Surviving exercise – Part 1

Iosif's POV

It was a long and hard journey. The wagons leading up to the hills were rickety and when we arrived, my bottom was aching from the bumps on the road. In front of me, a small wooden shed stood like a sentry. I presumed it was going to be the safe zone mentioned earlier.

The wind was blowing harder here than back at the training camp and I adjusted my button-up shirt and coat to stop myself from shivering. However, when I looked down the strong wind only got my hair into my eyes and I could barely see past the blonde fringe. When I looked back up, all I saw was gray, swirling clouds. It looked like it could rain any minute.

From the vantage point, I could see that on one side, there was a huge forest, with trees growing taller than where we were standing. "That must be the famous Forest of Giant Trees." I thought, my eyes widening with amazement.

I shook myself though; I still needed to find my teammates.

Through the mass of trainees, it was easy to spot Alberto. He was, by far, the most tanned out of the entire squad and his light blue shirt stood out against the sea of browns and greens.

He was next to my other friend, Alina, a blonde girl sporting a short, wavy haircut. She was pretty easy to spot as well; no one really wore a hoodie under a coat because it would be too hot.

A smirk found itself on my face when I watched them interact.

Alberto was constantly flirting with the blondes of the squad and it was no exception now. However, unlike the shy and unable-to-refuse attitude of most of the students here, Alina would probably end up giving him a few friendly punches and a direct rejection.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I whirled around. But it wasn't anyone I hated, which was good.

It was just Kaspar, the last person of our group.

Although he was shorter than me, he was still one of the tallest trainees. His black hair matched with the cold and distant green eyes he had, but the red shirt underneath his jacket was pretty bright; I wasn't sure how I missed him before.

Despite his loner-like attitude and silent demeanor, I knew he wasn't a bad guy. I met him before I joined the training camp, but only for a few weeks, since I was once transferred to the same farm as he.

"We should probably get them and discuss some tactics, huh?" Once I said that, his expression went from somewhat amiable to bored.

Before he could speak, I commented again, "You might not be so good at plans, but it'd help the rest of the team." Inadvertently, my words turned out to be teasing. I couldn't help but do it; he was always so uptight and serious.

"Mm," he grunted, and I was temporarily confused, until he started walking towards the pair. I needed to learn how to read his minimal way of speaking; I honestly wasn't used to anyone not replying with words.

Just as we reached Alberto and Alina's sides, I heard a shout from Melda. "Listen up, lazy brats! Training exercise is starting now!"

Panic shot through my veins. It was clear everyone else was just a hint scared; the atmosphere was tenser than usual.

The black-haired instructor looked at her wrist to check her watch. "Well, better get on with it. You have 48 hours to survive. Your hour head start is running out."

And just like that, several groups sprinted off like fleeing squirrels. Some flocked to the forest, while others headed farther down the hills. But us? We hesitated, as if she had something else to say.

"Shoo! Get your asses moving cockroaches!"

I looked at my teammates, but seeing the blank expressions on their faces, decided to take the lead. I talked the most and kept them together, after all. "Let's go! Maybe we should start with gathering food...down there." The Forest of Giant Trees was right in front of us and Kaspar inclined his head slightly, hopefully to agree. Alberto and Alina both looked confused but nodded anyways and we trekked towards the looming forest.

Not even hours past, only minutes, and my limbs were starting to feel fatigued. My mouth was dry from the steady sunlight sizzling us and I wondered how Alina survived with that hoodie on.

However, we all pushed through and made it to the edge of the forest. If it weren't for the stressful situation, I would've said the trees were magnificent. They were nothing like I'd ever seen before.

They were probably 80 meters tall, and their branches were almost the width of my body. Not to mention, the trunks were gigantic; not even 8 of me hugging the tree would measure around them.

My decision wasn't the greatest. The branches and height of the trees made it easier for 3DMG users to move, which put us at a disadvantage.

"Maybe we should've gone away from the forest..." I pressed my lips together and spoke doubtfully.

However, Kaspar spoke words for the first time in a few hours. "There's a lot of wildlife here. Food."

