Chapter 7 - Eyes peeled

The goblin looked on as the girl pushed herself up onto her feet, groaning and clutching her stomach. The strain of hunger was clear in her body as she stepped forward, but the goblin had no way of telling that this was only the first step of her plan to get into his room.

One thing at a time.

Step one: get to the white web.

She kept the goblin at the edge of her sight. He wasn’t being territorial anymore but was watching her closely, waiting to take advantage of her weakness. And, even though he was out of focus in her peripheral vision, the grin growing between his tusks was unmistakable.

She almost broke into a grin of her own but screwed up her face to turn it into a wince instead. It was surprisingly difficult to feign the right amount of weakness and hunger, even if much of her act was honest. Luckily, from what she could tell, her performance so far was working as intended: pitiful enough to keep the goblin’s attention, but not so pathetic as to prompt its attack - or at least, not yet.

The white web was now so thick that the archway behind it was completely hidden. A few paces away, it was time for step two: discover something amazing.

She gasped, suddenly fixated on something amongst the threads.

She needed to pique the goblin’s interest, make it feel like she’d found something valuable. Glancing suspiciously back at him, she placed herself to block his line of sight.

The goblin huffed and smacked his club down, irritated that she’d done this.

She approached the web, throwing furtive looks between it and the goblin, on the lookout for any sign of danger from either. She had to make this look good, make it convincing.

The goblin leaned from side to side on his fists, trying to see around her without leaving its archway.

Now within arm’s reach, she held her breath and tentatively reached towards the threads. Luckily, there was no sign of the white creature in the weave. In one swift movement, she snatched something from the web and backed away, dropping into a crouch.

The goblin craned his neck, stretching to his fullest height, and even took a few steps forward. The plan was working, he couldn’t help being interested in what she’d found.

Now, step three: set the bait.

The girl turned and barked, much as the goblin had done when in her room, which stopped him in his tracks. She scuttled back to her own archway, clutching the mysterious treasure against her chest, her body turned to hide it.

Once at the foot of her veil, she dug into the sand. The top layer was shallow, barely enough to cover a single phalange of a finger, but she pulled the sand into a mound to bury the treasure. Here it would wait until the end of the fight, when she’d either have access to her room again or be dead.

The goblin couldn’t conceal his curiosity and paced about to get a glimpse. When he got too close the girl shot the same territorial expression he’d had earlier, wild and aggressive, her teeth bared and eyes wide.

Utterly surprised, the goblin averted his eyes, suddenly becoming very attentive to the end of his club. This was good - he was destabilized and uncertain about how to act with her. She had the upper hand.

After a short while, during which the goblin had thoroughly inspected both his club and the depths of one of his nostrils, it was time for step four: make room for the trap.

She had to get back to the center of the round place but also needed to appear both wary and tired. And so, she moved slowly, barely getting up, her drooping eyes locked on the goblin. Once near the center, she lay down sideways, still facing her foe, who was now studying his fingernails.

Everything was in place. It was officially step five: wait.

All she needed was for the goblin to take the bait. If this whole act was successful, the goblin would opt for stealing the treasure rather than risking direct confrontation, even if she were to accidentally fall asleep. She closed her eyes, slowed her breath, and hoped her intuition was right.

Her ears were strained, trying to make out the goblin over the sound of her own breathing and heartbeat. But there was no hint of him moving. Either he was keeping still, or those hands he used as feet were more stealthy than she’d anticipated.

On a whim she risked lifting her head slightly, just in time to see him lay a hand on the pile of sand near her archway, not looking at her.

Step six was now.

Go!

She flipped onto her hands and feet and pushed with all four limbs, using her whole body to move as quickly as possible. The goblin howled, his fists thumping the ground as he charged towards her. She didn't doubt that he could move faster than her, but she only had to cover half the distance he did. His archway was dead ahead, the goblin’s growls right behind her.

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Her hands crossed the veil and she rolled forward, but just before her feet passed she heard a loud crack and pain shot across the bottom of her right sole. She tumbled onto her knees and turned to see the goblin pummeling the veil, his furious screeches muffled from the other side.

Breathing through her teeth, she grabbed her foot in apprehension of what she would find. The goblin had struck her with his club with a strength she had no doubt could break her bones. For a second, she was confused about what she was seeing, then remembered - her new footwear!

It had been so comfortable, had melded with her own movement so well that she’d entirely forgotten she was wearing slug armour on her feet. The slug’s internal carapace had finally proven to be as resistant as she’d hoped; there was only the slightest depression where the club had hit! The only way she’d managed to break it down to size herself was by exploiting the weakness of its sutures (the junctions of its growth and formation). But there were no sutures in her soles, which meant her footwear was very resistant to impacts and piercing. And now that she’d calmed down, she could tell that her sole would have little more than some light bruising.

