Those Left Behind

Fleshlumpeater was of mixed emotions as he and his brothers returned home after a successful hunt. On one hand they had managed to get quite a luscious crop of beans, all young and ripe and scrumdilliumptious. On the other hand he was still feeling rather sore at what Runt did to him this morning. Yes he and his brothers did trash Runt's workshop then (rather useless work, if you ask him), but Runt knows better then to try and hide a bean from him. What was worse was that neither he nor the others had managed to find that bean before Runt chased them out of the workshop with the hot stick. Fleshlumpeater knew that it was still in there because he could still smell it (though the scent seemed to get weaker after he got drenched with that horrible water), but he broke his bumberbrella when he fell on it, and since he REALLY didn't like water he wouldn't be going back in there for a while until he got a new one.

The beans in his pouch began whimpering again, begging to be let go, to not hurt them, crying for their "mommy" and "daddy", but it only took him patting his pouch firmly for them to grow silent again save for the occasional sob or sniffle. These young beans could be rather noisy but at least they were easier to control. They didn't try bribes or threats like they did when they were older, neither of which would work on a giant anyway, and their meat was much more tender, their juices more delicious.

Still, even the thought of the treat that awaited him couldn't distract him long from the thoughts of Runt, which put him in a sour mood again. Just what had gotten into his usually wimpy and timid little brother? Even back when Runt had gotten into his head the first time to hide a bein from them, back when Fleshlumpeater had found him and prepared to eat him, Runt had simply begged him to spare the boy's life, claiming that he was a "friend". Runt had never dared to strike out at Fleshlumpeater or poke him with a hot stick, not like he did today. Why, Runt almost struck Fleshlumpeater as like he was almost becoming a real giant. Almost. Of course he didn't delude himself into thinking that Runt would start joining them on their hunts, that he'd eat beans like the rest of them rather than his horrid vegetabubles and fruits. Until he did so, proved that he was a real giant like the rest of them, Fleshlumpeater couldn't let Runt's attitude stand. He would wait until he got another bumberbrella to protect him from that horrible water (maybe he could find one during their next hunt), then he'd give Runt his worst thumping yet. Then he'd go back into Runt's workshop, find where Runt was hiding that bean, and he'd make his brother watch as he ate it. That'll teach him!

Fleshlumpeater heard Maidmasher grumbling about being hungry, but he barked at him to be quiet. They all knew that he was the one who got first pick, but usually he lets them snack on ones that he doesn't find too appetizing. Not today, however. Not because there wasn't enough, because there was, but rather that he wasn't in the mood. If they had found Runt's bean before he grew a spine then Fleshlumpeater's mood wouldn't be so sour right now. What happened was as much a fault of the incompetence of Childchewer and the others as it was of Runt himself, so they could just suffer for a couple more minutes waiting until they got back to Giant Country.

When they finally got back Fleshlumper went and opened his pouch, tossing them the beans one by one as he was tired of hearing their bellyaching any longer. His brothers were so happy to finally get their treats that they celebrated by toying with them: setting them on the ground and letting them run a little distance before snatching them up again, rolling them across their knuckles, or simply tossing them high in the air and delighting in the beans' terrified screams. Normally he'd be joining them in their sport, but right now he was just too angry with Runt, so instead he went back and mulled over the beans remaining inside his pouch. As usual he'd saved the best for himself, and of the six remaining in there he'd narrowed his initial choice between two. One was a young boy who looked rather plump and juicy. The other was a young girl, and despite the fact that she didn't seem to have much meat on her bones, the fact that her scent was somewhat similar to the bean that Runt has hidden away made her very tempting. Deciding that he'd rather save that one for last (as young girls often were rather sweet), Fleshlumpeater started to reach in for the boy. However, before he could grab him the boy's scent suddenly soured. Fleshlumpeater guessed that the bean must have soiled himself, and while he's eaten beans in that condition before he wasn't currently in the mood to do so without rinsing it off first. So he pulled out the girl first before pulling the pulling the pouch's drawstring closed and securing it with a knot, ensuring that none of the other beans escaped out of it in the meantime (not that there was really anywhere for them to go).

