The Mimic in Monsterland

“I will come inside in a moment.” Daila said as I walked through the door.

Strange feelings of déjà vu fell upon me as I entered the smaller than expected room. It feels like my first day at a new school. I wonder if I’m going to get the seat in the back classroom next to the window. All dumb jokes aside, I was kind of nervous. Conversation filled the populated room. Everybody in the room was already gathered in groups of two or three, talking amongst themselves. A few curious faces turned to me and whispered.

Well, don’t everybody come at once to welcome the new guy.

One guy with a bow wrapped around his back saw me as he was talking to two other people, a woman with fox ears and a man with feathered arms. He waved at me and said something to them before walking over to me.

He was a little bit shorter than me, maybe 5’ 9”, with normal human ears. But his gene trope was very much obvious. His eyes were huge, probably twice the normal size. They were dark brown in the middle then lightened as it got to the edge, almost gaining a green hue. They looked familiar, like I could almost remember the animal they came from. He smiled and stuck his hand out in front of me. “Hello, the names Lukans, Lukans Britons. One of the Marksmen here in A5.”

“A5?” I asked.

“Our squad’s name. Gotta say rookie, not committing your squad’s name to memory is not a great look. Gonna have to deduct some points for that one.” He paused and looked me over. “Ahh, I’m just messing with you…” He left the sentence hanging, fishing for my name.

“Liam, Liam Foster. New uh recruit for the squad. Nice to meet you.”

“Liam Foster eh. Strange name, but that’s not important. Glad to meet you and happy to have you join the A5. The best Tier 5 squad in all of Laurel.”

Haven’t heard the name thing in a while. I shook my head and sighed. Like he said though, it's not important.

“So Liam, what role are you? Best to go introduce yourself to whoever you're going to be fighting side by side with first, you know. I can tell you’re not an archer like me. A real archer would never be caught dead without their bow. Especially a training day. So what are yah? Frontline Tank, Frontline Damage, Support, Backliner?” He brought a finger to his lips. “Or are you one of the elusive Allrounders?” He whispered. He laughed to himself. “Nah, we aren't ranked high enough to get one of them. And you’re a bit young for that.”

I scratched the back of my head. “I’m not sure yet. Daila, Ahem, I mean Lt. Underbrush said Fennel was going to tell me when I got here.” I scanned the room as I finished speaking, looking for my new dwarf buddy, but it didn't look like he was here yet.

I turned back to Lukans. “Ooh, rubbing elbows with the top brass, I see.” He raised his eyebrows a few times. Then his head tilted and eyes squinted. “But surely you know your own role. What did they train you for back at the Academy? And what Academy did you graduate from? A good majority of us are from Academy Number Three. But I don’t recognize you from their recent graduation. I went because my cousin, Lare, great girl, strong and ferocious just like her brother Yare. Real imaginative naming scheme right. My Uncle, Nare, likes to keep stuff simple. But Yare, oops I mean Lare just graduated, top of her class might I add, and…“

Is he even taking breaths in between sentences? The dude continued asking questions and making comments, but I’d already stopped listening, focusing on whether or not he was actually breathing.

He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, then continued. Jesus, Chatty Cathy here. I found myself really wishing Daila came in with me. Motor mouth was going to eventually stop talking and would want a few answers, answers I did not actually have.

Now that I’d given up on following his speech, I examined his eyes again. I swear it's on the tip of my tongue. Those eyes. I scratched my chin. Then a word popped into my head: Monkey. Yeah, that’s it. Those really small monkeys with eyes bigger than their brains. Thank you, Discovery Channel. What were they called? T something. Ta. Dang it. What was it?

“And that’s why Auntie’s three youngest have ears like that… hey, are you still with me?”

“Hmm what? Oh yeah, Academy or something.”

“No, no. I was done with that already. I was talking about genes now. I have the Tarsiryian Gene.”

It finally clicked. “Tarsier, that’s it. That’s what they are called.” I accidentally said out loud.

“No, it's pronounced tar…seer…ian. I know it's not common around here. But my dad’s family is originally from the Kailis area. North of the actual city, a small mining village near the border of The Desert. Mom met him when she worked for the Caravans. The story is beautiful and…”

But just before the monkey eyed man started another loquacious dialogue, Daila entered the room with a very serious looking Fennel at her rear. The various voices died down the instant everyone saw her. Each gave her the shoulder salute, and began walking over to the center of the room, lining up side by side. Lukans nudged me with his arm. “Come on, over here.”

