We are Plagued (open)

[TheLionQueen]

"It was no problem helping you Loch, your very brave." She said before running towards the herd fast, "Devon!" She shouted running to her child. "Mother!" He called out standing straight his face glowing with relief and joy. Jade made it to her son and nuzzled him. "I thought I would never see you again." Devon said a tear of joy running down his face. "You don't think I'd go that easy did you?" Jade joked.

[Ophelia]

A small smile crept onto Loch's muzzle when he observed the duo, and slowly he trotted back into the midst of the herd, his head drooping wearily. "Siarra? Are you all right?" Loch's concern was well-intended, though it was rather obvious that, in truth, Siarra was perfectly fine - excluding, perhaps, shock and mental damage. Hopefully everyone would recover fully from this incident and learn from it. Loch himself felt a little wiser, and he knew now the extent he would go to to protect the herd. "Let's gather closer to the herd, shall we? I think it'd be safer if we stuck closely together, at least for a while." Loch wasn't going to openly admit it, but he'd feel better if he was nearer all the others. With such a large and now extensive herd, it was a good place to be safe, even if it also meant that deer could get picked off the edges without any notice for a few days. It was grim to observe this, but it seemed a rather necessary realization, in the stag's eyes.

"And Devon - Devon, are you all right?" Though he did not wish to interrupt the bonding moment between son and mother, he couldn't help but vocalize his worries. He sniffed cautiously at the White-tail calf, and finding no clear injury, he settled back, content for a moment.

---

Near where the puma attack had taken place stood a fawn, who was peering from her lean mother's side. "Laurel," whispered the White-tail doe, blue eyes flickering from side-to-side swiftly, "I think it is over with." From where they stood, it had not been at all difficult for them to overhear Loch and the rest's encounter with the fearsome wild cat. She had no way of telling whether or not the deer had escaped, however; but her senses told her that, indeed, they had made it. "We should get back to the herd. Quickly, my dear." The doe - Sparrow - nudged her daughter along hastily, and they bursted through the undergrowth into the main clearing. Sparrow nosed her daughter quicker, and they soon were in a run, until Laurel ran straight into Devon's side. "Oh!" her gasp of shock filtered into the brisk air, and Loch inspected her with narrowed eyes. "Pardon me," Laurel said pleasantly, her white tail twitching, whilst her mother ducked her head in embarrassment, saying, "I'm quite sorry. We overheard a puma, and I was in a rush to get back. You must excuse us." Sparrow thought that the mother and son looked rather friendly, though, and she added tentatively, "I'm Sparrow, and this is my daughter, Laurel."

Loch still seemed reluctant concerning these new additions, but he said, "We were the ones who met with the puma. Luckily, no one got too badly injured. I suppose we're just grateful none of us perished at that beast's claws." Sparrow seemed surprised, but when she thought of it, it made sense. They were rather close to where it had taken place themselves. After a few moments of silence from Sparrow, where a sort of prodding look entered into her light colored eyes, he said, "Oh - my name is Loch."

[TheLionQueen]

Devon looked into the other fawns eyes, "Umm...." He paused before standing tall and trying to imitate Loch, "I'm Devon. And it's alright, I'm totally fine." He said. Jade giggled before looking at the fawns and the other white tail doe, "I'm Jade, were both very lucky we didn't lose our fawns today." She said looking at them and smiling, "Seems like they had made new friends." She added before lying down the painful wounds on her chest from the beast had really turned bad, "Devon." She called. "Yes?" He answered. "Come , lie infront of me, I don't want any animals to see my injuries, they will think I'm weak and try to attack me." She said wisely as her son came over and laid down between her legs to cover the large wounds with his body. 'Bound to leave a scar.' Jade thought to herself as her sons soft spotted fur brushed the wounds.

[Ophelia]

Sparrow's tail twitched with curiosity at these newfound acquaintances, and she smiled lightly at all of them. "We truly are," agreed the mother, and she casually wander closer to them, adding, "I'm going to graze here." Silently she gazed around at them, as if asking, if that's all right. When no protests seem to arise, she carried on and began to browse, her lips pulling in the crisp grass, delicious on her tongue. Laurel stuck to her mother's side, but within a few moments the energetic young fawn was bounding, light-footed, to stand at Devon and Jade's side. "Hi! I'm quite happy to meet other calves, you know. I don't often get to play with others, after the move. Devon - that's a nice name." Laurel babbled, before awkwardly settling her hind haunches onto the ground; she looked gangly and ungraceful, her forelegs positioned at a strange angle, and Sparrow stifled a chuckle at seeing her child like this. "Do you have any friends, Devon? What do you like to play?" Laurel's light voice, like a bell, broke into the air, and her tail twitched furiously in cheer, her head tilting to the side. Laurel wanted to play with the little buck, but she didn't want to steal him away from his mother.

Loch eyed Laurel and Sparrow with caution, but with a curiosity alight in his gaze too. "Yeah, nice to meet you." Loch's voice wasn't horribly detached, but it wasn't exactly friendly, though in truth the bold doe Sparrow didn't even seem to acknowledge his tendency to rudeness. Loch stood sternly at Jade's side, protectively - when he overheard her words to Devon, he realized that he should stand 'guard' as well, just in case Leonidas, or even a different predator, decided to come upon them yet again.

[TheLionQueen]

"Um, I'd like to play, but I can't I have to help my mother." Devon said to Laurel. Jade rested her head on the ground and grazed on the grass awkwardly as she was lying on her side.

[TheLionQueen]

"Mother?" Devon asked as Jade stood feeling a second wind as the pain went away quickly. "Go along and play." Jade said nipping at her son playfully to get him to stand. "Okay, but are you sure?" He asked before Jade nuzzled him and grazed on the grass near her hooves. "What do you want to do?" Devon asked Laurel as he stood tall and raked his head on the tree near him acting as if he had antlers.

[Ophelia]

Laurel released a giggle of delight as Jade allowed her son to go and play; she dared to shoot forward swiftly and give the older doe a nuzzle, exclaiming, "Thank you so much, Miss Jade!" and with that, she pranced off after her friend, another laugh bursting forth from her chest. Loch even smiled as he saw that Devon had found another fawn to play with, and he laid down upon the grass beside Jade; it seemed as if he was going to take Devon's place and protect Jade from any possible dangers.

"Why do you do that?" questioned the tiny doe, her head tilted curiously. Her dark eyes glittered as she observed this odd behavior that the little buck was doing. "I've seen bucks do it before," she commented, something playful beginning to enter into her gaze, "but never a male fawn with no antlers!" Laughing after her own teasing comments, she nudged him in the side with her forehead, as if challenging him to take chase after her. Rising up and boxing the air with her delicate hooves, she took off, bucking out her hind feet as well as she tore up grass. She circled around a tree, hiding beneath some bushes, and hoped that Devon would play along.

[changa]

Siarra trotted over to Jade and Loch. "Are you sure everything's fine, Jade? I mean, that must have been awful!" She lowered herself to her stomach as she spoke.

[TheLionQueen]

"I'm fine." Jade said smiling.
Devon giggled, "Where did she go?" He faked as he walked towards the bush.