Chapter Nine: Trial
"Eve?" She groaned and rolled over, pulling the thin sheet over her head. "Come on, we need to get going." Muttering dark expletives under her breath, she buried herself deeper into the pillows at her head. She felt a light touch on her shoulder, then the full palm, and finally Armin was shaking her slightly.
"Five more minutes," she mumbled.
"You said that last time," Armin shot back. Suddenly, the sheet was snatched away from her. She bolted upright and tugged the sheet back up, covering her bare legs. Turning her head to the side, she opened her mouth to yell.
"Time to get up!" Peter said with a cheerful grin. Narrowing her eyes, she balled up her fist and punched him hard in the stomach. He grunted and took a few steps back. "What was that for?"
"I could have been naked!" Eve protested.
Peter just laughed. "In Armin's room? Yeah right."
An idea struck her, and in a flash, she grasped the front of Armin's shirt and pulled him down into the bed beside her, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and cozying up to his side. "How do you know?" she challenged in a sultry whisper. She could feel Armin's ridged posture beside her and his slight shaking as she imagined he debated remaining in place or bolting.
Peter raised one eyebrow at the two of them, then shrugged. "Doesn't matter anyway. I've seen you naked before- well, mostly."
Eve's expression fell flat and she dropped her arm from around Armin's shoulders. He stood as quickly as he could, but he didn't move very far from the edge of the bed. "Taking care of my broken ribs hardly counts," she retorted, climbing to her knees. The faded and slightly holey nightshirt fell to the middle of her thighs. Peter took a few more steps back as she climbed off of the lower bunk. "Now get out so I can get dressed."
"Yeah, yeah," Peter grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "Hurry it up, would ya? Alois is already downstairs waiting. He was kind enough to agree to get our horses ready while we woke you up."
Eve grabbed one of the pillows from the bed and tossed it at Peter, hitting him squarely in the face. He grabbed it before it could hit the floor and threw it back at her, but she caught it. "Get out," Eve stated again. Armin slipped out of the door first, and Peter followed with a slow saunter that only served to further irritate her.
Eve dressed in layers, anticipating the cold before she even discovered the light dusting of snow on the ground. She complained silently to herself as she walked out to the stables with Armin and Peter, joining Alois. The younger man had readied all four horses and was standing beside his own, stroking her mane.
"'Morning," Eve greeted. She was still walking on eggshells around Alois. She did not have the authority she'd had back in their village; they were equals now, and she wanted to show him that she was indeed capable of thinking of him as her equal. "Thank you for getting Osten ready to go."
"I know how you are in the morning," Alois replied with a half-smirk. Eve returned the expression. She realized with a sharp, if brief, pang of guilt that he'd picked up on many of her mannerisms over the years. That smirk was one of them. The trait wasn't even originally her own. She'd taken it from Aldrich. It was mildly amusing to her how even such a simple expression could be traced back through painful memories to a time that had been both easier and more difficult for the both of them. "Are you finally ready?"
Eve nodded and they all mounted their horses. "Nervous?" she asked.
Alois just shrugged. "It can't be harder than facing down real Titans, can it? I mean, we've got years of experience to go on… Think you can keep up?"
Eve chuckled humorlessly. "Who knows? I'm still not back to normal, but I think I'll manage." Alois glanced over his shoulder at her with a slight frown, but she chose not to comment. It was one thing for him to see her struggling with physical training every day, but it was something else entirely for her to openly discuss it. She'd always kept her shortcomings to herself back in the village, but that had been to protect the others, not herself. Eve could only hope that Alois was finally starting to understand that. Now that the burden for the care of her village did not rest solely on her own shoulders, she was willing to abandon her former practices. He needed to take on some of the responsibility for himself.
They were mostly silent on the dark, freezing ride to Klorva. She was sure, despite Alois' words, that his anxiety was growing just like her own. Today they would either ensure the peaceful existence of their people or they would doom everyone to return to the village outside of Wall Rose. It wasn't a permanent solution, but it would keep everyone safe for at least as long as they were gone on the next expedition. Today she would either become a true soldier, or she would be condemned as a silly little girl who enjoyed playing the part of Titan-killer.
"Man, I haven't been back here in years," Peter remarked with a slight sag of his shoulders. Eve raised one eyebrow at the tall man beside her. He shot her a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head. "I graduated from the Western Division. 'Course, most of my friends either went to the Garrison and are up North right now, or they're dead." She understood all too well, and didn't bother with a comment of sympathy.
"I've only ever passed through Klorva on a few occasions," Armin said softly. "I don't know the way to the barracks."
