The Herd of Scarred Pelts and Scarred Hearts

[CosmicChaos21]

Yep another deer challenge, which I'm not completely following the rules of again. Should I update my other playthroughs? Yes I should. Will I?...Not today.)

Four deer who were in their late teens had finally arrived on a new island, a place they hoped to call their home and the start of a new legacy with a herd whose name would echo throughout the generations.

"This place seems hopeful, there's no snow or blistering heat. And there's a lot of grass to hide in if necessary" The only buck of the group, with mostly white fur and striking blue eyes, said as he surveyed the area with calculated stare. The other deer started to look around as well, wanting to make their own assessments of the place they may permanently call their home.

"A place like this would be safe and calm, good for raising healthy fawns to grow the herd" Crimson agreed after taking a look around, though she did appreciate the safety it seemed like it'd be quite the boring way to live. But healthy fawns are always a good thing so she supposes she could exactly complain about this place.

"Just because it looks nice and safe doesn't mean it is" Marigold said, not in any malicious way but more in a realistic way, no matter how much planning you may do life doesn't always go the way you'd hoped it would.

"I have to agree, something about this place feels off" Chip chipped in as she gave the area a wary glance, it should be safe but it feels wrong, almost as if everything is too peaceful to be right around here.

"Well either way we should give it a chance, it may be our safest bet" Storm replied to the two doubtful does, not really wanting to risk crossing the stones again for many reasons, but mostly because he'd rather not risk traveling to an island that's worse.

The does didn't disagree with that statement and the herd continued looking around for anything of interest.

Chip's shout about how she had 'Found something good!' had caused the other members of the herd to rush over to what she was investigating.

"I found a berry bush and an abandoned nest, which could be good for the day that we have fawns" Chip said as she raised her head proudly after announcing her find, which Crimson just rolled her eyes at as the others looked impressed with it.

"That's great! Perhaps we should stay here for a while, seeing as it has more food and a nest" Storm suggested as he turned his head to see the other does opinions on his Idea.

"Sounds good to me, this place would be a good choice" Marigold agreed easily as she looked over at the nest and berry bush before turning her gaze back to the teen buck. Crimson simply nodded in agreement, though the movement seemed stiff as she was a bit bitter that she had been shown up by Chip finding something important first, Storm didn't notice the stiffness in her movement as he turned back towards Chip.

"It seems we've come to an agreement, we will stay here as long as we feel we can" Storm announced before the deer all went to eat from the berry bush.

The teen deer had matured in fully grown does and a fully grown buck, which they were all happy about, but it had given Storm a bit of a dilemma which he felt needed to be addressed now that they were a true herd now.

"Since we were teens roles didn't really matter seeing as we were unsure if we would even find a decent place to settle or even survive to this age" Storm began after gathering the does, much to their confusion and intrigue, making them all stare at him with varying degrees of curiosity. "But now we're adults and are truly a herd now, so we need to figure out the roles. I'm obviously head buck because there's no other males for me to compete with, but the one I'm most concerned with at the moment is the role of head doe" He continued making Chip and Crimson look at each other while Marigold was pretty disinterested in the idea. "So I've thought for a long time and decided that Chip would surely be the best choice for such a role" Storm's words made Chip stand tall and almost puff up with pride whole Crimson looked almost offended.

"Why her? And who gave you the right to choose!" Crimson said with an angry stomp of her hoof as she looked at the buck, causing him to sigh, having expected the difficult doe's negative response to his choice.

"I'm simply thinking of what's best for the herd, you've helped on our journey I'm aware but so has Chip, and she found this spot for raising the fawns proving she has the skills to help lead the herd in a good direction" Storm tried to reason as he looked at the angry doe. Crimson opened her mouth then shut it, she knows that Storm is right and that Chip would be a great choice but she was just bitter, she wanted to be lead doe and prove that she could be more than an irritable doe but now she felt she had that chance shattered. So instead of lasing out she simply walked off the the edge of the clearing and laid down to try and calm herself.

"That could've gone much worse" Marigold said with a slight hum as she felt nothing about this whole ordeal, she didn't care for an extremely important role. She was more than fine simply being a part of the herd and maybe helping when she could.

"I suppose that's all" Storm said as he looked at Crimson, feeling a little bad about the whole thing but knowing it was for the best, for the future of the herd and the fawns that would be born hopefully soon.

