"MY NAME IS commandant Shadis, and my mission in life is to personally make your lives hell. As I look before me, I see nothing but a crowd of weak, insignificant, puny, insects. By the end of these three years of training, I want to at least one of you shit for brains to graduate." A man wearing a beige jacket and heavy eye-bags declared. After giving the group as a whole verbal abuse, Shadis averted his gaze, looking for his next victims when he laid eyes on a man with ash blonde hair and brown eyes.

"What's your name, spineless moron?" Shadis yelled to the man in particular, who instinctively bit his tongue in shock. After not giving an answer, Kieth marched towards him and gripped his hair within his hands. "I'm talking to you!"

Panicked, the man answered, his voice shaky and his hands trying to stop Shadis from pulling on his hair. "I'm sorry okay, my name's Oruo Bozad." He finally replied.

A mistake, Carmen noted. She knew how to act around someone who acted superior to her, and that was to do her usual emotionless act. It filled their ego, made them think that she knew her place, when in reality, she was thinking of every way she could possibly kill them. The blonde never went through with it, but it always helped to know she was better than each of her foe.

"Did a dog teach you to speak? That is not how you address your commandant!" Kieth then head butted Oruo to the ground, even Carmen had to admit that she pitied him.

"I'm so sorry sir!" Oruo then yelled.

"And what is a runt like you doing here?"

"To make my family proud, sir!" He replied.

"Pointless! No one will ever be proud of a maggot like you!" Kieth insulted then walked away when Oruo looked as though he was about to cry.

A few more people were chosen to face criticism after the event, that's when the commandant appeared in the row of potential soldiers that Carmen stood in. The girl beside her was visibly shaking, he strawberry blonde hair covered her face so she didn't have to look the man directly in the eyes, however, her plan was going to attract more unwanted attention.

"I suggest you compose yourself, quickly." Carmen advised quietly, noticing the girl suddenly shift her attention towards her. Another mistake.

"Do you worms have better things to do!?" Shadis yelled at them, seeing the small interaction.

"No sir!" The younger girl yelled back, where as Carmen stayed quiet. It usually satisfied most of the soldiers she knew, but the commandant saw it as ignorance, this wasn't how she should be acting.

"Are you deaf or something!" Kieth punched the blondes shoulder, forcing her to acknowledge him.

"No sir." Carmen replied flatly, not expressing the same dedication as the others.

"Speak up!"

"I said, no sir." She repeated, slightly louder than previously.

"What were you lowlifes talking about? It better be important!"

"Sorry, she was just helping me, I was nervous, sir." The other girl defended.

"What's your name?"

"Petra Ral, sir." She saluted, her fear slowly vanishing.

"And you?"

"Carmen." He glared at her, waiting for the blonde to finish speaking, but another word never came. "Just Carmen, sir."

Shadis didn't like the disrespect she displayed, or how determined she was to not share any expression to him. Originally, he wasn't going to confront Carmen, but knowing that she deliberately spoke without permission was unacceptable, he had to put her in her place.

"Well, Carmen, I want you to run until you drop." He gave her a twisted smile, woefully underestimating the assassin. Surprised at the simplicity of the task, she stood still, wondering if that was all he wanted of her. Usually there were a lot more orders to be followed, if the training was this easy, then she wouldn't even break a sweat. "Don't just stand there like an idiot, run dammit!" Kieth shouted.

Steadily, Carmen began to run, she decided that she would run back and forth the length of the camp, running in circles may cause her to grow dizzy, and with a visible goal in front of her, she'd be more determined. Although she planned to pace herself, she was forced to increase her speed because according to Shadis, she wasn't trying hard enough.

Eventually, night time arrived, and Carmen was still running, her only thought was that she wished she had more water, but other than that, she was fine. It wasn't as though she could feel the strain on her joints, she was immune to pain. Crowds soon formed around the line Carmen was running on, all of the soldiers were amazed at how unfazed the blonde seemed, and somewhere amongst them, stood Petra, she looked slightly upset, but Carmen payed it no notice. After all, it was her fault for breaking her act and getting involved, then again, it had been a while since she had a human interaction that didn't end in death, so she jumped at the chance.

Ignoring the crowd, she carried on, until night turned to day and the cycle continued. Even Shadis was impressed at how long she'd lasted, but orders were orders. She had to run until she dropped, since she was new, he deemed it wouldn't take too long. So he sat in his office and waited for the moment to arise when he had to peal her from the floor.

Unfortunately, he waited a while. Three days had passed, and she was still running. Though the dehydration was beginning to make her throat itch, but she could continue her pace.

"That's enough, you little shit." Kieth stood in front of her, causing the blonde to come to a stop.

"I haven't dropped, sir." She tilted her head, she wasn't supposed to discard orders until they had been fulfilled, this was new.

"Do you want to sleep in the barracks? Or would you rather run until your limbs fall off?" He yelled at her.

Carmen thought for a moment, could she really just abandon an order? It was so unnatural, so foreign, was it a trap? Confused, the blonde looked into the crowd, hoping to receive some help, luckily, she found some. Within the group of concerned and impressed teenagers, Petra Ral mouthed the word barracks, that was enough confirmation for Carmen to understand.

"The barracks, sir." Carmen answered, unsure as to why she initially trusted the strawberry blonde.

"Well get your statue ass over there!" He instructed in his usual tone, hoping to induce fear but failing miserably.

After nodding her head, Carmen walked to the cabin that she'd initially been assigned to, that's when she felt a presence, someone was following her. Cautiously, she closed the door to her cabin and hid beside it, awaiting her foe to enter. When she heard the door click open, she pounced like a predator, capturing her prey and pinning her against the wall.

"Ow! What the hell!?" Petra almost screamed, her voice came out more muffled due to the hand Carmen loosely placed around her mouth.

