Adrian Svensson was, without compromise, the most famous guitar virtuoso in the world. Having enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom following a perceptively savvy use of social media, the young man was now so privileged as to be embarking on his second world tour with his band, Brimstone. This swift transition from bedroom rock to stadium guitar god had brought with it a host of other changes: wealth, an entourage, mansions, and, of course, hordes of screaming fans, though he no doubt took the most enjoyment from the female ones.

It was, in fact, the quality time he spent with the all-too-willing fan girls that had so seriously derailed him. Adrian had just played as the headliner in front of 60,000 people at the Rock in Rio festival, and, being the star that he was, had brought some of the most attractive women he could find with him back to his temporary room. Things hadn't gotten very far past making out however when his manager burst into the room in a fury, belting out choice words about how the guitarist had managed to miss his departing flight just to get some ass. The young musician didn't take things very seriously however and was still in a bright mood as he boarded the next flight out of South America. In no time, he thought, he'd be caught up with his band mates shredding in front of their next audience in New York.

Fate had something different in mind, however: as Adrian slumbered in the small luxury jet, itself somewhere out over the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, a tremendously violent storm had begun to form. It was with an explosive crack that Adrian was awoken from his sleep as the plane hurriedly descended towards whatever landmass it could find. Shrill winds ripped their way through the compromised cabin, and sharp daggers of rain spit across the young adult's face. Panic was like a blaze that consumed all those within the meager craft.

Just as soon as his consciousness had been regained however, it was taken from him; the plane smashed into the earth remorselessly, shearing apart as it slid along the ground.

Upon awakening, the bedraggled demigod crawled from the wreckage cradling his head. His fellow passengers were all either dead or missing. He stumbled, falling backwards onto a dislodged seat as he gazed about with increasing horror: he was alone and, worse than that, stranded somewhere with massive vegetation that loomed over him terrifyingly. Nearby, he saw the body of the copilot drug off by something which he would have sworn was a rodent had it not been the size of a rhinoceros. Taking a deep breath which barely managed to contain the sheer hysteria swelling within him, Adrian retreated to what remained of the plane's fuselage, barricading himself inside.

Anna was on her annual camping trip. She loved trekking across the island each year and noting the differences from the year before. It was also why she was the island cartographer. She had just finished mapping the expanse of the river she was camped next to and was on her way to the beach. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the wreckage of a small human plane half-buried in the sand.

She snorted. Foolish humans. They always try to penetrate the mysteries of our island but rarely make it past the storm wall. With a shrug, the young woman sat on an exposed rock and began sketching the coast line. She pushed her short red hair out of her face as she worked, pulling a charcoal stick from her bag and eyeing the way the shore curved out of sight. She looked behind her, seeing how the old palms cast beautiful shadows on the brown sand. Her charcoal flowed on the paper, effortlessly capturing the lay of the land and all its details.

It was only after several hours of cowering in the darkness of the plane's innards fearful of the massive bear-rodent that the outside world decided to again make its presence known to Adrian. He had assumed it to be the remnants of that initial storm: impressively intimidating booming thunderclaps reverberated through the plane with increasing intensity. Expecting the patter of rain at any moment, fear was quickly replaced with confusion when, minutes later, not only had the rain not arrived, but the trumpeting thunder had ceased. With the utmost caution, he stole a glance while his heart pounded in his chest.

Frankly, the view that greeted him didn't make a lot of sense. There was a titanic boulder that nearly blocked out the entirety of the horizon, and in front of that were two gargantuan pillars. Oddly, the texture almost reminded him of the leather on a boot only blown up in size. He didn't dare look for too long of course, lest he risk attracting the attention of some of the local fauna which had already proven itself to be interested in consuming humans.

With a quiet shudder he settled back in at the back of the plane and wondered just how much longer it would take for some sort of help to arrive and, barring that, how long he'd sit there before working up the nerve to go exploring.

Anna scowled at the plane. It was blocking her view of that section of the coast. Standing, she walked to the downed aircraft and began to progressively nudge it out of the way with her foot. She stopped, though, when she heard frantic screaming coming from within. The young woman took a step back.

"Come out," she called. "Get out of the wreckage so you are not killed when I move it." From the shrill scream, she had expected a female to make its way from the plane. Instead, it was a male. She was rather surprised but it didn't matter to her either way.

She set her sketching supplies down on the dry rock and knelt by the plane. Taking it in both hands, she hefted it before spinning like a discus thrower and flinging the wreckage out to sea. Satisfied it was out of her sight, she sat down and began working again.

Disembarking from the craft with his worries now transformed into fury, Adrian had been expecting to see heavy machinery and a very misinformed rescue team. "What in the fuck! I've been sitting here for hours, you finally get here, and your first idea is to start dragging the fucking plane?? What part of search and rescue don't you fucking get?? Other than the emotional trauma I'm fine by the way, no fucking thanks to…" There was sudden silence as Adrian watched a colossal woman chuck the ruined plane into the ocean.

He swallowed slowly as he finally came to the realization of what exactly the "thunder" had been. As his mind continued to struggle to process what he was seeing, he recalled what his manager had said prior to their first tour: "Fans are great, but they can be a real menace. Don't laugh- I'm serious. I've seen guys approached by groupies and then get drugged and kidnapped. Or the chick will purposefully give out punctured condoms to whatever guy they're planning to get with so that they'll be forced to stay together. Never, never underestimate what a fan will do."

Adrian still didn't understand the mechanics of what had happened, but it had at least, in a general sense, started to make some sense. "Okay, I get it…look, if you wanted to meet me, or whatever, ya didn't…didn't need to crash the plane and do……" He gestured about himself and the much larger world around him, "do…this…big…thing…I really don't quite get how you managed to uh, do it, but look, just change me back and I won't press any charges. I just want to get to my next gig. No need for anything, erm, dramatic…hey!" By the end he had noticed that the giant girl wasn't even paying attention. "Hey, what the fuck!"

Anna ignored him as he continued to yell at her. Eventually, she spoke in an even tone. "Unless you want the dragnats to descend upon you and devour you, I suggest you shut up. I don't know who you are or why you are here and I most certainly did not 'arrange' for you to be here." She continued sketching for a while longer before she packed up her supplies. She hefted the large backpack onto her shoulders and started walking away.

"Dragnat…? What in the..." He shook his head before noticing that she had prepared to go. "Now wait a fucking second! You need to help me! If nothing else, you just tossed the fucking shelter I was using into the god damn ocean!!! That still had some of my stuff on board, not to mention the bodies of some of the people I was travelling with! And if it's so dangerous around here, then why would you leave someone who's just been in a horribly traumatic accident out here when you know your way around!? As far as we're concerned, you owe me dammit!"

Adrian fumed, crossing his arms and taking a very stern pose. While waiting for her to turn around and respond, he saw out of the corner of his eye that his guitar case, and therefore the prized possession within, had survived both the crash and the flinging of the plane. He hefted it, not used to having to transport his own gear after having roadies for the past few years. Regardless, the fact that he had it was a sort of divine signal that maybe things would work out alright. Besides, already he'd managed to find someone who, through her own actions, was now obligated to help him. Surely things could only continue to improve.

"I am in no way obligated to help you. There is plenty of shelter if you are imaginative. You are small enough to fit anywhere and call it shelter. As for the plane, it was blocking my view of the coast. So I got rid of it."

She kept walking for a while, amused somewhat that he was still following her. When the tide began to turn, though, and water started flooding the narrow beach they walked on, she veered right and made her way back through the foliage. She pushed past the heavy palm fronds that blocked her way before sliding down a short slope into a dry creek bed. It made for much easier walking. She heard the human huffing along behind her and hoped the annoying thing would just leave her alone.

Adrian was becoming increasingly irritated with the situation. Why was this person, regardless of size, being so obstinate? Even if she didn't have a debt to him for destroying the plane and most of his possessions, she still should have rendered him assistance just for the sheer fact that it was the right thing to do!

After giving her the benefit of the doubt for much longer than he cared to, and, in doing so, having to hurriedly jog to keep up, he had had enough. He growled under his breath before beginning his justified rant, "Fine, forget it you big Brobdingnagian bitch! Don't help me because you owe, don't help me because it's the right thing to do, and surely don't help me because I'm the fastest guitar player in the whole fucking world! Do you know how many girls would kill to be in the position you're in? To have me all to themselves' and helpless like this? I hope next time you get stranded in the land of the fucking giants that someone kicks over your house and leaves you there despite the minimal amount of effort it would take for them to help! Good luck sleeping soundly tonight you giant heartless monster!"

