Around
30 minutes earlier ~
Daron
wanted to move, but his body wasn’t reacting. He just heard
his friends yell and beg him to run away but he just couldn’t. He
was frozen in fear like an antelope in headlights. A feeling of shock
and confusion at what he was seeing held him tighter than his family
did when he got home from a long day of work. It didn’t take
long before his body was engulfed by the giant woman’s enormous
fingers. It was too late to do anything now. He began to rise up from
the ground, moving towards his capture's face.
The
air around Daron started to race past him as he was lifted upwards
through the air at a faster rate. The gust of the wind blowing into
his eyes caused him to blink rapidly to keep them from drying out.
By the time he met face to face with the giantess, Daron was just
starting to get accustomed to the sudden acceleration of being picked
up.
Not
sure if he could muster up words first, it seemed the enormous woman
holding him had some words to speak of her own. “It’s
a tiny person!”
Her
voice filled the air and caused him to flinch from the unprepared
loudness. It was almost like hearing
thunder crackle
with
how loud
she
called out.
The
tiny man was slowly coming to reality of where exactly he was and how
dangerous the situation was becoming. Maybe he should have been
freaking out more, but if there was one thing that he was known for,
it was staying calm during chaotic situations like these. One
wrong move could be disastrous.
All
that, however, went out the window when another giant woman appeared,
brunette and tanner skin. Seeing the new giantess appear from
behind the blonde one holding him sent an alarming shiver down his
spine as it only further complicated his predicament, now there were
two of them. How many were there?
“Holy...
an actual tiny man.”
The
new giantess gasped in a similar shocked expression as the one
holding him. She quickly placed her hands on her hips and
leaned forward to get a better look at Daron. The hand he was
on shifted slightly as he was lowered toward the brunette peering at
him with interested eyes.
The
first giantess started to speak again as her voice filled the air
around him, “Careful,
he looks scared. No sudden movements… treat him like, you
know, kind of like a scared puppy or something. It’s okay
little guy,”
Daron
didn’t speak as he kept processing what he was observing. Did
they say he was like a puppy?
The
two giantesses were talking back and forth with each other, ignoring
Daron for a brief moment till a question or gesture was offered
toward him. As much as Daron would like to say something, he figured
it would be rude to interrupt the two talking titans. It was
Something he felt was probably not the smartest move to do.
Instead, Daron did his best to try and follow the conversation, but
he was soon lost in their speech and phrases as he clearly
didn’t understand. He knew what the words were but didn’t get the
context behind it. Finally a question was directed toward him.
He
felt his body tense once again as he moved closer to the blonde’s
face who was looking at him with a friendly smile, “Heeyyy,
little one.. uh.. do you have a name?”
Daron
was still in awe of being surrounded by beings of their stature that
he completely missed his cue to talk.
They
soon began to talk in a dialect that he could not comprehend.
It sounded like a question but Daron had never heard such sounds
spoken from anyone. It sounded ever so confusing.
Thankfully they eventually spoke back to their original language, one
that he could understand.
Daron
didn’t miss his opportunity this time as he nodded and bobbed his
head up and down. “Yes.”
“English?”
Once
again, he nodded.
Both
giantesses seemed ecstatic at his reaction that he feared he was
about to be dropped. Securing himself on the vibrating and
shaking palm, Daron did his best not to shout out in alarm and freak
them out even more. They went on with their conversation, more
to themselves than to Daron, until they directed another question
back at him.
“So
What’s your name again?”
Daron
felt stupid for briefly forgetting his own name. It took him a moment
before he responded like he would if anyone asked normally,
“Daron.”
The
giants soon frowned and looked at each other
“What
did he say?”
“Crap…
could they not understand him?” He thought. “No, we clearly speak
the same language… they probably couldn’t hear him from this
distance.”
He
yelled his name again hoping it was clearer this time.
“Was
it Aaron?” The brunette asked as the tiny man cringed.
“No
I think he said Daron..” the blonde corrected her.
THAT'S
IT! Daron made movements in order to alert them that she guessed it
right.
“Nice
to meet ya Daron! I’m Elizabeth and this is my best friend
Victoria, but you can call us Liz and Vicky!”
