The forest around the trail next to Armin's home was denser, somehow. It wasn't very far down the trail when gnarled tree roots and thick undergrowth began to cut into the narrow path. While it made the hike more difficult, it also provided a few more photos for Eren to add to his collection. Maybe in dimmer lighting, or even at nighttime, it would perfectly depict a more ominous, otherworldly atmosphere.
One thing that Eren was looking for wasn't flowers or any animal in particular; during the late morning, when the sun was brighter and he was considerably braver, he decided he would investigate the gashes. His visits to the other trails were fruitless, leaving only this one, and to his surprise, he eventually found similar gashes on a couple of trees about an hour into his hike.
Not too far off the path, there were more gashes that were much lower to the ground and deeper than the initial ones. His mistake that day, he later realized, was venturing further further into the forest, using only the trail of gashes that he followed inwards as a point of reference to make his way back out. On his way, he took photos of each one, capturing the gradual progression from finely placed scratches to more frantic, mindless ones.
It was much darker this deep into the forest. He only spotted a thin lining of crimson on the last set of gashes he found when he inspected the photo. He looked upwards, met only by the thick canopy of branches and leaves. He stepped through a particularly thick patch of underbrush, the crunch of leaves and twigs deafening.
He made his way to the previous set of gashes, then barely found the ones before that. It slowly dawned on him after wandering aimlessly in search of the next few gashes that he was lost.
Every rustle of leaves and snap of twigs under his feet was as horrendously raucous in his ears as the sound of breaking glass. He looked around at each tree, at each bush and patch of wild grass, all of which melted together into one identical image regardless of which direction he went.
He realized that he was not lost, but hopelessly lost.
He would berate himself if he could remember how to breathe first. He would call for help if his phone had a signal. All he could do, then, was push through the underbrush in a single direction until he found something. And - upon not finding anything for quite a while - start to hyperventilate.
Eventually, he tripped on a tree branch hidden beneath a few leaves and fell face-first into the ground. He breathlessly cursed out as he dragged himself up onto his knees.
"Are you lost?"
He flinched back with a sharp yelp. To his right, the man from the river was there, seated on a patch of leaves between two thick tree roots. Thin smears of red were visible on his cheek and the collar of his shirt.
Eren immediately blurted out, "How the hell did you get here?"
"I walked," he answered.
"You - you just - walked out here?" Eren asked incredulously. "Just like that?"
"I live here, asshole."
Small patches of sunlight peeked through the leaves and stretched out over his smooth, pallid skin. He looked ethereal, almost, shrouded by the looming shadow of the forest, eyes still so stunningly bright. His back pressed against the tree in a languid slouch that miraculously helped to lift the tension from Eren's shoulders.
A small laugh left Eren's lips when he admitted, "Well, uh. I guess I'm . . . kind of lost, yeah. . . ."
"You're a little too far into the forest to just be kind of lost," he pointed out.
The furrow in his brow was gone, and on his lips was the slightest crook of a grin. Somehow, Eren wanted to laugh.
"Yeah, okay, sure." Eren rose to his feet, dusting off as much as he could from his clothes. "So you know the way out, right?"
"How'd you know?" he asked dryly, as if the question was painstakingly obvious. He also stood, and whatever discontentment that was in his voice disappeared when he said, "I'll show you where the river is."
Eren wordlessly followed him around the tree and back into the forest. For the first time that day, he could hear the wildlife call and sing to one another, hidden high in the trees and low in the depths of the underbrush. It was only then when he had someone to guide him that he took the time to take in the forest for what it was: surreal, breathtaking, and in its own solemn way, mystical.
A patch of wildflowers that he hadn't discovered near the hiking trails caught his eyes some ways off. He immediately reached for his camera at his hip, only to find that it was missing.
Upon the realization, he frantically started, "Hey, wait. My camera -"
Eren finally looked over to the man next to him. He was holding Eren's camera, switching slowly from one photo to the next. He stopped in his tracks, the faintest tone of wonder hidden in his voice as he said, "These are nice."
