I don't want to loose my reputation (do I even have one?) so I wrote another chapter of BE. I always promise to write it quick and it works! Also, this is the longest chapter, almost six pages. It's getting easier and easier to fill the chapters, so there might be more than I thought before.

Have fun! Please please please listen for once to this: I LOVE CRITICS. If you give me some, I'll love you too! I really want them because they help me improve. And I'm a serious writer, so I want to improve as much as I can. I received critics on dA last week and it helped so much I want more!

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CHAPTER SIX


It was a very dull, rainy morning. Most deer stayed in bed, because there was no sun to greet them today. Nobody was bellowing, no birds were chirping. Only the ticking sound of the rain reached her ears. Fenqua loved the quietness of the forest and decided to take a stroll. Drops of rain fell upon her nose, which caused her to sneeze. She smiled faintly and headed for the pond, not thinking about anything.
Since the strange encounter with the humans, Fenqua needed to be alone. Even though she saved Micarena, the doe hadn’t been grateful at all. Instead, she seemed scared of her. Actually, Fenqua couldn’t care less, but she wasn’t going to save Micarena’s deer butt the next time. It surprised her that the doe hadn’t told anyone about the strange glowing light coming from Fenqua’s head. Usually she was the gossiping type, but she kept this for herself. Maybe because she was scared of her father’s reaction to her coming near to humans. It could also be pure egoism. When telling a story about Fenqua chasing away humans, she would attract less attention to herself, which she hated.

When she reached the pond, Fenqua didn’t notice the stag a few meters away. She just stared at the rain poking to the surface, which was an interesting sight. After a while, something disturbed the smoothness of the pond. Feeling disturbed, Fenqua looked at the creature that was slowly creeping into the water. At first she didn’t recognize the skinny being, but soon her heart stopped. The pictogram above his head glowed faintly, like a candle in the wind. As fast as she could, she ran over the stag to greet him.

‘Skokey!’ she yelled at him, stopping at the shallows. He slowly turned his head and looked at her. The horrible sight made her heart froze. The stars in his joyful, hazel eyes had faded and replaced with pain. She felt a lump in her throat and let out a soft cry as she lowered her eyes. What in the world had happened to him? He looked awful, like something sucked the life out of him. Even though he had grown, for a stag he was still a tad small. His pelt was dirty and ripped and he looked like a skeleton with fur. She stared at him for a while, not knowing what to say. He was the first to turn his head away. ‘Fenqua…’ She shivered hearing him say her name, it had been so long. ‘Please leave.’ He said, almost politely.
Her eyes grew wide. Leave? After all this time? Didn’t he want to see her at all? She shook her head violently. No, she wouldn’t leave. He had already run from her before and she wasn’t going to let him flee this time.

‘Skokey, what happened?’ she asked.
‘That’s none of your concern. Just leave.’
She looked at her best friend creeping further into the water. It was like he was slowly drowning himself. But why?
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m going to make the world a better place. I just wasted my time here.’
‘That’s not true! Don’t talk like that!’ Fenqua was close to getting angry, why was he being so pathetic all of sudden? He ignored her words and crept even further into the water. Within seconds she stood in front of him. She pushed him away to the shores.
‘You can’t say things like that Skokey, it’s not like you. Please come with me, we’ll try to figure this out. Whatever it is.’
He let out a sigh, looking at her as if he didn’t care about her words. ‘Fenqua, you don’t know what the past few months have been like. How could you possibly help me?’
‘We can try!’ she almost yelled. ‘There is a solution to everything, but drowning yourself isn’t one of them!’ She looked at him with a fierce look in her eyes, but he looked away.
‘Stop this Fen, you don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Of course I do, we’re best friends! Although you’re not the Skokey I remember…’
‘The Skokey you remember is dead. I’ve changed Fenqua, I’m not your happy fawn friend anymore. This is how I’ll end. I have no other choice.’
Fenqua felt something strange boiling up to the surface, another blind rage was coming. She felt like killing him. Why wouldn’t he just listen to her? She suppressed her anger and succeeded to remain calm.
‘Of course there’s another way! There always is! Please, just let me try and help you. Don’t make the wrong decision; it will only lead to more sorrow.’
‘And what? You think living will be any better? How can I live like this? When I know that I never meant a thing to anyone!’ He suddenly yelled, still having some fire left. She felt his anger burning in her eyes. She backed away for a moment, until she fully realized what he just said.
‘Fenqua stood there, looking at him in disbelief. ‘How... can you say that? How can you say that you didn't matter to anyone? What about Raku? What about Fraalch, and Frola, and Vin?’ She paused, but finally let it out; ‘What about me?’

