Chapter 3


Gemina groaned from the impact she received, and it was almost like a football had hit her. She felt like she had just obtained another bruise, and the white doe was starting to feel like scars would be the next thing she would be feeling on her body. Just a couple days in as a deer, she was already turning into a punching bag.

"Whoops, sorry," came the young voice of the fawn that crashed into her.

The white doe looked up using her head, and her eyes met with the fawn's eyes that were the color of amber. He had a clean brown coat filled with lots of spots, and Gemina had to admit he was quite the cute little fawn, especially with the smile he was giving her. He tried to get off her, but when he finally did, he flopped to the ground.

"Good, gracious," the sound of Friend Owl spoke as he landed on a tree branch on a nearby tree. "Are you alright, Gem?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Gemina reassured the old owl as she slowly tried to get up. "I was not expecting that, though."

Before Friend Owl could even reply, another young voice cut him off. "Bambi, are you okay?"

When Gemina successfully managed to get up, she saw a gray-colored rabbit, a skunk, and two fawns that were identical twins walk over to the fawn named Bambi, worried. The fawn shook his head, but after he did, he got up and smiled at the group of odd friends he seemed to have. "Mhm, I'm okay, Faline."

"Well, isn't this a nice coincidence?" Friend owl spoke up. He lifted his wing towards the male fawn and started to introduce him to the white doe. "Gem, I'd like for you to meet the Young Prince of these forests, Bambi." The great horned owl then introduced the others. "These are his friends Faline, Gobo, Thumper, and Flower." He outstretched his wing to Gemina as he stared at Bambi and his friends. "Young ones, this is Gemina-Gem for short, though-and she's new here."

Young Prince? Gemina thought. So that means… he's the son of the Great Prince. Out of all animals, she so happened to run into the Great Prince's son; it was a coincidence like Friend Owl said. Almost as if someone had planned for them to meet.

"Uh, hi," Gemina spoke in a friendly manner.

The young critters looked at Gemina's coat, intrigued, and then the gray-colored rabbit named Thumper spoke up. "What's with your fur? Are you… old?"

The white doe's eyes widened at that question. Old? She felt like her eye was going to twitch, and she wanted to get it through that young rabbit's skull that she was seventeen… a teenager practically! Gemina stopped herself short, though, before something wrong slipped out of her mouth. Her secret was not going to be easy to keep…

Friend owl cleared his voice at Thumper disapproved. "I dare say, young man, weren't you ever told to think what you say before saying it?"

"Nope," the gray rabbit replied, shaking his head. "I've never been told that."

"Oh, really?" A female said in a hard voice out of nowhere.

Standing behind Thumper was a female rabbit with blue eyes and a light brown pelt, and she was looking down at the smaller rabbit with her brow furrowed and arms crossed. The gray rabbit looked up at her with his long ears flattened against his head, and smiled nervously. "Hi, Mama…"

"What did your father tell you this morning?"

Thumper folded his arms behind his back, rotated his foot around like a windmill, and his head lowered, trying to act innocent. "If you can't say something nice…" He trailed off from repeating his father's words like he was reluctant to but continued, "don't say nothing at all." He then smiled at his mother the best he could, but Gemina could see he was only trying to get his mother off his back.

"Now, I expect you to apologize to the nice young doe," the mother rabbit said, pointing at the white doe with her head.

Thumper sighed as he faced Gemina, but he didn't look up at her as he mumbled a simple sorry.

"Louder while looking at her."

Slowly, the gray rabbit looked directly at Gemina's icy blue eyes with a tinge of annoyance in his brown eyes but tried to look apologetic. "Sorry."

The female rabbit then smiled kindly at the white doe. "You'll have to excuse him. He can be a little rascal. I'm Mrs. Hare. I overheard your name being Gemina and that you're new to the area?"

Gemina smiled in return as she nodded. "Yes, ma'am, and it's nice to meet you."

"I welcome you then; the more, the merrier." The female rabbit then looked over her shoulder at something. "Speaking of which…"

The white doe and everyone else looked to where Mrs. Hare was directing her attention to see two adult does approaching them. Upon seeing them, the three fawns ran over to them. "Mother, there's a new doe here," Bambi excitedly spoke to the doe that looked a lot like him. "Did you see her?"

