"Why didn't you kill me, I attacked you." You were under the influence of drink and whatever it was you were taking. You were not in your right mind, but now it's time you got cleaned up. -- BKF
It's nigh universally agreed that there are good and bad ways to return to consciousness. For example - it is very good to awaken in a comfortable bed with the company of one's choice and pleasant smells on the gentle breeze. On the other hand, waking up to the words, "You go through their things while I tie this to their ankles," is very, very bad.
Meel didn't know what to think about being lashed to a bedroll with a bunch of vines. On one hand, they were snugly secure and capable of small movement within the restraint. On the other, they were restrained.
The nearby fire and shockingly large cauldron did not immediately bode well.
Meel froze in fear as a large shadow entered their field of view, heralding an equally large beast that, because ze wore clothes and walked upright, had to be an intelligent creature. Ze looked like a patchwork of beasts. The muzzle of a bear, the paws of a squirrel - if a squirrel had become Dire to match hir bulk - the shell of a tortoise peeked out if hir robe, as did the hooves of a mountain goat. There were antlers, too, bedecked with vines and flowers.
Meel watched, helpless, as the creature methodically chopped plant matter and added it to the pot. Ze waved the steam to hir snout and inhaled deeply. "Hm. Yes. Almost ready." Then, with amazing grace for something so huge and unlikely, ze turned hir attention to Meel.
There was nothing a small and thin Hellkin could do in that situation but soil themself or cry. They had nothing inside to soil themself with. They barely had enough inside them to shed more than a few tears.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Meel bleated. "I couldn't stop it, I tried, I really tried, I couldn't--"
Immense paws gently soothed Meel's hair away from their eyes. A soft, mosslike kerchief appeared to dry their tears. "There now. There now," the creature singsonged. "Ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh-ssh... I knew you weren't in your right mind at the time, so I merely stopped you causing harm. You've been eating some very bad fungi, and you're lucky to be alive." If they were both clay, this giant monster could make eight of Meel and still have some left over. "You're back to yourself, but it's not over yet."
"You don't wanna eat me, I'm too scrawny and tough..." Meel managed. Maybe they would live up to their name after all.
This amused the creature. "As tough as dandelion fluff. Respectfully, I do not eat intelligent creatures. When I need food, I simply grow it." A vine on hir antlers budded, flowered, and fruited at a gesture. The most beautiful bunch of blueberries that Meel had ever seen.
Meel couldn't help themself. They licked their lips. Their stomach, wakened by the sight, snarled at them both.
"Yes. Good food to chase away the bad." Ze took one at random and ate it. Then offered one to Meel.
It was sweet and good and gone far too soon.
"Not too many at once, little devilborn. You've been hungry far too long for your body to keep a feast. Further... I have to chase the bad influences out of your body." Ze allowed Meel one more blueberry. "That's what the potion is for. It's thorough, but the results are... unpleasant."
Meel remembered that there should be manners. "You know what I am. May I know what you are?"
"I am a Wudzgaad," ze said. "The locals here name me... Urdin." Ze had to think to recall it. "My kind don't hold much stock with names, but I know your kind... do. What thing of import did you name yourself after, hm?"
"Meel," said Meel. "'Cause of how I rarely get one."
Urdin gestured, loosening the vines and letting Meel sit up and stretch. "I thought so. You are now my guest and my patient. And you know what happens to those who are rude to Faekindred."
Meel shook their head. "Never heard of 'em," they said. "Never heard of nothin'."
Urdin doled out a bowl of brew and blew across it. "Then I must begin at the beginning while you sip this slowly. Sip, Breathe in. Swallow. Breathe out. And repeat."
Meel followed instructions.
"In the beginning of all things," began the Wudzgaad, "the great gold dragon swam through a sea of blackness..."
[Photo by Jason Mitrione on Unsplash]
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