Trout's Landing.

"I think we might've over did it a lil." Jeb commented as he and Ruby looked upon the ruined form of the bed and sleeping bag.

"What's this we?!" Ruby asked with mock insult.

"I'M not the one with claws!" Jeb retorted in equal measure as he gestured to the deep gouges in the bedding.

He does but that wasn't the point, Jeb thought as Ruby stuck her tongue out playfully and huffed.

"Well, that's what happens when you pull my tail!"

"Well that's what happens when I have somethin' wavin' in my face!" Jeb said as he picked Ruby up with a yelp and held her close to him.

He missed her, he thought as she snuggled herself further into his shoulder. Sure he wasn't gone that long, maybe a few hours at most if he had to guess. But waking up next to someone that you know loves you made those few hours being away harder than usual. He should do something special for her, he thought as he sat down upon the ruined bedding.

They've been technically dating for a few months now. Hell, she laid his eggs! Which was still a weird thing to think about let alone look at, he thought as he turned his gaze over to the six onyx colored eggs that sat on the fur blanket being warmed by the fire. Excitement and nerves was all he felt when he reminded himself that he was to be a father. Something he figured he'd do one day, but never in a million years would ever guess that it'd be with a completely different species!

Then again, there was alot of things happening lately that he never would've thought would happen. Finding out you're something straight out of a Lovecraft novel. Finding out your mother is what all the rumors said she was and more. Finding out that there are creatures and people from other worlds arriving to a town he never would've believed would get past five thousand people!

But thinking back to Ruby. He should do something special for her. He wasn't sure what though. The last time he invited her to a date she dragged along the Chief and the Trap Master. Then there was the fact that to the kobolds, the act of giving her a name was akin to asking for her hand, er, claw, in marriage!

So would getting her a ring or something even mean anything for her? Or would she just think it's a normal gift and act like it wasn't a life changing gesture? Not like they've hadn't had plenty of those already, Jeb thought as he sat her back down. He'll think of something later. Right now they need to figure out his sleeping situation since the last one was now torn to shreds and gutted.

"What am I gonna do?" Jeb muttered.

"You can sleep with us." Ruby said.

"In case you haven't noticed, but I'm a lil big to be sleepin' with the rest of you in the cabins right now." Jeb stated.

"So we'll dig you a new place to sleep." She said as if it were obvious.

"I don't much care for the idea of livin' underground."

"What's wrong with living underground?" Ruby said with an accusatory look.

"Nothin'! Just... *sigh* I'm just gonna shut up before I stick my foot further in my mouth."

"Good! You'll find living underground isn't such a bad thing! It's quite protected from the weather and easier to defend!" She explained.

"I'll just take your word for it so we can move on to somethin' else." Jed said as he looked around and seriously considered the idea.

There really wasn't much of a reason for staying in this old building. Nothing in it worked, he could make his own food, his own fire, living in the kobold burrows wouldn't be that bad, he admitted. Of course there was the matter of WHAT he would actually sleep on. The kobolds might be fine sleeping on the ground or on a thin blanket since they had scales to protect them. But he needed something other than a thick jacket to keep him from throwing his back sleeping on stone!

Then again, this silk is pretty soft, Jeb thought as he ran a hand over his silken kink suit. Wearing nothing but the silk made him look like he was about to go to a bachelorette party. It was also damn near impossible to get off without trying to burn or cut it off. He wasn't sure how resistant to fire he was but he wasn't in a hurry to find out and this suit hugged him pretty snug in a few places that made taking a sharp object to it rather unappealing.

At least it stretched enough for important business, Jeb thought as he turned his gaze from the suit that seemed more like a second skin than an actual article of clothing and towards Ruby as she hopped down off his lap and made for the door.

"I'll go to the Chief and make plans for a proper den for you!"

"But what about the eggs?"

"Your turn!" She called out as she left, leaving Jeb alone with his eggs for the first time since they were lain.

"Well. Guess it's just you and me." Jeb said as he turned to look at the eggs as they sat there by the fire.

He turned towards the ruined bed one last time before making his way over to the dusty old couch. He COULD sleep on it, he guessed. Though it wasn't exactly comfortable, or clean, or warm, and it'd be hard to fit him, Ruby, and their eggs together on it. He sighed as he realized that he'll more than likely end up sleeping in a cavern with Ruby and their eggs.

Eh, could be worse, Jeb thought as he went over and replaced a log of wood on the fire before collecting the golden pieces of armor that Anna had adorned him with. It had to have been real gold, he thought as he spun and twisted it this way and that to look at every morbid detail on them.

