The small male goblin sniffled quietly for a little while. He hunched over in solitude with brownish green fingers tapping the dirty cave floor too ease his anxiety. The satisfaction it gave was brief and soothing, muted vibrations traveling up his digits into his hand while the sounds of countless fellow goblins filled the rest of the void.

Close by Emri was a rounder goblin who gave off the general airs of someone who you didn’t want to mess with even at the lowly age of three days. Instead the small goblin sought to find other distractions. His legs struggled to press his small frame from the cave’a surface until he eventually stood and his yellowed eyes scanned his surroundings. They were in a cave but it was relatively easy for him to see with the minimal lighting, and as he quietly stepped around he kept his eyes glued to the floor.

Emri took note of every standout he spotted on the ground, a terribly small beetle, a small fragment of bone, and even a pointy triangular rock. He didn’t want to wander too far away from the rest of his brothers and sisters and as he drew deeper into the cave Emri froze in fear with an abrupt halt in his steps and quietly made his way back to the area with the rest of the young.

He found his little sitting area once again, planting himself in the concave that fit his small body and pulled the beetle out. Rather than immediately kill the small creature Emri took the time to analyze it. Goblins were weak creatures who hunted small prey outside their hovels, but when there wasn’t prey to be hunted they resorted to harvesting cave mushrooms and small bugs that were easy to come by. This six-legged black beetle seemed to be one such food source, it’s shell wasn’t all that hard and other than it’s lackluster pincers it didn’t really have a means to fighting back.

Now mind you, Emri was hungry like all of the rest. But he knew that if some of them were going to be hunting any time soon, the stronger ones would be more efficient in their role with a full belly. So maybe. His eyes glanced back over to the round boy goblin who had found a spot to situate himself close to Emri’s own, taking in mind that he wasn’t a rock smasher like the others he went out and took a chance on the intimidating brother.

He didn’t recall the fellow goblin’s name so rather than fail an attempt Emri gathered his courage and rose once again to his feet. The clothed goblin stomped over to him with the beetle struggling in his clenched right hand. Offering it to the brother the goblin briefly spoke in a volume that would carry through the rest of the cave’s noise. ”Food for the strong.”

The hand remained outstretched, but the tension was horrifically visible on the small goblin’s face as if he were bracing for impact.
@ERode

R E S H Y

---

Three days, three cycles of the passing moon preceded with the rising and falling of daylight each time, three was enough. Reshy was hungry, thirsty, but most of all he was bored.

Reshy was not like the anxious Emri, he didn’t believe things were gained just to be given over to others, especially things he wanted. And right now he wanted the rock in Ragi’s hands. It was simply the better rock, bigger, pointier but she was using it all wrong! His smaller misshaped stone just didn’t have the right grip or weight to it and he couldn’t get the same reaction from it. So, without much thought or hesitation as Ragi slammed her prized pointy stone into another, instead of giggling with the other’s, with the ‘chink’ of stone on stone came the soft snap of Reshy’s teeth. With great sneaky speed he quickly bit down on one of Ragi’s long pointed ears. In the sudden moments shock he snatched the stone and darted off.
A wide daring grin of excitement and pride sprung across his face as he now had the two best rocks and ran as fast as he could..

Things were going well for Reshy, why not push it. Running right at Emri and Hoi, that daring toothy grin of Reshy’s parted and he wildly chomped at the bug as he raced past them going deeper into the caves.
Despite all the noise, despite all the excitement, there was one sound that didn’t quite fit. Reshy couldn’t quite place it and didn’t stop to study it. He focused only on moving as fast as he could, he bolted on, going faster and deeper.

---

This...is not right. I do not understand, but I know it is not as it should be.

Slowly, he flexed his fingers. The young goblin clenched his fist tight, and looked at the hairless green arms. Too small. Too smooth. Too soft. Where were...his scars? Did he have scars? And were his fingers and knuckles supposed to be calloused?

I...died? And now I am this...creature. A...A yokai?

Yokai. Oni. Do I know what that is? My memories are unclear.

He tried to recall something from before. How did he know he had died? How had he come to be in this new body? He looked across the cave at those like him. They bashed rocks together, or slept, or wandered about like children. Just like when his little ones had learned to walk...What?

His lip twisted and his stomach rumbled. He had awakened, after what seemed like a long time of drifting in and out of consciousness, and upon finding himself in a cave full of odd creatures--like that older one that marked his forehead--had moved to put his back against the wall. But as time passed and none of the others showed any hostility--except for that one that bit another's ear, but that seemed like play--he had begun to observe them...and it wasn't doing much good. He was too hungry to think. These memories were too foggy to grasp. It frustrated him. As if his own mind, like this clumsy and frail body, was not entirely under his own control.

"The real purpose of...to purge oneself...to obtain control of one's own character." I didn't say that. Someone else did...someone I knew?

He pushed away from the wall. He placed a hand on his belly as it rumbled. His eyes darted from side to side when he heard a strange whisper...but none of the others were speaking to him. He couldn't understand any words, and he was not currently in danger.

"Do nothing which is of no use." That one is much easier to remember. Now, what is useful?

If he could not remember his past, then it should be put to the side for now. If he was hungry, then he needed to eat. The cave served as shelter. Survival was the priority.

The goblin stopped just short of the cave's mouth. He pressed himself against the nearest wall, and crept slowly to the rocky edge. As his eyes squinted against the bright light, he poked out his head. There would be food outside, he felt, but there might also be danger. Where was he? What was the environment? Were there boars or bears here? It would be easier to find edible plants than it would to hunt, but if the creatures of this place were like Yokai, there was no telling what kind of plants he would encounter either. Rather than risk eating poison or making himself sick, it would be better to find meat. If he found an animal, even if he couldn't catch it, maybe he could see what kind of berries or roots it ate and take some for himself.

