"Last I saw, he was snoozin' on that tree near the river, the one right beside the waterfall!" A small brown rabbit motioned with her paws, a few other bunnies nodded along.

"Sheesh, and he was gone just like that. Did he fly off to the south or...?" One of the squirrels chimed in, but was cut off by a fawn with their fur all in white.

"Wha- No way! Owls don't do that, don't be silly! Only ducks and… Uhh, other birds do that. I think."

"What's the use of worrying? He could've just found some other hole to sleep in or whatever. This forest is huge, y'know?" Another fawn spoke up, no spots and with a pair of budding antlers growing.

"But knowing that old bird, he rarely leaves this part of the woods. I wonder…" A third fawn replied, no spots and looking very similar to the one with antlers.

Bruno watched from a relative distance as the group chatted about… Someone who's been missing, perhaps? That white fawn mentioned it was an owl, and whoever that owl was they must've been important for the group to make a huge fuss about. Funny enough, he hasn't seen that many animals in a while, let alone fellow Princes and other deer. At least not since…

No. He shouldn't be thinking of that! It's in the past, so it should be left behind, right? Thus, without further ado and making no haste, Bruno gathered a bit of courage and made his way towards the others.

"Uh… Ahem, Excuse me?"

In a matter of seconds, five of them looked at him while the rest kept chatting — the brown rabbit and the grey squirrel seemed taken aback but quickly they smiled at the newcomer. The white fawn strained her pink eyes a bit, then her ears lifted in excitement. The grown fawns, on the other hand, remained silent.

"Ah, another one! G'morning!" The squirrel cheerfully greeting the fawn.

"Mornin', Young Prince!" The brown rabbit did the same. The pale one approached Bruno in no time — the sudden attention directed to him made Bruno step back a little.

"Haven't seen others my age around here! What's your name? I'm Aydan!" Aydan motioned to the rest of the group. "And they are my friends!"

"U-um… My name is… B-Bruno."

"Bruno, hm? That's a nice name. I'm Eike, and this here is my fella Corin." The brown rabbit said while the squirrel nodded and continued: "And these are our friends from a year ago, Eurig and..."

"My name's Bran." The fawn with antlers spoke up, looking at Bruno with skeptical eyes - it made the younger one's ears lower in both admiration and a bit of fear. "... Nice to meet you, I guess. What do you need?"

"Uhh… I just saw you guys talking and thought you were worried about someone, did something happen?" He blurted out without thinking and averted his eyes in embarrassment.

"Oh, guess you heard us, huh. Do you know Friend Owl?" Aydan asked.

"Friend Owl… ?"

"Y'know, the old owl livin' around this part o' the forest? The one who hates that lil' ditty the songbirds sing every spring?" Eike tried to mimic an owl while she spoke - Bruno shook his head in response.

"Guess you're really not from this part of the forest, then. Ah well, whatever works." Bran rolled his eyes, which made Eurig frown at him for a moment and then turned back to Bruno.

"He's been missing these days. We've been searching for him anywhere we could, but no success. Wonder what's gotten to him? Perhaps we should-"

"AAAAHHHH! GET AWAY, FIEND!"

A loud voice proclaimed - it came from just a couple meters away from them. The rest of the bunnies and squirrels quickly fled to somewhere else, leaving the group of six on their own. Bruno hastily went and hid behind a tree.

"What... was that?!"

"That's Friend Owl!" Aydan turned and rushed to where the sound apparently came from, the other two deer and rodents in tow.

"What- Wait for me!" Bruno was the last to follow — when they realized, just above them were two birds arguing. One was an old grumpy-looking owl, most certainly the one the group's been talking about just moments ago.

Meanwhile, the other bird was entirely pitch black with dark eyes, undeniably a crow; if it weren't for the sunlight passing through the tree leaves, that crow could've easily passed off as invisible. Usually such birds only appeared in flocks and never nearby other birds, so why was this one picking on Friend Owl?

"How many times do I have to say?! Get outta here!" The crow laughed in response, a loud and obnoxious voice coming out of her beak.

"Ahahahah, so noisy, are we? Why cut the fun short when it's getting interesting?" Friend Owl rightfully scowled at the other bird, who retaliated with a smug expression. The six youths could only watch as things happened on top of them. Bran groaned.

