My deer love
I met an artist on twitter. And she draw this. And somehow. I appealed to me. I dont know why. But there was somethign about it. The picture told a story. The problem was; what story? So I asked her permission to fill that story in and this is the result. I hope you all enjoy it.
Art belongs to Florah. Twitter @FlorahFawna on FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/rebecksi/
They were running. Their hair flowing in the wind, drifting behind them as they sped through the forest darting from left to right. His expression; focussed, his ears were back, trying to pick up any sound. One hand carried his bow, the other held the hand of his loving mate, whom he dragged around. Dodging lower branches because of his great antlers, the buck kept low. His mate followed the exact same moves, even if her horns were so short that they could almost not be seen through her thick luscious long hair. The dodges also served to make themselves smaller as well.
He squeezed her hand harder as he made a sharp turn around a tree she followed stumbling a bit, but nimble as she was, she quickly regained her balance and ran on. His hooves could go faster, but he wanted to stay with his mate. He stopped for a second to gain his bearings and then looked her straight in the eyes. What he saw was the same as his eyes betrayed. Fear.
But behind that fear, something deeper, intense and warm. Something that could not be described in their words, but which they had felt since they were childhood friends. True love. And though they feared at the moment, they knew that their love would always keep them together. Little did they know though, that before the day would end, one would die.
His ears turned around and for the moment, he could not hear their pursuers.
"Lorelei... Please.. listen to me. Head east as quick as you can. I will throw the humans off and distract them. Then I will join you in the village of Dunkerfell."
He saw how his words frustrated and angered her.
"No Ivan, just stop it."she panted "We already been through so much together and I am staying with you. We escape together or not at all. I do not care. As long as I am with you."
He nodded and took a deep breath.
She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. "Which way then? East?"
He nodded as he took his empty quiver and tossed it away as far as possible. He wished he had more arrows, but he had used up all in their escape from the clutches of the humans. He could not get rid of his trusty bow though. He placed it over his back, where first the quiver was, then drew a small hunting knife. "Take this, my love. You might need it if something happens to me."
"Don't say that. We will both be fine and..."
An outcry interrupted her. The actual wording could not be heard as it came from too far away, but the meaning was still understandable.
"Yes" he said, taking her hand again and pulling her with him. "To the east. But we go south first to cross the large river there. That will make it harder for them to track us."
Running, always soothed him. Even now when danger was imminent. The rhythmic beat of his hooves hitting the soft moss, stone and grass always helped him relax and focus. And sometimes, it would even bring back memories. He looked over his shoulder at his mate, then focussed back on the path in front of him. How stupid the humans were for blaming them. Well. Maybe they were right.
It had started with bad luck. It was a dry season and the river that once flowed strong and wide, had become nothing more than a little trickle. A week more, and even that tiny bit of water had turned into nothing.
Their tribes water supply quickly dwindled and one day, Lorelei, drank out of a small pool of water. But thirsty as she was, she had forgotten to check if it was safe and had not noticed the dead squirrel that laid in it. Two days later, she got sick.
Nothing could help her. Everything the tribe tried, she got worse and worse. And to make matters even more dire, the elders had decided it was time to move and leave the village behind, in search for a place with a more stable supply of water. Ivan had begged, pleaded, threatened to wait, to help Lorelei get better first. But it was clear they had given up hope. That they had given up on her. Taking matters into his own hands, he had vowed to heal his mate and would carry her to the human village, in search for a cure.
All of the tribe advised him not to go. Humans could not be trusted. And if he went, they would move on without Ivan and Lorelei. His mate himself was against the idea. He did not care. His mate had to heal and, making a gurney from branches, vines and leaves, he transported her to the human village.
It had taken eight days, but when they finally arrived they were welcomed with open arms. He had been fed and watered and after explaining his predicament, they had let them stay in the local tavern and the doctor had come to examine Lorelei. Though he did not know much about their physiology, he did have a cure for what was ailing her. It was for humans though and he hoped it would work on the cervine as well.
Thankfully it did. It took longer than with humans, but a week after the medicine was given, Lorelei started to feel better. Another week passed and she was walking around, smiling, her old self again. In the meantime, the villagers had taken care of him and Lorelei. All seemed good in the world for a while.
Until the mayor of the town, announced that his three year old baby had gotten sick. A terrible illness and it seemed it could not be cured. Two days later, the youngest daughter of the butcher had caught the same disease. Within a week all the children up to the age of four years old had gotten sick. It wasn't long before the villagers started blaming the two strangers that had appeared only two weeks before the outbreak. When Ivan took Lorelei outside in the middle of the night to escape, they were greeted by a mob of angry villagers.
Holding them at bay, with his bow and arrow, they made their way past them, but soon the villagers were determined to go after them, their fear of the arrows thinned by the distance. Ivan was forced to shoot, but only hit once every ten arrows as he found out that running and shooting at the same time is very hard indeed. But at least they made it into the woods, hoping to lose their pursuers
"Ivan? IVAN!"