Daron
nodded. He may have just met them but he was already beginning to
like them. Liz’s expressions and gentle handling of him throughout
this whole encounter so far told him much about her. Her friend
Vicky, although he wasn’t as sure, could tell had to be equal as
kind if she were friends with Liz.
He
was then bombarded with questions once again until one regarding his
height was mentioned.
Daron
raised his eyebrow. He tried to explain before Vicky suddenly grabbed
him by his shirt and he began hovering over 100 feet in the air.
Daron couldn’t help but scream given how high up he was before
landing on Liz’s shoulder.
‘Oh
god..’ Daron breathed in quickly as he tried to keep his balance on
her narrow shoulder. He then witnessed the giants yelling at each
other from what had just occurred. Relief began to fill Daron once
again as he heard Liz defend him.
It
appeared that given how small he was, they were having trouble
hearing him, which could explain the movement towards Liz’s ear.
However, a warning would have been nice. He slowly walked up to her
large ear canal before correcting her that it was they who were the
giants and not him who shrunk down like they thought.
Daron
assumed they still couldn’t hear them given the frowns on their
faces but perhaps they have never heard of the kingdom they were in.
This was the first time he’d ever seen them after all, so perhaps
they were lost.
Liz
then turned around to talk with her friend.
He
couldn’t help but try to overhear their conversation to gain better
insight of their intentions but once again, he was lost when he heard
words like ‘Istanbul’ or ‘traveling time’ coming out of their
mouths.
Daron
wished he could follow their talk but it was all just gibberish to
him. As he waited for the conversation to end or give him a
chance to talk, never before had he felt so powerless in a
conversation.
“Daron,
you said we’re in a kingdom, right? Can you show us where the
capital is? Maybe we can ask for more help from someone with, I don't
know, more knowledge about this situation?”
The
mention of going to the capital, that was exactly what they needed to
do! The king would know what to do, or one of his advisors
might know about something like this. They had records of
history well into the past. If anyone could help these two, it
would be the king.
“That
way!” Daron finally replied as he pointed them in the correct
direction.
The
surprises only continued as he was suddenly grabbed once again and
placed on Liz’s palm.
“Awesome!
Come on Vicky, this way.”
The
first step tossed Daron around like when Ruby ran around the house
holding one of her toys. He could feel the shift in Liz’s
weight as she walked. It took a few steps but Daron thought he
got used to it, kind of like horseback riding. Well, kind of...
Despite
being afraid of the height, Daron couldn’t resist anymore as he
leaned forward on the edge of the huge fleshy surface that was Liz’s
palm. He was in complete awe seeing how much distance they were
covering. He turned around to say something, only to realize that
they weren’t even looking down on what they were stepping on.
They were too busy conversing between themselves of which most of the
words didn’t even make sense to him despite confirming that the
language was the same as his people.
The
carelessness of the two was beginning to show in their steps. As he
looked back down at the ground, he questioned why Liz and Vicky were
completely barefoot, but that was the least of his concerns. The
trees in front of them couldn’t hold their own against the
might of their long legs. The result was catastrophic with the trees
being completely uprooted and the nearby wildlife living among those
trees running away, or at least trying to.
The
scene that followed shook Daron to his core. As more wildlife was
interrupted, a group of foxes began to run in all directions. He once
again looked at the girls in trying to alert them but they continued
to laugh in their conversation. The damage was done as some foxes
were trapped from the incoming feet that the blonde giantess
eventually hovered over and stomped into oblivion without notice.
Daron
may have been a hunter but seeing the blood spatter in the area
around Liz’s foot definitely wasn’t a sight to witness. A shiver
went through him just thinking of the level of destruction just one
of these girls could do. However, as horrible as the sight was,
when they found a petrified deer, much like how he was, they had the
curiosity of a children. Examining and soothing the frightened
deer, something he figured his kids would have done if they were like
the woman.
As
Liz and Vicky put the deer down, he tried to get a better look to
make sure it didn’t get stepped on when Liz moved, but didn’t see
the fate that bestowed the animal.
“Woah..
woah..” Daron cried out as Liz's hand shook once again nearly
sending him off the side.
“Bad idea to go to the edge… very.. bad idea.”
“Oh
dear… Daron, why are you on the edge… you could fall! Here, come
towards me.”
Daron
was caught off guard as Liz used her index finger from her other hand
to push him back toward herself.
