Commandant Keith Shadis. Drill instructor for the Southern Division of the 104th Cadet Corps. Former Survey Corps Commander. Probably the only reason I survived my first encounter with a Titan. He tended to be on the more ruthless side as far as drill instructors went, I know that from experience. But he had to. If he wanted to mold us into soldiers capable of bringing down our own behemoths, he had no choice but to be exceedingly tough on us. If he wasn't, none of us would survive the encounter with our first Titans.

- An excerpt from the journal of an Eldian soldier, 850

Skip suppressed another chuckle. For the last twenty minutes he had been standing at attention, listening to Commandant Shadis bellow obscenities and insults at poor unsuspecting Cadets. Occasionally, when the Commandant came up with a particularly funny remark, a stifled snicker would escape him along with a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth. As a result, the blonde kid he was standing next to- Skip recognised him as one of the kids from Shiganshina- would discreetly glance at him with concern. The Commandant's comment about one of the cadets being "more disappointing than an unsalted pretzel" nearly got him, but Skip managed to hold himself together. As he could tell the Commandant was getting closer, Skip tried even harder to ward off his laughter, lest the Commandant turn his fury upon him. The good news was that Skip was pretty sure Shadis hadn't noticed. He hadn't shouted for Skip to "drop and give me fifty" like he did for the other poor bastard who had laughed. Shadis had been several rows in front of the guy when he accidentally let out a snicker.

"Hey, Mop- Top!" Shadis called out.

The blonde kid next to Skip snapped into a salute, before replying, "Sir!"

"What do they call you, maggot?"

"Armin Arlert, from Shiganshina, sir!"

Ah, so that was his name. Armin. Skip would be sure to remember that.

"Really? Who the hell thought it was a good idea to give you that kind of name?"

"My grandfather, sir," Skip could tell Armin was trying not to let the Commandant get to him.

"Cadet Arlert, why is a runt like you here?"

"To help humanity overcome the Titans!"

"That's delightful to hear, I think you'd make a wonderful appetizer for them!"

Skip had been watching the Commandant from the corner of his eye, but he snapped his gaze forward as soon as Shadis turned in his direction. For a moment, all was silent, except for the footfalls indicating Shadis' approach. When he entered Skip's field of view, the cadet struggled to keep his gaze forward instead of meeting Shadis' gaze. The Commandant stopped walking.

After another moment of tense silence, the Commandant spoke, "And just who the hell are you?"

Skip snapped into his own salute, being sure to cross his right arm over his chest instead of his left arm, "Sir, Skip Reid from Shiganshina, sir!"

"Skip Reid, huh?" Shadis uttered in a tone far too normal for Skip's liking, "That's funny, I would've guessed that your name was Chuckles, with how much you've been laughing over here."

Oh. So he had noticed.

When Skip didn't say anything, Shadis continued in his far- too- calm voice, "Do you know what the punishment is for soldiers who laugh at attention?"

Deciding to spare himself from the order, Skip simply replied, "I'll get started on those 50 push- ups, sir!" Not giving the Commandant a chance to reply and change his punishment, Skip dropped down to the dusty ground, and began his 50 push- up punishment. Apparently this satisfied Shadis, who then yelled, "Row three, about face!".

As Shadis continued to make his way down the rows, Skip found his arms becoming increasingly tired. By the fiftieth push- up, he was fairly convinced the bones in his arms had liquified. Using the last of the fading strength in his arms, he pushed himself up, before standing and returning to attention. In an attempt to ignore the numbness in his arms, and keep his mind away from the Commandant's insults that landed him here in the first place, he began to observe the people who had previously been behind him. There was a tall blonde guy with long sideburns who looked a little rattled after being grilled by Shadis, a girl with shoulder- length black hair who looked oddly familiar to Skip for some reason, a guy with hair that resembled a muffin and a face that could be mistaken for that of a horse, a blonde- haired girl who looked like she was watching paint dry, a short guy with almost no hair, and a girl whose red hair was tied up into a ponytail. Skip also recognised the other two kids from Shiganshina, the angry brunette guy, and the freakishly strong raven- haired girl. Despite three years having passed since Skip last saw him, the guy really didn't look any less angry about his current state of existence. In fact, he looked even more angry than the last time Skip saw him, and he was just standing there with nothing to be angry about! He idly wondered what the boy would look like if someone really got him riled up. 'It probably wouldn't be pretty,' he mused.

