Lotor's golden irises snapped to life. His sensitive hearing caught a faint shifting in the brush. The tip of his purple ear twitched, and he carefully surveyed the campsite, moving only his eyes.

Morning was quickly nearing, filling the forest with a soft blue-grey light. The smouldering embers of last night's fire sat silently. Deep red ripples danced over the blackened logs. Allura leaned against a large stone protruding from the buttress of the dell. Her steady breathing and serene expression told him she was still unaffected and asleep.

Slowly, he leaned forward and glanced over the woodland with his sharp eyes. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but his ears still tickled with a sound just on the edge of perception. Languidly, he rose to his feet. Lotor crouched forward like a predator and he moved into the open.

Another subtle whisper in the breeze broke the morning quiet. His yellow gaze snapped towards the direction where it had emanated. His fingers found his small boot dagger, unsheathing the weapon. His muscles primed for assault.

The half-Galra prince was a split second faster than the wild animal, a blur of rich sable fur and maddened silver eyes, rushed forward with a horrific shriek.

Lotor did not flinch as the raucous noise afflicted his senses. The lean creature jumped for his face. Large raking claws came deathly near his chest. Lotor swung his knife wide, almost catching the fractious animal on its way down from its previous leap. He was vaguely aware of Allura waking violently.

The creature hit the dirt hard on all fours. It scrabbled away from Lotor as he lunged to swipe it. It bared its dripping, frothing fangs.

Lotor showed his own tips, growling deeply. Rage surged through him in an instant, giving him strength.

The little beast opened its mouth letting out another screech before launching forward in another attack: all flying talons and ripping teeth.

Lotor evaded the creature, daring to reach into the fray of the animal. His strong grip caught the creatures tail, and he swung his shoulder hard, whipping back and throwing the animal like a sack into the solid ground. Allura screamed.

The gurgling creature rolled onto its back spitting and convulsing violently. Lotor, his fingers still wrapped tightly around the bushy tail, dragged the creature away from her. His pounding heart thudded in rhythm to the animal's squeals as he dropped to one knee sinking the blade deep into muscle and through bone. He pulled back, the skin sticking greatly to the thick blade before Lotor plunged the weapon down again and a third time. With its final breath, the creature alligator rolled to swipe his forearm with its claws.

He clenched his jaw, as the talons sunk a few painful centimetres before the creature's strength died. Blood rolled down his arm. His breathing hitched powerfully. It came in ragged puffs that evaporated in the cold, dry air within seconds. For a moment, his gold eyes could only focus on the entrance of his knife. Crimson invaded his sight. His shoulders shook, and his white knuckles ached with the grip he had on the animal's tacky pelt. Then he was finally certain the beast was dead. His hands uncurled from hilt and fur.

He rose and took a deep breath, centring himself. Adrenaline reared its familiar feelings. His stoic eyes took on a tinge of regret when he felt Allura's eyes staring into him and Lotor turned to face the princess.

The entire ordeal had only taken a minute. She stood tense, feeling her heart pounding and the blood rushing through her arms and legs. She felt numb, to be honest. She had no idea what to feel. Seeing the rage and anger, almost feral in its intensity, in his movements invading his eyes and giving him a crazed look almost identical to the creature he had just killed.

Of course, Allura had seen Lotor fight before. Indeed, she had been on the receiving end of his vicious hostility. This time it seemed different, however. Maybe she was merely imagining things, but when he met her eyes and she saw a desperate need in his bright yellow eyes, she was unsure.

Conflicting emotions, completely unaided by the surge of hormones going through her system, roiled within her. It had been an entirely unhappy way to wake up from the night before.

Because she had to say something, and Lotor did not seem capable to submit anything, she admitted, "That was scary." An attempt at humour to diffuse the situation. She thought of Lance for a moment.

Lotor did not understand the effort. He frowned, and concern etched over his face. Inside, he chided himself for not waking her when he had initially heard the disturbance. Stupid. "I should have—"

She cut him off, seeing the obvious confusion in his eyes. There was something else she could not place in his countenance. "It's okay. I was just surprised." She gave him a smile, warming up and feeling somewhat better to be getting her mind off the actual attack. "You didn't ask to be attacked." She paused, thinking on the merit of her next words. Deciding they may reassure him, she said, "Thank you."

