All Fun And Games with Elsie

PART 9-> Let It Bleed

[Welcome to our final chapter.
WARNING- there's nothing you haven't seen before. However, this chapter got long enough that I had to cut it in two.]

"I've got no time for fairy stories
I'm not a little girl
So you can leave me all alone
And turn off the lights as well

If you are frightened
Then listen
But I don't think you'd like it
Such a nice kid

Nobody's looking' now
I'll throw my toys around

Somebody's being very bad
I wonder who it can be
Somebody's gonna get in trouble
I know it isn't me

I'm just a little angel
But you don't know what I've done
When your back's turned

Nobody's looking' now
I'll throw my toys around

Pick up those building blocks
Chop off the baby's locks
Swing dolly by the hair
Put down that teddy bear
Slam dunk a happy clown
I throw my toys around

I've got no time for bedtime stories
I'm not a little child
Everything makes me furious
And everything makes me wild

If you are frightened then whistle
And I'll come running' you
As you boo hoo

Nobody's looking' now
I'll throw my toys around"

Elvis Costello & No Doubt, "I throw my toys around"


"Elsie, kid, great to see you again!" Rozal chirped, trotting up to the woman, surprised- she didn't remember Elsie being THAT big (though it was good for her that she'd grown even more! Neither did she look this monumentally buxom, come to think of it... and why was she naked?), now her daughter was visibly taller than her... "My god, you've grown even bigger...!" she giggled, embracing her, being careful not to squash Weasel against Elsie as she brought her hands to her back. Her daughter returned the hug "Careful, I've got friends on my shoulders..."

"I'm being careful, ma!" Elsie laughed, keeping from resting her huge head on her shoulders. "Though you should put them down, I want to give you a real hug."

"Now, that's a good idea. No one mind if she gets you two down? She's good, she's nice." she said. Her daughter winced. "What, Elsie?"

"Well, ma, I've... been... around..." she blushed, her eyes darting around.

"Oh, please. Get them down, okay? Whether they want to, or not." Rozal snorted. "I never told you to be a saint, what's wrong with having met a guy? I just hope it's a guy, Elsie, if you turn out to be one of those too..."

"Thory was one of those." she commented.

"Thory... was it as awkward as you make it sound?" Rozal raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't have ever seen it coming..."

"I kinda think she goes both ways..."

"Too much information." she smiled. "Now, Elsie, get them down from my shoulders, okay?"

The giantess shrugged a little, and then put out her hands, palms up.

"Sit in." she smiled, calmly. "And don't move too much, I'm hungry."

"Ah, kid, like you could ever..."

"Huh...?" Elsie seemed to freeze again, as the two of them climbed into her hands and sat there. She just brought them down very slowly, and placed them on the ground. Rozal bent down, and deposited Weasel with them.

"Like you could ever eat one. I've been gone six months, not six decades!" Rozal chortled. But she still looked nervous...

The centauress gulped. Maybe she shouldn't have left after all.

"Must... have been an interesting six months." Rozal frowned a little. "Does it have anything to do with the fact you're naked?"

"Not really."

It seems those were interesting times, Rozal thought.

"Well, you three stay here, we'll be over there by the grove. Don't move."

"A-actually, mom, we can't go to the grove right now..." she cut in.

Rozal raised her eyebrows. The two of them walked away.


======


"Okay, what happened, Elsie?" Rozal opened up.

Elsie, for her part, clammed up.

"Why can't we go to your grove?"

"Ah!" Elsie gasped. "There's this guy, he's... got a black lower half, like a crocodile..."

"Scaly, spotted?"

"Yes... but the strange thing is that he was bleeding at the mouth, and he didn't mind, he ate so fast it gave me a cramp. He barely talked, and..."

"Bleeding at the mouth and eating anyway?" Rozal winced. "Ouch. That's not blood, Elsie, that's poison. I've heard one or two things about them."

"Well, he's not very friendly."

"Did he try to eat you?" Rozal's eyes widened.

"No... he was eating carrion, yesterday these guys killed all my birds, I couldn't eat them all. I found him, tried to get some conversation started," she hesitated " offered him to heat up the meat, and then he tried to hit me." she quickened her voice near the end. "With a tree."

Rozal's lips twitched.

"Well, let him have his carrion and stay away. Damn. I was looking forward to having breakfast here..." she grumbled.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, kid. We'll manage..." she sighed in annoyance.

Elsie rolled her eyes.

"Well, speak of the devil, you know you can tell me anything. These guys who killed your birds yesterday, how many did you eat?" Rozal's face hardened slightly.

Her lip trembled for a moment.

"Ah... w... well..." the giantess gulped. "Th... thirty."

"Thirty?" Rozal shook her head, looking down at Elsie's now innocent belly. To think... thirty people...

"I lost count..."

"All at once?"

"Yyyip."

"They attacked you, I take it?"

She rolled her eyes.

"They'd wanted to kill me..."

Rozal raised her arms, and gave her naked daughter an impromptu hug. Elsie barely managed to return it. She could tell that wasn't all... but for now, she needed support.

"Those don't count. I'm not asking you to be a saint, Elsie. People do things they wouldn't when they're scared."

"But... I wasn't scared. I was angry."

"It's the same thing. Scared, angry, they're the same thing, kid. I'm just glad they didn't get you..." Rozal's arms squeezed her a little tighter. "You're a big girl, Elsie, if you can take care of yourself I can't ask for more." -Did I just lie to you?- Rozal thought to herself, feeling Elsie's head rest on her shoulder. "Now tell me the rest, why did they want to kill you?"

She shivered in her embrace now. Bending her knees, pulling the larger giantess down, the centauress tightened her grip a little. Just enough to let her know she was still there.

"Could they hurt you?"

"Yes." she sobbed.

They could hurt her, but she wouldn't tell why would they. Rozal thought to herself, even as she conforted her daughter, that yesterday had probably been a living hell for her. She couldn't help but feel it was horrendously unfair that this happened upon this poor girl- as if losing her family hadn't been enough, now some humans (a race which was interestingly adept at times at devising new horrendous means of destruction, despite being usually the most positive beings out there, as intelligent as one could get, almost incapable of accepting someone could want to eat them until the moment they were kicking and screaming down someone's gullet), or maybe elves with magic, or nekos with a tactician had to give her a scare. Couldn't they just let her be? Those tiny bullies...

"Were they humans?"

"Yes..."

Humans it is, she thought. So much worse for her... she looked like one. Then again, Rozal wondered, why wouldn't she tell why would they hurt her? Was it she felt it was too unfair? Or maybe... she felt guilty?

"Did you try to eat one of them?" she asked, breaking the embrace a little. Elsie's grip was soft- she now looked even more scared. Rozal kept her hands on her arms, looking up at her eyes. "Is that why they tried to kill you?"

She grimaced. Then she nodded. Rozal sighed, looking away.

"It's okay, Elsie, everyone has. Probably the humans themselves too..." Rozal said, trying to be soothing. But something didn't fit. "But if they were armed, why did you still...?"

"It was a trap! He pointed at me with a gun, and then he... he was rude, I couldn't understand him, I got flustered..."

Torn between the need to look at this critically and the need to be just what her daughter needed, the centauress sighed. There was a thing she wasn't telling her.

"Did you eat him on the spot?"

"No."

"What did you do then?"

"I ran... they drove me out and I went... to Thory. We, ah, came back and then fought..."

"You fought!?" Rozal spat. "I've always told you not to fight! You told me they could hurt you!"

"But I was angry..."

"Lucky!"

"No, I used a potion... Thory went in, and I threw a few birds so they couldn't shoot at me..." Elsie spoke up, quicker- much to her horror.

"Spare me that, I don't care!" Rozal only regretted it a moment afterwards. People who took pride in their ability to do harm made her so furious she couldn't answer for herself; it wasn't worth it to hear the details coming from her daughter's lips to get her to open up. It couldn't be. "What happened afterwards?" she softened her voice.

"I ate them..."

"Did any escape?"

"No, I checked all night."

Rozal took a deep breath. Elsie had been out of herself, seemingly... because there was something she still wasn't telling her.

"What is it you're not telling me? You were checking all night. What did you do with the ones you found?"

"..." Elsie glared at her.

She had already said she'd eaten them, come to think of it.

"Did you catch any names?"

"Stach Tobias." she gulped, looking away.

Rozal's eyes widened for a moment.

"Stach Tobias, are you serious?"

"Yeah... he said he was."

For a moment, the centauress had to deal with divided feelings. On one hand, she didn't want Elsie to pride in her ability to do harm. On the other... meeting Stach Tobias and surviving was a feat, much less eating him. Knowing he now lay inside her daughter was an interesting thought to say the least, a little horrifying. That man... priding in his ability to harm. A blight, that's what he was. A monstruosity...

"Don't feel bad for him. I'm sure the world's a more beautiful place without him. What you did to him, he deserved." Anything so that Elsie felt better...

Elsie's eyes lighted up... in fear. So she HAD done something to him, and now she was worried she knew...

"What did you do to him?"

Now her daughter just looked away.

"Just tell me, it's okay."

She lowered her gaze.

"Don't you trust me?"

"I just..." she drifted off.

She was scared. Rozal shook her head- the kid she knew wouldn't have it in her to do anything too horrible. Gone only six months- what had she come back to find!?

"I'm not proud of what you did, Elsie, but I'm glad you're okay."

And yet, Elsie didn't look relieved.

"Look into my eyes." She didn't. "Kid, look into my eyes."

She blinked, meekly looking into her eyes.

"But that's not all, right? What else is it you're not telling me?"

"Stop it." Elsie mumbled. "Please."

"Kid, you know I want only what's best for..."

"Please, stop it..."

Rozal took a deep breath.

"Very well, for now, we'll stop." she began, smiling. "Cheer up, what's with the long face, Elsie?" another strong hug followed. Kid was still not hugging back, not with enough strength... the centauress broke embrace and withdrew a few steps.

"And you've grown, I see!" she grinned. "Well, that's good for you, Elsie. How much more are you planning to grow?"

"A-actually... I think this is as big as I can get." Elsie replied, calming down a little. She was still to calm down fully.

"Hm? You've been growing like weed- no, really. You were half that size six months ago..."

"I-I've been this size for a w-while, ma. I think this is as big as I'll get." she said, looking down at herself. Rozal smiled.

"Well, it suits you. I think you look your own, thriving brand of lovely."

Elsie let out a giggle.

"Yeah, I hope I more or less got the proportions right this time..." she sighed near the end, raising a hand to her belly.

"I think you did, anyway, if you didn't..."

"It's not done anything more for me lately. I think it can't." she lowered her gaze.

"You look just right to me, kid."

"...yeah..." Elsie sighed, still sounding disappointed.

"Well, what do you want. I only get this big, you're lucky!" Rozal laughed. Elsie joined her for a laugh, too.

"So... about those humans..." she began.

"Hm?"

"Are you planning to...?" she couldn't finish.

"You know I don't."

"Right."

"Why the strange tone? You KNOW I don't."

"..."

"What's the matter?"

Elsie sighed again.

"No, you're right, I know you don't. It's just... really? Never, ma?"

"Not for a while."

"So, about those six months..." she slowed down. "Haven't you..."

"Eaten any? Nothing that talks, Elsie."

"Nothing at all?"

Rozal looked back at her. Kid was shivering- she knew those shivers. They were there whenever she was too tense or too excitable. Since the second was out -unless through some sort of crosswiring Elsie was getting excited at the thought of her eating something-, probably it was the first.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, kid? You keep talking like that, like you want me to ask you something back. So why don't you just let go? You know I hate this game."

"You already asked!" the giantess blurted.

Pursing her lips, ma thought of an answer. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but she could feel it- their interaction was shallow. Right now, all this was less than small talk. This was all less than nothing. She couldn't take it anymore.

She took a deep breath.

"Kid, you know what I say?"

"You say... a lot of things, ma." she hesitated.

"I do. Now look, Elsie, I believe we have a duty to the truth." Rozal raised her gaze. "Truth is important, but only if we can properly share it."

"Yeah..." so laconic. She didn't really care. Well, that had been a waste of a properly shared truth. And she was still hungry.

"Don't give me that, Elsie!" she growled. "What I mean to say is that maybe it's not getting through, but if there's more, I want to know it!"

She didn't answer. -It was uncalled for to yell at you... god, what is it with me today?- Rozal winced.

"Nevermind..." Rozal sighed. "Fine, be that way, Elsie."

Once more, Elsie was doing that shy act.

"Sorry."

She knew the kid was shy, but not that shy. There was something she wasn't saying- there was so much she wasn't saying. And maybe it was just the hunger giving her bad ideas, but Rozal had an idea on how to coax it out of her.

It was a shame it was such a bad idea, though, because the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to put it into practice. But it was mean- and callous. While at heart she felt she was callous for even thinking of such a plan, the only thing she could really do was NOT put it into practice. That was less callous.

