Commander Jeb walked up to Jason. "Hey, you!" He yelled.
"Sir!" Jason exclaimed with a determined look on his face, and threw his right hand, balled into a fist, over his heart.
"Whadda they call you, maggot?"
"Jason Probst from Shinganshina, sir!"
Commander Jeb looked down at Jason. "Wow, seriously? Why'd your parents ruin your life with such an unoriginal name?"
"It was my grandfather, sir!"
"Jason Probst!" Commander Jeb yelled, leaning closer. "Why is a runt like you here?"
"To help humanity overcome the Giants, sir!" Jason said in an effort to raise his voice.
"That is delightful to hear!" Jeb exclaimed. "You'll be a great light snack for them." He moved onto the next soldier. "Whaddaya call yourself?" He growled.
"Sir, my name is Jordan Maron from the Trost district!"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Jeb yelled, and Jordan flinched. "I'm from Trost, sir!"
"Look at them go," Another instructor with the same green coat as Jeb mused as he watched the Commander scream at new trainees. Another instructor, younger than the first, was standing nearby him, who nodded. "The man is a master when it comes to new recruits."
"IS A PATHETIC WORM LIKE YOU THE BEST MINECRAFTIA HAS TO OFFER?" Jeb screamed in the face of a girl with long, purple hair. "Sir! I'm afraid that's the case, sir!" She yelled fearfully.
"But what's the point of all the intimidation?" The other instructor asked as Jeb hollered at the girl in the background.
"We can scare the living daylights outta them, then once they're weakened we can then mold them into the fit soldiers they signed up to be," The first instructor explained.
The younger instructor looked over at Jeb, surprised. "There's some trainees he's passing by," He noted, as Jeb stalked right past a blue-eyed girl with long, brown hair.
"A drill instructor is nothing compared to what those recruits have seen," The older instructor explained. "They were there, witnesses to the giant attack two years ago. You can see it in their eyes. Come on, let's go," He said, and the two instructors walked off, leaving Jeb to his job.
"Whadda we have over here?" He said, eyeing a boy with medium-brown hair.
"Mitchell Hughes, sir! From the Trost district!" The boy replied obediently, throwing his fist over his heart in the salute. "And why are you here, cadet?" Jeb asked.
"To join the military police, sir!" Mitch replied honestly, with a casual smirk.
Jeb stared at him. "...That's nice," He said. "You wanna live in the interior walls, do ya?"
"Yes," Mitch replied brightly, just as Jeb headbutted Mitch in the face. Mitch fell to his knees and clutched his head in pain.
"NOBODY TOLD YOU TO SIT, RECRUIT!" Jeb hollered at him. "IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THIS, HUGHES, THEN YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT JOINING THE MILITARY POLICE!"
He took another step to the recruit next to Mitch. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SMILING, IDIOT?" He demanded.
"Ian Stapleton at your service, sir, from Jinae City, the south side of Wall Rose!" The recruit exclaimed with a grin. He had short dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. "I want to join the Military Police to give my life and service to the king!"
"Well, then..." Jeb muttered. "That makes you a real fool." He drew his face uncomfortably close to Ian's. "You want the truth?" He said ominously. "The only use the king has for you is to serve as Giant food!"
He stalked away from the confused Ian, to a brown, fluffy animal hybrid of some sort. "You're up next, furball!" Jeb growled.
"Oh, me?" The furry asked, then exclaimed louder, "uh-Sir! Jerome Aceti from Ragako village, sir!"
Jeb looked down at Jerome's furry brown paw, the left paw, saluted over his heart. With seemingly no effort, Jeb grabbed the sides of Jerome's head and held him up in front of him.
"You did the salute wrong," Jeb growled. "That was the first thing that you were taught when you got here. The salute is supposed to represent the resolve in your heart to stand up and fight the Giants. IS YOUR HEART ON YOUR RIGHT SIDE?!"
Jeb paused and looked to the left of Jerome as he heard the sound of chewing. Two rows behind Jerome, a boy with messy dark brown hair and large glasses was nonchalantly eating a potato. Jeb and the rest of the recruits stared at him in shocked silence.
