"Up and about, hm? Excited?"

Bruno nodded.

"Good. Now, follow me."

It was early in the morning, enough that very few birds left their homes and the sun had yet to appear in the sky. Two deer walked amidst paths filled with half-melted snow, some of their surroundings returning to green. The Old Doe went ahead to an unfamiliar path, one that seemed like climbing up a hill, to which Bruno followed without questioning.

And when they reached the end, they were standing on a cliff. Nettla stepped aside, letting Bruno take most of the view of the forest.

Looking below, there was the meadow in its vast and eerie glory. It was so empty, too empty without anyone walking there. And beyond that, past the trees, he could see the waterfall. The cliff he stood on still wasn't tall enough compared to the waterfall, but still provided a majestic view of it nonetheless.

"Whoa..." Awestruck, Bruno just kept staring at the scenery before him, until he asked: "Why did you take me here?"

"Because it's part of what's needed to be a Great Prince. The distance makes it easier to spot danger, therefore places like these are put to good use." Nettla explained as Bruno listened to each word.

"But what if you look and not find that danger?"

"You don't outright need to look in order to see it, to sense and feel it. Now..." She turned back to the Young Prince. "Close your eyes. And focus on the sounds of your surroundings."

He did as told, eyes closed and ears slightly moving. It took him a few seconds to try and mentally pick at the sounds he could sense.

The sound of his own breathing, the soft whistling of the spring breeze rustling against the trees, the chirps and tweets of birds passing by...

"Well?" He peeked one eye open upon her question.

"I just hear us, the wind, the birds... That's all." She nodded in understanding. By then he'd opened both eyes.

"Not bad, not bad. The same focus should be applied to your sight and sense of smell. All you need to do is train these as long as you can, And..." She motioned downwards. Was she pointing at their hooves? "Sense danger with your hooves. Should it come, the herd would stomp their feet and let you know where they are."

"Whoa..." Bruno looked at his own hooves. That was so much to understand!

"And someday, you'll have to learn how to do all of these at the same time." His head snapped back up, eyes wide.

"All at the same time? That's impossible!" He kept staring incredulously at Nettla, who gave a small laugh.

"Once I thought the same. Well, for the time being that's what you need to learn." She then turned back, beckoning him to come with her.

"Wait, I thought there was more you'd teach me!" He turned to look at her with confusion on his face.

"There is. But it's foolish to teach everything on the same day, then try to do everything thereafter. It's one step at a time." She explained; it didn't make it that much better for Bruno but he supposed it made sense. Without looking back, Bruno followed the old doe.

"... I suppose I could tell you something more for today." His mood was lifted upon her words. "Let me tell you a story.

"A tale of the first King of the Forest, and how the Princes and Great Princes came to be."


"There are many types of deer in the woods, as you know, many of which refer to the mature bucks as Princes and only one as Great Prince. But only one type of deer could ever receive the title of King of the Forest.

"Known as elks, their antlers are larger than those of moose, grander than many of us. It's believed that the very first King of the Forest was an elk, one who'd once seen Spring itself rise from the remnants of Winter, aiding it in bringing life back to the forest. Even when it was completely swallowed by flames, he still continued with his duty, bringing rain that doused the fire and led the land to rebirth.

"He became as if attuned to the very place he's helped revive so many times, even after Spring had long since parted ways with the elk. The wisdom and knowledge he earned throughout the years was passed down to his herd when his time came to an end.

"The herd in turn passed down to a select few of our kind, to the few who knew the ways of the Forest and of survival, the ones who decided to take up the role of protectors.

"That's how the Great Princes of the Forest came to be. Once there had been many in the past, enough that multiple could reign over each part of the Forest with little competition, intimidating even the greatest predators. They had no need to fight for their position as rulers, and thus lived in harmony.

"But then Man came. Chased down all the oldest stags and took them away.

"It was then, that our kind decided there should be at least one Great Prince, and let the legacy continue through him and his offspring. A Great Prince had no need for multiple mates unlike normal Princes, but they do need to defend their position as protectors no matter what.

"That lasted until my brother was taken three years ago. With no offspring of his own and too proud to take an apprentice in to replace him... The bloodline came to an end, and the Forest was left to fend for itself.

"Essentially, I'm the only one left to tell the story. To pass down these teachings, despite having been born a doe never meant to become a protector. After all, it's not part of Tradition.

