Kangelane?
" What's the matter now?" Vertrou coughed, ignoring Chestnut.
" I'm afraid I - we have some disturbing news" Nocere confessed. Vertrou rolled his eyes. If this was part of a buck fight, then Vertrou decided to let it go. However, he thought, since Bukuri was taken away, he guessed he had to try to find a way back to her. If it was a buck fight over Bukuri coming back, then Vertrou would pay every bit of attention to it. Vertrou let his mind drift, back to when he was a fawn, lost and alone, looking for a friend. That of course is when he met up with Lojalis. Vertrou had spent many months tracking and looking for shelter. Once, he ran into a pack of wild wolves, that had caused some issues, and Vertrou and Lojalis had escapes with their lives.
Vertrou also recalled when his entire herd was wiped out at the mercy of man, and one, strange, buck he once trusted .....
" Ahem" Lojalis coughed. " We need you to sort this out, or figure it out, should I say" Lojlais jolted Vertrou to his senses.
" Yes, well, we must see this " Vertrou snapped, striding forwards.
" And you don't think the buck from the future that appred in the middle of this room deserves any notice?" Chestnut butted in. Vertrou's head swirled.
" Come, we will sort this out later " He commanded. Chestnut was exasperated. What would it take to make this king pay attention? Still bearing no mind towards an attack, Chestnut reluctantly followed. The four deer came to the edge of a large ditch, that stretched far down. At the bottom were sharp spikes, easily able to destroy anything that came near. Along the way, were brambles and thorns. were Chestnut, not paying attention to his surroundings, fell down and was only saved by Nocere, pulling him back.
" Easy there tiger, or deer" Nocere laughed.
" This is no laughing matter!" Vertrou snapped, turning wildly around, much to the surprise of Nocere and Chestnut. Vertrou looked down the hole, and his mind started to wander. This hole wasn't here yesterday, or any day, he thought. Yet, huge holes with sharp spikes and Brambles don't magically appear over night! Do they? Perhaps it was one of man's traps, yet it looked so natural and old. Maybe it was a dream? No it was real. Vertrou could not think of any sensible explanation. He shook his head.
" It's a mystery " He finally decided. Lojalis and Nocere seemed disappointed, that's what it was in the first place, but they decided better than to argue with Vertrou.
" You, Chestnut, now it's time for your trial!" Vertrou suddenly called, looking back over his shoulder. Lojalis was curious about something. Why didn't Chestnut find Vertrou and herself strange in appearance. Lojalis decided not to pester him though. A large gathering of bucks and does surrounded the council area, in a wide circle.
" What charges do you hold against this innocent buck?" Lojalis pleaded with Vertrou.
" None, I never said that did I?" Vertrou's eyes flashed a warning look.
" But you were thinking about it, you want something to blame, you want something to blame for Kangelane don't you?" Lojalis whispered. Vertrou stopped dead in his tracks. Tears dropped steadily off his cheeks. Out of all the people to betray him, and all his kind. The one person he looked up to before he had to turn to Hässlich for a role model. That traitor, he would have killed him himself, if not for Kangelane's untimely death. How could Lojalis remind him? He would have banished her, but even though he had feelings for Bukuri stronger now, he was still jealous of Nocere for taking Lojalis, and after all, Lojalis was still his only true friend.
" The council is on!" He yelled, leaving the shivering Lojalis behind. Vertrou turned to face Chestnut.
" Explain your full story, and your purpose of being here!" He roared.
" Well..." Chestnut sighed. " It was like this ...."
Chestnut's story
It was a fresh spring, and Chestnut opened his eyes for the first time. the world was so full of life for Chestnut. To him it was the begging of paradise. Chestnut's mother kept him close, as any mother would do. Because the king had been in some stressful situations recently, All the forest creatures kept their distance. As the months passed, Chestnut went exploring on his own for the first time. Whilst playing with his friends, Geno and Gurri, the offspring of the king and queen themselves, Gurri, being the playfully one decided to play hide and seek. Half way through counting, Tyrone and Clara burst in on the game, asking to play. Chestnut was pleased to play with his other to friends, and gleefully ran to a hiding spot he knew well. Which was funny, because it was a well, a small one left in the woods, that went down only a meter. As Chestnut jumped in, he fell on top of another fawn. Because the light was coming from the east, and on top of Chestnut's back, he couldn't see the fawn, only the outline.
