Age: 14
Gender: Female
Facial expression: Confident
Hair: Dark blue, long, but secured in pigtails
Height: 5'1"
Eye color: Chocolate brown
Skin color: White, slightly tanned
Outfit: Standard
Personality: Zin's strongest point is her sociability; she is a bubble of happiness that cannot be popped. However, she is not without her flaws; she is physically weak, and has a tendency to be extremely stubborn. Sheer willpower and persistence is what is preventing her from giving up, but such a mindset often backfires in the military, where orders must be followed immediately and without question.
Positive traits
Friendly, Outgoing - Zin is extremely extroverted and loves to make new friends. She makes a point of being nice to everybody, and gets along well with others. She's the type to introduce herself to complete strangers, especially if she thinks that they could use a friend.
Hardworking, persistent - Without any natural talents, it is her persistence that is getting Zin through her training. Her refusal to back down translates into a willingness to put her all into practice until she can complete a task. Where another would give up, Zin picks herself back up and tries again.
Optimistic - Even in the most dire of situations, Zin can smile. She is the eternal optimist, and has complete faith in humanity. It's rare to see Zin in a bad mood, and she somehow is able to see the silver lining of every cloud.
Honest - Zin probably could not tell a lie to save her life. She can't keep a straight face whenever she tries to be dishonest, and the guilt of fibbing eats her up so much that she will apologize and tell the truth immediately. What you see is what you get with Zin; she hides nothing of her true character.
Brave - Although not quite fearless, it takes a lot to make Zin doubt herself. She can face almost any adversity without batting an eye. Even when she is afraid, she is capable of overcoming that fear and courageously accomplishing any task that she must.
Negative traits
Stubborn, Willful - Zin is good at following orders-- so long as she happens to agree with them. She is extremely stubborn and, when forced to do something she doesn't want to do, she obeys only begrudgingly. She has no qualms about speaking her mind, which can sometimes get her into trouble.
Rash, foolhardy - Zin rarely puts much thought into her actions. Once she decides to do something, she does it without looking back, no matter how reckless the decision. Once she gets going, it's difficult to make her stop until she has accomplished her goal.
Naive - Zin knows very little about the real world, and assumes that everyone is as honest and innocent as she is. She finds herself experiencing many rude awakenings as she continues on through life.
Childish - Zin is young, and it shows in her lack of maturity. She can be petty and argumentative when things don't go her way. She has a tendency to question orders that she does not understand. She can come across as annoying to some people due to her whimsical nature.
Overconfident - Zin has a tendency to overestimate her own abilities and the abilities of her allies. She makes light of daunting tasks and is unafraid to boast. She considers herself a very important and valuable asset, and wants nothing more than to prove herself. Even when she fails, she is unembarrassed and is instead sure that she will succeed the next time she tries.
History:
Summary:
Zin grew up in an upper-middle class merchant family in Shiganshina that was beginning to struggle financially. When she was only fourteen years old, her parents (Clemont and Jasmine Hayes) began expressing an interest in marrying her off to a richer family, in order to preserve and elevate their status and to ensure that their daughter would live a comfortable life. However, Zin had no intention of living as simply a wife; she announced that she was going to join the military and fight the titans before running away from home.
By the time her family made contact with her again, Zin had already become a trainee. In a way, this too would aid her parents' status, at least in the eyes of the public, for children as young as twelve were strongly encouraged to join the military. In addition, with Zin away from home, there would be one less mouth to feed. And besides, there hadn't been a titan seen in 100 years (besides the ones clawing just outside the walls, but those were never discussed); it was extremely unlikely that their daughter would actually ever face one of the monsters. And so, begrudgingly, Zin's parents approved her decision.
Training was much more difficult than Zin had anticipated, and there was a moment in the beginning that she considered giving up and returning home. However, she refused to give in; she had so much to prove, and most of all, she wanted to choose her own path in life. Where talent and physical strength failed her, her strength of will and persistence got her through.
At present, Zin has been in training for a few months. She has no particular talent, but she is well-rounded and decent in all areas of her training, from horse riding to hand-to-hand combat to using her 3D gear. She still has a long way to go, but she is confident in her abilities. She has yet to encounter a real, live titan and put those skills to the test, however.
