A/N: I just could not get this idea out of my head…and so I decided to write a little prologue to see how warm the reception is for any story outside of the usual Yuffentine I do. If I get a decent-sized number of reviews (preferably around 5 or 6), I may consider continuing this story after I finish "Dying". So please, read and review, would you kindly?

Damn it! This was never supposed to happen! They were supposed to kill Ghoulguish and find a way to lift the curse of Kazan together! She was supposed to be a master swordsman with him, both under the great master GSD's teachings. And now in his arms, the slayer carried the one person he had loved so that she could be buried proper in the Slayer Camp outside of Hendon Myre. The wound that that frozen and undead bastard had inflicted upon her was so grievous that there was no way to save her—the only good thing about it is that now she would probably be free from that blasted curse…the curse that had damned all those affected with prejudice…the curse that brought many tears to his eyes by driving him to kill his own family when he was a six…the curse that drove her away from her hometown…the curse that brought the two of them together to form a friendship that eventually turned into love.

As the slayer dragged his lover towards the gates of the Kazan district, he found her stirring. She groaned in awareness and awakening. "Garret," she said weakly, "how bad is it?"

Garret looked to his partner…they've joined up to form parties with other dungeon fighters, and here they thought that this would be a good opportunity to test out their strength on their own. And here he was, lying to her face—if only to comfort her; an act that he never was good at due to his rough life alone prior to meeting her. "Don't worry Hina. We're almost to the camp…just a little further, and we can get you help."

Hina giggled weakly…it was then that Garret knew that he had failed. "That bad eh? How long do you think I have?"

The injuries he had sustained from that ambush had been rather draining—Garret was only lucky he survived with scratch marks, although that did not change the fact that he was also injured. The only difference was that Hina had a nicked subclavian artery, and she was slowly bleeding to death due to Ghoulguish sneaking up behind her and biting her in the shoulder. After that episode, Garret swore that if he saw that icy bastard again, he would not let him get away—in fact, he would see to it that that yellow-livered coward never lived to see another day. "If we hurry, we can probably save you…I'm not going to let you die Hina—not while I'm still breathing."

"We both know I'm not going to make it Garret…although I appreciate your trying to make me feel better, there's no need to try and do so now…but then again, that's what I've always loved that about you—you're always trying hard even if you end up failing in what you intend to do."

It was a good thing it was raining at the moment—he didn't want her to see his tears…but even if he is a failure in comforting people, that did not mean he would stop trying. " I don't want you to die Hina…I want to keep failing…if only to please you. I want to keep failing so that I can continue to learn with you. So please…I'm begging you…hold on. We'll get there soon."

Unknown to Garret, Hina too was glad that it was raining…for she was crying at the fact that she would never be able to see the garnet eyes of her lover again. She would no longer be able to hold him in her arms and comfort him from the nightmares he has of the past—a sin he wished he could have taken back all because of the curse of Kazan. She would never again feel his strong arms envelope her on the cold winter nights as their communal body heat would help keep the wind from chilling them to death when their campfire would die. She would miss him…and she only felt sorry for the tears that would come out of Garret when she leaves him. "I want you to promise me something Garret."

"Name it."

"If I don't make it…"

"Hush…I will not have such talk. You'll make it…"

"Just listen…if I don't make it, I want you to promise me that no matter what happens that you'll be the best master swordsman in all of Arad worthy of Master GSD's teachings. I want you to take my katana…and live on. And most of all, no matter what happens, I will always love you."

As Garret continued to limp on, knew that when she made him promise something like that, Hina was serious—this was due to the fact that she was a woman of her word…whatever promise she makes, she keeps, and she also has a habit of making others do the same. This means that he has to keep this promise no matter what. "I promise Hina…just hold on…we're almost there."

Time passed by quickly—Hina never survived from her wounds, and Garret managed to survive with scars. He looked down into the open grave tossing a flower into it while clutching her katana in his red, demon-cursed left hand. He would remember it as hers due to the red lacquered saya with inlaid rose quartz flower petals along its length and the handle was covered in the same red lacquer only with an inlaid cherry blossom with all five of its petals seen from above. On his back however was his zweihander with a broad blade—this was his main weapon.

It was from there as he watched Hina's casket getting buried that he made a silent vow to himself…a vow that he muttered to himself and nobody else. "Never again."

A/N: So what do you think? As far as classes go, I tend to favor the Slayer-class (he is a swordsman and is a well-balanced character). For those who are not sure if Hina should exist in this story and assume that all Slayers are male…there was a concept art for a female Slayer, which is the basis for me introducing her. Also, Roxy, the dark elf in the introductory comic happens to be a Slayer as well. Anyway, if you manage to review, do please help me out would you kindly? I will run a poll at the same time in this story, and so if you can add your opinions, that would be lovely.

Songs Played:

"Never Forget" by Michael Salvatori and Martin O'Donnel from "Halo 3": Garret takes Hina back to camp, and the funeral

Vocabulary:

Subclavian artery—this is the artery just under your shoulder bone; this is a major kill-zone on a human being.

Saya—this is a sheath for a katana.