Talem and Delarn danced close together, his arm around her waist and his green eyes dancing with amusement. The music swelled and fell like springtime, and she felt absolutely light and pleased as they circled the vast and empty ballroom.
"I never would have guessed you knew how to dance like this," he told her with a smile.
"I learned from my mother," she answered. "It must have been ages ago."
"Is that true?" he replied. "I took you for a natural."
"I am rather natural on my feet," she said.

The young wizard, Ronvile was there, standing at the edge of the dancefloor with a grin on his face as he watched them. Despite how loud the music was, Delarn could hear him clearly. "Why do you resist? Why don't you give in to what you want? We both know that you don't still love her, so why don't you eat that cub of yours and forget."

"Ignore him, dear. This is our time. It's not about him, and your past means nothing to me if you want it to mean nothing to you," Talem told her. "Do what's best for you."

He pulled her in close and hugged her tightly against him, and she cried. She was so afraid of losing him if she had to move on. What if he didn't like her after she had to leave?

Ray woke up and rubbed tears out of his eyes. He felt confused and wondered briefly why he was still having strange dreams as he got up and washed his face, though the feeling of wanting to cry persisted. The longer he was awake, the calmer he felt. He got the potion and drank it down, sitting on the bed until she was back to being a woman. She was meeting Talem today to see if they could find the being that had attacked her, and they had agreed the night before that they would stay out as late as it would take. They had considered going out the night before, but Talem insisted that it would be best to start fresh the next day and that he was tired. Talem had changed back soon after getting back to his room. Ray wanted to stay a man a bit longer.

"I must admit I can't quite understand it, but I respect that you do have that need," Talem told him with a smile. Talem hugged him, and he let him. It was awkward, and he didn't know what to do as his face scraped Talem's cheek, but Talem didn't seem to mind. "Have a good night, Ray, and I'll see you in the morning."

"See you in the morning," Ray had answered with an awkward smile. Despite not knowing how to hug, Ray found that he liked that Talem wanted to hug him.

Delarn rubbed her face, got up and got dressed before heading down to the library. Talem was more than a bit late. Something in her gut had told her he would be, and it didn't bother her all that much as she sat there and read. She was aware that he was the type of person that slept in, and she definitely wasn't. She didn't think she could if she wanted to.

"Ah, Relarn, Delarn," he said chuckling a bit to cover himself, "I'm so sorry I'm so late. I hope you weren't waiting too long for me."

"No, not really," she answered. "I haven't been here too long." It had been a couple of hours.

"Then it all worked out," he said with a grin, his straight white teeth flashing. She noticed the basket in his hand. "I knew you would probably want something to eat this morning, and perhaps you've already got that for yourself, but I thought a nice picnic wouldn't hurt."

"A what?" Delarn answered.

"Surely you know what picnics are?" He replied, his hand on his hip, his other holding the basket aloft.

"I mean I think I've heard of them, but I didn't think people actually did that sort of thing," Delarn replied, trying to keep a straight face.

"Of course people do that sort of thing. You and I are going to do it today," Talem answered with a grin, taking her hand and ushering her to her feet. "What were you reading?"
"Just a story about a unicorn and a faun," she answered as retrieved the book and tucked it under her arm.

"Leisure reading? Quite an admirable hobby," Talem teased. "I'm sure if you've gotten that far into a book such as this one you might like to share it with someone."

"There aren't many people that actually read stories when they're recommended to them, and especially not like this one," Delarn answered.
"Well, you may as well give it a shot just so you can't say you didn't try. I would read it if you told me about it," Talem joked as they walked.

They went south of the city, moving quietly and cheerfully through the hostile ogre lands, avoiding places where they might run into ogres. Once they found a suitably safe place, they set out the picnic basket, smoothing out the blanket and sitting together. Talem laughed, sharp stones and branches felt through the blanket, and Delarn found it somewhat amusing as they ate the bread, meat, and fruit he brought for them. She leaned against him to ease the pressure of what was under them and thought nothing of it.

"Do you really think we're going to find him out here? If anything he's probably somewhere between Ardougne and Yanille," she commented.

"Perhaps, but you'll always find something that'll surprise you if you look for things where you didn't expect them," he replied, smiling at her. He looked away for a moment before he said awkwardly—something that didn't seem quite right from someone as outwardly confident as him, "There's something I've been meaning to ask you, but I don't know how to word it."

"You can ask me anything," she replied without any hesitation, leaning closer.

