Review Response

OMG i finally have a review! i know the category makes it rather out of the way, but i couldn't find any better category for it. i got an email saying the Planet Ladder category was added, but i couldn't find it on the site, so i guess it takes 24 hours to show up. if the story changes categories in the next couple days, you'll know why! hope it doesn't disappear from your favorites list of it's on there, but if it does, look in what i hope will be the planet ladder section!

i'm glad you think bambi is in character, because i find her really interesting and i'd hate not to do her justice.

yes, Bambi and Kaguya will be together! don't act like i ruined a surprise, anybody- after this chapter you'd know it if you didn't already anyway.

the story might or might not take a different turn than the end of book 7... i haven't read book 7 and i'm actually saving to buy it! I've only read the first 6, and it's been a bit for them, so i'm a little nervous that i don't remember enough details, but it doesn't have to be the same as the original, right? what's the point retelling it exactly as it's already been told?

anywho, thanks for reviewing and i hope to get more! now that i know people are actually reading, i'll try to update more regularly.

Taken

Chapter 3: New Vistas (Kaguya's Perspective)

I had stayed outside for a time with Gold before I'd found Bambi-san, but had never lived outside. I could not have been prepared for life in the wilderness, then, and had to rely completely on Gold and Bambi-san. We walked, wearing our disguises of flowing, Telenian garments except for Bambi-san, who still wore the guise of a stable hand, for the remainder of the day. We did make camp eventually, and went to bed hungry, stopping only because it was too dark to travel safely and inconspicuously.

In the morning, I woke up even more famished than I had been the night before, only to find Bambi-san at work skinning a rabbit, with another laying by her side. Gold simply sat there and watched. It occurred to me that, being a doll, he didn't need sleep or food; that would make things easier on us. He could keep watch while Bambi-san and I slept and contribute to every undertaking we might need to survive, but without requiring that we spread our food quite so thin. I would have begun cooking the one rabbit Bambi-san had already skinned, but sadly, I didn't know how to build a fire without modern conveniences like matches or a lighter.

I waited, and Bambi-san lit a fire and cooked the rabbits herself, offering one to me only after they were completely ready. I wished I could have contributed something, but there was no changing what had already happened. Somewhat guiltily, I proceeded to eat the rabbit with my fingers, another annoying side effect of living outdoors. In Bambi-san's house, I had not had chopsticks, but at least there had been utensils of some kind. Out here, the best I could hope for was a stick, and I didn't want splinters in my food.

We kept walking after we ate, still moving through woods that weren't exactly dense, but sufficient to keep us from being seen except as shapeless figures in the trees. We would blend in as ordinary travelers, no one suspecting that we were, respectively, the alleged Princess of the Choosing, Shina mol Bamviverie, and the master of the organic gold. We went on all day, trudging along, tired and hungry, with little conversation. I discovered it had been Gold who had caught the rabbits we had eaten and Bambi-san had prepared. In the evening, we had vegetables that could be eaten raw. It was the worst day of my life.

Before I went to bed, I just had to have a bath. My school clothes had been left, in pieces and dirty, scattered nearer the castle, so that if anyone did recognize them, they would assume I had been attacked by a wild animal or met some other violent end. I was sad to think my only possessions from my world were gone, including the ones that Seeu had transported here with me, but frankly didn't want to carry them anyway.

My fatigue and boredom from walking all day through endless trees that all looked the same deadened me so I didn't really notice anything anymore except Bambi-san. When I caught a glimpse of her face, which was rare since she walked ahead of me to lead the way, it restored me to life momentarily, allowing me to forget my aching feet and sweating, dirty body. I hoped I would feel better after bathing, even if there was no soap involved. I knew there was water nearby, since we had been drinking it, but didn't know from what direction it had been brought.

"Bambi-san," I began, waiting for her to signal that she was listening.

"You don't need to call me by that title. I'm no one important; just my name will do."

"Oh," I replied, thinking on this. Perhaps it was a signal that she considered me a friend. In Japan, it would be, but if Telene didn't have similar customs, she wouldn't know its significance anyway. I didn't feel right using just her name yet, but she clearly didn't like whatever "-san" translated to in her language, so I tried a new one. "Bambi-chan," I began again, hoping she would answer more favorably this time.

"Yes?" Apparently this was more suited. Perhaps "-chan" wasn't translated at all, or if it was, it pleased her more. That, or she just didn't want to argue.

"I need to take a bath. Where is there water nearby?"

"That way," she began, seeming a bit startled. "Wait a minute, and I'll come with you."

She had apparently not thought of bathing, but the idea plainly appealed to her after a day and a half. I guessed having to do so much walking, cooking, and miscellaneous chores in the hot sun that she didn't normally have to do had distracted her from simple, everyday things she'd done in her castle. I gamely waited for her to speak to Gold about keeping watch and then followed her to the edge of a small lake. I didn't have a problem removing my clothes in her presence, since in gym class at school, all the girls showered and changed together, but she seemed a little nervous about it.

