Chapter Two.

The next day, Ventus couldn't help himself. As soon as his classes were finished for the day he slowly ended up making his way over to the rescue centre.

He sat outside the front of the centre in his car for what felt like days, working up his nerve to go in. He wanted – no he needed to know what they had done with the stag's body. He refused to leave until he knew, and was already adamant on insisting that the stag be laid to rest somewhere within the forest. Last night had been…unsettling. He had watched the forest outside of his bedroom window for hours, and his feelings of unease had only grown tenfold. The forest seemed different – darker somehow, and Ventus had sworn he'd seen more of the shadows moving than the trees. He had heard strange noises, too – a quiet nattering and hissing that had made his blood run cold. He'd left his bedside lamp on all night, sleep only finally carrying him away in the early hours of the morning. His grandfather had looked just as weary when they had sat down to breakfast together as well. Once again, he didn't ask. Whatever was happening to the forest, they were both starkly aware of it.

Slapping his cheeks, Ventus found his resolve and strode through the rescue centre's front doors.

"Oh! Ven…" Aqua was standing behind the reception desk, a sheaf of papers in one hand while she spoke to another young woman with burgundy hair. "I didn't expect you to come here today…"

Ventus took a deep breath. "I…wanted to speak to you about the stag from yesterday, if I could?"

Aqua opened her mouth to reply, but Ventus quickly spoke over her. "I'm not here to cause trouble, I promise! I just…wanted to know what you were doing with the body…"

"…Body?" The other young woman questioned quietly, looking up at Aqua from her seat. Ventus could just read her name-badge, which had 'Kairi' written in black italic. "I thought the stag was good to go?"

Aqua shifted nervously. "Ah, yes! He is, but – Ven! I couldn't reach you! The stag is actually in good health!"

"…What?" Ventus was wildly confused. "That's not –"

"The stag you brought in got its x-rays mixed up with another deer that had come in around the same time yesterday." Aqua's explanation was plausible, but something still seemed a little off…

Ventus frowned, but kept silent.

"I wanted to call you and let you know, but you forgot to leave your contact details…"

"…Really? So, the one I brought in…is actually okay?"

Aqua smiled, breathing out a small laugh. "Yes! A perfect bill of health."

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Kairi added, smiling happily. "I love it when they can be rehabilitated!"

Ventus laughed, a strong wave of relief washing over him. "That's great! …I can hardly believe it!"

Aqua nodded, still smiling kindly. "Would you like to see him, Ven? Before he goes back into the forest?" Pre-empting his answer, she was already moving over towards the doors they had gone through yesterday.

"I'd love to!"

Ventus called a quick goodbye to Kairi and hurried to follow Aqua through into the centre. The doors had barely closed before Aqua was crowding him, her previous smile nowhere to be seen.

"Come with me," she whispered frantically. "We have to go somewhere where we won't be overheard."

Ventus was instantly panicked. "W-What's wrong? What is it?"

Aqua just shook her head and beckoned for him to follow her. "Shh! The less people know about this, the better!"

Trying to remain calm, Ventus silently followed, Aqua glancing every which way as she ushered him into an empty consultation room far away from any noise or activity.

Aqua locked the door behind them, leaving the lights switched off. She turned to Ventus, still looking serious.

"I don't know how to explain this to you, but that stag – there's something different about him."

Ventus frowned and nodded. "I know there is, I was trying to tell you yesterday!"

Aqua shook her head and glanced nervously over at the door. "Well I guess I kind of believe you now, because I…I tried to euthanize him and it didn't work."

Ventus choked. "You – You tried to kill him!? I thought his x-rays got mixed up!?"

"That was a lie…" Aqua murmured, quietly pleading for Ventus to understand. "I…didn't want to talk about this in front of Kairi because if this gets around it could mean trouble."

Ventus sighed and crossed his arms. A lot of this still wasn't making much sense. "Okay, so…you…you tried to euthanize him…and it didn't work?"

