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 Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 2:56 pm
 The little fawn picked her way through the dense underbrush of the Wardwood, gray ears perked up tall and swiveling as new sounds reached them. This was her first conscious experience in the Dreaming, and she was exceptionally curious about everything. As she dipped her head to nose at a clump of grass, a centipede scurried out of it, just missing her white muzzle and making her jump back in surprise. Her knees wobbled under her weight for a moment, her legs still a bit new to the world, but she steeled herself. She hoped no one had been around to see that; she didn't want to appear as a flighty, scared little baby. Holding her head high just in case, she continued further into the wood.
Babette was certainly not the type to go prancing through the wood like a happy child, but she couldn't help the small bit of excitement that coursed through her as she explored. Her little white tail was held high as she looked around, carefully picking her way over a very large log. She stumbled a bit as she shimmied down the other side of it, but managed to land mostly on her feet. With an irritated huff, she tucked her ears back and left the stupid thing in the dust. If only she were bigger...
Soemthing rustling to her left caught her attention, and she froze with her ears and tail perked up tall. A small flash of honey brown drew her rosy gaze from the wood in general to a nearby bush, where a little white tail poked out. A rabbit! She lowered her head a bit and picked her way closer, curious, before the thing darted off. She blinked, and felt compelled to chase after it. She giggled as she ran, staying with the little creature fairly well. However, as it bounced across a fairly deep but narrow stream on some rocks, she was too distracted with the chase to realize that she should stop. She fell headlong into the stream, fur soaked through and awkward limbs flailing in the water. Trying to keep her head above water, she panicked a bit and began to wail. She'd never thought of swimming, and she had a hard enough time remaining upright on land. Obviously, swimming was not going well.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 3:23 pm
 His stark white fur gleamed brightly in the dim light of the Wood. Each motion of his long, sturdy legs was resolute and well practiced. The buck drew his head down towards some brush, nosing at the leaves before taking a taste. Each bite's soft crackle rustled the plants and small gleams of slowly blinking lights hovered lazily from within -- fireflies. Aisling's piercing green eyes watched them hover, a handful drawing closer to him and lingering around his horns as he grazed.
A sudden, not-too-distant, splash of water cut his meal short and the white buck lifted his head, ears swiveling wildly. The fireflies gave his horns a wide berth. More splashes, lesser in size but quick in succession, met his ears. With a quick snort to the air, slight steam trailing after, Aisling's long legs carried him to the riverbank. A young grey fawn was caught in the current, flailing her legs madly with no sense of direction. Giving his head a quick shake, Aisling galloped further down the bank and entered the water, testing its depth with his hooves. It was certainly deep for the poor fawn, but even in the very center and its deepest his head was above water and he could stand upon the bottom. That settled, he began his way toward her frightened form that the river was carrying ever closer.
"Och, quit yer flailin'," he called to her over the sound of the water. As he drew nearer, Aisling ducked his head beneath the water and just as she began to pass over him, he stood and began making his way back to the side of the bank. She was now safely resting upon his back, no longer able to be whisked away by the current. A quick sigh of relief left him when he felt her added weight and he lingered in the water near the edge, turning back to look at her. "Are ye alreit, there?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 3:39 pm
Babette couldn't hear much over her own splashing, but she did manage to get the jist of the buck's message. She tried her best to remain calm, understanding that he was going to help her, but whenever her head would dip below the surface she would become frantic again. When her legs hooked over his neck, she felt a bit safer, and she tried her best to fight the just-strong-enough current and hold on as he made his way toward the bank. When her weight settled on his back, Babette let out a soft huff and let her head hang along his flank. How embarrassing!
Soaking wet and looking rather pathetic and tiny, the little doe avoided looking at the buck when he turned around to check on her. "Yes, I'm alright..." she murmured, eyes slightly lidded as she scolded herself. How could she have gotten into that mess? How silly.
She carefully tried to slide from his back into the shallow water, but her front legs buckled slightly under her weight while her hind legs were still in the air and she landed on her belly on the back of the stream. She let out an irritated snort as she picked herself up, shaking herself out and picking her way up into the grass again. As she laid down to dry herself among the grass, Babette glanced at her savior. "Th-thank you very much," she said quietly, peeking up at him shyly from where she lay, a pile of wet, gangling limbs and embarrassment.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 4:16 pm
Her response was quiet but appreciated. Aisling nodded, looking away to give her some privacy. It was clear the poor thing was soaked with embarrassment. He couldn't blame her for feeling right sorry for herself. When he felt her move, the buck knelt down upon his front knees to help her get off but it either didn't help at all or just caused an even clumsier result as she slid off his side and plopped back in the water once more. At least this time her head could stay above.
