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Another day passes and you come home. You strangely aren't hungry this afternoon, and decide to take a nap in your bed. You awake in what seems like a moment and find yourself in a dense jungle. The bed you had been sleeping on had become a great boulder. You stand and look around, noticing a lone path leading away from where you were. Instinctively, you follow it.

You eventually come to a cliffside, where you meet your deer once again. "Are you ready to see something that has been untouched by modern humans?", they ask. You nod curiously, "Show me.", you say.

The deer turns, placing their hoof in a little groove on the cliffside. It seems to fit perfectly, and emits a great light when they remove it. A large portion of the cliff suddenly disintegrates, revealing an old cavern that had not seen daylight in a long time.

"It looks dark in there.", you say. Your deer looks to you, "Hold out your hand.", they say. You do so, and the deer closes their eyes, "Grant us light so we may see the dark.", they pray. At once, you watch as a glowing orb of light appears on your hand. "Whoa...", you say. The deer nods, "Let's go.", they reply.

You lead, entering into the cave. It seems somewhat musty, but the ground is solid and looks like it has been naturally carved. Your deer follows, their pictogram illuminating the place as well. The tunnel continues for a little while, and you notice stalactites and stalagmites that rise from the ceiling and floor. You turn to your deer, "What if it caves in on us?", you ask. The deer smiles, "Don't worry, it won't. You're safe here.", they reply.

The two of you soon find a great chamber. It fills you with absolute wonder, and the orb of light leaves your hand and floats to the center, growing brighter and illuminating the entire place. There, you see great pools of water, where natural minerals have settled and reflect the room. It almost looks like a bottomless pit. You hear a faint trickle of water in the distance. There must be a little waterfall somewhere, but that wasn't what your deer brought you here for.

"This way.", they say. You follow with them, and soon find a little chamber connected to this one. There you see something that fills your heart with sorrow.

The bones of an animal - a deer - rest in the chamber. "This was a good friend of mine...", your deer tells you, "...one we lost a long time ago. We found her bones in here when we learned to call the light like I did just now. It was too late, she had found this cavern but couldn't find her way out, and met her death here."

You are completely speechless, and don't know any words of sympathy to tell your deer. "However, her spirit remains here for one purpose - she has longed for one of your kind to open your heart to her, and let her spirit flow within yours. She has waited for you.", the deer then says. You look back at the bones, "She's still here?", you ask.

Your deer nods and smiles, "Just touch her head and she will show you the wonders of my kind."

You do so, slowly placing your hand on the head of the skull. It feels strangely warm, and at once you see the spirit of a doe rise from the bones. She appears like a mist, her body is a warm brown and white, and she looks to you with kind and gentle eyes. The doe approaches and envelops you, and you at once lose your own eyesight and see the world through hers. You see rolling hills, beautiful forests, gleaming meadows...and many other visions that bring tears to your eyes.

"It's...so...beautiful...", you say. Your eyes then are awoken back to the cavern. They take a little time to adjust, but when you are able to see again, you look back at the bones. They are enveloped in wildflowers, and you feel a strong wave of zest knowing that the doe has found peace.

"Come, there is one more thing you need to see here.", your deer then says. You stand, feeling strangely rejuvenated. You feel the spirit of the doe flowing within you, her kindness and grace seeming to fill what was emptiness for you.

You follow them further into the great room, where they lead you to another passageway. The orb of light returns to your hand, and you watch as your deer stops and looks at the wall of the cavern. You approach and hold the orb of light toward the wall.

There, you see something that surprises you - there are cave paintings on the wall. You see drawings of humans and deer, no other kinds of animals seem to be drawn. "There's only deer here.", you point out. Your deer nods, "The humans that lived here had a lot of respect for us, as we did for them. Back then, we lived quite symbiotically with them."

You tilt your head, "I don't understand how that would work.", you say. Your deer is suggesting that humans and deer lived in a way where both of them seemed to benefit from each other. "Well...", your deer explains, "You can tell by the paintings that the humans did hunt my kind. However, it doesn't tell you that they only hunted our eldest deer. Those of my kind that were sick, they would nurse. Any of ours that were wounded, they would end their suffering."

"That doesn't sound like it benefits the deer so much.", you admit. "Well, there's more.", your deer continues, "I didn't tell you what else the humans did for us. During that time, food was quite plentiful, so they would gather much of it and keep some for the winter. When it was that time, the humans invited us in to this cave, where both our species survived the cold days. The humans were very kind to us, and in return we were kind to them."

Your deer sighs, "I wish it was like that today. Now the deer live in constant fear of hunters, and the humans kill the young just for fun. Sometimes even the fawns don't get a chance to live, unlike how it was back to the time of these humans here."

You shake your head. It's very unfortunate that things have changed so much. You curiously ask, "How do you know so much about those deer so long ago?"

The deer looks to you, "Because, my friend, I lived during that time."

You awake suddenly, sitting up and finding yourself in your bed. The sentence your deer just spoke shocked you - you had to think about it for a long time. "Cave paintings were made thousands of years ago...", you say to yourself, "...how can my deer be that old?"