Chapter 3: Life in the Sharp Rock Enclave


My breathing was ragged. My ratty fingers and palm-pads felt painfully numb, though I still managed to keep a firm grip on my training spear. My joints ached and trembled, due to how much energy I exerted. Zagoon's 'evaluation' was hard, to say the least. For the past twenty minutes it was nothing but him chasing me, or me chasing him, or us jousting at one another in rampant exchanges. All in all, the first few minutes were pretty abysmal. It was only after I began copying his movements and techniques that I started to get a little better, but then Zagoon would pull a new trick out of nowhere, which would often put me flat on the floor.

Once Zagoon finally paused and stepped back, he huffed in amusement. "Alright. I've concluded my evaluation. Lower your training spear down now."

I was hesitant, but I eventually complied. "*gasp* *pant* *wheeze* Zhank- *pant* -goodness!"

He stabbed the butt of his training spear into the ground. "From zhe first few minutes, I can tell zhat you never once picked up a spear in your life. Despite zhat, you were quick to adapt, you can keep yourself focused, you learn from your mistakes, and you seem to retain most of zhe tips and tricks I gave you."

I took a few deep lungfuls of life-giving air. "Like- *gasp* zhose- *gasp* tail sweeps- *pant* you do. *pant* I just gotta- *pant* jump- *pant* over zhose. *pant*" I found a sudden need to seat my butt on the ground. I could feel my legs slowly giving out on me, so I decided to take a rest before I tipped over and fall, perhaps breaking my front tooth or something else embarrassing. I looked up at Zagoon and noticed that he wasn't even a little tired. That, or he was faking being not tired or something. "So- *pant* did I pass- *pant* your evaluation?"

Zagoon closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. You didn't pass."

I blinked. "Wuh? *pant* Why?"

Zagoon walked up to me and drubbed my legs and arms with his training spear. "I'll tell ya why. Sure, you can adapt, focus, and learn, but you are so so soft! Flabby! Inexperienced! Weak! I want zhe yinglets in my enclave to be hardy, tough, and Strong! You are none of zhese zhings, which is one of zhe reasons why you failed my evaluation."

I could feel my ears drooping. "... Oh. Huh. *pant* So um... Does zhis- *pant* mean I need to train myself wizh wielding a spear more? Would zhat help me pass zhe next evaluation? Is zhat zhe only reason?"

Zagoon shook his head again and chuckled. "No, no, and no. My first evaluation of you will be zhe last one. And as for zhe ozher reason why you failed my evaluation is because you are a newbie."

I frowned. "What?! I'm a newbie?! What kind of reason is zhat?!"

He gestured all around himself. "All of zhe yinglets in zhis enclave were groomed for combat. Zhey are zhe very best yinglets from many of zhe enclaves from zhe United Souzhland Tribes. Zhey were chosen to migrate here in secret, and form zhis base of operations." He then turned away from me. "To train you would be a distraction to our enclave. My matriarch would not want zhat."

I paused for a scant second before I released a frustrated sigh. Apparently, coming here was a mistake. Maybe there was another civilization that's further east from here? This one was obviously not welcome to me. That wizard guy I met must have made a mistake when he told me to go to the east. ... But then again, Zagoon's explanation did make my mind tickle a little. They came here in secret? Why would they come here in secret?

"... So you have a secret base of operations here, eh?" I asked, looking up at him. "I'm now kind of curious to know why you have discretely migrated many warrior yinglets here of all places."

Zagoon paused for a solid ten seconds before he turned to me abruptly. "Okay, you are gonna shut up now. Ask anyone about why we are here, or say anyzhing to anyone in a way zhat makes me mad at you, and I'll cut your tongue out."

Okay. I think it's time to do a little diplomacy. I brought both of my hands together and clasped them. "Listen, Zagoon. I don't know what you guys are trying to do here, but I frankly don't really care since I don't know what kind of politics is happening here. All you know about me is zhat some wizard brought me into zhe middle of nowhere and he told me to walk east. Zhat was how I found your 'secret enclave'. But more importantly, I don't really have a home to go back to. So, if you can forgive my prostrations, I will politely ask if I can stay wizh your enclave. As a sign of gratitude, I will help out wizh whatever zhe enclave greatly needs to zhe best of my ability. Please let me stay."

Zagoon snarled a bit as he looked down at me. He began to pace left and right, staring like he was thinking about what to do with the yellow yinglet in his presence. After a growl and a huff, he then threw his hands upward. "Grah! Fine."

I smiled. "Yey."

Zagoon then pointed at me. "But you will need to pass zhe ozher patriarchs' evaluations. And even zhen, Matriarch Rhondy has zhe final say-so on zhe matter. Got it?"

