He was entirely oblivious to her as the change overtook him; it was impossible to focus on anything at all when the pain wracked his body. Muscle spasms became contractions became contortions. He couldn't continue walking forward — couldn't make his body move in any way he intended — could only endure until it was finished.
The sharp pains dulled to throbbing as Alasdair's body settled back into its human form. He felt dizzy and couldn't see straight, which was normal for the first few moments after a full moon. He reached out towards the nearest object to steady himself as he swayed on his knees. It took a second for him to realize from the course texture of tree bark beneath his hand that he was in the woods somewhere, not in the basement of the Reach. Why hadn't he made it back home before the full moon? He couldn't remember, at least not yet; his head was still pounding from the pain and it was hard to think.
If he wasn't in the Reach then he didn't know where he was. If he didn't know where he was, he didn't know whether he'd hurt anyone last night. Dare blinked at the ground, trying to get his vision back into focus so that he could start tangling with this problem. He'd have to search the area, trace his tracks back to wherever he'd left his clothes and wand, and look out for signs that he'd encountered anyone else. Worse, he'd have to do all of that while naked and sore and possibly injured; he hadn't checked himself over yet for bodily harm, and he wouldn't have noticed the pain yet while his whole body was still throbbing from the transformation.
Then his eyes refocused, and he finally realized he wasn't alone in the woods. An animal was here with him. He knew some animals could run alongside werewolves without being harmed — the hunting dogs at the Reach accompanied them some nights, and the women who'd become animagi always survived unscathed — but that did not mean that he was safe from it, now that he was back in human form.
"Yah," he yelled at the animal, simultaneously reaching to grab whatever he could within reach — a broken branch, in this case — and swinging it towards the creature. He didn't really intend to hurt it... but if the options were to hurt it enough to scare it away or wait for it to decide what to do with him, it was no choice at all. He was defenseless without his wand, so he needed this beast gone while he recuperated from the night he'd just had.
The sharp pains dulled to throbbing as Alasdair's body settled back into its human form. He felt dizzy and couldn't see straight, which was normal for the first few moments after a full moon. He reached out towards the nearest object to steady himself as he swayed on his knees. It took a second for him to realize from the course texture of tree bark beneath his hand that he was in the woods somewhere, not in the basement of the Reach. Why hadn't he made it back home before the full moon? He couldn't remember, at least not yet; his head was still pounding from the pain and it was hard to think.
If he wasn't in the Reach then he didn't know where he was. If he didn't know where he was, he didn't know whether he'd hurt anyone last night. Dare blinked at the ground, trying to get his vision back into focus so that he could start tangling with this problem. He'd have to search the area, trace his tracks back to wherever he'd left his clothes and wand, and look out for signs that he'd encountered anyone else. Worse, he'd have to do all of that while naked and sore and possibly injured; he hadn't checked himself over yet for bodily harm, and he wouldn't have noticed the pain yet while his whole body was still throbbing from the transformation.
Then his eyes refocused, and he finally realized he wasn't alone in the woods. An animal was here with him. He knew some animals could run alongside werewolves without being harmed — the hunting dogs at the Reach accompanied them some nights, and the women who'd become animagi always survived unscathed — but that did not mean that he was safe from it, now that he was back in human form.
"Yah," he yelled at the animal, simultaneously reaching to grab whatever he could within reach — a broken branch, in this case — and swinging it towards the creature. He didn't really intend to hurt it... but if the options were to hurt it enough to scare it away or wait for it to decide what to do with him, it was no choice at all. He was defenseless without his wand, so he needed this beast gone while he recuperated from the night he'd just had.