[FHT] Big Cat Rumble

It was late at night, and officially, the zoo was closed. And as always after the zoo was closed, that meant the animals were permitted out. All knew the rules. No leaving the zoo grounds, no threatening the staff – though most were more than capable of holding their own against even the most dangerous of beasts – and no fighting.

Unfortunately, some animals didn’t always obey the latter rule. With the zoo being separated into ‘continents’, the animals seemed to have decided to group together based on those continents as well, and this had caused some friction between certain individuals.

Khan was a newer animal at the zoo. It had taken some time for him to adapt to Wild World’s way of life, especially the unusuality of its staff, but for the most part he had been tolerant. That tolerance, however, had waned in the face of Striker, the South American’s jaguar. Striker had always been a hothead. The presence of Lacey the oncilla seemed to only inflame his temper, as he crouched protectively in front of the smaller cat, his claws unsheathed as he lashed at the tiger.

‘Back off, Khan! This is South American turf, you can’t cross here!’

‘I’ll walk where I want,’ Khan snapped back, baring his fangs. ‘Wild laws don’t forbid us from that.’

Jasmine, the female Siberian tiger recently introduced to Khan, sat quietly watching the proceedings with some concern. Khan, she had learnt early on, was an adventurous type; he loved to explore new places, and being confined within his enclosure during the day often frustrated him. For the jaguar to now tell him he couldn’t explore even at night… she could understand his annoyance. Especially because he was right; though the animals grouped themselves by continent, there weren’t any rules forbidding them from exploring the other regions if they wanted.

Not that Striker seemed to care. As Khan took a step forward, Striker leapt to meet him, blocking his path.

‘Back off!’ the jaguar repeated.

Lacey flattened her ears, brushing against Striker’s leg. ‘Khan’s right that there’s no laws against this, Striker. He’s allowed to explore, so long as he doesn’t hurt anyone and goes home when he’s told by the Chimeras.’

‘Who’s side are you on?!’ Striker demanded, whirling on Lacey with a flash of teeth. The oncilla stared him down boldly, letting a soft hiss out.

‘The law’s side.’

Khan chuffed as though amused by the oncilla’s courage. ‘You let a cub-cat boss you around and still call yourself a jaguar? Ha! I think Tiptoe has more courage than you.’

That seemed to do it for Striker. The jaguar roared, seeming to forget the zoo laws as he launched himself at Khan. Khan snarled and leapt to meet him in midair, and both Jasmine and Lacey leapt back out of the way as fur began to fly.

---

Siobhan had hoped it would just be a normal night at the zoo. In her wagtail form she had flitted across the different sections checking to make sure all was safe, pausing only to have brief conversations with the other subjects currently working. This was how most night shifts went for her; being able to become a bird meant she could cover the most ground, so she could check everywhere far faster than the earth-bound subjects.

A crackle on the minute radio attached to her wing made her skip a wingbeat in surprise.

“Hey anybody around the Asia-South America region boundaries? It sounds like a fight could be going on over there.”

It was Sawyer who spoke, a subject who normally worked the Barnyard area. Siobhan frowned in concern, adjusting her course to head for the mentioned boundary.

“On my way over there,” she responded. “Will let you know what’s going on.”

“Be careful.” Tabitha’s voice crackled over the radio, full of concern. Siobhan huffed indignantly, despite knowing Tabitha wouldn’t be able to hear her, before beginning to descend as she neared the boundary.

She could hear the fight for herself now. Vicious-sounding snarls and roars, accompanied by the occasional thump of something heavy hitting the ground. Shifting to her human form, Siobhan hurried towards the scene, raising her radio again as she realised who it was.

“We got Striker and Khan going at it. Gonna need Hide’s help once it’s cleared up.”

“Already heading over!” Hide replied.

Siobhan spotted the fighting cats and bit back a frustrated growl of her own as she saw the scene. Khan and Striker were both looking worse for wear, Striker sporting fresh scratches down one cheek while Khan had a nasty-looking gash on his shoulder. Neither looked ready to back down yet, though. Even with Khan limping on his injured leg, he was still roaring threats. Jasmine was prowling in the background, her eyes wide and concerned, while Lacey was crouched fearfully nearby, her fur puffed out to make her seem twice her size.

