Kazune ran though the brush, with thistles scraping his pant leg. Panting and out of breath, he ran,. He ran further and further from the place that kept him in chains. The chains of a warlock were ones that showed no mercy in times of war.

An explosion in the distance made him stop and glance back upon the village he had come from. The place of his childhood was red with angry flames. He felt a bitter-sweet pain in his heart. That was the place he hated and loved. He had no home to return to now.

Coming to his senses, he ran again. Further into the forest now, he slowed down and allowed himself to look around. He was in the forbidden part. The place where elders taught young children to never go, and where angry teens went to kill themselves.

Despite their warnings, he had never been scared of this place. Once, when he was very young, he saw a wisp of a woman walk through the trees. At the time, he thought she looked like a queen, but now he realized that she was probably no older than he is now.

Kazune was 18, with shoulder length sun bleached blonde hair. He had deep sapphire blue eyes and fair skin. He was handsome, but in the town he lived, that didn't seem to matter. He was called a freak because of his gift.

After wandering around for a good hour, Kazune fell to the ground with exhaustion. Slowly, he drifted to sleep.

~.^.~

As Kazune woke up, he noticed the chilled air, all he could see was white.

"Wha?" He said as he sat up. A light dusting of snow fell from his shoulders and hair.

He looked around dumbfounded at what and why he was here. Standing up, he looked around and began to walk again. Slowly, and in wonderment, he looked up at the trees.

"Umff!" He tripped over something large in the snow and fell over.

Getting rather agitated over his current situation, he stood up and was about to kick the thing that tripped him.

"God damn log!" He said under his breath, as he swung in leg back.

He stopped just inches from the snow covered object with a now scared look in his eyes.

There was a person under the snow like he had been. It looked to be a girl from the length of the hair that was now uncovered from the snow.

Kazune quickly fell to his knees and started uncovering the girl from the white blanket.

She was nude, and cold as ice. "... is she a murder victim? Rape? Oh god, what do I do? If anyone finds me with her I'll be blamed for sure." Kazune sat and stared at the girl for a very long time. Cold sweat ran down his forehead in anticipation of his own thoughts. His thoughts calmed for a moment when he noticed that she was breathing. It was very shallow, but it was there. He then made the decision to move her to a less open area.

Picking her up in his arms, he carried her to a hollowed out tree and set her in the center of the soft dirt.

"At least here you are out of the snow..." Kazune said with an exasperated tone.

He looked over the girl again. She wasn't much of a girl really... more of a young lady. A very voluptuous young lady at that. She had a small waist and nicely rounded hips. Her thighs from hip to knees made almost a slender heart shape, and above her hourglass body was a pair of soft, full breasts. His face reddened at the sight of her. She had long golden brown hair that fell in waves at her sides and the most dainty hands he had ever seen. Even her nails were kept perfect. Small feet, well, formed calves, she was perfect. But most of all, was her face. it was almost pixie like but a little rounder around her cheekbones. Her face matched the heart shaped thighs she had.

After a few moments, Kazune noticed that she was not getting any less pale. her lips were blue, and she seemed worse than before.

"I can't use it here" He thought. "Too risky." Kazune glanced back at the girl again. A feeling of mixed anger and pitty welled up in him.

*sigh* "I guess I have no choice do I?" Kazune stood and placed his hands above the girl. With words like poetry and the graceful fingers of a well versed warlock, he conjured flames to the exact shape of the girl and hovered them just above her white body. Warmth instantly filled the hollow tree. A gentle glow emitted from the flames, painting her body a very light orange.

"You'd better be grateful to me when you wake up, girl. I am risking everything for you when I could have just left you in the snow to freeze." Kazune looked away from her with annoyance. "Honestly, who would run this far from civilization naked? And during a massive war at that!"

She was defiantly stupid. All pretty girls were. Even with the words Kazune told himself, he still felt pitty for her. He wondered what her story really was, who she was, where she came from, what her eyes looked like.

Kazune looked at her again, she looked warmer.

"A pretty girl like you, heh, if I was a creep, I wouldn't have hesitated to rape you even as you sleep. Man, you are a lucky girl to have me find you." Kazune smiled a weak and kind smile. This girl was pretty, and he had had some dirty thoughts about her, but he was genuinely glad that he had found her. At least he knew that he would not hurt her. And even though she was greatly diminishing his chances of staying hidden with her need for warmth, he didn't care all that much.

Kazune's eyes quickly darted to her hand. Her finger twitched. He was suddenly stricken with fear. He had not anticipated her waking up and now he was panicking. He got rid of the flames and backed against the tree's walls. Her face scrunched up cutely before relaxing and touting her eyes to open. Kazune spun around and now faced the tree, he face bright red. He heard a gasp and some scuffling on the dirt. Kazune stammered and managed to say the words "Y-You're awake now..." He turned around slowly and saw her against the tree with her legs brought up to her chest and her hands covering her shoulders.

Quickly he stated "I didn't do anything to you! I just warmed you up a bit and got you out of the snow. I couldn't leave you to die after all..."

There was a silence. Before long, Kazune broke it and asked what her name was.

All she did was stare at him with huge pine green eyes and her parted, now light pink lips.

Kazune sighed and turned completely around and took off his coat. "Here" He said rather brashly. "I don't need to be looking at a scared, naked girl..." She reached out and took the coat gently. She nodded in thanks and put it on.

"Now" said Kazune. "What is your name, or won't you tell me?

The girl opened her mouth and spoke in the most smooth voice he had ever heard. It was like a bell, but not too high. It was like she sang each syllable of the name.

"I am Hanazono Karin..."