Sudden light poured in from above Linde as she darted across the box. Her hiding place had been cracked open, and the flaps the made up her cardboard cage were removed. Almost immediately an audibly surprised gasp reverberated from high up, followed by a loud snicker that sent chills up the tiny girl's spine.
"O-Oh, no..." Linde squeaked, having made the mistake of looking up.
The ruffian's huge face loomed ominously over Linde and the box she was in. She didn't stare up at him for long, for just seeing another human being appear so inhumanly large to her gave her fear like she'd never knew she could feel, especially since he was so close to her.
From what she did see of him, he looked every bit the part of an average ruffian, right down to the double chin and unkempt facial hairs.
"What have we got here..?" The ruffian spoke, his curiosity seemed piqued as he looked down directly at Linde.
"Eep!" Linde squeaked, still in mid-sprint. She was not even halfway to the exit hole of the box. Her capture seemed all but inevitable now.
"C'mere, you!" The ruffian growled, reaching down into the box and trying to grab hold of the shrunken Linde.
"N-No!" Linde yelped, and jumped forward, narrowly dodging his huge hand that just barely grazed her backside. Just the sensation of being touched by such massive digits made Linde's hair stand on end. She shivered, shaking off the awful feeling as she picked up her pace.
It turned out to be no use, however, as the man merely had to inch his hand a little closer to the diminished mage's little body and, with his fingers like a claw out for prey, curled his dirty digits around the miniaturized young woman's tiny form and finally plucked her up from the box.
"W-Waagghh!" Linde shrieked as she was lifted into the air once more. Unlike last time, taken high riding inside the box, her entire being was being held entirely by the single hand of a man that had to be nearly 100 feet tall when compared to her.
On the way up the little Linde could not even so much as struggle. The ruffian who had taken her had done so forcefully, and without any regard to her well-being during the trip. It was nothing to him, merely lifting his hand up to his face to better inspect the goods he'd discovered.
For poor Linde, however, it was what she imagined being shot out of a canon might have felt like. She was, yet again, rendered totally dizzy by the unwelcome experience. Were the thief clutching her in his hand not holding her tiny body so tightly, she might have actually tumbled off to a nasty fall.
"Now, what the hell are you supposed to be?" The ruffian asked Linde as he poked at her curiously.
"S-Stop that..!" Linde squeaked, trying to shove away the tree-sized digit. She quickly found out that with her reduced size came greatly reduced strength, as she could not even budge the giant's finger, much less stop it from continuously poking into her side.
"Heheh..." The ruffian chuckled quietly to himself, keeping up with his fondling of the shrunken girl in his hand. "Might be worth keeping you to myself..."