Jeb dropped Jerome without warning, who gladly fell to the ground, out of Jeb's sight.
"You there," He said quietly to the boy with the potato. "What are you doing over there?"
The boy threw a hurried glance at Jeb, then looked away, pretending not to notice. He took another bite as Jeb stomped up to him.
"YES, I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU IDIOT! WHO ARE YOU AND WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, EATING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?"
The boy swallowed hurriedly and put his right hand-and the potato he was holding-up to his heart in a salute. "Tyler Christie from Dauper village at your service reporting for duty, sir!" The boy exclaimed hurriedly.
Jeb stared the boy down. "Tyler Christie, huh? And what do you have there in your right hand?"
"A baked potato!" Tyler exclaimed in the loud, adressing-the-Commander voice. "It was sitting alone in the mess hall, and food should not be put to waste, sir!"
Jeb frowned. "I understand not wasting the food. But eating it here? Why here...of all the times to eat?"
Tyler didn't blink. "It looked very delicious, and it was getting cold, sir!"
Jeb stared down at Tyler more. The entire valley of soldiers was silent. "Why, I can't understand...would you eat that potato?"
Tyler frowned, and dropped the loud recruit voice. "Do you...do you not know why we eat potatoes? I thought everybody knew, sir." This guy was either a very good actor and troublemaker, or an idiot. Probably both.
The only sound heard was of a faint breeze as everyone glanced over their shoulders to throw shocked faces at the scene of Tyler and Jeb. Jeb was silent. Tyler, noticing something wrong, gave a nervous laugh and broke the potato into two pieces.
"Um, here, sir," He said, looking guilty. He held up the smaller half of the potato. "You can have half."
Jeb took the potato in shock. "Have half? Really?"
Tyler smiled.

~*~*~

"Man, I thought Jeb was gonna kill Tyler," Jerome muttered as he watched Tyler run past the cabin again.
The sun was setting, and the boy was jogging painfully around the empty valley. That had been his punishment for eating during training-running laps for five hours. Adam, Jerome, Ian, Jason, and the purple-haired girl, who had told them to call her Tiffy, were watching him from their cabins.
"I know," Adam agreed, standing next to Jerome on the cabin porch. "How's that for the first day of training?"
"It's funny," Jerome went on. "Being told to run laps for five hours didn't seem to bother him nearly as much as losing food privileges for the next week. I think he said he's from Dauper, I'm pretty sure that's a small hunting village up in the mountains."
"Hey, what's that?" Adam asked, looking over at a horse pulling a carriage up out of the valley.
"Dropouts," Tiffy explained. "They prefer to work in the fields instead of becoming soldiers."
"On the first day? Already?" Jason asked, surprised.
"I guess that's the way it is," Ian said with a shrug. "If you're not strong enough, you leave."
"I can't believe people would rather want to farm than become soldiers, like they wanted to," Adam said, watching the carriage go.
Ian and Tiffy looked over at Adam interestedly. "I know about some of us, but you never said where you were from, Adam," Ian said curiously.
"The same as Jason," Adam replied, putting his arm around Jason's shoulders. "From Shinganshina."
Jerome and Tiffy's eyes widened.
"Oh, wow," Ian said, trying to hide his shock. "That means..."
"You saw it," Jerome picked up. "You were there that day!" Ian looked over at Jerome. "Hey, quiet!" He said, not wanting him to upset Adam.
"The Colossal one," Jerome went on excitedly. "Did you see him?!"
"Yeah," Adam said grimly. "Yeah, I did."
Later, in the mess hall, many of the trainees were crowded around the table where Adam sat, eating. "Yeah, okay?" He was saying, trying to hide his annoyance. "I saw the Colossal Giant."
Everyone gasped, with looks of horror and wonder on their faces. "Woah, seriously?" Jordan said quietly. "How tall was he?"
"He stuck his head over the outer wall," Adam explained.
There was curious muttering among the crowd.
"I heard he stepped over the wall completely!"
"Me, too!"
"That was the rumor in my village, too!"
