Reef was normally a solitary doe. She had spent the majority of her life following the shoreline, sometimes meeting other kin but always leaving them behind after a brief hello, moving off down the sand, following the tides and the rockpools. She would follow the shore and the cliffs until the ache told her to go no further and then she would turn around and go back again, following a familiar path.
But when the night had settled on the swamp with alarming longevity, she had found herself alone in the dark and something in her heart changed.
And so she met the buck and found solace.
But eventually the sun returned and so did she to wandering the sea's edge. Only to realize that something else changed, had taken root in her belly and was beginning to grow. New life.
As she contemplated her new state, Reef dug her hooves into the sand and watched the water rush in and out. Birds cried and swooped in the wind.
And she knew her world would soon be changed forever.
A thrill sounded from the trees past the coastline, and a moment after a colorful bird swooped from the tangle of branches to approach the doe as she followed the coastline. She looked a songbird, but not quite like the others that lived throughout the swamp and surrounding area, the bright fan of her tail making her stick out.