(New Info - When you see "INTERMISSION", it means the chapter is not over, but I'm going to stop and write more later.)



We will give you a second chance at life...
A second chance at life...
A second chance...

The words echoed in the fawn's mind, as the memories of what just happened faded away. He could not remember who he was or where he came from, and it seemed like the first moment he had ever lived. All around him he felt softness and warmth, and his body felt heavy and relaxed as though he had been there for a long time. His eyes were still shut, but he could hear the sounds of crickets chirping, birds overhead, and the distant rush of water.

Slowly he opened his eyes. It was the first time he ever saw true sunlight, and it blinded him immediately. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the world around him. He patiently allowed the light to enter and his vision began to focus. He found himself sitting in a bed of violet flowers, with trees all around him. Sunbeams penetrated the canopy above, and mysterious specks appeared and disappeared before him. He gazed in awe at the second most beautiful thing he had ever seen, the first being his mother.

His ears suddenly caught a brief sound. He listened momentarily and heard it again. A voice in the distance was calling out. Then another, with a different tone in it's voice, replied back. The fawn was not alone in this wonderous place.

He tried to stand, and it took him a moment to balance. His body was somewhat weak, but he stretched his legs out and felt much better. He began to walk toward the direction of the calls. He could hear them getting louder, as well as the rushing water sound becoming increasingly louder too. He passed trees and foliage until he came to an open area, where he saw a remarkable sight.

Deer. Three of them standing near a small river, and they were dancing, laughing, and smiling at one another. He also saw something else about them - they had unusual symbols floating above their heads between their antlers. The fawn was suprised that he could translate the pictograms, yet he did not understand what the words meant.

The trio stopped and turned to face the fawn, bowing to him before returning to their dance. The first was a black and white doe with a strange fur pattern unlike anything the fawn had seen. Her pictogram translated to "Wyvern". The next was a stag with an organic coat with black and various shades of orange and yellow in an intricate pattern. His face seemed very familiar, as if the fawn had seen it before, and his antlers grew downwards and were a darker shade. His pictogram read "Darcy". The last was a stag with a pure white body - no odd antlers or masks, though his face seemed to be glowing. His pictogram read "Path to Home".

The fawn tilted his head. What were these strange deer? And what are those words above their head?, he questioned to himself. One of the deer, the one with "Wyvern" above her head, was the first to speak to the fawn, "What is your name, young one?" The fawn didn't understand, what did she mean by name? He didn't reply. The stag with "Path to Home" asked him, "He does not have a pictogram above his head. Perhaps he prefers to be nameless." The other stag, the one with "Darcy" above his head, shook his head. "All deer should have names. Maybe this one is new." He turned to the fawn, and spoke, "The word above my head is my name. You do not have one. Would you like to be named?"

The fawn hesitated for a moment. He had forgotten how to speak, but he did know how to reply with a "yes" or a "no". He eagerly shook his head. "Who should take him to the Twin Gods?", Wyvern questioned. The Twin Gods...why do I know what that means?, the fawn thought to himself. "Path should, since he's such a devotee.", Darcy suggested. Path laughed and replied, "Nah...I'm not really feeling up to it right now." The other two deer tilted their heads in unison. "Why not?", Darcy questioned. Before Path could reply, a new deer had joined the group - a brown-colored doe with an odd organic mask on her face, as well as green feathers that grew from the back of her head. Her pictogram read just that - "Her". "I'll show the fawn around.", Her volunteered. "Oh we were just volunteering...hey, where did Path go?", Wyvern began to question, looking around. The stag had vanished into almost thin air. Shaking their heads, the two turned to Her. "This fawn needs a name.", Darcy stated. Her smiled and looked to the fawn.

"Come with me.", she said to him, turning and walking in one direction. The fawn followed and walked beside Her. They passed a large body of water, and Her said to the fawn, "This is the Pond. If you ever need to cleanse your body, the waters will do so." The fawn nodded as they continued on. A moment later they passed a large tree, the inside of it seeming to be hollowed out. "This is the Old Oak. It is a place to find tranquility and inner peace, as well as a good place to go when it rains.", she stated. The fawn chuckled. Her smiled, "Oh, so you do have a voice." The fawn used his vocal chords for the first time in the forest, "Y....yes..."

They continued on to an ancient place - a mass of stone and metal that shaped into pillars, tombstones, and walls. "The Ruins. We do not understand where this came from, but it is a favorite location for many deer who wish to seek out it's mystery and wonder.", Her said. The fawn nodded, saying, "I think it looks wonderful..." Her looked to him, "So you already have a favorite place?" The fawn nodded again.

