Closed Highland Hunt

Colin just let Sophia hug him.

She hadn't run away, which was a good thing. Colin had been expecting the worst from everyone, but so far everyone seemed pretty cool with him being a --- he said the word firmly to himself --- werewolf. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all? Everything he'd ever read about werewolves before made them out to be monsters that, until the invention of wolfsbane potion, rendered the sufferer of lycanthropy mad and ravening beasts for a few days a month. Sufferers used to be locked up during the Change by their families. Some anyway. Others were simply hunted down and exterminated. Some ran wild.

They embraced for a while and then even after she released him, she still held him by the arm as she stood by his side. She asked him what he was thinking about. He was glad she did

"Why aren't you scared, Soph? I mean, I --- I'm a monster. A controlled one, but still. What if I forget to take my potion, or what if I get away from the --- er --- the place we get sent to during the Change? Why isn't anyone really scared? You're not. Quinn's not. Even Red Charlie is only a little worried. I've expected all of you to throw things at me or chase me away or just run away yourselves. I could hurt any one of you! When I get older, I could ---"

Colin couldn't bring himself to say the word even.

"I guess I'm wondering why it seems so easy for you to accept what I am when the monster inside me terrifies me with what I can do. And what I would do if any you ever got in my way. And of course. Um." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Eyes of Sky," he said almost mournfully. "I really like her. A lot. I'd like to say 'I'll never hurt you,' but. Well, the truth is, Soph, if she likes me back, the truth is we'd have to be super careful. We'd be Beauty and the Beast. And not the muggle ones, either, but the real ones! She'd have to --- I'd have --- She deserves better than a beast."

Colin bent over to retrieve his discarded shirt, and he absentmindedly brushed off the debris and twigs that had clung to it. He looked at Sophia for a moment and dropped his shirt on the ground again. "Here, sis. You might as well take a good look. In case you ever have to --- um --- in case --- so you can --- identify ---" He turned slightly so she could see in the light better. "Look here." He traced the two arches of teeth marks. "These are his top teeth here, on the front of my chest, and those are his bottom ones here on my side. He raked his claws across my belly and --- " he turned again and bent his body so that his hair would fall clear of his shoulders "--- across my back & shoulders." He straightened up and gave her a bright smile. "And look at this! Ciarán had it made for me." He showed Sophia the werewolf fang that hung from a thick cord round his neck. "Upper right fang. I'd knocked it out of his face during our fight! My sister found it later." He touched it to the scar on his chest and let Sophia hold it.

When she asked him if he wanted to go get some breakfast, Colin's eyes light up. "Yeah! I'm still starving! That horrid chicken of yours stole my breakfast, remember!?" He said that with a genuine laugh. The prospect of something in the Great Hall was rather enticing after their adventure together!

Interacting: @Sophia Nelson || Mentioning: @Quinn Root | @Charlie Grace | @Jarael Morningstar || Open to interaction with other friends (or enemies)!

Sophia thought carefully about why she wasn't scared. She knew instinctively why the thought that Colin wasn't a werewolf, but to put it to words was a seemingly impossible task.

Was it because her muggle mind hardly understood the actual concept of real werewolves, as opposed to the ones she'd seen in movies and television shows? That was possible, but even so, the thought of a bloodthirsty Skyrim-esque werewolf just wasn't compatible with her image of Colin. There was no way he could be like that.

Was it because she had genuine faith in the wizarding society she'd seen so far to protect people - including herself, and Colin too - from the transformation? No, not really. If she'd learned anything from her time at Hogwarts, especially in History of Magic, it was that wizards weren't always very smart, and death and dismemberment was fairly common for them. If anything, she didn't trust wizards to treat Colin fairly because of his malady.

"I, uh, I'm not sure," she said carefully, but honestly. "But, I guess it's 'cause monsters aren't as simple as that. When I was a little girl, my dad let me watch a movie with him. There was this character whose dad was the villain of the film - oh shoot! You're not supposed to know that. Darn it. Just, uh, forget it, in case we watch it together one day!"

She cleared her throat and gave her head a little shake to wake herself up a bit better. Early mornings weren't her strong point. "Anyway, the villain was very bad. He killed people, and choked them, and did all kinds of mean things, but the main character, whose name was Luke by the way, had the same power as the villain. He had this one scene where he, like, had a vision of himself cutting the bad guy's head off and saw himself in the villain's mask!"

She dropped her head onto Colin's shoulder and wrapped her arm around him in another hug.

"What I'm trying to get at, is that Luke had the ability to be a monster like the villain, but he didn't become a villain because it was his choice!"

She looked into Colin's eyes and smiled,"Whether it's Mordred, or Darth Vader, or, I dunno, the Green Goblin, or any bad guy or monster you can think of, there's always a choice involved, and I know you'd never make the choice to hurt anyone. You say it's out of your control, but I don't believe that. You're a kind person, Colin, and you'd never hurt someone."

Sophia winced as Colin showed her the scars in detail. She'd seen them before, but to see them in such excruciating detail, with Colin explaining each slash and bite, was painful, and she hadn't even experienced the attack. She let her finger trace along the scars once more, memorizing them, but not for the reasons Colin wanted.

She wouldn't let anything happen to him that would require 'identifying' him, but if he could share even a little of his turmoil and pain with her by showing her his scars, she would gladly take the pain from his hands. She held the fang necklace between her fingers and grinned mischievously at Colin.

"You guys sure put up a fight, huh?"

She took Colin's hand in her own once more and led him to the castle for their promised meal.

"Her name's Amelia, by the way," she said, and, as if on cue, Amelia swept back low and landed gently on her shoulder, cooing softly. Sophia laughed at her feathered friend and gave her a light pet with her empty hand.

@Colin McCoire