Hi guys RonaldWeasleyTheHero here with another story! now dont get mad, i have a lot of time on my hands so i decided to write another fic that has been on my mind. I hope you guys like it, i want to give this fandom something else to read, since i have yet to see something like this yet. once again Armin will probably be the main focus but this is a fic that will be about the entire 104th squad really, and i WILL do them justice, that includes everyone ymir, marco sasha, characters like that that usually dont get a lot of time in most fics. and dont worry i have almost all of it planned out even towards the ending. One warning though, Armin Arlert is a genius and I am not, so any contradictions people smarter than me out there find with my writing i urge you not to hold it against me. so i will stress it once again
I. AM NOT. A GENIUS!
so there...
The Breaker Chapter 1: Leader
Armin could hardly think of a time when he did not feel inadequate. He watched in envy and self loathing as his peers bloomed and matured into promising young soldiers while he stayed stagnant and unimpressive. They were given praise and merit, and were undoubtedly recognized for their talent. But it was not recognition he wanted, no, he honestly could care less about looking superior compared to his friends. something like that would be pointless and unnecessary since they were his comrades. What he wanted above all else was trust, he wanted his comrades to trust him with their lives like he did with them. Armin wanted to be trustworthy, to be capable. He could see it in their eyes every time he was paired with a certain groups for exercises. Their disappointed gazes, their reluctant acceptance of his presence. And worst of all the acknowledgment that everyone in the group knew who the weak link was.
"Don't hold us back, Arlert." Ymir said , her voice loud due to the heavy pouring rain. Him along with Ymir, Krista, and Connie were currently in the middle of panicking, to be honest it was mostly him and Connie, Krista and Ymir seemed fine though Ymir looked bored while Krista just looked slightly apprehensive. Armin looked around him, it was dark, the heavy downpour was blocking their vision and they were surrounded on all sides by the large towering trees that littered the forests. Things were not looking good for them, but Armin knew that none of the other 20 teams were faring any better.
"Aww man, what the hell are we suppose to do!? That damn bald headed instructor probably wanted us to lose, all the other teams are going to kick our asses!" Connie shouted, grasping his head with both hands, the very image of despair.
"Stop whining, we need to get out of this rain or else were all going to die from hypothermia," Ymir picked up Krista who squeaked in surprise hooking to a tree nearby speeding away in a random direction.
Connie cursed and followed after the taller brunette. "Armin, hurry the hell up, we don't want to lose them!" He called over his shoulder.
Armin jumped and began to follow Connie, he shivered as the rain chilled his skin to an uncomfortable level. He didn't want to believe it but it seemed like his team was built to lose, it was not that he didn't believe in them, Connie and Krista were both top ten material, and Ymir when she wanted was no pushover.
But compared to their competition they were clearly outmatched,
Armin hooked to another tree at the height of his swing a stream of gas giving him another burst of speed. He finally found Connie and Ymir who was still holding Krista in her hands. He came up beside them.
"What do we do!?" He yelled over the rain.
"I don't know, you tell me , you are suppose to be the leader Armin." Ymir replied.
Armin almost froze in midair when he was reminded that he was suppose to be the group leader.
Armin looked down "B-but I'm not fit."
Ymir gave him a blank look, but Armin could see the disdain behind it "Damn straight you aren't, spineless men like you piss me the hell off. So stay here and cry in some tree or something I'm going to find shelter and ride out this exercise till it's over you do whatever you want Armin!"
"Wait ymi-"
"Quiet! Now is not the time for your goody two shoes act!"
Armin and Connie were surprised by the outburst, despite her attitude they both knew that Ymir genuinely cared about Krista.
"There!" Ymir pointed to a rock formation below.
The four of them didn't waste any time, they landed and ran under finally getting away from the heavy rain. The ground was wet and uncomfortable, the air was cold and unpleasant. Armin sat down on the muddy ground while the others did the same.
He looked around to his teammates, a part of him felt like he needed to apologize for his presence, like their misery and their eventual failure was his fault, no matter how irrational Armin knew the thought was, it still invaded his mind like a virus. Maybe if he was half a decent soldier they would have a better chance than they currently did.
Armin tightened his grip on his sword and looked at the sharp silver weapon. Why did they give him one, he rarely used them, when he did, the results were less than optimal. Armin closed his eyes, his mind taking him back to just a few hours earlier when this mess began.
"When your name is called, you are to line at your designated area!" Instructor Shadis's gruff commanding voice rang loudly in the trainee's ears, most of them still feeling the exhaustion of waking up so early in the morning, but none more so than a small blonde trainee.
Armin Arlert yawned and stretched out his limbs, he had barely slept last night. The thought of the exercise that was going to take place the next morning had filled him with an anxiety that left him with no chance of getting any sort of rest. He gazed towards the sky seeing the sun peeking its head across the horizon, the morning sunshine creeping on them slowly but surely. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see his best friend Eren Jaeger.
