6.

/first and last greetings/

I peered down at my brown gruel, unable to tell the difference between vegetable and meat, much less able to tell what type of meat it was. Everything in my rusted metal bowl was a sickening shade of beige. I scooped up a morsel with my spoon and chewed on it; it tasted vaguely like salted oatmeal. I felt my face contort instinctively.

I had a go at the bread instead. It was rock hard, and had a faint sheen of green to it, but at least it didn't smell half as bad as the porridge. The water in my cup was murky.

I sighed. I didn't have the luxury to be picky either.

I put down my fork and spoon and turned to observe the dining room. I was one of the first cadets to have arrived, not willing to wait too long with Commander Shadis. Everyone else was either changing into comfortable evening wear or making their way here. The dining room was exactly how I had remembered it. Shaved wooden logs were melded to metal pipes and stood upright. That made up our tables. Each one was a little unique, a little wonky, but it served its purpose well. Such was life in the Shingeki no Kyojin era.

The tables were lined up against each other, tightly, but with room to walk. There was a counter, at the back of the room which acted as a window to the kitchen, where select cadets would cook for dinner. The roster rotated so that every cadet eventually had to cook. The training corps didn't have enough money to hire a chef, after all. Tonight, three cadets were on the roster.

"Hey." A cadet sat down beside me and extended his hand. "Name?"

I turned my head, offering a half smile, and shook his hand. He didn't have any striking features, just an awfully full head of brown hair, complete with a little bit of a sideburn. He had a strong nose to match. He wore a turtleneck shirt underneath his vest. Most importantly, I had never seen him before. "Lily." I responded. "And you?"

"I'm Angus." He nodded at me and turned around to gesture behind him. "Oh, and this is Felicity, my twin. Is it alright if we sit with you?"

I nodded and eyed Felicity. They were truly twins. I could see the efforts she took in trying to contain her mop of brown hair in a messy bun. I had never seen her before either. "Of course."

"We're going to be training together for three years, may as well make the ride worth it." Angus said.

I raised a brow, and watched as Felicity took a seat opposite me, and plonked her food tray down. She frowned when her porridge didn't wobble upon impact.

"I mean, like, friends, make some friends?" Angus fumbled.

Ah, yes. Friends. I was a bit more willing to befriend some of the more notable cadets in the series. Sasha, Connie, Jean. That lot. Would anything good, or bad, come out of befriending some of the characters in the background? Despite not wanting to become too close to these strangers, I didn't exactly want to end up portraying a personality that mimicked Annies. The mere thought of Annie, alone, untrustworthy and bitter, helped make up my mind.

"So where are you two from?" I asked, bringing another small spoonful of the gruel to my lips.

"Krolva." Felicity chimed in. She looked at my momentarily puzzled face and laughed. "Don't worry, not many know about us. We're located on the west most side of Wall Rose. Lots of land, but small population, you know?"

"I've seen it." I smiled, finally remembering. "My father used to keep maps of the world on his shelf."

"She knows about us!" Felicity fervently whispered to Angus. "So cool!"

I couldn't help laughing at her cheeky comment. There was something so pure about the joy flitting across her face despite imminent demise in the next five years. And maybe something that my old soul so genuinely missed in her childlike demeanor.

"Krolva?" A new voice floated overhead. I turned my head.

Freckles. Bright eyes. Tray of food in hand. Still tall. But comfortingly so. He had always seemed too stilted in the cadet uniform, as if he could never really grow into it. Marco looked much more himself in his woollen knitted vest and trousers.

"I'm from Jinae. Not too far from Krolva." Marco smiled and stopped beside the table. "Mind if I take a seat?"

I vaguely gestured at the empty seat beside me. He sat down gently beside me. A measured and controlled person, I noted.

"It's amazing how military training can bring us all together." Marco commented, and then blinked, a little flustered. "Ah, how could I forget, I'm Marco Bodt. Pleased to meet you all."

"Angus." Angus said, then pointed around the table. "That's Felicity, and Lily."

I looked around the crowding dining hall, catching bits and pieces of conversation. The chattering bounced off the walls as the cadets started to get to know each other. The candlelight grew brighter and the shadows grew darker.

