(open) i made a fist and not a plan

[hoody]

Date & Time: Starting Jan. 1st, but practically every morning (You can specify if timelines are important.)
Location: Near a forest on the city outskirts
Character(s): Annie Leonhardt, Eren Jaeger, and YOU?!
Summary: There's a short, slightly intimidating girl apparently training on the outskirts of town nearly every morning. Sometimes there's a kid with angry eyebrows training with her. Dare you approach? (Multiple prompts; one is closed, the rest are open!)
Warnings: Viol...ence? Will update if/when necessary.

A. (closed to eren)

She had been working off-and-on on the training space since they had returned back planetside. She had considered taking over a place indoors, but none of the buildings she found suited her, and she was far more used to working outside anyway. The cold was bothersome, of course, but there was nothing to be done about that. A few weeks later and it's mostly done—the snow of a loose circular area has been packed down to a floor, half of it bare with the other half hosting four make-shift 'punching bags.' In truth, they were each tall segments of a fallen pine tree that she had stripped the branches from and wrapped what looks like some kind of bedding. Hey, they're at the very least functional.

She'd left when the sun had started to rise, so now it's peeking over the treeline. The snow makes it brighter than normal; Annie narrows her eyes against the glare, though she's grateful for the warmth of the sunlight. It helps distract her from the temperature, buzzing on the surface of her skin. She shifts slightly, shoulders drawn up and hands stuffed in her pockets against the cold. She'd given the time and place to Eren, so all she has to do now is wait.

B. (open)

Off in the distance, in the aforementioned make-shift training area, you can see two figures fighting. They seem to be a messy-haired boy fighting a small blonde girl. Huh.

Well, from what you can see, either that boy is an utter trainwreck at fighting, or that girl is dynamite. Or both. He's just thrown a punch, which she dodged easily enough before throwing him bodily over her shoulder and onto the snow. Ouch, that had to hurt. Maybe you should approach and see what's going on?

C. (also open)

All the other mornings, there's just Annie training. When she doesn't have someone to beat up spar with, she's training on one of those make-shift punching bags. She's very quick on her feet, circling the target and striking with speed, strength, and efficiency. It's possible she doesn't notice your approach, especially if you do so from behind her; she tends to get a little absorbed in her training.

Comments

b

[inhumanity]

[After one particularly aggressive throwdown, the monster sitting at the edge of the ring breaks into applause—and then stops.]

Marvellous! Beautiful! Elegantly done! It's just so heartwarming to see a stronger fighter waste her energy on a weaker one. I wonder, does that that at least inspire the weaker one to new heights? Or does the unsurpassable wall between them discourage the one fighter and let the other grow arrogant and weak?

[He pauses.] In that case, I suppose that eventually the wall would stop being unsurpassable. My, Nature really does always balance things out.

[counterattacked]

[Who invited the peanut gallery? Eren hears about half of that as he tries valiantly to sit up and sputter a protest. It takes a prolonged few seconds, but he does it. Chest heaving up and down, breathing out a labored lungful of air that fogs out in front of him.

He's fine. He'd asked for this. He always matches her for a while before she throws him, but she throws him eventually. Like she just did. Left flat on his back and staring up at the sky for what is probably not the first time today, if the already coloring bruises on his jaw say anything about it. (It's alright, he heals fast now, they'll be gone by afternoon.) He'll get up again and again until she doesn't throw him.]

What-? [He makes it to a sitting position, raises a hand up to wipe under his nose, as if checking if it's bleeding. And he frowns out at the spectator as he does, as if just taking notice of him.] The hell are you talking about?

A. yep.

[counterattacked]

He's late.

He's late, because he's stubborn and Levi is still missing. Has been missing, and there's no way in hell that anything out in the forest or the snow or the city that could have gotten the better of humanity's strongest. Scouring the area and asking around produces nothing. Apparently all signs point to him having been sent back by whatever unpredictable force brought them here in the first place, and apparently that's a thing that happens, it's happened to him before, and he should be glad that it means Levi's back with the Corps where he belongs. But slowing down and taking solace in rationalizations is not a thing Eren is good at. There's still a restless sort of anxiousness to him as he jogs through the snow to meet Annie. Stubborn frustration still worked into the line of his shoulders, the corners of his mouth. Are they really just supposed to sit back and let the Initiative jerk them around like this?

