warning: REEEAAAAAAAALLY big XD

this one has a REALLY dumb intro, so... dont ask XD...

LOL VIPIN COMES TO TEH RESCUE AGAIN XDDDD (let me know if i got him right... >>; )

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And so?"

"So what? What am I supposed to do now?"

"You should go see her. Are you just going to leave her there for someone else to clean up?"

"Well... no I suppose not... I mean she is my mother."

"Don't forget to pay your respects to her. You may not like her, but-"

"Yes, I am well aware of it. I've forgiven her."

"That's my boy."

***

Skokey woke up slowly. For a few minutes, he didn't know where he was, and couldn't open his eyes. After a while, he looked around and gathered himself. That was a strange dream, he thought.

It was well into the morning, though Fenqua and Fulu weren't awake yet. He carefully slipped himself away from his sister, trying not to disturb her. The air was cool and crisp, with a gentle breeze blowing to the west. Skokey sniffed the air, and predicted a rain shower coming later that day.

He walked in the direction Fulu first came the previous day. Soon enough, he found his mother, covered in fresh morning dew. Skokey looked over her. She was, to his surprise, quite beautiful. Her aged Butterfly pelt still held a dull orange-red. Her face was peaceful under the Magpie mask, her eyes delicately closed. Her body was thin and creaking, her muscles obviously worn away with age.

"Mother... I never knew of your age... I was too blind to see it at the time. If only I knew..." Skokey nuzzled her face, rubbing off some of the cold water.

He looked around to find the Blue Bowl right next to him. It won't be easy, he thought, but that's where I will bury her. He made his way to a thin birch standing somewhere inside the actual vegetation, not just around like the other trees. He dug a hole on the east side of the tree, first with his antlers, then with his hooves. It took him all morning, but soon there was a large hole puncturing the blueberries.

Skokey looked behind him, dreading the ever closing moment that he would have to bury his mother. He took a deep breath, and gave a heavy, steamy sigh. He went over to where his mother was, and carefully picked her up with his antlers. He maneuvered her onto his back, and her mask accidentally fell off. Skokey remembered that every deer was supposed to be buried with their favorite spells, and that mask could not be left behind. But he thought, maybe Fulu would want it... She had better memories of her than I did.

He left the mask and gently put the doe's creaking frame into the hole. Using the dirt next to it, he filled it back up almost to the top. He patted it down with his hooves, hoping no berries would evergrow the grave.

Skokey bowed his head for several minutes, trying as hard as he could to think of a prayer. He just managed to say something when Fulu called out to him. He returned to the mask and picked it up with his mouth. He soon trotted off back to the Playground, where Fulu was eagerly awaiting him on top of the boulder with Fenqua.

Skokey climbed the slab and met them on the boulder. The two does rose to meet him, Fenqua leaving Fulu to attack him with nuzzles. Skokey shook his head rapidly, as if shaking off water as his sister rubbed against him, giggling. Fenqua smiled at the sight, she was happy to see them getting along so well.

Fulu stopped rubbing against her brother to see what he held in his mouth. "Hey... Where did you get that?"

"It was Mother's... I thought you would like it." He put the mask down in front of her.

Fulu shook her head and lowered her ears, "Skokey... I don't know if I should... There are so many memories in that mask." She looked up at him, "And besides, you're supposed to bury deer with all of there spells, this mask should be with her."

"Fulu, I know what I was supposed to do, but maybe I didn't want to do it. Think of it like this, this way we'll never forget about her."

"But... Don't you want to forget her?"

Skokey was torn by those words. It was true that for most of his life, he didn't want to remember her. He even wanted her to die at one point. He was ashamed to realize it. He looked at the small doe, "No, Fulu... I don't want to forget her. And neither should you."

Fulu nodded as she looked upon the dark blue mask. The beak was perfectly curved downward, and gleamed with morning dew. "Okay... I'll wear it." She picked it up, and Skokey helped her get it onto her face properly.