His eyes were then drawn to where Shadis had picked up the short bald kid by the head, and was lifting him at least a foot off of the ground. He could hear the Commandant admonishing the kid, "You have it backwards Connie Springer," Skip would have to remember that name as well, "That was the first thing you were taught. The salute represents the determination in your heart to fight those bent on the total annihilation of our people. Is your heart on your right side!?"

Ah. So the poor bastard had the salute backwards. Skip couldn't say he didn't have to actively think about which arm to salute with, so he couldn't laugh too much about it. Still, the fact that Shadis was dangling the boy by his head was pretty funny, and if he wasn't careful, Skip might-

CRUNCH

The following silence was deafening, save for the quiet howling of the wind.'What… was that?' Skip silently questioned as his eyes scanned the ranks in front of him for any sign of what that sound was. Then his gaze fell upon the red- haired girl from earlier. She was eating a potato. An honest to god potato. Skip just stood there dumbfounded, questions rapidly forming in his head. Why in God's name would she be eating that potato, here and now of all places and times? Did she want to be murdered by the Commandant? Where did she even get that potato? Upon surveying his comrades, Skip found that he was not alone in his abject shock. Looks of surprise, disbelief, and general discomfort were etched onto the faces of his fellow cadets as they awaited Shadis' reaction. Even the brown- haired ball of rage looked taken aback. Had he not genuinely feared for the girl's life, Skip might've found the whole situation rather humorous.

After what seemed like an eternity and a half of tense silence, Shadis finally asked the question that was on the minds of every cadet present, "Hey, you there, just what are you doing exactly?" The girl obliviously glanced to her left and to her right, as if she wasn't sure whether the Commandant was addressing her or not. She then proceeded to take another bite. This really pissed off Shadis, who thundered, "You are officially on my shit- list! Just who the hell do you think you are!?"

The girl, looking rather unfazed, swallowed her bite of potato, saluted with the potato still in hand, and declared, "Sasha Braus from Dauper Village, at your service, sir!"

Shadis looked unimpressed, "Sasha Braus… What is it you're holding in your right hand?"

"A steamed potato, sir! I found it all alone in the mess hall, begging to be eaten."

"The theft I can understand, but why? Why eat it here of all places?" Shadis still looked perplexed.

"It was getting cold, so I gave it shelter in my stomach."

"I still don't understand… Why would you eat that potato?"

A look of confusion crossed Sasha's face, as if she didn't understand what the Commandant was asking. "Are you… asking me why people eat potatoes, sir? I'm surprised you don't know…"

Now Skip was certain that he was about to witness a murder on the first day of training. Shadis looked like he was about to asphyxiate poor Sasha with his bare hands. Sensing the looming danger, Sasha glanced down to her potato, broke it in two, and offered a piece to Shadis. "Here sir, have half."

Shadis, looking genuinely taken aback, whispered, "Half?"

Sasha forced an awkward smile onto her face. Skip cringed a little on the inside. It was not half.

After initiation was concluded, the cadets were informed that they had a few hours to themselves before dinner. Skip chose to use the time familiarizing himself with the place that would become his home for the next three years. After changing into something a little more comfortable (he'd have to get used to the tight- fitting white uniform pants), he wandered off in the general direction of the ODM practice area, which made up a part of the camp's boundaries. On his way, he identified several buildings; the infirmary, the armory, the storehouse, the lecture hall, etc… However, he spied a building that he could not identify. Wedged in between the lecture hall and one of the cliffs that made up the camp boundaries, it seemed like some extra storehouse or an office, but Skip observed several cadets coming and going from the mystery building.

