Chapter 2 - A Sibling Journey

"Run, Coro! Run!", the father elk cried. The three deer moved swiftly, their legs already beginning to ache. The father, Mica, listened as the feet behind them were gaining ground. "Where were the others?", Oliva, the doe, questioned. "They already knew, they had moved on without us.", Mica replied. "Dad, I can't...", Coro, the fawn began when Mica interrupted him, "No, son! There is no stopping!"

Behind them were three lionesses, a small group that hunted on their own. Jaclyn, the leader, was a golden lioness and a natural decision-maker. The other two, Dominique and Artemis, had grey pelts and followed close behind.

Mica stopped and looked back, "There's no other option. I'll hold them off.", he said. "Mica, no...", Oliva began, but the elk nudged her, "Don't worry about me. Now go." "Dad...", Coro began to say. Mica smiled at him, "Go on, my son. Go and live." The mother and son turned and ran, both looking back one last time at their Mica.

The stag turned and charged at the lionesses. He lowered his head by the time they were in reach, connecting with Dominique and throwing her into a tree. Artemis leapt back, pouncing at him, but the stag was too fast for her, and he rammed into the mid-air lion and forced her to the ground.

Jaclyn had snuck behind the elk and pounced on him, biting at his back. The other two regained their breath and joined in, bringing the deer to his knees. They backed off, and Jaclyn stood before him. "Leave my herd alone...", Mica spat, but the lioness laughed, "When will you ever learn? The lion always gets the deer. Your kind belong to us." "Let's go get the two weak ones.", Dominique began, but Artemis shook her head, "No need. We have enough to eat here."

The lioness leader lowered her head and grasped Mica by the neck. He began to choke, writhing just a little, before he mustered one last sentence, "I will immolate you to the gods!" The stag's eyes closed and his body surrendered, falling limp.

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

A little while had passed. The elk lay broken on the soft ground, his belly torn open and much of the insides devoured. Dominique let out a belch before questioning, "So what was that thing he said? Immo...immol..." "Immolate.", Artemis answered. "Yeah, that. What does that mean?", Dominique asked. "It means to sacrifice, through fire.", Artemis replied.

Jaclyn looked to the sky. "Let's get going. I can smell rain.", she said, and began to wander off. "Right behind you.", Artemis said, following her. "I don't smell any...", Dominique began, when several raindrops penetrated her fur. She shook her head and ran to catch up.

The fallen elk was alone, as the rain began to pick up. A deer-like figure appeared before the corpse, his eyes looking down at the creature with reverence. "Rest now, Mica.", he began, "You did a noble thing today. For that, the Twin Gods will grant your curse."

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

"It has been done.", Magnet said. The other two elders nodded. "So the process will begin shortly.", Fenqua said. "Have the children of Mazey been informed about a meeting?", Silent asked. Magnet looked to him, "Why do you call them as only Mazey's? Have you forgotten about...", but Silent interrupted him, "I will never forget Quad. But since he is no longer with us, there is no need to say his name."

Aeros approached, "Zephyr and Axie will be here in the afternoon." "Good.", Fenqua nodded. "So we will observe for now.", Silent said. The others nodded again, Aeros saying, "The time has almost come..."

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

It was already about midday, and the deer were already walking around the Forest. Zephyr just finished a conversation with her friends when Axie came up, "Hey sis, we're supposed to go talk to the Elders later today." Zephyr nodded, "I was told earlier. I wonder what they need us for.", she said.

Another deer approached them by that time. "Hello, Rutilus.", Axie said. The three deer bowed to one another before Rutilus spoke, "Have either of you seen Pent around?" "No, why?", Zephyr asked. "Well, his mother is looking for him. We've looked all over the Forest, but cannot find the little fawn.", Rutilus explained. Axie tilted his head, "That's odd. I didn't know Pent was wandering around on his own." "He's really not supposed to yet. He's still just a young fawn.", Zephyr said.

Rutilus sighed and said, "Well, we don't want anything to happen to him. If you see him, let me know. He's been getting into trouble lately." The two siblings nodded, and they went their seperate ways. Zephyr looked at Axie, "I wonder why a fawn would act like that. They usually stay with a group when they're still very young like that." Axie shook his head, "I am not sure. The Forest was so scary for me when I was younger. I did not start exploring it until I was older."

The two walked on, eating a small lunch of mushrooms before they began to walk to the Twin Gods hill. Both of their minds pondered what the Elders wanted to talk to them about.

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

"It has come to our attention that the Twin Gods have one more favor to ask of you two.", Silent told the siblings. Axie smiled, "There's nothing Zeph and I can't handle!", he said eagerly.

"Very well. You will depart tomorrow morning, and start your search for an important deer.", Magnet said. Zephyr tilted her head, "A rescue mission?", she asked. "This deer is an oracle. She holds vital information that needs to be relayed.", Aeros replied. "Hmm...", Zephyr began, "What does she look like, and where can we find her?"

"She is a young fawn, with pure white fur. We have been told that she is currently in a snow-covered forest, but that's all we know.", Fenqua said. "You will have to travel through two hostile terrains before you can make it to the forest. A deep swampland will test your strength, and then an abandoned human city will test your nerve.", Aeros said.

"A swamp? I've never seen a swamp before.", Axie said. "This will be a dangerous mission...but it has to be done.", Silent told them, "After all, you two are our best mission team." Zephyr smiled, "Yeah. There's nothing Axie and I can't handle, right Axie?", she asked her brother. He looked up to her worriedly, not responding.

"Very well. Finish anything you need to do today. You will leave early in the morning.", Fenqua told them.

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

The trio of lionesses arrived at their pridelands. The other lions stopped what they were doing and glared at them. "What?", Dominique spat at them as they passed. The other two were silent, their eyes fixed on their alpha male, who stood before them in a rage. "Where were you?", he asked them. "Just out hunting.", Artemis replied. "Hunting? We told you we would hunt during the journey to our new home. You could have been left behind.", the male said, then turned to Jaclyn, "I'm most disappointed in you. You're supposed to be their leader." Jaclyn didn't reply, but lowered her head. Turning his back, the lead male walked off, but turned to them, "We're leaving in the morning.", he said.

Some of the other lions began to chatter. "Those three again. I bet they were hunting those elk.", they could hear them say. Artemis looked to Jaclyn, "Let it go.", she said. One of the cubs came up to them, "Umm...", he began. "What is it, little cub?", Dominique asked. "Well, can you teach me how to hunt?", the cub asked. Artemis smiled, "Of course."

Jaclyn sighed and walked away, leaving her two companions for that moment. She walked to the outskirts of the pridelands, looking deep into the jungle wilderness. "Something isn't right here...", she said to herself.

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

The early morning warmed the Forest just slightly. Axie and Zephyr were up and ready to leave, their mother there to watch them go along with a few others. "They're leaving again? Didn't they just come back from a mission?", Danielle questioned. Jared laughed, "Yeah, but these two have a thirst for adventure. They'll never tire of it."

Mazey nuzzled her two children, "Now Zephyr...", she began, but her daughter interrupted her, "Mom, you don't have to tell me. We've had this talk so many times." The mother smiled, and continued, "I want you two to be safe." Axie looked to her, "We're always safe, mom. Dad's watching over us." "Yes...", Mazey replied, "yes he is."

She nuzzled them once more before stepping back. Zephyr led Axie through the edge of the Forest where they could leave. They heard Danielle, Jared, their mother, and the others call out to them as they passed through the edge of the Endless Forest. It was their way of saying 'good luck'.

Axie looked up to her sister, "Mom seemed sad.", he noticed. "She misses dad as much as we do.", Zephyr replied.

To Be Continued...