Bambi's Forest
Bambi stared, wide-eyed. "What?"
"Ye heard me," Loki snorted. "They're killing the whole forest. I'm on your side now. We all are. It's our problem, too."
"How... Why..." Bambi shook his head.
"Me," Volare spoke up. "Skander told Nacht that a hawk told you the battle was coming. He decided the logical choice was to kill things."
Bambi shook his head again. "Volare, go get Korin. Loki, get your rabbits together. I'm having a meeting."
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Kaiser frowned, looking around at the meadow. He was on the lip of the large clearing, in the tall grass. "I could have sworn there was still honeysuckle here."
"There's not," Noir told him. She turned to look at him, frowning. "I swear you're putting this off on purpose. Kaiser, I want a fawn. I hope you realize that. If you're putting this off because you're worried about me, don't bother."
Kaiser nodded. "And I'm glad. I just want to make sure... You're ready..." He had turned his head to look across the field and was captivated by what he saw. A slender doe was grazing there, but Kaiser recognized she was not regular. This was a nymph, a spirit. She was a misty blue-grey, her outline unmistakeably blue and charged. She eminated energy. She looked up with eyes that were just as shocking, a shade of bright, vibrant blue, with no pupil. She was undeniably gorgeous.
"Kaiser?" Noir went up to his side, following his gaze. She stared blankly at the place in the field, then looked back at Kaiser, then looked back out. She didn't understand wat was so interesting out there... There was nothing there. "Kaiser, what are you staring at?" aa
Kaiser jumped, looking back into Noir's beautiful green eyes. "N-Nothing at all," he told her. "I mean... I thought I saw something." He looked back at the doe on the field. She tilted her head. I most certainly did see something! He thought. "But, if you're sure your ready, Noir, I am too."
Noir nodded, looking vaguely suspicious. She led him off into the trees.
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"What's this about?" Clover asked worriedly, looking around. Salvia had told her about the Misfits, and they were present - a few, that was. One was just as described, white with spackled sides and a white cut in the spine. The other was similar, and the third was all black and orange. She was shocked that rabbits could look this way.
Bambi opened his mouth, but the spackled rabbit cut him off. "Your Nacht is killing everything that's not a deer. Can we leave now?" He was eyeing Korin suspiciously, who met his gaze. When she did, he took a step back with only his front feet, making his back arch up. It didn't help his case.
"No," Bambi glared down at the rabbit. "We need a plan."
"It's simple," Korin growled. "Go in and kill 'em all."
"I don't think that's going to work, Korin," Herla told her heavily. "We may be trained now, but they will be defending. They will have more fighters. Unless we took our entire force, we wouldn't win."
Birch nodded. "We have got to ignore this. It isn't a game-changer, you know - it just means that Nacht's gone raving mad. It can't possibly make him any more threatening, as he was already bad enough."
"Unless, of course, he stops using logic and stops caring about the safety of his soldiers," Bambi shot back. "You're right that killing everything isn't going to make him attack any sooner, but we have to pay attention. We can't ignore it."
Skander
Skander was walking, unaware of being trailed by his father. He looked around, and as he went, he noticed that the forest suddenly went silent. He froze, flattening his ears. He didn't want to go on in this direction. Something was very, very off. He looked around, and realized why. There were dead animals everywhere - rabbits, songbirds, squirrels, chipmunks. His eyes went wide, and he backed up, only to find himself backing into Nacht. "It's magnificent, isn't it?" he growled. "Soon, this whole forest will belong only to deer."
Skander couldn't speak. He was too frightened. He was shaking. Why, why, why had he come here? Because he needed to know. Now he knew. Only thing he could do now is try and contact Kaiser... That's what he'd do.
....Somehow.
Kaiser
Kaiser nosed his mate. "I'm going back to my den," she told him. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay," he replied. "See you, then." As soon as she was gone, he turned and took off back toward the field with the nymph. She was there in the fading light, waiting. He stared at her, smiling. "Hi," was all he could muster. She turned, looking at him over her shoulder.