His interest thoroughly piqued, Skip decided to investigate said mystery building, approaching it somewhat cautiously. Upon opening the door, he found something that he didn't really expect. A library. As he stepped into the unexpected library, his eyes swept over the various shelves of books. He ambled over to the nearest shelf, and perused the available literature. To his pleasant surprise, there was more to the camp library than military history textbooks and protocol manuals. Skip found books on subjects like biology, botany, engineering, architecture, mathematics, chemistry, cooking, and even a few on philosophy. What really caught his attention though was the sizable fiction section. As he browsed, he recognised some of the titles, but a vast majority of the stories were new to him. He stopped when he recognised a particular title. Iliad. Skip smiled a little, memories of days gone by flashing before his mind's eye. Iliad was one of the few stories from the world before the titans that had survived government purging. It had also been one of his favorites. His parents would read it to him every night before he went to bed. In those days, it had been a story of a great city, a cataclysmic war, and mighty heroes. It evoked a bittersweet feeling, because while he still saw some of what he used to see in the story, it was now also a story of petty deities, misguided heroes, and many a tragic demise.

Hah, Lia's right. I really have become a cynic,' he thought sardonically as he replaced the book in its spot.

Before he could move on though, a voice sounded from behind him, 'Hey, Skip, right?" The boy in question turned to face another boy with golden blonde hair. Skip recognised him as Armin, the boy who had stood next to him during initiation.

"No actually, it's Chuckles now," Skip deadpanned. Armin's face was blank for a moment, before the quip clicked and Armin chortled. Skip then decided to properly introduce himself,

"Yeah, actually I go by Skip. You're Armin, right?"

"Mhm, that's me. I'm a little surprised you remembered my name, though."

Skip shrugged, "Well, we are going to be living and training together for the next three years, so might as well get acquainted with everyone."

Armin nodded in agreement, "That's a good idea. We're going to be relying on each other a lot in the next few years, so it's definitely a good idea to get to know each other."

Returning to looking through the fiction titles, Skip asked, "So, you decided to investigate the unmarked mystery building too, huh?"

Armin again nodded as he too turned to browse the selections, "When I saw other cadets coming and going, I guess I just wanted to know what was in here." There was a moment of silence before Armin asked, "Do you like to read, too?"

Skip frowned, "I used to. I haven't had much time to read in the last couple of years since… yeah."

The cadets both stared at the bookshelf, lost in their own memories of that quite literally earth- shaking day. Breaking the silence, Skip mused, "Though, with a nearby library at my disposal, I can probably start reading again. Especially considering I'm gonna be staying in one place."

"You were on the road a lot?"

"You could say that," Skip said with a quiet chuckle. He pulled out and glanced at his pocket watch. Like the few other things he owned, it wasn't very ornate or fancy. It was built for durability and reliability, not for looking pretty. "If we're gonna grab a book, we'd better do it now and scram. Dinner's in 15 minutes, and I'd say we should probably find somewhere in our bunks to hide these. I'm not sure how the others would tease us if they found out we liked to read in our spare time instead of, I don't know, arm wrestling or something."

Armin nodded in agreement as he pulled a book from the shelf.

Skip allowed a small smirk to cross his face as he opened the door to the outside, "I hope you can keep up."

As it turned out, poor Armin could not keep up. Skip lost him about halfway back to the barracks, as it seemed the young blonde was not accustomed to longer distance sprints. Blowing past a group of cadets hanging out on the porch, Skip took a moment to catch his breath once inside. Although by no means exhausted, he would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little winded. After slowing his breathing, he stowed the book away amongst the personal belongings under his bunk and exited the building, turning to see the same group of cadets still there. One of them noticed Skip stepping out of the building, "Hey, what had you in such a hurry?"

Approaching them, Skip shrugged, "Nothing you need to be worried about."

Just then one of the other cadets, the other kid from Shiganshina, spoke up with slightly widened eyes, "Hey, I recognise you. you're from Shiganshina, too!"

"Mhm," Skip replied, nodding his head. "I thought you and your friends looked familiar. Ran into Armin about 10 minutes ago."

