Chapter 5 - Snow

The bitter winds howled, a flurry of snow and ice pelting the two weary deer as they continued on. They had been walking for hours, losing the ground to layers of snow and having to take each step carefully so they wouldn't sink into the blanket of white. Axie's eyes felt like they were frozen shut, and he tried to keep up with his sister, who shielded him from most of the storm. Her legs were numb, but she refused to rest...she refused to die here.

Axie cried out to her, "Zephyr! I can't...", but the doe glared at her brother and called in reply, "Yes you can! We're going to make it! Keep going!" The young stag hesitantly took another step, but his legs gave in and he collapsed into the snow. Zephyr turned to see her brother curling up, his eyes slowly closing. "Axie!", she gasped, and hurried to him. Slipping as she approached, she covered him with her body, warming him with her belly. "Axie! Axie!!", Zephyr cried. Her brother looked up at her, shivering and gasping for air. "Just let me rest...", he began, but his sister shook her head, "Come on, Axie!" Axie's head slowly sank. He had lost all hope, and began to give into the cold.

"Just leave me, sister. I'm a burden...", Axie said. "No! Axie, no!", Zephyr bent down and nuzzled his face. Axie pressed his face into hers, but said to her, "Just...let me...die..."

The world seemed to go silent for the two of them. Their bodies shivered together, and in that moment, Zephyr thought of her brother, all of the memories they made. She thought of her mother...and how devastated she would be if Zephyr returned alone. She thought about Axie never enjoying the Forest, and what it would be like without him...

"No.", Zephyr refused, "No, come on! Get up!" The doe stood, and driving her snout under Axie's belly, she lifted him up and on his feet. "Come on, Axie! Walk! Walk!!", she cried. Axie's legs stubbornly resisted, but then he began to take each step, aided by his sister. "Keep moving! Keep moving!", Zephyr repeated again and again. The two pressed against the bitter winds, taking each step with more determination than they had ever before. Zephyr pushed her brother on. She refused to let him die.

The two went on like this for a while longer, before the storm finally died down. They made it into a wooded area, and the two moved deeper in where the winds were much lighter. The snow floated softly upon them now, and the two found a spot where they could rest. The siblings huddled together, warming each other as they rested their sore limbs.

Axie would never forget this day...the day Zephyr saved his life...

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

Mazey wandered through the Endless Forest. She stopped and watched some of her fellow does gossip, and others walking with their mates. Letting out a slight sigh, the doe lowered her head and moved on. They never saw her there.

She eventually wandered to the old ruins, a place she had avoided ever since her mate's death. She walked up to Quad's old pillar, and seeing his pictogram etched in the stone reminded her of many fond memories she had with him. She also noticed some odd blue flowers had bloomed around the pillar that she had never seen before. She knew the Twin Gods were protecting him, wherever he had gone.

Mazey sighed once more, "Quad, please let our children be safe...", she prayed. At that moment, a few snowflakes began to fall. She looked up to the sky, and wondered if Quad was giving her a sign. Her eyes started to drift, and she soon relaxed and fell asleep. She had a nice dream about her family, all of them together...all of them happy.

Mazey's eyes opened, and she sat up. She had dozed off for a little while, as a little amount of snow had collected on the top of her fur. She looked back at the pillar, and was shocked at what she saw.

There sat Pent, curled up upon the monument, sleeping quietly. The doe didn't know what to think at first, but then became enraged. "Hey!", she spoke. The fawn did not budge. "Hey!!", she yelled again. Pent's head lifted up, looking at her with sleepy eyes. "Get off of that! That's a monument!", Mazey scolded the fawn.

Pent looked back at the pillar he sat on. "Huh...how'd I get on here?", he questioned. "Go on, get off of it!", Mazey ordered him again. "Alright alright, geez.", Pent replied and hopped down, stretching and yawning.

The doe felt hurt, "How could you do such a thing?", she questioned. "I just wanted a comfortable place to sleep...", Pent began to explain, but shook his head and walked off. Mazey felt her eyes tear a little. She felt insulted that a fawn would sleep on her mate's grave.

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

Zephyr's eyes opened. She knew something was wrong, but couldn't place the problem. The doe sat up and looked around. "Axie...Axie!", she gasped, but her brother was nowhere to be found. She stood abruptly and looked around for him. "Axie!", she cried.

Nothing, her voice echoed through the snowy forest and then everything fell silent. She looked at her feet to see a set of hoofprints walking away from her. "Axie, where did you go?", she cried again, and began to follow the prints. She ran as fast as she could to catch her brother. The tracks continued on for a while, but then slowly disappeared. She stopped and looked for them, but could not find them again, and then realized she was lost.

The doe called out one last time, "Axie!!"

A twig snapped nearby. Zephyr's heart rose, and turning her head toward the sound, she expected to see her brother there...

But instead something else approached her. The deer quickly backed up in surprise, as a golden lioness walked toward her, snarling and gazing deep into her eyes. "I'm tired of this chase.", Jaclyn said to the deer, "You've lived long enough."

"You're...", Zephyr replied, "the lion I saw at those human ruins." The lioness chuckled, "So you did see me. No matter, this ends here.", she said back. Zephyr shook her head, "What do you want with me?", she began to ask, but then quickly questioned, "What have you done with my brother?"

Jaclyn stopped for the moment, "I never saw him. He probably died somewhere." "So you knew? You knew he was hurt.", Zephyr's eyes became infuriated as she spoke this. "Face it, he wasn't going to live. Either he'd die from that leg, or I would have put him out of his misery.", the lioness replied.

Zephyr at once ran at the lion. She lowered her head in an attempt to ram the lion, but the predator was too quick for her, and jumped out of the way to avoid her. Zephyr, not looking where she was going, rammed into a tree and collapsed in a daze. Her eyes went blurry as she could see the lion approach and shove her to the ground.

Jaclyn's paw thrust into the doe's throat, choking the deer while the lion said to her, "Goodbye, you pitiful thing." Zephyr slowly felt her body go numb, until...

BANG!!

To Be Continued...