"PICK UP THE PACE, SLACKERS!" Jeb's voice boomed throughout the forest. The day was misty and raining slightly, and the cadets were hard at training in the nearby pine forest. Muddy boots splashed in the wet soil as the soldiers-in-training ran, Jeb riding on a horse besides them. The trainees carried supply packs on their backs, and their hoods were up.
Jeb pulled his horse back to fall behind the group, to a trainee lagging behind. "What's your problem, Probst?" He yelled. Jason was panting hard, trying all his strength to catch up. "Is the weight on your back too much? Pick up the pace, or you'd be Giant feed by now!" With that, the commander sped up to continue screaming at the rest of the trainees.
"D-damn..." Jason muttered to himself. He had barely any strength left in him.
"Come on!" A new voice called, not nearly as loud as Jeb's. Bodil lagged behind to meet up with Jason. "We're being graded on this, you can't give up now!" He urged Jason on.
"I...I'm trying..." Jason said between pants, but managed to pick up his pace a little at Bodil's reminder.
"Just focus on making the cut, okay?" Bodil said with a grin. He ran at Jason's pace to help him gain the energy to speed up.
Jeb snuck a glance a the two from over his shoulder. Martin Petrov, better known as Bodil, Jeb thought as he watched him urge on Jason. An excelling student, expert in combat and training. Always helping everyone. Can be a sneaky prankster, though.
Finding new strength at having Bodil wait for him, Jason sprinted forward into the center of the jogging group. Jeb watched him go.
Jason Probst. Weak as a fly, he thought as Jason jogged on. But always makes it with his determination in the end.
The next day, the rain had cleared up. A different group of cadets was practicing in the forest. Tall, wooden giant-shaped structures with a green, spongelike material on the 'necks' were scattered throughout the forest.
There was the whirring sound of wires as three trainees whizzed past a structure. The first two sliced the sponges right open with the dual-swords that were part if their three-dimensional maneuver gear. The third left a smaller nick.
Jeb watched from the branch on one of the trees nearby, noting the trainees.
Ashley Surcombe, He observed, watching the girl who had left the first slash. She had long. brown hair and blue eyes, with two red bows on her head that somehow stayed on her hair despite her flying through the forest on her maneuver gear.
Quiet and rather shy, but highly underestimated. Gifted in combat.
He looked over at the other trainee who had left the second mark. Brandon Ashur. Nicknamed Bashur. Talented when it comes to combat, but too foolish and unsure of himself.
Jeb turned to the final trainee who had left the smaller mark.
Mitchell Hughes. Above average in fighting techniques, but overly proud of himself.
Jeb watched on as the trainees continued their practice.
Those showoffs, Mitch thought unhappily to himself as he whizzed through the air. I can do better. Just have to beat them to the sponges. I'll make it to the Military Police no matter what!
He soared past another post with an untouched green sponge on the neck. He smirked and closed in-
"Coming through!" A voice called above him, and a brown blur streaked right past him.
Jerome flew through the air with the gas in his gear pushing him forward, and slashed a nice, deep mark in the sponge. He glanced over in surprise as he heard screaming.
Tyler flew past him and Mitch with a large grin on his face. "I BELIEVE I CAN FLYYY!" He hollered.
Jeb watched him go. Tyler Christie. Great instincts, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer...
He looked over at Jerome, who almost forgot to fly away as he hovered in the air, watching Tyler go.
Jerome Aceti. Rather clumsy, but can still pull his own weight well enough.
Not too farther away, two more cadets were slashing different posts. Ty zipped past both the posts, leaving deep, clean marks in both. Adam followed more slowly, slashing another one to only leave a mark half the size of Ty's.
Ty Ellis, Jeb observed. It's no overstatement to say he could just be one of the best soldiers we've had in years.
He looked over at Adam.
Adam Dahlberg. Skills in combat struggle greatly. But driven with a heavy sense of responsibility, and the determination of a hundred men.
Adam turned mid-flight, and aimed for the other target. He brought his swords down and left a deep gash, a satisfying mark.

~*~*~

Bodil charged at Adam, holding the crude wooden dagger. Adam grabbed Bodil's hand and pushed it and the dagger down, then threw Bodil to the ground.
