it must be that old evil spirit

[singmod]

SEPTEMBER 2024 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — PAINFUL REMINDERS: An Aurora briefly connects the Interlopers to their homeworlds, and with it are able to receive items from home — but these ones will bring no comfort to them.

PROMPT TWO — THE ENEMY WITHIN: Strange and familiar occurrences begin in Milton and Lakeside, growing in frequency and danger for the Interlopers. Who can truly be trusted among their numbers?

PROMPT THREE — BAD BLOOD: The Forest Fighters finally come to Milton, and with it: they bring the yawning grave.

PAINFUL REMINDERS

WHEN: 5th - 9th of September.
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: potentially upsetting themes; themes of loneliness/isolation.

For many, the sight of the Aurora is now one they have become used to. There have been plenty of them over the year that has passed since the Interlopers first came to the Northern Territories. Often, they have been a sign of great danger, with plenty of unsettling and unnatural things happening when the skies light up. Other times they have been the herald of aid — a link between Interlopers and Enola, gifting them with abilities to help them survive in this world. There is no real knowing what kind of force the Aurora is, truly. And there is a tension that holds amongst the Interlopers as the day turns to night and there is the soft sound that grows louder.

The ethereal, high-pitched chorus of sounds, is difficult to place. Perhaps it sounds like voices, or discordant strings. And with it, the low-drone of electrical buzz — punctuated with the echoing pops and sharp cracks. The sky is alive with sound, and with it comes the swirling streaking of colour against the inky black of night, growing brighter and brighter as time goes on — greens, blues, pinks and purples shifting and dancing across the night. And much like every Aurora before this one, the electricals of the world come to life too. Homes, streetlamps, cars long-stranded in the snow. Man’s world comes alive, buzzing and flickering precariously.

But there are no ghosts like there once was a year ago. No terrible weather, no poisonous fog. If one could call it a ‘normal’ Aurora, that’s what it appears to be. But there is something else in amongst all the light and noise. Snatches of things: whispers of conversations, names called, laughter and tears.

You realise you recognise these voices. They are the voices of home. Perhaps you hear your mother, your siblings or friends. Whoever they are, you can hear them. And although they might not be able to hear you — for one brief night, the Aurora has connected you, bridged the gap between your world and this one. You may sit for a while, simply listening to the voices, relishing in hearing those from back home. If others join you, you will find yourself compelled to speak of them: to share in stories about those from back home — the connections you share with them.

It’s strange, though. These voices do not fill you with comfort or joy. Instead you are left with feelings of sadness, anger, and isolation. The Aurora has connected Interlopers, but now you feel so cut off from home, cut off from friends and loved ones — reminded of everything left behind. Everything you long for. Everything you have lost.

Something strange skips through the sky, a warping of the sound. It’s unsettling. Something feels... wrong, somehow.

It’s not just the voices that will remind you of this. Something else comes through the Aurora after that night. A small token will be brought through. Whatever the item may be, when you go to sleep and next wake, you will find said item. It may be placed on your bedside, on your desk or dining room table.

The item, you will find, will bring you a reminder of pain. Of sadness. Of horror. Perhaps it’s something you haven’t thought of in some time. Maybe it is something that has lingered in the back of your mind. Perhaps it is a part of you, waiting to be uncovered. A sign of something to come. A painful reminder of your past, or an ominous omen of your future.

THE ENEMY WITHIN

WHEN: The month of September.
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: kidnapping/attempted kidnapping; attempted murder; murder; vandalism; arson; assault; animal mutilation; corpse mutilation/manipulation/desecration; themes of peril/terror; possible character/npc injuries; possible character/npc death.

It starts with strange happenings at night, things left to be found by the next morning. Those within Lakeside many find themselves unsurprised by it, given their location, but the scenes found in Milton are a foreboding sight.

Mutilated bodies of animals: rabbits, ptarmigans, even deer — mangled and strewn about the streets, blood upon the snow. Some may awaken in the middle of the night to the sounds of their windows breaking, with houses on the Outskirts being targeted more than those in the middle of town. There is… a kind of unrest in the world.

