Hi everyone! I'm sorry for the delay, but it IS only a few days away from New Year's and I'm travelling with my family, making consistent writing and uploading difficult.

I'd like to take a moment to say how amazed and happy I am at the support and criticism you guys are giving me. They are all constructive and I take each and every one of your reviews to heart, even if you're a guest. I can't ask for a better audience and I promise I will continue to do my best to write and entertain you guys!

Without further ado, here is the next installment of Frost!


Bitter Tensions


"How long do you think it would take to get there? You know, since you've been to the Capital before?" Ieyasu asked, swaying slightly on top of his pack mule.

"Shorter than the time it takes for me to cut off your head the moment you ask that another question." Esdeath coldly replied, speeding ahead on foot.

Ieyasu sighed. He had no idea what to think about the woman.

Ever since the moment they met, every attempt to initiate a conversation on his behalf has been met with either stone cold silence or condescending derision. Even his lighthearted tries at flirtation were completely ignored.

But the most disturbing fact about the woman was her ruthlessness.

She is, above all else, a remarkable warrior. He's never seen anyone beat Tatsumi in his own game, yet she did it with such ease and grace one might as well think that she was the master and he was the pupil. He and Sayo are powerful fighters in their own rights, but Tatsumi has always been able to trump them both, however small the margin. He was faster on his feet, quicker still with his mind, and was able to make calls and commit maneuvers that had saved them many times in the harsh hunting life on the mountains. Tatsumi may be a bit ignorant, Sayo takes things a little too far sometimes and he concedes the fact that he is a little too perverted and slow for his own good, but there was a reason they were chosen by the Elder to represent their village. They were strong - that they knew, always have, throughout their lives. They are to one day return prosperity to their desolate hometown. It was pretty much what they practiced for their entire lives.

Yet the foreign woman was on a whole other level. She managed to defeat the three of them, the best their village has to offer in terms of talent and skill, without even breaking a sweat. What's more, she was holding herself back as she did so - even Sayo admitted that. Almost ten years spent training together, hunting danger beasts known to have overwhelmed whole teams of hunters - and they were easily matched and outclassed by a single woman.

Ieyasu clutched the handle of his battleaxe with a shaky hand.

He will become stronger. That was what he promised his father on his deathbed, the reason he took up the battleaxe that was his family heirloom and trained with it every day since he was six.

Ieyasu often lost mock fights with Tatsumi, and so he is well acquainted with the feeling of defeat, but Sayo definitely took it harder. She rode at the back of the group, eyes downcast, an obvious burden weighing down her shoulders. Every now and then she would send a hateful glare towards the blue haired woman at the head of the group. She has yet to understand Tatsumi's decision in joining Esdeath on the journey to the capital was sound - the sooner she understood that, the easier this trip will be on all of them.

Ieyasu reined in his pack mule, slowing its pace, moving back to talk to the bow user.


Sayo was furious.

They were not, in true nature, defeated by the blue haired woman, as all three of them remained standing by the end of the fight. What enraged her so was not the fact that they were outmatched and caught offguard - they were bound to meet stronger enemies in the future and learning to deal with ambushes is valuable experience - but it was the fact that Esdeath held herself back. She had never fought an opponent so skilled that she could play them with such condescending ease. Moreover, she had somehow managed to sink her claws into her best friend and.. crush.

Tatsumi.

He rode ahead of her, just behind Esdeath. He had this haunted expression in his face, as if he saw a ghost. The foreign woman certainly wasn't one; no, the smugness of her smile and the sharpness of her blade were all too real to ignore. She yearned to understand the nature of their relationship but Tatsumi would cut her off every time. It hurt her more than anything else to know that he was keeping secrets from her. They practically grew up together - they were nakama, those whose bonds go beyond mere blood and ancestry. And to think that she could ruin it less than a day after coming here..

Sayo gritted her teeth.

The woman had outright refused the offer of riding on one of the few pack mules the village has to offer, telling them that she would rather "crawl my way to the capital than to stoop so low as to ride on beasts of labor who should have been put down years ago". That stung her a bit more so than others. The village was poor enough as it is, yet she expected service befitting a godsdamned empress!

It is for the better, though. One less mule to ride with them on their journey is one more working for the village's freezing fields. Things were hard enough to begin with, and taking away such a rare and valuable resource would not do the village well at all.

For now, she walked calmly across the gravel road. She always hovered around Tatsumi, acting like he was part of her property or something. Sayo felt herself heating up with rage. The way she looked at him, like she was undressing him bare with her eyes.. she unconsciously grabbed the tip of an arrow from her quiver.

