“I still think we should have said goodbye,” Cindy complained as she walked through the heavily forested area dipping past the tree branches.

“And then what? Have Olivia and Nancy try to join us?” Dagon retorted at the idea. Nothing like having the people you care about making things more complicated than it needed to be. Dagon shook his head and sarcastically went on. “Yeah totally, let’s have the princess follow us into Giantess territory looking for GIANTESS. I’m soooo sure her dad would thank me for dragging his daughter with us. What could possibly go wrong,” Dagon put enough sass in that last part he felt like he might have just jinxed themselves.

Cindy huffed, “Well, when you put it like that fine, but I still feel bad not telling them-”

Dagon grumbled at his sister’s nagging and finally said, “Oh please, I’m not that dumb. I left a note.”

Cindy nearly stumbled at her brother's words, nearly getting caught up in a random root from the shock. “You what- when?”

“Well,” Dagon mulled over his answer for a brief moment, “I might have… kind of… been planning on leaving sooner than you thought.”

Cindy stopped in the dense forest as she turned to her brother sitting on her shoulder, “Excuse me…” She sounded upset and confused, “What do you mean, you were going to leave sooner than I thought?”

Dagon tried to do some recovery before the conversation got ugly. If Cindy looked any harder at Dagon he swore he would have combusted from the glare of heated look she bore at him. “Look, I got worried after the first week…. I was kind of planning on leaving like, I don’t know,” Dagon tried to draw out his answer but it only made Cindy madder. “Like, last week?”

Cindy looked stunned, “You were going to leave last week?!”

Dagon held up his hands, “Well I mean I didn’t! I was thinking about it, that’s all. It was just a thought that’s all.”

Cindy narrowed her eyes at her brother as she continued to glare at the idiot of a brother. “And you weren’t going to tell me when you left, were you?”

“Uh… ummm, no?” Dagon said feeling kind of guilty at the question and his lame response.

“Are you serious?!” Cindy complained as she continued to walk. “You were just going to leave me to try and look for-”

Dagon couldn’t help but argue with his sister, “I said I was thinking about it! I didn’t do it, it just crossed my mind.”

Cindy rolled her shoulders, causing Dagon to nearly fall off.  He had to quickly steady himself at her reaction, “Oh yeah, you were just thinking about it. Nothing like waking up and finding your brother gone cause he didn’t think I needed to know.”

Dagon shook his head, “I was gonna say something.”

Cindy shook her head as she dodged a low hanging branch, “Sure you were.” It looked like Cindy wasn’t as certain of his confession. “Just like how you told Olivia?”

“Okay, look,” Dagon quickly cut her off, “She’s already been through enough out here.” Dagon gestured to the woods. “You think she needed to come with us to help find Melody and Ashley?” Dagon paused as Cindy didn’t speak, “Let’s be honest,” Dagon spoke sounding harsher than he should have been, “What would Olivia, or hell even Nancy, even help with? Huh? Do they know how to travel out here in the wild? Do they know what food is poisonous? Do you think they know how to avoid Giantess in Giantess territory? Can they hunt?” What good was it to bring those two with them? Dagon knew he was right. Yet Cindy still seemed uncertain.

“It just feels weird, or I don’t know, wrong not talking to them about it…” Cindy suggested sounding guilty.

Dagon took a deep breath to help calm his voice, “Look, it’s like a few days to Brax town. It’ll take a day or so to get information and find any trace of Giantess up there. A few days to find them, and then it’s only a few days back. It’ll be like a week at most, we’ll be back before they even miss us.” Dagon offered. “I said we’re going to be gone for a little while. There’s nothing that would give them a reason to worry. Besides I told Peter about it, and to make sure to keep them calm, reassuring them and stuff.” Dagon explained, sounding relaxed. “We’re fine. Just stop worrying.”

Cindy wanted to, she really did. However, if there was anyone she knew better than her brother, it would be Nancy. Cindy had a sinking feeling that Nancy would see through the bullshit that Dagon might have said in the letter, to read past the words and understand that they left Hagger’s town to go somewhere dangerous and possibly life threatening. However, as worried as Cindy was, she tried to trust her brother and the letter he left for Olivia. He hoped it calmed them both and they would stay safe in town. Because if there was one thing that Cindy agreed with Dagon, is that Nancy didn’t need to be out here and put at risk. It was bad enough Cindy had to watch after her dummy of a brother, looking after one person was easier than three.

