This one is short, but...hehehehe....

I don't own FF8 or LadyHawke. Don't remind me.

Lady of the Night

Hyne knows where they were. Zell stared at the man in front of him. "Where the hell are we?"

"...."

"Yo, where are we?"

"....."

"I don't who you are or where we are." Zell sighed. "Care to fill in the blanks? I already told you my name!"

"My name is Squall Leonhart. Now shut up."

"....Dick."

They rode out into the woods for hours. At long last they saw smoke rising amongst the trees. Squall's hawk chirped in alarm.

"Must be someone's home." Zell said. "There's still plenty of sun light. Are you sure you don't wanna to keep on going?"

"Shut up already!" Squall hissed. "We'll stop here for the night."

There was a loud muffled sound coming from the house and a plump woman ran out waving her arms in the air. An old, skinny man with dirt on his face was tieing up some barrels together. The woman came up to him and pointed at the two men on the horse.

"Get me the axe!" He rasped at the woman. She handed him a poleax and he pointed it menacingly.

"Good evening, Sir, Milady." Squall said smoothly. "My comrade-in-arms and I need lodging for the night."

"No." Hissed the man. "No place for you here."

"We'll pay for it, of course." Squall replied, eyeing Zell.

The man suddenly looked very interested as the woman muffled at squeal.

"We're not above compassion for those in misery." Zell said in a regal tone while jiggling his small coin pouch.

The woman nodded immediately. "You may sleep in the barn." The man rasped. He pointed over to a large barn mostly made of logs.

"Thank you." Squall nodded as he motioned his horse to the barn's direction. The man and the woman walked over to their house with suspicious looks.

Squall and Zell mounted off as Squall's hawk ruffled its feathers tiredly.

Once they were settled inside the barn, Squall brought his saddle bag inside and dug his hand in it. He then pulled out a thin silver chain with two rings in it. One was small with tiny lillies drawn on its surface, fit for the delicate finger of a woman. The other one was much wider, it had a large lion on it and it clearly belonged to a man. He then pulled out a silky cerulean blue dress with a pair of angel wings on the back.

"Squall." Zell's jovial voice called from the outside. "Hey, there's not much to do, so I'm hitting the hay."

He began climbing up the small ladder that lead to the second floor when Squall walked to him. "You can take care of my horse." He said in a serious tone.

Zell raised and eyebrow. "O-kay...."

"And don't sneak up on me." Squall threatened. "I'm liable to cut your head off, before I know it's you."

They walked outside where Zell frowned at the large animal as the hawk perched herself on Squall's shoulder.

"Okay..." Zell tugged on the horse's reins. "Come on, old girl."

But the animal didn't budge. Zell tugged harder.

"Come on!" He said amicably. He looked at Squall. "Stubborn girl, isn't she? What's her name?"

"His name is Griever." Squall deadpanned.

Zell's jaw dropped as he looked at the horse's hind legs. "OH...Er, nice name."

"Go with him, boy." Squall told his horse. "He didn't mean to offend you."

Finally the gallant steed trudged onward. He followed Zell into one of the horse stables, muttering away something about a horse he once had. Squall rolled his eyes as he walked back inside the barn. He picked up the blue dress again felt its silky fabric against his face. He looked over at the horizon as the sun's rays were slowly diminishing.

"One day..." He muttered as the sun hid behind the mountains.

"'Comrade-in arms', my ass." Zell muttered as he picked up twigs in the forest. "Slave is more like it."

He bent over to pick up more twigs; his left arm would not last long if he kept on picking up more.

"'See to the fire', 'feed the animals', 'gather the wood'..." He looked up to the dark sky. "Are you doing this on purpose Hyne? I was better off in the dungeons of Aquila. One of my cell mates was insane and a murderer, but he respected me! And the other one was charged for high treason, but he was a decent guy!"

He moved around some trees and picked up more twigs. "He's a strange, Squall. Why did he save me? He wants something from me...I can see it in his eyes!"

He stopped walking and frowned. "What ever it is, I'm not doing it! I've got a life to live for! To hell with this guy!"

Zell threw the twigs to the ground with unnecessary force and began walking in the opposite direction. "Good luck to him and good riddance! I hope to-"

He stopped in his tracks as he heard a twig snap behind him. Then he heard another set of footsteps.

Oh shit! His mind panicked. Don't tell me he's been following me!?

He looked over in every direction but saw nothing. Yet the footsteps were getting closer to him.

