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Chapter 5 – Nathan

I smiled back as Golden Man stepped forward, speaking to Ro and, surprisingly, me. Ro said something in return and Golden Man clapped. Some of the men in red-brown edged forward with baskets of food. I had only had one cart before Ro lead me here. Most of them started shaking when they entered my shadow. I wanted to tell them I was harmless, but my stomach demanded the food in their baskets. Ro stood stiff and tall as I emptied basket after basket into my mouth. She really needed to loosen up. I eyed the empty basket between my fingers and smirked. Turning it upside down, I dropped it on Ro’s head, laughing as she whirled around and wrenched it off.
“Neh-then! Eh-he yoo-dee-vah!” she shouted as a few of the men started laughing too. She turned from me and fiddled with her hair. Like I actually leave any crumbs, I chuckled. My eyes softened a bit as I watched her talk to Golden Man again. I tried to stifle my laughter as he walked into the stone building followed by a few others who looked relieved to be away from me. I kept my eyes on Ro while they were gone, just in case she needed me to do anything special. She faced me and proceeded to brush some invisible dust from her long greenish shirt. It wasn’t form-fitting, but the leather belt at her waist helped accentuate her curves a bit. She was a good looking woman so far as I was concerned. But she probably doesn’t see me like that, I told myself.
Golden Man and friends returned a bit later carrying something that looked like a roll of cloth. They set it by my hand and quickly scurried out of my shadow. I eyed the thing before snatching it up, my curiosity getting the better of me. It unrolled, showing a surprisingly detailed image. An image I didn’t quite like. Three large people-like things completely naked were stooping down to grab handfuls of smaller people and shoving them into their fanged mouths. These were the man-eaters. This was what they thought I was. The looks of dumb pleasure on the monsters’ faces sickened me. I turned to Ro with furrowed eyebrows. Is this how she sees me? I worried. I grabbed her, bringing her close in a matter of milliseconds. My hand opened, and I saw her curled up in a ball again.
“Ro?” I managed to squeak bringing the cloth closer to her. She uncurled a bit and looked at it. I kept my eyes on her, not wanting to see it again. Her eyes jerked to mine before returning to the tapestry. I’d already told her I wasn’t like that. Didn’t she believe me?
“Eh-he veh,” I said, quickly balling up the cloth in my fist. “Eh-he core-gan veh eh-noo.”
How could anyone or anything be that cruel, that- that- sadistic? My hand slammed into the ground as my eyes hardened. I immediately felt Ro tumble from my other hand and heard her cry out. I reacted almost instinctively, my hand darting beneath her and fingers curling around her small form. Her small arms rested on my thumb and pointer, the rest of her hidden by my fingers. I dropped her! Oh, God! I dropped her! I could’ve kicked myself. Bringing her close to my face, I couldn’t help but worry that I’d hurt her in the past few minutes. First, I scooped her up with no warning; then I dropped her! She must’ve hated me at that moment… or been terrified.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, my other hand coming up to brush her hair. “I’m so sorry.”
I just keep repeating it. I don’t know what else to say. I moved my thumb a bit in an attempt to hold her hand. All I was really doing was pressing her hand between my thumb and pointer. I looked away, shamefaced. My hand lowered, but I just couldn’t let her go. My eyes found the image again. Those things were mocking me, telling me I was just like them.
“I would never,” I muttered. My empty hand balled into a fist and, before I knew what I was doing, I had punched the sick bastards into the ground.
“Veet yoos ee-doh,” Ro said from my hand. She was running her hands over my fingers. “Veet veh ee-doh.”
My hand clenched a bit around her. I forced my fingers to loosen again. I could feel her every breath, every move, and it scared me. So did my anger. I should have tried to stop it. Ro kept running her hands over my fingers. It wasn’t like she was trying to push them away, more like she was trying her hardest to comfort me. I brought my other, now slightly dirt-covered, hand over, pinning her hands down with a finger.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. My heart felt like it was tearing apart. This woman trusted me with her life, and everything I’d just done had proven I couldn’t be trusted… not by someone so small. Maybe I really was a monster here.
“Veet yoos ee-doh, Neh-then,” she said soothingly. “Veet yoos ee-doh. Kah veh eh-he veet eh-noo core-gaw-zeh. Kah veh eh-he veet eh-noo zen. Veet yoos ee-doh.”
I really wished I understood her. Her tone alone was relaxing me. I relaxed my hands, lifting them from the ground, and leaving Ro on her own two feet.
“Eh-he veet veh core-gaw-zeh,” I stumbled a bit over the word “man-eater.” “Veet veh oh-eh-neek.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what “oh-eh-neek” was but it was infinitely better than being called a monster.
“Kah veh, Neh-then,” Ro called to me, looking me in the eye. “Kah veh,” she repeated, tapping her head. She seemed concerned, not for her own safety, but for me. An old man in silver shuffled up behind Ro saying something too softly for me to catch. Ro spun, quickly bowing and doing something with her right hand. The old man chuckled; then said something else, pausing slightly once, like he was trying to find the right word. Ro squeaked something and the old guy answered solemnly before asking something a bit familiar.
