[rework] Minglings - chapter 12: Meeting the locals

Jake spun around, noticing Mason step towards him while the soldiers pulled into a formation. All of them were baring their teeth, glaring at the jungle.

Three Kobolds stood just below the treeline, partially covered by the slowly growing shadows cast by the enormous trees. Unlike Jake and the others, they weren't wearing ripped and torn clothing but decked out in leather armor. Two were holding bows almost as tall as they were, a well-filled quiver poking out behind their shoulder.

Slightly to the side, perhaps so as not to block their shot, was a tall, wide-shouldered, and almost entirely yellow-scaled Kobold. Unlike the others, he was wearing thick metal-studded leather armor. Only his left arm wasn't covered, leaving bare a muscular blue-scaled arm that seemed to be a mismatch for the rest of him. The scarred blue hand held a gleaming scimitar, its curved blade ending in a wicked point.

Jake instantly detected several minor differences between these Kobolds and him, Mason, and the others. The most obvious one was that these Kobolds had faces that were much more reptilian, with longer snouts and more curved eyes. They didn't have hair but a sort of frills that seemed capable of movement. There was also something wrong with the proportion of their muscles and the length of their limbs, shorter and stubbier than his. 

He couldn't stop himself from taking a quick look at Mason and the soldier Kobolds, instantly realizing the difference. As different as Mason had become, there were tiny remnants of human features in his friend's face and stature that the armed Kobolds were missing.

"So, from your reaction, I take it they aren't with you?" Tess whispered. She had managed to maneuver herself slightly behind the soldiers.

"They don't even look like us… And look at their armor and weapons. It fits them perfectly. These guys didn't change into Kobolds when that shit happened. They were born like this. I think we've just found the locals..." Mason grunted as he shared a worried look with Jake.

"Are you sure? To me, they look just like you," Tess muttered. "They could have just prepared better?"

Nobody answered her.

The shadows lengthened as the two groups stood observing each other, the first tips reaching the river.

"Are we just going to stand here like this? Perhaps we should go and talk to them?" Jake muttered.

Sandra looked at him and frowned but didn't make any move. Instead, she raised an eyebrow.

Either the indigenousness Kobolds had heard him or had come to the same conclusion because they began moving forward before anybody could follow up on Jake's words.

The tallest one used a hand gesture to command the other two to hold their place before walking forward. 

That has to be the leader, Jake thought as he focused on the blue-armed Kobold, who stopped halfway and raised his arm. At first, Jake thought it was a greeting, but the arm remained aloft.

"The hell? I guess he wants to talk, but what's with the arm?" Mason grunted in confusion.

Sandra sighed before slowly walking forward. "The arm is a warning. If he drops it, his friends will start shooting. Spread out a bit, and if he attacks me, take out the archers first. I'll deal with him."

Mason was about to follow her when Jake grabbed his arm, shaking his head. "Don't. She seems to know what she is doing, and this way, you won't have to fight that big lug if he becomes unfriendly."

As Jake talked with Mason, Sandra's three Kobold soldiers began spreading out, gaze focused on the archers below the treeline.

Jake turned to Tess, who was still holding Emma's hand. Just looking at her made him anxious. She reminded him way too much of David and his insidious smile. He looked at her and frowned. "If anything happens, hide, alright?" Tess nodded, a serious look on her face, but Jake didn't trust her one bit. He turned to Emma, beckoning her over. "Stay close to me. Mason and I will rush towards the archers if it comes to a fight. Stay behind us so you don't get shot."

Mason looked at his friend, his eyebrows raised before a grin surfaced on his face.

Emma nodded and pulled free, but Tess grabbed her shoulder, shaking her head in dismay as she glared at Jake. "You can't be serious! How can you make a little girl like her fight?"

Before Jake could respond, Emma slapped the hand from her shoulder and darted next to him. Then she glared back at Tess. "I can take care of myself! And even if I couldn't, I am safer with them than with you!"

Not waiting for a reply, Emma moved to stand next to Mason and grabbed his hand after a slight hesitation.

Then why did you go to her in the first place? Jake thought.

He shrugged and looked at the Fiend. "Listen, I know what you must be thinking. But times have changed, and before we met you, we had to deal with shit. She is more than capable of taking care of herself, and she needs the practice."