Olivia glared at the letter as she read it the fourth time wanting to strangle Dagon yet again. One of her maids had woken her up with a letter. She was excited to see Dagon’s note, that was till she had read it. It was preposterous of a notion for Dagon and Cindy to leave and head off to Brax. The letter itself told her not to worry, but that was silly as she clearly was worried for him and Cindy. The north was in a completely different situation than around here, and for them to try and look for Melody and Ashely was ridiculous without some extra help.

“Nancy,” Olivia called out, waiting for her most trusted maid to come into her room. “Do you know anything about this?” Olivia asked as she handed the letter to her, still looking upset at Dagon’s idiocy.

Nancy read over the letter twice before she shook her head. Knowing Nancy for a long time, it was rare to see her as shocked as she was now. It was clear she was in the dark as well. “No, my princess. I was unaware about any of this.”

“Why didn’t he say anything,” Olivia muttered, not feeling content with the letter. Olivia was still sitting in bed, “I mean,” Olivia protested, “I could have sent some guards to escort him there!”

Nancy shifted already looking a little off. She spoke softly, “But then how would Cindy travel with Dagon? You may not like it, but Cindy is most likely the best protection for Dagon.”

Olivia’s mouth opened but found the flaw in her plan as it slowly shut, “I… you’re right. Guards would only hinder him,” Olivia spoke as she got out of bed and slowly walked around. Still in her pajamas Olivia tried to think of what she could do. Her boyfriend… oh that did sound weird.  Even after so long together they hardly used the title boyfriend or girlfriend.  So using that word felt embarrassing.

Olivia shook her head as she focused, HER BOYFRIEND, needed her help. Even with his sister, there was no guarantee that they would make it to Brax safely by themselves. If Olivia was there she could have helped somehow, she just knew it. Yet, he was already gone and without warning her in the least bit of time.

“I… I think we should follow,” Olivia suggested. For a moment Nancy looked confused. It was her job to protect her, but she also had hard feelings for a certain large woman that was clouding her judgment. Before Nancy could speak, Olivia went on, “They could get into trouble. What would happen if they needed help? If we follow them, we can easily help them out of whatever problem they run into, right? This wouldn’t be my first time out of these walls, I know a thing or two,” Olivia spoke, sounding confident in herself.

“I don’t know princess… That seems dangerous,” Nancy spoke trying to get her words of worry out of her mouth. Nancy totally agreed with the princes right now. She definitely wanted to follow Cindy and help in anyway she could, just like Olivia wanted to. However, there was the fact that she would be putting Olivia, the princess, in danger by leaving the walls of the city and into the wild. As much as Nancy wanted to, she couldn’t agree with the princess. Her job came above all else, and that meant keeping Olivia safe and inside the city.

Olivia sighed as she tossed the note to the side of the bed as she went to sit down on her bed. “Dagon left me with a single note just out of nowhere.   How am I supposed to feel about that?” Olivia asked as she fumbled through the letter once again. She couldn’t help but feel agitated, “He can’t just think of sending a letter to tell me not to worry and run off with Cindy and be expected to stay calm!”

Nancy remained calm, but deep down she couldn’t help but feel the same, “Princess, maybe we should act rationally. Cindy is very capable of keeping her brother safe,” Nancy spoke recalling how protective and exceptional Cindy was. Something that tickled Nancy on a deeper level, something she never spoke to Olivia about.

Olivia wanted to believe that, but her journey to Luther’s Town reminded her of how dangerous it was out there. “So you don’t think we should do anything,” Olivia asked, sounding worried and powerless, something she hated to feel.

Nancy was quiet for a moment before responding, “I think Dagon and Cindy are very capable people. I don’t think there is anyone I trust more. I know it might be painful to stay calm and wait, but I think it’s for the best.”

“Fine,” Olivia sighed.  It sounded like she was slowly accepting it now.  “It’s just a week. They’ll be back before father even starts to miss Dagon.”

