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Where mountains snake around a crater, 30 goblin dens, and a lazy river nestle. But one of the dens is destroyed or unfinished with piled up stones and wooden pillars, with two giant palm tree leaves to act as cover. The ground is just the damp soil and prickly blades of grass so it is not a comfortable dwelling to be slumbering in, especially for a red skinned kin that looks barely the age of five. “Ortin” the bigger, 8 ft tall goblin nudges her awake. Brought with him is a freshwater tuna that they both share and eat for the morning.
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“We will be running today again right?” asks Ortin, whose patch of herbs around her right shoulder has withered, yet the wound from an arrow she got remains deep.
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“Yes” The tall one responds, fishing out needles and thread leaves from his pocket. “Your shoulder please. But you don’t have to run you know”
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And Ortin still offers her shoulder, just like when she had her stomach stabbed, her toe almost cut off, and her neck slashed. Fortunately, she survived the pain and left her eyes dead and hollow. After the goblin brother patches her up, he gives him a flint, saying that she will need it later during the run. She can only sigh for the next hour. Until the camp elder asks the men to gather the food supplies from the storage, the women gather the children, and Ortin–a special case, to be left behind and warn them of any coming danger.
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A goblin one for his goblin kin
Yet they leave me behind because I have sinned
For my skin is red and theirs are green
A curse that has been told onto me
By my own kin
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Left behind, the plains of this crater seem so peaceful and chirpy. With hares and deers elegantly prancing around, poking their heads like whack a mole, and white doves are flying in the sky. One of them leaves the flock, flying back to the gray clouds. The beautiful salmon have also come, jumping and prettily sprinkling against the current of the lazy river as they try to run upstream. “Hehe” Ortin giggles heartily, sitting on a welcoming rock while watching a bear clumsily trying to fish one out. “That bear is stupid~” Then, an arrow whistles by her ear.
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Her eyes wide awake, alert of the danger. She whistles with the whistling leaf to warn the rest. Before running for her own.
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They are here. The humans are here. With their wooden bows and iron swords, they charge in cavalries. But strangely, they are fewer than before. Yelling and shouting at the red goblin they see. Eyes hungry like greedy thieves. Cursing out words at what they will do to her.
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Ortin had quickly sprinted into the forest. Dashing and jumping around rocks and ravines, while averting any of the dangerous poisonous dart frogs or insects and bladed flora. She enters a cave, sounding the whistling leaf once more to warn her kinsmen. Going deeper, making quickly her own torch from the flint she got from goblin brother earlier, and proceeding fearlessly in the dark. But at the same time, looking back and feeling hopeful that she might be able to trap her pursuers. For all the humans have done to her and her kinsmen, her fear becomes anger. But she does not turn back, only gritting her teeth.
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She steps cautiously into different chambers, sniffing and trying to smell out her smelly goblin brother from all the nasty insect droppings. Sniffing, and sniffing, until she catches his scent. She sprints, as fast as she could while calling out to her goblin brother and her kinsmen that she has outrun them once again. Gleefully calling out to them, telling them that they can go out on the other side quickly and have merry celebrations…
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But what meets her is the sound of a crying baby–her own kinsmen and gasping against the metallic sound of a blade. Ortin instantly stops dead on her tracks. Her chest beating out sweat as she rolls her torch forward and sees her goblin brother, and kinsmen all on the ground. Bloody with surprised faces. Black shoes step into her torch’s light and humans in their night goggles greet her with devilish grins.
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Ortin wants to scream, mourn, and find a way to guilt rather than trying to escape. Her goblin brother, and the rest of her kinsmen all died in front of her. All that she was running for now is gone. Her knees faints as the humans walk up to her. Telling her that she gives up pretty easily for being always the lamb sacrifice
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And Ortin yells out with all her frustration, “WHAT DO YOU KNOW!”
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“Let me tell you then. Before you got here, these monsters were planning to ‘finally’ dispose of you. They could have left you behind and saved themselves but they think they should kill you here in this cave, all of them against you. But one of them was against the idea and decided to stall the time. Of course, we were already waiting in ambush as soon as they would leave but they never left the cave. They were really into the idea of ganging up against you. So I think that's messed up. You grew up with them, thinking of them as your family and they’re just going to betray you. How messed up does that sound! So that’s why we decided to kill them first before they kill you. And that’s the whole story really. The last of the goblins are now gone because they want to kill the only being that helped them. Like how we humans killed our God but instead, we save the goblin’s God. And we offer, all of their bodies and all of their blood that we have spilled, onto you, O’great Shapeshifter Ortin.”
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