"Hey, hey!" Ieyasu said, riding to her side from the middle of the four-man column. "Calm down! Don't go around shooting anybody."

"Not anybody, just her." Sayo replied icily.

Ieyasu sighed.

"Look; I don't like her as much as you do, but you need to calm the hell down. Tatsumi's decision was sound. I agree with him."

"Of course you do, he's your best friend!" Sayo snapped.

"And I will follow him to the jaws of death, yada yada." Ieyasu rolled his eyes. "But whether you like it or not, we need help to get to the capital and what to do once we get there. She's been there before and you have her rapier in your rucksack. There's no need to get so worked up about this.

"She attacked us."

"Tested us, more like. Like you said, if she actually wanted to kill us she could've done so at the very beginning."

There was a pregnant pause that ended with a downcast Sayo, her anger dissipated.

"I still don't like it."

"I'm not asking you to like it." Ieyasu said, smiling. He got through her after all. "I don't, either, but we still need to put up with it.

"If by 'putting up with it', you mean 'flirting your head off with overused pick up lines', no thanks. I'd rather cut off my own head."

"Hey, I'm just practicing my moves for the main arena in the capital later."

"Those moves are gonna send ladies running for the city guards. Or beat yourself up, like I usually do."

"Please. If you're a lady I'm the godsdamned emperor!" Ieyasu jested. His goal accomplished, he rode back to his place in the formation.

But if she hurts Tatsumi, Sayo silently added. I'll kill her myself.


Tatsumi has no idea what to do.

Esdeath, the mysterious newcomer who attacked him unannounced; self-proclaimed Capital's Strongest; cunning seductress, taught him a whole new world of warfare - the kind that deals in the realm of the psychological.

She was supposed to be an ally, and he had tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. He invited her into their supply shack, a place formerly reserved to only the three of them, and asked for her help in practicing swordsmanship. He was not without caution, however - he insisted that she relinquish her rapier to Sayo. It was, if anything, a simple gesture of goodwill on Esdeath's part. Tatsumi is under no illusion about having the upper hand in this situation. He is certain she can reclaim the weapon whenever she wanted, but so far she had posed no threat to him or the group as a whole.

Except for that haunting whisper.

If you try to run away from me again, I'll raze this village to the ground.

There was no coy playfulness in that threat. Her eyes bore into the depths of his soul with the promise of merciless vengeance. They promised the death of every single man, woman and children bearing the most remote and trivial relations to his being if he broke his part of the agreement, and ever since then it haunted her

Why? Why him? Who is she? Why is she here? Why did she kiss him? What did she want from him?

Dozens; no, hundreds of questions surrounding the enigmatic woman whirled around his head. But everytime he tried to pry, every time he insisted on knowing; even his most venomous strengths did not deter the unyielding mask she wore. He was forced to lie to Sayo, to Ieyasu, and that, beyond anything else, weighed him down. He had never kept a secret from any of them. They are all the family he had left. His parents were killed by danger beasts when he was little, and he grew up under the care of the rowdy village blacksmith. Ieyasu entertained him in his loneliest days and Sayo stayed with him through his lowest ones. Nothing hurt him more than having to lie to the two most important people in his life.

He told Sayo that Esdeath used to know his parents when they were still alive. He didn't recognize her earlier because they had both grown up so much. As for why she attacked him in the first place, he reasoned that she had heard his blossoming skills as a warrior and wanted to test out his mettle.

It was borderline flimsy, but further prodding from the bow user was met with sad silence.


Tatsumi's friends impressed Esdeath.

They are talented warriors, skilled hunters and loyal to a fault. She has nothing but admiration for the first two traits, but loathed the third. Absolute loyalty can get you killed. Its negative implications far outweigh the positive. She understood the idea of loyalty - she was loyal to the men under her command, though only to the extent necessary to keep them inspired and in line - but if Tatsumi was to survive this world, he would have to learn to reduce, if not break, his bonds.

She can see how long they have practiced fighting together. Living in the mountains is harsh living. She had first hand experience, as she had to survive an entire month on the frozen peaks of the arctic mountains. It was where her will was forged; her unwavering determination to survive that allowed her to overcome and take control of her former Teigu, Demon's Extract. A similar case happened to each of the three youths, albeit lower in intensity and reduced by camaraderie.

But then again, it has served them well so far. Perhaps letting them indulge in their bonds can work out in the end.

After all, they only have a few more days to enjoy such things.

It was apparent that Tatsumi was far more naive when he left the village than when they first met. She would have to teach him how to kill. From what she understood about him, he has yet to take the life of another human being.

