CosmicChaos21

Star couldn't help but agree with Javai, he almost saw Javai die due to that nicheling's unprovoked attack and he'd been lucky he knew where a healing fruit was at the time. "I have no idea where she went either, and considering her unnecessary cruelty I have to agree that I don't want to ever meet that nicheling again, not now nor in a hundred seasons" Star said with a cold tone towards Undergrowth, he doesn't really care if she was kinder than her sister, she apparently was close to her and therefore Star considered her to be a potential threat that he'd rather not get involved with. After noticing Javai closed his eyes he stayed standing and kept an eye on Undergrowth just in case, better safe than sorry and all that. (Apologies for this really late response, I was kinda out of the rp mood for some time there and y'know school-)

Star was also pretty concerned about the chance of that nicheling being around considering the injur she caused Javai earlier, Star was lucky to find that healing fruit in good time because if he hadn't...So he stood to his full height with a straightened posture, though he is still a teen so he's not the tallest, and stared at the nicheling with narrowed eyes, waiting on an answer. Star didn't know if that answer made him feel better or worse. On one hand that must mean this nicheling wasn't helping the nicheling that attacked Javai earlier but that also meant that Star had no idea where that nicheling had gone. "Well we don't know where she is and I'm guessing Javai would agree that we want to be nowhere near her" He said with the same posture and narrowed eyes, he was still going to be cautious, mostly because he was concerned for Javai, he was feeling better than before but still. SORRY Y'ALL I GOT DISTRACTED AND FORGOT THIS SITE EXISTED FOR A HOT MINUTE-)

(Fair honestly, I do that sometimes too) "Well if nothing else I hope I'll be a good leader for the pack, I may not care for the role but I do care about my pack members...If you tell them that once I get there though I WILL bite you" Star added that last part because he doesn't like being seen as vulnerable or a softie. Javai's word made him pay more attention to their surrounds and noticed the darkening sky. "Yeah, you're right I think you've had enough of those for today" He said with a tone that was both joking and also concerned. After saying that he scanned the area and saw a bunch of rocks leaning against each other in a way that left space under them, a decent shelter. "How about there?" He asked but was already going over to check it out, noting it seemed like it wouldn't collapse overnight.

Ooh alright evil nicheling time then >:3 Name: Speckle Gender: Female Appearance: Personality: Playful, Relaxed, Unreliable, Apathetic Starting point: Coconut Desert (Cuz you said the evil nichelings will start there) Age: Adult

Star winced at that description "Messing with the babies doesn't really end well, but playing dead was a good strategy" He said as he recalled some of his pack members trying to attack a baby bearyena when he was younger, former pack members now. Star hummed in thought as he thought of a way to describe it. "I'm not sure what it was like for the other pack members, but being the future leader is pretty rough. You get things drilled into your head a lot, to 'make sure you remember', you have to interact with your fellow packmates in certain ways, and you get reminded of how big your responsibility will be when you're older. But on the more positive note you almost never have to move because your pack members can help take down bearyena, and you have much more food because of all the paws helping look for it and gather it, and you can socialize with other nichelings more often than I think you would as a wanderer" He explained as he continued following Javai.

Ooo! What difficulty? And also what lizard do you dislike the most? I'm not too far in the game(cuz I keep dying-) but the one's that climb poles (Pink?) terrify me so much. I'm still trying to get them, and it's going badly! Ah Hunter + Dervish lover, good taste. I personally just love them because I adore slimes who cause lots of damage lol- If you get a chance please do, it's super fun after you get used to the controls :3

Also I downloaded niche on my gaming laptop just to see what the high settings look like and it looks so amazing, everything looks so crispy and detailed I am in shock, seeing as I'm used to pretty low settings so it can run decent on this computer. The shadows on higher settings look so cool and make everything prettier in general.

Rainworld is such an amazing game that I suck at playing- Because if I play it safe for a while to make some progress, I go out to explore once(1) and completely forget my sense of direction and the rain gets me every time I try, but I adore the slugcats so much, they're the most adorable creatures. Though I do also adore the lizards as well, which I forgot the name of, but that might be because I have pet reptiles and love reptile and amphibian creatures a lot in general. Though the ones that can like climb poles and stuff terrify me so much, cuz I'm like 'I'm safe up here!' then I see one of those start climbing up and am ike 'NEVERMIND PLEASE DON'T EAT ME-' it's fun tho

bark grr bark bark

"That's fine, as long as we get to them eventually" Star said in response, he was still worried they had abandoned him though he was acting much calmer now. "I know earlier you said you usually run after getting a whiff of them, but have you ever tried fighting a bearyena before?" He asked Javai as he followed after him, if it would take some time he wanted to pass the time a bit.

Ooooooh that makes a lot more sense now, from that description I suppose she would-

Star nodded in agreement to Javai's first statement "The calmer I am the better I can think" he said as he continued walking until Javai said something else. "I've heard nichelings with snouts like yours have a better sense of smell so maybe you should lead the way?" He suggested as he started walking towards the bushes.

Star listened to what Javai said and took a few deep breaths before straightening his posture. "Sorry, you're right panicking won't help anyone" He agreed as he forced himself into a calm and confident stance to come off as calmer than he was. "Yeah you're right! There must've been a really strong bearyena that scared them off or something, I'm too important to leave behind" He said with a nod before standing up. "That's the weird part, in all my life they've never moved, always been in the exact same territory" He said, still confused why they would leave when they had strong warriors to defend the tribe and ensure its safety. "But! If we follow their scents we'll have to find em eventually" He said before starting to follow their faint scent trail.