Those last words got through to him and he let out a sorrowful huff. After that, the silence seemed to last forever. Fenqua felt a small sparkle of hope in her heart, but it soon faded when he spoke. ‘You're only making this harder on yourself. Just let me do what I was meant to do.’

‘NO!’ she yelled furiously. ‘I won’t let you throw your life away! If you need to do this so badly, you have to go through me first. You’ll have to fight me!’ He was shocked at seeing her lowering her antlers in front of him. He stepped back and realized she meant it. Even though her method had changed, she was still acting like a friend. Even after all he said. Tears slowly welled up his eyes, while she was still standing in the same position. Oh god, he thought, what did I do? He tried to fight the urge to cry, but this was just too much for him.
Tears fell from his eyes and mixed with the raindrops. After seeing the small, sparkling diamonds, which differed from the rain, Fenqua raised her head and walked up to him.
She smiled faintly and nuzzled him.

‘Oh Fenqua, how could I do such a thing? What was I thinking?’
‘It’s okay, I understand.’ She said softly, while letting out a sigh. It was the first time she had heard her friend crying and it was the most sorrowful thing she ever heard.

‘Let’s go home.’

***

The next few weeks Fenqua and Skokey spend together. Fenqua helped him regaining his weight and strength. It took a while before he ate something, but she managed to pursue him. After that, she decided to exercise with him, to train his muscles some more. First, he didn’t see the use of it, but later he joined her more frequently in her running training. They talked about the past few months, about Skokey’s problems and how he got to the point of suicide. She seemed to understand him more everyday, but decided to keep information about herself short. Even though he wondered what she had been up to, she only told she had some troubles at home and now lived somewhere else. Even though Mythiro allowed her to stay with Skokey, she still wondered what the elders would think. But it didn’t matter that much, helping her friend was way more important.

It was a beautiful day, a lot sunnier than a few weeks ago. Fenqua woke early in the morning and decided to stretch her muscles, while enjoying the rays of warm light on her body. She felt fresh and awake right away, and decided to take a stroll while Skokey was sleeping. After a while she reached the Old Oak, where Mythiro and Ventazza were still sleeping. Micarena and her brother weren’t around though and she wondered what they were up to so early. While thinking about this, Fenqua didn’t hear someone coming up to her from behind.

‘Hello there.’ A familiar voice spoke. Fenqua turned around quickly and looked straight in Micarena’s eyes.
‘Oh hi.’
‘What are you doing? Looking at my parents like that.’
‘I was just visiting, but I guess it’s still a little early.’
‘I agree, what are you doing so early in the morning?’
‘I could ask you the same question.’
‘I am just confronting you. Afraid of telling me what you were plotting?’
‘I wasn’t plotting anything. What are you thinking?’
‘Maybe you’re going to kill my parents with a big ball of light.’
‘Oh stop it! I don’t even know how to use that power. Heck, I don’t even know what it is myself! But what I do know is that I saved you using it, and you could be a little more grateful about it.’
‘Hmph.’
‘What? Lost your tongue or something? I’m really fed up with you. I thought we could be friends by now, but you’re still acting stubborn and stupid. I know for sure I wouldn’t save your stupid butt another time!’

Fenqua let out an angry sigh and walked towards Micarena, forcing the doe to step aside. Without turning around she headed back to the Playground. After a while, she was still steaming mad so she decided to rest in a patch of yellow flowers. She closed her eyes to concentrate on their delicious smell, when she picked up another scent. It was Micarena again.

