Welcome to Gaia! ::

Perhaps a year had passed since that fateful day, the day when young blind Little Deer ventured into the woods as he did every other day to hunt, hone his skills, and see the world with his senses. Although he smelt that it was a gray day, Little Deer did not know the difference between an overcast day and a day that was about to break into a storm. As he was out hunting, the sky broke into tears and Little Deer found himself completely cut off from a world he knew from his senses. Because of the rain, everything was blocked out. The woods didn't sound the same, it was too hard to figure out which way to go and the rain blocked out every sound that Little Deer relied on to find his way home. The smells were different too, he couldn't smell the apple grove near their home, he couldn't smell Chane's tracks at all. And the familiar path he always traveled was warped and changed into mud he couldn't navigate. Terrified, Little Deer had felt himself overcome with panic so that he rushed and in rushing, he simply got himself more lost. All that was on his mind was...Chane...

When the rain finally stopped and the world returned to a world where he could sense and feel, Little Deer found himself in a place he wasn't familiar with. This was a place he had never known. There was sand underneath his cloven hooves and he could hear the roar of the sea. Only once had he been brought to the sea, and not even that small adventure wasn't enough to be bring Little Deer home to Chane. So he wandered the beaches, wandered the realm, wandered the entirety of Cein Isles before he finally heard a familiar stream and smelt a familiar apple grove. Weak and noticeably thinner than when he got lost, Little Deer stumbled to the stream, his staff clutched in his small hand. Other than appearing dirty and worn, Little Deer had also lost his bandage that he wrapped around the sockets where his eyes used to be, so his eye lids were tightly closed over sunken skin.

Using a voice that had been hardly used throughout his journey, Little Deer asked aloud, "Chane?"

White-tipped ears flickered when they heard the distant voice. After so long, the memory of Chane's voice had become distorted in Little Deer's mind. Stepping forward delicately, Little Deer tightened his grip around his staff so that his knuckles glowed white. He felt his heart begin to race and he slowly stepped into the stream. Again he called, straining his voice even louder, "Chane? Chane!"

As he stepped into the stream, he felt his ankle twist slightly and he fell to his knees in the stream with a slight yelp. The stream was shallow, it only came up a couple inches, but the startled wetness was unexpected nonetheless. Propping his staff against the stream, he attempted to pull himself up.

With a push and steady pump of his legs, Little Deer was able to push himself up out of the stream. Now he was cold and wet. Shuddering, Little Deer tried to shake himself off to the best of his ability. The voice...That was Chane's voice, Little Deer was sure of it. But he didn't recognize him? Little Deer felt a sharp pang of hurt, but he told himself not to worry. He'd been gone a long time...Who knows what Chane had to go through? And his voice was worn and scratchy, more than usual. Perhaps...If he got close...

"Good, keep talking," Little Deer told the far away figure. He reached out with a hand and used his walking stick to pick out and feel the area around him as he stumbled out of the stream and onto the bank. As he cautiously took steps closer to Chane with his thin delicate legs, "I can find you if you keep talking, though I suppose that won't be too hard. You could never stop talking, even if I had something to tell you. Isn't that right, Chane?" Little Deer called, talking with a slight tired smile on his lips.

Sounds...Hooves were coming closer, Little Deer's sensitive ears told him. He continued moving forward and Little Deer could pick out the familiar whir of Chane's mechanic leg and he could tell which hoof was metal and when it shuffled along the sand of the bank. In fact, Little Deer could tell when Chane's arms lifted up to cup his tattooed cheeks and he let his head rest in Chane's hands.

Touch... Little Deer was just as startled as Chane when their smooth skin came into contact with one another. He hadn't felt the warm touch of another taur in ages. The cervi had almost forgotten what it feels like to be...warm.

As much as he wanted to rush into Chane's arms, hold him tight, weep, and cry out, Little Deer held himself back. At Chane's statement, Little Deer scoffed slightly and knitted his brows together in mock hurt, lying his ears back against his head, "I thought we established that a long time ago, Chane, like when you bandaged my bleeding sockets. By the way, I lost the bandage. I hope you're not mad at me."

Finally pulled into an embrace, Little Deer pushed himself as close as possible into Chane's arms, holding him as tight as his little arms could. He felt like he never wanted to let go lest he get lost again and separated for endless days and sleepless nights.

Unlike before where his voice was strong (though raspy) and sarcastic, Little Deer's voice had broken with the next statement. His body was trembling like a leaf in a storm, "I'm your little one, your Little Deer," he whispered, "You kept me alive. I had to get back to you."

"Did who hurt me?" asked Little Deer, pressing his face into Chane's neck, "What...What did I escape from?"

Little Deer shook his head in astonishment. He knew that Cyn didn't like him and he was less than okay with him living with Chane, but...Little Deer definitely didn't expect for Cyn to tell such a thing to Chane. In fact, over his travels through the isle, he didn't once come across any living being. If he heard someone he would run and hide. He was never the best with other taur, nonetheless, people. He was just...Lost.

Trembling, Little Deer "looked" at Chane and knitted his brows, "No. I never...I was lost. I couldn't "see" and everything was unfamiliar. I found the ocean...I was lost, Chane, Cyn never laid a hand on me."