“Lacey, Jasmine, get out of here!” Siobhan called. The two lifted their heads at her words, darting away obediently. Striker, too, turned his head to look, his anger fading to anxiety briefly before Khan snarled another challenge, taking his attention once more.

Siobhan hurried forwards, grabbing Khan’s tail and pulling hard enough for the tiger to be pulled off balance briefly. He whirled to slash at her without realising who it was, and she instinctively activated her ability, letting his paw pass through her harmlessly. Almost immediately his eyes widened with dismay, leaping back as his jaw dropped.

‘I-I thought you were Jasmine!’

“Since when do tigers have hands?” Siobhan snapped back coldly. Both Khan and Striker flattened their ears at her tone, crouching uneasily. “Tell me what this is about, and maybe I won’t have you both locked in your enclosures for the rest of your lives.”

‘Striker wouldn’t let me pass the boundary,’ Khan growled sulkily. ‘Said it was ‘against the laws’. Even Lacey said there was no law like that, so I tried to get by and he attacked me!’

‘You called Lacey a cub-cat and insulted me!’ Striker snapped back heatedly. ‘I was looking out for the wellbeing of my region. I wouldn’t want some feral beast attacking anyone.’

Khan curled his lip to show his teeth, a low growl rumbling. Striker’s claws unsheathed again, his tail beginning to lash.

“Enough, both of you! You’re both acting like cubs. Striker, you know full well any animal can go where they please – the only ones to enforce boundaries are us. Khan, you shouldn’t be insulting other animals. You’ll only make things worse. Now both of you are going to sit quietly and wait until Hide gets here. He needs to check your injuries and whether you need to see the vet.”

Both animals shuddered at the word. While the zoo’s official vet was a gentle, calm man who genuinely cared for the animals he looked after, they also had other… unofficial… vets and scientists working under them; the team that created the chimeras. And while they weren’t cruel people, the tests done by them were often unpleasant, though not harmful.

“I mean the true vet,” Siobhan clarified, taking pity on them. “To treat your wounds.”

Both cats gave a small sigh of relief, and Siobhan glanced around impatiently, wondering where Hide was. As if summoned by her thoughts, a small cat slipped through the bushes, shifting into a young man a heartbeat later.

“Sorry, ran into Jasmine. She had a small scratch I wanted to check. Didn’t need any treating though.”

Khan looked at his paws guiltily. Siobhan remembered how quickly he had turned on her and his excuse, and gave a frustrated sigh.

“Really, Khan?”

The tiger only huffed again. Shaking her head, Siobhan waved for Hide to get on with checking the pair. He started with Striker, carefully lifting his hand to the jaguar’s scratched face and frowning briefly as he did.

“Not that deep, but in a rough spot. I’m just gonna…” He closed his eyes, his hands beginning to glow slightly as he winced slightly. Striker’s scratches began to close over, as fresh scratches opened on Hide’s own cheek. After a few moments Hide snatched his hand away as if it burned, rubbing his new injuries. “That should have healed enough to prevent it getting infected. No rubbing it or anything, I’m not doing that again.”

The young man reached into his pocket, pulling out a small first aid kit. With the speed of experience he pulled out antiseptic wipes and cleaned his scratches, before taping some gauze over it to cover it.

“I’d have just left him to it,” Siobhan commented. “If it gets infected, that’s his problem.”

“The bosses would probably disagree,” Hide replied breezily, heading over to Khan next. He frowned again, wincing as the expression pulled on his wounds. “Yeah okay, this one, I am not dealing with. Too big for me, too jagged to be left. Stars, Striker, you did a number on his shoulder.”

The jaguar rumbled apologetically, while Khan’s tail tip flicked irritably at the implication that he had come off worse in the fight.

“Yeah, sorry Khan but this is definitely a vet trip. Let’s get you over there. Siobhan, can you take Striker home?”

“Sure,” Siobhan agreed with a nod, glancing over to the jaguar. He rose to his paws with a heavy sigh, following her as she strode away towards the South America section. This was not how anyone had hoped the night would go.