Bitch-

"Honey, she deserves a proper burial," I purred, rubbing David's shoulders.

"But she's not dead!" He jumped up and faced me.

"We have to be rational here! No one could survive this long!" I growled.

"Lyra can!"

"She's too young, she's probably died of starvation by now."

"She's twenty years old! Why does no one believe in her!? I am so damn sick of all the doubting! I can feel  that she's alive and she's okay," David snapped at me.

He's never yelled at me. I grit my teeth, he didn't know who he was messing with.

"I am your wife! How dare you treat me like this! I am trying to help you!" Lie, but whatever.

David's eyes locked with mine and it scared me how cold they turned.

"You've never acted like my wife. You and Lyra bicker constantly! I've heard how you talk to her, that's why I let her get you back! You deserve every bit it! I've put up with you way too long...." He got out from behind his desk and went to lean against the door frame.

"W-what are you saying?" I asked, caught off guard. 

"I want a divorce. You're useless to me and my daughter."

"Wha- No! You can't do that to me! I've done too much for that little bitch to be dropped like a rock! She's so babied that she's not even a woman, I'm surprised she's not still classified as a kid!"

"My daughter is twice the woman you will ever be," David glared at me icily.

"How dare you-"

"I want you out of here by tomorrow night."

"Where do you think I'll go?!" I cried.

"Your brothers of course," he smirked at me before walking away.

No, no, NO! This isn't happening, it can't be happening. My plan is going down the fucking drain and I'm about to lose it. Running to the bathroom, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and dialed my only option.

"Hey sis, how's the scam coming?" Richard snorted.

"Now is not the time!" I whispered harshly.

"What do you mean?"

"David had...a melt down. He refuses to believe that little bitch is dead. I've tried everything! He blew up and wants a divorce. He wants me out of here by tomorrow night!" I was close to tears, my world was falling apart.

"Hold it! David exploded?!"

"Yes! He yelled at me!"

"Wow I expected that to happen a lot sooner."

"Richard!"

"Alright alright, let's not let this get messy. He's probably just mad. Why'd you piss him off? Whatever. A car will be there for you at five tomorrow. We have to remember the plan. Theres a lot of money riding on this. I don't want  things to get messy but I'm not afraid to make a mess. Let's hope this is just a little argument. For David's sake."

-------------------------

Lyra-

"Boom sucka!" I yelled triumphantly.

"Come on! You're like a fricken' squirrel! It's not fair, I weigh more and I'm bigger than you!"

"Nope, I'm just awesome and that's not my problem."

Nathan rolled his eyes, "What can you see?"

I looked around, "Trees. Tress. Trees. Mountains. Oh look, a bird. Little lake about ten miles that way. Not much else bud."

Holding onto the very top of my pine tree, I swung around and swayed playfully.

"H-hey don't do that! You could fall!" Nathan called from his tree. Awe, that's cute but I'm feeling fun today. Same way I felt when I first sky dived.

His legs were firmly wrapped around his branch and he was holding on like someone was trying to shake him off. We wanted to get a good look at our surrounding area so we found the two tallest pine trees and made a bet to make it fun.

Whoever got to the top of their tree first, won.

"Pshh!" I laughed and dropped from my limb.

It must've looked like I fell because I heard Nathan gasp. I hung upside down on a new branch and made a face at Nathan.

"Oh my god, don't do that!"

I righted myself and looked at a neighboring tree, "You think I can jump to that tree? It's pretty big."

"No!"

"I'm gonna do it!" I declared, standing up.

I bunched my muscles and launched myself out of my tree. I grabbed my targeted branch and landed okay as the tree swayed with my weight.

"And she sticks the landing! Someone get some water cause this girl is on FIYA! The crowd goes willldd!!" I laughed and raised my fists in triumph.

"Jay you are insane!" Nathan called from is branch nervously.

"I know! It's so fun, jump to my tree!"

"No way, I can't do that. I'll-.. break it or something."

"Fine, I'll come to you," I grinned at him.

"Wait don't-"

I landed next to him and brushed pine needles out of my face, "What's up doc?"

"Can we get down?"

"Why? You can see everything up here," I smiled and held onto the tree trunk so I could lean out and look at our view.

"I'd just feel better if you were safe on the ground," Nathan smiled sweetly, trying to urge me down.

"Oh come on," I groaned, not wanting to come down.