It was skirting the edges of what was true, but the longer he looked at Tess, the more he had to resist his desire to chase her off.

The Fiend stared at him, and he met her gaze as level as he could. After a moment, she sighed sadly. With a sharp nod, she turned her gaze from Jake to Sandra.

Jake moved next to Mason and Emma, wondering what would happen.

Sandra had been walking very slowly but had reached the indigenous Kobold, still waiting with his arm raised.

"Damnit, I should be there, not her!" Mason hissed as he looked at Sandra, stopping before the other Kobold.

"You are just curious and don't want to wait for her to tell us who they are and what they want!" Jake shot back before snickering.

Mason snorted.

--

Sandra noticed something eerie as she stood before the yellow Kobold. Every time she looked at his weird blue arm, part of her felt odd and almost inclined to submit to him, to follow his orders. It was almost like how she had felt towards her grandfather. No, worse. It felt like deference as if she wanted to bow. Annoyed, she suppressed the feeling and looked into the blue lizard eyes.

"Rias raggel egforag rias derial ragfo?" In a deep, somewhat ragged voice, the Kobold appeared to ask her something, his voice loud enough for the party behind her to hear.

Confused, Sandra shook her head. "I don't know what that means. Can you understand me?"

The Kobold's eyes narrowed, and he uttered another mouth full of gibberish.

“Rag derial rias derialgel gel ragragforias rageggelrag?” The Kobold bellowed.

Sandra knew that whatever he said, things weren't moving in the right direction. She slowly shook her head again. This time the Kobold let out a single word, and although she still didn't understand, she guessed it was a curse.

After being silent for a while, the Kobold spoke again, but this time in another language. Understanding that he was trying to find a common language, Sandra shook her head again. Astonishing her, the Kobold continued spewing out questions in at least a dozen different languages until, appearing sorely out of patience, he uttered something in a growling, guttural language. From the tone and the glare, Sandra immediately knew that it was an ultimatum. Either it was the last language in the insane list of languages he spoke, or he wasn't willing to continue trying.

Without showing anything, she prepared herself to attack, then shook her head. She had the distinct feeling this wasn't going to end well. A snarl began forming on the Kobold's face, and the archers behind him seemed tense. Just when Sandra was on the point of attack, the Kobold focused his gaze on something behind her. Confused, Sandra heard someone walk toward them.

The tall Kobold stepped back a bit, his hand still in the air but with a frown on his face. Sandra hissed a curse and wished she could look over her shoulder. 

"Don't come any closer! It isn't going well, and he might attack," she shouted.

"How would you know? You don't even understand what he is saying!" Mason snapped back as he stepped next to her, closely followed by Jake. They both had their hands on their head, gazes flicking between the yellow Kobold and the archers.

Following their gaze, Sandra saw one of them was now aiming an arrow at them.

Her military background kicked in, and she quickly created a plan incorporating Mason and Jake's new position. The raised bows weren't great, but with them this close, they might be able to jump the archer before they did too much damage. As she turned to them to signal them to get ready, she saw that Jake's face contorted and contracted as if he was in great pain.

"You sure bro?" Mason asked, looking at Jake, who was gripping his head in his hands.

Now what? Sandra thought, increasingly annoyed at how things were getting out of hand.

--

Jake stood beside Mason, staring at Sanda, watching her shake her head as the yellow Kobold tried yet another language.

Dammit, why isn't there one that makes sense? he thought. The language of those Hydraci had made sense after only a few words! He suppressed a light worry that he was somehow related to those aggressive monsters and continued to focus on the words.

A language that reminded him of french was followed by an angry snort. 

He isn't happy, Jake thought as he saw the yellow-scaled face contort. 

With an angry hiss, the Kobold began again, and as the first word of the guttural and rough language filled the air, Jake thought his head would split apart. The sounds around him slowly faded as the words, almost as if in slow-motion, rolled around him like thunder. His headache worsened with every following word until he thought he would vomit or faint. It felt like something inside his mind was struggling, struggling to adjust. 

Just when he was sure he couldn't take it anymore, something clicked. 

"Galr gron this alrig das ro die!"

Jake's eyes widened as he swallowed back the bile trying to rise. He had understood something! Or where this and die words in that language? No... that wasn't right. It had been more like with those Hydraci, but... more impactful. As the throbbing pain in his head increased, he swayed on his feet.

