“Come ooon. Just a little… further.” You grunt out as you drag your haul into one of your many holes throughout the palace. Just as you heard a patrol begin to round the corner, you manage to finish getting this week’s food inside before getting spotted. While it would look like nothing more than crumbs and scraps to others, to you, it was a week’s worth of meals.
Because unlike them, you were about the size of these crumbs, each one nearly the size of your body. You hated this fact, but ever since that day, there was little you could do about it. “Damn that guy.” You mutter under your breath as you begin to dig into lunch for the day.
*****
You weren’t always like this. You used to be a normal-sized person like all those guys out there, living out in the countryside as a simple farmer. Out there, crops alone could never really feed the whole village by themselves, and it was rare to ever get food traded to them from the rest of the empire. Because of this, you were taught how to survive if needed, how to hunt, fighting danger beasts, what to eat and what not to eat, stealth, and so on. It wasn’t a great life, but it was yours. At least it was, until he showed up.
One day, you were out trying to get some food for your mother back home. You had just bagged a nice deer, and even a C-class danger beast that could be worth something of a bounty if you sold it. As you prepared to drag it back home, however, a man appeared before you. You couldn’t get a good look at him thanks to the cloak he wore, but you could at least tell he was male.
“Can I help you, sir?” You asked him, trying to be polite. He said nothing in response. Instead, he threw up his cloak, with some sort of bright light emitting from underneath it. As you were blinded, your body began to feel weird before you lost consciousness.
When you awoke, you made two discoveries. First, you were now only about six inches or so tall, around the size of a doll now. The other, you now seemed to be in the imperial palace. How you got so far from your home in the mountains you weren’t sure, but judging on the lavish decor and the excess of soldiers roaming the halls, it was a safe initial bet that you later confirmed in your time here.
You had no idea who that guy was, where he was now, or what he had to do with this, but you were sure he was responsible. But, it wasn’t like you could just wander around like this. If you, a commoner, were found in the middle of the imperial palace, you would most likely be executed on the spot.
You spotted a nearby mousehole. You knew that if it was occupied, the current owners wouldn’t be too pleased to you coming in. So you found a discarded sewing needle and practiced a bit with it before heading in. After killing the rats that now stood over you, you found not only your new home, but your new way of getting around the palace mostly unnoticed. Turns out these vermin got around, as they had tunnels that led to rooms like the kitchen and several other parts of the palace.
You knew you had no way home or of surviving out there like this. So, you instead used these tunnels to survive until you found a better option. You would survive, and live on until you found a way back to normal and back home. You just needed to keep hope.
*****
That was nearly three months ago, and you have since gotten a routine going on “appropriating” food and other supplies, as well as occasionally fighting off relatives to the family you “evicted” to live in these tunnels. You were no closer to getting back to normal or going home then you were when you woke up like this, but at least you’re alive, and you kept hope strong.
Today was supposedly some sort of feast to commemorate the start of some group who answered solely to Esdeath. The Jaegers they were being called by the guards who patrolled the place.
So naturally there was a wide array of scraps to pick from..but you had to be quick. The maids and janitors had their duties after all. And you didn’t want to miss out on great scraps OR get swept up into the bin with them.
Imagine your surprise and disbelief when a large hunk of chicken had been left on the carpet. It was almost too big to carry, but you had fashioned a few harnesses to drag the particularly hefty food items some time ago.
Scurrying across the floor to the morsel, you quickly found yourself with some kind of cage slammed down over you. “Aw crap! I knew it was too good to be true!” You wail.
“Hmm...I’ve seen you around the palace, but this is the first time I’ve seen you up close.” The thunderous voice of Esdeath said as she peered through the tiny bars at you.
Crap. I’ve been spotted. You think to yourself as you look back at the giant blue-haired woman staring dead at you.
During your time here, you’ve heard plenty about general Esdeath and her reputation. You knew about her tendencies towards torture and cruelty. You wanted to quiver in fear at the idea of someone like her now having you trapped, but you had to keep up a strong front for now and hope for the best.
“Hmm. No fear despite being cornered like a rat. Interesting.” She murmurs as she slides a bottom under your cage and secures it before picking it up. She then notices one of the maids staring at her holding the cage with you in it. “Go and inform the Jaegers that I will be delayed.” She orders as the maid scurries out. Esdeath left the kitchen as well, heading in the opposite direction.
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author