Unlikely Friends
Introduction/Man
How is Man portrayed in every film that deals with animals or the environment? Well, the Nostalgia Critic certainly has it down: "Yes, Man. Human in shape but satanic in spirit, Man likes to spend most of his time destroying things because he is worse than the Devil if he was a pedophile. You can spot the especially bad ones by having two-dimensional personalities, being written horribly, and having a chin size that even Bruce Campbell would be jealous of. They kidnap animals, burn down rainforests, and probably slept with your mother. If you should see man anywhere in your neighborhood, please make a pretentious animated feature with confused morals and no sympathetic three-dimensional villains. Man: if there's anything worse, it's not human. (The Nostalgia Critic's review of Ferngully 2)" That is basically how Man is portrayed in many animated movies. In the Walt Disney movie Bambi, Man is portrayed as a ruthless poacher. But what about those who are responsible for the arrests of poachers? That is what this fan fiction looks at, by special request of one of my friends. Set after Bambi II, Bambi is learning from his father how to watch over the forest. These are still troubled times in the forest, as Man is still on the hunt. One day, though, a group of Men is seen surrounding the meadow, but there is something strange: they aren't shooting any animals and they seem to be scanning the trees for something…or, from what Bambi, Faline, and the Great Prince hear, someone.
Chapter 1: The Meadow/The Rangers
The sun rose in the Great Forest, and a young, juvenile Bambi was awakened by the bright rays of light peering through the cracks of the den where he and his father resided. He stood up and stretched his legs before walking outside to see his father standing there, listening to the forest.
"Ah, so he is awake." the Great Prince said as he turned around to face Bambi.
"Yeah. Sorry about sleeping in, dad." Bambi replied.
The Great Prince smiled at his son. "Oh, it's no problem. It doesn't seem like we have much to do today anyway. Even at this hour we should have everything done in time for you to go off with your friends."
"Really? Woohoo!" Bambi shouted. The Prince smiled at his son's enthusiasm. He wasn't as strict on his son as he was before and was becoming more of a father to him while maintaining his reputation as the Great Prince. The two walked on to check on the meadow to the south of their home. Morning was in full swing as they walked through the forest. Many of the animals greeted them as they continued on. As they walked, they ran into a small, friendly rabbit.
"Hey, Bambi! Good morning Great Prince!"
"Ah, good morning, Thumper." the Great Prince said.
"Hey there, Thumper." Bambi followed.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Well, Bambi and I are going to check on the meadow. I know what you're thinking and don't worry. He'll have plenty of time to play." the Great Prince said.
"Woohoo!" Thumper yelled. "Well, I guess I shouldn't keep you. We'll see you later, Bambi." and the young rabbit took off. The Great Prince chuckled slightly at his spirit before leading Bambi toward the meadow. They arrived to find things relatively quiet. The does were out playing in the field while the stags were sparring.
"Well, it certainly seem as though there isn't anything to worry about." the Great Prince said. As he and Bambi were out walking among the other animals, a doe and her fawn came up to them. The young fawn came running straight up to Bambi and stopped right in front of him, causing him to fall backwards.
"Hi, Bambi." the fawn said.
"Oh…uh…hi, Faline." Bambi stuttered. After their accidental kiss a few weeks earlier, Bambi had begun to develop more of a romantic view of Faline. It was becoming harder to talk to her and he was starting to become more protective of her. With Man still on the hunt, he felt that he was responsible for making sure she was safe. He knew that if anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself. Faline, on the other hand, had pretty much felt the same way about Bambi since the day they met. She was always happier around him and hated when a certain stuck up fawn by the name of Ronno kept making fun of him. She also appreciated the fact that Bambi stood up for her whenever Ronno wouldn't let her go off on her own. And, like Bambi, their accidental kiss brought her feelings to a whole new level.
"What are two doing out here?" Faline asked
"Oh, we're just making sure everything's alright. There's really not much to do around here with spring on the way." Bambi said
"Oh. So I guess you'll have a little time to spend with everyone today?"
"He'll have plenty of time for that after we finish surveying the meadow." The Prince said.