In his hands, he had several berries and plants that were almost unrecognizable to me. Alina stared at the items in his hands, sparkles in her eyes.

"Whoa, never knew that was edible! Kaspar's pretty cool, huh?" She grinned and went on her way to find similar-looking plants to eat.

Just as I was about to compliment him, he dropped down into a kneeling position and gently shifted the berries into his breast pocket. When I leaned closer, I noticed rocks in his hands. He was rubbing the sides and turning them over repeatedly, examining them closely. Did he mean to start making tools? I wasn't sure and I didn't want to sound stupid so I just asked: "What're you doing?"

He didn't answer immediately. In the distance, I could hear Alberto and Alina muttering, discussing what plants to use.

But when he turned slightly, I saw the smirk on his face. It showed something like...satisfaction.

A sharp-looking rock was in his hands and the two finally came back, their arms laden with fruits. Alberto stopped and stared with confusion at Kaspar, who was still silent, before speaking up. "Oi...Kaspar...You planning on using that against the hunters? You know it's against the rules, right..?" Alina was nodding furiously, worry etched on her face.

However, my gut told me that wasn't it. He wasn't the type to be cruel or break rules.

The black-haired boy first answered with shaking his head, the smirk gone from his face. Then he faced us and replied, "Nah. Melda only said that we can't use weapons against the hunters, right? So, she's allowing us to make weapons to hunt for food."

The three of us exchanged impressed looks. Kaspar was actually really useful... Hunting animals was no easy feat, but with weapons, it would make the task more fun...but also easier. Before we could discuss, the guy decided to continue his explanation, showing us the stone he had caught. It really was sharp, but it was kind of jagged, not the smooth surface I was thinking it would be.

"This stone is good enough for a spearhead. We just need a firm stick and vine," he stated, turning back around again.

I tapped his shoulder and grinned, jerking him backwards slightly. "Nice! You're pretty useful out here, so don't look so glum." His serious expression was starting to bug me.

However, to my dissatisfaction, his face didn't change a bit. From behind us, Alina piped up, "Hey, this isn't the first time you've hunted, right, Kaspar?"

Kaspar shook his head with the same apathetic response, but his green eyes softened slightly with something I caught as sadness. "No. I had to do it before to survive," he muttered and as if it was only meant for me. Alina and Alberto exchanged glances and it didn't seem as if they heard his response. However, just by that, I knew her asking him triggered some unhappy memories.

Quickly, I grinned and tightened my grip on Kaspar, deciding to change the subject. "Guys, we should start moving again. I bet we only have a few minutes before the hunters start to chase us."

Everyone nodded and moved at a faster pace through the forest. Periodically, the black-haired male beside me would bend down to pick something up.

I was starting to get impatient, though. Nothing in the forest had any signs of a river. My tongue was starting to dry out and not a lot of saliva was left in my mouth.

"What branches are you going in?" Alberto, surprisingly, was the one to break the silence. He looked at Alina and she smiled slightly, something unknown passing between the two of them.

She answered, "Well, I'm going in the Scouting Legion, just like he is. I'm curious about you two, though..." Her reply was slightly hesitant for some reason, but her green eyes were hopeful. Kaspar sighed, probably in response to Alina's bright, hope-filled dreams.

"You two have guts, that's for sure. Seeing what happened in Shiganshina, anyway," he trailed off and was silent again, staring at the floor with an unreadable expression.

"I don't really know what branch I'm going in," a laugh bubbled out of my mouth and I could feel their surprised gazes on me. "But if there's something I really hate is that feeling of oppression. Feeling like a bird in a cage... Except the Walls are just the cages. I'm fighting for freedom, and I guess that'll lead me to open my eyes on what Legion I'm joining."

However, Kaspar spoke up before anyone else, but he didn't look any of us in the eye. "I don't think I'd want to risk my life for others. I'm planning on getting into Top 10 to join the Military Police."

Despite his selfish words, we couldn't really insult him. Valuing our own lives was nothing to be ashamed of, because secretly, I was scared of death as well. Alina was definitely more affected by his words; she began lagging behind and in the twenty minutes we continued, we had to encourage her to keep going.

