Amber slowly opened her eyes and saw the small form of Joy still sleeping. Joy looked so serene laying there that Amber didn’t want to move, in fear of disturbing Joy. Joy let out a soft mumble and rolled over making Amber smile at the movement. Amber continued to look upon the small frail person, who continued to sleeping without a care in the world. Closing her eyes Amber recalled last night and the things they did. Amber began to blush in embarrassment. The things she did with Joy… it was unthinkable; but Amber didn’t regret it. Joy was her friend… no she was more to her now, they were lovers.
She continued to lay there in bliss for a short while until she heard Joy slowly wake up. She let out a silent yawn as she sat up. Joy stretched and slowly looked around. She looked at Amber. Amber gave her a big smile then leaned forward and kissed her good morning.
“Oh,” She said shocked. “How long have you been up?”
“Not very long,” she said still staring at Joy. “You sleep ok?”
Joy pushed down on the pillow she was on, “How can you not? It feels… I can’t describe it.”
Amber let out a laugh, “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Joy pulled off here blanket and asked Amber something, “Amber do you mind dropping me off at the kitchen after breakfast. There is some stuff I have to do.”
“Sure.”
Joy gave her a smile, “Thank you.”
Joy felt great this morning. She had a wonderful time last night with Amber, slept like she never slept before, and now she is having one of the best meals in her life. The food was outstanding. Joy just couldn’t get enough of the food. It was an endless supply of food that kept coming until Joy couldn’t eat anymore. Feeling full and content Joy leaned back into Amber’s lap. Amber looked down at her and smiled at her. Joy gave her a grin as she stayed like that for the rest of the meal.
When breakfast was over Amber excused herself and carried Joy with her. She headed toward the kitchen and noticed it was empty. Amber leaned down and put Joy on the ground, “I’ll come back with some food in a little while.”
“Thank you again Amber. I love you so much,” Joy said.
Amber nodded, “And I love you too. See you soon.” With that she got up and walked away. Joy quickly headed toward the crates where the resistances … well not the resistances anymore. Joy wondered what they should be called now. It didn’t really matter but she thought they might as well have a name.
Joy reached the crates and started to slide behind them and toward the hole in the wall that lead to the resistance’s headquarters. When she finally crawled through the gap she was greeted by a shocking discover. She was planning on apologizing to them for not showing up last night when she entered the hide out. The last time she was here there were about 20 people, now there were at least 10 more among them. Joy stood there with her mouth open, until Lucius came walking up to her grinning with that smile he always had on his face.
“Joy!”
Still stun Joy just stood there as Lucius continued to talk, “Look at all the people we found. Come on follow me I’ll fill you in on what happened.” Joy followed Lucius to an area that had 3 more people talking. She was sit down at the head of a table as they recalled the events last night.
The 3 groups left the castle late at night and searched the areas they were told to look. They found a few people here and there hiding behind wooden boxes or hiding in the streets. It was an excellent success for their first rescue mission. As they told Joy what they did she knew that her plan was the right thing to do… but now what? It dawned on her that she really didn’t have another step. They couldn’t keep feeding all the tinies they save with the little food they do have, and even if Amber can get more food they would eventually run out of space.
“So what’s the next step?” Lucius asked almost if he could read her mind.
“ummm… well…” Everyone looked at her for guidance. “I haven’t … really thought of anything yet…”
“You don’t have a plan?” One of them asked.
“Well not yet it’s just…”
“What are we going to do? We can’t keep all our people here to live forever!” Another shouted.
“I know we can’t,” Joy said to him. “It’s just… I do have a plan but you all might not like it.”
“What is it,” Lucius asked curious.
“… I know someone who can help us leave this city and live somewhere peaceful.” Everyone around the table gasped and looked shocked.
“Who?” someone asked.
Joy felt uncomfortable because she knew how everyone would react. “… the princess…”
All of them looked shocked. “That’s insane!” One of them shouted, “She’s part of the royal family! She’ll kill us for sure!” Another said, “We will die for sure!”
