In the afternoon, near the local waterfall, a snow-white fawn had stopped her stroll to drink some water and relax, while her mother was grazing and perhaps talking with other deer. So there Aydan was, taking in the sights of the forest around her. Or at least what she could see clearly anyway.
The clear running water, the newly fallen leaves scattered about, the sturdy ground in which she stood, the lush grass growing and surrounding the trees... Past a distance, things would become blurry yet distinguishable enough to know what they were. And even farther than that...
The sky during the day could be perfectly seen, although the clouds were far too blurry, and looking anywhere near the sun made her eyes hurt and strain her vision. At night however, her sight would be at its worst, which made her train more her sense of smell and hearing.
It was a reality Aydan had to accept from birth and throughout all of her life. Even if she wasn't happy about it.
So deep in her thoughts, she failed to notice right away the strange noise coming from somewhere not far from her location, not until—
"OW!"
Quickly she lifted her head, ears perking up, looking left and right, trying to spot where that voice came from — a male voice, for sure, and rustle of leaves and branches? It sounded like...
"HEEEY, SOMEONE?! HELP!"
That was Bran! Aydan ran towards the source of the sounds, heading to the left side of the lake and relying on the voice alone to Bran's exact location. Not too long after, she stopped in her tracks.
The yearling seemed to be stuck in... something, clearly getting frustrated and distressed even. Usually he'd be found trying to untangle his growing antlers from the branches, but not this time. There was something around his neck, attached to a really strong low branch just above his head; he's been trying to take it off with his hind leg, to no avail. Pulling it didn't seem to work either, as it was getting tighter and tighter.
"Bran! Are you okay?!" She exclaimed, getting closer to Bran as he struggled. Right away he saw her and his expression changed.
"Aydan! Could you help me here? Can't- ngh- can't get this off!" He said as he was pulling once more to prove his point. Not that it was necessary.
"What happened? And where's Eurig?" She asked, taking a good look at the thing trapping Bran. Wait... Was that what the crows called a "rope"? What was it doing here?
"I swear it's not my fault this time! Eurig went to eat somewhere and I was gonna go to the lake, then spotted this thing on the ground when BAM! It got around my neck!" Yet again he fought back, the rope tightening as he did; not five seconds after, he stopped and coughed.
"Bran, stop! That thing's hurting you, we gotta take it out somehow!" She stomped in front of him, making Bran stop struggling as much though his chest still heaved as he caught his breath.
"O-okay okay, any ideas, then?" He said in between deep breaths. Aydan stepped closer and inspected the rope, then the branch it was tied to. A single deer pulling it wouldn't work, so maybe…
"Uuh, what are you planning to do?" Bran noticed Aydan's face; a hint of fear could be heard from his tired voice.
"We're gonna yank this off the branch and then get it off of you. Just gotta know how to grab it..."
"Are you sure it's gonna work? I'm older than you and couldn't do it, who's to say both of us will succeed?" Bran argued, not at all hiding his doubt towards Aydan.
"Who's to say we can't?" She assumed a more confident stance to prove Bran a point. Well, there was no arguing with a daring fawn like her, he supposed.
Before Aydan could continue, a hurried trotting could be heard nearby. Less than a moment a dark-colored yearling appeared — that was Eurig!
"Bran! What's going on?! I heard-" She stopped and saw the rope tying Bran to the branch above. Her eyes widened and ears lowered at the sight, before her face turned serious although barely hiding fear- no. Not just fear. It was terror.
"... We have to get you out of that thing, and take refuge somewhere quick."
"W-what? Why? What's the deal with-" Bran said but was interrupted right away by Eurig with only three words:
"Man was here."
It was enough to make both the other yearling and Aydan to fall completely silent and stare at each other; hastily he tried pulling again while Aydan kept watching and trying to reassure him they could get out of this situation. Meanwhile Eurig took a look at the rope above. It went around the branch, then around the tree itself. If one end is trapping her brother, the other end keeping the trap steady should be close. She wasted no time in getting on the other side of it, confirming her suspicions.
A small firm twig stuck on the ground with the rope tied to it. Sparing no thought, she kicked the twig off, and then-
"Nnngh, lemme ju- W-WHOA!"
The rope instantly got loose and in turn Bran, who tried to pull it at that exact moment, found himself pulling too hard and losing balance.
