Basic information:

Name:        Tumaini
Meaning:   Hope

Age:    about 4 years

Fur coat:   chocolate brown, darker belly and chest, same socks as his sister, tanned under-tail, inner ears and eye-markings, tanned antlers

Eye color:   indigo blue

Species:   deer

Breed:      Vita deer

Gender:     buck/male

Herd:      travels with his sister and niece

Relations

Mother:   Sarafina

Father:     Amaru

Siblings:   Asante (sister); OPEN

Crush:      none; OPEN

Mate:       none; OPEN

Offspring:   none yet; OPEN

Other relatives:  Kya (niece)

Friends:   his sister, some of the other herd members, OPEN

Foes:      man (mostly scientists), Tricheur (©JetxLucy), OPEN

Other information:

Personality:    Staying true to his name, Tumaini never loses hope, no matter how bad a situation may be. He takes great effort in cheering others up, and is unhappy if his loved ones are.

He is a quite sociable one and doesn’t like being alone, causing him to mostly spend time in a group. He likes does and sometimes flirting with them, but isn’t as intrusive as some other bucks. Furthermore he politely shows them if he has no serious interest, making him pretty popular amongst them. He won’t settle down with a doe until he knows she’s the right one, though.

He is extremely loyal to his loved ones to the point that he would die if it was necessary to protect them. The one he is always worried and protective about are his little sister Asante and his niece, who are fairly annoyed by his occasional overly protective manner. It isn’t like he doesn’t know that Asante can handle herself, but he made a promise to protect her and when he makes a promise, he never ever breaks it.

He doesn’t like it when bucks which aren’t trustworthy (in his eyes) approach her, especially since Tricheur has used her and broken her heart. He despises the other buck and if they ever cross paths again, Tricheur will better run fast if he wants to stay alive.

He loves fawns and is often found playing with his little niece.

Also he is brutally honest and never keeps it a secret if he doesn’t like someone.

Likes:   his sister and niece, knowing his family is safe, having company, flirting (occasionally), finding the one doe fitting for him, cheering someone up, protecting his sister, being in charge of something, being trusted, warm evenings, listening to the song of the woods

Dislikes:   his family being in danger, bucks trying to play with his sister’s heart, being all alone, someone being down, scientists who want to capture them, Tricheur, being underestimated, winter, that his parents were captured, noise, and Tricheur

Voice:    Micheal Weatherly (Anthony DiNozzo in “Navy CIS”)

History:  As a scientist breed, Vita deer were hold captive so they could be examined and such. But the majority of the deer didn’t want to be held captive all their life, being in pens and such. They wanted to be free like the bird which told them about the world outside the fences. So they made a plan to escape and one night, they did.

Amongst the escaped deer were a pregnant doe named Sarafina and her mate Amaru. They made it into the wild and soon ran into a herd of mule deer. The mule deer were frightened, but didn’t object when they asked for just a safe place to stay and have their fawn. As long as they would keep away from the herd, the leader thought it would be okay.

There, Sara gave birth to a buck fawn. They named him Tumaini, because they were hoping for a better life in the woods.

Tumani played with some of the mule deer fawns since there were not too many other vita deer around, and was very happy with it. He and his parents even dared to go out on the meadow after the mule deer realized the strange deer were no threat.

The real danger was man. The vita deer were eventually spotted by some hunter, but they weren’t able to take them down. But they told others about them, and this way, the information reached the scientists’ ears.

So they came after the precious deer to capture them again. Most of the deer living in this area couldn’t escape, but Tumaini and his parents were among the ones who made it. They were scared man could find them again and ran to the other side of the forest, where a small herd of white-tailed deer lived.

They stayed there for some time, but man found them again and again and again. This led them to becoming gypsies, never staying in a place for longer than a few days.

He was overjoyed when his parents told him that he would get a little sibling soon. He was really looking forward to have someone to play with. But in next spring, just before his sister was born, his family was spotted by humans and he and his mother fled. His father didn’t return and Tumani was very sad. He had loved his father very much. But he decided to stay strong, especially for his dear mother.