"Yes, I tried twice, the second dose was almost double the usual amount! But it didn't affect him at all! He just…there was no change." Aqua gently leaned up against the wall and crossed her arms, too. She looked frightened. "At first I thought maybe I had gotten the dosage wrong or the chemical component was out of date and unreactive, but it wasn't – it was all correct. It…scared me, I didn't want to try again in case it was making it painful for him."

"So…what you're saying is…he can't die?" Ventus was stunned.

Aqua looked unsure, but still nodded hesitantly. "It…almost seems like that. I know that sounds crazy, but I don't know how else to make sense of it."

She stepped away from the wall then, her expression now slightly desperate. "This has never happened before so I don't really know what to do. His hind leg really is fractured, but he can't stay here anymore. Not everyone that works here is a good person, Ven. If word gets around that he can't die, he won't just be an animal anymore – he'll be a test subject."

Ventus instantly felt sick, envisioning exactly what Aqua was referring to. There was no way he could let that happen – no way in hell.

"We have to get him out of here…"

"I know…but where will we take him?" Aqua didn't look convinced. "I live in town, in an apartment! And I don't know anyone else who would have a suitable place…"

"We'll take him to mine!" Ventus murmured, a plan slowly forming in his mind. "I live out near the forest! My grandfather grows rice, so there's fields all around us! I have a shed, too… We can put him in there while his leg heals."

"That…sounds like it could work…" Aqua breathed, her lips curving into a small smile.

Ventus grinned, feeling more hopeful already. "We'll sneak him out tonight then! There's no time to waste!"

-0-

Daylight was just peeking through the thick brush of the forest, and finally, Ventus could breathe a deep sigh of relief. Being careful to remain discreet, he and Aqua had managed to carefully move the stag into the rescue vehicle before relocating him outside of town to Ventus' home.

It was just after five in the morning, Aqua working tirelessly to make sure that the stag was comfortable with everything it needed to recover, before successfully sedating him again and setting his leg inside a fluoro-green cast.

"This is going to take a while to heal – at least six to twelve weeks," Aqua told him, positioning a number of hot water bottles wrapped in towels along the stag's underbelly and chest. "We'll have to make sure he keeps the strength in his leg as well, so after a few weeks we'll try to get him moving just to see how he goes."

Her work done, Ventus waved goodbye to Aqua then returned to sitting with the stag. He made sure not to touch him, in case that would startle him, but he didn't want him waking up alone either.

"I'm sorry for all this…but I'll get you home, I promise," Ventus whispered, reaching out a hand to rest it on the stag's chest. "I'm going to look after you, so you don't have to worry."

There was a loud, clanking noise to his right, and Ventus looked up as one of the large steel doors of the shed slowly creaked open. His grandfather peered in at him, his eyes instantly drawn to the sleeping stag.

There was a moment of silence, Ventus nervously trying to formulate an explanation.

"Ah," His grandfather murmured. "…This explains everything."

"I'm sorry!" Ventus rushed out. "I was going to tell you!"

His grandfather remained silent, his eyes wandering over the stag's form and pausing on his bandaged leg.

"He's injured?"

Ventus sighed quietly, feeling guilty all over again. "Yeah, I…hit him with my car a couple of days ago. He was at the rescue centre till yesterday, but they were going to put him to sleep, so my friend Aqua helped me move him here. We're going to give him time to let his leg heal."

As if roused by their voices, the stag began to stir. Ventus snapped his mouth shut and watched as the stag blinked open its eyes and puffed out a small breath. Ventus smiled, so happy to see the stag awake and responsive.

"He's…not like other stags, Grandfather," Ventus said, hugging his knees to his chest and still watching the stag. "He's so gentle…and warm. I feel…I don't know – there's just something special about him."

Meeting the stag's eyes, Ventus' grandfather inclined his head just so. The stag just watched him silently.

"…Does he have a name?"

Surprised, Ventus sat up a little straighter. "Uh, no! …I haven't thought about it to be honest."

"Terra."

Ventus frowned. He looked at his grandfather, questioning. "Huh?"

His grandfather just smiled. "His name is Terra."

"Terra…? As in…the local forest spirit?"

