Fishcatcher slowly walked towards the dam. It was still early in the morning, yet she couldn't stand the snoring of the Old goblin. She was supposed to keep him warm at night and well fed throughout the day. It was a simple task.

Old goblin rarely did much. He mostly slept through both days and nights. Two meals a day were plenty. Lately Fishcatcher needed to feed him properly. He wasn't eating without her around. Gob even made her a special wooden spoon to help her feed the Old fart.

It's not like Fishcatcher disliked the Old hermit that much. He sometimes spoke a few words about the river and fish. He seemed nice for a goblin. It was his needs she was worried about.

The elder sent her here with a simple quest. Bear his child.

For female goblins it wasn't anything special. Go to the chosen goblin and mate with him. It was how goblins were made.

There were many greenskins born without elder's command, but they were never given any tasks and would either die or prove useful to the stronger well fed hobs. Such was the goblins way of life.

Sadly Fishcatcher didn't know she would be permanently stuck here. If she knew she might try to get pregnant and so any other female would be sent. It wasn't the case. She was here to babysit the Old impotent goblin for the rest of his life.

If she were to stay with the tribe, she might become the tribe mother with her own flock, or at the very least find some other less demanding job than fish catching.

Gob somewhat changed her view. Gob was smart.

"If Old death, you the new Old. Fishcatcher."

It was true. New goblins needed the knowledge of fish catching. The elder needed the poison. Shaman needed the fish and finally Fishcatcher herself liked the taste of fish. She only needed to have someone to help. Goblin child would be enough.

In three months a goblin would be born. In another month he would be ready for some simple work. The only problem was she couldn't come back to the tribe without a child.

And then there was Gob.

Fishcatcher forgot to breathe for a moment. At first she thought Gob was injured as she saw a bunch of bloodied clothes laying near him. Blood left a trace in the water as it was slowly washed away. He wasn't injured. No, it wasn't the case. Gob was fine... And she couldn't take her eyes off him.

Gob was always covered in cloth from top to bottom, but now he only wore some leg covering cloth. Fishcatcher never saw a goblin like him. Sure the hobs were big, but they were also fat and chunky like. Some goblins having hard labour works had muscular arms or legs. Sure.

But Gob... Gob was... was. Fishcatcher couldn't find a word. She suddenly felt weird heat on her cheeks as when she was doing something she shouldn't. Gob was skinny yet muscular. He didn't seem fat in the slightest yet she felt like he was strong.

As she loomed closer, she almost forgot about the blood he was washing off. He noticed her before she could say anything and silently looked at her. He froze and so did she.

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"Stay... back"

Only now she could see that he was shivering. It looked like he was just cold, yet Fishcatcher glimpsed something sinister in his eyes. She suddenly wanted to step back. Still she asked.

"Human?"

Gob's eyes pinned her down the moment she spoke, but after a dreadful moment he simply spoke.

"Near the road. Dead."

Fishcatcher nodded to him and sat down. She needed to catch some fish, and despite Gob's odd behaviour she still wanted to look. As she sat down Gob returned to his work. He used a bunch of white flowers called by goblins Etra to wash his clothes. Etra's petals left a bubbly substance on the cloth he later washed in the water.

Blood was still visible to some extent, yet its scent was gone. He sat on the dam and finally made an assessment. His robe was in terrible shape. He knew this from the start yet he couldn't shake off the feeling of fear. Simple task of washing the cloth over and over seemed to help.

He looked at the Fishcatcher. She was in the process of fitting the metal cap on her head. Gob walked over to her and took the helmet off her. He would need it. Fishcatcher looked at him weird when he approached her, but he didn't pay it much thought.

Instead he pulled his old robe over her head. Fishcatcher looked at him with surprise. Female goblins would often wear more than male goblins to cover their privates and Fish catcher was no exception. Female milk was an important resource.

Right now Gob added the torn robe to her collection. He commanded her to stay still and spread her arms. Then he started to shorten the robe a bit as it was too big for her. He also removed the torn parts with his dagger. He felt like he was finished yet something was wrong.

"Try running."

Fishcatcher started to sprint and almost killed herself by tripping on the rocks. The robe which was now a dress was still too long to move freely in the mountains so Gob quickly improved it further. He then nodded and turned to the pile of clothes he gathered after he assaulted the merchant.

Fishcatcher watched Gob wear a complicated construction of leather straps over his chest. She smirked. With only his legs covered in cloth and a bunch of leather parts on his chest he resembled a shrunken down hob. She quit smiling when Gob added four daggers to the pouches on his body. One dagger was soaked in dried blood.

Gob then looked through the cloth he took. He wasn't in his prime while looting. In fact, he was surprised to find that he instinctively took some decent stuff. To be honest, he only remembered killing the guard and pillaging the metal cap. He was unsure if he even killed the other human. He spent the night somewhere in the forest and barely slept. It was a miracle he was alive at all.

Choosing the clothing was something he really enjoyed doing. He would check a bunch of bundled cloth he gathered from the carriage. After a while Gob chose a long gray robe with a simple red ornament near the hood. He looked at Fishcatcher.

She was twirling around with her dress enjoying his gift. It weirdly improved his mood. He checked whether he can reach all of his daggers with no problems and drew them a few times.

Fishcatcher followed his moves with her eyes and approached him when he was done.

"Go."

He said while gathering his stuff. After a short pause he gave her a few more clothes he didn't need.

"You can take."

She looked like she wanted him to stay, but he didn't stop. Her new dress reminded him of someone else.

"Keruek."

She said as he turned to leave her with her fish. She observed this weird goblin that would always came here to help her, once again go somewhere alone.