In a portion of a forest, a small herd of whitetail deer enjoyed the entire area to themselves. Their natural predators feared the area.

Near to the deer's home was a set of train tracks. The rails passed close by to the forest, and the deer were not afraid of the sounds of metal and steam that would travel the tracks. The large metal serpents kept the predators away, and the deer lived a virtually peaceful life.

On an unfortunate day, one doe chose to explore the tracks. She stood on the metal bars, sniffing them and staring at them curiously.

In the distance, at the most perfect and horrible time, a train steamed toward the doe. She heard it coming, and soon she saw it coming closer. The doe froze, her heart rate accelerated, and her legs became stiff while her brain screamed at her to run. The train's operator spotted her, and in a drastic attempt, he applied the brakes on the train as quickly as he could. The wheels locked and screeched on the rails. Sparks flew from the metal, the sound was unbearable in the ears of the animals nearby.

The train came closer and closer. The doe still stood in its path, her body shivered as she stared death in the face. She closed her eyes and...

"Oof!", she grunted, feeling something shove her out of the way. One of her herd, a stag, pushed her off the tracks as soon as the train would have hit. He landed on her, protecting her as the train sped past them.

It was already too late - the train was uncontrollable, and catching a sharp turn on the path, it lost its wheels on the rails and slammed into the ground, sliding through the dirt and colliding into many of the trees on the border of the forest.

The train finally came to a halt, the front of it rested on the ground. Steam bellowed from every part of the machine. The doe and the stag stood, both gazing at the wreckage in awe and terror. They slowly stepped toward the chaos, getting a whiff of the smells from the area and choking from the smog.

By the time they started to feel their legs give in, it was already too late. The two lost their balance, collapsing into each other and hitting the ground hard. The air had already poisoned them, their lungs burned and screamed, but they could not make any sounds. Each of them watched the other slowly and painfully die, their eyes closed as their lungs could not breathe anymore.

The train carried an unknown contaminant, and was on its way to deliver it to a treatment facility when this tragedy occurred. By the time some of the other herd members came to see what the commotion was, the cargo holds were already leaking the contaminant. It pooled like blood, creating vapors as it bubbled on the ground.

"Stay back, don't go near it!", some of the deer said to one another.
"What in the world is it?", others questioned.
"That smell...", some of the others began to notice.

And one by one, they collapsed. The toxin was already affecting some of the trees nearby, corroding them and making them wither. Several of the deer near the back of the group began to run when they saw their fellow herd members fall, but the chemical had already reached them, and as they ran, their quick breaths only progressed the toxin's damage.

Within twenty minutes, the area around the train wreck had become a wasteland.

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The screams of the deer did not fall on deaf ears. The echoes of their suffering ringed in the thoughts and minds of two of their own.

Auriea closed her eyes, "A great tragedy has happened...", she spoke. The great doe stood on one of the hills of the Birch Forest, her ears perked. Just hearing the screams pained her heart.

Soon after, Michael arrived, a ball of glowing light that seemed to come out of nowhere and formed into a great stag. He looked into his fellow god's eyes, "It happened too quickly. There was no time to save them.", he said to her. Auriea sighed, "There must be something we can do. I fear that their spirits will be trapped there."

The two were silent for a moment, before Auriea looked to Michael, "Maybe we can send one of our own to cleanse the land and rest those poor souls." Michael nodded, "Who did you have in mind?" The doe-god looked out into the Endless Forest, her eyes finally staring at an old stag who slept under the trees. "He has the gift. We will send him.", she said.

Slumbering quietly by the roots of the birch was Moogie. The stag's face was covered by a long mask with various markings upon it; his gray fur seemed to glisten a little in the sunlight, and on part of his back and antlers grew a light moss. Flowers decorated his antlers, which fluttered a little in the wind. By his side were a few small white rabbits, who slept silently and almost seemed to protect the deer.

"Awaken, Moogie. We are in need of your kindness.", a voice spoke in his mind. His eyes opened, and he sat up and stretched. When he saw the gods standing there, he stood and bowed to them. He approached and then asked, "Did you call me?"

"Yes, Moogie....", Auriea said to him, and the two told him what happened to their own kind.

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"I understand what I need to do, but...", Moogie began, "I wouldn't know how to get to the forest."

Michael smiled, "We have that covered.", and he turned to the right. At that moment, a skittish young pronghorn walked toward them, stopping and bowing to a tree nearby. "What is he?", Moogie asked. "Every deer has a gift. We gave him the gift to talk to trees.", Michael explained. The old stag tilted his head, "Talk to trees?", he questioned.

The pronghorn finally made his way to the others. "The trees said you wanted to see me.", Pent said. "Yes, Pent. We need you to guide this kind stag to another forest. The trees know the way.", Auriea said to him.

Pent looked to Moogie for a moment, then back to the gods. "I don't mind helping, but do I get anything out of this?" Michael nodded, "We'll plant a new tree for you."