"Even now I ask myself... Have I done the right thing?"


Bruno had stayed in complete silence as his caretaker told the whole story. Even after she was finished, he hadn't said a word. What could he say, anyway? He had to admit though, it was a very fascinating story from beginning to end. Now if all of it was true or not, Bruno wasn't sure.

But before he went on his way... There was something that sparked on his mind as his caretaker told the story. A talk he had with Eurig months ago...

"Aunt, I've been wondering. You know two of my friends, Eurig and Bran? They were twins, and I remembered Eurig asking about you."

"... I suppose. Not so much their names, but I've indeed seen the twins a few times, in the year before I came to raise you. Their appearances aren't too hard to recognize, after all." She explained, Bruno's ears lifting in surprise.

"From what I recall, the young doe used to be one of those who'd stare when I came to the meadow. The young buck, not so much. Still curious siblings, perhaps heard one too many things about me." There was a hint of fondness in her voice, subtle in-between the words. "It was very common, until autumn of that year came, and they both had vanished. I had believed Man took them away, until I saw them with you."

Oh... So maybe Eurig did want confirmation regarding Nettla. And on that autumn, she did say her and Bran's father was taken away by Him... Had a Great Prince been there back then, could it have been avoided?

Without any words left to say, Nettla nodded; wordlessly given him her permission to continue exploring, and so he nodded back and both parted ways.

As he kept walking through the woods, his mind kept reeling with the things he'd just learned, all pointing to the same conclusion:

The more he learned, the more he understood the world around him and the ways of Nature... And the more scared he grew of possibly becoming the Great Prince. And why wouldn't he be? In essence it was the most arduous task any deer could have! And yet part of him just... Accepted it. Because it was part of Nature as a whole.

Because when all was said and done, it was Tradition.

With little haste he made his way back to the secret clearing he went to the previous day. If he needed to train his sight, hearing and sense of smell, why not use a quiet and peaceful place as a starting point? On top of that, he could use a place to have some peace of mind himself after having his mind processing so much information at once.

As for hooves... Maybe another time.

Once there, he took notice of how most of the snow was gone, the creek fully melted and running, and the sky wasn't as clear as the day before. Ah, yes. It usually rains not too long after winter turns to spring, so he was told. And indeed the clouds had been forming ever since he woke up. Bruno took it upon himself to not mind that detail too much. It still held its beauty.

Thus he stood near the edge of the little cliff, closed his eyes, and focused.

Wind could be heard passing in between the trees, a faint crack of thunder somewhere in the distance, the creek flowing endlessly just in front of him.

Soon the sound of dripping came in, starting as one drop at a time before turning into a constant rain. Naturally it soaked his fur but Bruno didn't mind; in fact it was calming, soothing even.

The smell of plants and rain was all around him, perhaps more pleasing than what came after the summer storms way back when. Even with his eyes closed, the very image of his surroundings were still clear as day, perhaps even clearer.

Bruno finally opened his eyes, if with a bit of difficulty given how wet his fur got. He shook himself head to tail until he looked a tad more presentable. He didn't mind getting soaked but Nettla very much did!

Speaking of her, he hoped she wouldn't mind him exploring some more for the day. Not a lot was achieved, but as his caretaker said, one step at a time. Also he couldn't wait to tell Corin about what he learned, nor could he wait to see Eike again sometime!

Upon leaving, he didn't notice the crow who'd been watching him from the shadows.


Sybille had recently returned to the woods, having decided to take a look at how the Young Prince was faring. And much to her surprise (and perhaps glee) the Prince had matured considerably. No spots, tiny antlers starting to grow, and a look of knowledge on his face - however, knowing many things does not make one wise.

There was still a long way to go, but the crow dared have a little faith in the young buck's progress.

In the meantime she was looking forward to starting annoying Friedhelm -or "Friend Owl" as he called himself near young ones- again, because who was she if not a self-indulgent bird who liked to cause trouble at times? And the timing couldn't have been better! Give it a few weeks, and that owl will be all excited about meeting the next newborn fawns in the woods.

A fine opportunity indeed. But if he was not to be found on such occasions, she might as well look for him hunting for, ugh, bugs. Hmph, so much for being different from other owls.

Still.

All she had to do was wait...