A/N: Hi everyone! A million thanks to traceybuie and LaurelLeafSinger who take the time to review every single chapter of this story! Thank you so much!
A lighter one again, at least I think so ;)
You guessed right, SecludedEnglishVampire is indeed Alistair ;) Kudos! And the anonymous vampire and the anonymous guard... well, will remain anonymous, I'm afraid ;) Unless I change my mind!
Enjoy, and please review!
Volterra, November 10th, 7.10 pm
Hi vampires! Today I wanted to reflect with you about an important topic. I'm well aware that lots of you have tried animal blood, and I couldn't be happier about it. Congratulations! This lifestyle is etched into my very core, like the rest of my family, and we've already talked about its advantages and drawbacks.
Many of you, after trying, found animal blood strange, but satisfying enough. Not fully, that's impossible, comparing it to human blood, but fulfilling enough. And all of us have our own preferences among the wildlife. My choice animal, just like my beautiful Bella, is mountain lion. My brother GrizzlyBear1915's... is grizzly. Duh. My other brother ConfederatesNeverDie's one is jaguar. FashionPixie's one is black bear. BlondeVenus1915's one is panther.
Everybody will find what they enjoy above all things sooner or later. But there's something, though. As 'trained vegetarians', we don't indulge often in our choice animals, eating tamer herbivores most of the time. Why? Because, as you're aware or maybe not, some of our choice preys are on the endangered species' list.
This list is compiled by the humans, who check the numbers of the wildlife on our planet. Sadly, through hunting, poaching, trafficking, environmental destruction or polluting, some animals are threatened to disappear completely. So we're careful not to deplete endangered animals.
As many of you try this new vegetarian lifestyle, I encourage you to check this list, and be careful about what you hunt. If you're not ready for herbivores, I understand completely. It takes some getting used to. But there are tasty carnivores who aren't endangered that you can hunt easily on all continents.
This was not a lecture, I assure you. I'm just trying to raise awareness on the fragile state of the wildlife around us. If the animals die, the humans die, thus we die along too, vegetarians or not. Thank you for reading.
Edward
From RedCoatsHater, 7.13 pm: Wow, Edward! I'd never given a thought about this before! And my mate is so smug right now, with her 'I told you so's'!
From SparkyMate, 7.14 pm: Well, I told you so, RedCoatsHater! We hunt moose here most of the time. Now you know why! Polar bears are not extinct yet, but they're vulnerable!
From DesertJackal, 7.15 pm: Very interesting topic, EdwardCullen. I didn't know about this list. In our area, I'll be careful not to hunt hirolas or northern bald ibis. Fortunately for us, we have many jackals and fennecs. ;)
From GrizzlyBear1915, 7.16 pm: Lucky me, grizzlies aren't endangered, but I still have to be careful. They're on the watch list. I make do with deer and elks, most of the time. So when I can have a grizzly bear, it's like it's my birthday! ;)
From BlondeVenus1915, 7.18 pm: Then it's your birthday four times a year, GrizzlyBear1915! But it's good that you can enjoy a grizzly from time to time. I love a good panther, but they're classified as vulnerable, so for me it's one every four or five years. And believe me, when I have one I savor it!
From IrishClover, 7.21 pm: We're currently on a worldwide tour with my mate and daughter, and I confess we tried animal blood in India after reading your blog, Edward. IrishPride loved it, whereas my mate wasn't so enthusiastic. I enjoyed it, for my part. But now I'll pay attention to what we hunt. We had tigers, and I've just read that they're in danger of extinction. So we'll focus on more common predators from now on. Thank you for raising awareness about all this, young Edward!
From EdwardCullen, 7.22 pm: That's fantastic news, IrishClover! Kudos for trying, and don't worry, three Indian tigers missing won't put the species in immediate danger. But I'd suggest you have one every two or three years, if you like them. ;)
From USNomad, 7.38 pm: Does it count if you want to have animal blood and end up drinking the poachers wanting to kill it?
From EdwardCullen, 7.39 pm: I'm sorry, USNomad? Could you explain to us what you mean, please?
From USNomad, 7.40 pm: I thought that was clear enough, EdwardCullen. Vampire and vampire's mate go on an upteenth honeymoon in Africa. Vampire's mate sees tasty lions. Vampire's mate wants them. Vampire reluctantly agrees to try. Vampire and vampire's mate stalk lions, only to find that tasty poachers want lions too, for their skin. Vampire can't help himself and drains poachers, while vampire's mate has lion. Vampire has lion too, but thinks lion is tasteless after juicy poachers.
From EdwardCullen, 7.43 pm: Um... Well, you tried, USNomad. And did your mate like her lion?
From USNomad, 7.44 pm: She loved it. As for me, I'll have to try again, sometime. For now, the experiment was a bit spoiled for me.
From EdwardCullen, 7.45 pm: It's the thought that counts, USNomad. You wanted to try, and ended up distracted by the poachers. Nobody here will blame you in the slightest. And you very probably protected a lot of animals from those evil men.
From USNomad, 7.46 pm: My mate gave me hell for the men. I feel a little bit better now, though, thinking that maybe I helped the lions' family surviving longer. But I can't help feeling bad. I wanted to try your lifestyle, and cracked at the first temptation...
From GrizzlyBear1915, 7.47 pm: Believe me when I say that it's perfectly normal to slip in the beginning, USNomad. Very few of us actually gained enough control to abstain from human blood as soon as we decided to. You can't blame yourself.
From ConfederatesNeverDie, 7.48 pm: So true, GrizzlyBear1915. Don't forget, USNomad, that becoming a vegetarian vampire goes against our very nature. It's the opposite of everything we're supposed to be. Conquering our baser instincts require lots of efforts and struggles. I know what I'm talking about. After more than sixty years, I still have a hard time resisting human's blood. Don't be too hard on yourself.
From EdwardCullen, 7.49 pm: If you really want it, USNomad, you'll succeed. But it won't be easy, and you'll probably yield to temptation once or twice. It'll be hard, but don't give up. If you're set on abstaining from killing humans, you'll resist their lure. Be brave! You have all my support!
From USNomad, 7.51 pm: Thanks, all of you. Maybe I'm not as ready as I thought I was. I'll try again, sometime.
From GrizzlyBear1915, 7.52 pm: Go, USNomad!
From USNomadsMate, 7.53 pm: You'll succeed, my love. Don't give up!