-But if I don't...- Rozal bit her lip. -I could ask one of them to talk to her alone, tell me what they think. But if she's really dangerous I could be putting them in danger... and I'd be going behind her back, meddling in her life, distrusting her. But if I don't do this, then it's time to wait. I've waited for six months, and this is what I come back to find! Elsie, my sweet kid...- she grimaced. -Why are you so scared of me? What the hell happened to you!? This is not my kid...- she looked away, grimacing. -You've changed so much. In such a short time. Six months, it was only six months. What happened? Was it hanging around dridders that did this to you? Was it you just missed me so much...?- Everything she thought was starting to make less and less sense. Elsie wasn't going to miss her. -Or have you always been like this, kid, and only now do I get to know the real you? But I've never let you out of my sight, ever... not a single time, how could you turn into this with me watching?-

No, that didn't make sense- not Elsie, not her kid. Not like this.

"If you don't hang things to dry, they rot."

She didn't answer. Rozal was getting a little desperate. After that cross-examination, she felt she'd missed more than she thought at first. It was unbearable- to think Elsie had done all that yesterday. Thory maybe, but Elsie? Tobias? This wasn't her daughter...

-I'm being unfair.- she thought. -I'm not going to disown her just because she survived a monster. I can't let myself get scared like that. She's still... I raised her, I should know her! And all of a sudden all I want is to be as far away as possible. I should've come back earlier. Just one day earlier, and... and...- she blinked.

"What else's happened while I left?" she asked, trying to sound friendly.

No use. She'd already clammed up. The centauress cursed herself- why had she been so insistent!? Now there was no way she'd talk.

Or maybe, just maybe... she wanted her to insist. Maybe she wanted proof she was trusted and cared for. Maybe the right thing to do was to insist.

Nobody knew what was going on in that kid's head. Who could tell her which one was the right answer? Should she wait, or should she insist?

And should she still act like she was on her side? Maybe that girl needed a good slap on the wrist. Maybe she'd needed it for a while already.

So many maybes, her throat was clenching. Argh!

"Elsie, why won't you talk!? I feel like I don't know you anymore!" she protested. Her daughter grimaced. "I don't know what you did, but I need to know! If anyone has to know, it's me!" She waited for a moment, in which Elsie just glared at her. "What HAVE you done!? What's the matter with you!?"

"Just..." she sobbed.

"Elsie, I've been gone for six months. And you're fine." Rozal continued. -It's a low blow, but it's the right thing. I'm sure of it.- "If you want me to leave you alone at once, I can do that. Do you want that?"

"..." she looked away.

"You don't know? Then tell me! Let it go, Elsie! Whatever it is, if you don't tell me now, you'll never tell me. Be strong, let it go."

"I can't!"

"Oh, please, won't you look at yourself!? It's not doing you any good!" Rozal continued, before her eyes.

"..."

"Just let it bleed already, kid!"

"Stop talking like that, I hate it when you do that!" Elsie cried, all of a sudden. She was breathing hard, and shivering too, again.

"No, you don't, you love it." Speed up, speed up, go against her, don't let her realize what she's saying. "Why are you shivering...?"

"I...!"

"Why are you shivering?"

"Because I'm mad!" she barked.

"You know you shouldn't be angry." -Sorry it hurts you, kid, but at least we're communicating.-

"QUIT IT! I know you're not a saint, mom!"

"And you? Are you some sort of saint?"

"I hate you!"

"What the hell!?" Rozal spat, surprised. That broke her timing- she couldn't think of an answer fast enough. Now all she had were her daughter's twitchy eyes before her... -Where did I go wrong...?- Rozal thought to herself. -How is this possible?- The iron was getting cooler. If she had something to say she had to say it now. "Sounds like a luxury to me, kid! At least you HAVE a mother!" Rozal continued, smiling.

"For now!"

"Yeah. Don't you wonder if it'd be the same thing with your old mother?"

"Ghk...!"

"Why do you hate me, anyway? What did I ever do to you?"

"You..." Elsie gulped. Her visage twisted the other way around, and she shrank in her shoulders... "It's nothing, ma... I just got a little upset..."

"Will I only be able to talk to you when you're upset?"

"Sorry, I shouldn't..."

"Elsie, think about this from my perspective for a minute. I come back after six months, and you suddenly clam up! You're not the person I raised. Do you think I'm NOT upset!?"

Her kid just let out a sob. Rozal let out a sigh.

"Secrets hurt both of us, but only one can stop it." she declared, turning to the humans in the ground.

Next to her, the giantess was just looking away, peeking uneasily but for an instant at her mother, who knew at that moment that if she let this go on, that was something she was doing both to herself and to her kid. Without sincerity, the gulf between the two of them would only grow- and only distance would alleviate the pain. Maybe this wasn't her daughter anymore. But unless she got to know this young woman, the kid she knew was irrevocably gone and there'd be nothing left of her.

Of course, she knew that was to happen one day. They couldn't be together forever- but if they were to part, were they to part like this!? She wanted to know this woman, to honor the daughter she'd once known- but this woman distrusted her, and she knew her! It was unbearable...! All of her time together with Elsie had only served so that one day she could meet a cold stranger who knew everything about her?

Well, now for the humans... yes, or no?

-I'll keep to principle in this case, I suppose.- she thought to herself. -Kid, the things you make me want to do...- she grimaced.

"Well, Elsie, I'll go take those humans somewhere safe. Stay away from the grove for a while, okay? You told me there's a predator in there."

Her kid sighed, and then nodded.

"W... wait." she blurted.

"Hm?"

"Can I go... with them, instead... of you?" she blurted.

Rozal raised her eyebrows. That... was unexpected.

"Why the sudden helpfulness?"

"Ah..."

"We could go together. You have to get away from the grove."

"Uh..."

-Why is it you want to be alone with them, kid?- her foster mother's eyes widened.

"You trust me, don't you?" kid blurted. "You do?"

Rozal grimaced.

"I want to, kid."

"Then trust me! Please!" she cried, her eyes widening. Was that another tell?

For what it was worth, she wasn't shivering now.

Rozal smiled, looking away for an instant.

"Okay, Elsie, I'll trust you- but I'll be talking to them later, tell them not to take shelter right away." Rozal smiled. "Go towards that tree, okay?" she pointed at a tree peeking over from the horizon- if you were above 100 feet tall, that is. "I've got something to do first."

"What do you have to do?"

"Something he did while on my hands." Rozal frowned, looking at Weasel. "But he's scared of heights... figure something out, will you?"

"Ah, okay..."

"Good. Get going." Rozal said. Elsie wouldn't dare eat them, if she knew they mattered to her. She shouldn't eat them in any case, but she was a strange, strange kid...

-Am I being too trusting...?- she wondered. -I'm placating my conscience, do I have the right to consider her reliability proven? Or maybe I'm only doing this, playing a game with their lives, because I want to!? Because I want to trust you so badly!? Because I want to show you trust, maybe, if I'm thinking this I obviously trust you no longer...- she went up to the trench, taking some mud. She needed to wash her hands a little, though it was possible she could never wash her hands of what she just did. Turning to the group, she saw Elsie looking at her with a faint smile.

She smiled back. Trotting away, she wondered why had she just done that...

======

Stragglers, obviously. No one else would've trusted her foster mom. Down to her knees, she relished their look of utter shock as they saw her smile.

Scare them a little, nothing more, she told herself. Bringing a finger to her lips, she looked down at the woman.

"We haven't been introduced..."

"You're Elsie, right?" the woman asked. "I'm Hare."

"I'm Sparrow, he's Weasel." the other man said, pointing at the one who was curled up with his face to the ground.

"Oh, I see... you're the one who's scared of heights, aren't you?" Elsie hummed deeply, bringing the finger from her lips to him. He didn't react to being poked... so she poked him again.

"Please, it's been really hard for him!"

"Sounds interesting!" she giggled. Two fingers wrapped around his body- he started squirming.

"Your mother didn't mention you being like this!" the woman cried.

The moment her mother was mentioned, Elsie grimaced, and released him. He once more curled on the ground.

"Ah." Elsie gulped, a flash of confusion running through her face. "Well, we'll have to do something about him."

"By the way, why are you naked?" Hare continued.

"Mainly because I can." she grinned.

"Ah..." she grimaced.

"And because I wasn't expecting visits, so my clothes are there." she pointed at the grove. "Not that I need them."

"Well, it's just... an impressive sight."

"Heh! Thank you." Elsie grinned wider. "Well, I'll HAVE to do something about him..."

"And if you can do it without traumatizing him, even better... no offense meant, but just holding him in her closed hands during that much of a rough ride can't have been good. Your mom really didn't do a good job... he's more scared than ever."

"Let him rest and he'll probably get over it. Now, since my pockets are in that grove, what'll I do with you? Where in myself am I going to stick you?"

-Weasel, we found you a wife!- Sparrow grimaced. -She's as polite as you!

"We were on her shoulders..."

"The shoulders, hm? That doesn't sound fun." she looked down at Weasel. "There's something I've been meaning to do for a while, come to think of it..." she giggled, wrapping her fingers around him. "And if it's wrong, I don't think I want to be right ever again."

"NNnnNAaaAAawWWwaAAarRGghHH!"

Watching what in her body were her fingers from the other hand parting...

"Don't- I'm serious, listen, don't!" Sparrow gasped.

"Mmm?" Elsie continued, with a grin plastered on her face, one hand holding Weasel's body squirming against the ground and the other one holding two fingers inside her cleavage, to make room for something else.

"If... you do that, let's see if I can put this clearly, in terms that won't offend anyone..." he mumbled.

"Okay. Panic is only so much fun... think carefully." she giggled, her fingers rubbing over Weasel's body; the moment he managed to squirm free of her grasp, she caught him again and toppled him with his face up, holding him by his waist once more, her mesmerized eyes everlovingly stuck on him.

"Alright then... If, if you put him there, he probably won't, he, he won't like it, or anything like it, ever again." Sparrow finished.

In response, she seemed to be lost in thought for a moment- before she licked her lips and leaned even closer.

"What more could I ask for...!?" she cooed, her warm breath reaching them over- there was a tone of burnt carrion in it, and something else, an essence like the stench of a thirsty gullet... "Can I really do that to you? I guess there's only one way to find out!"

"Hold it! Stop, you skank...!" Hare cried, leaping towards Weasel, gripping him tightly. The anger in her face was evident, much to Elsie's unspoken joy.

"So, are you two married?"

"I'm his sister!" Hare cried. "Do you think it's fun for him!? Do you have any idea how FRAGILE he is!?"

"I guess I'll find out soon..."

"Don't you care!? He's so fragile- we have spent SO much time just keeping idiots away from him. It's not fun! You have your weaknesses too, don't you!?"

"Whatever..." she giggled.

"You're enjoying this, don't you? You enjoy this power over him!? He's always been like this! Deep down, you're nothing but a little coward... so little, I could squash you like a bug."

"Well, isn't that ironic..." Elsie sighed, happily. "You're giving me ideas..."

"You're shivering!"

"Because I'm delighted." she grinned, her hand slowly tracing a circle around Hare's body. She let go of Weasel but for an instant, before catching his sister...

"ACK! Let go of me! I'll tell your mother!" Hare cried, struggling in her hand. She seemed to gain a little purchase, managing to squirm a couple inches out of her hand.

Just then her thumb came down on her shoulder, pushing her back down. Her fingers rolled around her side, tightening- her victim let out a little gasp, clenching her teeth. Her handling was rough, brutal, her fingers were wiggling around her body, twisting her arms behind her back. Elsie's less than pleased face came lower and lower towards her.

"And then what are you doing, hm?" she cooed. "Sounds like you didn't think this through..." she continued between clenched teeth, gripping her only a little tighter.

"Elsie- she's serious. You know fear!" Sparrow cut in.

Her other hand clenched tightly, her fingers around Hare started wiggling more. Hare managed to let out a gasp, taking in a deep breath while she could, Elsie's thumb running itself over her collarbone, rubbing under her jaw, pushing her head to the side.

"Ah, you're going to try again? Please don't. I like you as you are right now..." her eyes shifted around him for but an instant.

"There's a monster in this grove, isn't there? He chased you out! You know what fear's like! Why ARE you doing this?"

"There's always a bigger fish! That's nothing special. It just happens again and again and again, and I'm sick of it!" she growled.

"Are you sick of your mother too, that you can't talk to her!?" Sparrow growled.

For a moment, she winced, her fingers tensing around Hare.

"That's not a problem..." she grumbled.

"If your mother knew about this, she'd die."

Her forehead and eyes cross, her mouth twisted, she locked a glare on him.

"..."

"She's ashamed of you." he growled. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

She gulped quietly, her fingers twitching around her victim...

"Why don't you just tell her? You won't ever have to talk to her again!" he pushed.

"W-why won't you j-just shut it, asshole!?" she spat, with thankfully poor aiming, gasping in the middle. "Nobody c-cares what you... think!"

It only took a moment's pause for his answer.

"That did it. I've lost all respect for you." Sparrow replied, bitterly. "Now let's get this over with so that we don't have to look at you ever again."

Once more, she winced. This time around, though, she let go of Hare first, though her fist remained balled behind her, knuckles on the ground. Hare gasped as she fell to her knees, pushing herself up with her arms...

