Chapter 2 Survival Titan: Stray by JohnnyScribe

She couldn’t decide which was worse; the fear, the sadness or the hunger pangs.

Elena crouched in the shadow of a monumental sized bench and watched an unending stream of giants walk past. She felt the weight of her own terror pressing down on her and threatening to drive her insane. It had been hours since she’d escaped the giant bag, or whatever it was, and she was no closer to figuring out where she was or how she had ended up in this place.

Her stomach tightened. She hadn’t eaten anything since the festival and her body was not shy about letting her know that.

A shadow fell over her and Elena instinctively curled into a ball. Thudding vibrations shook the floor underneath her as a pair of giants sidled up to the bench Elena was hiding underneath and sat down.

After the commotion calmed down, Elena cautiously peeked out at the two of them. Of course, all she could see of the giants were their feet. She assumed, based on their sizes relative to one another, that one was an adult and the other a child. The adult was wearing plain blue shoes that looked to be closer to rubber slippers, while the child was wearing bright pink footwear decorated with multi-colored stars.

The child was also absentmindedly kicking her feet, which did little to ease Elena’s nerves.

Their voices rumbled above her. Elena couldn’t understand what they were saying, so it was much like distant thunder as far as she was concerned.

However, her ears did perk up a bit when she heard the unmistakable sound of rustling plastic. She looked up through the grating in the bench to see the child taking a large bite out of what looked to be a candy or granola bar.

Elena’s stomach rumbled again and her eyes watered from sheer misery. Here she was literally starving and there just a few meters above her head was more food than she could possibly eat. But Elena still didn’t know enough about these giant beings to risk venturing into their sight. For all she knew, she might be food for them too.

Elena curled herself into a pathetic ball and waited for the two giants to move on. Her mind wandered down a miserable path as she wondered what her family had made of her disappearance. Elena worried for her brother, Miguel, most of all. She hoped he wouldn’t blame himself for her disappearance, but she was afraid he probably had.

Her throat closed and she fought back tears as images of her parents and her siblings forced their way into her mind.

Her melancholy musings were cut short as a she heard something hit the carpet. Startled, Elena looked over to see a bit of the child’s snack had fallen to the floor. She was sure that to the giant it wouldn’t be much more than a crumb. To Elena’s chronically empty stomach, it looked like the most appetizing thing she had ever seen.

That thought drew Elena up short. Part of her was horrified she was even contemplating eating a crumb that fell to the floor; but the larger part of Elena’s mind understood that she was no longer in any position to be picky. Her body was demanding food, and she didn’t know when she’d get another chance like this again.

Of course, Elena also didn’t want to be spotted by the giants above her, who were still having a conversation in their strange language.

Hunger eventually won out over pride, and the young woman very carefully began to crawl out towards where the crumb lay on the thick grey carpet. She knew she had to be very careful because in addition to the risks of being spotted, Elena also had to avoid being pummeled by the little girl’s fidgeting. At her size, being kicked accidentally ran the risk of severely injuring Elena, and the crumb was very close to the girl’s shoes.

Elena’s heart pounded and she tried to keep her breathing steady as she slowly crawled towards the crumb of food that was about the size of a bowling ball. She was wary of the girl’s swinging feet, but she managed to creep closer to the crumb.

Before she could reach it there was a loud creak of metal and the girl’s foot slammed back onto the floor as she hopped down from the bench. Elena’s heart sank as the crumb of food disappeared underneath the giant shoe with a loud crunch.

A second later, the giant man and girl wandered off down the corridor, with most of the crumb of food sticking to the sole of the child’s shoe.

Elena’s stomach twisted indignantly and the young woman almost collapsed from the sudden feeling of hopelessness that shot through her body. She looked over to where the crumb had been and found a small pile of food bits that hadn’t gotten stuck to the girl’s shoe.

Cautiously, Elena crawled to the mangled pile of granola, or whatever it was. The weight of the girl’s foot slamming down on it had rendered most of it unrecognizable and ground into the grey carpet.

With a trembling hand, Elena scraped some of the mush from the carpet and raised it to her nose for a cautious sniff. It smelled okay, if one ignored the bits of dirt and carpet fibers. Again, Elena tamped down on her initial revulsion and reminded herself that this was the closest thing she’d seen to food in a long time.

Closing her eyes and willing herself to believe what she held in her hand was actual food, she cautiously took a bite.

It didn’t taste too bad, again if one ignored the slight aftertaste that Elena suspected was the sole of a giant’s shoe. She ate as much as she could stomach and scraped the rest of whatever she could get off the ground into her shirt, desperately hoping that she’d find a better source of food soon.

