((shouldn't it be "inflicted"? eh, I don't know, maybe it means the same thing ^^; ))

She was silent for a moment. It was a struggle to find her voice. When she did speak, her voice sounded weak. "He...Burrow..." When she lifted her head so that her voice would not be muffled, there were tears in her eyes. "My friend...he was an old friend. I hadn't seen him...in such a long time. And...I'm glad I...at least got to see him...again." The tears started to run down her cheeks, and her head drooped. "But...it was...the last time..." She buried her face in the fur on his chest. "I don't know what to do."

@Paz:
[[It probably really should be "afflicted" and I had a brain fart or typed too fast. |D]]

Burrow.

It was not a name Bastilion was unfamiliar with. They had met once, but that brief encounter had been memorable. The other stag had been so lively then, too, getting Bast to go along with his acting silly for a moment...
It was...strange to think of him being gone.
The thought left him numb.
Unsure of how to react, or even what to think.

How should one react when they learn of the passing of someone they had met but not known well?

He could not even hold onto that thought, as currently Amary took his full attention. Although...he was at a loss for what to tell her. He did not know the circumstances of Burrow's passing [[because Pega was a moron who did not read the story when it was posted and couldn't find it again later *headdesk* note to self: FIND AND READ IT]]. It was also not like he could say Burrow had gone onto a better place, for what place was there that was better than this one? Even with its bouts of disruption to the peace, it was still considerably better than the life he had known before coming here.

So, instead of saying anything that could turn out unhelpful, the stag merely rest his head upon the doe's again, hoping his presence was enough.

[[I'm very sure Bast did meet Burrow once, who got him to button-mash with him. I just can't find where I mentioned it in a diary, or remember if I even did. o_o]]

here

He didn't need to say anything. His presence was, indeed, enough to comfort the doe, and for a while she just leaned against him, listening to him breathe. Somehow, Bastilion always made her feel better. Even when her mood was already good, she somehow managed to feel even happier whenever she was with him.

A while later, Amary lifted her head again, tears still running down her face. "I was so scared about Darkweaver, and so happy when he was alright. And then this happens. I've never lost anyone this close before..." Although, strangely, there seemed to be something familiar about it, as if she had in fact experienced a similar, if not even greater, loss some time in the distant past. But she decided not to dwell on this and didn't say anything about it. She gave her head a slight shake. "I'm really glad you're here. I don't know what I would do if..." She trailed off, and looked up at him. The tears had slowed. Looking at the spot where she had been resting her head a moment before, she gave a small, sad smile. "I think I made your fur wet." There was a hint of amusement in her voice, though she didn't laugh like she normally would have.

"--if the pond turns red again?" The buzzing the blue stag got in response made him snicker. "What? It's not really blood, you know," he laughed.

Scape cut short his laughter at hearing his son approach. He turned to Oisín, ignoring what seemed to be an eyeroll from one of the colorful insects, amusement still visible on his face. "Ah, Oisín. How are you?" he greeted, still in good spirits.

[[Sorry I haven't responded to the other RP on here. I've been really bad with procrastination lately. D=
Hope you could tell Scape was in the middle of a conversation there.]]

The fat deer tilted his head curiously. "That's really odd...", he said, walking around to one of the larger graves. Kinsha followed him, unsure what he was looking at. "Look, isn't that...", Quad began to say, stopping for a moment to look at the grave once again.

"Isn't that the Big Zombie Deer's pictogram etched onto this grave?"

@Quad:
Kinsha blinked, looking past the black buck to see what he was looking at. Blue eyes blinked again when they saw what Quad pointed out. "Yea...?" he questioned, not sure what the other deer was getting at. The Giant Zombie Deer having a grave made sense in a way, since he was, well, dead.

Scape's brows rose in surprise upon hearing the news. Happiness for his son bubbled up...followed by a frown of understanding. He was silent for a moment, thinking of what he could say. It wasn't like he had much experience in this--ah, wait a second...
He mentally nodded to himself, decided on what to say, meeting Oisín's gaze.
"Have I ever told you that your mother is not the first mate I've had?"

