Hello my peeps, Salem52 signing in. How is it going. Well, here is the next chapter, hope you enjoy it.
Now previously I have been including my random quotes in my actual AN, but I have found that this is much easier.
"Those who know love must also know hate for love to take true meaning," (Anonymous)
Only the Strong Survive
Grief…grief and anger were all that Eren felt as he, Mikasa, and Carla floated upstream on the mechanized escape boat. Grief for Hannes's death, anger at the titans for wrecking his life, and taking his "brother". Carla was holding both Mikasa and Eren in her arms whispering prayers and comforting them with reassuring words. Even so, tears streamed down Eren's face. He climbed out of his mother's grasp and pushed through the crowds to get to the railing of the boat.
Eren's tears fell into the river and mingled with the water flowing by. He could see his reflection, a weak child incapable of anything but crying. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Mikasa. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and stood up straight.
"I'm going to kill them," whispered out Eren, rage lacing his voice.
"What?!" replied Mikasa in surprise.
"All of them, every last titan, I promise you, on my life, I'm going to slaughter them all," continued on Eren, not even really acknowledging what Mikasa had said. She just stared at him, unable to say anything.
"That man," said Eren, remembering the man with red, slit eyes, dressed in the black cloak with red clouds, "he killed them so easily. I'm going to become like him, I will avenge Hannes-nii," Mikasa stared at Eren wide eyed for a moment more before nodding in acceptance.
"Then I will help," replied Mikasa. If Eren's dream was to become like the man with red eyes, and kill every titan, then she would protect him with all her being.
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Humanity paid a terrible price for one hundred years of peace. The sudden appearance of both the armored and colossal titans, and the laxness that the garrison had due to no true combat experience, led to the fall of Wall Maria and the loss of a third of all of humanity's conquered territory. The people who had survived the fall of Wall Maria were moved to the next wall, Wall Rose. Currently they were working the fields of Wall Rose, attempting to grow enough food to feed themselves.
Those who were not assigned jobs were living at various housing units throughout southern Wall Rose. It was at one these housing units, an old stone food storage unit that had been cleared out to feed the people from Wall Maria, that Eren, Mikasa, Carla, and Armin and his family had been living.
Eren and Mikasa were sitting under the eaves of the building on the edge of the central courtyard. Carla was amongst the throng of people in the courtyard, trying to get some food rations for herself, Eren, and Mikasa. Eren was drawing in the dirt ground with a stick he had found. Mikasa watched as he drew the red clouds of the blonde man's coat. When he had finished, he tossed down the stick, leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
In the center of the court yard, a brawl broke out between two men fighting over a place in line.
"Hey!" yelled out one man, "You cut the line!" the man he was accusing responded by grabbing the man's collar and yelling.
"So what! I haven't eaten since the night before last, I should be in front!" The man whose collar was held, grappled the other man to the ground. Both were rolling and punching and kicking, not noticing that the line was moving without them, leaving them both without a place in line.
"Eren! Mikasa!" called out a voice; Eren opened his eyes to see Armin running towards them with an armful of bread.
"Look at what grandpa got us," said Armin running up to them and holding out the bread.
"How did you get this Armin?" asked Eren, standing up from his seat on the wall of the courtyard.
"Grandpa got it. He told the food distributer that he had children to feed so he got extra rations, and he gave it to me so that we could each have an extra loaf for lunch," said Armin. Eren was about to grab a loaf, when he heard someone scoff at them. He turned around to see two of the garrison looking at them, before they both turned around.
"What's their problem?" Asked Eren, anger lacing his voice, Armin looked over at them, before turning back to Eren.
"It's only natural. I mean we had a food shortage before the wall fell. Now that the land we farm has been cut down by a third, and considering that it is past harvest, there are probably not enough rations to go around," explained Armin, he sighed.