The pronghorn's face brightened. "Deal! Let's go!", he exclaimed. He raced off, stopping and listening to a tree for a moment before heading out of the Endless Forest. "Go on, Moogie. It won't take long to get there while Pent is leading.", Auriea said. Moogie nodded, bowed, and chased after Pent.

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"Yes? Oh!", Pent stopped to talk to one of the trees. Moogie finally caught up with him, stopping to breathe. When he was able to speak, he asked, "How much further do the trees say it is?" "Hang on, I'll ask.", Pent replied, then tilted his head, "What? Yes, but...well I don't see why you'd think that's your business!"

The pronghorn stomped his hooves, snorting and walking off. "Jerk!", he said. Moogie tilted his head, and followed his angry companion. "What happened?", he asked Pent, who stopped and said, "Not every tree is nice. That one made fun of my antlers." Moogie smiled, "Don't worry about him...", when Pent interrupted, "It was a girl tree." The old stag cleared his throat, "...HER...don't worry about her. You have nice...antlers."

Pent smirked a little, "Thanks...", and then he said, "The forest is right up here. I'm starting to smell something in the air." They noticed that the air had become foggy, and a foul stench made them begin to cough and choke.

Moogie suddenly remembered something, "Oh I almost forgot!", and he closed his eyes and spoke something the gods told him to say, "Mother doe, cleanse the air and rid this place of it's evil."

At once, the fog lifted, the smells faded.

And they saw the horror before them - the bodies of an entire herd of deer lay still on the ground, while a large metal behemoth rested nearby. The trees were withered and vines on the ground reached up, curled and brown. The entire place had become a wasteland.

"Oh! Oh my gods! This is...", Moogie choked up, holding back his tears. Pent also began to weep, but for the trees instead. The pronghorn ran toward them, trying to talk to the plantlife, but he got no response and soon his enthusiasm fell. "How could this have happened?", Pent cried, "How could the gods let this happen?"

Moogie shook his head. It was a horrid sight, but he knew what he had to do. The old stag walked toward some of the withered vines that reached up, and placing his hooves near them, he spoke another spell, "Use my essence. Come back to the living."

The vines slowly reached and coiled around his legs. They didn't tighten, only wrapped and began to drain from Moogie's energy. Their color soon changed from brown to a vibrant green, and soon after, he could see that the trees and grass started to grow as well, all the brown in the place vanishing and becoming a lovely shade of green. The vines then released Moogie's legs, who stumbled a little from the loss of energy. He rested and watched in wonder as the forest sprung back to life.

Pent became excited at the sight, and soon was talking to the newly revived trees. They told him of what happened, and he spoke back happily. Then he turned to Moogie, "There is only one other thing to do. The trees say the spirits of the deer still remain in their bodies."

Moogie nodded, "We have to free them.", he said. He stood and walked to the corpses, kneeling before them and speaking to them, "My brothers, my sisters, the Twin Gods have heard your cries. There was no knowing that this travesty would happen, but they have offered to give you back your lives. Please...", he began to say.

"Moogie, look!", Pent exclaimed. The old stag looked up, and his eyes widened.

Falling before him were several orbs of light. The orbs entered the bodies of the deer, and one by one, their eyes opened.

Moogie stood back as the corpses came back to life, the deer sitting up and looking at each other in a confused manner. "What happened?", they asked. "That thing, it...", others began. "Who are they?", still others questioned.

Then something else happened - the ground used the remaining energy it was given from Moogie to grow around the train. The metal monster soon was engulfed in vines, and which sprouted their own flowers. The train became a thing of natural beauty. Even Moogie was amazed that the forest was able to begin anew using it.

One of the fawns walked up to the two from the Endless Forest. "The Twin Gods sent you, didn't they?", she asked them. Moogie nodded, "They wanted to make everything right.", he said. The fawn smiled, "They did. Thank you!", she spoke and bowed. The others followed, giving thanks to the two and bowing as well.

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"It makes me wonder...", Pent began, "why humans make things that destroy our world."

"I don't think they intend to.", Moogie replied, "Not all humans are like that, anyway."

"I guess so...", Pent sighed.

"Yeah...we're all part of the great cycle, I suppose.", Moogie continued. "I guess except for when the Twin Gods decide to intervene."

Pent laughed, and then asked, "Hey, did I ever tell you the joke that the willow near the bridge told me?", he asked.

Moogie smiles, "Do tell.", he said, while his mind began to think about what he just did for those deer, and even their forest. He felt good, not in a selfish way, but he felt like things would be better from now on.

Off in the distance, the Twin Gods watched them return. "He was the right choice.", Michael said to Auriea. "Yes, for him to give up part of his own life like that...", Auriea replied, "We couldn't have asked for better devotion."

Moogie looked back to the hill where the gods had been, but they had vanished before he arrived. He watched Pent bow and then run off to talk to trees, and the old stag chuckled as he went back to his sleeping spot. His rabbit friends returned, curious of his adventure, but he would tell them another day.

The old stag closed his eyes and had a beautiful dream...one of a distant forest with a lush hill that was covered in vibrant flowers.

The End