003: don't be
I clicked my tongue, cocking my head to the side as I adjusted the remaining leather straps. A full sized mirror was in front of me, giving me a full view of the supposed uniform of a soldier.
The grey shirt I had was tucked in neatly. My white pants fitted perfectly and the thick brown coat with the legendary freedom wings symbol etched on the back completed the look, along with the hundreds of straps that was necessary for the equipments I was going to use later.
A single knock presented itself on the doorway. I was given a different room from the others, for reasons I have no knowledge about.
"This feels... weird" I muttered, walking alongside Hange as we made our way past the empty hallway of the barracks and into the relatively empty grounds of the headquarters. "It fits you" she exclaimed, examining my form as we approached the two superiors waiting and a bunch of other people I don't know, parading behind their backs.
"Good Morning! Your official training starts today. Under the supervision of Corporal Levi and his subordinates. You will be placed under the watch of the Special Operation Squad" Erwin spoke, his voice was dominating.
There was platform not to far ahead, were the rest of who I assumed to be the Special Ops and some other squads was standing near by.
Hange urged me forward, making me march towards the platform. I stood there, gracing the whole crowd who looked up to me in mere curiosity. I had a good feeling I was already very well known around here but there was a lingering animosity in the atmosphere, thick enough that it could probably suffocate me. The uneasiness oozed as eyes pierced themselves onto my standing form, burning daggers through my skin.
"Starting from this day on, another one has joined us and will be fighting alongside all of you!" Erwin stood by my side, his voice covering the whole area, leaving me a bit surprised at his authority. He look towards me, a sense of comfort in his eyes, despite the strong and unbending look he held.
"Introduce yourself" he commanded.
Clicking my tongue, I took a good look at the faces I would be dealing with for the next good years, possibly for the rest of my life. I breathed softly, before standing on my full height, which was not much an inch shorter than Levi himself.
"Y/n" I smirked. Everyone looked a bit confused for a moment before I tried to continue. "Y/n. I don't have a last name anymore and don't ask why" I finished, cocking my head to the side to look at the Commander.
Erwin looked a bit distressed at this. His brows furrowing as he sighed while Hange only kept giving me nods of approval and thumbs up with a wide grin never leaving her face. Levi... well, he was being himself, looking a bit bored and maybe even upset at the whole gathering.
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"I thought you said I was in? Why do I have to take a test?" I asked Erwin, hastening my steps as he was a bit way ahead of me.
I had learned a short while ago that superiors were to walk ahead the rest of his subordinates, which was why I was walking behind the Commander and Corporal themselves. Hange was kind enough to walk by my side so as to not make me a bit lonely.
"You are." He stopped at the entrance of the training forest, where a bunch of titan decoys were laid around for training. He turned his heel, looking over at me. "However, since you are not to be admitted to the training regiment, we'll need a basis for what we need to work on you to be able to train your lacking areas. It was a suggestion from Corporal Levi himself" he looked over to his side, the said man was only giving me a side glance before turning away, albeit, irritated.
"And what happens if I fail the 'test'?"
This time, Levi turned his full attention towards me, making me cower and shrink at his gaze.
"We'll accuse you a witch and burn you alive" he said with no trace of humor but his eyes were playfully ticking. A small corner of his lips threatening to curl up but he immediately looked away.
Hange gave a short forceful laugh. "He's just joking! Don't worry too much about it!" She patted me by the back.
Erwin approached a table set near by. A familiar gear sprawled on the surface of the oak.
"This is a 3DM gear. The famous instrument the soldiers use." He explained.
"I know what that is" I answered. "If the test is me trying to use that shit then just strap me in already"
Erwin opened his mouth to say something as I was about to approach the table to pick the gear up but Levi had already stood in the way, our gazes meeting. He didn't seem to look away, so I wasn't planning too as well.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, brat. This gear isn't just a toy you can play with. It's expensive and it takes years of fervent training to be able to use them. Months if your lucky enough to actually pick up easily" He growled.
It took a great amount of persistence and determination to not roll my eyes at his words. "Look, I may look stupid but I'm not uneducated. Just strap me in so we can get this over with" I replied, voice a little bit lowered than his, but the same amount of seriousness present.
He sneered, eyes narrowing down as if I was a prey. His left foot moving forward and he looked about ready to deck me, and I was about to believe that he really would, not until Erwin interrupted our mini staring contest.
"Levi" he called out. The said man stopping in his tracks and looking over to his superior.
"Just let her be" he ordered.
Levi's lips twitched, preparing to give a word but before he could I had already moved past him, starting to place the equipment against my waist and legs and adjusting the straps. I grabbed the fingerless leather gloves I had always kept in my pockets, sliding it over my fingers before grabbing the handles of the gear, letting my grip get familiar with it.
