herds," he said. "If there is one herd, then you Stabo are herd leader. If they want to become two, then I will recommend Balo be leader of the second group. He is still the most experience deer we have."

"I see two others," Galin pointed out looking at Bambi and him.

"No Galin my injuries will not allow me to be a herd leader, besides I am old and getting older. It is time a younger male do this, but thank you."

"I already gave up being a herd leader," his old friend Bambi said. "I do not need to do this again."

Galin shrugged his huge shoulders. "Very well, but I must tell you there is talk among the other deer about Balo, Stena, Delon, Stuben and Carie. Many of the meadow herd dislikes what they heard with all their arguing, especially the herd males. Stranger even with your injury and age, I do not think any of them would challenge you for herd leader, and if they do they can fight me first."

"Thank you Galin," he said with a bow of his head. "No, all we would do is post pone the decision until I pass on, which may happen soon anyway. My injuries are serious and they do not appear to be healing. A new leader must be chosen."

"Then you can expect Stuben and Delon to have a fight soon afterwards," Galin said. I have seen this before with my father. There is so much hatred built up now between them, it may be a fight to the death."

"My old friend Bambi and I will try and stop that," he said shaking his head. "I am afraid that in the end there is little we can do. If they want to kill each other, I can hardly stop them. We do have other deer that can help he said looking at Koren."

"I am afraid not, Stranger, Koren said. Both Charlene and I will go with Galin and Galene when they go back to their old forest. Galin will need help and both of us can provide that help. Besides I do not think I am saying anything secret when I tell you that Charlene and Galin are going to be a pair as are Galene and I."

He, Claris, older Bambi and Faline were surprised at the announcement.

"Is this true?" he asked them. "Is this what you all want?"

The four of them nodded together. There were going to be lots of new pairs this Season.

"Yes, Young, I mean Bambi will likely take over here after I step down," Stabo told him. "He is almost ready now. When he gets to be three seasons old he will be fully grown and I will gladly step aside for him. I never wanted this in the first place. He will have children and teach them and Gena and I have other children to teach. We should all be fine here. It is the meadow herd I fear for."

"Then could I ask Stabo and Bambi to call the herds together. With my injuries I can no longer call out strongly."

He watched Stabo, both Bambis, and Koren go away and then start to call out loudly, "Here, All of you come here," they bellowed. Slowly, in twos and threes they came toward them. The lesser light was well overhead before they all got there. The clearing was much too small to hold them so they assembled in the trees. He only hoped he could speak loudly enough so they all could here.

He stood in the middle with Claris on one side of him, older Bambi and Faline next to him, and Stabo and Gena with Koren and Galene on the other side. The younger Bambi, Galin, Galene, and Charlene stood next to Faline. As Balo, Stena and Delon came he put them on one side. Then he saw Carie and Stuben come in and motion for them to stay on the other side.

He looked at Carie. "Have you seen Stelar?"

All she did was shake her head no, but she did not seem too upset by the problem which bothered him greatly.

He noticed Stuben was eyeing Karene carefully standing next to the younger Bambi. Not only that, he could still see Stena and Carie glaring each other. The other deer looked bewildered, and lost due to the recent fire in their forest. Since Stabo was herd leader here he nodded to him to speak first.

"You all know Stranger, my Father," Stabo told the group. "He has asked me to call the deer together from both this and the meadow forest to discuss what we will do now that fire has destroyed the meadow forest. It might be many seasons before we can use the meadow forest again. I ask you all to please listen to my Father."

He waiting until here was silence and he started to speak as loudly as he could. "I am sorry, but this is as loud as I can speak due to my injuries. With the burning of the meadow and our old forest we are forced to stay here in the Man path forest. We may be here for many seasons. I am told that if we go deeper in the forest we will find enough food and water to keep us all well fed through the winter."

That took care of the immediately concerns. He then went on after the mumbling died down. "We must now make a decision. In this forest Stabo is herd leader. Those of you who wish to remain with Stabo's herd are welcomed. Those of you that want to stay with the old herd can travel deeper into the woods and have your own herd and herd leader." Then he stopped and let the murmuring settle down again. "If you want to stay with the old herd, you will have to select a new herd leader. Due to my age and my injuries, I can no longer be your leader. You will need to select a new herd leader."

There was a chorus of 'no', and 'do not go' he heard from those around him. It did make him feel good that he was liked by so many. He heard a lot of talking and that was good. He let it go for a while and then Marco, one of the large 4 year old males came up. "If I may speak," he said.

"Marco may speak," He said as loud as he could.

Marco nodded his head and then spoke loudly. "Stranger, if we do keep the old herd, who would you suggest as the new leader?"

"Balo has more experience than any of the others. I left the herd to him when I had to go away. I would recommend him to you."

Marco nodded his head as if expecting his answer. "I would agree with Stranger that Balo has the most experience. Yet lately we have seen how Balo and his family have argued loudly over the leadership. This has caused me to question Balo's ability to lead the herd. I also question Balo's Son, Delon, and his mate Stena for their parts in the argument. I question even more your mate Carie and your son Stuben for starting the arguments. I do not think they have the needs of the herd as their interest. For this reason I think we should stay as one herd under the leadership of Stabo. He is wise, he has been trained by Stranger and Bambi, and he has proved he has the needs of the herd as his first concern. Veron's son Bambi has also shown the ability to lead. I would follow both of them."

He saw Balo's jaw almost drop to the ground in surprise. Both Delon and Stuben looked ready to charge out and kill Marco. Stabo, him, and the two Bambis stepped out near Marco.

"All here have the right to speak," Stabo shouted.

Relnor the deer from the forest over the hill then walked out into the open. He had been one of the first to flee from Razor and had never gone back to his old forest. "I hear Marco and I agree. Stabo and Veron's son Bambi are best to lead. I also did not like hearing the arguments among the other deer about being herd leader. One thing Stranger and the older Bambi has taught me is that the herd must come first and that is not the case with them. I say we live as one herd with Stabo as our leader."

"I agree," came a shout from the herd followed by other similar calls.

After the shouting died out he stepped up again into the middle. "Is it then the wish of the herds that you now become one herd with Stabo as your herd leader?"

There was a general chorus of yes, from both herds. Although the amount of support surprised him, the decision to become one herd did not. Poor Balo, Stena and Delon looked like they had all just been beaten by a bear. They had been rejected by their own herd. He knew what that meant. There was nothing to be done, they had made this mess themselves and they would have to correct it.

"Very well," he said loudly."Then as of now I step aside and let Stabo be leader for both herds. I want to thank all of you for allowing me to be your leader. It has been my pleasure to do so."

"Marco then walked up to him. "Thank you for being our leader, we can clearly see the price you have paid for it," Marco said and rubbed his forehead. "We thank you for it. Many of us are alive because of you two. To many of us you and Bambi will always be our leaders." Marco then looked directly at Stabo, "No offence is made to Stabo by saying this."

"And no offence is taken," Stabo said. "They will always be leaders to me also and I hope will continue to give me advice when I need it."

"As long as we are able," he told his son.

"I have something to say," Balo shouted out.

He thought Balo cannot be that stupid, but Balo walked out into the middle with the rest of them. All of them in the center looked tense and ready for a fight.

"I do not accept being one herd and I do not accept Stabo as my leader," he said spitefully. "I will not challenge Stabo for the leadership of this herd, but I will say that if there are any who also do not accept this, I will leave tomorrow night for the deep forest where we will set up our own herd. All who wish to come with us are welcomed."

There was dead silence among all the deer. That should have told Balo, Stena, Carie, Stuben and Delon all they needed to know.

"All who wish to go with Balo, are free to do," Stabo said

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