stung.  She soon burts through a clearing, Aleu on his side, and Chicago hovering.
When Clara burst through the brush and saw them, Aleu's eyes darted towards her. "Clara!" he tried to sit up, then winced as throbbing pain stabbed between his eyes. "Don't mind if I decide to stay down."
Clara rushed over to Aleu's side and was frantic.  "No, no, no.  Lay down."
"I tried to knock him over, and he went flying," Chicago explained. "He weighs a lot less than he should, just by looking at his size..."
Clara shrugged away the fact, clearly not wanting to tell her why that was so.  "Hello, Chicago."
The pup sniffed at Aleu, then at Clara. Shrugging, he lay on the ground. "I'm going to take a nap now."
At that, Chicago leapt forward and snatched him off the ground, placing him on a nearby parch of grass. "Nap where you don't blend in."
Clara chuckled, looking at Chicago.  "Do you know who I am?"
"Judging from featherlight over there's reaction when you showed up, I'd guess you're Clara." Chicago motioned towards Aleu, who was beginning to look sad once again.
Clara nodded, her eyes closing showing relaxation.
Aleu slowly shifted so that he was crouched belly-down, then slowly started creeping away, eyes watering, but only partially from the pain.
Clara rushed over to Aleu.  "What's wrong?"
Aleu looked at the ground, hiding his tears. "Nothing, Clara."
Clara's eyes clouded with her own tears.  "What happened?"
Looking up, Aleu said, "You know what happened, Clara.  You know almost as well as I do."
"You left me?  Is that why you're upset?"  Clara was getting a little mad.  "'Cause it better be," She murmured.
"No, Clara. The other thing... the reason I left in the first place." He held back a sob, fresh tears flowing.
"You didn't give me a reason," Clara's jaw clenched, trying to be patient.
Aleu finally lay back down. It was obvious that he was going nowhere fast. "You know... the... thing that happened. The fight. When I..." he closed his eyes, but that didn't help. An image of the morning's adventure flashed to his mind, and he sobbed out loud.
"Because you killed Holly's father," Clara understood.  "Is that right?"
Unable to speak through the sobs, Aleu nodded, laying his head on the ground as he did so.
Clara lay down next to her friend.  "Don't you understand?" She started.  "You saved both of us."
He let a tear fall to the ground. "I know, but it still wasn't right to kill him..."
"There wasn't much of a choice," Clara prodded.  "He had me pinned.  He would have killed Holly.  If you grew up with us, you'd understand."
His quiet response was simply, "But I didn't."
"You want me to tell you about it?" Clara said.
He rubbed his sore head, wincing. "Sure. Not like I'm going anywhere... and I told you mine."
"I watched Holly grow up from across the clearing.  Her father tortured him, and I exiled him.  He has come back."
"Holly didn't tell me that."
"It's history," Clara shrugged.  "It's not gossip."
Aleu glanced over at the sleeping pup. "I wish I had one of my own..."
"Don't you love Holly?"
"She's just someone I was helping out. Someone with the same situation as I had, you know?" He shook his head slowly, shaking off tiny droplets of blood that had started to pool from where he had hit his head.
Clara nodded.  She helped Aleu back up, and padded over to Chicago.
Chicago nuzzled the sleeping pup, then looked up at Clara. "What is it, darlin'?"
Clara smiled kindly, and sat down.  "Do you mind if we find some cobweb on your territory, and cover them up on Aleu's wounds?"
"Sure, go right ahead.  We've got plenty." She smiled back.
Clara nodded her thanks, and padded away into a clearing of bushes and dead trees.  The winter sun shone on her pelt, making it twinkle because of the dew.
Looking at Aleu, Chicago said kindly, "Tell me about it. Why you ran here."
Clara peered into a rotting tree.  She was listening to their conversation.  What did Chicago mean?
Aleu sniffled. He was crying like a little cub. Like he was living the childhood he never got. "There was a little fight... I accidently killed somebody."
Chicago nodded understandingly.
Clara pawed at a wad of cobweb and brought it back over.
Aleu lay down, staring mournfully into the distance.
Clara lay the cobweb gently onto her friend's wounds, then nuzzled his cheek.  "That should do it."