Nancy didn’t speak, but she found the king missing Dagon to be a very impossible event. Still, Nancy just nodded and started to do her maidly duties. Helping Olivia change out of her pajamas and into her daily clothes. Making the bed and cleaning up, preparing the bed for Olivia to sleep in tonight, and whatever other chores she had left, anything that she could think of just to take her mind off Cindy.

Dagon was looking around the barren landscape. It had a lot less trees, ones that had already lost most of their green for the upcoming winter. There were still plenty of rocks and thick tree trunks for Cindy to use to hide behind if need be, but Dagon could already feel the chill in the air. It was amazing how much different this part of the land was to Hagger’s town.

“Jeez, I should have brought a coat,” Dagon muttered, shivering slightly.

“Oh poor you,” Cindy muttered. “At least a coat would fit you. What about me?”

Dagon rubbed his hands together and blew into them, something the two of them had been doing every so often to warm up.  “It’s just a few days. Besides the worst case scenario, we have to skin something for the two of us.”

Cindy scoffed, “Oh yeah? Let’s just go and find thirty or so wolves and just make a giant pelt out of them, I’m sure it would warm my legs at night…”

Dagon didn’t comment but he could tell that his sister had a point. Harvesting enough fur to make something for her would take a lot of time. Heck it never really dropped too cold around Hagger’s town, so they never bother making much clothing besides the small little loincloth and makeshift bra that covered Cindy’s private parts.

“Melody said she was coming up here for family, right? I don’t know how they stand it. I guess if there are Giantess around, maybe you could trade something for a giantess size blanket or clothing”

“Trade them with what,” Cindy asked, arching an eyebrow. Before Dagon could answer Cindy smirked, “I guess I could trade you. At least then you would be helping your sister out, by keeping me warm.”

Dagon gasped at her, “You wouldn’t.”

“I don’t know brother, let’s see how cold it gets tonight,” Cindy gave Dagon a playful grin.

Dagon shook his head at her words, “Well sounds like I better find a way to keep you warm so I’m not sold off for some stupid shirt.”

Dagon spotted a nice little grove etched into the side of one of the rocky mountians nearby. Well it wasn’t little to Dagon, it looked to be large enough for Cindy to crawl up against and lay down in. Dagon would have considered it a cave, but it wasn’t deep enough for shelter, and Cindy almost didn’t fit all the way inside. It would at least give Cindy protection against the winds coming in from three different directions. Hopefully it won't get too windy or cold tonight.

“God I already hate it up here,” Cindy muttered, shivering a little as she proceeded to sit down on the cold ground.

“Yeah no shit,” Dagon grumbled with just as much enthusiasm. “Why the hell would Melody want to travel up here anyway?  You think their family thing would be somewhere less cold!”

Cindy shrugged, “I don’t know, but this is the last time I’m coming up here to find her. Sorry brother, love you and everything, but this sucks. Next time you can do it all on your own.”

“Let’s start a fire before the sun goes down. I’ll have to find some sort of food, hopefully there’s something to eat around here.” Dagon headed off a little ways, climbing chunks of ground and rocks.  The bumpy surface of the region was annoying, but it did come with perks of hiding Cindy’s size. Dagon had to double check every once in a while to make sure a group of rocks were actually rocks and not a giantess hiding behind something.

Cindy gathered the larger branches of the plenty of dried trees for a decent fire tonight, while Dagon hunted for some sort of food. He found a few small game, rabbits and a squirrel, but nothing decent for Cindy. Dagon was chasing after another small creature, when it quickly ducked into an entrance of a cave that was slightly taller and wider than Dagon. Listening to the sound of the animal scurrying around in the dark, Dagon slowly entered the dark cavern.

Dagon stood in the dimly lit cave, listening and letting his eyes slowly adjust to the little lighting provided. Drops of water could be heard collecting in some kind of puddle or water source echoing a little deeper in the dark. Dagon waited a few minutes, and his eyes were just able to make out shapes in the dark, enough to know where to step and not trip, but not enough to see all of the cave. Dagon moved a little deeper into the rocky hole, looking for the rabbit that jumped inside for protection. It was just too dark for Dagon to make out the creature and he was starting to think it wasn’t worth spending all his time trying to hunt a little meal like that in this cave. He was on the verge of leaving when he heard something. It was breathing. A heavy but controlled breath. It sounded like something was asleep. Dagon was just deep enough in the cave that the light from the entrance gave barely enough sight for Dagon to make out the large boulder moving.

