The rain poured down heavily, various green cape-clad figures running through the muck and mud, weighed down by heavy packs. Shadis watched intently, watching for any signs of slowing down or weakness as he rode upon a horse.  The majority of the cadets managed to keep up, a few stragglers here and there but the majority of these cadets had been training for the past two years now. Though he was curious about one in particular.

???: Ow ow ow come on lemme go!

Shadis directed his attention to two cadets, on jogging along as their hood was lifted and pulled forward, the other taller figure tugging her along with their right hand as they handled their pack with only their left.

???: I'm not gonna let you slip behind alright? If you drop out now I'll kick your ass.

The smaller cadet was let go as he and the other cadet began pushing forward to the head of the pack. Shadis made a mental note about what he just witnessed before barking orders at Cadet Arlet who had dragged behind.

Training in the forest took course next, with the various cadets taking their learned ODM skills and attempting to take down dummy titans set up through the trees. Once more Shadis watched the cadets, running over everything he knew about the special ones he had seen over the past years. Meanwhile, two cadets raced forward to try and take another strike at the upcoming dummy.

???: Hahaha this one's mine!

???: No way! you're not beating me this time!

As the two approached the titan they were to see the burlap sack that acted as the nape of the dummy titan had been sliced nearly in two.

???: Did you two really just lose to me? That's kinda sad...

The smaller of the two chuckled as he used his ODM gear to rappel up to a tree branch from which the voice originated from. 

???: You just so happened to be faster than us, you got lucky (Y/n).

The other figure joined them, elbowing the taller figure in the side.

???: Yeah you're pretty good yourself (Y/n).

The taller figure chuckled softly as he leaned back on the trunk of the tree. He lifted his hand and ruffled the hair of the newly arrived member much to her dismay. 

(Y/n): Let's just move on to the next figure before Shadis pops a vein and the steam burns us from over here.

You joked with the two, hearing an encouraging snicker from the two before adjusting the gear on your hips. you made sure everything was snuggly clipped into place before slowly falling off the branch, letting your fingers slip into the handgrips before clasping hard, the action causing your grappling hooks to shoot into two nearby trees. You straightened your forward and threw your hips forward, using the momentum to continue your journey to the next target. The other two cadets leaped forward, one ready to claim some more glory while the other simply wanted to eat, ready to continue with training. It was then that Shadis came to a particular cadet in his brain.

Shadis: (L/n)... when he got here the kid looked like hammered pig shit, pale and sickly. But throw him in a bunk with some others and give him something to look forward to and he fights like an injured beast. With some life behind those eyes, he still lags behind in most areas compared to other students but does seem to find a mild interest in the ODM gear and his flexibility and leg muscles make him quite versatile for MP or garrison duty. 

You sneezed softly as seemingly someone was talking about you, though that slight distraction was all that it took for you to lose focus of the tree you were barreling toward. You took a deep breath and calmed your nerves as you twisted your body to the left, barely scrapping by the trunk of the tree before your right grappling hook fired out into a tree branch, yanking your body right as you rebalanced yourself and swung through, firing into another branch and so on to move forward.

???: Good job (L/n), You nearly got to eat tree bark for dinner!

(Y/n): Such a shame too, it's pretty good this time of year!

Not only Shadis, but the other cadets had taken notice of your change in demeanor. When you arrived that first day you looked like a husk, the life sucked out of you, but now you seemed... normal? Well not too many of them were really normal themselves but your skin seemed healthier and light had returned to your (E/c) iris. However, they did have to admit you were kinda just a nicer version of one of their... less friendly associates that stuck around a certain blonde. You were highly protective of the two people you had taken under your wings and by the walls if anyone messed with them you were the first to hear about it and the first to end it. Those two lucky cadets were the one and only arrogant lad of Conny Springer, using you as a springboard to try and look better as the two of you trained. The other was a more surprising choice. Sasha Braus was an interesting figure as she was constantly searching for food and all-around sort of a goof, but she seemingly captured your interest and now you look after her as well as Springer. The best guess that some of the other cadets had was you had a crush on the potato-loving girl while others thought it might be more natural like the two of you developing a friendship in the early days. And the relationship between the three of you only built as the days passed with the latest example being during the hand-to-hand combat training as the three of you mimicked fighting styles you had seen in various places... you know rather than doing that actual training, which only served to anger Shadis.

(Y/n): Hoo... Shadis sure does get angry quickly...

You dodged the scrapping cadets as you tried to avoid the wrath of Shadis only to sadly find yourself in his sights. You felt something grip the back of your jacket, yanking you back. You let out a choked cough and looked up only to find the stern and the chilling gaze of Shadis looking down upon you, like a grim reaper ready to claim your life for simply annoying him. 

