Anyone remember this? Of course, I've been teasing you all a while with this. But it was worth the waiting, I hope. This is the longest chapter ever, it has eight pages! It has a lot of information too, I hope it's not too much.

Enjoy everyone! Don't pay attention to mistakes, I was too hyper to check them. XD

Deanna, I hope I got Vessel right... He speaks a bit... high class English, so that's hard to write...

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CHAPTER EIGHT

The forest seemed peaceful and quiet, just the way she wanted it. The little fawn felt confident while starting her exploration. Her big, brown eyes scanned the trees, the mushrooms and the small animals. Nothing ever missed her sight, because everything caught her attention, but only for a little while. The fawn was infamous for her attention problem; she was easily distracted and always seemed dreamy. Other fawns avoided her, because she seemed weird and sometimes even scary.
But the little one didn’t mind at all, she preferred to be on her own, quietly discovering the secrets of the forest. Most of them weren’t really secrets, but how much would you expect from a little fawn? In the distance, she could see a huge patch of purple. Flowers, she thought. I must avoid them, they’re evil.

‘Silvery? Honey where are you?’

Oh no, not mommy, she thought. I won’t be able to explore on my own if she keeps following me!

‘Yes mommy, I’m coming!’ The little fawn turned around and slowly walked towards her mother. She gave the flowers one more glance and stuck her tongue out. Stupid flowers.

‘Where did you go?’ her mother asked worried.
‘You know you can’t go out by yourself, you’re way too young! Why you don’t play with the other fawns?’
‘Because they all avoid me. That makes them stupid.’
Her mother sighed. ‘Silvery… you’ve got to learn to make some friends. Just try to concentrate and play with them, it’s not that hard.’ Deep down she knew Silvery’s problem, but what could she do? There was no cure and even the Twin Gods didn’t answer her prayer. She loved Silvery the way she was, but she just wanted the fawn to be happy.

‘I am happy mommy, don’t worry.’ Silvery replied to her mother’s thoughts.
‘Okay… But I just want you to be safe, so don’t enter the Birch Forest all by yourself, got that?’
‘I’ll try mommy, I’ll try…’
‘You know that’s not enough dear.’
‘Okay, I won’t do it. Can I go now?’
‘Sure, just stay in my sight.’

Happily Silvery took off again, leaving her mother behind worried. She just couldn’t help it. Silvery was so small and vulnerable, but yet she loved the dangerous things. It wouldn’t be the first time she broke a leg. She sighed and looked around. Suddenly she saw Silvery approaching a group of fawns. Was she still trying?

‘Hi there.’ One of the fawns greeted Silvery.
Silvery was just about to reply, as a butterfly caught her attention. She followed the creature all the way, until it disappeared in the distance.
‘Hi…’ she replied, almost a minute later.
The fawn raised an eyebrow. ‘Hello? Are you even interested?’ He asked, after waiting patiently for a few minutes.
Silvery seemed to have awoken from her daydream. ‘Oh yes… I’m sorry.’
The fawn seemed irritated, but still continued the conversation. After saying a few words, a bird flew over and that immediately made Silvery turn her head.

‘Never seen a bird before?’ The other fawn said.
‘Ofcourse I have… but they’re really beautiful.’ Silvery replied, still staring at the sky.
‘Geez, what do you prefer? Socializing with others or staring at obvious objects? I think I’ve been patient enough with you!’
‘But… There's so much to see.’
‘Just go away, you weirdo.’
Silvery lowered her ears and looked at the ground. For a moment the fawn felt sorry, until Silvery jumped up again. ‘Oh! It’s a cricket! I’ve never seen one before.’
The young fawn followed the little creature and left the other fawn by itself. He obviously felt insulted and turned to the rest of the group again. Soon the group conversation turned into a gossip about the weirdo.

That night, Silvery found herself in the Old Oak after following one of the many squirrels. She felt tired and lay down, but refused to go to sleep. She didn’t want to sleep, she never did. Not because of the sleeping, but because of the dreaming. Dreaming made her scared. As she felt her eyes slowly closing, she softly cried before dozing off.

