I'll Never See You Again if I Can't Help It

It was her pride, really, that kept her from leaving Noor face-down with her leg stuck in a hole. Fable knew she could feed her, make her strong and hale again, and then she would send her on her way back home. They didn't need to talk about the night of the feast. In fact, after Noor had finished eating the piglet and she'd helped her up, they hadn't really spoken much at all. Fable had simply said: "Come with me." And begun to trudge towards Glowshroom Caverns. From her time on the continent, she knew rare fungi grew deep within the caves that would have some healing properties. Noor's wasted muscles sorely needed any help they could get.

And, selfishly, she wanted to show off. Fable wanted Noor to know exactly what she had given up, every scrap and morsel of delicious food, every last drop of Fable's love and affection. Once she was well enough to make the journey home, that would be the end of it. Maybe then Fable could sleep at night, at least knowing what became of her lover.

What she hadn't accounted for was the earthquakes that happened the first night they had hunkered down in the caves.

Fable had just put out the cooking fire when it began, throwing coals around the floor and causing her to drag Noor towards the cave exit as quickly as they could. Luckily they hadn't made it too far in - she couldn't even bear to think what would have happened if there were in the cavernous depths. Surely the walls would have come down upon them.

By the time they stumbled out into the queer, crimson light, she had lost all sense of time. Was it day? Night? It was impossible to tell beneath the red gaze of what could have been the sun or the moon. Strange, pointed stone spires stretched far above outside of the mouth of the cave. "Oh... oh no," she murmured. The last time something this strange had happened, she had prepared a meal for a strange ghost and he had found her talents sorely lacking. What would become of her now? This didn't seem like something she could cook her way out of.

"Speech"