The land of Maria

Trouble

Armin was quick to make a nice fire. He had caught several fish before bathing. He showed Eren how to skin them and place them in a pan to cook. Next he began to cut up some vegetables and showed Eren the berries he could pick from a nearby bush.
"Oh, how did your hands get like this?" he asked seeing the torn and bleeding flesh.
"I had to run as fast as I could. I fell a few times and throns and bushes bit me as I tried to get through them." Eren said. Armin washed his hands and bandaged the cuts.
"You just sit there, I'll take care of you." He beamed. Eren did as told.
"What's your ability?" the yellow haired boy inquired as he went about his tasks.
"Um, ability for what?" Eren looked confused.
"You're a knight, a mage of some element?" Armin said. He frowned at the other boy. Eren blinked.
"Um, I am nothing special." He muttered. Armin showed him how he could make plants grow. If the seed was in the soil near him he could make it grow. It was how he got berries and other fruits that weren't in season.
"See all Knights have a special ability." Armin explained.
"I'm not a knight, I'm just cursed." Eren insisted fiddling with the lose gauze of one of his bandages. Armin sighed.
"You know nothing of the world!" He shook his head.
"My father kept me in a cell. Due to my curse I wasn't allowed outside. But Bert, he would take me outside sometimes. I feel bad, I knocked him out and ran away, but I just couldn't spend another eighteen years in that cell." Eren was crying he doubled over holding his ribs.
"Oh, you're hurt." Armin quickly assessed the boy. He stripped off his tunic and bound his ribs. He washed and added medicine to other cuts he found along the boys body. A slow burning hatred started for whomever wounded this innocent creature like this.
"Where did you come from, Eren" He asked gently. He pulled the fish from the fire seasoned up the vegetables and berries and passed out the food.
"My cell, I told you that." The boy whimpered.
"Where is your cell?" Armin pressed.
"In my father's lab."
"And your mother?" Armin asked. Eren looked up a bite of fish to his lips.
"What's a mother?" he inquired. Armin's eyes went huge.
"The person who carried you, who birthed you, your father's wife!" he cried. Eren looked thoughtful.
"I don't know of anyone like that." Eren shrugged. "He would probably just hurt me too." He muttered eating more fish.
"Your mother is a girl." Armin said.
"Oh, I don't know any girls. Bertolt has only told me about them. I've never seen one." Eren stated. Armin looked at him confused.
"OK, Eren. That way..." He pointed to the direction Eren had come from. "Is a land called Sina. It is currently ruled by a Regent named Grisha..."
"My father!" Eren beamed understanding something. Armin lowered his arm.
"Your, your father is Regent Grisha?" he asked. Eren nodded his head vigorously. Armin sighed.
"Oh dear." He muttered. Eren smiled happily as he ate his fill. Once Armin washed up the dishes and repacked his bags he sat Eren down again.
"You are not cursed. You are meant to be a knight. A rider of dragons. That's what this mark means. Understand?" Eren shook his head.
"Father says it is a cursed mark that I need to bear." He blinked his jeweled orbs at the other boy.
"Forget what your father said he lied." Armin hissed. He decided to stay away from that subject for now.
"OK so you are from Sina." He pointed to where Eren's cell was. Eren nodded.
"That way is Rose. Both it and Sina are human lands. Rose is ruled by a strict King. He has four daughters all of which he wishes to marry. One to the king of Sina, if they ever name a king, one to the king of Maria, which is the land we are in. Maria is the only land to be ruled by the bonded dragon shifters. Then there is Shiganshina. That is ruled by free dragon shifters. They often fight with the bonded ones since they don't like humans much." Armin explained. Eren yawned.
"Oh, we should rest." He rolled out a blanket. Huddling together with the small boy, Armin set up to protect them. The night was a blurring of sound around them. Armin grew a cave of thorns and bushes to protect them in the night. A deep horn blew loud, waking the sleeping Eren he shivered. He knew that horn.
