Two years later, we joined the 104th Cadet Training Corps. In the time between, our lives continued to go downhill. Eren, at one point, met with his father, only to lose him to mysterious circumstances. However, he did gain a possession: a key to Dr. Grisha Jaeger's basement, which holds some secret he wanted to share with his son. Armin's grandfather died in an expedition to reclaim Wall Maria, but to us, it was a way to get rid of the excess humans residing in Wall Rose after refugees came. In the meantime, I have befriended each of them, Eren most of all because of how close our goals aligned.

Mikasa was skeptical of me at first, she even tried scaring me off only to realize that I was immune to her threatening presence. She can't be compared to those monsters who took everything from us. The more I spent time with them, the more I understood them, Mikasa most of all. Eren and Armin have always been of Shigashina, but Mikasa was of an outlying village. Eren and his father saved her from slavers who killed her family and adopted her. Ever since she's always been by Eren's side. The same could be said for Armin, who met Eren while crying after getting beaten by bullies. I always hated bullies.

But the time has come, for us to join the military. For the next three years, we will train together, form bonds with our fellow cadets, and become what I pray may be the last generation of soldiers of freedom, but a part of me knows that's impossible. there will be no peace until they are gone. Eren can kill all the Titans for all I care, but the Armored Titan, I will be the one to kill it. I will make it pay for taking everything that I held dear.

The first day of training was just as hard as my father once told me, although he didn't tell me how intense the ex-commander of the Survey Corps Keith Sadies is. I swear this man is almost as intimidating as the Titans. My father even once told me about Sadies returning from an expedition in Titan territory, all the citizens came and watched as if it was a ceremony of sorts. It was during his time in the scouts before he met my mother, and he recalled the ex-commander breaking down in front of the mother of a fallen soldier, telling her how much of a failure he had been.

Now he's here to make failures of us. Sadies walks between the second and third line of recruits, staring down each of us like a wolf among sheep, until he finally takes his next prey. "'You there!'

Armin takes his salute, placing his right fist over his heart, his left arm behind him. "Yes, Sir!"

"What do they call you?!"

"Armin Arlelt, from Shiganshina District!"

"I see! That's a ridiculous name! Did your parents give it to you?"

I'm only several spots away from my friend and I know he can't hear my thoughts but I still advise him in my head. Don't take offense to anything he says Armin, he's just trying to separate the wheat from the chaff.

"My grandfather did sir!"

Sadies leans in Armin's face. "Arlet! Why are you here?!"

"To help humanity achieve victory!"

"That's wonderful to hear! We can feed you to the Titans!" He puts his hand on Armin's head, turning him 180 degrees. "Third row! About face!" I take a quick glance in Armin's direction, seeing that he looks like a lost puppy ready to piss himself. Sadies has no rest for the wicked I see.

Sadies steps up to another blonde, though this one has short hair. "What do they call you?!"

Although I can hear the boy from my position, he's soft-spoken. "Thomas Wagner, from Trost District sir!"

Sadies did not like soft-spoken. "I can't hear you!"

Thomas, embarrassed raised his tone. "Thomas Wagner, from Tro-"

"Too soft! Go practice in the cattle shed!"

Sadies walks away from the boy and leans toward a small girl with black hair tied in loose pigtails. "You, next!"

"Mina Carolina sir! From Karanes District!"

"Wrong! You are from the pig shed, worth less than cattle."

"Yes, sir! I am less than cattle!"

"No, you're a fly, swarming around a pig's ass!"

"Yes, sir!"

There's a fine line between being mean and just downright cruel, and I'm pretty sure you just passed it. I understand we need to separate the weak, those who are chicken shit to fight against the Titans have no place in the scouts or even the military. I know I'll have to keep my mouth shut if he steps up to me, but I'm not so easily broken, at least not anymore.

Sadies finds himself some new prey, a boy who's my height with what I think is brown hair, not as brown as mine but a lighter brown. "What do they call you?!"

"Jean Kirshstein, from Trost District, sir!"

"Why are you here?!"

Jean so confidently says "Joining the Military Police, for a life deep within the walls."

