Another winter came for the estranged little fawn, his least favorite season of all, his father did what he could to shake him of his grief and move forward with his responsibilities for himself, but nothing and no one could nurse the emotional bullet in his heart. Other times the boy would overlook his despondency by attempting to prove to the great prince that he was mighty enough, all times that failed meagerly with a good scolding.
"You should release yourself as a suckling and find your footing," his father would often tell him.
After these things he trotted alone in the whispering grass in hopes of his mother's advice. Now that winter came the grass was as dead as her spirit, but he still walked along to find himself. This week was at last the final days of winter, and his patience was wearing thin on himself, along with his bleak console.
"Hello Bambi," said Thumper as he and flower poked his head out of a drift.
Bambi kept walking without a response.
The two followed him curiously.
"Something wrong?" asked Thumper.
"I-I don't know," he answered bleakly once he heard a strange rustling in the woods.
"If you don't know, can we help?" Flower offered.
"Can you take me home?" he asked them innocently.
The three turned back for a few feet before a pack of blood thirsty hounds came charging towards them.
"We can run you home," Thumper hastily suggested.
So they ran for a number of yards, until Bambi stopped in his tracks.
"No!" he stated firmly "I'm gonna prove to father that I am strong!"
The fear driven Bambi charged back to the hounds. Thumper and Flower kept running, but the two knew that if they left then it would be the end of him, and they turned the other way to attack likewise.
The beasts and the children were drawing near, naturally a dog would leap at its victims, which is what Bambi allowed them to do, then the trio leaped under them to attack from beneath. They were sent flying backwards, one hound fell across his head on a rock that left him useless in battle. Flower let out a powerful cloud that paralyzed the dog's eyes, which was enough for them to inflict all their strength on their enemies. Bambi ferociously and mercilessly kicked and flogged them with his hooves, Thumper and Flower scattered in all directions to confuse the dog's methods of attacking and they would bite and mangle their faces with persistence.
While from overhead the owl witnessed everything that was going on and flew back to alert the great prince of his son's wanton behavior.
"He is doing what?" the prince retorted.
"He's struggling in a fight with beasts," stated the owl.
Without a second thought he ran to save his son from the danger.
The prince rushed forward and faster once the distinctive sounds of the dogs came close, and suddenly the hounds came into view. The great prince stood his ground before the approaching hounds, but they weren't interested in hunting, instead they cowardly ran past the deer.
"They were carrying blood," the deer noted "I fear the worst has happened,"
"They weren't carrying blood," the owl corrected in a confused fashion "they were bleeding, and they ran in fear before they approached us,"
"Are you suggesting that my son-?" the prince retorted.
Now the prince rushed to save Bambi, from himself.
From whence the action occurred the unlikely three didn't know what to make of themselves for what happened, trembling uncontrollably, especially the placid Flower. Before anyone could say anything there was a bright flash of light pointed at them, specifically aimed at the young fawn. Bambi acted with an instinctive second that could have meant his life, but it was the tree branch behind them that got the shorter end.
They stayed below the drifts to avoid the gunshots that were firing over them like thunder. Thumper observed the blasted tree branch and the dead leaves, scheming a way out.
Bambi's father arrived at the scene, a silhouetted image of his son scattering through the trees to evade the firing. He rushed to get in the line of fire to save the little fawn, when automatically a gunshot disintegrated his head, the prince stood dead in his tracks at what he just witnessed. While mysteriously the body kept on moving, until thumper and flower appeared carrying a bundle of snow held by sticks over their heads, they stopped moving once they arrived at the prince's feet.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
The two looked at each other, dumbfounded and incapable of any explanation. Now the light was pointed directly at Bambi's father, the light came from a huge hill above where Bambi stood behind the culprit behind all the obstruction. The fawn wore a cemented face animals of prey wore, however it changed immediately once he noticed that the hunter aimed his rifle at his father. Before he could act the trigger was released like a stopwatch on his heart, everything stood still.
Nothing happened; the weapon ran out of lead, Bambi's father thanked this chance to flee that is until he spotted his son approaching the hunter.
"Bambi!" he hollered.
But Bambi ignored all reason once his look of prey was back; filled with hate and a glint of murder for this man who wanted to take his father the same way he took his mother. He attacked with his hateful strength and sent the rifle flying, Bambi mauled on the hunter until the man kicked him off. Next the enemy pulled out a jagged hunting knife from his boot and the two circled each other.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt ya," he grinned seductively "You're gonna look great next to that doe I caught,"
It went on like this for a few minutes until the hunter made the jabbing first move. All the animals that were around witnessed in horror at the horrific battle, though none could possibly compare to the father's gaping look of shock at his son's unruly behavior.
