The Wings Of Our Dreams
5 Team Bonding
AN: Hello there, my readers! Here's another chapter of The Wings Of Our Dreams. Hope you enjoy!
Now to reviews.
Guest: There should be.
Drcaus: Interesting choices though I'm not sure if I can imagine Johnny Yong Bosch speaking in a country accent.
Year 849
Thirty-seventh Entry
Well, I can definitely say that even after all this time after the Shadis incident nobody is going to let me forget it. Now I know how Sasha feels after the whole Potato thing. Does that mean I'll stop bringing it up? Not a chance!
Anyway, I have to say that today, I met someone rather… special shall we say. And that's saying something considering who I hang out with.
Today's training consisted of cadets facing each other in hand-to-hand fighting. That was something that people found rather odd considering they were being trained to fight Titans, not humans, and you definitely didn't want to fight Titans with your hands.
Regardless, the training was deemed necessary since there is also a chance that they would end up fighting criminals or bandits, something for which the ODM gear wasn't built.
Collin looked around the training field where the other cadets practiced, seeing them use various moves and techniques to disable their opponents or just simply sparring.
The problem was, everyone needed a training partner, and Collin couldn't find any. Everyone was occupied. Reiner was training with Armin, Mikasa was with Eren, Connie and Sasha were fighting each other in… rather unique battle stances shall we say, and everybody else had a partner.
It was a bit frustrating, honestly. Collin really needed to get some training done otherwise it would look like he slacked off.
Looking around a bit more, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. There was a fairly short girl with blonde hair tied behind her head with some fringes framing each side of her face though more prominently on the right side, blue eyes, and a curved nose. She was standing next to the fence with her arms crossed, her eyes glazing uninterested over the cadets.
'That's… Annie, right?' Collin thought. 'I think I heard Reiner and some others call her that. What's she doin' by herself?'
Interested, Collin walked up to Annie, who only spared him a glance before her eyes went back to her previous position.
"So, you must Annie," Collin said.
"I am," she said.
"Why aren't you trainin' with the others?" Collin asked. "Or are ya also havin' trouble findin' a partner?"
"I just don't see the point," Annie said.
Well, she looked like she wasn't in the mood for chatting so Collin decided to go straight to the point. "Well, since we're both lackin' a partner, why don't ya partner up with me?"
Annie spared him a glance again. "And why should I?"
"Oh, c'mon, what's the harm?" Collin asked but the blonde girl once again seemed uninterested. "Just one round, alright? That's all I'm askin'."
Annie let out a somewhat annoyed sigh before uncrossing her arms. "Fine then," she said before moving to a more spacious area.
Letting out a smirk, Collin followed her before the two of them stood across each other. Annie took a curious battle stance, with a left foot forward and with her fists just above her eye level and the right one closer to her head.
Collin's own had similar foot positioning though his fists were closer to his chest level. "So, which one of us should start?"
Her eyes slightly narrowed. "Are you planning on asking the same thing of your opponents?"
'Bright ball of sunshine, that one,' Collin thought sarcastically before shrugging. "Fine then. I'll try goin' easy on ya."
Annie scoffed and tightened her stance a little. Collin then charged at her, going for a jab near her head. But then to his surprise, Annie moved at an alarming speed, ducking his punch before moving closer. Her foot then struck his leg, making him slightly go off balance.
The moment Collin let out a gasp Annie's right hand and forearm were pressed against his chest with the other going behind his back. Collin was lifted off his feet as his upper body was hurled downward.
Collin then let out a pained yelp as his back struck the ground hard. He opened his eyes and saw Annie staring down at him, her form shadowed by the sun behind her.
"Still want to go easy on me?" she asked before turning and walking away, her hands in her pocket.
After a few moments, Collin gained a look of confusion before blinking. "Did… did that short stack just…?"
Collin's mind was still going over how fast that happened as he lay on the ground. That girl was like five foot nothing, yet she just threw him on his ass like he was an old sack of potatoes. Just who the hell taught her that move?
With his pain forgotten, he ignored all the cadets that were giving him astound looks before he got up. He looked at the retreating form of Annie before quickly hurrying over to her.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Collin said as he approached her. Just as his hand touched her shoulder, Annie roughly grabbed it before she struck him in the shin. Collin lost his balance and using his momentum, Annie throws him over her shoulder, making Collin once again painfully slam into the ground.
"Had enough, yet?" Annie taunted before casually passing him.
