Little Love Chapter 2 (FIRST DRAFT)

The following chapter takes place before and during the events of the previous chapter

Nathan had a hard time remembering any moment when his life was easy. His mother used to tell him about such a time, but he was too young to remember it himself. He was born underneath the floor of a closet in a small house in Hiddengrove. His parents moved there about 2 years before he was born, and tried to keep their existence a secret from the giant who lived in it. However, one day they were discovered by the younger giant who stayed at the house a few times a month, but he didn’t hurt them. For the longest time, Nathan had no idea why that was, but he assumed that the giants only became dangerous at a certain age.

The boy didn’t tell his father about the Minins who secretly lived in their house. Not only that, but he also frequently helped them out by giving them food and small objects to build a home with. Nathan couldn’t remember any of this because it either happened before he was born or when he was still a toddler. However, he knew that his parents were grateful for the giant’s help, since they gave him the same name as the giant.

Unfortunately, things couldn’t be this easy forever. When Nathan was 3 years old, the older giant found out about them, and tried to either catch or kill them. He and his mother managed to make it out alive thanks to the younger giant, but his father perished. Eventually, his mother encountered other Minins, who were part of a tribe that tried to get as far away from the town as possible. Nathan and his mother were accepted into the tribe, and they traveled further into the forest every day while trying to stay hidden from the giants. The tribe consisted of about seven other adults and a few children of Nathan’s age or older. Nathan had to start helping the tribe out when he became old enough, mainly by keeping an eye on their surroundings and warning the others in case of danger. He wasn’t the most sociable kid, and the only friend he managed to make among the other kids was a slightly younger boy named Fletcher.

As the years passed, the tribe occasionally moved further and further into the forest and further away from the town. Things were difficult for many of them, since many of them were used to a life amongst the giants, so they were used to having access to their food and resources. Now, they had to subsist on any edible plants they came across and any insect they managed to capture. They tried to stay away from most mammals and birds because they weren’t the best fighters. Nathan’s mother often told him about their life back at the house, and the kinds of food they had access to. While Nathan couldn’t remember actually experiencing any of this, he imagined that things like chocolate tasted a lot better than any insect.

However, as time went on they came across other Minins, most of whom joined the tribe. One day, when Nathan was around 11 years old, they encountered a Minin who unlike most members of the group had spent every moment of his live in the forest. This Minin was a muscular, hairy man in his late 30s called Fang, and while the rest of the tribe had never fought off anything other than an insect, killing larger creatures was nothing less than second nature to him. He clearly wanted people to know this, as he wore the fur of a rat he killed and skinned. His head was largely obscured by the upper part of a mouse skull, which he seemed to have broken and stitched in places for it to fit. His weapon of choice was a makeshift scythe with a bone as a shaft and part of a bird’s beak attached to it as a blade. While he was capable of speaking English, he clearly spend much of his life alone in the wild.

While many members of the tribe (including Nathan’s mother) were at first hesitant to accept Fang as a member, they quickly let him into the tribe because he managed to get some actual meat every so often. He also began training the others, and they became more and more focused on hunting rather than gathering. Unfortunately, hunting was not Nathan’s strong suit. While he possessed acceptable speed and high reflexes, he was easily afraid of confronting larger creatures and often had to be saved because of this. Things became more and more difficult for him the more power Fang obtained, and the rest of the tribe started to look down on him for his failures. Fang especially thought little of Nathan, since his name came from a giant. His mother eventually became one of few members to defend him, until she passed away after falling out of a tree when Nathan was 18 years old.

After a few months, Nathan was finally sick and tired of Fang’s treatment of him and the tribe. Things started getting worse for the group when Fang (who had become tribe-leader about a few years ago) began abusing his power, taking much of the food (for which some Minins gave their life) for himself and the women who offered their services to him. Fang quickly became irritated by the lack of respect Nathan was showing him.

‘’Come on boy’’, Fang said, ‘’is this how you treat your leader? I would expect a bit more gratitude.’’

‘’For what?’’, Nathan replied angrily. ‘’What are leaving for us to earn you any gratitude?’’

‘’Every group needs a hierarchy. Those on top get the most because they mean the most. I knew you were pathetic, but I didn’t think you were dense!’’, Fang said with a condescending tone.

‘’Like you mean so much! All we’ve been doing since you became leader is put our lives in danger on a daily basis so you can feast on rats and crows all day.’’

