Dances and Ruin// Reiner Braun x OC

Chapter Fourteen

Peri has been mostly silent on the ride out to Ragako. Even now, her lips remain sealed as she takes in the lack of carnage. She knows she should feel grateful that there isn't a single body to be found throughout the entire village, save that of a misformed titan, but the amount of destruction gnaws at the back of her mind. There should most certainly be some form of casualties in the vicinity. Carnage and chaos were almost all that we saw on the way out here, so why isn't there any here of all places. Peri listens distantly as two of her superiors discuss all of the possibilities for what may have happened here, no matter how strange. Connie seems to be utterly devastated for the most part, but as the discussion on possibilities seems to pan out more, he seems to be less so. Something that they're saying seems to be putting him at ease, and Peri wishes that whatever it was would do the same for her.

She finally lifts her gaze from the ground beneath her feet and looks behind her to see Reiner standing nearby and Bertolt behind him, two torches in tow. Not long after, a voice booms loudly, bringing her back to life. "Does anybody not have a torch!?" There are no objections, providing the answer that is needed. "Okay. Let's move. Our mission is to evaluate the breach."

Peri and the rest of the group fall into step behind Gelgar making a break for their own horses. Reiner calls out somewhere behind her with an affirming "Sir!" They all make a short trip back to the place where they all left their horses. Most of the group starts to leave Ragako with haste, but Peri decides to take her time and make sure that Connie is doing okay. She keeps her distance but keeps a close eye on her friend, he seems hesitant about leaving, and Peri can't say she blames him. This was his home after all, and it's in ruins. He takes his time mounting his horse, and just as he swings his leg over and gets settled into his saddle, something causes him to visibly tense. Peri begins to lead her horse over in his direction and he turns his head in the direction of his home as he begins to speak to himself. "Co--"

Reiner flies past her and she wonders briefly how she didn't hear him coming. His hand clasps over Connie's shoulder and he begins to shout. "Snap out of it! We're falling behind Gelgar and the others."

"Did you hear that!?" Connie exclaims, moving his crazed glance from Reiner to you. "You had to! I swear that titan--"

"It was only your imagination. I didn't hear a damn thing. Focus on the mission."

Peri jumps ever so slightly at Reiner's tone. She's not sure she's ever heard him use one like that before. She understands that the situation is high-stakes, but she can't help but feel as if he should be sensitive to the fact that Connie is facing the possibility of having lost all of his loved ones. Even now, he seems completely and utterly unsure of himself. "But I... It sounded... I don't know how, but it sounded like... my mother," Connie tries to explain.

Reiner looks down, his eyebrows furrowed and his fist clenched. "Dammit Connie! Do you even know how serious our situation is right now?" A certain panic seems to settle within Connie's expression as Reiner continues to speak. "If we don't see this through people will die in the hundreds of thousands. Just 'cause your family escaped doesn't mean they're out of the woods yet. Now, you wanna be a soldier, or don't you?"

Peri watches as Reiner takes off again, and she looks back to see Connie dazed briefly before pulling himself together. "Yeah, stay focused," he says to himself before setting his horse into motion. "I'm a soldier!" And, just like that, Connie is following behind Reiner, and Peri is following after him. She urges her horse to go faster so that she can catch up with Connie, just long enough to talk to him and see where his head's at.

As she grows nearer she clears her throat, "Hey, Connie, are you okay?"

Connie looks over his shoulder and seems shocked to see that Peri is the one speaking to him. "I'm fine. Reiner's right, we have a mission to worry about. Just gotta get through this and then I can worry about my hometown. They'll be fine..." he trails off, his eyes becoming distant. "I know they're fine," he says almost as a last-ditch effort at assuring himself that Reiner is right.