Life with the Survey Corps wasn't all that bad. When I wasn't getting a suspicious glance from people, I was training with Shadis. When I wasn't training with Shadis, I was helping with the horses. When I wasn't helping with the horses, I was delivering messages to various people. When I wasn't delivering messages to various people I was exploring the forest that surrounded HQ. Only to get back in time for supper, sleep in the dungeon, wake up, and do it all again. It wasn't boring, as many would think, because I made friends a lot of people. Hange, Mike, Erwin, the stable boys, and, dare I say, Levi. I still couldn't wait until I got my hands on some titans. When I told Levi this, he said that they were trying to get approval from the higher ups so that I could fight with them. Honestly, I didn't blame them. I was the first Titan Shifter they'd ever known, of course they was scared. This just meant that Eren would most definitely join the Survey Corps.
I wanted to teach Eren about his Titan Form. Not too early, not too late. I was thinking after he transforms in Trost, I could take control. I was trying to figure out if this meant he couldn't go a certain distance away from me instead of Levi when I heard voices. It was supposed to be the time of day when I'd explore the forest, but because it was raining I couldn't go. So I holed myself in my cell and, despite the occasional rumble of thunder, sat in silence, trying to form a plan of how to save this world and all of the lives lost. Now I knew that I'd have to let Levi's squad die. The only difference is that I'd tie Annie's mouth closed when I got the chance. After that is a long way away, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Other than that, forget the plot! I'm gonna see where this takes me and hopefully I won't mess up and screw humanity over.
That's when I heard the clomp of footsteps, and my days got a new ray of sunshine.
I sat up straighter and watched as Levi unlocked the cell and motioned me outside. Once I was standing beside him he closed the cell and said to me,
"We got approval."
What.
"What."
"You heard me, brat. Don't make me repeat myself."
"They- they actually?"
"Yep."
"And I can?"
"Yes."
My triumphant shout shook the bars of my cell before I grabbed Levi in a hug real quick and then started doing a strange victory dance. Levi just looked at me weird with a ghost of a smile on his face and then he told (told not ordered) me to go up the stairs. Once we got out of the dungeon he started talking.
"Don't get excited just yet brat. You still need some training before your allowed on the field. Also, you need to learn to ride a horse."
I gasped. "Horsies?!"
"Horse, not 'horsie'"
"Same difference."
Before he could retort we'd arrived at Erwin's office, a place I know all too well from my daily reports and the planning sessions we had. I did my special knock on the door and after hearing a muffled, but warm, 'Anita' through the door, we entered. My special knock is actually the knock from Frozen. The one Anna does before the song 'Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?' starts up. With their military training it didn't take long for everyone to recognize it. Anyway, we entered and Erwin smiled a little in greeting when he saw us.
"Anita, as Levi has told you, you've been approved. This means that you must work hard, harder than ever before. Is this understood?"
"Yes sir.''
"Well then, I, Erwin Smith, personally welcome you to the Survey Corps."
And with that, a Survey Corps cape appeared in his hands. It was a fresh one, the one that Nameless wore was pinned up on my wall, and it looked beautiful. I carefully reached up and, at his amused nod, took it from him. I carefully placed it around my shoulders. The fabric was soft to the touch and durable, perfect for a kid soldier. It brushed just below my knee, sending a message. 'You are a soldier and will be treated as such' it said. I didn't mind, not at all. I spun and it flared around me in a graceful pool of emerald. I looked at Erwin and Levi, both were watching me for my reaction. I hugged them both at the same time.
"Thank you." I whispered to them, not letting go just yet. I had no clue what to think when their arms came and pat me on the back. Maybe, just maybe, I could be the one thing that kept them from falling into insanity.
We all separated when a knock on the door was heard. At Erwin's consent, the door was opened and one the stable boys my age, Tatsuya, showed up. He looked rather tense. I couldn't blame him, I mean, come on, your a simple stable boy and then you get summoned to the commander of the Survey Corps' office? Scary. At the sight of me, however, he relaxed and grinned at me. I returned the gesture and starting talking.
"Tatsuya? What are you doing here? Don't tell me your a Titan Shifter too."
"As fun as that sounds, no, I'm not a Titan Shifter. We just have a horse for you."
We had a close relationship. Stable boys were kinda up to date on information about the Corps, hence why, at first, when I approached the stable, I got weird looks. They knew I was the Titan Shifter (still had to think of a cool name for my titan), yet they were friendly, if not skeptical. Tatsuya had been the first to approach me, and after a while, we got used to each other. Now I know all the stable boys by name. I don't know a lot about them and vise versa, but we care about each other. A lot. I didn't see Erwin and Levi share a look as I replied.
"Just a horse for me? Are you serious? I have a horse?"
Tatsuya nodded at me, grin growing wider. I smiled so big my face hurt and said "Well, what are we waiting for? Can we go? Can we go? Can we go?"
"Tch. Go on ahead brat, me and Erwin are behind you." Levi replied.
I nodded and grabbed Tatsuya's wrist.
"C'mon Tatsuya! Let's go see! Let's go see! Lets go see!"
"Alright alright! Slow down!"
"Never!"
Our banter continued until we arrived at the stables. Greetings were called and I was led to the open corral. The HQ had a lot of horses that needed maintenance every day. Hence why they had an open corral at the center of the stables. The HQ was split into different areas, the actual HQ, the training camp, 3DMG gear training grounds, and the stables. Each section was a short ways away on foot, way faster on horse, and separated by forest. You could walk, but it'd take thirty minutes. Me and Tatsuya had walked. The walk had seemed way shorter than it actually was and was actually very fun.
They led me to the corral where a beautiful golden brown stallion was tied to the fence post. He, like all the horses, had chestnut mane and big gentle brown eyes, but he was just as pretty. A nearby stable boy, Akira, said that I had to name him before I could ride him.
"Doesn't he already have a name?" I asked. All horses were supposed to be named at birth, sometimes even before.
"No," the eldest stable boy, Kenta, continued,"No one has been able to come up with a name he'll answer to."
I blinked in surprise at that. I looked to the stallion and his eyes met mine. They were gentle and brown. Like-like- I couldn't place them. I knew I had to if I wanted to ride him. I knew I did. They reminded me of...of...
"...Acorns..." I said aloud in English. Realizing my mistake I blushed a bit before looking at the horse and saying it again.
"Donguri."
The horse perked up a bit.
"Donguri."
The horse-Donguri now I guess- walked up to me. I pet him gently and untied him before looking at the group of stable boys and grinning. They cheered and congratulated me.
Before new cadets could actually be considered new cadets, they had to form a strong bond with the horse they were assigned. This meant a lot of their time was taken up by bonding with and getting used to their horses as well as training them to answer to them when they whistled for them. Now, I can't whistle, so I'd have to yell his name.
Levi and Erwin looked proud. I gotta say I was proud of myself. Not for taming the horse, though that was a good feeling. Oh no, that wasn't the reason why.
The reason was because I had resisted the strong urge to name the horse Jean.
-
So, this one's kinda short. Sorry about that. I'm leaving on a church trip tomorrow morning so next week's chapter will also be short.
Also, THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED MY STORY. I honestly didn't expect that to happen, but thank you guys so much!
Erm, to all those who reviewed, can you tell me if I made any characters OOC? It'd be a great help. Honestly, it kinda ticks me off when a writer writes something like "Levi started doing the chicken dance" (though I can imagine him doing that) so please let me know.
Bye!