You're all familiar with the scene in the second movie where the Great Prince takes Bambi to look over the herd in the wintertime, right? Well, if you look closely, you can easily see four fawns in the herd. Who are they? You can assume one might be Faline, maybe Ronno, though it seems like he and his mother could live elsewhere, but what of the rest? Just what if the young prince could go down and talk with some of them?
I own nothing. Bambi and all its content belong to Disney. I don't own the cover image either.
Enjoy the story!
One crisp, winter day, two deer walked steadily through the forest. The snow crunched lightly underneath their hooves as they made way to their destination. One was a stoic, tall stag with a large rack of antlers. The other was a young buck that had yet to lose his spots and grow his stubs.
"Where we going today," Bambi asked as he stepped over a tree root. The Great Prince didn't acknowledge him directly until they had climbed to the top of the hill and began descending down the other side. He didn't say anything until they had reached the edge of the clearing. Bambi looked out onto the meadow and gasped. The herd was out there, complete with the charging bucks, does and playing fawns. He looked at them before turning up to his father's face.
"You may play with the other fawns while I go out on patrol." He then looked down towards his level. "By the time I get back, I expect to see you in the herd or in the bushes by the clearing." He leaned in closer. "Is that understood?" Bambi gave an eager nod, trembling all over with joy.
The Great Prince nodded before straightening up again and heading back up the hillside. Bambi watched for a moment as he left before looking back and taking a long gaze at the meadow. He squinted a bit as the sunlight bounced off the snow and blinded him for a moment, but he could plainly see the deer out on the field.
He darted out into the clearing. The snow exploded up wherever he bounded. He passed several males charging at one another and does grazing until he had finally come across the small group of fawns. To his surprise and happiness, he saw Faline amongst the group, standing alongside two other young does.
To his upset shock, he saw all three were huddled close and leaning back from young buck already with his antler stubs. His first thoughts immediately thought of Ronno, yet after staring at him a bit more he realized that this buck had a more reddish coat and her eyes were a deep scarlet.
"Leave us alone, Karus," said one fawn.
"Yeah. You're nothing but a big meanie," added the other.
"Just leave us alone, Karus. We don't want any trouble," Faline finished. The male laughed and pawed at the ground with his hoof.
"Well guess what, I am trouble," he said. He lowered his head and pawed at the snow harder, indicating that he was about to charge towards the group of them.
"Leave them alone," Bambi called out from behind as he came up from behind them. All four pairs of eyes looked towards him. Faline beamed with joy and walked over to greet them while the other two fawns cowered at the prospect of another buck to boss and bully them around. The young male, Karus just glowered at his new rival.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the young prince," he said as he stood up straight. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Karus, the bravest, fastest, strongest, smartest, handsomest and best fawn in the entire forest and future king of the forest." He hunkered down and got in a charging position once more. "Just right after I take you down and show your dad I'm a much better choice to follow in his hoofsteps."
Bambi looked astonished at the older fawn before him. He was even more of a showoff and arrogant braggart then Ronno. Not only was he cocky, but he believed he could actually usurp the role of the Great Prince of the forest's heir. But what was really shocking is how he had referred to the stag as his father. Never had his father admitted as the role of his dad, or that he was his son, so it really came as a shock to him.
Still, as he saw the two young does huddle together in fear, he felt more anger then fear too. Karus was lined up, ready to charge and knock him down. A mad glint was dancing in his eyes, backed up by cockiness and anger, yet he only felt anger at him for inspiring such feelings of worry and unrest within the youngest herd members.
Puffing up his chest and lifting his chin up, he took high and proud steps towards him. Karus pawed at the ground, ready to charge, but Bambi's proud stance was unwavering. He didn't swerve or hesitate in any of his strides, just one continuous path towards Karus. Kaus finally stood up confused of the young prince's refusal to back down or be afraid. Narrowing his eyes, he reared up and slammed his hooves onto the ground, causing snow to be throw up into the air with a hope that this would scare the prince.
Bambi kept on marching forward. The look on his face was monotone, but something about it made it look brave. Karus stared confusedly before him, unsure of why this fawn refused to bow down before him. All of a sudden, he started to huddle down and shake as Bambi came to a halt just a few feet away from him.
"I will not fight you, but I'll say this once," he leaned his head in closer to Karus's, "stay away from my friends," he ordered in a voice that sounded surprisingly mature for a fawn his age. Faline and the two other fawns gasped behind him, but smiled as he stood up for them. Karus quivered at the fawn who, despite being obviously younger, appeared to look bigger than him. All of a sudden, a voice came from behind the shaking buck.
"Karus! It's time to go! don't make me wait," came a voice from one of the edges of the meadow. All eyes turned to the doe that was waiting patiently near the thicket. Karus lifted his head up towards his mother as he stood, before turning his face towards Bambi's. All of a sudden a bit of his earlier pride and anger came up again as he leaned his head closer to the young prince's.
"Till we meet again next time, puny prince," he spat out before charging towards his mama. Bambi watched as he left, amazed of what he had just done. It wasn't a fight, there wasn't a fight, it was just him standing up proudly and not allowing someone else to bully his friends. He flinched as all three fawns came towards him.
"Thanks for standing up for us out there, Bambi," Faline said as she and the other girls clustered around him. He blushed as they crowded him a bit.
"Yeah, you were really brave out there," a fawn commented. "My name's Ase." She gave a small shake and her sepia tone coat gleamed in the sunlight. Her fur had a more earthy shade to it compared to Faline's and it brought out her spots nicely. He could see at her face now and saw that her eyes were a dark green, just like the pine trees of the forest. In comparison, her companion had eyes the shade of the violets growing on the banks of the pond.
"My name's Layna. Thank you for saving us," the other said. Her coat was lighter then the other two and had a more blonde tan shade to it. She was also a bit more daring them her friends and leaned in close to nuzzle his cheeks. He burned under his fur and began to stutter. Her eyes seemed to glitter at him as she retracted her head. Faline, thankfully, started talking.
"So what are you doing it on the meadow today, Bambi," she asked, politely starting a conversation with him. He cleared his throat and straightened up a bit more.
"Oh, my dad said it was okay for me to go out and play if I wanted," he explained. Faline nodded in understanding.
"Well do you want to play with us," she asked. He gave a nod and she lightly giggled. "Great. Oh, and by the way," she thrust out her head and touched his chest with her nose, "you're it."
The three fawns immediately were out running, giggling wildly as they pranced around to getaway from him. One he realized what was happening, he charged after them, joining in on their laughter.
From up above the meadow, looking down at the herd from a rock outcrop, a stag watched with amusement as the four fawns pranced around and played tag. He smiled as he thought highly of the scene he had witnessed of Bambi standing up to another fawn that had been bullying his friends.
He was proud of his son.
I took the liberty of taking the fawn Karus's name from the original book "Bambi, A Life in the Woods" by Felix Salten. Yes, believe me, it's very real. I actually own a copy of it, just not the sequel "Bambi's Children". For the other does I came up the names for. I wasn't exactly sure how to portray Karus's character, since he really doesn't get much development time in the books, but coming off of how he reacted when, spoiler warning, Bambi fights and defeats him, I'm guessing that he's rather cocky and proud, yet once he's off his feet and defeated he shows a more cowardly side. It fits into a bully trope like Ronno, and since all young males grow up to eventually fight one another over mates and territory, I figured, 'eh why not?'
I hope you enjoyed my story, thanks for reading it. Please leave a review and feel free to check out some of my other stories. Sincerely, v.t.7