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The sun beat warmly in the early afternoon as the wisps of clouds moved lazily across the sky occasionally crossing paths with the sun cooling the land that lay below. River wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and smiled as he felt the warm breeze on his face. He cringed as he heard some one calling his name, he was supposed to be cutting hay. But it seemed like a crime to waste such a beautiful day pulling muscles and sweating out all the fluid in your body. Once everyone had gotten to work he’d just ducked out for a few hours to enjoy the sun and watch the clouds. A shadow fell across River’s face he looked up and smiled apologetically up at the owner of the shadow. Thankfully it was only Jason, they’d been best friends since they were old enough to walk.

“There you are you jerk, always somewhere else when there’s work to be done.” Jason accused.

Never one to ditch his work load Jason was a reliable field hand. He was almost a year older than River but there was a world of difference between the two. Built like a horse as the girls would say, he was a big strong guy who never laid a finger on anyone. River on the other hand was small for his age with a softer build and was often called runt behind his back.

“Its too nice to be out in a field working in the sweltering heat, and I was just on my way back to help finish up anyhow.” River smirked as he pushed himself up off the ground and jumped to his feet.

The dew sparkled as the light from the moon struck and illuminated every bead of water on every blade of grass. River stood in the doorway to the barn and breathed in the night air and the sweet smell of fresh hay. Today had been a harsh day not only from the physical work of hay cutting but also from the razing of the other men. It would be a while before River would sneak away from work again, well at least when there was that many people around to catch him. The sky was clear and the stars where bright against the dark sky. His mother and father where already in bed it was late but the solitude of the deep night was just what River needed. The chirping of the crickets and the rushing of the stream blended into a light background music only interrupted by the occasional call of a night bird or a tree frog. One star began to glow and burn a bright orange, it seemed like it was getting bigger, no it was defiantly getting bigger. It shot across the sky a fiery tail streaming behind molten pieces dripping off. Trees cracked and toppled as it hit the earth throwing a shower of debris and dirt into the air.

“What the hell was that.” River ducked inside the barn and grabbed a bag full of necessaries he kept hidden there just in cause he needed to sneak off for a while. As River hiked into the forest the smell of something burning filled his lungs it was a metallic smell like breathing in a blacksmith’s hut. The damage was horrible trees were snapped like twigs and the ground was smoldering black smoke billowing out of piles of rubble. A long deep trench had been carved deep into the earth. The gouged earth ended in a deep depression, there was no rock from the sky to be found.

“Maybe it burnt up, why would there be a hole then, none of this makes any sense.” As River looked around he noticed a large dark mass a short distance from the end of the trench. He cautiously approached. As he crept within feet of the mound he shouted out in surprise. It wasn’t a mound of dirt, trees or a rock, it was a person. It was a person alright, a giant bigger then anything he had ever seen before. He was terrified but curiosity was overriding his fear and instinct to run. He walked the length of the giant it must have been at least 50 feet long, or tall if it was standing. River walked back toward the giants face he got even closer and peered up.

“It’s a girl” he gasped, it clearly had feminine features she had long white hair and delicate facial features for being so enormous. She was covered in cuts and instead of normal red blood a silver substance was dripping out. Suddenly a loud crack broke his gaze, he turned in time to see a tree falling directly above him but it was to late to move. River closed his eyes and waited to be crushed. He waited and waited and nothing, he slowly opened his eyes and looked up. The tree was hanging above him floating, he heard a wheezing gasping sound and turned toward the sound. The giant girl was awake and holding the tree apparently she had caught it before he was crushed by it. She was obviously in pain and struggling to stay conscious her chest was heaving and she was breathing raggedly. The tree was set to the side and the two stared at each other. River wanted to run but he was caught in the gaze of the girls huge yellow eyes, he’d never seen yellow eyes before and couldn’t run. The giants eyes closed and her head fell to the ground, apparently she had passed out. River ran.

As he came to the end of the forest River stopped to catch his breath. He looked back.

“No way that just happened,” As he regained his composure he headed back toward the farm, the sun was just beginning to rise. As River neared the barn his father walked out the door.

