Chapter thirty-three: The doctor and Old memories

"Keith, you should really try to sleep", Pidge said. Keith sat close to the campfire, straining to stay awake because he wanted to watch over the ailing Shiro.

"I'm fine", he said.

Keith and Kosmo had dragged a half-frozen and bloody Shiro up the mountain, where after a long while, Kosmo led the group out of the mountain path and into an cave, where they will safe from the cold night.

Pidge built a fire and placed both Kosmo and Shiro nearby to warm it, then Hunk left in search of food, while Lance is tending to Shiro's wounds as best he can.

"You're not fine!" Lance said as brushes a lock of Shiro's hair out of his face. "You need rest"

But instead of lying down, Keith shuffled closer to Lance.

"I know what you're doing!" Lance said.

"I'm sorry I...I am just a little freaked out...about Shiro! I never seen him like this" Keith said.

"No one has seen anyone like this, but that is the Sleigh Beggy affect for you!" Lance said to Keith.

Both Keith and Lance knew about the sleigh beggy effect, how a person draw too much Magic from a daemon, causing their bodies to become weaker and lose blood or had too much blood.

"Stats!" Stats said. He moved closer to the fire and warmed his hands.

"How is he?" Hunk said. He had entered the cave quietly with a sack in his hand.

"I've done what I can, but he needs a doctor." Lance nodded.

Hunk didn't know what else to say, so he changed the subject. "Um, I found some moonberries. I already picked out the poison ones!" He placed his sack on the ground, then unwrapped it. A small bunch of red berries rolled to the edges of cloth. "Is not enough but some of these are capable of healing the bad wounds!"

While Keith and the others gobbled some berries, Hunk examined Shiro, which covered in bandages near the fire.

"Hopefully, wherever we're going could be able to help us!" Hunk said.

Keith nodded. "We gotta find help".

They looked at one another in silent agreement.

"That's what we'll do first thing in the morning", Pidge said. "Right now, the best thing we can do is sleep".

The next morning, Kosmo's cold had improved significantly and he couldn't wait to get moving. He was the first one awake, so he put out the fire, cleaned the camp, and wrapped Shiro and put him on his back. Then he woke up Keith and the others.

"Kosmo!" Keith said as he saw him hurried into the snow without waiting for a response. Keith and the others scrambled out after him, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

It wasn't long before they came to an old mountain pass, where they found what looked like a circle of huge, moss-layered stones...except that one of them appeared to be missing. Not just that, but there appeared to be rope bindings on the stones, as well as several sealing tags. In the center of it was a huge crater, possibly a few days old.

"A ring of stones and a crater?" Keith asked.

"I don't get it," Pidge said. "Why did Kosmo bring us here?"

"It's possible that Kosmo might have been sealed away here by someone or something," Lance surmised as he looked at the ropes and sealing tags, and upon getting a closer look, they all seemed quite withered and tattered with age. "And judging by the looks of it, this seal has been here for quite a long time."

Kosmo seemed to widen his eyes in surprise, but then whimpered as his ears drooped, causing the others to look at him in concern.

"Aww, what's wrong?" asked Hunk as he kneeled down and lightly stroked his fur.

"Stats?" asked Stats as he began to pet him, too.

"Well...it's not like we can do much here," said Keith before he turned to leave. "We asked Kosmo to take us to where he came from and he did. Anyway, we don't have time for this. We still have to find some help for...for..." He then trailed off when he noticed something off in the distance...and not long after, he started to squint his eyes. "Wait a minute..."

"Keith!" Lance asked.

"What's wrong?" Pidge inquired. "Do you see something?"

 "...It can't be..." Keith whispered.

"What can't be?" Hunk asked, but before he could get an answer, the half-daemon began walking away to...whatever it was. Concerned for their friend and current impromptu leader, the group soon followed him.

"Keith?" Lance asked as he walked beside him. "What's wrong?"

