Esō sits patiently on the stone floor at your feet. Expectant eyes peer out from between the dirty bandages that cover its face.
You take one of the dried fruits in your hand, turning it over a few times. It feels familiar, but you can't place its name. It's a shriveled, lumpy red thing, with a point at one end. The skin feels more like leather than a plant. It's definitely not the most appealing thing, but then again, you can't remember any better foods. You raise it to your mouth to take a bite--
Esō rapidly leaps on top of you, slapping the fruit out of your hand. The spines along its back stand fully erect, but the look in its eyes expresses more confusion than anger. Its panicked pants give way to a disgruntled mumble as it takes the whole bundle of food from you. It sets the sack on the ground, then turns back to face you. It considers you for a long moment, glancing between your eyes, before rapidly slinking off to a bookshelf somewhere behind you. A heavy book is soon set in your lap, this time with a clearly readable cover: A Traveler's Guide to the Western Continent.
Esō settles back onto the ground, ragged wings and tailed tucked around its body. It reminds you of a cat, though you're not entirely certain that you've ever seen a cat, nor if they're an animal that really exists. It hunches over the spread of dried foods and begins to split the leathery red fruits open with its claws. It scoops out a handful of tiny seeds and sprinkles them across the thin strips of dark dried meat.
"Yeah right, like I was supposed to know how to do that..." you groan. "It's not good hospitality to give your guests food that you haven't even bothered preparing on your own. Surely you've got a book on that."
Esō, of course, doesn't hear you.
It finishes preparing your snack and gently extends it to you. The flavor is... not horrible. You've probably eaten worse at some point. Still, the seeds burn your tongue, and the meat seems to melt into a gritty, sand-like texture. After swallowing, the burning sensation only intensifies. You soon feel as if your body is beginning to turn to ash from the inside. In a panic, you attempt to launch yourself from your chair to find any drop of water that creature could be hiding away in this place, but your legs fail you. You meet the cold slate floor face-first. It'll have to be enough, you decide, sticking your tongue out to lick the stone.
It doesn't help. Not a single book in this library could possibly contain the words necessary to describe the pain searing through your mouth and throat. Esō tries to gently approach you, but you swat it away. It grunts. You catch a glimpse of jagged magenta light sparking from its hands. When it approaches you again, you can't find the strength to push it away. It places one hand to your throat, and your senses are completely overwhelmed. The burning in your mouth gives way to the taste of ozone and the feeling of mana crackling along your flesh. Your vision feels too bright. The ground feels too cold. Time feels too slow.
When Esō's electric touch finally pulls back, it leaves you on the ground and instead fetches the tablet, upon which it writes:
"DON'T DO THAT"
"What was I supposed to do?! You just tried to poison me. You..." A sharp exhale passes through your lips. "You can't hear a word I'm saying."
You pull yourself back up into the armchair while Esō leaves to sulk in its nest. If that's all there is to eat in this place, you might just have to die here.
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