When Puck finally walked into the village, another two hours had passed since waking up again, but he still marveled at how well he felt.

Puck had never been especially slow or bad at reaction times. But now he felt like his body reacted as fast and as well as never before. Perhaps that feeling simply was a result of the stark contrast to the state his body was in before the healing though.

Apart from the truly terrific pain every time he moved, there had also been a constant aching, something he had learned to endure, but only now knew how nice it was to be without.

Closing and opening his right clawed hand in marvel, Puck felt like every part of him was more sensitive. Everything was just so much better. Puck still could hardly believe it. It wasn’t exactly supernatural, and neither had Puck suddenly become a peak athlete. No, his body simply had been restored to a near-perfect state of what he already had been.

When thinking back now to the pain and anguish of the past week, Puck could only shrug and ask himself how he had gone through all that without giving in. But he had, and as he looked at the village before him, he felt the difference these experiences made.

The time when he had lived in the village felt more than only a few months back. Yes, even the time he rested in Scarlet’s cave felt far more than a single week away. That single week had changed him and his perspective on a fundamental level, and even though he knew he hadn’t suddenly become somebody entirely else, he still felt changed.

Those changes were perhaps still very fresh, and a real challenge still would perhaps make him fall back into old habits. But Puck wouldn’t let the visit to his old village become a real challenge. He had a new perspective, new goals, and a new master. He wouldn’t let himself be pushed around by the other Gremlins.

As Puck walked towards the guard standing at the end of the tunnel leading into the great ice cavern of the village, he still felt a little fear and anxiety rising, but he pushed it down and walked on confidently.

Rousing himself a little from his resting place against a wall, the guard lazily scratched his rear while looking at Puck from the distance. After a few seconds he started squinting his eyes a little as he couldn’t identify Puck directly. Puck, though, could recognize him the other way around and felt a little rage rising as he met one of his less important bullies. Not wanting to make a scene, though, Puck simply pushed his rage down again. Today was not the day he would meet out justice.

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Even while slowly walking closer, the guard didn’t recognize Puck, and Puck got a little confused. The Gremlin village was only about a hundred and fifty Gremlins strong, and this guard should know everyone that went in and out. Of course, Puck had been missing for a few months now, but shouldn’t the guard still recognize him?

But as he came to a standstill around ten feet away from the guard who now had leveled his bone weapon at him, Puck came to realize that his outward appearance must have changed simply too much.

The outward bodily changes of the leaf may not have been all too great, but they still had changed a little bit here and there. Together with other clothes and the new way Puck carried himself, the guard truly couldn’t be blamed for not recognizing someone missing for months.

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As the unknown Gremlin walked towards him, Rablam tried to inspect him closer to finally figure out who it was. As the whole tribe knew by the word of their leader, there were no other Gremlin groups, and whoever this was should have come from their own tribe.

This Gremlin, like all others of their race, was only about four feet tall and had hairy tufts on his joints and head while at some other places of his body green leathery skin showed itself. Beyond that, it seemed like the stranger was on the skinnier side while still carrying himself with a certain self-confidence.

Looking closer at the face of the stranger, Rablams gaze first fell on the big yellow eyes and the flat nose, but nothing there told him who it was that stood opposite from him. Only when noticing that one of the fangs reaching upward out of the Gremlin’s wide mouth on each side had been broken off and the right one of the big Gremlin ears had been torn up did Rablam recognize him.

It was Puck! Here before him stood the small scrawny Gremlin that he himself had helped more than once to put in his place. To think that he actually still lived and hadn’t died in the months nobody had seen him…

How fortunate! It had been so much more boring in the village since Puck had gone and they had been unable show him how inadequate he was! Of course, there had been others that offended them and didn’t work enough, but Puck had always been their very dearest.

Truly though, it was him. That tooth had been broken off by Holden himself some years ago, and Rablam himself had been there when Puck’s ear had been torn open. Something else was missing, though. In Rablams memory, Puck had always walked with his head pulled in between his shoulders and his eyes wandering, but not anymore. Now he looked point-blank at Rablam and even made him a little nervous.

Thinking already about showing Puck his place in society again, Rablam decided against it for the moment. That would come later. First, he would have to ask Puck a few questions. Of course, not too many as that would bore him, and so many formalities simply didn’t happen in Gremlin society, but still, some to verify the reason for his absence from work on the farms.