Thana looked out over the vast ocean before her, all of her anxieties from earlier that day fading to the back of her mind. She listened closely to the crashing of the waves as she stepped in, her hooves making small twinkling sounds in the water. Her tall, thin shadow fell behind her onto the sandy beach, surrounded in the beautiful orange glow of the sunset.
Thana ‘Drazumee was a proud and respected member of her community, as well as an intelligent biology researcher. Her husband was a high ranking General in the Covenant’s army for universal supremacy. She worried for him, as he was recently dispatched to fight an insignificant resistance lightyears away. A race of some hairless primates thinking they could withstand the absolute strength of the Sangheili. It would almost be laughable if it wasn’t so annoying. And to add to her stress, her eldest son had recently enlisted to join his father on the most recent expedition.
If it didn’t already need to be explained, Thana was not human, she was a Sangheili. Standing at over three meters tall, Thana had a slender, scaly grey figure that shone brightly when wet. Her thick, powerful legs were double-jointed like a horse, with thick black hooves at both ends. Her legs traveled up to wide textured hips that formed an hourglass shape with her upper body. Her neck was longer than your average human’s, and even thicker too, ending in a rounded off smooth head with piercing orange reptilian eyes. Her jaw, like other Sangheilis, separated into two mandibles near the front, allowing her to open her mouth wider and shove her food inside. And while most humans would be frightened by such a sight, among others of her kind she was a prized beauty, with the intelligence to back it up.
Today, however, Thana and a friend decided to take a day and visit a vacation resort near one of their planet’s great oceans. With all the stresses of war weighing on her mind, a day of rest would likely help Thana focus better. The entire day they were pampered and cared for in every way imaginable. And to close off the perfect day, Thana decided to take a swim and admire the beautiful sunset before her.
Unfortunately, the day's end was not as relaxing as Thana had expected. As she waded into the crystal blue waters, she wasn’t paying attention to how far she was out. The waves picked up and began pulling her out even further. In a panic Thana tried to swim back, but the current was too strong. Hooves were also very poor for swimming, so there was little hope for her. She tried to yell out for an attendant, but only managed to get a mouth full of the salty waters. Wave after wave bore down on her, until she was forced far below the surface. Frantically she flailed and kicked around in every direction until she couldn’t tell which way was up. Soon everything went black.
------------
Thana awoke in a dizzying haze. Her eyes blinked several times but she still couldn’t focus. Where was she?
She felt light and cold. The gentle lapping of the water against her skin was slowly filling in the blanks. A sudden rush of anxiety seized her as she remembered getting tossed around by the waves. In a panic she reached forward and began to kick, trying to find some land beneath her; as if she’d land on the hard floors of her home and this all would be over. Her hoofed foot sank further and cut through the endless water beneath her, making her rock forward face-first into the water.
Was this it? Thana thought in quiet despair as she lifted her head back out of the water. She unhinged her jaw to give a powerful cough. Thana thought of her husband. Her eldest child. Even her youngest. Would she ever see them again?
Thana twisted her body around violently, craning her neck trying to see anything; a raft, boat, or even the resort for Old Ones’ sake.
Then she saw it.
She wasn’t sure what “it” was, but it was definitely something. A long, flat blob of color not far out against the horizon. She couldn’t see any buildings or Sangheili, but it definitely looked like land. A deserted beach perhaps?
Whatever it was it didn’t matter. Eagerly Thana began to swim towards her new goal. She pushed forward with her powerful arms and kicked her legs out in strokes. Although hooves were nowhere near the best for swimming, Thana was able to establish steady progress towards the beach.
------------
Peter gave a small sigh as he continued his way across the sand. Though the reason he was upset happened a few hours ago, it still weighed on him heavily.
Peter lived in a small coastal town by the sea, far away from the ravages of war that now gripped the galaxy. The local trade was fishing, and while that may not seem as glamorous or heroic as fighting aliens in a spaceship, it was a vital source of food for the UNSC (United Nations Space Command). Peter’s father, however, wasn’t a fisherman or a space mercenary; he was a glorified lifeguard.
