Slave To The Light Pt5

Slave to the Light Pt5

A Baldur's gate Fanfiction

Lorelai groaned, wiping the sweat off her face the best she could. Her head was throbbing, and her throat felt like it was coated with sand. She laid back down and covered her eyes. She was too exhausted to get up yet, her whole body felt warn out and beaten. What had she done yesterday to feel so awful-

She sat up, shaking her head. What had she been doing? it took a moment, but soon images flashed within her mind. Running, almost eaten by the vampire, captured by the big folk, their towering figures over her, then- then... she couldn't remember.

Blinking to rid her still blurry vision, the space around her slowly came into focus. She was inside, or at least undercover. In front of her was a large cushioned spaced with towering fabric walls making it resemble a circus tent. The floor around her was what looked to be a blue rug placed on top of a dirt floor, the brown hues poking out along the perimeter. Lorelai's eyes widened as she surveyed the contents of the room, there were lot of books, books several times larger than herself stacked into piles that looked more like towers. There was also a small number of pillows and a bedroll tucked into the opposite corner, a bedroll that could hold over fifty of her.

This place was made for a big folk. This place almost certainly belonged to a big folk. Somehow, she had gotten ended up in a tent belonging to a big folk. How in the nine Hells did she end up in a big folk's tent?!

Suddenly, she heard something, something outside. She went rigid, her eyes darting around the space as if expecting whatever was making that noise to jump out at any second.

The noise got closer, and Lorelai could make out what it was, footsteps. Footsteps that she began to feel beneath her. Someone was coming.

Lorelai didn't have much time to hide or even think before an opening in the tent appeared as a large red hand pushed open the flaps. In stepped an immense yet familiar face, the Tiefling.

Now in daylight, Lorelai could see how this Tiefling looked like a behemoth compared to even other big folk, her twisted horns (one being broken in half) nearly poking through the top of the tent and her muscular form blocking out any sort of view of the outside. The Tiefling surveyed the tent, searching the floor before her eyes landed on Lorelai.

A toothy grin appeared on her face, "You're up. That's a relief, didn't really want to have to wake you myself." The Tiefling chuckled before falling to a crouch, shaking Lorelai's entire body. She noticed for the first time that the Tiefling was holding something, "Thought I'd bring you some breakfast."

Lorelai tensed as the bulking woman leaned down towards her, setting down a large plate in front of her. She eyed the Tiefling suspiciously before letting her gaze fall onto the plate. Upon it was a bread roll twice her size, a whole sausage, and a pile of grapes.

She looked from the food to the Tiefling who smiled at her expectantly, "Dig in."

Lorelai didn't budge, narrowing her eyes at the food before her. What are they playing at? Do they really think I'm that stupid? It had to be laced with something, whether that be poison or something to knock her back out.

The smile fell from the Tiefling's face, "Aren't you hungry?" Lorelai glared up at her, scooting away from the plate of food. "You have to be at least a little hungry" she nudged the plate closer, " Go on, have some."

"You first" her stomach murmured back at her as if annoyed.

The Tiefling furrowed her brow, before shrugging, "Ok, sure." Lorelai watched with bated breath as she plucked a grape off the plate and tossed it into her mouth. She watched, waiting for the Tiefling to spit it out or something, but was surprised when she simply swallowed.

She waited a few more seconds, looking for any signs of the Tiefling feeling woozy or sickly, but no, she did nothing except stare back down at her expectantly.

Was she trying to lure her closer? even though she could probably grab her from here? What was her goal?

Lorelai's attention flitted to her stomach which felt like it was eating itself. She narrowed her eyes back up at the Tiefling, who didn't show any obvious signs of moving.

Never taking her eyes off the Tiefling, she slowly rose to her feet. When seeing the Tiefling had not moved, she began to inch towards the plate, preparing herself to turn around instantly if needed. One of the grapes lay right in front of her, teasing her. She grabbed it. With one last look back up at the Tiefling, who still hadn't moved, she sunk her teeth into it, the juice wetting her lips and cheeks.