Looking at the tear-streaked face of the bean, Fleshlumpeater found that he was able to imagine that it WAS the bean Runt has hidden in his workshop, that which Runt had attacked him to protect, and the prospect of eating this bean cheered him up ever so slightly. However, it seemed as though Maidmasher was going to beat him to the punch. Having tired of his sport of tossing the scrawny female bean in the air, Maidmasher tossed the bean into the air one more time and positioned himself so that he may catch the bean in his mouth. Fleshlumpeater felt a moment of irritation with his brother, but then he remembered that he wasn't in a race and that he turned away to savor the prospect of consuming this bean. Before he could put it in his mouth, however, the screaming from Maidmasher's bean suddenly cut off (a bit too soon, in Fleashlumpeater's opinion, for it to be from Maidmasher catching it in his mouth) followed by Maidmasher exclaiming, "What the…? What happened? How did it….where did it go?"

Fleshlumpeater turned back towards his brother and saw him looking around his feet while he felt around his tongue and between his lips and his gums, and he guessed that he was searching for the bean he just had. Butcher Boy, who was tossing his bean back and forth between his hands, paused in his laughing at his brother to say mockingly, "Maybe you should change your name to Butterfingers, Maidmasher."

"I didn't drop my bean, Butcher Boy," Maidmasher said defensively, "It just….vanished. Poof, into thick air!"

"Yeah, sure it did," Butcher Boy continued to mock Maidmasher, "Just don't think that your excuses will get you any of my bean."

"Come on, just an arm?" Maidmasher begged, "Or a leg? I'm starving here!"

"I said no and I mean no," Butcher Boy told him firmly, "I'm hungry too, and this bean is barely enough to….huh?"

Fleshlumpeater hadn't noticed before, as he found himself drawn into his brothers' argument, but the bean that Butcher Boy had been toying with was gone too. As he looked in his sleeve and on the ground around him, Butcher Boy said, "My bean, it's gone too! I just had it here, and now it…" Butcher Boy then glared at Maidmasher in suspicion as he yelled, "You! You took it didn't you!"

"Me?" Maidmasher retorted surprised, "From over here?"

"You wanted my bean because you lost yours!" Butcher Boy yelled in angry accusation, "Give it back to me! Right now!"

"What about you?" Maidmasher retorted, "You were just saying that your bean wasn't all that much for you, so that's why you took mine, isn't it? Give it back!"

"No, you give me back mine!" Butcher boy retorted.

"No, you!" Maidmasher countered, then they fell on each other, rolling around and punching each other.

Childchewer, who had been toying with his bean by acting like he was letting it escape before snatching it up again, said, "You guys are just are going to end up squashing the beans that we worked so hard to catch….Hey!" Fleshlumpeater noticed just before Childchewer's exclamation that the bean just up and vanished as Childchewer reached to snatch it up again, an observation which was confirmed as he continued, "Now MY bean's gone!"

"Mine too!" Bonecrusher complained as he lifted a boulder to look under it, as if his bean could possibly hide under there.

"So is mine!" Gizzardgulper griped as well, turning a quick circle on the spot and looking very much like one of the beans' dogs ridiculously chasing its tail. Soon all of his brothers were fighting with each other, hurling accusations of stealing and eating their beans while also throwing punches and kicks, but Fleshlumpeater kept his head as he commanded, "Quiet!"

As his brothers did as they were told, now frozen in the position they were in, Fleshlumpeater recalled that, from Childchewer on, he had caught occasional glimpses of a strange blur of motion going from one of his brothers to another, and in each instance the bean of the brother the blur had reached was gone. He had found it hard to track as it appeared to be a rippling in the air, and even now he could not spot it, but when he had spotted it it looked not very large: maybe the size of a full-grown bean. Fleshlumpeater then took a deep whiff, and the scents he picked up confirmed his suspicions. All of the beans they had caught were still here on this island somewhere, none had been consumed by his stupid brothers, but he could not tell from which direction the scent was coming from. More than that, however, he was picking up a different scent. Not of his brother Runt, whose old, lingering scent told Fleshlumpeater that he was not currently here. Nor was it that of his brother's prized bean, whose scent was just as old and faded. No, this scent was still fresh and smelled remarkably like that of a human bean, though it was somewhat older than those he and his brothers liked to catch and bring home to eat. He hadn't noticed it at first because this new scent seemed to be wrapped up and mixed in with another: that which the great puffers had just before they let loose with their painful white fire and their horrid rain. When he looked up, however, he saw no puffers up there that looked remotely like that.