‘Well, it’s nice to finally meet you in person.’ Skokey said to Vessel. ‘Were you going to take me somewhere?’
Vessel looked at the slowly setting sun, it was almost gone. He nodded, and gestured for Skokey to follow him. He took him to the Old Oak and pushed him inside. Even though Skokey felt uncomfortable about it, he didn’t refuse. In the Oak he found a sleeping fawn, but this one didn’t seem familiar for him. Besides, the little creature looked a bit odd. Her fur was pale and her head was a tad bigger than a normal fawn’s head. The fawn had a small and skinny body, but didn’t seem unhealthy.
‘Vessel, what are you trying to show me? He asked while studying the fawn. The poor thing seemed to have a terrible nightmare and Skokey could feel Vessel knew what she was going through.
‘Do you know who this is?’
Vessel nodded and scratched something in the dirt. Skokey could immediately recognize the word ‘friend’, next to it was Fenqua’s pictogram.

‘So she’s a friend of Fenqua?’

Vessel nodded again and scratched something else in the dirt. Skokey could read the word ‘important.’

‘She’s important? But why?’ he asked confused. What was going on? Skokey knew Fenqua was being mysterious for a while now; did it have to do something with this fawn? He placed himself next to Vessel, to read the last thing he was writing.

‘I’ll tell you one night, one week from today.’

***

The fresh summery winds softly stroke her fur and made her close her eyes in pleasure. It was good to be at peace again. The last few weeks had been a hectic time for everyone. After the humans took Fulu, Skokey went on a quest to search for her, but he wanted to do it alone. Every night Fenqua wondered if he would return safe, a few times she even thought of following him but she couldn’t. She couldn’t get through the invisible barrier. Even though the others were able to enter the human world, she wasn’t. Maybe the Twin Gods didn’t want her to leave the forest. This had made her feel powerless, but that was all in the past now.

Fenqua sighed and turned around. Behind her in a patch of grass, lay Vessel, wounded. He had followed Skokey to the human world and saved him from a terrible monster, possibly created by the humans. The stag was the only one that didn’t seem to feel at ease. Fenqua decided to ask him.

‘You look worried Vessel, what’s up?’
He looked at her and spoke with her through her Great Argus pelt, using telepathy.

‘I’m not sure… But I don’t think we’re out of danger yet.’
‘What do you mean? What kind of danger?’
‘Humans, they aren’t finished with us yet.’
‘How you do know?’
‘I have this strange feeling they’ll be coming back.’
‘Did Silvery see it?’
‘Yes… she did. I don’t know if I can take it watching her dreams any longer. They’re horrible; she dies in every one of them.’

Fenqua looked at the ground. She felt sorry she couldn’t help the poor fawn. Her nightmares weren’t normal nightmares; they were visions of the future. Silvery was shy and didn’t talk much to the older deer, but she had learnt to trust Fenqua and Vessel. But she still didn’t tell them about her dreams; she suppressed them every time and pretended she forgot them. But Vessel had entered them every time, but the sight of them could make any other deer cry.
She even dreamt about Skokey’s quest to the human world and the fact he was in danger. The great monster that hurt Vessel actually killed Silvery, who took Skokey’s place in the dream. That’s why Vessel knew he had to follow him, or else lose one of his friends.

‘Does Skokey already know of her?’ Fenqua asked him.
‘Yes, I already told him a few weeks ago. I promised it.’
‘Strange… he hasn’t spoken to me about it. Do you think it bothers him?’
‘He wasn’t glad we had a secret, but he understands it. But for now he refuses to think we’re in danger. I already tried to tell him in a dream, but he just shrugged it off.’
‘You shouldn’t blame him… he had a hard time worrying about Fulu.’
‘I also have a hard time worrying about him.’
Fenqua suddenly shot him a look. ‘What do you mean? Is something going to happen to him?’
Vessel realized he said too much. ‘I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to give you that impression. I know it’s going to be dangerous, but I’m really not sure how. Silvery’s visions weren’t that clear.’
‘But I thought Silvery’s visions were always clear?’

He knew she was right.

The next day was sunny, without a cloud in the sky. Because of the earlier rain the forest had become a bit misty. Skokey decided to take a walk by himself, but Fenqua didn’t trust the situation.
Since her conversation with Vessel she had become very aware of Skokey’s safety. She just knew Vessel had told her more than he wanted. So before he disappeared in the distance, Fenqua decided to follow him. Oddly enough, she saw him going towards the edge, almost next to the invisible barrier. She took a sprint and soon caught up with him.