No, not a boulder, it was a cave bear. The size of the thing was easily three times Dagon’s weight. The thing was big, and looked to be hibernating or at least in a deep sleep, that was for sure.

“Oh shit,” Dagon whispered, seeing the slumbering mountain of fur. This was a nice find, especially with it being so defenseless in here sleeping. Dagon slowly pulled out his blades as quietly as possible and started to approach the bear. If he was fast enough and just a pinch of luck, he could strike the bear before it woke up or even tried to attack him. Dagon could hear and smell the gnarly breath from the beast as it continued to sleep. Making out the head of the bear, Dagon was about to go for the neck when another sound came from behind. It was more breathing. Tucked in a corner of the cave, was yet another bear in the dark. If the bear Dagon was about to kill was big, then this one was massive. It was easily large enough to kill Dagon with one paw swipe. Not even tempted to say the words “Oh shit” again, as it could possibly wake any of the beasts, Dagon was at a loss. One bear he could take, two? Now that was just asking for it. Any noise, like the sounds of a dying bear, would wake the other and Dagon wasn’t sure he could take either of them if they were awake.

However this was too good of a situation to pass up, praying that his luck held out, Dagon quietly snuck out of the cave and hurried to find his sister.

Cindy didn’t seem too happy about Dagon’s news. “I don’t know, I feel kind of bad about it,” Cindy sadly remarked. “I mean it’s one thing if they are awake and you cornered them but… while they're sleeping? That just doesn’t feel right to me. Almost cruel.”

Dagon understood how his sister felt however, “I know, I know. And I wouldn’t have asked you to do this if we weren’t talking about enough food to make it to Brax’s Town. I’m telling you, I’ll have enough fur to make a shawl to cover your shoulders.”

“That doesn’t seem like a lot,” Cindy commented as she thought about it while heading toward the cave Dagon mentioned.

Dagon felt like trying to lighten the mood a little by joking around, “Well, it’s more for me. Cause your shoulders are so damn chilly-”

“Oh I see, so you were just thinking of yourself again,” Cindy retourted. “You just want to make your ride to Brax just a little more warm and cozy, huh?” The bitter tone in Cindy’s voice was a little harsh but Dagon knew she was just playing back as she poked at Dagon with her finger.

Dagon laughed as he pushed the digit away, “I told you it’s cold! Anyway, it’s right over there.” Dagon pointed to the opening to the cave he discovered not too long ago. Cindy set Dagon down by the outside of the cavern as she tried to peer inside the dark cave.

“I can’t see anything,” Cindy whispered, trying her best not to wake whatever was up in there.

“Trust me, they’re there,” Dagon told Cindy.

Slowly Cindy nodded and laid down as she tried to get as level with the opening. Cindy slowly started to insert her hand. Dagon watched her wrist pass the opening and creep into the darkness. Suddenly she jerked her hand back out, “Wait,” She whispered shooting Dagon a weary look, “This isn’t like that one time, where you pranked me to grab something I DID NOT want to touch…”

Dagon chuckled at the memory of tricking Cindy. “Okay to be fair,” Dagon said not too loudly, “That was pretty funny.”

“It was not,” Cindy hissed at Dagon.

“Fine, fine, but no. I’m not tricking you,” Dagon told her as honest as he could be with his sister.

Cindy was hesitant again, her eyes narrowing at him, before she slowly put her hand into the cave. Dagon watched and listened as Cindy stuck her arm in. Soon Cindy had her arm elbow deep in the cave, “I don’t feel anything but rocks…”

“A little deeper,” Dagon told her.

“I swear to God Dagon… If you are pranking me right now,” Cindy warned, rolling her eyes as she moved closer to the cave and shoved more of her arm in. Soon Cindy had her arm up to her shoulder searching around the cavern. Dagon almost was worried that she couldn’t reach the sleeping bears, but the sudden look of shock on Cindy’s face and her reaction told Dagon she found one.