"Ow, geez..." Bodil groaned, getting up off the ground.
"Sorry!" Adam apologized. "Hahah, I'll be gentler next time." He held out a hand, and Bodil grabbed it, and Adam helped him to his feet.
"Don't worry about it!" Bodil insisted with a grin. He held out the dagger for Adam. "Your turn."
The recruits were all training in a field surrounded by forest, taking turns in groups of two with one attacking with the dagger, and the other defending themselves against them.
"This training doesn't make sense," Adam said as he took the dagger. "We signed up to fight Giants. Are Giants gonna come at us with knives? And how would we even use these moves against them when they're twelve blocks tall?"
"Well, we have to be prepared for anything, I guess," Bodil said. "Who knows what could happen? Soldiers gotta be ready for anything, or something like that."
He glanced to the side, and Adam followed his gaze. A girl with brown hair was walking between the spread-out pairs fighting.
"Wow, what a slacker," Adam commented. "I think her name's Ashley, right?"
Bodil nodded. Something glinted in his eyes. "Maybe someone should teach her a lesson. A soldier does have to be prepared for anything, right?"
Ashley continued to walk on, until she stopped when she saw Bodil standing in her path.
"What's up?" Bodil asked with a mischievous grin. "Oh, sorry, you too busy slacking off?"
Ashley glared at him, but said nothing. The girl had always been rather quiet, as Adam recalled.
"Alright, well, go teach her that lesson you were talking about," Bodil said with a happy grin, pushing Adam towards Ashley. "What?!" Adam exclaimed. "That was your idea, idiot!"
"Sorry, I can't hear you, too busy pushing you towards Ashley. Don't worry, you've had plenty more practice time than she has, right?" Bodil asked innocently, and laughed.
Ashley got into a nervous battle stance. Adam sighed. "Um, well, don't expect me to go easy on you!" He warned Ashley, then charged at the girl, clutching the dagger in his hand.
In a split second, Ashley's expression flashed from timid to furious, and in another split second Adam was on the ground before he knew what had happened. There was a sharp pain in his leg where Ashley had kicked him-hard-and knocked him over.
"What the...? That was-ow," Adam groaned as he tried to stand up.
"Are we done already?" Ashley asked, turning to Bodil. The shyness was an act all along...?
Bodil looked surprised, but crossed his arms. "You know the drill. Your turn to use the dagger." He obviously just wanted to see her beat Adam up some more.
"Wait!" Adam exclaimed, getting to his feet and shooting an outraged look at Bodil. "This-" He never got to finish his sentence as Ashley grabbed his shoulder, kicked him across the back of his legs, and flipped him over entirely.
Adam fell to the ground with a painful thud, and Ashley walked away. Bodil stared at her in shock. Ashley tossed him the dagger. "Do I get to fight you now, too?" Ashley asked with an innocent grin. She seemed to be enjoying herself.
"Er...not exactly," Bodil started.
"Bodil," Adam called sternly from the floor.
Bodil sighed and faced Ashley. "Alright," He said, trying to hide his fear. "Just gonna warn you though, I'm-"
Bodil lay on the ground next to Adam within seconds. "Ow," He groaned. Ashley grinned and turned away.
"That's some skill you got," Adam said to Ashley. "Where'd you learn to fight?"
Ashley looked back at him and blinked. "Oh-my father." She sighed. "It's all really pointless, though."
Adam stood up, confused. "You mean the training exercises?"
Ashley nodded, and glanced around, lowering her voice. "Only the top ten trainees get to choose the Military Police, where they're in the safety of the interior walls, and they don't have to fight at all, rarely. Combat with other people won't go to our scores at all."
She watched other people fighting, her blue eyes wide and meaningful. "The top ten are the best fighters. They send the best fighters to a place where they don't have to fight. You fight so you don't have to fight. It's all backwards, and you're just supposed to be a pawn in the game."
Adam looked around him in shock as he realized Ashley's words were true. Ashley walked away.
Bodil got to his feet. "Damn, I thought she was a quiet girl who slacked off. She's a freaking beast in combat..."
Ashley's right... Adam thought to himself in shock. We train and fight now so that we can join the Military Police and hardly fight at all. But why?