I watched Mikasa and Armin sitting on Eren's table, eyes dully reliving that fateful day as Eren began to tell his story. I sometimes wondered why they were friends. Sure, they were a tight and iconic trio, but more often than not, they seemed dysfunctional. The way I saw it, their relationship consisted of a one sided relationship between Mikasa and Eren, and between Eren and Armin, it morphed into some nauseating form of pity. It was hard to ignore that Armin was a liability on the battlefield. And the relationship between Mikasa and Armin, you ask? Non-existent.

I watched as the crowds waxed and waned about Eren as the cadets listened to him in morbid fascination. It was only moments later when the dining hall had completely quietened down, latching onto every single word he said.

"You mentioned you were from Shiganshina?" A cadet gasped.

"Mm. I was there." Eren nodded.

"Then, then, the titans!" One exclaimed. "You must've seen them! Just how large was the Colossal titan?"

"He could effortlessly peer over the wall." Eren responded, eyes wide, but spoon dangling languidly in his hand. Eren did seem like the type to relish all this attention. "He had his fingertips over the wall."

"I told you so." Another cadet lightly pushed the one who had asked the question.

"No titan is that big!"

"This one was." Eren said.

"Hey," Marco leaned across to me, whispering, "Where did you say you were from again?"

I blinked and turned to Marco. "Oh. Shiganshina."

Marco's jaw dropped and he lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. "Seriously? Then you know Eren, and Mikasa?" He forgot Armin.

"Of sorts." I replied. "We were childhood friends." I had known of them years before that.

"And the titans?" Marco asked hesitantly.

I smiled reassuredly back at Marco. "I was fortunate, I didn't run into any." I rested my elbows on the wooden tables, my head on my hands. "But, I did see the Armoured titan. Ramming through the gate."

"Well," Marco faltered. "I'm glad you're okay." He rubbed my shoulder awkwardly and smiled a sad smile, before leaving to join the crowd which had gathered around Eren. I overlooked the commotion about Eren.

"How about the Armoured titan?" A girl chimed in to ask Eren. I saw Reiner shift ever so slightly in his seat, listening in to the conversation. Annie looked a little more alert than usual too.

"It looked like a regular titan to me." Eren spoke, a false air of bravado about him. It was a little sickening watching history replay itself word for word, and a little sickening to watch the bright-eyed crowd drawn to Eren. Little did they know, they would be asked, no, not even – commanded, to lay down their lives for this boy in the future. Their injured bodies may never be found again.

I shovelled the remaining porridge and dried bread into my mouth, swallowing without chewing, and washed it down with the water. Nutrition I needed, but the taste? Not so much. I stood up and backed away from the crowd, disposing of my plates and cups into the giant water filled bin outside of the kitchen.

I breathed in the refreshing evening air. The cadets who had finished their food earlier were loitering about in semi darkness as the sun dipped underneath the horizon, leaving shadows of pink and orange in the sky. The training grounds were located far from the nearest village, in a little dip, an old and abandoned open-cut coal mine. It was a rather safe place to be, because as all civilian combatants know, it's better to be on low ground than in clear sight of your enemies. That wasn't really the case with titans though.

Patting smooth my crinkled brown dress and tidying the collar of my beige blouse, I made my way to one of the small cottages which Commander Shadis had introduced as some sort of a break room. I sure as hell didn't hear about it in the anime, so I was curious to see what it was. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. People get bored easily, and even more so when you're a 12 year old teenager. A little entertainment and banter could go a long way.

The wind picked up lightly, twirling dust past my ankles. My brown hair brushed past my cheeks lightly, cascading past my shoulders, stopping just past my breasts. It was too long for combat standards, but if I tied it up, it shouldn't be a problem. I had grown it out in the last two busy years. And I always had long hair, always liked it, even in my past life; I wouldn't really feel like me without it.

Stopping on the way to the break room, I took in the sight of Sasha stumbling across the training grounds, not daring to stop. Her ponytail had come loose within her elastic band, bouncing enthusiastically with each step she took. She had bags under her eyes and she panted as she forced herself to keep running. She was barely swinging her arms anymore, they just sort of moved along with her strides like loose boiled ramen noodles.

