"Look, Eren!" Historia yelled as he emerged from the dense vegetation "the waterfall!"
She was standing next to a massive rock formation spurting out a waterfall. All the water came into a small pond, from which several tiny brooks streamed down the hill.
He looked at the blonde girl. Her smile was something out of this world. Eren couldn't really tell what exactly caused such a reaction within him, but right now, he would kill to see this smile for the rest of his life. Well, at least figuratively…
"It's so beautiful" she said as she walked closer to the waterfall, cupped her hands and extended them into the stream.
"Ow!" The girl expressed as the cold water splashed all over her.
"Hahaha!" Eren laughed as the girl landed on her butt, right in the pond.
"Hey!" She exclaimed angrily, trying to stand up "this isn't funny!"
"Look at you, you're all wet!" The dark-haired boy taunted, slowly walking over towards the waterfall.
Just like the blonde earlier did, he cupped his hands to gather some water and then, drank hastily. He wasn't aware of that before, but he was really thirsty, from all the exercise this morning. The cold liquid was refreshing and soon, he found himself with his hands cupped again, desperately trying to get a second.
"Oh, yeah!" He said with content, after he wiped his mouth off with his sleeve.
Next to him, Historia slowly walked over to the waterfall, and cupped her own hands under the stream once again, this time more carefully.
"It's so nice…!" She murmured with closed eyes, as she drank the water.
Eren actually had to look down to hide the redness of his cheeks. The image of pleased Historia covered in water was surely one to remember for a lifetime.
"Good job in finding the waterfall" he said after a moment.
"Thanks" she replied sporting a triumphant grin "did you find anything?"
For a second, Eren really considered telling her about the revolver. It would surely come to be of use later, so why was he hesitant to tell her about it?
"No, there are only rocks here" the young chief responded "anyway, we should probably head back and tell everyone else."
Historia nodded and soon, they found themselves walking through the jungle together. It truly wondered Eren how a girl that was barely saying anything this morning, could now be happily striding downhill with a spring in her step, humming a melody to herself. Was it something he had said?
When they reached the grove that their group was currently occupying, the young chief could see that everyone else had already gathered back there.
"Good news, people!" He exclaimed raising up the conch "Historia found a waterfall. It's really nearby."
At that, the kids looked up at the blonde. It was clear that since nobody even knew her name before, seeing her now, beaming with joy and smiling happily was truly surprising.
"Everyone who's thirsty, go with her" Eren spoke again, before turning to Historia "she'll lead you there."
The blonde nodded and soon, many of the kids followed her towards the waterfall.
The young chief sighed at that.
'So far, so good' he thought, before walking over to his friends who were seemingly waiting for him.
Mikasa was watching him warily. Earlier, since Eren decided to stay behind and talk to Historia, Armin rushed her to go with him instead. That surely made the girl upset.
"Sorry I couldn't go with you" the boy spoke apologetically, more to Mikasa than Armin "she really didn't want to do anything, and we need the help from everyone if we want to keep moving forward."
"Well, I guess in the end that was a good call, since she found water" the bespectacled blonde concluded "too bad we didn't really find anything useful."
"I saw a part of the plane, on the other side of the island" the oriental girl suddenly spoke out.
Eren and Armin turned towards her in shock.
"Why didn't you say sooner?!" The blonde boy exclaimed "you didn't say anything to me, when we were in the jungle!"
Mikasa just averted their gaze, trying to look away indifferently.
This was vital information. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could even find a way to actually call for help.
"Why didn't you check It immediately?" Eren asked the girl in confusion.
"It's just…" Mikasa stuttered "…you stayed behind… for her…"
The young chief sighed at that. He admired the dedication the girl had for him, but sometimes it could really be a pain.
"If that makes you feel better, she was just as annoying as you are, sometimes" Eren said with a small chuckle "now, come on, the two of you really need some water…"
It was already past noon and the three friends walked slowly through the jungle. During the trek, Mikasa made sure to remain as close to Eren as possible, as if he could run away from her at any given moment.
Finally, they made their way over to the waterfall. Over there, all of the other kids were playing happily around the water. This picture truly was something else. The carefree atmosphere almost made you forget the gravity of the situation.
"Alright, people!" He exclaimed gathering everyone's attention, as Armin and Mikasa made their way over to the stream of fresh water "we have our water. Now, let's talk about food."
Marcel was the first to take the conch from him.
"There are numerous coconut palms, all around the shore" he spoke.
Then, a broad, blonde boy called Reiner grabbed the precious shell himself.
"Not long from here, there is a shrubbery full of bushes with edible fruits" he said, before bringing his hand to his pocket to fish for something.
As he presented them with the familiar-looking berries, smiles started popping over the faces of the other kids.
"That's good for now" Eren admitted "anything else?"
"I saw a pig."
This time, everyone looked towards the owner of the voice. As Sasha noticed that the attention was fully on her, she motioned for Reiner to give her the conch.
"Me and Connie saw it" the girl started her tale as she laid her hands on the precious item "it was a little hairy, but still looked like a regular pig!"
"We should hunt it!" Marcel exclaimed, gaining an affirmative reaction from the group "we'll kill it and eat meat!"
The idea of having meat for dinner did sound appealing, especially in this particular scenario. Thoughts of a pink, juicy piece of pork filled the children's minds and soon, their mouths began to water.
"Alright, alright!" Eren spoke out, calming the crowd "first, we need to discuss one more thing!"
The young chief took the conch from Sasha and pointed towards Mikasa.
"A part of the plane had hit the other side of the island" he started "Mikasa herself, con confirm that she saw it. We need to check it out and possibly, call for help!"
With that said, murmurs spread among the group. This little adventure they've embarked on, just a few hours ago was a good way of forgetting that they were stranded on an unknown, possibly dangerous island. The mentioning of any probable help brought them out of their peaceful, happy state of mind and once again, reservations started spurring within them.
Seeing that it had a negative effect on the kids, Eren decided to act quickly.
"We will divide into three groups" he explained "the first one will come with me and check the remains of the plane."
Then, he pointed towards Marcel. It was foolish not to acknowledge his skills and enthusiasm and assigning him as the head of the second group sounded like a smart idea.
"The second one will try collecting food for everyone" Eren spoke, receiving a nod from the brown-haired boy.
"Lastly" the young chief said, before pointing towards Ymir "the third group will go to the grove and try to figure out some sleeping conditions. Try collecting twigs and bigger leaves. Some makeshift beds will come in handy…"
"…Aye captain!" The freckled female exclaimed, before turning around.
As the children divided into groups, a smile grew on Eren's face. In a weird way, he felt proud to see that his orders were being followed to the letter.
"Alright!" He exclaimed, when everyone was assigned "we meet in the grove at dusk! Off you go!"