She wasn't sure if it was just because she was so hungry, but it tasted like the best thing she'd ever had. Instantly, she went in for another bite, and then another, and another.

When she'd polished off the grape, she turned to the bread and ripped out a sizeable chunk. She sniffed it before tearing into that as well. It tasted just as good if not better.

"Fuck" chuckled the Tiefling, "Knew you must be hungry. Let me help you with that" Lorelai backed away, clutching her piece of bread as the Tiefling's hand approached and went to grab the sausage. The moment her fingers laid upon it, it began to sizzle. Lorelai stared with an expression somewhere between awe and horror as the sausage began to burn before her eyes.

"Shit" the Tiefling pulled her hand away. Lorelai responded by backing away, looking from the sausage to the Tiefling who was wearing an almost embarrassed expression, "Uh, sorry bout that."

What in the- Lorelai's mind was reeling, having just watched someone nearly incinerate a piece of meat just by touching it for a couple seconds. What kind of creature could do that?! A horrifying thought came to mind, what would become of her if this Tiefling or whatever she was, ever got a hold of her?

She stared up at the Tiefling who noticed the worried look on her face, "Guess I might of shock you there huh?"

"What- how did you do that?"

The Tiefling banged against her chest, sounding more like someone had banged against a metal wall, "Infernal engine."

"A what?"

"Barely understand it myself except that it makes me burn hotter than the Hells." The Tiefling's gaze faltered as she glanced down at her glowing chest with a reproachful look before snapping it back onto Lorelai. "But enough about me," the Tiefling grinned and leaned in closer, "I want to hear about you!"

Lorelai stared; eyes narrowed. She wants to know about me? why? what did she want? what would she do with the information? she focused back on the childish grin plastered across the huge face.

"Why?" she stated simply.

The Tiefling looked at her as if the answer was obvious, "Well, I've never seen anything like you before. What are you exactly?"

She bristled at the comment, her blood beginning to run hot. What exactly was she?! Was it not obvious?! Forgetting her worries about giving information, she blurted out, "I'm a damn pixie!"

The Tiefling's face brightened with childlike wonder, "Really?!" Lorelai flinched as the Tiefling got even closer, causing her to actually feel the heat emanating from her, "But I thought pixies had wings?"

Lorelai felt like her words had physically attacked her. She turned away, glaring at the ground.

The Tiefling, seeing her reaction, pulled back, "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Lorelai glanced up at her face, her anger faltering when seeing the confused and guilt-ridden look she was given. She dropped her glare, gazing at the Tiefling curiously. Something about her face, her expressions, seemed so genuine.

"Who exactly are you?"

"The name's Karlach" Lorelai backed away as the Tiefling extended her hand, before she gave an awkward chuckle and withdrew it. Karlach, that's right, that's what she had been called last night. The Tiefling- Karlach was looking at her expectantly, "This is usually when the other person says their name."

She hesitated, "Lorelai." Karlach grinned at her response, "Now, can you tell me where I am?"

"Oh, you're in Gale's tent."

"Gale?"

"You met him last night, human, purple ropes, ringing a bell?"

It did in fact ring a bell. She remembered the human man who had captured her. This reminded her of what she really wanted to know, "What do you or this Gale want with me?"

Karlach once again looked at her as if the answer was obvious, "You were injured and looked like you were about to keel over and snuff it. And we couldn't just let you leave, not with Fangs looking like he was waiting for us to do that exact thing." Karlach gave a sheepish grin, "And I was pretty interested in what exactly you were, along with everyone else."

Lorelai crossed her arms to suppress the shiver running through her at the mention of the vampire, "Well, I'm feeling fine now and I'm assuming you killed that awful creature, so can I-"

"Karlach!" Lorelai jumped as Karlach shot to her feet, looking apprehensively at the tent opening. A few shakes of the ground later, the head of another big folk appeared. It was the human man, the one Karlach had called Gale.

His eyes looked from Karlach to Lorelai. He sighed, "I thought I told you to leave our guest alone so she could rest."

"You did, but I thought I'd bring her some breakfast."

"And you couldn't have done that without waking her?"