~*~*~

That year, a little over two hundred recruits graduated their training. The graduation ceremony was held at night, where the recruits were then presented with three choices of career...
"You all have shown your bravery and courage through these three years of training!" Jeb announced to the lines of recruits before him. Behind him were some other instructors and officials observing this year's new line of soldiers.
"You are now open to three choices of career, choose wisely!" he continued. He pointed to three banners displayed behind him and the officials, who moved so everyone could see. He pointed to a red banner with the symbol of a creeper face. "There's the Garrison, where you patrol the cities and help reinforce the walls!"
He pointed to the second banner, a blue one with the symbol of a yellow pickaxe. "The Survey Corps, where you head out into Giant territory, and fight them for what once belonged to us!"
He pointed to the third banner, a green one with the symbol of a piston.
"Finally, the Military Police, where you maintain order within Wall Sina directed by the king! Only the top ten cadets are able to join the Military Police, so the rest of you are only able to choose between the Garrison and the Survey Corps! The top ten cadets, the top trainees out of all of you, have already been named and stand here before you!"
Standing tall and proud in front of the legion of new soldiers, were the top ten. In order from tenth to first, the cadets were placed in the order of Brice, Tyler, Jerome, Ian, Mitch, Adam, Ashley, Bash, Bodil, and finally, Ty, ranking in first.
We finally made it, Adam thought to himself, overwhelmed with joy and pride. We've finished out training. And now...now, we're soldiers!

~*~*~

It was nighttime, and the newly-graduated soldiers were celebrating inside a big, fancy building with a large hall. The many candles cast a cheerful, warm glow over the soldiers as they cheered and chatted, raising their glasses to a new life as a soldiers.
"Military Police, here I come!" Jerome exclaimed happily. Ranking in eighth as one of the top ten, he'd be able to join them.
"Do you understand all the food we're gonna get?!" Tyler said with a big grin. "They're rich in the interior! We can eat like kings!" Tyler obviously had his mind set on the military police as well, ranking just below Jerome in ninth.
At one of the tables nearby, Mitch sat with an uneaten plate of food. "How did I only get ranked in sixth?" He muttered to himself. "I could have done better..."
Unhappy with his rank, he sighed. "Well...I suppose I can still join the Military Police," He said, and grinned. "Maybe I'm not the best, but hey, I reached my goal, right?"
A little farther away, a small crowd had formed around Adam, Jason and Ty.
"Are you seriously gonna join the Survey Corps?" Jordan was asking with wide eyes.
"You made it to the top ten, why wouldn't you want to take the opportunity of the Military Police?" Quentin chimed in.
Adam shrugged, uncomfortable with all the attention. "The Survey Corps was still my goal in the first place," He admitted. "I don't wanna put all my training to waste. We learned to fight Giants for three years, why wouldn't I want to fight them, then?"
"Are you crazy?" Jordan exclaimed, a little too loudly, and many of the others turned to stare.
Jordan looked around at all the stares, and shrank slightly, with embarrassment. Then, he shook it off and looked back up at Adam. "There's just...so many people die in the Survey Corps. Die to Giants! Why would you want to fight? Don't you realize...realize how low your odds of survival are?!" He gave Adam a meaningful look. Everyone was watching Adam and Jordan in silence.
"...Does that mean we're gonna sit back and do nothing about the Giants, then?" Adam replied after a moment. "All our training would go to waste. All the lives lost five years ago would be in vain. In my opinion, when a fifth of the population dies to Giants, you don't sit around and wait to die to Giants again. You should fight back for everything we've lost!"
There was silence as everyone stared at Adam. Adam suddenly became conscious of the silence as everyone had listened to his mini-speech, and he looked away embarrassedly, taking off towards the door. Jason and Ty followed with shocked expressions. Mitch watched them go from his seat. So he's still going to join the Survey Corps? He thought. He sighed and looked away. It's over now. He can do what he wants. It's none of my business...Still can't believe it, though...
Adam sat on the stone stairs outside the hall, Jason and Ty walking up to him. He was silent as they sat down next to him.
"Um...that was quite a speech you gave," Jason said, looking up at the night sky.
