Nadeem Tarak & Abhay

Astride Abhay, Nadeem entered the land of the Oak Prairie herd. He had been so busy lately that he hadn't been able to do much research. He wanted to find where the African Dogs had gone to, but figured it would be safer working with herbivors to start off.

Guiding Abhay to one of the larger oak trees, Nadeem hopped off and tied the stallion to a hanging branch. "You'll be a good boy now, won't you?" He asked, giving Abhay a pat on the muzzle before easing his backpack on the ground and getting out his notebook and a pen. "They say even the deer here are different... lets see what we can find..."

After Nadeem had all his equiptment out, he sat down and pulled out a pair of binoculars, scanning the terrain for any sign of the deer.

Abhay tugged at the rope for a moment before giving up. "You could have stopped somewhere with better grass, honestly." The ebony horse snorted, "If I have to stand here while you do whatever it is that you do, I ought to at least get something good to eat!" He continued to complain, pawing boredly at a few acorns on the ground.

Sassy,Kilamanjaro, Kanguskon,Sprinkles

Sassy:AFter watching her brother away she kept her three fawns by her side.I don't want you three wonderng too far from me I fear for your lives so please don't worry meShe said nuzzling each of them and then lowering her head to graze.

Kila the only male of the triplets nodded.Of course motherHe said and then began to nurse. He finished and then nudged Tyree so she oould have some milk. He loved his sisters they were so precious to him.

Kang:He stayed by his mother. He nuzzled his mother.

Sprinkles she listened to her mother and her ears went back and then nodded.Father is brave...She spoke.

Enkeli; Zulia; Others

Enkeli, a piebald doe with short legs, lifted her head when she saw the human. She stood still, staring at Nadeem. Snowdon and Kamir, her piebald sons, came up beside her. Kamir still had the injuries from when he was taken by the wolf pack.

Zulia, an axis deer, stood beside Enkeli and stared at the human as well. "Humans are odd creatures. He's just watching us." She said.

Tyree, Kazbek and Rosco, all mule deer hybrid fawns, watched from a distance.

Nadeem Tarak, Abhay, Guadalupe, & Starlit Dreamer

When he spotted the deer, he took special note of Enkeli first, and then her offspring. He scribbled a few things down in his notebook before taking time to look at the others. The Axis and hybrid fawns were of great interest as well, and he devoted a lot of space in his notebook for writting about them.

Guadalupe was nearby the group when he too spotted the human. The melanistic buck was black as night, aside from the rings of white around his eyes. "A human!" The stag snorted in alarm, flagging his tail up. Humans had always been the number one enemy of the Almuit Rune Herd.

Starlit Dreamer, mostly black herself, was another highlight of Nadeem's writing. "W-what is he doing?"

When he was finished scribbling some notes down, Nadeem took out his camera and began to snap some photos of the deer. He was very interested in getting some blood samples from them to determine genetics, but he couldn't afford to spook them right now.

"What, you think they're more interesting than me?" Abhay scoffed, tossing his head up, "You have to get your priorities straightened up, human! I'm far more interesting than those deer!" But despite all his complaints, Nadeem ignored him and continued to take pictures of the deer. He'd have to assign them each their own names later, in order to keep track of them in his notes.

Rosco

Rosco stepped forward cautiously, keeping his eyes on the human. Once he got within a few feet of Nadeem, he reached his nose out to smell him. He had inherited his mother's bravery and his father's strength.

Sassy

Sassye lifted her head and then watched him. She then watched rosco. She mistrusted all humans. From the day she was born they had hunted her family.She immediatly reacted to rosco's bravery and ran toward them and cut around between the two.Stay away rosco brotherShe snorted nudging him. She glared at the human.

Kila:he watched his mother and then looked to the human.He blinked.

Kangus just stood still.His little tail wagging.

Sprinkles.Mommy what is he?