Karlach groaned, gesturing to Lorelai down below who was finding it a bit unnerving seeing two big folks from this angle towering over her, "She was already awake when I came in."

Gale sighed once again before turning to Lorelai, "I'm sorry about my companion" She stared back, narrowing her eyes up at the man that had tried to subdue her. He must have noticed her accusing gaze because he winced slightly and rubbed the back of his neck, "I also uh... apologize about earlier with the sleep spell and all that. I can assure you I had your best interests in mind."

Yeah right. Lorelai continued to stare him down, her hand twitching as if to grab her knife that was long gone.

"What do you want?"

Sometime in act 2:

Lorelai: this is bad, I mean really bad!

Karlach: dude, what is it?

Lorelai: I kissed Astarion

Karlach: woah, I owe Shadowheart so much gold

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 1

(Name may be subject to change)

She felt quite conflicted about this whole thing, not really sure what emotion to listen to. There was that uneasiness, maybe even annoyance still at her co-workers for putting her in this situation. They had practically forced her into this after months of: you should really get out there and test the waters, aren’t you tired of being single? You can’t stay alone forever. Actually, that had sort of been her plan. What was so wrong with wanting to not necessarily stay alone forever but stick to what she had? She already had a few friends, a few acquaintances, and someone that could even classify as a best friend; why change that? She had laid down her roots and didn’t see any reason to add a new plant to the garden. 

Then, there was that part of her that felt the opposite. A small yet loud part of her that was excited, curious to see what could happen. It might have been biological, wasn’t that what much of love was? The biological need for a partner? She didn’t have much personal experience to go off of so she wasn’t sure. For whatever reason it may be, there was a small sense of elation when her work friend Maggie had told her that she and the other gals had put her information into a dating app and they had already found someone for her to chat with. 

To be frank, Cecilia had been a bit annoyed. Why did they feel the need to tamper with her personal life? It had no impact on them outside of the cafe. Though she still humored them and showed her the app, the profile they had made for her, and a guy they had hit up. 

“Seems like you could use a guy like him” one of them had joked. Cecilia had forced a laugh of uneasiness after seeing his profile. She couldn’t lie and say her heart didn’t feel warmer when looking at his picture. His head was rather square, topped with black hair that stuck up in odd places, with a large nose. He had a confident and elated look on his face that did intimidate her slightly. 

Garret was his name, and he described himself as a free-spirited, open-minded person with a good eye for good food. She had realized what her friend had meant, because if Cecilia were to describe herself, free spirited would not be a term that’d come to mind, and she wasn’t sure she really needed that in her life. Her friends had clearly bought into the idea that opposites attract, which logically made no sense at all when humans are genetically more drawn to those who are similar to them, but whatever.  

After some peer pressure, she sent him a message (the girls had already started messaging him and telling him that they had made this account for their friend). She had introduced herself and so did he. Days went by and she continued to chat with him. At first, she wasn’t all that determined or interested, even though her co-workers kept nagging her about it. She didn’t want to upset them, so she motivated herself by creating a mental catalog about this guy for her to fill out. This prompted her to chat by asking questions to fill in those blanks. She learned he worked in construction and had apparently sought out that job to lose weight and get in better shape which she could respect, money and health, killing two birds with one stone. Like he had said in his profile, he was quite the foodie. When she’d asked for his favorite food, he couldn’t decide but offered a few answers and was also able to recall which restaurants prepared it best, most of which Cecilia had never heard of or been to.  

The more she learned about him, the more interested in him she actually became. So much so that when he suggested they finally meet in person after about a month of chatting, she agreed. 

Now here she was, watching the minutes tick by as she finished her shift. Everyone else had left and all there was really left to do was to close up the cafe. Garret had agreed to meet her outside after 8 and then they would decide on a place to go and pick up some food.  

Cecilia found herself cleaning the same spot on the counter several times as her mind became distracted by all sorts of thoughts and worries. She had never really been on an actual date, there was one time she’d gotten donuts with a guy in middle school, but that hardly counted at that age. How was she supposed to act? They already knew each other so maybe she should just act like this isn’t the first time they’ve met, or would that be rude? Honestly, why had she thought it a good idea to have to show up in her work uniform? That can’t be normal for a first- 

Every thought in her mind came to a halt when the ground beneath her feet quivered. Cecilia froze, listening. She gasped when it came again, only harsher, as if whatever was causing it was getting closer. 

