Dances and Ruin// Reiner Braun x OC

Chapter Ten

No matter how badly Peri wills them to, her hands won't stop trembling. No amount of clenching her fists or trying to bury them into nearby surfaces seems to be working. And, no amount of side-eyeing or looking around gives her any sign of if people are noticing or not. The best she can do for now is keep her breathing steady and her shoulders drawn back proudly, just like she always does. She keeps her smile set in place and her attitude bright, the usual. It seems to keep most people satisfied, and for brief lapses in time, it almost fools her too. She takes pride in her ability to keep almost everyone fooled, it's the one thing she's been consistently good at for most of her life. It's the one thing that has consistently protected her for years and years, until today, when her atmosphere of mystery backfired.

Of course, hiding wouldn't be as easy as it seems. I should have known that somebody would figure it out and call me out eventually.

"Dammit," Peri whispers harshly to herself. She clenches her fists around the reins of the horse again, giving one last attempt at stilling her hands. There is still no success there to be had. She sighs, looking up toward the walls. The scouts have all been gathered in the same spot waiting for the go-ahead for the last several minutes, and as time passes she can feel the tension growing more and more amongst the group. A lot of the soldiers here are seasoned veterans, but even so, there are a lot of people here who have never been beyond the safe haven that the walls provide. Not to mention, Peri still can't stomach the thought of coming face to face with more titans. Worse than that, she can't stomach the thought of losing any of her comrades or friends.

Her eyes wander from the top of the walls back down to the people surrounding her before settling upon a blond head of hair somewhere to her left, Reiner. He looks to be caught up in some conversation with Armin, as the both of them will be pretty close to one another in the long-range scouting formation. This shit of being in separate wings of the formation sucks. She frowns and begins to turn her head but not before Reiner waves over at her with a smile. She smiles and waves back just in time to hear Commander Erwin's voice boom from the front of the formation, ordering everyone to move out.

She can feel the horse beneath her shifting its weight around as people begin to move out. She digs her heels into its side as it comes time for her to get a move on. Her heart is pounding so loudly that she swears she can hear it clear as day in her ears. Maybe that's just the sound of the horses' hooves beating against the ground as they gallop their way into the territory beyond the walls.

Maybe.

She expected to feel more optimistic about going past those gates for the first time but she can't seem to shake the lingering feeling of dread that hangs like a heavy cloud above her. She winces as she remembers what occurred earlier. Persephone, how many times did they say it again? How many times has it been said without her knowing? How many of them are continuing to use it even now? Should I have told them why I don't use it? Would that have been useful or would it have gotten me labeled as paranoid? Of all days for this shit to happen.

Peri checks her surroundings quickly as they continue to ride forward. There have only been a few Titans spotted so far, but anything can happen, especially now that they're finally breaking into the long-range formation.

Peri breaks to the right, moving along with the rest of the people who make up the right-wing spotters of today's formation. Closest to her is someone who has apparently been a member of the scouts for a couple of years now, meaning this should be routine enough for them. The thought kind of puts Peri's mind at ease, surely things can't get too bad with so many seasoned soldiers on the mission. "Hey! So today is just an out-and-back affair, right? Nothing too crazy?" Peri shouts to the nearby comrade.