Author's note: It's time to learn more about giant culture and get a darker spin on things. Hope you enjoy
Inma put on her coat as she readied herself for the outside. She saw Jack standing by ready to venture outside. She grabbed a small bag, modeled around a satchel, and walked to where her mother was.
"Mother!" Inma asked delicately to not spook her mother. The sound of a pot bubbling and steam in the air rumbled in Inma's ears. Inma placed both of her hands behind her back and lowered her head.
"I'd like to go out to the village. May I?" Inma asked as she bounced on the tips of her toes. She felt her cheeks redden with blood. Her mother looked over and Inma and gave her a gentle smile.
"Inma dear, Why would you want to go out this early?" her mother asked as she continued to stir the laddle.
"Well...um...I want to see more of the villiage. See what's out there. I can't stay in here forever mom!" Imma's voice got louder towards the end and she immediately felt guilt and placed both hands over it.
Her mother was silent for a few seconds and during that moment, Inma thought she might pass out from shock and fear. Her mother looked towards her and smiled sweetly.
"Well my little adventuer, If that's what you want then go for it." her mother replied and went back to cooking, pouring a few spices and salt into the mixture.
Inma jumped with joy and ran back to where jack was. Jack sat down looking around the room and occassionally bit his nails nervously. Inma bent down with a smile and gave him a thumbs up.
"Mom gave me the go too!" Inma said with a smile. She opened up her satchel and patted the front of it.
"Get in!" She said with a smile. Jack was unsure of how to get in. He began to run towards it but stopped once he reached the edge. He saw how far the ground was from his current position and backed away.
"Nah, That jump is too big for me. I'll die as soon as I hit the ground." Jack admitted with a frown. Inma looked annoyed as reached for him, placing him in her satchel. Jack was a little scared to be placed inside a dark and cramped place again, but didn't freak out as he did with the bottle.
His smelt silk and wool. Remnants of dried fruit and jerky littered the bottom. Would it kill her to clean up the thing. It was reaching pig style levels of uncleanliness.
"Inma, this is really gross. Do you even wash this thing?" Jack asked as he shook off some dried fruit from his boot. Inma laughed.
"Washed? Oh right, I should clean this thing one of these days." Inma replied with a giggle. She ran towards towards the door with jack bouncing around in the satchel and took a whiff of the fresh cloudy air.
In the villiage market, Jack heard a variety of sounds from a wide variety of characters. He heard the deep booming voice a merchant.
"Chicken feet! Get your chicken feet right here!" a loud voice said to the sound of shaking bells.
"Pig head. Freshly cut pig head, straight from the slaughter! Only 3 silver coins!" another voice called out to the multiple people walking by. This one was feminine and higher pitched.
Jack grabbed hold of the inside of the satchel and tried to pull himself up to see. He saw multiple bodies walking forward and backward, some were getting food and exchanging coins, while others were bartering for a better deal.
Inma kept walking while holding her hand over the satchel that jack was kept in. She wanted to be sure that no one noticed him. She kept on walking and hoped to be out of the crowd soon enough but one of the merchants called out to her.
"Little girl, do you want a gift?" a shady looking saleswoman called out to her. She wore a flowerly hat and had bracelete around her arms. She was a heavy set woman with green garmets and a warm smile. She smoked from a pipe and blew out colorful smoke.
"A gift?" Inma stopped in her place and looked at the woman. Her eyebrows were raised, clearly skeptical of the offer. Inma turned towards the woman and walked up to her stand. Inma wondered why the woman spoke out to her?
"Yes dear, a gift." the heavy set woman looked down and pulled out a aqua blue jewel that was held on a golden chain. It resembled a wrist bracelet.
"It's a jewel infused with magic. It'll make you see things from another perspective." the women explained. Inma crossed her arms over her chest.
"What's the catch?" Inma asked with skepticism. Her mother told her not to trust strangers, especially those in the market.