"Yeah you're right! If I'm careful they'll never notice" Star grinned at the thought of a bit of rebellion against his parents, he would love to be able to defend himself so he wouldn't need a guard by his side at all times. "Boring" He joked after hearing Javai's answer to his question. He also noticed the lack of noise, becoming a bit worried. "Well now we're at our old camp so they have to be-" His words stopped at he looked around and saw no sign of any nichelings at all. Sniffing the air he perked up at their scent but just as quickly deflated as he noticed that it was really faint. "T-the scents are faint...B-but maybe I missed them!" Star said outloud though it was more to himself than anything else. He then started looking and sniffing around, becoming more and more tense at the fact the scents were continually faint. "They've gotta be somewhere around here, they wouldn't...they wouldn't abandon me, I'm the future leader! I'm too important for that, they need me" His words were getting frantic as every area around his home was turning up with scents so faint he couldn't even figure which scent was which nicheling. "I know mom was going to have another pup soon but I'm the oldest! I have more experience and know what I'm doing, they wouldn't replace me!" His words were extremely frantic at this point. Sorry for the late response I thought I responded before but just noticed I did not-)

"I do have some cousins, but they seem to want the role just as much as I do, I guess asking wouldn't hurt though so I'll see" Star said with a shrug though he hoped one of them would rather take the role. That's not to mention how angry his parents might be if he did that, though maybe if nothing else he could wait until they pass then ask if another nicheling would want the role so he could roam free and live his own life. "Yeah that makes sense, sometimes you probably don't have the time to think of a more rational solution and I suppose sometimes the solution itself isn't" He reasoned as he thought about it, he never really had to think about it too much seeing as while being the future leader wasn't something he wanted it did mean he almost always had another nicheling to protect him. 'Wish I could practice fighting and defending myself more but I bet they wouldn't let me' He thought as he remembered an attempt to bring it up when he was a bit younger. He scanned the area after hearing Javai's question and then perked up. "Yea we're almost there actually! Just a bit more walking. I told you we'd get there" He bragged as his posture changed to a more confident one. "What's your favorite thing to eat?" He asked mostly to pass the small amount of time it'd take to get to their destination.

"I guess you would have to just leave if you didn't have the means to fight them" Star responded to that first part, he guesses there are advantages to living in a tribe, he and his tribe never ran but sometimes he wished they did. His eyes sparkled and a small smile appeared at the mention of the freedom, even if it was dangerous the thought of being an adult and going wherever he wanted whenever he wanted was oh so tempting and nice, but then his smile fell as he remembered his position. "You see...I'd love to do that, but I can't" He shrugged as if it didn't bother him as much as it did. "In my pack there's a tradition that the oldest child of the pack leader has to be pack leader when the current leader passes, and I'm the only child my parents have so" He continued as he felt envy try to wiggle its way into his heart again, though this time he simply let it be. After listening to what Javai said about the tribe on the volcano Star snorted. "You could've died if you got unlucky, though I guess if I was in that situation I guess rational thoughts aren't your first choice" He said, not hearing what Javai said under his breath

Star listened to the first part of what Javai said with curiosity as they continued walking. "Bearyena must've been rough to deal with, but at least you probably had less rules to follow!" He said in a joking tone, though there was an undertone of bitterness. He knows he's safer with a tribe but it seems like he had a list of rules to follow at all times, and it had already interfered with the way he interacted with Javai seeing as they were ingrained into him. He wonders what it'd be like to have no rules and no responsibilities other than survival. 'I wish I had that much freedom' He though with envy clawing at his heart, which he forcefully shoved away. "Yea it is, I haven't seen or smelled a single bearyena and there's a bunch of food!" He chirped, happy for the distraction from his thoughts. "Any places other than that deep woods that are dangerous on this island?" He asked Javai as he never really ventured beyond his tribe's borders before now, which made him a bit excited before remembering he was going back.

