Puff grunted as he made his way down the patch, a troop of knights from the sixth division following behind him with the materials that they had gathered in tow. One of the advantages of their alliance with the Jaggy Kingdom was access to the mines where they were able to collect some of the rare minerals he used in his smith work. They were hardly the rarest, but they were still very useful in reinforcing the more common armors he made for the squires and knights.

As he kept moving, one of the knights nearby approached him. "So sir, have you heard about that guest that the prince of the Jaggy kingdom invited to their last party?" he asked. A few of the other knights around him flinched and gasped. The one asking was new, but for him to just approach the subject so blatantly was downright foolish.

Although pretty much everyone now knew the rumors of their captain's heritage were true thanks to his battle against Ar-Janek during the Ten's attack, they still all knew better than to bring it up out loud. They weren't sure how he felt about it, and they didn't want to risk angering him by trying to find out.

Puff's only response was to grunt. He'd heard about the rumors of the other goliath, but he hadn't bothered to look more into them. Astro and the others had confirmed that she wasn't a threat, and he didn't see any reason to look anymore into the issue than that.

"Haven't you thought about going to see them?" the young knight asked. "If they really are another goliath then they might know something about-"

Another knight up behind him and covered his mouth with her hand. "I-Ignore him captain! He's just being an idiot! A dumb idiot who should keep his mouth shut!" she growled, clearly more directed towards the knight than her captain.

Puff just let out another grunt, turning and putting down the crate he'd been carrying over his shoulder. "I'll be back…" he said, walking off. The other looked confused as he headed off in a different direction.

"You idiot! Why would you bring that up?!"

"What?! I was curious!"

"We're all curious! That doesn't mean that you just bring up…!"

The voices faded from Puff's ears as he kept on walking, making his way back up the mountain trail. A thought had just occurred to him. This goliath might not have been a threat, but if she had been living here all this time without being noticed, it was possible others had too. And if that was the case, he needed to make sure that they weren't threats either. He trusted his knights to get the supplies back safely. They were both strong and capable enough to deal with any bandits or rebels they came across.

He kept walking further and further up the mountain trail, his sights only set on what was ahead of him. He was sure that there had to be some caves up further. Perfect for anyone trying to lay low and seeking shelter. Especially another goliath.

He eventually spotted a particularly strange looking mountain. He stopped and stared at it. He was pretty sure he'd heard of something like this before. In that book that Astro's mother had on the goliaths. What had it been called? The Fist. That was it. It should have been obvious given the fist-like shape of it.

He grunted, pushing it to the back of his mind. He needed to explore the other mountain like he intended. Not go sightseeing around some weird mountain.

He started moving again… right towards the fist.

Despite his mind being on the caves up ahead, his body moved in almost a zombie like state towards the Fist. It was as if he was just instinctively drawn to it. He continued making his way towards it, not even seeming to realize that he was going off course.

It took him a while to make it to the base of that specific mountain. And a while longer still for him to scale up towards the peak. The others were probably long gone by now. He wouldn't be catching up to them before they got back to the castle. He wasn't about to turn back now however.

He didn't know what was driving him to keep climbing, and he didn't care.

As he got close to the top of the mountain, a piece of stone he had grabbed onto cracked off. He grunted as he struggled to keep his hold, quickly swinging his arm back to grab another hold. But suddenly something clamped down over his wrist. He looked up to see a figure hunching over above him.

From the sheer size of the figure, he could tell it was another goliath. He reached for his weapon out of instinct, but the goliath raised his hand. "Hold on there young one. I don't mean any harm to you. I just thought you could use a bit of help." Puff stared back at him, trying to tell whether or not he was lying.

He couldn't sense any signs of deceit from him, so he let out a grunt. The figure chuckled. "Weary one are you? Good. With how few our people number these days, weariness is a necessity," he said, helping to pull him up the rest of the way. Once he was up, Puff got his footing and then turned towards the new figure.

He stood over him. Towered even. Something Puff wasn't quite used to unless giants were around. He was at least thirteen feet tall, not quite as big as Ar-Janek was, but still much taller than him. He remembered Astro saying that was around the average height of his race. Seemed he really was a runt.

His hair seemed just in the early stages of graying, telling Puff that he was probably on the wrong side of fifty. Though his skin still seems as young as any middle aged man's could look. His eyes were gray and sunken in, tired looking. And he carried no weapon, substituting one with a shovel big enough to match someone of his height and build.

"Welcome young one. You had quite a long trek. I imagine you must be tired," he said, turning around and gesturing for him to follow. "Come, we can rest inside. Since the tomb is now empty I've been trying to make it a bit more comfortable." Puff hesitated for a moment, but then began following him. He had come all the way here, so turning back now just seemed like a waste. "What finally brought you?"