She smiled maliciously.

It's time that changed.


The evening of their first day together ended in a fight.

It merely took the simplest spark of an insult from Esdeath to ignite the built-up tension. Tatsumi had asked Esdeath whether or not she wanted to set camp close to theirs. She replied with a remark about the stench of their pack mules and that she is going to sleep aboveground on the trees. Sayo took it as an offense to what their village could provide and the situation escalated into a full-blown verbal battle between the archer and the swordswoman.

In ended up with Sayo dared Esdeath into a fight against the three of them. Tatsumi and Ieyasu tried to intervene, but Sayo was too far gone to be reasoned with any further. They relented and decided that a fight was inevitable. Perhaps the results can help resolve the tension between their companion and the foreign woman.

The smirk Esdeath gave her was laced with delight at the unexpected challenge.

"Very well, girl." she said. "I accept. Shall we, at sunset?"

"I'm not the idiot you think I am." Sayo bared her teeth. "Twilight is a good time to fight an archer. No, we'll fight in the next hour."

Esdeath laughed with pleasure.

"How perceptive! Of course, it will not change the outcome of the fight. I think you know that."

"No, it won't." Sayo returned a bloodthirsty smirk of her own.

She tossed the rapier to the older woman and beckoned for her to follow.


They squared off on a snowy field a league away from the main road. The three teenagers stood on one side of the field, and Esdeath on the other, separated by a hundred paces of foot-deep snow.

"One more thing, before we start this fight."

"What?" Sayo asked warily.

"I won't be needing this." Esdeath said, smirking.

The blue haired woman tossed her rapier, sheath and all, to Sayo, who barely caught it before it hit the ground. She sent her challenger a condescending smirk before moving to the other end of the field.

"Sayo-" Tatsumi started, concerned for his teammate's temper.

"It's fine." She said icily, drawing her bow. "It'll make things easier."

The three youths fell into loose formation. Tatsumi stood side by side with Ieyasu, both their weapons drawn and at the ready. Sayo took a slightly uphill position a dozen paces behind and took an arrow from her quiver. On the other end of the field, Esdeath simply shrugged off her boarskin cloak, revealing her military uniform

So she was in the military. Sayo thought. She'll understand conventional tactics. We need something else. Something unexpected.

Gears turned inside her head. What advantage does she have against the lightning fast warrior? It was hard to admit, but Esdeath is superior to each of them individually in every way. She even held her own against their three without unleashing her full force.

But then she stopped right

That's it. The full extent of their combat capabilities remains unknown to Esdeath. If she can take advantage of that..

Sayo nocked an arrow on her bow and drew the string to aim at the former general. The first shot will signal the beginning of the skirmish.

The arrows she was using were dull, ending with a stone arrowhead instead of a steel point. She uses them for training, but they still pack one heckuva punch, especially when used by an archer such as she. It was not boasting – it was understanding one's strengths and using it to its limits.

Her eyes narrowed.

Like hell I'm going to lose.

The sharp twang! of her bow sent her fletched arrow streaking across the snowy field and to the blue haired woman's waiting hands.

She grabbed it out of the air and broke it in the same manner reflecting their fight the day before.

Esdeath smiled..

.. and vanished.


It was her third day on Atlas, the wild mountain range reaching to the roofs of the world. Magnificent peaks of white towered above the clouds, sloping down to steep cliffs and outcrops of granite.

She was running.

A pair of Saberfangs were after her, long sharp teeth bared, lithe legs pumping. They weaved through the difficult terrain with the ease of an animal born to live and fight on these mountainous slopes, pursuing a certain human girl who has yet to see her eleventh summer.

She was weak, thin, exhausted, starved. Her clothes were in tatters, exposing her skin and body to the merciless cold of the north. Her hair was a tangle of blue tinged with the white of snow. Her breath fogged up in the air, a testament of the cruel temperatures she was fated to survive in.

But there is one thing that she has left, one thing she can always depend on, one thing that has kept her alive and fighting all these years.

Her will, unbreakable and absolute, to survive in this brutal world.

Her eyes burned bright blue with unparalleled ferocity

Without a hint of warning, Esdeath somersaulted backwards.

The beasts were caught unaware. They had lived for decades, yet have never seen their prey turn back to fight them, much less a starved human kitten whose ribs were showing.