Maybe Eren should have been upset by the breach of privacy, but he couldn't help but bask in the rush in his chest that was elicited by the compliment. He took the camera when it was offered back to him, muttering, "Thanks."
Something remarkably soft resided in the man's eyes. They were a bright silver, lined by a thin ring of murky black, and for a moment, Eren couldn't breathe. For one painful, fleeting moment, they lingered there, enchanted by silver and cradled by birdcall. The world came crashing back in when the man continued onwards, completely unphased, while Eren struggled to get his legs moving again.
He walked a few steps ahead. For a long while, Eren itched to ask him all the questions that came to mind, but he didn't dare utter a word. There was a unique sort of tranquility in the comfortable silence that they fell into.
Eren watched as he stepped over every root and seamlessly weaved through each plant that obstructed their path. It was like he belonged there, forever engraved into the natural flower of the forest. Eren wondered how he managed to achieve such a miraculous feat.
He eventually asked, "Hey, uh. Do you -"
The man abruptly stopped. Eren stumbled and just barely managed to keep himself from walking into him. The man pinned him with those enrapturing eyes of his, brow quirked up the slightest bit at the question, and Eren helplessly spluttered, "Uh - do you - do you visit the town? At all? I mean - I just - I haven't really seen you around."
"No."
Taken aback by the curt response, Eren mumbled, "Oh. Well -"
"Shut up for a second." Nearby, Eren could hear the soft hiss of rushing water. The man continued, "Keep going that way and turn left when you reach the river."
Eren watched him retreat into the yawning depths of the forest. He wasn't quite sure whether he felt relief or loss.
Another thunderstorm washed over the land, and the following morning, Eren decided he would take a walk through town instead. He left late that morning with Armin, who decided he would finally take a break from his work. He made a point of not bringing his camera.
They followed the cobblestone path down through the small neighborhoods. Several large, overhanging trees spilled leaves over the cracked sidewalks, the shade they provided a blissful relief from the sun. Eventually, they arrived at what remained of an old ice cream shop a few streets down.
Armin was the one who stopped first. He neared the glass and peered between the boards that had been nailed over the windows. He reminisced the days when they were still in school together, laughed over how often they would frequent the shop with Mikasa and a few others from their class.
Nearly a decade ago, Eren stood in front of this same ice cream shop, drawn to it by its flashing lights and colorful displays against the windows. The last time he visited was with his mother. They were on their way home from the grocery store, and Eren was in charge of keeping the bread safe. His mother willingly stopped with him, and he got to order his favorite ice cream, and he completely overlooked how exhausted she seemed that day.
It wasn't long after that when she told him she was leaving.
"You okay?" Armin asked him after some time.
Long ago, there were no worries about what lurked in the forest, no worries about where he and his father were going, no worries over what he heard his parents whispering furiously about when they assumed he was asleep. There was no mystery in the forest beyond what the elders spoke of, absolutely no traces of anything amiss that would keep him awake at night; there was only a group of classmates who hung out near the ice cream shop on the days they didn't visit the river.
"Yeah."
They stopped for candy apples not too far away. Armin complained profusely about the apples somehow not being sweet enough, and for a while, Eren could forget the forest and his mother and simply enjoy the walk.
A few days passed before Armin returned to his work in full, grumbling something about his editor bothering him concerning the slow progress. He blamed Eren. They had a good laugh about it over breakfast, and then Eren left him alone at his desk to focus.
The sunlight burned against his face the moment he stepped out of the front door. In the late morning when the sun shines its brightest, there was an allure to the river, where he knew he would find relief from the heat in. Ultimately, he returned to his room to retrieve his swim trunks and canister before setting off to the river.
He would invite Armin if he wasn't busy. He would invite Mikasa, as well, if she could return his calls at that time of day. She was most likely still in class, or possibly at home preparing for the exams he knew were looming dangerously close by.
In more recent days, he yearned to be able to return with them both to the river and relive what had been left behind several years ago; Mikasa would linger on the sidelines, and Eren would try to splash her wish each cannonball, and Armin would panic whenever something touched his foot in the water. He debated calling her again that night.
