Furfur slowly lifted his head from Kita’s back and stared blurry eyed out through the storm. It had begun to snow harder than previous days and he felt the need to partially shelter her from the cold. The weather was quite beautiful for some time, but he vaguely wished that she had found another place to rest for the night. The day’s antics had rendered them both incredibly restless and exhausted so they merely collapsed where they had fled to. He was woken up by the unmistakable trot of Rhys. Not so much the dainty clip clop of the other forest dwellers but a robust leisurely thumping coupled with the labored breathing of one who considers ‘exercise’ to be standing up. He groaned lowly and tucked his head back into the snowy doe’s fur. He was not in the mood to bore Rhys to sleep with another story, but it was obvious that he would be yet again forced to spill his guts to the bull. He could never understand the overwhelming urge to speak that blanketed him when Rhys was present. It was another part of the forest magic that he could never hope to understand.
Almost right on cue Rhys slid to a stop and laid down on the other side of Kita, using his large frame to block out the wind. He was grinning broadly under his golden mask and seemed quite pleased with himself.

” Helô! Sut ydych chi?”
He grinned lazily and rolled on his back with his feet in the air.

Furfur hesitated. Rhys often spoke some sort of nonsense language to him when he was feeling emotional. He had gotten use to it, but occasionally he seemed to expect some sort of answer. He flattened back his ears and hazarded a guess.
”No thanks. I’ve already eaten. “
The loud bellowing laughter that followed made it quite apparent that he had obviously given the wrong answer but he could care less at the moment. He was not going to let the ‘generously proportioned’ bull ruin his good mood.
Rhys finished his laughter and sat up smiling.
” So boyo, I been being chased about by a wee beasty I tell you what. A demon like thing won’t you be knowing? With a big old scary face and antlers full of masks. Right wittle’d myself when I woke up seeing the thing grinning down on me like a piece of meat. Tried to take me face right off would you believe it! Right bewty that one is I tell you what. So you been sittin’ round with this bach all day? Didn’t you use to have another before? You know I right fancy a cwtch myself buttie.

Furfur sighed and shook his head trying to decipher his friend’s manner of speaking. It was so foreign yet familiar at the same time. He understood the majority of it anyway and shook his head and sighed.
”Yes. Fila. She was..something else to say the least. She left me before I even died so I can barely even remember her fondly. “

“Arri Arri?! Leaving you? You must have done something to drive her off mate. Make eyes at another doe didja? Arriright aright you look the type I’ve been around that block I know how it i-“

”Well if you consider ‘catching an illness’ as something then yes I suppose I did.

He did not even attempt to hide the disappointment and anger that he felt recalling her betrayal.
Rhys cocked his head to the side and snorted loudly. This was a story worth hearing.
“Ah. Now this I must hear. So what was she like, you know, before the whole up and leaving you bit. “

”I..what’s the point you’re just going to pass out again.”

“I will not! Fine. You keep it brief and I’ll stay up for your little stroll down memory lane. Sheesh you’re touchy..”

Furfur gave him a suspicious look and lowered his voice as he carefully crept closer to Rhys. He did not want to wake Kita with his long rambling after such an eventful day.

”Her name was Fila and she was an older doe of the forest. I long admired her for her beauty and could not help but become ensnared. The others warned me of her constant flirtatious behavior and high standards but I was determined to become her mate. She had the monarch pelt and I meticulously dyed my own fur with the flowers of the forest to match her hue. I resisted joining in the rut to ensure my antlers would stay healthy and often sparred with others in her presence to show my virility. She took an immediate notice and before I knew it she was with fawn. I could not have been any more ecstatic the day that I heard the news and faithfully followed her everywhere from that point on. We were a family and I had triumphed where so many males had failed. ..”

“Yeah? So then what happened? This wouldn’t be a good story if it had a happy ending like that. Not for you at least. “

”The illness. I can’t say exactly where it came from or how I became infected but my body soon became torn with the pains of disease. I no longer had the stamina to paint myself handsome for her nor fight to defend her as I had so long ago. I could barely lift myself off the ground to play with our young fawn any longer. I knew of her high standards, yet I could not believe she would leave me after all we had been through. She felt no remorse. One day when I was too tired to even open my eyes she approached and informed me that she was leaving with our fawn. I begged her to stay and consider all that we had been through, but she had already picked out her next suitor and would no longer have anything to do with me. She left me there alone, cold, and near the brink of death because I was no longer desirable to her. I did not have the will to love after that and welcomed the darkness…“

Furfur raised his head and peered over at Rhys expecting to find him asleep. He was met with an expression of disbelief and was relieved to see this story did not bore him so easily. He was somewhat excited to hear what the elder bull had to say on the subject.

“Hm..Well that is unfortunate. Goodnight.“
Furfur snorted loudly and curled back up against Kita. It figures that the lout would have nothing constructive to add to the conversation. He was so good at starting them but always failed at the end. What sort of being could expect to make a living only inspiring others without having a thought of their own? He used one of Rhy’s antlers to lift up his mask and gave both of his slumbering companions and affectionate nuzzle. They could never feel it, but it was a sentimental gesture at the very least. He fashioned it back in place and allowed himself to also drift away.
____________________________________________________________________________
In imo animo stat pulchritude means Beauty lies in the depths of ones soul
Featuring Kita
Deywdd Rhys
And
The collector

Explaination on slang:
Rhys is welsh so he uses quite a few of my favorite slang words.
Boyo and Buttie both mean ‘friend’. Usually a male though.
Bewty basically means ‘an ugly person mean spirited person’
Bach is a substitute for ‘little’ or ‘love’ like ‘everything alright, bach?’
Cwtch is a cuddle.
Arri arri is sort of like..eh?! You say it when you don’t believe something.