"You're so cowardly and sadistic, I can't believe you. Hurting Weasel, of all people, for fun, you're sickening..."

"Just drop it, damn you." she cried. Though she obviously had meant it as an order, it came off as more of a plea.

"Why did you ask your mother if you could be the one to drop us off, while you're at it!?"

She let out a grumble, but didn't answer.

"I don't think you were planning on eating us..."

"You don't know THE FIRST THING about me!" the giantess spat. "So let's get this over with, I'm sick! Sick of you already, sick of you all..."

"The feeling is mutual!"

"Hmph." Being ignored didn't seem to suit her well. The rage seemed to half-evaporate at that moment. "Well... let's get this over with, then!"

"No. We'll wait for your mother to be back. No need to strain yourself." Sparrow continued, his gaze still locked on hers. She winced, looking away- her rage almost completely evaporated. Now she seemed to be just... sad? Nervous? This was unexpected.

"I ins- insist..." she mumbled.

"NO."

She winced again, looking away. Her balled fist twitched for a moment, her other hand coming closer to grab one of her finger knuckles. Probably an habit of some sort, as she bit down on her lip, blinking very quickly. Wincing once more, she looked at her grove.

Then she stood up. Sparrow walked back- the fiend might've been tamed, but she was still angry. Her face was still red, almost glowing, her teeth showing only a little through the corner. That blush, that grimace- that pulse he could swear he felt even through the ground, even without having ever touched her. She gulped.

"Sparrow..." she squeaked. " it's not all about bigger fish!"

"Huh?" he exclaimed.

Then she turned to face her grove...

...and hopped in.

====

In her head, she was battling both her common sense and feelings- something had to be said, anything, but she didn't want to cross a word with them.

Or rather, she wanted to talk about everything, if only her head could bear being that open with a stranger who probably would've killed her if it weren't for Rozal. Whether they could or couldn't didn't really matter anymore- just knowing they wanted to was enough to hurt her. As for whether it was her fault or not- she hadn't felt it. She hadn't felt a single drop of empathy for Weasel... she knew crystal clear she was hurting him, but it honestly didn't feel like it.

Ironic. It didn't feel like it... at those moments she could feel her own monstrousity even more clearly than ever. If only there was someone to talk to. Someone who wasn't Rozal. But no one else knew so much about her, and yet she was afraid of saying any more. Would Rozal still love her like a daughter if she knew all about her?

And if she didn't, what was the worst she could do? Kill her? Leave her? Or stay and hurt her? Why was she so scared? Rozal had never been but kind to her.

No, it wasn't fear. It was shame. She wasn't what Rozal thought she was. Strange as the centaur might've been amongst its kind, to her she had been but a saviour. Not to live up to her expectations... not to live up to her. Sparrow had been right about her.

Why couldn't the earth just swallow her!? She'd once thought it was willing enough to. It probably still was... and that made her feel like ravaging anything in sight, in hand, and not in a kinky way...

She gulped, and then saw Sparrow's eyes locked on her. She huffed, and looked away, trying to let her expression normalize. Why had she been making such a display of herself? Did she really want him to know more than he already knew?

-Probably yes.- she thought. -Bare my soul, Sparrow, I'm giving it to you...-

Stupid, stupid idea. Things didn't work that way. Giving him her soul would have him stomp on it several times and toss it away. And then she'd eat him! It'd be her fault, too. Rozal had always warned her not to stir up trouble, and yet there she was. Almost helpless, stirring more and more trouble...

-Am I so screwed up?- she thought, before realizing she was down to self-pity again. That wouldn't help things... if she wanted to help things, she'd have to help things.

And if that meant Sparrow... could it make things worse? He'd be gone. Hopefully, he'd tell Rozal. That'd be easier than talking to her. But she'd be angry, because she had to hear those things from a stranger. She'd tell her it was easier... and she'd ask WHY. WHY was it easier. HOW could it be easier to talk to a stranger than to her mother? Because she was lying, she'd infer. So she'd ask her to tell it all again. And she wouldn't take the truth for an answer, because she'd think it was a lie!

-No, if I keep thinking like this...- she began gulping nervously. -I've kept thinking like this all along and look where I am now. I need to...-

She needed to learn to keep her body out of things. She needed to start with that attitude now. Or else, she'd be just another one of those things that would've eaten her if she were smaller. That would've eaten her, period.

"Sparrow..." she began. "it's not all about bigger fish!"

"Huh?"

His puzzled, disdainful expression... she realized how awkward that must've sounded! Anytime now she was going to turn into a tomato if she didn't do something else. Well, time for plan B.



So turning to her grove, she remembered where in the grove were those dead birds. Taking a deep breath, she thought back to the position of all things in it- including the squamataur. Gulping down stones, shivering in fright, unsure if she'd even get to respond properly, she scrambled into her grove.

She knew where he was. She knew where her objective was. It was just a matter of getting to one while eluding the other. He hadn't seemed interested in her... if she was right, that was good news. Looking around all the time, an alarmed grimace in her features, she scrambled towards her objective...

...surprise.

As she came closer to her apron, she felt the slithering sound of a scaly belly coming closer. The squamataur, still drooling poison, was now enjoying a really charred carcass- or maybe suffering it. She refrained from asking if it was any better. Frankly she wanted to, but she knew she shouldn't. She was here for something else. His eyes were the same as before- annoyed, a bit angry, but more than anything they were looking down on her. That ugly hunched fatass only cared about the carcasses- though there was a challenging glint to his eyes, the corner of his mouth twisted in disdain, like she were some sort of sickening bug.

She approached her objective sluggishly, gazes locked on each other's eyes- and bent down. Picking up her apron, she withdrew steadily. His eyes, predatorial, carnivorous, were still locked on her all the way- one false move and he'd probably forgo the tree this time around. And yet he let her go, just like that... step by step, she found herself near the edge of the trench. For a moment, she looked down- then back at him. Then she crossed the trench- he didn't stop her.



Mission accomplished.



Walking around the grove as she donned the apron, her heart still pounding away within her chest, her feet itching to get as far from the squamataur as possible, she looked back down at her tiny guests. Then back to her grove. Then back to them. Then back to her grove. Taking a couple steps away from her grove, she turned to them, kneeling down, and bringing them to her pocket, now only a short distance to the ground.

"WHAT!? NO! GET US DOWN!"

"Hare, stop that, she likes it!"

"But Weasel will...!"

"Just stop that."

Then she stood up and walked hastily, quietly, towards the aforementioned tree. She was a little worried about the quiet in her pocket- but more about her stomach breaking it. When she took risks like this, they always made her hungry.



Grendel still belongs to Slimetoad.

Reaching the tree, she looked down at the roots. There was one raised just enough... maybe...

She bent down, and taking her guests in her hand, she carefully lowered Weasel and Hare on the ground- but kept Sparrow. Hare seemed somewhat sore, staggering to her feet and rubbing her ribs- while Weasel had fainted. She went up to him, of course, crying his name- and shaking him. Only a few moments later, he gasped, and squirmed to sit up, with a shrill cry. Then he curled up in the ground, again... Elsie just gulped. The original rush of decision and adrenaline faded away- now she once more had second thoughts. She had been brave (and more than a little stupid) earlier, maybe that way they'd see her in a different light- now could she be brave again?

"Let go of him!" Hare cried, trotting towards her, wincing at Sparrow.

She had to make up her mind quickly... did she borrow Sparrow, or did she not? There was no guarantee this'd work, and it was probably going to hurt her if it didn't. Horribly. Then again, if it had to be someone, it had to be him- he was a good person and he understood her... couldn't be any other way if he'd stood to her that way.

"I'll be borrowing him for a while. Now you two get under that root." she grinned, with less conviction than ever. "Just for the record, don't cry like that, or I will be the least of your worries."

"No! Let go of him, you huge sk...!" pointless to listen. She walked away, the sound of her cries becoming more and more diffuse in the distance.

======

Once she was a fair distance away, behind another tree, just for safe measure, she turned her hand around, looking at Sparrow's dark haired body, his brown clothes, his mildly surprised, but still decided, eyes. What she had just done was stupid, she knew- he didn't. He should've been impressed, but now he was just uncomfortable and curious.

"So..." she sighed.

He just kept looking at her, judgemental and direct as always. He'd lost all respect for her, and it showed.

"Don't look at me like that." she began, with some difficulty. "It's hard."

"You ate thirty people yesterday, I've seen you couldn't keep your hands off Weasel today, you ran in with that monster," she hid a wincing smile for a moment at the recognition she'd gotten "and this is hard?"

"It's more complicated than that..." she began. She couldn't continue.

"What do you want?"

"To talk." she replied. That was the easy part. Only a little easier because she'd just done something impressive: the adrenaline was a lot like alcohol.

"I'm not interested." he replied, gingerly. So upfront about it...

"So..."

Still no response.

"I..."

More of that awkward silence.

"There's..."

Looking into his eyes, eyes she, for the time being, had accepted as those of another person, this was impossible. Teasing him was one thing. Being open... was almost unthinkable. Her tongue went limp, her throat clenched, her eyes itched, her innards struggled, her shoulders shook, even her breath had to be reined in.

And still he looked at her.

"Ah, uh, umm I'm, ah..." just as the right words came knocking, he had to open his mouth and wipe them off her mind.

"You said you want to talk." he said, much to her silent chagrin. Was he scared or not, bullying her that stupidly? She gulped- it wasn't about him anyway, this was about her.

"I thought this would be easier..." she gasped. "You were right... I can't talk with my mother, but that's because..." she stopped again. That was complex, and even she wasn't sure of why.

"Will you talk, or...?"

"I've changed so much!" she blurted.

He once more made a pause.

"Is that all you wanted to say?"

"No!" she cried. "I..." once more her voice faltered. Her mouth had plans for him- none of them involved talking, she needed more adrenaline. She let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"Maybe my mouth isn't for talking..." she giggled nervously. This was impossible. "I'll..."

"What do you want from me?" he grimaced, frightened. She couldn't help but smile.

"..."

Even feeling flattered by his fright, slightly exhilarated from the moment of foolishness, she couldn't answer that question. Frankly, with questions like that, he felt more like a bully than anything else to her. The irony was almost funny...

"I was born really far to the north from here..." she began. "It's a... different place, lots of blue trees..."

No response.

"Do you have trees where you're from?"

Still no response. His fright was more and more clear every moment... she bit down on her lip, trying to keep her hands to herself. Damn, she REALLY was twisted.

"Please?"

He sighed.

"Yes. They're very beautiful- specially when they blossom. Their pink petals carried by the breeze... there's no one who hasn't composed a rhyme about it." he gave in, much to her silent delight.

"Ah..." she sighed. "I don't remember much from that time, but it was... we were a tribe, there were like six hundreds of us. We lived underground... mostly ate fruits. Until my parents decided to move south."

"Six hundreds of people like you, underground..." he half-spat, with a wince. "You say you all mostly ate fruits? I thought giants mostly ate humans."

"I'll get to that!" she giggled, trying not to notice how skeptical he was. "I'll get to that, I swear it makes sense. But what about you? Where were you born?"

Sparrow took a moment to appraise her. Once more, those eyes, running all over her face. Her fingers twitched- she wanted to know what he was wincing about.

"I was born in the sprawl around our capitol, Riverside. We mostly ate rabbits," he flashed a smile, much to her relief and delight, delight, delight... "my father was a trapper, and he passed on the craft to me at an early age. We also traded them for other foodstuffs, and other things we needed. It wasn't always easy, but thankfully the rabbits had always been a plague on our neighbors' crops. We were never short of meat, even if sometimes mom ran out of different ways to cook them."

"Oh, quaint..." she smiled. "Speaking of cities, we moved far south, to Negav... oh, right, you're new. It's a big city..." she lowered her gaze. "It's so huge and noisy there... full of humans, too. I lived in a small city there, a smaller city inside the city... Pelnepi, I think."

"A smaller city... for giants?"

Elsie couldn't help but let out a short laugh. She tried not to break, not to start shaking him, not to yell at him to believe her!

"No, not at all." she giggled. "It's not for giants, no... but, my parents had moved south because we were getting eaten."

"You? By what?" he asked, ever more surprised.

"Nekos... they're just like you, but fuzzier, and with ears... and a tail, and they're hungry..." she giggled. "They live almost everywhere in Felarya."

"They must be huge..."

"They're not much bigger than you, actually." she replied, blankly.

"What? Aren't they bigger than you!?" Sparrow exclaimed.

"Back then, they were- there were nekos in Negav, but Pelnepi was safe. Well, mostly... the nekos had a harder time getting there, but they... they still did." Elsie's lip trembled for an instant. A swift flash of rage went through her features, her face exhilarated. "What about you? Is it dangerous where you are from?" she raised her eyebrows.

Sparrow seemed still to have to come to grips with the idea Elsie was afraid of nekos. Not that she could blame him. But in the end, he came through with an answer.

"Not the cities, unless you lack respect to the wrong person- in the wild it's a different story. If you don't know how to handle yourself, you're in danger- but it's easy enough to learn. Unless there's bandits." He was cute like that, taken in by her... she'd call it beauty and leave it at that. "Sometimes, there's fires or hurricanes, but they're rare, I wouldn't call my home a dangerous place..." he trailed off. "Nekos aren't bigger than me? That's impossible..."

