The Herd of Shimmering Falls

[CosmicChaos21]

Doing the Deer Challenge by Nightfire! Yep, another new one- Also if my writing style changed don’t mind it. Also I’m ignoring the females have 2 or less strength and males have to have 5 strength rule)+ I’m pretending they are almost like deer but do have a few odd mutations and brighter and unnatural colored fur, and their tails are always fluffy in my mind but the length is from normal deer tail length to almost wolf like length tails)

This is the Shimmer Falls herd, a small herd that was only begun a mere season ago but is filled with young deer with hope in their hearts for a good and thriving future. They’re currently migrating to the other side of the island to keep moving and keep predators away from the small herd.

Sunrise is usually an air-headed female but when the herd needs to move to a new place she is more focused than any deer has seen before. She kept tunnel-visioned on the goal, not even registering the sand that she stepped through, nor the grasses brushing again her legs on her journey forward. The rest of the herd was silent as they continued through the grasses as there wasn’t much to say at the moment, and silence would also minimize the attention bearyena would give them if they’d been heard by one.

Raccoon scanned the other members of the herd as they continued into taller grasses instead of the beach they had been on for some time, wondering how long it’d take for Nightshade to break the silence, she never took much of anything seriously and it’s led them into some bearyena problems before, though they thankfully escaped with their lives.

Nightshade was bored of the silence that loomed over the herd, and as if that wasn’t enough she apparently couldn’t run ahead of Sunrise because ‘loud noises will attract bearyena’ and she got scolded to next season last time she got the attention of one of them. She watched a rabill dart ahead of them with a slight grin. “Don’t you dare” Raccoon warned making Nightshade grumble but continue walking, though she did give an occasional glance towards where the rabill headed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dominant Buck: Thorn

Dominant Doe: Sunrise

Does: Raccoon, Nightshade

Seeing as the rain had come the herd took it as a good omen, rain brought more berries and more berries could feed more mouths. So it wasn’t long until all the does had become pregnant.

“I bet my fawn will the best one” Nightshade grinned as she and the other does had been laying down. The rains had soaked their fur but it felt more refreshing and calming than heavy and gloomy. The other two does were slightly irritated seeing as she hadn’t given them a second of peace since she’d learned that she was pregnant.

“Or perhaps the weakest because you’re spending so much energy talking” Raccoon finally spoke up, tired of hearing Nightshade yap for the last day. Sunrise slightly snickered making Nightshade stunned silent before glaring at Raccoon.

“Okay okay, calm down you two. Fighting won’t help anyone” Sunrise spoke as she looked at the two, Raccoon who was ignoring the other two entirely, and Nightshade who was giving Raccoon a glare that could kill.

Thorn just watched, a bit nervous about the way they were fighting over something that was supposed to be a good thing. But he kept his mouth shut as he didn’t want to get involved in that unless he had to.

Soon enough the fawns were born into the herd, bringing happiness to the small herd from the hope that they’d grow strong and make the herd bigger and stronger.

Sunrise was shocked at the striking blue eyes that stared back at her after she had her fawn, but noted that her fawn also had bright yellow fur which gave her a perfect idea for a name. “Daybreak” She said as she up from her fawn.

“That sounds perfect for him” Thorn said softly as he looked at Daybreak before trotting over to Nightshade, who had a dark brown fawn with light brown spots.

“Bramble obviously” She puffed up proudly as she looked at her son with nothing but pride and confidence. The tiny fawn simply made a noise in response which melted Nightshade’s heart and made her even fonder of the fawn.

“It’s fitting and even matches me” Thorn smiled as he wondered if she did that on purpose or not, either way he smiled at his fawn before walking over to Raccoon to see the last of his fawns for now. She was silent with concentration for a little bit before deciding to speak.

“Mouse, for her lack of noise” Raccoon finally spoke as she looked up from her newborn fawn to look Thorn in the eyes, slightly unnerving him as he felt like she was staring into his very soul with that stare. And with a stare that said not to say anything rude, which confused him as he wouldn’t say anything bad about his own fawn.

“It’s a good name for her, I can’t wait to see how she grows” Thorn said a bit nervously as he looked away from Raccoon’s stare and into the eyes of his newest fawn, who simply stared back without a single noise.

The herd spent two days there to make sure the fawns could walk before continuing to migrate.

A few days after walking and occasionally eating berries from a few bushes the herd stopped to rest for the day. Nightshade was entertaining Bramble and Daybreak while Sunrise was napping to get some extra energy so she could lead them well. Nightshade playfully jumped at the two fawns making them scramble out of the way before the two did it back.