Frustrated, Collin's eyes narrowed in her direction. Before she could completely pass him, Collin moved his legs to grasp her own, with one leg on the shin and the other on the thigh. Annie was barely surprised before Collin twisted his legs, making Annie fall on the ground as well. Cheap move? Yes. Did he care? No.
"Okay, the first one, totally understandable," Collin said as he got into a seating position. "But the second time was totally uncalled for. I just wanted to talk, I wasn't attackin' ya!"
Annie groaned before getting up and dusting herself. "Whatever," she simply said before turning away.
Collin got back on his feet as well. 'And I thought Ymir was the only one with an attitude problem,' he thought as he looked at the retreating form of Annie. Giving a sigh to calm himself he called out. "Hey, Annie, wait!"
Annie, grumbling under her breath something about 'persistent bastards', stopped and looked back. "What now?"
"Look, I… I don't want us to part on bad terms," Collin said while rubbing the back of his head. "It is a simple misunderstanding and I don't want it to ruin a friendship."
Annie cocked an eyebrow. "Friendship? And why on earth do you suddenly want to be my friend? Even after I just threw you?"
"Eh, it was a misunderstanding. 'Sides, why not? You look like you could use some friends," Collin commented.
"Is that a fact? And who says I need any friends?" she asked, her monotone not changing.
Collin smirked. "Nature."
Annie's eyes twitched. Whatever answer she was expecting, 'nature' definitely wasn't one of those. "Nature? You're telling me that nature says I should have friends."
"Of course," Collin said. "I mean, why do you think humans hang around with each other so much? We build communities, work 'longside each other, hang out together, it's the reason why we have survived and thrived as long as we have.
"Trust me, bein' alone ain't the way. You need to surround yourself with people ya trust. They'll have yer back, and you theirs."
After that speech, Annie stared at him blankly for a few moments. There was a bit of awkward silence between them before Annie gained a small hint of amusement on her face. "Now I can see why people call you a country bumpkin. It's definitely not just because of the accent."
Collin's shoulders dropped at the comment. "Really? That's where you're goin' with that?"
Annie closed her eyes and shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe I'll take your advice to heart," she said though Collin wasn't completely convinced in her words.
"Right, so…" Collin's voice trailed off before deciding to extend his hand. "Why don't we start from the beginnin'? Collin Holt."
Annie's blue eyes went from his hand to his face several times before she sighed. "Fine," she said as she took his hand in a brief handshake. "Annie Leonhart."
"There, much better," Collin said smiling. "That feel good?"
"You're really persistent about this, aren't you?"
"Hey, it's part of my charm. Admit it."
"And humble as well."
Collin rolled his eyes in frustration. "Learn to take a joke, Annie. The world ain't that serious," he said. "Well, I better get going. Looks like Miks is free." He then turned and headed towards where Mikasa stood over a downed Eren who looked really annoyed. Collin then gave Annie a wave. "See ya later, shortcake! Try not to flip anyone on accident!"
Annie watched the tall teen leave as she crossed her arms. She then let out a sigh before shaking her head. 'What the hell am I doing?'
It was soon afternoon and Collin walked through the training area, his mind going back to Annie. She was definitely strong and knew how to fight probably the best out of everyone he met so far. Guess she didn't really need to train after all.
Collin spent the rest of the exercise sparring with Mikasa. When it came to physicality she was his best match so it was fruitful.
Looking to the side, he was Shadis talking to two cadets behind the fence in the area where some of their equipment is stored. He recognized the two cadets as Mina Carolina and Thomas Wagner.
Deciding to check it out, Collin moved closer to see what was going on.
"Okay, you maggots!" Shadis said in his usually annoyed and angry tone. "If you're not here to win it, you can pack your bags and ship out to the Interior right now!"
The two of them just stood with their hands behind their back, the look of shame and nervousness present on both their faces.
Keith then turned to Thomas. "Thomas Wagner! Even a waste of space like you could make it in the Interior! They're low on numbers, son!" He then turned to Mina who began to sweat. "And you! Mina Carolina! Born in a pigsty, weren't you? Then go back and live with the swine, kiddo! Titans don't eat pork!" Mina gulped before looking down. "…Although I dunno if the pigs would even take a runt like you in."
Shadis then walked past them, leaving the depressed cadets behind him. He then stopped at the entrance where Collin was watching events unfold.
