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little-mad · 3 years

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The First Hunt: Chapter Two

A/N By popular demand, here's a sequel to The First Hunt! The original was meant to be a oneshot, but since people seemed to like it, and since I had more to say about the story, I figured a part two was in order. This one is a lot longer and more detailed than the first part cuz I wanted it to be more of a short story than a drabble. Hopefully you guys enjoy!

The warm glow of orange evening sunlight filtered through the canopy of leaves overhead. Thomas picked his way through the untamed forest, still wondering what exactly he was doing. The First Hunt had ended a couple hours ago, and Thomas’s peers were all back in town, enjoying the festivities that came with celebrating their passage into adulthood.

Thomas didn’t know exactly what had caused him to slip out of town and make his way back to the spot where he had last seen the human girl. The town elders would probably say hunting instinct. Thomas would be lying if he said he hadn’t been...intrigued by the human’s scent. He may have even followed through and eaten the tiny thing like he was supposed to, that is, if she hadn’t been squirming desperately in his fingers and begging for her life. As good as the little human had smelled, he knew he could never bring himself to eat something he could hold a conversation with.

So if it wasn’t hunger driving Thomas, then what was it? Perhaps just simple curiosity. He mostly doubted the human would have stuck around in the same place for so long, especially after having nearly been eaten, but he found himself itching to know whether she might still be there for some reason. After all, what were the chances he’d ever meet another human again? It was just so rare for them to stray out of the safety of their lands these days. If there was a possibility she might still be there, didn’t he have to be sure?

When he caught sight of a small, shaggy shrub, Thomas knew he had managed to navigate back to the spot where he’d first discovered the human. He heard a scampering nearby and had a brief flash of hope before he saw the sound had been made by a little orange fox that was now retreating further into the woods. Thomas continued to make his way closer to the bush. He could swear he could still detect traces of her sweet scent...unless…

As he walked forward, the distinct scent only got stronger. Thomas walked past the shrub and towards a thick but gnarled tree. At first he noticed nothing, and wondered if perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him, but then as he glanced down at the base of the tree, he caught sight of a small crevice.

Thomas dropped down to his knees and bent to peer inside the little nook. His eyes went wide when he saw what was inside. Pressed back as far as she could manage in the tight space, was a human, the very same human he had encountered a few hours ago.

Her wavy dark brown hair that didn’t quite reach her shoulders was a frazzled mess, bits of bark catching at some of the strands. Barely perceptible beads of sweat were forming on her light brown skin, creating a slight shine to her face. Chestnut colored eyes stared back at Thomas with fear and panic.

---

Tara had made sure to wait a long while after the group of giants had left before even considering leaving her hiding place. She wasn’t willing to risk the chance that they would double back, plus she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she had just survived a hands on encounter with a giant.

After about fifteen minutes, Tara had finally deemed it safe enough to exit cover. She’d been just about to do so when she heard an unusual sound. The sound had unfortunately turned out to be that of a giant sized animal sniffing around. Could it have merely been a harmless squirrel? Sure. But given Tara’s luck, she had to assume it was some kind of predator that would gladly snatch up a human for a snack. And for that reason, she had remained concealed in her hidey hole, waiting for the creature to wander off someplace else.

Of course, the animal, whatever it was, had decided it was quite content to remain where it was. Tara had heard it finally give up on its sniffing after awhile and lay down on the opposite side of the tree. Hours passed, and in addition to a growing feeling of hunger in her belly, there was also a new ache developing in her body from being stuffed in such a cramped space for so long. She had just been considering making a mad dash for it and taking the chance that the animal was predatory, when she began to feel a sickeningly familiar rumbling shake the earth.

Tara’s blood went cold. Her window of escape had disappeared. The creature on the other side of the tree was now the least of her concerns. A much bigger predator was coming. If Tara’s last experience with a giant had been any indication, the giant would have no problem sniffing her out. It almost seemed like they had a nose made specifically for detecting humans.

The tremors in the ground increased in intensity as the giant came into view. Tara’s eyebrows shot up as she realized she recognized the massive being. It was the very same one who had captured her just hours earlier. Tara’s heart began to beat erratically in her chest. He had let her go...he’d told her he wouldn’t eat her. She swallowed hard. He must have changed his mind.

Tara could only watch as the young man advanced closer and closer towards her hiding spot. Then there was a rustling sound, from the animal that had been keeping her stuck. The giant’s gaze instantly snapped towards the source of the noise. Tara couldn’t see what he was looking at from where she was, but based on the disappointed look on the man’s face, she had to assume he hadn’t been impressed by whatever it was. This led Tara to a horrifying conclusion. The giant had reacted so quickly to the sound the animal had made, meaning he was looking for something, and Tara had a feeling she knew exactly what that something was.

The giant sniffed the air, an intrigued look forming on his face as he did. Tara had to bite her lip to prevent herself from releasing a whimper. He had caught her scent, it was only a matter of time before he tracked her down.

Sure enough, a few moments later, the towering being was directly in front of Tara’s now useless hiding place. His forest green eyes stared at her in surprise. Apparently he hadn’t been expecting to find her. Which was sensible. Tara should have been long gone by now. She had to mentally scoff at herself. She’d been given a miraculous second chance at life and she had somehow managed to screw it up and end up right back in the jaws of death.

It wasn’t long before the look of surprise on the giant’s face shifted into an excited smile that caused a tight feeling to form in Tara’s chest. She tried desperately to shove herself further back into the small crevice in the tree trunk, as if she’d end up magically getting absorbed into the bark.

Then, suddenly something huge came shooting towards her. Tara yelped as, for the second time that day, devastatingly massive fingers wrapped around her body. Her stomach churned as she was effortlessly pulled out of the nook and up into open air. The movement didn’t stop until she was being held directly in front of the giant’s still smiling face.

Tara wanted to yell, curse, and struggle, but she found herself momentarily frozen in place. She could see her own reflection in the shine of the giant eyes. God, did she look pathetic. The upper half of her body stuck out from the giant's fist, her arms hanging limply over the sides of his fingers. She could only imagine how pitiful she would appear to the immense creature.

After eying her for a couple agonizing moments, the giant made a sound of happy disbelief in the back of his throat before shifting his entire massive form. When the moving was finished, the young man was sitting with his back pressed against the tree and his knees bent. He held Tara slightly below eye level and a few inches away from his face.

“God, I still can’t get over how crazy small you are.” The giant spoke for the first time after finding Tara once again. His expression was filled with awe, not unlike a child that had just been presented a fascinating toy. Tara cringed at the sight of it.

“L-let me go!” She finally managed to spit out. She was still lacking the ferocity she’d possessed when she’d snapped at the giant during their last encounter, but she was hoping she would be able to build back up to it.

---

Thomas couldn’t believe his luck. He’d managed to get a hold of a human not once, but twice in the same day! He only wished he could brag about it to his friends. Of course, then he’d be forced to lie about not eating her. He supposed he could tell them the truth, but he had a feeling they wouldn’t be very receptive.

As he stared at her, wrapped up in his fist, he came to a new realization. Now that he had made himself stop viewing the human as food, he had to say, the little creature was honestly kind of adorable. She looked totally frazzled, but that almost added to the cuteness factor.

The feeling of tiny fingers lightly brushing against his skin sent shivers throughout Thomas’s body. It was insane, a creature that looked so similar to giants but was so damn tiny. “God, I still can’t get over how crazy small you are.” He remarked breathlessly, a grin on his face.

The little human, unfortunately, did not seem to share in his enthusiasm. “L-let me go!” She stuttered. A frown instantly took form on Thomas’s face. He supposed he should have expected this. He had almost eaten her the last time he held her. But he had told her he wasn’t going to do it and he’d released her afterwards. Shouldn’t she know he wasn’t going to hurt her?

“Wait...just wait, this could be a once in a lifetime chance for us to talk.” Thomas insisted. He knew so little about human culture, current human culture in particular. It was hard to learn about the species when his people ate them up if they ever ran into one. There were a few old textbooks back home, but the information was likely horribly outdated by now, not to mention potentially inaccurate considering they had been written by giants and not humans themselves. Thomas was itching to know what life was really like for the tiny creatures.

“I don’t want to talk, I want to go home.” The minuscule girl retorted, fidgeting uncomfortably in between his fingers. Taking note of this, Thomas repositioned the human so that, rather than being held in his fist, she stood in the center of his palm. His fingers were curled up behind her, creating a sort of barrier.

The feeling of the human’s tiny feet moving around on his hand was unbelievable! Thomas had known humans existed his entire life, but now that he was actually holding one, he found it mind boggling that such a petite species could even survive in the world. He knew things were more proportional for the humans on their side of the border, but still, that didn’t change the fact that they were so low on the food chain compared to so many other creatures. Even the prey animals in giant territory outclassed humans.

“Are you...not a little curious about giants?” Thomas questioned the girl, using his free hand to rub at the side of his neck.

The human gave an immediate scoff, complete with an eye roll. “What’s there to be curious about? You treat us like food, that’s all I need to know.” It seemed the spunk she’d possessed during their last meeting had returned. It was kind of impressive how someone in such a vulnerable position could respond with such moxie.

“H-hey, I didn’t eat you, did I?” Thomas shot back defensively. However, as his mind wandered back to the moment he’d held her dangling above his mouth, he couldn’t help but recall the tempting scent that had wafted off of the human. “Although...you--well you do smell pretty good…” The words leaked out almost involuntarily as he was lost in the memory.

