"Miracles of the Forest"
By: M.W. Roach

Part 1: Messing with Destiny

Ch. 1 'The Rescue'

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It was late morning on the meadow. The sun was shining gentle rays on the grazing herd. The deer had been awake for hours feeding on the fresh green grass. Some were retiring under the surrounding tree shade to ruminate before the onset of the afternoon heat. Ocassionally, some of the older bucks would raise their heads, their eyes fixated on the distant hill. Beyond the hill, forests of pine dipped and rose as it ascended up the mountain, where the herds' beloved leader browsed in the undergrowth for tender plants. The lack of his presence on the hill at the edge of the meadow insinuated that all was well and there was no sign of danger. Satisfied, the bucks returned to their grazing while does and fawns settled down for an early nap.

Far beyond the meadow and over the rugged depths of the mountainous woods, Prince Bambi pawed the ground in search of palatable young plants. He'd taken over the duties of his father just 3 short years ago, but in that time, he'd grown into an impressive stag. His head was blessed with a wide-set crown of antlers, proudly displaying 10 glorious points. They were covered  in dense velvet. The sun had not yet pierced through the tree-tops, and the velvet was still coated with morning dew, causing the Prince's already impressive crown to glisten like a fresh snowfall. 

Suddenly, the Prince lifted his head, his ears pointed straight foreward. His nostrils flared. Something was in the forest. The stag turned around.

"Geno, come here."

A second buck stepped out from behind a large crabapple tree. Its pelt was darker than that of the older stag, and the young buck also exhibited a very dark streak up his face, over his shoulders and down his back. His rack was comparably smaller to Bambi's, and the smaller 6-pointed crown was also thickly sheathed in a velvet covering. The young buck trotted to Bambi.

"Yes, father?" The young buck asked respectively.

"Close your eyes and tell me what you feel." Bambi ordered gently.

Geno took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and dug his hooves deeper into the dirt. Then he waited. The blackness of his mind began flickering with vague, brief images. Something running. Not just running...it was being pursued. One of the pursuers was an animal. The other had an odd gait, as if it were running on two legs. Geno's eyes shot open.

"Man!" He shouted nervously. "We must move the herd..." He turned and began to bound away.

"Wait." Bambi leapt in front of him, stopping the over-zealous young buck in his path. "What did you see?"

"I saw Man and his dog. They are coming this way."

"What else did you see?" Bambi pressed.

Geno paused. "I saw...an animal. Man is hunting it. I don't know what kind of animal it is. Its gait is unusual to me. It's not a raccoon or a rabbit. It's not a fox either. But it is small."

Bambi listened intently at the description od the animal. He had already known that a man and a dog was chasing something; he could see with his hooves as clearly as he could see with his eyes. But even he was met with a blurry a mental image when it came to the animal being chased by the hunter and the dog. Geno didn't seem to know what it was either. Bambi found this perplexing.

"They're coming closer." It was easy to detect the elevated stress patterns in Geno's voice. "Father..."

"Alright." Bambi nodded. "Go warn the herd. Tell them to hide themselves among the trees, but don't panic them." Bambi picked up his ears as the dog's barking was suddenly audible. "The man and dog are not here to hunt us. I want to see what they are hunting. I will meet you later."

Geno stared worriedly at his father, then he nodded and ran past him. He bounded up the mountain and within moments, he was gone. Bambi stood alone now, waiting. The barking was getting closer. Bambi's muscles tensed with each bark. Soon, the sound of rustling leaves reached his ears. The animal being chased was very close now. Its strange scent filled his nostrils. He'd never even smelled that kind of creature before.

It burst from the undergrowth of ferns and shrubs. In its haste, the creature was unable to forsee the curious stag who stood in its path. The animal crashed into Bambi's hind leg, startling the mighty Prince and causing him to side-step in surprise. The creature, realizing it had bumped into something far larger than its' pursuers, quickly dashed under a small bush. It was at that moment, both animals frozen with fear and curiosity, that they got a good look at each other.

Bambi stared in wonder at the strange creature, who stared back at him with frightened green eyes. It was pridominantly gray with black spots and some lighter tan and silver-colored undersides, muzzle and paws. Its fur was longer than that of a rabbit or fox, and grew grizzled and stiff along its face, shoulders and flanks. It's ears were tall and pointed, its legs long and equipt with broad flat paws. It's tail was ridiculously short and tufted. Truly, Bambi had never seen such a unique-looking animal. And it was plain to see that this creature was very young. As strange and scared as this little beast was, there was something innocent and terribly endearing about its face. Bambi couldn't help but smile.

The moment was short-lived, for the barking exploded through the trees along with the obvious crashing of the canines' body clumsily and wrecklessly charging through the underbrush. Behind it, the shadow of the even deadlier enemy.

"RUN!" The small animal screeched before streaking away.

For a brief moment, Bambi's mind went blank and the only thing he knew was the fact that danger was approaching and he must flee. He spun around on his hocks and flew up the mountain where his son had fled just moments earlier. The dog slid to a stop and watched the big stag bound away. The canine lowered his nose to the ground and immediately picked up on the scent of the target. With one final glare at the buck, the dog ran in the opposite direction, its mind set on locating the smaller prey.

Bambi finally found the presence of mind to halt his retreat. By then, he was at the top of the mountain; to one side he could see the meadow, from which the herd was vacating; to the other side, Bambi could see where he had met the creature and after a few moments, he re-spotted the little animal, still trying to evade its hunters.

Bambi watched the chase from his perch, his heart racing. At times, the animal and its pursuers disappeared among the trees, at which point Bambi found himself increasingly worried. The trail the animal was taking...it was the Canyon Trail. Bambi's eyes travelled further up the trail. He lost his breath suddenly. Sheer rock faces caused the trail to end abruptly; it was a dead end.

Once the little gray animal reached that point, it would be killed. Bambi once again looked towards the meadow, where his herd awaited him. They counted on him. His son, his mate, his whole family. His heart jumped in his throat when a scream pierced through the air. It came from the Canyon Trail...

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The gray animal dashed along the trail. The snarls of the dog were deafened by the pounding of the young animals heart. The creature was far too concerned with staying ahead of the snapping jaws that it didn't notice the soft soil of the forest was giving way to the loose, dry rocks of the canyon. By the time the animal realized the chase had taken it to the bare, confining walls of the canyon, it was too late to change direction. The trail was too narrow to turn around and the dog was gaining. Soon, the creature could feel the dog's hot breath on its back. The animal leapt into the air, aiming for a rocky ledge, beyond which, the narrowing trail continued. It felt the wind of the dog's jaws as they snapped in the empty air, the clicking of the teeth sounded like thunder in the gray animal's ears. The dog leapt, too, for the rocky ledge. The gray animal was already partially up the trail when it slipped on loose rocks. The dog's front end landed on the ledge and as it struggled to pull up the rest of its body, the gray animal slid right down towards the dog's open mouth. Thinking quickly, the animal turned mid-slide and with all of its might, slashed its long claws across the dog's face.

The dog yowled, and the pain caused it to loose its grip on the ledge. It fell 6 feet down on the lower part of the trail and landed on its back against the hard ground. It screamed in pain and fury. The gray animal quickly used its calws to stop itself from sliding off the ledge onto the enraged dog below. The creature hoisted itself back on the ledge and scurried up the trail and out of sight of the dog. The dog stood up, snarling furiously. It jumped again, and landed successfully on the ledge. It loped up the winding trail, which widened again as it neared the end.

The gray animal could hear the dog was still pursuing. But the creature was begining to show sign of fatigue. Its gait slowed, its vision was bluring, its breath was short, and its legs were