ill believe it all, i wont let go of your hand

Mayflower drops the treasure between them with a resounding clink of rock against metal.

“Told you I’d find somethin’ good, Cinna,” they say, glancing at the reflections of their faces, “You really should come with me next time.”

The other pixie pauses. “...I know, it’s just-”

“I get it, I get it. It’s not as scary as I make it out to be, I promise.”

Cinnamon comes up with a few retorts, and decides on changing the subject instead. 

“Do you know what it is?”

They shrug. “Hell if I know what the Giants want with it. But for me?”

May stands, pointing it at her in a mock en garde. “See? Not so bad if you’re smart about it. Gotta be able to defend yourself, y’know?”

“What about before you found it…?”

They smirk, pulling the sword back with a flourish. “Wait, you thought I was just going in there empty tarsused? An upgrade, that’s all.”

May pats their side, above the dagger on their waist.

“I asked one of the scholars what the writing on the thingy it was in said. It’s called an Assortedneedle or something like that. I just call it a needle. Anyway~!”

They take the needle from their side and place it alongside the new weapon. Just the thicker handle is the size of the entire thing, before the thinner, serrated blade even comes into consideration.

A little pfft noise. “Look at the size of this thing! I can get past the monster easily now.”

Cinnamon makes a little squeak at the very mention of it. Every time May had visited the Giant’s land, they’d come back with grand tales of the terrible beast they’d just narrowly avoided. It wasn’t Giant size, but it towered over a pixie regardless. Terrible paws larger than one’s head, eager to crush the head in question in one blow. A ghastly, screeching cry, one which struck terror in the deepest depths of the soul. They’d seen it drop corpses at the Giant’s doorstep.

Offerings. It was a loyal guard, and Mayflower had barely gotten away every time it had seen them.

“You’re going to get yourself killed…” There’s no convincing them, is there? There never had been. 

“Hey, if I had a travel buddy it wouldn’t be so risky, hm? One of these days I’m going to be under it’s paw and I’ll just be going Cinnamon… why didn’t you tell me to watch out for the monsterrrrrrr…. bleh.”

Their tone gets more overdramatic the further they lean to the side, until they plop onto the grass with a fit of giggles. Cinnamon finds herself joining in, amidst her own protests it’s not funny, what if that does happen.

“I didn’t show you, but I have another one back home! C’mon, Cinna. I’ve come back every other time, haven’t I…?”

Silence.

“Alright, don’t worry about it. I’ll bring you back some shinies from its horde, alright?”

She nods.

“Just be careful.”

“Will do!”

They stand, twirling the sword as they lift it up from the rock where they’d been sitting.

“In that case, pretty sure it’s time for me to get ready to go, I’ll be gone by dawn and back by dusk, promise.”

If May was anything, they were trustworthy. This was the first time they’d ever broken a promise.

It was the day after they’d said they’d be back before Cinnamon allowed herself to be worried. She arrives at their usual meeting place early, sits by the stone and waits for someone to drop a shiny trinket on it to show her.

Nothing. She’d like the quiet usually- birdsong is worrying up close when you’re a few inches  tall, but when somewhere sheltered like this, with the lakeside in view, there’s a kind of beauty to it. 

Every step of May’s travels has places to go wrong. They could have gotten stuck, exhausted themself, been caught by the Giant and punished for stealing…

What if the monster’s claws had hit their target?

…She’s going to need to go look for May herself, isn’t she? They don’t really tell anyone about these ventures until they’re back. They don’t usually head out on consecutive days, either- nobody but Cinnamon is going to have noticed they’d even gone. 

Cinnamon’s going to consider this an effort at being more assertive. May always wanted her to do that.

Anyway, it’s not like they’re here to see her borrowing their things. They hate when people mess with their spare equipment- something about it being already organised perfectly- but she doesn’t really have any treasure-hunting gear of her own, and they’d probably give this to her if she’d agreed to come along anyway. It all just about fits in the cloth knapsack- a neatly drawn map of the route to the Giant’s nest, a ripe raspberry, a sharpened pebble better used as a tool than for defence. There’s just enough space for another raspberry- for May, when she finds them. If they’ve been gone for this long, they’ve probably ran out of food and water by now. She pauses right before she takes off, something catching her eye in the corner of the nest.

The second sword. Even with the rest of the tools she’s borrowed, is that really okay?

