"What is your name, soldier?!"

"Adaline Meyer, from Bryxton village, sir!"

A shower of spit sprayed against my face as the commander stood before me, yelling within inches from my face. I found myself standing in a large group of cadets who were all looking to join the army. An introductory ritual of sorts was taking place as Commander Shadis did his best to break down each of the cadets in hopes to weed out the weak.

Just two years ago, the titans broke through Wall Maria and left us with just two walls to protect us. However, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before titans made the attempt to take everything we had. Many in the 104th Cadet Corps had the intent to join the military in hopes of fighting back. Others were simply hoping for the chance to join the Military Police so they could hide behind the comfort of Wall Sina.

"And why the hell do you think you have a place in the military? You don't even look like good enough bait for a titan. Why are you even here?" Shadis shouted at me, standing up straight and looking down at me, almost with a sense of disrespect.

I didn't break eye contact and I raised my fist to my chest in salute. "I want to bring the world to peace, sir!"

"The only peace you're going to find is six feet under soldier!" He scoffed at my words, liking having heard them already a dozen times that morning. "Keep living your fairy tale and I'll make sure I bring whatever's left of you to your family after you're eaten."

"I'm sure they'll appreciate that!" I exclaimed, a bit of sarcasm dripping from my lips. It was clear I didn't take his statement seriously and multiple cadets glanced at me out of the corner of their eyes in concern. Shadis was a lot harder on those that talked back to him.

A low growl escaped his mouth as he reached out and gripped the top of my head, turning my whole body around with a few of my blonde hairs getting ripped from my head. "Face away from me, your face is sickening!" He gave my head one more shove before I heard him continue to walk down the line and begin to address the next person.

His statements did nothing to falter my resolve. Especially when he brought up my family. No family that actually mattered to me would be able to have whatever was left of me if I died. Here, I had no family so my sarcastic comment was to show I truly did not care for his comment.

I listened as Commander Shadis shouted at another cadet, Conny Springer for not saluting the proper way. The boy had saluted on the right side when he should've done it to the left where his heart was. A small sigh fell from my lips as I wondered how anyone could mess up such a simple task. Especially in front of a commanding officer.

The shouting came to an abrupt stop and I found myself glancing over out of the corner of my eye to see Shadis drop the boy to the ground and stare at a female cadet down with astonishment. "Hey.. you there." He began, slowly walking towards her. "What do you think you're doing?" Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the girl was eating a potato. How come she gets to eat? I haven't had the chance to eat anything since early that morning.

Shadis leaned his face down and spoke in a booming voice, clearly more angered than he had been all morning. "You are officially on my shit list! Just who the hell are you?!"

The girl quickly swallowed her current bite of potato and saluted, her potato close to her heart. "Sasha Braus from Dauper Village at your service! Reporting for duty, sir!"

"Sasha Braus, huh?" He questioned, his eyes dark as his shouting finally stopped. I could hear my ears ringing as it quieted down. "And what is that you're clutching in your right hand?"

At this moment, Shadis and Sasha had everyone's full attention. Though, it was clear most cadets were scared to fully move to watch and they only dared to glance out of the corner of their eyes. "A steamed potato! It sat there in the mess hall begging to be eaten, sir!"

"The theft… That I understand." Shadis stared her down. "But here? Why eat it here of all places?" It was a valid question. The rest of us had eaten at the mess hall that morning and I was certain Sasha had too. To bring food with you into training seemed obnoxious.

"It looked quite delicious and it was getting cold. So I gave it shelter in my stomach, sir." She explained her reasoning, however, the way she explained it sounded incredibly disrespectful.

"Why…? I can't comprehend.." Shadis trailed off. "Why would you eat that potato?"

How Sasha responded to this question made the other cadets stiffen in fear. "Are you… Are you asking me why people eat potatoes? I'm surprised you don't know, sir." This made me fully turn my head to watch Shadis' reaction, but what I saw made my eyes widen. She took the potato and broke a small chunk off, handing it to the Commandant. "Here sir, have half."

"Have half? Really?" His response was quiet as he stared at the potato in her hand. I twitched. There was no way that part of the potato was half, it was far smaller than the part she kept. Was she crazy? To see someone have the gall to talk back like that was unheard of to me. But what was very familiar was Shadis' response.

He didn't even bother to take the potato as he began shouting once more. "Start running magot!" Shadis reached out and placed his hand on her head, shoving her out of line. "Run until the sun sets and I don't want to hear a single complaint!" Sasha seemed unbothered by this, almost having expected the punishment. "And no meal privileges for five days! I don't want to see a morsel of food in your grimy hands!" Sasha's eyes widened and it seemed that she wanted nothing more than to protest the order, but knew full well she couldn't. With her head hung low, she began to run in defeat.