Breathing out a laugh, Ventus gently laid his hand on the stag's chest again. The stag allowed it, still observing them both calmly.

"That's a great idea! I'm sure Terra would love having such a beautiful stag named after him."

His grandfather quietly agreed. "I'm sure he would."

-0-

That night the forest seemed as worse as ever. Ventus pulled his blankets up around his face and hunched down amongst his pillows, the haunting, hollow sounds of the ferocious wind outside more frightening by the minute. He felt ridiculous believing it, but the darkness almost seemed like it was alive – the shadows creeping and swirling amongst the branches he could see just passed his window. It was like nothing he had ever witnessed before.

Ventus felt his eyelids growing heavy, even as he fought against falling asleep. He was becoming increasingly worried for Terra outside in the shed, and was single-mindedly intent on braving the weather to go and check on him. If there was a chance that Terra was frightened by all of this, and might possibly injure himself more, Ventus didn't want to risk it.

But, he couldn't seem to help it though – try as he might to rouse himself it was like something weighted was dragging his conscious under.

"Te…rra…"

Everything faded out…and then instantly, Ventus found himself dreaming.

It was still and silent all around him, gentle light filtering down from high above as he stood in the middle of a forest clearing. It was warm and calm, and the birds sung softly to each other, butterflies drifting on the ever-present wind that always seemed to linger here. It was like the forest was breathing, and Ventus felt at peace – as if he was one with his surroundings.

Off to his left something large moved out of the corner of his eye, and Ventus turned to look. It was a giant stag, its head held high as it stood amongst the leaves, and its brown eyes steadily watching him. Time stood still as they regarded each other, and Ventus held his breath. Then, without a backwards glance, the stag turned and bounded off into the brush.

"W-Wait…!"

Ventus gave chase, running forward through the trees, but something immediately felt strange… His body's movements felt natural, but still somehow different. He ran quickly, the forest flying passed him, his heart pounding behind his ribs. Everything was so vivid, bright splashes of sunlight gloriously warm against his skin, and the smell of the trees and composted leaves, and the moist earth underfoot was all so perfectly real. Just up ahead, the giant stag suddenly appeared before him, flitting through the gaps in the trees and keeping pace with him effortlessly. They moved together – in sync, and Ventus' staccato breaths were loud in his ears.

Still moving, he happened to look down – only to find himself changed. Where his feet were supposed to be, there was only the powerful legs of a stag, strong hooves pounding the earth and propelling him ever forward.

He should have been surprised, but he wasn't at all.

…Here, he was a stag, too.

Ventus awoke with a start, warm, brilliant sunlight streaming in on him. Turning his head, he looked outside to see that the forest was calm again, as if the sinister shadows from the night before had all just been a bad dream…

Taking a moment to just breathe, Ventus slid a hand over his heart, feeling its rhythm steady beneath his palm.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, the quiet chime of a bell ringing through his mind.

…Something was beginning to change inside of him, but it was an oddly familiar feeling…as if he was starting to remember something long forgotten. All at once the feeling left him, and Ventus opened his eyes again to stare back out at the forest. Now more awake, he could only lie there and wonder, his fingers tingling where it seemed only moments before had been hooves.

With a sharp gasp, Ventus threw himself upright before flinging the covers off his legs and staggering to his feet. He thundered down the stairs and threw himself out the front door, his mind intent on his grandfather's shed behind the ancient house. Heaving the heavy, metal doors open, Ventus sagged against it, his relief at finding the stag safe and sound almost overwhelming.

The stag was awake and sitting upright, his calm eyes once again meeting Ventus'. It was almost as if he had been expecting him…

The stag slowly tilted its head back and called out long and low, and Ventus blinked, that same bell sound from before chiming softly. The gentle sunlight streaming in on them brightened just so, and Ventus felt that strange emotion wash over him again, one of his hands lifting to brush the very tips of his fingers over his beating heart. The stag fell silent once more, its great chest expanding with its quiet breaths, and Ventus felt the feeling gradually fade away, leaving him faintly breathless, and all the more curious.

What…was this feeling? What could it possibly mean?