Chapter Text
"Xenobiology"
Keith entered the Marmora base, still wearing his mask and armor. He was tired from his mission and wanted to rest with his pack. So when he was unceremoniously flung over his mother's shoulder, he was confused. "Mom?"
"Don't worry, kit. We're going to The Gathering."
"The Gathering? What's that?"
Keith didn't get a verbal answer, but he didn't need one. There were a lot of Galra gathered in the room with pillows and blankets piled up all around. Krolia deposited Keith in a pile with his siblings. He slowly put down his hood and let his mask disappear, unsure of being in a room full of Galra and half-Galra. They at least looked the part. Keith stood out in the group. He was shorter than everyone else and had pale skin (not even a purplish color). He snuggled against Regris as if trying to hide.
"Keith? What's wrong?" Regris asked, petting his younger brother's hair.
"I look so different from everyone else." His response was a little muffled due to his face being pressed against Regris's chest, but it was still audible.
Thace, who was nearby, heard Keith's comment. He came over and rumbled to Keith. "You're okay, kit. Not everyone looks the same. You may get your coloring from your father, but you get these from your mother." Thace reached out and stroked his cheeks.
"My cheeks?"
"No, kit. You have her cheek stripes."
"I do? I haven't noticed them before." Keith tried to see his cheeks but couldn't.
Acxa laughed and ran a claw gently down her younger brother's cheek stripes. She moved his hair to see if they connected in the back like their mother's did. Strangely, they didn't. They seemed to just be the stripe on the cheek. "They look good on you, Keith. Mom! Come see what Keith just got!"
Krolia came over. "What is going on, kits?" Keith looked over at his mom, who gasped. "You inherited my stripes."
"But why did they just show up now?"
"You are actually quite young, kit. It may have taken this long because you have just recently accepted your Galran side."
"Does this mean I might develop more Galran features?" Keith asked, his eyes lighting up at the idea.
Krolia petted Keith's hair. "Is that what you want, kit? To look more Galran?"
Keith leaned against his mother, purring. "Yes."
"Maybe Ulaz can unlock some of your Galran DNA and allow you to develop the features early."
Keith perked up even more and purred louder to her. "Can we ask him now?"
"No need, kit. I heard every word."
"Can you do it?"
"Yes, if it'll make you happy, kit."
"Can we start now?"
"Not right now, kit. Tonight, is The Gathering. It is when the Blades come together and reminisce and enjoy everyone's company. We can do the scan at least before bedtime."
Keith looked around the room at the other Blades and noticed a few of them almost glaring at him. He shrunk against his mom, making small barely audible whimpers. She stroked his hair some more. "What's the matter, kit?"
"I think there are a few Blades that don't like me."
Krolia looked around and saw the glares. She suppressed the urge to growl. There were several Blades glaring at...were they glaring at her kit or her? She didn't care if they were glaring at her, but glaring at Keith pissed her off. She clutched Keith to her chest. "Kolivan! Control your troops!"
Kolivan looked over and noticed Krolia clutching their youngest kit to her chest as if trying to shield him from something. A quick look around the room confirmed Kolivan's theory. Some of the Blades didn't like Keith being there. Kolivan resisted the urge to growl. It wasn't time to be mad. He did make a note of which Blades were glaring at Keith. He was going to have them go through a very rigorous training exercise, but right now, he had a distressed kit to help.
"Kit, you shouldn't be subjected to this. Maybe it would be best to let you retire for the night."
"Could Ulaz do the scan now then?"
"Scan?"
"Keith asked if I could unlock some of his Galran DNA and allow him to develop the features early," Ulaz answered.
Kolivan smiled at Keith. "Of course. When you are done, go to the nest."
Krolia nuzzled Keith before letting Ulaz lead Keith to the med bay. Keith hopped up onto a nearby examination bed, while Ulaz grabbed a strange hand held device. He approached Keith and explained, "This is a painless procedure. I will use this to scan you, and it will tell me which genes you have and which ones are dormant or active."
Keith nodded. "Okay."
Ulaz scanned Keith and waited the required five doboshes for the information to appear. He stared at the scan in disbelief. Keith had dormant genes for a lot of Galran features. He was apparently silent too long, because Keith asked, "What's wrong, Ulaz? Do I not have the genes?"
"On the contrary, kit. You have a lot of genes for Galran features, but they are dormant. You can have your pick. Which features would you like?"
Keith thought for a moment. "Fluffy ears like Thace, a tail like Regris and Antok, fangs, and fur but not all over...like in patches or something."
"Hmm. I think those features will be possible. I would prefer to put you in a medically induced sleep to avoid you being in pain. I will put you under here, activate your genes, and then take you back to the nest, where the rest of our pack are."
Keith purred to Ulaz. "Thank you so much, Ulaz. I appreciate this."
Ulaz petted Keith's hair. "Don't mention it, kit." He prepared a syringe with a sedative-hypnotic. He injected it into Keith's arm. "Time to sleep now."
Keith's eyes slid shut, and Ulaz quickly and efficiently accessed and activated the genes for the features Keith requested.
Once finished, Ulaz carefully gathered Keith into his arms and carried him to the nest. He was already starting to develop the features. Keith's new fluffy ears were twitching in his sleep. He arrived in the nest room and proceeded to change Keith's clothes from his Blade uniform to one of his own shirts. He laid Keith on his tummy in nest next to Krolia, who was already in the nest with the rest of their pack (kits and all). He laid down on Keith's other side and whispered, "He had a lot of dormant genes. I let him have his choice. He wanted the fluffy ears, a tail, fangs, and some fur."
"That's quite a look he chose," Thace said softly.
Keith whined in his sleep, prompting Krolia to groom his hair and Ulaz to rumble to him. He quieted down some, but not all the way due to his tail forming. His fangs had already grown in, since it was an easy change and had already begun to happen, so Ulaz didn't have to activate that particular gene.
"I know it's fascinating to watch these features develop on Keith, but we should get some rest. The kits already are," Ulaz said. Regris and Acxa were curled up together on the other side of Krolia. The pack tried to get some sleep, but it was far from restful. They roused every time Keith whined or whimpered. Finally, in the early morning, Keith's transformation was complete, and everyone was able to get a few hours of restful sleep.
In the morning, Keith woke up before everyone else and carefully extracted himself from his mom and Ulaz. He wanted to see what he looked like. He found a floor length mirror and looked over his new look. There wasn't any fur on his face, but there was a patch of violet purple fur on the right side of his neck. There were patches of the same color fur on various spots of his body; a few on his arms, a few on his legs, and he could even feel several patches on his back and chest. His fluffy ears were the same purple color and poked out of his hair but were technically in the same place his ears had always been. When he caught sight of his tail swishing against the floor, he grinned, and seeing his fangs made him grin even more.
Keith saw his mom come up behind him and purred to her. She gathered him up in her arms. "Is this what you wanted, kit?"
Keith's purr was heard in his voice. "Yes. This is everything I wanted and more."
Fin