Survival Of The Fittest ~ An Attack on Titan Fanfiction

Cadet Core Boot Camp part 3

The drawing shown above is of Claire and Cecile Cross

  I woke up earlier than usual, Captain Levi had charged me with cleaning duty due to the mud-splattered desk. What the hell was his problem? What a clean freak. I pulled my boots on, still half asleep. A loud pounding on the door sent my shoulders to my ears, what the-? I walked over to the door, rubbing my eyes.

"What the hell is your-?!" I bit down on my tongue as soon as I met Levi's eyes. "Sir!" I saluted, my hair still wasn't braided, hell I hadn't even run a comb through it. Levi eyed me over,

"Did you just wake up?" Captain Levi moved his eyes to my face, his expression filled with boredom.

"Yes, sir?" I straightened my back a bit, attempting to seem more awake than I actually was. Levi blinked,

"I want you to run ten laps around HQ."

"Run?"

"Now." I eyed Levi, trying to put together what he was saying, Captain Levi grabbed my bicep, pulling me out of the doorway and throwing me, "NOW CADET, DON'T MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF!" I stumbled a bit, then pulled myself onto my feet and sprinted towards HQ. He couldn't be serious, run ten laps around HQ?! Not to mention I'd hardly gotten any sleep last night, every time I closed my eyes she would be there, she would just be there, crying her eyes out, waiting for me to come back for her. I felt the hot sting of tears filling my eyes, I clenched my fists, pushing harder off of the ground. I ran faster, faster, I would not fail my Captain too, I would not fail like that again. I finished my ten laps just as the sun began to rise, I was surprised, I didn't know I could run that fast. I heaved, placing my hands on my knees for support. "Aaltonen!" Levi's voice reached my ears, holy crap this guy did not let up. I turned around swiftly, saluting as fast as I could.

"Sir!"

"Thirty push-ups, now." Crap. I dropped down fast, getting into position, I began lowering myself when my abdomen was crushed to the ground. I looked up at Levi to find that he had placed his foot on my back. He looked down at me with the same look he always wore, "Why did you stop? Is my foot too heavy for you?" Captain Levi pressed down harder on my back, making it difficult for me to raise myself up. I pushed hard, my arms began to shake, beads of sweat dripped down from my forehead. "I don't have all day Aaltonen, you still have cleaning to do."

"Seriously?!" I barked at Levi over my shoulder as he pushed me back down to the ground.

"Is there a problem Cadet?"

"Yes!" I reached back attempting to push Levi's foot off of my back, Levi adjusted his weight, allowing more pressure on my back. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THIS IF YOU WON'T LET ME GET UP?!" I broke, my frustration bubbling over, I just lost the one person that I owed everything to and now my Captain all of a sudden has a reason to make my life more of a nightmare than it already was. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize that the pressure on my back had subsided, I looked up to find Levi looking down at me, he was kneeling now. I sat up, turning my face away from Levi, wiping my face, I didn't even realize I was crying.

"Guilt and pain are the heaviest burdens to bear," I looked back at Levi, watching his expression change, "you have to let them go in order for you to rise again." My tears stopped, I averted my eyes, how was I supposed to let her go? "Just now when you were trying to come up, you gave it all you had, but it still wasn't enough." The tears poured out of my eyes. "That will happen again."

"I can't." I shook my head, "I don't think I can do this." Levi's hand went to the top of my head, I looked up at him,

"You're not weak, so stop with the bullshit kid." Levi rubbed his hand on my head then rose to his feet, "Stand up Cadet." I looked down at my hands, then wiped my eyes and stood. "Have you come to a conclusion with the choices I've given you?"

"Sir." I saluted, my lungs still drawing in harsh breaths. "I want to join the Survey Corps! And become a member on your Squad!" Levi nodded,

"That Aaltonen is how you avoid becoming a disappointment.

"Alright, its aptitude test time! Fail, and be sent to the fields!" Shardis shouted as Jamie was hooked on to the machine, she looked up, giving me a worrisome look, I smiled giving her a thumbs up. They turned the crank, raising her into the air, her shoulders went forward a bit, then she hurriedly straightened her back and re-positioned her legs, she was stabilized, I let my smile widen as she looked at me with a smile of her own. Jamie was lowered, my turn. I watched as one of the other cadets hooked me up, then he turned the crank. My feet lifted off of the ground. My heart raced, I wanted the 3DMG gear now, I wanted to flip and turn, I wanted the wind racing past my ears. I breathed in deeply, almost there, calm down. I straightened my back, adjusting my weight a bit, no problem, I hung there, just watching the other cadets faces,

"Is she even trying?"

"She makes it look easy!" I was lowered as people watched me intently.

The moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived, we were assigned our gear and taken out to a wooded area, with Shardis on horseback. Shardis began sprinting his horse into the forest,

"Keep up cadets! Let's go!" I smiled, pushing off the ground with all the energy in me, I finally had actual gear, real gear. I shot my grapples into the bark of one of the taller trees, I flew upward. Yes! I flipped and spun, dodging tree branches and other cadets. I was one step closer now, I was closer to becoming who I needed to be, to take care of Jamie, to take care of me.

Sadly a few cadets didn't make the cut and were shipped off into the fields.

"Sucks." Cecile joined me outside of the hall.

"Yeah." I watched the wagon, go uphill, catching a glimpse of the people on it.

"I'll be honest," Cecile leaned forward, resting his elbows on the wooden railing, "I thought you would be leaving on that." Asshole.

"Funny, I thought the same thing with you." Cecile smiled at my comment.

"So you've met Claire huh? How did that go?" I shook my head, keeping my eyes on the wagon.

"That's some friend you got there."

"Friend?" Cecile raised himself off of the railing, "She's my sister, my twin actually." I turned my gaze to Cecile. Why would she lie? I continued to watch him, waiting for him to admit to his joke, but he didn't.

"Well, that explains a lot."

"Pfft! What's that supposed to mean?!" I walked around Cecile, making my way to the barracks, I had enough of them,

"You know very well what I meant." I kept walking, not looking back.

"You saying you're better than me?" Cecile shouted after me.

"I'm saying people like you don't belong here, you're weak, so you prey off of others," I spoke over my shoulder, my back facing Cecil. "So yes," I turned around facing him, "I am better than you." I turned back around, walking away, Cecile was weak, his sister was weak and I would show them, I would show them both. After all, I had two more years of training with Levi to prove it.