"Don't move."
My eyes snapped open, and my sense of touch returned. This wasn't home. It was raining; the falling drops were sounding out a quiet drumroll on my armor. It had been raining earlier, too—I'd been flying, catching airplanes and rending them apart with my talons. Just like I'd been ordered to do. And then—then what? What had happened next?
The memories returned. I'd smelled ozone, there was a bright light, and everything had gone dark. Had it been some new weapon I hadn't known they'd had? The smell of ozone still lingered on the air—or was that me? As I picked up my head, my body instantly felt sore—and my hair was remarkably frizzy.
"I said don't move!" the voice shouted, and suddenly I felt cold metal pressing into my forehead. The barrel of a gun.
The human standing before me had black hair down to their shoulders, and a short beard. My chin was resting on the pavement at their feet, and they were pointing their gun straight ahead into my forehead. So they were about average-sized for a human, then. I was never quite sure how that worked—most humans were about the same size, which seemed inefficient. I didn't know how they'd handle even the sorts of jobs a Valkyrie would do, let alone a Gigas or a Titan. But I'd heard humans could change their size over time, getting larger as they got older. So maybe the only reason they were always so small was because we'd kill them before they had a chance to get bigger.
This particular human's hands were shaking. That was a gesture I recognized. They were scared. They didn't think their gun would be sufficient to kill me, and they were almost certainly right. Unless this was a new advanced gun I hadn't encountered before.
"You're—" they stammered, pushing the end of the gun harder into my forehead, "you're going to tell us where the next attack is going to be."
I didn't need to answer their questions. They couldn't keep me here, and I had places to be. Ignoring them, I reached out with my thoughts, trying to reach my commander. But she wasn't there. The horror sank in as I checked, one by one: not a single one of my sisters was there.
Without hesitating one moment, I lunged forwards. "What did you do to them?!" I roared, snapping at the human with my jaws.
Even as the human leapt backwards and uselessly fired their gun into my forehead, my motion abruptly stopped, and I realized there were massive iron chains around my torso and shoulders. I struggled, pulling with all my strength—if I'd been in a slightly more advantageous position, I'd undoubtedly have been able to tear the chains asunder, but this position on the ground was not working in my favor. And as I tried to spread my wings, I found them bound as well, the motion creating a deafening rattle of countless chains.
"You…you can't escape," the human stated, their eyes wide with fear. "And no one is coming for you."
My sisters would only ever abandon me if they were slain. I knew that much.
I felt my face heating up with despair and fury. How? How could the humans have won? What could they have possibly done against us? What manner of weapon had they created? And…why was I the only survivor? I'd been in the sky, but I certainly hadn't been beyond the height of the Gigantes—and they could certainly take a much larger hit than I could. And the Amazons were smaller, and would have been able to find shelter. So wouldn't I have been the most likely to die?
Gritting my teeth, I focused on the human before me, and and the tower behind me that I'd been bound to with countless chains. And I felt it: the ground was slowly rocking. This was a battleship.
I still had a mission. It was never one meant for a single Valkyrie, but…well, the humans would be fools to underestimate what a single Valkyrie could do.
"What if I don't cooperate?" I growled, leaning forwards.
Instinctively, the human took another step back, raising their gun again as if they thought I'd care. "We, um—"
I leaned further, stretching my chains as far as I could. "You know these won't hold me for long," I snarled. "I'll break free and sink this ship. And I'll watch from above as every last one of you drowns."
"We clipped your wings."
This was a new voice—a resonant voice, a confident voice. And not a human voice.
"We clipped your wings," the Amazon repeated, stepping out onto the deck in front of me, "so you can't fly. And Valkyries aren't trained to swim. Even if you break your chains, you're stuck on this ship with us."
I felt the color draining from my face—I was dizzy; this was too much to process. I was grounded; she'd taken my flight away. And she'd slain all of my sisters. How dare she. How dare this traitor simply stand there smiling, with her casual clothes and her blue hat on her cute black puff of hair. How could she smile after taking away everything that mattered?!
"Why—" I stammered, "why are you working with them?"