He stepped back, giving her space to stand. When she shook off, he leaned his head back and scrunched his eyes, but otherwise wasn't bothered. He was already soaked, after all. Letting out a quiet huff of amusement, Aisling set to work on pulling himself from the river water and distancing himself enough from the drenched fawn to shake and not spray her. It would take them both a while to dry off completely, especially without the bright gleam of the sun peeking through the trees, but being a little damp was well worth the poor girl' safety.
"Not a worry, love," Aisling sighed, stepping back towards her but still keeping his distance. A few quick sniffs to the ground, and he nestled himself down against the grass, same as she. She seemed a might skittish after all that excitement. Who wouldn't be when they were as young? The white buck could scarcely recall those days but he understood well enough that first experiences were often frightening and nearly drowning never stopped being scary. "If ye don't mind," he started, giving his head a slight tilt, "How d'ye get yerself inte that mess? Yer a wee bit small fer a quick dip, aye?" Maybe he shouldn't be putting her on the spot as such, but it was either that or the two of them would be sitting in wet, awkward silence for some time.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 7:21 pm
When the buck settled in the grass near her, Babette chanced a look at him from the side, before laying her head upon her gracefully crossed front legs. She huffed out a little sigh, disturbing a moth that had been settled in the grass in front of her little white nose. She jerked her head back up in response, ears perking up tall in surprise. The little insect had fluttered right in front of her face, but she still felt silly for being startled by a harmless moth.
The sound of the buck's lilting voice drew her attention, and she turned her head to look at him. Her ears folded back to display her embarrassment when he asked about the cause of her near-drowning, and she hesitated for a moment. "I was chasing a rabbit," she murmured, looking at the flowing stream. The sound was relaxing, and she let out another drawn out huff of a sigh. "I got distracted when it got near the stream and I kept running until I fell in."
Babette was quiet for a few moments before she glanced at the buck again, almost shy in the way she did so. "I'm lucky that you were nearby, though. I hope I didn't interrupt anything," she said quietly, as if apologizing. She hoped he hadn't been doing anything important when he'd heard her splashing around like a madwoman.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 8:21 pm
Their ears matched one another in posture when Babette jerked back. He saw the moth quickly and allowed his ears to relax, as well as his eyes which had become wide and attentive. When she began speaking, her embarrassment was clear. There was no accounting for a fawn's clumsiness. "Ah don't suppose it was a special rabbit?" Aisling jabbed playfully, giving her a wry look before stretching his neck back, then slowly pulling himself back onto his hooves. "Dinnae worry yerself, aye? Fawns've done much sillier things."
Her rosy glance was timid at best. She was a surprisingly meek thing, considering she went after a rabbit. Poor thing, she must have been absolutely mortified. Though, he noted, perhaps a bit too prideful to apologize directly. "As Ah say," Aisling bowed his horned head in an attempt to offer her some comfort, "Not a worry." After all, he was only grabbing a snack. He did wonder what she would have done had he not been around. This particular river wasn't one he was familiar with; who knew where it lead? Judging by the sound of its gentle trickle and lack of white water, at least it was a safe bet there was no waterfall for leagues.
Giving himself another light shake to rid himself of any lingering dampness, he glanced back to the soft fawn. Was this where they parted ways? It had been a while since he had met with another deer, let alone in such an exciting fashion. Did encounters like this have a sort of etiquette to them? And she was still so dejected, leaving now felt rude in and of itself.
Letting out a quiet sniff, Aisling took a few steps toward her and flicked his short tail. "Would ye like te see somethin' lovely, err...? Och. Have ye got a name? Ah'm called Ashling." Not exactly the most graceful introduction. He was a touch out of practice.
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 7:16 pm
Babette was mostly dry by now, her fur thin in texture and having no real undercoat. It stood on end because of how it had dried, and she looked a bit fluffier than normal at the moment. When the white buck spoke again, her ears twitched with amusement and she looked away. "No, I don't suppose it was anything other than an ordinary rabbit..." she mused, recalling the rabbit as best she could. No, it was a simply cottontail rabbit, ordinary in all aspects as far as she knew. This only made it even more embarrassing, but she entertained the thought no further. It was as the buck said; fawns were prone to silly antics.
They were quite for a few moments, in which the little doe resigned herself to merely looking at the grass around her. Every so often she would catch a small movement, likely a beetle or some other nearly invisible insect hiding just out of sight. Her ears would twitch occasionally as a bird called to another, or another small creature moved through the nearby underbrush. She had almost dozed off when the friendly buck spoke again, and she snapped to attention as if startled out of a trance.
Oh, goodness, I'm terribly sorry," she murmured, dipping her head and flicking her ears back. How could she have forgotten to introduce herself? A lady was always sure that a gentlemen knew her name, especially if he'd saved her! "My name is Babette. It's nice to meet you...Oshling?" She dipped her head again in embarrassment, feeling terribly rude for most likely butchering his name. His accent was so thick that it was a bit difficult to understand him. Perhaps she wasn't too far off? Though, with her luck, she most likely was.
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