‘Fen?’ Her voice sounded different from before, soft and even a little shy. Fenqua was surprised by this, but decided not to fall for another trick.
‘What?’
‘Well…’ She swallowed. ‘I was thinking about what you just said.’
‘Quick thinking. It was only fifteen minutes ago.’
‘I know. But it was enough time to realize I have… haven’t been so nice to you.’
‘You know, that almost sounds like you mean it. Well done, actress. But I’m not going to fall for it.’
‘But Fen… I do mean it!’
‘Spare me your lies. Can please leave now?’
‘B-but F-F-Fenqua…’
‘Leave!’
‘I don’t have to. I can stand wherever I want!’ The old Micarena seemed to rise again.
‘I just want to thank you for saving me! I was just too stubborn to do it earlier. But what you said made me realize I’ve been selfish. And you haven’t, if it wasn’t for you I would have died.’
‘I’m glad you said that, but I don’t need it anymore. You know, I was starting to think it had been for nothing. But even if you’re not grateful, your parents would have been. They would have been glad to see their daughter is still alive. So I decided I did it for them, not for you.’
‘Still, I owe my life to you. If there’s anything you need, just tell me.’
‘Okay. Thanks. Bye.’
‘Bye Fen…’

The next day…

When Fenqua woke up, Skokey was still peacefully asleep. She smiled seeing him like that. It looked pretty cute, even cuter than a sleeping fawn. The other night he seemed to have a strange dream, she heard him talking in his sleep a few times. Also, he shot up in the middle of the night once, which woke her up. She had asked him what was wrong, but he said he would tell her later. But she thought of something that might cheer him up, a little gift from her.
After leaving the Playground she went to eat some mushrooms for breakfast. At the pond, she drank something and washed the dirt of her pelt. At the crying idol statue, she decorated her own antlers with some poppies. Today was a little different than usual; she suddenly felt the urge to look good for her friend. But she couldn’t figure out why, so she quickly shook that thought and went to the Old Oak. Mythiro and Ventazza were there to greet her and even invited her for breakfast. They had collected something Fenqua had never seen before, it was called fruit. Mythiro said he found it at the edge of the forest, probably left by humans.

‘And he just ate it, without checking if it wasn’t poisonous.’ Ventazza said, slightly irritated.
‘Honey, I knew it was okay! I could smell it. And it has such a sweet scent Fen, you should try some.’
‘That’s true, Mythiro really discovered something delicious!’
Fenqua looked at the fruit; there were all kinds of it. She could see fruit in every color of the rainbow, except blue and purple. After smelling it’s sweetness for a while, she decided to eat a small red one with small, green leaves on top, which looked like a crown. She closed her eyes while enjoying the fresh taste of something that was called a strawberry by Mythiro.
‘That’s… delicious! I can’t really describe it further.’
Mythiro smiled at her and looked with a ‘told you so’ look on his face. He suggested Fenqua ate some more and she gladly did. She thanked the stag and doe and went of to work on Skokey’s surprise.

Fenqua searched for a while but finally found Micarena. She slowly approached the doe, not thinking how she felt about her now. Even though she still didn’t trust Micarena, she needed her help with something.
The doe turned around in surprise. ‘Hi Fen!’ She sounded rather cheerfully, but Fenqua could she wasn’t very confident about herself.
‘Hi Micarena. I have a favor to ask.’
‘Well, I said I’d help you out, what is it?’
‘I would like to have the Golden Butterfly mask, but I need someone to cast spells on. And since it’s a surprise for my best friend, I can’t use him for it.’
‘Your friend? You mean Skokey? Is he back?’
‘Yes he is, and he is doing a lot better now. I’m planning on introducing him again to the herd soon, but first I want him to be fully healthy.’
‘Is he sick?’ Micarena looked worried and Fenqua could hear she felt guilty. Probably about saying those mean things about Skokey.
‘Sort of, but that’s not really of your concern. Will you help me out?’
‘Sure!’
‘Good, meet me at that huge mushroom tree in the Birch Forest at noon, okay?’
‘I’ll be there Fen, don’t worry.’
But Fenqua did worry, if Micarena didn’t show up her surprise would be ruined. She would have promised Skokey something she couldn’t realize. Well, there was another solution, casting spells on him until he got the right mask, but that was less fun. Micarena had to show up, or she wouldn’t be celebrating her next birthday.

