The bag I was trapped in was thrown to the floor, sending me flying into shapes I had no name for. I strained to twist my other leg free. No use. It was bound even tighter than my other one, and I was rapidly running out of time. I could hear the shuddering tremors of movement through the walls of the bag. Every snapping twig made me want to burst into tears.
I could only imagine what he was doing out there.
I didn't have time to ponder it, because before I knew it the slash of the zipper was tearing over my head. Light blinded me. I blinked frantically in an attempt to regain my sight— everything was happening so fast, too fast. From my wire prison I could see the blue sky above, not a single cloud in the sky. The first signs of summer. My freedom, if I could just fly-
The human's hand swooped into the bag, fingers stretching down. Dread and panic drowned every sense and I tried to shuffle away, but the wire still bound my limbs together. Before I could even take a breath he had clasped the end of the wire ball and began pulling it upwards. Towards him. Thread snaked across my skin as it was pulled up. The rest of it followed, stretching out of its jumble to form one long, straight line. I was ready to faint— but the miraculous happened. As the jumble straightened, the binds around me miraculously began to shift. Loosen. I found that only my wings and arms were still unmovable. I could just about kick out my legs if I tried. I didn't have time to celebrate though. The human was seconds away from pulling me out of the bag in a tangled mess. My eyes widened as the wire around my waist began tighten, stretching dangerously upwards. My legs were tugged off the bottom of the bag as the line rose. Then suddenly, snip.
The rest of the line collapsed back down on top of me as the human cut it.
Relief crashed down in a wave. I thanked each god whose name I could recall that I wasn't tangled in the part he had taken from the bag. The human was busying himself with something out of my vision, which gave me previous time to think. Get out. I had to, somehow.
Now only bound at my arms and waist, I managed to struggle my way over to a flat surface in the bag and flop myself on top of it. It was rough under my skin, harsh and... just so strange, but it was solid ground. Anything would do for now.
I took in some air, wasting time I didn't have. The air inside the bag was being baked beneath the late afternoon sun. Summer is here early— I thought to myself, rather unfunnily— the heat and the humans both.
I looked up at the sides of the huge bag, searching for a way out. The walls were smooth, impossible to climb. My wings were still tangled on my back...
I frowned, that distant panic still coursing through my veins. Think, useless girl, think.
I was able to kick away some of the wire binding me, finally getting close to freeing one of my arms. The strand that connected me to the main ball of wire fell away as I pushed and tugged. Only a few stubborn threads remained hanging across my feet.
Halfway free. My lungs demanded I rest a moment, but I wouldn't. At least now I wasn't attached to the rest of that tangled mess. Only my right arm was still bunched up against my chest. All I needed to do was find a way to detangle that, and I would be able to free my wings. Then it was a straight shot home.
I scowled, pulling at the thin wire that pressed into my skin. The skin pooled white and bloodless under its weight. I couldn't snap it.
The human abruptly shifted around on my right, wobbling the bag. His sigh echoed in the air between us. My head snapped up as I felt a whoosh of air, and sure enough, a huge hand swooped into the bag. Daggered fingers felt for something without him actually looking down.
Well thank the gods for that. I laughed purely from the nerves. What if the human decided to look inside the bag? Then what would I be able to do? Shoving the thought from my mind, I kept my eyes fixated on his fingertips as they brushed against the various contents of the bag. Quickly deciding that I would rather be nowhere near the huge things, I tried to shuffle to the edge of the scratchy surface I was on, but the wire made it almost impossible to move without making sound. My wings dragged uselessly with every twitch. Cursing under my breath didn't help, nor did trying to dig my hands under the restraints.
Come on! I struggled, the threads feeling tighter with every movement the giant hand made. He was so close, too close, a scene not even my wildest nightmares could have conjured. I glanced up from where I had been wrenching on the bindings to check the hand's position. It reached for me before I had a chance to scream.
I wheezed a breath as I frantically scrambled away, no longer caring about the scratch on my wings. The claw wasn't reaching for me, I reasoned breathlessly, he was still as blind as before-
His fingers brushed the edge of the box I was on, flexing in surprise when they bumped against an object. And with no other warning, the hand was sweeping towards me. I couldn't even scream as enormous fingers collided with my face, feeling for his damned things and whacking me instead.
The impact knocked me flat on my back. I wasn't sure what sucked the breath out of me; the force of our contact or the fact I had just touched a human. Every nerve blared alarm-signals as the huge surfaces raised. The human seemed to hesitate. Maybe he was confused about what the hell he had just touched, not that I cared much. I was already scrambling backwards. The hand then pressed down just as I managed to sit up and flat out pinned me against the lid of the box.
Everything went fuzzy in my mind as I lay there frozen, caught beneath the weight of a monster's hand. It was so hot. It was so hot and heavy and I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move I couldn't breathe-
I screamed.
The sound erupted from my chest. I kicked my legs as fiercely as I could, hands smacking against the claw, pounding at it. Get away! The fingers recoiled instantly at my thrashing, and to my horror, there was a sound of surprise from the human that resonated through me. I dragged myself backwards the second I could move, not caring about the fast approaching edge in my panic. Get away, get away from him now! Just as he pulled his hand from the bag, the floor went out from under me.
