The Colossus
Jade opened her eyes to the dark cave walls. From there she moved herself and slid slowly through the only gap into her cave, underneath the rim of the neck. With ease she pulled herself out into the daylight like she had done for so many years before. She lay back on the shoulder blade and stared into the sky, it was a beautiful new day.
After a few minutes relaxing Jade gathered her thoughts and sat up, rubbing her head and flicking her scruffy home cut hair. She had to cut it herself when it got too long, it would snag bits of the giant's stone physique here and there. When Jade felt ready she moved along to the edge of the shoulder blade and picked up the full basket of food. Smiling she pulled out an apple and started to eat. Today, she thought to herself, she was going to climb to the top. She bit a large chunk from the apple.
Jade had lived on the colossus for as long as she could remember, she could hardly remember any time previous to waking up in the cave. Since then almost everyday had been the same; the colossus would stride around the land, occasionally taking interest in either this or that, it would pull out a tree to eat, and it would carry on the same pattern. Jade wasn't sure if it slept, occasionally it could stop for a long period of time, but maybe it was resting, or just thinking. What would such a magical creature think? She wouldn't even know where to begin. Maybe it was so gigantic that the world was so small and insignificant and it could watch from above. It moved so slow perhaps to it the world moved quite fast. The trees to it as mere plants were to her. She pulled some of the moss from its stone shoulder and threw it off the side to watch it fall. It must be at least 150 feet she thought. She wondered if the beast noticed rain falling down on it or birds flying past it. She even wondered if the wind had any affect on it at all. It defiantly had an affect on her she thought, clutching the mossy ground. It should be easy to get to the head she thought, as long as it doesn't notice her. That was another thought that came to mind. At times the colossus would notice her, as though she was an itch but then sometimes it would not notice her at all. It must live so simply, she thought, it must be so calm and content.
Quickly, and without much prior thought, she grabbed the torch from its holder on the cave entrance and fitted it neatly down her belt. When darkness fell she would light the torch so she wouldn't lose her footing when walking along the creature. Even though she could make the journey with her eyes closed it was best to be sure. From up here the slightest wrong move could be your instant demise. She had only fallen one time before but that was when the colossus took a quick turn after losing its own footing. She hadn't fallen too far and had landed against a plate on the beasts back. She had been in agony at the time but had quickly managed to climb up, using stone and moss to climb to the top. For now she would want to keep hold of the torch in case she got stuck, or it took her awhile to get to the top. She was fully prepared to set up a new home for a bit further up the giant if it was going to take a while. Jade knew that if it was a simple ascent then she would be able to get there in only a few hours but because of the layout of the stone, some of the edges, some of the moss, there were only certain places you could climb easily and the rest took effort. Jade rose to her feet, approached the edge, and stood with her toes hanging over the side just looking straight down. It was deadly.
Jade turned to face the main body and neck of the colossus which lead up to the top of its head. She waited, staring for a moment, the jumped, reaching out as far as she could. Her right hand caught hold of the entwined moss and vine and she felt all her weight pull against her one arm before she could safely grab a rock to the side with her left. Luckily she was strong and her endurance was next to none. The pain she felt in that brief moment was nothing to the fall she had had all those years ago. She hung there for a minute and regained her energy then swung herself left again this time grabbing hold of a stone with her left and another with her right, her feet scrapped the side and knocked some stones off. She listened as they bounced off the other stones, the structure of the colossus, before shifting her wait from one side to another, readying another jump.
It was easier then she had first expected, making the ascent, the path up to the top of the head was quite simple. Sure she had to jump from one ledge to another, run a long windy and moving back plates, but in the end it would be worth it. Jade took the time out to look down over the side. From here she could see the shoulder with the basket of food balanced precariously on the side but she couldn't see the cave as it was hidden behind the rocks. Jade wasn't sure if she would get back down there today but she was going to try, it did not look as if there was anywhere else for her to stay. She turned and jumped up to the ledge that was parallel to the one she had just been on and she hung their before hoisting herself onto it. She expected the danger to increase now. The head of the colossus moved more frequently and rapidly then its back and shoulders. Also the ledges here were few and far between and were also crumbling, being damaged by its movements. She wondered for the moment how it repairs itself, whether it grows like a living thing underneath all this stone and moss. She wondered if its wounds heal or even if it bleeds. It looks human, at least humanoid, and it seems to have some thought process and natural needs as it eats and rests. She wondered again what it must see from its great height and if it noticed other living things. She wondered if it was the only one of its kind or if others lived out there. She wondered how old it was and what it must have been through. Her head buzzed with imagination, thoughts, feelings, excitement, she was ready to climb again.
