Chapter 2: Application Day

Laura walked back to her room, tossed herself onto the bed, and buried her face into her pillow. It was only about five in the morning, so she could afford to take a quick nap. After two hours, she came quickly downstairs, gliding past some of the housekeepers and heading to the kitchen. Nia and Berus were already having breakfast when Laura entered. Berus was Laura’s little brother, three years younger than her, but you could never tell by his towering height difference. Even at his young age, Berus had already grown to six feet ten. His mother could hardly believe just how quickly he’s grown. At the rate he was going, Berus would be taller than his father before his twenties!

Berus saw Laura coming over, and his eyes lit up. “Morning, sis!” He joyfully bellowed. Berus looked up to his older sister, always striving to be just as smart and dedicated to becoming stronger. In his eyes, Berus saw Laura as both a sister and a rival.

Laura sat down beside him and replied, “Morning, Berus. You seem in a pretty good mood. What’s up?” Berus smiled. “Today’s the day I take my entrance exam to get into the upper classes,” He took a quick drink of his orange juice, then continued. “And I was hoping you’d come and watch me.”

“Of course I will…” She started to reply, but then suddenly remembered something. “Oh, wait, what time is that again?” She asked. Berus was finishing up his breakfast when she asked. So, he swallowed and answered, “About one in the afternoon. Why?”

“Really? That works perfectly!” Laura poured herself a glass of juice. She continued, “I’m going to apply to join our defense force after breakfast, and I didn’t want to be late.” Berus stared at his sister in admiration. “Wow, you’re gonna be Empress and be a part of our defense force? You’re so awesome, sis.”

Nia had stayed quiet while the two talked, but finally spoke up after hearing Laura's plans for today. “Listen, Laura. Maybe you shouldn’t join our defense force.” The siblings looked at her, their faces confused. Nia continued, “It’s not like it’s a requirement, so I think you should focus more on the political side of being empress. It’s more…safe.”

Laura quickly waved off her mother’s concern. “Don’t worry, mother. I’ll be perfectly fine, trust me.” She heard the bell that rang on top of the mansion, indicating that it was eight. “Oh shoot, I’ve gotta get going!” Laura said, scarfing down some of her breakfast, and started heading out the door.

“Good luck, sis!” Berus cheered for his sister, waving her off. Laura turned and waved back, taking a glance at her mother. Nia had a solemn smile, almost as if telling her daughter not to join. Laura’s happy expression faltered for a moment, but she ignored it and went off.

She burst through the doors, the village blooming with activity. It had gotten a lot bigger in these ten years, expanding further and along the beaches. The Amber Empire of Australia had controlled the vast majority of the continent, only leaving the humans to control Western Australia. Amber village was founded in the deep forests of what used to be Queensland, and for the last seventeen years has continued to remain hidden from the rest of the world. It was the first law the first Emperor declared. Stay in the shadows, keep our allies at arm's length, and do whatever it takes to protect the village. Those were the three major laws that were placed after the foundation of the village.

Laura was never too fond of these laws, but her father always said it was the best way that she and the rest of the village would stay safe and prosper peacefully. It was always a dream of Laura’s to see more of the world, ever since she was a child. Her father had told her that once she turned eighteen and was entrusted with the title of Emperor, formally chief, was when she could go and see the world. It was another law he created for not only future rulers, but villagers themselves. He seemed to have an infatuation with doing things once reaching the age of eighteen. Regardless, she never objected, always trusting that her father had the best intentions.

As Laura made her way through the village, a girl spotted her and came rushing over. Laura could see the pair of tall ears pass through the crowds. She laughed and waited for her friend. The girl pushed out of the sea of people, the two sharing smiles.

“Morning, Cello.” Laura opened her arms, Cello following suit, and the two hugged tightly. Cello was shorter than the average experiment, but still taller than Laura. She was a Fennec Fox experiment, sporting large ears atop her head. Cello’s hair and fur were a cream color with hints of rust red. Her hair was cut into a bob, and her eyes gazed at Laura with their captivating sandy brown color.

Cello had been best friends with Laura since they were children. She was Laura’s first and only real friend outside of her brother. The two were inseparable, always spending countless hours hanging out together.

Laura continued. “Are you ready to join the defense force today?” She asked, excitedly. Cello slammed her fists together, giving Laura a proud look. “You bet! We’ll be top of the group by the end of the session!” Laura nodded, and the duo went off.

By the time they got to the application station, there was quite a long line. It seemed there were lots of young adults who were eager to join, just like Laura and Cello. They stood in line, waiting for what felt like hours. The line was moving at a snail's pace. Laura anxiously hopped from one foot to another, her body shaking a little with excitement.