Thomas was pulled out of his reverie by a furious gasp and the feeling of tentative steps retreating backwards on his palm. When his gaze refocused he could see the human wearing an expression of disgust mixed with fear, her little arms wrapped around her middle defensively. “Not that I’m going to eat you!” Thomas blurted out, realizing how thoughtless his words had been. “I can’t imagine eating something I can hold a conversation with.”

---

The moment the giant had mentioned how good she apparently smelled, Tara was struck with a renewed sense of fear. She hated it, being viewed as some sort of tasty meal. She couldn’t comprehend the concept. Humans ate the meat of animals, sure, but they couldn’t sniff out a cow, nor did they consider it to smell good prior to being cooked. Giants were different, more barbaric, more animalistic. And yet, they seemed as intelligent as humans. It didn’t make sense.

“Not that I’m going to eat you!” The giant insisted. She stared back at him with suspicion in her eyes. Had he really come all this way to just talk to her? “I can’t imagine eating something I can hold a conversation with.” He added. It almost gave Tara whiplash, the way the giant could go from commenting on how delicious she smelled, to noticeably cringing at the idea of eating a being with which he could verbally communicate with.

“I’m not a something, I’m a someone.” Tara corrected, folding her arms firmly over her chest.

“Right, sorry.” The giant replied sheepishly. Tara could swear she could actually see his face reddening slightly. “I guess I’m not used to this whole talking to a human thing.”

Tara gave a snort. “Understatement.” If she had to write a rulebook for giants on what not to say to humans, rule number one would be: ‘don’t talk about how delicious they may smell!’ But, if she was being honest with herself, this guy was a far cry better than what she had expected. She supposed she should count her lucky stars that she had been found by what was likely the only giant that showed any qualms about eating humans. Considering the fact that the First Hunt indeed was real, Tara could only assume the rest of the giants were totally on board with gobbling humans up.

“Ok, I deserve that.” The young giant admitted, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He was quiet for a moment as he looked over Tara, his lips pressed together thoughtfully. And then, “I didn’t expect humans to have such sharp tongues.”

It was true that Tara’s courage, and accompanying attitude, had come back full force after her initial terror at re-encountering the giant had ebbed slightly. Of course, the fear was still present, her instincts would never allow that to go away entirely. However, she was able to keep it as background noise. That being said, she didn’t very much like the giant’s insinuation. It almost seemed as though he had expected humans to be these tiny quivering wrecks.

“I doubt you giants know much of anything about what humans are like.” Tara snipped. She had a feeling most giants didn’t bother to ask for a human’s life story before devouring them.

“Well then why not educate me?” Came the giant’s quick response. God, he seemed eager. His eyes were almost sparkling with enthusiasm. Tara couldn’t understand why he was so interested in humans. It was his own damn species’ fault that the two peoples couldn’t get along.

“What if you could bridge the gap?” A small part of her mind argued. Tara was quick to shake that thought away. There was no way having a heart to heart with one single giant was going to stop all of giantkind from being obsessed with eating humans. Besides, she needed to convince this guy to let her go. The longer she was around a giant, the higher the chances of her getting hurt became.

“Because--because every second I’m around you, my life is in danger!” Tara exclaimed. She forced herself to walk towards the front of the giant’s hand, ignoring how utterly bizarre it felt to be standing on someone’s actual palm.

A frown appeared on the young man’s face. “Come on, I already said I wasn’t going to hurt you.” He said it almost in a whine. Tara was beginning to wonder if this guy was really like a gigantic puppy. Of course, even a puppy was dangerous if it was bigger than a house.

“And I’m just supposed to take your word for it?” Tara asked with a quirked brow. “Besides, you could hurt me without evening meaning to.” What may seem like a small, inconsequential movement for the giant could be potentially catastrophic for someone Tara’s size. Too much pressure from his fingers, a misstep, a sudden jolt; they could all spell disaster for her. The giant clearly didn’t understand that. For him, there was no danger in a simple conversation. Of course there wasn’t, not for him, the one with all the control.

The man remained silent for a moment, apparently digesting Tara’s words. It was a positive sign that he was actually taking her words into consideration. “I’ll...I’ll be careful, I promise.” He vowed, earning a frustrated groan from Tara.

Ever since she was little, Tara had been a headstrong child. Her mother had even taken to referring to her as a ‘stubborn little mule’ whenever she was especially pig headed about something. But now, it seemed the mule had met her match. This giant was relentless in his pursuit to satisfy his own curiosity.

A soft breath from the giant’s mouth ruffled Tara’s hair as it blew past her. He wore a difficult to read expression on his face. It almost seemed like he was conflicted. He kept his silence for a few moments, looking off into the distance and for once freeing Tara from his persistent staring. Before she could properly relish in the feeling of not being the center of a massive being’s attention, his deep green eyes were locked back on her. “Would you at least tell me your name? Mine is Thomas.”

Tara’s eyebrows lifted slightly. She hadn’t even considered that this giant had a name. Giants had always seemed like abstract otherworldly concepts to her. Therefore, the fact that this one had a name, not to mention a seemingly mundane name like Thomas, was a little bit unexpected. “Uh, I’m Tara…” She replied, feeling rather strange doing introductions with a giant.

A bright grin broke out on Thomas’s face. He was way too excited about this. “Pleasure to meet you, Tara.”

---

Thomas found himself unable to keep his hands to himself after he and the human named Tara exchanged introductions. Her awkward body language somehow made her look even cuter! With the tip of a single finger he reached out and ruffled Tara’s already unruly head of hair. He marveled at how soft the locks felt despite how untamed they currently appeared.

The indignant squeak the little human made in response to Thomas’s touch was way too endearing for him to bear, and he was about to go back in to tap Tara lightly on the head when a sudden look of sharp fear came across her face. “Someone’s coming.” She hissed urgently, brown eyes blown wide as she stared up at Thomas.

His eyebrows furrowed and he remained silent while he tried to hear what the human had apparently picked up on. At first he heard nothing. He was just beginning to think Tara had been yanking his chain when he finally caught the sound of approaching footsteps.

Panic was quick to take a grip on Thomas as he shot up to his feet. While he had vowed not to eat Tara, he doubted whoever was coming would share the same sentiment. If another giant knew of her existence, she would be placed in extreme danger. Not to mention the fact that Thomas would have to try to explain why he, a giant, had been holding a casual conversation with a human rather than consuming them.

The footsteps were quickly growing nearer, the new giant would soon be within eyesight. Thomas looked down at Tara to see a look of terror frozen on her face. She looked up at him with desperation in her eyes, as if begging him to do something. He swallowed thickly and gave the human a small nod.

Then, using the hand Tara wasn’t currently standing on, Thomas once again grabbed the human. Swiftly he moved the hand holding Tara around to his back and shifted so he stood as close to the tree trunk as possible without squishing the delicate human he had in his grasp. It was a pretty poor hiding place, that much he knew, but without any kind of pocket or bag to drop her into, Thomas’s options had been severely limited. Although, Thomas wondered if there was even a point in attempting to hide her, any giant with a functioning nose would be able to smell her from several yards away.

A moment later the oncoming giant finally came into view. Thomas’s eyes widened as he realized who it was. The young man’s skin was slightly more tanned than Thomas’s, and his complexion paired well with his medium blond hair. He had angular facial features and a set of icy blue eyes behind a pair of round glasses. He was only a couple months older than Thomas, something he knew because the approaching giant was none other than his best friend.

“Ah ha, I thought I might find you out here.” Lane called, a grin on his lips as he made his way closer to Thomas. “Hoping you’d get a second chance at catching a human, huh?”

Lane and Thomas had been friends ever since they were little kids. It had been their interest in learning that had ultimately solidified their friendship. Thomas was constantly itching for novel, unheard of information. He wanted to discover new and exciting things before anyone else. Lane, on the other hand, was more interested in culture and tradition. He was fascinated by giant history and wanted to analyze it to no end. Within the past few years, Lane had become especially interested in studying giantkind’s history with eating humans.

It was for this reason that Thomas considered Lane to be just about the worst person to come around while he was currently trying to conceal a human. The guy was obsessed with the idea of getting to eat a human. He considered it to be a tradition that connected giants with their ancestors. After the First Hunt had ended, Thomas had been subjected to extensive complaining about the fact that no humans had been found.

Abruptly halting his progress towards Thomas, a perplexed look formed on Lane’s face. He lifted his nose into the air and gave several small sniffs. “Do you smell that?” He asked, continuing to sniff at the air.

Perhaps a bit too quickly, Thomas shook his head. “N-no, I don’t smell anything.” He claimed.

Lane shot Thomas an unconvinced look. “Oh come on, it smells amazing! I haven’t ever smelled anything like it.” He proceeded making his way over to his friend, but didn’t stop sniffing all the way there.

Thomas could feel Tara squirming uncomfortably in his hand. He didn’t know whether it was because of the way he was holding or because of Lane. To be on the safe side, he loosened his grip on her ever so slightly.

“Hey, what do you have there?” Lane questioned, finally taking his focus off of the smell to eye Thomas’s unnaturally positioned arm.

“Is it really that obvious??” Thomas thought to himself miserably. “Nothing.” He told Lane, trying to school his expression into one of casual indifference. “This is just how I’m standing.” Thomas felt a tiny smack on his knuckle. If he had to guess, Tara wasn’t very impressed with his attempt at lying.

