We are the invaders.
Humanity has long since fantasized about hordes of unknown, giant flying monstrosities raining down from the heavens onto our small blue orb in the lonely universe. Huddling In secret in the recesses of our homes as fellow humans are abducted to who knows where, never to be seen again. Families torn apart and for what reason? Don't they know we are people too?
only...
That's the exact role humanity plays, no- not as the victims, but as the oppressors. All throughout the galaxy known for their greed and insatiable curiosity, their ever-hungering thirst for knowledge and the unknown, trampling over any and all species that sought to slow them down.
So, when Humanity found a planet with creatures who looked nearly identical to their own, but at a fraction of the size and power...
their fate was inevitable.
hooof, i might make a part 2 at some point soon! you guys know i can't let a cruel scenario not have a happy ending xD
if anybody thinks the lighting looks weird- its supposed to imply someone opened up a door to go into this 'pet' shop and light is shining in. (metaphorical/literal ray of hope, maybe this human will be nice lol~)
I still live! Life is so fast and busy but I'm still hoping to make it through the list! It just might not be July by the time I'm done. Whoops.
The prompt is "Nature". This time we get a glimpse of Eral the Arbor Pixie's life when he's on his own. Before he met Elias Dawn he tried to get by on his own and met with some challenges. This story should prove he was totally fine during that time.
~~~
Eral paused in his task to scan the room. From where he stood on the shop’s counter, he had a good view of the main shop floor and the door across from him. It was small, by human standards, and the shelves packed close together to make room for all the wares. He’d seen people struggling to pass by each other, polite nods and murmured excuse me’s maintaining some polite status quo.
To him, a pixie standing only six inches tall, the room was enormous. In the dark, shadows loomed in the corners and over the shelves. Things had been locked up for the evening hours before, leaving only the shelves and wares without any humans around. He had plenty of space for his latest project.
So far, a good three quarters of the surfaces in the shop were covered in carefully arranged grains of rice. He had a lot more to go, but plenty of motivation to see it through. Spite could go a long way.
Getting into the building had been a simple affair. The window latch could keep out a bird or a bat, but not a lock picking pixie. Especially not a lock picking pixie with a bone to pick with the shop owner.
I’m not taking coin from no pixie, the man had said, in front of a shop full of people. That’s gonna be fake, ain’t it? It’s in your nature to play tricks!
No words could convince the man otherwise. The silver disc that he’d lugged around under an arm for miles looking for a village with a simple shop was as real as could be, but Eral had never gotten a chance to pay for anything with it. Standing on the counter, asking for a small portion of supplies, he’d been shooed away with a hand big enough to squash him if it wanted to.
He hated being swatted at. It had taken everything in him not to pull his crossbow on the man, but that was escalating. Eral wasn’t looking for a fight. He was looking for supplies to get by.
He arranged a few more grains of rice on the counter before his leaf-bud wings furled open to carry him back to the bag on the nearby shelf. He’d slashed a small opening in the thick cloth, plenty for him to reach in for another armful of grains.
The coin he’d tried to pay with lay in the middle of the floor, between the two main aisles with the most space between them. Eral had started there, lining up the grains of rice in a pattern that pointed to the money the man had refused to take. Eral flew back to his spot on the counter and set down his new supply of grains ready to add to his mischievous mosaic.
He would take a few grains with him when he left in the morning. Until then, well, it was in his nature to play tricks. He’d have to live up to it.
UPDATED TO INCLUDE MUCH MORE STORY
Word Count: ~1300 words (used to be 700)
Crying. The constant, never-ending weak sobs of the creature echoed through the forest as the giant naga fled. Thick and dark, red blood dripped down Harden’s enchanted sword before reaching the tip and spilling off creating a trail of red in his wake. His heart pounded and his muscles ached trying to keep up with the fleeing monster,
“Leave me alone! I-I didn’t- AH!” The scream echoed somewhere past the treeline followed by a crash. The hunter could has used this to pinpoint its location, but the mess of destroyed vegetation, splattered blood, and the smell of burned skin would allow even an amateur to easily find it, hardly the cunning and masterful predator that Naga’s were told to be.