The hunter naturally believed himself to have the upper hand over something as insignificant as a fawn, which was why Bambi evaded his every attempt to cut him, which made the man tired but persistent with carnage. Once he was tired enough, Bambi charged him with all hooves, breaking his nose and kicking the knife away. Then the hunter pulled out a revolver from his holster, only to be flung aside by Bambi's hooves, the gun now stood between them, an equal distance from the two. Once again they stood facing the other in grave silence, and so did the forest.
The two wore the same murderous glint, Bambi horrifically noted that the man who took his mothers' life, someone he had every reason to hate, shared the same disposition, and he backed away slowly in fear. The hunter chuckled wickedly and swiftly retrieved the gun, at the same time Bambi leapt fearfully to hoof it away, and then the gun landed on the ground so fast that it released the action and shot the hunter point blank. He was sent falling over the ledge and into the snow banks before the whole forest, the leap Bambi made to make his unwanted kill almost made him fall too.
Bambi stood there unmoved, agape at what he just did; all the animals drew their attention from the dead body to the fawn that stood on the hill overlooking. The owl flew over the hill and landed on a branch behind the fawn.
"Child," he stated grimly "You, are a hunter,"
His eyes were wide with fear; just standing there, trembling like a bomb on his subconscious hanging by a single tremor that could obstruct what sanity he had left in him.
"Bambi?" said Flower delicately.
Bambi flinched furiously, Thumper and Flower did their best to console their friend.
"You want us to take you to your poppa?" Thumper suggested.
Bambi nodded his head uncontrollably, Flower grabbed it gently to calm him down, and then they took him along to see his father.
Together they scurried slowly down the hill. The farther they went more animals accumulated around them to see the disoriented fawn, everyone mumbled to themselves about what was going on. Bambi tried to avoid the sounds of their voices or the eyes that stared at them.
"Bambi?" Feline whispered who appeared a few feet next to him with her mother.
He stopped for a moment, without even looking at her, and so he kept on moving.
She tried to move closer, but her mother wouldn't allow it.
Feline asked her mother quietly."Is he going to be alright mother?"
Mothermothermother mother mothermother, the words echoed incessantly in his head with the images and sounds, of snow, gunshots, and his mother's voice, mother mother mother mother mother mother mother, there was a hurricane of blood gushing all over his head and immediately his mind snapped. Bambi screamed, hollered, and ran all over the place to escape the voices, all the other animals backed away nervously. Thumper and Flower struggled furiously to hold him down, resulting in Thumper getting kicked in the face, but eventually they kept him in place, Bambi panged and hyperventilated uncontrollably with his face in the snow, the scene made the animals almost cry. (If you want to know exactly how this is you can check it out in A Streetcar Named Desire, click the Stanley and Blanche clip then move the time to the last minute).
"Son," his father approached him, Thumper and Flower backed away.
"Pick yourself up," he ordered his son, who very slowly tried to regain his breathing rate. "I am not proud of you for any of this, you could have been killed. Don't you see?" he explained as gently as he could "Your mother may have been taken from you but that is no reason here nor there to take those who've wronged you in such a way,"
Moments later his breathing stopped, his father raised him with his mighty antlers.
"Wherever your mother is, she is anything but proud of you. I ask of you, is this what she wants for her child,"
The fawn stood there catatonically.
"Is it," His father retorted firmly.
Bambi tried with all of his constructive strength to utter even a single letter. All that came out were disoriented exhales, no words of any kind.
Everyone began to worry even more for him, the owl went to examine what was wrong with him.
"The child, he's," the owl explained to the prince "lost the will to speak,"
"Leave us be," the prince ordered the animals, and they all began to depart.
Thumper, whose nose stopped bleeding, and Flower however wanted to stay.
"Thumper you come on now," his mother told him.
"But momma," he quietly protested "He needs us,"
"Stop with this bunny business," she told him as she wiped the blood off his nose "Look at what he did to my little boy,"
"He didn't mean it," said Thumper.
"He's not safe,"
Flower and the bunnies looked on at Bambi and his father.
"From now on," the prince told his son "you'll never stray from my side if you ever wish to grow up,"
His father walked in front of him, Bambi still lay despondently in the snow, but slowly picked himself up and trotted behind his father.
Flower went back to his burrow crying, and Thumper stood watching their friend leave.
"Thumper come here, he's not your son," his mother ordered.
Thumper followed her effortlessly.
"I saw him first when he came here," he mumbled to himself "He is too,"
Everyone was gone and once again the forest was quiet.
That night when the forest was asleep Bambi snuck away from his father's watch. He walked away as quietly as possible, and he kept on walking until he was finally out of the woods.
Then he took one last look at his home and cried softly but sternly.
N-never, he sniffled as quietly as a mouse Never gonna come back here again, never again
Bambi ran away to wherever the night would take him.
Never gonna come back again, never again, his words echoed behind him.