Lane quirked an eyebrow. “Alright, then show me your hand.” He prompted.

“I don’t see why--” Before Thomas could even finish his sentence, Lane had grabbed hold of his upper arm and yanked until the hand holding Tara popped out of cover.

For a moment, Lane just stared with eyes as wide as saucers. Then, after he seemed to process what he was looking at, a sly grin slowly spread across his face. Thomas didn’t like that look one bit, especially not when it was aimed at Tara. “You actually caught one!” The blond exclaimed.

Thomas released a low sigh as he moved his arm so that Tara was once again held in front of his body. Rather than return her to her previous position of standing freely on his palm, Thomas kept her gripped in a fist. With Lane now present, it just felt safer.

Although a couple inches shorter than Thomas, Lane still had to bend to get himself at level to where Tara was being held at chest height. He moved his face in close to the human, wearing an expression of exhilarated amazement. “The stories are right, they really are bite sized.” He commented. Thomas could see Tara cringe back at the words. The poor girl’s heartbeat was going crazy, he could feel it pounding against his fingers.

Both Thomas and Tara appeared relieved when Lane straightened and backed up slightly. “Hey, why were you hiding it?” Lane’s gaze flicked from Tara up to Thomas’s face. “What, were you afraid I was going to try and steal your catch?”

“No, I just--”

“It may have ended, but it’s still technically the day of the First Hunt.” Lane stated, apparently too excited about the fact that one of them had found a human to care too much about Thomas’s potential distrust in him.

“Lane, that--”

“You should eat it right here and now, as tradition dictates.” This time, Lane’s interruption sent a wave of alarm throughout Thomas’s body. This was all so overwhelming. He’d just wanted to have a civil discussion with Tara, and now Lane was here trying to get him to eat her!

“What?! No, I’m not doing that!” Thomas cried, loathing the images that were forcibly appearing in his mind of himself dropping Tara into his mouth. What he hated more, was that there was a part of him that actually almost wanted to do so.

Thomas had always found the way giants felt so compelled to devour humans to be strange. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that giants enjoyed eating the tiny creatures, but that they enjoyed eating them whole and raw. With every other kind of meat, giants cooked and seasoned it prior to indulging. It was the civilized thing to do. But with humans it was different. Eating them alive was basically the only way that was considered proper. It was a barbaric practice. Thomas just didn’t understand what it was about humans that turned otherwise civilized giants into hunger driven savages. He didn’t want to be like that, no matter how much his instincts may be urging him to.

“But if you wait till we get home, you can bet someone will try to take it from you.” Lane insisted, clearly misinterpreting Thomas’s opposition to immediately eating the human.

“Lane--” Thomas started, though he didn’t really know where he was going.

“I think Daren wants to eat a human just as much as me, but he’s not your friend so he won’t hesitate to steal your catch.” Lane commented casually. Yesterday this kind of conversation wouldn’t have bothered Thomas in the slightest. Discussing eating humans was fairly commonplace among giants, and he’d never been upset when Lane had brought up the topic in the past. But now, after meeting Tara, Thomas found himself disgusted with how easily his friend spoke about ending another living being’s life.

“I am not eating her, period!” The exclamation had come out louder and stronger than Thomas had perhaps intended, but the way he had felt Tara practically shaking in his hand had elicited an unexpected response.

A look of confusion instantly took shape on Lane’s face, staring at Thomas like he had three heads. “What are you talking about?”

Thomas took in a deep breath. He really hadn’t wanted to have this conversation with any of his friends, least of all Lane. The guy was so lost in giant tradition that he couldn’t seem to consider the possibility that maybe their ancestors hadn’t been such great and admirable people afterall. Thomas didn’t even know how to begin explaining to Lane how he felt, but he had no choice but to figure it out as he spoke. “Lane, humans...eating humans isn’t--it isn’t something I can do.” He started lamely.

Lane narrowed his eyes. “And why the hell not?”

“Because I can’t bring myself to eat something as sentient as you or I.” Thomas responded simply. He could feel Tara’s little eyes on him, but he forced himself to maintain eye contact with the other giant.

“Oh please, you sound like those human sympathizer nut jobs.” Lane scoffed.

Thomas remained silent, unsure of how to respond. He had been raised to view the small number of human sympathizing giants as loons. These days, there were only two left in their small town, and they were both treated as total outcasts. Thomas realized he suddenly had more in common with them than the rest of the townspeople. Now that Lane knew how he felt, would it only be a matter of time before he too was socially shunned?

A noise of incredulity came from Lane as he shook his head in disbelief. “Thomas, we are predators and they are our prey. Eating humans is in our DNA.” He was spouting the same rhetoric as the town elders, and pretty much every adult in town to be honest. Thomas could recall a time when he was eleven, after studying human-giant relations in school for the first time, he’d come home and asked his father why giants loved eating humans so much. His father’s response had been that giants were naturally made to want to hunt humans, that it was an intrinsic part of giant nature. At the time, Thomas had accepted it as fact and moved on. But now, he was beginning to question everything he’d been taught.

“We’re not mindless animals, we don’t have to succumb to base urges.” He argued, almost pleadingly. He wanted his friend to understand, wanted him to see things the way he had started to.

Lane responded with an exaggerated eye roll, clearly not convinced by Thomas’s words. “Ok, you know what? If you’re not going to eat it, I will.”

Realizing what Lane was doing just in time, Thomas dodged to the side just as the shorter man made a lunge for Tara. Thomas’s fingers automatically tightened around the human girl’s body, evoking a sharp gasp from her. He felt bad for causing such a reaction, but he knew it was better for her to be uncomfortable in his hands than ending up in Lane’s at all. Thomas brought the hand holding Tara in close to his body, practically squishing her against his chest. “You need to back off.” He warned Lane as he himself slowly stepped further away.

---

Tara was quite sure that this day would forever rank number one on her list of worst days of all time, that is, if she even lived to see another day. Not only had she been captured and nearly eaten by a giant and later recaptured by said giant, but now there was a whole other giant involved, and one who seemed a lot more interested in eating a human than Thomas had.

This new giant, apparently named Lane, was somehow even more terrifying than Thomas, despite the fact that he looked to be slightly shorter in height. Thomas had never really looked at Tara with outright hunger in his eyes, at least not that she had detected. The same could not be said for Lane. Every time his eyes landed on her, she felt as though she were a piece of meat hanging in the window of a butcher’s shop. She absolutely hated it.

If Lane having just tried to grab her hadn’t been bad enough, Tara was currently in the highly unpleasant position of being tightly clutched in Thomas’s hand. While the grip around her body wasn’t painful, it was certainly far from comfortable. Not to mention the fact that she was being pressed into the giant’s chest, her face barely an inch away from the soft material of the sweater he wore. In order to even see anything except the expanse that was Thomas’s torso, she had to crane her neck around to look over her shoulder.

“If you don’t want to eat humans, then fine, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do it.” Lane growled.

Tara was very quickly getting fed up with all this talk of eating her, and what was more, she was fed up with just sitting idly by while two giants bickered about her fate. Using her arms to leverage herself, Tara managed to twist herself around within Thomas’s fist. Now facing out towards Lane, she leveled a wrathful glare at the giant. “No one is fucking eating me!”

Terror quickly began to eat away at Tara’s fierce facade when Lane’s cold blue eyes zeroed in on her. For a moment, he looked slightly surprised to hear her speak. She supposed it was likely the first time he’d ever heard a human’s voice before. However, the surprise quickly wore off and was replaced with a look of haughty disdain. “Listen here, morsel.” The blond giant sneered, the words causing Tara to physically flinch. “You broke the treaty by coming onto our land.”

“I didn’t mean--”

“The reason doesn’t matter. So long as you’re in our territory, you’re fair game.” Lane stated simply.

Technically, legally, Lane was right. For all intents and purposes, Tara had broken the treaty and was subject to whatever laws governed giants. But she didn’t care, she didn’t care what the laws were or what the treaty said. “Crossing a border doesn’t make me deserving of being killed.” Tara spat back with a scowl. “You giants are so twisted in the head if you think that’s right.”

Tara could feel Thomas’s fingers twitch around her. She wondered what kind of expression he was wearing at the moment, but she didn’t want to disqualify herself from the glaring contest that was currently taking place between her and Lane. “It’s the way nature works.” He said with an unconcerned shrug. “The predator hunts the prey. Don’t be upset because you got stuck as the prey.”

“Lane, knock it off!” Tara’s heart skipped a beat at Thomas’s sudden roar. His voice vibrated throughout her body and caused a slight ache in her ears. Still, the outburst couldn’t distract her from dwelling on Lane’s words. Was that really how giants saw it? They thought it was natural for them to devour humans, and so never stopped to ponder the moral implications?

“What is wrong with you?” Lane demanded, removing his gaze from Tara to shoot an incredulous look up at Thomas. “You can’t tell me you’re not dying to get a taste, the smell alone--”

“I already told you, I’m not eating her, and neither are you.” Thomas interrupted sharply. Tara was glad he’d stopped Lane when he had, the words the giant had been saying had already begun to make her feel sick to her stomach. Hearing how apparently delicious she smelled was horrific, and even worse was the hungry look of longing that had been on his face.