“I’m gonna knock you over!” Daybreak was always the more assertive of the two male fawns and it showed. He ran at Nightshade’s legs with all the force he could muster but considering he was still very young it didn’t do much but make him stumble backwards. “This time I will!” He said as he tried it again much to Nightshade’s amusement.

“You didn’t even move my leg” She teased making the young fawn huff before running at her again, making her leg move maybe an inch.

“There! I moved it and if I keep going I’ll make you fall!” Daybreak said proudly making Nightshade snicker. Before the two could keep messing around the sound of a bird’s screech made both of them freeze before turning towards the noise to see a huge blue bird swooping down. Nightshade tried to run over upon seeing the target the bird was after but it swooped down and grabbed Bramble with its claws and flew back up seconds before she got to him.

“BRAMBLE!” She called as she tried to jump at her fawn, also catching the attention of the whole herd and making them rush over but it was too late, the bird was out of their reach now and was being carried higher than any of them could hope to jump. Nightshade simply stared as she was forced to watch the bird carry her fawn far from her reach.

“…” The herd’s silence was deafening as they all stared at the bird’s retreating figure with shock and the fawns with terror as they had no clue such a large bird even existed before now. Raccoon was the first to break the silence that loomed over the herd.

“That’s why you should pay attention to your surrounding instead of playing a childish game” Raccoon’s words made Nightshade whip around with a speed even she wasn’t sure she possessed until now.

“What is wrong with you?! I just had to see my own fawn carried away and that’s your response? No sympathy, no reassure, no kindness?!” Nightshade was livid that her response was something so cruel.  Raccoon scoffed as she listened to Nightshade’s words.

“I’d say it was a lesson so you finally learn to care about something other than your own entertainment, maybe you’ll be better with your next fawn” Raccoon simply said apathetically, if she’d been watching Bramble he would’ve lived but she was playing games instead.

“We don’t have to fight” Thorn piped up and tried to sound confident but his voice betrayed his anxiousness at two of his does fighting.

“Shut up! She just basically told me it was my fault my own fawn died!” Nightshade turned towards Thorn with an angry glare that made him slightly shrink on himself and take a step back before Sunrise stepped in between the two deer.

“While her words were cruel I think she means well” Sunrise said making Nightshade’s blood boil at what sounded like her taking Raccoon’s side.

“Oh so it’s fine because she ‘means well’ huh?! So you think it’s my fault Bramble got carried off!?” Nightshade spat as she looked at the head doe with fury in her beady black eyes. Sunrise rose to her full height with an angry stare. The usually loud and confident Daybreak hid behind his dad at the yelling, with his ears pinned to his head.

“No, I wasn’t saying it was your fault. I was sa-”  She was interrupted by Nightshade.

“What else do you mean?! You seem to completely agree with Raccoon!” She continued making Sunrise take a few steps closer to Nightshade.

“Her words were wrong” Sunrise said as she sent a look towards Raccoon that made her look away “But I think she was trying to give you advice for your next fawn” She finished saying making Nightshade still just as angry as before. Mouse slipped into the grasses, unnoticed by the rest of the herd as they were watching the fight.

“As if! She doesn’t care! She-” Her words were interrupted by a light, but strong, kick to her front leg by Sunrise, making her stumble and fall onto the ground, somewhat winded.

“Listen to me. What she said wasn’t right but being angry will not help, you’ll attract bearyena to us and could get the other fawns killed” Sunrise said, Nightshade just glared at her before getting up and walking off to a far edge of the clearing, completely silent.

The herd was tense for the rest of the day.

After slipping away from the fight Mouse aimlessly wandered through the tall grass, just wanting to get as far from the yelling as she could. As she walked through grasses after grasses she found a small quiet spot that she decided would be a good place to relax until everything smoothed over.

“What’s a fawn doing all alone?” A voice scared Mouse into jumping up and whipping towards the noise to reveal a sand colored deer with a crooked jaw. “Don’t you have a herd?” The deer spoke again making Mouse realize she’d just been staring at the deer without a word.

“I’m Mouse, and I do have a herd! Who are you?” She asked with as she watched the deer nervously.

“I’m Shore, nice to meet you Mouse. If you do have a herd though do you think they’d let me join?” The deer asked, she’d been looking for a good herd for a while now and was tired of finding herds with arrogant males who think they deserved everything and more or just deer who side eyed her for her crooked jaw.

