Looking back on it, I do remember seeing Tokols sitting at the edge of his bed in the late evenings and early mornings putting stitch after stitch through many different colored fabrics and a few pieces of leather from time to time, perhaps since we got our jobs. During that time he has managed to keep his progress a secret from everybody, and even I couldn’t guess how far he had gotten and I was the one who kept our room tidy. Well that’s actually a half truth: I keep Humey and Tokols’ things tidy while Mibata takes care of the mess I leave behind. Regardless, I was in for a shock when he opened up one of his boxes to show me what he had inside.

Shirts, dresses, pants and socks in a rainbow of colors all made by his own hands. My brother was practically a tailor in the making that somehow operated in complete obscurity. Wait a second, was he using his magic to hide himself when he worked? I had noticed a slight haze in the room when I entered, but my ability to sense mana itself could see him through it without any issue. Sorry Tokols, not even invisibility can escape my nose.

Still, I could tell from the layers of clothing in the box that he had been steadily improving. The bottom-most item was a shirt much like the one he had just put in there, but every stitch was coming apart and the hem was fraying beyond repair. After my cursory inspection of his work I used my board to ask him what he had made for me, and to my surprise he led me to a second box, albeit a much smaller one.

The outfit he pulled out of the box was something I hadn’t expected. A pair of brown knee length shorts with a third “leg” just for my tail and a matching deep green short-cut tunic with a belt to go with it. I don’t know if it was the thrill of having an outfit of my own or the vague nostalgia that this particular combination of clothes brought me, but I couldn't help but try it on. The sleeves of the shirt weren’t as long as I would like and the shorts were tight around my tail, but I still loved the ensemble. I quickly scrawled out a few questions for Tokols, such as where he bought the leather and how he got the measurements so close to my size.

“Well, I kinda just asked Bata to be a stand in. I tried to make sure to upsize it in a few spots since you’re a little bigger than him, but I guess he’s skinnier than I thought. Are there any issues you want me to fix? I can already see that it's pinching you in a few spots, and I didn’t take into consideration that we’ve all gotten a bit larger since I measured him. Maybe I should just make you a new outfit, how about that?”

I couldn’t say no to that. Tokols used some twine and chalk to make some marks on the wall to be his measurements for me, and with my input he picked out some new colors. As much as I would love to dress up as a hero, my tastes were a bit more practical. Pockets namely: I wanted something that I could tuck things away in and hold stuff for me while also being somewhat stylish. I still showed off the complete set to the rest of the family, earning both Tokols and myself a great deal of compliments.

My face only stopped smiling as I went to bed. Today had been amazing, and I knew tomorrow would be great too. I could allow myself a bit of hubris this one time as I thought that “nothing bad could ruin my mood”.

…

A large clatter followed by a girlish scream woke me from my blissful slumber, and I quickly rolled out of bed to assess the situation. My brothers were also woken up by the noise and were rushing to the door, though from the corner of my eye I saw both Tokols and Humey tumble into the pit in the center of the room. Another shrill cry sent an adrenaline rush through my veins as I leapt through the door, claws raised and fangs bared.

I scanned the room to understand what was happening. Bahruk was crawling away from the kitchen, a look of utter dread etched on his face. Juaki stood between him and that part of the room, a chunk of rock torn from the ledge of their bed held high ready to be thrown. A lumpy mass of indeterminate substances shambling around the kitchen aimlessly. Ugh, what was that smell?

Mibata was the first to act, raising his bronze sword high and lunging at the thing. His blade slashed into the thing, only to catch midway and snap against something with a loud clang. Mom joined the attack by hurling her makeshift weapon at the creature, but all that came from it was a dull thud as something toppled off the top of the target. That looks like some of the leftovers from dinner.

Wait a second, I recognize that chittering. I raised my hands for them to stop as I quickly slid between my family and the creature. Up close I could recognize the smell as our garbage, but beneath that I detected a familiar scent that I recognized from our trip to the mines. I waited for everyone to calm down and lower their hostile poses before I turned back to the creature.

