Chapter Eight
In Which Claude Counter-Attacks
That night, as Sebastian sat in front of the mansion, he felt unsettled. The attack, still fresh in his mind, replayed over and over again. He was unsettled by the fact that he had no idea where Claude and Alois had run off to. Wherever it was, it was far away from their previous base. His first idea was the mountains, but those were too dangerous. Large bears, snow, ice, and the threat of avalanches would keep even the dullest of half-bloods away from it. His second thought was that perhaps Claude had crossed the boarder where the gap in the earth ended and had gone over to the human land, but that was preposterous. Any half-blood caught in that territory could be sold as a pet, or worse, shot by the humans. Of course, being shot by a human wouldn't harm Claude any, but he would have no say if he was sold as a pet. Knowing Claude, he would probably just kill the humans, which would bring undue pressure on the rest of the half-bloods, perhaps even creating another war.
Sebastian was snapped out of his thoughts by movements close to him. Suddenly alert, he stalked towards the bushes, tail-tip twitching slightly. Keeping low, he whipped his head from side to side, moving quickly but quietly. Just as he was sure he had found absolutely nothing, he heard a quiet laugh.
"Did you think I'd give up that easily?" Chills and shivers running down his spine, Sebastian whipped around to face the voice. Claude sat there calmly on a large rock, tail swishing from side to side, eyes slightly narrowed behind his glasses. He licked a paw, smiling as Sebastian snarled at him.
"What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
Claude just sighed and closed his eyes. "I came to finish my job, Sebastian. I thought for sure I had killed you, but when I smelled your markers by the boarder, I knew you were still alive. How I got here is a secret," Claude replied, tail flicking with emphasis.
Sebastian growled. "I should have known. Well, now that you're here, I could carry out my bocchan's orders now."
"Oh, how persistent you are," Claude meowed, looking at Sebastian with fake softness in his eyes. "You remind me of your father. Too bad he had to die."
Sebastian stopped dead in his tracks. "What do you know about my parents death?" He asked, cold and lowly.
"I was the one who told your father to kill Marie and Jason. The little red husky's parents, Grell. As it turns out, that little mite got angry and killed your parents. Not the result I was looking for, but oh well."
Sebastian stood there in shock. Grell of all people had killed his parents—but it was for good reason. "You…you monster! Do you have any idea what you took away from me? The years of my childhood that I lost because of you?"
"Does it look like I care?" Claude asked, surprisingly coldly. "It hurts you, not me. It doesn't affect me."
"Why you insolent little mutt! I'll tear out your tongue!" Sebastian snapped, uncontrollable rage building up inside of him as he launched himself at Claude, knocking him off the rock and snapping at his neck. Hissing, Claude kicked Sebastian hard in the stomach, pushing him to the ground and knocking the breath out of him. Growling, Sebastian stood up, quickly avoiding the blows to his forehead and sides. He was smarter now, and knew how to better defend himself against the panther's attacks. Yowling, he threw himself at Claude again, managing to get a few good blows in before jumping back.
Their fight continued for some time, until Sebastian heard voices behind him. Turning, Claude quickly jumped away. Injured, but alive. Sebastian spat in anger, tail lashing.
"Sebastian!" he recognized Ronald's voice as the cat came into view, eyes wide. "What happened?" Behind him followed Liz, Grell, and Ciel.
"Claude happened."
"Claude! He got away again!" Grell snapped, a string of curses coming from his jaws. "Ah! If only I'd arrived sooner, I could have helped with his killing."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed, and he wondered whether to confront Grell about his parents, before Ciel's voice interrupted him. "Sebastian! Are you hurt?" Ciel ran over to Sebastian, quickly looking him over.
"Nothing more than a few scratches, bocchan," Sebastian told him gently. "I hurt Claude more than he hurt me."
"I was worried," Ciel breathed, rubbing up against him. Sebastian's eyes widened slightly at this show of affection. Ciel had never done that before. "I thought he could have killed you."
"I'm alright." Sebastian assured him. "I'm smarter now, I know how to defend myself against him. The first time we fought, I was simply overestimating myself. I hadn't fought one of my kind in a while, so my skills were not as good. I'm better now, I assure you."
Ciel didn't look convinced, but Liz padded over. "Good to know that you're safe. Now, if Claude is badly injured, we could be able to track him down and draw him out. I know just how to do that, if you're wanting my help."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at her, then down at Ciel. "Bocchan?"
"Tell us," Ciel said, looking at Liz. "Tell us how to defeat him."
Liz smiled. "Listen carefully."