[Edited 4/22 - ignore please; I had to fix a big mistake at the beginning]
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Jan. 19, 2009
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Before his eyes even opened, a flood of memories and emotions drowned Chenaniah’s brain. How many days had it been since he danced at the playground and ran through the forest with that mini-doe? He had really let her get that close…

And then… embarrassment. Had he really been so forward? Had he really nuzzled a complete stranger? And then… oh AND THEN. Had he really leaped and laughed through the playground while so many deer were watching? What had gotten into him? All those deer... those... deer. All around him.

Drowning him...



His eyes still hadn’t opened. He was slowly rising up from the pit of unconsciousness. The blue bowl. One of the best places in the Birch Forest. Birds loved it here. The warm colors danced. The sweet smell of…

Wait.

A different smell. Another deer had been her. Several deer in fact… but one had stayed longer than the rest. No… no it wasn’t the mini doe. It was… it was…

Hello
Little One
You must be lonely
You must be cold
I will be your guardian



You're shivering
No, please don't tremble
It's so cold...
I will keep you warm



Do you have family
Do you have friends
Where have they gone
Hush, don't cry
I will be your daddy

And when all forsake you
I will be here
I will always be here
Little One






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A series of pictures I took a while ago, obviously when it was snowing. XD Chenan has this odd habit of sitting next to sleeping fawns... he always imagines how lonely they must be. I dunno, maybe he had some traumatic experience as a fawn. >_>

Also, please excuse the "song." It's not very poetic and was merely typed up in like 3 minutes to accompany the pictures. :/ Let's just say it's like... some sort of English translation of... a song in Endless Forest language. 8D

Also AGAIN... to whoever that fawn was: I'm sorry that Chenaniah's weird. It must be creepy having a random stag come and watch you while you sleep. 0_0

...Name...
House
Named simply because of the shape of her picto. I'm not sure if she particularly likes this name, but... OH WELL. TOO BAD, HOUSEY.

...Gender...
Doe

...Pictogram...
Um... a house. Without a left side.

...Set...
Starling Pelt
Pronghorn antlers
She likes to change masks often, but is mostly seen without one

...Color....
FF99CC

Last night I had a dream that a huge field of shoulder-high light purple flowers was stretching down from the playground and into the Birch Forest. All the deer were playing on the playground, and Chenaniah went to the end of the field. Then suddenly I was in the game and controlling him. Like... I was pulling his antlers wherever I wanted him to go. Then I was trying to get him to slide... so I started spinning him around and letting him go... and he would zoom off and then spin back to me like a boomerang and I'd grab him by the antlers and spin him off again.

It was odd.

But it would be awesome if we had a huge field of flowers like that. :3

[/random information]

So I made a new fawn yesterday. (I actually have a couple deer, but I keep them a secret >8D) I decided to officially introduce this one though. I get very annoyed with Chen’s shy and serious ways… I needed someone to be hyper for me. XD

So allow me to introduce House. Why the odd name? Just check out her awesome pictogram:


XD

Anyway, I logged off Chenaniah, and logged in House. Suddenly, the forest went mad.

A little distance away was a fawn with Chenan’s pictogram:



It was odd, but I didn’t give it much thought because this sort of stuff happens now and then. I ran off to the playground, and there stood a fawn with House’s picto. 0_o



So, after messing around a bit with the pictofawn (It didn’t move; well except for its tail, ears, and the occasional turn of the head) I ran off to the ruins.

And there lay a stag with Chenan’s picto. ._______.



A few steps away was another fawn with… you guessed it, Chenaniah’s pictogram:



Urg. T_T There was no escape. I ran to the pond.

Thankfully there were no pictodeer there. But all the other deer were asleep, so there was still no one to play with me.



I found a nameless fawn. Its head was stuck in that uncomfortable position. Of course, all the other pictodeer didn’t move… but they could move their heads. This one couldn’t. It was stuck like that.

After checking if all the other pictodeer were still in their frozen spots (which they were) I found one of the sleeping non-picto-stealing deer and slept next to it.

It had been a few days since the Abiogenesis. Chenaniah didn’t want to think about it. He spent his days singing with the birds of the Birch Forest… far away from other deer. And especially far away from the twin god statues. He still had his joy and his song. He was still bright and energetic… but only by himself. He preferred that other deer not see his face. Not even an especially playful fawn. Was he embarrassed? Maybe. How many had seen and heard his over-enthusiastic greeting to the gods during that explosion of excitement? The gods. The gods that had left without him. Was he depressed? Maybe. How long would it be until he stepped out of his comfort zone and played with the other deer of the forest? Was he lonely? Maybe. But then again… he always had the butterflies and the dragonflies. And he always had the birds.



“It’s okay, little one. I won’t hurt you…”

Chenaniah whispered almost silently. The robin cocked her head and hopped back an inch. She glared at him sideways.

Chenan smiled and chuckled to himself. The robin was wary… but curious. One of the few skittish birds in this forest.

“You have nothing to…” Chenaniah’s voice trailed off. His ears flicked and he raised his nose to the air… there was a deer nearby.



The bird flew away.

Chenan staired. Down at the bottom of the hill, a deer was watching him. A small brown skull-faced deer. His heart leapt. How long had it been there?