“Dah-hee-doh zeh Neh-then,” Ro answered with a chuckle. That I remembered her saying before. Maybe it was an introduction? Like “His name is Nathan” or something like that. I decided to try it out later, see if their reactions matched what I thought they’d be.
“Yee dah-hee-doh eh-noo sah?” the old guy asked.
“Ro,” she responded. “Dah-hee-doh veh Ro.”
That clinched it for me. It was an introduction. I must’ve shifted slightly because Ro’s eyes found mine. I was still worried how she and the others saw me, but had to test this out.
“Dah-hee-doh veh Nathan,” I offered. Ro’s face lit up and she nodded. I smiled back. My eyes slid to the cloth I had punched into the ground. Some men in red-brown robes were trying to roll it back up. I hoped I hadn’t done anything to insult them with my reaction, but I just couldn’t stand those… things. To my surprise, Ro walked up to help them. My heart sank a bit. I should’ve been the one to help them, but instead I just sat there like a dummy. What was wrong with me?
The men took it back inside once it was rolled back up, leaving Ro staring at the hole I had made. She said something to the old guy. He shook his head in response and called out what was probably a name. Golden Man came skittering up. He quickly answered the old guy who nodded and walked off. My eyebrows twitched down. What’s going on? Ro said something I didn’t catch to Golden Man and turned to me wearing a broad grin. I couldn’t help smiling back. Whatever was going to happen couldn’t be that bad, right?
Of course, I was slightly wrong. Golden Man and Ro put me through one of the most intensive language courses I had ever taken. In two days, I was able to hold small conversations with both of them, mostly asking questions and getting somewhat understandable answers. My fourth full day on the island started out a lot like the previous three, with Ro cuddled under my hand. Apparently, Pointy Hat Man didn’t trust her not to sneak off, or he didn’t trust me because he had her spend the night with me.
The sunlight hit my eyelids, but I ignored it, too tired to start moving. I thought I heard Ro calling me from my chest, but grunted, shrugging it off. A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt. She stopped yelling and something started crawling up my chest. As it neared my neck, I flinched a bit. Whatever it was landed sprawled on my neck. My eyes cracked open as Ro started yelling again, but she sounded closer. I groaned again and started yawning. The thing on my neck moved around hitting my Adam’s apple. My hand came up, two fingers picking up a familiar form. So she tried climbing me, huh? I dangled her over my face, sleepy smile growing by the second.
“Morning,” I said in her language. Her tiny waist was trapped between my pointer and thumb. She looked so cute like this. Her hair was still tousled from sleep and falling on me.
“Morning,” she answered, placing her tiny hands on my fingers. “Down, please.”
“Why?” I asked, lowering her bare feet to the tip of my nose. My sleepy smile grew. I could feel her toes trying to grip my nose.
“Because we have to get moving,” she grunted, swinging a leg at my nose. I lifted her before it could hit. I doubted it would hurt, but still.
“Why?” I asked again, propping myself up with my left arm.
Ro was scowling at me now. “Because we’re leaving here.”
I sat up, trying to watch my movements. My other hand came up and I put Ro on it.
“Why?” I rubbed my eyes with my free hand, curling my legs up. I rested my right arm on a knee as I held her in front of my face.
“We’re going to the Imperial City,” she answered with a grin. “Ee-yoh-ah wants to meet you.”
“Ee-yoh-ah?” I asked, trying out the new word. My head tilted to the side.
“Yes, Neh-then,” she giggled. “Ee-yoh-ah! The leader of this nation!”
I looked away. So ee-yoh-ah was the leader of her country. So like a king? Maybe emperor? Either way, this powerful man wanted to meet me. I turned back to Ro, eyes sparkling.
“When go?” I asked. I wasn’t as good with this language as I wanted to be.
“Today,” she answered, shifting slightly in my palm. “The others will be here soon, so put. Me. Down.”
“All right. All right,” I chuckled, lowering my hand to the ground. She hopped off and started looking around for something. Remembering last night, I reached into my shorts’ pocket. She had taken off her boots and put them in a nearby crate. I’d put them in my pocket after I had picked her up, claiming I was just getting comfortable.
I brought my closed hand close to her, opening it. She just looked at them for a bit.
“I see you take them off,” I explained, blushing slightly. “Maybe I think to put them safe?” I really wished I could explain myself easier.
“Thanks,” she replied, stepping back on my hand and pulling on her boots. “It was a nice thought.”
I lifted her back to face height. I told myself it was so I could see and hear her better, but really, I just liked having her close. She stretched in my hand and looked me in the eye.
“We’re supposed to go to the temple. Remember how to get there?”
“I remember,” I answered with a grin. My fingers curled around her as I stood, keeping my small passenger around chest height. I smiled down at her, happy when she smiled back. Trying to be as careful as possible, I made my way along the broader streets. Ro was safely tucked against my chest, but I still had to worry about the other townspeople.
