Full Moon Monsters

Chapter 2: Rouhan's Team Growing; A Family is Made

The Next Morning

The three goblins had killed quite a lot on their one day hunting. So far, they had managed to take down and skin fifteen Uni-Rabbits. At the moment, they were taking their kills to a section of the caves Rouhan had found on his own. It was a small but very cold cave, perfect for keeping meat to stay fresh. They hid it using a cloth they took from a bunch of goblins who didn't want to use it. They made it into a tarp to cover the hole and made sure that they weren't followed. As they were heading back, the three made discussions with one another.

Kichi voiced out his hunger pains, "Why couldn't we eat all of it? There was still more to eat."

"If we did that, we wouldn't have any leftovers," Rouhan stated. "Besides, we had five of them before we got back with the ten still remaining, as well as the furs and horns."

"Well, yeah, but I'm still hungry," Kichi complained, rubbing his tummy. "I'm a growin' goblin boy. I need a lot of protein."

Seiji arched an eyebrow, as he stated, "What do you mean growing? You're the same build as me and Rouhan."

Kichi got into his face, as he shouted, "Hey, don't mock my appetite! And besides, it's not like we're gonna stay goblins forever, right?"

Rouhan nodded at that, "Yeah, that's true."

It wasn't four days ago that Rouhan learned that goblins could level, or evolve, into bigger and stronger forms. The next stage in a goblin's life… if they reached it… was a Hobgoblin: a goblin race that were more humanoid in appearance, voice, and features. After that… it was pretty much a mystery to them. Though it would have to be on hold until they went out for the next hunt.

However, as they rounded the corner… the same goblin girl that scolded Rou from looking at her, as well as her friend, stood there. The three boys stopped, as they were blocking their way, arms crossed and looked at them rather suspicious. They said nothing as they glared at the three boys, silently spooking them out in the process.

Finally, the girl that shouted at Rouhan stated, "I saw you guys hunting. Care to explain what you're doing back there?"

The three looked to one another, and knew right then and there was no way to get out of this. Rouhan sighed in defeat, as the green goblin looked to the girl, "Well…."

Later On

Elsewhere

All five were sitting together, with all the other goblins ignoring their conversation. At that moment, the angered suspicious faces that the two goblin girls had were replaced with shock and surprise. The lead goblin girl asked Rouhan, "Y-You guys hunted and killed fifteen Uni-Rabbits?!"

The young goblin boy shushed her, not wanting her to tell the whole cave, "Yes. But you can't just blow the horn on it."

The second goblin girl asked, "How is it you three managed to survive them?"

Rouhan arched an eyebrow, as he asked, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"She's got a point," the first female replied. "I mean, we've seen other goblins drag back corpses of our own. They all had horn marks; like something had been rammed through it."

Rouhan paled at that, as did Kichi and Seiji, as they all thought, 'Seriously?!' But then Rouhan thought calmly, 'Now that she mentions it, the first nine of them did seem pretty easy to kill, but when it came to those last six…' After the first nine seemed pretty easy, the last six instead of run away… charged at them. Rouhan was lucky enough to come up with a strategy of tricking the rabbits to ram into trees, getting them stuck, and then he, Kichi, and Seiji finished them off in their stuck and trapped states. He sweat dropped as he thought, 'Man, I'm lucky I was quick enough to come up with that last part.'

It was then that Rouhan had realized the harsh fact: Goblins were kinda dumb. If they didn't have the ingenuity to use a stick as a weapon, they'd be easy pickings for creatures like this rabbit.

"I have to admit, I thought there was something different about you. Rouhan, was it," the first goblin girl asked, catching Rouhan's attention. But then he noticed she was smiling at him… and blushing, as she finished, "But you're not like the others. You're clever… and strong."

Rouhan blushed at that, taken aback by the compliment, as well as the cute smile she had, 'She… she thinks I'm strong?' he then asked, "Really? Me?"

The female goblin nodded, "Yeah, so far none of the others can compete with you."

He then changed the subject, as he pointed to Seiji and Kichi, "Well, what about these two?"

The goblin girl looked at Kichi, and bluntly stated, "Average." And then looked to Seiji, "He's pretty quick on his feet, but I don't think he's like you, Rouhan."

Both Seiji and Rouhan sweat dropped while Kichi remained indifferent, as both thought, 'Well, at least she's honest.' But then Rouhan asked aloud, "Say, what have you two been eating?"

"Fruit and stuff," the other female answered, nonchalantly in a way.

