When Midas and Wesker arrived at Nakir’s shack, he was nowhere to be found at first. With some listening, however, they picked up something that sounded like moving dirt. With careful steps, the two made their way to the garden, finding the stag on his hands and knees.

“Oh, hello,” he mumbled when he looked up. His hands were in a hole that went to his elbow, and the bird on his head was covered in moist dirt. “Em, well, your Fawn seems to be underground.” As he spoke, he wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “It sounded ridiculous to me as well, hence why I’m digging. I may repurpose this hole later, but, no matter. Find your way into the earth.”

As the Fauns walked away, neither of them had an idea as to where to start. They wandered through the forest as they went, hoping they would run into an idea. Midas stopped when an something hit him. Supposedly, humans used to dig into the ground in search of shiny rocks to decorate themselves with. He shared his recollection with Wesker, who frowned.

Against their better judgement, and going with some information Eden had been spouting off about at the town center, they hurried toward the mountains. If the human-obsessed Faun was right, there was a cave system dug into the foothills of their mountains, hidden by overgrown vegetation.

Sure enough, covered in dense bushes and drooping vines, was a hole in the mountain. Wesker cleared the way and lead Midas in. They called out a few times, surprised at how far their voices carried. With how square everything was, it had to have been made by humans, right?

Something walked out of one of the branching paths, scaring the pair back a few inches. Squinting, they saw the vague shape of a Fawn, and immediately offered to help them find their way out. During their walk back to the entrance, the Fawn told them that they didn’t know how they’d ended up in the tunnels, nor how long they’d been there. They were just glad they made it out.

@Hawkeye

To their surprise, Quor and Laurelin were summoned to Nakir’s dwelling. He knew they had made their preparations to find a Fawn, somehow, but he explained to them on the way that their Fawn required special preparation.

“You must go into the forest and find berries that aren’t quite ripe,” he said once they arrived. He stopped quickly and turned around to face his guests. “They may be slightly red or pink in color, but the best would be gold or orange. Once you have two handfuls, bring them to the waterfall and squeeze them into the water.”

Quor looked back at his companion for reassurance that the odd task wasn’t something they’d have a problem with, but Laurelin simply sighed and shrugged. As far as he was concerned, each Fawn search was more unique than the last, and he never knew what to expect from them.

They set off from Nakir’s company quickly, long before sunset. Berry collecting wasn’t something either Faun was familiar with, at least not like this. What purpose would almost-ripe berries serve? Surely they didn’t taste good, nor would they make decent paints. Maybe it had something to do with their sour smell, or their bright colors? As they diligently worked, they spoke about their theories, never trying to expand upon the other’s. More than anything, their hypothesizing acted as a distraction from the monotonous task.

By the time the sun was beginning to set, each of them had a heaping handful of berries within the color constraints Nakir laid out for them. They sat down for a moment and spread them out, double checking their colors just to be sure. Thankfully, they only found four ripe berries. They split them as a tiny snack before they gathered up their supplies and made their way upriver.

Upon reaching the falls, they quickly got to work, making their way over rocky terrain to the water’s edge. They knelt down together and crushed the berries, rolling them in their palms to ensure they got them all. When they finished, they let the river take the remains from their hands and they sat back.

Not long after, curious sniffing could be heard from the forest. Quor leaned back to look behind him, too lazy to turn his head. Laurelin sighed and shook his head softly before he shifted to look as well. Standing barely in view was a Fawn, similar color to the berries they’d just let go into the river. They stood with their hands behind their back, eyes on the ground, and gently kicked a rock in front of them.

The pair were quick to get to their feet, greeting the Fawn gently. It took about half an hour, but they were eventually able to connect with them. The trio left the waterfall together, Laurelin in the front, the Fawn in the middle, and Quor bringing up the rear.

@Hawkeye

Rhea and Cinder walked to Nakir’s home in complete silence. On Rhea’s part, because she simply had nothing to say. For Cinder, she didn’t know how to approach a conversation. They almost ran into one when they found Nakir with a bucket that appeared to be full of various bones, furs, and were those fangs?

“Good evening,” he said plainly, as if he wasn’t moving a bucket full of pieces of corpses. “Your Fawn wandered out of the forest a few hours ago, but no need to worry. Go find your flock, they’ll be with the other lambs.” With that, he continued on his way, toward his garden.

Rhea perked up at the mention of her sheep, and was more than happy to lead Cinder there. As they went, she was talkative, telling the other Faun all about her daily routine and which sheep were kinder than others. Cinder, in turn, offered up information about her garden, what she grew, and the possibility that she could trade them to Rhea for wool.

