Klance Oneshots

Lance's Lion Castle: Part 3

The next morning, he heard his father arrive from his travels. His coworkers exclaimed in greeting to him as he showed off his new fashionable hat and clothes.

"I know! Our customers will love it!" he said loudly, then, "Keith! Keith? That's odd. Where is he?"

"I'm afraid he hasn't come down today, sir. He wasn't feeling well this morning."

Keith buried his head in his pillow, thankful his door was locked. His ears twitched as he heard his father tapping on his door.

"Keith? Are you alright, son?"

"Please, go away," he groaned, his voice sounding even more grating in his ears.

"You sound awful! Are you alright?"

"I've just got a bad cold… I don't want you to catch it."

"Alright. If you say so. Everyone else and I are going to Townsquare. If you're feeling better soon, you should join us."

Keith heard his father's footsteps fade as he walked away. Then, the rest of the shop emptied as the workers accompanied him. He slowly sat up and looked at himself in the mirror.

"You know, this isn't so bad. Now, people have a real reason to avoid you, and your appearance finally fits your mental state. Plus, you can finally wear Shiro's old clothes now, like he said you could when you grew up," he said to his reflection.

Shiro. It had been over a year since he had gone missing. Keith hoped he was still alive. He really missed his older brother. But now wasn't the time to think about that. He couldn't stay here.

Keith sighed and pulled on a change of Shiro's old clothes: a black tunic with loose sleeves, black pants after he fixed a hole for his tail, and a pair of Shiro's black leather boots. He also borrowed his big brother's hooded black cloak (Shiro liked black best, ok?) as it was going to be cold where he was headed. Then, he crept down to the kitchen and packed some bread and jam in a handkerchief before he left the shop, grabbing Shiro's old hat and using it to cover his ears. He pulled the hood up for good measure.

"Our king says they took his husband- and that we're going to be going to war with them to get him back."

"No one wants to go to war!"

"I hope our missing king returns soon."

Keith set out toward the edge of town. He crossed the bridge over the tracks just as the train came through, shrouding him in black smog. He coughed at the burning in his throat and a young woman gasped as he walked out on the other side.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine."

He continued his journey and a nice man with a hay wagon offered him a ride to the foothills.

By lunchtime, he had made it to one of the foothills and he had a beautiful view of the town across the river. His legs weren't used to his new weight, so he began looking around for a staff of some kind. He spotted a potential possibility stuck in a bush not too far from where he was. He grunted as he got up and staggered to it.

When he pulled it out, he realized it was a scarecrow. It had a busted top hat on its head, a corncob pipe stuck in his turnip head smile, and he wore a coat with tails. His tattered pants legs blew loosely in the wind. One of his arms looked a little weird, almost metallic, but Keith shook his head in defeat. Then, he realized the scarecrow was balancing on its own accord.

"Oh, who are you?" Keith asked the scarecrow.

Of course, it didn't answer, instead, hopping up and down in response.

"I don't understand what you're saying, but you're free now, so hop along."

He turned and went back to his lunch, wincing as his legs and feet ached.

"Dammit, Shiro, how could you stand to walk in these things? There's no insole!" he grumbled to no one as he pulled off the boot and rubbed his sock foot.

It helped ease some of the pain in his legs. The scarecrow, he realized, had hopped over to him.

"You know," Keith said as he pulled the boot back on, "your head looks an awful lot like a turnip. I've always hated turnips, ever since I was a kid."

He pulled a face and the scarecrow hopped a little, then bounced away.

"See ya, Turniphead!" Keith called after it.

He gathered up his meal and continued. He didn't really have any idea where he was going, but one thing was for sure. If he could find the Wizard of the Waste, he was going to pummel him and then make the wizard change him back.

"It's so cold! And I can still see the town- I've barely gone anywhere!"

He heard a faint sound over the howling of the chilly wind and turned to see Turniphead hopping along the path behind him.

"I thought you'd gone! I don't know what sort of spell you have on you, but I've had more than enough of magic and wizards. You should go find a field somewhere and be out standing in it."

He turned and tried to keep going, but a sharp pebble got lodged in the sole of the boot and he stumbled with a curse. He sat down on a boulder and pulled the boot off to massage his foot again, wincing at the tenderness. A faint thump sounded beside him as the scarecrow dropped a pair of old, worn boots beside him. There were holes in the toe and the heel, but he could use the insoles.

"Thank you…" Keith said quietly as he fixed Shiro's boots, "that's much better!"

He stood and felt like he was walking on clouds.

"If you aren't busy and wouldn't mind doing me one more favor, could you perhaps find somewhere for me to stay? It's getting really cold out here…" Keith said as his teeth chattered.

The scarecrow hopped three times before bouncing off to… somewhere. Keith kept walking up the path, shivering in the wind. Storm clouds rolled in from the mountains and he saw a battleship. It wasn't headed his way, so he ignored it.

"Pfft, I might be covered in fur, yet I'm still freez- wait... Someone's got a fire going… maybe there's a house nearby…" he said to himself as he followed his nose.

He made it to the top of the hill just as the modge podge blue lion shaped castle walked up the other side, the scarecrow in the lead.