"Yeah, mother, did you?" Gobo asked the other doe.

"She's beautiful," Faline happily said to the same doe Gobo was speaking with.

Gemina found herself giggling at the cute fawns, but as she did, four female creme-colored bunnies were hopping over to Thumper from their hiding place-which was a bush-while laughing, and the gray-colored rabbit yelped when they tackled him with their hugs. "Found you!" one of the girls spoke gaily. "I told you he wouldn't see us!"

"Get off me!" Thumper shouted, and the four bunnies kindly obeyed but continued laughing.

"Thumper, don't talk to them like that," Mrs. Hare scolded her son. "I believe though I remember telling you to take your sisters with you when you left with your friends."

"Thumper told us that we were playing hide and seek," one of the sisters spoke up, and Thumper tried to shut her up, but the words kept pouring out. "He dubbed us seekers."

The adult rabbit narrowed her eyes at her only son, and as she did, he laughed nervously, knowing he was in trouble. However, she then looked back at Gemina with the same expression from before. "These are my daughters: Trixie, Ria, Daisy, and Tessie."

"Hi!" the four sisters said in unison to the white doe.

"Hi," Gemina replied as the three fawns returned with their mothers.

"Ah, perfect timing," Mrs. Hare said to the two female deer. She looked back at Gemina. "Gemina, these are my two good friends: Winslow and Ena."

"It's nice to meet you, Gemina," The doe named Winslow warmly said.

"Likewise," the white doe replied. "And please, call me Gem."

Gemina couldn't believe she was meeting so many new faces, and she almost felt overwhelmed by it. They were very friendly to her, and she was a stranger to them. It certainly was better, though, than what happened yesterday and the day after.

"My, my," Ena chimed in, "I don't think I've ever come across a deer with white fur."

"I don't think I have either," Winslow agreed. "We should make her feel welcomed, though." She then looked at Gemina as she said, "Gem, would you care to join us?"

The white doe thought of declining since she didn't want to feel like she'd be in the way of anything, but as the lovely person she was, Gemina couldn't turn down Winslow's offer. Plus, it'd do her some good to try and take her mind off drowning in the lake and Josh cheating on her with Desiree. "Sure, I'd love to."

Winslow smiled, satisfied, and looked at Bambi. "Bambi, why don't you and your friends go play over there?" She used her head to indicate a spot in the meadow. "We have plenty of time before we need to head home."

"Yes, that's an excellent idea," Mrs. Hare favored, and she then looked at Thumper seriously. "You young man will be in charge of your sisters and no hide and seek, do you understand?"

The gray rabbit looked like he wanted to complain, but when his mother raised an eyebrow, he gave in and sighed. "Yes, Mama."

"Good, now off with you."

Without another word, Thumper hopped away with his sisters, and the skunk Flower was about to follow them, but he then looked at Gemina with a shy smile. "It was nice meeting you." He quickly went to join the other rabbits.

"Go on, you three," Winslow gently said to the fawns. "We'll let you know when it's time to go."

"And don't stray too far," Ena added.

"We won't," Faline assured her and then looked at the other two fawns. "Come on, let's go!"

The female fawn ran off to join the others, and as she did, Gobo called out to her. "Hey, wait up!" He then ran after her.

Before Bambi left, he approached the white deer and spoke. "I hope I get to see you around more. I'd like to be your friend."

Gemina chuckled at the Young Prince's mere cuteness. Who knew this fawn was related to the Great Prince? "I think we can make that happen, and you've certainly earned yourself a new friend." She then winked at him.

The fawn gleefully smiled and then ran off to join his friends. Gemina always adored kids, and even though they could be bratty at some points, like her brother, she couldn't resist them. Thumper reminded her so much of Jesse, and when she thought of him, she started to think about her family. The white deer wondered if they and anyone else was looking for her…

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Friend Owl. "Well, I'll be over there, Gem." He then pointed to a far-off tree. "You let me know if you need anything."

The white doe nodded. "I will."