Rouhan thought about it for a moment, and then came to the conclusion, as he looked at the two, "What are your names?"

The lead female goblin pointed to herself, "I'm Mia." And then pointed to her friend, "And this is Shino."

Rouhan stood up, as he clapped his hands clean and put them on his hips, "Well, later on today, me and the guys were gonna go hunting again. And I was wondering… do you two wanna come with us?"

Both girls were a bit shocked by this, even Mia, as she stuttered, "R-Really? You want us to join you?"

Rouhan nodded, as he half-smirked, "Yeah, I mean fruit's good for ya, but if there's no protein in the diet, it can't be that good if you're trying to build up strength." He looked to the others, "You guys are okay with this?"

Kichi shrugged, "I don't mind, Rou."

Seiji nodded, as he grabbed his new Uni-Rabbit horn swords, "Hey, if three goblins could catch that much later on, imagine what we'll catch today with five."

Mia's eyes widened with surprise, but then she hung her head down, shivering while placing her fists on her knees in a kneeling position. Rouhan thought he might have said something to offend her, as he walked to her. "Mia? Hey, did I say something wrong? You okay?"

But suddenly, she jumped at him, glomping him until they were both down on the ground with her smiling, "You really mean it, Rouhan?" Blushing, he nodded to her, as she embraced him again, almost nuzzling him, as she cried out, "Thank you, Rouhan. I promise you won't regret it!"

But Rouhan was blushing, as both their naked bodies were rubbing against one another, as he stated, "Mia, you're naked. Can you please get off me?"

"Why? What's the problem, Rouhan," Mia asked confused.

"We're not wearing anything, that's why," Rouhan stated. "I don't have the material to make anything for us to wear yet, let alone effective weaponry."

While the two were debating on that, Shino walked up next to Kichi, as he looked to her and asked, "Something wrong with this? I don't get why Rouhan's acting like that; she just seems happy to be in the group."

"Yeah, he should actually be lucky," Seiji stated, folding his arms as he looked away, looking jealous, "Lucky guy having a girl all over him like that, gushing."

Shino, on the other hand, smiled at this as she commented, "Not sure myself. But I can definitely say this. In the four to five days since we've been born, I've never seen Mia this happy."

Later On

The group, now a group of five, were wandering through the forest to look for any uni-rabbits at sight. So far, it had been a few hours, and so far… nothing.

Kichi was biting his fingers, rather just gnawing at them, while he still held his club branch, "Rouhan… when are we gonna find some food? I'm starving."

Rouhan grumbled, "We're all starving, Kichi. We just need to put up with it until something comes our way."

Mia wobbled over to Rouhan, holding her Uni-Rabbit horn weapon in hand along with a stick, as she moaned and whined, feeling the effects of starvation already, "Rouhan.. how long does it usually take to find food with you guys? We've been out here for two hours…"

The rumbling in Rouhan's stomach was getting to him too, as he sighed, groaning, "Takes a while, but for some reason, it's taken a bit longer."

"Wonder why," Seiji groaned too, though he asked not in sarcasm but in honesty. He looked around, as he was looking for someone, but then asked, "Hey, where's Shino?"

"She went on ahead," Rouhan answered. "I asked her if she could look ahead, get a better clear view of where we're going."

Mia looked around, and then noticed, as she spoke her mind aloud, "Now that you mention it this place is unfamiliar. I think we've gone a bit farther from the cave."

Now that she mentioned it and looking around a bit, Rouhan did notice they were in an uncharted part of the forest. It seemed like it would stretch on forever, what with all the trees, hills, steep slopes, and so forth. Though there were still animals and birds making sounds, they were hidden in plain sight. The young goblin just had to wonder what was out in this area for them to use.

"Hey, you guys," Shino's voice suddenly cried out as they all looked around. Finally, they saw her up on a hilltop, shaded by the trees, as she pointed behind her, "You guys won't believe what I found! Check this out!"

The others ran up after her to see what the big deal was. Once they got up there, they were stunned to say the least, as they caught a glimpse of what it was that the brown haired female goblin was all excited about.

Everyone was at a complete loss of what to say, well say for Kichi since at times he didn't really know what to say. The thing that Shino wanted to show them and led them to was in fact a beautiful lake oasis that lay surrounded by towering boulders and cliffs on one side and dense forests of trees on the other. Moss-covered, rock formations jutted from the water's surface like sentinel statues while roaring waterfalls created clouds of misty white as they cascaded down the deep crevices that scarred the cliff's surface. There were even a small waterfall near mass amounts of exotic plants like elephant ears, exotic flowers, and other things. Truly, if goblins had the right to have paradise, this would be theirs in this hunting ground of a forest.