Now, to find food.

The goblin’s room was similar to hers in basic shape, but the amenities were completely different. Her own room had provided shelves to sleep on and store her things, a shower alcove, and a storage box to keep the slug. This room’s floor was divided into two sections, a raised dry space and a lower one filled with murky water. From this pool rose a thick pole with perches branching out along the sides, some thick and others narrow.

One of these perches was particularly wide, and obviously served as a bed for the goblin: traces of its red hair, a green bedding (leaves?), and, most importantly, something that looked like food!

Without hesitation, she leaned out over the water, grabbed a perch, and swung herself up. In short order, she was crouching in the goblin’s bed and shakily looking down at…rinds? Yes, a pile of fruit rinds mixed with small, broken bones.

Her hands trembled as she picked up a lumpy, orange rind, and bit into it. Tears welled up at the bitterness, but she chewed and swallowed nonetheless. She ate without breathing, pushing bits of peel into her mouth until she gagged and had to cough some up.

It was hard to tell if she felt better or worse. Even her stomach sounded uncertain, grumbling as it turned the half-chewed bits of peel into mush. Her mouth was being pulled in at the cheeks by the lingering bitterness, and her nose stung from the zest that she’d coughed up into her nasopharynx.

Still, now that she’d eaten something, she felt slightly more at ease. Her stomach would be kept busy for a bit, which allowed her to think of other things.

The goblin had stopped pummeling the veil, but still kept his face pressed against it, squinting unhappily in her direction. She’d known that coming in here would anger him, but she’d had to check for food and also had to test her hypothesis about being able to enter an opponent’s room. If she was right, the length of her stay was limited, and at any moment a forcefield would appear and push her out.

Quickly, she looked around for anything she might have missed. She’d been focused on finding food, but now saw that the goblin had other possessions. In a corner of the dry floor space was a small collection of sticks, rods, and clubs. Some were sharp, others thin and straight, and one was thick and knobbly. She picked this one up, hefting it and appraising its usefulness.

But, for some reason, it just felt wrong. She knew it was a weapon, and that she could use it to defend herself, but she felt clumsy with it in her hand, as though her whole body was responding badly to it. It felt external to her, like something added on that didn’t fit, that slowed down the rest.

She hadn’t felt this way with the proboscis nor with her new footwear. Those felt like they’d somehow merged with her, becoming extensions of her body. She flicked the proboscis up from between her index and major, where it had remained this whole time. She didn’t even have to think about holding it - it just stayed in her hand naturally.

She dropped the club and turned to see the forcefield creeping through the back wall. Hastily, she checked the room once more - there was nothing but a soiled rag that had been tossed into a corner. The goblin was waiting for her to exit, and he’d have the upper hand. She needed to think of a way to get out…

The goblin stepped back from the veil when the girl appeared, looking down at him through the blue and silver shimmer. She lifted her two hands, one holding a fruit rind and the other a club. Making sure she had the goblin’s attention, she slowly and explicitly dropped the club behind her, and popped the rind into her mouth, cringing at the unpleasant taste.

The goblin stared back at her, baffled, but understanding gleamed in his eyes. He knew what she meant. She’d just wanted to find food, not to take his stuff. She’d admittedly stolen, but only scraps. His sticks meant nothing to her. And yet, he stood his ground.

Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be.

She disappeared for a moment and returned holding all of the goblin’s sticks, as well as the rag. She wasn’t sure exactly what her threat was, but the goblin seemed to have let his imagination do the job for her. The green-brown hue of its skin flushed red and its tusks seemed to become longer as it stuck out its jaw, growling and dribbling spit.

Following the flash of his eyes she realized it was the scrap hide that had infuriated him. She let the clubs fall, unbundled the hide and felt something small and hard tumble into her hand, just as the forcefield began to press into her back. The goblin wasn’t breathing anymore, his face so red and strained it looked like his eyes were going to pop out.

The forcefield began to push her out of the room and she acted with less than a thought. Slidding through the veil she popped the small object onto her tongue, keeping it displayed in her open mouth just on the edge of being swallowed, and stood before the frothing goblin. His rage was evident, but she’d been so unpredictable that he didn’t know how to behave with her, how much advantage he had.

Even though the circumstances were questionable, standing with her tongue sticking out in front of someone who wanted to kill her, she was kinda proud of herself. She wasn’t being grappled and having her bones crushed, so something was working.

She’d outwitted this clever goblin, had finally eaten something that was arguably food, and had even survived a bout long enough to be given two opponents. Perhaps if this bout dragged on enough, even a third opponent would -

A deep, mellow vibration rose through the pit of her stomach. It was a tone, even more bitter to palate than the fruit rinds, and was already becoming all too familiar.

Toooooooom

- End of chapter 7 -