Hunger

[Dulcie]

"GRAWNYA!" The name called from the ether, and snapped the old woman away from where she had been sleeping peacefully in her own room. An empty bed was left there and the woman found herself in what appeared to be the forest, though it was hardly the forest as the people of Myrken knew it, the air seemed to shimmer and crackle with magic, as if it was a part of the forest, and yet not a part of the forest.

"I never should have told you my name." She said grumpily as she looked around her surroundings, lifting a hand to fuss at her brilliant red hair, her glittering green gown clinging about her svelte form. She held her walking stick in her other hand, it's runes glowing a bright green. Across from her stood a woman dressed in a tan leather dress, a fiddle in her hand. "I would say it's good to see you again Fiona, but it's not. What if you had Called me when I had been with the humans what then? You have always been so selfish."

Fiona laughed and rolled her eyes at her friend, reaching out to tug on her friends arm, pulling her into what was a reluctant hug.

"Oh you know I wouldn't have Called you if I wasn't absolutely desperate." Fiona said in a placating tone.

Grawnya sighed and patted Fiona's back with an annoyed look before she drew away. "You can't possibly be asking me to do that again. The last time I had to wait a hundred years before the people forgot long enough that the story stopped spreading. They remember things like that you know."

Fiona looked disappointed. "I'm not asking for as much as last time. Just a few.. only a few, I promise. I'm so hungry. Just look at me, I'm wasting away." She took a long breath, looking overly dramatic as she looked back at Grawnya who only seemed to be more annoyed. "You Called Him after all, and let him have his fun. Oh I loved hearing his stories after he was Called back. All those human women. It made me laugh so hard. Please, I won't even take as many as he did I promise."

Grawnya let go of the other woman and shook her head again. "It was an accident. I thought he'd only manage to find one of them. I had no intentions of letting him run amok. I'm lucky that it didn't get me found out. I don't want to leave, there's so many good stories to collect there. Great things that have happened there. I just have to get them to tell me a few more."

Fiona wasn't winning, the more she pressed the more Grawnya seemed to refuse. "Please. Please Grawnya. Just tell my story. I'm so hungry." She paused then, wincing a little before she said her next statement. "I'll owe you a favor."

A favor, well that changed the game altogether. Fiona looked as if she had eaten a bug and Grawnya 's appearance had gone from one of glum distaste to one of intrigue and consideration. Consideration that only lasted a few minutes.

"Done. I will tell your story and you will owe me a favor of my choosing, at the time of my choosing. Now send me back"

Fiona looked delighted and she grabbed Grawnya and pulled her into a hug. "Oh you won't regret it! It's time you moved on from them anyhow. Eventually they'll figure it out you know." She gave the other woman one last squeeze and then whispered a few quiet words, both of them disappearing from the forest then, an old woman returned to her bed.

[Dulcie]

"GRAWNYA!" The Name snapped through the ether, and the she found herself standing in the space between. Her hands smoothed over the glittering emerald green gown that clung to her body as she looked over at the Fiona with a deep glare. The woman who lounged amongst the ghostly tree looked more pale than the last time, thinner, though her fiddle dangled between fingers precariously as she watched Grawnya from where she lay.

"I'm so hungry." Fiona pleaded. "You said that you would tell my story and you haven't yet. I'm STARVING. And you promised! You promised!" She whined, her big green eyes looking back towards Grawnya.

"I promised to tell your story, I didn't promise when." She replied calmly, her hand toying with her walking stick, the runes glowing a bright green.

"You tricked me!" Fiona hollared in the strange etheral place that they lingered in. "You're going to wait until I starve to death!" The sound was absolutely pitiful, the woman's whining and pleading leading Grawnya to shiver a little, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Oh stop being so melodramatic. You aren't going to die. You're my friend you idiot. I'm just not done yet, that's all. You're hardly about to waste away." She said, walking towards the sparkling creek that moved through their almost present forest. She'd spend a minute toying with her hair, looking at her youth and beauty in the reflection.

Fiona sighed, watching the other woman. "I wish my natural shape was beautiful like yours. It takes so much to keep this one up. Come on.. can't you just feed me one? What about that dirty girl that's always following you around. I bet she'd be delicious. Slippery going down with all that grease." The tone between them was casual, as if this were perfectly normal conversation.

"You can't have that one." Grawnya said, turning about as she looked over at Fiona shaking her head. "Besides, she's too old for you. I promise, you'll get to feed. I just need more time. Just a few more stories..."

The woman in the tree snorted. "I wish I fed the way that you feed. It's so easy.. so clean." She seemed to consider it another moment then. "Although not nearly as tasty." Grawnya just rolled her eyes, giving Fiona a look of exasperation.

"Fine. Go back to your pathetic humans. Go." She'd motion with a wave of her hand. "I'll be waiting." She added, finally whispering those quiet words of dismissal, watching as Grawnya disappeared from sight in the time it took her to blink.