…No time for internal debate. Cinnamon fumbles with the little metal ring hooked through the handle until she can fasten it to her bag. She takes a few goes at unhooking and hooking it, pausing for a second once she’s sufficiently quick.

There’s nothing to delay, in that case. With a beating of wings and a clatter of metal, Cinnamon leaves.

…This is her first time doing something like this, she should pace herself. When her flight muscles start to ache, she lands on the nearest branch to rest.

It’s close to the edge of the woodland here- she can see her destination. Looming in the distance, the Giant’s nest.  Cinnamon takes the sword into her hands, glancing at her reflection in the metal. She squints- the canopy is thinner here than she’s used to. An important fact begins to sink in.

She’s never been this far away before. Not that the option wasn’t there- May asking her to join them wasn’t anything new. She’d always insisted that she come the next time, or the time after that, or the time after that. May is a very good friend, but she’d never understood their obsession with visiting that place- adventurers weren’t exactly known for their long lifespans. Maybe this would show her why. Maybe. It making things seem many times worse when May ends up getting themself killed is just as likely…

But this is Cinnamon trying to stop that from happening, isn’t it? Everything’s going to turn out okay.

Cinnamon just about keeps her balance when the branch tips, something much heavier landing beside her. She freezes, making out vague details in the corner of her eye. A sharpened beak. It gives a squawking cry.

She’s never been a particularly fast flyer- this was a new record. Cinnamon barely looks behind her before taking off, noticing it following, a rustle of feathers behind her. Who knows if it was actually dangerous, or just curious, but it’s not worth the risk to her. Creatures like this eat the insects, and a pixie looks close enough to one it’s hard for anything but one to tell the difference.  She doesn’t know how long she flies for. Eventually, she notices the lack of flapping noise behind her, and Cinnamon drops onto the nearest surface, panting.

For a few moments she just.. sits there, trying to calm down. She checks her bag- the sword is still there, its contents intact. Where to now?  Out of panic, she hadn’t been keeping track of where she was going.  The pixie stands, gazing into the distance from her vantage point. 

..Where is she? She can’t see the Giant’s nest anymore. Just rows and rows of trees. Did she make a wrong turn? 

Hm. When Cinnamon steps forward, ready to find somewhere higher to get her bearings, she notices how… odd the outcrop she's standing on feels. It’s smooth and glossy, white but the wrong texture to be granulite or chalk. It almost feels like the material many of the treasures May had found were made from, not that she’d ever seen it at such a vast scale. If  the ground here is made from Giant materials, and she can only see the woods and not the nest, then…

She turns, glances at the opening in front of her and the vermillion rocks making up the entire wall, equally sized. Cinnamon was not lost. She was exactly where she needed to be.

Once she’s found a way through, the pixie finds the highest point to land- the edge of an opaque jar, filled with daffodils-, and surveys her surroundings. 

The first room of the Giant’s nest is vast- not as large as, from what May had told her, the rest of it, but just about traversable regardless. There’s more of that glossy material, more widespread- she can’t really tell what most of the objects are, nevermind what they’re made from. A doorway looms ahead, half-closed, and Cinnamon can’t make out the end of the hallway on the other side. 

A voice. Cinnamon can’t make out the words, but it’s certain what its source is. The Giant approaches. As soon as she registers the meaning of the noise, Cinnamon dives into the vase, clinging to a stem to stay out of the water and listening for the Giant’s movements. Something else follows, making a little trilling noise. That sound… the monster May had seen, no doubt.

“Hey, hey, I’m working on it.”

The Giant smirks. Something rattles.

“There! Can you stop yelling now?”

Crunching. It goes quiet.

“You really were hungry, huh? It’s like, 5 minutes until you’re yelling at me again, but-”

The beast pads across the room, close to the vase. Cinnamon holds her breath as she hears it draw near.

It doesn’t see her, but it lingers nearby regardless. She hears it make a chirping sound, and footsteps as the Giant approaches, too.

“What is it? No, you can’t go out there. Too much bloodlust for you to get anywhere near the local bird population, little man!”

They laugh quietly, imitate the noise- a crude ekekeke.

“Come on, get down from there. You’re gonna get hair all over the cutlery.”

