Note - This chapter mentions several countries and is not intended to criticize, mock, or otherwise insult them or anyone who lives in them. I tried to go through each country with little detail to prevent this.



The message hung in the air for a few seconds before the deer took in the reality - they were going to leave their sanctuary. None could believe that the Twin Gods had abandoned them, but they could not speak up.

Magnet nodded, "It's settled then.", he said to Silent and Laruna. The deer slowly began to group up, finding the pictograms they knew so they could walk together. Some of the others began to call out in random directions, attracting any other deer to the area, letting all who weren't present know that something was going on...and that they would be left behind if they didn't come.

Quad closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that any of this was the Twin Gods' doing, but he, too, wondered if they had any part in the events that led to seven deaths in the Forest. Something touched him on the side, and he opened his eyes and saw Christine petting him. She seemed a little scared. He nuzzled her and told her what was discussed.

"Don't worry about the deer.", he said to her, "They know not to hurt you. Besides, you've got me here, I won't let any of them harm you." He looked around for Creek, who had vanished into the crowd. About that time a few of his friends came out of the crowd - Scape, Quamar, Rev. Jelly, and Trois. The five discussed the situation in the deer language, Quad occasionally turning to Christine and letting her know what they said.

"I don't like this...", Scape continued the conversation, "Where are we going to go?" "Let's hope somewhere nice.", Trois replied. Quamar shook his head, "I don't think there's going to be anywhere like the Endless Forest. I fear the worst in this..." "Oh don't be so sad, old chap!", Rev. Jelly said, "This will be an adventure!" "Adventure...", Trois mumbled, "I don't see how you can be so positive about this." Quad shook his head, "We just need to look forward. There's got to be something out there for us. If all else, the Humans could help us."

There was a short silence after he said this. Scape finally spoke up, "I hope you're right, Quad. Though I'm a little nervous about meeting the Humans...", he shook his head, "After all the horror stories I've heard that they do to deer..." "No.", Quad replied quickly, "They won't harm us while we have Christine." The deer all looked to the human child. "They are protective of their young, aren't they?", Rev. Jelly questioned. "I believe so.", Trois answered. "Well, then...", Quamar began, "We protect her at all costs." "Agreed.", Scape said. "Yes.", Trois answered. "Jolly good!", Rev. Jelly said.

Quad nodded. Protect her at all costs.

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

And thus the March of the Deer began. The deer began to group up - most walked with who they knew, but others grouped based on what Human language they could speak. The deer moved to the edge of the Forest, where the Elders opened the portal to the rest of the world. They walked through a few at a time, until all had passed through.

The Forest, for the first time, was deserted.

The deer passed the parts of the Forest that Quad and his friends ventured through before. They stopped at a nearby pond to drink, relieved to see the water was cool and clean. Many of them were already missing the old Pond in the Endless Forest.

Afterwards, they pressed on, walking for hours. The mood was suprisingly cheery, as the deer reminisced about their favorite memories in the Forest. Some deer were depressed, not of the events of the Forest, but rather that they were afraid their faith in the Twin Gods was dimishing. Those deer kept silent and treaded the path without question, uncertain where they were going like everyone else.

After a while, Christine's feet began to hurt. She wanted to keep going, but the hike was too much for her. Quad saw this and immediately bent down. "Here, ride on my back.", he said. The girl did so without hesitation, and Quad stood and walked calmly. He tried to make the ride pleasant for her, and she held onto his red antlers for balance.

Christine said something he didn't expect to hear, "You're not like any of the other deer." Quad smiled, "I'm sure there are many others just like me.", he replied. The girl shook her head, "You're so different, so understanding. I don't know what would have happened to me if you didn't find me.", she said. Quad was flattered by the comments, and he didn't answer but kept the thoughts to himself.

A few of Quad's friends came up to him during the walk. "Hey Quad, everyone's been talking about their favorite memories from the Forest. Did you have one?", Saan asked. The stag gave a slight nod, and told the story. "There was one day that a bunch of us were near the Playground. We suddenly saw a strange glowing orb flying around. Many of the others exclaimed that it was one of the Twin Gods. We followed the orb around until it brought us to the great rock in the middle of the Playground. Well, we were all standing up there when something flew over us, a great metal bird...", Quad said, when Jen nodded and asked, "Much like the one we found just a while ago?" "Yes! The thing glimmered in the sunlight and had a strange sound.", Quad replied. He mimicked the sound, "Skreeee!", he said. The deer gave a chuckle as he continued, "We thought it was the Twin Gods' doing, but of course we know now that it's something human-built. Still, the timing was perfect...", he continued. The story went on for a while, all of the deer remembering the place they didn't think they'd see again.