"There're too many refugees. You are also aware that we from the outer walls aren't exactly treated the best, usually being lower on the 'social ladder' than the people on the inner walls," continued Armin. Eren looked around to see that more brawls had broken out throughout the courtyard. He also saw the two men from the garrison, who were less than two meters away, were looking at the brawlers in disgust.
"Why do we have to give our food, to outsiders?!" said one to the other. The one who spoke was of an average height with dirty blonde hair and a hawkish face. The other, who was of the same height with black hair and a slightly rounder face, didn't respond. Instead he started to laugh at the brawlers, who were fighting a little over three meters away
"If they had already broken through the wall, the least the titans could do was snag a few more snacks," continued on the man. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin gasped at the utter callousness and disregard for human life. Remembering Hannes, Eren, blind with rage, headed towards the man.
"Eren!" cried out both Armin and Mikasa.
"At this rate, the food shortage is only going to get worse," said the man. He closed his eyes to sigh, but they sprang open when pain lace through his right shin. The man cursed before looking down to see Eren who had just kicked him as hard as he could.
"What's your problem, BRAT," the raised his fist and punched Eren across the face. The man's friend, who had been watching the brawlers, having turned back when he heard his friend curse, kicked Eren in the side of the knee. Eren fell to the ground before looking up at them, tears falling from his face.
"You don't understand what it is like! You haven't seen it with your eyes," cried out Eren, rage filling his voice. "The way titans eat people, the way they run you down…"
"Shut up!" cried out the man, cutting off Eren. He raised his foot to stomp down on Eren, when Carla ran in front of the man and fell to her knees.
"Stop, please. He didn't mean anything, he's just a child," she cried out, the loaves of bread she had been carrying were scattered about her. Armin and Mikasa ran up beside Carla, making sure not to step upon the loaves.
"His hunger is making him angry, that is why he is so rude. We are really sorry," said Armin bowing his head in apology.
The man looked around; many of the people were looking at them now.
"It's because of us that you people aren't starving! You should appreciate that fact," the man then stooped down and picked up one of the loaves of bread and bit into it. He looked around once more before turning around and going to another section of the courtyard.
When the guards had left Carla looked over at Eren, who had gotten up, and rushed over to him and grasped his shoulders.
"What do you think you were doing Eren?!" she cried out, shaking him.
"They had said that it would have been better, if more of us had been eaten," said Eren, looking down. He clenched his hands in anger. Carla stopped shaking him, and put her hand under his chin.
"Eren, look at me," Carla said, lifting his head up to look at her. Eren looked up, she took her hand from his chin and cupped the side of his face.
"I know what he said was terrible, and he deserved the pain that you gave him. But, he could have pulled that sword on you, and you could have died," Carla grasped his hand between both of hers.
"Eren," he looked up, "Promise me that next time, you'll think before you act, think of the consequences. And if you absolutely need to confront the person, be smart about it. Don't just kick him, be smart. I know you can do it, I've seen you do it before," said Carla. Eren nodded and hugged his mom. After a few moments, she stood up and turned towards Armin and Mikasa.
"Armin, thank you. Give my regards to your parents. Mikasa, Eren, let us go," Carla readjusted her basket on her shoulder. Eren turned to Armin.
"So, see ya tomorrow," Armin nodded, then he turned around and ran to find either his parents or grandfather. Eren turned to see that his mother and Mikasa had already walked a fair distance away. By the time he had caught them, they had almost made it to their housing unit.
When he entered the house, he ran straight to the table, where his father sat and hugged him.
"Hey, Tou-san (father), how was your day?" said Eren. His father gave him a stiff hug, after a few moments he got up from the chair, and kneeled so that he was at eye level Eren.
"My day was productive," replied Grisha, he looked over Eren with calculating eyes, examining every bit of Eren. Grisha nodded to himself more than anything.
"Eren, I have something I need to discuss with you. Walk with me," said Grisha, standing up and walking to the door. Eren was wondering if he had done something wrong. He turned and waved to Mikasa and Carla, and followed his father out the door.
