Chapter Text
Richter bustled around his little house with an energy Neil could only call exhausting. The migration happened twice a year, but each time, Richter gathered his affects, and charged out to watch. Neil, of course, followed to keep an eye on the nutcase.
They’d grown up together. Neil had spent his years competing with his sister magically. Magic came easy to women, men had to work for it. And work he did. Though his sister naturally discovered her element and became a hell of a fire mage, Neil spent ages studying basic spells for practical use. Patching people up or finding hidden objects.
Richter on the other hand, flew full force into the study of the greater beings. From elementals to dragons, and his personal favourite, giants. It was why he even chose to move to the little farming community. For the great march. The movement of dozens of giants twice a year was cheered by several farming communities on the path.
It was small wonder. As their great march tilled the soils in the summer, making easy and rich farmland for smaller folk to seed. In the winter, their march buried dead crops, and crushed what was left into the soil to rejuvenate it over the winter.
As such, farming communities welcomed the migration with twice yearly festivals. A welcome home party in the spring, and going away in the winter. Richter dragged Neil to every single one. He was crazy about studying giants. He studied them like Neil studied magic.
He didn’t enjoy being so close to that many giants. It would be so easy for one to pluck them from the ground. However, the giants didn’t really seem concerned with the small people watching them from the hills and cliff sides they passed. Perhaps it was because they knew the role they played for such communities.
What Neil did appreciate though, was the travelling band of dwarves that followed after. They only claimed to be in search of rare treasures the giants dug up as they left. As a result, the dwarves always had some fine material to sell on the Spring return. Some were key components for certain rituals and brewings.
The pair left Richter’s cottage with half reluctance, half enthusiasm. The giant’s march was already in progress when they arrived. They hardly noticed the small folk aside from a passing glance here and there.
Richter pointed out several individuals he recognized from the last festivals.
“There’s Golden eye. He passes by every year.” He pointed to a giant who carried himself with a regal dignity. The stone covering his arms and shoulders was polished and refined to a shimmer. He did indeed have golden eyes, that landed warily on the grounds around him.
Neil watched him curiously. Something about that individual stood out. Maybe it was the way he dressed or carried himself. Or maybe it was the shaking of his hands, visible in comparison to his companions. “Yeah, I never noticed, but he is here every year isn’t he?”
“I’ve only seen him miss two years. I wonder why.” Richter flipped to a sketch in his notebook and started adding details on the giant’s page. “I wish I could talk to them. We’d finally understand so much more about the giants, maybe even the gods if some legends are true.”
Neil sneered. There was another point. Giants were said to be shaped by the hands of gods themselves. He doubted the idea but there was no argument that the elemental giants were masters of their surroundings. He did find it odd that only earth giants migrated.
“He’s new.” Richter commented. Neil glanced to his friend, then followed the man’s quill to a fuzzy, beer bellied giants that was casually glancing around like a tourist. He, unlike the earth giants, smiled to the farming village watching below, and waved jauntily at them. The golden eyed one turned to the fuzzy giant and spoke firmly to the other in the elemental tongue.
“Don’t encourage them. They might start following us like the Dwarves do.” Archibald sighed.
“Oh give it a rest Arch. They’re cute. And they’re throwing you a little goodbye party. That’s adorable. Come on, you must recognize a few in there.” Bear laughed clapping his friend on the shoulder. The earth giant rolled his eyes, but humoured the other man.
He searched the crowd and nodded his chin towards a sandy blond man and his companion. The latter flinched away but the former just started scribbling frantically in his book. “Those two, they never miss a migration. We’ve come to call the taller one Sandy. The other we call Skittish.”
Bear glanced at them and just laughed. “They probably have a name for you by now then, too.” He grinned broadly before noticing Archibald slow and tremble. “Hey, maybe we should turn back. We can make it to my grotto if we walk fast.”
“I can do this.” Archibald insisted.
“You can, but should you? Arch, you can’t fight hibernation every year.” Bear placed a hand on his friends shoulder, Archibald slapped it aside then shot him a guilty look.
“You wouldn’t understand. You just change colour with the seasons.” Archibald staggered a ways on. However he was falling behind the pack. Bear hissed through his teeth. Earth giants, like mighty trees, hibernated through the winter, when the land was too cold for their bodies to expend much energy. Some avoided this by migrating, but it was hard on their bodies. They’d have to alternate winters.
Most just slept anyways, but Dwarves made it so that a hibernating earth giant wasn’t safe. For the naturally magical beings were renewing source of lodestone. They turned energy into raw, usable material that held enchantments for centuries.
