Chapter 6 - Into the Mist

The mountains grew larger before them as they journeyed each day, until Rise could begin to make out the shadows that Old Gray-hump said were trees running up the sides and the brilliant white on the peaks that was snow. Finally in the distance there were steeper hills and then tall trees that rose up against the dark shapes of the mountains.

“Is it the forest?” Rise asked gleefully of the tired bull as she bounded around him as he grazed his way in that direction.

“It is A forest.” He nodded, then spoke on for some of Rise’s never ending well of words had slowly been sinking into him as they had traveled. “And maybe there will be some of your kind there. We are lucky, you and I, for the summer has been warm and the wolves will have retreated into the mountains to do their hunting and raise their pups in the cool shadows.”

Rise spent the days pushing them on as fast as she could convince the old one to move and turning her eyes and nose to the west, watching for signs of anything like herself.

Finally, early one morning, she saw them. The small herd of does and their fawns were grazing at the edges of the wood, the morning light spilling around them like liquid gold. Rise’s heart leapt and she shot forward through the grass towards the deer. The fawns scattered themselves and then ran to find their mothers as this strange smelling-creature bolted at them. The does pranced nervously and eyed Rise and the following buffalo with worry.

“I have found you at last!” Rise cried joyously to them. The fawns were all much smaller and younger than her, but she knew from her reflections in the water that she had their same golden brown and spotted pelt, and the same large amber-brown eyes. She searched their heads for the golden light like that which hung above her own ears, but she could see nothing there.

The deer flicked their ears at her in confusion and then bolted into the forest.

Chapter 5 - A Herd of Two

Morning came and they awoke to an alien landscape. The once rolling ocean of grass was now a blackened swash of empty prairie. There was nothing but ashes and mud left in the wake of the storm save for a few random bits that had somehow managed to escape the fire’s wrath.

Rise stretched her stiff legs and shook the wet off her pelt as Old Gray-hump groaned his aching hide into motion. He looked over at his small companion and had to laugh deep down. This tiny creature had saved them both from what would surely have been the end of him. Now, as he watched her sniffing the wind and searching the landscape with her wide amber eyes he had to wonder at the mystery of her.

“I don’t smell the herd...” Rise said softly after searching with her eyes and nose for long moments.

“They will be long gone by now.” The old one replied knowingly. They would have seen the fire coming from further up on the hills and known it for what it was right away. The herd would have bolted for the safety of the bluffs and the rocky patches that spread out from them. With any luck they would have made it safely.

Himself though, he knew he did not have it in his old bones to outrun such fury anymore. He would have fallen behind and been swallowed by the flames if Rise had not led them to the creek bed.

“Will we catch up?” Rise asked worriedly. She could not see the bluffs from where they stood, their journey up the creek bed having taken them in a different direction far enough to be out of sight and the strong smoky smell blotted out all traces of other scent in the air.

The old buffalo sniffed the wind and felt the ground under his hooves. The herd would be long away by now, and the chances of finding the trail were slim. If they stayed here too long the scavenger creatures like the coyotes would soon find them.

Chapter 4 - The Dangers of Fire and Water

The days passed from one to the next for a while after her dream. Each day as the herd moved on Rise hoped their path would take them further west and, for a time, it did. The mountains grew steadily closer though their misty-blue forms were still days away.

Rise spent her time seeking out the highest points she could find to give her the best view of the lands to the west. She spent hours smelling the winds that were always blowing across the prairie.

“What is that smell?” She would ask her earth-mother.

The great cow’s head would raise to the wind and she would draw in deep breaths for a moment.

“Its a muskrat by the river.” She would finally reply. Or, a hawk’s lunch, a broken tree, a fox in the grass, and many other things that existed on the prairies, until finally she or the other earth-brothers Rise questioned would grow irritated at the fawn’s ceaseless quest for knowledge and shoo her away.

Still, Rise managed to learn the smells of many other things, and learned how to separate the scents in the air even better than the buffalo’s strong noses. She began to see the world around her even when her keen eyes could not reach the places she smelled. Her searching now carried her farther and farther from her earth-mother’s side each day as she sought out the smells she could not identify. Old quail eggs, river-mint, herons by the water’s edge.

The other calves thought her silly for spending so much time with her nose to the wind. Many of them made fun of her more than ever for her differences, for though they would never admit it they were jealous of her swift graceful form and tiny nose that could smell much further than their own.

Chapter Three -What the Wind Said

The air this day was hot and moist with a pressure that spoke of rain one afternoon when Rise was reaching her fourth moon in the world. Her legs had grown long and her muscles strong and hard, though she still retained the tiny grace that set her so greatly apart from the rest of her brothers.

The great walking earth-mounds drifted along the edges of the river as they browsed on fresh grasses turning green with the rains and melt water from the mountains to the west. Small patches of wood collected around the banks here and there. The buffalo were too big to venture into the branches themselves, except for the calves who darted in and out of the woods in their games. Rise was small enough to be at home beneath the trees and bushes however, and she delighted in finding the sweet berries in the thicket to offer the old ones in exchange for the stories of things they knew and remembered.

