Little Deer

Lu You is the last Forest Deer King in the world.

Only when this land was on the verge of becoming a desert did people remember his name: Guardian God of the Forest, with the power to cross the boundary between life and death.

As a cataclysm capable of destroying heaven and earth approaches, he is their only hope and chance for salvation.

With a web of calculated lies, Xing Zhuo wins the little deer’s trust and takes him back to his city-state.

All he has to do is catch Lu You off guard and cut off the antlers that are the source of his power, bringing new life to the entire city.

But suddenly, Xing Zhuo can’t bring himself to do it.

When he returns from the battlefield covered in wounds, the little deer gently licks them. The healing magic in his touch runs through Xing Zhuo like a current, stirring his heart.

When he is exhausted from dealing with one disaster after another, the little deer stays beside him, singing softly. The flowing song moves him deeply.

For a brief time, they forget everything and cast everything aside, growing so close that they brush cheeks and temples.

Without his antlers, Lu You will die.

Xing Zhuo can’t bring himself to kill the little deer with his own hands.

*

His city-state will not allow him to act on his own selfish desires. If he doesn’t do it, someone else will send the little deer to the gallows.

That day, the little deer learns to his horror that Xing Zhuo has been using him all along.

Using his sincerity and love. His affection was nothing but a lie.

Lu You’s heart turns to ash. He tells Xing Zhuo that once a deer loses its antlers, they become lifeless things, stripped of color and vitality.

The power everyone is fighting over, the supposed ability to bring the dead back to life, is a lie.

Once he loses his antlers, the little deer’s life will begin its countdown, too.

*

When the little deer Xing Zhuo raised says he wants to leave, it feels as if a piece of Xing Zhuo’s heart has gone missing.

He grows colder and harder to approach.

While everyone else prepares to take shelter in the underground city, he willingly risks his life to follow the Deer King.

Lu You says, "Without the protection of Firefly City, humans will die."

Xing Zhuo: "It’s all right."

Lu You says, "I’m going to die soon, too. I only want to die in the forest that belongs to me. But it doesn’t belong to humans, or to you."

Xing Zhuo: "I belong to you. Wherever you die, that’s where I’ll be buried."

1. A wasteland world.

2. My own take on the worldbuilding, with the level of technology yet to be determined.

Theme: Hope fills us with courage, helping us weather disasters and hardship together and welcome a brighter future.