(ooc: I know its long, its the intro, I'm setting up the area. Most of my posts won't be this long or polished)

A warm, gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees as a black-and-white piebald deer picked her away through the undergrowth. She was following a serpentine deer path somewhere near the Old Oak—she had left the hollowed-out tree a little while ago. It was beginning to get crowded in there, and right now she wanted peace.
Maggie sighed quietly to herself as she paused and glanced around the forest. If it wasn’t for the dense fog, she could have seen for miles around—although the undergrowth was thick, it was low to the ground, and the trees were tall and straight, and their branches began only near the tippy tops. She didn’t really mind, though. The fog helped muffle the ruckus coming from the Old Oak, and the morning sunlight bloomed in a rainbow of gold in the vapor.
As she swung her head around and walked forward, the curved tip of her left antler scuffed the trunk of a tree close to the path. Maggie snorted in annoyance as shell pink petals fell from her antler where a magnolia flower had been squashed. She glanced at the tree, blinking slowly in awe as she saw missing patches in the bark of the tree where stags’ antlers had hit. The tallest marks were well over her head.
Waggling her drooping, cow-like ears dismissively, Maggie continued down the deer path, although there was an itch in her brain. With her stocky build and wide antlers, she looked more like a stag than a doe. Not even a regular stag, at that…
Some rustling of the ferns behind her broke her train of thought. Good, Maggie thought, as she turned to look behind her. No sense in whining about what can’t be changed. She blinked her round hazelnut eyes as she gazed through the fog, her rear end unceremoniously backed into the undergrowth so she could better see who was behind her.

Maggie watched as a stag appeared out of the mist that surrounded the forest. Her ears twitched as he apologized, and turned so that her rump wasn't quite in such an uncomfortable position. Dropping into a bow, her wide antlers brushing the undergrowth, she replied. "It's alright. I was just finding some peace from the party that formed at the Old Oak." Maggie nodded her head toward the trail heading to the Old Oak, where muffled laughter could be heard. "I'm not much for parties," the piebald deer added, a small smile playing on her broad muzzle.
She could already feel the awkwardness seep into her veins, as it always did when she was around other deer. Maggie didn't know how to socialize--or rather, socialize well. But she was getting the hang of it.
Maggie looked at the stag's striking green coat and ornate antlers, and peered into the holes in his mask curiously. She hesitated a moment too long--say something!--and blurted, "I'm Magnolia." Her ears felt warm with embarassment as she scolded herself mentally for not saying her nickname instead.

(ooc: man, this is long again. Sorry for taking so long)

Maggie looked into the holes in the stag's mask and said, "Bright green is very eye-catching; I'm not surprised the does like it." Her paddle-like ears waggled as she chuckled.
She felt felt her ears warm up like fire when the stag complimented her, and she broke her gaze with him and looked around the fog-laden forest--she was a sucker for flattery.
She glanced at his tilted head and wide grin and her own small smile grew. She wasn't an easy smiler; but everyone knew they were contagious. "Ultimate's an interesting name. It suits you." Her smile widened for a second in a face-splitting grin, then relaxed into the smaller smile she wore earlier.

ooc: Just realized I didn't put Maggie's speech font in my last post. Oh well.

Maggie snorted with laughter as Ultimate strutted across the deer path. She was already beginning to become more relaxed; the tense little knot in her stomach was unclenching. "I.." A few more giggles escaped her, and she had to pause and start over. "I usually go by Maggie; it's less of a mouthful."
She looked around as the fog began receding, burning off as the sun climbed higher in the sky. The hazy outline of the Old Oak peeked through the trees.

Maggie squinted as the sun broke through the trees, splashing on them and the forest floor in brilliant golden light. The white in her piebald coat glowed in the light, contrasted by deep black splotches. Her white antlers looked like bleached, exposed bones sticking out from her head, but the effect was softened by the magnolia flowers that clung to them.
Her eyes adjusted and she noticed Ultimate's flashing mask. Tilting her head, she said, "That's an interesting mask." Before, she'd been trying to look Ultimate in the eyes, and disregarded the rest of the mask. But now, as it shined in the sunlight, it shouted look at me! It reminded her of the faces of the scientists that were surrogate mothers and jailers at the same time; each one unique but vaguely so. It conjured mixed feelings.
Maggie blinked, clearing away the thoughts. The mask was handsome, regardless; gold streaked with jaunty red.

It's alright, I'm pretty burned out from school today

Maggie felt her ears warm up and she pinned them back, embarassed. "Um, yeah. I'm kind of part Longhorn cow." She looked away, down at her hooves. Her legs looked thick and sturdy, unlike most does in the forest. "In the breed, both genders have horns, and I got the lucky genes..." Her voice trailed off in a flat laugh. She remembered seeing more slender-looking does--unantlered does--back in the labs. Why couldn't she have been born like that?

