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The Right Thing To Do?

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Chapter 8.1:

Family Visit

Written by: Seliron (Sel)

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Disclaimer:

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This story is purely fictional and does not depict any existing person, living or dead, or any real event. The characters are not human.

This story will not contain sexual interactions at all. NEVER. I'm sorry. I just don't want these two characters to do things like that, for personal reasons.

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Characters:

• Seliron "Sel" Lynch - Male black leopard (panther), 28 years old

• Leon "Leo" Lynch - Male eurasian lynx, about 8 years old

• Coren "Cor" Lynch - Male leopard, 30 years old

• Maxine "Max" Lynch - Female cat, 6 years old

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After Leo opened up to Sel again, reading remained part of their evening routine. They both enjoyed the sessions they shared every day when the sun was setting, and now that Leo was talking again, he showed a lot more interest. The two cats discussed exciting events that occurred in the novels they read, and Leo even suggested topics and genres of books he would like to read whenever they had finished their current adventure.

This time, they were reading a pretty mild fantasy novel about dragons, knights and princesses. Leo was listening eagerly as the fancy warrior, the hero of the book, was trapped inside a cave, with a vicious dragon waiting for him outside.

But just as the brave knight gathered his courage and walked out the cave, his sword risen high in the air, a knock on the door disturbed the two cats. Leo whimpered at the sudden disturbance and immediately curled up to a ball, protecting himself from whoever might have knocked.

Sel softly ruffled the shivering cub's headfur as the door opened slowly. The panther was very careful about unexpected visitors, as journalists tried multiple times to sneak into their room, hoping that they could grab an interview or a picture of Leo, anything that they could turn into a good story.

But as Sel caught the first glimpse of the visitor, he sighed in relief. A very familiar male leopard, about the same age as Sel, entered the room.

"Coren..."

Sel got up quickly and hurried over to his older brother. The panther hadn't seen Coren and his family for a long time, as the leopard had been working abroad for his company and had taken his wife and young daughter with him. They had returned only a few days ago.

"Sel... I'm sorry, I couldn't make it earlier..."

Coren hadn't changed much in that year, though he looked kind of upset and worried as he glanced at his little brother. Sel didn't reply, instead stepping closer to his sibling and pulling him into a tight hug. The leopard, though a bit surprised, hugged him back for a brief moment.

"It's fine... you weren't even in the same country, how were you supposed to get here?" Sel asked.

"I would have found a way... why didn't you tell me about all that earlier?"

"I didn't... didn't want to upset you... I thought I'd wait until you came back and had a chance to calm down a bit..."

"Well, I don't consider it very calming to come home to the message that I suddenly have a nephew out of the blue, and that he was almost raped and killed... But anyway, I shouldn't blame you for something like that... How are you, little bro?"

"I'm fine... well, as far as I can be."

"And what about your... cub?"

"He's gotten a bit better in the last days. We've made good progress, actually."

"I'm glad to hear it... What on earth happened in that mall, Sel? I read about it in the newspapers, but they don't give out much information..."

"That's because the police are still investigating the case. Where do you want me to start?"

"Probably best to start at the very beginning, I guess..."

"Well, we went to the toy store in the mall to buy Christmas presents. Leo and his best friend roamed around the store on their own, but as we were about to leave, Leo didn't show up..."

It didn't take long for Sel to get to the most difficult point of the story, the moment where the knife entered Leo's chest. Sel struggled to keep talking as he tried his best to remember every little detail that happened directly after that, but he managed to recall the most important things.

"Leo screamed in pain, and I jumped forward and tried to get the guy away from Leo. A few other furs had heard the scream apparently... they came to help, and we were able to overpower him. Some guys held him down on the floor, while I looked after Leo."

The panther paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before he continued.

"He was unconscious at that time, and was losing a lot of blood - I didn't know what to do, but one of the strangers helped me to treat his wounds a little, while we waited for the ambulance and police to arrive."

Sel sighed as he remembered the last part, the terrifying, nerve-raking hours of waiting in the hospital, as Leo fought for his life. His voice cracked, but he kept talking.

"He survived... barely. In the last few weeks, I tried my best to help him in any way possible. We made good progress, but... well, he's still traumatized..."

"Damn... Sel, I'm... I'm so sorry, that's horrible..."

The panther sat down on a chair nearby, his mind still upset. Remembering everything that had happened again was exhausting, something he didn't want to do at all. But after all, he owed his own brother the truth.

"Could I... maybe... say hello to him? My nephew, I mean?" Coren asked, smiling shyly.

"You... you could give it a try, but don't expect much. He'll probably ignore you, but that's just the best case. Be careful!"

"Alright..."

Sel watched nervously as his brother approached Leo's bed. The leopard kept a respectful distance, kneading his paws nervously as he noticed the trembling bump in the blanket where the small cub was hiding. Sel was on-edge, ready to intervene immediately if things should escalate, but he decided to just watch the scene unfold for now.

"H-hi there..." the leopard stammered, unsure how to deal with the unfamiliar situation.

The shivering ball of fur beneath the blanket didn't show any sign of recognition, just as Sel had expected. Coren looked confused and a bit taken aback, but he caught himself again only a moment later.

"Hey there, Leo... I'm Coren, your new... uncle, I guess."

The boy still didn't react in any way, and the leopard seemed to realize that his efforts were pointless. He stepped back and made his way back to Sel, a disappointed look on his face.

"Well, that actually went better than expected..." Sel said, frowning.

"Seriously?"

"He didn't freak out, so I'd call that a..." he started, but something caught his attention.

The door handle was slowly pushed down by someone, and a moment later, the door swung open. A little feline girl, about six years old, stepped inside. Before either of the adults could react, the cub made her way straight to Leo's bed, and stopped right next to the bump in the blanket.

"Max! Get away there! I told you to wait outside with your mom!" Coren whispered.

The small feline looked her dad straight in the eyes and shook her head. She sat down on the edge of the bed, really close to Leo.

"Hi!" she piped up cheerfully. "I'm Max. You're Leo, right?"

Coren was just about to walk over to his daughter, probably to drag her away from the bed, but Sel grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Wait... he didn't freak out yet. Let's see what happens..." Sel whispered to the confused leopard.

They watched in surprise as Leo stopped trembling slowly, and finally poked his small head out from under the blanket. He glanced at the female cub in surprise, bewildered by her pushy move.

"You don't have to be scared, silly." the girl scolded Leo. "Noone's gonna hurt you, you know?"

The young boy stared at her in disbelief, fright still showing on his face.

"How can you be so sure about that?" he mumbled, almost inaudible.

"Because I trust everyone in here. Dad would never hurt me, and Sel is the best uncle in the world!"

The girl's expression, hard and self-confident at first, softened noticeably as she looked right into the lynx cub's blue eyes. She reached out, and before Sel or anyone else could stop her, she put her paw right on Leo's head. Sel stood there, expecting Leo to freak out immediately, but the boy didn't react. In fact, he let it happen, even allowing her to stroke his hair slightly.

"See? You're safe here!" Max said, smiling at Leo.

Leo blinked, confusion and fear slowly fading away, and smiled.