I lurched backwards all of a sudden, down and down through the air before I even had a chance to try and grab for some sort of hold. Air whooshed past me as I dropped into a small pouch that lay at the bottom of the bag, landing with a painful blow to my back. I fumbled to sit up, head whipping this way and that in a frenzied panic. There were walls all around me now, woven from some sort of coarse fabric and stretching high. No, no- realisation hit me square in the face. I had fallen into something in his bag. It would be even harder to get out now.
I gawked around me and gathered that this was some sort of little pouch, containing silvery spikes. Pins. I thanked the stars they were all covered, clipped into themselves. The strange, shiny substance shone in the sun, glinting obnoxiously into my eyes.
Why did you move so much? The human had snatched his hand from my stupid movement, obviously startled by something squirming around in his bag. My tangled arm trembled against my chest as I turned my head towards the opening of the pouch. Stupid. Why didn't I just stay still? The pins below me clinked with every movement I made, painfully announcing my presence. I waited breathlessly for the return of the gigantic hands, waited for them to reach in grab me and...
Calm down. I firmly told myself not to scream again. You got yourself into this mess, can't you get yourself out of it? The scouts would be ashamed if they saw me like this. Cursing myself was all I could do, over and over again as I desperately tried to calm my breathing.
A shadow nulled the glint of the pins.
I snapped my head up, heart sinking.
A hand had blotted out the sun.
All I could do was watch with terror as his hand lowered directly over the pouch that held me. The entire world seemed to darken as he closed the top between his fingers, followed by a shuddering throughout my body. This time it wasn't me that was shaking. To my horror, I realised that the human was lifting the entire thing out of the bag. Effortlessly. The strength of these huge people wasn't something that I could easily ignore. I looked around madly as I was swayed about the pins, their sharp edges scratching my palms. After a moment of the blind swinging I found that my prison was being placed onto some sort of solid ground, because all the movement suddenly stopped. His hand moved away from the top of the pouch, allowing it to stretch wide and light seep in once more.
I blinked in the low sun. Sick to my stomach I waited and waited, waited for his hand to appear at the opening of the bag, waited for it to reach in for me...
No, no, no- please let him not find me. My chest was heaving in and out, my body wired on fear. I could feel my heart. I could feel the shudder of his breathing outside of the bag. He was listening. Listening to the small clinks the pins gave each time I drew in a breath. He could hear me, I was sure of it, and all I could do was wait for the hand to come and... oh gods, I couldn't bear to imagine it.
Only, when something did finally appear, it wasn't a hand at all.
He leant over the bag. His bottomless, voided eye dominated my world, blocking out light, drowning me in shadow. The human found me instantly, and froze.
I froze too. Too afraid to move. To breathe.
Sam mumbled something unintelligible from outside the bag.
I couldn't help but quake as he found my face, my hair, gaze sliding over my features. Stay hidden, everyone had always told me. Why? I wanted to cry from the fear— why? What was he going to do to me now I had broken the rule?
I didn't mean to, tears beaded in my eyes as I stared back at him, I'll be more careful now. Please.
"What the..?" His voice shook me. I winced, wings jerking against the wire.
"The hell is this?" He said aloud, eyes still focused on my face. I shrank back against the wall of the pouch. Faintly, I was aware of the heat rimming in my eyes. In all my life, never once had I ever been this utterly petrified— numb with the terror. Why does he have to be so big? It was so unfair, so so unfair.
After what seemed like an eternity his face finally pulled away from the bag, leaving me bound tightly in the bottom of it. Relief crashed down before being lost to the fear. I forced in a pathetic gasp of air.
Run.
Frantically I tried to stand but slipped on the sea of pins. You have to get away. Tugging and yanking on the wires that bound me didn't work. My wings didn't work. I couldn't fly; I couldn't rip the pouch either, I couldn't do anything! Oh gods- my knees buckled, drained of all strength and bravery. I had to get out. You couldn't be seen by a human— it was a death-sentence, everyone had been telling me over and over again!
Yet I had been.
I was breathless and trembling as unbridled panic seized me.
Get out, someh- somehow. I pleaded with no one in particular for some sort of trick to get me out of the situation, anything. A rip in the bag or- wait. I cast my eyes down to the pins on which I was trembling. Sharp. A glorious idea lit up my mind, and for just a second I could see myself fleeing back into the middle of the forest, completely unscathed. I might have sobbed from relief. Could I cut the bag with the pin? That's what I would have found out if I'd have had just a second more to try.
But I didn't.
It took me a moment to fathom the blackness creeping over my skin. A shadow. By the time I snapped my head back to find its source, an impossibly enormous hand had already began to snake into the pouch. That was when I realised. The human was reaching for me.
Violently shaking, I crawled backwards, finding no purchase on the slippery pins, nowhere to go. I was trapped within the walls. To my utter horror, fingers that could have been pillars of stone began to widened around me, like the talons of a bird.