We made it to the temple without incident, and Golden Man (Ro called him Sage Something-or-other) greeted us, asking me to pick him up. I offered my free hand, having learned how terrified he had been the first time. He climbed on and started directing me out of town. Over the past few days, he and Ro had taken me on “excursions” so I could learn more words faster. During a few of these, some horses had been walked beside and in front of me, sometimes with riders in purple. The men actually seemed more nervous of me than the horses.
Ro lay back in my hand, apparently comfortable. Golden Man kept calling directions up to me as she rested. I had to admit, I did bug her fairly regularly with what were probably the dumbest questions she had ever heard. Still, she tolerated them really well, picking up English equivalents faster than I picked up her language. Golden Man had little interest in English, besides pointing out when we were using it.
I crested a small hill and stopped to look around. There were a bunch of carts in the valley in front of me. Men in purple milled around the carts, tending horses and checking the bundles in the carts. Point Hat Man was there too, shouting what sounded like orders and insults. Ro had told me he was highly ranked, but he still bugged me. His first impression, ordering me to eat someone, really left a bad mark.
“You can put us down now,” Golden Man called up. I knelt down, keeping my hands as steady as possible, and lowered Golden Man to the ground. My other hand hovered near my chest as Pointy Hat Man stormed up. Geez, was everyone here up at the crack of dawn or something? Ro rolled over on my hand, and I felt her tiny hands press into my skin.
“Neh-then, put me down,” she called up. I looked at her, concern flitting across my face. Put her on the ground near the man who had tried to kill her? No way. My hand rose an inch or so.
“Neh-then, ground,” she said firmly, face daring me to keep holding her. My hand lowered slightly, giving in. I faced Pointy Hat Man, scowling.
“Not hurt her,” I growled, hand dipping again. Pointy Hat Man took a step back, and nodded. I felt Ro squirm in my hand, but ignored it. I had made my point, and I wasn’t about to back down. My eyes stayed on Pointy Hat Man as he motioned one of the purple men forward. Ro jumped from my hand when it was still a few inches from the ground. My eyes immediately darted to her, making sure she was okay. She didn’t even look at me as she walked to the minister, holding out her wrists. A sharp nod to the purple guy and she was cuffed at led away. I looked to Golden Man, hoping he’d have an answer for all this. Instead I was greeted by two more purple men with armloads of chains.
“For me?” I asked, confidence taking yet another hit. The men looked at each other quickly before one of them nodded. I sighed and started sitting down so they would have easier access to my ankle. The one that nodded stayed in place while I moved, but his companion took a few uneasy steps back. I managed to sit so that my left ankle was relatively close to them. The nodder stepped forward first, wrapping his chain around my ankle a few times and fastening it with half a dozen sturdy-looking padlocks. He motioned to his companion. The other guy edged forward, looping his chain through the one on my ankle and padlocking it in place. The nodder looked up at me, eyes flashing with something, probably fear. The other guy scrambled off as soon as he was done with the padlocks. I really hated that they were so scared of me. Of course, I was what? Like, fifteen times their size? And I had made a decent sized hole by the temple.
A sudden wave by the nodder caught my eye. A wagon was being led to the end of the second chain. Note to self: watch were you step. Ro was already chained in the back of the wagon, looking for all the world like she was just in the back seat of a car. The loose end of my chain was attached to the back of Ro’s wagon. Couldn’t I just carry her or something? I wasn’t going to hurt anyone, and I was pretty sure I could walk faster than these horses pulling heavy wagons.
I heard someone shout out and the wagons started moving. Sighing, I rose to my feet. When the chain at my ankle tightened, I shuffled forward. After a while, I took my eyes off the wagon and started looking around. We weren’t going very fast… or getting very far. I sighed, stopping for a bit to stretch a little. The chain tightened again, and I started shuffling along again.
We kept traveling like that all day, stopping around noon for lunch. I didn’t eat as much as usual, not because I wasn’t hungry, but because I didn’t want to run their supplies out. Besides, I’m sure watching a giant eat while you’re trying to isn’t that appetizing. Ro stayed in the wagon the entire time.
Camp was set up as the sun was setting. I was kept chained to the wagon. A separate wagon was brought within my reach. Supper, I thought glumly. I picked a few items from it, popping them in my mouth. Ro was given food as well. Not surprisingly, I didn’t have much of an appetite. Being treated like a monster probably didn’t help.
“Ro?” I asked, curling around the wagon. “I do something wrong?”
“Eh?” she answered, looking up from her supper. “Why do you ask?”
“I just feel,” I began, trying to find the right words in her language, “wrong. Bad.”
“Neh-then,” her tone was softer than usual. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Why I chained then?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice low. “Why I not help carry?”
“Geh-yah-he no-veh-lo is a fool,” she answered, coming closer to my face. “He does not understand that you do not want to hurt us.”
“I not learn like this,” I tried.
“This is true,” she replied, turning away from me. “When we reach my village, things will change.” She turned back to me with a smile.
