Once Again Guarding the Wall

[Zezili]

The dreams were back, plaguing her sleep with bloodied faces and silent screams. She could see their faces. Most of them faded quickly, but two stayed. The first was looking to the side, as if staring at something in the distance. It's eyes were vacant, but Zezili felt no affection for it. In fact, she wanted to strangle the corpse. She wanted to pray to the ridiculous 'Wall God' to bring it back so she could kill it again. The second face she had known her entire life, and had not changed since it's death. Unlike the first, this one stared right at her. She held its gaze until the heartache grew too much to handle.


She abruptly turned and began walking the length of the wall. She was running away, it was true. However, the sun would be rising within a few hours, and the noise of soldiers reporting for duty would chase off her nightmares for at least another day. Footsteps up ahead drew her out of her thoughts, and she watched as another Garrison soldier on patrol came toward her. Another idiot stuck guarding the pile of rubble in the middle of the night. Zezili didn't know who she felt more sorry for.


The girl did not wave or even acknowledge the other. She didn't like them, and they knew. It was evident in the way he paused mid-greeting when he caught sight of her. His expression hardened and pointedly looked away. She would never admit how much it hurt to know she would never belong. Zezili's pace increased as she wondered. When was the next expedition outside the walls?

[Yamato]

"Tip Toe, Tip Toe, Tip Toe." whispered a Male Voice, Yamato grinned as he remembered his first Titan killing, but also knew he was being kept a close eye on since he left the group to face a Titan on his own, he didn't really mind it since it kind of made him feel important to the group of the Survey Corps and the guards. "It's nice to feel wanted." He spoke as he continued to avoid the guards, yes he did admit he was crazy when he attacked a Titan by himself but he just wanted to prove how awesome he was, although he could've shown off just to impress a certain Potato Girl, he came across a wall and just stared at it for some time.

"Well the door isn't going to guard itself." He spoke as he whistled, closing his eyes as he went toward the door, unaware that he might bump into someone.

[Zezili]

"Saoirse. Saoirse!" The gruff voice grew in volume as it called her name. "Dammit, soldier. I know you can hear me!" The person continued cursing loudly, unaware of the smile brought to the girl's face. Said girl turned to face one of the many superior officers within Wall Garrison. Her body immediately snapped to attention. The man scowled, but seemed to have ended his outpour of curses. "Relieving someone mid-watch does not count as a full shift. Stay awake for the next one." He didn't wait for her confirmation before continuing on his way.

Zezili looked over her shoulder to the Outside. That's where she wanted to be, where the Titans roamed. The finger tapping against her leg suddenly stopped. 'Going outside...' Looking back, the man had already moved onto another victim to yell at. He was too busy to notice her absence. Zezili quickly made her way down to ground level. She was moving so quickly that she never saw them coming. In fact, she never saw them at all. The person came from her blind side and walked right into them. The girl stumbled back into the wall, slightly dazed. When she focused back on who was in front of her. A cadet?

"What is a trainee doing in this area?" She signed with her hands.

[Stephen]

"CrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP!!!!  I can't believe I slept in, the boss is going to kill me when I get to the wall!" Stephen said to himself as he quickly put on his uniform and gear as he ran out the door of his shack.

Stephen lives fairly close to the wall, about a 20 minute walk if he doesn't sleep in, an 8 minute run if he does, which unfortunately for him, he did today.

Why do we even need the cannons, it doesn't seem like they'll do anything to the Titans really.  I mean what are they going to do to them anyway, bounce off the Titans like rubber? Stephen thought to himself as he ran towards the giant Wall Rose, the gigantic wall who's one purpose is to block the Titans from putting us humans into their gaping pie holes.  As Stephen ran he couldn't help but feel useless as a Wall Garrison, doing nothing but stand around as the others watched the Titans try to reach for them from the ground.

Why can't we go down there and kill them?  Because we have to be able to use the POINTLESS cannons in the case that the Colossal Titan appears again.  I swear, whoever had the idea that cannons would hurt the Colossal Titan, nonetheless regular Titans deserves a slap up the back of the head!  NEWS FLASH, the Titans automatically heal themselves for the love of god...  Man I love to rant when I'm angry! Stephen thought to himself.

As he rounded the corner he saw that he was very close to the wall,  but he was feeling exhausted from the 8 minute run.  As Stephen stopped and looked back, the dust he had kicked up got into his eyes.

Son of a biscuit, that stings, why did I do that!? He thought to himself.  Stephen rubbed his eyes and ran, but the dust still stung.  He could feel his eyes beginning to water, blinding him, because of this he ran into something, this made him stumble backwards pretty far and fall onto his back.  He sat up and gave his eyes a good rub to get the dust out and tried to focus on what he ran into.

Wait a minute, a male cadet and a female wall garrison, what are they doing here?  Stephen thought to himself as he examined the two, the woman was doing something with her hands and making facial expressions, it looked like she was trying to talk to the cadet through something Stephen didn't recognize.  