Shadis returned to insulting other cadets, this time with more anger than before. There were a few grumbles of how potato girl had ruined their chances of missing a mental beating and they only received backlash. Despite the situation that had just taken place, I found a small smile crossing my face. A bit of excitement filled my gut as I wanted nothing more than to start training for real. The antics of the other cadets didn't matter. I had a goal and I wasn't going to let anyone stand in my way.

As I turned my attention forward, I caught a pair of blue eyes looking back at me. We only made eye contact for a brief moment before we returned to attention. All we needed to do was stay focused and we'd achieve our goals then we'd finally return to our normal lives. But one thing was certain.

These devils really were hopeless.

A metal tray rested in my hands if I walked through the mess hall. There were different groups of cadets sitting together, discussing the first day and trying to get to know each other. Some groups already knew one another while others were desperate to make any connection as they didn't know a soul. However, there was a group that gathered around a boy who had been from Shiganshina, the very city that the titans attacked just a couple years ago. They were asking question after question about the Colossal and Armored Titans, mainly wanting to know what it was like to experience such an event.

I sat down at a nearby table, taking a drink of water before beginning to eat away at the simple slop that was on my plate. When was the last time I had a proper home cooked meal? Definitely a couple years ago. I'd do anything for a piece of meat, but that was left for the higher ups in the military and government.

Despite the fact my attention seemed to be on my food, I was fully aware of a select few cadets in the room. My gaze barely ever left my tray and when it did, it was only to see how the conversation was progressing with the Shiganshina boy, Eren. Though, every time my gaze went to the group, I would catch the eyes of a few others. Not many, but three other cadets kept glancing in my direction. This didn't bother me much at all as a quick flick from their eyes gave me quite a bit of information.

"So.. What are they like?" One of the cadets questioned Eren, his curiosity peaked.

My gaze moved up once more as I noticed Eren freeze, his mind clearly remembering the hell he had witnessed. His spoon fell out of his hand and he covered his mouth in an attempt to calm himself. I watched his movements closely as other cadets said they shouldn't be asking him such questions. Though, I found myself curious to hear how he would answer as that day in Shiganshina was fresh in my head. I would never show how much it was affecting me, but I wanted to hear of the experiences that the citizens had.

"It's not like that." Eren snapped before taking a bite out of his bread. I watched as his eyes twitched, the anger he felt evident. "Those stupid Titans, they're really not that big of a deal. If we focus on mastering the ODM gear they give us then it's Titan payback time. I've waited years to be trained as a soldier. All of a sudden, the reality is sinking in." I heaved a sigh as he spoke, finding his words to be overly dramatic. "I'm joining the Scout Regiment. Then I'm sending those Titans back to hell. I'm gonna butcher them all."

At his words, I returned my attention back to my food. To think someone so young would be naive enough to think he could take on the Titans. I can respect his resolve, but his confidence seemed extreme. Despite seeing Titans as a kid, he truly had no idea the horror he was stepping into. He was nothing more than an immature child.

However, I spared Eren one last glance to look directly at his eyes. The color and dull glow left me thinking of someone I had lost years ago. The very person I came to this place to look for. I heaved a sigh and looked away. The eyes may be familiar, but there was no way this was who I was looking for.

As another boy, Jean began to argue with Eren's points, I took the last bite of my food and got to my feet. There was no point listening to a pointless argument like this. The boy may be stupid, but it didn't matter how many times someone pointed it out to him. He wouldn't change his mind until he was on the front lines.

I made my way to the door, dropping my tray into a bin of dirty dishes before sneaking a glance over my shoulder. My gaze scanned the room, confirming that I had three sets of eyes on me. I gave my head a quick tilt to the side and made my way out of the building. My feet carried me outside and around the other side of one of the nearby barracks. I rested my back against the wall and reached into my pocket and pulled a small notebook out. I scanned over a couple pages before scribbling down an additional note. Over the past couple of years, I took note of every new piece of information I learned. If I kept this up, I thought I'd be able to find the answer to my main objective, but I hadn't made any progress.

"Addy?"

The voice entered my ears and I glanced to the side to see two boys and one girl approaching me. A smile fell to my lips as they came to stand beside me. "Annie, Bertholdt," I nodded to the two and glanced over at the third person who stood against the wall next to me. "Reiner."

"What is so important we need to discuss?" Annie questioned, staring back at me with disinterest. "It's only been a day since we last regrouped."