It escalates.

Some may leave their home for the day and return in the evening to find the place trashed: items broken, precious foodstuffs thrown about the place and destroyed. Those within the Outskirts are once again particularly vulnerable, as are those within Lakeside. Fires are started in some of the abandoned buildings of Milton. Something, someone is targeting the Interlopers.

It is hard to pin-point who exactly, and it only puts the Interlopers on high alert. Nothing like this has never happened before. This is new, especially in Milton.

As the month progresses, the acts become more serious. Fires may be started in the middle of the night in Interlopers’ homes while they sleep. Some are attacked in the night, others are taken from their beds. Some killed within their very homes. Of the Interlopers that go missing, their mutilated remains may be found days later out in the wilds.

In Milton, soon enough, someone is bold enough to come out from the darkness, out from the gloom of the night. Interlopers may be attacked in broad daylight — by those they may recognise as newer Interlopers of the community, who appeared from the wilds: lost and shivering, with nowhere else to go. Some of them have been within Milton for a few months now.

Those in Lakeside will face something similar: Forest Talkers are making a move, rogue and isolated incidents — done with sabotaging attempts at hunting and taking a more direct approach.

They have no qualms about being captured or killed, only determined to get rid of as many of the Interlopers as they can. They whisper, they scream: “You don’t belong here. You should never have come here. It wants you gone, it wants us all gone. The end is here, it’s too late for any of us. Nature must run its course. The yawning grave has been opened.”

The attack is on two fronts: the first of Forest Talkers in Lakeside amplifying their actions. The second in Milton, enemies within the ranks of the Interlopers, Forest Talkers hiding as Interlopers.

Within Milton, newer Interlopers will likely be met with suspicion as being some of the Forest Fighters as a result of these individual acts of violence. As the numbers of Milton have been infiltrated, and it’s easy to have mistrust amongst those newer to the community. In-fighting is likely, and the entire town is stuck in some terrible, tense state — unsure of who to trust within their own numbers. In the days and weeks that follow, it remains like this. Acts of violence and vandalism — chaos and disorder.

BAD BLOOD

WHEN: The night of 27th - 28th September.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: attempted murder; murder; vandalism; arson; assault; mentions of blood; themes of peril/terror; possible character/npc injuries; possible character death/npc death; actual NPC death.

Towards the end of the month, the moon is full. They call it the Harvest Moon, but colour seeps into it — oranges and reds: a blood moon, partially eclipsed. The night is calm and cloudless, but there’s an uneasy feeling in the night.

The earth groans, the rumble of another quake that’s plagued the Northern Territories since the beginning of August. It is the only warning Interlopers will get — if they may realise it as a warning. To some, when they look back, it’s a omen, a starting pistol.

They do not come through the Mines. Thanks to the efforts of Interlopers to guard the entrances of the Milton Mines, they know better. They come to town from the south, not the north.
The quakes of August and September have opened a new way from Lakeside to Milton. They are led by their Leader: a man dressed in white, a large deer skull upon his head. And while their numbers are small in comparison, they come armed and with the determination to get rid of the Interlopers once and for all. As they come into town, they launch their attack.

More fires will be set, Interlopers will be attacked with abandon. Shot at, stabbed, beaten. It is a mass execution. They will not stop until the Interlopers, or them, are dead.

Well, the majority of them. There are just under a dozen teenagers and younger people amongst their ranks who have shown hesitance toward violence in the past. Perhaps they can be reasoned with. Perhaps there may be a way to convince them to abandon their cause. There is fear in their eyes. Some of them do not want to die. They fear the yawning grave.

What will do you then, Interloper? Are you willing to fight for your life? Are you willing to take another’s to save your own, or a friends? Will you hide, or run? What choice will you make? The Forest Talkers have long since made their own choice. Now you must make yours.

