Chapter 4: Wisdom

"A soldier must be as knowledgeable of his foes as he is skilled at taking said foes on." Sadies explained to the room full of cadets. "You worthless bunch are no doubt asking yourselves why these tests are so important. Well keep asking yourselves that, but if I catch any of you slacking off on your studying it's straight out of boot camp. Am I understood?"

The classroom stood completely silent, bar a sneeze from some far off cadet from the far row of desks.

"I SAID AM I UNDERSTOOD?!"

"Yes Sir!" the entire class responded in near perfect timing. It seemed even outside the courtyard their drilling was proving thorough enough to elicit the responses Sadies wanted.

"Good. Alright Thorres, explain to the brats their deadlines."

"Yes thank you Sadies." Instructor Thorres adjusted his glasses, and with that, the chief instructor exited out the classroom, leaving his fellow colleague to proceed with the explanation of their newest trial in boot camp.

Some cadets had already zoned out the moment Sadies left the room, others did their best to try and pay attention, a few however listened intently to the instructors explanation, Dora being one of them. In comparison to their head instructor, Thorres was a moon apart. Short and stubbly, he was a meek and soft-spoken man, hiding his eyes behind a pair of round reading glasses. This nature did not help to encourage many of the recruits to listen in, yet there were still those who knew the importance of what the old man was talking about.

"Well, as Chief Instructor Sadies has so eloquently put, these upcoming tests will be of great importance to your overall grades come your graduation from the Cadet Corps." Thorres adjusted his glasses again before bringing up his clipboard. "We have already covered most of the subjects that will involve this year's tests, afterwards you will have two more in the following years that will encompass far more broader topics regarding military subjects. Over the next month you will have your series of tests, you require a passing percentage on all of them, which is fifty percent. Any questions?"

Just like with Sadies initially, the classroom was silent once more. "Alright then." Thorres said, turning his back from the recruits. Unlike Sadies, Thorres never was one to raise his voice. "We'll go through some revisions then, everyone turn your textbooks to the first lesson and we'll go from there…"

Later that day...

A quick jab and right hook, followed up by a leg sweep. Ineffective. Step back, regain composure. Another set. Left jab, kick, two punches straight for the head. Missed. Right leg forward, signal a kick, feint, yet another jab. Miss, opening. With one last swing Dora went in for the kill with her wooden knife. She had spent the better part of this whole training session whitling down Annie's defenses, slowly but surely draining her reaction time and energy in expectation for an opening. The only problem was that she herself wasn't exactly brimming with energy either. In the cardio department, the younger girl had her beat, in the close-combat one as well, she'd say, but every day was another opportunity to learn something new. 'Doesn't matter how much you do it, how long you do it, even how frequently you do it, you'll always be getting something out of the experience.' that was the line her father would always parrot at her when they went fishing together.

This carefully prolonged tactic proved useless in the end however, as Annie, as she always did, blocked the oncoming attack and proceeded to assault Dora's legs with her own combo of kicks before pulling her off the ground into a throw. Their sessions were brutal, that was putting it mildly, yet still they both held themselves back during actual combat training.

Dora's head was in a buzz, the world around her spinning every which way and above her about four Annie's spun in her vision, all of them holding a wooden knife in their hand. "Disarmed." she heard the blonde girl's voice clearly, her dead eyes looking down on her in such a neutral manner that Dora never could figure out if she was doing all of this to be polite, or to blow off steam.

Her fights with Annie started a few months ago, their very first match together being one night where they found themselves a nice quiet little spot in the courtyard to train under the moonlight, then the very next day in close-combat training. It had a double result to it all. On one hand, she was very clearly improving in her fighting skills, almost anyone in her generation now bar Mikasa could properly take on the 104th's icy-eyed queen of death. On the other hand, their little scuffles during the official training hours had an almost absolute effect on the other cadets. Soon enough, a lot more recruits began taking hand-to-hand combat far more seriously, taking much more active roles when it came time to practise. Even Jean of all people felt pressure to participate. While not originally planned, she was glad this little impromptu plan of hers worked out for the better. It almost justified all the bruises she was getting all these months, but that was part and parcel of becoming a soldier.