Shino smiled at seeing such a sight, "I know… it's so beautiful."

Mia smiled, as her eyes sparkled at seeing something new other than the dank and dark blackness of the cave that they lived in. "Y-Yeah, it's like a starry night in daytime," she smiled. She looked to Rouhan, as she asked, "Isn't it beautiful, Rouhan?"

He nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I mean it's a better change in scenery than the cave."

Seiji leaned on a nearby rock, as he smirked, "The light's a good change, with all the colors, I'll admit."

Kichi blinked, as he shrugged, "I don't get it. It's just a big puddle of water. What's the big deal?"

Everyone groaned at Kichi's bluntness as Shino shook her head and half-smirked at Kichi's cluelessness. But as everyone was trying to get over Kichi's cluelessness at the beauty of the oasis, Rouhan's mind was remembering something back from last night. Something his mother was talking about.

Rouhan arched an eyebrow as he frowned, "Baths? Why do I need to do that? I'm always covered in dirt, and if I get any clothing, it'll just be the same. Why bother?"

His mother merely shook her head while retaining her smile, but she explained, "Well, it may seem odd and unnecessary by your fellow goblins, but it's very important to keep yourself clean."

Rouhan blinked, "But why?"

"Well, it's like this," his mother explained. "Practicing good hygiene will not only help with interacting with other races but help ensure no animals can detect your scent. This will allow you to catch food more easily."

While the others were conversing with Kichi on why it was so beautiful, Rouhan lifted his arm to smell his armpit. He immediately shuddered at the smell, shaking his head. 'Boy, I am ripe,' he thought to himself, and then blinked, 'Maybe our smell is what's causing the animals around us to back off.' He grumbled as he sweatdropped, 'Man, I never thought I'd hate it when my mom was right about something.'

He placed his uni-horn sword down, and then ran down to the oasis, jumping up in the air…

SPLASH!

Everyone went wide eye and stopped what they were doing, as they looked down, seeing Rouhan bobbing out of the water. He spat out some water, as he began to swim around the oasis lake. At this moment, everyone just looked in confusion, but then Seiji smirked, as he ran down with the others following him, as he commented, "Good idea, Rouhan. The water's teeming with fish. If you keep swimming, they might come to the surface." He then drooled a little, "I'll bet the fish in there are tasty as ever…"

Rouhan stopped his swim-about, as he blinked, "What…?"

But Mia looked confused, as she stated to Seiji and Rouhan, "Wait a second. I think we might need some fishing gear. Otherwise all that thrashing would just scare them off."

Rouhan shook his head, as he explained, "I'm not hunting or fishing. I'm just taking a bath."

Now it was everyone's turn again to be confused at this, looking at him with blank and confused looks on their faces. Finally, Kichi asked the obvious question, "A what?"

"A bath," Rouhan explained. "You know, for keeping clean."

It was Shino's turn to ask a question, as the brown-haired female asked, "Why? What's the purpose of this bath or bathing that you're talking about?"

"It's mostly just to get clean," Rouhan explained it as best he could. "The animals will know that we're coming if we smell, like… well goblins. But it'll be easier to set traps and ambushes if we don't give off the scent the animals will know as danger. I think it's also the reason why we haven't had any luck finding anything. I mean we give off a pretty foul smell." He then went back to swimming, as he left the others with their thoughts.

The others looked to each other, pondering for any answers, as Rouhan was swimming around, going under and coming back up. Shino looked to her friend, and asked, "What do you think about it, Mia?"

Mia was a bit nervous on it, as she brought her arms up, with her hands balled up under her chin, "Well, I… I don't really know about this…"

"I'll do it," Kichi stated, as he dropped his club and started to run towards the water.

"Same here," Seiji said, as he threw his weapons aside, and they both ran for the water.

Both girls blinked in this, as they asked, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Joining in," Seiji replied back. "Rouhan's hunting skills have helped us so far. If this thing called a bath helps us with getting food, then I'm gonna give it a try."

"Same here," Kichi nodded, and then they both jumped right on in. The girls looked for a moment, as did Rouhan, until the two busted out of the water, with Seiji gargling as Kichi smiled feeling the coolness of the water, "Aaaaahh. Wow, this actually feels pretty good."

