Chapter 1 – The 104th Training Corps: Footsteps
The first thing he felt were the delicate stems weaving their way through his fingers. The breeze gently bobbing the blades up and down as their tips brushed lightly on his hands. The patch of grass was soft, comforting, inviting even…
"Over here!" something that sounded like a voice called out, "He's over here!"
He didn't mind the voice; his eyes were still shut and whoever it was sounded too far away. He was rather tired, and a quick nap wouldn't hurt anyway.
"Oh fuck…" the same voice sounded again, closer this time
"No…" another mumbled, "NO NO NO NO!"
The voices sounded like they were underwater, but his head felt the rough-hewn surface of bark behind it…a tree most definitely. It certainly smelled like it too although there seemed to be a slick substance clinging to it as well as the grass…morning dew maybe. Rather odd, but something that could wait until after his nap.
"This is bad, this is really bad." one of the voices seemed to spout unintentionally. He heard his name be called out. Why couldn't they just let him nap? He tried to mutter a response, tell them to leave him alone for a moment but he felt a moisture in his mouth. It seemed to clog his throat, something slick, tasting almost metallic.
"Wait!" the voice this time sounded frantic, "His mouth just moved…he's still alive!"
His mind seemed all mottled, but he couldn't help but cringe at the response. Of course, he was alive, what kind of statement was that! He tried to lift his arm in defiance of the statement but…but his arm didn't move. In fact, he couldn't feel the grass between his fingers anymore or…or the tree his head was resting on. Why…why couldn't he feel anything.
He strained to open his eyes, the rush of light that greeted him working more against him than not. He struggled for what felt like an age but finally he was able to restore a sliver of his vision. Not much, but enough to see it; enough to see the red mucous liquid. It was blood, his blood.
He remembered.
He coughed, trying to clear his throat of the saliva stained with his own fluids.
"Don't try to speak" the voice tried to speak calmly, "…conserve your strength."
His head felt woozy, and his vision started to darken but he couldn't help but discern the crack in the voice. There was an inevitability to it, a sadness. He knew what it meant, and so mustered what strength he had left
"…tell" he stammered, feeling a line of blood drip down his mouth, "…tell her"
It was dark and he felt colder than he'd ever had but he could still feel the two pairs of eyes on him.
"…I'm sorry…."
There was a long pause and for a fleeting moment he thought that he hadn't spoken at all but one of the voices responded.
"We will…" the voice seemed to start drifting away as it spoke, "…don't worry."
He struggled to continue, his voice raspy but no louder than a whisper, "and tell…. Luk…tell….Lukas"
…
"LUKAS!", a voice yelled, waking the boy with a jolt.
"I swear to the walls Jean…" Lukas doubled over, his head in his hands. "I will kick your ass right here!" As his vision returned to him, he recalled where he was. Riding in the back of a horse-drawn cart, from the looks of it, a ways north of Trost District now.
"I wouldn't have to yell, if your snoring didn't sound like it was going to break down the walls." The taller boy retorted as he rested his feet on an open spot of bench across from him.
The shorter of the two rolled his eyes, "Leave it to you to make a joke in bad taste." Lukas spat, taking another look out of the carriage, as Jean scoffed at him. "Where are we?"
"Just passed Jinae about 5 minutes ago." Jean replied, voice more tempered now.
"Do you two not like each other?" A new voice filled the air. Lukas turned to see another boy to his right, it having not occurred to him that that more people had joined the caravan while he napped.
"What gave you that idea?" Lukas smirked, sarcasm flowing from his mouth. "Lukas Schmidt" the boy extended his hand.
"Marco Bodt" the freckled boy with a look of innocence responded, accepting the formers gesture.
"And this stubborn gangly fella right here is my good buddy, Jean Kirschtein." Lukas cocked his head back, pointing at the grayish haired boy behind him.
Jean resigned, leaning forward to shake Marco's hand as well, sighing in annoyance he craned his head towards his compatriot, "Sometimes I really don't know why I'm friends with you Schmiddy."
"Likewise, bud…likewise."
"So…" the boy Marco shifted in his seat on the bench, "…you guys are from Trost right? How is it like living in a walled city?"
The two boys nodded in acceptance, "Busy…" Lukas chimed.
"A lot more so since Wall Maria fell…" Jean added somberly.
Marco lowered his head a bit, his voice lowered, "I guess that's a good thing, right? More people surviving after the reclamation mission, right?"
The shorter of the friends swept his trimmed black hair to the side, looking down, "Not when the city can't support them all…" Lukas sighed, thoughts of homeless camps and bread lines across his hometown filled the 13-year old's head.
The three sat in silence for a moment until Jean suddenly shot up, his head pointed at the newcomer, "You're from Jinae right?"
Marco nodded, a weak smile on his face, "Yeah."
Jean furrowed his brow turning to his friend, "Hey Schmiddy, didn't we know someone from Jinae?"
The boy looked up, his somber mood shifted, "Yeah…um that girl Cassie I think."
The taller 13-year-old nodded in acknowledgement, "Oh yeah, I remember Cassie."
"Well, I should hope so…" Lukas retorted, a half-smile on his face.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jean blurted, tension rising.
