Candice made it halfway to the giant ten year old sobbing chilotaur before she stopped in her tracks. She thought about what she was doing and as she looked at the
enormous centipede body, she thought about going back where she would positively be safe with her new friend, her nearly two hundred foot tall protector. She twisted around to look back at Tim, still having troubles taking in his entire mass even from such a distance away. When she finally reached his eyes, she saw him staring back at her with concerned eyes, eyes that only grew more worried upon seeing Candice’s hesitation. She knew that Tim had her back and would do anything he could to protect her. Knowing she had so much power behind her helped built some of her confidence and courage back up. Still looking back at Tim, Candice mouthed the words, “I’ll be fine.” But she knew that she was too small and too far away from Tim for him to see what she tried to tell him. He still stayed tense as he watched her and the creature carefully. Candice turned back to look at the creature, but this time, she gazed up at the human-half and saw a sad and distressed child, not some monster to be feared. Seeing the creature as a child, despite its size, returned the rest of her courage, because no child should be as sad as this one looked. This gave Candice the overwhelming desire to help, causing her to finally take another step towards the new giant.

        She took another step, and then another and another. She propelled her feet towards the crying child and the jagged rocks that littered the dark, cold cave floor poked and irritated the bottom of her bare feet. If only she sat on Tim’s warm, soft palm as opposed to walking on this unbearable, uncomfortable, hard and torturous floor that pricked her feet. She couldn’t believe what she was thinking. She preferred being in the hand of such a colossal being and allow it to have total control over her body, a being whose fingers dwarfed her own height? But after reviewing the two options, sitting in a giant’s hand was better than having bare feet supporting her weight on a rocky ground. Her friend’s giant hand comforted her with its warmth situated just beneath the skin and it kept her safe with those large fingers bent upwards slightly, well slightly to Tim, but for her, those fingers blocked her view of the enormous world that surrounded her, those fingers created a railing for her and prevented her from ever falling off, whereas the cave floor only provided her with cold and pricked feet and exposed her to the world of giants.

         The closer Candice got to Kage, the slower she walked. She told herself that it was because of the cave floor and that she had to walk slower to avoid damaging her feet any more than they might have been already. Once she placed a foot in what appeared to be a good spot, she gradually shifted her weight little by little to her foot, making sure not to put all of her weight on a bad spot that would pierce the naked pads of her foot. Only once enough weight was placed on one of her steps that would reveal the spot to indeed to be a good spot would she support all her weight on said spot and commence taking her next step. But she only told herself being cautious about where she stepped was the reason she walked slower. It was not the truth. Some doubt still lingered in the back of her mind, festering and ready to infect her confidence.

        Kage’s human half was twisted away from her approach while his eyes leaked tears into his cupped hands. But what if the creature wasn’t really crying?

        Candice took a step forward.

        What if those tears were fake and were only leading her to her doom?

        She took another step.

        He wasn’t fast enough to snatch her up before she and Tim woke up.

        She took a step.

        Now, it needed to figure out another way to devour her and get away from Tim.

        Her steps became more hesitant.

        So, he pretends to cry in order to tug on Candice’s compassionate heartstrings to
lure her into a trap without Tim coming with her.

        She set a foot down.

        Then it could grab her quickly and dash out of the cave before Tim could save her.

        She shifted her weight on her foot carefully.

        Then she’d be dead. No, that wouldn’t happen. Candice shook her head. Those tears weren’t fake. There was no devious scheme to eat her. The creature was hurt by
something and comforting it would only gain her a new friend in this dangerous world.

        She supported all her weight on the foot she had set down.

        This was a kid, not some monster despite his size. Besides, she had a good sense of character and if her gut feeling told her he was alright, than he was alright.

        Candice kicked her other foot forward and stepped closer to the crying chilotaur.

        She stopped where she thought was a good enough distance from the chilotaur. She stood at the right distance where she would be looking up at the giant young face without breaking her neck from craning her head back, and she believed that she was far enough away from the creature that she was just outside his reach, but that was hard to determine.

        “Um. Excuse me, Kage?” Candice asked in a voice slightly higher than her normal pitch.

