The Beginning ((Yugo,R))

"Dont underestamate those weaker than you... wolf pups grow very fast and are ready for battle at the age of 5 in human years. Some day they will out number your kind 1000 to 1.... if this ware lasts for more than ten years.... your kind may lose many of its numbers... and from what I have come to understand, it is difficult for dragons to reproduce" She said as she started to wash his arms, his neck, chest, abs. She set the cloth back in the bowl and started to undo his pants so she could wash his lower half

"I'll be 20 in human years next year." He smirked, but then winced wheb she pinched his ear. He looked up at her pouting as he rubbed it. When she mentioned how wolves were mating, his brow raised slightly. "I'll admit I know nothing on the subject. Though the question has always been in the back of my mind. From what I know the wolves already out number my kind, but I suppose that doesn't mean much." squall stated with a cocky shrug of his shoulders. "We dragons normally only mate with our chosen one, but its not uncommon for that take place outside of marriage." he stated with another shrug. When her soft fingers rolled down his chest squall closed his eyes and shivered. IT wasn't that her fingers were cold, it was just that within his mind, he hadn't been touched quite like that within the last few months. The war had kept him busy.

"Funny, what are you, 18, maybe 19 at most?" She asked and lightly pinched his ear as pay back. She slid her fingers along his chest and abs, examining for any bruises or internal injuries. If asked she would probably admitt she liked him, but she had a more sensable head on ehr shoulders and despite her curiousity, showed no other interest in him.... nothing more than making sure he was healing properly. "I supoose... but it helps that foxes have so many things to do that mating isnt an everyday thing...it stays...more special... more inimate then it is with the wolves right now. I hear they are mating even off their heat cycles to try and produce more numbers for the war..." She said softly

"Oh...is it?" Squall blinked looking just a bit clueless. "Well...I didn't mean to offend. I couldn't even tell how old you were until you started talking that night about youngsters and respect. If it means anything..." squall paused as he watched her undo the buttons on his shirt. With the exception of the scars on his side, his body was still an image of perfection. He had perfect fine shaped abs and the perfect chest to go with them. "You dont look a day over 100." he grinned. "I'm sure you must have a hard time keeping all those pesky male foxes away."

As she walked in his question made her ears fold back. She said down and closed her eyes, not looking happy. "It's rude for a man to ask a women her age you know" She said, er fully tail tapping the ground and looked at him. "I'm 251 years old" She said as she looked down at him, her ears folded and her golden hues looking off to the side as she told him her age. She put a cloth into the heated water in the bowl and she tied back her kimono sleeves and then began to remove his clothing

When she poked him, Squall nearly fell over. His body squirmed as pain shot up from his side. Curse her! She always did this and in the exact same spot too! The dragon prince laid on the ground in defeat. The best he could do was turn onto his back. Squall wasn't exactly sure if he wanted her to give him a sponge bath. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but..well..it would just be a little weird. "Well I guess I dont have a choice." he thought to himself and sighed deeply. "I mean its not like I'll get turned on or anything. She's a fox. Besides, I'm sure she's seen a nude male before." he thought again. When she returned, he raised his head. There was something he'd been meaning to ask her. "Tsume how old are you? I get the feeling that you've been around longer then me.."

Her ears flattened as he requested to try walking again. "Your ribs arent anywhere near healed enough" She said and to prove her point poked him in the side. "I can give you a sponge back if your feeling gamy" She said and stood up, grabbing the bowl of water she had been using to wash and clean his wounds with to go get fresh water. "I'll be right back" She said

"Mm." Squall smiled taking the spoon fulls as they came. "Well you can ask me anything within my power. I'll grant it as payment for your help...even though you were the one who shot me down in the first place." Squall laughed. He wasn't as bitter as he had been during his first night with her. He actually thought that it was funny for a dragon prince to be brought down by a single arrow. "Hey I really wanna try walking." he told her, his brown eyes staring softly into her gold ones. "Its been a few days and..." he paused. His cheeks lightly flushed and his eyes hit the ground. "I would like to clean up. It cant be nice for you having to tend to a funky dragon."

