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It was known to most Endless Forest deer that there were places in the Forest where once could 'pass through' into the rest of the world outside the deer paradise. Many had done this before, when they wished to visit other lands or had other things that needed to be done.

In Zahava's case, she just wanted to get away from the Forest for a while. A little break, some alone time, that's all she wanted.

She looked left and right before finding the portal to the lands outside the Forest, and passing through, it would look as if she simply vanished. In her eyes, she stepped through and instantly felt a whiff of different scents in the air. The land outside didn't smell the same as the Endless Forest. Predatory animals passed by here often, even humans at time, who could never find the entrance to the Forest.

Zahava knew how to get back, so she went off on her own. The place she was at was a dense woodland, and perking her ears, she could hear a river somewhere close by. She suddenly found herself to be very thirsty, and licking her lips, she went in the direction of the water, smelling it coming closer and closer. She stopped for a second, suddenly grimacing as she felt a slight pain in her chest. It was odd, as if she had just run a marathon and was out of breath, but soon it ceased and she felt normal. She ignored this and kept going.

The doe soon found a rushing rapid. The sound of water was much louder here, and as she looked across the place, she soon realized she was not alone. Not only were salmon jumping up-river, but in the center of the river, on a large boulder, was a white bear. It wasn't a polar bear, but a native of the area often known as a Spirit Bear. The bear was trying to catch a salmon, but was having a difficult time and roared once or twice in frustration.

Zahava didn't want anything to do with the bear, but her thirst was getting the better of her. She slowly approached the river, dipping her muzzle in to drink the cold water. "Stay calm, don't look and maybe he won't notice me...", she thought, cooling her body with the water.

She looked up for a brief moment.

The bear was staring straight at her.

She took one last gulp of water, and backed away. Before she could get too far, the bear roared loudly, and looking about, he began to maneuver along the boulders to the shore.

"He's coming after me...just stay calm, and get a head start.", Zahava collected her thoughts. She knew not to panic, and that she could easily outrun the bear. She could fight as well, but it was her worst case scenario. She went quickly into the trees, and once she was out of sight, she bolted through the trees.

She was looking for the portal back to the Forest. She couldn't find it by the time she looked back and heard thundering thuds heading her way. Was the bear following her? She knew it was a possibility. The doe ran as fast as she could, running into a clearing and nearly falling into a ravine. There was an area she could reach to continue into the wilderness, and a convenient tree had fallen over and made a log bridge. Zahava blinked at this, surprised at her luck here.

She hopped onto the log, and went steadily. No need to be clumsy here, and haste would result in a nasty topple into the deep ravine. She crossed the log and hopped onto the other side. But she knew better not to leave the log there, and pushing it with her strength, she managed to shove it off so that it fell and crashed far below.

She looked down to see this, then up to see the white bear there. He roared loudly at her. The doe scoffed and turned away, heading into the wilderness.

She looked back just in time to watch the bear take a tremendous leap of faith, his body slamming into the other side where she was and climbing up to the flat level. "You've got to be kidding me...", Zahava thought under her breath, and soon was running into the woods.

The bear was following her. She didn't look back, but heard his paws slamming into the dirt at a rapidly approaching pace. Before she realized it, she had been struck in the hind leg by the Spirit Bear's paw, causing her to stumble and slam into the ground.

She remained calm. She could fight. She would survive this. She tried to scramble to her hooves but was pinned by the bear's paw. She would gasp as she felt the pressure on her body holding her down, and she began to struggle.

She shut her eyes. She knew she had met her match if she couldn't escape.








"Hold still! I'm trying to help you!"


The doe opened her eyes, blinking and looking up at the bear. "Wh...what?", she asked.


"Didn't you hear me calling you? I asked you to wait but you ran.", the bear spoke, his voice was deep and rather calming

"What do you want with me?", she asked.

The bear shut his eyes and began to channel some energy into his paw. Zahava could feel this, the pressure became oddly soothing warmth. But she felt something there, like a strange pain she had never felt before. She immediately twitched and groaned, but the bear spoke, "Almost got 'em, just stay still."

The pain ceased. The bear lifted his paw, and Zahava looked to see something very strange. The bear was holding a strange shadowy creature in his paw, the thing looked much like a winged serpent that was writhing and hissing. It didn't have a fully solid body, but seemed to be made of smoke. Still, the bear was holding it as if it was solid.

"This creature had latched onto you. Gotta be careful with them, they try to possess you if you're not careful.", the bear spoke, and throwing it into the air, the serpent-like mist vanished into the air.

The bear turned and walked off here. "Wait...", Zahava spoke. The bear turned to look to her.

"...Thank you...", she said, "I...I feel foolish for running now."


The bear nodded, "I'm used to it, don't worry.", and turning, he began to walk away.

Zahava watched the bear literally vanish into thin air. She began to wonder if this bear was really a forest spirit that had helped her. But it didn't matter, all she wanted right now was to go back to the Endless Forest.

And she would, after a few more minutes of searching. She passed back through the portal and returned home.

The End