gasped. "What...what happened to you?"

Bambi was about to answer when he noticed his son was NOT looking at the odd gray animal who was riding on his back. In fact, the little kitten did her best to hide herself behind Bambi's mighty neck. But, Geno was looking up.

"What do you mean?" Bambi finally asked cautiously.

"Your antler, father!" Geno finally shouted. "Your antler is gone!"

Bambi's antlers had grown to the point where he could see his own mighty rack in his peripheral vision. He looked up to the side. One antler was still intact. Bambi looked at the other side, but all he found was empty air.

"Oh my...you're right!" Bambi gave a laugh. "So that's why one side of my head feels heavier than the other!"

Geno frowned and shook his head. "I'm sorry...are you laughing right now? Because I see nothing funny about this!" Geno had never raised his voice to his father before, but neither of them seemed to notice the breech.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure it'll grow back next year."

"But, the rut!" Geno pressed urgently. "What are you going to do?"

 

"I'm sure I can trust that you'll protect the herd this year." Bambi said with a calm sigh.

"Father, what's wrong with you? You're acting like nothing matters! What happaned back there after I left you?"

"Well..." Bambi chuckled softly. "I met someone. Someone who needed help. And I helped them."

"Who? Who did you help?"

Bambi side stepped, and on the slope of his mighty back, Geno locked eyes with the strangest animal he'd ever seen. He wrinkled his face.

"Whoa...what the heck is that?" Geno approached the shy baby animal carefully and sniffed its head.

"Well, she's a..." Bambi paused. "Actually, she's..." He stopped and laughed again. "I have no idea!" He turned to look upon the young animal with gentle eyes. "What kind of a creature are you, Ragamuffin?"

"Rag-a-muffin?" Geno repeated quietly to himself.

After a few moments of silence, she spoke up. "I'm a bobcat." She said in a quiet tone.

"There." Bambi gave a satisfied nod. "She's a bobcat."

"What's a bobcat?" Geno asked, his eyes still focused on the kitten.

"Well, I don't know. But I do know that Man killed her family, and she has nowhere else to go. She'll be living with us from now on."

That's when Geno broke his gaze with the bobcat and focused now on his father.

"With us?"

Bambi nodded.

Geno casually gazed at the ground. He wore an expression of uncertainty.

"Invite an unknown species to live in our forest...great idea." He whispered to himself.

"What was that?" Bambi inquired, feeling Geno's words were inaudible.

Geno lifted his head; he wore a huge smile across his face.

"I said great idea, dad." He fibbed, forcing himself to wear the grin. "I...I would've done...the same thing." He ended with a sigh and a worried groan.

Bambi couldn't have been happier. He looked at Rags again.

"This is my son, Geno. He'll take over the forest some day."

Rags looked at Geno again and gave him a coy smile. Geno, uncertain and worried as he was, returned the gesture with a warm smile of his own.

"Hello, Ragamuffin. I guess I'm your new big brother, huh?"

The kitten was too young to comprehend the context of his words; words that he forced himself to say in order to pacify his father. All Ragamuffin heard was the offer of having a new family. With that knowledge, the kitten got up, walked to Geno's head, and rubbed on his chin and face while emmiting a strange yet euphoric whirring sound.

Geno's tense muscles relaxed. His uncertainty melted away. His phony grin was replaced with a genuine smile of contentment. He reciprocated the gesture by rubbing his face along the kitten's sides. He decided right then and there, that this little kitten would be his sister, and he would be  the same big devoted brother to the bobcat as he was to his real siblings.

"Alright." Geno said in a hushed tone. "Let's take her home."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was high noon by now, and Stinkweed was struggling through the stifling heat of the underbrush. Hot, sticky and smellier than ever, he decided to rest in the shade of a cluster of bracken ferns. With a heavy grunt, Stinkweed plopped himself on the ground and lay on his back.

"Damn Geno didn't even offer me a ride..." He muttered to himself.

Suddenly a small black rabbit exploded out of the brush and hopped right on the skunks protruding stomach. Stinkweed shot up with a howl and a fart, wrapping his forelegs around his now very sore stomach. The rabbit had already hopped off of him and was now darting to and fro across the ground. She stopped when she noticed Stinkweed.

"Oh, hey! There you are!! I've been looking everywhere for you! What's the matter, got a stomach ache?"

"NO!" Stinkweed coughed. "You jumped on me with your big clown feet!"

"I did not. Where's Geno?" The rabbit was quick to change the subject.

"Don't bother, I told him about his dad already." The skunk got to his feet shakily.

"Oh, not about that! That's old new already! I need to tell Geno about Gurri!"

Stinkweed snapped his head up with interest.

"Uh oh...what'd she do now?"

"She's with Syndica, and I overheard them talking." The rabbit suddenly lowered her voice. "They're going to Northern Point, and they're taking River and Raven with them."

Stinkweed gasped. "That crazy doe is taking her little brother and sister to Northern Point?!"

"Oh yeah." Bumper nodded. "Today."

"You gotta take your furry little butt to Faline and tell her what's up. She'll stamp a hole in Gurri's head for that one!"

Bumper winced. "I hate getting Faline or Bambi involved...but you're right. She needs to know."

With that, the rabbit sped off again. Stinkweed crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Crazy doe...you wouldn't catch me near Northen Point for all the stink in the world."

Northern Point was the most dangerous part of the whole forest, and Bambi expressly forbade anyone from venturing there. Northern Point shared its treeline with the most dangerous foe of all.

Man called it Interstate Highway 5.

To the animals in the forest, it was known simply as "The Man Trail".