Outside the cave, sunlight shone through the trees revealing a luscious forest. He bent low to pick up a rock from the cave floor, and once he was certain there didn't seem to be anything in the immediate area he walked outside. For the first time he realized the cave had been unusually bright, despite no lamps, candles, or other light source. And if the cave was unusually bright, then the sun was almost painful. His already narrow eyes squinted even more. He closed one and then the other, careful to never close both at the same time while he waited for them to adjust, as he walked over to one of the nearer trees. He picked the one that had the lowest branches within reach, and tried to break one off with the rock. It had no sharp edge, and this body did not seem very strong, but after scoring one limb around its base he managed to climb up and come down on it with both feet, using his body weight to finish the job. As the broken branch fell, the goblin caught himself on another and hung there for several moments. On a whim he did a pull up, and grunted in satisfaction before he dropped back to the ground unharmed.

This body was weaker, but it wasn't weak, in a sense. Proportional to his size, he felt his muscles were fairly dense and elastic. Like a chimpanzee. ...I suppose, if that's what my memory thinks. But his size and weight did not give him great leverage to use whatever strength he might have.

Weakened, small, in unfamiliar territory, on the hunt. So it came naturally to seize a weapon. He picked up his broken branch, snapped the last two tapering, twiggy feet of it off, and began to bash off any smaller growths with the rock. Soon he had a short, rough, but functional staff in hand.

His guts seemed to roar and roll inside his body. Spending time to make this weapon had cost him time that he could be hunting...but, as little as he knew, something told him having the weapon would be better than not at this moment. As for what he could hunt...

He crouched low, and began moving into the underbrush. Just before he left eyeshot of the cave, he marked the dirt with his staff and tried to remember what the landscape looked like here. Then he traveled in a straight line, away from the cave, and watched the forest floor.

Whether by instinct, or his hazy memories, he knew that any animal would likely smell or hear him long before he saw them. As much as he tried, he couldn't silence himself completely...although, he felt his breath naturally slowing, and his steps stopped coming straight up and down on the ground. Instead his feet made a sort of sliding motion, using the side of the foot to take his weight at first and distribute it more evenly across the ground. With this method, his steps didn't thump, and he could brush leaves or sticks out of the way before coming down on them. Crescent Step...is that what it's called?

But the fact remained, animals would have sharper senses. So what he looked for were the signs they left behind, rather than the animal itself. Tracks? Droppings? Places where trees or grass had been rubbed frequently or trampled?

Saito the goblin gripped his staff, put aside all thoughts save the immediate present, and hunted in earnest.

Aya burst into a fit of giggles along with the other small humanoid creatures that crowded in her vicinity as a stone once again clattered against the cave wall. Goblins she'd tentatively labelled the creatures, and more importantly, her siblings, at least as far as she come to guess since waking up only two days earlier. It was easy for her to play along with the antics of the other goblins, she felt almost used to this kind of behaviour, and as long as she did so it seemed they were content to ignore her in favour of their rock-based games, something that suited the female goblin just fine.

Aya wasn't really paying all that much attention to her sibling's games, instead, she was stuck deep in thought. She'd noticed the lack of food far earlier than most of her siblings but had wasted her time since dwelling over what to do rather than taking action. Should she leave the cave and search the forest she could see beyond for food? She hadn't a clue what was out there, it could be dangerous. Maybe she should just stay put with her siblings and hope that older goblins would show up with food? There was no guarantee that would happen... A pang of hunger reminded Aya that she probably wouldn't get to have the luxury of indecisiveness for much longer and it wasn't just her either, growling stomachs could be heard all throughout the cave.

Breaking off from the rock clacking group Aya wondered to the cave entrance, her overlarge eyes scanning through the trees as if to get a better idea of what dangers might be lurking out there. Without anyone to tell them what plants were safe to eat or not Aya figured they'd probably end up needing to hunt something and looking back to the group of goblins still clacking rocks together didn't exactly fill her with much confidence as to her sibling's capabilities. Though maybe that wasn't a fair assessment, given she'd been doing the same up until the point she noticed the lack of food. Still, what could they do? For the most part, the goblins weren't exactly physical powerhouses and lacked the tools to make up for that deficit or the time to make those tools. They were noisy and seemingly less than bright as well. Really the only things the goblins seemed to have going for them was their numbers.

"Maybe we could chase something into a hole we dig then bash it with rocks while it's down? or set a tripwire for the same effect...", Aya thought out loud, "That would require us to be the ones chasing it though... I guess we could try getting something to chase us into a trap, but that seems like a really bad idea...".

The goblin girl absentmindedly moved to chew on her thumb as she continued to muse to herself, pretty much immediately regretting the action as she recoiled from where her teeth had pierced the skin of her thumb. That was a habit she'd need to break.

Ragi woke up three days ago to a body that was unable to move or even see properly. The first face that greeted her was that of a monstrous green malformed old man. Ragi should have been scared of the inhumane form that hold her in his hand while painting something on her forehead. Yet for some reason, she instead found the face to be both familiar and endearing. Like it belonged to her kin.

She had a lingering thoughts and feeling that she could not explore; like a thick fog is covering all the knowledge and memories she had prior to waking up. Or perhaps she was just imagining it. After all, she was a newborn. And a newborn is not supposed to have memories or knowledge.

Thus, leaving the difficult thought aside, Ragi returned to her sleep.


On day 3, Ragi finally managed to control her body enough to sit upright and even got on her two feet. With some effort, she flexed her hands back and forth, and to her surprise, they moved! Fist. Palm. Fist. Palm. FIST! Palm. Exhiliriated by this simple fact, Ragi decided to try and grab some rock from the ground, feeling their weight and texture, and even tried to throw it to the wall. And when she managed to make the rock fly to the general direction she wanted it to, she could not help but giggle and clap.

Apparently she was not alone. In her circle was two other green creature like her. One boy and one girl, from the look of it. But unlike Ragi who were fascinated by rocks and rock throwing, the boy was quick to leave and make a group with another goblins. Rude, she thought, but she was not too bothered by it. After all, there is this other sister she could play with.. Oh..

The sister in question too, seemed to be bored of the exciting activity that is throwing-rock-to-a-wall, and head out to the cavern's mouth. She was mumbling something that Ragi could not fully understand. Something intelligent, she reckon. And where there is intelligence, there is merit to follow the one possessing it.

