Two Fives
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chapter ii:i
wall maria, shiganshina / シガンシナ区
The Scout Regiment arrive in Shiganshina from Beyond the Walls. The ride through Shiganshina's portcullises is as silent as sepulchres, shadows of the 13th Expedition Outside the Walls worn around soldiers' shoulders like burial shrouds. Several days after, a funeral service takes place in the town square. Condolences are offered for the families and friends of hundreds of men and women who died on the expedition. The bereaved wear black as black as the night, holding candles in their hands that cast shadows even blacker. Crows caw cruelly.
For her murder and mutiny of corporal Niklas Dok on the expedition, Mizuki Kohaku is under trial for many months. Following eyewitness testimonials, these crimes are reprieved by the courts. Those outside the courts, however, aren't as forgiving. Information outlets from the Outer to Inner Walls run her name through the dirt with libel, labelling her with nicknames from Reaper of the Redwood to Kohaku Cut-Throat. This so-called traitor's deeds have been the talk of everyone's town. Mothers are known to tell their sons tales of the titans--the big bad beasts--to scare them into behaving. Now, they tell their children tales of Mizuki Kohaku, the Reaper of the Redwood.
During the trial, reports of the 13th Expedition Outside the Walls are collected and compiled. Officials determine who of the Scout Regiment are most qualified for the rank sergeant. Congratulations are in order for Victoria Star, who soldiers remember as coming second in the 88th Cadet Corps, Kane Foster, whose titan kill count was second to only one, and Serenity Alabast, whose innovative endeavours led to the saving of countless lives. All of these sergeants, too, are offered a radio comm, a device derived of the technological breakthrough made from deconstructing the 13th Expedition's find. This device, manufactured by Angel Aaltonen's progeny, allows for sergeants to communicate across long distances.
A year later, morale is low. Lower than ever. Word of the Redwood Massacre has spread as far as the Inner Wall, whispered still on the breaths of pauper and prosperous alike, this feeling of utter calamity reaching far and wide indiscriminately like the bubonic plague. Symptoms include weights as heavy as the world on your shoulders. Gravity in your stomach that drops it pitilessly down. Memories of cold blues that chill your blood like December's snows.
There has been an increase in the Persona Non Grata's terrorist activity this last year, particularly around Shiganshina. For this reason, the Royal Government has decided to employ scouts here, figuring their hardened temperaments from the Redwood Massacre are ideal for the undertaking. Soldiers of the Garrison as well as the Scouts man Shiganshina's streets, keeping an eye on citizens who man the marketplaces and everywhere else in between. For the time being, all is well.
Where are you in Shiganshina this morning?