Characters: Mal, Jade
Rating: B

Disclaimer: The author makes no claim to owning the rights of anything to do with Terry Pratchett or Discworld.

Waking Up
by Amazon Syren

The first thing I notice is coffee.
The sharp, bitter taste in my mouth, and the relief it brings.

I can hear the whistle and chirp of forest birds somewhere, and the air is the cool damp of home, not the thick humidity of the steaming jungle I'd been trapped in for days.

I remember getting hit on the head with something heavy, and before that I remember the hunger roaring up inside me — it wasn't dead, no matter how much we pretend it is, the hunger never dies, it only sleeps for a while — I remember it waking up, feeling my teeth lengthening and wanting, wanting to sink them into someone.

Polly! I remember trying to grab her, telling her to get away, to get Igorina. Oh, gods, what happened to her?

I shake myself awake, sitting up. Everything's a bit blurry. Maybe that's just me. There's straw under my fingers... I'm back in the broken down house we were in yesterday.

I guess they brought me back.

I wasn't expecting that.

Huh.

Somebody cared about me.

"Dat you, Mal?"

I turn my head. Carborund— no, Jade. Jade is sitting in the corner, her tree-trunk club across her knees.

"I said, dat you?"

"Yeah," I tell her, "yeah. I'm fine. I'm back." I rub my face, absently. I feel like I haven't slept in a week. My head's still spinning and I can feel myself shaking. "Just a bit dizzy still, is all."

I look around the room. Crumbling plaster on the walls, an empty hearth. Not much in the way of furniture. We're the only ones here...

"Where's everyone else?"

"Dey went up to da keep—"

"What??" I'm on my feet in a moment, though I have to put a hand out to steady myself. "Are they insane?? They'll get killed!"

"Maybe," says Jade, "Maybe not. Dey were dressed as washer-women."

Keep cool, keep cool, I tell myself. They're more on the ball about this stuff than Blouse ever was. They'll be all right. She'll be all right. Slowly, I sink back to the floor. There's a bag of coffee beans lying in the straw. Ah. Maybe that's what hit me. Maybe that's why I'm so jittery.

"I stayed behind to keep an eye on you," says Jade. She grins her diamond grin. "Thought I might stick out a bit down dere. Didn't wanna blow dere cover."

I grin back, hoping I don't look sick. "I can see how that might have been a problem."

"You still wanna bite someone?" Jade asks.

I suppress a shudder. Always. "Nope," I say, shaking my head. I finger the bag of beans by my hand. "But I could kill for a cup of coffee."