"Nothing is going to happen, you don't need to be so worried all the time," I chided Armin, my voice strained with patience. Sometimes he was almost worse than Mikasa. Almost.
"Eren, be careful today. I'm separated from you and—"
"I don't need you to protect me, Mikasa!" I snapped, cutting her off. She bent her head slightly, irritation lining her features.
"I beg to differ."
"Don't fight guys!" Armin exclaimed, his face taut with stress.
"You three," Commander Erwin interrupted, "Heichou wants to go over the plan before we leave."
I walked out the door, Mikasa and Armin following close behind me.
"Sit down." Levi's voice carried through the room.
I stared at the writing on the board behind him in shock.
"You aren't an exception, Jaeger."
"Is this for real?" I asked, ignoring his comment. On the board behind him were our mission objectives, but they had to be some sort of a joke.
Search for evidence of water sources
My mind snapped back to the book Armin had showed me when we were younger. Illegal, impossible, unreal to lay eyes on. "And there are bodies of salt-water," The memory of Armin's voice carried through my head, the memory vivid and somehow igniting back to life.
Levi retorted coldly, his words floating around my head but not making it within my understanding. I sat down beside Armin. There was hope on his face like I hadn't seen since we were kids. Hope that I hadn't seen since before the fall of Wall Maria. No one else knew what we did, or at least what we thought we did. Somehow, someway, there was likely more to this planet than we had ever dreamed possible.
As I walked outside to the horses with Armin, I felt excitement churning inside of me.
"Eren?"
I turned to face Armin, who had a smile on his face. He seemed to mull over what he wanted to say before speaking again.
"I feel like things are really turning around. I mean, look at how many advancements we have made. Look at how much progress we have had. For the first time, it feels like humanity has a fighting chance!" More and more passion leeched into his voice as he spoke, his volume raised greatly at the end.
"We will win! So long as there is humanity, there will be something to fight for!"
He nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
"Are the horses ready?"
I turned to face Mikasa, who handed us both our maneuver gear. I quickly pulled it on, nodding. I could hear my pulse drumming in my ears.
Today humanity would make progress.