I turned away to make it easier for her, and started wading into the water after I'd taken my pigtails down. It was much colder than I would have wanted, but that was to be expected. I went in quickly, knowing the sooner I got in and out, the sooner I could go to bed refreshed. I heard Bambi-chan coming in after me seconds later, and saw her swim out ahead of me. Now that I thought of it, I noticed she had always been covered up in my presence. I had not cared that I wore a short skirt, since it was part of my school garb, and then had not cared if I wore pajamas in her presence. Perhaps Telenian culture required such modesty around everyone. Since she was another woman, it had never entered my mind to care what she saw.

Now that I saw her totally nude, though obscured somewhat by the water, I felt a strange gladness to have seen it. I had always known that people enjoyed the sight of others' naked bodies and found it erotic, but had never felt that sensation much myself. There had been stirrings of it in the women's locker room, but never enough for me to think about deeply. As far as men's bodies went, I had to admit I hadn't seen many unclothed, except for babies. I'd had the opportunity, since I did own a television and had free access to books, but the idea of seeking them out didn't seem right.

My feelings were awakened more toward Bambi-chan than by anyone else before, since the boys were always just around, not at the forefront of my thoughts, and the girls I knew were just not the kind I could connect with easily. I felt drawn to her, and wanted to prolong this bath, but as it grew dark, it was far too cold to stay in the water long. We both dressed, I imagined she did as reluctantly as I, and returned to Gold to eat a little and sleep. It was harder to fall asleep that night than any night so far since I'd come to Telene.

The next morning, as was becoming usual for me in this new life, I awoke naturally, and from a dream about bathing with Bambi-chan that made me blush to remember it. It seemed earlier than when I'd awakened in the castle. I had stayed up late reading with Bambi-chan or by myself, walking through the corridors of the castle since I couldn't safely take walks outside, or thinking about what Bambi-chan had said people- people I didn't even know- thought about me. There were these legends they had that said a girl who looked a lot like me would come out of another world, which I had done, and choose one world to survive the impending collision of dimensions that would otherwise destroy all of the worlds. I didn't know how I could do that and destroy the eight worlds I didn't choose, but maybe I wasn't this girl anyway.

I put the legends out of my mind, remembering that they were part of the reason those people had attacked me when I first arrived in Telene. I needed to eat anyway. Bambi-san was already cooking the day's rabbits, and I guessed the smell was what had awakened me. No wonder there were so many rabbits everywhere in my dream…

We walked on through the morning, and late in the afternoon we were out of the woods. We walked along a dirt road for the rest of the day, pulling our hoods more tightly about our faces and surreptitiously checking to see if our clothes hid our bodies well enough. We left the road for what seemed like nothing, just a stretch of grass and scattered trees without so much as a path. I was sure Bambi-chan knew what she was doing, but I wondered where she could be taking us. Maybe she was just going random directions to throw off pursuers, or maybe she just thought the road would let us be seen too easily.

It wasn't far until we came to a little building that only looked big enough to have one room. No people were around it and no light shone from its windows, so I thought it was reasonably safe. I thought so until I saw Bambi-chan approach it, and then I knew so. She pulled on a string that was hung around her neck and a key soon manifested itself. I hadn't noticed her wearing it, but she must have planned to come here.

She led us inside, and though there was nothing there but a table and a couple of blankets, it was the most welcome sight I'd seen since our bath the previous night. Both shelter and blankets would make our night more pleasant, and the table would at least make us feel closer to civilization when we used it. I gratefully collapsed on a blanket after seeing Bambi-chan move toward one, though she sat on it in a little more dignified way. Gold just moved toward the table and deposited a small bag there. I didn't need to ask what it contained; I had seen him and Bambi-chan gathering vegetables and edible roots and putting them there. I much preferred the breakfasts of rabbits.

We rested then, someone occasionally reaching into the bag for a plant part to nibble on, with nothing to entertain us but our own thoughts. I knew by then that Bambi-chan was not a connoisseur of conversational arts, but I couldn't stand the silence. I didn't want to feel lonely with her right there across the room, and I hated biting my tongue whenever I wanted to speak. If it annoyed her, she would say something and I could stop.

"Hey Bambi-chan," I began, and she didn't move for a second before she looked at me and very pointedly answered.

"What?"

"Never mind," I gave in, seeing she was not in the mood to humor me with talk. Maybe she liked the serenity of this place. Perhaps she had come here alone often to get away from her life. One never knew. I was all for serenity, but Bambi-chan was the only person outside my family I felt I could speak freely with, and where was my family now? I might never see them again. I had to have someone I could connect with, since I was so shy most of the time.

I was always being told to come out of my shell, but now I saw that Bambi-chan liked her shell just fine, and didn't want me dragging her out of it anytime soon. Gold was at least indifferent to conversation, but he and I couldn't relate. He was so logical about everything, and I just couldn't be that way. It was so hard to fit in with any crowd; I had never fit in at school or really with my family, either, and now I didn't fit in here. I'd just have to try harder, because this might be the last shot I got at it.