Trees were brown and green blurs as I swung by on my 3DMG. The hooks dug into the bark and held, providing the launch I needed. When I made an arc around a tree I screamed, "HECK YEAH!" at the top of my lungs. Looking down slightly and narrowing my eyes I discovered one the targets, a big brown cardboard titan; as well as a few cadets. I slowed a tad and then, with a loud taunting laugh, slashed at it before anyone else could. They yelled at me but I kept going. Hooking into another tree, much higher than the last couple of times, I launched myself above the canopy with a 'whoop!'. Time seemed to slow to a crawl when I looked and saw all the trees below me, a emerald green sea. Eventually the moment ended when I did a flip and started looking for my next target.

I angled my swords, I was so close to cutting through the sack with satisfaction when the freakishly large bell sounded, stopping everyone. Then, like everyone had the same mental connection, we shot off to the start of the forest, our beginning area of this exercise. 'Stupid bell,' I thought as I landed with a small 'oof', 'ending the stupid test. What a jerk!'. After I was done mentally insulting the bell I realized that everyone was heading to the supply barn to put away their gear and get ready for lunch.

Lunch was served thirty minutes after gear training, so we had a while to just chat. Most bragged about how they got the highest score, others said that they didn't think they'd done well, and some just talked about whatever they wanted. Well, the teens are all talking and then there's me. I don't have any friends. None. I'm not really surprised to be honest, I only just turned thirteen, what kind of a teenager would hang out with a thirteen year old? So, I decide to head what I deem The Food Shack, but, alas, I decide to go the not normal way. Because, I am bored, and when one is bored, they do crazy things. Especially me.

So, instead of walking up the stairs like a normal, intelligent person I try to jump over the rail. I backed up and, without batting an eye, starting running. Well, here's what went wrong, when I jumped to try and haul myself over, I grabbed the rail successfully, but I misjudged how high to lift my foot. Instead of landing gracefully, I did a majestic face plant. Majestic-ness. I heard no noise. I looked up with a toothy grin and said, "I'm okay!" and starting laughing really hard. Some stared, but the majority laughed at me. Good, these kids need to smile every once in a while. A couple of them came up and asked if I was okay, to which I replied that I was and walked away.

Truth be told, I had pretty good pain tolerance, especially since I have to bite my thumb off almost every day. The experiments with Hange were paying off in their own way, I suppose. The experiments lasted for a bit less than two hours and were always tiring, but because of my built up stamina from the three months I was outside the walls it wasn't as bad as it could be. Sometimes it was really fun, like when we tested how much strength my titan had (still haven't figured out a name), or when we practiced holding back strength in case I needed to pick up a wounded soldier. All in all, it's really not that bad, and me and Hange enjoy playing Titan Tag. Don't ask. In the back of my mind I realized that this was child experimentation. Heh. Oops.

Soon the lunch bell sounded soon after and everyone started making their way to The Food Shack. We all formed a long line and impatiently waited for our only source of sustenance and energy. Do those mean the same thing? Or does sustenance mean like, calories and nutrients and stuff? I'll have to ask Levi later. Or the stable boys. Or Erwin. Or Hange. Or someone else. Whoever came first.

When it was my turn to get food (glorious food!) the cadets helping to serve it gave me weird looks. I brushed them off and kept going. Well, then came my next issue.

Where to sit.

Now, I was a nice person, maybe a bit too nice, and I treated everyone the I wanna be treated, but I still didn't make friends. Not a one. The Titan Trio gave me looks, well, everyone did, but these looks were terrifying. Like they were planning some sort of grand scheme and I had no choice but to go along with it. Of course, I could be wrong, but I still stayed away from them. To be honest, everyone knew about my status as a Titan Shifter. That's why I was given looks and could relate to Naruto. Out of all the things I think of- I'm not even gonna try to go down that trail of thought.

