text: [Themes: fantasy, drama]
  
  You wake up to a loud noise. As you rub the sleep from your eyes, you hear shouting from outside your tree house. You look out your window and see stars high in the sky. It was still nighttime. You immediately know something is wrong. The haze of sleep conpletely forgotten, you vault from your bed and scoop up your bow and arrow, ready to investigate what is going on outside. Before you can even get outside Rowan barrels through your front door. He holds his own bow in his hand and is breathing heavily.
  
  "It's the fox clan." He pants. "We're under attack."
  
  Your heart leaps into your throat. Just outside your door, a battle was already in full swing.
  
  "How are they already so far into Willow Haven? How did I sleep through all of this?" You start to panic as you think about the battle going on outside.
  
  "The fox clan stuck in so quietly, no one even heard them. They took out the guards so that no one was awake to hear them."
  
  You shake your head. How could they get past the Haven's defenses so easily? You look over Rowans shoulder and see a member of the fox clan slit the throat of a fawn. You instantly harden and shift into battle mode.
  
  "Let's go." You say to Rowan.
  
  You both dash out of the tree house and are instantly met by three of the fox clan. One was a short petite woman, one a tall lanky man, and the last was a huge, strong-looking man. The first two, after quickly sizing them up, would be easy to take out. You are not so sure about the last one, though. Rowan takes on the petite woman while you take on the man. He swipes his dagger at you a few times but you dodge easily. When you notice after his third swipe that he has left his chest open. You draw your bow and shoot an arrow that sinks right into his heart. He falls to the ground, dead. You look to your left just in time to see Rowan stab the jugular of the woman with an arrow he holds in his hand. You share a look between you then you both turn to face the last man, the one who looks like his arms are as thick as your waist. He charges towards you and you knock an arrow, but he is too quick and punches you hard in the face. You go down and hit the floor roughly. He kneels over you with a wicked looking dagger in his hands. Just as he is about to lower it into your chest, killing you, an arrow hits him in the temple, driving through all the way to where the point sticks out the other side. You roll away and he crashes onto the ground where you were just laying.
  
  For a long while, you and Rowan stay side by side, fighting off wave after wave of foxes. After a while though, you and Rowan drift apart until you can no longer see him. You suddenly feel like you are out in the open, with no protection. You felt safe with Rowan by your side, but now that sense of protection is gone. You long to go search for him so you can rejoin him. Right before you start cutting a path to where you last saw him, you see Emerald, hacking through swarms of fox clan members. Her bow is like nothing you've ever seen before, instead of wood for the bow, a thin sharp metal that could be used as a blade made up her weapon, divided by a place for her to put her hand. You are mesmerized by how she transitions to wielding her bow as a blade and using to fire arrows at the foxes. After a while you start to notice she is slowing down. She is no less menacing, but you realize that she is starting to get tired. You really want to find Rowan, but maybe you should go see if Emerald needs and help.
  
  > help Emerald
  You decide to help Emerald. You come up to her and begin shooting at all who try to approach her. Emerald looks over at you and you can see the gratitude in her face. You fight by her side for a while until you notice she starts to regain her strength.
  
  After a little while longer Emerald shouts to you, "Go! I can take it from here."
  
  You leave her and go after Rowan. It is slow going cutting through the crowd. After a bit of time, you can see Rowan, still a fair distance from you. Knowing he is so close gives youa burst of energy and allows you to make it to his side. He looks over at you and you can see in his eyes that he is also happy to be back with you. You fight for a long time beside each other. To your left you see two of the fox clan members beating a fawn to death. They move on and you can see the fawn's crushed head, with blood and other things oozing out of it. It is by far the most gruesome death you have seen so far.
  
  You and Rowan look at each other, horror reflected in each other's gazes. But you cannot afford to stop for even a moment, there is always someone a second away from killing you. You begin mindlessly shooting and punching and kicking. Your body flashes from hot to cold and then back to hot again. You start to lose focus, the battle becoming background noise. You become incredibly tired and have a few near misses. You don't know how much longer you'll last.
  
  You continue on until Rowan gets your attention and points to a fox warrior through the battle. A man with blond hair, not splattered in blood, with a crown of thorns around his head, rips his way through a crowd of fawns. He is a sight to behold. He wields his dagger expertly and his menacing enough to make anyone fear him.
  
  Rowan says, "Kitsune, their leader."
  
  You keep your eyes trained on KItsune. Even after he retreats. Even after he shifts into a fox and disappears through the swoop of willow vines. You know Kitsune must be up to something, but you clan needs all the help they can get. It's your call. You can stay and fight or follow KItsune.
  
  > follow Kitsune
  You are positive the fox clan leader is up to something. You run to the edge of Willow Haven, shifting from human to fawn in between strides. Rowan follows closely behind you. You dash across the field, following the flashes of Kitsune's red tail as he disappears into the woods. You pick up speed, while the fox seems to be able to scurry along faster than you, you notice Kitsune is traveling down the path to Darling's Temple. You know the path well and it does not take for you and Rowan to catch up to Kitsune. However, he has not yet noticed that you are trailing behind him. You stay as silent as possible, hoping you can continue to follow him without his knowledge.
  