“N-no… no. Stop! Stop chasing me.” The naga pleaded, its booming voice, high-pitched and scared despite its giant size noticeably louder, the hunter was surely gaining on it, and the naga knew it, its desperation evident in the trail it left. “I didn’t do anything wrong, I swear, I-I didn’t! I didn’t, why are you doing this to me?!
The predator eventually devolved into incoherent sobs as the hunter approached, even if it was a novice hunter, a Naga’s senses were second to none. It knows I’m coming. Suddenly the first glimpse of the creature slipped into Harden’s vision. Faint lime green in its color, the massive tail slithered almost inaudibly through the bushes. Even with just a glimpse he could clearly see purple and red streaks littering the appendage, slowing the naga further
Gathering his magic, he channeled it throughout his body and into his greatsword, throwing it forward with a slash. The magic whizzed through the air before disappearing behind the thick foliage and-
“AAAHHH!” A loud, pained scream tore its way through the trees in its horrific spectacle, desperation oozing out of it like fresh blood from the wound it now wore. “Please stop! Please! I didn’t- I didn’t do anything wrong it hurts, it hurts!”
Hesitation
Harden hadn’t felt it for some time now. But even as the wet blood began to cake onto his sword, and the ringing faded from his ears, he continued the chase. It wouldn’t be long now, with injuries like that it couldn’t keep this up.
“No… no I didn’t… I didn’t it hurts, It hurts so bad! Why- Why are you doing this to me!?” Its thundering, echoing wails pierced the forest, so close now, it would only be a moment before-
There
Bursting through the foliage, he finally saw the beast he had been hunting all this time. Hidden partially behind bushes and trunks, the unmistakable lime-green scales showed themself, easily over 200 feet long, Harden followed the tail as it got thicker, eventually tracing it up to the head. Focusing his energy back towards the tip of his blade
“STOP IT!” it pleaded, Harden went still. The creature's eyes were leaking, overflowing with tears despite being closed shut. Heavy breathing and shaking limbs were evident all throughout the naga’s body, even its tail was trembling, only increasing the blood flowing out of its wounds.
“Please, I didn’t-I didn’t do anything wrong, why are you being so mean to me? It hurts. It hurts so bad why, why?” Harden was about to speak up when the naga suddenly burst into uncontrollable sobs, curling in on itself just like how his own daughter did whenever she got hurt. As the wails and sobs continued, Harden found himself lowering his blade, the naga, only but a young girl barely older than his own child, was inconsolable.
With every sob and choke the naga’s body shook violently, no doubt hurting the child even further, but if one was about to die anyway…
five minutes. Five long minutes he waited while the Naga cried herself away. But eventually, her eyes dried up and her body grew too tired to cry any longer. And when she opened her eyes for the first time since they stopped, she was still met with the human who had been chasing her, attacking her, hurting her, still standing there with his sword drawn.
Noticing her slitted snake eyes had focused on him at last, he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.
“Why?” The naga croaked, the implication obvious. Harden let out a sigh, debating for a long time how he should word this.
“You…you weren’t what I was expecting” he answered, truthfully. The girl's eyes lit up, for the first time the human had actually responded to her.
"Oh... it-..." She started, and then looked dejectedly downward, clearly not liking his answer. "I didn't... I didn't hurt anyone... It hurts really bad... I-I...I'm so cold..."
Blood loss, he thought. Even for warm blooded creatures such as himself, losing as much blood as she had would send them into a state of-
"Please mister... No more... I just want to..." she mumbled, unable to finish even speaking her own desires. suddenly her stomach growled alerting them both and sending a pained expression throughout her face.
"N-No! I didn't! I didn't eat anyone! Don't hurt me, please! I didn't, I Didn't!"
Harden hesitated for a moment, it wasn't like him to listen to the pleas of the monsters he hunted, it surprised even him that she had convinced him to listen so far. "So then what were you doing at a human settlement?"
The Naga gulped nervously, eyes darting back and forth before eventually looking just off to the side of where Harden stood. "O-Observing..."
"Observing," Harden narrowed his eyes but kept his sword lowered. "You were just, observing them" The naga looked ready to panic all over again, eyes widening but body too tired to run away.