Long story short, treated them like everyone else; not mean, but not going out of my to be kind. I broke myself from my musings abruptly and looked for the most empty table where I could sit and not attract attention. Don't get me wrong, it'd be great to meet the cannon characters, but I don't know if a) I could keep my fangirl under control (coughcough Armin cough) b) I'd be able to function in the presence of the awesomeness of Eren Bombastic and his ninja BFF. They should make an Eren and his Ninja Pals series. I'd pay to see that. While I was contemplating how Eren would look in an orange jumpsuit I made my way over, sat down, and started eating. I had just finished Armin in a green spandex suit and preaching about youth when someone called my name.

"Hey, um, your Anita, right?"

I looked up to see Connie, a fellow goofball. Yes, the things we shall do together.

...That sounded wrong...

"Um, yes. I'm Anita. It's nice to meet you. Who're you?"

He grinned and sat beside me.

"I'm Connie, over there is Sasha, she's my friend. I tried to make her come over here but she's too busy eating at the moment."

"Ah."

This was accompanied by awkward silence between us. An awkward silence that I wanted to break. Badly. So, I asked probably the most strangest question ever.

"Hey, Connie, do you like potatoes?"

Eventually, he started asking me questions. Mostly about the Survey Corps or just me in general. Well, then Sasha came over, and she exclaimed something really loudly, causing more to find their over to us. They asked how it felt to be with Humanity's Strongest, how I knew Erwin, was I really a fairy princess sent from God to help them?, and so on and so forth. Until, the question came.

"What's being a Titan Shifter like?"

The whole room froze. It was so quiet, you could the spider on a nearby window breathing. I gulped and took a deep breath, before answering.

"Well, being a Titan Shifter is like, um, it's like."

I took another deep breath.

"It's like, having a lot of power, yet that power can only get you so far. I also lived outside the walls for about three months before I came here. And in that time, I've gained more life experience then some of you guys, though you'll have your fair share soon, trust me, and seen things I rather wished I hadn't. But also, you get to see things most people haven't. Tell me, have you guys ever seen the sunset from atop a freakishly large tree? Or be able to walk around outside the walls without any fear, because you know that the land you walk on, you've fought over and won? Countless times? But more importantly, I also saw something most people can only dream of."

I take another breath and meet the eyes of everyone when I say my next sentence.

"The ocean."

Well, it wasn't exactly a lie. I had seen the ocean, you just had to travel some ways away to get to it. With that, the bell rings, and everyone walks off in a daze. I follow them out, climb on my horse, and wave bye to Connie, Sasha, and the other cadets who listened to me.

'That,' I think, with a satisfied smile 'was one of the most inspirational speeches I've ever given.'

When I get back Hange and Levi are waiting for me.

"I'm home."

Hange grins brightly and Levi relaxes. Their ways of saying 'Glad your back safe'. I dismount and Dongu-chan follows me to the stables and I can hear the footsteps of Levi and Hange behind us. That immediately raises a red flag. Normally when I get back, there's supper waiting outside my room and I eat and change then shower and sleep. Of course, them waiting for me also set off alarms, but when they followed me I understood. They want to talk to me about something ad it couldn't wait till tomorrow.

After I made sure that Donguri had all his needs taken care of I finally turned to Levi and Hange. Squad Mom and Squad Dad respectively. Hmm, it'd be great to see their reactions to those nicknames. They both had a multitude of nicknames, but never ones that I made up. If motivated, I could get very creative. Anyway, I turned to them and voiced my curiosity about the two of them needing to talk to me.

"So, you two wouldn't follow me out here unless for good reason. What is it you need to talk about?"

Levi snorted. "Come to my office, brat, and you'll find out."

With that we made our merry way to his office. His office was a cozy little thing. Standard desk with lots of papers (very well organized), a large window, a couch off in the corner (we still don't know why he keeps it there, but since it's under a cabinet we think he's too short to reach it so he uses the couch for leverage), and the cleaning supplies closet. The CSC for short. That way, newer cadets get confused and think we are talking about an organization of sorts or building. It's fun to pick on the fresh meat.

I blinked. Then blinked again. A slow grin grew on my face and I started to jump up and down while squealing and whooping. I tackled Hange in a hug, then Levi. I started jumping again and this time Hange started jumping with me. We grabbed each other's arms and added spinning to our little show until Levi yelled at us.