‘What are you doing? It’s dangerous out there!’ she yelled to him.
He turned around in surprise. ‘Hi Fen! What are you doing here?’
‘Protecting you! You’ve almost reached the barrier, were you planning to go in again?’
‘No of course not, it was just a coincidence. Don’t worry.’
‘Let’s just leave… okay? I don’t feel good being here.’
‘I understand.’ Before they took off, Skokey carefully nuzzled Fenqua, as if he was scared of her reaction. But when she felt his warmth, it only made her blush heavily. She was completely caught off guard; he had never done this before! Not like this…

Suddenly they heard a rustling near the edge. They immediately turned towards a bush near the barrier. Fenqua wanted to protect him, but he kept sure she was behind him. Was he going to protect her instead?
Three humans appeared out of the bushes, all three holding guns. I can’t figure them out, Fenqua thought. First they shoot, than come in peace and than shoot again. Still deep in thought, she suddenly felt a huge sting in her shoulder. One of the humans managed to hit her. She only let out a soft cry, trying not to admit her weakness to Skokey. He turned to her and she could see the anger in his eyes. Not because he was angry at her, but it was a sign.

‘Fenqua, run. NOW!’ he yelled, but she stammered. This was exactly how she predicted it. He couldn’t take them on by himself; he couldn’t face three guns with antlers alone. She had to stay, or else he would be finished. Again he looked at Fenqua, those few seconds felt like minutes. What should she do? She could read the word ‘please’ on his lips.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and decided to flee. It was exactly what he wanted and she just couldn’t ignore his request. The young doe decided to stop at the Old Oak, not far away from where she came from. Although she tried, Fenqua couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. She realized this could be the end for him, without her ever having a chance to tell what she feels for him…
Not far away from the Oak, Fulu was spying a bit on Fenqua. In the distance she could hear the thunder clashing. The humans are back, she thought. But where is my brother? Seeing Fenqua crying like that made her worry. Were the humans after Skokey? Was he going to pay for taking her back home?

After a while, Fenqua saw a figure in the mist. Was it Skokey? She immediately perked up and could see it was him. She smiled and run up to him, but soon flinched when she saw him. His body was covered in blood; he was shot at different places. One of them was his knee; she could see he had trouble walking. When he saw her worried look, he just smiled.

‘Don’t worry, I took care of them. They went running like the little cowardly worms they are.’ He said proudly, but Fenqua couldn’t see he wasn’t thinking straight.
‘Skokey, you lost a lot of blood. Please come into the Oak, you’ll be safe there.’
‘Nah uh, I'm not going in that death trap.’
‘You just came out of a death trap! And you think the Oak will be as bad as that?’ she yelled angry. Stupid stag, she thought. Why was he so stubborn at a time like this?
Skokey winced again, he was starting to curse. Skokey never cursed unless he was under the right circumstances, and this wasn't one of them. Fenqua knew that. Now she was really getting upset. ‘Skokey, come on, you have to get in there, it's the only place you'll be safe!’ ‘I told you I'm not going in there! I hate it!" He coughed, causing more blood to spatter out of his mouth. "I'm... I'm afraid of it...’ ‘It's okay, you'll be fine... I'll be sure of that. Please go in...’ She begged him.
Fenqua saw he was wobbling on his feet for a while and then falling to the ground. ‘Skokey!’ she yelled, but his only response was more cursing. ‘Please don’t be stupid!’ She sat down next to him and tried to get him on his feet. ‘Fen, if it's alright with you, I think I'll take a little nap right here...’ ‘No, Skokey, that’s not alright. Get in the Oak. It might rain again, you’ll get sick of you stay here.’ But he wasn't listening to her. ‘Just tell me if those humans come back for her... I'll send 'em running again... You can be... sure of that...’ He said before passing out on the ground. Fenqua pushed and poked him, pleading for him to wake up. She tried her best to hold herself together, giving each push more force. She soon gave up and started to whisper to him sadly.
‘The humans are gone Skokey... You can get up... You and Fulu are safe...’ She rubbed her face against his, mixing tears with blood. ‘Please... get up... The humans are gone... Get up, Skokey... Get up...’ She felt his breathing become slower and slower. Her pelt started to become saturated with his blood, and her face was red on one side.
‘Come on, you stupid stag, get yourself together! Don’t leave me here alone!’
She raised her head and looked at him, her eyes red from crying. ‘Come on…’ she said one more time, before swallowing her tears. He couldn’t do this, not again. He had already left her once, but he just couldn’t betray her like that. Skokey… she thought. Please don’t do this, I have so much I want to tell you…

***

My tears have joined the rain, for his heart stopped beating today...

