Despite the humidity, the air was cool, gentle on the lungs that drew it in in slow, steady pulls. Dark sides swelled, expelled short, nearly-melodic intonations, from a lowered head, the shaggy mane obscuring the doe's pale face. One flowed into the nest without interruption, delicate hooves keeping the rhythm. Motes of light- fireflies- danced about the shallow waters, herded haphazardly by an oversized bee with vibrant wings that caught the glimmers and intensified them just so.Frogs croaked, wind whispered through the trees, and, slowly, the circling doe dug into the marshy soil, and the hollow filled with warm, murky water. When her feathers were thoroughly soaked, and her knees nearly sunk in, she shifted into calmer, longer notes, and the doe settled. She tucked around another figure quietly- a long, elegant crane with beautiful, pale feathers, its dark legs sprawled indelicately back from its body- and she stayed like that, simply offering her wordless lullaby to the unhearing creature for a moment more. As the last somber tone faded into a lull, she gathered the crane into a semblance of slumber, and nosed it into the waters of the hole she'd made.
A pair of curious paws padded through the trees, a wiggling nose finding a path through the underbrush. A short muskwolf peered at the doe through the dim light before disappearing back into the trees, silence following for a few minutes.