BLOODSPORT

Episode 27 & 28

As they approached Ragako, Connie's village, his horse took the lead of the group. "Connie, slow down!" Reiner shouted. "Get a hold of yourself!" but Connie was out of earshot at that point.

"Give it a rest, Reiner. He's got a family there. If my parents were still alive, I would give anything to make sure they'd be okay," Rhea said, riding beside him.

"There could be Titans around every corner, though," he remarked.

Rhea fastened her reigns on the horse, "Then let's catch up!"

Rhea heard Connie's shouts from up ahead. He was pleading for someone to answer, but from what Rhea witnessed of the state of the village, there would be no answer. The place was a ruin. Everywhere, houses were broken in or completely destroyed. The funny thing was though, there was no blood. No bodies.

"Connie!" Rhea yelled as she followed him through the rest of the village. Suddenly, she halted right before her friend as she came face to face with a Titan. "What the Hell?"

"It's my house!" Connie said, staring in complete terror.

The Titan was flipped on its backside, laying on the ground of the house. Its ribs almost penetrated through its skin. Its arms were so flimsy and tiny that it couldn't prop itself into an upright position. The Titan was stuck.

"Cadets!" Gelgar stated, "Fall back!" The Scouting Regiment began to mumble words of disbelief as they stared at the body of the monster. How the Hell did it get there? Rhea questioned as she slowly lowered herself from her horse.

She limped over and wrapped her arm around her friend. "Hey Connie, why don't we go search for anyone that could be hiding? Hmm?"

It was a long and devastating hour. Nothing, no people were found. Rhea huffed not only from exhaustion but from the irritating pain burning in her leg. The doctor said she would be fine as long as she would rest, but so far she hasn't been able to. "Hey." Bertholdt made his way over to her. "How's your leg doing?"

Rhea put on a brave face. "It's fine, I'm feeling better already. What's with the torches?" she gestured to the wooden sticks in his hands.

"We're gonna be riding at night. We need all the light we can get."

"Fair enough." Rhea turned and tried to pull herself up on the horse. She clenched her jaw as sweat dripped down her face. The pain was almost piercing as she swung her leg over the saddle.

"Rhea..."

"It's fine!" she snapped. Bertholdt took a step back before handing over her torch and heading to his horse. "Ugh, dammit," she whispered to herself as she rode off with the rest of the group.

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The silence was deafening as Rhea and the rest of the Southern team advanced in the dark of night. Still, they hadn't found the breach in the wall and the closer she thought they might be getting, the more uneasy she felt. At least in the day she could see the damn Titans coming. At night, however, they were all blind.

Soon Rhea noticed other lights approaching them in the distance. More torches, so more people! It was Ymir and Krista's group. "So, you followed the wall here too, I take it?" Gelgar asked Nanaba.

"That's right. I assume you found the breach then?" she hoped.

"Huh?"

"We didn't see any irregularities along the Western route," Nanaba stated while the rest of Rhea's group looked confused and concerned. "Surely you must've seen something in the East?"

"No." Gelgar replied, "The walls are perfectly intact."

Rhea bit her lip as she observed all her fellow comrades. Everyone was in shock at this piece of news. How the hell could there be no breach if the Titans were inside Wall Rose? The leading Scouts said that the groups should have another look at the walls and see if they missed anything. The trouble was, as Nanaba brought up, the horses were on the verge of collapse. They needed to find someplace to rest.

Finally, the moon's light shone in the pit of night, illuminating an old castle in the distance. What luck, Rhea thought as she and the rest of the recruits made their way over to the building. The closer they got, the more Rhea could tell the castle was not in the best shape. But it still provided some comfort to her that they no longer had to stay out in the wilderness which had the potential for Titans to creep up on them.

While everyone got off their horses, Rhea remained on hers for a time. She debated asking for help since she didn't want to experience that type of pain again. She was definitely not ready to fight any Titans if they made an appearance. "Need a hand?"

Rhea looked over to find Reiner peering up at her. She nodded her head as he gripped her waist and steadily lowered her off the horse. The movement still caused Rhea to feel some pain, but it wasn't as bad when she placed her weight on her foot. "This is bullshit. I hate that I'm injured," she muttered.

"Suck it up for the night. Maybe we can make a splint or something in the morning," Reiner said, moving up the stone stairs with her behind him. "The rest of the group is up here. But if I were you, I'd make a beeline to Bertholdt. You know, he was only trying to help."

Rhea stopped in her path and pressed a finger to her temple in frustration. Her anger in that moment got the better of her again. She wanted Marco back. She needed her brother to talk about these things. Jean had mentioned he'd be able to help too but he wasn't here right now. Maybe that was for the better at this moment. Maybe she finally needed to talk about this with Bertholdt. Rhea needed to earn his trust and tell him how she truly felt about their entire situation. "I know. I just hate being weak. Because being weak makes me a liability and I don't want anyone to get hurt or killed because of me. I've already lost my family. Marco, mom and dad. I can't lose anyone else, especially if I'm the reason they're going to die."

She felt Reiner's calloused hand on her shoulder. "You don't get to make that choice, Rhea. Guess what? People care about you and are gonna protect you, including me. Thinking you're a liability won't help anyone, trust me. Buck up."

"As always, Reiner... you're right." Reiner smirked, but before he could make a sly retort she held up her finger. "But if I talk to Bertholdt, you should talk to Krista. Try and get her before Ymir snatches her up. Oh... unless you're too late." Reiner's face flushed red as Rhea laughed while making her way toward the rest of the recruits. 

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