“There you are River, did you stay out all night, what’s wrong with you boy. There’s work to be done, can’t work on a soft head that’s what you get when you don’t sleep boy,” River’s father shouted. River started to tell his father what had happened in the forest but for some reason he decided not to. If he told his father there was a giant in the forest the whole village would take up arms or call the military and kill her. He owed that girl his life if he kept his secret she was safe for now. A few days passed uneventfully apparently no one was awake to witness the crash in the forest. Few people went that deep into the forest there were ferocious animals there, and the occasional band of bandits and law breakers that took refuge there. River thought every day about the girl in the forest. He wondered if she had died, her wounds were pretty bad. And his curiosity about where she’d come from was eating him alive. He knew it was stupid and dangerous but he knew he had to go back to the forest, he was going to lose his mind if he didn’t get some answers. Besides there was also the possibility nagging at the back of his mind that the whole event had never happened that he had already gone crazy and imaged the whole strange thing. That night when everyone was asleep River snuck out to head into the forest. He made a quick pit stop at the farm next door and climbed into the neighbor’s barn’s loft. The loft happened to be Jason’s bedroom.

“Jason, hey wake up, pssst, get up.” River whispered. Jason sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“River, what are you doing here, I’ve got to plow a field tomorrow, I need to be asleep.” Jason groaned. In his sweetest voice River pleaded.

“Jason I’ve got to go do something I shouldn’t be doing but I have to. Can you make up an excuse for my parents if they ask why I’m gone. I’ll be back as soon as I can, just tell them I went to the town or went to see some girl or something, please.” Jason groggily smiled and said.

“Sure thing buddy, anything to make you leave and let me go back to sleep. Get going and don’t ask me to lie for you for at least two weeks. Good night River” Jason laid down and immediately fell asleep again. As River left the loft, he looked back and smiled at his friend.

“Thanks Jason, I hope everything goes alright and I live to see you again,” River whispered into the dark.

It only took half a night to get to where he was going. He stopped just outside the clearing where he had last seen the giant girl. Every nerve in River’s body felt like it was on fire, every hair on his body stood upright. He began to sweat from the mixture of fear and excitement that rushed through his veins. He took a deep breath and walked into the clearing. It was empty. The trench and fallen trees were still there but the giant was gone. Disappointed River looked around and threw his pack on the ground. He bent over and pulled his canteen out, unscrewed the top and brought it to his lips only to find that it was empty. He had forgotten to fill it before he left. The sound of a stream gurgling could be heard not far from the clearing. River headed toward the sound pack slung over his shoulder and empty canteen in hand. After filling his canteen River sat on a fallen tree and took a long drink, he looked around and not far from him were two yellow disks illuminated by the moon. As the clouds cleared the new light settled on the form of a giant and she was awake and staring directly at River. All the bravery that River had imagined he would possess at this moment fled from his body. The sight of such a massive creature filled him with utter terror. He again felt the inability to run, but this time there was another feeling rushing through his veins, a strange feeling. The feeling grew and River’s sight began to blur and he began to lose his balance. He was going to faint. As he stumbled and tried to regain his balance he tripped over the tree he’d been sitting on. As he fell backwards his vision went black and he lost consciousness. With a loud splash River plummeted into the steam behind him.

The giant girl had been staring at the strange tiny creature since it had sat near the river she was resting by. He smelled like the creature that had been in the clearing the night she’d crashed on this strange planet. She’d moved closer to the stream for the water, the way her body was made she only needed water and light to survive. She’d had that in common with the plants back on the ship, that, and the fact that both of them were just objects, she was just a number, experiment six, that was all. Apparently this creature in front of her was one of the inhabitants of this world. Both times it had seen her it had been frozen in…fear, but now it was staggering around like a wounded animal, almost falling. She heard a small plunk sound and realized it had toppled over into the stream. Surprisingly it didn’t quickly resurface, apparently it had lost consciousness.

“Its not my place to pull it out of the river its nature the weak die the strong survive its life,” she recited. A few moments later she reached her hand into the river and deposited the thing on the ground in front of her. The creature surprisingly resembled her species although she was fairly certain that this one was a male. And not a very impressive specimen either. She wasn’t surprised he’d fallen he looked pretty weak. As the sun began to rise the boy began to show signs of waking.

