Marachius Ainsley

Meeting The Squad

“Ainsley!”

Marachius had been sitting outside on a bench when he heard his name called. Looking up, he saw a commander walking towards him with several troops in his wake. Marc immediately jumped to his feet and stood at attention. As the commander stepped up to him, Marachius snapped his arm up in a salute, which the commander returned. The men behind the commander watched quietly, some nodding slightly, while others showed no notice.

“Men,” the commander said, glancing over his shoulder at the five men behind him. “This is your new medic. Get him squared away with a bunk and explain the mission to him. You all go out first thing in the morning. Ainsley, pay attention to what they say. They’ve been here since the first wave.”

“Yes, sir,” Marachius said. He watched as the commander turned and walked away, then turning his attention to the five people in front of him, three men and two women he noticed..

“Ainsley, is it?” one of the soldiers asked, reaching his hand out. Marachius wasn’t expecting the informality and was briefly caught off guard before taking the hand and shaking. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“No, sir’s here, Ainsley. My name’s Kiernan. Somehow I ended up the leader of this little band. These two are Leiana and Nara,” he said, pointing at the two women, “and those two are Brock and Lorn,” he added while pointing to the two other men.

“Pleasure to meet you all,” Marc said, nodding to the others.

“How long have you been here?” Nara asked.

“Just got here four days ago. The commander said you were on leave and for me to wait until you got back.”

“Yeah,” Kiernan nodded. “They gave us some leave so that we could accompany one of friends back to Stormwind.”

“The guy you’re replacing,” Brock interjected. 

“Sorry,” Marc said quietly.

“Its okay,” Kiernan answered.

“How many tours have you gone on so far?” Lorn asked.

“This is my first.”

“You’re first?” Lorn repeated, obviously surprised. “You’re that green?”

“I suppose so,” Marc replied, slightly subdued.

“It’ll be okay,” Leiana said. “Stay close to us and do as we say and you’ll be fine.”

“I’ll do my best,” Marachius said earnestly.

“I’m sure you will,” Kiernan said with a smile.”Now let’s get you set up with a bunk. We’ll get something to eat and we can start telling you what to expect around here.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Marachius responded with a smile of his own. Picking up the bag that had been sitting on the ground beside the bench, he looked back to the group. He couldn’t read their faces yet, but they didn’t seem bothered by him yet.

“This way Ainsley.”

“Most of my friend call me Marc.”

“Okay then, Marc. Let’s get your gear stowed and find some grub.”