The hunter & his companion 'Ade' jumped out of the carriage after it had come to a halt, with the warrior soon following suite, leaving 'Bubbles' alone inside the box for a tentative moment.
'Guys...'
"Pop..."
Bubbles' popping quickly received a response from the hunter, who returned this innocuous sound with a shout.
"Don't worry Bubbles, We're just telling the guys to be careful, get stuff ready, the usual... We're not far."
'Great... I don't wanna sit in here anymore...'
Bubbles slowly began to form a tendril to peek out over edges of the box and give himself a better view, the greenish hue amongst his purple-pink body, that seemed to function as eyes, at it's tip as it snaked up from the box & quickly glanced around at the stony walls that could be seen from the carriage & at the courtyard looking area that the carriage occupied. The walls looked thick & imposing with hardly a scratch or streak of moss to sully them, 'cept for some strange, barely visible markings that had been etched into certain stones in the wall. Aside from the graffiti like markings, the only stand out feature of this collection of large, grey bricks, were the small slit-windows, some with metal bars lined across them, and, in the right-most side of Bubbles view, the edge of a large wooden door could be seen, with thick metal hinges that looked as though no normal hammer or weapon would scathe them.
The courtyard however, was what caught Bubbles immediate attention, hard soil, patches of mud & the occasional pebble, occupied by gatherings of soldiers, some presumably from the other carriages, due to the indistinguishable appearance of their armor & helmets that largely covered their faces, 15 such characters within view, as well as others, at least 7 human figures draped in cloaks of green dyed cloth sporting the same crest as the common soldiers, their faces were hidden underneath leather masks that covered their whole head with only slits for eyes & breathing and 2 other notable individuals wearing more extravagant armour of silver that bore a shine greater than that of the armor worn by the common soldiers present. These silver clad figures also bore the same green crest as the other soldiers upon their shoulders rather than on their chestpiece & unlike the armor worn by their lower counterpart, this silver armor covered the individuals head to toe, unlike the soldiers armor that could be described as moulded sheets of iron to protect their chest, elbows and knees with a set of metal boots and an outer casing of metal on the top of the otherwise leather greaves & a woven layer of sturdy looking leather beneath these vital metal sheets to serve as the suit itself & provide some all round protection for it's wearer.
The armor of these individuals was similar to that of the female warrior in ornamentation & design, signalling some level of elevated of rank or position that caused Bubbles to pause & think for a moment on 'who' that woman was, finally realizing something that would otherwise have been obvious were it not for constant barrage of sensations, questions & events that had recently transpired, as well as the looming threat of death that seemed to only now have abated with the woman's absence.
'Those soldiers called her 'captain' when she attacked me, didn't they?'
'I wonder how high a rank that is in this place?'
As Bubbles took a moment to ponder these more mundane questions, the tendril that it had spawned was seen to be protruding from the crate by one of the common soldiers & the shadow of potential death once again returned to hang over the strange creature with his exclamation of surprise & fear.
"There's a slime in the weapons delivery!!"
Followed by a quick rabble of "How did it get there?" & "Carefuls" later most of the soldiers had formed a perimeter around the carriage, the sight of which terrified Bubbles after his recent beating by the female captain.
'Come on, you can't do this to me, I've already almost died once today, YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!'
"Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, ffffzzzzzzz."
The soldiers were cautious due to the sounds of Bubbles severely impaired speech, before the hunter returned to view, just next to the door, alongside the 2 silver clad warriors who were behind the soldiers perimeter, both with their hands on the hilt of their weapons & he spoke up.
"It's okay guys, Bubbles there won't do anything, now Bubbles just sit there for the time being, we'll escort you inside soon, so until then just sit tight... Okay..."
The soldiers were slightly taken aback by this, it wasn't impossible to domesticate monsters like slimes, but it was clear they hadn't expected this from the hunter, most of them remained in a formation, whereas some who had accepted this information quickly loosened up and went about their business, while some snickered at the name that the 'slime' had been given, Bubbles...
'Great... So I just sit here & wait, how long is that gonna take exactly.'
"Okay Bubbles, you can get out, just no sudden moves & follow me."