The scent of warm, moist earth filled Zin’s nostrils as she dug into the soil by the side of her house. It had rained the previous night and she was certain that she would find some interesting things underground, despite the summer sun baking the back of her neck.
Just as she managed to pry free an earthworm, a voice called shrilly, “ZINNIA! You’re absolutely FILTHY! Get out of that dirt at ONCE!”
“It’s Zin, Mom,” Zin corrected impatiently. She stood up with a mischievous grin and held out the worm, which she held dangling between two fingers. “Look what I found!” she announced proudly. The worm squirmed futilely.
“That disgusting,” Zin’s mother, Jasmine, replied. “Put it down and come inside at once—but take off your shoes first! For once I’m glad you’re wearing those ridiculous shorts; if you’d gotten one of your dresses dirty… I said come, at once!” she snapped when Zin did not react. “You need to take a bath, put on something ladylike, and come eat lunch.”
“Fiiine…” Zin said angrily. She placed the worm carefully back inside the hole that she’d dug and buried it. She got back up, deliberately wiped her hands on the T-shirt, and trudged back indoors after her mother.
Life was not unpleasant for the Hayes family. Clement Hayes, Zin’s father, was a moderately successful merchant, while his wife Jasmine was a stay-at-home mother to Zin. Although the family had begun to struggle financially to maintain their place as upper-middle class, they had never been in any danger of losing their home nor of running out of food. Clement was under the strong impression that a woman best served the community by marrying a husband and bearing children; this was where he and Zin strongly disagreed, and was a common point of contention. As Zin’s parents struggled to make her act more ladylike, she endeavored to accomplish the exact opposite. She became bullheaded and refused to touch dresses or anything remotely girly. Therefore, there was plenty of tension in the Hayes household, but it wasn’t until Zin’s fourteenth birthday that things finally reached the boiling point.
“Happy birthday, Zinnia!” Zin’s parents happily cheered together.
Zin was in such a good mood that she forgave her parents using her full (and girly) name without complaint. With an excited grin, she tore open her present, and pulled out…
“A dress. Um… Thanks, Mom, Dad,” she said, her grin freezing in place. She hadn’t asked for anything—her parents were constantly warning her that they were being stretched thin financially—but she certainly had not asked for yet another dress. It didn’t look handmade, though; that meant her parents had bought it, so at least, in their own funny way, it did show that they truly cared for their daughter.
“Excellent, moving right along,” Zin’s father began, “You are to wear that this evening. Mr. White is coming to eat supper with us.”
“Again…?” Zin pouted. Why did that old business guy have to come on her birthday? All he and her father talked about were things she couldn’t understand.
“Yes, and this time, you must look absolutely beautiful,” her mother gushed, then added with a sharper tone of voice, “So don’t slouch or pout. It isn’t becoming.”
“Why do I have to be there?” Zin whined. “He’s so old and boring.”
“Zinnia—”
“It’s Zin.”
Her father continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “—Zinnia, you’re already fourteen years old. That means you are an adult, and it’s time that you started to behave like one. Mr. White is a very successful businessman, and we are lucky to be on friendly terms with him. He has expressed an interest in your hand—”
“My what?!” Zin asked shrilly.
“Of course you’re still too young for that,” Zin’s mother explained, “But in a few years, a union between you and Mr. White, or his son, for that matter—that would put us in a very comfortable place financially.”
“Y—you’re not serious,” Zin said, a sick feeling emanating somewhere deep within her stomach.
“This is very serious,” her father said sternly. “You’re an adult, and we’ve provided for you your whole life. It’s time that you started to earn your keep! Do your part for this family and for Shiganshina!”
Bitter tears of anger sprang into Zin’s eyes. “But that isn’t fair!” She’d said it many times in the past, and she knew that the answer would be:
“Life isn’t fair.”
And it wasn’t. Zinnia, at barely fourteen years old, felt that her parents had just sentenced her to death. If she married Mr. White or any of his spawn (though she had never met them), she was sure that would be the end of her life. But so long as her parents had control over her, there was nothing she could do about it.
She had to get out.
“I’ll serve Shiganshina in my own way,” she said coldly, dropping her new dress to the floor. “I’m joining the military.” She stood up and pushed her chair away so quickly that it tipped over and fell to the floor with a loud crack, but Zin was too numb to register it. She turned away and made for the door, but her father caught her by the wrist.