Joy looked at all of them as they started to protest and say stuff. She was losing control. She knew this was a bad idea. Joy tried to tell them she could try and think of another plan, but they weren’t listening. Before she knew it things were getting out of control and-
SLAM! The sound of a fist hitting the table stopped all the noise.
“Quite!” Shouted Lucius. “Now some of you may not like this idea because it involves one of them.” He said. “But I trust Joy here. There for I volunteer to be the first to follow this giantess to where ever she plans on taking us. I will see to it that it will be safe for all of us to live.”
“But what if it’s a trap?”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take. If it is a trap I’m willing to sacrifice myself for the lives you all.”
“How can we tell she won’t wait to capture all of us when we leave with the rest?”
“Look, it’s going to be dangerous. All my life I have run away from them. I lived in fear of being found or killed. If there is a place that will allow us some peace… well I’m willing to take the chance. What do you say? Do you rather want to live hiding or take a chance and live a free peaceful life?”
There was some mumbling but finally, “Joy… we trust you.”
Joy couldn’t believe this. She never would have thought this would happen. She was so glad that she felt like laughing in joy. “That’s great.” They discussed more about what to do that night. They would do one more sweep and then next night they would have Amber help them escape to a peaceful place to live.
Joy left the table after discussing their plans, when Lucius came up to her. “Lucius, thank you.”
He gave her a smile, “No thank you. You changed this rebellion around. I… I think you did a great job. Oh and by the way why don’t you just call me Lu.”
“Ok, thank you Lu for helping me back there. I never did thank you for… well you know saving my life the other day.” Joy said.
“Oh that… I just happen to be there at the right time. You may be wondering why I helped. Well it’s because… I … I like…” His face turned red.
“You like…?” Joy started.
“Your idea,” he said quickly. “You know the idea about not killing for peace.”
“You do?”
“Umm… yeah,” he replied.
Joy was about to say something when she remembered that Amber would be waiting in the kitchen. “Oh right! Lu I want you to meet someone. I think you’ll love her.”
Lu looked confused when Joy grabbed his hand and pulled him to the exit. They left the hole and came out from behind the crates. Joy held Lu’s hand as Joy peered around to see if Amber was there. Some chiefs were cooking but Amber was in the door way.
“Your majesty,” One of them said hand her a plate of food.
“Joy watch out,” Lu whispered as he pulled her back behind the crates. The moment she was pulled back a shadow went across the crates as a chief walked past.
“Do you mind if I eat it here? I don’t want to both the maids, they just cleaned my room.”
“Of course your majesty, we will leave you in peace to eat.” With that the chiefs left. Joy looked out from behind the crates to see only Amber was left in the room. Joy started to walk out and noticed that Lu was still hiding.
“Lu… come on. I want you to meet my friend Amber.”
“…” Lu slowly followed but looked extremely worried.
Amber was sitting in a chair looking at the snack the chiefs prepared for her. It was some cheese, bread, and fruits. Amber thought of looking for Joy but thought better. She didn’t want to frighten the other tinies. She would just wait for Joy to show up.
No sooner did Amber take a bite from a piece of cheese did she hear her voice calling her name. She looked down to see Joy… and someone else.
Amber was so delighted to see another tiny that she quickly scooped up both of them and brought them to her face. The tiny fell down and quickly started to panic. That was when Amber realized her mistake.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She said slowly pulling them away from her face and setting them down on the table.
“Amber… I want you to meet someone. Lucius this is Amber, Amber this is Lucius.”
Amber smiled and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”
“L-l-likew-w-wise.”
“Joy, here is some food for your friends.” Amber said.
“Thank you Amber, I’m afraid you might have to leave. Now … how to get the food… I know! Could you place the plate on the floor? I’ll go get some others to get the food and you and Lucius can get to know each other.”
Amber nodded and did as Joy said. She picked up Lucius who looked a little pale, and left the room. She made sure no one was near to disturbed Joy. Amber decided to walk down the hallway as she talked to Lucius, that way she could keep an eye out for Joy and still give her people their privacy.
She looked down at Lucius and couldn’t help but feel bad for how she was making him, “Am I scaring you?”
“N-n-no…”
Amber couldn’t help but giggle at it. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you; it’s just that you’re like Joy. When we first meet she wouldn’t say she was scared either.”
