23
Ianto was walking in a field of wild borage, the brilliant purple flowers giving off a lovely smell that filled the air with sweetness. The birdsong filled the air with sound not unlike church bells on a Sunday, a place of reverence. The breeze had spread this... the soft breeze on his face that had shifted seeds, adjusted the world in this spot to create a little spot of beauty.
He was barefoot, humming so softly as he let the warm sun bear down on him, pushing at him like it was trying to lull him. He stopped walking and looked around the clearing, taking in the deep green hues of the surrounding woods and felt such an ease. So peaceful.
Then the birdsong stopped.
Ianto turned to look at the shadows, sensing movement and he waited to see if it was friends of foe.
A white stag stepped into the clearing and he felt his heart swell as the handsome creature walked forward to bend it's neck, tasting the basil. Sixteen points… wow. Then others followed out and a small herd of deer were before him.
Beautiful. Ethereal creatures. They almost glowed.
Ianto felt his mouth water as he stared at all that meat, feeling bad as well that such majestic creatures could taste so damned nice that he wanted one.
Then he noticed one of the deer had something on its neck. He moved closer and saw the bite for what it was, turning to scan as Zs began to breach the meadow.
Ianto woke with a start, his heart beating loudly as he struggled from the bed and found himself in the bathroom throwing up as the baby revolted. Gods. That was… intense. Ianto wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked around trying to work out what the purpose of that dream was.
He decided to leave it for now, leaving Shangri-La to run the tunnels and he exploded topside in Holdfast to laugher and scurrying as children played. They saw him and cheered, all running for the lovely Grandy who would play and when someone called him he was not prepared to turn and find Rhys there covered in blood.
"Ianto… mate… we have a fresh deer" Rhys called out "Jack says you might want to help bleed it?"
His dream.
Ianto felt an irrational fear as he raced to the meat room and entered to look at the deer being hung to drain. A normal deer. Ianto looked at the head already severed and placed to one side. Ten points… maybe.
He reached into the bucket and let his finger touch the blood, and then bring it up to taste. It tasted…. Wrong. Ianto reached out with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach as he slowly revolved the cooling body. He checked it and found what he instinctively knew would be there.
"It's tainted." He said out loud.
"What?" several people moved to see where Ianto was pointing close to the kill shot.
"This is not a stray bullet… here… it's a bite. The blood tastes wrong… it was starting to turn already." Ianto sighed "This is bad."
"Fuck. He's right. The damn thing's infected… wait… turn… could it turn into a deer zombie?" Owen asked as he stood back watching "Like… they are herbivores… they will not want to eat us so what… they want to eat … what… oh man.. imagine one trying to eat your brains w those teeth... it could choke on my hair and then fall over and die… wait… if it's a zombie deer…"
"Owen. Shit up ya divvy" Ianto smiled then took a moment with his hand on the cooling flesh of the beast to send a thought of love and respect to whatever god sent warning of this before the others ate any.
"But you know… I want some venison now" he sighed "Where did you get it?"
"From the east field over near the creek… wild borage growing there" someone called out and Ianto caught the gasp in his throat, shaking his head as he left to run for that place.
Beautiful.
And… he stood there listening... waiting… there.
He saw the deer in the distance, a large herd and he spotted several young males. He chose one and spent some time tracking them to make sire one was healthy and unattached to a mate, then attacked, the blood in his mouth bursting as he took the young buck down.
It was spectacular.
He knew he must look terrifying and did not care as he tore at the dying creature, eating it with gusto until satiated, then sat back and to his horror he saw that he had left little meat at all.
Wow.
Pup was hungry.
Ianto left the remains for the other creatures waiting silently in the shadows, the circle of life and all that… the deer had given itself to Ianto and now he gave what was left to the wilderness so that the deer might be a part of its surroundings once more.
He had come to a decision, made of the dream and his awakening.
He had to help these people, he had to invite them into the fold… into the herd for safety's sake… and he had to be the big bad wolf patrolling. Sometimes you have to be what you are destined to be. Just like that deer had been selected to be Ianto's fuel… he is destined to create a place of safety for the people his children had chosen already.
The new site… the new township.
Sometimes starting something new means you listen to the breeze.
And the wind was blowing in that direction.
Time to let the seeds of this new chapter find somewhere to seed.
Time to give them a home.