Another coward in the making. I have no problem with the military police, it's a fine job. The safest of the three branches, but jeans reasoning behind it just puts a bad taste in my mouth. The garrison at least has the guts to live in the walls while also being on the front lines when the walls are attacked, less than compared to the scouts. If Wall Maria can fall then so can Wall Rose, and eventually, it can lead to Wall Sina where the military police live.

"Oh, I see...you want access to the interior?"

"Yes, sir!" "Augh!" Jean falls to his knees holding his head, Sadies just headbutted him, and if there was an insult to injury, Sadies provided it.

"Who said you could sit down?! Anyone who can't handle this will never make the Military Police!"

Sadies moves to his next unfortunate prey, a boy with short black hair. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?"

"Marco Bodt, sir! From Jinae City, Wall Rose South District, I want to join the Military Police, to offer life and limb to the King in service!"

Spoken like a true military dog. Offering your life for our king may sound noble, but how exactly does that help humanity achieve victory against the true threat? Instead of offering your life for some aristocratic old fool you should offer your life for humanity itself.

"Really...I'm glad to hear that. Good luck. However..."

Sadies leans to Macro. "The King doesn't want your worthless life or limbs."

I actually have to agree with him on that. Sadies continues down the line of cadets, and as he does I hear some munching from beside me. I turn slightly and I see a redheaded girl behind me eating...a potato? I don't even want to know where she got it from, Of all the times to eat it now is definitely not the time. Although I can't help but wonder what would happen if Sadies saw her.

Sadies stops in front of a slim boy with a shaved head. "What do they call you?!"

"Connie Springer, of Ragako Village, Wall Rose South District, sir!" Though Connie's stance is confident, he places his left hand over his heart instead of his right hand.

Wrong way, dumbass. No surprise that Sadies' is annoyed by this, especially when he grabs Connie by his head with both hands and lifts him a couple of feet off the ground. At least the boy is keeping up his salute, even if it's wrong. "You're doing it wrong, Connie Springer...I explained that this salute demonstrates your resolve to devote your entire heart to the people. Is your heart on your right side?!" I swear he just might pop the boy's skull open if he keeps this up.

Sadies dropped the boy, and he comes my way. I hope he skips me and heads to the next...damn it. He stops in front of me and leans down. "And what do they call you?"

I take my salute and stand strong. "Elijah Everett, from Shiganshina, sir!"

"Elijah is it? Another worthless, pathetic name! Why are you here?!"

Not phased by Sadie insulting my name, I answer him. "I've come to fight for humanity, and to kill the Armored Titan!"

Sadies scoffs at my response. "Is that so? Setting your goals high, huh? Remember to mark your corpse somehow so it's easier to identify your corpse!"

Well fuck you too, sir. Sadies quick amusement at my response is quickly replaced by a look of pure shock, of sheer "what the fuck am I looking at right now?" No doubt he finally saw what I did earlier, and he made his move. "Hey, you...What are you doing?" The girl doesn't respond. I wish I could see her but Sadies hasn't told us to turn around. Just when I think I hear her take another bite of the potato, Sadies steps closer to the girl and shouts. "You are officially on my shit list! Just who in the hell are you?!"

I'm not lying when I say she took the loudest swallow I have ever heard. Her voice, as brave as her actions, answers Sadie. "Sasha Braus, from Dauper Village, Wall Rose South District, sir!"

Somehow it's gotten even quieter than it was before. "Sasha Braus, what are you holding in your right hand?"

"A boiled potato! The kitchen had a fresh batch, and I couldn't resist, sir."

Most of us in our row including me, Jean, Connie, and Marco turn our heads enough to watch the entire moment behind us unfold and still face forward. "Did you steal it? Why? Why would you choose to eat a potato now?"

"Letting it get cold would've been a waste, so I decided I should eat it now."

"Well, I still don't understand...why did you eat that potato?"

"...Are you asking me why people eat potatoes? I'm surprised you don't know, sir." If the mass tension was not detectable by the other cadets before, it definitely is now. I could see the Eren in my vision along with the others named in my row, we all share the same degree of shock on our faces. The girl has guts.

Then she does the unimaginable, she takes the potato with both hands and splits it. She takes half and holds it up to Sadies. honestly, I don't even think it was half. "You can have half...sir."

