And so...it begins (Vix's path)

Once she got out of the cave hopefully with a fellow goblin at her back she would take in the sights before looking around for some sticks and if she found some she would try to sharpen two by repeatedly rubbing them against the rock she had brought. While she did that if she had lucked out and gotten assistance she would ask the other one for their name otherwise once she finished sharpening the sticks she'd look for a tree to climb so she could get a better view of the surrounding area.

The goblin that followed her out of curiosity was a male that had been busy picking his nose. It watched as she worked on the sticks with some curiosity, deciding to just pick up a random stick instead of trying to do the same as hers. GobuVix's stick was somewhat pointed, though it was very crude as she didn't have much skill at crafting yet. The Goblin tilted its head and pointed at itself. "I'm GobuGomu," he would declare as he watched her begin climbing a tree. She was a pretty odd goblin, which continued to peak his curiosity. Gomu walked to the base of the tree and poked it with his stick but didnt dare try climbing it.

As Vix would reach the top of the tree she wouldn't be able to see too much due to foliage and other trees. However, she could still make up the large mountain that reached above the clouds where their cave was, which was in the South. To the North the forest was thickest and as such she wouldn't be able to see too much. To the East there was a trail in the beginning that got swallowed by forest, with further doing there seemed an odd patch of trees with some kind of construction in the upper bit, though it was a few hours away and hard to discern completely. To the West there was first a clearing that some of the Goblins occasionally used before more trees. If she looked closely she would see something that looked like water falling off the mountain to the West a couple miles away.

Vix would try her best to remember where everything was and then would carefully climb down the tree while keeping her eyes out for any fruit or vines she could easily snag for future use. When she eventually got down she would smile at Gobugomu before speaking. "I'm GobuVix. So here's the thing, we're both hungry but we are also not that strong so.. We work together we make things easier for us and get twice as much food as we would on our own." she said and when she was sure he understood her she would point to the north with her pointy stick. "We are headed that way, but we have to be quiet. If we find something we'll do it like this I'll distract it and you come behind and stab it with this sick in the legs before running away again. If we do that we can probably hunt something yummy." she said before handing over the stick she sharpened over to him and picking her rock back up as she was more comfortable with the killing potential of a blunt weapon than the wounding potential of a piercing one.

GobuGomu looked at the pointed stick she made and shook his head. "Gomu help hunt. But Gomu don't like pointy things. Gomu prefer stick to pointy stick," he would say as he tested his fingers on the pointy end which didn't do much besides prick him a tiny bit since it wasn't the best sharp tool. He then looked North and nodded. "Just as long as we back by dark. Scary things in the dark," he would say before looking at her, waiting for her to lead the way since it was her plan.

"No worries, we'll be back before dark, I don't wanna be stuck out here either." Vix understood and decided to keep her stick as a back up just in case, either way she would head north deciding to keep low towards the ground and keep her eyes and ears out for anything moving or making sounds besides them at least. She would turn if only to check that GobuGomu was doing the same and if he wasn't she'd wave her hand downward to try and gesture that he should probably sneak around too. Either way as she kept moving she would have one hand holding her rock and keep her pointed stick in her mouth so that she could have her other hand. She would also make sure to look for any thing that seemed edible as even though she had eaten bugs in the cave she knew she would eventually start getting hungry again and so would GobuGomu.

Gomu at first just followed her casually until she motioned for him to copy her. He felt a little weird doing it but he decided to copy her, though he wasn't as careful as she was. He just thought this was plain weird. After a few minutes of sneaking around and not really finding anything, the sound of water would be heard off in the distance. Additionally, a few rustling noises could be heard to their left and right. A different type of noise continued in front of them, though it did seem to be a bit further away. The one to the right of them sounded the closest.

