"It'll all be better soon…"
Eren sat on the old bench, turning the baseball glove in his hands. His fingers ached under the bandages, but he squeezed the leather anyway. Falco was gone now. The night air pressed in, carrying the distant hum of the city. Stone walls loomed around him, quiet and heavy. He flexed his hand again. Still stiff. Still sore.
Eren took a slow breath and tossed the baseball up. It spun, caught the light, then landed back in his palm with a soft thud. He did it again. And again. The rhythm helped quiet the noise in his head.
Zeke had given it to him. Just a simple thing. But heavy.
"Ever played before?" Zeke had asked, handing him the glove with an easy smile.
Eren hadn't answered. Just took it, slipped his hand inside, felt the way it fit. Now, alone on this bench, he was still playing along.
Another toss. Another thud.
The sound echoed in the quiet room, but Eren's mind had already drifted elsewhere.
The warmth of firelight. The distant crash of waves. Laughter, carried by the night breeze.
That night…
----------------------------------
What is freedom?
Eren felt the question always hammered within his brain
Eren found himself stepping over the railroad and traveling down a sandy slope. Eventually, the teen stopped before the moonlit ocean, it's waves gentle and soothing. Was this shimmering and infinite Ocean freedom? No, it meant that on the other side waited for those who wished to destroy his freedom.
As a foolish boy, he believed the Ocean to be the true and incorruptible symbol of freedom. As a man, he only saw it as another obstacle. Eren found his way to the rail workers base camp whilst he pondered the Ocean and the Stars. As if he was a simple zombie, only doing the bare minimum to survive.
He quickly found himself a seat next to Jean, his body warmed by the small cooking fire in the middle of the logs that acted as seating. As Eren slowly ate his stew he took in his surroundings, slowly coming out of his dazed and contemplative state. His friends surrounded him. Connie on the ground, reclining on his log and soaking in the warmth of the flames. Levi reading a book whilst sitting next to Hange, drinking an unknown substance. Connie and Sasha were together, both wolfing down their stew as fast as possible. Eren looked to his left expecting to see the rest of the gang. He thought he was going to see Riener goofing about, Bertholdt sitting somewhere quietly, and Ymir teasing Historia, instead, he was met with the sight of Floch slowly sipping the remaining broth of his meal.
Mikasa and Armin slowly coming to his side with some stew of his own. Quickly finding a place near him.
Eren sat still, his fingers absently sifting through the cold sand. The warmth of the flames flickered against his face, but it did nothing to drive away the hollow chill spreading through his chest.
Beside him, Armin's gaze was fixed on the horizon, where the sea and sky blurred into a single abyss. His voice, when it came, was quiet—low enough that only Eren could hear.
"You ever think about what's out there?" Armin murmured. "Not just beyond the ocean… but beyond everything?"
Eren turned his head slightly, but Armin wasn't looking at him. His eyes were distant, lost in the dark expanse before them.
"There's a terrifying possibility," Armin continued, "about finding life on other planets. Because if we ever did… if we ever reached out… we might not like what reaches back."
The wind shifted, sending a spray of salt into the air. The fire flickered, its glow stretching shadows across the sand.
"Its called the Dark Forest Theory," Armin said, his voice almost a whisper. ""Imagine you're a hunter, creeping through a forest trapped in perpetual night. Shadows hide all kinds of danger. Is that a tree creaking… or a footstep? An insect… or the click of a gun behind you?"
Eren swallowed, his jaw tightening.
"Each night, you hunt for food, scrounging what you can. You know there are other hunters in the forest, probably hungry and searching just like you—only you don't know where they are."
Eren exhaled, rubbing his arms. Why did it suddenly feel colder?
"You think about calling out into the dark, lighting a fire bright enough that others might come to you… You could work together to help each other survive. But just as you open your mouth, you stop....You don't know how friendly the other hunters are. In fact, calling out would just let them know where resources were—your little camp, what little you have—and it would reveal your location to them without you knowing where they are."
The fire popped. The embers spiraled upward, swallowed by the dark.
Mikasa's brows furrowed. "So… everyone stays hidden? Forever?"
Armin hesitated. "As long as they can."
The tide pulled back, sucking against the shore. The air felt colder.
A wave crashed against the shore, sending a spray of cold mist into the air.
"Suddenly, you see a dark muddy boot through the foliage in the distance, another Hunter," Armin continued, his voice steady, deliberate.
Eren shivered but stayed silent. He didn't like where this was going.
"Your heart leaps at the sight of another person, but if they know you're there, they might kill you the instant they spot you. How do you figure out if they're friendly, knowing that speaking to them could end in your death—Them pulling a gun before you can even explain yourself? You can't."
Eren's grip on the sand tightened.
"All you know is they have a little camp of their own—more food, more water, supplies for another day. So you stay hidden for a while, but you know they're getting closer to finding you."
Eren exhaled shakily, staring into the flames.
"So you raise your rifle, press your eye to the scope."
Bang
The fire cracked violently as a log split apart. Everyone flinched.
Silence stretched between them, the crackling fire the only sound between the crash of waves.
--------
Eren closed his eyes. He felt it now—the weight of it, pressing down on him.
A world where no one could trust each other. A world where survival meant striking first.
A world that wasn't so different from their own.
is he Free?
Fight. Fight.
Eren took a deep breath. After a simple blink, things returned to normal again
He would bring wrath upon his enemies.
He didn't care.