Adam sighed. "I don't see why I keep telling everyone about the Survey Corps. They all want to join the Garrison and the Military Police, obviously. I'm just embarrassing myself at this point." He looked down at the stone pavement.
"Well...I'm joining the Survey Corps too," Jason said quietly. Adam's eyes widened. "Don't be an idiot!" He exclaimed. "I don't want you to follow me, I told you! Don't feel like you have to!"
"I want to fight for myself," Jason said, not meeting Adam's eyes. Adam stared at him in shocked silence.
"I guess I'm gonna have to join too, then," Ty said. "Oh, come on!" Adam exclaimed. "What did I just say to Jason? I don't want either of you to feel like you have to follow me! Ty, you were ranked first out of the two hundred trainees! You of all people should be joining the Military Police."
"Adam, you don't understand," Ty explained. "I'm going to go with you. I have to. I made a promise to your mom before she died. I promised that I would look out for you. I'm not letting her down." He cracked a grin and looked over at Adam. "Wether you like it or not, I've got your back."
Adam turned away, and looked down at the ground again. There was a moment of silence as all three of them sat there. Then, Adam looked up at the night sky, lost in thought. He stared off at the starry night, the silhouette of the wall in the distance. Jason and Ty looked up too, just as a shooting star streaked across the sky.

~*~*~

The next day, the main street of the city was lively as the Survey Corps rolled in. Adam, Ty, Jason, and some of their peers were gathered in the crowds on the sides of the streets as the blue-caped men rolled in. The new soldiers had only graduated yesterday-they hadn't been assigned their positions just yet.
A man with a black beard was sitting up tall on his horse, his black eyes fixed ahead.
"You get 'em, Commander Notch!" Someone cheered from the crowd. "Show the Giants who's boss!"
"Hey, look!" Someone exclaimed in front of Adam, who followed their gaze interestedly. "It's Captain Ant!"
Rolling in with some of the other blue-caped men was a man with short, dark hair and a goatee. "I heard he's better at fighting Giants than an entire fleet if soldiers!"
Captain Ant, overhearing the claim, looked the other way. "Spare me, please..." He muttered as he passed by on horse.
"Isn't this great?" Adam said to Ty and Jason. "Five years ago, no one was ever this excited about the Survey Corps except me!"
"Well hey there!" A familiar voice exclaimed, and the three turned to see Gizzy heading towards them. "So, I heard you all graduated yesterday, huh?" He asked.
"Yep!" Adam said. "So, how many drinks do they let the new chief have every day?" He joked.
"Hey!" Gizzy said, although he was smiling. While they had been in training, Gizzy had become a chief of the Garrison. Seems like Adam, Ty and Jason weren't the only ones that had matured...probably.
Gizzy's smile faded. "Look, I know this isn't really the time, but I want you to know that I'm still haunted by your mom's death."
Adam blinked in surprise. "It wasn't your fault," Adam told Gizzy. "It still haunts me, too."
Gizzy's blue eyes widened as Adam went on. "Back then, we weren't as prepared. But now, we've all grown stronger. We know how strong the Giants really are now, and we're ready for anything that comes."
As the three boys took off later after their chat with Gizzy, the man watched them go. Your spirit is perfect for fighting, He thought. Don't waste it by dying.
Later that day, Adam was on top of the walls with some other fellow recruits. They had been given the boring and dull task of cleaning the walls, and the cannons on top of them.
"What do you mean you're joining the Survey Corps?!" Adam was exclaiming as he cleaned the inside of a cannon. "I thought the Military Police was what you were all about!" He continued to Jerome, who was crouched down cleaning the sides of the cannon next to Adam.
"Hey, I'm allowed to choose whatever I want, okay?" Jerome said, not looking at Adam. "Geez, get off my case."
"I think he was inspired by that speech you gave yesterday," Tiffy explained with a knowing grin, walking up to Adam.
"That had nothing to do with it!" Jerome insisted. "I, uh, I'm an independent young Bacca, and I deserve to be treated with respect!"
"Hey, calm down! It's not like you're alone," Jordan said, walking up with Quentin to Jerome's cannon. He gave a sheepish laugh.