"We placed a bunch of titan decoys around the place. Just try to knock down a bunch of them" Hange informed. Unlike the two stoic men, she looked a little bit excited at the current situation.
"Rip their necks off. Got it" I smiled.
The passing wind blew softly, letting my hair dance lightly around. I breathed, momentarily resetting my brain and remembering parts of my early childhood.
The handles clicked as I pressed on the triggers, a whizzing sound barreling across the fields, leaving only a trail of gas in my wake as adrenaline filled my body once again.
"CHE-FUCKING-HOO!!!" I schreeched at the top of my lungs. The air around me seemed like little tornadoes, sucking every inch of oxygen I had. I chuckled at this.
This is what freedom feels like.
At least that was to me. I continued spiraling over the place, doing a few bit of back flips, like how I used to back in the old days. In the far distance, I could make out a huge cut-out of a titan. It's neck was plastered with what I had assumed as cotton foam— to act as it's actual nape, making this test a bit more realistic. There was a soldier maneuvering the contraption at the foot of it. His eyes bearing into my figure.
The grips of my handles made it's way to the blade holders, a short clank signifying I had buckled the blades onto the grips.
I was about ready to sear the nape open, only for the it to move, surprising me.
"You won't make it that easy!" The soldier shouted.
It was an abrupt move, but I loved a challenge.
Instead of spewing gas, I used my body to manually move my direction before releasing a quick whip of air, hooking my gear to the shoulders of the decoy, boosting myself up in the air and finally letting the blades cut deep into the nape.
Another swift movement came up from behind me, a new decoy pressing into my view. I whipped my head, immediately clicking the handle, letting the hooks fly past the decoy and attaching myself to a nearby tree before launching the wires again, and ripping the nape open of the decoy.
"Another one!" I called, watching as a different decoy moved in the far right of my peripheral vision.
Twisting the blades in my hands, I held my breath momentarily, using my body again to manually maneuver my direction. It was a moved a had learned a while back, a trick to conserve gas instead of wasting it.
A whizz of air escaped the gear, pushing me forward and onto the last decoy in sight. It moved swiftly, lowering itself and giving me a much more narrower opening towards its neck but I had already hooked the wires to its sides.
The blades felt ragged against the nape of the giant foam. My teeth seethed at the contact before I had fully ripped the foam.
That was the last decoy by far. Deciding that it was enough for the little test, I had hook my wires to the nearest tree, landing albeit a bit shakily against the ground. A satisfied sigh breathed against my lower lip as I chuckled lightly.
"I still got it" I whispered against the wind, raising my head to look at the three people who was comically gaping at me. Even the indifferent Corporal's eyes were slightly widened at my presence.
"Are— are you guys o-okay?" I asked genuinely, feeling a bit conscious at their intense staring.
None of them moved, a fleeting moment of awkward silence passing by before Hange started squealing aggressively.
"Did you receive any proper training by chance?" Erwin asked, propping his arms against his chin.
I shook my head in an answer, peeling the damaged blades of the equipment off and letting the grips of the gear land on the earth.
"What was that move you pulled off earlier?" Levi asked, a bit menacingly.
Furrowing my eyebrows, I untangled myself from the gear, carefully placing it back on the table before turning to look at them.
"It's a little trick I like to call "drifting." It's where I use my body to manually maneuver myself to change direction hooking and using the gas. It provides better vision and accuracy in my trajectory, plus it saves gas" I shrugged, leaning against the edge of the oak.
"And who taught you this?"
My eyebrows involuntarily rose at the question. A bubble of spite rising in my gut, recalling a distant figure of a person I had always adored.
"Before..." I smiled, thin lipped. "When life was still not that shitty... I used to have this thing called a family." I started, not meeting any of their gazes before finishing. "My father worked as a soldier of the Recon Corps too."
The three of them fell dead silent, even Hange was a bit taken a back at my statement.
"But I won't tell you who he is, so don't bother asking" I winked cheekily at the Commander before returning my gaze to Levi who was narrowing his eyes at me but this time he wasn't sneering.
"I won't. But where is he now?"
I sighed, letting the question pass by my head a moment before I lifted and stood up to my full height.
"Frankly, I'm not sure." I pondered, tilting my head to the left. "But if I could take a guess, he's probably having the time of his life with the gods." I smiled fondly. "Last time I saw him, I was ten. Been 15 years ever since. I used to use his gear when he passed"
Now the three of them looked awkward and stiff. Erwin blinked a few times before adjusting his hands to his sides, Hange was opening and closing her mouth, attempting to say something.
"I'm sorry" Erwin stuttered.
"Don't be" I smiled.
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sorry for not updating for a while. had a lot to take care of but here have an extra chapter 🤗
thank you for giving me time by reading. hope you enjoy 💓