She shook her head, stop getting so worked up, it’s not like it’s coming over- 

There was a rumbling thud as the ground continued to rhythmically shake, harsh enough to cause items on the shelves and countertops to bounce. Cecilia whimpered, ducking down behind the counter. She winced and pressed herself up against the cabinets as the floor continued to tremble and she could hear the booming footfalls. 

Her heart pounded loudly in her ear as she fumbled for her phone. Had Rebecca said there was a giant customer coming to pick up an order and she had just forgotten? Surely, she would have stayed behind longer if that were the case. Rebecca was one of the few of her co-workers that tended to their…. Larger guests. That woman had nerves of steel; Cecilia couldn’t help but look up to her sometimes. She couldn’t believe how calm and collected she was around them. She had told her once that there was nothing to be afraid of, that they were harmless. Bullshit. What wasn’t there to be afraid of? Massive, loud, and unpredictable. One of those things alone could set Cecilia off, but all three together?! And not to mention how destructive they could be?! There was plenty to be afraid of. 

She let out a shriek as the footfalls became so violent, they were making her vibrate with the ground. Opening up her contacts, she dialed Rebecca and held the phone up to her ear praying she’d answer.  

Suddenly, all became still. The only sound remaining was the humming of her phone. Cecilia gulped before ever so slowly rising from her seat to peek over the counter. Her eyes widened. Planted right outside the front doors was a pair of enormous shoes. In an instance she ducked back down behind the counter, her heart racing. It’s right outside, oh God. What if it breaks down the door? What if it rips off the roof?! What if- 

“Hello? Cece?” A brief wave of relief washed over her as she heard Rebecca’s voice.  

“H-hey uh-” 

“Are you alright? You sound a bit shaken” 

“I’m uh, I was wondering if you might have forgotten to tell me if one of… your customers was picking up an order?” 

There was a pause on the other end, “I don’t remember there being any orders scheduled for after 5. Why do you ask? Did you get a call from someone?” 

Cecilia forced out a weak laugh, “Ah no, but uh-” before she could finish, her phone beeped indicating someone else was calling her. She looked down and saw it was Garret. Oh no. “I’ll call you back Becky” she hung up on her co-worker and answered the other line. 

“Hey Cecilia!” Garret’s deep and cheerful voice met her ears.

“Uh hi” she mumbled, her mind reeling on what to say. 

“I was just calling to see where you are, you still working?” 

“I uh- kind of” she answered lamely, her eyes shifting towards the door. 

“Oh okay, Well I’ll be right where you said to meet waiting” 

“Alright that sounds-” Cecilia froze, replaying his words in her head, “Wait, you’re where?” 

There was a chuckle from the other line, “I’m right where we agreed to meet.” 

 Was he standing out there with that giant? Waiting for her to come out? “You’re… outside the cafe?”  

“Yeah, I’m right outside that human cafe.”  

Her blood ran cold. Why did he phrase it that way? Her eyes shifted towards the door before quickly snapping back to the floor, no no, it’s nothing, “Why don’t you come in and wait inside while I finish up?” 

Another laugh, “Good one.” 

She gulped, “What do you mean?” 

“Oh, did you want me to head into the cafe across the street? Sorry, I thought you were making a joke.” 

Cecilia shook her head, there’s no way, it just couldn’t be, “No I meant the Cafe closest to you”  

Her heart dropped as Garret laughed again, “Okay, now I know you’re joking. Like I’d fit in there.” Cecilia’s mouth dropped, the hand holding her phone shook, “Hey, everything okay? You sound a little worried.”  

She stared wide-eyed across the room. There must have been some kind of mistake, this couldn’t be happening! 

Slave to the Light Pt2

A Baldur's Gate Fanfiction

Everything seemed to happen in less than a second. The glass shard broke skin and from above there was a thunderous yell. The pressure around her legs went away as the fingers retreated and she only had a fleeting moment to wrench the glass shard out before she began to plummet towards the forest floor.

