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Feeling the need to stretch his legs, Oz embarked on his first major foray into the forest, having mentally mislaid the brief mention of a 'rabid wolf-girl' by Antony. Quite guilty about not using his camcorder yet, it was strapped across an expansive shoulder in a safe carry bag. What he was going to film was quite a different matter.

After a decent hour of walking and scrambling about the forest, much to the aggrivated protest of his knee, he circled back and found himself at the largest river, leading into the large lake by the village. At least here, he was within running distance of a safe place. He sat himself down on a felled tree, fanning himself with his large palms. He wasn't used to this kind of humidity, at least not for this long a time. He took a swig of the bottled water he brought with him, and was quite reluctant to take that last drop.

Oz was startled into a less zombie-like state and looked at the feminine figure amidst the forest foliage. With a human-like appearance but furry legs, he thought for a minute he'd began to imagine forest nymphs of some sort. He blinked twice and tried to focus, finally picking out Aislinn's features. She still looked...normal!

"Hi Aislinn," he said, a little conscious of her somewhat surprised reaction to his appearance.

The hug was a nice surprise, feeling his arms automatically open up to embrace her. He almost daren't stand up for fear of looking so thug-ish that she'd instantly recoil in horror. But she was doing okay so far. She wasn't afraid that he'd suddenly bite her like a zombie.

"I'm doing about as okay as I can be," he smiled back at her. "Hurt like hell when it all happened and I still have friggin stitches on my knee."

He rolled up the bottoms of his new x-x-l jeans to reveal the area where his old scar had opened back up upon the swelling of muscle. It wasn't as angry and viscious as it had been, and was healing nicely, but it was obvious that it had been damaged again.

"But you're looking good, don't seem to have been taken by the curse yet," he chortled.

"Now come on! Aside from furry legs, thats not a change. I wouldn't have been able to tell if you hadn't told me," he laughed, teasing her in an equally playful manner.

She was taking her changes in a practical manner. Oz only wished there was something he could do to cover up the greyness that made him look so lifeless. Idly, he looked down at his unsheathed camera, fiddling with the buttons out of a need to keep his hands busy.

"You're already starting to feel more like an animal? I don't feel any different..." he began, feeling the topic quite awkward to talk about comfrotably. In his head, he was writhing and squirming. But that cheeky smile soon returned to him.

"Hey, thanks for the support! Maybe I'll be a rhino and gain another big horn," he jested.

Oz smirked at Aislinn playfully, but knew all too well that Antony was the only person...animal...thing on this Island that would be able to judge him. Oh! Maybe he could ask Aislinn about that. It was wrong for him to assume she had already slept with someone, but maybe she liked someone else, someone more advanced than both of them.

"Heh, its alright for some. I know my leg's a pain in the arse, but I dread to think I'm going to lose it," he shuddered, recalling poor Thom.

"Can I ask you somehting...?" he began, seeming a little sheepish.

Oooh, he seriously questioned whether he'd have the energy or desire to take Aislinn up on her offer, had her leg been better. It was this subject that had been troubling him.

"Well...umm...you're still fairly human, right? Have you...how do you feel...err...," he struggled to put into words his dilemna. "Ugh, do you actually...feel attraction...to any of the other Islanders? Like...any of the animal looking ones?"

He looked incredibly uncomfortable trying to say that.

Ugh, that wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. He cringed slightly, but felt he had to correct himself quickly or Aislinn might catch on...as if the absurdity of his question hadn't already been a dead giveaway. Inside, he felt his guts twisting again at the thought of himself and the giant squirrel entwined in love-making.

"Err...yeah, me too. Its a bit weird...since everybody acts just like they were normal...like they were friends or family," he continued, turning the vein of the topic more towards this odd sense of community he had started to feel.

Oz had always feared this loss of humanity. He'd always wondered just how animal he was going to be by the end of it all, and if there was any chance to actually do something about it, even if it meant resorting to pleading with the people in charge.

He chewed his tongue in thought for a few moments, his face a mix of worry and concern before it finally melted away. A change of topic was in order, at least until he could either summon the courage to confess all to Aislinn and ask her advice, or until he had the sense to think about what awaited him on this Island.

"Did you know they have loadsa wild animals here? I didn't think they would...but I guess considering the predator people, they have to eat something I guess," he said, more cheerfully, switching his camcorder into life and flipping out the LCD screen.

He spent a few moments rewinding to a specific point and then held the camera out so Aislinn could view the screen. Playing back, with the muffled sounds of Oz's out-of-breath panting in the bacjground, was a wild boar snuffling about in the undergrowth.