With a final middle finger, he had sent her on her way. What to her would have been a mere pebble was sent spiraling with a violent kick as the beleaguered guitarist flopped down. Mad as he was, the only thing to do at that point was to vent. Luckily, inside his case there was a small battery powered practice amplifier, and it wasn't long after the confrontation until the sounds of beautifully distorted Beethoven and Mozart could be heard. Of course, the Blues and pentatonic scales were utilized as well as some simple yet satisfying straight shredding. It was a solo worth being televised world-wide, yet of course no one was around to hear it. Either way, he felt better upon its conclusion, and he had even managed to prove the big cold-hearted colossus wrong. He had made an abundance of loud noise and managed to attract nary a single living creature. Perhaps the brutally melodic sound of his playing had kept them at bay.

Adrian stowed his things and looked around with a sigh. "Well, fuck."

Anna kept walking, ignoring his rants. It wasn't her job to help him. It was her great-uncles', great-grandparents' and her grandfather's. She stopped when she thought of how disappointed they would be in her. She chewed her lip and thought of her uncle's human wife. The girl would be devastated if she found out the sweet Anna she knew couldn't give a crap about the rest of humanity.

"Stupid expectations." She grumbled and turned back around. She wasn't going to go out of her way to help him. But if he could keep up, she wouldn't let him die.

When she got back to where she had left him, she saw a small-to-her barox sneaking up on the unwary human. Lengthening her stride, she swung her staff and connected it with the cat-like predator just as it launched itself into the air. It shrieked in pain as it landed in the sand. The spotted predator struggled to get up, but its back legs would not move. One more blow to the head sent it into oblivion.

Anna looked down at the shaking human. "If you can keep up with me, I won't let you die." That said, she turned and began walking again.

Surely this woman was insane. He had just been besieged by an elephant sized something that looked almost like a lion, and here she was telling him "if you can keep up." Thankfully she had at least gained enough sense to realize she had to at least help, but this wasn't even close to good enough. He snorted and shook his head.

"If I can keep up…are you living in the same world I am? You're the size of Godzilla! At a slow walk, I could barely keep up." This was followed by more head shaking. "Look, clearly we're operating with two totally different views of reality. If being a decent person doesn't work around here, does bartering? If you quit being so cruelly stubborn and just help me out here, I will play you whatever you want, just for you. I am the most talented guitarist out there. Need to get all romantic with your boyfriend and want special music just for that? I can help you out, though by the way you act I would hazard a guess that you've never even held a guy's hand let alone kissed one. Regardless. For whatever evil purpose I'm sure you'd concoct, I will make my not-insignificant abilities available to you. All you have to do is stop acting all high and mighty just because you happen to be the size of a building and help repay your debt to me. It's that fucking easy."

Anna stopped and stared back at him. "Compromise. Keep up with me to the next campsite." She glanced at the sun. "When the sun reaches its zenith, in probably another hour or two, I will stop for the day. By that point, I should have arrived at my next location."

She watched him for a moment. "Males are deceitful and useless for anything other than creating children. I will not let myself be wooed then dumped by one. I am not foolish enough to believe my family is the norm rather than the exception."

A smirk made its way across Adrian's face, "So I was right. What, you got scorned in middle school or something and since then men are evil?" He glared at her before mumbling under his breath, "Fucking bitch." Faced with no other alternative, the not at all outdoorsy musician was forced to struggle along out of breath for over an hour before the giant sexist finally came to a halt.

He was still beyond infuriated with her and it was quickly growing into something verging beyond detesting her. The moment he was somewhere safe and could seek alternative help he planned to. But, prior to that, he wanted to show her how simpleminded her point of view was and spite her. "Well, unlike you, I'm not a dick, so I'll play you the song anyway. You're lucky I like to practice before bed anyway. I'll just start going unless you think of something you'd like to hear. Though, considering the barbaric nature of your views on gender, I don't expect you to know anything about music. Ahem." With that, his instrument was removed from its elegant case and put to use in a remarkably gentle way: clearly the man knew his way around everything from the heaviest of metal to the softest of ballads.

Anna had a fire going and her tent pitched by the time Adrian had finished playing. She sat down and spitted a couple of tree rodents she had snagged for dinner. As the last of their juices flowed from their bodies and popped in the flames, she spoke.

"My grandfather, great-grandfather, great-uncles and my uncle are good men. They love their wives and family with no strings attached. My father is not the case. He got my mother pregnant then ran off. Then, one night when he was drunk, he called her up and the Prince only knows how, convinced her to sleep with him again. She woke up pregnant, again, and to an empty bed. Males, outside of those in my family, are deceitful and useless."

Frustrated with telling her story to a total stranger, she drew a wooden flute from her backpack and began playing. It was soft and sad sounding, high and reedy in its tone. The tempo was slow and mournful, matching the look in her eyes as she watched the rodents cook. Soon, they were done.

She put the flute back in its case and put it beside her bedroll in the tent. After retrieving the rodents from the fire, she blew carefully one the foot of one to cool it down. She then broke off a toe and handed it to the human beside her.

"My name is Anna."

Adrian begrudgingly took the scorched piece of toe and only put it in his mouth, timidly at that, after his stomach refused to quiet itself. "Well, Anna, it's incredibly immature of you to let one man ruin your opinion of all the others, as unfortunate as things may be with him. For example, if I had to judge women purely based off of my time with you, I think I might have to become a mass murderer. And not to mention, at one point, those men wouldn't have been in your family: they'd of had to marry into it. Whatever though. Don't worry, the second I find someone else to help me I'll be more than happy to get away from you."

Having finished the succulent delicacy, Adrian made his way into the tent and picked out a corner for himself. He had no desire to get close to her, physically or otherwise: last thing he needed was for her to roll over in her sleep and smother him. Not nearly as comfortable as he would have liked, he settled down onto the floor with his guitar case.

"My friends and fans call me Adrian, but since you're neither of those, I suppose you'll have to come up with an alternative until we manage to go our separate ways."

Anna rolled her eyes. The male clearly had an attitude problem. She banked the fire and walked into the tent. She zipped it close and stretched out on her bedroll. For now, the tent was warm but she knew the temperature was going to drop. She could practically smell the rain on the horizon. A coastal storm meant cold weather. She snuggled into her bedroll with a warning to the human.

"It is going to get cold tonight. You can sleep on my bedroll when you need the heat."

She rolled to face the tent wall and quickly fell asleep.

The guitarist made a tremendous effort to last through the entire night, but soon enough he was shivering uncontrollably. Much to his dismay, he made his way across the floor over to where the giantess was slumbering. Mind, he was used to sleeping in five star hotels with full temperature control, so not even the bedroll quite made the cut. Still unbearably chilled, he noticed a gap between her arm and torso. With a defeated sigh he wormed his way in towards her underarm where it was, much as he hated to admit it, incredibly toasty. Unfortunately though, she had clearly not showered the day previous, obvious considering she used a tent to sleep in, and that scent was amplified tenfold for the small youth who was now pressed into her.

"This is fucking bullshit…I should be in a warm bed with blankets, not pressed into some giant psycho-feminist's armpit…ugh." Sleeping conditions notwithstanding, Adrian was unable to fight off the creeping feelings of warmth and fatigue and soon succumbed to both.

Anna stirred sometime during the night. She instantly froze when she felt the human pressed into the space under her arm. What the...? That had to be gross. Yet he was apparently that cold.

She sighed and shifted him away from her armpit. She happened to catch a whiff of both him and herself and scrunched her nose. She definitely needed to clean up. She turned on her side and moved the young man underneath the covers. He slept like a dead man as she pulled him to her stomach and curled around him. She fell back asleep as she laid the covers across her shoulders.

Understandably exhausted from the previous day's misadventures, Adrian slept soundly well into the afternoon, which, incidentally, was about the time he normally slept until. When his groggy eyes finally managed to prop themselves up long enough for him to be considered awake, he became aware with both mild curiosity and alarm that he was neither tucked into Anna's arm or even in the tent. Indeed, he seemed to be moving and he wasn't entirely certain as to where he was.