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It was freezing that morning. The thin cloak that Eren wore did little to ward off the snow that was falling. His hands had long become resistant to the cold, and had gained many callouses from back-breaking work tilling the fields. On either side of him, Mikasa and Armin were both working the fields. They were currently clearing a long stretch of earth of rocks so the plow could move in after them. Along with them were four men. They had worked with them for only a short amount of time. Two of the four were actually from the garrison, but were dishonorably discharged after being caught drinking on watch. While this offense in the past could have been punishable by death, the military had found better use in making them field workers.
"This land should have been turned under before winter, am I correct?" said a voice loudly. Eren looked up to see two men walking behind a third. The third was the one who had spoken. All were wearing thick cloaks that went down to their ankles. Easily seen on the back of the coats were the horse and sword of the military police.
"Sir," said one of the two who were following, "Most of workers died in that expedition, a year ago."
"I'm quite aware of that, but you should have thought of something. Keeping the production up to quota is your damn job!" said the leading man even louder.
M-my apologies sir," stuttered out one of the two followers. The leader sighed.
"At this rate, we'll be the ones who starve," said the leader of the group. The group that Eren was in had stopped working to listen to the conversation. When it was over, one of the two of the ex-garrison spat in the direction of the military police.
"The military police, heh what a joke," scoffed the man who had spat, "So full of themselves for someone who has never even seen a real titan,"
"Oh, shut up you old drunk. If you had been in the top ten, you would have joined them in a heartbeat?" chided the other ex-garrison.
"Hey, don't give the kids any ideas," replied the first. The other looked at Eren, Mikasa, and Armin.
"You kids are old enough to join the military aren't you? If you do, don't become like those assholes from the military police," said the second. With that said, all of them bent down to continue their job. All except Armin, who was staring after the men from the military police even though he could not hear what they were saying.
"What's wrong Armin?" asked Eren, seeing the tears in Armin's eyes.
"Expedition to reclaim Wall Maria my foot, they just killed off our parents to have less mouths to feed." Eren and Mikasa both stopped working and got sour looks on their faces. All three of them were thinking of the day the government took their parents away from them forever.
Thirteen months prior
(Armin)
It had been one week since the military spokesman announced the expedition to "reclaim" Wall Maria. Armin had been distraught for the whole week, not even seeing Eren or Mikasa. Instead he was opting to spend what would probably be his last days with his grandfather and parents. It was the day that they were supposed to leave, both his grandfather and his parents.
He was standing at the gate, where all those who were chosen for the expedition would leave to meet up with the main force. Currently he was hugging his grandfather as hard as could, wishing that he would not have to leave.
"Sofu (grandfather)," cried out Armin, "Why do you have to leave? You are old, why would they need you?" he said, trying to convince his grandfather not to go.
"You're a smart boy Armin, why do you think they would take me, hmm?" said his grandfather, kneeling down to look at Armin eye to eye.
"I know why, but i-it's so horrible," said Armin, teary eyed. His grandfather stood up and took off his hat put it on Armin's head.
"I agree, but I have lived a good life. If I can make yours better, than I will gladly give my life," said his grandfather, "but remember this moment, and remember to not blindly follow what the king says, question it, analyze it, then choose whether to follow it or not,"
That conversation was the last time Armin ever saw his grandfather; he didn't get to talk to his parents before the battalion of civilians left to reclaim Wall Maria.
(Eren and Mikasa)
It had been one week since the military spokesman announced the expedition to "reclaim" Wall Maria. During the week Eren was practically silent, only speaking when absolutely necessary. He didn't speak, and he regretted it. Mikasa stayed with him, she was incredibly concerned for Eren, but she was also sad beyond belief. Carla, who had been like a mother to her, was going to die. Mikasa didn't deny it; her eyes had been opened in the incident three years prior. The only reason the military was forcing this expedition was so that the rest of humanity wouldn't starve.
