Eren wiped the sweat off his brow and looked down. The small droppings laying on the ground below, managed to evoke memories of Shiganshina within him. His small village that had become almost like an unreachable dream by now, was home not only to his family and friends but also to various animals. There were chickens and gooses running around the yard, peaceful cows, sticking to their fields by themselves and also…
"Pigs" the boy said absent-mindedly, as he examined the find "several in the least…"
It wasn't a discovery among the survivors. Sasha swore that her and Connie even saw them on their first day here, however the rainy months of the monsoon season successfully prevented them from any complex endeavours that involved leaving the grove for longer periods of time.
But now, it was a different story. Time had passed and along with it, the humid, rainy weather. The sun was shining brightly every day, filling the survivors with newfound hope and energy. The boys were sick of sitting around in the grove and doing nothing, the memories of stench and humidity inside the cottage consecutively repelled them from doing just that. The girls on the other side, didn't mind it too much and every day, they were finding new ways to improve and decorate the camp. One could say that they even enjoyed living there…
However, if there was one thing that both boys and girls craved equally, it had to be meat. All of the survivors despised the taste of coconuts and fruit by now and the premise of eating pork turned many of them desperate. Much to Eren's worry, looking for the pigs had become the prime activity for the boys.
They wanted meat and so they scattered around the island, holding sharpened sticks, searching for the animals without any plan or reason. This quickly resulted in their frustration as none of them even saw a pig. And now, Eren had too, fallen a victim to this hectic notion of a hunt.
Of course, the only thing he managed to find were occasional droppings. The boy sighed with resignation and turned around to head for the grove.
Much had changed during these months. His hair had grown longer, and his skin had tanned due to the scorching sun. But physical changes weren't the only thing. He had become way more agile, while navigating around the tropical forest during all those months. The wet trunks and rotting roots of giant jungle trees weren't an obstacle anymore, but rather they had become an alternative to regular paths. He wouldn't trip anymore, his feet wouldn't slip up and his hands always managed to find just the right way to support him in the mangled maze that was the rainforest.
As he stepped into the grove, he was met by the sight of a very worried Mikasa.
"Eren!" She exclaimed as she stepped closer to him "how was the hunt?"
Instead of responding her right away, he looked around the camp. A few boys with resigned faces were laying hopelessly on the grassy meadow in the middle.
"I think I'm closing in on them" he replied, trying to muster up any leftover confidence within him.
In fact, he had no clue on where to seek for the pigs. However, he couldn't afford to be seen as weak by anyone. Even if some of the boys would sometimes question his position, the girls always backed him up, and losing their support could be the end of him.
"Where's Armin?" He asked the oriental female, trying to change the subject.
"I think he's on the beach" Mikasa answered "what do you need him for?"
It became a trend for everyone around the grove to downplay Armin, by this point. He was the only boy, that didn't indulge in this senseless hunt for the meat and many already considered him the weakest link.
Despite all that, just as the monsoon season ended, he commenced forth with his idea of building a raft. If Eren had to be honest, he would say that the bespectacled boy was the only person around who actually tried to do something that had a purpose. And right now, the young chief needed to freshen up his mind.
The boy turned to head towards the beach without answering Mikasa's question. The oriental girl was watching him with a sad expression as he walked away. Those months weren't the best in terms of his relationship with girls. There was still some animosity from the past events between boys and girls on the island and standing between them during their quarrels was his duty. It was no wonder that he became frustrated with their constant complaining and given that he was a boy, it was getting harder and harder to look objectively at the arguments, without siding with the boys.
"Hey Eren!"
But if there was any girl whom he didn't mind talking to, it was Historia. The young chief stopped in his tracks and looked towards the approaching blonde. During the monsoon season, she was the only one that never complained and always listened to what he was saying.
"Hey" he said as Historia stood in front of him.
"How was the hunt?"
There was that question, again. As much as he liked the pretty blonde, his boyish pride wouldn't let him admit defeat.
"I'm getting really close" he said again, this time with more frustration in his voice "but…"
"…it's not so easy, isn't it?" The blonde interjected, giving him a warm smile "I know you're struggling, Eren. It's okay…"
"I'm just so angry with everything…" he wailed.
Right as he did that he looked around. Fortunately, no one was close enough to have heard him.
Historia was watching him, puzzled. His outburst didn't scare her, nor did she look at him with pity.
"I believe in you, Eren" she spoke softly "I know you're strong and you'll succeed…"
Now this brought some serious heat to the boy's cheeks. Not allowing her to see his blush, the young chief turned around nervously and started walking away.
"Of course, I will!" He blurted out without any thought "I will keep you safe!"
If he looked at the blonde at the time, he could have seen that her face had turned just as red as his.
Eren walked onto the beach light-heartedly. It wouldn't be accurate if he said that the girl didn't regularly appear in his mind ever since their excursion. To be absolutely honest, she even plagued his dreams at times.
"Ugh…" The young chief expressed as he walked along the shore, in search of his friend.
By not indulging in the crazy hunt, Armin has distanced himself from the rest of the group. Seeing that the general attitude towards him wasn't all that great even during the monsoon season, Eren allowed him to work on the raft and didn't condemn it during the conch deliberations.
That's how they started to call them. Conch deliberations became a recurring thing within the island community and the ability to speak their minds became something that many of the kids valued deeply. Of course, it didn't change the fact that most of them didn't actually have anything constructive to say. Nevertheless, it became a tradition for him to blow the conch once in a few days and gather everyone for the deliberations.
Eren looked around the beach in search of Armin. As he walked further away from the grove, he could see more and more broken twigs, cut trees and hollow coconut halves laying in the sand.
It almost seemed as if all of it was done by a group of people, rather than a single person. The young chief followed the path of what looked like woodwork leftovers.
At last, the direction changed into the thinned-out woods and Eren stopped. He could hear the sound of chopping, coming from the forest.
"Armin!" He yelled, wondering if it was his friend, working on the raft.
The trees ruffled and onto the beach came the familiar silhouette of a blonde, bespectacled boy.
"Hey, Eren" he expressed with slight tiredness in his voice "what do you need me for?"
The chief looked Armin up and down. His skin was glistening with sweat, remaining most of its natural light tone, given that he didn't spend too much time under the sun. His tarnished clothes spoke of the hard work he had put out, during the last few months.
However, his face was no different than on the day they had landed here.
"I want to talk."
Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm extremely sorry that I left for six months, but I had some issues to work over. I'm still not resuming the story, but I think it's safe to say that Season 2 of "Son of Man" is on. I won't update daily but I'll try to be regular again. Cheers!