"Not a problem," Peter said, grin returning. He trotted to the front of the little group and led the way down the nearly-empty street. They rode around the outer edge of the city, never entering it. The barracks were located only a few kilometers away from the main road. Eve's anxiety was beginning to get the better of her, and her hands shook as she clenched Osten's reins.
"This reminds me of Trost," Armin muttered softly to himself. Eve noticed the look of sad memories drifting through his mind in the way that his eyes were half-lidded and from the small smile that didn't so much stretch his lips across his face, just sort of turned up a little at the corners.
"I think they're all pretty much the same," Peter said with a shrug. "Anyway, here we are." They stopped short at a long, if narrow, building and Peter's boots raised small clouds of powdery white snow when he hit the ground. Everyone else followed suit, though they only tied their horses to a few spare posts. Eve saw no stables.
"Good morning." Eve, Alois, Armin, and Peter all snapped to attention with perfect salutes. Eve was still having a difficult time remembering when a salute was necessary, but she'd managed so far by looking at those around her for guidance. "You must be the two new Survey Corps' victims." Eve felt a humorless smile cross her face and she nodded. "I won't waste your time. I believe you're first, young man." He looked to Alois and the young blond nodded once.
"Yes Sir."
"Well don't just stand there, get back on that horse and let's get going." Alois reacted quickly to the man's words, but Eve found herself souring towards him. She tried to keep in mind that he was used to dishing out orders to new recruits, but she and Alois were seasoned veterans compared to the children he dealt with on a daily basis.
She watched as the man mounted another horse tied to a pole around the side of the building. He and Alois were off, with no other followers. She frowned to herself, wondering what sort of test Alois was going to be put through with only a single Commander with him. Armin nudged her shoulder and she snapped out of her reverie, following her two remaining companions inside the warm barracks.
A kettle with boiling water and a placement of cups and tea leaves had been left for them, but otherwise, they were alone. Eve accepted a cup from Armin, but she did little more than sit and stare into the murky brown liquid for the next hour. Her stomach had twisted itself into knots, and she was grateful she'd skipped breakfast. If she hadn't, she was certain that all of it would have found its way to the floor.
At long last, a group of young cadets entered the little dining area. Eve and Peter left Armin behind and set off after another cadet to the place where Eve's examination was to be held.
She shrugged her new coat off and tossed it over Osten's saddle. The little satchel at her waist followed suit, but she kept the thin gloves on for protection against the falling snow. There were ten others before her, the top-ranking graduates from the Western Division of the 106th trainees. They were all just kids- none older than seventeen, but most topping out at fifteen. A certain amount of regret for them chewed at her insides, but she didn't let it show. Her expression was flat and calm, remaining as blank as she could manage.
"Miss Marks." She turned to General Pixis and gave him a proper salute. The Commander from before was nowhere to be found. It was one of the very first things she'd learned, and one of the few things she absolutely despised doing. She never gave a salute to Levi or Erwin, even if she did respect them a degree or two more than she had before. Everything she did today, though, would be tested. She was sure of that. Levi had provided her with few details, just that she'd be told what to do once she got there.
"Good morning," she greeted, her lips pressing tightly together as soon as the words were spoken. She was trying her hardest to keep herself calm and in control. That was a difficult task when all she wanted was to smack the falsely pleasant smile right off of the General's face.
"I'd like you to meet these fine young soldiers," he said, gesturing to those behind him, lined up perfectly and at-ease. "They've already successfully completed their own examinations, so they will not be graded twice. These few are the top ten graduates in their class. You will be judged based on your performance as compared to theirs." She gritted her teeth. She was supposed to go up against the best of the best amongst over one hundred trainees? Killing Titans was one thing, but this was something else entirely.
"What exactly will I be doing, Sir?" Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself once more. It had taken every ounce of self-control she possessed to keep herself from sarcasm. She had no respect for this man. In fact, all she had for the old codger was disdain.
He gave a little chuckle. "There are fourteen dummies set up throughout a vigorous course. Your goal is to at least hit each target, but getting to the targets first will be to your advantage. Surviving is the second goal." Her eyes narrowed at him, his words giving her the strong impression that she would be sabotaged. "You begin just over here." He pointed to an open spot in the trees behind him.
"When do we begin?" She was anxious, her fingers digging into her palms through the thin gloves, then releasing once more.
"I'll give you a head start of five seconds," Pixis said with the smile that grated on her nerves and buried under her skin like a nasty infection. "You may begin whenever you'd like."
Without a second thought, she sprinted for the trees, then engaged the three-dimensional maneuvering gear. She flew through the air as fast as she could, the bitter cold wind biting through her skin. She saw the first target and flipped in a tight circle, gouging out two deep pieces of the fake flesh. Her gaze and attention were focused solely on the trees and searching for targets. She nailed the second one with just as much ease as the first. Zipping through the trees at her top-speed, she knew this was going to be her singular advantage. She lacked stamina, so the faster she completed this exam, the better off she would be.
