<=To chapter 8 * To chapter 10=>

Author's Notes: o.o I seriously had writer's block for this. Then I decided "to *beep* with it" and put a break symbol and went from there. Once I figured out how to start the scene, the words just started pouring out faster than I could type. XD Don't be too harsh in pointing out mistakes. The majority of this was typed after 3am. I seem to be more creative in the wee hours of the morn...

Anyway, I present

Origins
Chapter 9

~*~
The colors continued to fall for many days after Scape reached stag-hood. Those who hadn’t heard the news were shocked to see the fawn they knew all grown up. His friends that were still fawns seemed to look at him differently, either in awe or envy. They seemed to act a bit differently around him, too. He didn’t know why; he was still the same Scape. Just…bigger! And pretty soon they would grow up, too.

They slowly came around when they realized the only thing that had changed about Scape was his size…and perhaps his energy level.



The three deer were sitting, relaxing on the biggest rock at the Playground. Twenty-one, the fawn Selig, and Scape had just run around on the rocks, tiring them out. They weren’t sure what to do now, so they continued to sit for awhile.

Finally, the fawn – who wore candles on his head since he did not yet have antlers – rose. After listening for a bit, he signaled for the other two to follow, leading them to the pond.

A stag was sitting atop one of the weeping willows. It was hard to tell who it was from where they were, but luckily, after seeing the trio at the base of his tree, the deer came down.

Taiko greeted them, and the now-quartet splashed around in the shallows for awhile. He admitted he was glad of the company; there was hardly anyone around at the moment.

It soon started growing late, so the group departed, going their separate ways.

Scape decided to take a drink from the cool waters before leaving.

“Ahem.”

His head jerked up in alarm, scanning the area with gray eyes.

There was no one around.

Shifting his eyes, he lowered his head once more.

“Hey, you!”

The dark stag’s head rose again, biting out a somewhat startled “What?!”

Except he still didn’t see anyone.

A brow rose.

Was that strange source he’d grown accustomed to talking to him?

‘Nope, it’s not me.’ Ah, there it was.

Wait.

‘What do you mean, it’s not you?’ His eyes started to grow with worry.

‘Just as I said. I didn’t say anything before.’

Scape tilted his head. ‘Ok…so what is that then?’

‘Beats me.’ He could picture it shrugging.

Gray eyes flattened. ‘Oh, you’re a big help.’

‘Oi.’ It sounded annoyed. ‘…I’m a she, darn it. How many times do I have to point that out?’ Yep, she definitely sounded annoyed. ‘…tha’s better. And all I can tell you is, look around. Other things talk too…just not in the same kind of voice.’ It – she sounded very intent there.

‘Hmm’ing to himself, the stag scanned the area again.

Some frogs hopping around, a few doves flying by, the koi fish in the middle of the pond, dragonfly staring at him—

Whoa. Wait.

A dragonfly was staring at him.

An image of blue insect eyes flashed through his head.

‘There we go.’

Ignoring her, he looked at the flying insect more closely. It was so familiar he could feel the gears in his brain turning.

“Staring is impolite you know.”

He jumped back, shocked. “Did you just – what?”

It seemed to sigh. “I said, staring is impolite. Didn’t your mother teach you that?”

“My…” His brow crinkled beneath his mask. “…mother?”

“Yes. Your mother.” Its wings buzzed so its “voice” came out slower. “The one you had to leave behind to come here, remember?”

Scape blinked. “I had a mother?”

He swore its eyes got bigger. “My deer, don’t you remember where you came from?”

His head tilted in thought. “Well…I’m sure I came from somewhere, since it’s strange that deer would just poof out of thin air. And I’m sure I had a mother at some point, but I don’t know if she’s even still alive or what she was like…” His voice trailed off.

The insect almost seemed to blink. “You mean to tell me…” it began, sounding like it was in disbelief. “…that you don’t remember your own mother?” At his headshake, it almost shouted at him. “My deer! How is it that you don’t remember?!”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“…of course. Of course you wouldn’t know.” Was it rambling to itself? It paced back and forth along the stalk it was sitting on. “We go through the trouble of getting you here, convince you to leave your home behind, since it was for the best and all, and then when we manage the trip, you forget—wait a moment!” It suddenly shouted, causing the deer to jerk in alarm.

“What?!”

It turned back to him, sounding serious. “Did you open your eyes?”

“What?”

“Answer the question! When you were led to the clearing and told to keep your eyes closed…did you open your eyes?” It insisted.

“I…um…” He lowered his gaze to the side. Did he open his eyes?? How should he know? Everything that may have existed in his mind before waking up in this forest was non-existent. His brow crinkled. Wait a second. There were some things that seemed familiar. When he’d first gotten here as a fawn, and that zombie deer had cast his first antler spell on him, the light had seemed very familiar.

“Was there a flash of light before I got here?” He raised his head as he spoke.

It head-tilted at him. “Why yes.” Insect eyes bored into his own. “So…that means you did open them, and that wiped out your memories…but there’s still something in there…” It trailed off thoughtfully.

Gray eyes blinked in confusion.

It sighed. “I’m afraid that sudden flash of light gave you amnesia. If it hasn’t gone away by now, then I don’t know if it ever will…” It ended sadly.

Scape’s ears drooped. He had a past from before being in the Endless Forest, and he didn’t remember it.

He perked up again.

But that meant he was right! He did have parents! He smiled at the thought.

The dragonfly seemed to grow disturbed at seeing that sudden change in mood. “What are you so happy about? I just told you you had memory loss…and you smile?”

His gray eyes focused back on the insect. “Of course.” When all it did was stare, he clarified. “This means I was right! I always wondered if I had parents. And I do!” He reared with joy, falling back in the water with a splash, laughing his head off.

The pink dragonfly moved to dodge the incoming water droplets. It looked around. “You’re lucky everyone’s asleep by now…”

Scape climbed back to his feet, still carrying that small grin.

The insect sighed. “Will you stop doing that? It’s beginning to weird me out.” It started wiping the water from its wings.

“Heh, sorry,” the stag replied sheepishly. “But hey.” He waited for the blue insect eyes to look back at him. “Since you know about my past…do you think you could tell me about it?” It stared in thought for a moment. “It might help me remember on my own,” he insisted, anxious to know about his parents.

There was a small silence.

“Alright. I’ll tell you what I know.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But be warned. I only know so much.”

The stag nodded eagerly, moving closer, sitting in the shallow waters near the insect to hear it better.

He ended up listening for a good while, falling asleep right where he was.

It was a good thing Endless Forest deer stopped breathing when they slept.

~*~

End Note: Yes the "source" is me. XP And I edited this from the way it originally happened for the story's sake.