“I don’t know but we could ask” Mouse said though she was unsure if Shore was trustworthy or not. Shore smiled at the thought of a good herd.

“Well lead the way” She said making Mouse freeze, she wandered here with no idea of where she was going.

“Ah you’re a fawn and you have no herdmates near, you got lost didn’t you?” Shore said as she had seen that plenty of times in her traveling from herd to herd.

“Yeah but-” Mouse was interrupted by hearing her herdmates yelling her name. “That’s them” She said as she heard the voices making Shore perk up. “I’M OVER HERE!” She yelled making the yelling stop before hearing the thundering of many hooves approach her and Shore.

“Who is that?” Raccoon said with narrowed eyes at Shore, suspicious of the deer.

“Shore, she wants to join the herd” Mouse said making all the deer look over curiously.

“Is that true?” Thorn asked as he caught up to the other herd members making Shore simply nod. “I don’t mind another herd member” Thorn said making Shore’s posture completely perk up at the acceptance.

“Thank you” She said as she approached the herd. Sunrise looked at the new doe before looking at Mouse.

The herd now has a new member and it was time to continue migrating.

[Modiano Ourania]

1 hour ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

That’s why you should pay attention to your surrounding

She says as her kid proceeds to get lost

[CosmicChaos21]

21 hours ago, Modiano Ourania said:

She says as her kid proceeds to get lost

Yeah, take your own advice Raccoon-

[CosmicChaos21]

“What are you doing?” Mouse’s voice caused Daybreak to jump before looking towards the source and relaxing. Mouse was just confused as, if she saw right, he was looking ready to fight an odd berry bush the same way a male deer would fight another male deer.

“Well I don’t have any males my age to practice fighting with so this bush will have to do!” Daybreak puffed with pride while waving around his growing antlers making her snort.

“Well mine aren’t as large as a male’s but I have antlers, you could practice with me!” Mouse chirped as she mimicked the wave Daybreak did, showing off her smaller but very much still there antlers. Daybreak perked up at her idea.

“You’re right! And since you’re my age it’d be more fair then trying to practice with dad” He said before lowering his head in the way a deer would when preparing to fight. Mouse smiled and mimicked that motion as well.

Daybreak charged causing her to charge as well, when they collided Daybreak did have larger horns and more strength but Mouse wasn’t that much weaker than him so the two struggled. Daybreak slowly started pushing Mouse back but then Mouse had an idea! She suddenly backed away, confusing Daybreak, before sprinting again which surprised the young buck and caused her to overpower him and make him stumble before falling.

“That wasn’t even a fair tactic” Daybreak grumbled as he slowly got to his hooves again, while Mouse just grinned at him.

“Well if you fight another male someday they might not play fair either so you’ve gotta be prepared for anything” Mouse said with a wag of her long tail, Daybreak just huffed.

“I guess” He sighed before going back to trying to charge the odd berry bush making Mouse slightly snicker at him being a sore loser, which Daybreak chose to ignore before charging at the berry bush. It knocked over and spilled the weird smelling berries everywhere making him curious. “I’ve never seen these type of berries before” He said as he carefully approached them with a sniff.

“Me either but I don’t know if we should eat them if we don’t know what type they are” Mouse warned as she saw Daybreak get closer to them. When he tried to eat one Mouse did a fake kick at him making him flinch away before glaring at her, which she just stared back at him with a blank expression in response.

Then their ears both perked up at the calling of their names.

“Guess it’s time to sleep” Mouse said as she turned in the voice’s direction before starting to walk towards it. Daybreak just huffed before following after her.

In what felt like a short time the two had turned into fully grown deer!

“C’mon can’t you tell us something from a herd you’ve been in, please?” Daybreak all but begged as he had lived in this herd his entire life and wanted to know about other deer herds instead of just his own. Mouse couldn’t disagree, she was also curious so she was trying to give the deer equivalent of puppy dog eyes.

“Ok, alright. You two are old enough to know now. But it won’t be sunshine and rainbows” Shore caved, she hadn’t spoke of it earlier because they were young and the herds she’d been in weren’t exactly pleasant before this. The two young adult deer looked at her expectantly and with their complete attention, not seeming discouraged in the slightest, making her snort at how eager they were. “Why don’t we start with…my birth herd, the Clover Herd” She said making the two tilt their heads curiously.

