I Know Those Eyes

As the trespasser approached, Ronno lowered his antlers, ready to charge to meet the intruder head-on, then paused, struggling to make sense of what he was seeing as a fawn raced into view, charging recklessly along, only to trip as she leaped over a fallen branch,clipping it a bit with an errant back hoof. All he could do was watch her in blank astonishment as she rolled past him and collided with a tree.

he shook his head as he turned about to face her, feeling irritable. A fawn wasn't going to give him a fight, not like he'd been hoping anyways. He took a step in her direction, eyes narrowing. "Listen-" he began before she abruptly cut him off. His temper flared, and he was tempted to hoist her up with his antlers and toss her out of his territory when he caught sight of her eyes, making him pause as she went on babbling. "Ronno," he answered before snorting in irritation.

"Now, listen, didn't anybody ever tell you..." he trailed off as something finally dawned on him, and he eyed her suspiciously. "Those eyes...only one doe I ever saw before had eyes like that," he mused for a moment, uncertain, and feeling angry due to that uncertainty, on top of having been called second to Bambi. Had she been anybody else, he'd have went for her right then and there. But he found himself almost frozen in place. Willing as he'd been to force Faline away from Bambi, actually hurting her was something he couldn't bring himself to do, and hurting her daughter...

"I'm not a part of any herd. I don't need anybody else. Especially not some nosy fawn poking her nose where it isn't wanted. But, out of respect for your grandfather, I'll let you go this time. Now get lost!" he growled before stalking past her without sparing her another look.

Ronno ignored the fawn's yammering, clearly unimpressed with her bluster. He knew all about the lions she was talking about, and he knew said lions didn't hunt his kind due to the alliance between the Great Prince and Mufasa. But before he'd gone far, she followed him, prancing along by his side. His pace slowed a bit as he gazed down at her, frowning in mild confusion before snorting and shaking his head. She was her mother's daughter, all right.

When she spoke up again, he stopped dead in his tracks, glaring straight ahead, eyes unfocused as a surge of anger flowed through him. "Yes...I know him," he growled after a few moments. "I know him, and I know what he is." He snorted again, then continued walking. "But I don't care. And I don't care who you are, out in the rest of the forest, little princess. This is my territory, and here, you're just a loud-mouthed, trespassing little fawn," he declared before pausing and fixing her with a challenging stare.

"If you want to order me around, you'll have to prove yourself first. Hit me with your best shot. I'll let you have the first one for free," he invited, standing tall, presenting his chest to her with his head held high, glaring at her. "Or you can always run home to your mommy and daddy," he sneered, hoping she'd be goaded into leaving in a huff, with or without actually having a go at him.

As he'd promised, Ronno stood still as a tree on a calm day as Gurri angrily lowered her head and charged at him just as if she'd been a buck with antlers instead of a doe fawn. His glare never wavered as she charged headlong into him, butting her head against his chest with a dull thump, making him rock back ever so slightly from the impact as she bounded off him. The hard glare left his face, and he snorted softly.

"That is why I don't have to do what you say," he informed her. "You have spunk, I'll give you that, even if you have no idea how to fight. What's the matter? Mommy and daddy never teach you?" he snorted before shaking his head. Of course they wouldn't have. Gurri was a fawn. A doe. All deer knew does didn't fight. Well, almost all deer. Gurri seemed to have missed out on that fact.

"I'm feeling generous, so here's a free lesson," he stated, raising a hoof. "This," he gave her a light rap on top of her head, "isn't your only weapon. Since you'll never have a rack up there to depend on, you'll have more use of these" he advised, holding his hoof right in front of her eyes for a moment so she could see how hard and sharp it was. "Every deer has them."

With those words of wisdom, he once again stalked past her. Maybe this time she'd take a hint and leave him alone.

Ronno sighed in exasperation when she once again pranced along at his side. But, as she spoke, his mouth curled into a smirk, then a full-on grin before a short laugh escaped him. Wouldn't that be a good one to put over on Bambi! Then his grin faded as he slowed, and gazed down at the eager fawn trotting beside him. When exactly had he offered to train her? He opened his mouth for a moment before closing it, eyeing her thoughtfully.

"I gave you one hit for free. If I actually train you, for real, I can promise you it won't be easy. It will hurt at times. All I can guarantee is I won't kill you, or try to cripple you. But, at any time, you can call it quits, and go running home. I won't stop you," he informed her before abruptly briskly trotting several paces away and spinning around to face her, antlers lowering.

"Or, you can tough it out, take your lumps, and learn everything I have to teach you. Your call, little princess. Run home, and only you and i will ever know you decided to quit. Or come at me, and we'll see if you have what it takes to be a real fighter!" he challenged, already anticipating how she would respond.

Just as he'd suspected, his challenging words, added with some mockery, drove her to respond with the aggression, the need to prove herself, he'd been seeing more and more signs of. In many ways, she reminded him of himself, when he was a fawn. For the briefest moment, he found himself thinking about what could've been if Faline hadn't been so enamored with Bambi, for whatever reason, and had open to his advances.

Then, when she lowered her head and raced at him, the moment passed, and it was back to the matter at hand. He scraped his own hoof on the ground, muscles tensing, but he stayed where he was as she rushed him. He knew she wasn't ready, yet, for him to fight so seriously. And, as he'd said, he would do what he could to keep from truly injuring her. But, also just as he'd said, she would get some lumps.

he lowered his head enough to take her jab right between his antlers, then lunged forward to headbutt her with enough force to knock her down if she wasn't quick enough to get out of the way. "Remember, I told you no more for free," he reminded her.

Ronno stared blankly at Gurri for a moment as she voiced her protest. Was she truly serious? He'd warned her fair and square before they'd even started. Or...his eyes narrowed slightly, and his ears folded back a little as it occurred to him that she truly didn't know the first thing about actually learning to fight. Sure, she'd told him as much, but he'd assumed she wasn't being completely literal.

"Hmph. It seems you know less than I thought. That assumption was...my mistake," he admitted begrudgingly. "So, lesson number one, little princess. When we spar, view me as your enemy. Expect me to strike back. If you don't want to get knocked down again, then don't let me hit you," he advised, lowering his head, intending to use his antlers to hoist Gurri back to her feet.

"As soon as you're ready, come at me again. But, fair warning, I will try to knock you down again. Exactly the same way as I did last time. Fair enough?" he asked, the challenging look in his eyes at war with the slight grin on his face. Despite himself, he was mildly impressed with the fawn's grit.