TifTwo
The scent of mint.
The conveyor belt moved. All the berries that had been picked needed to be cleaned and sorted. Some had leaves and petals stuck to them, others were unripe. All this detritus needed to be removed. If TifTwo wasn't out gathering berries he was here staring at the slowly moving white cloth, purple berries and stains. The tedium was hypnotic with patterns emerging, patterns that hinted at meanings TifTwo could never understand.
There was no way to judge how long he had been at this task when the last berries moved past him and he was left looking at the worn white cloth with purple stains. The goblins lining the room started using their whips to herd TifTwo and his fellow gnomes out the door and into the next room. This room was the antechamber that led to the courtyard and into the woods. He was spacing out, watching the shirt in front him. When he was confronted by a goblin sitting behind a table. The goblin thrust a foam covered mug into his hand, “Drink up.” It growled.
What could he do? With no idea of what it was he brought the mug to his lips and drank. To his surprise it was delightful. Cold and refreshing, with a nutty flavor. He wanted more. This was not to be as the mug was wrenched from his hand and he was thrust from behind.
He was running, just like that he was running, they were all running. TifTwo felt like laughing. It started with the taste of metal in the back of his mouth. There was a rushing in his ears; then as if he stepped through an invisible membrane into a new level of awareness. The world sharpened, there were details where there had just been trees. Before it was branches, leaves and bark; Now there were vaines, patterns, breath and energy. It was beautiful; more real than life.
He was under a tree, crouching. Looking around the trunk he scanned the area, there was nothing that indicated there was anyone around. In his pockets he had two berries, not enough. He needed to find a berry tree. There were none here, so he needed to move.
At a full sprint he dodged a trunk, slid under a downed trunk then hopped to his feet to hurtle a stump. The speed that he ran was exhilarating, his agility and timing was a surprise and a joy. The drink gave him energy like he had never felt before. It was as if he was thinking every thought at once. When he was running he saw tree, he also saw three ways he could navigate past the tree, he saw a broken branch he should avoid, a berry tree; beyond the tree there was a berry tree. All this while running full speed. The needles of the lowest branches just brushed the ground. He went into feet first slide avoiding the low branches and popped up directly in front of the berry tree. Jackpot! The tree was rip, with eight of the purple fruits hanging on their bent stalks.
He was picking the fourth berry with the third still in his hand, when he heard foot steps. TifTwo spun to find himself facing a very large man. Well the man’s bare arms and chest were huge; the rest of him, his head, waist, and legs were quite small. His small head was mostly mouth and forehead, with beady little eyes and a little piggy nose. High atop his head was a patch of straw colored hair too small to balance out his large ears. An ugly grin split his wide mouth to show two big teeth with a large gap between them.
“Huyuk,” a laugh maybe, “a bitty gnome. You are so cute, I’m going to turn you into paste.” With that as his warning, the big man pulled a large mace off his back and brought it down on TifTwo.
But TifTwo wasn’t there. With the drink still in his system the blow had seemed to be in slow motion, making it easy to side step. When the head of the mace slammed into the ground TifTwo moved again, running behind the large man. He was trying to buy some time, his hands were full what could he do with no weapon? He kept moving as the big man was now wildly swinging his mace around, making grunting sounds with each swing.
TifTwo knew he had to figure something out soon. He could run away but he didn’t want to leave the unpicked berries. It was when he thought of the berries that he remembered something the goblins had said when first talking about the berries. The goblins had told the gathered gnomes to be careful when picking the berries. Without thinking about it further Tiftwo hurled the berry in his right hand. His opponent tried to swipe the berry, but it burst all over his hand and arm when it made contact with his palm. A heartbeat later the big man dropped his mace and started screaming. TifTwo saw that the man’s hand was smoking. Moving the last berry to his right hand, TifTwo threw it. This one hit home, striking high on his bare chest, splattering onto his face and shoulders. He dropped to his knees, screaming and grabbing for his face. TifTwo saw that the hand that had been smoking was now little more than skeletal. The big man soon stopped screaming then fell on his face. 1 kill +1 xp.
TifTwo had no idea as to what that meant. He didn’t really care, it wasn’t important the berries were. The body which was between him and the berry tree had stopped smoking. It quickly dissolved and was replaced by a small statue. The stone figure depicted the man on his knees clutching his face, he could have been praying. It was not important. He picked the remaining berries, tucked them into his pockets, then took off running back to castle.
