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Welcome

You stand at the mouth of a deep cavern. A slight breeze brushes past you. All you hear is the quiet echo of your shallow breathing. Suddenly, you hear slow flapping from the other end of the cavern. You're not sure what it is. For all you know, it could be some sort of a monster coming to eat you up, yet you stand quite still waiting for whatever it is to come to you. As you squint to get a better look, you see a dark shadow with glowing wings. Of the shadow, all you see are a pair of sparkling eyes. The right is sapphire while the left is emerald. As the shape gets closer, you see it is nothing you should fear, though the eyes send a shiver up your spine. It is a deer. A stag. Chestnut with beign hooves. Each of his hindquarters has a dark tattoo in the shape of a wing. The front hooves carry silver bracelets. Upon his back is a set of wings. Not just any wings. Both are powder blue with a touch of pearly white shine. Upon his right ear is a gold earring. Around his neck is a necklace. Blue satin. A gold pendant dangles from the bottom with the letters DB engraved upon it. As the deer's hooves touch the ground when he lands, they barely make a sound. He tucks his wings tightly by his side and stares into your eyes. They seem to bore through your mind. It's as if he's trying to read your thoughts. You can't help but look away. He finally speaks. What do you want? You step forward and put on a small smile. The stag continues staring through your eyes motionlessly. You look away again. You're here to learn about me, aren't you? Don't be frightened. I don't mean any harm. You feel reassured and look back at the massive stag before you. Come. Follow me. Stick close. You can get easily lost in these caverns. You pause for a second debating about whether to follow this huge, intimidating creature or to run. The stag smiles a little. You decide to follow. Well inside the cavern, as you follow the stag, you come upon a room. It is softly lit by dozens of little black candles. You feel the heat of the fireplace warm you immensely. The room is quite barren. On one side is a pile of hay in which the stag most likely uses to sleep upon. On the other side is the fireplace with many novels and parchment thrown aside it. The stag sees you eyeing the books and paper. I like to read. It's the only thing I really do. Draw too. I enjoy drawing. It's a passion of mine that my owner believes will do great things for me in the future. You just nod, too fearful to say anything. As the stag makes his way to the stack of hay, you follow, careful not to walk too close. He turns in circles twice around the hay until finally laying down, tucking his cumbersome hooves under his body. Sit. You turn around in surprise to see a huge, black armchair ready for you to sit in. Was that always there? you wonder. You slowly take a seat as the stag adjusts himself in the hay. Then, he begins.

