Crack!
Blood...that's blood. Running down my back…
Crack!
More blood..I couldn't speak because there was so much. I had no energy left to even care. I couldn't do anything..
Crack!
My arms were numb from the tight chains. My body was heavy from being off the ground.
Crack!
It's all because I was a bad child..
Crack!
I'm sorry..
Crack!
The leather tears up my skin, but it barely hurt anymore…
Crack!
Memories fade away…
Crack!
At the sound of my skin tearing apart..
Crack!
At the sound of my blood dripping from my body..
Crack!
I'm sorry…
Crack!
I'm sorry..please stop…
Crack!
S-so...s-sorry…
…
Is it over?
I opened my eyes.
It was just a dream.
No..it wasn't. A dream is something that's fake..right?
It was dark still. So dark, it didn't even feel like I was blinking. I just laid there, hearing the other snores of trainees. I was still in my uniform. I guess I really was tired. But from what? I didn't do anything last night but clean. Maybe I cleaned way harder than I thought. Besides, it was a long day. Plus we're doing the second part of orientation.
The balance test.
How do I know all of this stuff? I. Read. Everything. Whatever they gave to us, I read. Granted, it sounds easy on paper, but they said a 'small' physical exam to test your current body's current limits, and two days later, I'm still trying to fathom my voice. I guess the physical exam wasn't so bad. I've been told by father that I was really special, and that I needed to be strong. He always had that reassuring smile on his face as he punished me. I guess that's why I'm all used to pain. He was right. Being punished does work out.
…
Gravity is never my friend. While it was extremely easy to balance, the placement of the harness was...interesting.
Others seem to be getting the hang of it too. Most are shaking, but it was easy. I wasn't even trying to balance honestly..not messing to brag.
"This test is the final stretch!" I hear Instructor Shadis scream from the other side of the field. "You balance, you pass, you fall, you fail! Straighten up maggots!"
Final test? Well, I guess I'm in.
"Whoa, you're a natural at this!" I hear from behind me. Oh right, someone had to lift me up. "You aren't even budging!"
I look behind me. It was that Eran/Eren kid. I smiled, swinging around a little.
"I guess I'm just good like this." I say, feeling self conceited. Was that a good thing?
"Who knows? Maybe I'll be as good as you."
Yeah. It was a good thing.
"Hm. We'll see." I say, looking a little confused. "What was your name again?"
"Eren." He says, sticking out his hand. "Eren Jaeger."
Soo...I was sort of right? I was close. I stick out my hand, surprisingly not knocking me of balance. "I'm Kendrick. Kendrick Reid."
He shook my hand, smiling intensely. "What's your technique? How are you so good?"
"Oh you know," I say, taking my hand back. "I'm just..good like that. I guess it comes naturally."
He looks to the left, noticing someone else. "Oh. Mikasa's got it down too."
I look to where he's looking, I saw a girl, easily balancing. She had short, black hair, and the most uninterested face in the world. It was a pretty face, mind you as well.
"That girl?" I say, looking confused.
"Yeah." He says, laughing a little. "Hey, you should eat dinner with us. I noticed that you didn't really eat with anyone yesterday."
"Y-You noticed…?" I say, looking back embarrassingly. I didn't want to be noticeable..since when was being alone noticeable?
"Yeah. When your top of the class and alone, that's saying something." He says, laughing a little.
Oh..right. Top rank in class...he was right though. I'm not complaining, but why didn't anyone come up to me and bask in all my glory? Did I look like some sort of person that'd kill you if you talked to me?
"Yeah, that's right! I saw the two titans that killed a lot of people! GROVEL AT MY FEET PEASANTS!"
Well, he didn't say all that, but he should have.
"Everyone was too busy looking at you talk about the Colossal Titan. Remember?"
He looked down a little. "Oh..right. I didn't mean to brag..they wanted me to tell the story. Sorry." He looks up. "I didn't mean to steal your thunder."
"I-It's fine. Really." I say, smiling a little. "I'm used to being alone."
"You didn't have any friends growing up?"
I paused, trying my hardest to think about it. Did I? That Myra girl from last night said she was my friend. I sighed, deciding to tell him the truth.
"Not that I remember." I say quietly. "I don't remember much of my past."
"Oh." Eren whispers. I could tell that he wanted to know more, but we just met. It'd be rude to pry into someone else's life. Right?
With a new possible friendship, I hear Instructor Shadis' boots walking slowly towards us. Eren immediately straightened his posture, giving me the hint to turn around. I turned around, swinging around with the wires holding me up. Shadis directs his attention to me. I don't even think he was coming to us yet..
He stops in front of me, staring me down. I've never felt so nervous..it felt like father's dog...ready to attack me at any moment. One slip up and I could end up tasting the bread and stew dinner we had last night..
"Reid." I hear him say, I was looking straight ahead, over his face. It made me jump a little.
"Y-Yes sir!"
"I've been informed by a couple workers that the dinner room was completely spotless. Any idea how?"
Oh god...this isn't good. If I lie, I get punched, if I tell the truth, he might suspect that I was outside during. So basically, I'd get punched either way.