Before she could even register her falling, she felt the blunt force of her body colliding with the ground. There was a crack, and a burning hot pain blossomed in her right shoulder. She held back a scream, gritting and breathing through her teeth as it only got worse. All she wanted to do in that moment was curl in on herself, a moment to breath, but she couldn't. If she stayed put, she would most surely perish.

Much to the displeasure of her shoulder, she found her makeshift dagger of glass and clutched it tightly as she stumbled to her feet with a cry of agony. Her shoulder fell on its own accord causing only more pain. She winced and shot out her arm to push it back into place and hold it there.

She stumbled back a few paces, tightening her grip around the glass shard as she looked back up at her attacker. In the darkness, she saw those cold red eyes dart from the bleeding finger it held up, to her down on the ground.

"Why you little-"

But Lorelai had had enough. She had had enough of running, had enough of hiding, had enough of being in constant pain, she had had enough of this plane!

"Try anything like that!" she heaved, "Try anything like that again, and I promise you I will make it the most painful and maybe even last meal you ever had!"

She held the shard up, backing away as she did, seething and trembling. The eyes of the shadowed figure far above her narrowed, a glare forming. It let out a low annoyed growl before to her horror, she saw those long, pale fingers begin to lower back towards her.

"What's going on over 'ere?" She froze, and to her surprise, the fingers descending upon her did as well. The ground once again began to rhythmically tremble. Not far, rustling could be heard of no doubt another large creature moving through the foliage.

No, no, no! not another one. As if one wasn't enough.

"The hells are you talking to?" the figure before her shifted before shooting up to its towering full height. Lorelai, in her hurry to get away, tripped over her own feet and fell onto her back.

"No one" the vampire growled in that ice laced voice.

"Come off it, I heard you" Lorelai winced, this new arrival had a loud and blunt voice and made her have to suppress the urge to over her ears, "Whose there?"

"Like I said, nobody."

Lorelai stiffened as the looming shadow that was the vampire was shoved aside to make way for an even larger figure. She could make out this one much better and what she saw only made her feel worse. It was a large, bulking Tiefling, and a woman by the looks of it. Red skin with what looked like scorch marks was illuminated by a dim and yellow light that was seemingly and impossibly coming from the woman herself, resembling a furnace with the fire within causing the whole thing to glow.

From far above, eyes the same hue of fire darted around. Don't look down, don't look-

The Tieflings eyes darted downwards for a fleeting second, looked back up, and then shot back down to focus on her form.

"Oh my gods! what is that!?" the woman exclaimed loudly. Lorelai yelped as the monstrous woman descended upon her on hands and knees, making the ground tremble and bouncing Lorelai off of it for a fleeting second.

She began to backpedal away until she made the mistake of looking up, the sight making her freeze. The Tiefling's huge grinning face filled her entire vision.

"Hi there! what are you?" Lorelai flinched as the loud voice thundered around her, only made worse by the close proximity.

"It was supposed to be my next meal" grumbled the vampire, "So if you would kindly step aside-"

"What!" Lorelai's hands flew up to her ears, sending another wave of pain through her shoulder. The Tiefling's overpowering gaze had turned to look over at the vampire, her mouth agape.

"What do you mean what? It already looks like it's at death's doorstep so what's the harm in speeding up the process?"

At his words, the Tiefling turned back to gaze down at Lorelai, "You're right, it does look like it's in rough shape." There was a look on her face, something maybe a long time ago she might have mistaken for pity, even worry, but she knew better, "Shadowheart!"

"What is it?" another loud feminine voice responded.

"Get over here!" the Tiefling shouted back, "I found... I found something! you know what, get Gale over here too!"

To her horror, Lorelai felt the vibrations of not just one pair of feet. There was a large amount of rustling before she heard a different voice, this one male, speak "Karlach, if this is another interesting looking bug that you want me to identify I really don't-"

The ground stopped trembling and above, two new towering figures appeared. One was clearly female, and by the looks of it had some elf in her blood, the other seemed to be human and male.