“Oof,”
Daron groaned as his back collided with a huge squishy walled
surface.
As
he got back to his knees, he turned around to realize his body made
contact with Liz’s gigantic breasts. His face immediately turned
pink from embarrassment as he heard loud giggling coming from above.
“Whoops
too far,”
Liz’s
voice boomed as she moved Daron towards the center of her palm once
again. “There
ya go little guy. Please keep your hands and feet inside the palm at
all times!”
Daron
nodded and didn’t say much. He didn’t want to think about
colliding with Liz’s mammeroies. He remembered joking with
his wife when she was pregnant, how they swelled up. Daron
swore she could have smothered him in his sleep with them. As
prosperous as that being, Liz seemed to have the size to do just that
if she felt like it and then some.
Trying
to distract that thought of having a hut sized breast pin him down
and smother the air from him… Daron looked off to the horizon and
noticed a familiar landmark. It was impressive how much ground
they covered. Sure one step was easily the distance of a
sprinting horse, but the two girls didn’t even seem to be remotely
tired. Daron knew if he attempted this with any animal, they
would end up dead before or once he reached Constantino.
His
thoughts had to come to an abrupt end as he noticed the girls
suddenly stop moving.
“We’ve
been walking for 20 minutes and there’s nothing but empty fields
and trees, are you sure we're going in the right direction?”
“That’s
what Daron said,”
Liz
replied.
“You
don’t think he’s lying to us right? Like gave us bad directions,
would he,”
Vicky
asked.
“Nah
he wouldn’t…he seems like he knows where we're going.”
Daron
watched as Liz looked down at him in her hand with a friendly smile.
“Isn’t
that right?”
Daron
immediately nodded. “We’re going the right way,” Daron shouted
at her.
Eventually,
the trio had arrived at the outskirts of Constantino as the vast,
open, fields looked to be farmed. Daron’s nervousness
increased drastically as other people were now in their field of
vision. The girls showed no intention of stopping. He watched as they
crossed the farm lands of most of the peasants working them.
Some froze and watched them cross, others ran and screamed, others
did a mixture of both, only a few paid no attention to them.
They were too busy working to care. He was pleased to observe
that the girls were being cautious on where they stepped now, in
trying to avoid any potential casualties. It was a lot harder when
some began to scream and scatter all over.
They
approached the gates to the enormous city, walls as tall if not
taller than the girls. Daron worried as the royal guard started
to man the wall and shout to themselves. He could already see
the gate slamming shut, preventing any more of the citizens from
entering. He wasn't sure if those weapons would do anything but anger
the titans, however, he still had faith that this was going to
somehow work out. Daron tried to present himself clearer for everyone
to see it was him. He just had to get everyone to talk, that
was all.
As
Liz tried to get everyone to see Daron, he started to wave down the
guard. “HEY! CAPTAIN PIKE! IT’S OKAY!”
Sadly it didn’t seem to reach the head Captain of the gate.
That or he wasn’t taking any chances. The soldiers kept
filling up on the top of the wall, ready to do something that
everyone would regret.
“We
have Daron! He’s one of your citizens, he’ll vouch for us!”
Daron
was held out even further from Liz, still leaving a good, fifty or so
feet front he wall. Daron was hesitant as now he felt like he
was dangling from a tree limb. Still he got as close to the
wall to show himself to everyone. “Captain Pike! Send
for the king or an advisor! They mean no harm!” Daron
explained.
Finally
Captain Pike sent a messenger. Daron couldn’t help but wonder
how he would be reacting if he was in the messenger's shoes. If
he came across two towering giantesses approaching the city gate…
yeah this didn’t look good. He probably should have thought
this through better.
Daron
had to make them seem more friendly. Hoping Liz could
understand, he pointed and tried to communicate to let him down.
Liz either understood, or got tired of holding him out. She
reached a little further forward, guards panicking but none doing
something as stupid as attack them. Liz finally deposited Daron
down on the wall. The feeling of going from soft ground to rock
solid surface was weird. It took Daron a few minutes to get
accustomed to the normal surface.
There
was an awkward silence before the ground began to vibrate ever so
slightly. That didn’t feel natural... “What’s that?”