They walked on a bit further. Her pointed her snout toward a mass of boulders. "That is the Playground. Many deer go there to run and play, and often to rest. I'm sure you'll like it there as well.", Her said. They walked a bit further, coming up to a hill. The fawn immediately recognized what was upon the hill - two stone statues, seemingly identical to one another. The two deer stood before it, gazing upon it with high respect. Her only had to speak the name, "The Twin Gods..."

The fawn blacked out. The world around him disappeared, and he fell into silence and darkness. However, he could barely see a glimmer of light in the distance. It grew larger as it moved towards him, until he saw the statues floating before him. They began to speak, two voices, in unison. "When fire falls from the night sky, your journey will begin.", they said. The fawn couldn't speak, and the sentence echoed in his mind, repeating over and over. The statues set down and the world returned, Her reappearing next to him. "Hey. Are you okay?", she questioned. The fawn breathed a short gasp, not moving his face or his eyes, but replying, "The Gods just spoke to me." Her smiled. "They speak to everyone, especially newcomers. This is the place where you name yourself."

Name myself. Name myself. What do I name myself?, the fawn thought. "I...I don't know any names.", he said. "Look deep into your heart - it'll come to you. You only have to speak the name.", Her replied. The fawn closed his eyes, thinking of everything he had heard since he was alive. A rush of sentences went through his mind, things he didn't remember hearing just a moment ago...yet it all seemed so familiar...

Come my son...I cannot protect my newborn...Why are you bleeding...When the rain ends, you must go quickly...Survive...I love you...Hurry get the quad...Look what you did to my quad...Forget the quad...Quad...Quad...Quad...

"Quad.", he spoke.

The Twin Gods statue began to glimmer, creating sparkles of light that surrounded the head of the fawn. He was momentarily blinded, as a light radiated from his antlers for an instant. Then it vanished, and a pictogram hovered above his head.

Her nodded. "Quad. I do not know the origin of the word, but it makes a lovely name.", she said to him. Quad turned to Her and smiled. "I got it from my heart.", he replied.

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

Several days had passed, and the fawn awoke in shock. Panting, he remembered where he was, but for a moment, he believed his nightmare to be real. It was actually a reoccuring nightmare, one he had every night since his arrival to the Forest. A doe bleeding red. The terrible sounds of thunder, and one particular sound - a loud, brief sound, that horrified him the most. He stood from atop a pillar that had been broken at the Ruins. Noone had claimed it for their own, so he made it his resting place for the moment.

He walked in the early morning light, going to the Pond and taking a drink of the water. He a figure from the corner of his eye - a doe, of course. But he paused and looked up. No, it couldn't be!, he thought to himself.

He ran to the doe, colliding with her and rubbing his face upon her chest. "Mother!!", he exclaimed.

It was perhaps the most joyous he had ever been. He thought for sure his mother was dead, and he knew it had to be her - just like in his dreams. He rubbed his cheek on her soft fur, sobbing happily and exclaiming, "Mother!! Mother!! You're alive!!"

The doe was speechless. She had never seen this fawn before, nor could she identify the pictogram floating above his head. Stunned, she held still as the fawn continued his mistaken fantasy. The doe had a simple pictogram that all recognized - "Twenty-One".

A second deer approached the two and was slightly disturbed by the sight. He cleared his throat, making his presence known to the young fawn, who stopped and met eyes with him. He was a handsome stag with slender antlers, a snout identical to the doe's, and an unusual black body with strange, flowery markings in shades of green, as well as an intricate design of bones that went the length of his body on both sides. His pictogram read "Demon Gazelle", though he was often referred to simply as "Demon".

The stag startled Quad. He began to cry and scream furiously, "Get away from my mommy!! You cannot have her!!" Demon tilted his head. "...Mommy?", he questioned, and turned to Twenty-One, "Alright, spill it. What's going on here?" The doe shook her head, "No idea who this is, but he thinks I'm his mother." Quad overheard this and looked up to her - she had every feature that his mother had, though she was a bit more slender of the two. The doe looked down at him with a confused look on her face. "I'm sorry, I'm not your mother.", she revealed to him.

