Chapter Text
There is a path leading from the floating quartz kingdom of Stratos to the depths of Gobland. Unfortunately, there is no real path from Chromia to Gobland without first skirting around Stratos.
So they had to move carefully. The covered wagon once again turns out to be very useful. Jimmy nestled himself below some blankets in the back and tried to ignore the itchy warmth that comes from a summer day. Scott also decides to ride under the cover of the wagon. He wasn’t hiding from Joel, so much as keeping himself hidden to avoid attracting attention. While the emperors may deign to visit one another, it’s less common to see them traveling together.
Scott hummed quietly, but from Jimmy’s hiding place he could still catch a sliver between the canvas of the wagon. The sunlight was bright, but if he squinted he could still see the outline of fWhip listening intently. It’s a small relief to know that Joel was very unlikely to approach stealthily.
There’s a moment of panic when Oli took out his lute and plucked at the strings, but they all settled down as he continued to play. It would look more odd if anyone saw the bard sitting in silence. Jimmy let himself close his eyes and trust that he’d be alerted well in advance of the thunder god’s approach.
The dream came unexpectedly, in a state between awake and asleep. The premise was achingly familiar. It was from a time before this journey began. Long before he even began his life in Tumbletown. Rolling prairie grass covers the horizon, and in the middle of the vastness between sky and ground is a house. Jimmy knows it all too well. The house flickers and flips upside down before returning to its previous position. Stagnant. He can feel himself drawing compulsively closer to the house, even though everything in him is screaming to turn around and run the opposite direction. The shadows from the house seem to loom larger than anything he’s ever seen.
The wind buzzes angrily through the grass, taunting his cowardice. With every reluctant step forward, the horizon darkens. Within five paces the clouds look heavy enough to burst overhead, and they leave Jimmy with a pit in his stomach. The clouds are an omen. There’s always an omen.
The rain begins slowly, freckling the soil. It doesn’t take long for it to begin to pick up pace in earnest, pelting the ground.
Jimmy’s reluctance to progress is overcome by his desire to get out of the stinging rain. Finally, he reaches it, and the stripped logs look dry despite the torrent overhead. It feels frozen in time.
With shaking hands he reaches for the brass doorknob.
Suddenly, he is tripping forward and slips into the mud. He looks down and his hands are no longer his own, but they’re achingly familiar. He looks up as the door begins to creak open.
Dread pools in his gut as he sits there, drenched in the rain and mud staring up at the silhouette he can’t quite make out. The person’s outline sparks like static and he can only stare as the figure’s face splits into a smile. That smile is everything and nothing at that moment.
A crack of thunder rips through the sky overhead and drowns out the figure’s words.
But as Jimmy snaps awake in a cold sweat, he remembers them perfectly.
“Welcome home.”
He took a second to take in his surroundings, stealthily wiping away tears from his eyes. Another loud crack of thunder ripped through the sky, and Jimmy remembers where he is again. He fully sheds the nightmare for reality. He glanced over at Scott, who was looking up without moving. He just listened intently, but glanced at Jimmy and gestured for him to hide.
Jimmy burrowed himself further into the blankets, ignoring the scratchiness of the burlap sack material. Scott reached over and draped his hat over the pile that Jimmy had made.
A sprinkle of rain accompanied the thunder this time, but it seemed to be growing fainter. The silence stretched out for another minute, and Jimmy wished he could tell what was going on.
Finally, Oli plucked a tentative note on his lute. Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief as Scott reached over to reclaim his hat.
“Just a god passing through, it seems.” Oli sang quietly.
The rest of the road to Gobland is tense, but ultimately uneventful. Jimmy is grateful for that at least.
`*`
Their entrance into Gobland is heralded by the sunlight slipping away from the canvas of the wagon and a blessed coolness falling over its occupants. The wagon slowed down as the road underneath sloped ever so slightly, and the faint ringing of pickaxes against stone could be heard echoing and bouncing off of cave walls and dripstone.
Jimmy popped his head out from between the canvas to catch a glimpse of Gobland before they descended into the city. It had always been his favorite view. He can’t even remember the last time he was here.
fWhip glanced at the Sheriff and patted the bench in between himself and Oli nonchalantly. Jimmy clambered over, a little nervous about a sudden lurch of the wagon sending him tumbling down into the abyss of the cavern. Luckily he was able to get settled without falling to his death, and instead he could enjoy the view.
Gobland had expanded since he was there last, and twinkling signs lit up the darkness. Yet, the buildings are just as eclectic as he remembers. The buildings still look strewn haphazardly, but he knows that they’re actually carefully organized. Jimmy tried to hide the nostalgia that slips across his face. He gets the feeling that the other emperors were all too aware of it, but thankfully no one mentioned it.
The Goblins went about their business, but Jimmy couldn’t help but notice the curious glances that got thrown his way. He didn’t want to explore what that could signify, so he did his best to ignore it.
fWhip pulls the wagon to a halt at what Jimmy recognizes as Gobland’s vault. The heaps of gold glimmering inside is a dead giveaway, Oli looks a little green at the sight of it.
“Well, gang. I’m going to switch out the horses.” fWhip announces. “They’ve been traveling for a while. Why don’t you three go check out the vault to see if there’s anything you need?”