"Wait up!" Ragi shouted as she quickly ran to catch up with her sister. "Name's Ragi. Why don't we, uh, do that thing you said together?" she said with a smile after she caught up with the goblin that's been.. Snacking on her own thumb? Surely, the smart one baffles Ragi to no end.

"By the way, what's your name?"

Hunger persisted. It gnawed. It wouldn't go away because he slept. But it kept off the edge, at least. He should sleep early tonight. Wake up at night. Hunt then, when the critters are asleep. Night works better. The eyes in the sky can't find you so easily. The air cooled you as your body warmed up.

In the darkness of shut eyes, as comforting as the womb of a mother he could not remember, that was what Hoi thought. He opened his eyes after. Rolled onto his feet. Tried to straighten his back, then grimaced. It hurt. It hurt a lot. It hurt like a metaphor. What was a metaphor? Hrm. It hurt. He hunched back down, crick-cracking into a comfortable slouch. His brethren were still around him. One was sharper than the others. Three others were just throwing rocks. May be training, may just be having fun. And the last one...

"Food for the strong."

A squashed beetle may as well be...may as well be...Hoi shook his head again, emptying out meaningless fragments. It was food. He hungered. Needed a lot if he wanted to keep his shape. He reached out, then closed Emiri's hand over their beetle, pushing it back to the curious goblin. "You work, you eat."

Maybe he should have taken it anyways though. Moments after, a green blur burst between the two, and the beetle was gone in the mouths of another. One of the rock-throwers. Hoi tensed, his ▅▅▅▅-like gaze following them into the darkness of the cave, wrists crackling as his hands splayed, each finger ending in a dirtied claw.

"You work, you eat."

He turned away, striding off into the forest, what callous intentions within him seeping out as he stepped into an easy rhythm. A final word, just a meaningless offer to that strangely dressed goblin.

"Let's work."
@Versa@Dark Light

It was before Emri could even react that his sentiment was rejected and hard work stolen, all within the blink of an eye. The goblin’s eyes welled up as he watched the sneakthief goblin dash deeper into the cave. The clothed goblin held back a strained frown as realized the only thing that he had left from his scavenging was the small piece of bone. Learning from his mistake of carelessly holding his items out for all to see, Emri tore a piece of his brown garments along his right side. This exposed more of his, but he made sure to place the bone piece into the cloth and frayed some twill thread to tie the cloth closed.

”You work, you eat.”

For some reason these words had a familiarity that sent chills through the goblin’s body. His legs froze, locked to the cave floor as he watched the pudgy goblin march his way towards the mouth of the cave. Emri hadn’t been so good with language skills yet, the thoughts of this new life not being everything it seemed definitely hindered him from being outspoken about anything really. He was a newborn goblin, honestly he didn’t know much. But that’s exactly why following somebody with strong direction would be helpful for the time being. If someone else was doing the talking then Emri would be able to think, and the undeveloped cranium of this goblin was filled with superhuman curiosity more than anything. It was perhaps because of the overwhelming amount of whats, wheres, and whys in his head that he couldn’t articulate his words properly.

The warmth of blood filled the small goblin’s legs as his senses came back. Any passing goblin looks would see that the typically unsure expression on Emri’s face was gone even if only in the moment. His eyes faced the forest outside as he slowly made his way towards the mouth of the cave himself.

”Let’s work.”

Emri turned to look back inside the goblin hovel. He winced at the sight of the majority of his brothers and sisters in their starving state. But what this larger goblin said was the truth, in order to survive you would need to apply yourself in this harsh world. Even as a young goblin who’d yet experienced what that even meant, somehow he instinctually knew this was the truth. He turned back towards the forest that now faced him and took his first steps outside of the cave that he called home. The dirt outside of the cave felt different. It was looser and less coarse, it felt good in between Emri’s toes. It would be easier to run around out here, and by association easier for other creatures to move too. The second thing that came to mind was the size of trees compared to his own height, they were towering monoliths of grandeur. Would it be climbable for the more athletic brothers and sisters, getting a higher vantage point would definitely be helpful. Vantage Point ?

Emri definitely wasn’t built for such physical feats. So instead he would contemplate what exactly he could offer to the larger goblin brother. His eyes once again searched his surroundings looking for anything that might be noteworthy. But it was mostly an unoccupied area with little more than foliage and trees barren of lower branches, likely due to their own presence. Absentmindedly he wandered ahead, despite the dangers of not being armed or strong enough to defend himself with his own hands. He was searching for something, anything of little usefulness that he might be able to offer. And then he found it.

”This’ll do.”

Snatching up his lackluster discovery, Emri hurried back to the larger goblin with the thing held overhead. It was a thin root twice Emri’s height, flexible brown wood, and even had a small number of thorns on it. Emri had made sure to use the bark of a tree to scrape off the thorns on the side which the small goblin had decided to make the handle, but still it was quite unwieldy. But the weight was light enough for the fragile goblin to hold the structure without struggling too much, and the look on his face seemed content with his discovery all the same.

The wave of confidence Emri had wore off some time ago, but still he gripped the newly found tool with both hands and displayed it to the work-minded goblin before taking his right hand’s index finger and pointing at his face.

“Emri.”

His expression then changed to that of discontent as his yellow eyes sought the silhouette of the Rock Stealer. No way I’m Emri’s goblin life would he let that sneakthief take his things again, and this gripped his new thing tightly before looking to the bigger goblin again and nodding.

”I can work.”
@ERode@Dark Light

Aya was interrupted from her attempts to shake the pain out of her thumb by the sound of a voice. Her name? She remembered an older looking goblin calling her Aya just after she'd first woken up, but there was a name before that, right? Was it something important? She tried to remember as worry began to permeate the edges of her consciousness but the memories were fuzzy at best... a growl from her stomach reminded her that there were more pressing issues to worry about for the time being. "I'm Aya?", she said a little unsure of herself, then feeling self-conscious she nodded, as if to confirm her own words, and let her smile widen into a wide-eyed grin that probably would have been horrifying to anyone but another goblin.

