[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft] Yawn was sleeping.

That wasn’t surprising. Falling asleep whenever and wherever was her most prevalent and unfortunate quick. Normally, things turned out fine and she would wake up a few hours later and stumble off to find a quick snack before sleep claimed her once more.

But today she was taking a nap in the mud. Or at least her back half was, and it was slowly sinking behind her. Her back legs had disappeared and only her rump and part of a white tail remained.

She remained blissfully unaware, her head pillowed on a comfy patch of moss.

@Jun

[imgright]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgright]Stellar had the unfortunate tendency to reach out to those in need. It often brought too much trouble for one Kin to solve, but he always did his best. Stellar didn't mind - that was what had set him on his path in life, a travelling healer of sorts, wading into the marshes; the scorching, the frosty edges of the Swamp. Stellar loved all living beings, and always did his best. He was grateful, really, to all those who'd taken the hoof he'd held out. He was blessed.

Stellar would be quite an irritating buck if he wasn't so handsome.

This day, the being in need seemed to be on the verge of being sucked whole into the mud, where she was likely to be smothered and lost forever. That would be such a pity - what a sweet looking doe she was. How could Stellar ignore such a situation.

That's right.

He couldn't.

But nobody could, could they? He was just doing what any Kin would do.

:|

"Miss," he gently uttered, carefully nosing at an ear, "please wake up, you're in danger."

It took a moment but one sleepy orange eye cracked open. It did not focus on the buck but instead stared blankly into dreamland.

“How... nice,” she mumbled, a smile flickering the corners of her mouth up, and then slipped back to sleep.

Snoooore.

The mud bubbled hungrily.

Oh dear.

Stellar eyed the mud. He seemed in thought.

Perhaps he was hesitant to wade into the very mud that might suck this poor lady into a permanent dreamland, lest it do the same to himself? Or perhaps he was hesitant to stain his starry coat?

Stellar plunged a limb into the mud.

It appeared not.

He could feel no bottom to the mud, despite that his shapely limb was fairly long. It would be foolhardy to wade in there then, and no help to them both. Instead, he made for the convenient vines of a nearby tree, sturdy and strong. But one vine was not enough - oh no. Stellar was a practiced hand at rescues, so he deftly made a loose braid of three with his teeth. And then clamped said loose braid between said teeth.

Only then did he wade into the mud.

Now...where were the lady's hindquarters?

Her hindquarters were sinking rapidly.

As he set to work the last of her once white tail disappeared beneath the mud.

She was being swallowed up and yet remained in peaceful slumber. At least mud seemed to make a comfortable if deadly bed.

The glimpse of the white tail being shooped into the mud allowed Stellar to triangulate her entire positioning. This would not be an easy operation, and, even with the braid of vine, might result in both their untimely and regrettable deaths.

But what did Stellar care about his own life, in the face of such an emergency?

Nothing.

Stellar cared nothing.

He was just so selfless that way.

Pushing down with his hooves against the bank, Stellar submerged himself almost whole, remaining visible only from his slender neck upwards. Slowly drawing a hindleg through the incredible resistance, he finally contacted what he hoped was the doe's rump, and steadily pushed up.

@Ruriska I finally remembered to tag QAQ<3

It was only when Stellar was dangerously submerged in the mud and trying to push up her lower half did Yawn start to stir once more.

Her eyes opened, blinking slow and sleepy, head shifting along her mossy pillow in order to look around at the buck.

“Oh,” she sighed out dreamily, “are... are you stuck?”

Meanwhile his efforts had yielded slight progress, though it was hard to tell.

@Jun <33

A lesser Kin might have been infuriated at her incredible lack of awareness and the irony of the situation, but Stellar was not a lesser Kin.

Stellar, even though, by this point, but a head in the mud, only smiled reassuringly past the vine and said, "No' wi' a bi' o'luc'."

And continued pushing.

He'd considered asking if she could stay awake, but decided it would difficult for her to parse his vine-slurred words in her sleep-addled state. That was how far Stellar thought ahead.

@Ruriska <3<3

“Oluc,” Yawn repeated, smiling - and then yawned, wide and with a little ‘ahaaa’ at the end.

She wriggled her head back into a comfortable position, still watching him dreamily.

“You should... be careful,” she warned and then drifted off to sleep for a good thirty seconds before half-waking enough to finish her sentence with, “...that mud... mud looks... deep.”

And despite her obliviousness, her behind was moving ever so slightly out of the muck as Stellar’s efforts began to pay off.

@Jun

What a charming doe, Stellar thought, convivially, so considerate.

Because he would never let the fact that the very cause of their predicament was warning him so very obliviously about performing the very transgression she had that had led them to this scenario get between him and thinking the best of Kindom.

He continued pushing, steadily, because Stellar was nothing if not steady.

Perhaps part of her tail had remerged now, although, of course, it was no longer recognisable as anything in the ballpark of 'white.'

@Ruriska <3

She dozed off again, and in her sleep, troubled by some confusing dream, she kicked.

It didn’t go far with her leg still stuck in the mud, but it was movement. Movement that helped loosen the mud around her just enough that she slid up a bit more with Stellar’s constant steady pushing.

@Jun

Happy accident! Stellar was not so conceited as to take such a thing for granted. He was very grateful, both to the charming doe, and providence. It buoyed his spirits, and added new heft to his steady pushing.

Not that he hadn't already been pushing at the optimal rate for his average capacity, before.

If he could have glanced back, he might have fancied that much of her rump was out of the mud, now. But he couldn't, on account of the vines.

@Ruriska <3

If Yawn had simply woken up enough to realize her predicament, this would have been an easy task. She could have simply pulled herself up out of the mud with a helpful push from below.

Instead she frowned in her sleep, the rising of her hindquarters squishing her neck and making her uncomfortable.

So she tried to roll sideways and stretch, leaning away from him and ruining some of the progress.

(@Jun anyone would think i don't want her out of the mud at all 8P )

Stellar's pleasant mien did not flicker an iota from its placidity. It was but a small setback, and, as a travelling healer of sorts, he had faced setbacks much, much worse than this. This setback was so small, it was more of a leanback - a slight leanback, at that.

All he had to do, as he was doing now, was to carefully move himself in the mud, so that he was further parallel to the bank, and more able to edge up her body with his back. The only reason why he hadn't attempted that before was that the steeper angle on the braid of vines made it more likely that the rope would snap -

- which it aptly proceeded to do.

"Oh dear," he said.

This could probably be classed as a setback.

(@Ruriska Now they will die here XD)

It was indeed a setback.

Angled awkwardly and still stretching out, Yawn started to sink again.  The mud squelching as it tried her suck her back into its embrace.

And then her eyes opened once more, perhaps finally realizing her predicament.

Her head lifting from the ground, the doe looking back at Stellar’s through a hooded gaze. A buck in the mud? How odd.

“Do you... need some help?” She asked.

( @Jun rip yawn and stellar )