"Father is coming!" He screamed. He heard the sound of dogs nearby. Armin sat up as the boy tore at the bush to get out. He was crying hysterically, as he reopened his wounds adding more to them.
"Let me out, let me out." He begged. Armin pulled the bush back. The boy ran out across the open field. Armin caught up to him, pulling him into a creek. Splashing they raced down the rocky bottom. The hounds closing in. The boys couldn't see them yet. A dark shape flew over them breaking the sun. Eren cried out wondering what new torture this was. Armin dragged him from the water. They raced toward some trees up ahead of them. All the while the sounds of pursuit followed behind.
Far away, in the courtyard of the castle, two males stood side by side. The blond lifted his head to look at the rising sun. "It's a good morning for a hunt." He turned to smile at his king.
"So it is." The dark man smirked. Shifting the two men became mighty dragons. The king a silver scaled beast with mighty legs and a strong tail. His servant a strong golden brute. The two massive forms rose up into the early morning sky. They turned to head to the mountains where they normally hunted the elk and deer.
The heavy head of the king swung in the other direction. There was something that way. Something pulling on him. He tried to beat his wings to follow his friend. The golden dragon stopped hovering in the air. His head too, swung in the other direction. Without a word the two changed their course.
They flew out towards the plains. Beyond that would be the human land of Sina. They had to be careful not to cross the border. In this form, it would be an act of war. They flew on, neither able to describe the urgency they felt in needing to get to wherever this feeling was pulling them.
They flew over sparkling water. Lands rich with bison and lions. Their empty stomachs didn't even grumble. For their need to get to the place they couldn't describe was great. After flying for several miles, they soon heard the sound of the hunting horns. The humans used these to scare out animals. Why were they in Maria? The king roared out his anger.
Yet, this pull sent him on a slightly different course. He flew over the land. Two small figures were running in the water. As his eye fell upon them, the desire to help them became unbearable. His mighty dragon wings had taken him away from them in seconds.
Swinging around, he retraced the land. They were no longer in the water. He could see only one still running. This one wasn't the one to interest the mighty King. He landed heavily making the ground shake with his weight. The golden dragon landed beside him.
The earth trembled. There was a cry of pain, fear, alarm. It echoed inside the king. He wanted nothing more but to protect that voice. He shifted to his human form. He saw the racing figure had stopped. It had turned around to run back several paces. Pulling on a thin arm , the king roared out.
"Stop, what are you doing?" his sword leapt into his hand as he ran across the field between them. The blond figures eyes widened. The king charged forward. There in the grass, bleeding and bruised sat a maiden with hair of soft brown waves. It hung over her face cascading down nearly touching the ground before her. Bejeweled green eyes looked to the king in fear.
Out of the sky came a bolt of lightening. It struck the ground in front of the king. "No, I won't let you hurt my friend. Armin, help!" The maiden cried. More lightening rained down around them. It was wild, uncontrolled. It came from a cloudless sky. The blond one bent to pull the foot of the other out of a gopher hole.
As his hands grasped the others foot, the lightening veered. In the far distance a dog yelped. The lightening stopped. The brunette was held in her friends arms as she cried, shaking and looking rather weak.
"You're a lighting mage?" The blond whispered. "So cool. But, Eren you're hurt again!" Armin cried. The small form whimpered in the others arms.
"I don't think they are maidens, sir." Erwin reached the king. "Sheath your sword, you are frightening my knight." He added walking past his king. The king did as his friend suggested. He moved to where the injured person sat, quaking in fear. Kneeling he held out a hand. He bowed his head to look at those astonishing eyes through the fringe of his hair.
"I wish only to serve you, my knight." King Levi whispered, looking at the injured boy. The thin frail boy looked on in shock. Armin had let him go. Eren sat bewildered clutching his throbbing ankle. The horns sounded again. He whimpered.
Looking around he saw Armin talking with the other man. Eren, knew he didn't want to go back to his cell. With a shiver that shook his frail frame, he lifted his hand. As it touched the outstretched fingers of the man, a blinding light shot up over them. A pain struck his chest. The boy howled, as darkness closed over him.