Her head had just stopped spinning as she rose to her feet, only to be hit once again by a burst of dizziness. A sharp pain embedded itself into Dora's cranium, and she visibly recoiled from it, putting a hand up to her forehead, and using the other to balance her body on her knee so as to not fall over.

Looking up for a moment she could spot Annie right in front of her, a strange expression about her face, somewhere in-between annoyance and ambivalence. Dora could quickly recognize this as her way of asking "You alright?"

"I'm fine… Just gotta catch my breath." she answered the unspoken question, slowly rising up with her back straight.

"There's never enough time to catch your breath. If this-"

"-were a real battle yadda yadda, yes Annie, I get it. Will you just gimme a moment? My head is killing me..." putting her now other free hand to use, she put two fingers on both sides of her temple and slowly massaged the pain away.

This time around, it seemed Annie was getting actually worried, narrowing her eyes at Dora. "Did you hit your head? Are you feeling tired, sleepy at all?"

"I said I'm fine Annie, really. Give me a minute to rest and we can continue, alright?"

Leonhart scanned the girl from top to bottom with those piercing eyes of hers. She tried to pay no mind to it, though if she was implying what Dora thought she was, she could only be surprised that Annie knew what a concussion was. No, if it was a concussion, Dora would most likely have been halfway onto the dirt again. With a silent sigh, Annie threw the knife on the ground, "Whatever." she said, and began walking away.

Finally having a moment to herself she breathed in and out slowly to calm down the drumming of her head. Zoning out the many sounds around her, the ringing in her ears had finally stopped, and the dizziness and headache was well on its way out. Yet as one headache left another soon reared its ugly head in the form of her fellow cadet.

"Schulze, my dear comrade." she felt a set of hands gently place themselves around her shoulders, like an unforeseen shadow a voice behind her began to speak, yet she could recognize it anywhere, headache and buzzing or not. "I have a proposition for you."

Dora sighed. "And I would be willing to hear what that proposition is, Gabriel. But only after you get your hands off me before I break your fingers."

"Noted." If she had to give him credit for anything, Mackensen was quick on the trigger when it came to saving his own hide, he knew when to back up and when to double down.

"Now." Dora turned to face her propositioner. "What is it this time? Is it Mikasa?"

"You know me so well." shooting a wink and two finger guns at the girl, Gabriel looked to be holding back a scream of anguish behind that cocksure smile. She hadn't commented on it, no one really did, but everyone saw what was happening between the two. "She won't leave me alone, every chance I have some time off I feel like I'm looking over my shoulder waiting to see her appear out of nowhere. If I knew Eren had it this rough, I might have not made fun of him so much."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"Just… switch out with me will you? We've been sparring together every day since the incident, it's not helping either that she doesn't seem all that sorry for the near-broken arm that caused all this."

"Annie isn't all that better, you might just have better chances with someone else." She crossed her arms, feeling the sting each little sliver of her bruises that lined her skin under the uniform.

"I'll take the beating from Dead-Eyes, just please… I'm on my proverbial knees here Schulze."

With another sigh, Dora thought on the notion for a moment. She couldn't help but feel a tiny ounce of sympathy for Mackensen, not that he deserved it mind you, but still, it was in her nature to not say no to someone asking for help, that was simply a fact. A fact that Gabriel no doubt figured out a long time ago. "Fine. But you owe me."

A joyful clap came from Gabriel, followed up by a bow that felt both mocking and genuine at the same time. "For the next thousand years, my Queen!"

"Shut up."

"The max range of ODM-anchors…" Berholdt began, staring over his textbook as he sat alongside Reiner and Gabriel.

"One hundred and fifty meters." Gabriel answered, leaning back on his chair with the same textbook covering his face. He had probably read over the damn thing about a dozen times now, remembering everything down to the most miniscule detail.

"That far? Jeesh, how much distance can you even cover with that level of range." Bertholdt remarked, flipping over to another page.

As his two friends continued studying intently, Gabriel merely tried to find some way to doze off faster, and surprisingly, the studying wasn't doing it. At least not with the two little rats in the distance making all the racket.

"Come on Armin, you gotta help us, the test is in two days and I barely know anything!" rat number one, colloquially known as Connie by the 104th, begged Armin.

