"They call it endless. I'm not sure if that's true or not though." The stag remarked off hoof in response to her comment. He glanced sidelong at Lily, she seemed content and interested, and he smiled. There, ahead he could see it. It was surrounded by trees much thicker then the others surrounding them, although they seemed like nothing compared to the Great Oak. It was, aptly named, a blue bowl. A small valley, filled to the brim with blueberries.

Ren waded into the sea of blue, and nodded enthusiastically. "It certainly is. Why don't you try some?" At that, he leaned down and plucked a blueberry from one of the plants with his teeth and ate it. "They're really good, most of them are sweet, but some might be sour." He explained to Lily after swallowing.

{Yay for new things! And really? That's a pretty neat way to roleplay!}

Ren watched as she ate her first berry, and as the curious expression crossed her face, and tried not to smile. It must have been sour. Maybe the next one would be sweeter. He munched on a few more berries, about three at the same time. One was sour, but the other two were sweet and helped balance it out. He swallowed as Lily asked him a question, and inclined his head thoughtfully.

Let's see, how long had he been here? He hadn't really kept track, and without parents to inform him, was unaware the exact date of his birth. The stag went over the previous winters in his mind. "Mmm. Four years I think. Yes, that's right." He nodded assuredly. "I just did a lot of exploring, especially as a fawn."

"Oh yeah, of course there's still the rest of the birch forest, and the ruins. And I've just been covering the main landmarks so far. There a lot of other things which a little less widely recognized, like the red hill and the poppy field. Oh! And spells, do you know about those?

Well you must have seen the antler and pelt spells, there's a pine tree right next to the pond, and people sleep there a lot- or maybe you haven't? You know, if you fall asleep in a mushroom circle, then you can turn deer into other animals, and- Oh, sorry."

The stag finally stopped talking, his face under the beluga mask blushing slightly. Ren then noticed the blueberry stains on Lily's lips, and chuckled lightly. Although he couldn't tell, he had the same juice dye on his own, only messier.

{Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry =O I have to admit, it is one of things I'm little hesitant about adding, like how deer turn into frogs when they go in the pond, although on the character side of things they usually drown. We can ignore it if you want? But it is a magicaaal forest xD}

Ren nodded, his mouth full, and sat across from the doe. He swallowed. "And if you think there are a lot of places to see, there also so many deer here to meet! And other creatures too." He added as an afterthought, remembering that it was well known that many new and strange creatures now dwelled in the forest. He still remembered when the majority of the forest's inhabitants were deer like him, with flat faces. Or maybe he just hadn't been paying attention.

At that last question, Ren shifted uncomfortably, suddenly becoming interested in a small blueberry plant just beginning to sprout. You'd think he would have lots of friends, he was social and playful, and spent most of his time at one of the most populated spots in the forest. "Not exaactly." The stag didn't look at Lily, trying to go over in his mind how to explain why that was.

"I mean, I've met a lot of deer, but it's just... I don't always see them again. And it bothers me, especially the first time it happened, so you could say I was kind of stand-offish for a while after that. And that's another thing about the forest I guess, there a lot of deer who come and live here, but sometimes they leave too."

Ren still hadn't looked up, he nodded slowly. "It's different for everyone they say, some come and go as they like, others can't leave the forest. And leaving is different too... Sometimes they just- go. Missing I suppose, they just disappear." His voice had changed, there was a slight bitter note to it, and he almost seemed to speak to himself rather than Lily. Then he paused, looking over at the doe. "I'm sorry. Maybe we should talk about something else?

He didn't want to upset her any more than he might have already. And he felt that mentioning one of the other ways a deer could leave the forest might do just that. A route that was sometimes taken through the pond in the past.

Ren welcomed the change of subject, visibly brightening, despite the fact that he wasn't all that fond of winter. "Well, I go ice-skating usually. Have you ever seen deer skating through the ice? Although sometimes it's more like tripping, and sliding out of control. And I know some deer like to play in the snow, and it's alright, I just like warmer weather more." This time the words seemed a little too rushed, more so though than usual for him. His ears slowly began to perk back up though, and he relaxed more.

Ren nodded in agreement to her own agreement to his words. He smiled as she giggled, probably because he talked too much. For a minute he just ate berries without saying anything, content to just sit there. He wondered what place they should go to next. The playground was closest wasn't it? "When you're ready to go, just say the word. I think we should go to the playground next, it's sort of nearby."

"Great!" The stag got to his hooves, dancing excitedly. His ears perked and swiveled as he looked around for a second to get his sense of direction in gear, then set off towards the playground. It wasn't too far away, and Ren wondered what Lily would think of the huge collection of gigantic rocks, all lying in formation.

Oh welcome back <3 I noticed that you weren't around much and am glad to see you're ok. Do you want to continue Ren and Lily's rp? (I'm not sure how that would work, if they did finish their tour back in the winter even though it wasn't rped out or...?)

Sure, whatever you think would work best. Should I base my reply off of your opening post, or should we make a different one?

(Sorry for the late reply)

Ren stumbled through some thick brush only a moment after Lily's call, trotting up to her. Funny, usually he was the one far in front. "Sorry, I- slipped." The stag didn't elaborate. He didn't dwell on the somewhat embarrassing scene that the doe had just missed, smiling cheerfully. "Isn't it great that the snow is finally leaving? It's still a little chilly, and not nearly as nice as Summer in my opinion though. What do you think?" It occurred to him Lily might not have experienced Spring before, staying mostly in the pond, and completely submerged for the duration of Winter.

Ren smiled and nodded in reply to Lily's own nod in agreement to something he had said... Huh. He now fully consider the green doe a friend, and this fact so clear to him seemed to nearly make the stag visibly glow with happiness; in contrast to her more relaxed demeanor. His back hooves swiped the ground in a small dance gesture, and he watched Lily turn to face him. "You're welcome... Lily." He hesitated a moment after she began to trot onward, briefly wondering if that had been her way of saying goodbye. He wasn't used to the gratitude that had seemed somewhat more formal than how he personally spoke.

"Oh nothing, I was just... catching my breath." The white stag blushed somewhat under his mask, unwilling to admit how he had misunderstood her; but also relieved that he had. "So... What should we do next?" He raised himself up on the tips of his hooves, before trotting forward, ready to go.

Oh of course, the pond would no longer be frozen solid! His mind quickly jumped to all the things he could show and tell her- oh wait. He thought process skittered to a halt in confusion, and the fact that she had lived in the pond her whole life reminded him that there really wasn't much he could share about it that she didn't already know. He hid his disappointment, the pond was one of things he had liked to talk about most, and it was odd to think that the shy green doe knew more about it than him.

Still, Ren did welcome the prospect of returning there, and he hummed in agreement. "Sure!" He instinctively turned to a little left of where they had been heading, telling Lily that was the way to the pond.