"I.." My words were frozen. I had no clue what to say to not keep him from punching the no-no square..he had a clear shot to it. I sighed eternally, knowing that I'd rather get a kick of respect than a kick of cowardly acts. "I stayed after sir.."
"And how long was after?"
"It was dark around the time when I got out, sir."
I could feel the awkwardness of Eren emitting from him, he definitely did not wanna be here.
"Jaeger." Shadis says, breaking eye contact with me. "Lower him."
Eren quickly lowers me. My feet touch the ground as Shadis walks closer to me. He was way taller than he should be. Maybe it was because I was so short..
"And did you past curfew time?" He says, looking down on me. I saluted, feeling as if the answer would determine my life, or ensure my death.
"When I got out, it was close to curfew.." I say, saluting. "T-Then I got sidetracked.."
"By what?"
…
Good question. The real answer would get me punched for sure..
"My own stupidity..sir."
It's at that moment, my life, or what I remember of it, flashes in my eyes. He grabs the back of my head, forcing his knee into my mid-section. It felt powerful..but surprisingly, I could tell he was holding back..was it because I was a kid? Was it because I told the truth?
I stood there, halfway ready to pass out. My knees were shaky, and so was my hand, also still on my chest.
He stared at me as I tried to regain my strength. I stood there with an almost straight face, looking back up to him.
"Watch for your time next time you decide to play maid."
I nodded, my words quietly inching out of my mouth. "Y-Yes..s-sir.."
"Jaeger. Your turn. I suspect you to be no less than Reid." He says, walking away. As he disappears from our sight, I fall to the ground, unhooking myself from the wires. Eren runs to me and pats me on the back.
"You really are a strong person.." He says, still patting me on the back. "You stood there, you actually took one of his full frontal hits."
"It wasn't...fully.." I say, barely able to think, my stomach hurt, my legs hurt, everything just...hurt. "I can tell he held back...if that punch was half assed, I'm afraid of a full hit.."
"I guess you're right." Eren says. I look up, the little vision I had of Eren was him smiling at me, I give out a half-assed smile, trying to stand up. He helps me up. "You go on to the infirmary. I'll get someone else to help me with this."
"You sure?" I say, getting little strength back. He nods, pushing me away.
"You need to rest for awhile, I'm sure Shadis will let this slip."
I nodded, walking away from him.
After a few minutes, I was back to normal strength. Yeah, my stomach still hurt, but I can at least fake it. Hopefully we won't do anything that requires the stomach..
As I walked back towards the training area, I see a crowd of other trainees circling around the part I was at. I wondered what was happening, so I walked a little faster.
"Straighten yourself Jaeger!" I hear Instructor Shadis scream from the crowd, the crowd grows silent, only the struggles of someone is heard as I force myself through the crowd.
I emerge from the crowd, seeing Eren, upside down, struggling to get back up. Instructor Shadis yelling at him, he's freaking completely out. I felt bad honestly. I just had a full conversation with him, AND he invited me to dinner with his friends. Too bad he may have to get kicked out.
"N-No! Wait! I can fix myself! Eren screams, trying to push himself up from the ground.
Keith watches quietly as Eren tries to hold himself up. I could hear the murmurs of the trainees as they watch him. Most of them weren't really nice..
…
Most of them walked away after a few hours, just a few trainees stood there, watching him trying to get up. One of them was that blonde headed kid, Armin..I think. He was watching him with hopeful eyes, hoping that he'd get up. I assumed they were friends. I don't know why I stayed honestly..
"C'mon Eren! Even I did it!" Armin says, leaning up. Instructor Shadis was long gone.
"Shut up! I'm trying!" Eren says, trying once more to get his head off the ground.
I noticed there was that girl from earlier that Eren seemed to know. I honestly forgot what he called her. I kinda got a half-assed train to the stomach.
I was a little farther away from Eren than they were, so I was pretty invisible.
The girl walks over to Eren and lets him down. He falls on his back, quietly looking up at the sky.
"If you leave, I'm coming with you." She says, looking down at him. She was so quiet and cool about this situation. Eren sits up and looks at her.
"If you're so concerned, why don't you help me?"
"I-I can help you Eren!" Armin says, making him look to him. He looks behind Armin and notices me. He waves awkwardly.
"Kendrick, how'd you do it so easily?" Eren says, causing the other two to look at me.
I froze, all that cockiness really changed when you're confronted by a crowd.
"I just...did it." I say awkwardly. The girl kind of scoffs a little. "Just distribute your weight, and when you get it, it'll be easy to understand."
Eren nods, standing up again. He looks back at the girl, who diverts her attention to Eren. "I'm ready to try again."
The girl sighs, pulling on the rope.
Eren's feet come of the ground, in exchange for his head. He hit the ground with so much force that I could feel it from where I was standing, his head starts to bleed a little as he's unresponsive.
"Eren…?" I hear the girl say as she lowers him down. They were just as confused as me, it all happened so fast.
Eren laid there, unresponsive. She walks to him and pulls him to his back, showing his bloody and dirty face. She starts freaking out a bit.
"L-Let's take him to the infirmary!" Armin says, running to the girl, holding Eren up. Before I could even find out what happened, they were gone. How? Why? What? All questions that'll probably never be answered. I sigh, walking towards the dinner room, knowing I did NOT want to be late again.