“OH shit, that is big,” Cindy said, yanking her hand out of the cave holding one of the bears. The big beast was freaking out at the sight of Cindy and the sudden awakening of its sleep. Cindy made quick work of the bear that filled her hands, going for the kill and silencing the animal, Cindy made quick work of it.   “Wow,” Cindy exclaimed looking at the bigger than her fist size bear. “and you said there’s another one in there?”

Dagon nodded, but he heard the sounds of a very upset and infuriated bear roaring in the cave. Dagon got his blades out, ready for a charging raging bear, but it didn’t seem to be leaving the protection of the cave. Cindy put the dead bear down near Dagon and started to get ready to reach for the other bear.

“Wait,” Dagon quickly told his sister.

Cindy paused, “What?”

“I’ll go get it,” Dagon told her as he headed for the cave, ready for combat.

“What? No.  Why?” Cindy portested, sounding confused at Dagon’s reasoning.

Dagon looked at Cindy and then back at the cave where the enraged bear was still making upset noises. “Because now it’s awake. It was fine if one was asleep, but the other one is so much bigger. That thing could bite your thumb off or something.  Don’t worry I got this.”

Cindy seemed alarmed at Dagon's words, but the worry only seemed to build as she started to think about it. “So-so what? Are you going to go in there instead of me? If it can bite my thumb off, what do you think it’s gonna do to you?!”

“I’ll be fine,” Dagon lied. Honestly he wasn’t sure why he was gonna do this, they had enough food for the night. However, something told Dagon they would be better off with more food and the extra fur would keep Cindy warm. Dagon started to head back into the cave when Cindy’s hand came out of nowhere, blocking off the entrance.

“No way little brother, I’m not letting you in there with that thing,” Cindy demanded.

Dagon rolled his eyes, “So you rather we just leave it in there? Cindy I don’t know how much food is out here but this could be the last BIG meal we find.”

“Well,” Cindy said, sitting up and crossing her arms over her chest, not budging on letting Dagon go in there, “You better just think up a better solution than. Cause as long as I’m here, your not getting in there.”

Dagon threw his head back and groaned at his dumb sister’s mentatlity, “Why are you like this…”

Cindy didn’t say anything but it was clear she was standing her ground. Shaking his head Dagon tried to think of what they could do to try and lure or chase out the bear from the cave. Nothing came to mind for a few moments. The silence between Dagon and Cindy was only broken by the sound of some trees moving in the wind, branches creaking.

“I got it, grab some branches,” Dagon ordered Cindy.

“A please would be nice,” Cindy huffed. Just as Cindy got up to move away from the cave she spun around and looked at Dagon like a parent would at a child that would be up to no good, “You better not be distracting me to run in there!”

Dagon threw his hands up at her paraionai, “Do you really not trust me at all-”

Cindy let out a bitter laugh, “Not really. I mean come on…”

Dagon shook his head, “I promise.” Cindy smiled at his words, taking his promise to heart. Granted, if Dagon's recent plan wasn’t so brilliant, he would have charged into the cave without Cindy knowing. However there was no need to be so reckless, not with a giantess with him. Once Cindy got a decent size of piled up wood set at the entrance of the cave, Dagon started a fire. “Alright, give it some air, and blow the smoke into the cave.” Dagon told Cindy who looked confused.

“What’s that gonna do?”

“Were gonna smoke it out, or maybe even better knock it out.” Cindy did as Dagon told her. She blew on the bonfire and pushed a good smokey cloud of black and gray air into the cavern. Something Dagon wouldn’t have been able to do at his size, but having someone who had a much larger lung capacity than him, well this was just down right ingenious.

Cindy continued to blow smoke from their fire into the cave. The noises of the bear started to increase with agitation after a few minutes of blowing. Dagon stood there waiting for the cave bear to do something besides make roars. Finally after the tenth or so breath from Cindy, Dagon heard movement. The sound of paws slapping rocks filled the cavern as the bear was making a rush for the entrance. Dagon pulled his dagger out again and got into a crouch position, ready to react to the bear’s charge. Just as Cindy was gonna puff another blast, another hefty smoky cloud into the cavern, a bear almost too big to fit out the opening, came bursting out. It made a frightened noise at Cindy’s size and appearance and the fire burning before it.  However it never slowed down as it charged at the only “safe” direction, toward Dagon. Dagon was ready to attack the big bear that was attempting to get past him. Dagon’s hands gripped his blades and was prepared to do a roll and-