I brushed all of the rubbish aside, cringing at the wet squelch that came from my hand sinking through a rotten fruit. Gross, but not enough to deter me. Eventually I persevered in reaching a point that wasn’t nasty rotting foodstuffs, but instead something hard and metallic. Clearing some of the sludge, I found myself looking at a distinct iron shell with little rust spots. No way. I made the same wind rune as before to blast away the remaining goop like a leaf blower.

Underneath that hill of filth was none other than the passive isopod from weeks prior: Tim. A munching sound was coming from his mouth, in which I saw he had the crushed pastry that mom hadn’t eaten. I ran a hand over his shell, eliciting a delighted trill from the hungry bug. How did he get in here without opening the front door, and how did he find us?

Mibata strode over and crouched beside me, his head tilted to one side as he inspected the critter.

“Huh. It appears to be the cavern cleaner that we had encountered some time ago. What was the name you had given it… Tim? Did you bring this creature home Kayrux?”

I shook my head and shrugged. I had no clue how or why he had come here. This little fellow seemed happy to be down in the mines, so what would he gain by climbing over a hundred and thirty floors to get up here? I ran my hand over his shell again, though I noted that my hand was still slick with decomposing compost. Maybe that filter rune can be tuned to remove anything that wasn’t part of me from my scales. It only took a second for me to draft up the necessary runes, but as soon as I began to activate the rune equivalent of the adjustable dimmer switch Tim reacted by dropping the treat and looking at my hand. The surprise made me reset the limiter to zero, which seemed to make Tim lose all interest and resume devouring the confectionary.

I tried the same thing a few times while alternating hands to the same effect. Tim was able to detect my mana and seemed inexplicably drawn to it, which led me to believe that the little guy had come all of this way because of the moon-fall. My mana was out of control then, so perhaps he was able to sense it all the way from the mines and had come in search of the source. That meant that he’d been making his way up here for a week, and considering the speed this guy was capable of that would make sense distance-wise. That explains why he came here and why he seemed so hungry, but it still didn’t tell us how.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

My first thought was that he had just taken the stairs like anyone else, but then we would have seen him coming up the stairs or someone would have done something about him. Was he considered a pest and would anyone have bothered if he wasn’t? Maybe kobolds didn’t have a leash law and someone had thought he was just a pet on the loose. This idea hit a wall, literally, when it came to the front door being sealed with earth magic.

Then I thought about how big he was. Tim was only two feet long and a few inches wide, and was barely larger than a basketball when he was curled up. My mind wandered to the toilet room, then to the stink that Tim had on him. I looked at my hands and almost retched. Okay, so now I know how he got here, and I really wish I didn’t. I didn’t bother shutting off the cleansing rune array when Tim’s interest focused on my hands. Don’t worry, you’re next you nasty little sewer bug.

When my hands were clean I made a pointing gesture to my empty hip to Humey, who understood that I was requesting my slate. He was only gone for a moment to get it, but once it was in my grasp I was quick to relay my theories as to how he got here and why he was here. Nobody had any counter theories, so it was just accepted that he had somehow made his way here via the city plumbing.

Tokols cackled for a moment as he crafted a pair of titles for the intruder.

"Tim the toilet bug, stinkiest of allies and devourer of trash. I love it. Hey mom and dad, can we keep him?"

Our father had calmed completely once he knew that our surprise guest was just a humble bug. I wondered what he thought it was to make him scream like that as he rubbed his tired eyes and answered.

"I have no reason to object. These creatures are all over the tunnels, and the only danger they pose is a tripping hazard with how sturdy they are. My love, what do you think?"

Juaki was dozing off now that the threat was over and replied halfway through a yawn.

"Eah… don't mind. He smells bad, but if you can remove the stink and clean his mess he can stay. Just ensure he stays out of the larder. I go sleep now. No waking me."

Humey, Tokols and myself all let out a quiet cheer. Mibata was still crouched down looking at our new pet with a curious look in his eyes. He tapped the iron shell a few times, and for a brief moment I saw his mana circulate to the same finger only to sputter and drain back to his source. A disappointed look crossed his face before he patted the creature gently with a smile.

"Welcome to our family, strange little Tim."

