Coos the fawn was two human years old. It was about a day before her birthday, and she pranced around in glee. She was excited, because any birthday was deserving of a celebration. Spring was right around the corner, and plant life was just starting to reappear. As famine edged the stomachs of every doe, stag, and fawn that lived in the tribe, every deer knew each others pain. Life may had been hunger-filled, but it was generally easy.

Prancing into the sun-spotted clearing, she ran over to her parents. They slept intertwined in a peaceful sleep. Coos looked up into the sky, and saw the sun was about in the noon position, and so she prodded her parent's awake with one of her hooves.

"C'mon, get up! You said that we would be exploring the outskirts of the woods today! Mom," Coos exclaimed as she tugged on her mother's ear. Her mother's eyes blinked the sleep away and she stood up slowly and stretched. She was beautiful, with a golden-brown pelt and her young, white doe spots brightening up her fur. Her face was long and sad, as if she had been dreaming of good things.

"Okay, Coos. We will, but we can't go south too far. The Shadows have been creeping up on us," she said with a yawn.

"Okay, let's get daddy up," Coos said as she was about to tug on his antlers. She fell backwards as he rose from his sleeping place. He bowed to Coos' mother and stretched his aching limbs. Her dad was much older that Coos' mother was. He had white fur that was beginning to gray with age, and had large, powerful antlers that twined and twisted in a spectacular manner.

They trotted around their boundaries, and Coos overheard their parent's talking.

"...He wants our greatest warriors. Anybody with antlers that is strong enough to defend our young."

"I will not give up my life to the whole of the tribe, and I expect the same for the other families if the Shadows attack. We should defend our own, and no one else."

"You're being selfish, dear. Please, I'd hate for you to leave, but you're our best warrior. The strongest by far, and the most experienced!" At this point, Coos' mother's voice was no longer a whisper. She contained herself and continued on, not speaking anymore of the matter.

Coos hopped out of the forest into a new clearing with all new herbs, ones that she had never seen before. Her bright green eyes were wide as she scanned the large lake in front of her. The long fur around the base of her neck and shoulders swayed by the wind that seemed to cut through the clearing. Her father was the first to catch up to Coos. His off-white long fur swayed as well, his green eyes and joyful face seeming to stare through Coos' own. Her mother's short fur didn't budge, and she dared not look at the fawn.

Coos sprinted off towards the water with joy as she felt the cool water touch something other than her lips. She danced with joy and splashed in the water. Purple flowers grew all around the bank, and Coos replaced her old headdress with a new one.

Coos and her father played in the water for hours, as her mom grazed the grass nearby, exchanging small talk between the drenched pair of deer.

They walk back to their sleeping spots as their tired bodies are being dragged by their aching hooves. A howl split through the night.

"Another wolf. They sound far away enough. We should be home in time," Coos' father tiredly yawned. They trudged back home, ready to climb into bed. As Coos settled into her nest, sleep fell over her world, and she quickly fell asleep.


Another howl split through the air, jolting the family awake. The forest around them seemed to darken as distant fighting and deep screeches sounded throughout the sky. Coos stood up, scared, on wobbly legs. Her father jolted out of his nest, and Coos' mother slowly rose, cautious about what was in those woods. Suddenly, deer from the tribe ran through, creating a stampede. Coos' nerves were whipped up with adrenaline, and she raced alongside the other deer in the tribe, her mother's long stride in front and her father protecting right behind.

Deer fell down as the Shadows moved towards Coos and her family. Shadows were creatures that could take the form of whoever they wanted, but they were still pitch-black with pure white eyes. They were strong, they were fierce, and they ate like a carnivore. They could tear into any kind of meat, leaving only the bones behind. And tonight, they hunted.

Eventually, it was three Shadows pursuing the family, barking indistinct orders at each other, and howling as wind pelted through their goopy form. They took a sharp turn, and one of the Shadows took down Coos' father, dragging him into the darkness of the foggy night. Coos and her mother kept racing on, even as her steps wavered and her energy was sapped. The will to live pushed her on.

Raced to a dead end, and a steep slope blocked their path. It was climbable, but it would take time that the two deer didn't have. A deep moo came from the fog as two of the Shadows crept in. They were barking and yipping like hunting dogs, and they growled like a forest cat. Another deep moo came from the shadows, and just as one of the Shadows came in the bite at Coos, her father appeared out of the fog, at full speed and pinned the Shadow to the wall beside it. Coos and her mother mooed their appreciation and worry for their father, but a quick grunt from him told them to keep running.

They dashed past the other Shadow who was prying Coos' father from its friend's back. A loud, indeer-like screech sounded that signaled that one of the Shadows had died, followed quickly by the surprised moo of Coos' father's final breath. But the pair of does were sure they weren't far enough, so they continued running out of the valley and into the forest.

As they continued onward, trying to get to a safe place to grieve for their tribe, Coos jumped a rotting log, and her mother followed. She missed her jump and her back legs got caught on the log. She fell over, front legs into the dirt, and mooing at Coos to get away. Coos tried to pull her up, but her mother had hurt her ankle, making it hard to push herself off the ground. A loud yipping sounded, and Coos' mother made a final attempt to save her child. She pushed her large head into Coos' neck, driving her back enough to get a head start into the fog of the night. Coos hid behind a few rocks, as she watched in horror the scene that played out before her.

A single Shadow flew out of the fog, and sniffed the air around him. He, smelling the injured doe, jumped over the log and slowly bit into Coos' mother's neck, and a shriek sounded out as the doe cried in agony. Coos held back tears, trying not to sound as she watched her mother's beautiful, short golden fur get ripped up and bloodied, until it was stained a deep red. Prey-scent filling his nostrils, the Shadow forgot about Coos, and formed into a larger deer then ran off into the fog from where he came, dragging the doe with him. Coos no longer had even a body to grieve over. She would never see her parents again.

She ran off, eyes filled with tears and thinking apologetic cries in her own head.

"I'm so sorry! I should've saved you! It's my fault!"

She ran and ran, until the sun had come up. She looked at where she was. A clearing with a large pond and an old oak. Deer-folk sat around the pond chatting happily, and elder deer sat in the old oak, getting rest and warming up in the sunlight that filtered through the hole. Coos looked in front of her, seeing two white rocks jutting out of the ground. She somehow saw faces in them, and felt a sense of peace wash over her. She didn't remember the sun coming up, but when she looked up it seemed to be about noon. She plopped down in front of the rock, and fell asleep.