Maggie looked at Ultimate curiously. He was taking interest in her past? She cleared her throat. "Yeah, um, there was this disease that was killing deer in one of the humans' territories." She knew they were called something else, but she couldn't recall what. "The humans like to hunt the deer, so they didn't like that there were so few of them left. They tried to make a vaccine.
"Either it didn't work or there were too few deer left to keep the species alive, so they crossbred the remaining stags with other animals. They wanted bigger, stronger animals that were exposed to the disease early on so they would be immune." She looked away to a faraway point in space, her eyes blank like what she was seeing was in her head. "They used Longhorns because they were tough. Some say it was because they were colorful and both genders had horns. You know, more trophies." A small smile ghosted Maggie's muzzle, and she chuckled with dark humor. "They injected us with tiny amounts of the disease, and other ones as well. To make us immune to every disease known to deer. They increased the dose as time went on, and when we were almost one-year-olds..." Her voice trailed off. She'd buried that day deep within her mind, shut it away where it couldn't crawl back into her nightmares.

Storm knocked out my internet for a while...

Maggie smiled as Ultimate gave her a nuzzle, memories of the contaminated deer's body disappearing like the fog in the sunlight. Then she was serious again. "Well... It wasn't so bad. They were trying to save the deer, so..." her voice trailed off again. Maggie was by no means at peace with her past, but... her memories of her mother were dim, and she never met her father. The humans were her parents, and talking bad about them seemed wrong. She shrugged and said, "They weren't cruel to any of us. They... they had good reasons to do what they did." It didn't make defending them seem any more right.
Maggie tilted her head curiously and looked into the holes in Ultimate's mask. "So what about you? What's your past? You can't expect me to babble about mine without spilling yours."

Maggie smiled and said, "Well, maybe if you keep thinking about it, it'll come back." She briefly peeked over her shoulder to see what Ultimate was looking at. The jumping form of a fawn flashed behind a large rock, and Maggie turned her head back toward Ultimate. "If it makes you feel happy then it can't be too bad, can it?"
A lacy white cloud drifted over the sun, softening the brilliant white edge the sunlight left on everything. The dappled patches of light and shadow in the forest floor dwindled to near nonexistence.

I'm a bit low on muse today. Can't come up with anything for her to say

Noticing his sad look, Maggie pushed her muzzle under Ultimate's chin, as if to tell him to keep his chin up. "What do you remember about her?" she asked, pulling back and looking into the holes in his mask. "Maybe if you talk about her, it'll come back to you."

Maggie wasn't entirely convinced with Ultimate's smile, but she dropped it. "I don't remember much about my mother, either. The humans separated us pretty early. They wanted to get to work on our immune systems." By our she meant her and the rest of the fawns. Her voice fell flat and her sentences clipped. She didn't like talking about this.
"Hey," Maggie said, aiming for a cheery voice. "You wanna go down to the Pond? I think that's where this trail heads." She pawed at the thin deerpath they were standing on. It snaked away through the foliage in the general direction of the Pond. The sun reappeared from behind the cloud, as if pleased with this more cheerful conversation.

Maggie followed Ultimate down along the deerpath, glancing around. The fog was nearly completely gone, and she could see a few curtains of willow leaves peeking through the trees. The forest was bright with sunshine. Looking up at the canopy, she said, "Looks like it'll be a nice day." The ribbeting of frogs was becoming louder; they must be nearing the Pond.

Maggie, when all else fails, talk about the weather!

Maggie came up beside Ultimate and stopped, looking down the hill at the Pond. A red fawn was just disappearing into the forest. The willows' sweeping curtains drooped into the water, and small bright fish darted between the shade from the trees and sunlit water. A few fat bullfrogs sat on lilypads, croaking their frog songs.
Maggie glanced at Ultimate and made her way down the hill, hearing the smack of mud against her hooves as she neared the Pond. "Not a soul in sight," she commented, lowering her head to take a drink. Her reflection--warped by ripples--stared back at her in the pond water, round golden eyes blinking.

Maggie's head jerked up, and she began sneezing loudly as water shot up her nose. Whether it was water from Ultimate's splash or the water she was drinking, she didn't know, but it stung!
She narrowed her eyes at Ultimate in mock anger and snorted, a spray of water shooting from her nostrils. Maggie shook her antlers and said, "Shouldn't have done that." Kicking out one of her front legs, she threw water in Ultimate's direction. Her hoof came back down hard on the water, making a splash.