Eren and Mikasa were in the courtyard, Eren was hugging his mother. Much like what Armin was doing at the same moment with his grandpa. Mikasa was holding Carla's hand; tears were at the edge of her eyes. While she had accepted Carla's death, it didn't make it any less painful.
"Kaa-san, you don't have to go," said Eren desperately. Since Grisha had left, Eren had been exceptionally clingy to his mother.
"Yes, Eren, I must go. As much as it pains me to do so," said Carla, she was close to tears, but she wanted to look strong in front of Eren.
"NO!" cried out Eren, hugging his mother even tighter, "You can run away you don't have to go!"
"Where would I go? The closest town is over thirty kilometers away, and with the military riding up and down it all the time, how would I get there?" Said Carla.
"I-I-I don't know," said Eren, he buried his face in her chest, "I don't want you to die Kaa-san,"
"Shh, I know, I know," Carla was crying, her strong façade crumbling.
"But, you know something," said Carla, kneeling down to look Eren in the eye, "I won't truly be dead. As long as you remember me, I'll be with you always,"
Carla looked over at Mikasa and brought her in a hug. Mikasa wrapped her arms around Carla and squeezed as hard as she could. Eren hugged Carla as well. They all stayed like that for a few minutes.
"Mikasa, Eren," they both looked up, "I need you both to be strong, and don't forget about Armin, he'll need your support. He doesn't have a sister or brother, so be there for him." Carla stood up and looked down at both of them, "Mikasa, Eren there is one thing I ask of you, survive. Live, no matter what it takes, live. Live a full life, be happy."
Carla stood there a moment, before reaching behind her head and pulling out a beaded leather hair tie. She kneeled down once again and pressed the hair tie into Mikasa's hands.
"This is the only material thing I can give you. It's not much, just a hair tie, but it belonged to my mother, and her mother before her. It's yours Mikasa and, should you ever have children of your own, I ask that you pass it on to them as I have passed it on to you," said Carla. She stood up, looked at Eren once more, then turned away and walked to the staging area for the "troops." Mikasa just stared at the hair tie before reaching behind her own head and looping her hair through the length of beaded leather. Eren just looked as his mother walked away, most likely never to be seen again. He shuddered at the thought.
"KAA-SAN!" he cried out, attempting to run after her, but before he could go anywhere he felt grasp his arm and pull him back. Eren looked back to see Mikasa holding his arm.
"Mikasa, let go!" she shook her head, she had tears in her own eyes.
"If you go, you'll never be able to say goodbye," replied Mikasa, tears clinging to her cheeks.
"That's not true! I just need to see her one more time!" Eren slammed his fist into Mikasa's arm, forcing her to let go. He ran to the gate were all the people were marching out.
"KAA-SAN," Eren tried to force his way into the massive amount of people. Before he even had time to try, something hit him in the back of the head, and his world faded to black.
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"Kids, HEY KIDS!" Eren shook his head, and looked over at the two ex-garrison.
"Phew, you gave us a scare. After blonde over there started talking, you guys kind of froze up and you just stood there, we've been yelling at you for the past few minutes," said one of the ex-garrison, the one who had been nick named "Drunk."
"We were just thinking," replied Eren. He looked down at his hands, at the calluses from nearly a year's worth of back-breaking labor tilling the fields. Then he thought back to the promise he made to Mikasa on the boat all that time ago.
"I can't keep doing this," thought Eren, "my life will be a waste if I just stayed here and tilled the ground, like the king's good little slave."
Eren turned towards "drunk." "Hey 'Drunk'," said Eren to the ex-garrison.
"GOD DAMN IT! Now you've got them saying it," yelled 'Drunk' at his companion, quite comically.
"Um, hey," said Eren, again towards 'Drunk'.
"What kid?" said drunk, standing up and stretching out his back.
"Where would one go, if they wanted to enlist?" asked Eren. Armin and Mikasa both turned their head to stare at Eren in surprise. 'Drunk' was taken a little bit by surprise as well, before smirking.