"Oh. Um…is it alright if I follow along?" Faline asked
"…Oh, I suppose there's no harm in it."
Faline let out a giggle and followed Bambi and his father through the meadow. The Great Prince surveyed the activity in the meadow and decided to let Bambi and Faline talk.
"So, Bambi, I heard from one of my friends that Man is actually being hunted."
"Really? By who?"
"You're not gonna believe this, but Man is actually being hunted by Man."
"What do you mean? He's…he's hunting himself?" Bambi asked in confusion.
"No. There are other Men hunting the Man who hunts us. I hear that they're not far from here."
"I wonder why they'd be hunting their own kind."
"I don't know, but at least they're helping to protect us."
"Yeah, that's a good thing."
"Bambi, we're done for the day." the Great Prince said. "Why don't you and Faline go off and find your friends?"
"Thanks, dad." Bambi replied and the two took off. The Great Prince smiled at the sight of the two fawns. They spent a while looking for Thumper, Flower and the others, but for some reason, they couldn't find them.
"I wonder where they are." Bambi said
"Well, they're probably off in the north meadow. But you know, I don't really mind being alone." Faline said in a playful tone, causing Bambi to blush. "Hey, Bambi bet you can't get me." Faline said as she ran off.
"Oh yeah? Watch me." Bambi said as he chased after the young doe. The two chased each other for several minutes. As they were chasing each other, Bambi fell into a small pond and Faline giggled at the little incident. Bambi started to blush a bit from embarrassment. As he stood up, he felt Faline's lips meet his cheek and his eyes widened. However, unlike the first time Faline kissed him, he wasn't angered. In fact, that kiss made him feel amazing. The two then continued to run around and have fun. Their roles switched after a while and Bambi was now being pursued by Faline. As they were running, they heard a strange sound in the distance. It didn't sound like the voice of any animal. In fact, it didn't sound like a voice at all. It was music. They listened to the song and Faline recognized the sound of the instrument.
"I know what's making that sound." Faline said.
"Really?" Bambi replied.
"Yeah. I heard that kind of sound a long time ago. My mom said it's called a harmonica. It's one of Man's instruments."
"Huh." Bambi then started to walk in the direction of the music.
"What are you doing, Bambi! It's Man! What if you get hurt!" Faline said.
"I just wanna see. I'm not gonna go charging after him." Bambi replied as he walked on. Faline kept calling to Bambi and tell him to come back, but to no avail. She then decided to follow him. He kept searching for the sound of the harmonica as it started and stopped several times. As they were looking for it, it stopped all together. This was somewhat of a relief for Faline.
"Huh, that's weird." Bambi said.
"Well, maybe it's a good thing. We don't know if that was the Man who's hunting us or the Man who's hunting other Men."
"Yeah. I guess it's best not to find out the hard way, huh?"
"Yeah. Well, anyway, where were we?" Faline said as she ran off, giggling as she ran.
"Oh no you don't." Bambi said as he chased after the young doe. The two kept chasing each other, laughing, and having a great time together.
Once again, Bambi was running from Faline. As he was running he ran into an unfamiliar obstacle. It wasn't a tree and it seemed to have been somewhat pushed forward when he ran into it. He shook his head after he fell back and he looked behind him to see Faline frozen in terror, looking at what Bambi had run into. He looked up to see that the object he had hit was what every animal in the forest feared: Man. He was about seventeen years of age and was dressing in a plaid shirt and jeans, with a belt that carried many different devices.
"Bambi, run!" Faline shouted as she took off. She looked back to see that Bambi wasn't moving. He was just frozen with fear. "Bambi, come on!" She shouted again. But Bambi just stood there. She then saw Man stooping down and reaching out his hand toward the frozen fawn. "BAMBI!" she shouted. But to her surprise, Man then started to pet Bambi's head.
"Well, you startled me there, buddy." Man said. Both Bambi and Faline were struck with confusion. Why didn't Man try to kill Bambi? Faline then figured that this must be the type of Man hunting the hunters. She then began to creep back towards Bambi, but recoiled a bit when Man looked at her.
