"B-brother…" Kael stuttered as he grabbed at his neck.
"Are you alright?" Blanc asked.
"I-I am, but your hand," Kael said, looking at Blanc's limp right hand, as it bled out, from the looks of it, with the bones in his forearm completely broken.
"Damn my hand," Blanc replied, placing his left hand on his hand, "It will heal during the harvest, but you, you are alive, and that is all that matters."
"I am sorry," Kael muttered, "I was not ready for the jaguar to attack me."
"It's not your fault, Little Kael, this one is not your fault," Blanc said, as he roughed his hair, a warm smile on Blanc's face, before he crouched before him and kissed his forehead, "Calm down your heart and rest, you can harvest the jaguar after, okay?"
"All right," Kael nodded as he looked at the ground.
"Good," Blanc said, his voice warm as he rose to his feet and turned on his heels.
Though his voice was warm, and a smile stood on his lips as he talked to Kael, once he turned towards his two wives, all that faded away as if it had never existed in the first place.
He grabbed his right hand with his left above his elbow, trying to stop his hand from moving too much and stop some of the bleeding as he walked toward them.
Celine straightened her back and kept eye contact with him, knowing her mistake.
But Miyanna's eyes darted around, from Blanc to the ground, and back to Blanc again.
She could not keep eye contact with him, but neither could she talk.
Their husband had a different air around him.
He was not the loving husband they got to know.
No… he was the older brother of the boy they almost got killed by doing what they thought was the best idea.
Though Celine stood straight, ready to receive Blanc's anger, she felt her heart heavy with grief. She was not used to mistakes.
And especially not this type of mistake.
The last time she had made one, Blanc jumped in front of a sword for her.
But this time, he had to jump into the mouth of a beast because of her.
Somehow, this felt worse.
But Miyanna… well, she was like a cornered beast.
Scared, terrified.
Not terrified of Blanc, but what her words had almost done.
What her lack of courage and her lack of trust in what Blanc and Celine saw in her almost cost the one she loved most.
Her lips moved, her heart pounded, her eyes watered, yet nothing came out.
No words, no movement, no tears.
She just stood there, watching the ground as Blanc's feet came into view between the two.
"One too prideful, one too humble," Blanc muttered to the two as he watched them with cold eyes, "One too prideful in her legacy, in her skills, and one too humble and too insecure in her lack of legacy and skills."
No answer came from the two at his words.
"Though I love you both with all my being and though I would do the same if it happened to one of you, for what happened today, for what almost happened to MY BROTHER, I will not forgive either of you," Blanc said, his rage and pain creeping in slightly as he spoke.
But since not one of them said anything, neither did he any longer.
Without saying anything else to the two, he turned back towards his younger siblings.
Lune was hugging Kael as Blanc approached.
"Lune, Kael," he said, "You can start your harvests."
"Come on," Lune whispered to Kael, grabbing his hand lightly, "Protect me while I harvest, okay?"
"Mhm," Kael nodded, accepting the invitation, and moving a few feet away towards Lune's kill.
Blanc knelt before the jaguar that had almost taken Kael's life and stared at it.
Though he understood the long list of risks they were putting themselves through, he almost forgot how small a mistake had to be for one of them to lose their life.
And though he was strong, and even a bite from this jaguar to his neck would not kill Blanc, it could easily kill the rest, besides Celine, he, once more, felt weak.
Not even a second of delay, and Kael now would have been heavily injured with no way for him to heal his injuries, or dead.
What was he supposed to tell his parents if they ever met again?
That he failed in the promise he made to them before they left the mansion?
That he allowed his younger brother to die in front of his eyes?
This time, he managed to stop it in time.
But what if next time he would not be able to?
That won't do.
He will hunt all that moves in the Silver Gardens, even if it kills him.
As long as that will make him and the rest stronger, more durable, he will do it.
Be it turtles, beasts, or birds, in this Garden or the rest, none would escape him.
With that resolve in mind, painted by tears, he did not realize he was shedding, and voiced by sobs he did not realize he was making, he placed his left hand atop the jaguar's mangled chest.
And just as he did, all the sobs and tears he was shedding stopped just as his mind fell below the world, starting the harvest of Raw Vita.
"Come," said Celine to Miyanna, as she watched Blanc start the harvest, "Let's do it, too."
"I-I did not want to… I'm sorry, I didn't know, forgive me, please," Miyanna whispered, more to Blanc twenty feet away from her than to anyone else.
But Blanc was not hearing her.
"Miyanna, sister, breathe," Celine tried to calm her down, grabbing her hands, "Everything will be all right."
Miyanna blinked once before turning to face Celine, "Will he… will he forgive me? Forgive us?"
"No," Celine shook her head, "What we both had almost allowed to happen today can not be forgiven."
"Wh-what are we supposed to do then?" Miyanna stuttered, tears welling in her eyes.
However, Miyanna managed to calm down as Celine placed her forehead to her own.
"We must not forget what we have done today, and never allow it to ever happen again." Celine explained, "But for that, we need, both of us, to get stronger."
"Mm," Miyanna nodded, sniffing, "But Blanc…"
"He is in pain now," Celine shook her head. "However, do not worry, our husband's love has not diminished."
"He will not throw me away, will he?" Miyanna wondered in a whisper.
"Never!" Celine replied the next moment, with a serious tone to her words.
"O-okay," Miyanna stuttered, "Let's begin harvesting then."
"That's my sister," Celine smiled at her, as they began walking towards their own kills.
And even though Celine wanted to apologize to her husband just as much, if not even more than Miyanna, she knew it would not solve anything.
The words she uttered earlier were as much for her ears as they were for Miyanna's.
She held back her tears, her grieved heart, and knelt down, placing her hand on the Jaguar's chest.
Crimson red mist left Blanc's right hand as the serpents of amber and crimson healed his wound.
Even though he did not feel it, he knew his hand would be back to normal by the time he came to it.
But that did not change what happened. Not in the slightest.
And as the outline of not one, but two Marks appear on his skin, one in the form of a spotted tail right on his tailbone, and the other Mark as fangs on his right forearm, the memories of the Jaguar flooded his mind.
For a moment, he was the jaguar that almost killed his brother.
As he came to, he felt rage, pain, and instincts whispering in his ears.
He moved his head, looking for his target.
He knew he was going to die, so he hoped that he could at least take one down with him.
His eyes locked on a small human boy.
That was it.
He began running.
And as he leaped, Blanc's memory returned to the surface, his eyes opening slowly.
There was no pain left in his right hand.
All that stood there was one of the two White Marks of the Jaguar he received.
No scars. But a Mark that felt like one in his heart.
He took a look around.
Kael was harvesting, and so were Celine and Miyanna.
Lune was looming over Kael, but noticed her Brother's eyes as he watched her.
A small, sad smile covered Lune's lips as she waved slowly.
Blanc did not say or wave back to her.
He got to his feet, broke free the sword from the jaguar's body, and went towards the other jaguar he had killed.
It was next to the one Celine was harvesting.
However, he did not start the harvest right away. He stood there watching the rest and protecting them until Celine's eyes opened.
When she did, she noticed Blanc next to her.
"My lo-" she muttered, but stopped as Blanc knelt beside the jaguar, looking at her.
"Will you defend me?" he asked her.
"With my life," she muttered, getting to her feet and wanting to take a step towards him, but stopped mid-step, and only managed to utter three single words. Words she knew would not change anything, but words she still said out loud to him, "I am sorry."
Blanc stared at her for a moment, not saying anything, before he placed his healed right hand over the body of the jaguar, his mind falling below the surface of the world.