I screamed aloud this time instead of in my head. My arms went out, but the pins around me began to clink, began to to slide and slip against each other. Fingers were already digging under me. I scrambled around in circles, chest heaving up and down. There was no way out, even upwards was blocked by his huge palm. Help- help me-
A thumb brushed the underneath of my legs, and I made a sound I never have before; I whimpered. Help.
In hopes that I would alarm the creature like before, I tried to kick his horrible finger-things away from me. It wasn't enough this time. A thumb hooked my kicking legs from the floor, warm pressure scooping me up along with some of the pins. The huge thing seemed to wrap around me from all sides until the claw had closed on me. Oh gods- my chest heaved, he's picking you up.
"Stop, st- help!" I shrieked out, "Help! Let go- HELP!"
The creature couldn't hear me. Or he simply didn't care. Fingers were closing around me like bars to form an inescapable prison. Despite my objections, I was lifted out of the pouch. I strained hopelessly, but my movement only seemed to spike his curiosity. The enormous fingers swathed over me, forcing me against his palm. Help- Protest clogged my throat. I endeavoured to get away from the hand, from him. And still I was hoisted up through the opening of the small pouch and into the sunlight.
Once it actually registered in my mind that I was out of the bag I went totally rigid, eyes wide with terror. The familiar forest opened up around me.
He must have felt me go still. With unbearable slowness, the human gradually unwound his laced fingers. The hand flattened to leave me kneeling in the middle of his palm.
Hands trembling, I crawled backwards, forwards, left and right then forwards again. Pointless circles in a pointless attempt at escape. He's going to kill you. My wings thrashed on my back, wire biting into them. No he's not, don't think things like that, don't-
I could feel flesh beneath my fingertips, his skin burning just under me. Wrinkling my nose, I tried to ignore how much I despised the feel of the strange warmth under my hands. There was nowhere to go and nothing I could do, and so I fell still.
I hadn't even dared look up at him yet. Maybe for fear of what I might find. But once I realised that I hadn't already, there was no resisting raising my head and looking at the human.
A whine caught at the back of my throat when I looked up. How- how could this thing... this enormous thing staring down at me, be a person? I was no bigger than the length of just one of his fingers. I was nothing compared to him. Oh gods, he was so huge... I started to crawl backwards again.
I was brought towards his amazed-looking face. The brown eyes focused on me, looked over me with a clear uncertainty in his face— like he couldn't fathom that what was trembling his palm could actually be there.
This had to be a dream. An illusion. I couldn't be staring into the face of a real human, the most feared, brutish creature to have ever roamed my forest. For every second I spent gawking at him, my heart felt as if it was getting a little frailer.
He didn't speak. I didn't speak. Just shivered, not daring to move as he studied me with such a... human curiosity. None of the stories had ever come close to this. Nothing could do their terror justice. He was so enraptured that he didn't notice when his hand began to tilt to one side, and I foolishly let out a panicked cry.
His eyes widened, making me freeze up again. I held my arm up in midair, not daring move again. It took the human a moment to realise that I had reacted to his movement. After another second, the palm tipped fully to the side, forcing me into a slide. He was dropping me- I couldn't fly! I slid down the pink skin helplessly, hands clawing for a hold. No no n- but I didn't fall to the ground below. I barely fell at all.
The human was pinching the back of my jacket between his thumb and finger, dangling me in the open air by a precarious grip on my clothes. My gaze dipped to the dizzying drop that swirled below my feet, and my chest emptied. I was hanging with nothing beneath me but the forest floor... far, far beneath. And my wings didn't work. It was a stomach-turning thought. The human may have been kneeling, but even dropping me from this height would certainly kill me. The human. Eyes wide with fear, I looked up. The human...
Our eyes met.
"The hell..." He muttered, his voice chilling me. I shivered weakly. The human jerked me close to his face, "The hell are you?"
All I could do was flinch. He must have noticed my unease in some way, because his eyes widened again.
"Hold on... do you understand me?" That was immediately followed by awkward muttering along the lines of of course it doesn't.
But the way that I winced only confirmed his suspicions.
Sam's face went into a frown before he spoke, "You... you do?" He shook his head with wonder, "What th..." hesitantly, he turned my back towards him. I watched on in despair as he marvelled at my wings. My stomach turned. Even bound tightly, they were still red and orange, eye-catching. And a terrible thing for him to notice.
"Wings..?" he finished with a tone of incredulity. The human smiled absently stretched his other hand towards me, "What are you?"
Panic robbed me of breath. Was he going to touch them? No- no, you couldn't do that-
I shook my head, "No!" I thrashed to block his hand.
Sam's face lit up, the fingers stopping, "Oh my g... you talk?" He placed me back in the palm of his hand... gently. Panting fiercely, I yanked at the wire on my wings. It still wouldn't give out.
The human ogled. The human. It kept returning to my head that these things were notoriously known as murderous beasts. And all he could do was stare at me.
"Please..." I breathed, "Don't hurt me."
He went on staring, but those dark eyes seemed to soften at my tremulous voice. The human looked confused for a second, trying to understand the meaning of the words. I hugged myself tight, waiting. Realisation finally spread across the huge face.