Lost in her own dark thoughts, Tara didn’t even notice the giant hand coming at her until it was too late. A scream got caught in her throat as her shoulders were shoved into the crease between the assaulting hand’s thumb and index finger. There was a burst of pain as she was forcibly wrenched out of Thomas’s hand. Then there came a disorienting blur as Tara felt her body being carried through the air at nauseating speeds.

When she finally managed to somewhat gather her senses, she found she was horizontal to the ground, her legs dangling while her upper half was forcibly held straight by massive fingers. It was then that she lifted her gaze from the distant earth. The sight in front of her caused a horrified shriek to tear through her throat.

There Tara was, being held directly in front of a wide open giant mouth, and she was rapidly being moved towards it.

---

Lane’s grab for Tara had been so sudden that Thomas hadn’t had the chance to evade it. Before he knew it, Lane had snatched the human right out of his hand, and it seemed his friend wasn’t about to waste any time in eating her.

Thomas could feel his pulse pounding in his neck as he watched almost as if in slow motion as Lane lifted the defenseless Tara to his gaping mouth. “No, this isn’t happening, I won’t let it!” Thomas’s thoughts screamed at him. Just as Tara’s head was about to enter the abyss that was Lane’s mouth, Thomas dove forward and managed to snag hold of the other giant’s forearm. A loud smack echoed through the woods from the impact of his palm on Lane’s bare arm.

Now forcibly holding Lane’s arm back from continuing its mission to deposit Tara into his mouth, Thomas threw a dark glare at his friend. “Give her to me now.” He demanded.

Lane looked back with a disbelieving look in his eyes. “Thomas, you need help. You’ve completely lost touch with your own instincts.” Here Lane was, about to end someone’s life without a second thought, and he had the gall to tell Thomas he needed help. It truly was twisted how giant society viewed things. Yet, was Thomas really one to talk? He’d played along with it all just yesterday. It had taken meeting a human, holding her in his hand, for Thomas to begin to truly question the ideas that had been drilled into his head for so long.

“My instincts don’t define me, I’m not a slave to primal urges.” The words were stated calmly and simply. Lane considered himself a scholar, and so Thomas would try to persuade him as such.

“Are you fucking serious?!” Lane exclaimed. Thomas could see his words were failing to give Lane pause, and instead were just offending the guy and pissing him off more. He was beginning to wonder if this was going to develop into a fight. Thomas may be tall and fairly fit, but he had no experience with physical altercations. But, neither did Lane. If both of them were equally inexperienced, Thomas hoped his greater size would put him at an advantage if it came down to it.

It was then that Thomas glanced down at Tara. Her body was being held in a precarious grip with four of Lane’s fingers on her back while the thumb was the only thing between her and the distant ground. This perhaps explained why she wasn’t struggling at all, she knew if she broke free, she’d be plummeting to what would likely be her own death.

Horrible waves of guilt rose up within Thomas. Tara was in this position because of him. She had wanted to leave the second he had found her, but he hadn’t let her. Now she was trapped in a life threatening scenario, and if a fight did break out between the two giants, the frail human could easily be damaged in the crossfire. Thomas would have to avoid that if at all possible.

“Lane, if you’re my friend, please just let her go.” He urged, allowing some vulnerability into his voice. Despite how it likely appeared to Tara, Thomas’s friend wasn’t heartless. The guy had been there for him at times when no one else had. He had to believe Lane was a good person at his core, that he had just been brainwashed to view humans as objects rather than people. Surely he could be reasoned with.

Lane opened his mouth as if to immediately refuse, but halted when he locked eyes with Thomas. After several moments of silence, he could see the resistance draining from his friend. With his free hand, Thomas positioned his palm just below Tara. Lane hesitated for a second before pulling his thumb out from under the human’s body, causing her to immediately drop down into the waiting hand.

As soon as Tara was safely back in his hands, Thomas brought her back against his chest. He was practically cradling the human, and chances were, Tara wasn’t exactly happy about it. However, he wasn’t about to stop, not when she’d be so nearly killed. And though he doubted Lane would make another grab for the human, Thomas didn’t plan on putting his guard down.

“This could be our only chance to eat a human, you know?” Lane said quietly. He stood back, arms folded over his chest. There was a somber look on his face.

Thomas gave his friend a sad smile. “I think we’re better off never doing it.”

Lane shook his head. “I can’t believe that.”

A glance down at Tara’s tiny form cupped in his hand was all the assurance Thomas needed to know that he was doing the right thing. Lane may not be able to see it yet, but maybe he could someday. He had put his friendship with Thomas over his desire to eat a human. That itself was a positive sign.

“I’m going to take her back to the border, we can talk after I get back to town.” Thomas stated, and with that he turned and left, Lane thankfully not attempting to pursue.

---

Tara was seated in the center of Thomas’s left palm, the giant’s other hand cupped in front of her to create a kind of barrier. As they had increased their distance from Lane, Thomas had transitioned from practically caging her in between his two hands, to at least now allowing her a little bit of breathing room.

So far, the journey to the border had been completely silent. Tara had no idea what to even say after everything that had happened, and Thomas apparently didn’t either. The silence hanging between them was beginning to become uncomfortable, and Tara was about to relent and just blurt out the first thing that came to mind, when Thomas finally spoke up. “Tara, I’m sorry.” The statement was simple, and yet caused her eyebrows to shoot up.

Turning around to face the giant, Tara tilted her head back to look at Thomas, only to be met with the underside of his jaw. He kept his eyes forward, but she could still make out a regretful frown on his face. His words had been genuine.

“My actions put you in danger.” The giant affirmed.

Tara gave a snort. “Yeah, they sure did.” She could see Thomas’s frown deepen as he gave a slight nod of understanding. “But,” Tara continued, “you did stand up to your friend for me, so I guess I can’t hate you completely.”

She was sure that if she ever recounted this story to any other humans, they’d never understand how she could not despise the giant that had caused her so many problems. And of course, Tara wasn’t about to join the Thomas fan club anytime soon. Yet, she couldn’t ignore the courage and kindness he had displayed when he protected her from Lane. Yesterday, she never would’ve imagined in a million years that a giant would not only refrain from eating her, but also willingly oppose their own friend for her sake.

These recent events were going to force Tara to reevaluate her views on giants. Thomas certainly seemed like an outlier, but surely he couldn’t be the only one. Lane had mentioned something about “human sympathizer nut jobs”, which seemed to suggest there were other giants who defied the norms. Perhaps giants were more human than she had thought?

The frown had faded slightly from Thomas’s face, though he still wore a serious expression. “Listen, I know that was a pretty bad first impression, but Lane really isn’t an evil person.” He insisted.

Tara held back a dry laugh. Lane was probably on the top of her list of least favorite people. Almost eating her proved worse than the former top spot holder’s offense of calling Tara a “vulgar swine.” Despite her clear dislike for the guy, she didn’t want to denigrate him directly to Thomas’s face. He clearly saw something redeemable in his friend, and while Tara couldn’t see it, she really did hope he was right. She knew that if it were her best friend, she would be giving him the benefit of the doubt.

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” was all she said.

A few moments later, Tara began to notice the trees beginning to loom over her less and less. Soon, Thomas was wading through trees that reached his stomach. The sight of normal sized trees was like a breath of fresh air. She was eager to stop feeling so miniscule.

“This is the closest I’ve ever been to the border.” Thomas muttered.

From the tales she’d heard from her town’s scouts, there were times when giants would stand at the very edge of the border. These giants would apparently stare into human territory, and if they caught sight of one of the scouts, they would attempt to lure them over the border. Tara was glad to hear Thomas had never been among them.

A chuckle escaped her at the nervous look on the giant’s face. “Don’t worry, you’re not about to start getting shot with arrows.” She assured him. So long as Thomas never stepped a toe over the border, no human could cause him any harm.

Thomas’s gaze flicked down to Tara, a slightly abashed smile on his face. She smirked. It was almost endearing, the way something so massive could manage to appear so awkward and innocent.

It wasn’t long after that that the pair finally reached the border which separated giant and human territory. The boundary was distinctly marked by an extensive creek. It was shallow enough to easily wade through if need be, but thankfully they had arrived at a section with a few well placed stones that could be used to hop across.

“So that’s human territory, huh?” Thomas remarked, staring out at the land across the creek.

Tara gave a shrug, it wasn’t anything special, especially not this part, which was just a stretch of woods. Really, it wasn’t much different from the giants’ forest. Size was really the only major disparity.

“Hey,” Tara could feel the giant’s eyes back on her, “you never said why you were past the border in the first place.”

A rush of heat instantly began to warm her cheeks. The tale of how she’d wound up lost in giant territory wasn’t exactly a flattering one. However, she had a feeling Thomas wouldn’t stand for no response. “Primrose only grows on the other side of the border.” She started. “I only planned on going a little ways, but then a giant wolf came after me and chased me further in.”

Rather than the amused expression she had been expecting, Thomas was looking down at her with wide eyes. “That sounds terrifying.” He breathed. “Wolves are scary enough at normal size.”

Tara chuckled. “Not as terrifying as a giant person.” She meant the words sincerely, but she said them in a joking tone.

Thomas gave a sideways nod. “Fair enough.” He said, a small smile on his lips. There was a brief pause, and then, “I supposed I should put you down now, huh?” His disappointment at this prospect was evident. For whatever reason, the guy really seemed to like holding Tara. She, on the other hand, would be lying if she said she wasn’t eager to get out of giant hands.