‘’Is that how little you think of me? I taught all of you to be fearless! To not be content with what little you could get without getting your hands dirty. Then again, you’ve always been a poor student in that regard.’’

‘’We were doing fine before you made yourself the center of the tribe. Just because you’ve spend your whole life living like the beasts you enjoying killing doesn’t mean that any of us wanted that!’’

‘’Then what do you want? To live with those giants? To rely on them for survival by stealing their leftovers? A true man would rather risk death every moment than be content with such a pathetic existence.’’

During their argument, Nathan noticed that most of the group was taking Fang’s side, either out of fear or because they genuinely believed what he was spouting. He could hear people talking behind his back while making their agreement with Fang heard.

‘’Have you ever thought that maybe your father would still be alive if he and your mother hadn’t gotten soft living with that boy?’’, Fang asked.

‘’Don’t… you… dare… mention them!’’, Nathan screamed in anger. He grabbed a small pebble (about the size of his hand) and hurled it at Fang. Fang easily avoided it, and ran up to Nathan without his scythe. It took little effort for Fang to grab the back of Nathan’s head and shoved him facedown into the forest soil. He shoved it into the ground again and again until Nathan stopped struggling. He pulled Nathan up and forced him to look at the rest of the tribe.

‘’Do you see them boy?’’, Fang asked. ‘’Those aren’t the faces of people who obey a cruel leader merely out of fear. Those are the faces of people who know their leader is justified in what he does. What I do is not done out of aimless cruelty, but to teach you a lesson that you wouldn’t have learned any other way.’’

Nathan surrendered, and Fang walked away while leaving him lying on the ground. The rest of the tribe went back to their regular business, with only Fletcher helping him stand up. The next few days, Nathan began asking himself why he was still staying in the tribe. He contemplated leaving, since Fang’s disregard for him and the rest of the group will probably result in his death someday. Otherwise, Fang will probably toss him out eventually anyway. He gathered enough supplies to survive as long as possible, and left at night before the rest of the tribe woke up.

For months, Nathan traveled through the massive forest, trying his best to stay hidden from animals and giants. He tried to rely on plants as much as possible, but he frequently had to kill ants, flies, centipedes and similar creatures. Every now and then he managed to come across a dead bird or rat that hadn’t been entirely consumed yet, or he spend all day building a trap by covering a small hole in the ground with branches and leaves until an animal fell into it and could more easily be killed by dropping things like rocks on it. He mostly slept in holes in trees or small tunnels that were once used by moles and other animals. His goal was to go back to the town, believing that the risks would be worth it for some decent food, as well as some new clothes and equipment. To find the town, he traced things left behind in the forest by the giants, like the transparent materials they used to protect their food when they weren’t eating it. While following these traces, he tried to use as many of the materials he encountered as possible to produce things like clothes, weapons, a satchel and small gadgets he could use to make digging and tree climbing easier. Sometimes he followed some giants from a far distance.

Eventually, Nathan came across a lone house in the forest. He observed the house for a short period so he could ascertain the risks. He quickly discovered that only one giant lived in it. The giantess was old and frail, and much slower than the other giants he observed. Nathan also knew that elderly people, whether they be giants or Minins, were often not taken as seriously as those who are younger, so if the giantess spotted him, people would likely not believe her if she told them.

One day, he burrowed a small tunnel near one of the walls, and proceeded to break into the area underneath the floorboards where all the pipes, insulation and supporting blocks were located. He figured out where everything was located, and chose a spot underneath a cabinet in the living room, since he figured that a hole in the floor would not be as easily noticed there. He also made sure that there were no animals living in the same space, and boarded up the hole in the wall so nothing else could come in. He listened as closely as he could to everything the old giantess said and did so he knew when he had the opportunity to enter the rooms and get the things he needed to make a living here. When the old giantess went to sleep, Nathan went to explore the living room/kitchen, which was luckily illuminated enough by the moonlight beaming in through the windows. Every time he went up, he was astonished by the massive size of the area and the gigantic structures which contained the giantess’s possessions while towering over him everywhere he went. The first thing he did was climb up to the table and open up the basket in which the giantess kept her knitting material. His mother used to tell him about the places where they used to steal (or ‘’borrow indefinitely’’) the most valuable materials and items, one of these places being knitting baskets. The wire and needles could be used to make a lot of useful gadgets and tools, such as a grappling hook or a saber. He proceeded to collect a few other small items, such as a paperclip, but he found himself too exhausted to actually collect some food. He decided to retreat to his hiding place, where he ate the last seed that he had left before going to sleep on a small piece of insulation he ripped off to make a bed.

