Slayers 1. 1-2-3! That Naive Sorceress-In-Training

Slayer Destiny

Episode 0: 1-2-3! That Naive Sorceress-In-Training

**Author: ** Welp I love Slayers so why the hell not make a fan fiction on it? Also this is part of the Unmei no Chi series but since writing the... beginning story still feels forced I'll skip it, for now, and come back when I feel like it's needed. Also I've revamped my character from the last time I attempted this fan fiction so she's better than ever... promise!

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Slayers or any of the characters/plots/quotes that appear in this fan fiction since those belong to Kanzaka Hajime-san._

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It was hard to tell how long I had been walking along this road since I had no watch to tell me what time of day it was. The only thing I could use to try and determine the time was by my shadow, but since I had to keep going I had no hope of using that. But if I had to guess I had been walking for some hours now considering it looked like it was around 1-2 in the afternoon . But that still didn't make me any more satisfied since I was, literally, JUST starting this traveling thing and the person I was looking for wasn't an easy person to find since the world was huge.

Hell I didn't even have a map so there was no way in knowing if I was on the right road, the same road as the person I was searching for, or if I was going the completely opposite way of where I was supposed to go. I began pondering my actual existence on this world and if doing this was really what I wanted to do with my life, I mean I was thirteen; THIRTEEN FOR CHRIST'S SAKE. I had my whole life ahead of me and then I was given something that was the opportunity of a life time and, as the naive child I was, took it and found myself here and now looking for this ONE person who might as well be on the other side of the world.

Walking up a big hill I slumped my shoulders and sighed, wishing that maybe a normal life, as boring as it was, may have been better than what I chose. But I knew that I couldn't go back now; I had no way of knowing which way was home and I was sure as hell didn't have time to figure it out. I was given two options: Either try to find a way home and find out I COULDN'T or use all the time I could to find this person whom I was... 'destined' to travel and learn from. And considering my limited knowledge I had to go with the second option if only because if I lost this time then I could never get it back again.

"Man I hate this, I wish I could stop myself from making the decision I did. I'm not cut out for this sort of life" I said to myself, crying fake tears because I could only feel pity for myself. I was lost, I was alone and I had no fucking idea where I was going, I thought that it was a perfect reason to sulk and feel bad for myself since there was no one around to do it for me. "And to think I thought being a traveling sorceress would be fun" I added, sighing again as I finally got up the hill after digging my brown boots into the side to keep myself from falling and getting my clothes dirty. I may be on a journey but I would like to keep myself relatively clean for the first few days!

Looking up the hill I gazed out only to see more forests that had been the scenery around me for the past hours I had been walking. "Great, MORE forests... I mean I love the greenery but it's starting to make me sick" I commented with another sigh. I was about to take a step when, all of a sudden, a huge fiery explosion happened in the distance, lighting up the scenery with red, orange and yellow against the dark green of the treetops. "I wonder..." I said to myself as I thought about the person I was looking for since she WAS known for her destruction and blowing things up. I breathed in deep and exhaled before I looked to the place with my blue-grey eyes and set course to where the explosion happened with a quick pace.

I really wasn't sure how long the person responsible was going to stay so I had to get there as soon as I could, even if that meant heading first into the area with little to no mind other than the hope of finding someone to talk to.

When I arrived the ground and some of the trees had flickers of fire burning along with, what looked like, the remains of some sort of building that was smoldering black and was nearly ready to fall down. It was very intimidating and I was afraid of what may lie within the darkness of the door-less entryway, but I had little to no choice but to go. This was my adventure and I was going to become a great sorceress!... Or so I had hoped as I entered the building.

Most of it, of course, was in ruins and anything that may have been any worth was thoroughly destroyed, which made me all the more cautious. As I was looking around I nearly tripped on something bulky only to catch myself on a half of a table. "Ow that hurt" I said with a little cough since my stomach had hit the side of said table. I looked over to what I tripped and froze as I saw a familiar figure lying on the ground that was brown from head to toe. Hesitant I used my foot to nudge it to see if it was alive or if it could move before using my strength to move it over only to regret it.

I saw the burnt and almost unrecognizable face of what was once human with a horrified expression on his face. If it wasn't for the fact that I, in fear of being heard, rarely screamed I could only gasp loudly at the thing, afraid of what could have caused it. I was nearly nauseous at seeing the lumps of flesh hanging off the face and rest of the body so I quickly went over and got away as fast I could deeper into the building. I was really starting to hate my choice now since the further I went the more dead bodies I came across. Eventually I came to a wall and found myself at a loss and scared shitless. If this wasn't the person I was looking for then I was sure screwed since there may have been some crazy guy who might want to rape a young virgin like myself and then kill me... or worse make/sell me as a slave.

In order to calm myself down I leaned against the wall and tried to think about positive things that might make me feel better. When I DID start feeling better I could feel something moving and looked to see that I was leaning into a section of the wall that was some sort of secret passage. It seemed pitch black at first but a soft glow of light was down and I could hear some sort of conversation before another explosion hit, this time not as big and threatening as the last one. Since I was still curious and knew that I pretty much had no choice but to go I carefully descended down the stone stairwell to the room hidden below.