"I'm not spoiling you, I'm nursing you" She said simply and got another spoonful for him and lightly blew on it. "Oh, dont mind Yip, he says all dragons are bad guys after what happened to me" She said. "We usually only aid those in need when it comes to trades and such, It's not really our custom to nurse other species back to health, so technically what I'm doing is not allowed" She said as she fed him more of the soup

In the past two days Squall's body had already begun to heal. He couldn't walk yet and Tsume always seemed to catch him when he tried. He was able to sit up on his own though. His left arm was still shot, but his right could be moved if he did so slowly. "You're spoiling me." he stated with a small grin. He closed his eyes and leaned forward parting his lips when the spoon touched. He took a small sip of the broth before taking the rest of the spoon's contents. "Mm not bad." he smiled and ran his long tongue slowly, almost seductively over his lips. "If you keep this up I should be free to walk around in no time." he smiled and leaned back some, though her thigh was still pressing against his, not that he minded. He rather enjoyed having her play the role of a nurse. Her scent relaxed his body making him less tense in his injured state. "By the way, how is your brother? Every time I see him he points and says, 'there's the bad guy' " Squall chuckled and leaned forward to get another spoonfull.

Two days had passed, Lily looked out the mouth of the cave, her blue hues filled with worry as she walked out and looked around, she couldnt catch his scent... she didnt see him flying in the distance... something wasnt right. As she prepared to leave she stopped. suddenly feeling sick. She fell to her knees and threw up into the bushes, coughing up last nights dinner. She shook her head as the sickness passed, she washed out her mouth with water and started chewing on tree root to help calm her stomach. She fazed into her wolf form and began the long decent down the mountain.

Tsume had finally allowed Squall to sit up right but only so long as he didnt try to bed or turn while up right. She sat beside him and blew on a spoonful of hot soup she had brought back from her tribe. She blew softly before lifting the spoon to his lips. "eat, its deer stew" She said softly, her ears perked as she shifted her body, her thigh pressing against his as she leaned toward him to feed him the soup

"I see..." Squall whispered. He moved so he could lay his head down and closed his eyes. His gut told him that there was a little more to the story, but none the less he still felt that she didn't deserve to get burned. "I'm so...tired..." Squall replied softly feeling his eyes grow heavy. In his dreams, white flashes kept passing him by. Someone was calling him, looking for him. Squall's lips parted making mushed mumbles through the night. It wasn't until about three hours before sunrise that he settled into a deep sleep and didn't wake till about noon.

"Not really, just some burns, my brothers ankle only got singed, I managed to block most of what would have happened to him. One other villager lost a finger, but he was stupid enough to try and pick pocket one of them a while after they had burt us... my borther and stumbled into one of them and was accused oftrying to steal from them. My brother has not yet started training for such mischief yet" She stated

"I suppose..." Squall whispered with his eyes still closed. He had no idea how late it was since he had been out cold for hours. "One more thing..." Squall whispered and turned the best he could so he could face her. "Tsume...did they...well did they leave anything more then that scar?" Squall asked, his eyes narrowing. "Did...they hurt you in any other way? What about your brother? Was he attacked too?" Squall asked. He was ready to sit up if she told him yes.

"They were young bloods getting kicks... and like I said i never got their names so there's no way to help you bring them to your justice." She said and blinked as his lips touched her finger tips. She pulled her hand back and looked down at him as she covered him with a blanket. "Just sleep for now, you can worry about it when your better" She said and laid down a few feet away from him and closed her eyes

"But-" Squall protested, but didn't fight her when she laid him back down. "But if what you said is true and if you were truly innocent those dragons committed a grave crime. The empire has its rules for a reason. Reckless behavior that insults the Emperor will not be tolerated." Sqaull stated firmly. It was almost like he was a completely different person, or rather his old self before Lily had peeked his interest. Sighing deeply, Squall closed his eyes. He rather enjoyed having her fingers running through his hair. "I wish I could make up for it.." he whispered softly and shifted his head some. His warm lips accidentally pressed against her finger tips