Lorelai shrunk back, wishing more than ever that she could just sink into the ground and disappear.

"Wha-What is that?" said the female figure who the Tiefling had seemingly called Shadowheart.

"I don't know" said the Tiefling, "I was hoping you or Gale might know. Looks like a tiny person."

"Yes, I can see that, but what is it?"

"Let me take a look" Suddenly, the human figure came closer, lowering himself down towards her. Now closer, she could say for sure it was a human, one with long brown hair and the beginnings of a beard to match.

The human stared down at her, looking her form up and down and narrowing his eyes in confusion.

"Well? any idea what it is?" said the Tiefling.

The human backed away, still staring at her, "I'm...I'm not sure. Well, it- I mean she, I think it's a she" he paused to look her up and down again, "Going off her stature and features, she looks most reminiscent of a pixie."

"A pixie?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure" the Tiefling looked at the human in slight shock, as if this statement was a surprise to her.

"Aren't pixies supposed to have wings?" Asked the Tiefling. Lorelai couldn't help but fix her eyes into a glare at the Tiefling's words, though whatever anger she was feeling was completely dashed when the one they called Shadowheart started getting closer.

"Poor thing looks hurt."

To her horror, she saw a hand descending towards her. Her heart pounded in her ears begging her to do something. Patting around on the ground, her hands closed around her glass shard. Her legs trembled as she sprang to her feet. The shard trembled in her hands as she pointed upwards, waving around to point it directly at each of them.

"Stay back!" she screamed. The hand retreated and all three pairs of eyes widened. "Get away!"

Still pointing her makeshift dagger, she began to back away, trying to keep all three of them in her sights. The ground shifted as the human man to Lorelai's surprise backed off, holding up his hands.

"Easy now" he looked to the others who still seemed shocked about her ability to talk, "We mean you no harm."

"Bullshit" she spat through gritted teeth. The longer she was holding her arms up, the more her shoulder burned, and it was getting to the point that she could no longer hide it.

"You don't look so good" the man gestured to the others, "Shadowheart here, she can help, you're in clear need of it."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes up at all of them, watching and waiting for them to make their next move.

"That's right" said Shadowheart, Lorelai's eyes widened as her hand started to move back towards her "If you would just let-"

"Get away!" she raised the glass shard higher. If these big folk thought she was stupid enough to believe them, they had another thing coming.

Her eyes were watering with the pain she was causing her shoulder, but that didn't matter, if she wanted to live it would have to not matter.

"Oh for the love of- she clearly doesn't want your help so why don't all of you stop trying" She stiffened, having almost forgotten that her attacker, the vampire was still present.

"But she clearly fucking needs it!" cried the Tiefling, looking pleadingly towards the human man who glanced at her and then back at Lorelai.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble as the man began to come closer. Lorelai began to panic more and more the closer he got until he was kneeling practically right on top of her. She strained her neck to look up into his face only to be met with the horrifying sight of his incoming hand.

"Sorry about this"

Before she could make a move to get away, two of his massive fingers came down and pinched the glass shard in her hands and began to pull. She gasped as her feet left the ground and had no choice but to let go. Landing on her feet, she instantly began to try and run in the opposite direction. She had barely made it far when she felt warm pressure around her middle and was yanked back.

Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest as she watched the ground grow further and further away and fingers as big as her own self begin to close in around her.

No! No! No! No! NO!

The world around her disappeared and was replaced with fleshy walls as the human man's hands surrounded and encased her.

Slave to the Light Pt 7

A Baldur's Gate fanfiction

Lorelai stared up at Gale, shocked and confused, "What do you mean under different circumstances? what possible circumstances are there that would make you travel with a fucking vampire!?"

The vampire, or Astarion as the others seemed to call him, merely scrunched up his nose at her remarks. Gale's eyes fell away from her, clearly pondering something.

"Well, you see" he started, "All of us here happen to be dealing with the same problem that we are all in dire need of rectifying".

She raised a brow, "What kind of problem?"

