other. The only exception was during the Season when tempers and feelings got the better of them all.
He walked slowly toward her and stopped about five lengths away. She continued eating, but he could clearly see she had her eyes on him."Greetings," he said. "The others told me I should not try and talk to you if I did not want to be kicked in the side."
She raised her head and turned to fully face him. "That is good advice," she said looking him over carefully. Her voice was smooth, yet slightly aggressive. She was concerned about him standing there, but she didn't look afraid. "Most of those males in the herd I have kicked to keep them away. They do not interest me. They are all alike. You I can see are different. Bambi already told me there was a new deer in the forest. A strange deer, like me. Your scent tells me you are the new deer. I can see you are strong and fight well," she told him while carefully studying him. Then after she had a thorough look at him she added, "The others pay me no mind, why should you?"
"Direct and to the point like Bambi; not your typical doe," he thought. "That is true," he replied. "You see I do not care what others think of me either." He paused before adding, "I think you are the same way. For a doe, that is very unusual and I was curious."
"Along with being cautious," she said noting the distance between them.
"May I get closer?" he asked?
"As long as you do not try to do anything else except talk," she said and seemed to relax a bit.
He slowly walked up until they were separated only by a length. He brought his head down as not to look too pretentions. "Thank you," he said. "If I may ask, why you do like to be alone?"
She snapped back, "I do not like being around the other deer, they dislike me. I think it is my scent they dislike." Then she looked him over carefully again. "Why do you like being alone?"
Again she was forceful and direct. It then occurred to him she spoke more like a herd male rather than a doe. He gave pause before he answered taking in a deep breath through his nose. It was filled with her sent that smelled like thick black soil. "Like you most deer do not care for me; I am too different from the rest. I was raised much differently than the others. I do not wish to bore you with the story however. By the way, I think you smell fine."
She actually seemed to smile. It was then he noticed her green eyes, they almost glowed even in the daylight."I have time," she said
He was just about to speak when suddenly the forest was filled with two loud thunder claps. The vibration shook the trees and the ground under him. The noises were distant, yet close enough to be dangerous. He knew it was the sound of the killing sticks of Man.
Chapter 3: Starting Point
"Come with me!" he barked and starting running toward the closest part of the forest. An instant later Claris was right behind him. She was running as fast as he was. He glanced into the meadow, Bambi was already telling the others to get out of the open. They were all making for the cover of the forest. The two of them bounded six times before they made the closest line of young Oak trees. He wanted to go still deeper into the cover of the forest. He knew their only protection against Man and his killing sticks was the concealment of the deep forest. He ran dodging around the tress until he could see no sign of the meadow in the distance. He saw a thin spot of trees where some thick bushes were growing underneath. He stopped behind the green brush to let him and Claris catch their breaths.
After he stopped he breathed in the cool air until he felt better. He then turned back to Claris who was now standing only half a length away. "Are you alright?" he asked trying to sound concerned.
She nodded and then spoke while trying to breathe in, "Were you hit?"
"No, I do not think Man was after us today. He has other creatures he uses his death stick on. He has one death stick to kill birds, one to take fish out of the water, one to kill smaller animals, and the biggest one to kill us. The noise was too far away to be for us. Besides, if Man wanted to kill us, at least one of us would be lying dead in the meadow and I saw no one hit."
"You think it is safe to go back?" she asked.
"I am not sure," he said looking back the way they came. "I would not go now. It is safer to wait for dark. Man does not like going out into the forest after dark."
She eyed him curiously as if she was suddenly not sure about him. "You seem to know a lot about Man," she said.
"Before we got interrupted, that was part of the story I did not want to bore you with," he told her.
"Well we have time now," she said and got down on her knees to lie down and rest.
He lay down near her but not next to her, as he didn't want to seem too forward. "As you wish," he said. Then he did something he had never done before in his life. He told her his whole story. By the time he was done, and answered all the questions she asked, they both were tired and both of them went to sleep.
It was night when he awoke. He was hungry, thirsty, yet he felt warm and comfortable inside. It took him a second to realize he felt warm because Claris was lying against his side. She must have moved closer to him for comfort while he was sleeping. It was a new feeling for him to lie next to a doe. He felt a liking for this doe, something also he never felt before. During the past Seasons doe had approached him and he had bred them. Usually that only consisted of a few moments of coupling, grunting, and then a rush outward of himself into the doe. Following that the doe went one way, and he went another. His part of the Season was done. Although he felt a base pleasure in having coupled with the doe, he never felt the inward warmth he did now. He wasn't sure what to say or feel. He also felt inward pressure from his rear.
He got up slowly as not to disturb her and moved away to an empty part of the forest many lengths away from where he lay. There he passed what was inside him. He then moved back to the clearing and saw Claris was gone. For a few seconds he wondered why she had left, before she appeared gliding silently into the clearing from the forest. From the strong scent in the air he realized she had done likewise and yet the odor was different. The scent was like what a doe gives off when the Season was near, yet they were still a long way from that time.
"I am . . . am sorry," she said stammering. She dropped her heard in shame. She was embarrassed about the scent she gave off.
He walked quickly over to her and lifted her head with his until he could look into those deep green eyes. "You do not have to be sorry," he said showing affection. "I like the feeling of you next to me, I like the scent of your body, and I like you. Thank you for listening to my story. You are the first one I ever told it to. I hope I did not bore you or scare you with it."
"Did all of that really happen to you?" she asked.
Yes," he said knowing his tale was a bit much. "It is the truth as best as I know it. Does it make you frighten of me?"
"No, I am not frighten of you," she answered immediately. "If all of that happened to you, I feel more sorrow for you than fear. I also understand why you are so strange." Then she stopped for a second as if unsure about what she wanted to say. "You are not like the others. No male has ever said he liked me. I think that is because like you I am so different. Stranger, I like you too," she said and rubbed her muzzle against his returning his show of affection.
He was taken back for a second. No doe had ever done that. He wasn't sure what to say. He finally stammered out a simple, "Thank you."
"I did not mean . . ." she said and then trailed off.
He hoped he hadn't put her off for some reason. He wanted to change the subject. "If I may ask you a question, what did Bambi tell you about me?" He was curious about why Bambi looked to be so interested in getting them together.
"He told me you were strange, and not like the other deer in the herd. He told me I might not feel the dislike for you the way I feel about the other males. Then he said I should listen to you." She then stopped for a moment before adding, "I am glad I did."
Again he wondered why Bambi should care. "Does Bambi often do this?"
"I do not know," Claris said. "I do know Bambi is one of the few deer who will talk to me. I found him to be strong and wise like his father the Old Prince. My mother told me that Bambi's father was the wisest deer that ever lived before he passed on. Bambi is like his father."
'Interesting," he muttered. "This is certainly a different type of herd."
Claris looked up at the dark sky. "We should be getting back. Not that anyone would care if we came back or not."
"I do not know, maybe Bambi or Ronno might care, but I doubt if anyone else would," he said grimly. "I will follow you this time."
Claris knew the woods better than he having lived here all her life. He followed her back, but she did not go the way they had come. She followed a path around the meadow, yet still deep enough in the forest that no one could see them from the large clearing. She took him around huge oak trees. Around them he heard the sounds of the forest: ferrets sneaking through the grass, mice scampering about, the sounds of crickets and frogs, birds above them, and screeching of the
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