Daron asked as the guards leaned on the edge of the wall to see Liz’s
left bare foot tapping on the floor while waiting for the king to
arrive.
“Daron,
tell her to stop! She’s scaring the people!” Captain Pike told
him, obviously one of the ones who was being scared.
Daron,
not wanting to see things get ugly, quickly waved the anticy Giantess
down. “LIZZZZZ STOP!! YOU NEED TO STOP!” Daron yelled as
she finally noticed him.
“What’s
wrong?”
Daron
informed her of the accidental mayhem she was causing before she saw
what he meant.
“Whoops..
sorry guys my bad!”
Liz
said as she laughed nervously.
Daron
sighed in relief as the guards and others around Liz seemed to calm
down just a degree. Now that’s not to say people were still
screaming in terror… but it wasn’t as loud now.
It
took the king much longer to arrive but when he did, he was in his
usual dress up. What was more shocking to Daron was how he
handled the citation. He seemed more calm than Daron thought
anyone, including himself, should be right now.
“What’s
going on,” The king asked everyone but was looking at Daron.
Assuming
it was him that the lord was asking for, Daron spoke, “Forgive me
my lord, I was out hunting with my friends when,” Daron showed off
LIz and Vicky, “They came across me. They don’t know where
they are or how they came here. I think they are lost,” Daron
replied, hoping the king understood the situation correctly.
The
king looked over at Daron to check him before asking, “Are you
injured?”
“I’m
fine, shocked, but okay.” Daron explained
The
king stroked his moderately long grey beard as he tried to process
the information.
“If
these two beings are not enemies and not associated with the
barbarian tribe, then they should show some respect and bow to me.”
He said with an authoritative tone as Daron looked back up at the
towering women and began to signal them.
“What’s
up Daron?” Liz cheered as she smiled and exposed her mega sized
teeth in the process, scaring the king a bit.
“You
need to bow, Liz,” Daron said, hoping they would comply despite how
ridiculous it was given the size difference.
“Bow?
OHHH right right, apologies your highness…” Liz commented as she
got back up and warned Vicky before they showed their respect
simultaneously.
“See?
They mean no harm,” Daron chuckled as the king began to pace
back and forth before making his final statements.
“Very
well. Since they seem to care so much for you, they can stay just
outside your home on the outskirts of the kingdom.” He said as he
turned around and began to walk towards the gate.
“I
beg your pardon, your majesty?” Daron replied as this certainly
wasn’t the outcome he was expecting.
“Do
I need to repeat myself, Daron?” The king stopped without turning
around. “ I obviously can’t have them waltz into the city. There
are too many people and their giant putrid feet will not only cause
property damage but potentially cost the lives of my subjects. I will
not allow that to happen.”
Daron
tried to retort but he was speechless.
“Now
will that be all?” The king asked as he arched an eyebrow, eager to
head back to the palace.
“Y-yes
my king…” he replied with his head down.
Daron
sighed at the situation before being startled by Liz’s footstep as
the ground shook and almost knocked him down.
“What
did he say?”
The
giantess asked with her usual innocent smile as she extended her hand
for him to jump on.
“He..uh…
said you guys can stay on his land…” Daron hesitated before Liz
cheered and nodded.
“We
can stay!” Liz
squealed in delight at the news.
Daron
however failed to let the enormous beings know that they were being
put on the furthest stretches of the land the king possessed.
They were literally going to be outcast on the outskirts of the
boards beyond any human interaction. However, it would be
better than being kicked out of Constantino completely. Daron
sighed as Liz looked clueless to the disaster she and Vicky nearly
created. They had the whole city in uproar over their
appearance. Staying calm over the disaster that nearly started
a battle if not a massacre, Daron went on.
“The
king will let you stay, but you need to go to the Dilasous beaches,”
Daron replied.
Liz
scrunched up her face, “The delicious beaches?”
Daron
repeated slower, ‘Dilasous… you know… where you found me?
The beach nearby, probably the one where you two showed up at.
You remember?”
Liz
frowned and put a finger to her lip as she rolled her eyes upward
thinking, “Beach… oh… yeah kind of…” She muttered before
Daron took an even deeper sigh.
“Follow
the tracks,” Daron replied, already seeing the faint footprints
left by both giantesses. “Should lead you back to the ocean.”
