A Little Fall of Rain

by Izabelle_GD

Summary:

What if Bambi hadn't kicked the last dog off of the cliff in time?

Chapter 1: A Little Fall of Rain

Rain kept falling from the skies, the last crimson rays of sunset painted the clouds in the horizon.

The ground, too, was stained with crimson; not from the fading sunset, however. It spread across the grass and dirt with each raindrop that fell on the small puddle that formed on the rocks, slowly diluting in the water.

The near-crooked shape of a dog could be seen lying on top of said rocks; it wasn't moving, and would never move again. Its claws and fangs had the same red tint in them.

A few meters away from the dog's lifeless form was a fawn struggling to stay conscious, trying his hardest to walk away; his fur was soaked in rain, his neck and throat were soaked in... blood.

His blood.

 

Ah... That's right.

Just moments ago, that dog had been right in front of him on the mountain cliffs above them. Before Bambi could think of kicking it off, it bit him. Right on his throat.

One moment, everything flashed red and white, an intense agony following just after. The next moment, both were falling, tumbling down that cliff. The attack made them lose their balance.

His pursuer died instantly upon impact, and yet he was alive, for better or for worse. He'd fallen right on top of the thing, so perhaps that's why... Not that it made his situation any better, of course — he was injured. Badly injured.

Bambi leaned on a boulder to keep as much balance as he could, the wound stung and burned enough to leave him lightheaded — even breathing, as it turned out, was becoming increasingly difficult. Pain mingled with cold raindrops and the strange warmth still flowing down to his chest, his vision slightly blurry and blacking out as time pressed on.

How long could he endure staying awake...?

 

Sounds of hooves rapidly hitting rock and dirt could be heard from a distance — in no time at all, the shape of something big leapt from a large pile of boulders, and then it suddenly stopped on its tracks. Was it... Looking at him?

 

"... Bambi!!"

Ah... That was his father, wasn't it...?

 

Bambi's vision cleared for a moment, heart filled with joy despite his current situation. But when he tried to make his way towards the stag, the fawn was only able to take a few steps before his knees began to buckle, legs giving way and he collapsed.

Although still wide awake, exhaustion combined with the throbbing wound still overwhelmed most of his senses. Bambi heard his father approaching him as he tried to get up and failing to do so.

By that point he was no longer paying attention to his surroundings, eyes shutting tight, a desperate need to breathe and yet his throat stung.

On his third or fourth failed attempt, he nearly collapsed again when he felt something hold his head from underneath, then proceeding to let it gently lay back down on the ground, avoiding any more unnecessary torture on himself. A mercy.

Right after, the fawn heard someone carefully lying down next to him — he tried taking a look through half-lidded eyes. The sight both comforted and crushed him.

 

His father looking at him in utter misery as he saw how bad the fawn's wounds were, a look of despair that Bambi'd never seen him possess before; the stag slowly shook his head and then got down to nuzzle his son as gingerly as he could.

... He's never shown this much affection to Bambi before. Not when the fawn was first taken in, not when he tried to follow on his steps, not when he was being sent away to live with a new mother. Perhaps a small nudge to help him climb rocks, or curling up next to him when they were sleeping, but this was different. A kind of parental affection that he only ever got from Mother, a loving gesture he never thought he'd have again.

That gesture alone made his heart beat in joy and regret — regret because of his attitude earlier that day, when he accused his father of not caring about him for him, and joy because the stag was proving him wrong.

An undeniable proof of how much the Prince truly loved his son.

 

Unfortunately, it all had happened at the worst moment.

 

"... I'm so, so sorry, Bambi... This shouldn't have happened..." He heard his father say in a soft, anguished tone, barely louder than a whisper. Bambi so badly wanted to nuzzle him back, but sheer exhaustion prevented him from doing so.

"... I... I-I'm... S-sorry... too..." He tried to speak, but even his throat hurt from the sheer effort, almost gasping each word he spoke... The damage was even worse than either of them imagined.