The bear let out a startled cry as Cindy ’s hands were on it faster than Dagon could react. He stumbled as he started his lunge for the bear’s throat, only to have Cindy pick up the bear with both her hands. “OH JEEZ HE’S A BIG ONE!” She shouted trying to keep the beast in both her hands, but finding it difficult. Dagon watched his sister do the same thing with this bear as the last one, killing it quickly and silencing its thrashing and roaring. As it lay limp in her hands, Dagon could see just how big the beast really was. Its maw could have easily fit Dagon’s head in it with one bite. Maybe he was acting a little too cocky thinking he could have taken it.

“Good job,” Dagon told Cindy as he relaxed with the threat dealt with.  Dagon put his weapons away and sighed a breath of relief.

“That’s it,” Cindy asked, sounding hurt and looking unappreciated.

Dagon looked confused, “That’s it, what?”

Cindy blew a raspberry at Dagon, “I just saved your life, and all I get is a GOOD JOB?”

Dagon sputtered, “Saved my life? Oh please I totally had that thing where I wanted it. If you didn’t butt in I would have killed it faster than you did.”

“OH PLEASE,” Cindy’s retort at his response, hit Dagon hard, “You were shaking in your boots, I saw it. You were gonna freeze up.”

“Fr-freeze up?!” Dagon was beyond stunned at the comment. He never froze.

“Yup,” Cindy smirked, “You’re just lucky I was here to save you. You're welcome, little brother.”

“I- I can’t believe this!” Dagon shouted as he pointed at his sister, “You’re lucky there were only two of them. I would have shown you what I could do to the third one, just to shut you up!”

“Too bad we’ll never know now, right,” Cindy stuck her tongue out at Dagon.

“Fine,” Dagon said, throwing his hands up and walking past Cindy. He figured if she was gonna play her games like that, he could play his own games. “I guess you’re right. You killed them. I guess you can prepare your kills, right? Cleaning and cooking YOUR prey, right? What do you need me for right?”

Cindy’s taunting died down as her smile faded faster than the dying fire, “Wh-what?”

Dagon grinned as he started to head back to camp not bothering to touched the bears that Cindy killed. “I mean I got my food,” Dagon said, referring to the small animals he caught. “I’m sure you can take care of your own stuff right? A big Giantess like you can take care of herself right?”

“Dagon… that’s-that’s not funny,” Cindy called out, “You-you know how I get around… that kind of stuff. The blood and,” Dagon didn’t look back to see Cindy but he could clearly hear her shudder at the idea of how messy she thought it would be.

Dagon laughed, “You’ll be fineeee, you can take care of the rest, cause I mean it was all you right? I shouldn’t bother helping with something that you did all by yourself, right? Like mom used to say, you keep what you kill.”

Dagon hated referring to mom, but it helped drill in the point as Cindy picked up the bears and started after him.  “Okay okay, I take it back,” She whined.

Cindy watched Dagon prepare their meals. She did her best not to look when it got to the grizzly part. Cindy could only stomach so much of the process, however when it came to it, she couldn’t get around it. Maybe it was Dagon always watching over her, but he always prepared the meals for her. Luckily when it came to food, if it was prepared and cooked she was fine eating it. What she would do without Dagon was beyond her, as Dagon was already starting to set up their food for the next couple of days.

Trying not to look at the messy process Dagon was going through cutting into the animals, Cindy looked out into the dark night wondering what Nancy was doing right now. She was probably taking care of Olivia in the warm massive home she helped keep clean. Did Nancy miss her? They didn’t really get to say goodbye and part of Cindy hated that she left Nancy without a single word. Did Nancy resent her for following her brother? Surely she could understand that he needed her help right? When Cindy got back she would make sure to make it up to Nancy. She would show her how much she meant to her by giving her the greatest gift she could offer. Cindy would propose to Nancy once they got back.

The sound of snapping brought Cindy’s attention back to Dagon, “Hey, did you hear me?”

“Of course,” Cindy snapped at Dagon’s tone trying to play off his question.