 "I...I think I know this place," Keith said as he drew closer, and that's when they saw it: an old, large tree, sitting on the hilltop, having recently lost its blossoms to the winter land.

"An old tree?" Hunk asked. "What's so special about this place?"

The others didn't seem to understand it, themselves...until Kosmo ran up to the base. It was then that they saw it: a stone that was covered in moss with a name carved into it.

"Is this...a grave?" Pidge said, sadly while Lance walked up to it and inspected the name on its face.

"Kade Kogane!" he read.

"...Kogane!" Hunk repeated. "That is".

"What's wrong, Hunk?" asked Pidge. "Do you know that name?"

"...It's...the last name of Keith!" Hunk answered, causing Lance and Pidge to gasp before they turned to Keith, who stared at the stone while he swallowed the lump in his throat. They could make out this mixed expression of sadness and longing on his face.

"Keith?" Lance asked, worriedly as he approached him, but before he could so much as even touch his shoulder, he suddenly turned and walked off, further away. "W-wait! Now where are you going?!"

Keith didn't answer him, prompting him and the others to follow after him. As they crossed the grassy plain and climbed down from the hilltop...that's when they saw it: the charred remains of a house.

"What...what's this place?" Pidge asked.

"...My home..." Keith whispered, causing everyone to look at him. "It's the place where my father raised me."

"...Keith..." Lance said, sadly, while Kosmo whined.

Keith stood amongst the ruins of what once his childhood home, burnt wood now covered with layers of moss and cobwebs. All around, all he could smell was the scent of charred wood and stone...as well as burnt linens.

Even after all these years...the scent still lingered.

"Keith?"

Keith turned to see Lance, Hunk, Stats, Kiaion, Kosmo, and Pidge, all of them staring at him with expressions of worry and sadness...but the former especially.

"We...we don't have to be here," said Hunk while Kosmo tilted his head. "I know it must be painful for you to see all this."

"...No," Keith replied as he looked up at the sky through the destroyed roof. "I think...I needed to come back here."

"So...this used to be your old home?" Pidge asked as she looked around.

"That's right," Keith replied. "I used to live here with my father...until he died, that is."

"Why did you leave?" asked Shippo.

 "...I didn't have a choice," Keith replied, grimly, his eyes darkening as he looked down at the ground. "Not very long after my father died...the villagers that lived near us formed an angry mob..."

Within his mind...he could see himself as a boy, staring out the house window...but all he could see were rows and rows of people and the glow of lit torches, and from them, he could hear their enraged clamoring, as well as a booming voice as he saw a shadowy figure, mounted atop a brown horse.

"That monster father of yours can't protect you anymore, half-daemon!! That means you're fair game, now!!!"

 Not long after, a rain of flaming arrows came down upon the house...and Keith quickly shook his head to erase the memory.

"They...shot the house with flaming arrows and then chased me away," he said as he looked at his sleeve. "If my father haven't told me how to survive fires...I would've died long ago."

"Your father was protecting you, even after he died," Lance surmised. "He clearly loved you, very much."

"...Yeah...he did," Keith whispered as he closed his eyes. Almost immediately, Stats jumped out of Hunk's arms and jumped onto the half-daemon's shoulder, then licked his cheek, causing him to chuckle as he gently pet his head. "Thanks...but I'll be okay." He then turned to the others. "If you guys don't mind...I think I'd rather be left alone for a little bit."

"Are you sure?" Lance asked.

"...Yeah," Keith nodded.

"...Okay," Lance replied, "but remember, if you need us-"

"I know," Keith answered. "Thanks."

Smiling in satisfaction, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Kosmo, and Kiaion soon left the premises...leaving Keith alone while Stats still sat on his shoulder.

While Keith remained inside the ruins of his home, Lance and the other congregated outside, sitting on the ground. Pidge sat adjacent to Hunk, who was stroking Kiaion's back while Kosmo sat next to Lance, who was hugging his knees as he stared up at the sky.