"I'm NOT lying!" she gasped, her other arm shooting right up, clenching into a fist, her face stringing up for a moment. "Don't say that! I hate it!" she sneered between clenched teeth.

Sparrow gulped once more, watching her fingers clench almost completely around his body. A little more, and he'd have needed a new head. Elsie noticed it too.

"Sorry..." she winced, looking away. Her hand quickly lowered itself to the ground- but even then, it took him a moment to trust her enough to hop out. He took a few steps away...

"Don't go away!" she cried. "We're not done."

Sparrow turned around to face her again.

"I have to get going."

Briefly she winced in rage.

"I'll decide when you have to get going." she quickly smiled.

"You..."

No way to deny that. He wasn't that stupid. But that didn't mean he liked her.

"I'm sorry." her shoulders slumped. "I wish I hadn't, but..."

He kept looking at her, blankly, with all that fear in his gaze. No, she couldn't have been wrong about him...

"I won't hurt you, just..." she grumbled. He barely even reacted- then he looked away for a moment. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Don't you dare leave me here talking alone like I were insane!" she cried.

He turned back to look at her. His closed fists twitching, his mouth twisted, hunched over, elbows far from the navel... afraid, angry. He wasn't himself. She couldn't ask him to be himself.

"You were so brave a while ago..." she sighed. "Can I have that man back? I liked him. He talked to me..."

Sparrow took a few deep breaths, before her expectant eyes. He shook his head quickly, trying to focus- she hoped whatever he did, he did it quicker. The anticipation, the suspense was killing her. He was averting his face from time to time...

"W-we... wait, please... don't go away." she pleaded.

He gulped. This situation was too much for him... she needed to make it his turn again.

"About your parents." she began. "Tell me about them. What was your father like? What was your mother like?"

Sparrow took a few deep breaths. He was trembling- it was so cute. She just wanted to bare his whole body and hold on tight to him and never let go...

"My mother was... a beautiful woman. But she got sick, and died, when I was young... my father, well, he was killed, when I was only a bit older... because he had done something... to dishonor a great man."

Elsie smiled. She'd found something that he didn't really want to talk about. She finally felt in something of an equal standing with him...

"What do you mean that she got sick?" she grinned.

"I mean she got sick."

"What does it mean to be sick?"

"It means..." he grimaced. "It's complicated."

"How so?"

"It's... hard to describe. You... feel weak, or are weak. Your skin... turns pale, with red stains. You lose your appetite. It... it can kill you, because you get weaker."

"Aha..." Elsie smiled. "And what did your father do?"

"He..." Sparrow grimaced. "He was... he..."

She felt her heart flutter in an odd way. Something not to be talked about? For some reason, it made her so happy to see him act like that...

"He... did this and that with his wife." he tried.

"This and that?" Elsie grinned, merrily.

"I think you know what I mean."

She pouted for an instant.

"Fair enough..." she sighed, contented. "Your parents died? Both of them?"

"Yes, but I was well-off. My father had already taught me the trade, it wasn't hard to make a living." he replied, slowing down. "You have something to explain, what is it you had to fear from nekos?" he asked, bemused, to her relief and delight... it had worked. He wasn't as scared now. "You said they weren't bigger than me. And what were you doing around humans being that big?"

"Back then I wasn't so big." she grinned.

"Your parents?"

"Neither!" she giggled.

"Eh?"

"Back then, I was... My parents were three inches tall and I was two."

He looked blankly at her. She almost choked on that...

"I'm not lying, it's true, I swe...!" she cried.

"What's an inch?"

"HAHA!"

That one had really gotten away from her. She gulped, hoping he would keep talking.

"That's rich." she smiled. "Your thumb is around two inches long."

Now it was time for Sparrow to look just completely bemused. She couldn't put in words how glad she was for that.

"What!?" he frowned. "You mean... like a carp?"

"What's a carp?"

"A carp is a kind of fish- it grows bigger the more room it has to grow. None grows as big as you, though."

Elsie pursed her lips for a moment- that was new.

"There's animals that can do that...?" she mumbled. "I didn't know that. So, uh, if you toss them in the sea, what happens?"

"They're river fish. They can't live in seawater."

"Ah. How... big do they get?"

"This big." he put his two hands apart.

"Just... that?" she sounded disappointed.

"You are like a carp, growing bigger the more room you get?"

"No..." she looked away. "I'm not a fish. But when we moved to Pelnepi, we only lasted a while. I made a friend there, a friend around my age. And he was a neko."

"Hadn't you said nekos ate you?"

"Let me tell... we were... friends, we met in the halls of the temple of Minalca. We talked a lot, too. They can't eat us there, because there's guardians watching, so... we can talk. But... my mom, she got eaten."

"Hadn't you said they couldn't eat you?"

"Not in the temple because there's people watching." she sighed. "But... a neko got past the guards, and... ate my mother. I saw her..." she looked away.

"Rozal is not your mother?"

"She's my foster mom. What were you thinking?"

He shook his head, smirking.

"Go on..."

She smiled too.

"I saw her, and I told him. And he said she was his mother. And I told my father. And we moved again." Elsie looked down. "We went far away... I told my dad I didn't want to, and he... didn't listen. He still dragged me, kicking and screaming, to the middle of nowhere." she seemed a little bitter. "I hated it when he did that, he had no right to do that!"

"Yes, he had it. He was your father."

-Not everyone thinks the same as us.- Rozal had told her. -But everyone learns how to live with it.-

"He didn't even tell me where we were going!"

"Probably so that you didn't tell your friend."

"I was just a little girl!"

"What's your point?"

"What he did was wrong! That's my point." Elsie sighed. That man hadn't been led to death by his father, he wouldn't understand, "We hitched a ride with some humans, west and south... somewhere far off. I don't know where was he trying to go. Probably just far away, that stubborn jerk. He got himself killed, anyway. Not far from this spot. Nekos again, the humans... failed." she grimaced. "And I'd have been eaten too... except for one thing."

"Rozal?"

"Yes. She caught them, she ate them- and just out of the kindness of their hearts they didn't try to take me with them!" she screeched, "I thought I was still going to die, but she noticed me. And she..." her lips twitched. "She... took me in. I was so little, she never let me out of her sight... we were inseparable."

She made a long pause.

"Then why are you so big?"

Elsie took a deep breath.

"To tell you the truth..." Elsie grimaced. "...do you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Hm?"

"Rozal knows, but... no one else can know."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want them to know I..." she grimaced. "It's my secret, and I want it to stay that way."

"But you're telling me."

"I need to tell someone, I really, really do." she sighed. "I need this, more than anything!"

"..."

"Please... tell me you won't tell anyone."

Sparrow caved in, with a sigh.

"Alright, I will keep your secret..."

"Thank you!" she smiled. "I... spied a recipe. It makes things grow. A lot."

Sparrow looked at her up and down.

"Spied?"

"I spied the recipe. I saw a... treant do it. I memorized the ingredients. At first I thought it'd be just for plants, but then... I..." she let out a small sigh, smiling. "I realized my fingers were getting way too long. I tried to even it out, but I couldn't make it work too easily, and well, ah, from there it... kind of became a vicious cycle..." she giggled nervously. "I kinda goofed off a bit sometimes too..." she looked down at her chest, grinning, raising one hand to caress her jaw. "It was maddening. I don't know if I look right anymore." The hand ran all the way back to her ear, and then to her eyebrows, feeling the shape of the bones. She closed one eye- and then brought down her hand, her thick lips twisting away. "And I don't really care anymore. What's the point, anyway?" she spat.

Once more he was looking at her with that fearfully skeptical gaze.

"What's the matter now?" she smirked.

"What's a treant?"

She sighed.

"A treant is like a tree, only a little like Rozal..." she frowned. "I was in a forest, not far from here... well, not far now. With her... she was talking to him, while I watched what he did. I don't know if he meant to hide anything or not... I simply... figured it out, over time. I'm... I've always been very clever, and making things grow... I've always been a little obsessed about it, too, it just..." she stopped. "You humans never realize just how big you are, and now I was living with Rozal, and she... was just SO big, I felt... it really... he had grown all those greens so huge... why did I have to be the microbe?" she grimaced. "It just... didn't feel fair. So I started my own garden, just to see if I could. And I could!"

"That's... a little hard to believe-" he stopped.

Elsie scrunched her face for a moment, her throat clenching. She gulped, and then sighed.

"Then I'll prove it to you. Anytime you want, I'll prove it to you. I'll show you my garden someday." she grinned, looking away. "Wouldn't you like to see it?"

Sparrow grimaced.

"What's with the weird face? It's really a beautiful garden. I take good care of it, don't you like gardens?"

"I haven't seen many gardens, actually..."

"Then it's settled!" she grinned. "I'll show you my garden, but..."

"Hm?"

"Do you believe me?" she asked, her eyes very wide. "Do you?"

He seemed to withdraw for a moment. Her heart skipped a few beats, hoping he could just lie to her if the answer was no...

"I... I do." he sighed, as if he was surprised to hear himself say that. Before his eyes, she beamed almost radiantly- and oblivious to the fact he wasn't really listening...

"I'm so happy to hear you say that. We..."

"But, Elsie- why are you telling me THIS? Isn't there something ELSE you should be telling me?" he cut her off.

Her head lolled away for a moment, while she tried to find the right words.

"I'm telling you because, when I was talking to Rozal a while ago, I realized..." she winced. "I felt more lonely than ever. I couldn't say a word to her. She was here for me, but I..." she whimpered. "It was... worse than being alone. She's really a wonderful person, and I'm... I couldn't do this to her. I couldn't open my mouth and hurt her, and I wanted so badly to talk. I wanted it this badly, Weasel..." she took a deep breath.

"I'm Sparrow."

She let out a quiet giggle.

"My bad... all that talk about Weasel, I..." she giggled. "I kind of..."

"But on the subject of Weasel, there is something ELSE you should be telling me!"

She searched frantically in his eyes for a moment.

"I... I'm... I'm kind of sorry about Weasel, and about... Butterfly, I can't help myself at those times..."

"It's much worse than that! Kind of sorry about what you did!? You fingered her whole body, you bullied those two good people!"

"W... when you get bigger it just comes naturally to get a little playful..."

"EXCUSES come naturally. Rozal's no smaller!" he barked.

"I'm... stupid, I get giddy like that...! It's not my fault..." her mumbling quickly turned to babbling, much to her dismay. "I'm just young and...!" she stopped. "I wanted to feel their forms, their shapes, to know if I..."

"Quit it. Nothing excuses you."

Excuses... it was all a excuse.

She gulped. He had lost all respect for her... and yet, there she was, still trying to tell him something she didn't dare tell Rozal.

Did she dare tell him?

"I wasn't always like this, but... I'm kind of nervous..." she winced. "There's something I need to say, please... listen to me..."

"You leave me with no choice, frankly" he sighed.

"Well, that's... don't say that! I want you to listen because you want to! I want someone who wants to listen."

"Your mother does."

"But..." she grimaced. "she'd be mad at me. If I told her this... the moment when I got... this giddy and... stuff, it was..." she gulped. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

He made a dismissive gesture with his eyes. He wanted to be far from here. She made a tremendous effort not to notice... she wanted him to want to listen. If she accepted proof to the contrary, that would be... unthinkable.

"Please, this is... really, really, really important for me. If... if anyone ever knew this... they'd..." Elsie grimaced. "Nobody would ever like me anymore."

"Then why are you telling me this?"

"Because if... if there's someone I can tell this to..." -then what?- she thought, realizing she hadn't thought about her words too hard. "I'll be... I need to tell it to someone. I'll sleep better that way. I'll be nicer, I promise, but you have to listen... please..." she grimaced.

The unease in his eyes was as clear as his displeasure. And yet, he managed to answer.

"Very well, tell me. But on one condition..."

"What is it?"

"You have to apologize to Weasel and Butterfly. And apologize right." Sparrow frowned.

She stuttered but for an instant.

-I'm letting you have too much power over me... but I can't stop now, I can't, I can't!- then she realized eating him hadn't crossed her head again. Now that it did, the thought of eating him felt horrifying and painful, not cathartic, not delightful. -Was it this easy? Really? Maybe I'm on the right track? Was it so easy to keep myself down...?- she sighed. -Sparrow, you... sick little puppy...- she thought to herself. -I'm letting you have too much power over me. And if it were by me, I wouldn't... but... I need this. Just like I said, I need this. I need... you, believe it or not, and it's not fair on me, but I do. I do need you.-

"Some months ago... my mother left for a while, to let me have some room..." she looked away. "...and this is something I've never told anyone..." she looked around.

"Hm?"

"I... well... I met a man. Back then, I was..." she grimaced. "I was... about half as tall as I am right now, and it's... actually pretty small for a giant, I... I thought I'd stay that size, that I couldn't even out properly..." she ran a finger along the inside of one of her elbows. He noticed one of her feet shifted. "...but I met this man, and..." she rolled her eyes, shrinking into her shoulders some. "He was a fairy hunter. And he had caught a fairy..."

