They somehow were able to climb up the tree and reach the house at the top, albeit most of the climbing was done by Kalbo. It's a miracle that it has been expending this much energy despite not eating the whole day, it might be because it's already athletic or it's just the difference between humans and monsters.
Waiting for them at the top was another goblin. It stood up from a chair made from either animal or monster bones, the latter seems most likely. Looking at it closely, its body was etched with war yet it wasn't as terrifying as the other goblin or Ate, if that's the actual name. Rather than the scars being a sign of fear, they look like badges of honor.
Kalbo bowed, a sign of respect or fear? Then again, it's probably best to assume that this goblin is the leader.
"Bumalik ka nanaman? Nakita mo ba ulit si Nayoti?" The leader goblin asks with its gravelly voice and lifts Kalbo to stand up.
"No, po." Kalbo responds, taking a respectful tone.
Perhaps this wasn't the answer it was looking for because its face looked vexed.
The leader goblin leans in closer into Kalbo's face,"Sinugaling ka. Alam ko nakita mo siya."
Kalbo, refusing to budge on his stand, "No, po."
It's a bit too late to mention, but their dialect seems to have words that came from the human dialect. Kalbo is quite the gentleman, it uses familiar words such that the man knows and that works with the conversation.
A few seconds of silence passes. The air is thick enough that you could cut it with a knife and make grilled air steak. Grilled air steak? Perhaps the man isn't the only one starving.
The leader goblin lets out a chuckle and nudges Kalbo, "Niloloko lang kita. Paning-paniwala ka naman."
Kalbo doesn't respond and looks to the side, annoyed or that's what it wants the leader to believe. On the contrary, Kalbo looks anxious. It's pretending not to be nervous, but why? Is it hiding something from the leader goblin or something?
The leader goblin comes closer to Kalbo's side, glancing at one of the griffin eggs and then notices the man.
The leader picks up the man with ease, "Saan mo naman napulot 'to?" The man kinda looks like a kitten being picked by the scruff.
"Malapit po sa waterfall." Kalbo replies shyly. Also, did Kalbo just mention the waterfall? Is it flexing it's knowledge again? Well, it is doubtful since it doesn't look as confident before so they might be talking about where they just passed by.
The leader-looking goblin still holding the man up in the air, "Sure na sure ka ba diyan? Baka isa pang ahas yan." It replies while staring at the man with blatant hostility.
Kalbo takes a deep breath, "Tingin ko po mabait naman siya, medyo 'di lang nag ninilay pa minsan minsan." It seems that Kalbo's either praising or badmouthing the man, maybe both.
The leader's eyes soften and nod its head. "Kung 'yan ang gusto mo edi sige. Magaling ka naman magaalaga kung ano-ano." It sits back down and dismissively waves its hand as if it's telling them that it'll let it go for now.
They leave one of the griffin eggs at the leader's house and bring one down which thankfully was one with the floating chrysalis. They climbed down, albeit most of the going down was also done by Kalbo. It's a mystery whether or not the chrysalis needs the griffin egg or if it just continues to float even without the egg.
Well, that was a bit nerve-wracking. Not knowing what they were saying could fully leave it to one's imagination. It could be about the man's execution, who knows? He IS an intruder afterall and one can't put it beside themselves especially since they're goblins but Kalbo wouldn't allow that, probably if it's not mad.
They walk over to the east side of the main camp where a giant feast was held. The pleasant aroma of meat wafts through the air. There, a variety of meat was presented, from livestock animals to hazardous beasts to which were prepared in different ways as well.
Grilled meat, meat stews, steamed meat and even raw meat was served. Each of the goblins seem to have their own tastes and preferences; some even add vegetables like mushrooms, potatoes and carrots to the mix. That said, goblins are quite resourceful; using dried unripe fruits as seasoning for the meat.
Kalbo walks near the enormous campfire in the middle with a blue flame. There, a chubby goblin sitting on a log was roasting meat all alone. While it did also have a burn like Kalbo or Ate, the chubby goblin's nose was huge and definitely not a cute button; it's ears were also quite big. Looking around, most of the goblins had burns and looked similar to Bobo or maybe Bobo looked like them but nevertheless it seems Kalbo and Ate are the only outliers in this tribe.
"Bobo!" Kalbo calls out with a joyful tone and waves to say hi. Is this a friend perhaps? The chubby goblin or Bobo, turned to look at Kalbo with a pleasant smile.
"Kamusta ka na?" Both of them ask the same question at the same time. Must be a common phrase like "what's up?" or "how're you doing?" Something along those lines.
They both awkwardly laugh it off. Is this how friends normally are?
No matter, "friends" or relationships are nothing but give and take. However, if one person of the relationship doesn't give the same value of the "give" part, it could spark arguments which might lead to the doom of the friendship.
Then again, there are multiple views of relationships so one might argue that this type of statement also doesn't matter. If so, why do people borrow money from the people closest to them when they are at the brink of ruin? Friendship is merely an investment. Even their relationship with Gods; If they follow the teachings, they are promised blessings according to priests. This is not to be blamed on humans, since humans are born dependent.
Ah. Enough rambling.
Moving on, Kalbo handed over the one griffin it had left. Bobo notices the floating chrysalis. Somebody finally acknowledged the random cocoon floating around. Bobo points at the thing floating above the griffin egg, "Ano yan?"
Kalbo pauses to think, "FAIRY!" It shouts out, finally realizing what it is. Kalbo's eyes glimmer in excitement. Some of the other goblins look at Kalbo with curiosity while a select few look at it with annoyance. The other goblins surprisingly don't care much about fairies, or at the very least, don't have the same enthusiasm as Kalbo does.
Bobo, a bit surprised, tries touching the chrysalis but Kalbo slaps its hands away.