Taking no chances, Fleshlumpeater gripped the pouch containing the remaining beans in their possession and brought them close to him and drew the crying bean towards his lips, keeping watch for their mysterious thief all the while. Before he could pop it into his mouth, however, Fleshlumpeater heard a loud crack and was blinded by a white flash that had him seeing spots, then he howled in pain as it felt as though his hand was struck by the puffers' white fire, causing him to drop his bean which briefly screamed before, like with Maidmasher's, it fell strangely silent without any sound of impact. Overcome with pain and rage, and still half-blinded, Fleshlumpeater lashed out around him, hoping one of his wild blows would flatten his unseen attacker.

"F-f-fleshlumpeater!" he heard Maidmasher stammer nervously, "T-t-the beans!"

Fleshlumpeater was taken aback. Had he, in his desire to punish his attacker, went and turned the remaining beans to paste? Carefully feeling down where he remembered he had the pouch (as his vision was still spotty) he immediately could tell that something was off. For starters, he couldn't feel any signs of struggle within, which concerned him that he had indeed smooshed the beans in the bag. Not that he really cared about the fates of those beans, as they would have died anyway when he consumed them. He just preferred to eat them while their juices were hot and flowing, not to mention that he wanted to savor each one for their unique flavor, and now he was just left with….bean soup. It wasn't long before he also realized that the bag was too light to contain five young beans, even if they had been smashed to a paste, and that it wasn't moist or dripping like it ought to be if he had pulverized them. Pulling the pouch close to his face so that he could see it better with his still blurry vision, Fleshlumpeater saw that it had a huge slit in its side. Not a rip, for the edges were too clean, but a clean cut apparently made by some sort of blade. He was certain that none of the young human beans had anything like that when he and his brothers snatched them from their beds, so then how…?

Trying to clear the spots from his vision, Fleshlumpeater saw five blurry figures frantically trying to make their way to a small hole he hadn't noticed before in a nearby rock formation. "Well then, what are you idiots waiting for?" He chided his brothers, "Get them!"

At his urging, Fleshlumpeater saw his brothers finally disentangle themselves from each other and start after the fleeing beans, and even though his vision hadn't cleared fully yet he started to push himself up as well. However, before he could start after them he felt a painful impact on the side of his head, and out of the corner of his eye he saw his brothers get knocked down as well by boulders flying through the air. Though a couple of the larger of his smaller brothers tried to keep their balance, he saw the wheeled human bean artifacts that they liked to play around with move inexplicably on their own, positioning themselves beneath their hands and/or feet, causing them to slip and fall. Fleshlumpeater then turned his attention back to see the last of the beans flee into the hole in the rock formation, a circular slab of the same rock rolling over to block the opening. He then pushed himself up with an angry growl and ran over to the rock, gripping the slab as firmly as he could. However, no matter how strongly he pulled or how much he threw his weight behind it, the slab wouldn't budge in the slightest. Enraged, Fleshlumpeater started pounding on the rock formation with all his might, his brothers joining him in short order. While their assault caused great waves of dirt to cascade off the side of it, the rock formation itself remained unaffected.

"You giants are just wasting your time," Fleshlumpeater heard a small yet deep voice say from behind him, and since it was nothing like Runt's voice he assumed it must be that of the thief, "That rock, and the cavern within it, is composed of solid iron ore. I should know since I was the one who excavated it while you all were off hunting. You'll turn your hands bloody before you can make the slightest indentation to it."

Fleshlumpeater turned towards the speaker and saw that it was, as he suspected, a male human bean that was somewhat older than the beans he and his brother had brought home to eat. This bean was dressed somewhat oddly, his dark outfit made of no fabric Fleshlumpeater recognized. Even stranger was the hooded cape the stranger wore. While the inside was as dark as the rest of his outfit, the outside seemed to catch the light and reflect it, causing him to see spots again when he caught the glare. Strangest of all was the attitude this bean was displaying. Despite that this bean was somewhat larger and older than the ones captured in the hunt, Fleshlumpeater or his brothers could crush this outsider easily. However, the bean just stood there defiantly, showing no fear though he was facing creatures hundreds of times his size.

"I see," Fleshlumpeater said as he focused on this bold bean, reigning in his fury as he tried to get a read on his stranger, "And just who are you?"

"No one of consequence," the bean replied, "but you may call me Julian."

"Well then, Ju-lan, what brings you boldly to our home?" Fleshlumpeater asked him.

"Isn't it obvious?" the Ju-lan bean said as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "I'm here to stop you cannibals from sating your hunger on those innocent children sheltered in that rock."

"Is that so?" Fleshlumpeater asked him, his fury at being foiled by such a small bean temporarily displaced by his curiosity as to how, "You certainly seem rather fast for such a small bean, and despite how bright and open it is out here I couldn't find you at all before now. How can this be?"

"I took a page out of the book of you giants," Ju-lan answered as he gripped his cloak, "While one side is useful for concealing myself in dark places, the other side is highly reflective when I wear it reversed. Rather simple as a form of camouflage, and it wouldn't fool close inspection from one of my kind. Against one like you, however, who views the world from far away and high up, it works well enough. Also, the metallic fibers that compose the reflective side allow me to use my….gift to propel myself like a projectile from a rail gun."

Fleshlumpeater didn't know what a "rell gun" was, but he thought this Ju-lan was being a bit too cocky for one in his position. "That's interesting, but all you've done is delay their deaths for a little while," he told Ju-lan, "There's no way for those beans to get off this island, and we will find a way to get at the beans hidden in that rock before long. Besides, we'll go hunting again when it's dark again in ten hours, so you've accomplished nothing here."

"I think not," Ju-lan said as he crossed his arms defiantly, "You don't have enough time to find a way into that rock, and you will not be out hunting ever again. Last night's hunt….was your last."

Fleshlumpeater laughed at the bean's declaration, and his brothers joined in as he asked, "And you think that a little bean like yourself can stop us, do you?"

"Well, I could, and it wouldn't be too hard for me to do so," Ju-lan said, looking rather confident, "but I wouldn't dream of depriving them of the pleasure of stopping you themselves."

" 'Them'?" Fleshlumpeater asked, the bean's statement sobering him up.

"You may seem rather strong, and having faced creatures such like you before I know that it's not all for show," Ju-lan clarified, "but it was in those conflicts that I learned that it isn't always the biggest dog that wins the fight. Often it turns out to be the Runt of the litter that you have to watch out for."

"Runt," Fleshlumpeater growled, then he shook his head as he dismissed the thought out of his head. There was no way that Runt could possibly stop them from going out hunting, even if he could work up the courage to try. Then he pointed a meaty finger towards the bean as he asked, "And tell us, Ju-lan, what's to stop me from eating you right now?"

"That's an interesting question," Ju-lan said with a smile that Fleshlumpeater found infuriating, "I suppose that now that I'm not trying to hide my presence, that you can see me clearly, that you feel that I am as easily dealt with as that, do you?"

"You doubt me?" Fleshlumpeater growled, his patience with this arrogant bean coming to an end.

"Well, you did find me, you sound rather determined, and I'm not nearly as innocent and deserving of life as those children, so I'll tell you what…" Ju-lan told him calmly before he spread his arms wide and said, "If you think that you can eat me then go ahead and do so. I'll even give you one free shot."

"You don't think that I can?" Fleshlumpeater asked him, his anger reaching a boiling point, "You think that my teeth is only capable of grinding up young beans!?"

"I think that you are underestimating me, but if you want I'll say it again, and I'll use small words that you're sure to be able to understand," Ju-lan told him defiantly as he kept his arms outstretched, making no effort to defend himself or even to flee, "Eat me, if you can!"