        The sobs paused and the giant being turned his head down in Candice’s direction. The hands over his eyes dragged against his face slowly towards his chin until they uncovered the glistening red irises and the puffy skin around them. Those eyes looked like a puddle of blood floating in the center of a pool of oil on the verge of seeping out. While she was too entranced to speak up again, Kage skittered back till his shoulder blades pressed against the wall. He turned his head away and his arms rose up and blockaded his face. The crying started up again, but now his body shivered with each escaping muffled tear.

        Candice just stood in shock for a moment.  She had seen some crazy and ridiculous things, especially ever since she ended up in another world with giants, but her mind had a hell of a time fathoming this one. A giant half-centipede creature backed away from her! Her, a girl barely five feet tall vs. some thing that could be somewhere near the one-hundred and fifty foot mark. (Well, at least his upper body was that of a 150 foot tall boy, but his actually height varied depending how much of his centipede body was on the ground and how much was vertically supporting his human body.) She knew the creature was only a few years younger than her, but for something of his size to be frightened of her? It just defied logic. She looked down at her hands. What makes me so scary? What could I possibly do to him?

        She looked back up at the cowering giant and stepped forward until she stood within arm’s length of the centipede body the impeded her from getting any closer. Her eyes traveled down from their previous position and back to the large, brown centipede body directly in front of her. She took in the elongated insect body and all of its skinny pale legs that were longer than her entire body with fear and disgust. Of all the things this poor kid could have been half of, why did it have to be a centipede? Why couldn’t he have been half-puppy, part hamster, or even half-butterfly? Of all the animals in the world, why a centipede?

        Candice closed her eyes and shook the fear and disgust out of her and replaced them with the concern for the scared boy that body belonged to. She opened her eyes and reached her fingers out to the insect mass. But she hesitated. Would he even feel? I know he’s big, but Tim’s bigger and I think he can just barely me, but can bugs feel? She knew nothing of the internal workings of an insect. She didn’t know what kind of
nervous system they have. She knew that they had an exoskeleton, but did they have sensory nerves?

        Candice shook her head. I’m stalling again.

        She placed her had on the centipede body. The hard, smooth surface quivered under her touch. “You don’t have to be afraid of me,” she said. “I will not hurt you, even if I could. I don’t think there’s anything I could ever do to you to physically harm someone as big as you.”

        “I know.” He still stayed behind his arms.

        “Then why are you still hiding from me? Why are you backing away and shaking?”

        “It’s not you I’m afraid of.” He uncovered his face just enough to reveal his eyes
motioning towards Tim. Kage covered his face back up again.

        “You don’t have to worry about Tim either.  He’s just very… protective of his friends. He was just afraid that you would hurt me, but once he realizes you were only trying to help, I’m sure he’ll trust you.”

         “He’s protecting you as a friend? Are you sure it’s not for another reason?”

        Candice was shocked by the question, even though she had thought about all the possible reasons a giant as big as Tim would treat her the way he did: as an equal and
as a friend, despite the fact he was big enough to do absolutely anything with her and she’d be absolutely powerless against him. After all she was no bigger than a small rodent compared to him. Actually, a small rodent to him might be about the size of a bear to her, maybe bigger. But she had already came to believe Tim was just a good person and lonely as well, allowing him to even want to befriend humans. Do all giants
have to be suspicious of each other’s motives and actions?

        “Yes, he’s my friend and I trust him. He’s already proven to me that he has no evil
intentions. I believe him. And I believe you too.”

        Kage lowered his arms, this time revealing his whole youthful face. “You believe me? You don’t think I’m a monster?”

        “Why would you think I’d think you are a monster?”

        “Isn’t that what normal humans think of something like me? I’m big and … and my
centipede half.”

        “Well, if you talked with anyone that knows me, they’d tell you that I’m not normal at all.”

        Kage smiled. It was a small one, but the first one.

        “And if I can get used to one giant, getting used to a second one will be a piece of
cake.” The half-centipede thing may be a bigger obstacle, but he really seems like a sweet kid.

        “Then, I’m glad you’re not a normal human.”

        Candice raised her eyebrow, light-heartedly.

        “No, it’s not that I think you’re strange; it’s just that you said that you’re not normal and it’s just that all the humans I’ve tried to talk to just run away and, well, I, it’s just that-”

        “Kage, relax. I know what you meant. It’s okay.”

        Kage let out a long breath. “I’ve never talked with a human before. I’ve said things to humans, but never has one talked to me and not run away. I don’t want to ruin anything or offend you or-”

        “It’s alright, Kage. Try not to be nervous and just be yourself. You can talk to me
just like you’d talk to anyone else.”

