Chapter #22In quite the predicament. by: Quagmire69   βπΆπ
Hanji ZoΓ©: What do we have here?
Who-?
Wha-?
What exactly are you?!
Ymir: A dead little piece of shit, that's what it is!
Christa Lenz: Ymir, stop!!
We must've scared it half to death...
Ymir: I'll make sure it's fully dead! Little perv bit me so hard, I'm bleeding...
Mikasa Ackerman: So, you all see it too?[Mikasa was using a wet cloth to clean out her eyes]
Sasha Braus: I think I even heard it too...[Sasha helps Mikasa flush out her eyes]
Aiden Darren: P-Please don't kill me...
HZ: Kill you?
Now why would we do that?
π
πΆ
π[Hanji brought you to her cheek]
You're just so adorable, I could just eat you up!
AD:π±[In an act of self preservation, you pushed away from her, with enough force to push her to the ground & into the hands of Sasha]
Please don't let her eat me!
Ymir: Picked the wrong one of us to jump to...
SB: Shut up!
*Gurgle!*
AD:π
SB: Don't worry, I'd never eat a little creature like you...
Ymir: I doubt that...
SB&CL: YMIR!
MA: So...
What were you doing under me?
AD: I was in the tunnel going home when you accidentally caved it in with your ass.
MA: Tunnel?
SB: Home?
Ymir&CL: Ass?
[Hanji stood back up with a bruise on her cheek]
HZ: WOW!!
You're a lot stronger than I thought you'd be...
What are you anyway?
A tiny little human? An Anti-Titan? Extraterrestrial life?
AD: I'm not telling you anything, you bloodthirsty, dweller-eating monster!
HZ:[Offended+Demoralized] I'm not a monster...
SB: Dweller, Dweller... That's sounds familiar...
MA: I think I've heard of it before too...
CL: I haven't.
Ymir: Same here.
AD: Quit starring me down, monster! I'm not your next meal!
HZ: I was never going to eat you!
MA: Why do you think she'd eat you?
AD: SHE LITERALLY SAID SHE WOULD!!
CL: Oh that? That was just an expression.
AD: What kind of sick, twisted expression is that!?
Is that what you say to dwellers before you eat us?!
Imagine a titan saying that to any of you!!
SB:π¨
CL:π°
Ymir:π€
MA:π
HZ: Okay...
That'd be simultaneously terrifying and amazing...
Oooh!
Dwellers!
Little people that live in the walls & floors of houses and buildings.
CL: That explains the noises back in the Academy barracks...
AD: No, that's likely rodents, us dwellers soundproof our dwellings.
CL:π₯[Christa's skin crawled]
AD: I'm in so much trouble...
SB: Why?
AD: Because dwellers & humans are never to meet! It's illegal!
CL: I don't remember that in our academy studies...
HZ: It's no law I know of...
AD: You humans really think you're the only one with a system of government?
MA: So...
What's the penalty for breaking this law?
AD: It depends...
Usually mandatory eviction, sometimes exile, rarely death, but since so many know of our existence, I'll be lucky to be exiled...
Then again, you're all Scouts, so it's arguable that no other human beings would believe you without evidence...
Plus, you're all women, so-
Women: What the hell is that supposed to mean!?
AD: That there's a problem with sexism in your society.
[The women agree]
I'm still probably screwed though...
If any other dweller finds out, I might be forced to move & this place will be forbidden...
And they'll wipe your memories, or at least try to.
MA: Wipe our memories?
SB: Wipe our memories!?
CL: Wipe our memories?!
Ymir & HZ: Try to?
AD: The memory wiping process isn't always successful.
When it's not, it usually drives the person insane.
CL: But, what if we keep him a secret?
Are there others like you here...?
AD: No, I'm the only dweller here.
This place used to be used as a temporary residence for other dwellers, sort of like what you would call an Inn.
But after the Fall of Shiganshina, we...
I haven't seen anyone from Shiganshina since over a year ago.
MA: But, Shiganshina fell from the Titans over 5 years ago.
I should know, I was there, along with Eren & Armin.
AD: I didn't know.
I'm sorry you three had to live through that catastrophe...
It's true, all the humans in Shiganshina are dead. Devoured by titans or crushed by rubble...
However, A fraction of the dweller population managed to survive.
As a courtesy, many of them worked together to lay their bodies to rest, even in those titan pellets.
It's a neighbor sort of sense of duty.
