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“W-Wait! This is all one big misunderstanding!” Scar shouted as the fingers curled tighter around him. The giant, who he had just learned was named Grian, narrowed his eyes at him as he held him close to his face. Scar would be lying if he said it wasn’t intimidating.
“A misunderstanding?” Grian asked, clear disbelief in his tone. Despite that though, Scar nodded rapidly.
“Yes, of course!” Scar doubled-down and Grian raised an eyebrow.
“So you weren’t sent here to kill me?” Grian asked and Scar winced. Okay, he really couldn’t deny that part.
“Well, okay, I was maybe hired to come and kill you. But!” Scar shouted quickly before Grian could do or say anything but Grian remained still. Scar cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly. “I would have never taken the job if I knew it was someone like you! They told me they wanted me to kill a giant ugly beast and you are clearly only one of those things.”
Grian hummed but Scar winced as his expression didn’t change.
“A-And it’s not ugly or beast, I can say that for certain." Scar continued, laughing nervously. “So obviously I’m not going to kill you. So how about you let me go on my merry way and we can both pretend this never happened.”
Grian looked him over and Scar remained tense as he waited to see what the giant would do.
Grian let out a small sigh. “You know I can’t let you go now, right?”
Scar blinked. “Er, what do you mean by that?” His heart thudded in his chest.
“If I let you go, they’re just going to send someone else after me.” Grian’s lips curled just a bit upward and Scar couldn’t help but shudder. “But, if I make an example out of you, they’ll hopefully leave me alone.”
Scar’s eyes widened. “You’re going to kill me?!” Scar exclaimed, pushing against Grian’s fingers and struggling against the hold once more, even knowing it wouldn’t do anything.
Grian, at least, looked offended by Scar’s claim. “What? No, of course not!” Grian glared at him but Scar couldn’t help but relax just a tad in relief. He stopped his struggles as Grian continued. “I’m not a monster.”
Scar nodded slowly. “Right…so what are you going to do with me then?”
Grian hummed and turned around, holding Scar close to his chest as he started rummaging through his things. With the angle Scar was at, and Grian’s hand taking up most of his vision, he couldn’t see what Grian could be looking for. “Ah! Here we go.” Grian exclaimed and held up something that had Scar’s eyes widening. He picked back up his struggles despite knowing how useless it was.
“You’re going to stay right here. At least until those humans get off my back.” Grian explained and put down the human sized birdcage on a nearby rock. How Grian had come about it was beyond Scar but he certainly wasn’t happy about it. “Alright, in you go.” Grian said as he opened the cage and started lowering Scar toward it.
“Wait! You can’t just put me in a cage like an animal!” Scar cried out but it didn’t falter Grian at all. Scar soon found himself out of Grian’s hand but within the cage. As Grian’s hand retreated, the door was closed and locked. Scar came closer to hold the bars but they were as solid as Grian’s grip had been. There was no way he could get out of here on his own.
“Oh, just like how you weren’t sent to hunt me like one?” Grian asked and Scar froze. He…couldn’t really argue with that. He looked down instead of answering and Grian scoffed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
The cave went silent for a moment before Scar heard Grian sigh. “Look, I’m not going to hurt you, alright? I just can’t have others coming here and trying what you did. If they think you're dead, maybe they’ll be too afraid to try again…” Grian trailed off, as if he wasn’t even sure of his own words. Scar finally looked back up.
“I could tell them. If you let me go, I could tell them that you aren’t a monster and that you don’t need to be hunted.” Scar said, almost pleading. He really didn’t want to be in this cage for much longer but when Grian shook his head, he knew his words wouldn’t be enough to get him out.
“I don’t trust you. I can’t trust you. Just…” Grian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just get comfortable because you’re going to be in there for a while.” Grian looked at Scar for a long moment before turning around and heading toward the cave entrance.
“Hey! Where are you going!” Scar called out, gripping the bars of his cage tighter.
“To get food.” Grian said as he grabbed a makeshift bag and slung it over his shoulder. He glanced back at Scar. “Try not to make too much noise. You wouldn’t want to attract any animals.” And with that piece of advice, Grian was gone.
Scar slumped down in the cage, back against the bars as he looked down at the ground. He had always managed to get out of bad situations before. He had a sharp tongue and enough charm to make a guy give him the pants he was wearing. But none of that seemed to work on Grian. He was at a complete loss on what to do.
Just how was he going to get out of this one?