However, now that she had a reasonably full stomach, her next priority was shelter. She couldn’t stay hidden under the bench forever. Presumably, there’d be a cleaning crew coming along eventually.

She crouched against the leg of the bench and leaned to look out into the corridor in front of her. She had to be careful not to be spotted by one of the giants, or worse crushed underfoot by one.

Elena scanned the area around her, trying to find her next hiding spot. She strained to see the far wall, which was nearly a hundred and fifty meters away, if she was any judge of it. Meanwhile, the unending parade of giant beings was still walking past her, shaking the floor underneath her. However, the flow of traffic seemed to be thinning just a bit. Perhaps the end of the day was nearing.

She noticed that there was a stretch where the path ahead of her was clear of giants. She saw large cylinder on the other side of the corridor, probably some sort of trash can, and decided that would be a good place to find cover.

Taking a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, Elena steeled herself to make the dash. She counted silently to three and sped out from under the bench before she could second guess herself. Pelting across the grey carpet, she kept an eye out for any giants who might be nearby.

A large door to the right of the trashcan slid open and a pair of giant silhouettes appeared in the opening, before stepping into the corridor almost directly in front of where Elena was trying to run to.

The young woman swore and skidded to a stop. Unfortunately, she was in the middle of the corridor and there was no cover.

Her eyes slid up the gargantuan forms in front of her. Both were female, one was light skinned with long dark hair, the other’s skin tone was closer Elena’s own, but her hair was short and blonde. Both wore surprised looks as they looked directly at Elena’s frozen form.

“¿εxzo мαx αnθpαnαp.” The dark haired one said to her companion, bending slightly to get a closer look at Elena.

However, Elena wasn’t willing to let them peek at her. Acting mostly on instinct, she continued running in a slightly different direction, while searching frantically for some type of shelter.

She heard further exclamations from the two giant women, but was too busy running in the other direction to really pay attention.

Elena felt a tremor run up her legs as one of the two women took her first step in pursuit. Elena’s mind was like a mouse trapped in a jar as she frantically tried to find some way to escape the two giants.

A shadow fell over her and a black sandaled foot descended to block her path. Elena skidded to a stop just short of slamming face first into the giant woman’s foot, before turning and dashing away in a different direction.

More talk from the giants rumbled above Elena’s head as the dark haired woman shoe now blocked her path. The giants weren’t stomping their feet, so despite her panic she got the feeling they weren’t trying to crush her.

Elena let out a yelp as a long fingered hand swiped down to try and take ahold of her. Elena ducked and rolled under the hand and was up and running again before the giant could react.

One of the giants let out a surprised exclamation and the two of them regrouped to continue the chase. Elena ran blindly, not even entirely sure which direction she was facing anymore. She might have been running back towards her previous hiding spot under the bench for all she knew. She just needed to get away from the two giant women.

The wall in front of her slammed open and Elena realized she was running towards the door the two women had appeared from in the first place.

Another giant form filled the door again, but Elena gritted her teeth and barreled forward, dashing between the third woman’s legs while her two pursuers stopped short to avoid a collision. Elena dodged around the newcomer’s white boots and into the room beyond, which seemed to be covered in square blue and green tiles, each of which was at least two feet across and set in a mosaic like pattern.

The door whooshed shut behind her, sending a gust of wind that almost knocked Elena off her feet. She knew she couldn’t stop, because there might not be anything stopping the giants from coming back in.

So Elena kept running, her feet pattering against the hard tile floor. Around her, were large cubicle structures that took Elena a second to recognize, until it seemed to click. As bizarre as it sounded, Elena had apparently found herself in a giant lavatory.

No time to dwell on the absurdity that her life had become though. She cut left and ducked behind one of the giant toilets.

Whatever else there was to the Giants, at least they kept their bathrooms clean. Elena crouched behind the toilet and looked for a way to make a more permanent escape.

The door opened again the woman in the sandal peeked inside. “κvz yεnti.”

There was a muffled response from her companion and, as Elena held her breath, turned and walked back out of the room. After a few minutes, the door rumbled again and Elena breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, now she was stuck in a giant bathroom. But, at least the lights were still on.

Elena knew she had to move quickly, though. It probably wouldn’t be very long before another giant came in to use the facilities, and she did not want to be around when they did.

For several reasons.

Elena walked up to the door and stood in front of it. It didn’t open. She hadn’t really expected it to do so, but it had been worth a try.

So Elena walked along the wall underneath the fixtures jutting out from the wall that she assumed were sinks. The tile pattern seemed to go on forever.

