"Hey, fawn?" Something pokes his ear. "Fawn?"
Sokonei sleepily opens his eyes and stares at the antlers so close to his head. The stag yawns and sits up.
"Rise and shine, fawn."
He stares.
"What's wrong with you?" The stag yawns again and gets up to stretch. "You're so quiet. A bit ago you wouldn't shut your trap."
He stares and starts shaking a little.
"Fawn?"
...stares...
"You can talk now if that's it."
Sokonei breathed. "What did you do to my fish?"
"Nothing,"
He walks to the pool and looks down; a channel has been dug, connecting the pool to the pond. It is now empty.
"My fish."
"What? It's still alive. I let it into the pond again is all."
"My fish." He paws at the edge of the pool. "You let him go."
"Of course I let him go," The stag laughs. "He wasn't your fish."
"But I caught him."
"Yes but he's not yours."
"How?"
"That fish has a family, fawn. He's theirs not yours, understand?"
He says nothing and stares into the pool.
"Hey, listen to me."
He looks up, his ears back. "I am."
"That fish has a mother and a father just like you and I do."
"I don't have a mother or a father."
The stag laughs again. "Everyone does. Come here, I'll prove it to you."
Sokonei follows the stag to the old oak. It is mostly empty save a sleeping fawn in one corner. High up near the tip of the stags antlers are many, many, many symbols. Sokonei reconizes them as names, all seemingly burned into the tree. He looks up and around.
"How many are there?"
"As many as there are deer." The stag says. "Now I don't know if you're an orphan to not have your mum following you around but hop up onto my back and we'll find your parents right with your name."
He jumps up and puts his front legs in the stags antlers so he can see higher. "I don't see my name here."
The stag walks to another section. "How's about here?"
"...No..."
He walks to the next.




















