Pretty Worlds and Pretty Hooves - II

GingerNut's picture

We're going to leave Pert on his own for a while now. While he had gotten the wrong impression that his 'captor' was holding him hostage; he was certainly right in thinking that his mission had come to an abrupt halt. Not for long, but long enough to severely hinder his course.

If he had not met Turkey and continued onwards on the trodden path, he would have soon found a long, winding river. It was the first, if not the only landmark in the field's existence, at least as far as any of them knew. Even if there were other points of interest, the stream was the most magnificent.

Though its source was completely unknown, it always overflowed. Unlike The Endless Forest's smallish creek and rocky footholds, the shores here were coated with slippery tracks of mud, sharp debris from sticks and fragments of bone. The violent flow of water manifested itself into a thick, droning rumble. Occasionally, an unidentifiable corpse of a small animal would bob along the water's surface, a grim reminder to what happened when one was careless. The river in the forest was a mere trickle of water compared to this.

A large scarlet colored caribou stood on its bank, his massive hooves sinking into the muddy gulch. He didn't seem to mind. If anything, he didn't even seem to notice. His one functioning ear flattened against the back of his skull to mute out the cacophony of the river. His expression was neither stoic nor emphatic, but it seemed to carry an almost animalistic curiosity. His cracked, bleeding lips pressed in a thin line as he craned his neck outwards. His eyes squinted to mere slits as he tried to make out the landscape that lay across the deadly obstacle.

He wasn't alone. A smaller doe stood several feet from the grimy banks, her pupiless eyes transfixed on the sight. She stood rooted to the spot, her legs quivering in instinctive fear. Her tail curled between her hind legs, an odd canine-like behavior she had inherited from her father.

Though her eyesight was not as good, she could make out a long line of tall oaks from the opposite end of the river. It was shrouded in a misty fog, barely visable to the naked eye. It was some distance away, at least a quarter of a mile... but at least it was within view.

"This is the place you were talking about...?" she asked softly, her floppy ears clenched to the sides of her skull, dampening the dull roar of the stream. Her voice slurred, betraying exhaustion.

The stag had not heard her. His sense of hearing was so weak that one needed to be right next to him in order to be heard properly. Still, he turned around on his own accord, prying his dirty hooves out of the gulch with an unpleasant sucking sound. "Hey, come on Peo. It ain't gonna hurt ya." he smiled and trotted over to Peony, craning his neck down to meet her eye-to-eye. "What? Yer scared of a little water?" he teased, reaching out the tip of his hoof to poke at his daughter's leg.

Peony winced at the touch and shot a stubborn glare at Jergens. "I am not scared!" she huffed, the fur on the back of her neck bristling. "I'm just tired... It's not my fault that I'm half yer size!" with a tried sigh, she let herself slump to the flowered ground, her eyes half-closed.

"Blame yer mother's genes fer that. Not my fault." Jergens chuckled and dropped to the ground as well, his legs sprawled to his side. "Come on; how many times do I have to tell ya to keep yer own pace? Ya wouldn't get so tired if ya just walked." he rambled.

If there was one thing that Jergens had wanted his daughter to inherit from him, it was his stamina. It had been clear from day one that Peony was not built for long-term travel. She was fast, and often made it a point that she could keep ahead of the red caribou for minutes at a time. The only problem was that she could never find a proper speed to stick with for hours at a time.

Alone, Jergens could have made the trip to the river in about four weeks. With Peony, the time nearly doubled. That was alright, though. Crybaby had taken the trip in the same way, offering short bursts of speed before lagging behind and forcing Jergens to slow his own pace.

Actually, the burden of having the smaller doe around was fully welcomed. Peony had wanted to explore the landscapes around the forest, and the field of endless goldenrods had provided her with a never-ending source of entertainment.

There was no want for food, and the field was littered with small puddles of rainwater from the occasional downpour. Granted, a diet consisted of nothing more than plain-tasting goldenrods was monotonous in its own right, but neither of them cared. If there was anything that they truly fed off of, it was each other’s company.

Peony smiled slightly in response, her expression a mere ghost of her father's. "At least I didn't get your sense of carelessness. How many times did yew leave me behind, anyway? I lost count." she retorted bitterly. "I don't see why yer so eager to get here... from what you told me, this doesn't sound like a place we should be messing with."

"There's other reasons too, don't worry. I wouldn't have taken ya otherwise." Jergens replied. He didn't even bother to retaliate on her accusations. Peony knew full-well why he wanted to go to the other side of the river, to the strange, parallel forest that was laid so neatly before them.

