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Random scene I thought of that probably won't make it into the actual books

I clutched at my stomach as I crept down another passageway, hoping the pressure of my hand might make the growling more quiet. Maybe it helped a little… helped with the pain a bit anyway. How many days had it been since I'd eaten? Hard to tell… no sun, no time candles, no regular sleep schedule anymore… Just thinking about that reminded me how tired I was, too. If I weren't so hungry I probably would've found some dark corner to curl up in for a nap. As it was, my stomach hurt too much. …What was that smell? It wasn't a food I recognized, but it smelled good. I hurried after the faint whiff I'd caught and it quickly got stronger. Some kind of fish? Vegetables? Smelled pretty spicy too but I was beyond caring. I got to the end of my tunnel and peeked out into a larger, more open cave area. There was what appeared to be a hot spring in here; a fairly large pool of water was gently steaming and rippling to my left. To my right, several yards away from the edge of the water, sat… a large bowl of soup? That's odd, I thought. Just a random bowl of soup in the middle of nowhere? Who does that?

I think my gut would've said "run, run far away", if it weren't so painfully empty. As it was, I found myself inching out of the tunnel a little… There was a disturbance in the water and I quickly ducked back into the shadows. Something - someone - crawled up and out, onto the stone floor. I'd never seen a person like this before… she had a tail, fins sticking out of every limb, faintly glowing freckles and antennae… webbed hands… all around very fishy. And also very small and skinny; I could see her ribs. She scrambled across the stone and squatted beside the soup, poked the broth with one finger to test the temperature, and then picked the entire dish up and started slurping noisily.

Must be safe, I thought, watching her eat - which made me even hungrier. Maybe she won't eat it all and I can have what's left…? All the broth was quickly sucked down. The fishy girl set the bowl back down, and started grabbing handfuls of the meat, veggies, and noodles to gobble up. About halfway through the bowl, she stopped… and yawned. She shook her head and kept eating… but I noticed she was slowing down. Maybe I would have some luck after all? …She definitely hadn't looked that tired before. She lifted another handful of noodles to her mouth… but before she quite made it, her eyes drooped shut, and she gracefully tumbled to the floor, out cold. Okay something wasn't right. My suspicion was quickly confirmed. A large shadow loomed in the mouth of another tunnel, and a krahm stepped out into the open, smirking in satisfaction. He stooped to have a look at the girl. "Hm. Small, scrawny… oh but not full grown yet, that's alright then." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rope - Oh no you don’t. "HEY, OVER HERE!" I shouted, spreading my wings, drawing up to my full height, and trying to look as big as I could - which probably wasn't very impressive but oh well. "You," the krahm said, looking up. He rose to his full height and stepped toward me. "He's been looking for you. Perhaps you'll be worth something. More than this skinny fish, for sure-“ I let him come as close as I could stand, then ducked under his hand as he swiped for me, and hurried between his legs, out toward the girl and the tainted soup. I scooped both of them up in a quick movement, tossed her over my shoulder, and charged down another tunnel, feeling the wind of a huge hand swiping just a few inches behind me. Maybe I was getting better at navigating these tunnels… although, if I was, shouldn't I have found my way out by now? Anyway, by some stroke of luck, and probably because I was so small, I actually got away from that krahm. I wriggled my way through a tight corridor and gently set the fish girl on the floor in the next open spot. Then I eyed the soup bowl. Why had I even grabbed it? Clearly there was something wrong with that food… The girl made a soft noise and I looked down at her again. She was breathing. Long, deep, peaceful breaths, with a little smile even. She didn't look sick, or like she was dying. I glanced around the cavern. There was only one way in and out, and no krahm was going to make it through there. I shrugged, and wolfed down what was left of the food. It was cold by now, but after so long with nothing… it tasted amazing. The drowsiness hit when I was eating the last handful. I set the bowl down, curled up a little ways away from the girl, and let it take me.

#nabikio tiz lucard #sifni #silen fah #snippets #nabsif