I glanced around at the three of them and despite the clear feeling of confusion they had, I felt unbothered. "Can't a girl ask to talk to her dear friends? It's been a long 24 hours after all."

"I think we all know that's not what you called us here to talk about." Reiner chimed in, crossing his arms.

I pouted for a moment trying to act innocent, but it was clear none of them were buying it. A quick breath fell from my lips and I shook my head. "Fine. I just have a question. How long do I have to act like I don't know you guys?"

The four of us had been friends since we were young. Our stories when we first entered the cadet corps were faulty as none of them were true. I wasn't from the dead end village of Bryxton, none of us were from this damn island in the first place. We grew up in a continent not far from here, Marley. We all strived to be warriors to fight as Honorary Marlians, but I was the only one who never had the chance to even try.

When the mission to find the Founding Titan had been assigned to a select few of the Nine, I found myself desiring to follow them. The military wasn't a big fan of this idea all the way till the moment I boarded the boat to cross the sea. The only reason I was given the opportunity was due to my older brother advocating for me. As long as I stayed out of the way of the warriors, I would be able to conduct my search.

If I were to stay behind, I would have been left with unanswered questions. What I wanted more than anything was to find my parents. At least some information about them. I was certain they had been turned into Titans as soon as they were banished to the island, but I needed to know what they fought so hard to protect.

"Addy…" Bertholdt began, his expression saddened. "You know the guidelines for you being here. We can't risk you getting caught with us if we're ever found out. You just need to be patient and wait a couple weeks."

"He's right." Reiner added. "None of us can have a lot of contact until it looks like we became colleagues over time."

I rolled my eyes. "I just don't get it. Why can't I at least start the process now? You two get to talk to each other." I gestured towards the two boys. "Why can't I even sit next to you during meals? It's not like it's that strange."

Bertholdt rubbed the back of his neck, glancing away. "Come on, Addy… You know the orders we were given."

"If we break them Zeke will have our heads." Reiner pinched the bridge of his nose, finding the entire situation irritating. "Even if we get back alive, he'd have us killed if anything happened to you."

Zeke Yaeger. The holder of the Beast Titan, Captain in the Marlian army, Honorary Marlian and most importantly, my older brother.

There were a list of conditions made when I was allowed to come to Paradis Island. Most of the conditions were made for my own protection. The first condition was I was to do everything in my power to make it seem like I didn't know the three warriors until it was logical. If the people of the walls discovered they were titans, I would be a suspect as well. If that ever happened, they wouldn't be able to connect them to me.

The second condition was that I was to alter my name at least for the time being. My last name was truly Yaeger, but I would go by Adaline Meyer. For the off chance that my parents were still alive, Zeke didn't want whatever reputation they had to interfere with the mission's progress. Zeke had also stated that he didn't want our parents to find out I was on Paradis until I met them for myself.

I had agreed to those conditions, but that doesn't mean I need to be happy about it.

Reiner reached over and placed a strong hand against my shoulder. "We can start the process tomorrow. It'll take a bit more time for Bertholdt and I since we're not in the same barracks, but try associating with Annie." He glanced at the blonde in question. "Right?"

Annie had barely said since the start of the conversation and she heaved a sigh at the mention of her name. "Fine. If it will get you to stop complaining." She stated bluntly.

"I'm not complaining…" I grumbled. "I just want to stick close to you guys so I can help out, you know?"

"You need to grow up." Annie rolled her eyes before glancing to the side. "Are we done? If this was all you needed then I'm going to get going. I don't think we need to waste anymore time on this pointless conversation when you already knew the answer to your question." I stiffened at her words and hesitantly nodded and she walked away without another word.

Growing up, I had found it much easier to interact with Reiner and Bertholdt. Annie kept to herself in general and spent most of her time training to become a stronger warrior. I couldn't fault her for it, but it left me in a tough spot trying to work with her now. I considered us friends, we would just need to work on interacting more closely than we're used to.

"Do you need anything else, Addy?" Bertholdt asked, his face showing that he was asking more genuinely than Annie had.

I gave my head a small shake. "No, that was honestly it." They both nodded in understanding and we were about to go our separate ways when I remembered a question I was curious about. "Wait.. One more question. That boy Eren," the two visibly flinched at the mention of the boy who had been boasting back at the mess hall. "Do you know anything about him?"

The two glanced at each other for a moment as if trying to figure out how to answer my question. "Well…" Bertholdt began to speak, but struggled to find the words.

"Look, Addy, we don't know a lot about him." He confessed, but there was clearly something they did know. "But it's about his name."

I raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"His name is Eren Yaeger."