"You're following me." Carmen replied. "Why?"

"I wanted to say thank you." Petra answered when the hand was removed, but the assassin still didn't budge. "You tried to help me and I got you caught, I'm sorry."

The apology seemed genuine enough, but Carmen had already trusted this girl too much, was she trying to form an allegiance? Or maybe she was manipulating her, she been warned of such events.

"I'm not interested in any forms of allegiance." She stated, then released her prey.

"Allegiance?" Petra scoffed. "I wanted to be your friend, by the looks of it, you don't know anyone here, neither do I."

Friends were a weakness. That's what she was taught from a young age. But Carmen had also been taught that people were cruel, manipulative and even evil. Petra seemed like none of those things, so was she lied to? The only way to tell was through first hand experience, besides, she had plenty of time to counterattack if necessary.

"Maybe..." Carmen began. "Maybe a friend wouldn't be the worst." The assassin contemplated, earning a smile from Petra.

"Sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean to sneak up." The teenager apologised again, finding more of a reason now that she wasn't pinned against a wall. "My name is Petra, by the way. Petra Ral." Carmen remembered, of course she did, having a name and face were vital for her career path, so she never forgot them.

"Carmen."

"You don't have a last name?"

"I've never needed one." Carmen replied.

Even though Petra thought the topic was sensitive, Carmen showed no signs of grief, or any signs at all that she could read. It was almost as if she was captured in a default setting, her face never changed, other than when she spoke or her eyes froze when she thought deeply. The only indication that Carmen wasn't a life-sized doll, was when she spoke.

"Well, you must be hungry." Petra changed the subject. "Maybe we can convince Shadis to let you get something to eat or drink?"

"I do require some water." Carmen agreed, but the food wasn't necessary, she was aware that the human body could last 2-3 months without food, though recalling how she knew that wasn't a pleasant thought. "Food can wait until morning."

"Let's head to the well." Petra bounced and reached her hand out for Carmen's wrist, but she was shocked when the blonde immediately brought her hand to her chest, swerving away from the other. "Not a fan of physical contact, are you?"

"Given time." Carmen muttered, but Petra heard, making something so petty her new goal.

Regardless, the two girls found the well, along with the large crowd that still lingered beside it. Upon seeing the assassin, all conversations came to a halt before new topics arose and the low whisper of rumours began to spread.

Noticing Carmen's confusion, Petra decided to enlighten her. "They think your a legend, the girl who ran for three days. All of them are impressed, as well as proud of you for standing your ground against Shadis."

"Impressed? But it was a simply exercise. Is running difficult?" The assassin wondered.

"Huh? You thought running that long was easy?"

"Well, yes." Carmen answered. "I would have continued, but you advised me to stop."

"So that's why you looked confused." Petra gasped. "You were going to keep running?" Carmen nodded, not seeing the big deal everyone was making. "You are a beast." Petra complimented.

While Carmen filled her canteen with some water, she took notice of one of the others walking towards her and Petra, a cocky smirk firmly placed on his face. She'd seen a face like that, it was always held by the MP's who informed her of missions, judging by his expression, he'd fit right in.

"Hey there shortcake." The boy greeted Petra, because she was the one shortest of the bunch.

"Oruo, what do you want?" Petra shot back.

"Wanted to meet the legend herself. What was your name again?" Carmen didn't answer, so far, Oruo hadn't done anything to gain her trust. However, his familiarity with Petra rose a few questions, along with his nickname for her.

"Her name is Carmen." Petra answered for her.

"What's it to you?" The assassin finally spoke.

"Nothing really, it's just good manners." He shrugged, today was just full of surprises. "Wouldn't want a lady like you thinking I'm a snob."

"That's exactly what you are, stop trying to flirt with her." The younger girl scolded.

"You bit your tongue." Carmen said out of the blue, referring to an event that occurred three days ago. Oruo flinched at the reminder and rubbed his head.

"Shit, I thought everyone forgot about that." He deadpanned.

"Well, looks like your chances with her are gone. Poof, there goes your dignity." The strawberry blonde mocked, taunting Oruo.

"No need to rub it it." Oruo retorted.

"Do you two know each other?" Carmen decided to ask, she couldn't deny her curiosity.

"Yeah, we both grew up in the same town. There weren't many other kids so we hung out." The boy explained.

"Believe me, it wasn't a choice." Petra's said with sass, though the smile on her face countered the mild insult that flew from her mouth. "Where did you say you were from?" Petra decided to ask.

"A small village in wall Rose, you won't know it." Carmen lied, it was far easier for them to believe that, rather than she was from a secret foundation built by the government to experiment and exploit their subjects. She was one of the luckier of few.

"The way you speak, I thought you were from wall Sina." Petra joked, not far from the truth.

"No, my parents were strict on speaking the kings tongue, I suppose I unknowingly held onto their ways." Another lie, it didn't matter, she was good at them.

"I like the way you speak, makes you seem smart. However, we both know that behind all that show, you're more confused than any of us." Petra joked, but again, she was right. Even with her experience and skill set, Carmen was out of her comfort zone, out of her territory, she needed to adapt, and quick.

"It's difficult to understand when he shouts, I'd much prefer to be given orders in a more civilised way." Carmen defended.

"Yeah, why did he do that?" Petra agreed.

"Maybe to be an asshole?" Oruo offered.

"No, they think that by scaring us now, we'll be less afraid of the titans when we face them. It's a common military tactic, if we fear those in control, we won't question them." Carmen answered.

"You know a lot, maybe I should stick around you guys. Seems you know what's going on." Oruo decided, forming the trio that would survive camp together. Reluctantly, Carmen quietly accepted his offer. She had been gone a few days and already broken so many rules.