Seiji began to swim around, as he smirked, feeling the freshness of being in the water, "Yeah, it beats walking around in the heat like crazy from earlier." He then stopped, as he looked at the two, "You two should jump in too. The water's fine."

Both girls looked at the clear blue water in uncertainty. But then they felt the heat from the sun become much worse. Finally, Shino put her stick down, as she cried out, "That's it! I'm going in!"

Mia blushed at this, as she asked, "You are?!"

"Well, whether Rouhan's right or not, I'm not gonna sit in this heat while those three get to cool off," Shino stated, and then jumped into the water. She resurfaced, as she sighed in relief of the warm yet very cooling sensation of being in the water, "Seiji's right. This does feel nice." She then dived down into the water, disappearing down below.

Mia was feeling a little bit unsure, rather worried in point of fact, 'I don't know. This still doesn't seem like a good idea when we should be hunting.' But then she felt it getting hotter as she began to sweat more and started to feel slimy, as she felt uncomfortable, 'But this heat isn't helping.' "I can't take it," she thought as she threw down her weapon, and jumped forward, crying out, "EEEEEEEEEYAAAAAA!" and then crashed into the water, and blinked as she saw herself underwater floating. She felt something odd as she opened her eyes to see Rouhan, underwater with her as she realized she jumped on top of him. They both swam up to the surface.

Both taking a breath of air, as she apologized, worried that she might have done something offensive. "Rouhan I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there. Are you alright?"

Rouhan coughed up a bit of water, but shook his head, being rather calm on it, "Yeah, I'm okay." He then cleared his nose, as he apologized, "I'm sorry though. I didn't see you jump into the water when I went underwater." But then he asked, "So… does it feel good?"

Mia took notice of the cool feeling from the water all over her body. The feeling of weightlessness as she floated with her head and shoulders being the only thing to touch the surface. The coolness and warmth of the water felt so good, so relaxing to her, that she had forgotten the hard and dirty floors of the cave they lived and slept in. She closed her eyes and smiled, "Yes. Yes, it does."

SPLASH!

Mia was brought out of her relaxation by Rouhan splashing water on her, as she spat out, "Hey, that was mean!"

Rouhan smirked as he continued, as he laughed, while she called out, "Okay, knock it off! Stop!" He did so as he swam back laughing. Mia then huffed, but then smirked evilly, as she swam after him, "Oooh, I'll get you for that, Rouhan!" And then jumped at him, as the two wrestled and splashed in the water, having a water splash fight amongst the two.

Kichi smiled seeing Rouhan having a good time with Mia, "That looks like fun." And then saw Seiji backstroking, as he jumped at him, "SPLASH FIGHT!" But all that could be heard was Seiji screaming in fear, as Kichi launched right at him.

Meanwhile, Shino continued to swim underwater, taking in the view as he rnaked body floated underwater, as she looked around with her yellow eyes at the underwater world. 'Amazing,' she thought to herself, as she looked around. 'It's hard to believe that there's a whole other world under the water. I guess it just shows that there are worlds within the world.'

Suddenly, a sparkle caught her attention, as she looked down, and noticed a black stone on the floor of the oasis lake.

She swam down to it, and picked up a chunk as big as a baseball, examining it, 'What is this?' She felt it for a moment, rubbing her hands on it feeling the texture of the stone, 'They look like stone, but it feels so different. I wonder…" but she went wide eye, as she realized she was running out of breath.

Immediately, she swam back up for the surface, still clutching the black rock, as she broke out on top. Bursting out and taking a break, she called out, holding the rock, "Hey, guys! I found something!"

Rouhan and Mia stopped playing as they looked to Shino, and Kichi and Seiji were pretty much tangled up in vines due to their playing, as they all looked at the pure black rock sample in her hands.

Later That Day

Back at the Cave

The five were sitting around in a circle, with Rouhan's arms crossed in thought as he and everyone else looked at what they had so far. Their stick weapons as well as the uni-rabbit horns as handheld swords, as well as a small but thick trunk that Kichi had grabbed, thinking it could be pretty handy as a club. Along with the pile were the vines that Seiji and Kichi had become entangled on earlier from the swim. They were apparently thin vines, to which Rouhan figured they grew around the oasis, as well as moist and rooted areas in the caves. Next to them were blades of grass that Mia had found accidentally by stepping on them, called steel grass; they were needle-like and just as strong, and also found near the oasis and the caves. Rouhan figured those two things would be useful in sewing their soon-to-be clothing together. But for the most part, they had the carcasses in storage, prepping to skin the hides later on. But at the moment, they were all curious about the black stone that they had managed to bring back, albeit being pretty heavy.

