Ren nodded as she began, helping her along by humming. "That's good for a start." He moved his right front hoof in a circular motion, tapping his left back hoof at the same time, then switched to his left front and right back. He did another little tap dance, then backed up, and spun on his hind legs, ending with a cross hoofed bow.

"You could try something a little more complicated like that, but you have keep track of where all of you hooves are so you don't trip. But I don't really think there's a wrong way to dance."

Ren watched her for a while, looking up when she ceased and spoke. "No it's fine, it's just takes practice. The whole point is just to have fun away." He thought of something, then his ears lowered slightly and he looked concerned. "That is, unless you don't like it." He tried to remind himself that not everyone was interested in dancing. He shifted his hooves nervously.

Ren felt himself breathe a small sigh of relief, and smiled back at her. "That good. I mean, I suppose it would be alright if you didn't... But I'm glad you do." He saw Lily blink and look into the sky, and the stag followed her gaze, only to feel a slight chill as one of the snow flurries landed and melted in his ear. It twitched automatically in response to the unwelcome flake.

"You probably don't have to deal with snow underwater do you." He half asked, half stated. It must be nice in the pond this time of year, as Lily had claimed it didn't really get very cold once the ice formed.

Ren looked back down at her, surprised. "You won't?" If he could retreat into the pond all winter, safe under the ice, he probably would. But then... The stag reconsidered. He might miss certain deer, dancing, being free to go wherever he wished. And he began to wonder if Lily was thinking along the same lines.

"Why, what's different this year?"

Only once Lily had said it, did it really sink in. The choice she had to make, and whatever she chose she was stuck with until next year, and a form of entrapment either way. "I see." She didn't seem too upset by this though, he noted, Lily seemed sure of her decision. And of course if she stayed above ground, that meant he could possibly see her more often. Cheered by this thought, he began to think of all the new things he could show her, just like she hadn't known what dancing was.

He shook his fur lightly, to rid himself of clinging snow. "That's great, about you making friends and meeting deer. And, of course getting to explore the forest. My favorite place is still the pond, but there are some other great places as well- Maybe I could show you around."

Ren stared at the lily pad on her head for a moment, wondering how it could stay put so well, and if she ever needed to replace it, then lowered his gaze to her face, smiling. "Of course. Besides, I haven't been away from the pond in a while myself." He thought of all the places he could show Lily, the ruins, the playground... Oh, and she'd probably like the Drink De'Plats.

It's no problem." The stag replied cheerfully, dancing slightly on his hoof-tips. At her next question however he sobered, and considered. "Well, yes... I've heard that there are some you should probably stay away from. I haven't really met many myself though.."

He didn't want to scare her, so he continued on a more optimistic note. "I'm sure you'll be fine though, I think most of the deer here are actually pretty friendly. And you've got me to protect you." Ren couldn't help but add.

Ren followed her gaze to the twin statues on the hill, and thought it seemed like a good place to start. And it was still kind of nearby. "Alright, follow me." He started off a brisk pace, then slowed to wait for Lily. "Those are the statues of Michael and Auriea, you've heard of them haven't you? And if you show your respect properly, you turn white! I'll show you how when we get there."

{It's fine (: }

"Snow? Oh yeah... I never thought of it like that, but that's a good description. And yes it does. It only lasts for a while, although I've seen some deer who've figured out how to make it permanent." He noticed her looking back to pond, and wondered if she was feeling homesick. It was her home after all, literally. Most deer didn't really have homes besides the whole forest, perhaps some places where they more regularly spent their time, but Lily had never even been far from her pond.

Ren watched her, pleased by her reaction, and then looked at the statues himself as Lily voiced her question. "Where did they come from...? Hmm, where did they come from..." He frowned, mentally reprimanding himself for never having thought of that himself. Just like he had never considered where the bridge came from, or the ruins.

"You know, I'm not actually sure. They've just... Always been here. At least as long as anyone can remember."

They really were, Ren thought, still staring at them an the delicate carvings that adorned them. He had never really them appreciated much. And Lily's curiosity had stirred his own. Where had they come from? He didn't see how a deer could make anything like that. "Yeah, they are." He then noticed Lily looking at him, and returned her gaze for a second, then blinked. "Oh, the white pelt!"

He scratched at the ground, to signal her to watch him, and bent down in front of the statue for a minute. Slowly, a blue haze started to gather around him, and then his markings vanished. His already mostly white pelt brightened, the color of snow. He straightened up, beaming at Lily. "See?

The stag nodded. "Basically, it takes about a minute. It's a- gift I think. They call it the devout pelt." Speaking of gifts... Ren thought of something else, something maybe Lily had witnessed from the pond. "Have you ever seen an Abiogenesis? It's when Michael and Auriea visit, and all sorts of amazing things happen- I've never seen one myself though. I guess I go to sleep at all the wrong times..." He trailed off, watching her to see if she would try to get the devout pelt as well.

Ren watched her at she bent over, her eyes closed tightly, seeming almost apprehensive. It didn't take long for the blue to appear, and then she turned white. White as a water lily actually. She got to her hooves, expressing her amazement and he smiled. "I told you it would. Look, now we match!" He danced a little, hopping in a tight circle, excited to show her the rest of the forest.