She landed on one of the Saberfangs, grabbing hold of the fangs outside its teeth. It snapped and bucked, trying to throw her off down the perilous cliffs of Atlas. She was, however, undettered – she held on to its fangs like a vice grip. When she felt it weaken she started bashing its eyes with both hands, sparking its rage anew. Blood and viscous fluids poured out of its eyes. Blinded, it thrashed around in a rampage. Esdeath let it go as it toppled over the edge of the cliffs, impaling itself on top of a dead pine tree.

The other Saberfang looked at her with bloodthirsty eyes and roared, promising vengeance for its fallen mate. She screamed a primeval roar to match its own and they faced off once more, two beings forged in the bloodiest battlefield their world has to offer.

She gripped the hunting dagger Temujin left her, concealed within the tattered remains of her cloak.

If her father wanted her to survive her for a month, she'll do it for ten. She will prove to him once and for all that her blue hair was the only thing her mother left her. Not weaknesses. Not vulnerability. Not death.

She is her father's daughter, and she will..

The Saberfang roared and lunged at her.

.. SURVIVE!


Beyond anything else, the one thing that has kept Esdeath alive through all of her years was speed.

Her powerful musculature was, of course, important as well. But it was useful only in the event of a straight fight. There were many scuffles in which she was outmatched. Multiple encounters with various danger beasts had taught her that speed is the first and foremost skill a warrior must possess in order to survive. From flocks of Darkwings to the brutal stampede of the Thunderclaws, she had tempered her speed in the blacksmith of escape.

And now, she will use every ounce of it to teach that self-absorbed bitch of an archer a lesson.

Instead of charging straight at Tatsumi like she did in the previous fight, she circled the group of three, her feet pumping into the snowy terrain, raising snow everywhere she went. Soon she was but a blur of blue among a fog of white. She realized how much her hair used to weigh her down – she appreciated the fact that she can now move freely without risking her hair getting caught in something.

A few moment was all it took to raise a snow storm created from her pure speed and prowess.

From her peripheral vision, she saw them start moving.

Years of living in the endless snow of the north has graced her with the ability to see the vaguest shadows and smallest movement within the snow. Many of her people had fallen to the snowpit vipers who dwell beneath the ground. Her father had forced her to walk among entire fields of those snakes to train her eyesight. Locating three teenagers in the fog of snow was an easy task for her.

You can win hundreds of battles, tens of thousands, but you can only lose one.

She zoomed in like beryllium lightning, striking fast and hard at the weakest and slowest member of the group, Ieyasu. Burdened by the heavier weight of his axe and naturally less aware than his companions, she kicked the wooden handle of his axe. It shattered under her momentum, and she could see the obvious expression of surprise carved into his face. She finished him with a sucker punch to the face and he toppled to a nearby snowbank, unconscious. Esdeath returned to the cover of the snowfog, completing the entire maneuver in less than a second.

"Dammit!" Esdeath could hear Sayo swearing. The bow user saw a hint of blue hair and fired at it. Three arrows flew, three arrows missed, and Esdeath's delighted laughter echoed across the snowfield.

You think fighting in the light would make it any easier, didn't you, girl? Esdeath thought, circling around the remaining two combatants, eyeing the archer with disdain. If the setting sun cannot give me the atmosphere I need, I will make the land do it myself.

Breaking away from the circle, she moved in for an offensive once more.


"Tatsumi!" Sayo hissed. "We can't fight in this fog."

"You're right. Let's move." He said, gesturing for her to follow. They dashed to the cover of the trees, away from the Esdeath's rampaging in the fields. Sayo strapped her bow to her back and took off, running up a length of a pine tree and grabbing on a staunch branch. The bow was drawn and an arrow was nocked a second later. Tatsumi stood guard under the tree, sword bared. She eyed the fading snow in the field, ready to fire at the smallest hint of movement.

There.

Two arrows shot off in rapid succession, narrowly missing Esdeath's charging feet.

"Tatsumi!"

The swordsman did not have time to reply as the blue haired woman fell upon him. He swung in various combos, swinging, slashing and jabbing at his opponent, with the occassional kick to supplement his combat style.

"You fight me as if I am a danger beast!" Esdeath said, evading his blows left and right. "You have yet to learn how to fight a human."

"I hope I never have to." He swore, taking the initiative and going on the offensive. Esdeath ducked under a right hand swing and came up kicking, sending Tatsumi to the tree behind him. He had managed to raise his own sheathe to reduce the power of the blow, and jumped up to avoid a deadly punch. Esdeath's fist burrowed deep into the bark of the tree. The wood shattered under her strength. She leapt back to avoid Tatsumi's overhead blow, but took another leap to avoid being struck by a stone tipped arrow. She landed further back, thrown off balance by the unexpected arrow.