The deer walked on.

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

It was nighttime, and the fireflies illuminated the area just slightly. The deer found a nice open place for them all to sleep. A few stood watch over them, while the rest slumbered, exhausted from the walk. Christine slept silently next to Mazey and a few others. Quad had sat near her, but he wasn't tired, so he stood and stepped over them.

He was a little hungry, so he sniffed around and found some mushrooms in the darkness. As he bent down, he noticed something glowing before him.

Two eyes were watching him, glowing bright orange. Quad didn't move, glaring back at the eyes. He wasn't afraid, but rather a little startled to see them there.

"Hello again, Quad.", the eyes said. He recognized the voice. "Irontalon.", he replied, and he lifted his head in relief. The eyes moved toward him, the body of the Coyote Leader appearing. "The perimeter is secure. Your friends don't have to worry about keeping watch if they want to sleep.", Irontalon immediately said. Quad nodded, "I'll let them know.", he replied.

Irontalon then questioned what was going on. Quad explained about the happenings in the Forest, the deaths, and the supposed abandonment of the Twin Gods. The coyote shook his head, "It's a shame it had to come to this. Your Forest was very well protected.", he said. "Yes, and from what I know nothing like this has ever happened. It kind of came as a shock to some of the deer when the first ones died.", Quad replied.

The coyote noticed the human child. "So there was a survivor. We saw the metal bird fall from the sky.", he said. Quad nodded again, "She's very smart and brave. We're taking her back to the Humans, because it's been a little difficult to keep her in the Forest." "I agree, that is the best solution.", the coyote replied. He then saw Mazey sleeping next to the human, "Is that the fawn that was out here before?", Irontalon questioned. Quad nodded once more, "She's grown into a beautiful doe." The coyote grinned, "Oooh, I see. You're in love." Quad tilted his head, "What? How do you...?", he began, then shook his head and sighed, "She doesn't know that I'm interested yet..." The coyote grinned even more, "Well, when the time is right, you need to take her. If you don't act soon, another might snatch her up.", he said. Quad laughed. He was getting romance lessons from a coyote.

"Thank you for the help. I know the deer keeping watch will be happy to sleep.", he said. The coyote nodded, "I owe you, remember?", and he darted away. Quad returned to the group and let those awake know what was going on, and that there was nothing to be afraid of tonight.

The guards trusted him on this, since he had walked this path before, and they rested. Quad yawned and laid down next to Christine. He took one last glance at her before falling asleep.

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

The deer could not count how many times they saw the sun rise and set on the journey. They decided to take turns leading the march, switching out when one deer could not understand the language of the area, and another could. The deer were remarkably well fit to travel, stopping only for brief moments to rest before continuing. They would not realize how far they travelled.

They walked for hundreds of miles, eventually finding themselves treading a thick rainforest. Some of the local humans saw them, wanting to attack, but a few of the deer could understand their languages and explained what was going on. The humans didn't understand it all, but allowed them safe passage, and told them where they were - The Congo of Africa.

They went through many of the African nations. From Chad, Niger, Mali, and Algeria, the humans were talking about it. It was strange to them. The deer were strange, but none would attack them. Were they that different? Were they revered or respected? The deer would never know.

The deer continued into Morocco, where they were stopped by a military force there. Cato stepped forward and explained the situation in arabic. The conversation went on for ten minutes before the military finally stepped aside and let them pass. The deer were beginning to grow thirsty from treading the desert, and some of the locals were happy to give them water to drink before they moved on.

They crossed the Strait of Gibraltar by waterwalking, making it into Spain. There, Emiva led them through the streets. The humans watched them in awe, none getting in their way or stopping them from passing through. Emiva spoke with a few of them to let them know what was going on.

The world began to hear of the march when they crossed into France. Squeegie spoke to one human who asked questions about them. They didn't realize that they were being recorded, their march broadcast locally. They were taken to the United Kingdom, led by Aeros, who convinced many of the humans nearby to give them food. The news spread even faster.

