"Fulu... Fulu, wake up."

A young white doe let out a soft groan before opening her coal black eyes. Her feathers swayed as she shook herself awake. She smiled at the stag next to him. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Zilant gave her a nuzzle. "You slept in for a while."

"Well, it was a long night... That conversation lasted for hours. I don't remember a time when we talked so much."

"I know, I'm sorry." Zilant chuckled. "Oh, we've been asked to come to some meeting. Clock told me about it earlier this morning."

"Clock did? Who else is going?"

"I'm not sure. He said your brother and his family were gonna be there. Then he took off."

Fulu sighed, "He never tells the entire story." She took in a deep breath, and stood up. "Well, we better see where Skokey is then. Maybe he knows what's going on."

The two emerged from the safety of the willow leaves, and made for the Playground. Skokey was standing on top of one of the boulders, playing with his children. Fenqua was still sleeping under the slab, having been kept up by the twins all night.

"Fulu! Zilant!" Skokey exclaimed from his boulder. They came a little closer, and greeted him good morning.

"Aunty and Uncy!" Faytha rammed herself into Fulu, nearly knocking her over.

Fenkovan soon came after her, but instead ramming into Zilant. "Hi Aunt Fulu and Uncle Zilant!"

Zilant smiled, "Well hello there, Fenkovan. You're getting pretty strong these days." He said, planting his feet down so he could stand another possible push.

Skokey hopped down and met the four infront of him. "Alright you two, I think it's time to go wake up Mama." The two seemed to brighten up and instantly bounded over to their mother. "So, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"We heard something about a meeting? Apparently Clock told Zilant about it this morning. Did he say anything to you?" Fulu tilted her head.

"Yeah, woke me up practically at the crack of dawn. I was the first to know. He said to meet at the Crying Idol at high noon. Did he say who else was coming?"

Zilant shook his head slightly, "No. He bolted off right after he told me where to be."

"Of course." Skokey rolled his eyes. "Maybe we should find Vessel and Xylia. I bet they would know."

"I dunno, if Clock didn't tell either of us, he probably didn't tell Vessel either."

"We'll see. He can be pretty persistant when he wants to be."

They almost left the Playgroun before Skokey was joined by Fenqua and the twins. They had another small conversation before leaving. They made their way to the Ruins. It always seemed like they hung around there most of the time. It wasn't long before they could spot the tan and blue-green pelts. Not to mention Vessel's blue gems were shining like the sun from the morning dew. He hadn't bothered to wipe it off yet.

Vessel and Xylia met the six, and greeted them good morning.

Skokey came forward. "Did you by chance happen to get a message from Clock?"

Vessel nodded. He looked to Xylia for better explanation.

"Well... Came by this... morning... Told us to meet somewhere... Crying Idol?" He looked to the small stag, who nodded in responce. "He said... to meet at... noon. Then... ran away."

Fulu's ears perked, "So he didn't tell you who was coming either?"

Vessel shook his head, and wrote on the ground. "Only when and where."

"I see..." Fulu looked up at the sky. The sun was a few hours away from noon.

"We should find Tropa." Fenqua suggested. All agreed.

***

It was noon, the sun hung high over the Forest. All the deer were awake now, and playing in their favorite spots. Skokey, Fenqua, and the twins trotted over the the Crying Idol, which was nearby. They found that Fulu and Zilant were already there, since it was even closer for them. Not too long after, Tropa came along, followed by Vessel and Xylia.

Another deer came as well, a doe. Vessel and Skokey knew who it was, the others only knew her as an aquaintance. Danielle had made her way all the way from the Ruins. Her golden mask shone in the sunlight, her black and orange pelt shimmering, and her large red antlers placed almost delicately on her head. She greeted them happily, and the large group continued to chatter amongst themselves.

Just about ten minutes after noon, a flash was seen by just about everyone. The flash zigzagged around the trees for several moments before coming to a screeching halt infront of the group. Clock shook about his fur and greeted the group.

He started mumbling to himself, counting how many deer were there. "Skokey... Fenqua, the twins... Vessel, Xylia, Tropa... Fulu, Zilant... Danielle..." He blushed lightly after glancing at her. "Where's Mercu-"

"I apologize! I'm late!" A tan stag trotted up to the group, quickly apologizing in a deep voice. He wore a shiny red mask, and metallic, gold horns adorned his head. He smirked, "Have I missed anything?"

Clock smiled, "Nope, I just got here." Everyone looked at the stag, then looked back at Clock.

"Wh... Who's this?" Asked Fulu, a little intimidated by the unknown deer.

"Oh, sorry. Everyone, this is Mercutio. We met about a week ago, but we're pretty good buddies. He's really fun to be around."

"Ah, yes, and you must be the friends of mine? Let's see..." He looked among them, pointing with his hoof. "Vessel, lady Xylia... lady Tropa... Skokey, lady Fenqua... And your young ones... lady Fulu and Zilant... And lady Danielle. Am I correct?"

Everyone nodded in unison. "Well," he continued, "I am Mercutio, the Merry. Sometimes called Gentle Mercutio. It's a pleasure to meet every one of you."

"Good to meet you too. A friend of Clock's is a friend of mine." Skokey said warmly. He seems nice enough, he thought.

"Well, let's get down to business." Clock announced. Everyone sat down infront of him, which made him feel a little awkward. He supressed it with a chuckle, and began. "No one knows why I brought you here, so... I guess I should tell you. I've been given another secret by the Twin Gods. A wonderful secret, it might expand our knowledge of life as we know it! Now, I was given permission to bring friends. However, it's your choice.

"What I have found out is that there are doorways to other worlds. Naturally, we could step out of the Forest and go to these worlds without the doorways, but that's the fun part. The doorways allow us to blend into whatever world we enter. Our form changes so we look like the locals!"

Tropa blinked, "This sounds like utter rubbish."

"But if it's utter rubbish, then it must be the work of the gods." Mercutio poked in. Tropa lowered her ears at him, but forgot about it.

"Don't you wonder what life is like outside our own? Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to be something else?"

"It sounds interesting enough..." Fenqua commented. "But how do we know it's safe?"

"Do you have faith in the Twin Gods?"

Fenqua was almost insulted by this question. "Of course."

"Then it's safe. They guaranteed it."

The group looked at each other for a moment. "So..." Zilant started, "How do we find these doorways?"

"Only I can open access to them. I was trusted with the secret. Now, you have your decision. You can either stay here, or explore the new world. It's your choice. Whatever your reason might be, I'm not gonna stop you."

The group spoke with each other for several minutes, each couple talking to each other while the loners thought to themselves. Over the course of time the noise slowly died down, until they all made their decision.

"I'm in." Skokey stated.

"Us too." Fenqua added.

"We want... to go..." Xylia spoke for herself and Vessel.

"Fulu and I as well." Zilant said.

"I'm going." Tropa nodded.

"Me too." Danielle smiled at him.

"I shall tag along." Mercutio noted.

Clock took in a breath with a smile on his face. "Alright then."

He turned around and closed his eyes. He pictured the milky white doors and emerald leaves, and hummed the note embedded in his mind. A white gateway appeared before them. The group started another hushed rumble. The doors slowly swayed open, giving view to the black and blue stage ahead.

"You may enter."

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OKAY.

been needing to write that for a while.

Sarie, i hope its okay if i bring in Xylia :> <3

enjoy <3