The rest of the herd begrudgingly let Twine interact with his daughter, though they didn’t really want to. Mouse knew that though she wanted to stay by her fawn forever she knew that to get to the berries she would need to walk through some short growing thorny vines, and she didn’t want to risk Jerboa hurting herself or blinding herself so she look around to see if any of the herd were around, and was a bit discouraged when she only saw Twine. She was tempted to just take her with if those were the options but the intrusive thought of her daughter getting tangled in those thorns were enough to convince her to give Twine exactly ONE chance, and no more. “Twine” Mouse called, making the buck lift his head and look at Mouse, wondering what she wanted to do with him as she made it quite clear she didn’t like him at all. “I’m giving you a single chance, watch over Jerboa while I get some berries for myself and her” Mouse said with narrowed eyes while Twine’s eyes widened at the fact she was trusting him with her fawn of all things. “I can do that, I’ll make sure no predators get to her” Twine reassured, not wanting to waste this chance. ‘Maybe if I do well she won’t constantly be hovering over Jerboa so I can spend time with her myself’ He thought feeling hope bubble up in his chest, he knows the herd was attached to…Briar was it? But it’s not like he enjoyed killing him, it was a simple accident to him and he just wanted to interact with his own fawn without the other deer watching over him. Mouse nodded and started walking towards the thorns. “Hurt her and I’ll make death seem merciful” Mouse whispered quiet enough so Jerboa didn’t hear as she passed by the buck, hoping the threat would ensure her fawn’s safety as she cared for Jerboa as much as she did Daybreak, she still missed him with every passing sunrise feeling like a cruel reminder of him with its colors being so similar to his fur. “I wouldn’t dare” Twine said genuinely offended that she’d think he’d hurt his own fawn, that was his blood. He watched her disappear as she walked to find the berry bush. He waited until she was gone to turn towards his fawn. “Jerboa” He called making the fawn’s head pop up from looking at a bug that landed on a flower near her hooves. “Do you wanna hear a story?” The answer was immediate as Jerboa rushed over and stared into her dad’s eyes excitedly. Twine chuckled at the eagerness of the fawn before speaking. “Once upon a time there were two very powerful deer, Blaze and Blizzard. The two ruled over their own herds which numbered into the hundreds” Jerboa’s eyes sparkled with excitement at imagining the large number of deer living together. “They lived in peace for a while until Blizzard decided he didn’t have enough territory, so he started taking over Blaze’s territory, taking the places with the most food and nests” Twine continued at the intrigued expression on his fawn’s face. “Why didn’t he just ask for more territory?” Jerboa interrupted as she tilted her head making Twine grin. “He was a greedy and mean deer who rather took things by force” Twine explained before continuing the story. “Blaze quickly noticed when deer in his herd started having issues feeding themselves with the lack of berry bushes and especially when he heard about some of his deer getting injured in battles to keep the territory” Jerboa listened to the story intently. “So he confronted Blizzard, asking why he was doing this when he could’ve simply asked. Blizzard told him that he enjoyed the thrill that battle brought him and the feeling of victory over his enemies. Enraged, Blaze called war upon Blizzard and his herd” Jerboa took another step closer curiously. “So they fought, but both sides suffered heavy losses, but they kept fighting and fighting until only Blaze and Blizzard were left. They both ended up fatally injured by the other and Blizzard’s last words were ‘Now you’ve stooped to my level, your heart has been rotted and I’ve won’ before he breathed his last breath, and in Blaze’s last moments he looked around to see all his herd and Blizzard’s herd all dead, making him realize Blizzard was right and his last breath was spent in pain for what he’d become” Jerboa was shocked and a bit horrified but she was also very interested. “But if Blaze wanted to stop Blizzard why did he think war would be a good idea?” Jerboa asked making Twine give a bitter smile. “Emotions fuel actions before a deer can think about it” Twine answered as he had seen such actions himself and had committed a few of those actions as well. Jerboa yawned making Twine smile softly at his fawn. “You should take a nap, your mom will be back soon” Twine said making Jerboa just nod before laying down and drifting off. As he said it wasn’t long before Mouse had come back, her legs covered with scratches from watching through the thorns, with a branch of berries in her maw. She seemed alarmed at Jerboa’s sleeping form. She set the branch down before turning to Twine with an angry expression. “What did you do?” Mouse said angrily making Twine roll his eyes. “She’s sleeping, I just kept her safe” Twine said slightly irritated at her assuming the worst of him so quickly. Mouse glared at him for a bit longer before grabbing the branch and going to lay next to her fawn. “But Jerboa is interacting with Twine more now, doesn’t that worry you?” Sand asked as she narrowed her eyes at her siblings. Jerboa was going to be influenced by Twine and might become a murderer herself! “Not really, Mouse is protective of her and is teaching her a lot” Dusk answered, he was worried about Twine but Mouse would probably rub off on her as well so Jerboa would probably be fine is what he reasoned. And he also didn’t exactly want anymore fighting around here, there were more than enough verbal ones that went on in this herd at this point. Sand huffed. “But he might teach her cruelty and she’ll grow up to be just as cruel if not more than him!” Sand was irritated, why couldn’t they see the danger she could pose to the herd in the future? She could rip them apart from the inside out. “…She’s just a fawn” Ferret spoke, getting exhausted of hearing similar sentiments from her sister almost all the time, it’s as if she doesn’t think about anything else anymore and she’s tired of it at this point. “But she!-” Dusk interupted whatever Sand was going to say. “She’s a fawn! Just because you don’t like her dad doesn’t mean you should take it out on her!” Dusk doesn’t like fights but this was getting absurd, Jerboa wasn’t even a teen! Nor does she deserve such hatred for something out of her control. “She didn’t choose to have Twine as her dad, that’s just how it was” Dusk continued before Sand could speak again, which made her huff but not say anymore. “…Leave her be” Ferret said in agreement, she loves her sister but Jerboa is a sweet fawn and doesn’t deserve anything Sand tries to say about her. Sand looked at the two with betrayal. “Fine! But when it bites you don’t come crying to me” Sand scoffed before turning around and walking off, bitter they weren’t taking her side. Ferret was curious as she saw Mouse approach her while she was eating a few berries. “I’d love to keep the title for my whole life but I’m getting old, so I wanted to give the title of dominant doe to you” Mouse’s words shocked Ferret, Mouse was giving her such an important title? “…Me?” Ferret asked to confirm as she couldn’t believe it, she honestly thought Sand would get the title seeing as while stubborn she was much braver than Ferret was. Mouse nodded to confirm. “I know Sand is tough but I have my reasons, you show promise” Mouse said, those reasons included being impulsive, short tempered, and hating her fawn’s existence in general. She knows Ferrets isn’t always the most alert nicheling but she also knows she’s much calmer and thinks about her choices and words much more than Sand does, and she hopes that will keep the herd safe in the future. “…I’ll do my best” Ferret said with determination as even if it was unexpected she wasn’t going to waste the amazing opportunity she was just given. She hoped she would do as well as she wanted to. Mouse gave her a soft smile as she accepted. “I know I…haven’t been the best at guiding the herd or caring for you three when you were younger, I do regret that, but I care for you three a lot now and I’m sorry for not showing it” Mouse apologized though she knew a simply apology wouldn’t fix all the cold shoulders and apathy she’s given he younger deer before. Ferret was even more shocked than she thought she could be, Mouse was…apologizing??? “…I don’t forgive you, but I’m happy you apologized” Ferret spoke, she knows she couldn’t just accept it and forget everything but she could appreciate the fact Mouse was trying. Mouse felt some small part of her hurt but she shoved that down, just because she apologized that doesn’t mean she deserves forgiveness for her actions, at least she apologized to one of them. “I’m going back to Jerboa” Mouse said making Ferret simply nod in acknowledgment so she turned around and went back to her fawn.

