Birds! [AW]

[BAMBI]

The Prince was walking up the moss-covered stairs, with a subtle smile on his face; his heavy fur cloak waving impressively with some wind that filtered from a broken window somewhere. His right knee protested with every step, but the Prince hardly seemed to care. He was in a good mood today, you could say.

But his smile was soon erased by the frantic squawking noises that had just come within earshot, from a few levels above.

"Oh no! Not again!" Complained the stag as he hurried up the last steps and almost ran ( you couldn't call that sorry limping gait running) through the curtain of hanging vines that had grown in the place of a door long since rotted. His red eyes were opened wide in annoyance and his mouth in sign of an unformulated protest before the awful scene -- it turned out one of the Herd's store rooms was infested by pterosaurs: green, cat-sized, arrow-tailed birds with teeth on their beaks and leathery wings.

There were so many of them you wondered how would they ever come out through the narrow window-gaps they've come in through again. The place was entirely crammed with them; in fact, Bambi had almost stepped on one during his appearance in the scene. They were eating whatever the Herd had been storing in here, baskets were scattered across the floor and some of the birds were chewing on something that appeared to be leather.

"What-- why-- argh!" It didn't matter he didn't make any sense. Furious, he stomped the floor and started waving his walking cane at the leather-winged birds, hoping to scare them out. It didn't work too well, though, as the area soon became a flurry of green blurs beating their wings all over the place in circles in a pitiful attempt at getting out, squawking and calling each other in a confused and panicked manner that was so extremely noisy it would make anyone's ears hurt.

[Shri]

Shri was slinking. Her hooves, they made no noises. Her breath, it was slow and even. Her eyes, they watched for everything. Oh, it was chilly and the wind seemed relentless to the girl for she was starved and slowly shriveling away. It was only just summer, she should be well fed, but the other deer often drove her off when she tried to eat with them. Something ironic in that. There were other places to eat, of course, but the vagabond was too desperate. She would not return to the mountain. Stealing, it seemed, would be so much easier. A noise! Something creaked, low and far, somewhere underneath her feet. The buildings were crumbling, but she didn’t think this was the usual disintegration. Shri crouched on the softness of the moss and listened.

Nothing. It was just the building’s usual creaking after all. Still, her tight muscles remained bundled cords ready to snap. Heart loud in her ears, Shri swept across the room, listening closely, watching for the tell tale guard, and slipped into the store room. She was greeted by birds, many green, leather winged monstrosities, who cried at her as she came. Shri looked at them with some disdain before snuffling to find a basket that might contain something edible. Two had the musky smell of grain. Much to the protest of the birds she tipped them over, and crouching used her delicate muzzle to slide some into a large pouch around her neck.

Shri often resented the two legged deer, longing for the advantages two free hooves might give her. It would be impossible for her to live in their world, she knew, and she wondered lazily why her mother had wanted to. With the pouch full, Shri rose from her knees as the draw string tightened under its new weight. Then, she heard a cry. Young but masculine. Panicked but strong. Her heart and stomach entangled grossly. Who was it? A guard? He was coming this way.

She looked at the tiny window, too small and too high to save her, and dove behind a higher pile of baskets. The click of hooves and something else, an extra sound like a stick hitting the floor, came closer. Suddenly, the birds were in a violent tumult. Shri cowered with head between knees as wings battered her. Someone shouted. More birds took off.

They would save her, she prayed. She would not be found. The birds would save her.

[BAMBI]

Noticing the uselessness of his efforts, the Prince remained still and quiet by a second, contemplating as the green avalanche calmed down and accommodated on the floor to continue chewing on what they found. Clear it was this wasn't working.

Suddenly, his head was feeling heavier. Bambi's red gaze rose, slowly towards his crown, where he found a couple of birds perched and smiling at his severe frown sheepishly, with their white teeth like needles. This made him real mad. "Away! Shoo! Shoo!" He shook his head and started waving the cane in a threatening manner that got the cat-sized pteranodons fluttering all over once more. It wasn't working but he didn't really care -- he started pursuing them all over the place, chasing the birds like a kid trying to catch chickens. And he herded them downstairs and out the windows and in whatever hole in the wall, roof, or floor they could fit themselves into.

In the end, there were less birds left in the room at least. Many were clinging to the vines on the bare brick walls, breathing rapidly, with the white of their eyes showing and calling their comrades for support incessantly.

The Prince decided chasing these creatures around was much fun, however, amongst the green of blurred moving wings, he had caught a glimpse of something interesting -- something quadruped, hairy and quick.

"What was that?" Wondered he; he hesitated by a moment, and then, warily, he proceeded to investigate in the direction he thought the mysterious creature had fled. "Please, don't be a sabertooth!" Bambi wished; and he continued walking ever so slowly, without making a single noise except when --

SKWAWK RAEEE RAEEE RAEEE ARWK!

He stepped on the tail of one of the birds and the winged avalanche began once again!

[Shri]

Chaos filled the room. Pure chaos, panic, and fear. Shri didn’t see this chaos, because her eyes were still shut tight and quickly beginning to ache. Instead she heard it. Squawking, scrabbling, and the ever familiar sound of sharp teeth close by, eating, eating. They might be nibbling away at her, and she would never even know. Forever among the sound, that strange clacking noise. Shri jumped when he spoke and the clacking stopped abruptly, followed by a strange whir and swoosh.