Liz
looked down and brightened at the news, “OH yeah! So just
head back to where we were?”
Daron
nodded and sighed at the situation resolving itself, “Yeah… I’ll
see you in a little while. Tomorrow morning? You guys
will be living near… or nearish to me.”
Liz
looked delighted and before he knew it she turned back to Vicky,
“We're gonna be neighbors!”
Daron
sputter…. “Uh well not actually!”
However
it didn’t help as Liz and Vicky were already walking off, well out
of hearing range.
Daron
grumbled, “Great….”
“The
king wants to speak to you,'' said a guard next to Daron.
Looking at the guard Daron felt another grumble forming. Of
course he did…..
Daron
nodded toward the guard before he took the steps down from the large
wall. It was a long descent but one that he was prepared for.
After a good while, Daron was on the ground and walking through the
city. He had a long way of going before he reached the king,
but he would make it in time.
As
Daron walked through the familiar streets he found less people
greeted him. In fact more of them stayed silent or made a
frightened noise before darting away from him. Perplexed at the
sudden reactions, Daron was confused until he came across Ms.
Stalenger. She owned a simple baking shop on the corner of the
street.
“Ms
Stalenger!” Daron greeted.
“Oh?
OH?! Daron…” She replied, sounding a little
flustered.
“How’s
it going?” Daron asked as he made his way past the coffee
shop like usual.
“Uh,
well… did… did you hear?”
Daron
paused at Ms. Stalenger’s words. “Hear? Hear what?”
“They
say,” Ms. Stalenger looked left and right for someone listening
before going on, “Some female giants attacked the city. They
were as tall as the sky!”
Daron frowned at the gossip
she must have heard. “No, no giantess attacking the city.”
Ms.
Stalenger perked up at the news. She looked more relieved and
relaxed, “So there aren’t any giantesses?”
“Uh….
well… I mean,” Daron went on trying to think of a way to correct
this. “There are-
“OH
GOODNESS!” Ms. Stalenger shrieked at the news.
“No,
now hold on… they aren’t bad,” Daron stuttered, not mentioning
some of the poor creatures they stepped on beforehand just to get
here. “Just don't judge a book by its cover,” Daron
remarked remembering the simple kids book his parents gave him as a
child.
“I
hope for our sake you are right,” Ms. Stalenger replied, not sure
who to trust.
“Just…
just don’t go assuming they are bad. We don’t know much
about them yet,” Daron remarked as he walked past the little
bakery. Feeling like he was giving the older women some good
advice, he couldn’t help but feel like Ms. Stalenger didn’t
believe a word Daron was saying. She still looked terribly
worried as she managed her shop.
Daron
continued his journey toward the King's castle as he made his way
across the streets, never leaving the path toward the large part of
the crowded city. As Daron made his way along the roads of the
city, he came across the two least likely people he would have
thought to cross. His hunting buddies, Shaw and Jack.
They were just coming out of a shop when Daron ran into them.
“Shaw…
Jack?? Where the hell have you guys been?” Daron asked
shocked at their presence. Daron was confused and a little
upset at his best friends leaving him like they did before.
They pretty much left him behind to fend for himself.
“DARON?!”
Jack called out noticing him.
Shaw
was next, “uhhhhh….” Was all he had to say.
Daron
figured he had to ask, “... what the hell…. You guys left me out
there in the woods?!”
Shaw
seemed to be upset “No, you look here… we didn’t grow up in the
woods. How were we supposed to know there were monsters like that out
there?!”
Jack
slowly nodded, “We thought you were dead.”
“Well…
I’m not dead,” Daron spoke obviously, “And those MONSTERS
didn’t come from the woods. Did you really think I knew about
them this whole time and still went hunting around there?”
Jack
and Shaw looked at each other as they considered what Daron was
saying. Jack sighed, “We’re just glad you made it back-”
Shaw
put his hand on Jack’s shoulder, “Is it true though,” Shaw
asked almost accusingly at Daron.
Dragon
frowned as held his hand out in confusion. “Is what true?
What the heck are you talking about?”
Jack
answered Daron, “That they… they carried you? That you…
you know those things?”
