Challenge #02607-G050: This is MY Baby
The most dangerous place in the whole world is between mother and child.
A: She’s not even a human!
B: You can take this child from my cold, dead hands. Don’t worry, little one, I will not let them near you. – Anon Guest
There are indisputable, largely unwritten, laws of the universe. Some of them are common sense like, Do not drink water that smells bad. Some are a little more specific like, Never eat the food at a place called Mom’s, or Don’t play cards with someone who smiles all the time. But the number one rule, known even by creatures that can’t articulate the thought, is this: Never mess with a mother and her child.
Marvin was, possibly, seventeen years old. If he had a family before, he certainly couldn’t remember anything about them. He had spent his entire life being the scapegoat for The Razorz, and was generally the one person who took in the firewood, took out the trash, and took the blame for everything. It was quite a surprise, then, to learn that he had gained a mother.
She was, perhaps, four feet tall. She was also draconic, and a sort of muddy green that could blend in with a surprising amount of backgrounds. She had come out of nowhere to prevent Big Yan from landing another meaty fist on Marvin’s head, which was still ringing. She made herself look as menacing as a singular Kobold could look, and screeched, “YOU KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY BOY!”
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Challenge #02499-F309: A Different Key
I have a highly adaptive tendency to assume that the people around me know better than I do. – Anon Guest
Anthe had spotted the weakest link. It was hard to avoid, really. A beefy boy not nearly yet a man, perhaps twice the size he should be and clumsy with it. His tasks were always the ones with heavy lifting. Take things in, take things out. Take things up, take things down… and always, always, take the blame. They called him Marvin when they weren’t calling him curses or disparaging his intelligence. Anthe watched all of it with her own past acting like a knife in her heart. This is what the world had done to her before Wraithvine turned up and helped her prove she was worth more than spit in her face.
All this, she absorbed whilst playing Stupid Kobold. They had her crammed into a bird cage and hung perilously high from the ceiling. High enough to make her concerned about jumping down. Worse - they had taken her lock-picking tools before they shoved her in. She had heard Marvin the apparently incapable muttering about saving damsels in distress several times. If he just knew she was a lady, he might yet get his wish. But first, she had to gently divorce him from the idea that this gang were his friends.
Marvin had a new black eye, still swelling and darkening. One member of the gang had evidently objected to something in Marvin’s orbit. He was mumbling to himself again and fencing shadows. “…guard the kobold,” he mumbled, “Anyone can guard the kobold. They’re stupid creatures, stupid boy…”
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Challenge #02331-F141: One Quiet Evening a Long Time Ago
“I do not sleep. I Wait.” – AmberFox
Marvin didn’t understand a lot of things. He certainly didn’t understand how an Elf and a Kobold managed to sweet-talk him away from the gang. The gang who -they had said- he should be grateful to forever because they let him live. The Elf and the Kobold said he shouldn’t have to be grateful for table scraps and daily beatings.
He was sixteen, and already taller than most grown men. Some folks whispered that he was part Gargantuan, and the gang had complained that he was always hungry. The Elf and the Kobold didn’t complain. Lady Anthe - the Kobold - said that he was as big as a horse, so it was only fair that he’d be able to eat one as well.
Marvin decided to stick with cow, pig, and chicken. Horses were nice. He didn’t want to turn them into food. He didn’t know about the Elf and the Kobold, though. Something about how nice they were made him afraid of their anger. Which was, despite having a proper bed for the first time ever, Marvin couldn’t sleep. Lady Anthe had curled up on a pile of pillows by the fireside, under her cloak and a small duvet, and was sound asleep. Her snout poked out, but that was the only sign she was there.
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