𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐲 | 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

✥𝙷𝙾𝙿𝙴✥

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After a tiresome day of pure training under the hands of Violet Grey, she and her squad treated themselves to a well-deserved dinner to nourish their aching bones.
They had trained for long, long hours, since the sun started to shine and until it started to hide and was replaced by a solid black sky. The day's food consisted of more stale bread and once again the same ol' soup.
Ever since Violet became a Captain and had a squad of her own, she was granted a table for her squad and herself to sit on; just like Squad Levi's. She was fond of having a table of her own since in that time, when she shared meals with her squad, was when she got to know her squad better. "Oi, Grey, do you want some of my bread?" Julian asked, ripping the bread in half and handing her the other half.
Violet nodded her head and grabbed the piece happily. The portions they served in the Survey Corps was hardly enough to keep one satiated, so for Julian to hand her some of his food was such a nice gesture from him. He knew very well her big hunger and appetite. "Remind me to give you half of mine tomorrow." She said.
"Not happening, Grey." He said. "Now eat up, you need it."
Violet only rolled her eyes and mentally noted to remember to give Julian half of something from whatever was going to be served the next day.

It was still weird to Violet having to sit at a table of her own, full of all her chosen members. She still caught herself making her way to Levi's table, before she stopped and turned to where she now sat at. It was a hard habit to break, her legs automatically guiding her to where she once sat, by Captain Levi's side. After all, she did sit there every single given day for a whole year when she was under his leadership. She always stopped herself, just right before she got too near to the old table, but it was weird how her body still followed that track, never once going straight away to her table.
"Captain Grey?" Petru asked. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"
Violet turned to look to her left, right in front, where Petru was sitting. "Sure, Petru. Here or would you like some privacy?" She said, starting to get up slightly.
"N-no. Here is fine, Captain." He said. "I don't mind everyone else listening."
She nodded and sat down again, no longer eating her food and putting her full attention on the sixteen-year-old boy. "I know this might sound quite unrealistic and absurd, even, but do you think there is hope, a chance, that one day the titans will be gone?" A few snickers were heard, cadets laughing at Petru and his wishful thinking. She glared at them, her eyes threatening them with the sort of punishment she would give them if they laughed at Petru again.
"Hope?" She said, choosing her words carefully as she did not want that hope that shined so brightly in Petru's brown eyes to dim to nothing. Hope was a powerful weapon, something that kept everyone going; and she knew first-hand how life was when that hope had vanished.
It was a crueller place without that hope, she learned such under the hands of the Military Police.
"Well, titans weren't exactly a worry for me till last year, when I left the Underground and was brought here." She continued, "But in that short period of time, I want them just as gone as you do, Petru. Trust me. I think we are all here for a reason, that we all chose this path to get rid of the titans and the pain they bring; and while this fight might seem like a lost cause sometimes, we still keep on fighting and giving it our all out there on the field. And it is because we have hope. We are hope. Every single one of you here is a reason to hope that one day, this endless fight will be over.

"And because of that, I like to think there is hope." She cleared her throat, "While it might be a far stretch, maybe a bit unrealistic, I do think there is hope. There is hope, too, with people like Levi and many others. You guys are a reason for hope, fighting for what you deem worthy. You're fighting to make your one dream come true, and I think that's a beacon of hope itself." Violet said, "So I do think there is hope. I like to think that one day our endless sacrifice will come to a stop and all of our hard work will pay off to a future free of titans."
It was weird being so sincere and vulnerable to so many people at once, sharing with them one of her selfish desires. She just wanted a break, a life free of pain, blood and killing. Free of the things she was forced to endure, a future where she could finally be happy and put her blades away.
So while her dream was one not too clear, she would at least make sure that the hope that shined so bright in all of her cadets' eyes would never go away. She would make sure they still hoped, that they still dreamed wicked things that they craved with all their burning hearts, even when she had lost all hope for such a future.
She was a liar, a gods damn liar. But she would lie to them in order for them to keep on smiling, for them to maintain what's left of their innocence from their youth. "So you think that the walls will always keep us safe?" Thomas asked.
Violet offered him a shrug. "I mean, they've been standing for way longer than you and I have been breathing." She said, "But I guess I can understand how scary it is to think that one day, the walls won't be enough to keep us safe. And the day that such thing comes along, I guess all we can do is fight till we no longer stand. We can only hope they continue to protect us."
She noticed how some of the cadets stopped eating, sharing fearful glances with each other, as Violet's words were far from reassuring. She cringed, mentally scolding herself for forgetting that they were younger than her and had more fears than she has -- as they didn't receive the same sort of training as she did -- and for not soothing her words over like she had done the first time. "But I don't think you need to worry your pretty mind, Thomas." She said, smiling at him a bit. "The walls have been protecting us for thousands of years, so the fact that they haven't come down ever since tells you just how much we can rely on them, okay? They will continue to protect everyone inside of them, so don't worry about it. And I'm here to protect all of you, every single one of you, so I won't let any sort of harm get to any of you, I promise."

She smiled once again to everyone, this time forcing a brighter smile on her lips to reassure everyone. All her cadets returned the smile, some even nodding and mouthing their gratitude.
She felt like an asshole for making them worry like that, adding to their fears that kept them up at night. She could only hope that they forget about what she had said before and just remember the last part she said.
Violet looked around the dining hall and saw the rest of the cadets heading off to their sleeping quarters, finally going to rest. "Oi, everyone, go to bed. I need you all to be up early tomorrow, understood?"
A chorus of 'yes, Captain' followed her words as the cadets got up and left the dining hall to the small of their rooms. Violet made sure every last cadet were out of the dining hall before she closed the doors behind her and started walking to Levi's office.

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