![Subaru Ref [Updated] by @Kohaku_Dragon](/assets/pixel.png){kind=tracking}
PuppetThe storm brought with it perpetual winds and torrential rains, flooding the area with water up to a giant's ankles. While Jac was safely within the confines of Richard's home, which had mostly been spared the brunt of the system, she still had to sit through listening to the weather pounding the roof of his house. The hundreds of thundering booms back to back was just as frightening; it wouldn't be long before the lights dimmed out as well, leaving the two in utter darkness. After he had spent a slow hour or so shifting through the rooms with only a dying cellphone and a little bit of illuminating magic, Richard was able to find the flashlights that had become their saving grace. During the much too long time she was left alone, Jac's usual confidence wavered bit by bit, as she peered out the window at the noisy cats and dogs that seemed to be eager to claw their way inside. Her unease lead to a surprise jolt when Richard suddenly turned the flashlight onto his face with a soft "boo!" Jac crawled backwards to the very edge of the armrest she was on, and breathed heavily just as she began to register what was going on. A small cackle escaped the Wile giant initially, but his mood instantly shifted to that of great concern over seeing her overall reaction. "Hey, are you alright?" "No," Jac admitted, "this thunderstorm is really pissing me off... I don't think I've ever witnessed anything this big since I moved to the Beanstalk society..." "I read on the newsfeed that it's a once every twenty year event." Richard replied. "There will be a few more days of this unfortunately." Just hearing that revelation made the smaller woman wrap her arms around her legs. Richard offered a hand which Jac nonverbally accepted, the giant's fingers providing relief somewhat from the relentless shaking she was having. He could feel her distress from her tiny heart thumps, and it was eating at him that he could not for the life of him figure out how to alleviate some of her anxiety. "If you think there is anything I could do to help, I'd love to hear it." He spoke in almost a whisper. As Richard sat the flashlight down, it's light glowing against the bare wall, he scooped up the tiny human with as much care as possible and brought her up to his face. Jac was paying less attention to the kind gesture at that moment, instead focusing on the shadow that they casted in front of their only light source. "Hm? What's on your mind?" "Well... it's silly. But I could use a bit of that right now." Said Jac. "I think I know of one thing we can do to pass the time." A little later, Jac and Richard brought some props that were just the right size for the human to carry, which was mostly everything she needed for her little improv show. With a circular paper mache on her back, Jac placed two fingers over her head and began to crawl and wriggle ever so slightly. On the wall, she almost resembled a snail. "Once upon a time, there was a very big snail who was minding her own business, just enjoying the simplicity of her days of eating and sleeping and... pretty much that's all snails do." "No kidding. They ruin my garden. I hate them." Richard said. "Wait, you have giant snails in your yard?" Jac had slight gleam in her eyes. "Stay focused on the play Jac.." "Oh, right!" Jac repositioned herself once more and continued. "One day, the snail found the biggest, juiciest leaf she had ever laid eyes on. It was out of the safety of the cover of the tree, but it was so delicious looking that she couldn't resist." "Famous last words." Richard mumbled. "What?! You keep interrupting!!" "Sorry! Continue." "Yeah... uhhh..." Jac then put her thinking cap on for a minute, but came up empty handed. "I guess that's all I got. Can't think of anything else to add right now." Richard fell on his side upon hearing that response. He then walked up to the makeshift platform and cleared his throat. "Just when the pretty little cherry, I mean, snail crawled out of hiding, a very handsome black bird spotted her from the sky!" "Oh boy." The Wile giant then put his thumbs together and spread out the rest of his fingers wide. He then began to flap his 'wings' as his shadow circled around the snail. "The bird realized that she was the most beautiful cherry snail that he had ever seen, and he knew that he must invite her to his home for supper! So using the moment when she was distracted, he swooped in as quietly like a, a bird, and snapped up the snail in one, quick--" "Wait!" Jac exclaimed as his hands hovered mere inches from her body. "That's not a bird hand puppet, that's a butterfly!" "Is it now? Hm... I don't know what the bird shape is, but I'm willing to compromise by calling this a bat instead. It does look like a bat, doesn't it?" "That's not how it--" "So the butterfly bat swooped in and caught the cherry snail in his claws! He then flew up and away with his prize." During this