Part 1

Chapter 4: Reinforcements

Seifer woke up like it was any other day and went downstairs to have some breakfast. He cheerfully bypassed the empty side table in the foyer and would've likely carried on right through the living room if the couch hadn't impeded his usually couchless route to the kitchen. His good mood quickly dissipated as events from the night before came rushing back to him and he cursed Quistis as he righted the furniture. Breakfast all but forgotten now, he spent the next several hours scouring the house to see if anything had been taken or left behind. Other than the damage done by the fight everything else seemed to be exactly as he left it, not a single thing out of place. So, either Quistis was annoyingly meticulous or she never got the chance to look. Unfortunately, he reached this conclusion only after tearing the place apart himself.

And, boy, had he been thorough. He turned everything inside out, flipping over furniture, pulling apart bedding and cushions and looking inside every nook, cranny and compartment he had. He tore open food containers and shoved his head through vents to see if she had thrown anything in there. Anything that wasn't nailed down was moved and anything that could be taken off was removed. He even went so far as to use his stud finder to see if she had planted anything in the walls. If he hadn't realized how hungry (and crazy) he was, he may have even torn up the floorboards.

Taking a break to stuff his face with handfuls of food from the loose piles created during his unboxing hysteria, Seifer walked to the foyer and stared idly out the window at the woods in front of his house. It was at that moment that some movement caught his eye as a pale head poked out of the bushes but before he could get a better look, it made a swift retreat back into the forest.

"Oh no, you don't." Seifer growled as he wiped his hands on his shirt, grabbed Hyperion- never far from reach- and rushed out of the house. He raced into the woods where he had seen the figure and looked around, not seeing anything even remotely resembling a living creature. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Seifer shouted, hoping to intimidate the spy into showing themselves. He didn't like stalking his victims, preferring to get to the action as quickly as possible. The further he ventured, the fewer signs of life there were. "Quistis?" He called uncertainly as he delved deeper and deeper into the forest, the density such that light was becoming sparse and sound dropped dead in its tracks.

The eerie silence was broken by the sound of twigs being crunched and ground underfoot. Seifer leapt headlong through the brush in the direction of the noise and emerged in a small clearing. At its center was a juicy, undulating, green and purple mass that he knew well- a caterchipillar. He made quick work of it but things got a little more dicey when a T-Rexaur came crashing through the trees like a wrecking ball, drawn by the smell of the fresh carcass.

Seifer was caught by surprise but had never yet encountered a monster he wasn't ready to kill at a moment's notice. His strength and speed were still top notch but in his haste to exit the house, he didn't bother to put on any shoes and the rocks, twigs and needles comprising the forest floor were wreaking havoc on the soles of his feet. Kneeling beside the caterchipillar, Seifer was the only thing standing in the way of the charging T-Rexaur and its dinner. He stood up with a shocking lack of urgency and stomped on the thing that looked like the caterchipillar's tail but was, in fact, its head. A silvery web shot out of its mouth, encasing the T-Rexaur in a silken net from head to toe. Delicate individually yet damn near indestructible en masse, the threading put a stop to the T-Rexaur's rampage, giving Seifer the chance to finish it off with minimal exertion on his feet.

He headed out with a T-Rexaur leg slung over his shoulder, a few Dragon Fangs in his pocket (which he could use to upgrade Hyperion) and a smile on his face. He loved a good battle and these days, he had to take it where he could get it. It didn't compare to sparring with a worthy partner of course (namely Squall), but it still felt good to keep his blade sharp and get his blood pumping. When he reached the forest entrance, he caught a flash of blond in his periphery and turned sharply, only to be confronted by a frightened stray, who shook as he looked at Seifer and took a tentative step back. His fur was shaggy and mostly tan but for some black bits around his face.

"It was you." Seifer said, as if the dog would understand. "You were the spy in the bushes." He laughed and the mutt looked a little startled by the sound, not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Seifer noticed the way he gazed longingly at the T-Rexaur leg and it was then that Seifer realized how malnourished he was. He shrugged the leg off his shoulder but the second he hefted Hyperion up to slice a piece off the dog recoiled in terror and ran away. "No, wait!" Seifer shouted after him but it was too late and he knew there was no way he would catch him with his blistered and broken feet the way they were. Instead, he left the slice on the ground in the hopes that the mutt would return and went home.

The Galbadia job had earned the Posse the week off so Seifer spent the next day cleaning up the mess he had made. Before he began he went back out to the forest to see if the T-Rexaur meat was still where he left it and was happy to see that it wasn't. He returned to the house and started cleaning the kitchen first so that come lunchtime he had a nice, clean surface to work on when he prepared his T-Rexaur steaks. He brought two plates out to his front porch, one for him and one he placed on the ground in front of him as he sat on the steps and ate, keeping a watchful eye on the woods. Nothing happened but he left the plate with the uneaten steak out and returned to cleaning. It was still there when he went to bed but by the next morning the steak was gone.

