isn’t he here?” Ronno yelled back. He had to admit that he was impressed by the does endurance and bravery.

“He will come! You’ll see.”
Faline proudly raised her head, flicked her tail and trotted past Ronno, back to the herd. I will never belong to him!  She thought.

She will belong to me!, were the thoughts of the stag who watched the doe disappearing from his view. He looked over the landscape before he followed her. He had a herd to take care of.

Bambi

“I’m glad your father allowed us to stay.”

Bambi and Primel were standing apart from the other deer, watching Luag, Primel’s brother, and The Great Prince talking about the last facts about the agreement they had just made. Both stags seemed fairly contend.

Luag was a proud eight-pointer, a muscular fellow with steel grey eyes which had a silent fire burning in them, which was calm now, but would rage in emergency situations or any kind of battle. His pelt had the same tone of his sisters, but was darker.

Bambi turned to face Primel, giving her a kind smile. “Father may not seem like that, but he has a good heart. He wouldn’t turn down anyone who needs help.” He had always saved Bambi, no matter how often the young buck had put himself into trouble. Of course, he was his father, but Bambi knew he would do that for anyone. How did his father always say?

“For a Prince, each deer is like a son, daughter, sister or brother. And you do fight for your family, don’t you, Bambi?”

“Yes, father.”

Primel nodded and looked at the mighty stag. “Yes, I believe you. I feel it.”

“You feel it?” Bambi tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. Primel giggled.

“It’s hard to explain, but I do.”

Bambi shrugged, watching how the two leaders nodded at each other and how the Great Prince turned and walked over. He looked at the doe beside Bambi.

“Your brother wants you to accompany him. He’s going to tell the herd that you’re allowed to stay”, he told her. Primel nodded and smiled at the big stag before dipping her head.

“Thank you, my Prince.” She turned, now looking at Bambi. “And thank you for helping me out today, Bambi.” She gave both a sweet glance before bounding over to Luag, who was awaiting her.

“Goodbye”, Bambi called quietly. The doe looked back at him and nodded. He saw how she talked to her brother before both of them took off to where the other herd members were.

Then he looked back at his father, noticing the stag had already started walking again. He quickly caught up with him and started trotting by his side.

“Thank you, father.”

The Great Prince didn’t answer, but Bambi noticed his lips curling a little into a slight smile. Father and son walked in silence until they reached the meadow. There, the Great Prince looked up, checking the air for any signs of man, like any deer was supposed to before entering open fields. His nose twitched and his fine ears played for a while before he decided it was safe. Bambi had stayed by his shoulder.

“Do you want to come to the meadow with me?” the Great Prince asked.

“Yes, father!” Bambi nodded eagerly. He always enjoyed spending time with the older stag, knowing that he wouldn’t be there forever. The two passed a few fighting bucks. Does were watching the fights with interest. Some noticed the two princes and immediately tried to make themselves look as beautiful and seductive as possible. The Great Prince chuckled.

“Any doe that interest you?” he asked his son flatly. Bambi looked at him in surprise.

“No, not really.”
“None of the new ones, either?” There were many pretty does not only in their herd, but also in the newly arrived one. And many of them hadn’t mated this year yet.

“No.”

“Well, as you say”, the Great Prince said, turning to walk among the does and finding himself one he liked. Bambi stared after him with a confused face.