Head dipped as it always was, the cautious hoofprints of the doe were spaced quite far apart, Willow picking her steps carefully. This was her home - they were the lands where she'd been accepted as a child. But she still treaded on them carefully, as if they were foreign and unknown.

It was respect. All living things should be respected, because without them the whole circle would die. After all, the Sun gave them grass. Sweet, luscious grass that was alive, no matter what anyone else told her. Everything was alive to Willow - the bark on trees, the leaves currently littering the ground in rich shades of brown and red. Even the clouds in the sky moved, which made them alive in some aspect to the doe.

She dipped her head, pale pink nose nuzzling it's way through the leaves curiously. All of a sudden, her head jerked back up, the doe giving a small whine in surprise, chestnut brown eyes flashing down to the worn which had come into contact with her nose. It was all...slimy. Nose wrinkling lightly in disgust, she twisted her neck around, rubbing the end of her nose against her creamy-white coat, getting rid of the feeling. It wasn't exactly a nasty feeling. More...odd.

Willow's white coat certainly stood out in the sun-bleached woodland area she currently stood in. And it was quiet - she liked that. Ears twitched lightly every now and then, listening carefully for any hint of another approaching, though it shouldn't be too hard to hear them, with the autumn leaves covering the ground, making a rustle every time she took a step.

It wasn't particularly predators she was wary of, although being an item of prey she had to keep a certain level of cautiousness. But Willow reveled in the silence of the woodland - it was pleasant and calming.

Relaxing.

And she liked that.

Willow wrinkled her nose lightly - that really wasn't a nice feeling. Her small tail flicked from side to side as she took a few delicate steps forwards, not taking any particular care to mis the twigs and such, the leaves crackling underneath her hooves. But it shouldn't matter much - after all, it seemed quiet here. Serene and safe.

The delicate steps her hooves made took her to a small patch of dandelions, Willow's warm brown eyes lighting up in delight, she bent her slender neck, aiming it downwards, teeth gently munching away at the treat she'd found, tail flicking left, right, left, right in delight. A little like a dog's, perhaps. As far as Willow could tell, nothing was wrong with this picture. She was blissfully unaware of the canine's presence, and she'd just found some dandelions.

It was perfect. Now, if only she could find another deer. A breeze had passed by a while ago, and although she wasn't shivering, Willow was rather chilly. All of a sudden she found herself craving company - not some arrogant bull who didn't know his left hoof from his right, but someone who she might be able to have a somewhat intelligent conversation with.

Her head came up again, the doe surveying the scenery for any hint of another deer's appearence. But to be honest, they'd spot her before she spotted them. Her albino coat meant she stood out in woodlands like this, while most deer around her were rich reds or deep browns.

No-one seemed to be approaching, so again she ducked her head, munching merrily on another dandelion. More for her, after all.

ooc|| I'm the same xP

She'd never known Dandelions could taste so sweet. Maybe it was because the morning dews was still over them, and gave them a fresher, crunchier taste. A slight purriong-like sound escaped her maw in delight, the doe keeping her head down to gather as many Dandelions in one bite as was possible. Now she remembered why she liked this herd - she got quiet-time when she wanted it, and there were lots of Dandelions.

Then all of a sudden, her ears twitched. Nose soon followed, her head lifted, scanning the scenery. Natsuma was hidden well, so Willow dind't spot her at all. But all her warning senses were going off, screaming danger at her. It was horrible. She quickly glanced down at the Dandelions, before taking a few small footsteps backwards, legs shaking slightly in anticipation, realising that she might have to make a break for it in a minute. But why? Willow couldn't see anything wrong, there was nothing there. Was there?

But the screaming of her senses - her ears told her they heard something, and as a twig snapped beneath her own foot, the doe yelped, jumping backwards a few feet. Her tail twitched, seeming as if it just wanted to join in with the rest of her body. Should she risk staying here? Probably not. But what if nothing was there - then she'd be running for no reason at all. And that was silly.

Calming herself a little, Willow tried to think this over logically. Her senses screaming like that most likely meant a predator was near. A cougar, or maybe a lynx. When she ran flat out, although her frame was spindly and rather feeble, she could probably out-run them. Although she couldn't keep the pace for more than a minute, and they generally had more stamina than her. So could keep going. So perhaps this head start would be a good thing?

With a little sigh to herself, Willow turned herself, beginning to trot a little unhappily in the direction away from Natsuma, speeding up a little, leaves crunching underneath her hooves. She wasn't going fast - no-where near it. Although she could break into a run easily enough if something chased her.

The crunching of leaves and snapping of twigs - Willow wasn't making that much noise. Fear flashed through her mind - her screaming sense had been right. Perhaps a little clumsily, she attempted to gain speed, spindly muscles working at their full to propell her forwards and away from the predator.

