"Mooooom...." A dark pelted young teen complained.

The older doe looked to him.

"Stopwatch has been hitting me in the shoulder for the last three hours."

"Oh you know he's only rough-housing. If you didn't complain so much, you would appreciate it more, hm?"

"Yeah, quit your whining, Clock!" The larger stag kept shoving his hoof into the other's shoulder.

Clock stuck out his tongue, sneering through his teeth.

"Clockwork!" His father called, "How many times do we have to tell you not to stick out your tongue?"

Clock lowered his ears, returning his tongue to his mouth, "Yes sir..."

Stopwatch shoved Clock one more time before turning to their parents. Their father put their meal down in the middle of the circle. A few mushrooms, pinecones, and a few other things. The parents got to pick first, they both got equal portions. Stopwatch was next, he took most of it, leaving only a little for Clock.

"Hey, why does he get so much and I don't?" Clock protested.

"Oh come on, Stop is much bigger than you, he needs more food. That's plenty, isn't it?"

Clock looked down at his portion. One mushroom, one pinecone, and a little pile of blueberries. He furrowed his brow, "I... guess..." He began to nibble at his food, watching as his big brother chomped down at his. Clock rolled his bright blue eyes, continuing at the mushroom.

Meanwhile, the parents were talking about a tree that nearly toppled over due to a previous wind storm. They suggested that Stop could continue his workouts on that tree and leave the other tree alone. Stop seemed to love the idea. Clock stayed quiet, as usual.

"You know, Clock, maybe you could use Stop's old tree. Put some meat on those bones."

"I already run a lot, I'm fine..."

"But that's just your legs, what about everything else? Look at Stop, he works out everything that could be worked out. He's not that much older than you, you know."

"Yeah... Okay..." Clock continued to nibble at his pinecone. Why was Stop always better than him? A big, muscular oaf. At least Clock had a few brains upstairs. True, Stop was stronger than him, but he was also more scarred up than him. His parents just see that as badges of honor...

Clock was too cautious to get into fights, although Stop, along with his friends, loved to beat him up. Surely this kind of thing was typical somewhere. Not here, though.

"Pff, Clock couldn't handle a workout like mine. He's too shrimpy." Stopwatch shoved his hoof into a freshly bruised shoulder, making Clock wince. "I think he's fine the way he is, less competition!" He sneered.

Clock glared at him, flattening his ears, showing his rapidly growing antlers. No one knew it then, but Clock would be the one with the bigger antlers. Stop's were okay, but they weren't marvelous. To him, size counted. Among his friends, he had the biggest antlers, which made him the leader.

"Well maybe I will beat you one of these days! Did you ever think about that?" Clock shouted.

"Clockwork! That's enough!" His mother shouted. She turned her gaze to the bigger stag. "Stopwatch, you watch your mouth too. I won't have this bickering here!"

Clock silenced himself, but his blue eyes still held a little anger. He sighed, finishing the rest of his food, and promptly left. His father shook his head, continuing at his food. His mother sighed, watching him leave for the Pond. Stopwatch huffed and shrugged.

Clock went over to the shallows. He looked down at his reflection. His pelt was becoming darker and darker every day. He saw some lighter spots though, they seemed to look like stripes. His face was still pale, a nice creamy brown. His eyes were a sparkling blue, it seemed to match the sky. His antlers were still small, but he knew they would get bigger.

"Hey, shrimpy."

Clock whirled around to find Stop's friends all around him. "What do you want?"

"We heard you had a little challenge with Stop. You really think you can take him?" The middle one chortled, looked down at him.

"Well.. maybe not... today... But yeah! I could take him someday!" Clock lowered his little antlers to them.

All of them burst out laughing. "That'll be the day!" One of them shouted. They didn't wait for anything else, soon they were on him. Hooves drove into his chest and legs, antlers clashing against his head, teeth nipping at his flesh. It seemed like forever, but it was only a few minutes before they were finished.

Clock lay in the water, breathing hard. He wasn't too badly injured. He managed to get one black eye, and his nose bled a little. Other than that, he would be covered in bruises tomorrow. A typical day for him. He'd gotten used to it.

He couldn't wait for the day when his antlers would be full grown, and he could even take down his brother.