"Shh..." The Prince gently hushed him, his forehead brushing against his fawn's hair, despaired brown eyes briefly opening to meet faded maple-red. "Don't be. You were right. If only I had realized sooner..."

The words caught the fawn off-guard. So the stag came to understand his son's point after all?

 

Bambi's vision blurred even further, not only because of his increasing tiredness. Tears gathered in his eyes, trickling down his cheeks without a warning — he felt the stag carefully lick away those same tears, then attempting the same on his neck in a vain attempt to soothe the wound. He knew all too well that it wouldn't save his fawn, but if it meant giving him every last bit of comfort that he could, then he would.

At the same time, the fawn felt himself slowly fading into unconsciousness, his surroundings darkening by the minute. Even his injured neck settled into a dull ache as his breathing began to slow down. The only thing that never left was the warmth of his father's presence, nestled into his fur, consoling, comforting him.

As if he, too, realized the inevitable was soon to happen.

 

They didn't want to let go, not now that they had just reunited with each other. Sadly, neither had any choice on the matter.

 

Holding onto the last bits of clarity he still had, Bambi gathered any strength and breath he had left to say one last thing:

 

"... D-dad..."

 

"... I'm here..." His father said, his voice now this close to breaking and yet trying to remain as reassuring as possible. Like Bambi was the greater priority over himself... Bambi weakly leaned closer, barely able to stay awake.

"... I'm here..." The stag repeated; a quiet, barely audible sound akin to a sob following right after. Bambi could vaguely feel the warmth of tears falling onto his fur as his father continued to nuzzle him, still soothed him, not once straying from his side.

 

The last thing in Bambi's mind before his consciousness left him at last...

... Was how much he wanted to stay with his father...

 

... He didn't want to go yet... He...

...

 

---

The rain had already ceased by the time the Great Prince found Bambi, only the distant roaring of thunder echoing in the distance and a soft chilly breeze blowing.

But that didn't matter. In fact, nothing else mattered to him right now.

 

He still remained where he was, caressing his son's form, left unable to contain all the the emotion he's repressed for months, trying to make himself believe that he'd wake up and be okay after all, trying to make himself believe that it was all just a nightmare and he'd wake up to find Bambi safe and sound.

But the stag knew the truth, no matter how much he'd like to try and deny it.

His son... His young, brave, beloved son... was gone.

 

Just like how it happened with his mate back in winter, found by him not long after getting shot by Man... He was by her side when she died. He'd been there to offer as much comfort as he could, promising to find Bambi and bring him to safety.

He'd been unable to mourn her properly when he had to leave her body behind. Unable to grieve when a whole Forest depended on him. Unable to confront this sorrow when he had a son to look after.

 

And now, he relived that horrible moment all over again — the agony of losing a loved one, feeling helpless to save them. Only this time, he had nobody else left. Even if he were to find another doe, none could replace the only one he ever loved. And no fawn could ever replace the son he'd grown to care about.

 

He was all alone, and he'd remain alone until the day his own life was done, one way or another.

Perhaps he'd even hope to reunite with his family in the afterlife...

 

So there they were: both father and son at the base of a mountain — a stag mourning his fawn, unwilling to leave him behind.

 

The full moon appeared from behind the clouds, but the gentle moonlight never reached them.

And now, it never would.

 

 

 

Notes:

[EDIT - June 16th 2024]

I revised this piece of work after rereading lately - wanted to add a little more to it given how much I've improved on my writing since 2022

Chapter 2: Illustrations for Chapter 1

Summary:

[EDIT - June 16th 2024]

Discord Embeds for images got messed up, so I adjusted them!

Notes:

This isn't a continuation! It's a small collect of drawings I made for this fic!

A Little Fall of Rain - Illustrations (by me!)

 

 

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Notes:

In which my mind felt really treacherous and thought of this possible scenario T_T It's been plaguing me for weeks now!
Welp, now that it's out of my system, I can go back and work on the other fic!

 

(yes the title was a reference to Les Mis, I couldn't think of anything else that would fit! >_<)
And nope, this isn't part of the "Through Your Eyes" series!