The two girls were back in the brunette's room with Pieck was thinking while walking around in circles and Ymir was just staring at her,annoyed while leaning on the wooden chair and her feet on the table.
"Impressive.He froze a whole lake in a matter of seconds,"Pieck said as Ymir scrolled through social media on her laptop to see the full fight.
"Yeah,the fight started to trend already and it only happened an hour ago,"Ymir said.
"Who do you think would've won that fight?"
"Probably the ice dude to be honest.No offence to Bert but I think that the ice guy is better in combat."
The tall brunette sighed as she stood up and took off her grey sweater.
"I'm going to go to sleep," Ymir said,yawning. "That first test drained me."
"Hold on,I forgot to tell you something,"Pieck stood in front of the door.
"What is it?"
"Thank you for comforting me. I really needed it…"Pieck said with a small smile.
Ymir smiled back. "No problem.I'm here if I need some ears."
Pieck smiled before leaving the room leaving Ymir by her lonesome once again.Ymir closed her drapes before brushing her teeth and slipping underneath her soft yellow comforters and fell into sleep's embrace.
When she opened her eyes,she was in a room.A much too familiar room.The walls of the room were old and dilapidated with small cracks on the ceiling and scratch marks on the walls and door.The wooden floor always creaked from the slightest of movements.The sunlight went through the window giving some lumination to the dark room.The bed across from her was a size for a child with a torn grey fitted sheet and the cheap wooden frame has bite marks on the part against the wall.When she touched the floor with palm it was hardly cold til she saw her back of her hand covered with hair with claws at the end of her fingertips.Her hand started to shake as she analysed it.
The floor started to creak again but the problem was that she wasn't moving.The heavy footsteps got louder got louder making the creaking more irritating for her sensitive ears causing her to quietly whimper while covering her ears.The steps stopped and Ymir moved her hands off her ears until the doorknob started to turn.Ymir quickly ran underneath her bad,breathing heavily as the sounds from the doorknob echoed throughout the room.The door slowly creaked open making Ymir hold her breath and the heavy footsteps started again.
"Where are you,Ava?!" A deep voice slurred.
The footsteps stomped towards the broken closet.
"Not in the closet,eh?Don't worry,I know where you are…if it isn't the closet then… "
The footsteps rushed towards her bed before suddenly it was flipped on its side exposing her to…him.
"There you are,my mutt of a daughter."
The man was average height with an average build,beige skin,short brown hair and an unkempt dark brown beard wearing wrinkled black shirt,dark blue baggy jogging pants.His small brown eyes looked at her in a drunken anger.
"Did you do this?"He asked,pointing at his brown slippers that had a few holes on them.
She remained silent until he repeated the question louder.
"Did you do this?!"
She whimpered and nodded,leading to the man grabbing her by the hair and yanking her out of the room.Ymir struggled to get her off his grasp but his grip was too strong.
"Time for your punishment."
He threw her on the kitchen floor before grabbing something from the table.Tears fell down her cheeks as she profusely apologised to her father.
"You want to act like a dog,then you'll be treated like a dog!"Her father said,grabbing the belt and rushing to her.
"I said I'm sorry!"Ymir woke up shouting with her arms shielding her head.
When she looked around,she was in her hotel room again.Ymir looked at the clock to see that it was five in the morning.She was in a cold sweat as she was breathing heavily.Her cheeks were wet with the tears still streaming down her face.
"Fuck…" Ymir muttered as she wiped her tears. "Not that shit again,fuck!"
She started to punch her bed. "Get out of my head,you fucker!"
She kept punching her bed over and over until the frame gave up and collapsed.She then grabbed the pillow and threw it against the tv,making the tv wobble back and forth before falling forward.
She started breathing roughly as she wiped more tears off her face.She leaned her back against the wall as she slid down to the carpet floor and hugged herself as another round of tears slid down as she covered herself with the comforter and started sobbing.When she woke up again,it was now 11:10 am.Ymir decided to keep her pyjamas on,only changing her hoodie from her baggy grey to a black zip up before putting on a pair of socks and her shoes,leaving her disorientated room.
