"Gweheheh! Little rookie Enoea's frightened of a few dead animals. Isn't that precious, Tari?" Net wrapped a scarred tentacle around his old friend and pulled him closer. "Did you hear his scream? Like a little girl. I wish Ju wasn't patrolling right now. She'd love to see this. "
Tari rolled his eyes, but didn't respond. His attention was on the three dead crocodiles Enoea screamed about a minute earlier. That, and his current distance from Net. His old friend had him pressed tight against the side of his head. Tari pried himself away from Net and wriggled an eyes-width away from him.
Net half shrugged and returned his attention to Enoea. "Think I should tell her once she's back?"
Today was the kid's third official day in the field with their squad and Net and his mate, Juma, had already gotten him to fight buffalos, approach the children in Youngtown and scour the mud for a mysterious substance called 'tofu' that Juma assured him Master Giegue needed. Tari slithered closer to the corpse. A spattering of blood covered the semi-frozen ground around the badly battered bodies. Delicate geometric patterns of frost melted as the mook watched.
"Oh, Net, please don't!" The younger mook squeezed his eyes shut. "I-I don't want her to think less of me because I-"
"Think less of you?" Net's entire form shook with laughter. "That's what you're worried about?"
"Quiet, you two." Tari narrowed his eyes and returned to Net's side. "I've gotta decide how worried we should be about fhis." He motioned at the crushed and frozen bodies. "Crocodiles are nobody's friends, so, it's not like we've gotta avenge'm or anyfhing. Still, I don't want to make any decisions about fhis just yet. It seems like a good learnin' exercise for a certain someone." Tari turned his attention to the rookie and grinned. "Enoea, since you found fhem, why don't you give me a quick summary about the bodies, hmm?"
Enoea shuddered and slithered closer to the crocodiles as the rest of his team watched. Tari didn't think there was much to be worried about. They hadn't met anything else in the swamp that could use PSI apart from other parties of mooks. That, and they were dead crocodiles. Dead. Crocodiles.
"W-well, let's see. There's lots of frost around the bodies, and…hold on…" The young mook reached out a tentacle and laid it on one of the crocodile's heads. Tari glanced over at Net and met his eyes. His friend looked as impressed as he was at the kid's sudden bravery. Enoea's previous actions with the buffalo and human children had given the entire group the impression that Enoea was a cowardly push-over.
Enoea stopped at each of the crocodiles and checked to the state of their bodies. Once the rookie finished his minor investigation, he looked back at Tari, his skin paler than before, and opened his mouth. "They… they must have been frozen with a pretty powerful PSI Freeze, Tari. That's why one of them doesn't have any marks on it. Two of them have bad head wounds, as if someone smashed in their skulls in."
"Interestin'. What does fhat tell you about fheir attacker, Enoea?"
He paused and shut his eyes. "That, um, we must be dealing with a high-leveled PSI user that is capable of strong physical attacks. R-right, Tari?"
Enoea was smarter than Tari game him credit for. He'd gotten a handle on the situation pretty quickly. Tari glanced over at Net, not ready to give up on the idea that a mook was responsible. That would make everything so much easier. It could've been Juma, he thought. She was the kind of mook to use a few physical attacks alongside her PSI. "Net, does Juma have some kind of problem wifh crocodiles? Like, one ate her sis or somefhin?"
The other mook shrugged. "Nah. Her sis's still alive. The two of us had a nice dinner with her before getting shipped out." He paused and grinned at Tari. "What if some human has a tentacle in this? I mean, they're good at beating stuff up and a few of them can learn PSI. Remember what those human squirts said just before Enoea showed up and scared them back into town? Some baby in Youngtown uses PSI."
Tari supposed that if one of them had gotten lost and they'd needed to set out a search party, but… no, that didn't make any sense. The children in that town were too terrified to wander off with their parents missing. None of them would have strayed out of town and none of them would have had the guts to go and find a lost child if one did wander off. It had to be someone with PSI from outside of the town if it wasn't a mook.
"Net, Tari, look! Look, look, look! Human tracks; right here by the bodies!"
Well, fuck, Tari though. That blasted his mook theory to pieces. He looked over and saw Enoea's tentacle directed at the ground. There were a few sets of human tracks that led away from the corpses.
He looked at the deep sets of prints and sighed. He couldn't be angry at life for making his job harder. Besides, there was one factor in this whole affair he was pleased with. Thank the stars we're in a swamp, he thought. The moist ground gave them valuable clues about where the humans went after they killed the crocodiles. As he considered the groups options, Net slithered over to Enoea and set a heavy tentacle on the recruit's head, right between his eyestalks. "I see them. Good work, kid. Who'd've guessed you're actually useful?" He laughed and Enoea's worried grin spread and became an honest smile. "You might be a powerful ally some day, kid."
Tari was glad the kid had impressed Net to some degree. He still needed to earn Juma's respect, but that would come in time. Or, at least, Tari hoped it would come in time. If Juma kept saying things to Enoea that made him search out fictitious materials or chase down dangerous animals, Tari'd have to bash their heads together in annoyance. Their numbers were too small for Juma and Net to send the rookie out on gag missions every few hours.
Enoea looked at the older mooks. The kid was a brighter shade of green than before. Net decided the change was rooted in Net's compliment. He had an eager, approval-seeking look on his face when he opened his mouth to speak again. "W-well, let's follow the tracks, then! We'll get to the bottom of this mystery in no time."
Net shrugged and closed his eyes. "I guess we gotta get moving, but what are we gunna do to the humans when we find them?"
