I walk towards the voices and I see Sock standing next to… What seems like a weregoblin. She is crying intensely. Crawled up into a little ball laying on her side. I hear what she is saying.
“We just started making friends with everyone. And then mom says we have to leave… It just feels unfair.”
I walk up. Kneeling down to get closer to her eye level… I don't even think Sock can understand her because she is speaking in goblin. I speak.
“Don't worry about that right now. Even if you are sad, you can't go running into the woods. It is dangerous out here. If you get hurt your mom will feel so bad about it.”
She unfurls out of her position. Holding her hand out for Sock to grab. He has to almost crouch down to be able to hold her hand. Looking at Sock… He is a very good caregiver if I think about it. Constantly worrying about the safety of everyone, especially the children. Even to the point where he was trying to calm Neko down when we joke with her. She wipes the tears from her eyes before finally saying.
“Okay...”
We take a few steps back towards the base before I hear a scream! It sounds too far away to be get to quickly by foot. I turn into dragon form and fly into the air. The person screaming is a little goblin girl standing in front of 3 spiders. In between them and the little girl is a white streak from what I can see up here. I fly down, just as I can tell the white streak is Pokodo, the spider bites her. She isn't very strong when it comes to fighting… The little girl screams again and rocks start flying in front of her, pelting the other spiders that aren't attacking Pokodo.
I change back into human form and free fall. Pulling my bow out of my void satchel, I fire and arrow down at the one that had just bitten Pokodo. The arrow pierces it with so much force it nails it into the ground. I cast levitate on myself just before I hit the ground to slow my fall. Wham! Landing directly on the spider I had already killed. Splattering the remains all over myself. Summoning two shadow clones to fight the remaining spiders, I turn to face Pokodo. She is in bad shape.
The poison is only a numbing poison but with Pokodo's small size… Her heart might have stopped beating. Her breathing is very erratic and shallow… Fuck! In all the skills I've gained I haven't learned anything about curing poison! How is that even possible!? I cast heal on her which helps slightly but it isn't enough. I cast dispel and regenerate on her. Both only help slightly as well… Her breathing is still shallow but at least it had started to get more consistent. I go to pick her up and take her to the medical room when the little goblin steps forward.
A brown colored aura circles around her. Pokodo starts to almost glow the same brown color then a few seconds later she coughs up a green liquid… The poison has just been ejected from her body… WHAT!? This little girl just made a miracle happen. I look over at her and give her a big hug. Pokodo has started moving around again and I look at the spiders… Both were easily defeated by the shadow clones… Even after so long... This forest is still dangerous to be in…
I pick the little girl up… I think this is the one that was shy and hid behind the braver one. I grab her and put her on my shoulders while Sock and the other half wolf goblin come running through the forest. The only thing they see is the aftermath of the fight against the spiders. Pokodo almost died again… I'm angry at myself for letting this happen… The anger starts to shift towards the person who made this mess in the first place...
I bite my own lip until it bleeds to calm myself. Taking in another deep breath I cast a quick heal so my mouth doesn't fill with blood. We break through to the road leading the Shienta and start walking back towards the fortress… Hilda, her child and Neko are no where to be seen.
We head back inside, heading towards Gobber's room. Standing outside her room is Gobber… He has a serious look on his face… We head inside… Most of my pets, 4 goblin children and Hilda are in the room. Hilda is sitting down on her bed. The daughter she yelled at, now asleep with her head down on Hilda's lap. It seems even the children understand the situation… No one has talked, even Neko… I let the 2 other goblins inside. Calling for my pets with a hand motion, we all leave… I whisper to Gobber.
“Can you and Hilda come see me after everything has calmed down?”
Their door is still missing… We'll worry about that after everything calms down… A few hours pass. After speaking with my pets, I realize that each of Gobber's children are now imprinted by each of my pets… And Neko as well… People were still looking for the children, so we had to tell everyone they have been found. A few hours after that, Gobber and Hilda knock on my door.
Hilda looks down, with a slightly defeated look on her face already. I remember what I yelled at her and the meeting between us is awkward. I guess I'll have to start this.
“Hilda… I can understand wanting to leave the fortress. My only question is why?”
“Because... An army isn't a good place to have children grow up.”
“You know what else isn't good for a child… Having their mother call them a freak.”
Her eyes shoot open in anger. I expected her to take another swing at me like she had done earlier that day. I expected something more to happen. I continue to speak when nothing does.
“Do you think my pets imprint on just anyone? I've never even heard that happen before. Your children are far from freaks… They are special. I don't care if you leave, I will miss Gobber but I had already expected this to happen for a long time now… Just realize… Your children aren't going to be happy anywhere else in this world… I'll give you a few reasons right now that this is a mistake.”
I turn around with my finger raised for this list.
“One! They are goblins. Even though they are attractive as their father, they are going to be racially discriminated because of this."
Raising another finger I say. "Two! They are attractive… Do you remember what almost happened to Gobber? Your children are going to be constantly harassed because of their looks."
I raise the final finger. "Three! They are special, even if you don't see them as such. Goblin females are beyond rare, then on top of that they all have a special thing they can do… I haven't gotten around to checking the exact details but… If you move anywhere besides here… Your children will be under constant threat of abduction.”