The hunter chirped out as if on cue, surprising Bubbles a little by the apparent sense of timing this strange man possessed.
Slowly Bubbles started to try and stand, despite it's lack of limbs, until Bubbles mass now resembled a wave that seemed to be growing out of the box in the carriage and holding it's form as it grew taller, before having reached a point where it could stand no longer & crashing out of the crate & the carriage, startling all those who in the courtyard, except for the hunter & his still hooded companion 'Ade'. Bubbles made a splat as it's mass hit the earth, which refused to give way under it's bulk, and so Bubbles body began to spread out like water filling a container, until Bubbles once again tried to stand, putting pressure on it's outer most edges to try and hold itself aloft as earlier. Slowly, Bubbles mass seemingly began to multiply in these areas until the same large 3 fingered hands from Bubbles previous form returned & began to form it's attached arms to lift it's still liquid body off the ground, until Bubbles now stood tall again, it's head & upper body still moving as though liquid, yet held aloft by it gooey form. Bubbles frog-wolf head eventually reformed, along with it's body, now solidified, Bubbles stood tall as he had done earlier that day, much to the astonishment & slight horror of the soldiers present in the courtyard, none of which it seemed had ever seen such a sight before, nor had they ever seen such a creature. The entire display took no more time than, maybe 10 seconds, from carriage fall to full form.
Bubbles looked around cautiously seeing the looks on the soldiers faces & taking a second to reacquaint itself with the sensation of having a solid body, or in Bubbles case, semi-solid, before noticing, beyond the soldiers' perimeter, the hunter leaning against the wall next to the door looking back with what could be described as a look of amusement & intrigue, alongside 'Ade' who's expression was hidden under her hood. Slowly... Tentatively... To try and avoid any possibility of panic or conflict from the soldiers, Bubbles began to turn & walk towards the hunter & the door behind him, provoking only minor shudders & trembles from the surrounding militia, which eventually disappeared as the group entered the imposing building through the large metal door into a cool stone corridor that stretched forward into a stair case at the end with 4 open doors before it, 2 on either side that led to rooms whose contents & purposes were still unknown.
"Come on, big guy, second room on the left, it's storage, but it'll do."
The Hunter spoke as if in response to Bubbles' curiosity whilst he continued walking down the hallway before stopping in front of the aforementioned doorway with a curious & somewhat worried look on his face...
"Not sure if you'll fit..."
Before he quickly dispelled it & returned to his usual demeanor.
"Eh... You fit in the box. You'll... Probably fit..."
The hunter said as he led the group into the room, behind him was 'Ade' who, even inside, had chosen to keep her hood over her head, and Bubbles followed after, his form was definitely wider & taller than the doorway, which caused him to pause for a moment, before pushing his form against the doorway, causing some of the sealant that held the stones to shift, before his body gradually emerged on the other side with a pop. The entire situation was quite humorous all in all, or at least the hunter thought so, even 'Ade' seemed to crack a small, as slight & short lived as it was.
The room into which they had entered was larger than expected, or it would have been, were it not for the stacks of wooden crates on all sides, some reaching the ceiling and each box presumably filled with armaments or something non-perishable as they was a discernible lack of the scent of rotting, putrid food. there were markedly fewer along the right most wall where a cheap straw mat sat on the floor, stained with some unrecognizable substance & clearly having been used for some time. Just off the centre of the room & the stacks of wooden boxes was a sturdy wooden table with 4 stools, 2 on each side, none of this wooden set was in very good condition, all were well worn, one of the stools had a crack in one of its legs & a corner was missing from the table, clearly broken by some level of excessive force.
'Might have been that captain woman... Wait... Where is she?'
Bubbles scanned the room again, but couldn't find a place where she could be hidden as the boxes were so neatly stacked & they were the only 3 individuals in the room.
"I know big guy, but it's the best you're gonna get for right now. Now why don't you stand over the mat, give everyone some room & we can start learning about you"
The hunter spoke while gesturing to the mat on the floor, before pulling a stool out and placing it closer to the centre of the room, away from the table. 'Ade' did the opposite, opting to sit on the furthest side of the table to keep some distance.
