The Misadventures of a Traveling Goblin

"When you guys come back I'll be strong enough to go with you next time! That way you won't have to leave me to find food."
The child's parents were gone? Alps stomach dropped, the child had already eaten half the berries on the stick. This was bad, really bad, if he didnt do anything this child would die all alone while waiting for it's parents who probably won't be coming back. At the same time, if he revealed himself he would be putting himself in danger. A picture of his parents flashed in his mind, he knew they would be disappointed in him if he stood by and watched another child die, especially considering his knowledge and background. They weren't the type of people to discriminate.

He forced himself to shout, "stop eating those!" Alp waited and watched the child's reaction. He was also concerned about the possibility of other adults still being close by. The child whipped their head in Alp's direction. "Mama papa? Are you back! I knew you would come back for me! There's no way you would leave me here all by myself forever!" the child started running in Alp's direction.

"No! No don't come near, i'm not your parents" Alp tried to tell them. Humans told terrible scary stories about monsters to their children. He didn't want to scare them, especially since they recently lost their family. Alas the small child was still enthusiastically running towards him. Now that the child was closer to him, Alp recognized it as a female.

She was sickly skinny and had mosquito bites covering her tiny body. The clothes she had on weren't actually clothes, rather shredded pieces of cloth sewed together into a torn makeshift dress. A shoulder strap had been ripped, exposing more of her back. Her spine stuck out visibly and her skin was an irritated shade of red. The dress left most of her thighs and calves uncovered also, the same angry red color was across her legs, little to big bumps and scabs blemished her skin. She was in worse shape than he expected, he chastised himself for being surprised. Of course this little girl would be in bad condition if her parents left her here all alone.

Something told him that the parents never meant to come back. From what he could see of the Kolob kingdom so far, there was a severe drought affecting the land. Even if the girl's parents did not abandon her on purpose, they were probably already dead based on the condition of both the girl and the village. For her to look like this, she must have been out here alone for more than a week. It wasn't uncommon, for humans or monsters, to leave the weak to survive on their own.

Before he could move an effective distance away, the child burst through the line of bushes Alp was using as a cover. She started sobbing as she frantically looked around for her family, small cuts started dripping blood all over her arms and legs. There was a scratch underneath her eye, the blood mixed with her tears, a red stream dripped down her face and off her chin. It left a stained trail in wild directions as she whipped her head around painfully fast.
"Mama, where are you!" The girl was screaming at the top of her lungs, she was scared. "Please mama I was a good girl! I stayed here just like you said so I wouldn't slow you down." Alp was hiding behind a tree, it provided weak coverage and he was afraid the girl would find him. He watched as she continued screaming and searching for her mother.

"Mama, I'm sorry papa didn't have enough food. Please don't leave me again, I'm hungry. And thirsty. The bugs keep eating me too. Mama i'm sorry, please mama don't go" The child fell to her knees, her voice was hoarse after all the screaming. She lay there shaking and crying, mouth opening to say words but no sound came out. She was sweaty and her face seemed to be a deeper shade of red. It didn't take long before she was completely unconscious.

Once she stopped trying to move, Alp was at her side. While he was walking through Solist he grabbed some medical herbs, they were excellent varieties. They should be coming from Solist, they were known for producing the finest medical herbs available. He quickly went about making an antidote for the berries she had eaten, he didn't have much time. After turning her body onto her back, and into the shade, he hurried to the center of the village.
Alp needed a sample of the specific berry she had eaten to make an antidote that would work. He was as careful as he could be in the situation, still worried about nearby adults. After picking up the stick with the remaining berries on it, Alp ran back to the girl. He held the child's head up as he tried to get her to drink some water he had been saving, her lips were open sores they were so chapped.