Maggie tried to jump away when Ultimate sent a huge splash toward her, but her hooves sunk into the mud and it held her in place. She felt the tidal wave hit and drench her coat, soaking easily into her short, bristly fur. Shaking water from her coat, hoping she got Ultimate in the process, she pulled her hooves from the mud. There was a sluurping sound as the mud reluctantly gave them up.
Rearing onto her hind legs, Maggie heaved her front hooves down on the water. Her hooves hit the water with a resounding SLAP! and a terrific splash was sent rolling toward Ultimate.

Maggie grinned, flicking her tail so a thread of water spun away from it, and replied, "Being born in a lab has its perks." She started wading back to the shore, mud grabbing at her hooves the entire way. "The mud is trying to suck me in," she snorted as she reached land. Turning to face the Pond, she noticed the clublike appearance of her mud-caked hooves.

Maggie shrugged and stamped her hooves on the ground. It shook most of the muck off. "I guess I'll just wait for the rest to dry and fall off," she said. She bent her head down and took a quick drink from the Pond. The stirred-up water tasted a bit muddy, but Maggie didn't mind too much.

Blehh, I'm so burned out today. Just wanna to go sleep

Ugh I'm sorry I didn't reply yesterday. Busy day Luckily its the weekend now

Maggie lifted her head a little, watching some fish flit among the shadowy far end of the Pond. All the splashing spooked them. Raising her head higher, she looked around the sunlit forest. A few vague figures of deer could be seen between the trunks, and birds warbled in the treetops.
"Do you ever wonder what its like outside the Forest?" Maggie asked suddenly, whether to herself or Ultimate she didn't know. "Its so peaceful here... Is it like that everywhere?" Somehow, it didn't seem possible if Maggie herself was created in attempt to save a dying species.

Maggie's gaze swept around the forest again. "Their home burned down?" She blinked, trying to picture the Forest caught up in a wildfire, but the peace that surrounded the two deer seemed perpetual and unbreakable. Impervious to disaster.
She shook herself, water droplets and unease flying off, and said, "The Twin Gods must be very powerful to keep fire and lightning away from our Forest." Maggie offered Ultimate a small smile, and recalled the giant dandelions the Gods treated the inhabitants of the Forest with recently. Surely, if they could do that they could keep the land from cataclysm?

Maggie sucked in a breath, her smile disappearing. They had lost two family members too? "They'll live peaceful lives now," she agreed. Averting her eyes, Maggie looked around the forest. "Its too nice a day to spend it talking about death."

(where did my muse go?)

Maggie brightened with the change of conversation. "Sure. I like the Ruins." Shaking a few flakes of dried mud off her hooves, she trotted across the sunlit clearing. The white on her pelt flashed in the brilliant light, and she sure noticed Ultimate's green coat.
Maggie stepped into the cool shade of the forest and looked around. "Sometimes I get turned around. Its hard to remember when everything seems to loop back on itself." She looked at Ultimate. "I don't know how I got here. It seems impossible to get back out."

Maggie shrugged and said, "I suppose its for the best. If the Twin Gods can keep us in, maybe they can choose what stays out?" She tipped her head back and looked up through the canopy, imagining an invisible shield protecting the Forest and its inhabitants. Her hoof clattered against an exposed root and Maggie looked forward again, ears getting hot with embarassment. She tripped!

(ahh sorry I didn't reply yesterday, its been a busy couple of days )

Maggie said quickly, "I'm fine, I'm okay!" and shook her coat, as if to proove her point. "Um..." she said, trying to regain her dignity. She cleared her throat and gave Ultimate a half-smile. "Why do you like the Ruins?" She wanted the conversation away from herself.

(soo tired...)

Maggie nodded as Ultimate spoke, carefully stepping over another root as they walked through the Forest. "I like that there are always a few deer there. Its nice to be around others," she said. Then she tilted her head. "I've never left anything at the graves, though. I guess I never thought about who was buried there."
She walked under a splash of sun, her piebald coat briefly illuminated in brilliant light. Maggie had to narrow her eyes against the glare of the sun as she looked up at Ultimate and smiled. "Its good that you do, though. Its good that you remember to."

Maggie felt her ears heat up like they were on fire when Ultimate brought her a poppy. She was sure that they were showing red through her fur. Her head ducked. She wasn't used to this kind of attention. What was she supposed to do?
A little knot clenched in her stomach, and she averted her eyes. "Um, thanks," Maggie said, her words punctuated by a nervous laugh. Wrong. Her voice fell flat in her ears. There was an alarmed little thump in her heart, and Maggie brought her gaze back up to Ultimate, her hazelnut eyes part apprehension and apology. Maggie opened her mouth, but nothing came out, so she snapped it shut.