Short Program

Program Components

      The cold, crisp air scented with morning dew, hinting of frost and the possibility of a chilled day. The colour of the sky as it pines to dawn, and the gradient fade of darkness into morning.

     He loved them all.

     There was a small difference between night and noon, and that was the morning. The time where even the birds slept and the world had just opened its eyes. That special time was dawn.

     That was the time Eren Jaeger enjoyed the most.

     Right before early morning cafes and diners open, Eren would have already made his rounds. The brunet slept healthily, given his waking hours would vary between four o'clock to four-thirty each morning.

     Upon waking, he would dress himself quickly, then leave his home and run. Just enjoy the air and run.

     Following this exercise the young male would make his way to his real practice.

     This is where his day truly began.

     Young Eren Jaeger took the common sports as no challenge. He'd played soccer for two years and even tried his luck at little league baseball. Soon after, he'd learn to skate. Hockey was his parents' choice, and Eren mastered stick-handling with ease. He continued to play hockey.

     When Eren had turned eleven, his parents welcomed a new member to their family. They had adopted a Japanese girl of their son's age. Mikasa was her name. She grew to love the ice just as much as her brother. Although, she had started on figure skates, unlike Eren had. The boy never touched figure skates until his parents "forced" him to teach Mikasa. Of course, Mikasa didn't need much help, she was a prodigy on ice.

     To much of his surprise, Eren enjoyed the grace of figure skating more than the brutality of hockey.

     Eren began taking lessons with Mikasa to match her fluidity. The duo attempted to take pair skating lessons, but Mikasa's elegant approach did not match with Eren's dynamic movements. And so they split.

     Continuing their careers separately, they were able to improve at a greater speed than most.

~*****~

     Eren had thought of the different styles of skating, and whether figure skating was suitable for him. Hockey players were the beasts of the ice. Speed skaters were thieves of glory.

     Figure skaters, really, were the royalty of ice. Sharp and accurate moves were their specialty, and they treated the ice as friend or foe. Never both, never a substance in-between. The best figure skaters had long limbed and thin bodies with exceptional muscle. They took flight on the ice, something that would seem impossible for a beast or thief.

     Knowing his parents would make him choose sooner or later, Eren picked the obvious for his final sport. He would choose to be noble and elegant.

     He would choose to be a figure skater.

~*****~

     As he grew older, Eren's schedule became more intense when it came to skating. School always came first, for he valued education, but his practice would take up at least one-fourth of his waking hours. Then again, he would have to adjust his waking hours to wrap around his schedule.

     The boy, now a man, would go to his practice for an hour at least, and lucky for him, his main arena was in his college's campus. This meant that he could easily walk to his classes, or hitch a ride with Mikasa afterwards. Which he mostly did.

     After school, Eren filled the rest of his "free" time (time not spent doing schoolwork) with more exercise. Since he had switched coaches when he entered college, Eren worked harder to further improve his skill.

     Erwin Smith was his new coach, and a legacy at that. Tall and blonde, Erwin led the team of figure skaters at the rink, the "Skating Corps". Eren considered himself lucky-- no, BLESSED-- to be Erwin's student.

     Given the situation, the beloved teacher had other students in the rink. A tall, freckled boy by the name of Marco trained with Erwin nearly as much as Eren did. Mikasa took classes with Erwin as well.

     The rink they trained in also bred hockey players. Those including: Jean Kirstein, Reiner Braun, and Bertholdt Hoover. The ladies' team consisted of Ani Leonhardt, Sasha Braus, and Ymir Bodt. Everyone had always joked about how both Marco's boyfriend and sister were on the hockey team, but he wasn't.

     In the whole of the skating rink, Team "Skating Corps" consisted of these members. Both Figure and Hockey. They were much more than a team of skaters. Their friends extended to most of those working around the rink as well: Eren's best friend, Armin Arlert, who facilitated the staff, Connie Springer, who worked the snack stand, and Historia Reiss, who provided the supplies for the athlete's off-ice training.

     The rink had brought all of them together. They were not just friends who loved skating, with more passion than anyone else. 

     They were a family.