"Is there something you need, Holt?" Shadis demanded as he looked at Collin with his glaring eyes.
"Oh, I'm just… admirin' your work, sir," Collin said simply.
Shadis scoffed. "Smartass brat. At least you aren't a complete waste of time unlike those two."
The commandant then left with Collin approaching the discouraged Mina and Thomas. "Hey, you two."
They turned in his direction, with Mina managing a weak smile. "Oh, hi Collin."
"Hey there, big guy," Thomas said. "We… saw you earlier with Annie and how you two…"
"Yeah, yeah, I got my ass kicked. That ain't important right now," Collin said. "And I saw Shadis chewin' you out."
Thomas rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, but… He didn't have to be quite so harsh. I'm doing my best."
"I don't know how much more of this I can take…" Mina said with a faltering voice. "Maybe the life of a pig is better."
Collin then put a comforting hand on her and Thomas' shoulders. "Hey, it's alright. Don't let 'im discourage ya. You just need to work harder and make Shadis eat his words."
"But I AM working hard!" Thomas protested. He really was, but something really made him falter after all this time. He and Mina were unfortunately in the same boat when it came to that which lead to Shadis giving them that berating.
"I'd like to think positive, but I'm not sure we're going to make it through training like this," Mina said before looking up at Collin. "Doing my best obviously isn't getting us anywhere. Collin, you're one of the best cadets this corps has to offer. What do you think we should do?"
Collin put a finger on his chin before looking down at the pig-tailed girl (seriously, Mina was even shorter than Annie) before speaking up. "Well, even I couldn't be where I was by just doing my own thing. If ya want my advice, then watch and learn from high-flyers."
"Watch and learn?" Mina asked.
Collin nodded. "Of course. There were several times I watched what my buddies did and replicated it. Mikasa, Bertholdt, Reiner, Eren..." He then leaned down with a palm near his mouth and spoke in a hushed voice. "And don't tell 'im, but I even got some of Jean's moves."
The two of them chuckled at that, knowing full well that Jean can be a bit full of himself.
With her mood brightened, Mina let out a smile. "I get what you're saying. Well, there are certainly a lot of talented people among our peers. If we studied their strong points, it could help us improve."
"Study their strong points, eh?" Thomas said as he got an approving smile on his face. "Yeah, if we made a conscious effort to do that, it could make a real difference actually."
"Maybe we can even learn from you, Collin," Mina suggested. "I mean if you don't mind."
Collin chuckled. "'Course not. If it means you two would pass I'd be more than happy to help."
"Thanks, man. I don't know where we'd be without you," Thomas said.
"Hey, we're comrades. It's our duty to help each other. Now come on, you two! We better not miss dinner!"
"Right!" the two exclaimed and followed Collin.
The next day came, and the cadets went through the usual routines they had. However, Shadis announced that they rest up for the afternoon since they would have some special night training that day.
The cadets were gathered in an area next to a huge forest with large trees. A group of a bit over a dozen cadets were gathered in several rows in front of Shadis.
"Okay, troops, let's get this special night training underway!" Shadis said. "This will be different from your other training. It's not so much about individual ability, instead it's going to test your intra-squad cooperative skills and your tactical abilities.
"Your teams have been chosen on random, which is to see how you will fare in such a scenario. You'll each go to your assigned entrances and when the signal is given, the training will begin after which you'll have one hour until the end of the assignment. Throughout the forest, we have several supply bases in case some of you dimwits run out of gas or blades. Your job is to get to the meeting point together, and while you're doing that, you'll have to take out several test dummies in your way. Once at the meeting point, your teamwork in battle will be judged.
"All of that will be taken into consideration, and come into your final grade on this test. Is that understood?"
The cadets saluted. "Yes, sir!"
"Then move to your designated spots. Let's go!"
Collin soon found himself at his designated spot and looked at the cadets that were assigned to him. He was paired up with Sasha, Marco, Connie, and Daz, who was a young man, though definitely not young-looking considering the wrinkles he has around his mouth, with gray short spiky hair and brown eyes.
Quite a peculiar group in Collin's opinion.
Connie smiled as he put his hands behind his head. "I didn't follow exactly what he was saying, but this sounds like a walk in the park. For a genius like me, anyway."
Collin rolled his eyes. "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but that bald head of yours is whistlin' in a crosswind."
That quickly got a look of confusion from the shortest member of their group. "Huh?"
"He's calling you dumb," Sasha quickly clarified.
