Here you go. Chapter two's up already. I never experienced ever that people would review so fast so here you have the next chapter already, and it's longer than the first one.
Chapter 2 – Two Princes
When he woke up the next morning he got a little shock when he saw the little fawn sleeping next to him but then he remembered the events of the previous night and he became more relaxed. He rose from his lying position and walked out of the den to look at the sky. It was almost dawn. Good, because that meant that there was still some time left before the rest of the forest would wake up. He looked back at the den where his son was still sleeping. He wondered if he should wake up Bambi or not. He decided against it, for now. He went down to the creek that was nearby. The creek was no longer frozen as temperature had risen during the last week. He drank some water before looking for something to eat.
When he came back to his den Bambi was still asleep.
The Great Prince sighed. It would indeed be a difficult winter.
He watched the sky as golden rays of sun came into view in the horizon. During the winter sights like this had been rare, it was a good sign, it meant that spring was coming closer.
He heard the sound of twittering birds and he sighed. Bambi was late. He would have to find a way to change his son's sleeping habits.
He went back to admiring the dawn, having decided to give the fawn a few minutes more to wake up on his own.
He turned around when he heard a small sneeze coming from the den. Good, looked like his son had finally decided to wake up. He went to stare at his den, waiting for the fawn to emerge from the shadows. After a little while it happened. The poor little fawn was in a hurry, he didn't even watch where he was going and he was doomed to collide with the Great Prince, which he did. He ran right into his father's front legs and fell backwards into the snow.
"Good morning," his son said and let out a nervous giggle.
The stag sighed. "Bambi, a Prince awakens before the forest does," he said, "if you're late again I'll have no choice but to…" he stopped mid-sentence when he heard a rumbling sound. "What was that?"
"What was what?" his son asked nervously, letting out the same kind of giggle as before. The sound was present again and Bambi looked down in shame. "I guess it was my stomach," he said apologetically.
"Then you should eat," the older Prince said.
Bambi looked around for a moment before looking back at his father questioningly.
The Prince understood. This was just a fawn after all. "I suppose I should find you something to eat," he said. He looked around in search for some food for his son. He then dug in the snow until he found some remains of a bush. He stepped aside from it to give Bambi access. The little fawn happily walked over to him but when he saw the bush his smile turned to disgust. "No thanks," Bambi said.
"Have you ever tried it?" The Great Prince asked.
"N-no," Bambi stuttered.
He sighed. "Then how do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?"
Bambi looked at the bush in defeat and lowered his head to take a bite of one of the branches.
"Well?" he asked the fawn. Bambi smiled and nodded before shivering as the cold stick went down his throat.
"Come Bambi," he said, "we have to check on the other deer in the south wood".
Bambi's face lit up and he happily jumped after him. "Woohoo," the fawn yelled with excitement.
"Bambi," he said sternly, "a Prince does not woo hoo".
"He doesn't?" Bambi asked in surprise.
"He most certainly does not," the Great Prince answered. "A Prince remains calm no matter what, displays dignity, and walks with pride".
Bambi raised his head and walked calmly behind him. But as the pair was making their way down a hill Bambi slid down with high speed. "I'm okay, the little Prince said from down there.
The Great Prince of the forest sighed.
As they were walking through the water Bambi shivered, even thought he water wasn't frozen anymore it was still very cold and Bambi, unable to stay calm in such a low temperature, jumped out of the water and jumped around on the shore, while he kept saying how cold it was.
The Great Prince sighed again.
As they came to a fallen tree that blocked the path he jumped over it with ease, but Bambi had more trouble with it, he stopped in front of it and started to count, making himself ready but he never got past two and so the fawn decided to crawl under it.
That was easier said than done. It took a lot of effort for the little fawn.
The prince let out another sigh.
They stopped when they reached a cliff that had the view over the meadow they saw a couple of deer grassing. Bambi looked up at him questioningly. "Don't you think it would be better if we got a little closer?"
"The distance makes it easier to spot danger," The Great Prince replied simply, not even bothering to look at the fawn.
"Oh," Bambi said in understanding, "but it sure makes it harder to play with them".
At this the stag eyed him in wonder.
"Playing is an important part of a young deer's life," the little Prince explained.
"Is that so?" he said in a non-caring tone.
Bambi nodded. "Yes, Mother says so".
The Great Prince of the forest sighed in sadness.
"I remember this one time, when Mother and me were out on the meadow and then a doe came over to us and wanted to play and…" the Fawn stopped his babbling when he heard the sound of his stern voice.
The stag sighed. "I think it is best to leave the past in the past," he said gently, "a Prince does not look back, only ahead".
Well that wasn't entirely true; he had often looked back on the memories he shared with Bambi's mother and yesterday he was almost unable to fall asleep because he couldn't stop thinking about her. But that was not something he was proud of, he wanted to forget her, he really did, it would ease his pain. So hence he wanted Bambi to do the same as he was trying to do. He wanted his son to realize that his mother was gone and that he should think about the present and what is important now and not what she said back then, he was not like Bambi's mother, and he wanted Bambi to know it.
"Oh," Bambi said, nodding. "Yes sir".
"Come," he told the fawn, trying to shake the painful thoughts out of his head, "we have a large area to cover today, don't fall behind".
As they walked the snow got thicker and thicker and before long his legs were completely lost in the snow. He hoped the little fawn behind him was able to keep up with this. He kept walking and when he turned his head to see how his son was doing he didn't see him. And so the Great Prince of the forest had to turn back and search for his heir. It did not take long to find him. Bambi was talking to some rabbits. They were talking about the groundhog.
"Bambi!" he yelled and his son looked at him. "I've got to go," his son told the rabbits.
When Bambi had made it back to him he cleared his throat, as a sign of disapprovement. Bambi nodded and he turned to continue their walk. When they came to some cliffs he heard the sound of something slipping and he looked back to see Bambi far beneath him, unable to walk up the cliffs and the Prince looked ahead, there was still a lot of cliff left to cross and he knew that Bambi couldn't possibly keep up with him. He sighed for the umpteenth time that day and walked back to Bambi, who looked up at him. His son gave him a nervous smile.
"Why don't you go with your friends to see the groundhog?" he asked.
"But I want to stay with you," the fawn said.
Well at least his son was eager to go along with him; that at least was something. But what was the use if Bambi was unable to keep up with him? With his son tagging along he would never get through his daily route today.
"Yes, he said, thinking of a suitable excuse. "I have to check on the south meadow, it's very far, go see the groundhog, I'll meet you there later".
"Alright," Bambi said, nodding, "I'll meet you".
He didn't respond but just continued his route after taking one last look at his son.
Later he came across some birds that were twittering happily and he assumed that everything with the groundhog had gone well and that spring had come. He was glad, the sooner the spring came the sooner Friend Owl would find a new home for Bambi.
How was it? I know not much action but I had to break it here since I thought describing the Prince's daily routine would be boring. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter.