... OMG
Umay, Tengfei and Tandem were semi-stalking Gusty all day yesterday trying to find an opening to peacock him, and someone beat us to it? ;; AND MINI'D HIM!? AAAHHH /wall

I'll just slam myself against it then 8| LOL

Unf. :\ rofl.

Xemi, Ryff,
lol XD

Nuevapaz,
The name and pictogram looks familiar but I am brain dead right now. I blame work. D:

Pumpkinseed,
lol I know! I thought the same thing. He looks so small without those antlers and that mask. XP

No response necessary
--

The fawn approaches the red stag none too cautiously. Perhaps it is the fact that she has finally witnessed his moving - already has glimpsed a bit of that old playful spirit that had come to define him in her eyes after their first meeting that day with Dinah - that finally lifts the last of her worry regarding him. She feels lighter for him; happier for him. Indeed, she is pleased that Dinah too will have her friend back in full soon enough. Eraline lowers herself onto the ground in front of him, tucks her legs comfortably beneath herself and without hesitation plants a tiny kiss on his exposed and unfamiliar, maskless nose, sweetly with her own human mouth. Whispers, "I'm very pleased to see you moving again, Stag Gustiro."

She does not tell him how much she'd prayed for him in the time he'd been ill and starving. Instead, she smiles, tilts her head ever so slightly as her ears twitch at the top of her head. "Rest well."

Nuevapaz, <3

Pumpkinseed,
The red bull's eyes squint as a gentle smile graces his tired face in response to the fawn's kiss upon his nose and her whispered words that reach his attentive ears. As her head tilts the bull's own lifts where he can lightly touch his lips to her forehead. He holds them there and speaks quietly, his voice naturally rough though hardened all the more by his current condition.
"Is be well, child."
He pulls back to look at her. A slight tilt of his own head is made. She very much reminded him of a doe he knew. One he knew since she was a fawn.
"Wise eyes, child. You have. Yes."

Tracking (:

"Thank you," the young doe says after some hesitation, keeping her face forward but glancing at the red stag from the corner of her eye; her voice is raw as if she has not spoken in a while. "I do not think it would have done me well to be alone tonight."

And anyway, I've missed you. She thinks if only to keep from saying, the thought too intimate to be said with other, more unfamiliar deer surrounding them. Eraline falls quiet then and exhales so her body visibly relaxes some, letting the red stag's presence drown out her thoughts for the time being.

(No worries xD I understood it all.)

Eraline's body tenses once again, this time in surprise at the sound of the stag's voice. She had not expected him to speak to her despite the kindness he'd just shown toward her. Overly large ears twitch as her face tightens thoughtfully, if a bit painfully, at the question. "I...there is no one for me here right now. My father is... unwell, and the others, well, I feel as if I burden them with my presence."

It occurs to her then that perhaps Gustiro, too, feels burdened by her presence and something hot and heavy wells up in her chest, a kind of deep self-loathing. She shakes her head to rid herself of the feeling, then looks at him finally, a soft and concerned gaze. "But, are you well, Red Stag?"

Despite her anger over what she had perceived as his rejection of her these past few days, she had not stopped caring about him. Perhaps that is what had been most frustrating for her in that time - that she could neither accept his rejections, nor rejection him in return. She feels, at times, as if she has always been meant to known him - much in the way she feels toward Phaios - and it is that instinct alone that has kept her coming back, for better or for worse. So, the young doe is patient, but forward, and as she waits she studies his bare and human face. So much like her own and yet...

(No problem, I am heading to bed myself. Goodnight!)

The large bull's ears twitched but soon laid down along his skull. "Tsk," a sound of annoyance but it was not at her. "Is fool abandoned child."
Gustiro did not know the relation Eraline had with Xetkal. He did not even connect that 'father' was meant for the orange youth but he did know Eraline was attached to him. Perhaps if Gustiro had been healthy and strong when he first saw them together he may have tried to separate them as he had tried to separate Xetkal from Gustiro's beloved Bei. But it was too late in Gustiro's mind. Eraline was already lost. Lost as Bei had been and now his little red fawn turn young doe was missing and the bull assumed the worse. Eraline, he was sure, would meet the same fate. It was a different kind of pain when Bei was, what he thought, torn from him. A pain he did not want to go through again. He had begun to grow attached to this one in a similar way and he had tried to accept that she was gone before he grew more attached when he learned who she had bonded to.
But now little Eraline said she was alone, she was unwelcomed even? At least this is what the bull heard, what he thought he understood.
"Is for better," dark eyes turn to her and though there was something hard behind them the pair of chocolate orbs were soft and affectionate for her. As they had been when he first looked upon her. "Is they no good. Is like soldier to come and take away. Turn into bad minds." He leaned down and lightly nudged one of her ears. "Is will no let be alone, child. No? If is still free in mind, is will be here for child."

As she questioned if he was well the bull sat up straight again. "Is no well. Make many be angry. Is at Gus'. Hm..." The bull's features drooped though he attempted to concentrate on searching the horizon to keep watch for the stranger that had frightened the other small doe, Robin, at his side. It seemed he could not keep from angering others that day. Misunderstanding always ran high when Gustiro was involved. He never understood and in turn they did not understand him. It was best to keep to what he did understand. To watch for threats, to guard his deer. Even if he believed it a lost cause.

