Work Text:
It was an easy fight. You’d fought the behemoth a dozen times at least. Hide behind the comets to avoid the big hits and you’d be fine. It just didn’t help when others had no idea how to fight the creature. It left you struggling to handle it as they ran from attacks that didn’t exist. Sometimes people made it worse.
“It’s not using the spell, good thing I brought a back-up!” One of your allies shouted. Before you could respond it felt like the ground had been ripped out from under you.
The next thing you knew, the behemoth was more of one than ever before. Your weapon wouldn’t even be as deadly as a needle. The first instinct you had was to run, but the behemoth moved and threw you. It didn’t even lift its legs. All it did was adjust its footing. You would die if you stayed in this fight.
You did your best to run. Each shift of the monster only made it harder. As far as you could tell, the others weren’t hit. One person made a mistake and that mistake might cost your life. A foot landed in front of you, caused you to scream. You couldn’t tell who it was. That didn’t matter, they could kill you too.
Even with all your strength you couldn’t connect to an aetheryte. There was nothing. Your jobstones wouldn’t react either. You were stuck. The behemoth took a full step this time. It threw you right into the air. Another scream escaped you.
“I’ve got you, my friend!” a voice you would normally be relieved to hear called. Right now you weren’t sure he could do more than hurt you. Either way you landed on a soft surface, familiar cloth gloves. You wrapped your fingers through the threads. Desperate for something to ground you. “Pray tell me I wasn’t too late.”
Your chest heaved as you looked up. Red hair, red eyes, red cat ears. Things you were normally happy to notice. This time it filled you with fear, this was smaller than the normal change when fighting cerberus. G’raha’s face was too big. Fangs stuck out at you in a way you weren’t expecting. You’d fought gigantic creatures, but nothing scared you like this.
“Watch out!” Another ally.
G’raha’s slender fingers covered you. The heat was uncomfortable as he held you firmly against his palm. Another roar from the behemoth. Another crash as comets landed. You pictured the way they’d hurl you through the air. Maybe G’raha’s hand was the safest spot for you.
“Pray forgive me,” G’raha yelled. If his grip wasn’t so tight you’d cover your ears. He was loud . “I have to retreat!”
There was a tingle in your body. Familiar, but almost painful. You couldn’t place how it existed in your memory. Nothing you felt seemed right at this size. Your ears popped as the world changed. For a moment G’raha’s hand felt like air. As if you could fall into the void any second. You gripped the fabric of his gloves with all your strength.
All at once gravity and air hit you again. You could barely breathe as your body adjusted. The tingle was gone, but you’d gladly take it back. Even that feeling that you could fall to the void would be better. Your body ached, chest on fire. Air burned as you tried to breathe.
The fingers pressed against you were moving. They revealed you to the air. The light was bright, too bright. This wasn’t the arena you had been fighting the behemoth in. You couldn’t figure out where you were. Somewhere in the world. Small enough to wrap your fingers through the threads of a glove.
“My friend?” G’raha’s voice was still too loud. You managed to move your pained arms to cover your ears this time. The hand you were on moved. Brought you up to the bright red eyes. “Is there something wrong?”
Too loud ! You curled up to get away from it. The hand moved again. It was never this bad before. G’raha pulled you closer. You wanted to get away. Even in this open place you couldn’t reach an aetheryte. You couldn’t go home. You wanted to go home.
A single finger rand down your back. You lashed out at it. The weapons in your hands were too small, didn’t even break the skin of the finger against you. This was too much. All of it too much. It had to be reversed as soon as possible. Planted your hands firmly on your ears.
“Oh,” G’raha’s voice was softer. “I see now, my friend, I must have been too loud. Are you hurt?”
The finger on your back moved. A gentle rub to reassure you. It did help ease the pain you suffered from however he’d gotten the two of you away. Reluctantly you managed to look at him again. That bright red eye focused on your tiny body. It was too much, too real. You were too small. Yet somehow, you were able to shake your head. Let him know that you weren’t hurt. Even though that wasn’t exactly true.
