The townsfolk of Vershire are looking in the distance, watching as a large figure approaching their town. Sure, they can see that it is just a woman walking down the road which leads to their town, but what makes her so unbelievable is that she is absolutely massive. Someone like her should only exist in legends or children's tales. A human being who is about ten times bigger than any man shouldn't exist. Yet there she is, walking alongside the road with a big smile on her face as if everything is okay.

     The few soldiers that have been stationed at the town have been standing with their weapons drawn, ready to defend the townspeople the moment they could see the giantess approaching in the distance. Their hands are shaking; they're obviously afraid of what they are about to go up against. These men are only used to settling minor disputes that have gotten out of hand and the occasional thief. But this woman is something that they are completely unprepared for, both physically and mentally.

    The townsfolk themselves are in no better shape, only armed with whatever common tools they can find and use as makeshift weapons so that they can help defend their town. Those who are unable to take up arms, for one reason or another, are in their homes, hoping and praying for the best.

     The soldiers finally have some hope, finally noticing that a knight is walking several feet in front of the giant woman. He may not be wearing his helmet, with it being tied to his waist, but surely he has enough experience to help protect the town from the perceived threat that is approaching. Everyone waits for the knight to arrive, not even giving any attention to the giantess who is following behind him.

     As the knight reaches the edge of town, the giantess stops several feet behind him and gets on her knees. She is looking at everyone who has gathered at the town's edge, well aware of the commotion that her presence has caused. Right now all she can do is smile, with the hopes that she can make herself seem friendly.

"Knight," one of the soldiers says as he approaches Sir Gabriel, "are you here to protect us from her?"

     "I am Sir Gabriel Ian Randal," he introduces himself, "and I am here to tell you..."

     "That you are going to slay her before she can even set foot inside the town?" one of the townsfolk interrupts.

     "No," Gabriel responds. "What I am trying to say is..."

     Another townsperson interrupts the knight, "That you have subdued her and that she will be banished outside these lands?"

     "No. What I am trying to say is..."

     "That she was going to destroy our town, until you threatened to kill her?"

     "No," Sir Gabriel responds, starting to sound somewhat annoyed. "Let me speak so that I can tell you..."

     "She is a witch who used a spell to increase her power, but it backfired?"

     Sir Gabriel is unable to get another complete sentence out, constantly being interrupted by one townsperson or another.

     "Everyone please, listen to what Gabriel has to say," Ashley finally says. Her words cause everyone to fall silent since they are afraid she is about to retaliate against all of their wild accusations. She can see the looks of fear on the townsfolks' faces, realizing that she may have made a mistake when she had decided to speak out. "Sorry."

     Sir Gabriel looks back at Ashley, who looks guilty about what she had just done. "It's okay. Your words were a lot kinder than what I was about to say." He turns back to the crowd before him, speaking loudly and with a sense of authority. "I, Sir Gabriel Ian Randall, am here to tell you that Ashley here means you no harm in any way, shape, or form."

     "Hello." Ashley smiles as she waves to the townsfolk, hoping to give them a different impression of herself than the one she gave earlier. "It's really nice to meet all of you."

     "I am sure that you are all aware of her extraordinary size, and I can assure you that is all that is different about her. She is a kind and gentle soul who only wishes to walk the roads and explore your fair town."

     Another one of the soldiers steps forward and sheaths his sword, but keeping his hand on the blade's hilt, still feeling a bit cautious about Ashley. His gaze not leaving her face, he speaks loud enough so that she will be able to hear him, "So what you are saying is that  you just want to roam through the town?"

     Ashley looks down at the soldier, still smiling so that she can look as friendly as possible. "I would really love to," she answers while nodding, "I've been confined to my home for so long because of how I was afraid people would react to the sight of me."

     The soldier turns his attention towards Sir Gabriel. "If all she is going to do is walk around town, as you both claim, then I can see no reason why she can't."

     "Really?" Ashley's smile widens in excitement.

     The soldier looks up at Ashley, smiling back at her, now having a better idea on what kind of a woman she really is. "Of course. Just don't cause any trouble for anyone and there won't be any problems."

