The Beginning ((Yugo,R))

"I dont think so..." Squall whispered and sat up. His brown eyes turned into slits. He scanned through the darkness unable to pick up any movements. "Stay close to me..." Squall whispered again and rose up on his knees. The fire had gone out so they were completely surrounded by darkness, not that Squall had a problem with seeing though. His head shifted slowly, his body tensing up a little. He couldn't see anyone, but he could definitely feel that someone was close by.

She tilted her head up as he asked if she was sleeping and slowly shook her head. She leaned up on her arm some while wiping her face again with her othe hand. "Is someone out there?" She sniffled again and rubbed her eyes of her tears once more., her tail stayed tucked but her ears slowly perked, trying to listen to their surroundings

Squall let out a small sigh. He had an arm wrapped securely around Lily's body. He leaned in close, taking in some of her scent before kissing her softly on the lips. "Night." he whispered. Unfortunately, Squall had a hard time getting to sleep. He could still feel her pain and hear her sniffles. Finally, he opened his eyes and raised his head up some. "Are you asleep yet?" he asked, tho already knew what the answer would be.

Lily looked up at him and nodded, wiping her eyes. As they laid down, she curled herself close up against him. She had stopped crying but her spirits were still low. She closed her eyes and nuzzled into him, trying to relax, trying to push the saddness away. She focused on trying to sleep, closing her eyes and relaxing her body the best she could

Squall rocked her gently in his arms. He had really stepped on a landmine this time. He stayed quiet and just continued to hold her tightly, letting her cry as much as she wanted. He was still holding her when noon turned into night. He wouldn't let her go tho. He loved her way too much. "Lily?" Squall whispered and pulled back a bit. "Why dont we lay down for the night ok?"

She remained in a small curled ball as he lifted her into his lap, hiding her face against her arms. As he pulled her to look his way and dry her tears, only more came. She wrapped her arms around him and cried into his chest. A lot of topics would be sore ones, but none as taboo as her birthing a pup.... she had been examined by all the medical wolves in her clan and been labeled barren,one to offer to fellow clans as a peace offering to get them to join with their pack and stengthen it. Not all wolves got along after all, so a deal had to be made some how.

Squall sat up some. He knew the idea was painful...but he never thought that even considering it would be this bad. He reached around her body pulling her up into his lap. "Hey hey..." he whispered and gently wiped her tears away. "I get it. I'm sorry. I wont talk it about it again ok?" Squall replied softly. He wrapped his arms tightly around her body in a secure embrace. "I promise. I wont bring it up again..." he assured her as he ran his fingers through her long blonde hair. "So please...just stop crying Lily. I swear I didnt mean to upset you..."

"No" She whimpered instantly after he whispered her name. She curled into a ball as her nuzzled into her, trying to coax her into agreeing. "Please Squall" She said in tears, her body shaking. "Just....stop" She cried, buring her face into her hands, her tail tucked so far between her legs that it pressed against her belly.

"Lily..." Shen whispered and moved over to her side. He gently pressed his warm lips against her cheek and nuzzled his nose into her neck begging for her to hear him out. "I know its painful...but whats the harm in just checking? I'd rather know for sure that way we can be prepared. What happens if we're on the run, but you're throwing up and cant movE?" Squall asked and nuzzled into her some more. "Sweetie please...I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it was important. I know this is a sore spot for you. I know all about your past and how it must have felt to be labeled like you were."

Lily's ears perked as he started to talk but then folded back flat as she looked at him with cold hues. She pulled the meat off and put it back to the side and crossed her arms as she laid down. "Dont start that again" She growled, her tail tucking between her legs at the subject. She didnt want to get into false dreams... not when he knew her situation.... he remembered how the other wolves stared at her, waiting for their turn with the barren mongrel

Squall had finished up and sat back against the tree trunk rubbing his belly. He let out a sigh of pure satisfaction. When he opened his eyes tho and saw that Lily was cooking more meat, his head tilted curiously to the side. He had never seen her eat like that. He then thought back to what Tsume had told him. "You might not want to hear this...but I think we should really consider getting you checked out by...I dont kn0w...someone. I really think its possible that you're pregnant. I mean, you're throwing up everywhere and now you're eating more then I am..."

Lily smiled as he complimented her, her tail slowly starting to wag. As he helped her up, her tail wagged more as he kissed her. "Okay, okay I'm coming" She said and glanced back at the water before following after him. She took her place, serving him his helping of the meat before helping herself. She wound of being so hungry she wound up having to put some of the meat from the second kill on to cook. "God I'm starving..." she said while rubbing her stomach. "Wolves eat a lot but I've never felt this hungry after just eating..." she muttered

"Baby you're the hottest thing on four legs." Squall smiled and held her a bit tighter. "I mean it." he whispered and nuzzled his nose into her neck. He couldn't let her get down about her looks especially when even without both of her ears she was still a 10. "Now come on. The food is waiting. If you dont hurry I might just have to eat it all myself." Squall grinned and helped his mate to her feet. He leaned stealing a quick kiss from her lips like he always did.

Lily stared blankly at her ear as he hugged her and turned to look at him. "So....I still look attractive?" She asked, her ears perked Despite the fact that she had no feeling in her right her, her nerves to control it's movement still seemed to work fine. "I dont look...like a ragged wolf?" She asked as she nuzzled herself up against his embrace. She didnt blame him in the least even though she had a right to. She blamed herself for not finding him sooner in truth...