"You think that I'm going to hurt..." he was painfully loud, "No, no I won't hurt you. " He seemed distraught that I would even suggest such a thing.
We stared at each other for a moment. I won't hurt you. The words repeated in my mind. Sam hesitantly brought his fingers closer and prodded me, causing me to let out a cry.
He spoke quietly, "What are you?"
I couldn't speak with such a gaze bearing down on me. All I could think about were the horrors I was told as a child. Humans were terrible, deceiving creatures that were just as clever as us. Killers. Monsters, like the creatures lurking under your bed.
He was playing. He was toying with my trust. There was no way I was getting out of this alive, no way.
After a second, he went on, skirting his fingers closer to my wings, "A fairy or something?"
"Wh- No!" I shrieked, desperate to get away from his touch, "I'm a Winged!"
He raised an eyebrow, "A... Winged?"
I managed to gulp and hold the man's gaze. Speak. My lip trembled, but I produced a few words.
"I'm not... the other thing you said." I stammered. Whatever it was. Normally, offering my help would come with me announcing myself to stranger, but now I was the one who desperately needed help.
Winged must have sounded so strange to a human. But I didn't know how else to introduce myself. All the while I stuttered to find the right words, Sam stared at me with unquenchable wonder. The weight of the eyes was enough to drown.
"I'm a Winged, of the Hollow," I clung to the familiar words, "Azure. I..."
"You're not a bug, are you?" He persisted.
Vigorously I shook my head no. That made him laugh, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend. It's... Ah-zuri, right? You're a... Winged?" He didn't sound like he understood the title. Or my name. I nodded nevertheless.
The human continued, "So you're like..." eyes flicked over me, "A tiny girl?"
The tiny at the beginning of the title was horrible. I gathered all the bravery in my body, and with a little quiver managed a shout, "Return me to the ground. Or I'll be forced to- to..."
To what? Oh gods. I hadn't even said anything yet and I already sounded like such a terrible liar. As if he would believe anything I said.
Confirming my fears, Sam raised his eyebrows, "To..?" but the smile faded when he saw me shrink away from him.
"Aww hey, I didn't mean to sc..." he frowned when I flinched at his voice. I couldn't help it. He was just so loud.
"You poor thing, you look terrified. Alright, hold on..."
Air ran through my hair as he carried me to my right, bringing me to a small rock-swell beside him. Sam let my body slip across his fingertips, to the very edge of his hand. Wait- he was putting me down?! My pleas were realised as the warmth was lost to solid surface. He let me go.
I scrambled to my feet and went to run the very second my feet hit the stone, but at my first twitch his gigantic fingertips swept down and kept me in place. Dread filled my stomach. Wait- With his other hand, he was reaching for something in his bag. My wings struggled on my back. What was he doing?! No- no-
No matter how I strained, his grip was unfaltering against my useless arm. Just then, his hand emerged from the bag, wielding some sort of- of... torture device. A pair of giant, glinting scissors came towards me. With the hand he was holding me with, Sam used his thumb and finger to straighten out my struggling body, wrenching my legs down and holding them still. With his other fingers, he gathered my hair up and pinned it down effortlessly.
The blades lowered towards me, catching the glow of the sinking sun.
I let out a scream, "Get o- NO!" Everything was spinning. He was going to cut me or gash me or slice me to pieces or- "Please- please stop! Don't-" I hiccuped, choking on my own tears. "Please!"
This couldn't be it. This couldn't be how I died— not at the hands of a human! I tried to cry out for help, for my Aspen, my friend- my friend. Hopeless sobs caught in my throat. Az! I wanted him! I just wanted him to help me, Az make him stop please...
The scissors suddenly stopped, inches away. Alarmingly soft, a voice rolled over me, "Hey, hey. Azure, isn't it? You're all tangled up, I'm just going to cut you free."
I shook my head, forcing my eyes closed. No, no he was lying! It was a cruel trick- he...
A snip filled my ears and I could suddenly move my arm again.
I gasped in a raspy sound, tears starting to roll down my face. The talon-things that were supposedly fingers were removed and I could sit up again. I opened my eyes and hastily sat up, only to find Sam staring at me. The scissors however were now lying beside me with a strand of wire. The pouch from where he had pulled me was also sat on the table, casting a dark shadow across the rock from the setting sun. You're free. I staggered backwards, crawling away from him in a panic. As soon as I moved, he leant towards me.
"Hold on," he started.
My voice rose both in volume and pitch in my panic, "Stay away!"
The giant hand kept coming closer, "Azure-"
"Get away! Don't touch me!"
"Calm down." The human insisted, a little sharply.
His warm finger pressed down onto my ankle and pinned it against the rock. Hard- hard enough so that I couldn't move. My eyes widened at the pressure holding me in place, another scream almost escaping. It hurt.
You made him angry.
My head snapped up to find his other hand splayed open and lowering, making for me like a claw. I couldn't get away. He was holding me down, pressing my ankle down so tight that it hurt. My arms flung up over my head in some hopeless act of protection as his hand blocked out the sun.
