Ratface didn’t go straight for Suncat or Albert and Tiffany. She approached the problem like any goblin issue and didn’t attack it directly. Talking to Suncat would just end with the door being slammed in her face and she was still too annoyed at the other two for that conversation to be productive. Sure, she could understand their hesitation, but it was a little rich coming from the people whose village had attacked her.

Instead, she went hunting for Abigail. She found her in the mansion’s backyard, the garden she was in was tucked away in a corner. The plants here had clearly been chosen for their smell, which was sweet and wonderful, rather than their shape. A lot of them were twisted and were actively clawing at each other. They didn’t attack Ratface when she got close and didn’t seem to be making any headway against each other. Maybe they just looked like that.

The floor here was moss and was soft without being wet or spongy. It was the first change from normal plants that the demon ones didn’t have some weird caveat. She took off her boots and enjoyed the soft feel under her feet.

In the middle of the garden, Abigail was going through some stretches. It was still weird seeing her out of armour and her chair sat to the side. Good traction to not have a problem going through all this clutter.

“It doesn’t hurt too much to do these?” Ratface asked.

Abigail smiled at her as she leaned towards her toes.

“No more than any other training”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do. I’m not some delicate thing Ratface. I’ve fought plenty of times in that chair as well as in the armour. Come join me.”

Ratface joined Abigail to stretch. They started with simple ones to warm her up and they got progressively harder as they kept going. Some were just for balance, and she found herself wobbling while Abigail stayed irritatingly still.

“I’m guessing you didn’t come to check on my health,” said Abigail.

She did this while in a stretch that had Ratface struggling to breathe.

“Why are Albert and Tiffany so scared of goblins?” she asked, “in Lurian, adventurers look at us like we’re prey, but this area it’s different.”

She could feel her lungs struggling as she stopped focusing just on breathing. They switched movement to something more relaxed and she took a grateful breath. Most training felt like a pleasant burn when she did it but stretching just hurt.

“Well, they’re from Murkshire area,” Abigail said.

Ratface gave her a blank look. Abigail tsked.

“I know you’re from Lurian, but surely you’ve heard of the Murkshire rampage?”

“Until right now I didn’t even know that was the name of their village.”

“Murkshire is the area they’re from. Their town is called Arnold. It was renamed after the rampage.”

“Goblin raid?”

“It was worse than that. It was more like a conquest. There was heavy rain over the winter and Murkshire was blocked off from the rest of the country for around two weeks. It turned out there was a goblin village in the area at the time. They saw an opportunity.”

Abigail looked far off as she talked about it. Her hand reached for where her sword would be but found it empty.

“They had monsters in their ranks. Imagine your time in the sewer but with an entire area’s variety of monsters. The wildlife in the area still hasn’t properly recovered.”

Ratface grimaced. The sewer had been rough but without the rat nobles it would have been manageable. One of those gazelle things charging them though? Or the bugs? She couldn’t see them holding out against it.

Abigail continued with her story.

“A lot of heroes were made over those weeks, but a lot of tragedies as well. Arnold held the gate when it broke long enough for the rest to patch it up behind him. After that he didn’t have anywhere to run. The village survived because of him.”

Abigail stopped stretching and sat up and looked at Ratface. She fixed her with a hard stare.

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“Not every village had an Arnold. When we finally got into Murkshire the population had been halved, at best estimate. The goblin that did all of this had defeated different villages champions and then left. The survivors are who raised your friends.”

Ratface didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t know how to fix it, not really. Abigail lay down and Ratface lay next to her.

“It’s a wonder there wasn’t more of a mob,” said Ratface.

“Mm, that’s partly thanks to the guild leader.”

Ratface creaked open an eye to look at her.

“She’s the one that let them find us in the first place.”

“You were already being tailed. An ambush was being set for you. That light may have revealed you, but it also gave her the opportunity to take care of the ambushers.” Abigail shrugged. “It was still risky, which is why I was so angry at her. She should’ve just got you to safety, but she didn’t want to interrupt her test. You may be interested to know that boy that ratted you out failed the test.”

“Franklin? Why?”

“He betrayed another adventurer after they saved him. He’s not fit for our ranks until he can learn to ignore prejudice that’ll get him killed. The whole world isn’t out to get you, just a lot of it.”