It is another night of chaos on a town already scarred by the events of June. Interlopers will note two familiar faces in the fray: at some point during the night both Methuselah and Young Bill will arrive. While Methuselah will concentrate on aiding the wounded and trying to shelter Interlopers the best he can, Young Bill will help protect Interlopers from the Forest Talkers with his rifle in hand. But fortunately, it is just for one single night. Ammunition runs out, sides are switched, and people are killed. As dawn approaches, Forest Talker numbers dwindle. Either killed, incapacitated or defected. In the early morning light, bodies lie in the snow both Interloper and Forest Talker alike.

Those trying to hunt down the leader will see him slipping inside an empty cabin, heavily wounded. Following after him, they will find him settling himself down to kneel on the floor. The white of his tactical gear stained red with blood as it blooms from his wounds. Slowly, he removes the deer skull from his head to reveal a clean-shaven man in his late twenties with a shock of white-blond hair. His eyes are blue, calm.

He sets the skull down, panting and sweating. He is dying. He is not afraid.

“My name is Mallory, not that it matters now. We are dead, you and I.” he says softly. “We exist in a dying world.”

He is in much pain from his wounds. He moves again to sit cross-legged on the floor. A hand touches the bloodied fabric of his front and he laughs humourlessly.

“You don’t understand, do you? The end must come. That is the order of things. The end must come so the world can be reborn. That is how it’s always worked. When the world is swallowed, it will grow again from the earth.”

It is a story. The story of the Darkwalker. Some believe it to be the end of the world, but Young Bill had once said there is another telling of the tale. A creation myth. The Darkwalker swallows the world and returns to its slumber within the earth. Within it, everything its swallowed grows again and the world returns.

“We fought against man’s actions to ruin this place, not knowing our true purpose. The Devourer has shown me the truth, and I sought to put that into action.” His head tilts to one side. “The yawning grave is opened. Does new life not grow from the decay? It is a cycle. The grave and the cradle.”

He finds it difficult to breathe, but he presses on.

“You fight to live. You come here and you do not see what you are. You are only delaying the inevitable, perverting the true course. Prolonging the suffering. You are the Interlopers, you are not part of nature’s design. The Darkwalker does not want you here. And where it fails, we have tried to succeed.”

There’s another laugh, something catching in his throat. He coughs, blood bubbling from his lips.

“And failed. For now. The First Cursed cannot hold it forever. She, too, delays the inevitable." Even as he is dying, he still have the energy to sneer. He speaks of Enola. "A woman who plays at being a god. What right does she have? All must go into the Long Dark. ... As will I. Return me to the grave.”

Mallory’s head dips, his body sagging. He inhales once more and then stops.

FAQs

PAINFUL REMINDERS


1. Players must sign up for items. See the toplevel on the plotting post.

2. Items will face the same warps/nerfs as everything else that is brought into the game.

3. Items can be no bigger than something your character can reasonably carry.

4. While items do not have to belong to your character, there has to be a good reason why they’d receive such an item — ie. something related to your character.


THE ENEMY WITHIN

1. The Forest Talkers within Milton are a number of NPCs that have been pre-selected from NPCs who arrived in April and August. Not all of them will show their true intentions as the month goes on but will continue to stay hidden.

2. Two NPCs killed in the June Event were also Forest Talkers. … Good… job?

3. The following NPC Interlopers will out themselves as Forest Talkers at this stage: Devon Busswood; Rita Yee; Realm Lovejoy.


BAD BLOOD

1. Following the events of this prompt, Interlopers now have an additional way into Lakeside. It’s still rather dangerous: it’s through a partially collapsed cave system that ends into abandoned bunker on the Lakeside side. The game map will be marked accordingly in due course.

2. Some Interlopers may recognise a familiar face in the Forest Talker ranks: the man who was kidnapped by Interlopers previously in July has returned. Looks like he made good on his promise. He's come back to cause problems.

3. The following NPC Interlopers will out themselves as Forest Talkers during the attack: Jackie Blackmore; Ross Huguet; Jennifer Kitchen; Daniel Kresco.