        “But, I’ve never really talked to anyone before.”

        “That’s alright, you’re doing fine. I’m not going to run.”

        “Are you sure?”

        “I’m still here aren’t I?”

        “Well, yes, but, it’s just that, well, I still have the feeling that you will because
everyone does and I’m used to it.”

        Those last four words struck Candice with the most pity. I’m used to it. He said that he was used to it, used to people thinking he was some giant monstrosity and then fleeing from him. How could a ten year old kid be used to something so sad, so dishearteningly disappointing? How many people had to have run from him to be numb to the whole event? Well, numb was probably not the right word. Clearly it still saddened him to see people run from him, because what kind and gentle person wouldn’t be emotionally affected by everyone they meet believing they’re a monster? He was just used to seeing it happen to what had to be every human he had ever met. He did say that he had never talked to a human before, but Candice feared that it was more than that. It was possible that he had talked to anyone in his entire life. Did that mean he didn’t even have parents he’s talked to? Candice couldn’t imagine being alone her entire life, having to do everything herself, not having anyone to talk to or find
comfort from, never to have friends. There was no denying that she felt sorry for Kage. He faced a fate that absolutely no child deserved.

        He’s used to people running from him. How many people had he have to encounter to be used to something so depressing? She tried to imagine herself in that situation, and she believed she could never get used to every person she came across seeing her as some terrifying beast and running from her. Kage was like Tim, extremely lonely and willing to be friends with human, despite the ridiculousness of a friendship between a person and someone approximately thirty-five times smaller than said person. But it was different. At least Tim lived among his kind before he decided to leave them due to how they treated humans, but Kage had no one. She knew that
she could never fully understand what Kage when through, but that didn’t stop her from sympathizing.

        “I told you already, I’m not going to run away,” she said.

        Kage didn’t reply. He just looked away, his eyes still sad and not trusting that
Candice will stay where she was.

        She again wondered how many humans those eyes saw run away from him. She hated those humans from running away from such a young, sweet kid, but could she
really blame them? It was only natural for humans to be scared of such gigantic and powerful creatures, especially if it was half-centipede. How could they have known Kage wasn’t really a monster? The giant sight of Tim and Kage frightened Candice the first time she saw them. She believed they were monsters till she really got to meet them.

        But how could prove to Kage that she trusted him and that she wasn’t going to run away from him? But as she tried to think of something, the rocky nuisance under
feet continued to annoy her. But no matter where she shifted her weight to, or where she set her feet, the pointy floor pricked her soles. She wished that she wasn’t on the rocky floor and instead stood on the warm, soft skin of Tim’s palm. Instead of distracting her from the goal of getting Kage to trust that she wasn’t running, the wish to be off the floor helped. She connected the two thoughts into an idea. She could allow Kage to pick her up. She would be off the ground and it will show Kage that she trusted him enough to place her life in his hand, but the doubts forced their way into her mind, telling her that her plan was a bad idea and that as soon as Kage grabbed her, he’d gobble her up. She shook her head and thought repeatedly, No, Kage wouldn’t eat me; he not like that. As she dispelled her doubts, one doubt still lingered: What would Tim think?

        She turned around to look back at her first giant friend. Tim was still crouched on
the ground, just as tense as ever. The knife with the blade large than Candice’s entire body still lied on the floor next to him. Would he attack immediately after she set her plan in action? Candice motioned her hands, her palms facing the floor, as if she were pushing something to the ground. She hoped Tim would understand she was trying to tell him that everything was alright and that she wanted him to stay put.  

         She turned back to Kage and asked, “Um, Kage? Could you help me with something?”

        Kage’s black and red eyes locked back onto her and lite up. “Really? You want my help? I’ll do anything.”

        “Well, this floor isn’t the best for bare feet.”

        “I don’t understand. What do you want me to do?”

        “I was wondering. Could you pick me up?”

        “You, you want me to, to pick you up?”

        “Yeah, could you?”

        “No, no, I could never pick up a person.” He shook his head and shook his hands with palms facing Candice.

        “You were gonna pick me up when you thought Tim was evil.”

        “That, that was different. I, I was only going to pick you up because I thought I had to. I just cannot just pick up anyone just because I can. I, I, I just — what about Tim?”