"You, too?" Adam asked with wide eyes, just as Tyler ran up to them, hugging his light brown leather jacket that was part of the soldier uniform. The uniforms were usually marked with the symbols of one of the three soldier paths, along with the capes, but the recruit jackets they still wore had the symbols of two crossed iron swords, and no cape.
"Hey, how good are you at keeping secrets?" Tyler asked everyone as he ran up. "Not that I have a secret or anything, just asking." He had a big grin and hugged his jacket tighter. Without waiting for a response, he took out whatever he was hiding under his jacket. It was a couple of raw porkchops. "Because I just, uh, borrowed these babies from the officer's pantry!"
Everyone gasped and jumped back as if Tyler had just taken out a stack of TNT and a flint and steel.
"What's wrong with you?!" Quentin exclaimed in panic. "Do you know what they could do to you if they found out?" "What isn't wrong with him?" Jerome sighed. "Tyler, borrowing means you give it back eventually."
"No, it's fine!" Tyler insisted brightly. "I'll share, that's why I took a bunch! Sharing is caring or some crap, right? Ah, imagine how good they're gonna taste when we cook them!" He began to quiver with anticipation.
"Tyler, you should put it back!" Jordan said fearfully. "Yeah!" Tiffy chimed in. "Don't you know how rare meat's been lately?"
"Yeah, sorta," Tyler said, and walked up to a chest that was next to one of the cannons. It was supposed to store supplies, but Tyler hid the raw porkchops in there instead. "We deserve it, though, probably! After all that training?"
"Um, actually, I'd really like one, please!" Quentin blurted out.
"I'll eat one right now," Jerome said. "But it's raw!" Jordan protested. "I don't care," Jerome replied.
"I'll have one, too!" Tiffy declared.
"Uh..." Adam stuttered, as the group began to break up. "Come on!" Quentin said, turning back to his post. "If they see we're slacking, they'll throw us off the walls."
"Haha, see you at lunch!" Tiffy giggled and walked away.
Adam sighed and smiled. Tyler's gotten away with crap like this before, we'll be fine, He thought, and looked out over the walls at the city.
Five years without an incident. Look at us now! Cannons, tons of new recruits for the Survey Corps, we're ready for anything!
An ear-shattering BOOM sounded from directly behind Adam. He instantly thought Jerome had probably set off the cannon he was cleaning accidentally, but when he whipped around he saw himself staring up at the huge, green face of the Colossal Giant.
There was a small moment of dead silence as all everyone on the wall stared at the Giant in utter shock. Then, Adam snapped out of it, and let out a yelp of surprise, leaping back just as a huge blast of hot air swept him and everyone else off their feet.
There was the sound of booms and crashes from below, but Adam didn't have time to concentrate on that. As he fell back of the wall, he shifted his gear into action, shooting the two grappling hook-wires from his gear at the wall. He got a firm grip, and planted his feet on the side of the wall when he was drawn back. He quickly pulled out two iron swords from his gear.
Around him, the others had done the same thing, looking up at the wall in shock. Jerome looked over and saw Quentin still falling, unconscious from probably being hit with something in the blast. "Quentin!" He exclaimed, and the sound of wires retracting was heard as Tyler let his hooks go of the wall and ran down the wall vertically towards Quentin. He shot one of his hooks at the wall again, and another at Quentin. The hook stabbed into Quentin's leg, but it caught him, and he dangled from Tyler's wire, unmoving.
"Um, don't move, okay?!" Tyler called to the unconscious Quentin, who only groaned slightly.
At least he's alive, Adam thought to himself. But that was too damn close...He looked down, and let out a startled gasp. "Oh god, no..." Jordan breathed as he followed Adam's gaze.
The crashing sounds from below had been from the Colossal Giant kicking a hole in the wall again.
"T-they're gonna..." Jerome whimpered. "THEY'RE GONNA GET IN!" He screamed.
Adam stared at the newly breached hole in disbelief. "No..." He whispered to himself. He whipped around to look back up at the top of the wall. Thinking quickly, He shot his wires back up, and swung around until he could firmly plant his feet on the top of the wall again. "TAKE OUT THE COLOSSAL GIANT!" He yelled to the others, still on the sides of the wall. He looked up at the large, dark green face. Adam gripped his swords tightly. "It's been five years..." He growled.