She tried to wake Skokey up by poking him numerous times. He woke up being a little grumpy and he had trouble staying awake. She fed him some pinecones to nibble on. He munched on them happily and seemed to know something was going to happen. Fenqua forced him to follow her to the Birch Forest.
‘So, where are you taking me?’ he asked flatly.
‘No where in particular.’ she answered cheerfully. ‘But you’ll have to wait; I have a surprise for you!’
She expected him explode from curiosity, but she soon realized he wasn’t like her. He just shrugged and said: ‘Alright.’

They came to a large tree covered in mushrooms. Skokey made the same face he did when he was a fawn. ‘We’re not going to eat those, are we?’
‘No silly, I know you hate them. Don’t worry!’
He noticed another doe standing by the tree too. Was she his surprise? That would mean Fenqua would be a match-maker! He hoped that wouldn’t be true, because he wasn’t interested in a mate at all. The only doe he cared about at the moment was Fenqua herself.
‘Alright, now you need to turn around and sit down. You might have to wait for a while. And no peeking!’ Fenqua said and turned to the other doe.
‘Thanks for coming Micarena, you’re really helping me with this.’
The other doe smiled. ‘I already said I’d be there. You’re quite lucky Fen, having such a handsome stag by your side.’
Fenqua turned a bit red, she hadn’t thought of that at all. From the day they met Fenqua had admired the stars in his eyes. They always seemed to cheer her up, no matter what. But she had never thought about Skokey as a mate. She hadn’t been interested in mates anyway, but she knew Micarena was right. He sure was handsome now he had regained his health.
‘Alright, let’s do this!’ Fenqua said, trying to change the subject. Micarena giggled, but decided not to make any trouble. She looked at Fenqua munching at the mushrooms and licking her lips in delight.
‘Ready?’
Micarena nodded and Fenqua cast a spell on her. A white, bird-shaped mask was cast on her, but Fenqua shook her head. Micarena sneezed the mask of and waited for the next spell. After a few spells, the right mask showed up. The does both smiled and Micarena gave Fenqua the mask, while Fenqua thanked her. The doe decided to leave the two alone and trotted of.

With a big grin on her face Fenqua approached Skokey, but to her displeasure he had fallen asleep. With great force, she shoved her hoof up his back which made him bolt upright. He looked at her irritated, but some became curious about the golden mask she was holding in her mouth. She put it down in front of him and smiled. ‘I know you said you didn’t want a mask, but I thought this one would look really nice on you.’
He was quiet for a while, probably thinking of something, she thought. After a long pause she became a bit worried. She was about to speak his name as he gave her a warm smile.
‘Thank you, I really like it.’

Her worries disappeared and she helped him get the mask on. She blushed, seeing he looked even more handsome than before. She thought of what Micarena said, but decided to leave it for later. Suddenly she remembered something else; some masks had the ability to change a deer its bellow. The golden mask that looked like a butterfly was known for his magical sound. ‘Hey Skokey, try to bellow! I wanna know if it does anything to your voice!’
He nodded and turned away from her, filling his lungs with air. When he finally bellowed, the sound they heard was both relaxing and beautiful. Just like they said, Fenqua thought. That sound is pure magic.
‘I’ve always wondered what that noise was.’ Skokey said.
‘You’ve heard it before?’
‘A couple of times, but I never knew it came from a mask.’ He turned to Fenqua, while blushing behind his mask. ‘Thanks so much, I never thought I would like any mask. But this one is great!’

She smiled and nuzzled him like she did to nobody else, but he didn’t seem to notice.