He studied her, and smiled, "You look really pretty with that."

Fenqua cleared her throat, reminding the two that she was still there. "If you don't mind, Skokey, I'll be leaving you two alone today."

"Wait what? Fen, why aren't you staying here like you always do?"

"I've got some..." She rolled her eyes in thought, "... business to attend to. Yeah. And besides," she came up to him and whispered, "don't you want to get to know your sister a little more?"

Skokey seemed embarrassed that he didn't understand her at first. He laughed very fakely, "Alright, you go have fun with whatever you're doing! I'll meet you later today."

Fenqua winked at him, which caught him off guard, and she trotted off the boulder and into the forest. Skokey blushed heavily, and didn't realize that Fulu was staring at him.

"So, uh... Are you two mates or something?"

***

That afternoon, Skokey and Fulu wandered through the Birch Forest, and enjoyed the peace and quiet. The doe was clearly smaller than him, but she was only an adolescent. Her spots were slowly but surely disappearing, and she was getting bigger every day. Skokey didn't notice it yet, but she was slowly getting to be as big as him.

The two of them sat down at a large blueberry patch where they nibbled on berries and grass. Skokey studied her as she gazed upwards, looking at the birds flying overhead.

"So..." Skokey started, munching away at a mouthful of berries, "What's up with you?"

"That's the first question that comes to mind?" She stared at him. He shrugged, and continued chewing on his berries. "Well... I like birds..."

"Birds, huh? How much?"

"Oh, I love them! They never cease to amaze me. I've always dreamed of flying... "

"Dreamed of being a bird?"

"Yeah..." She thought a moment, "Maybe then... things wouldn't be as hard... If I was a bird..."

Skokey swallowed and gazed at her. "I thought like that too, once."

"You did?"

"Yep.. 'Cept it wasn't birds." He picked another mouthful of berries, clearly enjoying them.

"Let me guess... Butterflies?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, I guess it's kind of obvious." He nodded, "I once thought that if I was born a butterfly, or even a flower, things wouldn't have turned out the way they did." He sighed, "But then... What would be the point of living? If you knew there was a higher intelligence than you out there? Trust me, a deer is probably the best thing to be. You'll realize that sooner or later."

Fulu tried to process his logic, but she couldn't quite grasp it. "I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. To wish to be a bird. I have nothing to run from anymore."

Skokey looked at her again, "Running should never be an option. If you run, it'll only follow you and get worse."

Once again, Fulu was amazed by what she said, "You are very wise, Skokey... "

Skokey chuckled loudly, "Please, you're making me blush." He went for another berry, but they were gone. "Oh... It seems that we're out of berries."

"Skokey..." She sighed with a smile.

They stood up and stretched, and made their way to the Pond. Somewhere along the line, they came across the Old Oak.

Fulu jumped up, "Oooh Skokey! I love this place, let's go inside! We can continue our conversation in there." She happily trotted into the large tree and waited for him to follow.

Skokey lowered his ears, "Uhh, Fulu? Maybe this isn't the best place..."

"Nonsense, it's nice and secluded in here. Besides, I think it's gonna rain."

Skokey looked around and started to shake as he slowly crept into the hollowed tree. "A-are you sure?"

Fulu shot him a look, "You're not afraid, are you?"

"M-maybe..." He closed his eyes tight as the deep, bellowing sound filled his ears. He started to tremble more.

"Come on, you can do it. It's only a noise." Fulu tried to sound gentle, but she may have sounded a little harsh.

Skokey crept closer and closer until he was facing his sister. The noise was ringing through his ears and he darted his eyes back and forth. He entire body was shaking violently. He tried to say something, but there was no voice to be heard. Soon he felt something brush up against his leg. He let out a loud yelp and darted out of the Oak, ran to the nearest tree, and hid behind it.

Fulu ran after him, "Skokey! It's okay! It was only a squirrel!"

Skokey shouted to her, "That tree is the spawn of evil, Fulu! I will NEVER go back in there again!"