"He was big, but he wasn't that big," Adam explained. Tiffy spoke up. "So, what did it look like?" She asked breathlessly.
"It was a Giant over a hundred blocks tall," Adam explained, "And its skin was even more rotten and gross than other Giants."
"What about the Armored Giant?" Jordan asked.
"Oh, that's what they're calling it?" Adam asked. "In all the panic it was just another Giant. It had diamond armor, but I wasn't really that close to it."
"No way," A fishlike hybrid named Quentin breathed. "So, what were they like?"
Adam froze at the question. His mind flashed back to the limp and defeated body of his mother going into the Giant's mouth-
Adam clasped a hand over his mouth and looked down at the table with wide eyes. Everyone watched him in terrified silence.
"C-come on," Ian said after a moment to everyone. "That's enough questions, okay? We should leave Adam alone."
"Sorry," Jerome apologized, watching Adam with wide eyes. "We didn't mean to-" "It's not like that!" Adam insisted. "If we just focus on getting stronger, we can fight back against the Giants, right? I'm going to join the Survey Corps, and-" "Hey, are you crazy or something?" A voice asked from the table on the other side of Adam. Adam looked up in surprise at the person-Mitch, he remembered from earlier.
"I know that this isn't my business, but joining the Survey Corps is like a death sentence," Mitch said with his casual grin.
"I guess we'll see," Adam said, looking over at Mitch. "Well, I'll see. You seem like you've got your mind set on the Military Police."
"Look, I'm just speaking honestly," Mitch said innocently, still smirking. "I think it's better than acting like you're so tough and pretending you're not scared like everyone else, right?"
Adam looked at Mitch incredulously. "Are you trying to pick a fight?" He asked, surprised.
"Stop it, guys..." Ian protested as Adam and Mitch both stood up. They walked up until they were face-to-face, but before either one could say anything a bell was heard in the distance. The bell that notified everyone to get to bed before Commander Jeb came in and screamed at them until their ears fell off.
"Hey, I apologize," Mitch said, his casual smirk returning. "Sorry for dismissing your choice of career." He held out his hand. "Whaddaya say? We good?"
"...Right," Adam said. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too." He held out his hand and high-fived it with Mitch's. He turned and walked out if the mess hall before more trouble stirred. Ty followed him out.

~*~*~

It was nighttime. Crickets were chirping in the background. The cabins were quiet as the trainees went to sleep. One torch was placed between two cabins to provide some light at night. There were uneven, tired footsteps as Tyler stumbled into the light of the torch. "Hah...finished..." He panted, and instantly faceplanted into the dirt. He lay down for a moment, finally resting after five hours of running, just as footsteps were heard coming towards him from the left.
Tyler inhaled, and shot up off the ground. He practically flung himself at the newcomer, snatching what they had been carrying in their hands. The newcomer yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards, out of the shadows and into the torchlight. He had bright, blonde hair and blue eyes. He watched in shock as Tyler's eyes widened at what he had snatched. "IT'S BREAD!" He shrieked, holding the loaf excitedly.
"I'm sorry there isn't more!" The blonde boy apologized quietly. "That's all I could take!"
Tyler looked over at the boy in shock, who held up a glass bottle of water. "You should probably drink some water, too," He said with a small grin. Tyler flung himself at the boy. "You're a GOD, aren't you?!" He exclaimed. "BLESS YOU!" He wailed thankfully to the boy.
"What are you two up to?" A new voice asked, and Tyler and the blonde turned around to see another boy standing over them. He had brown hair and eyes, and wore a sort of white crown with a purple cloak, hood down.
Tyler looked up at the boy in interest for a moment, then disregarded him and began to practically inhale the loaf of bread.
"Well, uh, Tyler was running all day, I thought he might be hungry," The other boy explained.
The purple-cloaked boy looked over at the blonde boy. "I see. So you're being nice, right, Brice?"
Tyler finished the bread in a loud gulp, and gave an exhausted sigh, collapsing onto Brice's lap. He fell asleep within seconds.
"What's the point in breaking the rules for that potato freak?" The cloaked boy asked. "Kindness doesn't get you anywhere."