Either she or her people really had a thing for the whole murder and torture thing, he thought as he ran a finger along the surprisingly detailed faces contorted in anguish and despair on the armor. But it was also surprisingly light, if it was gold it should've weighed a bit more than they did.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

While he was alone he had time to think about a few things to himself. He recalled his meeting with the Arachne and what he felt when he did. Not just the obviously human reactions any hotblooded male would have around a spidery supermodel, but his own seemingly indifference to the slaves she so casually stated that she had tortured into broken subservience.

He should be angry, he should be furious! Yet he couldn't help but worry as he felt nothing but cold detachment as he recalled the shattered looks and vacant eyes they had. They were little more than husks doing whatever was commanded of them, but they used to be people. Yet nothing stirred within him. No righteous anger, no burning injustice. Nothing. He felt more angry that he wasn't angry than he was about Anna being so casual with torture and slavery! He sat aside the armor as he laid down and glanced at his eggs before shutting his eyes. He just needed a minute to get his head on straight.

For starters, what was he to do about Anna? He couldn't just ignore her. By the way she acted he figured she wouldn't LET herself be ignored, which would just make his issues a problem for the kobolds to deal with and he didn't want that. He could kill her, but killing a buncha dumb murlocs is one thing, it's another to actually go after someone smart and can wield magic.

Speaking of magic, she can use Illusion magic. Which gave Jeb a host of ideas that would be useful for keeping the kobolds safe. As well as potentially keep him out of situations where he rages and his transformation kicks in. He figured the fact that he seemed so indifferent to Anna committing slavery and torture probably had something to do with how much he's done so lately. Which begged the question, how long before he just becomes cold and cruel like his mother seemed to be?

He really didn't want to think about that possibility. If Anna could teach him Illusion magic than he can use it to make decoys or traps to potentially end a fight long before it even gets close to the kobolds and Jeb!

So even if he was hesitant to interact with Anna again, he would have to in some shape or form in the future. Especially if he really wanted to learn Illusion magic. He could ask the Chief, but it seemed his own knowledge of magic was pretty barebones in comparison. He knows the Chief could make a shield or forcefield, which would also be handy to learn, as well as casting fire. Which Jeb could technically already do.

He could even recall bits and pieces during his little Punisher venture on the murlocs where he used the blue fire in different ways from how he had before. Sending it in waves or outright fireballs. He could also probably form a sort of flamethrower if he wanted to, could he also make himself a kind of Monstrous Nightmare and just cover himself in the ghostly flame?

He also obviously had some form of nature magic to it seemed if he could recall what happened with the dwarves as well as with the murlocs correctly as images of dark thorned vines sped through the earth like serpents and struck out with enough force to pierce hard carapace and shred clothes and weak armor with ease.

Then there were the wickermen/creatures. The only thing he could think of for where they came from was during Halloween when he makes some from scratch and adorns them with runes on their skulls. But was that really how they were formed? Some of them he certainly didn't remember handmaking.

Jeb groaned as he these thoughts aside for another day and took another glance at the eggs nearby before closing his eyes for a little nap.

-----

Ruby walked out of the building and out into the brisk air. Jeb'll like living underground, she thought as she made her way over to the Chief as he oversaw the excavation of the burrows.

"Chief!"

"Ah! Den Mother! It is good to see you out and about!" He greeted.

"Yes! I love tending to my eggs, but I miss being out and doing something!" She said.

"Well, there is plenty to do! But isn't your task to tend to the eggs?"

Ruby chuckled.

"Hard to do when mine is the only ones left."

The Chief sighed.

"It is isn't it? But! The fact that you were able to lay some proves that we'll survive another generation!"

As long as when they hatch they're KOBOLDS and not something all together entirely different, Ruby thought.

"While I'm out, I'm wondering if a sleeping chamber could be made for Jeb?"

"Oh? Does he wish to live among us?" The Chief asked excitedly.

"Well, not entirely, but his current living space isn't exactly to his liking either. Nor is it in much condition to continue as one." Ruby replied with a slight blush on her scaled face.

"No matter! It will be a simple task to create a sleeping chamber for Master Jeb!" The Chief declared.

"Thank you!" She replied and left the Chief and the tribe continue their work unbothered.

She looked around at their new home. Despite the cold, much was being done already since they first arrived here. A steady stream of fish was being pulled from the river. Firewood was being dragged towards whichever dying firepit needed the fresh fuel. All around were the tribe as they carried on their daily lives as much as they could until the burrows were completed.

Some caretakers watched over the hatchlings while also teaching them to forage and scavenge as well as teaching them to create some simple traps that they would use to capture small rodents and reptiles to add to the winter food storage.

