Dead to the Guild
He concentrated hard as he watched her cry. It wasn't her fault... it was never her fault. Things just happen. She looks around quickly to be sure that nobody could see her. Turning around, she sees him standing behind her.
"Luka..." Khali sniffles, "Luka, they'll take her away... I just know they will."
Looking down into the doe's arms, Luka can see her carrying a child - his child. The fawn lays cradled in Khali's arms, sleeping soundly, small and innocent.
"They won't," Luka responds, snorting through his nostrils, running a hand up his antlers, stepping silently with his hooves as not to wake the fawn. "They'd have to go through me, Khali."
"They'll find out... why I've been in hiding, why you've been gathering so much food... why we've been so separated. The entire guild... they'll exile us."
"The Lead will understand. Love happens... and even if it means leaving here, I'll always love you." The young buck looks down at his sleeping fawn, "And you... I'll never let anything happen to you."
Leaning over to kiss his fawn, the little deer opens his eyes, his thick eyelashes batting away the brightness of the sun. Looking up at her father, the little fawn yawns, reaching up and touching her father's slightly wet nose.
The three are startled as their door is licked open. Spinning around, Luka sees a rather strong, tall looking buck standing in the doorway, his arms crossed and anger seething through his gaze.
"Luka... we know." The buck grumbles, "We could hear the fawn's cries early this morning."
"Tell me... why? Why is this a problem? I love this doe. I love her... I want to be with her - this is my family!"
"You know the laws of the guild," the buck snorts, "You must have the entire guild's consent, not just hers."
"Then... do not exile her... please. Allow her and our fawn to live here..." Luka begs, looking to the buck in the doorway.
"Luka," Khali says softly, "Wherever you go, I will follow. I won't raise our child in a place like this," she says angrily to the buck in the doorway.
"Very well. You are both dead to us. None of us will acknowledge your existence within this guild," the buck says, backing away from the door, "For breaking the population act of our guilt, you are hereby exiled. See to your necessities and leave our territory." He slams the door, leaving the small family of three to themselves.
"Where will we go?" Khali whimpers, holding her fawn close to her bosom, rocking her gently.
"We will find a place, Dear. Come on... let's gather our things." Luka steps away, gathering necessities such as blankets, clothing, and even extra food. Khali does as she can to assist, bring extra fabrics and sewing materials in case the blankets and clothing become damaged.
In only a short time, the three deer leave their den, entering the wintry wonderland that is now their former home. The soft flakes falling from the sky give the fawn a smile as a snowflake lands on her nose, quickly disappearing. Her giggles can be heard throughout the guild's village, causing dirty looks of disapproval to stare her way, slicing through the awkward disdain like a blade through butter. Turning Khali away from the disapproving glares, the three are bundled in thick coats, heading out of the guild's territory and through the trees, leading into the woods, just outside the guild's borders.
As the deer travel further from the guild's village, they notice the trees growing sparser. Soon, the trees and outskirts of the guild's territory are far behind them. Coming to a large boulder, Luka and Khali stop to rest. The snow pools deeper around their hooves, making it harder for them to walk.
"I'm already so cold," Khali shivers, holding her fawn close to her, bundled in thick cloth, "Could we build a fire, maybe?"
"I could try. Should be plenty of wood, but we can't take any from the guild's woods," Luka sighs, "I'll go look... just stay and keep our fawn warm, Sweetheart, I'll be back."
"Be careful, Honey... it's been a long time since we've been this far from home."
"I will. It'll be alright."
Having left his doe and child behind for a short while, Luka travels out North, looking for scraps of wood to carry back. Luckily, he finds thick sticks and even a few branches that must have been blown by harsh winds. Gathering a small armful of wood, he takes it back to his family.
Luka kneels to the ground, sweeping away a small pile of snow. Khali rocks her fawn as she watches Luka arrange the wood on the ground into a pit. He begins to rub two sticks together, attempting to create a fire.
"Honey, would you like me to try?" Khali asks.
"No, I'm fine... just tend to our fawn, okay? It'll be alright. I'll get this lit up in no time," Luka smiles, struggling to rub the sticks together.
"We haven't even thought of a name for her," Khali sighs, "Why couldn't we just... live happily where we were? Why must it be so... regulated?"
