i woke up to silence, but no pain whatsoever. i picked up the sheets to see if my leg was still mangled.
and it wasn't.
i gasped in shock, and almost immediately i heard these heavy footsteps running down the hall.
all of a sudden, the deer lord slid into my room, his fur slightly blowing.
"what's wrong? are you okay?" he asks with a look of concern.
i quietly giggle and jump out of the bed.
"i'm amazing!" i yell, "my leg has healed!"
"oh yeah, i did that."
i look at the deer in confusion.
"i am capable of many things. and one of them is healing others."
i run to him and give him a big bear hug. he nervously laughs and slowly pushes me away.
"what was that?" he asked.
"that was a hug. you don't know what a hug is?" i reply.
"no, but i like it."
"mmh." i mumble, "i don't want to call you the deer lord. what is your real name?"
"you can just call me antlur."
i nod my head, "okay, antlur. i like it."
"what should i call you?"
"well, my name is fox. so you may as well just call me that."
i can see the deers shaped pupils light iup behind the cloth.
"i really like that!" he exclaims with joy.
i chuckle at him. his raspy and low voice bothers me no longer, he sounds like a friend.
he coughs then says, "do you want to explore? there are alot of others here."
i nodded yes.
he began walking out of the room and i followed behind him.
he lead me down some dark steps and into a room, in there were 3 creatures.
one small white rabbit who wore a blue hoodie, one green dinosaur creature with no eyes and some dog type creature. the dog was some kind of labrador retriever. a yellow one. he wore sunglasses. he looked cool.
antlur pointed to the rabbit first.
"this is zephyr,"
then the dinosaur.
"this is specimen,"
and finally, the dog.
"and this is nolan."
the dog barked, and i flinched.
"NOLAN!" antlur yelled, "just speak normally."
"oh, haha. hello there, i am nolan. and you?"
i chuckled quietly and gave him a light smile. "i'm fox."
his tail began wagging rapidly.
"FOX! i love that name!"
"okay, okay, nolan. calm down."
the dog nodded, and i turned back to antlur.
"you are a male, correct?" i question.
"i believe so, yes."
"then where are your antlers?"
"what do you mean?" he asked, in genuine confusion.
"male deer have antlers, whereas females don't."
"oh, right. im able to bring them into my head; it's easier for me to walk through doors and such."
antlurs eyes stuck to an X, and antlers were becoming to appear from his head. two on top, and two coming from the side of his face. they were all black.
"you have no idea how many times ive fallen like a cartoon character on a banana peel because of these."
i covered my mouth with my hand to hide my laugh.
"i'm surprised they haven't snapped off yet."
the antlers went back into his head as we turned back to the 3 creatures.
zephyr pulled his hoodie hood over his head and specimen was asleep, leaning against the wall. nolan, however, was wagging his tail with a face of complete cheer.
"here!" nolan barked happily as he handed me a dark blue, soft object. i unfolded it more and saw that it was indeed a beanie. a really nice one, too. i looked back up at nolan. "it's for you. i think it'll suit you!"
he was smiling ear to ear and his eyes were as bright as the moon.
i put the beanie on and nolan gave me a big hug. his fur is warm.
he pulled away, "i was right! it DOES suit you!"
i chuckled at him.
"alright, ready to explore some more, fox?" antlur asked.
"sure am."
and with that, we were gone.