My Story

It all began not long ago. I was brought into this world three years ago. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was my mother, Shira. She was a beautiful copper-colored hind. Like myself, she had wings. If I can remember correctly, she wore a necklace too. Gray satin with a silver pendant. Engraved upon the silver was the letter S. We lived in a herd of over 200 deer. All wore wings upon their backs too. The land was nutritious with plants and herbs. We never went hungry. Here I lived for a portion of my life. 6 months or so. Until it came. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was grazing a little ways off from my mother. She was chatting with a few of her friends. I strayed near the edge of the forest to get to the good grass. Suddenly, a scent came to my nose that burned. It made me dizzy and nauseous. Everything around me started to get hazy. I collapsed. Around me I heard the hooves of hundreds of deer running. Then I blacked out. When I awoke, I started in fear. A wall of bright red flames was surrounding me. At the time, I had no idea what fire was, but something inside me told me to run. I lept up from where I was laying just in time. A fire-blazed branch fell onto the grass where I was standing. I looked all around me for an opening in the flames. Off to the side of me, I saw a small shrub where the flames hadn't gotten to it yet. That was my chance. I bounded out to safey, but I didn't stop. All around me, flames were ungulfing themselves in the surrounding trees. I ran as fast as my little legs would take me. It felt like the fire was chasing after me. The flames were licking my face and it burned. Ember from the treetops fell onto my little wings. They singed the tips and it ached. As I ran blindly, all I could think about was finding my herd. Finding my mother. I felt alone without her presence. Finally, I stopped. I looked around and saw that I had left the fire far behind me, though the sky was dark with smoke. I was standing before a stream. As I bent down to take take a gulp of water, I heard a twig snap. I immediately threw my head up listening for another sound. Fear ran through my body. Hoping to have finally met up with my herd again, I jumped through the icy water to the opposite side. That was a big mistake. As soon as I shook myself dry, a huge, dark shadow came from the trees. I huddled in fear as three massive deer withdrew themselves from the shadows. The trio stamped the ground with their blood-encrusted hooves and formed a circle around me. I fainted. I opened my eyes and noticed I was laying on a heep of soft hay. Where am I? Am I back home? I thought. As my eyes regained focus, I saw that I was nowhere near home. Around me stood a crowd of deer. Their hooves, too, were covered in dry blood. Fear got the best of me again. As I was about to faint again, a deer stepped forward. I could tell he was a deer of power. Most likely the head stag of the herd. He spoke to me. Do not fear us. We would never harm a fawn. Especially one as cute as you. He smiled at me. The scars around his eyes scared me a little, but his smile brought comfort to me. As I looked around at the rest of the bunch, I could see they were all smiling too. As I stood up, the head deer spoke again. This time, to the whole group. This fawn shall be raises within our group. If any harm comes to him, you shall answer to me. Is that clear? The surrounding deer nodded in agreement. The head stag looked down at me. My name is Narq. You shall stay with us until you feel you are old enough to fend for yourself. Come. I shall show you the feeding grounds. I followed reluctantly. I wanted to leave right then. To find my herd. To find my mother. Narq led me to an open field full of grazing deer, none of which stood near each other. They were all spread out. I noticed how few hinds there were. As we grazed together, he told me a little about his herd. He told me how they were nomads. Never staying in the same place too long. They were a gang, you could say. They fought. A LOT. With each other. With other herds. Sometimes with different species. He said that was just how they always were. The reason why there weren't many hinds was because the female didn't like traveling so often when they had fawns to care for. I was nervous talking to such a mysterious deer. His eyes were so full of hate and anger. I wondered why he was so kind to me. So I asked. It is because I never had a son of my own. All my hinds gave birth to females or stillborns (miscarriages). You shall be like a son to me. Seasons passed and I stayed in the care of this deer gang. They called themselves the Hajii. Each herd member had to have the Hajii mark. A tattoo upon each hindquarter. I stayed with this herd for nearly two years. We traveled often and the journeys strengthened my bones. I grew strong and somewhat fierce. Many deer feared me. I feared nothing. Narq taught me to fight. He was a strong stag, but getting old. A year and a half after I joined his herd, he was killed. Overthrown. The new head stag was named Krunn. He was merciless. I hated him, but could do nothing. I wanted to escape, but knew better. He had guards patrolling the herd constantly. Unlike Narq, he didn't want me to leave the herd. With my strength, he used me as bait. Once a moon, he picked out the strongest stag and made me fight him. It was his entertainment. Of course, I won. These battles only made me stronger and more fierce. I was undefeatable. Invincible. Six months after Krunn became head stag, something happened that made me grateful beyond belief. I was finally defeated. A huge stag by the name of Grivith brought his horns to my throat and left an almost-fatal gash. Krunn was disgusted by me. For nearly a year I was undefeatable. He had found his new champion. Grivith. My wound nearly cost my life, but I knew it meant freedom. All the stags who left defeated were cast out of the herd. All the stags who survived the fight, that is. I wandered the land for nearly a whole moon. I was weak. The wound had almost completely healed, but my spirit was broken. I no longer felt undefeatable. No long invincible. The ferocity of the Hajii herd left me brokenhearted. I missed them. All but Krunn. I missed the feeling to fight. I thought freedom was the answer, but I was wrong. Fighting was what I was built for. I continued wandering for many more suns until I came upon a small village. People lived in this village. I had never had contact with people before. I saw a few while traveling with the Hajii, but never came this close to one. I was cautious, but still feared nothing. As I entered, many of the villagers ran to hide in their houses. They had never seen a deer to be so tame to humans. I stopped and drank at a horse trough. The villagers eyed me suspiciously. What I didn't notice was the man standing behind me with a gun. I went on drinking, when suddenly I heard a sharp click. I lifted my head quickly and saw the man. I had no idea what he was holding, so I stood my ground. Just as he went to pull the trigger, I heard a shout. I turned around and saw a young girl. She looked scared. Almost sad. Don't hurt him! Please! It was my owner. I was shocked at the fact that I could understand her. Let me take him in my care. There's no need to harm him. The man paused for a moment. Then, grumbling, he put down his gun and walked away. My owner approached me. There was no fear in her eyes. I stamped the ground violently. As she stood inches away from my face, I stood my ground. Ready to attack if she tried to hurt me. What she did next surprised me. She held out her hand and stroked my head tenderly. Suddenly, all the anger inside me flushed away. For the first time in years, I felt peace. Happiness. I knew right then that she would love me as my mother loved me. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The huge stag finished his story. You sit up from the black armchair thinking about how honored you feel to have been able to meet this winged creature. You finally speak. That is quite a story. Thank you for sharing it with me. The stag smiles. There is no need to thank me. I'm more than happy to share my thoughts with any soul that is willing to take the time to listen. The stag stands up and stretches him wings. You turn around quickly when you hear a low growl. Don't mind Thain. He's not too fond of strangers. From the door, a pearl, ghostly figure slinks toward the fireplace. You notice right away that it is an Ukali. A white one, though its body looks almost translucent. With blood-red eyes that seem to glow in the firelight. He's quite large for an Ukali. About two feet feet tall at the shoulder blade. He bobs his head side to side sniffing the air before curling up in front of the fireplace, tucking his small wings beside him, and falling asleep. You watch his side rise and fall rhythmically. He's blind, you know. You turn to face the stag who stares deeply into your eyes. This time, it is his turn to look away. Enough about him. Let me show you around. The stag leads you out of the small room through the many cavern tunnels. You shiver from the cold. As you wind through this maze, you come upon two huge stone doors. Engraved above the doors are symbols you've never seen before. [Image soon] The stag sees your puzzled look and explains. It is the lost language of the deer. I was taught during my stay with the Hajii. Very few know it. However, I will translate it for you. It reads, Those who seek power shall fail. Those who seek wisdom shall find. I live by these words. He pushes the doors with his hooves. They creek open slowly. Inside reveals a dimly lit hallway. You shiver again. Along the walls are icy blue torches that light up the long path. The torches aren't the only things on the walls. These are pictures too, edged with silver-blue frames. Below each frame is a small caption. This hall is filled with pictures. Drawings, all done by yours truly. The stag says this a bit smugly and you smile. He thinks you're smiling because you're in awe by his paintings. He puffs out his chest and stamps the ground lightly. Go ahead and look around. You begin to make your way along the wall, reading each caption and looking at each drawing. The stag walks beside you silently. [Images soon]

Family

My Owner (Tien) - My owner took me in when I had no place to go. She was visiting a village and that's where she found me. Like me, she's brave and artist. At times, she can seem a little insane, but that's because she does it to cheer up her friends. Sometimes, it's just because she feels like it. Though she's no Shira, I love her just the same.