All I Know Is I Can't Lose You Now
The great Prince of the forest was talking to Mena and trying to explain why Ronno bothers Bambi so much. When out of the blue there was a blood curdling scream that only the great prince could identify of that of his own sons scream. He didn't even turn to look at Mena before he was running to find his boy and save him from whatever it was that was trying to harm him.
You see, after Bambi fell and almost died, the prince had decided to continue to raise his own son. So to lose him now would be more than devastating it would be destructively painful. As the prince ran he could hear the signature barking of a hunting dog, knowing that they would kill Bambi if they caught him, he picked up his pace and kept running; all he could hope was that he would get there in time.
Bambi was terrified but kept running. He knew that at least his friends were safe, so he kept on going not looking back, knowing it would be a costly move. He did have an advantage because, unlike the dogs that were following him, he knew this forest like the back of his hand. Therefore he was out running and out smarting them for now. He had been running for a long time. And those dogs were fairly far behind him, when suddenly Flower fell out of a tree and onto the path. Knowing if he didn't help his friend he would become food. Bambi stopped and lifted him onto his back before continuing deeper into the forest.
Bambi also sped up a fair amount to get really far away from the dogs. He then dropped Flower off into a flower field and told him to hide. Flower did as he was told, but he could tell Bambi was tired and wished he could help. When the dogs where past the flower field, Flower ran back through the forest to try and find someone to help Bambi. Just as he was coming close to Thumper's hutch he heard a blood curdling scream and knew it was Bambi's.
Bambi had continued running after dropping Flower, but he was getting very tired he had run for around half an hour straight. But those damn dogs where still following him. Although luck was not on his side because just as he was coming to the rock face, some came loose and fell near Bambi. But as he was running under the shower of sharp rocks, one fell and knocked him to the ground. In his attempts to get up another landed on his left back leg. He heard a crack and then screamed as another cut him. But he did eventually get the rock off him and then he was running again; but it hurt god did it hurt. And so he was reduced to limp running as an attempt to stay ahead of the dogs and not be killed.
The great Prince was getting frantic why had Bambi come this far had the dogs really chased him this far. If so then how could he have not heard something while his son was being chased? He just kept going always repeating the same thing, "if you keep going you could save him if you keep going you could save him." Just knowing this pushed the Prince forward faster than any creatures in the forest had ever seen him run. He got to the clear where the rock had fallen and saw the blood and decided that Bambi was in grave need of saving now.
As he could now hear the dogs and even Bambi he continued on. The scene he met horrified him; his son had a cut on his side. He was just standing there as the dogs got closer and closer to him. "Run Bambi run now!" He said this as he ran at the dogs; he got to them only meters from where Bambi was standing. "Why aren't you running?" He yelled but Bambi just whimpered and watched as his dad fended the dogs off. After the fight he turned to him looking angry and relived at the same time. "Remember what I told you Bambi when I say run you run ok? What if they had killed you and I could do nothing huh?" Bambi on the other hand was now in so much pain he could only whimper and look at his dad.
He turned slightly wincing as the injuries were moved and showed his dad his broken leg. The great Prince looked at it shocked, before he lifted Bambi onto his back. He carried him back to their home carefully knowing his son was in pain. When they got there he gently laid Bambi down and hurried to create a splint for his son's leg. Bambi looked up at his father and let his tears finally fall form his eyes, while whimpering and sobbing. The great Prince looked down at his son and tried to comfort him by nuzzling him, as he finished splinting Bambi's leg. When that was finished the Prince lay down beside his son and nuzzled him close in an attempt to sooth him. He did this to calm Bambi before he began to clean the wound. "I'm sorry I yelled at you my little one, hush now its ok I will be here the whole time hush." Bambi nuzzled him back as he fell into an uneasy sleep. The great Prince smiled "at least you're not in pain in sleep my dear child."
When the wound was cleaned he decided to call Owl and ask for his aid. When he and Mena, along with Bambi's four friends came into his den. They all sat in front of him in silence. Mena spoke for the group. "Prince these are the friends of Bambi who saw the whole thing. They would like to tell their story to you before the rest of the creatures hear it." The Prince nodded and agreed to listen, provided they know he will be there for Bambi because he is in a lot of pain. They nodded and Mena continued. "You see they weren't all with him during the whole thing. They were there at different times and so they will be telling the story in shifts per say." The prince just waited for one of them to speak. He was not looking at them directly but that didn't matter, he had an injured son to take care of.
