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And now a Word from the Author: Hey guys BlackXII here with another Fic. This time it is partially inspired by a prompt from grither55. This is also my first Non-Crossover story in an age. Normally I'd ship Esdeath with Tatsumi, or a character matching her skill level. However, this is the story of someone who'll be viewed as a weakling. If he was in a video game in this chapter, he'd be at level 1.

But I shall stop rambling on the details. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Beginning

A Forest in the North

It was weeks after the downfall of the Partas Clan, when the last of the Clan was seeking out an opponent. She vowed to become stronger, and she would become the strongest, by any means necessary. Her Clan was destroyed because they were weak. The strong must be Masters of the weak and the weak must submit to the strong.

However, as she was hunting one wintry day, as the snow silently fell she spotted tracks. Not just any tracks. Human tracks, but that's not all she discovered. Following those tracks were the tracks of something feline.

"A snow tiger. It's on the hunt. The poor person, I bet he was weak. But, the tiger will be a good challenge for me." She thought as she followed the tracks. "This will turn out to be quite an interesting hunt."

One Hour Later

Bardulf was panting from behind a large boulder. Sweat ran down his head frowned with jet black hair, as eyes the color of Amber darted from left to right. He was trying to outrun the Snow Tiger for hours. But it kept right on figuring out his attempts to sidetrack it. One attempt resulted in grazing of his right leg on a branch. He and this beast were caught in a deadly game of chess. Him against the tiger, but it was a rather one sided game as he had no weapon. He didn't have much of anything save the clothes on his back. The young man began praying to the gods for deliverance.

But that didn't deter the tiger any. It saw an easy prey to kill. It finally managed to tire the young boy out. Now all it had to do was creep right up on him and then it'd have a nice meal. The one thing it didn't account for was the young huntress that stalked it when said unaccounted liability landed right on the tiger's back and stabbed it between the shoulders blades. The resulting dying growls and chuffs alerted the young man to peek out from his hiding place.

Then he saw her, blue predatory eyes framed with long turquoise hair. She looked a year or two older then him. His eyes went wide as she pulled out the knife from the still squirming tiger. Her eyes suddenly turned to look towards him and he quickly ducked back into where he was hiding. The killing intent he began to feel was as threatening as the tiger and he slowly peeked out again. To his relief it appeared she had left. Then the felt the hunting knife against his neck, only an inch away from contact.

"Caught you." Came the voice behind him. He began to tremble due to the cold and the fact his life might end at that moment began to end. "Stop trembling or I'll make this worse for you." He stopped abruptly.

"Look, thank you for the help but I have a shelter to get back to and please don't kill me." Came the quiet, scared reply.

"Well until I decide otherwise, what is yours is mine. I'm clearly stronger then you. Until I decide I have no use for you or your shelter you must submit to me. Is that clear?" She stated firmly. There was a silent nod, in which she smiled. "Good. Now take me to your shelter. But first I must dress this kill. We don't want this tiger to go to waste."

A Cave: Nightfall

Esdeath made the campfire as she observed the young man bandaging his leg in front of her. She'd continue on after the next few days but she wondered what she should do about this young man. Sure she could kill him, being the weakling that he was, but where was the fun in that? She watched him huddle into the pelt of the tiger she killed with her own knife.

"Ahem. That's my pelt." Esdeath stated firmly. "You do what I say, and I think about not killing you. Remember?"

"Sorry." He mumbled as he worked his way out of the pelt before she snatched it away and rubbed his hands at the warmth of the fire. "Of course the pelt is so big we could've shared it. But you seem to not care."

"Of course not. The Weak must be overwhelmed by the Strong. It is the way of my Clan and my way of life from now on." The bluenette stated in the proudest tone she could muster. The young man could only eye her oddly at the statement. Some saying! He felt it more like an excuse to bully people!

"Well, it sounds pretty selfish. Cause if you go through life thinking that, you'd make even hell freeze over." He muttered as his 'guest' glared and kicked him.

"Respect my ways runt!" She stated in a glare but then it occurred to her. "What's your name, and how old are you?" To know a name meant controlling someone, all because of knowing their name. This she knew from one of her clansmen.

"Bardulf, but family called me Bard. I'm nine." Was his only reply.

"What are you doing out here alone?" She asked with a raised brow.

"That's not your concern." He replied angrily.

"Oho, there's a bit of fight in you after all runt." Esdeath smiled an almost cruel one. "I think I'll keep you for awhile."

"That's if I don't decide to move to another part of the forest." Bard replied.

"No matter how fast you run I will hunt you down. So don't get smart with me." The bluenette coldly replied back. Her captive could only roll his eyes as he knew this was the start of something he had no control over. So he simply rolled over onto his side and fell asleep shortly after. Esdeath only gazed at the fire and mulled over her options once again. She slowly crept up on him, grasping her knife as she considered killing him in his sleep.

"Father...tell me another tale.." He mumbled as he smiled in his sleep. The smile made her stop short of striking. It was the first smile she'd seen in awhile, even if it was on another person sleeping. Esdeath paused for a moment to think very carefully about her next move, sheathing her knife as she looked him over. She could find no weapons, or any real hunting equipment.

"He must've been banished from his clan. They must've viewed him as weak or he did something to upset the leader." Esdeath thought carefully. "But he kept outrunning that snow tiger. He has potential to be strong. Yes, someday I will be strong, and I will make him strong, but first, he and I must survive. We will survive."

With that thought said, she carefully took the pelt and pulled it over her. the pelt was so large though that she decided to drape her newfound 'friend' with it as well. Then she drifted off to sleep as well, not knowing that this encounter would one day benefit her, Bard, and all those around them yet to come.

Whew! Well I consider this chapter complete!

Next Chapter will focus on one leg of Esdeath's journey, along with trying to help Bard learn the ropes of survival. The question is however, will he be able to tolerate her for the long journey?

I just hope you like this and want more! Happy Holidays and as always;

Remember to review!