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It was the dead of night when an odd noise sounded through the house, one that Squall didn’t associate with the house settling around then with the change of temperature after sunset. It woke him from a comfortable rest and while normally he would be unhappy that he had rolled away from the warm weight that was his bear friend, that dark night he was glad that his waking wouldn’t disturb anyone right away.
He held still, holding his breath even to better hear what was doing on, awake and alert at a moment’s notice.
The soft creak of the middle of the manor’s bottom step. It was something the pets and Sephiroth knew to avoid because of the amount of noise the worn wood made underfoot.
In a flash, the brunet was out of bed and flying down the hall, waking his two companions but already a heavyweight beast as he hit the top of the stairs. The intruder must have heard him coming as he bounded down to the ground floor but either Squall had been too quick or the intruder too inexperienced because they confronted each other in the lounge.
Squall didn’t wait to find out much more about the intruder besides how big they were and they were big. They were halfway through a change when Squall leapt, powerful hind legs propelling him across the lounge to crash into the person who had become a tiger.
Snarls sounded, claws flashed, massive, predatory felines tumbled and crashed into the bookcase. Books cascaded down around and atop the struggling pair who righted themselves and clashed again, falling into and damaging the mahogany coffee table by knocking out one of the legs and again fangs struck, claws ripped at fur and sent tufts of it spinning into the air.
The tiger was bigger but Squall was angry.
Upstairs, the commotion had woken everyone if Squall’s abrupt charge down the hallway hadn’t done so already.
Cloud had beelined straight for Sephiroth’s room, leaping onto the man’s bed and facing the door, low growls sounding in his throat despite his still human form. Sephiroth had no idea what was going on but when he opened his mouth to demand to know what the fuss was about, a crash sounded downstairs and Sephiroth joined the dots between the noise downstairs and Cloud’s defensive posture and growling.
More noise came from the hallway as Angeal charged down the hallway himself, a little bit angry at Squall for going alone but also trusting Squall to keep the pride safe. Angeal would back the lion up if it was necessary.
Back downstairs, the fight was continuing in earnest. There had been no more damage to the furniture but plenty to the two combatants. Fur was everywhere and blood had been splashed onto the rug. Some of the books that had fallen were torn or bent where heavy paws had scratched or stepped on them. A vase containing some aromatic flowers had been broken and several decorative ornaments and pictures had been knocked from their places too though.
Just as Angeal reached the bottom of the stairs to turn the tide of battle if it was needed, there was a mighty roar followed by an equally almighty crash as the pair of furred fighters tumbled through the tall windows that let in the majority of light into the room, or would have done if there was anything left of them. Glass shattered, showering the pair as they rolled out into the dark, glass sparkling in fur.
Angeal followed to join the fray but as he approached the ruined window, he saw a dark form racing off into the shadows of the night as the lion picked himself up out of the debris left by their fall through the windows. Before Angeal could ask if Squall was okay, the lion stood and released several long, low roars into the night after the disappeared figure.
“I’m here. I won. Don’t test this place again.” – Warnings not only to their intruder.
It was the sound of soft footsteps on the stairs after several long moments of quiet that finally prompted Squall to turn from the darkness and Angeal to look back over his shoulder.
Tentatively, Cloud peered into the lounge before stepping inside. “Is it safe?” he asked carefully, looking first at Angeal and then at Squall. It was only when he’d received twin nods of confirmation that the blond relaxed and gestured back to Sephiroth that it was okay.
“What happened?” Sephiroth demanded as he stepped into the wreckage of his lounge. Even after being woken in the middle of the night and dressed in little more than a thin robe with his long hair unbound, their master was imposing. The silveret folded his arms and waited expectantly, looking at Angeal and Squall in turn as the lion stepped carefully through the destroyed windows, changing shape even as he moved, careful to avoid the worst of the glass underfoot.
“Someone broke in,” Squall began, looking at the mess he’d made without remorse and absolutely unashamed of his nudity resulting from returning to his human shape. “Tiger. I think they were coming after you because they didn’t try to take anything.”