She entered the small restaurant in the hotel while putting her hood over her head.Most of the tables were circular with white table sheets on top with a few tables having black booths and rectangular tables.It was more packed than she expected much to her dismay but she didn't care as long as no one bothered her.But her wish wasn't granted as when she sat down and looking at the menu,she the chair across from her move.When she put down the menu she saw Marcel.
He was the same height as her with short dark brown hair swept back,hazel eyes and slightly upturned nose with light tan skin,wearing a brown bomber jacket with a black t-shirt,black jeans and black Adidas Superstar shoes.
"Hey,how are you doing?"
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm fine…and you're talking to me,why?"
"Well,you looked lonely and so it seems that you needed a friend and-"
"Cut the fucking shit.I'm not in the mood Marcel," Ymir said angrily. "What do you want?"
"I want to make an alliance with you,"Marcel said, adjusting himself in his seat and leaning forward."I saw what happened yesterday evening with the fight between the ice guy and Bert.He's most likely the biggest threat here and we have to make sure that at least we aren't on his radar or luckily we could take him down and you're a capable fighter and honestly,one of the best ones here."
'If you knew the way I lived, you would know why I'm such a good fighter.'
Ymir chuckled as she put down the menu. "Listen here Marcel, there's no reason to make an alliance as of right now, and plus, if we are on his radar, he would turn me,y ou and your little brother into human popsicles."
Marcel leaned back and sighed. "That's true, he effortlessly killed four Antajahs on his own in the first test."
Ymir remembered the first event.She and Pieck had to hunt down one of those things as well.When they encountered one, it was a little over 10 metres tall with an appearance similar to a t-Rex with very short dark grey arms and gigantic grey legs with some parts covered in dark grey scales with a sharp teeth with a yellow tint on them and small and beady dark yellow eyes.Ymir remembered that she and Pieck nearly got burned because those things can breathe fire and somehow is able to fly despite having small wings that were way too disproportionate to it's large body so it was more like gliding than actually flying.
"Those things are a pain in the ass to kill,"Ymir added.
"My brother and I were lucky to get a Great Jagras,"Marcel said. "it was only a tier 5 monster so luck's side was on that one."
'Yay.Good for you.'
"I'll think about it,"Ymir said. "Depends on what's the next event."
"I think 4 is better than two and trust me if we need as many contestants on our side as possible."
"Four rather than two?What do you mean?"Ymir asked.
"I know you and Pieck have a little alliance going on."Marcel said seriously.
"There's a reason I'm working with her."
"Because you're using her exceptional intelligence for your personal gain,"Marcel assumed."And i understand she was-"
Ymir furrowed her brows."It's because I owe her one,you fucking prick."
Marcel apologised as the waitress asked the duo what they want.Marcel wanted a glass of water while Ymir wanted a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of apple juice.Marcel smiled when he heard her order before the waitress walked away.
Ymir looked at the older Galliard coldly."What are you smiling for?"
"Nothing. Porco is a big fan of grilled cheeses as well."
"Speaking of Porco, Where's he?"
Marcel leaned back in his chair. "He's working out in the gym.He's been trying to convince Bertholdt to join as well."
'Bertholdt?He's been trying to convince Bertholdt?Good luck,you'll be lucky if you manage to get a sentence from him.'
Ymir chuckled at their pointless effort. "And how's that going for ya?"
"So far,no luck.He wouldn't even acknowledge me nor Porco.He even threatened Porco which almost led to a fight."Marcel said.
'Damn,It's really that bad,huh?'
"Leave him alone for now.He's in his feels right now and needs some space."
"Do you know why he's acting like that?"Marcel asked. "I mean,I know that Bertholdt is a shy guy and more of an introvert but threatening people?That's not really like him."
Ymir shrugged. "Don't know.Didn't know him as long as you did."
