The Mimic in Monsterland

Len leaned back against the wooden wall next to the council chambers, twiddling a small flame between his fingers while he waited for Jaren to fail at picking up the 3rd Legion’s commander for the 70th time. He focused on the flame, thinking about how he could change its color. He understood the underlying reasons as to why Daila’s alchemical flames produced such a variety of hues; it was based on whatever substance the flames were using as fuel. But that seemed to be only true in the case of natural flames. He tried to burn the same substances with his flames and received minimal differences.

He snuffed the flame and stared up at the ceiling. He had a hundred other things he should be worrying about aside from changing the color of his flames. He shook his head. The meeting ended an hour or so ago, no voting actually happened as per usual. He hated having to play their stupid games, but he didn’t want to upset the delicate balance of power in the Capital. Too many rumblings in the system and it puts the whole city in jeopardy. Raids couldn’t give a ratkin’s ass about our politics. But that was the thin line he had to walk. Peacefully other throwing governments was tough business, he found out. And going to require all the help he could get.

“Give it a rest, Holdsburn. You’re starting to get on my nerves. It screams pathetic.” Rache said, walking out the door with Jaren at her heels and jarring Len out of his thoughts.

“And yet that beautiful smile says otherwise.” Jaren replied. Len looked over briefly and saw that his friend was right, the woman’s face held the smallest of grins. But a grin is still a smile.

She turned back to say something to the shameless flirt, stopping herself when she noticed Len. Her face grew serious. She nodded at Len and he nodded back. “I don’t know if I agree with everything you said, Ainsworth, but you have my support. For now. If for no other reason than to piss off Lirae’s pets.”

“Thank You, Commander Gatrel. It’s appreciated.” Len responded.

“Though it doesn’t look like the others will be so easy. You’ve got a lot of favors to do and debts to pay.“

Len sighed. “It's why I detest these meetings so much. Everytime I join, my workload doubles and my coin purse lightens tenfold.”

“Don’t envy you in the slightest, just don’t get me too involved in your schemes. You’ve my vote on the matter, but that’s it. I’ve got enough shit on my back as it is with all these nasty raids of late. And a feeling in my tail’s telling me the worst is yet to come.” She crossed her arms. “I need a drink.”

Jaren opened his mouth, but Rache cut him off before he could speak. “By myself.”

She looked over at Len, giving him another nod, then over to his goofball companion. She shook her head and exhaled before turning around.

“Goodbye, my sweet.” Jaren said, waving as she walked away. She raised her hand and flipped him off.

“Oh, I’m in there, buddy.”

Len chuckled. “Whatever you say, my friend.”

The two made their way to the lower levels of the Capitol Building, stopping to grab a quick bite in one of the many cafeterias throughout the tree. Neither said anything. Anything of import at least. They spoke about Legion matters and some about the guild hall progress. Len told him how he managed to convince the crafters to pick up the pace. How the hall was to be finished by the end of next moon.

Of course they had some very important discussions coming up, but they wouldn’t dare speak about that here; far too many ears in this tree.

They made it out of the building after finishing their meal. Len’s senses returned to normal once they got out. Lirae’s stupid seeds. She always plants extras on meeting days. He checked the Aura flames in the guild. He chuckled when he recognized the two sitting in his office. He tilted his head. Sitting might not be the right word for what’s going on in there. “Liam, you beast.” Len said to himself.

“What?” Jaren asked.

“Nothing, only that you might not be the only hunter out tonight.” Len snorted then spoke again. ”It looks as if my office is occupied at the moment. How about we call it early tonight?”

“Fine by me. Today was plenty productive. And it gives me some time to plan on what to do about those two idiots mucking up one of my squad’s training days.” He rubbed his palms together with a sinister smile on his face. “I think I’ll handle it personally this time.”

Jaren looked up at the darkening sky, his devious smile replaced by a solemn expression. “It’s almost time then, eh?”

“Real soon. I’d say after the next raid probably.”

Jaren breathed in slowly. “Alright then.” He patted Len’s shoulder. “Take it easy tonight. Peaceful nights like tonight will be rare in the coming weeks.” He walked away leaving Len by himself on the road. Len grinned. Almost by himself. He looked up at a rooftop nearby, where his accomplice hid. He flexed his Aura for a split second, pointing it in the direction of the Guild. Mel got the message and vanished.

Len walked to the gate leading to the merchant district. He wanted to stop by the guild and see Rita’s progress on Liam’s gene. The little birdbrained scientist should have some answers soon. But I might as well let the kids get introduced properly.

——

She repeated the question. “Is the village safe?” The girl's light red eyes bore into my own, pleading for an answer to her question, but I had nothing to give her. I had no idea what village she was talking about. Len told me there weren’t many villages or settlements on Kniyas aside from the Splice Capitals. And I never ran into one out in the woods. Not that I did that much exploring. I never went more than a day's hike away from the cave. “What village are you talking about? Who's in danger? Who are you?” I asked.

The girl backed away from me. Her eyes scanned my body, from top to bottom. I felt oddly self conscious about it. Once she got her fill, she responded. “You have to be from Lostock. There aren’t any other villages in the Forest.”

“Lostock? I don’t know what that is.” I replied, taking a step toward her. My mind flooded with thoughts, finally connecting the dots. “Wait, is that a Feral village? Are you a Feral too?”

She backed up again, her eyes shifting to the door. “This was a mistake.” As she went to turn, I grabbed her slender arm. “Wait a damn...” Before I could finish my sentence. I felt Preflex activate with a twitch on my left cheek. I didn’t have time to bring both hands up, so I just lifted my left arm, readying myself for the blow. I barely caught the sight of a red blur racing for the left side of my face.