"The head of the herd is also your brother," Luka sighs, placing the sticks down, catching his breath as he shivers. "Of course he'd be angry. We mated and had a fawn without his consent... the population law in the guild village is absurd."
"I just don't understand it. I may have lost my home, Luka, but at least we're with you," Khali hugs her baby close and looks down at her. "Oh, sleepy baby..." she coos gently, "Mommy and Daddy love you so much, no matter what. What should we call you, little one?"
"Hmm, let me?" Luka asks, standing from the snow and sitting next to his doe. Khali hands over her fawn, allowing Luka to hold the young deer in his arms. Looking down at the little fawn's drowsy, sleepy face, he smiles.
Soon, the chill of the cold melts off of his body. A warmth rides up his spine and fills his chest - looking down at his young daughter, he can't help but smile.
"Freia..." Luka whispers, "Little Freia... we'll be alright, baby girl... Daddy will always keep you safe."
Khali rests her head on her buck's shoulder and sighs, looking at the pile of wood on the ground. She stands and sits to her knees before the wood, taking a chance and making a fire. Rubbing the sticks together, she grunts, sawing the sticks together fiercely.
"Honey, why don't you let me do that?" Luka asks.
"Let me try. You bond with your daughter, okay?" she smiles, keeping her attention on the wood, "After we get a fire going... we'll need to make some kind of... bed or something for Freia to sleep in."
"We have plenty of cloth, we'll figure something out, Dear." Luka says, rocking his little fawn gently. He looks down at her as her eyes open yet again, shimmering a deep brown gaze up at her father. "You're so beautiful, Freia..." Luka smiles, nuzzling down to her, "Nothing will happen to you, not while I'm around."
The night sky brings a chilling cold with its darkness. Luckily, Khali is proud to have been able to have built a descent sized fire. Cuddling her fawn close, she snuggles into the warmth, a blanket wrapped around her. The fire glows in the night as its heat radiates around it, melting a large circle of snow around it, revealing the grassy carpet beneath.
Luka sighs as he watches his drowsy doe struggle to stay awake. He scoots close to her and gently takes the baby from her arms, holding Freia close to his chest.
"Please, rest your head, Sweetheart. Lay on my shoulder if you like," Luka says, removing his own blanket to cover his child.
"You'll be cold..." Khali shivers.
"You'll be tired," Luka smiles, "Don't worry. As long as my loves are nice and warm, I can never freeze."
Khali lays her head on her buck's shoulder, allowing her eyes to droop closed. Her eyelids are hot despite the cold that envelops her from behind, slamming shut with absolute tire. The sounds of her cooing baby girl fade away as she rests peacefully, sleeping soundly.
Luka stays alert, holding Freia close to his chest. Freia snuggles into the fur of her father's strong chest, cooing softly without a care in the world. Small shivers pulsate through her little body, but as Luka is proud to see, she isn't hurt by the cold - she isn't too cold.
She'll get hungry, though. When Khali wakes up, I'll go and look for some food. There has to be something. Closing his eyes and tuning out many sounds, the night air's whispers and the baby's cooing become silent. Distant owls' hooting fades into nothingness and even leaves rustling across the fragile snow upon the ground becomes less than a breath on wind. Listening, Luka can hear water, lightly babbling and gently splashing as the wind blows against it without a sound. All he can hear is the babbling water.
Well... we could eat fish... though meat wouldn't really sit well with us. Where there's fish, there has to be bugs, and wherever bugs are, there's plants. Maybe there'll be something edible up there. Kale, chard, spinach, and radishes are known to grow even beneath snow... maybe I can find something.
As his mind wanders for the next couple hours, Luka looks down at his sleeping child. I wonder if she'll like radishes when she's older. Speaking of food... she'll probably need to be fed, soon. I hate to wake Khali, but she'll need to eat soon.
_ _ As if telepathy ensued, Khali opens her eyes. She yawns and slowly sits up. Batting her large, shimmering eyes, she looks into the eyes of her buck, smiling.
"How long did I sleep?" she asks.
"Only a couple hours, I think," Luka yawns.
"Freia hasn't been trouble, has she?"
"Not at all. Hasn't made a single peep. I'm guessing she'll need to eat, though. We do too," Luka says, handing her to Khali, "I was thinking of going to get some food."