Nadeem Tarak, Abhay, Guadalupe, & Starlit Dreamer

Nadeem smiled and reached his hand forward slowly to let Rosco sniff it, "You're a bold fellow, aren't you?" But the fun was quickly ended when a doe came rushing over. Nadeem pressed his back against the tree, holding his breath for an anxious moment. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm not here to harm anyone." Nadeem said quietly, his dark eyes looking up to the doe. He was astounded that the doe even came towards him, and even moreso that the rest of the deer didn't flee when the sensed him.

Abhay looked to the deer, bobbing his head once, "Nadeem wouldn't harm a fly." The stallion snickered, "No need to worry about him."

Rosco

Rosco smiled up at Sassy. "Don't worry. Mother taught me all about humans. She said that many of them are kind to deer, and some even give us food to eat. She said that if they don't threaten us, there's no need to be afraid of them." He said politely, swishing his tail. He looked back at Nadeem to see what he would do next.

Tyree and Kazbek couldn't decide what was more interesting: the human or the horse. And by now they were beginning to get interested in stags as well.

Sassy

she snorted.No humans are why me and my brother ended up being orphaned!She said pawing the ground. She said that to both the horse and rosco.I have no reason to trust any of them

Kila he stayed by his sisters.

Rosco; Kanuk; Zina

Rosco shook his head. "Not all humans are the same. Some humans have been very nice to my mother, and you're just as bad as the worst humans if you don't treat this man with respect!" He shot back.

A Marsh Deer stag came up beside Rosco and Sassy and watched the humans. "The fawn is right. Many humans are very kind to animals." He said blankly.

An osprey flew past the stag and landed in the tree above Nadeem. She stared down at the horse and man carefully.

Wardell & Fleat

The large stag and the growing fawn were soon on the scene after the human appeared. His eyes were narrow slits when he approached the group, not quite liking what he heard of the humans. He himself wasn't one to trust humans. They were creatures that were best off by themselves. Although he found his son's antics quite appealing, he didn't like the idea of having a human so near. Especially at such a time. "Watch--" he began, but was suddenly cut off by the young Fleat.

"What is that?" she asked, speaking of the much larger horse. Her medium body was prancing along after that, watching her brother come near the human. Her muscles tensed with excitement, dark eyes big yet bright. Her nose quivered with anticipation of the scents. By this time, she had begun trailing after Rosco, her large ears twitching in a unusually cute manner.

Nadeem Tarak, Abhay, Guadalupe, & Starlit Dreamer

Having the deer come to him was very unexpected, and Nadeem didn't know what to do at first. His eyes flickered to Sassy, seeing how anxious and aggressive she was getting, "Easy now, I'm not going to harm anyone..." He repeated lightly, pressed against the tree as far as he could go. Then he spotted the marking and a grin came to him, "You - you are Downy's daughter, aren't you?" Nadeem said with happy wonder. 'Downy' had been the name he had given to the doe that was Sassy's mother.

Abhay snorted indignantly when Fleat approached, "I'm a horse, of course!" The black stallion lowered his head, curved ears perked forward, "And, my name is Abhay. Thank you."

Hearing a flutter from above, Nadeem stole a glance upward and spotted the osprey, "Well, hello there. What is so unique about this place... that animals live together as they do...?" The man wondered outloud, before looking now to Wardell, "There is a noble one. I wonder how you all came togher?" Oh, if only he could talk to the deer and have them answer his questions! He could only imagine what they would have to say. But unfortunately, he could only study and guess.

While he was thrilled with the herd being so near him, he was anxious as well. Some of these deer didn't look all too happy about having a human in their land. And he had heard the stories of the humans killed by deer here.

Guadalupe snorted and dug his hoof into the ground, "Wardell, we should kill him." The stag suggested, "If we let him leave, he will be back soon enough with hounds and guns!"

Sassy

Sassy's ears perked true she didn't know what that word was but it was what some man used with her mother.She looked at him and sniffed him.This was the man who always lived with ehr family and saved her and her brother.She immediatly made to let her head go to him for him to pat her.No Guadalupe he is a friend..She said change of heart some would say.Then sadness showed her eyes toward the man.

Kila he pawed the ground.

