the other and walked into the woods. Two Sons was all he had now and one of them he would never see again. It was getting too much to bear. They went back to their clearing and he spent the following day awake remembering that little doe fawn that asked so many questions and found a male that asked so few.

The air turned cold. He knew soon the snow would fall. The grass had not grown back on the meadow where it would be a source of food for the herd this winter. There was nothing in the old forest to eat. They have to live off the food here. He thought they had enough. It was cold enough that he decided he try and see his friend the bear once more before winter came and the unknown consequences of surviving that. As usual he went alone, although Stabo wanted to go, Gena kept him back. He did not mind. Although he felt his family had accepted the bear, they never felt comfortable around a creature that could tear them in half in a moment.

It took a while for him to get there. His injury still did not allow him to walk a great distance. He stopped many times before he arrived outside the den. He bleeped once and sure enough the large black mass of fur came out of the den. He started to approach and then stopped. There was something wrong. The bear was not moving normally. He favored his right side and seemed to limp on three legs. As he approaches he could see claw marks in the skin. Bear had been in a fight and it looked like he lost.

"Are you alright, my Friend," he said as he approached.

The voice was more labored. "I have fought with my son over the female I breed two seasons ago. He is now stronger than me and beat me and chased me away. At least he did not kill me when he had the chance."

So it had finally happened as the bear had thought it would. A new bear had taken his place. "Did your son chase you out of the forest?"

"No," the bear told him. All he was interested in was the female. He did not care if I stayed in the forest as long as I did not try and breed the female. After they had breed, he paid no attention to me. He has his territory and I have mine. At least for now he does not care."

"I am sorry," he said simply.

"Do not be, it is the way of all things as you like to say" the bear went on."You and I are old. Right now the only thing left to see is which of us will get to that Great Herd of yours first. I have eaten enough and I should easily make it through the winter. You seem to be getting around better."

"A fawn could out run me," he told the bear."No I am feeling old not just inside my body, but inside my head. I still do not know what the Old Stag meant when he told me I had more to do. The only thing I know is that the longer I live the more of my family I say goodbye to."

He lay down on his legs and told the bear all about what had happened since the fire. He was interested and sadden at his news."I remember Stena," he said as if he recalled her face. "She never liked me, but I could tell she was the most like you despite the fact she was a female."

"I remember how she used to almost order Balo around to a point before he get mad and stamp his hoof. I still find it hard to believe we will not see each other again."

"You mean until the Great Herd," the bear added.

"I am not so sure about that either," he said. "When it happened, the Old Stag was a real to me as you are here. Now I do not know. It all seems dark to me. I start to wonder what I am doing again. I feel the great emptiness inside me and I have to ask myself, just why I am still here."

"I feel that will answer itself in time," the bear told him.

"I also feel if I could change places with Stena, I would," he said.

"That would do none of us any good," the bear told him. "Your time will come soon as will my time. There is no sense rushing it."

He was about to answer the bear when the bear suddenly got up and looked down the hill to the meadow. He got up and turned to face the meadow and saw a lone doe walk onto the meadow out of the remains of the forest near the stream that flows to Bambi's old forest. He looked at her for moment and then realized who it was.

"Stelar," he gasped. He turned to look at the bear. "Forgive me, but I have to go."

"I understand," the bear said with a grin. "I will see you in the spring."

He moved down the hill as quickly as his side would let him. He moved around the trees. By the time he got down there she had walked past him. He bleated and she turned and looked at him coming out of the forest. She ran over to him and reached up and kissed him on the side of his face.

"Father," she called out and almost jumped on him.

"You are alive," he blurted out and kissed her like a small fawn. She leaned again him. He almost did not mind the pain that shot through his side.

"Careful, daughter," he said. "I was injured during the fire and that side now is very weak. It is hard for me to move."

"I am sorry, Father," she said moving away.

"It does not matter, where have you been?" he wanted to know.

"When the fire burned the forest, I thought you were all dead and so I went to live in Bambi's old forest. I remember you telling us how to get there. I met Gorro and Delene and they let me stay with them. I was going to stay there when I saw Stuben. He explained what happened and that you were alive. I know he is not welcome here, but I was wondering if I would be welcomed here."

"Of course you are. You never did anything. It was your mother. Even your brother learned that, but too late to allow him to stay here," he said and then added. "Now follow me."

He led her across the burnt meadow past the remains of the Man cave and into the forest. Only then did he call out as loud as he could. A short while later Stabo and Young Bambi came racing out thinking there was something wrong. They stopped dead when they saw Stelar. They looked for a second as if not believing it then ran to embrace her as did the others when they arrive. Stelar told her story.

"How is Gorro," Bambi asked.

"He is find and in control of the herd. He is allowing Stuben to stay as long as he behaves. So far he has. Delene has a young male fawn Balere who they say looks just like you Bambi. They were not hurt by Man. Gorro took the herd deep in the forest. Only a few of the foolish were lost. Stuben took up with a doe and when I left all was fine."

"You went to our old forest and back by yourself," Faline asked.

"They was no one else who could come with me." she said. "I had to come alone, or stay there. I rather come here."

She then looked at Stabo. "I know my brother and mother are not welcome here, but could I stay here?" she asked meekly

"Sister, you never did anything like your brother and mother did. You are welcome to stay here," he answered with a smile.

"Good, I wanted to tell Stena about Delene," but I do not see her."

"Everyone looked shocked He dropped his head. "I never told her," he said to the others. He raised his head and looked into her daughters brown eyes. "Stena, Balo, Delon, and Young Faline, started a herd deeper in the forest. Man came and now they are all gone."

"No," she cried and buried her head in his side. He could feel her tears wetting his fur. His own eyes were running with the memory of his daughter.

He had lost one and got another back. It was not fair, but it have to do.

Chapter 10: The Reason

The first snowfall was heavy coving what little grass had started to grow back on the meadow. The herd spread out in the Man Path forest in order to find food. Galin, Charlene, Koren and Galene all went deeper into the woods and were not seen much afterwards. Stabo, Gena, Young Bambi and Karene went into the woods on the other side of the Man path where there were fewer deer. Bambi, Faline, Claris, Stelar, and him stayed nearby which was good because with the cold he found his side hurt even worse. The first snow while heavy did not stay on the ground for long. The second snow was lighter, but it was colder and the snow remained. It took them usually all night to find enough food to fill their stomachs. He struggled, the others his age seem to have an easier time, but it was Stelar that seem to thrive.

In a way he envied his daughter. She was filling out and would soon be a two year old. She was petty enough to have found a male last Season, but did not. That would change and he just hoped she find a good male. Having a good mate was one of the great joys of life, having a bad one was one of the worse things in life.

Right after the second snowfall melted, Galin came over to them. He seemed concerned about something.

"I like to talk to all of you, along with Stabo and Young Bambi tonight." he told them.

"Is something wrong?" Claris asked.

"No, but we are going to change our plans," Galin said. "I will speak more about this tonight."

"We will be there," he said.

With that Galin left in a hurry letting them all wonder to themselves what was going on. They did not have long to wait. Right after the setting of the greater light, they heard Galin call out to them. They all proceeded as quickly as he could move over to the large clearing. There Galin, Charlene, Koren and Galene lay in the clearing waiting for them. Stabo, Gena, the younger Bambi and Karene had arrived before them.

"Thank you for coming," Galin said. "In the past we said we would wait until the summer before going back to our forest. We

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