Kichi arched an eyebrow, as he looked over the black stone, "What is it?"

Rouhan shook his head, "Honestly… I have no idea."

Everyone was surprised to hear that, as Shino quizzed, "Seriously? Aren't you the big-time expert on the outside world?"

Rouhan sweat dropped at that, as he thought, 'I can't let any of them know that I get this information from my mother. Better play it cool.' He shrugged, "I never said that I was. But I've just never seeing anything like this rock before."

Mia took an opal-shaped rock of it, as she looked, "Well, what should we do with it?"

But at that moment, one of the elders, the one that Rouhan recognized as Gramps, hobbled next to them, and stopped, as he asked, "So what are you five up to?" They looked at him as he caught their attention, but then looked down at the prizes, "Well, I see you five have had a good fine day finding supplies. Where did you find all this?" But then he blinked at the black rock, as he asked, "And where may I ask did you find that rock?"

Mia answered that question, "Shino found it at the bottom of a lake today when we were out hunting."

Kichi sighed, "We didn't get a chance to find food though. Just vines, grass blades, and this strange black rock stuff."

Rouhan then noticed the way the elder looked at the rock, and then asked, "Do you know what the rock is, Elder?"

"Call me Gramps. Everyone else does," the Elder insisted. "And yes, it's called Black Obsidian. It's a strong stone that can be made into strong knives. This kind of stone is usually found near volcanoes. So it's pretty rare to find something like this around here in this forest. The mountains are far from this place, and the only known volcano is Mt. Inferno."

Kichi picked up a piece, a he looked at it, and simply shrugged, "Looks like a rock to me."

Seiji shook his head, as he took the piece in Kichi's hand, "Hey, don't go confusing this…" and then knocked on Kichi's head, "… with this."

Kichi was just fuming with anger, as he snarled at Seiji, "Why you…!" And then jumped right at him, tackling him to the ground, as the obsidian rock rolled back in the pile. The two were in the biggest brawl ever, as they started to fight one another, forming a dust cloud around them.

Gramps chuckled at the scene, while the others just shook their heads. He then wobbled off, as he said, "That Obsidian rock, if sharpened down right, can make pretty good knives there, Rouhan. Excellent for anything."

The idea gave Rouhan an even better, one, as he grabbed one of the rocks. He began to wet it down, smoothing it out, thinning out his first piece, as it broke into longer thinner pieces. With time and patience, Rouhan and the girls had before them three knives out of the obsidian rock, with some cloth wrapping around the handles. Both boy stopped fighting as they took a gander at the blades.

Rouhan smirked, as he stated, "Now this will be good for skinning hides."

Kichi then asked, "Does that mean we can finally make our own clothing now?"

Rouhan nodded, "High time now." He got up, taking the knife in hand, as he walked towards where he hid their stash. "Kichi, can you help me?"

Kichi got up, with ease even with Seiji still grabbing him and locking tightly around him. "Sure." But then threw Seiji off, as he walked after Rouhan, and the two going into the blackness of the cavern.

A little while later, they came back with seven uni-rabbits, and with their knives in hand, they began to skin the rabbit carcasses. But while all five worked, other goblins started to look at them, watch them in curiosity. A few of them laughed, thinking what they were doing was rather useless and foolish. Though Rouhan didn't pay them much heed on it, as they continued their work.

The Next Day

Rouhan and his group were making their way deeper into the forest, past where the oasis was. But this time, they were properly clothed and geared up. Rouhan was now sporting a brown loincloth, and brown wraps around his lower legs, going from under his knees to covering his feet, with his toes and heels sticking out. Backpack straps were strapped to his chest and back, as latched on the back was his medium-sized uni-rabbit horn, now fitted with a wooden and bone strapped hilt. And on his right forearm were two small and one medium uni-rabbit horns strapped together, making an arm shield.

Mia's outfit consisted of a brown skirt that ended at her knees, while she had a midriff shirt with no sleeves of brown material. Slung over her shoulder was a slingshot staff that Rouhan had made for later use. When she tried it out for target practice without anyone noticing, she had made perfect straight shots with it, showing that she had excellent accuracy, making her perfect for it.

Kichi was wearing a brown loincloth and armbands that went from his hands to his biceps. Strapped to his right side was his makeshift stick club, and on his right, a bigger, thicker club made from the tree trunk that Rouhan had brought along.