Skokey found himself in a peaceful meadow. Butterflies flew around him in every color, and birds chirped delightfully from the far-off trees. He stood up, and looked around. Everything was so bright to him; he had to squint for a bit. He found himself confused, wandering around the meadow, and saw two forms not too far away.
His eyes adjusted to the bright lights, and saw two large deer. One was red and dappled, the other was light and golden. Both had a gentle look in their eyes, making Skokey feel completely safe.
‘E-excuse me...’ He stuttered, ‘Where am I?’
The two deer smiled, and the red one stepped forward. ‘Nowhere special, Butterfly.’

My tears have joined the rain, for his heart stopped beating today...

Skokey's ears pricked, ‘What was...’
‘I believe that's what you say, when someone dies?’ The light deer answered before he could finish. Dies? Was he dead? Was this the afterlife? And where those... ‘Not to worry, Butterfly,’ the red one continued, ‘you are safe.’
Skokey stammered, and looked around to find other deer. Most of them were unfamiliar. But he saw an older stag, standing next to what looked like his parents. ‘D..Dad?’ he looked around again and found a familiar doe. ‘Mother…?’ He became frantic, ‘Where am I?’
‘Like he said, Butterfly, you are safe.’ The light one replied. ‘But you cannot stay here. There's somebody down there who needs you. You can't leave her yet.’ She smiled warmly, causing the red one to smile as well.

My tears have joined the rain, for his heart stopped beating today...

The meadow seemed to darken and fade. Visions of his mother and father vanished, leaving the two deer standing before him. But soon, they began to fade as well. The red deer spoke up one final time, ‘Oh, and I hope your sister likes her feathers. It was the best thing we could think of.’
Fenqua, who was still crying while having her head buried in his chest, suddenly felt a heartbeat. She gasped and looked at his face. He spurted a little blood from his mouth and she knew he was there. ‘S-S-Skok-key?’ she stuttered. His ears pricked heavily.
‘F-F… Fen…?’ He tried to pick his head up, ‘What... What happened?’ He let his head drop, unable to find strength in his wounded neck.
‘Just wait here.’ Fenqua said and gave him a soft smile. She immediately rushed over to Fulu, who was surprised Fenqua was aware of her presence. ‘He’s alive! Fulu, come quickly! We must carry him inside the Oak, it’s going to rain soon!’

***

Another few days had passed and Skokey was healing from his wounds, remarkably fast for a normal deer. He didn’t really notice himself, but Fenqua and Vessel knew it was a small gift from the Twin Gods. He still had a purpose in life, that’s why he was granted another chance.
The other day Fenqua had helped him pick a new set of antlers, as he was tired of having blood covered poppies. After protesting for a while, Fenqua decided that the Key-shaped antlers looked best on him. He had agreed with her and not long after he was granted those antlers by some friends. It took him a while to get used to the balance, since they were a lot heavier than his normal ones. But seeing him with those antlers made her look at him a little more and again she noticed how handsome he was. He had grown from a small, playful fawn to a strong, but kind stag. One that would do anything for the ones he loved. Fenqua realized that she was one of his loved ones. But how loved was she? Was she just a good friend or would he consider her something more?

Fenqua stood up from lying down and decided to take a stroll through the Birch Forest. After a while she heard someone following her. Immediately she turned around, but sighed in relief when she saw it was Silvery.
‘Hey there little one, I don’t think you’re supposed to be here. It’s the Birch Forest you know.’ She said smiling. ‘Come on Fen, you’re with me. I’m sure nothing will happen.’ ‘I was just teasing you darling. How are you doing today?’ ‘I’m fine; I got up early because I wanted to tell you something.’ ‘That’s great, as long as it doesn’t consider one of your bugs, I hate those things.’ ‘Don’t worry, it’s not about bugs. It’s about a vision I had last night.’ ‘You had a vision again?’ Fenqua looked surprised, but not because Silvery had a vision. Actually, it was because Silvery never talked about her visions like that. Usually she was scared and depressed in the morning and didn’t want to talk about it at all. She repressed them or pretended she never saw them. But this time, she actually looked cheerful.
‘So, what was it about?’ Fenqua asked. ‘About you Fenqua. Something special is going to happen to you. Probably today.’
‘What is going to happen? Just tell me!’ ‘I’m not going to. That would spoil the surprise!’ For the first time, Fenqua saw Silvery smirk. Also, she was able to concentrate on her face while talking to her. Maybe the child wasn’t lost at all.
‘Come on! You’re making me curious without telling me anything. That’s mean Silvery!’ ‘Well, the only thing I will tell is, that you’ll be very happy after you find out. Prepare for happy times, Fenfen!’