"A fairy?" he seemed alarmed. "People catch them?"

"Do you know of fairies?"

"Yes. Their displeasure is legendary- they cause disasters and plagues when angered. The legend goes that Moon Island went up in flames, because the fairies weren't placated with an appropriate offering..."

"That sounds like a different kind of fairy, ours don't cause disasters... and plagues?"

Sparrow pointed at the scar on his cheek.

"Plagues are... much like poison, except they can spread from person to person. I had smallpox when I got this scar; I fell and cut my face as a kid, it never healed properly." Her eyes widened. "I was lucky: many people lose one eye or both to smallpox, or their whole body ends up like this. Even if they survive, they'll always be but a shadow of what they used to be."

She pursed her lips. She wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

"W... wait a moment, did you say it can spread?"

"Not from me, if that's what you're wondering." he shook his head. "I had it when I was a kid, smallpox hits each person only once. I could be in a room full of people sick with it, and nothing would happen to me. This scar right now is just an ugly memento."

She let a smile come to her.

"I wouldn't know about that. I've always heard that plagues won't do in Felarya, for some reason, and I've never seen one, so... Anyway, fairies eat little people like I used to be. But keeping her bound just felt wrong to me, and he was so mean" she realized the word didn't carry what she was trying to say. "So rude... I caught him... and then, then, well, I..." Saying what she did to him felt like too much, and frankly, considering she'd just said what had it been about... about him being mean, or rude. Said aloud, she really understood why was it so difficult to say it aloud. It put things in a perspective she'd been trying to avoid- she'd killed that hunter for being MEAN. Just MEAN. "It had been a difficult time for me lately, I was in a horrible mood... I'm not saying it excuses me, but... " No. The memory itself was wonderful. She'd killed him for being mean, and she had enjoyed it. "The fairy..."

"Did you release it?"

"No. I used her." she declared with a large, heaving sigh.

Sparrow's eyes were blank. This... was beyond his attention, beyond his scope of influence. All this was flying over his head.

"You used her?"

"The potion works better with fairy wings, a lot better... I used her to make more. I grew... really, really quickly, and a lot, until I was this big..." she looked down at her chest. "But... Rozal..." she winced. "She'd always taught me not to hurt humans... she doesn't like it when someone just eats a human, and I ate him. I used a fairy, too..." she grimaced, lowering him to the ground. "And after eating one, the rest became just... so easy..."

An awkward pause followed.

"So..." he replied, nervously, feeling very lost about all this. "Is...?"

On the other hand, what he wanted to say suddenly felt completely out of place as he saw her sobbing.

Sobbing- actually sobbing. Strange how she seemed all of a sudden to shrink into herself, her bulk the size of a castle clenching itself tight and shaking. Sparrow had to feel a little honored- he was probably one of a few lucky who got to see such a large display of sadness. And yet he couldn't help but feel he had missed a joke here. Did she do this to everyone she met? Fifty minutes ago, he didn't know her, and now she had just confessed all her sins to him, for reasons he didn't understand. Whatever had happened here, it was really out of his comfort zone.

But all of that known, he grimaced- such sadness, such remorse. Even if he barely understood it, he could tell something was going on here. He had just been in her hands, maybe it was that, but this stranger's sadness affected him. Watching her massive body shake, wondering if her eyes, hidden behind knees, breasts and arms, were as limp as her lips seemed to be while she whimpered. Her legs, lying on their side between the two of them, kept him from seeing anything too private, but if she wanted to stretch, he'd know it, he thought as he saw her toes twist. Her whole body was slightly tilted to his right, hunching, in a position he could only describe as uncomfortable.

Gathering his courage, he decided to move away before she stretched her legs. Before his first movement, however...

"It'll do." she said, wiping the tears with her arm. "I feel better now. I feel a lot better now." she shook her head. "Thanks for listening."

"I did nothing." he stated simply.

She raised her gaze from under her arm, and looked at him, with a smile.

"Nobody ever realizes how cruel they really are." she smiled. "Maybe you can't tell how kind you really are either?" she grinned.

"I just stood there." he insisted. Her legs shifted, to his silent chagrin- thankfully, she didn't touch him as she shifted positions. He took a few steps backward anyway- she seemed to appreciate it, because she took the extra room to stretch, getting dangerously close, then laid on her belly, looking at him, dragging herself forward just a little to compensate for the paces he'd taken. Her smile, right now, was more unnerving than any of her grimaces- if she'd gotten the wrong idea, would he survive getting it out of her mind?

"You're kind of cute that way, Sparrow. Very well, you did nothing... let's leave it that way." he noticed there was a wall of cleavage right before him, leaving him to wonder if it was intentional. "You know, I'm actually still feeling partial to having someone travel on the front."

Yes, it was intentional.

"Someone might get the wrong idea." he declared.

-Like you, overgrown creep. I wouldn't want to touch your man-eating silky smooth mug with a twelve foot stick.- he left undeclared.

She sighed... tempting as it was, she really didn't want to ruin the moment. So she picked him up, holding him to her shoulder...

"Well, hang in there." she stood up carefully, taking the road back.

In her way to the tree, she had to ask herself- maybe all of this meant nothing. Maybe he really had meant nothing by it. Maybe she meant nothing to him, and he still had lost all respect for her. Maybe he didn't want to see her, ever again. No, not maybe, but certainly. None of that had changed. All he needed was to feel bored enough and he'd be able to tear her life upside down like it was a castle of cards.

Looking at her shoulder, seeing him standing there, holding tight to her hair, she locked her gaze with his. A new feeling seemed to spread from her throat, and with it, she wondered if he felt that way about her too. Right now, it felt like... he belonged to her, and it could never be any other way. Did he feel...?

No, obviously he didn't love her. He didn't give a damn whether she lived or died, and he'd sooner forget her than not. It was all her fault, and nothing could be done about it. There was no denying it! She had just bared her THROAT to him, offered him her heart on a SILVER PLATTER, and now she was HIS to toy with- all he needed was a few words, to the wrong person, to anyone, and her secrets would be out for everyone to...! To...!

She felt herself shiver. One quick bite, and it'd be all. No one would ever have to know she'd told her whole life to a man named Sparrow. It wouldn't matter what had she ever felt for him. He didn't know how much she needed him, she couldn't let him know. He was HERS, he had become hers the moment he'd agreed to listen, and it could never be any other way!

She stopped in her tracks, her mouth twitching as she looked at him. He was sweating...

"Wh... what's wrong...?" he asked, looking at her cold eyes. But then he looked down, at her lips... her tongue snaked out for an instant.

-If someone won't love you back, it's their loss.- she remembered another quote by Rozal.

Her tongue withdrew, and she smiled, kindly. Her eyes accompanied her, joining in a general sense of warmth. She shrugged a little, and sighed.

"Your loss!" she laughed, wondering why'd she ever think of eating him.

Accompanying her new, extremely good mood, her stomach unclenched, letting out a long gurgle as it did. She just giggled, feeling the man shiver in her shoulder...

"Nobody's going to eat you, don't worry." she said, leaning her cheek a little on the man on her shoulder, bringing her other hand to behind him, feeling him shiver... but just a little- and just for a moment, withdrawing her cheek slowly, keeping her hand there, making sure he didn't fall off. He didn't want to snuggle, and she didn't want to ruin this newfound sense of peace by getting overaffectionate with someone this soon after getting it. No matter how cute he looked -though, to herself, she reflected both cuteness and vulnerability might have always been linked in a way.

"By the way, Sparrow, do you people have any customs for apologizing?"

======

[I'm not used to adding comments AFTER a story, as I told you before, but in this case, I just wanted everyone to know that this was 20 kb shorter at first, so as to fit just peachy in dA or in a single post. However, I realized that not everything was as strong as it could be, and finally decided to bite and extend it. Grendel's second encounter and the events during the conversation drove the length up critically, as did the fact that I tried to make sure the conversation between Elsie and Sparrow was as eloquent as possible. For the first climax of a story, I couldn't let a little thing like the length stop me.]

Credits to Ravana3k and Frenchsnack for tomthumbs.

Powerful stuff here ^^

Elsie finally giving in and telling what she had on her plate was touching while in the same time you managed to keep a suspense and very real tension on the whole scene, as you can't really say if she will manage to keep her tormented, dark self at bay.
I am glad she managed to make that confession, that's the first step on the way to recovery

Spoiler:

Well, you managed to twist this story up into knots upon knots, drawing it all tighter, but one little tug and it all comes out into one clear line.

Karbo wrote:

Powerful stuff here ^^
Elsie finally giving in and telling what she had on her plate was touching while in the same time you managed to keep a suspense and very real tension on the whole scene, as you can't really say if she will manage to keep her tormented, dark self at bay.
I am glad she managed to make that confession, that's the first step on the way to recovery

MrNobody13 wrote:

Well, you managed to twist this story up into knots upon knots, drawing it all tighter, but one little tug and it all comes out into one clear line.

Spoiler alert, please... someone scrolling down all the way might read what the surprise twist is before reading the surprise twist on their own. If you could leave out the spoiler from your comments, not for my sake, but for anyone who scrolls all the way down intending to read it.

I'm happy that you two liked it. It was a hell of a task for me to keep it secret all the way, it... I didn't know if it would work or not, and being insecure like I am, I thought maybe it was far too extreme, or far too ridiculous; it started as a joke for me after all, and I couldn't ask anyone about it, not without revealing the secret twist. Now I know what a stage magician feels like.

Karbo, thanks. If you really find it powerful, that's all I could ask for.
Thanks, Thirteen. I love that effect, the problem is, it only works once. Now I'll have to start another story all over again if I want to pull it off again.

Well, wait for it. There's still one more twist- we still are one epilogue short, guys!

Epilogue -> The Rest Was Easy

[Troughberries belong to Silent Eric]

"« le pire pour un enfant (dans un cache-cache) c'est de ne pas être trouvé. »"
(The worst that can happen to a kid (playing hide and seek) is not being found)

-Daniel Winnicott

======

Talía looked out into the distance, bitterness gripping every inch of her body. Resisting the impulse of having her lip tremble, she continued putting on a cold, strong façade. For the sake of command. Stach Tobias (that conniving piece of scum) was finally dead, and the unit was back in her charge. But at what cost? He had managed to wrest control of the unit from her, through sheer magnetism and ruthlessness. What such a thing can do to someone's faith in humanity -to a part of humanity they'd have trusted their lives to, furthermore- is unspeakable.

Right now, she had everyone who'd been hired together with Tobias digging at gunpoint. Digging their own graves. Their loyalty lay with Stach- even though with him dead they'd follow anyone else, she didn't want them. She didn't want their loyalty, she didn't want their obedience... even her own unit had followed herd mentality and let her be taken away, they'd all followed suit with Stach's followers and followed his orders. They knew they had to be loyal to her, SHE was in succession for their earlier leader, and yet...

She didn't want to think about it. But she couldn't avoid the issue anymore. She felt so betrayed, and yet she had a part to play here. She couldn't decide on what to do- get all of those people killed, maybe herself and take them down with her, or go somewhere safe and disband. Right now, they were so full of guilt they'd shoot themselves if she told them to. And that only made her even angrier.

"Lieutenant."

She turned around, the disgust visible in her eyes. It was Andreas- one of the drivers. He had followed Stach's orders just like everyone else, but he was a part of the original CABRAS- which only made it worse. He had more than anyone a duty to follow her orders, and yet he had driven the command trailer with her prisoner in it. She'd gladly see him dead.

"Private." she spat.

"There is a situation, miss."

"Did someone get tired of digging their own graves?" she spat.

"No, sir." Andreas replied, visibly nervous. "We..."

"Is it urgent?" she insisted.

"It calls for you, miss."

"And what exactly happened!?" she almost barked.

"The Colonel left you a message."

Talía couldn't help but gasp.

"But- he's been dead for a year!"

"Exactly. Stach had been hiding this message from you, Captain."

She frowned.

"Show it to me."

"It's in the command trailer."

She strode towards the command trailer, entered, and found an envelope waiting for her on the side table, opposite Stach's ex-box of stuff. That guy had something of a fascination with collecting trash, believing he could come up with some magic. Of course, he sometimes did pick up a real magical item or two, but most of it was just trash.

Now back to the envelope, something was very interesting about it. It was opened.

"Why is it opened?" she asked her navigators, Luna and Herbert. Stein was right now digging his own grave, together with Vanegas.

"It's exactly in the state we found it, Lieutenant." Luna blurted, looking away. No one would even look her in the eye anymore...

Talía gulped down her rage, and took the envelope. Opening it, she found a short letter.

It was properly aged- at least one year. But there was a strange pattern, something that looked like fine red print underlining each line. Even then, she decided to pay mind to the large print first.