The other goblin, a female with longish ears and short black hair, had expressed interest in Aya's plans. That made her happy, even if it meant that she probably wouldn't be able to procrastinate for much longer. Not exactly used to social interaction, Aya forgot to ask the other goblin's name, instead, launching straight into explaining her ideas. "I was thinking that given we don't exactly seem to be the strongest creatures around and I doubt we have the skills to identify plants safe for eating, we'd be best off setting some kind of trap... we don't have tools either but I think we could dig a hole or set a tripwire.", the goblin rambled, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Maybe not the latter, I'm not sure I know can make a strong enough rope for that. Then we could chase or get chased by something towards our trap and beat it to death with rocks and sticks once it goes down!".

Taking another deep breath the young goblin tried and failed to gauge her sister's reaction. That plan had been terrible, hadn't it? Who the hell would want to go along with a plan that might see them getting chased through unfamiliar terrain just for a meal?

@Celsius

Emri | Hoi @Versa@ERode
What was supposed to be an act of kindness, turned into a failed attempt, but from it, words of motivation and encouragement arose, leading to what looked to be a possible bond for the ages. But honestly, it was too early to tell.

The dynamic duo, who couldn't be more different from one another, had made their way to the bustling forest in search for a meal that could satisfy their growing hunger. While Hoi was rather straight forward in his approach, Emri flexed his wit and know-how. It was as if he was solving a puzzle without knowing what a puzzle was. Regardless, it was but a means to an end, and the end he had gotten was a tool he could be proud of, I think.

Emri and Hoi took a more simple approach in looking for food, and simply wandered around the forest within close proximity to their cave. Underneath a large tree, they found two Blue Slimes and a Green Slime, who appeared to be feasting on what looked to be the corpse of a small creature split into two. It was certainly hard to tell with most of its flesh and muscles sloughed off.

Potential breakfast, I suppose?

---

Reshy@Dark Light
Whether or not Reshy's antics were appreciated - but we're pretty sure they weren't - it no longer mattered as the young goblin dashed deeper within the cavern. With rock in hand and beetle in mouth, his feet continued moving, leading him through a narrow pathway that grew dimmer and dimmer with each step he took. Fortunately, his eyes easily adapted to the darkness, but his run came to a crashing halt as he rammed into something, knocking the air out of him and unto the ground.

Although a bit dazed from the fall, Reshy's vision gradually went back to normal. There he saw the back of the elder goblin, covered in tattered robes and lying on his sides, and apparently fast asleep. His snoring easily masked the noise that came from Reshy's stomach.

---

Saito@Zeroth
There was no denying the fact that Saito was indeed an old-soul. He might have undergone rebirth, but the habits he had developed in his previous life were hard to shake off. The patient and cautious greenskin took his time to prepare for the first hunt of his new life. In exchange for the fatigue and hunger the continued to pile up, he now had a weapon (kinda) and the upper hand against whatever creature he would come across (hopefully).

Silently shuffling forward, his eyes had managed to come across neither tracks or dropping, but instead, what looked to be a trail of berries. Whether or not he'd shove these in his mouth was his decision. Anyway, since this was exactly what he was looking for (I suppose), following the trail would lead him to a bushy overgrowth. A few feet away from him would be a small clearing where his potential meal was.

Nibbling away on some berries, without a care in the world, was a Scaled Shrew.

---

Aya | Ragi @TheMushroomLord@Celsius
Hunger and boredom had troubled the young goblin girl as rocks failed to satisfy either of her present problems. Aya was left no choice but to wander to the outside, or so she thought as she. As soon as she was about to leave the confines of their cavern, thoughts began to plague her mind once again.

Returning back to her rock-banging group, she called their attention before relaying to them the plan she had devised. She was quite the strategist. Unfortunately, the rest of her siblings did not share the same talent.

However, what they lacked in talent, they made up in enthusiasm and honesty. Ragi, along with two other male goblin admitted their inability to comprehend Aya's instruction, but they were more than willing to help.

"I iss Bug." said one of the goblins in a high-pitched voice and a smile. "Me Twig!" the other one spoke right after before giggling, his voice was just as high.

"We help, sisters. We is hungry." they said in unison before their stomachs began to growl.

Hoi watched the smaller goblin break off a branch of something. Good. It was good to be good with one's hands. Good to be willing to work. The rotund goblin nodded one, stopping to let Emri catch up.

"Hoi." Mimicking his companion's action, he pointed to himself with his right index finger, before continuing on once more. His stomach didn't ache so much now; physical activity took his mind off it. One step, two step, weaving a serpentine path around the cave. Occasionally, Hoi nudged a big rock away with his feet and snapped down, plucking a worm or two out from the moist dirt. He took them for himself, only showing Emri the way. They didn't fill his stomach, only took the keenness off the emptiness of himself.

Bigger prey was past them, in the clearing. Three strange, gelantinous creatures, crowding over a split creature. Two shared, one had a bigger half to itself. Most of the meat was gone, but there was still bone underneath. Hoi knew what this was. Leader and follower. Unequal work for unequal feed. He bared his teeth. He did not growl. Pulling off his loincloth, the only bit of rudimentary defense he had, the now-naked goblin wrapped the faded, dirtied cloth around his right foot.

"Destroy the green one. Together. Hit the center, scare the blues. If they scatter, we eat. If they fight, we run."

Meat was meat, but bones were more. Another tool, or a bigger meal. And if they could break apart the green thing, if they could eat that too...

"You go when I go. Now."

Breaking out from behind the large tree that they spied the slimes from, Hoi ran full-tilt, practically on all fours, before his clothed foot reared back and swung out to kick the jelly thing, digging into the dirt while it did. If he was lucky, the food would be kicked out and the slime would be broken into two. If not, he wasn't going to stop until he was.
@Versa

Emri kept in tow behind the Hoi, the large flexible thornbranch still held above his head as he hustled along. His breaths were getting more ragged, tired already from lack of energy, but as they finally found a tree to hide behind Emri took the chance to take big long breaths to recover the best he could. His cheeks turned a darker shade of green, his yellow eyes squinted as droplets of sweat trickle into his eyelids.

