Sophie awoke to the sound of rustling hay. Golden speckled eyes opened, focusing in on the barn wall. Rays of sun were beginning to filter through the cracks and open top floor window. The weather was warm, even this early.

She sat up and stretched, and yawned. Sophie grabbed her bag, slinging it over her head and across her body, before crawling to the edge of the ledge. Below, she could see what was making those rustling sounds, and from her spot in safety, she watched.

Below, was a man. He looked almost human, only larger. Much, much larger. He even wore overalls. It seemed to Sophie that this place was pretty much Earth, only it forgot to stop growing a while ago. He was shoveling up hay into a large pile.

Moments later, a small girl, though still giant to Soph, ran into the barn behind a furry little dog. She was laughing and barefoot, with what appeared to be her night clothes still on. She and the puppy ran circles around the pile of hay, and before she knew it, the three were tumbling around the pile laughing and cuddling, and speaking in a language unlike any Sophie had heard.

It didn't matter, the words were clear. Love, family, happiness. This group was the picture of it. Moments later, a woman with a long brown braid appeared. She was smiling at the sight of her family happily playing. She said something, and the little girl jumped up and raced out of the barn with the puppy close behind.

The man stood, brushing himself off, before heading out of the barn, too, grabbing the woman's hand in his own as they departed. Just then, wonderful smells drifted up to Sophie's nose. The woman had come to say breakfast was ready, and Sophie could smell it.

While the smell made Sophie long for some food in her belly, she found herself, almost longing, for something else. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the roof of the barn. She'd had a family once, a mom and a dad, even a baby brother. They were happy, too. But Sophie always wanted something else, something more.

It had been years since she'd seen her family. She wondered if they'd still be so happy to see her. Sophie found herself lonely, quite a lot, in her travels. While meeting new people, most who took to her and loved her immediately, she never stuck around. While she made 'friends', she never really made friends. She was very alone. But that was okay, Sophie had lots of treasures and things, and those made her happy. Didn't they?

A certain treasure came to mind just then, a particular green orb. She wondered how the sunburned wonder had fared. She wanted to go back, for the orb. Or was her conscience getting the better of her? She wanted to make sure that the man hadn't been captured because of her, too. Sophie was sneaky, but she wasn't so low as to let someone die because of something she'd done.

The honey blonde climbed back down to the floor level of the barn. She headed to the door, passing two cows, a room of goats, and a pig, and stopped just beyond where the dirt ended and the grass started again. Perhaps she would go and knock on the door, would they hear? And point to her belly.

In her travels, she'd found that most of the beings she encountered, while amazed by her appearance and presence, were still quite nice and accommodating. Though, if these people happened not to be, she'd be made into Sophiesauce in an instant. She couldn't imagine that this loving group could be so cruel, but it mattered little.

Just off to her left sat a wooden chair. At the top of it, an apple and a very large knife. Sophie climbed up the chair to inspect the apple. It appeared that the farmer hadn't touched it yet, probably sidetracked by his work. She couldn't use the knife, but that was okay, Sophie had a small pocket knife of her own. It wasn't much, something she'd been gifted at a young age, but it would cut.

She cut a large chunk out of the side/bottom of the apple, and sat at the edge of the chair to eat it, observing this small/large farm. She could still see the two moons, though they were fading. The sun appeared just like the Earth sun. Sophie hadn't been here long enough to know how this planet worked though. For all she knew, the sun would last for many days, and the moons for many nights, like some other places she had been. Heck, some places she had been had no sun, or no night.

As she finished the apple, a light breeze picked up, blowing her hair about. She quickly and easily braided it down the back, all the while, that orb and the white haired stalker on her mind. She wanted that orb. Maybe she wanted more information from Ryan. Maybe both. She also wanted to make sure her actions hadn't doomed him.

Sophie sighed. Darn her good conscience, and darn her love for shiny things. She closed her eyes, and focused her energy, reaching out and searching for this dimension's nearest weak spot. She found it, just across the meadow behind the farm house. Well, while it wouldn't be a long walk for a giant, it seemed Soph had quite the hike ahead.

With pebbles like giant boulders and twigs like fallen trees, Sophie made her way around the farm house and across the meadow of golden straw grass. It had only taken her somewhere around an hour, and now that the weather was starting to feel humid, she was glad to be here.

All she had to do now, which was the hard part, was think about where exactly she wanted to go. Sophie rarely returned to many places. The only exceptions being Earth, though she had not returned there in a very long time, and a special place just for Sophie. The place she considered her home. A completely uninhabited, well almost anyway, planet. The place was small. Perhaps about the size of Pluto. Her only friend lives there. Ayashe.

It was easy to tear a hole in the weak spot of the dimension and let it take you anywhere. It was another thing to open up a spot to a particular place. It took a lot of concentration, and a familiarity of the place. Sophie closed her eyes. She imagined the desert lands, the palace, the guards, and particularly she imagined the white haired man with his wacky sunburn. That's where she wanted to be.

When Sophie was imagining the place in a way that she forgot her immediate surroundings, the portal opened. A hot wind blew from the tear, stinging her skin with sand. Yep, that was the place. She took a deep breath, and jumped.

Sophie landed in sand. Uhg. Sand in places sand should never be. She shuddered and stood, wiping herself off. She was on the inside of the palace walls, in what seemed to be a corner. Where the sand gathered, of course. Sophie rolled her eyes. Just then, she heard the sounds of a scuffle.

She looked around for the source, realizing it was coming from the top of the wall itself. And what did she know? The sunburned wonder was just there. In a scuffle no doubt. Well, he was alive. Sophie's job was done then. But what of the orb? There! A gleam in his pocket! Sophie wasn't going anywhere.

Unfortunately though, Ryan was surrounded by guards. They were closing in from both sides of the wall. Well, that wasn't exactly the ideal thing. If he died, or was captured, Sophie wouldn't get her hands on the orb at all. Nearby was a long stick, a group of them actually, and Sophie had an idea.

Moments later, the blonde haired girl came sailing over the wall's edge, pole vaulting her way up, kicking down the two guards advancing at Ryan's back. She wasted no time. "This way!" she said, running down the long edge of the wall. She was already reaching out with her energy, and boy was she using up a lot of it in a small time.

((Sorry it was so long, lol. It's up to you if Sophie opens a portal, when and where they go. Perhaps she can't because she's run out of energy, and he has to do it? I don't care! :) Also, I didn't proof read because I don't feel too hot. I hope it all makes sense. ))