“Pray forgive me if I doubt you, my friend,” he laughed. The laugh reached his hand, made you bounce. You gripped the cloth of his glove with all your strength. Looked away from the massive eye. Just barely able to see the cat ears on his head pin down. “I apologize. I had never expected a scenario like this in my dreams of adventure with you.”
Of course he wouldn’t. Who would? You weren’t even as tall as his thumb. Maybe a lalafell’s hand would make you feel a bit more confident. G’raha’s eye changed. A shift in the emotion, but it was too large for you to read. All too soon you were covered in darkness again. Surrounded by the warmth of fingers.
Instincts won this time. You fought back. Weapons constantly stabbed into his skin. They didn’t even leave a mark. You tried to cut up the cloth of the glove, but the threads merely frayed. You were helpless. Weak. Vulnerable. Any of your enemies could find you like this and it would be over.
The fight in you died once the world shook. It was rhythmic. He had to be walking. In his hand those steps were world shattering. It could bring together another calamity as far as you were concerned. Yet they didn’t stop. Voices played all around. Ones that hurt you almost as much as G’raha’s had.
“A room for the night,” his voice rumbled through your bones. All of it too much. At the same time reassuring. At least with him it wasn’t an enemy out for your life who held you. “Thank you. Pray would it be possible to give me the room farthest from others? I could use some peace after recent battles. Please put it on the scion’s account.”
Hearing that at least made you laugh. Tataru would kill him. He could have just shown you to the innkeep. The room would have been free. A standing spot for the warrior of light in every city. A place where you could call home without ever having to truly get one.
The rhythmic earthquakes started again. You curled on your side. Gripped the fabric tightly. Prayed to the twelve for this nightmare to end. It didn’t though. It kept going until you were jostled. Heavy doors opened, ones you’d grown to love that felt wrong now. The slam made you bite your tongue to keep in a scream.
The steps kept going. Too long. So long you wanted to beg him to stop. Just set you on the ground and go away. You’d handled worse, you could find a way out of this. By some mercy they did stop, but it was short lived mercy. Your stomach stayed in the air as the hand moved. Down. At least you thought down. G’raha couldn’t really go up.
It was almost worse when the hand turned. The pain in your limbs hadn’t quite escaped. It made sense now. The strength of a teleport to an aetheryte was too much for your small form. It nearly crushed you. Which meant… anything could crush you. If you could access any of your stronger abilities they might even kill you. It was too much.
That fear was abandoned as the fingers left you again. Revealed the dimly lit inn room. Made you realize how much they kept your grip on the cloth as you slid down. The frayed thread from your panic was getting its revenge. You slid right off, into the open air. To what you expected to be your death, but turned out to be a soft surface.
It took a few seconds for you to stop bouncing on it. Then you were able to realize it was just a pillow from the inn’s bed. Now far too big for you. G’raha’s shadow sat over you. His ears pinned to the back of his head as he watched you. He should be a reliable ally, but all of this was wrong. You were too small.
“Pray, forgive me,” he whispered. By the twelve that helped. Your ears didn’t ring from the words. “I saw the caster try to use the spell. I thought I protected you and your allies. Instead it appears I made it focus on you.”
You managed to sit up. To really look at G’raha. Eyes damp. His hands hovered near you, but didn’t risk getting too close. He was trying to help.
“It should reverse itself. In the meantime I will be here for anything you need my friend. Worry not. Nothing will hurt you while I am beside you.”
Your body ached. Nothing would answer you. Even your mounts felt too far away. G’raha was there. Giant. Imposing. Terrifying. Trustworthy. He was there. If it wasn’t for him you’d be crushed under another’s foot, or worse the behemoth’s paw. You were too short to reach his hand. Too small to be properly heard. So all you did was smile. The bright red eyes saw it.
“Rest my friend, I pray that this will be short lived.”
As rare as it was, you listened. You curled up on the pillow. Hugged yourself in a prayer that this was just a dream. Almost panicked when a weight settled on you, until you felt that familiar cloth. G’raha could keep you safe for now. That was enough. His eyes stayed locked on you, he saved you. You’d repay the favor later, maybe by protecting him from Tataru.