Eren walked slowly along the jagged line of crushed vegetation. Downed trees, torn bushes and ploughed land all signified that something heavy had unexpectedly tumbled through there, destroying the peaceful landscape of a tropical forest.

The dark-haired boy could remember that they were flying on a plane, that a pilot had told them something and their situation most certainly didn't look good. All of the evacuees had to drop down right here…

The evacuees…

"Eren!" A voice rang behind him.

The boy in question turned around to see his blonde, bespectacled friend running towards him.

"Armin" the dark-haired boy exclaimed with a small smile.

"Are you okay?" The blonde asked, breathing heavily from the exercise "where's Mikasa…? Where's everyone…?"

"Slow down, buddy" Eren spoke, raising his arms to stop the other boy's tirade of nervous questions.

Armin took a deep breath, before plopping down on the ground.

"The other part of the plane must've done that" the dark-haired boy continued, looking towards the scar in the land he had been walking along.

"What even is this place?" The blonde asked once his breathing had returned to normal.

Eren tried to remember what he had seen from the window, or during the fall.

"I think we're on an island…" the boy responded slowly.

He looked towards his friend.

"Yes!" Eren exclaimed mischievously "a desert island!"

The blonde, however, didn't seem to share the same adventurous sentiment that Eren had developed over the years of living in their boring village of Shiganshina.

"A desert island…" Armin spoke with an audible tone of panic in his voice "we're stranded…"

"Don't worry" the dark-haired boy said, before extending his hand to help the other up "your father is in the navy, right? He'll surely come to save us."

"How…" the blonde uttered with an even greater amount of panic "haven't you heard what the pilot said…? They used nuclear bombs…"

Eren looked at his friend in puzzlement. His father, being a doctor would sometimes come home and tell a story of how he'd been able to cure someone who had his shins blown off by a bomb.

"No way" the dark-haired boy responded with a chuckle "some bombs would never stop a navy. They will come here to save us…"

"But…" Armin stuttered, looking at him with wide eyes "…but they don't even know we're here…"

"Eren!" The two boys heard from a side "Armin!"

Out of the thick line of bushes and small trees, emerged a figure of a dark-haired, oriental-looking girl.

"Mikasa" Eren exclaimed with relief, upon seeing his female friend unharmed.

"Eren!" The girl squeaked, launching herself into the boy's arms.

"There, there" the boy patted her on the back, reassuringly "we're all fine…"

"What is this place?" Mikasa asked once she separated herself from Eren.

The dark-haired boy turned around to look at the ploughed landscape. The debris from the plane were nowhere in sight, so his first thought was to follow the trail of destruction.

"Let's continue on" he spoke finally, before motioning for his friends to come along "maybe we'll see for ourselves, there…"

As they walked forward, it's become obvious they were walking down a hill. Eren tried to remember if any of the hills near Shiganshina were similar to this one, but none of the meadowy, peaceful mounds of earth that he would happily tumble down from, came to mind.

"If it's an island" Armin started after a few minutes of marching "it could be a volcanic island…"

"So, you're telling me there's a volcano here?!" Eren asked with eyes wide open.

"It's a possibility" the bespectacled boy responded, pondering on their situation "I remember from geography class, that below the ocean surface there are many volcanoes. Some of them erupt and create islands…"

"Well, I don't remember any of that" the dark-haired boy replied "but that's a relief. I mean, if a volcano already erupted once, it should stay silent for a good while…"

"That's right" Armin admitted with a small smile.

Finally, the vegetation thinned out and they could hear a peaceful sound of waves, hitting a shore. Eren couldn't contain his curiosity any longer and darted off towards the sound, ignoring his friends.

The beach was beautiful. The white sand, sparkly water and shining sun all gave this place a heavenly appeal.

"This is paradise…" Eren exclaimed, before disposing of his shoes and running straight into the water.

His feet could finally feel much needed relief. The cold, salty water of the ocean felt refreshing, in contrast to the scorching heat of the sun he hadn't noticed until now.

"Hey guys!" He yelled, as he turned back to see his two friends slowly emerging from the treeline "come here! The water's perfect!"

Eren watched with amazement as Mikasa clumsily jumped out of her boots and held the edges of her skirt, before stepping into the ocean. Ever since he rescued her from wolves a few years ago, she would always cling to him. One day, she even said that she would go to the end of the world if he was there. Truly, dedication was her domain…

"Armin!" He yelled at the boy, who was still waiting at the shore apprehensively.

With great hesitation, the bespectacled boy took off his shoes and stepped into the water.

"Isn't this great?" Eren asked his two friends with a wide smile.

"It does feel nice…" Mikasa replied, making a few small steps in place.

"There were more of us on the plane…"

Armin's words seemed to have brought the other two out of their joyous stupor. No matter how they looked at it, they were at an unknown place, without any good way of coming back to their homes. The oriental girl looked down with a dejected face. Eren however, didn't seem to share that gloomy attitude and looked away from Armin, further into the shallow waters.

"We need to check how many of us are here" the blonde spoke slowly "we have to call a gathering…"

"What is that?" Eren interjected, pointing his hand at the seabed, several meters from where they were standing.

That was enough to grab Mikasa's attention and so Armin dejectedly decided to postpone his tirade.

"Where?" The blonde asked, trying hard to look into the murky waters.

"There, just under the sand" Eren explained walking closer to where he was pointing towards.

Mikasa followed him, and soon after with resignation, Armin did the same.

Eren crouched down in the shallow waters. He could swear that he saw a soft sheen from below. After a few seconds of digging into the seabed with his hands, his fingers clasped around a solid, pointy object.

"It's…" Armin slowly started when he finally saw what Eren had recovered from the ocean.

"A shell" Mikasa exclaimed in amazement "it's so pretty!"

"It's actually a conch" the bespectacled boy clarified, looking at the find.

Eren decided to inspect the item on the shore and started walking back towards the beach, before motioning for his friends to follow.

The conch was fairly large for an object of this kind. One of its ends was pointy, with a small hole and the other unveiled like a spiral into a large open bowl.

"It kind of looks like a horn" Eren said and before he could think any more, he brought the pointy end to his lips and blew right into the hole.

The conch made a low, guttural sound, before wailing shortly. Mikasa laughed at this poor musical attempt and Eren just smiled sheepishly in return. Armin however, brought a hand to his chin, deep in thought.

"I know!" He exclaimed suddenly, his face lightening up "keep playing Eren! This is how we'll check if others are here!"

That was a pretty good idea in the dark-haired boy's opinion. They could gather everyone at the beach and see where to go from there.

Eren tried again, this time making sure to be able to keep the sound as long and as loud as possible. After a few attempts, he managed to produce a decently audible noise, which sounded almost like a foghorn.

Armin looked towards the treeline. Soon, he could see several curious figures slowly approaching them.

However, something had become clear.

The survivors were all kids.