//------------------------------// // Chapter 20; Oh Deer // Story: The Wander Through Lands Unknown // by Tomas Lutwig //------------------------------// I sat motionless, only the slow inhale and exhale signaling me as a living, or unliving, being. I waited and watched as a cockatrice sat on it's nest. Reptilian tail curled up around the eggs. A large rock was in my hand, waiting. The creature's form was poised, ready to move at any sound, alertness caused by the sound of a twig breaking, though not under my boot. A fawn had been wandering in the forest and caught by the cockatrice's stone turning stare. Inwardly, I prayed. I prayed that the two minotuar who taught me were right and that by killing this beast, the fawn would be free. I couldn't say if it was a sentient being, but the thought of being stuck in stone again angered me... no it enraged me. The thoughts, or dreams that doe must be having. At last, the cockatrice lowered it's head, thankfully leaving it's newly caught meal for a later time. It was then I pitched the rock I had found, and it flew true, right into the creature's skull making a satisfying crunch as cockatrice made a strange half clucking noise in dying. Looking to the eggs of the creature, I thought for a while about keeping them, possibly trying to cook them or raise a pet. Shaking my head I walked over crushing them under my boot and with a sticky sound they were nothing more than goo and eggshells. The sound of crumbling stone caught my attention making me look to the doe, who was slowly turning back into flesh and blood. I rushed over when the doe started to topple with a groan as it's legs turned. The doe shook it's head blinking a few times, “Are you alright?” I asked making it look up at me. Shock overtook it's features as it backed up stuttering for a moment. “Whoa, whoa, calm down, you're fine” I said, trying to soothe the animal who looked like it was in the middle of having a panic attack. The fawn looked over at the now dead cockatrice before looking back at me and pointing with a hoof, “D-did you free me?” she asked to which I nodded. The fawn started to take deep breaths looking again at the cockatrice's prone form. Slowly, it approached the corpse. “Thank you” she said turning back to me, tears forming in her eyes. “Not a problem” I said waving my hand in a dismissive motion. “Are you alright though?” I asked. The fawn looked down at her hooves and then back to her tail which she wiggled a bit before looking back at me. “I- I think so” she said. Slowly she approached bowing her head. “My name is Birch” I bowed back, “I am the Wanderer, it's a pleasure to meet you Birch” I said raising my head back up. “Are you alright to get home?” I asked giving a concerned look to the fawn. A blush of embarrassment ran across her cheeks, “I um...” she started before settling on simply shaking her head and looking away. I nodded in understanding, “Do you not know the way? Or is the thing that made you rush in here so fast still out there?” I asked. “Oh, I-I know the way, but...” she started again. She looked back at the forest with a look of fear written on her face. I stood up, popping my knee, the pain of being on it for the whole conversation getting to me. The motion made her have to look up at my face which was cause for a fearful look at me. “Alrighty, you tell me where to go, I'll get you there safely. Deal?” I said, a smile on my face as I leaned on my spear. “O-okay” Birch said, obviously still reluctant to head in the direction of what had scared her. With a little, or a lot, of coaxing, we started towards the town she called 'Thicket'. After a minute or two, I noticed the fur on her back was on end and her head was darting at everything. 'You think living somewhere near here she would be more accustomed to this place' I thought, mind wandering to the Cutiemark Crusaders who came into the forest to visit Zecora, well or at least Applebloom did. Looking around the forest I heard a strange sound coming from up ahead, stopping I motioned for us to hide as the sound approached, though Birch didn't seem to get the message as she looked like she was ready to bolt. Looking up, I planted my spear in the ground and grabbed a low hanging branch of a nearby tree and wrapped my legs around it, hanging down by my legs grabbed the fawn by her forelegs and lifted her up, setting her down on a thicker branch, with a bit of difficulty. Once she was settled so she wouldn't fall, I grabbed the spear and pulled it up to me righting myself in the tree. The strange sound continued to approach, revealing itself to be a small pack of timber wolves. My eyes went wide as the three of them started sniffing around. 'They don't breathe do they?' I questioned mentally as they started looking around. 'C'mon just keep going' I prayed, watching intently as they circled the tree. Readying myself if they looked up. I let out a quiet breath as they started towards where we had come from. 