"Y-yes, I, I swear it! I promise, I haven't ever, ever eaten anyone! I just... I just like to look... That's all I was doing, please don't hit me again."
"I wont- I wasn't going to..." He began, before realizing that if this had been any other naga he wouldn't have even hesitated. "WHY were you just looking, It couldn't have been for no reason?"
"Please- I-I uhm... I didn't e-eat anyone but uhm... The cows on mister Jensons' farm s-sometimes wander near the forests edge a-and... I-I..." She looked like she was about to tear up. So that's what this whole thing was about, a stolen cow. Eying the cowering girl in front of him, eyes sunken in, clothes torn, and even though he knew little about Naga biology, he could tell she was underfed.
"I-"
"I was hungry! so hungry please! I didn't- I didn't mean to! I was just hungry! please don't hurt me! I-I... I don't want to die..." Her desperate pleads turned into whispers as her fatigue caught up to her. Harden didn't see a people eating monster anymore. Looking up at her shaking form, all he could see was his own daughter, roughly the same age as the naga before him. It wasn't right, he knew this, to treat a monster like a person, but...
"Okay," he said plainly, and let his weapon fall from his hands. "it's okay... I-I'm not going to hurt you... if what you're saying is true, then I'll let you go." The naga looked like she was about to burst into tears once again before he said that. Luckily, that face was replaced with one of utter surprise.
"You-you mean it? You really-"
"But!" he interrupted "Tomorrow, meet me in this same spot, I can't have you stealing the townsfolks livestock 'cause your a lousy hunter."
"Y-yes of course, I, Th-thank you very much sir..." She looked ready to continue gushing before a moment of realization hit her face. "You-your going to teach me? how to hunt?"
"Yes, is that a problem
"I-I don't think thats a good idea..." she trailed off dejectedly. "my, my momma tried but- but 'cause of my bright tail she- momma... momma said that... that-"
"Then tomorrow we'll prove her wrong, you'll prove her wrong." he said, suddenly more and more of the puzzle that was this naga was being discovered. A naga who doesn't hunt humans... whos scared of them. He knew more than he did originally, but there was still to much unknown... Knowing if he kept pushing such a delicate topic so soon, he could hurt more than heal, so... he resigned himself to discussing it later with her.
Warnings: Heavy Angst and Fearplay, Vore mention, Giants dehumanizing people
Next chapter
2300 words
“Are you sure she would like it?”
Melody asked, eyes locked onto her friend, yet not meeting her eyes, pointed ears shot straight up in anticipation. Well, she wouldn’t really consider Alex her friend, Melody struggled to make those, but she was the only person she could think to turn to for a situation like this. Alex, for her part, glared at her classmate.
“Hey, come on! I’m the expert with humans here, remember?” Alex scoffed, turning her nose up to Melody and purposely avoiding eye contact. Melody backed away, she DID want her help, so challenging her knowledge on a subject like this and making her angry was probably not the best idea. No, if she wanted her… the human to like her, then she would have to learn from Alex.
“No, no sorry I- I shouldn’t have questioned you, you're the expert after all, it- I mean I guess I just don’t understand how April Fools jokes work,”
Melody stated, messing with her hair subconsciously and averting her gaze to her hands. At this, Alex turned back to face Melody, smirking as if a new great idea just came to mind and she just couldn’t wait to share it.
“But if-”
“Listen if you want her to be your friend, then you gotta treat her equally.” Alex cut in, “Everyone messes with their friends, you can’t just leave her out of it, imagine if I left you out of my pranks?”
“Yeah, right” Melody responded, her frown widening. In truth, she hated Alex’s ‘pranks,’ which could be expected to be anything from ‘borrowing’ her food at lunch to more recent events like making fun of her short ears, an especially delicate topic for Taurs. Shaking her head to avoid another spiral, she focused once more on her friend. “I suppose I’ll give it a shot.”
“Alright! That's what I like to hear. Let me know how it goes, I might try it with my own humans as well, its their holiday after all.” she proclaimed, before quickly getting up and heading towards the door. “As much as it's a pleasure to talk humans with you, I’m hungry since somebody didn't share lunches today.” she teased with a wave before shutting the door leaving Melody alone with her thoughts.
