I know I haven't gotten far into the fanfiction so far yet, but I'd really like to know what you think! If Bláithín seems 'Mary Sue-ish' please bare with it for now until she develops!

She woke up in a bed that was not her own. Her eyes were heavy and no desire to get up.

She could hardly remember the day prior's events, her mind so overcome with grief and just utter misery to truly concentrate on just about anything. Surely she didn't end up going to Shiganshina in the end, right?

No... she remembers walking through somewhere dark. Horrible sights surrounded her; the poverty, the starvation, the stench of a cistern thrown on top of it all was just too gruesome for her to even think back on it.

That was how some people lived though. She always appreciated what she had - that being a bed, education, food to fill her stomach - but never got to get an insight as to how other people lived. She lived her life with everything handed to, everything she may ever need; people in the Underground, or other Wall District-inhabitants, had to survive with what little they had.

How sad, she said to herself. She just threw the chance of a normal life down the drain. Completing her education? Gone. Having kids? Also gone.

A 'normal' life, huh? What about this world was even normal in the first place? People go their whole lives knowing that there is a very high chance their loved ones could be taken from them at a moment's notice, shoved down the putrescent gullets of the Titans that roamed beyond the walls.

That was not normal, far from it. Bláithín's idea of normal was based on what she saw in the books she read as a child.

Every Christmas, her uncle would give her a book or two. He wasn't a very nice man, but he did place importance on education and books were the key source to knowledge in his eyes. He believed knowledge helped better a person. The books were tattered and worn, often meaning they were rather old. She'd inquire where he picked up these books and his answer was always the same: 'from far away', whatever that meant. Occasionally, he presented her with stories, rather than journals; stories - which occasionally contained poems - about love, nature, death, sadness and family.

Family.

She had one, most definitely, and she had more of a family than some people in this life. Often times, she associated a family with normalcy. But with very infrequent visits from her parents because of their profession, did she have a normal life?

As per the books: yes, to an extent. Her parents were very loving, her mother in particular. Her mother was always quite shy, as though she had so much to say; you could see it in her eyes after all, her eyes that had seen so much and rained with the pain she had witnessed and experienced. Never would she tell a soul though, with the exclusion of her husband. Regardless, though, she always made sure to spend time with her daughters when she did return from expeditions. She read to them, she would play with them in the garden, cuddle them when they were sad. Above all, she always promised she'd be there for her daughters.

"You should know that it's in my best interest to watch you two achieve happiness and your goals."

Or,

"I'll always be around to watch you succeed in life. I promise."

Bláithín learned what it meant to be a mother in that time and how to approach others and help them. She knew how to tend to injuries and care for the sick.

How to be there for people.

A true mother hen.

How she was able to promise that she would come back, when her life was always on the line? It certainly aroused curiosity within Bláithín.

It was a shame such a promise couldn't be kept.

Her father was very kind and protective. He taught her very basic self-defence if she ever needed it. It took him back to a time where he had only started the Training Corps; a much a simpler time in which he didn't have to fight Titans in it. A time where he didn't have to leave his children behind for months on end. A time where he didn't have to spend days worrying would he see his beloved wife again.

So yes, maybe by the books, she had a normal family life. But she would never understand why her uncle wouldn't accommodate to their needs while their parents weren't around to take care of them. That's what family was for, to look after each other. Her uncle was just never there, period. When he was, he would be stressed from whatever he was working on up in his office, which was strictly off-limits. Elise was there to play with and they had a good bond, but she had friends who she could go out with after school. Bláithín had some friends, but only during school, not to mention that talking during school was met with the corporal punishment.

Maybe she was blessed to have her parents come around, who were both very caring and were wonderful parents, but that was such a rare occasion.

For the first time, she realized that throughout her childhood, she was rather lonely.

The spirit of her mother would flood through her though… Maybe she could occupy herself with that.

(a few days later, after registration)

"Hey, you, wake up!"

Bláithín awoke with a fright to find a bespectacled brunette was hovering over her, shaking her by the shoulders. She squinted her eyes and braced the weight to her elbows.

"You don't want to be late for our first day of circuit training." She warned.

"Hange, it's raining outside. Are we really going to be training outside?" All the girls stared up at her in shock for asking such a question. "Was that a… stupid questions?"

"You betcha! Come on, Bláithín. I see this as team-bonding, whaddya say?"

"Okay, fine." Bláithín said hopping out of bed.

She followed Hange down to the Mess Hall to grab something to eat quickly. She was still adjusting to her once glamourous lifestyle to living as a cadet. She knew to accept what came and to be grateful for everything she got but the early mornings were a killer for her.

She sat down after grabbing some fruit, a slice of bread and a pitcher of water. Hange sat down across from her and made conversation. This was Bláithín's forte above all else in life - she was always told to have good table manners especially when she was called to go to banquets for special occasions wherein all the family was invited.

"You were looking so down recently… I suppose a lot would be if they feel homesick though. Where do you come from?"

Bláithín looked up at her and smiled weakly. "I am probably the only one here who is from Mitras. It's such a different lifestyle to what I'm used to, but the sense of community among people who have only been here for a few days… it's very nice. We're hall here for the same reason, or something very similar."

Hange stared at her. "You are definitely a rarer case from what I have heard, but I'm sure humanity would accept new soldiers regardless of their background."

She had a point.

In this new chapter of her life, no one knew her. She didn't have to act like she was eating dinner with her family, she didn't have to make sure she looked like the 'gem' she was often referred to.

Sugar and spice,

And everything nice.

That is what little girls are made of.

A young lady as she were, she would learn poetry over philosophy. And she would learn embroidery, not self-defence as per what her father taught her. Dancing was for ladies, chess and draughts were a no-no. To be as innocent and as sweet as an angle, that's what it meant to be a lady - these principles were instilled into all young ladies of Mitras.