[CosmicChaos21]

The next day Chip cautiously approached Crimson.

"Hey Crimson?" The red doe's ears flicked in Chip's direction but she didn't respond nor raise her head from the ground where she was currently grazing, making Chip sigh before speaking again. "I know you're mad about me getting lead doe, but maybe I could convince Storm to let me give the title to you instead" Chip offered causing the other doe to raise her head and turn it towards Chip, whose posture screamed guilt. The red doe sighed in an irritated manner.

"No, you deserve the title more than I do, I won't be a whining fawn who only got the position because I couldn't handle someone else getting it. You'll be a good lead doe. Besides, that just means I'll have more free time to do what I want anyways" Crimson replied as she lowered her head the return to the task of grazing once more. Chip blinked a few times in shock before a smile graced her face at the other doe's acceptance of it.

"Well if you're sure. I'm sure you'll still be a great help to the herd, you're pretty tough" Chip said as her eyes darted towards the scar that ran across Crimson's back right leg. Crimson noticed where she had looked but decided not to comment on it, it is a pretty big scar.

"Of course, no one tougher in this herd than me" Crimson said proudly with a small grin, making the brown doe relax at the obvious playful comment from the other doe.

"Well I should probably talk to Storm, figure out where we're gonna go once the fawns are born and old enough to start traveling" Chip said simply causing the other doe to nod as she turned around and walked off to the buck.

The herd felt more complete after the birth of the three new fawns, it almost felt as if it had confirmed that they were truly a herd now.

"I'm going to name my fawn Captain, for he will surely be the strongest and most fit to be lead buck one day" Crimson said proudly as she looked at the pink fawn that rested next to her side. Marigold raised an eyebrow as she looked over at Crimson's fawn.

"Your fawn has quite the large ears, hope he'll grown into em" Marigold said causing the other doe to metaphorically bristle as she looked over at the golden doe with narrowed eyes.

"So what if he does? He'll still be the leader one day" Crimson all but growled causing Marigold to sigh and shake her head.

"I wasn't being rude, just pointing something out" Marigold said honestly, she was simply making an observation.

"Anyways! I'm going to name mine Marshmallow" Chip suddenly piped in as a way to try and defuse the situation before it got to the point of a fight, which Storm looked relieved at.

"Well mine will be named Daffodil" Marigold said as she looked at the yellow and grey fawn next to her, wanting to keep her flower name legacy going, one side of her family named all their fawns after flowers and she liked the idea.

"They're all wonderful, and none of them seem sickly so that's one less worry" Storm said with a fond smile towards his first fawns, hoping they would survive into adulthood, though he was worried for the day they would have to fight for the role of lead buck.

The rest of the day was spent making sure the fawns knew how to walk, as a precaution.

(I JUST REALIZED I NEVER DID THE SETGENE COMMAND FOR THEIR ANTLERS FOR THE SCREENSHOTS I DID TODAY SO UH PRETEND-)

Storm was idly patrolling around the clearing where the herd was resting when a rustle of grass caught his attention. Curious, the buck approached the noise with caution and was terrified as he saw the turned back of a bearyena. Knowing this was a risky situation he started to slowly back up but sadly he was so focused on the bearyena he wasn't watching his hooves and accidentally hit a berry bush with his foot, causing the plant to shake and rustle which alerted the bearyena of his presence.

The bearyena turned around with a snarl causing the buck to jump back before quickly turning around and darting off.

"BEARYENA!" He yelled causing the does, who were not too far away, to all jump up and caused the now teen aged fawns to look around with confusion at their mother's alarmed states.

"We have to go, follow me" Chip said as she started to bolt in a certain direction causing her fawn and the rest of the herd to follow as fast as they could, though the fawns were lagging behind due to lack of running experience compared to the fully grown does.

As the herd ran the bearyena started to catch up and swiped a paw at Marshmallow, which connected and caused pain to bloom across the top of his back right leg. Chip heard the scream of pain from her fawn and turned her head back.

"You lead them, I'll be right back" Chip said to Marigold before running off to her fawn. Chip hit the bearyena with her hooves a few times before pushing her fawn to run causing him to hesitate but do so. Chip soon turned and ran, catching up with the rest of the herd before going back to the front and leading the herd in a different direction to confused the predator.

