Even the Dread Masters were kids once. Or, Bestia meets Cordre AKA future Raptus.

Bestia had been feared ever since she was a child. Big, strong and fierce, she wasn't a kid to mess with. The gloomy streets of the Ziost citadel were her playground. She was the only one who dared wandering into the most grim corners of the Citadel. It was there where she found a tiny, drenched in cold rain, sobbing Pureblood boy named Cordre.

"Hey?" - Bestia snuck around the corner. The sound of crying she heard before had stopped, before continuing again, louder this time.

The redhead crept forward, her eyes darting from side to side, trying to locate the source of the sound, until they stopped and focused on a small figure hunched under a wall. Bestia moved in closer. From this distance, she could see that it was a child, like her. Maybe even younger, judging by the fact they were much smaller than she was. And awfully thin.

The child didn't feel familiar to her, it didn't seem to be any of the kids she knew. But it wouldn't hurt to check. Bestia closed the remaining distance and put a hand to the figure's shoulder.

While it was pretty obvious that he was scared, Bestia didn't expect him to shrink down even more and shake so violently, all of that accompanied by renewed scared sobs.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I'm not gonna beat you!"

Bestia stepped back, not sure what to do next. Might as well try to figure out what happened.

"What are you doing here, alone? The weather's super gnarly!"

The other child didn't answer at first, then he slowly turned to face her. Two pairs of glowing eyes stared at each other in quiet surprise. This one was a Pureblood too! It was quite gloomy, but Bestia could make out that he was small, thin and had huge bright orange eyes that looked back at her with fear.

Bestia sighed: she had NO idea what to do with scared little kids. She was rarely scared. Almost never. And was proud to be brave. She tried to remember what father did on the rare occasions she got scared. It usually came down to him sitting by her side and telling stories. But what stories could be told under a staring cold drizzle? Bestia shook her head, droplets flying in all directions, and extended a hand to the boy.

"Don't be scared. I'll take you home. Dad will come up with something, maybe he'll find your parents? Hey, what's your name by the way?"

Bestia tried to smile, as encouragingly as she could.

The other child looked at her for a few seconds, then sniffled and got up slowly, and finally mustered the courage to speak:

"I-I'm Cordre."

Bestia grinned at her progress and took his hand, urging him to follow her.

"Well, I'm Bestia! You're lucky I found you. No one messes with me!"

Cordre was silent for several moments, than replied:

"Bestia? What kind of name is that?"

"Uuuh, well, you can ask my father. He can sort of, see the future, and named me according to some vision or something. I like my name. And if anyone has problems, well, it's THEIR problems."

Cordre nodded and fell silent for the rest of the walk to Bestia's home.

Which would soon become his home too.