The rut had ended. It was the dead of January - early January. Nacht stood on the great, flat stone which he had so many times killed upon. He glanced down once, seeing the dark stains where the blood still remained. He had lost the count of winters that had passed since the war began, since Trar had killed the former king, and later had been killed himself - by none other than a small buck at that, on account of a doe hardly more than a fawn! - and he himself had taken power.

But that didn't particularly matter. What did, though, was the fact that looking upon his army, the guards held their heads a little lower, ears a bit less erect. It wasn't the cold - no, despite the bitterness of the winter, this effect was caused by something else entirely. His most loyal within the guard told him they were dejected, restless - worse, bored. They were losing will to fight, as nothing was changing. After speaking to a runner from Braila, he found that there, the same problems were occuring in the West Pine Herd, too.

Well, that was about to change.

He scanned over the herd, all in sight, and spotted Skander hanging on the outskirts. He leaped down and made his way over, and nodded to him. "Skander."
"Yes?" He looked up, surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Are you prepared for battle?"

"I... I suppose. Why?" Skander frowned.

"Because today, this ends. We are putting down the North Pine Herd." Nacht's gaze blazed. "Today, they either submit or die."

Skander stood, his legs trembling a bit - he tried not to show it. "Yes, sir," he eventually answered.

"Send one of the captains to gather the troops. And send a runner to Braila."

Skander nodded, and bounded off, terror rising in his chest. I have to warn them. Somehow, I have got to warn them...

-----

Bambi's forest

It was freezing. Snow had started to come down, heavily, and all he wanted to do was lay in his warm, sheltered den with Noir. Suddenly, though, something seized the buck. He froze, his stomach convulsing in fear. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Deer were creatures of intuition, a type of intuition humans were incapable of for the most part - and Kaiser's was stronger, as his twin was with their father. And suddenly now, Kaiser was struck with anxiety. He couldn't think why. Noir shifted next to him, raising her head.

"What's wrong, Kaiser?" she asked quietly, looking concerned.

"Something," he whispered, his blue eyes wide enough to show white. "I can't be sure just what though." Then it hit him, his entire body lurching suddenly. "I... I think that Nacht is coming."

He was off unbelievably quick, suddenly realizing the snow they had recieved was far deeper than he realized - he was up to his knees in it, but it was hardly enough to keep Kaiser down. He could hardly believe it when he reached the main clearing. He looked around fantically, seeing that several bucks were still there. Bambi was among them, as were Campion and Herla - and next to Herla, Korin. Kaiser's gasping and raised hackles immediately alerted every beast in the clearing that something was terribly wrong, and instinctively, they shied.

"Bambi," Kaiser panted, "I... I have reason... Reason to believe that - Nacht is going to attack us," he took several seconds to catch his breath, in which his words set in. "Send runners to get all the bucks and does either in the safe dens or out of harm's way."

There was utter silence for a few more moments. Then came the frenzied wingflaps of the hawk, who lighted down messily on Bambi's back. "It's Nacht," he squawked anxiously. "H-He's amassing the biggest army I've ever seen!"

Then Bambi turned to Herla and Campion. "Go on. All the bucks - everyone who will fight."

*********

Before long, everything was set in motion. Bucks were milling around the clearing, does, yearlings, and bucks who either would not or could not fight were being set into deep-tunnelled hollows, reinforced with thick walls of multiflora thorn bushes, and Huckleberry and Herla were assigning warriors to protect each run. Campion was running bucks through excersizes, warming their muscles for the coming battle. Korin was also weaving through the deer, who seemed more indifferent to her than ever. She reached Herla, then jumped up against a tree, kneading it and stretching her back. She sat higher than Herla's back.

"Tell you what. This is strange - unnatural of deer to have to do these things. Hiding in runs like rabbits." She growled, earning her a nod from Herla.

"I know. And to think I come from the side that started it," he glanced at her, flattening his ears. "At first I didn't want - You, Idun, take your yearling and go to that one there - to leave. I was reluctant, but..." He turned, looking at Faline, who was disappearing into a separate hollow. "I couldn't stand the thought - the possibility - that Nacht would kill her fawn. It terrified me."

