Pippy tries her best to take this advice to heart to not be ashamed for harmless laughter. This giant Gembound here, while they do seem to be, well, strange is not the word for it, but this situation she has found herself in is quite weird though. Giants things are something Pippy has gotten taught, from instincts she believes, to fear, avoid and hide from at all costs, lest she ends up with her life in utter grave danger if an encounter with a giant-anything were to happen at all. Now, there's this giant Gembound who is right now feeding her fruit and is only just trying to make friends with her; it's a complete opposite to what Pippy believed all her life. Still, strange as it all is, this Gembound here seemed to really mean it about never to feel shame about laughing, even if he seems to like to joke around a lot here based from how he has also been acting, they seem earnest and genuine about this advice here.

Talking might be a challenging one, though, well talking in whole sentences will be anyways. Pippy doesn't use her voice quite often so much it might be hoarse sounding if she were to try and speak up, she didn't speak much, not even to her fellow little ones if she actually had any as friends, and when she did speak, on a rare occasion, it was short and sweet.

For a moment, Pippy let out a small questioning hum when asked if those treats were tasty, a little taken by surprise when she got asked this, needing to process it.

"Mhm mhm!" Pippy gave Zeke something like a small thumbs-up with a wing and hum of appreciation while nodding at the dragon, grateful to the giant for going out his way to do this for her. No words still, but the tiny bat has a little more confidence tinged in her hums at least, the dragon will be able to hear her much more clearly now to some extent.

Still, Pippy focussed her whole attention to the ginormous Gembound when he spoke more, pausing completely from eating this fruit he gifted to her, despite her hunger, holding one significant piece in both wings still, but not taking any bites at it now, it appeared relatively untouched except for one small part where Pippy has taken a little nibble from.

When this Gembound mentioned to her how he has yet to learn what her name is, Pippy was a little bit caught off guard at this, unsure how to respond to this.

Zeke focused his deep blue eyes with lights more on Pippy, when he did she got a little bit antsy and nervous at this, more so when he casually mentioned how she hadn't spoken much here, enquiring Pippy if a tiny bat such as herself can talk, alongside wishing to learn what her name is.

"Uhh... I... mmm..." a light, soft, and gentle yet a little rusty sounding from disuse voice came from Pippy as she nervously tried to force herself to answer Zeke's question as to what her name is. Pippy tried her best to respond as she stared at Zeke with an utterly timid and meek expression, refusing to take her eyes off him, it almost seemed to mix with an expression which appears a little sad too with how much her fear is climbing back up steadily and quickly. Not long after the little Gembound finds herself trembling again, unable to breathe out another syllable as some things come back to her which make her blank out from the present.

Pain.

So, so painful, and dark, on the verge of passing out from this pain searing away at her tiny form. Couldn't move, couldn't run, couldn't fly, it hurt more severely as it does, sapping all her determination and energy like water draining out from a tub.

It's all she can recall as she tries to ponder if this name, truly is her name, or is her name... 'Aries'? She doesn't know!

Outside this world of memories, which Pippy is now trapped within, she has been rendered to a silent, shaking tiny bat, her head dipped down like she's ashamed or saddened about something. The fur around Pippy's face, like as if they were bangs, hid her eyes as these flashbacks come back to her, it was like instinct was telling her not to utter another word right now.

Amidst all these memories hammering down on Pippy's mind like they are severely scolding her about something, a phantom ringing sound in her ears drowned out all other noises. All noises were blocked out except for maybe a static sound which sounded like quiet and muttered words, seeming so far away like if they were coming from a phone receiver with a really lousy frequency, more crackling than words coming from it. Still those sounds coming from outside Pippy's mind broke through her haze as her mind also takes note on how things seem a little bit darker.

Pippy was unable to hold back a loud and terrified gasp, followed up by a high pitched scream when she got out her haze, as she got instantly met with the with how a giant paw invaded her space or claws many times larger than Pippy's whole tiny body reaching out for her. Those paws easily dwarf Pippy's diminutive form as cold water dripped from its fur, it made the little bat all too aware over such a jarring fact on how easy even a small twitch from one those claws would be more than enough to crush her delicate form.

The fruit Pippy was nibbling on a second ago went flying out her wings as she scrambled and reeled back, bringing them close to her chest defensively with a flinch to get away from this massive paw which was so close to Pippy, an index claw was about to make contact with her head. The tiny bat was quivering so much here, her panicked gaze fixed solidly on this paw, watching for any twitch as it stopped moving when she leapt back and cowered from it.

How did the giant Gembound manage to get their paw so close without Pippy noticing till now?



"Pippy speaks." Pippy thinks.