Still rubbing his eyes and quite sleepy, he barely managed to get out a sentence, "Ugh…where am I?"

"And here I thought you had fallen into a coma. You slept straight through breakfast and you almost slept through lunch." She reached back and retrieved him from the pouch of her backpack. She had stowed him there when he swatted her hand away as she tried to wake him.

"Lucky for you, I can keep going without food for longer than a human. We will stop for lunch in a couple hours. Also, there is a small spring there which can be used for bathing. Although, perhaps you should not use my soap. It would probably take your skin off."

She held him in front of her as she walked, eying his squirming form. Satisfied with whatever she was looking for (or at), she set him on her shoulder. Her hair was too short for him to really hang on to, so all that was left for him to steady himself with was the high collar of her shirt. His feet dangled over her shoulder and he was inadvertantly provided with a good view because of the cutout of her shirt over her breasts. She rather regretted wearing her favorite shirt.

If he so much as pretends to slip down my shirt, he'll be stuffed at the bottom of the pack!

Adrian adjusted himself and pushed the hair from his face; her staring and examining made him feel the need to ensure that his person was in order. What was that all about anyway? "Apparently even giant men-hating women have a soft spot for my looks," he proffered, mildly amused yet still abundantly distrusting and ill-feeling towards his for-the-moment traveling companion.

"Rather than bathe uh, in a pond or whatever and eat more road kill, why don't you just drop me off with some authorities or something so I can get the fuck home? I've got a show to play in just a few hours." He stole a glance at his slightly mutilated Rolex before shifting his eyes to the view below her collar. Not bad.

"I can't. For many reasons. The one who would most likely be able to help you, the Guardian, my grandfather, is off-island for a while. As is my grandmother, uncle and great-uncle. So, next in line would be my great-grandparents. But, we are about eight days from them in the opposite direction I'm traveling. And if I dropped you off anywhere else, you would probably end up being served as a delicacy. Or used as a toy."

She brushed some hair from her face and adjusted the clips that kept it out of her slate rey eyes. "Besides, even if my grandparents could help you, you would have to wait for them to procure a ship, get one in your size, travel to Eleesal, the port city, head out and try to get past the storm barrier then release your ship and say 'Good luck.' You won't be going anywhere anytime soon. I don't think any human that has landed here has ever left. Plus, I don't think you know the first thing about steering a ship, do you?"

"Well that's just fucking great! And you sure didn't seem very concerned about what happened to me when you left me in the first place! Argh, motherfucker! I've got hundreds of thousands of people waiting to hear me play! I'm too young to be exiled to the fucking boondocks! GOD DAM-" The preeminent guitarist had worked himself up into such a rage, understandably of course, that he lost his balance on the giantess' shoulder and tumbled down her front, smacking with a plop into a gargantuan fleshy mound before sliding into a damp crevice.

Adrian, small as he was, had yet to process where exactly he had fallen into and struggled to climb free, to no avail. "Jesus Christ what is this!? It's slick and smells like fucking sweat, and every time I try to climb out it fucking jiggles and moves!" He couldn't help but punch the wall in frustration. "Bullshit!"

"By the Prince, you bastard!" Anna was livid. She hurriedly fished him out and held him in front of her face. "It's scum like you that make me hate men. Here I am, doing the right thing and helping you out, keeping you alive, and you dive face-first into my cleavage! Damn you, you filthy little human. I ought to leave you for the predators!" Her face was nearly as red as her hair, a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"I ought to have just left you in the pocket of the bag! And now I'm going to put you back there and you can stay there until I stop!"

She reached back and stuffed him down into the pocket he had been in. This time, though, she stuffed him to the bottom. He was buried under dried fruits and meats, what was most likely a compass and he could feel the moisture of what he hoped was a water bottle leaking through from another pocket. Anna roughly readjusted the backpack, purposefully jarring him, and set off at a ground-eating trot. Let him sit and stew and think about diving down the front of her shirt!

It didn't take long after she grabbed him that he began to kick and scream, "Put me down you crazy bitch! Why the fuck would I do that on purpose!? Hey, what are you doing- stop!! I didn't mean to fall down your shirt, stop!!!" As he saw more and more clearly what she intended his pleas became increasingly hysterical until they were muffled away entirely by the thick walls of her bag.

Adrian gave up shrieking and shouting shortly before he would have been hoarse, having seen that it was completely ineffectual. And as he sat there, violently jostled and shaken under the immensely disgusting weight of her detritus, he began to realize just how much power this girl had over him. In conjunction with such feelings of literal insignificance, he arrived at the conclusion that she was the first woman he had ever truly hated. Hell, even that hyper-religious Bible-thumper he had known in school, and had been perpetually tormented by due to his love of "the Devil's music," had had some redeeming qualities. Not this huge bitch though.

First chance he got, he was getting the hell out of dodge: better to risk it with predictable predators than to spend a minute more with an insane colossus!!

She stopped about an hour later. She set her pack on the ground and fished out a fresh pair of clothes, her soap and a towel. She set them to the side while she made a small camp. It was just a little fire, enough to keep the human warm in the autumn air and to cook the meat she would catch. She fished the human from the bottom of the pack. She held him in front of her face as she crouched beside the fire.

"Listen and listen well. Stay here by the fire. Nothing will bother you here. Just on the other side of that grove of trees is a small spring. I'm going to clean up then you can have a turn. Don't wander off." She stared him down as he writhed in her fingers.

After a minute, she set him down , gathered her bathing supplies and walked away. She fully expected the human to still be there when she got back. She didn't think he was stupid enough to wander off alone in a world where the scavenger animals outweighed him.

Adrian stood there in contemplation: now that he finally had the opportunity to escape, he almost didn't want to. Not out of respect for the giantess' instructions so much as due to an overwhelming fear of the wilderness. He certainly had never been one for hiking or living off of nature: he was used to hotels, cars, ordered food, maids and roadies…in short he was entirely out of his element.

Nonetheless, he came to the conclusion that he'd much rather stick it to Anna: she was incessantly rude in how high and mighty she saw herself, not to mention her sexism. Besides, the sooner he found civilization the sooner he could get back to Brimstone and has fans where he belonged. Focusing on that warming, ego-fueling thought, Adrian made sure to grab his guitar case before striking off in a direction: preferably one with minimal vegetation to have to fight through. Looking over his shoulder with a cocky grin, he thought to himself: See ya later, Psycho!

Anna came back a short while later. She was clean and in new clothes. This top had a high-necked without an open chest. It's long sleeves were detachable and it was excellently warm, thanks to the fur lining on the inside.

"You can go bathe now. I left a sliver of soap on the bank for--" She stopped when realized his life force was not by the fire. She scoured the ground around her camp and cursed. "I ought to let the wild eat you. But I gave you my damn word. Dammit!"

She grabbed her staff and headed off in the directions his minuscule track left. "Oh by the Prince, he's gone and done it again! That goes right by a ressop den!" Once again, she contemplated letting the large, wolf-like creature have its way with him. "I gave him my word. Stupid!"

She wasn't sure if she meant herself or the human. "ADRIAN!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Get back here if you want to live!" She heard no reply. With another curse that would have her mother whipping her, she ran off down the trail Adrian was following.

A short while into his escape Adrian heard a sound which sent chills racing down his spine: she was threatening to hurt him if he didn't come back! Truly he was in quite the mess, and now he knew with certainty that he had done the right thing. He simply had to press onward.

Unfortunately, just as she was propelling him forward, his growing trepidation at the sounds of the surrounding wild life threatened to stop his progress altogether. He was no expert, but it almost seemed as if, and here he was extremely hesitant to think this, that whatever was making the particularly dangerous sounding noises was getting closer. With a nervous chuckle Adrian thought that whatever it was probably didn't want an autograph, and, like the giant now hunting him, it'd be for the best to avoid it too.

A gap between two boulders, mere stones to the larger denizens of this horrible place, presented itself and Adrian slipped in between them, hunkering down. Now he just had to wait for that thing to go away and he'd be back on his merry way.

The dark blue ressop sniffed around the ground, scenting for the prey it had heard before. Its large nostrils inhaled and its efficient brain filed away all the information. Finally, it caught the scent. It picked its pace back up into a trot before stopping at a couple of rocks. It clawed and slathered furiously, trying to get between them and get to his prey.

