The Hollow Crow (Mina Carolina X Reader)

Chapter Four: The Crow Takes Flight

You, Thomas and Mina are all watching the Commander as he reads through the report on the training exercise. You and Mina are stood next to each other, neither of you wishing to blink as if it's the only thing keeping the Commander's eyes pinned to his papers. Thomas on the other hand can't seem to keep still, often shuffling his feet or rocking on his heels. It doesn't take long for you to break. You reach out and grab Thomas by his shoulder and glare daggers at him.
"Either stand still or I'll make you." Mina gently grabs your other arm.
"Please, stop it you two." You and Thomas give each other a final look before complying.

The silence continues to stretch and you begin to doubt whether or not the Commander has even seen you yet...
*Bang
When all of a sudden Shadis slams his hands against the table with so much force you're worried the table will split in two.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED OUT THERE!?!?" The Commander stands up to his full intimidating height.
"AT FIRST I WAS GOING TO BE SATISFIED WITH JUST DRAWING ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU TWO DID WRONG DURING THE MOVEMENT EXERCISE!!!" He points to Mina and Thomas.
"BUT I DIDN'T THINK THAT I WOULD HAVE TO ASK YOU (Y/SN)..." He points one of his fingers straight at your head.
"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU ALMOST MANAGED TO KILL YOURSELF AND ONE OF YOUR FELLOW CADETS!?!?" You simply stand there glaring at the Commander.
"I have no explanation." You lower your head, when Mina suddenly interjects on your behalf.
"Isn't that a bit of an unfair judgment. After all it wasn't (Y/fn)'s fault...personally I think it was just an unforseen accident, and we should be glad to even still be alive." The Commander does not look impressed with Mina's defence. Both of them exploding into a tirade of statements and counter arguments, mostly from Shadis. As it becomes clear that Mina is losing this little battle, you decide to pitch in with what you hope will settle the argument.
"With all due respect 'Sir'...You're wasting your valuable time trying to do what exactly? Teach me a lesson that I've already learnt the hard way? Or have you forgotten that it was I who failed? That it was I who had to wake up only to learn that I had hurt one of my comrades and risked the safety of another? I don't need your words to remind me how shitty it feels." The Commander considers you for a second, his face flickering between anger, understanding and sympathy. Often opening his mouth to reply, only to close it again.
"*Sigh..."
Shadis walks over to a window.
"I will give you all one more chance to prove yourselves." He continues to stare out the window, not even looking in your direction.
"In seven days I will have everyone run that same exercise again. If you three don't show me drastic improvements by then...I will have you all removed from this training camp. Understood?" You all quickly nod.
"Good...You're all dissmissed." You all salute and turn to leave. As your about to exit the room you stop walking.
"You two go on ahead. I've got something I need to discuss with the Commander." Mina and Thomas seem pensive at first, but eventually nod their heads and leave. You turn back to the Commander so you may start your discussion.
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Perspective Change Mina:
You watch as the back of (Y/fn) dissapear behind the closing door. You turn and rejoin Thomas, doing your best to match his quick pace.
"Hey Thomas. What do you think (Y/fn) wants to talk to Shadis about?" Thomas spares you no more than a glance.
"I honestly couldn't say...They're a bit of a mystery to be honest." You slowly nod your head.
"Yeah I guess they are. But I honestly think there's more to them than just being mysterious." Now Thomas turns to completely face you.
"What do you mean?"

"I don't really know, it's just a feeling I get. It's like...They don't want to be alone all the time, but can't stand being around people." You look towards the floor, watching the wooden floor boards as you try to find the right words.
"Or like they don't want to hurt people, but feel like if they stay near them they will inevitably. Have you ever heard of the hedgehogs dilemma?" You take Thomas's silence as a no.
"It's said that hedgehogs crave contact from other members of their species. However, they are incapable of it due to their spines. I think (Y/fn) is like this. They actually want to be accepted, but due to the type of person that they are, not many people are willing to stand by their side. And since they're incapable of changing, they decide instead to wall themselves off so as not to hurt themselves or others." You practically beam at Thomas, you just figured out the most mysterious person in the entire 104th training corps. Thomas quickly shatters your delusion of suppiriority with a single shake of his head.
"Seriously Mina? I think you're just pulling stuff out of your ass rather than accepting the fact that they might just be anti-social. I mean how much do we actually know about them?"