'Lieutenant Talía,

This is a message of the utmost importance. The new recruits we hired in Lamina seem to have become something of a problem: while I would admire their tight-knit loyalty to each other, one amongst them, Stach Tobias, their earlier leader, is turning out to be a liability. I have a feeling he's biding his time for my death. And thinking of that possibility -God forbid- is it that I write you this letter.
Talía, you are not yet ready for command: I know how uneasy it makes you to lead, I know you don't want to, and that's part of why I believe you're the correct choice. Because you're not tempted by this power, I trust you won't misuse it. But if the situation comes to be and I die, you must rise to the challenge immediately, and not allow that upstart even a moment; he is magnetic enough to wrest control from you. Challenge him immediately if the situation arises, because he's competent enough to look like he's doing a good job, at least at first.
Stach is a fool. It would be an act of high treason from you to allow that upstart to command, even if but for a second, and I would never forgive you if that happened. No one should forgive you, and there's only you and your complacence to blame if that were to pass. It is of the utmost importance, I repeat, that you take charge of CABRAS immediately. I could continue to hammer on this point, but I trust you to do the right thing.

Be worth trusting.

Colonel Cobre Cuernavaca, CABRAS'

She narrowed her eyes, and focused the light on the underlining. Yes, it was red print... but it was too small to read.

"Private Herbert, amplify the red lines beneath the writing." she said, handing over the letter. He quickly put the paper inside a slot- and then, typing like a demon, he put the red lines together, amplified a hundred times. Even then, the letter was kinda blurry...


"Hey, Talía. If you're reading this, you either dug through my stuff, or the guy was right about me and I'm a fool good only to get himself killed. Would've written my own letter, but I thought you'd burn it if I didn't write it down in something you wanted to keep, or washed it if I didn't make sure it couldn't be gotten off. So I wrote it here.

I really thought you'd put up more resistance, I thought I'd have to pry CABRAS from your cold dead hands. I want you to know that at every turn of the road, I was scared you'd do exactly what the Colonel said you should. I want you to know that everything I did, I did afraid you'd do just that, I did it just to buy time from you. I figured as long as I did a good job, you'd be in no hurry to assume your rightful place. As it turns out I was right.

And I hate you for it. Talía, why couldn't you prove me wrong sooner? When I wrested CABRAS from your rightful hands, when I hid this letter, I believed I was doing what was best for everyone. I thought you were just a little pussy, too scared to give orders or to do what you thought right. Frankly, I came to despise you over time. At first, I wanted us to be friends, maybe more than that (you're drop-dead gorgeous, woman, you sparkle like a rainbow), but you became over time a vocal hypocrite and nothing more than that! You kept telling me everything that I did wrong- were you just flirting? Why didn't you ever DO something about it?

That's why I hatched this plan to get you well-dethroned if you ever were to bug me. Stein and Vanegas on the command post, I'd never leave it, you'd be in trouble, because you'd be in no mood to shoot two people you knew, even if you could tell me to give you my sidearm, I knew you wouldn't hurt those two. It worked- not that I'm happy about it. Talía, this should be a wake-up call for you. I can only imagine the betrayed mood you're in right now. Well, let me tell you- it's all your own fucking fault.

But the more immediate situation is my fault too. I don't believe we can outrun that dridder, and I've got no idea how is it immune to our ordinance. So here's where we're splitting up. You get the vital stuff, we'll be making a last stand together with all the "dead weight" that you never liked, catapult and all. If I'm really a fool, you'll survive, and all the people who should have been loyal to you are there. I don't think even the Colonel foresaw the mood hanging over there, if I died- now it's your turn to lead, and everyone must be feeling guilty over following me.

The Colonel trusted you, Talía. If I'm dead, I suppose it's my turn to trust you as well. I suppose you're having my ex-subordinates dig their own graves, as you just grew a spine and don't know what to do with it. If that's the case, here's a tip. Stop right now, you whiny, moody, childish and useless excuse for a little bitch. You think you're doing the right thing, but you're not. You haven't been wronged, you have been a complacent little hypocrite. Right now, you need to stop showing you're serious, what's important to show is that you have a level head on your shoulders. Sedition is a war crime punishable by death, but this will take some out of the box thinking. You know what they feel, so don't be the idiot I think you are. Forgive your men, accept your errors as well, and they'll follow you to the ends of Felarya. Spare my men and they'll gladly die for you.

Fail to heed my words and they'll abandon you. As Sun Tzu's tenth scroll states, [When superior officers are choleric and violent, and enter war out of their own accord, out of scorn, and the generals ignore their abilities, the army shall fall apart.] [...] [When generals are weak and have no authority, when orders are unclear, when officers and soldiers have no solidity and formations are unclear, mutiny follows.] You may say right now you're not at war, or that it'd make your orders unclear. Don't, woman. You're having people killed for the sake of killing them, you WISH you were at war. And let's be frank, your own guys did the same thing but I'll bet you're not punishing them, your orders are REAL unclear. You have NO authority after this little stunt I had to flunk before you could be where you should've got yourself on your own. You're THIS close to having your own men give up on you, they'll realize how much authority you have soon enough, and that they don't HAVE to kill those people who they have mutual trust with. By the time they're done digging, the one body filling that ditch if it gets dug out is yours. If that's what it comes down to, try not to ghost. It's all your own fucking fault.

Right now you're EXACTLY like me. An upstart they think may be appropriate for the job- only you have a lot more to prove, because unlike me, you don't have a background of clever stratagems, because they know your tricks already and they know you failed them... they've been fooled once already too, and guess! You were my unwitting accomplice! It's funny because you're a woman, or should I say doubly sad instead? Either way, you are in NO position whatsoever to punish ANYTHING right now, start punishing before you have their loyalty and they won't obey. Starting out violent and in the end fearing your soldiers is the SUMMIT of ineptitude -brought to you by Sun Tzu- only you're stubborn enough that you wouldn't be afraid, because you'll be angry from now to the end of the world. It's okay, babe, gotta love that fire in your heart- means it's hot blood in the veins of a woman. Just guess what, a woman's blood isn't what makes a good officer. Officers use their heads to think and their hearts to decide. Cunts aren't a part of this.

I've made sure you're with a group that's got a superior number of original CABRAS members than those extra recruits who came with me. These extra recruits I put with you should be able to teach you a thing or two, Talía: I always had some tricks up my sleeve you could learn, do you think I'd be crazy enough to try to wrest control from you if I couldn't have done the job at all? The ones with me are most of my men- you won't have to worry about having too many people whose loyalties lie outside you. I do believe I can do it, I'm not going to mass suicide- this letter you're reading is just in case I lose. That's what the video feed is for, so that the guys don't have to wait to dig through my stuff.

Everyone can be better. I could've been better. I could've obeyed you. I would have died for you.

But YOU have to be better first. And the first thing a better person must do is let go of that sword of Damocles you're holding over my pals... and yours. Grudges are unbecoming of civil beings. I'm no longer an enemy. I'm relinquishing everything to you, I'm history now- so be a good girl and study up on me. Maybe there's still hope for you.


It was fun while it lasted. Meeting your crew was the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me.
Recruit Tobias Stach, K.I.A. (I think?)

P.S: You really ARE the hottest woman ever, that picture of you and your big sis in swimsuits that went missing? If you find it, wash the frame... and tell her I said she's cute. But above all... don't ever go back to the Forest of Whispers. I'm begging you- forget about him. Game recognize game, and that fucktard's not worth it, Talía. May your heart forget that piece of trash- I don't care what Cobre said about that snake dipshit, maybe if he'd shut his trap I wouldn't have disliked him enough to hide this. Maybe if ya didn't eat out of his hand I wouldn't have decided not to let you lead either.
P.P.S: If I survived, I'd have had you executed, Talía. You had enough chances, I wasn't giving you another."

Talía couldn't believe her eyes. Her face betrayed her surprise and disgust...

"Even dead, that... broken toy... gets on my nerves!" she snarled. "HOW could he see all this coming!?"

-But it IS him. I always knew about the picture.- she thought to herself. -That bastard...-

"And HOW could he have written all this in just... ten minutes?"

"Lieutenant, there's more."

"WHAT!?" she cried, looking at the next line.

"P.P.P.S: Ah, if you're curious, I had prepared the words for just such an occassion. Let's be frank, this was BOUND to happen sooner or later, I just had to add the part about the dridder, five minutes, and then print the stuff out."

Talía's face would've shown her bemusement, but first she had to pick up her jaw back from the ground.

"So, Lieutenant, what are you doing next?" Luna asked.

"Speak when spoken to!"

Luna lowered her gaze, and turned away. Talía had to realize, even if she didn't feel like it, Tobias had a point.

"Ah, for crying out loud... this better be worth it! Delete the file, shred the letter!" she snarled, storming out of the trailer. Bouncing her way to where they were digging, she mumbled all the way through.

Seven people were digging wordlessly, each with a shovel, three men with assault rifles around them. One of them turned to her.

"Lieutenant?"

"Stop digging." she barked. "Tell them to stop digging, drop the shovels!"

"You heard her." one of the soldiers said.

Releasing the shovels, the seven recruits turned to her.

"So what's going to happen to us?" one of them asked. Stein.

"Nothing this time. I've changed my mind, nothing's going to happen to anyone." Talía barked. "Not this time."

"Lieutenant, are you sure?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Arrgh, not really." she replied. "I'm still pissed off, and sedition isn't to be tolerated. But the full brunt of the penalty would be inappropriate this time around."

"And what are you doing, then?" Stein asked.

Talía pursed her lips.

"Your rations will be withheld." she responded.

"Ah." Stein shrugged. "Still sounds like..."

"For a month!" she barked. "If you survive, welcome back."

Stein grimaced.

"I understand..."

"That seems like too much. Don't mock them, it's..." the man with the rifle began.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm still pissed off at EVERYONE here, I would be justified in killing everyone in this camp, and I know it. I've just put things in perspective, that's all!" she growled, returning to the command post. She obviously needed some alone time...

"Is she really... going to... one month?" Stein asked, with only a little relief.

The soldier next to him lowered his gun.

"If I know her, she'll get over it, don't worry. You'll probably be eating a big bowl of chicken soup by the end of this week. Next week, tops." he smiled.

Stein dropped the shovel, with a pained grimace.

"But I'm hungry now!" he whimpered.

======

Once Rozal left, Sparrow took a moment to look up. This tree... was massive, to say the least. The stuff of legends. It wasn't quite the size of a mountain... but it was still a massive tree! If they took the largest ship he had ever seen in the dock, a ship that was meant to sail in the sea, and turned it upright, it would probably be as long as this trunk was tall. And that was as far as his ability to describe went.

The blue leaves were an unsettling sight as well, completing, together with the gnarled branches and roots, an ominous image that shook in the wind. Around Elsie, the wind didn't seem so strong- but now he could tell a storm was coming. The clouds had massed in the sky, thunder and lightning gathering. Something was coming, and it was probably big.

Finding two slash marks on a root, Hare approached the wood and ran her hands around it. Swiftly enough, she found a large hollow...

"It's here!" she exclaimed. The howling winds weren't that loud... yet, but maybe they'd be soon enough.

Sparrow approached, and carefully laid down Weasel next to the entrance. Going into the hollow, he took a few steps to test: it was too dark to see in. As he brought in his foot, he realized the ground was level, and solid as rock, unexpectedly for the space under a root. He had to duck to fit: the entrance was only as high as his shoulders.

"See anything?"

"Not yet." Sparrow replied. Then he turned his head.

There was something in the distance, a wall he could see a distance away. It was granite gray, the ground sloped a tilt of the head downwards, the wall was maybe twelve paces away. This tunnel pointed away from the tree trunk.

He could see a corner, too, twisting to the right again.

"I think I found something..."

"Weasel, he found something..."

"Gmmhh..." he moaned. Going down after all this seemed to be beyond his forces. "Can't we stay here?"

"Rozal said it wasn't safe on the surface." Hare insisted.

"How do I know it's not a trap!?" he sobbed. "That whole tunnel could be a trap! They could all be leading us into a trap... a trap..."

"I'll check." Sparrow peeked out of the entrance to say. Then he turned his attention to the far wall in the darkness.

He went down, carefully, in the darkness, treading slowly. He felt the slope, thirty degrees downwards. Feeling for the wall, he went slowly towards the corner... finding the source of light just around it: a glowing white cylinder ensconced in the ceiling. Beyond that corner, the tunnel took a 180 degree turn, once more going downwards, but this time towards the tree trunk.

Only a few steps beyond, he found the tunnel opened into a room. There was a large steel door, and a... small book on a lectern next to it. Right next to the book, there was a quill in a purple inkpot. He moved towards it, feeling...

That ink had a scent like blood and ashes mixed together. The book was full of writing.

And over the lectern next to the door, there was a broken frame. Down on the ground, there were several shards... bending down to pick one, he found it incredibly sharp, lacerating his fingers on contact. With a gasp, he sucked on his wounds- realizing that some of those fragments were so reflective he could see his face very clearly on them.

Turning to the door, he tried to open it- but there was nothing to pull, and pushing was useless. He laid his ear against it.

No sound...

He made his way back up the ramps to the outside.

"Master Weasel, Mistress Hare, I will need your help here."

"What with!? What for!?" Weasel barked.

"What is it?" Hare asked.

"There's something written here."

Weasel seemed to slump even further against the root, trembling.

"I'll go." Hare said.

