If the fifth day on the island could be described as a word, it would definitely be leisure. The boys were extremely tired from working so hard those past two days and the girls really just wanted to keep to themselves. The animosity from yesterday was still strong and no one wanted to provoke anybody.
Jean returned to the shelter in the morning, cold and shivering. To learn that the place he got because of his outburst was the worst spot in the shelter, must've been incredibly frustrating. Nevertheless, he took it anyway and spent the next few hours trying to find some comfort in the warm hut.
The atmosphere in the grove was really weird. The people mostly stayed out of each other's way, settling on finding some easy, mundane activities that wouldn't tire them too much. Commotion from yesterday's evening must've put them in a sort of a shock, almost as if they were in a permanent state of slumber.
Around noon, the atmosphere was so unbearable, that Eren couldn't stand it anymore. Upset, he walked out of the grove.
"What's up with them…" he murmured to himself kicking some sand up.
The sea was extremely calm this day. Clouds were nowhere in sight and the sun was scorching the island with a constant beam of light.
Having nothing better to do, he decided to look around the beach.
First, he noticed quite a lot of stones on the shore. It must've been the outflow that caused the sea to recede back, therefore unfolding many trinkets offered by nature. So, he started collecting the stones.
The activity itself was pretty pointless. He couldn't use them to build anything or create some tools. They were fairly flat and small so their only purpose would be to wind up in the waters of the ocean once again.
Eren stood in front of the sea with a handful of stones. For a good moment, he was contemplating the very sense of what he was about to do. He had done so in the past. One day, his parents took him to visit a lake and it brought him quite a lot of fun, then.
Young chief took a swing.
The stone went flying and Eren followed its path with his eyes.
On the very moment it touched the water, the flat rock disappeared under the blue surface.
This outcome obviously upset the boy. He wasn't an expert at stone skipping, but to fail so miserably on the first try was truly disheartening. Nevertheless, he tried again.
Once more, the stone sunk before even skipping a single time.
"Oh, what the…?" He swore as he threw another rock towards the surface.
Eren would then throw one rock after another until he eventually ran out of rocks. The exasperated boy took out his bayonet as he made a few angry gestures at the sea which denied him the pleasure of having a little fun.
"You… you…!" He yelled before throwing the bayonet at the ocean.
It was only after the weapon sunk in the shallow waters near the coastline that he realized what he had done.
With panic, he ran forward, towards the place he thought he last saw the blade.
"Why…?!" Eren asked himself as he was desperately searching for his bayonet.
This question was really crucial. Why exactly was he doing this? Was it because of the lack of motivation, or maybe he was just feeling so at ease with everything, that he didn't care anymore?
Either way, all of this was stupid. The stone skipping, yelling, walking around the beach...
"And the rescue is nowhere in sight…" he mumbled, after finally finding the precious blade.
The young chief walked to the shore in silence. Being drenched in water wasn't an issue for him. His attire suffered a lot during those five days anyway and all the warmth from the sun would inevitably dry him off soon. The problem here, was something else entirely…
He sat on the ground with a frown on his face. Lately, he had spent so much time around other people, that he didn't really have much time for himself.
However, as it turned out, having some time for oneself, didn't automatically equate to having fun.
"What's wrong with people?!" Eren yelled at the sea "what's wrong with everything?!"
Deaf silence was the only thing he had received.
Frustrated, he looked down at the sand. Not much was really happening on the sandy part of the beach. There were some random twigs and rocks here and there, but aside from miniscule dunes of sand, nothing really caught his eye.
The same couldn't be said about the rocky part of the beach, revealed to him because of the outflow. He hadn't noticed it before, but aside from stones he had been collecting, many colourful and exceptional finds were laying there, brought here by the sea itself.
Eren stood up and started walking around the shore.
There were little parts of seaweed, moist fragments of wood and little grains of gravel that shone with many different hues of pink and red. Small animals would pop up before him, only to run away at the first sight of danger. Little crabs were walking out of their shelters behind bigger rocks and boulders, desperately trying not to be spotted by the birds preying from above.
But the most unique, were the shells. Various shells, with their pearly interior, and their exterior covered by the most otherworldly colours.
Eren didn't really notice when exactly he had started picking them. It just happened…
"Maybe, Historia could use a new necklace…" he said, unaware that he was speaking out loud.
Suddenly he stood in his place. Why had this thought popped up in his mind, again? Why was Historia special, all of a sudden?
Armin's words about Mikasa replayed in his mind. The oriental girl was his childhood friend. He saved her from wolves, one time when they were walking around a forest. He treasured whatever memories he had with her…
Yet, he couldn't really picture himself thinking about her in any other way. She was like his sister, nothing less…
"Nothing more…" he mumbled, picking up another shell.
This one, was bigger than the rest. Whatever animal left it for him to pick up, must've been exceptional.
"It'll do nicely for the pendant" Eren spoke, smiling widely.
But why exactly would Historia appear like that in his thought process? The blonde girl was pretty, that much he had to admit. But otherwise, at times she was annoying, a little clumsy and awkward…
"And helpful, kind-hearted, full of good intentions…"
Of course, her being so nice to him played a big part in that opinion as well…
Eren stood straight and looked towards the horizon. The sun, just as big as usual, was slowly going down. The sky turned to wide array of red, orange and purple hues…
But from another direction clouds were approaching. Very big, dark and puffy clouds.
They weren't there, when he arrived at the beach. He had spent a lot of time here, but those were still quite the new additions to the peaceful landscape.
Eren looked at the sea. What once was almost as straight as a flat surface, was now vibrating steadily, creating small waves. The sea level receded even further, revealing a new part of the beach.
All of a sudden, the clouds covered the setting sun. He wouldn't get to see the beautiful sunset today…
The storm was coming. And it was coming fast. Others needed to be told. They all needed to prepare for this…
The young chief stood on the beach as the sky was getting darker and darker by the minute. The wind picked up in speed and started howling ominously.
There…
In the distance, he saw a lightning…
"One…two…three…four…" Eren counted softly, trying to measure how much time they had.
"…Ten…eleven…twelve…"
BOOM!
The thunder arrived at the island, making the dark-haired boy standing at the beach jump in his spot.
"Four kilometres…" He measured roughly, remembering the technique his mother told him a long time ago "…we still have a few minutes…"
He was needed elsewhere. He was the chief…
Momentarily, the boy turned on his foot and bolted towards the grove as fast as he could.