A Fawn's Journey

Elain woke up slowly as a hoof tapped her shoulder, she felt annoyingly weak and hungry, not to mention the blood on her fur, which was now dry.

"Mmh. . . What now?" She looked up with narrowed eyes

"Wake up, we are already here" Rainer called out.

The engine no longer sounded, the convoy was stopped. Elain yawned and got up slowly, her limbs still hurt from the soreness.

"mmh. . . What time is it?"

Rainer raised his hoof to look at his watch. "It's 4PM"

Elain rubbed her eyes, then squinted and looked around, all the deer were already gone. She pushed herself up with her front legs to sit on the platform, the effort made her grimace, showing her teeth.

"Follow me, sleepyhead" He said in a mocking tone, then jumped off the truck, Elain did the same a few moments later, she almost collapsed on the floor after jumping, but she managed to keep her balance.

She begun following Rainer, who was walking towards a stall. Three volunteers were serving soup from a cauldron in front of a double line of refugees. Elain's mouth watered when the smell reached her nose as she gazed at the cauldron, her stomach roared, her ears twitched due to the sound as she blushed slightly. Rainer ignored that.

When they reached the queue, Elain took some time to observe her surroundings. The truck was parked in a large square plaza along with another dozen vehicles, it seemed like the others had not managed to escape. The plaza was surrounded by tall buildings with a huge opening on one side. The landscape was much more overwhelming than Elain could have imagined.

Many deer walked around the square, going to different directions, some in groups and others alone, sometimes glancing at the refugees.

"Mom, what is going on there?" A fawn asked and pointed a hoof at the stall, Elain looked at him, the fawn stared back. He seemed to be wearing some kind of black costume.

"Nothing dear, let's go home" The mother grabbed his hoof and started walking hurriedly until they got out of the square. Elain looked confused. She also noticed that the doe, like the rest of civilians, was wearing garments of apparently greater tailoring than Elain was used to seeing.

Elain shook her head and looked somewhere else. She noticed the whole square was decorated with orange and black balloons, skulls and cobwebs, that made her raise an eyebrow.

"Ahem, I think this is yours"

Elain's left ear twitched as she turned her head to look behind her, Rainer was offering her a bowl filled with watery soup, he was holding another one on his right hoof.

"Oh! Thank you" She said as she quickly grabbed the bowl. Rainer nodded.

Both deer began walking out of the queue to the left towards a nearby bench in a corner of the square.

Elain sat first, holding her steaming bowl with both forehooves, despite how hot the soup was she quickly dipped her muzzle into the soup and began to drink in gulps. Rainer sat to her left and started to sip his soup after a few seconds, if he made any gestures towards Elain, she hadn't noticed.

"So this is your first time in the capital" Rainer began. "have you ever wanted to come here?"

Elain raised her head and stared at him, with her mouth closed and a slightly surprised expression, broth dripping down her chin.

Rainer raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her muzzle, Elain noticed and quickly wiped away the broth with a foreleg.

"No" She shook her head. "Well yes, but not like this"

Rainer sipped on his bowl as he glanced at her.

She continued, looking away with narrowed eyes. "I wanted to come here with my family but" Her voice trailed off.

Elain didn't told Rainer about the anxiety attack she had before losing her brother, in fact she always avoided talking about that day at all.

"I'm sorry" Rainer interrupted. Elain nodded slightly and lowered her muzzle to the bowl to continue sipping. They both stayed quiet for a few minutes.

Elain raised the bowl over her head as she emptied it, then placed it aside while she sighs sated.

"And what about your family? You haven't told me anything yet" Elain asked as she wiped her muzzle again, then glanced at Rainer.

Rainer stared down at his bowl as a smile began to appear on his muzzle. "I live with my parents in Cervus. My mother likes to carve wooden figurines and owns a store. My father has been a radio fan since it was invented and works making them-"

"Wait, Cervus is far away from the frontier, How were you captured there?" Elain tilted her head to her right.