The fawn backed up immediately, wiping the tears from his eyes with one leg and looking at her again. She did indeed look different, plus Quad did not know his mother's name, so the fact that she had a pictogram was a bit more evidence to him that he had made a mistake. Shuddering slightly, he wimpered, "I'm...so sorry..." The doe gave him a sweet smile and bowed to him. "My name is Twenty-One. I see you are named Quad.", she said, and turning slightly towards her mate, she continued, "And this is Demon Gazelle, though you may call him Demon if you please."

Demon gave a slight bow and moved towards the pond, his mate following behind. The sun was higher than before and direct sunlight began to brighten the area. Quad could see the two more clearly now, as the doe turned and invited him to the water. Reluctantly, he walked over, and drinking the cool water, he stared at his own reflection for a moment. The tears from his eyes continued to fall, running down his nose and dripping into the pond. The teardrops splashed and made ripples in the calm waters, as the fawn watched his reflection seperate and distort.

The two adults looked over to him. "This one is different.", Demon stated. Twenty-One nodded, "He must be a new one, though he seems much sadder than the others." She turned to her mate, "Maybe there is something troubling him." "That was my thought as well.", Demon agreed.

The two approached the fawn. He could see their reflections come closer, and looking up, he couldn't help but sob. Twenty-One was the first to speak, "Please don't cry. Your mother should be around here somewhere." Quad sniffled and replied, "I don't know if she is. I've only seen her in my dreams." The two adults glanced at one another in slight confusion before looking back to him. "So you're all alone out here?", Demon questioned. The fawn nodded slightly. The two looked to one another again, thinking the same thing. Demon turned back to Quad, asking him, "Would you like to stay with us for a while?"

Quad's mind raced slightly, but looked to them, smiled, and said, "I'd love to."

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

The trio woke up every morning from underneath a special tree. It was Twenty-One's favorite sleeping place, and Quad found it more comfortable to sleep there than the broken pillar he had found at the Ruins. Still, he did not plan to abandon his spot, but for now, he wanted to spend more time with his new family. The two adults had adopted Quad as their fawn, and despite their strange first encounter, they seemed to be happy together. Quad followed his new parents around, eager to see where they wanted to go.

The trio often went to the Playground, where Twenty-One and Demon enjoyed to sit on the boulders while Quad happily ran upon them and leapt off to the grass below. Other times they walked through the forest, observing the trees and listening to the sounds of birds, insects, and other deer calling out. Quad often found himself being left behind by the two while his attention was focused on something else, like a dove flying over or the fungi that grew on a tree. He would return to reality and dart to catch up with them, and the two adults would smile and question what he was doing.

Twenty-One taught Quad how to obtain spells in the Forest, and how the spell would enchant another deer with a random gift for their look. She explained that this was the Twin-Gods' way for the deer to learn charity and selflessness, to enchant others rather than enchant themselves. Quad often questioned where the Twin-Gods, as well as the Endless Forest, all came from, but she always shook her head and said, "Only the Twin-Gods know those answers."

Later on Demon enlightened Quad with other knowledge - from simple information such as why the sky was blue to more complex and intricate things such as surviving in the wilderness. Demon was very wise, and Quad was very eager to learn and ask questions, but he soon realized that unlike his mate, Demon was easily irritated by questions and often replied with, "Go ask your mother."

Quad grew older every day. He longed for his Stag-Day, as is disappointed him that he could not retain the magic spells that the other deer would give him. He continued to think about what he wanted to look like. He was always enchanted by the other deer and fawns, so he got to see and feel what it would be like to have new antlers, a mask over his face, different colors on his body, and even what it was like to be a small animal such as a dove, squirrel, or frog. Normally, though, he wore red flowers just above his ears. He loved red - it was the first color he ever remembered seeing, though he couldn't place where he saw it at. Other deer often remarked that the red flowers made him look more like a female fawn than a male, but he always laughed and replied, "That's what everyone says."

One afternoon he found a deer who graciously enchanted him to look like themself. Quad was given the mask his adoptive parents wore, a dark brown coat that resembled Twenty-One's body, and the slender horns that Demon possessed. It was a wonderful look, and bowing to the adult, he looked at the pictogram - "Laruna". Quad said something suprisingly funny to Laruna, "You're a future me!" Laruna chuckled and said, "Only you'd have to change your pictogram to look like mine." Quad smiled. Though he lost the enchantments later in the day, he now knew what he wanted to look like - a little like both of his adoptive parents.

He rejoined them later that night, snuggling close to their warm bodies as they wrapped around the tree they so loved. Quad yawned and slowly closed his eyes, unaware that the next day he would undergo a transformation that only happens in the Endless Forest...

To Be Continued...