Daron
didn’t like how it sounded like an accusation rather than a
question, “Well how else do you think i got here without a fucking
horse so fast,” Daron asked upset. “And YES I know their
names. Unlike you two, I didn't run so of course I got their
names. I was gonna call them monster 1 and monster 2 like it
seems so many people around are doing.”
Almost
as if he confessed a mortal sin, both his friends seemed to take a
slow step away from Daron. This only infuriated Daron at their
reaction, “Guys… What the hell? Are you… scared of me?”
“What
no,” Jack weakly laughed, “Of course not… I mean not US, just,
well like we said. There’s talk about you and… well I mean…
you understand. We’re sure it will all blow over in a while,
just-”
“We
can’t get mixed up with you and THEM,” Shaw blurted out harsher
than intended.
Daron
never expected this to happen. “I see…”
Jack
tried to get Daron to understand, “It’s just stupid rumors.
They’ll go away in a few weeks and then we can hang out and go
hunting again. It’ll be like nothing even happened, you know
how the city is. They’ll forget about you and the giantess,
and move onto something else… like when the next barbarian raid
will be. You understand, right Daron?”
Sadly,
he did. Unfortunately that didn’t help the feeling of
abandonment he had right now. His best buddies pushing him
aside like this was a harsh blow to Daron. However, he couldn’t
say he wouldn’t do the same if he was in their position.
Reputation was important. It was what most people used to
determine how they view you.
Daron
slowly nodded, “Yeah… yeah I get it guys.” Daron gave
them a knowing smile, “Just a few weeks…” Daron went back
to his normal self, giving them a cocky grin, “Then I'll be
expecting you assholes to buy me a drink after that, you hear me?”
Finally
his buddies cracked a smile and nodded before heading off.
Daron was feeling sore about his buddies. Maybe he should grab
a drink before seeing the king? Yeah, that was probably a bad
idea. There could be drinking later.
Daron
stood before the king who didn’t look as pleased as he hopped.
King Constantine, had been silent for longer than Daron would have
hopped. He still had no idea why he was here… well okay he
knew it had to do with the Giantess that came to the city, that was
for sure, but other than that, Daron was in the dark. Standing
there was agonizing for Daron as he wasn’t sure what was about to
happen to him. They hadn’t had a beheading in a while, maybe
today was the day…
“Why
did you bring them here,” The king asked almost as if he expected a
very logical answer from Daron.
“Your
majesty, they were just looking for a way home. Just some
answers to questions they had. I thought if anyone, anywhere,
you would know something.” Daron explained. This still
didn’t seem to please the King.
“Barbarians
are bad enough… now i have two giant…” The king didn’t know
what word to use till finally, “THINGS, roaming around in my
kingdom. Things couldn’t be worse…” King Constantine
muttered under his breath.
“Your
Majesty,” Daron tried to offer a word. “Maybe… maybe they
aren’t as bad as everyone is saying,” Daron wasn’t sure why he
spoke but there seemed to be something going on in the King’s head,
and Daron just sparked something.
“Daron,
I have a job for you,” The king announced.
Daron
did his best not to frown at the news, “A job?”
“You
are to take care of those two, creatures. I don’t want to see
them, I don't want to hear them, and I don't want to smell them.
That means keeping them far away from the city, I will not let them
disrupt my kingdom. If they need to speak to me, they will
speak through you as I will be using you to speak to them. Keep
them as far away as you can, even if it means sending them on the
other side of the mountains.”
Looking
confused and shocked at the King’s orders, Daron was about to
object when he stood up, “I have far too much to worry about to be
bothered by those giant things. Keep me informed about them,
you understand,” King Constantine ordered.
Daron
couldn’t object. He had to be the caretaker of those two
strangers. King Constantine waved Daron off, “You may go
now. I have much to do.”
Daron
slowly left the room with two guards walking him out. There was
no discussion, Daron now had another job to do.
It
was well beyond dark when Daron returned home. He was greeted
by a worried wife. Margarett rushed him, “Oh my God! Daron,
where have you been all day!”
“It’s…
oh where do I
start. It’s been a long day,” Daron groaned, feeling
exhausted from everything happening up till now. Daron saw the
food that had to have been finished for a while. Sitting down,
he sighed and started to eat something as he slowly retold his wife
about the crazy day he had. He only left out one small detail.
She didn’t need to know how close Liz and Vicky were to their
home.