But the small goblin maintained his composure as their prey was detected. His vision was slightly impaired at first. Not quite making out the number of slimes or the corpse of the prey they slowly consumed, but Hoi sounded confident in their plan. Emri trusted the thick goblin brother, gripping his newfound weapon as he readied himself for his first bout of combat.

Hoi was the first to rush out from behind the tree and quickly made his way to the target he planned on, the Blue Slime. Emri’s mouth opened wide as the devastating blow of his cloth wrapped leg came crashing down onto the prey, but it was also at this moment that something strange happened. As he got a clearer look at the three slimes, information about the monsters seemingly made itself known to the brainy goblin in a glimpse. Slimes are blind and deaf.

Emri didn’t want to make a bad impression on chunky goblin brother, and he definitely wanted to follow the plan. But as he found himself entering the battle after Hoi, a sudden emergence of bloodthirst overcame him. He tightly gripped the handle of his thornbranch as he charged in, drawing the oversized weapon behind him as he drew closer to the blue slimes rather than the one Hoi had engaged.

Reaching the two monsters, Emri dug his heels into the soft dirt and pressing the padding of his left foot forward to swing out the thistlebranch in a devastating swipe with all of his tiny goblin might. Which in all reality wasn’t that much, but the soft slimes would surely take some result of damage from the frail goblin’s attempt. Right?

Either way, after the lash of the flexible weapon was completed by Emri he would struggle to draw the weapon back up to ready himself again. He would be clearly winded after the attack, breathing heavily and looking more exhausted than before. Emri hunched over, tired, but still held onto his weapon and managed to speak clearly to his hunting partner.

”Weak prey. Easy for Hoi.”
@ERode

---

Three days since he first awoke with a start to receive his name from that worn face. Three days of wondering why he felt that he had been interrupted in something important, that he had left something important behind. Three days of discomfort and powerful instincts. But, those days passed swiftly.

It was dark in the cave where the elder goblin slept. But, Tik had watched and waited long enough. He had slipped into the dark and crept into the hidden room while his new siblings were getting their bearings. Here, in the company of the only adult example he had, Tik had found a place to think.

It was hard to think. He was hungry. The bones left by the elder goblin were not something that he could really eat but he did gnaw on a small one, getting a better feel for his teeth and tongue as he studied the body and possessions of the elder. He wasn't going to take anything from the elder. Too dangerous, but the discarded bones were another matter. Some of them were broken and had sharp ends. He grasped two of them, one in each hand, and felt their heft and edges.

Then another goblin ran in like a rookie and bounced off the elder's backside... Memories shifted and wriggled uncomfortably in Tik's head. Their blurry crossed meanings were an unnecessary distraction. Rookie? The word didn't have definition or clarity in his mind but it felt... young and stupid... sort of.

Tik wasn't spotted by his sibling right away as most of his body was on the other side of the elder. But, he scraped the two bones in his hands against each other while seeking to make eye contact with his sibling. Once he got the other's attention, he pointed with one bone back down the way toward the main chamber. Here was a bad place to talk. Elder was big and waking up made things grumpy.

Tik picked up a few other bones that looked sharp and long enough to use for something but didn't spot any bones big and strong enough to hit hard. Maybe the elder had already used them? Still, it didn't matter. He was ready to follow his sibling out and take care of the gnawing hunger in his gut. Chewing on that bone had only helped a little. Most of it was still too hard to break down and eat.

R E S H Y

---

This was a big goblin, ‘what did it mean for Reshy? What did it mean to Reshy?’ He thought to himself as he stood there still and silent engulfed by the repugnant smell of this chamber.


Reshy was nervous and as such crawled around the snoring creature very quietly. He wanted to examine its face closer. He wanted to see it’s belongings and study the bones around on the floor.

Driven by instinct or something more, Reshy’s breaths fell in time with the snores of the bigger goblin. His feet moved with with each loud exhale. His large pointy rock in one hand held high and ready.

With his focus on the sleeping goblin Reshy nearly missed it. Another brother goblin sitting right there. Gnawing on one bone with another pointing at him. Not understanding why, Reshy felt his head tip towards his sibling in acknowledgment but then he continued to look around silently.

Noticing movement in his brother, fearing he was about to leave, Reshy panicked. Not wanting to face the elder alone he quickly launched his prized rock as hard as he could at the wall right beside Tik. It was a good rock, a loud rock and the sound echoed in the small chamber.

@RC3

---

As Saito found the trail of berries, he took note of their size, shape, color, and the texture he felt when he picked them up. He tucked a handful away, alongside his rock in his loincloth. Probably not entirely sanitary to have things rubbing his unmentionables in there, but it was his own body and he hadn't been rolling in dirt like some of the others. He could test the berries for poison later, but for now he wanted whatever creature had been gathering them.

He saw the creature from behind, and almost mistook it for a stone at first. Its dull, brown plated hide could even pass for tree bark, but he could hear it whuffling as it enjoyed its meal.

A hard shell. The tail seems to be sectioned too--are the plates bony? Can the spines on its tail be used as a weapon?

As Saito crouched in the brush, he didn't want to spend too long analyzing the opponent. If it finished eating, he had no doubt it would pick up on his presence. For now it was enough to know this: It was a rodent, so it had claws and fangs. It had armor, and possibly a spiny tail. It was smaller than him, but its forelimbs looked powerful, and its hindlimbs looked fast.

His strategy would be thus: Cut off the escape, and negate the defense. How to do that in the most effecient manner? Without even realizing, his hands had imperceptibly shifted on the staff he held. His right hand, the stronger hand, closed upon the rod down a third of its length. His left hand palmed the butt end, and as his grip tightened the heel of his wrist and his pinky were braced against the bottom while the rest of his fingers wrapped hard around the shaft. His forward hand was held a little looser, to enable a sort of sliding action, but while his palm was supple his fingers were rigid so he wouldn't lose his hold.

Saito's breathing was not shallow, only slow. His muscles relaxed. He felt a shift in his core, as the ball of his back foot built up pressure against the ground.

"All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this." I must not rush, yet I must not delay.

A breeze picked up. A leaf fluttered on the air. The Scaled Shrew shook berry juice from its nose, and he could tell from the movement of its head that it refocused on the food in its paws.

