Smaller than Most, Bolder than All.

[Kyubey]

"Help?" Klaus asked, puzzled by the giantess' assertion. "Not sure if you can. We don't needs any help. Do we?"

By this point, he was even more confused than before he got his answers. Where was Survolg, and did the people there go around trying to help people all the time? Or was there something wrong with Galatae, that necessitated assistance from elsewhere? It was true that the island was not in the best condition, after the war, but why was that anything for the giantess to be concerned over? And whatever the damages were, could anything truly be bad enough to necessitate ruining Galatae's pride by giving them help?

He had little time to think about that, however, after the giantess challenged the Queen directly. A still silence hung over the cliffs, with all of the Watchers now looking in her direction, stunned. No matter what the context, threatening the Queen was one of the worst crimes of all, and a challenge was not something to be taken lightly. There was a serious weight to the words that had just been said, that all the Strand Watch understood. The feeling in the air was a mix of amazement, at the giantess' audacity and the importance of what was happening, and fear. Finally, after what to them felt like hours, Klaus finally answered.

"I hope you're strong," he said quietly to the giantess. Then, he turned back to his subordinates, who had yet to come out of their shocked state, and roared, "You heards her! Say it in the message, that the Queen has been challenged to a duel by..." he briefly looked back to the giantess. "Do you gots a name?"

[Shark a' Pult]

"Don't to know if you need help, just told to help. Can to carry heavy things if need, or to reach high places."

She couldn't hide her disinterest in the matter of her helping. Usually no one bothered to tell her what was going on most of the time, so she got used to just going along with things as they happened, or having to adapt on the fly. In this case, it seemed the Galataeans didn't even know about any problems that needed help. Thus she defaulted to the most basic capacity in which she could offer aid, through her size. By now she was used to people asking her to help in physical ways because of her size, so unless it was a land of other giants, she almost always could provide some useful skill just from her size. It was just up to them, how they chose to utilize it, since she was too busy trying not to drown.

"Name? Brynhilda! Just is name given to me."

When it seemed the situation had changed in tone, she livened up a bit and spoke up, to the point where she almost fell into the water again when she hammered her chest with a fist. Unsteadily she attempted to regain her stability, but though her bluster had departed, her confidence had not. She wondered if she had made a mistake, in bringing violence into the situation, but she would rather fight any day of the week than cling to a piece of wood with the ever-looming threat of death nearby.

[Kyubey]

"You heards 'er! Gots a challenge by Brynhilda, from Survolg!"

The Watchers did not react right away, but after some whisperings and nudges on the part of the more level-headed members, they more or less went back to maintaining the appearance of working, while everyone still kept their eyes on the giant intruder.

"Ehm," cried a voice from one of the wall's many caves, "Hows you spell that, 'Brynhilda?'"

"Don't matter, just writes it any way!"

Normally, Klaus would write and sign the letter himself, but in this case he was reluctant to step away from Brynhilda for too long. Between a certain handful of his guards, there was enough literacy to write simple sentences, and most all of them knew how to sign Klaus' name, so Claudia would never know the difference anyway. After a minute of silence from the caves, a bird flew out from one of them, with a torn-up letter in its grip. The bird flew over the walls, and towards the mainland.

"That's done," Klaus said. "Now to gets you to the island. This'll be hard."

"Wait!" screeched Galfried, "Queen hasn't said she could go in yet! We needs to wait for her answer."

"No need," Klaus responded, "Queen's been challenged. I knows what she'll say." Looking back to Brynhilda, he examined her situation. Nothing about it seemed good for maneuverability. Usually, Galfried would take guests into the island by means of a small rowboat, but unless Brynhilda was far, far lighter than she appeared, that wouldn't be an option this time.

"You'll have to float through the entrance there on your own. Can you do that? Or you need help?"

[Shark a' Pult]

"To the island?"

Hilda was rather ecstatic at first, hearing that her trial had been heeded and likely to be accepted. She thought however, and naively so she realized, that the island inhabitant would then come to pick her up in a boat or something. She could guess though from what she'd seen, that there probably were not even any giants on Galatae to begin with, so it was even less likely that they would have the kind of boat she needed. At least, not immediately available. As the guards chatted back and forth about this and that, she tried to make out a way she could reach the island on her own, if she needed to.

"Can to try, but help is welcome."