“How long?” I asked, resting my head on my arms.
“Tomorrow or the day after,” she answered.
I groaned. Two more days of shuffling after a wagon? Not cool.
“Probably tomorrow.” She must’ve picked up on my mood. “Geh-yah-he no-veh-lo wants to make this trip fast.”
“Then he let me help,” I grumbled. Ro grinned at me and patted my nose. I had to cross my eyes to keep looking at her.
“I know,” she murmured. Her voice shook a little, like she was laughing. A cross-eyed giant would look pretty hilarious. “You should finish eating, then sleep.”
“Fine,” I grumbled in English, picking up the wagon of food. I sat up and finished it in two mouthfuls. I lay down, stretching out beside Ro’s wagon. I stared up at the starry sky before I fell asleep. A small chuckle escaped me. It looked the same as home. Sighing, I let my eyes close and drifted off.
The next morning, I was woken up by a man with a spear. I grumbled, but sat up all the same, absently scratching the back of my head and yawning. My back cracked as I stretched. Rolling my neck produced even more cracks. Man, I’ve gotta ask for a pillow or something, I thought as I stretched my arms out. My eyes drifted back to the small man in purple. He seemed terrified of me. I looked towards Ro’s wagon. She was standing, staring at me. Her arms were still above her head.
“Heh, sorry,” I murmured. “Hard ground.”
She nodded and finished stretching her own lean body. We ate breakfast a little while later. After everyone had finished, the camp was torn down and packed back up. I noticed nothing got put in Ro’s wagon. The man who had woken me climbed onto the small bench at the front of the wagon, grabbing the reins and clicking to the horses.
“And so it begins,” I grumbled, standing up. Remembering the pace from yesterday, I looked around a little more as we traveled. The plains soon got scrubbier. I followed on the path the wagons took, most likely a main road. Once or twice, I did leave it, plants crackling under my shoes. Ro always called me back.
When we stopped for lunch, I couldn’t help asking, “How far?”
Ro smiled up at me. “Not far,” she answered. “We will get there before nightfall.”
I nodded, finishing off my lunch. We started moving again a little while later. My eyes glazed slightly as I trudged along, wondering how long it would take to get to the ee-yoh-ah. I looked around, barely noticing that a lot of birds looked like bugs to me. A shout from the fields brought me back to reality. I soon found the person yelling… and his friends. They looked my age and older, holding hoes and the like. One or two were holding just plain staffs. Ro called back to them. I assumed that meant we were close to her village. One of the men holding a staff came close to her wagon, easily walking beside it. He and Ro started chatting, and I caught a few words here and there. He looked up at me a few times, turning back to Ro with a lowered voice. She answered with a shrug and he started trotting to the head of the wagons, where Pointy Hat Man was. My eyes followed him.
After a brief conversation, he came back and talked with the wagon driver. I noticed we were the only wagon to stop. Up ahead, the other wagons continued into a small town. Ro’s village? I wondered. I felt something by chained ankle and froze. The chains rattled lightly as they fell away.
“Neh-then! Pick me up!” Ro called. I couldn’t help smiling. She hadn’t been in my hands since early yesterday, having spent the night in her wagon. I knelt down and held my hand out to her. She climbed on. I noticed the man with the staff stared and scratched his head as I rose back to my feet, cupping Ro to my chest. I started following the path again, but Ro kicked at my hand. Bringing her to eye level, I raised an eyebrow.
“We’re going to the King’s Bath,” she said, pointing to the left. My eyebrow lowered and I blushed. It had been a while since I’d had a bath. Lowering her to chest height again, I left the path, following Ro’s directions as well as I could. My jaw dropped as we entered a clearing. A small pond, probably a lake to Ro, steamed in front of me. It was the size of a hot tub. Ro pushed at my hand, pointing to the shoreline. I set her down, dipping my hand into the water. It was hot, perfect temperature for a bath. My eyes drifted to Ro. She had her back to me and had slipped off her belt. I didn’t move as she started slipping off her shirt. Blushing, I turned and started stripping. I kept my boxers on, for modesty’s sake. My bare feet slipped into the water, and I sighed happily before sliding in completely. My head rested on the shore and my eyes slid shut. There were natural jets massaging my sore muscles. I moaned happily.
Hearing a slight noise to my right, I lazily cracked an eye open. Ro was right there. Both eyes opened and I shot upright, causing waves. Her laughter drifted to my ears. Turning, I watched her slip into the water and swim out in front of me. I cupped my hands around, but not touching, her.
“Why are you blushing?” she giggled up at me, swimming to one of my hands. She rested her arms over my pointer. I gulped, feeling her form pressed against me.
“Hot water,” I said, leaning back again. Ro kept holding my finger, her bare stomach brushing my middle finger. I closed my eyes, unwittingly focusing on Ro’s small form. I kept the hand she was clinging to near the surface. Ro laughed again, pulling herself up to straddle my finger. I was acutely aware of her bare legs tightening around my finger.
“It is very hot,” she answered, smirking.