Seiji was wearing the same kind of loincloth that Rouhan and Kichi wore too. He had foot bands going from his feet to knees, and had bands covering his hands minus his fingers and thumbs, but had bands on his biceps. Strapped to both sides of his waist were two medium-sized uni-rabbit horn swords, fashioned the same way that of Rouhan's sword. And strapped across his chest were mini-obsidian dagger blades made form the leftovers of the obsidian.

Shino, was wearing a mini-loincloth skirt, with cloth bands going from her feet to her mid thighs, and on her arms, from her wrists to her biceps. She had a fur vest that was buttoned on the front by a small bone, acting like a midriff shirt, and strapped to her back were sticks fashioned with Obsidian blade spikes.

And each and every one of them had strapped on either their leg or their waist an obsidian black knife.

They looked around, hoping to find some animals, when all of a sudden, rustling in the bushes caught their attention. They backed together into a group, ready for anything. The rustling got louder, as they drew out their weapons, waiting for the kill. And then…

Out of the bushes hopped out two brown and white underbelly uni-rabbits. Only they didn't look like they had horns. Instead of horns, they now had medium-length blades on their foreheads, and around their necks were a kind of collar of spiked blades, with little big fluffy tails.

They blinked at this, as Shino commented, "Wow. If it weren't for the blades on their heads, they might be adorable."

Rouhan arched an eyebrow, as he commented, "Adorable? Maybe. What do you think, Mia?" But no response as he turned to her, "Mia?" And then sweatdropped.

Mia was all hearts in her eyes, as she blushed like crazy, "THEY'RE SO ADORABLY CUTE!"

The boys all sweatdropped, as Seiji asked, "What are you, goblins or girls?"

Shino brought out her makeshift pickaxes, "Sometimes we're both."

Suddenly, the Blade-Rabbits screeched at them, alerting them to be ready. And then suddenly, they jumped out, attacking them, as they scattered, separating the bunnies as best they could. Kichi and Shino ran into the bushes with two of the blade rabbits going after them, while Rou managed to grab Mia and give her a boost up a tree, while he and Seiji ran to keep the rabbits running after them.

While they were being scattered, Mia grabbed three rocks from her satchel and placed one in the sling staff. Rouhan ran out there in plain sight with the rabbit following behind him, and then she made her move. She shot right at it, hitting it right in the head as a huge cracking sound was heard, killing the rabbit as it crashed down. But Rouhan turned around, as the Blade Rabbit hopped right at him. But he drew out his horn sword… and impaled it right in the air; its body squirmed a little until it slumped, showing it was finally dead.

Mia hopped down from the tree, as she slowly made her way to Rouhan, who was frozen for a moment. "Rouhan? You okay?"

Finally, he returned to normal, as he brought his hand down allowing the rabbit to slide off his horn sword. He brought it up to him as he examined the blood stained weapon, and was amazed, "This horn… it's incredibly strong."

But he blinked back to normal, as he looked to Mia, who seemed a bit confused on his words, as he smiled awkwardly, "Sorry. Bit of a rush there."

However, Seiji got out of the bushes, grabbing his kill of a blade rabbit, but then dropped it… and pulled out two throwing knives, as he threw it right at Mia and Rouhan. However, the two noticed this, and would have attacked the action… had the blades passed them and struck something else. The two turned to see where its intended targets were, and saw anaconda-sized snakes, with yellow eyes glowing with control in their red slits, fangs as long as daggers, dripping with poisons, tongues long enough to wrap around someone's waist like a tentacle, and big enough to swallow ten men all at once.

The daggers had been embedded into their heads, going all the way through to their jaws. The giant snakes slumped down to the ground in massive heaps, as the two stunned goblin hunters blinked at what would have happened. Then they turned to Seiji, who relaxed his stance, as he shrugged, "Behind you."

"Hey, guys!"

The trio turned to see Kichi and Shino walking back to them, each one having Blade Rabbits in their hands, as Kichi called out, "Sorry we didn't regroup as planned, but that last Blade Rabbit chased us into a den of those things."

Shino smirked, as she raised two handfuls of downed blade rabbit carcasses, "We got a mother load of them. Kichi got a little cut up, but he fought amazingly." She turned to the goblin, smiling, "He wouldn't even let up, not even for a second."

Kichi smirked, as he scratched the back of his bald head, "Yeah, but you did a pretty good job back there too. You just kept swinging those pickaxes like crazy."

