Unknown POV

He crouched under the log, his small beginnings of antlers barely touched the underside of the fallen tree. Only 10 years old, he was more adventurous than most, but his antlers were only starting to grow in. A simple tunic lay over the boy's human half, covering his chest from the cold of the coming fall.

Bright, green moss lay underneath his cloven hooves, silencing his approach. He took another step, the moss soft under-hoof. His messy brown hair fell over bright, blue eyes, curious and intelligent.

As a juvenile, he quietly made room for his still skinny back legs under the fallen tree, and stared out from the bushes into the clearing. His long ears pricked forward as he caught the sound of a voice, "Why?..." He narrowed his eyes, carefully grabbing the bow that was slung on his shoulder.

The deer half of him told him to bolt, but he had been taught to force away the primitive instinct. Calming his heart rate and breathing, he watched. A cat-like creature lay in the middle of the clearing, scanning it's surroundings with interest, but also sadness. It looked like a cat, from his point of view, but was strangely a dark brown-gray with black stripes, reminding him of the shadows that trees cast when the sun dipped below the horizon. Two, twin, dark gray tails, similar to a rat's lay by the creature's hindquarters, twitching calmly, to the similar effect of a snake's tongue. The creature sat on it's haunches, unafraid and casual. A tall birch tree covered most of the creature's figure from the cervitaur's view. 

He was young, he knew that. Too young to be out without an adult, or at least his older sibling. It was dangerous with the surrounding predators, who were eager to take advantage of an oblivious, young fawn.

If I'm ever going to be a part of the Rowans, I need to start now! His chest swelled with hope and bravery as he thought of the elite team of protectors that guarded his clan's territory from neighboring enemies and preying animals. Armed with bows and arrows, they drove off danger from the camp, where the young and elderly were sheltered.

The young cervitaur narrowed his eyes with suspicion as the creature started to stand. His heart skipped as he realized the cat-like creature had the back legs of a deer, hooves and all. The dark gray-brown and black striped animal turned one long cat-like ear towards him. The creature's nose twitched with interest, ducking his head slightly to the right in the cervitaur's direction. The deer-boy looked at the animal, cocking his head in interest. The animal that stood before him had light speckles under it's eyes, the colour of the first snowflakes of winter. It reminded the young cervitaur of the newborn fawns that played in camp, similar speckles covered their hindquarters and back. 

It must be young... He suspected by the way the speckles under the eyes were slightly faded, but still visible. 

Slowly, the creature turned it's head in his direction, it's body turning too. It stared with large eyes, blinking slowly. The deer-boy fought hard not to bolt or gasp in shock. The amount of wisdom in the young animal's purple eyes scared him. It reminded him of the graying elders back at camp, whose joints had worn down from the hard life of the forest.

That can't be right! That animal is a third of their age! He shook his head, he was getting distracted! This animal was in his territory, and he needed to protect his clan. Grabbing an arrow, he nocked it in his bow. He looked at his weapon; made of cherry wood, it was supple, but strong. He had carved all of the arrows himself, including the bow. Each arrow had three blue feathers at the end, each shaped perfectly. He felt pride race through him at his handy-work.

He took a deep breath, drawing back the arrow. He aimed towards the standing animal, who was still staring at him with large, soulful eyes. He let go. The arrow made not a sound as it soared through the air. As through controlled, it didn't hit a single tree nor bush. The young cervitaur closed his eyes as he heard the arrow impact. 

He pricked his ears for the groan of the animal shot, but silence greeted him. He opened his eyes. There stood the creature, unharmed. The arrow had fallen short at the creature's paws, the shaft still quivering slightly from it's flight, it's tip embedded in the moss covered ground. The animal he had been aiming for was staring down at the projectile, it's eyes were not filled with shock or fear, to the surprise of the young cervitaur, but the curiosity of a fawn.

The animal looked up at the cervitaur fawn, who was frozen in fear that the animal would attack. The cat creature stepped forward, it's claws unsheathed.

The primitive deer part of the cervitaur asked him, Run? He didn't need to be asked twice. With all the muscles in his deer half, he shot up, dashing the other direction. With all his energy and power, he ran over the forest floor. Jumping over a fallen tree, he landed cleanly. He turned to see the cat-deer creature was on his tail.

Fear and adrenaline shot through him like his lost arrow. It's going to kill me! He used his back legs to jump over a large rock, but one of his back hooves caught the tip. He stumbled and fell onto his side. He landed on his flank incorrectly, pain shooting up his side. He let out a breathy whimper. He tried to stand, using his arms and hands to pull himself up. He stood on four hooves again, but his injured leg collapsed beneath him.

The boy fell again, landing once more on his injury. Black spots danced before his eyes. Every muscle in his body felt weak. He tried to blink, to try to stay awake. But the darkness of unconsciousness was too much to tear away from.

The last thing the young cervitaur saw before darkness overtook him, was the animal's purple eyes looking at him in pity and curiosity. Then all was dark.

A/N: Hey all! I hope you enjoyed chapter one! So I have been thinking lately that I didn't like my book Lunge anymore. I hated where it was going, so I cancelled it. If some of you haven't read it before and REALLY want to, I will publish it again, but it will no longer be updated. I wanted to explore some new things in this book. Believe it or not, I have never written about a human or human-like creature. For those that are wondering what a "cervitaur" is; it's like a centaur, except instead of a horse body, it's a deer body. If you are still confused, look up "deer centaur" in google images. :3 I hope you all enjoyed, and I am very proud of this chapter! If you see any mistakes, please point them out! I'd like to make this book the best it can be! Thank you again!