The whole pack was somewhat startled at seeing Ruby and Wren run into camp, looking somewhat tired and extremely alarmed. Tangerine spoke first though. “What’s wrong?” He asked, wondering what caused the two to look as panicked as they did. Wren was too busy catching his breath to answer, seeing as the two kinda just escaped a life threatening situation, so Ruby answered for both of them. “A killer bearyena! It’s way too close to our home” Ruby’s words made Tangerine feel like cold water had been dumped on him, he knew what he had to do but it would be a bit harder with his young son. “Which direction was it in?” Tangerine asked to make sure they didn’t run right into its jaws, that would be a dumb choice. Ruby caught her own breath a little before speaking. “That way” She said as she pointed a paw in the direction they just came from, making Tangerine nod before giving his order. “Everyone run that way!” He shouted and pointed in the opposite direction making the pack nichelings all get up and start running. He quickly grabbed Whistle by the scruff before running after the rest of the pack. As he ran after the pack, slowly catching up, he noticed a few things as he ran. While Ruby and Wren were lagging a bit because Ruby was trying her best to guide Wren along, Blank was trying but lagging behind even him because she had no one to help her. The bearyena suddenly growled and he saw it start to gain on the pack making Tangerine panic before seeing an opportunity, a cruel and messed up one but an opportunity nonetheless. He carefully slowed his pace so he was level with Blank, though the thought of messing this up and getting Whistle killed terrified him, before taking a glance at her paws and running a bit faster than her. Blank was too panicked by the fact she could hear the bearyena right on her tail to notice anything else. Tangerine kicked out his hindleg which hit Blank’s fron leg causing her to yelp and try to regain her balance. It didn’t work and she fell to the ground with a yelp of pain, Tangerine felt a tiny bubble of guilt but pointedly ignored it annd ran as fast as he could, holding on tightly to Whistle’s scruff so he didn’t drop him so he started to quickly catch up to his packmates. Meanwhile Blank desperately tried to get back up but the bearyena was already there and Blank turned her head towards the sound of its growl just in time for it to clamp down on her neck. She felt anger as she recognized the scent of the nicheling near her before she was forcibly tripped…then everything faded to darkness. Meanwhile things were more peaceful with the other group of nichelings, in fact something good was happening. “Who are you?” Mustard said suspiciously as she looked at the nicheling with an odd snout and slightly unnerving amount of scars and scratches. The nicheling scanned Mustard for a little bit, wondering if divulging any information to this nicheling would be a bad move. “Salmon, you?” The nicheling decided that giving her name wouldn’t hurt, though she swore she heard the sound of other pawsteps so she hoped she didn’t just step into an ambush, even if she knows she could survive it would add more injuries to her already scarred body. “…Mustard” Mustard spoke though she thought of something, if this nicheling was that scarred it must mean they know how to survive well, they must have survived lots of battles and therefore has good experience. “I’m in a pack, would you like to join, we’ll offer some protection and more food” Mustard didn’t like inviting unknown nichelings but she knew their small ‘pack’ needed more members if they wanted to change surviving a bearyena attack, a small bearyena as she knew a killer bearyena is something they can’t hope to beat. Salmon hummed in though and was silent for a bit, making Mustard want to take back the offer but before she could Salmon spoke. “Sure, I’m sure I could offer some help” Salmon said as she knows being a useless member could get you kicked out or worse. Mustard didn’t actually expect her to accept but nodded. “Alright follow me” Mustard said as she gestured to follow with her paw before turning around and starting to walk. / “You brought another nicheling for the pack? Of course you can join!” Bumble couldn’t keep the excitment out of his voice, another member! The pack would be stronger and now they had a better chance against the smaller bearyena so they wouldn’t have to run as often. “As long as you’re not dead weight I don’t mind” Bell spoke with a shrug, he just didn’t want a nicheling that would eat their food and lay around, that would drain their resources and every bit of food was precious here. “I assure you I won’t be, I will carry my weight” Salmon said in a formal tone, being dead weight doesn’t help anyone and she doesn’t want to be a waste of food or space. Bell simply nodded to show acknowledgment before giving Salmon some berries, which she took gratefully. “Thank you” She said politely before eating. Bell and Salmon quickly started to get along well, they saw eye to eye. “You get in a lot of battles with bearyena?” Bell asked as he vaguely gestured to all Salmon’s scars. Salmon shrugged in response before actually answering. “Most of these are from nichelings actually, you’re quite kind nichelings for this island. Most are extremely hostile and with try to take out an eye if you get anywhere near their food, which I can understand” Salmon said casually while Bell was a bit shocked at how easily she spoke of her injuries. “All the one’s I’ve met have been pretty decent” Bell said, Mustard was stubborn and a bit rude at times but never really hostile or cruel. Salmon chuckled with slight bitterness. “You’re pretty lucky than, or maybe I just have abysmal luck” Salmon said as she remembered all the times she had almost been killed as a pup for the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, wondering how nice it must have been to be raised in a pack instead. “Well if you’re in the pack you probably won’t deal with that nearly as much anymore” Bell said as he looked over at Salmon, wondering how hard it must’ve been to deal with so many hostile nichelings if they gave her so many scars. He’s seen nichelings with scars but none with as many as Salmon had. “I suppose you’re right on that, wanderers would probably think twice about messing with a pack nicheling” Salmon agreed, though a small part worried of a cruel nicheling slipping into the pack and rotting it from the inside out, she’s seen that happen before and it’s never a pretty sight. The two shared conversation and a few berries as they relaxed, well as much as one could on an island as dangerous as this one.

Star huffed a bit at Javai laughing at his attempts to cover up how badly he phrased that, it wasn't a truly angry or irritated sigh, more of an embarassed one, but he was happy that it seemed to cheer Javai up if nothing else. Then he stared at him with shock after hearing Javai say he's kind. He acts big and like he's the best but actually getting complimented is rare for him, so he was a little stunned. He quickly recovered though "Of course, I know that" He said in a smug tone to hide how surprised he actually was. "Alright, I'm sure it won't take long" He said as reassurance to Javai and himself, and also perhaps to try and act like he knew better than he actually did. Upon hearing the last part of what Javaj said he bristled a bit at the thought of that nicheling, he'd already decided he wanted to stay as far from them as he possibly could. "I can't blame you, I wouldn't go anywhere near that needlessly cruel nicheling" He said honestly, and hoped that nicheling would STAY away from them. "Well anyways the sooner we look the sooner we find them!" He said as he suddenly got up and started walking in a direction that he thinks he came from at one point, hoping it was the right way. "Why don't you have a tribe?" He asked quite bluntly, not really thinking about the potential of it being rude.

Star didn't respond to that first comment as he was worried the healing fruit wouldn't do its job, though that's never happened before. He felt himself relax as he saw the nicheling eat the fruit and saw the injuries heal and stop bleeding. "It's fine er- Of course I would! I'm very kind" He said as he puffed up with pride, it was a bit of a habit from the way he was raised in his tribe, seeing as he was important there. 'Alright not the best way to phrase that' He thought and internally cringed a bit but didn't let it show externally."That's an odd name" He died a bit inside as he quickly raced to rephrase that "Er uh good odd! It's not something normal you'd hear in my tribe though-" He just shut his mouth accepting that he just kept making it worse. After hearing the nicheling's question his tail started to repeatedly tap against the ground, a nervous habit that he had gained. "Yea! But I can't exactly show you right now because I may have um jumped across some stones and have no idea how to get back" He said in an oddly awkward tone compared to how he'd been talking, but it was a bit embarrassing to admit if he was honest. "Why do you ask?" He deflected the question onto Javai as a way to ignore his own embarrassment.

Star darted around, looking for the spot he saw that fruit earlier. He was a bit worried he wouldn't find it in time when an orange blur caught his attention as he ran, making him skid to a stop before turning around and seeing a healing fruit. 'I was worried about not finding it but thankfully it's right there' He thought as he approached the fruit before plucking it from the rest of the plant. Quickly tucking it near his chest with his left paw, he started sprinting back to where the injured nicheling was. It didn't take him long considering he was running as fast as he possibly could but it felt far too long to him. "Here, I'm not sure exactly how conscious you are but please eat this" He pushed the fruit towards the nicheling, not wanting them to die from this injury.

Definitely ain't a boring day!

"You're a pathetic excuse of a nicheling" Star spat at the other nicheling as he saw them walk off before hearing Javai mutter something and turning his attention towards him and noticing exactly how bad that scar looked. He felt fear flood his veins as he saw the extent of the injury. "Thanks for the advice but you better stay here!" He slightly growled but it was more a fearful snarl than an aggressive one, he wasn't used to injuries this bad. "I-I can find one of those orange fruits for you, just stay right here! I'll be right back" He said before turning around and bolting in the direction the plant was in before Javai could protest. 'It's not too far thankfully' He thought to himself as he forced his paws to carry him as fast as he could.