“I ought to beat you,” he growled. “Your insolence has gone too far. You are to obey your parents, or so help me, I’ll—“
“Wait, Clem,” Zin’s mother interrupted. “I know it’s not ideal, but think about it… All children her age are encouraged to join the military. We’d gain a lot of prestige if she made it into the Military Police, or even the Stationary Guard. Give her a few years to cool down and live as she chooses—as an adult. It will teach her some humility and appreciation for what we’ve done for her. She won’t be in any danger; they can’t come inside the walls, and so long as she doesn’t join the Survey Legion—”
“But what would we tell James?” Clemont asked in an undertone, referring to Mr. White.
“We’ll tell him the truth. Say that our daughter is brave and wanted to serve Shiganshina right away. Give her a few weeks in military training, and she will be begging to come back home.”
Zin continued to strain against her father’s grip; she was quite used to her parents discussing her as if she weren’t there.
“Fine…” Zin’s father acquiesced with a sigh. He carefully released his daughter so that she wouldn’t fall over, then turned on her sternly. “Go, enlist,” he commanded, making a shooing motion with his hands. “You will live to regret this decision. You’ll come back, and then you will marry the man we choose.”
Zin drew herself up to her full and unimpressive height. “No.”
And with that, she turned and ran out the door. She ran as far as she could, and then walked the rest of the way to enlist for military training.
***
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!” the drill sergeant roared.
“Zinnia Hayes, sir!” Zin shouted back.
“WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”
“To choose my own path in life, sir!”
“I’M SURE YOU’LL HAVE A GREAT LIFE IN A TITAN’S STOMACH!”
“Yes, sir!”
Military training was not easy for her. She was one of the smallest trainees in her class, and she was not particularly strong. However, the promise of marriage if she failed gave her all the incentive she needed to power her way through any challenge. She often pushed herself to the verge of collapse, but the will to carry on motivated her. She had no natural talents nor gifts; she was not particularly strong, nor fast, nor intelligent—but she did have the willingness to practice until she perfected what had to be done. She worked just as hard as, if not harder, than any of her peers. Through this, trained with her class for months. Every day she grew a bit older, stronger, and more experienced.
It was extremely difficult, but she fiercely enjoyed this life over the one she’d left behind.
Zin shot her 3D gear’s grappling hook into the next tree and tautened her abdominal muscles as she was jerked forward by the hips, right on her friend Walt’s tail. They were training in the forested obstacle course, looking for the giant wooden dummies that represented the titans that they might one day face.
Walt had broken away from the rest of the trainees, looking for an opportunity to take down a target before anyone else had gotten to it, hoping to get more points for it. Zin had followed to act as his support.
A giant wooden dummy suddenly came into view beyond the next few trees, and Walt changed course. He dove down at the target and, using his twin blades, sliced a large portion out of the cushion that represented the target’s weak spot. Seconds later, Zin followed suit, though the section she removed was much shallower than Walt’s. The smell of dusty fabric mingled with that of moist earth and moldering leaves momentarily.
Not deep enough, Zin cursed silently as she glanced back over her shoulder to assess the damage she had done. Unlike Walt, she lacked the strength to finish off a titan. The only way she could make up for it was to approach at a much faster speed. But if I go much faster than this, I’ll probably hit a tree! she thought despairingly. She grit her teeth in bitter frustration as she swung through the trees in her 3D gear. No… I can’t give up. If I don’t take the risk, I’ll never make it as a soldier!
The blue-haired girl released a short stream of compressed gas from her canister and was boosted forward. The wind whistled in her ears and whipped through her streaming hair as she flew past Walt. She shot wires into tree after tree, keeping her eyes squinted against the cold wind. Suddenly, a second target came into view below her and to the left. “There!” she shouted, adjusting the angle of her gear and releasing the gas once again. She sharply changed direction and soared down to the target. In a split second, her blades passed deep through the cushion on the nape of the target’s neck, and she blew past it. She looked over her shoulder to see if she had succeeded.
“Zin! Watch out!” Walt called from behind.
Before Zin could react, she slammed into a tree and her vision went black.
…
“Zin! Zin! Wake up! Zin!”