Brice stared up at the boy with confused blue eyes, not sure how to respond.
The other boy sighed. "Whatever," He said, and stepped forward. "Let's just get him to bead already." He grabbed Tyler from Brice's lap and hoisted him onto his back.
"I'm confused," Brice admitted. "Are you trying to be nice too, Seto?"
The cloaked by smirked. "I'm helping him so he'll owe me in the future," He explained cleverly, and took the out-cold Tyler to bed.

~*~*~

The next day, Commander Jeb stood in front of a large machine that seemed to resemble some kind of tripod metal swing set. The troops of recruits stood in from of him, watching curiously.
"It's time for your first test, so listen up!" Jeb was hollering. "There is no place for you here if you cannot handle the maneuver gear! Fail and be shipped to the fields with the dropouts!"
The two other instructors were pacing from a distance, watching the testing. "We're just testing the fundamentals here," The older instructor was saying. "You can pretty much determine a cadet's skill for the three-dimensional maneuver gear just by watching." He glanced over at one of the metal swings and nodded approvingly. "Like that one, over there."
Ty was in one of the swings, staying completely still, barely swaying despite his feet being a block or two off the ground.
"See? He instinctively knows what to do. He's barely struggling with the gear at all," The instructor noted. He watched some of the other cadets in the tests. Jerome was flailing his arms but was at least staying upright. Tyler was leaning slightly forward in an odd position but was barely swinging. Mitch was concentrating hard, arms held up slightly for balance. "I'd say plenty of this year's cadets are capable."
The younger instructor nodded, then another cadet caught his eye. "What about that guy?" He asked, pointing.
"That's exactly why we run these tests," The other instructor explained. "Not all trainees are exactly capable of using the gear."
Adam was hanging upside down in his gear, swaying back and fourth as though he had just flipped over.
"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, DAHLBERG?!" Jeb was screaming at him. "BRING YOURSELF UP!"
Adam looked at the crowd of trainees watching, some snickering. His face grew hot with embarrassment-and the blood rushing to his head from dangling upside-down, of course. How do I work this thing? He thought. As soon as his feet left the ground, he had instantly flipped backwards, and ended up dangling awkwardly. He couldn't control his gear at all.
Later that day, as the sun was setting on the training valley, empty except for three cadets. Adam was in the gear once more. His feet weren't off the ground, and he could stand easily.
"You should be fine," Ty was explaining. "Just remember what they taught you; just focus on balance and staying upright."
"Loosen up your stance a bit," Jason added. "If I can do it, of course you can!"
Both Jason and Ty had proven to show some potential with the gear. Adam, not so much. Adam had already been humiliated once today, and he couldn't bear the thought of having to stop training to work in the fields instead-as a dropout. He couldn't let his dream down.
"Okay," Adam repeated, trying to hide his nervousness. "Loose stance, but balanced."
Jason nodded, and began to turn a metal crank located on the hind pole of the large, metal tripod. The crank began to slowly lift Adam off his feet.
As soon as his toes left the ground, Adam felt himself fall backwards. In a desperate attempt to keep himself upright, he lurched forward-too hard, and fell right on his face.
That night, in the mess hall, Adam sat at a table in the corner of the building, with Jason and Ty. A large bandage had been wrapped around his head from the earlier incident. He could see other trainees at different tables shoot him looks and mutter. Adam's eyes widened. He was as humiliated as ever.
He snapped back to reality as Ty grabbed his shoulder as hard as he could. "Ow!" Adam muttered quietly, and Ty let go. "Don't let them get to you," Ty assured Adam.
"Worrying won't get you anywhere," Jason added. "There's still time to practice in the morning."
"I'm pathetic," Adam muttered. "I can't even stand up straight, how am I supposed to become a soldier, and avenge her...?"
"It might be time to give up on that dream."
Adam and Jason looked over at Ty surprisedly. "W-what do you mean?" Adam asked. Ty stared down at his plate. "I think you should give up on your dream to become a soldier. There's other ways you can help humanity."
"After everything that's happened?" Adam asked desperately. "After everything we saw that day, after what happened to my mom?! It'd be crazy to just give up!"
