Caden grinned, pleased that he could help the struggling doe, and swished his little, blue tail as he thought. "Well," he started, almost unsure where to begin, "There's always the willows by the pond...or the Great Oak?" Though he was half-convinced his suggestions would be no good, due to his pitiful lack of knowledge in the medicinal field, he wanted to assist this stranger in any way he could. After all, he needed her assistance even more! It was the least he could do.

Caden was taken aback when he guessed the answer. The golden doe shot off before he could blink twice, leaving him slightly dumb-founded in the undergrowth. It took several heartbeats before the cerulean stag could urge his feet forward, trailing after the fem.

As he ambled awkwardly—at the quickest pace he could muster—among the shrubs, a smile beamed its way across his countenance. He didn't even know this doe! Yet, she had reached out to help him without a shred of hesitation. 'Now, that is a loving heart, if I've ever seen one...' he thought as he made his way to the pond.

The trees soon cleared to reveal the grassy banks, and Caden paused, searching for the dame. It occurred to him that he didn't even know her name! 'Silly of me not to ask,' the brute mused, 'but I suppose out introduction was rather silly anyway...I do hope I didn't cause her any injury, tripping over her like that.' However, judging by how swiftly she'd taken off, Caden figured she couldn't be feeling too much pain, so he shrugged it off.

mismatched:
The small doe slid to a dusty stop right in front of one of the massive willows. She took a deep whiff. Yes, this was right.

Then, the doe realized something: she didn't know how to get it off the tree.
Alani tried biting at the tree, but that wasn't working given her lack of top, front teeth. Really, she was just gumming it... Next, she scrapped at it a bit with a hoof, but her hoof was to flimsy to even scratch it. With a frustrated sigh, she put her forehead against the tree, wishing she had some antlers right about then.

Looking over her shoulder, she noticed the blue stag had ambled over. She yelled at him from the tree, "Hey, mister! Have you got any teeth I could borrow? If not, I think those antlers will do."


niriya:
The black doe lifted her head and motioned out into the water. "You see those fish?"

"Wanna try getting one for me," she asked following the words with a lick of her chops.

Waning-Sun:
Zah's ears flicked at his avoidance, wondering what it was he had to hide. Then, she shrugged, rolling her shoulders; she wasn't one to pry.

"Yes.. I wanted nothing to do with the war of my old land.. I was forced into it as a death sentence, put on the front lines. They never expected me to last the whole war," she told him. The black doe was secretive about some things, but the war wasn't one of them.
Her ears flicked back and she murmered a bit of an afterthought,
"Well, almost the whole war..."

Caden tilted his head, then let out a soft chuckle at her question. He made his way over to her, braced his legs and bent his head as if to charge something, then pressed his tines against the hard wood and dragged them upward. A few shreds of bark floated down like dark confetti. The blue stag stepped back, pleased with the few, long strips he'd managed to pull off, and smiled back at the doe, "Will this do?"

Caden nodded, and knelt down to do as she said. The bark felt stiff and unpleasant between the buck's teeth, but he felt alright chewing it, so he continued to crunch it into pieces. When the doe took the chance to properly introduced herself, he glanced up, feeling a bit helpless due to the fact that he was still trying to break down the nasty stuff in his mouth. The dame topped it off with a sweet, little curtsy, leaving the brute feeling utterly rude. He blinked once, a little at a loss of what to do, then quickly looked back down and started munching furiously, and...probably quite savagely too.

When he'd finally finished, Caden spat the pulp into the grass, and shook himself, as if it would rid him of the abhorrent taste. "C-Caden," he managed at last, "it's nice to meet you." The stag smiled, and dipped his head courteously.

mismatched:
Alani plopped down beside the stag, watching with bubbly excitement. She'd actually been able to help this stag... Hopefully.

"Pleasure to meet you as well, Caden." she said with a smile. Then, she had a thought. Looking back at the willow, and then back to the blue stag, she grinned a little sheepishly. "Caden, could I ask you a favor?"


Proud:
A large black doe sat in the pond, her head laying on a log that resided there, resting in the rare moment of peace. The water came up to cover most of her back and chest.
One of her ears was kept on a swivel, listening for the wolf's footsteps she'd come to learn so well lately. Most of her body had bite marks from that wolf and she wasn't letting him anywhere near without keeping an eye on him.

She watched as a stag made his way towards her. For a moment, she thought he would pass. Then, he spoke. The hind looked around, no one else was there. He was talking to her.. She narrowed her eyes quite skeptically, wondering about the connotation behind those words.


"Hello." she said curtly, her less-than-cheery mood probably obvious in the tone of her voice.

mismatched: (Dawww, thanks, and Caden's so nice :'))
"Could you rip off some more of that bark for me?" she asked. Surely she'd need more of it in the future. Deer seemed to be flinging themselves into injuries lately.. She wanted to keep it at the ruins where she kept her ginger stashed, for future use.
"Never know when I might need some more."