The next day, Nathan had to once again wait until evening before he could collect anything, since he was too afraid to come up when the giantess was walking around. He tried to get some extra sleep during those days while also building new devices to make his excursions easier. He managed to get some food here and there, but the giantess didn’t leave much around, and what she did leave behind would rot or spoil so soon that there was no point in saving it for another day, so he only bothered to take small pieces.

Opening drawers and kitchen doors wasn’t easy, especially not without leaving some equipment behind, which would give away his existence. When he broke or bit off small pieces, he tried to not make it look like the work of a small animal, since the giantess would surely take measures against such an infestation. While the things he heard the giantess say and do didn’t indicate any cruel or violent traits, he wasn’t going to take the risk and let himself be spotted. He heard many stories from his fellow Minins about these creatures and what they do when they spot someone like him, and all of these ended tragically.

One day, the giantess left home and didn’t come back. Nathan didn’t notice her taking anything with her, so he knew that she wasn’t going on a lengthy trip or moving somewhere else. He quickly came to the conclusion that something must have happened to her. He knew that other giants would probably show up again one day, so he didn’t make too much use of his new freedom. There were moments where he planned a more extensive excursion, but every moment he couldn’t help but imagine another giant suddenly showing up and spotting him. He constantly tried to find the courage, but he failed every time.

Two weeks after the old giantess disappeared, Nathan looked through the window and spotted two giants walking towards the house carrying boxes. One of them was male, while the other was female. He went back to the space underneath the floor, and tried to obtain as much information about them as he could without either of them noticing him. He heard the male giant tell the giantess that he was going back to his car for a moment, much to Nathan’s relief since he now only had to deal with one of them.

He followed her footsteps underneath the floorboard, while staying away just far enough that she didn’t accidently catch a peek of him through the tiny openings between and in the planks. While following her, he ended up back at his resting place where his bed, gadgets and food-rations were located. From this area, he could see a slightly more illuminated area underneath the hole he made underneath the cabinet. However, he noticed the sound of the giant steps getting closer and louder, then going away for a moment and then coming back, after which the light disappeared. When the giantess walked away, Nathan went to inspect the hole and found it covered by a large piece of wood. The giantess apparently noticed the hole, and thought that this would keep out any creature that would use it to enter the living-room. Fortunately Nathan managed to push it away so that he could get through the opening again, but he decided to continue laying low until the time was right. At night, Nathan tried to go out again, but he quickly noticed that the older, male giant was sleeping in the living-room. He was very hungry, so he decided to take the risk, but the giant quickly awoke because of the noise he made. Nathan managed to hide just long enough for the giant to assume that the noises were just in his head (or at least were nothing to worry about) and go back to sleep.

The older giant left early in the morning, and all Nathan had to do the next few days was make sure that the giantess didn’t notice him. Nathan’s meals continued to be very limited, and he wasn’t sure how long he could continue to keep this up. To make things worse, the giantess seemed to notice more and more what was going on. She noticed that the piece of wood covering the hole, which Nathan always pushed away when he left and tried to push back afterwards, wasn’t in the same place anymore, causing her to suspect that something was living down there.

Nathan imagined that his parents had it a lot easier with all the food lying around, the more convenient layout, and the fact that they could do the excursions together whereas Nathan only had one pair of hands. He began wondering if all of this may have been a huge mistake, and if he was better off continuing his life in the forest, or even staying with the rest of the tribe. Sure, he still couldn’t bring himself to think positively about Fang, and the food he did manage to get in this house tasted far better than what he used to eat, but those only seemed like minor things at this point. He noticed that the malnourishment was making him skinnier, although he still had just enough of the strength and speed he needed because of his Minin anatomy.

That night, Nathan began to wonder if he should take his chances by revealing himself to the giantess. Like the older giantess who used to live here, the younger giantess didn’t seem to have any violent or dangerous traits, but he couldn’t be sure. For all he knew she would capture him and sell him, or use him for her own activities (he definitely heard some stories about that as well, but was only allowed to hear them after he turned 16). He told himself that he made the right choice, and that there was no point in turning back. He just had to take some bigger risks, that’s all. However, he started to warm up to the idea a bit more as time passed, particularly when he began observing her more and found himself surprisingly attracted to her. He could only imagine how his former tribe would have reacted to him saying anything along those lines.