With a sigh, Melody turned to her inner thoughts. Normally, she wouldn’t come to Alex for advice, but she was the only person Melody trusted for human expertise. Alex may have been kinda a jerk to her, but she was the only person outside of herself who had any experience with humans. Just thinking back to the time Alex brought one of her humans to school and showed them to her, she smiled softly just thinking about it. They were so cute!
Thinking back to her own situation, her human had barely talked to her yet, she wasn’t oblivious, she knew that she scared the human. Whenever she opened her mouth to speak and showed her teeth, or she moved just a little too fast, Evelyn would get the most horrid look in her eyes, like she was looking at a monster. Even just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach. She had to think of the positives, all the times when the human willingly went out to her, when she laughed at one of her jokes, when she let her touch her the first time. Just focus on the positives, and eventually, you will gain her trust, and maybe even… her friendship
***
Evelyn peeked out of the hole in the wall, her only safe space in the whole house. Seeing that the coast was clear, she stepped out into the open, out of safety. Today was a special day, at least, according to her Taur familiar, Melody. Over the past 3 weeks since the giant had first discovered that there was a human family living in the walls of her apartment, the two had grown closer and closer. Just a couple of days ago, the Taur revealed she had a surprise for the human, and while her parents had made it clear that they didn’t like her going out to meet with the Taur, they didn’t want to make her angry. She's already being generous not calling animal control on us... She would probably make a lot of money off it too…
No, she wasn't like that, she wouldn't sell her out to human control, or worse the farms… Melody had plenty of chances at this point, and while it wasn’t always clear what her intentions were, she had proven that at the very least she was the most trustworthy Taur she’d ever heard of this side of the border. Maybe instead of something mean, she had maybe gotten more human medicine for Mom. Yeah, that seems more like the Mel I know… Wait, Mel? Where did that come from…
*****
Slowly opening the door to not startle her human companion, Melody inched her way into the house and set her supplies down quietly. Peeking her head through the kitchen doorway, she spotted the small 5-inch Taur-like form briskly walking back and forth awaiting her arrival. She hadn’t even heard Melody come in, Taur being natural predators, and Melody was no exception. If a Taur did not want to be known by a human, there was almost nothing that one could do about it, usually resulting in the worst for the human.
Melody, for her credit, did her best to try and appear as small and non-threatening as possible, usually making sure to walk slowly but deliberately whenever she sensed the human in her presence. Though this is hardly a normal circumstance, what I’m about to do will definitely put me out of my comfort zone, I just hope Alex is right and she likes it,” she thought hopefully, subconsciously she was already imagining all the things that could go wrong. Just act like Alex, she has tons of friends and has been talking to humans for way longer than she had. Just don’t mess up, just don’t be weird, just don’t…
She shook her head, all she was doing was just delaying the inevitable, taking a quiet but deep breath, she adjusted her hair and walked into view of her tiny friend.
*****
Being surprised when a Taur seemingly came out of nowhere always caused her stomach to drop to her feet. Regardless of if Melody meant to do it or not, any human that lived this side of the border knew that being caught without cover in front of a Taur was never good. It was hard to unlearn those feelings, these survival instincts, even if Melody had never done anything particularly scary besides being huge and kind of a clutz.
That's why when Evelyn suddenly appeared walking briskly toward her, she couldn’t help herself from taking a step back, much to the dismay of her large roommate.
“H-hey, hello! You came! I mean, you remembered! You remembered about today! I’m so glad you could make it.” Melody exclaimed in her softest voice, making sure that she remembered to keep her body in control. Making sure her hands were kept securely in sight and low, a small smile hiding her sharp canines dutifully behind her lips, and the hardest part: avoiding staring at Evelyn with her “hunter eyes” as she had called them.
Just stick with the plan, Just stick to the-
“Y-yeah, of course, I wouldn’t miss it no matter what. S-so… what kind of surprise do you have in store for me? All good things I assume?” Evelyn joked though she almost didn’t want to know the answer. Getting ready to bolt at the shortest notice,
“I- I hope so. I mean I hope you will like it. If you don’t please tell me right away, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Melody assured, I don’t want to scare off the closest person to a friend I have, just don’t. Mess. This. Up.
