Part 2 and the aftermath of Jacob tearing down someone’s poor barn. He got out of that in better shape than any of the little Lilliputians would, but he still got a few burns here and there. Lucky he has some little helpers.
Part 1
Masterpost Link
Chase in Lilliput Tag for Desktop
~~~
“I can’t believe you ripped down the Millers’ barn!” Chase couldn’t even pretend to scold Jacob in the midst of checking over his giant hands for burns. The giant was seated in the patch of land Chase had offered him, both hands held out for Chase and Minnie to see. “Just walked right up to it and…” Chase mimicked ripping the wall of the barn away, exaggerating every movement.
The small scene of destruction was the talk of the town. Chase would have liked to hear more of the gossip, but there were more important things to take care of.
Jacob sighed overhead, ever patient. “Well, I didn’t exactly have time to just reach in the doors and grab everything out one by one,” he pointed out. “I had to.”
“Oh, no, I’m not saying that,” Chase said, while beckoning his sister over. She brought the bucket of ice water and a rag to clean out the dirt and soot before they could give Jacob any burn ointment.
“Just that, you know. You got to use your powers for good and it was awesome. That’s all.” Chase grinned up at the unconvinced giant and was pleased to earn an eyeroll in return.
Minnie scoffed in lieu of Jacob doing so. “Jacob doesn’t have superpowers, Chase. He’s just giant.”
“Hey, he’s strong enough to toss you into the bay from here!” Chase protested.
“Hey, now,” Jacob chimed in. He rolled his shoulders, but tried not to move his hands too much. He was a big guy; leaning over like he was had to put a crick in his back. “That’s not the kind of image I want. I’m just the friendly neighborhood firefighter.”
“Don’t worry, no one’s actually saying anything like that,” Minnie said dismissively, cutting off Chase’s own reassurance. “Chase is just being a horrible brother by being mean to his baby sister.”
Chase put his hand over his heart. “I would never actually advocate anyone throwing my sister into the bay,” he protested. He hopped gracelessly up onto Jacob’s palm so he could slap some ointment over a huge burn and continued, “I was just saying being a giant kind of is a superpower.”
Jacob curled one fingertip up so he could nudge at Chase’s side. “Not always a useful one, though,” he mused. “What I really need is your ability to talk myself out of anything. Mr. Miller might never let me in his fields again after that.”
Chase flailed an arm as he tried and failed not to fall over on Jacob’s hand. Then, he scrambled back to the ground before he could tumble even more. “Nah,” he waved off the concern. “Once he’s over the shock, he’ll see you really were trying to help.”
“You even saved a bunch of his stuff,” Minnie chimed in, moving on to the next burn. To Jacob, the injuries were tiny, but to both of them they were huge. They were going to fix up what they could. “That counts for something.”
Chase grinned and found another spot to add more burn cream. “Your public image is gonna be great, I promise. I know how to spin this one, and soon everyone will want to have a guardian giant wandering their fields.”
Jacob groaned, to Chase’s smug satisfaction couldn’t come up with a counterargument.
I got this one half done and then forgot about it for a bit! Things have been busy, but there should always be time for Chase and his giant buddy. Jacob also deserves a chance to be a hero!
Part 2
Masterpost Link
Chase in Lilliput Tag for Desktop
~~~
The flames had nearly reached the barn. They left a black patch of grass behind them, the clear path from the scorched earth where the lightning first struck. Jacob winced as he heard the animals in the building baying and squealing in fear. Fire already licked at some of the walls, scaring the horses in their pens.
It was already working its way to the other side of the barn. It burned fast and hot, more than Jacob could stomp out.
At least he had other options.
With another wince as he reached over the angry flames, Jacob seized the edge of one part of the roof. It didn’t take much to wrench the whole roof upwards like the lid of a box, and from there he could grip the wall of the barn.
The whole facade came down, tamping out the grass on that side of the building. It gave the animals within a safe path and the ones not tied down made use of it, rushing out into the fields around Jacob’s knees. For once, he wasn’t the scariest thing they’d ever seen.
He leaned down to survey what remained. He had to reach into the barn to rip down one more gate. The horses shied away from him, their eyes wide with terror and their ears flicking every which way. Once his hand was out of the way, the skittish horses whinnied and hurried out of their pen at last. They quickly caught up with and then outran the other animals.
Glancing over the interior of the barn once more, Jacob reached in to grab some of the saddles and supplies hooked to one wall in case he couldn’t stop the fire. Then, he finally let go of the roof, and it sagged dangerously.
He pushed up to his feet and shoved the saddles and supplies into his hoodie pocket for safe keeping. Then, ever wary of some confused animal being underfoot, he stepped back from the barn. It collapsed in mere seconds later with a rush of sparks and air that both extinguished more of the grass around the building.
From there, Jacob had a role to play, as much as he didn’t want to. The rain was only enough for a halo of steam around the ruined barn.
He stomped down on another wall, crushing the flames and the building alike. Working quickly, he managed to stamp out the rest of the grass near the barn and stop the fire from spreading further. The storm overhead had already exhausted its rage, and things were calm.
Except for the confused neighing and mooing in the distance. That would take some work to fix.
Already Jacob spotted some little tiny lanterns in the distance as the nearest Lilliputians woke up from all the noise. They wouldn’t miss the bonfire-sized blaze that remained of the barn, so he didn’t even bother trying to get their attention. Instead, he crouched down near the fire while the rain went on. He’d have to explain everything to whichever farmer owned that barn, but hopefully they’d understand.