"Oh, is this your friend? It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you." Faline then crept a little closer and hid behind Bambi, causing Man to chuckle. He then noticed Bambi looking at a shiny, brass object dangling from his belt. "Ah, you like my harmonica, huh?" Bambi's ears perked at the sound of the word harmonica. Man then took it from his belt and began to play the song that Bambi and Faline heard. As he finished playing, Bambi and Faline heard a voice coming from a strange black object on Man's belt.
"Ryan, this is Casey. Are you there? Over."
Man, whose name was obviously Ryan, took the black object and spoke into it. "Yeah Casey, I'm here I'm on my way to the northern meadow. Over."
"Alright, well the perimeter's almost set up so we're gonna begin combing the area for the poacher. Over."
"Right, I'll be there in a minute. Over."
"Good. How many traps did you get? Over."
"I found and disabled four traps. Over."
"Nice. Well, like I said, you'd better get moving. Over."
"Okay, I'm on my way. Out." Ryan put away the device and smiled at the two fawns before stooping down and picking up what Bambi and Faline recognized as a gun, Man's killing device, and they quickly hid in the bushes. They peered out to see Ryan walking away. The two fawns stepped out from the bush, wondering why he didn't shoot them and why he was headed to the north meadow.
"Was that…?" Faline said.
"I…I think that was the Man who hunts Man." Bambi said.
"Maybe."
As they watched the young man head off, the Great Prince and Faline's mother, Ena, came up to them.
"Are you two alright?" the Great Prince said. "We heard that Man was in this part of the forest."
"We saw him, father. He went off over that way." Bambi said. "I think he's the one hunting Man."
"What? Man hunting Man? Where did you hear this?"
"Well…Faline told me. She said that there were Men hunting Men."
"Is that so?"
"I think she's right, dad. That Man came up to me and…well…he petted me on the head."
"What? You were that close?"
"Yeah. So was Faline."
"Faline, what did the Man look like?" the Great Prince said, turning to the young doe.
"Well, he wasn't as old as the hunters. He was probably a teenager and he said something about the north meadow."
"What? The north meadow?" As the Great Prince said this he took off for the north with Bambi and Faline following close behind. They ran and ran until they reached the north meadow. When they arrived, the Great Prince was greeted by a stag.
"My Prince, there's something strange. Man is here and he is accompanied by many others and they are all well armed, but…they aren't shooting at us. They've completely surrounded the meadow, but they don't seem intent on killing any of us. They keep scanning to trees for something."
"That's because it the Men who hunt Men." Bambi said.
"What?" the stag said. "Man that hunts Man?"
"Yeah. We saw him a while ago. He was…" Bambi then looked toward the trees and saw Ryan setting up his area. "That's him over there!" Bambi said and they all looked over to see that he was accompanied by others. Bambi took off toward the men, but the Great Prince stopped him.
"Bambi! You can't go running off toward those people! We don't even know their true nature yet!"
"Then why didn't he shoot Faline and me?"
The Great Prince looked over at the men and thought that what Bambi said made sense. They didn't shoot the two fawns and they weren't shooting now. "Approach them slowly."
As they neared, they saw Ryan loading his weapon and talking to his friend. Bambi recognized the friend's voice as the one on the little black box, the one named Casey.
"So enlighten me on the situation, Ryan."
"Alright, so, there's a poacher in this area by the name of Ron Wilkes. He's been accused of several charges of poaching but never convicted. We're here to both stop any other poachers and, if we're lucky find Ron Wilkes. I managed to disable several traps so he'll have no choice but to head out here or to the south meadow."
"We have that one covered, right?"
"Yep."
"Alright, now explain to me again why he have these rifles."
"They're .22 caliber rifles; 40 grains of gunpowder and a six millimeter projectile. They're enough to incapacitate the guy, but not enough to kill him. We need him alive."
"Right. Got it."
As they were talking, Bambi went up to the two Men. Ryan and Casey saw him and Ryan bent down to and started to pet him again.
"You're that fawn I ran into earlier aren't you?" Ryan said. "Well, aren't you the friendly type?" Bambi smiled and gestured for his father to come closer, and he did so.