'Her hood's still up... Is there something magic about it... I could barely see her lower face even in the light...'
"Well... You seem tame... Or you're at least intelligent enough to know you're outmatched & pretty much surrounded here... And it's like you barely understand yourself as you've shown earlier... So the question remains... What, exactly, are you?"
The hunter examined Bubbles' whole body, as though he was, lost in thought.
"The clear answer would be a new breed of slime, your form, the lack of the monsters around the city & how you were able to fit in the box back there show that... But you don't seem to have the right instincts for something like a slime or even a beast for that matter... You didn't fight back when the captain first attacked, or when you just appeared like that... I couldn't even tell you were there until the soldiers started screaming, so you're either very good at hiding yourself or you didn't intend to be in a fight. You didn't react when the soldiers first attacked you & you instead tried to flee... indicating that the situation may have been a surprise to you as well..."
'Who is this guy & how did he get this good at reading between the line like this?'
Bubbles thought to himself as he listened to the hunter nonchalantly describe his entire situation in an almost scarily calm & detailed manner.
"You sure you're not overthinking this whole thing?"
The hunter's cloaked companion finally spoke interrupting the hunter's speech & Bubbles thought. This was the first time Bubbles had heard her voice in such a calm tone, her voice was smooth, melodious even, yet there was some hint of dismissal in the words that she spoke.
"Maybe that thing IS the reason the monsters have been quiet for a few days, but I'm struggling to see what you're getting at here, it's just another monster, we all know they can be tamed & unless you keep them in check, they'll remember, that they're monsters."
Her words were cold & pointed, causing a sudden sense of fear to overcome Bubbles, whose attention was now disjointed between trying to watch her, while looking around the room & towards the door, as though an assassin or a knife may suddenly appear to finish him.
"You've got him nervous now, it's all right big guy, so long as you don't go wrecking things, there'll be no trouble... Now... Lets see..."
The hunter returned to his thoughts paying his companions icy words no mind, after all they were not directed at him, although, it seemed as though he may have not cared, even if they had been.
"...Thinking about it... You might be some mage's loose experiment. It'd make sense, your form, intelligence, even your defensive attitude. Some self righteous, know it all, wizard builds you, you get away, arrive on the plains & end up in a turf war with the weaklings outside the city. You're definitely stronger than the usual chaff that like to skulk the plains, you probably spooked them without having to do too much fighting since there aren't any big ones left near the cities..."
The explanation wasn't too far fetched to be unbelievable, however without any knowledge before the void, into which he had first awakened, Bubbles could neither confirm, nor deny it's validity... That was, if he could actually speak to do so.
'It's not impossible, but I still don't know about that place, or how I got there...'
"... Edel… Maybe that grand mage had a hand in you... She passed through recently, maybe the mages guild has a few ideas... I'll have to poke around in that area."
'Grand mage? Mages guild? Wait... If I'm was an experiment that got out... THEN THEY'D PROBABLY WANT ME BACK!! OH HELL NO!!!'
"BLUGGHH!!BBBLLAARRRHH!!!"
Bubbles quickly got agitated at the thought letting out what sounding like a slight roar from his fear as he raised himself to his feet & he, again, began to dart what counted for his eyes around the room in panic. 'Ade' had already gotten to her feet and had appeared to take a step back, but the hunter remained seated & silent, staring at the scared beast before him, before raising his left hand towards Bubbles' head.
"Name's Phen, by the way, not my choice but it's my name & it stuck, unfortunately."
His voice was calm, composed, unafraid. His hand stayed outstretched, perhaps as a sign of comfort, to try and calm the agitated monster before him. It worked. As Bubbles slowly began to sink down from his fully heightened & fearful state before resting back down on the mat beneath him.
"See? Nothing to fear here."
His right hand slipped away from the knife on his right leg, unbeknownst to Bubbles...
"Is everything all right in here?"
Another female voice, quiet, shaky, accompanied by a petite woman wearing some cheap silk clothes with a thicker woollen jumper over top, as well as a thin pair of glasses that rested on her nose. She had hazel hair & carried some papers written in an indiscernible language in her arms as she cautiously peeked into the room.