"Don't give me that sort of crap, old man; now where the hell is your stash?!" I heard a young feminine voice coming from the next room. I stopped as some hope within me swelled into my heart; maybe God had felt pity on my and helped me along in finding the woman I was looking for. "Or do you want me to fry you up like the rest of your pals?" the voice continued, me hearing the malicious intent in the words.

"You think a threat like that is going to scare me you flat-chested witch?" asked some guy who looked like some sort of leader to criminals. Looking over I saw a small girl with long orange hair who's hand was twitching under the white gloves she was wearing, she didn't take the insult very well.

"Flat-chested WITCH huh?" she asked, voice rising "I was going to be merciful and let you go after you told me where your loot was but with that kind of attitude towards a beautiful woman like myself then there's NO room for mercy!" she cried. In her hand an eerie red glow came into her hands as she chanted something I didn't quite catch before she thrust her hands forward "_Burst Rondo_!" she cried, blowing the poor guy into a crisp and dead human body before he could even try to run away. I had put up my arms to shield my face from the heat coming out of the spell, thankfully I was far away to not get burned. "That's what you get for insulting such a beautiful person like me~. Now to go look for that treasure!" she exclaimed before looking around.

To me it didn't seem like there could be anyway that there was treasure considering the place was so trashed and small that it would be impossible to hide something like huge treasure or loot. The only thing worth noting in the space was a red rug that was tattered and looked like your standard low quality and shitty rug amongst a stone floor.

But that wasn't what I cared for at the moment, I had to have SOME way of getting the person's attention without being blown in a million pieces and it didn't help I was a shy little thing who could barely talk to strangers as it was. First thing I decided was to get away from the stone wall I was clinging to and actually get off the steps and make some progress. I stepped as quietly as I could down to the hard and cold floor as the woman was looking around for whatever it was she was looking for. I walked along the rug but froze when the floor made a clicking sound from my boot hitting the floor since the rug was so thing. Even though it was muffled, it was still within earshot of the girl

"Oh? Missed one did I~?" she asked with a bit of a malicious aura "Guess I have to get rid of the rest!" she said as she turned around with a red ball in her hand. I immediately started to freak out and waved my hands out rapidly

"N-no no I'm not with them" I said as fast as I could, scared to death that I was going to die if I didn't take some sort of action. "P-please listen I-I come in peace!" I cried once again, hoping she would listen to reason and not blow me to bits. It actually stopped her from firing the spell at me before she through it, cause it to disappear and cross her arms.

"Really? You look a bit shady with that hood covering your face" she said with a doubtful voice, reminding me I still had my hood up over my face.

"O-oh right, I'm sorry" I said as I put it down to reveal with short brown hair with the dark blue wire glasses and the white bandana on my forehead. "I-is this better?" I asked

"Oh... you really aren't one of them" she said with a surprised look on her face "But tell me, what are you doing here? Were you their prisoner or something?" she asked.

"N-no, I saw the explosion while traveling and I came to investigate... um..." I told her, wanting to ask her a question but I was too shy to.

"Traveling?... how exactly old are you?" she asked, a bit doubting that I might be of age to travel, which I don't blame her since I was only 13.

"I-I'm thirteen. I kind of just started this traveling thing... b-but it's mostly cause I'm looking for a specific person to help train me" I told her. She looked a bit surprised as she came up to me and looked me up and down, staring at my breasts the longest and causing me to blush slightly. Was there something wrong with me? It seemed so since she looked slightly irritated before turning around, as if she was sick of looking at me any longer.

"Well whatever, it's not like it's any of my business about who you are. The shows over so you can run along now" she told me, showing me with her hand while she was looking around, but I didn't want to leave, I wanted to know who this person was, and even if she wasn't the person that could train me she might be able to tell me where I could find her.

"B-but..." I started to say "I-I have something to ask of you" I added, hoping she would hear my plea and maybe listen to me. She stopped and looked back at me, her face annoyed that I was disrupting her time looking for the treasure.

"What? I'm kind of busy here so make it quick"

"W-well..." I started to say as I thought about how I would ask her the question . From the information I got (with no visual to go after) I was looking for this woman who was known for her short temper and even shorter size. She was infamous across the land as the "Bandit Killer" and caused destruction nearly everywhere she went... and she happened to be a humungous eater and loved treasure.

"Well...? Well what? I don't have all day kid" she said, tapping her white boot on the floor several times due to her impatience.

"Well... um... a-are you... Lina Inverse...?" I asked with one eye open, a bit ready to be scolded or ridiculed because of my assumption on who she was and that I would probably have to continue my search elsewhere. But I was greeted not with a shout, but with a foot hitting the ground rather hard, causing me to look up and see the woman with a confident, if not, narcissistic grin on her face

"Oh? You've HEARD of me huh? Well of course you have, I am very beautiful AND I happen to be a sorcery genius and a good swordswoman~" she told me, gloating as much as she could. I couldn't help but sweat drop at how much of an ego she had and the fact that those weren't the reason I assumed she was who she was.