"Whoa, Ryan, get a load of this one." Casey said.
"Wow, this is one big stag."
The Great Prince stood tall and proud as he looked at the two young men. He then led Bambi back toward Faline, Ena and the stag.
"I guess that was his father." Ryan said.
Bambi and the Prince returned to the group and explained what they heard. "They aren't looking for something. They're looking for someone." the Great Prince said. "Bambi and Faline are right. These are the Men who hunt Men."
"Sir, those aren't the only ones." the stag said. He led them to the middle of the meadow and they could see that the meadow was half surrounded by a thin layer of these men. There were about twenty five of them stationed throughout the trees surrounding the meadow, some of them with binoculars, scanning the trees for poachers. Some of them had strange devices that opened vertically and that they were staring at (laptops). "Why do you think they are doing this, my Prince?"
"Man has his own laws. Whatever the Man they are looking for is doing, it must be against their laws. However, it seems as though they are intent on protecting us. If there is something wrong, you will all be alerted. For now, I think the meadow is safe. I'll go see if the south meadow is the same." and the Great Prince left. The rest of the deer and other animals were out playing. Bambi and Faline had found Thumper, Flower and the other young animals and they told them about their encounter with these men (or what we call rangers). They talked about how friendly they were, about their strange devices and about how they first found out about his presence in the forest.
"So what does this heroinca sound like?" Thumper asked.
Faline giggled at Thumper's mispronunciation. "It's called a harmonica and it sounds…well…it's hard to explain." Right after Faline said that, they heard Ryan playing his harmonica. Bambi and Faline began to walk toward the sound and the others followed. Soon he began to attract a small audience. As he was playing, Casey took out his own harmonica and began to play along. Ryan then set his instrument down and began singing to the tune.
I hear the mountain birds.
The sound of rivers singing
A song I've often heard.
It flows through me now,
So clear and so loud.
I stand where I am
And forever, I'm dreaming of home.
I fell so alone. I'm dreaming of home.
As he stopped singing, he looked behind him to see his little audience and chuckled at the sight of it.
"Friendly little creatures, aren't they?"
"Yeah, kinda peculiar." Casey replied. They took a whiff of the air and could smell the scent of food coming from their campsite. "Well, I'm starving. Let's go eat. You think it'll be alright if we left our posts?"
"Yeah, the sentries will alert us if they see anything." Ryan said and they headed toward the camp.
The audience left and headed back to the center of the meadow.
"Did you hear that Bambi?" Thumper said. "He said we were friendly."
"Yeah, we sure did." Faline said.
"They seem to be pretty friendly themselves." Bambi added.
"Well, they are here to help protect us."
The group continued to have fun in the meadow until Thumper and Flower's parents called to them to come home.
"We'll see ya later, Bambi." Thumper said as he sped toward his mother and sisters.
"See ya, Bambi." Flower said as he headed off.
'See ya, guys." Bambi said. Just he and Faline were left.
'Well, I guess we're alone again, Bambi." Faline said with a playful tone.
"Oh…uh…yeah, I guess we are." Bambi said, smiling sheepishly.
"Well, I don't think we were able to see if you could catch me or not." and she ran off giggling, Bambi quickly following. Soon though, it was Faline who fell in a pond and Bambi ran up to her and pinned her to the ground.
"Looks like a got ya." Bambi said and the two giggled. Bambi decided to show a little mercy and let her up and they walked on together. The topic of the rangers soon came back up.
"Bambi, do you think these people can protect us?"
"Well, they sure look like they can. I'm sure we'll be fine." Faline giggled and began to lean in toward Bambi, who suddenly realized what she was doing. But before he decided to return her kiss, one of the ranger sentries began to band on a cowbell and crows began to fly overhead, all of them squawking, "Man!" Bambi and Faline then saw the rangers running to their positions and loading their weapons. The crows' squawking could also be heard in the south meadow and the Great Prince quickly ran back to get his son. Bambi and Faline quickly ran toward where the rangers were and hid in the trees. They were still close enough to hear what the rangers were saying.
"Alright, Kyle, can you see anything out there?" Ryan said into his black box.
