"-Is the road really just straight ahead?" I ask, turning a bit to check on the people on my back. Somehow, Todd has gotten relaxed enough to lie on his stomach, just draped over my abdomen. I would have said he seemed to be asleep, but he turned to me once I turned around myself.

"Huh? Oh, yeah dude, like just straight ahe-, zzzzzzz...." -scratch that, he's asleep. We've been walking for quite a while now. At first, the mini-, hrm, Mal had just sort of sat on my back, stale and nervous(?), but now he's gotten calm enough to even fish out a book from his backpack to read. I'd love to ask him what it's about, but whenever I glance at him, he silently hisses at me like a cat.

I hope I didn't offend him somehow-? Maybe my back is super bumpy and uncomfortable... Sure hope not, would be pretty mean to keep them on there if that were the case.

Still, just walking like this is... it's pretty nice, somewhat? I've got a nice view from up above the trees of all the mountains in the distance and all, but I did really enjoy the sights I saw back there when I was just whizzing through the forest as a little wisp. All the stones and moss and little pretty flowers... it was a sight to behold, and although this view is grandiose in scale, it misses the minute beauties inside the forest.

...Maybe I could take a small break and get small to run around in the forest? If I was the size of a kid, it wouldn't be too weird if I acted like one, right? Right.

But, but but, it would be a little mean. I don't tire, and neither does Todd, but Mal does. If I were to go small, we'd all have to walk, whereas if I'm big, only I have to walk. So, although it isn't technically fair, it is more utilitarian, and I've always been the utilitarian type. At least, that's what Chuck always told me. Kind of miss that sociopathic idiot.

"So, uh, how far is it?" I ask. We haven't been walking for too long, barely two hours I'd say, but I'd like to know if it makes any sense to pop up camp somewhere.

"Eughughg, uhh, well we ran for like, 9 hours, so, like... what time is it right now?" Todd asks, groaning from his place on my back. I glance up the sky. The sun has risen to stand just about right over up, so...

"I'd say it's about midday," I hypothesize. Just as I say that, I hear just the tiniest grumble from behind me. As I turn around, I notice how Mal buries his face just a little deeper in his book, his ears going just slightly red. Oh. Aha.

I slowly come to a stop.

"Hrmm, what're we stopping for?" Todd asks, rubbing his eyes as he sits up. I turn around to look at him.

"We should get some lunch," I state, lowering my body so that all passengers could exit on the left. Todd mumbles something but gets off nonetheless. Mal follows along but seems uncertain about this whole thing, clutching the backpack he took off close to his body. While the two of them stood and glanced between each other and myself, I quickly shrunk myself down to my original form.

"Gah! Foul thing!" Mal exclaimed at the sight, probably not having expected me to have that ability. All I can think is how good I've gotten at utilizing weird abilities I didn't have a wee-, er... four months ago. That is still way odd.

"But I'm not hungry?" Todd said, shrugging. I almost felt like slapping him, but with a defence of 14, he might just die and reappear back at the village. So, instead of doing that, I try to force him to understand politeness by nodding at the mi-, Mal. Sorry. Todd turns to Mal, and then back to me. "-What about him?"

"...We're getting lunch. Do you know any nearby areas where we might find food?" I ask him. He squints, and thinks for a moment.

"Ah, uh, yeah! When we were running, we passed by this small like cabin along the road, maybe we could get food there? I've got some coins we could pay with," Todd relays, pointing down the road. Sounds neat, but we kind of need food right now. We could probably find a bear or something in the woods and fry that up, but it feels sort of... If I get off the road, I might never find it. That's how these woods feel.

A cabin, on the other hand? Sounds perfect! The only problem is that I have no idea how we're supposed to get there. It might just be a hundred meters down the road, or it could be three kilometres. Sure, if I ran I could probably get there pretty soon, the only problem being that if I run that fast these guys might fall off my back.

...That is, as long as it is as large as it was just now. If it were smaller, they could just sit on me like a horse, and I could go faster, no?

Hmm... I wonder if I could make my human half human-sized, but my insect-half just a bit smaller-? Might work. Probably not, but... It might? Well, uh, let's try!

Let's sausa-, err, Gulliver's Input!

This time, I don't just let myself grow, instead, I focus on specific parts, letting my human-half grow proportionate while my insect-half stayed only about the size of a horse, and... it actually worked. Damn this world.

My two future riders stared up at me. Without even a moment's hesitation, Todd just sort of burst into laughter.

"D-, dude, you're like a big horse-man, but-, but like an insect!! Incectaur, due, you're an inse-," I pick him up without further ado and place him squarely on my back. Mal stares at me, his gaze shifting uncertainly between my eyes and my back.

"Never ridden a horse, but I doubt this will be the end of me..." he mumbles, before trying his very best to get up on my back without help, hopping and vaulting uselessly before I finally lower myself for him to get up. "...Thanks..."

Good. Now, it's time to run just fast enough to be much faster than before but no so fast that they fall off. A challenge, but... one I'm ready to face!