Lotor's eyebrows rose slightly. He found his voice," Of course." He lowered his eyes and the dark blood ebbing down his purple forearm caught his eye. He frowned.

Allura also noticed and brought a hand to her mouth. She quickly turned around to rummage in her pack. "Here," she called back. Having a mission cleansed the last of the adrenaline from her mind. She turned around with a wrap and first aid kit in her hands.

He warily walked over and sat down. He attempted to take the supplies.

She pulled them away quickly, and surprise flashed across his face. "No, I will attend to your wound. Sit," she ordered.

There was no room for argument in her tone and Lotor found himself settling onto the ground as she carefully took his arm, rolling up his sleeve. He resisted the urge to flinch as her light touch sent electricity not entirely caused by pain shooting down his spine. As she carefully cleaned the deep puncture wounds with a foaming agent, he focused on keeping his meandering gaze anywhere but her.

His mind buzzed with the feelings conjured by the prior altercation. He wondered to himself why he hadn't woken her. That was eating at him. He really should have woken her instead of letting her wake up like that. You did what you did, he thought to himself morosely. In all truth, he had not expected a raging beast to ambush him. So far, they had not seen any evidence of any predators in the forest but there was bountiful prey; he and the princess were simply on the 'must-try' list this morning.

His thoughts strayed to the battle like they often did after he had won a fight, going over the details and how he had taken down his opponent. It had been a fairly neat kill, as neat as those battles could be. Such crude beasts rarely were elegant in their kills. He glanced across the way at the bundle of fur on the ground. Dark, oozing blood spilled to soak the soil. It stank.

He smirked at the thought of keeping the carcass. He doubted Allura would want the creature in her Lion "Blue". A painful sting made him wince and he looked down at his arm.

Allura was brushing a pad of gauze over the wound in a final wipe. She gave him that knowing look. The one, he decided, that he liked. "You are not keeping it if it's going to stink like that," she said wrinkling her nose.

A rare, genuine, smile poked at the corners of his mouth and added a twinkle to his eye. "How did you know?" He asked idiotically.

She mirrored his smile but turned her eyes back to his wound. Inside, her soul was glowing at seeing his response. She carefully put a white pad over the injury and began to wrap some brown fabric around his thick forearm. The princess said coyly, "I don't know."

Lotor felt a blossom flower in his chest at the tone in her voice, but he didn't say anymore. He indulged himself a little by focusing on the way her skilled fingers moved over his muscular arm. Finally, and too soon, she finished. Damn.

"There. That should be good for a while," she said, packing her things back into her bag. Her sapphire eyes flicked up at the sky and her expression grew more serious. "We should get moving. Dawn won't be long."

Lotor nodded, examining his arm one last time. "The entrance shouldn't be far. We are heading west now?" He met her eyes as she recounted the poem to herself.

She gave a resolute nod. "Yes." The princess took up her pack and stood. She gave the animal one last look. "Are you going to take it?" She asked. Joking aside, it would be an interesting specimen and she loathed wasting the poor creature's life.

"It may prove interesting," he hedged. Lotor could think of a couple things he could do with the pelt. He rarely kept things for such trivial reasons, but it was an intriguing creature.

Luckily, the princess did not seem to mind fostering his curious spirit. "Take it," she finally said. Watching him so lively and excited about something so small lit a warmth in her chest. She hated that it had to die, and it may at least have a legacy. "Just do what you need to do with it after dawn," she said uncertainly.

He nodded, carefully, gently, taking the animal. He wrapped it in his survival blanket aware of Allura watching him. He suspected that if he treated it like the lifeless pelt it was, she would not be impressed. Why do you care if she is impressed? What happened last time you did that? He ignored the prodding voice, feeling weightless. When he finished, slinging the package onto his back, Lotor stood. "Ready?"