Tara gave Thomas a shrug that said ‘well yeah, duh.’ The giant’s response was an over dramatic sigh before he moved his hands back a few inches from his chest. He then abruptly dropped into a crouch at a jarring speed. Tara involuntarily took a hold of Thomas’s nearby thumb to prevent herself from toppling over. A perfect example of why she was more than ready to be back on solid ground.

When Thomas looked down to see Tara clutching his thumb, his face morphed into the embodiment of the word ‘awww.’ She scowled back up at him and was quick to release her hold on the huge appendage. Her mother still sometimes called her cute despite her being fully grown, something Tara greatly disliked, so she certainly wasn’t going to take it from this giant. Seeing Tara’s grumpy face, Thomas was quick to try and wipe the expression off his face, although the soft smile remained.

“Move a little more slowly, would you?” She griped, crossing her arms over her chest.

A low chuckle came from the giant, but he nodded in understanding anyways. “Sure thing.” He then began to carefully lower the hand holding Tara down to the grass below. When the back of his hand was flush with the ground, Tara got to her feet and quickly hopped off of the warm palm. She took in a deep breath and blew it out, relieved to be mobile of her own accord once again.

With a grin on her face, Tara turned around to face Thomas. “Sheesh, I forgot how much bigger he looks when I’m down here.” She thought to herself as she stared up at the giant’s enormous figure. Even when he was crouched down, he still absolutely towered over her.

“Hey.” Thomas started, preventing Tara from dwelling on her growing size related anxiety. “I--I was wondering if maybe you might want to see each other again sometime…I could even bring you some primrose.”

The immediate answer that sprung to Tara’s mind was a resounding “no.” But, before she voiced it aloud, she stopped herself. The day’s events had proven one thing very clearly to her: giants were incredibly dangerous. Though she’d managed to escape with her life, she hadn’t come out unscathed. Tara’s shoulders still ached from where Lane had grabbed her earlier. However, she couldn’t pretend Thomas’s unexpected behavior hadn’t intrigued her a little. Plus his offer of bringing primrose was tempting. And, she had just thought of a way the two could talk safely, without any risk on Tara’s end.

While on very rare occasions humans would cross over the border as Tara had done, giants never did the same. For whatever reason, even the most vile giants seemed to obey the treaty to a T. For that reason, Tara figured it was safe to assume that Thomas would do the same. Therefore, if each party remained on their respective side of the border, in theory they could still converse with one another. It was something Tara would need to spend some time considering.

“I’ll think about it.” She told Thomas. “Come back in a week and check under that rock,” she pointed to a large stone behind the giant, “I’ll leave a note there with my answer.”

Thomas beamed down at her, clearly pleased he hadn’t been outright shut down by the human. It was amazing really, he was giving her the power to decide whether or not their relationship continued. It was something someone as big and powerful as him didn’t need to do, but in doing so, he showed that he had at least some respect for Tara’s autonomy. Definitely a good sign.

Tara made her way over to the edge of the creek closest to the path of stones. Not in the mood to get soaked, she carefully picked her way across, trying to ignore the giant eyes on her back. The moment her feet touched down on the grass on the other side, Tara could feel the muscles in her body relaxing. No longer was she in giant territory. She was back, safe and sound on her own side of the border.

When she turned back around to face Thomas, she could see him looking back at her with a gentle smile on his lips. He brushed strands of light brown hair away from his face, and as Tara took in his appearance, she was reminded how scarily human-like giants were. It would be far easier for humans to dismiss them as monsters if they had huge horns, or razor-sharp fangs. Now that she had met Thomas, it was now even more difficult to do so.

Holding her arms in front of herself, Tara returned Thomas’s smile, though hers was much less easy going than his. “Well, thanks for not eating me, I guess.” She said with an awkward chuckle.

Thomas made an amused sound in his throat. “You’re welcome.”

Lifting her gaze up to the sky, Tara noticed the sun was nearly halfway hidden beyond the horizon. Night would fall soon and she still had the walk back to town ahead of her. Not to mention there were probably some people wondering why her herb gathering trip was taking so unusually long. She still wasn’t sure what exactly she was going to tell her friends and family about her experience. It was something she’d have to mull over on the way home.

“So long, Thomas.” Tara gave a short wave.

“See you soon.” Thomas replied, a playful edge to his tone.

With that, Tara turned around and began the trek back to town. She didn’t feel the vibrations of retreating giant footsteps until the border was completely out of sight.

A/N I don't necessarily plan on making another part to the First Hunt per say, but I am making Tara, Thomas, and Lane official OCs on the blog. I'm thinking of taking story requests and prompts in the future, so if anyone wanted more of the First Hunt universe, perhaps that could be arranged 😜

#also my asks are always open #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #g/t story #my writing #oc: Tara #oc: Thomas #oc: Lane #g/t community #vore mention

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goutheswimqueen · 3 years

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thoughts on free! s3? what do you think went wrong/right/what you wish it would’ve went etc

I could quite literally go on FOREVER about season 3 and y’know what you asked for it so I’m just gonna ramble until I feel good about it lmao.

Now first I have to say that I wholeheartedly love season 3 with the deepest passion in my bones. I genuinely didn’t think that we were ever going to GET a season 3 in the first place, so the fact that it exists is just... so meaningful to me as someone whose favorite franchise is Free! and someone whose life was saved by these dumbass swimmers.

I will say that season 3 isn’t what I wanted from it. I wanted it to be centered on Nagisa, Rei, Gou, Sousuke, Ai, and Momo. I love Haru with my entire being but I really really REALLY wanted to see a series centered on the Iwatobi trio. They’re so underrated and I felt like they were lowkey sidelined in Eternal Summer so I wanted to see them shine and grow together in their third year. But of course Kyoani has just been setting them aside more and more as time has gone on so I feel like that was nothing but a hopeless dream lmao. I have a lot of headcanons and AUs about what went on with everyone who was still in Iwatobi while the rest of the gang was in Tokyo. The little bits that Kyoani gave us of them were beautiful, I will admit. Episode 11 is my FAVORITE episode of season 3. The fact that Rei WON A NATIONAL RACE??? Like, come on. I wish we could’ve seen the work that he put in to even be able to do that in the first place. That moment where he ponders what he’ll be doing after high school really gets to me too because I would love to know what the fuck he and the others are gonna do. I wish we could’ve seen the moments in their third year that led to whatever decisions they will make. I wanted to see the Iwatobi trio go through the absolute wringer together lmao. I wanted angst I wanted to see their journey that led them to where they are now. I wanted to see more of them growing with the new trio too. I wanted to learn more about Gou and Sousuke’s past through their interactions in her third year. If the season was longer I feel like they could’ve had it be half the Iwatobi arc and half the Tokyo arc, y’know what I mean?

Nonetheless, I love season 3 for what it was. I’m so beyond happy that they brought in Asahi, Ikuya, Natsuya, and Nao, you have no idea. The High Speed! characters hold such a special place in my heart. I wish Asahi would’ve had more of an arc/character development though, and I wish Nao was more included. I think Natsuya’s character arc was my favorite of the whole season. Seeing the trash traveling man that he had become and his interactions with Rin and Sousuke really stuck with me for some reason. And that line that he had when he was talking to Ikuya and fucking crying like, “a dream to fight for my strength and pride, plain and simple.” That shit fucked me up bro. We all meme about Natsuya a lot but I feel like there’s a lot of deeper shit there that’s yet to be explored. When we met Ryuuji I was genuinely convinced that he was Ikuya and Natsuya’s father because it would explain a lot about Natsuya’s behavior. A trash dad who wasn’t really there for his family and just kinda fucked off to travel the world training swimmers until he found one that met his expectations? That would’ve added so much to Natsuya and Ikuya’s background stories and their character arcs. Like can you imagine? Natsuya not initially going into professional swimming because the fact that his father LEFT to find a swimmer to train instead of training his own damn son because he didn’t see that potential in him??? Natsuya being inspired by Ikuya to work hard to prove their father wrong??????? Nao punching Ryuuji square in the nose the moment he sees him???????????? A fucking gold mine that Kyoani could’ve dove into, but no he’s related to Shizuru lmao.

I could go on forever about Natsuya in season 3 cuz I just really, really loved his arc but I’m gonna keep rolling haha. Hiyori was probably the most unexpected thing from season 3 and I just... love him so much. Like his absolute snakey behavior gave me the same chills that that scene of Sousuke pushing Haru against a vending machine in episode 2 of Eternal Summer gave me. I LOVE that shit. The Free! antagonists just keep getting bitchier and bitchier lmao. I also relate to Hiyori on a deeper level. I too have been selfishly protective of my best friends in a way that... really just wasn’t the way to go. Like jeez Hiyori I understand how you feel but maybe let them talk to Ikuya at least once??? Chill with the possessiveness? Idk I know Hiyori is the source of a lot of discourse lol, but that’s just how I feel because of my own similar experiences with myself and others who’ve acted in a similar way. I do wish his beef at the other boys wasn’t solved by just fuckin... swimming with Haru lmfaoooooo. Like I wish they just would’ve added more to his conversation with Ikuya when he asked him to join the relay with him.

I was quite satisfied with Rin’s arc in season 3. It just like, made perfect sense to me I guess lmao. I know he wasn’t there much but I don’t know what else they could or should have done with him, if that makes sense. The fact that his coach is Ai’s uncle is just the best thing ever too lmao.