With all their excited chatter, they almost ran straight into the fence around Rhea’s pasture. Waiting for them was an older ewe, and Cinder went to greet her as soon as she had permission. While Cinder was busy, Rhea scanned the pasture and laughed when she saw a crest poking out over a group of lambs.

Once they were inside the fence, Rhea nodded toward the lambs, letting Cinder get the Fawn. As she approached, Cinder stopped every few feet to make sure she didn’t scare away the lambs. It took her a handful of minutes, but she eventually found herself next to a darkly colored Fawn, too busy playing with the lambs to notice their visitor.

More than willing to wait for the right moment, Cinder knelt down and watched the Fawn interacting with the sheep around them. For the most part, the flock seemed to ignore them, but the lambs and a few ewes gathered around them with interest. Only when a lamb got too curious and bit their ear, causing them to jump up as they yelped in pain, did they notice their company.

Cinder helped the Fawn out from around the gathered sheep, introducing herself as she walked toward Rhea, who was sitting against the fence, elderly ewe in her lap. When they were close enough, she introduced herself as well, and said a small goodbye as they made their way through the fence and back toward the center of town.

@Kitti

When Laurelin and Quill arrived, Nakir didn’t look up from his work. He sat just outside of his garden, tools spread out in front of him. Some of them were brand new, while others barley looked like anything with as beaten up as they were. For a moment, none of them moved.

A handful of minutes later, Nakir pushed himself to his hooves and shook his head. “Nothing is forever,” he said as he glanced back at his garden briefly. “But what we do with our time is ultimately up to us. For the spirits we bring back, we give them a chance at a life they either forgot, or never knew.” He paused to take a deep breath, exhaling it as a huff. “Your Fawn is in a field of flowers.”

As they left Nakir to his bidding, he sat back down and returned to staring at his tools. Quill took the lead, remembering a field of flowers he’d passed through a few weeks ago. It was nothing special at the time, with small buds just beginning to form, but he was sure it had turned into something more. Perhaps it had even started to bloom?

Their walk was fairly quiet, with both of them too concentrated on looking for the Fawn to pay much attention to each other. The day was still young, making it much easier. What did make their task harder what the fact that all the flowers they found weren’t grouped together. There were small patches here and there, a few that grew between rocks or around fallen trees, but no fields.

Once the sun had set, all the flowers they had been following closed. Quill stopped and sighed, unsure of which direction the field was, or if it was even worth it in the dark. Laurelin did his best to get their bearings, but it was no use on a cloudy night.

Behind them, snoring could barely be heard. They turned around and crept toward the sound, finding a Fawn fast asleep in a bed of flowers. Each of them was in full bloom, petals spread as wide as they could. Quill woke the Fawn carefully, and helped them to their hooves when they asked before heading back to the village.

@Tacenda

Midas led the way to Nakir’s home, knowing the path a little better than the first time he visited the mysterious stag. Apache followed quietly, not knowing how to start up a conversation or if he should in the first place.

Upon arrival, Nakir was nowhere to be seen. Apache approached the door with his hand raised, but quickly jumped out of the way as it flew open, followed by several objects being thrown out. Midas tipped his head and made sure he wasn’t in the way of the projectiles.

As soon as items stopped coming from the open door, Nakir peeked his head out. “Sorry about the mess. I’m looking for something, but it just blends in with the rest of the house. You’re here for a Fawn, right? Head into the mountains, look for them blending in with the world around them. Now, where did I put that knife?” Just as quickly as he showed himself, Nakir disappeared and the sound of chaos was heard from within.

Midas nodded to behind the dwelling, and met Apache behind it. The bull looked rattled. They set off, Midas rambling off about his last adventure finding a Fawn in an attempt to calm Apache’s nerves. He was even a bit surprised by Nakir’s behavior.

Once they made it to the mountain, they took a break to theorize about what Nakir had said. A Fawn blending in? Did that mean they were going to the same color as the rocks? Maybe it meant that they had a pattern like gravel? Regardless, they got back to their task in no time. All the thinking out loud did nothing for them, and they had a Fawn to find.

An hour up the slope, and they ran into a group of mountain goats. It was surprising to get so close, and they barely paid the two Fauns any attention. The pair had a hard time continuing forward, but they knew they needed to. Daylight was fading, and it was too dangerous to be on the mountains at night.

Something red flashed in the corner of Apache’s eyes. He stopped and turned toward it, only to find another herd of goats. There was nothing strange about them, but when he turned to keep walking, he saw the red again. Two curved horns, tipped with red, barely peeked out above the goats.

Midas joined him before they made a quiet approach. As they neared, goats just moved out of the way and continued grazing. Tucked away in the center was a dark Fawn with horns instead of antlers, accented in dazzling red. The Fauns introduced themselves and then led the Fawn down the mountain. Midas led the way, making sure the path they took was safe for all of them.

@Hachi