"Stop JUMPING YOUR GIVING ME A HEADACHE!"

We only laughed and then started chattering excitedly. You see, what had happened was that Shorty Mc Shortysen has just informed me that we're going on a mission in a couple days and that I'm coming with them. So now me and Hange are having a celebratory sleepover in her room. Best. Night. Ever. Levi took one look at me and her trying to shove my mattress through the door way before he turned and walked back from where he came from, probably going another route. We had a good laugh at that. Later we climbed on the roof (don't ask how) and star gazed with blankets, we then tried our best to tell made up scary stories, and even did each other's hair. It got silent when I asked her to cut it.

"You-you want me to what?"

"You heard me. Cut my hair. Chop it off. To my shoulders."

"But-but it's so pretty!"

"Pretty and asking for disaster. Come on, it won't be that bad. Please?"

"...Fine..."

"Thank you Hange."

"Hmph."

And that's how I ended up with my mahogany hair to my shoulders instead of my waist, with bangs that hung prettily above my eyes. I love Hange and her hair doing skills. After that, we both went to bed with smiles on our faces and still in our uniforms.

There was something underneath me. It was hard. I didn't like it. I shifted and guess what? More hard stuff! I cracked my eyes with a groan. Then I groaned louder.

All around me were blankets and pillows. Hange was buried under some of them, I just knew it. I looked out the window to see that the sun was coming up, which meant I should be getting up and ready right now. I surveyed the room and the nest me and Hange made. It was quite the accomplishment. The nest extended from the bed to the wall while leaving the area around the door untouched. All I could think was 'Yes.' over and over again. By far, this was the best thing I had ever done in this world. Ever. So far. I finally hauled my lazy butt up and stood there while trying to comb through my hair with Hange's hair brush.

I heard a muffled snort and my gaze fell upon the demented from that was Hange...under millions of blankets. The blankets were normally used for the winter for when it was cold, but alas, there is no winter here, so we get to use them. Anyway, I stumbled my way over and kicked her gently. She shot awake and screamed bloody murder before I shoved a pillow in her face to shut her up.

"Hange, what the heck!? It's me! Anita! I need to get up so I can go to training, so I'll be leaving. It was fun having a sleep over with you. Bye!"

With that, I flew out the door and ran down the hallway. After taking a few more twists I ended up outside. I took a sharp left and booked it, said hi to any stable boy I passed, and jumped on Donguri. I yelled a quick good bye and someone threw me an apple, which I caught, before tearing away and into the forest. After a short run I came across Levi who was sitting in the middle of the clearing. I rode up, jumped off of Dongu-chan, took a final bite of my apple, and plopped beside Levi. He crosses his arms and speaks.

"Alight brat, today we are increasing everything by ten except for your laps, which are increased by five. After that, we'll spar and then you can do whatever you want until your maneuvering gear training. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Begin!"

And with that, I was off. Stretches first, then my normal work out. Since he had increased everything by ten I was doing thirty pushups, forty sit ups, thirty Russian twists (when I first called them that Levi looked at me like I was crazy), and finally ten laps around the castle. After all that I dropped down by his feet out of breath, and we hadn't even sparred yet! After a moment I got up, you can't laze around on the battle field after all. Sparring with Levi was an experience. Of course, he beat me into the ground every time, but it was actually kinda fun. The feeling of being able to fight for myself and to be strong was amazing.

We had figured out a while ago that I was best at dodging. I had good reflexes and moved quite fast for a thirteen year old, so we often started with him throwing blow after blow and me either dodging or getting hit (it was good for toughening my body up) with no breaks in between. After I had caught my breath we then moved onto me being able to fight back. Some moves I had created on my own, others were taught to me. I caught on fast with the katas and my strength was slowly increasing, but even when going easy on me Levi still beat me into the ground.