There’s a squeaky cry from the monster and a rustling sound- the Giant taking it away? Regardless, the room goes quiet, and when Cinnamon finally gains the courage to climb out of her hiding spot, the coast is clear.

The beast could be back any moment, she can’t stay here any longer. Cinnamon makes her way from shelf to shelf, lands on an open doorway, and delves deeper into the nest.

This room could be a problem. It’s long, fairly empty- no high vantage points. Flying for that long straight isn’t a good idea, her wings still ache a little from the bird incident. Placing a hand on her sword, Cinnamon lands. This ground feels odd too- almost like moss, but too springy, scented like one flower and coloured like another. At least the coast is clear…?

Why would she have luck like that? She turns. Barely out of a paw’s length lies the monster.

It’s sleeping, curled up at the centre in a cloth circle, surrounded by shiny trinkets. Is this the monster’s nest, inside the Giant’s nest?

Even like this, standing so close is nerve wracking. Its mouth hangs slightly open, needle-sharp teeth poking through. One of the points atop its head (an owl’s plumicorn comes to mind) twitches, listening. For her? For May?

Standing still is far more risky than getting out of the way. Still, neither option is one to look forward to.

Slowly. One step, another, another-

Something rustles in the distance. The beast opens its eyes, and Cinnamon freezes.

That noise again- ekeke, ekeke. 

Cinnamon barely has time to draw her sword before the beast pounces, it clattering to the ground. She lies beneath it, too stunned to react, as it raises a paw to bat at her again-

“No! No! What are you doing?!”

The Giant pulls the beast away from her effortlessly, it giving a mewl of protest and flailing in their arms.

“Hang in there, little guy. Let me put him somewhere else.”

The Giant is gone. Cinnamon tries her best to process what just happened before moving again, but they’ve already returned by the time she can bring herself to sit up.

“...There we are! So many bugs getting into the house today…

Something white slips underneath the pixie. She tries to dart away, adrenaline winning over muscle soreness- only to collide with the air. Cinnamon stands, places a hand against the invisible barrier. Did the Giants have force fields? The Giant pays no attention, talking to her seemingly without expecting a response.

“Cats, man. Could you imagine if I’d let him be an outdoor one like Dad insists I do- that’s where my keys went? No idea how they ended up over here…”

They pull

The rambling continues, and Cinnamon understands very little of it. Eventually, the journey ends, and the Giant sets her invisible prison down.

“What are you…? I don’t know any moths with a pattern like that. Saturniidae of some sort? I can look it up later, probably.”

They hold up some… black rectangles in front of her. It flashes with a bright light, and they stare at it for a second before putting it aside.

“...I’ll let you go when it gets dark, okay? Too bright for nighttime bugs right now. You’ll have a friend, at least- good thing I kept the terrarium from back when I kept beetles…”

She’s tipped out of the forcefield- she recognises the vague reflection of more of those invisible walls, but there’s far more space. 

“See you tonight, then,” the human comments, and closes the cupboard door. The tank darkens.

A familiar voice.

“Knew you’d come, Cinna. It was the monster, wasn’t it?”

May sits, leaning against one of the invisible walls.

She can’t think of much to do but join them, sliding down the barrier to sit alongside them.

“Are you injured?”

“Just my pride, and… lack of sword,” they smirk, “Maybe a few scratches. Anyway, look at you~! This is the furthest you’ve been out, isn’t it? Nicely done.”

“Thank-you…,” Cinnamon gives a nervous little laugh. “But we’re just both stuck here now.”

“Eh, I think the Giant’s gonna go through with the whole releasing at sunset thing. If they wanted us dead they’d have just stepped on us, or let the monster have its fill. Not much to do but wait until then.”

“Mhm.”

Cinnamon digs through her bag for the raspberries, and the two slip into a comfortable silence as they eat. 

“You know, this is the closest I think any of us have ever gotten to a Giant. Thought I’d never come back from something like that alive, heh.”

“I still don’t understand how you’re so calm after something like that…”

May shrugs. “I mean, at the time? Absolutely. Had a few hours in here to think about it. Not to mention… the outcome in general. There’s bad pixies, there’s good birds- knew a guy who found an egg and kept one as a pet once- and apparently, there’s good Giants! And in our neck of the woods we’ve got a good Giant. Makes these trips feel a lot safer, doesn’t it?”

Cinnamon nods in agreement. They await the sunset.