"You kept trying to ask her out…" the darker haired friend snorted, "… and then after the third time she kicked you where the sun don't shine."
With a pained look, Jean put his head in his hand "Right…I remember."
"…rightfully so." Lukas added.
The taller boy shot up, angered by the statement, grabbing his friend by the collar, "DO YOU WANT TO GO SHORTY!"
Lukas shot up in response, "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME HORSEFACE!?"
"Where's that?" the two, both mid swing from striking each other, turned to the recently quiet third boy in their carriage.
"Where's what?" Lukas answered.
"That place you just said?" Marco said innocently, "The place where the sun doesn't shine?"
The duo looked at Marco, then to each other, then back to Marco. Almost forgetting their near fight, they both sat down.
"The Kings jewels?" Jean muttered.
"Your apples and the apple tree?" Lukas added.
"Your gatehouse and gate?" Jean ended.
Marco maintained his confused look, too which the duo again looked at each other questioningly. Lukas made a motion to his private parts. The newcomer took a second to comprehend, afterwards a flush of red rushed his face.
"Oh…ohhhhhhhhhh." After a moment of pondering Marco flinched, "Ouch…"
Jean returned his head to his hand utterly defeated, and Lukas gave a chuckle, "You're a funny one Marco, I'll give you that."
Their conversation was quickly interrupted by the driver of the carriage, they were to arrive at the training ground in about 5 minutes.
Jean looked up, "Guess this is it."
"Guess so" Lukas replied lifting his hand in a closed fist. "Till the end."
Jean gave a small smile, reciprocating their old childhood ritual, tapping the back of his own closed fist with his friends. "Till the end."
…
And here I thought this day was going so well.
"Faster you two!" the Commandant barked.
If I die today, that would be a mercy.
5 minutes earlier
As sense of relief filled the body of Lukas Schmidt as the Commandant passed him over without so much as a word, albeit the boy was suspicious that the man, hard emotionless face apparent, had stared at him for what seemed to be a lot longer than all the other recruits to that point, his relief was quickly shattered by a loud thud next to him. Although the boy of 13 was tense beyond belief at the moment, he took a small joy seeing his best friend, one Jean Kirschtein, get headbutted by the seasoned military man, albeit through the corner of his own eye.
Lukas mentally eye rolled as Commandant Shadis went the rounds with the boy Marco, whom Jean and himself had managed to befriend on the road to the training ground. The freckled boy's optimism seemed to go well with his own cynicism and Jean's bullheadedness, but the boys almost fairytale devotion to the king seemed cringey at the very least. Tracking their instructors progress through the corner of his eye, Lukas saw his next victim. Before even he himself had the chance to register that the bald-headed boy by the name of Connie Springer had saluted with the wrong hand entirely, was the shorter lad thrusted up into the air by his head thanks to the Commandant. Schmidt felt himself give off an audible gulp, as he dropped the shorter boy to the ground rushing to the next line.
Lukas, Jean, and even Marco couldn't help but crane their heads at the insanity of one of their fellow recruits. The trio, and it seemed like everyone else in their group, stared at the recruit, a girl with dark-brown hair by the name of Sasha Braus who, remarkably, had been eating a potato in the middle of the formation. The following exchange was exacerbated by Braus handing the Commandant half of the potato, not seeming to understand the dire straits she was in.
The formation was dead quiet for what seemed an eternity, before the Commandant cut through the silence, his voice a hot knife through butter.
"ROWS 1 THOUGH 6, ABOUT FACE!"
Every row the man had passed to that point turned 180 degrees on heel to face him.
"Since Recruit Braus seems assured in screwing over not only herself, but all of you worthless maggots…." The Commandant paused dropping the piece of potato down and crushing the remains under his boot. "…I find it necessary to have you recruits join her in her punishment to hammer the point to into her thick skull…." The Commandant turned and backtracked down the line, leaving the girl, almost comatose in shock and horror in his dust. "…but I am not an unjust man!" He almost boasted as he looked around at the recruits. "So…I will only pick one of you."
Commandant Shadis's walk slowed to a stop in front of Lukas, and the towering man turned to the boy. "And what do they call you recruit?"
Schmidt thought he could almost see the beginnings of a smile for on the side of Shadis's face as he saluted and answered, "LUKAS SCHMIDT, OF TROST DISTRICT SIR!"
Not missing a beat, the Commandant responded, "Recruit Schmidt, you will accompany Recruit Braus on her little trot around the grounds from now until the sun sets." The grown man almost sounded sarcastic. "If she falters, you will keep pace, if she falls, you will strive to keep her going. You will both end the run together, or walls willing, you will both die from exhaustion. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!"
"YES SIR!"
