Pox Hodehi Minas Hideho Oliver Hoskuard
WHERE IS POX? -The Nation Cries for an Answer.
Tonight we bring you all exclusive interviews with the people of his town. Our Station: Bringing you news you don't want, about people you don't know, in locations you never heard of, at a time utterly inconvenient for you. Worship us.
"Pox? Sure I know him, I'm his best friend. We knew each other since childhood. Everybody in Villa has been living here since the beginning of time. Villa isn't much of a tourist attraction, as you can see, so we get no foreigners here. Me and Pox, we grew up together. Our houses are just across the street and we're in the same grade and stuff. And then there isn't many people in Villa...Me and Pox, we go fishing a lot. He likes it cause he just sticks the fishing pole in the ground and goes to sleep...it's kind of boring, really...But guess what? We know how to fight. Pox's father was a soldier in Tantania's military for a while and so he taught us how to use swords and stuff. It's really cool. Want me to show you? I'm really good. Everybody says so. My parents think I could be a Paladin or something- I'm that good. The disappearing thing? I'm sure it's not serious. He's only been gone a few days. People are making a big deal of this. He just went hunting. I went last week and caught a deer. A really big one. He sure was fast and fearsome, with huge antlers on his head. Almost a monster, really. But me, I wasn't scared. I hunted him up and down that forest and then we had a barbecue, and it was the best meat ever, and my parents were so proud of me. They said I could become a Ranger or something with my forest skills and all...Anyways, Pox was jealous cause he never caught anything and wanted to be a hero, like me, so he could impress Malaria, this girl he likes. So I told him he should go hunting too because I think I saw a wild boar while I was in the forest, and if he caught that Malaria would be really impressed. And he left about three days ago and is not back yet, so everybody's panicking. But Pox'll be fine. I'm not worried about him. Though I do hope he hurries up because yesterday I caught a fox and nobody really cared cause they're all so worried bout Pox. It was a really big fox. Almost a lion. All gray and sneaky. Has been terrorizing the chickens for months. And then I..." - Dumas (best friend)
"Pox, my poor little boy...oh, I pray every night that he'll be ok and that god will return him to me safe and sound. My little angel, all alone and defenseless in that horrible forest full of predators. He could be hurt...or...or dead." :::weeping::: "My baby! My poor child, what if someone is torturing him? What if he was kidnapped or is being held hostage? Or what if...if he was eaten by animals?" :::weeping::: "He's just a baby, 15...and he could be wounded and dying somewhere in the forest without me by his side. Just 15, that is way to young to go in the forest by himself. But he has always been so brave. He was such a good boy. Everybody loved him. The darling of this town: kind and sweet and smart...and not at all picky either, like so many other kids his age. He ate everything I put on the table in front of him. Wouldn't turn up his nose at anything. Such a healthy appetite. He didn't like chores though, always avoided them and I...and I..." :::weeping::: "I always punished him for it. If I could just do it over again...I would never say a harsh word to him, I would tell him how much I loved him every day...I would...I would..." - Mary Hoskuard (mother)
"You shouldn't have questioned Mary about Pox, you can see the effect it has on her. Women always tend to over-dramatize things. Though I must admit I'm worried. It has been three days and it's just not in his character to wonder off. He's a lazy boy, likes nothing better than to sleep and eat and has no taste for adventure. But he can take care of himself. Pox learned how to wield a sword same time he learned how to crawl, he's got a natural talent, got it from his old man. My boy is fit to be a soldier, not like his friend Dumas across the street, that child is a menace and should not be allowed in a one mile vicinity of anything sharp. Almost killed himself once. But Pox, now there's a chip of the old block, my boy can defend himself, mark my words he can. But orientation, let's just say that's his Achilles' heel. Knowing my boy, I'd say he's lost. He'll be ok, he's a smart boy, I'm confident that he'll come home soon enough. I left home when I was his age to be a soldier and came back here after 10 years of service. Villa doesn't look like much, but it stays in you, hidden somewhere deep and calling you home, like a siren's song, nobody can part with it for long." -James Hoskuard (father)
"Well yes, we did go to last week's square dance together but we are not at all going out. The dance mostly consisted of him stamping all over my feet and crowding around the refreshment table. Of course I hope that the search group finds him and that he'll be all right. We ARE friends. And, to be honest, I do think Pox is sort of cute, but he is just so obtuse, really now, throughout the whole dance he did not once attempt to kiss me. I mean, I can send signal after signal after signal, and no reaction. It's like spending time with a wall. Now if he will not touch me I'll just find someone who will because I'm not really looking for conversation skills in a guy. Not that Pox even has that. Hmph." - Malaria (friend)
"I will be brutally honest: Pox was a horrible student. He was lazy, not to bright, and a constant disturbance. He never listened to my lectures but spent them sleeping...and snoring...loudly. He treated assignments like they didn't exist, never had supplies, never studied a lesson and has never completed a homework assignment. I think the only reason he even went to school was for the lunch. He was fairly good at language study, though. Spoke Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling fluently and could pick up a new language in a matter of minutes. Was decent in PE too. But his math, goodness, he can't do simple addition. And as to his reading and writing skills: despicable. The one time I actually managed to wake him up and forced him to take a test he wrote a sentence of gibberish, and then...then he drew a caricature of me with a donkey's head instead of my own. Awful, just awful." - Nancy Rosette (school teacher)