I was also very happy with Haru’s arc actually!! Seeing how much he has grown makes me feel like a proud mom. Ya boi is tired of the bullshit and the miscommunication haha. Of course I’ll always wish he didn’t go into pro swimming but alas, gotta deal with it I guess. I love his dynamic with Ryuuji and the way that he has dealt with pro swimming though. And his decision to go into the individual medley absolutely made me lose my mind. I didn’t know I needed to see him swim the other strokes until it happened and I just, I loved that so muchhh.

I alsooooo enjoyed Ikuya’s arc. Seeing someone from your past again like that can 100% have that effect on you. I just kinda wish we understood more about like, why he just randomly faints while swimming sometimes? I feel like they didn’t solidly explain it? Cuz I don’t think it was always from overworking himself. Idk maybe I’m just a dumbass and remembering incorrectly.

Kisumi deserved better. YOU CAN’T TELL ME THIS BOY DOESN’T HAVE UNDERLYING ANGST THAT KYOANI HASN’T DELVED INTO. He gave us that line of “We’ll never make friends like the ones we had back then” and then him worrying about whether or not there was anything he could do to help with the Ikuya situation. This boy feels left out and you can’t tell me otherwise and it is 100% because of the fact that he’s not a swimmer. Someone give this boy a basketball team that he can experience that kind of bond with PLEASE. I AM BEGGING ON MY KNEES!!!

Makoto also deserved better. Like, okay, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved his arc with the kids and Nao and all that. I love his new dream. BUT!!! Kyoani has yet to go into depth with his insecurities with Haru. I’m still not over that damn dream he had on that bus. All we got in season 3 was Makoto’s aNGSTY looks when it came to his relationship with Haru lmao. GIVE MAKOTO A BIGGER ROLE AND A BIGGER ARC DAMMIT. He’s one of the most popular characters I’m surprised his angst hasn’t been touched on more. This dumbass just needs to stop holding things in i SWEAR TO GAWD.

I thought the inclusion of Albert was kinda weird, dunno what the point of him is aside from making Haru shake in his bones. Kinjou is definitely interesting. He scares me lmao, but I am here for that. Give us an antagonist who is just absolutely unhinged at this point LMAO. I have some headcanons about him too but I feel like the new movie coming up is going to crush my dreams soooo yeah.

Isuzu is a goddess. I’m so happy she’s finally here and she has a name and a FACE. We learned that the Mikoshiba bros had a sister before we even knew that Momo existed lmao (Sei mentioned her in a drama cd from season 1). I almost thought they were never going to give her to us but she’s here and she’s beautiful and she’s everything that I wanted her to be. I’m so happy she thinks Gou is cute and that GOU LIKES HER and I just ugh yes thank you so much Kyoani I never expected that we’d actually get this but I’m so happy we have it. I hope she goes to Hidaka Uni and gets to race Haru like she wanted haha. And I’m so happy we got to see her swim! Our first in-anime female swimmer with a name. I love her.

Speaking of FEMALE SWIMMERS. Sighhhhhh.... My biggest disappointment. Aki Yazaki. Where is she? We deserve her!! I promise we do!! She was SUCH an important character in the High Speed! novels and kyoani decided that she just doesn’t exist anymore lmao (biggest reason why I’m not the biggest fan of the Starting Days movie). At this point I’ve lost hope that she’ll ever be included in the anime, and it makes me so sad. I love her so much and there’s so much potential for an amazing beautiful story arc with her if she reunited with the boys. I don’t think we’re going to get a season 4, (the new movie is scaring me making me think it’s the end of the series with the way it’s been advertised...) but if we DID get one I imagine it beginning with Haru walking through a snowy day, huddling close to himself to shelter from the cold, when he passes by a tall figure and catches a glimpse of familiar caramel hair with a loose little braid peeking out from behind one ear and a large scarf that has gotten quite messed up over years of wear and tear, a memory clicks in his mind like a light switch and he stops in his tracks to turn around and let a long forgotten name slip from his lips: “Yazaki Aki?” ... cue opening sequence. LIKE WOULDN’T THAT BE SO AMAZING???????? I WOULD FUCKING SHIT MYSELF OKAY YOU DON’T UNDERSTANDDDD. Aki is one of my favorite characters I’m so mad she wasn’t in season 3. I’m also mad that Satomi Nii wasn’t there either like!!! She would make a great trio with Ikuya and Hiyori that’s all I’m sayinggggg. I would probably start crying if either of them showed up at some point like genuinely I would just be a mess sobbing on the floor. ALSO I FEEL LIKE GOU AND ISUZU WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM LIKE PLS GIVE ME THE GIRLS THAT WE DESERVE!!!

The art style of season 3 was pretty good. The only thing that bothered me about it was how fucking WIDE the characters’ shoulders were sometimes. Especially with the big bois like Makoto and Sousuke. Like please god no stop that. I’m always gonna miss the art style from season 1 tho, the crazy expressions n shit that were there were just too GOOD lmao. I feel like in season 3 they kind of attempted to bring that back but it just wasn’t executed the same and done to the same extent. R.I.P. the comedy from season 1, it will be forever missed.

I love the opening and ending themes, always. So fucking good. I’m so happy all the characters were included in the end theme animation sequence. I’ll never get over Gou and her BEAUTY.

ANYWAYS. Those are my thoughts in the general sense. Idk if I forgot anything because I have so many thoughts that’re all unorganized haha. If anyone wants me to talk in more detail about anything specific I am soooooo down! Thank you for sending in this ask, talking about this show makes me happy hehe.

#asks #haowls #dttf #dive to the future #season 3

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quiche-pocket · 5 years

Text

Crawling Out Of Madness

(Sorry I messed up formatting adding a couple of tags and had to edit the post so if you are being notified that you’re tagged again I’m sorry!!!)

Summary: This is another one about Mads and Dolly (Burger Girl). He’s been gone a few days doing work for Tom and the Wolves and she’s been having a very tough time. When he comes home, Mads knows exactly what to do to lift his little doll out of her current spiral. A bit of insight into Mads’ brain and how he cares for his girl.

Author’s Note: Here it is! One more unrequested, self-indulgent Mads fic… I apologize. It’s been a crazy tough day and I needed some crime puppy comfort and figured why not write and share it with anyone else who might need it as well. This was written very quickly and was not proofread so please forgive any grammatical/tense/spelling etc. Thank you all of you for stopping to read or look at this!

Disclaimer/ Warnings: I do not own the character of Mads or the likeness of Marco Ilso. I also do not own the gif I used, this is from former allvikingsgifs that has been closed. Please heed the warning of discussion of depression and mental illness. Dolly is not in a great place when Mads gets home and it might be triggering for some.

The singing that attacked his ears as soon as Mads walked in the apartment belied what he knew he would be finding when he made his way into the bedroom. No lights were on, just the glow and flash of the bedroom television. He took a deep breath, bracing himself, before heading into the room.

If he hadn’t known for sure she was in the room, he would have missed the lump under the blankets and the glimpse of hair just over the pile of pillows. The cartoon movie with the singing animals was expected, and so was the empty bottle of wine on the bedside table. He walked in slowly, making noise so she knew he was there but moving slow enough that she wasn’t startled.

“Little doll?” He called softly and her head didn’t move at all. Eyes fixated blankly on the movie and shining with unshed tears. He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed to take his boots off.

“Dolly how long have you been in here?” He tried again and this time her eyes shifted to him and then back to the tv as she burrowed further under the blankets. Mads didn’t say anything more, he stood and went into the kitchen.

There were dishes all over the counters and takeout boxes still half full of food on the table. At least he knew she’d been eating a little which is better than sometimes. He’d been gone for three days, working jobs and spending the last two nights doing surveillance for Tom. He was exhausted, jittery from all the energy drinks and worried sick about what happened the last few days. This is why he tried not to leave her alone for so long. Plus she’d been working extra shifts at the diner to “stay busy”. All it did was wear her down and make her stuck in her head and drowning in her doubts and depression.

As he cleaned the kitchen he took stock of the food situation. In the bin he found two wine bottles and a vodka bottle. A bottle of wine to help her relax and half a bottle of vodka to put her to sleep each night he’d been gone. Mads sighed and came up with a game plan for the rest of the evening. Tonight wasn’t a night for talking or fixing, it was time for comfort and he had to get in the right mindset for that. He hated when she was like this. Feeling so helpless and afraid at times that he wouldn’t be able to bring her back. She told him stories of college and before she met him. The pain and fear she felt every day before she found him breaks his heart to think about.

The kitchen is clean before he starts making a toasted cheese sandwich and brewing a perfect mug of tea. One night she was sick at home and she told him the longest story about her grandmother making toasted cheese sandwiches when she was homesick and visiting Denmark. Something about the combination of crunchy buttery bread and sharp creamy cheese feeling like home. How it brought her back from a spiral and kept her focused on the now. Tea was his contribution to the comfort routine. They never drank it, always opting for coffee or alcohol or energy drinks, but he still remembered having it as a kid when his uncle died. The warmth spreading from his chest to his fingers like the hugs he’d never get again is something he cherishes to this day. He’d never told anyone but her, and it was their secret ritual on nights like this. Or when he gets back from particularly tough nights with the club. He needed all the help he could get right now.