Jade took the moss and leaves in one hand and pulled hard to climb her way up. When she had got part the way up she slipped a bit, the foliage was damp, but she held on and pulled tightly. The colossus shook. The colossus stopped. Jades heart began to beat faster. Slowly it lifted its arm up and over its head, as if to scratch an itch, an itch caused by Jade. The arm moved so slowly that she knew what was coming a mile off but it was still too large to avoid and she had no where to go to. She could drop down and risk falling to her death, stay still and just wait for what happens, or she could carry on, she could just face forward and continue. Jade struggled quickly and pulled herself up. She grabbed bits of leaves and vine, bits of moss and foliage, and hoisted herself further up the colossus, faster then before. She kept turning to see the arm getting steadily closer, building up speed, and she gulped. The arm came crashing in shaking the back of the colossus and trapping Jades foot. She winced in pain as the beasts arm and hand crushed her foot against its back. A tear rolled down her cheek but she was alright. She struggled for a second and tried to break free from its mighty grasp. The giants arm finally pulled away and she was able to pull at her foot but now it was stuck in the plant-life. She tried to remove her foot as fast as she could as she could see the hand rearing back around to scratch again. It was coming in fast and was nearly there. It was about to hit her square on, she wouldn't servive it. Jade tugged at her foot desperately, pulling her leg away with the only arm she could spare. She gulped, she realised it might have been a bad idea. She had struggled this far and now it was going crush her with one swipe. She struggled more, eager and frantic when all of a sudden she slipped. Jades hand lost control of the foliage and she fell. She fell backwards and her heart hit her stomach, her eyes rolled back, and her teeth clenched. She felt the wind sweep her hair forwards and gravity wrench her downwards. She regretted it all for a second but then she felt a jerk. Her leg was still caught in the foliage and she swung round, slamming her back against the neck of the colossus. The hand came in once more, just missing her, and slammed against the back of its neck where she would have been about to climb. She had been so lucky.
Jade waited a second; hanging where she was, her foot still not coming looser, but she had her hands on the side now and was righting herself. After all she wasn't planning to climb backwards. She dug deep into where her foot was, pulling away this and that, leaves and vines, when the colossus let out a roar. Its arm swung back round this time heading for her position and she gulped. The hand came in, crushing her against the neck. Or so she thought. What actually happened was it crushed it but not too hard, the hand was so big Jade fit within the cracks of it and was for a few seconds coated in darkness. She struggled eagerly with her foot now that she had a solid base to lean against but to it was to no avail. Suddenly the hand moved and Jade realised she wasn't holding on to anything, the hand pulled away slowly and she was resting against it. As it pulled her foot came lose, the strength of the colossus easily ripped her off like a knot in its hair and that's when it occurred to her. The moss was actually fur, or at least a kind of fur, that coated the colossus. Sure there was moss, there was vines and leaves, there was foliage but underneath there was fur coating the structure of the colossus that didn't have great stone protrusions. She understood it for a second, how it could feel, how it was alive and why it had felt her moving and pulling on its neck. Jade didn't have much time to think however as the hand now swung down. She clung on to the hand as much as she could, it swooped down and around and she was crushed into the side by the sheer force of its speed. It was hard to breath and it was hard to move. All the different forces pushed her this way and that but all mainly into the stone against her back. At least she couldn't fall she thought. Jade then thought how lucky she had been so far as now the hand coiled back round to its neck, to stomp out that final itch, during which Jade leapt. She leapt as far as she could, arms stretched, pulse racing, and she caught on a stone side of the giant and she slammed against its neck.
After a moment, when the hand had returned to its normal place by the giants side, Jade was able to move on again. The colossus started walking again now and she was able to move up faster then she had done; gradually she was reaching the top. She was almost there and she could feel the excitement rushing through her. She had waited all her life, all her life spent living on the colossus at least, to make it to the top.
Jade was almost there now. She reached out grabbing more fur, more stones, pulling herself up. She was moving quickly now, the head was almost there. The head was ridged with stones and she hoisted herself onto them and then she was there. She was standing on the very head of the Colossus.
The sun shone brightly in the air and illuminated the whole world. The sky was blue and almost cloudless and the whole image looked as if a fairytale or a child's drawing where everything is perfect and everyone is happy. She span around viewing the world. It was a breath taking view. Jade was the tallest thing in the world, she had the best view of all the land, and she felt she could stare on into infinity. She felt that if she stared hard enough she would be able to see herself in the distance, the sight going all around the world. She felt her heart race and flutter about like now free butterfly that had once been trapped. All around her the world looked calm and gentle with the slow rocking of the giant as it moved. It was wonderful to see and she felt accomplished. She wasn't going to need the torch after all, she had made it in a day and the sun shone louder then anything in the world. It wasn't even ready to set. Jade felt so happy and she had achieved so much more this day then she ever had.