With every step, Scarlet had to keep her horse steady. Anytime Farris took a step she could feel it in the horse's back as she rode along. His hair would stand on end and his bones locked up more than normal. Anytime the giant would step a bit too close or slam his foot down a bit too hard Philip would buck his head back and forth acting like he was going to take off in the opposite direction. A few times she bent down and would whisper in his ear to calm down and stroke his side to calm his nerve. It never calmed him down completely, but it made the horse refrain from taking off with her on its back.
The most recent time this happened she glared up at the giant to show her distaste. She knew he was doing this on purpose.
In fact, the man didn't even know he was doing this action. All he was concentrating on was making it to the destination and getting this over with. He didn't even notice when the hunter gave him the look. He did though notice her pulling on the reins and consoling the horse.
"Problems?"
Scarlet sat up while grabbing onto the rein even harder trying to push her emotions down and give him a straight answer. She knew if he figured out all this was getting on her nerves the creature would just continue. "No. No problems."
"It seems to me there is. My question is if you can't handle the horse then why ride her?"
Taking a deep breath, she took a few moments to push down all the insults before answering. "It's a guy thank you and Philip is just fine. He's just a bit antsy is all."
Farris gave her the look. The look of 'come on.' before Scarlet couldn't continue this 'civil' conversation. "Alright. You know what you are doing giant. So knock it off." the words spilled out before she could even catch herself.
Farris stopped with his movement giving her a look of confusion, though a tug of a smirk revealed itself. "And what may I ask am I doing?" Even though he stopped to talk Scarlet continued on, that was until he showed his hand of mischief. She pulled on the reins making Phillip make a half circle and turn.
"You know exactly what you are doing. Now if you would stop with your shenanigans then we can get this over with." Trying to progress on her way she kicked her feet into Philip to continue on her way. If she was further ahead maybe the giant wouldn't startle her horse as much.
"I don't think we are done with this conversation." he reached over towards the girl. She only saw looming darkness above her that got closer and closer finally turning into a grip on her clothing. With one swift movement of his hand, she was dangling above the ground. Watching as her horse got smaller and smaller till her view was filled with a brown-haired face. Reaching behind her she quickly grasped at her crossbow.
With one shake of his hand, her body moved up and down and her weapons, straps, and arrows came tumbling down to the ground. There was only one last resort. In her pocket, she always keeps a small concealed dagger. It was so small she could wrap her whole hand around the blade and conceal it if she ever had to. Reaching down she brought it out, pointing the blade directly at his face. "Put. Me. down."
He sighed releasing a breath of hair pushing her hair out of her face. It smelled of meat and blood. "Put it away."
"Well put me down!" she pushed it closer to his face only mear inches from marking his face.
"Look. I obviously don't want to be here. You don't want me here. We are not going to get anywhere if we keep trying to kill each other. Why don't you put that silly thing away and I keep to myself? That way you don't end up lunch and I don't end up with indigestion?"
She knew what he was getting at, but hated the way he said it. She looked away, off to the side giving a mumble as a reply. "Fine. Just keep your hands to yourself."
"Alright fine by me." he lowered his hand down his body until it meets the lower part of his jacket. It wasn't at the very end to where it dragged across the ground. At least the giant was smart to wear a jacket that was ankle length. About waist height, there were two pockets on each side. He very easily slipped his hand inside releasing the girl at the bottom. Once his grasp was released from her body he took his hand out and brush both hands together like he was brushing off dirt from his hands. "There we go."
He could feel the struggling movements from the human and couldn't help but smile. Thinking of her blonde hair flipping from side to side, in front of her face, all because she wouldn't calm down long enough to release herself. If she didn't struggle and throw such a fit she wouldn't have such a hard time trying to maneuver the cloth. He figured he would let her be, at least until she won her battle with the cloth inside. As carefully as he could he crouched down to pick up the weapons he caused her to drop. It would be useless to have a human hunter with him if she was defenses, plus he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it if he left behind her crossbow. That didn't mean he wasn't tempted to toss the weapons including the precious crossbow into his pants pocket. Maybe they would accidentally get lost or damaged in their travels. He wouldn't have an arrow pointing at him every five seconds.
After five minutes the girl must have figured out how to maneuver the fabric because her annoying voice came drifting up to his ears. He couldn't tell what she was saying unless he concentrated since she was at a distance. He could hear the aggregation and scream in her voice. Probably yelling at Farris for picking her up and placing her in the most inconvenient place ever.
"Calm down shorty. I can't even hear exactly what you're saying, but it's probably something like I can't believe you put me in here! You don't even know where we are going!" His eyes drifted down to catch her just barely hanging onto the outside of the pocket trying to keep herself from being bucked back in from his movements.
"No! What I'm saying is you forgot my horse! And maybe a few other things." her hands slipped once making her tumble down, luckily she caught herself fairly quickly. Farris only caught something about a horse.