As normal he dropped his berries into the funnel that feed the conveyor belt. He then trudged to an open seat along it. His head down he settled into boredom. A heavy claw on his shoulder tore him back to the present. There was pain in his arm as he was jerked out of his chair. He was too busy trying to keep his arm attached to his body to look at who was now pulling him past the funnel. He was pushed hard through a door. Stumbling forward TifTwo heard the door slam as his momentum carried him into the opposite wall. He pushed back from the wall to find that it wasn’t a wall at all but a large desk. Setting behind the desk was a brown goblin with bright, intelligent yellow eyes. The goblin stood up to look down on TifTwo. His eye bored in, forehead wrinkled as he considered. Suddenly his head thrust downward the eyes bright yellow eye growing large. TifTwo fell back, but he kept his balance, recovering to stand defiantly staring back into those bright yellow eyes. The skin around the eyes crinkled in good humor.The goblin started to laugh, then he spoke.
‘YOU ARE A STRANGE ONE, AREN’T YOU?’ The voice was so deep its vibrations seemed to tug on TifTwo’s lungs. ‘NOT LIKE THE OTHERS. THEIR ALL VACANT BEHIND THE EYES, BUT YOUR EYES SHOW LIFE.’ His ugly face crinkled with humor. ‘YOU ALSO KILLED SOME IDIOT, THAT’S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. HA HA.’ A small hand stuck in the goblin’s teeth seemed to wave as he laughed. ‘I MEAN HE MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY DUMB TO LET ONE OF YOU GNOMES KILL HIM.’ TifTwo tried to listen but couldn't stop watching the grotesque little hand. The goblin noticed TifTwo’s attention. He picked at his teeth then looked at what he found, he then stuck it back in his mouth. He reconsidered TifTwo as he chewed. ‘I WONDER WHO YOU WERE. WELL, NO MATTER. BY GETTING A KILL YOU HAVE EARNED A PROMOTION.’
The goblin did something on his desk that TifTwo couldn’t see.
Then the scent of mint.
Now the room was much smaller. The ceiling was just a few inches from his head he could easily touch each wall without moving. He looked down at his arms and realized it was he who was bigger. Much bigger, and hairy. He was now covered in long hair or fur. His arms were huge with bulging muscles, they were longer too, hanging almost to the floor. TifTwo looked to the goblin, who like the room was now much smaller. He seemed to get even smaller under TifTwo’s glare, shrinking behind his desk. TifTwo briefly considered obliterating this condescending bureaucrat with one swing of his powerful arm. He decided that the satisfaction wouldn’t equal the effort, instead he squatted and with great pleasure at realizing his over sized pointer finger was the perfect fit for either nostril he began to pick.
‘That’s nice.’ The goblin’s voice no longer carried the power it had. TifTwo pulled his finger out and looked at what he had found. “Gross. You better take that out with you when you leave. Here are your new orders. First you will accompany a goblin on a sales trip, you are the transport and protection of the package. This goblin will establish a route for you, on this route you will be distribution as well as transport and protection. Did you hear me, show me some sign this is getting through, and stop playing with that booger!”
Tiftwo looked down and made eye contact, then he grinned. He flicked the booger. It impacted on the wall just above the goblin’s head where it stuck; there it remained as all future attempts to remove it failed. The goblin looked up from where he had landed after falling out of his chair avoiding the flying projectile. He screamed when he saw his new office decoration. “Oh Gross, you gross disgusting dumb ape! Get Out! Adam come get your mule! Get this ape out of here NOW!”
The door to the office started to open but hit Tiftwo in the back. The opener tried again with the same result as it hit his shoulder. “GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT” Each scream was accompanied by a fist to the desktop. The final blow was with both fists and was more than the desk could take, it collapsed into a pile of broken boards and splinters. TifTwo looked at the mess then shrugged. When the door started to open for the third time, he caught it and pulled; hinges and most of the frame came with door. He stepped through the portal, leaving the door in a corner of the office.
A green goblin was waiting for him in the hall. “TifTwo, I’m Adam I’m the sales guy who will work with you to set up a route. Do you want know what we’re selling?” TifTwo didn’t indicate either way. If Adam was disappointed by TifTwo’s indifference it didn’t show as he continued. “It’s the juice from those berries you were picking. You had some, do you remember that drink you had? I bet you do.” He did, he nodded. “I bet you liked it too.” TifTwo nodded again. “That’s what we’re selling, we call it Grog. It’s stored in wooden kegs, we have a cart made for you to haul the barrels. Right now we don’t anticipate any problems, but as the Grog becomes popular there might be those looking to steal it. Your size should prevent any attempts at theft. If anyone tries to prevent you from completing your deliveries you are authorized to use whatever force you choose. OK, let’s go get a glass of the stuff, then we’ll get you hooked up to your cart.”