"I wanted to know about the wolf. The thing you can do. I wanted to know how you do it and perhaps why," he asked her softly, sounding almost apologetic.

She leaned back a bit, appearing almost as if she forgot that he knew about that, or that she had suddenly become unaware of her ability to do that, though that was hardly the case.
"You don't have to answer if it's too personal," he added quickly.

"Well," she replied slowly, thickly, "I don't really know how to answer you is all. It's something that runs in my family. It's something my father could do. I remember stories he used to tell me about our heritage and his homeland, but I grew up in Varrock, and he was the only one that I knew that could do it. I've had dreams about it. I've dreamt of my mother so vividly that you would think I knew her."

"You did not?" He replied. It was his turn to sit forward, his eyebrows raised curiously. "I'm sorry; that's incredibly rude to ask of you."
"No, I really don't get to talk about it a lot. I—I guess I don't mind talking about these sorts of things with you," she replied thoughtfully. "I know that she died soon after giving birth to me. I know that she was a wolf as well and that they came from a country far away from here, over the sea. I know they came from the west. I know more people came with them, but they died one by one before I was born. I know that they have three gods, but the one that is important to our people is Radmund who created our kind. I know that I'm also human and must not forget that."

"You don't change into a wolf in front of people—because of these people that died before you?" Talem asked.
"I suppose that's right. I also feel as if there's a lot of people that wouldn't take it as well as you have. I can't really be a wolf in a society that doesn't care for them and doesn't understand the mentality behind it. I know some people would find it outright disgusting or freakish and I don't want to be known for that," she answered quietly.

"Have you ever wanted to be rid of it?" Talem asked, his tone clearly showing how much of a tragedy he considered that she might. "Have you ever wished that it was gone?"
"Wished it weren't a part of me any longer? Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier that way, but no. The thought of that feels like the same as killing myself without dying. Simply becoming blank. It isn't about being unique, but about it being an important part of my psyche." She gave him a heavy smile, feeling immediately vulnerable and uneasy after saying it. She started to sit up so that she was no longer leaning on him.

"But you don't get to change into a wolf often," he said, leaning in as if to close the gap between them. "I imagine you would like it if you were able to more. Is that too much to guess at?"

She sighed heavily and replied, "Not many people would want to see me that way if push came to shove. People tend to not like it. They treat me differently. They don't understand it. I don't want you to—I mean, it's not important."
"I'm telling you here and now that if it's important to you then it's important to me and I won't make a fuss over it. I won't even mention it again if you don't want me to, but if you really want someone who supports you and supports your kind, then I'm here for you. Would you want to—I don't know? Would you want to be a wolf now, while we're away from the cities?" He asked carefully.

"Is this why you brought us out here?" Delarn said, her voice unreadable at that moment, and he appeared uneasy. It was strange for her to see him nervous.

"No," he answered slowly. "Well, perhaps. It's more of I wanted to spend more time with you. I hope you don't mind. But also, I wanted to give you the room to decide if you wanted to. To be yourself. I don't know. It's fascinating in a way, isn't it?"

"What is?" She replied as if she wasn't quite processing what he was saying.
"How two people can meet each other and suddenly be this close," he answered with a modest smile. "Would you say so?"
Delarn's eyes widened a bit and suddenly filled with a brightness that almost seemed teary. "Yes, it's very nice to feel that way about someone. It's a rare feeling, but I like it." She paused for a moment, looking away shyly, before asking gently, "You really want to see me as a wolf? You're not merely saying it because you're assuming I want to?"

"I would be glad to see you in any form," he told her solemnly.
She gave him a strange smile, not knowing how to take it, before changing to her wolf form. He immediately grinned at her, at her dark red fur, and admired her golden eyes. He reached out to touch her, but paused, remembering what had happened last time he had gotten carried away. This time, however, she stepped forward so that her head rested in the palm of his hand.
He laughed happily and cupped her head gently and rubbed behind her ears. It was an awkward laugh as well, not knowing how to treat her as a wolf, though she considered what he did do to be good enough and not too much.
Everything felt sharper and cleaner to her. She could hear and smell everything, particularly birds alighting and taking flight in the nearby trees. Her ears twitched, and she turned to watch one intently until it flew away and out of sight.
"Come," Talem said, his voice hushed, "shall we see what there is to see?" He stood, and she glanced at the blanket as he started to creep towards the trees, and he noticed the gesture as he looked back at her, waiting for her to take the lead. "That? Don't worry about that. It will be here when we return."