Angeal looked at him sharply, itching to look over the brunet who was wearing several signs of his earlier combat. An accusation of attempted assassination was a serious one. Sephiroth was well-known enough and powerful enough that it probably wasn’t a reach to suspect such a nefarious deed though. With Squall having been unable to see any sign of who sent the tiger, Sephiroth would have to be very careful with everyone he interacted or met with.
Sephiroth still seemed angry but that anger didn’t appear to be directed at Squall any longer. “Then I thank you for your protection, though I do wish it could have been managed without such destruction.” A hole in the side of his manor was a small price to pay for his life though, he supposed, and a carpenter would not be too hard to find once the sun rose. Still, Sephiroth sighed and gestured for the brunet to step out of the glass along with Angeal. “Come into the sitting room, and you Angeal. Standing in the cold is hardly reward for your efforts. Cloud, would you light some lamps and help me in the kitchen please.”
Cloud gave their pride leader a worried look before nodding as Sephiroth swept off into the kitchen and the wolf bustled around lighting several lamps in the wreckage of the lounge and in the sitting room before hurrying off to join Sephiroth.
Meanwhile Angeal closed the distance between himself and the lion with perhaps a little more speed than was necessary and he was pleased to see that the lion didn’t flinch, nor bow his head in expectance of a blow. Instead there was a defiant little tilt to his chin, as if daring Angeal to chastise him for getting hurt. Rather than grumble at the lion for taking wounds, the bear instead reached to brush some remaining glass from the brunet’s hair, careful not to cut his fingers on the tiny shards.
“That was pretty impressive,” the bear said instead, grinning when the lion snorted and glared at him. Having been in the arena, Angeal had more battle prowess and probably knew better how to handle himself against a tiger, plus the size difference would have been in Angeal’s favour. However, Squall was the leader of their pride and there was an understanding that the brunet needed to fight those battles. That wasn’t going to stop the bear from teasing.
“Killing them would have gotten blood everywhere,” Squall defended lightly, picking out a piece of glass lodged in his arm. A few similarly small but dangerous pieces marked his body and he hissed as Angeal began digging out a particularly deeply wedged one.
“I didn’t recognise them but they were on the stairs by the time I left the room. I’m sorry I didn’t wake you to join me but there wasn’t time,” Squall explained quietly, watching as the bear prodded a deep tear across his hip left by the tiger’s claws. That one was nasty but thankfully it was the worst of the wounds he’d sustained and it would heal, even if it left a scar.
It was then that Sephiroth and Cloud joined them in the small sitting room, Sephiroth with warm water, a cloth, needle and thread and Cloud with a tray of mugs filled to the brim with warm milk for all of them. “This will hurt Squall, but it’ll heal more cleanly if we stitch that wound,” Sephiroth announced, his tone brooking no argument as he approached the brunet and Angeal moved aside to make space for him.
“I know,” Squall replied simply as Sephiroth settled beside him. Angeal took up the cloth and began to clean the largest wound ready for the silveret to begin stitching and then began to mop up the spots of blood left by the glass and other, small cuts and scratches left by the fight. He was gentle around the lion’s face where a shallow cut was sliced into his cheek and wept blood down to his chin. Squall was quiet and still, making the occasional noise of pain as Sephiroth closed his wound, the adrenaline having worn off.
With Sephiroth patching him up, Angeal cleaning him up and Cloud’s warmth and support, it wasn’t long before the brunet was as well as he was going to get in the aftermath of the fight. Despite how it was still the middle of the night none of the group felt particularly tired anymore, though a comfortable silence had fallen over them as they drank their warm milk. Sunrise was a ways off yet but a quiet word from Cloud had the four of them rising and returning to the lounge.
After surveying the damage and Angeal gently putting a restraining arm in front of Squall when the brunet moved to begin picking up after the fight, three of the four began to clear up what they could with Cloud striking up quiet conversation with the bear.
Despite his wounds and not anticipating any further disturbance anyway, Squall took up position near the hole where Sephiroth’s windows had been and stood guard, protecting his pride still. And if there was a little bit of smugness about him beneath his vigilance? Well… he’d driven off a potential assassin and protected those he cared about.
As leader of the pride, he’d done his job and it felt good.