"Yeah man, you're the smartest guy here. Besides, what's the point of you muling over those books over and over again if you already know all of this?" rat number two, otherwise known by some as Jean, added along with Connie.

"I'm sorry guys, but I already promised Eren and Marco I'd help them with revisions tomorrow, you can-"

"What?!" Jean interrupted the meek blonde, "Marco got to you first?! UGH, That damn snake! I knew I shouldn't have let him off training yesterday!"

"Let him finish Kirschtein…" Gabriel said from across the barracks. It had become a hobby at this point, snooping in on the conversations of his fellow cadets, didn't help that they were all so loud about it either.

"Yeah, like I was saying… you two can join us. I don't know how much I'll be able to help but I'm sure if we all put our minds to it-"

Eventually Gabriel stopped listening though, getting increasingly bored of that conversation. When he had however, there was something else he noticed. Taking away the book covering his face Gabriel turned to look for another of his cadets, one who was sitting right next to him not a few moments ago.

"Where's Marcel?"

"Got up and left." Reiner answered simply. "Probably went to catch some air."

"And what, you two didn't even comment on it? Didn't ask him where he went?" soon he realized just who he was talking to. Of course, Bertholdt wouldn't be caught dead asking someone their business, and Reiner, well, he most likely just didn't find the need to ask. It didn't help that Marcel seemed to make it a habit to just up and disappear in the most random of times. "Nevermind, I'm gonna go get some air too. You two need something just… I don't know, whistle or something."

Passing the other boys Gabriel made his way out of the barracks, eventually being greeted by the chilled evening air. The sun had yet to fully set, so a red glow transfixed itself on the horizon. Thanks to the upcoming exams, the 104th was given some leniency in regards to their physical exercises, giving them extra free time after training for studies. Many welcomed this change of schedule, and dreaded when it would be pulled back to the original one, but for Gabriel, not much had changed.

In the few months he had spent in boot camp, he had earned the ire of Sadies several times for his apparent "slacking off" on training. There was a certain art to what he was doing honestly, yet it would be lying to say that it was more difficult than if he were to either just put his full effort into… well, making an effort, or if he should just give it all up.

'That's the last thing I'm willing to do.' He told himself, 'Don't be an idiot, we've gotten this far, haven't we? 3 years and I'm off. Just gotta be persistent.'

Leaning on a railing nearby, he watched as the sun slowly set. It was something he didn't get to see often, so he decided to enjoy it while he could. From the inside of the barracks he could hear the continued rattling of conversation happening, the voices too muffled to be distinguishable. Nothing too important probably, just continued chatter about those infernal exams. It's all everyone's been able to talk about these past few days, and no doubt over the next month it will be all they will talk about.

Yet putting his attention away from the barracks behind him he moved his thoughts away to other matters. Thoughts of home, of his brother and uncle, of Bernard and the other people at the estate. Then, thoughts ran to him of his cadets, of all the new people he had met since coming to the 104th. While it was true he was the only one from Wall Sina, much of his comrades' initial distaste for the "upstart nobleman" they thought he was dissipated with time. There were those of course who had no issues with Gabriel from the start. Marco and Armin were quick to strike conversation with him in free hours, and Jean's infatuation with the Interior made him almost leach into conversations with him sometimes. Then there were of course his more closer acquaintances. Reiner, ever the stubborn stoic, never made much conversation with Gabriel lest it be required of him, but that did not mean he didn't enjoy the blonde giant's company. He was reliable, dependable even, and a good friend to have. Speaking of giants and friends, Gabriel never understood how someone like Bertholdt was not more popular within the 104th's ranks. He was a helpful fellow, always ready to lend a hand, if perhaps a bit reserved, even more so than Armin Gabriel would wager.

Yet thinking on it further now, perhaps there was a reason as to why those two were often overlooked when it came to the more social circles in the recruits. Said reason being their mutual friend. 'Marcel…' Gabriel could immediately see that boy's face looking back at him, a friendly smile plastered across his mouth. It bothered him to no end of how much of a model soldier Galliard was, nor of how much he reminded Gabriel of his own brother, perhaps with a bit more emotional range though. It was no wonder then as to how many in the 104th were easily overshadowed. Unlike someone like Mikasa, who people perceived as perfect beyond replication, Marcel was a different kind of role model. He was someone who could lead, someone who was looked up to, someone who people want to be like.

