no apology. In fact you have my thanks." With that he rubbed his forehead with his nose.

By then Gurri had walked up to her father and licked the side of his face like a fawn would. "Thank you, Father." she said.

He then turned to look at the three fawns all standing together with their mouths gaping open yet speechless. None of them had even see a hard deer battle before and it suddenly dawned on them exactly what it meant. "Listen to me," he said not as their father or friend, but as the herd leader. He was hash and direct. "Sometimes you have to fight to do the right thing. What Bambi did was wrong because Krono came to challenge me and Jolo. However since Geno, Bambi's son sent Krono, it was only right that Bambi should send him back. For this reason Bambi did nothing wrong."

The fawns looked still in shock. "I told you before when the herd broke up for the Season, I wanted you and the other fawns to live in the clearing until the Season was over. I want you to go there now. The rest of this year's fawns will join you soon. I will call them. You watch them and then run if Man comes near. We are close to the time when Man will come to our forest to kill deer. I do not want any of you near the meadow now."

"Should we call, if Man comes near," Stena asked.

"No, do not call, just run toward a place where you do not hear or smell Man. Wait there until well after dark. It will be up to you three to keep the others safe. Can you do this?"

All three nodded understanding if somewhat reluctantly. Stena seemed ready for this, the others he was not sure about.

"Good, now leave," he said and watched them all walk up the stream. When they were gone he dropped his air of authority.

With that he took a deep breath and made a long deep call to the forest "FFFAAAWWWNNNSSS," he bellowed three times. That should keep them safe. The others were on their own.

"I will see the rest of you after the season," he told them all and looked back at Claris who was beaming. "Come, Claris," he said and they both walk toward the bedding area they marked as belonging to them in the Season.

"After the Season," Jolo repeated and he and Gurri walked away down the hill. He knew Bambi and Faline stayed near their cave at all times.

They found their bedding area and cleaned it and made it comfortable for the next few days. It was under some very old oak trees near the Old Owl's tree. By the time they were done it was getting near nightfall. It had been an eventful day. They both got up and ate some leaves near their bedding area. Although the scent coming from Claris was very strong, it was still not the scent of a doe ready to breed.

"I thought Bambi would kill Krono," Claris said standing there. "I have never seen him that angry."

"Nor have I," he answered. "If he had killed him, I don't think I would have minded. When a deer comes up to you and says he is going to kill you, then usually the only way to stop him is to kill him or beat him so badly he is almost dead. That deer was strong, but I think I could have taken him. He was not smart. He made that fight into a test of strength like Kragus did. Bambi used leverage against him and easily won, but he could have done other things. I think he was so enraged he didn't think about what he had learned. That is bad. You must always think. It is the only thing that keeps us alive."

"For which I am very happy," she said with those green eyes sparkling.

He went over and kissed her like he had in the old days with passion and affection. She returned the kiss and again both of them knew why they had chosen life's path together. He was convinced Bambi had been right, they were meant to be together. They spent the night playing like fawns again, chasing each other around and jumping on each other. It was a pleasant release from the tensions he had felt most of this year. It was also one of the few times he could relax without being herd leader. It was morning when they went to sleep. They did not sleep long before Claris got up.

She looked down at him eyes beaming. "I think we will try to have that son you wanted" she said softly and turned away from him. Her scent drove him up. She was now a doe ready to breed. He sniffed at her tale and he felt the pressure build up inside until he felt ready to explode. Claris raised her tail and hunched her back ready to receive him. He complied with vigor as that pressure exploded out of him as it had done before.

Chapter 8: The Hunting

After two days of fun both he and Claris felt the Season pass. Although he was still very attracted to her, she made no more attempts to couple with him. The Season had spent its passion with them. He only hoped the results would be as he wanted. He would know in the spring. They made their way back to the clearing to check on the fawns. They approached down wind and quietly. In the clearing were a dozen fawns all sleeping silently and alone, except two. Off to one side he saw two fawns lying together. It was Balo and Stena. He walked silently to the edge of the clearing and took in a deep breath through his nose. He then motioned Claris to follow him away from the fawns.

"You do not think," Claris started to say and then stopped.

"There was no scent of breeding deer," he told her. "Balo is too young to do anything, but they do obviously like each other."

'They are far too young for that," she said.

"For making fawns, yes, they are too young. To like each other, no they are not. Remember Bambi and Faline were close before Bambi had her as a mate. Soon it will be winter. After that they will be on their own and we will have no say in their lives. Now come, away, they and the others are sleeping, we will bother them later. Besides I do not think we should go back to the cave quite yet. It appears that our children have a tendency to find mates too soon."

He and Claris spent part of the day washing in the stream to remove the stronger scents of the Season off of them. After dark they tried to sneak up on the fawns, but one of them saw them and announced their coming. In a way he was pleased, if they could not sneak up on the fawns, then Man would have no chance.

"I am glad to see you are all safe," he told them. "Your parents will be along shortly to get you. Stay here until then. "Stena, you may come with me now."

Stena came over and said simply, "If you do not mind, Father, I will stay here until the others leave and then join you and Mother in the thicket."

"As you wish," he said and both of them left.

They went to the cave and quietly went back to their thicket. He saw no sign of Bambi, Faline, Jolo or Gurri. They went on past the thicket and went onto the meadow. They cautiously approached and saw several deer on the meadow. There were no light coming from the man cave. There was no scent of Man in the air. It was a good time to eat their fill. As it got closer to day, he saw other deer come on to the meadow in pairs or alone. Most deer only paired doing the Season. Only a few of the larger or older deer would be together for the rest of the year.

As they finished they were joined by Jolo and Gurri. "It was a good Season," Jolo said. "There were no problems from Man, and I heard few fight between males."

"Good," he said looking at the darken Man caves. "We must watch closely, I do not expect Man to stay away for long. As soon as Man returns I will call the herd together in the clearing and we will make plans to avoid the hunt."

"I understand," Jolo told him.

"We are going to get Balo now," Gurri added."

"I just saw the fawns, they are all fine," he said. "Having them stay together was a good idea."

Both Gurri and Jolo made a slight bow and went back up the stream toward the clearing. He stayed on the meadow looking at those who entered. By near morning most had come down. As the lesser light set he saw Bambi and Faline enter from behind them.

"It looks to have been a good Season ," he said.

"Few fights," Bambi added then stopped and looked at the Man cave. "Look at the Man path." he said with concern. He turned and saw two pair of bright eyes coming down the path heading straight for them.

"Leave the meadow," he called out loudly. The few other deer stopped and ran into the forest. The four of them did likewise.

There was noise on the meadow that morning. It was the familiar noise of Man making things as before. By now he was use to it but it meant the hunt would soon begin. Bambi soon came back with Greta and Stena followed them She came right up to them and reported, "The other fawns are now gone and are back with their mothers. We lost no one. Even the Coyotes and the Badgers stayed away from so many fawns so close together."

"Good,' he said like a herd leader. "You did well, Stena. Go rest because Man is back."

"I like to talk to Mother alone, if you do not mind," she said with a little apprehension.

"Go with your mother to the thicket. I want to stay here for a while and listen to the meadow. When you are done, call me," he said and walked away.

He stood at the edge of the open area and listened to the noise. There was no yelling together as before. It was just the banging sound of things being made. That made him think this was not the Men who hunt, but the Men who prepare the hunt for others. Soon Bambi came up and stood by him.

"Man is back, but I think no hunt today," he told him.

"Then there will be one tomorrow," Bambi answered.

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