Anna's breathing was fast but efficient as she ran down the trail. Damn! She saw the ressop slobbering over a couple of rocks and instantly knew that's where Adrian was hidden. She swung the crooked end of her staff and caught the beast in the side of his head. He went flying and she hit her knees beside the rocks. Her eyes saw the frightened human alive and well and she sighed.

"Good. You're alright. Now come o--" She didn't get to finish her sentence as she was blind-sided by the enraged ressop. She screamed a bit but was able to manipulate the fall into a roll. She held the staff across the beast's massive chest, keeping him at bay for the moment. "Bastard!"

She kicked it in the stomach and set it over her head. She leaped to her feet and placed herself between Adrian's hiding spot and the ressop. "Listen you stupid, blundering, idiotic human! Stay in that fucking spot or you will DIE. I cannot keep you safe if you don't stay there."

Adrian poked his head out from his hiding space, glancing upwards as Anna stood over his hiding place, "Idiotic my ass! What'd you expect me to do after telling me you won't help me get home, treating me like crap, and then threatening me? You're as much of a menace as whatever that other thing is!" Having spotted it coming back, Adrian promptly ducked back into the safe embrace of the rocks.

He wasn't really sure what options he had considering the escalation of the situation. Even when she ends up killing that animal, he'd still be stuck there with her, and it's not like he could very easily run away when she was right there. It seemed a certainty that he'd be trapped in her clutches once again. Hopefully she wasn't planning on bullying him in an even more drastic way than she had previously.

It didn't take much time for her to pound the snot out of the animal, and rather than risk angering his captor any further, Adrian sat waiting right where he was.

Anna plopped to the ground, rather exhausted. She forgot how much fight those things put up. She glanced over at Adrian.

"Look, I shouldn't have stuck you in my bag, much less at the bottom. But you didn't have to start punching my breasts when you fell. I'm telling you the truth: no human has ever left this island once they land here. There is a small human city, perhaps about eighty people, on the north side of the island. I was planning on dropping you off there."

She plucked him up and stood. She stuck him back on her shoulder, this time in a place where he could hook his heels into the dip of her collarbone.

"This time, don't work yourself up into such a frenzy. I told you I wasn't going to let you die."

"Dropping me off-? Are you kidding me?? I need to get to my gig! I'm the world's most famous guitarist, in the world's biggest metal band. I don't belong in some tiny little town: I've seen seedy bars with more than 80 people in them! I mean, come on! And hey-!" He swatted at her hand with little success, "Ever hear of a space bubble!?"

He sat on her shoulder grumpily and swept back his hair. "Look, I've got millions of dollars back home: just get me there, and I'll give you whatever you want, seriously. Not to mention, if you're a freaking relative of the people who can get me back home, then why wouldn't you introduce me if you really are so keen to keep me alive? Because you know, if I get stuck in that stinking city, I might just die of insanity there." He crossed his arms in futility, "This is crap. You'd might as well just eat me or squish me or whatever it is you big brutes do."

"You know what? You are so ignorant. I have never done anything of the sort but I might just make an exception for you." She picked him up and dangled him over her open mouth. After a couple minutes of him screaming, she pulled him away and stared him down.

"Don't you ever, EVER say anything as obnoxiously ignorant as that again. My grandfather, when he returns, will check on the town. Then you can address your wish of going home with him. My great-grandparents can do nothing other than what I've said. He will help you when he returns."

She set him back on her shoulder and kept walking.

"Hmph! Ignorant- hardly. Have you looked at your views on men lately? Now that's ignorant. Since we've met you've given me every reason to think I might get squished or eaten. First you toss a plane after telling me to get out of it or die, then ya abandoned me, and not long after that I get trapped under a mountain of garbage in your back pack. And it sure felt like you were trying to crush me the way you suddenly broke into a sprint! Then when I run away, you yell at me to come back if I want to live! Not to mention that I'm a guy, so you already dislike me. So yes, I'd say you've given me plenty of reason to think that you might try and hurt me." He sighed and shook his head. She obviously had hardly if any friends. And she certainly hadn't made a good impression on the only person in this awful place who didn't already know how rude she was.

"All of my hard feelings towards you aside, you know if you can't kick that men-hating habit of yours you're gonna be doomed to die alone right? I mean, shit, doesn't not have any friends suck? Obviously not every fan I have is what one would call a close friend, but man, the guys in my band. They're practically family. We've been through so much together. And when I say guys I don't strictly mean men either. Our bassist is a girl ya know." Anna didn't really seem to be listening or paying attention, at least not visibly. "Whatever."

"I have friends. And I yelled after you because I knew the russop den was right here. This is the fifth trip I've made as cartographer. I knew it would go after you. I tried to stop you."

The finally arrived back at the camp. The fire had burned low, nearly out, but thankfully her pack remained intact. She set Adrian down with another warning to stay put. She quickly built the fire back up and pitched her tent. She produced some dried meat and fruits and set them on the floor of the tent.

She looked down at Adrian. "Do you want to bathe in the spring? I will take you down there."

"I guess. Might as well get off whatever was leaking on me in your bag. Though, this better not just be a ploy to get to see a hot guy naked." He grinned and winked despite not feeling particularly jovial.

Being soaked and getting to flip his hair around reminded him of his band's first music video, which had been filmed in a mock rainstorm. It was of course a bitter sweet thought. At least the spring felt nice, though for him it felt more like a lake, and it was a liberating feeling to be out of his battered clothes. Speaking of a lack of clothing, he hadn't been kidding: he was quite the attractive specimen, and there didn't really seem to be any flaws to him as far as looks went. Well cared for hair accompanied a well groomed face, and below that was an incredibly finely toned body, not to mention whatever lurked below the water between his legs.

He smirked and laughed, almost hoping that he was being spied on. If nothing else, it'd give him the opportunity to chide Anna, and it wasn't like he had anything to be embarrassed about.

Anna was currently stalking a sliade--a large, deer-like creature. She had retrieved her bow and arrow from the camp and was nearly within range. A few more steps and her arrow flew. The sliade dropped like a rock, and arrow through its eyes.

She hurriedly dressed it and used the skin to haul the meat back to camp. By the time Adrian returned, she had most of the meat either laid out to dry or cooking. She seasoned it with a few basic spices before leaving it to finish. She glanced at the human as he walked back topless with wet hair.

"You'll get sick like that. Or freeze to death."

"Man, you're no fun are you? I try and give you a gift and you go and make a practical statement like that!" Adrian chortled to himself, clearly in better spirits overall. "Though, while we're being practical, it should be noted that I have nothing to change into." He shrugged as he made his way over to the fire and plopped down comfortably.

"So, considering how you feel about guys, this must be your first time seeing one without a shirt huh? " He sniggered, "Sorry I don't have a magnifying glass to help you check me out better."

"Tch. I don't need a magnifying glass. My eyes automatically zoom, just like a hawk's." She pulled a hunk of sliade off the spit and set it on a plate along with a fork and knife. She held her hand over it and murmured a few words. It quickly reduced in size to become proportional to Adrian. "Eat. You'll warm up faster that way. As for clothes, there is a very small town along the way. We'll probably reach it tomorrow evening, if you don't run off and nearly get eaten again. I can get you some clothes then."

She took the rest of the sliade off the fire and tore into it with her teeth, having given her only plate, fork and knife to Adrian.

Rather than start eating, Adrian was far too busy staring up at the terrifying sight of Anna tearing into a freshly killed animal. "Jesus Christ. If you ever do decide to eat me, do me a favor and just swallow me or painlessly break my neck first or something. God, that's the scariest thing I've ever seen." He gulped before turning his attention to this miraculously smaller plate. "And uh, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve exactly? "

He tentatively began to eat. It wasn't exactly bad, but it was definitely not one of the five star meals he was used to.

"So ah, you said you DO actually have friends? You're not just talking about voices you hear, right?"

"I wouldn't eat you. You would probably give me the trots." She tore off another piece of meat. "Besides, how else am I supposed to eat when you have the only plate and utensils?" When all that was left was the bone, she gave it a hard toss and sent it flying into the trees.

"And my friends are quite real in flesh and blood. Elas would probably try to use you as a dildo, and get Nina to help her out. Jarmica would probably use you as a butt plug and Jensa would probably eat you. Depending on her mood, she would probably play with you first and if you were a good toy, she would swallow you whole. If you were a bad toy or she was in a bad mood, she would probably take you bite by bite and make you watch as she chewed up whatever she bit off."