He spotted something just then, rather someone, from the corner of his eyes. 'Speak of the devil.' it was none other than the Golden Boy himself.

"Hey." Marcel approached leisurely the entrance of the barracks, hands in his pockets.

"Hey yourself, just where have you been?" Gabriel asked, genuine curiosity peeking through his sarcasm.

"Out for a walk, I needed to clear my head a bit about some things."

"Really now? Mind if I pry about what those things are exactly?"

"No. Just don't expect an answer if you can't guess right." he turned his back and leaned against the railing next to Gabriel.

Raising his brow a bit at the suggestion, Gabriel was not deterred. He was not used to this level of cattiness from Galliard, but it didn't really matter, next to those like Annie this was nothing.

"Alright then… girl problems?"

"No."

"Boy problems?"

"No."

"Exams?"

"No."

"Sadies?"

"No."

"Hmm…" he put a finger to his chin and thought a bit more before answering next. There was really nothing else he could think of, so in the end Gabriel decided to just wing it. "You're secretly a titan plotting to take out Wall Rose and the guilt is eating you up faster than an abnormal would."

To that Marcel didn't even respond, looking at him with a strange look and raised brow. The silence was enough of an answer for him. Raising his arms up in mocking defeat he pushed himself away from the railings.

"Fine, I give up. So, you gonna tell me or not?"

"No..."

"Damnation. Well, it seems I shall forever remain in the dark to the sufferings of Marcel Galliard. Truly a mystery that shall stand the test of time."

Silence overcame the two boys as the sun continued to fall behind them, from where they were overlooking, the dark blue tinge of night had already overtaken more than half of the sky, with the stars already being visible across from the few clouds that were still present. Marcel did not seem in the mood for further conversations about the topic, which only made him all that more curious about what had happened, yet from personal experience, it was best not to actually pry in these kinds of situations.

Eventually however, Marcel simply sighed and shook his head. "I'm going for another walk, you wanna come with me?"

"Sure you don't want to be in there studying like everybody else?"

"No, no I don't think I do."

"Fair enough, I'll grab a pair of coats, since I foresee our little walk not lasting sundown."

"You're a regular old mind reader Gabe…"

He knew this path well, as well as the location where they were heading. It was a common meditation ground for Marcel it seemed, a place he often went to relax and think on things. What those things were exactly, well that was the topic the two were currently avoiding. Still, there was another reason he knew this way better than most. On the night before Eren took his last shot at ODM training in those very first months of training, he, Marcel, Reiner, Bertholdt and Gabriel all trekked up here. At the edge of the mountain pass, in between two groups of trees that split at the very end, there was a small group of rocks formed arching towards a singular view. A massive view overlooking the remaining forest and spanning, sparkling lake, shining bright like a diamond.

Quite the sight to behold, yet one that seemed to have a much bigger effect on his comrades. Ever since that day Marcel would make the journey to the spot every now and then when he supposedly needed to think something through. How staring at an open canyon and lake would help one's decision making abilities, he had no idea. Gabriel couldn't complain though, if it meant keeping all of their morale high it was worth sitting in silence here for a few hours.

"Never get tired of this place, do you?" he asked the brown-haired boy.

"Don't think I ever will either. It's nice…" Marcel's thoughts seemed to trail off as he sat down on one of the rocks, facing himself towards the lake. Gabriel eventually joined him.

They sat in silence for what felt like hours. Quiet and contemplating, Gabriel tried to read off whatever he could from Marcel's face, what he was thinking, anything bothering him, the so on. Yet as more time went on all he could spot was the tired expression of a worn out young boy. It was very possible that Galliard was just exhausted from training, yet someone like him wasn't the type to let that show. He had tried many times during their little walk to let it go, but like a tick at the back of his head the question still kept gnawing at him.

Eventually, Gabriel's thoughts were cut short. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Marcel finally spoke, the solemn silence between the two broken.