"Fish..?" The fawn squints her eyes out over the shimmering surface of the Bigwater before splooshing over to peer down the sloping decline at the bank. "Uh. The pretty ones..?" She'd seen them - and paid no real attention to them other than notice that a few of the larger ones had been replaced. Completely unsure on how to catch fish, the fawn reached over as far as she could to dab gingerly at the water, but by then, one of the brighter ones had darted away at the sight of her shadow.

He nodded, glancing toward the ground as he shifted his weight around. "I don't think anyone really wins when it comes to War," he stated quietly, "I mean, if you think about all the loss you had to go through to get to the winning part..."he shook his head, looking back at her, "It's not really worth it...yet so many seem to think that it is."

Perhaps lunging for it would result in a better catch. The fawn was planning on how to perform this maneuver without falling in when Zahaha poked at her gigantic ego, which prompted an indignant Pica to yell to the hind, "Yah, I can get one! You watch, and Pica'll get one!"
It was followed by much flailing, splashing and chasing where Pica tried to lure the fish by calling to them with her head stuck in the water, then backing away to herd them towards the shallows where hopefully she could sit or whack at one. The plan never word from the moment she stuck her head in the murky water.

The Cowboy trudged along slowly,thoughts swirling in his head as a lone figure caught his eye...The black doe with the wolfish eyes he had seen so often,but never properly met.She always seemed to be alone,she did'nt seem to have a real sunny personality...Well,might as well find out for himself what she was like...In his own way of course.
The brown male casualy walked towards the black female."Scuse me,lady,but I believe you're in my spot.

mismatched: (You're fine ^^)
Alani jumped up and scooped the bark into a pile, surveying it with a grin like a child fussing over a Christmas present. She barely processed his question and she answered almost dismissively. "Oh that? Just leave it there; it's tree bark you know, biodegradable and all.."

Then, her head shot up in realization. "Oh dear.. I wasn't specific enough, was I? You were just supposed to chew it and swallow as you did so.. Don't need to eat it, just chew it to get the good juice out of it, and swallow that.."

She studied him for a moment, her lips drawing back to reveal some of her back teeth in what looked like a sheepish expression. "You didn't spit out your spit with the wood, did you?"


wingeddeer:
So, I know we did this over skype... but I feel weird just ignoring your comment, so...
HIYA ♥

mismatched:
The little doe also breathed a sigh of relief; she would have hated to make him chew it all over again. "Good, good," she said, nodding an affirmation.

Alani smiled proudly and lifted her head a little higher when he called her a healer. No one had ever called her that before.
Another way to thank her?.. The doe honestly thought on that for a second.. Nothing came to mind; she was a simple creature, really, didn't require much. The orange doe shook her head with a grin, "Oh no, Caden. No need for that."

"Perhaps you could sate my curiosity though and let me in on whoever did that to you?.." she asked cautiously. Alani knew many wouldn't want to let a stranger in on information like that, maybe he'd lost the fight if it had been one; he might not want to talk about it. But the doe surely did want to know who'd done it just to keep a sharp lookout for them. She didn't have big antlers like him to defend herself with after all.

It was not going good. Not good at all. For her efforts, she got mud in her mouth and dented pride. Haughtily, the fawn flicked a glance at Zahava, wondering if perhaps she had failed a test. A test of courage, wit and chasing. Well, Pica wasn't going to back down from a challenge! Nopey no!

Squaring her shoulders and snorting out mud, Pica marches out towards the general direction of the Crystone, another outrageous plan blooming in her mind. Perhaps fish liked blueberries?

Happy and buoyed with her new plan, the fawn pranced over to the small clusters of blueberry bushes, inspecting them with a critical eye once she neared a few and passing by them. Too mushy. Next one maybe? Picked clean by those pesky birds. Pssh. But - what is this..? A feather? Seemed to be down from some fatbird. Pica marked the place down with a small hoof-scrape to go searching for possible candidates of blueberries to lure the fish in but not much luck in this season.

Grumped as she meandered back to stir the bit of down - which had moved in a slight breeze - with a passing hoof, floating it up with the current of air her movement displaced. Already her displeasure at not being able to catch any fish for Zahaha had begun to fade at the sight of the gently floating fluff against the green, browns and blues of the deep-forest.

A gust of wind blew the down far out of reach towards the pond with a small brown fawn in tow, looking up at it's erratic movements.

niriya:
Zah wafted air through her nostrils and limped in the direction of the little doe. When she saw Pica bounding towards her after a feather or two, she froze. The down reached the black doe and she let out a snort of air to blow it out of her face.
The doe then leaned her head and neck down to Pica’s level. “No fish, eh?”
She turned to look up at the fluttering down. “Might just have to get a bird then.”


Waning-Sun: (dfwpcdnw sorry for the wall of text)

The black doe thought on that for a few moments. She liked his bold assertions; they were thought provoking. A fire stirred in her belly at the mention of motives for war. Her motives and reasons were very clear and true in her own mind.
“This is true. You aren’t any better than your opponent when you fight on that basis. Though laying down arms and accepting fate doesn’t save the lives of the innocent or set the captive free."
 