Cello, standing in front of Laura, peeked her head out of the line and saw that it had barely moved. “Jeez, this is going to take forever,” She sighed, turning to see Laura twirling her flute around while they waited. Cello chuckled and jokingly asked, “You’re really excited for this, huh?”

Laura nodded and replied, “Yep yep. I’ve been waiting for them to open up applications, and I don’t plan to miss out.” She spun her flute and slid up back onto the side of her belt. “This is my chance,” she continued, “to show just how much stronger I've gotten with all my training.”

After an eternity, it was finally their turn to apply. Cello was easily let through, being given some armor to put on. But when it was Laura's time, the guard didn’t say anything at first. Looking Laura up and down, raising an eyebrow with a puzzled look on his face.

“Ma’am, are you absolutely positive you wish to apply?” He asked, still bewildered by this oddly short girl standing in front of him. The height of an experiment at minimum is six feet, so the sight of Laura’s five foot seven certainly threw the guard off. Moreover, he noticed her lack of fur and claws, only sporting ears and a tail.

But Laura smiled and nodded. “Yes, sir! I’ve been waiting my whole life for this!” The guard shrugged and went to fetch her a set of armor; however, he came back empty-handed.

“Apologies, ma’am,” He said, “We weren’t expecting this kind of turnout, so we no longer have any armor.” Laura waved it off. “That’s fine, I’m more than capable of doing without it.”

The guard hesitated for a moment but chose not to protest and stamped her application. Before she left, the guard told her, “Just try and be careful, ma’am.” Laura nodded and rejoined Cello, who had been waiting by the entrance of the training grounds. Laura told Cello what had happened, and Cello offered her armor to Laura. She politely refused, reassuring her friend that it won’t be needed.

They managed to slip all the way toward the front of the massive group of people. The clamor of voices slowly began to die down as a strikingly beautiful woman dressed in armor came walking onto the large wooden stage in front of the group. She was followed by the guard, who handed everyone their application paper. Her appearance was bold and proud, standing tall and straight with arms behind her back. She wore silver armor, the village’s Tri-Claw Mark Crest on the front of her chestplate. The armor the woman wore was the same as that given to the applicants. Covering the front, back, shoulders, and upper thighs.

The woman had long horns that shot out and upward through her mud brown hair. She loudly clomped one of her bovine hoofs against the stage, drawing everyone's attention. They all stopped talking and faced forward, their attention glued on her.

The woman raised her chin. “I am Captain Jesse!” She bellowed, her voice strong and commanding. Captain Jesse continued, “In a moment, General Pierce will arrive, and two of us will evaluate all of you to determine who is worthy of joining our force…and who is merely dead weight. Understood?!”

The group simultaneously replied, “Yes, ma’am!”

Captain Jesse nodded as she walked along the stage, pleased by this sea of applicants. As they waited, Captain Jesse walked over to the guard from earlier. “You weren’t joking, Charles,” She said, “We’ve got quite the turnout this year.”

Charles nodded in agreement and said, “Yeah, and they’re seemingly all raring to go.” Captain Jesse chuckled. “That’s good, means they got a fire and…” She stopped talking, taking another look at the crowd, her eyes locked onto Laura chatting with Cello.

She walked closer to get a better look. Captain Jesse turned and pointed, asking, “Who on earth is that?” Charles jogged next to her, seeing her finger pointing at Laura. He responded, “I believe that’s the Empress's daughter.”

Captain Jesse took another look, unable to believe that she could be related to the Empress. “Why is she so…” Before she could finish her sentence, a loud, almost booming noise came from the sky. Everyone started looking up, pointing, and clamoring with awe and excitement. A large figure flew above the ground before swooping down and landing heavily onto the stage.

The crowd went wild with applause. The massive man looked up, revealing his golden colored eyes. This was General Pierce. He was an owl experiment, more specifically, a Great Horned Owl. He was extremely tall, matching the first Emperor in height. General Pierce looked down at the crowd, his expression cold and calculating. Despite the permanent scowl on his face, he was ruggedly handsome. He too wore armor, the same as Captain Jesse. But his was black with gold stripes along each end as well as the color of his Tri-Claw Mark Crest.

Captain Jesse made her way and stood beside General Peirce. “Quite the entrance, General.” She said, her voice calm and proper. He spoke, “I wanted to see how they would react,” His voice deep and gruff, “I’m pleasantly surprised.”

“There are quite a number of them, wouldn’t you agree?” Captain Jesse asked. General Pierce replied with a “Mn” as he walked closer to the crowd, his talons leaving marks against the stage. He spoke, “But I assure you, that won’t last.”