Mocha's Story

by Mocha Star

'Deerland' (Dar'Ling)

It was cold. Really cold. I shivered as I woke up, I was still naked and regretting it, luckily I didn’t have a headache, but I was getting thirsty and the shrinkage was enough to make any man cover up. Shrinkage? Well it's when... You know what, let's not go there.

I curled into a fetal position and squeezed my eyes shut before I slowly opened them. The chills ran through my back and I saw a wall made of wood, like, a tree was growing around me. There wasn’t any light from outside, but the walls glowed. I tried to figure it out and saw glow worms squirming through the cracks and bumps. I turned over on the pile of long grass I was laying on and I noticed a doorway, covered with vines. More light.

The doorway, if it were open, was just large enough for one person, horse, or deer to pass through at a time.

I laughed internally as I uncurled myself and took note of my room. It was about the size of my old room, back on earth. Dirt covered the floor, but it was light and seemed added. There were hoof marks to the 'bed' and out the door. Nothing decorated the walls; no shelves, no photos, just the natural wood. There weren't any vents or windows, the same for any form of entertainment.

I stood tall, and with a slight ache in my back and a dull pain in my left elbow, I went to the doorway and pushed the vines away. Or, I tried to. I pushed harder, left, right, I knelt and tried to grab them from the bottom.

They were in the wooden floor and I couldn’t move them, but I slipped my fingers out of the room and it was warmer out there. I got the fur bumps. We called it goose bumps, among other things, but humans don’t have any fur.

I listened intently for any noise but it was eerily silent. Did I dare to shout for help? Do I wait for who knows how long? Nope, first I gotta pee. I looked around and didn’t see anything I could use, by my knowledge at the time. I realized this was a cell without any bathroom.

“Well, they go where they go. So, when in deerland…” I said walking to a corner and standing tall, I braced my hand against the wall, grabbed myself and let it flow. What? That’s how human men did it. Totally different than quadrupeds. Anyway, I finished and kicked some dirt from the floor over it before trotting, er, walking, back to my grass bed.

I knelt and poked it several times, making sure it was safe before I climbed onto it. It held a little warmth from my body before, just below the surface, and I focused on that as I lay back on it, observing the ceiling. Just the inside of a tree that was growing around me, I thought.

Several hours passed and I had used my little spot to go a couple more times, number one and two, just covering it with dirt and laying down on the bed. Begging for my captors to bring me food and a stout drink.

I heard hoofsteps coming, finally, and sat up looking at the vines, waiting for them to open, to show me some elk or deer, maybe a few moose, why not, holding spears and screaming their version of ‘intrel ptick’.

A young buck walked past wearing a cloak and kept going like he didn’t know I was there, his necklace clattered with every fourth hoof step.

“Hey, what the hell? Let me out!” I shouted. The deer snap it’s head to me in shock. It looked to me and then turned back the way it came. At a gallop. It left me in silence again.

Great, at least it’s gonna get help, or something.

I stood up and waited. Waited. Waited. I began to let my mind wander and imagined charging out of the room and using my insane martial arts skills to run out of this place and kung fu every creature I came across.

“Hyah, ha, haa, hwaaaah,” I said making really bad moves. In my imagination they were awesome, though. I heard hoofsteps coming at a fast pace and I refocused to the doorway. Smiling as a small group of three deer looked at me; their faces remained neutral.

Maybe they aren’t as expressive as horses, I thought as one of them reached with its long, slender leg to the side wall of the doorway and opened a slot. The slot opened on both sides, I saw a gem in it and with a press the vines retracted into the ceiling.

Her aides entered the room and walked up to me and one produced a necklace while the other mouthed me a blanket. I took the blanket first and wrapped it around myself like cloak, then I took the necklace and looked at it.

Gems and jewels as well as shells from some kinds of nuts adorned it.

I smiled awkwardly and put it over my head and let it fall to my neck.

The lead stepped in. She was wearing a brown tunic with green fringes at the bottom, yet it was only enough to cover her body and left a large gap from her belly to the floor. She was soft spoken in my language, but in a broken form.

“Hoo-nym. Why you no leave room?” Her soft feminine voice asked. I was frozen in place at the fact before me. I shit in my given room. I had no idea this was a room, not a cell. Oh yeah, and a deer was talking to me. What used to be common food back home was smart here too. I don't know if I'll ever eat meat again, damn vegetarians were right.

Why was a talking deer less impactful than what I’d done a few times against the wall in my room? Maybe because I had a complete mental breakdown right before I was captured. But that’s my only educated guess.

Anyway, I felt a sharp jab to my gut as I was ‘gently’ poked to get my captures to get my attention. I farted and fell to my knees letting out a hearty cough as the two doe still outside giggled into their hooves.

The leader backed up and, even though it was hard to tell, she was blushing as she looked to the ceiling. She looked to me again, quickly regaining her composure.

“I-I not mean, hurt you,” she said louder than before, yet the apology was laced with shame and sorrow.

She looked at me and smirked a little. "Come, I show you home."

"What do you mean?"

She stopped just past the doorway and looked back to me without turning around. “This land is home, you are in Collective, tree where all our knowing is held." She said it as softly as a lover asking for an ear nibble.

Sorry for the analogy, I didn’t mean it like that! Stop blushing, please, I didn’t mean it like that.