“Whuh…?” Zin asked groggily. She lifted a hand to the side of her head; it felt wet. She looked around; Walt was supporting her, bracing his legs against the tree that they were both anchored to. “How long was I out…?”
“Only a few seconds. You’re bleeding. You’re lucky you didn’t crack your skull!” Walt scolded. “You were going way too fast.”
“But I did it,” Zin retaliated triumphantly. “I killed my first titan!”
“It was just a dummy, you idiot! Come on… You probably have a concussion.”
Zin sighed in defeat. Even when she tried her best, it sometimes wasn’t good enough. She didn’t have any natural talents to fall back on; she wasn’t strong like Walt. All she was good at was talking to people, and she didn’t think a titan would be willing to listen. She pushed Walt’s arm away when he tried to help steady her, but she wobbled when she tried to right herself. She glanced down at the hand she had used to touch her injury, and was surprised to see it covered in shockingly red blood. “Whoa. I don’t feel so good,” she said faintly as the worst headache of her life washed over her.
“I didn’t think so… Come on, you can’t use your gear like this,” Walt insisted. “We’ll have to walk back…”
“Hey! Are you guys okay?!” a third voice called from above. Colin was standing on a thick tree branch several yards away.
“No, Zin slammed into a tree!” Walt shouted back. Zin jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow and shot him a glare.
“He didn’t need to know that,” she hissed, hurt that her friend had betrayed her. Walt only smirked.
“You keep her there! I’ll go back and get a med team to come get her!” Colin replied. Without waiting for an answer, he turned around, fired his wires, and swung out of view.
Zin let out a long and heavy sigh. She’d never hear the end of this little accident back in the mess hall. She was sure it wouldn’t earn her any points with the higher-ups, either.
***
“You know, Zin, you work really well in a team,” Walt said later that day in the mess hall.
Zin was resting her aching, bandaged head against one hand, but she became a bit more attentive when Walt spoke. “What makes you say that?” she queried.
“Well, I didn’t say a word to you, but somehow you still knew that I needed backup this morning in training.”
“Maybe I was just following you to steal your kills,” Zin suggested with a smirk.
Walt chuckled. “You did surprise me with that stunt you pulled; but stealing kills isn’t in your nature. You were assisting me for a long time before you decided to faceplant in a tree like that. Why were you going so fast?”
“I… didn’t want to fall behind you guys,” Zin admitted, looking down at the table. “Everyone else has already made at least one kill… I don’t want to be thrown out for being too weak…”
“Zin…” Walt said, frowning. “I’m sure the instructors have seen how many kills you’ve assisted already. Teamwork is more important here than anything. A bunch of lone wolves, no matter how good they are at taking down dummies, wouldn’t last five minutes outside the walls. You know the tactics; we stand a better chance fighting the titans if we work together.”
Zin sighed, seemingly unconvinced.
Colin, who was also sitting at the table with them, took that opportunity to speak up. “Listen…” he began, “I’m not going to tell you what to do, Zin. All I’m saying is that if you play to your strengths, you’ll do just fine.”
Zin cracked a smile. “Thanks, guys,” she said, “really. I’ll keep that in mind, and support you in the future!”
The trio grinned at one another and felt an unspoken agreement pass between them; from then on, they would work together to make sure they all graduated.
Spoiler alert: NPCs Walt and Colin will die in the first titan invasion. emotion_awesome
Just as she managed to pry free an earthworm, a voice called shrilly, “ZINNIA! You’re absolutely FILTHY! Get out of that dirt at ONCE!”
“It’s Zin, Mom,” Zin corrected impatiently. She stood up with a mischievous grin and held out the worm, which she held dangling between two fingers. “Look what I found!” she announced proudly. The worm squirmed futilely.
“That disgusting,” Zin’s mother, Jasmine, replied. “Put it down and come inside at once—but take off your shoes first! For once I’m glad you’re wearing those ridiculous shorts; if you’d gotten one of your dresses dirty… I said come, at once!” she snapped when Zin did not react. “You need to take a bath, put on something ladylike, and come eat lunch.”
“Fiiine…” Zin said angrily. She placed the worm carefully back inside the hole that she’d dug and buried it. She got back up, deliberately wiped her hands on the T-shirt, and trudged back indoors after her mother.