LONG UPDATE WHOOP!-) While the herd was settling down for the night after doing some traveling Nightshade walked over to Mouse and laid down next to her. “What?” Mouse simply said as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Nightshade, feeling a bit nervous at her suddenly coming over to presumably talk to her. “I wanted to know how you are, I argued with Sunrise once and it wasn’t exactly a fun time” Nightshade said with empathy as she felt bad that Mouse had to deal with that as well and while it may not be the same pain she remembers arguing with Sunrise over losing Bramble, but Sunrise was more focused on the herd as a whole rather than individuals. “I’m fine” Mouse gave a curt answer, hoping that would appease her and get her to leave her in peace. Nightshade just sighed. “You’re not but I have a feeling you won’t keep talking if I press” Nightshade said, wondering why she wouldn’t open up seeing as she had never been rude to Mouse. Mouse simply flicked an ear in her direction in response. “I know it hurts but please try to socialize with your younger siblings, we’re getting older and I don’t want us to be gone and have them not trust you if you’re the only adult left alive” Nightshade’s words caught Mouse’s attention and she was confused until she thought about it. The older does seemed to be having more issues running or walking faster but she thought she was just imagining it but if it was true…. “Fine, just don’t expect me to be a super sweet deer towards them and I’ll spend time with them” Mouse huffed, though she did already somewhat care for Dusk and Briar without socializing with them, she knows avoiding them won’t help any and with the way they said they were getting older she would be the lead doe soon. “That’s fine, just don’t ignore them entirely” Nightshade said, relieved she had actually decided to socialize with them. She wasn’t sure that would work honestly. “I’m going to sleep” Mouse said wanting this conversation to be over, and Nightshade could take a hint so she got up and moved somewhere else to sleep. The fawns grew into teens! You can tell because the two are almost always practicing their fighting, by which I mean Briar constantly pesters Dusk until he just decides that it would be quieter after. “Do we have to practice fighting so much?” Dusk asked as he anxiously shuffled his hooves making Briar huff. Ferret and Sand were just watching seeing as they didn’t have anything else to do at the moment. “Of course! It’s the quickest way to get stronger! I mean the does have a disadvantage so it wouldn’t even be fair” Briar’s words caused Sand to simply give him an unreadable look, which made him quickly look away and back to Dusk. “A-anyways, we should start” Briar said before charging at Dusk. Dusk barely put his head down in time to not get stabbed with those antlers meaning he stumbled a little, which Briar took advantage of. Briar pushed as hard as he could, making Dusk have to work pretty hard to not get knocked over. Dusk finally got his footing so he started shoving back, but since they were evenly matched it was kind of a stalemate, at least it was until Briar backed up a few steps before charging again making Dusk stumble before falling to the ground. “I’m the winner again” Briar said as he proudly stood to his full height. Sand just rolled her eyes at his pride. “Ferret are you even paying attention?” Briar said making the young doe slightly flinch before looking over at him. “Hm?” She simply said making Briar sighed as he got his answer, she never notices much of anything it seems. “Well I’m gonna go take a nap now” Dusk said as he got up before walking off, making the teens disperse to eat or rest. FORGOT A SCREENSHOT AS PER USUAL-) A moon later there was quite an interesting day. First off both Raccoon and Nightshade died due to their age then a bearyena decided to show up, causing the herd to bolt away as an attempt to escape it. But when Shore noticed how close a swipe came to hitting Dusk she had an idea. “RUN! I’LL MEET YOU LATER” Shore said alarming Mouse. “What?! But you’ll die!” Mouse said not wanting another death, there was too much of that lately. She was going to be the only adult at this rate, she didn’t want to be responsible for all these teens. “You have to keep them safe” Shore said with a tone of finality before turning around and charging at the bearyena. Mouse grit her teeth and forced herself, and the teens, forward feeling complete agony ripple through her heart at the realization she would be losing the last deer she truly cared for now. But they ran, and Mouse made sure they all kept running until they were too exhausted to continue any further. ‘Great, now I’m responsible for a herd of teens’ She thought with irritation before slowly drifting off. - Mouse didn’t have to deal with a herd of teens for long, the four young deer were already in their late teens so it didn’t take long for them to grow into adult bucks and does. So it wasn’t that surprising to Mouse to soon hear the sound of a challenging bugle fill the clearing they were grazing at. The two younger does were more confused though. “What was that?” Sand asked as she got up and turned her head towards the sound, seeing as Mouse didn’t really explain much to the younger deer. Mouse simply flicked an ear towards Sand before answering. “A challenge bugle, Dusk and Briar must be fighting for the position of dominant buck” Mouse casually said as she heard the sound of antlers clashing against each other, though she got up and started walking towards the source of the bugle. Sand blinked in a bit of surprise, Mouse never said a word about this before, why wouldn’t she tell them about something like this? Then she remembered how little Mouse seemed to care about them and huffed before walking towards the sounds with curiosity. Ferret also followed, wondering how this would go. / It didn’t take the does long to reach the clearing the two buck were fighting in due to the noise that their antlers made as they continued trying to push the other enough to stumble or fall. The does were all having varying levels of surprise at seeing the fact that Dusk had blood dripping down his right shoulder from what looked like an injury from an antler slicing across it. Sand started to walk