Ren watched as Lily made, what he thought was a most excellent twirl, delighted to see her so happy. Most of the deer in the forest were well used to the albino pelt, and not nearly as excited by it as she seemed to be. He nodded at her words, looking over his own back to see his tail, which was a great deal shorter than hers and chuckled. "Well yeah, there is that."

He started looking out over the forest as well, lingering on the pond. He could just barely spot the Great Oak in the distance. "Where do you want to go next?"

Without even bothering to check, he was pretty sure he knew where she was looking, Ren responded. "That, is the Great Oak. It's the biggest tree in the whole forest!" He was about to continue, telling her how you could go inside it and the deep humming noise it made when you were around it, but then changed his mind. He would let her see and hear for herself. "We should probably go there next. Want to?"

As the white began to leave Lily's fur, Ren glanced over his shoulder at his own back, where the markings had returned without him noticing. Oh well. "Great, it's this way- oh. But I guess you can see that." He started walking towards the gargantuan tree visible in the distance, small patches of snow crunching under his hooves.

As they approached the Great Oak, Ren noticed that Lily's ears pinned back as she looked up at the tree. It was impressively large... And perhaps a little intimidating if seeing it for the first time. He hoped Lily wasn't intimidated by it's size. Or the mysterious humming that seemed to emanate from it. He contemplated the oak, then Lily spoke. "Must be. Maybe even older! It's bigger than every tree in here." He followed her as she circled the tree, waiting for her to discover the best thing about the tree.

"It is amazing isn't it." Ren stated, looking around for himself with new sense of wonder. Perhaps he was absorbing some of Lily's sense of discovering new and spectacular things, things he had never really paid that much attention to. Besides the pond that is. And that was the thing Lily was familiar and at home with.

To his satisfaction it looked like no snow had managed to creep in, the ground was dry, and filled with the indistinct hoof prints from all the deer who had tread here. The wood around him seemed strong and safe, despite it's age, and few fallen oak leaves still lingered in corners.

The stag didn't look at her until she spoke, coming out of his thoughts and missing any would-be tears. "Well, there's the ruins, the playground and the drink de'plats. Those last two are in the birch forest- Have you ever even seen the birch forest? Oh, and you have to try the blueberries in the blue bowl! Have you ever been to the crying idol? It's right by the pond, up the stream.." Ren ceased his rush of words with an apologetic smile.

"Really? I guess you wouldn't have, the water is shallower up there, and it goes on a ways from the pond." Ren paused to get his bearings better, then gestured with his foreleg. "It's this way." He added cheerfully, starting off diagonally towards the stream, which brought them back closer to the cliff side of the pond.

Ren briefly looked over the pond as they neared, then turned his gaze back to the stream. He wondered what Lily's hmmm had meant. A good hmmm or a bad hmmm? Hmmm, he was probably reading too much into it. A stone bridge spanned the entrance, and he hopped over it, then back to Lily.

"You've probably seen this before though, from the pond. The crying idol is up there, just follow the stream." And he did just that, walking along the side of it towards a stone statue larger than the average deer that could just be seen in the distance.

Ren stepped the poppies, then stopped in front of the statue, and the doe walked pasted him. The water looked so clear, the tears of the statue were twin waterfalls. But it did look sad, he had to agree with Lily. He wondered why it had been made like that, if it had been made at all. His eyes drifted to the side, where he had been born and first entered the forest, several years ago.

His ears twitched, and he looked up at Lily in front of him, and shook his head. "Not that I know of at least."

Ren couldn't figure out what was going through the mind of the doe before him. He watched, puzzled as she brushed up against the idol, and his ears just caught the sound of sigh. Lily didn't seem nearly as excited or cheerful as she had been at the twin statues, but he wasn't sure why. Was it just because the statue was crying? His ears lowered slightly, and an anxious expression crossed his face.

But then she turned, and having caught sight of the bright red flowers seemed to brighten. "Those are poppies, they're scattered all through out the forest. Some deer like to wear them. There are also purple flowers too, but I'm not sure what they're called."

She seemed as if she was apologizing to him. Alarmed Ren shook his head, tripping over his words as he tried to explain. "No, you don't have to be sorry, I just- I just umm, don't mind, I'm just worried, that you're not having fun?" That was a question, he had confused himself into repeating what Lily had initially stated. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm only worried that you might be upset."

Did that make sense? Ren didn't want her to feel obligated to have fun because of him, but he didn't want to somehow inadvertently sadden her. But he couldn't seem to articulate words to communicate that thought. "Ummm, sure. How about the birch forest? We're right near the edge of it. It has the Drink De'plats and the playground." The stag wondered why he felt so unsure and dependent on what Lily might say next, it was an uncharacteristic feeling.

"You're welcome. And... Thank you too." As soon as he said it, he wasn't sure why he had. Ren just felt grateful towards her, but he hoped she wouldn't ask him to elaborate. He trotted towards the birch forest, eager to find some place that wouldn't be as upsetting. "We can go to the blue bowl first, that's closest I think." As he neared the tree line he slowed, looking back at Lily.

The birch forest was different from where they had come from, that was for sure. Tall and thin, nearly white trees with dark markings towered above the forest floor. With the sparser foliage, the ground was more evenly covered in snow then other places, and despite overcast skies, more rays of sunlight were scattered throughout.