Well… it wasn’t doing anything. Maybe it hadn’t seen him. Maybe… maybe it was just resting there and happened to be in the same area Chenaniah was. It wasn’t that close, anyway…

Chenaniah's ear twitched and he slowly awoke. His eyes blinked drearily. A strange feeling was in the air. It was too busy. The birds were too excited. Why would...

The Epiphany! He remembered now. Today the twin gods would visit the forest. Today they would perform!

Chenan eagerly arose and trotted toward the statues. Then he stopped. Deer. Far too many deer.



Of course there would be a party. He was, after all, not the only deer in the forest. How many were there? Could they see him?

His heart jumped and he began to run... no. No, not this time. This time he would not be that stubborn. He wanted to see the gods. They had painted this forest. They had grown the flowers and shaped the rocks and gave the birds their voice. He HAD to see the gods. Nothing would stop him.



Chenaniah sat down by a tree. He was far enough away from the deer. He could see the statues... but the other deer wouldn't be able to see him. He hoped.

Time dragged on as more and more deer joined the dance. Chenan moved along the outskirts of the party, observing each deer. A fawn and a great green-scaled stag danced on the end. Eventually they moved off. A black skeleton doe with a grinning mask lay between two dancers. Another skeleton, a stag with trumpets instead of antlers, reared and laughed with a butterfly-pelted deer. A small party of stags stood off by themselves, bowing and nuzzling one another. Red, brown, gray, orange, black, white. Many deer. Many faces. Many stories and hopes and dreams. Such diversity painted by the gods. He was one of the many colors... if only he could join the dance.

The Epiphany Abiogenesis is at 10 AM tomorrow.

AGAIN I WILL MISS AN ABIOGENESIS. AND THIS IS THE ONE I REALLY REALLY WANTED TO SEE.

THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE YOU GUYS. D'8

OH I HOPE IT HAILS TONIGHT AND GIANT ICECUBES CRUSH THE SCHOOL AND WE HAVE A DELAY... OR SOMETHING.

OR MAYBE I CAN GET ON DURING STUDY HALL. PLARG. I DUNNO.

Well.

Get some good pics you guys. :'[

“Look, Chen! We match!”

A flicker of a smile flashed across Chenaniah’s mouth. He had always been amused by his younger brother’s constant enthusiasm.

“We should go to the Festival of Lights like this.” Ialu grinned beneath his new starling mask. Aside from his pelt, the brothers were almost identical.

Chenaniah’s small grin vanished, “Ialu… I don’t think I’ll go to the festival tonight.”

Ialu jumped in surprise. His mouth became firm… but not angry. Ialu was never angry, “But you always miss these celebrations. It’s going to be a new year… at least come to this one.”

Chenaniah didn’t budge. His ear twitched. His herd animal nature longed for other deer. For parties. To watch the gods put on their amazing shows. To dance and just keep dancing.

“No, brother. I don’t like to be around other deer.” He responded.

Ialu raised an eyebrow, then sighed.

“You can go by yourself,” Chen shrugged, “I’m not stopping you. In fact, I’d prefer to welcome the New Year on my own.”

Ialu rolled his eyes, “You can’t be this antisocial. Just come tonight. One night. And if you get scared, I’ll be ri-”

“I’m not scared, Ialu…”

Ialu grinned again, lay down stubbornly, and was silent. The two brothers were quiet, ears flicking back and forth, picking up the sounds all around them. Blue starlight filtered through the cracked walls above. A cloud of bats would often flitter by, snatching up gnats and other impurities in the air. An owl hooted.

“Beautiful night.” Ialu whispered.

Chenaniah looked up at the starry sky, barely visible through the leaves high above.

“Yeah.” He answered.

Chenaniah climbed slowly to the top of the rock. He stood. He listened. It seemed he could see everything from here. Behind him, the great oak tree stood proudly… but alone. Always alone… unless it was needed as shelter from the rain. To his left the pond bustled with activity. He saw glowing lights bouncing and running in the mist. His gaze quickly turned away from the pond. He didn't want to think about it. Not today. On a small hill, the twin gods overlooked all. A fawn played by the statues, fascinated with its new gleaming white fur.

Chen slowly filled his lungs with air. He felt them expand as life flew through each vein. It was good to be alive. Good to be here. Good to hear the birds warbling and chasing each other amongst the leaves. Good to watch as the sunlight filtered through the leaves high above and cast dappled waves on the stone under his feet. Good to feel the warm breeze. Good to breathe. Good to live.

The dappled stag climbed down off the rock. He needed to run. So he ran.

He felt himself fly. His hooves barely touched the ground. Into the Birch Trees. Into the high blanket of grass. The warm colors were a delight to his eyes. They were singing… so he sang along. The trees were speaking… so he answered. The birds were flying… so he flew higher. The twins had allowed him to breathe today. He would spend each breathe in rapt and joyful wonder.

Yes. It was good to live.



Hmmmmmyep. I decided there was no way around giving my stag a human name. It’s difficult to talk to other deer… they can’t call him SaritaWolf or Sarita’s deer. So I settled on Beethoven. BUT THEN I CHANGED IT TO CHENANIAH because Beethoven is taken. *crai*

I guess… since I’ve given him a name now… I might as well describe him a bit better. So… here goes:

REF MOVED HERE