The Amazon laughed, stepping forwards and leaning on my forehead, resting her elbow in my hair. With the chains binding me, the only way I could move away would be backwards, and I certainly wasn't going to back away from her. She didn't deserve anything that resembled weakness.
"If you have to ask," she replied, "you won't understand the answer." She took a step back, squatting down to look me in the eyes. "Now. Tell me where your forces will make their next attack."
Why did she even need to know? If the humans had a weapon capable of wiping out all my sisters, what use would they have for my intel?
…wait. Why couldn't I connect with her thoughts? Did she have to remove her implant when she betrayed the cause?
No, that wasn't it. No matter how far I reached, I couldn't connect with anyone. There was no way I was that isolated. Which meant…which meant that my implant was damaged. That's why I couldn't connect with anyone.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and everything fell into place. That hadn't been a weapon at all. I'd been struck out of the sky by a bolt of lightning. The humans and this traitor had captured me by luck, not by power.
And my sisters were still alive.
I knew fury could give me strength, but I'd underestimated the power of determination. I could get out of this; I could see them again. And fueled by hope and willpower, I pulled as hard as I could, with a thunderous roar—until the chains broke, and I shakily rose to my feet, the ship rocking back and forth from the force of the sudden snap.
The Amazon's confidence, however, was steadfast—and with a simple gesture of her hand, two massive cannons turned from the sides of the ship to aim directly at me. With a backwards flip, she landed on a higher deck, facing me as the humans scattered.
"Go ahead," she taunted, "see what a single Valkyrie can do against us."
At that, I gave her a smile. I'd accepted her dare.
The cannons fired, and instantly I swung my wings in front of me as a shield. But even as the fireball exploded in front of me, I was moving forwards, shoving the churning flame aside with my wings, piercing my talons through the upper deck, right where the Amazon had stood moments before. But she was quick—she'd already jumped away, and through the fire and noise I couldn't tell where she'd gone.
With a piercing screech of metal, I ripped the deck off the rooms below, the metal no match for my claws. I could see shock on the faces of the two humans staring up at me from underneath—but before they could flee, I'd already leapt forward, pushing off into the air by planting my foot directly through the gash I'd torn, flattening them instantly.
But as I sailed into the air, the beats of my wings didn't keep me aloft—and I fell like a rock, to land painfully, my weight caving in the upper level of the ship.
So she hadn't been bluffing—I couldn't fly. I certainly wasn't good at ground-based combat, but if I couldn't fly away, then my only way home would be to take command of the ship. I couldn't contact my sisters, but they could. And they would, as soon as I forced them to submit.
The cannons had already swiveled to point at me once again. My wings couldn't withstand too many more hits like that—I'd need to dodge. And dodge I did, leaping off towards the water while striking out with one wing, piercing it into the side of the ship. With my pivot point firmly planted, I swung forwards, retracting my wing only when I was close enough to grab the cannon with my arms and legs, spreading my wings behind me to stay balanced.
While I was here, I was safe, at least for the moment. The other cannon had swung to point at this one, but there was no way they'd fire it.
But as I bent the barrel backwards, that changed. The ruined cannon would explode itself if they tried to fire it—so they had no incentive to keep it alive. And sure enough, the one functional cannon fired, and I dropped into the water to avoid the explosion.
The Amazon had been right that I couldn't swim. But I could hold onto the underside of the ship with my claws. I just had to be careful not to pierce too deeply, lest I sink the entire vessel. And so, I was careful as I clung to the bottom of the hull, holding my breath.
My vision was blurry in the water, and the chill was piercing, not to mention the vibrant sounds resonating in my ears. But my sense of strategy was unimpaired. If I emerged right next to the remaining cannon, they'd have very little time to react before I could take it out—but that's exactly where they'd be expecting me to go. They'd already be prepared for that. They'd also be prepared for if I emerged right where I went in, so jumping across the ship to get to the cannon wouldn't be an option either. And remembering the ships I'd seen from the sky, they'd been lined with smaller cannons, which I'd have to avoid on the way up.
So what wouldn't they expect? A fake surrender, perhaps—no, they wouldn't fall for that. Sinking the boat would be unexpected, but that's because I'd drown alongside them. Perhaps I could somehow use the fact that their captain was a Peacekeeper? But I didn't know her name, and I couldn't mentally connect with her.
