The Hart's sacrifice(CLOSED)

[Iliad]

hart
Noun-
An adult male deer, esp. a red deer.

The forest was a dark and endless place, where trees whispered to eachother, and marched ever eastward as the winds carried away the years seeds to grow the old forest.
The forest kept to itself, dark tunnels for pilgrim deer grew where no man had yet walked, and deep ponds where fish that had never kissed the light of day slept, and over it all a shepherd tended the flock of wilderness. With antlers as twisting as the oldest oak at the forest heart, and hide as pale as summer wheat, Chevreuil was the steward of the forest.

He loved humans though, watching them ever from a distance as he lept through the line of trees, their villages with comings and goings like small forest unto themselves caught his gaze and taught him in the ancientest of days of man the meaning of thought, of time, and of things other then the cycle of seasons. They had long ago lived in the trees, and he had shepherded them too, but time made them forget, and to their own villages they had been driven further and further in, untill they lived in clearings walled in by the forest, but some had not forgotten.
Though now as old as some of the oldest trees, every year as the wild apples began to bloom, a human was sent to his temple. Allready Chevreuil could smell the foreign scent of man as his cloven hooves carried him over fen and field, through twisting darkness and tunnels of boar and deer alike, to the ancient stone temple where humans had once worshiped him with meads and songs.

[MagnaCarta]

As a boy, Reinn was always taught that the forest surrounding his village was a sacred thing, something to never take for granted. Every living thing for as far as the mind could fathom was sustained from the thriving wood. But every animal and living thing his people co-existed with was overseen by a fickle god. In return for another year of peace and felicity, one of his people had to give their life to assure the lives of the rest.

His village wasn't large, but it wasn't the smallest. Everyone had to do their share to make sure the frugal gift of that god wasn't wasted. Nobody was to slack off, only the old and infirm getting their well-earned rest.

The people didn't want to send someone lazy, or someone who would be sacrificed simply because they weren't any use. If for even one year the god were to find their chosen one unfit, it would have been the death of most of the village. A whole year without any protection or food to come by. By the time the harvest season rolled around once again, certainly they would by then be hard-pressed to find another person to appease the god.

So the bravest was chosen. Someone who was known throughout the rath to be fit at one thing or another.

Reinn had been picked for his speed. He was the most nimble of messengers, able to make it across the village and back quicker than anyone else. So as he stood in the long-used temple, having stumbled through the only remotely trodden forest pass on his own, he focused on simply trying to stay calm in what he believed would be his last moments.

[Iliad]

Chevreuil began to slow is wind borne pace, his hooves that seemed to just kiss the forest floor turning more towards the light gallop of a stag as he crashed through the under brush to meet the new sacrifice.
They were always scared, some fled before he ever met them, some few more would slay themselves upon the alter, but now and then, he would find a human who could face him. Now and then he even came to love them, but that was rare and the last of his beloved had died centuries ago.
Still, as the ancient stag slowed to a steady trot and began to change his form towards that of a human, he couldnt help but wonder if prehaps he wouldnt have to mourn for a human this year.

Brushing past the thick screen of sun dappled leaves, Chevreuil stepped out in to the moss grown temple clearing, only to give pause at the sight of the boy that greeted him. He was beautiful, and suddenly the god had the impression of seeing an ancient shadow of the first men that he had once shepherded.
Stark naked, with the body of grown man, and hair the color of wheat and copper that fell about his shoulders in wild tresses, with freckles like a split grain over sandy skin, the god began to approach, taking steady and measured steps like he might frighten a young fawn, he slowly drew closer untill he could smell the distinctive scent of the boy, and the acrid one of fear.

[MagnaCarta]

As soon as the sound of human footsteps other than his own met his ears, he spun around to meet his fate. He was terrified of just what the god would look like and how the deed would be done, and even though the form that met him was one of a human, Reinn could tell this was no mortal man. His posture and presence gave off something nobody alive could hope to imitate, an undercurrent of power that was reigned in only by his grace as he stepped slowly closer.

Reinn might have been scared, being almost completely exposed to something with that much power with absolutely nothing to defend himself with, but for the first time in his life he would not run. His parents and others back home could only survive if he met the end of his life with a modicum of dignity, and even only dressed in the light sacrificial cloth hung loosely over his frame, dignity was about the only thing he was certain he had. He considered calling out to the powerful being, but even if he could get his voice past his lips he had nothing of importance left to say.

