The Forest was filled with snow, and the Pond was frozen just enough for the fawns to slide across on their little hooves. The adults laughed and conversed while the little ones bounded in the snow, leaving hoof tracks and even trying to draw their pictograms in the snow with their hooves.

Deep in the Birch Forest, four young deer worked on a creation. ”I just love the idea of making a dragon in the snow!”, Kamikazi said excitedly.

”I thought it was some weird deer…”, Seda spoke.

“It’s a ‘kirin’, kind of a mix between a dragon and a deer.”, Anjali explained.

”Well I’m going to just love it when it’s finished!”, Blue said happily.

The four continued to build on the snow creature. They put leaves down it’s sides, giving it a green stripe for a bit of color. The mane of the kirin was covered with willow leaves. They put long stalks of field grass on the snout to give it whiskers. And even the eyes were made from special pale-blue stones that the Twin Gods gave them.

The four were very pleased with their creation, as the snow kirin sat like a statue, guarding and protecting them with a pose much like that of a gargoyle. But then Seda tilted his head, ”It doesn’t have antlers…”, he spoke.

”Hmm…well we could go find some fallen twigs for antlers I suppose…”, Kamikaze suggested.

Anjali shook his head, “I think we could find a real pair of antlers, I’m sure someone’s shedding theirs this late in the year.”, he thought.

[=#6666CC]”Oh good idea!

Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Peace on Earth, goodwill to men”
Hark the herald angels sing
“Peace on Earth, goodwill to men”

The fawns and young deer sat around the elder, his chiseled face smiling upon them all. The gods provided them a fire this cold night, and all around were old artifacts, reminders of those who lived long ago. The deer sat by old helmets, guns, bullets, and other decaying things that they knew very little about. They simply passed by these things on a daily basis, never understanding what a “man” even was.

“Sir? What does that mean? ‘Goodwill to men’?”, one of the fawns asked.

Iaurdagnire smiled, as he is asked this question each time he sings the old carol. “Ah yes, the mystery of men. Well, look all around and you will see the old things men used to have. See, these odd, unnatural things were like their antlers and fur. They used them to fight one another, and over time, they ceased to exist.”, he spoke to them.

“What did a man look like?”, a different fawn asked.

“Oh they were like monsters. They wore great big iron pots on their heads, walked on their hind legs, and carried terrible shooting things, with knives on them. And their eyes flashed, and had strange snouts on their faces that go all the way down to their stomach.”, the storyteller certainly made the fawns shiver when he described them.

“But how?

Dawns light arose over the deerling's pelt drawing him from the resemblance of sleep to see the wind brush through the thicket. Shifting his wieght onto spendly legs Xair slowly pushed from the ground and shook his pelt, still to young to hold onto any mask or spell for very long his pelt remained simple. Eyes darting about in morning cuation before stepping out into the dulling grass spotting no others around, leading to a peacful morning.
The spring was also clear that morning, but the fawn was still carful remembering the last time he drank from the strange fountains lead to him hopping around as a rabbit. Bending down slowly Xair dipped and drank dreading the strange feeling that fallowed. Befor long the male fawn found himself feeling very small and mucusy. Instead of a rabbit the spring had changed him into the being of a small frog. Giving a small croke of dissapointment he waited for the spell to end before moving off to look for the violet flowers that bloomed around the forest floor in small to large patches of color.


~~~~

~Zar

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The trees crackled. They fell like dominoes, collapsing. Crouched, I just stood there and cowered as they all seemed to crumble and pile in mountains around me.

Roe... Roe...

I took a running leap, hooves clipping and using springy trunks to leap over the mounds.

This must be the Cataclysm, that was what I feared. The things I put away but knew would happen to our precious forest.

Clouds of dust were everywhere. They clawed at the sky, the clear blue expanse above the devastated forest, golden like flame as they floated away on the wind in clouds of heavy smoke. This heavy smoke clouded my vision, I could not find my mate.

Thud thud thud thud thudding beneath me my hooves fell hard and quick in rhythm. I raced the beat of my heart, which ever-sped higher and higher. Piles, like mountains, loomed and cast shadows as I passed through the thin crevasses that formed between the timbers. The stumps seemed to have been rent from the ground, roots creating expanses of dirt-clod rope, seeming to wish capture upon those who ventured close. I steered away, my face raised to the wind, scenting through the earth-and-dust air for my mate. Frantically I drove forward, trying in vain to smell her.


I heard her first. Crying out for me. The sound ripped my soul.

You see, I have a TEF story in mind.
The good news? I have a good portion of it plotted already, which is my usual bugaboo.
The bad news? I don't have time to start even a short project right now. I will soon, though, but... Blerg. It's the pre-finals rush.

So, to keep the idea fresh in my mind, I'm going to ask for some help! Namely, I'd like you people to suggest some setting elements to me. The ones I feel are most evocative will make it into the story.

Evocative of what you ask? Well, I'm specifically thinking about a few major points in the story, so let's see...
Catagory 1:
A place of doubt

Catagory 2:
A place of rage

Catagory 3:
A place of forgiveness, peace, and tender-heartedness

Catagory 4:
A place of terror/fear

Catagory 5:
A place of battle

Catagory 6:
Free-for-all; whatever seems like it'd be a cool idea.

You can submit for as many or as few catagories as you want, and they can be as literal as you see fit... So have fun with it. Just specify what you're going for so I'll know.
Heck, let's make this a contest. Best ones in each catagory gets a gift art and poem! But you'll have to read the story to find out who won.


...And don't worry about them being logical; dreams never are.