KaaN Chapter 01 - Testing of Patience

Angeal Hewley was a very calm person, possibly the most laid-back and even-tempered man in all of SOLDIER. At thirty-three years old, the dark-haired First had already learned what mattered most to him in the world and what wasn't worth worrying over, and by now there wasn't much that could truly faze him. That fact was the primary reason he had been assigned to Zack Fair as a mentor three years ago, rather than Sephiroth or Genesis. Sephiroth, despite being the strongest person in SOLDIER and possibly on the Planet, had absolutely no people skills and knew nothing about dealing with overactive nineteen-year-olds. Genesis, well… He was more likely to kill Zack for interrupting his readings of LOVELESS than actually teach him anything.

Angeal chuckled to himself, remembering some of the many incidents over the years that had gotten Zack into trouble repeatedly and earned him the nickname "Puppy. The young SOLDIER was a true test of his mentor's patience, for sure, but Angeal would never complain; he loved him like a son, and somehow Zack's presence had made his life calmer in spite of all the craziness.

But now, sitting in his favorite chair by the large window in his living room and reading today's issue of The Shin-Ra Daily News, the brunette suddenly frowned, realizing something was out of sorts in his apartment. Folding the paper and setting it on the coffee table, he stood and glanced around the room, looking for the source of his unease. Nothing seemed out of place; his many plants were all healthy and green, his kitchen well-stocked and clean, and everything in its proper place. So what was it that didn't seem right?

It dawned on him a moment later: Zack hadn't been over to see him yet that day, and it was already three o'clock. The raven-haired boy, who did not technically need a mentor now that he had reached First Class, still came by to train with Angeal almost every day, honing his sword skills and keeping his body in shape as well as simply seeking companionship from one of his best friends. It was highly unusual for Zack not to show up before noon, but not necessarily worrisome. He did often spend time training with Cloud too, after all, and when he could find time to get out of the building he often went to see his girlfriend Aerith.

Satisfied that he had found an explanation for his apprehension, Angeal sat himself back down in his deep leather chair and reopened the paper, skimming over the articles in search of one that looked interesting. He could hear a slight rumble of noise in the hall, followed by a crash; he sighed, trying to concentrate on his reading. Some Third-Class had probably gotten a little over-eager and broken something in the hall; it happened fairly often, much to all of the older SOLDIERs' displeasure. Soon, though, the noise began to increase in volume, coming closer to his front door until it was too hard to ignore any longer. Sighing irritably, Angeal stood from his chair again and strode to the front door, opening it in preparation for lecturing whoever was out there about the consequences of disturbing SOLDIERs less patient than himself.

The second the door swung open, Angeal suddenly found himself sprawled on his back on the floor, knocked down by a blurry black form that had leaped in at the first opportunity. The shouting in the hall came nearer, and several members of the science department ran into his apartment, nearly trampling him before he could get up off of the floor. They ran into the living room and then the kitchen, obviously after whatever creature had just barged in, and Angeal quickly followed suit, trying to help them catch whatever it was before it could wreck his quarters. When he skidded into the kitchen behind them, he was greeted not with a hideous, mutated monster hell-bent on destruction, but by a very obviously frightened black dog who did not look at all happy about being slowly cornered by the three scientists. As they advanced closer, the dog curled up its lip, revealing sharp white teeth while a warning growl rumbled loudly in its throat. One of the bolder scientists reached out to try and grab the dog, but he pulled his hand back immediately when the animal lunged for his fingers and snapped its teeth closed within a hair's breadth of his flesh.

"So, er… Mr. Hewley…?" a female scientist asked, pushing her glasses up her sweating nose and nervously brushing a loose strand of mousey brown hair behind her ear. "Do you think you might… um… have better luck catching him?" Angeal sighed, wanting nothing more than to return to the peace and quiet he had been enjoying earlier, and nodded.

"Let me see what I can do." He stepped forward slowly, lowering himself into a kneeling position to make himself less intimidating, and reached out his hand to see if the dog would react the same way it had earlier. Surprisingly, as soon as the dog saw him it seemed to relax, its lip covering its teeth and its tail beginning to wag rapidly. Angeal was puzzled. "Where did this dog come from?" he asked, reaching forward to pat it on the head and smiling slightly when the dog sighed and flopped down to expose its belly.

"We don't know," the woman answered, her eyes wide as she watched the seemingly vicious dog react so positively to Angeal. "We just found it running around near the Materia Labs, and when we tried to catch it, it snapped at us and ran away. We're lucky you opened the door when you did, or we may never have caught it." Angeal nodded, an idea already forming in his mind while he patted the dog's soft black head and scratched behind its ears.

"Well, how about I keep it, then?" he asked. "I'll see if I can find its owners, but if not, I think I could keep it as a pet myself. I always have liked dogs, especially retrievers like this one." The group of scientists looked shocked, but quickly regained their composure and nodded enthusiastically in relief.

"If that's what you want…"

"It is. Just leave this dog with me and I'll make sure it's taken care of."

"Good. Thank you so much for your help, Sir. We'll just be heading back now, if that's alright…"

"Go ahead. And have a nice day." They all scurried out of the apartment as quickly as they could, glad to be rid of the dog as much as it was glad to be rid of them. Now that he didn't have to deal with them, Angeal finally got a chance to really look at the large black dog in front of him. It was fairly large, somewhere around seventy to eighty pounds, with thick, shiny black fur that looked very well-taken care of, although it did stick up oddly in a few cowlicks along the dog's back. Its ears were not especially long but were very droopy, flopping heavily when the dog got up and shook itself off. But the most striking feature was definitely the bright blue eyes. Since when did black retrievers have bright blue eyes?

Something suddenly clicked for Angeal when he saw a glint of silver on a chain around the dog's neck. Reaching out carefully – though he didn't need to, for the dog was obviously very fond of him – he held up the dog tags on the chain, reading the name in total disbelief: Zack Fair. He looked back and forth between the dog and the tags several times, shaking his head and pinching himself once to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Well, that would explain the blue eyes, and why he hadn't seen his pupil all day.

"Oh, Zack… What have you done this time?" he muttered, laying his face in his hand.

The dog's only answer was a soft "woof."