That did it for Fleshlumpeater. Roaring in rage, he ran over to where Ju-lan was still arrogantly standing and scooped his hand down to snatch up the bean. The instant his hand came into contact with him, however, Fleshlumpeater felt his entire body shake and convulse painfully. It was much like earlier, when he felt like his hand was struck by a puffer's white fire just before he could eat that one bean, but a hundred times worse. Though he couldn't stop his body from shaking, Fleshlumpeater fixed his baleful gaze on Ju-lan as he lowered his arms and said, "What's the matter? I thought you said you were hungry. Well, whatever. I'm sure that all the noise you giants are making out here is probably scaring those kids in there, so I guess I should get myself inside and assure them that they're okay now. Later!" Fleshlumpeater then saw Ju-lan's body crackle with the puffer's white fire, much of it lingering on his shiny cape, before he launched suddenly from his perch and spiraled past him. Fleshlumpeater then turned his head in time to see the rock slab slide aside, allowing Ju-lan to fly into the rock cavern before it slid back, blocking the entrance once more. His rage boiling over, he stumbled a couple of times before he managed to rise and run over to the rock formation. He tried once more to pry the rock slab from the entrance, but it still refused to move, and he took out his rage on the rock by pounding on it once again as he bellowed, "JU-LAN!" His brothers joined in, roaring wordlessly as they also pounded on the rock, but it still stood there unaffected, silently mocking their efforts.

Inside the cavern Julian could hear the roaring of the giants outside nearly drowning out the sounds of the sobbing children in here, and the sounds of their frustration almost made him smile. It was only the misery of the children at their predicament that kept him from fully enjoying having bested the evil creatures. He then turned back towards the kids, their tear-streaked faces turned expectedly towards him as he said, "It's okay, kids. You're safe now."

"Those big monsters out there are scary!" one skinny, pigtailed girl said as she wiped the tears from her eyes and hiccupped.

"Think they can get us in here?" a boy asked fretfully.

"Don't worry about it," Julian assured them, "The walls are too hard and thick. They would need a tool like a pick if they wanted to get in here anytime soon, and those giants just aren't smart enough for that."

"But what if they dig up this rock and throw us?" another boy asked fearfully, tears running down his face.

"This formation is set deep in the ground," Julian explained to them, "Even if they dug day and night with their bare hands, it would take several days for them to get deep enough to be able to lift us, and they just don't have that kind of time."

"I….I want to go home!" The girl Julian stopped Fleshlumpeater from eating cried.

"Don't worry, Queen Elizabeth's men will be here in a few hours to take those giants away for good," Julian assured her, "They can take you home then too."

"I want to go home now!" another girl told him before she started crying, and that set the other children crying as well. Julian sighed as he wondered just how he was going to calm these children down. This caused to think back on Elsa. She seemed to have a natural charisma and a warmth that was rather contrary to her gift, a warmth that drew others to her and made her a natural leader, and Julian wondered why she ever considered passing up the throne. He hoped that she was okay, but he figured that now that she had Aurora there, not to mention her sister' dragon Thunderhead, he doubted that anyone would be able to give her much trouble anymore. Regardless, he felt troubled by the fact that he hadn't felt per presence for days now through the pendant he gave her. He doubted that she had taken it off for that long. What's more was that he was feeling as though someone else had come into posession with Elsa's pendant. In fact, he had felt as though two different people had come into contact with it, one of them rather briefly, and both felt as different from Elsa as was possible. Perhaps when he was done here he could check in on her, though he'd try to keep it as subtle as possible (not letting her know that he was there if it could be avoided) just in case he was worrying over nothing.

Thinking back to a past that was becoming harder and harder to remember, Julian recalled that whenever he or his brother had woke up crying, because of a nightmare or something, his mother would calm them down by singing a lullaby. Of course he didn't know how well that would work with these kids with him doing the singing. Back when he stayed with them, Scott and Jean both compared his singing voice with the sound of cats being strangled, and Logan told Julian flat out that having his claws shoved through his own ears would be less painful. Still, he felt the need to try, though he kept his voice low to hide his own lack of skill. To his utter surprise it worked, as each and every child was out like a light before he finished the final verse. As the giants had stopped roaring by now and the pounding less insistent (maybe one or two that haven't given up yet), Julian figured that most of them had fallen asleep by now, and since it would still be a couple of hours until Sophie and the BFG led the Queen's men here he figured it would be a good time to catch a quick nap himself. So he nestled himself just inside the entrance, close enough that he could hear if Fleshlumpeater or the others managed to pry off the slab despite his having magnetized it in place yet far enough away to avoid being caught by surprise in that instance, then he shut his eyes and let himself drift off.

It wasn't long before Julian found himself jostled awake once again by the sounds of the giants outside and the frightened whimpers of the kids in here. However, even though the kids seemed terrified by the screams and roars of the monstrous creatures out there, Julian could tell that there was something different about them. Rather than sounding angry, Fleshthumpeater's brothers sounded confused, even frightened, and above their roars Julain heard something else: a rhythmic thwup-thwup-thwup sound that Julian recognized very well.