On the third day, Seifer went to the store to pick up some hardware supplies and set to work repairing the drywall in his living room. While the paint dried, he repeated his lunchtime ritual, taking his two plates of steak out to the porch but this time he included a bowl of water. After another uneventful lunch he left the steak and water out and continued with his home improvements.

He was in the middle of replacing all the windows with shatterproof glass and reinforced frames when he heard some rustling from the front yard. He went completely still, straining to hear as he glued himself to the exterior wall and slowly crept towards the front of the house. He peaked around the corner and saw a still timid but much more filled-out stray with tan, shaggy fur and a black-framed face. He watched as the mutt approached the plate cautiously, nose twitching as it sniffed the air around it. Intrigued by the addition of the water, the exploratory organ paved a trail from plate to bowl until he hazarded a drink. After a couple shy licks, the mutt lapped up the water like it had been ages since his last drink. It pleased Seifer to no end to watch the poor creature enjoy the provisions he had laid out but just as the dog moved on to the steak a detached steel frame toppled over and hit the ground behind Seifer, scaring the dog so that it took off towards the woods.

Seifer wasn't going to let him get away this time. "Stop! Come back!" He sprinted towards the steak, grabbing it in his hand and called after the dog. "Come here, boy." He whistled as he wafted the juicy hunk of meat out in front of him. The mutt slowed, having gained a taste for T-Rexaur meat, and looked back at Seifer, weighing out the pros and cons. Apparently, the pros outweighed the cons because the dog stepped back towards the house, where Seifer and the steak were waiting for him.

"Yeah, come here, boy." Seifer got down on one knee so he would be less intimidating and held the steak at ground level. The dog licked his lips as he looked at the steak, peering out at Seifer through messy bangs. When he reached them, he took a few sniffs of Seifer's hand and a few sniffs of the steak, deciding that Seifer posed less of a threat compared to how delicious that steak would taste. With one last lick of his lips, the mutt took the steak from Seifer's hand and began to tuck in.

"Good boy." Seifer murmured as he patted the dog behind the ears and began running his hand down his back. The dog lay on his stomach, in his glory as he devoured the steak between his paws while getting a good back-scratch from Seifer. "Yeah, good boy. Good-" Seifer glanced at the dog's undercarriage as the mutt rolled to his side. "- boy." Seifer confirmed, taking the hint and commencing with the highly coveted belly rub.

After the meal, their friendship was solidified with a few enthusiastic licks to the face and Seifer returned to his work with his new helper. The help came in the form of chewing on a T-Rexaur femur and chasing after whatever object Seifer chucked out into the yard but it was welcome all the same. Seifer was just wrapping up for the day when the mutt ran up and laid a piece of wood from one of the old window frames at his feet. Seifer reached down and patted him on the head. "I've gotta give you a name." He thought for a moment before sentimentality reigned. "How about Zefer?" The dog- who would've been delighted by anything Seifer said- let out a bark and wagged his tail and so the name stuck. Zefer didn't seem overly eager to return to the forest that night so Seifer bathed him and brought him inside. Both parties seemed satisfied with this arrangement.

The next couple days passed much the same, with Seifer finishing all the windows and doors, installing a magnetic locking system that was remote-controlled and would stop even the most sophisticated burglars. He even put some shutters alongside the exterior windows for good measure. They had the appearance of typical wooden shutters but were solid steel, just like the window frames, and would slam shut at the click of a button, creating a nearly impenetrable barrier.

While he worked, Seifer tried to make Zefer a more productive member of the household by training him to stave off intruders. It was largely unsuccessful since Seifer didn't have any neighbors to speak of and foot traffic was rare in his vicinity so he had to create some intruders of his own. He set up a few makeshift scarecrows and scattered them around the yard, getting slightly carried away by hooking them up to motion detectors so they would pop up whenever something moved within range. This had the initial effect of scaring Zefer half to death but soon the mutt developed a pretty mean bark and not long after that he had torn all the scarecrows to pieces.

It was when Seifer was putting the last finishing touches on the shutters that Raijin decided to pay him a visit, strolling up his front walk. Puzzled by the carnage of wood planks and sandbags that littered the front yard (some alarmingly had faces drawn on them), he was met by a mad, snarling dog with a thunderous bark. "Who do we have here?" Raijin asked in a friendly tone, immediately forgetting about the scarecrow massacre. Unconcerned with the aggressive nature of the bark, Raijin leaned down, holding out his hand for Zefer to get a good whiff. This bought Raijin a few pets and when he found that sweet spot that got the dog's leg shaking, Zefer decided that this was a good guy.