"Wha… hey, what gives?!" Connie complained. "At least insult me in a way I understand, not in that country speech, or whatever it is."
"What I mean is, you have talent, but you ain't no genius," Collin said before tapping Connie on the head, getting an annoyed grunt from him. "So ya better get it out of that head of yours 'fore ya get yourself killed."
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say, country bumpkin," Connie said dismissively.
Marco palmed his face. 'Well, this is just a perfect start to the team-building exercise.'
With a sigh, Collin continued. "I'm just lookin' out for you, Connie. I don't want for you to get over your head and get hurt."
Sasha had a brighter expression than the rest. "Well, this might be different from our regular training, but just leave it to me," she said with certainty. "I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the forest."
"Seriously, why do we have to train at this hour? I just want to go back to bed…" Daz complained.
"The instructor said he'd be judging out cooperative skills," Marco said as put his thumb and index finger on his chin. "I wonder how well this going to go." While he tried to sound neutral, Collin could pick up the uncertainty in his voice.
Beaming with confidence, Connie said. "Only one way to find out! Let's do this!"
Collin and Marco then shared a look, showing that they had a similar feeling of apprehension.
And their feeling was proven correct as about twenty minutes later the group found themselves in the middle of the forest, all of them standing on the ground with Sasha looking ashamed, Daz panting heavily, and Connie hanging upside down with his blades out and a look of shock on his face.
"Well, um," Connie said as he slightly swung from side to side with his cable stuck in a large tree. "This… looked a lot better in my head."
With his hands on his hips, Collin looked up un-amused at the hanging cadet. "It probably should've stayed in your head," he commented. 'And I thought Eren hanging upside down would be the most demeaning thing I saw.'
The exercise went bad almost immediately as Connie went all out, going really fast and slicing through Titan dummies as he sped through the tree lines. In the heat of the moment, Sasha followed, and before Marco or Collin could call them, Daz panicked and went alongside the two.
This, unfortunately, led to unnecessary wasting of gas due to low visibility which made them take a lot of swerves, near crashings, or hitting wrong targets, which is why Sasha and Connie were out of gas with Daz nearly empty. Marco and Collin were able to preserve their tanks but even then they weren't doing that great.
"I'm getting' ya down, Connie!" Collin said as he began climbing the tree.
"Why don't you use your gear?" Sasha suggested. "It'll be faster."
"Oh, sure, because we ain't low on gas already," Collin said sarcastically as he continued climbing.
Sasha then blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, right."
Once Collin got to the level of cables he roughly pulled the hooks out and descended down a bit before letting go of Connie who yelped as he was let go, but he wasn't really injured from the fall. The moment Collin was down the five of them grouped together.
"Damn it, this isn't working out!" Connie exclaimed as he got up. "Everyone's pulling their own weight!"
"We've got no or we're low on gas and blades," Sasha said. "Thanks to you going all out the whole time, Connie!"
'Well, maybe you shouldn't have followed 'im,' Collin thought.
"When it comes to cooperation, this trigger-happy squad was doomed from the start, right?" Daz asked in his usual pessimistic attitude.
"If we go on like this, we'll be forced to split up," Marco said. "We have to do something."
"Well, there's only one thing we can do," Collin said. "We passed a supply base a little while ago. We should get back and replenish our fuel and ammo."
"Yeah, good idea," Marco said with a smile. "Let's make sure we're properly prepared this time."
"Which means we don't just go hurlin' into action, we need to organize," Collin said while looking at Sasha, Connie, and Daz.
"Alright then so…" Marco said before turning to Collin. "I propose we let Collin here lead the squad." This got him curious looks, from Collin especially. "What do you say? I think you'd keep us in sync."
"Um, well, I…" Collin struggled to find the words. He was surprised Marco would put so much faith in him. He then noticed the other three looking at him expectantly, as if they agreed with the sentiment. "Alright, fine. Leave it to me!"
"Thanks!" Marco said. "Okay then, we're in your hands. Take the lead and get us into shape, Captain!"
The sudden title caught Collin off guard before he gave it some thought. 'Captain? Hmm, Captain Holt. Has a nice ring to it, not gonna lie.'
"But, the supply base should still be pretty far to go on foot," Sasha pointed out. "We wouldn't have enough time to get any decent scores by the time we reach the meeting point."
"Which is why we ain't goin' on foot," Collin said. "And carryin' you is out since we wouldn't be able to properly use our gear." He then turned to Marco. "How much gas do you have left?"