"Poor Keith..." he said. "It must be so hard for him, coming back to his old home."

"Yeah, so hard to go back to a home that is in Ruins, I know how that's like!" Hunk said, thinking back at the time when his home was attacked by Galra.

"I can't that the villagers did that to him, did they know what type of species is he was or at least what part of it". Pidge said.

"You know how people get when they see a half-daemon they'll know about, remembering Kala, they attacked her for no reason that's because she was half-deamon!" Lance said.

"But now I'm wondering something else," Pidge added. "Keith was raised here, and not too far away, Kosmo was sealed here, too."

"So?" Hunk asked. "Maybe it's just a bit of a coincidence."

"I find that hard to believe," Pidge said. "I'm thinking that maybe someone sealed Kosmo here, intentionally."

"Why would they do that?" Lance asked.

"Who could say?" Pidge asked. "There are a number of reasons...but somehow, I think that maybe Keith and Kosmo might be linked."

"Linked?" Lance repeated, inquisitively. "Are you saying that maybe Keith and Kosmo were meant to be together?"

"It could be," Pidge answered with a shrug. "This is all just speculation at best."

"Well, whatever the reason," Hunk began, "I'm glad we had Kosmo on our side."

"You're right about that!" Lance said as he turned to Shiro who still unconscious and possibly dying. "Right now Shiro needs our help!"

"Yeah, but how!" Pidge said.

"Hey look!" Hunk pointed out as he saw smoke.

It wasn't long before they came to a mountain town. The small, quaint houses were covered in at least a foot of snow, and smoke rose from the chimneys. A towering mountain with a flat top created a backdrop for the town.

"I knew I saw smoke!" Hunk said. "Maybe we can find help."

"Okay, sure. We might find a doctor", Lance said. "But we will definitely find a bunch of half- daemon-hating humans and daemons. And that's a problem!"

"We don't have to worry about it! I'm sure the people have forgotten!" Pidge said.

"She's got a point!" Hunk said, "And besides Keith is here, save!"

"Right!" Lance said

With that in mind, the trio (and Kiaion and Kosmo) headed toward the center of the town, hoping to find a doctor to help Shiro, in spite of not having any attention to themselves

Keith grunted as he tossed aside a rotted old support beam, but all he could find were clusters of mushrooms and other fungi...but even then, he remembered this very spot well. Even though so many years had passed, he could smell the scent of old bed sheets. In his mind, he saw himself as a child and Kade, lying together on a bed, the latter holding his son close to his heart as he happily slept by his side. Keith smiled fondly but that smile turn into sadness before he turned to Stats, who tilted his head at him, causing Keith to chuckle as he walked up and pet the little daemon Larval on his head.

"I guess there wouldn't really be much here, would there?" Keith asked. "I haven't been here in so long, it's not like there'd be anyone or anything waiting for me. Everything here has pretty much burned to ashes from that fire." He then sighed as he looked up at the sky. "I...I just wish I could find something...anything that I could bring back with me..."

Stats's ear twitched before he glanced off to the side, then his head pricked up as he saw something glinting in the shadows.

"What is it?" asked Keith. "You see something in there?"

Stats approached the rubble and burnt wood, where Keith heard him shuffling about for a good moment or two, then he came back out, holding something in his hand: it was a bracelet with glittering jade, and in the middle was an emblem bearing looked like a lotus flower and an black old vest. Keith gasped silently as he took the bracelet and vest from the Larval's hand before he held it up to get a better look at the fine items. It was a bit dusty but otherwise looked just as good as new.

"This...this is my father's bracelet and vest...!" he whispered in awe while Stats seemed to smile. "I can't believe you found this!"

Stats cheered happily, causing Keith to pat his head once again.

"Thank you," he said before he looked down at the items, endearingly. "I'll...I'll treasure this, forever."

"Stats!" he said.