It's not that he's incapable of functioning without a commanding officer. But he'd looked up to the Captain for a long time. And he's very aware that he'd been placed under Levi's command for a reason. (One among many, but having the Captain around was a small reminder that held its own cold comfort. That if he were to lose it- attack his friends, comrades, the civilians they were trying to protect- Levi would be there to take him out.)

"Hey, Annie!" he calls out as soon as he's in earshot, jogging the rest of the way to meet her where she stands. Waiting in the open air, hands in pockets. He frowns. "Aren't you cold?"

[hoody]

[Annie looks sharply over her shoulder at the sound of applause. She's somewhat alarmed that someone had managed to sneak up on her, even though it's understandable—she had been pretty absorbed in the fight, so she hadn't noticed him approach or... sit down to watch.

She does hear everything the stranger says, but she doesn't really feel like baiting him with an answer. Instead she crosses her arms over her chest, glancing to Eren as he finally sits up and gives a very Eren-like response. No, Eren; if you ask that, he'll just keep talking. She sighs.} Nothing worth asking about.

[She really just wants to continue training and ignore the red-eyed interloper, but she takes a wild guess and assumes that he wouldn't be so easy to overlook.] Do you need something?

[hoody]

At this point in time, Annie hadn't been keeping up with the other soldiers. If it had been Eren and a few more of the less perceptive members of the 104th—Jean or Sasha, maybe—she might have, but somehow sticking close to Armin and the noble captain for any more time than necessary seemed detrimental to her. She had seen them about a few times since they had all come down planetside, but that had really been it. She would have no idea that Levi had gone missing, even though it was something she would love to learn. Knowing that humanity's greatest soldier wasn't in the picture anymore would be very beneficial for her... and for Eren, in her opinion. It might be a comfort to Eren that Levi was there to put him to the sword should he prove unruly, but that was not something that Annie would be able to allow. The mere thought of that damnable captain destroying her mark and ruining her mission makes her blood boil, and that was besides the issue of him being a titan shifter, sacrificed to humanity's sheepishness.

But that was all besides the point. By the time Eren jogs up, Annie's closed her eyes; if she's going to have to wait, she might as well rest. At the sound of his voice and the crunch of footsteps on snow, her eyes open. Nice try, opening conversation like that, Eren, but you do not ask Annie Leonhardt to train with you and then show up late. Sure, this place was much larger than training camp, but you should've taken that into consideration. Instead of replying, she moves forward in a single surge, dropping to the ground and sweeping her leg around to knock Eren's legs out from under him.

She stands fluidly, looking down to Eren and speaking with a critical tone, "You're late." And now you know what that earns you.

[inhumanity]

[It's okay. He would have spoken more even if Eren didn't ask that. He doesn't move from his ringside seat, hands folding as he leans forward to watch both of them closely.

He is obviously going to ignore Annie's question.]

I'm discussing a fight. A fight for strength. In other words, a fight for survival. It's a pleasure to meet anyone who strives for survival. Do you? [One palm raises up in greeting.] Hello. My name is Christopher.

b

[gevurah]

[ Before the bomb, Kate kept a rigorous workout, but without a proper facility or any equipment she relies on her surroundings. After two months of being cooped up in space, she knows it's better to indulge this potentially temporary pseudo-freedom. She goes for a jog when she's not doing favours for the elderly local who's allowed both Roslyn and her to live with her.

She ventures off toward the forest (it's also a good way of keeping track of who or what's in there) and it isn't too long before she spots both teenagers. She slows her pace, curious to see what the smaller girl will do. She recognizes Eren, though she's never spoken to him.

She quirks an eyebrow when Eren goes down. Ow. The smaller teen is clearly more experienced. ]

another b!

[argentite]

[ it isn't that she intends on watching the two of them — people training isn't exactly a new sight. But it's the first allison's seen of anyone being brave enough to go at it outside, especially when the conditions don't exactly make it the most hazard-free of places to practice. so, she finds herself caught up, standing no more than a few feet away when the boy goes flying into the snow.

allison's wincing on his behalf because even with the snow it looked like a rough landing. she moves closer almost subconsciously until she's peering down at the boy. ]

Yikes, talk about a wipe out. [ it was kind of amusing though. ] Are you alright?