Life was not unpleasant for the Hayes family. Clement Hayes, Zin’s father, was a moderately successful merchant, while his wife Jasmine was a stay-at-home mother to Zin. Although the family had begun to struggle financially to maintain their place as upper-middle class, they had never been in any danger of losing their home nor of running out of food. Clement was under the strong impression that a woman best served the community by marrying a husband and bearing children; this was where he and Zin strongly disagreed, and was a common point of contention. As Zin’s parents struggled to make her act more ladylike, she endeavored to accomplish the exact opposite. She became bullheaded and refused to touch dresses or anything remotely girly. Therefore, there was plenty of tension in the Hayes household, but it wasn’t until Zin’s fourteenth birthday that things finally reached the boiling point.
“Happy birthday, Zinnia!” Zin’s parents happily cheered together.
Zin was in such a good mood that she forgave her parents using her full (and girly) name without complaint. With an excited grin, she tore open her present, and pulled out…
“A dress. Um… Thanks, Mom, Dad,” she said, her grin freezing in place. She hadn’t asked for anything—her parents were constantly warning her that they were being stretched thin financially—but she certainly had not asked for yet another dress. It didn’t look handmade, though; that meant her parents had bought it, so at least, in their own funny way, it did show that they truly cared for their daughter.
“Excellent, moving right along,” Zin’s father began, “You are to wear that this evening. Mr. White is coming to eat supper with us.”
“Again…?” Zin pouted. Why did that old business guy have to come on her birthday? All he and her father talked about were things she couldn’t understand.
“Yes, and this time, you must look absolutely beautiful,” her mother gushed, then added with a sharper tone of voice, “So don’t slouch or pout. It isn’t becoming.”
“Why do I have to be there?” Zin whined. “He’s so old and boring.”
“Zinnia—”
“It’s Zin.”
Her father continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “—Zinnia, you’re already fourteen years old. That means you are an adult, and it’s time that you started to behave like one. Mr. White is a very successful businessman, and we are lucky to be on friendly terms with him. He has expressed an interest in your hand—”
“My what?!” Zin asked shrilly.
“Of course you’re still too young for that,” Zin’s mother explained, “But in a few years, a union between you and Mr. White, or his son, for that matter—that would put us in a very comfortable place financially.”
“Y—you’re not serious,” Zin said, a sick feeling emanating somewhere deep within her stomach.
“This is very serious,” her father said sternly. “You’re an adult, and we’ve provided for you your whole life. It’s time that you started to earn your keep! Do your part for this family and for Shiganshina!”
Bitter tears of anger sprang into Zin’s eyes. “But that isn’t fair!” She’d said it many times in the past, and she knew that the answer would be:
“Life isn’t fair.”
And it wasn’t. Zinnia, at barely fourteen years old, felt that her parents had just sentenced her to death. If she married Mr. White or any of his spawn (though she had never met them), she was sure that would be the end of her life. But so long as her parents had control over her, there was nothing she could do about it.
She had to get out.
“I’ll serve Shiganshina in my own way,” she said coldly, dropping her new dress to the floor. “I’m joining the military.” She stood up and pushed her chair away so quickly that it tipped over and fell to the floor with a loud crack, but Zin was too numb to register it. She turned away and made for the door, but her father caught her by the wrist.
“I ought to beat you,” he growled. “Your insolence has gone too far. You are to obey your parents, or so help me, I’ll—“
“Wait, Clem,” Zin’s mother interrupted. “I know it’s not ideal, but think about it… All children her age are encouraged to join the military. We’d gain a lot of prestige if she made it into the Military Police, or even the Stationary Guard. Give her a few years to cool down and live as she chooses—as an adult. It will teach her some humility and appreciation for what we’ve done for her. She won’t be in any danger; they can’t come inside the walls, and so long as she doesn’t join the Survey Legion—”
“But what would we tell James?” Clemont asked in an undertone, referring to Mr. White.
“We’ll tell him the truth. Say that our daughter is brave and wanted to serve Shiganshina right away. Give her a few weeks in military training, and she will be begging to come back home.”
Zin continued to strain against her father’s grip; she was quite used to her parents discussing her as if she weren’t there.
“Fine…” Zin’s father acquiesced with a sigh. He carefully released his daughter so that she wouldn’t fall over, then turned on her sternly. “Go, enlist,” he commanded, making a shooing motion with his hands. “You will live to regret this decision. You’ll come back, and then you will marry the man we choose.”
