“Sorry for breaking your nose.” Alice apologized to Nadi, her sparring partner.
"There's nothing to apologise for, that's just how these things are. But I have a question to ask you." Nadi turned to look at Alice, "Why do you look like that?"
”Like what?”
“Your skin looks weird. And you have that strange stuff on yours head. Chief told us not to bother you about it but I’m really curious.”
“I was born like this. It’s because I’m human.”
”Oh. I thought you were just born deformed but I guess I was wrong. Are humans related to pale giants or is it a coincidence?.
“I’m not sure what a pale giant is but my mom did tell me about other giants like snow and dessert giants though. "
The older girl looked just about ready to faint when she heard that.
"Hey Nadi are you okay? Does your head hurt anywhere?" Alice asked her new friend, the worry clear on her face.
"The pale kind are scary enough! Why do they have to be more?" Nadi asked panicked.
"Have you seen any giants before? They’re quite rare." Alice's eyes shone with an intense curiosity.
"What do you mean they're rare? A group of them chased us away from our last home!."
"What! That's impossible, if there were giants around I would have seen them by now."
Nadi asked a simple question, a look of confusion forming on her face, "How would you have seen them though?"
Now Alice was confused, "What are you talking about! Giants are huge. My mom told me that some of them are even taller than the clouds!"
"No! Pale giants are everywhere! And they're nowhere near that big. Maybe as tall as two people combined at most."
Alice thought the girl might be talking about trolls, but trolls weren't pale, they didn't live in this part of the world, and they weren't that big. Were they? It was more than a bit confusing but when Alice thought about it from a goblin perspective it made a bit more sense.
Probably a translation error, as well as another reason to learn the language for myself.
"Hey Nadi, could you describe what a pale giant looks like for me? I think they’re called something different in my language."
The other girl thought about it for a moment, "Hmm, they have skin the same colour as yours, they’re incredibly tall, and they look like us other than the wierd fur on their heads. Oh! It's like yours but its normally shorter and looks softer. Basically ‘humans’ but bigger. Oh and they also wear these weird things on their bodies, sometimes made of animal skin and othertimes its made of some strange thing that feels kinda like dry grass. It’s hard to explain."
Alice took the chance to inspect her hair’s softness while searching her mind on what a 'Pale Giant' was. While Alice wasn't an expert on monsters, she knew quite a lot of them from the times she would ask her mother, but she couldn't remember any that fit the description.
Hmm, they are as tall as two goblins combined, have skin the same colour as mine, and are intelligent enough to use animal skins as either armour or clothes, and are quite common. Alice searched her mind deeper while trying her best to ignore the obvious answer. Look like goblins but bigger, have my skin colour, wear clothes, have 'fur' on their heads that looks like my hair but softer. Oh that reminds me, I really need to wash my hair soon, maybe I can even try making my own brush! That sounds fun. It would have to be after I trim it though. Ahh! Who am I trying to fool with that. Hopefully Nadi doesn’t have any issues with me.
Nadi had been waiting for Alice to figure out what a Pale Giant was called in her language, but for some reason Alice had started running her hands over her head fur faster and faster while a look of worry creeped into her previously happy expression. Eventually Alice turned to look at her before letting out a nervous chuckle before finally answering Nadi's question.
"Good news is, I know what a pale giant is. But I'm not sure if you'll like it."
"Why wouldn't I want to know! Now your just making me want to know even more!"
One of the instructors turned to them and told them off for the noise they were making. I t was mostly targeted at Nadi though.
"Okay I'll tell you. But you have to promise to keep it a secret."
Nadi agreed immediately, after which Alice leaned into her ear and whispered, "I'm a pale giant."
Alice's stomach churned while she waited for Nadi's reaction. Only to be stunned out of her anxiety by Nadi laughing at her, earning them another reprimanding by the instructor.
"Alish you shouldn't joke about such things. How could be a pale giant when you're so short. Even shorter than me!"
Alice ignored the mispronounciation of her name to defend her character. "Well one day I'll be that tall! I'm only 10 after all."
"You really need to work on your lies. Even if you are older than me theres no way you're older than my dad." Nadi gave out an amused chuckle, this time remembering not to get too loud.
"Wait your dad is only 9 years old?"
"No, of course not. 9 months old obviously."
"Then how old are you?"
"Two months. Why?"
"Well I'm 10 years old and I'm a child. When I get to around 15 or 20 I'll be what you guys call a pale giant."
"Well Oh Great Giant, since you're obviously a giant yourself, I'm sure you could tell me all about them. Couldn't you?" Nadi said clearly not convinced, her words slick with a probably unhealthy amount of sarcasm.
"Sure I can. Do you have any questions?"
"Why do giants take so long to grow up." Nadi said, not expecting an actual answer.
"Because we grow bigger. Next question."
"Why do you have fur on your head?"
"It's called hair. And why don't you have fur on your head?"
"'Cause that's just weird. If you're gonna have fur then why is it only on your head? I would have thought there's better places to have hair."
"I'm not actually sure about that. But my dad had lots of hair on his face and armpits, he also had hair on his legs. My mom only had hair like mine though."
"I thought I finally had you with that one!" Nadi took another moment to think. "Then why aren't you wearing any of those weird plant skins on you."
It took Alice a moment to realise what 'plant skins' were, before she took a look down at herself and noticed she didn't have her shirt on. She immediately scrambled to cover up somehow before realising it was pointless. Not having it also probably helped make her look like an albino goblin with a birth defect rather than a human. If she didn't even notice it was gone it probably broke in her sleep, with all the abuse it had gone through Alice decided to take a moment to mourn its memory.
Thank you for being with me for so long. Even though I am going to replace you, your memory will be honoured.
" Anyway, it probably broke in my sleep and fell off. I should be able to show it to you whenever we go back."
Nadi stared at Alice for quite a bit. While She could see the resemblance between Alice and a Pale Giant, and Alice had answerd all the questions she had, she still didn't want to believe it. If one of her friends was a Pale Giant did that mean they couldn't be friends anymore? Nadi didn’t think they could if she was like any of the other giants she had met. After so long with only one person she could call a friend, who despite that was too busy to make time for her, would she have to give up her second friend in existence?
"Then I only have one more question." Nadi asked with tears starting to pour out of her eyes.
"Why did they kill all of us and chase us from our home.”