Perhaps her hopes were not so far gone, but she was still a little skeptical on how she'd actually manage to get through, even with their help. So far, all she could imagine was possibly trying to pull her way past the rocks with her hands while staying afloat, and then trying (hoping, more like) to reach the shore. She imagined though that the tides on the other side of the rocks just the same, crashed against them so she'd still be stuck against them, just on the other side.

[Kyubey]

Not even Klaus was sure how Hilda would manage to get past the rocks, and really it was something that she or her crew should have thought about before she was just dumped out there, but he was also sure that they'd find a way somehow. Or, to be more exact, he hoped so, as he had no intention of spending the rest of his time dealing with her issues. In any case, now that a letter had been sent for the Queen, she would be waiting for the giantess' arrival. Klaus wasn't fully sure what happened to Galateans who were late for their own challenges, but he knew that it would not help her case at all.

"Right. Galfreid will help you out."

"Whaa? Why me?"

"'s your job, Galfreid."

"...fine."

In a few moments, Galfreid was in her little rowboat, rowing beside Hilda. In most cases, she would take the visitors on the boat herself, but obviously here that wouldn't be possible, so she would have to make do with simply floating alongside and guiding her along.

"Follows me, and does it quick," Galfreid muttered, clearly not happy about having to give any sort of assistance to one she viewed as an intruder. She had come to distrust any outsiders, seeing them all as basically the same, and thought that letting any in would only be a waste of time. Still, it was Klaus who gave the orders, not her. There was nothing to be done about that.

The passage through the cliffs was narrow, but big enough for Hilda to easily go through. Galfreid kept close to the edge of the rocks,, while still giving enough space for Hilda, so that the giantess would be able to use the rocks as a sort of support, as they navigated the winding passageways leading to the island. Considering Hilda's condition, it would more than likely have taken far longer than the average amount of time it normally took for Galfreid, but sure enough they eventually would come out to more open water, though still closed off by the cliffs, with the island visible on the other end.

"Theres you go, that's Galatae, right over there."

Already, there was some commotion on Galatae's beach, though from Hilda's distance, one would have to squint to see it right. As it seemed, a small squadron of knights had appeared on the beach, with a much larger crowd of onlookers surrounding them. Assuming Hilda approached closer, she would be able to better see the Queen herself at the head of the group, waiting to meet Brynhilda herself.

[Shark a' Pult]

"Thanks you. If you ever needing help, just to ask."

Hilda began the arduous task of navigating the waterways between the rocky cliffs surrounding Galatae, a task only possible with Galfreid's help. Even so, it was no easy work, and she was thrown around quite a bit and smashed up against the rocks more than once. Eventually though when it was that she made it past the inner wall of rocks, she looked towards the island with a mix of amazement and relief, thanking her guide for the help. It might not have been clear what she had in mind, but she actually meant to help in whatever way she was asked. Such was her gratitude towards the tiny boat person.

Now, there was just the problem of how to get to the island itself.

---

Hilda almost drowned on the way to the beach when the mast dipped too low and hit the shore underwater. Thankfully, just her massive size meant that even though she fell in the water, the upper portion of her body remained a bit above the surf. After much difficulty and time, she managed to crawl her way up onto the beach proper out of the waves. Clamoring over to remove herself completely from any body of water, she laid down down on her side to catch her breath. Though her eyes remained closed, a smile slowly crept across her face as she felt the sand against her fingers and solid ground beneath her. Such a welcome relief from floating, she wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep there for a day and a night after most of the day so far spent clinging to a piece of driftwood for dear life.

She knew though that there were important matters at hand though, and that she was representing more than just herself as nobility. Turning to face the sky, she held her hand up to keep the sun out of her eyes as she took a deep breath and slowly sat up. Looking around her gaze eventually settled on what, to her, seemed to be the biggest congregation of people.

"Halla! This is Gala-tea, ja? Where to is Queen?"

[Kyubey]

As Hilda drew closer to the island's shore, she would notice that the people awaiting her all seemed very restless, nervous, even. Though putting up the front of being strong, daring, fearless warriors, most of them fidgeted where they stood, not sure how to react to the sight before them. The truth was, none of the islanders of Galatae had ever seen a giant before, and the sight of one that size invading the island was quite frightening, especially after they heard what it was that the giantess intended to do. Only the Queen herself and those closest to her stood firm and resolute, awaiting Hilda with perfect dignity and respect.

"Look at that," whispered one of the men directly behind the Queen to the heavily armored knight who stood next to him, "So they're real after all."

"The world's a big place," stated the knight. "I've seen far stranger during the war."

