Wow, I have never gotten so many reviews on a chapter before! Thanks guys! I really appreciate all of you taking time out of your day to review my story and I love that so many of you are still enjoying it!
You'll probably already read it in this chapter, but I've decided to keep most of Eren's hair brown and only have the front section white, since many of you preferred it if he kept some of his natural hair color. Now to answer some of your reviews!
A few of you mentioned Kaneki Ken from Tokyo Ghoul when I ask about the hair thing and I did actually draw my inspiration from that. I'm a huge fan of Tokyo Ghoul and I thought the white hair would be a neat thing to try out.
I do apologize to anyone who was upset about Jimmy dying last chapter, but I needed a very strong reason for Eren to go against his own rebellious nature in exchange for helping his fellow shifters (and thereby progressing the story). I thought his overwhelming urge to protect everyone and shouldering the blame would be a good way to go about it. Sadly, Jimmy had to be the sacrifice :(
But anyway, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! I'm super excited about the chapters here on out, because this is when things really get going!
Chapter 10: Glimmer of Freedom in a Cage of Slavery
Two Years Later
SLAM!
Eren slammed Gabriel to the ground and pinned him in a choke hold. Gabe struggled and clawed at Eren's arms in a desperate attempt to salvage the fight, but after nearly a minute of getting strangled, he finally tapped out. Eren released him and jumped to his feet, a wide grin on his face. The boy on the ground groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing his throat.
"Did you have to be so rough?" Gabriel gasped, wincing and stumbling to his feet. Eren stared down at him, frowning.
"You expect to get better by me going soft? Pfft, and here I thought you could be a tough fighter, but hey, guess I'm wrong," Eren said, shrugging and wiping off his forehead with a rag.
Gabriel grumbled to himself, refusing to meet Eren's sharp gaze. "Think I'll warm up on the punching bags. Not like I could beat you anyway, Rogue."
Jaeger rolled his eyes and scouted out the room, searching for a new opponent to spar with.
The six other subjects who had been allowed to train (Riah and Hannah had gotten into a nasty fight, so they were sentence to their rooms) were all paired up and practicing their takedowns. Over the past years, they had all drastically improved in their hand to hand combat, a vital skill when fighting titans in their titan forms. Eren would suspect that they'd be as good as any training cadet with how hard they trained and how well they fought. Truthfully, this was more Eren's doing than anything. Before he'd started pushing the others to accept their fate and train like true soldiers the other subjects would just slack through their practicing with the bare minimum. Now, they practiced hard until their knuckles bled and their muscles screamed for relief. After a year of this harsh training laid down by Eren, Violet was pleased enough with their progress to allow them to learn how to use the ODM gear. They wouldn't use the gear as their primary attacking force but merely as a way of getting from place to place without using up their energy to shift. Not to mention it was much less noticeable then a few giant, man-eating monsters walking through the forest.
Seeing that everyone was too engrossed in their training to switch out, Eren simply walked around the room and watched their progress. He was by no means their teacher or an expert in fighting, he left that to the instructor Atlas hired, though he did have a slight advantage with his previous military training, as short as it was. Currently, the instructor was coaching Dove and Gwen on how to perform a decent choke hold, only problem was Dove was laying on the ground staring contently up at the ceiling and Gwen was the only one actually trying. With a sigh, Eren walked to their small group and stood over Dove, eyebrow raised.
"Slacking off again, huh Dove?" he said, nudging her side with his foot.
"Hm?" Dove said, airily. Her blank eyes rolled over Eren's face but it took another minute for her to register who was talking to her. "Hello, Eren."
"Hello, Dove, mind telling me why you're sitting on the floor instead of training?" Eren asked, his voice taking on a softer tone. No matter how much Dove irritated him with her slacking off, he couldn't find it in him to properly scold her or push her back into her practicing. He doubted it would do much good anyway, since she usually forgot everything she'd learned by dinner. He put his faith in Lily instead, who was currently on the ground with Piers in a headlock. She was a vicious fighter and even more so when in her titan, despite Dove's handicap.