Rosco; Others

The fawn looked at Guadalupe and shook his head. "What would my mother do? She'd let the human live unless he proved to be a threat. And in case you forgot, she is our leader. So far, this human has been good to us. We should be good to him in return." He said. It was more of a command than anything. He looked up at Abhay and smiled. "I've seen some wild horses before. They were being chased by the Shadow Haunters."

Tyree and Kazbek stepped up beside Rosco and watched Nadeem carefully. As they stood silently, Snowdon and Kamir ran past them. Snowdon nudged Nadeem's arm with his head, then stepped back to see what he would do. Kamir, his neck still bloody from the wolf attack, eventually ran back to his mother.

Enkeli's eyes widened in fear when she saw her son get close to the human. "Snowdon! Don't get so close! Come back this instant!" She ordered.

"Wait, mom! It's just a test!" Snowdon yelled back to his mother without looking at her.

Nadeem Tarak, Abhay, Guadalupe, & Starlit Dreamer

Nadeem reached a hand forward to rub the doe's head, "Ah, so you do remember me then! What a surprise this is!" He exclaimed in a hushed voice, not wanting to frighten the otherwise bold deer.

The black stallion lifted his head, "Chased by horses? Well, I don't do such things, you can be sure!" Again he snorted in disdain, "I just help poor Nadeem get around, because he is slower than dirt. Like my mother always told me, four legs are much better than two." Abhay informed, now looking pointedly to the man.

Nadeem remained still when Snowdon nudged him, but coudn't help but grin. For a moment, surrounded by all the deer, he could forget about the danger of the human-killers and man-eatters. For now, he could enjoy the rare side of the Valley that showed kindness. And all the while, he was making mental notes on all the deer's behavior, trying to sort out who might be who in the herd, and how they all interacted with each other.

Guadalupe shook his head, but took a step back. "You have a lot to learn, little Rosco." He had always been the friendly, niave little stag in the Almuit Rune herd, and even now he found it hard to stand up and voice his opinion to a fawn. "They will be friendly to make you feel safe, and then they'll shoot you when you turn your back."

Sassy

She nuzzled his hand and then looked back at gaud.Not this one! He is an old friend who saved me and my brother when we were just fawns before sasha found us!She spoke.

Kila the male triplet soon approached hte man his head up high.He pawed the ground and made head motions like an adult male deer would.

Sprinkles watched and stomped a hoof warily.

Kangus moved a bit closer.

Sasha; Others

Sasha and the warriors soon returned to the herd, some of the stags bearing small injuries. Sasha's eyes grew wide when she saw the human. She came up beside her children and stared at Nadeem with big, dark eyes.

Rosco smiled when he saw his mother. "Mama! How did the fight go?" He shouted. Sasha sighed and said nothing, signaling that they were not victorious.

Everest, a large, majestic mule deer, kept his distance from the human. "Kill him now! End his life before he ends ours!" He shouted, shaking his antlers. Meru shook his head. "No. He has been kind to us, so we should be kind to him." The axis deer snorted.

Sassy & Sprinkles

Sassy glared at everest.Shut up everest he is my friend and i will stand between anyone who dare try to hurt himShe snorted.

Sprinkles when sasha returned she ran to him.

Sasha! Sasha!She cried.my papa was stolen. He saved another fawns life but he has to stay with the ones who took him!She cried out.

Sasha

Sasha snorted at Sassy and Everest. "I will not have any of this fighting within my herd. Both of you need to soften your tones and try a little respect." She said sternly.

Everest shook his head. "I'm just trying to protect you. At least tell the human to keep his distance!" He shot back.

Sasha looked down at Sprinkles. "Alright, we will get your father back. But this time I cannot go. I must stay here with the fawns this time." She nodded to the stags. "You must retrieve Chido."

Everest snorted. "And leave the does here with the human?" He said, but turned around and looked at Sprinkles. "Alright, where is he?"

Sprinkles

She listened her ears flicked.Im not sure, He came and returned kamir and said farewell to aunty and us and that one day he would return and that if he leaves we'll all be killed!She cryed out.

Sassy:She snorted.Your being over protectiveShe snorted her tail flicked.