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 Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:55 pm
 The marsh, still veiled beneath the ruddy fog of a winter dawn, slept soundly beside it's lone traveler. Night Heron walked in silence, his heavy hooves making soft shushing sounds as they elegantly trudged through cold, shallow waters, lulling startled water-birds back into a nightly submission. He had traversed the highlands of the swamp since sun-down, eyes up cast, tracing the path of familiar stars on sleepless, moon-spotted legs. Behind his illuminate rosy eyes the buck was manic, fishing the deep blue sky for answers which, night after night, eluded him.
This was his third night without sleep, though his calm, creeping step declared the buck vigilant. Soon the children of the swamp would arise, and he would once more return to the thick woodlands, biding his time in silent contemplation. He was his own scout, dark coat complementing the high shadow below the treeline. As the first breaks of sun pierced through the thick fog, and the sky fell seven shades lighter, the familiar color flurried his thoughts. He came to a quiet stop, observing the ethereal blue glow with a heavy, hauntingly lonely expression.
The urge to call out to his family was overwhelming, but he had not yet completed his journey.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 4:48 pm
"Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear..."
Forgotten Feathers was surely lost. She had never been out in the marshlands of the swamp before. Each step into the water caused her to recoil in anguish, and fling around anxiously. She finally pulled herself up onto a soft cushion of marsh that was dry and whined, dunking her nose into the murky water and staring into the abyss that it was. If something were to come bite her nose she'd probably wouldn't have noticed as she stared so deeply into the water.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:10 pm
A light step and a worried sound caught the buck off guard, tiredly swaying his head to peer through the thinning fog. Through the early morning light his rosy eyes spied a familiar outline of wing and shimmering blue - his heart yelped, startling the buck a half step forward. Surely it wasn't her. His elder was miles away, tending to the more familiar lands with Jasper close by, the buck surely reliving the early days of a true son and his mother.
If she had come seeking him Heron would not remain hidden. He approached the blurred vision, no more than thirty steps away, hope quickly sinking as the shape of a pale white doe, bird-marked and bejeweled, was exposed to him. But that wing - that painfully familiar shape and the beguiling cerulean glow, which mimicked his own in placement and his Mother's in color - how welcoming was this sight.
The buck slowed his gait, jaded, and called to the pale creature in a soft tone.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:35 pm
Forgotten Feathers blew soft bubbles into the water and then in response quickly flung herself up, whipping her head around and then falling on her behind again as she spotted Night Heron. She stared bewildered for a moment, and cooed a soft sigh. The blue gem shining in the soft morning glow, causing her to shine despite her murky appearance.
"Oh... oh!"
She couldn't manage to stand and just sat there embarrassed, cocking her head to the side to look at the buck's chest.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:44 pm
She was surely stunned. The doe sat rigidly on her patch of dry land, and Heron took full advantage of this clearer view of her. His hooves passed through the murky shallows, eying her curiously, one might even say 'sizing' her up. The doe seemed somewhat off - not in a bad way, but the way she responded to his presence struck him as unusual. Perhaps she was clumsy. "Are you well?" He called, still a fair distance from the flustered doe.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:06 pm
"I fell. Yes, I fell."
Aloof, she slowly tried to regain some sort of composure. Her beautiful white coat was covered in mud and the more she tried to rid herself of it the more it seemed to sink in.
"Oh dear..."
It seems she had forgotten about the buck for a moment and found herself staring back down into the water, trying to clean her hooves in the surface where mud was less full and clinging. Finally somewhat presentable she made a content sound and turned around, once again startling herself with Night Heron's presence.
"Ah!"
She tripped again.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:12 pm
The bucks brow narrowed curiously at the doe, who appeared vulnerable to even gravity. He took a step back as she not-so-gracefully fell over her own hooves, sure that she would be covered in mud from snout to tail by the time she regained her composure. Unamused by her misfortune, Heron danced anxiously around the idea of coming to her aid, but imagined she'd only call out again and fall in yet another muddy direction. Instead he trudged in a small circle around her, settling on a dry patch, scrutinizing the doe's mud speckled legs and hooves. "Perhaps you should sit?" How could he mistake this stumbling doe for his? She was like a loon.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:42 pm
Forgotten Feathers made a whimper of a sound and nodded her head, softly sitting adjacent to the stranger. "Very sorry."
She was anxious, and watching the buck carefully. She couldn't help but wiggle around, for even the task of sitting caused her great misfortune. She had managed to sit, however, she managed to sit on her tail in doing so.
"Um... um... hello."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:48 pm
Heron's intense gaze replaced what should have been a kind smile - he wasn't the type to smile. He wasn't a very pleasant creature at all, really. But what he lacked in approachability, he made up for in respectable banter. The dark coated buck was capable of being polite, especially to an unusual doe with a wing on her side...
"Hello." He echoed, remaining on his four sturdy legs, craning his neck. He couldn't take his eyes from her feathered mark and, inching his nose ever closer to the doe, tested her scent. "You aren't from these parts, are you?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:02 pm
Forgotten Feathers tilted her head slightly and then nodded. She looked around frantically as she studdered, "I-I'm from... over there... oh no, over there." She looked around again, "Oh, no, over there...?" It was useless. She didn't know where she came from, or where she was.
"I don't know!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:15 pm
Brilliant. Those markings and her distress. That was the connection. That is why he had not left her there in the mud only moments before. The pale doe, like a bird without her flock, was lost in a world he knew like the tip of his nose. While an affectionate warmth crept across his tired eyes, Heron found himself a timely companion. He knew her scent - she had come from where they all came from, or at least close to it. "I recall being where you are now..." Though the memories were hazy, he knew that fear - and he knew the relief of being found. "Would you like me to help you?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:44 pm
"Help with what?"
Forgotten Feathers stared at the buck, whose coat was strangely patterned. He seemed tired, as he sat there, nearer than he was before. Although she wasn't very strong while independent she did not understand either.
"Will you show me home?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:08 pm
Surely he couldn't turn back now, and seeing as how home must have been where most Kimeti come from, he would have to track in the wrong direction to take her there. But he couldn't leave her here, could he? She was far too familiar to abandon. Like a lost filly. And the sky was the same no matter the direction he walked - it always retraced it's steps. He could at least take her closer to home...
Heron viewed the horizon, testing his eyes against the light. "I can." He began, returning his gaze to the patch on her side. "Our elders came from the swamp - and I assume that is your home," he stretched his neck toward the rising sun, confident in his tracking.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:16 pm
Forgotten Feathers, bound on her two front hooves, pushed herself up on them, stretching her sitting position further up like an child trying to see over a crowd. "Really?" She asked, with a hint of child like happiness. "Really really? You'll show me home?"
She managed to stand up, and didn't fall as she trotted over to Night Heron and peered happily into his face. "Whatever is my saviors name? May I be so bold to ask?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:24 pm
Savior? What a chipper doe. The buck shook his head, somewhat taken aback, but flushing with pride none the less. "My dream called me Night Heron." He replied, surprised by her sudden ample step. Apparently she was capable of walking. He began his step in the direction of the rising sun, eyes still resting on the pale doe. "And what are you called, lost one?"
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