“In my birth herd you had to be strong and able to fight well, no matter if you were a buck or a doe, and anyone weak was exiled or killed” The two deer looked much more nervous now but didn’t stop her so Shore continued. “I was lucky enough to be strong but my sickly twin brother wasn’t. He was considered weak and killed as a teen as he was considered a burden and waste of food” The two looked shocked but stayed silent. “So I got angry and tried to challenge my dad, it didn’t go well and I got exiled, never to return As if I’d want to. So since I was a teen I have been traveling herd to herd, it was impossible to find a herd as a teen since males wanted adult does so they could grow their herd. That’s all you’re getting for today” The two young deer were shocked by her birth herd, killing such a young deer?

“But wouldn’t that weaken the herd because of the lack of numbers?” Mouse spoke first, it seemed cruel and useless.

“I would agree but they said it made sure future fawns would be stronger” Shore scoffed, not understanding it herself. Daybreak was silent.

The three spent the rest of the day talking about light-hearted things to lighten the mood after that.

The realization of how old Daybreak and Mouse were had reminded the herd that they hadn’t had any new fawns since then, so after waiting for decent conditions they were ready for new fawns, Nightshade the most excited for a chance of keeping hers alive this time. But when Thorn went to Shore she seemed hesitant.

“I won’t force you but may I ask why?” Thorn asked as he looked at the anxious posture of the doe.

“Would you kill a fawn if they were sickly or blind?” Was all Shore said making Thorn extremely alarmed.

“Of course not!” Thorn said horrified by the mere thought of killing another deer much less a fawn! “Why would you ask that?” He said wondering if she thought that little of him and his actions.

“…In my birth herd weak deer were killed at a young age so I had to make sure it wouldn’t be a waste to have a fawn just for it to get killed anyway” Shore hesitated for a second before answering, his reaction would tell her everything she needed to know before trying this. Thorn managed to look even more horrified, if that was even possible, at what she said. ‘What a horrible herd, killing such young lives for something out of their control’ He thought with disgust.

“That’s revolting, how could a deer even think of doing that” He voiced his thoughts feeling angry at the deer who would do that, an odd thing for the usually peaceful and sensitive buck. Shore felt hope bubble in her at the thought of being able to keep whatever fawn she would have.

“If you truly mean that…then a fawn wouldn’t hurt” She agreed making Thorn beam at the doe.

“I promise I will make sure they’re loved” Thorn reassured with a nod.

 

 

 

THIS IS PROBABLY GORE HERE’S YOUR WARNING!!!

While the herd had been taking a day to rest a bearyena suddenly appeared and, since they were all caught off guard, they couldn’t do anything in time to prevent it from biting into Daybreak’s back, snapping his spine before it shook his around to the point it started ripping him apart and ensuring his death.

END OF ANY POTENTIAL GORE!!!!

 

 

 

(If you didn’t want to/couldn’t read any potential gore Daybreak got killed by a bearyena)

The whole herd was shocked in fear but Thorn suddenly bolting urged them to run, well most of the herd anyway.

“MOUSE GET OVER HERE!” Raccoon yelled at her daughter, who was frozen solid at the revelation that her half brother was gone now, she’d never play games with him again, or practice fighting, or do anything because he got his life ripped away by this beast.

“DAYBREAK WON’T MAGICALLY BE FINE IF YOU DIE” Raccoon said again snapping Mouse out of her stupor just in time as the bearyena was charging for her, she quickly started sprinting as well, quickly catching up to the rest of the herd, much to Raccoon’s relief. As the herd was running Thorn let out a startled noise as he suddenly lost his footing and stumbled, falling to the ground. Mouse wanted to help but her mother pushed her forwards, forcing her to keep running even though she wanted to go back and help her dad.

The herd ran until they found a small clearing where they decided to take a breather for now.

“Is everyone else okay?” Sunrise said as she looked over the remaining herd members, she was stressed but she had to ensure the health of those remaining. Everyone else was fine.

“It’s all does now”  Raccoon noted as she looked around at the remaining deer, making a few others do the same.

“We’ll be fine” Sunrise reassured “We have more fawns on the way anyways” She said as she hoped at least one would be a buck for the future of the herd. ‘Was starting a herd a bad idea?’ She wondered but didn’t let her worry show for the rest of the herd to see.

Mouse was completely silent, simply glaring at Sunrise before going to rest on the edge of the clearing.

Soon enough the herd had their fawns, two does and two bucks!

“Your name will be Dusk” Sunrise said as she looked at the spotted red fawn she had, the red reminded her of the colors they would see as the sun set.

“Briar, and you’ll be the strongest buck around” Nightshade said as she looked at the fawn, he looked so much like Thorn. She hoped she got the keep this fawn alive this time, she was terrified of making that mistake again and having no fawns survive to adulthood.