The next few minutes were filled with garbage cleaning and cleansing rune magic. It turns out that it can scrape the grime off of any surface, even the scales and shells of other creatures. The stench emitting ball of gunk I had collected was dropped in the rubbish bag, which was itself now sealed within the crate by a few nails to prevent a repeat of Tim's entrance. No more trash eating for you little guy, and no more baked goods. I'm going to need to be proactive and figure out how to take care of the bug so he can be happy and healthy.

…

Why am I not surprised that Tim was officially my pet? The friendly little guy had followed me all the way to work, and had even stayed with me until we reached my lab. His interest faltered when Vimna caught wind of him, and the two have been racing around the empty space of my section for over an hour now. She still had such a young mind despite her size, though she was really only a month younger than me at most. It still took me a minute to properly realize how our species aged, and even after I grasped the concept it still just blew my mind at how quickly we matured.

There was actually something else I had noticed in this regard, and it was mostly about my brothers. The three of them were teenagers, but unlike many others our age they were very mature and were quick to understand their limits. I suppose my influence must be the cause of that. They always were trying to catch up with me on a mental scale while also dealing with a lot of mental trauma, add in their intelligence and mental fortitude as well and their absurd rate of maturing made a lot of sense. My jaw clenched as I thought about how they were robbed of a normal childhood, forced to carry all that weight instead of being free to explore and learn. I swear I'm going to tear that Zhathrael wizard in half for what he's done to my brothers.

I felt a snap as the small pick I was using to examine an ore sample broke in my hand. Damn it, of all the tools to break it had to be one of the ones I actually paid full price for. It had at least served its purpose in identifying the first carload of ore as sphalerite, though this bunch was quite heavy on the zinc side. This opened up options such as galvanizing my tools and making some batteries, though to do that I would need some chemistry equipment that I'm sure no kobold has ever made before. As if there was a glassmaker in this city that could read, understand what my words meant, and had the skill to make a matching set of cylinders.

I tossed the broken pick on the table in frustration. Every step forward was always met by three new roadblocks, a dozen complications, and something else added to the list of things I don't have. At this point I might as well just try separating the sulfur from the zinc with my bare hands. Hold on, maybe I could. The filter rune.

If I was going to do something as dangerous as manually splitting molecules, I needed to have a back up plan and a controlled environment. I wrote a message for Vimna to fetch Dobo and bring a few buckets of water along with him. He arrived, and with his help I was able to convince his daughter to take her isopod playmate over to the rest of the repair crew for his own safety. We closed off the area as best as we could and I took my position in the center of the empty space, a bucket of water in every cardinal direction.

The runes would also feature every safety I could think of, and now I wanted to use more than two lines for this level of power. My right hand would be focused on drawing in any non-kobold material ejected from my left hand while also keeping a constant flow of air pushing any gasses or fumes away from me and towards the back wall. The left would single out the zinc metal and eject anything else away from me and towards my other hand. The last line ran the length of my tail, and had specific instructions to draw the water from the largest bucket behind me along the length of my body and spray it down my arms. Two lines in my right arm, a line in my left, and one to the tail, and if all else fails Dobo will douse me with a bucket of his own if things catch fire. Please don't explode, catch fire, or vaporize me.

I started things slow by turning everything on to the minimum mana required for every rune of each unique array. No visible reaction from the ore, and all the sensor runes are noting a slight change in the flow of mana around me, but nothing dangerous. First I set the wind rune to the safest output, making my magic fume hood around the target. My second array to be powered on was the impurity catcher, which upon starting up tore all of the loose dust and bits of crushed rock from the ore. Alright, here goes nothing. I kept a mental hand on the rune connected to my tail based fire extinguisher as I cranked up the mana going to the filter.

At first I could barely detect any change, but soon enough I saw a yellow dust being ejected from the surface of the crystal. Holy shit, it was working! I quickly ran through every sensor looking for a change in temperature, but as far as I could tell everything was completely stable. I double checked with the mana streams to see what was going on, and to my surprise I saw that the magic was pouring into the zinc and energizing it, and anything that wasn't charged was pushed away to be grabbed by the swirling tendrils of the catching hand.

For a moment I was tempted to up the power to save time, but I decided against it. Things were stable now, but what if adding more power caused the rune to change again, or worse it began to eject the impurities at a faster rate and caused the gem to explode from the molecular tearing going on? No, this time I was going to play it safe and let the magic set the pace.