The remaining fruit within the storage unit goes flying as the goblin giant's fist crashes into the Stoney floor. Sidestepping the fist, Gabe takes the opportunity to claw at the giant's arm. However, no matter how much Gabe had scratched at the limb, the only proof of his efforts are white scratches that seem to be fading. "Aw come on! first it was the brute and now I cant even tear at this one!? are my claws weak or are these guys just that thick skinned!?"
The wooden man has no more time to think on his weak claws as the goblin giant swipes at Him. The green arm collides with Gabe, sending him flying into one of the cavern walls. Gabe coughs as the air leaves his body from the impact. The goblin giant leisurely approaches, the confidence in maiming his opponent rolling off of him in waves. Reaching out, the giant's hand wraps around Gabe's neck, hoisting him into the air.
"Me not very smart, but know twig no match for strength!" The giant bellows with laughter as he shakes The willow humanoid in its hand, leaves falling out of the poncho. "Globraun, what go on here?" The goblin giant turns at the mention of his name. Seeing a pair of goblins, one tall, the other short, Globraun hoists Gabe into view as he says "Bongi, Goblow! Me catch twig! boss soon favor me more!" "Nonsense you speak! boss no favor you most even if you catch twenty twigs!" The taller goblin, Bongi, responds. Globraun grins, his large prominent canines on full display. "You upset? no worry, me put good word for you." Before Bongi could retort, Goblow intervened.
"Enough, enough. We bring twig to boss. See what he say." The three goblins saunter off, with Gabe being dragged by the arms, struggling to no avail. The group soon enters in to the throne room, with their boss/enemy lounging in his chair. The three goblins kneel to the throne as the boss gets up. Dragged into view once more, Gabe is slammed on to his side as the goblin giant speaks. "This honored one presents twig." Gabe looks up to see the goblin leader leader looking back at him. However, instead of the bulbous nose covered in warts that Gabe was expecting, he is shocked to find that their leader more resembles a human but with green skin. No hunched back, no three fingered hands, not even crooked teeth(still very much yellow though). The only thing that tells Gabe that he was looking at a goblin of some kind is the pointed ears and the sickly yellow eyes that seem to be dissecting him.
Finally, the strange goblin spoke. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the proverbial pain in my backside. Nice of you to drop in. Although I would have LOVED to turn your wooden skin into a decoration for my room, I still need you to be alive. at least for now. Such a great design would-" 'Since when do goblins speak so fluently? its a good change for once since I can better understand him at least.' The goblin prattles on as Gabe's idle thoughts drift in his head. "What is it that you want from me then?" The Goblin's smirk stretched into a grin not inferior to the Cheshire cat's. "Why that's very simple. The vitality in YOUR sap will give not only me, but my entire army the strength it needs to stage the largest raiding party in goblin history!"
Not just Gabe, but the other goblins within the room stare in shock at the statement. The largest raid in goblin history? Globraun asks what everyone in the room was thinking. "Boss, how that possible? Largest was 2,000 strong. We not have that many!" "Ah but that's where the sap comes in to play! we will coerce the surrounding tribes to kneel to my banner. For the ones that don't? We will simply use our increasing strength and numbers to FORCE them to obey!" The boss flairs his arms to the sky his smile never once leaving his face.
"But now, we need to collect the sap needed for this job. Tie the twig with rope and place him within the torture chamber!" "Yes!" The goblins leave with Gabe in hand as the crazed commander sits back into his throne. "Urgh!" Tossed to a wall with his hands and feet now constrained by rope, Gabe watches as the three walk out, the boulder that had previously hidden this area being shoved back into place, possibly thanks to the giant. "Well this blows. I've got to get out of here. But how?" Gabe's pondering was swiftly cut short when the rock began to move again. However, instead of being pushed through raw strength, the boulder took on a blue hue as it moved to the side. Three goblins walked in, two with wooden basins and the third covered in a robe.
"Me make sure to make you bleed for messing quota!" The robed one spoke with venom in its voice. "Woah, woah! what are you talking about? its not my fault your group was incompetent." Gabe tried to shift the blame but the Robed goblin's next words slashed that idea. "LIAR. You drop weapon on us with glee!" The goblin pulled his hand from his sleeves, revealing a dagger. The blade plunged into Gabe's side, eliciting a howl of pain from the sensation. The other two got to work, squeezing out as much of the leaking sap into the basins as possible. By the end, Gabe felt drained and on the verge of passing out from the repeated opening and closing of his wound. His consciousness soon cleared however when water was splashed onto him.
The goblins placed his feet into dirt containers as the robed goblin said "Enjoy meal. it will be the only joy have in place." For who knows how long, Gabe had gone through this routine of getting stabbed, bleeding out, and recuperating. Sometimes the assisting goblins were surprisingly gentle while other times they had no care of his agony, even digging their hands into the wound. Then one day, something changed.
At first, it was the usual same routine: Boulder moves, goblins bleed him, dirt and water tossed at him, and then they leave. However this time, the robed goblin stayed behind after shooing away the assistants. Confusion covered Gabe's visage as the robed goblin hasn't spoken at all in his presence since that day. Surprise soon takes over as the robed goblin crouches down and speaks with a strange eagerness in its voice.
"Treeman! it really you!"