Shino smiled, a small tint of a blush showing on her face from his compliment. But then the two looked and saw what had gone with their friends' actions. They saw the two giant snakes downed, and their sized made their rabbits seem like small fry. Kichi blinked, as Shino stood there, pointing out in shock, "I guess those Fire Vipers top our horde of blade rabbits."

Rouhan would have bragged about it, but he had better sense on it, but noticed something else that Kichi was dragging, as he pointed, "Hey, Kichi? What do you have in your right hand?"

Kichi looked down, and pulled up his right hand, showcasing two new animals. They looked like raccoon dogs, but with silver plates of armor growing from their backs, going from the spine starting point of their tails to the bridges of their noses.

Kichi smirked, "Oh yeah, these little buggers are Armored Raccoons. These things were tricky since their backs were armored…" and then nudged to Shino. "Luckily, they're not all that fast, and Shino flipped them over while I crushed their ribs and stomachs."

As they all grouped, Seiji then pointed out, "Well… anyone wanna start skinning and eating? I'm starved."

"Same here," Kichi roared. "Let's chow down!"

After a While

They had skinned and sliced up the Fire Vipers, and were enjoying the feast before them. As they did so, they got to work with skinning the Blade Rabbits they had killed. They had to be patient and careful with it, so Kichi was pretty much left out as he just stood watch, keeping an eye out on the area, while he chewed on some Fire Viper on a stick. As they did so, Rouhan had broken off two of the Blade Rabbit blade horns, and fashioned for Seiji two medium-blade swords to replace his horn swords. While Rouhan was eating some Blade Rabbit meat, as well as some Fire Viper meat, his eyes lit up, as he felt something seep into his body. For a moment, he stopped while his eyes flittered, almost like he was dreaming.

It didn't take long for the others to notice something odd about him, as Mia looked concerned, and poked him for attention, "Rouhan? Are you okay? Rouhan?" But he still didn't answer, until she yelled out, "Rouhan!"

He finally snapped back, as he blinked, "Huh, wha…?"

Mia looked at him, and asked, "You alright? You were staring off in space. Is anything wrong?"

Rouhan shook his head, rubbing his hand over his head, as he sighed, "Nah, I think I'm just exhausted. I mean, we're just sitting down and barely finished with this huge snake." He stood up, as he sighed, "Let's bag and take this stuff back to the stash."

Seiji got up, stretching himself out, as he groaned, "Sounds like a plan."

At that moment, Kichi walked back to them, as he spoke up, "Hey, guys. You won't believe it, but I think a cave's nearby."

Blinking at that, everyone grabbed their weapons, and walked to follow Kichi. It seemed while he was looking out as a sentinel, he had spotted something not too far from them. About a yard away as they walked by, they found a cave similar to the one they all resided in. but this one seemed uninhabited by any goblins. It sure didn't smell like goblins resided in it.

As they stopped halfway, Rouhan drew out his weapon, "Better arm yourselves."

Shino asked, "Why?"

"We don't know if there's anything or anyone in there," Rouhan warned them. "And if there is someone or something in there, we don't know if it's friend or foe."

Kichi shrugged, "I dunno about that. It seems pretty abandoned."

"Then how did you notice this cave," Rouhan asked.

Kichi scratched the back of his head, "Well, there were these flashes of color from the darkness of the cave. Pretty much an eyecatcher, I think."

At that moment, they heard faint screeching heading from the cave. But they all heard it was getting closer towards them, as Rouhan realized it may have been an ambush. "Everyone, bunch together! Stay strong," Rouhan ordered. "And whatever you do, don't falter!"

Everyone bunched together, making a shield of themselves as Kichi stood strong, with his club acting as a shield. And then suddenly, brown bats the size of golden retrievers started flying out, hitting their pile up. Although they were bats, they had translucent wings that sparkled and shimmered with rainbow colors on the inside of their wings. Rouhan and Seiji stuck up, with weapons out, as they slashed, stabbed, and swiped at the hording barrage upon them. The bats then flew up in the sky, disappearing from the canopy of the trees above them.

The goblin group looked pretty ragged as they were a bit scratched and bleeding slightly as they stood there. But around them were nearly five downed Rainbow Bats, all stabbed and slashed at. Some of them twitched a little as the group broke up.

Rouhan huffed, as he wiped his sweaty and bleeding brow, "Whew. This has been one crazy day."

