Pale encounters

Year 758 of the New Age
Fall
A cloudy afternoon, Widow's Hollow

Zéytin

Fall. The time of baby animals, orange leaves and sun. But most of all, fall, when rut was almost there. He still wasn't forgotten about Syl, the beautiful pale doe. Their fawn should be about a year old now, if it was still alive and even born. He woke up after spending the day with her, and she was gone and he never had seen her again. If he would ever get a mate, he would never like to fawn with her. Deep in thought the pale stag moved forwards, his muscles working underneath his thin coat. His ribs were sticking out, and that was one thing that would never change.

He carried some fresh herbs in his mouth. Aloe vera and Foxglove. He laid them on the big boulder a few tail lenghts away from his cave. The sun's rays would dry the herbs. He would go looking for some mud and mix it with the dried and crushed herbs, to make a antibacterial and healing balm to use for wounds. He looked up and sighed. The sun wasn't going to shine today, or just a little bit. He didn't mind though. These days were a pain for stags like Zéytin, and he preffered to stay in his cave for days. The entrance was tall and small, difficult to find and guarded by a small thorn bush.

He flicked his tail and slowly walked towards the place where the trees got more dense, a perfect place to find mud. He kept his head low, snorted and took big steps. His bones were extremely visible when he walked. The ground started to get a bit more hydrated, he could feel it underneath his sensitive hooves. The mud couldn't be far away. He kept his nose low to the ground, when he suddenly smelled an unfamiliar smell. A doe..... A doe in this time of the year.... He inmediately pinned his ears and tried to find the doe with his good eye, turning his head and snorting heavily. He flicked his tail a bit nervous. There, between the trees, a dark doe looked at him. He lifted his head, and looked back, waiting for what this doe might have to say. What was she doing here anyways?

---

Nira

Nira snorted with pride once she was away from the den ad gave a little buck. Finally she was free from Skoll's eyes always watching her and she could patrol the borders. She doubted those stupid cave dwellers would try to snatch a fawn during the rut, when everyone was about and active, but it was impossible to tell with those lunatics.

A pale form moving through the trees caught her eye and she glanced to the side. She was somewhat surprised when she saw it was a stag. His coat was a beacon in the dark forest, even with the cloud cover overhead. She snorted softly ad changed her course, observing him as he sniffed the ground between a large grove of trees.

His build muscled, but thin. She could clearly see a large portion of his fine from where she was standing. A large scar also covered one side of his face. From the shape she would guess it had been given to him by a Silverthorne.

She watched him for a moment, somewhat curious as to what he was doing. She cursed when the wind picked up and blew her scent towards him. There was no way he would miss it and she was proved correct when his head flew up and he whirled around, his snorts able to be heard even from a distance.

She was about to turn and leave when a fought entered her mind; what would Skoll do when he found she had not only slipped away from him, but been near another stag as well? The thought of his reaction made her chuckle so she stepped from the bushes.

"Hello there." She said with a smile, her voice automatically dropping to the tone she used to flirt with.

---

Zéytin


He saw the doe stepping out of the bushes and walking towards him. As she came closer, his suspiciousness rose. What did a doe like her do here? Didn't she had a mate? Why did she smile? He snorted again, a little unsure about what to do. The hair on his back and neck started to rise, and he narrowed his gaze. His nostrils were wide open, and his mouth was a thin line. Couldn't she see she came unwanted?

Just when he started to move around to run away and return to his save cave, she started talking. A pleasant voice, that could gave him shivers if he wanted to. But he didn't wanted. He could clearly hear the flirty tone of the doe, and he swore to never show his feelings towards others anymore. He stood there, as he looked at the dark doe. She was far from ugly he had to admit, the scars she had were beautiful. He hesistated. Should he talk back? He waited a moment, freezed to the ground, when he opened his mouth. "Hello" He answered. His voice sounded deep and dark, with no emotion.

---

Nira

Nora's smile stayed in place when he spoke, and she had to fight to keep it from turning into a smirk. She knew when he spoke he was certainly a Blackwood, though his light coat made him an oddity indeed.

"It's not often visitors come to Widow's Hollow. So what are you doing here?" Her voice had the same tone, though it was a question she asked everyone she encountered. Visitors to the Hollow were indeed rare with the rumors of the mountain lion that prowled around, though she had never seen it. Of the ones that dared to come; some came to communicate with Uir. Others out of simple curiosity or a desire for herbs. The more reckless ones simply desired some form of excitement.