That is, until my fighter's instinct told me to duck. I ducked and then rose up from the ground and bashed my head right into Levi's chin. The cheeky little monkey had tried to bring his arm around and hit me in the back of the neck to knock me out, but he didn't count on me having what I call fighter's instinct yet. He underestimated me and I caught him by surprise while he was going easy on me. So my hit wasn't an impressive feat, but it did mean that all this training I've been doing wasn't for nothing. That made me smile a little and offer him a hand.

He smirked at me and grabbed it. I pulled him up and he ruffled my sweaty head.

"Good job, brat, but don't get full of yourself, we both know that I was going easy on you."

"I know, but you still underestimated me."

"Hn."

I giggle and after we catch our breath we go at it again. And again. And again. We fight until the sun is high in the sky, my lungs burn, my body, while it doesn't scream anymore, aches, and my clothes are drenched in sweat. Levi looks fine although he sweats a little bit and he's panting a little. Tired as I am, I really wanna continue, especially with stamina training. Luckily I know a lake that I can go swim some laps in. It may or may not be the same one as in the anime. Also, I have discovered the urgent need for a rope tied to a tree near said lake so that I can hurl myself in and all the while scream like Tarzan. Ah, that'll be the day, but not right now. Right now I need to take a cold bath and then go exploring. I wonder if I should visit that cove I found yesterday? Yeah, why not? I'll tie Donguri up somewhere nearby and go exploring with my new hunting knife that Mike got me. Gotta love Mike.

When I get back I drop Dongu-chan off at the stables and then head toward the entrance to the castle. Once inside I go pick up another set of uniform then head straight toward the female bathing area. The bathing area isn't full of steam and naked girls with outrageously big boobs and butts, instead it has a well built into the center of the room and built along the walls of the room are brick half-walls tall enough so that a female adult could stand up and not show anything with a curtain in the front. Within those walls and curtains are pails and large basins for getting the cold water from the well into the basins for bathing. Female soldiers are in the basins cleaning themselves after workouts, and some wait in front of the curtains with their uniforms still on since there is enough room beside the basins in each section to put a dry change of clothes.

I wait in front of a curtain with no one in front of it until the female soldier steps out and I walk in, set my uniform down, and then start the process of dumping the water out via the back door and then getting water from the well and back into the basin. It's a long and slow process, but I get the water high enough and sink in. The water is cold, freezing even, but it feels good against my overheating body. After a few moments of soaking and scrubbing my hair I step out. The warm air feels good as I sit and dry for a few minutes and then dress and walk out. My hair is still soaked so I have to dry it before exploring the cove I found. Once it's dry and brushed I take off and into the forest with Donguri.

It's moments like these I feel like Merida from Brave. I start singing 'Touch the Sky' as loud as I can and still sound good, which is pretty loud. Eventually my singing stops as we arrive at the cove. In all honesty, it looks like the one from How to Train Your Dragon. As in, an exact replica. I blink, look for any dragons, face palm because I looked for dragons, and start climbing down. When my feet touch green grass I look at my surroundings. The lake in the center is crystal clear and the trees nearby are good for climbing. There's also a weeping willow that drapes over a small portion of the lake, it's thin, spidery limbs brush the surface of the water.

If the wind blows it'll create gentle little ripples.

With a that thought in mind and a small hum I walk toward the lake and look into it. I see lots of fish swimming to and fro. Now that I think about it, this lake is probably overpopulated, which makes it the perfect fishing spot. I'll have to remind myself to somehow make a hook and some bait later when I have more free time. For now, however, I think I'll sit and watch the fish and clouds. Maybe climb some trees.

Scratch that, definitely climb some trees.

Hey guys! Sorry I'm, like, what? Three weeks late? Four? IDK. Erm, I lost motivation for a while but now I'm back. This chapter got kinda long kinda fast. As a matter of fact, I had other plans but then the characters took over the story and then Connie and Sasha showed up and I was like 'how did you end up here?' and yeah. That's my writing skills. I'm still learning, but I think I've gotten better at showing some personality in the characters. I hope so anyway.

Reviewer questions answers:

The reason why I can't get the manga is a) I don't have enough storage and b) my family can't afford it.

See you next Monday!