“…”
“So how long have you known Joy?”
“… not very long.”
They didn’t say much afterwards. Then Amber tried to break the silence. “I’m just glade Joy has meet more of her people. She’s had a hard time. I can’t help but feel bad for not being able to help her. She won’t say it but she really wanted to meet more of her kind. I’m just glad you became friends with her.”
“Me too,” Lucius said. “She seems so nice.”
“She is,” Amber said.
Lucius seemed to loosen up and they started to talk. It wasn’t long before they both started to share things that only close people would. After a short while Amber saw Joy stick her head out the doorway and wave for them to come back. She picked up Joy and went back inside the kitchen. She noticed the tray was picked clean. She returned the tray to the table and placed Joy and Lucius down on the table.
“Well it was nice meeting you Lucius.”
“Like wise your majesty.”
She blushed, “Please just call me Amber.”
“And you may call me Lu.”
Amber helped Lu down off the table and they both said goodbye again. After that Amber took Joy back to her room. There they were going to take another walk through the garden. They started to walk through the garden like they did last time when Joy said, “Amber there is something I need you to do for me. I’m sorry if I put you in a bad spot but… my people need… a place to stay. I told them that you could help them.”
Amber didn’t say anything as she continued to walk. “… There might be a place. I just don’t know how safe it will be. How long do I have?”
“Well we weren’t going to go until the next night, but if you need more time I could tell them.”
“Please do. I’m not sure how safe it is. Of course I would need to find a way to transport you all… and food. Joy I don’t know…”
Joy quickly said, “I’m so sorry Amber! I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I just panicked and didn’t know what to do or say. Now I put you on the spot and… oh God how could I.”
“No, no it’s fine Joy. It’s just it might take longer than a few days, maybe a week at the most. If you can give me until then…”
Joy looked up at Amber, “I’m such a horrible friend … I put you on the spot and now your pushing yourself to cover for me.”
“Joy, its fine, you’re not a bad friend. There is nothing wrong with trying to help people.”
“But I feel like I’m using you. A friend wouldn’t do that to another friend.”
“Joy, it’s the least I can do. My family has done so much to hurt you all. It’s time that I give back to your people.”
Joy went up and hugged Amber’s neck, “Amber! Thank you so much!”
Amber didn’t say anything as she felt the tiny hands of Joy wrap the best they could around her neck and hug her. After some more walking Amber returned to her room to get ready for dinner. Joy told her that tonight she would head back to tell the others about what they discussed.
Dinner was the same as it always was, Joy sitting in Amber’s lap. After the meal was over, Amber went to the kitchen and set Joy down. She made sure no one was around and kept the candle she was holding dim enough not to draw attention to her.
“Don’t worry about me I’ll be fine. I might not be back until latter tonight.” Joy told Amber.
“Oh, well just be safe for me ok?” Amber said slightly worried.
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Joy told Amber again. “I’ll be back before you know it.” Joy started to turn around when Amber stopped her. Before she knew it Amber gave her a kiss goodbye. Joy couldn’t stop the feeling she felt for Amber from swelling up in her.
Finally Joy pushed them down as she headed toward their hiding spot. She was greeted by 4 groups of people instead of 3. Lu came up to her and said, “Some of the people we saved wanted to help us on our search, if that’s ok with you.”
“Yeah, we can use the help. I just have to find an area for my group to cover.” Joy went over to the table and looked over the areas that she though would be good to search. She had a group of 4 people 2 were from the original resistance and the other 2 were new to the group. She quickly got their names. The 2 originals were Thomas and Bert; the 2 new guys were Sam and Teddy. They all seemed eager to help.
“How about we check here?” Bert said. He wanted to check a Tavern.
“I don’t know… It seems a little close to where you all were at last night. We shouldn’t cover the same areas too much.”
“There was a couple of people I think I saw head that way a few days ago,” Teddy said.
“See, there might still be people there.”
“Alright if you insist, but we need to be extremely careful. I heard that the king is starting to increase the bounty on us.” Joy recalled what was spoken at the table that night.