Listening to Melody’s cluttered speech from the kitchen counter, Evelyn sat. Even with the enormous size difference, there was just something so disarming about the giant. It almost seemed like she was more nervous of the human than vice versa. Standing there, shifting from one foot to another, fingers fidgeting with her mouth taut in a hopeful smile, Eve had begun to wonder if some of the stories of Taur cruelty had been overexaggerated. Meeting the kind Giant’s eyes she saw nothing in them that conveyed the brutality spoken of in legend, only a girl who wanted nervous about making a new friend. Is… is that what Melody thinks of me? A friend?
Slowly she felt herself relax, this was Melody she was talking about. The same girl who left out small bits of food, the same girl who went out of her way to buy human medicine when her mother got sick. The same girl who kept her a secret from her roommate. The warm feeling of renewed confidence flew through her as she steeled her nerves and stepped forward towards the giant, to the openness of her kitchen counter.
“Of course, I mean, yes, I’ve been waiting all week for this surprise, It’d be pretty silly of me to not accept my host's gracious gift.” Evelyn joked, for the first time feeling something close to comfort in the presence of the Taur.
Unfortunately, the feeling was not to last. First, it started with Melody cracking her smile open just a little too wide, showing her canines. Then, within the same moment Eve had truly begun to trust Melody, the giant’s hand shot out in a sweeping motion across the kitchen table, with her in its trajectory. Evelyn's heart turned to ice and her muscles refused to move. The only thing she could do was stare, all the memories that the two had shared together flashing before her eyes. She barely even registered the giant, clammy hand scooping her up and restricting her, Melody’s claws mere inches away from her face. Had it all been a joke? Had this entire time just been the giant’s sick game?
Melody please! Please put me down, I'm scared, I don't like this, please, PLEASE! She tried to voice, but her mouth wouldn’t respond.
Before she could even get a hold of her new surroundings, they were once again flipped on her head, literally. Now dangled upside down by her leg, Eve had a perfect view of her friend’s- no her captor's face, smiling wide lips parted slightly. Once again she tried to speak, but once again her voice failed her.
“You ready to become my meal.”
At this, she lost it.
Any hope of the Taur letting her go vanished, the sparks of friendship built within the last weeks were instantly erased. Tears began gushing down her cheeks blurring her vision, and with her body finally allowing her to take a breath, her senses returned and she screamed as loud as she possibly could.
“PLEASE please please don’t eat me! MOM, DAD! ANYONE! Please don’t let her eat me please. I don’t want to die! Melody I’m sorry Ple-”
Just as quickly as she was shoved into this situation, she was thrown out of it, literally. She felt a burst of movement as the hand that once restricted her flung towards the table dropping her there abruptly and scratching her leg in the process. She rolled a couple of times across the table before being able to orientate herself.
When she finally caught herself, she wasted no time looking back at the giant, bolting towards the uncovered electrical outlet as fast as her limp could carry her. Not caring about the trail of blood her trek created, she wildly scrambled through the outlet into the safety of the walls. Heart beating a mile a minute, the only thought that coursed through her mind was that she needed to run. She needed to get away from here. Get away from the predator just beyond the safety of the walls.
****
When the words left Melody’s mouth she immediately knew she fucked up. Meeting the human's gaze and feeling her body go rigidly solid before tears started flowing from those beautiful crystal green eyes nearly broke her. But the scream that followed completely shattered her.
The voice of complete fear and helplessness. That she felt like this was truly the end and that Melody was going to actually kill her and she needed to scream to her friend to-
Friend? I’m no friend to her. Not after that. She urgently needed to make this up, but the frog in her throat wouldn’t let her.
And the begging that followed, how she pleaded for someone, anyone to help her. Her mom, her dad, anyone and anything that would protect her from Melody. She felt bile rise in her throat at the notion of anybody hurting Evelyn, and the fact that the theat was coming from herself…
Melody couldn’t take it anymore. She needed this to stop, her heart began to spiral and without thinking she got the human as far away from her as fast as she could. Even in this she failed as her quick movements caused her claws to cut the leg of the human girl.