And then I was screaming, "Aspen!"
For a while I remained trembling like that. My arms curled over the top of my head and my knee recoiled against my chest. What's he going to do? What... what? Bleary-eyed and on the verge of tears, I peeked through my fingers at the thing that was arched over me. I could see the human's face if I looked past his hand. When I found those spotlight eyes staring, a cry scratched at my chest. The enormous creature only looked at me for a moment, observing how completely petrified I was of him... before gently lifting the finger off my foot and backing his hands away.
"Azp... Aspen. Aspen?" He tried to reproduce the sound, probably having no clue that it was a name. Of course, I didn't reply. The last thing I wanted was this human knowing was that I wasn't alone in the forest. My heart was racing in my chest as if to burst right out of it, but at least he was off my foot. I didn't make a move to run though, not yet. I was currently trying to figure out how I was still alive.
And all of a sudden, I realised that he looked rather disconcerted.
"I want to help you." The human frowned, "Your wings are-"
I shook my head fiercely, "No, stay away from me! You- you can't touch them!"
He didn't reply for a moment, then glanced at the scissors. He was probably pondering what I had said. Eventually, as the booming voice replied, "So you won't let me untie you?"
"No." I shuddered. My hands shook every time he spoke. I didn't want those hands, let alone huge metal blades anywhere near me or my wings. He didn't understand what they were, how closely they were linked to us. They weren't just wings, they were a part of you, a irreplaceable, intimate part of your being.
I managed a little inhale. How could a human possibly understand that? He had no wings. He didn't even know what I was. Sam was just looking at me with a solemn hesitation, as if he wanted to reach out for me but thought it better not to. His dark hair fell about his face as if he hadn't had it cut for a while, a deep brown colour like the wilted leaves of a rose. It was then I noticed the light hue of the human's skin... a feature that reminded me of a certain someone. Aspen. I managed a weak glare up at the towering beast.
"I need to leave. Now..." I don't know why, but my voice came out softer. He looked so docile as he stared at me on the table. A single wire was still hanging loosely at my feet, tangled around my waist. I knew that there was one more on my back that tied up my wings. He could easily pin me down and cut the threads... but he was minding my pleas to be left alone.
"I don't need your help." I managed breathlessly. Was I really talking with a monster?
"Well... I suppose that I can't keep you here against your will." He replied quietly.
I stared up at the being with wonder. No... surely this had to be some kind of human trick. All of the stories, all of the warnings... he wouldn't just... let me go, would he?
"You know, I'm not going to hurt you," his voice was louder than anything, "Don't you need some help?"
I looked up at the almost concerned features. I wasn't sure how I was going to get down from these jutting rocks without my wings, but I certainly wasn't going to ask him for help. I would figure it out.
My head shook no, "I'm fine." I gave him a nervous look, "I-I just want to go."
Before I turned to flee, the human gave me another look, "Hey- wait."
I froze in place, obedient. Not to him, but to the fear his voice struck through me.
"Before you go, just tell me something? Are there any other... things like you?"
My heart clenched. Things? What did he think I was? I shook my head fiercely. "I... it's just me." I whispered.
The human stared hard at me, "You mean you're all on your own here?"
I nodded, eyes wide.
This information was received wordlessly. He eventually nodded with a pensive look. "Alright... if you're going, I don't suppose I'll see you again. Will I, Azure?" He finally got my name right.
I gulped, "Well- well, maybe I'll visit your camp..." the lie was careful, "I've seen you and the other human there. I'll come to see you." That's likely. I could bet my wings that once I left, I would not be seeing another human again. Ever.
The human nodded, a smile appearing on his face, "I would like that."
As if I would come back! I was insanely lucky to be alive. Maybe he could see the untruth in my face, because his face fell into a frown.
"Thank you for, um... being so nice..." I hurried to end the conversation. At first, I wasn't sure that he had heard me, but he gave a little nod. With that, I began to creep away.
My mind was practically on fire. He was letting me go?! This was unheard of... the Elders had always told us that if a human discovered you, it was over. You were dead. The End, Goodbye, dead. That was no lie either. They weren't just stories, but rather truths. So many people had been killed by humans, directly or indirectly.
As I took another step forwards, I felt a sharp snagging on my waist. I turned to face Sam again, only to find that his arm was resting against the end of the wire that was tangled on me. He seemed unaware of it though, still watching me intently.
"Your arm..." I pointed timidly.
The man looked down, gave a quiet oh, then shook his head with a smile, "Sorry. I didn't realise." A pause. He gazed at me with a strange expression, the only sound the soft lapping of lake water. Then eventually, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
I shook my own head, smiling almost genuinely, "No, no I'm fine."
I had decided just a second ago that I didn't like this strange expression at all. My sides were throbbing from the tightness of the wire and his eyes seemed to be making it worse.
"This is just thread, how are you stuck in this? Can't you break it?" Sam was restraining his hand from coming towards me, but I could see that he wanted to reach out. Touch me.
When I shook my head and confirmed his assumption that I couldn't break the wire, he actually laughed. "Seriously?"