Without another word, Friend Owl made his way over to the tree away from the four female animals, and as he did, Winslow spoke to Gemina. "So, Gem, why don't you tell us about yourself?"

Gemina thought of what to say, but she didn't know what would be the right thing to speak of. What was she supposed to tell them? That she did things humans could do? No. That was not an option. That would make her look like an outcast, but who was she kidding? She was already an outcast, not just because she had a white coat.

"Well… I was born in a far-off place with a mundane life. I'm very kind, pretty smart, and… well, there's not much more to me." Gemina then tried to laugh it off.

"Not much more to you?" Ena curiously said. "I have a hard time believing that. You seem to be the type of deer with an interesting life."

You have no idea, Gemina thought to herself.

The human-turned deer wouldn't exactly say that she had the perfect life as a human, but she still liked it. There were moments in her life though she wished not to remember. She tried not to think about them at specific points so she could focus on her tasks. She may have looked like a perfect person, but there was more to her than meets the eye.

"Well, let me put it this way," the white deer replied to Ena, "I'm different."


5/3/1961

2:31 pm


School was finally over, and Gemina put one of her textbooks away in her locker. Her chemistry test was coming up this Friday, and she wanted to study for it as much as possible. Every grade counted, after all.

As soon as she closed her locker, her sister was leaning against the nearby lockers with a can of Orange Crush. "You will not believe the day I had," Gemini said before taking a sip of her soda.

Gemina shook her head with a smirk. "You always seem like you have a story to tell me."

"Can you blame me? I'm the fun sister after all," her sister teased as she smiled.

"Oh, whatever." The younger twin's smirk was held in place as her shoulder leaned against her locker. "So, what happened?"

"You know Hailey, right?"

"The one who can't stand you and is one of your rivals? Yeah, why?"

"Well, during advanced math, while Mr. Danes' back was turned, I put some chewed-up gum in Hailey's hair without her noticing after she called me an ugly hippy, and when she touched her hair, she started to freak out." Gemini started to laugh. "You should've seen her face. It was priceless."

Gemina almost found herself laughing at that. "Did you get caught?"

"Sis, I was as sneaky as a fox." The older twin flipped her hair with pride.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised."

The twins began to walk through the hallway, passing by students that wore uniforms like them. The boys wore long-sleeved white shirts, black ties, navy blue pants, and black shoes while it was the same for the girls; only the girls wore navy blue skirts that went over their knees instead. Gemini never liked the dress code because she preferred her hippy clothes, but Gemina didn't particularly care about their uniforms. All she cared about was doing well in school; one day, she hoped to become an actress. All she could do now though, was go with the flow.

"I'm hitting the books as soon as we get home," Gemina nonchalantly said. "Gotta prepare for Friday's test."

Gemini tuttered. "Yeah, we're not going home just yet."

The younger twin looked at her sister confused. "What? Why?"

"Let's not forget that I'm driving today." Gemini jingled the car key and some other keys in her hand to prove her point. "And since I am, we're going shopping."

Gemina furrowed her brow. "Gem, seriously? Can't we just wait until the weekend comes?"

The twins would often call each other 'Gem' and so would other people, but when they were together, they were called by their common names. Not that the two minded. They were used to it anyway. There were perks to being a twin and downsides to that too.

"Sorry, but I can't wait," Gemini replied. "Summer break is coming in a few weeks, and we gotta prepare for that."

Gemina sighed, knowing her sister would've said something like that. "I didn't even bring my handbag."

"No problem." The two stopped, and the older twin unzipped her backpack. Her sister pulled out a brown leather handbag to the younger twin's surprise and annoyance. Gemina almost grumbled when she saw her bag in Gemini's hand, and the older twin tossed it to her. "You're welcome."

The younger twin breathed through her nose, knowing she had no choice but to go shopping with her sister. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to do so, but Gemina hoped it wouldn't be for a while as she still had to study. Her sister was lucky she held unconditional love for her.

The twins walked into the next hallway, and it wasn't long until they were outside the school on a lovely sunny day. Their turquoise Chevy was parked a few feet away, and right as they were about to get in, someone spoke to the older twin. "Hey, Gemini."

