The welcome party was incredible. It was rare that so many deer gathered in one spot, and this astounded Quad as he had never seen such a spectacle. The crew walked through the crowd, who were all bowing and calling out in triumph. The crowd was almost like one ever-moving entity, as most of the deer were dancing and rearing. The five deer made it to the Twin Gods statue, where the Forest Elders awaited them.

The crowd at once grew silent. Magnet was the first to speak to them, "We have already heard of your adventure. The perils you faced against both beast and man, the first contact with the world outside, and the revelation of young Quad's legacy. Most importantly, you all returned safe and unscathed.", he said. Vessel nodded, and Silent spoke, "We may never know if it was destiny or chance that guided you along, but it does not matter - the journey was a success. You should be very proud."

The five looked at one another, and Scorn spoke back, "Please, don't glorify us on this. It had to be done." Silent shook his head, "It is not our decision. The Twin Gods wanted you to have this celebration upon your return." Quad didn't speak, though he wanted to tell them all that he only wanted to be normal. Aside from the other four that accompanied him, no others knew of his thoughts.

Magnet stood. He spoke loudly, so all could hear, "We have a suprise for you all now!" At once, the faces within the crowd looked up, many of them becoming excited. A small chatter grew, all questioning whether there was an abiogenesis planned. Magnet smiled, "Abiogenesis!", and immediately the deer roared in excitement and happiness. "It will take place in an hour, at this spot!", Silent called.

The five deer dispersed into the crowd, going to their relatives and friends.

None noticed that Quad had walked off.

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

He sat at the pond, hearing the distant festivities. Looking down, he saw his own reflection staring back at him. Something in the back of his mind began to speak.

I'll always be with you..., he heard it echo. He watched as his own reflection shaped into his mother, who looked back at him with gentle eyes and a loving smile. He never realized how much he looked like her.

"Quad!!", a voice called out. He came to, looking over toward the Twin Gods' hill. A young fawn ran to him, and he smiled when he saw her pictogram. "Hello Silvery.", he greeted her as he stood. "The abiogenesis is about to start! Don't you want to see it?", she asked him. Quad nodded, "I do. I just needed a moment alone.", he replied. "Well come on! They're waiting for you!", Silvery hurriedly said, turning and racing back to the hill. Quad followed close behind.

The crowd of deer circled the statues. They all danced and called, invoking the gods impatiently. Quad joined them, dancing next to his friends. Laruna, Ammy, and Jen were nearby, while others he knew were farther down the line. He wasn't there long before the sky became dark, and rain began to fall. Ammy shook the water out of her ears at once, looking back at the statues expectantly.

They saw Quamar and Trois jokingly stand infront of the statues and dance, looking back at the crowd. Many of the deer laughed and tried to scold them for pretending to be the gods. A loud lightning clap sounded, and the two ran back into the crowd in terror. A light fog filled the area, and the deer began to call out to the gods. They then were suprised when large bubbles came out of their mouths. Ghost and Laruna blew bubbles at each other, laughing and falling over when one would hit the other in the face. Quad followed the crowd, observing and gazing above him as the bubbles floated away.

He did not notice that the Twin Gods statues were floating in mid air! Two glowing orbs were around the statues, which went to the pond. The deer ran after them, stopping at the edge of the shallow water and watching eagerly. Jen tried to follow the statues into the deep water, but her water-walk failed her and she fell in. She swam to the shallow edge of the pond and shook off the water, realizing in shock that her antlers, pelt, and mask had been washed off. A few other deer did this as well. Taiko, on the other hand, sat in the water and moved his arms up and down feverishly. He splashed water on other deer and laughed loudly.

The Twin Gods began to spin slowly, a large bubble appearing around them that grew larger with each passing second. Blackfeathr gazed in awe, exclaiming, "Wow!!" As the bubble grew bigger, the sky erupted in lighting bolts. Many struck the ground where deer were, but none were hit by them. Saan, frightened by this, ran off and hid under a tree, watching the spectacle from a distance. Anzel followed behind and comforted Saan, trying to convince her that the lightning was only the Twin Gods messing with the deer. The lightning stopped and the statues moved away from the deep water, the bubble around them continuing to grow. Darcy and Santur ran to the edge as the statues passed over them. They looked up in astoundment, feeling the bubble pass around them like air.