"I know," Ty said, "But it doesn't matter if you have all the determination in the world; wether or not you're fit to become a soldier isn't up to you."
Adam stared in horror at Ty, his words sinking in. In the distance, the bell rang to go to bed. People started to arouse from the tables and head to their cabins, but Adam, Ty and Jason stayed put.
"You don't understand," Ty went on. "Let's go," Jason said, seeing Adam's hurt expression. The two hurriedly left the mess hall. Ty didn't notice as he was too busy talking quietly, looking down. "I wouldn't dream of leaving you to work in the fields while I become a soldier. Wherever you go, I go." He looked up to turn to Adam, only to blink in surprise to see Tyler sitting in Adam's place. The mess hall was now empty, and Tyler had hung behind.
"So, uh..." Tyler said, pointing to Ty's plate. "Are you gonna finish that baguette?"

~*~*~

"What's the trick to the maneuver gear?" Jerome echoed with a chuckle. It was nighttime, and everyone was in their cabins.
"Haha, don't really know. Guess I just got the gift!" The bacca laughed.
"I'm still trying to figure out your trick, Adam!" Mitch exclaimed with a laugh. "How do you even hit your head on the ground? You didn't touch the ground yesterday when you flipped!"
"Please, guys!" Adam begged the two. "You can't just give me some advice?"
Jerome chuckled. "There's nothing I can do. Isn't it just a natural thing or whatever? Maybe you're just meant to work in the fields."
Adam's eyes widened in fear at the thought as Mitch and Jerome walked away. Jason, who had been standing next to him, flashed him a concerned glance. "You know, there are two people I've heard are really good with the gear," He piped up.
"Come on, guys!" Adam exclaimed a couple minutes later. He and Jason were sitting with two other trainees on a pair of beds. "A lot of people say that you're really good at it!"
"Sorry, Adam," One of the two trainees said apologetically. He had short, dark brown hair and had a strange accent. "There's no trick to just hanging there. Not to be harsh, but I'm not really the guy for advice."
"Bodil..." Adam pleased, then sighed. "Alright..."
"Let's just hope you get it tomorrow," Jason said optimistically.
"Hold on," The other trainee said as Adam and Jason moved to get off the bed. A melon hybrid with a pair of 3D glasses. If Adam remembered correctly, his name was Bash. "Aren't the two of you from Shinganshina?"
"Yeah, that's right," Jason said, blinking.
"Then...Then you should easily know how terrifying Giants are. Why would you wanna be soldiers?" Bash asked confusedly.
Adam and Jason exchanged a glance. "I didn't see the things Adam did," Jason admitted. "Before anyone even realized how bad it really was, he had already seen the worst of what they could do. And I...I knew I couldn't just do nothing once the government forced all those refugees to reclaim Wall Maria." Bodil and Bash nodded understandingly. "So, where are you from?" Jason asked them.
Bash looked down "Oh, Bodil and I? We were both from a mountain village, east of the Wall Maria."
Jason and Adam both gasped. "Doesn't that mean-?"
"Yeah," Bash said grimly. "Our village wasn't exactly as large as most-word hadn't been received of the wall being breached."
"Before we even knew what was happening, they were there," Bodil added.
"It happened at dawn," Bash went on. Adam and Jason listened with wide eyes. "We just heard these strange rumblings, that got louder and louder. Eventually, I realized there was something wrong, so I looked out my window and...a Giant's face. Staring right at me."
Jason gulped, trying to imagine the scene.
"After that," Bash continued, "Everything was just a blur. W-we all just panicked-"
"Easy now," Bodil interrupted. "You're scaring yourself."
"Oh, uh, sorry," Bash apologized. "But basically," He continued, turning to Adam and Jason, "The four of us are different, y'know? From the rest if the trainees, who weren't witnesses to the Giant's attacks."
"Hey," Bodil said, and nudged Bash. "Don't be so loud."
A couple minutes later, the four were walking through the valley. It was pitch black out, and Bash was holding a torch for light. "I joined the ranks to try and get in the Military Police," Bash explained. "I honestly just want to be safe in the inner walls and serve the king...if that doesn't work, I think I'll just drop out entirely. I don't really want the Survey Corps or the Garrison."