"Um, I have… a bit less than a half, maybe a third," Marco estimated.
"I'm in about the same boat," Collin said as he started to take off the gas tanks on his gear. "Marco and I'll share some of our gas with y'all. That should be enough to at least get us to the supply base quickly."
Marco nodded and followed suit. Collin began filling Sasha's tanks while Marco filled Connie's, both of them careful not to spill any since the tanks weren't really made to exchange gas. They even gave Daz some of their gas so he wouldn't run out.
"Alright team, follow me to the supply base," Collin said before shooting a cable into a tree and hurling himself through the air with the rest following him. "Make sure to preserve your momentum, that way you won't be runnin' out of gas as fast!"
"Right!" the four of them exclaimed.
It took a little bit as they navigated through the shadowed forest, but Collin was able to keep his sense of direction which made it easy for the rest of them.
The moment the supply base came into view, Collin descended down along with the others. The base was a tower structure that held several wooden boxes full of supplies, which were quickly set upon by the five cadets who replaced their tanks with full ones, and resupplied their blades.
"Alright, now we're ready!" Connie exclaimed. "Time to give the others a surprise!"
"Let us get to the meeting point!" Sasha said. "The others have probably already been there by now!"
"Then we better not waste any time! Let's go!" Collin said as they once again took the air with their gear.
After a minute of traveling through the forest, they run into several Titan dummies in the way.
Collin then turned to his team. "Sasha, you and Connie take the ones on the right! Daz, you take the left! Me and Marco will take care of the ones in the front!"
"Got it!" Sasha exclaimed.
Connie grinned. "Sure thing, Captain!"
Daz still looked nervous. "Uh, right."
The five of them got into their positions and quickly sliced through the artificial napes with their swords. That should at least give them some points for the exercise.
A little while later, they got into a clearer area in the middle of which they saw Shadis standing with crossed arms, and quickly descended down.
"You're late! That makes you dead last!" Shadis exclaimed at the group. "What took so long?!"
"Sorry, sir!" Marco said.
"We… had some issues, but we're fine now!" Collin explained as briefly as he could.
"Whatever! Now join the rest of the groups in attacking Titans as a team!" Shadis ordered. "Hurry up, you wasted enough time already!"
"Yes, sir!" the group said before quickly taking off.
They swiftly got to the area filled with Titan dummies, and they saw other teams moving through the air and slicing napes.
"Armin, Mina, is that all you can do?" Ymir said as she sliced through a fake nape. "Pathetic!"
"Sorry…" Armin meekly said.
"I think I'm just getting in the way," Mina said.
Collin couldn't help but give Ymir a glare. Of course, she has to be the one who's condescending to her own teammates. And right after he encouraged Mina as well.
Ymir noticed the five of them passing and gave them a smirk. "Well, look who's here! Our little latecomers!"
"Hi, Ymir!" Collin greeted, though not very enthusiastically. "I'd say it was nice to meet ya, but my ma taught me lyin' is bad!"
"Oh, no, I'm so hurt that big boy Collin doesn't like me!" Ymir said in a mocking tone.
"You will be once we get a higher score!"
"Yeah, like hell that will happen!"
"Watch me!"
Connie, Sasha, Marco, and Daz looked a bit nervous as they watched the two bicker. They really hoped that Collin won't be distracted by that challenge and actually give good leadership.
Seeing several untouched Titan dummies, Collin quickly gave out an order. "Marco, Daz, take the ten-meter one on the left! Sasha, Connie, we'll take the fifteen-meter one on the right!"
Marco and Daz dashed to the ten-meter dummy, with Daz slicing through the ankles and Marco on the nape.
"Connie, you go for the ankle! Sasha, you're with me on the nape!" Collin ordered as his cable hit the Titan dummy and he swung to the other side while Connie went down to the Titan's feet.
Sasha then shot the dummy with her cable and used the mechanism to pull herself closer, with Collin doing the same on the opposite side. Connie sliced through the ankle, and Collin and Sasha simultaneously struck the dummy on the nape, with Collin positioning his body sideways in a way it wouldn't collide with Sasha.
Collin quickly turned around, used his cables to stop himself, and got back to position. "Good! Now for the seven and twelve-meter ones on the front!"
While they were busy doing that, they passed another group, one that had Eren and Jean together.