As the Twin Gods' statues continued on their way, fire erupted on the ground and shot out in different directions, forming strange patterns. Lieka ran to the fire and jumped over it, cackling loudly. Others, like Gnomie, were frightened and ran for safety. The statues were soon over dry land, and they began to spread apart from each other. As the fires faded off, something else began to grow beneath their feet - red flowers. The flowers were growing rapidly, in lines that intersected and formed blocky patterns. Kogy ran and jumped into one of the patches, soon becoming lost in the growing flowers. When the red flowers vanished, the downpour stopped and the sky erupted in rainbows. The rainbows began and ended at random spots, intersecting and creating a variety of colors throughout the area. Reverend Jelly smiled, exclaiming, "I say, what smashing colors!", as he removed his top hat and threw it into the air. However, Cyric retreated upon seeing the rainbows. He was not seen for a while.

The Twin Gods floated on once the rainbows vanished. All the deer followed close behind. The statues stopped at a small hill, and immediately two huge deer appeared before the crowd. One wore the "Black as Night" pelt, while the other had a strange red pelt. SarieBearie, as well as many others, shouted, "Look! It's Michael and Auriea!!" Many deer ran to the two gods, greeting them and dancing before them. While this was happening, small boulders started falling from the sky. Richter shielded herself, hiding her head under her front legs. When she realized the boulders vanished before they hit the ground, she stood and breathed a sigh of relief.

The Twin Gods' statue moved on, though Michael and Auriea were off to the side. Run chased after Michael, stopping and smiling upon approaching him. The god looked down at her, and neither spoke but were respectful of one another. Squeegie, on the other hand, was near Auriea, bugging her with questions and such. The god ignored the lowly deer, moving on her way and watching the crowd gather around them. The gods would appear and disappear at random.

Below the deers' hooves, more flowers grew rapidly. The violet flowers spread away from the statues like a plague, growing so quickly that the deer were lost within them. Shadowchild called out to Sluggs, who was seperated from his mate. As the flowers vanished, the two found each other and nuzzled happily. Blackhoof was there as well, who spat a flower out of his mouth, and Auge saw this, laughing wildly.

The deer eventually were led to the Ruins. The statues, floating above the deers' heads, produced several doves that flew around them in circles. The two gods watched as the deer were awestruck. Fenqua could only utter the word, "Lovely...", as she watched the doves vanish before her eyes. The ground erupted in fire once more, and the deer saw several of their own, including Ghost and Adagio, become engulfed within the fire. The flames died out and all were unharmed. Adagio was not frightened by this, but Ghost was seen fleeing to the bricks of the ruins. The deer saw strange transparent slabs of what seemed to be stone appear before them like walls. This confused Halogen, who tilted his head. When the slabs vanished, great dandelions grew before them, many replacing the trees that once stood there. Wyvern was standing by one of the dandelions, and she leapt back in shock, as the flower towered over her head.

The sky then began to snow. Mazey was seen skipping around, laughing in delight as the snowflakes landed on her. Other things began to appear, including crying idols that fell from the sky and more purple flowers. Suddenly, large walls of twisted metal arose from the ground, enclosing many of the deer within them. The deer found themselves trapped within a cage of barbed-wire fences. Many of them, including Trinket and Ammy, panicked and ran around. Trinket was pushed by another deer and fell into the fence, realizing that it was not real and that the deer could pass through them. Ammy stomped her hooves, slightly embarrassed that the trickery got to her.

The fences soon disappeared, and a great orb appeared in the sky. Light reflected off of it and formed beams that speckled the ground. It was a huge disco ball, and Halogen danced under it. This wore him out, and he walked off and fell asleep in a patch of flowers. The disco ball vanished, and the Twin Gods' statues began to move again. Cyaneus led the deer in the chase after the gods, as more bubbles appeared before them. Harlequinn was there as well, jumping and popping some of the bubbles. Afterwards, a multitude of bats entered the area, flying randomly. Witcher watched the bats, laughing when she saw them come close to nearby fawns, who fled the area in terror.