A few days later, his mother suddenly sent him off. He didn’t mind being on his own, but it confused him, though. But all became clear a few hours later, because when he returned, a little doe-fawn was lying next to his mother.

He adored his little sister Asante and loved playing with her or telling her stories about their father. She was sad because he wasn’t with them, but understood why. They used to play a lot together, but always in the safety of the thicket.

But one night, when Sara was grazing and both of her fawns playing, Man spotted them. It was too dark to capture them in that moment, but they never let the precious deer out of sight, and in the morning, they followed them into the thicket.

Sara smelled the danger and thought quickly. The only choice they had was separating so not all of them would be caught. So she told Tumani to meet her at another place and took off with Asante by her side.

He ran for some time, always aware that he was being followed. But eventually, he managed to lose his persuaders and went looking for his mother and sister, quietly calling their names.

He walked for a very long time until he eventually heard a response and found his sister, hidden close to the ground and shaking very much.

She snuggled up to him and he was relieved to have found her, but was shocked to hear that his mother had been killed by man. Like Asante, he never found out that his mother was still alive and that man had only anesthetized her.

He remembered that just after the birth of his sister, he had promised his mother to always keep her safe and protect her. He decided that this was his new task and that he would stay close to her as long as she hadn’t a mate to protect her. Luckily, she already ate plants, so he didn’t need to fear she would starve.

The siblings became wanderers, never staying in one place for too long, always searching for a place to stay where others of their kind lived. But they never met someone they could stay with longer. They avoided staying in larger herds of white-tailed or mule deer because hunters often came to these and they feared being spotted.

Throughout the following two years, he grew into a handsome young stag, as well as his sister became a beautiful doe. The two main things Tumaini did during the following year and especially the rut were flirting with does, mostly white-tails and mule deer  (he even mated with some who made clear that they weren’t in search of a longer relationship) and keeping bucks who seemed unfitting from mating with his sister. There was a vita buck who seemed okay, and he allowed him to get close to his sister. His name was Tricheur, as he later got to know.

He left her alone with him, something he would later come to regret, and minded his own business (in other words – does) until a few days later, his sister ran up to him, tears in her eyes.

She told him that Tricheur had dumped her saying that he never had serious interest in her and he would never love a doe like her. And the worst part was that he had mated with her and that it wasn’t unlikely she had taken.

Tumaini did his best to comfort her, but inwardly, he was burning with rage, making a vow to himself that he would crunch that buck if they ever crossed paths again.

The siblings left that place that day to continue searching for a new home.

In spring, while they grazing in a clearing in the middle of the night, his sister suddenly ran away as if someone was after her. Worriedly, Tumaini followed her, only to be chased off again. He remembered the day his mother gave birth to Asante and understood.

That night, he was a nervous as if he himself was the father of that fawn and paced up and forth. After what seemed like hours, he couldn’t take it anymore and rushed back to the thicket where he had left his sister.

There, he saw his sister nursing a female fawn, his niece Kya. Of course, he wanted to meet her right away, but his sister kept him from it because the fawn was newborn and she was afraid he might scare her. But he reasoned with her to let him close to her.

He loves his little niece and would do anything to protect her. But although he is her uncle, he sometimes acts more like a father (but they made sure she knows that he is not), especially when it comes to protecting her. He supposes that he won’t take the sentence “Mom, uncle, I have a boyfriend” very well when time comes.

He and the does stay there for some time until they eventually continue travelling. Like his sister, he is always pretty worried about Kya.

When they reach Bambi’s forest, he and his sister eventually feel at home and rather like this place. They are allowed to stay and he get along nicely with some of the deer there, such as Bambi and Nocere.
He isn’t pleased at all to meet Tricheur again and waits for a opportunity to face the buck alone.

RTB:   makes his way into Bambi’s forest, lives there