Adaptation.

  That is the deepest nature of goblins. And no one knows it better than goblins. When you go hunting with only one eye, and you're a goblin, you rely on other things.

  Sounds. Smells. Touch. Reverberations in the ground could be just as telling as seeing something when you were attuned enough to them. That's what Chiel was learning as he sought the cave he needed.

  Chiel found five caves. One a verdwolf den that he noted, in case they wanted to return for a rger hunt. The other's lesser creatures of the nd, not worth a hunt.

  The fifth was what he wanted. The signs were all there, no creature approached it despite it's seeming emptiness. A rge collection of bones gathered around the entrance, seemingly further proof of it's abandonment.

  Chiel knew better, he'd seen these dens before, rare though they were. The creature which y within was deadly, but the most delectable thing he'd ever had. The most obvious proof was the smoothed edges of the entrance, as if something had dug the space out itself.

  This was the den of a ith.

  And Chiel could feel it there. Hidden beneath the earth. The soft shake of it's breathing as it waited for something to come into its trap.

  An abandoned cave, and a trap to ensnare the wounded and alone. That was the ith's cunning. The burrowing assassins of the woods.

  Monstrous beasts with terrifying scaled hides, each scale so small that it appears to be one solid skin, yet so thick it was impenetrable to weapons. Fangs with venom that could kill a bear in moments.

  Chiel had his sword, but that was for protection from other things, not for the hunt. That's not how goblins hunted on their own. Especially not something so dangerous.

  First things first, the trap. Which first needed the right spot. Chiel had already spotted one on his way in, which was good because he'd already taken too long.

  He didn't have time to dig a pit, and it would be ineffective here anyway. That was the favored method, and probably the way Gief and Chaft had caught their boars.

  Next Chiel began gathering fallen branches. Taking chunks of sturdy fresh wood and using his sword to give them crude, sharp points. They didn't need to be super sharp, in fact slightly blunt would probably be better considering his targets durability.

  Chiel quickly cut a dozen of these spears, each twice as long as he was, and fastened them to the branches he'd found. Two branches on one of the low tree's, the rare sturdy tree's which lived by leeching off of the roots of the rger trees. They were thick and sturdy, but their branches were often very flexible.

  Perfect for Chiels goal. He pulled them back, tightening them and shing the makeshift spears to them with vines. When he was done Chiel examined his work, checking the triggers were easy to reach. Practicing running through the trap safely himself.

  When he was ready Chiel took one spare spear, moving forward until he could just sense the ith. He hefted the spear, took a deep breath and thought of Sioh. He unched the spear where he knew it to be. Where it waited feeling for him.

  He heard the ground explode behind him as he broke into a sprint long before the spear nded. The sound of the creature hissing and snarling. Not in pain, but in anger, frustration.

  A prey had woken it and ran, and it gave chase. Chiel grimaced hoping it wouldn't give up before the traps. Instinct took over, sliding under an arched root as his ears heard the thunder of the bde like cws ssh where he had just been.

  He knew it was too big to fit through the gap, so it would have to go over, around or under. All three took more time, keeping it distant. As he felt it's quaking steps catching up again he turned and leapt over some more roots. Uneven terrain were also it's weakness.

  He was close now, his breathing was ragged already, damn goblins endurance. He'd wished the trap were closer as he gasped for breath. But there was no pce where he could make it right.

  He saw the traps about the same time he felt a weight sm into his back. With a shriek he forced himself into a forward roll, dropping his bde.

  Shit he needed that to hit the triggers!

  He kept running, thinking fast. He grabbed a pouch from his waist, his trophy pouch. Various cws, bones and fangs from other things he'd killed filled it. He grabbed two big teeth from probably a goblin he'd killed.

  He couldn't remember.

  He looked for the first trigger as he ran and there! Hard to spot with one eye but he knew what he'd been looking. A quick twist of his arm and-

  THWIP

  The bent branch, spears shed to it, whipped almost faster than Chiel could react. If he hadn't known it was coming and acted before it started coming, he would have died. Instead he heard the pained snarl of the creature behind him, and the snapping and cracking of the wood.

  One trap wouldn't kill it obviously. That's what the second was for. He took aim again as he ran and threw. He missed!

  He swore, darting under a cw as he felt the air compressing from one side. Adaptation. He took the whole bag and heaved!