The area soon became dark, and lightning fell from the sky once again. Demon Gazelle called out to Twenty-One, though neither could see one another through the darkness. A single orb of light illuminated the area, which exploded into a bright sphere of color. The deer shielded their eyes, being temporarily blinded by this. Wyvern shook off the blindness first, catching a rare glimpse of the two gods standing side by side. Soon the area was visible again, and Twenty-One ran and nuzzled her mate.

The deer chased after the statues until they found themselves at the Old Oak. There, the statues entered the opening of the Oak, and festive decorations appeared before the deer. Fabric triangles were suspended along strings, the things having neon colors and fluttering in the breeze. Pepokeen became tangled when the decorations appeared, hanging above some of the deer and swaying from side to side. The ground soon became littered with flowers, and rainbows appeared above the deers' heads, much bigger than before. Tabithaaa gazed upon this and was overjoyed, running through the flowers and laughing. The Twin Gods' statues spun within the Old Oak, as large crying idols fell from the sky around the tree. Many deer ran for their lives here, thinking the stone idols would crush them, but they learned that they were only illusions and would not harm them. Xylophagous vanished within one of the idols, leaping out and scaring some of the deer nearby. Other things appeared here, including tombstones and various stone structures similar to those at the Ruins. Path to Home looked up and saw strange fireworks in the sky, appearing and disappearing within seconds.

The Twin Gods led the deer to the Playground. There, more things appeared, including more decorations, fireworks, and small disco balls. In an attempt to catch one of the disco balls, Rah-Bop jumped from the highest boulder of the Playground, flying for a moment before dropping to the ground and landing with a thud. At one point, many disco balls appeared. Blinded by them, WildBlueSun ran around and crashed into Fayne. Fayne, dazed by this, bumped into Auriea, who did not notice and walked off. Auriea almost stepped on Scape, who jumped out of the way just in time.

The fireworks continued, becoming much larger than ever before. Dim was startled by this, as the fireworks came very close to the deer. He ran and hid under the tilted boulder. Michael smiled upon this, then turned to see two deer standing face to face with him. Moosehoof and Her were up to Michael’s level, and they danced before him. Michael smiled and danced with them. The statues began to move again. Grasswhistle was the first to follow it, exclaiming, “Come on! Come on!!” Butch followed close behind, and soon all the deer were after the statues.

They were led back to the hill where the statues first rested. Suddenly many things began to happen at once, including fireworks, flowers, and lightning. The gods had vanished and many of the deer went off looking for them. The abiogenesis was over, but the after-party was just beginning. Scorn followed many others over to the pond, where things were starting to happen. RedKora stayed at the statues, and watched in astoundment as many boulders appeared and floated around them.

Quad followed the others toward the pond. During his walk, he noticed a deer sitting strangely by a tree. He came close, finding Cyric with his face planted into the tree. Quad tilted his head, then shrugged and carried on. Before he got to the pond, he also saw Nem and Lizardfish nuzzling each other. Quad left them alone and made it to the water.

Many deer had gathered there. Pepokeen, Adagio, and Quamar were among many who danced with one of the gods. At the same time, fireworks began to explode over the lake. Quad walked forward, smiling at the fireworks, when he noticed Michael was watching him. It was an odd feeling, and Quad was completely focused on this instead of anything else. At once, Michael’s pictogram grew bright, in a brilliant white. Quad began to glow, as the divine spell was cast on him.

When the light disappeared, Quad felt his head become much heavier than before. He looked at his reflection, and was shocked when he realized his antlers had grown large and red. He glanced back at Michael, who smiled at him and turned away. He ran over to his friends, who were surprised to see his new antlers. “Quad! Where did you get those at?”, Trinket asked him. Quad smiled, “It was a gift from Michael!”, he replied happily. The antlers at first were uncomfortable since Quad was used to his old horns, but he soon got used to them. He danced happily and ran to show everyone.

The after-party continued, even after Michael and Auriea left the deer. The abiogenesis would be the talk of the Endless Forest for the rest of the month.

To Be Continued…