"Come on!", the fawn called to his friend. He raced with another fawn, laughing and bounding. The other was slightly out of breath, but followed close behind.

The two ran in the twilight toward the Playground. "Come on! Come on!", the first called again. He wore the whistling mask for a while, and could not wait to become a stag. His pictogram read "Trunks". The other was a fawn with a strange name that Trunks could not pronounce.

The Playground was oddly empty. Normally there would be some deer who had already settled down by now. The other fawn saw this and stopped. There was something wrong.

Trunks slid to a halt a few feet away, looking back. "What's the matter? We're almost there!", he called out. The fawn backed away, "This doesn't seem right...", she said.

"Oh don't be chicken!", Trunks laughed, "What could be wrong with the Playground?" He turned and continued on, leaping onto the great boulder with one jump. He looked around - the place did seem a little creepy. Glancing back, he saw the other fawn running away. He tilted his head, "What's up with her?", he said to himself.

There was a strange smell in the air. The fawn felt his eyes become heavy, his body suddenly became weak. His legs felt like they turned to goo, and he collapsed on the boulder. The fawn couldn't breathe, and making short, painful breaths, he tried to call out for help, but his voice was gone.

He slowly closed his eyes, and would never open them again.

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

"I don't understand it.", Emiva said, shaking her head, "How could he just die like that?" The doe, who wore the real-deer mask with the stubby doe antlers along with the antelope pelt, shook her head. Another doe had a similar appearance, though she wore a pelt with a red stripe that went down her side - Isis. "They found him like that this morning.", Isis said. A third doe, wearing the same mask and antlers but with the butterfly pelt, also shook her head - Tabii. "He was so young. Fawns aren't supposed to die like this.", she said.

In the morning light, the trio of does stood around the corpse of the fawn, who had been brought there by a stag earlier that discovered him. They stood before the Twin Gods statue, all three does looking down at the body. None of them really knew the fawn, but their eyes watered in sadness anyway.

A stag came up. He was a brown stag who wore the crying mask and short black antlers, with a pictogram above his head that read "Todd". "What's going on?", he questioned the does. Isis looked back, "A fawn died this morning, at the Playground." "I knew it!", Todd exclaimed, "I knew that human child was going to start killing deer!"

"What? How could you jump to a conclusion like that?", Tabii questioned. "Come on, it's a human! Humans kill deer!", the stag said, feeling proud that he thought he solved a mystery. Emiva shook her head, "No, by the looks of it, this fawn died of natural causes. I don't see any marks on him from a struggle.", she observed. "Does it matter how the fawn died? We need to get rid of that human before more deer die!", Todd exclaimed.

"Hold on. This needs to be investigated before anything happens.", Isis said. "That's right.", Tabii agreed. The stag shook his head, "You'll be dead by then...", he said, turning and running off. The trio of does tilted their heads almost in unison. "There is something odd about all this...", Emiva said. Tabii looked to her, "Don't let him get to you. We don't know how this fawn died yet.", she said. Isis nodded, "It's best to wait and see what happens."

They looked down at the fawn again. He lay there, almost looking like he was asleep. They would have been convinced that he was, had it not been for his body being so cold and still. "Poor Trunks...", Tabii said. "Poor Trunks...", Emiva and Isis repeated.

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

Quad awoke abruptly. He sat up, looking at the girl for a moment. She was still asleep, hugging her deer plush and breathing heavily. The stag relaxed - he had woken up the same way every morning, fearful that the girl would be dead or missing. He stood and stretched, walking out of the Old Oak to breathe in the fresh air.

He stood at the entrance for the moment, letting his eyes adjust to the light, when a voice came from next to the tree, "So you let a human into our Forest..." His blood went cold, as he turned to see Creek standing there. "She came on her own.", Quad replied. Creek had a stern look on his face, "What stops me from ending her life? You?", he suddenly questioned. "Please don't do this, Father. She has done nothing wrong.", Quad pleaded.

"Well...", Creek began, "after hearing that a fawn died this morning, I'm not so sure." "A fawn died? Who was it?", Quad questioned eagerly. "His name was Trunks. No one really knew him that well, but it does not matter, he is dead now, and the rumors have already spread that your human may be to blame.", Creek explained. Quad shook his head, "She was with me the whole night. I would have heard her leave the Old Oak.", he said.

He hoped his father would believe him. Creek sighed, "Maybe so...", he began to say. Quad interrupted him, "Please father, please just talk to her for a moment. She has a good heart.", he asked him. The father hesitated, but then stepped forward, walking past Quad and entering the Old Oak. Quad followed behind, watching as the girl woke and said, "Good Morning.", to Creek.

The great stag hesitated, clearing his throat before replying, "Good morning, little one..." He, too, could speak her language.

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

After Creek and Christine had what Quad would consider a pleasant conversation, he made his way to the pond when a familiar voice spoke out to him, "Quad!" He stopped and looked as Emiva rushed to him. Turning and bowing, Quad asked, "What's up?" The doe smiled and said, "¿Sabía usted que todos los ciervos pueden hablar un idioma diferente?"

Quad tilted his head, "I...don't understand." Emiva smiled, "Okay, so you're not one of mine. Anyway, every deer can speak a different language. We've realized that each language is a different one the Humans can speak.", she said. Quad nodded, "Oh, how interesting. My father and I can speak a certain one."

He cleared his throat, speaking in English, "It is this language, the one the human girl speaks." Emiva nodded, "I've heard that one before, though I don't know what you just said." "It's the language the human girl can speak. She calls it 'english'", Quad said in the deer language.

"We all just found out about this, too!", Emiva continued, "There are many different languages that can be spoken. I've only found a few that can understand the one I speak." "How do you suppose this happened?", Quad questioned. "That's easy - the Twin Gods gave us these abilities, though we all thought it was some kind of special thing we each could do.", Emiva replied.