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Chapter 5 – Nathan

I smiled back as Golden Man stepped forward, speaking to Ro and, surprisingly, me. Ro said something in return and Golden Man clapped. Some of the men in red-brown edged forward with baskets of food. I had only had one cart before Ro lead me here. Most of them started shaking when they entered my shadow. I wanted to tell them I was harmless, but my stomach demanded the food in their baskets. Ro stood stiff and tall as I emptied basket after basket into my mouth. She really needed to loosen up. I eyed the empty basket between my fingers and smirked. Turning it upside down, I dropped it on Ro’s head, laughing as she whirled around and wrenched it off.
“Neh-then! Eh-he yoo-dee-vah!” she shouted as a few of the men started laughing too. She turned from me and fiddled with her hair. Like I actually leave any crumbs, I chuckled. My eyes softened a bit as I watched her talk to Golden Man again. I tried to stifle my laughter as he walked into the stone building followed by a few others who looked relieved to be away from me. I kept my eyes on Ro while they were gone, just in case she needed me to do anything special. She faced me and proceeded to brush some invisible dust from her long greenish shirt. It wasn’t form-fitting, but the leather belt at her waist helped accentuate her curves a bit. She was a good looking woman so far as I was concerned. But she probably doesn’t see me like that, I told myself.
Golden Man and friends returned a bit later carrying something that looked like a roll of cloth. They set it by my hand and quickly scurried out of my shadow. I eyed the thing before snatching it up, my curiosity getting the better of me. It unrolled, showing a surprisingly detailed image. An image I didn’t quite like. Three large people-like things completely naked were stooping down to grab handfuls of smaller people and shoving them into their fanged mouths. These were the man-eaters. This was what they thought I was. The looks of dumb pleasure on the monsters’ faces sickened me. I turned to Ro with furrowed eyebrows. Is this how she sees me? I worried. I grabbed her, bringing her close in a matter of milliseconds. My hand opened, and I saw her curled up in a ball again.
“Ro?” I managed to squeak bringing the cloth closer to her. She uncurled a bit and looked at it. I kept my eyes on her, not wanting to see it again. Her eyes jerked to mine before returning to the tapestry. I’d already told her I wasn’t like that. Didn’t she believe me?
“Eh-he veh,” I said, quickly balling up the cloth in my fist. “Eh-he core-gan veh eh-noo.”
How could anyone or anything be that cruel, that- that- sadistic? My hand slammed into the ground as my eyes hardened. I immediately felt Ro tumble from my other hand and heard her cry out. I reacted almost instinctively, my hand darting beneath her and fingers curling around her small form. Her small arms rested on my thumb and pointer, the rest of her hidden by my fingers. I dropped her! Oh, God! I dropped her! I could’ve kicked myself. Bringing her close to my face, I couldn’t help but worry that I’d hurt her in the past few minutes. First, I scooped her up with no warning; then I dropped her! She must’ve hated me at that moment… or been terrified.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, my other hand coming up to brush her hair. “I’m so sorry.”
I just keep repeating it. I don’t know what else to say. I moved my thumb a bit in an attempt to hold her hand. All I was really doing was pressing her hand between my thumb and pointer. I looked away, shamefaced. My hand lowered, but I just couldn’t let her go. My eyes found the image again. Those things were mocking me, telling me I was just like them.
“I would never,” I muttered. My empty hand balled into a fist and, before I knew what I was doing, I had punched the sick bastards into the ground.
“Veet yoos ee-doh,” Ro said from my hand. She was running her hands over my fingers. “Veet veh ee-doh.”
My hand clenched a bit around her. I forced my fingers to loosen again. I could feel her every breath, every move, and it scared me. So did my anger. I should have tried to stop it. Ro kept running her hands over my fingers. It wasn’t like she was trying to push them away, more like she was trying her hardest to comfort me. I brought my other, now slightly dirt-covered, hand over, pinning her hands down with a finger.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. My heart felt like it was tearing apart. This woman trusted me with her life, and everything I’d just done had proven I couldn’t be trusted… not by someone so small. Maybe I really was a monster here.
“Veet yoos ee-doh, Neh-then,” she said soothingly. “Veet yoos ee-doh. Kah veh eh-he veet eh-noo core-gaw-zeh. Kah veh eh-he veet eh-noo zen. Veet yoos ee-doh.”
I really wished I understood her. Her tone alone was relaxing me. I relaxed my hands, lifting them from the ground, and leaving Ro on her own two feet.
“Eh-he veet veh core-gaw-zeh,” I stumbled a bit over the word “man-eater.” “Veet veh oh-eh-neek.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what “oh-eh-neek” was but it was infinitely better than being called a monster.
“Kah veh, Neh-then,” Ro called to me, looking me in the eye. “Kah veh,” she repeated, tapping her head. She seemed concerned, not for her own safety, but for me. An old man in silver shuffled up behind Ro saying something too softly for me to catch. Ro spun, quickly bowing and doing something with her right hand. The old man chuckled; then said something else, pausing slightly once, like he was trying to find the right word. Ro squeaked something and the old guy answered solemnly before asking something a bit familiar.