"But why her? There were plenty of other does, far worse off." Korin laid down.

Herla looked at her. "She reminded me of another doe. A doe I think about every day, wondering if perhaps I have a fawn I've never had the joy of knowing. And I fear what will happen if I see her again. Honestly, Korin, I feel like I've betrayed her." Korin nodded, seeming slightly unsure about the response. Herla turned, making sure all the does and yearlings were cared for. Then, he bounded off to join Campion.

It was going to begin soon.

Braila paced back and fourth, jutting out his twisted lower jaw. He bared his teeth, anxious. Today he was going to kill that pathetic buck, the one with the velvet antlers. That was final. He couldn't wait - in all honesty, he, too, had been bored. And now, he was getting a chance. Nacht growled. "Stop that, Braila."

He nodded, turning and facing the moor. "Shall we go?"

Nacht nodded, and they set off.

Bambi took a deep breath, feeling utterly anxious. Was he about to let down his herd? Were they all about to become slaves to Nacht theirselves? He worried that it was true, but he couldn't possibly know. "Hey, Bambi." He frowned, looking around, then down. Below him was a rhinelander with a break in the spine.

"Loki."

"I took a bit of a journey for you. Watch those earmarks the enemies will have. The more cuts, the high er the rank - if you want to end this, they've got to go down or at least be maimed too bad to fight."

"Okay. Thank you, Loki." Bambi turned. "Tell everyone you can that... I don't think there will be another shot at this."

The forces came, and immediately, the silence burst into chaos. Bambi threw his head, taking toward a buck and rolling him off his feet with his rack. It occured to Bambi that they'd grown quite a bit, and the days of wishing for them were long gone. The buck stood and made an attempt to gore him, but Bambi backpedaled rapidly and lunged forward, slicing at the buck's neck and downing him again. He looked around, and saw Huckleberry throwing his antlers at one enemy and his hooves at another. Bambi took off, barreling into the one behind the dark, off-toned buck.

Huckleberry chased off the other and turned to Bambi. "Thanks," he panted. "I couldn't handle them both." Bambi nodded, and took off. Huckleberry turned, taking off into a large buck. He realized that he was somewhat smaller relative to the enemy too late, and, thinking quick, ducked under him, throwing his head up and cutting the buck's stomach. He veered out from under him, and as the buck turned on him, he swung at Huckleberry, slashing his shoulder open. Huckleberry did his best to recoil, but didn't get out of the way soon enough to avoid a second hit. He dove forward, slashing at the buck's neck.

Finally, the enemy took off, and Huckleberry scanned the area for another enemy. He noted thatHerla was taking on three bucks, locking with one and tossing his head viciousy, kicking at the other effectively. Huckleberry made his way toward the large fawn buck, and as he did, he saw Herla snap the buck's neck and turn on the second at their buck, desperately trying to shake them. Huckleberry ran alongside the enemy's flank, goring him along the side. Herla turned on tthe other, swinging viciously. Once both were chased off, he turned to Huckleberry. "Is that shoulder going to be okay?" he asked.

"Just fine. What about your side?" Huckleberry looked astonished at how ripped up Herla's flank was.

He looked at tit and nodded. "Just fine. Be gone, then!" Herla swung around, immediately jumping into the fray. He knocked down a smaller buck, then took on a larger one, locking with him. He pushed at him, but in turn the other pushed back, exploding forward. Before long, He had Herla backpedalling, and horrifyingly, Herla realised that he was backed against a tree.

A tree.

He braced his back legs against the roots and leaped forward, tossing up his antlers. The blow was axtremely jarring and effective and the enemy withdrew, suddenly unable to hold himself right. Herla looked around. They wer eindeed at the treeline - everyone was.

They'd been pushed back.

Herla noted that Campion was shouting orders, desperately trying to keep the battle out of the woods. Herla ran over. "I'll take it from here," he told Campion, who nodded.

"Good." Campionlooked, around, and took off into a relaticely young looking buck, he struck at him with his hooves, and he took off. There was