"I… I don't know," Puff said bluntly. "I just did."

The elder goliath chuckled. "Your instincts have guided you here. As they have for our people for generations. Admittedly, most of our kind would come at a much younger age, but the few who were delayed found themselves compelled to come," he explained.

"Who are you?" Puff asked.

The goliath entered through the large double doors that… looked like they had been smashed through. Was this the tomb he was talking about? "I am Az-Pratu, keeper of the tomb of Ar-Janek. Or rather a former keeper. The body of the Tyrant no longer remains to guard. Though I am still bound to this place."

Puff stopped for a moment. "Ar-Janek?" he asked, confused. "This was his tomb?"

Az-Pratu chuckled. "It was. Until he suddenly woke up and walked right out of it. I was quite confused until word reached me about the Ten's return," he said. "It's hardly a surprise that those legends of old would hold the power to bring even one as strong as him back from the dead. Still, to hear that he was felled by someone other than Typhon of his kin… it was quite shocking. There must be some powerful warriors in this era."

"I killed him."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm the one who killed him," Puff said. "With some help."

Az-Pratu looked at him with an odd expression, and Puff wondered if he was about to get into a fight. Instead, the goliath placed the shovel into the ground and leaned on it, letting out a chuckle. "Is that right? Well, I suppose I should thank you then," he said. "I was growing tired of having to tend to him each day. If he had returned, I'm not sure how much longer I could have bared it. Especially if he'd come back alive."

Puff just grunted. "Don't thank me. He was an enemy. I just did what I had to do."

Az-Pratu nodded. "Yes, I suppose you did… do me a favor. Take off your helmet."

"I don't never take it off…"

"It's just us here. And I need to see something."

Puff just stared back at him blankly. He didn't doubt that this person was who he said he was, but he didn't know him. Still… for some reason he didn't think he would mind him seeing him without his helmet. He reached up and then removed it, showing his face.

Az-Pratu looked down at him, and then hemmed. Yes, he had a feeling it was him. He was the spitting image of his father. "May I see your helmet?" Puff once again hesitated, but then handed his helmet over towards him. Az-Pratu looked over it. "As I thought. The craftsmanship is amazing. You do smithwork?"

"I do."

Az-Pratu continued to look over the helmet, and then looked at his armor. "Still, I feel it's lacking something… would you like me to show you the Breath of the World?" he asked.

Puff narrowed his eyes. "The what?"

"Our forge boy. Our ancestral forge," he said, shaking his head. "It's where our people have honed our weapon and armor making techniques for generations. It's clear that you haven't been taught the ways of our people's forging techniques, and one with your talent not learning them is a sin."

Puff was curious. He had heard something about the goliaths' smithing techniques, but it wasn't as if there was enough information on them for him to try copying them. "How do I know this is worth learning?" he asked.

Az-Pratu scoffed. "You must be joking. People may have forgotten since we've been scattered for so long, but our smithing techniques were unrivaled in all of mewni. The greatest of the smiths among us could craft armor that were considered as invincible as our very bodies," he said.

He held up his helmet. "Your work is without a doubt top notch. But with the techniques of our people, this armor could be even greater."

Puff didn't seem to need any more convincing. "Show me."

Az-Pratu smirked. He was a craftsman alright. "Follow me."

Puff did so, trailing behind the elder Goliath. As he did, he noticed the large sarcophagus sitting in the middle of the room. Or rather what was left of it. It looked like it had been smashed right through from the inside. That must have been Ar-Janek's tomb. He looked around and spotted a few others around as well.

"Who are they?"

"The wives and children of Ar-Janek. They were allowed to be buried within his tomb when they fell in battle or died," Az-Pratu explained. "I've been tending to them still because… well, there's not really much else to do."

"How long have you been here?" Puff asked.

Az-Pratu chuckled. "How old do you think I am?"

"Fifty. Sixty?"

"I'm well over two hundred years old." Puff's eyes went wide for just a moment. Just barely enough for Az Pratu to pick up on it. He didn't know much about his people, but he knew they didn't live nearly that long. Or at least they weren't supposed to. "I was tasked with this job using powerful magic. One that binds me here and keeps me alive."

"Even with him gone?"

"Yes." He had tested to see if he was able to leave when Ar-Janek awoke and left, but the spell had been working just as it always had. "Our people have always found magic as a coward's tool. And yet we rely on it to carry out a duty to our most hailed warrior. It's a little ironic isn't it?"