That changed during rut though, some does took shelter to hide from stags, and the stags often followed so many came and went. Nira had to wonder which group this stag fit under.

---

Zéytin

He saw her smile when he spoke, and it made him even more suspicious. What did she want? If this wast just a regular doe, he could relax a little and maybe teach her something about herbs if she wanted to, but this doe was... different in a dangerous kind of way, and he didn't like the flirty tone of her. He would absolutely not want a doe for this rut, but he also knew if she would go on like this, he would eventualy give in. His muscles were tightened, ready to dissapear as a pale shadow between the trees, but invisible strings kept him to the ground.

"It's not often visitors come to Widow's Hollow. So what are you doing here?" Her voice was a pleasure to his ears, that was for sure. He widened his eyes more. He knew others were curious about his numb side, his huge scar, and so was he. What happened to the piece of flesh that missed by her manes? A mountain lion? Another fawnling?

He relaxed a tiny bit, and flicked his tail very slowly. He was still alert, his ears pinned towards the doe. "I was searching for some herbs." He decided not to tell her about the fact that he lived here and knew this place oh so well, and searching fro herbs was a good disguise. Lots of others did that too. "What about you?" He asked. He flicked his tail, trying to get rid of a bug that was late in the season. The clouds went away for a little time, and the sun's rays made patterns on the stags back, filtered by the orange leaves of the dense trees.

---

Nira

Ah, an herbalist, it certainly made sense. There were many herbs here, though she knew none for the most part.

"Not surprising, many come here for the herbs. Sadly I know nothing of them myself, though I understand there are some that help with necromancy?" She phrased her statement as a question, her smile still in place. When he spoke again, his deep, dark voice that rang of Blackwood almost sent a shiver down her spine, though she kept her face the same.

"I stay here all year for the most part." She replied smoothly. "The only time I leave it to check the borders, mostly during the fawning season. Any of those cave rats trying to sneak in and find a fawn to take re-think their choice when they see me." It was the first time her size was mentioned, directly or not, and as she got closer she noticed she was taller than the stag; though it was only by a hand or so.

Of course, that was nothing unusual, she was larger than the large majority of the does and about half the stags in Blackwood.

She saw his eyes sweep across her coat, lingering on her scars and she had to stop the smirk and keep it at a smile once more. She didn't know why, but her scars added an allure to her that bright stags in. Maybe because they showed she could take an injury and keep going. She wasn't sure, all she knew was it made the chase a bit easier.

Her eyes swept over his pale coat, turned various colors by the sun coming through the leaves. To have such a pale coat and survive Blackwood was certainly a rarity. A sign of his strength, as her scars were hers.

---

Zéytin


The sun also drew golden flecks on the doe's skin. Her ears and manes were framed by a golden circle of sunlight. He relaxed a little, by putting his weight onto the other hindleg while he flicked his tail. "Not surprising, many come here for the herbs. Sadly I know nothing of them myself, though I understand there are some that help with necromancy?" She asked. Ah, she was interested.... but was she only interested in herbs? "Yes, that's true. They can be used for lots of things." He answered, still not telling he lived here in the woods.

He was curious what this doe did here, as he hadn't see her around until now. "I stay here all year for the most part." She replied smoothly. "The only time I leave it to check the borders, mostly during the fawning season. Any of those cave rats trying to sneak in and find a fawn to take re-think their choice when they see me." He lifted his head, suprised. He had never seen this doe before, and the borders weren't that far... So she protected the newborns of Blackwood? Well... he sure hadn't met one of those does before. She said something about her height, and the thin stag looked at her. She sure was a bit taller.

"By cave rats, do you mean Oakferns?" Little fawnlings, living in caves, decorating themselves with glowing mushrooms. Strange Fawnlings with strange habits, he thought. He had met them only a few times. He was curious why she hated those Oakferns. "But what's with the hate? What have they done to you?" He could not longer hide his curiousity.

---

Nira

"One of them tried to take me to their caves when I was a fawn as one of their sacrifices to that god they worship. That's where I got this," she replied, indicating to her neck and the scar there. She eyed the stag a bit more curiously now, looking at the scar and blind eye it was the kind of mark left by flames, she'd seen others like it and knew that much.


She was getting distracted from her original purpose and she knew it, but there was no harm in a bit of talk after all. She wanted some time free of Skoll constantly watching her every move, and she had a feeling this stag could help her with that. She realized after a moment neither had given the other their name.