For so long he had nursed over Malware's veiled explanation of the place. All he knew was that 'copies' of other deer were there. The doctor had been vague about it, instead preferring to drop the subject and force Jergens and Crybaby to abandon their trip and take him to Faith. A pretty dissapointing conclusion in his book, even if he did get a free eye and ear out of the deal.

And thus, for months the enigmatic forest haunted Jergens' brain. What was it? Was it really that terrible? Did he really have a clone of himself there? Or was it just their own forest and Malware was finally acting as senile as he looked?

Jergens was an individual that, despite his slight lack of logical intelligence, relished in exploring the unknown. He had made it a point as a human to cover as much of the east coast as he possibly could in his short lifetime, be it alone or with...

"Other reasons?" Peony sharply cut off his train of thought, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Out with it." she demanded.

"Hey now, don't talk to yer father that way." Jergens chuckled. He didn't blame Peony. If anything, he had pushed her a bit hard to get here in the time that they had. After all, he hadn't told anyone about them leaving, not even his brother.

Malware was right in assuming that Jergens would probably not come back, at least without any outside influences. Like always, the red stag had left purely on a whim. His actions were devoid of any real logic apart from a general plan of bonding with his daughter. He had just assumed that something would, eventually, bring him back to his friends and family that remained in the forest's clutches. There was no thought of 'permanently' leaving. He would just check out what all the fuss was about at that 'mystery' forest Malware had hyped up and... and what? Go home?

Not exactly. There was one other reason why Jergens had carted off Peony to the unknown, a reason far more precious and substantial than the peculiar mystery forest. Stretching out his legs a final time, he rolled over to his hooves and walked back to the river, careful not to let his hooves sink back into the mud.

He stared at his reflection in the water's rushing surface, a wry smile pulling up the corners on his lips. Judging by the wind, the river's current was going westwards.

And where did water always lead to?

Civilization. Towns. Cities. People.

It was wishful thinking, yes, but Jergens had a hunch. No, he'd never be able to assimilate himself into society as Malware had. He had no prestigious family connections he could exploit, nor did he even know if his parents or friends were alive.

However, seeing some sort of human habitation would be enough for him, even at a distance. Peony could see what he and Rosine had looked like, though that was more of a sentimental excuse than anything else. He just wanted to see people, even from a distance. That, and it gave their trip more of a purpose other than meaningless exploration.

He was brought back to reality when he heard Peony yelp in surprise at his side. "How are we supposed to swim across this?" she asked, the tips of her hoof neatly dipped in the water. It almost felt like she could be swept away at any moment.

Jergens frowned slightly. The thought of how to cross had never really occurred to him. He had nearly drowned trying to get across the first time with Crybaby before being rescued by Malware. The way back had proven much easier, simply because he and the doctor had been able to support each other to fight against the current.

Alone, he could have probably made it across without much trouble based on strength alone. But with Peony, a doe that was only slightly larger than his brother, there was no way. She'd be swept away by the current, and it would be another rescue all over again.

"Uhm..." he looked at the muddy bank, scanning over the surface for any pieces of driftwood or even rope. Maybe he could make a makeshift harness or something to keep Peony attached to him. "Have any bright ideas?" he asked her, nearly shouting over the river's constant rumble.

"You mean ya don't know?!" the lavender doe cried back. She watched as few petals from her flower-laden antlers flittered onto the water's surface, only to be swept away instantly. "There has to be a shallow end or something..." she mused.

Jergens considered this for a brief moment before shaking his head. He didn't know much about nature or rivers, but he did know that the chances of finding a shallow part of a river this wide and deep was slim to nil. Nevertheless, he tried to think of an alternative. Maybe he could risk swimming across with Peony on his back. It'd be insanely difficult, but if he could trust his daughter's grip, it might work...

As he thought, a familiar, jumbled mass of thoughts shot through his head. It was so blatantly unexpected that the stag nearly yelped in surprise.

(jumpit)

Friend. His ulterior personality hadn't talked to him in months, not even in his dreams. If anything, Jergens had been wondering if he had just gone away. Of course that was just wishful thinking. The stag had finally come to terms that this other self of his was as much a part of him as anything else.

(awhitetaildeerdeercanjumpapproxiamtlythreethreehundredyardsjumpitjumpit)

It was a trail of consciousness, seeping thoughts that mingled with one another to create a jumbled puzzle of dialogue that Jergens had to put together. He didn't even notice that Peony was looking up at him now, her expression twisted into concerned confusion. "Dad... you okay? Yer zoning out." she mumbled, staring up at the stag's stoic expression.