"WHA-!"
And Aydan wasn't fast enough to get out of the way, leading to both her getting knocked over by the yearling and both falling to the ground. Eurig right away came to her brother's side and tugged on the rope. Soon proved to be loose enough, she pulled it out of Bran's neck and tossed it away. She then tried nudging both her friends up, her serious attitude prior giving way to fear once more.
"Don't you stay there, what if He is nearby?" Once they got up she made her way out of that place, beckoning them to follow her, and so they did, not once looking behind them. From the shadows of the trees, a crow emerged and landed where the now useless trap was, pecking the tip of the rope with her beak before quietly watching the trio disappear into the woods.
"... Aaaand another to the pile! Corin, catch!" Eike threw an acorn towards Corin, who quickly caught it with his paws.
"Thanks, Eike! So far a good job!" He then ran back inside his little home to store the nuts the group gathered.
"How many nuts do we have again?" Bruno shook off some leaves that had fallen on his head just then.
"Includin' the other eleven we found? We got, uh... Twenty."
"And how many do we need in the end?" A single red leaf landed on his snout, which he quickly blew off.
"Uuhhh…" She turned towards where Corin was. "Corin! Y'know how many we need?"
"For now these are fine! We still have one whole season to get more!" His voice echoed from the hole in the tree where he lived, then peeked his head out to look at the duo below.
"Ya heard 'im!" Eike smiled at Bruno, who returned the gesture. Kind of. As long as the job was done for the day, it was fine. Right? Right.
"With all that said, I -yawn- I should go sleep for a while today. You two can go on and have fun without me. G'niiiight!" Corin then went back in, and the duo walked away.
"Yeeesh, if that's how it gonna be till winter arrives, I'm done for! Don'tcha think that too, Bruno?"
"I don't know. Me too, I guess?" The fawn gave a half shrug.
"... Not used to talkin' much, yeah? Don't blame ya. Or maybe I'm the one talkin' a lot? Ah no matter, at least I'm no crow!" Eike's face beamed in a mix of smugness and pride, which in turn made Bruno smile, even laugh a little. Indeed, at least she wasn't a crow.
In all honesty, they weren't even planning to stay the whole day looking for nuts, as it soon proved to be more of a difficult task than they had anticipated.
For one, they didn't realize there would be other squirrels looking for nuts in the same places the trio would search. And the other issue was carrying them to Corin's home. He could simply stuff the nuts into his mouth and make his way back, rinse and repeat. Now the other two…
Eike could simply carry a few in her mouth or even with her paws, but not nearly the same quantity as Corin. And Bruno soon found out he had no way of accomplishing it anyway, because... Well, he was a deer. Deer for sure don't store food for winter. And they have hooves, not paws or claws. So they had to stick with a smaller number for the day.
Nevertheless, it was still fun! Just spending some time outside of that den was enough to leave Bruno in a better mood overall, although there was still one concern left: Nettla.
How would she react if she saw him leaving the den without her supervision?
Would she be mad? Sad? Scold him for leaving like that one time? Stare in disappointment and shake her head? What would she do?
Something disrupted his thoughts. Bruno turned his head away from the rabbit and his ears perked up - he tried listening to what the noise was, heedless of whatever one of his new friends was talking about.
Hurried gallops, fear-stricken voices, three familiar figures running through the forest...? Wait a moment.
"Don't stop running!"
How much longer?!"
"I thought we were far en-"
Suddenly two of them halted — Bruno tried to dodge the third, only to see a white blur.
Before he knew it, he was on the ground with someone on top of him, both landing on... Something fluffy?
Shaking his dizziness away, Bruno saw it was Aydan who ran into him, much to his confusion.
"Uh... Aydan?"
"Oh, hiya Bruno, hehe... Sorry!" She gave a sheepish smile, her fur a little dusty after the crash. They then felt the fluffy "something" crawl out from beneath them... Eike's fur was a complete mess as she gave a little gasp for air before giving quite the frown to both fawns.
"Oy oy, what'ze big idea?" The bunny shook her entire body before brushing it back to how it was. Then she turned to the other two deer standing not far away and catching their breath. "And where did'ja come from, what yer hurry?"
"Don't -haa- ask me! haa- It's Eurig -haa- who told us to run!" Eurig glared at Bran as he said in-between deep breathing and wheezes.
