FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Depth's of Winters Embrace

Chapter Three

© Cederwyn Whitefurr

9thOctober, 2021

All Rights Reserved.

I took my time, as I promised, teaching this young anthropomorphic buck many things. Some he failed to grasp and understand - whether that was a fault in my teachings or just because of who and what he was, I did not know.

One thing I had noticed, he did not grow hungry, nor tired - as I rested on a snow covered log and placed my paws on my knees, he stood attentively, gazing around him with the sweet innocence of child-like wonder and amazement.

He'd come ahead in leaps and bounds in the month we had spent together, his insatiable appetite for knowledge almost unquenchable. I adored him, loved him and cherished him. No more did that voice inside my mind tell me I would forever be without love and laughter in my life - his presence brought so much to me, I thought I would surely be overwhelmed by it.

His fur was as soft and delicate as a newborn fawn, yet cool to the touch as was the rest of him. Unlike me, he seemed to thrive in the cold, especially outdoors where he would run and play in the snow like it was the most amazing experience he had ever had. Maybe it was...

He doted on me, my whims were his command, but I never treated him like a pet, if anything, I tried so hard to be kind yet firm when I needed to be - like that night where I had slapped him like a child...

*

It had been nearly a fortnight, since he had come into being, and I sat before the fireplace, the stag staring at me, enraptured. His curiosity aroused, he'd reached out with his paw towards the fire, eyes wide and reflecting the firelight. I had squealed then slapped his paw sharply, feeling him flinch backwards and begin to cry. I instantly hated herself for it, as tears welled in his eyes and when they crystallised and fell to the ground, they shattered like glass before dissolving into puddles.

"No, young one - " I had tried to be patient, but my fear filled me - knowing what he was made from, I was terrified he would be seriously hurt by the crackling fires. "You must not touch! You are made from elemental magicks of water!"

Sniffling, he'd stared at me, clutching his paw to his chest almost like a child as he rubbed at it.

"Water and fire are opposing elements - too much water will quench fire, but too much fire can transform water into steam. I do not know what it would do to you, but I fear the pain and shock of it would frighten and hurt you!"

"I do not understand - " He sniffled, feeling chastised and scared because she had struck him.

My heart breaking, I pulled him close and he embraced me, burying his head against my neck as he wept. Soothingly, I cuddled him and caressed his back until at last, his sniffles quietened and he leaned backwards to look into my eyes.

"Did I do wrong?"

I bit my lip, before I shook my head.

"No, young one, it is I who failed you. It was not your fault, forgive me, please! I forget that which you are, you do not think or even know, how and what _that_is. Please, may I demonstrate in a safer way?"

He blinked and gently disengaged from my embrace, sitting on my bed. I put a small ladle of water into a iron bowl and held it out to him.

"This is water..."

He gazed down at it, then curiously, touched it with a hooflet. Almost instantly, the water turned to solid ice and he squealed, cringing backwards as if expecting to be punished again.

"That...was unexpected, but easy young one. Yes, I should have guessed, as I am warm, hot blooded even - because of what makes up me - you are a creature of ice and snow. You are cold blooded I imagine, even _if_you had blood, like I do..."

"I do not understand - "

Gently, I patted his shoulder, then fetched another ladle of water and showed it to him.

"This is water, ice and snow are frozen water."

He blinked and nodded once.

Carefully, I placed it into a small dish and set it on the crude metal plate above the hot coals.

"This will take a while, so please, be patient."

He stared at it for nearly ten minutes, before he gasped and his muzzle fell open as he seen first one, then multiple, bubbles begin to form within the water. Soon, there were too many to count and it boiled.

"As you see, fire can turn water into steam - see that fog like stuff rising up?"

He stared, wide eyed, muzzle hanging open as he watched it. Timidly, he reached out, then trembled as he looked at me. Carefully, I used tongs to grip the edge of the dish and held it before him.

"Please, be careful...don't touch it, its very hot and would hurt you!"

Carefully, he held his paw over it, then squealed and snatched it back, whimpering and rubbing it on his thigh. I quickly set it aside and took his paw in my own, turning it over and looking at it. Thankfully there were no marks or burns upon it...but he learned a painful lesson that night about fire.

*

"I envy you little one," I murmured, as she watched as he kicked at the snow, laughing and playing with joyful abandonment like a fawn. "Your innocence, untouched by the darkness or the cruelty in the world..."

He skidded to a stop, then adopted a strange head tilted pose, one ear forwards and one back. One I understood for confusion.

"That is a lesson you do not ever need to know..."

Blinking, a beatific smile spread across his lips before he resumed rolling and playing in the snow. To him, it was as natural as I would have played in the fields in summer as a fawn.

Fascinated, I watched him as he bounded about, filled with such joyous pleasure and innocence. It felt in many ways, like I had truly found my happiness and love again - in this enigmatic child-like stag.

Not a child, Came thoughts, intruding into my consciousness. He is a spirit of nature, ageless beyond recall. He is, in every way imaginable, yes, including that one... a fully developed adult stag.

I blushed, inner ears turning crimson as I covered my muzzle with my paws and tried to push away the thoughts from my mind.

I'm not like that! I shot back at her own mind. I have not bedded another in countless...

I know... Came the voice of the Therian within me, chilling my blood and sending its cold tendrils up my spine. A voice she had long, long ago, thought banished and forgotten. You may have suppressed such urges...I have not...

As if sensing my growing disquiet, the bounded over to me, then took my paws in his and gazed into into my dark eyes.

"You are scared? Why are you scared? I can...sense it in you, there is..."

I sniffled, then squeezed his fingers lightly with my own.

"There is darkness within me young one, long has it lived there, long may it remain. I fight it, I thought it long banished, my control over it complete and utter - I was wrong."

"Darkness? Like..." His eyes cast heavenwards, as he looked back at me.

"No, not like night, no... A creature, a violent, evil and dark creature - took me as a young doe - he sought too..."

His eyes began to fill with tears, as he glimpsed within my mind, then his eyes widened and his muzzle fell open.

"You are not that which lives within you - " He spoke, his voice filled with a wisdom far beyond his short time, almost as if something spoke _through_him, not he himself.

I blinked, then he frowned and shook his head, that adorable smile crossing his muzzle again as his broad tongue licked the black stripe from my nose to forehead.

"I would help you if I could, will you...teach me? I sense that which you are afraid of, I do not understand it - yet I feel...compelled, is that the right word?"

How does he do this? A creation such as he, possessed, yes, but a creation none the less...my mind is guarded and warded, yet he slips past those defences as if they were nothing!

"Yes, sweet, innocent one. That is a good word, but compelled means you must obey. I do not demand anything of you, I ask, as a friend, and as an equal, do you understand?"

He frowned, his head tilting and once again, one ear back and one forward. He held that expression for several heartbeats of my heart before he leaned forwards and sniffed at me. With a startled squeal, I leaned back as he frowned and assimilated the new scent.

"You are..." He frowned deeper, then sniffed her again, before coming to rest and holding my paws gently in his. "A doe?"

"I am, yes, a female like me - we...well, there aren't any others like me I'm afraid, but...let me show you..."

I gently disengaged from him, then stepped away and shed my heavy winter robe, laying it on the log on which I had sat. He watched me, as I shuddered and took several deep breaths - before I let the change sweep over my anthropomorphic form.

He squealed in fright and backed away until his back struck a tree, a large flumph sound following and he found himself buried hip deep in shed snow.

For where I stood on two legs...

I now stood as a feral doe who gazed back at him with eyes filled with tears and compassion.

TO BE CONTINUED...