She took a long drink from her canteen."I wasn't planning on going by their village, but if you really want to meet them and get the attention you think you need, I can easily detour. It would only be an extra hour or two for me."

"No wonder you're so evil: you have some malevolent, fucked up friends. God damn. How in the world is that kind of behavior tolerated? All the more reason to get home I guess." Adrian pushed aside what was left of dinner and scowled. Clearly, whatever appetite he had was now gone. "And you'd seriously hand me over to someone like that? You must really hate men."

By that point Adrian began to wonder if Anna hadn't partaken in such activity herself and had just happened to choose to be merciful to him as an exception.

"Ya know, when I was in high school this girl had a crush on me, and the way she chose to express that was by being as much of a bitch to me as possible. So, if this is some clandestine attempt to hit on me or something, I would advise a different strategy."

"I told you I would keep you alive, didn't I? I'm not going to give you to them. But you seem desperate to get back to a massive crowd of people that will fawn and drool over you, so I thought I would give you the option of going to someone who would pay attention to you."

She gathered up the rest of the meat and packed it away since it was now dry. The skin she stretched out between a couple of trees, contemplating what to do with it.

"Have a crush on you? I don't even know you." She came back and reenlarged the plate. The meat she threw into the bushes and the plate she scrubbed with sand. She packed the dishes into her bag and tossed it into the tent. She glanced at the sun. It was barely mid-afternoon. "I hate sitting still. Especially when I have work to do."

Frustrated, she pulled out her flute and began to play. The tune was unfamiliar to Adrian, but Anna knew it by heart. It was haunting and sad, and any native of the island would be tearing up by the time she finished. When she was done, she carefully cleaned the flute and put it back in its case.

Adrian made a face that seemed to say "not bad." He responded by unpacking his guitar and raising his eyebrows in a way which read as "check this out." He was an accomplished musician beyond mere star status and had been playing since he was barely ten years old; thus, he had no problem mimicking what she had already played, though he managed to perform it in a way which was infinitely more majestic and satisfying and even had soaring, screaming bends. A slight breeze kicked up his hair and, in conjunction with his shirtless-ness, completed the effect. In short, had he of been playing back home, he would have been swarmed by women with melted hearts.

Shortly after finishing his extended solo and concluding the song, he realized she probably didn't even care and slid his guitar away while wearing a rather flat expression. He rubbed the back of his head, not sure what further to do.

"A word of advice, if you want to live in peace on the island, even if you don't want to stay long, never replicate that song in any other fashion then what I played. It is sacred here." She stood and stretched, her shirt riding up a little. "Really, I shouldn't have played it for you, but it was just what came to mind at the moment."

She braced her feet shoulder width apart and bent at the waist. She was more than flexible enough to put her forearms flat on the ground. With her head tucked to her chest, her words came out slightly muffled. "Although it sounded good for a human."

She put her palms flat on the ground and pushed herself into a handstand. Her legs spread outwards until she was doing a split in the air. This time, her toes and the balls of her feet touched the ground.

Adrian was beyond impressed with his captor's flexibility. He whistled in awe, "Man, didn't realize I was travelling with a yoga expert. And thanks: I didn't expect to get a compliment from you. Though, I have to amend that it sounded a lot better than merely good. I fuckin' nailed that."

He watched for a moment, expecting her to finish at any time. "So uh, we gonna get going or what? I still plan on making tonight's show ya know." He crossed his arms and made a conscious decision to try and not find anything about Anna or her flexibility attractive. Especially not her total self-reliance and taught muscles.

"I get it- you're delaying our trip so that you can see me without my shirt for longer. Good effort, but I'm on to ya!"

She flipped herself into a split on the ground before sitting cross-legged. "I already told you. If I took you to my great-grandparents', and they were able to get you a ship and get themselves one, it would probably be a couple weeks at the earliest. That isn't counting the day or so it would take me to walk back to them. You aren't going anywhere anytime soon."

She laid herself flat across her legs, pressing her forehead to the ground. This stretched out her lower back. "And besides, I'm not going anywhere until tomorrow. It's too late to reach the next camping spot before nightfall. If you hadn't wandered off, we may have reached it already. But since I had to save your ass, I lost the afternoon."

Adrian sat with a sigh, not rebutting that he wouldn't have had to run away if she had only been significantly less cruel. "So, you're just gonna stretch until it's time to sleep then? What the hell am I supposed to do in the mean time?"

Having nothing better to do he contented himself with letting his eyes slowly make their way across Anna's huge yet graceful body. "So you really think men are just for reproducing huh? You've never ever wanted to have a boyfriend or, at the very least, just make out with a dude or something because of a physical attraction?" He found it impossible to fathom that her hatred was so complete as to make her a eunuch. If nothing else, fit as she was she must have been hit on at least once, until the person learned of her cold personality anyway.

"No. Never. When the time comes for me to have children, I will adopt. I won't shame my family again by having children out of wedlock." She put her hands behind her, her feet under her and pushed herself into an outward facing arch.

"As for the afternoon. I'm not sure. There's only a couple hours of daylight left. I may go for a swim or climb a tree to have a better look at the weather and the coast line." She stood and proceeded to complete a series of no-hands back-hand-springs.

"I need to clean that sliade hide and figure out what to do with it. I could probably make you some clothes and a bedroll out of it without completely ruining the hide for normal use."

"Gosh you can really be a downer, ya know that? Have you really not ever considered that the problem is simply that your dad is an asshole and that it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a man? And having a boyfriend doesn't necessarily mean kids out of wedlock." Adrian was trying really hard to be persuasive. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not pleading my own case here. It's just that you're so…rigid and angst-ridden. I think you'd be amazed at how much having someone close whom you can confide in will improve your life. Again, not that I'm trying to win you over for my benefit. I just shudder to think at how crusty and angry you'll in a few short years if you continue the way you have been." He chuckled, looking her over. "Or, to put things another way, I wouldn't let your dad's bad decision making skills prevent you from having a good time while you're young and able." Adrian decided to try and appeal to her strong, inherently adversarial nature. "If he's already hurt you and your mother, why would you let him win against you even more by allowing him to affect your own decisions? I know my mom always wanted to see some grandkids." He sniggered at the last bit. Hopefully what he was saying was making some sense to her, thick as her skull may have been, literally and figuratively.

"And I dunno about the clothes thing: wearing freshly cut off skin is a bit of a weird thought, and I'm hoping that the longer I'm topless the less pissed off you'll be. Is it working?"

"You know nothing of this culture. We are monogamous. We have one partner until we die and we do not cultivate a sexual relationship with them until after marriage. So, while I am 'young and able' I will serve my island by traveling as its cartographer."

She stretched out behind him, resting her chin on her forearms. "The sliade hide clothes will be infinitely warmer than what you're currently wearing. And, until this point, I hadn't noticed you were still topless. I thought you had wizened up at least somewhat since you ran off and nearly got eaten. I figured you would have listened and put your shirt back on." A puff of her breath blew her bangs from her eyes. "Besides, I'm not pissed off. I'm frustrated."

"I didn't necessarily mean sex when I said young and able. Could just be having fun: hanging out, dancing, listening to music, going on trips. I dunno, whatever it is one wanted to do really. I'm simply saying that you seem to be taking things far too seriously. That's all."

Adrian flexed somewhat playfully, "Wizened up? Of course I have. I've been trying to hold my tongue and not piss you off any more than necessary. And sure, you haven't noticed. I remember your hawk eye comment." There was a greater lightness about Adrian than there had been the day previous, though it was probably more to do with a greater fear of Anna and a powerful reaction against her extreme unhappiness that brought it about, rather than Adrian simply liking her more.

"And what exactly are you frustrated about? Surely nothing to do with little old me!"

She snorted. "No. Never you." She jumped a bit when she felt some moisture hit her. At first, she assumed the human had spit at her. But that didn't make sense. A rumble above followed by a clap of lightening warned her of the downpour, that began instantly.

Anna shrieked and jumped to her feet. She ran for the hide and quickly took it down before stuffing it into the tent. She was about to get inside the tent when she remembered Adrian was still by the fire. One glance told her he was heavily mired down in the mud. She dashed over, scooped him up and darted into the tent. It was rather cramped with the hide thrown in carelessly like it was.