"When we received the report from the Strand Watch, I had imagined Klaus was simply exaggerating. Do you think it will be a fair fight?"

"No way of telling until it happens."

It was by this point that Hilda had first touched down on the sand, and lay down on her side. This, although a harmless gesture, was equally disconcerting to the Galateans as Hilda's first appearance. Certainly, it was not a warrior's entrance. Given the shameless display, just how were they supposed to react?

"Hm. Well, looks like it'll be more fair than I had expected. Do you think our guest needs help?"

"That's no guest, Cassia."

The first man turned to the knight and flashed a friendly grin. "I'd wager you're relieved, eh?"

The knight returned the glance, with no trace of humor. "It is of no consequence."

Claudia herself, meanwhile, ignored the chatter from her men. Unlike most of the knights and soldiers surrounding her, the Queen was not dressed in armor, instead appearing in her most stately robes, which brushed along the sand when she moved. Only the sword at her side and her cold expression revealed her identity as a warrior. Like before, the behavior of the giantess had no effect on her. Waiting patiently until her challenger sat up, she finally broke her silence.

"I am the Queen, Brynhilda of Survolg!" Claudia barked. "My name is Claudia Gudrun von Acis. I have received your challenge. I hope you will forgive my inability to accept it myself. Under any other circumstances, I would honor your request for trial by combat by meeting you on the battlefield personally. However, I am currently engaged in an ongoing duel with another man, by the name of Slythe Arkady. Until one of us is dead, our battle cannot end, and I may accept no other challengers. A champion will have to fight in my place. I name my most trusted General, Sir Oska..."

"Wait!" shrieked a distant female voice. Just then, a girl of about seventeen pushed through the crowd and ran up to stand by the Queen's side. She was already wearing light armor, and generally looked as though she rushed to put it on. She took a few moments to catch her breath, and then finally said, "I volunteer as champion on behalf of the Queen."

A hush fell over the crowd, and, as it sounded, nearly the whole island, followed by a murmur. Still, the girl stayed resolute, facing the Queen with a firm glare.

"Elvia," the Queen began, speaking with a calm but tense tone, "What are you doing?"

"If the ruler cannot accept the challenge, it falls on their offspring to fight for them, right?" Elvia responded. "And we both know that Leberecht can't do it."

"This is not the time, Elvia."

"Please, mother. Let me fight. I'll prove to you that I'll win."

"Your Majesty, this is inadvisable. Should anything go amiss during the duel..."

"Silence, Alaric. You do not have permission to speak. Elvia, are you certain? Will you not disappoint me?"

Elvia grinned. "I'll bring you glory."

"Oskar, my daughter wishes to fight in your place. Will you concede?"

The knight bowed, his face hiding his resignation. "If it is the will of Her Highness, I have no choice." then, after a deep breath, "I pray for your victory, my Princess."

Claudia nodded. "Only promise me you will not lose." Then, turning to Hilda, she said, "There you have it, Brynhilda. The Princess Elvia Iduna von Acis shall be my champion. Win, and I shall welcome you into my nation, true to my word. We may begin any time you are ready."

"Thank you, mother," Elvia said, before likewise turning to the challenger. Looking up at the giantess, the Princess spoke softly, with a certain warmth. Indeed, it would have been the only time Elvia had actually spoke in a matter fitting to her position. "It will be my honor, to face you in combat. Show me your strength, and may the Gods bless whoever emerges the victor." Of course, this facade as the poised, kind princess was broken almost immediately, right when she turned back to the crowd.

"Now," she screamed, "One of you louts bring me my hammer! Quickly!"

[Shark a' Pult]

Hilda didn't understand well what was going on, something about the Queen not being able to fight now because she was already fighting someone. If that were true though, then where was the other person? If she was still fighting them, it didn't look that way. Fortunately someone else stood up in her place to fight, a new, louder Queen.

"There you have it, Brynhilda. The Princess Elvia Iduna von Acis shall be my champion. Win, and I shall welcome you into my nation, true to my word. We may begin any time you are ready."

"Not to have any weapons however..."

Hilda seemed a little dejected if not worried, about her lack of weaponry. Her crew had cast them overboard with her, but they reached the cliffs around the country long before she did. Where they were now, was unclear, but what mattered was that she didn't have them. It was likely the Strand Watch had them now and hadn't put two and two together, so she'd have to ask after them later. For now though, the noisy one had jumped up and didn't seem intent on waiting. Who was the giantess, to deny her?