Thus, a hibernating giant had a chance of waking up mined. It was harmless, like a haircut, but an uncomfortable prospect. Only select bands of Dwarves took place in hibernation mining. But select groups were all it took to make migrations a more popular thought.
Bear scoffed, staring behind him. The dwarven caravans were already moving behind them. “I understand more than you think, Arch, but I also understand that you might not make it to the south in time. You’d be safer in my grotto than you would out in the open like this.”
Archibald scoffed, and plodded stubbornly onward. He took no note of them passing the village, and just stormed off as far as he could go. The troupe had left him already, stronger, healthier giants took no notice of their ilk falling behind.
Hibernation was involuntary. It was common for a migrating giant to just grow too cold and drop unconscious partway through. That was why the dwarves followed. Archibald stomped as far as he could until eventually, the sun set. Bear was close behind, but the chill of night could not be fought with friendship.
He dropped like a stone to the cooling earth. His body jerked in one final act of rebellion, but he fell unconscious. Bear was quick at his side, he tried to warm his friend with his own jacket, rubbing as much residual body heat as he could into Archibald’s limbs, but to no avail.
The forest giant grimaced. He sat next to his companion, and sighed. “Well, maybe the morning will warm you up. I hope.”
Neil grumbled in the bite of the cold night air. There had been some crash hours ago, and Richter had dragged him from his nice warm bed to see what it was about. He claimed it could be a rock slide, but honestly Neil had doubts. “Why are we out here? You know there’s a dwarf caravan not far behind us right? They’d be better at digging the roads out than either of us!”
“And what if someone is hurt? Or if one of the dwarves gets hurt while digging us out? You’ve got healing spells, you could help!” Richter shot back.
“If you wanted a mage you could have woken any woman around town Richter. If you wanted a healer specifically your mother was probably your best bet. So try again.” Neil snapped.
“Oh just shut up and come on. We’re almost th- oh.” Richter stopped cold, and Neil hugged himself a little tighter as he approached. Before them Golden eyes lay in a heap. The large bearded one sat on what was probably meant to be a vigil, but he was silently sleeping. Richter bit his lip.
Neil patted his shoulder quickly. “I can’t heal anyone that size.” He said grimly. The other giant was breathing, but it wasn’t a typical pattern. Behind them they could hear the snort of ponies and the hushed chatter of voices. Richter snatched Neil’s wrist and dragged him closer to the golden eyed one. Much to his hissed protests.
Richter pulled them behind the bearded giants boot as the dwarves arrived. One of them hopped off the wagon and examined their hiding place. “What the shit is he doing here?” He hissed to his companions. “Be silent all of you. Mine quietly.”
Richter squinted. Neil gaped as the dwarves started to pull grappling hooks and pickaxes from their wagons. Mine? He glanced to the earth giant. A sick feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly he very much regretted any purchases from the trailing clan. A glance to Richter’s face made it clear both men agreed. There was something wrong about this.
Neil stormed out from behind the giants boot with Richter close behind. He didn’t like giants, but he didn’t like thieves more. He was taught right from wrong, and this was truly wrong. “You lot keep moving.” He growled. The dwarves perked up from their preparations. “What ever you’re planning on doing, just keep moving.” Neil spoke as firmly as he could.
There were entire families of dwarves in what could be described as a travelling village. The lead dwarf just chuckled. “Relax lad.” He whispered. “It don’t hurt the giant, he’ll just wake up a bit more trimmed than when he fell asleep. Besides, we know this one, he’s been avoiding us for years.”
“With good reason I’d bet.” Richter spat. “What about the other guy?” He jerked a finger at the bearded giant.
“Him? Eh haven’t seen him much. Don’t know what something like him is doing on the march. Look, it’s fine, we’ll take what we need and leave.” The dwarf raised a placating hand. “Besides, it’s two against fifty here lads. You don’t really have an option.”
Neil readied a quick spell, he could maybe light the old bastards beard on fire at least, before they got the shit pounded out of them. Richter on the other hand smiled. “Incorrect. It’s fifty against one.” He jerked a thumb to the forest giant. “Forest giants have impeccable hearing. All I have to do is yell.” Which he did. Very loudly.
Neil gawked at Richter, as the giant they stood so close to snorted awake. Richter grabbed his hand and bolted for the sleeping giant’s pocket. They scampered in as the slumbering earth giant breathed slowly. The other giant began kicking up a ruckus. The dwarves began to scream.