As she watched the human hobble away, the stickly sweet smell of human blood wafted into her nose. She hated it. But seeing the human stumble and crawl into the outlet, she now lacked anything real to focus on besides the miniscule blood on her finger.
“Wait…”
She tried to call out, but her voice came out like a whisper, never reaching the human limping through the walls. Even if it did, why would they stop? She lowered her hand, her face now turning blank. She felt like a zombie, completely zapped of energy, she had just lost the closest thing to a friend she ever had.
Robotically, she made her way over to her room and shut herself in. Collapsing near immediately face first onto her bed, her outer emotions finally returned to her full force. She silently wept in solitude.
Unknown to her, however, was Evelyn, listening in through the walls.
Authors Note: Hey yall, this is my first GT story, so I hope you like it, sorry not sorry for the angst :P if you have any comments or questions feel free to go off as much as you want.
Today's prompt: "Same Size"! Bowman and Jacob get the pleasure of answering this prompt. Is there an explanation for why Jacob is sprite sized? Not really. Did he freak out about it at first? Probably, but that's better served in other stories. This is all about getting to hang out with his buddy at the same scale for once.
~~~
Bowman walked on the ground, something he didn’t do very often - why would he, when he had the option to fly? Today, though, he made an exception, striding confidently across the grassy space between the home trees, a shining green-gold canopy far overhead sending dappled sunlight wavering over his path. Occasional twigs, leaves, or pine needles littered the ground, but nothing that stood out too much. Wood sprites kept things as tidy as they needed to.
Nearby, all around, the forest floor in the village of Wellwood was alive with activity. Nestlings gathered pine needles with their parents. Some played games of chasing one another back and forth, occasionally fluttering their still-developing wings and leaping into the air to see if they might finally learn to fly. Older sprites whose wings had begun to wear out as all things do with age strolled here and there, chatting with each other and greeting each neighbor they encountered.
Bowman hadn’t attracted as many greetings as he usually did on such a stroll, but that was mostly due to the staring. He turned his head to call over his shoulder, “Don’t blame me if you fall behind, Jacob. You’d get swarmed, you know.”
Jacob, the reason for the stares, followed not far behind Bowman and hurried to catch up. Soon enough, though, he angled his gaze back towards the canopy, watching the sprites that chose to fly instead, wheeling and flitting to and fro amongst the branches. In his lingering awe, he didn’t even have a quip to return Bowman’s teasing.
Bowman couldn’t blame him. The human, much broader and bulkier than any wood sprite, cut a distinct figure. His orange hooded jacket, blue cloth pants, even his pale skin set him apart from the residents of Wellwood. He even stood taller than most of them at just a bit over four inches tall (a fact that Bowman had scolded him for - even now, Jacob had to go and be huge).
Compared to Jacob’s usual giant size, though, he was tiny. Normally, Jacob stood over six feet tall, too large to risk walking among the village like this. Now that he had the chance, he wanted to see it all.
Bowman wasn’t about to deny him the tour. As strange and confusing as it was to have his giant friend standing at the same size, he was having fun. Jacob had been in awe just to see the inside of Bowman’s home, something he never thought he’d see for himself. Compared to the many human things he knew, the sprites’ homes must seem so simple, and yet Jacob looked at everything like it was a sunrise.
They’d already explored Bowman’s house, and had briefly visited the much larger structure grown into the cottonwood tree at the head of the village. Bowman doubted it would be their last visit, but he’d wanted to make sure Jacob got to see plenty of the village during the best hours, with the sun high overhead and the air alive with noise and activity.
Jacob finally looked down again when they passed into the shade under a rosebush. Petals littered the ground here, with some nestlings gathering them up in their arms. The fragrant shade gave the human a chance to blink the brightness out of his eyes for a moment. “What’s on the other side of this tunnel?”
Bowman grinned. The tunnel in question led to one of the most important places in the entire forest. At the end of it, the grass grew a little taller in the unimpeded sunlight, blocking the view of what they aimed for across that clearing. “The Big Oak is over there,” he explained. “And the Well.”
Jacob whipped his gaze to the size, his eyes wide with awe now rather than sunblindness. “The Well? As in, the one the village is named after?”