“Ferret” Raccoon simply said as she looked at the brown and red fawn she had before looking around at the other fawns born. ‘Hopefully more than one survive this time, and have a better temperament’ She thought as she glanced at Mouse, who had all but refused to even come near her new siblings.

“Sand, you remind me of the sandy beaches I’ve seen on occasion” Shore said as she smiled at her newborn fawn, but then frowned as she remembered that the nicest buck she had ever met was surely dead by now. ‘Maybe all the good ones died, leaving the cruel ones in charge’ She pondered as she looked up at the sky.

Mouse was acting uninterested but she watched the fawns curiously, Briar and Dusk were the two she was most interested about. ‘Maybe Dusk will be like Daybreak’ She thought as she watched him make a noise and try to rise to his hooves.

Time for your usual forgotten screenshot and at a dramatic moment too)

“We need to go look for Dad, Daybreak died and so will dad if we don’t find him!” Mouse spoke with a stomp of her hoof, how could they just not search for him? As if they would replace dad or even her brother, he was meant to be the leader one day and now his chance was taken from him because no one noticed something as big as that bearyena.

“You’ll get the rest of the herd killed, and in case you forgot the rest of us just had fawns so we don’t even have the energy if we wanted to” Sunrise said, narrowing her eyes at the defiant young doe, who glared back.

“Well you won’t have any more fawns ever if dad dies!” Mouse huffed, stomping her hoof again making Sunrise rise to her full height, making Nightshade stand up as she wondered if she’d do the same thing to Mouse that she had to deal with.

“While Thorn was a good deer, we can find another buck” Sunrise countered making Mouse livid.

“You can’t just replace him with any other buck!” She said as she stood to her full height now as well, feeling her anger bubble inside her. Sunrise scoffed. ‘Another uselessly defiant doe, why can’t these two see what’s best for the survival of the herd?’ She thought with irritation.

“The herd will die out if you make such stupid choices” Sunrise said with narrowed eyes making Mouse looked angrier before seeming to have an idea.

“Okay, can we get some berries so I can apologize?” She asked shocking the whole herd but especially Sunrise, but she was relieved she was seeing reason now.

“Of course, I’m happy you can see reason” Sunrise agreed as she beckoned her with her tail towards some berry bushes, which were a bit away from the herd. Mouse followed, wondering if this plan would work.

/

After talking and ‘apologizing’ Mouse grinned at Sunrise turning so her side was open.

 

 

SOME GORE IF YA DON’T WANNA READ IT SKIP!!!

Mouse suddenly charged, goring Sunrise in the side with her antlers. Sunrise tried to scream but blood bubbled out of her mouth instead causing her to cough up blood and only look at Mouse with betrayal and pain, which caused a twinge of guilt but she stamped it down and waited until she stopped moving and breathing.

END OF SOME GORE!!!

 

 

 

(Mouse got rid of Sunrise out of a rage, heat of the moment thing)

She simply stared at she felt the blood drip down from her antlers. She soon went over to the shore and held her breath before dipping her head in and shaking her head to wash any trace of blood before she pulled her head back out. She sat and thought of a good lie before starting to head back to the herd, feeling oddly numb to what she’s done.

/

“Where’s Sunrise?” Raccoon asked as she saw her daughter return without the dominant doe.

“While we were talking a bearyena appeared and killed her” Mouse lied as she looked at her mom, wondering if it was so cruel to lie to her own mother about something like this.

“We need to get moving than” Raccoon said before looking at the fawns, who could now walk. “Let’s go to the other side of the island” She continued making Mouse nod before the herd got up and started moving.

‘At least if we’re far no one will ever know what I’ve done’ Mouse thought as she followed the herd silently, not feeling guilt nor remorse for her actions.

[Chiyanna]

11 hours ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

“What are you doing?” Mouse’s voice caused Daybreak to jump before looking towards the source and relaxing. Mouse was just confused as, if she saw right, he was looking ready to fight an odd berry bush the same way a male deer would fight another male deer.

“Well I don’t have any males my age to practice fighting with so this bush will have to do!” Daybreak puffed with pride while waving around his growing antlers making her snort.

“Well mine aren’t as large as a male’s but I have antlers, you could practice with me!” Mouse chirped as she mimicked the wave Daybreak did, showing off her smaller but very much still there antlers. Daybreak perked up at her idea.

“You’re right! And since you’re my age it’d be more fair then trying to practice with dad” He said before lowering his head in the way a deer would when preparing to fight. Mouse smiled and mimicked that motion as well.

