Jaw

Chapter 6

Yet another year passed with nothing to show for it. Now fourteen, Silena had no Titan, no friends besides Pieck, and there was no sign that any of the other Warriors were coming back. At least she had teaching at the academy.

She was just a volunteer, technically, though Silena ranked higher than a lot of the instructors. For the time being, this was just to get experience and stay in the mind of the military.

It was normally something she did with Pieck after school, but her best friend was busy with chores today, so she'd asked Porco Galliard. They weren't friends, per say, because that would involve being friendly. It was more that neither of them had friends; the transition to regular school outside of the Internment Zone hadn't been as kind to them as it had been to Pieck. But– to her surprise– he'd said yes rather easily. He must've been as bored as she was with civilian life.

The warrior academy was a small building just barely outside of the internment zone- far enough outside that high-ranking officials wouldn't actually have to be in the squalor, but close enough that the cadets wouldn't forget their place. It consisted of two meeting rooms, as well as a small lobby that led out into a much larger yard. The pair rushed outside into the yard, finding it full already, before heading to the front. The crowd, which consisted of about twenty cadets of various ages, was miraculously attentive, despite having had no supervision before their arrival.

She ran clumsily through the agenda– Pieck usually did the talking– simple training exercises among the recruits before they'd have a chance to spar against the two warriors. At the mention of getting to fight the instructors, there was a mumbling amidst the crowd. Silena tried not to be worried by it.

She dismissed the cadets with an awkward wave of her hand, and they got to work without having to be guided. Able to rest, the pair headed to the shade of a tree hanging over the rotting fence.

"What's up with you?" Porco asked, leaning against the fence. It seemed a risky move given the state of the wood, but he managed to make it look effortless. "You're sulky."

"It's nothing," Silena replied, gathering her skirt around herself and kneeling in the dirt. "Just nostalgic."

Porco grunted and questioned her no further. Silena had a feeling he felt the same– not that he'd ever admit it.

...

The first few hours of training passed quickly, with the pair sitting under the shade of the oak and calling out orders to the cadets. It was just as they'd been taught by their superiors.

In the final hour of training, they called the cadets over to the middle of the yard, forming a disorganized circle with Silena standing in the middle. Porco was somewhere outside of the throng of people, out of sight.

"Who wants to fight us?" Silena asked. A few hands raised, some guiltily and others less so, and some people chuckled at her blunt question. Silena hummed in appreciation at the honesty. She asked, "Who wants to go first?"

Unsurprisingly, the tallest, broadest of the bunch was the first to speak up. Glowering past Silena, he said, "I'd like to beat Galliard into the dirt."

Doubly unsurprisingly was Porco's– piss poor– reaction. Exuding rage, he brushed past the crowd until he was almost nose to nose with the challenger. The other boy had some height on him, and was clearly a few years older, but the experience in Porco's murderous gaze put their levels of intimidation about the same.

Silena sighed, getting the feeling that he was about to take this too far.

"What's your name?" Porco's voice was just loud enough for Silena to hear, meant for his challenger more so than anyone in the crowd.