Sorry for the errors and such... I typed all of this on my iPod while I was walking outside in 40 degree weather... if you see some errors, tell me and I'll fix them ASAP.

Anyways, this is a little thing for FeintHearted I guess I: it's kind of stupid, but I thought since there's such a connection between Orick and Knrs, they would eventually herd together and become some of the closest friends the forest could ever see. Here is when Knrs is growing into a stag, and more Earth-like than his fawn self.

There had been a fog over the woods for many days. A frosty coat had crawled its way over everything, even the edges of the pond's water. Snow lay about in patches on the forest floor, everywhere save around the Twins' Statue. The birds and bugs had all but gone silent in this wintery abyss.

Now a young stag, and a bit fuller and collected, Knrs made his way through the trees, his body already accustomed to the forest and its ways. His lights were somewhat dim on this day, allowing the white dust of his body to blend with the season around him.

He had marked a somewhat zigzag path between the trees; it was how he preferred to walk - the long way. After finishing his morning prayer at the statue, he felt quite ready for a cold, calm day. His light inside guided him to the pond, which happened to not be too far up ahead.

Beside a tree on the water's edge, Knrs greeted his closest friend with a gentle tap on his nose. Orick, half asleep, flicked his hide in a startled manner and lifted his head. This slightly disturbed the dust Knrs was made of, be he refrained from moving. His stubbed antlers swiveled in the breeze of Orick's movement.

"Hello there," Orick stated, shifting himself into a comfortable position for relaxing. "You gave me quite a start." In his head he could see himself pulling down the kerchief he had forgotten to remove the night before.

Knrs nodded to himself and let his thoughts flow; "good morning, old friend. My apologies for the scare. I meant only to wake you."

Orick sort of grinned and snorted to himself.

Walking to the pond's edge, Knrs perked his ears back. He didn't turn to look over his shoulder at the buck, however; he knew Orick would rather see the surroundings than himself, and the stardust deer was accustomed to this. He watched the pond's surface ripple as he neared. "Why the snort?" he thought questioningly.

Orick mentally traced the movement of the pond, remarking silently on the frost around its edges. "You've grown much since we first met," he stated as he saw the stardust deer look at himself in the water. "You speak much like I do."

With a flick of his tail, Knrs nudged the water's surface. His image distorted. He thought for a moment of how he missed the simplicity to fall in and out of shape. He knew he was changing, and it scared him. He knew Orick could hear these thoughts, and he hoped the buck would for he dearly needed someone to be open with in the forest. "It comes with herding with you for so long, I suppose." he thought.

"You fear this change," Orick noted.

Knrs looked back over his shoulder. Orick was leaned against a frosted willow, and behind him the fogs of the forest curled weakly, letting up from the ground. "I do," he admitted within his mind. He had noticed his body thickening and the light in him fading. The newest feature - a pair of glowing white 'eyes'. They glanced over the older buck.

Orick turned his head slightly so as to move his face a bit out if view. He didn't want to see those eyes - the eyes! - and so he fiddled with his handkerchief, pondering replacing it upon his visage. "I know the fear of change, young one. I..." His voice trailed off to his memories. Memories of an olden New England, of an affair and a woodsman and a whitetail deer....

Knrs had been watching the buck as his face twisted in memory. Orick quickly noticed himself and shook his head of those happenings. He stood shakily and huffed, a bit irritated. Knrs saw this irritation and noted on it, and he was about to ask of it when Orick stated, "thou hast no need to concern thyself." His old speech had rolled back with the memories. Another thing Knrs noticed and committed to his growing book of evaluations of the buck he called friend.

Sensing the unsettled being of Orick, Knrs stepped out over the surface of the pond. His reflection glittered dimly as he looked in on himself... The stars had faded out to the sunlight pouring in from above. The feeling of Orick leaning his vision in on the reflection took Knrs's mind. The memory of them on the day they met... But something felt...off.

Suddenly there was a feeling of fear gripping Knrs. His body tensed as he felt something strange and cold around him, and in this moment he looked up to see the surface of the water and a greatly distorted image of the morning sky.

END OF PART 1

TO BE CONTINUED...