"Oh calm down. You trained Philip well. He's following behind. Probably keeping his distance from me, but he's still here hunter."
What Farris wasn't revealing to the hunter was the giant she was talking about, he knew exactly who it was. This man was certainly taller than him and had even more of a thirst for blood than he does. At least he only consumed trespassers and hunters. He didn't go out looking for trouble, well didn't use to. His eyes traced back down to the girl hanging for dear life. He could see why he was wanted by the humans, but could the lass take care of him? This was no gremlin or even orc. This was a blood-thirsty giant.
He shook his head out of those thoughts. Why did he care? That's probably why she dragged him along was to do all the work and she would get the credit.
"Y...ey!!!Hey!!!" he looked down after he was so rudely broken from his concentration. "What?"
"You th-- ou can ove me?" he was done with this communication split. He roughly grabbed the hunter from his pocket bringing her up to his face. He could see her curly almost white hair was flung everywhere once more from his actions and couldn't help but laugh a bit. Scarlet struggled in his fist, but not to free herself. She was trying to straighten out the mop and tie it back once more. " I said you think you can move me?" she said with a huff as she tied her hair back once more in a bun the best she could in this predicament. "It may be best if you can hear me plus that's more like a prison. I'd get worn out before we even get to our destination."
"Maybe that was the plan?" he could see her eyes glaring daggers, so he decided to place her on his shoulder.
She stumbled and nearly fell off after being placed up there. It wasn't because of his rough handling, she was just not used to this predicament. Instinctually she reached over to grab the cloth he always had present around his neck from the collar. The texture was rough and she could tell it warn, probably from how many times Faris grabbed it and fiddled with the cloth to get it to stand straight up instead of laying against his shoulders. There were a few frays that he probably didn't even notice and holes from how hard he would tug on it. "You couldn't place me anywhere else?"
"Well, it's either this or the pocket? The horse is too slow, you are definitely not walking, and I refuse to carry you all the way to the destination."
"The shoulder is fine."
At least he could hear her mumble now with her being right by his ear. Farris watched with the corner of his eye as she tried to lower herself as slow as she could and cling onto the cloth with one hand to get into a sitting position. A few times she kicked him, but he acted as nothing happened. At one point her hand slipped as she shimmed down, but she caught herself trying to act as nothing happened. Farris looked down, noticing his hand got closer to her without him even knowing it. He prayed she didn't see that and lowered it back down once she was situated. "You good now?"
"Shut up." Scarlet looked around at her surroundings. She did admit to herself that the view from up here was beautiful. Horrifying but beautiful, like a lion. She could see on for miles, even further than being at the top of a mountain but had to prepare herself for if her grip released and she came tumbling down.
Her was breath was so taken she didn't even speak for the longest time. Birds seemed to only be an arm's length away and she swore she could touch the clouds. All of this was an exaggeration of course, but she couldn't believe the view. It was Farris's throat-clearing that snapped her out of her thoughts. "What?!" she snapped.
"Are you really that mesmerized by a little bit of height?"
"Shut up"
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Neither of them thought about the obvious when they left... this was going to be a one-day trip, as in they would have to camp out. When it was approaching dusk, Farris started to approach a town. He placed Scarlet down and went off on his own. He wasn't going to touch a human town with a ten-foot pole. Scarlett didn't care either way as long as she was not around him while she slept. She slipped off towards the town seeking the first tavern she could find. Inside a few men were already celebrating, but off in the corner she met the eyes of a man she never wanted to face in a place like this. No, it was not a fellow hunter like in the last brothel she went to in her own town, it was a guard. Guards or King's men were the worst men for women to run into, especially at a brothel. She knew it was a stereotype, but it was a good stereotype to run by. The King's men had a history of disrespecting women. She wasn't talking about grabbing her ass when she walked by like a barmaid, but they had the tendency to cross the line even if the women did not give consent, why do you think there were so many bastards in the world?
Slipping past as many people as she could with her cloak still on, she went directly towards the man behind the counter. She couldn't help but notice the man's eyes already drifting her way, probably noticing the shape of her body not possibly belonging to a man. " One mug of your cheapest brew." Tossing a coin onto the counter, she slowly sat down on a stool. If she kept to herself then nothing would happen. She eyed the barkeep as he made her drink then slid it to her, not even asking for the money since he noticed it already placed on the counter. He tipped his hat and went on his way to serve others.
Picking up her mug she could just feel the griminess of the place, but at this point, she was used to it. Every tavern had its differences, but every single one was not up to code. As she moved the mug closer to her lips her cloak stuck to the counter just from the leftover beer that was probably tossed around from the last fight. Her mug was chipped on the side and she could feel the brew dripping down the side from the cracks. This just encouraged her to drink faster before she lost all of her drink.
The man stood up from his stool, she didn't even want to test the theory on if he was coming to her or not. Before the tavern keep could come back around and ask if she wanted more, she drank the rest, getting up from her chair. "Thanks. Here is a bit extra." she threw the coin on the counter and walked out. Now was the problem. The Tavern was also her ticket to a bed. Now she would have to go back to...him.