He shook his head and walked on "Yes, my love?"
"Why have we stopped running?"
"Because we are coming near the river." which was true enough, as he heard the river's roar. He did not dare tell her he was thinking back about all the evil that had happened. That would only add to her misery. "Once we cross it, we keep going for another couple of miles, before we head back towards our own lands."
"NOT SO FAST!" a voice sounded from nearby. They both turned towards the sound. There, with a spear in hand, stood the major. "I was hoping to be the one to find you two. I was the one that decided to take you in. I made a mistake and now I can fix it."
A tall, broad shouldered man, former lumberjack and voted for major because of his honesty, clarity of mind and strength, he looked quite different now. A mad gleam in his eyes, an evil grin where he was showing his teeth and his threatening posture made him seem more like a killer madman then a major.
Slowly stepping forwards, spear aimed at Ivan, he narrowed his eyes, ready to fight. Ivan had already gone into a defensive posture, drawing his hunting knife and waving it menacingly in front of him. But to Ivan's amazement, it was Lorelei who stepped in between and held up her hands.
"Stop.. Please , just stop. Can;t you see what we are doing? What you are doing? You know as well as I do, that we did not have brought this plague or pox or whatever it is with us, that demanded the lives of your lastborn. You are noble and smart. Would you please, please look into your heart and see what is going on is wrong."
The major actually stopped in his tracks and his mind was racing as his green eyes looked into her brown ones. He sighed deeply, head cocked to the let and looking down, before he shook it. He lifted the end of the spear and hit Lorelei in the side of the head, hard, knocking her over and taking the wind out of her.
"NO! Someone will pay!" he said, looking at her as she was on the ground. "I will take care of you later. Or maybe let you go, if your husband here is enough revenge for my villagers."
The two warriors circled each other. Ivan was quicker, but the large human looked a lot stronger then him. And since running was not an option, speed did not count. Nor reflexes as the human looked strong and thick muscled. Ivan would have to resort to trickery. And he knew just the thing.
He took the offense and stepped forwards. All his ideas shattered into millions of pieces in his mind though, as a mossy rock was his undoing. He stepped down on it and his footing gave way as he slided off. Landing hard on his backside, he heard the laugh of the Major. "Easier then I thought" as he lifted the tip of the spear and struck down towards the stag.
Ivan shielded his face, knowing it was for not. But he quickly looked up as he heard a strange and sick gurgling sound. The Major just stood there, frozen, except for the twitch in his left eye. Ivan looked in the man's wide opened eyes, not understanding, before he saw the spear come down on the ground and fall over. That's when he took in the bigger picture.
Standing right behind the Major, crying hard, tears falling to the ground, was his mate Lorelei. She still held her hands towards the neck of the Major. In it, the small hunting dagger he had given her. The blade had sunk inside the flesh, right in the middle, probably having slided right in between two vertebrae. Blood flowed from the wound, having first spattered her wrists, arms and even a bit in her face. Now it just flowed down and coated her fingers as the rest found its way over the humans back to the ground.
Ivan quickly stood up and took the Major by the shoulder in one hand, Lorelei's in the other. "It's okay.. Love.. You can let go now." She did and the lifeless body of the Major flopped over forwards. Ivan turned towards her and quickly hugged her, knowing she was in shock. The first kill for anyone was always dreadful
"It's okay, love.. he left us no choice"
She nodded "I know.. but why could he not have turned back.. Why could he not have let us go?"
"I do not know. Humans are strange and fickle. They switch a lot between emotions and extremes. He just wanted a reason for his people to keep them safe from harm. We were sadly it."
She kept nodding all the time, but then cried even louder, banging her fists against his chest a couple of times, before hugging him as tight as she could muster.
"Come, Let me take care of you" He scooped her up in his strong arms and made his way towards the river. there, he laid her down in the bedrock and slowly, gently started washing off the blood on her hands, arms and face., also washing the small head wound she had gotten from where the human had hit her.
She cried the entire time, mumbling "So much blood... Blood everywhere"
When he was done, he lifted her chin a bit and leaned in to kiss her. "It was his choice, my love. And he left you no other one. You even tried to reason with him. You are better than any of them. You and people like you are the hope for the future of this world."
She actually gave him a smile. He extended his paw and helped her get up. "Now. Let us cross the river and find a new place to start over. Just you and me."
She walked up behind him and took his hand in hers. she stood tiptoed and laid her chin on his shoulder. Whispering in her ear, his eyes widened at her words.
"No.. not just us two" She took his hand and laid it on her belly. "They found out when they were treating me. I did not dare tell you, because of the disease"
A tear fell from Ivan's eye. He turned around and kissed his mate. Smiling, he took her wrist and guided her across the river.
The end...