Chapter 4 - The Abandoned Ruins

The air was much colder than normal. The winds howled through hollowed structures that haven't been inhabited for years. A small town, once thriving with humans, had long been forgotten. The buildings were crumbling, the windows smashed or boarded up, and several old things sat in the streets, left for reasons unknown. The area had a strange feel, that could only be felt by two shivering creatures who were passing through.

Their hoofs echoed on the broken streets. Zephyr led her brother, who walked slower than normal and was taking deeper breaths. The doe stopped for a moment, "Axie?", she asked. Her brother looked up, "Can we take a break? I'm a little tired." Zephyr gave a slight smile and nodded.

The two found a spot of grass where a small park had been. Axie collapsed on the soft ground, grimacing as he extended one of his back legs. Zephyr sat and observed her brother. His leg had a gash that ran down the side. A small amount of blood had stained his fur, and the skin was darker and slightly bloated than it should be. Zephyr had never noticed that her brother's leg was slowly rotting. "Axie, why didn't you tell me?", she questioned him at once. The young deer sighed, "I thought it would heal along the way. It has only been hurting now...", he replied.

Zephyr at once had a horrible realization...that her brother may not make the journey. She turned her head, looking away from him as she shuddered and closed her eyes. He's going to die..., she thought to herself, and then couldn't help but start to sob. Axie knew that she was crying, and he tried to comfort her, "Sis, it's fine. I'm not in a whole lot of pain...", but he knew it wasn't helping, and her sister shook her head, still looking away.

"I failed to protect you...", she replied to him. "No, no you didn't!", Axie disagreed, "You protected me in the swamps, Zephyr! You've been there for me all along! Don't you ever say you failed me!" The young stag rose to his feet. He grunted just slightly when he stood on the diseased leg, but he ignored the pain and held his head up proudly. "I could never have asked for a better sister!", he assured her.

Zephyr finally looked back at her brother. She immediately embraced him, continuing to sob as she rested her head on Axie's shoulder. "We're a team, Zephyr. The best there is!", Axie whispered to her, "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine." The two deer were inseparable.

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They pressed on. Axie was walking much better now, but he still felt pain with each step on his leg. Zephyr looked to the sky, "It may snow soon.", she said, and then stopped for a moment. She heard something...it was very faint. "Zeph...ea...hur..." She turned to her brother, "Did you say something?" The younger deer shook his head. She shrugged and continued on.

The overcast clouds only added to the bleak surrounding as they continued through the abandoned town. "Is this the way humans are? They leave their homes and move to new places?", Axie began to ponder. "This is the first time I've ever seen such a sad place...", Zephyr replied. The two walked a little further, until Axie said, "I hope the Endless Forest never shares this fate." His sister shook her head, "We'd never leave the Endless Forest. It's our sanctuary." "Yeah...I could not imagine it without the deer there...", Axie said.

Zephyr stopped. Her ears rose as she listened to something she had been following for a while. Axie looked to her, "What is it?", he asked. "We're being followed...", the doe replied. "Followed? By wh...", Axie began when a loud sound broke the silence of the ruins. The young stag jumped and hurried to Zephyr's side. "We need to go. It's not safe here anymore.", she said, and taking one last glance from where the sound came from, she led her brother in the direction they had been heading.

A light snow began to fall...just as Zephyr thought.

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Jaclyn had been walking for days. Her hunger forced her to press on, she knew she would starve if she lingered. She began to see strange structures around, things she had never seen before. "This isn't natural...", the lioness said to herself, "I bet the humans were up to this." She took her first steps on a paved road, and stopping, she sniffed the ground. Deer!, her instincts at once triggered. She knew they weren't far off, and she began to run in the direction of the scent.

A few moments later she caught the first glimpse of them. The lioness slid behind a building and peered from the corner, studying the two creatures eagerly. They sat in a grassy place near the center of the old town, the two conversing to one another. Jaclyn saw the younger was injured. She knew who her target was. But the larger...she could tell it may pose a challenge.

Jaclyn was so used hunting with others that she had to consider the possibility that the older deer could overpower her. She was growing weaker every instant from her hunger, and she could not tell how strong this adult was. The lioness saw the two rise and start to walk off. She crept to another hiding spot, watching them quietly as she tried to formulate a strategy. The two deer began to pick up their pace. She knew she had to keep up with them, but as she took her first few steps to follow, she didn't watch her footing and knocked over an empty garbage can. The thing toppled over and made a loud sound that shattered the silence. The lioness, startled by her own clumsiness, lept back into her hiding spot.

"We need to go. It's not safe anymore.", she heard the older deer say. Jaclyn took a peek and saw the two deer had already moved quickly. The lioness hurried after them, about the time a light snow began to fall.

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

The young fawn's eyes opened once more. Things were slowly becoming clearer for her, and she started to see things...premonitions of the future. She coughed and shivered, burying herself in the warm blanket given to her.

She knew she did not have much time, and closing her eyes, she prayed, "Zephyr...please hurry..."

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

Pent wandered through the Forest, his head up and listening to the area. He had grown bored, and looking around, he wanted company...or at least someone to mess with. Hidden within the willow trees, an adult deer watched the fawn as he made his way toward the pond. Akio was patient - he knew what the plan was. Down a little farther, the three does who had been tracking Pent's movements waited for the fawn to be chased toward them. The three hoped that with Akio's help, they would catch Pent and find out why the fawn was acting the way he was.

Pent could smell Akio nearby. The fawn began to move toward the willow tree. Wait for him..., the stag said to himself. Pent stopped and looked through the willow's branches.

"Come here, you!", Akio roared and bolted out. Pent, startled, ran from the stag, who pursued him and was quickly gaining on him. The fawn was surprisingly agile, and took a sharp turn away from the direction they had planned for him to run. Martisol, Arya, and Flightwood looked out of their hiding spots to see Pent being chased away from them.

The fawn ran back toward the Pond, and jumped off of the ridge and into the water. The stag tried to stop his momentum, but slid off of the land and fell into the Pond.

Akio climbed out, looking for Pent, but the fawn had already escaped.

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

The stag walked to where the three does were hiding. Martisol was the first to appear before him, and she noticed his fur was soaked and dripping, not to mention his set had been washed away.

Flightwood and Arya also came out to see him. "Did you get him?", Arya at once asked. The stag looked at her for a moment, "What do you think?", he sarcastically questioned, and walked off.

"So much for the element of surprise...", Martisol sighed. Pent now knew they were after him. It would be much harder to catch the fawn now.

To Be Continued...