"The rocks are shining today," Dove replied, lifting her hand to point towards the rocky ceiling.
Eren sighed and switched his attention to Gwen, but a booming voice forced him to look towards the balcony.
"Rogue! Ms. Drake wants to see you in her office!" called the guard. "I am to escort you to her immediately!"
Rogue rubbed his forehead but jogged to the stairs and climbed up to the arena entrance. He met the guard and the two of them left and started up the stairs to the entrance hall.
"Know what this is about, Joel?" Eren asked nonchalantly. Out of all the guards, Joel was the only one that Eren liked enough to have conversations with.
"Not a clue, kid," Joel said, shrugging.
"Hm," Eren hummed. Truthfully, he had a pretty good idea about why he was being called and it more than likely had to do with Riah and Hannah's fight earlier. After all, he was supposed to oversee them and keep them in line. Eren winced at the punishment he was no doubt going to receive for not taking control of the situation quicker. They were his responsibility after all and have been for over a year now.
"I see they still haven't figured out how to fix your hair, eh?" Joel remarked with a chuckle as he ruffled the front of Eren's hair, which had become a stark white and a huge contrast to the rest of his dark brown locks.
Eren snorted and pushed his arm away. "Probably can't do anything about it. You saw Mat's hair, right? I'm just surprised it hasn't all gone white like his." He ran a hand through his own hair, frowning at the white strands that fell in his face. His hair was starting to get kind of long again, but he wasn't concerned enough to care.
"Yeah, but you've got a stronger will than Mathias, which is probably why you're not chained up in a cell right now, gnashing his teeth at anyone that passes by," Joel replied, shuddering. "Damn that kid gives me the creeps."
"What does my will have to do with my hair, though?" Eren asked skeptically.
Joel waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's got something to do with shock or something, which is why you and Mat are the only ones walking around looking like you got a can of white paint dumped on ya."
Jaeger chuckled at that, despite its dark undertone. Even with his drastic changing over the years, at least he could still enjoy a good a laugh, something many of the others rarely did anymore.
The two stopped at Violet's office, which was the largest door down the laboratory hallway.
"Good luck, kid," Joel said, slapping his back and opening the door.
Eren stumbled inside and glared at the guard before the door closed. He turned and stood straight, eyeing the women behind the impressive, dark-wooded desk with a reserved but respectful look.
"Ah, Rogue, I'm glad you finally arrived," she said, putting her papers down and folding her hands on the desk, resting her head on her folded fingers with a smile. "Oh, have a seat, why don't you? What I have to tell you may take some time."
Eren frowned at that, but took the seat anyway, relaxing into a more casual position. Normally, if it involved some wrongdoing by the other subjects he would be immediately lectured and then sent to the sensory-deprivation chamber, Violet's favorite form of punishment. To say he was intrigued and relieved was an understatement.
"I'm sure you're curious as to why I called you in here?"
"Honestly, I thought it had to do with Kitty and Bones' fight earlier," Eren said, indifferently. When speaking with Violet, she would always correct him about saying the other shifters name instead of using their titan names. Now, they only used their personal names in private.
Violet simply waved her hand and rolled her eyes. "Oh, those two are always getting into fights, I've just given up when it comes to them. No, the reason I've called you in here is much more important and urgent. I'm sending you and a small team of your choosing to Trost District."
The atmosphere changed and Eren sat up straighter. Eyes brightening with astonishment.
"You're letting us out of the compound?" he asked, incredulously. "We finally get to use our abilities in combat?"
"Well of course! What would the point of having titan soldiers be if they weren't put in action? No, I've simply been waiting for the right opportunity to arise." Violet's expression became serious. "And it seems that time has come."
"The Colossal Titan has attacked Trost and titans are flooding into the town as we speak."
Eren jumped to his feet, horrified and enraged.
