Ravensway sat near the bottom of Kabe's usual haunting grounds. Nothing but forest; not a place for attractive people. He liked being where people flourished, where women flaunted themselves to passerby and men laughed. Where alcohol priced cheap. Here, the only things that moved were the trees and the wildlife, and while those were all well and nice, they did not appeal to his personal interests.
Be that as it may, this wooded area proved to be the only growing grounds for a particular rare flower he had need of. He didn't know its name, just that women liked it. When he bore the beautiful, vivid purple flower on his breast, the women drew near to him like hungry bees, all ready to harvest his sweet, male "nectar."
The only problem was that he had no idea where to look. It grew randomly this time of year, sparse, and never in the same spot as the last time he'd picked it. He searched every nook and cranny, every space where the sun split through the canopy of trees overhead.
Nothing.
Something did catch his attention the further he wandered, though. Old bear tracks. These grounds seemed to be the stomping grounds to a local bear.
Maybe I'll run into it, he thought, trudging along. It might prove interesting. He'd only come across a few bears in his lifetime, mainly for purposes of wanting to know what one looked like in order to transform into one himself. Never seen a Ravensway bear. Might prove usefu--
Kabe halted in his tracks, brows high up on his forehead. Up ahead, right against a tall tree, lay a naked woman.
Was he seeing things? Had thinking of beautiful women sparked his imagination beyond its usual limits?
Pulling his hair out of his face, he continued forward, making a beeline for his new target. When he stood over her, he took in all that he could of this strange but most definitely appealing sight.
Hair the color of fawn fanned around her pale face. Her arms wrapped around her upper torso, shielding her chest from view, but the rest of her--the rest of her was stark naked and pale as moonlight. Shivers wracked her body, even though the temperature of the day hit well enough over warm.
"Hello, little fawn," he said as he knelt down. "What brings you to the middle of the woods? It's dangerous to be lying naked out here in the trees. There are bears around here." His eyes traveled over the slash marks in the bark of the tree above her.