Puppy Love
Disclaimer: all characters seen here are property of Square Enix. I own nothing that you recognize.
Written for the Rebirth of the Daily Weird Prompt Thing
Prompt - [character A] adopts a stray kitten/puppy/bunny but isn't supposed to have pets in their [house/dorm/apartment/barracks]. [character B] finds out about [character A]'s pet and either helps them hide it from [their parents/teachers/landlord/commanding officer] or tattles on them for having a pet.
A/N: this story takes place before Leo and Celes became Generals. Kefka is on the verge of losing his mind, and is still in charge of the Imperial army.
And in case you're wondering, Kefka is 31 in this, Leo is 26 and Celes is 14.
Leo Christophe was a young soldier who had seen far too many of his fellow soldiers lose their lives in battle. There was nothing worse than watching his comrades being murdered on the battlefield, expect perhaps the careless way in which Kefka handled the situation.
Kefka was heartless, stating that the soldier's lives were meaningless, and that their only purpose in life was to serve him. It was his job to send out letters to their families, informing them of their son or daughter's passing. And instead of handling the situation with tact, most of his letters were hastily written with little care or thought towards the fallen soldier's family. It disgusted Leo, every time he saw Kefka penning a letter with a scrap of paper on his knee, the feathers flying as he grabbed the nearest carrier pigeon and sent it on its way. He knew Kefka didn't care about the soldiers that died. All that mattered was that they followed his orders.
One morning while he was sitting outside eating his lunch in the midday sun, Leo spied an injured puppy limping along on three legs near the barracks. The puppy was a Vector hound, a type of doberman usually kept by soldiers in the city of Vector. It wasn't unusual for soldiers to bring their animals with them when they left for battle. They made good friends and close companions when the soldiers couldn't be home with their families. But sometimes the dogs were abandoned when their owners died in combat, leaving the animals to wander alone unless someone was kind enough to adopt them.
Leo watched as the puppy limped across the grass, its tongue hanging from its mouth as it whimpered and whined. It had been hurt by something, or perhaps someone, seeing as how Kefka was known to despise small animals, and was rumored to have drowned a kitten in a bucket of water for shedding on his clothes. It was because of Kefka that Leo chose to eat his meals outside, away from him and his rude, obnoxious comments.
He tore off a piece of his sandwich, holding it out as he tried calling the puppy. The poor animal looked half starved, and it made Leo wonder how long it had been wandering around without any food.
The puppy whined, lowering its head and cowering in fear.
"Come on, boy. It's alright. I promise I won't hurt you."
He kept calling the puppy, his gentle tone helping to calm the frightened animal. Every now and then he would glance around to make sure he was alone, and that Kefka hadn't seen him trying to feed the puppy. After a few minutes, he managed to coax the puppy into coming closer, and stretched out his arm, offering the food to the hungry animal.
The puppy snatched the food from his hand, then limped away and started eating. When Leo tried calling the puppy a second time, he quickly returned for what was left of his sandwich. Leo scooped the animal up in his arms, petting him and feeding him the last of his food. He felt sorry for this poor abandoned creature, and decided to keep him and make a pet out of him. The only problem was that Kefka didn't allow pets in the barracks.
"I think I'll call you Vincent," said Leo. "Do you like that, boy?"
The puppy responded by barking and licking his face.
Leo sat the puppy down, then removed a handkerchief from his pocket and tied around Vincent's leg, hoping it would be enough to help him walk. Vincent sniffed the bright green cloth, wondering what it was. He then tried taking a few steps forward. He was still limping on his injured leg, though not quite as bad as before.
"I know it isn't much, boy," said Leo, scratching the puppy between the ears, "but it's the best I can do for now. If Kefka was a decent person, I could ask him to heal you. But he's probably the reason why you're hurt."
Just then the door opened, and Celes poked her head out into the sunlight. She looked down at the puppy that was sitting at Leo's feet, and her heart melted at the sight of the little brown and black animal. She immediately reached for him, but Vincent shied away, moving to hide behind Leo. It was then that she noticed the handkerchief on his leg and asked what happened.
Leo shook his head. "I don't know. My guess is Kefka had one of his episodes, and this little guy just happened to be in the way when it happened."
"That's terrible!" Celes exclaimed. "Here. Let me see if I can help." She knelt down beside him, holding out her hand as she tried getting the puppy to come to her.
"Go on," said Leo gently. "It's alright. Celes is a nice lady. She won't hurt you."
Vincent looked from Leo to Celes, then took a few shaky steps forward. When Celes reached down to pick him up, he started and hobbled back to Leo, moving as quickly as his injured leg would allow. Leo finally resorted to picking him up and sitting him on his lap. The young knight then held her hand over him, and a gentle light poured from her fingertips, healing his wounded leg within a matter of seconds.
The puppy leapt onto the ground, barking happily and running circles around them.
Leo smiled. "Thank you. But how are we going to keep Kefka from finding out about him? He'll probably kill him if he finds out I want to keep him."
Before Celes had time to answer, they heard footsteps approaching from behind, and turned to see Kefka heading towards the door.
Without thinking Leo dove on top of Vincent and held him against his chest, zipping his jacket closed and hiding the puppy under the thick leather material.
"Go!" said Celes, putting her hand on Leo's back and pushing him up the stairs. "Hurry, before he sees the puppy."
Vincent wriggled beneath his jacket, poking his nose out from under the collar and licking Leo's chin. Leo ducked down and hurried past Kefka, stuffing Vincent's head into his jacket as he went. The puppy then chose that particular moment to let out a loud bark, just as Leo made it past Kefka and headed down the hall.
The mage stopped dead in his tracks. "What was that noise?"
Celes started coughing, trying her best to cover up the sound of Vincent's barking. "I'm sorry, sir," she said, wincing and holding her throat. "I think I'm coming down with a cold."
Kefka glared at her. "Really?" He took a step forward, gazing down at her with eyes that burned with sapphire flames. Silence stretched between them, and then he shoved her down the steps, continuing on his way without so much as a backwards glance in her direction. "Then get out of my way. I have no desire to catch whatever disease you've got."
Fortunately Celes was standing on the lower steps when she fell. She landed flat on her back in the grass, stunned but unhurt. She'd done her part, helping Leo escape to his room with Vincent. But this was only the beginning, and the two of them were going to have to work together to keep Vincent hidden from Kefka.