So that's not my 'shaman power', then..., Quad thought. He had become a little curious as to what he could do, despite refusing to know before. "That makes sense. I'm sure this will have some role in the future, perhaps with our relations with the Humans.", Quad replied. Emiva nodded, "I agree."

She bowed, "I need to go.", she said, and turning, she looked back and said, "Adiós!" Quad smiled, "Goodbye!", he said in English, and the two went their own ways.

Quad continued towards the pond. Upon his approach, he noticed the water looked a little different...a little more murky. He shrugged and bent his head down to drink.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you.", a voice came from behind. It startled Quad, and he lifted his head and looked around. Demon Gazelle sat under a nearby willow tree. "Hello fath...", Quad began, stopping and shaking his head, "Demon..." He was speaking to his adoptive father, and could not address him as his father anymore. Quad continued, "Is there something wrong with the pond?" "Look for yourself.", Demon replied.

Quad looked back at the pond. He did think it looked a little odd, and upon a closer look, he noticed the fish that normally swam the waters were belly-up on the surface. "The fish are dead?!", Quad questioned. "Yes. The pond has been tainted.", Demon replied. Quad took a few steps back - he nearly drank the water. "What has happened to it?", he questioned his adoptive father. Demon shook his head, "Noone knows for sure. We've already had three drink the water and perish from it.", he said.

"Perish? More deer have died today?", Quad asked. "Yes.", Demon said, looking in one direction. Quad glanced where Demon was looking, and was shocked to see three bodies laying on a nearby hill, all three lifeless. "Two fawns and a stag.", Demon said, "And another stag died at the Playground aside from the fawn called Trunks." "So that's five already.", Quad said. He sighed, "There's something going on around here..."

"Quad, there is a gathering at the Twin Gods' statue. You will be wise to take your human there, as she is not safe anymore.", Demon said. "From who?", Quad questioned. "Everyone, everything.", the old stag replied, "The deer will begin to suspect her, and the Forest is killing without reason."

Quad nodded. He bowed and ran back to the Old Oak.

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

He smelled something odd upon his approach. Something smelled unpleasant, musty...

His heart sank. Fire!, he thought. His hooves picked up faster, racing to the Old Oak. Upon his arrival, he stopped, a cold wave going down his spine as he looked in horror.

The Old Oak was ablaze!

"Christine?!", Quad called. No answer. His adrenaline rushed as he raced inside. The heat scorched his fur, the thick bellowing smoke filling the inside. "Are you in here?!", Quad called, "Christine!!" His eyes were tearing up, he turned and threw himself out of the Old Oak. He hit the ground hard, scratching the surface to get away from the flames. His lungs were filled with the smoke, and he coughed and hacked violently to clear them.

He looked back, the reality setting in that the human may be dead.

"Quad!", a voice came from nowhere. Quad looked to see Christine with Creek. A rush of relief filled the young stag, as he picked himself up and ran to them. He immediately nuzzled the little girl, "Oh thank the Twin Gods! I thought I lost you!", he said over and over.

"Creek saved my life!", the girl replied. Quad looked to his father, "How did the Oak catch on fire?" Creek shook his head, "No one saw anything unusual...it just happened suddenly."

The trio looked back. The Old Oak, one of the places the deer considered a sacred part of the Forest, was burning to ash.

-=|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|=-

"The pond is undrinkable. We've already lost a few deer there.", Demon said to the crowd at the Twin Gods' statue. "And we already know about the Playground. What about the Ruins, are they safe?", one of the Forest Elders, Magnet, questioned. A doe shook her head, "No. There are tremors, though very small, that is making the Ruins collapse. Two have died there from things falling on their heads."

Magnet sighed, looking over to the other two elders. Silent was there, along with one of the newer elders, Laruna. "Seven...seven deer have died today.", Silent counted. Magnet looked back to the crowd, "And what of the Old Oak?"

"It's on fire.", Quad called. He, Creek, and Christine arrived just in time to tell them all. "No deaths.", Creek added. The crowd began to chatter, many of them loved the Old Oak, and were horrified to hear that it was burning.

Laruna shook his head, "The Forest isn't safe anymore.", he said. A few deer called from the crowd, "Ask the Twin Gods! Surely this isn't their doing?" Silent turned to the statues, closing his eyes and began to pray to the Gods. The crowd waited anxiously. Silent's head shook, looking back to them all, "They are not speaking."

"The Twin Gods have abandoned us!", several deer began to cry. "Now now, let's not jump to conclusions. There must be a reasonable explaination for all of this.", Magnet said to them. "The human! The human is trying to kill us!", others began to call.

All heads turned to Quad and Christine. Quad immediately stepped infront of Christine, protecting her, "It's not her!", he yelled, "She couldn't have done all of this!" "Kill the human!", the deer kept on going, and the crowd began to move toward them. Creek moved next to the girl, and he lowered his antlers against the crowd, "You lay a hoof on her and I will rip you to shreds!", he spat.

"Silence!", Laruna's voice boomed over them all.

The crowd looked back in a stunned manner. "Where has the human been since she has arrived here?", Silent questioned Creek. "With myself or Quad.", the old stag replied. Magnet shook his head, "A youngling like that could not produce such destructive things as fire or poisonous waters, not to mention tremors." "The girl is not to blame.", Laruna said to them all, "She is of use to us anyway. None will touch her except for his guardians, Quad and Creek."

"So what will we do now? There is nowhere for us to go!", some of the deer began to chatter.

The Elders looked to one another. They knew the answer.

"Everyone get ready...", Magnet called out to them, "We're leaving the Endless Forest!"

To Be Continued...