Trout lifted her soft rounded nose to catch the pungent odor of overripe apples on the breeze. She tossed her head forward, the weight carrying her up and onto her feet in an ironically agile lurch that set her to a trot in one quick motion.

Sure enough, she spotted the familiar poppy-red of Tanpopo, she had seen the young doe in the forest ever since they had both been new fawns, but had never found an opportunity to get to know her outside a few gatherings around "La", to whom it seemed they both were endeared.

Trout ambled forward with a playful trounce, mashing a rotten apple under her cloven hoof and tossing her head with a light in her eyes betraying a joyful smile... She had not seen the stranger until then, and mid-frolic, Trout fell completely still. Her eyes showed white at the corners as she stared sidelong at the stag warily. There was absolutely no visible reason she should feel uneasy, but her innate sensitivity to others was trying to flush her little heart out like a quail from the brush.

(Edit: I hope you dont mind I just Ninja'd the RP into my placeholder comment.)

Trout tentatively bumped her nose against Tanpopo even as she bowed, she did not mind cuddles in the least, but she kept a keen eye on the stag beyond. She narrowed her gaze on him when he cautioned Tan... What did this stranger know about her?

She shook her head and tried to shrug it off as simple caution for etiquette sake. With an abrupt bleat, Trout announced her name and fell silent again. Clearly she was not made for speech, and she wondered if the others would think her a simpleton for it. She dipped her head in the stags direction and while looking sidelong between them both, she bravely forced out one more stuttered word. "Wh-o-o-o?"

She pawed another overripe apple towards Tanpopo and danced to one side, craning out her neck to catch a scent from the stag while keeping her hind legs firmly planted by the more familiar young doe beside her. The stag didn't seem to smell like anything... This caused the little goaticorn to retract herself abruptly as she looked to Tan for some sort of explanation. Confusion written on her face as plain as day.

Trout twitched her tail and watched Tan circle her, the light coming back into her eyes at the apparent boundless optimism that bubbled in her peers every move. At their joint explanation, Trout nodded quietly, she supposed that was a fair arrangement, but something deep in her gut still tugged her disturbingly.

She had learned well how to track down the darkness in this forest, enter it, and seek to heal it... but something about this scentless stag was throwing her internal compass off. She felt as if her senses were misguiding her... as if Odu were flickering on and off her radar like a ghost.

She canted her head at Tanpopo again, and couldnt help but do a small jig as she had continued to circle until Trout was nearly dizzy with the effort to keep tabs on Tan physically as well as attempting to pin down the mysterious impressions of this Odu.

For a moment her knees buckled and she caught herself checking over her shoulder at the stag as she stumbled, imagining he might try to pounce if she let her guard down. But that made no sense... He was caring for Tan after all. She coughed and hoped no one had noticed before playfully trouncing the leaf littler to cover her misstep.

Trout stifled a laugh, but that only made her bray until she let out a small bleat. Tanpopo was incredibly distracting, so much so that Trout could not help but give up her caution concering Odu. She looked up at the single spiraling horn that had begun to grown long enough she could see it in her periphery and nodded her head at Tanpopo, her horn making tiny circles in the air purely for this new friends amusement.

Trout lifted her head and nosed the two bits of down that perched right above Tanpopo's ears. They didnt seem to have any antlers growing under them, so she mouthed them into pointed cowlics for her new friend.

Trout peered beyond at Odu, his antlers certainly were strange... Trout approached him carefully, pausing to look back at Tan. It wasnt fear that showed on her face, but rather a look of polite concern. She did not want to infringe on the stags space without Tanpopo by her side. Odu was so icy, but if he had adopted her... he must have a soft spot.

Trout was not so easily distracted. If Odu had hoped to dissuade her attention, doing ... whatever it was that he had just done... was not helping. The Unicorn forgot her manners as she stared at the antennae like feathers and she bleated "No-o-o" right back at the stag, as if repeating him would undo the word. She propped her forlegs against the tree to stand on her hinds as she examined the source of such a lovely sound.

"A-ga-a-a-in" She begged, hopefulness written on her face.

Trout canted her head to one side, she could hear Odus breath, short and fast... Had she upset him? The curiosity vanished as quickly as it had arrived, and Trout moved to step away, regret showing in her dark eyes. But as she did so, a flick of the feather and a branch crashed down behind her.

She turned away and peered through the foliage that sprouted from the twigs at Tan, the doe had seemed to disassociate for some reason, and that was far more disturbing than a simple conflict would have been. Trout let out a small bleat before returning her gaze to Odu.