        “It will be alright, he won’t attack you.”

        “But.”

        “It will be fine. I’m asking you to pick me up. It’s not like you’re picking me up
without my consent.”

        “I cannot do what you’re asking me to do. What if, what if something goes wrong?
What if I pick you up and you, and you — I’m just so big.”

        “You’re afraid you’d hurt me?”

        “I would never hurt you on purpose, but I’m so much bigger and I — I just can’t
pick you up.”

        “Kage, I know you’ll be careful with me. You’re a good person. Please, you’d be doing me a favor; my feet are killing me.”

        Kage still looked hesitant, but he conceded. “I’ll get you off the floor, but I’m not going to grab you. I’ll put my hands on the floor and you can climb on. That’s the only way I’m holding you.”

        “That’s alright with me.” In truth, that way was far more preferable to Candice. For one, she was more comfortable being held that way, she felt more in control that way as opposed to being trapped by fingers that controlled whether she fell or stayed in the air and controlled how confined or loose she was in the giant fist. Besides, allowing her to step onto Kage’s hands on her own would help prove she trusted him.

        “Are you sure?” his voice still nervous.

        “Yes.”

        Kage slowly lowered both hands to the floor. Candice turned to Tim, who was now more alert. She gave him the same motion, hoping that he understood. Then, she
stepped onto Kage’s right hand, avoiding the small crack where his two hands meet. Though she sat in one hand, he kept both hands cupped together as he lifted her chest level. She felt the lifting sensation that was becoming all too familiar now: the slight dropping sensation of her stomach, the light G-force wanting to push her deeper into the giant palm, the feeling of her eyes getting ready to pop, yet never really popping, to think that she would get used to this strange sensation. Though Kage was lifting her slowly, he body still jerked upward when his hands suddenly stopped. Candice gave a little yelp.

        Kage’s giant face swooped down in front of her. “Candice, are you alright? Are you
hurt? Did I hurt you? Candice, what’s wrong?”

        “It’s alright, it’s alright. I’m fine.”

        “Are you sure?” His eyes glistened with worry.

        “Yes, I’m fine.”

        He quickly retracted his giant face that took up Candice’s entire vision. “I’m
sorry, I’m sorry. Did I scare you?”

        “No, it’s okay.”

        “Is everything really fine? I’m not holding you too high, am I? You’re not afraid of heights? Because if you are I can hold you lower if you want.”

        “Kage, please calm down. Everything it okay.”

        “I’m sorry, Candice. It’s just that, well, it’s just, I, I never really, I’ve never held a human, a person before.”

        Candice patted the palm she sat on and said, “It’s alright. Just calm down. You’re
doing fine.”

        The more time Kage took to calm down, the more the nervous worry in his eyes seemed to disappear, and a sense of wonder, the kind every kid should have, began to
replace it. Candice wasn’t sure whether that wonder was because Kage couldn’t believe he was actually holding a person in his hands or because she was the first person he came across to show this magnitude of trust, or any amount for trust for that matter, in him. Whatever the reason, she clearly was the cause of the wonder in his eyes.

        “Kage, why were you crying earlier?”

        “I — You don’t want to know about that.” He looked away again.

        Candice stroked the giant palm under her. “Kage, we’re friends and-”

        “We’re, we’re friends?” He turned to her, his eyes mixed with disbelief, joy, and hope. “You want to be friends, with me?”

        “I do, and friends help each other out. So, if there is something troubling you, you can tell me anything.”

        “Even if it sounds crazy?”

        “I’ve seen too many crazy things today that I’d believe anything.”

        “Well, I, I think I come from a different world.”

        “You’re from a different world?” He’s just like me!

        “You and Tim said that you’ve never heard of a chilotaur before. So, I think that somehow I fallen into another world where chilotaurs don’t exist. I don’t know how it happened. I fell asleep one night and the next morning I woke up in this forest, and I’ve lived in this cave ever since.”

        That’s what happened to me! Except that Candice woke up in the middle of a human village.

        “I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what happened.”

        “I don’t think you’re crazy, Kage.”

        “You, you don’t?”

        “I’m from another world too.”

        Kage shook his head violently. “No, you’re just saying that to cheer me up.”

        “No, I’m from a world called Earth.”

        “Earth?” Kage contemplated. “I’ve, I’ve heard of that.”

        “Where are you from?”

        “Felarya.”