“Dah-hee-doh zeh Neh-then,” Ro answered with a chuckle. That I remembered her saying before. Maybe it was an introduction? Like “His name is Nathan” or something like that. I decided to try it out later, see if their reactions matched what I thought they’d be.
“Yee dah-hee-doh eh-noo sah?” the old guy asked.
“Ro,” she responded. “Dah-hee-doh veh Ro.”
That clinched it for me. It was an introduction. I must’ve shifted slightly because Ro’s eyes found mine. I was still worried how she and the others saw me, but had to test this out.
“Dah-hee-doh veh Nathan,” I offered. Ro’s face lit up and she nodded. I smiled back. My eyes slid to the cloth I had punched into the ground. Some men in red-brown robes were trying to roll it back up. I hoped I hadn’t done anything to insult them with my reaction, but I just couldn’t stand those… things. To my surprise, Ro walked up to help them. My heart sank a bit. I should’ve been the one to help them, but instead I just sat there like a dummy. What was wrong with me?
The men took it back inside once it was rolled back up, leaving Ro staring at the hole I had made. She said something to the old guy. He shook his head in response and called out what was probably a name. Golden Man came skittering up. He quickly answered the old guy who nodded and walked off. My eyebrows twitched down. What’s going on? Ro said something I didn’t catch to Golden Man and turned to me wearing a broad grin. I couldn’t help smiling back. Whatever was going to happen couldn’t be that bad, right?
Of course, I was slightly wrong. Golden Man and Ro put me through one of the most intensive language courses I had ever taken. In two days, I was able to hold small conversations with both of them, mostly asking questions and getting somewhat understandable answers. My fourth full day on the island started out a lot like the previous three, with Ro cuddled under my hand. Apparently, Pointy Hat Man didn’t trust her not to sneak off, or he didn’t trust me because he had her spend the night with me.
The sunlight hit my eyelids, but I ignored it, too tired to start moving. I thought I heard Ro calling me from my chest, but grunted, shrugging it off. A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt. She stopped yelling and something started crawling up my chest. As it neared my neck, I flinched a bit. Whatever it was landed sprawled on my neck. My eyes cracked open as Ro started yelling again, but she sounded closer. I groaned again and started yawning. The thing on my neck moved around hitting my Adam’s apple. My hand came up, two fingers picking up a familiar form. So she tried climbing me, huh? I dangled her over my face, sleepy smile growing by the second.
“Morning,” I said in her language. Her tiny waist was trapped between my pointer and thumb. She looked so cute like this. Her hair was still tousled from sleep and falling on me.
“Morning,” she answered, placing her tiny hands on my fingers. “Down, please.”
“Why?” I asked, lowering her bare feet to the tip of my nose. My sleepy smile grew. I could feel her toes trying to grip my nose.
“Because we have to get moving,” she grunted, swinging a leg at my nose. I lifted her before it could hit. I doubted it would hurt, but still.
“Why?” I asked again, propping myself up with my left arm.
Ro was scowling at me now. “Because we’re leaving here.”
I sat up, trying to watch my movements. My other hand came up and I put Ro on it.
“Why?” I rubbed my eyes with my free hand, curling my legs up. I rested my right arm on a knee as I held her in front of my face.
“We’re going to the Imperial City,” she answered with a grin. “Ee-yoh-ah wants to meet you.”
“Ee-yoh-ah?” I asked, trying out the new word. My head tilted to the side.
“Yes, Neh-then,” she giggled. “Ee-yoh-ah! The leader of this nation!”
I looked away. So ee-yoh-ah was the leader of her country. So like a king? Maybe emperor? Either way, this powerful man wanted to meet me. I turned back to Ro, eyes sparkling.
“When go?” I asked. I wasn’t as good with this language as I wanted to be.
“Today,” she answered, shifting slightly in my palm. “The others will be here soon, so put. Me. Down.”
“All right. All right,” I chuckled, lowering my hand to the ground. She hopped off and started looking around for something. Remembering last night, I reached into my shorts’ pocket. She had taken off her boots and put them in a nearby crate. I’d put them in my pocket after I had picked her up, claiming I was just getting comfortable.
I brought my closed hand close to her, opening it. She just looked at them for a bit.
“I see you take them off,” I explained, blushing slightly. “Maybe I think to put them safe?” I really wished I could explain myself easier.
“Thanks,” she replied, stepping back on my hand and pulling on her boots. “It was a nice thought.”
I lifted her back to face height. I told myself it was so I could see and hear her better, but really, I just liked having her close. She stretched in my hand and looked me in the eye.
“We’re supposed to go to the temple. Remember how to get there?”
“I remember,” I answered with a grin. My fingers curled around her as I stood, keeping my small passenger around chest height. I smiled down at her, happy when she smiled back. Trying to be as careful as possible, I made my way along the broader streets. Ro was safely tucked against my chest, but I still had to worry about the other townspeople.