Shadis: thought you could run off (L/n)?

(Y/n): U-Uh of course not sure! I-I mean sir! I was uh... looking for a new o-opponent!

Shadis released his grip on your jacket and waited as you turned to him and stood up tall and straight. He met your gaze and then looked out at the cadets before giving a chilling smirk.

Shadis: Leonhart!

You turned your gaze to look in his direction to see a bored-looking girl stop what she was doing and turn to the drill sergeant before making her way over. As she approached you managed to get a closer look at her. The first thing you noted was her shorter height, even compared to Conny she was small though she seemed a bit more muscular than your associate. Her moderately short blonde hair was tied back, though her firing seemed to cover her lovely blue eyes a bit. She reached you and Shadis and looked at you two, lifting her face to reveal her roman nose and unimpressed demeanor. You couldn't quite pinpoint why but something about her intrigued you to no end. It was like you wanted to... examine her? No wait that sounds really weird.

Shadis: You got that (L/n)?!

You jumped from the sudden boom of the older man's voice as you nodded your head.

Shadis: Good. 

Shadis began to walk off and you scratched your head, concluding you were probably to spar with the blonde. You turned to her fully and extended your head.

(Y/n): (L/n), I'm guessing you're Leonhart?

The blonde glanced at your hand before turning from you, taking a few steps away before tossing something over her shoulder. You caught it with on hand, glancing down to see the dummy knife that all of the others had been using while you, Sasha, and Conny messed around. Heh... when you were with those two it was like your collective IQ dropped... or maybe that was the side effect of having fun and making friends after so long. You took up a pose, watching Leonhart do the same, lifting her fists while extending her leg forward a bit. you glanced down at the knife pointed at the blonde and decided to opt for a more orthodox style, flipping the knife to let your pinky rest on the top of the hilt, the knife more suited for slashing than thrusting anyway. Taling a gentle breath, your legs rushed forward and you threw your left hand forward first. Leonhart seemingly called your bluff and instead of ducking away, she threw a vicious kick at your extended leg before gripped your wrist and yanking you forward, throwing a quick jab into your shoulder before using your forward momentum to tackle your chest and lift you over her shoulder. 

(Y/n): W-whoa whoaaaaaa augh!

You cried out as you were suddenly on the ground. You opened your eyes to find the blonde looming mere inches from your face, the dummy knife resting on your throat as she used her hands and legs to pin your knees, left elbow, and throat.

Leonhart: Don't ever get distracted while fighting an opponent. It can kill you.

She marked those words by pressing the knife closer to your throat before pulling away. A grunt escaped your lips as you picked yourself up and rubbed off the dirt. You glanced up at the blonde as she seemingly awaited you to stand up so she could finish this little sparring session. You put weight onto the leg Leonhart kicked only to find it in very harsh pain. You grit your teeth and put up your hands. The blonde seemed to have a mild impressive view of you, actually standing to spar once more though she put enough force into the kick to shatter your calf. She raised the knife and readied herself.

(Y/n): Let's go.

Leonhart didn't need to be told twice as she was before you in an instant. You did manage to counter her first slash, letting your hand fly forward to grip her free wrist. The blonde let her eyes widen a bit before sighing. She ducked under your arms, twisting your body into an awkward position before throwing a knee into the left side of your ribs. You coughed out in a hack, trying to twist back into fighting form only for the blonde to use your coiled momentum to flip you, your head slamming into the dirt as your body coiled on top of you, your aching vision looking up into the sky through your legs.

Leonhart: And dead. 

The girl remarked as she dropped the knife next to your face. 

(Y/n): W-Wait!

The blonde stopped with a sigh and turned back to you to see you had extended a hand in between your legs up to her. Leonhart was baffled at the display and walked back up to you.

(Y/n): that was one hell of a throw. I won't thank you for kicking the crap out of me, but could I at least get my opponent's name?

Your softly asked question as well as the position you were in caused the blonde's exterior to crack, the most ghostly of smiles sliding onto her lips, though you would never tell. She decided to indulge in your strange nature and lowered a bit to take your hand. Her hands were warm for a girl with such a cold exterior.

Annie: Annie Leonhart.

(Y/n): (Y/n) (L/n).

you shook her hand once before she pulled away and left to find something more interesting to do. Meanwhile, you were sure something was cracked or bruised or... you were just in a lot of pain. You managed to unfold yourself but it took Sasha and Conny who was rubbing his temples to come over and lift you up, letting you support your unbalanced weight on them as you looked after the fleeting sight of Annie. she was a strange one for sure, but it seemed to interest you as well. Maybe being locked away for so long in your Father's home had turned you into a weirdo. But as you glanced at the concerned faces of Sasha and Conny, you were just glad to be a weirdo that had something worth fighting for...