The smell of trampled flowers hung heavily in the foggy air. Metallic blood specked them with red, pooling beneath the one that most of it had come from.
Two fights in two days.
She had nearly died twice...
and lost one of her only friends.
A wheezing noise, signifying blood clotting in her nose, escaped Poplar. Her badly beaten body lay near-lifeless in the patch of flowers she called her home. Both seemed destroyed.
'They'll kill me.
And my Guardian is not here to help.
Maybe everyone will leave.
And I will be alone again.'
The doe's fur ruffled in the breeze. Her eyelids puckered as she opened her mouth to suck in air, before relaxing again. Pain rolled over her in waves.
Bruised ribs.
Bleeding lascerations to her chest and back.
Her rump like Nidhem's, what with all the wounds.
The doe longed for the healing water of De Drinkplaatz or the pond. She was weak, and smelling Umay's pack nearby, felt movement would attract unwanted attention.
Don't move,
Don't moan,
Barely breathe
and they won't come after you.
The only way out it seems,
is to forfeit your life.
Poplar found herself regretting everything.
'They'll take my home.
They'll take everyone I love...'
The doe let her eyes drift open, her head moving to face the pack with a renewed sense of purpose. The doe's eyes burned in her skull, the light warping them in to the same orange fires as her Guardian's. Her ears pinned against her skull.
' I won't let them.'
The young stag moved quietly
Something. He could hear it.
Behind his Day of the Dead mask, he had a badly scarred face. A past he didn't remember nor want to bring up. This scarred face made him blind in one eye, and the other one itself was weak. His hearing was rather exceptional, considering this, and he didn't really mind the eye. He shook his head, his large curved-back antlers nearly shaking up a few leaves.
"Hello?" he whispered, not realizing that noise was the exact opposite of what the object of his interest wanted. "Anyone?"
made by foxofthestars!
(Hi! Even though this is a
His hooves were inches from her nose. Poplar was terrified to startle the stag at this point. Being blind here was hard, and her intuition told her he was. She wondered, did he really know anything about being blind here in this forest? Did he even smell her blood? During her time as Jupiter, she had perfectly navigated this place without sight... well, that was not quite true. She did have that Gift from The Gods. It was not always put to use, though, especially in the rain or fog. Finally, the doe just sighed audibly. She daren't move, not even a single twitch of muscle, because she couldn't move fast enough. Too tired, too weak from her wounds, Pop stayed still on that grass in those flowers.
Words finally escaped like butterflies, soft and low yet still strange in their comfort. "Don't move, you might step on me. Your left forehoof is right next to my nose. Two steps straight back will give you enough distance... and the movement will place your buttocks against a small sapling. It will be safe to lay down then."
The bloody animal on the ground awaited a response.
(Sorry if it was old, I just
Wendingo waited in apprehension, wondering if it was his imagination. But that wouldn't explain the smell, would it? Maybe it was a dead buck who died from blood wounds after fighting. Shivering, he was just about to step forward and tell himself he was just hearing things when he heard the voice. Jumping back, he clumsily sat down in front of the said sapling, somehow managing to not make any noise in the process. He raised a questioning eyebrow, even though knowing it would be impossible to see.
"Who are you?" he asked, pausing and tilting his head at odd angles to try and see her from his (semi) good eye. Even in a situation like this, where another deer could be hurt, Wendingo didn't really know how to respond. He liked playing dumb around other deer and not talking much at all. It usually gave him the reputation of being a crazy stag who played annoying tricks on people. But when he saw something hurt, it seemed as if the rest of his personality left and he was a different deer. Wendingo was unpredictable, and no amount of words could describe himself. "Uh...are you hurt?" He added, being struck by another wave of dumbness from never being in the situation of having a choice to help or run away from a deer that was hurt.
made by foxofthestars!
(No issue. A lot can happen
The doe closed her eyes tightly so as not to get them injured, tensing until she felt the soft "thump" of him landing. His questions were odd, and she couldn't help but giggle. She opened her mouth, speaking gently. "Hmhm... I'm Poplar. Don't worry, I am just a doe. And yes, I am quite hurt... hurt enough that I couldn't harm you if I tried. Try to relax, Wendingo. The doe read his pictogram easily. What an odd name for a deer! But it felt good rolling off of the doe's tongue.
She kept her same position, appearing as if dead to someone who could not see her lips move in conversation. Simply put: the doe was just too tired to move. She just grinned amusedly at the other deer, following its odd head-movements with her eyes. Maybe the stag was not totally blind after all? She would find out.
Wendingo nodded, letting out
His keen ears took in her voice, registering it in his head so he would know her voice well. His ears were a benefit because he could hear a deer so much as mumble and he could figure out who they were if he had heard them before. The other way around, though, was different. Wendingo had to learn names by talking because he couldn't really see pictograms well enough. It was strange. Anything out of the ordinary forest was blurred from his vision. He'd never actually gotten a clear view of the Twin Gods statue.
made by foxofthestars!
What happened to her? "Ah...
The trees swayed and crackled overhead, sending a short rain of helicopter-like seeds floating over the air and landing around them. A bird chirped in the distance. All of it was so peaceful. She could hardly believe herself the evils the forest held. "Are you new here, Wendingo?"
Wendingo knew that probably
Wendingo wasn't good with words. Well, he was, but not saying them as he wanted them to. Sighing, though, he added, "Part of the reason why I never went out was because I never had this mask. I nearly got killed by my mother when I was first born. A buck found me half-dead after she ran off, and raised me. But I was too scared to show my face. It's...ugly. Nobody wants to see a blind eye covered in scars."
He felt glad he had the mask now. It was the only thing that allowed him to go outside by his own will. He hated his face. He loathed it. Blind in one horribly scarred eye, near-blind in the other. The rest of his face had scars here and there. It was surprising how much damage a sharp pair of hooves could do.
made by foxofthestars!
Does are docile. What would
The doe wished she could nuzzle Wendingo, but she really couldn't move much.
"Part feline! I know zombie
Sighing, he added, "I'm going to die because of ignorance someday, if there's more to the forest than I know." He listened to her thoughtfully. "Perhaps. But...I think I might still wear the mask. It's good for scaring other deer." He murmured it with a half-hearted laugh. "If the Gods would do that for me, they would've been able to stop my mother from nearly killing me. I give the statues a bow now and then, but I don't think I really believe in them. The proof is all in front of me...but...I don't know. I need to be convinced."
made by foxofthestars!
The doe just let her eyes
The doe continued briefly before stopping: "You know... it took me awhile to become convinced. But I feel like I was a whole lot younger then. I mean, you don't have to believe if you don't want to, but sometimes it has its benefits. The doe laughed inside, knowing that later in the week she would be praying to the Gods as she lay in their fountain to heal her wounds.
Wendingo just shrugged. "I
Squinting to look at her, he mumbled, "But can you tell me more about that feline deer? Who are they, and why did you get into a fight with them?" Wendingo shivered. It was unnerving to know that such things existed in this forest.
made by foxofthestars!
The doe was confused. "She is
"Oh. I've always thought
"I don't have enemies. The only enemy I've ever had is my mom. If she isn't dead...It's a horrible thing to say, but if she isn't, I hope she is. I probably wouldn't hesitate to kill her." Wendingo snarled, then stopped, shocked at himself. He did have a hatred that no other deer could cause other than the doe that made him so reclusive and shameful, but he had never sounded so aggressive before. "S-Sorry...I just really hate her."
made by foxofthestars!