Haruki felt as if his heart had stopped. His body didn't move how he wanted; his talking sounded like babbling, and he couldn't see, so he was convinced it was all a bad dream.
But now that there was a giant….even if it was a dream, it scared him.
"Help!!!, What's happening to me?!!! Why can't I move?!!! Why can't I see?!! Who are you?!!!"
Although all he could see were silhouettes, the large silhouette of a hand and the booming voice gave him an idea of what he was looking at.
"A giant!! Please don't eat—-"
The loud voice began talking again, cutting him off.
"There, there, no need to cry, little one…..How did you get here? And where are your Mama and Papa?"
Haruki saw the silhouette of the giant turning his head from side to side, searching for the nonexistent parents.
After he heard an inhale, the giant yelled with a loud voice.
"Hey, your baby is awake and crying!!!!!!!! Your baby is—-"
The loud yell hurt Haruki's ears. He cried in pain while trying to cover them, but it did no good.
Seeing that he was crying, the giant stopped yelling and crouched towards him.
"Sorry, little one, I didn't mean to scare you….. Uh…. how bout I sing you a song?...."
Seeing that the giant didn't seem like a bad guy, Haruki tried to quiet down. He also tried to nod, but his body seemed too weak to even do that.
"Gi-Ga-Ba-Ba-Ba!!!!!! Good!!! Let's see then…how did the song my Mama sang to me go?..... Hush, Hush, little one…The time for war cries is not yet here….Save them, save them, and let them grow...."
Haruki tried to organize his thoughts and discover what was happening as the giant sang his lullaby.
'The pain that I felt, the shaking of the ground, the giant's terrible breath, this feels too real to be a dream….But if it isn't a dream, then what is it? What happened to me? Where am I? How did I become a baby? And how is there a giant in front of me?!'
After the giant finished his lullaby, Haruki, with tremendous effort, managed to make both hands clap—or at least move in a clapping motion.
Seeing this, the giant laughed loudly and scratched Haruki's stomach using his index finger.
"I'm Glad you liked it… My Mama sang this to me so long ago that I nearly forgot it…. I will visit her grave once I beat Dorry and return to Elbaf."
"Sigh* Well, anyway, my name is Brogy, and yours?.... Gi-Ga-Ba-Ba! You can't answer yet, can you? Well, I hope your parents come and get you soon….I can't believe they just left you in a stranger's bed... It's a dangerous place for humans out there.... I should see if I can find them before they get in trouble, but I can't just leave you here….. I guess I'll have to take you with me…."
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As Brogy walked through the forest, he carried Haruki in the edge of his opened hand. Haruki, with his head sticking out, was given a bird's-eye view of the forest. The problem was that Haruki only saw an ocean of blurry shadows.
After an unknown amount of time, Haruki spotted something strange. A small golden glow caught his attention in the ocean of moving shadows.
He was attracted to the glow because it was the only thing he had seen in color. Everything else he saw was either white or black, as if he were completely color-blind.
'What is that….Why is it the only thing that has color?'
He tried getting the giant's attention, but the giant was completely unaware.
'I guess I have no choice…."
Haruki took a deep breath and then released a cry as loud as he could possibly make it.
Brogy stopped walking and looked at Haruki.
"What is it, little guy? Are you hungry?"
"No! Well, yes, but that's not why! There, take me, there!"
Sadly, the giant failed to see what he was trying to point at since he began looking around.
"Gi-Ga-Ba-Ba-Ba!! Now that I mention it, I'm also starving. That fight against Dorry really took a lot out of me. I'll make sure to hunt something with tons of meat so that both of us have plenty to eat."
Haruki was still crying, trying to point at the now-gone golden light, but he froze.
"Meat for both of us?! Am I not a baby? Can I even eat meat? Don't babies only drink milk?"
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[1.5 Hours Later]
The scent of cooked meat floated in the air. By now, Haruki was starving, but he was pretty sure he couldn't eat the meat being cooked. From what he had felt with his hands, he didn't have any teeth.
'What am I going to do?! If I can only survive on milk and Brogy doesn't know that, doesn't that mean that I am going to starve to death?! Or do they have some giant cow in he—'
A deafening BOOM!!! Sounded from nearby, making Haruki's weak body jump up and start rolling off the hay bed.
"It's time….but what will I do with you? It's not like I can leave you here. If I did, even your bones would be gone…. It looks like I'll have to bring you along again... Good. Gi-Ga-Ba-Ba!! You will experience a battle between two great and brave warriors at a young age. This should be very helpful to you in the future."
'Haruki took a while to digest what he had just heard.'
"I'm going to what? I don't want to go anywhere near any battle!"