Skill Obtained

Name: Sneak
Effect: Gains a bonus when attempting to act stealthily, making it harder for enemies to notice your presence.
Level: 1/100
Experience: 0/100

Character Experience Gained: 50

Vix would hear multiple noises, but she decided to deal with the one which seemed to be closer to them namely the one to their right. She would point with her free hand towards where she heard the noise and then over her lips to tell him to be quieter and continue creeping towards it now moving extra carefully as hopefully it was prey and not a predator. Still if it was then it was even more paramount that she moved as sneakily as possible so as not to alert them of her presence, on one hand she was disappointed in GobuGomu but on the other hand he did serve as a way to further mask her presence as whatever did end up chancing upon them was more likely to notice him rather than her. She was curious though as to what was making the rustling sounds and there was also the anxious feeling that accompanied the unknown, she might possibly have to fight putting her life on the line and she wondered if it was something her companion was feeling as well.

Though Vix was better at being quiet moving through the underbrush, GobuGomu was not. Despite his best efforts he still made a noise every now and then. Upon getting close to the sound of the rustling they would be able to spot a horned rabbit through the underbrush. It stood on its hind legs, sniffing the air and its ears alert as it had managed to hear some rustling itself from Gomu due to his incompetence. They still had the surprise chance but the horned rabbit was on guard. What would this goblin duo do? Gomu licked his lips, his body tensing up as he dreamed about the taste of meat.

She saw it, a horned rabbit and instantly she was smitten with how lovely it looked, the perfect picture of innocence yet with an obvious danger that accompanied it. She initially was loath to harm it however she knew in order to survive she needed to eat and thus she would once more hold her hand out this time instructing Gomu to wait. She would make a gesture to try and tell him that she was going to go ahead with the plan by distracting it so that he could have a clean shot at crippling it and if he understood she would proceed to circle around so that when she did startle it he would have the opportunity to strike it from it's blind spot. If it wasn't alerted and things went as planned she would remove the stick from her mouth into her free hand before popping out of the under-bush and jab at it threateningly while baring her teeth. She would however keep the hand holding the rock behind her body and would keep jabbing the stick so as to focus it's attention on her and her pointy "weapon".

Spoiler:

Gomu nodded as she went around to try and distract it. He continued watching the horned rabbit, awaiting for the chance to initiate their plan. However, the sound of something else nearby, a sound similar to what they heard to the north, sounded a lot closer behind him. He looked back but saw nothing and the noise quickly disappeared. He shrugged and looked back at the rabbit just in time to see Vix pop out.

The horned Rabbit jumped, startled but quickly evaded the initial attack, as being unused to the pointed stick as a weapon her aim was largely off. The rabbits hair stood on end as it squared off, backing up as the goblin approached her. It tightened up its body, preparing to lunge through, but then a sudden burst of noise behind it threw it off guard as its rear was suddenly slammed by the second goblin. The rabbit kind of did a forced flip in mid air as its rear end was thrown upward by Gomu. When it landed it let out a cry and attempted to run but its rear left leg had been injured greatly by the branch Gomu had weilded.

Vix was glad that the plan was successful as she was uncertain whether or not Gomu would manage to stick to the plan, still when he landed his blow she too would move into action trailing the rabbit as it flew through the air and then rushing over to where it landed on the ground. As it made it's cry she would attempt to silence it with a blow over the head with her rock though making sure to hit the side of it's face so as not to damage it's horn. If she was successful in killing it she would place her stick back into her mouth and then try and pick it up before heading back into the bushes as it wouldn't do to eat in such an exposed place. Though she would wait for GobuGomu to regroup with her before dividing the spoils, it wouldn't do to cheat him out of his hard earned meal as well seeing as he had helped her hunt it in the first place.

Blood splatted against Vix's face as the head caved in from the horned rabbit, the horn still in decent condition. As she retreated to the bushes with the prey and waited for Gomu to return, she would actually notice that not a sound was being made and Gomu wasn't following after her. Something seemed off.

