Sorry this chapter's two days late. I feel really bad about it, but I had food poisoning Sunday through part of Wednesday. I tried to work through it on Thursday to post it on time, but I haven't been feeling too good in another way lately, either. Not really motivated.
I'll try to keep to the update days from now on.
Thanks for being patient, though.
Chapter Seven
Later that day, around dinner time, Augustine went upstairs and knocked on everyone's doors as she made her way down the hall. "Soup's on, kids." She paused. "Actually, it's chicken and potatoes. No complaints here."
After all the new recruits that had stayed in their rooms exited into the hall Augustine told them to round up any stragglers and meet in the dining area just off the entry hall. After that, Sara went off in search of Bjorn, finding him just sitting outside.
"It's time for dinner, you know," she said, lightly tugging at a strand of his hair as she walked up from behind. He gently batted her hand away from his blonde locks.
"Good, because I'm absolutely starving." He shut the pocket-sized notepad he'd been writing in and got to his feet.
"What were you writing?" Sara asked curiously. Bjorn looked from his friend to the notepad and back.
"This?" Bjorn laughed a bit, running his fingers back through his hair sheepishly. "Jeez… You remember how often we used to climb trees when we were younger. I picked up this… habit. When I've got free time, and there are a lot of trees around, I can't help but try and..."
"That one."
Sara pointed out a tall pine tree a few hundred meters from the stables.
"It's got a lot of footholds and handholds for easy ascent. Just looking at it for a few seconds should be enough to see a clear path right to the top. It has sturdy branches all the way up except the last, say, three meters? All in all, perfect for climbing."
Bjorn considered the tree she'd pointed out, leaning against the outside of the fort.
"You've got a point. It might have a bit of competition to the west, though. That one, with the two missing branches and the nest about halfway up." He grinned and looked over at Sara. "Too bad we're getting far too old to be climbing them."
"Hey!" Sara gave him a playful shove. "You're never too old to climb a tree. Sure, there's an age you get to where it's recommended you don't because you might break something just trying to get up there, but that doesn't mean you're technically too old."
"I suppose you're right." Bjorn tapped the end of her nose lightly with his notepad.
The two headed inside and sat between Dieter and Angela. Sara made a mental note of the fact that Adele looked none too happy sitting between Ilsa and the boy from earlier. She assumed that the girl would've preferred to sit by herself, but the three tables were pushed together.
Probably so we can all be together to meet our new Squad, and they can meet us.
Augustine took a sip from her cup of water as everyone got settled. She was seated at one end of the tables, her partner to her left and Silvia to her right. To the left of her partner, there were three people the new Scouts hadn't met so far. And to the left of them, the boy who'd greeted the new recruits outside.
There was a plate for each person with chicken and potatoes on it, along with a set of utensils and a glass of water.
"It's nice to finally be sat down with you guys," Augustine's partner commented. "Squad Leader Alexander Hoover, at your service. And you've already met Augustine here."
Augustine raised her cup in acknowledgment.
"We co-operate this Squad." Alexander continued speaking. "Both of us are recognized as its Squad Leaders, and we both carry the title."
He looked around at the rest of the graduates again with a bit of a smile. It was always exciting when they got a new group, and this was one of his favorite parts about it: introductions.
"So, time for some introductions. I want to see if I can get these all right. Let's go around the table, starting with… Adele, right?"
Adele ducked her head a bit at the sound of her name being spoken, then peeked out through the part in her hair at Alexander.
"Adele Bauer, sir."
"It's been a while," Alexander said. "Good to see you're doing well. We can catch up later. Next to Adele we have… Ilsa, I presume?"
Ilsa lowered her cup from her mouth.
"Ilsa Hauer."
"And next to Ilsa we have Dieter Flaeter. A pair of cousins from Shiganshina."
Dieter looked at Alexander, a bit surprised the man knew him and Ilsa.
"I like to make a point of knowing who's joining the group before meeting them," the man explained. "Next to Dieter we have Sara Klein and Bjorn Metzger. The niece of Tomas Klein of the Garrison and the brother of Beat Metzger of the Military Police.
"After Bjorn we have Angela Leitner from Trost. Followed by Gero Lehrer, Veit Sauber, Isaak Abeln, and Silvia Wolf, a quartet of troublemakers if Sharona's accounts were right." He laughed a bit. "Like a tiny wolf pack, you four are. A strong, close-knit group."