Gale pursed his lips, as if debating whether he should continue, "All of us.... currently are hosts to illithid parasites".

Lorelai's eyes widened, "What?"

"We basically have these worm-like fuckers swimming around in our brains" chimed in Karlach.

"No- I know what an illithid parasite is, but...." she looked the man before her up and down, "Shouldn't you have.... transformed?"

"Now that, is something we are all wondering about" said Gale, "None of us have shown any real signs of... well, turning into tentacled monsters. So, since we have seemingly been blessed with spare time, we're looking for a cure. Hence the give of us being together."

Lorelai stiffened, "there's more of you?"

"Yes, but you'll meet them later, that is... if you decide to stay." over Gale's shoulder, she saw Karlach grinning down at her.

"You're offering to let me stay? Why?"

Gale chuckled, "Well you're clearly in need of some assistance, and I dare say your presence wouldn't cause much of a hassle" he leaned in closer, lowing his voice, "And to be honest, I don't completely trust Astarion to not.... forget himself."

"I can hear you; you know." grumbled Astarion.

Lorelai looked down. Being with these group seemed to be presenting more risks by the second. First, a vampire, and now illithid parasites. But what about the number of risks if she went it alone? and as dangerous as these big folk might be, they could be of use to her.

She met Gale's eyes again, "Alright, I will take you up on your offer" her gaze hardened, "But if I see any of you begin to sprout tentacles I'm out of here. And if your..... companion tries anything-"

"We'll make sure he doesn't."

"Well, if he does, I won't hesitate to teach him a much harsher lesson than I did last night, perhaps with something much sharper."

Astarion let out a snort of laughter that made her blood boil, "That's cute."

Lorelai's fingers tighten around the needle, wishing she could shove it right through one of those awful red eyes.

Gale straightened, clapping his hands together, "Right, now that's sorted, how abouts we give you some alone time?" the moment he had finished his sentenced, Astarion turned on his heel and quickly made his way out of the tent, shooting Lorelai one last glare.

"That means you too Karlach. I think you may have overstayed your welcome" Gale held the tent flap open and gestured for the Tiefling to follow suit.

"Can't I stay? I know it's your tent and all... but come on" she looked down at Lorelai, "I can stay right?"

Lorelai thought for a moment. She had been deeply looking forward to not being surrounded by towering figures and was about to ask her to leave, but once again Karlach was giving her that hopeful grin.

She sighed, "Yeah sure, you can stay. But just be quiet, alright?"

Karlach beamed at her before smirking at Gale who rolled his eyes before leaving.

To her surprise, the Tiefling was able to stay quiet. She had simply sat herself down and watched Lorelai eagerly as she continued to work. It began to feel a little weird though after twenty minutes went by and Karlach was still staring. Lorelai kept looking up from her work only to be met with the same intense gaze.

After the tenth time of looking over her shoulder to see if there was any change in the Tiefling's behavior, she resigned herself to fully focusing on making something wearable.

Hard to say how much time had gone by when she had finally locked the final stitch and held up her handiwork: A rather small top and a pair of short and baggy pants, both an obnoxious shade of purple.

"Hey, not bad." said Karlach.

Lorelai sighed, "Do you mind staring at something else for a moment?"

"Oh fuck, yeah sorry."

The ground shifted as Karlach spun herself around, so her back was to her.

Lorelai threw the articles of clothing on the ground before going to remove the sorry excuse for a dress she was currently wearing. She had managed to pull it up over her legs before she gasped out, being hit with a stinging pain the moment she tried to pull it up over her back.

"You alright?"

"Fine" she grunted, gritting her teeth. The fabric must have fused itself to her wounds. She groaned before taking hold of her dress again and quickly tossed it over her head. Her back stung with pain that slowly subsided once she had ripped the fabric away from it. Tossing it aside, she reached down and pulled on her newly made shirt and pants.

She poked her head around the pile before stepping out. Karlach peeked over her shoulder before turning back around. She looked Lorelai up and down before an amused smile appeared on her face. The Tiefling let out a snort of laughter, looking away and covering her mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing" she lied; her eyes still upturned, "Just looks a little big on you."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, walking over and heaving herself up onto the plate to snatch up another grape, glaring at it as if it had been the one to make the remark.