One of her lines snapped free. She felt the jerk in her balance, but corrected it swiftly, retracting the spike and sending it flying once more without halting. Her eyes were too busy hunting for the dummies to look back. She wasn't sure if the break had been a natural occurrence, or if someone had done it intentionally. She cursed when she saw the flash of a dark gray cloak before her, hitting her target. She pushed herself faster, slicing into the dummy before cutting sharply to her left to aim for the next one.
She felt unbalanced once more, but then she was free-falling to the ground just a short distance below. Her toes grazed the snow-dusted ground just before the steel cables shot her back up into the air. She tucked her limbs in and launched herself forward- faster than she ever remembered going before. Her blades sliced into the next dummy. The cuts weren't quite deep enough, but they did the trick well enough.
She felt a sting on the back of her neck, but didn't realize what was going on until her head was jerked to the right. Shrieking, she reacted without thinking, one of her blades swinging up to the cable at the base of her neck. Adrenaline took over her actions, driving her to move the blade at an awkward angle. She could see bits of her auburn hair drifting on the air around her, dark strands of red mingling with the white flakes of snow. Her body shot forward once more, her cables once again engaged and sinking deep into branches and tree trunks.
Three more dummies, all in an odd cluster. She nailed the first two before the others around her, but was third on the last one. She moved on, swinging by the gray streak in front of her, then slicing up yet another dummy. She slammed the spent blades into the sheaths at her sides, her right hand going to the left sheath and her left hand going to the right sheath. Attaching new blades with a well-practiced swiftness, she had them back out and ready to go just in time for the next dummy.
Her cable shot out, aiming for another tree. Instead, one of the gray blobs caught it. The shriek made Eve falter. She used the other single cable to swing forward, shoving the left blade into its sheath as she reached out with one hand to grab the falling graduate. She landed on a branch, tossing the young person against the trunk.
"Fuck!" Eve shouted, her hands hovering over where the spike from her gear had sliced clean through the girl's calf. Her mind racing, she snatched off her belt and lifted the screaming girl's leg, tightening the leather as well as she could before tying it off. Her fingers worked quickly, releasing the cable from the spike, snatching the cable out of the girl's leg, and reattaching it to the spike. "Stay there!" She gave her command as she darted off again, unable to do anything further for the girl without utterly failing the exam.
Pushing herself harder and faster, she reached the next dummy and noticed several cuts. She made her own mark, then continued on, passing more blobs as she flew through the trees. Her body was screaming in protest at her, warning her of her coming limit. By her count, there were only four targets left. She hit the next two, noticing there were fewer cuts each time. The next to the last target neared, and she was the second, but the final target was all hers. After her claim, she dropped lower to avoid the others coming at her, and headed back through the trees, hunting for the girl she'd left behind. Without the distraction of targets or keeping up with the other blurs of gray, she made it to the whimpering girl with ease.
"Come here," Eve said softly, crouching on the branch in front of the girl. Eve slid forward, spun around, and grabbed her arms, wrapping them around her own neck. "Hold on tight." She felt the girl nod once, then shot back into the air, getting to the end of the course as quickly as she could manage with the extra weight and her nearly-drained body. When, at last, she hit the ground on the other side of the trees, she collapsed to her knees, and the girl on her back fell to the ground beside her. Panting, but unable to stop yet, Eve checked the belt on the girl's leg before grabbing her cloak and shoving it down on her leg, pressing hard. The hole was still bleeding too much.
"Hey, that's enough!" Eve glanced to her left and found, to her great surprise, Peter. He and two others had run over with a gurney. "Let them take her!" Eve nodded and fell to her back in the snow, gasping for breath.
"Fuck," she panted. "How did I do?" She opened one eye to gaze up at Peter. He was frowning down at her. "What?"
"Sit up," he said. She held up one hand and he grasped it, jerking her upright. She bent her knees and crossed her arms over them, resting her head on her arms. It took a few moments, but her breathing slowed with her heart-rate. "Your hair…" She felt his fingers grazing the back of her neck, then the familiar sting of a rag covered in alcohol.
She reached up with one hand and found the shorn ends of her hair. It was only a few centimeters long at the back of her head, but fell much longer around her ears. She chuckled. "Shit."
"You're lucky you didn't break your neck with that stunt!" Peter shouted at her. She just gave another breathless laugh. "Ya did everythin' right, though."
"My score?" she asked impatiently. He pulled the alcohol-drenched cloth from the back of her neck and she looked up at him. Her eyes narrowed. Pixis was standing over Peter's shoulder.