The next morning, he planned another excursion after hearing that the giantess was going into  town for a while. He heard something about her buying mousetraps, which he was actually a little happy about. Sure, he would eventually have to leave if she started taking more drastic measures, but the traps would be an easy source for food since, unlike mice, he had the opposable thumbs and tools needed to get the food out without getting caught. He heard the giantess opening and closing the front door, so he went into the living room. He seemed to have hit the jackpot, since the giantess left an open bag of chips on the coffee table standing between the couch, chair and television set. He packed a grappling hook and a parachute so he could quickly climb the table and leave it just as quickly. However, just when he reached the table leg, he heard the front door open again.

‘’Shit!’’, he said while trying to keep his voice down. ‘’She must have forgotten something. Why do I constantly forget to prepare for that?’’ He quickly hid underneath the couch, assuming that she just left behind her wallet or something like that. He would just stay out of sight for a moment, and then proceed with his task. However, when the giantess walked into the room, she was carrying a cat! Nathan tried not to panic, since he didn’t want to alert either the towering giantess of the carnivorous beast she brought into the room for some reason. The giantess left the cat with a small piece of meat and some milk, telling it that she would be back soon.

‘’What now!’’, Nathan thought to himself. He continued to hide underneath the couch for a few minutes until he was sure that the cat wouldn’t notice him. He quickly ran between the couch and the cabinet, while trying to keep his footsteps as quiet as possible. He hid another two minutes behind one of the cabinet’s legs and thought about how much time it would take for him to remove the cutting board as quietly as possible. Eventually the cat stopped looking in his direction, so he grabbed the chance and managed to get back under the floor. He couldn’t hear the cat walking in his direction, nor any indication that it detected an intruder/prey.

‘’How am I supposed to walk around the house with that thing living here? Is it only going to stay here temporarily, or do I have to deal with it every day now?’’ The whole situation (both this excursion and his life here in general) seemed more and more hopeless by the minute. He knew for certain that he was going to die in this house, either today or somewhere in the near future. He kept listening to the cat while also regularly sticking his head out of the hole slightly, just enough to see what was going on without being noticed. He kept waiting for an opportunity to get those chips from the table, although at this point he was more concerned with his safety than his hunger.

After a while, the cat decided to take a nap. At that point, Nathan had gotten so hungry that he decided to take the risk and get some of those chips. He climbed the wooden coffee table, and managed to reach the bag. He crawled inside of it, and began eating one of the chips while trying to fit as much of it as possible in his satchel. He crawled out of the bag, and began to prepare the parachute he made from strings and a small plastic bag. However, when he crawled out of the bag, not only did he notice that the cat had woken up, but it was looking right at him.

For a few seconds, Nathan and the cat just looked each other in the eyes. Nathan did this because he was temporarily paralyzed by fear, while the cat was deciding what to do with the small creature standing on the table not too far from him. It eventually decided to run towards the table, apparently either seeing Nathan as a threat or deciding that the meat that it was given earlier wasn’t enough. In a panic, Nathan tried to get the parachute ready as quickly as he could. By the time he finished it, the cat just managed to climb atop of the table. Nathan jumped off, hoping for the best. He managed to land on the floor safely, but at that point the cat jumped off the table as well, landing just in front of him.

For a second, Nathan could do nothing other than stare up at the beast that was standing before him. The cat started hissing at him, showing off its sharp fangs while staring at him with its large eyes and split pupils. It prepared one of its front paws to strike him, but Nathan managed to avoid it by running underneath its body. He ended up behind the cat, who had just noticed that the creature it tried to strike wasn’t in front of it anymore. Nathan tried to run back to the hole underneath the cabinet, knowing that the cat couldn’t reach that area. However, he heard the front door open, realizing that the giantess had returned. The distraction caused him to trip, allowing the cat to catch up with him. He tried to get up, but the cat once again tried to strike him with its claws, so he had roll out of the way. He planned to once again run underneath it, but he had to avoid another strike. At that moment, the giantess opened the door and was about to enter the living room. This once again distracted Nathan, allowing the cat to actually strike him with its claws. He still managed to mostly dodge them, but he got some serious cuts on his right arm. They didn’t bleed excessively, but they hurt like hell. He fell to the ground, paralyzed both by the pain and the fear of both the cat and the giantess who he knew was going to discover him this very moment. The cat was about to deliver the killing blow, but all he could do was look at the giantess, who was standing just two meters away from him and was looking at him in utter shock.