Chapter 2

AFTER WALL MARIA HAD BEEN BREACHED, HUMANITY LOST 20 PERCENT OF ITS POPULATION. THE MASSES OF REFUGEES THAT SWEPT INTO THE INTERIOR COULD IMPOSSIBLY BE FED. SO THE GOVERNMENT TRIED TO CULTIVATE MORE LAND, TO HAVE MORE CROPS. BUT THE HARD COLD GROUND WOULD GIVE NOTHING BACK. AS THE HUNGER AND DESPAIR INCREASED, EVERY MAN ABLE TO HOLD A WEAPON WAS THEN ORDERED TO TAKE PART IN A MISSION TO RETAKE THE LAND THAT HAD BEEN STOLEN BY THE TITANS. OF THESE PEOPLE, ONLY 200 RETURNED. HOWEVER, THE LOSS OF THESE PEOPLE REDUCED THE FAMINE INSIDE THE WALLS. AT THE AGE OF 12, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO JOIN THE CADETS; OTHERWISE IT WOULD BE WORK ON THE FIELDS.
EREN, MIKASA, ARMIN AND SOPHIE HAD STAYED TOGETHER AFTER THE FALL OF MARIA. NOW IT WAS TIME FOR THEM TO GET THEIR REVENGE. THEY JOINED THE CADETS.

"Listen, pigs! These are the cadets and the next three years will be hell for you. Let me introduce myself. I am Shadis, and you will grow to hate me. I know that, and if you do I will know that I did good work. But let me tell you: You will wish you didn't come here!"

With these words, Shadis started going through the lines. He spoke to some of them, some he just passed. I heard two soldiers whispering behind me.
"Why does he just go past some?"
"I think those are the ones who were there, 2 years ago. They have seen it. You can see it in their eyes."
Shadis stopped in front of Armin. "What is your name, Cadet?" he shouted.
"Armin Arlert, Sir!"
"And where are you from?"
"Shiganshina, Sir." I heard some gasps and muffled whispers around me. Shadis just walked to the next.
"What is your name, cadet?"
"J-Jean Kirschstein, Sir."
Shadis voice went down to a whisper. "And why are you here cadet?"
"T-To join the military police, Sir!" Jean smiled.
Shadis smiled, but it looked dangerous. "You want to live save in the interior, don't you?" He smashed Jeans head on the ground. "With that goal you won't get too far, Kirschstein."
At Jean's words I had snorted a bit, thinking no one would hear me, but apparently Shadis did.
"And who are you?"
"Sophie Arlert, Sir!"
"And where are you from?"
"Shiganshina, sir!"
"And why did you join?" He brought his face close to mine, awaiting an answer. But I just looked at him. He knew where I came from so he knew what I saw. And why I joined. I didn't need to answer. "I see." He said after a while and went on.

