Gentle rocking woke her. Opening eyes, crusted with tears, she found herself staring up at the creature's head and a natural, rough stone ceiling. Powerful arms held her, holding her buttocks in one hand and her shoulders in the other. Every movement sent a fresh spike of pain through her, but it was lessened with the spikes missing.
On the air, she smelled sulfur and heated steam. Resting her head back, she watched the world in front of her, lit by the creature's stomach. From her view, it appeared to be a series of hot springs and pools of water. Some of them were gently releasing steam, while others were boiling with heat. The sight of the heated water started her shivering and the creature held her closer against its slick skin.
(Soon. Most of these are too hot for you.)
Lumbering forward, it stopped at a large pool with a few wisps of steam rising up into the air. Stepping into the pool, the creature gently lowered her into the hot water. Sarisin whimpered against the heat, but it quickly cooled down as her icy skin warmed up. A long gasp, rattling in her dry throat, escaped as she slumped in the water. The creature released her legs, to let them float in the water. Bringing a handful of water to her lips, it gently let her lap at the water. The water tasted strongly of sulfur, but to her it felt like ambrosia as it dribbled down her throat.
(Slowly. Otherwise you will choke.)
Sarisin slowly lapped at the water, tasting the musty water and the creature's skin. For a brief moment, she felt embarrassed, lapping like a dog, but the creature was right and she was dehydrated. The creature stayed with her, waist-deep in water, and held her until she felt more aware. Deep rumbling echoed from her stomach and she realized that she was starving. The creature's lip lifted slightly, a smile.
(Wait here. I will bring food. Is meat acceptable?)
She could sense that the creature was masking or preventing her from gaining any more information about the source of food, but the thought of eating spiked her hunger. Nodding slowly, she braced herself with her one good arm against the edge of the pool and let herself float. Without waves, it took little effort to prevent her arm or leg from moving. Delicately, the creature crawled out of the water and padded away, its body steaming from the hot water of the spring.
To her surprise, the creature came back after only a few moments, a large hunk of unrecognizable meat in its steaming hand. Squatting on the edge of the water, it handed it to her. It was hot, hotter than the water she was in and she winced but held on to it. After the meat cooled slightly, she took a hesitant bite. It had a rich taste to it, even boiled. To her surprise, she found it more than good enough to eat and quickly finished it off.
Gasping, she looked up at the milky eyes, “More?”
(Wait. If you eat too much, it will hurt.)
Sarisin sighed, but understood. She looked down at her body, covered in soaked leather armor and floating in a spring. The absurdity of it caught her attention and she chuckled before wincing from the pain it brought to her shoulder.
She floated in the water, her stomach spasming from the sudden intake of food. After a few hours, the creature brought more food and helped her lap some water from its palm. She briefly considered drinking directly from the water, but the thought of turning with her shoulder sent a phantom pain through her body. So, she forced herself to lick the creature's palm for water.
It felt like endless hours, with the creature watching her every moment. Her eyes started to flutter with exhaustion and the creature reached into the water to hold her up. Unable to speak, she let herself drift into sleep.