Daybreak charged causing her to charge as well, when they collided Daybreak did have larger horns and more strength but Mouse wasn’t that much weaker than him so the two struggled. Daybreak slowly started pushing Mouse back but then Mouse had an idea! She suddenly backed away, confusing Daybreak, before sprinting again which surprised the young buck and caused her to overpower him and make him stumble before falling.

“That wasn’t even a fair tactic” Daybreak grumbled as he slowly got to his hooves again, while Mouse just grinned at him.

“Well if you fight another male someday they might not play fair either so you’ve gotta be prepared for anything” Mouse said with a wag of her long tail, Daybreak just huffed.

“I guess” He sighed before going back to trying to charge the odd berry bush making Mouse slightly snicker at him being a sore loser, which Daybreak chose to ignore before charging at the berry bush. It knocked over and spilled the weird smelling berries everywhere making him curious. “I’ve never seen these type of berries before” He said as he carefully approached them with a sniff.

“Me either but I don’t know if we should eat them if we don’t know what type they are” Mouse warned as she saw Daybreak get closer to them. When he tried to eat one Mouse did a fake kick at him making him flinch away before glaring at her, which she just stared back at him with a blank expression in response.

Then their ears both perked up at the calling of their names.

“Guess it’s time to sleep” Mouse said as she turned in the voice’s direction before starting to walk towards it. Daybreak just huffed before following after her.

In what felt like a short time the two had turned into fully grown deer!

“C’mon can’t you tell us something from a herd you’ve been in, please?” Daybreak all but begged as he had lived in this herd his entire life and wanted to know about other deer herds instead of just his own. Mouse couldn’t disagree, she was also curious so she was trying to give the deer equivalent of puppy dog eyes.

“Ok, alright. You two are old enough to know now. But it won’t be sunshine and rainbows” Shore caved, she hadn’t spoke of it earlier because they were young and the herds she’d been in weren’t exactly pleasant before this. The two young adult deer looked at her expectantly and with their complete attention, not seeming discouraged in the slightest, making her snort at how eager they were. “Why don’t we start with…my birth herd, the Clover Herd” She said making the two tilt their heads curiously.

“In my birth herd you had to be strong and able to fight well, no matter if you were a buck or a doe, and anyone weak was exiled or killed” The two deer looked much more nervous now but didn’t stop her so Shore continued. “I was lucky enough to be strong but my sickly twin brother wasn’t. He was considered weak and killed as a teen as he was considered a burden and waste of food” The two looked shocked but stayed silent. “So I got angry and tried to challenge my dad, it didn’t go well and I got exiled, never to return As if I’d want to. So since I was a teen I have been traveling herd to herd, it was impossible to find a herd as a teen since males wanted adult does so they could grow their herd. That’s all you’re getting for today” The two young deer were shocked by her birth herd, killing such a young deer?

“But wouldn’t that weaken the herd because of the lack of numbers?” Mouse spoke first, it seemed cruel and useless.

“I would agree but they said it made sure future fawns would be stronger” Shore scoffed, not understanding it herself. Daybreak was silent.

The three spent the rest of the day talking about light-hearted things to lighten the mood after that.

The realization of how old Daybreak and Mouse were had reminded the herd that they hadn’t had any new fawns since then, so after waiting for decent conditions they were ready for new fawns, Nightshade the most excited for a chance of keeping hers alive this time. But when Thorn went to Shore she seemed hesitant.

“I won’t force you but may I ask why?” Thorn asked as he looked at the anxious posture of the doe.

“Would you kill a fawn if they were sickly or blind?” Was all Shore said making Thorn extremely alarmed.

“Of course not!” Thorn said horrified by the mere thought of killing another deer much less a fawn! “Why would you ask that?” He said wondering if she thought that little of him and his actions.

“…In my birth herd weak deer were killed at a young age so I had to make sure it wouldn’t be a waste to have a fawn just for it to get killed anyway” Shore hesitated for a second before answering, his reaction would tell her everything she needed to know before trying this. Thorn managed to look even more horrified, if that was even possible, at what she said. ‘What a horrible herd, killing such young lives for something out of their control’ He thought with disgust.

“That’s revolting, how could a deer even think of doing that” He voiced his thoughts feeling angry at the deer who would do that, an odd thing for the usually peaceful and sensitive buck. Shore felt hope bubble in her at the thought of being able to keep whatever fawn she would have.

“If you truly mean that…then a fawn wouldn’t hurt” She agreed making Thorn beam at the doe.