By the time they got to Germany, the entirety of Europe knew of the march of the deer. News reports were all over the televisions. The humans were told not to approach the deer, but they did anyway, petting them and giving them food and water before the deer marched on. The streets of Germany were confusing to tread at first, but after Scape got directions, the deer were on their way into Poland. They moved through various terrains, including mountainous paths, lakesides, and desert regions. Finally making it into a forest area, the deer spoke with the roe deer in the area, who spread the word to the animal kingdom in the area. Lacey was directed to move north from the Polish humans, and they continued into Sweden.

They felt the climate begin to grow cooler. The terrain was smoother, and the deer saw old monuments that looked suprisingly similar to those of the Endless Forest. They went through Sweden without any confrontations and then into Norway. Syltar led them, encountering some humans, but they were fortunate to tread the landscape rather than the local cities. They didn't realize they were being followed by humans curious about their march, though they continued north. Soon they were alone, as the humans dared not to follow them farther north. The temperature continued to drop with each mile they went, until they were treading through thick snow. There they met the local wildlife, caribou, who showed them their ways and led them through the arctic tundra.

They were finally led into Finland, where Quamar took over the lead of the deer. They travelled south, finding populations that were eager to learn about them. The humans exchanged information with him, and they learned that most of the world knew about the march. They carried on, being fed and guided to the Russian border.

For the longest they were not seen travelling through the area. They stuck close to the border, travelling mostly during the night as they had become very weary from the travel. Soon they found themselves near the Georgia border. Ephra took the lead, speaking with the Georgians and finding out where they should travel next. They took refuge in the plains, eating what vegitation they could find before returning to the Russian border. Yorres led the way, learning a little but leading them northeast past the major cities. They travelled through the dense forests and the plains of Siberia. They marched through, disappearing from the newscasts once again.

Finally they were spotted in Alaska. Nome reported the location of the deer, as they marched through the frontier toward the Canadian border. They continued through the terrain, not stopping except to feed on the little foliage.

They soon went south, discovering that they had travelled far into Canada. Mazey led the way, speaking to the locals, who told them to continue into the United States. It was suggested that they bring their march to the United Nations, where they could discuss their reasons for the march with represenatives from the world rather than having to travel the entire world. Mazey nodded, and guided the deer on.

They passed north of the Great Lakes before heading down through Toronto. They finally cleared the border, where Quad took the lead. He led the deer through the streets of New York, asking for directions to the United Nations. All looked at him especially because of the little girl who rode on his back. The deer followed close behind, hopeful that the situation could be resolved soon, and that a home could be found.

The whole world was talking about the March of the Deer.

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

"Reports indicate that they have come from the African wilderness, though they claim they hail from a hidden forest..."

"Sie nennen sich selbst die Rehe aus dem Wald Endless, ein Ort goverened durch eine Hohe Behörde namens 'The Twin Götter'."

"Non vi è ancora alcuna explaination per questo che hanno fatto il giro del mondo ..."

"Ma loro hanno detto locali lungo il percorso che stanno cercando un nuovo santuario, una nuova casa."

"Les cerfs ont maintenant rendu à New York, où ils prévoyaient de prendre la parole avec l'Organisation des Nations Unies sur la question."

"Joten nyt kaikki voimme tehdä, on odotettava ja katsottava, mitä he haluavat ja mitä tulee tapahtumaan."

"Vamos a esperar lo mejor, en estos tiempos de necesidad ..."

(Reports indicate that they have come from the African wilderness, though they claim they hail from a hidden forest. They call themselves the deer from the Endless Forest, a place goverened by a high authority called "The Twin Gods". There is still no explaination for why they have travelled the world... But they have told locals along the way that they are looking for a new sanctuary, a new home. The deer have now travelled to New York City, where they plan to speak with the United Nations on the matter. So for now, all we can do is wait and see what they want and what will happen. Let's hope for the best, in these times of need...)

Over 30 deer seperated from the main group, all being able to speak the various languages. The rest stayed behind, watching as they entered the United Nations. The humans inside already knew of the deer's arrival, and they stopped their meeting when they walked in.

Quad stepped forward, "We're here to discuss the events leading to the destruction of our Forest, the search for a new home, and the search for the family of this human child.", he said.

To Be Continued...