"Please," he pulled the puppy face, that god damned puppy face.

I winced and bit my lip, "Damnit Nathan."

He grinned and started to shimmy down. I easily leapt from branch to branch and jumped the last seven feet down where Baine was waiting patiently. We waited and waited on Nathan.

He finally made it about a foot off the ground before he stumbled backwards and landed on his back. I leaned over him and smiled, "Congratulations,  I'm one hundred years old."

"Har har har, so funny," he grunted.

I chuckled and helped him up, "You're  really not a heights person, are you?"

"Um, no, not really."

"Too bad! If you're gonna stick with me, then tough it out," I snickered and started walking.

"You worry me sometimes..." Nathan muttered as he followed me.

"Don't be worried, just have fun," I shrugged carelessly.

"Someone's gotta take care of you."

"Who named you my keeper?" I joked with a grin.

"Lyra..." Nathan mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Thank you for taking care of me. I probably need it more than I think," I said, feeling kinda bad.

"Apology accepted," he smiled and stepped in front of me.

"There's a spider on your jacket by the way."

"OH MY FUCK, GET IT OFF!!!" I shrieked and tore my jacket off.

Ew ew ew ew, it felt like things were crawling all over me!

Nathan chuckled and grinned at me. I narrowed my eyes at him, "You are so mean to me."

"Hey you were mean to me," he smirked.

"I said I was sorry, I didn't mean to be mean. You're not my keeper, you're more like my protector. My bestie remember?" I stood closely to him and pouted a little, looking up at him through my lashes.

Sometimes it helps to have big doe eyes.

His cheeks turned pink and he tried to look away, "I know, just messing around. You're just a little reckless sometimes."

"Good thing I have you then, right?" I grinned up at him, nudging his shoulder.

His cheeks were bright red, "Yeah, real good thing."

Speaking of his cheeks, "Hmm."

"Hmm what?"

Raising my hand up and placing it on his cheek, I ran my thumb over the stubble forming on Nathan's cheek.

"You planning on growing a beard?" I snorted.

"Totally, I figured I could fit the whole 'lost in the woods for months' mountain man appearance. I'll shave when we get to the cave with my knife," he chuckled.

"You are very skilled with your knife."

"Well you gotta look nice in the presence of a lady."

I felt my cheeks heat up and I took my hand away from his cheek, "We should be heading back, there wasn't much to see."

"You loved it anyway," Nathan grinned.

"Yeah that's true. Last one home has to give Baine a bath!" I yelled and shot off.

"No fair!!"

I laughed happily as I sprinted through the woods. Easily dodging trees and jumping bushes, the crack in the wall soon showed itself. I could still hear Nathan crashing after me. Baine loped at my side, the little bugger was basically speed walking.

Once I was through the crack, I flattened myself against the wall and waiting for Nathan. As soon as he was through I popped out.

"Surprise!!"

He skidded on rocks and knocked into me with a yelp of surprise.

----------

Nathan-

Oh my gosh, why was this girl so fast?? I could barely see her now.

Geez, I'm out of shape!

Lyra disappeared through the crack and I now had to give Baine a bath. I jogged through and wondered how I was going to drag an adult wolf into cold water and shove him under the waterfall.

"Surprise!!"

I planted my feet, which sent me skidding and pitched me forward. I smacked into Lyra before I could do anything to stop myself. I rolled quickly and made sure I landed on the bottom of the pile. The ground was pretty rough but it wasn't something I couldn't handle.

When the dust settled, I opened my eyes and found Lyra on top of me. I'd somehow wrapped both arms around her and held onto her.

I quickly looked over her. She didn't seem to be hurt.

She sat up and grinned, "Did I surprise you?"

I left my hands on her hips as she straddled me, "Yeah, I was pretty surprised. Hey do I really have I give Baine a bath?"

She laughed, "Nah, that was just for fun."

"Why are you awesome at everything? I feel like you should be in the Olympics, it's like your Tarzan," I chuckled playfully.

"Baby I'm no Tarzan, I'm Jane. I just have mad skills," she chuckled and leaned forward on my chest, folding her arms and setting her chin on them.

"Teach me your ways Yoda," I grinned at her.

"Ah, but you have much to learn young Sky Walker," Lyra giggled.

The force is strong with this one..

"So how about some lunch?" I suggested. 