"Hey Armin, you ready?" Eren asked.
Armin gave a hesitant nod "Yeah...I guess."
"Where is Mikasa?" Armin asked, it was rare sight not to have the Asian girl following Eren's every move.
Eren glanced around him, realizing Armin's observation, "I don't know, usually she comes to get me in the morning."
"I needed to get ready." Eren jumped and spun around to face Mikasa.
"Where were you!? And don't sneak up on people!"
"Eren calm down..." Armin said, he looked to his other best friend "How are you feeling Mikasa?"
She looked impassive but Armin could see a fire in her eyes, Mikasa was more competitive than she let on. "I was getting some extra training done, I want to win."
"Mikasa Ackerman! Line up at row 3!" Shadis called,
Mikasa waved them goodbye before walking to Shadis and standing in the row that was labeled with a three. She was the first one assigned to the number and Armin could practically feel the other trainee's praying desperately to be on the same team as the number one in the Academy, Armin on the other hand was conflicted. He would love to work together with Mikasa, but on the other hand he didn't want to bring her down.
Eren began to shake with anticipation "Hey, Armin, we're going to be on the same team I can feel it." He turned to him and grinned "And we are going to beat Mikasa and win it all."
Armin sweat dropped, still not understanding the pointless one sided rivalry Eren insisted on having with Mikasa.
"Eren Jaeger! Line 3!"
"What!?" Eren screamed in outrage.
Keith Shadis did not appreciate the reaction "You got a problem with my decisions Jaeger?" He said menacingly, his tone promising hours upon hours of laps if Eren said anything that he didn't want to hear.
"No sir..." Eren slumped and walked over to stand behind Mikasa who couldn't be happier with the pick.
Armin waited patiently for his name to be called, as line three was fully formed with Bertholdt and Sasha being added to the mix. Armin just hoped that his name was not called first to form a new line, if that occurred he would have to be the captain, the leader, a role that he knew he was not fit for.
"Reiner Braun, Line 4!"
Armin let out a breath and watched as the tall blonde trainee walked to his line, brimming with confidence.
"Don't worry Mikasa" He said to the trainee's of line 3 who was directly beside him "I'll let your team get second."
Eren chuckled at his friend, "Like hell, Reiner. You're the one going down."
Armin tuned out their friendly bantering as he watched in growing apprehension when Marco, Jean, and Annie were placed behind Reiner in Line 4.
"Oh man, I'm so excited." Marco pumped his fists excitedly but stopped when he was slapped hard on the back by Jean.
"Head in the game, Marco!"
Annie stayed at the back of the line completely silent with her arms crossed against her chest.
Armin looked at the two teams that had formed, now he knew for certain that he had no chance of winning, no matter who he was paired up with. Mikasa and Eren on one team, and Reiner and Annie on another.
This was hopeless.
"Armin Arlert! Line 5"
Armin let out a string of curses that he was not aware he knew until this moment. He began to slowly navigate through the sea of trainees to his line, trying to block out their whispering.
'Why was that kid made a captain?'
'Oh man, I feel sorry for whoever has to put up with Arlert'
'I don't want to be on his team.'
Armin knew that they were right, he was not fit to be a captain, but no matter how much truth there were in those words, it never took away the feelings of hurt and anger that bubbled up inside him.
He made it to his line ignoring the surprised glances of the other teams at the announcement that he would be captain.
"Ymir!"
The tall brunette girl sighed "Great..." Armin did not need to be a genius to know why she looked so disappointed.
"Hello, Ymir." he smiled at her but he was given a blank stare before being ignored completely.
"Connie Springer, Line 5."
"Ah shit..."
Another one on his team, another one disappointed. He really wondered why Shadis would make the mistake of putting him in such a position, then again the man was a bit sadistic.
"Krista Lenz! Line 5."
"Ymir, I'm on your team." The small blonde laughed and jumped on the taller brunette when she got to line 5, "I knew it would happen!"
When they finally separated Krista gave both him and Connie luminous smiles. "Hello Connie, Armin"
Armin and Connie returned the greeting enthusiastically, both of them grateful for her presence as she made this a little more bearable.
After every team was picked and sorted, the trainee's followed Shadis to a classroom where the exercise was explained to them.
"This is a survival exercise that will last 7 days and seven nights! It will take place in the forest directly southeast of the academy. "
"Scattered across the forest are dozens of dummy titans, ranging from 5 meters to 14 meters, your objective is to slice into the nape of their necks." Shadis raised his hand revealing a small white ticket with the Survey Corps emblem and the number 5 written on it.
"After doing so, this will pop out signaling that you defeated the titan, the amount of points the ticket will produce will depend on how large the titan you defeated was." He pocketed the ticket before continuing.
