Here we go again! Julia has come face to face with a giant on Blessia Island. What's going to happen next!?
Chapter Three: One Big Problem
Julia's POV
"Oh, no," I barely breathed. There, looming over me, stood a massive giant. It was huge, probably about eleven feet tall— over twice my petite size of five feet four inches. It's skin was an olive green color all over except for a stripe of burnt orange that began between it's glittering black eyes, between the dark gray horns on its head, and went down its back until it disappeared beneath the tattered cloth that was the crude loincloth it was wearing. It had on no shirt to hide the incredibly defined muscles of its chest and stomach. Its arms were as big around as my head, it's muscles rippling as it reached down to—
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I screamed and fell backward, doing my best to hold myself up with my shaking hands. The giant stared down at me with wide black eyes, and cocked its head. It was then that I realized how indecent I was: the goblins had torn my clothes so that I was dressed in sparse rags that were once my beautiful handmade dress. A small spark of annoyance flared up in me, but the spark was extinguished by terror when the giant crouched down and pointed a long, thick finger at me.
"Nah bati," it intoned before pointing at himself then back at me again. "Ah Gara'amah ay?" It seemed to be asking me a question. I shook my head, confused and scared of the massive creature. It spoke again, "Ah Ut-mah?" I again shook my head as I drew my knees up to my chin and did my best to hide my almost naked body.
"I d-don't underst-stand," I cried. "Just l-leave me a-a-l-lone!" The giant grunted and hit its bare chest with a clenched fist. I jumped at the loud thump sound from the contact.
"Nah! Nah Alone". Ay Lon!" It thumped its chest again. "Ay Lon!" And then it pointed at me again. "Ah?" I buried my face against my legs, and groaned in frustration.
"Just go AWAY!" I cried. The giant looked confused for a moment, and seemed to think about what I had just said. Suddenly, it clapped its hands, almost joyfully. It seemed pleased with itself.
"Raaaahhh! Ay Lon, ah Way!" I looked up at it again, blinking in confusion.
"What?" I asked it, trying to understand. It thumped its chest again, grunting.
"Ay Lon!" Then it pointed at me again. "Ah Way!" OH! I know what it's saying!
"No, no, no," I said, sitting up and clearing my throat. "My name is Julia! Not Way." It cocked its head again, then sat down with its legs propped up around me. I froze, and gulped. There was no way I was going to get out of this one. I would just have to entertain this ferocious yet extremely curious giant until someone came to help me.
"Lon?" I asked, pointing at the creature. It grunted an affirmative.
"Gah! Ay Lon! Ee ah?" Okay. So the giant's name was Lon. The giant had a name. That was a lot to digest. I folded my hands in my lap, painfully aware of my almost bare legs. Before I could answer him, I had to catch my breath.
"Phew… Ummm… I'm— er, ay… Julia," I stumbled to find the words. "Ay JULIA." Lon popped up onto his heels and made a sound not unlike the sound we as humans make when we finally understand something.
"Ooooooiii! Ay Lon. Ah Joolah!" Lon pronounced my name like a little child would, but at least he was on the right track."
"No," I corrected him. "Ju-li-a!"
"Joo…Lee…Ah," He tried. "Jooooleeaahhh… Joolah!" I shook my head no again, and he grunted in frustration, burying his face in his hands. I took note of his horns, four on each side of his head… He continued to try to figure out my name. "NA! Ay Lon, ah… Ah… Joo… Joo…Lee…" I sighed, and gave up.
"No…" He looked up at me, and I pointed to him. "Ah Jules." He grinned, and tried that one on for size.
"Ay Lon, ah Jool." I smiled at the happy look on the giant's face. It was slightly terrifying, because of the horns, the incredibly awkward lack of more than a small bump and nostrils for a nose, the sharp white teeth of his mischievous grin, and the glittering black orbs that were his eyes… All together, Lon was incredibly repulsive. He was a monster.
And yet, he had saved me from the goblin pirate horde. And had taken the time to learn to say my name… Kind of. This giant actually seems pretty nice, I thought as I smiled at Lon as he kept on repeating my name and his name over and over again.