4. As a reminder of numbers: around fifty Forest Talkers will show up for the attack.

5. There is an OOC vote on the fate of the remaining Forest Talkers, the link is here.

PLOTTING POST

Comments

hehe

[wingbound]

[ He might think it typical; for Levi it's practically second nature, having done so for years at this point, though the experience had been soured somewhat by the stint in Liberio. He'd always tried to do right by Eren, let him make his own choices whenever possible, reminding him to rest when he pushed himself too hard, making sure he had the necessary skills to keep his environment nice and clean. And yet, after everything, he had still run away without uttering a word. What had gone wrong? ]

[ There's a building with an intact but open door that doesn't look like it's been hit by Forest Talkers yet, and Levi directs them there, wanting some kind of cover before he can take a moment to properly look over Eren's injuries. He should have some needle and thread on him, at least, but if it needs cleaning it may be tricky. ]

Probably most of them.

[ He says it simply, without excessive emotion, his tone mild and dry as always. He doesn't enjoy killing, but he isn't going to roll over and die either, and these guys have made it pretty clear they were not interested in other agreements. ]

Few of the younger ones laid down their weapons. That's something.

he's the worst in this whole thread :')

[dreamsofwings]

[ Of course they don’t think alike here. Eren doesn't blame anyone but himself for the way things have been his whole life. Sometimes it was his own weakness (relying on Mikasa or even Levi to save him all the time). Sometimes it was making stupid decisions (like not fighting Annie as a titan right away, letting Levi's squad defend him and die doing it). Even his mother's death was his own fault, something he had never meant to happen, but ultimately could not correct.

Sometimes it was entirely on purpose, things he had done to hurt others, to get his way, to twist the world towards his purpose. Levi never failed him in his own mind. The world failed him. That's all. ]

Then we better make this quick.

[ Eren doesn't know these people and has absolutely no qualms about killing them. They might as well not even be people to him. They had started this fight. If they keep coming into Eren's path, they'll regret that. It's simple in his head.

Too bad his actual skills can't necessarily keep up. He does know how to fight on his own, but he's never been the best or strongest.

He is one of the most brutal now, though. He doesn't need to be a titan to be destructive. ]

You think they're really going to change their minds and not do some shit like attack us in our sleep?

[ Eren has seen up close and personal how indoctrination harms people. Reiner is proof of that, though Reiner ultimately learned that the people he'd been taught to hate were also just people. Eren learned the same lesson. Will these Forest Talkers? He doesn't know. ]

HE IS :)

[wingbound]

[ Those hadn't been stupid decisions. He couldn't have known what would happen. If he had transformed right away, perhaps something else would have gone awfully wrong. Perhaps he himself or someone entirely else would have died in their stead. Levi knows Eren feels guilty about it, but he's unaware just how much of a "lesson" it had become in Eren's mind to not allow himself rely on others. ]

We're not the only people here.

[ It's perhaps a little uncharacteristic of him, letting someone else handle the fighting -- something he'd only accepted after being severely injured back home, something he hasn't experienced yet -- but it's just cold hard truth. In this world, they're not special, no better equipped to handle the threats than anyone else. There's plenty of other Interlopers to pick up the slack; and Eren looks like he should lie down rather than continue fighting. Not that Levi is the best of judges in that, but he can differentiate between "looks healthy" and "looks like shit" and he's fairly sure where on the spectrum Eren falls at the moment. ]

[ Carefully, he works off whatever coat or equivalent Eren is wearing so he can get to the wound. It seems to have bled enough to clean itself out, at least, not that it's necessarily a good thing. Levi digs out some clean cloth from his backpack, wets it with water, and starts cleaning around it. It's easier to see the edges without all the blood around it. ]

You think I'm going to sleep with them nearby?

[ Mercy doesn't mean blind trust. It doesn't mean taking them into their midst without anyone keeping an eye on them. If they had truly wanted to do as their leader taught them, however, what better time to go all out than in the middle of a massacre? No, those kids deserve another chance. That doesn't mean there won't be precautions. ]

[dreamsofwings]

You're the only person here I trust.

