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 Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:39 pm
 The wind whistled and whipped past Heath's ears. He squinted his eyes against it, though it still stung and made his eyes water. As bad as it was, he needed to walk into it if he wanted to smell any predators coming. And not too far off there was a stand of trees that might offer both protection and concealment until the windstorm passed.
As he walked, to distract himself he thought of the story of Starbuck and the wolf and chuckled to himself a bit. In the story, the trickster stag had hidden himself in a thicket with his antlers exposed, pretending to be a tree. He spoke to the wolf and tricked it into coming close, so he could thrash the Lera with his antlers. Heath doubted even he was bold enough to try a trick like Starbuck's, but the thought still made him laugh.
He tilted his head downward against the buffeting of the wind, his mood lightened and his pace picking up. He might not be Starbuck, but let anyone, Lera or Herla challenge him today.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:55 pm
 Naija had been grazing in meadows when she noticed the wind change. She had been smart and decided to end the sunbathing in favor of cover. The weather of spring was always wild and uncertain. It saved to play things safe. She had made it to a large group of trees just as the wind tried to grab her up and toss her around like a leaf. As she was upwind it was no small surprise when she caught the scent of another Herla, and by the depth it was a stag.
She was none too pleased to have one near here but one couldn’t afford to be picky about neighbors at a time like this. Still her ears rose alertly, and stomping her front hoof in warning. She hadn’t seen another Herla in a long time; she had traveled far from any herd to be free of their laws and rules. All he worrying was for nothing she was sure, doubtful it would be more than the lone stag after all.
Finally she calmed herself, the wind had he spooked enough rather than worry over some lone Herla. Looking to the ground she carefully started to eat the tops of the grass, might as well finish eating wind or no wind.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:21 pm
With the wind slowing him down, it took some time for Heath to reach the safety and relative comfort of the trees. Though he could still feel the wind ruffling his fur, it was certainly an improvement.
He started forward, deeper into the trees when--what was that? He took several shallow, quick breaths to get a good whiff of the scent. Another deer. Very exciting. He just hoped the other Herla wasn't going to be too territorial about this particular bit of trees. Being back out in the wind with the Lera didn't appeal to him in the least.
He made his way towards her--he was fairly certain it was a doe or hind by the smell--slowly and carefully. Heath was alert to every leaf crushed underhoof, every branch he rustled. Getting the first look at her might give him some advantage. And then of course he could retreat and pretend to stumble upon her.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:32 pm
Naija grazed contently. Her body protected from the bite of the cold and strong wind, now if only her ears were. The sound was lessened here but it was enough to agitate her and have her worried for lurking predators. Finding a flower she stopped from biting it, surprised really to even see it. Spring was here, but it was a cold and windy one wet and muddy in many places. Softly she brushed her nose against the little yellow flower, her eyes blinking slowly. In the end she turned to eat away from the odd thing.
Suddenly feeling watched she lifted her head her ears turning as she looked around. She was skittish for good reason; rouges didn’t last long if they weren’t smart enough to watch their hindquarters. Smelling the stag again Naija looked to see if she could find him. Perhaps it was him. Not seeing him or any Herla her ears peered forward on high alert. Stomping she shifted, her muscles tightening as she readied to spring away. She could hear nothing over the wind though.
She did not however, want to break cover for no reason. The wind was rough and seemed willing to grab at anything to fling it around. She hoped the birds were safe in this. She enjoyed the small things, their odd voices were always pretty even if she didn’t know what the twittered about so furiously.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:42 pm
Blast, the stag thought. He had only caught a glimpse of the hind before realizing she'd noticed him. He immediately abandoned his stealth and stumbled towards her, panting as if he'd been running.
"Sorry, there were hunters. Think I lost them." He stopped in front of her, head down and seemed to be trying to catch his breath. "A while back, actually. Didn't stop to look. Don't think they followed me this far. You should be safe."