over to help Dusk when Mouse stood in front of her path. “Let me help him! Dusk is hurt!” Sand’s words cut deep into Mouse at the slight familiarity but she knew that in this instance they needed to fight or else something worse could fester. “I know, you need to let them fight. If it reassures you I’ll make sure no one dies” Mouse said as she looked at Sand, she knows it must hurt to watch your brothers get hurt but if she interfered Mouse feared she’d get hurt in the crossfire. Sand glared at Mouse which made her stance slightly fall but she sighed. “I promise to let you help Dusk after” She spoke again making Sand’s glare slightly lessen before she sighed. “Fine, but if anyone dies or gets really badly hurt I’m blaming you” Sand scoffed before turning around and going over to Ferret. Mouse sighed before turning around to watch the two males, she would keep her promise at least, she wasn’t that cruel. The two males were still fighting but it was obvious Dusk’s injury was starting to drain him and slow him down as every step with his front right leg was staggered and slower than his left. Suddenly Dusk took a misstep causing him to stumble but before he could regain his balance Briar rammed him making Dusk release a noise of surprise before falling to the ground. “Do you quit or do we need to fight more?” Briar said as he stared at Dusk with a somewhat angry look, which confused Mouse a little bit but she supposes she hasn’t really socialized with them that much. “…” Dusk was tempted to get back up and continue but he didn’t know if he could with the pain radiating from his shoulder at the moment. “I forfeit” He finally spoke making Briar grin at his victory. Dusk laid there while Sand ran over to check on him and make sure he was okay. “Hey Ferret! I won, so now I’m leader of the herd so I get to say where we go and what we do and-” Briar’s rambling was cut off by an irritated snort making him look back and see Mouse’s glare, which made him shrink somewhat. “Er well mostly anyways” He said nervously. “…You did practice a lot” Ferret said as it took a few seconds for her to realize she was being talked to, she didn’t really care either way who won, though she was concerned for Dusk. So she got up and walked over to Dusk and Sand making Briar look at her with an offended look at being all but ignored by everyone for his victory. ‘I’m the winner! Why are they all going over to him, he was the loser!’ Briar thought before stomping his hoof with irritation. “It’s fine, It’ll heal eventually” Dusk was a bit anxious with the attention of both his sisters over his injury, it hurt but as he said it’d heal. His sister’s didn’t seem to be discouraged by his words at all, seems he made it worse. “Well that’s eventually, right now you need rest and food to make sure it doesn’t get worse! I’ll get some berries” Before Dusk could protest Sand had already gotten up and walked off making him sigh. He knows they mean well but it was a bit much. “…We’re just worried” Ferret took a few seconds to form the sentence in her head before speaking, but she didn’t want to lose her brother over some title. She was worried Briar was going to do worse if she was honest, he meant well but he could be too passionate about what he does and has hurt Dusk while fighting before, and that was just practicing so she worried this would be worse. She was relieved he hadn’t caused a worse injury at least. Meanwhile Briar had started to complain to Mouse, to her slight irritation. “But I won! So why are they all so worried about something that’ll scar and be fine later?” He grumbled as he glanced over at his siblings. “It’s called sympathy, they’re probably worried he’ll bleed out from his injury. And besides, I don’t really think your siblings care what title you have, you and Dusk are both their brothers either way” Mouse tried to offer some advice as she looked at the young, yet very arrogant, buck. She doesn’t understand exactly what he thought would happen, that they’d give him praise? Of course they’re more worried about Dusk’s injury. “I guess” Briar grumbled before walking off to the edge of the clearing, to sulk honestly. Mouse just shrugged it off and watched the three that were in the middle of the clearing. ‘Maybe I should check?…No he has his two sisters and they don’t exactly care for me anyways, which makes sense considering my lack of socialization, so why would I even try?’ She thought to herself before forcing herself to look at something else, like the cloudy yet clear skies above them. Everyone in the herd was getting irritated with Briar’s attitude since he’d won that fight. He was trying to order everyone, even Mouse, around like he dictated every single herd member. “Why don’t you get me some berries?” Briar all but demanded to Mouse making her ear flick in irritation. ‘Who does he think he is? I’m the dominant doe and have been for a while now, and while his position does mean he holds sway it doesn’t mean he’s above me’ She thought as she simply looked away and ignored his request entirely. “Didn’t you hear me I said!-” Briar’s whining was interrupted by the sound of an unknown voice. “Quite the arrogant buck aren’t you?” All the deer in the clearing whipped their head towards the voice, seeing a rust colored buck with a light brown mane. Briar looked over then glared at the unknown buck that had appeared. “Who are you? I’m the lead buck of this herd” Briar said as he puffed up while scanning the other buck’s posture for aggression and found none. The buck simply took a few steps toward Briar. “I’m Twine, and I’ve been looking to be the leader of a herd for a while, and since you’re the dominant buck I suppose I’d like to challenge you” The unknown buck said as he let out a challenging bugle before lowering his head. Briar’s glare intensified at the challenge from Twine, making a noise of anger he lowered his head as well before charging. Twine had a few seconds to adjust his stance to the best he could before Briar’s antlers collided with his so Twine wasn’t even moved an inch meaning that that charge didn’t create an advantage for Briar at all and somewhat threw him off. His pause gave Twine a good opportunity to he started pushing forward, and since he was a bit larger and definitely more experienced Briar