“I promise I will make sure they’re loved” Thorn reassured with a nod.

 

 

 

THIS IS PROBABLY GORE HERE’S YOUR WARNING!!!

While the herd had been taking a day to rest a bearyena suddenly appeared and, since they were all caught off guard, they couldn’t do anything in time to prevent it from biting into Daybreak’s back, snapping his spine before it shook his around to the point it started ripping him apart and ensuring his death.

END OF ANY POTENTIAL GORE!!!!

 

 

 

(If you didn’t want to/couldn’t read any potential gore Daybreak got killed by a bearyena)

The whole herd was shocked in fear but Thorn suddenly bolting urged them to run, well most of the herd anyway.

“MOUSE GET OVER HERE!” Raccoon yelled at her daughter, who was frozen solid at the revelation that her half brother was gone now, she’d never play games with him again, or practice fighting, or do anything because he got his life ripped away by this beast.

“DAYBREAK WON’T MAGICALLY BE FINE IF YOU DIE” Raccoon said again snapping Mouse out of her stupor just in time as the bearyena was charging for her, she quickly started sprinting as well, quickly catching up to the rest of the herd, much to Raccoon’s relief. As the herd was running Thorn let out a startled noise as he suddenly lost his footing and stumbled, falling to the ground. Mouse wanted to help but her mother pushed her forwards, forcing her to keep running even though she wanted to go back and help her dad.

The herd ran until they found a small clearing where they decided to take a breather for now.

“Is everyone else okay?” Sunrise said as she looked over the remaining herd members, she was stressed but she had to ensure the health of those remaining. Everyone else was fine.

“It’s all does now”  Raccoon noted as she looked around at the remaining deer, making a few others do the same.

“We’ll be fine” Sunrise reassured “We have more fawns on the way anyways” She said as she hoped at least one would be a buck for the future of the herd. ‘Was starting a herd a bad idea?’ She wondered but didn’t let her worry show for the rest of the herd to see.

Mouse was completely silent, simply glaring at Sunrise before going to rest on the edge of the clearing.

Soon enough the herd had their fawns, two does and two bucks!

“Your name will be Dusk” Sunrise said as she looked at the spotted red fawn she had, the red reminded her of the colors they would see as the sun set.

“Briar, and you’ll be the strongest buck around” Nightshade said as she looked at the fawn, he looked so much like Thorn. She hoped she got the keep this fawn alive this time, she was terrified of making that mistake again and having no fawns survive to adulthood.

“Ferret” Raccoon simply said as she looked at the brown and red fawn she had before looking around at the other fawns born. ‘Hopefully more than one survive this time, and have a better temperament’ She thought as she glanced at Mouse, who had all but refused to even come near her new siblings.

“Sand, you remind me of the sandy beaches I’ve seen on occasion” Shore said as she smiled at her newborn fawn, but then frowned as she remembered that the nicest buck she had ever met was surely dead by now. ‘Maybe all the good ones died, leaving the cruel ones in charge’ She pondered as she looked up at the sky.

Mouse was acting uninterested but she watched the fawns curiously, Briar and Dusk were the two she was most interested about. ‘Maybe Dusk will be like Daybreak’ She thought as she watched him make a noise and try to rise to his hooves.

Time for your usual forgotten screenshot and at a dramatic moment too)

“We need to go look for Dad, Daybreak died and so will dad if we don’t find him!” Mouse spoke with a stomp of her hoof, how could they just not search for him? As if they would replace dad or even her brother, he was meant to be the leader one day and now his chance was taken from him because no one noticed something as big as that bearyena.

“You’ll get the rest of the herd killed, and in case you forgot the rest of us just had fawns so we don’t even have the energy if we wanted to” Sunrise said, narrowing her eyes at the defiant young doe, who glared back.

“Well you won’t have any more fawns ever if dad dies!” Mouse huffed, stomping her hoof again making Sunrise rise to her full height, making Nightshade stand up as she wondered if she’d do the same thing to Mouse that she had to deal with.

“While Thorn was a good deer, we can find another buck” Sunrise countered making Mouse livid.

“You can’t just replace him with any other buck!” She said as she stood to her full height now as well, feeling her anger bubble inside her. Sunrise scoffed. ‘Another uselessly defiant doe, why can’t these two see what’s best for the survival of the herd?’ She thought with irritation.

“The herd will die out if you make such stupid choices” Sunrise said with narrowed eyes making Mouse looked angrier before seeming to have an idea.