This kind of tactic had worked before, but it had also failed more than once. With any luck, she wouldn't see through the ruse immediately.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:52 pm
Naija looked to the stag when he came through running. Frowning she looked him over, her ears flicking softly. “Man doesn’t go out in weather like this, even riding their odd creatures.” The stag was lying; she didn’t know why he would. Turning from him still frowning she gave a slight kick toward him. “I am not a silly doe that would fall for something like that.” Moving a little away from the male she went bake to poking at the grass. It wasn’t the best, but here it was pretty good. There were enough trees that it wasn’t muddy making the grass rot. If that was supposed to make her swoon over his bravery it wouldn’t work, stags and bucks played that game before.
Giving herself a shake as something went hit her; Naija looked up only to see dark clouds had moved in. Perfect. Cold wind and rain to be added. Her agitated frown turned tone of a sadder quality before she looked to the stag. “So, were you running from a tree branch or did you trip forward?” She guessed either something odd scared him to run, or when he moved to get closer he tripped so pretended to run. Both were amusing.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:03 pm
Heath lifted his head, eyeing her carefully. The hind had caught on very quickly to his lie. He couldn't help but wonder what gave him away, besides her observation. "If they're hungry enough, they do." He smiled, "But you're right, you're not a silly doe. It was indeed the trees; they're surprisingly strong fighters." He tilted his antlers towards her, displaying his broken tine. "This, for example, came from a fight with a very strong oak. You should watch out for them."
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:13 pm
Looking to the stag as he moved on that it had been a lie, she turned her ears back as he lowered his antlers toward her. Lifting a hoof she stomped, betraying her nervousness at the sharp tines pointed at her. “What stag is so foolish to run into an oak?” Well this one perhaps then, unless he was lying again which could very well be true. Or perhaps he was trying to joke. Her ears still back she took step away from the stag. “Are you a rouge then,” she questioned. “It’s only rouges that are near here and even then not many.” She would know, she had been here a while.
Finally the rain started to fall in big heavy drops; even the cover of the trees could do little but keep a bit off them now. Looking around she gave herself a small twitching shake before she started to walk in search for a thicker patch or a large tree that could shade most of the water out if not all. She did not look to see if the stag followed, his business was his own after all. As she did figure he would, she kept her pace slow and silent to listen for any odd sounds she could glean despite the wind and now rain. “Would you know of a thicker tree grove?” She turned back to look to the stag, brown eyes doleful as she miserably shook again.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:38 pm
The hind still seemed extremely wary of him. He supposed it was understandable, though. He shifted position again, so she wouldn't feel so threatened by his antlers. "Oh, the oak started it. He was a wily one. As you seem to be, as well. You have the right of it, I'm a rogue. Unusual, though, to see a rogue hind."
He blinked as a raindrop fell right onto an eye, and shook his head to clear it away. The hind gave herself a similar shake. Her fur was dark as peat moss, and she was actually quite attractive. Unmarred by scars, too, which was even more unusual for a rogue hind. Perhaps that was something recent, then. She started away from him without explanation, and he casually followed, slowly picking his way among the roots and branches. "You said rogues are rarely in this area, which leads me to believe you've been here long enough to know." He was about to remark upon the wet, miserable evening they would both be looking forward to, when he saw the look in her eyes. "I know there weren't any where I came from, so if we pick a direction other than that we ought to come across something."
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Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:56 am
Naija looked to the stag as he lifted his antlers again, she was a bit relived he had. She knew the dangerous of those, even a single tine could hurt. "I would guess that is a mock at my name." Yes it was odd to see a rouge hind, because it was foolish to be one. Stags had antlers, but a hind would never grow those. As they walked she took her time, each fall of her hoof was soundless as she shifted the leaves just enough to pass them, and twigs she avoided.
“Yes, man isn’t so far from here. A small number of them came and started to attack the trees. After a while the trees fell. The band I was with were cowards.” She frowned at that and gave a small leap over a rotten log. “One day the men got closer to us, they bolted into them in fear. Two hinds and a stag, but the men hit them with flying twigs. After that they didn’t get back up. One man, bright like some bird started making loud noises and when they used those lera like the wild ones to flush me out. The bright colored one made more noise and then the others pulled away leaving me alone.”