"let's go meet up with the others!" Keith said.

Lance and the others walked up and down the town streets until Hunk spotted a sign. It had the shapes of a cat and dog carved into it with a heart between the two animals.

"Look! Do you think this is some kind of animals doctor? or any type of doctor!" Pidge asked.

"I think so," Lance said. "Or...a dating service for pets".

Pidge and Hunk gave Lance a look. "Probably an animal doctor". Pidge said.

"Yeah!" Lance said.

"But that's a good idea!" Hunk said.

They pushed open the door and stepped inside. A bunch of stalls were occupied by farm animals with all sorts of ailments. Hunk saw a pig with pink eyes, a cat with a broken tail, and a cow that appeared to have some sort of fungal infection on both its ears. An older man stood in front of a whinnying horse, tending to its rib cage.

"Be right with you!" the doctor called without looking away from the horse. When he seemed satisfied the horse was okay, he walked toward the tiro. But he jumped back when he caught sight of Kosmo.

"I'm so sorry", he said as he regained his composure. "There's nothing I can do for that poor creature".

Lance looked at Kosmo. "What? Oh, on, on, he's fine. We have, uh, a different problem. Hunk, tell him."

But now Hunk and Pidge distracted by the frazzled horse. The creature trembled, eyes wide askew. "What happened to you, little sweetie?" he asked. The horse whinnied in response. "Aw, you saw something really scary, didn't you?"

The doctor turned back to the house and put a bucket of feed in front of it. "She sure did. This one run away up to the cursed Kekkaru. Whatever she saw, she's lucky it only scared her. Won't make that mistake again". He patted the horse kindly.

Meanwhile, Lance was petting an especially affectionate cat. "I see you've met button Nose", said the doctor.

"Oh, is she called that because her nose and sweet, like a little button?" Lance asked. But before the doctor could answer, the cat turned around and slowly pushed her bottom into Lance's face.

The doctor explained, "She's actually named that because of how she places her posterior on the noses of people she likes, guess she likes you!" Then the doctor turned to business. "So, what can I help you with?"

Lance realized that he and the others hadn't discussed a plan of action yet but they need all the help they can get, Hunk slipped Shiro from Kosmo's back and put him on a barrel of grass.

"We have a friend here who is sick and since you is the closest thing we found as a doctor, we were hoping you can find something with this!" Lance explained.

"Describe it!" the doctor.

"At first we bought it with the cold took our friend, we were wrong, so wrong!" Hunk said as he pulled back the blanket and revealed Shiro, covered in bandages.

The doctor gasped. "Oh, my, that's the Sleigh Beggy affect, isn't it?"

The trio nodded

The doctor placed his head gingerly onto Shiro's forehead, checking there was any fever. "I heard about it from the book, But I'll do what I can".

Lance, Pidge, Hunk held their breath as he began to examine Shiro. He placed his ear against Shiro's chest and listened. He then, check the pulse on his wrist. His brow furrowed and he muttered to himself. Finally, he looked up at the trio.

"Well, I do hear a heartbeat", he said.

The group let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good, right?" Pidge said.

"But it's faint and slow. I'm afraid he is dying", the doctor said. "I don't know what I can do to save him. I am so sorry."

Lance saw tears well up in Hunk and Pidge too, and a lump formed in his throat.

"No. There has to be something you can do", Pidge said, hugging Shiro. "Anything Please",

Lance put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Pidge, let's go. We'll find another way".

He helped Hunk put Shiro into the back of Kiaion and then guided him toward.

They were halfway out when the doctor said, "Wait!" the group looked back.

"I'm hesitant to tell you about this, because it might be might be incredibly dangerous, but a miracle that happened a few years ago".

"A miracle?" Hunk repeated.

"Yes, but it happened on the cursed Kekkaru", the doctor said. It looked like he was still considering whether he should tell the group. Finally, he said, "There's someone I think you should meet.".