Blood Bonds

Part 15 - Fang the Panther

It was the same as the last two days. Eclipse gathered a meal's worth of fruity candy and sat at the back of the cafeteria, with Mephiles seated across from him, staring down at his own food forlornly. The alien was halfway through a Fruit Roll-Up when a passing trainee tripped and recovered fast enough to catch himself, but not his beverage. The carton flew off his tray and hit the floor, spilling its orange contents across the white tile.

"Aw, dang it, my juice!"

"Every cloud has a silver lining," Mephiles commented, looking up from his tray.

The trainee, a black panther, shot him an irritated glance. "Dude, why are you even here? You don't have a mouth."

The mouthless hedgehog sighed and sadly looked back down at his tray. "One can dream. And you should always chase your dreams."

"Is your dream to have a mouth or something?" The panther growled. "Cause that's a pretty stupid dream to have, considering it's impossible."

"I like that he doesn't have a mouth." Eclipse suddenly said, sneering. "Because you sure can't seem to keep yours shut."

"What'd you say to me, punk?" The fearsome feline suddenly slammed his tray down, before looking at the alien's lunch. His anger was skewed by his confusion. "Are you eating... candy for lunch? What are you, a kid?!"

"I've an allergy to water." The alien felt a strange sort of high from how easily he was angering the cat. "What's your excuse?"

That high quickly faded when he realized the panther had unsheathed his foot-long claws and was about to go for his face. Eclipse flinched and brought his arms up protectively, freezing up. A second went by before he opened his eyes and saw Mephiles had grabbed the feline's paw before it could scratch him.

"I'm sorry your day's been so rough, man." The hedgehog said, standing up. "And I'm sorry that the alien's grinding your nerves on purpose. But please, think of having some soldier standing over your shoulder everywhere you go, escorting you to and from a cell and a school."

The panther sheathed his claws, forcing himself to take controlled breaths as he backed away, his hands clenched in fists. "You're right, man. I'm sorry. I've just been so stressed lately, my head's not in the game..." he spoke like a football player would. "Nutmeg hasn't been impressed with my temper, I say I'll try to get better, but then this happens."

"Why don't you sit with us this lunch period?" Mephiles inquired. "You seem like an interesting individual."

"Aw heck, man, you don't have to... well, sure." The buff panther took the seat beside the hedgehog. "Name's Fang."

"They call me Mephiles." The cobalt hedgehog sat down as well. "And the candy addict's name is Eclipse."

"I'm not addicted, I just can't eat anything else." Eclipse spat back. "Why are you letting him sit with us?"

"You sound just like Darlene." The cat chuckled, his husky voice amused. "She and I are roommates, but she likes to bully me."

"Bully you?" Eclipse gave him a peculiar expression. "But you're from the same planet."

Both Mephiles and Fang laughed at his odd comment.

"That don't stop her." The panther's smiling green eyes looked down at his tray. "She's a petty little hyena. Has no problem with hanging out with her girls cat-calling other trainees, but here comes old Fang and she's meaner than a rattlesnake."

"Do you like her?" Mephiles implored softly, looking up at the bulky predator.

"Do I-?!" The cat was suddenly enraged, before checking himself and laughing. "You know, I think I might. I'm just kidding myself at this point."