Warning - has a little violence



The President of the General Assembly was calm. He replied to the stag, "Yes, well. We will allow you to speak your mind if you can do it in a civilized manner." Quad nodded, "Our represenatives are prepared to speak to yours in the languages they know." The President nodded, "Then you may speak."

Quad looked back at the others, and told them what to do. They dispersed, speaking to each human before finding one that could understand their language. They each had the same message to say, though the conversations would be a little different for each. Squeegie spoke with the French represenative on their travels through France. Loofa had a conversation with the represenative of Italy. Cato spoke with Morocco, thanking them for the safe passage through their country. Lihl talked to the Nepal, speaking with great respect. Lacey met with Poland while Yorres spoke with Russia, both with questions regarding the landscape. Laruna had a pleasant conversation with the represenative of India. Quamar and Syltar spoke with the Finland and Norway represenatives, questioning them about the caribou they met. Scape spoke with Germany on the matters at hand. Toukan talked to Japan, learning that deer lived there with the Humans. Rev. Jelly had a wonderful conversation with the Mexican represenative about their country and culture. Trois spoke to New Zealand while Miss Tuna spoke to Australia, neither finding any information about the landscape. Radeon talked to the represenative of Saudi Arabia about the climate. Mazey met with the Canadian represenative, finding information about the northern frontier, while Ephra spoke with the Georgian represenative about their country. Aeros talked to the United Kingdom represenative, complimenting them on the beauty of the nation. Emiva spoke with the represenative of Spain, and Quad spoke with the United States represenative, Christine standing by his side. Many others met with the rest of the represenatives.

All of the deer had convincing arguments. They had all spoken throughout the travels as to what to say to the humans. The meeting impacted every member of the United Nations, and the words were moving and heartfelt. There had to be something done about the world...there had to be changes.

The United States represenative smiled when Christine told him she was from his country. "We know, your parents are waiting outside for you.", he said. Quad looked down to Christine with a smile. "You're going to go home.", Quad said to her. The girl nodded, though inside her heart was heavy. She had learned so much from her deer friend, and did not want to see him leave. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Quad!", she exclaimed. Quad was moved, he also felt a pain within him, but he ignored it and nuzzled her. "Thank you, for...", he couldn't continue the sentence. There was nothing more to be said, as the moment seemed to last forever.

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

Something stirred outside. The deer could hear it, but they were unsure. They did not know that they were being watched from afar.

While several humans stood around them, waiting to hear the news, a small group had positioned themselves where the deer could not see them and were heavily armed. They weren't from any military, but instead were a group from a few of the various nations that thought the deer posed a threat. None expected what was going to happen next.

The meeting inside finally ended, and the deer made their way outside along with the humans. Christine's parents were standing outside, and immediately called out to her when they saw her. As the others passed by, Quad led her to them. She ran and embraced her parents, and Quad smiled, knowing he did something good.

"The red-antlered one no longer has the child. Open fire!", the command was given.

Bang!

The sound echoed through the streets. A panic immediately stirred, as civilians and deer began to ran. Christine looked back, horrified when she saw Quad standing there, a pool of blood dripping from his side.

His back legs collapsed, and he tried to keep himself up. His body was already beginning to go into shock when something appeared before him. He was blinded momentarily as two orbs suddenly formed and became two deer - a golden one and a dark one.

"Stand, Quad. You are not dying.", the dark one said. Quad immediately rose, his strength returning as by some miracle. "Michael! Auriea! You're here!", he exclaimed. "You did well. All of the deer did. Now it is time for us to return to the Endless Forest.", the golden one said. "But, what about...", Quad began, but the golden one interrupted, "The Forest is safe now. The happenings have been fixed."

More gunshots sounded. The dark deer looked back, "We haven't the time. Run, Quad. We will transport you back to the Forest when we can, but we need to get the others there first." Quad nodded, though his wound began to bleed again. He looked back at where Christine and her parents were, but they had fled to safer grounds. He would never see her again.

"Quad, run!", the golden Twin God exclaimed, and Quad obeyed, fleeing to the streets. The Twin Gods looked back at the hundreds of deer before them, and through concentration, they used their divine magic. The deer began to disappear, one by one, as a thick cloud of smoke enveloped them. The sight was amazing, the deer were vanishing rapidly, and the smoke began to distract the shooters.

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

Quad's body began to grow numb. He moved as quickly as he could, but he could feel himself becoming dizzy. He began to collapse when something caught him. "Keep moving, my son!", his father's voice called. Quad snapped into reality, seeing Creek by his side. "Keep moving!", Creek repeated.

The two hurried into a small park. Quad collapsed, his wound bleeding even more now. He couldn't breathe, and began to panic. He could hear it - there were humans all around. "We're surrounded, Father!", he exclaimed. Creek was calm. "Father! We're not going to survive!", Quad cried.