Elena was becoming lost in despair, convinced she was going to starve to death in a giant bathroom.

Then her foot caught on something and she stumbled, falling over and banging her knee painfully on what felt like a thick metal bar.

No, Elena realized as she took a second look, not a bar- a grate. She’d literally stumbled onto a vent, and the metal slats were wide enough that she could slip through.

Part of her brain screamed at her that it was stupid to drop down into a vent when she had no idea where it might lead. For all she knew, there was an incinerator at the other end.

Still, she countered, this crazy place hadn’t exactly left her with a lot of options. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she carefully lowered herself through the slats of the vent and dropped down a few feet to the floor below.

Her landing echoed down the metal corridor and she flinched, certain that something had to have heard her, but as the echoes of the noise died away, nothing seemed to stir.

With a weary sigh, Elena picked a direction and trudged through the thick layer of dust that had accumulated in the ventilation.

She walked what felt like hours, her mind drifting as she mindlessly placed one foot in front of the other in the ceaseless metal corridor. Her mind drifted to thoughts of home, and for a moment she thought she could actually smell her mother’s cooking.

No, wait, she could! Not her mother’s food, not exactly, but it was definitely the aroma of something edible.

Spurned to new strength, Elena’s steps quickened into a jog and she raced around a bend in the ventilation shaft, only to be met with a blinding light.

She squinted for a moment, until her eyes adjusted to the sudden illumination. She’d found herself looking through the grid of another vent, and she could definitely hear the unmistakable sounds of food preparation beyond.

Her stomach grumbled painfully. How long had it been since she’d found those crumbs on the floor? Hours? It felt like days.

Steeling her resolve, Elena pushed herself through the slats in the vent, only to find herself standing on another tile floor. The tiles of this floor were a brick red, and much larger than the bathroom tiles had been.

Above her, there was chaos as giants moved about, shouting to one another in their strange language that felt like thunder rumbling above her head.

A giant man hustled past, his steps knocking Elena to the ground with a yelp. She curled into a ball, but he moved on, never having noticed her presence.

Fortunately, Elena was getting used to that. And the alternative seemed worse.

Another giant stomped in front of her in the opposite direction, leaving an agonizingly tempting aroma in his wake. No doubt about it, there was food here.

Elena crouched behind the leg of a table and watched warily. She sat in total stillness for several minutes, trying to figure out what her next move was.

Fortunately, fate seemed to take pity on her. A giant woman hustled by carrying what looked to be a platter of something, but at just that moment another giant tried to slide past her and got too close. The platter tipped sideways for a moment and, while the woman managed to right it fairly quickly (and with a few angry words for her coworker) not soon enough to prevent a little bit from spilling off.

Elena watched as a large shape tumbled off the platter and fell through the air to land on the floor at the woman’s feet. For an agonizing second, it looked like this too would be crushed underfoot, but the giant moved on; completely oblivious to the gift she had left for the miniscule human.

But still, Elena was cautious. She waited several seconds for another giant to appear, but eventually her stomach overruled her brain and she dashed out to retrieve the morsel.

It was about the size of a basketball and about as heavy. Elena didn’t pay much more attention to the details, deciding she could examine it more when she was safely hidden again.

Almost mad with hunger, Elena pelted back to the vent with her prize tucked under her arm, certain that her path was about to be blocked by a giant foot at any moment.

But luck smiled on her again, as she slid through the slats of the vent again and back into the relative safety within. Only then did she take a closer look.

It was fruit, of some kind. Probably no more than a berry to the giant beings, but to her it felt like a melon. It wasn’t perfectly round, but elongated like an American football someone had over inflated so it looked pudgy. It also was bumpy, like a raspberry as well as being a strangely bright green in color.

Cautiously, Elena ripped a chunk of the fruit off and took a bite. The flavor was bright, like some sort of citrus, but with a texture closer to an apple.

It was strange, but compared to the last meal she’d had it was the best thing she’d ever eaten.

20 comments

  1. Diet says:

    As are many others, I’m enjoying the extended descriptions of scale. This makes me think of how many times I’ve gone through an airport and not paid much attention to my surroundings. I’m wrapped up in trying to get to my gate and make my flight. Like everyone else, I just want to get to my destination. It’s so mundane at times, resting on a bench, walking along to get to a specific gate, using the restroom. All this is not mundane for Elena. This is terrifying.

    • Ancient Relic says:

      Different stories could complement each other by showing the perspectives of humans or Titans. Here we have a great look at the perspective of a fresh human, and Luke and Niall’s stories are already set up to do the same thing. Nick’s story, meanwhile, is set up to show the perspective of a Titan who only knows what the common knowledge of the Empire says about humans.