"Fuck, this is going to turn ugly," Mason whispered.

Jake looked up, blinking to stop seeing things double, and saw Mason was right. The Kobold had finished and was glaring at Sandra, while the archers were looking at them with glints. Whatever he had just learned, he needed to use it, or they would have to do this the hard way. 

"Mason, I think I just understood a few of those words," he whispered, grimacing when Mason looked up so fast his head seemed to continue moving up.

"What? How?"

"Can't explain, but let's go over and see if I can understand more before this thing blows up!"

Jake could almost see Mason's brain running at max speed before he nodded. 

"Alright, but try and be ready for a fight," he whispered. 

Jake nodded, causing another wave of nausea.

"You don't look too good," Mason whispered as he grabbed his elbow, keeping him upright.

"Hurry," Jake replied as he began moving forward. It took all his effort to stay on his feet, and he barely heard Mason talk with Sandra. His full focus was on the yellow Kobold. 

Seeing the dangerous yellow Kobold frown and look at him, Jake raised a hand to his mouth and mimicked speaking, trying to replicate the word this he had heard. He must have succeeded because the frown changed into a look of confusion and then into one of anger as the heavy-set Kobold seemed at the point of blowing a fuse. 

No, no, Jake thought, wishing he could lie down and sleep for a day. Don't get angry! Just talk!

One of the archer Kobolds shouted something, and the leader glanced over his shoulder to listen. He blinked and snapped something back before he turned back to Jake. His cobalt eyes narrowed as he scanned Jake's face, seeming to search for something. 

No longer moving and keeping his eyes on one spot, Jake slowly felt the headache fade. With it, his worry grew. Had he made a mistake?

The leader's eyes suddenly widened, and he gazed deep into Jake's eyes as if digging for something. It almost felt like a staring contest, and Jake tried not to blink. Seconds passed when the leader's eyes began to glitter, and his tension faded. With a soft growl, he started talking at a slow, steady pace. He halted for a moment every ten words, then began again.

"He is repeating something over and over..." Mason said, but Jake waved him to be quiet. 

In the few seconds of staring, his headache had lessened slightly. Now, with each repetition, it increased, but so did his knowledge of the alien language. A dozen repetitions later, he started understanding what was being said—something about blood, heritage, and honor.

His eyes were burning, and his head was pounding as the Kobold kept talking. 

Next to him, Sandra and Mason looked confused while the archers showed obvious signs of excitement.

After almost a hundred times, Jake finally raised his hands with a pained smile. 

"- shared blood. Honor to you, and good luck awakening your heritage."  the Kobold said, completing the sentence he had said for long minutes.

Jake closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as he felt knowledge seep into his mind. 

"Hey, buddy, are you okay? What happened? Can you understand him?" Mason asked.

Jake realized his friend had been worriedly whispering to him for a while now, and he nodded. "Yes, I will explain everything later, okay? Let me try something before that guy gets restless again." Then he turned back to the Kobold, watching him with unhidden interest.

Jake concentrated and found unfamiliar but understandable words jumbled around in his mind. Deciding what to say, it took him a while to collect the ones he needed, but when he did, he looked at the Kobold. With more effort than made him comfortable, he croaked out a small sentence, the weird syllables moving unfamiliar across his tongue.

"Do you understand me?"

The Kobold's eyes began shining and one of the corners of its mouth curved up. "Yes."

The word was rough and harsh, but there was a primal power to it, and Jake felt something inside of him shiver. Replying took some effort. Fiddling around in his mind, Jake managed to form another sentence.

"What does 'Good luck awakening your heritage' mean?" he asked.

The Kobold seemed surprised and was quiet before shaking his head. "How did you come to this island?" he said, seemingly ignoring Jake's question.

It took a moment for the words to compute, but then Jake looked up in surprise. "Island? We can't be on an island..."

When he heard a surprised mutter from Mason and saw the Kobold look at him in confusion, Jake knew he had used the wrong language. With his mind still foggy, his head throbbing, and his stomach somersaulting, he wished he didn't have to have potentially the first dialogue with non-human beings from another world. Still, as he had no idea who the other side was or what they wanted, or if they were even friendly, he decided to play dumb. If they ended up being friendlies, he would explain later.

