Shady

"I'm not hiding." He resisted the urge to shift his weight and instead stood his ground. She could approach if she wanted; he was going to stay trying to seem ...

"Oh, uh, okay." Aeron nodded, still giving her some space. "Good. Glad to hear it."

Aeron bit his knuckle, not sure whether to follow his impulse to go check on her or continue hanging back. He hesitated a long moment then decided on a compromise, ...

Aeron hesitated when he realized there was a woman walking a few dozen yards ahead of him. He wasn't as keen in his human form as he was his beast ...

Aeron wandered out of his den once he was satisfied no one would see him, then started walking towards the very distant town. There was a little diner he liked ...

Aeron was relieved to be back to his human form. He silently got dressed and then padded toward the end of his den, hesitating as he realized he wasn't sure ...

Aeron retreated deeper into his den when he smelled someone approaching and sat silently in the darkness, waiting for the sun to finish setting. He could feel himself shrinking back ...

Aeron hated the daily shifts. But he hated being a beast more. So he scratched at his neck and continued prowling, watching the sunset from within the safety of his ...

It was nearing the afternoon, so Aeron was just waking up in his burrow tucked deep into the woods. His entire body itched, the telltale sign that he was about ...

"Fair." He dipped his head. "A wagon would be good for the shopping, though we won't want to take one for the trip itself. I'd rather be more mobile."

Rek nodded slowly. "We'll just need to be smart about it. Better to lose face than life."

"I don't know," he murmured. "I kind of want to see how the ransom plays out. We can always just bide our time and send someone to seize the money ...

Aeron nodded to her. "Have any of you ever done anything like this before?"

"And you," Rek agreed quietly, dipping his head. "And... yeah. I think it's best to just be peaceable about this. For now, anyhow. I'm not interested in the risk of ...

"Shh!" he shushed her, even though she hadn't been loud. He glanced back over his shoulder, but it didn't sound like anyone was listening. "But... yeah... it's... wow. Crazy seeing ...