Rise delighted in stories, though the old buffalo were slow to talk and when they did they never seemed to tell all that Rise felt could be said. They were creatures of few words, she supposed. She could speak to the rabbits and other diggers in the grasses, and the birds in the air as well, but they usually had even fewer words for her than the old buffalo did. Even the other calves did not seem to think quite as much as Rise, in her opinion; their only interests being grass and sun and seeing how much stronger than each other they could be. Still, she loved this gentle herd and what stories they had to share.

“Saw a great eagle once.” Old Gray-hump had been telling her just that morning as he munched his way thoughtfully through the grass. “Had wings-big-as-clouds and a cry like thunder.”

Chapter Two - Earth-Brothers.

The sun was shining far over the horizon by the time fawn’s slender legs could propel her no more. She had run for what seemed like ages and then her fear had compelled her to walk beyond that. Now however, head bowed and lungs burning she could go no further.

Her sides quivering with effort she sunk down into the tall grasses that seemed to be a sea all around her and let her head droop to the earth. The ground was hard and cold and the wind still blew its icy breath over the land, but at least here there was no snow.

When the tiny deer opened her eyes again night had already begun to fall. The sky was a deep cobalt with its million spattering of diamond lights and the last of the after light of the sun was just slipping beyond the horizon. She felt too weary to stand. Her legs ached with the pains of her first run and her first meal had long since been spent. Her instincts told her that she needed something to nourish her, but her mother was nowhere to be seen.

Her mother...

The fawn lifted her weary head to the wind and sniffed, searching for the familiar scent that spoke of love and warmth and safety. It was nowhere to be found. She smelled sharp dusty smells which were the dry grasses around her, and deep earthy smells that mingled with something cool and moist, and then there was something musky.

The fawn’s ears stiffened as she remembered the last musky scent she had caught, just before...

She sniffed again, her fear giving her legs just enough power to make a wobbly stand and allow her better reach of the scent. To her great relief this scent was different. It was musky, yes, but it was a warm earthy musk that spoke of sun and grass. She was too small to see over the tall grasses that surrounded her, but the fawn could feel the earth quiver beneath her feet as the big musky-earthy-thing seemed to be moving close by.

:edited June 12th for some minor improvements: < o.o; >

Chapter One - Dawn

“Rise.”

The gentle voice whispered through the blinding white that assailed her first-seeing eyes.

“Rise, little one...” Again the sound came, so different from the thrum and heartbeat that had been the whole of the world. Everything before her was a blur and there was a biting feeling against her moment-fresh skin that made her shiver and ache.

A warm gentle something touched her head and the newly born fawn tried to blink the fog from her vision. She could see the shadowy shape of her mother, haloed in the dim predawn light of the forest behind her, a soft amber glow hovering just above her ears, singing with a voice almost inaudible what the fawn would come to know as her mother’s name. The song of who she was.

Love, realized the fawn, her song also spoke of love and that love warmed her heart.

“Come now... it is time to greet the world.” The gentle licks began again as the doe carefully washed the life back into her little one. It had been a close thing, this birth. The winter chill was still heavy in the air and the snow still swirled on the ground to cover the not yet awoken life that waited for the sun. She had tried for years to bring life into the world, and yet the two before this child had not even drawn breath before they were ended. The other does of her herd were not nearly ready to give birth yet and still a few months away from it, but the new fawn’s mother was of a different sort than those she called kin and her mate was as well. Now though, this little one had been born earlier than even she had expected. She had not yet reached the glen on the other side of the forest where the woods were sheltered and safe, and her mate would be waiting to help her. It was still many days away. Her child was breathing though, and that was enough.

Name: Sun's Rise (or just Rise)
(('owned' by Light the Sky.))
Pictogram: [~^~]
Age: Young Doe
Gender: Female
Appearance: Small and slender, with an golden wheat colored pelt and two small budding horns sprouting from her head. Her eyes are large and filled with an amber light that speaks of curiosity and intelligence.
Set: (will be soon, once we get it) mini-deer, doe horns, real deer mask
Family: None. Rise came into the forest alone, but though she mourns her family she is not lost.
Mate: None at present, but considering if the stag is right. Rise is young but careful, and will not choose lightly.

Personality: Rise is a bit shy, but once she gets to know you she is warm and friendly. She is very alert to her surroundings and wary of danger at all times due to her origins from outside the Forest, so she does startle easily if caught unaware. Though cautious, she is also brave and stubborn and will not back down from something she feels convicted about. She has butted heads with buffalo, and will not hesitate to challenge even great stags who push her past her tolerance, though she would much rather shelter next to them.

She is a bit wary of fauns, especially when they swarm around her, and can sometimes be confused by certain forest gestures.