"Oh Lily..." Squall whispered. He wrapped his arms tightly around her body from behind. "I'm sorry. This happened because...I chased you away." he replied softly. "I dont know if this means much...but I still love you. I'd love you even if you had both ears missing and all your teeth were gone. My love wont change no matter how you look." he assured her. "You're still gorgeous and I still consider myself to be the luckiest dragon in the world."

"....I didnt know....they cut my ear...." She said sadly and looked at his reflection then back at hers. "I....I thought it had been injured and had simply gone numb....they deformed me...." She said mournfully. She had always been complimented for her beautiful ears and tail... she took pride in her soft ears and now one of the was half gone. She leaned back against him. "I kept wondering why i couldnt feel anything when you'd nip my right ear...I cants feel it...." She said

"You do that. She and I have business to discuss." Squall chuckled softly. He sat back, watching the meat cook. When it was done he carefully pulled it off the rocks and laid the slabs on some leafs. His eyes shifted up towards where Lily had walked. He could smell her so he knew she was close by, but she was taking her time. "Lily?" Squall called and rose to his feet. Panic began to set it. He rushed past the trees till he came to find her staring at her reflection. He closed his eyes letting out a strong sigh of relief. "Lily..you ok?" he asked and took a knee behind her. He ran his hand gently along her shoulder. "Whats wrong honey? Talk to me,"

Lily laughed softly. "I'll keep an eye out for her and let her know your looking for her" She said with a wag of her tail and walked to the stream. She washed up and blinked looking at her refelction. She hadnt realized at all what happened to her right ear. She looked at her cropped tip and reached up to touch it. She had thought it was simply numb...not gone... Her ears drooped as she stared at her mis shapen ear.... the top half of her ear would not grow back.... something that has been cut off could not re grow... She sat near the river sullen as she touched her cropped ear

Squall suddenly frowned. He really, really hated jerky. However the idea of trading the meat did sound like a good one. He smiled against Lily and watched as she stood up. "Alright. I'll keep an eye on the food. When you get back I'll wash up too." she smiled and sniffed his hands and arms. "I smell just like a certain sexy wolf I know. By chance have you seen her? She has the most beautiful long white tail. You'd know her if you ever saw her." Squall laughed and leaned back against the trunk of the tree he had used as the main beam for their little tent.

"It would be best to save the second elk for later" She commented as if she read his mind. "The best way to keep it from spoiling it to dry it out with salt and make it into a jerky" She said and glanced at him. "Perhaps with the left over skin we can barter a trade for the salt tomorrow" she said and smiled as he moved over to her. "But of course, I couldnt stand the thought of my love in danger, I had to find you and make sure you were safe" She said lovingly as she leaned back against him. "I have to wash up before the meat is done" She said and stood. Her hands were covered in blood from cleaning the kills

"I'm a demon of many, many skills. I thought you knew that." Squall smirked and looked back giving Lily a wide devilish grin. His eyes shifted over towards the meat. Between the two of them they could probably finished off most of the the first elk. Squall would save the meat from the second for another time. Their best bet was to wrap it and find somewhere cold to bury it. Perhaps on a mountain side so the meat wouldn't rot. "Its smelling pretty good." Squall smiled and slowly licked his lips. He was starving and was tempted to eat the meat raw. "You're amazing you know that. I mean, you were able to track me down even though I had told you to run should I not come back. I'm...really lucky to have you, Lily." Squall whispered softly and moved over towards her side. He planted a soft kiss on her cheek and then another on her lips. "I love you, more then anyone else in this world."

"Your a tailor as well? How did I luck out so?" She said with a smile. "I have to tan the skins, once thats done, you can do as you please" She said with a smile as she plated a large thinner rock over the longs and put the slabs of meat on them to let them cook without getting burned. As the meat cooked from the one elk she started to cut and clean the other, readying it for when she'd have to throw that meat on as well.

"Why thank you." Squall grinned from ear to ear. He really was back, ego and all. When they got back to camp he placed the animals down on the floor. He looked back to their fire. In thier absence it had almost died out. He placed a couple larger logs on top before shooting out a steady stream of dragon fire over the logs causing the flames to rise to life. "Make sure you save the pelts. I'm gonna make you some new cloths. As much as I enjoy it..." Squall paused and turned eyeing what little clothing was covering his mate's body. "I cant have you walking around like that 'all' day long." he chuckled, though probably wouldn't have minded. "Also, it will probably help hide our scents if we wear the pelts of animals rather then our old clothes."

Lily clapped her hands with perked ears, very much impressed. That and she knew how much he enjoyed being praised. "I have such a talented hunter for a mate as well" She said with a smile. She stood up and nodded. "I can handle that much" She said, testing ehr shoulder first. "When I recover I'll help you carry them" she said with a smile as she walked along side him as he carried the two massive elk back to their camp side. Once there Lily went to work on her own skills, skinning the animals skins perfectly and started cutting the good thick meat. "Could you build the fire a bit bigger?" she asked while working on cleaning off all the best meat from one of the elk

"Those will do nicely." Squall whispered from behind her. "Alright, stand back and watch your mate in action!" Squall smirked and stepped out in front her. He made sure to watch his footing so he wouldn't spook the animals. Killing them wouldn't require anything fancy. He aimed his finger like a gun at the closest animal and fired of a shot of energy that tore through the elk's neck. The second animal bolted, but didn't get too far. Squall looked back at Lily blowing his finger. "Alright I'll guess I'll be the one to carry these back. Are you feeling up to skinning and cooking?"