"Hello?" He said. The footsteps continued. He decided to head back to the barn, he was better off with Leonhart. There was a loud snap behind him and a bird squawked. He walked off and looked over his shoulder.

Then he heard the loudest twig snap ever and he ran off. "LEONHART!!" He bellowed as he ran back to the barn. He tripped over a raised tree root but quickly got up. He ran over to a tree to catch his breath. Zell looked over at the barn; there was no sign of life there. He couldn't even see the hawk. He looked behind him and he saw the barn owner with his poleax and Zell barely missed the attack. Running towards the barn as fast as he could, the owner chased after him when a large and black wolf lunged at the man's throat.

Pannicking, Zell stormed into the barn looking around for Squall. "Squall!! Leonhart!! Where the hell are you!?" He walked into the small stable and only found Squall's saddle bag, his sword, his crossbow and his quiver of arrows.

"Squall!! There's a wolf!!!" Zell bellowed. He took the crossbrow and the quiver and ran to the front of the stable. The wolf maliciously mauled the man's face, as Zell placed the crossbow directly at the large animal. He placed an arrow in his mouth as he pulled back the arrow string. The only sound was that of Zell's mutterings and the wolf growling and snarling. He finally placed the arrow where it belonged and took aim directly at the wolf's head.

Then a delicate hand grabbed his shoulder and Zell turned. A woman with mesmerizing chocolate orbs looked deeply into his. She had a heart shaped face, pale skin and carmine red lips. She had a few strands of hair in her eyes, the hair was as black as the cloak she wore. Zell realized that the cloak looked exactly like Squall's.

"Shhh." Was all she said as she walked out of the barn. Zell dropped the crossbow.

"Don't go out there!" Zell gasped. "There's a wolf out there! THe biggest wolf you've ever seen!" He motioned his arms to measure the animal's length. "He killed that man!"

The young woman held her hand up. "I know." She said calmly. Her voice was soft and sweet. She walked away as the wolf howled.

Zell gaped at her audacity. "Miss! Please, Milady!" He watched her approach the wolf and pet the dangerous animal the same way you'd pet a normal dog. Zell walked back inside the barn and sighed tiredly. "I'm dreaming." He said warily. "That has to be it. I'm dreaming that I'm awake, wondering if I'm asleep. I'm dreaming. I gotta be dreaming."

"You aredreaming." Called the young woman's voice. Zell ran up to the second floor and sat down in a corner as the woman began to play with the wolf.

I gotta be dreaming. I gotta be dreaming. I gotta be dreaming!!!

"Why does it have to rain?" Squall grumbled as the two men continued their way. Zell gave a gruntal response. In the morning when he awoke, he found Squall grooming his horse. When Zell began interrogating Squall about his whereabouts during the night, Squall merely replied that he's gone for a walk.

Now, they were headed Hyne, or rather, Squall-knows-where. Zell pulled on Grievers reins as Squall had his hawk perched on his forearm. "Let's stop here. It's not a great day for traveling." Squall muttered as he sat down on a large rock.

Zell pulled on the reins and tied the horse to a tree opposite of Squall as Zell sat down on another rock by the tree. "I could with some sleep after last night." He grumbled. "That wolf could have killed me. Funny, he ripped the farmer's throat out, but left me alone."

Squall raised his eyebrows. Zell continued. "And then there was that woman..." He said thoughtfully. "With fine porcelain skin and dark brown eyes, almost like a bird's. And her voice...the dulcet tones of an angel."

At this, Squall's blue orbs focused on Zell. "She spoke? What did she say?"

"I wondered if I was dreaming and she said I was!" Zell chuckled. Squall lowered his head. "I'm not crazy! I didn't make this up!"

"No, I believe you." Squall said seriously, which surprised Zell. "I believe in dreams." He moved his arm and his hawk chirped.

"Riiiiight..." Zell said as he narrowed his eyes at Squall.

"This lady..." Squall said quietly. "Did she perhaps have a name?"

"Not that she mentioned. Why?" Zell looked at Squall as the other man's eyes were lit up.

"Well, she might wonder into my dreams." Squall said wistfully as he looked down at his hawk. "Wouldn't it be nice to call her by her name, and pretend we've met before?"

His hawk chirped as she began to groom her wings. "I've waited a long time for such a lady..." Squall whispered. He looked at Zell whose eyebrows were disappearing into his hair line. Squall cleared his throat and tugged on his cloak's hood. "Just go to sleep." He hissed. "The hawk will alert us if anyone comes."

"I gotta be out of my mind." Zell muttered. The horse beside him snorted in agreement.

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