  THWIP

  This time he felt the air as the whip trap hissed above his head, a crash and a screaming snarl filled the air behind him. He turned, grabbing his spare knife from his sash and faced his foe.

  If Temate or Toni were here they would be able to name the beast that it most resembled, but all Chiel saw was a ith. A huge, green reptilian creature shed about, tearing the makeshfit spears out of its bleeding hide. A long, extending neck lead to a forked tongue sticking out of an angur face.

  Huge hooked cws and fangs thrashed into the ground and shattered wood. The 14 foot long ith, a giant monitor lizard as Temate would have called it, gred at what should have been it's prey. It had wounded the ith heavily, but it was so small. Quick, but it couldn't hurt him any more. Surely!

  The ith hissed, pulling itself up as high as it could to intimidate the small thing. The prey thing snarled at it and began to charge! For a moment the ith was taken aback, it suddenly didn't look so small. It felt bigger, scarier for a moment. Just a moment though.

  The ith shed out with venomous fangs and Chiel threw himself into a shoulder roll. Beneath it's long neck he found a wound and smmed his dagger into it.

  His arms went in up to his elbows as the creature hissed in pain and rage. It began to sh, trying to knock Chiel away, to crush him beneath it.

  Chiel slipped out from under it and kept moving, leaping atop it to jab into another wound near it's shoulder. With it's wounds the creature was slow, but with only his knife he couldn't strike a finishing blow! Yet his sword was so, so far away now.

  Then he heard a ctter of wood and sought it out. One of the spears had fallen out completely, Chiel's eyes widened and he dove onto it.

  He stumbled up from a rough grab and roll to turn toward the ith as it lunged at him again. A huge cw moved so fast Chiel didn't fully get out of the way, the cw carved into his not-bde arm.

  It was Chiel's turn to hiss in pain but he conquered it. If he hadn't the fangs which came down after the cw would have caught him.

  Instead Chiel felt the shift and threw himself to the side. He spotted the area he had wounded with his dagger and took aim. He dodged blow after blow, taking a second scrape across one leg from a cw.

  So long as it wasn't a fang, the venom in those could kill beasts which were rger than the ith, he would be dead in an instant from that venom! Yet at the same time he needed to bait a lunging bite. He was panting heavily when he saw his opportunity.

  The ith was angry, this prey thing just kept dodging on it's fast, tiny feet. It hadn't been worth it, but the ith realized that as injured as it was running was no longer an option. This thing would just chase it and kill it. Yet it saw an opportunity. The prey thing was growing tired, panting for breath.

  It coiled back to lunge. Chiel tensed for a very risky move.

  The ith lunged and Chiel set himself on the spear which he lodged into the ground by its base. It was positioned awkwardly off to the side, but only for where Chiel was standing at the start of the lunge.

  With a careful step to the side Chiel lined himself up. The ith's vicious fanged maw hurtled a hairsbreadth from Chiel.

  At the same time Chiel stepped back in, swinging the tip of the spear with him. With the violent force of the ith's lunge, and the spear tip pointed towards the wound in its neck. Chiel braced it and himself and the spear went deep into the ith's neck. It screeched in primal fear and pain.

  It began shing as Chiel pushed the spear as deep in as he could. His leg screaming in pain as he felt the wound there tear open further. Then he took a back cw to the stomach which sent him hurtling through the air several feet away.

  He y gathering his breath as the ith screamed and writhed in pain. Trying desperately to remove the spear lodged deep in it's airway. While Chiel tried desperately to stabilize and stand.

  To fight!

  After a minute it grew quiet.

  After several more minutes Chiel managed to pull himself up from his injuries.

  There y the ith. Dead with Chiel's spear lodged in its throat. It's head was pressed into the ground having only pushed the spear deeper as it tried to snap it out. Chiel grinned and wooped loudly in victory. Falling backward as his head swam.

  After another several minutes Chiel dragged himself up. With great effort he retrieved his sword and returned to the ith. Then he realized a fw in his pn.

  He examined the massive creature. Easily three or four times as long as he was tall.

  "How am I bringing this back?" He grunted in his goblin tongue.

  "He die." Sioh grunted again, Toni shook her head again.

  "We'll wait still, Laurel assured me that they'd be safe, the Grand Ceil already tested us, so it'll be fine." She wasn't really wholly confident about that, but she hadn't wanted to face the Grand Ceil again in the end. Chiel not being back yet was a perfect excuse to stay behind with the goblins.

