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"Will you stop nagging at me, you are starting to sound like an old critter who has little patience." shouted a young strawberry roan doe as she glanced back absently at a Jack Hop that was seated upon her rump. "You KNOW I have other things I could be doing right now. Right?"

The Jack hop sat with his haunches with his paws kinda crossed as he scowled at Fawn. It seemed that the two were not getting along at the moment. What ever it was that had happened left them both cross. Perhaps it was that Fawn was once again in the Ruins, not that she really left after her jaunt here with Krima. She had found a somewhat safe place to rest for the night and a couple more nights as it seemed that her companion refused to let her go home to Homewood.

'There was more to do here' he had said and Fawn had to argue that just leaving the plant at the site of her Mother and sister's unfortunate grave was enough for a life time. She would help heal other places such as the Barrens and even the Bog she had heard tales of. But the Ruins were a place she never wanted to set hoof.

"We are getting you over your past one way or another." The Jack Hop retorted as he jabbed a paw in her direction.

"My past is my own. Not yours nor anyone else's."] Fawn jabbed back as she looked forwards to see where they had gotten to.

This was certainly farther than she had ever been into the Ruins. The grave to her departed family was far, but not this far. Shaking her head and glancing towards the skies, she didn't much like the idea of rain coming. Giving a shake all over, almost tossing her companion from where he sat. With a roll of her eyes, Fawn looked around at the area. Seemed the path they had been traveling had come to one of many. Lovely.

"Should be set a seed to grow here too?" She asked in jest, but the Jack Hop took it more seriously.

"We should, the more that grow the more this place will stabilize." He mentioned hopping a small distance away to hunt for something in the grass.

She was going to tell him that she was only joking, but when he came back with a seed between his teeth. Fawn could only roll her eyes as he held it up. Here we go again, was on her mind as if she hadn't just done this a few times before.

Glancing back at the seed, she closed her eyes and focused. A soft green glow surrounded her horn as she called upon her ability. Reaching down she touched her horn to the dark colored seed and pulled away a moment later. The seed itself gave a small shake and pop as a green shoot rapidly appeared. The Jack Hop too this time to dig out a shallow hole and drop the sprouted seed into it and bury the already exposed roots.

"There, that wasn't too hard, was it?" He asked giving a bit of a grin.

Fawn on the other hoof, while getting better at her ability it was still a bit taxing. Shaking the haze from her head she glared down at him before looking away.

"Talltale, you are the worst there ever was. Even worse then Miros when I sprouted that seed from the barrens." she muttered, ears turning as if she had heard something.

They weren't alone, someone or something else was out there. They were close, but she couldn't quite tell what it was as her senses had dulled just a bit after sprouting the seed. Talltale though was seated up straight once again and looking in many directions. Turning some as his nose twitched, loudly he shouted. "Who's out there?"

[wc: 653]

There HAD been someone there after all. The buck looked young and his actions seemed to match it. Ears flicking forwards Fawn watched him as he picked up something off the ground that he had apparently dropped. This threw her off as he seemed to tear up over the water spilling from the container Glancing down she looked at Talltale whom only shrugged back.

"Why are you out here? Don't you know this place is not the safest to be?" Fawn asked though her statement will become a valid one in a short amount of time.

After she had asked her question, the buck started firing off questions of his own. So many in fact she didn't know of she could answer them all in any order when he finished. Shaking her head a little, Fawn once more looked at Talltale to see if he could follow along with what the buck was saying.

"Slow down. One question at a time" Said Talltale as he held up a paw as if to say 'stop'. "My name's Talltale, the doe is Russet Fawn. He started as Fawn gave a roll of her eyes.

"I haven't been in the ruins since I was just a foal. Even if this thing here." She poked at Talltale with a hoof. "Yes, that was magic. I can use Botanic magic to make seeds sprout. Even ones that are almost dead it seems."

Her answering of his questions ended as something else appeared between them. A scuttle scale by the looks of it, she had seen a few around, but never bothered them. This one started going off about something stalking them, well that was just lovely. Just what she needed to add to her day in the ruins. Also at this mention, Talltale vaulted onto her back to get a higher vantage point and looking around. His nose twitching quicker then before and ears erect.

"Dangers come in many shapes. And if Ayala is right, we should get out of here with haste and to Homewood." She said quickly, turning towards where she had come from. "I had told Talltale it was a mistake coming this deep into the Ruins, while meeting you Tsarine, but this thing that is stalking. Come on."

Picking up her hooves she started moving back down the path, stopping a moment to make sure the buck was going to follow her. She didn't know that he had a place here in the ruins, but if he had, it wouldn't be safe there either...

WC: 423

With the knowing that the buck was right behind her, Fawn took off at a faster pace, one that had Talltale clinging to her mane with her teeth. Sure it would have been easier moving with his own four paws, but Fawn was faster and he had no want to be someone's good. An ear flicking back as Tsarine leaped to the side, she too altered course and headed in another direction the weave through some of the larger piles of debris and smaller growing trees.

"Anyone can learn magic. You just have to journey to a large ancient tree. It is white as the snow and stands in the Barrens." She glanced back to see if anything was close. "Very far from here."

Looking forward again she leaped over a low hanging tree. A head the lines between the ruins and Homewood started to come into sight. Just a head was their salvation, at least that is what she hoped. Not much dared enter the forest and many noulicorns lived there that were stronger then her. Magic and even physically.

"Homewood straight a head, not that much farther." Fawn answered for Talltale who was trying to hang onto her back. He didn't really have the claws like the scuttle scale "We get there and hopefully whatever is behind us will break off and go away." This she hoped anyways...

WC: 230