Shivering in her spot, one lone girl stood in a sea of faces. Many of those around were enjoying a quiet conversation between themselves. Those that were confident enough leading the conversation and introducing themselves for those around them to hear. 

There was a boy beside her, much younger with messy blonde hair that seemed like a titan with his height. The boy, Nara if she heard correctly, had a more relaxed stance as he grinned at the girl with brown pigtails on his other side.  To her, it seemed like everyone around her had someone to converse with, to pass the time with until the commander would arrive.

Seeing as the commander was yet to show up, the girl tried to relax as much as possible. Though the weather was cold, freezing even, the girl couldn’t feel anything but the heavy beating in her chest as her nerves stopped her from introducing herself to the girl beside her. She didn’t think she could anyway, the girl beside her seemed to be one of [i]those[/i] types. [i]Those[/i] being the type that looked too serious to actually give a crap about interacting with others around them. 

She instead decided to keep to herself, the girl opting to listen to the conversation around her with a keen ear. She could hear two trainees in front of her, one being some ‘Tynee’ or something, talking calmly with the giant of a man beside him. [i]Why is everyone so big?[/i] The girl chuckled quietly to herself. It seemed like she’d be part of the smaller cadets. 

[color=8493ca]“PARADE! PARADE-SHUN!”[/color]

The girl winced at the loud voice, almost falling over in surprise but she managed to compose herself at just the right time. She watched with a keen eye as Commander Arek stepped through the crowds of cadets. The girl was still shaking, but with each shaky breath she took, the more motivated she got to [i]not fuck this up.[/i]

She felt bad for the boy directly in front of her, mask-boy as she named him in mind, as he got yelled at by the commander, but she was surprised by the way mask-boy responded with such a calm voice.  As the commander walked closer and closer towards her line, she hastily straightened up, clenching her small fists and looked directly ahead. 

In her peripheral vision, she could see the commander walking closer and closer towards her and Nara still somehow didn’t stop whispering to the girl beside her, giving comments about all the cadets (even about her, which she refused to acknowledge lest she make a fool out of herself) and she had a feeling the commander didn’t miss the chatty boy beside her either. 

The commander looked at each of the cadets with a critical eye, sending shivers down each of their spines and the girl could swear she heard the cold girl beside her gulp in fear as she saluted with perfect ease. Then it came for her turn. 

Her years of practicing came under scrutiny as the girl raised her right fist and slammed it towards her chest, her left hand twisted behind her as she offered her heart to humanity, to the commander before her. Time seemed to go still as she watched the commander look her over, the cogs in his mind turning as he judged her passion towards humanity by just the simple act of saluting alone. Before the girl could shake and ruin the moment, Commander Arek simply huffed under his breath and moved on.

It felt like she just passed a big exam. The girl felt relief flow through her veins as the commander scolded the boy beside her with little regards for the words he used. She felt like she could actually do this. 

The girl, much more confident than before, couldn’t help but smile a bit to herself. [i]I can do this…[/i] She thought to herself.

[i]I am Annella Hertz, I can do anything![/i]