Giantess World
Chapter 2
Surrounding the outside of the gate were miles of forest. Soi knew these woods by heart and never had any trouble making her way through them. Tian, however, found that she was prone to stumble and get whacked in the face a lot by the gripping branches of angry oak trees. This Soi found amusing, but kept it to herself. For the first day on the quest...neither of them spoke.
Tian was feeling more and more nervous by the minute. She desperately wanted to carry on some kind of conversation with Soi so she could get her mind off of what might lie ahead in the woods or even beyond them. But she did not want to anger her leader and get even more on her bad side.
After nearly six hours of walking, the two found themselves in a clearing.
"We’ll camp here for the night." Soi turned to her smaller companion. "Stay here while I go look for wood to start a fire."
Tian nodded obediently and dropped her bag onto the ground. She groaned as it let it fall from her shoulder; for she had been carrying it like that all day and she could feel the deep dent that it had left in her tender skin. Gently, she took off her quiver and laid it down along with her bow, then collapsed onto the ground, leaning back against a tree.
"I can't believe this...of all the times...the people...the things to do.... I get stuck with this pussy trying to find something that I have no idea what or where it is. We could be out here for months!" Soi grumbled obscenities under her breath and scooped up the best chunks of wood she saw. Collecting enough, she made her way back to the clearing and dumped all of it down in front of the startled girl.
"Wake up! You want to eat, don't you?"
Tian, who had been half unconscious, sat up immediately and looked up at Soi. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just not used to walking for so long. It tired me out."
"Yeah, well you'd better get used to it." Soi reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of cloth.
Tian watched curiously as Soi unwrapped it to reveal a raw piece of meat. Her mouth watered at the look of it even though she wasn't sure what kind of meat it was.
Soi looked over at her, smirking. "Look good to you, girly?"
Tian nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Soi reached into the same bag and pulled out a splint. Tian eyed her as she walked over and set up the makeshift splint, sticking the fresh meat on it. She then went about making the fire by striking a stone against a wooden boundary. It lit immediately much to Tian's amazement.
Soi sat back, whistling a happy tune and turning the splint. "Well?"
Tian looked over at her. "Well what?"
Soi looked up and caught Tian's eye. "Aren't you going to go catch you're dinner, girly?"
Tian looked genuinely shocked. "Oh. But I thought..."
"You want to eat? You gotta work for it. I caught this...this is mine. Go on now."
Tian frowned heavily and stood up, grabbing her bow from her side. She took only two steps back into the woods before she spotted something a good 10 feet from her perch. As quick as lightening, she pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back, positioned it into the bow, and fired. "Bulls eye."
Soi looked up from her cooking as Tian darted into the woods to claim her prize. She emerged a few moments later dragging a young doe behind her. She smiled proudly to Soi. "AND I'd be very willing to share this with you."
Night grew quickly in the deep woods. The tall trees already blocked a good deal of the sun out. All the creatures who rummaged in the daytime quickly ran to their dens or hideouts to escape the dangers of the creatures of the nightlife.
Tian looked about frantically while sharpening her arrows on a smooth rock she had been carrying with her in her pack. Owl's hoots and wolves’ howls could be heard in the distance and she shuddered inwardly at the night ahead.
Soi leaned with her back against a nearby tree and watched her nervous companion with a blank expression. The two had to get an early start in the morning if they wanted to get anywhere. "Enough, girly. Rest up. We have a ways of travel tomorrow if we are to make it to the north woods."
Tian placed her newly sharpened arrows back into her quiver and eyed Soi. "Alright. But would you please stop calling me, girly? I do have a name you know?"
"A name? There are more important things to remember than names" Soi rolled her eyes and slumped down onto the ground near the fire and closed her eyes, ignoring the girl's glare.
Tian sighed in defeat and scooted down to the ground as well, curling up against the cool air and shuffling closer to the fire. Soi seemed to be out cold already, soft snores coming from her direction. Tian, however, knew she would not being falling asleep for some time. She wasn't so spoiled that she could not endure a night on the hard ground; it was the awkwardness of the situation. But, nevertheless, she soon drifted off in sleep that was not near as deep as her teacher.
SNAAAAAAAAP!
