Wild Berry Meadow Her light is diminished

Though more steady on its feet than a newborn, the fawn stood no chance on its own. It took too long for it to flee, having been spotted lying down. But as it often turned out, the mother was not out of the picture. Hearing her child bleat out in terror, she charged forth with a fury felt only by a mother protecting her young. Black Hat was ready for her, dodging the hooves that came raining down in a panicked frenzy. He snarled and planted a nip on her flank, putting himself in the spotlight. She was left with little choice but to face him, and he was all she saw.

Through her tunnel vision, the doe hadn't yet registered that her precious child was dead. And so she gave chase in the hopes of putting an end to his pestering nips that stung like a swarm of biting flies. With the occasional encouragement, Black Hat was able to draw her further and further away from the source of her hysteria. This needed to end soon, he thought, as his shoulder was beginning to throb in protest to the abuse. At this point, he wanted to get away from her to end their little dance, but his injury was making that difficult. A lovely situation to get himself into after just getting back on his feet, really.