Pterosaurs screamed. A rain cloud of green wings raged above her. Could she match this guard if necessary? Maybe with surprise on her side. Shaking, ears back, Shri lifted her head just a whisker. At first it was difficult to see. Everything in the room swayed as if on water so that focusing on one thing too long became painful. Among the chaos, a cloaked, staff toting figure flailed, chased, and corralled birds this way and that. She had to look twice. There was a crown.
The prince.

She was in a little room, stealing from the herd, and Prince Bambi was only a deer length away. Shri sank back among the baskets and crept in further. Hard to lie out of something like that. Sure, he had that lame leg of his, but she didn’t think mauling a prince would be the brightest of her ideas.

Suddenly, it was silent.

Heartbeat. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Growing louder. Thump.

Could he hear it? That was irrational. She let out her breath and didn’t draw one in. Shri urged the little organ to be quiet, bargained with it for her life, but the heart just roared louder and louder in her ears. Then, that clacking. That horrible clacking of a staff coming closer and closer. The birds screamed. Shri screamed. The noise rose. Without thinking, she flew to her feet and fled towards the door.

Or what had looked to be the door two seconds ago. Shri hadn’t opened her eyes to take off, and now she was about to crash headlong into the prince.

[BAMBI]

Bambi had no time to react at all.

First, he thought he heard a deer screaming but couldn't really tell because of the scandalous birds, who were also screaming. Could one see sound-waves in the air, this extremely chaotic disaster, the mass of birds moving all together like a single organism trying to escape, would be pretty representative of what the prince was hearing.

Then came a head, out of the cloud of green birds, which hit Bambi squarely on the chest and knocked him off his feet. He fell sitting, with a hoof on his chest where he had been hit and winced from the pain. However, he recovered quickly.

Looking around he saw the shadow of the creature which charged at him. Fortunately not a wolf or a saber tooth, but a deer. And a very rude one if you asked him!

The birds had begun to settle down once more after this new fright (they didn't get tired of this, did they?) and Bambi struggled to get up on his feet without the help of his walking cane which had been lost in the crash. It wasn't easy with that bad leg of his, but the fortunate presence of a nearby wall made it possible.

"Won't I at least get an 'I'm sorry'? Have you forgotten who am I? Show yourself or I'll get the guards after you!" Barked the annoyed prince, the birds hardly paying any attention this one time. Truth was the little green, featherless critters had done enough noise and someone else absolutely had to be on their way to investigate.

And as far as Bambi was concerned, this floor only had one exit and one entrance; unless the mysterious deer wished to take this whole matter upstairs, thing that would make little difference.

(( By crown I mean antlers, not an actual crown, but it doesn't really matter ))

[Shri]

((Haha, that makes sense! I am a silly panda! ))

Run, or stay? Bambi’s voice rang over Shri’s ears and hung in the air. She lay in a heap, having rolled away from the prince, nestled among the birds. Her breath came in short, painful gasps. There was the door, she could make it, but what if there were guards?

Something lay entangled among her front legs; Bambi’s walking stick. Shri shook herself free and crawled to her knees. Between the settling green thieves she looked at the prince, her ears pressed lightly against her head. “Forgive me, your majesty, the birds frightened me,” she said evenly. She placed her nose against the staff and nudged it towards his feet. He’d struggled to stand, perhaps she really could have fought her way out, still could if necessary. She studied the door with a sideways glance.

“I thought- I thought there might be something up here. My brother, he dared me to come chase it down. Thought it might be funny if it were a cat. I- I didn’t mean anything! I know it was stupid, I’m sorry.” Slowly her breathing began to calm. She had to be steady. Nosing the walking stick a little closer, Shri abased herself in front of the prince. They were hardly a deer length apart. She’d never been near anyone of rank before and did not inch closer.

[BAMBI]

((I'm awful sorry for this horrid delay. Been sick.))

"It's alright." Sighed the Prince, and he forgave her just like that, surprisingly, for royalty had a fame of not letting go of an offense -- even in his own family-- but like you already knew, he wasn't like the rest of them.

Noticing her kind detail, he smiled a little sad smile and bent to pick the cane up. Yes, she could have fought her way out of a possible confrontation, he wasn't that impressive for a prince, was he? Well, he didn't care.

While doing this he took a closer look at her face and his heart skipped a beat at the realization of who he recognized her as. The herd was mainly composed of red were-deer as him, a hairy face was unusual and the few who had it were easy to recognize. She was too young to be confused with her mother, so that only left one choice -- the murderer!

Bambi tried his best not to let his fear show, but at least a hint of surprise escaped his best efforts. With the help of the walking stick he acquired a straighter, more dominant posture as wanting to compensate for it. After all, he was feeling rather cornered against this grimy wall.

On this day, Bambi had better things to do than to be stuck in a dinosaur-infested room with a deer that so many rumors had been spread of. But, well, he had to take things calmly now that he was here. The Prince didn't believe ninety percent of the rumors that came to his ear -- if rarely ill-intentioned, the deer from the herd were known to be rather exaggerated and noisy, there was no denying to it.