"No catch. It's free for you. I only ask that you use it when it's necessary for changed perspectives include changed time as well." the woman said as she blew out another puff of smoke.
The woman held out the jewel and placed it into inma's hands. Inma stood in disbelief, staring at the jewel for a while before saying an unsure "thanks!" to the woman.
The woman took in a puff of smoke and blew it out again before Inma turned and walked away.
"What a weird lady." Inma muttered as she continued to walk. To the far corner of her eye, she saw one of her classmates from school and went to introduce herself to her.
"Hello!" inma introduced herself with a smile to the chestnut hair colored girl with glasses. She wore a green dress and wore a grey satchel. The girl looked shocked a started to back away.
"Wait, I just want to talk. Don't run-" Inma's words fell on deaf ears as the girl turned and ran as fast as she could from Inma.
"Figures!" Inma said and sighed. Jack poked his head out of the satchel to speak.
"What was that all about?' jack asked in disbelief as he watched the girl run away in fear. Inma frowned and explained the situation.
"Apparently, I come off as too strong or aggressive. The other girls are scared of me. Maybe I'm just too confident you know? They can't handle my awesomeness." Inma's smile was proud and smug but Jack could tell she was sad beneath her smile.
Jack didn't know what to say so he chose to stay silent. Inma went along her way, bought some fruit with the money she had, and began to walk back home when a loud voice caught her ear.
"LADIES AND GENTLEGIANTS FROM ACROSS THE CLOUDS, WELCOME TO THE AUCTION." A loud, high pitched voice squealed out. He needed no mic for his voice was powerful enough to shake the leaves off the trees.
"I'm your host, Mr. Glasseye, and we'll be starting off with our first item, a leprachauns foot. Pot of gold not included. Starting bid at 5 gold coins." the crowd went wild and starting bidding like wild animals.
Inma stuck around towards the back and watched them bid on items from across the land. Goat's eye, dragon's scale, unicorn horn, an ancient textbook with dusty pages.
Some of the items sold while others deemed unsellable where tossed to the side for the poorer folk to take. Inma made her way towards the unwanted items pile, found an old and rusted book and shoved it in her satchel.
Jack coughed from the amount of dust from it and leaned out and took a deep breath.
Inma immediately pushed him back in and looked around to see if anyone was watching her. Her eyes darted from side to side but no one looked at her. She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran back home to get Jack to safety. The auction itself began to die off though a few of the classier and richer giants stayed in their places.
They all walked over to another tent and Inma frowned for she knew what was coming. The giants were a proud race, but also twisted and cruel. It was their heritage to purge out the weak and take from those deemed weaker.
"Alright my esteemed clients, We have a special treat for you today. From the deep, dark depths of below the clouds. The dark underbelly from where the strange creatures like us roam."
The crowd roared in excitement. If it was truly what they expected, then there'd be a once in a lifetime opportunity to have one.
"We've banished ourselves to the sky. To prevent mingling between species, but now I have the pleasure to bring it to you. Remember, consuming one is banned. They'll give you indigestion; but if you're truly adventurous then have at it."
The crowd cheered like bloodthirsty animals and by that time, Inma could only hear faint voices from the giant man's voice while Jack heard nothing but the sound of Inma's feet hitting the ground below.
"I bring you….A Human!" The human was unveiled in a bottle and was completely terriefied. The giants all crowded around it, giving it curious glances and hungry looks.
Inma began to feel her eyes water, but quickly wiped away her tears. She didn't want Jack nor her mother to see her sobbing. She wasn't a weakling. She was brave.
Inma was thankful that she found Jack. Not all giants were cruel like the ones at the auctions, but if they got their hands on jack first.
Inma stopped and shook her head. She didn't even want to think about what they would have done to her little man if she wasn't around. Inma was determined to hide him with any means necessary. Keeping him safe was her number 1 priority.
They still had to go exploring and she still wanted to see what Jack's villiage was like and if any of those mean humans picked on Jack, bullied, or ridiculed him then she'd teach them a lesson they'd never forget.