"From what? Did that no-good crow get to y'all too or whatever?" Eike's question earned her a confused look from the trio before Aydan spoke.
"I heard Bran call for help, and when I found him he was stuck in a trap." Aydan explained as she got off Bruno and shook the dust off her fur; Bruno's ears went up instantly.
"Trap? You mean... Man's trap?" Almost unnoticeably, his voice trembled.
"Yes, but we got him out and Eurig insisted we kept running away." The white fawn motioned towards Bran; the yearling was scratching a part of his neck with a hind leg, and it did look a little hurt looking closely.
"Why? Was Man or His dogs after y'all?" Eike looked puzzled, and soon so was Bruno. Imagine if Corin had to watch this mess...
"... No, we were the only ones there, and-" Bran started, only for his expression to change from exhaustion to one of surprise, then of indignation. He glared at his twin who just stared back defensively.
"D-don't look at me that way! I mean, what were the chances of Him actually being nearby? The trap was there, so-"
"And you made us almost die from running! Just as bad as getting caught!" Obviously Bran was being dramatic but still. "Look, I get that you got scared, but do you have to be paranoid?!"
"The crows would've warned us, too..." Bruno said under his breath.
"Ahem, anyway! What were you two doing then?" Eurig addressed Bruno and Eike. Did she hear him? Or was she trying to change the subject? Probably both.
"Doin' what friends do, helpin' others 'n hangin' out!" The brown rabbit held onto Bruno's leg to prove her point, much to his amusement. "And that makes 'im your friend too, right? Y'all bein' deer 'n Princes..."
"That makes sense! Then by next year we'd be antler buddies!" Bran nodded, earning him a small laugh from the fawn — the idea didn't sound that bad — though his sister shook her head.
"Not really, no. We don't really know him. And don't involve your antlers in this." Bran stuck his tongue out at her remark - she actually returned the gesture at him without hesitation. Oh, siblings...
"But if we continue to hang out, we will! Right?" Aydan smiled as her tail wiggled at the thought. Bruno wanted to say "yes", but quickly he became hesitant.
"I'm not sure... Aunt Nettla wouldn't approve of me leaving the den again. Last time she scolded me and-"
"Aunt who?!" The twins asked, or rather exclaimed in unison, much to the surprise of the others. They acted as if they couldn't believe what they just heard...
"Um, Aunt Nettla. She's the one taking care of me. Why?"
"... Ah, just thought I heard that name somewhere. Right, Bran?" The brother nodded. Just as quickly as they were surprised, their behavior and tone changed to a somewhat normal one, though it only left Bruno wondering. What was their deal anyway?
"Interesting, I thought I had heard my name being spoken as well."
The whole group turned right away to see the old doe walk out from 'neath the shades of the trees. How in the world they didn't notice she was there?! None of them dared move a muscle or utter a single word.
The Young Prince himself was frozen in place, wide-eyed and completely still, although he felt his legs about to give out.
"A-ah, Aunt... I... " Bruno tried to talk yet his voice failed him. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?!... But soon he was surprised to see that his caretaker's gaze wasn't the usual stern one she had for all other deer to see, but instead a much softer look in her eyes.
"So, I presume those are your new friends?" Nettla took a long, long look at the other young ones before turning back to Bruno. "And I presume they're the reason why you didn't stay in the den for long?"
"More like a weird fellowship than actual friendship though." The yearling doe mumbled.
"Fellowship, you say?" ... Oh no, she heard. Now what...?
"Well, so long as you don't stray too far from the den..." Bruno's ears went up right away though still too wary to smile. When... When was the last time he's heard her being this nice to him? Or was he too blind to see she's always been like this deep down?
"Aunt..."
"You may accompany them. Do not forget to come home before sunset." Nettla gave a little smile and nodded at the fawn. And for the first time in months, he smiled back at her.
"... Thank you!" He was beaming, brown eyes looking up at her in cheer, and thus she turned back to their den. Bruno let out a breath he hadn't realized he kept holding; he felt Eike hug his leg a little tighter as she grinned.
"See? T'wasn't bad at all!"
The others sighed in relief. With the rest of the afternoon ahead of them... Summer was ending, but their "fellowship" was off to a good start.
