In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 18 - A conversation

Hearing understandable words is such a relief. I am suddenly excited and forget to reply for a moment. Can I reply? Have I really done an actual effort to speak? This as good of a time as any to give it a go.

"D~ooopp~eiel... nngaanger~", that was really tough. Neither my lips nor my tongue move in a way that feels comfortable for speaking like this. No, that's not right. It's more like a lack of habit, more like not having talked in a very long time and having forgotten how to make the right sounds.

The frogs share looks quickly and it sounds like the one who spoke might be translating back. Not all of them know this language then it seems. Does this mean I could have communicated with the goblins, and avoided that whole shit-show? You live, you learn. 

"Why here?" the frog asks me in a hoarse voice. It gestures to the forest in general and not just the river. How do I answer that? Am I not supposed to be here, are doppelgangers not indigenous to this area? I haven't run into any, but I haven't really explored too far either.

"Ddouon't~ knoww. Nno Mnemouriy", It's so hard to talk out loud, I have to start practicing. The frogs confer for a moment and The ones in the back take a few steps forward. The level two has lowered his weapon but is keeping an eye on me at all times. The frogs have very stoic and inexpressive faces, which makes it hard to read on them what they could be talking about.

"Will bring elder, wait", the frog points its finger at the ground, gives its companions a nod and quickly leaps into the forests and vanishes. The remaining frogs don't do much at first besides staring at me or the ground. After a few minutes the level two boggard croaks, almost angrily, at the others and they go back to catching fish in their baskets. In the meantime I sit where I am and work on my speech, making vowel sounds and doing my best to improve before my next conversation. The frogs give me the equivalent of a raised eyebrow.

It takes longer than expected, but the arrival answers why that is. Out of the woods, and slowly being led down the muddy riverbank, comes an elderly boggart. Boggard level four. This old frog could probably kill me with ease if given the chance. At their arrival I stand up and the other frogs to a sort of salute by inflating their throats multiple times very fast. The old one looks somewhat fragile in its stature but the eyes tell a different tale.

"I have not seen one of your kind in its true form for many years. Not since I traveled to the south in my youth", the voice is low and reverberates in the air. The more I look, the more I see. There are scars covering its body as well as tattoos or some sort of branding. It leans heavily on a staff, with the head carved into the shape of a frog with big tusks. "You cannot recall your past it seems", the frog glances at the one who talked with me earlier.
"I ask, why do you harrow us?" There it is, I have been waiting for the point of this to come up. I hope they can accept my answer. I bring my right hand up and show two fingers, I point at my forefinger and say,
"Your~ peeple attatacked mee furstt, sstrrruk mee in the 'ead", that took longer than what I had hoped. Still some decent improvement for being my second conversation.

The elder makes a face that looks like a stereotypical thinking face. It turns to the others and croaks something out. One of the others croaks something which can only be a protest but is shut down by the level two. The elder frog looks at me again and nods with a disappointed look in its face. Not disappointed with me, but more the whole event. It then gestures at me to keep going.

Pointing at my long finger I explain to the frogs that, in order to leave safely I most get stronger and reach higher levels. The elder nods reassuringly at me, again turning to the others to relay my words. When the elder does turn back to me after a brief moment, I can see a slight shimmer to its eyes.
"You're halfway there. I must also commend you for defeating someone two levels above you, not an easy feat", my astonishment and surprise must have been obvious as the elder continued. "Once [Observe] reaches higher levels, it reveals more information. In exchange for a truce between you and my people, I will tell you what I can see that you cannot", what can the frog see that I can't? Is this a ruse or should I trust it? I nod at the boggard.
"You have two skills that seem untouched; [Shapeshift] and [Adaptable]. The second one I cannot help you with, but the first one I mentioned is an ability that all of your kind can use at will. It is the ability to take on the shape of any creature that you are familiar enough with. How it works or is activated I am not sure, but now you know it exists", the frog looks intently at me, reading me and my every movement. I stand up, look down at myself and nod at them all. I leave the river and head back to the clearing. My head is racing, trying to process everything that just happened.

The goblins have been around again, there are a few fruits and a handful of edible roots by the burrow entrance. I gladly suck on a root and yell at the treeline, "Thhank yoo". A small figure staggers to its legs, seemingly having taken a nap. It looks at me and nods.
It clearly understood me.