---

Zéytin

He listened to the words of the doe, and he slowly started to relax even more. So she almost was sacrificed? That was quite a story. He did know a bit about their gods and heard lots of stories, but he didn't know the sacrificing part was true. He frowned as he looked at her scars. "Do they sacrifice fawns?" He had full respect to other religions, but some rituals were too cruel, even for a Blackwood. Drowning in the dark caves, apart from family, mus have been an awful way to die for the many fawns. "By Ùir's nose" He sighed as he looked up. His Dark Mother.

She saw her looking at his scar, but he avoided eye contact and looked at his hooves, closing his eyes. He did not wanna talk about it. The wound on his head had gotten numb in all these years, but the wound in his heart was too fresh. He never wanted to talk about it, with anyone. He looked up and sighed. "I'm Zéytin, by the way." He spoke with a little nod.

---

Nira

When he asked if they sacrificed fawns she bobbed her head once in a nod, "Yes they do. Very few get away at all." It made her angry thinking about it because she had been there, she knew a fawns terror as they were forced to a strange place, often battered but alive.

When he dropped his eyes to his hooves as she looked at his scar she diverted her gaze. She should've guessed it was a sensitive topic and didn't say a word until he spoke again. She listened as he spoke his name and nodded with a smile, Zéytin, she would remember it.

"Mine is Deyanira, though I prefer simply Nira." She replied, her voice slipping back slightly into it's flirting tone.

She glanced up at the sky and saw darkness was approaching and would be there within a few hours, or so it seemed from the way the sun was breaking through the clouds. Even as she watched the thin beams were covered once more and she snorted softly.

---

Zéytin

When she bobbed her head, he raised his head an frowned even more. It was cruel, but it also made him curious to this cave herd. He heard a light undertone of anger in her voice, that was flirty earlier. "Well, you must have had an... strange childhood..." He said. He carefully had chosen his words, still a little bit suspicious. It made him think of his own childhood, but he pushed the thoughs away, just like every other moment he thought about that.

Deyanira. He must admitted it, a beautiful name for a quite beautiful doe. When she looked up and snorted, the golden flecks drawn by the sun were dissapeared from her skin. It shouldn't take much time for the sun to slowly dissapear, so a beautiful dark sky could appear. He had always loved the night. It allowed him to be who he really wanted to be, and he also saw the darkness at night as a glance from Ùir's skin.

He sighed. "So... where are you gonna stay this night?" He was suprised by his own words, and tried to fix them quickly. "I mean, it's already getting late and with all those rumors of a mountain lion.... don't you need to go back to your mate?"

---

Nira

"I suppose you could call it that." She replied with a chuckle. Strange was certainly one word that could be used to describe where she was a fawn. She could tell he was picking his words carefully and she almost grinned. Another stag who had fairly decent control over his hormones, what were the odds?

When he spoke again she gave him her attention once more, another chuckle and smile escaping her. "Darkness does not bother me, and I actually prefer to travel at that time. I've wandered around this place enough to know the rumors of the mountain lion are just that. Rumors. I also have no mate to return too." She had a feeling that last part would catch his attention if nothing else did. Even if his scent was on her from them being around each other so much, Skoll was not her mate. The very thought almost made her laugh, the way they annoyed each other. He was simply there to keep those that did not interest her away.

Zéytin did not fall under that category, she was very intrigued by the pale stag.

---

Zéytin

She chuckled, and he tried hard not to look away or blush. He barely talked to anyone except for ones interested in herbs, and he still had difficulties with talking to others. Luckily he remained strong, and still looked Nira in her eyes. A soft and gentle breeze flowed through his curly manes and tail, and it made the orange and yellow leaves rustle, some fell to ground. The thick layer of leaves on the ground was a sign for animals to prepare for winter. Winter was Zéytin's favorite season and time of the year. His pale coat would blend well with the snow, compared to his darker herdmates.

So she didn't have a mate? He was a bit suprised by that, since dark does were very popular in Blackwood, and there weren't much of them.... He snorted and looked up. The night would bring a full moon. What it coincidence that he met this doe this evening? Was there a tiny chance.... Just a little chance he could spend the night with this doe? She surely was a beauty, and he was a stag. A stag with a too thin but properly working body. A body that made hormones. He looked at her. "I know a place." He snorted again, and flicked his tail. "I know a place where we can watch the sun go down. Do you wanna see it?" His tone was confident, something he had only knew about himself one time his whole life. Also when he was with a doe....

---

Nira

Nira could see the confidence in the subtle change of his posture, see it in his good eye and hear it in his voice. That dark voice that nearly made her shiver in a good way. The hormones of the rut amplified the effect and she smiled.