[ That's not entirely true. Eren trusts Reiner in some respects, because he knows Reiner and knows his limits. It's not the same, though there are things he trusts Reiner with that he can't trust Levi with (other than the truth of the future). He trusts Michonne and Billy well enough, though he doesn't know them enough yet to count them as his the way Levi should have counted. Maybe he still does, somewhere in the part of Eren's fucked up mind where he's still the kid he was before.

Whatever else is true or half-true, Eren trusts Levi as much as he knows how. Levi has never done anything to make himself untrustworthy. The only reason Eren could never tell him about the future was the obvious one: that Levi could not accept such a thing. He needed Levi and the others to not know until it was too late to stop it (until there was no choice but to stop him).

Eren winces only slightly as his coat sleeve rubs against the wound. He's used to pain, but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel it — especially here, with no promise of immediate healing. That annoys him. ]

I don't think you sleep at all unless you have no choice.

[ He says that mildly; it's not a dig, but he's almost never seen the captain actually sleep. Still, point taken.

Eren isn't given to mercy. He never was, and he's bled even that much out of himself as much as he can. If all of these Forest Talker assholes die, he won't care at all. He wouldn't have wanted to let one go.

He won't push the point farther though. What's done is done. ]

I still don't know how this place messes with my healing.

[wingbound]

...

[ He's not surprised, exactly, nor does he think it strange, considering they're the only ones (as far as he knows) from their world and (as far as he knows) on the same side there. Still, such declaration of trust just feels big. Has he earned it? He'll do his best not to betray it, at least. ]

[ It's chilly enough that the damp cloth feels unpleasant, but he manages well enough. After some consideration, he'll sacrifice some more water from his drinking canteen to pour it over Eren's wound to wash it, then carefully dry around it. ]

Heh. Maybe so.

[ Whether or not it's a dig, it's true. He can't really argue with that. Sleep doesn't come easy to him even when he is safe, though he does tend to nod off now and then during the day. It's never safe to sleep for too long. That's something beaten into him by the Underground that he doubts he will ever move past. ]

[ He lights a match and holds the needle in the flames for a bit. He trusts Eren will find something to bite on if he needs it at this point, since it's pretty clear where things are going. ]

I don't either. It seems to remove or restrain anything outside of things a regular person could learn with enough time, though.

[ Yeah. He's weaker here, too. Didn't stop him from bashing some guy's skull in during the solstice madness, but that could have been so much worse had he been at full strength. It's terrifying to think this place could have used him as a weapon against others. ]

[dreamsofwings]

[ Levi has always been one of the most trustworthy people Eren knows, but part of that is that he saw Levi as a hero. He still does, somewhere inside. That's part of why he had to push Levi away so entirely, isn't it? Levi would always fight on the side of humanity. He would always be a hero, even for people who didn't fucking deserve it. (Eren knows he can include himself in that category.)

He watches the thing with the needle. Yeah, he knows where this is going. It annoys him that this is at all necessary. He should just fix it himself. But without that, this is the alternative.

He's handled much, much worse pain — some of the most horrific of it self-inflicted. He won't bitch about a few stitches. ]

You too, Captain?

[ It hadn't ever occurred to Eren that this could somehow take Levi's abilities down, too. He's aware that Ackermans have their own abilities, unable to be titans, able to fight titans. Levi's speed and strength is supplemented by that, sure. He knows that, but stupidly he figured that it was just him and Reiner affected by this place.

It pisses him off to think about, but he can't do anything about it at the moment.

He swallows and braces himself for that first stitch. He's not a crybaby kid anymore; he won't flinch. He tells himself this, but at least it isn't another lie. ]

What else did you learn from that one you got hold of?

