The panther made his way down the steps and into the darkness where the cries were coming from. The knight realized it was only maybe a fifteen by fifteen stone room upon reaching the base, furnished with nothing but two chairs, and a single bed.
`It was likely used as a secret hiding place for the royal family during times like this.' The knight thought to himself before he turned to face the bed and the source of the wailing bundle atop of it.
He saw a hook for the torch to the left of the bed, so he hung it there before slowly walking over to the wailing mess impatiently kicking against it's own bedding now that it had realized it wasn't alone anymore.
At this point, his sense had begun to return. His dedication was faltering as the reality that his son was not under those blankets became more and more evident, but still, the knight had too much hope to turn back now. He stepped up to the mattress, pulled off the top blanket, and picked up the noisy creature, bringing it up to his face in the dim lighting.
Staring back at the knight, was a plump, human child. No, only a cub, probably on his first year still... The child had a silky, dark brown tuft of fur on his head the color of muddy soil, though, the humans called it `hair.' His eyes were a rich brown color that reminded the cat of stained walnut wood, the grain of such wood mimicked by the tiny golden lines forking through the dark brown of his eyes. The cub only stared wide-eyed back into the gaze of the panther, whose demeanor had now began to shift.
His head dropped to the floor as the reality set in. His wife, and his cub weren't here. They weren't going to be anywhere else ever again either. His anguish began to build again.
The knight felt foolish that he had allowed himself to hope, angry that this world would take so much from him when a time of peace finally seemed in sight after endless fighting, and cheated by fate, and the fate of his broken family.
He was angry for his two remaining sons growing up without a mother. He was angry with himself for refusing to return to her side and instead choosing the battlefield. He was angry at the humans for starting this damned war in the first place.
A cold-blooded growl began to build in his throat, growing louder by the second, the same sound many a soldier had heard moments before their gruesome deaths.
The panther was preparing to lash out at the child as it slowly brought it's eyes back up, fangs now clearly visible beneath his snarled lips, the off-white bone color clashing gruesomely against his red mouth and black fur.
His ears flattened against his head and his jaw began to part, never letting up on the wicked snarl escaping from his maw all the while.
`I beg of you, don't let your sorrow alter who you were meant to be. Do not honor me by raising your blade for my sake.'
His wife's final words flashed across his mind, soothing over the anger that was welling up inside the big cat. He felt his breath hitch once more and closed his eyes. He was so tired of crying. He was tired of all this hurt. He was tired of all this heartache. He was tired of all this bloodshed. Perhaps the human cub was too...
Jagón gasped and opened his eyes in shock as he felt a gentle touch. What he saw, was the child's hand outreached into his now open maw, gently grasping ahold of the panther's fang. The human looked away from, (but didn't release hold of,) the fang he fancied and shifted his sights back to the knights gaze with a look of utter awe mixed with intrigue.
Jagón found himself completely unable to move. He was simply that taken aback. Was this foolish creature really so naïve it would cling to the very thing that was about to slay it?
The panther received his answer shortly when the baby discovered something in the cat's eyes that made him first crack a mostly toothless smile, and then release a laugh that seemed far too whimsical considering the circumstances of what had transpired there today.
`You and our sons gave my life purpose, happiness, and the most unfathomable love I never believed could have existed.'
More of his wife's words flowed into the panthers mind, whether he wanted to be reminded of them or not.
`You were always the knight who came to my rescue, but not all of our battles are meant to be won. Instead, I now ask that you be that knight for our cubs.'
Why was this coming to him now? What was the reasoning for this? To further torment him? To have him dwell on what may have been?
`Leaving you alone to raise three boys may be the most selfish thing I could ask, and probably one the toughest fights you've ever had laid before you'
The knight closed his eyes and let the tears fall freely now, humoring the cub before him and letting him keep his hold on the cat's ivory fang. He understood, realization washing over him as he recalled her final wishes once more.
`Please, shower them with more kindness, more patience, and more love and respect than you ever knew that you had to give.'
It was quite an obvious thing now, what Felicity would want... What a kind heart like hers would wish of me here...
Grow with them. Play with them. Teach them. Learn with them. Love them scores more than you even loved me. This is the last I ask of you, my tall, dark, heroic knight.
The knight finally scoffed out loud a bit, breaking through his turmoil at last as he thought to himself, `Oh Felicity, truly, what a task you've laid before me here. I-I don't know if I will even be able to... King Alocer... I don't even know how this can be done yet, but I will try, my love. I swear on my life, I will try.'
Jagón freed up one of his hands to meet the human's own tiny one, gently pulling the boy's grip free from his fang and closing his jaw. The cub didn't much care for that, and let out a whine of protest.
The panther merely chuckled to himself, pulled the cub a bit closer, and held up a finger to the boy's lips, shushing him before speaking in the softest tone his tired voice could muster at the time,
"Worry not, little one, your father is here. I have come to take you home, my little Aster."
***