The red bull listens quietly to her words and for a moment a flicker of shame crosses his eyes. A shame he finds repeatedly in the recent days, of hurting those he believed he was supposed to love and protect. He had perhaps done so many times since his arrival to the forest but only in recent times has he come to realize his follies.

"Is sorry," he whispered softly. "Is no supposed show break. Is wrong."

Perhaps they did not realize exactly how many times Gustiro had broken since he was here in this confusing world. Many times crushed, hurt, drowned in deep seated depression. In the beginning he was an imagine of power and strength. No one questioned his abilities. It was only with time it seemed to seep through. That inner emotional turmoil became bare. Where once his face was stoic, his spoken word few and far between. But time brought more expression, more words.
Now many saw him as a wreck. Many saw him pitiful, shameful, weak. And the last time that it had built up to overflowing he completely crumbled. It is a wonder any still saw him as still a powerful figure. Though those who still did were normally the children or still very young.

"Is try better. Be better like is Jeulian say. Be strong for the people. Strong for child too, for wise eyes."
But he was so tired. He felt himself wearing down day to day. Even at play he seemed to anger others and make himself a fool.
"Is try..."

Loved she says. Though a warmth filled his heart so did cold fingers dig into his chest. This love he received from most. It was not a love of him. It was the love of receiving what everyone desperately needed. A shoulder, an ear, a smile when no one else would give it to them. A guardian, hoof and antler when one was afraid or in danger. A warmth when the cold blew in, company when loneliness closed around them. He would love them utterly. And when the time came he was supposed to let go, let his people, his deer go to where happiness lay.
And this is where he failed. The longer he stayed here, in this forest, the more he finds it harder to let go. The more he finds his heart wishing to hold onto something, someone. The more he finds himself wanting.
Perhaps the forest was changing others for the better. Giving other arrivals peace. But for Gustiro the forest was breaking him down one day at a time. The more he felt at war with himself. He did not know what to do when he was not struggling to survive and protect. His mind crowded with thoughts that had never entered his mind before for he never had time to think on it. He never had time to want for himself.
It was all so very exhausting.

His eyes had lingered upon the dozing doe and he spoke in a quiet whisper. Rough as it may be with his rustic voice. "Is child should be always go what make happy. Is no stay where no happy. Understand? In time... child find happy elsewhere and is where should go." He leaned in to lightly kiss her forehead and said no more allowing her and their other company sleep while he kept watch.

( I am having serious Déjà vu. I feel like I have written this before. Rambling is rambly. I think I am still tired. And I was never good at breaking up my paragraphs. XP I think I shall go hide under a rock now. )

(-cry- That was amazing. -slinks away again-)

Dinah comes to only for a moment. She opens her eyes, takes in her surroundings, and immediately releases a quiet gasp. The birch has never been a comforting place. She attempts to lift herself up, but can't even maneuver proper footing. Every little movement generated a piercing pain, even down to a single breath of air. She slips back into the ground, and squeezes her eyes shut in frustration and pain. Ears pinned to her head, she shoves her face into Gustiro's back, and the uneasiness of the birch disappears. "Please..." she struggles with her breath, "don't... leave me...here."

"Rest... While Gus' watch..."

>>

...>>

...creeper Gust is a creeper...

>//u//>...

Is that a threat or a promise? ♥

I'll spend time with you and Gust properly sometime.

Ugh, sorry about acting so confusing just now, it seems like whenever I log on somehow one or two of my hotkeys are screwed up and replaced by something they shouldn't be. I believe it happened the other day as well, when it made me "moo" instead of bending down while sniffing Dinah. x.x

Krystal,
No problem. Sometimes I mix up my hotkeys too. XD

Lynetta,
I was lagging too. No worries.
And Gustiro was interested in her because her pictogram looks very similar to a friend of his. With myself using the older version of the game there is a glitch and it made it look exactly like it. We were not sure if she was the same deer or not but I guessed not because his friend is a mini. XD Anyway he is likely to continue to be curious about her.

That was my slightly wierd character, currently going by "The Unnamed Knight," who was following Gustiro for a while. Don't get his use of agressive gestures wrong: with the exception of the point where he was trying to block Gustiro, he was only thinking about the possibilities of a spar, which (whether he knows it or not) is his favoritist thing ever. He's just a little unsure of himself right now, so his actions are a little schizo.

I'm sorry if he was a nuisance. Also, thank you for the pelt.

He was hurt, sort of. Or at least in bad shape. Getting challenged a bit actually made him feel a lot better. He is wierd like that. ...And he wasn't entirely sure the whole time who was doing the defending from whom, since she backed away just as much when TUK (The Unnamed Knight) was on the other side of the lake, minding his own business, as she was when he was trying to say hello while he was bathing and drinking. So that was kind of wierd. That said... He doesn't hold it against Gustiro, except maybe that Gustiro didn't stand and fight. But perhaps another day, tee-hee.

Edit: And anyway, I may as well track down her bio to issue an apology as well.

Sorry I missed you! Goodnight.

almost 1000

almost 1000

almost 1000