[center][b][h2]The Singer[/h2][/b][/center] [hr] [center][b]I[/b][/center] [hr] Staring at the sky and humming her little melodies was all she could do. Lost in the endless forests as something alive yet not living. Doomed by fate itself as well as her kin to be forgotten and discarded, yet stubbornly grasping at the embers of life for the sake of her Dream. Disconnected from everything else and with her memories as her only compass. She reached for the twinkling stars, her hand slightly translucent and her body emitting an otherworldly glow, and closed her eyes. Alone. She was alone. A whimper came from nearby, and the short goblin opened her eyes again and walked over to the source of the sound. Her steps were not synchronized to her movement and wherever she stepped, the ground glowed for a few minutes after. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKwH4ph_0tM&ab_channel=TheLastSith]It was behind a tree, hidden and curled up, that she found the child.[/url] A little human, no older than ten. The boy was shivering with his eyes closed, bruises and small cuts all over his body. A strange sound came out of the goblin wight’s throat as it half walked half floated up to the child, kneeling down in front of him and caressing his cheeks. She wiped away sweat and tears and mud, the touch cold as ice on the child’s skin. He got goosebumps along his arms, and weakly managed to open his eyes to look at the ethereal form of the smiling goblin. There was no fear in his eyes. Not a single twitch or gasp as he saw the wight in front of him, nor the clean deep gash along her throat, or the liquid that eternally dripped from the injury only to evaporate as soon as it touched the ground. Instead, his eyes widened and sparkled as he coughed blood all over himself. The boy relaxed and fresh tears streamed down his cheeks as he sniffled and buried his face behind his knees, his body shaking rhythmically in synchronization to his quiet sobbing. The undead goblin sighed, wrapped her slender arms around the boy and caressed him gently as she began to hum one of her melodies. The soft music echoed deep into the silent woods. Their only witness being the full moon and the trees, the goblin kept comforting the child even after his sobbing had stopped and his body had grown cold and rigid. She only let go once she felt his spirit pass through her, on his way to the stars. At that point, she wiped her own tears and continued to watch over the small body. “You... were silenced... too…” She muttered to no one in particular, tracing fingers along the edges of the gash cut into her throat. “This world... is cruel and.... unforgiving… For a... pure creature... like you to... end up like this… do the Gods... have no hearts?” There was silence for a while, until she began to hum once more, eyes closed as she stood up and stayed beside the body the child had left behind. [hr] [center][b]II[/b][/center] [hr] Soon after the first night of grieving, the wight had chosen to hide within the tree that kept the boy's corpse out of the rain. Weeks later, it was a rough voice that woke her from her reverie. It was a Sylphi’s voice, she could tell not only from the sound but from the smell and taste of his soul. He, accompanied by a much younger Sylphi girl as well as two humans, one with a straw hat and the other with washed out blue robes, came to a stop in front of the body. “Tsk…” “Gods be damned…” Said the one in robes. “The monster who did this… We gotta get rid of it. This can’t happen again.” Said the one with the straw hat. He slid his hat in such a manner that it would cover more of his face, but he could not hide his turbulent emotions from the wight. The Sylphi girl, after a moment of shock, started to cry. Instead of saying anything, she instead walked off into the forest. No one else followed, their bodies tense and shoulders slumped. The midday light cast long shadows down their faces. The Sylphi male went on to kneel in front of the husk that had once contained the soul of an innocent boy, and poked it. It immediately dissolved into dust and was blown away by the breeze. “Ghouls…” He whispered, with the man in the hat grunting and the robed woman turning away and crossing her arms. The shadows grew long under the tree. The wood creaked and leaves rustled. “You… Mourn for… Him…” Came the weak, breathless voice. The men tensed, hands slowly finding their way to their weapons. The Sylphi male took a sharp breath. “... Yes, we do. We were meant to protect him…” He said. “We were meant to save him! From the bunch o’ freaks that took children from outside the Forest!” The man with the hat shouted, one hand now on his buzzer and the other digging for cartridges in his pouch. “I… Grieve for him… too...” The weak voice continued. A silence ensued. The silence was eventually filled by a soft melody coming from the tree, however. A gentle thing that calmed the soul and gave it respite. It was a minute that the three living sapients were on guard, but to the wight it felt like far longer. Once they relaxed and took their hands off their weapons, she stopped her melody and watched. “Do you, um, know where to find… You know, the ones responsible for this?” The robed woman asked, her eyes sparkling similarly to the way the boy’s eyes sparkled when he saw her. “I… Do…” The three mortals shared glances, nodded and the Sylphi male went off to presumably get the girl that had walked off. Once he was away, the wight left her hiding spot within the tree, materializing right on the spot where the boy’s husk had rested. She was a goblin, but unlike most goblins she was elegantly dressed with the finest fabrics from the Great City, all tinged a strange blue colour, made more clear due to her translucent nature and her glow. Her features as well, were not as wild as those of foreign goblin clans’. Instead, they resembled much more closely the features of modern civilized Arborean craftsperson goblins. Reaching up to their knees at most, the goblin wight looked at them with her glazed blue eyes and turned to walk in a set direction. “Follow…” She told them and walked. Just in time for the sylphi male to come back with the girl in tow, who was rubbing her eyes still. The man in the hat saw the two Sylphi return and whispered to them, a wild glint in his eyes and his brows twitched and his mouth seemed to have trouble deciding whether to laugh or scream. [i]“T… That thing’s got a fuckin’ gash in its throat! It’s drippin’, someone slit its throat! How the fuck’s it walkin’ and talkin’?!”[/i] [i]“You’re friends with hunter who’s also a talking plant, as well as his adoptive daughter who is also a dead goddess, and you think a ghost is weird?”[/i] The Mender asked the Buzzslinger, jabbing him lightly in the side with her elbow. [i]“Ow! Hey, my ribs are sensitive! Fuckin’...”[/i] The Buzzslinger muttered something unintelligible before the Mender jabbed his side again and turned away to hide her smug grin. [i]“OW! Thaa take me now and end my sufferin’...”[/i] [hider=Summary] Wight finds injured child in forest. Wight comforts child until it dies, then guards its body for a few weeks. Wight then meets Genesis party and guides them to the people behind the child’s death. [/hider]