We made it to the temple without incident, and Golden Man (Ro called him Sage Something-or-other) greeted us, asking me to pick him up. I offered my free hand, having learned how terrified he had been the first time. He climbed on and started directing me out of town. Over the past few days, he and Ro had taken me on “excursions” so I could learn more words faster. During a few of these, some horses had been walked beside and in front of me, sometimes with riders in purple. The men actually seemed more nervous of me than the horses.
Ro lay back in my hand, apparently comfortable. Golden Man kept calling directions up to me as she rested. I had to admit, I did bug her fairly regularly with what were probably the dumbest questions she had ever heard. Still, she tolerated them really well, picking up English equivalents faster than I picked up her language. Golden Man had little interest in English, besides pointing out when we were using it.
I crested a small hill and stopped to look around. There were a bunch of carts in the valley in front of me. Men in purple milled around the carts, tending horses and checking the bundles in the carts. Point Hat Man was there too, shouting what sounded like orders and insults. Ro had told me he was highly ranked, but he still bugged me. His first impression, ordering me to eat someone, really left a bad mark.
“You can put us down now,” Golden Man called up. I knelt down, keeping my hands as steady as possible, and lowered Golden Man to the ground. My other hand hovered near my chest as Pointy Hat Man stormed up. Geez, was everyone here up at the crack of dawn or something? Ro rolled over on my hand, and I felt her tiny hands press into my skin.
“Neh-then, put me down,” she called up. I looked at her, concern flitting across my face. Put her on the ground near the man who had tried to kill her? No way. My hand rose an inch or so.
“Neh-then, ground,” she said firmly, face daring me to keep holding her. My hand lowered slightly, giving in. I faced Pointy Hat Man, scowling.
“Not hurt her,” I growled, hand dipping again. Pointy Hat Man took a step back, and nodded. I felt Ro squirm in my hand, but ignored it. I had made my point, and I wasn’t about to back down. My eyes stayed on Pointy Hat Man as he motioned one of the purple men forward. Ro jumped from my hand when it was still a few inches from the ground. My eyes immediately darted to her, making sure she was okay. She didn’t even look at me as she walked to the minister, holding out her wrists. A sharp nod to the purple guy and she was cuffed at led away. I looked to Golden Man, hoping he’d have an answer for all this. Instead I was greeted by two more purple men with armloads of chains.
“For me?” I asked, confidence taking yet another hit. The men looked at each other quickly before one of them nodded. I sighed and started sitting down so they would have easier access to my ankle. The one that nodded stayed in place while I moved, but his companion took a few uneasy steps back. I managed to sit so that my left ankle was relatively close to them. The nodder stepped forward first, wrapping his chain around my ankle a few times and fastening it with half a dozen sturdy-looking padlocks. He motioned to his companion. The other guy edged forward, looping his chain through the one on my ankle and padlocking it in place. The nodder looked up at me, eyes flashing with something, probably fear. The other guy scrambled off as soon as he was done with the padlocks. I really hated that they were so scared of me. Of course, I was what? Like, fifteen times their size? And I had made a decent sized hole by the temple.
A sudden wave by the nodder caught my eye. A wagon was being led to the end of the second chain. Note to self: watch were you step. Ro was already chained in the back of the wagon, looking for all the world like she was just in the back seat of a car. The loose end of my chain was attached to the back of Ro’s wagon. Couldn’t I just carry her or something? I wasn’t going to hurt anyone, and I was pretty sure I could walk faster than these horses pulling heavy wagons.
I heard someone shout out and the wagons started moving. Sighing, I rose to my feet. When the chain at my ankle tightened, I shuffled forward. After a while, I took my eyes off the wagon and started looking around. We weren’t going very fast… or getting very far. I sighed, stopping for a bit to stretch a little. The chain tightened again, and I started shuffling along again.
We kept traveling like that all day, stopping around noon for lunch. I didn’t eat as much as usual, not because I wasn’t hungry, but because I didn’t want to run their supplies out. Besides, I’m sure watching a giant eat while you’re trying to isn’t that appetizing. Ro stayed in the wagon the entire time.
Camp was set up as the sun was setting. I was kept chained to the wagon. A separate wagon was brought within my reach. Supper, I thought glumly. I picked a few items from it, popping them in my mouth. Ro was given food as well. Not surprisingly, I didn’t have much of an appetite. Being treated like a monster probably didn’t help.
“Ro?” I asked, curling around the wagon. “I do something wrong?”
“Eh?” she answered, looking up from her supper. “Why do you ask?”
“I just feel,” I began, trying to find the right words in her language, “wrong. Bad.”
“Neh-then,” her tone was softer than usual. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Why I chained then?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice low. “Why I not help carry?”
“Geh-yah-he no-veh-lo is a fool,” she answered, coming closer to my face. “He does not understand that you do not want to hurt us.”
“I not learn like this,” I tried.
“This is true,” she replied, turning away from me. “When we reach my village, things will change.” She turned back to me with a smile.
