ive somehow decided that when i wrote Dream Watcher, i would listen to the Donnie Darko soundtrack. when i wrote Hanging Flowers, i would listen to Legend of Zelda music. and now i think ive decided that when im writing Fluttering Feathers, i will listen to the KPAX soundtrack... funny how you can group things up isnt it? XD

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Stab.

Jayla's eyes snapped open as the sudden pain awoke her. She let out a soft cry in reaction. It seemed to be time. She didn't have time to move to a better place, apparently this had been going on in her sleep. She was already close to giving birth.

Jayla managed to move a little ways away from the Ruins, so the flies wouldn't bother her or the fawn. She managed to move herself to a patch of poppies before the pain became stronger.

She grunted and breathed heavily. It's just about time... she thought. It's just about to come... Instinct told her to push with all her might, but she already knew what to do. She knew of this pain, but she was thankful that she was spared the painful preparation this time.

It was already morning when she woke up. Not at all like last time, she thought. She was recalling these exact moments from her first birth. The only differences were that she was in a patch of purple flowers instead of poppies, and that fireflies surrounded her in the dark. She wasn't used to putting sunlight with giving birth.

The sun rose higher and higher as Jayla lay there for hours. One of her friends managed to find her, and called some others over to help. Jayla refused the help of her friends. She already knew what she was doing. The last hour or so had to be the worst. She lay there, heaving and crying out. But soon, it was all over and done.

In mere moments, a fawn was laying next to its mother. It took a moment, then let out a bleat. Jayla sat for a few minutes before finding the strength to raise herself. She looked at the little fawn. But soon she realized that all her friends were standing around, murmering and squealing at the tiny creature. She smiled at the scene, and began to clean the fawn.

***

Jayla stayed where she was, letting the fawn sleep and talking with a few of her friends who decided to stay. She seemed very happy to finally feel like she was at level with her friends.

"Congratulations again, Jayla." A smaller doe, Rota, blurted. "I'm so envious, my mate still isn't sure about having a fawn."

"Rota..." Another doe, Daisy, hushed her, noticing Jayla frown at the mate comment. "I'm sorry Jayla... It must be hard doing this without Heron here. Especially after your first fawn came stillborn..."

Jayla nodded, a stab in her heart when she was reminded of the lie she had told them. They didn't know Skokey was still alive. She sighed, "Well... I guess I can't complain too much." She nuzzled the fawn, "At least I have this one to keep me company."

"So did you find out what it is yet? Boy or girl?" Giggle said excitedly. Giggle was obviously named after her most prominent feature. The young doe bounced a little in her spot, "I want to know!"

Daisy and Rota calmed her down while Jayla checked. She smiled, "It's a little girl."

The three does gasped and squealed some more. Rota spoke first, "Do you know what you'll name her?"

Jayla thought as she looked around. "I might have an idea..." She noticed the poppies, the the taller grasses. There were a lot of good names for this one.

Daisy nodded, "Well, if you want my opinion, she should have a name from a different language."

Rota nodded, "Like whatever language your name came from. Maybe you can name her Jayla."

Jayla shook her head lightly, "No... I never really liked my name. But Daisy's right, I should have a named from a different language. And I was just thinking of one particular language."

Giggle tilted her head, "Which one?"

Jayla sighed, "I've noticed that a lot fewer deer have been getting names from the Forest Language..."

Daisy shrugged, "Well, that's because it's pretty old... Nobody speaks it anymore ever since Common came around. Much less name someone after a word. What made you think of it, anyway?"

"I remember coming across a stag and his son. His name was Siki, and he named his son Skokey. Those are both from the Forest Language."

Rota nodded, "Siki and Skokey... You mean, umm..." She gathered her thoughts.

Daisy chuckled while she paused, "Leave it to Rota to translate it, you little language genious."

Giggle tilted her head again, "I wasn't aware there were still deer with Forest Language names, much less recent generations..."

"It does seem odd for a young fawn to be named Skokey. My great grandmother told me that she was one of the last to be named with a Forest Language word."

Rota pricked her ears, "Oh, right, Siki and Skokey. Siki means 'Circle' and Skokey means 'Skull'."

"How do you do that?" Giggle asked loudly.

Rota blushed and chuckled, while Daisy went back to Jayla. "Well, she's your fawn. What word did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking... the word for flower. Do you know what that is, Rota?"

Rota thought for a few minutes, then responded, "'Fulu' is the word for flower. Are you sure about that?"

Jayla smiled, "Fulu..." she nodded and lowered her head to rest, "My little Fulu..."

***

"Jayla..."

Jayla opened her eyes, and found herself in a strange place. The only source of light was from the ground, in a lush green glow. Strange, twisted trees writhed up from the ground and spread out at the top oddly. She lifted herself, and found a very young stag infront of her.

His eyes were colorless, and his antlers were only half grown in. Jayla nervously asked, "Who are you?"

"I am someone you can trust. I have watched you for some time now. I see something wrong with this peaceful scene."

"What do you mean something wrong?"

"I know what you did with the last fawn you had. I'll have you know... he's going through some trouble right now."

"What kind of trouble?And how do you know about him?"

"Like I said, I've been watching you. Mind you, I haven't watched you during the day."

Jayla couldn't process this. "Explain."

"Do you know that dreams tell a lot about the one who's having them? That's how I know. You have such a guilty conscience, your dreams were like an open book."

"How can you see my dreams?"

"How do you think we are talking right now?"

The stag stared at her with that same, expressionless face. Jayla stared back at him, her eyes softening as every moment passed.

"I see much sorrow in you..." She finally said. The stag widened his eyes a little. "Sometimes it doesn't take dream watching to know that someone isn't happy."

The stag smirked and chuckled abruptly, "You're very observant. However, you are also very wrong. I am not unhappy, I am quite content with my life."

"But I see something there. Something about you that you don't like."

"Are you trying to trick me into saying something? Because I do not think it's working. While it's true that... Well, there are some bits of my life I would rather not remember. But I don't really care all that much about myself. The past is in the past. I live in the present. Now, I could also tell that you were unhappy, but I also didn't have to look into your dreams to realize that."

Jayla sighed and watched as the young stag came closer. "You must clear yourself of this. Otherwise, your little newborn will not be very happy. Your emotions of pain and worry will go down to her, and I'm sure you wouldn't want that."

Jayla looked down and sighed. "What should I do, then?"

"When she's old enough, maybe he'll be old enough as well..."

The stag faded, and soon the strange place faded as well. She found herself awake next to Fulu, who was fidgeting in her sleep. She couldn't quite get back to sleep that night. She found herself dwelling on that last thought of his. Whoever it was, he was obviously trying to help.

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i didnt actually expect myself to write in Vessel so soon... oh well, it needed to be a little longer DX im sure the next few chapters will be better...