"Hello Prince Sir I am the first up and as you know I'm your son's girlfriend. My names Faline and I love your son very much and he loves me also. But that's beside the point, anyway Ronno, Bambi and I where all playing in the clearing. It was going great and we were all having fun. But then I tripped and fell into a rope that called a pack of dogs. There were seven dogs and I was stuck, but Bambi just walked calmly over and cut the rope with his teeth." Faline looked away crying it hurt her to know she had triggered the dogs. "Then Bambi told me to run, after he got the dogs attention, and get to my den. I did as I was told, and left when all the dogs were running after him. But as I was about to be in the woods I saw Ronno run after Bambi. He told me he was going to try to distract some of them. He also said that I was to listen to Bambi." She looked at the Prince again as tears ran down her face before finishing. "So I went into the forest and prayed he would survive and that's all I saw." The Prince looked her in the eyes. "Thank you Faline for still loving him after seeing him so vulnerable." Faline looked at him a small smile on her face.
"I think I speak for the whole forest when I say that if Bambi's taught us anything it's that it's ok to fall apart every now and then." The Prince nodded and waited for the next speaker. Ronno looked up at the roof as he spoke "Mighty Prince I am Ronno I will be the second speaker and I was your son's rival until a few weeks ago. You see a few weeks ago Bambi introduced me to a girl I like and now she's my girlfriend so I decided to be his friend and I will never regret that choice. So picking up where Faline left off I ran after Bambi and tried to get the dogs to follow me but it wasn't working so I figured they wanted him for a specific reason. Then it hit me they were the dogs from the chase Bambi led them on like a month ago. Anyway so I got tired of that and ran up to meet Bambi but it was hard he so fast. Eventually I got to the front with Bambi and he told me that I was only going to create more danger for him by following him, and that I should go into the forest with Faline and make sure she was safe. I didn't want to just leave him."
"So I asked why and then he explained that he was running around the forest edge until he was sure that it was reasonably safe to enter the forest to try and use its terrain to get rid of the dogs. Then he told me to go now cause if the hunter came out and shot he would probably die and so would I. So I ran into the forest but as I entered I saw one of the dogs running at where I knew Thumper's home was. After that though I don't know what happened so I have no more info." He looked at his feet ashamed but the Prince thought him foolish for being ashamed. "This is not your doing or Faline's and I don't like the fact that you are ashamed you put up a valiant effort to help him but it didn't work no need to be ashamed." Ronno smiled at the Prince who just looked down at his son who whimpered and tried to move closer to his dad causing himself pain in the process.
So as the next speaker was composing himself the Prince moved closer to his son and nuzzled him to sooth him back to sleep. Thumper looked at the prince as he spoke his voice was shaking but firm "Great Prince I am the third now you see one of my sisters is sick so I was home taking care of her. And I was sitting outside the hutch so that I could guard it and protect her from predators and such. I saw Bambi running with seven dogs and then there were only six and I got worried about the missing one coming after my family, I was right. You know you never really know what it's like to be brave until you are staring into a very tough decision that will result in the loss of someone's life. In that moment I saw that seventh dog coming towards my hutch and I knew it was me or my sister and I chose that if he came any closer it would be me and I would not let him hurt my little sister. But as he was about to strike Bambi made a noise that sounded as though he had been caught so the dog being dumb fell for it and ran off, using the forest as a shortcut, to get to Bambi and get a piece of him. I couldn't believe it and ran after him because my parents had just gotten back."
"I ran along the inner edge of the forest and watched in horror as the seventh dog jumped into the air and just missed Bambi. He had waited till the dog was in mid-air before he sped up and got in front sending the dog to the ground. When the dog got up he started to limp back to his owner not able to chase Bambi anymore. I followed Bambi and the pack on the inner rim of the forest. But just as I saw Bambi pull ahead of the dogs by a nice distance I saw Flower fall from the tree he was hiding in. That's when I decided that if I got found then I would be putting Bambi, myself and Flower in danger so I went home at that point." Thumper's gaze hadn't faltered during the whole speech and the Prince nodded in acknowledgement of his courage and strength.