(thatriverisisaboutseventyfeetinwidthyoucandoit)

Hell if he could! Jergens was at least twice the size of a whitetail deer, and not near as fast or flexible. Peony might be able to make it, but he'd sink like a rock. There wasn't a downward slope he could take advantage of either. It was all or nothing. Jergens had been a poor swimmer in his human life, and he was probably even worse off as a quadruped.

(trustme)

"Like hell I will..." the stag muttered under his breath, his voice completely droned out from the river. "Where have yew even been?"

Friend didn't bother in answering Jergens' second question, though the stag could certainly visualize his smug, emotionless smile.

(itsmybodytoo)

Okay, good point. If there was anything Friend had ever bothered to care about, it was Jergens' physical well-being. If the caribou were to die, then Friend would die as well. The only times the personality had ever helped him were if Jergens was near death.

So in this regard, Friend could be trusted. After all, he'd made the suggestion as to prevent Jergens from making some not-so-wise decision. They couldn't have another repeat of what had happened with Crybaby, now could they? What was the likelihood of coming across someone to help them like last time? Nil. No wonder the cut cord had spoken up.

Jergens mulled this over for a good few minutes and his daughter stared up at him hopelessly. She opened her mouth to say something, only to think better of it and stare back out towards the rushing stream, her floppy ears hanging limply against her head.

Peony was a full-grown doe, yet she had never really connected with Jergens in a way that could resemble a father and daughter relationship. If anything, they interacted much like old, long-lost friends. Even now, when they were alone and able to actually settle out some issues, she found that the stag acted unusually aloof around her. Sure, he acted like Jergens. As in completely un-serious and informal, but there was something different as well. He almost acted as if he needed to stay as far away from her as possible, but at the same time keep her close enough to where she wouldn't feel isolated. It was a strange feeling, to say the least.

"Peo?" a harsh, gritty voice broke the doe from her trance, and she looked up to find Jergens' face breaking out in a bright smile. "I think I got somethin'."

"Really?" Peony's lips curled into an involuntary grin that quickly faded when she glanced back at the river. "...We don't have to swim, do we?" she mumbled, recoiling slightly in nervous fear.

"Yew don't, but I do." Jergens replied, flicking his head back to the field. Wiping the mud from his cumbersome hooves, he walked back the way they came, Peony reluctantly following behind. She didn't quite catch the meaning by that. Neither did Friend, for that matter.

(jergenswhatareyoudoingdoing)

The echoing, haphazard voice sounded annoyed, and rightfully so. Jergens' eyes narrowed a little, his ears flickering in annoyance. "Ya said I would be okay, but ya didn't say anythin' bout Peo." he retorted. "Just cause she's smaller and faster doesn't mean she can jump farther." if anything, the doe would probably hesitate at the last second and cut off the momentum of her running start.

Friend hated Peony as much, if not more so, than he had openly loathed Rosine. Jergens had taken a bit of a selfish risk in bringing Peony along with him. Even if the disembodied voice had said little to nothing over the months, if he somehow got loose, then it was curtains. Granted, there really wasn't much risk. The stag was positively elated, the perfect picture of mental health, so it wasn't like Friend could really do anything apart from his little word games and manipulation tactics. Not that they were of any use, Jergens had learned how to wise up to them over time.

He turned around, estimating his distance between himself and the river at about fifty yards. That was good enough. Peony had taken it upon herself to tread along beside him, her head bowed in dismal realization. "...We're going to jump it, aren't we?" she asked.

Jergens shook his head and dropped to knees, his back legs bent slightly. "Nah, yew won't. Here, get on." he flicked his eyes from his back to Peony. "Come on! It'll be like old times. Remember when I used to carry yew around?"

Peony didn't really like the idea. After all, with her height the top of her head reached Jergens' flank. She wasn't even half his size, but still... "That was a long time ago..." she murmured in protest. How would she even be able to keep her balance? Still, she wouldn't bother in arguing. With an uneasy sigh, she stepped forward and promptly flopped onto Jergens' back. Twisting to the side, she managed to get her body parallel to his, her legs dangling helplessly from his sides.

It didn't help that, because Jergens was in a ramp-like stance, she slid forward. Her vine and flower coated antlers knocked against his own, and the tip of her muzzle phased through the dull illumination of his pictogram, practically blinding her.

Jergens nodded in approval. "Awesome. Alright, now lean yer head forward and get yer antlers to overlap mine, so that they're all locked together, right? That'll be our safety cushion. Once ya do that, tighten yer grip round me so that ya don't slide off to the side." he explained, ducking his chin down to give her a wider berth. It was a good thing Peony's antlers had a wider distance across from each other than his, otherwise he wouldn't have even considered carrying her.