"But we can't leave Master Weasel here." Sparrow sighed.

"Then I'll need your help."

Weasel had been sobbing before, but now he was just limp. Sparrow went under his shoulder, and propped him up.

"I'm sorry, Master Weasel. This is all for your own good."

"No, just no... no..." he mumbled, ever less intelligibly. The tears running down his eyes, his nose, the drool running down his mouth, he was a pathetic sight. But thanks to that was it that Sparrow and Hare found their own strength- they had to be strong, for him.

Dragging him all the way down to the underground room, Sparrow kept him propped up as Hare went up to the book.

"Just drop me..."

"Not yet, Master Weasel."

Books, Hare wasn't familiar with books. Scrolls, she knew, but books? She quickly ran the pages, looking for any characters she recognized. She couldn't find anything familiar, even though some alphabets she thought she recognized for a moment. It was strange how many kinds of handwriting were in that book...

But right now she was too nervous.

"Any luck?"

"I can't read any of this. I don't know any of those languages." Hare grimaced. "Weasel?"

"I don't know any language you don't..." he mumbled. "Please, no, no..."

Hare gulped. Her brother's pain needed to stop. She picked up the quill, and dipped it in the inkpot. Then she went back to the last blank page.

One thing she had noticed, aside from the different handwritings, were the different characters in every handwriting. So every person writer had to write something. What is it she had to write?

She raised her gaze to the frame on the wall, and then lowered it to the fragments on the ground. Reaching down to pick one up, she was stopped.

"Don't touch them!"

Hare stopped herself, and instead just looked at them.

"It's a mirror." she said.

"A mirror?"

"A mirror, it's for looking at yourself."

A mirror, and a book? Come to think of it, she could tell something about those characters... every set of handwriting was extremely short. Even the clearer-looking alphabets rarely repeated symbols. There were no repeated structures in any alphabet- wait, there were.

Had she figured it out? Time to put theory into practice.

-Greetings-

Writing it down, the letters seemed to melt for a moment. Then she realized the paper had shifted...

The letters were now on the side of the page. She looked back, at her brother, and the friendly commoner involved now in their adventure.

Much to her surprise, the iron door opened.

"I did it!" she cheered herself on, as she went through the door. Sparrow followed her through the door, carrying Weasel on tow.

Behind said door, there was a fairly large room with four doors, one on each side. Several white glowing tubes decorated the ceiling.

"What's that?" Hare mumbled, turning her gaze upwards, towards the lights.

"Lights, probably." Sparrow sighed. "Right now, it would be best to find a place for Master Weasel."

He had a point. Weasel moaned as he heard his own name.

"Very well, Sparrow..." Hare sighed. Anything, anything to stop hearing Weasel groan like that...

She turned towards the first door, and opened it. Beyond it, there were a couple steps up... followed by a strange room, full of shelves. Each of those shelves, from what she could see right now, held a lot of books like the one she had written in. Right now, however, she wasn't interested in sightseeing. She ignored that room, and turned to the other door.

Beyond that door, there was a hallway. There were five doors in that hallway.

Opening the first door to her left, she found four sets of metal frames held atop each other by metal devices, each supporting a thin mattress and several covers. There were two small tables next to each frame, and a large piece of furniture full of drawers. It looked like it would do, specially after seeing the picture on the wall- it depicted a person sleeping on one of the mattresses, under the covers, only their faces visible.

"Sparrow." she said, returning to the room. "I found a room."

Sparrow smiled, and carried Weasel over. Just before he had to be placed on the bed, however, Weasel disengaged and slowly spread himself on it, exhausted.

"I'll take it from here..." he mumbled. "You two can leave."

Sparrow nodded. Turning to Hare, he struggled with the words for a moment.

"Miss Hare, I'll keep looking." he said.

He didn't wait to hear her response, he was too curious. But he didn't hear her stopping at him, so he kept exploring this place.

Four doors, including the one he had been through, led to identical rooms with four double metal beds each. Thirty-two beds in total. The door at the end of the hallway, however, led to another, smaller square room. It was an orange-white... and he couldn't hazard a guess as to the purposes of the tiled floor, the drain on the ground, the seat, or the... that was probably for setting up a pond. Turning towards a small table, he found a small book...

Opening the book, he suddenly realized he wasn't very interested. It was full of pictures, but the descriptions were a little too complex, and for what he could get from a first impression right now this room wasn't what he needed. Right now, he was curious.

Retracing his steps to the first room, he went to the opposite door, and much to his surprise, he found a hallway with only three doors.

Through the first door to the left, he found a large... wooden surface, raised on four legs from the... wooden ground. He clicked his wooden heels against it- solid ground. Very solid ground. Rapping his knuckles against the wall, he noticed it was wooden, too. There were many... his eyes wandered to a picture in the wall. There were people sitting in them, at the table. That was different, probably even unnecessary. Looking at the low alcove in the opposite wall, its structure made of red stone, he wandered over to it, under the light of more of those tubes on the ceiling. He found ashes... that, he could understand. A part of the building was made of stone, to have a fire indoors. A little overkill in his opinion, dirt would've worked just as well. Whoever had built this place, they either were human... or humanoid enough, but with much different customs.

There was another door, leading from this room into the next in the corridor. Crossing it, he found a room he could recognize, to some degree. There were several fireplaces here. One of them was open, one of them had a hook hanging from the ceiling, one was enclosed in a red stone structure- he squinted at the red stone. There were several of them- and they were all square, held together with... gray stone? He was sure he was missing something here. A lid caught his attention on a side wall- raising it, he realized there was a basin here. A water basin. Next to the alcove, he could see two levers... he decided to leave them alone for the time being. And over the levers, he could see several dozen cutting implements hanging from the wall. Squinting, he turned to the opposite wall, seeing a collection of metal pots. Pursing his lips, he decided this was probably a kitchen.

Crossing into the next room, he found it massive, stocked with shelves, and boxes on those shelves. Boxes, crates, some whose material he recognized, some he didn't. He navigated carefully around the sturdy metal furniture... he had never seen this much metal anywhere.

Curious, he grabbed one of the stranger boxes, finding it heavier than he thought. Unrelenting, he let it go down to the ground- and opened it. The material was like a sturdier version of paper, or a very thin leather, though when he took a look at the section he had torn off, he decided it was most certainly paper. Inside, he found a... transparent membrane. Inside, he could feel the shape of... raising the object to the light those omnipresent tubes seemed to cast, he saw rice under the membrane.

-I suppose this is storage. That explains why it's out of the way, but close to the kitchen.- he thought to himself, replacing the membrane in the box. He wasn't hungry right now.

He was starting to understand what this place was. Storage, kitchen, dining room. Rooms on the other side.

A safe spot. They could probably endure for a while in here.

======

Turning over and over the chunk of bark in her hand, Elsie wondered for a while if she really was hungry enough. Sure, she hadn't eaten anything yesterday- but this stuff, green bark, was just far too sweet and juicy for her.

Next to her, Rozal, or ma as she called her, was already scarfing down mouthful after mouthful of it. She hadn't had anything to eat yesterday either, and they'd also helped three yummy humans out. No wonder they were hungry, but she was left to wonder if maybe centaurs had some sort of insensibility to this taste.

The vine growing on them had reduced them to a squishy, juicy substance, but she wasn't keen on it. She'd eaten too much of it to ever consider it again yummy, even though many people could. Even a whole raw onion felt more palatable than this.

But she took a bite anyway. She was hungry- no denying it. Not hungry enough to eat this, unless told to. Tearing off a bite of the handful of bark, she chewed it, feeling the somewhat spicy, squishy consistency... and then that unbearably sweet flavor. It almost flooded her mouth, even the places where it wasn't supposed to go. The anticipation to this known experience only made it worse- her mouth drying even before the bite came.

And chewing endlessly the bite, its juices splattering where they hadn't gotten before, she let a sigh out through her nose, and tried not to breathe, so as to not feel the oversweet taste of the troughberry-infested wood.

Then again, a girl her size needed to eat, and eat a lot. This plant had taken her out of a pinch several times- she only wished it hadn't been SO many times.

Well, at least she had Rozal with herself too.

And she was looking at her intently.

"Kid, you have to eat."

Elsie nodded, looking out into the distance. Around them, spanning up to the horizon, she could see a storm developing. Storms were beautiful, sometimes- letting loose so much power in such a magnificent display. The sky would stop for no one- but one couldn't spend all day long under it without growing at least a little fond of the miracles it made.

But she had concerns right here and right now.

"It's just I've eaten this too many times to count..." she grimaced. "I'm bored to death of its taste."

"Well, you HAVE to eat something. After that squamataur ran by, I'm kinda glad there's something to eat at all. We're lucky he was very carnivore."

"Very carnivore, ma?"

"I don't know how many vegetables are there, but I'm sure they're not all."

"I'll check..." Elsie started sitting up. By the time she'd gotten up, another sound startled her.

"Elsie, what are you doing?"

"I'm... checking, ma. I'll be right back."

"There's no point in doing that right now." Rozal declared.

"Might as well..." she whimpered in a whisper.

"No. Stay, sit down." the centauress responded.

Shivering, she looked back at her ma, trying not to let the panic flow through her features.

-I had to tell her one way or another.-

"I've talked to the Starlight siblings and Sparrow yesterday." Rozal begun, calmly.

"..." Elsie gulped.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Rozal continued.

Elsie took a deep breath, averting her eyes for an instant.

"Is this really what you want to discuss over breakfast?" the giantess whimpered.

And Rozal's response was so nonchalant and casual she couldn't take it.

"Is it a bad t...?"

"OF COURSE IT'S A BAD TIME, AREN'T YOU PAYING ATTENTION?!" her kid growled and spat, much to both of their surprises.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong..." she repeated, sluggishly.

Taking a moment to study her features, her ma wondered for a moment what was so wrong.

"..."

"What's wrong?" her ma repeated again.

"You're asking me about this over breakfast. That's wrong, this isn't breakfast. I'm not breakfast." she hissed.

"The fact I ask you this now doesn't mean I'm going to eat y..."

"What are you being dense for!?" she barked. "I lost my appetite." she continued, breathing hard. "How? How can you eat at a time like this?"

A brief flash of confusion and sadness ran over Rozal's features.

"If this upsets you so much, we can just drop it." she offered.

"NO!" Elsie protested. "Don't... don't drop it. It's very important to me."

Tearing another bite off the infested bark, Rozal realized she'd probably missed a lot of stuff.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

"There's so many things I want to tell you." Elsie began. "No, I need to tell you! I told Sparrow, and it made me realize... I need you to know." she looked away. "Whatever you think of me afterwards, I need you to know."

Rozal gulped, taking another bite of bark, chewing it slower and slower, looking into her kid's eyes- soon enough she realized she'd have to stop eating. Taking a final gulp, she put the bark away, and let out a sigh. Of course she wouldn't ask her if she could wait until they had had breakfast. Right now, Elsie didn't care about breakfast, despite not having eaten much yesterday... this was really serious. Stomach or not, the least she could do was try to be up to it.

"Anytime you're ready, then." Rozal nodded.

"Remember the day... we met?"

"It was a long time ago." the centaur answered. "Did something happen that day?"

"Yes..." kid gulped. "My dad, I... I really hated him, but... I'm not sure he couldn't have been saved." she added, quickly. That was all she could do. Now it was time to be judged.

Rozal blinked.

"I don't... follow."

"Ma... maybe if I'd told you to spit that neko, make it spit him out... we'd all... we'd both have lived." the giantess looked away. "But I... hated him. I hated him so much. I hated it so much. I hated them both." she winced. "I hated them to death."

Ma chewed her bark thoroughly. Elsie could only look at her, shyly, try to feel she'd be accepted- that, or Ma would give up on her. But she needed to know what was next.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Rozal replied, much to her chagrin. It didn't matter? "You were... what, eight?"

"Ten."

"I can forgive you for that..." she declared. "I think anyone could. Maybe you don't remember, but you were crying... you were crying for so long, girl, and so loud. More than enough for a person to die."

The giantess nodded. Frankly, this was little relief. Or no relief at all.

"But that's not all you wanted to tell me, right?"

"No... it's not. It's not just... that I hated him. I didn't know you, only now do I know you. I didn't know if you would."

"The me from back then might have not." Rozal pointed. "It's best not to dwell on it, kid. That was then, now is now."

"That happened then, but it's bothering me now."

Rozal pursed her lips, thinking about her answer for a while.

"I never taught you to let go." she declared.

Elsie's lips twitched for a moment.

"I couldn't." she admitted. "I'm not saying it's your fault, ma, I just wanted you to know." her voice returned to a more normal pitch and speed at the end.

The centauress smiled. Elsie averted her eyes again.

"All the time I spent around you... I wondered why you didn't eat anyone. You ate those nekos, and then nothing else, ma. I never... ever dared ask why."

The centaur ran a hand through her black hair, silently. She had more problems, more questions...

"I hated you for that." Elsie mumbled. "I had made my peace with the world, and you... you, well, you came and everything I believed in just tumbled down."

"Elsie, kid..."

"I was afraid you'd eat me when I started getting bigger..."

Rozal coughed, getting up.