"Mister," a little girl asked Julian timidly as she tugged on his sleeve, "what's going on? What's that noise?"

"That, my dear," Julian answered her with a huge grin, "is the sound of the cavalry."

To say that Sophie hadn't been frightened throughout this whole ordeal would be to lie, for she had gotten very frightened when Fleshlumpeater had woken up early and caught the Trogglehumper before it got in him to give him the same nightmare like his brothers that made them remorseful. However, now that he was bound and hauled away by the helicopters like the rest of them she was able to breathe a sigh of relief, though she had felt a chill as he had given her a final glare. She could have sworn that he also glared past her, but other than the BFG and a few soldiers waiting to take her back to England there was nobody else here. The important thing here, however, was that this whole thing was over now. They may not have been able to stop those horrible giants from eating the kids they took from those two boarding schools, but at least they won't be eating anyone else from here on out.

As she looked up at the face of the BFG, who was smiling down at her fondly, Sophie felt herself choke up and eyes well up with tears. While she had experienced things here that were enough to give anyone nightmares, she also had made many fond memories here with her friend, and she had no clue as to how she would begin to say goodbye to him. Before she could find the words, however, she heard a grinding sound that drew her eyes to a nearby rock formation jutting up out of the ground. There she saw a round rock slab sliding to the side, revealing a dark hole behind it. Sophie then sucked in a breath as she saw emerge from it about a baker's dozen of children led by a man she had never seen before either here or around London. Though he was dressed rather oddly with his hooded cape and his black outfit (which somewhat resembled a wetsuit or something she might have seen in a comic book once) he had a kind face that made her feel like trusting him. When he saw her, Sophie saw the man smile hugely as he said proudly, "Well done, brave Sophie! Very well done!"

The children who'd emerged from the cave began to cheer and run out into the sun, but when they caught sight of the BFG they fell silent and retreated back to the man, clinging to his side. "It's all right, kids," the man assured them, "That's Sophie's friend, the BFG. He's nothing like the other giants. It's thanks to Sophie and BFG's bravery that the mean, nasty giants won't be bothering you or anyone else ever again."

"You, mister," Sophie said hesitantly, hardly believing what she was seeing, "you saved them?"

"Hardly, my dear. It was you and the BFG that saved them," the man said modestly, "I merely kept the giants from eating them until you got here to take them home."

Sophie felt the ground shudder and shift as he squatted down, putting on his best smile as he said, "Hello there, little beans."

Despite the BFG's friendly demeanor, it seemed as though none of the children were eager to approach. To show them that he was harmless, she reached up and patted his outstretched hand fondly. For a moment none of them moved. Then taking hesitant steps forward, a young girl Sophie's age moved forward from the group. When the girl got close enough, she reached forward with a trembling hand towards one of BFG's fingers, then when he didn't react she embraced it as far as her arms could reach around it. This seemed to assure the others, who moved forward from thee man to hug the BFG and herself. Sophie found herself getting choked up again, as she thought that these kids had been lost, but as she looked up from the kids to the man to thank him again she was surprised to see him walking away from them towards the cliff edge. "Wait! Where are you going?" Sophie asked him in confusion, "The Queen, she'll want to thank you for…"

"Thanks, Sophie, but I'd rather not," the man said gently, "The fewer people here who know about me the better, and besides I'm getting the feeling that some friends of mine need my help, so I should be getting to them as soon as possible."

"Are you sure?" Sophie asked him.

"I am," the man confirmed, "Anyway, you guys are the real heroes here, and I'd hate to get in the way of that."

"Will we see you again?" Sophie asked him.

The man shrugged as he said, "Who knows? With any luck I won't need to return here, but if needed I will come. See you!" Then with a salute he fell backwards off the cliff.

"No, wait!" Sophie yelled anxiously, though the words came out too late. She then ran to the edge where she saw the man impossibly gliding down, his silvery lined cape extended behind him like some sort of glider, until he landed on the deck of a ship off in the distance. He IS just like a comic book hero, Sophie thought to herself. Then as she waved and gave him a grateful smile, Sophie saw the ship sink beneath the waves and vanish.