River woke shivering and completely drenched. As he began to come around he remembered feeling dizzy and could vaguely recall looking through the water at the sky. He concluded that he must have fallen into the stream after passing out.

“Why did I faint,” River thought. As he sat up and stroked his dripping hair backwards and out of his eyes, he remembered why he’d passed out it was fear. He remembered the giant girl, he swallowed hard and looked around then up. She was staring down at him with her head slightly cocked to the right. Around her neck was some sort of collar like thing covered in glowing lights, switches, strange symbols, and a thick metal hoop, similar to where you would attach a chain to an animal’s collar. River gathered his courage stood up and prepared to address a giant.

“Hello my name’s River, I was in the forest and you stopped a tree from crushing me so thanks for saving me. I don’t know if you speak my language but thank you.” River yelled loudly. The girl silently stared at him a puzzled expression across her face. He decided this giant was more curious about him then bloodthirsty. River sat down disappointed and mumbled,

“I was hoping you’d understand me I wanted to say thank you, and I was wondering where you came from, and what your name was. I had so many questions.”

“Your welcome.” A voice boomed. River nearly fell into the stream again after hearing the voice.

“So you do speak our language. Ok, um can you tell me what your name is?” River asked. The giant looked uneasy to be talking to River and eventually replied.

“I don’t have a name, I’ve never had one I’m just me I guess. Do you have a name?” River cringed when she talked, her voice was so loud he had to fight not to throw his hands up and cover his ears.

“My name is River Sampson, just call me River. Why don’t you have a name, well that’s ok. We could pick a name for you” River suggested. River thought and looked around there was a large rock formation, the stream, and ferns in fact they were in a clearing surrounded by ferns.

“How does Fern sound to you?” River asked.

“Ok.” The newly named Fern replied as she smiled. River was happy that she liked the name but there was a sadness behind her smile that bothered him. River and Fern talked, River doing most of the talking, until late afternoon.

“I have to go before my parents realize I’m not where I said I was going to be. But I’ll come back when I can, I have some more stuff I want to ask you. So I’ll meet you here when I come, goodbye Fern.” River promised as he pushed through the trees and headed back towards the farm.

River came back nearly every time as he could and his family became accustomed to his absence under the cleverly planted assumption that he was seeing some girl. River began to understand where Fern had come from but was still somewhat unsure as to what Fern was. Apparently she came from some place called space which was higher and farther away then the sky. She lived on a ship, and was very unhappy there. She didn’t have a name because she was an experiment which meant she wasn’t the same as the other people her size on the ship. According to Fern being an experiment meant that she was hurt in different ways and then the way she reacted was recorded. River couldn’t understand any part of that, in his mind it seemed obvious that any time someone was hurt they’d react the same way, in pain, why would they have to do it more then once. And he was horrified that someone would want to hurt Fern she seemed to be very nice. Fern also told River that she didn’t really speak his language but the collar she wore instantly allowed her to understand him and be able to speak to him, unfortunately it didn’t control how loud she spoke, which she was working on. River sat near the stream watching as fern washed her face. Every time she brought the water to her face the sun flashed off the silvery marks on her wrists. After she was finished River asked,

“What are the marks on your wrists from Fern.” She looked at him for a minute and gave him that same sad smile she always did and told him.

“They’re scars, I was chained by my wrists and collar most of the time and sometimes I struggled against them and they cut into my skin. They don’t hurt anymore though.” Her sad smiles always left a deep sadness in River’s core, but occasionally he got to see what seemed like a real smile with real joy behind it. The sad feeling was bearable if he got to see at least one real smile. As They sat they hardly talked they just sat and watched the ducks and geese swim back and forth and dive in the stream. As they sat in silence Fern suddenly became tense and began to fidget.

“What is it Fern, what’s the matter?” Asked River. Fern raised her head and breathed in the air then looked at River and whispered “I smell smoke in the air and its coming from the direction you always come from.” River jumped up and uttered something about having to leave but as he was walking Fern’s hand came down and blocked his path. She looked afraid and very serious.