She leapt down, tossing the half-eaten fruit aside and began heading for the exit.

"Where are you headed?"

"Outside."

"What for?"

Lorelai groaned, "Does it matter?"

"Can I come with?"

"I don't care."

She continued forward, stepping out into the open. She couldn't help but tense slightly at the sight before her. Four other massive tents were set up in the distance, all of them different colors and had an assortment of items outside their entrances. They all surrounded a campfire that at the moment was nothing but burnt wood and charcoal. But that wasn't what had bothered her, what bothered her was the towering figures meandering around the tents. She could feel through the ground the slight quiver from their steps from here, all of them, lumbering around like big oafs the lot of them.

Lorelai shook her head, focusing back on the task at hand: arming herself. It only took her a moment of looking around before she spotted a patch of trees to the east. She began to make her way over there, her eyes fliting around to look back at the big folk and know where each one of them was at the given moment. She kept an especially close eye out for that vampire, even though he shouldn't have been able to be out in the sun. Being apparently apart of this little team, he was almost certainly still lurking around somewhere.

She had noticed Karlach had left the tent, though she had reframed from following her and had instead gone over to what Lorelai assumed was her own tent. There didn't seem to be too much of a reason to keep an eye on that one, she seemed docile enough.

The grass began to reach up past her waist as she trudged into the beginnings of a forest. The sun was shining down through the many leaves of the trees, illuminating their shape and color, which was exactly what Lorelai had been hoping for.

Her pace slowed as she scrutinized each tree she passed, looking from its leaves to its branches to its trunk. There was a good deal of oak and dogwood, both much too knotty to work with. There was also some hickory, too fragile to moisture, and some elm, too likely to crack. Then she spotted just what she had been looking for, a yew tree.

She hurried over to it, looking over it once more. Yes, it would do very nicely. Looking up, she pinpointed the lowest branch that was the right thickness before she dug her fingers beneath the crevices of the bark. Her muscles strained but ached with an almost pleasant and familiar burn as she scaled up the trunk.

When she was perpendicular to the branch she wanted, she began to shimmy closer over. Securing her feet in the groves of bark, she reached out and took hold of one of the smaller branches. With some effort, she managed to snap it off the main branch, almost losing her balance as she did so. her hands scrambled to grab back onto the bark, stick in hand that she surveyed with a nod.

The trek down was much easier, only made tad harder, having to tow down a stick nearly as long as she was tall down with her.

She jumped the rest of the way back to the ground. Holding the stick now like a great misshapen staff, she looked along the forest floor. Now... all she needed was- that might do.

She bent down and picked up a jagged rock, turning it over in her hand. It would have to suffice. Heading back over to the yew tree, she sat herself down with both rock and stick in hand. Placing the stick on her lap, she turned it over a few times before finding the sharpest side of the rock and getting right to work.

Your unnamed story really has me intruiged! I wanna know all about how its society works, with giants and humans living in the same world relatively ? peacefully. Can't wait to read more <3

It wasn't always peaceful, but at the time the story takes place, humans and giants do live together. Many smaller towns are separated into a human side and a giant side. Both are able to go on either side (unless they have a criminal record, then they have to stay on their side). Each race's side of town is scaled for them, though in many public places there are sometimes accommodations for the other race. For instance, a restaurant on a human side may advertise to giants through pickup/ delivery. In cities, it is more mixed. Giant structures and human structures co-exist in the same places and almost every public place offers accommodations for both. Schools, however, are strictly segregated in both small and large towns and cities. Giants aren't allowed anywhere near a human school zone and humans are cautioned to stay clear of giant school zones. Giants obviously don't have cars so walk everywhere. Roads are divided, having one side that is just a huge sidewalk and the other an actual road.

It isn't unusual for a human to be friends with a giant of vice versa, what is extremely uncommon however are any family or romantic relationships. Mixed race adoptions are banned in most places and romantic relationships are practically unheard of.

Sorry that may have been a bit of a rant but that's some of the basics of this society