A few weeks passed, and it seemed that spring had well and truly begun. The flowers finally bloomed after months had passed, the snow was completely gone, and the air had become signifigantly warmer.

Around this time Ronno had begun to walk with his mother along the paths that seemed to be everywhere in the forest. His mother knew all the paths by heart, and before long Ronno began to memorize the path that he was used to taking almost every day.

One time in the middle of their walk, Ronno noticed that his mother was taking a different route. Puzzled, he asked her, ''Are we going the right way?''

''Yes,'' His mother replied.

''But this looks different.''

''That's because we're going to the meadow.''

''Meadow? What's that?''

''You'll see. We're almost there.''

Mere minutes after Ronno's mother had said this Ronno noticed a wide open space devoid of trees coming up down the trail. Before he could ask his mother what it was she stopped at the edge of the space.

''Is...is this the meadow?'' Ronno asked.

''Yes,'' His mother said.

Ronno wanted to dash out on this new place and explore, but as he was about to do so his mother blocked the way.

''Wait!'' She commanded. Ronno stood still.

''Listen, Ronno,'' His mother began, ''You have to be very careful out on the meadow. There might be danger.''

''What do you mean, danger?'' Ronno asked.

''I'll tell you later,'' His mother said. ''Now, I'm going to make sure it's safe. Stay right here and don't take your eyes off of me for a second. If I run back to you, you run as fast as you can no matter what happens...even if I fall and don't come back to you. Do you understand?''

Ronno nodded yes.

''Good,'' His mother said, then she very cautiously walked out on the meadow, every so often stopping to look around or sniff the air. Ronno stood still watching her. He was ready to run right then and there in the event of his mother running back to him.

But there was no need for that, as his mother had stopped and called out, ''Come here, Ronno!''

That must mean that it's safe, Ronno thought, and after a moment's hesitation he dashed out. The bright sun beaming down on the meadow utterly delighted him, so much that he began to leap about without thinking. His initial apprehension about the meadow had vanished. It wasn't long before he and his mother were both gambolling jauntily.

Then the two of them stopped running and jumping and began to simply stroll together through the field. Ronno looked all around him as they walked. To him, the meadow was far more entertaining than the rest of the forest. He had never seen so many butterflies flitting about in one place, or so many ants and grasshoppers either. Even the bees amused him.

He was so enthralled that he didn't notice that his mother had stopped walking. He just stood there looking at the tiny ants crawling through the grass, but when another butterfly flew by him he turned his attention to that instead. But when his attempts to chase the butterfly came to naught something else caught his eye.

There was some other sort of animal walking on the other side of the meadow. It looked something like his mother, but it had pointed things branching out of its skull. Ronno ran back to his mother, startled. But his mother's attention was squarely on the strange animal. Maybe she knows what it is, Ronno thought.

Meanwhile his mother just stood there, fixated on the animal. ''Ebisu...'' She muttered under her breath. She stood there watching him until he was out of sight, then she turned to leave the meadow, with Ronno following.

After they had left the meadow Ronno asked, ''Who was that?''

''That was your father,'' His mother replied.

Ronno thought for a moment. ''What were those things on his head?''

''They were antlers.''

''If he's my father, why don't I have those?''

''You'll have them when you're older.''

Ronno was perfectly excited. He looked forward to the day that he would have those majestic things.

A/N: Well there's another chapter for you. Sorry if it was too much like the original Bambi...I kinda wanted it to be like that, though. And yes Ebisu is Ronno's dad's name; he's a character made especially for this story. As the story progresses some of the characters from the original Felix Salten book will show up...stay tuned, folks.

And yeah Ronno was a bit out of character here, but hey, he's a fawn.

Until next time, review me; I'll take constructive criticism but flames...nope. Sorry.

---Shaddie-chan