She turned to look at Ratface.

“But your friends stood by you. Isn’t it worth giving them a chance to see you when they look at another goblin? Instead of them always seeing the one their parents told them about.”

Ratface conceded with a nod. She did want that but what goblin did they see when they looked at her?

She could tell them about Lurian, about most goblins’ experience around adventurers and the rest of the world. That’d just make them pity goblins and she didn’t want that either. Goblins were special in their own way, she knew that. She had to make her friends see that as well.

----------------------------------------

Not much happened after that. Ratface engaged with her friends and while it was stilted, it was still something and they did their best to ignore the goblin shaped awkwardness between them.

Suncat didn’t really talk to Ratface anymore and Ratface knew Suncat waited until she’d left to leave her own room. The night of the goblin party came and Ratface knocked on Suncat’s door hoping for an answer. There was none.

Ratface left the mansion feeling broody and alone.

She’d yet to visit the park. It was a nice place filled with normal trees. It was like a mini forest, and she took comfort in the smell of wood and earth.

Someone was watching her from the shadows, she could see their eyes in the dark. They didn’t do anything to hide themselves and when Ratface waved they dashed away. She wondered if it was the person Dirthand mentioned. She did seem shy.

Ratface didn’t have a lot of time to think it over. A few more steps and she was in the park completely. There were so many goblins. A lot of little kids as well which surprised Ratface. They must feel safe here to bring non-named goblins.

Dirthand saw her and waved her over to her group. Most of them were green goblins but there were a few red. She caught a few of their names, a lot of variations on cats and even a few goats but she didn’t meet any other rats.

“I’m Goathead,” said one recently named kid who ran up to her.

She smiled; he’d completely interrupted the conversation to introduce himself.

“It’s a good name for you,” she offered.

He grinned at that and rushed away. The other goblins around Ratface laughed at her reaction to the boy’s interruption.

She was being treated almost like an adult in this group which sort of made sense. She was named and she had been for a while. She was expected to act mature, particularly as a rat.

Not that that stopped them from teasing her. Mature meant making sure the kids were safe and fed, it didn’t mean not having fun.

The green goblins were a lot more willing to poke and nudge to get attention. She noticed how even here the demon goblins were careful with them.

“Does Suncat ever come to these?” she asked a goblin named Birdsong.

“I’ve never heard of her coming and I come every week. I mean most of us do obviously but still.” The boy flitted away to go talk to one of his friends who’d called out for him.

Ratface had a wide smile as she absorbed it all. It was nice to see goblins just having fun. Their party didn’t have anything particularly special, they ate, and danced, and talked. The only difference between them and the rest of the species parties was that goblin parties were usually exclusively goblins.

Well, there was one difference.

The night was getting dark, and people began dousing fires until only a small candlelight was left in the middle. Goathead had been given the lucky job of handing out other candles to people who’d not brought their own and he handed one to Ratface. At Ratface’s village they’d used torches, or flowers if they didn’t have enough, but the idea was the same.

Dirthand stood over the one lit candle.

“It’s been another week and it’s wonderful to see you all again. We have a new face to welcome into the group and I was happy you all welcomed Ratface so easily. I’m not one for big speeches so I’ll just say that I hope I see you all again next week.”

She smiled at them all then lifted the candle and turned to the goblin next to her. She lit their candle with her own and the two smiled at each other before going around the group. One by one they lit their candles, the process speeding up as more goblin’s candles were lit and they went on to light other’s candles. It wasn’t a solemn process. There were a lot of giggles as people bumped into each other or two people tried to light the same candle. It was still a quiet moment though. There was something special about it.

Rabbittail came and lit Ratface’s candle. The light made his face seem more relaxed than it had been, and, in this moment, he seemed less careful around her. It was nice. The two of them walked around together to help light the last few candles.

When it was all done, they raised their candles up. It was dark here but with their combined candles there was just enough light to make everyone out. They stared at each other, nothing deep passing between each person but just acknowledging one another’s existence. What they could do together.

It wasn’t much, each light barely lit an area.

Yet with them all together, it was enough. The group found themselves standing in a pool of light. Just enough to keep the dark at bay.