Later that day, Skokey asked her to meet him by the pond at dusk. Fenqua wondered if it had anything to do with Silvery’s vision, but she shook off the thought. False hope would be a bad thing to have right now. It would only disappoint her. But what else could it be? She couldn’t think about anything. All the things she wanted were things she wanted for someone else. Those things made her truly happy. But wouldn’t the vision about them? That whole vision thing confused her anyway. ‘What’s the matter, bright eyes?’ A teasing voice spoke. But she was the only one who could hear that voice.
‘Don’t call me like that Vessel, it’s not funny you know.’ She replied smiling. ‘Sorry, but whenever I have a conversation with your parents they call you that. So I got used to it. ‘My parents… How are they doing?’ ‘They’re doing very well, but what else would one expect from heaven?’ ‘Do they talk a lot about me?’ ‘Actually all the time. Not only because you have a special mission, but more about your childhood. They’re still sorry they left you by yourself. But it was the first real encounter with humans, so they didn’t know what to expect from them. They didn’t know they wouldn’t come back alive.’ It was the first time Fenqua heard Vessel ‘talk’ so much. It seemed her friend had opened up during the time they got to know each other. And it was about her parents, he knew them even better than she did. That did feel awkward, but Fenqua was glad someone could communicate with them often. It was like Vessel had broken the barrier between the living and the dead.
‘But the sun is slowly setting, Fenqua. I’d love to tell you more about that day, but you have something more important to do.’
‘You know about this?’
‘Funny. I thought you would know me by now.’ ‘Believe me; everyone could surprise me these days!’ She bowed deeply, because she knew Vessel didn’t like nuzzles, and trotted to the pond.

She saw Skokey standing in the shallows, just like that day when he tried to commit suicide. He was gazing the beautiful red horizon and a lovely sunset. Thinking of that horrid day made her feel a bit sad, but she managed to shrug it off. She stopped at the shore and looked at him for a while. He turned around and smiled. Such a beautiful smile, she thought. I would like to see it forever, but that would really hurt his face.
‘You remember this place, Fen?’ he asked her. ‘Yeah… I do.’
He chuckled. ‘This is where you starting shoving me back on the shore… After I told you I was going to kill myself.’
Fenqua just nodded, she didn’t know what to say. What was the meaning of all this?
He came closer and turned to her. ‘You made me realize that that would be the worst mistake I would ever make. You saved me that day, Fen.’ She smiled at him, looking into his deep hazel eyes. ‘Not only that, but all those months later you stuck by me. You made me healthy and happy again. You gave me a gift that I'll cherish forever.’ Fenqua took notice of his mask, with one of the wings broken off by a gunshot. ‘And you patched me up after that scuff with the humans. You've stuck with me through the worst moments of my life, and always helped me come on top.’ Those words made her blush heavily. Why all these compliments? She felt stuck, what was he expecting from her? Was there anything she had to say? For a moment she saw his eyes glitter, but then he turned away and looked at the reddening water.
‘And… now I realize… there is something I’ve always wanted to tell you…’ Fenqua’s heart began to beat faster when she heard that. Her cheeks were feeling hot and her eyes were focused on the water. She could see his knees were shaking, which scared some of the fish. ‘Something... that'll take all the courage I can muster to say...’ He continued. She turned to his face again; he had come even closer than before. His hazel eyes were staring deep into her, blue, glittering pools of water. Just a moment ago he had looked nervous, but now he was certain. ‘Fenqua…’ he started and she looked at him with eager eyes.

‘…I love you…’

Her first response was wrong; she directly turned away from him, her eyes were focused on the ground. So this was… what Silvery meant. Even though she got a small hint, she was still caught by surprise. She looked up again, finding Skokey to look worried.
‘Fen, what’s wr…’ But before he could finish, she pressed her lips on his. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the long, warm kiss he gave her. It was the first time, for both of them. She felt the blood rushing through her veins when she stopped.
‘I love you too, Skokey… A lot. I had being wanting to tell you for so long…’
‘It’s okay Fen, me too.’ He said, while hugging her to him. ‘Let’s stay together forever.’
‘Yeah… let’s do that.’