Two Worlds among the Stars (G/t)

5. Chapter: The Plan

Noah knew a lot of bad ways to wake up. Sleeping in was one of them. Technically, it wasn't something unusual for someone his age, nor something bad for that matter. It was part of being a child - of having a normal childhood. But the 15-year-old didn't have a normal childhood. His carefree days had ended long before he had hit puberty. Nowadays sleeping in meant being late for his job, which meant trouble with his boss. Waking up to the sound of shrieking little children wasn't much better either, though he quickly had gotten used to that. But even alI of that combined was nothing compared to realizing that your dream, about being sacrificed to the legendary giant, hadn't been a dream at all.

When Noah blinked his eyes open, he already had a bad feeling. Based on the lack of sunlight he knew that he hadn't overslept for once. While that was a small relief, it did nothing to loosen the knot in his stomach. Still not fully awake yet, the teen rolled onto his back and rubbed his hands across his face. When he pulled them away Noah stared at an unfamiliar ceiling, which seemed to be oddly high?

Cold dread washed over him, as he realized that he wasn't in his room. But if he wasn't in the orphanage, then where was he? Slowly, but surely, Noah started to remember where he was. The events of yesterday bit by bit replaying in his mind, while the knot in his stomach tightened. The guards, the mayor, being sacrificed to "the beast". Panicking, he shot up and frantically took in his surroundings. A shiver ran down his spine, when his fears were proven to be true. Everything around him was fucking huge! "Fuck!" Noah cursed out loud, before realizing his mistake and using his hands to muffle the sound. 'Great! Just... great. Okay, now is not the time to freak out. Deep breaths.' Noah moved his hands to claw at his bangs, the heels of his palms digging into his eyes, in a desperate attempt to clear his mind. He couldn't let his emotions consume him, he had to think rationally.

But wait, if yesterday hadn't been a dream and this was real, then where was-?

"Look who's finally awake."

Noah tore his hands away from his face and there at the entrance of the cave, as if the mere thought had summoned him, stood the giant in all his glory. Noah rubbed his eyes, getting rid of the last bit of sleep. But it had no use. The giant was still there. This wasn't something he could wake up from. This was the reality he had to face. Ironically, he would much rather deal with the wrath of his boss after being too late, than with the colossus of a man, who currently was walking right towards him and casually sat down on his bed.

"So, how did you sleep?"

It was truly amazing how such a normal question, depending on the situation, could catch someone so off guard. And that idiot was saying it like everything about this was completely normal as well! As if there weren't more important matters to talk about. It took Noah a moment to come up with an answer. "Fine, I guess."

And that wasn't even a lie. The bed, or should he rather say the giant pillow, he had been sleeping on was really soft and way more comfortable than his old bed back in the orphanage. Absentmindedly, he stroked his hand over the piece of fabric, which was still covering his legs. Fabric, which shouldn't be there. When he looked down there was indeed a piece of cloth, that looked like a large blanket. That hadn't been there, when he had fallen asleep last night. So someone must have put it there at some point after that. And considering the red-haired giant was the only one living in the cave, it wasn't hard to figure out who that someone was. Which basically meant that he had tucked him in. That thought made Noah feel weird. Nobody had tucked him in ever since he had lost his mom. Okay, this guy was officially weird. Hell, this whole situation was weird!

"Good to hear. I hope you're hungry, I already made breakfast." Noah braced himself for being grabbed again, but instead of huge fingers wrapping around him, an outstretched hand laid in front of him, palm facing up. Taken aback, the teen stared at the waiting hand, then shifted his gaze to the man's face and back to the hand again. Before finally settling on squinting up suspiciously.