“There comes a point when you must decide how far you’re willing to go. Does the end justify the means? How many lives are we willing to take to win freedom and peace? Is it really worth it?” The doe asked. She commonly made her points by asking questions; questions forced the mind to think on a subject rather than respond automatically. “The answers to those questions will be different for every individual.”

“No standard exists that every being agrees on when it comes to what is right and wrong. One thing is true: wherever there is life there will be a struggle between control and freedom, between chaos and peace.
If you choose to take neither side of a war, then perhaps you are neither right nor wrong, neither brave nor cowardly. Neutrality is a peculiar, grey area... You’d have to have enough inner peace to accept whatever fate befell your people, and, if the results where catastrophic, you’d have to live with the fact you did nothing to stop it.”

Waning-Sun:
Zah nodded and turned to face the stag once more. Her head dropped and shoulders hunched as she took a stalking step forward; a shadow of her former, canine self. "Chaos and peace. They're two wolves, fighting constantly. The one who who wins the battle is the one nourished and feed by the people. Though, as long as they exist, they will continue to be at war."

The doe shook herself abruptly and stood straighter, listening to his words. One word in particular, selfish. Considering the doe was incredibly cynical, the word alone could spark a whole new heated discussion. She'd let it pass now though, perhaps another time.
"Perhaps so. Though I myself don't care to fight for those who are in disagreement. I could care less of their views.. My interest lies in fighting for the ones who simply can't fight for themselves."

(lksjdnclka sorrry i missed this somehow ;;)

The doe gave a single nod and then closed her eyes, sighing heavily.
"You make for strong conversation, Stag.. It's appreciated."

sure ^^
would you like to start or would you like me to?

<sub>i'll start c:, i'll be using Lynn btw.


The mare made her way quietly through the forest, her long strides kept in a slow beat as her hooves gently hit the grassy surface, sending small bugs and debris into the air with every step. She didn't know where she was going, she didn't know what to do.
This wasn't the place for her.

Arriving by the ruins, she stared at the structure, reminding her of days gone by, filling her mind with wisps of the past, fading so slowly by the day. She neighed, wondering if anyone would reply. Was there others like her? She did not know, did she really care?

Perhaps being alone is the best answer.</sub>

The bull wandered through the forest on his usual route towards the pond. It wasn’t clear why the male always seemed to be found around there. Perhaps it felt like home or perhaps it brought a feeling of comfort & safety. Even the bull didn’t know & the memory of his last home was clouded. He trot along, stepping between the sun spots & the shadows. He had no reason to fear anything in the forest, besides the wolf, so didn’t bother to keep to one particular spot.

As he neared the pond his eyes scanned the surroundings, likely in hopes of finding a familiar face, especially of the one he had spent some time with. He hadn’t spoken even one word to the dark doe that frequented the pond, but he knew she had a good soul. She had given him company when he was alone & just for that, he would be always grateful.

The bull gave a quiet snort before making his way down to the bank & without looking around he stepped his front hooves into the cool water. The pond was all the bull knew. Sure he had ventured around the other parts of the forest, but the pond was always the place he ended up. As he lifted his head & water briefly dripped from his muzzle, his eyes finally looked around, hoping to find that familiar face.

That brought out a smile from the Gray, "I appreciate it as well, you make me think. I enjoy debating like this...or pondering, whatever this is considered. It keeps your mind sharp. Thank you for that."



Sorry can't code right now.

The bull relaxed his shoulders as his eyes gazed over the familiar black doe. He stepped closer, his hooves gently passing through the water as he neared the female. A small nod was given, as well as a friendly bow. He was unsure how to greet her with words. The bull didn’t know her name & was unsure what to call her, if anything. He didn’t want to offend her, so perhaps no verbal greeting was necessary right now. Moving closer & taking his usual spot beside her, he rested down into the water, making sure not to move the water around too much & accidentally splash the doe. His gaze looked over the pond, briefly stopping to watch the koi swim together & the lily pads float across the ripples that were moving along the top.

”Peaceful…” he would finally whisper. The bull had spent more peaceful days in the forest than any other kind & while he enjoyed these & even longed for them, he did wish for some action. Be it aiding friends in battle or simply making new friends or acquaintances. He wondered if the dark doe felt the same since he always seemed to see her resting around by the pond though always up & ready to aid when there is ever any trouble lingering in the shadows.

His gaze moved next to him as they rested on the does beside him ”We’ve spent many times in each other’s company” the black male began ”Would it be ok to ask your name?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.

<sub>Lynn continued to stare, feeling a little silly, the doe was no threat after all.
"Pardon my outburst, young. I did not hear you behind me, and was merely stunned by your sudden arrival," she replied, scuffling her hooves on the ground.

This was silly. Lynn was bigger after all. She leaned her head closer, sniffing the doe's scent, so if they do meet again, she won't be startled.</sub>