[ The Forest Talker. Eren knows so little about them. His introduction to them was dead animals and being attacked in the street. ]

[wingbound]

[ He wouldn't agree with that if he heard anyone say it -- or maybe he'd just stay quiet, knowing how much effort went into the Survey Corps' PR. But in the end, it's all about this sense of responsibility, of what good he can do for others with the strength he's been given. Fighting for those who can not fight back seems appropriate. ]

[ He puts a thread in the needle and finally gets to work. The stitches are not terribly pretty but precise, and exactly the size they need to be not to tear out quickly but also not mar Eren's entire arm. ]

Yeah. It's not a huge difference for me.

[ It boosted the skills and battle instincts he had, yes, it deepened his intuition and increased his stats to boot, but it hadn't exactly granted him new abilities. Nonetheless, it's definitely a bigger difference than he's implying. His size, for example, had never really been a detriment to him before, and taking on a much larger Forest Talker earlier demonstrated to him very clearly that superior weight was a significantly bigger threat than he thought before. He'd still won, but had he not received help from another person, who knows how that might have gone. ]

[ He doesn't want Eren to worry, though. He must already feel out of sorts being forced into a vulnerability he hasn't lived for years; let him believe at least that he can find safety with Levi, regardless of what gets thrown at them. ]

Not much. Loved riddles, that one. He did imply they see this-- Darkwalker, as the nature fighting back against man, and they support it. They want us extinct.

[ He frowns slightly, feeling the stitches under his fingertips grow wetter. It's bleeding too much; closing the wound might not help much and just make the blood pool up inside. He needs to cauterize that, but there's no time to build a fire and it might alert stragglers to their location -- but he's got something else. ]

[ It worked earlier. It left him in... not the best shape, but as long as he's careful, uses just enough energy to make the wound less dangerous but not fully close it, it should be fine. ]

[ He pauses with the needle and rests his other palm flat along the gash, staring down at it, focusing, the sensation of pulling pain into himself returning. ]

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren clenches his jaw and deals with it. This kind of pain barely registers after everything, but he's not numb to it. As a younger boy, he might have bitched or whined about it. As whatever he is now, he just muscles through.

He doesn't know how much Levi's skill and speed and everything are training and how much is just Ackerman shit. He doesn't know when it comes to Mikasa, either. Some of it gets amped up, but the specifics aren't really clear. Not even Eren can know every detail of the way things work. He's never cared to assess that sort of thing, anyway. (This kind of carelessness is part of why he gets so much so wrong, no matter what he may think.) ]

What's to stop this Darkwalker thing from killing all of them, too?

[ Though maybe that's what they want. Eren has known plenty of people willing to die for absolutely nothing, for fear, for faith. It disgusts him, really. He's never wanted to die. It took him years to accept that he had to, that the only way for the rest of them to be free from Marley's onslaught was without him.

He feels some of the blood drip down his arm. He chances a glance at the wound just as Levi puts his other hand there. Something happens and it feels…different. Better. Like it's healing, maybe? It's nothing like what his body does on its own with his titan abilities.

It takes him completely by surprise and he jerks his face up away from the gash to look at Levi's face. For once there's no question about the expression he has; it's all wide-eyed shock, the ghost of how expressive he was before he forced it out of himself. ]

What the hell is that?

[wingbound]

[ It's almost a little surreal, seeing a blatant expression like this on his face again. Part of Levi almost wants to keep poking, dig his fingers a little deeper into the wound and then heal it up, just to see more of that Eren peeking through. ]

[ He doesn't. ]

Nothing. They welcome it.

[ The problem is that they expect the Interlopers to feel the same. They have a fucking death wish and they think forcing everyone to follow their example will save the damn universe. Not all that different from the First King, are they? ]

[ He keeps his expression as still as possible, though there's perhaps a hint of his jaw tightening as pain shoots through his arm. The trickle of blood from Eren's seems to stem, and he pulls away with a shaky breath. ]

This place's idea of spare change.

[ It took things from them, but sometimes it would give something back. Something like this. Something that still came with a price. ]

[ Perhaps as a way to make sure Eren shuts up about it, he threads the needle through the edges of his wound again, now smaller and less deep. Stitches should actually be enough now to secure it until it heals naturally on its own. ]

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren has no respect for that, for people who long for death. He railed against dying all his life. He's accepted that he has to die, but he has never once longed for it. He's offered it before, back in that crystal cave with Historia. But welcomed it? Absolutely not.

