VIDEO

[usurpers]

Name: eren jaeger
Date: juril 13th
Format: video

[ Around a fire in the dark of night, a few tents and the movement of witches, entertainment and the like of volunteers behind them, Eren sits outside of the city wall with company as the feed starts, Lex sitting next to him with Dogmeat sprawled out a few inches away. ]

Anyone with any intention of walking closer to Wilder’s Edge, don’t go alone and don’t go unprepared to fight.

We ran into something. Humanoid, with a creepy laugh. It mimicked our faces, our movements, and it was not playing around.

[ The flex of her talons, the little grit of her monster-sharp teeth, probably makes it clear exactly what Lex thinks about that. Shoulder to shoulder, Eren’s head dips, sideways to rest his cheek to the top of her head— spontaneous as the dragon sinks half his face into her curly, furry, feathery hair. There’s no resistance; if anything, the chimera leans into it. ]

Fighting that thing alone wouldn’t go well. It wasn’t infected, as far as we could tell. The Cwyld isn’t the only danger here.

[ Eren confirms with a nod that comes with wetting his lips, only turning his face to direct himself to the camera again else he’d muffle his words. His own ink-dipped hands and claws hold somewhere around her back, under her opposite arm and stretching out the wide tears at the back of his ruined, bloodied shirt and closed nape wound that had been healed by magic hands. he points to his neck. ]

It looked predatory. And it probably won’t back off unless you take it down, or trap it first. The veterans don’t know what to tell us.

[ Eren also doesn’t spend too much time with video feeds, and presses. buttons, like a grandpa. He presses all the damn buttons (that probably fuck up configurations plenty, he mutters fucking because technology is hard), until a photo is tagged to the post. A lot of photos, most of them blurry messes until one actually shows a body, of the mimic in question. A black sleek face, no features to show for except for a broken mask, long limbs, and teeth like needles behind the fissures. Its neck bares a shredded hole and its middle is spilled.

Dryly: ] We didn’t get a before picture.

Comments

[starseedling]

[Steven heard all that stuff about the specific monster, but it's certainly not what he's thinking about right now.]

Lex, are you okay?!

[usurpers]

[ he’s the one who got chomped, but the poor kid. eren holds his watch over to lex for that, he’ll peek in when he can. ]

[psychotronics]

[ All things considered, Morgan sounds astoundingly calm when her voice comes in over the radio, even if there's a bit of an edge to her words. ]

Did you save the body?

[usurpers]

It’s nearby.

[ they dragged it along some— enough to stay clear from the camp but enough to go back to if necessary. he could still smell the blood. ]

Did you want it?

[ there’s no touch of oddness in his voice either. he knows a scientist. ]

video

[thisisamazing]

[Hiccup is. Understandably a little freaked out by this news (and that photo, ugh). The background of his video is moving as he rolls out of bed and starts outside with Toothless.]

Wait, wait, what- You said this was close to my house? Where are you guys? Are you okay? I'm coming there.

video

[usurpers]

We’re with the volunteer group. [ coordinates, perhaps? he’ll let lex do that in a second he is not good at those.

at least hiccup was one person he definitely wanted to talk to. eren’s expression is a little deep to show that, and nods. ] Follow the campfire, it shouldn’t be far from where you are.

[ and if they’re okay— well, they are great. eren’s the only one who seems to be wounded now, but it’s closed just enough to stop bleeding. he has a fabric square to clean himself with. ]

I got a bite they closed up already.

[whomthebelltolls]

[Great. Absolutely astounding. Feral Beasts are not all there is around here. Not that she was expecting it to be the only problem, aside from the creeping rot bubbling up around the city, and out in the Wilde, but, you know.]

I see. It's fortunate you got out with your lives... but aside from mimicking the faces and voices, did it seem to know anything more important about you?

[usurpers]

[ eren shakes his head. ]

Just the movements. It’s like fighting a mirror if you’re alone.

[purpose]

[ That sure is a picture. Rey's grimace, when she answers, is pronounced. ]

The veterans — they've never seen anything like it before?

[ It doesn't hurt to ask for clarity, though she knows it doesn't bode well for them no matter the answer. Either they're as lost for answers as they are, or they're keeping them to themselves for now. ]

[usurpers]

The ones around here didn’t say anything. [ which can be, hm, yeah. ] But someone should know.