Others were doing their best to work on various projects that were put on hold while they moved. Some were picking up fallen pieces of lumber and stones and fashioning crafts to barter for food or other supplies with. Some she could see were already treating hides from the animals already caught from the skirmishers as they left to hunt/scout.

Those that seemed to have an interest for metalworking as well as experimenting with firearms and other technologies and methods of this world were busy assisting with the excavation, she overheard some of them talking about draining the generator room and tinkering with it to see if they could get it working again, or to scrap it for whatever interesting parts it must've been made of.

She could see some of the kobolds over by the boathouse as they repaired or refitted the boats and canoes within to better accommodate the stature of a kobold and some that were fixing netting and spears used for fishing as well as making entirely new ones.

It was comforting to see that the tribe was taking picking up and moving again well. Certainly better than the last time they moved, she thought back to that bitter and sad time where all they felt was hopelessness and despair as everything they once knew was gone. But then they found Jeb! A protector that was so kind to them that it seemed surreal and that some treated with suspicion that a human would treat them so well! Of course they had their own trials and challenges. The goblins, the Crone, the townsfolk from their world that didn't seem intent on setting aside old feuds so soon despite their own misfortune.

She should do something special for Jeb, Ruby thought finally as she shook her head out of her reminiscing. But what? Even after all the time they've spent together, human customs were foreign to her still. She doubt even the Chief's knowledge of human customs would be the same as those in their world. She could simply ask Jeb. But she wanted to try doing it on her own! So she marched over to a firepit and sat within the warm circle around it as she thought of a way to show Jeb how special he was to her.

-----

"You smell strange." The egg-maid stated.

"So do you." The other replied.

"Carrying a clutch strange?" The first one asked as she flicked her tongue out at the other egg-maid.

"I don't know." The second replied with her own tongue flick as they both seemed to be inspecting one another.

"Maybe it wasn't so strange for the Den Mother not to know she was carrying a clutch."

"No. It's not that." The second stated as she flicked her tongue out to taste the scent of a few of the nearby tribe.

The first egg-maid followed her lead and did the same.

"They smell different too."

"We all smell different." The second egg-maid declared as she tasted the scents of more and more kobolds.

She wasn't sure how she didn't notice it, but now that she did it was almost obvious. There was a different sort of scent to the tribe that they didn't have before. She wasn't sure what it was, but the scent was oddly familiar to her though she couldn't quite place where from.

So the two searched around for the source of the strange scent. Nothing by the docks. A little stronger by the Trap Master's cabin but nothing the hint that he was the source or where it was coming from as well as the Chief. All of the tribe had the strange smell to them that seemed to tickle the tips of their forked tongues as it seemed also so familiar.

So they continued on as they tried to find the source. But each and every tribe member they met had a faint, but now noticeable, scent that they didn't have before. That is, until they came near the Den Mother.

They paused as the scent was far stronger on her than the others. So much so that they could actually pick out traces of the scent. A mix of rich soil and something else that sent a shiver down their spines. It was as they were looking at the Den Mother that they started to notice some differences. They were subtle though and odds are that they wouldn't have noticed them. Her eyes were sunken in a little, but she didn't seem tired or depressed like she used to be. Indeed, she seemed pretty lively from what they could see. They also noticed that her scales were a touch darker than the rest of theirs were. Not by much, but enough to where if you noticed it couldn't be unseen.

Looking down at themselves, they took notice of milder changes. Slightly darker scales, their eyes were a little further in their skulls despite being well-fed and happy. Most of the tribe had even milder changes now that they were paying attention and actively looking for them. Which meant the source had to be one thing.

Jeb.

It was obvious now that they realized WHO not WHAT the scent came from. Those closer to him had more noticeable changes to their forms, even if they were only noticeable to the keen-eyed and knowing, while the rest were still getting them at a slower rate given how little Jeb interacted with the members of the tribe itself compared to the three leaders.

"Hmm, I think we should experiment with this don't you?" The first egg-maid said with a sly smirk.

"Oh? How so?"

"It seems those closer to Jeb are starting to change."

"Yes."

"But to confirm it we should make sure of it ourselves." She continued with a scaled grin.

"We should shouldn't we? Besides, we don't know if the Den Mother got a clutch on the first go they had either. We should test it to make sure." The other egg-maid with a matching smirk.

So the two egg-maids took one last look at the Den Mother before slinking away towards the room that the two had made their own within the building with sly and sultry thoughts of just how the two of them would "test" their little theories. Tests they were determined to go through quite thoroughly with Jeb!