Seeing that an opponent had finally been selected, the giant slowly rose to her feet, sand raining from her person as she loomed overhead. Clenching her hands into fists in lieu of holding weapons, she crossed her arms in front of her as she spoke.

"I am Brynhilda Irongard, daughter of Rondale and Alfhilda of the House Irongard of Survolg. I challenge you, Elvia, Princess of Gala-tea."

Based on the way she spoke and held herself, the display seemed very rehearsed and it was likely the most comprehensible they would ever hear the giantess to be. An onlooker might be able to surmise that this was something important to her, on a cultural basis, enough so for her to actually seem professional for once. Either way, the formality of the display meant Evlia was afforded a solid chance to attack before Hilda began her own assault. That might have been her intent though, for she certainly welcomed the first move from the Princess, but would not wait to act herself.

[Kyubey]

Claudia noted Brynhilda's lack of weaponry, and thought it was rather foolish to drift to the island unprepared. At first, she thought the giantess was simply more skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. Of course, she had no idea that the weapons Brynhilda had brought simply didn't make it to the beach. Meanwhile, back on the cliffs, the Strand Watch wondered why Hilda didn't keep her own weapons with her, and finally decided that she left them on purpose as some incredibly impractical present.

"Oskar, what is the biggest weapon possessed by our forces?" Though Hilda was an enemy, the Queen's own sense of honor required to at least make an effort to keep the fight fair, even though it was more than clear Hilda probably didn't need the help.

"That," Oskar replied, gesturing behind him. As they spoke, five soldiers carried onto the beach a massive warhammer, about five feet in length. Though the warriors were strong, each of them noticeably bulky and muscular, they each strained and sweated from the hammer's weight. Slowly, they approached the Princess, and offered the weapon, more a giant piece of steel than a fine tool, to the Princess.

"I see." As it seemed, there was nothing to be done. Even the hammer would have been too small to be anything but an insult to a giant. None of the Galatean weapons were a fit to her hands. Therefore, all there was left to do was hope that Brynhilda was a good enough fighter with her hands, to make a fair duel.

Smiling, Elvia lifted the massive hammer with ease, relieving the soldiers immensely. The Princess then proceeded to swing it through the air a couple of times, as if testing its strength against nothing. What had been almost too heavy to lift for five strong men now seemed absolutely light, in the hands of the young girl. It was almost as though Elvia was swinging a mere stick. Finally, she rested the hammer in a fighting stance, sizing up Brynhilda.

"I, Elvia, daughter of Claudia and Reginald, accept your challenge, Brynhilda Irongard."

Claudia remained firm. As it seemed, the formalities were just about over. She raised her sword, and silence fell over the beach. As it seemed in the moment, this sense of quiet spread through the island, with only the crashing of the waves and the cawing birds daring to disrupt the stillness. "Then as Queen of Galatae, and in the names of the Gods, I acknowledge this duel. Begin!" From the moment Claudia swung down her blade in a decidedly ceremonial fashion, the fight was officially underway.

At her mother's signal, Elvia ran forward, emitting a loud, rough, battle-cry. Hilda would likely see that the Princess was not charging in a straight line, but took a somewhat curved path, as if she was circling her opponent, but only intending to come at her from the side. Also peculiarly, the hammer was not yet in any position to be swung, resting in a slightly neutral position behind Elvia. As it seemed, she was more interested in closing the distance than she was in actually attacking, and given the difference in size, Hilda would have more than enough time to react, even though the Princess was astoundingly fast and lithe for one wearing full armor.

[Shark a' Pult]

"Is fast."

Hilda noticed how spry the small Princess was, a little surprised given her choice of armor and weapon. She had a feeling it would not be a good idea to get hit by the warhammer though, particularly in the feet where she expected to be attacked the most, so she decided to use her size to her advantage rather than just outright attempting to crush the Princess by sitting on her or something akin. Thus, with a liberal application of force, she lifted her leg up and leaned forward a bit to stomp down into the sand near to Elvia. She wasn't trying to step on her, but the idea was to force up enough sand to at least make some rough terrain. With a follow-up action, she then swiped the same foot towards the Princess, intending to shove a small mountain of sand in her direction if not bury her outright.

[Kyubey]

Almost straight away, the skill of the giantess was clear to the warriors in the crowd, as Brynhilda wisely compensated for her lack of a weapon by instead kicking sand towards Elvia. Running too fast to avoid the attack outright, the princess made a futile attempt to stop her forward momentum, and jump back before she became overwhelmed, covering her face with her free arm to shield her from the worst of it. She was partially successful, but now she had been stunned, and, more importantly, couldn't advance further.