[Timeskip] In the mess hall

"Yes, I saw the big guy", Eren said. He was surrounded by cadets that wanted to hear about Shiganshina.
"How big was he?"
"He stuck his head over the wall" Murmuring was heard.
"In my village they said he stepped over the wall!"
"That's what they said in my village too!"
"Naww", Eren said. "He was big, but not that big."
"And the Titans? What are they like?" Eren dropped his spoon and pressed a hand in front of his mouth. I froze and started to shake slightly. The boy on the table next to mine looked at me worriedly when he noticed it. Then Eren continued speaking.
"Seriously, they're not such a big deal." I knew he was lying, but I couldn't take it anymore, so I got up with a scoff and left. I walked to the door and sat down on the rail of the porch, looking up at the stars. Then I heard steps behind me.
"Are you okay?"
I turned around. It was the boy that had looked at me in the mess hall before I left. He was tall, had black hair and soft facial features. But he didn't seem weak.
"I'm fine." I smiled at him. "But thanks for asking. I was just thinking. Eren is… I don't know. He just… Aaawwww!" I tuned around again. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you just wanted to be nice and not be my psychiatrist."
He chuckled. "I don't mind. But what do you mean with 'Eren is aaawwww'? Do you know him?"
I nodded. "We grew up together. I know that what he said about the Titans is not true. They are a big deal. Maybe not all of them but some definitely are. Like these Aberrants that act unpredictable. And of course the Colossal and Armoured Titan. They broke through both walls and no one has ever heard of them. And a titan of the size of the Colossal would have been visible long before he reached the wall. So where did he come from? Why did no one see him? And there is another thing that doesn't make sense…"
I heard the other boy walking up to me whilst I was speaking. He leaned against the rail and looked at me. On my last words he his expression changed from pensive to curious and worried.
"What?" He asked.
"Well, the last hundred years the Titans approached the walls everywhere and tried to get through, but they never did. They tried it everywhere, and when they went to the gate, then usually because it was opening or the survey corps passed it. But these two… they attacked the weakest points in the wall: The gates. The Colossal kicked right through it and the Armoured ran through the inner gate. I saw him; it was exactly the point where it was weakest. That could suggest they have some form of intelligence."
The boy looked at me, fear on his face. "That would be bad. If the Titans develop a conscious- and sub-consciousness, we will not be able to kill them that easily anymore. I mean, it's not easy, but they don't understand what we are doing. So it is easier for us. But intelligent Titans could be our end!"
I looked at him. "I know. Maybe it was just a coincidence and lucky guess. I mean, maybe the Titans had gathered at the gate again and the Colossal just went where most of them were. And the inner gate was defended by the garrison, so maybe he attacked the people there. There were a lot of refugees and soldiers after all."
"I hope it really was just a lucky guess." The boy looked at me again. "Do you know which corps you are going to join?"
I thought about his words. "I thinking about the Survey Corps."
He looked at me in shock. "Don't tell me all you ever want to do is kill the Titans and die?!"
"No" I shook my head. "Have you ever heard of Hanji Zoe?"
He negated quietly.
I explained: "She is a member of the survey Corps. I heard a lot about her, mainly saying she was insane. But I also heard she tries to capture Titans alive to study them. She tries to communicate with them. And she tries to find out as much as possible about their physiology. She even developed methods to capture them without having any casualties! I want to work with her. If I can find out more about the titans, we might be able to solve the mystery about the Colossal and the Armoured Titan."
"But… you know you will also be a member of the expeditions? About 30-40% never returns and many are injured. Do you want that."
"I know. And I'm genuinely not sure if I'll be able to really do that. But if I want to do something, this is the only way for me!"
"There is always another way."
I looked at the boy in surprise. "What do you mean?"
He sighed. "You are Armin's sister, right?" I nodded. "Then why do you do this? You have seen Shiganshina; you have seen what they can do! You have experienced how horrible they are. No one would blame you if you went into the interior. Why throw your life away?"
"I don't know." He looked at me flabbergasted. "What?" "I don't know. I could say something like: To avenge the dead and bring peace! But I don't. I am scared. I am almost as scared as I was 2 years ago. But I just don't know what to do otherwise. Imagining that I sit in the interior, whilst my friends die and everything may fall apart around me is nothing I could bear. I think this is the only thing I can do. And if I die, then I die. It's not that I can change it. I felt like something inside me died when Shiganshina was… But I rather die young with hope, than old and having lost everything."
I looked at me, silently, and then nodded. "I guess there are worse reasons people would sacrifice their life for. And you have a point. I still think it is stupid, but I won't try to change your mind."
I smiled. "Thank you." Then I realised something. "I don't even know your name! I've been talking all the time and didn't even ask you. I'm sorry!"
He smiled, a dimple appearing in the corner of his mouth. "It's fine. I'm Berthold Fubar, nice to meet you."
"Same here."
We heard the gong. "Well, I guess we should get going. We need rest, tomorrow's gonna be hard.", he said.
I saw the others coming out of the mess hall. "Good night." I smiled at Berthold and walked up to the other girls.
I heard his voice behind me: "See ya tomorrow."
I smiled.