Tsume's ears perked as he tried to sit up. "Stop, you need to lie down and rest" She said and her ears flattened as he sat up anyway. You could see her distaste but she sighed softly. "My apologies, but I did not" She said simply and forced him to lay back down. "Now sop moving or you will never heal" She said. "I dont want to have to bind you down" She said as she ran her fingers through his hair to move his brown bangs from his eyes

Squall watched as she raised her kimono and his interest in her immediately peeked. For a common fox she had a pretty nice body. He could only imagine what the rest of her looked like. When he saw her scar, Squall did his best to sit up. His bit down on his bottom lip trying to fight through the pain that was shooting through his body. After a few tries, he was finally able to sit up and was leaning forward a bit. "You have my sincerest apologies. Had I been there I can assure you that wouldn't have happened. Such behavior is inexcusable and violates the law set by the Emperor himself." Squall frowned and reached down holding his side. "Did you catch their names? I'd be more then happy to ring their necks once I'm healed up."

Her ears perked. "Well its true we aid wolves from time to time when they stumble in just as we do with you kind, but no thats not the reason. They were young bloods, hot headed and full of too much spirit... She lifted the hem of her kimono all the way up to her hip, giving him the perfect few of her curvy legs. "They liked to bully my kind into submission after insulting the simple way we chose to live" She said showing him a scare from a fire burn. "I know not all dragons are like that, but I'm still wary of the younger looking ones like yourself" She said with a soft sigh. "Young bloods now a days....back in my day the races were still seperate but showed a type of respect to each other..." She said

Squall's head raised a little. She had bad experiences with dragons? He frowned slightly looking at her. Maybe he hadn't been shot by accident after all. "What did they do to you? Unless you were caught aiding our enemies no dragon should have bothered you." he stated and then remembered that foxes were notorious for stealing. He wondered if she had gotten caught. As far as he could see though, she didn't appear to have any injuries. She had all her fingers and toes too.

"Your welcome" She replied with a smile. "Ah...a prince, I thought your blood smelled stronger than other dragons I've come across" She said and blinked. "Oh, I'm Tsume, just a lowly fox" She said with a bow of her head. "Well...I'm not so sure I would have wanted to meet you while your at full strength.... All my past experiences with dragons... havent been the most fondest of memories: She admitted

"Thank you..." Squall whispered softly. His big brown eyes gazed up at his nurse examining her face. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen a fox up close before. She was attractive and her golden eyes were simply mesmerizing, though he'd never tell her that, not with his condition. "I..dont think you've told me your name yet." Squall stated offering her a smile. "My name is Squall, first son of the Emperor. Its unfortunate that we had to meet for the first time under...these circumstances." he laughed, though soon winced from the pain that shot through his ribs.

"Just give it some time. Dont try and force yourself to remember or else your mental state will never heal" she said gently as she folded his jacket. "I'm sure your allies will come searching for you at some point, though I'm sure with your healing abilities that you will be out of here in a week or so" She said and started checking his wounds to see which needed new bandaging. "For now, you need to rest and get as much sleep as possible" She said

"A female??" Squall blinked. God, why didn't anything make sense?! There was no reason that his jacket should smell like some random bitch. It wasn't like Squall was a hunter or anything. He'd never waste his time or energy going after a single target. The dragon closed his eyes trying to relax. The more he thought the more his head seemed to throb. "Its fine..." he muttered softly, his eyes still closed. "Well the good thing is that my presence wont go unnoticed. Surely someone will at least think to look for me. Though..." he paused and opened his eyes. "They may not think to look right away. There's a big operation going on right now. Damnit..."

Tsume started looking through the pockets pulling out a small scrap of paper with a date from four days ago written on it. Probably a reminder of when Lily's heat cycle would start and when to start looking for her... But it only had the date written on it and nothing else. She sniffed his jacket. "Smell's like it... a female I'd say by the scent of the musk...the male wolves tend to have a much heavier scent..." She said and looked down at him. "It's the least I can do since I'm the one who put you in this state....sorry....again" She said and bowed her head.