"I don't know. We fled into that jungle and ended up here," he replied, noticing that finding the words had already become easier.

"Fled from where?" the Kobold asked, his eyebrows lowering.

Scrunching his eyebrows, Jake wondered why it started sounding like an interrogation.

"From where we live. It is very far away, and I don't know how we ended up here," Jake said, trying to project as much sincerity as he could.

The Kobold nodded as if it was a perfectly normal thing, and he didn't seem surprised. "What is your country called, and what are you called?"

As Jake wondered how to answer that without getting into trouble, an idea formed in his mind, and despite how he felt, a small grin tried to wriggle its way on his face. Forcing it down, he decided to sound sure of himself.

"I am Jake, and we are from a country called Earth."

The Kobold seemed momentarily surprised by the untranslated words, but then he nodded.

"Good, Jiakeh. You have a strong name. I am Bolyr."

The Kobold fell silent, and it took a moment before Jake understood he was supposed to say something back. Wondering if he should make a compliment, he realized he had no idea what would count as one. Except for saying someone had a strong name. Getting a little stressed out, he took a deep breath before blurting out the first thing that came to him.

"Thank you, Bolyr. You seem very strong too."

Jake cringed inward, trying to keep a straight face as he looked at the other party hoping for a positive response.

Bolyr just looked at him, and as it lasted, Jake began feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

"What the hell did you say to him?" Sandra hissed as the tension began to rise.

Before Jake could answer, soft laughter came from the jungle. Jake looked up to see the one-eyed Kobold with a hand in front of his mouth. Beside him, the other archer had his eyes closed while bulging muscles lined his chin from his attempt to hold back his laughter.

Jake felt the color drain from his face, and he quickly looked back at Bolyr, seeing the yellow Kobold eyeing him while shaking his head.

"You are not from around here," Bolyr said.

"He is just bad at giving out compliments," a soft voice said from behind, shocking everybody.

Emma quickly hid behind Mason, rubbing her head. Tears were streaming down her contorted face while she looked at Jake. "I don't know why, but I understand what you two are saying... and my head hurts so much. I almost fainted."

"Incredible…" Bolyr's voice sounded rougher than before, and his eyes were so wide they seemed almost round. The two archers had also fallen silent, looking at the small Kobold, stunned.

"Is she your child?" Bolyr asked, staring at Jake.

Jake shook his head, shocked by Bolyr's intense gaze.

"No." He wasn't sure he had said the right thing when he saw a smile on Bolyr's face.

"But she is family," he quickly added, which caused the Kobold's eyes to light up even more. Emma didn't even blink, still rubbing her head.

"Very well. I don't feel any hostility against you, so you must still be unbound! As you are obviously not from around here and seem in need of assistance, you can come with us. We will head back to our camp so we can eat and talk in a safe environment."

Jake blinked in surprise. The idea of a camp, and food, sounded fantastic. But could he trust the other? Should he tell the others and talk with them?  

He stared at Emma for another moment, then turned around and began moving towards the jungle, waving his hand for the others to follow.

What other choice do we have, he thought.

The two Kobolds archers lowered their bows, and Jake quickly explained to the others what had happened.

"Can we trust them?" Mason whispered, looking at Jake.

"How in the blazes do you think I would know that? But I know that staying here without food seems like a terrible idea. What if those  Hydraci come back?"

"The what?" Sandra asked from behind.

"Some weird Kobold-like monsters that attacked us from the river moments before you guys showed up. Anyway, let's hurry before they leave us behind," Jake said as he saw Bolyr march towards the jungle edge. 

As he followed, the throbbing in his head intensified again. Mason caught up next to him, carrying Emma, who was rubbing her head and wiping her eyes. 

Only a few steps in, Mason turned around.

Sandra and the soldiers -and Tess- Jake corrected himself, weren't moving.

"You guys better come too, unless you have a better idea?" Mason shouted, then he began walking towards the jungle again.

Sandra shook her head before glancing around to find the soldiers looking at her, waiting for her orders. She gritted her teeth.

"Fine. Move out, keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

---

As they moved away, nobody noticed bubbles floating up in the river's water or the long shadow swimming away along the bottom.