The kobold Anthe.. who became Gikka, found herself reborn again with her former memories, sorta. A love of adventuring, an elven wizard, .. a cat. She met them again around age 15, but she was a part of an adventuring party of her own. She was their rogue, and was deeply loved and protected. Especially by the human, who had a bit of a crush on her, but respected and trusted her fully.
@internutter/challenge-04396-l012-foundling-need -- Anon Guest
A reborn soul doesn't remember everything. There are moments of deja vu that connect with their past life. More if they reincarnate in a familiar environment. Thus it is that a Kobold reborn in their home burrow will shortly be able to pick up a tool and return to the work that killed them. Possibly including unearthing their former corpse. This has only re-enforced the Kobold's reputation for being hyperactive lemmings.
Zeg remembered walking in the sunshine with a Wizard, an Elf, a cat, and a host of others who flitted through his dreams. And a Human nephew? There were names, too. Anthe. Gikka. Those had been his previous lives.
Children of the heart who had never been his. A hand on the crank of change in the world, making a greater good for all creatures.
It was more alluring that sorting spores, molds, and fungi for the warren stores.
Zeg made it five years before packing to travel and taking his leave. Looking for a wizard, a cat, and a path towards the greater good. His soul's recall told him that it was better to remain out of common view until he found them. People didn't have a good attitude to Kobolds, unless they were also miners. Many in his former lives treated lone Kobolds as pests.
He found roads he remembered, true, but in much better condition and upkeep than any of his souls recalled. Time brought change to the world, between lifetimes. The trees were taller, and some of them had fallen, but the hills and valleys remained largely the same.
It was on one such road that Zeg found an Elf, a cat, and a Wizard. The cat was winged and flew off when she and Zeg found each other. Straight to the shoulder of the Wizard, who had been transcribing scrolls into her spellbook. "D'karion! Intruder."
The Elf, tending hir own business by the fire, smoothly drew a bow and nocked an arrow. "Stand and identify yourself."
"I am standing," said Zeg. "And... I think I've been looking for you." He stepped out from the concealing underbrush. "I want to help better the world."
The Elf lowered hir aim. "You've done such before?"
"Thrice, now, to my recall," said Zeg. "I'm Zeg, this time."
"My friends call me Storm," said the Elven Druid. "And the chatty feline is Lere. Be welcome in friendship."
"You're just welcoming that?" objected D'karion.
"Your own divining said it. A stranger in the bushes makes for an easier quest. And what could me better than that for a fellow to join our adventure?"
D'karion consulted her bones. "Ten years... and he finds a true goal. Then the choice falls upon the youngest." She scribed that down in her diary. "Zeg. Short and easy to remember, I suppose. I understand Koboldkind have a wide concept of ownership?"
Zeg, feeling insulted, said, "I know you Bigguns like being selfish with things, not sharing with the warren."
It was the start of an astonishingly beautiful friendship.
[Photo by Kristoffer S B Pedersen on Unsplash]
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