never apologize
for burning
too brightly
or for collapsing
into yourself
every night
that is how
galaxies are made
Tyler Kent White
-Emmryn's POV-
I sighed as I took a bite out of my bread ration in the mess hall for lunch. Levi and Erwin had just left after dropping me off at the Cadet Corps. I had been sent to the administrative office where I was stripped of my Survey Corps jacket and cloak and given the Cadet Corps one instead. It took all of my will power to smile and thank the confused soldier that was given that task. It wasn't her fault that this situation was fucked up.
After lunch, I was supposed to join the formation after being introduced by Shadis, which I really didn't feel like dealing with. Since leaving the Scouts HQ, I had decided to leave the right side of my bangs down to cover the right side of my face because frankly, I really didn't feel like dealing with any more questions than what I'm already going to be bombarded with.
When I left the mess hall, I was greeted with the other trainees getting into formation. I noticed a familiar bald head with sunken eyes and strode up to him with confidence before giving a strong salute.
"Cadet Emmryn Smith, reporting for training, Commander Shadis," I said with a strong, but measured voice, effectively getting Shadis's attention. He turned to look at me with a shocked look before giving me a rare but small smile.
"At ease, Cadet," he said as I relaxed and he continued with a small, almost unnoticeable smile, "Welcome back, Emmryn. I heard you were in hell." I shrugged in response.
"Aren't we all, sir?" I responded nonchalantly before looking at him with seriousness showing in my one visible blue eye, "Sir, can I ask you a small favor?" Shadis raised an eyebrow at this before nodding.
"I don't want everyone to find out that I'm Erwin's younger sister. Can you just introduce me as Emmryn?" I asked calmly, "I'm already going to cause enough of a disturbance, and I'd rather have at least some chance to somewhat blend in." Shadis chuckled at this before ignoring my request and turning to the other cadets and calling us all to attention.
"Alright, you useless maggots, starting today there will be another slightly less useless maggot added to your ranks," Shadis yelled causing all attention to turn to me. In response, my expression stayed emotionless, and my salute stayed strong as Shadis continued, "This is Cadet Emmryn Smith! She has already trained with the Survey Corps and has returned to complete her training with the rest of you maggots! Now, Cadet Smith, get your ass in formation now! You're between Ackerman and Arlert!" Ackerman?... Is she somehow related to Levi?... Dammit, Emmryn, do not think about him right now.
Suppressing the growl that was rising in my throat, I quickly ran to the only empty place in the formation before Shadis dismissed us to start ODM gear training. I was put in a group with a horse faced looking guy with an undercut, the girl with black hair and dark eyes that I had been placed by in the formation, a guy with black hair and freckles, and a guy with brown hair and vibrant green eyes. The guy with green eyes ran up to me, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Is it true? Have you really trained with the Scouts? Have you met the commander? Captain Levi? Have you killed a titan?" the boy interrogated with enthusiasm and bright eyes. I backed away slightly at his loud voice and close proximity. What is this guy's issue? Does he have brain damage?
"Eren! Back off a bit! You don't know if she's dangerous!" the black haired girl warned the boy.
"Oh shut up, Mikasa! You know I want to join the Scouts! She's the best chance I have at finding out information about them!" the boy I now knew was Eren yelled back, obviously irritated. The horse-faced guy snickered.
"Only because you have a death wish. Only brain damaged and suicidal people join the Scouts. Have you heard how many people die on expeditions each time? I heard the current commander basically just leads the Scouts like lambs to the slaught-," he started before I swiftly punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground a meter away.
"Listen here, you pussy ass horse faced piece of shit, if you dare to insult my older brother or the work of the Scouts again, a black eye and training with Shadis will be the least of your worries," I growled angrily, "You're probably some chicken shit determined to live a life of safety in the interior as an MP." The group looked at me in shock as the guy with the freckles helped up the horse-face.
"Look, I get that you didn't like what he had to say, but you really didn't need to punch Jean that hard. We're comrades," Freckles chastised me, and I smiled slightly at him. So the horse-face was Jean. It was good that he at least had a friend with some manners that could look after him.
"Alright, Freckles. You make a good point; however, teach horse-face there not to talk shit about those who risk their lives in hopes of making everyone else's better and he'll be much safer from me," I said with a deceptively kind smile on my face, "Now what is your name?"
"I-I'm Marco Bodt! It's nice to meet you! By the way, who is your older brother?" he responded with curiosity evident in his voice. I smirked at this as the group looked at me in anticipation.
"Didn't the last name give it away?" I asked tauntingly before sighing and smiling as I tied my bangs back revealing the right side of my face earning gasps and horrified expressions from my whole group, "Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Emmryn Smith. Younger sister of the current commander of the Survey Corps, Erwin Smith." Eren looked at me in awe at this as Mikasa's eyes narrowed in apprehension. Jean looked nervous as he wiped the blood from his nose caused by the punch from earlier. I smirked again as I quickly put on my ODM gear and shot into the trees.
"What are you guys staring at? It's just a scar! Let's have a little competition! If you guys can't beat the half-blind girl, you should probably just go home now!" I taunted as I heard their ODM gears deploy. This may be pretty fun after all. For once, it felt like the cards were in MY hands.
Within a couple of hours, it was time for dinner. Everyone seemed to be out of breath except me. I just shook my head in disappointment. This was nothing after training with Squad Levi. Despite announcing that I was the younger sister of the commander, I really did not want it getting out that I was a member of the special operations squad. That would just put a target on my back. However, that wasn't a concern considering it would appear that the Eren kid had announced what I told him to EVERYONE. This was very obvious when I walked into the mess hall to a room full of stares, ranging from awe, to fear, to curiosity. I sighed to myself. This was going to be a long ass two years.
Song: I'll Make a Man Out of You by Mulan (Don't judge me. The song was stuck in my head while I was writing this.)
Edited: 03/26/2020