It bought Tatsumi enough time to do a powerslash to her shoulders. She had threatened his village and insulted his friends. The wound won't be fatal, but it should teach her that she cannot, will not push them around anymore.

Esdeath raised her head and bared her teeth in a savage grin.

His blade descended.

Esdeath shifted with inhuman speed and raised her right arm parallel to his sword. Her fist struck the blunt side of the steel and she literally punched the sword out of his grip. It flailed wildly from his grasp, landing a dozen paces away on the snowy earth. He looked at her with astonishment and she finished her combo with a quick burst of kicks to his legs. He collapsed to the ground, muscles temporarily locked.

With her love interest out of the way, it's time she finish off her challenger.

Esdeath looked up, but Sayo was nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes narrowed.

Where could she be..

A flash.

Only her battleforged instinct saved her from a crushing stone arrow in the head, but she did not move fast enough. As time slowed into a crawl, she saw a lock of her hair ripped clean off by the arrowhead. The arrow lodged itself in an adjacent tree.

To Esdeath's surprise, the archer is actually going on the offensive.

She moved in quickly, firing arrows as she did so. Esdeath moved exactly the distance she needed to avoid them, weaving through the salvo at a brisk pace. The arrows landed on the trees behind her, crumpling the wood.

They're too slow, Sayo realized. Time to show the surprise.

Amidst the stone barrage, a single arrow ending with a simple sharpened wood streaked faster than the others.

Esdeath moved to avoid it like the others, but badly misjudged its speed. Now that the stone arrowhead has been removed, it flew twice as fast. It grazed the side of her cheeks, creating a thin line of blood. The wooden arrow shattered behind her.

Esdeath reached to touch the slow trickle of blood coming from her previously immaculate skin.

Sayo looked on smugly.

"You." She hissed. "You will pay for that, wench."

And disappeared.

Sayo glanced to her right just in time to see the raging warrioress slam into her side, breaking several ribs. She gasped a choked breath at the blinding pain, and tried to elbow her foe aside. Esdeath matched her blow with her knee, and Sayo could feel her bones crack under the force. They broke off for a split second before reengaging in close combat. Sayo had taken a steel edged arrow from her quiver and tried to ward the former general with it, but failed miserably as she took a vengeful kick to her chest. She flew back and struck a tree like Tatsumi did only a few moments before. She crumpled to the ground and coughed blood.

Esdeath was before her in no time, and Sayo found her neck choked by the foreign woman's hand.

"SAYO! NO!" Tatsumi shouted weakly from the ground. "IF YOU TOUCH HER I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Don't worry, Tatsumi." She smiled viciously. "I won't touch her skin, not at all."

Esdeath grabbed Sayo's long hair and brutally ripped them off her head.

The archer's screams went on for a long time, filling Esdeath's ears with music.

Tatsumi's heart broke when he heard his companion wail in hatred and agony. Her hair was butchered to pieces, its remnants barely reaching her shoulders, a mere shadow of the beauty it once was. Tears streamed from her desolate eyes, and she was gasping from the force of Esdeath's choke a moment ago. The blue haired woman stood victorious over the bow user, arms crossed before her chest.

"Count yourself lucky, peasant." Esdeath mocked. "You're the only challenger I've ever spared."

"Do you get it now?" Esdeath crouched over Sayo. She grabbed the withered remains of the girl's hair and forced the archer to look her in the eye.

"I am stronger than you will ever be. The only reason you're even alive is because your death would damage Tatsumi," Esdeath glanced away at the green eyed youth with a predatory smile. "and I have a special interest in making him mine. Just so you know.."

She leaned in closer.

"I took his first kiss in that forest."

Sayo's eyes widened in shock. Her breath hitched and her body stilled.

"He liked it, too, blushing red and looking away. You wouldn't mind me taking him, would you? Who knows, maybe I'll let you in on the fun.. But with your hair like that, I don't think he'd even want you anymo-"

Sayo wrenched herself away from the woman with a pained shriek and fled.


A/N: It was hard to write this chapter, and I'm not too pleased with the result, but I hope you enjoyed it. The tension had to be resolved, and Sayo needed to learn that nobody messes with Esdeath and gets away with it.

If you are also following Lollipops, Headsets and Eccentricities, I think I will update sometime around the 31st. I'm about to head to a slightly remote location and internet will be wanting, so no guarantees.

Please review! Be it good or bad, I will take your comments to heart.

Special thanks to Dancingtuna, ilidio13 and Black Disciple for being awesome.

Merry Christmas and cheers to a coming new year!

-Deathwhisperer