Underground Beauty to Survey Corps - Attack on Titan

#02 The 104th Training Corps

"You are now officially members of the 104th Training Corps!" yelled the commandant, who was a tall and intimidating man. He was bald, had prominent wrinkles on his forehead and dark circles around his eyes. He also had a small beard growing from under his chin. He was wearing the standard instructor's uniform for the Training Corps.. "Unfortunately for you, I, Keith Shardis, will be in charge! I'm not here to give you a warm welcome. All of you are now merely livestock, waiting to be eaten by the Titans. You're even worse than livestock! For the next three years, I'll train you useless shits. I'll teach you how to fight the Titans! When you face a Titan in three years, will you still be just food? Or will you become a glorious wall to protect these walls? Or a mighty champion of mankind who will destroy the Titans? The choice lies in your hands."

It was a bright, sunny morning when all the trainees were lined up on the big training ground. Keith began to go around each of the trainees and started yelling at their faces before proceeding to the next one.

"Hey, kid!" yelled Keith.

"Sir!" responded the trainee with a salute. He had large blue eyes, and blond hair styled in a long undercut with bangs over his forehead. He had defined eyebrows and sideburns.

"Who the hell are you?!" asked the commandant, standing in front of him.

"I'm Armin Arlelt from Shinganshina, sir!" he replied firmly.

"That so? A name fit for a retard! Your parents named you that?"

"It was my grandfather, sir!"

"Arlert, why are you here?"

"To contribute to humanity's victory, sir!"

"How very admirable. You should make first-rate Titan feed." He then harshly placed his hand on Armin's head. "Third squad! About face!" He turned the cadet around so that he was would face the rest of the cadets who had yet to face the head instructor as he approached another cadet. "And who the hell are you?"

"Sir!" saluted the young man, who had blond hair with pronounced sideburns and light brown eyes. "I'm Thomas Wagner from Trost, sir!"

"I can't hear you!" yelled Keith, causing the cadet to flinch before attempting to repeat, only to be interrupted once more. "I told you to speak up! Go practise sounding off properly in the barracks!"

"There he goes again." said an officer passing by while watching the whole process. "You went through that when you first joined too, right?"

"Sure brings back memories." said his attendant.

Keith then moved on to the next cadet. "Next!" he yelled. "Who are you?"

"Mina Carolina, from Trost, sir!" replied the cadet as loud as possible. She was a slender young girl of average height. She had black eyes and thick black hair that extended past her shoulders, which parted in the middle and tied in loose pigtails.

"Wrong!" yelled the commandant. "You were born in a pigsty, inferior even to a swine!"

"Yes!" she responded. "I'm inferior to swine, sir!"

He continued, "Wrong! I tell you what you are and what you aren't!"

"What's he trying to accomplish by humiliating them like that?" asked the attendant as he watched.

"It's a rite of passage." explained the officer. "Their prior identities are forcibly discarded, leaving only blank slates from which true soldiers can be produced. It's a necessary step along the path laid out before them."

The attendant then noticed that not every cadet had to face the head instructor. "But why us he skipping a few recruits?"

"Those who already underwent a rite of passage need not repeat it." was the officer's reply. "I'd bet they walked through Hell itself two years ago. It's written all over their faces." The cadets who belonged to this category were Annie Leonhart, Mikasa Ackerman, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Eren Jaeger, and ironically, Armin Arlelt. Interestingly, Keith even skipped the purple-eyed girl who kept her gaze ahead as he went around continuing to psychologically break down the trainees, even though she didn't match the officer's explanation.

It had been a few months since Orabelle was last recruited by Erwin. Although she had the skills to fight and use the vertical equipment, he felt that she needed to go through the proper training if she were to fight Titans alongside them. Should she attempt to flee, the Military Police would hunt her down, as warned by Levi. Three years might be a long time, but she wouldn't mind the wait. To her, it's still better than surviving in the Underground city.

Later that night, everyone else was having dinner in the mess hall. Just as she was about to take her share, she received a message from one of the trainees that she had visitors waiting. She turned to Reiner and said, "Would you mine saving some for me? I will back in a short while." He was a tall young man with broad shoulders, and a serious expression that gave him an intimidating presence. He had short blond hair, gold eyes, and a defined facial structure. As his casual attire, he wore a dark grey button-down shirt with rolled up sleeves, and a pair of dark green pants with a brown belt buckled around his waist.

How they became friends was nothing to shout about. It all started when she was on her way to the mess hall when a group of boys tried to hit on her. Unfortunately for them, Reiner happened to be walking by, and needless to say, they ran away out of fear upon seeing the intimidating boy. To be frank, Orabelle would've handled to situation by herself, although in not a very favourable manner since she would knock her perpetrators unconscious. And that could've gotten her into more trouble, since she had the Survey Corps eying on on her moves. So in a way, she had to thank Reiner for stepping it before she started beating them up.

Reiner had a smirk etched on his face and crossed both arms over his chest. "Don't be surprised to see it gone when you're back." he joked.

The girl merely smiled back at him and said, "Then I might have to make you vomit out everything." She then left the flabbergasted boy and went outside to see Erwin and Levi with their horses beside them. "Good evening. How may I help you?"

'I still cannot believe this brat is from the Underground.' thought Levi, as he tried to imagine how a soft-spoken girl like her could even survive in such a place. He took in her appearance, as she was no longer wearing those ragged clothing like the ones during their first encounter. He thought she looked pleasant; her hair was cut to short to her neck, and her new clothes comprised of a simple white button down shirt, dark brown pants and black boots. Even tonight, he couldn't help but admire how her raven hair framed her porcelain-skinned face, complementing her big, round purple eyes even more.

"Good evening to you too, Orabelle." greeted Erwin with a smile. "We just want to drop by to see how things are for you before we leave you on your own."

"So I will not be seeing you until this training is over?" she asked, raising her brows.

"I wouldn't be so happy if I were you, brat." stated Levi, who had his crossed over his chest. His sentence prompted her to look at him with confusion.

"We're not leaving for good." clarified the Commander, whose turn to grab her attention as she tilted her head more to look at him, since she was shorter than Levi himself by about five centimeters. "We'll come back from time to time to make sure you don't run off. It's a standard procedure."

"I see." she responded.

Giving her a nod, Erwin looked over to the other man and signaled for him to move. "Let's go, Levi." he said. "We must make a move."

The said man let out a grunt as he began walking towards his horse, mounting himself up. "I hope you're ready by the end of this training, Cadet." he said.

Orabelle responded with a salute, and said, "Yes, sir!"

"Good." he muttered softly. As he galloped away with Erwin next to him, he looked at her once more over his shoulder, watching her disappear into the mess hall. 'Until we meet again, Orabelle.' he thought.