     "She most certainly appreciates this," Sir Gabriel says, showing his appreciation for the soldier's cooperation. "Thank you."

     The soldier simply nods at the knight before turning back to face the crowd of people behind him. "Alright, go on about your business now. Ashley here is not a threat, just a woman who wishes to walk about our town like any other person. Make sure to give her plenty of room though, she will need it."

     Both Sir Gabriel and Ashley watch as the townsfolk start to slowly scatter, returning to their everyday business as if everything is normal. Though most of them can't help but stare at the giantess still, finding her to be an odd and unique sight to behold, one that they may never witness again.

     Ashley waves at everyone, her smile refusing to leave her face. "Thank you everyone." She then turns her attention to Sir Gabriel once again, whose back is still turned to her. She reaches down and picks him up with both hands, putting him in an embrace so that she can hug him. Most of the people stop to watch, not just because she has just picked up a grown man, but that she has done so with relative ease like a child picking up a toy. They are all expecting the knight to struggle, believing him to have been lifted off the ground against his will. Yet all he is doing is looking up at the giant woman, looking quite calm.

     "Thank you so much for doing this for me," Ashley says with a grateful tone. She can't help but squeeze the knight, making sure that she isn't doing this too hard. At her size, she could accidentally crush him and this is something she would hate to do.

     "It's nothing, really," Sir Gabriel replies. All he can do is look at how happy he has  made the large maiden. Her face is full of hope and optimism now; being welcomed into a town, despite her incredible size, is something that she used to dream about. He watches as her smile slowly fades, frowning slightly now as something is clearly starting to bother her now. "Is something wrong?"

     "No," Ashley answers, looking down at the man she has in ber arms. "Well, yes there is, actually. It's just that... You aren't so comfortable to hug with all that armor on you."

     "I can't really feel it either, to be honest." He isn't lying about this, all that metal around his body is designed to protect him from most blows, so he would be unable to feel the affection of a hug. "The next time I have my armor off, you can give me a hug for as long as you want."

     "Promise?" Ashley asks.

     "You have my word as a knight," Sir Gabriel responds with a big smile on his face. "Until then, why don't you put me down so that we can walk through the town together."

     Ashley smiles back at Sir Gabriel as she slowly and gently places him back on the ground. Standing up to her full height, she is eager to explore the town. The first thing that the maiden notices that not even the tallest building reaches her hips. Her whole perspective is vastly different from how she remembers her last walks through a town, when she was still small enough to do so. The last time she was able to walk through a town freely was when she was still living with her parents. She was only seven years old at the time and at least a full foot taller than most grown men. Back then, a town still seemed quite large to her, but it was slowly getting smaller to her with each passing day that she continued to grow.

     Sir Gabriel walks ahead of the giantess by several steps so that he can be ahead of her since she won't be carrying him throughout the town. The idea is so that the knight can make sure that there is nothing or no one in her direct path. He thinks back to how she was able to crush a tree branch beneath her bare foot like it was nothing, and he would hate to have a similar incident occur during Ashley's first trip into a town.

     With Sir Gabriel a decent distance in front of her, Ashley takes her first step into town, watching where she is placing her feet. She is going to have to get into a habit of watching where she steps, her bare feet alone can pose a potential hazard to anyone who is in her path. Not to mention, she needs to make sure that she is walking at the same pace as Sir Gabriel, lest she accidentally kick or step on him, something she would never forgive herself for doing.

     In the portion of the town that she is in, all Ashley can see are people's homes; some of which are two stories tall; and they are some of the tallest buildings in the town. As she is walking father into the town, her curiosity starts to get the better of her now. All of these homes look so similar on the outside, yet she has no idea what the interiors look like. It wouldn't hurt if she were to take peek through some windows, just to see what the inside of the average home looks like.

     She stops for a moment, allowing Sir Gabriel to get some distance ahead of her before she gets on her hands and knees in front of one of the two-story homes. She lowers her head to the ground so that she can look in through the windows of the first floor.

     The downstairs is furnished just how she would expect it to be, with a couch and two armchairs in the living area and a table and chair set in what she assumes to be the dining area. She starts to feel a bit disappointed when she discovers that she is unable to see into any of the other rooms on that floor. Sighing, she lifts her head so she can look in the second-story windows.