With everything prepared she got her group ready. Joy was about to leave when Lu came up to her. “Joy I have something for you,” He held out a purple veil. Joy took it and looked at it and realized what it was. “We only have a few bottles of it and I thought you should have it just in case.”
“Lu, I’m not going to use this stuff on-”
Lu cut her off, “If not on a giant then on an animal if they attack. I heard that there were some dogs running around the streets last night. Just be careful out there.” Lu gave her a hug and then turned around and went to his search party.
Joy grabbed a dagger and pocketed the bottle. She was glad that Lu thought about her. Without further delay Joy lead her party away from their hide out. It took them a couple of hours to leave the castle grounds. It took them another hour to get to the outside of the tavern. They ran across a few hiccups but nothing serious. A few animals ran by but they didn’t pay them much attention. Joy led her party around the Tavern to find an entrance. There was one; a window was cracked open slightly. The only problem was there was a light shining through it.
Joy shook her head, “Someone is there… we should head back.”
“No not yet,” Bert said. “I don’t want to leave empty handed.”
“Bert,” she said. “This isn’t a contest we are here to help people, but not at the risk of everyone’s lives.”
“I agree with Bert, what if there are people who need our help?” Teddy said.
“Yeah,” the other two said.
Joy let out a sigh, “Fine… but we take a quick look. We don’t do anything drastic.”
They all agreed. Joy went first; she found that the wall of the tavern was perfect to climb. It had rough edges and she was able to rock climb up to the window. The others followed. She reached the window and pulled the others up. Hiding so she could look through the window without being in the open, she looked inside. She didn’t make a sound but she would have let out a yelp at what she saw.
There was a large man there cooking some food. He held a clever and was cutting some meat up. To his left leg was a large dog sitting there waging its tale as he looked up at his owner. The owner looked down at him and chuckled. He tossed his dog a piece of meat that it happily gobbled down. When the cook was done cutting the meat he placed it into a big pot. Then he pulled out a jar that held about 10 tinies in. He pulled one out and set him on the table where he just cut the meat. The tiny looked scared and started shouting something. Joy couldn’t hear at this distance but could tell the cook was laughing as his body shook. Next, the cook picked up the jar and dumped the 9 other tinies into the pot. There was a bunch of screaming that Joy could hear as she realized the pot was over a flame and must be boiling water in there. The cook picked up a ladle and started to spin the contents of the pot. Joy was about to turn her head when she noticed that there was another jar of tinies on the table with another 10 stuck in it. The cook stop stirring the pot and picked up the last tiny and brought it to the dog who started to wag its tail enthusiastically. “Ok boy, go find me some more.” He gave the tiny to the dog who took him into his mouth. The dog bit down on the tiny and started to shake its head around causing the tiny person to wail in agony.
Joy looked away as she could still hear the sound of the man die. When the crying stopped the dog let out a couple of barks. Joy looked back in to see the cook walking away and the dog sniffing around the kitchen. A couple of minutes later the dog left the room still sniffing.
“Joy?”
Joy didn’t say anything as she pulled her head back.
“Joy what happened?”
“Their dead… their all dead; he cooked them all…”
No one said anything… “What do we do?” One of them asked. Teddy looked through the window and let out a gasp, “There is still some alive; over there on that table. Joy we have to save them.”
Joy didn’t move… “I…I can’t. What if he catches us? He’ll kill us and… I just can’t!” she said with despair.
“We can’t give up! We are supposed to help those who need our help!” Bert said.
“The dog will find us if we go inside! There is no way we can…” Joy stop as she thought of something.
“What?”
She pulled out the veil of purple fluid.
“Is that what I think it is?” Thomas asked. “There is no way we can get close enough to a dog without getting killed in the process.”
Joy realized he was right. It was a suicide mission, so what can they do? She peered into the room and looked around to see if they could … she noticed something near the window. She turned around and looked at the others, “I got a plan!”
Joy couldn’t believe she thought of this plan; it was suicidal. What was she thinking? There was no way this could work. Her plan was to cover the five of them in a barrel of slop. There was meat, vegetables and other degradable material in the barrel rotting about to be tossed out whenever the cook felt like it. The stench was horrible but hopefully it would cover their smell from the dog long enough for them to help the others. They had some string with them and used it to lower one another down then back up. When they were all covered they slowly climbed down to ground level.