Had it not been for the weight of the gaze on me, I might have paid more attention to his giant hand, but Sam's eyes were numbing.
"You're so little..."
I bit down on my quivering lip. There was something absolutely terrifying about the way that he said little.
The human continued, "If you won't let me untie you, wouldn't it be better if you stayed here? Just for a bit. You seem shaken up." He sounded as if he wouldn't mind that. Stay here? With you? The thought was sickening.
"I can look after myself." I smiled convincingly, just wanting to leave. As if I would stay with him. The human sighed, hopefully accepting that I wasn't changing my mind.
Sam gave a thoughtful look, "Well then... goodbye, I suppose. Azure."
I hastily turned to go, only to feel a tug on my waist and realise that he still hadn't lifted his arm from where it was on the wire.
I pointed again, "The wire-"
"You said that there were no other things like you, didn't you? So where are you going to go to be safe?" His eyes bore into me. Hot as flames.
"Wh- I don't- please, no more questions..." I gave the wire a fierce tug, hoping it would come loose, but it didn't, "I need to go-"
Sam abruptly leant towards me and air washed through my hair, making me jump, "Are you sure that you'll come back?" His ridiculous size made my breath fall short.
"Yes," I insisted unsteadily, "Now I need to go."
Sam and I regarded each other for a moment. After my stuttering promise, the human seemed to think things over, silent and frowning distantly. His eyes shifted from the floor where he had been gazing and went back on to me. I went dead-still. And the human blinked. Staring.
I tried to draw back from the gaze, only to be withheld by the wire. He tilted his head a little, eyes moving across me. Considering.
"Please..." I managed, my voice sounding small, "Your- your arm..."
He blinked, "Oh yeah, right." He began to lift it upwards much to my relief, before stopping abruptly. A pensive sort of exhale came from the enormous person's chest, rolling thunder. Without wanting to, I flinched. Sam glanced at the thread, then hummed, "It's just... well, it's just that I've never seen anything like you before." He moved his arm off the wire, but before I could make a run for it, he had pinched it off the stone.
I'd heard about being completely frozen with fear, but actually feeling it was something different. My legs were strangers, far away and unmovable, like rock. Dread had replaced my ability to move, just dread, filling up the space where my intent to run should have been. He's not letting you go.
He began carefully, "Do you have to go right now? I probably won't see you again..."
My heart began beating quicker in my chest and my hands started to sweat. I couldn't force a smile, "I said that I'll come back."
For a moment he didn't say anything, just stared at my lying eyes. Then, he smiled. A calm, leisurely smile.
"Even if I let go of this," the human gave the wire a harmless little tug that almost yanked me off my feet, "You can't get down from here, can you?
I tried to smile back, but I could barely hold his gaze anymore. The size of the being was overwhelming, and so was every emotion playing on his tone. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. What he wanted.
It was as if he was studying my every movement whilst he rolled the end of the wire absently between his fingers.
"I-I'll see you later, okay?" I stammered, tugging at the bindings a little. That made his lips quirk, for some reason. A violent pulse of fear shook me when I saw that look. "I- I said that I would come back, and I will. I swear I will, I will." My knees quaked, my eyes burnt. "Let go."
Sam sighed in a deep, thought-filled sound, gazing at me as I pulled on the restraints. He was just staring at me. Watching me.
His claw of a hand hooked a bit of wire from the rock and wound it around his thumb. As he looped it repetitively around, my waist was jerked forwards. I fell to my knees with a surprised cry. When I looked up, the human had stopped tugging, but he was gazing at the thread. Then the eyes flicked up to me. Went over me, looking me up and down without care for how degrading it might have felt to be examined. It was after an excruciating few seconds that the human person finally met my eyes. I must have looked scared, probably terrified, but there was absolutely nothing in his look that made me feel better.
When the human started the motion for a second time, he didn't stop. He continued to twirl the wire round his thumb and in turn began dragging me across the rock. I looked up at him with confused terror, and he offered the slightest smile. "Hold on for a second before you run off."
I struggled for breath, "I- you-"
The distance between us became less and less as the thread shortened. I was being dragged to him by the way it was snared around my waist, helpless to resist. He placed the other giant hand onto the rocks and let the fingers spread, opening up like a maw front of me. It dawned on me all too quickly. He was going to pick me up again.
I shook my head, frantically slipping on grit and moss, "No- Sam, d- stop!"
But I was tugged into his awaiting hand.
Something warm that could only be his fingers slid across my body as I struggled, searching for a place to grip me. He crushed my waist between three of the huge digits and dragged my kicking feet off the floor. Now pinching me between his fingers, the human grabbed the scissors and easily sliced away the wire on my waist, but not the one stopping me from flying. I tried not to focus on the fact that he wasn't cutting my wings free, even though he could. He was then humming out more tremulous words, "This is a big place for something like you-"
"Let go!" Was all I could cry as his fist closed around my legs. One of his fingers coiled around my sides, tightened. That was all it took to stop me fighting him.
I gasped at the pressure, face grimacing with horror. Sam hoisted me yet higher into the sky, a calm look on his face the entire time. My heart was thundering wildly in my chest.
