OOC: This chapter is the one I've been thinking about writing the most, and I know that regardless I'm not gonna do it any justice. x_x But here I go, and hopefully you'll enjoy it, although it doesn't contain a lot of action.

BUMPING! For the people who haven't read it yet. >.>

Another quick edit.
This was released early to celebrate Walterwoman's wedding. xD The next chapter won't be out for a while, so let your minds wander on how the plot might develop. XP

Enjoy!

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"W-why.." The brown doe couldn't understand. Walter! The stag that had died, the stag's body whom she had seen with her own eyes, was standing right there! How was he alive? "Walter! I.. I thought.. I thought you were dead!" There was no reply from the now-motionless stag as he lurked over her fallen body. Nervously, at the lack of response, Twenty-One crawled backwards a little further, only triggering the stag's steps forwards. ".. Did you kill Cutlery and that fawn?" No answer. "Your own brother!" Confidence grew in the female's voice as she began to shout at Walter. "Why would you kill your own brother!?" This time, there was a reply. The stag raised a hoof and brought it slamming into the dry soil, cracking the surface without a flinch. His head rose and released a fierce bellow of fury into the night air, and from a glimpse Twenty-One could see his body was contorted and twisted like a mangy animal. Such anger, the doe had not even seen from Walter before, and as he began to approach again, her fear drove her further backwards as she tried to regain her footing.

Such fury indeed, as Walter's lip curled back in a feral snarl. There was no sanity left in the stag's mind, it seemed. The mention of his brother, the name "Cutlery".. It rang in the beast's mind as without warning he reared high onto his powerful haunches. There was no doubt in his motive as he aimed to land dead on top of Twenty-One's head. There was nothing now. The doe couldn't even bring herself to scream from the shock of the encounter. Instead, she pulled her head away quickly and closed her eyes tight. Waiting..

Twenty-One paused, her eyes still tightly shut. But then, the strangest noise greeted her ears and the doe could no longer resist to look. Birdsong? Her eyes slowly peeled open and were almost blinded by sunlight. It was daytime? Slowly letting her gaze adjust to the surroundings, the doe was almost dumbfounded at her location. Her body hadn't changed position at all, but instead she was laying on the bank of.. the Pond? Yes indeed, the same pond that she knew, the same pond that Cutlery's body had been found in. Twenty-One turned to glance one way, and then a sound caught her ears.

"So you've come."

Her head snapped around, and without thinking she crawled backwards. Laying right next to her was none other than Walter.. again? There was something different about the stag there though. For one he spoke, and second, his appearance seemed clean and even peaceful. His face was still partly concealed by the mask he wore, but without a doubt he would have been looking out across the water.

"You.. Can hear me?" Twenty-One blinked in surprise. Walter had long been deaf as well as blind, so clearly his speech must have been the result of noticing that somehow she had been laying there. Walter nodded. "You're not deaf anymore? Does that mean.." Another nod cut her sentence short, and she watched as the stag lowered his head and shook. A few shakes and the white mask clicked loose, and toppled to the ground in front of him. This was when Twenty-One became truly puzzled at the sight before her. Walter had always been old. But this Walter laying next to her, the stag whom turned two fabulous dark eyes onto her, was anything but aged. His face, for one, was unblemished, with perfectly set cheekbones and smooth pale skin. Daring enough to say it, he was actually handsome now, with rippling black mane flowing halfway down his neck. Hair that, Twenty-One had presumed, to be a part of the mask he had always wore to cover his blind eyes. Walter smiled at the doe's stunned gaze, and slowly he turned his head back out to the waters. "A shock, right?" he spoke, and she nodded.



Despite the appearance of Walter suddenly being something almost unrecognizable, Twenty-One knew there was more than this she needed to ask about. Putting the confusion of her location behind her, she dared to ask, ".. Walter? Where are we?" His reply was brief and furthermore confusing. "Home."

"You mean.. Here? Am I.. dead..?"
"No. Far from it."

Her puzzled look caused the stag to chuckle softly. "I suppose 'Home' isn't the right word for this place, no. This is the place I've been trapped since my death." He spoke, pausing and looking to Twenty-One beside him. With her still listening intently, he continued. "When I was alive, I wanted death so much. The Gods wanted me not to be so. When I finally forced my life to an end, they refused to let me pass on.. And as a result, my soul was torn from my body and placed here instead. I've been trapped here ever since." His eyes slowly came to a close and he sighed deeply. "I know that this may seem a little.. odd, but the stag wandering around alive is only half of me. The part of me that has lost his mind and only craves from bloodlust. Unless I can return to my host, he will never stop hunting the innocent." Slowly, silence took on the pair as he awaited her response. Twenty-One mulled over his words in her mind, and she slowly sighed. She believed him, all right, but if it meant him returning to his body..
"Wouldn't you just want to die again?" She questioned the navy-coloured stag, whom heaved another sigh. "No. I've lived long enough to know that wanting to die was a selfish act. I was foolish to let myself disagree with the Twin Gods. Now I know that, if I should ever return, I would prefer to live as an immortal."

Twenty-One listened intently, and nodded. She was glad to hear that, if he managed to join with his body again, he wouldn't be intent on leaving his friends behind again. Still, one more question buzzed in the doe's mind as she spoke again. "Walter.. Before I came here, your physical body was about to.. well.. How did I get here?"
Walter blinked and shook his head. "Even if my physical form wishes to kill, there's no way he would truly harm you. We both know that from experience. How you came to be here, I am unsure of. Possibly a near-death experience does that to you."

Birdsong took over their conversation as the pair basked in the sunlight. Twenty-One found herself becoming slightly drowsy with the warmth and the comfort of the spot she was laying in. Hardly anything was making sense, but at the moment she was willing to just lay down and rest.
"I still care about you, you know."
It was the words that the doe had almost expected to hear from Walter, who seemed determined to look in another direction. It was the same sentence he had used before, and once again she could only serve the same reply. "Walter.. I know that we've been friends for countless years, but we both know that it could never be more than friendship. As much as you care about me, I don't think I could ever return it.." The pale stag nodded slowly, glancing to the wet soil of the bank. Deep down, the doe knew that once again she had hurt his feelings; a feat impossible for almost anyone to do to Walter.

The stag shook his head. "Sleep now. When you wake up, you'll need to do much work." The brown female yawned softly and took up his offer, curling up to rest against his cosy, warm flank. As the fatigue washed over her, she heard Walter's final words before sleep overtook her.

".. I love you."