Drowning - Attack on Titan

Human Error

Eren Jaegar didn't mean to die that day

He was mad though, mad because he had missed his ride home from school and because he was cold, and because in two weeks it would be Christmas, and he was lonelier than he'd ever been.

He walked by the side of the empty road, which was about as winding and hilly as every other country road in south western Pennsylvania.

It was such a rotten day, the sky was dull and mucky grey, the snow looked tired, half melted and half frozen at the same time. And Mikasa Ackerman, who should have been waiting after Eren cleaned up his art studio project, had already driven away. With her new girlfriend.

Clearly, it was an honest mistake. And, in no way shape or form was Eren jealous of Mikasa, or Mikasa's girlfriend, Annie, despite the fact that, a week ago, they had both been sixteen and had never kissed. And of course, he wasn't jealous that Annie was dating Mikasa or Mikasa was dating Annie. He wasn't interested in those girls. Or, any girls.

Eren wanted to go home.

And here is where he heard crying.

He stopped, looking around. It sounded faintly like a baby, or a cat, or... something. His first thought was Marco Bodt, which was crazy and psychotic because he was the fifteen year old who ran away and never came back about a year ago.

The crying returned, ringing in his ear like an alarm clock that never went off no many how many times he threw it at the wall. He needed it to stop. He heard it again, more human and pained this time.

"Hello?" He called out, "I - Is anyone in there?"

No answer. He stared into the dense woods, attempting to search for something. A flash of a scarf, a hand signal, a clicking sound that he knew to be morse code. But there was nothing. The trees glared down over the road slightly, gnarled and bare. Scary stuff.

Then, he looked up and down the road. No cars, bikes, or pedestrians. He furrowed his eyebrows. Sorry, Marco. I'm not going in there all alone. He was the type for adventure, of course, but... the woods? On a day like this? When he was already freezing? Ha! He was brave, not stupid.

But... There was no one around, it was only him and... The woods... and... the crying. What was he to do?

Sighing, he pushed his black backpack over both of his arms, his hands now free. Then, cautiously, he started his way over the slippery, cold, snow and dirt. "Hello?" He yelled, "Helloooooo? Hi? Hellloooooo?" He felt so dumb, yelling out and not getting any response.

"Hello?"

Only howling.

Eren began walking down the hill, he was skinny and scrawny, with a just bit of muscle, so it was no surprise that he didn't weigh much. But even so, the crust on the ground was thin, and every step he made took him ankle deep.

Fucking fantastic, and I'm wearing sneakers.

Deep into the woods, the snow wasn't as deep, perhaps because the trees blocked any form of precipitation from entering the forest. In the woods, it was white, and unbroken. Indigo shadows spilling like ink on a white carpet.

If Eren held his breath, he could hear that the yelling came from his left. He surged to that direction. In the snow, he came across fox tracks, and bird scratches, nothing human, except the yelling which now seemed to come from all around him. But he knew it was forward.

Come on Eren, just up this ridge. You can do it. Up up up. Who cares if your feet are cold?

As he struggled over the uneven, hilly, cold ground, he tried hard to think about comforting things. Maybe, Mikasa would pound through the woods and rescue Eren and the lost one, like she always saved him. Or, maybe, Titan News would have him write an article about it.

Or, maybe saving people was way too nice to be cool. Not like Eren was cool, or nice, to begin with.

But really, Eren only had two ambitions: Jean Kirschtein and to finally be known as a hero, or, something.

If Eren was popular, he would feel good about himself, and everything else would follow, like it did in the movies that he couldn't stand watching. If only he was as tall as Reiner Braun, as fit as Erwin Smith, or as stone-cold and irresistibly sexy to everyone in Survey Corps high as Levi. If only Mikasa wasn't the reason people wanted to talk to him. If only he was funny and caring. If only he had a beard. If only he wasn't so impulsive and weak and...

He reached the top of the ridge, grabbing onto a branch in order to keep her balance. And while he gripped the cold branch with a gloveless hand, he looked around. There was nothing to see in the forest, nothing to hear either. The crying stopped. It stopped completely.

God damn, don't do this to me...

Frustration riled up Eren, and chased away his undying fear. He screamed, "Hey! Hey! You okay? I - I'm going to help you!"

Silence. Only silence. And then...

"HELP!"

Eren surged forward, the voice came from the creek and, god dammit, someone was in the water... Getting weaker and weaker and...

Once at the edge of the lake, he looked around, his heart beating fast, adrenaline moving through him and making him do things he shouldn't have been able to do, he hissed as he moved around, running and trying to look for the flash of a scarf, a hand signal, a clicking sound he knew to be morse code.

"Have you gone under? Are you all right? Can you breathe? Splash if you can hear me!"

And then, a mistake. He leaned forward, just a little too much and...

He was soaring, nothing solid to grasp onto or any ground to propel his feet off of. He was all too surprised to even think about being terrified. Normally, when Eren was ever hit, or fell, or anything of that sort, time slowed around him and all he could pay attention to was the basketball coming to his face, or the fist searching for his gut, or the a book slammed on his desk because he'd dozed off again. But with the icy water, it alerted his senses with a slap in the face, and suddenly he realized.

Eren Jaegar was under water. And Eren Jaegar was going to die.