“How long?” I asked, resting my head on my arms.
“Tomorrow or the day after,” she answered.
I groaned. Two more days of shuffling after a wagon? Not cool.
“Probably tomorrow.” She must’ve picked up on my mood. “Geh-yah-he no-veh-lo wants to make this trip fast.”
“Then he let me help,” I grumbled. Ro grinned at me and patted my nose. I had to cross my eyes to keep looking at her.
“I know,” she murmured. Her voice shook a little, like she was laughing. A cross-eyed giant would look pretty hilarious. “You should finish eating, then sleep.”
“Fine,” I grumbled in English, picking up the wagon of food. I sat up and finished it in two mouthfuls. I lay down, stretching out beside Ro’s wagon. I stared up at the starry sky before I fell asleep. A small chuckle escaped me. It looked the same as home. Sighing, I let my eyes close and drifted off.
The next morning, I was woken up by a man with a spear. I grumbled, but sat up all the same, absently scratching the back of my head and yawning. My back cracked as I stretched. Rolling my neck produced even more cracks. Man, I’ve gotta ask for a pillow or something, I thought as I stretched my arms out. My eyes drifted back to the small man in purple. He seemed terrified of me. I looked towards Ro’s wagon. She was standing, staring at me. Her arms were still above her head.
“Heh, sorry,” I murmured. “Hard ground.”
She nodded and finished stretching her own lean body. We ate breakfast a little while later. After everyone had finished, the camp was torn down and packed back up. I noticed nothing got put in Ro’s wagon. The man who had woken me climbed onto the small bench at the front of the wagon, grabbing the reins and clicking to the horses.
“And so it begins,” I grumbled, standing up. Remembering the pace from yesterday, I looked around a little more as we traveled. The plains soon got scrubbier. I followed on the path the wagons took, most likely a main road. Once or twice, I did leave it, plants crackling under my shoes. Ro always called me back.
When we stopped for lunch, I couldn’t help asking, “How far?”
Ro smiled up at me. “Not far,” she answered. “We will get there before nightfall.”
I nodded, finishing off my lunch. We started moving again a little while later. My eyes glazed slightly as I trudged along, wondering how long it would take to get to the ee-yoh-ah. I looked around, barely noticing that a lot of birds looked like bugs to me. A shout from the fields brought me back to reality. I soon found the person yelling… and his friends. They looked my age and older, holding hoes and the like. One or two were holding just plain staffs. Ro called back to them. I assumed that meant we were close to her village. One of the men holding a staff came close to her wagon, easily walking beside it. He and Ro started chatting, and I caught a few words here and there. He looked up at me a few times, turning back to Ro with a lowered voice. She answered with a shrug and he started trotting to the head of the wagons, where Pointy Hat Man was. My eyes followed him.
After a brief conversation, he came back and talked with the wagon driver. I noticed we were the only wagon to stop. Up ahead, the other wagons continued into a small town. Ro’s village? I wondered. I felt something by chained ankle and froze. The chains rattled lightly as they fell away.
“Neh-then! Pick me up!” Ro called. I couldn’t help smiling. She hadn’t been in my hands since early yesterday, having spent the night in her wagon. I knelt down and held my hand out to her. She climbed on. I noticed the man with the staff stared and scratched his head as I rose back to my feet, cupping Ro to my chest. I started following the path again, but Ro kicked at my hand. Bringing her to eye level, I raised an eyebrow.
“We’re going to the King’s Bath,” she said, pointing to the left. My eyebrow lowered and I blushed. It had been a while since I’d had a bath. Lowering her to chest height again, I left the path, following Ro’s directions as well as I could. My jaw dropped as we entered a clearing. A small pond, probably a lake to Ro, steamed in front of me. It was the size of a hot tub. Ro pushed at my hand, pointing to the shoreline. I set her down, dipping my hand into the water. It was hot, perfect temperature for a bath. My eyes drifted to Ro. She had her back to me and had slipped off her belt. I didn’t move as she started slipping off her shirt. Blushing, I turned and started stripping. I kept my boxers on, for modesty’s sake. My bare feet slipped into the water, and I sighed happily before sliding in completely. My head rested on the shore and my eyes slid shut. There were natural jets massaging my sore muscles. I moaned happily.
Hearing a slight noise to my right, I lazily cracked an eye open. Ro was right there. Both eyes opened and I shot upright, causing waves. Her laughter drifted to my ears. Turning, I watched her slip into the water and swim out in front of me. I cupped my hands around, but not touching, her.
“Why are you blushing?” she giggled up at me, swimming to one of my hands. She rested her arms over my pointer. I gulped, feeling her form pressed against me.
“Hot water,” I said, leaning back again. Ro kept holding my finger, her bare stomach brushing my middle finger. I closed my eyes, unwittingly focusing on Ro’s small form. I kept the hand she was clinging to near the surface. Ro laughed again, pulling herself up to straddle my finger. I was acutely aware of her bare legs tightening around my finger.
“It is very hot,” she answered, smirking.