[counterattacked]

[Don't expect him not to ask, Annie, it's what he does. He also, despite frowning deeply at this guy's weird appearance, appears to be considering this bullshit very seriously from where he's sitting in the snow. Because that is also what he does. Christopher earns himself a studying look and a creased brow as Eren tries to work out if he's being jerked around or not.]

Of course I do. We're not going to die in a place like this.

[In fact, he sounds pretty affronted by the implication that there's any chance he wouldn't fight to survive. So much so that his attention runs right past the introductions. Isn't that why they're here, anyway? To fight. Not that their position back home would be any better. In fact, it's a great deal worse in a lot of ways. That's no reason to lie back and do nothing while they're here.]

[counterattacked]

[What Eren lacks in skill he usually makes up for in both tenacity and force, but given the terrain (icy) and his opponent (Annie in particular) the latter is working solidly against him, here. Annie takes his own momentum and turns it back on him, and this time he manages to scrape something open on the ice when he impacts the ground. A bit of blood spots the snow, and he lifts the heel of his hand to his jaw to check the damage once he sits up. Superficial- he shakes it off and ignores it. He heals a lot faster nowadays, which is handy, if weird. It's already done bleeding. It'll be gone completely by tomorrow.

Looking up finds another spot of bright red against the mostly-grey of the landscape. He takes a few seconds to frown out at her but, apparently free of sheepishness about being thrown by a girl half a foot smaller than him, he raises his voice to call out to Kate.]

Hey, you lost or something?

[This feels like a good guess to make. All that lies further down in that direction is forest.]

[counterattacked]

[They've had cold-weather training before. This climate here is a little more intense, but Eren has never been very much for backing down from a hazard. Because he's-- well, Eren. He's still flat on his back when Allison gets to him, but he's- objectively, save for the bruises and the weird stuttering thing his breathing is doing (is that normal? that's probably not normal.)- fine. He's so fine that he needs to lie there for another few seconds before he can sit up. Fine! His mouth manages to run anyway, if in a breathless sort of way.]

That was- I almost- [Ow. He drops his head back against the snow for the moment, throat working. As if belatedly noticing Allison leaning over him, he blinks hard, and he draws himself into a frown. When did she get there? (Maybe he really should take a breather.) Once her question properly sinks in-]

Yeah, why?

G

[acemedium]

Yeah, definitely saw that. Those two were familiar - and Maya was nosy. As she approached, she could clearly identify them as the super intense telephone repairmen. .. Well, repair girl and boy.

And now they were fighting.

..... It really was a rough life.

Anyway, it is pretty hilarious to see him getting beaten up by a girl around her size, so Maya just watches with interest.

"Left hook! Jab hook!"

b.

[aheroipray]

Oh, it was quite cold. Allumette makes sure to tie her cotton scarf tighter around her neck, moving out of the snow and taking a morning walk. Hands shoved into her gloves, her pointed ears hear the smack of hand against hands, and she quickens her gait. Someone fighting--in this blistery cold? How could they even move? She barely feels her feet, stuffed in her boots as they are.

She approaches, clad in her archer gear as well as a second coat, looking between the two. She immediately winces when Eren's thrown into the snow, but doesn't interfere quite yet. She doesn't know the full story, but she inches forwards, lowering her head in case she has to get in the middle of things.

G isn't even an option you're not following the rules

[counterattacked]

Maya would you stop with the telephones...

Eren had actually managed to save his footing this time when Annie grabbed him. (Progress!) Escaped the grapple, skidded backward a bit in the ice but raised his fists high again, one on either side of his face, like she'd taught him. He takes a step forward, readies himself to swing- then hears a familiar voice. Against what should be his better judgment, he throws a glance over his shoulder toward Maya, which is all the room Annie needs to finish sweeping his feet out from under him and get him back on the ground and swing this prompt full circle to where it's supposed to end. He tried.

Picking himself up out of the snow, he sits up and spits blood in an entirely ungentlemanly way. (In his surprise, his teeth had clicked together on impact, to predictable results.) He wipes the back of his hand over his mouth afterward, eventually addressing the source of his distraction.

"Jab hook?" Skeptically. Thanks, Maya. That wasn't helpful at all. "Do you even know what you're talking about?"

He's aware that the answer is probably no.

