The thrush flapped her unbroken wing, she knew it would be no use, but it was worth a try.
The cat leaped on her with a yowl, it's claws sinking deep into the thrush's back. Teeth snapped dangerously close to her neck, pulling out feathers. The cats jaws closed around the thrush's neck, about to bite down, when an angry human voice rose above all other sounds. Suddenly, the cat was lifted off the thrush. The thrush turned her head weakly to look up at the human. It held the cat in its arms, making angry noises. Then the human put the cat down, shooing it off in the other direction.
The human crouched next to the thrush, making soft cooing noises. The thrush couldn't understand what the human was saying, but she thought it felt sorry for her.
Then the human stood up, walking away, leaving thrush all alone in the grass.

I'm confused. I log in, it says 44 players are connected, but I cant see anyone's pictograms! Does anyone know why this is, or how to fix it?

Ok, I've been seeing this used around a lot lately, and have no idea what it means.
What's an OOC?

So... This is were I will put a short paragraph of all my characters, just because.
*Because I can.*
*Please note that whenever I'm using a character for anything, I will try to keep what they do be what they would do themselves, as if I'm not controlling them.*

Arcturus
A fawn. Very friendly and curious about everything. Can be grumpy at times but is very kind-hearted.
Named after the star Arcturus. Mainly because of his black pelt littered with white dots.

Skye
A fawn. A friendly female who is curious about pretty much everything, but is also quite shy and timid. She is kind, and quite silly when you get to know her. Named Skye because she loves to look up at the clouds, moon and stars.

Alastair
A middle aged stag. Was reborn when he was a fawn, so is golden and glowing. Sort of a heavenly being. Alastair is very kind, and good to all. It is very hard to make him frustrated, or mad. Alastair is also quite curious, and is calm at all times. Has magic, but doesn't know it yet. Named Alastair because it means kind and good to others.

Tears welled in Alastair's eyes as he looked at the limp, lifeless body before him.
Tears began to fall as he looked at the gash on the doe's neck.
The tears wouldn't stop.
"Why!?" Alastair roared to the sky, "why did she have to die!?"
It began to rain, and Alastair felt more miserable then he had in his whole life.
He collapsed on the doe's body, and blotted out the rest of the world.

Alastair sat down, exhausted.
The large hole he had dug would just fit the doe's body. He grabbed it and dragged it towards the hole.
Just before he pushed the doe's body in, Alastair whispered: "Goodbye, mother."

For a few days, Alastair couldn't get over the death of his mother.
He couldn't stop thinking of the giant beast that killed his mother.
He was also afraid. Afraid to be alone, without his mother.
But one day, all that changed.
Alastair was sitting on a smooth rock that overlooked his mother's grave, when, another fawn approached him.
The newcomer was a light brown with a white chest, underbelly, legs, and face. The new fawn also had white splotches all over her back.
"Go away." Alastair grumbled. He wanted to be alone.
"No." The other fawn said firmly. "I can tell you need a friend right now."
Alastair was surprised. Usually such wise words came from the older deer, but that didn't stop him from being stubborn.
"No." He growled. "Go away! I want to be alone!"
The other fawn came closer and looked Alastair right in the eyes. "Sometimes being alone isn't the best thing." She said softly.
"Sometimes it is." Alastair grumbled.
The other fawn sighed. "I know how you feel." She said softly. "My mother died too."
Alastair looked at her with new understanding.
"I'm trying to help," She continued, "because I don't want you to go through the same pain I did. I don't want anyone to ever feel that way."
Alastair nodded. "No one should ever have to feel like this." He said.
The other fawn smiled.

Arcturus yawned. He had been running and jumping around all day with Skye. Right now they were in the ruins. "Skye?" He said. Skye looked up from what she was doing and tilted her head at Arcturus. "What?" She asked. "I think it's time to go." Arcturus said, lying down. "Oh..." Skye said. "Okay." Skye lay down and rested her head on a stone. Pretty soon she and Arcturus were asleep.

Arcturus woke to find he was alone. He looked around wildly for Skye, but had no luck. "Where did she go!?" He cried. Arcturus looked up to find that night had fallen. He gulped. He didn't like to admit it, but sometimes, the Ruins creeped him out. Suddenly, he heard a *clop* behind him. He turned around quickly and heard another *clop*.
A glowing, gold hoof stepped out from behind a wall. Afraid, Arcturus ran the other way, intent on getting away from the other deer, whoever it was.
*Clop, clop clop* The hoof-steps were getting quicker, and closer!
'I'm being followed!' Arcturus thought.
He turned around corner after corner. Finally, he heard a big, loud CLOP. Arcturus spun around to see a glowing hoof stepping out from behind a large bloulder. Then an antler. Arcturus backed up and jumped when he felt something hit him. He looked around to see he had backed up against a high, stone wall. Arcturus squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the worst. *Clop, clop, clop.* The hoof-steps got closer and closer until....
Arcturus felt a warm aura against his pelt. A soft, deep voice said: "Don't be afraid, little one." Arcturus opened his eyes to see a glowing, golden buck standing infront of him. The buck's pictogram shone brightly above his head, and he had warm, kind, amber eyes. "I suppose I should work work on my approach." The gold buck mused. "You seemed awfully frightened when I came forward, I suppose sneaking up on other deer in the middle of the night in the Ruins isn't the best way to introduce myself." The buck looked at the sky for a moment, thinking.