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The Deer Park by Strummer_Pinks
Fandoms: Once Upon a Time (TV), Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types
05 Apr 2017
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Summary
The Royal Deer were long thought to be mythical beings; half human, half deer, fleet of foot and clever of nature, the proud tricksters of the forest.
The kings and queens of old were said to keep them in the Deer Park adjacent to their castle, now overgrown into a thick forest. Food was provided for them and forest rangers guarded them from hunters, all for one purpose; when the old ruler passed away and a new monarch was to be crowned, he or she first had to pass the ultimate test of strength and cunning; for only one who could catch and kill a full grown royal stag could ascend the throne.
Now, hundreds of years later the tattered remains of the Deer People subsist in the deepest reaches of the forest, hidden from human sight.
But the world outside the Deer Park Forest is changing. New humans from the west have invaded the lands baring new weapons. Rumple a dishonored stag exiled from the herd, lives a desperate existence with his yearling Baelfire on the fringes of the forest. When an unfortunate accident forces him to seek help from traveling medicine woman Belle, fear and suspicion give way to friendship. But will their bond be enough to protect them from Gaston the hunter?