time, Richard scooped Jac up and began to flap the tip of his fingers as she rode up and away in 'airplane' mode. Jac could not help herself as she giggled excitedly with every swoop and dive. She noticed relatively quickly that Richard was slowly moving his hands towards his face. The Wile, being the cuddle bug he was, found it difficult not to bring Jac in and nuzzle her against his cheek. This brought even more laughter to the human, which made the giant even more relieved that his plan on cheering her up was working. Such a rush of exhilaration made the two of them lose themselves in the feedback loop. With hugs came pats on the nose, which lead to nose rubs, and then pecks and-- "Okay! Story's over! Time for the next one!" Jac shouted. "Wait, there's more? " Richard's voice turned mopey. "But, we were just getting to the best part!" "Nope! It's too early for that!" Richard gave out a small pfft. "Sorry, I got carried away." "All good, I barely stopped myself." Jac laughed. Richard sat Jac down on the table again as she began to switch props, this time she would don a cone shaped hat with a sash at the end. "Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a far away kingdom!" "A cherry princess?" Richard asked. "Just a princess!" "Aww." Jac then jumped on front of the light, which made her shadow cast a form to appear as if she was wearing a beautiful gown. Richard on the other hand was plotting for another prank to pull, which Jac anticipated quite well with the quick glances they continued to give each other. She continued on. "--but the princess was very lonely, and she had no one to talk to. If only someone would take her away to a more exciting, fulfilling life!" "My turn right?" "Yeah! I think I laid the groundwork for what you can do now." "Cool." With his arms and the end of his hands folded together, his palms and fingers spread out, the tips of them curbed slightly to resemble jagged fangs, the shadow of a mighty dragon swooped onto the table with a loud thud. "Fear not my lady, it is I, a noble dragon from the east. I have come to take you away to a much more exciting place!" "Richard, I was expecting a knight or something more catered to my size!" Jac squeaked, giggling slightly between every other word. "Aww, what's a knight got that a noble, devine creature doesn't?" The dragon replied. "I! Don't want to go with no overgrown, scaly beast! Shoo, vamoose or what have you!" "Hey, that's no way to talk to a royal, sofisticated dragon! That's not very nice! I'll.... have to, punish you for that!" "Ohhh, are you going to breath fire or something? Oh no, I'm so scared." Richard's hands then darted towards Jac. Try as she might, the shadow of the princess was unable to run fast enough as she was snapped up in the jaws of the shadow dragon. Wedged gently between the giant's palms, Jac wriggled and giggled extensively while she tried her best to tickle to giant back. Only to get the taste of her own medicine as the tips of his fingers tapped away lightly at her every form. They both laughed nonstop for a few minutes before they both ran out of air and were forced to stop. The two friends laid back, Richard against his chair and Jac against one of his hands as they huffed and puffed a good while. They both looked at each other tiredly and smiled, acknowledging just how happy they were just being in each other's presence. "I haven't had this much fun in ages." Jac said. "Me too." "Though, to be honest. I think I'm worn out from all these shadow puppets." "Same here. Though I wouldn't mind doing it again at some point. Since, well," Richard turned to the window, which brought Jac back to the reality of the noisy downpour outside. "We'll be stuck here for a good while." "Yeah.. You know, while we were in the middle of all that, I had completely forgotten about the storm. A guess a good distraction was all I needed." "I'm glad it helped you out," Richard said softly. "If you're ever in the need for more, then I'll be glad to assist where I can." "I appreciate that a lot." Jac began to make her way towards the center of Richard's chest, his heart beat offering much needed relief from the distressing sounds. She then gave out a yawn. "For now, I think this will do. If you don't mind." Richard blinked a little, before he returned with a smile. He cupped a hand over the human, surrounding her with warm bliss as he began to settle back himself. "With pleasure."Melody The morning announced it’s arrival with a brilliant orange that blanketed the entire eastern sky. Jac was early to rise, which was typically unusual when it came to weekends. But what prompted the young woman to remove the crust particles from her eyes was a sound so soothing, yet breathtaking that it resonated throughout the family farm. A nostalgic feeling welled up over her, and she was eager to watch and listen as the voice continued to echo across the fields and into the canopy of the resting trees. It came from none other than her stepfather, Gerald B. Fincher, who was singing a hymn that had been past down through generations of the Nature Giants since ancient times. It took on a strong baritone for much of the first half, with it bridging to a surprising yet seamless higher note which Jac describes as fluffy and ‘light as air.’ The song looped continuously as soon as the alto reached its climax, a true endless tune that only ceases when the vocalist deemed it so. The human understood not a single word of it but that didn’t deter her from becoming completely enamored by it’s sound. The best part of being a spectator of her pop’s “concert of the fields” so to speak is observing the reactions from the farm animals and the surrounding nature. The Giant's primary stock and trade are the fleece of giant vegetable sheep, and every morning he rounds up a herd of nearly a hundred of them simply by the calls of his song. The very melody seems to hypnotically tame the entire masses as they never fail to follow his every move; no need for a shepherd dog if he can do everything himself. What intrigued Jac the most was that he never seemed to tire or take breaks to catch his breath, working till the morning’s end largely without ceasing his tune. That to her was an amazing accomplishment all by itself. Unfortunately for the young woman, her stepfather stopped at its midst as soon as he spotted her in the clearing. He had successfully herded the sheep into their grazing pasture, so there was no need for him to continue at this point regardless. Jac however, was kicking herself internally for not making a better effort to hide. “Morning Jac! You’re up early.” “Mornin’ pops…” Jac said plainly. “You… don’t have to stop, you know… because of me…” “What do you mean?” “Your song! I love listening to it.” “Oh!” Traces of a blush could be seen on her stepdad's cheeks, but he kept focus on his work as he continued to speak. “Well, my song isn’t like other giant’s, you see… My voice is carried through the wind, so it vibrates across the fields far and wide! If I see you’re close by, I couldn’t possibly resume knowing that it could potentially hurt your ears.” “I know dad.” Jac tried her best not to groan, but traces of this could be heard from her voice. “I could get out of your way then..” “Now, now…” Gerald walked over to the human and bent down with the equivalent of a couple of yards away from her. Compared to the common giants his frame was enormous at a whopping ninety five feet, it still amazes her just how big he is in comparison to what she was used to. “If you want to leave, then I’m not going to stop you. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you 'round the farm. I could use your company, even if only for a short time. It would give me a much needed break to clear my throat after all.” Jac considered his words. After awhile she would nod, and while she was dissatisfied by not hearing the song again for the duration of their union, she was certain that she would be given the opportunity when the time came for the sheep to return to their pens. So without further delay, Jac hopped on to the hand that was presented to her, which then carried her steadily onto the giant’s right shoulder. For the next hour or so, the two would talk about this and that while Gerald kept a watchful eye on the herd. Jac couldn’t help but bring up the hymn after the topical subjects had run dry, and while her stepdad was hesitant to bring up the details surrounding it at first, he figured that it likely wouldn’t matter if he told her at least some of what he knew. He trusted his own daughter to keep it just between the two of them. “I mentioned to you before that my father taught me when I was a growing boy,” he explained, “The song has deep meaning to us, and is one of many that hold the primary source of magic for our own kind. When we utter it, the breeze will carry it adrift, making sick and dying flowers healthy again. When we sing it out loud, it’s like a gust that travels across distant lands. Or so I’ve been told. This has the power to tame beasts as you have seen, as well as hold other positive benefits.” “That’s amazing! I guess that the second one worked on me too?” “I wish it would calm humans down the way it does with you.” Gerald laughed. “But I’m glad you think it’s worth listening to.” “Of course! You’re the best singer I know!” “Oh please! You flatter me! You should have heard my grandmother, she was one of the best vocalists of our town! Folks from all around would gather to hear her voice.” The elder then had a darker expression over him, his eyes contemplating deeper thoughts that made him silent for a minute. Jac’s smile slowly fell upon realizing this, and she asked if there was anything the matter. The Nature Giant declined to elaborate at first, but he decided to ease her into the details bit by bit. “Jac, it’s important that you don’t speak a word to this to anyone.” “Uh… sure thing. I promise.” After a long sigh, her stepfather