[counterattacked]

At least the snow makes for a softer landing. Probably. He isn't expecting it, and he lands hard on his back. But he's still fresh, and he pulls himself up into a sitting position immediately, raising a hand reflexively to the back of his head where it had impacted the snow. Ow.

"Hey, what the fuck, Annie?" he sounds genuinely confused and sort of wounded about this turn of events. Which gives way to a species of earnest sheepishness that only happens when Eren actually manages to recognize his fuck ups. His expression twists into something frustrated and combative for a moment before he opens his mouth again. "Look, I wasn't trying to be. I was-"

Scouring the city for a superior officer who's probably long gone. Levi's crass and intimidating and definitely not the most personable man in the world, but he's serious about looking after his men, and Eren honestly admires that about him. Which means he won't believe the Captain would fuck off without saying a word to him or Armin. Which, in turn, means he should really know what's happened to him already, but Eren isn't good at giving up, and he's yet to exhaust his options. Case in point:

"You haven't seen the Captain around, have you?" he asks, roughly brushing the last of the snow out of his hair as he does. As a member of the Military Police, Annie doesn't necessarily serve under Levi's direct command. But they're all comrades, aren't they?

b!

[promises_to_keep]

[He's been watching the fight for about five minutes before he just has to applaud. He recognizes Eren, who is now arse-over-kettle in the snow, but the blond girl who put him there is a face he hasn't encountered yet.]

Fight, fight, fight~ that was quite a throw there, blondie. [He snickers.] Why do I get the distinct feeling you've kicked Eren's butt before?

[counterattacked]

It's quite cold! Anyone who'd be crazy enough to choose to hang out out here has to be either stubborn as hell or stupid as hell or just plan crazy. Deciding which of those labels applies to Eren probably isn't important (it's all of them.) Still, even with the possible benefit of titan shifter bullshit and elevated body temperatures, after working up a sweat in these conditions, one would hope they've got the means to start a fire once all is said and done.

But they've been at it for a while, and they don't seem inclined to stop any time soon. He lands a more successful hit on Annie and the rush of elation at the success lasts just long enough for the world to invert itself as she throws him for it, not for the first time. The air rushes out of him at the impact, and he takes a few seconds to recollect himself before moving.

It's oddly quiet around here compared to the clamor of the barracks and the training fields they used to do this in. A noise shifts its way over toward them, a crunch of snow under boots, and Eren lifts his head to the source. Drawing his brows together, he sits up in a hurry when he spots someone strangely small not too far away.

"Hey, Annie-" he starts, nodding his head over in a "hey look" kind of way, but obviously a little unsure about what he's seeing. (He's so rude.) They've got company.

[counterattacked]

[Wow he's right here, he can still hear you, you know. Eren makes a strangled and inarticulate noise that could be an indignant argument as he flips himself painfully upright. He recognizes that voice. Lea's mostly alright, but he's got a really fucking weird idea of what titans are.]

Hey, Lea. [Entirely too casual for a guy who just got thrown over the shoulder of a tiny girl. He takes a few breaths, rolls his own shoulder to stretch the soreness out of it before he tries for his feet. He doesn't answer the question for Annie, but he does add, helpfully-] This is Annie.

C

[redsea]

[ I bet if you tried all sorts of different fighting styles, you'd be good at all of them!

It wasn't an educated guess on her friend's part—it was less of a guess as it was a very stupid thought to put in the mind of an impressionable girl—but sometimes, Kougyoku thinks, the things she hears are just crazy enough to work. She observes Annie from behind a tree. At this angle, she can see it all: the speed and force of her punches, her footwork. It was less wild and destructive from how a Fanalis fought, but Annie looked human. Maybe Kougyoku could fight like that, too.

She starts copying Annie, punching the air like she is. More accurately, she's punching the space between her and the tree in front of her. There comes a time when her knuckles hit the bark, and that's when Kougyoku yelps in pain. ]

[hoody]

[Annie's gaze has a predatory edge to it, one searching for intent or weakness. Christopher's thoughts were not ones that one would generally think up if they might watch two people spar—it was not typically an act for survival. It makes her slightly uneasy. Or perhaps it was just the eyes, or the tone.

Eren, of course, considers everything as a struggle for survival—or something that might influence one in the future—so she isn't surprised by his answer. Her mentality runs in much the same vein. She would assume many more of them would be training, considering the meaning behind their being here. Should it be so surprising that two soldiers were practicing their martial skill?

