This choice: ...to do something else entirely. • Go Back...Chapter #9Opening Diplomatic Relations by: Kilbil   As Rumo pondered, the rest of the US was busy dealing with the aftermath of Rumo's latest walk. They exited their bunkers in orderly fashion along designated lines, through complex underground labyrinths made of reinforced metal and crystal. The weapons systems were left on standby, officers hurrying to reload the missile silos and mobile platforms with more ballistic weaponry, both nuclear and otherwise. Life returned to its usual brisk, scattered pace, all too aware of the infinite wall of tanned skin that always dominated the horizon, casting a shadow so vast that for most, the lights had to be on 24/7. In other words, it was another day of life under the rule of the continental giants, one that everyone was long resigned to dealing with for the decades to come.
The continent - no, the whole world - had long grown used to these shadows, to the long periods of time where the sun would be blocked by one giant or another. Their lives were completely dominated by newly-hewed mountains that stretched far past the clouds, streaking in mocking defiance of nature's own meager wonders. Even if the mountains weren't present, it was utterly futile to begin to try to pin down a definite shape or form to bind them down. You tried to see where the toes began, and you would just be craning your neck up and up until you ended up breaking your spine.
Even from the other side of the world, you were likely to see a hazy silhouette of a young teen with the scraggliest, filthiest mop of black threads and curls imaginable. Filth would lace every corner of their skin, which was all laid bare for the entire world to see. There would be signs of clean marks here and there from fingers carefully tending to the more obvious of these stains, but otherwise, the whole world was subject to living, moving landmasses that looked as though they spawned straight from the Earth itself. It seemed no matter where they looked, humanity couldn't ignore the truth of their subjugation. From now until the foreseeable future, they would always have to live in fear of when they would have to flee like termites from the next step.
~~~
Rumo really was facing quite a dilemna. He could go see Aadiv, but he already visited him yesterday, and he looked like he needed some time to himself anyway. Glas was off somewhere on the other side of the hemisphere visiting her boyfriend. He didn't know exactly how tall that boyfriend was, but he had the impression that he was to Glas as Glas was to Rumo. In other words, practically invisible to the naked eye.
That left him with only one real option: visiting the rest of his family in Argentina. Which was a problem, as South America didn't necessarily have the military prowess that was present up here, and he doubted he'd have any better luck with them than he did with Uncle Arthek. That meant he was basically stuck with nothing to do, which was not an ideal state for a giant like him to be in. He had to figure out something, otherwise he'd end up dying of boredom, and frankly, Rumo had enough of that to last a lifetime, thank you very much!
As Rumo casually mused over his options, his hands lackadaisically resting behind his head, he glanced down at the continent, which he could see stretched out all around him like a map, from the West to the East Coasts. Right now, he was standing somewhere in... Louisiana, he wanted to say. That was probably, judging from how he was about a couple of steps away from the ocean, and he was still standing on green carpet instead of some kind of arid desert like in, say, Texas. Not for the first time, Rumo couldn't help but marvel at how quickly he'd managed to make it all the way across the U.S. He wasn't even really thinking about it - he just followed along where there were footprints still left over from walking in the green, and there he was, standing proud and tall over what was once the Kisatchie National Forest.
To say that giants like Rumo loomed over humanity would be a hopeless understatement. To say that he was domineering or even transcendent was close, but still not close enough. The clouds were vermin before him, licking away pathetically at the bottom rims of his toes. The mountains weren't even pebbles, but grains of dirt that lined his feet and effortlessly shifted like sand. Just about everyone had a story or two to tell about a famed mountain or legendary giant that became a pinprick of a stain off the side of Rumo's little toe.
And he was far from being the only one, either. There was Aadiv, of course, and Gris wasn't a slouch, either, but Rumo knew that there were definitely a few other giants out there that reached the level of "walking continents" like he did - he saw them occasionally in the distance as silhouettes that loomed over their respective hemispheres. Some of them were even bigger than Rumo himself was, though no one could beat Aadiv for the crown of "world's biggest".
...now that he thought about it, he wasn't really all that close with any of the other giga giants. He saw a couple of them occasionally when he went to visit Aadiv, but he never went out of his way to get to know them personally. Maybe today was the day he could change that. After all, it wasn't like there was anyone else for him to get to know, and he still couldn't think of a way to actually, meaningfully contact his old family or friends, so he might find some commonality in his fellow living deities! (Of course, Rumo didn't really consider himself a 'deity', but it was kind of hard to deny your status when cities were about the size of your toes you casually molded the land with your feet just by standing on it a bit too long.)
The only question was, which one would he start with? He knew that there was this bald African kid named Ejide that stood just over a head taller than him. He always looked really surly and in a bad mood, so he never bothered to talk to him, but maybe he just needed someone to talk with him for a bit. It had to be lonely, standing over your entire country without anyone to talk to. Then there was Nu Ying in China, who came up to about his stomach. He didn't see her very often, but the little girl looked so shy and withdrawn he was scared to even approach her lest she run away and cause an apocalypse down below. Then again, Aadiv was a bit like that too, wasn't he? Taking to Nu Ying probably wouldn't be any different. Finally, there was Nyra in India, and Faren down in Australia, who both came to about his knees. He didn't know anything about either of them, even though one of them was just a few steps away, but he could change that right now!
That was basically everyone Rumo could think of off the top of his head. He doubted there was anyone else he was forgetting; people the size of countries and continents tended to be really noticeable, and the world was way too small for him to forget anyone that managed to come up past his ankles. He didn't have any idea why he hadn't already gotten to know them more beforehand - they were basically the only people around he could actually talk to, other than Aadiv and maybe Gris. Maybe when he befriended everyone, he could introduce them to Aadiv, and they could all hang out together! He could already imagine them watching the stars together, using most of Northern Asia as a rug to watch them slowly drift by...
Unconsciously, he tapped his toes, only to immediately stop as he noticed shockwaves stripping the already barren land of what little greenery it still had left. Rumo really should get going now, huh? Just a few seconds of boredom had already placed a couple towns at risk of annihilation. A little longer than that, and the whole state would be on the brink of destruction! Even if he wasn't bored, it wasn't like he could stick around for much longer. His feet were sinking down to the level of his toenails, and that tended to cause Problems for the rest of the continent.
With his mind set, Rumo figured that the first giant he should go try to make friends with was:   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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