"Ay Lon, ah Jool! Ay Lon, ah JOOL! Jooooolllll… Joooooleeeeaaaahhh! Joolah ee Lon nah mala mala bati. Nah mala mala Ut-mah. Jool ee Lon gah padimah!" I had a vague idea of what he was saying. Earlier he called the goblins bati. I assumed that bati was his word for goblins or enemies, and the other word, padimah, was the word for friends. So I just smiled.
"Sure," I said. Suddenly he froze, and looked at me strangely. "Lon? What is it?" He cocked his head again, and held his hands out in question.
"Shah…?" I laughed, realizing he didn't understand what sure meant. So I just nodded, hoping to communicate agreement with his previous statement.
"Sure," I said again. He looked extremely perturbed, but didn't have time to figure it all out right then. Because out of nowhere, four larger giants had us surrounded and they were all roaring!
"RAAAAHHH!" Lon roared back, suddenly grabbing me with one of his massive hands and holding me close to his chest. "AY LON, EE JOOL LON LON SHAH EE PADIMAH!"
The largest of the four other giants (I thought he looked to be about thirteen feet tall) stepped forward, seeming to challenge Lon.
"RAAAAHHHH! AY GROK, EE LON BATI MALA MALA WALALAG!" Lon growled angrily in reply, so I assumed that Grok, which was this huge giant's name, had insulted Lon.
"Gahahahahaha!" The other three brutes laughed at Lon, and seemed to be there only to back up Grok. I was terrified, and clung to the massive hand that was wrapped around my tiny waist, holding me with a surprisingly gentle grip. Lon looked down at me, and huffed in frustration, seemingly tortured by some decision I had no idea about. Then he turned and walked about ten feet away, and set me on top of a boulder.
"Lon?" I squeaked, suddenly afraid, not for myself, but for the curious monster I had somehow befriended. Lon smiled again, but kept a serious visage.
"Jool nah tabaga. Jool… Put put." I don't know how I understood, but the look in his dark eyes were begging me to stay… To stay put. So, trembling, I sat on the rock and hugged my knees to my chin once again.
"Okay," I whispered, as he pressed his massive forehead to mine for a brief moment before turning back toward the hostile giants and letting out an angry roar.
It was in that moment that I realized what was going on.
Lon was about to fight for me for the second time in less than half an hour.
And it honestly didn't look like my friendly giant would stand a chance.
Aaallllrighty! So, for a brief moment I will explain some things to you. The language of the giants, who call themselves Gara'amah, is fairly simple. Here are some examples from the story:
Nah = no, not, never, etc.
Gah = yes, for sure
Ee = and, also, with, etc.
Bati = *any kind of monster enemy, even used in reference to other giants but that is very insulting; especially used in reference to goblins.*
Gara'amah = giants
Ut-mah = humans/Earth-mates
El-mah = elves
Do-mah = dwarves
Babala = children/babies
Padimah = friend
Ay = I, me, myself, mine
Ah = you, yourself, yours
Ayah = us, we, ourselves, ours
Rah = *an exclamatory word used to get attention; or a greeting*
Oi = *an exclamatory word used to convey understanding*
"Gah roh bati mala mala ay!" = translated: "Yes, fear me, you filthy goblins!"
"Bati mala mala tabaga bagi moh!" = translated: Run away, you filthy goblins, cowards of all cowards!"
Bagi = coward/cowardly/cowardice/fearful/afraid *not to be confused with roh, which conveys the action of being afraid.*
Moh = *a word used to amplify another; like, bagi moh means coward of cowards, or Gara'amah Moh means Giant of Giants.
Tabaga = run, running, leave, leaving, etc.
Mala = bad, filthy, dirty, etc. *Mala mala is a double insult*
Roh = fear
Put put = stay , don't go, don't leave
Walalag = *this basically means fucking bastard*
Shah = HAHAHAHA I am not telling you what this word means just yet... that would be a spoiler. What do you all think it means? ;)
Happy reading!