That Night

Goblin Cave

Everyone went to sleep as all the goblins were huddled together in a huge pile. Though in Rouhan's section of the cave where he made a small home for himself, it was a completely different story. With all the pelts they had gained from all the Uni-Rabbits and Blade Rabbits, he and the others had pelts that could be used for sleeping bags, as mats of the fur were sewn together as Seiji slept atop of one, as Kichi slept like a rock on another with Shino curled up next to him without him knowing, and all of them were sound asleep, covered in blankets of the pelts as well.

Rouhan was still wide awake, sitting Indian style, as he was sewing up what appeared to be a shawl out of the wings of the Rainbow Bats they managed to kill during that little swarm. But he was stopped at the moment when he heard someone sit behind him. He turned around to see a rather disappointed Mia, looking rather saddened.

He blinked as he asked, "What's wrong, Mia? Can't sleep?"

"No," she replied, as she shook her head, "I can sleep. But… I wanted to apologize for not being of help."

Rouhan arched an eyebrow, as he asked, "Huh?"

"I was only able to get one target, and it was the Blade Rabbit," she replied. "Seiji, Kichi, and even Shino managed to get so much more out of today, but I…"

But then she felt a pat on her head, as she looked up, seeing Rouhan giving her a sympathetic smile, "It was your first time hunting. And the sling staff only had one ammo for it. But next time, it'll be different. You'll always have more than one opportunity. And besides, I wouldn't say it was a total loss; you got your first kill, and we all got more than one item with all five of us together. Right?"

Mia was taken aback by that honest answer, as well as Rouhan's understanding. A small tint of a blush was on her face, but she smiled like a little kid, "Right."

The two smiled for a moment of silence, but then Rouhan's face went to surprise, as he scrummaged, "Oh, that's right. I've got something for ya." He then held it out, a mini-shoulder cave that looked like it went to the top of her butt, but shimmering with an array of color.

Mia was awed at its beauty, as she graciously took it, keeping her eyes on it, as Rouhan explained, "I made it out of two wings of the Rainbow Bats. I figured you needed something more than just a shirt and skirt." He thought about it for a moment, "Though it might be a bit too colorful for you on the hunt, but…"

"N-No, it's okay," Mia said, as she shook her head, keeping her voice down to keep the others from waking up. "It's beautiful, so it's okay, Rouhan."

Rouhan also dug something else from behind, "The shawl cape took a little longer than expected, so I made this as well." He held up a rope necklace, with three fangs sewn into it, "They're made from the fangs of the Rainbow Bats as well. I figured it'd be a cool keepsake. I mean, you can wear it if you'd like."

Mia's smile couldn't get any wider, but it did, as she smiled, "Thank you, Rouhan. You're awesome."

Rouhan blushed a little, as he looked away, "I'm not that cool."

Mia took the necklace and slipped it on herself, and just couldn't stop staring at her new jewelry. Rouhan then crawled back in his bed, pulling the fur blanket up on him, "Man, I'm bushed. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for the hunt." Suddenly, he felt rustling from behind, as he turned around… to see Mia snuggling up. He blushed a little at this, for some odd reason, as he asked, "M-Mia? What are you doing?"

"I didn't get a chance to sew my own bed or blankets. Sorry, but could I…" she asked, blushing rather awkward in this situation.

Rouhan sighed, knowing full well the whole day was busy for all of them, and quite exhausting. He half-smirked, as he nodded, "Okay, but tomorrow, I'll help with the blanket and bed, okay?" Mia nodded, and scooted in for her nap. But as she did, Rouhan blinked, and wondered, feeling her warmth to him, as he thought, 'It's not the same as Mom hugging me. This feels… different.' He looked down at Mia's sleeping form, and for some unknown reason, he placed a hand on her head, as she seemed to moan out a purr at his touch, 'It may feel different… but warmth from someone else, it just feels… well, nice. I'll have to ask Mom what it means later tomorrow night.' As he started to fall asleep, another thought popped into his head, 'And what was strange buzzing sound in my head. It felt like… something was being poured into my brain.'

As he slept soundly with the others, the yellow eyes of goblins from in the dark were watching them. Envious eyes and growling stomachs but did nothing as they backed off, allowing the team of hunters to sleep after their daily quota.

Next Chapter: The Beginning of Wisdom; the First Pages of a Hero pt. 1

Voice Actors:

Rouhan: Kevin Thoms

Mia: Tara Strong

Kichi: Khary Phayton

Seiji: Vic Mignogna

Shino: Ashley Johnson

Rouhan's Mother: Wendee Lee

Gob Gramps: R. Bruce Elliot