Attack on Titan discussion

This is where members of the Survey Corps can practice and enhance their skills. It is outdoors. There are tall trees surrounding the training grounds, and those can be used to practice your 3DMG training.

Koichi walked around the training grounds of the Survey Corps Base. Almost no one was there, though he couldn't blame anyone. It was early in the morning, and the sun was just barely coming up. Koichi had a strange habit of waking up early. He had his 3DMG gear strapped on. He wanted to practice with it more, just in case they ever go outside of the walls sometime soon.

Caz yawned when entering the training grounds. He stretched his left arm while scratching his head with the other. He was one of the first to show up this morning. He enjoyed the silence, it felt like he was completely deaf, but his footsteps on the dirt proved him wrong. He let go a sigh and looked up at the sky with a satisfied look on his face.

Out of the corner of Koichi's eye, he spotted someone else on the training grounds. He hadn't seen the other person around base before, but that's probably because he was new. He ran a hand through his hair and kept walking to the tall trees at the edge of the training grounds.

He was not alone. Caz looked back down and saw someone walking near the edge of the training grounds. He thought he was the only one who gave up on sleeping after countless nightmares. Caz squinted his eyes to see who it was. He didn't recognize him. He continued his walk across the training grounds and walked towards the guy.

Nt noticing the other person following him, he stopped at the base of the tree. Koichi stretched his arms above his head before beginning. He grabbed the handles of the 3DMG and activated them. Hook lines shot from the gear and connected onto the tree. He swung up and began to run up the side of the tree, balancing himself on the gear.

Caz arrived at the trees when the guy had swung himself up. He looked up, the early sun trying to blind his eyes, and frowned. "Nice skill for an early morning!" he said loud enough.

Surprised at the sudden noise, Koichi lost his footing and fell onto his back, hanging upside down. At least the 3DMG was still connected to the tree. Koichi tilted his head to look down to the ground where the guy he saw earlier stood. "Um...thanks!" He called back down. He wasn't really used to compliments. In training camp, everyone was just yelled at 24/7. It wasn't the best experience, but it was over now. Hopefully.

"And there's the morning," Caz muttered as the guy suddenly hung upside down. It reminded of his times at the training camp, especially when they had to practice on their balance. "I'm Caz Becker by the way." He offered the guy a hand.

Koichi took it, regaining his balance. He muttered a thanks. "I'm Koichi." He replied, trying not to think of how he just humiliated himself by falling down. He was an official soldier now. That should have stopped happening ages ago. Koichi shook himself out of his thoughts, running a frustrated hand down his face.

"Nice to meet you, Koichi." Caz gave a small smile. He noticed Koichi felt embarrassed and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about that. I'm probably the only one who has seen it. And besides that, even the best make mistakes."

Koichi nodded and looked down at the ground. "It's nice to meet you to." He murmured. Looking back up at Caz, trying not to avoid his gaze. "So...what are you doing out here so early?" Koichi asked conversationally. He shifted from foot to foot nervously. If this went well enough, Caz would be his first friend since joining the Survey Corps.

Caz looked around for a moment. "Nothing special, I think," he said. "I couldn't sleep so I thought it might be a good idea to have a walk. You guys are nicely located around here. Nice sunlight on the area, combined with places to take a rest in the shades." Caz smiled and looked back at him. "What about you?"

Shirka stepped out onto the training grounds early that morning. Before she was even close to the trees, she gave up on walking, her feet aching painfully with every step she took, their deformation stopping her from walking comfortably or even normally. She flew forward, pulled at the waist by her Gear, covering the rest of the grounds through the air. At the last moment she took out one of her blades, and buried it into the tree to hold herself up. Reaching down, completely ignoring the two boys which she could see talking beneath her, she unsheated her shorter climbing blades, put it between her teeth, put her Titan blades back into the Gear hold, and began climbing after withdrawing her Gear completely, using the smaller climbing blades as levers. She swung into the tree barehanded, then commenced a series of short jumps between trees, practicing the short reach of the Gear.

Her twisted feet barely ever touched the ground; she worked so fast with the gear that it seemed hardly necessary. She had been the best at this ever since the beginning. It was as though Shirka had been born for the Gear. She sped off, leaving behind the two boys and their talk.

"I usually wake up early to train." Koichi said. He noticed a girl come out to the training grounds. He almost smiled as he watched here use the gear perfectly. She was more than amazing with it. He suddenly wondered when the next time they'd be going outside the walls would be. They hadn't been out in a while. Not that Koichi was complaining, of course. Titans were around every corner and more than half of their soldiers died every time they went out.

Caz followed his gaze. He widened his eyes as he looked at how skilled the girl was with the Maneuver Gear. It looked like she had no trouble at all with it. Caz didn't recognize the girl, he just stared at her and didn't blink until she disappeared from his sight again. He looked back at Koichi. "Wow, she has some pretty awesome skills! Do you know her?"

Reaching the end of the training grounds' territory, Shirka turned back, pushing on her hands and knees against a tree and swinging herself into the air to start up her gear. She crossed faster this time, much faster, and she had covered the length of the forest in just a few jumps.

Swinging herself higher, she withdrew her Gear and dropped to the ground, absorbing the impact of her fall into her knees and hands just inside the first few lines of trees. Her warm-up round finished, she drew her climbing blades again, quickly scaling the nearest tree and settling into a hollow made by the over-arching branches growing from it. Out of sight now, hidden by foliage and bark, Shirka fished a drawing pad and a stick of charcoal from a pocket of her uniform.

She began drawing. And if the two boys still talking below her had been able to see over her shoulder, they would have seen that it was them that she was drawing.

((Sorry if my replies are slow! I've been really busy lately :P))
"Nope. I haven't seen her around base." Koichi said. "But she's amazing with the gear." Throughout his training years, he'd seen few people with the type of skill that the girl possessed. He sighed, impressed by the girl. He could only dream to be that skilled with the gear. When he first started, he was really awkward with it, and sometimes still is.

"Seriously, where did she learn those skills?" Caz said with an excited tone in his voice. He calmed down again. "She must be much older than us. I mean, too much skills!"

Koichi shrugged. "Who knows. She could be my age or your age. Younger people have a lot of skill, too." He said. He wondered where the girl went off to. She was going so fast, that he was sure that she would have reached the edge of the training grounds by now. He felt a slight breeze blow through his hair and he sighed. Who knew. "So..." He began, trailing off slightly. "How long have you been in the Survey Corps?" Koichi suddenly asked, trying to make conversation.

"Uuuuhm," Caz thought about it for a moment. "I don't know exactly. It was shortly after their last mission outside the walls. So I'll probably have to take part in the next one." He shrugged at the thought as he knew a lot of people don't come back once they left the walls.