[Iliad]

Chevreuil smiled faintly at the boy, it was an alien expression to one who had spent centuries as a stag, but he felt it tug at his thin human lips, if only in the faintest ghost. The boy stood to face him, even though the scent of fear was there, he wouldnt flee.
Reaching forward he lightly touched the others skin, feeling the racing pulse beneath, the strong vitality of life, if only he had been a doe, or a dryad, he would have borne herds of strong fawn. Still Chev leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the boys lips, hoping the gesture would calm him and make him see he wasnt going to be slain.
"Your name little hart?" Finally he asked with a voice like autumn winds, pulling away and stepping back to look him over once more, his eyes like microscopes, peeling back the layers and looking in to the boys soul with only the lightest gaze.

[MagnaCarta]

Reinn almost jumped as he felt the soft contact of the god's fingers as they trailed over the skin not covered by cloth. The sudden feeling of having the false-man's lips over his was almost enough to make him lash out. Luckily he kept his wits about him, not daring to strike. As the other stepped back from him, Reinn's hackles were still raised, though the kiss had been his first, and surprisingly pleasant. Nobody had ever lived to tell the tale of meeting this god, so there was no saying whether he trifled in one carnal pleasure before savoring another.

Just calm enough to reapply his brave face he'd had while leaving his home, the man finally found his voice, proud of the fact no matter how much it wavered,"Reinn. M-my name is Reinn. I'm here for another good yielding year for the forest."

[Iliad]

Chev nodded, and seemed to take in the name like it was something to be wrote upon the stone earth of a mountain for time to see. "This year will be a dry one, its been too long since a fire, Reinn, though no invocation or demand of yours would alter that." the man smiled as he reached out to touch the fair boy once again, too accustomed to the familiarity all animals shared in some form or another to find oddity in his touchings, as he began to stroke and smooth back the others hair, trying to calm him still yet, this time though as they grew closer, their breast nearly touched before the god did anything ells. Letting out a soft breath of weariness, he began to speak again, wishing he understood the humans he so beloved.
"You're brave, but this year the weak will die, and the forest will burn, its been far too long....."

[MagnaCarta]

Reinn had calmed, fairly against his own volition. The man's voice paired both with the calm peace of the forest and the hand carding through his hair left the defenses his tense posture had made completely lowered. It wasn't until the man spoke again that the reason he was there to begin with again became prevalent.

His dull green eyes gave away the fear that was once again seeping from his every muscle. He was here for a reason. He was here to die so others didn't have to,"W-w..." His voice faltered, failing him again, his legs shortly following them as he crouched, not being able to lift himself along with the dread sitting heavily on his head, his shoulders, his chest.

Reinn couldn't bear to look up at the god, curled over himself,"If... If you can't do anything about it, why take my people? Without this forest my people may die out completely, whether it be by attack or by starvation. You say that fire will rage and this only lends another chance of our home being swept out from under us."

He finally, in his anger, gathered the strength to look through his hair bright as the raging fire this powerful man spoke about as if it wouldn't mean the loss of life,"You say only the weak will die, but have you seen the state of my family? The winter has been cruel to us, and we had hoped the spring would be equally as kind." He slumped over, defeated. He'd rather let this be his death-bed than be forced into being the messenger that brings news of his rath's future suffering. They were too weak to seek solace in another village, the trip would be too much for many of them. The choice would be to suffer the walk to an unknown location, or suffer the fire and famine.

[Iliad]

Chevreuil knelt down beside Reinn, looking hurt for the boys anguish, it sent a knife through the gods heart, an odd pang he hadnt felt in too many years. The wind whispered above, and the birds chirped, while the scent of flowers filled the air, it was hard to believe that the summer would come and ravage the forest with a tempest of fire.
"Reinn, I dont take your people. I never asked for them to come here, some kill themselves, some run away, and some few, like you, I give a choice. This forest must be reborn now and then, be it with fire, or to spread its borders so older parts may die to make room, or there is another way. You're choice is this, carry away the seeds of this forest, and spread them far and wide, it would be a long journey and I could not aid you, but when it was done, you could return to your home, or, the forest must be reborn, as the spirit of these woods, I can take all the energy and put it in to a vessel. You could carry that energy and give birth to the new forest." Chevreuil's gaze was steady and his voice the even tone of need, he needed Reinn to understand his options, he needed the boy to know the consequences of this. "I wont make you chose any, you can go home now, and say I rejected you, but to save the forest, and your home, something must be done."