However, a dull whirring noise started to echo around us. Looking around, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, until Alina froze, the color in her face draining. Her hands started to shake and she tilted her head up to stare at us.

"G-Guys...?! My...my foot's stuck!" She wailed out. From her loud voice, several birds fluttered out of the trees, cawing loudly.

All of us rushed by her to help, but then the sound of breaking branches made us look up to see a metal cage close. Jumping back, I was almost caught, but now, the only one separated was Alina.

Turns out, it was a hunting trap. She was desperately clinging to the side, shaking it, fear reflecting in her eyes.

Kaspar was the first to get up to examine the cage.

However, the grave expression on his face spoke of nothing but bad luck.

"Bad news. The cage...is stuck in the ground and has a key lock," he groaned quietly and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. We had no way to save her, and even she understood. Alina pressed her lips together into a pale line and I could see her throat gulping in anxiety.

Suddenly, the peace of the forest was broken by the sound of hooks and gas expulsion. A sound that was very familiar.

A 3DMG.

We all tensed up. "Damn!" I muttered. "Hunters are already here...!"

For a few seconds, all we could do was look around, but in the end, even Alina sighed and cried out, "Just go! Run! Win it for me, okay?! There's nothing you can do now..."

"Shit." I clenched my fists tightly, but with Kaspar pushing me, I couldn't resist. He leaned closer and whispered, "C'mon, let's move or we'll be next."

With that, the three of us decided to make a run for it. Regretfully, I abandoned Alina, my heart heavy.

I couldn't help but think, "That's how this cruel world works..."

Asta's POV

It was two hours into the survival exercise.

My teammates, Rosaline and Elisa, were still walking around a small tree-infested area a couple of meters away from the starting cabin.

The giant forest wasn't the best area to start off in, suggested by Rose, and neither Elisa nor I could disagree with her.

She looked like she knew what she was doing, so it couldn't hurt to follow her suggestions. I was, honestly, a terrible team player. Plans and strategizing was never my forte, so I trusted Rose to keep us on track.

Elisa didn't seem like the kind of person that was good in planning either.

At the first sound of Melda yelling start, the girl tried to run off into the most dangerous area and had to be held back by Rose. Admittedly, it was funny, but letting her go would've been the end for her.

However, now she was just a nuisance. She wouldn't stop blabbering about how awesome it would be to fight the hunters head-on.

She was more than reckless and more than a fool. But I couldn't help but admire how headstrong and adrenaline-pumped she was. Her instincts were probably good if she survived for this long with that attitude.

Thankfully, during the first hour, we were able to find a source of water that shielded us from dehydration. That was one check off the list. The smaller forest area had a lot less food than the Forest of Giant Trees, but there were still fruits aplenty. There just weren't many animals.

Despite all our advantages, a Garrison member already attacked us. Luckily, it was just an old dude that underestimated us since we were all girls.

But he was damn wrong.

In the beginning, it was hard, since we needed to coordinate our moves. Several times, I had kicked Elisa instead of the guy and occasionally, I found my punches being deflected by Rose instead of hitting the guy. However, we managed to knock him down and now, the pin he had was stuck on Rose's jacket.

Now, we were just trying to find a good place to make camp. All of us were looking for a discreet area near the lake so we'd always have some source of nourishment.

Despite looking cloudy, the moisture of the forest made it rather hot and humid. When Melda said that it was going to be up in the hills, I thought it would've been cold, so I brought my favorite white jacket. However, I realized my prediction was really wrong. It was now tied around my waist, but sweat still dripped off my forehead.

Unconsciously, I heaved a sigh and from the corner of my eye, I noticed Elisa glance at me. The brunette opened her mouth and I could just sense the complaints pouring out of her mouth.

"Ugh, I told you we should've went into the forest. It's no fun here!"

Rosaline looked back at her with a motherly scolding look. That seemed like their relationship: Rose would've been the mother, while Elisa the rambunctious child. I was a little jealous, to say the least, since I didn't have anyone I could trust, unlike them.