'Well I guess I didn't think of doing anything with that cockatrice' I thought before looking back to Birch who was still shaking. Throwing my spear butt first into the earth below, I offered a hand to the fawn who simply looked at me for a moment before grabbing onto it awkwardly with her forelegs. Letting her down gently, I then got out myself before retrieving my weapon. “Alright, we need to be quiet” I whispered “They'll probably be occupied with the cockatrice so we should be able to get away before they realize” I finished. Birch nodded terrified following me closely. After a short time she started to visibly calm down, until we reached a small clearing. “Ah! My potion!” she said rushing forward towards what looked like a those necklaces you see on search dogs in mountains. She hugged it tightly to her chest for a moment before tying it around her neck. Undoing the latch she looked inside and yipped with glee seeing the light blue liquid inside. I raised an eyebrow at the doe, but followed her watching as she re-latched her necklace. Turning around with a smile, “Alright, this way” she said, happiness evident on her face. There was little other issue as she led me through the forest to her home. A few noises made her jump, but they just turned out to be small animals that came through some stopping and talking with the fawn, much to my surprise. “Here we are!” She said after a while motioning to large gates surrounded that seemed to be build into the trees with lights surrounding it. Large tree houses shown behind the ginormous gates that still towered over the other trees that looked to act as a wall to keep out intruders. “This is Thicket!” Birch said after a moment of my awe inspired silence. “Wanderer?” she asked finally pulling me from my stupor by pulling lightly on my pant leg. “Oh yes, it's very beautiful” I said looking down at the fawn before kneeling down next to her. “Are you good f-” I started only for the gates to start opening and a deer in blue armor flanked by a doe who Birch resembled to a T. “Birch!” The older doe called out only for her fawn to nearly be upon her in tears. “Mom!” she said clutching her mother's legs as if life was threatening to separate them again. I looked at the sight, happiness in my eyes only for the male wearing armor to approach me. I stood back up and removed the ring of fog, replacing it in my pouch, as the stag arrived. “I see you have brought the lost fawn back to us stranger, we were worried something might of happened. Thank you for returning her to us” he said before bowing his head in greeting. “My name is Hemlock welcome to Thicket” “I am the Wanderer,” I said returning his bow like I had before. “Think nothing of it, just make sure to pay more mind to her. She was attacked by a cockatrice as well as a small pack of timberwolves.” I finished seeing his shocked face. “I see” Hemlock said worry staining his voice. “This may be an issue then. The Timberwolves and a few of the other beasts of the forest have been getting rather aggressive lately. This is not unusual for ponies who enter the forest, but for them to attack us, who live with them here, is extremely strange” The stag motioned for me to follow him, “Come, it may be wise for you to speak to King Aspen of this” he said making my eyebrow rise. 'A king? Why have I never heard of this King Aspen?' I thought hesitantly following Hemlock. Thicket was definitely a lively town, deer of all shapes and sizes trotted around chatting with one another while I followed Hemlock. It wasn't long before Birch and her mother caught up with the two of us, Birch thanking me for helping her get home and her mother doing the same. “It was my pleasure” I said again smiling at the two, “Just make sure you're careful out there alright Birch?” I said, not losing my happy tone while waving a finger at her. The fawn nodded smiling up at me before Hemlock caught my attention making me give goodbyes to the two doe. The sight of me around the town was catching quite a lot of attention from the other deer, making me silently wish I could put my ring of fog back on and disappear, though I dismissed the thought. “You seemed to handle the little one well.” I heard Hemlock say dragging me away from my thoughts. “She is normally very skittish” he explained when I game him a look of confusion. I shrugged “Saving someone normally does give at least a little trust from what I understand” I said “Makes as much sense as anything else in this crazy world” I said after he returned my questioning look. A chuckle escaped him “I suppose that's true enough. Have a few fawns of my own who think I'm their hero for getting them out of a hole in the ground. I can imagine how Birch must see you now, deer or not.” he said before looking me over again. “What are you exactly? I don't mean to be rude, but I've never seen something quite like you in the Everfree forest” he started. I waved a hand dismissively, “Don't worry about it, there aren't really many, if any, of my kind around” I said. “I'm human” 'Or I was, I'm an undead human now, but semantics' I thought. “Can't say I've ever heard of a 'hooman' before, but if you're willing to help one of us then I see no issue with you” Hemlock said with a smile as we closed in on the base of a large tree. He opened the large doors leading to a spiral staircase that lead to a naturally decorated empty room. Flora hung on the walls with small flowers blooming on it. “If you'll wait here for a moment, I'll go in and explain the situation to King Aspen.” he said, inciting a nod from me. The stag left through another pair of large doors. 