Rain... Oh, rain...
The coolness and calm of it washed over me, helping to hide the thoughts of... never mind.
I lay there, my eyes closed, simply enjoying the wet drops sliding down my face and body. I did not really want to wake and stand... I was so tired, both mentally and physically, for I had been running far too much lately, and... never mind.

Something, oh, something is horribly wrong... Please, rain, keep it away...



Even when the fawn approached and lay by me, I took no heed and lay there still.
Perhaps it was comforting to have the young little fawn, innocent and pure, sit by my side.
Alas, soon it trotted off...
Sighing, I heaved myself up, slipping on the wet grass. I listened for any deer of interest - and found miss Cirrus upon the Bridge, alone with tears on her face...

Why do you cry, miss? The sky joins you as you sit alone...



I heard the voices from a group by the Pond... Wudiin, the White Hart, the Stag of the Moon, dead, gone forever. It was shocking... I had met him only once, but he had been kind to me, and he had held a great story upon his tines. Another death... What was happening to this Forest of ours?...
Rest in Peace, White Hart... I thought with sorrow as I gazed at the shimmering Pond... and I turned back to miss Cirrus.

Art thou... art thou lonely?...



All alone she was, and I hated to see one alone. I know loneliness, and it is one of the worst pains...
And I knew that it was not only Wudiin's death that crushed her; her love had gone away for some while... Poor doe...
I gave her a nuzzle, seeking to comfort her, and I took a seat beside her on the Bridge. Together we watched the stream gurgle and flow, embracing the raindrops with ripples...
I stood after a while, and she stood too. I invited her to dance... To dance, to celebrate Sir Wudiin's life. She obliged, much to my joy, and we danced in the rain...

Pitter, patter... Gentle rain, I bid thee grant this doe some joy...



Alas, soon I felt weariness tear at me, and I said my sorrowful goodbyes to Cirrus. Sleep took me, and I was blissful of my worries, even for a while...



When I woke again, I scented a very familiar deer; one called Shyla. Surprised, I leapt up, searching for her in the rain. I saw her, frolicking with a fawn, leaping and hopping about as a minideer.
Jealousy and dejection crashed through me, making me reel from the impact. I struggled to stay upright, to have her see me... She did.
She came over to me, and when I should have been happy, I was not. I was frightened. Why?... Why was I so scared? It had been so long... I had wanted to see her... And now...
Terrified, I fled...
...and came to a dark portion of the Forest.
Shadows lingered here; the lost souls from the Graveyard nearby would hide in the depths of the crooks between trees. I shrank away from the images they sent me... deaths everywhere... the blood, the rage, the tears...



I cried out and reared, but my mind was black, and all I could hear was a nasty little voice inside of me sneering, Oh, look at this, now you're hurting your friends? All you do is run, run, run, and make your dear friends sad. Wasn't killing your parents enough, you wicked little creature?...
I wept and ran.



That's right, that's all I ever do. Hurt others...



Exhausted, I stumbled and fell to the ground, scraping a knee. I stopped, breathless, and lay within the grasses for a moment, glad that the nasty voice was gone. The muted ochres and aquamarines of the Birch Forest were beautiful to my teary eyes...
Shyla. There she was, watching me from afar... Her face was worried and saddened. I felt sharp twinges of guilt and slowly walked towards her.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered from a distance, "I don't know w-what's happening to m-me... It's not b-because of you..."
We bowed at each other nervously, and I crept closer, still afraid... Afraid that she would be angry.
But she was not.



We sat together in the rain... I felt... happy, I suppose...



Thank you, Shyla...



I feel a bit better now...



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