...  What?

  

[Yamato]

Yamato felt himself bump into someone. "Sorry, I..." He started to apologize when he saw A Wall Garrison was stumbling back into the wall. "Oh my, you okay?" He had a feeling this could be one of the girls he saw at the training grounds at one time, he saw that she was looking at him and doing the sign language with her hands. "What are you doing?" He asked Zezili. He looked away as he saw some guards playing cards. Playing on the job, I see. He thought there were times when he could take advantage of this and leave the city.

He looked at Zezili. "Look, I'm sorry for bumping into you." He apologized to her.

[Stephen]

Stephen looked at the cadet next to see how badly he was going to fail, because there is no way he could understand what she was saying.  She's either saying sorry, asking him something, or scolding him for not watching where he was going. Stephen thought to himself.

"What are you doing?" asked the cadet.  Well at least he didn't say anything that would make him look like an idiot, like 'My favorite food is pancakes'. Stephen joked in his mind.

The cadet looked over at something, Stephen looked in the direction the cadet was looking to see what the cadet was looking at, what Stephen saw... didn't surprise him.  A couple of guards was playing with some cards.  Lazy dirtbags, don't they realize that they should be ready for Titans in case they attack instead of just standing around doing nothing and...  ooooooo nevermind.  Stephen thought to himself.

When Stephen looked back at the cadet, the cadet was looking at the wall garrison.

"Look, I'm sorry for bumping into you."  The cadet apologized to the woman.   ... I like that guy, he's a good guy.

Stephen knew he doesn't speak unless spoken to, but he had a very large urge to apologize to the two, so he took the initiative.

Stephen stood up and brushed himself off.  "Hey!"  The two looked at him with surprised faces.  "I kinda also bumped into you, so I'm sorry about that as well.  You okay, I ran into you guys pretty hard." Stephen said to the two. 

[Zezili]

Zezili folded her arms when the other showed no signs of understanding her. She didn't know why she kept signing to people. It seemed to a reaction from days before her transfer. After waving a hand to emphasize she was uninjured, the girl studied the soldier-to-be in front of her. He looked older than the average cadet, but the thing that drew her attention was the red headband he wore. A hand reached up to touch a similar headband around her head.

Her demeanor suddenly changed as her back straightened, and she moved a fist to her mouth as if to clear her throat. No sound came out, but the action calmed the temper threatening to flare up. When the fist was lowered, a smile was left in its place. Zezili stepped closer to tap the cadet's chest badge when a shout interrupted her.

Another soldier stood to the side, apparently having been there the entire time. The girl stepped back in surprise. Two in her blind spit within a few minutes...she was getting sloppy. Zezili withdrew her hand and eyed the Garrison male before giving a thumbs up signal.

[Yamato]

Yamato looked at Stephen, after hearing what he said to him and Zezili. "It's alright, I should've looked at where I was going." He said to him.

Yamato looked back at Zezili and saw her stare at the Bandanna around his head. "You may touch it, if you like." He said to her. "Or this Bandanna around my neck, either one." He then saw her make a fist and it looked like she was either clearing her throat or acting like she was indicating that she was going to slit his throat. He then saw her smile and was about to tap his chest badge when he also heard a shout as well.

"It's alright, I won't harm you." He then stepped back a bit. "My name is Yamato, what are yours?" He asked Stephen and Zezili.

[Stephen]

"It's alright, I should've looked where I was going." replied the cadet.

Well at least he's okay, and not mad at me, but what about the woman?  Stephen thought to himself.  Stephen saw that the woman was eyeing him down.  Uh oh, I don't like that. 

The woman then gave him a thumbs up.  Good, they're both okay, and not mad at me.

The cadet then stepped back while saying, "It's alright, I won't harm you."  That's a weird thing to say, I'm pretty sure we all know that we're not angry at each other, except for her, because we don't what she's saying, oh THIS is going to be fun. Stephen thought sarcastically.

"My name is Yamato, what are yours?" asked the cadet.  Good, a name question.

"The name's Stephen Cardenzia, a pleasure to meet you Yamato." answered Stephen as he stuck out his hand with a smile.  Good, now I know the cadet's name, but we still don't know her's.  She can't say it, we don't know what she's signing, the only option here is for her to write it down, but... WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO WRITE ON OR WITH!

[Zezili]

She wasn't sure how to take the cadet's response. Was she being pitied or babied? They both introduced themselves, and when it came to be her 'turn', Zezili could see a look cross Stephen's face. A look she knew quite intimately. Anger flared up once again. That was why she hated the Garrison, automatically underestimating her. So instead of answering with her name, Zezili walked to a nearby table. A group of Garrison soldiers were playing a card game. Gambling, from the looks of it. They were so focused on the game that they didn't notice the girl approach them.

"...it wrong, stumbled, and nearly stumbled off the damn wall!" The three erupted into laughter. The speaker scratched his chin and leaned in to continue. "I told 'im, 'If you're so eager t' feed the giants, I'll push you off myse...'" The man's sentence trailed off when he noticed a shadow stretching over the table. He scowled when he saw its owner. "What d' you want?"