"Hey, Eren! Try not to trip up your own squad members, okay?!" Jean taunted while slicing through the nape just before Eren did as well.
"What the hell, Jean! You're the one getting in the way!" Eren said angrily as he glared at Jean.
"Will you two cut it out?!" Reiner said before slicing through a six-meter dummy along with Mikasa. "This is a teamwork exercise, so focus on the 'team' part!"
'Looks like Reiner's got his hands full,' Collin thought before moving to another target, two ten meters ones, with Marco and Sasha taking out one, and Collin, Connie, and Daz taking out the other.
"Now we're really looking good!" Sasha commented.
"Yeah, we can do this!" Connie exclaimed.
That exercise continued for a little while until a loud whistle could be heard followed by Shadis' voice. "The training is over, and your performances have been graded! Gather around to hear the announcement of the top squad!"
The cadets then quickly gathered in a single spot, though they largely stuck with the teammates they were assigned to.
"Do you think we made it to the top?" Connie asked hopefully.
"Wish I could say, but I doubt it," Collin said.
"Regardless of how well we did, we still ended up being late, and I'm sure they'll take the circumstances into account," Marco added.
"Reiner Braun! Your squad came first!" Shadis announced.
This got a cheer from Eren and Jean while Reiner crossed his arms and gave a proud grin, and Mikasa slightly smiled though it was hard to see because of the scarf.
"Ah, damn it," Connie said as his shoulders dropped.
"Oh, if only we didn't blunder at the beginning," Sasha said.
Shadis then continued. "And now we'll announce other squads that made it in the top five! Second place, Bertholdt Hoover's squad! Third place, Krista Lenz's squad! Fourth place, Collin Holt's squad! And fifth place, Ymir's squad!"
Collin and others were surprised that they actually ranked as well as they did. Sure it wasn't the top, but it was still impressive considering their circumstances.
"Alright!" Connie and Sasha exclaimed as they gave each other a high five.
Daz slumped down and gave a relieved sigh, while Marco simply smiled.
Collin then looked at his team with pride as he saw their excitement over what happened. Seeing how you made other people happy really warms the heart.
Sasha then approached Collin. "You… really came through for us, Collin. Thank you."
"Yeah, way to go, big guy!" Connie said as he gave Collin a bump on the shoulder.
"It's a team effort, don't you guys sell yourselves short," Collin said.
"Well, I am a genius after all," Connie said with hands behind his head.
All four of them gave him a look that said 'seriously?' but they decided not to mention anything.
Collin's attention was then turned to Ymir who was frowning and looking to the side. A grin formed on his face as he approached her. He wasn't really serious about scoring higher than Ymir but now that it happened, he felt a bit privileged to rub it in.
"Well, Ymir, have anythin' to say?" Collin asked.
She didn't even bother sparing him a glance as she crossed her arms. "Oh, yeah? Like what?"
Collin shrugged. "Don't know, that's why I'm askin' ya?"
She gave him an annoyed stare. "Fine, you beat me. Bask in your little glory for all it's worth."
"Hey, you two!" the two saw Krista approach them with a worried look on her face. "Please, don't tell me you're fighting again."
"Better watch out, Krista. I think Ymir here is gonna kill me for breathin' the same air as you," Collin jokingly said while pointing at Ymir.
The said girl just scoffed and looked away. "You're insufferable."
"Well, look at that. I've been promoted from 'insufferable idiot' to just 'insufferable'. I think she's startin' to like me!"
"Come on, you two, knock it off already," Krista complained.
Keith Shadis was looking over the recruits as they congratulated each other on jobs well done and complimented their skills. He would never show it, but he felt pride in how successful some of the cadets have fared in this test.
Cadets like Mikasa were aces, but a good soldier is more than individual ability. Most encounters with Titans come down to teamwork, and the way you cooperate with your comrades can save your skin.
Shadis then looked at Collin who walked back to his teammates who greeted him with smiles. 'You don't often find a soldier that can pull a group together just like that and set them to perform at their best.' Collin then grabbed Sasha by the shoulders after telling her something and making her blush while the rest laughed a bit.
'Collin Holt, it looks like you just might be someone with that innate ability. I hope you don't waste it.'
AN: And that is it for now! Collin got introduced to Annie in her typical fashion, and we also see Collin have some team bonding with other characters. I hope you enjoyed it.
I implore you to check out my other stories, trust me, they are worth it. And leave a review, they are great motivators.
See you next time!
