Call of the Broken (and Eremin fanfiction)

Familiar Face

Eren stared dead ahead as the gateway back into wall Maria started to open. This was it, this was the day they were finally going return to his hometown. And to find out what his father was hiding in their basement. Eren felt sick as a memory suddenly flashed through his mind. A memory from seven years ago of the last time he'd seen Armin. He shook his head. He couldn't let that distract him, not now. Not when the future of humanity was riding on him and his ability. The horses started to move and Eren kept his eyes on Captain Levi, in front of him, as he followed. As they travelled across the endless field outside, conversation was kept to a minimum. As much as Eren tried to appear nonchalant, he couldn't  help but glance over his shoulder every few minutes. He'd never consider how much paranoia would get to him once he finally got outside the wall. He didn't think he had a reason to be scared, after all he had some of the best titan slayers as his body guards. And if things went wrong, he could use his ability to transform into a titan to defend himself. But he could feel his heart pounding harder in his chest by the second. After a while, the squad entered a forest of giant trees on Commander Erwin's orders. Eren's eyes narrowed. He knew that in this environment, it would be easy for a titan to sneak up and pounce on them. Suddenly, a smoke signal was fired into the air from a few hundred metres up ahead. A blue smoke signal, that meant they were turning back. Eren's eyes widened.

"What the hell?! What about the mission?!" Eren demanded aggressively.

"They must've hit some kind of snag up ahead. We'll no more once we get back to headquarters," Captain Levi responded. Eren glared as he looked down. He hated this, never being certain about what was going on...Eren froze as he heard a noise come from the bush next to them. Eren skidded to a stop and so did the rest of the squad.

"What, the hell are you doing, brat?!" Oruo yelled.

"Did you guys hear that?" Eren didn't take his eyes off the bushes as they spoke.

"Yeah, it was some kind of animal." Eren shook his head.

"No, it was too big to be any kind of animal." he protested. Petra frowned.

"Eren, what are you saying? You don't think it could be a person? That's impossible, anyone trapped outside of Wall Rose when the gate was shut would have been caught by the titans within a few weeks," she explained. Eren shook his head.

"No, but..."

"Eren," Levi interrupted "We don't have time for this, we've been given a order." The squad  turned to carry on but Eren glared before dismounting his horse and running off the path into the trees.

"Eren, what are you doing?!" Petra yelled.

Eren ran further into the trees, stumbling every few feet over tree roots. That sound he'd heard...he knew it wasn't an animal. It sounded to human. He knew Petra was right...the chances of a human having survived outside the wall for this long was very low but...he just had to be sure. And...he just had a feeling. Like some force was pulling him, no more like telling him to go. Eren froze, staying as silent as possible. He could have sworn he heard breathing. It sounded so faint and so weak. But it was definitely human. Eren carried on walking, as quietly as possible, a few feet ahead of him. Up ahead, there was a tree that had be blown over in some type of storm and the roots were sticking up in the air, creating a sort of shelter. Under that shelter, sat a person. They sat sideways on from Eren, a curtain of long blonde, greasy hair hid their face from Eren's view. Their clothes were shredded and their arms and legs were covered in cuts and bruises and so skinny and pale Eren could see the bone. He crouched down but remained a few feet away.

"Hello, can you hear me?" The figure gave a shaky breath in response, not moving. "My name's Eren...Eren Jaeger," he continued; A few seconds of silence. "What's your name?"

"E-E-Eren?" Eren froze. That voice...it couldn't be. Not after all this time. How was it possible. The figure slowly and shakily turned to face him. Eren turned white as their eyes met.

"Armin?" he whispered.