She was sorry... and her heart was heavy in her chest, she had not meant to upset him.

Tan grinned big and skipped between the two, nuzzling them each time she passed. She pushed her way under Trout, rubbing against her undercarriage before stumbling over to Oduvanchik.

He turned his head to shoo her off when he remembered the conversation he had with La. He stood, stretched, and turned to the two does; passing Tanpopo who just trotted by his side.
"Good evening..." He said quietly, trying to behave himself.




WAS:((She looked at La and then said something softly to Odu, who only twitched his ear that she was whispering into. When he only stared at her she shouted "Now!" and he jolted to his feet.

He trudged to Trout, scowling. "I'm sorry..." He bowed. "I won't eat you..."))

Trout felt a wave of relief wash over her at La's appearance. It was as if the tension had melted away, and she quickly took the opportunity to put some distance between Odu and herself. "B-L-A-A-a-a-a!" She attempted to bleat her friends name, utter failure. Though quickly, the unicorn corrected herself. "L-A-A-a-a-a"

Trout bumped her nose under La's chin in a cheerful greeting, her tail flying like a flag behind her. Tanpopo also received a headbump, and the small creature circled to face Odu... biting her lip.

"N-..." Tanpopo started to shake her head, but her jaw dropped when she looked at Odu and then rattled her head forward enthusiastically. "Yeah!"

Oduvanchik sighed in relief and then cocked her an amused eyebrow. "Who's side are you on anyway?"

Tanpopo ignored him and huddled over near La. "Want some apples?"

Trout puffed up much like a swan at La's praise, but she did not hazard any more words. She watched the peculiar interaction between La and the others quietly. She could tell she was missing some important information about Odu, but clearly whatever it was, he was trying to work past it... Or bury it. .. Or bottle it...

When La bent her knees to rest, and Tanpopo offered apples, Trout looked down at the forest floor. There were still only a few good apples remaining. As if suddenly recalling something she had forgotten days ago, the little unicorn grunted and popped up into the tree, scaling the branches on tiptoe, defying physics. She found a fairly long branch and began to bounce, only a little, but enough to rain apples down on any who were directly below her.



(oh goats in trees. <3)

Initially, La's ears folded back against her head in alarm to see Trout in a tree defying common sense, but as she watched the young one get her bearings it occurred to her that this was not an instance of a child doing something foolish, it was a case of someone who wasn't quite a deer doing what they were meant to do. Deer didn't belong in trees, but it seemed to La that Trout did--at least when she wanted to.

Still, her eyes watched Trout with a hint of parental care, even when her book was dislodged so that it fell to the ground at the base of the tree. That's what you get for hiding out of reach, she thought at it to chide the tome. As always it gave no indication of understanding, but La interpreted the object's stillness as grudging acceptance.

When Tanpopo rolled her an apple she accepted it graciously. Ripe or under ripe didn't matter to her in the least. "Thank you," she said, and pinned the apple between her forehooves to start taking bites out of it.

Trout had not noticed the tome until it tumbled like a failed bird out of the tree. She craned her neck downward to inspect the toppled book and her friends below. When Odu laughed, Trout bleated proudly. "B-o-o-o-k tr-e-e-e!"

It was a simple joke, but the unicorn flicked her tail over her back and laughed from her perch. Learning to speak was tedious, but the joy of delivering humor lifted her spirits greatly. She tiptoed out on the branch until it began to bow under her weight. It bent low enough for her to make a daring leap out of the tree, which she did so with a kick of her heels.

The branch snapped upwards in her wake, rustling back to the canopy and showering apples down again with Trouts descent. The unicorn landed with a thud as she appended her joke. "Tro-u-u-t-r-e-e!" In her excitement, she slurred the words together this time.

Tanpopo greeted Trout warmly when she met again with the earth. Standing on her hinde legs, she nuzzled Trout's nose. "I didn't know you came from trees!" She giggled.

Oduvanchik watched the two play with a smile but he couldn't keep his mind from wandering back to the book. Why was that here? He nonchalantly made his way towards La.

"You can read?"

(Agreed. I needed something to do tomorrow anyway. Alison, got a reference for your book?)

Tanpopo's mouth was agape with excitement when she saw Trout's invited. She shot Odu a quick glance and saw that he was distracted. Hurriedly, she made a few playful pounces around Trout before gently putting her front hooves on the unicorn's back. With an awkward motion, she struggled to get the third leg up and repeatedly lifted it and put it down.