"O-Okay..." the smaller doe capitulated, and she pressed her muzzle against her chest. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she wiggled her head around to let her delicate tines envelop his own, heavily scarred ones. She forced her head back up, but didn't dare open her eyes as the stag's pictogram was in her face. She tightened her hold around her father's body, as to not let her weight slacken and put a strain on their antlers.

"Cool. Feel all seat-buckled up?" the caribou slowly unfolded his fore legs, making sure to keep his head relatively low for Peony's benefit. He swayed from side to side and took a few experimental steps forward and backwards. The doe didn't weigh that much to him. If it wasn't for the dull strain on his antlers, he might have forgotten that she was even up there. "Ya ready?" he asked, sounding more thrilled and excited than nervous.

Peony stiffened. "I... I don't think..."

Great! Let's go!" Jergens recoiled himself backwards and launched himself forward. Gaining speed was the easy part, but the hard part was making sure that Peony wouldn’t fall from his back. For now, she kept a tight, fear-driven hold on him. He sprinted rather than galloped to keep his strides more smooth and manageable for her to work with.

(youwontmakeitjergensstopstopSTOP)

Peony didn't yelp in surprise or scream. Rather, she kept her eyes tightly shut, her short legs pressed tightly against her father's curly red pelt. As eccentric as Jergens could be, and as blatantly foolish as some of his decisions were; she trusted him.

Jergens was nearing the coastline, though he'd have to make the jump at the very end of the grassy area as to avoid getting his hooves sucked into the gulch again. That would just backfire everything. Even if Friend kept screaming in his ear that this wouldn't work, he would still try it.

And if anything else, the 'Jergens Way' practically embodied the age-old philosophy of leaping before you look.

He relied purely on instinct now. Jergens didn't 'know' how to jump long distances. Thankfully, his body did all the work for him. When they reached the very edge of the shore, the stag's body bent forward and his lower back arched upwards. Bunching himself up, he forced his fore legs up and let his hind legs spring upwards, propelling himself off the ground and into the air.

Jergens had his eyes pried open the entire time. In the short seconds that he and Peony were airborne, a few choice thoughts sped through his brain. One, that they were already half-way across. Two, that they were on a downward slope and about to hit water. That was okay though, Jergens would be able to swim it, he just hoped that the lavender doe on his back wouldn't freak out. She never really had a thing for deep water...

And three, though Jergens only had a brief second to scan the incoming shore, he thought he saw a bare silhouette in the fog surrounding the obscured wall of trees from the 'foreign forest'. It could have been a mere trick of the eyes, but it was hard to tell either way... No matter. If there was someone or something there, then they'd deal with it in time.

"Hang on, Peo!" Jergens couldn't even finish his sentence before he felt the sudden sensation of cold water envelop him. He heard Peony cry out in frightened shock, and he felt her grip slowly start to slacken. "I swear to God if yew let go..." he kicked his legs forward and made for shore. Even if the doe relaxed her grip, their antlers were still intertwined. Granted, the increasing pressure on his skull was less than pleasant, but they only needed to last about ten feet. That was all it took... He thrust his neck forward, the lower half of his face submerged in water. The current was strong, yes, and they were slowly being pulled downstream, but that was okay.

Out of the corner of only working eye, he could see that the obscured enigma he had got a glimpse of before seemed to be running towards them. Great, so it was real. Hopefully it was coming to help them instead of slaughter them. A little blinking light hung over its head, obviously a pictogram. Even better, an Endless Forest deer of sorts.

"Hey!" it called out, it's voice echoing. From what it sounded, it was young male. His voice cracked in the middle of his yell and it gave the stag the impression of a young adolescent. Jergens had already reached the mud-soaked shore by the time he bothered to call out to them. Crawling up to his hooves, he stumbled out of the grimy muck and onto the continuation of the goldenrod field. "Alright Peo, we made it." he chuckled, leaning himself down to let the doe roll off of him. He looked toward the approaching buck, but he was still too hidden in the mist to really make out any identifiable features. He had evidently noticed that they had gotten out of immediate danger and slowed his pace to a casual trot.

Peony herself shook so uncontrollably that the stag eventually just jostled her off, and she harmlessly fell onto the cushioned ground beside him. She didn't bother getting up. "Th-That v-voice... Wh-Who..." she stammered, her eyes wide with shell-shock.

"No idea, but I'm sure he's... he's..." Jergens trailed off slightly, his eyes widening. The smallish buck had closed off most of the distance between them, and the encasing fog had risen from his form. Jergens didn't really consider himself one to judge by appearances, but he had never seen anything so... weird...