Zin drew herself up to her full and unimpressive height. “No.”
And with that, she turned and ran out the door. She ran as far as she could, and then walked the rest of the way to enlist for military training.
***
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!” the drill sergeant roared.
“Zinnia Hayes, sir!” Zin shouted back.
“WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”
“To choose my own path in life, sir!”
“I’M SURE YOU’LL HAVE A GREAT LIFE IN A TITAN’S STOMACH!”
“Yes, sir!”
Military training was not easy for her. She was one of the smallest trainees in her class, and she was not particularly strong. However, the promise of marriage if she failed gave her all the incentive she needed to power her way through any challenge. She often pushed herself to the verge of collapse, but the will to carry on motivated her. She had no natural talents nor gifts; she was not particularly strong, nor fast, nor intelligent—but she did have the willingness to practice until she perfected what had to be done. She worked just as hard as, if not harder, than any of her peers. Through this, trained with her class for months. Every day she grew a bit older, stronger, and more experienced.
It was extremely difficult, but she fiercely enjoyed this life over the one she’d left behind.
Zin shot her 3D gear’s grappling hook into the next tree and tautened her abdominal muscles as she was jerked forward by the hips, right on her friend Walt’s tail. They were training in the forested obstacle course, looking for the giant wooden dummies that represented the titans that they might one day face.
Walt had broken away from the rest of the trainees, looking for an opportunity to take down a target before anyone else had gotten to it, hoping to get more points for it. Zin had followed to act as his support.
A giant wooden dummy suddenly came into view beyond the next few trees, and Walt changed course. He dove down at the target and, using his twin blades, sliced a large portion out of the cushion that represented the target’s weak spot. Seconds later, Zin followed suit, though the section she removed was much shallower than Walt’s. The smell of dusty fabric mingled with that of moist earth and moldering leaves momentarily.
Not deep enough, Zin cursed silently as she glanced back over her shoulder to assess the damage she had done. Unlike Walt, she lacked the strength to finish off a titan. The only way she could make up for it was to approach at a much faster speed. But if I go much faster than this, I’ll probably hit a tree! she thought despairingly. She grit her teeth in bitter frustration as she swung through the trees in her 3D gear. No… I can’t give up. If I don’t take the risk, I’ll never make it as a soldier!
The blue-haired girl released a short stream of compressed gas from her canister and was boosted forward. The wind whistled in her ears and whipped through her streaming hair as she flew past Walt. She shot wires into tree after tree, keeping her eyes squinted against the cold wind. Suddenly, a second target came into view below her and to the left. “There!” she shouted, adjusting the angle of her gear and releasing the gas once again. She sharply changed direction and soared down to the target. In a split second, her blades passed deep through the cushion on the nape of the target’s neck, and she blew past it. She looked over her shoulder to see if she had succeeded.
“Zin! Watch out!” Walt called from behind.
Before Zin could react, she slammed into a tree and her vision went black.
…
“Zin! Zin! Wake up! Zin!”
“Whuh…?” Zin asked groggily. She lifted a hand to the side of her head; it felt wet. She looked around; Walt was supporting her, bracing his legs against the tree that they were both anchored to. “How long was I out…?”
“Only a few seconds. You’re bleeding. You’re lucky you didn’t crack your skull!” Walt scolded. “You were going way too fast.”
“But I did it,” Zin retaliated triumphantly. “I killed my first titan!”
“It was just a dummy, you idiot! Come on… You probably have a concussion.”
Zin sighed in defeat. Even when she tried her best, it sometimes wasn’t good enough. She didn’t have any natural talents to fall back on; she wasn’t strong like Walt. All she was good at was talking to people, and she didn’t think a titan would be willing to listen. She pushed Walt’s arm away when he tried to help steady her, but she wobbled when she tried to right herself. She glanced down at the hand she had used to touch her injury, and was surprised to see it covered in shockingly red blood. “Whoa. I don’t feel so good,” she said faintly as the worst headache of her life washed over her.
“I didn’t think so… Come on, you can’t use your gear like this,” Walt insisted. “We’ll have to walk back…”
“Hey! Are you guys okay?!” a third voice called from above. Colin was standing on a thick tree branch several yards away.
