Chapter Two.

Darkness fuzzing in his eyes. Panting hard as his feet hit the earthen ground, footsteps echoing into the silence. Creatures howling, hooting, chirping, squawking. He didn't know how long he ran, he just knew he was finally far away. He was lucky to only have hit three trees in his running, imagining how deep he was within the forest. He didn't how or why, he presumed it luck and so it shall be luck.

Feegra, as tiny and young as he was, was sharp and alert, standing alone in the midst of a deep fantasy-like forest. Unlike others who would oh so calmly wander around in their own sightly bliss. His darkness had changed though when he entered the forest. It wasn't just darkness anymore it was.... moving. He could feel the tension in the air as he sucked in, stretching his body, and breathed out, letting his body relax. It was a trip for a kid like him... He had almost forgotten the argument.

Why were they like that anyway? He thought... Weren't moms and dads supposed to love each other? And why did they hide him in the house?

Daring to move, he lifted his arms. Palms out, fingers itching to feel. He shifted with the earth as it sunk, gave way, crumbled. Sniffing he smelled wood. Like the kind in his house but stronger/closer. Vegetation gave off the fresh air. He grimaced as he stepped in a pile of... something. Dragging his shoe in the grass he continued to move.

He forgot how long it was since he started moving. He just felt bliss. Even when he felt startled and scared at the sudden trot of an animal in front or behind him. Heart always pounding. One was an animal with padded feet and slinky movements. The other with hooves as it clopped around and sped off with anxiety. He was undisturbed for awhile now.

His hand brushed a tree. It was smooth but rough and when he pressed his face to it, it was warm. Like the sunshine parting through the leaves that hit him. He could hear it creaking, twigs bouncing from birds taking off. The rustle of leaves in the slightest of breezes.

He felt whole with this. Smiling and closing his eyes for a second he sat there, in his innocent five year old bliss. Soon he moved again.

And once again he forgot what time it was. It was still early in the day certainly. The sun, if anything, seemed more intense now. It must have been late in the afternoon. Feegra walked and then stopped. Something was odd about this place. It felt... big... lots of space. Like there were no trees. The chirping and wild calls were still about... But far away. As though they all avoided this area. He took a few steps forward. And reached down. Long thick grass soon met his face. Immediately standing back up he spit out the leafy greens and brushed his face hard, turning himself red. It tasted awful. He tried to move forward again, but his a tree stump... It was a tall stump, cutting off at his neck.

He reached out, feeling the wood. Rough and lined this time. He tried to walk around the tree, but was surprised it barely rounded.... He kept going and going and going. It took ten minutes and he still hadn't reached the other side of the tree stump! How big was this thing? Reaching up he hauled himself on top. Struggling to pull his lower half up he heaved himself finally, belly now on the soft inner wood. He kept pulling till he could stand. It was so odd.

In shock, he sat down. Hands drifting over the wood and fingertips dancing around the splinters. Suddenly he felt like something was in front of him. It was powerful.... In it's own way. What was it. Crawling forward ever so slowly, he crawled a few feet. That is-before his hand hit something. Pretty decent sized. It wobbled. It was smooth. He sat down, and tentatively reach out. He felt like he was invading something and was saying sorry over and over again in his mind. He finally picked up the object... It was... it....

It was a skull.

A clean, smooth skull. He felt it's oblong shape. Fingers twirling in the sockets. Fingernails bumping along the ridges of teeth. He wondered what kind. Certainly not human. Something told him it was that animal called a deer... but... It was big. Bigger than his head and longer than his forearm.

Suddenly he felt overcome. He shuddered and gasp, as the vision took over his eyes. It was winter. It was cold. There was snow. And this tree... It was intact and overlooked this forest. Large, looming yet kind. Even leafless it was warming. He was running. Running through the thick mass of white. Of course he didn't know that's what color was. The trees stood still and yet came to life. Glowing with life. He felt... Hooves?!  He stopped running at a half-frozen pond. He gasped.

Two gray glowing eyes stared back. Hidden deep within a deer-like skull. A long black tongue slapped out licking the non-fleshy nose. Red antlers curled with majestic color and authority. His body was thick and fluffy with slightly curling fur, fur especially around the neck, poofing out in a fluffy fashion. Legs long and thin and covered in straight black fur. His hooves were white, and seemed like they were marble. A long, furry tail flicked into view.

And just as he thought he saw it all in this mere five seconds of a flash, it vanished. Leaving him in awe. He didn't know what he just saw. Was that even seeing? What was seeing?! What did he see then if he did indeed saw?

His brain tried to gather and collect and assess the information thrown onto him, but instead he blanked for a good five minutes.... before something more pressing and powerful swooped over him....

Shakily, he set down the skull. Stepping up, wobbly and unsure, he stepped forward. Reaching out. He hit another skull. However, he only felt the ridge of the nose. Feegra took in a shuddering breath, he realized, this tree stump was bigger than he thought.... The skull could've probably served as a mansion to he and his family. And right as he was getting to know this fact alone, another vision racked his body.

It was winter again. Leafless trees bowing under the heavy weight of snow as it came down in a beautiful blitz of ice and fluff. And there he was... The creature again. Now sprinting through the fields of bliss, next to the massive version of this creature. He felt happy, warm, loved as he ran. The monstrous creature looked back, the eyes smiling at him as the black tongue flicked out and ran across the nose of the skull.

And it disappeared yet again.

Feegra felt tears swell in his eyes. What was this beauty? This warm love? This peaceful nature with all at one? And yet a name seemed to whisper through the present ghost of his mind...

....Foretica Eetra... beast of the forest...

Author's Note

Will fix grammar later.