CL: Titan pellets?
MA & Ymir: What's that?
SB: If they're anything like owl pellets, then I think I've seen them.
HZ: Ah! That's right! Owls do that too!
Well, titans don't have actually digestive systems, just a large stomach-like sack.
Once it's full enough, they simply regurgitate the contents of their stomachs, like owls, but unlike owls, nothing they eat digests, so its just a mass of mutilated corpses, soiled clothes, and gelatinous blood & saliva.
CL:π[Christa runs over to the ledge, then began retching]
Ymir: Christa!
SB: I got her![To Hanji] Here!
πΆ
π
[You were handed back to Hanji]
Ymir: How is she?
CL:π©π¦
SB: Puking like crazy.
MA: Maybe there was a reason that wasn't on our curriculum...
[Christa & Sasha return, with Christa drinking some water]
CL: I'm okay...
Actually, I think I needed that...
My stomach feels better than before the catfish...
AD: Ah, so that explains the noises earlier... And the smell.
HZ: Yeah, we told the MPs...
After their investigation, they found out a cannery wasn't properly sanitized, so an epidemic of food poisoning got spread around.
Recruits:π«ππ©π¨
AD: I don't think us dwellers can get food poisoning...
It sounds terrible though...
HZ: So what happens when you eat spoiled or rotting food?
AD: I really don't think we do eat any of that...
We preserve our food so well, it doesn't go bad.
My parents used to keep a dozen deers worth of venison stored in the basement.
SB:π² A dozen deer!?
HZ: This place has a basement?
AD: It's buried under a few feet of rubble. We kept it hidden for an expansive space for our dwelling.
It's actually the size of a town for us.
5x*Gurgle!*
SB: Any chance you have any venison down there?
AD: Nope! That's been gone since the Fall of Shiganshina.
A lot of our refugees needed provisions to journey for new residence.
HZ: You mentioned a "we" earlier, then mentioned your parents...
Do you know where they are?
AD: No.
The last time I saw them was a few years ago when they went past Wall Sina for supplies & to help our other non-human settlements.
I've been alone ever since, with the odd dweller family passing through...
HZ: I'm sorry you had to live alone for so long...
You know, if you'd like, you can live with us.
Recruits: He can?
AD: Live with you?
I'm not a pet!
HZ: I never said that!
It's just...
I don't think I should let a kid live all alone.
AD: A kid? I'm 20!
Pretty sure that's an adult in your society.
Recruits: You're 20?
SB: Is he really older than all of us recruits?
MA: He doesn't look it...
CL: He looks younger than me.
Ymir: He barely looks 13.
HZ: Ooo! That just brought a question to mind.
How old does your kind live for?
AD: Well, my dad said we can easily live over 500 years.
Women: 500 YEARS!?!
HZ: That's several centuries before the Walls were ever built.
AD: Yeah, I'm basically a hyper mature kid wise beyond my decades.
HZ: You mean your "Wise beyond your years"?
AD: No, I said it right.
Must be different for you humans...
CL: So Ms. ZoΔ...
Do we do we tell the others about him?
AD: Please don't!
HZ: No, we won't!
Recruits & AD: Huh?
AD: You won't?
MA: Any particular reason?
HZ: Erwin couldn't care less about living folklore living with us, but Levi wouldn't hesitate squishing you like a bug.
AD: Levi!?
And to think I'd clean his scarf all those times!
MA: You clean Captain Levi's scarf?
AD: I clean some assorted articles from all of you while you sleep.
It's a dweller's way of aiding our hosts.
Ymir: So what? You clean our underwear?
AD: Gross! No!!
Things like scarves, handkerchiefs, gloves, glasses, hair ties, jewelry, bandanas, pillows, stuff like that.
MA: Huh...
I always wondered why it smells like lavender...
HZ: So would you like to accompany us Scouts?
AD: I...
I don't know...
Being alone for so long is terrifying...
But being with a bunch of suicidal humans doesn't sound all that great...
Screw it, what the hell. I'm already screwed with the the dwellers society.
HZ: Excellent!
I'll arrange for a space for you in my quarters so you can
AD: Hold on, what!?
Why do I have to stay with you?
I know you're the head of the Scouts Titan Research Division or whatever, so you think I'd be a test subject to feed your morbid curiosity?
Ymir: He's got you there.
CL: Would you rather stay with one of us?
AD: I'd like a choice!
SB: So, who would you try to live with?
AD:...   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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