Coos the fawn was two human years old. It was about a day before her birthday, and she pranced around in glee. She was excited, because any birthday was deserving of a celebration. Spring was right around the corner, and plant life was just starting to reappear. As famine edged the stomachs of every doe, stag, and fawn that lived in the tribe, every deer knew each others pain. Life may had been hunger-filled, but it was generally easy.

Prancing into the sun-spotted clearing, she ran over to her parents. They slept intertwined in a peaceful sleep. Coos looked up into the sky, and saw the sun was about in the noon position, and so she prodded her parent's awake with one of her hooves.

"C'mon, get up! You said that we would be exploring the outskirts of the woods today! Mom," Coos exclaimed as she tugged on her mother's ear. Her mother's eyes blinked the sleep away and she stood up slowly and stretched. She was beautiful, with a golden-brown pelt and her young, white doe spots brightening up her fur. Her face was long and sad, as if she had been dreaming of good things.

"Okay, Coos. We will, but we can't go south too far. The Shadows have been creeping up on us," she said with a yawn.

"Okay, let's get daddy up," Coos said as she was about to tug on his antlers. She fell backwards as he rose from his sleeping place. He bowed to Coos' mother and stretched his aching limbs. Her dad was much older that Coos' mother was. He had white fur that was beginning to gray with age, and had large, powerful antlers that twined and twisted in a spectacular manner.

They trotted around their boundaries, and Coos overheard their parent's talking.

"...He wants our greatest warriors. Anybody with antlers that is strong enough to defend our young."

"I will not give up my life to the whole of the tribe, and I expect the same for the other families if the Shadows attack. We should defend our own, and no one else."

"You're being selfish, dear.