In the moment it committed to its next action--finishing its berries--in the instant the leaf fell between them, in the space between "decision" and "action." Saito's body moved without input from his mind.

He lunged, he thrust with both hands. All momentum traveling forward. The staff's tip came in low. Shoulders and hips drove power down its length.

Saito plunged the staff up under the Scaled Shrew, between its belly and its back legs. At the instant the creature realized his presence he had already planted his feet. As his thighs and core tightened, he pushed down through his knees and his arms leveraged the staff. His back hand pushed down, his right hand pulled up. Now the muscles in his scrawny body stood taut as he released air from his diaphragm--

"Seiiii--!"

He wanted to sweep the creature up. He hoped his staff would block its legs as it tried to run. Most predators would be bigger than this creature and attack it from above--hence why its armor was along its back. It would have less on its underside.

If he was successful in hoisting the creature upon his staff, either flipping it over or slamming it down, Saito's next move would be simple: Pin it under his foot, and strike without mercy until its breath ceased.

His face had distorted into an expression of utter fury, eyes blazing with Murderous Intent. Sakki! Messatsu! His staff, still fresh with sap, thrummed.

"--yaAAAAAH!"

The battlecry startled birds from the branches. It carried a malice entirely unique to nature's own dance of predator and prey. Even some of the other goblins, back at the cave, might be able to hear it and feel the power and focus behind it.

Truth be told, Ragi had failed to follow what her sister had been talking for the past couple of minute. She was talking really fast and many of the words are too advanced for her tiny itty bitty goblin brain. Maybe if she were who she was before a goblin, she would be able to make more sense on what Aya was talking, but alas, her brain had completely shut down and she responded with vague nods, 'uhuh', 'yeah', and 'hmm'.

And then the talking stopped.

Oh shit, was Ragi's first thought. Was it her turn to give feedback? What should she do? Should she just fake it? She heard something about trap and hole and something to that effect, so maybe play it cool and go from there? She can't let Aya think that she's dumb. Not a chance in hell she won't!

"Hmm.. I think," she started with slow and low voice as she pretend to think. "Your plan is brilliant. Utter genius, even!" She played it off. "But you see," she continued to stall as if to hope something will help her at this point. Which.. Somehow happened? In the form of two bumbling boys whose named were Bug and Twig. They seem even less intelligent than Ragi herself, which work very much in favour of her scheme.

With a plan in mind, Ragi placed her hand on Aya's shoulder, leaned closer to her and whispered something.

"I think that plan is too advanced for these two to follow, no?" she shifted her lack of understanding to the two newcomers. "We have the advantage of number anyway, why don't we start simple and slowly adapt your plan when need arise, yeah?"

Aya felt pleased with herself as Ragi praised her for her plan, only for that feeling to crumble away mear moments later when her sister had covertly pointed out that the other goblins probably couldn't understand the details of said plan. How had she made that kind of mistake when only minutes earlier she'd taken note those same goblins lack of intelligence? As if that wasn't bad enough she'd made a fool of herself in front of the only other intelligent goblin she'd met so far. Or should she say the only intelligent goblin?

Aya did a surprisingly good job at hiding her internal meltdown, her only tell being a slight widening of the grin she wore in response to her internal panic. She needed to keep calm, if she played things just right she might still be able to salvage her sister's opinion of her. "Good point! Anyway, we should get going now it'll be harder to dig if we get any hungrier", the goblin announced, hastily moving to exit the cave with her new companions. Reasoning that the other goblin that had gone out to hunt had probably travelled directly forwards from the cave entrance and thus reduced the hunting opportunities in that direction, Aya instead took an immediate hard left. Trying to gauge her sister's reaction to her decision making once again yielded no information to the socially inept goblin.

Aya thought through the finer details of the operation as she scanned for somewhere that looked suitable for digging, not that she had any clue what to look for. Finally, settling for a patch of ground that looked to be fairly soft and with relatively few stones in the soil, at least as far as she could tell, Aya stopped. She wasn't really sure of her siblings' individual strengths, but not wanting to risk asking and making a fool of herself she was left with no choice but to make educated guesses.

"Twig can you go look for big rocks and sticks? The sticks should be long and thin.", Aya asked of the lanky goblin, making exaggerated, almost comical gestures as she explained what she wanted. She figured that Twig was neither the smartest nor the strongest of her siblings so this was probably the task he was best suited to. Aya realised now that she'd forgotten to ask her sister's name, but not wanting to show her mistake she decided to press on and hope Ragi wouldn't notice, "Ahh... sister could you go look for something we could chase into the trap? A big creature if you can but nothing with big fangs or claws or stuff", Ragi was obviously the smartest of the bunch, even if Aya was the one making the plan for some reason, so she trusted her with a more complex task, though once again she punctuated her sentence with gestures, just in case. That left Bug and Aya herself to dig and cover the hole, not that Aya really had the strength or experience to be of much help in that department, but she wanted to make sure the walls of the hole weren't sloped and were compacted enough that they wouldn't immediately crumble to a panicking animal, "Okay Bug, follow my lead".

@Celsius

Ragi breathed out in relief as Aya seemed to have bought her act. Wiping the proverbial sweat off her brows, she straightened her posture and followed Aya like an attentive attendant. That's one crisis averted. Next up would be.. Hmm, what would it be again? Oh yes, establish the pecking order. After all, the small group of two had somehow turned into a group of four. And I don't know about you, but ranking second in a group of two and ranking second in a group of four, is a hell of a difficulty jump for Ragi.

So while Aya was preoccupied with looking at the ground with overly serious attention, Ragi huddled with Twig and Bug, and started her small scheme to make them obey Aya - and in extension, herself. "Alright listen you guys. She, Aya, is our ticket to greatness. She's got the brains, man. Big brains. Doesn't matter if you are strong or courageous, or whatever. In the end the smart wins. They always do."

Ragi seriously thought she made a great speech, but reality is often.. Disappointing. Rather than realizing how important Aya and herself to their future success, both Bug and Twig were staring at her with a confused look. Wait, let me correct that. They were staring blankly, like Ragi was speaking some alien language or some sort.