"By the end of the seven days, you'll have 1 day to regroup back at the academy where your total scores will be counted. Rest assured trainees your safety is of the utmost importance. If you are not back in a 24 hour period after the exercise has ended. Myself and several academy instructors will be sent out to search for you. Is that clear trainees!?"
"Yes sir!" the room responded.
"You will each step outside and receive a pack containing supplies that will aid you in your survival, this will include a fully functioning 3D maneuver gear, 2 days worth of rations, a sleeping bag, and a map." Shadis paused before folding his hands behind his back.
"On your feet!" Shadis gave them each a long stare as they stood up "Me and the rest of the instructors designed this exercise to test all of your abilities, so make us proud!"
Shadis put a rough hand over his heart "Do not make me regret this salute Trainee's!"
"Yes, sir!"
Armin remembered the trainee's marching outside and taking their supplies. They Then separated into their respective groups and were escorted to different areas of the large forest as a starting point for the exam. the horse ride to the forest had been a long a silent affair and before they knew it the sky began to darken with rain clouds. By the time they had entered the forest rain was pouring down on them relentlessly and now they found themselves here. Scared, disjointed, and demoralized.
Armin began to unstrap the heavy Maneuver gear from his waist and let the supply pack on him fall to the ground. The young trainee sat against a nearby wall to relax. They were going to be here for 7 days, no food or water, no matter how he looked at it Armin knew that they would have no choice but to work together to survive.
He looked to Connie who was twirling his sword around absentmindedly, he was a good soldier, he was fast and agile, and despite his small size his strength was nothing to scoff at. But he was notorious for his oblivious nature and less than keen mind. He was no leader, he hated to admit it, but Connie Springer would make a worse captain than him. His eyes moved from Connie to Ymir who had Krista's head on her lap as she stroked it softly. Ymir was a mystery to him, she was strong, her large stature and toned body spoke of someone who trained a lot, but somehow was one of the laziest people in the academy. Armin truly believed that with a little effort her scores and rating could be twice as good. But despite all those things Ymir was also no leader, her only concern seemed to be Krista.
Finally Armin looked at Krista, She was one of the nicest people he had ever met, she was also one of the few willing to listen to him ramble on about his books besides Eren and Mikasa. She was fast and used the maneuver gear elegantly. Unfortunately Krista was always more concerned about making everyone happy, she would not truly compete against her classmates.
Armin looked down suddenly feeling bad for his thoughts.
'Here I am calling other people unfit for leadership when I'm no better'
"min- Armin!"
Armin snapped his head up to see Connie, Krista, and Ymir staring at him.
"Huh, what?" Armin asked, disorientated.
"I asked you what the hell do we do now!?" Connie exclaimed. His eyes containing a bit of panic in them.
Armin struggled to form his thoughts into something coherent. Without realizing he began to talk.
"Umm- well first thing is we have to establish some place where we can be safe, there are animals in the forest and we don't want to run into any predators...also we probably should move further into the forest, nearer to a water source. Our rations will only last two days so if we can maybe hunt some animals that will no doubt be drinking from the nearby water source than we could feed ourselves for the remainder of the exercise.
Everyone was quiet as they listened to him. He was surprised that they all seemed to be considering doing what he was saying.
'Why are they listening to me?'
"Is that all?" Ymir asked
"Yes...for now."
It would have to be him he realized, if they were going to win, he would have to step up. Even though he could see it in their eyes that they did not expect much from him he would still do it.
There was really no other option.
He glanced around seeing his teammates, they were ready to give up, the odds were against them and to be honest no one expected them to get close to winning, but he felt a strange sense of responsibility to them.
He stood up and began to strap on his Maneuver gear, the others looking at him strangely.
"We'll move out once the rain has stopped." he walked to the front of the entrance and took out one of his blades and pointed it north, we'll use the 3d maneuver gear to travel deeper in the forest for about 30 minutes. We'll walk after that to save our gas."
Connie, Ymir, and Krista stood beside him getting ready to move out.
Connie stared at him for a few seconds before nodding slowly " Alright if you say so..."
Ymir stood up, hoisting Krista along with her, "Whatever... as long as this doesn't get us killed."
Krista smiled at him "Even if we don't win, lets finish this together!"
In that brief moment the dark sky seemed to brighten up, the sun shining down upon her face beautifully.
Armin's and Connie's eyes widened.
'Sh- she's stunning...'
'It's G-god."
So here are the teams that the 104th are currently in
Ymir, Armin, Connie, and Krista. Mikasa, Eren, Sasha, and Bertholdt. Reiner, Marco, Jean, and Annie. Its mostly up to u guys if this story becomes any more than this, im still going to write this to the end probably but if its not well received (as in you guys hate it) then ill only upload sporadically while Commander will be my main focus. if you guys do like it then ill balance out this story and Commander =) See you next time guys