“No, Zin slammed into a tree!” Walt shouted back. Zin jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow and shot him a glare.
“He didn’t need to know that,” she hissed, hurt that her friend had betrayed her. Walt only smirked.
“You keep her there! I’ll go back and get a med team to come get her!” Colin replied. Without waiting for an answer, he turned around, fired his wires, and swung out of view.
Zin let out a long and heavy sigh. She’d never hear the end of this little accident back in the mess hall. She was sure it wouldn’t earn her any points with the higher-ups, either.
***
“You know, Zin, you work really well in a team,” Walt said later that day in the mess hall.
Zin was resting her aching, bandaged head against one hand, but she became a bit more attentive when Walt spoke. “What makes you say that?” she queried.
“Well, I didn’t say a word to you, but somehow you still knew that I needed backup this morning in training.”
“Maybe I was just following you to steal your kills,” Zin suggested with a smirk.
Walt chuckled. “You did surprise me with that stunt you pulled; but stealing kills isn’t in your nature. You were assisting me for a long time before you decided to faceplant in a tree like that. Why were you going so fast?”
“I… didn’t want to fall behind you guys,” Zin admitted, looking down at the table. “Everyone else has already made at least one kill… I don’t want to be thrown out for being too weak…”
“Zin…” Walt said, frowning. “I’m sure the instructors have seen how many kills you’ve assisted already. Teamwork is more important here than anything. A bunch of lone wolves, no matter how good they are at taking down dummies, wouldn’t last five minutes outside the walls. You know the tactics; we stand a better chance fighting the titans if we work together.”
Zin sighed, seemingly unconvinced.
Colin, who was also sitting at the table with them, took that opportunity to speak up. “Listen…” he began, “I’m not going to tell you what to do, Zin. All I’m saying is that if you play to your strengths, you’ll do just fine.”
Zin cracked a smile. “Thanks, guys,” she said, “really. I’ll keep that in mind, and support you in the future!”
The trio grinned at one another and felt an unspoken agreement pass between them; from then on, they would work together to make sure they all graduated.
Spoiler alert: NPCs Walt and Colin will die in the first titan invasion. emotion_awesome
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Extra info:
Birthday: October 13
Favorite color: Dark blue
Favorite part of training is 3D gear
Knows how to swim
Enjoys reading fantasy novels
Hates anything "girly"
Loves insects
Good at remembering people's names
RPs:
The Parade [ORP]
Relationships:
[NPC - Civilian] Clemont Hayes (Alive) - Father - "He's very smart and I look up to him, but he's also kind of scary."
[NPC - Civilian] Jasmine Hayes (Alive) - Mother - "She is always forcing me to wear girly clothes, but I love her."
[NPC - Civilian] James White (Alive) - Enemy - "I refuse to marry him OR any of his sons!"
[The Semblence of Unity - Civilian] Alister Hayes (Alive) - Cousin - "We haven't seen each other much. He and his side of the family are Wallists."
[NPC - Trainee] Walt Wood (Alive) - Best friend - "He's really strong and talented. He's a good leader."
[NPC - Trainee] Colin Young (Alive) - Best friend - "He's kind of quiet, but he's very caring. I think he worries about me a little."
[Qixel - Cvilian] Elenore "Lenore" Abendritter (Alive) - Friend - "She's really smart and kind. I like to make her smile."
[troll troll - Trainee] Axel Halle (Alive) - Friend - "He is mature, but he isn't afraid to fight. We made a promise that we wouldn't die."
[NaomiNaomi - Trainee] Shakuntala "Tala" Tischendorf (Alive) - Friend - "She's very nice and good with horses. We made a promise that we wouldn't die."
[Mythee - Trainee] Lloren Reclair (Alive) - Acquaintance - "I don't know much about her. She seems like a kind and good leader."
[The Semblence of Unity - Civilian] Preacher Maria (Alive) - Acquaintance - "He(?) is very violent and mean!"
[Blade Kuroda - Trainee] Shun Kuroda (Alive) - Acquaintance - "I don't know much about him. He's seems kinda suspicious?"
[leon_a_darkangel - Trainee] Alec Scott (Alive) - Acquaintance - "He's a nice person; I hope I'll get to know him better."
