The snow was beginning to fall from the darkened clouds above. She tried to cry but, the tears would not come, so tired, so cold. The gun's barrel was pressed against the back of her head. She closed her eyes as tight as she could.
"Will you hurry up it's freezing out here"
"God you're a wuss"
"Just hurry up and kill it already"
"Yeah, yeah" he cocked his gun.

A single gunshot echoed through the forest. She slowly opened her eyes. It was still cold, this couldn't be heaven, she was hungry though, maybe it was hell. "Holy Crap!" she turned her head ever so-slightly to see the voice behind her, her would-be assassin was on the ground, the snow around him was turning a crimson red. The second man drew his pistol and fired wildly into the into the forrest, she covered her ears, the sound was almost deafening. "SHOW YOURSELF!" he screamed into the tree line. "BBAANNNGGG" another shot cracked through the air, then an even more frightening silence took hold. He fell to his knees a look of shock upon his face. She stood and began to run but fell face first into the snow and then tried to crawl away, a dark figure approached his shadow engulfed her, she turned to face this new terror.

He casually stepped over the small girl on the ground. He checked the first man, stripping his corpse like a vulture, ammunition, food, a watch, even his socks and placed it all into his large backpack. He then started on the second man. A scared timid voice came from behind "T..tthank you" he turned to see a pale almost blue face staring back at him, her long red hair a tangled and matted mess, her eyes red from the tears. "I didn't do it for you kid...I needed ammo" and back to his grizzly task he went. She wasn't being saved, he wasn't the prince, but she still needed help. "Why were they trying to hurt me?", he shook his head and pulled out a knife from the sheath on his leg, it's razor sharp blade glistened in the dying sunlight. She fell back and covered her face.

In a swift motion he grabbed one of the fallen men's arms and stuck the blade into his black sweater and cut open the fabric, he put the knife back into its cover. Holding the mans now bare arm up he called to the girl "Kid, see the tattoo?". She peeked out from between her arms, it was an image of a grey wolf. "That means he's a mage hunter, you are a mage, or at least they thought you were. Lesson over." He stood up his job now done and prepared to leave. She looked at the man, covered all in black, a rifle on his shoulder, his short dark-brown hair covered in snow, this, he was her only chance "Please...Can you help me?" her blue lips quivered.

She couldn't have been more than 12, he couldn't just leave her here, could he? The snow was getting worse.

"I'll take you in the direction of the nearest settlement, your on your own after that" he sighed.
"Thank You...Sir" she stood up, her torn and filthy brown dress barely covered her shaking knees.
"Let's get going, your friends here are probably going to be missed" he pulled his pack over his shoulders.
"They weren't my friends" she said angrily, "Do you have anything to eat?"
"Jesus kid, Do I look like a charity, I just saved your life and now your taking food out of my mouth" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a candy bar and handed it to her.
"Thank you Sir" She had barely opened the packet before the chocolate was completely devoured.
"Call me Kam...let's go" he headed down the snow covered path at a brisk pace.

It was not even a meter when he heard a small cry of pain behind him, he turned to see the girl barely able to keep up. He sighed again and turned around "Stop, sit down", she quickly sat. He grabbed her feet both were nearly blue and close to frost bitten. "You don't have shoes? When were you planning on telling me this?". Quickly swinging his pack over his shoulder he pulled out a pair of his recently acquired socks and slipped them on her feet. He stood back up and walked over to the fallen mage hunters, the ground was now a deep red and the snow began to cover them, he grabbed a pair of boots.

"They are going to be too big, but it's best I can do" he said as he slipped them on her tiny feet. "Thank you...Kam, I'm sorry" she said as she tried in vain to lace them up.

"You can't do anything can you?", she began to tear up again. Kam reached down to tie them for her "It's the last time Kid".

She looked into his eye's "My name's Asuka".