Sadies takes it, Although I can't see his face, I can imagine he looks just as shocked as we are. "Half..?"

This girl...

Later outside the barracks, I'm currently conversing with Eren, Armin, and a few of the other cadets Connie, Marco, and Mina. My attention to our current conversation is soon broken by a familiar redhead running in the distance. Looking completely exhausted. Connie is the first to speak up. "Man, he's still making potato girl run." Ever since the induction ceremony ended, most of the other cadets started calling her that, myself included.

"Wow, for five straight hours? It's funny, being told to run until the sun sets didn't bother her nearly as much as losing meal privileges for the next five days."

"I think she said that she's from Dauper. If I remember right, that's a small hunting village up in the mountains."

"Hey, what's that?" Our attention is brought to a wagon filled with people leaving the grounds. Mina answers Eren's question. "They're dropouts, they preferred to work in the fields."

"What? But it's only the first day."

"Good riddance if you ask me." The others turn to me as they look in confusion, besides Eren, he looks like he agrees with me. "If you're not strong enough to fight against the Titans, or if you're too afraid to fight them, you have no place in the military."

"I can't believe anyone would rather pull plants than fight."

Marco stands and speaks to Eren. "I know about some of us, but you never mentioned where you were from, Eren."

"I'm from Shiganshina, same as Armin and Elijah here."

The other cadets look at the three of us in shock and awe. "Oh, wow. That means..."

"You were there that day, weren't you?"

"H-Hey..."

"Did you see the Colossal Titan? Or the Armored Titan?" Connie asks like an ignorant child.

Despite looking a little uneasy, Eren still answers. "Y-Yeah..."

Well shit, this is not gonna go too well. I can only imagine the thousands of questions that'll be asked around supper time.

Many of us gather in the mess hall, not only for supper but to also hear what Eren and I had to say about our encounters with the Titans on that day. Despite my annoyance, I tried to answer whatever they asked me without biting their heads off. Even Eeren started to get a little annoyed.

"I already told you I saw it."

"Really?"

"How big was it?"

With a mouthful of bread, I answer for Eren. "Big enough to look over the wall."

"What? I heard it was big enough to step over them!"

"Me too!"

"No, it wasn't that tall."

"What about the armored titan that broke Wall Maria?"

The grip on my bread is enough to make it fall apart in my hands. i swear if I hear one more question about that damed titan... Eren notices my uneasiness and answers the question for me. "They call it that, but it looked like a normal titan to me."

"Th-Then what's a normal titan like?"

Eren freezes, the color of his face starts to go pale, and he drops his spoon into his soup. He covers his mouth and I can start to hear him gag. if I know Eren, I know exactly what he's thinking. having to watch his own mother be eaten alive right in front of him.

Marco speaks up, trying his best to ease the tension. "Guys, let's stop with the questions. I'm sure they'd rather not relive everything they went through."

"Sorry, we didn't mean to-"

"It's not like that!" To everyone's surprise including my own, Eren cuts Connie off. looks like he's got something to say.

"The Titans aren't all that tough...if we can master the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, They won't stand a chance! Finally, I'm able to train as a soldier...I was just so excited I forgot myself for a second. I'm joining the Scout Regiment, so I can wipe the Titans off the face of this earth. I'll kill them all-"

"Hey, are you crazy or something?" All of our attention is brought by the voice that called out to Eren, belonging to Jean Kirshstein having a smug look on his face. the same boy who wanted to live a cowardly life in the interior. Big talk coming from a guy who won't even fight for humanity. "Did you just say you want to join the Scouts?"

"Yeah, that's right. so do I. And you want an easy life hiding away in the interior with the Military Police, that right?" I answer wanting to give him a piece of my mind.

"Look, I'm just being honest here. I think it's better than being some loud-mouthed braggart tough-guy wannabe pretending he's not as piss-scared as the rest of us."

Much to my and Eren's anger at his words, we both stand from our table. "You trying to pick a fight?"

"Stop it, you guys!" Marco says trying to cool our heads, but Eren and I now stand right in front of Jean. I'm ready to defend my friend."

"Hey come on now, I didn't..."

