A terrified child holds Gikka at knife point, their voice shaking, yet their hands are strong as they look at the wizard and the cat and asks... "Why should I trust you? Ones like you kill ones like me all the time. I have no one, but I still don't want to die." -- Anon Guest
Half of the kid's camouflage was filth. The other half was a mottling of hues. If they were in a city, the people would have dismissed them as a Halfbred. A mixture of intelligent creatures, and a blending of traits. There were scales, tusks, and fangs in the mixture. Claws and burning eyes. And a visible collar bone. They were barely bigger than Gikka, a full-grown Kobold.
Wraithvine could see the bones of the hand that held the blade.
Ze had an important question to answer. "I would appreciate it if you didn't kill my friends while I try to prove myself to you," ze said. "That will take some time. You've run afoul of too many heroes."
"...yeah," said the kid.
"I can summon the good berries for you? And anything I make for food, you can swap anything given with anything I'm eating. I will never use a spell on you without permission, and to prove such, I have a monocle that allows its user to see magic. You can even strap it over one eye if you so wish." Moving very slowly, ze took the item out of hir pocket. Allowed it to dangle from hir outstretched hand.
Their other hand snatched it, held it over one eye and muttered a word. The knife never wavered from Gikka's throat. "All right," the kid allowed. "That's worth a Kobold, I guess." They shoved her towards Wraithvine and maintained a defensive stance. "Do the berries."
"May I heal my friend first?" said Wraithvine. "The wound is minor, but it could easily become infected."
While hir hands were occupied, the child dropped their guard long enough to strap the monocle to their head. They were quick and efficient, and back to guarded wariness before Wraithvine had finished hir incantations. The bush of good berries was abundant, and free of thorns.
"Do you have a name I may use?" asked Wraithvine.
"Nobody's needed one," said the kid. They picked a berry and swallowed it whole. Held Wraithvine's gaze as ze did the same. Waited for any sign of sickness, and when none came, they said, "I guess you can call me... Berrie."
"Hail and well met, Berrie," said Wraithvine. "My Kobold friend is called Gikka and, it may be hard to believe, but my name is Wraithvine."
The usual skepticism did not happen. "Am I s'posed'a know what that means?"
"You will learn in time," allowed Wraithvine.
They would all learn from this encounter.
[Photo by Luke van Zyl on Unsplash]
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