Anna set the human by her thigh and leaned forward to zip the tent closed. She then took great efforts to roll the skin up and put it on the unoccupied side of the tent. She had to bite back a laugh at the muddy human standing on the floor of the tent.

"Would you like a hand in getting clean?" she asked, barely restraining her laughter.

Adrian grumbled and bit his lip as he crossed his arms. "When I was trying to get you to perk the fuck up I didn't mean for it to happen at my expense you know." He huffed for a moment longer before finally giving in with a sigh, "Yes, I suppose I'd like a hand getting clean, because this shit sucks." Adrian's hands tended to his now muddied hair with visible sadness. "I had just bathed this morning dammit."

Adrian looked up rather helplessly as he waited for her to act, and he was forced to continue adjusting himself lest the mud which caked his body harden and paralyze him.

"Uh, the sooner this shit's off of me the better, but hey, no rush. Just sit there and giggle while I turn into a fucking statue."

She rolled her eyes, opened the tent and dumped him outside. This time, the ground he was on was a natural spot of stone so he wasn't in the mud. But the downpour was brutal until it suddenly lightened. He looked up to see Anna holding her hand above him, shielding him from the majority of it. The runoff cascaded down her fingers and flowed over him at the perfect pressure. It was almost like being in a nice hotel shower.

After just a couple minutes, the sticky mud washed away. Anna gave him another sliver of soap to scrub himself with before rinsing again. When he was done, if not completely soaked again, she pulled him back inside and zipped up the tent. She retrieved her towel from her pack and dropped it by him.

"You can use it first. I'll dry off in a little bit." She stretched out on top of her bedroll and just relaxed. As Adrian dried off, the sound of rain on the roof of the tent was the perfect sleep inducer. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

"Well, I suppose now she'll have a hard time blaming me for the wasting of an afternoon when she went ahead and passed the fuck out anyway." Happy to finally be dry and mud free, Adrian considered what to next. Clearly he would be unable to continue with the outdoor conditions as they were, barring the fact that his semi-captor/companion was in a veritable coma.

With no real option as for how to proceed, he snuggled into the towel and decided he'd might as well take a nap too, which, on a regular given day in his prosperous life, he probably would have done anyway.

The weather shifted again during the night. The temperature dropped drastically, causing Anna to wake up with a shiver. She kicked off her boots and slid into her bedroll before remembering Adrian.

She sat up and pulled away the towel to check on him. He was dry but the damp towel was cold and so was he. She gently scooped him up and put him on the bedroll. She laid down, pulled him to her stomach and curled around him before pulling the blankets back up to her nose. In no time, she was toasty and drifting back to sleep.

Upon awakening, Adrian was, similarly to last time, significantly confused as to the nature of his location. Oddly, he didn't seem to feel the sensation of movement, and he heard what he eventually understood to be Anna's slow breathing reverberating around him. It was immensely satisfying, and surprising, to know that he had woken up before her. A few moments after that he discovered that the huge fleshy thing before him was her hand, and it was at present pinning him against her stomach. After a few minutes of wriggling, he managed to scoot his way to freedom as he tumbled over her hand and landed on the interior of her bed. He'd just have to meander his way through the mess of tightly pulled covers to her face and wake her up.

The journey was a struggle however, and he constantly found himself either entangled in darkness and blanket or being pressed into her body as she slightly fidgeted in her sleep. It was slow progress, and he hoped she wouldn't wake up and get the wrong idea of what he was trying to do.

She fidgeted a bit as something seemed to travel up her body and tickle her. The hand that had been holding Adrian was empty, her mind processed. Not even half-awake, she vainly felt around the general vicinity of her stomach for him. Finding nothing, she grew more worried. Had the idiot gone and run off again?

She sat up and looked around the tent. Even in the darkness of pre-dawn, she could still see very well. She didn't see him and was about to call out for him when she felt something dangling from the side of her shirt. It kicked and writhed and cursed.

Completely confused, she looked down to find Adrian suspended in the air. His fingers slipped and he started to fall, only to land in her hand.

She held him up to her face and spoke in a voice that was still heavy with sleep.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to wake your dead ass up of course! But then I couldn't see and you kept moving and the blanket was in the way, and next thing I know you're shooting up awake. I suppose I should be thankful you didn't roll over and smush me…jeez."

He flopped down onto his back with a huff and sprawled out. "I was so pleased that I had beaten you awake, but I think I like it better when you wake up first. Tell ya what, you start your day, and I'll just crash right here." He closed his eyes for a moment before chuckling," I'd also like to point out how amazed I am that you continually seem to wind up with a hot, nearly naked man literally in your hands and yet you're completely unfazed."

"You're warm, although your body temperature is significantly lower than mine, but I wouldn't say you're hot. And you are clothed."

Adrian raised an eyebrow, "There's a difference between just wearing pants and being 'clothed.' And hot is a casual way of saying attractive. God you can be so dense."

She rubbed at her eyes and grumbled. "It's too early, still. There's another hour or two until I have to get up." She yawned and laid back down in her bedroll. This time, instead of putting Adrian by her stomach, she gently held him to the top of her chest.

Almost instantly, she was asleep again. Her breathing was deep and regular and her hand pinned the human to her so he rose and feel with each breath.

As she laid back down, Adrian realized she hadn't yet let go of him. "Hey! I'm not your teddy be-" his complaint was cut short as he was pressed into her. "Well…I guess this isn't terrible…hmph." In no time at all he too was sound asleep again.

An hour and a half later, she woke up for real. She let the struggling human go and sat up after he was off her. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as she spoke.

"The paths are going to be muddy and slow today. It may take an extra day or two to get to the human village. I suppose that also depends on any detours I have to take and if anything major has been changed." She groaned a bit. "I hate mornings."

When she had woken up for the second time and tried to remove him, he found that he was quite content and struggled as her hand wrapped around him. Moved to the floor, he managed to find plenty of comfort there too and tried to lay back down. "I was all gun-ho to be up earlier, but then you forced me back to sleep. Well, now I'm sleepy…" He was mostly coherent with a hint of exhausted mumbling. He found it funny that they had finally stumbled upon something upon which they both agreed: mornings sucked. Luckily, being smaller than even a Barbie doll meant that he didn't really have to be up in order to keep travelling. "You should carry me…if nothing else, if I'm sleeping, you won't have to hear my incredibly witty, clever, and logical quips…"

Anna rolled her eyes as she checked on the sliade skin. Thanks to the humidity, it was still moist enough to be saved. She rolled it back up and set it outside. She then pulled on her boots and rolled up her bedroll. She glanced down at Adrian and pursed her lips in thought.

"I suppose I can hang my backpack from a tree branch and set you on top of it while I collapse the tent. I don't know what else to do with you to keep you out of the mud."

Adrian shrugged dismissively, "It's all good man…" He was really too sleepy to care. "Backpack, pocket…hand…whatever you think is best…" The poor musician wasn't at all equipped to handle being up before noon, and he was really struggling with the whole consciousness thing.

"Man, I really miss the hotels…nice warm bed…room service…" His thought lingered there incomplete as he dozed off yet again.

She snorted. "Pampered brat." She, too, was struggling with morning. She just had a whole different attitude about it. She backed out of the tent and hung her pack up on a low tree branch. She then scooped Adrian up and set him on top of the bag. She quickly collapsed the tent and packed it back together.

Now came the problem of attaching it to the backpack while Adrian was still on it. She really didn't want to cause a fight by putting him back in a pocket, she might do something drastic in her short-tempered state if he got mouthy about it. And she couldn't put him on her shoulder since, one, he was asleep and, two, she would be using it a lot. She thought about where she could stow him for a few minutes while she worked. Her thumbs hooked through her belt by force of habit as she brainstormed.

She glanced at her thumbs and smirked. Her belt would work perfectly. She picked the still-sleeping human up and gently slipped him through her belt. She stopped when the braided leather ran across his waist. She held him there with her wrist as she tightened the belt a couple notches, just enough to secure him.

Satisfied he wasn't going to fall or be a nuisance, she set about strapping her tent to the carry-frame. She then looped the backpack straps through and settled it on her shoulders. She fastened the buckle across her chest and glanced down at Adrian.

Adrian remained in a state of blissful unawareness, slumbering away contentedly. It was several hours before he finally regained consciousness. "Oh man, what a great nap…" He stretched his arms out with a moan and a yawn. "So, how has your morning been? We make a lot of progress?"

