Burdens(Erehisu)

Chapter 3

Woken up by the sudden ship's jerking stop, Eren slowly sat upright from his warm seat and stretched out his body, arms, and legs. Feeling every strand of his muscles tense up before relaxing. His worries, anxieties, and fear became distant for brevity. He loved these moments, even if it's temporary. After all, it's one of the few aspects in his 6 years left of life that bought inner calm.

Noticing a small figure was eyeing him from the side, he turned to face her with a gentle smile, "Did I startle you?" Sitting on a woman's lap, the wavy blonde-haired child looked innocently and shook her head, "Nope, I was just curious," before giving a wide grin.

"Shall we get going, Lura?" the woman picked up the child by the armpit and placed it in front of her. Then tucked the strands of Lura's wavy hair behind her ears. Lura, steadying herself, faced her mother and nodded avidly. The woman then stood up from her seat, faced Eren, and gave a small head nod, "My apologies if my child has caused any hindrance." To which Eren nodded back before standing up himself and looked out the window.

The Stohess District. The district where Levi heichou had fought Kenny, the district where Annie and I brawled at each other in our own respective titan forms. Leaving behind nothing but destruction. The brawl, or rather, the slaughter on Annie's part, left me distraught for quite some time after.

Annie.

Eren thought to himself again before swiftly moving across the fairly small-sized ship. Containing no more than 12 continuous long seats with 6 on each side. Stepping out of the ship and onto the wooden dock, he took a moment to observe the blue river that reflected the shining sun. He then noticed the center proportion of the river running down towards the small residential concrete arch bridge consisted of light blue water, while the river banks shadowed both ends of the river. Wanting to understand why he's suddenly intrigued by the site, Eren thought maybe standing on the arch bridge ahead looking down on the water could answer his desired question.

As Eren walked along the edge of the riverbank, he marveled at the architecture of his surroundings. Everything was intricately put together that made everything look seamless and appealing, from the wooden townhouses down to the pathways' white, pale bricks. After a while, he noticed everyone around him was looking in his direction before passing by. Not wanting to stand out, he withdrew his curiosity.

Everything here looks.....superficial.

At least, that was what his guts were telling him. Before he turned the corner to get on the bridge, he thought he had caught a couple of silhouettes staring in his direction between the gap of two townhouses. Not giving any further concerns, Eren proceeded without looking back. As he stood on the arch bridge, he let the soft, hissing wind blow through his hair once more before leaning with his elbow. The river immediately drew him in. This time, he understood why. It reminded him of Historia, as she was the only person with an eye of shining blue iris surrounding her pupil. At the thought of this, he let a small smile to himself.

After a moment or two, he heard a soft call of his name, "Eren."

Alright, I lied, scratch the schedule. I'll post it whenever I want. I'll make sure it's manageable. This is more of a build-up chapter. The next chapter will be a little more interesting, I hope.