She had seen man again, but they left her be even as sometimes they did catch her unaware. Hearing the stag knew no place behind him for better shelter she sighed and continued on. Naija had a big dislike for being wet; she did not go willingly across rivers unless shallow enough not to go up her legs. “I don’t know any place either. I guess that means were just going to be wet.” Indeed as she looked all under the trees was wet, no patch seemed dry.
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Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:11 pm
The stag followed quietly, allowing the hind to tell her story. His mood seemed to have become much more subdued, though not melancholy. Her remark about him mocking her name confused him, but for the moment he let it alone. Probably better to let her grow more accustomed to him first, and let her take the lead for now.
"I'm sorry, about the others you were with. You were very lucky," he said. He hadn't heard of many, if any at all, who'd simply been left alone. "At least we're only going to be wet. Water dries." The comment was half light-hearted, and half serious. Sometimes one had to keep things in perspective, after all.
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Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 4:56 pm
“I had luck, and smarts. They were stupid and instead of running back they ran right in their group. It was their own fault.” It was a cold hearted thing to say but if she let herself feel guilty then she wouldn’t be worth much. Her ears perked and she looked over her shoulder toward the stag. “That is true, but with this wind it will freeze before it dries.” She hesitated, one of her ears moving back. “My name is Naija, and I am a rouge as well as you have of course noted already.” Her tail wagged before she started to walk again, brown eyes looking for a dry path under trees.
The only saving grace was that the sun was shining, odd but it happened. She would have preferred to go without the rain or maybe the wind. As long as she was being truthful she rather both be done with. “So then stag, why are you here and not with a band or herd? You don’t seem sick, though maybe you are too odd.” She gave a bit of a smile at that, still not understanding why he would be happy he broke a tine on an oak tree if that was what had happened.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 1:07 pm
He had to admit, the hind had a point. If the others had run towards the humans, it was their fault... but sometimes panic did that. An overhanging branch nearly caught the tips of his antlers and he had to duck his head to avoid it. "Weather aside, I'm glad we ran into each other Naija. I'm Heath."
"Odd would be far from the worst thing I've been called." He chuckled at the memory of some of the more colorful terms. "I didn't want to be part of the herd, they didn't particularly want me there, so I left. Now as for you, Naija, you told me about the little group you were with. What about your herd, hmm?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 1:45 pm
“So far it has been pleasant to meet you Heath.” An interesting name; could have been worse. She had once met a Herla named mud. As the poor hind was a yellow like color Naija could never figure out where that name came from. Unlike Heath she did not have to duck or move, the tree branches were higher than any part of her. Being asked of her herd she flicked her ears back but kept walking. “I didn’t agree with the leading stag. He wanted more than I was willing to give so I left. I am sure by now he’s dead though, he was old. Only reason he kept his herd was because he got other stags to fight for him.”
She would laugh if one day she saw them again and could see that the old male had been stripped of his title by one he trained. “I tried to get others to follow but they were too scared.” Not surprising but still. Walking more she finally stopped and gave herself a shake to try to dispel some of the water from her. When she did she noticed a cave, ears flicking forward she smiled inwardly. "That I think, is our shelter. Well, if you can fit in." Looking to the opening it was a bit small, she didn't know if his antlers could fit.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:11 pm
Without thinking about the fact that Naija wasn't facing him, he nodded in reply. He was very familiar with that type; the Lord with an abundance of sons, or simply loyal Outriders who would never challenge him. In some herds it seemed to work fine, if the Lord was a good one. In others, there had been clear dissent in the ranks. Many a strong young stag was rankled to see an old Lord with his antlers gone back. And unusual though it was, he was glad to hear the hind had stood up for herself, even to the Lord of her herd. That took nerve.
Upon her discovery of the cave, the stag grinned. For all his disregard of the rain, he would be glad to be out of it. "Better to be half dry than all wet." He motioned for her to enter first.
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![[Swift]'s avatar](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/ava/aa/91/6f968232491aa_flip.png?t=1301712830_6.00_11)