"You pass," Pixis said with a wrinkle-filled smile. "I'm quite impressed, Miss Marks. Well done."
Eve took a deep breath as soon as he turned on his heel to stalk away. "Fuck you, jackass," she whispered under her breath. Peter smacked her once on the back of her head. "What?"
"Watch what you say!" Peter scolded. "Anyway," he stood up and brushed the snow from his pants, "you're fine. Can you stand?" With a nod, she clamored to her feet on her own, ignoring Peter's offered hand. He nodded to her left and she gazed out at the group of graduates. "Looks like you've just earned yourself a few new fans."
"Yeah," Eve muttered darkly, shrugging one shoulder. "Can I go now?" Peter shrugged himself, but they walked together towards the graduates. She looked out at their faces, some hard with lines of envy, others soft with wonder. "Is there anything else I need to do here?"
"You're one of those people who came from the other side of the Wall, right?" one of the girls asked. Eve nodded once. "The other boy, Alois, he did okay, but you… How do you move so fast?" Eve shrugged, but was glad to know that Alois' exam had gone well. He'd begun to warm back up to her gradually in the last couple of days, but she wasn't able to see him before he left for his exam. She had no idea where he was now.
"Where is Alois?" she asked.
"Back at the barracks," a boy answered, pointing to Eve's left. "Come on, we'll show you the way." She and Peter fell behind the younger ones, but she could tell they wanted to surround her and ask her all sorts of questions. Whatever it was in her expression that kept people away also held the graduates at bay, and she was never more grateful. Her legs and arms felt like jelly as she walked. More than once, Peter had to grab her arm to keep her on her feet. She blamed the snow, but they both knew that wasn't the case.
She was helped onto her horse by Peter, and then they rode the short distance back to the barracks where she'd spent a single long hour dreading what she'd just accomplished. There were dozens of other cadets present, with many of the girls surrounding Alois. Eve couldn't help but chuckle as he tried to explain to several of them that he had a fiancée.
"Eve!" Armin choked out, a look of despair on his face. "Your hair..." She reached up and touched the short frayed ends, brushing a few more loose strands away.
"Didn't have a choice," she said with a light shrug. "I knew I should have cut it off..."
"I...I'm sorry," Armin muttered, looking down at the ground.
She sighed and turned her attention to Alois. It was just hair, after all. "How'd you do?" Eve asked, still sitting atop Osten. Alois looked up at her with a grin, and she knew he'd passed. "Me too. We're officially soldiers now."
"Dogs of the military until the day we die," Alois agreed, mimicking Aldrich's old words of sarcastic sentiment. "I don't think there's anything else we have to do here."
"Nope, you guys are free to go for the next day and a half," Peter said with a grin. "I trust you can find your way back?" Eve nodded once. "Great. I'm going to go see if I can't track down a few old friends…" Alois slipped away from the gaggle of giggling girls and swiftly seated himself in his saddle.
"Let's go see our people," Eve said with a soft smile. Alois nodded. She gave Armin one quick glance and found him appearing just as ready to leave as she was. With a single nod, they all raced off, galloping at top speed. She could feel Osten's joy in his light jumps and quick pace- he was happy to be free to run once more. She stroked his mane, thinking about how much running they'd probably be doing once they left Wall Rose. At least, she thought grimly, her horse wouldn't get tired as quickly as she did.
"Mina's going to have plenty of practice raising a child by the time you two have one!" Eve teased Alois to her right. He blushed, but nodded. "You two should get busy! Leo needs a friend his own age."
"H-hey!" Alois stuttered. "We aren't even technically married yet!"
"And?" Eve asked, shrugging one shoulder. "Annalise and Leon weren't technically married either. Sure, we had the ceremony, but there was nothing official about it."
"Still!" Alois continued with his protest. "Maybe once we get back I get her a nice ring and a dress…"
"That's the spirit!" Eve cheered. "We need something to look forward to. Doc can do the ceremony like he did for Annalise and Leon."
"And you know you'll have to give Mina away," Alois shot back at her. Eve paled at the thought and Alois laughed. "Who else is going to do it? You're perfect!"
"I can't wear a dress," Eve grumbled.
"We'll figure something out," Alois teased. "At least this gives us something to talk about while we're out there." She gave him a kind smile and nodded. It was their tradition to have a single topic to discuss whenever they rode out together. They wouldn't be in the same squad, so there would be little opportunity while they were riding to talk, but she knew that during their downtime, they could get a short conversation in. She smiled out at the horizon, grateful that the tension between her and Alois had finally fallen away.
A/N: So this one is a bit short, but I hope you liked it!