"Nothing yet." Kyle replied.
"Alright, put me on C-channel. Let me talk to the group." Bambi and Faline then saw one of the sentries toying with a larger box. Ryan then spoke up again. "Alright rangers, keep an eye out for anything on two legs in the trees. You've all been given a photograph of Ron Wilkes so keep an eye out. If it isn't Wilkes watch for what he targets. It looks like the deer have retreated into the trees but there are still a lot of pheasants and quails out here and they're restricted game in this state, so keep an eye out for what he aims at."
It was silent for a while and the tension was building. Thoughts kept running through Faline's head. What if the poacher managed to escape the rangers? What if he sneaked behind them? What if this plan didn't work? Bambi then noticed that she was beginning to cry. He let her lean up against him as he watched the meadow.
"I'm scared." Faline sobbed.
"It's gonna be fine, Faline." Bambi replied. As he said this, the rangers saw something moving in the woods and began to aim at it.
"How many are there?" Casey asked. Ryan then looked up at the sentry and read is hand gestures.
"It looks like there's just one."
"Is it Wilkes?"
Once again, Ryan looked at the sentry who shook his head. "No. Keep an eye out for what he targets though."
The rangers kept their gaze on the field. Soon, a group of pheasants took off and a loud "Bang" was heard in the distance as several of them fell dead. Faline quickly looked away and began sobbing in fear again.
"He's aiming for the pheasants!" the black box shouted
"Alright, boys, let's give him some pepper!" Ryan said and all the guns began to erupt. Faline kept in crying as Bambi watched in amazement as the rangers fired at the hunter. He was watching Man hunting Man.
'Bambi, let's go." Faline sobbed. "Please, Bambi."
"Okay." Bambi led Faline to an area where they could be safe. They found a fallen log and hid inside, the sound of the gunshots still very audible. Bambi could see that Faline was still very upset and summoned up the courage to plant a kiss on her cheek. Faline raised her head and looked at Bambi who gave her a kind, reassuring smile. She then began to lean in toward Bambi again. He smiled and leaned in himself and their lips met in a loving kiss. Even with a shootout happening just outside, it seemed as though all their fears had melted.
Faline had never felt happier in her life. Even with the shootout happening, she felt pure love pulsing through her body. It seemed as though all of her fears had melted away. Bambi felt equally happy. He couldn't have ever imagined that he and Faline would ever share such a moment, but now that they were, he couldn't have been more overjoyed. As their lips separated, Faline nuzzled up next to Bambi as the shootout continued. As the shootout neared its end, Faline whispered into Bambi's ear, "I love you." Bambi smiled and kissed her cheek before replying, "I love you too."
Suddenly they heard one of the sentries voices on one of the black boxes. "We got him! Cease fire! Cease fire!"
Bambi and Faline left the log to see many of the rangers heading out to where the poacher was. They grabbed him and brought him back to the camp. Bambi and Faline decided to go see what was happening. They saw the poacher on a bed, having the bullets taken out of his wounds.
"Search him!" Ryan said after they finished. They began to pat down his clothes and remove everything from his pockets. The sentry, named Kyle, handed Ryan the man's wallet. He began looking through it for a hunting license, but found nothing.
"Did you find a license anywhere else on him?"
"Nope."
"Sir, put your hands behind your back." Ryan said and the poacher did so. "Handcuff him." The rangers then placed handcuffs on the poacher. "Sir, you are under arrest for hunting restricted game and hunting without a license. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to a district attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Kyle, call the gamekeepers office. Tell them to get the police down here."
"You got it." Kyle then went off to call the gamekeeper. Bambi and Faline beat a retreat into the forest.
"Well, that was sure something." Bambi said.
"Yeah…it was." Faline said, nuzzling Bambi. He smiled and placed another kiss on her cheek.
"Well, I should go find my dad. He's probably pretty worried about me."
"Okay, Bambi. I'll see you later. I love you."
"I love you too, Faline. See you tomorrow?"
"Sure." Bambi then left for the den and Faline smiled at her new love and silently thanked their unlikely friend: Man.