The night itself wasn't the most enjoyable, Fawn didn't find her sleep too easily. Tucked beneath the uprooted tree, the strawberry roan doe lay curled up in a tight ball, tighter then she could possibly think to manage. She was out of her own grove and the sounds here frightened her. Ears flicking slightly at the slightest chirp of a cricket or rustle of the wind through the bushes. More then once she lifted her head to look around her as it felt like something was moving around them. When nothing presented itself, she laid her head down and tried to go back to sleep. And sleep she did finally achieve. Deep within her sleep, the world around her was a stark gray, mist rolled along the ground and around her legs. Past the gray din there was just black, no trees or anything that would let her knew where everything was. Her ears flicked at the silence as her eyes squinted to find something within the gray bounds of the dream.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Fawn called out into the darkness, but no answer came. Not to her ears anyways.
'Hello there my little one' came a voice to her mind, one that stirred a memory that was long repressed. One she had not heard from the first scant hours of her birth.
A soft glow entered Fawn's line of vision as it did the glow took the shape of another Noul. Her coat was dull against the glow, but the flecks of chestnut coloring and darker brown eyes shimmered. Fawn just stood there and stared at the Noul, not sure if it were out of fear or shock. She watched as the Noul, a doe, stopped within mere hoof steps of her.
"Mama?" Was the only thing that she could say as she looked at the glowing doe.
The doe merely gave a smile as she watched Fawn. Fawn was getting really confused as to what was going on. Was she still sleeping? Was she dead? Why was everything so dark? And why was the doe that had given birth to her standing there before her. Was this some trick on her mind, one that missed her mother to the extent she might dream of her? There were so many questions that Fawn didn't know where to start asking. She was just able to stand there watching the doe like a mirror or herself in the surface of a pond that lacked a ripple.
"You died, so long ago. Why didn't you run?" Was the first thing out of her mouth as tears crept into her eyes and pooled at the edges.
'I was very tired my little one. Carrying you and your sister had been very taxing."' said the doe as she looked away a little, sadness in her own features. 'I was no older then you are now. I was very young when your father and I committed to had children.'
There was an answer to that question, Fawn hadn't known the age of her mother. Her father hadn't spoken of the doe much, rather he would avoid the questions and talk of something else. Now it seemed that she understood, her father didn't seem that old either, but the grief and depression. Worse then even her own, ate away at him until he just gave in and passed to be with her mother and twin sister.
"Did you know you died when our home collapsed upon you and my sister?" Fawn asked, hoping that they didn't suffer when the quake had claimed their lives.
"I don't remember, my little one. I felt the tremors in the ground, but I don't remember anything after that. Last thing I ever heard was you calling out.' came the response from the spirit of her mother.
It might not have been the real answer that she had wanted, but it gave a little insight that perhaps that they had not suffered in the collapse. It was still a bit off putting that her mother would show up to her now, when all those years past it seemed that she was avoiding Fawn for some reason. Taking a step closer to the doe, she wanted to get a closer look at the glowing spirit. While tears had started to streak her cheeks, darkening the hide with their trails. Russet Fawn was trying to figure out what was really going on.
"So why now? Why have you not spoken to me until now? Had I done something wrong?" Fawn said, near shouting, her voice cracking as she spoke.
The doe looked at Fawn with a sadness, one that felt like it could last for more then an eternity. The doe came closer to Fawn and tries to give her the best hug she could. But it wasn't the easiest being a spirit and unable to really 'feel' anymore. Even in this dream state, Fawn's mother had trouble coming to believe she would never touch her baby again. As she stood close to Fawn, her horn lit up in a golden glow releasing a brilliant light and warmth. This light drove off the darkness of Fawn's dream and drew warmth into her astral body.
Fawn herself had closed her eyes against the brightness of her mother's blessing, when she did open her eyes again she looked upon the doe. Her mother was still the gleaming figure from the darkness, but now she could see the golden markings over her face from her gift. The markings were like that of the sun that wrapped around the base of her horn and trailed down her nose and under her eyes. Almost like she had been kissed by the sun itself and crowned its princess. Taking her eyes off the doe before her, Fawn looked around to see where they were, the darkness and mists were gone to reveal what she could only perceive as paradise.