The girls looked to see Steven approaching. Gemini sighed, irritated upon seeing him, and Gemina couldn't blame her. He was her sister's ex-boyfriend, and Gemini dumped his ass after he lied to her so much. The girls looked at him cross, and the older twin spoke. "What do you want?"

"Are you still mad at me? Can't we just put that aside and maybe get back together?"

"No. I have a good feeling that even if we did, you'll just continue lying to me. Honestly, what part of 'we're through' do you not understand?"

"Come on. We can make it work." Steven smiled, but the sisters didn't change their expressions. He was a cool jock, but he was so full of himself. "You don't mean what you said."

"She did," Gemina chipped in. "Will you go away now? We're leaving."

Steven looked at the younger twin, annoyed. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Gemini."

"Hang on, hang on," Gemini said to Steven, and she sipped her Orange Crush, only she didn't swallow it. Instead, she spat it right into her ex-boyfriend's face, and he cried out disgusted.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the commotion. Steven's shirt got wet and stained around the collar-making his chest easy enough to see through-and after he rubbed his eyes, he looked at Gemini, furious. "What was that?!"

"That was me giving you a hint that I want nothing to do with you," Gemini casually replied and then looked at her sister. "Come on, sis. Let's get out of here."

Without being told twice, Gemina got in the car with her sister, leaving a stunned Steven standing by their vehicle. When Gemini got the Chevy to start, she took one last look at her ex and flipped him off. Then, she backed the car out and drove onto the road, and the twins suddenly bursted out laughing. Gemina had to admit that what her sister did was hilarious, and she thought that Steven got what he deserved.

"Gem, that was awesome," Gemina commended.

Gemini smirked at her sister. "I know. No ex of mine gets to touch my luscious lips anymore." Her icy blue eyes looked back to the road. "Hey, Gem, how about some music?"

"Way ahead of you."

Gemina turned on the radio, and Elvis Presley's unforgettable voice came blasting on. The girls instantly sang their hearts to the song that was on, and the young twin enjoyed every minute of it. She even forgot about being annoyed with her sister.


Present Day

9/17/1963

7:28 pm


After a very long day, Gemina felt worn out as Friend Owl was helping her get back to her shelter, and as it turned out, Winslow and Bambi always took the path she was using. She was happy to have their company, and as they were all walking/flying, she and the adult doe chatted most of the way. Winslow was very easy and good-natured to talk to, and while lying to her and her other two friends wasn't easy to do, the white doe wanted to keep her act up as the doe who traveled from a far off place to get to these forests. It's not like anyone would believe that she had once been a human anyway.

Winslow and her friends seemed to like her, but keeping up a conversation with them had been no easy feat. Most of the time she found herself almost saying things that a human would either say or do. Could she have gotten anymore awkward? And while she had met some nice animals the white doe didn't plan to stay here. She planned to still find a nearby town or something and see if someone maybe could understand her and help her out… but what were the chances of that? Gemina decided to worry about that once she found her way around these forests and got used to her skinny legs, for now she kept to the present, keeping her thoughts out. Her legs still felt wobbly somewhat, but the human turned deer managed to keep up with everyone.

"Are you enjoying it here, Gem?" Winslow asked.

"Oh, yes," Gemina replied truthfully, "it's gorgeous. Although, I'm not sure I plan to stay here very long."

The mother doe tilted her head inquisitive. "If you don't mind me asking, why would that be?"

If the white doe hadn't been walking she would've shrugged her shoulders. "It's just a thought for now, haven't really decided if I want to or not." Truth be told though she already made up her mind, but she didn't say that out loud for she didn't want to draw any kind of suspicion.

"I hope you do stay," Bambi said with hope. "You're nice."

Gemina smiled weakly at the fawn. "That's very sweet of you to say, Bambi." Bambi made an adorable smile and then ran ahead of the two deer to do a little exploring, but he didn't wander too far. The white doe looked at Winslow. "You have a very friendly fawn."

The mother doe chuckled and nodded. "Why thank you. He's my first, and I'm very lucky to have him."

