In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 9

Of course I made sure to strip the goblins of everything useful, which wasn't all that much. Another pouch is something to be happy about, I can use the two short belts to make one that fits me. There's also the new knife, which needs work. The sharp stick I can just throw into the woods. Aside from these things and their crude little clothes, that I left on them, there was a small, dirty and grimy vial of some sort. I can't quite see the inside of it but there is definitely some sort of liquid inside of it. Opening the cork unleashes an incredibly rancid odor. Is this some sort of poison? I carefully let a drop fall onto the petal of a flower near the clearing, just to see if it has any immediate effect. The droplet hits the green petal which starts to quiver suddenly and then shrivels up and turns to dust almost right away. That confirms my suspicions then, poison. 

I put everything that I found into the hole. Feeling around for the rat I find it pressed against the far wall of the burrow. There, there friend, it's just me. I pet the rat gently and once it realizes it's me the shivering stops. Not feeling to great, I crawl down and make myself as comfortable as I can, snuggled close to the rat. The soft fur makes me fall asleep right away. The pain goes away and darkness comes for me.

The sad person is now coughing while banging on the door. I can't tell what they're saying but the body language gives me the feeling of someone that wants to be let in. They're clothes are covered in dirt and stained in all sorts of colors. They look so very thin.

When I open my eyes, inside the dark of the burrow, I can tell that I've been crying. Odd dreams lately. I had hoped for more dreams about the person by the line up. The one who wouldn't take any of the gifts. I shimmy myself up and out. The sky is dark, only a small blueish tint at the edges hints of the morning. It would have been nice with some more sleep but I have work to do. Waking up this early doesn't really surprise me considering when I fell asleep. It's to my advantage as well that I did wake early, I need to prepare for more goblins. If taking out one goblin nearby led to two goblins finding my home. While pressing the wound on my back against the damp moss of the boulder I come to decision of making a preemptive strike.

In the belt I now have: two pouches and the sharpened knife. I carry the club in my left hand and pick up what berries and edible nuts I can find while walking. My plan is to backtrack using my marks to find where I met the first goblin. After that I'll do my best to find my way to wherever it came from and just do my best to take out anyone I find. It might seem vicious of me but I do not feel like dying in my sleep. If the goblins give up or run away, I'll let them go and leave them alone. Enough to scare them off or prove that I am too much for them, that feels like a reasonable goal.

I have no idea how to track really. I managed to find my way back to where the very first goblin I saw was chasing a rat. From here I just need to look around for anything that makes me feel like I am heading in the right direction. The lack of light isn't helping at all but I think I have found something. There is a very faint path that leads further away and I think there are crude gashes in the roots, as if someone leisurely swung a dull blade around while walking. Better than nothing, let's go that way.

This was obviously the right way to go, because it didn't take more than fifteen minutes to find a goblin out on some sort of patrol. It's coming in my general direction. I climb up a tree and look for a steady branch near the path. It's really coming this way, along the path. I tighten my grip of the club and wait patiently for the goblin to come near. When it's almost directly below I drop down and swing the club as hard as I can towards its head.

Thump

The goblin falls limp to the ground, no longer moving and with blood now pooling on the ground. I was not expecting that if I am being honest. Do I bother to hide the body? It's not like I can clean up the blood from the ground. Does it have anything useful? A loincloth, a stone ax of some kind and a small pair of shoes.
Nothing I need really. I could hide away the ax and pick it up on the way back maybe. I put the ax among some bushes nearby and do my best to remember the location.

Going off the assumption that this is a trail the goblins frequent, I move to the side and follow it in a parallel on the right side. Good idea it turns out. Doesn't take long at all before I spot another goblin. Something strikes me as strange though, it isn't carrying any weapons of any kind that I can see, not even a stick.

Following it from a distance and keeping low I do learn something very interesting; This goblin seems to know magic. I want that magic. It looks like small, simple tricks but I still want to learn it. How do I do that? The goblin sparks a small flame from its hand every few minutes and moves its hand over it rhythmically. I sneak ever closer through the bushes. Just as I stand up to strike, the goblin turns around and unleashes a gout of flame towards me.