BLOODSPORT

Episode 18

"Poor thing, he came racing my way. Something must've spooked him." Krista said.

"Oh Buchwalds just probably not used to Kirsteins face is all. Which is weird considering he's such a horse face."

Reiner and Armin chuckled behind Rhea while she smirked down at her best friend. His face was beat red with anger. "Well I'm just glad to see you all are alright. Sorry there's only two horses. Someone will have to share." Rhea was already sitting on Reiners horse so it made the most sense for him to join her.

"Here, Reiner. Since the horse apparently ran away from me, you can handle Buchwald." Jean passed Reiner the reins as he approached Rhea. She huffed and held out her arm for him to take. Gripping her forearm tight, Jean propped himself up behind her in the saddle.

"I'm impressed you came here willingly after seeing that smoke signal," Reiner directed his attention towards Krista.

"Well I wasn't far away so that and I found the horse." Krista smiled. She was too kind for her own good. No wonder Ymir constantly stood by, protecting and making sure Krista wouldn't be in harm's way. Rhea was actually surprised to not see Ymir just now.

"You have a way with horses, not to mention a remarkable sense of virtue." Reiner began flirting with the girl. Rhea tried to hold back her laugh as the scene went down.

Jean was fumbling behind her which pulled Rhea out of Reiner and Krista's flirtatious moment. "What the hell are you doing back there, Kirstein?"

"I don't know what to hold onto." He whispered. Rhea's body immediately stiffened as she felt his breath on her ear and neck. They've never been this close before. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"No." Rhea managed to say. "Here, hold out your hands." Jean did as he was told and Rhea lighty led his hands to her waist. "Just don't get too handsy, Kirstein."

Jean scoffed, "please and face the mighty wrath of Bertholdt. I'm good."

"Right, Bertholdt."

"Is everything okay with him?" Jean asked as the group rode to join the rest of the formation.

Rhea shook her head, "I haven't spoken to him since Marco died. I wanted someone to blame besides the Titans and Marco was going to meet their group the last time we spoke. So I thought that Bertholdt and Reiner didn't protect him and he died. I've been so angry for so long."

"You lost your brother, Rhea. Its fair to be angry."

"Yeah, but I directed my anger at people I shouldn't have. I'm so scared that I won't be able to contain my anger. I mean, Marco was the only person I could talk to and he was the only person who could calm me down." Rhea wiped a tear from her eyes.

"I'm sure Bertholdt and Reiner will understand. Just talk to them. And - I'm always going to be here for you too. If you ever want to talk, my door's always open. But I would knock first because Connie often sleep walks naked. You don't want to witness that, trust me."

Rhea laughed hard as she and Jean and the rest of their group eventually made it back to the formation, joining the rest of the Scouts.

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"I'll just say it, I'm glad we're alive. But heading back not even an hour after leaving the wall, not something to really be proud of if you ask me." Jean spoke up to the group. "And while we're on the subject, is anyone else curious why she's headed away from the command squad?"

Green smoke flares appeared rapidly throughout the sky. "Green smoke?!"

"It sounds like the plan is to change course, but otherwise continue the operation."