[sub]Whyss was used to skulldeer by now. No, he wasn't going to necessarily rush up to them out of nowhere to make friends with them, as about ninety percent of the time they tended to be volatile(and/or hungry) but as of late he generally found them less of an immediate threat if he just left them alone.
The one he'd been following this morning, however, seemed... odd.
It did not swagger through the trees, nor prance, nor move stealthily. It... staggered. Moving almost blindly, only altering direction if necessary. It moved sluggishly - only lifting its hooves just high enough to keep in locomotion.
The huge, dark body was messily scattered with what might have once been bright monarchical colors, but had dulled into the darkness of the pelt over the years.
And the skull.
It was not picked clean as most tended to be, no. It seemed more like the flesh had rotted from it, a pinch of skin hanging off here and there, the skin shriveled and peeling.
The beast hesitated in step, standing, no, swaying: knees shivering noticeably, it slowly swung its massive head from side to side, ripped and frayed ears slowly moving radially.
Then he saw the eyes.
The stag's lids had rotted off long ago, leaving the eyeballs exposed to all kinds of horrors. They were grayed and pitted, and Whyss gasped, wondering if the hulking giant could even see.
[=#996600]"Why are you hiding, idle darling?