I nodded. "Uh... Yeah, I got it. So how many leaders are zhere in zhis hidden enclave?"

"Zhe Sharp Rock Enclave has six leaders." Zagoon replied, going back to the weapon rack to stow away his training spear. "Zhere's Grabba'lot, Patriarch of Scavenging. Flick, Patriarch of Sneaking. Calic, Patriarch of Crafting. Mazhink, Patriarch of Bartering. And zhen zhere's Matriarch Rhondy, zhe leader and general manager of zhis secret enclave." He then turned to me and pointed at himself. "And of course zhere's me."

"Zhe Patriarch of Evaluations?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

Zagoon scoffed. "No. Patriarch of Fighting."

I blinked. "... Not a very imaginative title for a patriarch, I must admit."

Zagoon growled. "Well I don't see how a 'Patriarch of Stating-Zhings would be of any help to us. Cut zhe smarty-pants stuff if you want to stay on my good side."

"Oh, right, yes, sorry." I replied with a hurried nod.

... Say, now that he mentioned pants...

I looked down.

I suddenly realized that I was naked.

I had been traveling the wilderness, and sparring with a fully-armored patriarch, without any garments, protective wear, or underwear this whole time.

I looked back at Zagoon in surprise.

"... And now zhat you mentioned pants, do you know where I can find a pair?" I asked.

Zagoon blinked at me. He then shook his head. "No, I'm not giving you pants."

"Whyyy~?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"You didn't pass my evaluation, Roy." Zagoon explained. "If you pass zhe evaluations of zhe ozher patriarchs, zhen zhey might see fit to give you a pair of pants. Not me zhough. I only give stuff to yinglets who earn my respect. I zhink Calic might be making his experimental foodstuffs wizh some of his apprentice hopefuls. I'd ask him for an evaluation, and he might give you pants afterwards."

Right then. I picked myself off of the ground and placed the training spear given to me back onto the weapon rack. "Zhen I guess I'll have to bug him for an evaluation. Can you tell me where he is?"

"Ah ah! No!" Zagoon said, pointing at me. "I'm supposed to look after you until eizher Grabba'lot or Rhondy comes back! You are not going anywhere since I'm supposed to be watching you!"

I groaned. I need to gain this patriarch's trust before I can do anything in this enclave. "Ugh... Okay, how about zhis. If I can help you sharpen zhose knives and spears, can you help me find zhis Calic guy? I noticed zhat you were sharpening zhem earlier. I can help you wizh zhat."

Zagoon raised an eyebrow at me. "You know how to sharpen blades?"

I nodded. "Yeah. All you really need is a flat whet stone or a honing steel, and you grind it across zhe flat edge on zhe cutting bit of zhe blade. "

Zagoon paused, huffed, and then reached for a stone on the ground and for a knife on the weapon rack. "I don't have water to make wet stones, and I don't have whatever a honing steel is, but we have plenty of rocks. Let me see what you can do."

Once I was handed the two items, I inspected each item. The knife was an ugly thing. Like it used to be part of the upper half of a small sword, except that it was now tied between two sticks. The stone was, for all I can tell, was just an ordinary stone. Even so, I still ran the rock across the flat edge of the blade carefully. I didn't have much arm strength, and my forearms were longer than normal, so sharpening the blade was a little harder for me than usual. As I sharpened the knife, I could feel some jittery sensations coursing through me. Sharpening this knife seemed so so boring to me, and my yinglet instincts wanted me to do something different. However, with Zagoon over my shoulder, I couldn't really do anything else. Also, I wanted to prove that I could be useful to Zagoon's enclave, which was why I offered to sharpen the blades he was working on.

Once I was confident that the blade I sharpened was sharp enough, I handed it to Zagoon. "Okay here you go I need to walk around now please and zhank you!"

He took the blade and inspected it. "... Hmm. A fine line. No notches. Seems a bit sharper zhan when I first got it. Pretty impressive, I'll admit."

Once I worked the restlessness out of my body, I turned to him with an expecting smile. "So can we go see zhe ozher patriarch now?"

Zagoon shook his head and placed the knife back on the rack. "Nope. Not until all zhese weapons have been sharpened."

I paused before I looked at all the spears and knives. I then looked back at Zagoon. "I have to do ALL of zhese?!"

Zagoon chuckled and shook his head. "No. I don't trust a newbie to do anyzhing by zhemselves. But since I like how you sharpen zhat knife, I'll help ya out zhis time, but only if don't tell anyone."

I sighed as I reached for the next weapon to sharpen. "Why is zhat I wonder? Afraid zhat zhe ozher yinglets might want me as zheir apprentice or somezhing?"