     It is quite obvious that she is now looking right into someone's bedroom, seeing a chest of drawers and a bed make it quite obvious which room the maiden is at. She stops for a moment, seeing movement underneath the covers of the bed. To her, it looks as though two people are moving beneath the covers. She stares for a good while, trying to figure out just what is going on.

     Sir Gabriel finally stops when he realizes that he can no longer hear Ashley's footsteps behind him; at her size, they are quite audible because of her weight. He turns around to see the curious giantess staring through someone's window, quite intently at that. "Ashley, what are you doing?" he asks. The next thing the knight knows, he hears a feminine scream coming from inside the house that the giantess is looking into.

     As a result of the scream, Ashley turns her head away from the window that she was peering into. "That was a bad idea," she says, her face now beet red from embarrassment.

     Sir Gabriel can only assume that someone was startled by the sight of a large face looking in through their window, their second-story window to be precise. "What happened?" he asks as he rushes over to Ashley.

     "Nothing," Ashley denies quickly before she gets up. "We should go." She begins to walk at a brisk pace, making sure that she steps over Sir Gabriel as she passes him.

     Sir Gabriel quickly tries to catch up with the embarrassed maiden, needing to run in order to do so. "Ashley, wait!" he shouts after her with the hopes of grabbing her attention. Watching as Ashley continues to walk, he is unsure if his words fell on deaf ears or she simply didn't hear him.

     It isn't until Ashley turns a corner, finding another road which is wide enough to accommodate her large size, that she stops. She looks back towards the way she came, hoping that the residents of that house won't see her anymore. Something that would be easy to do since she is the tallest thing in town.

     Sir Gabriel finally catches up with Ashley, breathing heavily from how quickly he needed to run just to catch up with the maiden. He leans up against her leg, bent over trying to catch his breath. After a moment, he looks up at Ashley, who is still looking back at the way she came from. "Ashley," he says, making sure that his voice is audible enough for her to hear. "What happened back there?"

     "Oh," Ashley responds looking down at Sir Gabriel. In her haste, she had almost forgotten about him. "Sorry. I got a bit curious and I decided to take a quick peek at the inside of someone's home."

     "Not a good idea, I take it?" Sir Gabriel asks, essentially repeating what Ashley has just learned. "I am sure you can imagine why someone would be so surprised to see you looking in through their second-story window."

     "Yeah, a bit of hindsight on my part," the maiden admits.

     Sir Gabriel smiles up at her, finding her embarrassment to be on the cute side. "So, shall we continue then?"

     "Yeah, I'm done looking inside others' homes now." Ashley chuckles slightly, trying to play off her embarrassment with a sense of humor. She allows Sir Gabriel to walk ahead of her once again before she starts to follow him.

     As she continues to walk, no longer distracted by her curious mind, she begins to notice how the townspeople are reacting to her. They are moving out of her way, avoiding her large bare feet as she walks down the road, something she is grateful for since she does need the space. What really catches her attention is the way that the townspeople are staring at her. Ashley is half expecting everyone to be leery of her, almost afraid of her like when she first approached the town. Now most of the people here are looking at her with a sense of curiosity and awe. She makes sure to smile and wave at each person that passes by her, doing her best to give the impression that she is actually quite friendly.

     A young girl, who is being led by her mother, can't help but stare at Ashley as they walk past the giantess. The blonde-haired child has a real sense of awe looking at the giant woman, admiring the statuesque maiden. "Mommy," she says, tugging at her mother's dress then pointing at Ashley. "Will I ever grow up to be as big as her?"

     The mother looks at Ashley, shocked at the woman's massive size; she had thought it would be impossible for anyone to reach such a height. Yet there Ashley is, walking past her in the opposite direction. "It's not polite to point," she tells her daughter as she lowers the little girl's arm." Still walking, she starts to mutter under her breath, "I certainly hope you don't get as tall as that woman. Clothing and feeding you would be an absolute nightmare."

     Unaware of what the mother and child just said about her, Ashley enters the shopping district of the town. While there aren't that many shops in the relatively small town, there are still a variety of them. She is looking over the different shops, taking in as much as she can. After being secluded for so long, everything here feels so new to her and it is giving her a sense of wonder she hasn't experienced in years.

