Giantess World
“The Enchanted Forest should be up ahead,” Aisha said with her nose buried in the map.
Cain, Eric, and Vic were all sitting on top of her shoulder and they just stared up at her. The forest had been in front of them for hours.
“And to think we might’ve walked past twenty thousand acres of woods,” Cain said sarcastically.
Aisha crinkled up the map and tucked it into the breast of her robe. “I just hope we can find our way through the forest without a map… No mapmaker has ever successfully charted the inside of the woods. They say that the woods play tricks on you, that the paths switch directions and keep you wandering, lost forever. They say the trees are always watching and seek to banish mankind the way mankind has banished them. If it wasn’t for those legends, the Enchanted Forest would be a graveyard of tree stumps by now. It’s a miracle, and a spiritual wonder, that such a rich place in lumber can grow so near a city like Felwinter.”
“Aye,” Eric nodded, grabbing hold of the silky cloth on Aisha’s shoulder to keep from falling. She wasn’t exactly paying much attention to where she stepped and some of the jolts brought up from her arm were enough to send him sailing. “But there must be some truths in these rumors.”
“I wouldn’t worry. You boys just stick close to me.”
“Maybe you could find a…safer place to put us,” Cain grinned, peering down at the corner of the map sticking out from Aisha’s neckline.
Siarra, with the other three guys—Malkav, Grandpa, and Adam—on her shoulder, suddenly spoke up. “The Enchanted Forest is full of Earth-type creatures. I’m a Sorceress of the Fire-type. They don’t stand a chance against me.”
“Just be careful with your magic,” Aisha said warily. “I wouldn’t want to see a beautiful forest like this burned down.”
“Do we know where in the forest the Scarab of Earth would be?” Malkav asked.
“…It’s guarded by Terragolem,” Siarra said. “I’ve never beaten him.”
“You’ve fought him?” Aisha asked in awe.
“A few times… With my friends.”
“The little ones?”
“Naw, Joan and Raven…” Suddenly, Siarra’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God… They were supposed to be here last night. What if they’re trapped somewhere in the game too?”
“What game?”
Siarra looked down at Malkav. “There’s no telling how many people are trapped here with us.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “We’ll get the Scarab of Earth and meet Kendira in Felwinter. I’m sure if anybody else in the game is trapped with us, that’s where they’re going to be. It’s the capital city, is it not?”
“Well, yes…”
“What better meeting place then?”
Aisha sighed. “Fine, you two keep your secrets… I don’t want to know what you’re talking about anyway.”
“I’d never keep any secrets from you,” Cain winked up at Aisha. Her eyes drifted over to his small body on her shoulder and then up towards the sky as she rolled them. It was midday now, the sun filtering down through the punched holes in the Enchanted Forest’s canopy. The calm melody of birds echoed in the air. How could such a tranquil, magical place be considered evil? Comforted by that notion, the guys settled into the nooks of the girls’ shoulders. The soft fabric of their robes made a wonderful mattress, even if it was two guys to a shoulder (though Cain and Grandpa got a shoulder to themselves as nobody wanted to lie next to them for a multitude of reasons).
Malkav and Adam lay on their backs next to each other, locking their hands behind their heads rhythmically. Siarra’s pinkish-purple hair rained over them, shielding their bodies like a dome, and occasionally brushing against their faces as she walked. They took in the sweet smell, though, and relaxed.
“So…” Malkav said, his eyes staring upward. “What’s with the dress?”
Adam glared at him at the corner of his eye. “It’s not a dress. It’s a robe.”
“Why are you the only guy on the team wearing a dress?”
“Robe.”
“Robe.”
“It’s part of being a Monk.”
“Cross-dressing, you mean?”
“…You know, I’m eventually going to learn Revive and I hear Rogues have some pretty crappy defense. And Aisha won’t always be around.”
“Yeah… We’re lucky to have her.”
“Yeah, we are.”
“We’re lucky to have Siarra too.”
Adam was silent for a minute. “…What’s the deal with you and her anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… She’s hot.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not.”
“She seems to think so.”
“I don’t think she does… She could do better.”
“No doubt.”
“…You better not be using her.”
“So what if I am?”
“Then you’re no better than the football jocks back home. And you’re not one of us.”
“Look,” Malkav said, pulling himself up on his elbow. “If anything, Siarra uses me. I do her homework, I pay for her lunch, I bought Neverquest to play with her—hell, I even paint her toenails for her. That’s all me. And it works out fine. She holds my hand and makes me look good in the hallways. Maybe we do use each other, but who cares? You see, that’s why I’m not one of you—I got a girl.”
“But that’s not the way you should treat her…”
“I’m just a Rogue trying to get by in this life,” Malkav said coolly, putting his head back down. “Any way I can. I don’t care.”
But he didn’t notice Siarra’s ear only a few feet above his head. And he didn’t notice the angry tears swelling in her eyes either.