hopeless | jean kirstein

15 | breach

Taryn barely got to step inside the room when a pair of arms found their way towards her, wrapping around her torso and tackling her into a tight hug. Being quite taken aback, she moved her head to see the person hugging her and spotted the familiar mop of brown hair, revealing the person to be none other than Sasha. She smiled warmly, returning the gesture.

"Taryn!" The girl exclaimed happily before letting go, flashing her a bright smile. "Everyone was starting to get a bit boring, I'm glad you're here!"

She chuckled, glancing around the room and saw that the others from the 104th were also there, with some of them keeping themselves busy while some looked like they were about to die from boredom. She flicked her gaze back to Sasha, her face taking on a questioning look. "What's going on?"

"We don't know either, but we've all been cooped up in here since this morning," Sasha sighed. "Anyway, come sit with us!"

Sasha placed a hand around Taryn's shoulder as she started to lead her towards the group. They were huddled together in a corner, each of them doing their own thing. Reiner and Bertholdt were occupied with playing chess, and right beside them were Krista and Ymir, talking. Connie was staring blankly out of the window, a bit of drool starting to fall from his mouth.

Sensing footsteps, they all turned to see the cause of the disturbance, their faces lighting up as they saw the two of them approaching. Taryn lifted up a hand to wave at them all, one which they eagerly returned.

"Taryn, you're here," Reiner mused, glancing at her as she moved to sit im the space next to him. "Good to see you back in one piece."

"Hello to you too, Reiner," She laughed, before locking eyes with Bertholdt from across her seat. She sent him a small smile. "Hey, Bertholdt."

"Hello," The boy responded shyly. "Did everything go as planned?"

Her lips curved into a frown as she recalled the disastrous events of earlier. She wanted to tell him that it didn't, that they had failed to acquire any useful information and only succeeded in causing more problems. But they still captured the Female Titan, and that was their primary goal after all, so she was a bit unsure whether or not they could call the operation a success.

Shrugging, she rested her chin unto her palm, carefully eyeing the black and white chess pieces before her. "I guess you could say that."

Reiner, who had been in the middle of arranging his pawns on the chessboard, stopped right in his tracks, his hand hovering over a piece that had fallen out of place. As if remembering something, his expression then turned serious, his voice dropping to a whisper as he looked around to check if anyone was listening. "What do you mean?"

Taryn blinked at him, a bit confused at the sudden change in the mood. "Well, we captured the one inside the Female Titan...but she hid herself in hardening before we even got the chance to know anything."

"She?" He quirked up a brow, before shaking his head lightly as if to dismiss the thought. He met Bertholdt's gaze, the two of them sharing a look. "What did they do with her? The culprit, I mean."

"They—" She had been about to tell them about Annie, when Sasha suddenly stood up from her seat, her eyes wide. Every one of them turned to look at her, wary of her strange behavior.

"I hear thuds! They sound like footsteps!" She exclaimed, slamming both of her hands on the table and looking very alarmed. Most of them looked bewildered at her statement, others looked confused, while Taryn had her brows furrowed in disbelief. She saw Reiner and Bertholdt from the corner of her eye, the two of them gaping at the girl like she had gone mad.