  Well that and Tharoah refusing to let the goblins into the mangal. She sat with the goblins who were mostly just carving and harvesting their catches from the day. Toni wasn't sure of the gibtas thing. It was like a giant purple frog, but without the front legs. It didn't look all that appetizing, but the goblins seemed excited.

  "Why was he going out hunting alone anyway?" Toni asked, pointing to Roikx and Fraar, "Look what they got working together, I thought goblins hunted together don't they?"

  Toni looked back to Sioh and saw sadness on her face. Toni grimaced and reached out to touch the goblin womans shoulder but she brushed the hand away.

  "Proving hunts. Is goblin tradition, when choose mates, hunt alone. Prove strong get chosen, otherwise chief gets all mates." Sioh answered the question honestly.

  "Wasn't your st chief female? How's that work then?" Toni asked, trying to distract Sioh from Chiel's absence.

  Sioh shrugged. "Women hunt, men choose. More choose cause only one make children with chief. But that how work."

  "Huh." It was straightforward, and Toni couldn't help but admire the bance of it a bit.

  "Chiel die." Sioh said it again and Toni frowned.

  "You can't know that." Toni replied but Sioh just shook her head.

  "He be back, too te. Too long. He die." Sioh said, it was so matter of fact that for a moment Toni could see Temate's face on Sioh's small goblin frame. She didn't want to admit it but she did believe Sioh. She didn't want to, she'd liked Chiel, the one eyed goblin was surprisingly nimble and incredibly co-ordinated. Especially considering the injury was so fresh.

  "Chiel back!" The shout came from Pebba, on watch at the other side of the camp. In a fsh Sioh was on her feet and running. Toni stood and followed after her.

  When she got over Sioh was hugging Chiel really tightly and then, after releasing him, she spped him hard. The two started talking in their goblin tongue. At first it looked like an argument, then it became an excited babble. Then Chiel hefted something off his back and there was an uproar.

  "What's going on?" Toni looked down at the massive tooth, easily as big as Chiel himself.

  "C-Chiel kill ith!" Trir, one of the youngest of the female goblins who still walked with a limp from some damage Toni's grenade had done, excimed.

  "What's a ith?" Toni asked amidst a flurry of activity as the goblins began to throw together what looked like a massive sled.

  "Big, scaly, death bite. This fang!" Chiel held up the fang of the ith victoriously, grinning like a man on death's door. Then Toni saw the blood and realized he probably was!

  "Ooooh my god, sit down! You stupid..." Toni sat the goblin down with little resistance and pulled a small container from her bag. It was a small pstic tin which Pipuck had filled with the restorative fairy paste they made. It wouldn't have the same oomph without Pip applying it directly, but it was good in a pinch.

  Like this.

  "Sit still" Toni commanded, though she needn't have. Chiel, recognizing what she was doing, helpfully pointed out all of his injuries. He graphically described how the ith's cws, each as big as his own, had wounded him in the fight. He seemed proud of the wounds and scars, showing them off to the other goblins.

  Sioh, who directed the others in the making of the sled, came back over to check in regurly. Each time she pressed one of her hands to his shoulder or back, once even Toni saw their tails twist up. That was still weird to Toni, goblins didn't have tails in her fantasy stories, yet these ones did.

  They weren't crazy long, not even as long as their legs, which Toni guessed was normal. It was Ren who had the weirdly long tail when she thought about it. It also wasn't prehensile like Ren's from what Toni saw and heard. It just kinda helped them bance and was there.

  Toni saw what was happening here, and she vished Chiel with praise at each very detailed description of the fight. She suspected some of it was embellished, especially when he described the beast as being four times his height in length. That wasn't the point though, he was trying to impress Sioh, and Toni was rooting for him!

  She wondered what that would mean about Sioh's interest in Tem-AH MATE. Get it right in your head so you stop fucking it up girl! Sioh's interest in Mate might change, she redirected her thoughts. Maybe it wouldn't though? The goblins didn't seem to be particurly 'mate for life' or monogamous in any regard.

  Eventually she finished applying the poultice and, after forcing Chiel to sit and let everyone else handle it, helped with the sled. A couple hours ter they were standing at the entrance to a den and Toni came face to face with the ith. She had to admit, Chiel hadn't been embellishing it's size.

  Which probably meant he wasn't embellishing much else. Toni looked to Chiel suddenly and wondered how such a small and, from what she understood, weak creature managed this.