"Elisa! I told you it's not a good idea...Forget about it! I-I mean...well...we're just trying to survive, not make a fight, okay?" At first, she was scolding her, but near the end, she began to stammer. Maybe she noticed her voice was starting to sound too bossy.

But the energy-filled brunette squirt only laughed. "C'mon, you know I love danger!" Her enthusiastic yell and the fist pump made Rose quickly shush her.

At least someone was having fun. I could feel a small smile spreading on my face just watching them.

As we continued to look out for places to rest in, I started to lag behind the two. Watching them interact from behind was a lot more entertaining than in the front, for some reason. However, I suddenly heard something out of the ordinary.

"Guys!" At my hiss, both of them looked at me. "I heard something. Get down!"

They both crouched in a hurry and we stayed quiet for a few moments. I turned out to be right.

The noise was out of the ordinary, because they were the sound of hooks.

Rosaline scooted towards me and said lowly, "Guess we have company. Gotta be careful, they might be in one of these trees."

Elisa, on the other hand, looked pumped up and ready to go. Her hazel eyes flared with joy, but before she could do anything more than squeak, the pink-haired girl grabbed her wrist and glared at her like before. The happiness in her eyes was snuffed out, but in a few seconds, the gleam came back, shinier than ever.

"You know...We can take this Garrison member by surprise," I started out. I looked at the other two's expressions and I felt...almost lighter, happier, when they both nodded.

"Well, since we have three members, the two of us could act as bait, while the other attacks the hunter from behind. That'll definitely give him a heart attack," Rose commented. Elisa and I looked at each other, blinking slowly.

Clearly, the pink-haired girl was a better strategist than we could ever be, so we just nodded. Where we lacked in intelligence and strategy, she made up with it, I guess. But she was probably the strongest out of all of us.

I replied, "So...Elisa and I will act as bait, then?"

The brunette opened her mouth, but closed it, surprisingly. It was clear she was itching to punch something, but I was mildly surprised she could handle herself.

We both stood up to start our plan, triumphant grins on our faces. Rosaline kept herself hidden, though, choosing to hide behind a clump of rocks.

Not long after, we heard the sound of abnormally rustling leaves and gas. They were coming.

Pretending like we didn't notice, I had my back towards the noise, but I felt a strong hit on my back that flung me down. A foot perhaps?

I winced, but there was no one disabling me, so I looked around, my other arm rubbing my back. To my side, a black-haired man with a Garrison outfit was tussling with Elisa. He was on top of her, a rope in his hands, as he tried to subdue the struggling brunette.

The man barked a sarcastic laugh as I struggled to regain my balance. "Hah, I knew it'd be easy to capture you girls! Stop biting back and stay still 'cause it's hopeless for you!"

The fact that we were targeted because we were girls made my blood boil. "Just because we're girls?! I'll kick your ass!" I thought to myself. I could feel my senses coming back to me and by then, I'd be so ready for a fight.

"Shut up, you...caveman! I'll show you who's the weaker one!" Elisa spat out and suddenly; the man was having a harder time tying her down. The rope around one of her wrists slipped away and he was starting to sweat slightly.

However, my vision blurred slightly and I realized I wasn't even close to recovering from that last kick. The leverage that the 3DMG gave to the man, made his kick a lot stronger and the aching in my back didn't help.

But before I could even react, a blur tackled the Garrison member. Rosaline's face was what scared me the most though.

Her normal, gentle, green eyes were now flaring with animalistic rage. The fact that a simple thing like pushing down her friend could generate this kind of anger made me tremble slightly. She looked like a fierce bear, claws and teeth and all.

The Garrison member was so startled he went limp. Without a single ounce of hesitation, Rose's right arm smashed into the man's head.

"Aaargh!"

His screams echoed around the forest as she continued to punch his face. She only stopped when Elisa grabbed her arm, stopping the assault. Even the brunette was scared of the ferocity of her pink-haired friend.

I could only watch as Rosaline rolled off the man with a petite cough. Disgust and contempt was clear on her face, though, and I couldn't help but feel the same way for the man that was almost knocked unconscious.