Upon second thought, I didn't think she was even running either, just sort of walking-bouncing.

The break room was underwhelming, to say the least.

There were a couple of grey beanbags in the corner, and they had not always been grey. There was an untouched board of chess set up in one corner, a deck of shuffled cards beside it, and a pool table in the centre. Somehow, it was still a relatively popular place to hang out. Cadets hustled and bustled in and out of the single room. It was a bit of a social hotspot. There were a couple of cadets comforting a crying girl in the corner, and another few playing pool in teams.

"Yer play?" A voice asked, gruffly.

"Play what?" I asked, a little stunned that he had crept up to me like that. A stranger.

"Chess."

"I know the rules." I answered, a bit defensively. Man, two lives later and meeting new people just never got any easier. I took in the sight of the 8 by 8 board. I do remember some characters playing chess in the anime, but my village seemed too poor to afford anything like this. It was an interior luxury. I traced the edge of the board with my outstretched finger. It was made out of wood.

"Yer did look like yer had half a brain." He grinned.

We sat up opposite each other, his arms folded, mine resting on my lap. I scanned the board briefly to check that none of the pieces were out of place.

"Name's Mark." He said, reaching over to shake my hand. "You?"

I shook it. "Lily."

"Well, ladies first."

I moved a white pawn two places forward almost immediately. My playing style was indolent and unenergetic in the beginning, only really picking up when I felt myself losing, letting adrenaline take over. Mark moved his black pawn two places forward as well.

I advanced another white pawn, slouching ever so slightly in my chair. The game was moving very quickly.

Mark moved his black bishop out into the open board, stopping three tiles away from my first pawn. Mark was sort of a small person, standing just a mere centimetre or two taller than me. And I was not tall for my age. He had strong arms, beady resolute eyes and thinning blonde hair. I wouldn't be surprised if he told me later on that he wanted to join the Survey Corps.

Bertholdt had come up behind me as I thought briefly about my next move, watching the game with his hand resting casually on the back of my chair.

I advanced yet another white pawn.

Mark moved his bishop such that it was targeting both my rook and my king.

"Check."

What? That was quick.

I huffed in slight frustration, pausing momentarily before realising, and moved my knight in an L shape, taking his bishop away from the board.

"Huh? Yer can't do that!" Mark said.

"Yeah, I can!" I retaliated. "That's how knights move."

"The knight moves in a much larger L shape than that! It takes this path-" Mark took my knight and demonstrated, "So 2 spaces in any direction, and then another three in another direction, and stops there."

"Really?" I asked, still apprehensive and quite sure of myself. "It's one space in any direction, and then another two."

"He's right, you know." Bertholdt said quietly.

Mark shrugged his shoulders and pressed his lips together in a bit of an inpatient frown. I sighed, not wanting to stand out too much on my first day here.

"Fine. We'll do it your way." I said, moving his bishop back onto the board, and my knight back to its starting position.

I moved my king one step forward, out of the check.

Mark took my rook. That wasn't good at all; the rook played a vital role, especially near the end of a game.

I looked at the bishop sitting dangerously close to the rest of my pieces. It couldn't do much else in this position though. I looked over at my other pieces. Not much was happening with my other pieces. I tilted my head to look at his pieces. Mark had a black pawn three spaces in front of his black king, and another black pawn two spaces in front of his black queen. If I forced him into a check with my bishop, and then blocked his escape with a queen, I could get checkmate in two moves.

I moved the bishop.

"Check."

Mark moved his King forward by two steps.

"Mark! That's against the rules." I groaned in frustration. "The King can only move one space at a time!"

"No, it ain't." He complained. "Jeez, you said you knew the rules!"

"I do too!" I argued.

"Look, I don't know who on earth taught yer yer 'rules'." Mark huffed, bending his index and middle fingers forward, creating bunny ears at the mention of rules. "But it's jus' plain wrong!"

I looked plaintively at Bertholdt for some support. He tensed his shoulders and lifted his arms up in a slight surrendering stance, then looking away sheepishly.

Mark sighed and grabbed my King.