The trees while green held a golden hue to their leaves and bark. The animals here were many she had never seen before as well as other Nouls that she could only assume weren't of the living. Why was she brought here? Where was her body? Was she even still alive? When she turned to look back at the doe who had said she was her mother, she was moving away from where they had been standing.
"Hey, wait up. You never answered me." Fawn shouted as she trotted to catch up to the doe before she got out of sight.
'There are limits to my presence in any plain. And you were so young then, I couldn't come to you without great consequence.' was the answer that was given to her.
This caused Fawn to pause as she watched to doe. This was something that she had never thought of, then again she hadn't thought of her family since the day she had starting having the flash backs in the Ruins. Was that what prompted her mother to come and see her? Shaking her head, Fawn started following again, trailing behind ever so slightly. This gave her time to really look around, the trees had grown thicker the glow had started to fade. They looked more like the trees of the waking world, even the sounds of the night started to creep into her dream.
"Where are we going?" Fawn finally said as she looked up to see the moon peeking down at them through the branches above. They were back in Homewood, the ethereal world had been left behind. Even Fawn herself found herself alone. Stopping she looked around, the wind rustled the bushes to her side as she blinked into the faint light of the moon.
Standing where she had stopped, she didn't feel like she had gone anywhere, but it was clear that she was not where she had gone to sleep. The warmth of her dream had ebbed away to be replaced by the coolness of the night. What had happened? Where was she now? Had she really dreamed of her mother? That world that her mother now lived within? Where was her sister and father? Were they with her mother in that strange golden world?
"RUSSET FAWN! What in the name of the Great Tree is wrong with you!" these words came from a very upset Jack Hop that sprang from the bushes behind her.
Fawn spun around and looked down at the Jack Hop. What had he meant by that? It was clear that they weren't in the same part of the forest that they had gone to sleep within. Really the area was much like the grove that they had left the day before. Only this one hosted a large tree who's leaves dragged the ground. The tree itself rested atop a mound of stones and soil, its roots reaching deep through the pile and into the ground beneath. For the moment she had forgotten about the question that Talltale had asked and went to look at the strange cave that was half hidden by the hanged bows of the tree and thick holly bushes at each side.
"Are you going to answer me or not?" Talltale asked again as he followed the doe to the cave and stopped for a moment.
"Hmm? What are you talking about Talltale?" She asked now stopping and looking down at the Jack Hop, reality dawning on her. "Come to think of it, where are we anyways?"
Talltale eyed the doe for a moment, wondering if she really didn't know she had just uped and walked off. Her eyes had been closed while tears had streaked down her cheeks. There was also the fact that she had been talking in her sleep while she was walking. He just didn't know how to answer Fawn without making things even the more confusing for the both of them. But he had to at least say something to try and clear up some things.
"Well, lets see. You were talking in your sleep, then you just stood up and started walking. I tried calling out to you, but you wouldn't stop. Guess you didn't hear me wherever you were." he started as she just stared at him.
"I think I had a dream of my mother." was all the could force out. She looked away as Talltale just stared in turn.
"We can talk about this later." Talltale said as he hopped over to the cave that something had lead them to, "Whom ever or what ever lead you here found a nice place. Those roots won't let the ceiling collapse and these stones are solid. The soil and moss above will shed the water and keep what is inside dry and warm." He said approvingly.
This was a fine place to call home, There was even a small brook that babbled now too far off. Nodding her own head, Fawn stepped through the holly bushes and into the cave. It was roomy to where she could stand up fully and not drag against the ceiling. This place would do, already there was a familiar warmth flooded the cave causing Fawn to turn around quickly.
Behind her and through the bows of the weeping tree, three glowing figures could be seen in the distance. One was a buck the other a sun crowned doe. She could only think of these as her parents, the last was a small foal. She bound around the pair and her laughter drifted on the breeze as a soft voice echoed through her mind.
'Welcome home, our little one'
Fawn just stood there and watched before the breeze shifted the branches obstructing her view, when they settled the three were gone. Shaking her head she looked again out into the silver speckled clearing before Talltale shouted at her again to come and get some sleep. Sleep was one thing she didn't think she could get, but she also knew she couldn't stand any longer. Taking a couple steps backwards she laid herself onto the dirt floor, one that would be padded with moss when they fully moved in. Fawn laid her head down on her tail wide awake. She wasn't sure if sleep would be possible, but sleep she did. Knowing that she was still loved by those that were lost.
WC: 2057
