Chapter 16: 16 The Strong-arm problem.

Gube.

Snapping awake, Gube shot from her furs and bolting upright as the solidified image in her mind remained clear as day, the young priestess felt her eyes narrow with uncertainty.

A lake, a familiar one not far away, if she was remembering correctly, soap root in hand, Gube alone, ‘cleansing herself’ in the pale light of silver from above, then… nothing…

The vision had ended there, as though there should have been more, but it had been cut short too soon.

Gube frowned, trying to interpret what was, possibly, the strangest such dream she'd had to date.

It was so weird and random yet felt important in a way that she just couldn't shake.

Hmmm, she'd need to investigate the lake later, when it was bright out and safer in the woods.

Perhaps her goddess had use for the basin? F-for some reason or another…

Sighing and wishing she had more sleep, but sadly, already awake without the prospect of getting more rest seeming terribly viable. Gube rose from her sleeping spot, yawning and stretching as that growing ache between her legs demanded attention.

She refused herself, of course.

Her body was for her lady and her lady alone, even if Gube had frustratingly watched her goddess take others before her without paying herself a moment's consideration.

The lack of sex had made her somewhat irate of late, but so was it that her devotion demanded of her celibacy, if only to keep herself ‘pure’ for her mistress.

That Gube was grudgingly willing to hold her desires at bay was perhaps an unasked-for bit of piety. However, it was nevertheless a sacrifice she was making. She would ‘prove’ to her mistress that she could endure any trial laid before her, no matter how frustrating.

Thus, she didn't ask.

She didn't touch herself, and she didn't seek others.

She waited patiently, confident that her abstinence would be rewarded tenfold!

Still, that didn't make her any less grumpy in the moment, and Gube all but sneered at the stale stink of air around her, the goblin's mood already right on the edge of snapping.

She needed to go outside… Go outside and be alone with her thoughts for a time.

Maybe she'd delegate the ‘new girl's’ orientation to Rell and Itch today. Certainly, the two together made for a potent team, and Gube had been giving it everything she had for the whole week!

At this point, she was starting to feel a little burnt out.

She needed a bath… needed something that wasn't meat. Possibly an apple? No, honestly, anything sweet would likely do.

Perhaps her goddess even agreed with the sentiment.

Maybe that was why she'd shown Gube what she had, intending for her to take the day off…

Either way, she decided that she'd take advantage of her position to be just a little bit selfish and do as she’d planned.

This, Gube wandered off towards Itch, knowing the older woman was usually up before most anyone else and carving away as she so often liked to do, watching the overhead blaze of morning as it stretched across the treeline.

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She found her fellow sister outside, sitting on a familiar rock while having a conversation with Swift-spear.

Somehow, the man found the energy to keep watch at all hours of the day, no matter how little she ever saw him sleep.

A secret Gube would offer future favors for if she could manage it herself...

"Itch, going to let you and Rell take girls out to forest today. Goddess wants something of Gube, and Gube trying to figure out what."

"Vision?" Itch asked, raising an arching brow at her.

"Mmmm. Really vague this time…"

They both shrugged, sharing a universal, ‘what can you do’ with one another.

Itch put down her knife and stretched out her arms, taking in a deep breath before asking a question she'd been pestering Gube with for a few days now. "High priestess decide what to do about problem?"

"What problem?"

"Big problem, you know which."

"Kill?" Gube offered, boredly staring towards the trees, noting, in the early light, how they all sparkled with pretty droplets of dew.

"Just like that?"

"Why not?"

Itch shrugged again, clearly not disapproving of the plan itself. but letting her know it was a little light. "Will have to do soon. Strong-arm riling up all the men. Goddess chose another female, males getting frustrated."

"Might help if priestesses willing to mate," Swift-spear offered, picking his nose with a claw and a decided lack of manners considering he was doing it in the company of their god’s chosen faithful.

"Pfft! Would ‘you’ want to mate with you?" Itch demanded, glaring at the old warrior who grinned and shook his head without replying. "Big problem, high-priestess, big," she continued, sighing as she did so. "Chief saying new goddess only cares about women, saying will ‘enslave’ the men, make them baby-makers with rope around neck."

"Not bad life," Swift-spear again commented, earning himself a kick from Itch, who scowled at his lecherous face. The priestess even had to quickly pull her foot away as Swift-spear darted to grab it, lolling tongue flickering like a snake's and earning the man a disgusted snarl for his antics.

"Don't listen to old man, he part of problem," Itch huffed, shoving Swift-spear away who simply rolled with the action, chuckling ruefully to himself as he did so. "Rell struts around teasing and hinting all evening, then only visits Swift-spear. Jealousy is easy to take advantage of. Leave chief alone much longer and ‘dolt’ will convince the men to leave or try to kick us out."

"Would lose now… waited too long to play hand."

"Not issue!" Itch snapped, hissing at the still-smiling Swift-spear who was enjoying himself just a little too much, considering he was being a pest for no more reason than idle amusement.

Gube was pretty sure the two had coupled on rather frequent occasions; the way she saw them bickering whenever they got the chance was a fairly telling clue.

Moreover, they were usually found together in their spare hours, despite neither having to ‘be’ this close to one another other every single morning that they fought.

And while Swift-spear might be wrapped around Rell's little finger, these two were clearly close, in their own ways...

"If men start to fight, they die but take others with them. Already too few goblins. Fight now means hardly any left after. Worse, think ‘Rattles’ might side with chief."

Gube blinked at that, twitching her gaze to meet the older woman's own as she worked that one over in her head. "Why?"

"Don't know, not shaman, but the two spend too much time together. They plotting, and Rattles quite ‘potent’ with magic."

"Is," Swift-spear agreed with a curt nod. "Quite powerful, very old, older than should be… Probably only reason tribe still around before goddess appeared…"

"And he likes Strong-arm?" Gube demanded, exasperated. So far as she could tell, the hob was a complete oaf and a worthless leader besides…

"What is there for him to ‘like’ about goddess?" Itch countered, earning the woman a warning glare from Gube, though she just shrugged and powered through. "Think about. Already powerful, already knows goddess won't bless men. Probably wants to mate with priestess and intends to capture one for self during fighting. Is what I would do."

"Same," chirped the old warrior, not apologetic in the least.

"So—big problem," Gube agreed, feeling a slight headache pound behind her eyes. Chances were, her day off wasn't going to be quite as liberating as she'd hoped...