"Well, he's certainly lucky to have you as his mother," Gemina remarked.

Winslow's smile was very tender as she spoke. "You truly are kind, Gem. You must've been raised very well."

"I sure have." Gemina had been raised by two loving parents, and they were the best parents anyone could've asked for. At one point, some could've said that her family was picture perfect.

"Here we are, Gem," Friend Owl called out to the white deer.

Upon seeing that they arrived at the familiar weaved sticks and branches Gemina slept in she looked at Winslow and Bambi. "Well, this is my stop. It was nice meeting you two."

"It was nice meeting you as well," the mother doe replied. "Have a goodnight." she then looked at her son. "Come on, Bambi. Let's get going."

Winslow started to walk away with Bambi, and as they were leaving the fawn looked at Gemina. "Bye, Gem!"

"Bye," the white doe said, giving her farewell. "Goodnight."

When the two deer were out of sight, Friend Owl spoke up. "Well, I best be on my way. Would you like me to come back often until you feel like you can get around here on your own? The Great Prince did tell me I should help you out until you no longer need my assistance."

Gemina thought it wouldn't hurt for him to do that. Plus, she was still iffy about her route, but the white doe felt like she'd be able to memorize her surroundings in no time. If she could study well in school she couldn't see any reason why she wouldn't be capable of studying her route. Once Gemina mastered her route she'd probably be able to find human life in no time.

"That would be great," Gemina replied gratefully. "Thank you for helping me out. I really appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure," Friend Owl contentedly said. "Always happy to help out a fellow creature."


The Great Prince was heading back to his den after his long day of patrolling, and nothing unusual had come about that day. Even though that was it didn't stop him from taking his duties significantly. Danger could come out at any place at any given time, and everyday was to be taken delicately. The stag himself had no room in his life to be unalert, and as long as he was around his responsibilities always came first.

As he was nearing home in the pale darkness he noticed a familiar owl flying towards him. "Ah, sir," Friend Owl called out to him as he settled down onto a tree branch. "Good to see you on this fine night."

"Friend Owl," the Great Prince spoke, his voice rich. "I was hoping to run into you. Were you able to help guide the new doe?"

"Why, of course. Gemina gave me no hard time; she's a fine young doe if I do say so myself. She met some new animals, and surprisingly your mate and fawn happened to be those few." the old owl then rubbed the underside of his beak. "However, she looked like she was still having a hard time walking."

The regal stag hummed to himself as he processed Friend Owl's report. "I see…"

The old owl looked at him upon careful examination. "Is something troubling you?"

The Great Prince slowly looked at Friend Owl, and as he did he spoke with no hesitation. "I don't have a good feeling about her."

The great horned owl looked at him puzzled. "What makes you say that?"

"Her scent," the Great Prince said bluntly. The old owl tilted his head and the stag started to explain. "It reeked of the one thing many fear."

Friend Owl's yellowish-orange eyes widened, and as they did he spoke carefully. "You're not saying…"

"I'm afraid so."

Seeing a white doe was something barely anyone came to witness, but Gemina was undoutedly strange to the Great Prince. Not just because of her wobbling but because of the scent he picked up on her. It was almost like smelling danger if anything.

"Are you absoluetly sure?" Friend Owl asked as evenly as possible.

"My sense of smell has never proved me wrong," the stag confirmed. "I believe she's been touched by Man."


A/N- Man, I'm long overdue with this chapter, but I'm glad I was finally able to work on it! So, you probably noticed by now I've been putting in dates and times into this story, and it'll be because at some random points in the story it'll cut to flashbacks of Gemina's past. Her past is not what a lot would expect, and you'll know soon enough why that would be ;)

Also, just so everyone is clear in the book Faline has a brother, and I know that she doesn't have a brother in the movie but I thought it'd be nice that I included Gobo in my fanfic. Bambi's mother doesn't have a name so I named her after the actress that voiced her in the first movie, and in the book, Bambi's mom and Ena are considered sisters, but I decided to make them friends in my fanfic. I did not name Thumper's sisters, those names are credited to Felix Salten. That's all for me to say, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!