spoke. “The lyrics to our songs are from a language from this part of the world that is widely believed to have gone extinct.” As Gerald told his story, he took momentary pauses to wipe the hint of tears in his eyes. “Not even I know the meaning behind them. I wish I had asked my grandparents or my elders about it, but they have all left this world now…” Jac’s eyes began to water as well. This is the first she’s heard of this and it contradicted some of her previous thoughts. “I thought Nature giants can live for a millennia or more. That’s what I, heard..” “That was the case for a time..” Her father spoke with his voice hung low. “But… not sure if it’s true or not… but I have a theory that since we are like the plants and trees, I suspect that it may be to do with the ever increasing pollution in our planet. While we pretend that nothing’s wrong when we speak to everyone else, I suspect that there aren’t very many of us left…” “That’s terrible!” Jac exclaimed. “Why do you want to keep that a secret? Don’t you think that there’s folks that could help you in some way?” “I don’t want to be held captive in a greenhouse!” Jac was shaken by the words that came out of his mouth, as well as the pained anger that fueled the volume of that last statement. To his fright, Gerald put a hand to the tiny woman’s back and began to stroke her ever so gently. “I’m sorry..” “It’s okay dad. I’m just… I don’t know what to say…” “I was just as shocked as you were when I first heard about it. Simply put, it’s a domed city where they house small populations of Nature Giants in at least one other country. To try to 'preserve their lifespan’ under a controlled environment, or so they claim. They provide good food, good housing, clean air, but… I hate to think that I’d be forced to stay stuck in one place for the rest of my life. To me that sounds no better than a prison.” He shook his head. “If keeping my freedom to go wherever I please means that I will whither away sooner than so be it. I don’t want to be cooped up like that, I’m sorry.” After that there was silence, as the two tried to comfort each other the best they could. Afterwards what little conversation they had was small and light, as in what ice cream flavors they will be having after the workload had mostly been accomplished. While the topic was never brought up again, the gravity of the revelation weighed down on Jac for the rest of the day. Soon it came time for the older Giant to round up his herd. Jac was placed far enough away from the fields and the barnyard as Gerald thought was acceptable, which got a complaint from the smaller woman, though she chose not to dwell on it. Soon enough, the song was heard once more from a distance, which Jac couldn’t help but get a closer look but only slightly. As she watched her stepfather exercise his vocal chords and move the massive crowd of rams and ewes into their pens, a new sense of realization clouded Jac’s mind. The day her father passes away, the song will likely die with him. With a wipe to her eyes, Jac sought to appreciate the moment to the fullest and never failed to look away until the last sheep was brought in and the tune was done for the day. And she would continue to enjoy listening to the concert of the fields for many more years thereafter.Drowning In MyselfVoices echoed down the hall as Jazz left the group. They didn't need her there to decide the plans. Once she made it to the room she claimed as hers in the mansion, Jazz sat at the desk. She rested her head in her arms with a sigh as she watched the birds outside the window that was just to the left. Does it really matter if the Blackjacks win? What could they do? Just a bunch of random people following a Celestialite couldn't do anything. Let the rest of the Celestials, or even the monarchs, handle the whole situation. Vague images of her mom danced in Jazz's mind as she closed her eyes. I need help. Some days were better than others, sure, especially when she was getting along with Chance and Ace, or could go see Ed, but all the stress of the current events had taken a bigger toll on her than she realized. Jazz shivered, noticing that she didn't even care if she made it out of this battle or not. She couldn't keep living like her life was already over. She was one of the youngest in this whole mansion, damnit! Would any of them care, though? All she had was her super speed, and she'd never harmed someone with her bat and bow before. Maybe it was better to sneak off somewhere far away and start a new life, find someone to take her in, or maybe she could move in with Ed? Jazz shook her head. Life here wasn't bad, and despite the occasional bickering with Chance, it was peaceful. If she could get help, could she really learn to love life again? What was it even like? Was there any hope for her at all? Jazz promised to herself that she'd do her part in the battle, then once everything was over, she'd seek the help she'd so desperately needed all these years.