He brought me close to his face, our eyes meeting once more, and I beheld him with horror, frantic and spluttering, "Put me down! Put me down now, right now! Please-"
"If I let you leave, you won't come back, will you?" He boomed.
Let me leave? N- wait, was he implying that he wasn't going to let...
"I said that I would! " I pleaded, head spinning with that sudden thought, "Please, please just put me down!" Then, as if it would help, "You're scaring me."
Sam didn't reply.
"I can't just let you go..." he muttered absently.
I dared to push against the hand, "Yes, yes you can- put me down!" There was no power behind the movement. Shoving, groaning, kicking out my legs and twisting with everything I had— nothing seemed to loosen the fingers that pinched me between them. The human was simply watching me fight, not moving his fingers in the slightest. After a moment's struggling, I fell still in the giant hand, his curious gaze still focused on me. All I could do was stare back at him, feeling weaker with every second the eyes looked over me.
I felt my face going pale in the presence of the overwhelming stare, a terrible dread culminating in my chest. He's so big, I became even more aware of the sheer amount of strength in the digits that held me delicately between them, s-so, so big...
All of a sudden, I felt painfully tiny, like I was nothing in the wide open air. Fragile as I was held between two fingers that could crush me in an instant. Sam peered at my frightened face, a tiny smirk appearing on his.
"What's with this look?" He laughed softly.
Staring back with huge eyes was my only choice, not even daring to squirm under the pressure of the gaze. Why... my breath felt shallow, why is he smiling? I dared to push against the crushing fingers, only to have them press a little tighter, provoking a high-pitched cry from me.
His narrow eyes flicked over me with some strange, cold look that made me want to cry out.
"This is unreal. You're a tiny girl, with wings? That's just... I don't even know. Impossible." He paused. Thinking, maybe.
"You're the only tiny person here, Azure?" Sam asked softly, almost kindly. Tiny person.
I forced my tribe into my head, and my responsibility to protect them. Somehow, I nodded. Then the creature looked me up and down in a way that made me regret the lie. Words rolled off his tongue, eyes piercing into me. "You poor thing... so you're all alone?"
My hands were shaking now. Why did he care? The huge creature was so unnerving, so menacing. But I gave him a little nod with pursed lips. My answer finally seemed to satisfy him. The human nodded too. When he spoke after a long pause, the voice came out as a soft, thoughtful humming, "Maybe I'll keep you..."
My chest emptied of air.
"What?" I whispered. Had I heard him correctly? To my horror, he smiled. Oh gods. The human seemed puzzled at my fright. He blinked, as if the horrifying statement meant nothing. As my panic grew, so did the push of his fingers around me. Weakly, my head began to sway back and forth, breathing quickening.
"No," I moaned, "N-no, no no no."
An amused laugh rose up in his throat at my reaction. Was this just a joke to him?!
"Let go of me!" I screamed, pushing desperately against the fingers, but he simply chuckled at my weak efforts. The hand was already stiff around me and he just tightened it the more I struggled. Keep me? What does he mean, keep me?!
"Look at you go," he cooed, "Calm down- you'll hurt yourself."
A strangled protest was drawn out of my throat as heat sunk down on my skin. The pressure around my sides had become suddenly firmer, fingertips dipping inwards.
He shook his head with wonder before reaching down into his bag. With his free hand, he rummaged around for a second before his fingers wrapped around something. I slammed my fists against his giant hand, but his fingers didn't move.
How can something be so strong?! This isn't fair- I can't be this weak! Gritting my teeth, I tried a punch against the flesh of the hand, but all I did was make my own fingers hurt.
Then, to my horror, I watched as he pulled out a glass container from the depths of the bag.
No. My fight slowly came to a stop as he brought it towards me. He wouldn't.
My pleading look was met with an amused sort of smirk when the man saw the expression on my face. My heart might have stopped. He wouldn't. Oh gods no- please no. A soft moan caught in my throat, head easing from left to right. He couldn't drop me in there— in a container, like some sort of animal. The hand was suddenly swaying with movement. Sam did drop me, except it was onto the rocks.
As soon as my feet hit the ground, I bolted. He was unscrewing the black lid. Run- Tears clouded my vision as I clung desperately to hopes of escape, stumbling and tripping over my own feet. Why had I expected any different? Of course this had happened! He was human! Gods protect us. Keep me— keep me? There had to be a way to get away from him. He wouldn't put me in that thing, he wouldn't dare, he-
"Where are you going?" A voice shuddered. The fact that he sounded amused sapped away all the strength in my legs. A shadow appeared as an enormous hand swung over my head.
I fell to my knees as it lowered, hopes of home melting away, "No-"
Like a game his hand blocked my every path, my every attempt to run from him until I tripped over my own feet. I collapsed onto my stomach with red hair tangled around my neck.
"Come here, little one..." he crooned. Huge fingers crowded around me despite my kicking and screaming, effortlessly dragging me into his palm.
"No!"
He hushed me as I let out another pleading scream, plucking my thrashing figure from the grit, "Shh, it's okay."
