Chapter One
First And Only
The first time he met her she was the mere age of six, laying in a field of smoldering ashes, as he looked around he could still feel the magic in the area, a magic he'd never seen nor felt before.
He was cautious as he walked up to her, not wanting to startle the mage that he assumed had caused this disaster. It wasn't as if he was afraid, no, someone like him did not get afraid, especially of something so small and fragile looking, but he was cautious, and no one would blame him for that.
As he walked closer to the small girl he noted that she was badly burnt, the skin on her feet were blistering, and her arms were filled with burns and cuts, her small body was shuttering in pain. The small blue dress she had on was burnt, it still looked as if it was smoldering, the boy briefly wondered how she was handling this, she was basically knocking on deaths door, after all.
'You okay?' he asked the small girl as he kneeled beside her, for someone like him, these smoldering ashes weren't going to do him any harm. Although as he watched the small girl slowly move her neck to look at him, he realized how stupid his question had been, obviously she wasn't okay, far from it. The look in her eyes, he knew he'd never forget it.
'How can someone so small be in so much pain?' he wondered to himself. Ever so gently he gathered the small girl in his arms, surprising himself at how gently he handled her, he, after all, was considered to be a monster.
The girls brown eyes never left his own, as much as he willed them to do so. She seemed surprised, as if she couldn't believe someone was actually saving her, as if she thought she wasn't meant to be saved, and for all he knew, she wasn't meant to be saved, from the looks of things, someone had wanted her dead, there was absolutely no way in hell that this little midget of a girl could have done all that on her own...
That's what he wanted to believe anyway. The stench of her magic told him otherwise.
After a few minutes he was laying the girl down next to a stream, as far away as he could get from the smell of burnt earth. He really had no idea what he was doing, and he also knew that she needed medical attention that he wouldn't be able to give her, but he also didn't want to risk going into a town where she would possibly be killed, after all he hadn't the slightest idea as to whether she was wanted for something or not.
He noted briefly that there was a bag at her side, by some miracle it had escaped the rampaging flames and remained untouched, perhaps it was due to the magic that he smelt from within it.
His eyes shot up to the girl once again, she had passed out on the way over, her injuries probably hurting to much as he moved locations, he grabbed the bag from her shoulder and snapped the button undone, letting everything spill onto the forest floor. A notebook, keys, burn medicine and band aids, he wondered very briefly if this sort of thing happened to her a lot.
His eyes lingered on the keys for a few seconds, seeing as they were the source of yet another source of unfamiliar magic, she had nine golden keys and give or take thirty silver ones, along with a key that looked like plain fire, it was odd, this key along with the few others beside it. It was as if it was made up of real flames, when he made a grab at it, to look it over closer the flames shot out, as if in warning, it didn't burn when they licked his hand, but he wasn't about to anger whatever it was.
He set everything back inside the bag once more, save for the wraps and the burn ointment, he looked over the girl once more, looking for the worst injuries before tearing a piece of clothe off of his already tattered pants. He wasn't one to care for things, but this girl was going to die if he didn't help her out, the least he could do was clean her up a bit, make sure she didn't get infected.
Dipping the piece of clothe in the stream he rang it out and kneeled by the girl once more, she was filthy, so filthy in fact he could barely make out the fact that she had blonde hair underneath all the soot that clung to her. She had a gash on her cheek that he decided to take care of first, it was long and jagged, starting at the bottom of her left eye and making its way down towards her throat, it would definitely leave a scar, wiping away at the dirt and blood that clung to her like a second skin he could start to see how pale she was. He grew worried.
'Should I really risk taking her to a town?' He thought to himself. As he thought about what he should do, he didn't notice the ringing of a doorbell, or the bright light that brought forth a certain person.
Until she was directly behind him. He let out a snarl and stood over the unconscious girl protectively, not knowing what had come over him. He knew though, that as long as this girl was with him, no harm would ever befall her, as to why he thought that, again he didn't know.
The lady that stood before them was oddly enough dressed in a maids outfit, chains clanged together as the fell from her wrists and onto the ground of the forest floor, the ladies expression was nonexistent, and the boy noted briefly that she had pink hair before his eyes narrowed in on her own.
'I do not wish to harm you. I wish to thank you, for taking care of my princess' the lady said, her voice was monotonous, so the boy couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not, so he moved not one single inch, bending his knees farther downwards in order to spring on this stranger if need be.
'How do I know your not the one who caused her to get hurt?' The boy asked once more, confused at the venom laced within. Yes, for a nine year old he was used to talking in such a way, but never, not ever when it came to protecting something or someone, he didn't care for anyone or anything, so why, why was he doing this?
He shouldn't be doing this.
'My princess is in need of help, young master, I thank you for caring for her, please I will take over now.' The long legged person strode forward and calmly wedged her way between him and the small girl, yet he did nothing, he didn't react when the lady picked up the child in her arms, nor when she walked away with her. He stayed still like the coward he truly was.
He couldn't really let it end like that, could he? He had just saved this small imp of a girl after all, shouldn't he at least know who she was, what she was? More importantly, he needed to know if she would be okay.
'Who is she, was it her that caused that back there? Where are you taking her?' The questions were out of his mouth before he could even comprehend it himself. The pink haired lady snapped her head back towards him, and gave him a small smile, if he knew any better he would realize that she was memorizing his face, his magic, everything there was to know about him.
He would have noticed that the blonde was staring at him as well, if only he knew better, if only he had been aware.
He might've found out her name.