I followed after him. We joined the line down on one end. One other person walked up from behind me, a pretty girl with lovely white feathers flowing down her head joined the line next to me. She smiled at me and nodded, then gestured toward the front.

Fennel stood front and center, with Daila standing behind and to the side. Fennel’s face was stiff. His hands balled into fists and his dog ears pointed up. He coughed and then spoke.

“Greetings A5. As you can tell, we are receiving our new additions today.” Fennel’s eyes scanned along the line. I nodded as his gaze passed over me, but I’m not sure if he registered it. However, his gaze lingered on the girl next to me for a moment longer than it probably should. Fennel. You dawg. I forcibly suppressed a chuckle at my overtly stupid pun.

He cleared his throat. “It looks like everyone is here. We can proceed to introductions. All new recruits line up behind me now.”

I looked over and saw three others trek behind Fennel, two smaller people, each with pointed ears marking them as half elves and the last was a tall human girl. I couldn’t see their faces. Lukans prodded my side again, this time whispering, “Go on, then.”

Fresh nervousness filled my stomach as I walked up. I looked at Fennel, but his eyes were locked forward, then over to Daila. She beckoned for me to join her. I walked behind the other three new recruits. I noticed one of the half elves had strange protrusions bulging under his clothes.

I walked up next to Daila. She gave me a barely noticeable nod and then returned her attention to the line up.

“As I call your name, please walk forward and give us your raid experience and role. First, Rumi Nati.”

The tall human girl walked forward. From behind, I caught a glimpse of some scales on the backs of her arms and neck. “Rumi Nati, I have fought in six raids. I am a support specialized in mostly stamina recovery, along with Basic Healing.” She wore a simple white robe with a brown belt holding some bottles in it. After a bow, she returned to her spot behind Fennel.

“Next, Tawny Granth.” Fennel said.

The girl half elf walked forward. “Tawny Granth. Recent graduate of Academy Thirteen, no raid experience. But fought a little in the recent invasion.” The girl’s voice sounded familiar. “I’m a backline mage attuned to electricity.” She brought her palm up and a small yellow arc of electricity jumped from it. She wore a yellow robe much like the other girl, Rumi, but her belt was black and held a sheathed dagger on it. Wait a second, no way.

“Next, Hait Granth.”

The girl pushed the other half elf forward. The boy stumbled but caught himself and walked to the front.

“Umm. Hait G-Granth.” He took a deep breath. “Also a recent graduate. No experience. I was also in the invasion. I’m a backline mage, attuned to.” He gulped. “Water.”

He rushed back to the line. He shifted and rubbed his shoulder. Once he put some pressure on his blue robes, I could see the outline of the bulge. Turtle shells. Yeah, it's got to be them. But they are so young.

“Alright and lastly,” Before Fennel could say my name, Daila stepped forward. “I will handle this one, Captain Blines.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Fennel stepped back and let Daila take center stage. She put her hands behind her back. “The final recruit is a bit of a special case.” I rubbed my hands as she spoke. A chorus of mumbles and whispers pierced the silence. Daila flared her Aura, at least that was my guess, shutting them all up.

“Liam Foster. Come here.” I took a deep breath and squeezed down on my hand, then walked next to her slowly, keeping my head held high, trying not to show any of my anxiety.

“Liam, go ahead and tell them your experience. Including unofficial.” All of my experience is unofficial.

“Right, I fought in one raid and the invasion last week. Um. My role is, uh.”

“That’s enough Private Foster.” She turned back to the crew. “He is an Allrounder, but for now will act as a Frontline Switch. He will be either Tank or Damage; whatever Fennel or the battle conditions dictate. There is one last detail that we must be up front about. I predicate with this. Private Foster has the full support of myself, Chief Medical Officer Terl Blocke, and Legion Commander Jaren Holdsburn. Captain Blines as well.” Fennel nodded, confirming her words.

I felt the hot gaze of everyone lined up before me. Each one bore into me. Their faces were filled with intrigue.

“Liam Foster is an ex-Feral, now official citizen of Laurelhaven.”

A collective gasp filled the room, followed by complete speechlessness. Until a loud and anger-riddled snort filled the void. The biggest person in the room advanced forward. A giant of a man stomped forward, large black bullhorns adorned his head.

“Savage bastard.”