Finally aware of his surroundings, he couldn't help but laugh at his situation, "Wanted me in your pants but not quite all the way I see. Well, I'm always one to welcome a challenge, so no need to worry. Though really, usually I prefer a bit of conversation first…" He looked up and found her to be mostly obscured by her own chest. Regardless, he winked. "This isn't so bad truly, minus a bit of a stomach ache from the pressure."

It was then that Adrian realized how cordial he was being, and he wasn't sure if that meant his general dislike of her had subsided or if maybe he was just in a great mood.

Anna stopped and unhooked him from her belt. She lifted him up and let him slide off onto her shoulder. When he was settled, she started walking again.

"The progress has been very slow. The paths I usually take were flooded. The river that feeds the spring we camped by flooded. So, I've had to trek through uncleared forest which doubled how long it normally takes. So, even though it is midday, and we should have reached our stopping point, we aren't anywhere close. Of course, that's no problem for you since you aren't walking or carrying anything. But I am actually tired."

She grumbled as her pace was slowed tremendously by tangled vines and snarling shrubbery. "I wish I had thought to bring my machete. It would have been a huge help."

She continued walking through the forest, very carefully, but the inevitable happened. Her feet became tangled. The toe of one foot slipped under a running ground vine and the other one caught on a low branch. She yelped as she went down.

Anna's extensive training with her great-grandmother took over and she twisted to put her back to the ground. She grabbed Adrian and pulled him flush to her stomach. She ended up hitting the ground with her shoulder. That hurt, but the additional weight of the backpack jarring her shoulders hurt worse. She groaned.

"That's going to bruise."

The suddenness of the fall caused Adrian to, quite effeminately, let out a shriek. He clung to her hair until her hand tore him away and pressed him tightly against her stomach, whereupon all of his exclamations were completely muffled into silence.

When Anna had finally regained her footing and ceased smothering him into her gut, he looked up with a smirk, "Walk much?" There was a moment of somewhat nervous chuckling. "But ah, in all seriousness, you didn't sprain anything, did you?" Despite all of the crap she had put him through over their thus far brief journey, he did seem to have an ounce of concern for her. Furthermore, if she were hurt and unable to continue, then she might have to resort to eating him in order to survive. And that would really suck.

"Well, not that I can do much, but, in the interest of me getting the fuck home as soon as possible, let me know if I can help." He was trying really hard to maintain his moderately egotistical streak: no need to let her get any funny ideas that he might be warming up to her rather cold personality.

"You scream like a girl." She rubbed her ear. "Right into my ear, too. Did you break glass with that voice back home?" She shook her head. "It's still ringing."

She started walking again. "I'm fine. I'm going to be sore as hell, but I'm fine." She lifted him back to her shoulder. She barely repressed a smirk when he nearly wrapped himself around her neck. "Scared much?" She parroted back at him.

"I'm not scared, just making sure that I make it home in one piece. I couldn't bear to let the entire world's population of women miss out on seeing me alive and well. As for the voice, I do occasionally do backing vocals for the band when necessary, so…" He shrugged. "And it's really fitting that someone as attractive as myself would have a voice to match."

"So, out of curiosity, have I convinced you to change your archaic views on men yet or am I gonna have to work a bit harder?"

She had a flat look on her face. "You will have to do more than be a piece of entertainment and annoyance for a couple days to start changing my mind. Although you really should put a shirt on. Where is your shirt, anyway?"

She stopped and glanced around the trees. It had suddenly gone eerily silent. And it wasn't from her presence. She frowned. "Hold on and shut up." She eyed a couple of tree branches before crouching and leaping. She caught one of the lower ones and hauled herself into it. With her feet balanced on it, she climbed higher. She was about halfway up the tree when she sat down and pressed her back flat against the trunk.

Sure enough, down below an absolutely massive beast lumbered by. It was easily twice as tall as Anna, possibly more, and outweighed her by several hundred pounds or more.

Adrian looked down at the giant beast and pantomimed a whistle, too afraid to actually make the sound. His glance shot upwards to Anna, wondering what exactly the plan was and praying she didn't decide to suddenly leap, drop, or do some other death defying stunt while he was hanging on to her neck with his tenuous grip.

For all of his efforts to be silent, Adrian was unable to prevent a gulp, though he assumed that, small as he was, it'd be far too sensitive of a sound for the monster to notice.

Anna breathed a sigh of relief when the creature went past them without stopping. She reached up and gently patted Adrian. "You don't have to hold so tight, now. It's gone. But keep your grip."

She stood and peered around the tree, making sure the beast was actually gone. Satisfied, she began to carefully climb down. On the last branch, she let go and fell. She landed in a perfect crouch to absorb the force of the impact. She stood and began walking again.

"Well, that was fun. Hopefully in another hour or so we'll reach our stopping point. Which will probably be the stopping point for the day, since we definitely won't reach my original destination before nightfall."

With the danger finally gone, Adrian let out his long awaited whistle. "Wheeeeewwww. God damn. I could feel my balls in my stomac- er, man, that was intense." He loosened his grip and rubbed the back of his head, looking over his shoulder expecting the thing to return at any moment.

After several glances proved that the creature wouldn't be returning, he let out a sigh of relief. "So, are we ever gonna actually reach where we're going? I mean, I'm sure you're gonna miss me and all, and maybe I'll miss getting the chance to make a commentary on your ass-backwards views of sexuality, but I'm getting sick of this danger thing. Having to survive just isn't really my style, you know? I'm more of a, well, luxury type of guy."

She rolled her eyes. "We will. Eventually. And I won't miss you. Besides, who is doing the surviving? Me. You're jut clinging onto me like a leech. I feed you, show you where you can bathe, carry you, save your ass twice now. I'm pretty sure I'm the one really doing the surviving."

She casually leaped over a small stream. One hand automatically steadied Adrian when he seemed about to tumble from her shoulder. "It's normally a five day trip to the human village. Although, at this pace, it will probably take closer to ten days."

"Ouch man. Those are some harsh words there. You must like me a little bit or you wouldn't be going through all the trouble: and if you really don't, then you know you can always just set me down somewhere and go. It's not like I could chase after you anyway."

For all of the bravado and charisma he put on, the sudden onset of what could almost be described as a melancholic disposition seemed to suggest that he did indeed have feelings and, in spite of all the harsh things to have come out of his own mouth over the last few days, her words had actually managed to hurt him a little bit. As if in protest, he sat in silence for the next chunk of the journey.

"At this point, it's not about whether or not I like you. I gave you my word I would keep you alive and I do not go back on my word. I'm going to get you to the human village and I'm going to bring your situation to my grandfather's attention. At that point, it will be up to him."

She let the silence fall and felt a little guilty. Apparently she had hurt his feelings. She had been joking, somewhat, when she said all that. By the time they reached the camping spot, Adrian was still not talking. She hung up her pack on a tree branch and set up the tent. She put Adrian on the ground and let him do what he wanted since the ground was dry. When camp was set up and the fire going, she looked down at the still sulking human.

"Do you want to go swimming?"

Adrian canted his head from side to side as he considered Anna's proposition. "Aaaaah, I dunno. I mean, I don't have any other clothes to change into, and, unless you've changed your views on guys, you have absolutely no interest in seeing me naked, sooo yeah." He shrugged and lazily let himself fall onto his back.

"But, on the other hand, if you're bound and determined for me to go swimming I couldn't exactly prevent you from making me…" He sighed, "Last time I went swimming was at a meet and greet with about 300 screaming fans…"

"Cut your pants into shorts." She arched a brow at them. "They're torn enough already. I'll make you some clothes from the sliade hide. They'll be warmer and sturdier than whatever you're wearing. Make your choice, I'm not going to force you. It's humid, though, so I am going to swim."

She dug a swimsuit from her pack and stepped into the trees. She came back out a moment later in a two piece swimsuit. It was black with hot pink piping and left little to the imagination.

She looked down at the gobstruck human and arched her brow. "Still want to stay behind? It's your choice." With that, she turned and headed for the creek.

Whether intending to swim or not, Adrian was certainly interested in seeing more, and with that in mind he trailed after her. He didn't really understand how cutting his pants up would help, but he recalled that he could always just swim in his underwear and then go 'free-balling' later.