"No." Zagoon replied, also taking a weapon from the rack to sharpen. He picked another stone off of the ground for the sharpening. "Zhis enclave needs to be focused on its current task, and any distractions will only stall us. Gossip is pointless, and zhis enclave doesn't need it. Rhondy will have to be zhe one to tell you what our mission is here, but zhat's only if she likes you enough. You're a smart yinglet zhough. You might be able to figure out what we're doing here by yourself."

I shook my head. "Zhat's zhe zhing zhough! I don't know what kind of politics is happening here, and I don't have a home to go back to! I'm just hoping zhat if I do a good job here, you guys might help me get my bearings. Or failing zhat, point me in zhe right direction to help me find civilization."

Zagoon chuckled. "Makes me wonder why zhis wizard you spoke of abandoned you. In zhe middle of nowhere of all places too."

I shrugged. "All I know is he's hunting down some cannibal clowns."

Zagoon stopped sharpening with a look of confusion directed at me. "Cannibal clowns? What zhe fek are zhose?"

"Humans who dress up in ugly clozhing zhat act like drunk idiots for money. Oh, and zhey eat each ozher for some reason. In all honesty, I didn't want to know any more zhan zhat. My advice about wizards? Perusing into zhe affairs of wizards would bring no end to zhe trouble zhey can cause." I said, finishing my sharpening on my latest knife.

Zagoon blinked a few times, paused, and then continued on sharpening his weapon. "Sounds like good advice to me. I zhink."

"Fekkin' wizards, man." I growled as I began sharpening again.


Some time finally passed as Zagoon and I focused on our tasks. I had to get up and walk around a few times before I sat back down to sharpen more weapons, but Zagoon seemed to understand why I needed to. He was also cursed with yinglet restlessness, and he too had to get up and walk around before he got back to sharpening. All yinglets seemed to be cursed with this restlessness. ... Well, except maybe the elder yinglets. And in place of losing this restlessness, they have to deal with dementia later on.

But yeah, it's annoying as hell.

After what seemed, like, two or three hours, I think we eventually finished sharpening every weapon in the rack, and then some others that Zagoon wanted to touch up on. Despite being a jerk, he can be pretty chill when he wants to.

He sighed after he finished sharpening his final knife. "Alright. Zhat's zhe last one."

I mock-stabbed my last knife after I was done sharpening it. "I zhink I'm done wizh zhis one."

Zagoon smiled as he took my knife and placed it back in the weapon rack. "You might suck at wielding a spear, but you're a good sharpening yinglet. Calic might be impressed enough to let you pass his evaluation."

I smiled happily. "Well zhat's some good news. All I have to do is pass his evaluation! And after zhat, I can stay here!" I felt so gleeful.

Zagoon chuckled again. "Not really."

I blinked. Okay, what is this about? "Care to explain why?"

"It's simple, Roy." Zagoon began. "If you want to stay at our enclave, you have be evaluated by each patriarch. You didn't pass my evaluation, yes, but zhat doesn't mean you're gonna be booted out of here because of it. I'll make sure you have sufficient training wizh a spear before Rhondy banishes you. But if she accepts you into our enclave, zhen zhat would mean I would have more time to train you. And not just training wizh spears, eizher! I'll teach you how to use knives, go hunting, travel wizh a pack, use pack tactics, and learn essential teamwork skills. Basically, everyzhing you need to know how to fight, and how to fight by zhe side of your yinglet companions, allies, and friends."

I felt my head spinning a little from all the things Zagoon listed to me. I guess I have forgotten about what Zagoon had said about needing to be evaluated by ALL of the leaders of this enclave. "Oh. Zhat's a lot to learn."

"Well you's gonna havta learn real quick-like!" Zagoon said, stretching each limb on his body. "Geh. I'm getting tired. Might as well eat somezhing and take a nap for an hour or two."

I sighed, feeling the pang of exhaustion myself. "Yeah, food and sleep does sound good right now. And it'll help kill some time. I hope zhat Grabba'lot or your matriarch comes back by zhen."

Zagoon scratched his chin. "Rhondy has been gone zhe longest, so she should be back sooner zhan later. I'm sure she'll want a few snacks."

"I'm sure a snail or slug is in order, yes. More importantly, who is zhis new person, Zagoon?"

Zagoon and I turned as we heard a new voice entering the weapon storage area. Her fur was tan blond in color, but her afro-styled hair and round-shaped tailpoof was black, with blue beads threaded through the hair. Blue ties tied her tailpoof into the shape of what looks like a gourd. Curiously enough, she has reddish-fuschia eyes and blue eye-shadow, and wore a grayish-black robe that covered the rest of her body. I think she is the first female yinglet I have ever seen. I think I felt the world moved. That and I think my heart skipped a beat. I wonder why?