"Are you serious?! Then what the hell am I still here for?!" Eren made for the door but was halted by Violet.
"Wait, Rogue! Before I send you out there. I need to know that I can have complete trust in you, understand? There will be guards accompanying you but they have been instructed to only act if they believe you or the others are planning to escape. I'm letting you out as a sign of good faith and I hope you would return my favor by completing this mission to save Trost and returning here safely. Can I trust you to do that?" Violet gave Eren a stern, set look, wanting very much to trust the young titan prodigy she had helped shape.
In response, Eren stood tall and gave a military salute, expression determined. "You have my word, I will do everything possible to completely our mission and return back at the end of it. I will never let anything happen to the others."
Violet gave him a genuine smile, something he rarely saw, and excitedly replied, "Excellent, then I have nothing to worry about. You'll be allowed to take five others with you, and you leave in twenty minutes."
"Does Gemini count as one or two?" Eren asked, a genuine question but said with a little smirk.
Violet thought for a moment, an amused smile on her face before saying, "I'll count them as one."
Eren nodded and turned to leave, his hand on the doorknob when Violet gave him a final word.
"Oh, and just a reminder. Be very careful around the humans. Don't let them see any of your human faces or reveal what you are. If all goes well, they will only suspect you to be a few helpful, abnormal titans. Is that clear, Rogue?"
Without turning, Eren gave his response. "Crystal."
Jaeger left for the training grounds, already planning out who would be most useful fighting in a large, compact city, while also devising a plan for plugging up what would be a giant hole in the wall. This was not going to be easy, but they were finally being allowed to leave, and that alone put an excited smile on the boy's face.
He would complete his mission and he would protect his team, that was a promise he had every intention of keeping.
Trost District
The night before the Battle
The cadets of the 104th training unit were celebrating their graduation with a feast in the district of Trost, enjoying their last moments of relaxation before they choose their regiments the next day. Exhilarated shouts and excited talking echoed through the dining hall as the trainees laughed in relief that the grueling training was over. Sitting in a corner of the room, however, were two people less than excited for the event. There was definitely something missing for them and they just didn't feel right partying with the others.
Mikasa sat at her table, picking at her food and frowning at her plate, not in the least bit hungry. Next to her, Armin sat just as solemnly, while their cadet friends sat around them, enjoying themselves and cheering about their top ten placements. It was hard for the two friends to enjoy their night when their main reason for joining was no longer with them.
"He should be here right now, celebrating with us," Mikasa mumbled, pulling her scarf up.
"I know, it doesn't feel the same, right?" Armin agreed, looking up to stare around the room. "I bet he'd be so excited for tomorrow, talking about finally getting to join the Survey Corp and going out to kill titans."
"And then he'd get in a fight with Jean and I'd have to break it up," Mikasa added, a small smile forming on her face, before it dropped again. "Where do you think he is right now?"
Armin shrugged sadly. "We don't know anything about the people that took him, even Instructor Shadis didn't know where they were going or why they took Eren."
"I'm going to find him," Mikasa said a moment later, her eyes blazing with determined fury. "I don't care how long it takes, I'm finding him and I'm bring him back."
Suddenly several of their friends slapped themselves down on at their table, each one carrying their mugs with them, or in Sasha case her whole plate.
"Still moping about Eren, are we?" Jean said, sliding a bit too close to Mikasa.
Mikasa gave him the evil eye and scooted away, saying, "Of course, it isn't right. His only dream was to join the Survey Corp and fight titans, but that's gone now because he was taken away."
"And we'll never know what happened to him," Connie said, unintentionally insensitive. After a swift elbow in the ribs from Sasha, he added, "I mean, I'm sure he's just fine wherever he is. Hell, maybe he's happier there."
Mikasa thought that highly unlikely, but wanted to believe him. It was better than imagining her brother trapped somewhere and tortured daily.
"I miss Eren too," Krista sighed, patting Mikasa's shoulder in an attempt at comfort.
