| Loam steps out of Carradene's place, thinking about that poet's line
from one of his favorite plays, and nearly runs into Fred.
Fred us standing there, hands on hips. His tail is thrashing back and forth. Loam gets the distinct feeling that he is agitated about something. Alicia is standing nearby. While she's clearly not as wound up as Fred, she also looks anxious about something, also. "Loam, could we talk to you quickly?" Alicia asks in a calm voice. "I don't think this is the right time . . . ." Loam begins. Fred cuts him off with an impatient wave of his hand. "Loam, it's a good half hour before the sun sets." Fred says impatiently. "This will only take as long as you make it." Loam looks back and forth between the two foxes. Neither look like they're going to budge. Alicia has been a close friend of his, despite the fact that she used to be a princess. Fred . . . . well, Loam wasn't sure what to think about him any more. Back in the days before his becoming a werewolf, Loam's brother had been attacked by a wild boar. Fred's brother and father had come across Enrico, still alive. They'd laugh at his pleas for help, and had gone off after the deer that they were hunting. Enrico had died, and Loam had latter learned of what had really happened. He'd come to hate the D'Honaire House . . . . but here was a D'Honaire who'd saved him from certain death. And not just for showing off to Alicia either. She'd been VERY adamant about THAT. Even though Alicia had obviously gotten feelings for this new guy . . . . maybe Loam shouldn't be so judgemental. However, he was still feeling the shame of becoming prey . . . "Very well." hurmphed Loam, walking over to a nearby tree, away from Carradene's house. "Let's get it over with, already!" "Why were you so near the Foresaken hunting grounds, Loam?" Alicia asks. "What were you and Sheridan doing? You KNOW that it's dangerous out there! "I should ask you the same question, but I know that you'd just lost track of what was going on around you." grumps Loam. He sees that the foxes are waiting patiently. "Alright, I was trying to find out about the rumors about the pirate treasure!" Loam mutters. "I thought that if I could get proof positive about rumors of a pirate ship actually burying it's treasure near Foresaken territory . . . . I could get the Council to move to go and investigate! It is absolutely INSANE that we let the Foresaken stay around, unchecked! I mean, I know that the two day window....." Loam looks abash at he almost revealed. "The two day window as to whether or not a new were-creature keeps his humanity permanently, or loses it permanently to the beast within?" Fred asks evenly. "Oh, don't look so surprised, you've got to remember that I've got the ears of a fox, not a human, any more! I heard what a few of the villagers said, while I was stomping around . . . . looking for Alicia!" The other two look at Fred in surprise. "You're sure taking the news well." quipes Loam. "Why aren't you worried about going to the Foresaken?!" "Legends say . . . that if a man bitten by a lycanthrope, can keep the beast at bay if he keeps his loved ones nearby!" Fred says embarassed. "I . . . . heard it from the local bard. While we seem to be a different breed of lycanthrope . . . only able to have an anthropomorphic animal shape or full animal form . . . . I think that applies here, also." Alicia feels herself blushing when it sinks in as who Fred's "loved one" is. Loam chuckles a little bit. "I think he's got you there, Alicia." Loam chuckles at Alicia's discomfort. "And there's more than a smidgen of truth about that." Alicia mutters something scatalogical, then Fred hurmphs. "Oh, and one more thing, Loam." Fred says, remembering the look of shame that Loam had when he admitted to having let the Foresaken getting the jump on him. It was a matter of lost pride. "Did I ever tell you about how, even after years of training . . . . " Fred then tells how he lost to a town brawler at a local tavern. He makes sure Loam knows how shamed he felt, losing to a man who hadn't gone through the training he had . . . . and still beaten him. He ends up and tells him, that it turns out that the "brawler" turned out to be a three belt holder at the local arena. "There's always somebody better out there, Loam." Fred says, right before running off with Alicia. "It isn't fair, but it's life." Loam then rushes off to his own "family." It's almost too late right now, and he already feels a fog creeping into his mind, but Loam gets a feeling that Fred was trying to get at Loam's situation. Deeper thought will have to be for tomorrow. Tonight . . . . the moon's calling.
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