Lyra & the Freign Deer

It was getting late and the snow wasn’t letting up anytime soon. Lyra decided to leave Shio in the Rabbit Hole to drink and spar to her heart’s content. She hugged her fluffy ears around herself in an effort to insulate herself from the cold. The light was quickly dimming and she knew she had to get some soon, but out of the corner of her eye she saw something. Movement right in front of her. She had wandered closer to the outskirts of Burrowgatory and at the edge of a treeline, she saw an imp she’d never seen before, but had certainly heard of from Hutch. 

It was a freign deer. It looked even more majestic in the low light of the evening. Lyra took one careful step forward, then two. She had her hand outstretched in front of her, hoping the imp would walk forward and sniff it. Maybe she could even tame it! It was just too cute not to take home with her. 

The deer turned to her with wide, startled eyes. They stood there, frozen for a few minutes before suddenly, the freign deer took off with a start. It ran quickly back into the treeline and out of Lyra’s view. “No! Shit,” she let out a huff and sighed. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head slowly. “Well I guess I should’ve seen that coming,” she said to herself quietly.

But she didn’t let it get her down for very long. She knew there was a freign deer in this part of the city now. Tomorrow she’d come back and try again. Maybe it would be more receptive if she had a bit of food with her. For now, though, she had to head home. It was late and she needed a full night’s rest if she was going to attempt this again. 

Feeling a little bit deflated, Lyra trudged home through the cold and closed the door behind her. She let out a sigh of relief as her whole body started to warm up. She made her way through the house and flopped down in her bed, face-first into her pillow. Tomorrow would be a new day, a better day. She let herself drift off to sleep and dreamt of all the ways she would win over the freign deer’s heart in the morning. 

She woke early the next morning and decided to go straight to the font of knowledge on imps: Hutch. Lyra made her way to the Imporium with the hopes of catching Hutch before they got too busy. After fidgeting with the fur on her ears for a little, she walked into the Imporium and was immediately greeted with an eager, “I’ll be with you in one minute,” coming from the back. There was a sound of crashing and muffled words that Lyra couldn’t quite make out before Hutch finally appeared with a nervous but happy smile.

“Lyra! How can I help you today?” Their nervousness was almost palpable as they stood there. A few of the imps moved to cuddle up on their shoulders to try and comfort Hutch, and thankfully, it seemed like it was working.

“Hi Hutch,” she said with a sweet smile as she leaned forward on the counter. “I was hoping you could maybe tell me about imps, but not just any imp.” She watched as Hutch’s eyes lit up with anticipation. “Last night I came across a freign deer and I was really, really hoping you could tell me about them. Maybe what they eat or how I could get one to be a little less skittish around me?”

“Well, tempting them with food is a good start! They can also be startled by loud sounds or strange smells. As for what they eat you can try some leafy greens, like spinach, or maybe some sweet berries! Are you planning on trying to go back today to tame them? Oh, oh could you bring the freign deer back here if you do manage to tame them??? I’d love to see one in person!”

Lyra couldn’t help but let out a chiming little laugh at Hutch’s enthusiasm and they blushed in the cutest way once they realized they’d gotten a little overzealous. 

“Don’t worry, Hutch, if I manage to tame the freign deer you’ll be the first to know I promise.”

“Well good luck, Lyra, I hope you can tame them!”

“Me too, Hutch,” she said as she started to walk out the door, giving Hutch and their imps a wave as she walked out the door. She immediately headed towards the grocery store and grabbed spinach and raspberries while she was there before she started towards the outskirts of town, near where she’d seen the freign deer the night before. 

Lyra walked past the treeline and through the snow that had fallen overnight, keeping her eyes open for the deer. It didn’t take her long to spot motion from further within the forest. She kept her steps light and slow; she didn’t want to startle it again. It met her eyes and Lyra froze in her tracks. Instead of approaching anymore, she just let it get used to her presence for a little while. After a few more moments of just staring at one another, the freign deer went back to trying to forage for food under the snow. 

Lyra took out the spinach she’d bought and held it out, calling gently to the deer. Instead of moving any closer, she knelt down in the snow and waited for the deer to approach her. Slowly, it walked over to her and started eating at the leaves of spinach she had in her hands and Lyra felt absolutely elated. 

“There’s a good boy,” she said softly before bringing her other hand up to bet between his antlers. “I bet you want to come home with me now, don’t you?” As if to answer her question, it pushed its nose into her hand. “Let’s head home then, but first you have to meet someone.” Lyra and her new imp walked out of the forest together and towards the Imporium. Hutch was going to be so excited.