Character Experience Gained: 250
Blunt Weapon Proficiency Exp: 50
Sneak Exp: 100

Vix would actually begin to grow concerned especially since Gomu was nowhere to be found yet she didn't know whether it would be best to flee or stay in the same place and hide, either way she knew that she had some blood on her which meant the latter wasn't a good idea especially if whatever had delayed Gomu from returning was still around. She would actually remove the cloth was was on her bottom and use it to quietly tie the dead rabbits arms around her neck so that it wouldn't slip if she needed to run and so that she could have a hand free. Once that was done she would keep low to the ground yet again and try her best to carefully creep away from the area as slowly as possible while keeping alert to anymore rustling so that if need be she would be able to run away. "Gomu...damn it I can't look for you. Forgive me, but I'm scared and if something has got you I don't want to be the next meal." Vix thought to herself even though she felt guilty that she was leaving her companion behind.

Spoiler:

As she attempted to flee from the area, she would pass through some underbrush near where they had fought the rabbit and see Gomu slumped against a tree. Something black was coiling around him, blood spilled from his eyes, his leg was a dark purple and was bleeding from two areas. One of his eyes was even busted from his head, while both were bloodshot. A large black rope like object was wrapped around parts of his body. If she stayed for a second longer she would see a head attached to it crawling out from his back, opening its mouth wider than any normal creature and the creature would then begin to slowly swallow Gomu whole. This was a creature that was warned about by the elder goblins. A Night Viper.

Sneak Experience Gained: 150

"Gomu...I'll avenge you, I swear." Vix said upon seeing what had gotten him, she would attempt to see how big it was. Sure the elder had warned them about encountering one with it's potent venom she even saw what most likely ended up costing Gomu his life, it was humbling and she would linger long enough to watch it begin to swallow her now deceased ally whole. She was torn, mainly wanting to see how large it was to determine whether or not it would be sluggish after swallowing Gomu, because if it was then maybe she could take advantage of it's sluggish state to get her vengeance right away. But if it was too large than she would make her escape and resolve herself to get stronger so that she could kill the creature who took the life of her fellow goblin. Besides she also wanted to get to a safe place so she could eat the rabbit she killed so after a second of hesitation she would continue creeping away, she'd deal with it next time if she ever got the chance to encounter it again. Besides she had learned something today anyways, Night Vipers roamed the north and to always bring someone with her just in case. She would creep away back to the clearing where she and Gomu had first set off and climb the tree once more so that she could eat the Horned Rabbit in peace taking care to remove the skull and flay it so that she could re-purpose it. Hopefully it was large enough to fit her hand into it so she could wear it like some sort of gauntlet or something.

As it ate Gomu seemed to melt into its body at a quick pace. She was smart to get away from the snake while it was distracted. As she went to attempt to skin the body with her... pointy stick... The rabbit's meat and fur became ruined, since pointy sticks are really not good at cutting flesh, meat, fat and tendons (like seriously yall need to stop these attempts with pointy sticks, its just sad). Due to the poor quality of what she was attempting to use, most of the meat got ruined and she was only able to supply enough to sate her hunger for about three hours. As she was in the tree should would notice something hanging from its branches. It was a crude sling that some other poor unfortunate gob must have made because it was covered in black blood, insinuating it was very old.

Obtained: Rabbit Meat (3 Hours)

Sneak Skill Exp: +500 Exp (Night Vipers are deadly, result from sneaking with it near granted a lot of exp. It had disadvantage against your sneak due to being pre-occupied eating so thank your stars and the easy mode pre-alpha that it didn't spot yah)

Skills Gained

Name: Observe
Effect: Able to understand small information on creatures and objects.
Level: 1/100
Experience: 0/100

Name: Basic Ranged Weapon Proficiency
Effect: A bonus in attack is given when using basic ranged weapons such as bows or slings or thrown objects.
Level: 1/100
Experience: 0/100

Weapon Name: Crude Sling
Weapon Type: Ranged
Weapon Rank: Basic
Effect: Bonus to attacks using Sling

Vix would discard the pointy stick in a fit of rage since she wasn't able to properly skin the rabbit, sure the meat and fur wasn't able to be preserved but she would eat it none the less and discard the rest leaving her only the skull she had taken from it's corpse. She would try her best to remove the lower jaw so that she could fit her hand into the upper portion with the horn still attached to it as some sort of gauntlet. However she did miss her stick just a little bit and in the process of looking for it she would discover the sling, though initially she wouldn't know what it was until she used Observe on it to try and get information on it. Once she identified it she would gasp before quickly picking it up it and then head down the tree with it wrapped around her free hand. She would use the horn to carve into the tree a ring target and then proceed to try and practice with her newly acquired sling until she was confident that she could fling a stone with enough accuracy to hunt with it. With that done she would gather her meager possessions, using the Rabbit skull on her right hand to hold at least a single small stone for her sling and then wrapping the sling around her hand once more before picking up her trusty stone.