Creek sighed. "No, there is an opening.", he said, looking in one direction, "The humans are not over there. Move quickly and you will make it past them before they get here." "But...", Quad began, but was interrupted by something he didn't expect. His father nuzzled him. "I love you, my boy. You're the world to me, and I want you to live.", Creek said.

Quad couldn't speak, but he found his strength once more. He got up and ran in the direction his father said to go. Quad didn't look back, but he knew his father was watching him run. He had just made it out of the park when he heard another gunshot come from the direction he was going away from. He knew his father had been shot.

He climbed up a steep street. His legs began to give in again, and he collapsed. He could hear the humans coming, but he couldn't move.

Click!

That sound again. His ears perked up, and he knew it was too late.

Quad looked back in time to watch a bullet strike him between the eyes, piercing his mask and entering into his head.

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

"So that was it...", Quad said to himself, "I'm officially dead."

"That all depends on you.", he heard the familiar voices once more. Quad opened his eyes, he was once again in the strange dark place where he always went when he blacked out. However, it was different this time - no longer were the two statues of the Twin Gods floating before him, but Michael and Auriea were there in person. Quad's head gently rest on one of their chests, the other sitting close by. Neither god revealed their pictogram, so he was unsure which was which.

"What do you mean?", Quad questioned. The two spoke in unison, answering him with a question, "Are you ready to know your shaman ability?"

Quad hesitated, he didn't even consider this. He finally replied, "I'm ready."

The Twin Gods smiled in unison, "Do you realize that normal deer do not survive attacks like those you have? Normal deer perish by the human's weapon, yet you have survived it three times. Have you ever questioned why this is?" Quad closed his eyes. His first day alive, he was shot. The first meeting with the humans, shot again. Just now, shot a third time...

"I did find it peculiar.", Quad finally admitted.

The Twin Gods nodded, "You cannot die by any creature or any force of nature in the world except for your own decision."

Quad's heart felt heavy. He could never die? What did it mean?

"Do you mean that...?", he began, but the Twin Gods already knew the answer, "Yes. You may choose the time you die, but until that happens, you are immortal."

He wished he would have known sooner. He was so arrogant, so caught up with being a normal deer. Everything would have been different if he would have known.

"Your friends are waiting for a decision...", the Twin Gods continued. Quad tilted his head, "What decision would that be?", he asked. "The decision is quite simple...are you ready to be dead yet?", the Twin Gods revealed.

Quad closed his eyes. The choice was entirely his.

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

"We lost seven deer from the attack.", Magnet said to a small group at the Ruins. Seven bodies lay before the Elders, and the group of deer were composed of friends and family of the deceased. Magnet began to go down the list of those who were killed, naming them off one by one.

When he got to the last two, his eyes closed. He didn't want to say the names, but he had to. "...Creek, father of one and faithful stag, and finally...", he sighed here, "Quad..."

At that moment, Quad's body began to move slightly. His ears perked up a little, and his eyes opened as he sat up like he had been asleep the whole time. He didn't have a scratch on his body, and even his mask and forehead was normal. This shocked all that were there. They couldn't believe it.

Several of Quad's friends ran to him immediately. Mazey led the bunch, who at once embraced Quad with a series of nuzzles. "Oh Quad, we thought you were dead!", she exclaimed, sobbing. The others joined in - Laruna, Jen, Quamar, and Emiva. All four were crying a little.

Quad was overwhelmed by the sight, and shook his head. "No...", he said.

Mazey looked up to him, not replying but curious as to what he meant by the word. "Please, don't ever cry for me.", Quad said.

"But Quad...", Emiva began, but the stag shook his head again. "There is no need for it. When I die, I don't want any of you to be sad.", he said, "Don't grieve for me. Rather, be happy, live your life every day with your head high. That is what I want, not this sadness."

The deer were speechless. None could say a word of reply. Quad wanted them to understand this, as he stood and left them. He walked over to the corpse of his father, and he rested beside him.

Laruna approached here. "Your father loved you.", he said. Quad nodded, "I know. He had his own way of expressing it, but he told me he did.", he replied. The stag bent down and rested his head on his father's stomach. Creek was still warm, and this calmed Quad's mind and made his remember his father.

At that moment, Creek's body began to glow a bright blue. Small specks of light seemed to leave the body, hovering above for a moment before collecting into one blue orb of light. Quad's head rose as he saw this spectacle, as Creek's body vanished, the orb remained.

It then approached him, moving to his face and entering his head. Soon he could hear his father's voice echo in his mind.

You're the world to me...and I want you to live...

Quad's father was there with him, just like his mother was in his heart. At long last, they were together...forever...

To Be Continued...