A tail for an eye - Eren x Levi

Chapter 8

'Shipwreck'

As they were quickly approaching this new island, they all were gathered in Levi's office and listening to the crackling coming from the radio again. This time it was much less comprehensible, but they all tried their best in silence to decipher whatever words possible. It had been a few days now, little sign of that merman apart from wrinkles from the water declaring where he'd been, however now they were closer to the island, debris from a boat was visible floating along the water. They assumed shipwreck, but there wasn't a sign of a proper boat, just mere planks of wood. They could only guessed what caused the ship to go down. There was also no sign of that kraken for days either, thankfully, though it was a magnificent beast. For now, their attentions laid on the radio, any little sentence would be helpful to understand their situation - presuming this message's origins was that of the island. 

"Ship ... me ... no ... gun ... br- ..."

Levi figured it came from the island, but wasn't sure. It meant whoever it was still was trying to be saved. They tried to tune back to them, asking questions, but every time they did it seemed to cause more crackling from the other end, so they gave up with that plan. Eventually, all sound from the radio stopped, and not one sentence could be made out.

"For God's sake," Levi muttered under his breath, frustration came easy from unhelpful things such as this.

"It's probably from the island, we'll be there within the hour I bet," a more elder pirate spoke loudly.

Levi pinched his noise before saying, "We should prepare for that. We won't be able to go close to it."

They all nodded to each other before leaving the cabin, but they all did linger their eyes over the radio as though any moment it would begin talking to them again. But, alas, it didn't. Levi wasn't too thrilled at the idea of finding out what had happened to this sailor, nor was he too excited about adventuring on an island. Yet the duty of a pirate Captain was to be relentless and explore everything possible before giving up. And giving up was something Levi Ackerman would never dare do. 

--

The salty sea's scent wafted against their noses, a few birds chirping from the island. It was the first birds they'd heard in days strangely enough. The smaller boats were now loaded and ready to go, still in perfect condition despite lack of use for months now. Parts of wood were scattered along the ocean surface, some lodged into the sand and rocks from the island. It didn't appear vast in length, yet held a lot of structure and texture. A few palm trees, lots of layers and rocks.

"Lower the anchor," Levi told the two next to him, not bothering to look at them. His eyes fixated on the island and scavenged for any sign of humans ... or mer-people.

Unfortunately nothing was visible in sight at the moment, yet perhaps a closer look in the smaller boats would help with that. The Colossal Titan came to an abrupt stop, yanking them all back a little. Levi ordered for both boats to go the island, in case anyone required rescuing. Two were in each boat and were slowly lowered down the sides of the boat by ropes.

Along the way, the bashed against The Colossal Titan as Levi yelled at them to be more careful. Though an unsteady journey, they made it down safely and set off to the island. The waves were gentle, brushing against the boat and the sand ahead as though delicate. Just before reaching the island, figures were made visible as they emerged from the few trees on land.

"People!" The pirate rowing in the other boat called out. Levi was sure his focused should be in the water but decided to let it slide just this once. Only once.

"Levi Ackerman?" One of the figures on the island yelled out. Levi could see 5 people on the island. Judging by the brown rags, heavy boots and hats, they were pirates, too. However, this pirate who called out appeared to own a Captain's hat. Wait ... Levi recognised him

"Captain Erwin Smith?"

They arrived at the island and pushed the boats into the sand.

"Salvation!" One of Erwin's men giggled out with a hoarse voice.

They all circled around their Captain, whose leg had a large gash wound on it, ripped through the fabric. The rest seemed more mildly injured, yet most had bloody bandages wrapped around some part of their bodies.

"Fancy seeing you here, figured your baby ship would've been torn down by now," Erwin smirked at Levi. Although his charms appeared to swoon most over, his overbearing arrogance and cockiness shone through his 'good' qualities like a saw through wood. Levi never quite got along with this man, he'd gone through more experience and caught more expensive creatures and believed his abilities were the best. Viewing Erwin like this almost put a little smile to Levi's face.

"Yet you're the ones who are shipwrecked." Levi slid through a sly smirk to him.

Erwin frowned, looking away. His skin peeled from the dryness in the air of the island, causing horrifying scabs along his face and collarbone, "Surprised you saw us with that eyepatch of yours anyway."

"What happened to your ship?" Levi ignored his pathetic remarks, using one of his boots to shove sand off the other.

"A kraken brought it down and then-"
A pirate began rambling with excitement and fear in one, but Erwin interrupted with a shove to his leg, "ow!"

"We saw it, too," One of Levi's men said. 

Erwin and his pirates snapped their heads to Levi in shock. Erwin, being who he was, tried to speak first. However, he caught himself and shut up, looking out to Levi's ship. He held a smile on his face, doing a terrible performance at hiding it.

"What?" Levi asked him. Erwin looked directly into his grey eye, focusing more on the one with an eye patch. 

Erwin bit his lip for a moment, licking them yet they still looked dry, "You hunting a merman, too?"

Levi pinched his nose and looked away,  "Of course. You lot went missing. Merman led us to this island, we saw you guys and figured you needed helping."

"You're here to save us?"

"What else would we be here for?" Levi's pirates answered the dumb questions for him, "you literally yelled "salvation" when you saw us."

"So before you become walking diseases with all your open wounds, do you want to come back with us now or never?" Levi crossed his arms at Erwin, who had lost his cocky smile.

"Do you know about the kraken's cycle?" Erwin spoke in a low voice, once again looking out to Levi's ship. The other 4 pirates with him slowly turned their heads in the same direction, with eyes bulging out and lips parting in worry. Levi said nothing, allowing him to continue, "it takes the same route across the sea, every hour or so it shows up somewhere around the island, out to the distance where your boat is. I think it's like a triangle."

Levi thought about it before saying, "You're lying. We haven't seen it once since spotting the island."

"You don't know what to look for," Erwin told him, "the way it moves the water, the dead animals that show up-"

"How long have you been stranded here?" A pirate interrupted him.

"Days."

"We should go back," Levi announced with a sharp breath in, "now."

"Scared you, have I?" Erwin teased him. Levi rolled his eyes dramatically, he'd love to leave Erwin to die, but the debt for his life Erwin would owe Levi wouldn't be something easily let down. Nor would the pride of saving them, nor the amusement of seeing them clean his deck.

Levi ignored his words and, with a swift turn, began walking towards his little boats with his pirates following behind. Erwin's pirates helped their Captain up and stumbled behind as they joined the other crew. Desperation for help mattered more than pride at this moment in time. They packed into the boats, just managing to fit in. The entire time, Erwin's pirates were hissing and grunting in pain. They began setting sail out, all with Levi keeping a close watch on the waves. So far, there was no suspicious ripples or anything in the water, yet when something was lurking within the water that you know nothing about, safety was never too much. 

Levi also took a last stare towards the island. Small, lacking nutrients, overall useless. He felt surprised Erwin had survived the kraken destroying the boat. It made him think about how many other pirates had the exact same thing happen to them, how many starved to death or dehydrated.