The four exchanged some looks, not expecting the complements.
"Thanks, sir," Gero said a bit hesitantly. He wasn't sure what to make of the whole 'troublemakers' brand that had apparently been put on them. Probably because of Veit's pranks or Silvia's slacking during sparring matches.
Or his fight with Adele right at the start of training.
"It's great to meet all of you, and hope you'll feel the same. You know me and Augustine now, and you met Bruno outside," Alexander said, addressing the new Scouts. He then pointed to one of the last four unintroduced people sitting at the table, a man with black hair and blue eyes to his left. "Going clockwise, and we'll start with Lambert."
"Lambert Schroeter," the bespectacled man said. "I'm the group's strategist. I co-op with the strategists of squads we work with to find formations and attack-plans that work, minimalize risk, and stuff like that. After your team evaluations tomorrow, I'll take the information given to me on your personal strengths and weaknesses and come up with a good place for each of you to be placed in the formation when we head out."
"Gloria Lenz." The woman to the left of Lambert spoke up with a rather cheery voice. She had light blue eyes and dark brown, wavy hair that was pinned back out of her face. She looked like a teacher, all sweetness and smiles. "I keep these two in line," she said, pulling on the sleeves of Lambert and the man to her left, "and I kick ass in hand-to-hand fights."
"Helmut Raskoph," the last man said, gently tugging his sleeve free of Gloria's fingers. He had slightly longer brown hair and light blue eyes. He was rather quiet, which surprised a few of the new Scouts since he didn't come off as a very soft-spoken individual. "I'm in charge of securing blades, gas, and other supplies."
"Go ahead and eat. Sorry for making you guys wait." Alexander scooped up a bit of food with his fork and said, "We're only staying here six days, and then we'll be heading outside Wall Rose."
"It's the type of thing you guys have been training for since you signed up," Augustine said. "We're going out to take down some Titans."
"This soon?" Dieter exchanged a glance with Ilsa.
"You've been preparing for three years now, haven't you?" Alexander asked, pausing with a bit of food on his fork. "We tried to schedule it at least a week after you'd be arriving to keep from just throwing you all into the fray. Tomorrow, Augustine and I will take you out to the surrounding forest to test you out."
"And you lucky kids will be getting to see Lance Corporal Levi in action," Gloria said, shuffling some potatoes around on her plate with her fork.
"Will Squad Leader Hani Zoe be there?" Adele looked up from her untouched plate at the mention of Lance Corporal Levi's squad. She knew the pair worked together quite often, so there was a chance…
"Yeah, she will." Alexander lowered his fork from his mouth as he looked over. "It's going to be us, Levi's squad, Hanji's squad, and it sounds like Vale's group will be tagging along for the ride, as well."
"I see… Thank you." Adele stood up a few minutes later, her cup in one hand, her plate in the other. It still had a good portion of her food left on it. "I'm not all that hungry. May I—"
"Sit back down and finish what I put on your plate," Augustine said plainly, holding her cup to her lips. "You won't last long if you don't get enough nutrition from your food, and from what I can tell, you could use every bit of it."
Slightly taken aback, Adele lowered herself back into the chair to finish her meal.
The rest of the meal went by fast. Gloria asked the group a few questions, trying to get a better feel for their personalities. She seemed genuinely friendly and open toward everyone, and didn't leave anyone out.
"Go ahead and get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow." Alexander started going around, taking plates to be washed once everyone was done with their food.
He seems like a really nice guy, Sara thought to herself as she and the others got up and headed for their rooms. Augustine's probably nice, too, but… a bit harsher.
When Adele got to her room, she just stood there for a minute, exhausted and feeling a little bit sick. She looked out her window again at the surrounding forest, not entirely knowing what the next day would bring. This was it. Just a few more days before they'd be…
Out there…
It wasn't the most comforting thought for her, but it was going to happen sooner or later. Besides. It just meant they'd be the ones doing some killing for a change.
Chew on that, you big bastards.
Now the main cast for a while have been introduced. There will be more characters along the way, but now the main sixteen have names! We tried to give each character a good, solid background, interests, hopes and dreams. Thanks for sticking around and I hope you continue to do so long enough to see each one through their various trials and tribulations.
Official page on Tumblr at Haus-der-Wolfe. Answering questions, publishing full character bios, and every now and again, creating art based on asks from you, the readers. Feel free to drop in any time you like. You're always welcome and I hope you all have a wonderful day.