"Uugh, no wonder he was missing!" He whispered to the other five in order to not be heard by the two above. "Meeting face to face to one of them is already bad!" Eurig rolled her eyes at his statement, clearly not impressed.

"I knew crows could be rude to others, but never saw it myself..." Bruno spoke in a hushed tone as well.

"Well nobody likes them, so maybe that's why they're rude?" Aydan asked right after.

"Oh, but they can be worse, ya know? My mama told me they're always there when Man comes, and that they can... Talk to Man." Eike said, Corin nodding along; both trembled as Eike mentioned that last part.

"No way! They can do that?"

"Nah, not exactly that, but you're quite correct!"

That obnoxious voice spoke from above. All six instantly looked up wide-eyed. The crow snickered.

"We may be rude, but you know what's more rude? Talking about others behind their backs, especially when they're listening!" The black bird said in a mocking sing-song way, no doubt reveling in the surprised expressions of the youths. The bird then left the branch where Friend Owl was and landed on a lower one.

"I know lots 'bout Man, but... I don't think you'd trust me, so it's best to just introduce myself! I'm Sybille. And judging by your looks..." Sybille stared at the youths in front of her, first to Eurig and Bran. "... I'm gonna assume you're siblings. You two," she turned to the rodents, "could make for a good snack! Ahaha!" They hid behind Aydan, who was next. "Hm, better cherish your eyes while you still can see." The albino fawn shuddered.

"As for you..." Sybille finally turned her attention to Bruno. Those dark eyes were as if piercing through him.

"... I dare say, you look like the kind of deer who'd be better off alone. Could be wrong, of course."

Those words made the fawn more confused than scared, admittedly. What in the world did she mean by that...? But before he could properly think of what to say, the albino fawn stepped in between him and the crow, as if defiantly. Suddenly the owl intervened.

"Still here?! Shoo, shoo!" Sybille complained under her breath upon hearing that.

"Fiiine. But this won't be the last you'll see of me, Friedhelm~! Same as you, lil' younglings!" And with these words, Sybille took off and disappeared into the woods. The old owl huffed and went back to the hole in the tree — guess it was where he usually slept in. Finally, Corin broke the silence between them.

"Sheesh. That was so harsh of her! Hope we won't get to meet her ever again!" Eike patted Corin's back at that.

"... Did she call Friend Owl by another name or something?" Bruno asked in utter confusion.

"Oh, no no. His name really is Friedhelm, but so many misheard his name before, he just lets us call him Friend Owl. The adults do it too, perhaps out of friendliness." Eurig explained to Bruno, who let out an "Oh" and nodded understandingly.

"Guess his parents didn't think ahead when naming him, ahaha!" Bran shrugged and laughed a little, only to be met with Eurig clearing her throat and giving him a dirty look, which prompted him to stop and lower his ears upon her disapproval. As the four interacted among themselves, Aydan and Bruno were on their own.

"Well at least Owl's gonna have a better sleep. We were gonna talk to him but... After this mess, maybe it's best to let him be, right?" Aydan wondered out loud, Bruno nodding in agreement.

"... I guess I'll have a lot to tell Aunt Nettla when we get home" The fawn mumbled; Aydan's ears perked up.

"Aunt Nettla?" He quickly realized she heard him.

"Ah, she's not really my aunt! She just takes care of me; it's been a while now." Bruno tried to smile, as if it wasn't all that important. Aydan seemed to have picked up on that.

"Huh... Then where's your mommy? Everyone in the forest has one, right?"

Bruno's attempted smile quickly faded and was replaced by a frown — he turned his face away from Aydan. She, in turn, had a concerned look in her pink eyes.

"... I think she's somewhere in the forest. M-maybe she got lost? Aunt Nettla told me to "leave the past in the past" and never talked of her again." He tried explaining without giving any details.

"But why? Do you know what happened?" She pressed on.

"No... I can't quite, um, "remember"."

The white fawn soon stopped asking any further questions. The one beside her might never tell her, but she had a vague idea of what happened because meeting Eurig and Bran — who indeed were siblings — was what made her understand Bruno's situation a little more despite having just met him. And with what Sybille said about him... Aydan was more than willing to prove her wrong. Because even in a forest where danger could be lurking anywhere, "being better off alone" wasn't the right answer for the fawn.

Then again... Perhaps that crow wasn't all that wrong about her eyes.