     One shop is selling clothes, with several dresses outside on display. With some of the extravagant details on them, she finds the clothing to be cute and she finds herself wishing that she could try them on. Unfortunately her size is the only thing that is preventing her from doing this. The only way she could even try anything on is if she was to put them on her hand. She begins to think about having a dress custom-made to look just like one of them, but this is out of the question. Her current clothes, which are simple enough in design, are expensive enough as it is due to the materials and labor that are needed to make them. With her dresses, she needs a material that is more durable than cloth, which would wear out or tear easily from her size.

     She turns her attention to another business, deciding that it is best she not focus on something that is unattainable for her. She notices that Sir Gabriel has stopped in front of a blacksmith's forge, looking over a shield that has apparently caught his interest. She can understand why he would be interested in looking there, a blacksmith being the only one who can maintain and repair his equipment. But that is of no real interest to her. A goldsmith, however, may hold her interest. Again, due to her current size, jewelry is something that would be too expensive for her to purchase.

      Ashley sees some movement out of the corner of her eye, drawing her attention to yet another shop. The storefront has several barrels of different fruits right outside, but what has caught her attention is the shopkeeper. He is currently dumping the contents of a bag, which he has over his shoulder, filling one of the barrels. Ashley immediately recognizes the red fruit and quickly becomes very interested in it. Kneeling in the middle of the road, she begins to reach out for the barrel, its contents looking very appetizing to her.

     The shopkeeper is surprised to see such a large hand coming his way, only for it to grab and lift the barrel, which he has just filled up. He watches with a sense of amazement as it is being lifted off the ground, knowing how heavy it is since it is now full of red fruit. He can only watch, stunned by the sight of a woman who can actually lift it, who makes it look like a small glass in her hand. "Ex-excuse me," he finally gets the courage to say.

     Ashley isn't paying any attention to the shopkeeper, her focus on the delicious contents of the barrel. Sir Gabriel makes his presence known as he approaches the shop. "It's okay," he reassures the nervous shopkeeper, "she means no harm, she is just inspecting the fruit that you have for sale."

     "These apples look absolutely delicious." Ashley finally turns her attention to the shopkeeper, smiling at him. "How much are they?"

     The shopkeeper is both surprised and relieved that she is actually willing to pay for them. In all honesty he was expecting her to just take them; he certainly couldn't stop her from just taking them if she so pleased. "T-the apples? They are a gold coin apiece."

     "How much is it for the entire barrel?" Ashley asks.

     "The whole barrel?" The shopkeeper is shocked; this is the first time anyone has ever wanted to buy an entire barrel's worth of apples, or anything for that matter. He looks over at the knight, still a bit dumbfounded by the giantess' question. "Is she actually serious?"

      "I believe she is." Sir Gabriel looks away from the shopkeeper and up at Ashley. "I can imagine that what she has in her hand may only be considered a small snack for her."

      The shopkeeper looks up at Ashley once again, trying to remember just how many apples the barrel can hold. He doesn't want to undercharge her, but he does want to make sure that the price is fair so that he can still make a profit. "Three hundred gold coins for the entire barrel."

      Ashley places the barrel on the ground right in front of her, reaching for the pouch that she has tied to her waist. "I can pay for that." She starts to dig through the pouch, the sound of metal audibly clanking together as it rattles around inside of the pouch. Ashley is starting to get a bit frustrated; the gold coins are too small for her to accurately count with her large fingers.

     Eventually, she places the pouch on the ground in front of Sir Gabriel. "Do you mind counting it out? My fingers are too big to do it."

    Sir Gabriel looks inside as he begins to start counting out the coins. He can't help but be surprised at how much is inside there. The pouch, which is roughly about his height, is practically full of gold coins. He starts to wonder just how much money she actually has on her. Granted, from a relative point of view, this probably isn't much for her, seeing how much she is paying just for some apples now. The knight can only imagine how expensive her other expenses would be.

     After counting out all three hundred coins, which was a tedious task for the knight, Ashley ties the pouch back around her waist before she grabs the barrel once again. She tilts her head back and starts to dump the contents of the barrel into her mouth as though she is taking a big drink.