"Absolutely. Lead the way." She said. She flicked her tail and walked up to him, ready to follow. Truthfully, she could careless about the sunset and she doubted that was what was truly on his mind as well. Hormones clouded her mind and made her eager to follow this stag. Another breeze picked up, lifting her tail and sending some strands to brush against his side.

---

Zéytin

He was even more suprised she said yes. Her smile almost made him smile too, but his mouth was only lifted for a split second, and it was almost unseeable. He nodded. "I'll lead you the way." He turned around slowly and started walking towards the rocky hill where his cave was. The path of leaves crinckled underneath his hooves.

When he felt the gentle touch of her tail, he almost froze to the ground, a shiver went down his spine. He looked at her with his good eye. Their hides were almost touching eachother, and it felt nice. "Actually, I live here..." He said. He wanted to be honest with her right now. He pointed his nose at the small entrance, hidden from the beams of sun and moon. He walked past it, where the rocks started to become grass and solid ground. He started walking up the hill, sometimes looking around if he didn't saw any suspicious things.

---

Nira

Nira followed his gaze, and her eyes widened a bit when she saw the small cave entrance that was nearly completely hidden. "Very well hidden." She remarked as she followed him. Tat he had a cave made sense, with his coat it would be stupid and reckless to constantly be out in daylight. He was probably much more comfortable at night.

She followed him up the hill, walking alongside his shoulder. Once more she was startled by how thin he was, her own ribs showed, but not to that degree. At the same time though, she could clearly see the layer of muscle under his coat. She noticed him glancing around and did the same, mostly looking around his blind side. She doubted they needed to be so alert; an animal would have to be truly desperate though to even consider attacking two fully grown Fawnlings, but it was better to be on the safe side. She barely noticed it as they continued to go higher and higher.

---

Zéytin

"Very well hidden." She said, looking at the entrance of his cave. He nodded. "Thank you, it's supposed to keep strangers away." He replied, flicking his tail genlty. He carefully took steps, trying not to hurt his sensitive hooves on the sharp rocks. The dark doe followed, he could hear her breathing. Slowly the clouds started to dissapear, and the blue sky started to turn orange-like very slowly. A soft evening breeze whipped up his manes.

The sound of their hooves on the rocks and their breathing was the only thing he heard when walking up the hill, which wasn't very high but high enough to watch over the forests. The ground started to become more solid, a sign they reached the top of the hill. Zéytin looked up and sighed. He loved the beauty of this place. He stopped walking when they reached the highest plateau. "Here it is." He said while looking over the forests.

---

Nira

Nira felt her eyes widen a bit as she looked out over the forest of Blackwood from their spot. From here it seemed beautiful and serene. With the coming of sunset the clouds were breaking up and disappearing, bathing the land in the glow of orange and red and yellow.

"Amazing." She remarked softly as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Stags had tried many times to impress her by showing her something in the past, usually a bone headed move. This was the first time one had showed her something like this. They were standing side by side, and she could feel Zéytin's body heat. She could also feel the rush of hormones from the rut at being so close to him. Another breeze kicked up, lifting both of their manes and tails, light and dark, and sending them flying. She barely noticed as it caused the hairs of her tail to brush against him as she turned her head to look at him.

---

Zéytin

"Amazing" She said, while looking at the inmense forests of Blackwood. He still could not imagine the lands where they lived in were so big. It frightened him, he was never a traveler, although a part of him was curious what these other kingdoms looked like. The sunset gave the dark coat of the doe next to him a strange orange glow. A gentle breeze toutched their coats like soft fingers.

He felt Nira's tail brushing softly against his side, and he started to breath heavy. He snorted, while the hormones were flying through his head. Softly, he rubbed his nose against her neck, while his ears were pinned backwards. He looked at her with a sparkle in his eyes, telling her he wanted nothing more than this doe in the whole world.

---

Nira

Nira's ears flicked back when she felt his nose rub softly against her neck and she turned her head slightly to look at the pale stag beside her as a rush of hormones from the rut flowed through her. The pull of the hormones was strong and for the first time her control slipped as she gave him a small nod. The possible consequences slipping her mind entirely.

When the light of the moon cast a silvery sheen over the dark forest below her green eyes looked at the pale stag that stood nearby from where she lay. His pale coat almost seemed to glow and she snorted softly before closing her eyes and lowering her head. She would go to the border in the morning and then return to Skoll's den when she was done.