She didn't even know what it was. It sounded too heavy to be a cougar or lynx. Which left one possibility - a wolf. Wolves were the worst. Their horrible speed, and their stamina. Managing to gather enough air in her tired lungs, she let out a cry of fear, trying to get someone to help her. Unfortunately, Willow's shape wasn't quite as stream-lined as Natsuma's, so that slowed her down a little. At the moment, she was running full out - this was as fast as she could go, and already she was tiring. She wasn't the strongest or fastest of deers. Her muscles were feeble compared to others. And that really dind't help when it came to the fact that she was prey.

Terrified to find herself slowing already due to exhaustion, she let out another cry of fear - a call for help.

ooc|| Mine aren't much better, so don't worry >>

The sound of crunching leaves and twigs from the wolf's paws were getting closer. Willow willed her legs to go faster - her muscles were screaming in agony, and she couldn't breathe very well at all. Everything was tired - her lungs, her muscles, her legs, her head. Her heart. Maybe it would be quicker to just give in? She was going to die eventually at the hands of this wolf. It wasn't a pessimistic thought as such - just common sense. She was prey, and this was a hungry predator. It was the cycle that life went though. She always told it to herself, yet why did she find herself with such a strong will to live now?

Demanding her tired muscles to keep going, Willow slowed down gradually, as she knew she eventually would. It was very gradual, but also very noticeable over the period of time they'd be running. Soon the wolf would show that stamina beat speed, and Willow would be nothing more than a carcass on the ground. Not that anyone should really miss her. In her year at Misted Glen, she'd never really gotten that close to anyone. She knew the King, of course. But she'd only met him a few times, the only real conversation being when she'd joined.

Another feeble cry came, Willow giving her last hope to the cry, hoping maybe, just maybe there was someone close enough who might be able to come in time to save her. But who was she kiding? This was a wolf. With sharp teeth and claws. Deer didn't stand a chance. Especially not Willow.

The howl scared poor Willow even more. Believing even more wolves were beginning to come, the doe continued feebly to run forwards, not wanting to die. Even if it was the cycle of life.

But wait. Those fast snappings and crunchings of leaves and twigs had stopped. Willow didn't stop running, afraid she was being tricked or deceived in some form. But they were now...heading away from her? Unable to run any further anyway, Willow collapsed forwards onto her stomach, taking in lungfuls of air, trying to catch her breath. Every part of her ached, and she just wanted it to be over with. But wait - surely she should've been dead by now. Twisting her head to look back around, her ears twitched, as she caught the wolf disappearing into the forest. Leaving. ...But why? Surely it wanted to finish it's hunt?

Unable to stop the whimper that escaped her lips, Willow flopped onto the ground, just laying there. The onyl sign she was alive being the steady rise and fall of her chest, trying to let her catch her breath again, and heal her aching muscles. She sure as hell didn't want to have to ever go through that again, that was for sure.

Willow's senses weren't working properly - she had her head ducked down by her side, pelt shivering to get rid of excess energy. And because she was still a little scared. She didn't even notice anything else approaching - her mind had steel walls up around the outside ,preventing anything from getting in at the moment. Her ears and nose twitched every now again, but weren't working properly. Her thoughts were locked in, and the inside world was locked out.

She liked it. It was nice and peaceful and serene. She wasn't worried about anything. Nothing at all. There was just Willow and her thoughts, floating around in a calming nothing-ness.

And then all of a sudden, it was broken.

A dull pain hitting herself caused the steel walls to come down and the doe's head to shoot up, the pain suddenly becoming a bit more sharp. She gave a small whine, her legs screaming in protest as her mind gave the signal to get up and run. So she didn't. Simple as that.

Besides, what was it? ...A deer? A male deer - well, doe's didn't have antlers. Head twisted at a seemingly impossible angle on her neck, Willow watched as he sat himself down, stuttering. So she wasn't the only one who did that? Well, that was a relief of sorts. She always felt embarrassed when she did that.

Ears poised upright, Willow leaned forwards a little curiously with her neck, glad he sat himself down. She didn't feel as...intimidated. And at the moment, she didn't trust her spindly legs to hold her weight up properly.

'Sorry'

He was apologising? For what? ...Oh, right. He tripped over her. A dull ache in her side reminded her of a few moments before, but otherwise she'd have totally forgotten. She was too entranced by the fact that another deer was here - a real, live deer. With antlers! And he seemed to be of her herd, too. That had to be a good thing.

Feeling a little shy, but realising she had to reply in some form or another, her ears flattened backwards a little as she attempted a smile - it came out alright, too. A sweet little smile, looking quite at home on Willow's face.

His voice was nice - sounded harmonious and tuneful. Although she had to admit it didn't really suit him. But then again, Willow didn't really suit anything. So she couldn't comment.

"T-That's alright."

She was quite pleased with herself - only one small stutter. Deciding to test her luck, the doe went on, leaning forwards a little inquisitively.

"Who're y-you?"