Jimmy blinks. He’s surprised the goblin trusts them to sort this out by themselves.
fWhip flashes them a toothy smile before he leaves, “I trust you fellas know what happens when you get a little too greedy in a goblin’s treasure trove, though.”
And there it is. The threat.
Jimmy ignores the way that Oli’s face twinges with comical pain, and simply nods. He’s all too familiar. He knows the bard is as well. Scott smiles at Oli and goes to rummage through a chest. Jimmy follows suit and goes searching for himself. It’s going to be difficult to find anything in his size, even if the goblins are a little closer to his present state.
“What about this, Bossman?” Oli asks, pulling out a smaller chestplate.
Jimmy drops the comically too-big sword he’d been examining to get a closer look.
The chest plate does still look like it’ll be a tad too big, but it’s still the best one he’d seen so far.
“I guess it’s better than nothing.” He answered. Oli nodded and passed it to him, seemingly resuming his search.
Jimmy tried to hide the fact that the chest plate was still going to make him seem small. He swore that the potion made him even smaller than he originally was at this age. He scowls to himself and lugs the chest plate over by his bag, determined to ask the goblin for permission before taking anything. The last thing he wants is to take anything important and get it broken, knowing his luck.
He didn’t notice the quiet tread of the goblin’s return until a quiet voice nearly made him jump out of his skin.
“You can keep that if you want.”
Jimmy spins on his heels to face fWhip, openly disgruntled.
“Man, we need to put a bell on you.” He snaps playfully. fWhip laughs, but dismisses the idea with a wave of his hand.
“Any goblin knows that we take that as a compliment.” He responds with a sniff, and Jimmy can’t help but to laugh. The mental image of a haughty cat makes him snicker.
He caught sight of Oli and Scott watching them and he scrambles to return back to a sense of normalcy.
“Anyways,” He sputters out. “I don’t need to keep it, I don’t plan on staying this size forever.”
fWhip considered it, but nodded.
“I guess that makes sense, but you can always keep it as a souvenir, Sheriff! It’s not often you get free armor from Gobland.”
Jimmy shrugs, “Now if only I could find a weapon that’s my size to go along with it.”
fWhip shakes his head, “I don’t think it’s a great idea to put you in the middle of a fight.”
It’s like cold water that wakes him up from a haze. Of course he wouldn’t be allowed to actually fight anything, given the current circumstances. Why can’t he stop getting ahead of himself? Jimmy deflates a little, holding the armor to his chest. It’s like every time he gains a bit of confidence, he’s abruptly reminded of his incompetence.
“But,” The goblin’s voice breaks through his spiraling. The fWhip taps his chin thoughtfully, “If you’re any good with a bow, we might be able to hook you up with one of those.” He throws a stern look at the Sheriff, “As long as you pinky swear you’ll drop it and run at the first sign of danger, or like you might be having another ‘kid episode.’” He embellishes the last part with finger quotes.
Jimmy nodded enthusiastically. Of course. He's willing to swear to anything as long as he can be helpful.
He thrusts his pinky finger towards fWhip, who blinks down at it in surprise.
“I swear.” Jimmy says solemnly. He schools his face to be the most serious he can muster.
fWhip seemed to fight himself from breaking out laughing at the sudden earnestness from the Sheriff, but reigns it in, opting to just pinky promise instead.
“Now that that’s all settled, wait until you see the bow I just found, Jimmy.” Oli crows, distracting the Sheriff. He misses how Scott smirks at the goblin, to which fWhip scowls in return.
They spend the next several minutes getting all the supplies they could ever possibly need, Jimmy clambering back into the wagon with a much heavier inventory than before.
“Everyone ready?” fWhip calls back to them, this time Oli has opted to sit in the back with Scott and Jimmy. They all nod, and fWhip responds by turning the horses onto the road that will lead them towards Animalia.
They had decided that this would be the safest route back towards spawn, and eventually the Ancient Capital.
Jimmy isn’t quite sure how Lizzie will react to them if she finds them all traveling through her kingdom. Maybe bewildered? He brushed that thought aside to lean out from underneath the canvas. They haven’t left the mountain yet, so Jimmy suspects he’d be alright.
fWhip glances down at him before returning his attention back to the road.
“What do you need, Sheriff?” His voice is stern.
Jimmy fumbled over his words, and sheepishly managed to mumble out a quiet thank you.
“What was that? Couldn’t quite catch that Sheriff.” fWhip teases and Jimmy scrunches up his nose in distaste. He knows that the goblin heard everything, but resigns himself to repeating himself anyways. He did mean it, after all. So no harm repeating himself, even if fWhip was just taking the mick out of him.
“I said,” He purposefully makes his tone dramatic, but the next sentence comes out softer. “Thank you. For everything. I really do mean it.” He hoped his genuine gratitude came across.
fWhip doesn’t take his eyes off the road, but nods. That’s all that really needs to be said, so Jimmy slips back under the cover of the canvas.
As he lay under the canvas and listened to the quiet droning of Oli and Scott’s conversation, he felt his eyelids drag. He can feel another nap coming on. And this one is thankfully absent from nightmares.