Diseases - Intro

White.
The color was all around her. Just white. A blank canvas. Her eyes stung from the tiny snowflakes that buzzed into her eyes, her nose stung from the biting cold.
Oh why did she have to be so short.

The snow was up to her knees. But that wasn't really saying much, seeing as she really was only 3 ½ feet tall at the shoulder. Her bright, un-naturally colored fur was tussled in the wind and sleet as the sky poured down its fury in the form of a blizzard. She stuck out among the blank canvas of white, with her black-on-pink coat with a splash of brindling and a off-white underbelly and neck. She was a strange sort of deer, not used to this weather. Her fur was thick and warm, sure, and her long tusk-like canines helped her dig through snow, but she didn't know how to survive here. She didn't know anything. She couldn't remember
.
Io sighed, lifting her weary head to look up through the blinding flurry. White. Still white.

Blinking the snow off her lashes, she began to kick and paw at the deep snow until she had created a sort of hole. She lowered herself into it, front end first, the back end coming down with a 'plop' a moment later. Wearily, she shut her bright emerald eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep in the silence of the blizzard.

Io opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep. Her nest and she were completely covered by snow. She lifted her head, breaking the snowy dome, and tilted her head skyward, taking a deep breath of the freezing air that chilled her to the very bone. Lifting herself from the hole, she shook off, sending snow in every direction. It had stopped snowing, and only a few stray snowflakes drifted from the gray heavens. All around her she saw a vast plain, covered in white that made her eyes hurt if she stared too long.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. A feint, pinkish light. She blinked, twitching her ears an nose, but no scent drifted her way. The wind was not on her side. After staring for a long moment with round, curious eyes, she slowly turned and began walking towards the light, which seemed to draw her towards it. She kept her eyes fixed on it, but it never seemed to move. As she got closer, she saw a mass at the base of the light. The closer she got the more it began to look like… a deer.

A very large deer.

She stopped, a hundred or so feet from the light. Her guess was true; it indeed was another deer. A large mule deer stag, with a splendid crown of antlers. He was grey in color, with a upright horse-like mane on his neck and unusual black markings, and a twitching pink nose.

The thing that struck her most odd was the source of the light.

His antlers were glowing. The pink luminescence came from the bone itself, spreading its pink light over the stag and the snow, turning everything a dim shade of rose. She took in this strange sight with wide, bright eyes, which flicked from his calmer pink eyes to his antlers again.

Several moments of silence ensued. Neither spoke, or moved, the only thing passing between them was the smoky fog that came from their nostrils in the cold air.
"You seem lost."

The strong, deep voice startled the young doe from her wonderings, and she looked back at the buck's eyes. "I'm not lost." She replied after a short moment of silence. "Well. If you're not lost, what are you doing here?" the buck asked, blinking his large eyes as snow settled on his lashes. "I… don't really know. I can't remember how I got here." She admitted, lowering her head and fixing her eyes to the ground, almost in a, ashamed position.

A low, soft chuckle from the larger deer made her lift her eyes. "Strange." He said simply, flicking a large black-tipped ear. "Says the buck with the glowing pink antlers." Io retorted, snorting snow off her muzzle. The buck made an amused look at her, before chuckling again. "You're not to normal yourself." He replied, scanning her odd-colored fur. "I haven't seen a pink doe before. Especially one with such tusks as you have."

Io smiled the slightest bit, chomping her teeth, ears perking up. "You have pink on you;" She observed. "Your antlers… why do they glow? And what are those spots on your back, the ones that appear to be rings? Like ringworm? And what is your name?"

The questions spilled from her mouth as curiosity got the better of her. After her bombardment of questions, the buck chuckled again, turning his devious eyes up to hers. " "You've just said it."