As they took a small rest Crimson's attention was caught by a small noise. Feeling on edge she cautiously approached but relaxed once she saw it was a fawn.

"What happened to you?" Crimson asked as she noticed the awkward way the fawn was holding their front left leg. The fawn looked up with a scared expression for a few seconds before speaking.

"Mom told me to wait here until the bearyena is gone but she hasn't come back yet" The fawn replied as they stood up taller, as if to be intimidating. Crimson knew the herd was struggling to get away now with Marshmallow but...

"Would you like to travel with my herd, at least until we find your mom?" Crimson suggested, having a feeling the mom wasn't going to return to this fawn. The fawn hesitated for a little bit.

"Only until mom comes back" The fawn finally agreed making Crimson resist the urge to sigh in relief.

"Well then what's your name?" Crimson asked making the fawn perk up.

"I'm Oak" The fawn said seeming a bit more confident now, which made Crimson give a slight smile before starting to lead him towards the herd, hoping they would be fine with a new member. She couldn't help but soften her heart towards fawns as much as she wouldn't admit that out loud.

[CosmicChaos21]

The herd was shocked to see Crimson return from grazing with a fawn in tow, though they all seemed quite curious about it.

"Why do you have a fawn with you?" Chip spoke up first, her tone curious and calm though the words may have sounded accusatory in nature. Crimson looked at the lead doe with a firm stare, she knows Chip would probably be fine with it but she was ready to fight for the fawn's right to stay if needed.

"He was alone in the grasses, his mom told him to stay in the grass until the bearyena leaves but she hasn't come back yet so I didn't want to leave a fawn in such a vulnerable state" Crimson replied with a voice that implied there was no room for argument here, which Chip picked up on.

"I understand he's a fawn but look at his front leg, we're still running from a bearyena and he'll only slow us down" Marigold spoke up before Chip could say anything, and it caused Crimson to whip her head towards the golden doe with a furious expression on her face.

"So what? The bearyena will lose interest eventually, or would you rather live with the knowledge you left a fawn alone to die?" Crimson sneered, making her son step up next to her.

"Yeah! Just because he isn't related doesn't mean he's any less important than me or Marshmallow or Daffodil" Captain quickly agreed with his mother, making her angry expression lift into a proud one for a few seconds, which Captain stood taller at. Daffodil huffed at the young buck's words.

"Mom's right, he's gonna be dead weight. We'd be better off without a liability" Daffodil scoffed causing Captain to look at her and aggressively stop his hoof at her, a gesture she returned as they tried to stare each other down. Oak was all but cowering behind Crimson and Captain at this point, wondering if he should just leave, he didn't want to be the cause of a fight!

"C'mon guys, we can't just leave him" Marshmallow finally put his two cents in, not wanting to be in the fight but not exactly wanting to think about leaving the fawn to fend for himself either.

"I say we let him join, if we need to leave him we'll do it when he's a teen with a better chance of survival" Storm finally spoke after listening to the argument, deciding to give the fawn a chance but also understanding that if he becomes to much he may need to be dropped for the sake of the herd, though he'd gain no happiness from the idea.

"C'mon Oak, you should eat" Crimson spoke gently to the fawn, which made him look around nervously at some of the less friendly stares he was getting from Marigold and Daffodil before Captain gently bumped against him.

"I know the best spots to find some amazing berries" Captain spoke with a proud stance, making the fawn beam before following the young buck towards a different part of the clearing.

The tension could be cut with a claw at this point.

Yes Oak aged up in a day but pretend he's still a fawn for one more post-)

After a few hours they started moving again to try and lose the bearyena for good.

All the deer ran as fast as they could but Oak was obviously lagging behind due to his front leg, which Crimson quickly noticed. So Crimson slowed down enough to try and encourage him to run a little faster, feeling nervous at being so close to the jaws of the beast chasing them.

Oak ran as fast as he could without tripping and it almost seemed like they would be able to catch up but then the bearyena growled and went to take a swipe at Oak, Crimson noticing that turned around and hit it in the legs with a well aimed kick, causing the beast to stumble. Sadly, when Crimson turned to return running with the herd she didn't notice how quick the bearyena recovered meaning she wasn't ready for it to clamp its jaws on her hindleg. Oak gasped as he turned his head while running and went to stop but Crimson spoke first.