Puff just grunted. A powerful magic huh? Maybe… he'd have to ask Astro about it.

Puff hammered away at the plate of armor on the anvil. The minerals that Az-Pratu had provided were good. Nothing so rare that he hadn't seen before. The smithing techniques in the scrolls that he had given him on the other hand were completely different.

Some of the techniques that they offered were more subtle. Just a way of increasing the strength of the materials he was working with. Even if only by a bit, it was still valuable. Others were rather complex methods that gave results he hadn't even considered. Showing ways the exact same weapon would be made for entirely different types of warriors or purposes.

He was already thinking of some of the ways he could apply this to the armor the lower ranks knights could wear, and some of the weapons he could start outfitting them with.

Az-Pratu watched as he kept on working, impressed with just how quickly he had managed to catch on to what he'd seen and read from the scrolls. He knew the young goliath knew he was around a forge, but he'd taken to it more easily than even some of the more seasoned smiths he'd seen during his time.

"That's rather impressive. You take to the techniques like a fish to water."

Puff grunted. "I spend a lot of time in the forge," he said, sticking the heated plate of armor inside of the barrel of water next to it. The scroll said that with this method the metal should have cooled and settled much faster than normal. This would mean he could get more armor and weapons done and shipped out quicker.

"I can see that. But I imagine you're quite the warrior as well."

"I can hold my own…"

"If you felled Ar-Janek then, even with help, you can doubtless do more than that. I'd grown worried that the remnants of our people wouldn't be able to survive. But seeing someone like you gives me a bit more hope."

Puff paused for a moment. He really didn't have any attachment or pride about what he was. He didn't know about his people, or really care. So the sentiment was sort of lost on him. Still, he guessed he was glad the old man had something to be happy about.

He set the armor aside, and then looked down at scrolls. "Can I take these with me?" he asked. He hadn't even got through half of them yet, but he felt like he needed to see the rest of them. There was too much valuable stuff here not to learn.

Az-Pratu reached up and rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure about that. I don't know if any recordings of these still even exist outside of these walls, so I wouldn't want to risk them getting destroyed…" he said.

"Then can I come back here and keep reading them?"

Az-Pratu stared at him, and then chuckled. "Of course, boy. I assumed you'd be coming back anyway to forge your weapon," he said.

Puff looked confused. "I have a weapon."

"Yes, and a finely crafted one too. But it wasn't forged here. I would have remembered seeing you. I remember every face that ever stepped into this place," he explained. "Speaking of which… what kept you from visiting for so long? I imagine you had quite a tough time if you only just now-"

"I didn't know about this place."

Az-Pratu looked surprised. "What? What do you mean you didn't know?"

"I never knew this place was up here."

The tomb keeper blinked. "Oh, I see…" That was odd. Very odd. He supposed with how tough they had it out there that perhaps his parents had never had the chance to tell him about it. "But still, you should consider forging yourself a new weapon. It's a time honored tradition of our people, and with the techniques you can learn here it'll be even stronger than what you have now."

Puff looked down at his weapon. He supposed that it could have used an upgrade. If he could have made a stronger version of it, he didn't see why he shouldn't. "I'll think about it," he said, putting his helmet back on. "I appreciate everything you've shown me. I'll probably be back soon."

He was going to see if Astro or the rest of the Butterfly family could do anything about the spell keeping him here as well. But he decided to keep that to himself for now. He didn't want to get his hopes up if they couldn't do it for some reason.

As-Pratu nodded back towards him. "I'm looking forward to seeing you. And if you see any other of our kinds, send them this way. I may as well pass on what little remains of our culture to those who've survived," he said. "Also, bid Ro-Bakor and Mileena my regards."

Puff tilted his head, unfamiliar with the names. "Hm?"

Az-Pratu chuckled. "I told you, I remember every goliath who's ever set foot on these grounds. Your parents included," he said.

Puff grunted. "I never knew my parents."

A look of surprise came across Az-Pratu's face. "You didn't…? Right, I see. That… that actually clears some things up." No wonder he had never come here before. He truly didn't know anything about his people. "That's unfortunate."

Puff stood in silence for another moment, then turned around. "Yeah… I'll see you around," he said, walking off. "Thanks again."

"You're welcome."

Az-Pratu watched as he left, his spirits feeling a bit low. He wondered what had befallen Ro-Bakor and Mileena. He wanted to believe that they had merely been separated, but… he let out a sigh. Well, at least their son was here. With any luck someone else from his family would show up and he could piece things together.

A/N: Commission for Thepaladincosplays of Puff going up and learning about some of his ancestral roots. (At least the parts he's interested in anyway). Hope you guys enjoy!