Chapter 3: Nightly meetings

                                             Faline

She hardly dared to breathe. Her head frantically turned every few seconds and her ears shook at every noise they caught. She had often been around at night, even alone, but now, it was completely different. She wasn’t in her old home forest anymore, she knew there wasn’t a Great Prince or Bambi that would come and rescue her.

Bambi…maybe he really wouldn’t come.

No! He had to come! He had to! She shook her head at the silly thought that he might have given up on her.

But it was a possibility…

Faline shook her head again. She had something she had to do now. She could think about Bambi later. Greer, that odd buck, was who mattered now.

She knew she had to have lost her mind for really going to meet him. She had considered not doing so, to tell herself that she only had imagined him. But she wanted to know who he was. Curiosity had gotten the better of her.

Maybe she would regret following her inner voice.

Maybe. Possibly. Probably.

But she didn’t want to think about that. Slowly, she entered the clearing where he had told her to meet him. She looked around to make out his form, but she couldn’t see anything deer-like.

“Hello? Greer, are you there?” she called softly.

But against her expectations, she got no response.

So she waited. And waited. And WAITED. Her ears flattened after a while and she lowered her head. How could he ask her to come her and not show up? How could another buck make her wait like that? She felt so used in this moment…

How was it possible that bucks just did with her what they wanted? Ronno just took her away from all she had known, Bambi just left her here alone in the claws of the maroon buck and that Greer…

But maybe it was better this way. He was a stranger, after all. And strangers were not to trust, that was what she had always been told by her mother.

She snorted and lifted her head. If he wouldn’t come, fine. She didn’t need him. She would just treat him as if he had never existed. Probably he hadn’t. Maybe she just had imagined him because she had felt lonely. She was a silly little doe, she knew that. She would just go back to her den and sleep. Yes, she would.

And she really intended to. She really wanted to go home. But something made her gasp and stop in her tracks.

That “something” was a panting, guilty looking Greer. His flanks rose and fell quickly, showing that he was either nervous or had run very fast. Faline could imagine both. She tilted her head.

“Do you have any idea how long I waited for you?”

Her voice was neutral, he couldn’t say if she was angry or disappointed. Either way, he had let her wait, and he knew that an upset doe was dangerous territory. The might not have antlers, but their teeth were sharp and their hooves were strong. He took a deep breath.

“Listen Faline, I really didn’t mean to make you wait. I wanted to travel to the Great Forest, but when I got back here, I had a run in with one of the guards of your herd and…”

Faline didn’t listen anymore. The Great Forest. The Great Forest! Her home. He knew where it was, he could help her get there! He could bring her home! Her eyes began to gleam when she stared at him.
“Take me there!”

“What?” Greer asked confused.

“The Great Forest! That’s my home! Take me there!”

Greer lowered his head and sighed. Oh boy, he knew this would happen…okay, how was he supposed to put this? It would surely devastate her, but he had to tell it.

“I can’t. I wanted to, but it’s not possible.”

“What?” Faline snapped completely upset. “You have to!”

Greer shook his head. Faline couldn’t believe it. He really knew the way, he knew that she was unhappy, but he still refused to take her home? What a jerk! She had been curious about him, but now, all she felt was rage!

“Why? I want to go home!”

“Your home is gone. There was a fire. The forest is almost completely destroyed.”
Now it was out.

Faline stared at him speechlessly, letting his words slowly sink in. Her whole being refused to understand what Greer had just said. Her home, her family – gone. How could it be gone? Why did life had to take everything away from her? She violently shook her head.

“NO! No, that-that can’t be!” she cried out.

Greer lowered his head, not daring to look her in the eye. She had to feel horrible in that moment. Poor doe, her whole family had lived in that forest. Many had made it out alive, but many others hadn’t. He knew he couldn’t take her there so she could find out. She wouldn’t be able to deal with that. Really, poor thing.

“I’m sorry, I know how you feel…” he sighed.

Faline’s tear-filled eyes flashed at him. “How would you know?!” she screamed. Her voice was full of pain and anger, and Greer could see her legs shiver. He hoped she wouldn’t break down. He held her gaze and sighed.

“I have my share of losses, that’s all you need to know,” he said with an empty voice, eyes darkening with sadness for just a moment. Faline shook her head, lowering her gaze.

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be. You didn’t know any better.” Greer forced a little smile to appear on his face before he moved closer to her again. She looked up to his face.

“Are they all dead?” she asked quietly.

A sighed escaped the buck’s throat. He sadly shook his head. “I don’t know, Faline. I wished I could have arrived sooner. I knew that fire would occur, but I didn’t imagine it would happen so soon…” He raised his head and looked into the endless night-blue sky.

“Yeah…” Faline sighed. But then, she realized what he had just said. Her blue eyes widened and she tilted her head.

“What do you mean, ´you knew it would occur`?” How would he know? Nobody could have seen that coming!

She watched how the buck’s eyes widened. He flinched and backed off a bit, but then, another deep sigh escaped him. He tilted his head off an angle and looked at her. “I guess you have to know. I can…see things. The future, and sometimes the past. That’s how I knew your name, and that’s how I knew the fire would happen.”

Silence was after that.

Faline just kept staring at the buck with a pensive expression, as if she didn’t know if to laugh about him or to just turn away. And truth be told, that was what she was thinking. That buck had been weird from the start, but that was insane.

Did he really just tell her that he was a seer? A real seer? That was absurd. Granted, he knew her name, but anyone could have get that piece of information. She was the herd leader’s favorite doe, after all. She turned her head and stared at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Have you hit your head or something?”

She wasn’t like that usually, but she couldn’t help saying this.

“No, I haven’t.”

“What you say is impossible.”

Greer sighed deeply and lowered his head a little. He fully understood that she didn’t believe him. No one would. He wouldn’t believe it himself if he was told something like that. But it was true. And he could prove it.

“Alright. You have a twin brother by the name of Gobo. Your mother’s name is Ena. Your crush is a buck named Bambi, who was the future Great Prince of the forest which burnt down. Your first met him on the meadow and teased him when he fell into a pond. You-”

“Alright, you know things.” That was surprising, and Faline felt a bit uncomfortable in this situation. He seemed to know a lot about her, but she knew little to nothing about him. “But anyone could know that.”

Greer sighed deeply.

“Okay, I see, you’re hard to convince. A doe will arrive in your herd tomorrow around noon. She will tell you about the fire and just when she finishes, your mate’s nephew will arrive”, he told the light brown doe desperately. He just wanted her to believe him, nothing else. That was all.

“What?!” Faline tilted her head.

He smiled in a weird way. Not happy, not evil, just a little smile in between desperation andhope. He nodded slowly. The view made Faline feel sympathy for the dark buck, and after a few moments,  she sighed in defeat.
“Alright. But how should I know if you’re telling the truth in this very moment?”

“Come back here tomorrow night. I will be there.”

They looked at each other for a few moments. Silence was, at least in this place. It was at if the forest, if not the whole world, had stopped breathing. Eventually, Faline nodded very slowly, her eyes calm and knowing.

“Okay. So…what will you do in the meantime?”

Greer chuckled lightly. “Worried ‘bout me?” He looked at Faline’s blank face for a moment, then he added; “I will hide a good distance away from your herd. I shall leave