He would have taken his turn tending the fire, but Matt wouldn't let him be the only one awake.
He could have slept instead but he had his pride to consider.
The fire hissed between him and Matt. They regarded each other in silence. With no one else to distract him, Matt looked much warier than he had in the daytime.
Lotor was sure that he looked the same way.
There was a scar on Matt's face, barely visible in the firelight. But he'd seen it well enough in the daytime to know what kind of scar it was.
"Fine. Stare," Matt said.
Lotor scoffed and looked away.
This was a different Matt, the Matt reserved for him. The one who had no one to please or entertain, the one who had someone to hate.
He could hate Matt, too.
The fire left curling orange strands in the air. They'd been feeding it with the driest grass they could find.
Through the sound of the crickets, a slight motion came.
Matt looked over.
"Pidge, what are you doing?"
"…putting a mushroom in Lance's shoe."
Lotor pretended he didn't find that funny.
"Well, good job, you just scared our dear prince more than you'll ever scare LANCE."
"That's not true," Lotor huffed.
"I saw you jump," Matt smirked.
"Well excuse ME for trying to watch out for a rather delicate human charge."
Pidge faced away from them.
"But none of you saw those eyes over there."
It happened fast.
A creature burst out of the grass, huge and snarling. And another, both of them dark and quick.
He flinched first and second leapt over to Lance.
"What the…?" Lance sat up.
"Stay down," Lotor stopped him.
The creatures were loud now, snarling as they darted around the campsite.
"What's going on?" Lance said, not staying down.
By the light of the fire he saw Matt crouch to the earth and spring up as a tiger.
"Wolves?" Lance said.
"Intruders." He held Lance back by the shoulder. "Stay put, if they come here–"
Lance pushed Lotor out of the way and picked up his sword.
"Well they're gonna have to come through LANCE if they want to fight us!"
"Stop!" Lotor grabbed his arm. "You don't know how to use that!"
The tiger swept at a wolf. He was bigger than they were, but not by much. They moved in sync as they rushed him.
"Man, they're fast!" Lance said, holding up the sword. "Where's Pidge?"
Lotor didn't see her anywhere. He hoped she had gotten somewhere safe.
The tiger was more agile but the wolves were FAST, and there were two of them. The gray one got ahold of his neck, hanging on tight as he tried to break loose.
The black wolf crashed to the ground and cried something unmistakable for pain.
And it turned into a human.
Doubled over on the dirt, clutching a wrist, and screaming.
Lance lowered the sword.
"What the heck?"
The second wolf let go of the tiger, bristled and growling. The tiger roared back, and the wolf circled around until it reached the screaming human.
He climbed onto its back and grabbed the fur on its neck, movements tense and sluggish.
The gray wolf ran and they were gone.
And just like that, the night was quiet again. Crickets, crackles, the heavy breathing of a tiger.
"I thought the fire was gonna keep the wolves away!" Lance said, still looking at the spot where they'd been.
Lotor let go of Lance.
"Those weren't wolves."
The tiger came back to the fire, sleek in its light. The dark stains on its fur glinted as much as its eyes.
It stared him down in that way only a tiger could.
"Friends of yours?"
Lotor scoffed.
"You think I have friends?"
He started when a snake slithered out from the underbrush.
A snake with golden eyes.
It coiled around and turned back into Pidge.
She spat in red.
"Ugh. Dokka."