He was right in thinking that the deer was a younger buck. He couldn't have been more than a year old. However, his gait lacked the usual 'peppiness' and energy that most young deer seemed to have. His antlers were in the shape of a ram's, curled around the sides of his head. That wasn't the strange part though.

The buck was completely and utterly bald. And as he came closer, Jergens and Peony soon realized that he didn't even sport a coat of a fine, transparent sort of hide. He was completely hairless, his skin wrinkled and roughly tanned by the sun's rays, particularly on his back, which was nothing more than a large, dark brown spot.

He was about the size of Peony, if a little bigger, and Jergens could see that he wore a shining carnival mask over his face, giving a bit of color to his overall colorless appearance.

"I saw ya jump across most of that huge river..." he panted, finally within about five feet of the duo. He offered a low bow, his hairless skin crumbling into thick folds along his leg. "I just swam. I didn't even think about jumping. Man... that would have been really convenient if I had thought of that..." he grumbled, his obscured ears flopped to the sides of his head. His voice kept cracking, going to a high falsetto before gently settling down into a smooth tenor.

Peony regarded him shyly and scrambled to her hooves, her muzzle lowered politely. "Uhm... Are you... from here or there?" she asked, flicking her eyes from the left to the right, referring to which forest he came from.

Jergens just stared at him, his eyes narrowed in curiosity. The hairless buck, despite the annoying breaks his voice, spoke in a true New Yorker dialect, not as strong as his own, but heavy enough to where it roused his interests.

The buck looked over at Peony and broke out in a oddly plastic grin. "From where yew guys came from, I assume. Across the river, right?" he nodded. "I just spent a few days in that forest place and found my way out here. Haven't been back ever since. Best decision I ever made in this screwed up afterlife." he chuckled shortly. If anything though, he seemed more annoyed than cheerful. It was almost as if he was faking his optimism.

"Dunno how some of the other deer would react to bald thing like yew, maybe ya made the right choice there." Jergens broke out into a grin himself, warm and inviting. The buck seemed like he needed it.

The buck's small smile widened slightly when he heard Jergens' voice, and he stepped closer, his ears swiveling in curiosity. "Mhm! A Yorker, I see!" he nodded, offering another respectful bow of the head. "What's yer name, sir?" he asked.

Jergens didn't know what to really think of this deer at a first glance. He seemed like he was trying to be optimistic... and utterly failing in the process. "Jergens at yer service~" he mock-bowed and tilted his head towards the smaller doe. "And this is my kid, Peo." he added proudly, reaching up a hoof to plant squarely on the doe's forehead.

Peony shook it off with a hopeless sigh. "Peony, really." she mumbled, tilting her head to the side. "What about you?" she asked.

At the mention of Jergens' name, the buck's grin immediately faded. He ignored Peony's question, and instead walked up slightly further, stretching out his neck to catch the red stag's scent. "Jergens...?" he murmured, looking up at Jergens' face with a shocked, yet vacant expression. "Jergens Paxton Foster...?" he almost whispered the stag's full name.

Jergens winced. Friend was screaming something in his head, but it was so jumbled and well-blended together that he had no idea on what his other self was saying to him. "How the hell do ya know my..."

Then it hit him. The stressed out attitude, fake smiles, and wishy-washy personality all seemed to mingle together. Floods of blocked memories poured through his head, both good and bad.

"...Christof?" he asked. His brow furrowed, and his expression was more confused than anything else, like the buck's identity hadn’t really hit him yet.

The buck sighed sadly. "After all this time and yer still not mature enough to call me yer dad..." he muttered distastefully.

Again, it had proven to be a small world after all.




---

Ohgod finally done with this part...
Pegasicorn's picture

adlgkjdg WHAT O_O

adlgkjdg WHAT O_O
Munkel's picture

Fff omg : DD

Fff omg : DD
Snowsauria's picture

Oh my. ._.

Oh my. ._.
GingerNut's picture

Pega; What indeed?~

Pega; What indeed?~ :'D

Munk; <3 Hurrr

Snow; Ehe... I kinda rushed the end. c': 2 AM and I promised someone I'd get it out ASAP. =3=
Skitties's picture

It took all my self control

It took all my self control not to yell "WHAT?!!" at the computer screen. Damn... I did not expect that. O_O

So since Christof showed up, should we be expecting Loreal? |D

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GingerNut's picture

Me neither. It was 2 AM. I

Me neither. It was 2 AM. I had writer's block and just winged it. =/

And honestly, I can't stand L'oreal >w> So I probably won't be doing much, if anything with her. I've reached the epitome of character involvement c':

<3
Skitties's picture

Just curious. xD I want to

Just curious. xD I want to know more about Christof though. @-@

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