Grown-ups always seem to have a million reasons to say "no." But sometimes, they surprise True anyway. (Prompt: 027 Dark)

Finding Sunlight

True worried what would happen when they broke Winter Camp and started back out for New Pacifica. During the journey, she knew, she'd be expected to carry her things in her pack. That was going to be a problem: Kitty had taken to using it as his nest. He seemed to like the dark, enclosed environment and often slept in there for hours at a time.

She'd given him an old cloth for a blanket, and while he was naturally clean, she still washed it every few days. Every time she did, she found something else in the bag. Sometimes it was a shiny rock. Sometimes it was a bit of discarded material that he'd decided to use as a toy. And every now and then, she found a discarded claw, left behind from a grooming session.

The first time she'd found one of those, she'd been extremely careful with it. The second time, she'd managed to slip into the med-tent when no one was looking and run a couple of tests. It seemed that naturally discarded claws had empty venom chambers. Still, she'd been super careful until the fourth time, which had been when she'd stabbed herself in the hand with while shaking out Kitty's blanket.

Thankfully, nothing had happened. Even better, she'd discovered that there were often little bits of skin at the base. The cells made pretty patterns.

That, True realized, was probably why she'd noticed it when the skin at the base of Kitty's claws started getting lighter.

At first, the cells were a muddy-colored brown. For a while, they'd darkened to nearly black, but then they started lightening again. On this latest claw, they weren't all that much darker than True's own skin.

Looking at Kitty as he prowled around their tent, she realized that he'd gotten just as pale as the skin she found on his claws.

All of the animal care databases insisted that animals changed their behavior whenever they were sick or hurt. Kitty hadn't done that. But the color change hadn't happened for no reason, and that worried her as much as the idea of leaving Winter Camp.

She knew what would happen if she went to Yale or Julia for help; they'd take Kitty away and turn him into the woods. Grown-ups always did things like that, and they always had a million reasons why. He was a wild animal. He was dangerous. He would eat too much food.

True thought about all these things while letting Kitty run around. Her Dad was off fixing something, the way he always seemed to be lately. It would be safe for a little while.

"I just wish I knew what was wrong with you," she said out loud.

He'd been sniffing around a pile of clothes, but at the sound of her voice he came back and nuzzled her fingers. She smiled. Didn't the grown-ups understand that Kitty loved her and that made keeping him worth everything?

"Besides," she said. "You'd rather stay here with me anyway, wouldn't you?"

She could swear he purred as he climbed into her lap. "If your skin means you're sick, you sure don't act like it."

"I don't think he's sick."

Startled, she shoved Kitty into her backpack before turning around. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Bess closed the tent flap behind her. "You haven't been fooling me, True."

She felt her face growing warm. "Are you going to tell my Dad?"

"Not unless I have to. Go ahead and let him back out if you want."

Kitty's eyes widened when he saw the newcomer, and he wasted no time checking her out. Bess chuckled and shook her head. "You know keeping him's a bad idea, don't you?"

She couldn't quite meet the older woman's eyes.

"I figured. It's hard to let go sometimes, when a pet's so special to you. And he is, isn't he?" Bess stroked Kitty's forehead. "I had a dog growing up. Everyone thought we were crazy to spend money on it when we were barely taking care of ourselves. They didn't understand."

"What did you do when he got sick?"

"The neighbors down the road kept pigs. They were pretty good at treating them, and treating him. We took him to the vet if we could afford it, but that wasn't often. Mostly we just hoped he'd pull through whenever he was acting like he didn't feel well."

"But Kitty doesn't act like he's feeling wrong."

"I know. That's why I don't think anything is. And I think I know why his skin's doing that. How long has it been since you had him in sunlight?"

"A while." She sighed. "It's hard to know when it's safe to let him out of the bag."

Bess held her arm out in front of her. "You know how all our skin got darker in the sun when we were walking, but now it's getting lighter again because we're always inside? I think the same thing is happening to him. He just needs to get some sun."

"I can't do that. It's not safe."

"It'd be safe if you did it early in the morning, when nobody's up yet. I can keep an eye out if you want."

"You would?"

"I don't mind, as long as he behaves himself. Just don't make me regret it."

True cocked her head. "Why would you do that?"

Now Bess was the one who dropped her eyes. "Kids need pets. I had to leave my dog behind when I left Earth. I guess…" she trailed off. "I miss him, and seeing you with Kitty helps a little."

There seemed to be more behind that, but True decided not to ask too many questions. That might lead to Bess changing her mind, and now that she knew Kitty was all right, it was awfully hard to consider denying him something he might want or need."

"Thank you," she said instead. "I'll be careful."