Cold.
Blackness.
A sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
...She felt utterly alone. The inky blackness that swirled in her vision greeted her like an old friend, but at the same time it felt so distant. She tried to move, but it felt like something heavy was weighing her down. She her noises and voices out in the distance, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Goblins or something or another? That sounded silly. She wasn't a goblin she was a...a something. Who was she, exactly? She couldn't recall.
As more and more of her senses returned, the goblin managed to finally shake off the sleep that plagued her. She managed to push herself to her feet, immediately noticing that there were other...goblins? That's right, she was a goblin. And her name was Silana. Odd, she could have swore...no matter, then. The second thing she noticed, she was a lot shorter than the others. Well then. Leave it to her to have the short end of the gene pool. What, was she a runt or something? Hah. That was funny.
Well, even if she was she'd...do something. She didn't know what, she wasn't a clever goblin yet. Instead of speaking and trying to say something like most of her brothers and sisters though, she simply remained silent and quietly observed. Walking wouldn't be too much of a problem...probably. Maybe the first few initial steps, but that's always the way it was in anything. First steps were the hardest and all that. That said...it seemed the rest of her brothers and sisters were still sleeping. Not much to observe, was it?
"..." She turned her head to what she believed would be someone who maybe had an inkling of what was happening here, blue eyes blinking as she observed them. Now...what would she do? She was curious as to what was going on.
She wanted to learn.
As Silana remained there in the darkness of the cave, the shadows cast at the point where the cave's darkness met the outside light shifted.
The form of its body was roughly similar to that of Silana and the Goblins near her, but save for that, this being was certainly no goblin. Clawed hands, dense musculature, mottled grey skin, height that towered above hers, and those yellow eyes that glinted with the ferality of a predator were all sure signs that this party was far distinct from her. And yet, it gave off nothing that could be called killing intent; indeed, the only pressure that seemed to emanate from it was from a primal fear that originated in Silana herself, rather than from anything the other was actually doing.
"Ah, another one's awake. It's fortunate I decided to stop by to check up on all of you when I did." The being remarked, its words every bit as comprehensible to Silana as they had been to the other newborn goblins.
"Child, welcome to the world. I am Kichi, leader of the goblin tribe of this Ironwood Forest that you have been born into." He introduced simply, gesturing for the younger goblin to follow him outside of the cave. Ordinarily he'd have been a bit more accommodating to one who had only been conscious for a net total of five seconds, but given the mental acuity that the others in this group of newborns had demonstrated, he saw it fit to be fairly straightforward.
"Your siblings woke up shortly before you, and have left to explore the place where a group of beings called 'humans' live, accompanied by my son. You're no doubt disoriented from just having awoken, but if you like, I will take you there to join them. You may also choose to stay here and get a bearing for this forest, if you so desire."Thankfully, any questions she immediately had were answered in a swift fashion by Kichi. So she was a late bloomer, so to speak? Wherever that expression came from she hadn't a clue. Seemed apt, at least. She listened intently to the older goblins words. Curious, she could understand him despite everything, but what was odd about that? She was a goblin and she should be able to understand him, after all. She followed him outside of the cave silently as she usually would be from now on, laying eyes on the forest outside for the first time. Iron wood forest. That was her home...the goblins home, that is.
As he went to explain where the others had went, a small smile crept across Silana's features. This was so...exciting, wasn't it? She was extremely curious as to what this forest...this, Ironwood had in store for her. Plus, her siblings as well! She was curious to meet them. She wondered what they were like.
"Silana." She said, turning her head to Kichi.
"Meeting my siblings sounds like fun."Kichi gave a slight nod in reply. Good, so this one seemed to be as quick to pick up on everything as the others had. For a brief moment, the clan chief's eyes lit up slightly, a sort of immaterial pressure pushing out from them before fading an instant later. It seemed that this one had a Gift as well, curious. Strictly speaking, there was nothing to say a generation of Goblins, all of them having Gifts, was impossible, but he couldn't help but question what sort of cause laid at the root of this.
"Very well, then. You'll be shown around this forest at a later time, but for now it's for the best that you get the chance to know your siblings." He stated simply, moving to exit the cavern without another word.
"Truth be told, my experience with the humans isn't as great as my son's, but it should still be fairly simple to find where they've gone off to. Come, follow me. If you feel any disorientation from your body, though, let me know and we will wait for that to subside.""Very well." Silana nodded, electing not to say anything as Kichi led her out of the cave.
What had...he just done? Some sort of pressure or something - he seemed to be looking at her fairly intently or some reason. Pervert? Was something wrong, perhaps? Maybe she should have asked to stay around the forest instead? Well, it didn't matter. Meeting her siblings would be much more fun anyways. For the most part though she remained silent. She felt fine, more or less - though she did feel awfully small compared to the older goblin. Would she get taller once she got older or something? Being short forever would be annoying.
For the most part, unless Kichi asked something she would continue following in silence. It would likely become increasingly clear she wasn't going to be much of a talker.
Evidently, Kichi wasn't much of a talker when not being asked questions either, so the net result between the two wound up being a very silent walk out of the forest, and towards a settlement that was presumably the aforementioned space of the humans, a notion made all the more reasonable by the strange pink-skinned certainly-not-goblin things stationed out in front of the settlement. A few words in an unfamiliar language were exchanged between Kichi and the humans at the city gate. Presumably this had something to do with figuring out where in the city the others had gone off to. Without warning, Silana felt a momentary sting on her skin, albeit one that faded just as quickly as it appeared, before the not-goblin-things granted herself and her clan elder access to the city.
As had been mentioned during the other's group escapade through the city, the sight was one a touch overwhelming to a newly-conscious goblin. Countless people, countless sounds, countless scents. The only real difference worth mentioning was that, rather than being greeted enthusiastically as Sabu had been, the civilians seemed to grant Kichi something of a wide berth, few calling out to him as he walked the streets. Evidently, he carried quite a different reputation among the humans compared to his son.
Regardless, the walk through the city went without issue, and before long the Bugbear and goblin had arrived outside of a small wooden building.
"Given what the humans said Sabu had mentioned, they're likely in here with...that one."The human city absolutely fascinated Silana. Overwhelming as it was, she absolutely loved it. She watched the humans with her usual passive gaze, studying them. How did she know they were humans? Well, Kichi said they were going to a human settlement. It was quite a logical conclusion, since they most certainly weren't goblins. She had to wonder why they were staying away from Kichi, though. Were they scared for some reason? That seemed appropriate, so she didn't entirely know why. Perhaps Kichi was just that powerful? She didn't get long to muse on it, though. Silana tilted her head to the side in a curious fashion. She felt somewhat nervous, though it didn't display on her face.
Well, no sense in wasting time or hesitating. That'd be silly.
Without a word, Silana walked into the building, ready to greet her siblings.