"Hello," she responded sweetly, flickering her tail coyly. "I remember you... You're the buck from before. But that was your mate, wasn't it?" She turned around, facing him. His mood fell a bit.
"Well, yeah. But you're still here... surely you have something to say?" he asked, wanting her to stay there. He really did.
"Yes." she looked a bit deflated if it was at all possible. She told him what was happening in the old forest, and Kaiser was appalled.
"That..." He shook his head.
"It's unspeakable, I know," she sighed. "But, it changes nothing. Go on, you need sleep. My name is Munja," she added. "And you?"
"Kaiser," the brown buck replied, turning. "I suppose I'll go then." He looked at the darkening sky.
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He blinked his eyes open. The windswept moor was dark. Was Kaiser alone? He thought so, but felt the presence of something... someone else. He turned. There, a ways off, stood none other than his brother. "Skander!" he cried over the wind. The brown-and-black buck looked up and bounded over.
"Kaiser, I have to tell you something. It's our father, he's killing everything. I was there, I saw it... It was awful, Kaiser, there was blood everywhere, they'd crushed them... Everything..." Skander stammered breathlessly before Kaiser could stop him, his eyes wild with fear.
"I know," Kaiser told him grimly. "This means you realize how wrong you were to go with him."
"No," Skander shook his head. "You don't get it, Kaiser, I'm not a traitor. I'm a spy."
Kaiser sighed. "I should have known you wouldn't betray us."
Skander looked up. "I have to go, Kaiser. I'll try to get back to you soon."
And with that, he woke up. Kaiser looked around, and found two faces looking down at him - Noir and Leaf. "You were completely freaking out, Kaiser," Leaf told him. Kaiser stood heavily and made his way out of the den, shaking himself. Outside stood Maple.
Maple, that was, and Munja. He flashed her a smile. She did the same, walking over to him and leaning against his side. Kaiser tensed, even though she wasn't much of a weight to deal with. "Did you hear? Nacht-" Maple started.
Kaiser cut her off. "I already know," he told her.
"How?" Leaf frowned.
"He isn't very nice, I don't think," Munja murmured, sitting up on her back legs and draping her front legs over his side, laying her head on Kaiser's back. He bit his lip, but didn't move.
"Umm... Skander told me," Kaiser mumbled.
"What?" Noir frowned. "How...?"
"In a dream..." Kaiser turned, shifting out from under Munja. She leaped down and went around to his opposite flank, draping her head over his shoulder. His face twisted a bit, and he stiffened.
"But, who could he?"
"We... We're very close. We were, anyway, and we share dreams sometimes..." Kaiser explained, trying to shift out from under Munja. He failed miserably, but continued his attempts.
"Kaiser, for Cervus sake, what's wrong with you?" Leaf burst.
Kaiser froze. "Huh?"
"Stop dancing around like that! What're you doing?" Leaf continued.
"Nothing. I'm just nervous," he lied.
Munja giggled. "Well, that was interesting," she told him. Kaiser shot her a wry look.
"Anyway, Birch and Korin want to attack immediately. Bambi's not letting them." Maple told him.
"I imagine so. I'm not so eager... We need to find out what Nacht's up to first. ...Well, other than killing rabbits and squirrels." Kaiser replied, clenching his jaw as Munja leaned against him again.
"I'd guess that he isn't interested in killing just now, since there's rutting to be done," Munja told him. He nodded slightly, only to get a weird look from Leaf.
"Anyway, there's one more thing - we need to get to the rutting grounds. There've been rumours that a huge fight's gonna happen today!" Maple turned, bounding in that direction, followed by the others.
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Bambi looked around he meadow, sighing. This was it, then. Sure, he had to deal with Nacht's neurotics, but right now, he had a goal - Faline. Today was the day. He took a deep breath and approached her, nodding. "Good morning, Faline."
"Hello, Bambi," she responded, looking at him. "Is something wrong?"
"No, in fact, I thought I might ask if you minded too terribly if I were to fight for you." he told her, standing up straight.
"I don't think I would," she began. She opened her mouth, but was cut off.
"I do," Ronno bounded over, sliding between them.