Susan slid open the door and jumped down to the cobbled stones below. "Lin!" A young cervitaur's head popped up from a small crowd of children. Her long ears perked up as she looked around confused. She finally noticed Susan when she started to sprint to her.
"Susan!" The girl stumbled a bit on her wobbly legs, still shaky like that of a fawn. Once free of the crowd she gracefully bounded to her friend. "Come play with us! Alfonse has some MushPunsh seeds. In a few minutes they'll be huge," she delicate arms flew out to her sides to describe the motion, "and then we can bounce on them and stuff!"
"Cool! Let me see!" Susan quickly trotted to the group of children, her friend bounded by her side. The rest of the children seemed to be encircling something on the ground. "Let me see," she called, gently inching her way through the crowd of quiet giggling. Some of the others were stubborn and she ended up more or less crawling pass their legs (and Hop's tentacles). Her head finally popping out from the wall of legs she could see a small, simple mound surrounded by gravel.
The children had mostly scattered now, taking seats here and there around the small mound. Most were dangling their limbs from their seat on the ledge of the walkway while some had simply sat down near it. The MushPunsh weren't growing. There was some small talk as to why but no one could really decide the exact cause. Eventually, everyone more or less agreed that they should at least water the seeds but Xing Lao Lao was busy talking. They'll have to get the water themselves.
The well was at the back of the house, some twenty yards in a clearing with nothing more than grass surrounding it. It was well beyond that point before the dense forest started growing again. It was Lin, though, who brought up the warning most of them had heard this morning.
Earlier in the day, after many of their parents had returned from a village meeting or were told by their friends that had gone, they had return with stern warnings to not go outside the village's outer bounds. There was possible danger that could get into the barrier around the village. Many rebuttal her worry - they were well within the village's official bounds. They teased her, stating that she was skittish. Lin wrapped her arms around her torso tightly, a back hoof dug nervously in the gravel.
"I'm not skittish. Just because I'm part deer doesn't make me skittish." Several of the other children pulled faces.
"Yeah," Susan called. They weren't getting away with that one.
Teasing continued but Lin had had enough. She bounded up the steps to the walkway, her hooves clacking against the wood beams, and sprinted down to the door. Susan ran after her, calling to her, but she was already out of sight. Both left the other children with worried expressions plastered on their faces.
At first she timidly looked over her surroundings. Nothing stirred. She inched forward, counting the steps her hooves took. The grass tickled her lower legs, the urge to scratch them growing but still overwhelmed by the sense of the possibility of danger. Gathering her courage she quickly leaped to the well and hid huddled up against the cold, smooth stone that surrounded it. She straightened, her ears swiveling side to side. It seemed alright.
"Lin!"
Lin jumped a good several feet into the air. The moment her hooves touched earth she stumbled behind the well to hide from the voice. She looked over the stone foundation to see her friend walking towards the well. "Oh. Hi, Susan."
"Hmph!"
Lin trotted towards her, obviously still nervous. Her gaze settled on Susan's face, a clearly upset face. "Ah."
Susan smiled. "Don't go on adventures without me." Lin relaxed at the quip. "Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Are we going to get the water?" Her smile grew as Lin, herself, smiled.
"Yup," she giggled. She trotted over to the well and picked up the bucket next to it.
Whispering caught Susan's attention and she turned to the door. In the door's framework the worried faces of the others were framed. When they noticed her looking at them they started to call to them, telling them to get back inside. "Hmph, 'fraidy cats." She called out. Her hands came to rest on her hips. "Weren't you just telling us it wasn't dangerous?"
They grew quiet. "Come on. What if something actually comes out of the forest and eats you guys? Then it would be our fault."
Susan made a rude noise. She turned to Lin again, watching her slender form working the pull lever. Slender but she was really strong. She remembered meeting her dad once and he was huge! And the antlers that grew from his head were really pointy. They must be heavy. She giggled absentmindedly. Probably not as heavy as Baba's tail. He once accidently took out a post by simple moving it to the side and didn't realize until part of the building fell on his tail.
"Susan!" One of the boys urged quietly.
She turned to them dramatically. They were still going at it? She studied the others. They seemed . . . actually upset.
"Arrhhhhhhhhh!"
Susan turned to Lin, briefly noticing the forgotten bucket and its contents spilling onto the ground. Lin was looking at a hulking creature. It looked like a bull. It pretty much was a bull but its eyes glowed like embers and its large horns gleamed of gold. The creature pounded its front hoof against the earth, scraping away the soft grass and exposing fresh, brown mud. Its nostrils flared and blew hot, billowing smoke into Lin's face.