struggled to stand his ground and even took a few steps back. After about 10-15 seconds of being pushed back Briar huffed and backed up a few steps before circling around Twine, which was something he hadn’t expected. POTENTIAL FOR GORE(There’s more in this playthrough wow-) SO WARNING!! Briar suddenly charged from behind, but while surprised by that tactic Twine was smart enough to turn around with his horns down. But what he hadn’t expected was the speed that the young buck possessed so Briar was too close for him to raise his antlers, meaning that the antlers of the older buck stabbed Briar through the chest, and quite deeply too. The herd all froze as they saw the older buck pull his antler out of Briar’s chest to reveal a few deep holes in his chest, which were now gushing blood and obviously a fatal injury. POTENTIAL GORE OVER!!!!!! Sand was the first to rush over to her brother’s side. “BRIAR!” She yelled as she inspected the wounds, feeling terror as she realized that these ones seemed far too deep to be fixed with rest and food. Briar just collapsed onto the ground, still breathing but the breaths were more like gasps and he even had some blood leaking out his mouth. The other herd members quickly rushed over as well, even Mouse. “You’ll be fine, y-you’ll heal soon and be back to being as prideful as ever” Mouse said as she looked at the puddle of blood that was forming under Briar, feeling desperate and panicked but also having the knowledge that this wasn’t something he could recover from. Ferret was silent but the tears streaking down her face said more than enough. “How dare you!” Sand swung around and stepped towards Twine, who while not meaning to kill him didn’t really care that much. He simply looked at Sand with curiosity. “That’s how buck fights go sometimes” He simply said as he stared into the furious doe’s eyes. Sand stomped a hoof in anger at his calm words. “Buck fights are fights, not murders! You didn’t have to kill him for that title!” Sand stood to her full height making the buck sigh in irritation. “As a buck who’s seen and had quite a few fights in my long life let me tell you that it happens sometimes, I didn’t mean to kill him but that’s how it goes” Twine said with some irritation in his voice, this doe seemed so angry about something that’s just a fact of life. Sand just stomped her hoof near his before turning around and going back to her brother’s side, along with the rest of the herd. “YOU’RE HAVING A FAWN WITH THAT MURDERER?!” Sand’s words made Mouse flinch and also caused most of the herd to come over to see what was going on. ‘Great now I have an audience’ Mouse thought with lowered ears. “You forgive him just like that?!” Sand’s words made irritation and some guilt well up in Mouse. “I don’t forgive him! I just…wanted my own fawn” Admitting the reason made Mouse feel guilt and shame burn in her chest as she realized that it was kind of a selfish reason for it. ‘The only other males- Or male now, are my siblings so what choice did I have?’ She thought bitterly to herself, if there was another choice she’d take it but there wasn’t at the moment. “So because you couldn’t wait to have a fawn you decide to have a fawn with a murderer?” Sand hissed making Ferret get up and stand in front of her. Sand looked over at Ferret with anger making Ferret shrink before forcing her posture to be calmer. “…She didn’t have any other choices” Mouse was both impressed and a bit unnerved that Ferret seemed to know her exact thoughts, but she’s always been smarter than her siblings seem to think of her. Ferret knew she didn’t exactly care for Twine either but she understood that there weren’t any other unrelated bucks around for Mouse to have a fawn with. “Why are you defending her? She could wait to find a different buck and have her fawn then!” Sand replied, why couldn’t she just wait so they could find another? “I’m not extremely so but I am getting older, I don’t know if I have the time to wait” Mouse admitted as she stared at the grass below her hooves, she wanted to wait but she worried that she would get too old or a predator would take that choice away, like it did to her brothers. “I’ll still love the fawn” Dusk softly spoke, he was torn apart by his brother’s death but he felt Sand shouldn’t take it out on Mouse. Even if she wasn’t exactly the sweetest deer she did raise them through their late teens and he was the only one who seemed to truly see past her cold facade. Sand glared but it softened as she realized she was outnumbered here. “Fine, have a murderer’s fawn” She spat before walking off to graze alone. Mouse just laid there with shame and guilt, should she have waited? Well she made the choice so now she has to deal with the consequences. Okay forgot two today-) Soon Mouse had her fawn, a dark red fawn with striking yellow eyes and a long tail. “Jerboa” Mouse simply said as she smiled at her newborn fawn, who looked over at her before letting out an unintelligible noise. Most of the herd was there and looking at the new life in the herd. Except for one, though he was trying. “She’s MY fawn, I’m pretty sure I should get to see her” Twine scoffed as Ferret blocked his way. Ferret simply gave him an oddly cold stare, Mouse told the rest of them that she didn’t want to see Twine until the fawn was a few days old so Ferret was guarding the way, though Dusk was also there in the small chance Twine tried something. “You can’t ban me from seeing my own fawn” Twine said with irritation at this childish act. “…Doesn’t want you to see her for a few days” Ferret simply spoke as she stared at the angry buck in front of her, she wasn’t extremely strong or a great fighter but she could be quite stubborn if she feels the need to. “I’ll return when you’re done being so immature” Twine said as he turned around and went to graze by himself. ‘Banning me from seeing my own fawn, just because my little fight went wrong’ He thought irritably as he chewed on some berries. Sand knew that Jerboa was related to Twine so she extended her dislike to the fawn. She glared at the fawn until Mouse glared back, making her look away with a huff. ‘Bet she’ll grow up just like her dad seeing as after a few days he’ll be allowed near her’ She thought as she looked at the grasses that surrounded them.