Video

[fiddlestick]

[Well. That is definitely terrifying. Elliot understandably looks a little shaken, but is a lot calmer than you'd expect a musician to be. First thing was first:]

Are you both alright?

[As for the monster....]

Do you mean the veterans out there don't know what it is?

Video

[usurpers]

Dunno if they don’t know or if they just don’t want to say it.

[ which, as thought above, is all bad. 🙃 ]

M’fine, [ he’s just going to have a tremendous nape scar, nbd. eren turns his head to lex, ducking down to meet her face to face. ] that’s Elliot.

video;

[chainveil]

[ Well that is troublesome, to say the least. Liliana purses her lips. ]

An interesting Public Service Announcement. Photography skill is lacking, but this is a very interesting beast you've found. Tell me, did the environment react at all to it?

video;

[lonewanderer]

The environment? [ Lex tilts her head, bird-like, from the side of the camera. ] Not that we saw. It was toward the edge of the Wilde, but- I mean, the plants and earth didn't move around it or anything.

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[bloodyuseless]

...It looks scary.

[A very helpful response from a perturbed-looking vampire!]

How did you kill it?

video;

[lonewanderer]

[ Well, you're not wrong. ]

Teeth and claws and fire. Teamwork, too, because I think we'd have been fucked if we'd been alone.

voice | un: caster

[futhark]

[ By the gods, that shit is fucked. ]

Great, a thing to steal our faces, exactly what we needed here. How did you take it down? Any tips?

[ That might sound like overly practical, but if there are more of these things out there... They can't trust anything they see in the Wildes. And that's important. So, practicality first, feelings second. Onto them. ]

You got healers on-site, or means to mend your wounds, I hope?

[ There's a hopeful tone there. Please, say you do, idiots ]

[usurpers]

[ idiots, huh!!! eren nods, glancing sideways to the cut getting some air. ]

A witch closed up most of it. [ so he’s 👌 going to be alright, taking care of the rest. he has help, too. ] It wasn’t made to hunt more than one person. It tries to get close by being your mirror. [ loners, most likely, it’s easy to get close to one person through mimicry. groups, probably not so much. ] I distracted it and Lex attacked it, when it still had my face. Then all three of us took a spot.

[ and. mauled it. ]

If you gang up on it, it won’t know who to copy.

[voice]

[spaghettimonster]

[The picture of the broken mask monster is troubling, as is their story of getting attacked... And something about this seems familiar.]

Did it... sing? I remember something in a dream that looked like me.

[He thinks for a moment, and clarifies:]

But that monster was infected.

[usurpers]

[ o h well that’s the first thing with a similarity. ]

I’m sure it wasn’t infected— but it laughed. Like the sound someone would make if they’re looking for you and find you.

[ ah-hah!!! ]

Did it look entirely like you, or just the face?

[fuckingpassw0rd]

Christ that thing's nasty.

[Even if the collection of photos that would rival bigfoot sightings isn't completely helpful it does paint a picture.]

Any of you need some healing? I ain't all that great, but I'm starting to get it.

[usurpers]

[ eren jaeger always tries his best ]

I think I’ll be alright— thanks. [ he takes a look at lex down on his shoulder as if seeing what she thought. ] It wasn’t gross.

Voice

[runningscams]

Appreciate the warning.

[ Han scratched at his wavy hair, not that you’d see him doing that in a voice response. ]

If this seems like a dumb question, I’m okay with that, but. Why were you out there?

Voice

[usurpers]

[ no question is dumb, in eren’s book, and while he doesn’t convey that through anything immediate, his feelings probably come in plenty when he answers: he’s patient and attentive to answering with even words. ]

The Coven hosts trips every month just outside the wall, to help who live in the Outer City. We volunteered.

[ eren likes to help, sure. he just has . . . a lot more reasons to wander and sniff around where he shouldn’t. ]

[givemewings]

Would it be incorrect to say that if these creatures are capable of mimicking faces, that creatures mimicking far more are not out of the question?

Hm. Not being able to trust what you see or hear. Interesting.

[usurpers]

I wouldn’t say so.

[ he vaguely remembers her voice. what’s good, ackerman. ]

I dreamed of an infected merrow that could change it’s entire image and voice.