Edit: ((gonna try to draw them as a group, so hopefully their sizes won't be all... Off. xD I've scraped three projects due to wacky size differences.))

Oduvanchik's lips twitched as he tried his best to contain himself. The pursuit of knowledge was a desire he craved to feed, but this was another oppurtunity for his ward.

"You know..." He said, standing next to La. "I've been teaching Tanpopo how to read."

Honestly, he didn't know why he did teach her. Odu didn't think these deer were interested in such things, though she did seem to enjoy it.

His feather-antlers were waving slightly with excitement. Either way this next move affected the game, he'd still win.

He sat close to her, peering over her shoulder at the book. "So tell me about this book. Perhaps this would be a good oppurtunity to teach the little ones..."

(Toya, how big is Trout compared to the In-Game TEF stag?)

Edit: ((OMG Creepy Watson! That scared me! Wtf??? He's even creepier than Slenderman!))

Tan was excited to be in the tree like a bird. She opened her mouth to hail Odu but thought better of it after remembering this was "dangerous". She giggled mischievously at Trout. "Thank you..!" She said quietly.

Edit: Super glad you like it. :3 I hope I got Trout's colors right.))

((Cool! ^-^ I like making people smile. I'm glad I can do that with my art. I thought about posting it as a seperate picture blog, but this one was for you and Alison. You can link it if you want, but my photobucket folder will be open still... I think... I haven't figured out how to work that stuff yet... *huggles* thank you))

(*Cackles* La! What on earth is that from? Its the Urban Dictionary, I suspect its from some other literature. Piers Anthony? Terry Pratchett?)

"Oh, let them play," La chided Oduvanchik. "There's a time for education but there's also a time for play, and this book can wait."

She looked up at Tan in the tree with an affectionate smile, and back down at the helpful Trout. She turned another page in the book and snickered when it offered a how-to guide for at home exorcisms.

(I have no idea what that's from.)

Tanpopo gave Trout a quick nuzzle as she struggled up the tree. "He doesn't like it when I do things without permission." She said and chuckled nervously. "He says I'm a danger to myself." She didn't seem bothered at all by his appearance change and gasped when she peered through the branches at their companions.


Odu eyed the book haughtily, noting it's own personal snide remarks regarding the situation. "Pretty brave for something that isn't fire proof."

Trout narrowed her eyes at Odu suspiciously before winking at La, a sure sign of comprehension. She resolved to pick La's brain about Odu later. As she turned to hoist Tan up the last few inches to the perch, she did a clean double take at the heavy tome that -somehow- had manifested back in the tree, flopped neatly across a branch near the girls.

After Tan found her footing, she hopped up to the literary limb and tiptoed out towards the book. She stretched out her neck to mouth the binding gently, trying to gain purchase enough to pluck the book up. She intended to sequester it up to their areal hideout, such a curious object... Trout wanted to see!

The Book gave no indication of discontent as it was relocated through the branches, moved up and around. It was no stranger to being carried by mouth.

La flexed a hoof in front of her, spreading the two toes as far apart as she could. "Writing is not an option. But I orate to the book sometimes. That's the best I can do. Besides. No paper to write on."

Trout honestly didnt really know what it was... She had been taught basic phonetics from La, but she had never seen a book, much less writing of any kind. So the little unicorn seemed to shrug helplessly to Tan, ducking her head at an odd angle before hastily hopping up to steady her friend. She bleated, muffled by the tome as she struggled with her friends flailing limbs. She did not give up her precarious gymnastics until Tan was safe again.

Then, she nestled the book atop a hefty burl that grew out from the trunk, gave Tan a look that belayed great relief spiced with teasing anticipation, and flipped it open post haste. Though Trout had never seen writing before, she could appreciate the pictures, and that she did with great zeal.

Spread on the pages before them was a glamorously illuminated image of an apple tree. Trout cooed and bleated in excitement as she clumsily flipped the page over to see what was next...

(La's book is interesting to RP with. I hope you dont mind I took a liberty with something as simple as the apple tree, but what they see next I am leaving to Alison!)

Odu rolled his eyes. Burning bridges, as she called it, had been working for him and anything different would only slow him down. He grimaced, looking for any sign of Tanpopo's bright colors among the apples, but they seemed to camouflage his little fool.

Tan's eyes were wide with wonder as the book portrayed a creature she had never seen before. She had only scary experiences at the lake and avoided it when she could, so the water and beauty of it's creatures was unknown to her. She did, however, notice the scales matched Trout's strange pelt and she leaned over to lick at Trout's back curiously.