He shook his head, though it was unneeded. "There was one other. I was still pretty young at the time..." Scape's voice took on a nostalgic tone. "We weren't together for very long actually, before she left. She had to go on a trip. I already knew she would, and she'd be gone for 2 months. So when she disappeared, I settled in to wait. Two months came and went..." he frowned, "...followed by another 2. That's when I started to wonder is she was really coming back." He thought it was hurt to talk about this, but it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd thought.
The dragonflies were silent as he spoke. They already knew of this piece of the past of course, but it never hurt to hear of it again.

[[Will answer when it's not 2am. |D ]]

@Oisín:
Scape looked thoughtful. "It is similar, yes. But I think in his case, Seed knew what happened." The blue stag shook his head sadly. "I still don't know. I'm nowhere near upset about her disappearance anymore. If anything, I'm worried about what could've happened..."

He was silent for a moment before giving his head a quick shake. "But I'm going off on a tangent." There was a bit of humor coloring his voice. "The point I was trying to make is that I somewhat know what you're going through. I don't know what the right amount of time is to move on. I took..." Scape trailed off in thought. "...about half a year to completely move on, if you go by when I expected her to return." Gray eyes met his son's. "I can't tell what to do. As corny as it sounds..." he smirked a bit silly-ly. "...all you can really do is just follow your heart."

[[There's gotta be a word for "in a silly way" other than using those exact words. I had to compromise by adding "ly" like that. |D]]

@Quad:
Kinsha blinked...again. He seemed to be doing that a lot today. Then his mind caught up with what Quad said.
"Wait, WHAT?" His eyes got a bit big at that. "Ask the--are you crazy?" His voice rose a pitch. "What if he's in a bad mood? Don't zombie deer eat normal deer? Or what if he's passed out?
"Besides, even if he is awake, there's always a crowd around him. There'd be no way to ask."

"Let me take care of the crowds.", Quad said, winking. "It's worth a try, and I'm too curious not to ask him now. Even if he tried to eat us, I've got just as big antlers as he does." Quad knew he wasn't really any match for the Big Zombie Deer, but he wasn't at all worried. (He wasn't as afraid of death since he had died before, and the Twin Gods' gift of immortality made him overconfident when it came to life-or-death situations.)

He perked his ears and listened. There were several zombie-masked deer calling out toward the Old Oak, so Quad started to walk in that direction. He stopped and turned toward the ninja, "I thought you of all people would have a sense of adventure. We might have stumbled on something grand here!" The black buck kept going toward the Old Oak, letting his friend decide whether to follow or not.

[I apologize in advance for this ]

Quad bounded along, watching as the clear Forest soon became foggy. He was close to the Big Zombie Deer, and soon saw many others dancing and chatting around the sleeping zombie. "Stay back, this will only take a second.", Quad said to Kinsha before approaching the group of zombie deer.

He walked around them all, seemingly unnoticed. They were all too busy calling out with their zombie masks and dancing, all trying to wake up the giant zombie. Soon Quad was back by Kinsha's side.

"Now watch.", Quad said, a cheeky smile on his face.

The zombie party was abruptly ended as several of the skull-masked deer began to shout, "Who farted?!" and "Oh my Twin Gods, that stench!!" They all looked toward the Big Zombie Deer, who they immediately accused of the smell. And little by little the other deer ran off for fresh air.

After a few moments, there were no others around the Big Zombie Deer. "Killing two birds with one stone, I suppose...", Quad said as he walked toward the Big Zombie Deer.

LOL Quad. That was his most epic move ever. I died laughing. XDD Would it be okay if I joined that RP? Maybe I could form a trickier obstacle? I just find this a really epic story. <3

@Quad:
[[Oh lord. XD *passes out gas masks*]]

Kinsha stayed back as told, even though he already had no plans of going closer. He frowned curiously, watching as Quad just walked around before coming back. He raised a brow at the black buck, wondering what he was watching for when...

Oh.

