—Alright, let's get this straight. I am NOT a goblin. I am a yobglin, there is a CLEAR difference in our species. A goblin is an unintellectual being that's only obsessed with shiny objects and their own well being. Us yobglins are far superior to them, and to be compared to them is an insult. So when this chubby curly haired FREAK walks into my cave without my permission and calls me a goblin, yes a GOBLIN of all things… of course it makes my blood boil. Is he mocking me? He doesn't seem to be much of a fighter so if he tries anything funny I won't have much of a problem, and GOD I can barely hear myself thinking over his constant whining…-
"Who are you?"
He sounds even more annoying than he looks. Pathetic.
I figure that startling him wont do any good, I might as well try to introduce myself.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you…"
He backs away further with each step I take.
What's this kid's problem?
At the very least, I can try to calm him down.
"The name's Jess, and I've got some questions for you."
The kid fell from the surface, and was knocked unconscious. He's lucky that I brought him back to my cave. Of course he could be a little more grateful, but I don't expect much from a human… Nonetheless, I'd like to get some answers. I slip my left thumb under one of the many bandages across my face, and lift it up just enough to look at him through my other eye.
"Who the hell are you?"
He stares at me for a good 5 seconds and starts screaming again…
"Ah! Ahh! Ah!"
He slips off one of his shoes and chucks it at me. Getting pelted with a slipper doesn't affect me, but it's still rude. That's strike one.
"Alright, maybe we got off on the wrong foot-"
Despite my efforts… he keeps yelling.
Alright… he's starting to get on my nerves…
I sit on a nearby rock as I put my bandage back over my eye.
"Listen, I'm gonna need you to-"
I reach my hand to him, but he immediately slaps it away. Strike two.
"Get away from me!'
He just won't shut up! I'm getting tired of this…
He starts to hyperventilate, I honestly don't think his lungs can keep up.
"G-Get away! You're g-gonna eat me!"
Strike… Three. The kid started yapping about not wanting to die, blah blah, he started crying too. Pretty pathetic. Next thing I knew, I managed to slap the kid so hard it seemed to shut him up. Finally.
"SHUT UP! I'M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU! Jeez, humans these days."
Now that he's FINALLY shut up I thought I'd kindly explain the situation to him, but he just went right back to screaming.
"Oh yeah!? T-then where's Freezi! She's not here! That must mean you ate her!"
For a moment I really considered slapping him again. Maybe that time I can reset his insults.
"Freezi? You mean that other kid?"
He freezes at the mention of her name. He slowly looks up at me with a concerned expression.
"Huh?"
Is he stupid?
Finally, the girl returns. She sets down the makeshift pale I made and walks to the foot of the bed.
"Oh Chris! You're awake!"
She sits down on an old wooden chair and turns to me.
"Hope he didn't keep you waiting long Jess, he's a pretty heavy sleeper."
I give a quick nod, but I kind of wish the kid didn't wake up at all. I look back at him, and his eyes dart between me and the girl a few times.
"Wh-What?"
With each word this kid speaks the more his voice breaks, and the more I want to throw him out of the hole he fell into. The girl, who I'm guessing is that Freezi kid that he mentioned, joins in the conversation.
"What do you mea- oh right."
She gets up and makes her way to me, maintaining eye contact with Chubs..
"When we fell, you blacked out for a bit, but Jess found us and offered to help!"
She reached her hand to pat my shoulder, but I don't feel like doing that crap so I swat it away. I look back at the boy with a stern face.
"You're lucky you fell into my route, otherwise something else might have found you. Anyways- Freezi, did you finish getting the moss milk?"
Freezi nods and reaches over for the pails.
"It smells horrendous, but I got it!"
She sets them down right in front of me. It smells bad to them, but the stench makes me ecstatic. I grab the pale and start to drink. It took a little while to get used to the taste at first, but it made the puking worth it.
Can't imagine these brats being able to drink this for the past 10 years.
When I'm done, I wipe my mouth and set it down, revealing that Chubs was staring at me the whole time.
"What? Gonna keep staring or something"
He wipes his grimey little nose off before speaking to me.
"I-It';s just that… that really smells like shit…"
I look down at it, and can kinda agree, but eh, I don't care what this kid has to say.
"Well sorry that there aren't many other options for drinks down here. Speaking of which, you two mind explaining what the hell you're doing here?"
I lean back in my chair while the girl takes a deep breath.
"Actually scratch that- first I want names. I mean, you're the ones infiltrating MY home."
The girl points at herself with wide eyes.
"I'm Freezi! That's-"
We turn to Chubs.
"That's Chris."
Chris looks at me nervously. Now that I know his name- well…at least his birth name. "Chris" Isn't gonna cut it for me.
"Chubs."
He stares blankly at me… Guess he didn't hear me.
"Chubs."
He raises an eyebrow, his voice slightly cracking.
"I-I what?"
I stare back at him and respond with a shit eating grin.
"Chubs. That's what I'm calling you."
Freezi lets out a quick giggle while moving to the side of the bed.
"Well I think it's a cute nickname."
She pokes his stomach…ouch…
"Look at you two! Getting along already!"
I know I was making fun of the kid but damn… That's gotta hurt… I quickly shake away the feeling and get back to the point.
"Right. Freezi, Chubs, how'd you two get into my cave?"
Freezi sits next to Chubs on the bed and starts counting on her fingers.
"Well, I think it was three, maybe four days ago? Yeah, four. Four days ago our village got raided by a knight- I think his name was… Napoleon?"
Napoleon. The name echoes in my mind. That's a name I haven't heard in a long, long time. She continues her story, but at this point I'm not even paying attention… Napoleon…
Napoleon Oddmin was the first born child of Ezekiel Oddmin. Although it's been over ten years since I've seen him, I can only imagine what that man must have done to that boy. Based on what Freezi and Chubs had told me, he's been turned into a ruthless killer, who only serves to fulfill his fathers dirty work.
That's the reason I hid underground, the reason I ran away from everything. Once upon a time I was best friends with the king- but one day he changed, and was no longer the man I knew. He became bitter, and his rage consumed him. I tried to stop him, I really did- but I wasn't strong enough, so I ran away. I'm a coward. I'm a good for nothing coward who left behind his kingdom to save his own ass… and now these two kids have lost their home because of it…
"Jess?"
The voice calls out to me…
"You okay Jess?"
I quickly snap back to reality. I blink a few times and look back at them.
"Yeah? S-sorry… I was just-"
Freezi completely ignores me and just continues on with her story.
"Anyway- Where was I again?"
Chubs pitches into the conversation again, although now he seems just fine. What happened to the train wreck of a person I had just seen earlier?
"I think you were at the part where we found out that those berries weren't edible.."
Freezi immediately bursts into laughter, and starts patting his head.
"Oh right! And you had to pack a bunch of snow up your-"
Chubs immediately covers her mouth while laughing nervously.
"Y-yeah that part-"
Freezi moves his hand from her mouth while giggling. The hell is with these two? Weren't they just talking about how they watched like 30 people die? Now they're joking with each other? Whatever it is… I can't deny the fact that despite them losing everything and still being able to smile… It's admirable. Something I don't think I'll be able to do…
"Anyway- Jess, you kinda already know about us falling into here."
Not really, but okay.
"Wanna help us overthrow the king?"
….what.