Torek and Brillo

   I shouldn’t take too much, thought Torek as he rummaged through the caravan the old trader had left behind, Just enough to see me through the next few days. Torek never thought of himself as a misunderstood soul. Seeing a giant is a rare thing, so when people ran in fear it only made Torek laugh. He was tender for a creature his size, he would never harm anymore. He never took offense when people would scream and run for the hills, he just passed it off as folk being folk. He had never mingled well with his own kind. He was always considered a bad omen, a weakness in the eyes of the tribe. Torek was considered extremely small for a giant, but gargantuan in the eyes of common people. He left seeking acceptance, he found none. He thought maybe he would be seen as a god in the eyes of men, but instead they ran. He had only found friendship with one that he called ‘giants best friend’.
          It was only a few years ago that he came across Brillo. The poor mutt was beaten bloody and left in the rain outside a Meadery. Torek caught sight of him whilst he was scavenging for supplies, a wimpy little thing, but Torek didn’t have the heart to see him suffer. He took him home, fed him, healed him and they became brothers.
         Torek had always lived close to the trader route, but he had always managed to stay clear of it. The only reason he was out there was because he was looking for Brillo. Brillo was extremely fond of chasing squirrels and foxes, and yet years of failure never discouraged him. He had chased a fox off into the night and Torek had no choice but to go and get him back. That is when they came across the trader. Brillo had led him straight to the caravan where the mutt was sniffing around the traders provisions and goods. Torek didn’t want to wake the trader, he wanted to pick up the mutt and get out of there as quick as possible. Brillo started gnawing loudly on a hunk of meat that hung off the traders caravan, Torek had tried to grab the mutt before he made any more noise but his hands knocked the caravan and the pack horse ran off, and that woke the trader. Undoubtedly frightened, as Torek knew he would be, the trader screamed at the sight of his massive hands emerging from the darkness and fled down the trader route.
        It had been a while, at least 4 or 5 years, since Torek had faced a human. He had lived safely, quietly and secluded in the forest not far from the trader route, but he knew that those times were over now. He had lived in many places before, undisturbed and harmless, however when-ever he was discovered he found himself being hunted down and driven out. People living close by didn’t like the idea of a rouge giant lurking in the forest. But in such instances Torek just passes it off as sign that he should probably move on to somewhere new.

  Walking along the trader route was something that even Torek himself thought was unwise. The giant had spent so much of his life avoiding civilization, yet now he found his giant feet guiding him right towards it. Torek liked to think that he was civilized, at least for a giant. So when the trader disappeared screaming into the night he was compelled to return the caravan that the old trader had left behind. Torek assumed he would be at the village they called ‘Stump’, they relied heavily on trade and that it was the closest village.
        Torek had waited until the morning after the trader had fled to make for Stump, but he was already well in reach of it. Even a runt giant could cover ground quicker than human. Brillo was sitting on top of the caravan as Torek pulled it along. He was within a few miles of Stump. He had visited Stump many times before, but never in broad daylight and never to face the villagers. He usually crept into the village at night as quietly as he could to gather things like rope and leather. Even he thought he lumbered and stomped quite a bit, but over generations of peace and quiet the villages of Stump had grown comfortable in their beds. Torek realised his palms were beginning to sweat and he felt uneasy. He was afraid. It wasn’t the thought of being chased or hunted that frightened him, but the thought of himself being feared. He was afraid of being unwanted. When he left his tribe all he could hear as he walked away were shouts of hatred and disgust. He mulled over how naive he was to think he could find acceptance among man. Even though he was afraid, he did what he thought was right. It was almost dusk, he could see the village of Stump up ahead. Time to say hello, thought Torek.