He plates the sandwich and grabs the mug of tea with all the sugar she always needs and pads back to the bedroom. Setting the dishes on the bedside table he slips out of his shirt and his jeans and climbs into bed. Almost subconsciously she rolls until her forehead is pressed against his knee and her eyes shut tight, squeezing out three tracks of tears. Mads has to literally bite his tongue to keep from saying anything. He knows she doesn’t want suggestions right now. After the first time he tried to help immediately and she threw a shoe at him and locked him out of the apartment for an entire day, he figured out not to start too aggressively. It’s hard, but he loves her and would do anything to keep her heart and mind safe, even hold onto his brilliant advice for the night.

Reaching down he cards his fingers through her hair until she finally looks up at him. Motioning with two crooked fingers for her to climb into his lap. It takes a moment but eventually she shifts to a seated position and Mads pulls her sideways on his lap and sets the plate on her knees. Without a word she takes a small bite and he turns off her dvd and puts on the livestream of jelly fish. To him it feels like being on an acid trip, sitting and staring at the iridescent bubbles floating across the screen but it calms her racing mind instantly. She sighs and leans into him, taking a bigger bite and starting to perk up, sitting straighter and not leaning all her weight on him.

Halfway through her sandwich he hands her the tea and she sniffs it, letting the steam drift into her nose and making her smile slightly. Then she takes the first experimental sip. Like he forgot how many spoons of sugar to put in there, but she did it every time. He still blushed slightly with pride when she gave him the expected nod that it was just right. She started offering him bites of sandwich and he would take small bites and pass it back. She slurped down the last of the tea and smacked her lips before giving him a soft kiss to his neck. Sitting her next to him on the bed he stood up and kissed the top of her head.

“Dolly, I’m going to go start the bath, take your clothes off and put them on the bed so I can grab them.” She nodded distractedly and he took her chin gently in his hand. Saying her name pulled her out of the fog a bit, “take off your clothes. I’m starting the bath.” She nodded again looking him in the eye and he kissed her nose, walking out of the room.

Mads knew not to turn on many lights, she had likely been in the dark since that second morning he was gone. He lit candles even though the smell made him dizzy sometimes. Then he went back to the room and saw her standing there looking at him from under her lashes.

“Walk or carry?” He asked and she reached her arms out immediately. Mads smiled and picked her up, cradling her against his chest and going to the bathroom. He turned some music on and got her settled, letting her pour the bubbles. With another kiss on the head he went out again. This time he returned with a glass of water before telling her he had the sheets washing and that he was going to stay with her until the water got cold. It did before she was ready and he wrapped her up before helping into a pair of his sweats and shirt. She was swimming in them but there was color in her cheeks and a slight sparkle in her eye that hadn’t been there when he first got there.

Mads didn’t give her a choice this time, he lifted her and walked into the bedroom where the lamp was softly lighting the room and the windows let in the city noise but also fresh cool air. She could smell the clean sheets and a new mug of tea. He laid her down on the bed and turned off the tv. Handing her the mug of tea and tucking her against his side he started to talk softly.

“So Red and I got into it that first night. He thought I was following the guys too closely so I pulled off and if CC hadn’t been in the back I would have kicked his ass.” He says as gently as he would telling her about a dog he saw at the park. Mads kept telling her all the mundane details of the last few days even after she fell asleep against his chest. He set the mug on the table and finished the story about having to break up a fight when he ran out of beer earlier that day before turning the light off.

“Good night, Dolly.” He whispered and kissed her temple. “I’m home now, we will finish tomorrow.” Mads sighed and felt her steady heartbeat and deep breathing lulling him to sleep.

@x-valhalla @athroatfullofglass @westcoastselkie @ainatirb-j @hissouthernprincess @lol-haha-joke

#Marco Ilsø #Kriger #Mads #Mads fic #tw: depression #tw: mental health

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darinth-aniras · 7 years

Text

Candor, Cantor

Elinde elbowed him in the side, and hard.

Aniras exhaled sharply and gave his brother a look, brow knit and opening his mouth to call him something distinctly rude. Then he realized what he was pointing at, one of the rooms past a gaggle of priests. It looked like night in there, stars gleaming and an illusion of one moon hanging near the entryway, just barely inside of the arch.

"Whoa," he breathed out. They hadn't touched on astronomy yet, not really. Not much into illusions, either.

Well, that wasn't true. Elinde started the lessons on enchantment and illusion a year past. He wore a few currently, in fact, short hair streaked and colorful. His brother did a great deal to be different from Aniras, and often people did not realize they were twins anymore until they stood side by side.

Aniras had floundered his reviews so spectacularly that his teacher, confused, reassigned him entirely. Now he worked under a new Adept, who did not seem to like him at all. It might be a while before he was allowed to play with changing how anything looked.

"I know. She's cute, right."

He blinked, glancing aside at his brother a second time, and then forward again to follow what he'd actually been trying to show him.

Between them and the darker chamber, the group of priests contained several younger disciples. Aniras had to assume they were younger, anyway. They wore simple robes in simple colors, veils to cover the eyes. A woman in vibrant red-purple and gold addressed them, and though she moved with animated gestures, voice raised with whatever speech she gave, he heard nothing.

"Isn't that the Cantor? I don't think we're supposed to call her cute. Isn't that like calling the Archmage cute?" He whispered, then went quiet when he realized one of the senior mages with his own group leaned in on his opposite side from Elinde.

"I'm sure he would greatly appreciate the compliment. The Cantor, however, I would suggest against it. She's not one for flattery." Ledrin, not one of his own instructors, but one his brother had recently started to study with, whispered back as if it were a conspiracy.

Aniras reddened abruptly, and Elinde covered his mouth to muffle a laugh.

The older mage shot them both a grin, pat Aniras once on the shoulder, and stepped away. He cleared his throat and raised his voice. "Patron Balifon will be leading the rest of this tour for us. Be respectful. Remember, senior clergy are to be titled when addressed. Cleric, Patron, and Master are appropriate for our host. Also be on your best behavior, everyone. In addition to our own esteemed Cantor, Mistress Istolle, Cantor Hauvreche of Avestris Hill and his associates are on the premises, as is Cantor Ezair of Adano."

Ledrin paused, then added in an afterthought. "While I stress being respectful, please no complimenting any of them unduly."

Aniras could feel his ears slowly go even more red.

"Perfectly pompous priest party. Pretentious patricians. Patriarch's prosey patsies." Elinde whispered against Aniras' ear, then somehow managed to wipe the shit-eating grin off his face, straightening up with a serious look. Aniras couldn't help his own snicker, and the Adept he had been most recently assigned to gave him a narrow-eyed look.

The other novices and acolytes making up their group made generally bored sounds of acknowledgement.

Though the buildings they moved through were beautiful, Aniras - and most of the other young mages besides - only really grew interested in areas with artifacts on display, or magic actively in effect. The priests blended together, one faceless mask after another, and the halls never caught his attention like that dark room.

The cantors and some of the metal-decorated clergy otherwise were interesting, at least Aniras thought so. Among their peers, they stood out like ornate and gilded birds. They had a certain force of presence to them too that reminded him of some of the chamber and archons besides.

After the tour was over, the mages were released to look around freely with another reminder to conduct themselves as if they were representatives of the crown. Elinde shook Aniras the moment he could, only to be expected. Most wandered back towards the museum-like spaces.

Aniras went to get a look at the hall full of stars, though it meant passing close to Cantor Istolle. Neither she nor any of her class seemed to pay him any mind. It was hard to tell. They didn't really look in his direction, anyway.

A neophyte stopped him at the arch, however. She halted him with a lifted hand, frowning. "The halls of vision aren't for the tours we're doing today. Sorry."

He chewed his lower lip for a moment, looking past her to the hanging illusion of a moon, now bright and round. "I, uh... I don't mean to be rude. It's very fascinating, though. May I look from out here?"

The female neophyte smiled, then looked over at the cantor with a turn of her head, then back. "She didn't say anything about people looking from the outside. Alright, no passing me, pretty boy."

Aniras took several slow steps forward and paused just outside the doorway, leaning his head aside and peering into the room. "It looks a lot like the crown's observatory," he murmured with interest, ignoring the way she addressed him.

"From what I heard, they were designed at the same time." The neophyte stepped aside and leaned herself against the side of the archway, folding her arms across her stomach. She couldn't be too much older than he was, he decided. Ages in elves were difficult to discern after a point, but she had a kind of flippant air about her, and caring exactly enough to stop him but not keep barring the way-

Yeah, she wasn't too much older.

"Some kind of contest between the mages and the last Cantor. I hear you all won that one, too. Bigger and better." She turned her head his way, smirking, then looked aside into the starry room. "Ours is a little different, though. Step past the door, and it's under a cloak of silence. A real one. Can't even hear yourself breathe, or your heartbeat. Makes me feel like my ears are ringing all the time."

"Why the name?" Aniras asked after a few moments of quiet of his own. "We went through the hall of vows, and that was pretty straightforward."

Distracted as she looked into the hall herself, the neophyte's answer came vague. "About what you'd think. Symbolic stuff, but literal too. Visions of the stars and moons and all were important to old matriarchs."

"Succinct." A deeper, masculine voice noted from behind Aniras, and he startled with a hop.

The neophyte jumped, too, and gasped when she looked over. "Cantor! Sorry. I- My apologies, sir. I don't mean to sound too..."

She stammered off when the cantor waved a hand down by his side, smiling. Now the priests nearby were looking, and the other cantor, too. The man standing behind Aniras made a gesture towards the hall of vision, looking aside to Istolle. When her lips moved as though saying something in answer, the fellow snorted.