Seifer heard the growls fizzle into something much less menacing and frowned. Raijin turned the corner carrying Zefer in his arms as the dog assaulted his face with kisses. "Where'd you find him?"

"The forest." Seifer responded with a sigh. "I thought he would make a good guard dog."

Raijin laughed as he held the squirmy ball over his head and let the kisses rain down. "Yeah, you're real tough, aren't ya?" The scene was incongruous with the words though no one but Seifer seemed to mind.

"Once I teach him how to attack he will be."

"Yeah? You know how to do that?"

"How hard could it be?" Seifer shrugged. "I saw Rinoa do it for Angelo."

"Yeah but that dog is not normal. How many dogs you know are willing to shoot themselves off an arm cannon?"

"It's just repetition and discipline." Seifer stated before returning to his work, hoping it would distract from his rising irritation.

"I don't think it's as easy as you think it is, bro. That's why I prefer bugs and fish. You don't gotta train 'em, you just gotta understand 'em. What're you trying to do anyway? Have him fight for you in battle?" Raijin waited for his answer while alternating between tossing Zefer in the air and nuzzling him in close, like one would a small child.

"No." Seifer dragged out the syllable. "First of all, I don't need any help in battle. And second of all, I already told you, I'm training him to be my guard dog."

"I know you don't need help, bro, but just think, if you could do what Rinoa did with that dog, you'd have no problems against anyone. Not even Squall."

Seifer huffed as he attached one of the shutters to the window frame. "I don't need any help against Squall, I'm the one who got him to where he is."

"So imagine that plus a killer dog. That's all I'm saying, ya know." Seeing that he had unintentionally annoyed Seifer, Raijin decided to head for safer grounds. "So what'd you name him?"

"Zefer."

Raijin blinked, confused, "You named your dog after… yourself?"

"No, it's Zeh-fer. Like the knight from the movie."

Raijin made a concerted effort to attune his ear to what Seifer was saying but was no better off. "I gotta be honest with you, man, they sound pretty much the same to me."

"Well, they're not!" The more Seifer thought about it, the less sure he became. "I don't know, maybe they come from the same name or something! It honestly never occurred to me until you said it just now. And now I can't unhear it." He looked at the capital letters that he himself had engraved on his old silver necklace that now adorned Zefer's neck like a collar and threw his hands up. "Well, it's too late to change it now!"

"Hey, maybe your parents were fans of the movie too." Raijin offered as a consolation in an attempt to cheer Seifer up.

"It came out after I was born."

"Maybe they were fans of the real person then."

"Then they were morons because they fucked up the spelling!"

"Don't say that, man, those were your parents. Maybe it's spelled different where they're from, ya know?"

"You know you're the most annoying when you're being the sensible one."

Raijin laughed. "Yeah that's what Fujin says too. Except she usually just kicks me and tells me to stop making sense." Raijin looked at Zefer. "Hey, I know! You should get Fu to help you train him. She's real good at giving orders, ya know?"

"What makes you think I can't do it myself?! Who do you think used to be in charge of you and Fujin anyway?!" Seifer let his frustration boil over and, as if to prove it to Raijin (and more probably to himself), commanded, "Zefer, sic!"

To everyone's surprise, Zefer stiffened to attention and nipped one of the hands holding him, causing Raijin to yelp. "Hey! What the hell, man?!"

With a look of pride and admiration, Seifer walked over to Zefer and lifted him out of Raijin's hands. "Aww, that's a good boy." Zefer, knowing who his true master was and ecstatic that he had pleased him, started treating Seifer's face like a salt lick. "Who's a good boy?"

"Damn, you're not even gonna ask if I'm ok?" Raijin griped, examining the wound on his hand. It had broken the skin enough to draw blood but was still barely more than a scratch.

Seifer turned his back on Raijin, ignoring the question as he continued to cuddle and fawn over the animal. "You were sooo brave. He's a big fucker, too."

"I could use a bandage, ya know?"

Seifer responded without turning around. "That's what you get for trespassing."

"I wasn't trespassing! I was just coming by to see how my friend was doing cuz it's been a few days, ya know?!"

"You were trespassing on my nerves."

"Alright then, have it your way. I'm outta here, man. I get enough of this at home." Exasperated, Raijin stormed off down the lane leading back to the main road.

Only when he was out of sight did Seifer turn back around. He looked lovingly at Zefer as he cradled him in his arms and kissed his head. "Yeah, you're gonna make a great guard dog."