Remembering You

Taking Flight

"Eirian?" Eren had looked away from the boy only for a moment to rearm himself with the maneuver gear, but when he turned back, Levi's son was nowhere to be found. He had not been that concerned at Eirian's disappearance at first, given how frequently the dark-haired boy liked to wander off, but when no response came, he began to worry. "Eirian where are you?"

Eirian had a nerve-wracking tendency to walk off without telling anyone, but many times, he would respond when called. This situation now was vastly different from the time Eren had stumbled upon the little boy in the crowded market square. There was no one around for at least a half-mile or so since space was required to demonstrate and use maneuver gear, and there most certainly was no sign of the boy either. Jogging towards the entrance to the woods, Eren sincerely hoped Eirian had just wandered into the trees, but his heart plummeted the moment he saw a fletched arrow with a note stuck on the tree.

Ripping the arrow and paper off, he was tempted to open and read the contents, but it was addressed to Levi. The man would not appreciate it if he invaded his privacy. Pocketing the note, Eren grabbed the rest of his stuff, mounted his horse, and made his way back as fast as possible to Levi's house.

"Those fuckers!"

"Levi, calm down! What's wrong?"

"They took Eirian. I'm going after them." Levi thrust the note into his hand and Eren's blood ran cold when he read the threat. Given how the boy had vanished, Eren had suspected something like this, but he had not known that the kidnappers had an intimate knowledge of who Levi was and why they had gone out of their way to kidnap the man's son. The name should have been a dead giveaway.

           "You think you can just steal something of mine and expect to live? Yur friend and you cost us, so we'll be takin' somethin' from you too. You know what happens if you defy us. If you dun leave town, dun expect to see yur son alive ever again."

"I'm coming with you too." Tossing the scrap of paper on the table, he faced the dark-haired man. Eren was incensed at how they could stoop to something so low as kidnapping a child.

"Tch, I can handle it, brat."

"Levi... the two of us together are better than you going off by yourself."

"Whatever. I'm going to get my son. You can do whatever the fuck you want. If you're coming, just be ready after I get my shit." Levi was coldly dismissive as he marched upstairs, presumably to get whatever equipment he would be using. Outside of the scuffle they had with the gang of would-be rapists, Eren had never seen Levi fight. Luckily, Eirian had asked to see the brunet's Scouting Legion uniform and maneuver gear, so he was already combat-ready.

If the kidnappers had arrows that also meant they had weapons. He had brought his swords along with his gear today as a matter of principle, and he was glad to have done so. It felt weird whenever he was using his maneuver gear without the weight of his blades.

They were technically stepping out of bounds in investigating Eirian's kidnapping, but like Levi, Eren couldn't sit back and wait for the police to start searching. The presence of law enforcement was weak at best in the outlying towns. Those that were not corrupt were generally undermanned and poorly trained. More resources were spent maintaining the livelihood of those in the inner walls. Worse, even if they reported the kidnapping, there was no telling how long it would take to find Eirian. Eren would never be able to face himself if he did not at least try to find the kid.

He was determined to find the little boy and bring him back home. Admittedly, Eren had no skills in finding kidnapped children, but at least his combat skills would be of us if they were fighting against the thugs they had fought once before. Unfortunately, he couldn't call Mikasa for help since she was training with her squad in the eastern part of Maria, which was more than a day's ride from here. His sister was leagues better than he was when it came to combat. Eren knew his hotheaded streak definitely did not help in that regard, but he felt guilty and responsible for allowing Eirian out of his sight.