Chapter 4 – Eren A3

When it finally came time to find a dragon, he, along with all of the other cadets in the 104th, had been advised to try to stay in Berk's safe waters. To Eren, this seemed a restraining order to giver as he had originally wanted to try and tame one from the wastelands, figuring that it would show people like Mikasa that he was strong enough on his own.

However, after discussing with other cadets over dinner, lumpy lukewarm soup and a scrap of bread, that this was an overwhelmingly bad idea, then choosing to make course for one of the smaller islands, maybe near the Island of the Defenders of the Wing to explore and try to find a dragon.

Whilst hesaw this as being safer, Mikasa was still very much troubled about it, her wrists minutely shaking, just enough for her nervous energy to go somewhere but not enough for people to notice. Feeling an intense wave of anxiety wash over her, she wanted to go with him and the very second the words left her mouth, Eren began exploding with so much pent up frustration at her as he explained that this was something that he needed to do alone.

It was a fierce conversation. Mikasa trying to get it through to Eren that she couldn't lose him, her family all over again and Eren returning that she can't keep him on a leash for his own protection forever, just like the Walls did. Hearing this, Mikasa began to understand what Eren meant, and as much as she hated it, she eventually agreed. After packing his kit and letting Mikasa pack extra, he walked down the rickety dock to a small dingy that he had rented. As he stood by his boat, he hugged Mikasa, apologising for his outburst, to which she silently tensed up as a result from before simply telling him to be safe and come back alive. As he set off the boat from shore, he was hopeful that he'd be able to do this alone and in a way, the Gods were with him on that.

But, evidently, they wanted to make sure he could be strong enough on his own as well. For what other explanation could there be for the unexpected storm that ended up diverting Eren wildly off course? Grappling with rope and wood, he able to keep it afloat but was knocked out in the process his head smashing into the side of the boat after a particularly strong wave hit the boat on his way out of the stormy patch.

As his eyes cracked open and he saw the sun, lofty in its castle in the sky, he felt them cry out in irritation to the sudden change from the encompassing darkness. Feeling the stiffness in his muscles, he realised he must have been out for a long time before trying to loosen them by getting up; only to be brought to his knees once more by the pain in his leg; looking down at it, he saw that it was uninjured physically, still intact and all so that a was a start he supposed. But from how much pain was stemming from it, he knew that he must have pulled a muscle or something.

Lifting himself deftly off the deck, keeping pressure off his leg, he quickly set about trying to figure out exactly how long he was out and knowing that he hadn't reached an island yet, how far off course he was. Remembering the boring classroom sessions he'd never really pay attention to, the image of Teacher Hannes drawing a rough sketch of a ships hull

After setting up his meagre camp of a small dwindling fire, a small tent and hiss survival pack and firing a distress signal flare, he had decided to explore the island. It wasn't a particularly large island, but something felt strange about, the rock formations looked weird; if he ever found his way back, he'd have to check about this with Armin.

He travelled among the coastline, finding a river and following it upstream and eventually finding a small tunnel which when he stepped down into with his makeshift torch led to a spacious, near ceremonially carved cavern in which he found a shell of purple amber placed nearly religiously upon a flat stone.

Feeling hesitant but somewhat called to it, he stepped forward gingerly until he could look into the large crystalline and seeing within it none other than the onyx sleek hide of the near extinct Night Fury.

Returning to his camp he set about trying to figure out what he should do; He'd have to let the people of Berk know, maybe he could even tell the Chief, that'd make a name for hims-

Cutting his thoughts short, he realised that he'd firstly either need to make himself found on the island which was unlikely seeing as he had no idea where he was; Or, bring the dragon to them. Deciding on the latter, he began experimentally making a somewhat crude extraction kit from his survival sack. Utilising lessons from his training, Eren was successfully able to extract the amber from the cavern and up the tunnel. Whilst he could not carry it (Mikasa probably would've lifted it one handed he thought) he had been able to use his Dragon Fire Gear to drag it with the assistance of some logs.