"But you were in the same junior high as him, right?Weren't you in the Adventurer Program?"Marcel asked.
"Yes,but we weren't friends and hardly spoke with him,"Ymir protested. "If you want to know what's wrong with him,call Reiner."
"I did,but he won't tell me.Anyways,I gotta go meet up with Porco to warm myself up for the next test,"Marcel stood up from his seat. "Please,think about the alliance."
After she saw him leave,Ymir shook her head in disbelief.Ymir tilted her head up now staring at the diamond patterned ceiling and sighed.She looked at her right bicep before placing her left hand on top of it.
'Maybe I should hit the weights as well,' Ymir thought. 'I need to start filling my frame if i don't want to look like walking toothpick.'
She always struggled gaining weight not to mention she lacked the feminine curves and the sizable breasts of a typical girl her age,so sometimes people would be mistaken her as a boy if she wore baggy clothes.
Ymir then noticed the scent of cheese getting stronger causing her to turn her head to focus on the plate coming her way.The grilled cheese was big and flat with diagonal grill lines on both sides,evident that it was grill pressed,the cheese was marble cheddar with a mix of white and yellow cheese oozing through the middle of the sandwich with a cool,refreshing glass of apple juice beside the plate.
After she finished eating,she headed outside and started to wander around the massive training facility, getting fresh air while taking a vape pen out of her pocket before starting to smoke.She removed the black elastic out of her hair,dropping down near the base of her neck and cool breeze was moving her around her hair even sometimes getting in her face but she didn't care much.She took out her phone and looked at her phone,seeing that she had 8 missed calls from her brother.Her thumb slowly got closer to her brother's contact but she stopped.
'No,he's fine.I know he's fine.He's strong too.He's been through alot of shit like me,' Ymir thought as she exited off the app.She sat down on a nearby bench and extended her arm and looked at it as she forced it to grow dark brown hair all over with her nails growing to claws.
'If we did the tests during the night,it would be easier for me to pass them.I will have much more of an advantage during the night.'
Ymir felt a vibration on her thigh and picked up her phone.It was an alarm telling the brunette that the next test is starting in 10 minutes.Ymir sighed as she got up, reverting her arm back to normal.Five minutes later, Ymir sat down on one of the leather chairs in the main area as the other contestants gathered around.Ymir closed her eyes as she patiently only to get tapped on the shoulder and the aroma of sweat and Earl Grey tea passed her nostrils.
"Took you a while,Pieck."
"How do you know it was me?" Pieck sat down next to her.
"Because of the scent of the Earl Grey tea you probably spilled on yourself and I don't know anyone else who drinks that bitter shit,"Ymir said.
"I love testing your senses,"Pieck admitted. "And you're right,I did spill a little bit on my pants before I came here.You should drink some tea every now and then,it's actually pretty good," she pointed at the small, stained trail on her navy sweatblue pants.
The bundle of conversations caused Ymir to filter them out to hear Pieck better until she heard two pairs of heavy footsteps coming outside the front door.
"The instructors are coming,"Ymir said,looking at the door.
Just then,two middle-aged instructors opened the doors.One of them was of average height, being barely taller than Ymir with tan skin and short black hair in a buzz cut with very dull grey eyes.He had visible wrinkles around his eyes and heavy black stubble above his upper lip and across his jawline.The other instructor was fair skinned with thin eyebrows,neat light brown hair that's noticeably greying,parting to the left side of his face and a clean shaven face.Both were wearing dark grey uniform and white dress shirts underneath and black tie with black laced mid calf boots.
"These are the remaining participants after the first test,Calvi," The tan skinned instructor said. "Around 220 examinees left."
Calvi looked around and slowly nodded. "That is more than I expected.Theo,have you received the instructions for the next tests?"
"Yes,I have," Theo said as he gave a piece of folded paper to Calvi.
He looked at the paper thoroughly before folding back up.
"All of you,follow me.It is time for the second test."