"Augh!"

Spitting the dirt out of her mouth, Elvia backed away a few steps, having narrowly managed to avoid getting buried. This meant having her people see their princess retreating, even if only by a few steps, but since they also saw Hilda using less-than-honorable methods for battle, she figured they were about even in that respect. More importantly, the Princess knew better than to approach outright. While Hilda was clearly able to stop Elvia's advance, without a weapon she still likely wouldn't be able to do any serious damage unless she allowed herself to get within the princess's attacking range. Elvia could still use that. For the moment, the Princess stayed where she had stopped after backing up, several feet away from Hilda, poised to move as soon as Hilda went in for the attack. Perhaps it may have been noticed, that Elvia seemed to be slowly sinking into the sand, as if the ground beneath her was lighter and weaker than under Hilda. However, for the moment, this detail was very slight.

[Shark a' Pult]

Seeing that Elvia wasn't magically immune to having a large quantity of earth kicked up into her face, Hilda felt a bit better about the confrontation. Or at least, that she wasn't turning into fire or a monster or something, like she had heard of people doing. Capitalizing on the chance, she took a knee and leaned forward so she could get a better reach. In one simple but quick motion, she cupped her hand and attempted to slam it down on Elvia. If she wanted to crush her outright she could have, and would have just kept her palm flat, but she was trying to catch her instead. If she could box the princess in, then she would attempt to close her hand properly and grasp the small fighter.

[Kyubey]

From the second Hilda brought herself closer to the ground, Elvia had that much more of an opening. Even under the best of circumstances, the best the Princess could hope for was to attack the giantess' feet, but now, there was more possibility. That is, assuming she lived long enough to take them, given that, by all appearances, the challenger had the means to kill the Princess at any time. Even in the brief, fleeting moment before it became clear Elvia wasn't about to be crushed completely, she didn't even make an attempt to dodge, instead motioning for a counterattack of her own. She lowered the warhammer for but a moment, and, feet planted firmly, and grunting with strain and effort, swung it upwards, aiming for Hilda's fingers as she brought her hand down. Though the hammer now didn't seem to be as heavy as it appeared at first, there seemed to be an almost unnatural weight behind the swing itself, that could only be partially explained away by Elvia's unusual strength for her size. It was as if there was some unseen force, that was adding force behind her attack.

[Shark a' Pult]

Hilda sharply withdrew her hand when Elvia's hammer connected, greatly surprised at how much it hurt. This much was clear to see in her expression of pain and surprise as she held the struck area of her one hand with the other and tried to rub it. Soon though her expression changed to one of annoyance, and her next move wasn't nearly so careful or reserved. Raising her hand that had not been struck, she brought it sweeping down in a fast, sideways motion. Rather than trying to catch Evlia this time, she intended to just swat her towards the treeline with a passing smack. Although she used more force and speed than before, she wasn't trying to send Elvia over the horizon. It was more like an act of disgust of firmly swishing away a bug or something similar, though her strength and size always put things on an entirely different scale.

[Kyubey]

Elvia blinked in almost surprise when Hilda recoiled from her first attack, having not known if her attack would work or not. Now, at least, she knew that giants could feel pain just the same as humans did, and as such she had a better chance at winning. This, coupled with her not expecting a warrior such as Hilda to put on such a display of pain after a single strike, momentarily led the Princess to let her guard down, as she smirked haughtily. As such, when Hilda swatted towards her, she was in no place to dodge the attack. None in Galatae would ever be so careless to drop their defenses completely, giving Elvia a chance to at least block, but against one as big as Hilda that would do little good. She held her warhammer close to her side, letting the weapon take the full force of the strike, while her armor went from absurdly light to heavy and sturdy, just as her hand connected. Even with the increased mass of the armor, however, the teenage princess was still knocked backwards, having been sent flying a good few feet to the side. Still, she did not cry out in pain, or let the damage stop her. As soon as she fell back to earth, she tumbled her way back into a standing position, and, adjusting the weight of both her armor and weapon to better suit pure speed, came running right at the giantess, directly targeting Hilda's feet. If she were able to close the distance, she would not strike with the hammer, but instead try to lay her free hand on Hilda's boot. Why she was taking this course of action would not be clear, but the murderous gleam in her eye and her controlled, efficient body language suggested that she was deadly serious.