Aniras couldn't figure out which cantor it was behind him. He had never seen either of those visiting before, and all he knew of their nations involved ancient history and city names. The man possessed brown hair, darker skin, all of the cantor's gilding shined gold. The mask he wore had patterning like rays of the sun on it.

"Dear," the fellow spoke to the neophyte, his head inclining aside. Deep amusement colored the man's words with a thrum, and as he spoke a pleasantly rolling accent made itself apparent. "Your Mistress Istolle tells me I am not allowed to kidnap a mage. Would you run to find one of their Adepts, and tell them I am doing just that?"

"Sir?" The young cleric stilled, and all Aniras could think was his ears were going to turn red on him again and the universe was an awful place. Kidnapped? In the middle of a very, very busy building?

... By a cantor?

Maybe he shouldn't have come over to stare at the moons and stars.

The man placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him into the room he had been looking into. He took a pair of steps into the archway, a little awkward, and finally piped up with a confused, "Uh." Okay, he had heard stories about the priests, but he didn't actually think any of those rumors were true. "What?"

Yuck.

A warm chuckle sounded out and the tall cantor finally saw fit to explain. "You're the only young mage to show clear interest in our hall of vision. Your presence became interesting, with your interest. Where I come from, being drawn so to a hall such as this is a fascinating sign indeed."

"Oh," Aniras said in answer. "But I'm not supposed to go in..."

"Oh!" The neophyte echoed. Aniras blinked at her, and she looked towards him like she suddenly got something that went clear over his head. She picked herself up and scooted around the two of them, then left in a quick trot.

Aniras looked after the neophyte, just in time to see Cantor Istolle pinch the bridge of her own nose with two fingers in agitation and address a few words to her increasingly distracted underlings.

"Pay no mind. She is unhappy with me for the time being, already." The other cantor practically rumbled in amusement, and stepped forward into the hall. Aniras moved forward, too. There was still a hand firmly set upon his shoulder, and he was not about to offend someone important by wrenching away. Besides, he really did want to take a look, even if he was quickly starting to believe he just accidentally started an international incident.

The drop into darkness and stark silence almost startled him, even expecting it. Fingers squeezed over his shoulder, probably in an attempt to be reassuring.

Differences between the hall of visions and the crown's observatory were like night and day. There was some sense of oppression, of loneliness, of being infinitesimally small among the larger cosmos here.

Aniras took slow steps forward, head tilting back and up. The neophyte had been right, he realized. He couldn't hear himself breathing, he couldn't even hear his own heartbeat in his ears, and it should have been deafening with everything else blocked out.

The stars went on forever. The hall had a sense of depth that the observatory lacked, probably the reason it made it feel like he was thrown out into a sea of stars and left to their mercy, rather than like it all was there for an observer's benefit.

He didn't really like it.

Lifting his hand away from his shoulder, the cantor behind him moved past and forward. Before the man was swallowed by the darkness, he rolled one wrist aside and snapped his fingers. The snap echoed strangely, and then sound suddenly returned to the hall.

He could hear his heartbeat. He heard an awkward whistling in his right ear, though that quickly faded. The steps of the cantor scuffed to the mosaic floor, and his own shuffling footsteps followed. Aniras had a sneaking suspicion he was going to be in a great deal of trouble for all of this, somehow, so he decided to make the best of it, and to memorize every detail he could because he was probably never leaving his room again except to attend lessons.

Elinde was going to have a field day shoving this one in his face. He could imagine it now. 'Ani, remember that time you broke every rule ever and started a war?' Great.

Aniras breathed out a heavy sigh, turning to look back. One of the adepts spoke with the city's own cantor back in the archway, but he pulled his eyes off his impending doom and put them on the moons instead.

From there, back up to the stars, and he turned to pace deeper into the darkness. "Something feels wrong with it," he ventured out loud. "But I wonder if that isn't nerves. I'm going to be in so much trouble for this."

"You will not," the rumble of the cantor assured, carrying from the other side of the hall. He couldn't actually see him over there.

"They might be, however." The man added with a short, jovial laugh. "Such a waste of potential. Ah, forgive my digression. What feels wrong, young mage?"

Aniras looked over towards where the voice came from, then upwards again. "I don't know. I don't like it, not as much as the crown observatory. It's not the dark, or the quiet. It all feels a little out of place. The one by the library feels right, at least it did when I was there. This one's missing... there should be something over there."

Purely polite, the cantor asked, "Where, if I may? If you point, I cannot see."

"Oh," Aniras blanched, then shook his head. It didn't cross his mind that he might be led; the cantor could see him perfectly well in the darkness. The man's mask had been a solid one. "Apologies, sir. Between... between, I don't know for sure, but I think that's the rukh over there, with Ashtat at its eye? I haven't done astronomy yet, just looked at some of my brother's... and, what I remember, um. That one's my favorite. But between the bird and the serpent, there should be something brighter, in line with Ashtat, and... along the serpent's wings, too. Pointing at-"

"Golei." The cantor supplied the name of the star he was pointing up at and trying to remember.

"Yeah. It should be over... there? Feels like it should be over there." Aniras shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "And we shouldn't be able to see the red one over there. I don't think this or the observatory would have that right."

That brought a chuckle from the man. "Why do you believe it so?"

"Because we... shouldn't be able to see it." Aniras' voice lilted up a touch, almost confused. "It's... flickery. Bright, and dark. Dark right now. It's shining a different way." He decided.

"Ezair!" A woman's voice preceded sharp footsteps, followed by muted ones. "I've been on shaky footing enough with the Archmage already! You're going to be the last nail in my coffin, you bleeding scoundrel."

"A pleasure, Istolle." The cantor from Adano greeted her with nothing but pleasant warmth.

"Don't you dare," she snipped back, tone sharp.

Mister Ledrin spoke up, curious rather than annoyed. He must have been the owner of the muted footsteps. His voice carried in the relative silence of the long hall. "What are they doing?"

"This one... this one... we're close to this one. That bright one over there, too." Aniras, now deeply distracted, was still muttering.

"Orrida and Hilagar are coming into alignment between us and the sun, yes. A few days hence, in fact." Ezair noted to him. Somehow he heard and spoke to him personally, despite being many steps away. The boy wasn't even paying attention, feeling out something he had never really been able to pinpoint before and putting names and visuals to the feelings.

The swelling song was Orrida, and the buzz that was making his fingers and ears feel strange the more he thought about it, Hilagar. Planets, the second and third in the system. He felt warm, and short of air.

Cantor Istolle took a deep breath, then spoke firmly. Her voice, though it was not loud, rang very, very clear to Aniras. "Acolyte. Return to your Adept. You will be leaving immediately."

Aniras froze when addressed, then shuddered, not particularly enjoying the way being spoken to in that manner made it feel like someone poured ice water directly into his stomach. The fuzzy electric warmth filtering through him was doused in it, and abruptly he felt like he should not be here at all. Especially not doing this. His stomach turned over in worry, the cold feeling creeping outwards slowly. His breath fogged on the air, manifesting his frigid anxiety. These were the kinds of sensations that got him into trouble, that got people hurt, that he was supposed to report to his newest Adept. He... didn't know the man's name, yet, didn't care enough to remember.

Aniras had to tell his personal warden that he accidentally pulled power to effect again, especially if the cantors and Ledrin saw everything.

He dropped his hand, hunched his shoulders in, then turned towards the door. A quick glance confirmed Cantor Istolle was exactly as irate as she sounded, and Ledrin had walked in with her. They were both silhouetted by the archway, some distance back now.

"Before you chase him out," Cantor Ezair raised his voice subtly. "I must request you take one very good look at that young man. Yourself, too, honored mage. That one should not be wearing the mark of mere hopeful, especially not at his age."

"That is not a matter for the cloth to decide." Ledrin was generally laid back, but a certain firm edge touched his voice. "Go find Adept Treilles, Aniras."

Aniras ducked his head and walked a little more quickly.

Ezair breathed a sigh that carried, a heavy, exasperated sound. "If you so speak. I would think you've wasted a decade of what would be one of your youngest Proficient. He requires astromancy, even if he cannot understand all else you place in front of him. I cannot imagine what gross mismanagement resulted in that."

Proficient? But he never had even passed the requisite exams to become a novice proper, despite years of trying. Things always went so wrong.

Ledrin made a sound, and it was not a pleasant one. Older mages never liked being questioned, though.

Istolle tensed, and hissed. "Ezair, please!" A few moments later, however, she gave the young man a look, turning aside.

In the darkness of the long hall, Aniras saw very little, and having passed the two who came in after him, walked for the door. Knowing eyes were on him, even masked ones, made a crawly feeling creep up his back. He called it. In trouble forever. At least that was really interesting for a little while there.

"You felt him reach, did you not?" They were still speaking as he moved out. Ezair's deep voice still carried all too easily in the nigh-empty hall.

Istolle conceded, sounding irritated still, but thoughtful. "That was an amateur's attempt of Orrida."

"And Hilagar, in tandem." The Cantor of Adano corrected. "Drawn blind, unknowing, but drawn."

Ledrin's voice softened, like he was trying to not speak loudly enough for the boy to hear. "All due respect, but this is a situation you don't understand, Cantors."

Mister Ledrin did not return with the rest of their group. Aniras saw a great deal more of the man when he was in fact placed into lessons on astronomy, both magic and sciences, soon after.

#backstory #aniras #I still like this so up it goes

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