Anotherworldly: Volume 1

Hunger

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

He felt the wind on his skin, felt the tickles of a bug crawling up his leg, smelled the woods around him, heard the birdsong. He knew it all like it was a part of him, like he wasn't just a boy sitting in the forest but was the forest, was the trees and the birds and the insects. There was nothing around him that he wasn't a part of, nothing that he didn't depend on in that moment for life, for happiness.

Kienan breathed and focused on nothing but the in and out of air in his lungs, the dry scratching down his throat in the heat of the day. He noticed everything but thought about nothing. He just existed.

The light sensation crawling over his leg fled as the bug flew away, but replacing it was more tickling. They went over his legs, his arms, beneath his shirt, tugging on his shorts. A particularly rude one pulled a strand of hair from his head, and his meditative trance began to break. He shook his head, smiled slightly, and moved his mind back to his breathing.

Harder pulls on his hair, his shirt. Little hands patted over his face, making him crinkle his nose to keep from sneezing. What could have been a wing flitted against his leg, and hair brushed his arm.

At last, he gave up. They wouldn't let him be until he paid attention to them, and the longer he tried to meditate while they were around, the harder it would be. It was only a waiting game in when he would stop trying for the day.

Trying to hide an amused grin and hoping his face looked adequately stern, Kienan opened his eyes and came face to face with a small fairy flying right in front of his nose. He crossed his eyes to look at her and had an almost irresistible urge to swat her, but he knew that would only lead to being bitten or cut in retribution. Instead, he leaned back so he had some breathing room, her sickly sweet scent suddenly assaulting his nostrils in her surprise at his sudden attention, and she thankfully flew away on her own.

"Good afternoon," he said, dropping the act and smiling at them all. An annoyance, they certainly were, but not completely unwelcome. They didn't speak his language and he didn't speak theirs, but they were friends of a sort, so long as he didn't anger them. And they would stick around him day after day until he stopped feeding them. He never would.

The fairies trilled in their song-like language, and one with a small berry in his hands flew up to him, pushing the berry insistently against his mouth. He pressed his lips tightly together and shook his head until he flew off again, dejected. Kienan was only thirteen, but he was well aware of what would happen if he ate fae food.

Behind him, some of the fairies sang, and he chuckled. He knew exactly what it was they were looking for.

Uncrossing his legs and turning around, Kienan pulled the basket he'd brought over to him. His dads had warned him since he was old enough to understand language to always bring food into the forest with him, though they never said what would happen if he didn't, and those warnings proved fruitful time and time again. Gently, he nudged away the fairies on top of the basket and they happily made room.

Kienan paused, looking around at each and every fairy that had entered the clearing since he'd sat down. There were five of them, a larger crowd than normal, and he hoped he'd brought enough to satiate them all. They were so small, but their appetites were enormous, each wanting about as much as Kienan ate in a day. The basket had been horribly heavy to lug all the way out into the woods, but over the years he'd grown accustomed to its weight. His fathers had long since known they would have to cook extra every day.

As he waited, the fairies began to buzz, some of them crossing their arms and glaring at him. He just smiled, enjoying the dramatic buildup of anticipation, until finally he threw back the lid and closed his eyes. He never wanted to see just how they ate.