"What's up?" he was ready to start being coy again and give Marcel the same treatment he was receiving, though at this point it just wasn't worth the effort.

"Why did you join the military?"

It was a funny thought. He was asked that question so many times now, always by one of his fellow cadets or on rare occasions by Sadies when he was gearing himself up for drilling. Each time he was asked there proceeded a response Gabriel rehearsed time and time again.

'None of your business.'

And that was the answer that all of them would receive. He had his reasons for joining, and those reasons were his and his alone to know. It was not as if Gabriel was averse to letting them know, it was simply just the reasons as to why they were asking it. He knew full well the group of questions that followed after the initial one. 'You're from wall Sina, you're a nobleman, do you want to be part of the Military Police… on and on with the same drivel.' Spite, Envy, Jealousy, he'd heard it all from the 104th, all for different reasons. In some ways he much more enjoyed it when they would openly just mock him for being a "spoiled brat from Sina" in those early days of training.

Still, it was a surprise to himself when Gabriel was ready to spit out his rehearsed response to Marcel, yet just before he did… he stopped. He stopped, looked out into that great valley of trees surrounding the sparkling lake and thought for a moment. Just as the water reflected brightly the moonlight he couldn't help but reflect on that day 3 years ago. The day the news arrived.

"Because I wanted to." Gabriel replied, turning to Marcel. "You're from Maria, aren't you? You, Annie, Reiner, Bert. You all saw what happened… and saw the Titans firsthand."

Marcel looked at Gabriel for a moment, "We did." he said with a sigh.

"Well I didn't, and neither did anyone in Sina, or Rose for that matter. All we saw was the riders the very next days coming in from every district. I can't speak for Rose's districts, but I can tell you how it was for me back home. There was panic, fear in everyone's hearts. The streets were filled with people simply just wandering around yelling at each other, not knowing what to do. Where do they go? What do they bring? Where is there to hide? The Military Police had to enforce a curfew at one point to stop people from trying to flee even further into Wall Sina."

The day when the messenger finally came, he only heard the news about a few hours later from one of his servants, yet even before that Gabriel could hear the panic. The muffled crying and screams from inside the other houses. Marcel sat silently as Gabriel continued.

"The next few weeks there was anticipation. A frenzy even. Humanity couldn't just stand aside and let this happen could it? There would be a campaign to reclaim the Walls, and everything would then go back to normal."

"But there never was never any reclamation planned." Marcel said.

"No… only a slaughter. A slaughter made justified because there wasn't enough food to go around. But do you want to know what the funniest part about it all was?" Gabriel exhaled a gust of breath through his nose, struggling not to laugh in anger. "No one cared." he said with a smile. "Life went on, and the panic died out soon enough. All those who were sent to die weren't even spared a second thought by the people of Sina. They simple started trotting along as if nothing had happened. And that's what the real reason was behind the death march Marcel. It wasn't for food, we have land, we could have cultivated it, it wasn't even for living space, we could have built more settlements along the tracks of Rose. No, it was so life could go on without any changes. So that eventually we can spend the next hundred years living as if Maria never existed."

When other recruits had asked him; 'Why did you join the military?' Gabriel did not see it reasonable to answer them. They weren't asking out of curiosity, they didn't want to know why. They simply wanted their own thoughts about him affirmed. No answer he could give them would prove suitable, so in the end he just didn't answer. But Marcel did not ask Gabriel what he wanted in the military. No. He asked why, and he asked it genuinely, Gabriel could tell that much at least.

"I could have easily spent the rest of my life living on the family estate Marcel, and for the next hundred years the status quo would be preserved. Until the Colossal and Armored Titans would come again, and the whole process would be repeated, and eventually, humanity wiped out."

A chuckle came from his comrades mouth, "You never sounded more like Eren, you know that?"

"Yes, I guess so. But I never said Yaeger didn't have a point."

"No I'm pretty sure you said the exact opposite several times. Most of them to his face."

"What can I say, I am quite the hypocrite."

"A hypocrite, or simply someone with a heart." Marcel chuckled once more, seeming to be in a far better mood. "So then, I suppose you want to join the Survey Corps?"

"I don't want to join the Scouts." Gabriel responded. "I intend to."