"No! Go on without me, we can't both die" Crimson said and Oak hesitated but Crimson gave him a firm glare that made him hesitate before bolting as fast as he could to try and catch up with the herd, feeling terrified at the fate that would surely befall the one who took him in.

It took quite a bit of running but he did catch up to the herd eventually, getting their attention quite quickly.

"Where's Crimson?" Marigold asked, seeming to have no concern for the young buck, which he would've been irritated at it it weren't for the situation at hand, or hoof?

"Probably dead, she sacrificed herself to save me" Oak's words cut through the air, causing a dead silence as the herd truly processed his words and Crimson's actions.

"She sacrificed herself for you? What a waste" Daffodil spoke with some irritation, Crimson was tough and strong so Daffodil couldn't believe she'd throw away her life like that. Captain was dead silent with a blank expression, which honestly unnerved Oak more than Marigold or Daffodil's words ever would.

"Well at least you're okay" Captain spoke as he approached Oak, which made the younger buck have a nervous posture before Captain simply stood beside him, sending a glare towards the yellow does, which they ignored completely.

Tensions continue to rise in the herd.

Oak grew into a teen shortly considering he was almost there anyways when Crimson found him. The herd had been more tense and even though Oak was a daring deer it was easy for Captain to tell that it was getting to him so that's why he was taking them to a small clearing a bit away from where the rest of the herd was staying.

"What are we doing?" The younger buck asked as he looked up towards the other buck, curiosity obvious from his tone but not in a wary way, as he trusted Captain more than any other member of the herd, though he'd never admit that out loud. Captain simple gave him a beaming grin before returning to trotting forward, causing the younger buck to give a playful scoff but continue following nonetheless.

Once they arrived Oak surveyed the area with interest before looking towards the pink buck.

"We're here to practice your fighting skills!" Captain announced with a grin as he turned towards Oak.

"Practice my fighting skills?" Oak simply repeated, wondering why they would need to do that.

"Yep! Not only could it be useful but I'm sure it'll be fun. So hit me with your best shot" Captain said as he lowered himself into a fighting position, positioning his head down to show off his much larger antlers. Oak wasn't sure this would go well with his smaller antlers, not to mention his front leg. But he lowered himself anyways despite his doubts, he trusts Captain wouldn't hurt him on purpose.

Oak decided to try it, if only to appease Captain. Oak charged at the pink buck, his slower speed meant the collision wasn't as powerful but he tried pushing forward anyways. Captain grinned before pushing back causing the other buck to stumble but right himself before he could fall and causing him to feel more determined, so Oak pushed back as hard as he could with all his strength. Captain wasn't moved in the slightest but he pretended a little, for Oak's pride, before starting to push again causing Oak to almost fall but stop himself from falling completely.

"You're so much stronger, I can't win" Oak huffed as he de-tangled their antlers and stood back a few paces causing Captain to hum before having an idea.

"Well there's no rules against playing the game a little differently" Captain said causing Oak to stare at him quizzically. "You may be weaker but perhaps if you try something a bit more...surprising you could catch someone off guard" Captain continued which didn't really help Oak's confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" Oak had no idea what in the world Captain was thinking, this was how bucks were supposed to fight wasn't it?

"Something like making them think you'll charge and then suddenly running towards their side instead" Captain gave an example causing a look of understanding to cross the younger buck's face.

"I wanna try that" Oak said as he lowered into a fighting position again, causing Captain to do the same.

Captain felt he knew what Oak would do as he charged at him, so he prepared to turn towards the side but was caught off guard when while Oak did suddenly dart off he darted off into the nearby grasses much to his confusion. Captain didn't have time to even ask something as Oak darted back out right next to him, giving him no time to react as the younger buck used his smaller antlers to trip up the older buck causing him to make a noise of surprise before falling to the ground with an 'oof'. Captain laid there for few seconds before lifting his head to reveal a proud smile towards Oak.

"Just like that, that was pretty good. Keep doing that and even the biggest bucks won't have a chance" Captain said as he got up causing Oak to beam at the praise, still shocked that had worked if he was honest.

"WHERE DID YOU TWO RUN OFF TO?!" The sound of Storm's voice caused the two teens to wince before grumbling.

"More practice tomorrow?" Captain suggested as he fully got up and turned towards the sound of Storm's voice.

"Tomorrow" Oak repeated before the two went back to the rest of the herd.