Prologue: http://endlessforest.org/community/rubies-pond-short-prologue
Chapter One: http://endlessforest.org/community/rubies-pond-chapter-one-discovery

Another lame chapter from me. xD It feels shorter, but that might be because a lot of the paragraphs are longer? And since Jen's deer doesn't have a name, I had to c/p the pictogram name over and over.

And I accidently named this chapter three. >_> Oops.

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"Cutlery is dead."

The smooth, hollow voice of rang clear in Lieka's ears. ".. Dead? But how?" The Queen was not too familiar with the stag known as Cutlery, for he had always been quiet and reserved whilst his older brother still lived. But with Walter dead, it made no sense that his brother would end up the same. Had it also been suicide? Or had The Demon Gazelle been the first in a targetted chain of murders? Maybe it was all coincidence and Lieka was simply letting her mind overreact again? Then again, after seeing a pond contaminated with the blood of your fellow deer, drastic thoughts could only be natural.

remained silent and shook his head, dismissing the questions. Instead, he simply pawed the earth twice, motioned his head in a gesture to follow, and turned towards the Ename ruins in the distance. Lieka didn't hesitate for a moment as her long legs carried her in a single leap over the small stream and past the weeping stone. She was quick to take up a trot following , but the usual lack of enthusiasm in his step, the warm friendly aura he usually gave, was all but amiss. It worried the Queen so; she hadn't been the only one concerned about the strange events after all.

Time seemed to grow slow as the stone ruins slowly appeared through the morning haze. It was like a dream; the branches overhead swayed with gentle motions, birds disturbed from them taking what seemed forever to wing into the horizon. Slowly, inch by inch, the Ename grew larger as the two deer approached, the ivy-coated walls revealing each crumbling stone, the graves silent and overgrown with green and yellowing grasses. The moments only sped up when, around the large slab on the outside of the structure, a group of deer slowly dissolved into view. There were around ten individuals, a few of them fawns, who were frantically being restrained by worrying mothers, whilst their partners in turn looked grave and serious.

As , followed by Lieka approached, the Queen noticed the eerie silence between adults as they hovered around the large slab, obstructing something laying atop of it. "The body." Was the quiet answer the stag beside her provided, and together they slowed their pace, allowing the collected group to notice and part, giving way for the two to look upon the recovered remains.

Cutlery's form had been cleaned free of the blood which had previously matted it and stuck the fur together. In fact, he looked like a regular deer, save for the fact his antlers were chipped and broken in several places. His face was poppy bruised and swollen- whether by accident, a mystery to the collection of deer who were gathered around, each whispering worries of the cursed Deermuda, the Twin Gods punishing them, or even the sanity of the dead stag laying before them. Noone in particular had been close to Cutlery, but each of them knew of his fear of Walter's presence. Even the sight of another stag similar-looking to his brother had Cutlery almost in a wreck. One of these stags was Vipin, who was collected around the body and standing next to Twenty-One, both of whom knew Walter well and therefore presumed by others to know just as much about his brother. Still, both of them looked quite apprehensive at performing an autopsy. Whilst Vipin was a magpie-pelted stag with impressive horns and a bird-like mask to hide his frowning face, the female beside him was chocolate brown with mere stubs for antlers. Her face was concealed fully behind a deer-mask, but the eye slots were all that were needed to show the concern registering in her usual gentle gaze. Both doe and stag looked up to the arrival of and Lieka, and quick nods of the head were the only silent greetings.


"How..? .. How did he die?" Lieka repeated the same question she had asked the mournful-faced stag, and the reply was brief. "We're unsure." Vipin's voice was deeper than 's had been, but even with it's masculinity the tone of worry could not be hidden. "The bruises show he was in a struggle though." Twenty-One's voice was soothing and feminine as her own words slotted in after Vipin's. "From what I've seen of Walter's fighting wounds before this, he must have been hit several times at least." The other deer shifted uncomfortably at these words, each one having the same thought cross their mind:
What monster could have inflicted such harm?
"It could have been one of these senseless fights for land." suggested. He'd never understood the concept behind territory when near-enough all deer wandered whereever they liked within the Forest anyway. "So it was another deer?" questioned one of the young does, who seemed ready to fall apart at the mention of a murdering stag. "We don't know that, not yet." Vipin retorted with a snort. Deer killing deer was impossible; all stags and does were like brothers and sisters- capable of bickering all the same but never able to slay one another.

Lieka turned her gaze from the body laying before them onto the gathering. Each deer was silent, shifting nervously with paranoid glances to their companion on each side. "This is ridiculous!" She announced after a final minute of death-like muteness. "No deer would ever intend to kill another of their kind! We're not savages or beasts, are we? We're capable, intelligent beings with respect for all life!" Many others nodded their heads in agreement, taking pleasure in finding a reason for this death to be anything but murder. "He could have just fallen or tripped!" Lieka continued, but she was cut short by 's words. "His body was found in the pond, as you saw." Vipin nodded in response. "For all we know, a potential murderer may have just dumped his body in order to hide any scent or evidence." Sure enough, the only smell that the carcass now held were the traces of wet grass and dirt, although still tainted with the sickly stench of death. "And that is why," the magpie-pelted stag continued, "we are going to form an investigation. Twenty-One here knows a lot about Walter, so with any hope his brother might be similar. You too, will be needed, Lieka." The purple-maned Queen blinked her emerald orbs in surprise. "Me? Why?" Although the reason became clear in an instant. "You've witnessed the power of the Deermuda Triangle. You may be able to tell whether this death is the work of dark arts." explained, his hollow eyes emotionless and his lips still resting in that neutral position. Lieka nodded and together the group gathered fell silent. "Then it's settled, I guess." Vipin glanced around the ring of various deer. "We will gather here tomorrow and discuss out some plan of motion. For now we need to bury Cutlery and inform others to drink from the Idol instead. And we should all be alert." Each stag or doe nodded firmly and eventually departed. Some remained behind to pay their final respects to the dead stag, but all too soon it was only and Vipin remaining.

"A lot of them are looking up to you, it would seem."

Vipin nodded slowly.

Beneath his mask, tears were visible rolling down his cheeks.