Deep into the forest, at one of the smooth bends of the river where the water was at its calmest, he found the man from the forest. He sat at the edge with his feet in the water, just as he did when they first met. Eren lingered for a moment, shocked at the sudden discovery of a man he couldn't find no matter how hard he tried. He only realized he was staring when silver eyes turned to him.
Eren stuttered over every word that tried to come out of his mouth before he settled weakly, "Hi."
Eren neared the man and caught sight of the thin smile that pulled on the corners of his lips. He returned lightly, "Hi."
"Finding inspiration again?"
He returned his gaze to the water. "Something like that."
He didn't complain when Eren took the liberty to sit cross-legged next to him by the water. Eren listened to the birdcalls that seemed to grow more distant as time passed. He looked over to the man, and on his pallid skin were traces of yellow and red.
"What do you like to paint?" Eren asked him.
The man didn't immediately respond. He bit his lip, contemplated the question, his eyes never leaving his reflection against the water.
"Nature," he responded. A minute passed with Eren hanging on to every second, and he eventually elaborated, "Usually the animals. Deer, mostly. They pass by here often."
Eren looked over to the thin underbrush and trees that lined the sand across the river, seemingly expectant of finding something. "They do?"
The man followed his line of sight, then dryly pointed out, "When you're not so God damn loud, they are."
"Scare them?" Eren repeated, tone incredulous as if it were the most ridiculous thing he could have ever been accused of. "No way. I wouldn't hurt a fly." In an afterthought, he added, "Or a deer, for that matter."
A soft huff of laughter left the man's lips. It was barely audible over the trickle of water and the delicate whisper of the breeze. He quietly agreed, "You wouldn't, no."
It was difficult for Eren to tear his gaze away from the man next to him. He was still a solemn enigma, some ethereal being in Eren's mind who could just as easily be swept away by the wind as the leaves that skittered across the ground. It occurred to him that they haven't even properly introduced each other yet.
"Hey, I'm Eren, by the way."
"Levi," he responded.
"So, Levi," Eren started, eyeing the traces of paint on Levi's skin, "Do you ever show off your work anywhere? Like at an art show or something? A library, maybe?"
"No."
While short, the answer wasn't as cold as it had been before when they traveled through the forest together. Eren held his breath, then tentatively offered, "Well, there's a coffee shop in town that would love to display your art, I bet."
Levi fleetingly glanced down to his lips, then returned to his eyes to ask, "Was that a lame attempt at asking me out for coffee?"
Eren barely caught the flash of sharp canines when Levi spoke. Fuck. "That depends." He scratched the nape of his neck, careful to mask the anticipation he felt when he pressed, "Did it work?"
A low hum resonated from Levi's chest. "I don't like publicity, but I'll think about it."
Eren looked up at the sky, a few thin clouds trailing slowly near where the sun still hung high above the treetops. If it hadn't been so quiet, or if he hadn't been paying attention, he would have missed Levi's soft murmur, "I could just show you, though." There was something exquisitely delicate in his eyes when he said, "Sometime. I live upstream."
A wide, toothy grin spread across Eren's lips. "I'll dress up for the occasion and everything! I'll even bring my camera."
"No pictures. I'll throw your sorry ass out if you can't follow that rule."
Eren laughed at that, boisterous and careless and remarkably liberating, and Levi couldn't hold the same displeased furrow in his brow for very long after.
One thing that Eren didn't realize was missing when he moved into the city with his father were the stars.
In the city, the sky was empty, filled only with the moon, the occasional plane, and on rare nights, a field of blotchy clouds. Above the forest, the sky was illuminated by the stars, far too crowded for him to even begin counting them. The dull orange of the town's lights muffled with the deep blue of the sky, just barely visible over the tops of the trees.
Eren lingered out on the sidewalk when he emerged from the house to take out the trash. Distantly, he heard the clang of dishes in the sink, and down the road, the muffled voices of two passersby on their way home. Under the starry night sky was the trail next to Armin's house, curving just over the hill and disappearing under the thick blanket of trees and underbrush.