"What I meant was, we follow her, we get to eat. Food, good?"

Now she's getting a reaction from the boys.

"So make sure you follow what she said, OK?" she continued as she patted Bug and Twig on their shoulder. Ragi don't know why, but patting people on their shoulder is her favourite gesture now.

Then suddenly Aya stopped her trek and stared intently at a patch of soft soil. Apparently the only intellectually-competent goblin of the lot had found something. Without wasting more time than necessary, she barked out some orders. First was Twig, who was told to fetch menial stuffs like rocks and.. Twigs? Aya quickly stopped herself from laughing as she realized the pun that Aya was making. Truly, she was a goddamn genius.

And then came Ragi's turn to get an assignment. And to her surprise, rather than calling her by name, Aya called her 'sister'.

Now if this were a romantic comedy manga, you would see a cupid's bow piercing Ragi's chest. She called Bug and Twig with their name, like, you know, how you address strangers, acquintances, and/or underlings. But to her? She called her sister! A nickname that denotes that Aya not olny saw her as a peer, but a close one at that.

Ragi could not control herself. Placing not one, but both of her hands on Aya's shoulders, Ragi trembled slightly before answering with a weirdly energetic and high-pitched voice. "Yes, of course! I will not fail you, sister!"

And with that said and done, she darted off into the forest.


Now that she was alone in the forest, Ragi had more time to think about stuffs. Come to think about it, wasn't her job the most dangerous of them all? Was this Aya's plan all along? Butter her up by calling her sister, so that she would do the riskiest job of them all? Or was she the only one her sister could trust to do the job right? Or maybe, this is a test to see if she was worthy of being Aya's sister?

Whatever the case, this would mean that Ragi is in no position to fail. And to do that, she would need some tools. Rocks were the first thing that came to her mind. She had experience throwing them, and judging from the fact that they were hard and heavy, they should be quite effective as a weapon too. But the problem is, they were not that accurate. Even against the unmoving wall, Ragi only managed to hit the exact spot she aimed for three times out of ten. And that's because she didn't count the first fifteen or so attempts that she failed horribly.

Rocks simply won't do. She need to somehow course-correct the stupid uncooperative thingy mid-air to make them into effective weapon. Maybe, these vines would help? Thinking that they were long and flexible, Ragi thought she could tie them to the rock and control the stupid thing's trajectory by pulling the vine to one direction or the other. Thus, she began to work on her idea and.. Got stuck a few tens of minutes trying to figure out how to stop the rock from getting loose from the vines.

Failed attempts after failed attempts later, Ragi managed to tie a knot and secure the rock to the vines. Having made sure that the rock would not slip out this time, Ragi then began to test her makeshift kurisagama (sans the scythe, of course) and tried to hit a tree trunk over and over again. Once she was happy with her accuracy, she began to look for animals to hunt. She would've trained some more, given the time, but she thought it would not be good to waste too much time not hunting. Since, you know, her role was to look for animals to lead into the trap Aya had prepared.

With her new weapon wrapped around her left shoulder, Ragi walked around as stealthily as she could from one tree trunk to the other. If she were to find a potential prey, she would want to get the element of surprise on her side.

---

Tik had made one move in good faith. It was an invitation, a chance for this other member of the same generation to work with him... to survive together, figuring out the details as they went along. As the stone smacked into the wall beside Tik's head and he saw the expression on his sibling's face, he understood the answer to his offer and his eyes narrowed even more as he moved.

A sudden lunge, quick and quiet since he had moved the bones big enough to slip or trip on out of the way. In his mouth was a bone shard that he had just stopped chewing on. In each hand was a serviceable bone that would have some use once sharpened. He only touched the floor of that cave twice before he was dashing out the passage into the main chamber. But, his mouth and one of his hands were empty. He had used his lunge to close the distance between him and his sibling. Then, he had spit the bone in his mouth into his sibling's eyes at close range just as he drove the less promising bone toward his fellow youth's leg on his way by.

If not for that treacherous idiot's interference, Tik could have left that place with three or four bones good enough to work with. Now, he had only one and he was probably going to get caught up in whatever happened as a result. He hadn't aimed for anything vital with that bone. Even if he had the strength to deliver a killing blow, making their elder grumpy wasn't likely to result in their deaths so it wasn't so serious as that. The strike was a punishment for turning on Tik. Two words came to mind unbidden.

"Traitor, coward." He hissed softly as he emerged into the main cavern, trembling with rage as his stomach rumbled again. Chewing bone shards hadn't done much beyond buy time. He needed to hunt, and soon.

EMRI & HOI
Slimes were not known for their speed nor for their ability to perceive their surroundings. They're considered relatively weak creatures that usually feed off weakened prey or scavenge from the leftovers others. A prime example was what the three slimes were just doing, feeding off a torn corpse. It was a shame that their meal came to a sudden halt.

The trembles that resulted from Hoi's rush warned the slimes of his presence, but the time it for them to notice was just barely enough. Timid by nature, both Blue Slimes darted off into the air, one after the other, passing just beside the robust goblin, leaving their green brethren behind. Fortunately for them, unlike the Green Slime, their gelatinous forms possessed a more taut and springy characteristic, allowing them to bounce towards a single direction, which they often used for fleeing. Unfortunately for one of them, Emri was right behind Hoi, with his stick weapon in hand. With a massive swing - well, massive for him - Emri swung with all his might, intercepting the airborne slime. The pointed thorns managed to puncture its body before the lashing wood tore it apart. It was horrible (for the slime), there were blue chunks everywhere. As for the other Blue Slime, it came crashing right into Emri' gut during the follow through of hi swing. The wind was knocked right out of him and the slime was able to escape. It lived to see another day.

Unlike Blue Slime, the green ones were more aggressive. They appeared more viscous and possessed better dissolving capabilities. So it wasn't surprising that the Green Slime stood its ground while Hoi's cloth-covered foot came crashing down on it. Again. And again. And again. With each stomp, slush-like, squirting sounds were accompanied by portions of the slime's body being separated and splattered across the grass-filled ground. If it were a lighter and smaller goblin, it probably had a better chance, but against the heft of Hoi, the Green Slime was easily overwhelmed. However, it didn't give up without a fight. With its best efforts to retaliate, the slime had managed to release a misty green cloud from beneath the young goblin. The green slime remained lifeless, while Hoi was left with not just a dissolving piece of cloth around his foot, but also teary and irritated eyes, a watery nose, and discomfort and itchiness at the back of his throat.