"Who's the current King of the walls?" Mark asked.

"What? How's that relevant?" I asked back.

"Just answer my question."

"Fine. King Fritz." I answered.

"So that means he has power right?" Mark asked, somewhat rhetorically. "When a King is in power, the King in chess will be able to move in any direction, and it can take however many steps it wants to. And when a King is in power, the Queen in chess can only move one step at a time."

"And if a Queen is in power?" I asked.

"Well, take yer guess." Mark's beady blue eyes crinkled a little.

"The Queen chess piece can move in any direction, and take however many steps it wants." I answered my own question. "But for the game to end, don't we always need to have the King in a checkmate? Then what's the point of having a Queen?" I asked. That was a little confusing. Did the King just protect itself? If the King in chess was that overpowered, and the King also had to be locked into a checkmate, then the game would never end.

"Um," Mark trailed off. "Yes? I never really got that part." He said dismissively. "My mum n' my dad told me they jus' kept it as the King cos' people got too confused."

"My parents told me that if the King is in power and could move about however it wished in chess, then the game only ends when the Queen is in checkmate." A new voice chimed in. "Gotta protect your Queen." I could feel a wink.

I turned to look at who it was. Blonde, sideburns, a little… plain looking. Thomas Wagner, part of Eren's team, dead after the battle of Trost. I never pegged him to be a huge flirt though.

"Thomas." He smiled, giving a small wave. "Lovely to meet you all."

"Aight, aight, because of King Fritz, the Queen has to be in checkmate for the game to end, not the King." Mark reluctantly agreed, settling their little debate and finally answering my question.

Wow. So the rules changed whenever a new leader was elected into political power. If a King was in power, they were also strong in the game of chess, protecting the Queen. If a Queen was in power, they were also strong in the game of chess, protecting the Queen. I suspected that the differing opinion between Thomas and Mark was simply because of the way rules and regulations were passed down in this world – by word of mouth, stories. And when stories are told, storytellers unwittingly change up small details, swapping them in and out until the story has changed beyond recognition. But chess reflecting real world politics? Cool.

"Bertholdt, what do you think?" I asked.

"I don't play chess. I like spectating." He replied, eyes downcast.

"Oh and there's a nice story behind the knight as well." Mark butted in. "Our horses are specially bred to endure running long distances, they're strong, and have pleasant temperaments. Well, as pleasant as a horse can get."

"Mhm," I nodded.

"Most of our horses are sold to the Survey Corps, and they're used for advancing beyond the walls. So," Mark smiled. "If horses are so amazing in real life, then surely they can make leaps and bounds in the game of chess too, right?"

"Righht." I said, my eyes as wide as saucers. So, so fascinating. I had just gained a whole new perspective on chess.

A loud banging on the wooden doors startled us out of our conversation.

"BEDTIME! Bedtime! Get your asses all to your dorms!" Commander Shadis roared. "5am wakeup call tomorrow!"

We jolted into action at the sound of Shadis's voice, quickly placing all the chess pieces back into their respective starting positions before scrambling out of the break room, towards our sleeping dormitories. We exchanged our goodnights and sleeptights before dissipating. I could feel my drowsiness creeping up to me, now that the day was drawing to an end.

"How'd you know my name?" Bertholdt asked, sidling up to me as he walked towards his dorm.

"I…" I blanked, slowing down my pace.

"I never introduced myself." He said, disconcertingly quiet.

"I heard Reiner mention it." I lied.

"Oh, so you've met Reiner." Bertholdt stopped and smiled lightly. "And my dorm's just here. Goodnight!"

"Night." I murmured reflexively, eyes wide, suddenly awake, chills creeping down my back.

A/N: chapter 6 is up! let's hope that Lily is a good enough liar! i just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your support, and for all the reviews that you guys have left on this story! i'm going to try my best to get back to all of them.

as usual, please review, i'd love to hear your thoughts on the dialogue i've written. i hope that the whole chess piece representation of the SnK world made sense, especially the discussion between Thomas and Mark, where i tried to show that information being handed down wasn't very reliable...also, thoughts on everyones characterisations? i always perceived bertholdt to be really shy haha.

until next time!