It had been about a single moon since Ariel had bee stolen by Shadow-Hunter. She wasn't used to being alone with a male; The closest she'd ever gotten was the time she'd been cubsitted by her father. But Shadow-Hunter wasn't gentle. Every day he mounted her a guestimate of twenty times, just to make himself feel better, and Ariel hated it. He didn't hurt her, which was good, but she just didn't like him. She barely even knew him.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked one day, lashing her tail with sheer anger in her eyes.

"Ariel will get pregnant," Shadow-Hunter growled. "Ariel will have cubs of this one."

"No, I won't." She hissed, baring her teeth. "I'm not even in heat anymore, can't you tell?"

"So what?" Shadow-Hunter's eyes narrowed to slits of amber, like dried blood.

"So, if I'm not pregnant now, I won't be until my next cycle." She said defiantly. "I want to go back to my Clan! Is that too much to ask? Is it?"

Shadow-Hunter bared his fangs. "Yes." He growled. "Ariel will go back to her Clan when this one says so."

Ariel growled. "No wonder the females don't want to mate with you. You're nothing but an animal, an Unnamed One, witless!"

Shadow-Hunter looked fairly injured. "Wrong," He growled quietly, "Different reason."

"Then what is it?" Ariel snapped.

"This one was the smallest of his litter," Shadow-Hunter said sensitively, "Smallest always weakest."

Ariel recoiled a bit, but not in disgust that he was the runt. It was almost sympathy. Almost. "Why would they not mate because of that?"

"Don't know," Shadow-Hunter admitted. "Maybe this one stay smaller? Never looked."

Ariel now felt a tiny twinge of sadness for him. "I was the runt, too." She admitted. "My siblings were bigger than me."

Shadow-Hunter looked up at Ariel, then stood up and moved to the entrance to their makeshift lair. "This one will hunt, now. If Ariel wants to leave..."

"No," Ariel said quietly, suddenly feeling an attachment to the male. "I'll go hunt with you."

Shadow-Hunter almost looked hurt. "Why?" He asked. "Is this one not good hunter?"

"No, no, you are. I just... Haven't had a lot of excersize. I feel fat." She smiled a little. "Maybe a little hunt would ease my temper."

Shadow-Hunter looked unconvinced. "Female don't hunt," Shadow-Hunter huffed, breathing deep in a sigh. "Female stay home, clean dens, heal injured, give cubs, and mate males." He said this almost down to her, as if teaching a cub the way of the tribe for the first time. "Males hunt, fight, mate females, keep territory." He said, sitting down quietly. "See?"

Ariel bristled. "In the Clan, that's not how things work. In my Clan, the females mostly do the fire-things, like warm the dens and tend to the Great Flame," She said, "And the males do the herding, and help with the fire. But if a male wants to become a Firekeeper, that's alright. If a female wants to become a herder, thats okay, too."

Shadow-Hunter grunted. "Strange ways of Clan," He said simply. "Fine, Ariel go hunting." He walked into the woods huffily.

Ariel smiled. Maybe she could get some wood and fire-stone, start a flame to keep them warm for once. He hadn't let them leave since...

Ariel suddenly collapsed, alarming Shadow-Hunter. Her stomach was cramping violently, as though a treeling had been gnawing at the contents of her spleen. She writhed in unimaginable pain, eyes watering with a desperate need for relief.

"Ariel?" Shadow-Hunter whimpered, trotting over to her as fast as he could. "Ariel... Okay?"

The she-cat sat up, coughing and whimpering. Now her intestines and her esophogus were both on fire, and she was wretching. "Do me a favor, Shadow-Hunter?"

"Yes." The mostly black male sat down, flashing his tail back and forth. "What does Ariel want this one to do?"

"Get big, dry leaves and branches," She coughed, her stomach convulsing. "And down by the stream, there should be black rocks scattered all over the bank. If you slash your claws over it, they make little specks of fire called sparks. Bring those over to me."

By the time Shadow-Hunter had returned, Ariel had vomited most of the contents of her stomach. She was weakened and her belly was still upset, but she was just strong enough to arrange the leaves and twigs into a little pile and use the fire-stone to light them up. Once the flame was fattened, she curled up by it and whimpered.

"Why sick?" Shadow-Hunter sounded like he was going to sob. "Something Shadow-Hunter do?"

"We didn't burn the prey you brought me." Ariel said softly. "I'm so used to the burnt meat of my meals... I guess I'm not used to raw meat like our ancestors were."

Shadow-Hunter moaned. "Go get food for Ariel, burn it for Ariel? Make better?"

"Maybe," Ariel sighed, curling up on herself. "And then we can go back to your lair, and bring the fire back, so we can be warm when we go to sleep. And the fur of the prey you catch can be used as bedding."

Shadow-Hunter nodded and bolted off, flashing his tail back and forth as he ran, off to get some sort of food for Ariel.

When Shadow-Hunter returned once again, Ariel was doing a little better. He'd managed to take down an older Three-Horns buck; And luckily, Shadow-Hunter knew about the signs and found a herd with no marks.

"Now we can skin it," Ariel instructed him carefully. "Get one of your claws into the chest, and make a straight line down the belly."

Shadow-Hunter did exactly as he was told; And when they were done, they had quite a good-looking pelt for bedding, and some raw deer meat for food. Shadow-Hunter dropped one leg into the flames, leaving the leg out of the fire so he could pull it out, and they settled down to wait.

"Sorry for make sick," Shadow-Hunter said quietly. "Ariel want to leave? Go to Clan?"

"No," Ariel sighed quietly, "I'm alright. I don't want to. Not yet. Not while I'm so sick."

Shadow-Hunter sighed and nodded, resting his head carefully against her back, his jaw going across her spine. Then he jumped up.

"What's wrong? Do I have a tick?" Ariel gasped immediately. Food-Sickness and ticks! What a mixture.

"No!" Shadow-Hunter blinked. "This one felt kicks!"