Wings of Mutation (An SnK x FMA crossover)

Chapter 2 ~Clash

Ed grabs a large bowl of stew and licks his lips.

"They'll never beat Pinako's." he murmurs to Al, who smiles.

The two sit down at a nearby wooden table and take in the cadets. A cluster of the young teenagers have clustered around the brunet, Eren, pestering him with questions. Ed wonders what all the fuss is about until he hears an awestruck voice ask:

"Is it true that you've seen the Colossal?"

"Yeah, it's true." Eren replies, steadily. "It... didn't have skin." He suddenly shudders and drops his spoon into his food. The murmurs die down as cadets instictively back away, fearing they had triggered some unwanted thoughts.

"Guys," 

A tall blonde, somewhere near the back of the crowd, speaks. He swallows nervously when pairs of eyes stare at his pale face.

"It's okay if he doesn't want to answer."

Eren blinks at the blonde in gratitude but waves at the crowd to come back, anyway.

Ed grabs at one of the wooden mugs to clear his throat. His eyes narrow in distaste and he nearly spits out the drink.

"Wha-"

"Ale." Al replies, chuckling. "It's almost as bad as milk, isn't it?"

Ed sticks his tongue out at the name of the dreaded white liquid. "Nah."

Humming a small tune, Ed continues to listen to Eren, who describes what little he remembers of the attack on Wall Maria.

Eren is in the middle of telling how the civilians evacuated when he gets to the part where the Armored Titan attacks.

"Wait. He saw both of them?" Ed hisses to his brother, who nods in awe.

Ed crosses his arms. "No wonder he wasn't called on the rosters. Escaping Shiganshina must've been like escaping hell."

A slam interrupts the two brothers, causing soup and beer to splash over the edge of the table.

The oldest turns to see Jean Kirschtein, the tall, blonde boy who wanted to join the Military Police slamming his fists on the wooden picnic table and standing up. A few feet away from him stands a brunet the whole cabin knows now.

Eren Jaeger.

"Passion alone is impressive, but let's be realistic here." Jean begins as a smug grin tugs on his lips. "There's no way you can kill all the titans. That's just ridiculous."

The cadets murmur approval and whispers pass. Ed nods his head in agreement, and continues to slurp his soup.

Eren, eyes blazing, replies. "You... haven't seen them. How would you know?"

"Uh, maybe because I'm not putting my life's mission onto killing titans that I saw when I was nine?"

"Ten." Eren corrects, stomping his foot on the wooden floor in anger.

The wood breaks under his kick, and Eren backs away from the newly made hole in surprise.

"Yeah, that's what you'll do." Jean says, snickering. "Kill the floor. Forget the titans, that's easier for you."

"Fuck you, horseface!"

Jean makes a fist and walks up to Eren. "Excuse me, floor killing idiot?"

"I'm not an idiot, you are!" Eren exclaims, shoving two hands at Jeans chest.

"You're both idiots." Ed calls.

Jean and Eren blink in confusion at the sound of a new voice. "Who said that?"

"I did."

Ed stands from where he is sitiing and walks over to the two sweaty boys. Eren is slightly taller than him, but it isn't unnerving. The cabin is deadly silent now, all soups left unfinished. Eyes dart and heads turn at the sight of a new argument.

"Oh? Sorry, couldn't ah, see you over there." Jean says, arching an eyebrow in interest.

"Excuse me, Titan." Ed spits, leaning his head back to look up at Jean. "You up to be the next Colossal?"

"Hey!" Eren exclaims. "Don't throw around that subject."

"Oops, forgot that Titans are your trigger." Jean teases, swinging himself over to stand by Ed's side.

"Shut up! There's a war going on, in case you haven't noticed. And I'm not going to just sit around and not even know what's happening, trusting that democracy will come first, like my mom did!"

Eren's eyes glisten for a moment at the last part, but he brushes it aside and takes a deep breath.

"Explains why you're here." Ed mutters, eyes wandering.

"I didn't know democracy was in your vocabulary." Jean adds in sheepishly.

Ed glares at Jean in annoyance, clearly displeased with his new ally. Eren mirrors the blonde's movements, before pushing Ed aside and staring up at Jean.

"Let's end this. Now."

At that, a raven-haired girl, whom Al had referred to as Mikasa, walked up to Eren to grab his sleeve.

"That's enough."

It wasn't any romantic gesture, but Jean growls at the way Mikasa holds the other boys hand. Her hair travels just past her shoulders, body not hourglass-like at all but more as if she were a warrior. This was no weak girl.

Jean scowls and lets out a little groan of dissapointment. He looks away from Mikasa, only to reel back his arm and grab Eren by the collar of his shirt, wrenching it off the ground.

"The hell, man?! I backed off!" Eren shouts into his face, struggling to break free. 

Jean doesn't answer. He drops Eren to the ground forcefully and continues to charge at him. Eren dodges and catches the other male in the stomach, flipping him over until he lands on the floor.

"The hell was that move?" Jean asks, rubbing his head.

Eren, a rather murderous look in his eye, stares down at the other.

"Little something I picked up this afternoon, while you were busy with your thumb stuck in your ass."

A blonde girl turns to look up from her food, a glisten in her cold, blue eyes.

Edward catches her gaze and is intrigued by it. The glisten reminds him of something...

"Do you honestly think that joining the Military would be the easy way out? You're not a soldier. You're a joke."

The blonde continues to stare at Ed, before turning back to her meal.

Shrugging it off, Ed walks back to join his brother. He notices Al avoids his gaze, and sits down.

"I'm going to bed."

Ed stands up to follow his little brother. "You okay?"

Al shrugs. "Tomorrow's got me worried, that's all."

They exit the mess hall and silence and cross the yard to another identical cabin. The two manage to find their way through a maze of hallways to the bedrooms. Ed's tired eyes brighten when he sees the multiple bunks scattered at each corner of the room, blankets and pillows freshly prepared. One bed is completely empty, and Ed avoids it by choosing the one directly across from the entrance.

"I call top bunk!" Ed shouts, scrambling quickly up the ladder. "Now I can reach the ceiling. How do ya like me now, Al?"

Al offers a half-hearted smile at his brother before sitting on the lower bunk.

"Did you really mean all those things you said to Eren?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------