At the mention of Armin's name, the boy tilted his head slightly, "Where is Armin by the way?"

Skip pulled out his pocket watch and gave it a glance, before looking over his shoulder in the direction he had previously come from. "Oh, he'll be here any minute now," he replied somewhat cryptically. Sure enough, a cadet with blonde hair came trotting up to the building, looking thoroughly exhausted, huffing as much air as his lungs would allow.

"Skip… how do you… run so fast?" Armin questioned between breaths.

"That's a secret, I'm afraid," Skip responded, shrugging yet again, this time with an easy smile.

"Okay, well… I'll be back… in a minute," Armin trudged up the steps to the porch, still panting heavily.

"You know," the other Shiganshinite began, "We lived in the same city for years, and I never learned your name until now."

"It happens," Skip replied. "Shiganshina was a big city with lots of people." Skip looked out over the campground for a moment before turning back to his fellow cadets. "I know you're Connie," he stated, pointing at the short cadet who had been dangled by Commandant Shadis earlier in the day, "but I didn't quite catch the rest of your names."

"My name's Eren," replied the brown- haired cadet.

"I'm Marco," answered the cadet with freckles.

"I'm Mina," came the response from a cadet with loose pigtails.

Skip narrowed his eyes slightly at Mina and tilted his head in contemplation. "You look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"

"I can't say that we have." For some reason, she had trouble meeting his eyes.

Before Skip could contemplate further, Connie changed the subject, "Huh, Potato Girl's still going."

Skip smirked a little, watching the poor cadet struggle to keep her pace. "Man, I was certain that Shadis was going to kill her right then and there."

"I don't think being told to run 'till the sun goes down bothered her nearly as much as being told that she had lost her meal privileges for the next week," Eren added.

Connie appeared thoughtful for a moment, "I think I remember her saying that she's from Dauper. If I recall correctly it's a small hunting village up in the mountains."

Skip nodded affirmatively, "Yep. I've been there once or twice over the years. I think I remember them having problems with food shortages."

The group fell silent as they remembered those trying times in their own ways. The silence was broken by Eren, who pointed to the opposite edge of camp where several wagons were ascending up a pathway. "Hey, what's that?"

"Dropouts," Mina replied, "people who'd prefer to work in the fields.

"Really?" Armin asked, having exited the building without any of the others noticing. "It's only the first day."

"That's just how it is sometimes," Skip said with a frown, "some people just can't handle this kind of life."

"I just can't believe people would rather pull plants than fight," Eren mumbled.

The group turned to Eren, with Marco asking, "Hey Eren, you said you're from Shiganshina, right?"

Eren nodded, placing a hand on Armin's shoulder. "That's right, same as Armin and Skip."

"That means you were there that day," Connie spoke with a mix of awe and excitement, "You saw them!"

As Eren began to uncomfortably answer Connie's questions, Skip turned his gaze back out to the camp, losing himself in his memories. He had no idea how much time had passed when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He turned to see Mina watching him with a somewhat concerned expression. "Hey, we're going to get dinner. You coming along?"

Skip blinked, shaking his head to clear out the memories. "In a minute," he replied. "I'll catch up with you guys."

Mina nodded slowly, before removing her hand from his shoulder and turning to catch up to the group.

Skip remained rooted in his place for a few more moments, before he too turned and left for the mess hall as well.

Upon arriving at the mess hall, he found that a considerable number of cadets had already arrived. Some ate alone, while others chatted amongst the other cadets at their tables. He almost rolled his eyes at some of the cadets in the dinner line who were complaining about the food. Having spent the last few years of his life on the road, Skip had learned to take just about anything he could get as far as sustenance was concerned. Acquiring his dinner, he sat down at an empty table. Skip was content to observe his fellow cadets for now, feeling no particular need to talk to anyone right now. Not that he minded interacting with his comrades, he just felt that any major attachments he made would end in more pain than they would be worth in the end. Armin entered not long after, looking thoroughly worn out. The two exchanged nods of acknowledgement. As the dinner hour wore on, Skip noted a group of people congregating around the table occupied by the other kids from Shiganshina. His curiosity caught, Skip listened in on the conversation, although it wasn't like he was eavesdropping. They weren't exactly being quiet.

