ORIGIN

Artume rather liked helping. She wasn't capable of carrying gems, didn't have sharp teeth or a strong jaw, or flexible fingers. So once her group had a sizeable amount of gems, she had left them to return them to Naskital, and left to seek out his reindeer.

She was a deer, after all, and who better to seek out reindeer than one of their own?

Naturally, she had headed for Eridanus. From afar, you could smell the greenery, and surely that would draw the Lessers?

But so far, she had yet to see hide nor hair of the reindeer.

The stag frowned, looking around. She knew these forests like the back of her own hoof, so it should have been easy to find an unfamiliar heard of reindeer. Ones with their winter coat, that looked wholly out of place.

But she couldn't - no matter how many deer trails she followed.

And her shoulder was beginning to throb. She had torn a muscle, she could tell, back when she was trying to free herself after getting her antlers stuck while getting gemstones. But now it was beginning to hurt, despite having soothed for a while.

She began to limp - and that was her downfall. A missed step, and she tripped over a raised root. Her knees on her forelegs collided with the ground hard, the skin there splitting and beginning to bleed.

Artume groaned.

Oh, that hurt.

For a moment, she contemplated returning to her Glade, with its growing plants and returning beauty. But, no, she had never been one to turn away one who sought help.

Slowly, she stood, stumbling on her stinging legs. Her shoulder, her knees, they hurt!

But she straightened, raising her head. She didn't move from where she stood, ears straining to hear any sign of the reindeer.

She groaned, shaking her head.

This was useless. She would never find them. Especially not with her busted knees, or torn shoulder. Stretching her head forward, she pulled a mouthful of leaves off of a tree, and began to chew.

That done, she turned, and proceeded to nearly walk face-first into a caribou.

It stood much taller than her, she realized, well over a head taller than her. Its eyes were beady and black, lacking the intelligence of a Greater. She went still, not wanting to scare it away.

The reindeer didn't move.

For a long moment, Artume didn't either.

Fanned out behind him, there were a handful of other reindeer as well. Artume looked them over, as well.

The stag took a deep breath, before leaning forward, sniffing at the lead reindeer's muzzle. It grunted, stepping back, before leaning forward to return the gesture. It still seemed fairly hesitant, she could tell, and she couldn't blame it. She reeked of blood, after all, and was not-herd.

Artume grunted, lowly. From observing the Lesser deer, she knew it was a friendly sound, an - I come in peace - sound. The reindeer returned the sound, leaning forward to touch noses.

The deer knew she was taking a chance, but she tilted her head back in the direction of the exit that would lead to Polaris - follow me? and went to move.

The twitching of her muscles, it seemed, was enough to scatter the herd. They split into three, smaller groups, and fled in several different directions.

Artume took a deep breath, and sighed.

She shook herself, and looked around. Where had they gone? One herd, she remembered, had followed a deer path that she herself used rather often.

Hobbling, she followed the deer path, finding signs of the reindeer's passing. Tufts of fur here, bent branches there.

And she walked into a clearing, to find the herd huddled with their backs to several close-together trees. They stared at her, wild eyed.

Slowly, she approached the herd. Her head was low, eyes never leaving them. She gave low, throaty grunts - sounds of I'm friendly, I come in peace.

And, slowly, they stopped shivering. Stopped grunting and shaking their antlers at her. By the time she was only a few body lengths away, they were merely looking at her curiously. One dared to take a few steps towards her, grunting in an inquiring way.

The stag stepped forward, grunting and approaching the most daring of the reindeer. It stood still - not balking, but not approaching her either. She leaned forward to touch her nose to it, sniffing, and it did the same.

Finally, she stepped back, looking back over her shoulder. Follow me? she choreographed her movements, but the herd didn't follow. The bold one balked, backing up some, and she closed her eyes in frustration.

Artume allowed her ears to twitch back, showing her frustration, before bugling lowly. The reindeers' ears rose up to face her, and the bold one stepped forward. She grunted, friendkindpeace, and he returned the sound.

The stag stepped back, tossing her head back again. And, to her relief, he followed, and so did the others. She turned around, slowly, beginning to hobble in the direction that the others had gone.

And, thankfully, they followed, and she didn't have to go too far to find the next herd. She found herself overlooking them on a small overhang, the herd of reindeer grazing.