"Yeah, you know how boring dinner got without Jean and Eren picking fights with each other every day?" chuckles Reiner, taking a sip of his drink. "Damn, those were good times."
"As much as I hate to say it, I actually miss that hot-headed, suicidal bastard," sighed Jean. "He made the competition interesting."
"You know we're supposed to be assisting each other, not competing, right? The military is about helping and protecting others, not seeing who's the best at combat training," Armin pointed out, without any heat.
Jean simply snorted and said, "Yeah, but a little competition is healthy, makes winning all the more fun."
"And what rank were you placed in again? Fifth?" Sasha sneered, still more engrossed in her food than the conversation, but taking enough time to send a jab at Jean.
The boy glared, his cheeks slightly red with embarrassment. "I'm still the best at the ODM gear, you know! And fifth is still high! It's better than yours, Potato Girl."
"Stop calling me that!" Sasha huffed before mumbling, "I slip up one time and now everyone gives me crap for it."
Reiner started laughing at his friend's antics. "Guess we don't need Jaeger to rile up Jean anyway! He practically does it himself!"
Mikasa couldn't stand to sit there and listen to their happy banter and playful comments when she was in such a foul mood. This was supposed to be Eren's day as much as theirs. How could they simply brush him off and assume he's just fine? None of them knew where he was, and for all they knew, he could be dead and lying in a ditch somewhere. Didn't any of them care?
"They didn't know him as long as we did," Armin whispered, correctly interpreting Mikasa's annoyed and loathing expression. "He's been our friend for years, but they've only known him for one. I'm sure they're just as worried, but they don't want to think about it right now."
"Then I guess they weren't really his friends," she hissed back, getting to her feet with sharp, jerky movements. Everyone at the table stopped their conversation to watch her sulk out of the room. Armin stood as well, getting ready to chase after her, when Krista asked in concern.
"Is Mikasa okay?"
"She's fine, I think she just wanted to get some air," Armin replied, making his way to the door. "I'm going to check on her."
"I'll come with you!" Jean insisted, getting to his feet before being pulled down by Annie.
"If she wanted to be hit on by you, she would have stuck around," the blonde said coldly.
Without waiting for Jean's retort, Armin left and started his search for his friend. Thankfully, she was sitting on the steps of the alley just outside the door. He took a seat next to her.
"Do you think we'll ever see him again, Armin?" she asked, sounding tired and sad.
"I don't know. All we can do is hope he's okay for now and maybe in the future we can—"
"I think, I'm going to leave the military and search for Eren," Mikasa announced indifferently.
"B-but Mikasa! What about all your hard work? You're the top cadet in our entire training unit!" Armin replied, surprised.
"What good is it to join the Survey Corp if he isn't here? He was only reason I joined the military in the first place and without him here…" Mikasa sighed and pulled her scarf up to hide her face.
Armin looked up at the star-littered sky, trying to come up with a good response. In all honesty, he was having second thoughts as well, but he had enough motivation from his grandfather's unjust death to push them aside. Mikasa didn't have her motivation anymore, and the blonde had no idea how to help.
"What if you could search for him while still being in the military? I'm sure the Military Police would be more than happy to have you and then you could look for Eren all you want. From what I've heard, they aren't a very attentive most of the time. You could probably search pretty easily from there," Armin suggested, half-heartedly. He honestly didn't want another friend to leave him, but he didn't want to be selfish either. And if Mikasa could find their missing friend, then it would a good thing for her to join another regiment, right?
"I'll…think about it. I don't really feel comfortable leaving you to join the Survey Corp alone, though. What kind of friend would I be if I just left you to fight titans on your own?" she replied, lifting her head to stare at the stars as well. "We have till tomorrow to decided."
Armin nodded, but inside he was relieved. At least she hadn't made any rash decisions yet.
The two sat on the steps through most of the feast, barely talking and just enjoying the night. They would be called in for curfew soon, but for now they just sat there, thinking about tomorrow and how far they'd come, and the friend they'd lost along the way.