Now she was free - to an extent - from these patriarchal ideals that were constructed the upper class society. After all, she was here to avenge her parents and feel the freedom they felt. By the walls, she didn't have to keep her silky blonde hair up in a pristinely neat bun anymore!

"We all want to be freed from the oppression of the Titans. I was always a little different…" Hange mused to herself. "I want to learn more about the Titans. My parents don't support me, but every person who helps will make a difference I believe. To be able to go beyond the Walls, stare up at the sky and get lost in it… that is a goal for us all to work for."

The sky, huh?

Imagine what it would be like to fly free from it all. From everything. From orders, from obligations, from life's misery.

Fly, fly, fly.

In the Survey Corps, that was what the soldiers did, right? They flew, into war against the titans, but flying through the clean air was certainly far better than living inside the Walls with the decaying spell that enshrouded them.

Bláithín looked behind her when she heard a bell indicating the hour in which cadets could get breakfast had drawn to a close.

After training was done, the official bedrooms had been assigned. Up until now, it was a matter of finding a bed that was free. Now, bedrooms only had around a maximum of six people per room. You'd often find a few fabric partitions to indicate males and females shared.

Rooms were organised and boarders were assigned as per skill they possessed. Not that the boarders mattered, they were collectively all seen as 'Titan fodder' in the instructors' eyes.

Bláithín walked into her assigned room along with three other soldiers following her. The room was... tiny, but this was expected though. It's not like she had her four-post bed anymore. It smelled of fresh linen, the sheets must have been washed recently. Candles sat on the bed-side lockers for late-night reading.

She slowly made her way over to a bed when she heard someone tall approach her.

"Can I help you?" she asked before turning around on her heel. Her jaw dropped when the taller and seemingly older male leaned down and inhaled some whatever scent he could get from her. "A-ah-!"

"Mike. Don't do that," Hange chided before she sat down on a bed opposite to Bláithín. "That's Mike by the way."

"That's Hange, by the way," the tall male said, perfectly imitating her voice.

Bláithín could only watch with a corked a brow, shaking her head a small bit. She scanned the room before seeing another tall male turning them on. Upon feeling her rather supple gaze boring into the back of him, he turned around on his heel.

"Ah, hi," he breathed, a mere crack of a smile plastering over his lips. "The name's Erwin, Erwin Smith." The blond male introduced.

Bláithín nodded before averting her eyes all the while rubbing her forearm. She heaved a sigh as she watched Hange and Mike squabble over something...frivolous most likely. She gazed back, and up, at Erwin again. "Hi, it's Bláithín Hahn..Do they fight often or-?"

"No, well, yes, but they get along, believe me," he assured. Erwin wordlessly excused himself and separated the two from each other, ignoring Hange's 'but he started it!'

Bláithín's lips quivered, brows arched in bewilderment. The sight of two people fighting so rambunctiously was so foreign to her. It was like a culture-shock within her own country.

"Hey, Bláithín!" Hange called out.

Bláithín glanced at her, smiling politely. "Yeah?"

"Pick a bed, this is one of the fun parts of being in the Trainee Corps for the first time. Then it kind of sucks then on..." she murmured, twiddling with a strand of hair.

She did have some kind of point in that sense. Bláithín shrugged before walking over to the bed in the corner of the room that was closest to the window. Peering out the window, she could see all of her future colleagues being shoved, literally, inside the door. Bláithín corked a brow before sighing. She eventually eased into the springy mattress before saying, "This one's mine."

She bounced on top of it, rocking her hips up and down to get a feel for it. Sure, it wasn't comfy. It would have to do.

It's not like being a cadet or soldier was comfortable either. She wondered if people lived 'normal' lives here, with their 'normal' families. That would be something she would have to discover herself. She was in Trost now, life was far different here than the life she lived up in Mitras.

"That's fine, I didn't like the smell of that one..." Mike muttered, frankly, interrupting her introspection. He bent down to spell her bed again. "Yeah, definitely don't like it."

This was met with a slap into the forearm by the bespectacled young woman. "Mike! Yeah, he has this weird quirk that he smells people for the first time he meets them," she began. She paused, motioning towards the cocky smirk that plasters over his lips when he takes his nose away.

"Then smirks, but I doubt he's trying to be offensive. I'm sure some of people may find it weird."

Bláithín's mouth hung open as she tried to comprehend everything. 'They all seem nice, though...' she noted before nonchalantly shrugging. Everyone has their own quirks. "I understand." She muttered, scratching the hair behind her ear.

"Hate to break this 'moment' but we were expected to put on our new uniforms now," the blond male informed. His sea blue eyes motioned towards the chest of drawers, presumably containing all of their new clothes. "Shortly after, 3DMG training begins. Apparently, it's quite hard."

Bláithín stood up, patted the spot she was originally sitting and ambled over to the chest of drawers and grabbed the first pair of pants and military jacket she set her eyes on. She pivoted around on her heel again, sighing when she realized Erwin was behind her, waiting to get a uniform. She handed one back to him and then went into the bathroom to change. Again, the ruckus ensued once she was no longer in the room; maybe they were waiting for her to leave.

She came out again, dressed and looked at Mike and Hange 'sparring' with pillows and sighed.

This was her new life.

It would take getting used to and it was certainly going to be very hard to adjust.

That's normal, though, right?

Hey everyone, PLEASE review - they keep me alive and motivated! I know you are all probably just hanging around until Levi comes along - which should be soon - but I need to establish the reader's character first, you know? I hope you are liking the reader's character so far? Let me know what you think, if you have formed any opinions based on this one chapter, lol!