"What would be out here? It's all snow," Khali yawns, bundling her fawn close to her bosom, "Unless there's some kale or something out here."
"That's what I plan to look for. Hopefully there's something out there. I'll be back. You go ahead and feed her your milk, I'll find us something."
The earth beneath the snow provides nothing so far. Luka's searches are in vain in the cold weather; no kale, no radishes, nothing edible to be seen. A thought comes over him.
Maybe I could... check the guild. I could tell them that I left some food behind and I need to get it. Maybe they'll buy that. It's worth a shot; I need to feed my family.
_ _
_ _ Walking in a large, round path out of his doe's sight, Luka disappears into thick forest of birch trees. This is odd for him, because the guild's trees weren't birch. Those trees were always elm or oak; these trees seemed like a good, safe place to station his new family. Looking far into the horizon, he could see no signs of other tree types - only birch. He could build a home for his growing family. He can provide them warmth, and hopefully in time, food and water.
Luka looks about the ground, shuffling his hoof through the snow. He feels a large, rock-like object tap against him, and kneeling down, he brushes his hand over the object. Finally! Thank the gods...
A radish, frozen by winter's harsh affection, lays on a pile of five more radishes. Someone may have dropped them, as they weren't attached to the ground, simply laying. Picking them up, Luka looks them over - they are perfect, No signs of anyone having tampered or bitten into them, no worms or birds or anything got ahold of them. Luka immediately scoops up the total of six radishes in his arms, rushing into the trees and picking up any big, thick, fat fallen tree limbs he possibly can, his heart racing and his grin glowing. This buck is truly the happiest of all.
Making his way back to his doe and fawn, he runs to their side, plopping to his knees in the snow and allowing everything in his arms to plop along with him, scattering before him.
Khali grins widely, "Food! You found some, Oh, Luka... I'm so proud of you! And starving..."
"I found these... and I found a birch forest, out that way," Luka points north, "We'll build a home there and we'll grow our own food and we'll have an even bigger family later on!" Luka looks to his giggling fawn and presses his nose to hers, "And you'll never go hungry. You'll become a lovely doe, just like your mother, and you'll be happy, and safe... you'll want for nothing."
Having eaten and rested, the three hopeful deer traveled far out north to the birch forest. Luka immediately pointed out where their new home will go. Over time, having had to scrounge for food during the winter, spring time had come. By spring, the three deer had already built the most lovely birch cabin that any deer would be envious of. Not even the guild would have something as cozy and as practical as this little home. Like a painting, the cabin was intricately placed and carefully created, and with the help of his lovely doe, Luka had created a shelter.
Freia giggles as she waddles out of her mother's arms, clicking her hooves on the wooden floor of her warm, happy home. Waving her arms about to keep her balance, she hobbles over to Luka, a smile across her face.
"That's my good girl!" Luka encourages, "Come on... you can do it!"
"That's it... go to Daddy!" Khali smiles, her cheeks turning red and her stomach churning with joy.
Freia takes her first step without holding onto a single piece of furniture. Her hooves click and clop on the floor as she giggles, running toward her father.
Luka wraps his arms around his little fawn, "Good girl! That's walking! Walk-ing!" Luka says with glee.
Freia looks up at her father's massive antlers, giggling and grabbing ahold of one of the prongs. Luka gently lifts her off the ground as she clings, letting her dangle her hooves as she giggles. Khali smiles and looks away, up at the hand carved moldings of trees around their cabin walls. With a sigh, she looks back to her fawn.
Luka lowers Freia to the ground and she plops on her behind, giggling and wiggling her poofy little tail.
Khali sits outside on the wooden deck, smiling as she nibbles a small, home grown tomato. Luka joins her side and sits by her, looking to her and smiling.
"Freia is officialy... asleep!" Luka sighs with a smile. "Man, that little girl wore me out."
"You know what I love about this place?" Khali asks.
"What's that?" Luka asks, "The wood smell?"
"That... and that we're out of that stupid guild." Khali smiles, "I was so worried... so sheltered. But now I'm glad to be outta there. I could care less about that guild now."
"We're dead to the guild," Luka sighs, "But... looks like they're dead to us, too."
Khali smiles, "Good. And it's perfect that way."