[MagnaCarta]

Reinn scrutinized Chevreuil, trying to find a lie, and he couldn't. This god didn't take their sacrifices. For those who ran, it must have been the same gross churning in the pit of his stomach at the thought of returning home bearing ill will that kept them from running away from the village instead of towards it.

That feeling is what he acted on when he decided, and though Reinn didn't quite comprehend how he was supposed to give birth to an entirely new forest, he didn't see the other as an option. Though he was surely fleet of foot, he'd never been outside his own rath. The only time people leave are to travel to another village to deliver a message or to send or receive supplies. Or as a sacrifice Either way, that person usually didn't end up coming back. Leaving for a village, people ended up settling there, and it would be strange if he were to travel the world without peddling something or without seeming to have another purpose.

Now he looked not with anger, but with trepidation at Chevreuil,"There's no way I can go back knowing I could have done something to save everyone. If it means staying closer to my home, I'll carry any burden. But where does the energy come from... The forest? Does something destined so soon to burn still have such energy as to be born again?" He looks concerned, but shrugs off those questions,"No, wait, if any question you decide to answer, make it this: What form will this energy take within me and how will I myself be able to grant it life?"

[Iliad]

Chevreuil knew the fear humans had when faced with the choice, some had begged him for another way, but none would go home empty handed to the scorn of a village.
He knew it was a carnal feeling of selfishness, but he could help the smile that came from Reinn's answer, he liked the boy, and the idea of his herd being not so small once more was one of strange relief. He had been solo for so much of his life, and still he craved the companionship of another, to not be the only shepherd. If Reinn still chose yes, his herd might yet be three by the time the summers end had come.
The ancient god nodded in agreement to answer his questions finally after having listened, he would never lie to Reinn, but humans did not always understand things as they ought to.
"To answer all your questions, because I fear to truely answer them all will have to be, the forest bears the energy of every tree, every flower, every animal. I am also the forest, we're the same entity, the forest and I, so while the forest needs to be reborn, it need not be every tree, and every blade of grass that does it. I cannot bear a fawn on my own, and I fear what carrying it would do to me, but you.... I could let you bear me young, it would satisfy the forest, put it to rest a while more, and prehaps the fire need not be so all consuming, if needed at all." The great stag tried to seem reassuring, reaching out once more to brush Reinn's soft hair back from his face, envisioning the human ripe with child.

[MagnaCarta]

Reinn nods, his thoughts a mile away. He thought of his family, who hopefully was already being provided for by another steady young man. He looked idly about the forest, trying to imagine it burnt and the ground where it once stood blistered and smoldering. Not in his parent's lifetime has there been a devastating fire as intense the one being described to him.

Slowly, his attentions still not completely on the man before him, he spoke,"So if this duty is performed well, there would be no real chance of my home burning? If that is so, then that is all I need to hear," he chewed on the side of his cheek, one more thing turning over in his mind,"While I carry this new energy, if this is really a process you deem possible, will I be able to tend to my family in any way? Even if it is indirectly, I would like to ensure that my brother is specially looked after. He is but young still, and he was never meant to be the strongest of those born after me. The harsh winter lent him no favor. How long will it be before I'm not fit even to make the short journey back to my home? Will you allow me leave in the first place?"

Reinn knew that this questioning may be seen as insolence, but this god seemed to genuinely want to help his village, though he can forgive that no god known to any man could give help without some sort of offering or deal being struck with a mortal. Any god who could wouldn't want to. That neither being here nor there, he waited to see if his questions would be answered. The fear that had threaded his frame so tightly together had since relinquished him, being beaten away by determination, his shoulders covered by resignation. He dared reach up to grasp the hand that had been moving the hair from his face, simply squeezing it for a moment before letting it go. He swallowed heavily-if he were to bear young for anyone, he would rather start quickly to finish just as soon. If he must, there would be much more time to learn more of the situation and the god later.

[Iliad]

Chevreuil knew that the humans didnt see the cycle of the woods the way he or the trees did, trees did not mourn their impending death, they did not mourn their brothers, but, humans did. Reinn did, and he would bear a great burden to stop it, Chevreuil knew it and already in a way loved the boy for it.
It was odd the seriousness, the fear, the anxiousness that hung in the air around the ancient temple, while above clouds rolled across a corn flower blue sky, and all around spring growth glowered with sunlight, and birds sang.
It was hard to imagine the flames, it was hard to imagine the death of the old trees, but for now Chev shook his head, copper locks tossing like rustling leaves. "Do this, and your home will be as safe as it ever has been. The forest will thrive another year, but I cannot stop the lightning, I cannot stop floods, or plagues, but I swear to you, I will protect your home with all my powers. I always have, and I always will." With that the god leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to each of Reinn's cheeks, squeezing his hand back even as the difficult questions were asked of him. With a tired sigh, the god nodded once more.
"Yes. You may come and go between your home and here as you wish. Though I will warn you, by agreeing to this, you will be carrying apart of the forest within you, these woods will become a home to you if you wish them to, they would sooner hurt you then hurt themselves. Your brother I will protect as if he were you, and I will protect you above all ells, but when the time comes.... if you do become unfit to journey the closer to your time, I would ask to stay near you." The stag asked, answering with his one question in a kind, before begin to rise, pulling Reinn up with him.


(Do you want to RP a sex scene between them, or skip it and just go with mystical magic and let that run its course? o3o ))

[MagnaCarta]

(Mm, I've never written a sex scene, and I fear that my part would be quite bland if we were to do one. Perhaps the latter would be for the best, or just an implied combination of both?)

Reinn rose with the man, following him deep into the forest. The sounds of the plethora of woodland animals that never abated the farther they went paired with the thick overgrowth made it seem as if this forest had never been touched by mortal man. He thought with a start that leaving alone the few who ran from Chevreuil before allowing themselves to be 'sacrificed', it probably hadn't.

The trek was met with silence from the two men, but it was a considerably comfortable lull in conversation. It gave Reinn the time to absorb everything that had he'd just been told. The wild and powerful forest and all of it's creatures were something children had always been taught to respect, not taking more than necessary to live peacefully. For it to be something living and breathing, nevertheless something soon bound to treat him as a part of it...

With this great protector, would he really be just a mortal man to his people? He only worried of later, when he would be heavy with a life that couldn't naturally occur, if he would really be welcomed back so easily. Perhaps the woods would really become a second home, as Chevreuil said.

When they arrived at the forests center, they stopped. Reinn looked uncertainly to the god, not knowing his role.

[Iliad]

Sure! I can go from an implied combination, I actually usually dislike writing sex scenes, so its good for me to just imply and go with magic. ))

Chev led his human charge through the forest, through ancient groves, and caverns of green, it was only when they reached the forest heart as the day began to grow long, and the sun began to sink did he stop and turn towards the boy once more.
The forest heart was where the first tree of the forest had grown centuries ago, it was the ancient hill where once Chevreuil as a fawn himself had looked out over plains that were now the forest depths. The ancient oak still stood, as twisted and gnarled as any drift wood, dark as old leather, and its leaves even in the early spring the color of the darkest shadows of green.
"This is my home Reinn, yours too now. All these woods came from this tree..... I think for this ritual to work, it might be best to do it at the heart of things...." He smiled, speaking in a hushed voice, it seemed even the god who called this glade forgotten by time a home felt the heavy silence of the air, that felt like the peace of it might be broken if one spoke too loudly.
Clutching the others hand like it was sacred itself, the god led his sacrifice through the ancient roots as thick as trees themselves, and arching and twining over eachother like a maze, untill they reach a sort of cavern made by the roots, with a cieling of mosses, and a bed and floor of ferns and soft grasses.
With the last rays of the setting sun painting everything is vivid detail, and the fireflies dancing in the crimson light, it was easy to see whisp of things that might not have been there, a glow of something that might have been a trick of light as easily as magic, as Chevreuil took Reinn and made him a warden of the forest.







The next morning the sun peaked through the glade pale and golden, the god raised his head to look out at the world, cervine body curled around the sleeping sacrifice, his hooves tucked beneath him and ears twitching with every sound, wondering how long the other might sleep, not that he dared move before the other woke, but still, humans could be somewhat.... out of touch with nature he mused to himself, curling his long tawney neck over Reinn again.

[MagnaCarta]

Only when the sun had been on it's beaten path through the sky for a short while did Reinn finally rejoin the woken world. Memories seeped fluidly back to the front of his mind while his body worked on processing the new sensation of the morning. He was a little sore, yet he was warm, though even before he'd opened his eyes he could tell unconsciously that the sun was not nearly strong enough to be the source.

He shifted, making the warmth shift with it. Feeling something much heavier than a fur blanket or a man curled around him, his body almost responded to the impulse his mind supplied it to simply jump up and put distance between himself and whatever animal had come upon him in his sleep. Instead, he slowly opened his eyes to see nothing much more than thick fair fur encompassing his vision in it's entirety.

His people knew that the god of their protecting forest had more than one form, but nobody knew what any of them looked like. His body relaxed, now a little more awake from the scare. He simply rested back against the deer he somehow knew to be Chevreuil, even though the hart seemed to be much more interested in meeting the day now that he knew Reinn was at least partially awake.

[Iliad]

Chevreuil slowly shifted from his light doze as Reinn began to awake, feeling the boy shifting against him the god lazily nuzzled his mates neck with his soft deer nose, smelling the scent of the previous night still on the boy and breathing it deep before raising gently, careful not to knock Reinn around.
"I forget sometimes how late humans sleep." He spoke voice largely the same as in his human form despite coming from the mouth of a stag. If he had been able to he would have smiled at the sight of Reinn, spread out on the bed of ferns like a gangly foal, with tousled hair, and the first glimmers of a new life flickering around him like dust motes that only the gods eyes could see.

In a moment he was kneeling down beside Reinn, when he ceased to be a stag and became a man once more it was hard to tell, but by the time he was wrapping his arms around the other's middle to kiss his stomach, Chevreuil had returned to the freckled and copper haired man he had been the day before.

[MagnaCarta]

Reinn struggled to sit up a little around Chevreuil. He groggily looked around the cave, at the moss covering the ceiling and hanging down overhead, and the soft light from the mid-morning sun filtering through the thick vegetation winding all around the tree, handing from it's massive roots.

At first, he thought he didn't feel at all different, but after simply sitting with the god's face nuzzling his naked stomach for a short while, he found that to be untrue. Winding a hand through the Chevreuil's thick hair and smoothing it, Reinn took stock again of the feelings coursing through him. He felt oddly content in his new environment, and the high spirits from the night before hadn't left him, either. The animals were awake and their day seemed to have started as they made all manner of sounds, but they hadn't woken him. He'd expected to be unable to sleep even after the night he had experienced, so sleeping so soundly was surprising. He realized that whatever magic had bound him to this forest last night had made this place seem more comforting. It made it feel more like a home.

Other than the misplaced sense of feeling at home, he really didn't feel physically different. He supposed it would take a while to feel new life, even if the means to which it were made weren't completely natural. Quietly, he tried to break the comfortable silence between them, wanting to know if whatever the god had done had taken,"Good morning to you, too. You seem to already be eager for life to take hold inside me... H-has it?"

[Iliad]

The deer god looked up at Reinn as he spoke, cervine eyes watching while his head rested lazily on the others lap. "If last night had not made it take, it would never take regardless of our efforts." He responded in an amused tone, like the question was a silly one. Chev didnt know if it was possible for the ritual to not work, but privately he believed it would not have if Reinn had been of a different temperament. The forest had a way of weeding out the weak, as well as the greedy and selfish, so far Reinn had proved to be none of those things.
"But yes, it has taken, I can feel the energy being drawn to you." He finally added, knowing how humans liked simple and sure answers.

Finally letting go Chev rose and stretched a bit, seeming to work some of the kinks from last nights before offering his hand to Reinn once more. "We can find you suitable food, and decide what best to do about your family." The god offered, trying to be accommodating to the human.

[MagnaCarta]

Reinn flushed a little, his mind refusing to wrap around the fact that he had a completely separate life within him. He stretched a little once he was on his feet before nodding to Chev,"I could definitely go for something to eat."

He didn't bother with the clothes that had been shed during the night. The few able-bodied warriors in his village usually chose to fight without clothes, and it considered a fairly weak thing to wish to cover yourself simply for battle. Reinn never would claim to be a fighter, but with nobody in the forest to be modest for he didn't feel a need to fuss around with the light cloth.

He was, however, good at finding things. Usually, fruits and other edible things were a little hard to find at the very edge of the forest, but with his quick feet he was able to fill a small parcel in barely any considerable time. Edible things seemed abundant in the thick of the forest, and though he was still fumbled a little while navigating the roots and thicket, he seemed set on being able to find his own food. He'd had his family in mind, too, but didn't think Chevreuil would be very pleased if he'd killed some small animals for his father to salt for a meal.