  As Kitsune reaches the opening to Darling's Temple, he shifts back into his human form. You and Rowan remain in your fawn forms and watch him silently. He walks up the steps to the temple and you notice, now that his back is turned to you, that a huge sledgehammer is strapped across his back. You shift back into human form. Kitsune takes the sledgehammer into his arms and approaches the statue of Darling. You watch, horrified, as Kitsune raises the sledgehammer, aiming to strike at the statue, the symbol of the fawn clan's faith. You cannot be silent anymore.
  
  Right before Kitsune swings his sledgehammer you shout, "STOP!" at the top of your lungs. He turns around to find the source of the yelling and locks his eyes on to you. His expressions turns ferocious and he snarls at you.
  
  "You're really trying to save this disgusting statue?"
  
  He looks back at the statue with disgust.
  
  "Disgusting?" You ask, "Darling is someone to admire and while you may not believe in worshipping her I don't think she deserves to be called that."
  
  Kitsune raises his eyebrows at you. Slowly, his gaze thick with condescension, he smiles at you, like you are a child.
  
  "You must not be from here. A fairy pool, im guessing."
  
  Cautiously, you nod.
  
  "Well if you were from here, you would know that the fox clan remembers Darling a bit differently. You see, she was not the lovely woman you idiotic fawns think she was. She destroyed Ari and Yohan's friendship for fun, put them against each other for sport. What she craved was for someone to die for her. Dying at the hands of someone you love is an incredibly cruel fate, don't you think? Darling was a monster. When the friends spared each other, her fury was so great that she burst into raging flames and burned away."
  
  You are startled at the words coming out of Kitsune's mouth. Over time at the fawn clan, you have found that you find comfort in the idea of having such a gentle figure watching over you. While you do not worship Darling as fervently as other clan members, Darling's temple is a symbol of all that the fawn clan believes in and exists for. You cannot let it be destroyed.
  
  "Kitsune," You begin, stalking closer to him, "you need to listen to me..."
  
  You begin to ramble on about Darling and the fawn clan as you slowly snake your way over to him. When you are close enough, you stop yourself mid sentence and leap for the sledgehammer. You grab onto it, wrapping your hands around the handle right below the heavy stone at its end. You use all of your strength and attempt to rip it out of Kitsune's arms. Unfortunately, you are not quick enough for him and he swings the sledgehammer, swinging you off of it. Leaving you no time to recover, he raises it once again and drives it as hard as he can right into Darling's face. The entire head of the statue explodes into white fragments, crumbling to the ground.
  
  With one last menacing smile, Kitsune shifts into a fox and dashes off into the woods. You wonder why Rowan didn't help you with Kitsune, but when you turn around, you see him facing the pond. Beyond him, in the center of the pond, was a swirling vortex of water. A fairy hole.
  
  > Fairy Hole
  You walk slowly towards where Rowan stands, your knees trembling with each step. Your mouth hangs wide open in awe. For months you have been waiting for a fairy hole to appear to take you back to your old life. Now that the chance is finally here you realize that the fawn clan is your home as much as your house near the edge of the woods is.
  
  You reach Rowan and slip your hand into his. He looks over to you, his eyes filled with sadness and under it all a flicker of hope. But most of all his eyes ask you a question.
  
  Are you going or staying?
  
  You kiss him softly and think about what you are about to say. You need to tell Rowan what you want. You open your mouth, lips trembling, and say...
  
  > say "I'm staying."
  Relief fills Rowan's eyes. He scoops you into his arms and holds on tight. He begins to laugh, a happy sound.
  
  "I wasn't sure if you wanted to stay here with me."
  
  Deep down, you know the reason he stayed. While your home is with the fawn clan, your heart belongs to Rowan.
  
  "Of course i wanted to stay with you." You say. "I love you."
  
  He tightens his grip on you, crushing you into a warm hug. He kisses your forehead, your cheeks, your nose, and finally, your mouth. Slowly, he puts you down. You can see in his eyes that he wants to stay like this for a while but you both know that the battle isn't over yet. Kitsune and his fox clan have to pay.
  
  > Epilogue - Fawn Bride
  After the attack on Willow Haven comes to an end, Emerald decides not to retaliate. The Fawn clan, while they train warriors and know how to fight, prefer peace. However, Kitsune destroying Darling's statue was unforgivable. Rowan leads an assassination with a team of 3 other fawn and take out Kitsune. The fox clan never discover it was the fawn who did it.
  
  You are put in charge of restoring the temple. You enjoy spending day after day there and you are proud when the temple, and Darling's statue are rebuilt. When you rebuild the statue you decide to take a little liberty and have her with her arms open and her expression full of love rather than having her hands over her heart and the mournful expression she had before. Luckily most of the fawn clan like the new statue better.
  
  Once Willow Haven has been returned to it's former beauty, Rowan proposes to you. You didn't even know the fawn people did weddings, marriages, and proposals until he popped the question. How could you say no? You are completely in love with him. You did not notice before but instead of wedding rings that go one your finger, the fawn people make special rings that get sealed around the base of the antlers.
  
  On your wedding day, you and Rowan get married in front of the new statue of Darling. It was the best day of your life. You wear your engagement ring, a small arrow made of silver, wrapped around your left antler and your wedding ring, a silver circle of dainty willow leaves, around the right. Rowan wears a matching pair of thick gold and silver bands around his.
  
  You live out your life in utter bliss with Rowan and the rest of your clan. You don't miss your old life for even a second. Staying in the Other Realm was the best decision you've ever made.
  
  The End.