It wasn't that the forest itself frightened him, he realized; it was the fear of what was potentially in the forest, hidden under the shroud of night. While the origins and actual details of the legend remained enigmatic, one thing stood true amongst most of them - whatever lurked at night did not needlessly attack anyone who entered without malintent.
But what was his intent at that point? Whether it was to satiate his curiosity or if it was done purely for the alluring rush of adrenaline that often tagged closely behind fear, he wasn't quite sure. Regardless, he followed the narrow path into the forest.
While impossibly dark, the forest was still lively at night; both overhead and around him, the chirps of insects and rustle of rodents rummaging in the underbrush kept him company. It was an odd comfort, more so than the stars that peeked through the tree branches.
The moon cast a faint light on the pathway, illuminating the protruding bushes and tree roots just enough for Eren to narrowly avoid them. Behind him, the light of Armin's home still peeked through the path, swallowed nearly whole by the shadows. He wondered briefly if he should have brought his camera.
The patches above him that were littered with the stars grew days. The light of the moon had also ceased to shine on him, allowing the shadows of the trees to engulf him. Vaguely, he could make out the outline of trees around him, the light of Armin's home behind him that was just barely visible no longer present.
He could only hear the rush of his own heart in his chest. Then, suddenly, the sound of crunching leaves and twigs erupted somewhere off to his right. It took only a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer lighting; a silhouette stood out to him from between the trees, significantly darker than the shadows that surrounded it.
It was vaguely humanoid, standing impossibly still amongst the underbrush. There was something in the darkness that held him then, the gaping yawn of the void something he couldn't draw his eyes from, similar to the chains that held him to the creature that was drawn upon the page in Armin's book. In his ears, there was only the pounding of his heart, the rattle of his own shaky breath, until a distant voice finally reached him.
He slowly realized that it was Armin's voice that called to him. The frigid tendrils that had clasped around his heart abruptly let go and vanished the very moment he peered down the path and spotted the thick, yellow glow of the lantern. His head snapped back to the forest, but all he could see was one smooth, unmoving wall of darkness.
Armin held his lantern in one hand, the other reaching out to clasp Eren's shoulder. He gave Eren a light shove as he whispered harshly, "What are you doing out here?"
There was a slight tremor in his voice. Eren tried to apologize, but he could only manage a small, helpless noise. Around them, the moonlight started to peek through the trees again, its glow penetrating the canopy and lighting the trail once more. Faintly, the calls of the wild began, gradually increasing in volume.
"I just wanted to take a few pictures," Eren murmured. He peered around him at the strong outlines of trees and bushes, then over to the stars above. "I thought it'd be nice. . . ."
"You're so -" Armin cut himself off with a weak laugh. "Eren, you're ridiculous. I can't believe you." He huddled closer, glancing at the trees around him, and he quietly prompted, "Well? Are you gonna show me, then?"
There was the delicate sigh of relief that accompanied his words, his voice no longer trembling and unsure. In a way, Eren also felt relief, cradled by the warm, protective glow of the lantern.
"Ah - well, I . . ." Under Armin's expectant gaze, he admitted with a heavy sigh, "Turns out, I forgot to grab it on my way out. . . ."
The way back down the trail was silent, filled only by the wildlife, whatever tension that had built on his way in quickly draining back out. At some point, he heard Armin ask distantly, as if looking over his shoulder, "It's . . . actually not that bad in here, is it?"
The pit of his stomach flushed with cold dread at the thought of the silhouette between the trees. He could only answer with a brief hum.
They stopped by the library during their next walk through town. The cobblestone path they followed curved and led into the smooth marble staircase. They entered through the glass doors placed just behind two faded columns and an overhanging arch that cast a large shadow over them.
Armin led him to the very back of the library, where a few desks were placed before large, dusty windows. He spoke quietly, both out of respect and reminiscence, of the countless hours he spent at this desk while he researched for his first novel. He pointed out the selection of books just across from it, which had conveniently consisted mostly of folklore and other supernatural topics.
Eren was never one to read for pleasure, but on the rare occasion, he did take an interest in books that covered even the slightest of supernatural phenomena. He browsed through a couple of books before turning to ask Armin about where in this section had he found the most success. But Armin was no longer sitting at the desk, and after a quick glance around, Eren found him just a few bookshelves away.