“Okay, can we get some berries so I can apologize?” She asked shocking the whole herd but especially Sunrise, but she was relieved she was seeing reason now.

“Of course, I’m happy you can see reason” Sunrise agreed as she beckoned her with her tail towards some berry bushes, which were a bit away from the herd. Mouse followed, wondering if this plan would work.

/

After talking and ‘apologizing’ Mouse grinned at Sunrise turning so her side was open.

 

 

SOME GORE IF YA DON’T WANNA READ IT SKIP!!!

Mouse suddenly charged, goring Sunrise in the side with her antlers. Sunrise tried to scream but blood bubbled out of her mouth instead causing her to cough up blood and only look at Mouse with betrayal and pain, which caused a twinge of guilt but she stamped it down and waited until she stopped moving and breathing.

END OF SOME GORE!!!

 

 

 

(Mouse got rid of Sunrise out of a rage, heat of the moment thing)

She simply stared at she felt the blood drip down from her antlers. She soon went over to the shore and held her breath before dipping her head in and shaking her head to wash any trace of blood before she pulled her head back out. She sat and thought of a good lie before starting to head back to the herd, feeling oddly numb to what she’s done.

/

“Where’s Sunrise?” Raccoon asked as she saw her daughter return without the dominant doe.

“While we were talking a bearyena appeared and killed her” Mouse lied as she looked at her mom, wondering if it was so cruel to lie to her own mother about something like this.

“We need to get moving than” Raccoon said before looking at the fawns, who could now walk. “Let’s go to the other side of the island” She continued making Mouse nod before the herd got up and started moving.

‘At least if we’re far no one will ever know what I’ve done’ Mouse thought as she followed the herd silently, not feeling guilt nor remorse for her actions.

Nooo Mouse became evil. I never really liked Sunrise but Mouse was my favorite character and now she just murdered someone

[Modiano Ourania]

6 hours ago, Chiyanna said:

Nooo Mouse became evil. I never really liked Sunrise but Mouse was my favorite character and now she just murdered someone

General Whitetail would be proud

[CosmicChaos21]

12 hours ago, Chiyanna said:

Nooo Mouse became evil. I never really liked Sunrise but Mouse was my favorite character and now she just murdered someone

I know I kinda didn't want her to do this either but it sets up some stuff I have planned for later so- But do you have specific reason for Mouse being your favorite or kinda just because?

5 hours ago, Modiano Ourania said:

General Whitetail would be proud

Who?

[CosmicChaos21]

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.

[YourLocalStranger]

2 hours ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

A moon later there was quite an interesting day. First off both Raccoon and Nightshade died

Interesting indeed 👍👍👍👍👍

[CosmicChaos21]

1 hour ago, YourLocalStranger said:

Interesting indeed 👍👍👍👍👍

Definitely ain't  a boring day!

[CosmicChaos21]

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.

[Chiyanna]

On 1/30/2023 at 9:39 AM, CosmicChaos21 said:

I know I kinda didn't want her to do this either but it sets up some stuff I have planned for later so- But do you have specific reason for Mouse being your favorite or kinda just because?

Who?

It's something from the Fawn VS Deltarune hunger games war. It started with there being a profile picture takeover where everyone changes their pfp to a fawn (deer, usually just a redid copy of the websites pfp), then others made their pfps deltarune characters. Then we made a roleplay thread to roleplay the "war". But then we came up with the best idea of all, put both teams in a hunger games generator and see who comes out on top.

So I made a deer character for myself, General Whitetail. A smart, (mainly) patriotic war strategist who would do (almost) anything to make sure her side won. She became the most murderous character and led her team to victory a time or two, also betraying them on one run of the simulation.

On 1/30/2023 at 3:45 AM, Modiano Ourania said:

General Whitetail would be proud

That is true lol, also feel free to correct or add anything in the above explanation

[CosmicChaos21]

2 hours ago, Chiyanna said:

It's something from the Fawn VS Deltarune hunger games war. It started with there being a profile picture takeover where everyone changes their pfp to a fawn (deer, usually just a redid copy of the websites pfp), then others made their pfps deltarune characters. Then we made a roleplay thread to roleplay the "war". But then we came up with the best idea of all, put both teams in a hunger games generator and see who comes out on top.

So I made a deer character for myself, General Whitetail. A smart, (mainly) patriotic war strategist who would do (almost) anything to make sure her side won. She became the most murderous character and led her team to victory a time or two, also betraying them on one run of the simulation.

That is true lol, also feel free to correct or add anything in the above explanation

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