Our confrontation is soon interrupted by the sound of the bells, indicating its time for all the cadets to go back to their barracks. While Eren and I still have annoyed looks on our faces, Jean seemingly tries to ease the tension.

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't want to say you're

doing the wrong thing or dismiss your choice of career. Let's just call it a truce, okay?"

Jean then reaches out his hand, trying to get us to come to a mutual understanding. Eren's the first to speak up. "Yeah, I'm sorry too." he slaps Jean's hand and walks away.

"Sure, I'm sorry as well." I slap his hand as well and leave to clean up my food. As I'm cleaning, I hear Jean speaking again, but he's stuttering his words. I turn and I see Jean talking to...Mikasa?

"I'm- I'm sorry. You have really beautiful black hair."

"Thank you."

Mikasa leaves the mess hall, leaving Jean a confused mess. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to get back at him, I walk over to him and grab his shoulder. "Real smooth there MP boy."

"Sh-Shut up..."

Jean leaves the mess hall leaving me a very amused man. "Oh shit, almost forgot." I look around the mess hall to make sure no one sees me as I sneak into the kitchen and grab a couple of boiled potatoes and a canteen of water. Thankfully no one sees me and I leave the mess hall.

"I Hope she won't be too exhausted to eat."

The young girl kneels over as her run finally comes to an anticlimactic conclusion. She craves for air as much as she desires food, but with her dinner privileges revoked for a few days, the girl will have to endure her unsated gluttony. At least, starting tomorrow.

Even though it's very dark, I can see her with the torches as she lays on her back, too exhausted to pick herself up. I extend my arm to help her. "Hey, you okay?" She opens her eyes, the only form of movement she manages. Understanding, I drop to the ground, looking to the night sky. For the first day at boot camp, it was quite eventful, especially when she got caught. Remembering her punishment and the real reason I'm out here, I reach into my pocket, handing her a hot, steaming potato. "Here, this should get you moving."

She sees the steaming item in my hand, she perks up. She raises up to her waist, her pupils expand with desire, her mouth floods with saliva. She reaches out quickly for the potato. "Gimme!"

just as quickly as she reaches for it, I rescind my hand, moving the potato out of her reach. "Nope."

She continues to fight me over it until I stand up. Even with her burst of energy, her body is still winded. Unable to stand, she falls back down, whining like a child. "But whyyy?!"

I don't want to be mean, I'm just curious to see how far she'll go for food. "Here's the deal, I give you this, and you do something for me."

"so you're bribing me. Food for something else?"

"...in a way, but I'll let you decide how you pay me back. deal?" The girl nods and I sit back down, handing her the potato. Within seconds of grasping it, I swear half the item is gone. Damn, she must've been hungry. I grab the canteen from my back and I hand it to her. "Here, you should drink this too." The girls eyes practically glistened in the moonlight. She snatched the canteen from my hand and downs the entire thing in one swig, not leaving even a single drop of water.

With my main objective accomplished and my energy wearing thin, I bring myself to my feet as I feel a hand grasp my own. I turn around to the golden-eyed redhead with half a potato in her other hand, confused as to why she's holding me back.

"I haven't...paid you back yet."

"well you don't really have to- oh!"

However, before I could tell her otherwise, she throws herself on me, giving me the tightest hug I've had since…not wanting to make the moment uncomfortable or awkward, I wrap my arms around her. "Thank you so much." She whispers in my ear.

"...yeah, no problem." Once we break apart she smiles as she attends to her potato. "You know, you don't really have to pay me back."

"What are you talking about? That's just my thanks. I'll pay you back someday, I promise! You're like...my first friend here, so in light of our friendship, I owe this to you."

"Well...alright then." I guess we're friends now. Weird how I can call another girl besides Mikasa a "friend." But she seems like a good person at heart. I help her up to her feet and I escort her to the girls barracks. Once we're there, before I could leave for my barracks, she pulls me into another hug. This one lasting a little longer than the last. "Umm...you're doing it again."

The girl steps back. "Sorry about that." She extends her hand, smiling brightly. "I'm Sasha Brauss, from a little village north of Trost. Nice to meet you, friend."

I take her hand, and i smile back at her. "Elijah Everett, from Shiganshina."