    • faeriehunter says:

      I’m also enjoying the extended descriptions of scale. The only thing I’m missing is that there hasn’t been a word about Archavia’s lower gravity, even though I imagine it’d be one of the first things an Earthling would notice.

      By the way, if I were in her situation I wouldn’t be sure if the altered gravity was due to being on a planet of giants or if it was caused by being shrunk.

  2. Kusanagi says:

    The language barrier definitely adds an additional sense of suspense to this. The Titans that pursued her could have been anything from Human Rights Activists to two girls looking for a human toy to ‘play’ with, and everything in between.

          • TheSilentOne says:

            TTE mail had been going to my inbox until these past two chapters so I’m not sure what’s changed. Perhaps the site’s authentication with their mail provider has lapsed, or something with google has changed. I’ve tried adding gator3001.hostgator.com as an email address for TTE’s contact info I have, we’ll see if that helps at all.

    • JohnnyScribe says:

      Admittedly, I cut a lot of corners in the earlier stories when it came to things like a language barrier. I didn’t want to do that this time, and while it’s made things more difficult for me, I think its a little more realistic too. Honestly, if I ever do get around to rewriting Titan, I think Nick and Brinn’s first meeting would also have a language barrier in place.

      • Genguidanos says:

        That will go a long way to softening Brinn’s reputation. It’s much easier to buy her not thinking Nick a sentient creature if she doesn’t recognize his strange noises as a complex language. That could also explain Zara and Sophia’s relationship. Maybe Sophia only ever learned a few basic words in Arcavian and so Zara mistakingly belives that’s all Sophia’s mind is capable of grasping.

        It could even work with Rixie and Alex. Rixie “plays” with Alex at first because she thinks he’s just an animal because he can’t speak (her language). But after thinking about it, she realizes her mistake and replicates Alex a universal translator and discovers he’s just as smart and sophisticated as she is.

        It’s not a perfect solution, but one I feel could fix a few plot holes in the earlier stories without requireing too much reworking.

        • Soatari says:

          As was covered in the beginning of Exile, someone of Rixie’s rank has a sophisticated translator implant. She would be able to understand him from the get go.

          And it wouldn’t surprise me if Pryvanni either had a sophisticated translator, or just decided to learn English.

          • Ancient Relic says:

            Pryvanni had a sophisticated translator Definitely.

            just decided to learn English Not right away, but I can definitely see her doing that at some point.

          • faeriehunter says:

            I mostly agree with Ancient Relic. For a businesswoman like Pryvani a sophisticated translator would be almost mandatory. As for English, I don’t think English (or any of the many other Earth languages) would be of much use to her prior to Contact. The abductees will have learned Archavian soon enough, and Pryvani doesn’t strike me as such a language enthusiast that she’d learn a language just to read/view Earth art (especially when she has an implant that can translate when needed). However, it’s likely that after Contact she’d make learning English a priority because of all the business opportunities that’d arise from Earth no longer being a restricted zone.

      • faeriehunter says:

        A while back I was mulling over how Jeska (the pet seller) would deal with the Earth humans not being able to speak or understand Archavian. It’d certainly be a potential source of complaints. I figured that most likely she’d try to persuade the peacekeepers who gave her those humans to fabricate translators (external device, not implant) for them.

    • faeriehunter says:

      I tried translating what those titans said using the wiki to see if I could determine what they wanted that way, but it didn’t help. I’m not sure how accurate this is, but they appear to have said “[is, third person] a human” and “she [leave, past tense]“, so basically “It’s a human!” and “She’s gone.”

  3. sketch says:

    I’m loving this extended view of the Titans from a fresh set of human eyes. We really get to feel the scale in the description. For a lot of the regular human characters, just holding conversation with giants, you don’t get much of this internal observation anymore because it’s no longer novel to them.

    • synp says:

      And Contact gives us a clue as to how this is going to end. Or maybe it just constrains Johnny Scribe.

      Rixie says (to Alex): “Yeah, you and Niall, Nick and Sam did all right. Pierce did very well…even Luke turned out okay, but…what about the others? We don’t know what happened to them.”

      So at least we know that Elena doesn’t become part of “the gang”. Although by that logic, neither does Molly and they do know about her. Aargh! A glitch in the matrix!

      • Ancient Relic says:

        Little things like that are one of the things they could edit. Having said that, finding all of those little continuity glitches in among two million plus words would be a titanic job.

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