“Are you sure this will work?” one of them asked Joy.
“No… but you have a better idea.”
“I don’t know about this,” Bert said.
Joy was about to turn on them for trying to back down now. They were the ones to talk her into this and now wanted her to back out… well too late. Joy looked around to see if the cook or dog was coming back. There wasn’t any sound coming from the other room. That couldn’t be good… Joy stuck to the shadows as she guided her group around.
Reaching the table’s leg Joy decided they should climb up the leg and reach the top. Joy started to climb when Bert said, “Joy the dog!” They all scattered and left Joy by herself on the table leg. Looking to her right she saw the dog lumbering in. Her heart stopped completely as she was completely exposed. She was about up to the dog’s chest. It was high enough that if she tried to drop she would die. Closing her eyes she waited for the dog to come over and gobble her down… or worse. The sound of the dog’s sniffing grew louder and louder as it approached her. Then she felt the hot breath of the dog breath down on her as if sniffed her over and over again. Opening her eyes to see what was in store for her, she saw the dog’s mouth open wide. Unable to do much she waited for the end.
The dog made a loud sneezing sound. Suddenly Joy was covered in spittle as the dog sneezed all over her. The dog lowered its head and continued to sniff around. Joy watched the dog leave the room again. Not taking any chances she quickly climbed to the top of the table and quickly located the jar.
The tinies in the jar looked scared until they saw her. “Who are you?” Most of them asked.
“Don’t worry I’m here to help.” Joy quickly got her string out. She tied her dagger to the end of the rope and started to swing it around. She tossed the dagger and rope up and held her breath. The dagger bounced of the tip of the jar with a clink. Quickly she reeled it in and tried again. This time she made it. It fell down into the jar with the others.
She told them to send one at a time up the rope. One by one they went up and over; eventually they had enough weight on one side that they could have more people climb up without pulling Joy into the jar. With all 10 tinies saved Joy retracted her ‘grappling hook’. She helped lower the tinies down to ground level. There Bert, Teddy, Sam, and Thomas helped them get across the room safely. Luck was on her side because all of them got out. The only ones left were Joy, and Bert. They were down on ground level near the table legs when the dog came back with its owner.
Joy quickly hid in the shadows of the leg with Bert next to her when she heard the cook come back. She could hear the cook open the pot with the tinies in it and to her horror she heard the sounds that came out of the pot. There was screaming and wailing as the tinies were still alive being cooked. Joy had to cover her mouth so not to vomit or scream at the sound.
There was a sniffing sound and the cook said, “Almost done…” He left the kitchen with his dog in tow.
When he left Joy started to head for the pot until Bert grabbed her arm, “Joy you can’t save them.”
“THEY’RE STILL ALIVE!” she cried.
“Joy…”
Joy could feel the tears falling as she swear she could hear them still begging for help. Bert practically dragged her away. She couldn’t move as she realized that she just let 9 people die in a pot…
Joy and her group made it back to the castle before the sun came up. She felt tired and exhausted from the walk and the ordeal she just went through. Lu met her and said, “Wow, you saved 10 people! Joy you are a natural.” Joy didn’t say anything as she sat down on the floor as the rest of her party went and found something to eat.
“Joy? Joy are you ok?”
Joy tried to hold back her feelings but it wasn’t happening. She felt herself break down. “I couldn’t save them,” She whispered with tears falling down.
Lu sat down next to her and grabbed her hand, “Joy, what happened? Please tell me.”
Joy didn’t want to say anything but it all came out. She told Lu about everything that happened. It even led to her telling him what happened to her parents. When she was down she was silently weeping into his shoulder. “There, there…” he said rubbing her back. “Look I know you had a hard time, but you did better than any of us could possible hope to do. You saved 10 lives. There wasn’t anything you could do for those poor people trapped in that pot. We can’t save every life; it’s just the world we live in. Look you should get some sleep; I’ll get a bed ready for you.” Lu led her to a bed that he set up for her. She thanked him as she slipped under the sheets and went to sleep.