Neil shoved Richter’s shoulder. “What the hell!?” He hissed. Richter slapped a hand over the other man’s mouth. He leaned closer to whisper directly in Neils ear instead of speaking out loud.
“Relax, we’ll wait for the big guy to sleep, then we’ll bolt. But I don’t want the dwarves to take their revenge on us. So just... wait it out.” The breathing behind them changed. Both men stilled as a stuttering gasp shot through the body they were so close to.
The world turned and swooped. They fell over one another as the giant stood tall. The massive being asked something, but they couldn’t make it out. The only word they understood was the name ‘William’ The giant staggered. His voice was booming but weak. Both men stayed perfectly still in the giants pocket.
They heard an exchange, the forest giant sounded relieved, but the heartbeat of their ride them sounded frantic. The earth giant moaned miserably. A heart retching noise. Then, they were on the move, much to both men’s dismay. At some point they had a terrifying swing as the giant exchanged jackets with the other.
Both men miserably clung to the fabric and each other. Richter whispered again. “Okay. So my plan went to hell. You come up with the next one.”
“How long was I out?” Archibald plodded on miserably. Bear winced as he followed close. Holding a supporting arm out.
“From sunset until now.” He glanced into the sky. “Four hours.” The dwarves had fled pretty quick before Bear even opened his eyes. He wondered, idly, who had shouted. The caravan had looked terrified. Pale. They’d said something Bear had understood as ‘damn human’ but that was it. He sighed.
Archibald looked troubled. Bear wished he’d just agree to turn around, and rest in the barrow. Where Bear could keep an eye on him, and set his beasts to guard the man. Or even in his own mountain if he could make it. Bear scratched his chest and swore he felt something move in his jacket pocket. “I’m sorry William. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“The only burden is your stubborn pride Arch. Next year, please, just sleep somewhere safe.” Bear wanted to punch himself for even trying to demand such a thing. Yet Archibald just laughed. He even nodded. Bear was about to say something else, but he swore he heard something. He raised a hand to silence any conversation and just listened.
There was a muffled conversation of sorts. It came from his pocket. Archibald must have heard it as well, because he began to glare heavily into the jacket. From the lilt of the conversation, and the size of the people moving, it was a pair of humans. Bear just smirked. He raised three fingers, and began to count down.
“Right, so just so we’re clear, the plan is to sneak out at night and... Run in a random direction?” Richter was skeptical.
Neil shook his head vehemently. “No, we run in the opposite direction of the giants. They’re huge, they leave foot prints, it won’t be hard to follow them back home.” Their argument was cut short when their ride shouted something. Without warning, the pocked was flipped upside down, dumping all it’s contents with it. Which included a button, box, and two very perturbed humans.
The pair laid on the giants palm stunned. The bearded one blinked before pointing to the two men and asking his companion something. Golden eyes looked quite frustrated himself. Richter licked his lips nervously as the giants conversed, occasionally they’d toss a comment to the two humans but damned if he understood them.
The pair squabled about something, but a decision had been made quickly as golden eyes started to droop. Richter grimaced. Something was wrong with the giant, deeply wrong. Now that he was so close, he could see the bags under his eyes. The way he swayed with every step, and the shaking of his hands.
The bearded one was also starting to notice the others plight. With a scowl, he turned his friend around and began marching on the migration path, humans in hand. Their conversations were a little more hushed now.
“Look, I get you aren’t too thrilled about this, but there’s another village on the way yeah?” Bear hurried his companion along. He kept close enough to catch Archibald if he fell again.
“There’s one more before we veer off a ways. We could drop them off there I guess.” Archibald glanced at the humans with caution. “But why did they even follow us? Why are they just casually hanging out in people’s pockets?”
The pair were clearly looking for an escape, which made the ‘casual’ comment all the funnier to Bear. Hearing Sandy talk, he could put some pieces together. He sighed. “I don’t think that was part of the plan. Any how, unless you speak human, we won’t really know.”
“Which language? They have over seven thousand.” Archibald commented dryly. Bear hummed then shook his head. Yet, now that he listened to the hushed whispers of the humans, he started to pick out words. “English. They’re speaking English.”
“How’d you know that?” Bear blinked owlishly.
“My son speaks it. I don’t know it per-say, but I caught a few words. If I’m hearing this right, Skittish is planning on bolting as soon as we put them down. Sandy is pointing out the multitude of wild beasts in the area. Specifically he’s talking about manticore which is ridiculous because they avoid our lot like the plague.”
“Well there you go, we’ll keep to the plan and they’ll be out of our hair soon. Bet they’ll miss the next migration.” He shook his head fondly.