"I don't choose where they take me to do my military training" Rainer chuckled. "They assigned me me to Östskog so I had to go there" He paused for a heartbeat and raised his gaze forward. "Speaking of which, I have to go talk to Elias"

"You mean that soldier?" Elain asked rhetorically.

Rainer nodded and stood up, his bowl already empty was left in the bench.

"Let me accompany you" Elain also got up, with less difficulty than before, but her limbs still hurt.

"Uh. . . Sure, come with me" He said with some hesitation.

Elain began walking slowly after Rainer, looking around once more, those strange decorations were everywhere. Plastic spiders hanging from lampposts and pumpkins with carved faces in each corner that somehow combined with the cloudy sky that partially blocked the sunlight.

Are they somehow celebrating samhain? Elain asked to herself as hoofsteps sank into the thin layer of snow.

Both deer walked past the soup stall, which was already closed. Elain squinted at the opposite corner of the square as they walked towards it, she could see a white tent with a white flag on its top representing the head of a deer and two swords in pastel blue, same color as the top and bottom edges of the flag. That was the flag of the Kingdom of Olenia, Elain noticed that its blue color matched that of the military uniforms. There was a small table in front of the tent.

There were still plenty of deer around, but there was also enough space in the square so that it didn't seem so crowded. Elain and Rainer walked with hardly any obstacles. As they approached, Elain saw that there was no one in the tent except for two soldiers talking to each other, she recognized one of them was Elias.

The two soldiers stopped talking and looked at Rainer once he got close enough.

"Ah! Rainer, here you are" Elias said with a grin.

Before Rainer could say anything Elias started again. "Wait here a moment, please, I'll be right back" Then he went inside the tent. Rainer blinked.

One of the other soldiers approached him, he was wearing a pair of medals on the chest of his uniform.

"I'm sorry for the rush" He said bluntly. "Since coordination on the border has collapsed, we must re-establish some papers with recruits who were there"

"I understand" Rainer slightly nodded.

"Lieutenant Gormsson" He offered his hoof, Rainer shaked it with his own.

Elain stepped aside and sat in the snow. She felt like she was being ignored. However, she remained silent, watching the scene from one side between both bucks a few meters away from them. When should I ask to join? She thought.

Elias suddenly came out of the tent with a paper sheet full of text on his mouth. He put the contract on the table and tapped it where Rainer was supposed to sign. "I have already prepared your papers, all you have to do is sign below"

There was a pen on the table, Rainer took it with his mouth and signed it before leaving the pen back on the table.

I have to ask, but not yet I think . . . Elain looked nervous as she began tapping her forehooves on the snow, her gaze had drifted to the ground.

"Well, everything is ready" The Lieutenant said.

"Oh wow, that was fast" Rainer replied as he slightly tilted his head.

The soldiers ignored Rainer's comment. "You will be assigned to-"

"WAIT!" Elain cutted off and looked up at them.

Everyone looked at Elain, the lieutenant frowned at her, apparently upset for having been interrupted.

The doe covered in dried blood splatters faced the lieutenant's frown with a look of determination on her blue eyes as she cleared her throat. However, her voice betrayed her and she began with a trembling voice. "I-I want to join the army too"

Everyone remained silent for several heartbeats as the two soldiers analyzed Elain from top to bottom.

Rainer tried to contain himself but failed miserably and burst into laughter. Gormsson cocked an eyebrow and Elain glared at him. Rainer quickly suppressed his laughter with a forced cough. "Sorry" He hastened to say.

Gormsson began to whisper something at Elias as he glanced at Elain. Elias nodded several times. Elain stood up, then stared back at them.

Elias walked into the tent once again. This time it only took him a few seconds to come out with a blank sheet of paper on his mouth. "Alright, tell me your full name" He left the paper over the table and took with his mouth the pen Rainer just used to sign.