Zezili ignored the question. She didn't like them to begin with, and that dislike only grew as they sat around and goofed off while on duty. With a swift kick of her leg, the table and all the cards went flying. All three immediately jumped up. "What the hell?" The second voice did not belong to the storyteller, but a man equally guilty of slacking his duties. A large stain covered his shirt and jacket, quickly dripping to soak his pants. Apparently he was unlucky enough to have his drink on the table. "You'll be paying for this, Mute! The captain has let your insubordination pass one too many times."

The girl simply turned to Yamato and Stephen and away from the aggravated Garrison soldiers. "My name, or what I am often called around here." She would have said, but instead just smiled, pointing to the other three over her shoulder. Messing with Garrison always put her in a good mood.

[Yamato]

Yamato stuck out his hand as well and shook Stephen's hand. "A pleasure to meet you too." He said to him with a friendly smile.

Yamato saw Zezili looking at Stephen and walked over to the table that the Garrison Soldiers were playing cards on, he then watched her walk over to the table and noticed that the guards were pretty rude with Zezili using foul Language and stuff after she knocked over the table. Even though I maybe insane, I know better than to treat a girl like that. He thought.

"Yeah, I enjoy pestering the Garrison Guards as well, but Mute isn't good enough for me, at least not a name I would call you, how about friend, will that do?" He asked Zezili. he didn't really get what she was getting at, but he did think that when she smiled and pointed at the Garrison Guards behind her, he just had that feeling, he also knew that he wouldn't call her a mute, well... Not like they did anyway.

[Stephen]

Yamato shook Stephen's hand, "A pleasure to meet you too." replied Yamato with a friendly smile.  And now he's my friend, good.

Stephen saw the Garrison look at him with a slight angry face.  Uh oh, what'd I do?  The Garrison then walked over to the table full of slack-offs and with a swift kick, made the table airborne with cards, a man's drink, and three men to there feet.  The drink came down and splashed one of the guy's pants, this made Stephen smirk and chuckle a bit.  Ooh, I wonder how long that's going to take to wash out.

"You'll be paying for this, Mute! The captain has let your insubordination pass one too many times." 

The woman turned around, putting her back to the now angry slack-offs, pointed to the guys behind her and smiled.  

"Yeah, I enjoy pestering the Garrison Guards as well, but Mute isn't good enough for me, at least not a name I would call you, how about friend, will that do?" asked Yamato. 

"Mute huh, that's unsurprising that it would come from the Wall Garrison, who stand around doing NOTHING!" Stephen said as he raised his voice so that the slack-offs could hear.  They dismissed him and walked off after yelling back a few curses.  Nothing like some good entertainment. Stephen thought on the matter of the cursing Garrisons.  The thing was was that Stephen was about to go into a full blown rant on the slack-offs and things would've gotten very ugly, fortunately he held back. 

[Zezili]

Zezili's smile slipped. Yamato wanted to call her friend? It wouldn't make a difference if he called her a son of a titan. Those names no longer bothered her, but somehow the thought of being called friend was...well, it was nice. She shrugged and shifted her weight. It had been a while since anyone called her that. However, Yamato was a cadet. A soldier without proper training. There was a good chance he wouldn't even make it past graduation, especially if there was another Titan attack. He was still livestock. The other male, Stephen, was equally peculiar. He bad-mouthed Wall Garrison for doing nothing but stand around all day. Did he even know he was also a Garrison soldier? So in a way he was insulting himself. Zezili let out a silent laugh at the thought. Lifting an eyebrow, the female pointed to the rose patch on her chest. "You know you're one of them, right?"

[Stephen]

Oh, the Garrison is looking at me.  She's pointing to her Wall Garrison patch, she has a raised eyebrow which probably means she's questioning me, and this is most likely a reaction in accordance to what I said.  I think I get what she's trying to ask.

"Yes, I am a Wall Garr-...  Oh now I get it!  I mean, I know I am a Wall Garrison, but that's pretty close to the truth that we don't do anything, right?  When was the last time we had any action?  Because of this we have people like those slack-offs just sitting around playing cards and what not."

Stephen hated that he felt useless, he joined the Wall Garrison so that he didn't die in the Survey Corps and wasn't put in with the self righteous dirtbags that call themselves the Military Police, he wanted to say that but he felt that he was just rambling on at this point.

[Yamato]

Yamato didn't say a word but he did know that Zezili slipped a smile. Friend it is then. He thought when he saw that, he then looked at Zezili and Stephen who were talking. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I do have a nickname and no it's not because I'm a tattle tale cause I'm not, but people would call me the dude with a mouth because well... They say I never shut up." He explained to them as he put his hand at the back of his head and rubbed it with a sweatdrop, expecting Zezili to do something or Stephen to say something sarcastic. "But the nickname doesn't seem to bother me much."