"I need to wash this blood off of my stuff...it also gives me a good excuse to explore the rest of the area." Vix thought to herself before heading toward the East, all the while sneaking around as her previous encounters had made her wary of just walking around especially down a road. Of course she kept her eyes out for potential prey yet again after all just because she ate didn't mean she wouldn't eventually get hungry again.

Spoiler:

After backtracking a bit Gobuvix wouldn't come across much of anything. It was strange not really coming across anything in the forest but maybe it was just bad luck. After a bit she would come across a path that had been carved into the forest floor. If she remembered she would realize it was the path she once saw when she first observed the forest back at the cave.

Though she hadn't noticed anything so far she would continue to stick to the path and hopefully she would find something eventually, either way armed with her sling, makeshift gauntlet and trusty rock she was prepared enough to deal with things. At least that's what she figured seeing as if she came across something too dangerous she would hopefully not alert it due to her sneaking and be able tor creep away swiftly and silently before it could make a meal out of her. Her thoughts would linger back to GobuGomu and she would gain a morose expression blaming herself for having him follow her especially since he didn't even get to enjoy the fruits of their labor before his life was suddenly taken from him. She would make sure to hunt for the both of them from now on and get strong enough to kill that Night Viper who took him from her. The only way she knew how was to try to observe her surrounding and see if she could pick up a trail that way.

Spoiler:

After a bit of nothing Gobuvix finally came across a short trail of blood that led to the ruined carcass of a horned rabbit that seemed to have been killed a few hours ago. It's body looked as if it was crudely torn apart by someone or something. The meat and fur was ruined though it looked as if a chunk of meat had been taken. The horn seemed to have been broken off as well.

Vix would frown, seeing that something else had killed the Horned Rabbit and had the intelligence to break of their horn clearly they were a serious threat, yet hopefully she would be able to avoid them or at least get some sort of upper hand. She would move deeper into the forest though if she kept coming up empty she would have to chance course and maybe head back to the water. Either way she would keep using observe to try and see if she could find tracks or something that could help her find something else to hunt. If she could just get another trail then maybe she could find something else to eat and get used to hunting alone at least.

As she searched she would come across. Second dead rabbit in the same fashion as the first. From this she would be able to deduce that while hunting the amount of food capable of being found was reduced. This would mean the early hunters would become more prosperous in their search. Whether new animals came into the territories of old ones or not was yet to be known since this was her first time hunting. But the good news was the blood trail left off into the woods heading north toward the stream which hopefully meant she could find more prey further in.

Vix would follow the trail though taking great care to keep being stealthy so that while she tried to hunt she wouldn't end up being hunted just like last time. Especially now that she was alone it would make things harder but as long as she was diligent perhaps things would go her way, still she would use Observe once more trying to figure out what sort of creature the blood came from and whether or not it would be one that she was familiar with at least. If it wasn't she would be even more wary, though it wasn't as if she had encountered many of the other inhabitants of the forest as it was.

Observe: Horned Rabbit - Deceased

There seemed to be nothing here. The blood gave little indication but there seemed to be goblin footprints in the dirt. The ones mixed with the blood headed off into the forest whereas the larger and older unblimished footprints led down the trail.

Vix would frown deciding to try and make a decision and deciding to continue to head down the trail rather than continue to follow the bloody footprints. Hopefully she would break out of this string of bad luck by heading farther away from the cave all the while sneaking around. Honestly she was just about to call this path a bust and just head east it wasn't as if there was any other option besides heading back to the cave.