" Are you ok?" Chestnut asked the fawn.
" I will be ... if you get off!" The fawn mumbled. Chestnut reversed out of the well, looking at the Fawn in full light. He was surprised. The fawn appeared to be the same species of deer as Chestnut's mother, for Chestnut was a cross-breed.
" What's your name? Mine's Chestnut!" Chestnut said aloud, swishing his tail excitedly.
" Mine's Sanft " The fawns voice was softer out in the open, and Chestnut noticed it was a female. She was same creamy-silvery colour as his mother, but her markings were a black semi-circle. Her head back and tail were deep brown, she had ice blue eyes, and her socks were in a hill pattern, with dirty yellowish brownish the top and even light brown at the bottom. Her under side, muzzle, and belly were brownish-creamish.
" Your a silver backed deer like my mother!" Chestnut exclaimed.
" Am I? Both my parents are silver backed deer, you probably know my father, he was banished from the kingdom"
" Then where is your moth......" Chestnut began, but was interrupted by a loud" Found you!" From Gurri. As she came out, laughing, she caught sight of Sanft. Gurri blinked, confused. It took a bit of explaining, since Chestnut had to tell the whole group, but eventually, Sanft became part of the gang in a way.
A few years later, king Bambi had reports about a familiar buck invading the territory. Bambi sent scouts out to look for the buck, and he was brought before the council.
" Vertrou, why haveyou reveled yourself? " A buck shouted rudely. " You deserve to be banished!"
" RONNO! That's enough!" Bambi called, to which Ronno, an old enemy of Vertrou grumbled and went quiet.
" Bambi did not banish him, it was infact you that forced him to!" Faline spoke up for her husband.
" Stay out of this!" Ronno glared at the queen. " Your majesty" He added. But the other deer decided it was time for Vertrou to leave again.
" Then you should all leave!" A pretty doe stepped out of the shadow. " Bukuri!" Vertrou was pleased to see his wife.
" Mother?" Sanft bravely stepped out. Bambi and Faline watched with interest.
" My dear Sanft" Vertrou whispered. " Your as beautiful as your mother!" It was a strange silence, as the family took a few steps closer to each other.
" Ahem, I hate to interrupt the family Reunion, but ... GET OUT!" Ronno roared, and lunged at Vertrou and Sanft. All the other bucks and does joined in, chasing the two out of the land, and pushing Bukuri back.
" Sanft!" Chestnut yelled, running to her rescue, for Chestnut was in fact in love with this girl.
" Chestnut, come back this instant!You here me son?" Nocere shouted.
" Do what your father says!" Lojalis shouted. Chestnut was the son of Nocere and Lojalis, in love with the daughter of Vertrou and Bukuri, not a good mix, considering the fathers hated each other. Chestnut ran, becoming fugitives with Vertrou and Sanft. Chestnut kept trying to keep up with the two, but Vertrou guided a gang of hunters in Chestnut's direction, causing him to head back towards the middle of the forest, where he encountered a strange light, coming from a tree originally for hunters, but it had malfunctioned, and when he woke up, Chestnut was in the past, trying to save the future...
" And that's what happened" Chestnut told him. Vertrou snorted.
" So your saying, that in the future, i get banished by Ronno ...." Vertrou glared at Ronno for effect
" And that you, Nocere and Lojalis's son " Again he looked at Nocere and Lojalis " Fall in love ith mine and Bukuri's daughter?" He questioned.
" Sum's it up!" Chestnut said. " Now If you'll bear with me, I think Its ime to sort this out!"
" The only sorting out here will be you going!" Hässlich yelled, running quickly towards Chestnut. But two does stopped him. Fawn and Mena stood infront of him.
"Please don't Hässlich, you know it's not good" Fawn glared.
