"Okay" Armin replied after a moment of consternation "come…"
As he said that, he turned around and motioned for Eren to come along, before disappearing into the bushes. The dark-haired boy hurried to follow and soon, he found himself in front of the seemingly dense jungle. Even after spending so long on the island, this look still filled him with uncertainty.
"Are you coming…?" He could hear from behind the bushes.
"Yeah" the young chief responded, before raising his hands and spreading the thicket in front of him.
As he looked into the gap, his eyes widened in surprise.
What he saw, looked like a real-life manufactory. The workshop was surrounded wholly by trees. In the middle, he could see a makeshift table with what seemed to be some primitive tools on it. Small pieces of wood were laying everywhere, and, in the corner, there was something akin to a weaving station.
"How did you manage to make all this?" Eren asked in disbelief.
Armin looked at him with a small smile.
"Oh this?" He expressed, spreading his hands "this is nothing, really…"
Eren walked to the weaving station. Picking up one of the ropes, he noticed that it wasn't made of vines.
"How did you make the strings?" The dark-haired boy asked dumbfoundedly "there are no sheep here…"
"I found a plant on the other side of the island" the blonde explained "it kind of seems like flax, in a way. It has those tiny filaments inside…"
To think that there were plants here, that they could use to make actual clothes… It really baffled Eren.
"Wait till you see my raft" the bespectacled boy said with pride as he left the workshop the same way they came.
Following him in a hurry, Eren wondered what exactly the other teen had been doing the past few months, while the rest of them chased after the empty promise of a filling meal.
When they were on the beach, Armin led him away to a secluded cove. On the shore, waited a fairly big raft with a mast standing from the middle, along with some primitive oars on the board. The raft had two floats connected to it on either side, probably for stabilization.
"Come" the bespectacled boy walked over to the raft, before starting to push it down towards water "it's not finished yet, but we can go for a little row…"
Eren hurried over and together, they pushed the raft into the water, before quickly coming aboard.
The sea was fairly peaceful with barely a soft breeze grazing its surface. As the two boys rowed together, memories of Shiganshina flooded the young chief's mind.
"Do you remember how we used to go and play in the river?" Eren asked his friend "we would take your boat and float all the way down to the mill…"
"I was the captain, back then…" Armin responded as he looked at the horizon "but it didn't seem right… I didn't know what to do or say… I'm not like…"
He suddenly stopped in his tracks before widening his eyes and losing hold of his oar.
"Armin…?"
"What are we even doing here?!" The blonde boy wailed as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
He shut them tightly and took hold of his head.
"Where is my dad?!" The blonde cried softly "where is my mom?!"
"Armin, please…" 'don't cry' Eren wanted to say, but he bit his tongue, before spelling it out.
"I just want to go home…" Armin said, breathing heavily.
This was going down south pretty quick, they weren't far from the shore, but the dark-haired boy was still concerned for his friend.
"Armin…"
"I'm okay!" The bespectacled blonde yelled out in response.
Eren watched as the other boy steadied himself up and took hold of the discarded oar. His breathing was returning to normal, and he brushed the tears off his face with his forearm.
"It's just" he started, not daring to look the young chief in the eye "we've been here for a few good months, and we still haven't made any progress with saving ourselves…"
At first, this statement baffled Eren. How come Armin say that they haven't achieved anything here? But then, realization settled in that he wasn't talking about the group or the grove, or even about the pigs.
They really hadn't made any real progress with getting away from here.
But where would they go anyway? They had no idea where they were, and if they were even being sought after by the adults.
The adults… Suddenly, his conversation at the top of the mountain with Marcel on the first day came to mind. They made the rules here, they were the adults on this island.
"I'm sure we'll…"
"Do you even remember that you promised that we would build the fire signal?" Armin asked him with a complaint in his voice "where did that idea go?"
Indeed, those kinds of ideas had been delayed. First by the monsoon season, then, by their fruitless hunt. But now, it no longer seemed like a viable reason for them not to try to get found by the adults.
For a moment, Eren considered the morale of their group. It was pretty low right now, but mostly because of the boys' frustration. In a way, each of them wanted to impress everyone else, by catching the pig. That's why they were doing it alone.
But the girls seemed comfy enough with their current predicament. They even decorated the grove…
"It went nowhere" the young chief responded with resignation "we're stranded here, and we don't seem to mind…"
But not everyone was like that over here. Eren watched his bespectacled friend with wonder.
It was pretty obvious that this place had changed everyone over those few months. But Armin was still the same. His expression spoke both of his uneasiness and fear, as well as his drive to get out of here. His posture was slightly slouched, almost as if he was constantly being drained of his energy.
"Everyone is looking for pigs" the young chief spoke, trying to sound as if he himself wasn't a part of the problem "they want meat…"
At that, the blonde smiled and reached towards one of the floats. Now that Eren looked closer, it had a small storage space inside.
"Are fish alright?" Armin asked as he took out two primitive fishing rods.
The dark-haired boy's eyes widened at that. Was this really going to be so easy?
The duo spent the next few hours sitting on the raft, trying to catch anything. It's become so peaceful that Eren remembered all the times he went fishing with his father.
"I don't think those fish like worms all that much" Armin finally spoke.
Indeed, trying to catch a fish on earthworms that the blonde found near the shore was extremely hard. Especially here, in the open waters. Nevertheless, Eren stilled his expression.
"Shush…" he expressed, silencing his friend "you're disturbing the fish…"
Suddenly, he felt a slight force pull the string.
Instantly he grabbed his fishing rod firmer and yanked it towards the boat.
The hook wasn't actually metal, but a firm piece of wood carved by Armin. Thankfully it proved strong enough for the medium sized fish that plopped down on the board.
"Yeah!" The two boys exclaimed in unison, when they looked towards the struggling animal.
As the sun creeped closer towards the horizon, the duo found themselves back on the beach.
Eren hadn't lit fire here before, but he had done it in Shiganshina, so it wasn't anything new. As he looked at the dry, rotten wood that Armin had gathered for them to cook their catch, he gripped his bayonet tighter.
In one swift motion, he swiped the piece of flint down the blade's blunt edge.
The wood instantly caught on fire.
There was something primal in those flames that slowly consumed the dying wood. In a way it spoke of destruction, but also of warmth that could save a freezing man or cook a delicious meal.
It could help them. Alert the surrounding world that there was someone on this island, waiting to be saved.
But did Eren really want to be saved? He pondered on that as he chewed on his part of the fish.
"Ahh!" Armin exclaimed savouring the taste as he licked his fingers "it's way better than those fruits and coconuts…"
But something wasn't right. The young chief wanted way more than that. The survivors couldn't all be like his bespectacled friend. If they wanted to survive, they needed to achieve something more than catching fish.
"Kill the fire" Eren exclaimed as he stood up "we're going for a hunt."