Bowman snickered. “As if we’d name the village and the whole forest after just any old well,” he teased. “It’s the Well where all the groundwater was blessed. The blessing is still strongest there.”
Jacob nodded solemnly. “I never thought I’d get to see it up close. Figured it’d be too fragile for me to see it.”
Bowman shrugged and stretched his wings behind his back. “And now you have the opportunity. But don’t think you’re just going for sightseeing. Before we left I told Candara I’d make you haul back a bag or two of water, so you can put that human strength to use.”
Jacob laughed and lightly punched Bowman’s shoulder; what would normally be a gentle nudge from one fingertip became a small impact that almost swayed Bowman off balance. “All this human strength, huh? Can’t even knock anyone over like this.”
Bowman flicked his wings and shot the human a mock glare. “Be careful, giant-not! Or I’ll let you walk home on your own!”
Jacob shrugged. “Someone would tell me which way to go. But I doubt I’d get too lost anyway. I’d just have to follow the sound of you sassing someone to find my way back.”
Bowman scoffed, though it was more of a bark of laughter. “We’ll see about that, Jacob. Come on, we’re almost to the clearing.”
Today for GT July we have "Thunderstorm" and I would be absolutely silly to ignore the demigod of storms for a prompt like that.
~~~
With rain pounding on the roof and walls of the building with a vigor that showed no signs of tiring, and with lightning flashing in tandem with rolls of thunder out the shuttered windows, not a single guest at the inn had plans to travel on. The pub on the main floor was raucous with patrons enjoying more food and drink than they’d initially planned on. With nowhere to go and no reason to hole up in their rooms, the weary travelers had become a community, if only for a day.
Eral, seated on a shot glass at the bar, eyed the man sitting on the nearest stool. Elias Dawn had an absent smile on his face as he watched the crowd, scanning it with keen blue eyes. One hand held a tankard of drink and the other absently tapped on the bar in a rhythm only he knew about.
Eral felt every impact through his own seat, and he counted the flashes of lightning out the windows with each one. What no one else in the pub seemed to notice was that the brown-skinned, red-haired traveler from distant lands was practically conducting the storm keeping them all inside, a heavenly orchestra that was heavy on the percussion and the trickling, burbling notes of water running off every surface it encountered.
It didn’t bother Eral too much, delaying their travel. He enjoyed a lively pub as much as anyone, and he had his own thimble full of drink. After another refill or two, he might even join in some of the drinking games going on down the bar.
It probably wouldn’t be long before Elias gave into the temptation and started up some songs. The wandering bard had a penchant and a love for drawing attention. In fact, it surprised Eral that Elias hadn’t leapt onto a table already.
After a good swig from his thimble, the pixie stood up on the bar and strode to the side, putting himself more squarely in Elias’ periphery. When the demigod of storms glanced his way, Eral caught a small glow emanating from within those blue eyes, and nodded pointedly. “So. Did you call this up just to get out of walking today?”
Elias grinned, an expression that could be so foxlike on the best of days. With that glint in his eyes, the impression was especially potent. “The static was already in the air when we arrived,” he said, his voice far off, accompanied by another surge of rain slamming into the roof, “I simply helped it along.”
It was rare, Eral thought, to see Elias leaning so hard into his storm aspect without also calling upon the mischief that lived within him too. Rain and thunder and pressure in the air were as innate to Elias as the color of his eyes or the texture of his skin.
As much as Eral scolded the incorrigible halfgod for his tricks, he decided to let him have his fun this time. It wasn’t doing anyone any harm to be stuck inside with plenty of food and drink and a roaring fire, with plenty of others to share the experience with.
Instead, he marched over to Elias’ hand and gave one finger a light tap with his boot. “Well, I’m helping you along. You keep shaking the bar. So just start playing songs like we both know you want to.”
Elias drummed his fingers one more time before his hand retreated from the bar. “Will you be alright all on your lonesome?”
Eral inclined his head. “I’m just getting started. The sooner you get everyone worked up, the sooner I can win whatever drinking game I feel like. Make it loud, Dawn.”
That drew another grin out of Elias. The two of them raised their glasses to each other and took a swig, and then Elias was out of his seat, ready to bring even more noise to the place.