"Uh. . ." She hesitated because of her nerves. "Elain Olsen"

Elias wrote it on the paper sheet as Elain approached to the short wooden table.

"Birthdate?"

"November 1, 991"

He wrote it down beneath the name.

"We will formalize the document later, don't worry. Now sign down here please. "he grabbed the pen with a hoof, then offered it to Elain.

Elain retracted her head as she looked concerned at the pen. "I don't have a signature" She said embarrassed.

Elias glanced at the lieutenant Gormsson with a puzzled look.

Gormsson quickly came to help. "It's fine, just draw an X"

Elain grabbed the pen with her own hoof to draw an X. Rainer approached behind her. "Are you sure about this?" He whispered.

"I have to do this, I'm not going to sit around doing nothing while my family is missing" She whispered back, struggling to keep her voice low.

Elias took the paper from the table with his mouth and walked inside the tent for the third time.

Gormsson cleared his throat. "Tomorrow morning you two will be sent to the northern military base to train together with the 13th infantry brigade, Any questions?" His deep voice sounded with authority.

A lot . . . Elain thought, but she didn't want to test the lieutenant's patience.

Rainer stood rigid. "No sir!" He shouted.

Elain's ears pinned back, then Gromsson looked at her, she just she shook her head vigorously.

Gromsson suppressed a chuckle. "Rest for today, dismissed!" He turned around and walked slowly inside the tent.

Once he was out of sight, both deer began walking towards the large exit of the square, the shelter could be seen in the distance. The sky was clearing of clouds and the sun was already hiding behind the sea.

"What now?" Elain asked after several heartbeats.

"We can go to the shelter and check if your family is there" Rainer offered.

Elain stopped as her pupils shrank. She felt like a block of ice falling into her stomach. SHIT!

Rainer stopped after her. "Yeah, I wanted to tell you before you sign that but. . ."

Elain panicked. "Did I just join the army for nothing?!" She yelled in a high-pitched voice.

"Wow! Hey, calm down!" Rainer stood infront of her, looking down at her blue eyes with his. "You are going to fight for your country!" His voice ringing with encouragement.

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" She roared at Rainer, frowning up at his eyes. Rainer bit his cheek from the inside. "I don't care about that! I just want to see my family!"

"Let's check the shelter first, okay?" He changed the topic in a strange attempt to tranquilize her.

Elain found Rainer annoying, however, She didn't have many options, he was her only company in the big city. She closed her eyes and took a deep sigh. It's fine, what matters now is finding Elmer, Mom and Dad, we will see what happens next She mentally said to herself.

They both resumed their walk towards the shelter. The journey was downhill, something that Elain was grateful for, although they needed to go through some streets.

As they began walking between the buildings, Elain soon noticed a lustrous and cheerful lighting on the street lamps made up of a bunch of small orange and purple lights linked by a black wire. Fawns dressed in a variety of costumes that Elain found exotic eagerly went from house to house asking for sweets. She obviously knew this tradition. However, there were several new things such as drawings of supposed ghosts hanging on the walls or the little colored lights themselves.

While they were both distracted looking around, a small figure wrapped in what looked like a trimmed white sheet ran towards them, its antlers stood out in a funny way from under the sheet.

The fawn crashed into Rainer's chest with small antlers, luckily no sharp parts went through. Rainer wheezed and widened his eyes as the fawn fell sitting in the snow, their basket of sweets flew out.

Elain winced but quicky put a hoof on her muzzle and began to chuckle.

"I-I'm so sorry Sir" From that tone of voice, Elain assumed it was a female. The fawn began to pick up her sweets from the ground. Rainer growled.

Elain slowly approached the fawn and stroked her head. "It's okay, just be more careful next time" She said with a tender voice as a genuine smile appeared on her muzzle.

The fawn nodded, although no one could see her expresion, her costume didn't even have a pair of holes for the eyes to see through. At least the sheet was thin enough to see something from inside.

Elain gently picked up the fawns basket and offered it to her. Rainer glanced moodily at the fawn as he got up.