"Well, when we get back to town, just go a little ways down the main street and…"
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They were all standing there, all two hundred and eighty* of them. The 104th Trainee Squad, amongst whom stood Eren jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert. All of the trainees stood in fourteen ranks of twenty, with both Armin and Eren standing in the very front of their row. Each person was holding a salute, right hand held over their heart, symbolizing them giving their body for humanity. Their left hand held behind their backs in service of the king. In front of them was their instructor, Keith Shadis. He stood in front of them for several minutes, evaluating them, analyzing them.
The noon sun shown down upon them. The long-sleeved, collared jackets that they had been issued made the wait very uncomfortable. The southwest portion of Wall Rose was hot year round, so even in the middle of winter the days could still be excruciating. The earth around the camp was cracked and yellow from many years without enough water.
After what seemed like forever Shadis approached them. The first he came to was a twelve year old blonde boy. He stood over him for a few minutes before leaning down, so that they were on eye level. Shadis was a very intimidating man, standing a head taller than most. He was bald, and had gold eyes that were as keen and mean looking as an eagle looking down upon its prey. Years of hardship had aged him prematurely.
The boy that Shadis approached looked up at Shadis.
"Who the hell are you?" said Shadis harshly.
"Thomas Wagner of Trost, sir," replied Thomas. Shadis leaned in closer.
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, SPEAK CLEARLY!" shouted Shadis, Thomas visibly reeled back at the verbal attack.
"THOMAS WAGNER OF TROST, SIR!" yelled back Thomas.
Watching from the side of the trainees stood two men. One had silver hair and glasses, the other dark yellow hair and a young, kind face.
"Aww, the nostalgia," said the silver haired one to the other. "You must have had this when you joined the military right?"
"Indeed, senpai (senior), although I didn't particularly understand the meaning," replied the one with yellow hair. In the background of their conversation they could hear Shadis yelling at another cadet, a mousy girl with brown hair.
"It's a rite of passage, kohai, it causes you to reject the 'you', you had been before. This allows the drill instructor to shape them into capable soldiers. Break them down to nothing to make them into something. Give them a 'clean slate' if you will," answered the man with silver hair.
"If that is the case senpai, then why is he skipping some?" queried the one with yellow hair. The man with silver hair sighed, though not in annoyance at the ignorance of the young man next to him, but because of the sorrow he felt at the folly of humanity.
"Many of these kids are from the Shiganshina district, and probably witnessed that hell from two years ago," said the man with silver hair, "he skips them because he does not need to give a rite of passage to those who have already been through it."
"Oh," said the yellow haired man, dumbly. The silver haired man glanced over at his young friend, before turning away from the cadets and heading towards the main hall.
"Let us go kohai, we don't want to be here when he shows up," said the silver haired man. The yellow haired man followed suit, silently agreeing with his mentor.
"WHAT'S YOUR NAME CADET?!" yelled out Shadis, the person who he was yelling at was a twelve year old with a long, angular face, brown eyes, and hair that was light brown around the top, while the bottom of his hair was a darker shade of brown.
"JEAN KIRSTIEN OF TROST, SIR," replied Jean, somewhat pompously, despite yelling.
"AND WHAT DID YOU COME HERE TO DO, JEAN KIRSTIEN OF TROST," yelled out Shadis, saying Jean's name in a mocking manner. Despite the sarcasm being blatantly obvious, Jean either didn't care, or didn't seem to notice.
"I came here to enlist in the military, become part of the military police, and live within Wall Sina, sir" replied jean, smoothly. A lot of the cadets looked at him, surprised at how blatantly honest he had been. Shadis got a dark look in his eye.
"I see, so you want to live in the inner walls, huh?" said Shadis, leaning down so that he was at eye level with Jean, which was not far considering that Jean was quite tall for his age.