He catches a little tension in Levi's expression, that acknowledgment of pain just barely there, but he isn't sure what it means. He has a feeling that this healing isn't just a free for all like his own would be, though.

He hisses in a little when the needle works through his skin again, but his curiosity isn't deterred. ]

Where did that power come from? That woman in the woods?

[ He heard about her from the other Levi. ]

[wingbound]

[ So much for that plan, then. It's not that Levi is unwilling to talk about it, but in truth he doesn't really know much himself. He certainly doesn't know enough that he could justify using it in full, but every now and then, it's just a compulsion to help that he can't shake. ]

The one who shows up in our dreams? I think so, yes.

[ It's his best guess, anyway. He continues diligently patching Eren up -- the stitches are not perfect -- function over prettiness -- but quite neat nonetheless, and should heal up nicely enough. ]

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren probably wouldn't understand any compulsion to help. He would admit all he knows how to do is destroy (that's not entirely true). The only healing power he wants is the power to heal himself. He's relied on that for so long now. ]

I heard she can do things like that. Grant some kind of abilities. I just didn't know what kind.

[ Levi finishes dressing the wound. It's much better off thanks to the healing power, but the stitches do their job as well. This might be the first actual scar Eren has gotten since he was eleven. He tries not to think about that. ]

You think she randomly does that?

[ It doesn't sound like Levi got this power on purpose. ]

[wingbound]

There's different kinds. Some people here can start fires with their mind, or turn into a wolf.

[ There are probably others too, but that's the ones he has personally witnessed so far. ]

[ Once the stitching is done, he wraps some gauze and bandage around Eren's arm just to be safe, and ties it off making sure not to make it too tight. Then he lets go of it and retreives some more water to wash his hands again. ]

...Maybe. I don't think she chooses the people. But she sends these... dreams, I think. Those feel pointed.

[ She may not pick the people, but once the people are chosen she might just have a hand in what power they receive, is what he's trying to say. His own certainly feels personal, after a rehash of his many recurring nightmares of his friends and subordinates dying around him. Never again, the voice had whispered in his ear, and he'd woken up with the power to heal at his fingertips. ]

[ He wonders if it could bring someone from the dead, too. It would probably kill him, though. It's unfortunate that in most cases it's not a wise trade to make. ]

[dreamsofwings]

What the fuck.

[ For a second, he can't even think of anything else to say. Sure, sure, he can turn into a giant monster. He can summon weapons made of crystal thanks to the War Hammer. He can erase people's memories. He can do a hundred impossible things, but he cannot grasp make fire with your mind and turn into a wolf. Those things are still outside what he understands about the world.

He believes it. Levi wouldn't make crazy shit up for no reason, and the other Levi did mention abilities of some sort. Now this healing thing. ]

What you can do seems a lot more useful than turning into an animal.

[ He doesn't realise what the consequences of Levi using that ability are, but how can he? ]

Do you know where this woman came from? I don't believe she's some kind of goddess. But she obviously has some ability of her own if she can do that much.

[wingbound]

Yeah.

[ Levi doesn't disagree. As good as he is at rolling with the punches, if he stopped and thought about it too hard he'd probably end up in some kind of a crisis, so he just... doesn't. People turn into animals and start fires with a look, yeah, what the hell, sure. That might as well happen. ]

[ The consequences aren't too obvious, at least. His own skin does not open to mimic the wound he's healed; it's only the pain that he takes on. He's had worse, but if Eren zeroes in on him maybe cradling his arm a bit protectively for a moment here or there, well, that could raise some suspicion. ]

If someone is injured, sure. If you're stuck outside at night, having fur is probably more helpful.

[ There's really no one solid way to determine that one gift is "superior" to others or vice versa. ]

No. But there are clues. Theories. It's possible that she came here same as us, but a long time ago.