As the light surrounded him as he finally reached the mouth of the tunnel, he felt the gear around his waist sputter and whir as he realised he had next to no gas left in his canisters, making a mental note to try and refill them when he got back to camp. Detaching his hooks from the rock, he took a step back and looked over the crystal once more, trying to figure out a way to bring it down the mountain. Looking back at the logs, an idea flew through his mind as he found himself detaching the wires from his gear, lashing them around the wood to form a makeshift raft that he then eased the amber onto. Stepping into the cold water that pushed against his leg, he guided it down the bending arcs of the river, forcing himself to ignore the chill that spread through his legs as struggled on.

Eventually, he managed to get it down near the coastline; Not wanting to lose it in the vastness of the ocean, Eren made a swift halting grab at the wood, pulling against the call of the ocean as he dragged it to bank. Knowing that he now had no gas to pull it left, he set about unlashing the logs and began using them as a crude wheel system; just like he'd been taught by Armin when the boy had found him trying to carry a rather large rock and thank Thor that he had, otherwise he probably would've been crushed by it.

Finally reaching the edge of his campsite, Eren slowly shifted the rock onto the soft sand before him. After making sure that it was safe, he walked over to his camp, too tired from the journey to even set up a fire, and threw himself onto the yak fur sleeping bag that he had packed before promptly falling asleep.

For Eren, it was a dreamless night, not truly feeling the shift in time between when his head landed on the fur and when it left it; the only indicator that time had passed being the sun that had now risen in the sky. Propping himself up on his elbows, he turned his head to bring his vision to his previous discovery. The mid-morning sun glinting off of the amber as the charcoal skin beneath the glossy surface still looked dull and somewhat dusty.

After bringing himself to his feet, he decided to take a full inventory of what he had in his packs: His sleeping bag, axes, Dragon Fire Gear wires and parts with harness, Changewing acid, monstrous nightmare gel, magnesium strips, fishing rod, spare clothes and a lot of smoked fish. He'd have to thank Mikasa for that later, he thought passingly. Grabbing his axe by the worn handle, he put the razor edge against the pole of his fishing rod, softly notching 4 small cuts into it so that he'd be able to keep track of how many days he'd been there.

Holstering his weapons, he set about collecting all the things he could imagine that may help him get that damn crystal open; He'd carried it all the way down so he'd be damned if he didn't try open it. Setting out a hypothesis, he supposed that at least one of the kind of fires that he could start would break down the surface.

Conclusion: He was wrong. Sitting back down in the shifting sand, exasperated as threw down the now empty vial. Eventually he gave up and was by the camp, glaring at the amber next to him, preparing another flare when he remembered what his friend Armin had always said about his purple pendant from his grandfather, he could never bring it swimming or else the saltwater would cause it to dissolve.

Realising what this could mean, he quickly set about building a rough safe bay in the river, separate from his boat, jamming several sticks into the shifting sand. Reeling the crystal into the ocean, the sea water began to his as it dissolved, the smile on Eren's face quickly spread; however, it was then followed by an equally swift spreading fear, that he was going to have a very tired, enraged Nightwing in front of him, and from what he could tell about it from its body through the amber, it had been hurt by hunters long ago based on the gashes on its side, and if it hadn't seen a human since it went into the amber… How would it react to him?

Remembering the stories told by the Bards and his instructors about the Chieftain and the original riders, he quickly set about stripping himself of weapons and grabbed some food rations and dragon root, placing them in front of himself as he sat himself down in front of the crystal, waiting.

It awoke slowly first, hooded eyes adjusting to the light, stiff muscles stretching as his wings softly opened. Looking around, the dragon tried to figure out what was happening, but when it saw Eren and realised where it was she, she jolted up and roared, the cry like a thousand Vikings at the brink of battle. And yet, Eren simply sat and endured it, never taking his eyes away from the Dragon's direction, but not looking into its eyes either, scanning over the sand before her talons. He dipped his head slightly as a sign of respect, not knowing if it would understand. The pause and then soft padding forward confirmed he was right. He slowly moved his hand from his side, the dragon growling slightly, but Eren kept his hand close to the ground, hovering only to point to the fish, considering pushing it forward but not wanting to be too aggressive.

The dragon then cautiously eyed the fish and then took it and retreated a few paces back. Eren then turned his head and moved slowly to get up, hearing the Dragon twitching in anticipation and readiness. He then moved to his campsite and went to sleep, praying to the Gods that it didn't kill him.