked, scowling down at the young boy.
Aleo tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean, commander?"
With a twitch of his ankles, the harness allowed him to right himself in a fluid motion. "It's easier than your mother, sir."
It was very hard for Linden not to laugh, so short snorts of laughter came from her. The other cadets stared at him wide eyed.
"What did he just say to the commander?" They whispered.
"I don't know...ooohh, this might get ugly..."
The commander glowered at Aleo. "Lower him," he said to the operator. Aleo was lowered back to his feet, and the commander undid the hooks from his harness. Then, he did a sweep kick to Aleo's leg, making him collapse to the ground. "Run."
Aleo coughed and tired to get to his feet. "W-what sir?"
"RUN YOU PIECE OF SHIT! AND DONT STOP UNTIL SUNDOWN!"
Aleo's face paled at the prospect. "A-and...if I say no?"
"Then I am going to tear out your fingernails. Up to you, skinhead."
Aleo backed off, and took off running around the entire camp. As he passed by Linden, he winked at her. They were in this together, after all, although he wouldn't blame her if she didn't fulfill her part.
The commander turned around towards Linden. "Tomato-head, you were snorting like a fat pig back there. Were you in on Aleo's little plan?"
She then looked at him, and tried her best to look as serious as she could. "Yes Mr. Baggy-eyes SIR!" Suddenly, pain shot through her leg and she fell to the ground. She sat up and said "You're pain is much appreciated, SIR!" She shouted somewhat awkwardly.
"You can run as well tomato-head!" As upset as she was at the thought, she knew her part and replied, "Yes Commander Baggy-eyes SIR!"
By this time Aleo was on his second lap. He ran up to Linden and picked her up by the shoulders. "Let's go Linden, lest he beats us with his wrinkles!" He said, giggling like an idiot.
Despite knowing he would probably make them run all day, she smiled and laughed, and they took off around the camp.