Hilda's eyes shoot wide again at my list. She hadn't thought of any of this… I know exactly why… She is too nice... She most likely has the kindness trait… The biggest problem with that trait is you don't see the ugliness of other people… You just assume they'll act civil… That is almost never the case…
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I wish… I wish I would have known that earlier… I could have saved Kattie if I was just more aware of how dark people actually are. Some people will kill with a shitty reason… Some people don't need a reason to kill… I had noticed her kindness when she questioned my methods of using the slave collars. If you aren't willing to get at least a little dirty to stop a problem. That problem is going to sneak up on you and wipe out your village… So to speak.
“If you still decide to leave. Please take a portal scroll with you. If anything happens with your children, you can count on me to bring an army as backup to save them.”
Gobber looks beyond sad. Perhaps they were continuing to talk about leaving after I had left and he hoped I would convince her to stay. She responded now.
“I… Guess I didn't really think of those things when I was so set on leaving… We can stay but there will be rules."
She raises a finger now. "One! Don't you ever insult me again."
Raising another finger. "Two! None of my children are allowed on any battlefield…"
Raising the last finger. "Three! If you need Gobber, you don't turn my kids against me if I say no. You break any of these rules and we move to Shienta until we find somewhere else to live.”
“Fine… I have one rule then. If you insult your children like that again…"
I step closer to her. Almost face to face with me looking down at her.
"I don't care if it is spur of the moment... I'll fucking kill you.”
Gobber moves in front of her to be defensive but she pushes him to the side. He looks back confused at her as she speaks now. A single tear has formed in the corner of her left eye.
“If I do that again, I'll kill myself before you get the chance… I realize what I did was wrong… I should have never said that in front of my children… I love them so much, it was the sight of you that put me over. Trying to keep my children from being influenced and the first time I drop my guard they change on me… I wont apologize to you for anything but I'll be apologizing to my children for the rest of my life for that mistake.”
Hilda gives me a look of recognition... Like she had only seen me as a tyrant until I stuck up for her kids. Now she sees me as a protector. I start to walk back to my bed… I turn around remembering a few more things.
“Oh, please let your kids run around outside your room. Perhaps take a vacation and let someone else watch your kids. You're so tightly wound, I have a feeling that might have also influenced your actions. You aren't in this by yourself Hilda. Gobber is right beside you... Maybe ask his opinion some time instead of just assuming he'll agree with you...”
I have to pause to continue here as I'm not sure Gobber wants me to tell her this.
"The thing with Gobber is... He loves fighting... The only time I see him happy is in the middle of a fight... It is fine to want your kids to not fight but it is physically hurting Gobber."
She looks like she is thinking about it… I think of one more thing.
"It is fine you don't want your children to be in war but... You should get them started on training as soon as you can... If the pirates do invade here... They wont just let your children off the hook because they are children... I learned the hard way that... They aren't afraid to take hostages at that age..."
Hilda looks surprised again... She didn't know the entire story about this fight... She didn't know anything except what she wanted to know... They walk out of the room before I breath a sigh of relief… I don't dislike Hilda… It is honestly good to have different viewpoints on a situation but if she had taken Gobber away from me… It would feel like a piece of myself was being taken away from the fortress…
I hope she retracts her standpoint on her children fighting in the army… They would make amazing allies in the future… If it will cause them to leave, I wont push the subject though.
It is still the middle of the day… I had only come back to my room to talk with my pets and then stay here to wait for them to come speak with me… I am honestly too busy for this meeting but it needed to be done. I already feel tired even though we just got out of the time tree. Defusing that situation put even more stress on me. I wonder who they had got to watch their children while they came to speak with me...
Kline's point of view
Gobber had approached me to watch his kids while him and Hilda went to speak with Kite… Which was the first time I had ever watched them alone… Since they've been born, I had only been here to make them happy with a story… Watching them by myself seems dangerous…. I don't know the first thing about taking care of a baby... It seems like each is different… Nothing stands out about the children like earlier today… They just seem easier to tell apart now…
I look closer at each one… Nothing sticks out from them like ears or anything… But I can tell this one is Gobbish. The one beside her is Gobda… How can I tell them apart so easily? Yesterday, if you put the two side by side, I would have never been able to tell them apart but I can somehow… It is almost like each is giving off a distinct aura...
Thankfully they are all sleeping. It is a weird sight to see them all sleeping together. Normally it is 1-2 sleeping while the others played and carried on. Never giving their parents a break. All of them are asleep right now though…That makes watching them far easier to watch. I grab the book I had brought and started reading. The second I do, I can feel something... Almost like someone looking over my shoulder…
I turn around but no one is there… I put my back to the corner of the room and continue reading… The presence I felt is gone now. I'm not sure what that was. I look up at the kids and they are all fine. I feel the presence again a few more times until their parents get back. They weren't gone for more then 20 minutes… I leave and let them watch the kids… Hilda seems off but after seeing her kids change like that, I would be surprised if she wasn't rattled a little bit.
I leave and head to the daycare to read another story to the children their. After that I'll go grab some food before heading outside to talk to the animals and give them all some treats. I yawn lazily and feel as if someone is behind me. I turn around but nothing is there… Am I just paranoid?