A young woman walked through the woods, singing as she did. Her fingers brushed over the ferns, causing them to seem to turn and follow the music with her every motion, not that she paid it any mind. She simply enjoyed the time she spent outside, playing in light summer air. During her travels, she gathered the attention of many a woodland critter… and one many would see as less than savory.
Among the wolves and deer and chipmunks that followed the girl through the woods was a gnoll. Gnolls weren’t known for their good looks, their kindness, their floral scents, or their immaculate singing voices. Most people knew gnolls for their putrid smell, bloodlust, and cackling, crazed, hyena-like laugh that matched the beasts these humanoid hybrids most looked like. However, this gnoll seemed to be solitary, and he seemed quite docile.
The woman walked into a clearing, her song coming to a peak as birds flew to her with vines and berries. She waved a hand at the grass, conjuring up a plant that was sturdy enough to hold the decorations and foods she was offered, until she had a little table surrounded by animal friends, her angelic voice lowering to a light hum.
The gnoll watched on from the shadows, his mouth drooling with hunger as he saw the congregated animals… He didn’t want to scare them, or her, off, but… he was just so hungry, that gnawing, endless hunger of his species eating away at his stomach. As she was biting into the single juiciest apple he’d ever seen, he lost control, running into the clearing, his hands flailing this way and that.
The girl screamed in fear at the sudden outburst, the animals scattering this way and that, tripping up the hungry beast. However, as she watched, he did nothing to harm them, very carefully moving his claws out of the way. He ran up to the table, trying to lean on one of the leaves for support, but it gave out, flopping him down to the ground. He yipped, then snarled as he got up… and slobberingly ate all the strawberries right off the ground.
She looked at her strange guest in curiosity more than anything else. “Hmm… You’re not from around here, are you?” He looked at her sheepishly, his short tail tucked under him… not that it ever did much wagging. “You don’t seem evil, though the elders probably would warn me otherwise.” He winced at her word, and she just smiled warmly. “See… you might be an odd creature, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve some attention. What’s your name?”
“Gux,” he said in a strange, gravelly voice. “Gux Sweatpaw… I… go now.” He turned to go when she hopped down off her stump seat, grabbing onto his matted, dirty fur. He looked at her in fear, like he was about to be set on fire. And, while she probably did have that power, she just looked at him curiously. “You no hurt?”
“Why would I hurt you? You’re just hungry. And… really tall.” He was looking up at about 7 feet of tall, skinny gnoll, and her relatively short frame was quite petite, making her seem all the smaller. Still, her huge brown eyes looked into his speckled yellow ones. “And though you’ve got teeth like a wolf, you’re not eating like one… There a reason for that?”
He winced again, this time at the memory. “Tribe… low on food. Turn on each other… smell everywhere… I run. I no like blood… I no want fight…” He sat down, making a pitiful noise, and though the druid didn’t have any idea what it meant… she figured out soon it was the equivalent of him crying.
She went up to the lanky, balled up body made of matted fur, patting his back and only barely taller than him once he sat down. “There, there Gux… I’m Lily Blossom. And I know it’s scary, but you don’t have to worry about them any more.”
He continued to make that sound, his eyes huge and sad, though he didn’t have the right body parts to cry… The rest of his face was still in a crazed grin… it was almost as though his race was only made to be insane and angry… It made her heart break as he spoke. “No home… No family… So scared, animals not like... No mean to scare, so hungry…”
He looked at her, but she was looking away, her hands glowing green. It took him a few minutes to see what she was doing, but soon the light above darkened, and he watched small vines closing together, weaving into a roof above his head, while more made walls, weaving a little shelter in the clearing. At the end of it, she waved her hands at a few leaves, causing small berries to form. She picked one, offering it to him. “Eat this. Savor it… I want to try something.”
He sniffed the berry, his body wanting meat, but he ate it anyway, immediately happy he did as magical flavor burst through his mouth, flooding his senses with a wonderful, filling sweetness. It was just one tiny berry, but as he sat, he realized, for the first time in his life, he wasn’t hungry. His grin grew huge as he jumped up, arms wide in a hug, but he looked like a crazy monster. Still, despite this, Lily didn’t move, hugging him back. He continued to make that noise, but happy now… whimpering blissfully, it seemed.
She smiled. “Now… I am going to come back tomorrow. If you get hungry while I’m gone, you can have one more berry… that’s it, okay?” Gux nodded, and she smiled brightly. “Good! Feel free to stay here tonight… I have one thing I’d like to check on.” She got ready to skip away when she was stopped by his hands holding her.
“Thank you… You… perfect,” he said, smiling spookily wide… but it was a clearly happy smile.
She returned it. “Thank you! You’re a perfect gentleman yourself… Now, I have to go, but it was nice meeting you, and I’ll see you here tomorrow.”
She waved playfully as she skipped off, leaving Gux in this hut, with all these berries, but the only fruit in his eye was leaving. He watched her go, then sat down under the vines, wondering what secrets she had in store, if only he could be patient.