'Huh, maybe it's a custom of these deer to have large doors?' I thought before remembering the oversized doors that the ponies had in the Canterlot castle and the older castle ruins I had been in not long ago. 'Maybe it's a royalty thing?' I guessed putting a hand up to my chin. “Wanderer, the King is ready for you.” I heard making me look back to find Hemlock standing in what was basically the large doors cracked just enough for my entrance. I walked towards the door as Hemlock stepped back allowing me through into a large room though less decorated with flora than the room before, though still quite stunning. The tree's natural grain gave it a unique look with different pattern made on the walls. As we came closer I noticed a decorated white and tan stag, his horns having small gold clasps at the bottom matching his gold boots and a similar necklace that the other deer had though more decorated with a bright red heart shape with a cap at the top for a liquid that swished inside as he moved. A young deer sat next to him on a cushion, looking older than Birch by a few years. Hemlock stopped a couple feet in front of the pair making me follow suit as he lowered his head, “My King, this is the being I told you of.” He said. The decorated stag looked at me as I bowed, “My guard here tells me you saved a doe that had become lost in the forest, not only from a pack of timberwolves, but also a cockatrice. Is this true?” He asked raising an eyebrow. “Yes M'lord” I said simply looking back up at him. The young deer next to the King gave me a scrutinizing eye, but I ignored him. “I thank you on then. Not many would be able to take on timberwolves let alone a whole pack, and the cockatrice's stare was feared even by us when we were on good terms with the creatures” He said rising from the pillow he rested on. “I have been hearing multiple reports of some of the animals of the Everfree becoming rather, agitated with us when we left Thistle. Even some attacking a zebra friend of ours who visits causing quite a bit of distress for her” He said turning to a window behind him looking out on the landscape. “Maybe we should send some warriors out to find out what is causing the problem?” The young deer said looking back at the King. I raised an eyebrow at this, but assumed him a son or something. The older deer shook his head. “We need all the warriors we have for protecting our town.” the King said, an almost teaching or fatherly tone entering his voice. “But” he said turning back to me. “Perhaps we have a Wanderer willing to lend us aid once more?” I looked at him surprised for a second before regaining my composure. “I have no issue with it M'lord” I said bowing my head again gaining a look of surprise from the small deer and a small smile from the older. “Again we thank you Wanderer, I will have Blackthorn give you the details” King Aspen said before summoning another deer, dressed similarly to Hemlock, though in red armor and disappointingly not black. “Blackthorn, please work with our guest here, he will be aiding us in dealing with the issue the creatures have” The stag warrior looked me over for a moment before bowing his head in greeting. “Please follow me” he said leading me to a smaller adjacent room. A large map of the Everfree Forest was on the wall with numerous maps of the surrounding areas laid out on a table beneath it. “Alright Wanderer, This is where the animals and creatures first started to cause problems for us a few months ago...” The walk to the strange place that Blackthorn had sent me to was a long one, but luckily he allowed Hemlock to lead me to the area before heading back to the town, so I wasn't completely lost. Creatures had started becoming scarce though, even timberwolves and the stupid stone turning half chickens who had started this problem in the first place. The closer I got to whatever was causing the issue though, it seemed the quicker things started to change. The relatively normal looking trees grew in misshapen and black, some even having strange red growths. Unease crept upon me, making me want to turn and run from whatever this thing was, but something else inside me was drawn to it. Curious what could cause this, corruption?, I pressed on, clutching my spear. Fear gnawed at my gut as I seemed to find darkest part of the forest, but instead of some evil waiting for me, a pendant laid on the blackened dirt. Confusion echoed in my mind as I approached the small item to closer examine it. 'Stone?' I thought kneeling down to pick it up. The stone pendant seemed to have a strange marking on it that had an orange or red paint or dye put on part of it, but the bottom half of the pendant was destroyed making the marking give nothing up to meaning behind it. The stone was wearable through an old piece of vine that was wrapped around a part that jutted out from the top of the pendant. A feeling of strange familiarity washed over me as I examined the bauble. I looked at my surroundings, having heard a strange noise that made me question the sanity of coming here alone. Tucking the broken stone pendant into my pouch, I quickly made my way out of the blackened forest before whatever was making noise decided to come for me. “Hopefully King Aspen will know what to do about this” I muttered to myself.