…
Lukas hurt. Every part of his body was on fire, and he gasped for air as if he were a fish out of water. Still, he had done what the Commandant had ordered of him, running the length of the grounds from that moment until the sun dipped under the horizon, all with "potato girl" in tow. The run had been in complete silence, the girl having only gotten a whimper of "I'm sorry." out to him before Shadis had ordered them to begin. To Sasha's credit though, she had lasted the entire time, but once the sun set, the brunette collapsed, the boy catching her before the girl hit the deck. Dragging her form would have been reasonably simple, his parents had always stressed being active, and the number of fights he got in with Jean, both with and against him did not keep him inactive. The issue being was the struggle to keep his own body weight up. As the two made it to the side of one of the barracks, he set her down, leaning up against the wall of the wooden building. Not a second later, he too collapsed, only keeping enough consciousness to maintain that Braus was still breathing, as all other signs of life coming from the girl seemed non-existent.
Soon enough the boy saw a light approaching, seemingly from a lamp, and following that the faintest smell of bread. Not a second passed from his nose registering the smell of bread, did the previously comatose form of the girl beside him shot up with what seemed demonic vigor almost jumping at the source. By the time Lukas was able to hobble his way to the light, its source one of their fellow recruits, a shorter blonde girl with big eyes and a kind face, it seemed like Sasha in her delusion thought she was a god. At that point the boy could not help but agree, as the blonde, whose name was Krista, turned and happily offered him half of the loaf of bread, and a swig of the jug of water.
Lukas downed a decent portion of the water and ate half of his allotted bread with ease. Without a thought he took the other half of bread and handed it to Sasha. While she took it readily, she stopped herself from nearly gorging it for a second, crumbs visibly present on her face as she muttered weakly, "Why?"
He gave her a weak smile, a small chuckle escaping his mouth "It seemed like you needed it more than I did?"
The boy turned to their apparent savior, weakly offering his hand, "Lukas Schmidt" he introduced himself, "…thank you. This was really so kind of you!" he smiled.
"Krista Lenz" the girl smiled and offered her hand back. "It was really no problem."
"What are you two doing?" a fourth voice entered the air, its origin coming from a taller girl, with freckles, and shorter hair, who entered the light of the lamp.
The girl called Krista answered nervously, "They've been running all day, so…"
The fourth girl went into a discussion with Krista on whether or not being a good Samaritan was worth being caught bringing punished people food. Lukas, in his exhaustion, found the conversation even too cynical for his thinking made a snort.
"I'm sure everyone must love you…" he spit out sarcastically.
"And you…" the tall girl turned to him.
"Potato girl here dragged you along with her to her punishment and you still find the need to give her a portion of your bread. Why is that? Trying to get something more?" the girl added.
The boy rolled his eyes, too tired to grasp the innuendo, and far too tired to deal with this girls garbage world view he scoffed, "Doesn't really have to be a reason, does there? Can't just be doing it out of goodwill." he gave the girl a half-hearted but fully visible shit eating grin. "I can't imagine you'd be out here for anything like that?"
Without a response, Lukas turned to Krista, "Thank you again Krista, I look forward to working with you." and the girl smiled kindly in response. Looking to Sasha, he added, "See you later Sasha." his words void of any negativity unlike with the taller girl. He walked off, still partially hobbling towards the boy's barracks. As he walked off, the two girls helped Sasha to her feet, the girl from Dauper realizing she hadn't stopped looking at the boy, and more wildly, she hadn't even taken a bite of the bread he'd given her.
…
"Now son the key is balance."
"But what if I fall?"
"You won't. I got you."
The midday sun and the sudden crash beside him knocked Lukas out of his trance. Taking a second to reacquaint, he looked down to see himself, perfectly balanced and motionless on the Omni Directional maneuvering gear test rig. The same could not be said of the recruit in the rig beside him, a hot-headed kid formerly of Shiganshina District, Eren Yeager. As the instructor's aids mark his own exercise as a pass and proceeded to lower him back to earth, Lukas could see his counterpart getting berated by the ever-alert Commandant.
After unstrapping from the device, the teen made his way to the group of trainees who had completed the test and was soon flagged down by the grey-haired dip wad he called his best friend who seemed to flaunting his aptitude with the equipment to the bald-headed boy they'd seen yesterday, Connie, and the new addition to their former duo, Marco.
"Schmitty, over here!" Jean motioned.
The teen of 13 walked up. "Hey fellas" he addressed the assembled boys.
Marco being the kind person that he blatantly was spoke first, "Lukas, how you feeling?"
Schmidt sighed, "Honestly pretty sore."
"Makes sense." Connie added, "I can't imagine what it felt sharing that punishment with Potato Girl."
"Her name's Sasha, and yeah can't say it was all that fun" Lukas chuckled, "But then again, I can't imagine having the Commandant lift you up by your head?"
The bald-headed teen rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, besides I can't imagine this will be the last of our worries."
The group agreed, starting to migrate back to the boy's barracks. Entering the door to the complex, Marco spoke up again, "I'm still surprised you were able to sit so still in the harness today, given how sore you must be Lukas."
Lukas who was about to respond was instead cut off by Jean, "Yeah I told you Marco, me and Schmitty here are naturals. No doubt we can make the top 10 and get into the Military Police."
"Yeah Schmidt" Connie added, "We were all talking about how were going to get into the MP's"
"Yep, a life of luxury and security for all of us, right buddy…" Jean smirked, ".…but probably not Connie though."
The teen smiled weakly, rubbing the back of his neck while Jean and Connie argued, "Yeah…luxury and security."