The young mook hesitated and looked down at the ground. "Um, well, I guess we could-"
"We'll just see what fhey're up to, all right? We don't hafta do anyfhing if fhey're just passing fhrough." Tari said. The other mooks nodded, satisfied with Tari's response, and slithered after the human tracks. They searched for signs of the humans amid the shallow pools edged with algae. Tari just slid through a clump of reeds when Enoea called out.
"Tari? Net?" The older mooks turned their attention away from the human hunt and stared at the kid. His eyes sparkled like a diamonized head. "I'm so excited about our first mission together. I just wanted to say that, well, um, I-I'm not going to get frightened like that again, so you don't need to worry, okay?"
Net's grin widened, and he slid over to Enoea. "You'd better be telling the truth, kid, 'cause I'd hate to see you miss a valuable learning experience because you were hiding in the reeds."
"H-hiding in the reeds? I wouldn't do that!" Enoea puffed himself up, indignant. "I only screamed earlier because I was, um, surprised. I-I'm not going to let anything catch me off guard from this point on."
Net laughed and plucked a reed from the ground. "It's precious just how worked up you are, kid."
"I-I wish you would take me more seriously. I'm trying my best, but it's really, really hard for me to win any approval when everyone keeps doubting me. I-I tried my best to get that tofu for Master Giegue, but, no matter how many puddles I looked in I just-" He stopped and blinked. "W-wait! You weren't lying to me, were you?"
Net burst into laughter. "It's not our faults you're so easy to mess with, kid. Juma and I are professional rookie-breakers."
Tari knew he should keep the two from arguing, but it was very funny to hear Net argue with someone other than his mate. The current scenario also had the advantage of not requiring a literal 'kiss and make up' session afterwards. It was awkward to be around when Juma and Net finished a rousing debate. Hell, who was he kidding, the two of them redefined the term 'rousing debate.'
"I bet you two met in, um…"
Stars in the sky, Tari thought, the kid's gunna try back-sassing Net. There was no way the current situation could end well. Still, a small, morbid part of Tari's brain wanted to see how terribly Enoea could mess insulting someone up. He kept his mouth shut and let the pair continue.
"Well, kid?"
"In…um…meanie school…for mean people. J-just, shut up!"
Tari and Net stared at the uncomfortable younger mook. Enoea's face darkened in embarrassment under the gaze of his teammates. Sometimes, Tari thought, the kid really was too much. To his surprise, Net did not jump on Enoea's botched up insult. "Gweheheh, no, kid. Neither of us qualified for 'meanie school.' We met back in the old upper educational system. I had a bit of a habit of using ladies for my own purposes and managed to crush the heart of one of her friends or something. I swear, I never thought I'd survive that beating. I guess she decided I wasn't worth the trouble around the same time I realized I'd found someone that was. Of course, it took a few years and a lot of burn marks, but, eventually, I got her to change her mind about me."
Net paused and sighed. He lit the reed he'd pulled earlier on fire and followed the flame's path with his eyes. "We've been together ever since, me and Ju. As you can see, we didn't even let the war keep us apart. Not that any of you care, but, the two of us plan to take in a couple of orphans and teach them the fine art of mockery once we win this little war." He dusted the ash off his tentacles.
Tari looked up at the sky. The sun was at the horizon line and the first brushes of orange dyed the clouds a soft, warm tone. All this talk about Juma reminded Tari that the forth member of their party should be done with her patrol soon. He looked back at his friend. "So, Net, where was Juma patrolling today? Maybe we can meet up wifh her and fill her in on fhe human mystery."
Net's grin stretched further and he nodded. "Good thinking. I'll try to get her here with telepathy. Hold on a moment."
As Net focused his attention on Juma, Enoea slithered up to Tari. "Tari, will I manage to get a mate like Juma?"
Oh, awkward, Tari thought. "I'm not fhe best guy to ask, kid." he said, a bit annoyed that Enoea brought up relationships while they had a mystery to solve. Or, he reconsidered, that he'd brought it up at all. He didn't want to remember his poor track record of failed romances, especially in the middle of an investigation. "I don't have much to say about somefhin like fhindin' someone to spend your life wifh. Now, get your head outta the sky and focus on fhe human tracks."
"O-oh." The rookie looked away, dejected. "Right! Um, sorry, Tari. I didn't mean to get distracted, I just, well, um, I thought you maybe had some input!" The two mooks stood near each other in a silence more awkward and uncomfortable than joking about someone's mother only to find out that they're an orphan. Tari knew, deep down in his heart, that he should say something to the kid. He also knew that, even deeper, at the core of his heart, he didn't care if Enoea felt uneasy around him. No matter how the kid felt; he'd have to push those feelings aside and work with Tari if he expected to achieve anything with the team.
He nearly let the topic rest when he remembered how much the rookie'd tried today. It'd take a miracle for him to talk about love and relationships with Enoea, but, he suspected that Juma might ease up on the kid if he asked her for advice. Maybe he should reward the kid with a suggestion, for his good effort. "Just ask Juma once she gets back, okay kid?" Tari looked over at Net. "Speakin' of Juma, could you pick up fhe pace? You can talk about your orphans once she's here."
His friend narrowed his eyes. "Shut up, Tari. I'm having a hard time locating her."
Tari locked his teeth together and frowned. "She must have left fe range of your telepathy. I'm sure there's nufin' to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about? Tari, my mate's not answering me. It would've taken her a solid day of travel to leave my telepathy's range." He paused and looked to the side. "Something must have happened."