" Not in front of me you don't " Mena also glared. There was something about their glares that made Hässlich back off, but he gave Chestnut a warning glare for good measure. Chestnut glared back. Hässlich thought he was the only one suffering pain. But Chestnut was in pain to, he was homesick, and longed for his own time period.
" Let him go, there's no need for him to be swapping periods of time like theres no tomorrow!" Ronno yelled through the crowd. The great prince watched from a distance, wishing he could help. But he kept faithful to his promise of silent watching.
Close one
As the gang headed out to see were the portal was, Lojalis and Nocere got a bit more friendly with their son.
" I never thought we'd have a time traveling son!" Nocere laughed. Lojalis smiled.
" He's father's you, anything's possible!" She laughed. But their words were drowned out of Chestnut's hearing, he longed for home, and was getting thinner by the minute, being in a different dimension, if you like. He wondered if he would ever see Sanft again, or if now he had come back, his time had changed? As Chestnut pondered over these thing's, he heard Bambi call.
" Chestnut, see this!"
Chestnut ran ahead to see his own time dimension shining in front of him over the sharp spiked ditch. No, there was no ditch! Chestnut was relieved, and just as he was about to step forwards, the ground shook, opening up below him, and Chestnut had to jump back to the other side, as the ground transformed into the sharp spiked ditch again. Chestnut shook his head in disbelief. How could this happen? But it was no point in pursuing, so Chestnut followed the group back home, tired, miserable, hungry, and more homesick than ever.
The next day, Chestnut decided to make some errands, so set about helping the other forest animals. Bambi was pleased with his god work, and offered a small reward for when Chestnut eventually got back home.
" If I ever get back home" Chestnut sighed solemnly.
" No you have to be positive!" Bambi reminded him sharply.
" I guess your right" Chestnut nodded, and watched Bambi fade into the tree's.
" He's a great king" He said to no one in particular.
" I might take up on his advice of positiveness to get what you want!" Ronno emerged from a near by bush. Chestnut narrowed his eyes.
" Imagine, maybe that world threw you away because they didn't want you! Well guess what, no one here want's you either, so stop swapping dimensions! Stick to your own dam timeline!" Ronno yelled.
" I would, and when I go, I'll be glad to be rid of you!" Chestnut puffed out his chest.
" What happened to your antler point anyway? Did your dimension get rid of it as a punishment?" Ronno smirked. Chestnut said nothing, but glowered, then backed off from Ronno. The antler point was private, and not a tale he liked to tell.
*****************************************
Meanwhile, Lojalis confronted Vertrou again, who was pacing impatiently around his den.
" Just because Bukuri's gone, doesn't mean you have to pick on my son!" Lojalis was very angry. Vertrou was running out of patience.
" She won't replace Kangelane you know" Lojalis's voice became softer on his name. Vertrou was out of patience, and a sudden adrenalin rush caused him to knock Lojalis backwards with his antlers.
" DON'T TELL ME SHE WON'T REPLACE KANGELANE!!! WHY WOULD I WANT TO REPLACE THAT SCUM BUCKET OF A FATHER?" Vertrou yelled. Lojalis lay on the floor in the dust breathing in heavily.
" Go find a friend that cares about you" She announced, and stormed out of the room, leaving Vertrou feeling disgusted with himself. He had just hurt the one doe other than Bukuri that cared for him. Vertrou's life was wasted.
****************************************
Whilst he was helping a baby chipmunk climb up a tree to it's parents, Chestnut heard Bambi running towards him.
" If you come quick, you can get back to your timeline!" he shouted. " Come, ther's no time to lose!" But as Chestnut neared the portal again, the ground shook into the ditch again.
" Not again!" Faline yelled.
" Are you ok Chestnut?" Bambi asked. The ditch was still deep with fatal razor shaped spikes at the bottom.
" We'll try again soon" Faline promised.
" No need to" Chestnut said, focusing on the spikes.
" Why?" They all asked.
" I'm going to JUMP!" Chestnut yelled, and attempted to jump over the ditch. But the task was impossible, and only made it half way across before he fell, brambles and thorns tearing at his skin as he plunged towards the fatal spikes.
" Chestnut, NO!" Nocere yelled, as the other deer attempted to pull him back.