On the first day, I found myself standing alongside trembling teenagers, terrified of becoming soldiers and not knowing why they were here. Mattie stood by my right side and by my left was a young man, shorter than me by just a few inches perhaps, with scruffy blonde hair and emerald green eyes. His face held the expression poker players would yearn to perfect and yet he looked as if he had seen the dead raised before his own eyes.

He wasn't the only person who held this look of horror in his eyes. As I glanced around, many people were looking into the dust beneath with a very familiar look of fear, and others had icy glares that could only have been caused by living inside Wall Maria on the day.

Walking through our ranks was Keith Shadis, order commander of the Scouting Legion who would train us to become soldiers. If he saw anyone of interest, he would turn to them and question their reason for being here. But he didn't turn to me once, nor did he for Mattie or the poker-faced lad next to me. It confused me at the time but now I mention it, he didn't speak to any of those who I previously mentioned as holding those ever so icy glares. No ex-citizens of Wall Maria were questioned. I guess he thought we didn't need anymore hassle.

He stopped at a young-looking girl with blonde hair cut into a short bob and warm blue eyes. She was short and petite, and looked up when she saw Keith stop in front of her.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, glaring at her.

"My name is Lili Zwingli!" she said with a sweet smile.

"Don't smile just yet, you little shit! Where the hell are you from?"

She dropped her smile, but kept a positive look on her face.

"I'm from the Karanese District, sir."

"What are exactly you here for?"

"I'm here to kill titans, of course, but also to make a difference in humanity. I've always wanted to stand out from the crowd and the only way that is possible in this world is to learn to fight and to learn it good."

I noted that she looked optimistic at this point, almost as if she intended to train from square one with no past experiences. Keith picked up on this as well, unfortunately for her.

"If you honestly think that you will make any difference on humanity, join the fifth line over there," he signalled, walking on without giving her a second look.

She looked around her and strolled to the fifth line, breathing a well-earned sigh of relief. Keith wandered along the lines of prospective soldiers, interrogating those who interested him. Many cracked and left without heir heads hanging low, others joined the ranks hesitantly. Not a single person wasn't intimidated by his questions. Even when he turned to the glaring young woman with stunning looks (in my opinion), she was left digging for the correct words to use.

"Who exactly are you?"

"I am Natalya Arlovskaya and I am from the Trost District."

Her accent was unfamiliar to me, and it scared the living daylights out of me. Keith wasn't affected at all. In fact, he smirked at her.

"Ivan and Katya's little sister, eh?" She nodded. "You should note that I do not fast-track those who are related to great soldiers."

"I didn't expect you to. That would show a sign of weakness, which I have noted you are not in the slightest."

"You thought," he started harshly. "I would be weak?"

"I considered it as a possibility," she muttered.

"Get into the second line and do not say another word," he said, turning away.

She nodded and joined the line. That moment would become a rare sight, seeing her humbly obeying someone with no arguments. Several other soldiers filed into their lines, leaving just those who didn't need to prove themselves. We were all signalled to join the lines without any further strain. That was the day we started training to be soldiers for real.

AN: I used Keith Shadis still for this scene, but he's the only actual SNK character (other than the Titans) in this.

"My name is Lili Zwingli!": Lili Zwingli is Liechtenstein's human name. I'm always torn between calling her that or Erika Vogel, but since she is actually related to Switzerland in this I think sticking with his surname works better. Also I feel Lili goes better with his surname.

"Ivan and Katya's little sister, eh?": Katya, short for Katyusha, is Ukraine's human name. Her full name is Katyusha Braginskaya.