Tian sat up like a dart and frantically looked around. The branch that had been broken further back into the woods was done by a creature larger than she would have liked. She quickly snatched up her bow and quivers and waited for an indication of intruders near their camp. Tian's keen sense of sound picked it up easily....voices. Voices, that didn’t seem intended on letting the two bandits alone in peace. She turned to wake Soi but stopped herself...If it is just a false alarm, Soi will never let me live it down. And with that, she trotted off into the woods on her own. She quietly and skillfully pulled out an arrow from her quiver and positioned it into her bow. The voices grew nearer with each step she took. A few paces later she spotted the fiends. There were about 15 of them surrounded by the darkness. Their armor reflecting off by the moonlight cause Tian's eye. They were bandits as well...thought definitely not from our stronghold. Though their voices were plainly heard, Tian could not recognize a single word. Their language was different...they could not possibly be allies of the stronghold. Before she could react, they quickly fled in the opposite direction. Tian blinked and traipsed forward looking ever which a way for the intruders. But they could not be spotted.
"Damn."
Soi stood with her back against a tree, gazing into the woods. Footsteps carelessly tromped towards her. She counted at least 10 of them...all men by the heaviness of their walking. She held her Naginata in a tight grip to her chest. They were getting close...very close. Her eyes wandered over to the spot where Tian was supposed to be. The little tramp had headed off by herself. Soi snorted. It figured.
The sounded of a blade being pulled out of its sheath could be heard right behind the tree Soi stood in front of. Soi grinned, feeling excited of the battle about to form. "Give your best shot, pig."
She quickly spun around and ducked as the sword swung over her head, missing her by inches. The bandit leaped out in front of her and swung at her again. She quick ducked again and spun, holding out the Naginata and letting the blade end slash into the bandit's stomach, spilling his intestines.
Five more bandits leaped out into the opening, surrounding her. Soi quickly stuck the dagger end into the ground and hoisted herself up, kicking two of the men in the throat, making them fall instantly.
Unfortunately, as quickly as the two men fell, they were replaced with three more. "Damn." Soi cursed, slightly doubting her ability to take them all down. They were all heavily armed and seemed well trained enough. Two of the bandits on opposite sides approached. Soi quickly pulled the Naginata out of the ground and swung the blade, decapitating one while penetrating the other with the dagger end. Before she could react to the approach of the others, a dagger whizzed from deeper into the forest and grazed her arm. "Aaargh!" She quickly grabbed hold of the small wound to stop the blood flow. She tightened the grip on her Naginata with her free hand and glared at the eight bandits gathering around her. She spit on the ground in front of them and took the spear with both of her hands, slicing the blade across one man's chest, decapitating another, and shoving the dagger in another man's unmentionables.
Two men managed to grab Soi from behind, explicating a few obscenities from the banditess. The largest of the remaining bandits slowly approached her and began yelling at her in an unrecognizable language, not even Soi who was fluent in most of the surrounding tribes understood. The bulky bandit laughed and slapped her across the face, continuing to lecture pointlessly.
ZEEEEWIP
Fellow bandits gasped as their leader looked down at the arrow sticking out of his chest...and then fell unceremoniously to the ground. A second arrow struck through the head of the bandit to the left, holding Soi in place. As he fell to the ground, Soi quickly used the dagger end to puncture the throat of her second captor. Tian appeared in the clearing quickly loading her bow and firing at the remaining bandits. Soi smiled, watching the idiots fled in "terror" of the two girls. Tian stopped firing and walked forward, grinning at the fleeing bandits as well. "YEAH NICE TRY YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!!! WOOO!" She laughed and lowered her bow.
Soi rolled her eyes and sighed but left a bit of humor in her expression. "Yeah, yeah...nice shots, girly." She looked up quickly as the snapping of a twig caught her ear. "TIAN! DUCK!"
Tian gasped and quickly launched herself down onto the ground. Soi threw her spear, the dagger end making contact with the new foe, sending him sprawling on the ground dead. Tian quickly sat up and looked behind her to the bandit still in the pose to strike her down. She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "Eh...thanks." She quickly clamored to her feet.
Soi nodded. "Don't mention it, girly."
"Ah! Now don't start that again. You just called me Tian. You remembered it! Let’s keep the flow going eh?"
Soi looked down at her companion. "I did no such thing. Now get your stuff, girly. We had best be off."
Tian sulked but reached down and scooped up her bag anyway. "Why are we leaving so early?"
"Are YOU going to be able to get any sleep?"
"Well...not really...but-"
"Then we're off. It's almost sunrise anyway."
Tian fell silent and rushed forward to keep up with her. "Oy...this is gonna be a long journey."