Thumper nodded as well and then Flower took the discussion. His voice shook more than usual and he was fidgeting but he knew the story and his eyes were strong. "Your majesty Sir I am the third to speak so I need to tell you that he saved my life. You see I heard the dogs bark as Bambi finally came inside the forest and so I hid in the tree but my grip slipped and I fell. Bambi was a fair distance from the dogs but he saw me fall. He stopped in front of me before picking me up with his nose and placing me on his back. He ran faster than he dropped me into a flower patch and told me to very brave, and to sit very quiet and still until all the dogs had passed then I was to go home and be safe. I agreed and then did as I was told but I watched as he ran off the dogs had caught up slightly but Bambi didn't stop running and even sped up. When all the dogs passed I got up and ran down the path in hopes of finding help but I didn't get very far before I heard a blood curdling shriek. I just knew it was Bambi so I ran home to cry. And didn't see any more except for when I sat up I saw owl fly towards Bambi's direction." He finished in tears but the Prince accepted that.
"Thank you for sharing Flower" Flower didn't nod he just sobbed and sat down. Owl looked into the Princes eyes "now old friend I know mine is going to be the hardest to hear so I am warning you." The Prince nodded at him to continue. "Very well then I will tell you I heard the dogs and Bambi's voice so I flew there and knew I should follow him so that I could try to help. When Bambi made it to the clearing all the loose rocks that had been created with all the rain lately fell around Bambi. And just as he was about to reach the end of the rock falling area one of the larger ones knocked him over. He tried to get up but he was very tired and it was tough. Matters went from bad to worse when a rock fell and crushed that leg of his and then a sharp rock gave him that cut. But he knew he had to get out of there so he pushed the rocks off and got up it hurt and he cried out it hurt so bad. But he is strong willed and so he limp ran till he got to that rock you found him at and you know the rest." The Prince was speechless his son was amazing today and he now needed protection. The prince silently vowed to be that protection.
The night was long and not all that peaceful because of all the pain Bambi was in. The young one finally fell into a restless sleep after a few hours of painfully awakening every half an hour. The prince was tired from having to be up all night but he didn't care his son was badly injured and he would make sure that Bambi comfortable and do anything to help him get better.
He smiled when the sun rose and his watched as his little one woke slowly opening his eyes blinking and keeping his eyes half lidded. "Good morning little one how are you feeling?" Bambi looked up at him for a second then nuzzled into him again. "I don't feel good daddy my leg really hurts." The prince nuzzled back and moved closer knowing that he had no medicine for his young so it would be painful for a while. "I know my son I sent Owl to get you some medicine he will be back soon and then I will take the pain away ok hush it'll be ok." Bambi whimpered as his leg twitched and the splint moved and hurt a lot to the point that he was in tears again. The prince moved from his son's side to fix the brace and then he laid down beside him again and licked the tears away. Bambi cried out in pain just as Owl entered the den and landed in front of the prince. "I see I arrived just in time here you go enough medicine to last the duration of his injuries and beyond." The prince sighed in relief as he took a proper dose and gave it to Bambi to numb the pain and sooth him.
Shortly after taking the medicine Bambi was no longer in pain but he looked exhausted when the prince looked at him. "Rest my little one I will be here if you are in need of anything." Bambi wanted to sleep but he had another worry that he just couldn't get rid of. "Daddy don't you have to patrol the forest to make sure all the animals are ok. Won't that involve leaving me?" Bambi ended it with a whimper of fear that he truly felt that his father would leave him in the den alone. The prince looked at him horrified as he nuzzled him again as he fought back the urge to be sick at even the thought of leaving his own child helpless and defenceless in the den all alone. "Bambi my little baby I would never leave you ever if you didn't want me to. Furthermore I will never ever leave you alone when you are either sick or hurt I will remain at your side no matter the consequences to my reputation. You are far more important to me then anything else also Owl has already done my rounds for me and has informed me that there is nothing wrong in the forest currently. My only duty and my only care or concern is getting you healed in the least painful way possible because I love you my little one now rest and I will take care of you." Knowing that his dad would be there no matter what Bambi closed his eyes to enter a healing sleep.
Disclaimer: I own nothing they all belong to Disney but the idea of the story was mine.