"I gotta say, if you weren't so good at putting people off with the attitude, you might just come across as attractive. Again, not that I'm checking you out or attracted to you personally. But," he shrugged, "well, daaaamn."

"There is nothing wrong with my attitude," Anna sniffed. "Some people just find the truth offensive." She looked down the steep bank to the gentle looking creek. She took a couple steps back before launching herself at a run. She hit the edge of the creek and kicked off.

She squealed a bit when she hit the chilly water. "It's cold but feels good!" She gave an alluring smile up to the human. "Brave enough to join me?"

Adrian smirked, "Believe me, I can see from here just how cold it is…and sure, I'll join you, but I'd rather not have to contend with this mountain of a hill to get down there." He sniggered, "Think you would mind giving me a VIP lift down to the water?"

As if to entice her, he stood there in his boxers and cocked his head to the side, hands framing his taught musculature.

Anna continued to tread water for a minute as she pretended to think about his offer. "Hmm, I suppose I could give you a lift." Her eyes sparked mischievously as a soft grey light enveloped the human and lifted him out over the water. He hovered a few feet above Anna's head. She let him dangle there for a minute before cutting off the supply of magic.

Adrian dropped like a rock now that nothing was holding him in the air. He expected to hit the water and have it feel like cement only to find himself landing in Anna's hands once again. She snickered at his completely unamused face.

"Having fun yet?" She proceeded to float on her back, setting Adrian on her stomach then leaving him alone.

"Oh yes, loads." He rolled his eyes and made himself comfortable, which wasn't particularly hard considering Anna's smooth skin, and relaxed. "I could get used to this though. Heh, imagine having a party with tons of girls-ON a giant girl. Now that's a fun thought." A grin spread across his face as he lay there and indulged his imagination. "Ohh," he mumbled with a smirk.

He giggled some more, thinking on just what a giant wardrobe malfunction might look like.

Anna scoffed. "Pervert." That was all the warning he got before Anna was under the water and he was left to fight the current on his own. From underwater, Anna watched him flounder a bit before finally treading water. She smirked and reached out, running one nail down his leg. She laughed in her head when he jerked away. She repeated the teasing game with the other leg. Then, when he finally relaxed from her surprises, she pulled him underwater with her.

She held him in front of her face and smiled wide, showing off the extra set of elongated canine teeth.

Adrian had been a combination of mildly irritated and mildly amused when he was suddenly forced to stay afloat in the freezing water amidst her teasing. But when he was drug under his condition suddenly shifted to more along the lines of terrified. Her mouth was like that of a shark's, and the effect was all the more horrifying considering the pretty lips framing those deadly teeth.

He pushed and prodded at her hand to no avail, and perhaps she had failed to account for his miniscule lungs, but he desperately need air in addition to the fear he was feeling. Completely powerless against her, he could only wait until she decided what to do with him.

Anna chuckled and promptly used up the rest of her air. She gently wrapped her hand around Adrian and kicked to the surface. Her head broke the surface, followed in short order by the hand holding Adrian. She opened her fingers and let him sprawl in her palm.

She was highly tempted to trace his well defined arms, but decided against it. "Are you alright?"

He panted for a moment before regaining his composure, "You can be really fucking frightening some times, ya know that? You're lucky you're so much bigger than me and that I need you, or might have laid the smackdown on you!" There was at least a little bit of humor in the last bit, so evidently he wasn't fuming too terribly.

"And really, I haven't done much swimming yet: I think you really just wanted an excuse to hold me, shirtless and almost pant-less, in your hand. Again!"

She rolled her eyes and dumped him in the water. When he came back up, she said "If I wanted to hold you bare-ass naked in my hand, I would have no trouble from you whatsoever. In fact, I think you would strip for me. Probably put on a little show because you think you're so sexy. Don't you?"

Although her finger, entirely of its own accord, lightly touched his arms. She yanked her hand back as if it hand been burned and quickly dove underwater. You are such an idiot. He's probably going to get off the island and go back to his regular life. Or, he's going to stay and find himself a pretty human girl to manipulate. And he'll forget all about you. She dove to the bottom of the creek and just sat there. Thinking.

Adrian blinked at her sudden departure, "What the fuck? And no, I would not just strip for you! I have standards! Usually, being a famous guitarist, it's the girls doing the stripping!" He sniggered, looking down into the water and expecting her to start trying to tease him again.

After several moments, he chuckled somewhat nervously, "Aheh..you uh, coming back? Hello?" He treaded water for a moment longer before peeking his head under the surface. Unfortunately, it was pitch black and he couldn’t see jack shit.

She continued to sit on the bed of the creek. Occasionally, a fish would get too curious about the small human floating above. She would simply shock it with a bit of her energy and it would swim quickly away. Finally, she surfaced, taking a deep breath of air when she did.

She looked down at Adrian and sighed, a bit frustrated with self. "I'm going to dry off on the bank for a bit." So saying, she scrambled back up the bank, slipping once or twice in the slick mud. When she was back on the grass, she sprawled out in the sun and let her body slowly warm back up.

"Er, hey wait! You helped me in, aren't ya gonna help me out? Not a very good way to treat your celebrity guest!" Adrian cocked a smile and winked. He wasn't sure if she just wasn't paying attention or maybe couldn't hear him. Now waving, he continued, "Hey! Anna, help a guitar god out here?"

After that didn't seem to work, he began the long swim to the bank with a huff. The idea of having to scale that big wall of mud was, quite frankly, utterly unappealing. Hopefully by the time he got there she'd have gotten her act together and stopped ignoring him.

When he got to the bank, he latched onto a root and waited a moment. Anna flinched just a bit when he called her name again. She crawled over to the edge and reached down the bank. Her arms were just long enough to snag Adrian with her fingertips. She set him on the grass beside her then flopped back and continued to sun herself.

After a moment she stood to her feet. "I'm going to season and reheat some of that sliade meat. Come back when you're ready." She brushed the grass and dirt off and walked back to the camp. She changed back into her regular clothes and roughly toweled off her hair.

Adrian wore a quizzical expression, "Jeez, what's up with you man? You're acting like fans do when they think I'm not single! Or…" he mumbled here, "like it's that time of the month or something!" He put his palm to his forehead: it seemed he really would have to walk back. Apparently she really was getting sick of having him around, or at the very least carrying him.

Eventually he had meandered his way back to their humble camp, and was disappointed to see that the eye candy had gone. "Was starting to get used to the whole bikini thing…ah well." He wondered why she had suddenly become so distant, but, upon reflection and after remembering some of their earlier encounters, it ceased to bother him. Cold and distant was, as far as he knew, just how she was. She hated men and especially didn't care for him. With that in mind, he went to go dry off in the tent.

When the meat was done, she ate her fill then plated some up for Adrian. She took it into the tent and set it in front of him before reducing it to his size. Then she sat down on the bedroll, pulled out the sliade hide and began making clothes for Adrian. It took her the rest of the afternoon, but when she was done, he had a long sleeved shirt, pants and moccasin boots. She set them down in front of him.

"Here, these will keep you warmer than what you're wearing. Today was probably the last of the nice weather. Winter is coming, soon."

He looked the clothes over curiously, "Ah, thanks…they look tremendously stylish." A hot breath of a laugh escaped his lips as he started to get dressed. "So, I take this means that you truly are sick of seeing me shirtless huh? Got so sick of it you had to go and make me clothes." He shot her another wink before pulling the shirt on. "I suppose you can just let me know if you ever feel the insatiable urge to see male muscles. Buuuut, considering how you feel about guys, I take it that probably won't happen for awhile, if ever!"

Adrian fixed his hair and chuckled to himself, "I appreciate that you took the time to make me some duds even if you're not exactly a fan of me as a person or as a guy. Sorry you're still stuck traveling with me due to the inclement weather, but don't worry, I'm sure you'll be free soon enough haha."

She rolled her eyes. "You'll be happier overall in these, even if you don't look like the deity you think you are. We'll reach the human city soon enough. I know you would rather be happier with anyone else and be anywhere but here so I'll move as quick as I can."

She kicked off her boots and stretched out on the bedroll. She laid there for a few minutes before digging through her pack and producing a thick book. She flipped to a dog-eared page and began reading. She kept reading long into the evening, producing a small lantern when it became too dark to see. Ultimately, she fell asleep sprawled across the book.