"No." Kalbo threatens Bobo, its eyes glaring like daggers.
Bobo, clearly not in the mood, glares back. "Edi wag." It lets its tongue out as a way of a mockery.
Kalbo mirrors Bobo's actions and they both start to look immature. This goes on for a few minutes, mimicking each other and even altering their voices just to mock each other.
Eventually they both gave out and laughed it off. Is this normal amongst friends?
Bobo points at the direction where they came from, "Kagagaling niyo lang kay Piracho?"
Bobo must be asking whether they arrived just now or maybe it's asking whether or not they came from the leader's house.
Kalbo nods, a bit of sweat trailing down its forehead as if recalling what had happened before. The latter of the guess seems to be correct.
"Lagi ka kasi nag sisinungaling sa kanya. Deserved lang yan" Kalbo looks a bit displeased with Bobo's statement. It almost sounds like Bobo is scolding Kalbo, but for what reason?
Bobo, noticing the man, hands over a giant piece of grilled meat. Since it practically almost doesn't have seasoning, aside from the few cuts of grass, and it being raw in the middle, it must not taste good. Regardless, the man devours it and asks for seconds. The swine of a man ruined his clothes, now stained with oil.
He has been starving since this afternoon so his uncouth behavior is reasonable.
Bobo chuckles and hands over another. This time being two times bigger than the last. This one is also probably not cooked well.
Bobo nudges Kalbo, "Pssst." Kalbo glances at Bobo, expecting a piece of meat, but instead is met with a question. Kalbo looks a bit disappointed but doesn't mind that much.
"Anong pangalan nan?" It points to the man, chowing down at the second piece of meat like there's no tomorrow.
Kalbo shrugs and grabs the piece of meat next to Bobo.
Bobo tilts its head, "Walang siyang pangalan??"
Kalbo nods, happily tearing away the piece of meat.
Bobo widely grins, "Bakit 'di mo bigyan nalang ng pangalan?" It's hard to make out what they're saying but whatever it is doesn't seem like a good thing
Kalbo thinks it over, "Hmmm... Maybe."
It glances at the man and then back at Kalbo, "Gusto mo Gogo pangalan natin diyan?"
"Hmmm..." Kalbo stays silent for a few minutes, somewhat ignoring Bobo.
Kalbo snaps its fingers, like it just thought of something. This isn't a good thing. "Alam ko na." The corner of Kalbo's mouth curved in a half smile. This is definitely NOT going to be a good idea.
Kalbo turns to the man, "Gold is your name." It announces. The man turns to Kalbo too but his face is stuffed with food so he is unable to answer so Kalbo takes it as yes. It's almost as if they're naming an exotic pet. Well, in a sense he is. But no way is anybody actually calling him that...right?
A few hours passed by and all they did was eat and chat, what a bunch of pigs. They mostly talked about food, the forest and fairies. Most of the fairy talk was done by Kalbo though. There was one particularly interesting conversation however. It was related to the tribe and why they burn themselves.
This conversation was of course sparked by, ehem, —"Gold". Apparently it was because of an old tradition of the tribe. They offer the skins of their young by branding it with liquid fire to the fire dragon. A bit too brutal to be called tradition but to each our own and hey, at least it isn't a tradition where they offer a young lady to some unknown God so they don't suffer its wrath. Where did that come from? Moving on, goblins aren't that well known for being intelligent so them being able to form religions is praiseworthy in itself.
The name Gold doesn't entirely fit the man but through sheer repetition of Kalbo calling him that, it's difficult to call him any differently.
Soon, the sky is covered by the cape of the moon and all is dark. Most of the other goblins headed home, even Bobo. As you can probably guess, Kalbo and "Gold" still haven't left.
By now, there was nothing there except for the everlasting blue ember of the campfire. "Gold" looks cautiously around them, checking if the shadows of the trees hid beasts of the wild but there was nothing. "Gold" is more terrified without noises rather than if there were noises.
Still, "Gold" urges them to head home. To which Kalbo just absentmindedly replies, "But I don't have a home?"
The man's eyes widen, either from surprise or fear of the unknown. Kalbo takes the man's hand and drags him back into western side of the man camp. On the ground, stood a small little shack made from straw.
"It isn't wonderful? I made it myself." Kalbo proudly proclaims. A humble yet warm home but why did it say it didn't have a home earlier if it had this? Why did it decide to build it on the ground?
Kalbo sticks out like a sore thumb in the tribe; not only does it lie to its superior, it's multilingual, doesn't look like any of the goblins in the tribe and is the only one to build its house on the ground.
Kalbo opens up the bamboo door at the front of the house and inside were a ragtag bunch of animals or beasts.
"I'll introduce you to my pets." Kalbo proudly announced.
Kalbo had many different pets, but there were three that had cages.
First it introduced a crow with eyes in places it shouldn't have. Kalbo calls the crow, "Fernando Poe Jr." Why is the name so long though? Most of the goblin's names are short and mostly two syllables. While it does look a bit odd at first, it seems like it's strong for some reason. Maybe because of the name.
Then it introduced a giant mosquito with butterfly wings. Its name is "Purport" according to Kalbo. It's species looks like a failed experiment; the ugly trying to be beautiful but never fully looking like it. As the saying goes, "You can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig."
Finally a brown spotted rabbit with no name. Kalbo didn't even give it an introduction like how it did with the other two. Noticing Kalbo's indifference, Gold points it out "What's that?" He asks, curious about the rabbit. For once, his eyes look passionate. Are rabbits his favorites?
"That's tomorrow's breakfast." Kalbo says bluntly while gently putting the egg with the floating chrysalis down near the rabbit's cage.
The man's face quickly transfigures into horror.