Cold, rough stone rubbed on my face. I opened my eyes. I was on the cave floor, far away from where my bedroll was. “Why… oh right.” I mumbled groggily as I pulled myself off the ground. Log form doesn’t last the night. It wasn’t a new discovery; Len had me try sleeping in all of my forms but I never made it through an entire night. I could stay in an object form for nearly a whole day so long as I was awake, if I slept for any longer than an hour I would lose the form. I’m only part mimic I guess.

I looked at my health bar; it went up a little, maybe around 40% now. “Looks like the nuts and berries dinner didn’t do much.” Confirming my thoughts on mimics being on the carnivorous side of the food chain.

Food and sleep were vitally important to me, in this life and the last. Probably more so this one. I did all of my real healing while asleep, but that recovery was fueled by food, well, meat that is. And I clearly didn’t have enough. My stomach growled monstrously, seconding the thought. I stood up and stretched. I winced and groaned. My back was killing me. Its been months since a painful morning like this. And as if the pain stoked the flames of my hunger, my stomach roared once more. Finishing the excruciating stretch, I made for the entrance.

But I stopped. My body shivered uncontrollably. I looked at my HUD again, the shaken status wasn’t there anymore. Then why do I feel scared? “God, am I that pathetic? One day alone and I fall apart.” I shuddered again. “Oh.” I remembered the feeling, it was an instinct I hadn’t felt in a while. The one that told me to run when I first met Len. The other bonus granted by monster genes. “Man, mimics are cowards.”

“Yes, they are.” Tutor chimed in. “Jesus, you look like shit.”

“Thanks, needed that.” But before I could say more, my stomach groaned again. It's like its angry. I looked over at the note Len left, my shoulders drooped. With a sigh, I exited the cave and made my way toward the river.

The water in the river was only getting colder as the season changed. I wondered if my rock form could handle the extreme cold that was going to come soon. I hope the river doesn’t freeze during the winter. It was my best food supply. I have a feeling squirrels will be hard to find in the winter months. I haven't tried monster meat yet. I could try to hunt... but as the thought entered my mind, another shiver came upon me. "Crap." I whispered.

Hours drifted by and at this point and had mostly eaten my fill. The sun was past the horizon but I was just lazing in the river in stone form. I hadn’t done any training today. After yesterday’s battle, I just kind of wanted to do nothing.

Which wasn’t anything new for me. I had this habit on Earth too. If stress got to be too much, I would just shut down. I’d stay indoors and just zone out playing a game or watching something, letting the day and bad feelings rot away.

A dumb thought crossed my mind. I will never get to finish any of those games now. Not that I was great at finishing them anyway. The amount of games I played and never beat far outnumbered those I did. There are a lot of things I won’t get to finish anymore. People I wont see anymore. The feelings I’d been shoving down this whole time through fighting and training, all bubbled up.

But this is my life now. Sitting in a frigid river, waiting for fish to fall into my mouth. All of that training just for me to almost die again. Frustration grew inside of me, making me feel anxious and itchy. What the hell was the point? I lashed out, a stone covered arm parting the water for a split second. The river water took its chance and flooded the inside of my rock covering. A deep chill ran through me. My rock form was pretty much airtight when I was curled up, which retained most of my body heat. But I broke the seal.

I turned off the form and walked over to the bank and then up to a tree. “DAMN IT!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. I reared back and threw my fist into the bark. And again, and again. This went on for a few minutes. I looked down at my hands expecting a bloody mess but I must have unconsciously slipped into ursa mode because when I looked down at my fists they were hairy and larger. I looked at the padded hand and knelt down, finally saying the words I’ve been holding back since the moment I got here.

“I want to go home.”

After a moment Tutor spoke. “Well, you can’t. So toughen up buttercup because crap is going to hit the fan soon.”

I stared blankly forward, responding after running my fingers through my long unkempt hair. “I have been. It didn’t seem to help much against the shadow panther thing. I’m just weak. Worthless without a babysitter.”

“What are you going to do about it? You’ve found out that coasting by won’t work here. It did on Earth, so you, like the majority of everyone on that deplorable planet, got complacent. Complacency only gets you killed here. Do you want to die? Because that's exactly what's going to happen, and I can assure you that you won’t be getting another chance. So I will repeat myself, what are you going to do about it? Continue this pathetic pity party?”

“I don’t know.” I stood up. “But for now, I’m going to sleep.” Tutor huffed in response. With my head held low, I marched over to the cave, lit the campfire, and rolled into bed.