  "Chop here or take back?" Chiel was asking Sioh, who he clearly admired. Sioh looked it over before answering.

  "Take all back. All useful. Cws make weapons, get venom from mouth. Skin make armor. Good kill." Sioh spped Chiel on the back and he grinned through obvious pain. It took them not 5 minutes to get the ith hefted onto the sled and strapped down. The goblins were efficient, Toni had to admit that to herself.

  She was also taken aback when she realized they'd built the sled almost perfectly sized. She asked Sioh how she'd known that and Sioh looked at her dumbly.

  "Chiel tell when telling story. We make from how big he say it is to him." Sioh answered her and Toni bnched.

  "What if he'd been lying and it had been smaller, or bigger?" Toni asked.

  "Why would lie?" Sioh asked with clear confusion on her face.

  "I dunno, make himself seem stronger or cooler?" Toni replied and this time Sioh bnched.

  "Not good. If too big, remake carry and everyone mad. Too small and all know he lie. No point." Sioh waved her hand dismissively.

  "Mmm. No point." Qinq agreed from beside her. Chiel was sitting atop his kill like a king as the other goblins pushed or pulled the sled with the huge, green scaled monitor lizard back toward their campsite.

  "And how do you feel Qinq, you're the only one who came back empty handed." Toni said. Qinq simply shrugged.

  "Not strong enough. Can't fight many verdwolf, nothing else good to hunt." He replied casually. "Do better next time." He concluded with a nod.

  Crak, who stood next to him, nodded in agreement.

  "Goblin together strong. No point die, only stupid goblin die." She said as if to answer some unspoken question.

  "Okay but didn't Chiel almost die? Was that stupid?" Toni asked, grunting as she pulled her vine rope.

  The three goblins nodded. "Yes." Sioh said. "But no. He thought he stronger and win. He right, so not stupid."

  "But also stupid." Qinq said and Sioh nodded with Crak again.

  "Could have killed verdwolf. Would be enough." Sioh muttered then smiled. "But is good kill. Proof strong, maybe Chiel evolve from feast." Sioh told Toni.

  "Evolve?" Toni asked.

  The three goblins looked at her, stopping until one of the goblins, Chaft Toni was pretty sure, tossed a rock up and shouted something in goblin. Then they continued.

  "Become troll." Crak said so suddenly and ftly that Toni choked on the breath of air she was taking.

  "Goblins can do that?!" She asked incredulously. The three goblins just nodded.

  "Or Hobgoblin." Qinq added.

  "Bugbear." Crak added.

  "Calot." Sioh grunted with a pull. The other two looked at her and nodded.

  "Probably Calot." Crak agreed and Qinq nodded as well.

  "Wait, how do you know?" Toni asked the three goblins, but this time they just shrugged.

  "Feel right." Qinq said. And that was that. Toni asked some more questions which came to mind about goblins, but for the most part they traveled quickly back to their camp. There, an exasperated Temate checked Toni over amidst her meek, noncommittal protestation.

  "Really Mate, I came back completely uninjured dragging a giant lizard behind me and you're not even phased?" She grumbled at him and this time he did look embarrassed.

  "Honestly? That's the least magical thing we've seen so far, but yeah that's impressive. Chiel killed it?" He asked, and received several excited, garbled retellings of various parts of Chiel's fight.

  "Okay, okay, Chiel!" Temate shouted and the one eyed goblin hopped to attention before wobbling on his feet. "Sit down before you fall over." Temate commanded, when Chiel had he continued.

  "Good job, but next time if you're going for something like this let me or Toni know. We were worried about you." Temate told him and Chiel beamed at the praise, then blushed at the gentle chastisement.

  "Sorry chief. But see am strong!" Chiel pointed toward the ith and pounded his fist into his chest.

  "Yeah I see that, you'll have to tell me all about it over dinner, and I can tell you all about how my visit to the Grand Ceil went." He offered and there was a roar of excitement.

  To task the group went. Everyone but Temate, who apparently had no experience prepping game, helped carve up the ith. Setting each part aside for various uses ter. For now they used the meat of the ith, the gibtas and the two boars to make a feast. Tharoah and Laurel joined them ter, along with a handful of other Awakened Toni did not know.

  As they gathered in the light of the campfire, a raucous, and acted out, tale of a goblins battle with a ith behind them Temate began his story.

  Force2reckon