A story request written for a friend of mine, Hetrin (as she is known here).
Just thought I'd post it here, too. Enjoy!

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“You cannot find a place completely devoid of Chaos. It always finds a way into even the purest places. Because, let's face it. Too much Order makes corruption all the more simple.”
- the first of the many, leader of the Dimensional Defensive

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The forest was quiet, the only sounds were of birds and small crickets, all singing together to form orchestral tunes of untold beauty. And in this forest, there were no predators. Only peaceful animals. Deer, mostly. Of course, these were no ordinary deer.

They walked throughout the forest, none the same as the other, for they were, in fact, magical beings. Each had an almost human-like face, accompanied by a similar level of intelligence. Their appearance could change with a simple movement of their antlers, their magic quite strong even in their young years as fawns.

One such being slowly walked on her four legs, admiring the music and the beauty of the plants around her. Her fur was mostly orange, with a brown stripe here or there. The antlers above her red face and white, bushy eyebrows were large and adorned with uncountable red flowers. In the language of her kin, she was called Hetrin.

Her head tilted to the left, looking far into the woods. She knew only too well, that it stretched out infinitely. Such was the forest. Endless and ever-beautiful.
Soon, however, as she went further and further, the singing started growing more and more quiet. She knew the path she was treading well. The road to the old ruins. But those were supposed a meeting place for other deer, so that made no sense. Something was amiss, she could feel it.

Her walk turned into a gallop as she sped up towards the ruins, the singing slowly turning into a deathly silence. The trees around became more scarce and she could finally see the once proud structure. And something was definitely wrong.
Dark clouds had formed above the whole clearing, blocking the light. A sight uncommon, for sunlight eventually always found a way to get to the ground. But there was also another form of shadow present. She could not name it, but it sent shivers down her spine.

She slowly approached the ruin, ears listening to the surroundings. But there was no sound. No singing, no footsteps, no distant calls from other deer. Nothing. And in this forest, that meant something very, very bad.
She slowly approached a corner a peeked with one eye. Not that it made her stealthy, because of her antlers. The new sight filled her with joy.

There, upon one of the stone slabs, stood another deer. Its fur was black, antlers small, with... dead roses on them and its face was hidden behind a skull-like mask. But she was not one to judge the fashion sense of others. She was simply happy to have someone else with her.
A bit hyper, Hetrin jumped from behind the wall and ran to the other. It eyed her with a hidden interest. She stopped a few feet away from it and her head went downwards, in a slight bow. The other didn't return the gesture, however. But she didn't notice and started walking around it in a dance-like fashion. But it just stood there, the only thing moving was the head.

This seemed strange to her, since every deer in the forest like to dance and generally move and jump around. The skull suddenly started glowing in a blue hue and she was instantly intrigued. She loved magic and this spell seemed new.

“Move!” echoed throughout the woods. Her head turned in every direction, but she could see nothing out of the ordinary. Vines suddenly shot from her left and dragged her away. And just in time, too, for a spike of dark energy rose from the point where she had been standing, “and they said, the deer here were smart.”

She looked at her saviour, utterly amazed. She had mistaken for a bush. The being was of humanoid shape, but completely made of flowers and leaves of every size and shape. His face had two green orbs instead of eyes, which watched her for a second, but then turned to the other.

The dark deer looked straight at him and the skull glowed red. A banshee-like wail filled the area and bones rose from the ground. They floated in the air for a bit, but then started coming together. They formed a large, skeletal beast, which vaguely resembled a bull, but had three horns and only one eye hole on its skull. The thing's jaws opened and its head rose to the sky, possibly to attempt a roar. But the silence that ensued was far more terrifying.

The plant-man pushed Hetrin aside and a vine shot from his hand. It wrapped around a nearby pillar and he pulled himself to safety just in time to avoid the beast's charge, his feet touching the pillar in a show of acrobatics. The undead monster seemed to be enraged and it stood up on its hind legs. Then, a miraculous change occurred.
The flowers and leaves vanished and were replaced by cold, hard wood. Yet the saviour did not lose any of his agility, since he soon jumped high into the air and landed on the thing's back... bone. It tried to shake him off, but similar vines kept him firmly in place. One of his arms then went into the air and came crashing down onto the skeleton. The beast stopped all resistance and a second blow made it crumble entirely.

Not waiting a second, the plant-man rushed at the dark one, ready to land a few strikes. When his club-hands were but a few inches from it, the deer vanished within shadow, only to reappear upon the ruin. The skull turned black this time and a wave of pure darkness. There was no way to dodge and he was swiftly sent into another tree, wood smashing against wood.
After a few seconds, he was back up. The deer seemed to be getting ready to unleash another wave. But he was prepared this time, shooting another couple of vines at the dark assailant. But those did not hinder the entity one bit, for they flew right through its form. The situation was not good, indeed.

But before the dark wave was unleashed, Hetrin stepped close to the hero, surprising both the plant-man and the dark deer, whose magic dissipated. She then bellowed, her ply for help reaching almost every corner of the forest. And many calls, replies, came.
Deer of all colours and accessories gathered around the ruin in a circle, completely confusing the two out-of-place creatures. They knew the dark creature was not meant to be here... and the corrupted deer had invoked the wrath of the endless forest.

All of their antlers, including Hetrin's, glowed in a silver hue, filling the area with light. For the first time, the dark one showed signs of emotions, for it writhed and twitched in what seemed to be incredible pain. A pillar of light suddenly rose from right underneath it, consuming its form entirely and making the clouds above dissipated, letting the sun bring life to everything below once more.
Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the 'army' of deer vanished again in the forest. Except for Hetrin, who stayed with the... hero? In any case, the tree-man turned into a leaf-man yet again and looked at her.
“Ummm... thank you for your assistance, I... YEOW!” he screamed as she took a bite out of his leaves, startling her, “sorry... but don't do that!”
She seemed to understand, for she nodded and started hopping around him for no apparent reason. A beep came from within the leaves and he took out a round gadget. His personal communicator. And he answered the call.
“Hey, plant boy! I see the conce3ntration of Chaos energy is gone! Great work!” came numero uno's voice.
“You know you can always count on agent tripple one! Though, I did have some help.”
“The deer?”
“How did...?”
“I've seen lotsa' places on my travels. In any case, you headin' home?”
Before answering, he looked at Hetrin: “Nah. I think I'll stay here for a while.”
“Roger that! 1, out.”
Hetrin stared at the small device, curious.
“Okay, you orange deer, you! I'm Darken and I'm willing to play catch!”

His vines wrapped around the nearest branch and he soared through the sky like a Tarzan wannabe, a delighted deer close behind. And they just went south... yet they passed the ruins several times. It seemed that Looping Forest would have been a more precise name.