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No wonder the giant had so many hunters going after him. She didn't know if it was because he wanted dinner or if he didn't care since he wasn't in his territory or maybe it was that he just wanted some adventure. She didn't know, but once she approached the area where the two parted she looked around. She noticed smaller things like broken tree branches that had to lead to him. Upon closer inspection, she realized once she was close enough the giant made a fire, which was strange enough. Hits we're known to have warmer body heat to them, that's how they could live in colder areas such as the mountains or tundra.
Maybe this wasn't Farris. The tree branches haven't been irregularly broken for a few minutes. Getting closer with her senses screaming to be ready she started to take in the view of the fire now that it was even closer. It was a simple flame made with branches, pinecones, and leaves. It had to be human with such small supplies used. She didn't notice the human around, but no giant either. What did happen to Farris?
The brush behind her started to move. On instinct, she reached for her crossbow and readied it. It didn't matter if it was a guard or a merchant. This just didn't feel right especially with no giant.
The man came through carrying a few bundles and froze at the sound of the arrow being put into place to fire.
The man had a rough-looking beard, brown hair, and gold chain that was glowing with a small tint.
Either out of statement or habit, Scarlett watched as the man turned and shifted sizes. It happened too fast for her to see what exactly happened or how it was done, unlike last time. She had to walk backward a few steps to give herself space and adjust her weapon back to place to seem like he wasn't a threat.
"Farris." She made her way to in front of the fire sitting down so she seemed like she wasn't fazed by all of this, unlike his reaction.
"What are you doing here?" he snapped in agitation.
His voice, the way he was now trying to look over her, even his tone set her off. "That is none of your business honestly. What are you expect a date or something?"
"Don't avoid the question. I was not planning on protecting a human tonight. I brought you to the town so you had a place far away from here."
Scarlett sat in silence trying to get past this instead of arguing. It was too late to start this right now. Staring into the fire she could notice a forced expression of annoyance from Farris, probably trying to start something.
"Why did you shift from a human to a giant so quickly?"
Farris's eyes drifted away from her instantly. He started to stare into the human-sized fire as well as both sat awkwardly. Neither were arguing and this was...odd. Out of plain curiosity as well as trying to get the silence to cease she spoke up. "I don't want to argue. I am genuinely curious. Why did you shift so quickly? It's not like I didn't know."
She heard him sigh but saw the breath put out the fire. Utter darkness engulfed both of them. Luckily this concealed the eye roll.
"Sorry."
She stood up gathering flint so she could strike her knife for a spark once more. "Oh my gosh! You said sorry!"
"Shut up," he grumbled once more while she snickered a bit.
"But seriously you going to answer?" she sat down starting to strike the rocks making a clanging sound.
It took Farris some time to answer. He waited until the flame was struck up by Scarlett. "Honestly it's just out of habit."
"You didn't think about being human for the trip?" She settled down by the fire placing her hands near to get warm.
"Did you seriously ask that question? Do you really think I would be a fragile human on a trip through bandit country?"
"Good point." She tried not to get offended by his statement and grabbed her knees for warmth. "So...are you human or-"
"Don't even finish that sentence of course I'm a giant. The necklace is what gives me the power to shift between this and human." He laid out making sure to place his feet away from the flame and the girl. Unlike her, he was already comfortable even without a flame for warmth.
Looking up to try and see through the darkness his expression. "Then why even shift in the first place?"
"Protection. You can't go around eating humans and not have a backup plan for hiding. A few survivors, hiding while human and surprise I'm the shadow of the forest. A giant who can disappear." he looked directly at her. "What about you? What's your story?"
Scarlett looked up at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"How does a woman get into the occupation of a hunter?"
She wanted to growl at his question but refrained. This was the most civil either has been in a while. "My father. He was a hunter. Ivan the silent. A stupid name I know, but that's what you get with a reputation."
Farris couldn't form words. The famous hunter known for hunting giants and creatures alike was her father. He was the only known man to kill the giant Eldrazi and live, as well as having proof of it. Others have claimed but none had proof.
"He taught me at a young age to hunt, track, basically anything I needed to be like him. Took me along on all his hunts unless they were dangerous. He was the one to show me you didn't have to be a man to be a hunter."
"But isn't that a lonely life? No mate. No children?"
Scarlett went silent. She didn't mention anything after that. Farris could only stare down at her minuscule form below him. "Night Farris." the giant didn't want to push anymore. There was a reason she shut down at the question.
"Night hunter."
So the travels didn't go exactly as planned, but it wasn't horrible. Just some shenanigans. These two being these two, but we also find out some information. Seems like Scarlett comes from a family of hunters, but why is the topic of family touchy to her? Next chapter we run into trouble called the mountain giant. So what do you guys think? Anything particular you want to see?