     Both Sir Gabriel and the shopkeeper are surprised at how Ashley is able to eat so many apples in such a manner. She is actually chewing them whole, not even bothered by the stems or cores that are still present with each mouthful that she is chewing. Sir Gabriel can only figure that at her size they must not pose much of a problem for her. Ashley can't help but close her eyes as she enjoys the juicy and crunchy fruit as she is consuming them.

     With the barrel now empty, Ashley sets it back where she initially picked it up from. Swallowing what she has in her mouth, she looks right at the shopkeeper with a smile on her face. "They were absolutely delicious, thank you."

     "Y-you’re welcome," the shopkeeper says. He still can't fathom what he has just seen, but the pouch full of coins that he is holding is physical proof that an entire barrel's worth of apples has just been paid for and consumed within a matter of minutes.

     Screeching can be heard from high up, causing the shopkeeper to duck down and cover his head while Gabriel begins to ready his sword. Ashley however, looks up towards the source of the noise and her hazel eyes light up with excitement at what she is witnessing.

     Five silver-scaled dragons are flying over the town; the sunlight glistening off their scales and the undersides of their wings look quite colorful from how the light is hitting them when they are lifted up. Ashley reaches up towards the airborn dragons, as if she is trying to snatch one out of the sky. The dragons are out of her reach, something which would seem impossible for a woman of her stature. All she can do now is watch, the creatures continuing as they fly off into the distance.

     Sir Gabriel removes his hand from his sword as the shopkeeper slowly stands back up. "Gabriel!" Ashley says excitedly. She is bouncing due to her excitement at what she has just seen, her hand shaking as she points to where the dragons flew off to. "Did you see them? Oh, they were so beautiful."

     "The silver wings?" Gabriel asks, referring to the same dragons that Ashley just seen "Yeah, they are a beautiful breed of dragon, I will admit." He can see the big smile Ashley has on her face, which is practically spanning from ear to ear. "You really love dragons, don't you?"

     "Of course," the excited giantess says with a smile on her face. "They are just so cute and adorable, don't you agree?"

      Cute? Adorable? Those are two words that don't come to mind when Sir Gabriel thinks of dragons, though he does suppose that the word majestic could be used to accurately describe some of them. Ashley is looking at him, waiting for him to agree with her. "I suppose so."

     The shopkeeper isn't paying attention to the conversation the couple is having, still thinking about the dragons that just flew overhead. "At least it wasn't that damned toros," he says with a sigh.

      "Toros?" Sir Gabriel asks, overhearing the shopkeeper. He isn't asking what it is, but rather if he has heard him correctly. Those dragons have a notoriety for being highly territorial, charging at anything with a relentless aggression, much in the same manner a bull would.

    "You heard me right. There is one just south of town. It's caused many injuries and a few nasty casualties, because of people needing to come or go from that direction. The mayor is offering a five thousand gold reward to anyone foolish enough to hunt it down and kill the beast."

     "Five thousand gold?" Sir Gabriel repeats. That is a good amount of money, money he could especially use if he is going to help support Ashley now. "I guess I will be foolish enough to try then."

    "No!" Ashley protests. "You can't kill it!"

     Both Sir Gabriel and the shopkeeper look at Ashley with a sense of confusion. "Ashley, you must understand that it needs to be done." He can understand why Ashley is opposed to him hunting the toros and killing it, she just told him that she loves dragons. "Ashley, I take no pleasure in ending its life, but it is the only way. It is hurting people, and even killing them and I need to place a higher priority on these people's lives. I hope you can understand."

     Ashley looks at the knight, going over what he has just told her and seeing that he does have a valid point. If it is posing a serious threat that can only be dealt with by ending its life, she really can't argue with him too much about it. "Will you do it painlessly?"

     "I will make sure that it is done as quickly and painlessly as possible, it will not suffer."

     Ashley looks at Sir Gabriel, still not entire approving what has to be done. "Okay, just be careful. I would be devastated if anything were to happen to you."

     "I will," Sir Gabriel replies before turning back to the shopkeeper. "Which way to the town hall?"