The "ninja" flinched back a bit and wrinkled his nose, more out of reflex than need.

He was glad they were downwind.

'Killing' is right, Kinsha mentally commented. He almost felt bad for the group of deer.
But he had to admit it was pretty funny seeing them run off like that...

He was a little reluctant to follow Quad over there now. It might take awhile to air out due to the fog after all...
He stayed back for now, waiting to see what would happen.

@Nix42: I'd be ok with you joining if it's ok with Quad. =]
You can even start your own RP on here. I don't mind having different things going on that involve the same character.

I didn't think to call you that. |D; Wasn't sure if you were trying to have a new identity or not.

I'll keep using "Avani" then, since it's what I'm used to.

Amary:
Her smile brightened and she giggled a bit. Her mood seemed to be improving fairly quickly now. "Somehow you always make me feel better, no matter what happens." She raised her head to nuzzle his face, and, halfway through, kissed him on the cheek.

((that was shorter than I was thinking, but I really have nothing else to add right now X3; ))

-
Oisin:
He chuckled again. "Ordinarily, yes, I suppose. They both kind of surprised me. One is actually from Sterre. She gave it to me a while ago. I suggested it might look better on her, but she said the color would clash with her fur." He laughed a bit. "Celeste gave me the other one just the other day. She said she got it during a visit from one of the gods. I am a bit envious, as I have never seen either of them." He paused slightly, looking back up at his father. "I am not sure if you have met her. Although I seem to remember her being nearby, at least for a short time, when I was with you and Mother."

Amary:
She couldn't help but giggle again at this, even as she also blushed. But then she turned more serious, though there was still a slight smile on her face. "I was just thinking...with all this...if anything happened to you..." She paused for a moment, as if considering how to continue. "Losing a friend is terrible...but you..." Another pause, and the blush returned as she looked at the ground. Her voice became quiet when she continued. "...You're more than that."

Oisin:
"Well she is hard to miss. If you have ever seen a small doe with wings...at least, I am not aware of any others like that." He smiled. "I think you would like her. She is a bit shy, but she is also spirited."

(I was kinda waiting for further reactions, but I'll just give it a shot then!)

Not far from the scene, a small and skinny doe wrinkled her nose. The smell which had been sucked in by the fog didn't seem to appear quick enough. She shook her short, red feathers, not being to happy having lost most of them before winter. She would have to be patient and wait for spring again, but she somehow felt bald without the usualy 'crown'.

Brown eyes peered right through the fog, seeing the Big Zombie Deer in the distance. Slowly she approached the huge monsterlike being while he was still alone. She had been fearing him for too long and she had to overcome it, now she had the chance. She would face him, just him and her. Somehow she wanted to sniff him and tried, but the stench that hung around was too strong.

I really wonder who had a bad lunch today, were her first thoughts.

@Avani: I'm not sure if I should post next, since Quad might fall behind. |D

[[I really don't know where to take it, so feel free to keep going on ours. Here, I'll write a little bit to get us started]]

As Quad approached the Big Zombie Deer alone, he saw another doe approaching. "Guess we're not the only ones who have business here, huh?", he said, addressing both Kinsha and the new doe at the same time.

Turning his head, he looked toward the giant zombie. "He must not have a sense of smell.", he said in a somewhat joking manner. Approaching the deer's skull of a head, Quad bent down and spoke as loud as possible, "Mister Big Zombie Deer? We have a question for you...", and raising his head toward the new doe, he added, "...or two questions, I mean."

@Avani & Quad:

Eh? Not the only ones? Kinsha squinted into the fog to see what the black buck meant.

His heart stopped.
...or it felt like it did anyway.

Was...that....?

It couldn't be...

The "ninja" wasn't paying attention to what Quad was saying anymore. He was too shocked to. His attention was too focused on who appeared to be...

"...Silvery?" he murmured, not even realizing he'd asked said that out loud. He'd also taken a few hesitant steps forward without noticing, one hoof still raised as if to take another but unsure if it should.

[[They get more cute all the time, so I would definitely count that as progress. X] ]]