Armin was talking to who Eren assumed was the librarian. He was tall, much taller than them both, with a thick jacket thrown loosely over his shoulders. He added the book he was holding to the stack of books he had in the cart behind him. Armin spoke to him with a nervous smile, a delicate trace of a blush high on his cheeks, and Eren didn't know what to make of it.
The librarian looked over to where Armin pointed. Eren gave him an awkward little wave. He heard Armin say, "He's been really interested in the forest lately."
When Armin led the librarian over, Eren held his hand out in greeting, saying, "I'm Eren! It's nice to meet you."
Only then, with his hand extended outwards, did he notice the thick knot that the librarian's jacket had been tied into where the adjacent arm was missing. He withdrew his hand as if he had been burned, blurting out, "Oh, I'm sorry!"
The librarian gave him a warm smile, amusement flashing in his eyes. "No harm done," he reassured. "My name is Erwin. It's nice to finally meet you."
Over Erwin's shoulder, he could see how Armin was fiddling with his hair, his gaze on them oddly expectant. Erwin gestured down the rows of bookshelves towards the entrance.
"Let's stop by my desk. We can talk there for a while."
The library was considerably empty. Eren could hear every footstep, every creak of the cart that Erwin pushed along with them, even breaths that he took. The glossy tabletop reflected the bright lights overhead, and behind the chairs and empty bookshelves was a door leading into the back room. Just before entering, Armin placed the books Erwin had picked out onto the shelves.
Eren tentatively took a seat in the chair that Erwin offered across from him. Erwin leaned against the arm rest, nudged a few miscellaneous papers aside, then turned to ask Eren, "So what's been bothering you lately?"
Eren bit his lip. Under Erwin's narrow, enigmatic eyes, he could only offer lamely, "The forest."
A low chuckle resonated from Erwin's chest. "Yes, but what about the forest bothers you?"
The night he wandered down the path into the forest resurfaced from the back of his mind. He considered the entity that stood between the trees and the void that loomed ominously over his shoulder, as if it were following every step he took and waiting for the right moment to swallow him whole. To think that, just before sunset, the forest would be a source of blissful tranquility was more confusing and infuriatingly contradictory than the legend itself.
"The creature that the legend talks about," Eren stated. "What is it, exactly? A monster? Some weird spirit? How has no one ever seen it before?"
"Let me tell you a story."
Armin emerged from the back room and joined them, rolling over to Eren's side on an office chair he found. Eren caught the way Armin's breath hitched at the warm smile Erwin gave him.
"A long time ago, the hunters would occasionally find a carcass in the forest. They said the wounds on these animals were nothing like anything they've seen before."
Briefly, Eren wondered why he didn't bring his camera. He could have shown Erwin the gashes that sank deeply enough to reveal the strong brown from within, that had traces of blood that lingered at its jagged corners and sometimes dripped down through the crevices of the bark. Maybe then, he would have the confirmation he both craved and dreaded - a claim from someone other than him that the gashes did not belong to the natural predators that inhabited the forest.
"But after every full moon, they'd find a handful of carcasses, not just the one. The hunters said they were all mutilated, but never actually eaten by any animal. They considered these to be sacrifices."
Eren's brow furrowed. "Sacrifices?"
"Well, that makes it sound more malicious than they actually viewed it as," Erwin explained, tone apologetic. "Hunters would always return with plenty to eat. People who wandered too far always made it back home safely. It's never been widely agreed on whether it was a creature or a spirit. All that was accepted by the townspeople was that something lurked in the forest at night, and very few have risked going in to find out what it is."
For a small while after Erwin spoke, Eren merely listened to the quiet, consistent ticking of the large clock hung high above them. He finally asked, "Is it true?"
Erwin quirked a brow upwards, asking him lightly in return, "Is it?"
"Do you believe it's true?" Eren huffed impatiently.
Erwin gave him a soft, knowing smile at the question. "I believe some of it is true and some isn't. The only way to find out is to investigate it yourself."