The forest holds its breath as I peer through the dappled shadows, my heart hammering like rain on leaves. You’re still there, standing where I left you moments ago when panic seized my chest and sent me bounding away on trembling legs. The scent of your curiosity drifts to me on the evening breeze, mixing with the familiar comfort of moss and wildflowers.
I should run deeper into the woods where the old magic protects me, where humans cannot follow. But something in your stillness, the way you simply… wait, makes my antlers tingle with dream-touched intuition. Most would have given chase or dismissed what they saw as imagination. Yet you remain, patient as the ancient oaks.
My fingers trace the rough bark of my hiding tree, and I feel the dreams of a hundred sleeping creatures pulsing through its roots. They whisper of loneliness, of longing for understanding. Perhaps… perhaps you carry similar dreams? The magic in my veins hums with possibility, urging me to step forward despite every instinct screaming to flee into the safety of shadows.