Considering her earlier attempt to needle a purpose out of his being here was brushed aside, Annie feels she doesn't have much else to do besides stand there and stare dangerously at this Christopher. If Eren wanted to speak with him on the finer points of fighting for survival, that was his prerogative, but Annie preferred not to mince words needlessly.]

[hoody]

She's unflinching in the face of his initial complaints—it's not like it's anything she hasn't heard before. He can save the wounded expression for someone who gives a shit, because it's pretty apparent that Annie does not. She gives him his allotted time necessary to put two and two together, though, and waits for whatever excuse he might have.

It's a credit to Annie's acting that a gleam doesn't escape her eyes at the possibility that the captain might have disappeared. Her expression is perfectly blank before she carefully places there a very slight look of concern—she's slightly more clumsy at placing expressions than eliminating them (considering she's made great strides to deface any way her face might give her away), but it should be functional. "No." She considers it. "I haven't seen the captain since the day we arrived here." She certainly hadn't gone out of her way to run into him after they had all returned to the planet's surface.

While she plays her part, her mind is racing with possibilities. Most of them were dead ends—there's nothing you can do here, Annie, there's nothing you can do—but some... If Levi had disappeared, it was just herself, Eren, and Armin. There wasn't anything she could do about Armin because they had grown up together, but... without Levi to keep an eye on Eren, she might have more sway over him here.

A warrior had to have their senses keen to adjust to any change in the situation.

She refocuses her gaze on Eren. "When was the last time you saw him?" There's something official-sounding in her tone; it made sense, considering her involvement with the police. They had been trained for things like this, missing persons and whatnot, though she certainly had no intention to find this missing person.

[hoody]

[She had never claimed that Eren was a bad combatant in hand-to-hand; he certainly deserved his position as second in the 104th in that particular field. He had been good enough to pin Reiner, after all, and Reiner was more akin to a brick house than a person (despite not being particularly gifted in hand-to-hand). No, it was more the issue that Annie was just especially skilled in this particular area. That, and she had taught Eren a great deal of what he knew, so she knew what to expect.

His boundless enthusiasm and ceaseless ability to get up and come back for more, however, were things far beyond her. She supposes that she respects that in him. It's what allowed him to become as skillful of a soldier as he had become, because he had been quite hopeless in the beginning.

She's waiting for him to get back up so they can begin again when his attention's diverted elsewhere. She follows the line of his gaze to the red-haired girl standing some distance away, watching.

Eren had already called out to her, so Annie rocks back onto her heel, listening.]

[hoody]

[They'd had cold-weather training, sure, but there was a particular change to their biochemistry that kept them at a higher body temperature than the normal human being, as well. Of course, no one would know that about Annie besides herself, so it was (mostly) beside the point. In the rhythm of training she barely noticed the snow or the cold. It's only when she sends Eren flying down into the snow that she feels it, or notices the girl that's standing only a few feet away.

Annie regards her with a sharp expression when she approaches, bends over Eren, and appeals to how he's doing. She glances down to Eren, something like derisive laughter inherent in her expression. Yes, Eren—are you alright? Are you enjoying your attention?

Whatever. Annie turns away from them for a moment, leaning down to pick up the heavy jacket she wore for the weather but refused to fight in. That was, for the most part, an indicator that they would be taking a break.]

[gevurah]

No.

[ She shakes her head, eyes flicking from Annie to Eren. Given how alert he is already, she can assume he's relatively uninjured, but she does give the bits of red snow a look before asking out of politeness: ]

You okay?

[ A long time ago she had learned to use someone's size and weight against them. It's what's helped her to take down the inhuman and bizarre. ]

[counterattacked]

[Too used to having something to prove, concern is not a thing he handles gracefully, polite or otherwise. So he squares his shoulders and defends what honor he has left, bracing himself against the snow to stand.]

Yeah, it's no big deal.

[The occasional crash landing is an occupational hazard of being Eren Yeager and thus something he's learned to shrug off a long time ago. He hoists himself up to his feet, breath misting out in front of him. Bruising jaw, knuckles red from the cold and the impact, but he's practically bouncing on the balls of his feet to try it again.]

I think I know where I went wrong. I'll get it next time, you'll see.

[He says that every time.]