TWO

     Gorma was right. It was more than obvious that Keith was going to be fine when he somehow managed to talk Hunk into carrying him distances until he could walk properly again. The good-natured tiger didn’t mind, and was happy to help, piggybacking the little myriad around. And Keith certainly wasn’t a slavedriver, happily hugging him around the neck and being careful to duck low clearances. At one point Hunk slung the limber boy around his neck and wore him like a stole. Playing it up, Keith went half-limp and did his best to imitate a fur wrap.
     True to the doctor’s words, Keith found sitting to be an interesting challenge, especially with the series of rabies shots that the doctor had neglected to mention until the last minute. A fluffy pillow pretty much did the trick, even though there was still some pain as the wound stretched as he sat. Having had very liberal, open parents who didn’t believe in corporal punishment, much less denying their cubling his whims, Keith could only imagine that this was what being spanked was like.
     Far faster healers than Arusan, Dr. Gorma never failed to marvel at the short span of time it took Animans to recover. Within a week and a half, the wounds were closed except for some rather ugly scabbing. Already he had a fine, fuzzy coat of fur re-growing where he’d been shaved.

     "You’re lucky, Keith-chan. You could have lost your tail. Or your life." Lance poked his nose with his finger, causing Keith to sniffle. He was already close to sneezing from the dust that had gathered in the lounge since Nanny had decided that she wasn’t going to attempt to clean it anymore.
     "I know, I know. It was an accident, okay?"
     "Maybe you should try fishing! Fishing is kinda like hunting!" Pidge offered. He loved fishing, but then there was some martin in him. He found it wonderful fun to splash around in the lake or in rivers after darting silver and gold. Keith smiled weakly.
     "I just don’t think fishing is for me, but maybe I’ll give it a try one day."
     "Man, I shoulda been there! I woulda turned that bear inside out for ya!" Hunk grinned, flashing his teeth, the largest and strongest in the room. The tiger outweighed the myriad by more than a hundred pounds, and maybe he was big enough when fully postured, fangs and claws bared, giving full roar, to run the bear. Keith wasn’t willing to go through that again to find out. Feeling sleepy, and deciding that Lance would be an amicable enough pillow, he stretched out on the sofa and lay his head in his lap. Lance gave him a classic annoyed look, to which Keith returned a "I dare you to move" smile, and closed his eyes for a nap.

     The commotion at the castle gate quickly attracted the entire Voltron Force without the need to summon them. The crowd was impressive and noisy, but they managed to push to the center with Hunk’s help. Keith blinked in shock at the center of attention.
     A small team of hunters, bloody and bedraggled, stood proudly around their kill. The big bear seemed even larger as she lay limp on the cart. There was no doubt that it was the same bear; she bore the same wounded shoulder as his attacker. Keith reached out tentatively and touched one paw, feeling the hard claws under his fingers, his own wounds twinging in memory.
     "Came out of nowhere and attacked us. It’s the same one, then?" One of the catmen asked. Keith nodded numbly, "Good! Saves us having to go out and take down two mad bears." He jumped back as Keith whirled on him, tears brimming in dark eyes.
     "She wasn’t mad! She was only defending her baby! It was my fault!" he turned back to the huge brown carcass, stroking her forehead, "This is all my fault… I’m sorry…" he looked up suddenly, "Her cub… what happened to her cub?"
     "We didn’t see a cub. She just came out of nowhere, set to kill."
     "Oh…"
     "I don’t understand this! You should be glad this thing is dead! It almost killed you!"
     "And I almost killed her child! Maybe I did, I don’t know! All I know is she’s dead and she didn’t need to be…"
     "She attacked us!"
     "She was wounded… She remembered…"
     "Keith…" he felt Lance’s hand heavy on his shoulder. He stood slowly and turned his back on the confused hunters and dead animal.

     He couldn’t sleep that night for thoughts of the baby bear. Had his claws wounded it so badly that it had died? Or was it out there somewhere, hungry and alone with no mother to protect it? His thoughts drifted to his own parents, how he would feel if…
     "Kiko…?" He hadn’t heard the door open…
     "It’s my fault. If I was a better hunter, or had just stayed home…"
     "It was an accident. Bad things happen, you know that."
     "I know, but… somewhere out there… there’s a lost cub…"
     "Nature works like that… Remember that cycle of living you’re always going on about?"
     "Circle of life. Yeah. I just feel so guilty…" He felt the bed dip and Lance’s warmth spoon him. It was comforting, and he felt the tears coming. Lance wrapped his arms tight around Keith. He hated it when he got like this, but he was so concerned with trying to balance his civilized and natural side that he didn’t always see that sometimes you can’t. It was the same with the humans… where civilization and nature clashed, civilization either won, or retaliated with frightening force. He wasn’t sure if he would have wanted to meet a human did they still exist, given the way they used to treat his four-legged cousins. All he knew at the moment was that Keith was upset and shouldn’t be.
     "That’s why it’s called an accident. If it hadn’t been you, it probably would have been someone else. Someone who wouldn’t have been able to outrun her and would have died. She would have ended up being killed anyway as a dangerous bear. Ah… don’t say it. I know, it wasn’t her fault. Her baby. But not everyone sees things through your eyes. And relocation isn’t an option for everyone, even if it was the best option. Now stop beating yourself up, you tree-hugging cub of a space cadet and a pot scrounger—oof!" An elbow caught him hard in the stomach, enough to knock the wind out of him but not really hurt.
     "Don’t talk abut my parents that way!" there was laughter in the growl. Lance chuckled and hugged Keith closer, feeling the boy relax against him. "I’m glad you weren’t with me… If you’d been hurt or killed because I’d dragged you along…"
     "Pheh! You should know me better than that! We Kitsune aren’t that easy to kill!"
     "Kitsune? Hah! Swamp fox!"
     "Lap dog!"
     "Flea trap!"
     "Patchwork!"
     "Go to sleep."
     "You first."