A few days ago I stumbled across the Endless Forest and thought it looked like an interesting place.

The second day I poked my nose tentatively into the Forest I found my reason to stay...

In all the years I've been around, I honestly don't think I can say that I have seen a more moving memorial to someone departed. It was solemn and deeply beautiful in a way I have never seen expressed in an online community. I am sad to say that I never had the chance to know Run, and more so because as I have seen the response to her passing and the memories posted in the forums I can truly feel that the world has lost a very special person. I'm sorry I never had the chance to know you, Run.

So I've decided to add my voice to the herd, if you'll have me... The chance to know you is something I don't want to pass by.

~ Light the Sky

The Forest has been so horribly sad. Rire was very glad when he heard a familiar roar; he had expected to be running alone at 3 AM. Yay for Taiko! It was so good to simply run around and be ridiculous - to have a backflip race - to play look-alike - to accidentally slip into the pond, and have to fetch everything back. To race away from, ahead of sorrow, and on and on into tomorrow.
Rire loves the Forest. Very much.

All deers have a spark of life within them that will never die. So dont worry, never doubt, all deers live forever...

This new world is a strange one. There are no strings attached - no obligations to fulfill. No enemies closing in on my tail. Just... happiness. The company of others. The simple pleasures in life. Although I have not yet made any friends in this wood, I have certainly made numerous acquaintances, and already their scents are familiar to me when I sense them.

Sometimes I find myself unable to decide what to do; and other times I feel the loneliness of a vacant forest. I desire for the kinship of my fellow behooved, and I'm sure I will attain it sooner or later. I am but a spotted neonate in this wondrous land, and I spend my days running and rolling in flowers, and my nights huddled by the ancient stones, hoping for someone to prance by.

This wood without end truly is Paradise.


EDIT: So, the reverent candle-lit circle is now extinguished. Our memory of the fair Run (or rather a vague impersonal imprint, in mine case) is now held only in our hearts. Here now are some images of my experiences with this place:







Forever rest in peace, Run.

This is one from today. I edited this screenshot so it looked as if the flower was full of light.

The days following my awakening have been so dark and cold. I know the forest mourns the loss of the one who's name, so proudly roared across the hills, is Run. I did not know her face, but I knew her blood and the wind she breathed. Those are a part of me, and it is those that bring the tears to my face when I lower my horns to the candle-lit circle... To the star that visits us from the night.

It is this cold, this sadness, and the strange faces that surround me that make my re-awakening so difficult. The little ones... Children... They startle me so and flit around me with such bright eyes. I do so wish not to scare them... Or hurt them. I fear my stagger, my old eyes... They cause worry and fear in the young ones.

So many others bound about, bellow familiar sounds to unfamiliar scents. I watch myself in the still of the pond, letting the fish circle around my ever aging visage. I find myself frequently visiting the glittering star, letting loose the tears.

---

Tonight I feel stronger. The winds are still cold, and bring the strange stars that turn to tears upon my cheek, but there are some young ones bounding about. I roar and dance with them, bounding along the hills. Perhaps they do not shun me after all.

A doe finds me on another visit to [Run]'s star. She seems puzzled by my sadness. Her scent is strong and familiar. She perhaps remembers me... I cannot recall her roar or her... No... Not completely.

Her neck meets my own, rubbing softly... So very warm. I cannot bear to show her my tears... I bellow and flee, secretly hoping she may give chase. She seems to know my ways... Share my age. She bounds after me and we stop on the bridge by the pond.

This is my favorite place... Quiet and tranquil. My heart races, my body no longer cold, as she comes up beside me and lays with me above the trickling waters. Her scent... Her warmth... So quickly lull me to slumber.

I suppose this is a good place to post about whether I learned something nifty about the Endless Forest.
Oh yes, and today it was that there is heavy voodoo magic in the forest.
I had no idea what I was looking at when I saw two fawns sleeping in a circle of candles, under a sparkling star, and other deer "sitting" around the outside, looking on.
But I do find the idea of a permanent memorial to "Run" a bit creepy. Especially as I never knew Her(?). If it was me trying to be Mournful in the Forest, I wouldn't like the idea of other new fawns running through the gathering.
Then I found the community, and now I have another blog, yet another blog.
My primary blog, if anyone wants to know anything about me as a person, is
http://amberitus.livejournal.com.
Now I look for the Endless Forest LJ community.

"...for my friend stopped running today."

As you probably know, Run, known as Ina by her family, died in a car accident.



May her soul rest in pace and her star shine forever.

Rire is so bad at keeping up with his diary.
Or maybe that's just me.
At any rate!
Rire saw Cyric and Ahey'nii, neither of which has been spied for a longlong time! And then, to make things even niftier, Taiko showed up! Rire was a happy fellow, seeing so many familiar pictograms. I dare say he felt a little out of place, though, without anything Halloweenish about him!

http://h1.ripway.com/LuckyLayouts/TEF/Group.jpg

Cyric looked sad for a little bit. Rire hopes he feels better.
And on a random side note, Cyric is very photogenic, especially in the graveyard.

http://h1.ripway.com/LuckyLayouts/TEF/Cyric1.jpg
http://h1.ripway.com/LuckyLayouts/TEF/Cyric2.jpg
http://h1.ripway.com/LuckyLayouts/TEF/Cyric3.jpg

Now, if I could just figure out how to make the pictures show up on here...
Rire needs a new avatar. He hasn't been wearing the 'moth' pelt lately, because he sees everyone and their grandmother with it and he's stubborn like that.