"Yes si-" Jean was cut off, when Shadis leaned forward extremely fast, head butting Jean directly in the nose. Jean crumpled to the ground in pain, holding his bloody nose.
"WHO SAID YOU COULD SIT, MAGGOT?" yelled Shadis, "SOMEONE WHO CANT SUCCEED HERE CAN'T HOPE TO MAKE IT INTO THE MILITARY POLICE!"
"YOU," cried Shadis walking up to a twelve year old boy, with black hair, freckles, and big honest eyes.
"HAI," said the boy.
"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" yelled out Shadis.
"Marco Botte, from Jinae village, in Wall Rose's southern district! I've come to enlist, and give my body in service to the king," replied Marco excitedly. Shadis leaned forward, so that he was close to Marco's face.
"That is fine and well, except… I don't think you're his type," said Shadis, a few chuckles rang out from the cadets. Shadis stood up so fast that people were surprised that he hadn't snapped his back.
"WHO SAID YOU COULD START LAUGHING, MAGGOTS?!" yelled out Shadis. All laughing ceased. Shadis moved on to the next line of cadets.
"WHO ARE YOU, BALDY," yelled out Shadis, below him was a twelve year old boy with a shaved head who was shorter than most kids here.
"CONNIE SPRINGER OF RAGAKO VILLIAGE IN WALL ROSE'S SOUTHERN DISTRICT, SIR," yelled Connie. Shadis looked down at him and frowned.
"You're holding it wrong, Connie Springer," said Shadis, a shadow appearing on his face similar to the one that he had when Jean had made his statement.
"What?" said Connie, not knowing what Shadis was talking about. Shadis reached down and grabbed Connie's head with both hands and lifted him up so that he was at eye level with Connie.
"It should have been the first thing you learned, the salute shows that you openly give your life for humanity and for the king," said Shadis, Connie still didn't understand what Shadis said.
"Connie Springer, your right hand over your heart shows your determination to help humanity. IS YOUR HEART ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF YOUR CHEST!?" yelled out Shadis, screaming in Connie's face. He was about to continue yelling in Connie's face, and had stopped to take a breath when he heard a crunch. He looked to his left to see a girl with dark auburn, nearing brown hair, eating a potato.
Shadis dropped Connie in heap in the ground walking ominously towards her; she looked away from him feigning ignorance.
"What are you doing?" asked Shadis, in a calm menacing voice. The girl looked around for who he was addressing.
"YOU," yelled out Shadis straight in her face, "I'M TALKING TO YOU! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" She reaffirmed her salute, swallowed the food that was in her mouth, and replied.
"Sasha Blouse from Dauper village in Wall Rose's southern district, SIR!"
"Sasha Blouse," said Shadis, once again in his menacingly calm voice, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND!?" yelled out Shadis.
"A steamed potato, sir," replied Sasha, "I happened to see it in the kitchen, so I took it, sir,"
"So, in other words, you stole it," accused Shadis, "Why? Why take it out it now?" queried Shadis, genuinely confused.
"It's best to eat it before it gets cold, so I decided now was the best time to eat it, sir," replied Sasha.
"I still don't understand? Why did you eat the potato?" said Shadis staring into her eyes, which were the same color as his own. It was Sasha's turn to look confused now.
"Are you asking me why people eat potatoes, sir?" queried Sasha. Everyone who could see her was staring at her, both fearful for Sasha and interested on the outcome of the conversation. Shadis didn't answer instead just standing there with the shaded look he always had in his eyes when he was upset. Desperate, Sasha took her potato and broke it in half, offering one half to Shadis.
"Here sir, this is yours," said Sasha meekly. He took the half and stared at it for a moment, before looking her in the eyes once more.
"Half?" he said, stunned by the audacity of the girl. He straightened his back, then held the potato out in front of him, and crushed it before throwing it away from the cadets. He got an evil look in his eye, before bending down and getting very close to Sasha's face.