Pain surged through the palm of my left hand, but I gripped down. It was the girl's leg, her shin, that was heading for my face. My hands went numb and for a moment, I thought the attack broke it. Feeling and control came back into my fingers. Without delay, I clamped down on her arm and leg, then lifted up her incredibly light body. She must have only weighed all of ninety pounds, soaking wet. I threw her over my shoulder and squeezed her legs together. Intuition told me that was her bread and butter. And it proved true. She smacked my back and head with her hands, but none of the strikes remotely came close to the force from her kick.

She squirmed in my grasp. “Sorry. But I still have more questions. And I think you’re the only one that will actually answer them.” I walked through the hall of the guild and kicked the door leading to the office. Her assault on my skull didn’t stop for a moment.

“Let me go! Stop it! LET GO!” She shouted in my ear, which probably did more damage than her fists did. The shouts did however, make me feel like a creep. Like scum really. Thank God, no one is here to see this. I paused, fully taking in how awful that thought was. “Man, this feels so wrong.”

Now inside the office, I threw the girl away and planted myself in front of the door. Len told me about how secure the room was and even gave me a demonstration on its sturdy walls and windows. This door was the only way in and out of the room. “Okay. Can I ask you some questions?”

She twisted in the air and landed on her feet. Her feet glowed blue this time and in the blink of an eye, she was right in front of me. The glow turned red. Another attack! I shifted into Apis form, Ursa was still down and Tigris might be a bit aggressive. I wanted to talk with her, not bleed her out. Apis had the added benefit of excelling at hand to hand combat.

The leg blasted out at its target, the lower section of my body. Straight for the weak spot. My hands fell between my legs and I halted the deathly blow. She recoiled quickly and sent another at my head. I blocked the attack with both my arms raised, but still felt the force rattle my head. Apis lowered my CON so I wasn’t built as tough. While she was off balance with her foot in the air. I snuck my tail behind my leg and wrapped it around her grounded foot. I yanked with as much force as I could.

Shock filled her face as she fell backwards. She landed on her back. I hopped on her and pinned her legs and hands to the ground. I stared into her eyes. Even now they jolted around the room, looking for a way out as her limbs wiggled underneath mine. The crappy feeling in my gut worsened. “Hey!” I shouted at her, aiming to get her attention. She looked into my eyes.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized as sincerely as I could. “I really am. I didn’t want it to come to this. But like I said a minute ago. I have some questions. Mostly about Ferals. If you promise to stop, I will let you go. Then we can…” Ptooey!

Her response came in the form of a wad of spit landing on my face. I breathed in through my nose. “Yep. No, I deserve that.” I wiped the spit off my face with my tail. “Now, with that out of your system. Can we please just talk like adults?” Her mouth pursed back up. Before she reloaded her next spit missile, I covered her mouth with my tail. “Stop it already.” Her eyes burned with fury as her mouth opened up wide. I pulled my tail away before she chomped down on it. I’ll give her one thing. She doesn’t quit.

I closed my eyes. This isn’t going to work. I opened them back up. She was still squirming and trying to get away. What am I doing? This is really messed up.

“Fine. You win.” I released the pin and her knee found its way right into my gut not a second after. I rolled over on my side with a grunt. The girl raced to the office door and barreled through it. I got back to my feet, carrying my stomach and trudging over to a chair by the desk. I slinked into it with a hefty exhale.

“Killing it with the ladies, today aren’t we?” Tutor said mockingly.

“Shut up.” I wheezed.

——

Ingrid ran with all of her might out of the blasted building. She cleared the stairs in a single bound and ran out the back door. She wasn’t sure if the Feral guy was following her. So once she raced out the back door, she ran to the side of the building, where the crafters left a large pile of lumber. She used it and hopped up to the roof. She concealed her presence like she always had before inching her way to the edge of the building, waiting to see if she was followed.

Once five minutes had passed, her body relaxed. The boy wasn’t giving chase. She didn’t stop concealing herself, she only let her nerves settle. She was safe.

After another minute or so, she crawled across the roof, to the point where she was just above the office. She peered around her surroundings. The sun fell below the city walls. Only two people walked along the street, a young couple chatting away. They were paying attention so she peeked her head over the side of the roof. She looked through the large window leading into the office. The boy was sitting in a chair, his hands holding his stomach and his eyes stared at the floor.

He deserved it, pinning me to the ground like that. Asshole. She looked again and saw his mouth moving. Guy sure likes the sound of his own voice. He was talking to himself for a solid five minutes before he found me.

Embarrassment showered over her. How could I let him find me like that? And what was the growl anyway? She scorned herself, then returned to watching the teen in the window.

Her mind recalled her conversation with Gran earlier in the week. Gran let her stay in the living room of the shop this past week. Ingrid left early in the morning and came in late at night, trying her best to not disturb Gran or let anyone see her coming and going. But Gran caught her one morning, just as Ingrid was about to hop out of the window.

“I know you don’t want anyone to know you're here, but I think you should give Liam a chance. He’s a sweet kid. Too good-natured for his own good. Like my boy was. Just give him a chance. You’ve got a lot in common with him after all.”

Yeah Gran, he’s so sweet and good-natured. Good-natured enough to pin me to the ground and shove a tail in my mouth. Where did that tail even come from?

She stared down at the boy for a moment longer. She stood up and walked away from the edge, readying herself to hop down and head back to the Gloom.

“Give him a chance. You’ve got a lot in common with him after all.” Gran’s words echoed in Ingrid’s head. Ingrid’s face scrunched up. She sighed and looked in the direction of Gran’s shop. “Ugh. Fine, you old crone.”