"There's no shame in that, Bash," Jason said assuringly. "We all care about our lives. And you, Bodil?"
"I'm gonna join the Survey Corps," Bodil explained. "Like the two of you. I want to go back to my village. To reclaim it."
They were out of the valley by now, heading through a forest. They all followed Bash's torchlight.
"What about you?" Bash asked, looking over his shoulder at Adam. "Why'd you sign up?"
Adam thought for a moment. "I...I decided that I had to avenge my city. Avenge my mother...I just feel like it's my responsibility," He admitted.
There was silence for a moment, the only noise their footsteps as they headed through the forest. They began to trek up a hill.
"But, you saw what the Giants can do, right?" Bodil asked. "And you still wanna fight them?"
"Of course," Adam replied. "It's just...after the training, I don't know if I'm really cut out for it."
They reached the top of the hill, just as the moon emerged from the clouds in the pitch black night. The whole forest below them was illuminated. They could see a valley below them-not the valley they trained in, but a different one-here, the ground was thick with trees. In the center of the valley was a lake, that sparkled in the moonlight. All four of the trainees stared out at the sight for a few moments.
Bodil turned to Adam with a smile. "Then Bash and I will help you," He said. "We'll take it from step one, adjusting your gear. You seem pretty determined, right?"
Adam nodded. "Thank you, to both of you."

~*~*~

The trainees were all lined up in front of the machines for testing gear. It was morning again. the sun glaring down on them from high in the sky.
Adam was in the device once again, ready to perform in a last effort. He looked up determinedly at Commander Jeb, who was standing in front of him, ready to see if Adam really was cut out to be a soldier or not.
"Adam Dahlberg," Jeb said. "Are you ready?"
"Yessir!" Adam replied. In the front if the crowd watching from behind Jeb, Adam saw Ty, Jason, Bash and Bodil watching, and he realized that he had to do it this time. There was no other option. He wouldn't let them down.
Jeb nodded to Jordan, who was to turn the crank that pulled Adam up. "Proceed," He ordered.
Jordan obediently began to turn the crank, and Adam was slowly lifted up. Moment of truth... he thought nervously to himself. He didn't fall onto his feet right away as he got up, which was at least a good sign. But he was still being raised. There was a small jolt as he came to a stop. This was it. He was good so far...
Adam threw out his hands on either side of him for balance, but was amazed at what was happening. I'm doing it! He thought to himself. The other trainees began to cheer. I'm really doing it!
Suddenly, he began to wobble. Before he could do anything, he flipped backwards. This time, he threw his hands in front of him to stop himself before his head hit the ground again, but he was upside down once again.
"N-no!" He choked out, struggling to get back up to no avail. "Just one more time-I swear!"
Jeb stepped forward. "Lower him," He said, his face expressionless.
Adam got onto his knees, back at the ground, and looked down in shame, trembling. There was silence as Jeb stared down at him. Then, he looked up, behind Adam over at Jordan.
"Maron. Exchange belts with him," He ordered. Jordan looked surprised, but obediently took off his gear and switched with Adam's.
Soon, Adam was lifted upwards once again, in Jordan's gear. But this time, he wasn't struggling at all. No-this was much easier than his old gear. He stayed upright with no problem.
"Your equipment was defective," Jeb explained, holding Adam's old belt. "When using a piece of gear that's actually functional, you seem to be just fine."
He looked down at the defective belt with a frown. "Can't believe the supply depot never noticed this...might have to go down there and, ah, teach them a lesson."
The crowd watched Adam in amazement. He heard their muttering.
"He still did it! Even with defective gear!"
"Amazing!"
Adam, still balancing above, looked at Jeb in surprise. "So, does this mean...I made the cut?"
Jeb stared at him, still emotionless. "You're doing fine," He said. "Now keep training, cadets!" He yelled to the others.
Adam couldn't believe his ears. He did it. He was cut out to be a soldier after all.
He sat triumphantly in the gear. He could still keep his dream after all. He could do it.