The giant thing smiled before bringing me above the opening of the jar. All I could do was gawk into the glass prison below, grabbing at his fingertips but finding no grip. Like an abyss it had opened up beneath my feet, unbreakable walls taunting me and waiting to imprison me within. The human dangled me there for a moment, watching how I kicked, pleading uselessly.
"Don't!" I wailed, on the verge of tears again, "Don't put me in that- let me go, please let me go!"
He laughed, endeared by my cries. He raised me a little higher so I was away from the opening. I dared to think, just for one desperate second, that he wasn't that cruel. He wouldn't drop me into a glass case as if I was an insect. I found his face, locked eyes with him. Tears spilled down my cheeks without me meaning to.
Sam's eyes softened.
Under his breath, barely audible, he muttered to himself, "You're so cute..."
I hit the floor harshly, knees buckling with a painful pop. He dropped me.
Within a moment, I had staggered to my feet again. I pressed my palms against the glass and tried to get up the sides, but the walls were far too smooth and the top too high.
"Let me out!" I begged, trembling from head to toe as I turned back to him. A face looked in at me through the glass.
"I can't," he said simply. Every ridge of the giant face seemed to slowly fill with satisfaction. "I think I'd like to take you back with me."
What- what? He saw the petrified look on my face and let out a little laugh, a terrible sound that popped both my ears. Oh gods...
Shaking, I clutched my hands to my ears. My knees abruptly gave out again. With a rasping breath, I dropped to the bottom of the jar. No-no no this isn't real. Cute, he called you cute. He called you cute and threw you in a jar. My entire body felt as if it had no strength at all, as if all my nerves had completely collapsed.
"You don't have to be frightened..." he murmured, staring in at how I cowered. "I won't hurt you. I'm just going to bring you back to my tents, okay?"
My blood ran cold. "You're... what?" Only a hushed whisper.
Still chuckling to himself, Sam screwed on the black lid of the jar, sealing me inside. He was taking me.
I whimpered, my hands pressed over my mouth to muffle the sound. Taking me. No, no no... Aspen was right. He had been right all along, I never should have left the tribe alone. If he would have been there with me and Micah, he would have known what to do, none of this would be happening...
Don't panic, the Elder would send someone to help, of course he would. He needed me. I had been so good, done everything he asked, all of them asked. They wouldn't let some invader to our forest do me any harm.
Would they?
A hand wrapped around the jar and lifted it up from the ground, taking me with it. The only thing stopping me from screaming was my lack of strength. I pressed myself onto the back wall and away from him, trembling and hiccuping. "Please, you can't- you can't..." I said as if it was true. He gave the jar a little shake, jolting me forwards to my knees.
"I can't what?" He asked.
Sam tilted the jar so that I would fall towards him, despite my protests. I slid down across the glass floor until I stopped with a bump against the wall. I was inches from his face now, but I couldn't shuffle away or push myself to stand. All I could do was tremble and bite back tears.
He raised an eyebrow and stared in at me, "Look at you..." He went over me with those awful eyes, grinning at the trembles that racked my body. He's smiling. Smiling at how he scares you. I can't take this-
"Aspen." I whimpered in a cracked voice, squeezing my eyes shut. Whispering his name as the gloopy tears started was all I could do.
Sam tapped the glass with his nail, "Aww, hey..." he smirked into my watery eyes as I forced them open, "There's no need for all that."
I tried to murmur something again, but nothing came out of my weak chest.
With that, he lowered the jar into the bag, my trembling figure locked inside. He set it down among the various other pieces of equipment, snugly so it wouldn't roll around. The lid was black and opaque, but I knew that he was still watching me as his hands lifted up. I pressed myself against the glass.
"Sam!" I yelled weakly, begging for him to listen, "Let me out! Y-you..."
The giant smiled, kneeling down to face me. He watched as I staggered backwards before reaching for the zipper.
"Sit tight, okay? Don't worry, you're safe in there."
He pulled the zip around, closing the bag and engulfing me in darkness.
I found myself dropping to my knees. Of all the things that could have happened...
A few more tears ran down my cheeks. I could hear my shallow breaths echoing in the jar. The jar. I gulped, my chest tight. I was in a jar.
Shaking, I curled up beside one of the walls. Oh gods, it was like the reality of it crashed down upon me, like a wave from the lake. I was inside a glass container, in a human's bag. A prisoner. His footsteps outside the bag were loud as he gathered up the rest of his things. He would take me back to his camp with the other human, then... then what? What was he going to do with me? Before I had time to imagine the countless scenarios, the entire bag gave a jolt. I was thrown about the jar, smacking my wings countless times as he effortlessly lifted up the bag. Everything began to sway from side to side as he began to move, each step making the darkness shake around me. I hugged myself, blind and imprisoned in the bag. Oh god, I'm scared... I'm scared I'm scared, I...
If this was real fear, I was sure that I had never been afraid in my whole life before now. And one sole thought kept running through my head as I trembled inside the lightless prison. What was I going to do? Or worse, what was he going to do?
To me.
I buried my face in my hands to stop the tears. I don't know.