Zagoon slightly bowed. "A newcomer zhat Grabba'lot picked up from his travels, Matriarch Rhondy. His name is Roy, and Grabby claims zhat a wizard abandoned him in zhe wild grasslands in zhe west. He's kinda odd, but not like any of zhe Odd Ones. He can't fight worzh a damn, but he can sharpen spear and knife blades pretty good. Grabby said to watch over him until eizher he or you returned."

"Mm hm..." Rhondy walked up to me and circled around me. After she looked me up and down, she decided to reach for the tip of my tail.

"Uh... Um... Is zhis normal?" I asked aloud as she felt me up.

"Hush-hush. I'm inspecting you." Rhondy gently chided as she felt through my fur. She circled around again and reached for my mouth, opening my maw to inspect its insides. "Hmm... No scars, apart from some bruises. Zagoon's sparring damage, I believe. Good looking teezh. No chips in your shelltoozh. Eyes seems fine. Ears seems fine. Fingers, limbs, and coat seems fine. Very yellow zhough! Did you accidentally fall in a bucket of yellow flower dye and got your fur stained like zhis?"

I humbly shook my head. "N-no mam. I uh... My fur has always looked like zhis for as long as I've been a yinglet." I could feel her perfume wash into my face and it's making me feel funny things in my brain and in my hair. Am I blushing? Do I look okay? Does she like food? What is happening? Why is this happening?!

She reached a ratty paw onto the top of my head and ran her fingers across it. "Eyebrow-whiskers are sensitive, good. A little patch of dark hair on zhe head. No mites or bugs living in your ears. Clean smelling. I would say, by my analysis, zhat you are an above-average healzhy yinglet."

I smiled. "Oh! Um. Zhank you?"

She turned to Zagoon. "I take it he already went zhrough your evaluation?"

Zagoon nodded. "Mm-hm. He failed it."

Rhondy sighed and shook her head. "Nearly every yinglet you evaluated always fails zheir first time."

Zagoon nodded again. "Which is why I want Calic to evaluate him next. He's really good at sharpening zhe blades on zhese spears and knives. He's a good sharpening yinglet. He might be a good crafting yinglet. Might even be a good apprentice to Calic."

Rhondy raised an eyebrow at Zagoon. "You want him to apprentice under Calic? Usually, when good yinglets have zhe potential to become apprentices, you'd often have first dibs, Zagoon."

Zagoon shook his hand dismissively at me. "Eh, no. He's too bright and yellow. If he fights or hunts in a pack, zhe bad guys or predators will focus on him very quickly."

Rhondy sighed. "He IS very bright and yellow. Zhe Patriarch of Sneaking is going to fail him faster zhan you did."

"And Mazhink?" Zagoon questioned.

"Depends if Roy can determine zhe worzh and value of any resources or items he appraises. And if he can count." Rhondy answered.

"Grabba'lot?" Zagoon asked.

"Grabba'lot is training an apprentice under him." Rhondy answered with a sigh. "If Grabba'lot completes Oggie's training, zhen Oggie will become a fledgling patriarch in our enclave and become Grabba'lot's heir, which would mean zhat Roy would have to be evaluated by bozh of our Patriarchs of Scavenging. If he somehow fails zheir evaluation, zhen his chance to stay in zhis enclave would be abysmally low." Rhondy paused for a few seconds. She turned to me with a surprised look before looking back at Zagoon. "Wait. Did you say a wizard abandoned him?"

"Yeh. Zhat's what Grabba'lot claims. Roy also claims zhis too. And Grabba'lot vouches for him." Zagoon replied. He then shrugged. "I find it a bit hard to believe. Grabba'lot is kinda getting senile in his age, so I don't really want to take what he says at face value. Zhen zhere's zhe situation wizh Oggie's brozher, and zhen we have Daggat being... well... Daggat. Food is becoming more scarce as zhe days go by, and zhere is zhe chance zhat our secret enclave might have been detected by zhe humans in Arisota's Hold. Roy is a distraction, and we cannot afford to train him."

A grumble broke the silence. Oh. It seems like I'm getting hungry from all this talking. "... Uh. Maybe we should eat and sleep soon?" I suggested. "I'd like to get myself fed and rested before I look for Calic and start my next evaluation. ... If uh... If it's no trouble to you."

Both Zagoon and Rhondy looked at me, my stomach noises having distracted them from their conversation. Rhondy giggled at me. "Oh, how can I be so silly minded! Let's get you fed wizh some good food, yes? I believe Calic is making somezhing new at zhe cooking pot."

"Somezhing new eh? Ey Roy." Zagoon called to me with a low chuckle. "If you survive Calic's cooking, tell me if it tastes like food."

I blinked a few times. "Uh... I'll be sure to give it a fair evaluation?"

... Huh. Why do I feel like I'm in danger?


A/N: Matriarch Rhondy everybody!