Blue and White - Levi Fanfiction

Ch. 17 - Rain, an Ill Omen

"Attention!"

The sun was hot on our skin, and already the leather of my jacket was warm and uncomfortable. It would be unbearable if not for the shirt that sat as a buffer between my poor skin and the harsh leather jacket - not that the shirt was much better. Honestly, it was somehow of worse quality than anything I'd ever worn or owned.

Hell, the one I'd changed out of this morning when given this uniform by Moses, while not a button-up, was incredibly soft and comfortable and more than that, it was breathable. But this one... Goddesses, this was stiff and awful and ugh.

I really hadn't anticipated that the clothes off my back, from the underground fucking city, would be of better quality than a military-issued uniform. Perhaps it was only wishful thinking on my part?

The jacket, despite being cropped, was heavy, especially with the thick, embroidered patches stitched onto them. When I was younger, I would wear El's occasionally, sometimes to mess with him but at other times because I knew he found it incredibly cute, but it was, of course, when I was a child and so the jacket would always be far too big for me anyway.

But still, it was hard to think that there was hope of moving around freely with something like this on to use the gear properly. Leather was stiff until worn in; perhaps once I wore it for a while, it'd feel better.

...That didn't forgive the piss-poor quality of the shirts, though. But once again, if they can afford a castle, then surely they can afford better shirts for their soldiers?

Apparently not.

Early this morning, not long after we'd all tucked into bed, deliciously, deliriously drowsy at long last, we'd been roused awake by Moses who led us to a storage room to rustle up some uniforms for us: shirts, pants, boots, and a jacket. Then we were brought to the armory to put the gear straps on, and shown where our gear would be stowed for our sets would remain the ones we brought with us.

So, you know. We stole them, and we got to keep them. Great!

They were old models, but with a quick look around the armory while we were in there, I realized with a start that they weren't too far off from what the rest of the soldiers had, the poor saps. I knew the Scout Regiment was the poorest of the three branches, even that was widespread knowledge underground, but they couldn't be that poor, could they? I mean, they had a fucking castle to train in!

But I guess everything I thought I knew had been wrong. I suppose, if anything, that it taught me not to assume anything about anything.

Regardless, after we were outfitted, we had the absolute privilege of meeting the current Commander of the Survey Corps: Commander Keith Shadis. My first impression of him was... less than ideal. From what I could gather from the brief interaction, it seemed he had a stick up his ass about as long as he was tall. Truth be told, I was sure of it; it was the only way to explain how grouchy he was. He was, dare I say it... more uptight than Erwin. Oh, yes.

But now, the Scouts were lined up before us, and we were lined up before them on a raised platform meant for superior officers to give orders for the day, make announcements, and the like - and apparently, to introduce street rats to the regiment.

Today, it might also just be where the four of us die, because just about each soldier here looked like they wanted to kill us, and if looks could kill, we would surely be back underground, though in a casket... Unless this regiment couldn't afford those, either?

Regardless, there could be no more than fifty soldiers before us, with Commander Shadis alongside us. This was... all that there was? There had to be more soldiers at the MP's base down in the city than there were here, in this entire regiment.