—

I found myself at a fancy wine-and-dine restaurant. The kind that cost like 100 bucks a plate. I looked pretty dang dapper, if I do say so myself. I was wearing a three-piece suit I rented for the occasion. That occasion being a date with Allie. She talked about how she had always wanted to go to a restaurant like this one, to see if the food and atmosphere really lived up to the hype. She grew up a lot like me, not poor or anything, but lower middle class.

So I saved up, skipped a meal or ten last month to bring her here. Sure, it hurt my wallet, but the way she smiled while eating that cooked leather boot (she ordered her steak well done) made the whole trip worth it.

We both got steak and salad for dinner. It seemed kind of sad, it was like an 8 oz tenderloin and a salad half the size I made at home. Plus it had some weird vinaigrette dressing. I just wanted ranch. But the smooth piano music playing in the background, candle lit background, and beautiful girl chewing on that overcooked meat in front of me made it special.

We chatted and joked, talked about life and what we wanted to do in the future. She loved kids and softball which meant she wanted to coach little league some day. I was silently listening to her. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted, but I knew I was happy here and now.

SLAP!

“What was that?” Allie spoke as she and I searched for the source of the slap. It came from a middle-aged man and woman two tables down. She was reaching at the man’s neck while a waiter held her back. “Let me go, this bastard just told me he just sold our company for pennies, just so he can go and live with some Hawaiian hussy and start a spear fishing business.”

“It's my dream Helen, and I met Ailani on my last trip out to Honolulu. We are in love.”

I looked over to Allie and saw the beginnings of a smirk bloom on her face. Yep, she was gonna crack. Can’t lie. I was too. ”Check please.”

Once we got out of the restaurant, we burst out laughing. After wheezing for a good minute, I said “What the hell was that?” With tears streaming down her face, Allie responded. “Ailani’s spearfishing tours in the Aloha State. I can see the sign now. That’s too good.”

“I somehow don’t think that story is going to end well. I hope the old guy isn’t getting scammed.”

After our outburst, we started walking around in the nearby park. It was the middle of summer so even though it was past 7, the sun was still out. I took off my jacket and loosened my tie. Allie shot daggers at me.

“Must be nice, being able to dress down some, This damn dress doesn’t really leave much room for that. Plus, these dreadful heels.” She huffed.

“You could just take the heels off.”

“And ruin my hosiery. Nope.” I chuckled at her comment. “Just call them pantyhose.”

“No, that sounds dirty. Hosiery is much more elegant.” Adding a curtsy to her statement. I laughed again, Allie joining me this time.

I looked out and noticed a taco truck at the other end of the park. My stomach wasn’t full from that $250 meal. I nodded my head over in its direction. “Hey are you still hungry?” She looked over to where I gestured. “Oh my god yes. That steak was delicious but not nearly filling enough.”

Probably needless to say, but those authentic tacos slapped. Harder than Helen at least. The sun started setting as we strolled over to a park bench, bellies sufficiently filled. Allie leaned against my shoulder. The tantalizing scent of her shampoo drifted into my nostrils.

I was the first to break the lazy silence. “This is probably one of the best evenings I’ve ever had.”

I paused and soaked in the atmosphere some more.

“I hope we have a lot more like it.” I added. But instead of replying, Allie got off of me. She stood up and looked me dead in the eyes. It was a look I had never seen before: One of pure austere. “Then don’t die.”

“W-w…What?”

“If you want to have more nights like this one, don’t die. That’s the only way you’ll have a chance.”

I stared at her face for seconds, dumbfounded by what she just said. What was she even talking about? She must be joking, but this wasn’t her type of joke. All the noise that bounced around the park died out. The wonderful smell from the taco truck disappeared.

After a full minute passed, two green feline eyes flashed in the bush behind her. Soon the park melted away and Allie’s face warped. Blood leaked out of her mouth, the once gorgeous dress covered in claw marks. And then suddenly, she was gone. All that remained were me and those staring green eyes. The eyes grew and grew until…

“SHIT!” I shouted, waking up and sitting up. Sweat drenched my entire body as I breathed in gasps. I brought my knees to my chest and held them. I closed my eyes and tried to take control of my breathing.

When I opened my eyes, they were sideways and pointed at the wall of the cave to my right, which was strange because I don’t think I moved. I moved my arm, but stopped when I heard creaking. I looked at my arm. Tree bark ran along it. I turned off log form and closed my eyes.

I stood up and walked over to the note Len left me and picked it up.

“Don’t die, huh.”

Taking the note and shifting into Ursa form, I started doing the most grueling set of burpees in my life.

—

Tutor gazed at the screen she sat in front of. She shuddered. “Worked better than I thought it would. Thought he’d need a few more.” She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry Liam. That was cold, but I can’t lose another one.”