"Kid, this isn't... something to hurt yourself about. Why don't you keep telling me over breakfast? I'm really, really hungry, and I know you're too. So..." she took a couple handfuls of bark, and handed one over to her kid. "I'm sure it'll do you some good."

Silently, Elsie raised his gaze to the piece- and cautiously took it, to avidly dig into it a moment later. Anything had to be better than what she felt right now.

"Ironically, it was because of you that I stopped eating humans and nekos." the centauress grinned.

Chew, chew, chew... she was feeling calmer. But that wasn't a good sign. She thought of something to say, to give herself time, while thinking of something to say, to let the guilt out.

"Do you resent me for that?" she briefly looked into Rozal's eyes.

This was Rozal's time to be quiet for a moment, before joining Elsie's gazing into the distance. Lightning bolts danced around the gray clouds that gently tamed the blinding light of the sun, an interesting inversion with the blue grasses beneath. Rozal caught her tilting her head exaggeratedly- if one wanted, one could imagine they were sitting on the clouds and the ground was actually the sky.

"I never told you this either... but I had lost a calf shortly before you arrived." she took a bite. "A harpy carried him away... and ate him. There was nothing I could do, he just..." she shook her head. "You wouldn't believe how devastated I was. But I became what you know now together with you." she smiled. "I tried to be what you needed. You didn't need to see anyone else get eaten, and I didn't need to let you out of my sight. Besides..." she let out a chuckle. "I'd never been much for humans and nekos, either... and I'll admit by that point I was beginning to learn how to understand what is it they see in themselves." Rozal smiled. "Don't worry about it, Elsie. I knew it'd be tough, but every path has its rewards."

Her kid set her head straight. Then she chewed on some more bark- grimacing. Maybe it was the taste- or maybe it was something else on her mind.

"What else do you want to tell me?"

Her mouth twitching inside and outside, feeling dry for some reason, she could only screech out a hum. One of her hands twitched for a moment.

"Ma, th-this is the hard part. I d-did something v-very bad." she shivered.

"How so?"

"Six months ago, after you left... I..." she stopped for a moment, her hand rising to her shoulder, as per an automatism.

Unexpectedly, she felt an arm wrap around her back- her mother's hand holding hers just over the shoulder. That gentle warmth- now that the storm had reached her, the rain falling over her head, her hair, her shoulders- except where the arm covered her. Just one arm- that's all it took to make her feel everything was right in the world, even as her piece of bark got covered in cold water.

Everything, except for herself- even with that arm around her, she couldn't help shivering. It wasn't the rain- rain hadn't bothered her for a while. It was a feeling inside- a feeling she needed to get out.

"I met this man and ate him."

Rozal took a bite of her own piece, somewhat bemused.

"Did he...?"

"Don't try to guess!" Elsie cried. "Just don't, mom. Please."

Once more, eye contact provided frustratingly little information for the centauress' liking.

"Then tell me." was all she could say. The giantess nodded.

"He was a..." she looked away. "He tried to... he called me a... I really shouldn't have, but he... was so rude and it felt so... powerful- so right to... eat him." Elsie shivered. "I... wasn't thinking clearly, he'd threatened me... but that's not the worst part." she gulped, shivering violently. "He had caught a fairy."

Rozal's eyes widened. Yes, she hated fairy hunters- to take pride on and stake one's life in their ability to hurt another being was a surefire way to get on her bad side. Fairy hunters were the apotheosis of all her dislikes- the absolute distaste for another's well-being, the pride in harm, and above all, the ability that some humans had to forget their vision of equality and take it upon themselves to judge fairies as subpeople, worth catching, wrapping their lives around another's weakness, living or dying by their ruthlessness...

...Elsie had obviously not released the fairy. But she was willing to bet she hadn't eaten it either.

Well, not exactly eating. But what she inferred... was too much. Elsie!? Her kid, doing the worst part to a fairy... something worse than eating her...

Much to her horror, the hand she so tightly held on to suddenly came loose. The arm around her back hesitated a little- her own arm went a little limp. She didn't dare just...

"You used her in a potion!?" the centauress gasped.

"I told you not to guess!" Elsie cried, turning her face to her ma. Meeting those eyes, all she could do was shake in her inexistent boots.

"B-but... yes, I... d-did." she whimpered, feeling the warmth and weight in her back fade. Turning her gaze away but for a moment, she felt some vibrations from her rear- and looked back once more at the standing centauress, now looking at Elsie with... an ineffable expression, from under her brows. She let out a sigh through her nose. Elsie averted her gaze once more- was she looking down her nose at her?

"After that first time..." she added. "after... destroying someone... the rest was easy."

Rozal looked away, much to her horror, as she took another bite of bark.

"It's an acquired taste."

No reaction.

Well, after admitting to her worst crime, she had to accept the rest was easy. It almost came out on its own- like it would make it all any less heinous.

"As for Thory... I... I got too personal with... prey, she had been watching. She thought I was sending her a signal..." she blurted. "And we'd been both hurt retaking my grove, so... I rebuffed her when she came on to me-"

Rozal let out a short whine, shaking her head vigorously. Then she took another handful of bark.

"That's what has been bothering me, ma."

Rozal sighed. She didn't take another bite of the piece- she just held her forehead.

"I've... been..."

"Who are you?" Rozal cut her off. The sadness in her gaze was contagious, the confusion was not. Her grip on the piece of bark was as thin as it could get.

"I've been... confused... and..."

"No. WHO are YOU!?" she asked, again. "You're not the person I raised!"

"B-but, I am." she said, her voice thinning into a sob. "Ma..." Rozal turned away. "Ma?"

"You were right..." she sighed. "This is beyond breakfast."

"Ma?" Elsie mumbled, opening her mouth a little wider. "Fairies eat tomthumbs!"

"I can't deal with this, I'm sorry I asked..." she went on as she moved away. "Obviously I never knew you, kid. See you."

"But ma...!" Elsie began. "I... didn't mean to disappoint you..." her voice thinned until it faded away, together with the sound of her guest's hooves. Her throat clenched- like she were gagging.

"I'm also afraid I might end up melting, but..." she mumbled, sluggishly.

There was nobody to talk to.

"...this, this is what I was afraid of the most!" she cried- her already thin voice was blocked by the thunder.

======

Her mouth gasped open, panic starting to grip her, the water running down her head and the rest of her, blotting out her tears, her form shivering with a bit of a realization dawning in her mind.

She was alone now.

Still, it had been worth it.

Taking a last deep breath, surprised to find herself giggling it out, Elsie laid down on the grass. She felt so pained. But at the same time, she felt so drained, and so peaceful. So peaceful inside she could now reflect upon her doings with something that felt just as good as a clear head. Sure, it'd all been wrong. But now the past was indeed past. Now there was no need for more excuses. Maybe Rozal wouldn't come back- but she could handle herself now, more or less.

Rozal could come back and hurt her. Or worse: maybe Thory would come back and hurt her. All of it was her doing, all had been her fault, and yet it felt like the whole world had been lifted off her shoulders. She couldn't help but let out a long, well-earned sigh in relief. As all good things, this moment of catharsis was going to end- but right now she could enjoy it, feeling the weariness in every milimeter of her body (and there were lots of them) give way to a comforting, almost caressing weightlessness, a warm feeling that she'd done the right thing, justice was served- and everything was right in the world.

Above her, the storm ceased. The clouds parted, showing her a gaping, clear blue sky. Rays of pure, unfettered, warm sunlight reached for the ground. The storm was over- and it had been a most charming storm, but the calm after the storm had a beauty all its own as well. She could almost breathe the peace in the air.

"Very well... what now?" she said, to herself. "Now it's up to me, I finally said it." she shook her head. "What do I do next? Do I keep at this? Or do I straighten up?"

Of course, she could simply put on the 'predator' label. That had put her in this spot, hadn't it? How bad could it be?

It had been both horrifying and intense beyond belief, it had left her a shivering, giddy, self-obsessed wreck. A more observing person would notice that she had cause and consequence mixed up: if she hadn't been a self-obsessed wreck this would never have happened. It only took her a few minutes to make this observation- but it didn't change these things. If she gave up those things she'd have to give them up together. And if she didn't, then she was going down the road she was going now.

Then again, she realized, taking a deep breath, this road had left her completely alone in just two days. She enjoyed her own company- but not that much. Of course, sooner or later someone would come- but would it be someone she wanted to be around, if they wanted to be around her? Herman came to mind- she was surprised she could remember his name so clearly. What kind of person would he have had to be to actually want to be anywhere near after she ate his friends? But still, choosing to die rather than... well, frankly, she could understand. Just like Rozal had once quoted, she wasn't talking to Herman back then. She was only talking to his despair, horror and pain.

And after all she'd been through, argumenting she was hiding her weakness had been exposed for the lie it was. If anything could show her weakness, then eating other people would never solve it.

Right now, she had a nice choice in her hands. She knew predators were seldom alone. If she wanted she could always start meeting up with the harpies and fairies- but could she bear them? They were predators too. To accept herself one would mean to accept what had been done to her parents was right, and to accept Rozal was a good person. It was still difficult, after all those years. She had to admit to being obsessed, now.

And if instead of a predator she decided to be herself- what was she, anyway? A giant tomthumb, that's what she was. And an absolute jerk, at that. But she could stop being one, if she really cared to. Probably she'd meet a lot of people that way. And if she could keep her overaffectionateness to herself, keep from getting giddy on their pain, learned to let go, and kept her mouth from running in all the wrong directions, she'd be more like Rozal.

-Like Rozal is right now.- Elsie thought to herself. -Up until the point we met, she was like a neko!-

But did she want to be like Rozal was right now? Elsie was a lot more like the neko who'd eaten her mother, purring as she sucked slowly on- thinking back wasn't a good idea, on second thought. Who knew how much harm had that moment done to her? Minalca knows how much had that moment contributed to her current confusion.

Following in Rozal's footsteps, rather than the one who'd killed her mother with complete impunity, whose son she still kept correspondence with, much to her own surprise? No wonder one path seemed firmer- and the other just seemed like more fun. No, not fun. A cheap thrill, that was all- one that wasn't wrong, if the world at large was any clue.

But all of this was reason- and reason, like Rozal said, was rarely used to make decisions. Sadly, she was right. Elsie could've kept at this for a hundred years, and she would still get nowhere. For what it was worth, she might as well flip a coin.

Or simply look back.

She was in this immense impasse every night, and then she woke up the same monster every time! Every single time! That was her answer, that's who she was!

-Looking back can be an interesting exercise, but the past shouldn't become a chain.-

Heck. Even gone, the centaur was still taking away all the easy solutions...

Hold on a second, Rozal hadn't said that! A smile crept over her lips as she realized that one had been 100% herself. There was a little of ma in her.

-I want that.- she reflected, with a little, calm gasp. -Yes, I want that too. Do I have to be like you to get it?-

Did she?

She couldn't answer.

And looking away, at the sun, already rather high in the horizon... the sky stopped for no one. She needed to keep her feet on the earth- she was wasting some perfectly good sunlight. No one could know how long would it last.



She was at peace now, for what it was worth. She had done wrong, she had suffered for it, she had come clean, she had suffered for it- but now it was over. She was alone, but in peace, and no matter how much she thought about this, the true test was in doing it, as Rozal said. She'd have to wait and see if she'd really changed.

Now she had chores- her orchard, her grove, it wouldn't tend to itself, and as she always thought, there was no way to go wrong with the basics. She had leaves to pick, soil to till, plants to water, fruit to gather. Only now with a warm feeling inside herself to share with the world too.

Well, on to it!



FIN

Very nice finish !

I really love the interractions between your characters, It's one of your strongest point in your writing . you don't simply depict actions but you put meanings behind them. The letter from Stach was a great moment, putting an interesting insight on the character and making him more complex than he appeared to be, even if it's posthumous.

And then Elsie and Rozal' closing scene of course. Very powerful one !

Spoiler:

Karbo wrote:

Very nice finish !

Thanks!

Karbo wrote:

I really love the interractions between your characters, It's one of your strongest point in your writing . you don't simply depict actions but you put meanings behind them.

Well... I think it's time for a confession.

Spoiler:

Heh, more seriously... all I know is that I had fun.

Karbo wrote:

The letter from Stach was a great moment, putting an interesting insight on the character and making him more complex than he appeared to be, even if it's posthumous.

Well, ah, this kinda happened all the time in this story, didn't it? Not that I planned it, it just came out that way. I appreciate comments for that very reason- sometimes, I don't realize what I'm doing until I've done it.

Karbo wrote:

And then Elsie and Rozal' closing scene of course. Very powerful one !

For instance, I didn't know it was powerful. It was just what felt right at the time- I didn't want everyone to live happily ever after getting what they wanted. I wanted them to make the best of what they had in the end.



Special thanks to MrNobody13. Without you, pal, I'd never have cared to move on past part 1.


Well, this is all there is, I guess we're done here. For as long as it lasted, this was all fun and games.
If anyone reads this after this comment, well, I still appreciate comments. Of course, I respect the right to remain silent.

Good that I at least offered the motivation to continue a good tale.