She soon came over to him and nuzzled him, calming him down. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you go in."

"No, it's okay..." He sighed shakily, "I tried to face my fear and failed. It wasn't your fault."

He soon calmed down enough to move from where he was hiding, and they resumed their journey to the Pond. They soon came to their destination, and it seemed that there was a large party going on.

They made their way to the water when a frog hopped over and stared at them. It croaked a them happily. Fulu let out a high-pitched squeal and hid behind her brother. Skokey himself held his breath at the frog, but soon realized that it had a pictogram above it's head.

He bent his head and squinted to see what it said. He soon recognized it, and started laughing. "Well, hey there Vipin!"

The frog seemed to make a sneezing noise, and it soon grew into a full-grown stag. Fulu peeked from behind his brother and examined the stag. She blushed lightly, he was very handsome.

Vipin chuckled, "Hey, Skokey. Sorry if I startled you. I kind of wanted to see other deers' reactions."

Skokey shook his head and smiled, "Nah..." he motioned behind him at Fulu, telling her to come out of hiding. "Vipin, this is my sister, Fulu."

The stag bowed his head politely, "Pleased to meet you."

Fulu nodded, "You too..."

"So what are you doing here on this fine afternoon?"

"Ah, nothing... Just tooling around with my sister. What about you?"

"There's a big spell party over on the other side of the pond. It's absolutely crazy over there, we three should go join them!"

Skokey looked behind him, "Well, Fulu?"

Fulu thought for a moment, but then nodded cheerily, "Sure, I'd love to!"

The three of them ran around the Pond to the other side. They found that the party was actually separated into two parties: one surrounding a pine tree, another surrounding a tree with mushrooms. Skokey sneered at the mushrooms and went straight for the pine tree, Fulu following close behind him. Somewhere along the line, they lost Vipin, but after the party seemed to calm down, he found them again. But this time, he had towering, boney antlers.

Fulu cowered behind her brother again. He turned to her, "What's wrong, Fulu?"

"It's those antlers... They're so big..."

Skokey looked concerned, but Vipin seemed to overhear. He didn't seem to like the antlers anyway, and sneezed them off. Skokey turned to Vipin, "I'm sorry, she's a little shy."

He nodded and smiled warmly, "It's alright, I understand."

They seemed to stick together for the rest of the afternoon. Light grey clouds gathered to the east, moving slowly to the west. Rain slowly started to pour over the forest as the day progressed. Pretty soon, the three of them found each other at the Old Oak again, but Skokey refused to go in. He didn't seem to mind the rain.

Pretty soon, Vipin was called over by a doe that looked much like him. He bid his farewells and ran off to her. Fulu rejoined her brother and went to the Playground. They both went under the slab and shook off the water from their coats. Skokey smiled warmly under his golden mask, and Fulu returned the smile shyly under the silver beak jutting from her mask.

Not long after, Fenqua returned to the slab. They soon were talking amongst themselves about many different things until the rain stopped. Fenqua seemed satisfied for some reason, as if she had just accomplished something. The two of them chatted away as Fulu cheerfully listened, occasionally adding a comment or two. She knew she wasn't being ignored.

***

It was the middle of the night. Fenqua and Fulu were fast asleep, but Skokey had carefully gotten up. He quickly made his way over to the Twin Gods statue, eyeing the distant lightning flashes of an oncoming storm. The statue seemed to glow in the darkness.

Skokey bowed deeply, "Twin Gods... I humbley ask of you to bless my sister... She has been through so much. I ask for you to comfort her with a gift that she will truly cherish. The gift, and the decision, I leave to you. Please, consider this request... Thank you..."

Once he had stood up, he found that his coat had turned white, and his face was glowing. He soon remembered that... Fenqua's parents were buried here. He gave a solemn sigh, and bowed to the graves. By then, the pureness of his coat had worn away, and the glow grew dim.

The thunder became louder, and the flashes brighter. He turned his head to the east for a second, and sprinted back to the Playground.