Then it hit me—I may have lost access to my telepathy, but the humans never had it in the first place. I just had to separate them: the strength of humans was in numbers, and I would always outmatch them in small groups.
I surfaced at the rear of the ship, tearing my claws through the hull to expose the room inside. There were two humans there—perfect. A simple squeeze of my fist made quick work of one of them, and before the other could react, I'd pinned them down under my hand, the tip of my talon hovering a hair's width from their face.
"Scream and I stab your eyes out," I whispered. "Tell me your captain's name—now!"
The human's eyes bulged out of their face. "She—Captain Essena, she's…"
"An Amazon, yes," I sighed. "Why did she betray us?"
"She—" The human was stammering, clearly terrified out of their mind. "She wanted to help us fight back against you. So—so we wouldn't all…"
"But why?" I pressed. "Why would she care about—"
The door slammed open, and several humans rushed in. I couldn't have the word spreading about what I'd asked, and so I pushed my talon downwards, impaling the first human's head. With the loose end accounted for, I slipped back into the water.
I had a strategy. It wasn't a good one, but it was worth a shot. Pressing my face against the bottom of the ship, I began to speak, counting on the water and metal to resonate my voice all throughout the vessel.
"Do you all really think Essena cares about you?" I began. "I knew her. She always wanted everyone to look up to her. I guess she joined the humans because she couldn't have that among the Peacekeepers."
This was a lie, of course, but all I had to do was shake their trust enough to create a commotion.
"She'd kill every last one of you if you stopped looking up to her," I continued. "It's in her nature. Do you already know that, perhaps? Is that why you all follow her? Or do you genuinely believe she has your interests at heart?"
At that, I pulled myself over to the side of the boat with the remaining large cannon, heaving myself up out of the water. Sure enough, it was already primed to fire—but my distraction had been enough to make them hesitate. Stabbing my wings into the side of the ship for support, I ripped the cannon's barrel off its mount, piercing it downwards to impale the hull.
Now all that was left was Essena. She stood at the ship's bow, flanked by human soldiers less than half her height.
"Do not slander me," she stated firmly but calmly, as the wind billowed through her curly hair, threatening to blow her hat clean off. "I do not lie to my crew. Individually, they're expendable. But their cause is not, and I would gladly sacrifice myself for it."
I stood up to my full height, looking down the ship at her. I extended my arm, claws extended, and beckoned her forward. "Then do so."
Essena shook her head, with a smile. "You want to take over my ship. And you've proven we can't fight back against you. But if you kill me, you'll never fly again."
I snarled, crouching down to pounce. The reminder of my flightless wings sparked only fury.
"I put a lock on your armor," she continued. "Your feathers can't spread—that's why you can't fly. Only I know the code to unlock it."
I pounced, landing on top of her and pinning her to the ground with one hand, wrapping my other hand around her head and beginning to squeeze, tighter and tighter. "Tell me the code," I hissed. "Or I—"
"Or you what?" she taunted, seemingly completely unfazed by the immense pressure on her skull. "Or you crush my head? That only guarantees you'll never get the code." She flashed a now-familiar smile. "You won't be able to get anything out of me through pain. And don't bother threatening my crew—like I said, they're expendable."
I had no options. She'd won.
With a long sigh, I let go of her, sitting down next to her on the deck. "I…don't know where they're going to attack next," I confessed. "I can't actually—"
"You can't connect to their minds, I know," she replied. "I figured that out when I tried to connect to you. I suppose your implant was destroyed by the thunderbolt." Turning to look up at me, she placed a hand on my thigh. "So I don't actually know your name."
I'd been prepared to go down in battle. I'd always wished that my death would be heroic. But this? This was the opposite. How could a defeat feel like this? The utter humiliation of talking to an enemy as if they were a friend?
Well, I'd at least be gracious in defeat. I'd accept her terms.
"Okavi," I replied after a pause. "My name's Okavi."
"Well, Okavi," Essena replied, with a flash of her smile, "welcome to my crew."
Giantess World
Story Notes:
Based on the incredible Peacekeepers setting by McDead11/EpicoArt and Hotherus_the_Blind!
Author's Chapter Notes: