Rosco

There was barely a breeze to combat the searing heat, and the humid air was still, giving the feeling of trying to breath underwater. Evening was upon the canyon; the setting sun on the western horizon, with the reddish-orange full moon, in the month of August known as the Sturgeon Moon, Dog Moon or Red Moon, coming up on the opposite side of the horizon. Mars, Saturn, and the star Spica soon appeared in the night sky, forming a triangle, with distinguishing colors: at the top was yellow Saturn, on the right side was reddish-orange Mars, and on the left side was blue Spica, twinkling away, unlike the planets neighboring it in the night sky.

Rosco stopped for a breath, having traveled quickly, leading Legend to the place to which he often traveled with his mother. He glanced up at the darkening sky, seeing the triangle of three spots. His eyes shifted from Saturn, to Mars, and finally Spica, and he then followed a pine tree whose tip seemed to reach for the star. His eyes drifted down the pine's trunk, and underneath it was what he was looking for. Sasha. Was she sleeping? "Mom?..." He asked shakily. "Are you--" He got close enough to see the blood and her neck gruesomely torn open. "NO! MOM! Who did this?! Who would do this?!" His legs weakened and crumbled beneath his pale, spotted body and his head fell onto his mother's shoulders as he sobbed uncontrollably. His mother was dead, and whoever had killed her would be in for pain, suffering and merciless death at the rage of an orphan. And if he went to hell for his rampage, he would at least make sure it was crowded when he got there.

"Legend..." the young stag whimpered, "She's gone, Legend. She's gone." He lifted his head and looked back at the older stag, who was now a widower. "SHE'S GONE!!!" His voice was full of rage; not directed at Legend, but directed at the heartless murderers who had dishonorably fled the scene.

Legend & Guadalupe

Legend walked quietly behind Rosco on their journey to find Sasha, who had not returned back to the herdlands as expected. The red deer paused frequently to turn his large, radar-like ears about and scent the wind. Whenever a twig snapped, or a branch rustled, the large stag would freeze and survey the noise before going on again. Behind him, Guadalupe acted as an extra pair of ears and eyes for the trio. The white-tailed buck and his melanistic, pitch-black coat made him an excellent scout in the dusk and night hours, and as a long-time from of Legend and his father, Guad was one of the stag's closest companions.

Upon reaching the pine tree, Legend was breathing quicker too for the effort it took to climb the rugged, rocky terrain, and keep up with his friend. Almost immediately, before his dark eyes had spotted Sasha's still form beneath the evergreen, something struck him wrong. It took a moment or two before his brain made sense of the faint, feline odor in the air, and by that time Rosco had discovered the lifeless body of the slain doe. Legend hurried forward on his long legs, while Guad remained back a few steps with his white tail flagged up in alarm. "Sasha... oh, Sasha..." The scent of blood now flooded his nose and his tall ears switched back against his head like those of a distressed canine. The stag lowered his antlered head and touched his muzzle gently against her shoulder, and struggled not to recoil at the coldness he felt from her body, or the scent of death that greeted his sensitive nostrils. He felt sick and furious all at once, and the pure heartache he heard from Rosco doubled those emotions.

They killed her... for sport? For what? The painful realization ran through his mind as tear-stung eyes gazed down at his fallen mate. It didn't appear that they'd even fed on her corpse, so she had not been slain for food, as so many of their kind were. "I know, Rosco, I know." Legend replied back as calmly and gently as he could muster, having to rely on sheer determination and willpower to keep his voice steady. It was hard to do when the shock and sorrow of Sasha's death was so fresh.

Chido & Sassy

Chido and Sassy now both in their prime had been taken in by Sasha and her family when they had just been babies. Chido had at first just watched the three go and look for her but then Sassy made to follow and he followed his sister. The two white tail deer twins followed the group slowly and carefully.

As the others came to a halt by a pine tree the two white tailed deer stared at the fallen body. Chido was upset but he felt a pull to be strong and he moved forward to stand near her lowering his own antlered head to touch Sasha lightly. Chido then lifted his head up and gazed around wary. Who ever had done this hadn't eaten any of her which made him suspicious and very much on alert.

Sassy on the other hand just stared at her fallen adoptive mother and huffed unsure of what to do.

Rosco & Others

Rosco's eyes were becoming red with all his sobbing. His dad had been gone for a long time, never telling his own mate and child where he went, and now his mother was dead. Murdered. Violently, viciously murders. "Who would do this?!" He shrieked, his weary head resting on Sasha's side next to where Legend placed his nose. She was cold, but not completely - whoever did this did it not long ago.

"Cats!" Everest's voice came up from over the hill as he followed his herd. He had heard enough to know what had happened, and observant enough to see the cat footprints everywhere, scattered around with the atches of blood. Sasha's blood. "Cat tracks! They're everywhere!" Why any cat would kill a defenseless doe and leave her body otherwise untouched was beyond him, but he was beginning to suspect the rumors were true; the rumors he'd rather not believe, that a group left the Haunters and followed Risen's diabolical ways.

"That's it!" Tyree shouted, and she and her sister Kazbek stepped forward to stand next to their mother, Sassy, and their triplet brother, Kilimanjaro. Kazbek still had the scars on either side of her neck where a human's arrow just missed her windpipe and vital blood vessels. The hair grew back white and sparse there, contrasting with her dark tan pelt. "We can't let this go unpunished! Sasha's murderers must pay for their crimes!"

Snowdon and Kamir, the sons of Enkeli and Everest, slowly approached the group. "We will fight by your side, Rosco, if you wish it." Kamir said timidly, and Snowdon sent a glance toward Legend to see how the red stag would react to his brother asking Sasha's son leadership questions rather than asking Legend. Legend was, after all, still the lead stag. Oh, how he hoped this wouldn't lead to a power struggle, but knowing just how headstrong and gung-ho most of the herd was, a fight for dominance and the title of lead stag was to be expected.