"Oh shit! The fish!" She jumped off of me and pulled me up.

We ran over to the cold smoker and she threw the large rock up with ease. The fish had been in there for hours.

"It's all good," Lyra grinned and pulled up the stick we strung the fish on.

We ate and laughed. Baine lumbered around by the bank, thinking he could sneak up on some ducks.

"So what're we gonna do today?" I asked. Lyra was our planner and kept things in check. I was her loyal soldier and I had no problem with that.

"Well the skins are almost done. They just need to air out. I already cleaned the cave, laundry is all caught up, and we don't need a shower for another day or so. Wanna go see the BBR?"

"BBR?"

"You know, the Big Buck Rut. Fall, rutting season? We can find some big targets."

"Oh yeah. Okay I'm game," I grinned with a shrug.

We finished eating and tossed two rabbits to Baine. Sadly, we had to lock him in the cave because Lyra said he couldn't get to the best seats in the house. It didn't take long to get to the meadow. Instead of going to our favorite rock wall, Lyra led me the other way.

We had to be as quiet as possible because some does were browsing in a little group not too far away.

Lyra stopped abruptly and started pulling herself up a large tree on the edge of the meadow.

"Jay..." I said anxiously.

"C'mon," she whispered.

I sighed and climbed after her. I grabbed the same branches she did, I mean she obviously knew what she was doing, so I might as well copy here. If she could live in a tree in the Amazon for three weeks, I can certainly climb one.

I froze when Lyra pulled her knife off her thigh. She quietly hacked away at a few branches. Once they were gone, we had a full view of the meadow.

"Just like a tree stand. Best seats in the house," she whispered to me. 

We didn't have to wait long before some frisky young bucks walked into the far side where the does were. I felt kinda bad for them. The does were also young but they only wanted to play instead of..participate in the rut.

The largest of the group grunted and tried to shove the others away, getting selfish with the girls. Another one stepped up and lowered its head, grunting challengingly.

"My money's on the second one," Lyra whispered, pointing.

"So we're wagering now? Alright, I like the big one," I grinned at her and pointed to my chosen buck.

Their teenage antlers clashed violently as they struggled for title of top buck. The others in the group found sparring partners over specific does.

While they, and I, weren't paying attention, we didn't notice a large, seasoned deer walk in from the side.

Lyra elbowed me, "That one!"

"Now it's getting good," I smiled, adjusting on the branch.

The older buck chased the girls back into a group and pushed them to the middle of the meadow, away from the rutting bucks. Some of them began to get tired and calmed down enough to go drink at the creek. The buck that Lyra liked was too stubborn for that.

"Oh my gosh he's going for it," she chuckled as her buck charged the larger.

The big buck snorted and pawed the ground, but his younger opponent didn't back down. Their antlers cracked together and the battle had begun.

"Still voting for yours?"

"Oh yeah, he's got a lot of fight in him."

"I dunno, he's pretty young."

The older buck twisted his head and sent the younger to the ground, breaking them apart for a moment. The large ones hooves pounded the ground and he reared to come down on the young buck.

But he moved just in time. The younger seemed to get a second wind as he lunged, cracking the old buck from the side and throwing him to the dirt. My buck scrambled up and backed away, his head low, and his legs trembling in exhaustion.

The young buck tossed his antlers and snorted threateningly.

I watched my bet turn tail and limp out of the clearing. Lyra's deer held his head high and rounded up the does. He stalked back into the forest with his ladies and the other group watched them go.

"Yes! Point for Lyra!" Lyra whispered happily.

"Man..." I mumbled.

"Whelp, good rumble," Lyra chuckled and started down.

"Wait wait, look," I pointed at the group of bucks.

They stopped sparring and turned to our side of the meadow, ears and tails up.

"What's going on?" Lyra whispered.

I shrugged helplessly and continued to watch the deer. One grunted and turned to flee into the forest, the rest following him quickly.

"I wonder what spooked them."

I tried to look behind us and underneath us, as we could hear twigs cracking, but the trees were too thick. What if it was a bear? How could I protect Jay in a tree if it was a bear?

We soon figured out it wasn't a bear. A male elk pranced out of the forest with a group of females behind him.

His rut was obviously settled and he had his prizes. His size was amazing and his antlers were huge.

"Lyra, I think I know what our next target is," I grinned as I watched the elk run the meadow.