…

Well, erhm, so… where was I? Uh, deer, dirt, neckla- Oh yeah.

So, the necklace was enchanted to let me speak understand their language, without it I'd only hear them in their native tongue. Likewise if they took theirs off.

They were highly spiritual, at the time, and believed that stray thoughts were a betrayal of their deeper faith in the power and magic of the land. Yeah, they were. Were. Now they’re just a bunch of toad licking, fermented fruit eating pronkers that hug trees in an effort to keep them ‘rooted to the earth’.

Crazies, almost every one of ‘em. But back then, they were respectable and honorable; noble. Keepers of knowledge and some of the best librarians in the world. Creatures would travel the world to get a mere peek at the home tree to say they were there.

I was escorted from my room by the pair of doe and stopped when I looked a few rooms ahead. There was a sign that showed an obvious bathroom so I naturally facepalmed and groaned. I think I blushed a bit, and didn't know what to do about the mess I'd made in my room.

They must have forgotten I had the necklace on because they began talking about me in a hushed whisper. About the size of my manhood. Apparently bucks aren’t as gifted as humans are, and honestly, I wasn’t that gifted as far as humans went.

Don’t laugh, I had enough to get the job done and then some… You know what, it isn’t the size of the… Shut up! C’mon, I have a herd, I must be doing something right.

…

I met the leader... doe at the top of a set of spiraling stairs at the end of the hallway that went up for about two floors. Everything looked like it was grown out of a tree, or reshaped from a tree. It was really cool. The stairs were like roots that were just moved into place. Not really designed for feet. I got a few pinches and stubbed my toes several times getting to the top.

“Greetings, Hoo-nym. We are Dar’ling, this is home. Where Collective is, best in lands. Who are you, Hoo-nym? Name?” She gestured from herself to me.

“Uh, my name is Mocha, and it’s nice to meet you…” I led with her to give me her name. She cocked her head as I gestured to her. “And what is your name?”

She shook her head and looked at me. “Our name is Dar’ling. You understand, yes?”

“Oh! Your name is… Sorry, I thought the name of your people were that.”

“Our name is Dar’ling, you confuse us.”

“So, your name is Dar’ling or your people are Dar’ling?”

“Yes.”

“So, you’re all named ‘Dar’ling’?”

“No, We are Dar’ling.”

“OH MY GOD,” I shouted, “Who’s on first?” I laughed awkwardly as I put my hands to my head letting the blanket drop, “For fuck’s sake,” I grumbled as I grabbed the blanket at my feet. Apparently the thoughts of the size of my manhood were ‘hard’ to contain since they all looked intently at it. Yeah, that joke I meant. No! Not about my manhood. Silence from the commenter!

“We apologize,” she started, her blushing through her fur still obvious, “Our eyes betray us, we rarely see one as such as you. A male and Hoo-nym are rare, indeed.”

“Wait, do you know other humans? Any other humans here?”

She lowered her head and pawed the floor twice before she looked at me with soft, intelligent, gently eyes. I hadn’t noticed before how gentle she looked. She raised her head to speak to me.

“Hoo-nym, you alone. We help all, save you from Poh’Nee danger. Other human came, long time ago, left long time ago.”

"Great, so how long is- Wait, I wasn’t in danger from the horses, they were my friends. You didn’t hurt them,” I said lowering my voice, “did you?”

She shook her head, sending the green on her cloak waving gently. “No, we no hurt. We send on way. Tiny one, Lom, stay here for you.”

“Oh my gosh! Lom’s here?! Where? Is she okay? When can I see her? Will this thing,” I grabbed my necklace viciously in my hand and clenched it a little too tight, breaking one of the nutshells.

“No talk fast. You have many word. We, not," she said hesitating, "our name is Dar’ling. You are Hoo-nym. I talk for Dar’ling to Mocha.”

I looked at her and let my necklace go, the broken shell falling to the floor. They watched it fall in pieces below their sight, their eyes stopping where my… package was.

“Erhm,” I coughed into the air to get their attention.

“Oh, uh, We apologize for betrayal of eyes, Moh'ka.”

“Riiight, well; can you take me to Lom. Then, hey, where’s my armor? You didn’t leave it out there did you?” I asked incredulously pointing to my right, directly into a wall. I felt my finger crack as a yelp left my mouth. I began hopping in place grumbling while holding my hurt finger, then the blanket fell again.

Comments

[Americanwastelander]

Sorry i got to the newest chapter just a few min ago and mocha, you mad genius , are one hell of a good writer. Cant wait to see how his stay with the deer go and lom stayed Well that was unexpected though I'm starting to think that something interesting is about to happen and I'm look ing forward to it.

[b300mussolini]

wait a minute....*inhales deeply*.... is that plot i smell?

considering this whole chapter feels like a set up for what is about to happen next i can't really in a right mind point to anything and say it was a pro or a con. Next time i would include a chapter like this in with the next one unless it is ridiculously long 10k+, still it was a fun little chapter and i can't wait to see what happens next! keep up the good work

[Wintermoon]

This is such a great story. I can't wait for the next chapter!

[Mocha Star]

6490538

Thanks!

[Papa Oats]

Alright this story is already good, now its gotten better. Great job Mocha!