She gripped the straw beneath her. The straw…

She was back home. The smell of her mother's cooking filled her nostrils and she felt life returning to her.

She sat up. Sitting next to her brother on the floor, with their ceremoniously long toenails for the world to see, was the Deepfolk. Both were invested in a book before them, and her mother was cooking with an air of awkwardness, occasionally looking back at the two.

Her heartbeat calmed and she could hear the crackle of the small cooking fire and the chatter of her brother and his new bookworm friend.

Stretching and flexing her toes, Salmu stood.

A faint yell just outside - a free spirited laugh. Those would be her other brothers outside.

The Deepfolk looked up at her. “Oh, the little miss is awake! I'm sure she'd like to see this!”

They reached for the book in Sendrin's hands, which was quickly moved out of their reach.

“I'm glad you're alright.” Said Sendrin, with a slight smile of concern. He must really be in good mood, or else trying to hide something. Either or, Salmu didn't have time to debate. Her mother stood before her, brandishing a wooden spoon with an air of disappointment.

Sendrin nudged the Deepfolk and they both quickly scurried outside.

“Befriending Irregulars now, are we? I thought I warned you about Arisers and their humanoid counterparts!”

She narrowed her eyes in challenge.

“You never warned me about so called ‘humanoid counterparts,’ did you now, mum? Besides, you let them into your home, so clearly it ain't so bad!”

Salmu's mother lifted the spoon and hit Salmu across the face. A light spatter of blood landed on the floor as Salmu's nose began to bleed from the impact.

“Don't challenge me. I know what's right for you, and I know how to keep you safe. Take that ungrateful attitude elsewhere! All the years I've spent caring for you, feeding you, housing you, for this? You couldn't live without me. You'd be hopeless.”

Salmu's mother spun. “Look where befriending that thing got you. Collapsed! Unconscious for half a day!”

The Deepfolk’s head popped in through the doorway. “Actually, ma’am, ‘friends’ is a strong word to be using. I don't believe we are on such a familiar basis. And they were precisely unconscious for fourteen hours two minutes, which is more than twelve hours, which is half a day, in the Seirnol standard measurement of time."