Jaw

Chapter 1

Out in the field stood a young boy.

Reiner Braun, aged fourteen, was trembling so hard it could be seen by all those observing him– including the group of young Warrior cadets watching him from behind plexiglass a hundred yards away.

Small, slim, and lucky– exceedingly lucky. This was what Silena Lehmann thought to herself as she stared the nervous boy down, her dark eyes narrowed to slits.

He was just plain lucky. Really, there was no reason for him to have gotten the Armored Titan over her. They'd gotten similar grades, and in field training Silena was superior to the blond-haired boy in every way. She was bigger and stronger, despite being two years his junior. Plus, her father had been the holder of Armored two turns before Reiner; inheritance was in her blood.

"Alright, Reiner," said Zeke, his voice amplified outside the bunker he, the Warriors, a group of scientists with official-looking clipboards, and a handful of military officials were hiding in. "Let's show us what you can do. Try and make it slow so our scientist friends can see every minute of it." Zeke turned a bit towards the group of scientists huddled in the back, but there was no need to look to sense their scholarly disappointment.

From across the field, Reiner's entire body stilled. He nodded, an almost imperceptibly small move, staring at the strip of plexiglass with wide eyes as he lifted the knife clutched in one hand to the palm of the other. Slowly, very slowly, he dragged the blade across his hand.

A single drop of blood hit the ground, and the reaction was instantaneous: golden lightning; Reiner's scream as he was enveloped by smooth cords of muscle; a wave of heat that blasted the sparse grass and warmed the observation room.

There came the sound of furious pencil scribblings from the scientists as bone and muscle formed from thin air, blending together until the massive shape of a man knelt before them. The world was silent, save a heavy exhale from the Titan as a flock of birds flew too close to its head.

The Warrior children squished closer to the glass to look up at Reiner's Armored Titan. Its glowing amber eyes gazed back down at them, head tilted so its blond hair covered its forehead.

Silena's fellow Warriors gushed over the form their weakest classmate had managed to summon– those prone to gushing, anyways– and the scientists and generals made their own remarks. Zeke, for once, seemed pleased. Silena, on the other hand, felt sick. And not because of the people crowding her into the sheet of unnervingly warm plexiglass.

She ducked under Marcel's arm, waving off the boy's concerned look with a smile as she crept out of the bunker. Galliard's brother hadn't been here to watch Reiner shift, Silena observed. He was probably pouting about not getting a Titan as well.

But– well– what was she doing? Outside the bunker, kneeling against the side so the shadow of the building protected her from the heat of the midday sun. She was hiding, and doing a shit job of it too. The Armored felt closer now than it had inside the bunker; it was practically breathing down her neck now.

She groaned, burying her head in her hands. Why had she come at all? She wasn't friends with Reiner, and everyone knew how she felt about him getting the Armored over her. So had she come out of spite? To show that she was rising above the scorn that Zeke had shown her by choosing Reiner over her? Or maybe to garner pity from her fellow cadets: the shunned inheritor beaten by the underdog.

Silena sat with her legs in front of her in the overgrown grass. There were probably all sorts of bugs crawling on her, but she couldn't find it in her to care.

"Why would you show up if you were just gonna leave as soon as he transformed?"

Silena startled at the low, monotone voice of Annie Leonhardt. She didn't know the girl well– certainly not as well as she knew Pieck. Annie had always intimidated her, honestly. Silena was taller than her by at least a head, but she'd seen Annie beat a man twice her size into the dirt multiple times. Mild alarm was the right response to the Leonhardt girl, at least in Silena's mind.

But she composed herself– as she always did, too mature for a girl of only twelve. "I don't know," Silena admitted. She tried to keep her voice neutral even as she wanted to cry. How could Annie pinpoint the exact emotion she was working through? "That was what I was just trying to figure out."

"I could see it in your eyes," was all the Leonhardt girl offered in the way of explanation for her apparent psychic abilities. "They were wide. Like a scared animal."

Silena chose to rise above the comparison to an animal. But, as a small catharsis, she didn't invite Annie to sit with her.

"I can see everything that's going on in your head, actually. You have a very expressive face," continued Annie. "Why wouldn't Zeke choose you when you were a shoe-in for the job? Did you not score high enough on tests, not work hard enough in training, not show enough aptitude for the position?

"Or was it something your father did that you didn't know about? He was why you did this, after all. And– above all– he was what made you most prepared for this job. So did he piss off Zeke or God or something and stop the powers-that-be before they even started considering you? Was this even your fault? Or are you just cursed to never rise to your full potential?"

Silena cleared her throat, not sure to respond to what was just a very accurate and completely devastating layout of her innermost thoughts. Eventually, she settled on, "That was very honest," and grimaced when her voice cracked.

Annie made a noise of agreement, self-aware. "Would it help if I said I agree with you? I don't know what the higher-ups saw in Braun, but I certainly don't. You were the obvious choice."

"Thank you."

Annie nodded. "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. You were an adequate soldier, and intelligent. And you can convince anyone to do anything you want just by talking to them."

Silena flushed. "I'm just respectful, Annie, that's all there is to it." And not prone to comparing people to animals and speaking their thoughts aloud to them.

"Sure." Annie gave her a look that said she didn't buy it. "Manipulation isn't anything to be ashamed of, Lehmann. Some people respect it. I respect it."

"I– thank you." Silena kept her opinions to herself, slapping a pursed-lip smile in their place. She was more than a little flattered that stone-faced Annie Leonhardt respected her. Even if it was for something as crass as manipulation.

"So– you were chosen to go to Paradis."

The girl's lips quirked ever so slightly, though what she found amusing about that statement Silena wasn't sure. She probably just enjoyed Silena's awkwardness

Silena smiled uncomfortably. This was the strangest interaction she'd ever had with Annie. She got to her feet, making to go home. She clapped Annie on the shoulder as she passed her. "Good luck, Annie. Stay safe."