“River I smell something else, something I didn’t smell before. I smell blood in the air. Something bad is happening, I can smell a lot of blood. I can’t let you go back there, not now.” Fern firmly declared. River backed away from her hand and turned and faced her. With an urgent pleading and almost angry look River shouted.

“I’m going! That’s my family back there, my friends, my neighbors, and that’s my life. If I can help I’m going to, if I can’t I’m still going.” Fern hesitantly lifted her hand out of the way and nodded as River ran through the thick brush and trees and out of sight.

As River entered the fields of his farm his heart broke, everything was engulfed in flames. As he passed the barn he could hear the trapped animals inside calling out in fear, he couldn’t do anything for them yet he had to get to the house. As he neared the house he called out to his parents and heard a feeble groan. River pushed through the flames following the sound. As he made it to the dinning room he found his mother laying on the floor barely conscious, he managed to carry her out of the house since she was a frail tiny woman. As he laid her down he saw she was covered in blood, she looked at River and began to cry.

“They killed your father River he’s gone they came and the set fire to the farm and stabbed your father to death when he tried to protect us.” Before he could say anything she fell quiet and put her hand to his face and said.

“Papa, River came back he’s alright, our family’s ok and were all together.” Apparently in her state she’d thought River was his father. As her hand fell from her face her eyes closed and she passed away. River knelt beside his mother tears streaming down his face, as the farm and his way of life burnt to smoldering embers around him.

River walked in a daze past neighbors farms all ablaze past the point of there being survivors inside. He stopped at Jason’s family’s farm all the buildings had collapsed he called out but no one answered back. As night began to fall River entered the town, everything was gone, the fire had turned the houses into piles of timber and ashy skeletons of what they once were. Bodies lay everywhere some townspeople others the attackers that were killed during the fight. As River entered what remained of a house at the edge of the forest he stopped when he heard a scraping sound inside. A bandit with a bleeding stomach wound and a large curved dagger stepped into view. River stood unable to move and stared at the man. The man coughed up some blood and spat at River.

“You little bastard, you little puke I’m going to plunge this knife into you and gut you alive.” River stood in shock as the man attempted to run his knife straight through him. As the man came within a few feet of him, River comprehended a large crash behind him, and seconds later a large fleshy wall was between him and the bandits blade. The fleshy wall was fern’s hand and the bandit’s dagger was imbedded deep in the other side of her hand. River looked up at Ferns face her yellow eyes were ablaze with hatred, a glowing red color was bleeding into the normal yellow color. Her mouth was open and she was breathing loudly clearly from rage. River had noticed she had small fangs but now they were more like sabers then fangs. Her other hand dug into the ground but he could see that her finger nails were more pointed and claw like then before. A deep growl erupted from her throat as she talked.

“Don’t you dare touch River, you filthy piece of shit, you reek of innocent peoples’ blood. If you talk to River or even look at him again I’ll kill you where you stand.” The man looked terrified he fell to the ground and began coughing up blood, he fell to the ground with his eyes open and died. As Fern looked down at River her eyes as well as everything else returned to normal. The complete shock of what had happened finally hit River and he collapsed. Before he hit the ground Fern moved her hand and he fell softly into it. It was the first time she had ever had physical contact with him, with anyone. Everyone who had ever touched her had been wearing either gloves or using tongs or tweezers. She stood up and carried him back into the forest.

River woke with tears wet on his face his eyes burned from crying so much but the pain seemed miniscule in comparison to the emotional torment he was experiencing. Everything he knew was gone his old life was gone, everyone was gone. For the first time he became aware of his surroundings. He was in a dark place, it was soft and warm, and calming. There was a slight rocking or swaying like being on a swing accompanied by a reoccurring thumping sound. It was a loud thump like the beating of a drum, when River rested against one wall the beating became louder and he could feel the vibrations resounding. As he lay against the warm beating wall he realized it was a heartbeat. He remembered seeing a pocket on Fern’s shirt about where her heart would be, he must be in that pocket. The beating was Fern’s heart…Fern, he wasn’t alone he’d lost nearly everything but not everyone. Fern was still here and he wasn’t alone.

 

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