He had a broken nose, blood leaking out of his nostril, and a black eye was already forming, along with a couple of bruises on the side of his face.

"You probably went too far with this, eh?" I commented as I strolled towards them, my back still throbbing with pain.

However, I didn't stop Elisa from kicking the guy's leg. "Beaten by three girls, smarts and strength...Who's the weaker one now?"

She made me laugh. He deserved all of that, honestly, after his badmouthing.

I crouched down next to the guy. From his swelling eye, he glared at me, but I just smirked, leaning over to rip off the necklace around his neck. Then, with a scoff, I dropped it into my breast pocket.

Then, for good measure, I knocked him unconscious with a swift kick to the head, ignoring the sudden concern for the man on Rosaline's part.

"So he won't come back for us anytime soon. He probably won't be participating anymore," I couldn't help the satisfied tone in my voice when I spoke.

Elisa grinned widely. "That was a hell of a plan, you know."

Rose nodded and I just shrugged. The gaze of the brunette was drilling a hole into me and I shifted slightly.

"We're pretty good as a team, huh?"

She was trying to make friends...So I just nodded. It was fun, that was for sure. Being all girls meant that people went easier on us, but I knew that that wouldn't be the case outside of camp. Titans...Titans didn't care whether or not you were a man or a woman, girl or boy... However, Elisa wasn't done because she was still drilling holes into my body with her eyes.

She raised her eyebrow and continued, "I still don't know why you'd want to join the Military Police...You've got skill...and you should come with us! To the Scouting Legion!"

That straightforwardness almost made me choke.

Sighing, I replied, "I'm not like you guys. I'm a combination of shitty strength and no intelligence. What sets me apart from you guys even more is that I don't have a death wish. I'd rather live my life peacefully inside Sina, rather than in a Titan's belly as a piece of meat."

But, at the same time, I didn't even believe what was coming out of my mouth. It just sounded like I was bluffing up, trying to live as long as I possibly could. I knew I was strong, maybe even stronger in terms of brute force than Elisa, and mentally prepared, but I didn't want to admit it to myself. The pressure of seeing a Titan up close...Just imagining it was enough for me.

Elisa just rolled her eyes, though. Before she could reply to me, Rosaline poked her side with an angry pout, and the brunette closed her mouth.

However, as I walked in front of them, my hand drifted to my chest.

My heart was...warm. It was a while since I felt that.

She liked me being there. Elisa did. "She said we worked well as a team..."

After a while, we were just aimlessly wandering, and the warmth in my heart slowly ebbed away. The sky was turning a darker gray, signaling that time was running out 'til nighttime, or that a storm was coming. To answer my thoughts, a loud noise echoed through the small forest and we all jumped up.

It sounded like thunder...

"W-What the heck...?" Elisa sounded awestruck.

"That's...smoke, right?" Rosaline sounded as surprised as her friend as she pointed towards the Forest of Giant Trees.

I squinted and looked at where she was pointing. "Shit, yeah, you're right...Something's on fire! Maybe the thunder caused it?"

Silence fell over us. Rosaline seemed to be lost in thought while Elisa was fidgeting from side-to-side, the pinched expression on her face only signaling that she was ready to start sprinting towards that fire, anything that would prove to be entertaining.

But just like the brunette, I couldn't help but want something more exciting. Without waiting for Rose's perfect plan, I started running towards the Forest, shouting behind me, "I'm going ahead! Meet me over there, okay?"

I didn't dare look back.

Until I heard a shout. "Oi! Asta! Wait up! We're coming!"

A smile spread on my face as I slowed down. Something crashed into me and an excitedly grinning face was all I saw, but that was Elisa. Then, from next to me, Rosaline placed a hand on my shoulder with a soft smile.

"This...this is warmth. This is friendship, huh?" I thought to myself. I couldn't help but smile along with them as well. Even through the tension of the exercise and the prospect of a forest fire.

With that, we made our way towards the Forest of Giant Trees without an ounce of apprehension.