Progression & Spoils



Absorption

---

SAITO
The warrior spirit within Saito was as clear as day. From the way he thought, from the way he perceived things, from the way he moved his body. It was as if he was the warrior he was back in the day. Unfortunately, he was not. He had the potential to be though, but many things limited his capabilities; his child-like physique, the growing fatigue, and his famished stomach. As far as the crotch berries and crotch rock, I can't say for certain what they're doing for Saito. His plan of attack against the unsuspecting Scaled Shrew was commendable, and his execution was excellent. Well, as excellent as it could have been given the current circumstances. Lunging forward with weapon in hand, Saito went low and plunged his staff up and under the Scaled Shrew. However, as soon as it had noticed the goblins presence, instead of running forward, leaping way, or turning towards it attacker, the startled shrew immediately laid backwards as it rolled into a ball. Folding its body and tucking its head and legs into its plate-like shell provided the shrew protection that most creatures - it lived with - could not by pass. There was a reason why Scaled Shrews wandered by themselves and ate carelessly despite living in a forest that had several creatures. Its innate fidgetiness, reflexes, and defensive capabilities gave it the privilege to be somewhat reckless. Anyway, Saito's attack had continued as he planned, but instead of pinning down a defenseless creature that was on its back, he had himself a plated ball to deal with.

---

AYA, RAGI, BUG, & TWIG
With Ragi as a right hand, Aya's talents as a leader were gradually blooming. Their plan was set and each piece knew their role; at least most of them did. Aya did do her best to discuss the details of what they were about to do. It wasn't here fault that Bug and Twig were, well, Bug and Twig.

Aya took the responsibility of setting up the hole they would need to trap whatever creature it was that they would encounter. Although not difficult, without the right tools, such a task would definitely be challenging. And Aya soon realized this. With only rocks at her disposal, digging deep was going to be hard. The soft ground was the easiest to get through, but each strike after that required more and more force. You could argue that this wasn't that tiring, but with enough repetition, even an adult goblin would feel the fatigue. It only took a few strokes before the task proved to be taxing as Aya's stomach began to growl. Fortunately for her, the goblin she was with was perfect for the task. Bug blankly stared at Aya as she started to dig and it took a while for the young goblin to actually move. Why? Well, he failed to understand the purpose of their plan. But eventually, was he able to put two and two together? No, he still didn't get it. He just thought digging would be fun. Whether it was going to be as fun as rock smashing, that was something he'd soon find out. Bent down on all fours, Bug ferociously went at it. Dirt, soil, and rock flew past his legs and between his thighs. It was hard to explain, but it was definitely instinct driven; like a dog digging up a bone. Although ending up panting in exhaustion and covered entirely in soil, Bug turned to Aya with both arms flexed and raised in the air before happily dropping on his back, inside the hole he just made.

While her siblings were busy with the preparations, Ragi quietly made her way near the trees, in search of some she could chase towards the hole. With her makeshift weapon in hand, Ragi silently crept from one tree trunk to another, in hopes of catching a creature off guard. As soon as she made a turn though, right in front of her face, blankly staring back at her, was a Harvest Sloth plopped against a tree. Ragi was obviously startled, but did her best to hold her scream in. The sloth remained calm and still before tilting it's head side wards. After taking a good look at it, Ragi realized that its eye reminded her of Aya's, causing her to hesitate. She was at a loss. One hand, she didn't have the heart to kill this cute creature, but on the other hand, she remembered that Aya said that it's likely most other creatures should be able to kill and eat goblins. She finally decided to leave the creature alone and look for some other prey candidate, but once she saw the creature following her, Ragi decided to bring her to the group and let Aya study the creature more before heading out to look for a less adorable creature to eat.

Out of the four, the most menial of the tasks were left to Twig. He was asked to gather rocks and sticks. It was a simple task, and for good measure, Aya made use of exaggerated and almost comical gestures to help Twig understand. He nodded and agreed to her request as he left for his search, but unfortunately, Twig didn't quite get it. He knew what rocks were; he was second only to Bug in that regard, but sticks. What the hell were those? He found himself beneath some trees, where sticks and branches were scattered aplenty. One by one, Twig would pick up pieces of wood, to only throw them over his shoulder.

"Dis stick? Nah, it twig. Maybe dis? Nope. Just fat twig. Oh, stick? Oh, only big twig."

This went on for several minutes. The only thing that took his attention, was the presence of a rather large rock. Using what little brain he had, Twig realized that in exchange for the lack of sticks and instead of many smaller stones, he could give Aya one big one. "Good job, Twig." he told himself while patting his own back. Not being able to lift the massive rock as troublesome, but this didn't stop Twig. Using his body and legs, he started pushing the rock forward, slowly pushing it to where Aya and Bug were.

---

KRISHNA, RENA, & TIK
Driven by instinct and hunger, many of the young goblins made their way into the forest, where their first meal was simply waiting for them. However, once you take a look at the other side of the coin, you could say that the goblins could have been food for some other creature.

One of the first few to realize this firsthand was Krishna. He had left the cave with another goblin named Gor. He was tall, confident, helpful, and was the one who invited Krishna to hunt outside. Gor seemed dependable, so he had no reason to decline his offer. Sadly, they encountered a Horned Rabbit; it was alone and had a few scars around its body and mouth.

The rock-wielding Gor, ever so confident, decided to face the rabbit head on. The mighty goblin's attack hit its mark, striking the horned beast at the side of its head. The mightier rabbit hit its mark as well and rammed its horn straight through Gor's chest. It was over in an instant. Without any visible injuries, the Horned Rabbit turned its sights to Krishna, and was about to lunge towards the newborn greenskin.

Little did it know, emerging from the bushes behind it, were Rena and Tik. It was just the coincidence Krishna needed; talk about good timing.