"What about the Armored Titan that broke through Wall Maria?" One of the cadets asked.

"That's what they're calling it? In all the chaos, it just looked like a normal titan to me," he heard Eren responding in a nonchalant voice.

"What were they like?" inquired another cadet.

Eren paused, and the light left his eyes for a moment. It was as if he was lost in a memory of some sort. Apparently Skip had done the same, since Tali had caught him buried in memories on more than one occasion. Eren's spoon dropped, and he brought his hand to his mouth, no doubt reliving the horrors of what he saw that day.

After a tense moment of silence a third cadet, who happened to be Marco, took pity on his fellow soldier, and urged his comrades to stop asking questions, "Come on guys, that's enough questions for now. We don't need to make him relive what he saw that day."

Looking a little guilty, Connie apologized, "Hey sorry man-"

"It's not like that," interrupted Eren, who seemed to have snapped out of his trance. "The titans aren't really all that big of a deal. If we master the ODM gear they give us, then the titans won't stand a chance against us! As long as we do that, we don't have to fear the titans anymore!"

While Skip didn't necessarily agree with Eren, he could see where the logic came from. As a practical matter, Skip felt that the moment Humanity as a whole ceased to fear the titans would be the moment they lost the war. While it was true that the fear of the titans is what drove many to hide behind the walls, a lack of fear would send many to unnecessary deaths out of sheer hubris. A healthy dose of fear is what kept most soldiers alive. As the saying goes, a brave person isn't fearless, a brave person controls their fear. Having no fear of the Titans, or thinking of them as 'less dangerous' is a surefire way to get killed in the heat of battle. 'At least, that's what I should believe,' Skip mused sarcastically.

Truth be told, the courier turned cadet didn't particularly worry about what might happen to him. He had decided long ago that death is simply an inevitable fact of life, and when you accept that, you tend to feel a bit better about your looming demise. He wasn't suicidal per se, he just didn't particularly care if he died. Put simply, whatever happens, happens. Eren, meanwhile, continued.

"I've waited all my life to become a soldier. Now that I'm here, my path is clear. I'm going to join the Scout Regiment! When I do, I'm gonna send those titans straight back to hell! I'll slaughter them all!"

A new voice interrupted Eren's monologue, "Hey, are you crazy, or what?"

Skip's gaze shifted to the source of the new voice, which happened to be the cadet with the muffin hair. Eren turned on him, too. "Not that I particularly care, but isn't signing up for recon basically a death sentence?"

Eren, not one to let a challenge like that go unanswered replied, "I guess we're gonna see, Jean. Or I will, at least. You seem just fine hiding in the interior with the rest of the MPs."

Jean, seemingly completely unfazed countered, "Look kid, let's be honest. I think it's better than being some loud- mouthed tough guy wannabe acting like he's not as terrified as the rest of us, eh?"

Eren, undaunted by Jean's nonchalant yet confident attitude, stood up. "Are you trying to start a fight?"

Skip, who continued to observe the unfolding events from his table, noted that those two would probably clash continuously over the next few years. Marco, ever the diplomat, attempted to defuse the situation. Jean, on the other hand, had different ideas. He stood up, and approached Eren. "Alright, sure. Why the hell not?"

Just as the two seemed as though they were about to square off, a bell sounded from outside. Dinner was over, and the scuffle was off. Given that there was nothing more to see, it was at that moment that Skip stopped paying attention. He gathered up his dishes, deposited them on the counter, and promptly exited the mess hall. It was dusk, and the sun had already sunk below the horizon, painting the sky in a deep indigo hue. He decided to use the little ambient light left to navigate himself back to his bunkhouse. He decided that getting a proper night's sleep sounded like a good idea.

Next Time: Skip commits breaking and entering.