"You do not know how much I want to just send you running for the rest of the day," said Shadis, "Unfortunately, that will have to wait. The military has told me to keep you here," Shadis straightened once more, before walking to the front of the entire 104th Trainee Squad.
"YOU MAGGOTS WILL WAIT IN PLACE UNTIL I TELL YOU TO MOVE, THERE IS A MAN HERE FROM THE HIGHER UPS. HE IS HERE TO JUDGE YOU. BE PREPARED." With that said, Shadis moved to the side of the group and waited. It wasn't until a few moments later, that the cadets saw anyone.
In front of the cadets, exactly where Shadis had been standing, a small column of air started to form. Many of the cadets looked on in wonder as the column started to expand in size, until all of a sudden the column of air exploded into the sky. The column created a massive dust cloud. When the cloud started to settle, the people in front of the lines of cadets, started to make out two figures in the cloud.
As much as he was terrified, Eren was curious. Who was this person? Being in the front of his file allowed him a very good view of the cloud. It wasn't until the cloud had fully cleared away, that Eren gasped and felt his knees nearly buckle in surprise.
There, in the middle of the dissipating dust cloud, stood the man from so long ago. The man had seen enter in the gate Shiganshina, the man who saved his life, Mikasa's life, and the life of his mother. The man was unmistakable, still wearing the black coat with red clouds; though now the emblem of the Recon Corp. was sewn onto the left breast of the coat. He wore a hat made of straw that over shadowed his eyes although they could still be seen. The man's eyes were closed, and he was taking in deep breaths of air as if he were enjoying the smell of the baked earth.
Behind him stood a girl, no older than eleven. She had brown hair, a lithe body, and vibrant green eyes. She wore a sleeveless black shirt that clung tight to her body, with a metallic mesh undershirt that extended all the way to her wrists. Her pants were slightly baggy, with many pockets lining the area around the thighs.* A sword was strapped to her hip. This sword was not unlike the one that was strapped to the man's hip, except that it was much smaller, both in width and in length. It had a black sheath, with a blue flame decal running across the length of it.
The whole world was completely still and silent, as if the very earth itself awed and respected the pair's presence. They both stood there, the man and the girl, and for a few minutes everything remained completely still. It was after those few minutes, that the man, who had been standing slightly hunched, stood up to his full height and opened his eyes.
Everyone was stunned, not even gasping. Instead of a normal color, like green or brown, the man's eyes were a deep blood red, with slit pupils. Eren was reminded of that day when he had first seen this man, when those very same eyes stared into his very soul. He was wondering if everyone else was having the same experience as he had.
Everyone was awoken from their stunned silence, when the man reached up to his hat and took it off, revealing a metal headband with a small leaf symbol with a slash mark going through it. He held the hat on his chest, as if at a funeral. His eyes scanned the crowds, until finally he opened his mouth to speak.
"Greetings, my name is Naruto Uzumaki,"
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So, that was quick. Seriously, this is ridiculous, it takes me six days (three months actually) to write a forty five hundred word chapter (chapter 3) and yet, it takes me two days to write a fifty five hundred word chapter (chapter 4). Ugh, logic, please.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Surprisingly enough, Eren Mikasa, and Armin are very easy for me to write about. I don't know why. But anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I sure did.
*I counted, in the third episode, they show an aerial view of the trainees, and there fourteen ranks with twenty people to the file, 14x28=280.
*Basically, the girl is wearing cargo pants, I described it as I did because I don't believe cargo pants would have been invented just yet, or the material used to make it. (Synthetic fiber and/or cotton mix)
Please review; I highly value your opinions.
Salem52 sighing off.
(P.S: I am undecided on whether I should focus on Naruto next chapter and continue were we left off on chapter 3, or if I should continue from where I left off here [obviously both will be covered, just which one do you guys want to see first?] anyway, say which one you guys want in the review, I'll be checking back in two. In the meantime, I'll be writing the beginning of both chapters.)