(Baldroy's POV)
"Balla, you can't stay up here all day." I stand at the top of a ladder leaning against a tree, the tuft of Balla's silvery spotted tail sticking up from the basin in the trunk just in front of me. Balla has used her magic to shift into a snow leopard and then curled herself into the basin in the tree trunk. "There's chores to be done and Sebastian will have your head if you don't do them."
"I can and will stay here all day!" She briefly glares at me, icy blue eyes glowing in the shade. "My chores are finished and I could use a nap."
"Well, maybe you could help us." Finny calls up to her hopefully. An ill-tempered growl is Balla's reply.
"I think that's a no, Finny." I glance back down at him and carefully lean out over Balla. "Well, even if you don't help us-Mmmph?!"
Balla's silver head shoots up, ears pricked and eyes wide. She has flicked her tail over my mouth, cutting me off. Her eyes narrow. "Someone's at the stables." She crawls out of the basin and jumps down, heading for the stables.
~*Magic Time Skip :D*~
(Balla's POV)
I don't waste any time waiting on the others, heading straight for the stables. The presence I felt cross the spells is wearing a hooded cloak, his face hidden. With a loud roar, I tackle the figure to the ground and spring away, crouched now in front of the stables. "Who the hell are you and what's your business here?!" I lay my ears back, growling at the stranger.
"Don't you recognize me?" A familiar voice speaks from within the hood as the stranger sits up. "It's me, Xander!"
"Xander is dead." I spit bitterly. "If you want me to believe you, you'll have to prove he's not."
The man sighs. "I was expecting this." He pushes himself up and walks past the pasture gate. A music spell fills the air, a tenor voice soon joining it.
With the use of magic, a black panther sits in the pasture in place of the stranger, his voice and the music spell filling the air with beautiful music. His gold tinted brown eyes watch me expectantly.
I pick myself up and pad out to him, aware that Sebastian and Ciel have joined the others and they are all watching from the stables. The panther orientes himself in the starting position of a dance only one other person would know before the two of us are swept up in the music spell.
We twist and turn, leap and duck, matching each other move for move and step for step. The ending note of the spell and his voice find us nose to nose.
"Xander." I breathe, tackling him in a hug and shoving my nose into his soft black fur.
Xander chuckles softly, a purr rumbling in his chest as he touches his nose to my ear. "Could I have been anyone else?"
