Rick's eyes did not leave the beast as he quickly asked his question.
"Transform? What would it transform into?"
Whatever it could transform into, he had a feeling he didn't want to find out...on the other hand, it might be a challenge. He liked a good challenge.
He silently cursed at his clothing limitations once more. He couldn't try that last move again. If he was in his usual travel garb, he'd have three daggers, one at his waist, and one hidden up each sleeve. In this hellishly formal dress tunic however the dagger at his belt was the only one he could carry. Well, it was something he was going to have to remedy next time he had to wear something like this.
He had learned his lesson from the first dagger however. Whatever this thing was, it was very agile, and could sidestep most attacks. But Rick had a feeling that he could nail it into the dirt if it tried to get close, no matter how fast it tried to be. After all, he was armed with the Vrainen light-cavalry weapon of choice at the moment, and his speed with such a weapon was unmatched. The key factor in Rick's mind was that he knew they would need to force a reaction out of the creature before it did something dangerous, such as transforming. But before he tried to end a battle against a foe he did not know, it would be best to know what it was capable of. If only for future reference.
The key, in his mind, was knowing what the thing could transform into. As he waited for an answer, he would very slowly, very cautiously moved forward. With any luck, the creature would be teased into striking...and he would cut it down.
Now, it all depended on the creature's mettle...and the stranger's answer.
Edited by: The Duelist at: 4/11/03 2:19:07 pm