Chapter Text
"Can I ask you one more question?" Robin said as he set the second one atop the flames to cook. Most likely to prevent it from going bad.
"Sure."
"I know you've given me your reason as to why you get shy," Robin said, "and I completely respect that, but I must admit that I've noticed some moments where you seem to be rather excited to hear me belch or even belch yourself. Is there a reason why?"
This time, Arrach actually chuckled just a little, "Well, I'm still a troll at heart. It's hard to completely forget your nature," He smiled. "Back when I was younger, my siblings and I used to get into burping contests all the time. I would usually win, but my siblings were pretty good, too. Especially my sister.
"But, the more I grew up, and the more I noticed how people treated trolls, the more I tried to distance myself from that lifestyle, but sometimes those habits creep up on me.
My siblings are getting to be close to my age, and yet they all still participate in those contests. I can't say I blame them. It's much easier to be shameless and be yourself in that way. It's hard even for me. I try to push away my past, but sometimes I can't control myself."
Robin nodded. She supposed she could relate to living in caution. In fact, the only reason she was even out here was because of the one and only time she made a mistake.
"Thank you for telling me," Robin said. "And I hope that one day, you'll find yourself able to trust me enough to be your true, unapologetic self around me."
Arrach smiled so wide that it created new wrinkles on his face, "I'm sure that won't be too far from now."
"Me, too!"
Robin and Arrach both gasped. Who was that?
Robin turned toward the fire, where he was met with a short gnome. He smiled up at them, his long, white hair covering his eyes.
Robin practically jumped out of her skin at the sight of him. She was so invested in her conversation with Arrach that she hadn't even seen this gnome approach.
It was Arrach who seemed to gain his composure first, because he squinted his eyes at him, "Who are you?"
"Ah, how rude of me!" The gnome smiled, revealing crooked yellow teeth, "My name is Runt! And you are?"
Runt seemed nice enough. For now. She decided to trust him.
"I'm Robin, and this," she pointed, "is Arrach."
"Nice to meet you both!" Runt said. "Now, I came over here because I smelled-" He stopped and sniffed the air before whipping around toward the fire. "Aha!"
With small, pudgy hands, not even worried about the head, he grabbed the squirrel from the fire and sat on a log diagonal to Arrach and Robin, where he promptly began to eat his meal.
Arrach's eyes flashed with anger as he turned to the gnome, "Hey, I was gonna eat that!"
"Too bad!" Runt said around a mouthful of meat. "You snooze, you lose!"
"How could I have been snoozing? I was the one that caught that squirrel!"
Only a few seconds had passed, but Runt had already stripped the bones of evey piece of meat. He threw the scraps on the ground and wiped his greasy hands on both his clothes and his long, white beard.
"Well," He said, using his pinky finger to pick at his teeth, "someone must've been snoozing, then, and it certainly wasn't me."
"What are you talking-"
"Boys!" Robin held up her hands to silence them. "Can we calm down for a minute? I want to know what's going on here."
The two of them nodded, though Arrach seemed to be a lot less happy about it.
"Good, thank you. Now," Robin turned to Runt, "mind explaining to us who you are?"
"I already told you, I'm Runt."
Robin rolled her eyes, "Yes, but what I meant was, what are you doing here?"
"Well, my village isn't too far from here, but I was cast out for... reasons. I've kinda been wandering aimlessly for a while, looking for food. So, once I smelled that delicious squirrel meat, I just couldn't resist!"
"Great, you've had your squirrel meat," Arrach said. "Now, run along?"
Runt's expression finally changed from playfulness to anxiety, "What? No! I can't leave! How else will I be able to feed myself?"
"You're a forest gnome," Arrach shrugged. "I'm sure you can figure something out."
"No!" Runt shot up and ran up to Robin and Arrach. "I promise you I can't make it out here by myself! Please let me come with you! I'll help you with whatever you need and make sure I carry my weight, but please, don't leave me out here to die!"
As Robin looked on at Runt, at the desperation in his eyes, she knew she couldn't just leave him like this. She turned to Arrach with a soft look.
"I'm sure there's room for one more on our journey, right?"
Arrach didn't look happy about it, not one bit, but even still, he crossed his arms. "Fine."
"Ah, thank you!" He said, jumping and kissing both of their hands. "I promise you you won't regret it!"
Arrach shot Robin an irritated look, but Robin just smiled. It felt good to help people.
Runt sat back down in his original spot and started sucking the grease off his fingers. "So, where are we headed?"
"The kingdom," Robin said casually. "I need to talk with the king."
Runt winked, "Bold! I like it! But do you think we'll run into any more delicious squirrels along the way?"
"I'm sure we could-"
Before Robin could finish her statement, Runt lifted a stubby leg and completely drowned her out.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFRT
Runt's southward expulsion was so loud and raucous that it created a harsh breeze, making tree branches sway and causing the fire to roar to enormous heights, almost starting a forest fire. But it died out after about seven seconds, where the fire went back to normal.
"Ahhhh," Runt sighed as he placed his leg back down and patted his stomach. "Much better."
"Are you-" Arrach tried to reprimand the gnome, but that was when the stink hit them.
And damn, did it stink.
Robin's eyes immediately began to water, and she began to cough as the tainted air traveled down her throat. Next to her, Arrach was pounding a fist to his chest, trying to get some air into him. Runt just laughed.
"Whoa, already?" He snorted. "There's plenty more where that came from!"
"Don't!" Arrach shouted. "We can't bring any attention to ourselves!"
Runt dropped the leg he had lifted once again in preparation for the next blast. "What do you mean?"
Both eyes turned to Robin, and she explained the situation as best she could while trying not to breathe too much of the stink in.
"Oh, shit, I had no idea!" Runt said. "Sorry about that, I'll keep it to SBDs from now on."
Arrach breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, that means... wait. Wait, what, don't-"
But it was too late. Much too late.
"Ugh, Runt!"
He just laughed.
Kon immediately sat up from his sleeping position when he heard the sound like thunder rumble throughout the forest.
But he knew that was no thunder.
"River!" He snapped, and the knight that was assigned to keep watch for the time being turned to him.
"Where did that sound come from?"
"From the west, I believe."
Kon's heart weighed heavily in his chest, but he knew he had no choice. If King Medius thought it was best, then he just had to trust him.
"Wake everyone up, River." He said, "I think we've found her."