"Thank you!" The fawn said happily as she grabbed the basket. After picking up the few candies she had on the ground she ran away.

Rainer frowned. "Pfft! of course it's easy when you're not the one who's been hit"

Elain smirked in amusement to the annoyed buck when suddenly another fawn wrapped in what appears to be toilet paper almost crashed into her, the fawn passed right in front of her. Elain jumped back involuntarily and flinched. Rainer smiled at her with satisfaction.

"Okay! let's get out of here" Elain said after regaining composure as fast as she could, then began walking forward avoiding looking at Rainer, however, she could still hear his laughter.

They both continued walking through the illuminated alleys without further interruptions.

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Elain stood infront of the entrance. The shelter was relatively far from the rest of the buildings. Its white walls matched the color of the stars, although they were seen much less than before.

She took a deep breath before opening the double metal door. The door creaked open and revealed to Elain a gigantic room full of simple and poor quality beds with only a small iron base supporting the thin mattress. Possibly where all the refugees who fled the northeast were located.

"What hour is it?" She asked Rainer with a glance.

Rainer raised his wrist watch over his coat. "8:31 PM" He answered plainly.

Elain began walking between the beds, almost all of them were occupied, Elain patiently glanced at those who were in them as she passed by. Many deer were sleeping, others were just staring into nothingness while sitting or lying in their beds.

Minutes passed, Elain walked around the room from end to end and then returned from another line of space between beds, but she couldn't find anyone from her family, nor was she even able to find anyone from her village, as if she had been the only survivor.

Rainer had gone out the door long ago, probably to wait outside.

Elain began to despair as she approached the door from the last line of beds that she had not yet checked. When she reached the wall she lowered her ears and closed her eyes as she let out a sigh of defeat.

Finally Elain decided to go out with Rainer. She walked slowly to her right and once she reached the double door she opened it. She found him lying on the snow with his back against the wall and his head down. His snoring was a clear indicator that he was asleep.

Elain sat next to him and gently tapped his shoulder with a hoof, then wrapped her torso completely in her cyan coat and pressed her muzzle down to the white trimmed edge. The icy breeze gently moved the hazel fur on her face. Elain clung to the only thing left of her old life.

Rainer stretched, raising his forehooves with a long yawn. "Oh, finally you are done" He looked at Elain sleepily. "How did it go"

"Not good" Elain said bluntly with a broken voice, her ears still lowered.

"Come on, I'm sure they are out there, It is possible that they are in Cervus"

Cervus was the second largest city in the kingdom and was the same distance from Östskog as Hjortland, It would make some sense if her family had been taken there.

"You've already come far enough to give up, don't you think?"

Elain considered it and took several heartbeats to reply. "What if they aren't?"

"In that case they are up there, praying for your well-being" Rainer pointed up to the stars, the few that could be seen despite the light pollution from the city.

She raised her gaze, then suddenly remembered the words she said to Elmer a week ago, with the sole purpose of telling him to go to sleep. She cleared her throat to speak more clearly. "I think I'm starting to see your point"

Rainer said nothing, instead smiling gently.

"What will happen to us now?" Elain asked with a soft voice.

"Tomorrow morning they will come for us. We will live in the north base of the city during the training"

"How long were you there?" Elain glanced at him, he was looking up at the sky.

"Around three and half months" He raised his hoof to look at his watch. "I'm going to sleep now, I'm tired"

Elain wasn't tired due to the nap she took earlier in the truck. "Okay, goodnight" She fixed her gaze towards the starts.

"And. . . You should take a shower before going to sleep" Rainer said neutrally, then he went inside through the door and closed it.

Elain remembered that she was still stained with blood, she cringed. I hope the shower is free early in the morning She thought. However, she sat there for several more minutes to make sure at least one of the showers was free.

It was probably midnight already. She was officially spending her 17th birthday in the big city of Hjortland, however not at all as she expected.