“...So?” Dagon asked, examining Cindy with a knowing look.

“Uh… sure…” Cindy said, trying to act like she knew what he asked. Dagon just gave her a long look before she broke, “Fine, I didn’t hear you… what did you say?”

“I was asking you about the fur. Did you want me to make it into anything special? Leg warmers, thighs, arms… other more… private parts,” Dagon asked, gesturing in Cindy’s sensitive areas.

“Uh, shoulders are fine,” Cindy remarked as she tried to return to her thoughts.

Dagon on the other hand didn’t stop, “Something on your mind?”

Cindy sighed. Of course he would pick up on her mood so easily. “I… I miss her. I love you brother, but I love her too. Like, I don’t know, I don’t want to pick-”

Dagon laughed, cutting Cindy off, “Don’t pick. Look, I know how much you love Nancy. It’s not even a contest between us. This means the world to me, helping me with finding Melody and Ashley is something I’ll owe you big for. I know at first I wasn’t going to ask you, sorry. I thought I should do this on my own,” Dagon sighed, “But you were already there ready to help. The only reason I didn’t object was cause I knew you would argue for days to come with me, and it would only take me longer to leave.” Dagon laughed again, “I’m expecting Nancy to keep you from being stupid, like right now, and let me do some crazy shit without dragging you into it.”

Cindy shook her head, “This isn't stupid. Ashely is part of the family… and…” It took Cindy a moment to say it, “So is Melody, to an extent. You’re wrong about one thing brother.” Cindy leaned in to look at Dagon hard, “This isn't about you. I want to find them just as bad as you. You were the only family I had after mom died. Now we have more… and I will do whatever I can to help them…” Cindy pulled back smiling a cocky grin, “Even if that means saving my dumby ass of a brother from a bear attacking him.”

Dagon let out an annoyed sound, “I TOLD YOU I HAD HIM!”

“Suuuure you did,” Cindy snickered with a playful grin.

It was nice that they still acted the same after everything that’s happened over the past couple of years. As Dagon argued over his tactics of taking on a bear that size, Cindy slowly forgot about her worries as she continued to tease her brother as he prepared their meal and her new clothing.

Melody held Ashely closely as she tried to keep her as silent as she could. How did things get this messed up? It was like any other gathering over the many years.  Melody and her other family members showing up. Sharing tales of encounters of a hunt or a recent mating season. Introducing new additions to the family, like Melody was doing with Ashely. Having her learn about Melody's side of the family. However things turned horrible wrong when they were all attacked. Those people coming out of nowhere. Normally Melody wouldn’t have worried, but their vast numbers were staggering, and the weapons they possessed were too much for her and the rest of her family. It wasn’t long before she found that her mother and older sister were dead. Melody would have fought with the rest of her family, aunts and nieces but Ashely was with her … and she was her first priority. As painful as it was, Melody fled as her family tried to keep the horrible people back.

Fleeing for a safe place, Melody could only listen to the sounds of combat and slaughter. Sadly, the sounds of the horrible people getting the upper hand, filled the area as the rest of her family ran or fell. For the next couple of days, Melody proceeded to hide and sneak the best she could through the lands as she came across hunting parties looking for Giantess. They were out for blood. She didn’t know if they knew about her, or were just looking for any Giantess in general. Never before had Melody seen people organize and prepare themselves like these bloodthirsty groups.

This wasn’t normal, a Giantess shouldn’t fear people like this, THEY were the ones to be fearing Giantess. However, holding her daughter in her hand, she knew she couldn’t risk fighting with her young one. If something were to happen to Ashely…

Melody banished the thought.

Melody cowered deeper into a rocky region as a group of people searched above Melody and Ashely’s head. If someone were to look down the deep drop, they might spot an exposed part of Melody. However it seemed no one was peeking over the side. The sound of Ashely whimpering brought Melody’s attention to her daughter. Frightened, she called for the only person she knew that might help, “Daddy….”

“Shhh, shhh, it’s gonna be okay,” Melody whispered, trying to keep her calm. It was a lie she told herself and Ashley to keep some hope in their life, “Daddy’s coming. Dagon will come for us… I’m sure of it,” Melody whispered, trying to believe her own lies for her daughter’s sake.