Peter’s father joined the UNSC Naval Division, and while that may sound exciting in most circumstances, at this location it mostly amounted to helping the local fishermen if they ever ran out of fuel or someone fell overboard, which didn’t even happen all too often. And this wasn’t to say Peter didn’t respect his father, but he dreamed of one day becoming one of those space mercenaries and actually fighting those alien scum. But Peter was only seventeen, much too young for even basic training.
Today, as his father was leaving him, his mother, and his two younger sisters on the beach to go investigate some strange seismic readings, Peter had asked if he could join him and begin learning the ropes. With a small chuckle his father told him it was still too dangerous, and to go see if he could find anything cool out on the beach.
“Why’s he gotta treat me like a little kid…” Peter grumbled to himself, kicking a rock a few feet away. Even now he could see his father’s ship ebbing away with the tide, getting smaller and into the distance.
Suddenly, Peter felt a vibration coming from his pocket. It was his smartphone with an incoming call. He reached into his pocket and fished it out, wondering who it could be. He wasn’t expecting any calls this morning, and with the signal out here he was surprised any could even come through.
He glanced at the caller ID and his confusion only deepened. The number that was calling him, well, it wasn’t a number even; all his phone said was “incoming video call from X?X-XX?-??-XX??X?”.
Those weren’t numbers, and they certainly weren’t the right amount of numbers for anyone around here.
With curious hesitation, and against everything his parents had taught him about answering strange numbers, Peter clicked the green answer button and held the camera slightly away from his face.
“Um.. hello?” Peter asked whoever was on the other line. His phone screen turned to static, as if the camera on the other side wasn’t working properly. After a few seconds, though, he noticed an odd black outline through the static.
“Hello?” said a garbled, slightly female sounding voice from the phone. “Hello!? Is anyone there!? This is Thana 'Drazumee, I am lost at sea and in need of assistance! Hello!?”
Peter panicked a little inside. Did she say she was lost at sea? Her voice came in loud and very authoritative.
“I-I’m Peter!” He said, not really sure how he was supposed to respond to a call like this, “Um.. my dad just went out on his ship. He should be able to find you. A-are you okay?”
“Am I okay!?” snapped back the garbled voice, “I said I am lost at sea! What part of that sounds okay!? Are you with the resort? Get your manager right now!”
Peter winced at the harsh words thrown at him.
“I-I’m not with any resort..” he answered back meekly. He wasn't even sure if there was a resort around here.
There was an audible sigh on the other end before the voice, Thana, answered again, this time in a more restrained, almost motherly tone.
“Okay, child, I just need some assistance. I’m approaching the shore now. Can you at least tell me what the nearest city is so I can at least gain my bearings?”
Peter thought a moment, the anxiety caused by this woman not going away in the slightest, regardless of tone, and told her the name of his town and the nearby major city.
“What?” Thana asked, now sounding hostile once again, “There’s nowhere on this planet with a name like that! Are you playing games with me, boy!?”
Peter began to panic again. The static on his phone screen became heavier, and a low buzzing sound grew louder and louder as if to match this woman’s anger. The buzzing became louder and louder until Peter had to cover his ears. He dropped his phone to the ground and after a moment it stopped as his phone seemed to crash.
Breathing heavily, Peter looked back over towards his father’s ship, still floating gently towards the horizon.
Who was that woman? She was terrifying… Peter hoped she could make it to shore safely, that his father would find her amongst the waves and bring her in. He also desperately hoped he would never have to meet her himself.
Peter picked up his phone from the sand and dusted it off. It was restarting now, which was mildly reassuring. He stayed staring at his father’s ship, watching it’s movements and hoping there would be some sign of a rescue.
It bobbed up and down gently with the waves, it was almost hypnotic, in a way, and helped soothe him.
He was so focused on that one dot of a ship, that Peter didn’t notice the large grey mass emerging from the depths.
Giantess World