"Actually I figured it was you because of your temper and your sho- er I mean and your love of treasure... as well as how you torched basically everything here" I told her. I didn't want to seem rude with her being short even though I was surprised that, despite her being around fifteen that she was shorter than me by a few inches. I also didn't mention the flat chest thing since that was also a sensitive subject and, now that I thought about it, it made sense she was staring at mine because not only was I younger than her and taller than her but my breasts were a little bit bigger than hers.

Looking to her I saw that she looked less than pleased so I quickly had to say something in the hopes she wouldn't be mad. "B-but you are pretty, Lina-san, prettier than me" I said, which was actually something that I believe since I didn't look that good; just your plain old adolescent who hadn't hit puberty yet.

"Well thanks! I like it when people can appreciate the beauty that radiates off this petite little body of mine~" she told him. I sweat dropped again, can't believing I was having this conversation with her "Anyway, now that you know who I am, what do you want?" she asked. It was something I was afraid to answer since I didn't want to be rejected cause I KNEW I had to be with her, I had to have her as my teacher or I'd be in for it.

"U-um well..." I started, poking my two index fingers together "I-I was wonder... if you would be so kind as to... t-train me in magic and swordsmanship, Lina Inverse-san" I finally said. I looked up to her and she looked shocked, as if I had said that out of nowhere... which I kind of did. But it only took her a moment to answer me

"Sorry but no" she said, which sent my heart crashing down and into depression "I'm not looking for anyone to be my pupil, I'm still adventuring; I have no time to teach someone. You should go to a magic school if you want to learn magic and maybe find some merc to help train you in swordsmanship" she told him. This would not do, I had to be with her, this was my DESTINY because she was the ONLY one who could provide both the teachings and experiences I needed to grow. HER destiny and fate were intertwined with mine and I had to go with her, whether she wanted me to or not.

"B-but Lina-san, it HAS to be you; you're the only powerful sorceress and swordswoman I know. You're the only one who could provide me with the experience I need to become great like you!" I said to her. I tried praising her at the same time so that maybe she would lighten up a little, I even looked like I was about to cry... which I was actually because I was so new and inexperienced that I was upset that I would fail at doing THIS.

"Now look, I'm flattered that you look up to me and all but... you can find someone more well equipped to teach than me. I'm just here for treasure and adventure, not to teach" she said, one of her red eyes being closed as she scratched her head.

"That really doesn't matter to me. I don't mind being on adventures or anything, it sounds better than being in a classroom all day and I would get hands-on experience with my sword and magic" I said back to her. She looked at me and saw that, even with my young and naive face that I didn't want to take no for an answer and that I really thought she was the best for me. Or that's what I imagine as she stayed silent for the next few minutes before sighing.

"Okay then. IF and this is a big IF, you can find this treasure this bandit hideout has before me then MAYBE I'll take you under my wing. Someone who is going to be my student has to have that drive to look for treasure relentlessly" she said with a wink and smile. I couldn't help but smile back as FINALLY I had a chance and maybe I didn't fuck up as I thought I had.

"A-alright then" I said with a nod before I started to look around the room, hoping that I would find it before Lina did even though a part of me thought that since she was more experienced than me of course she would find it first.

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After hours of searching neither of us came up with anything and I was starting to wonder if they had anything hidden in the first place, maybe they were lying and hoped that Lina would be so distracted they could run off or try to bash her in the head.

"God where the hell did they put this thing?!" I heard Lina say as she had been cursing to herself for a while with the lack of progress. "You'd think that simple minded bandits would hide it somewhere EASIER to find!" she said

"Well... isn't the point of hiding treasure to hide it so no one would find it?" I asked innocently.

"Of course not, it's to hide it somewhere simple so that they could find it when they need it!" she yelled at me, causing me to flinch somewhat before seeing her kick the wall. The moment she did the brick her food made contact with went in and the stone walls parted to reveal another passage, causing the orange-haired sorceress' eyes to light up. "Lucky~~" she said "Sorry kid but it looks like I win" she said, her smile not as obnoxious as I thought it would be but more... a 'sorry for your bad luck' kind of smile, like she was pitying me. "Treasure~ treasure~" she sang as she skipped into the cavern, causing me to sigh and walk towards the stairwell leading up to the surface.

I awaited to hear Lina's squeal of happiness as I dragged my feet. But as I did my foot got caught on something a bit heavy and made me trip onto my face. I looked to see there was something underneath the shitty rug that I had been walking under and that there was a different sound coming from that section then the rest of the room. So I took away the tattered thing and saw that there was a wooden trap door with an iron ring for a handle. I blinked, not sure what I was looking at and a bit hesitant to open it since I didn't know what was inside. But I was too damn curious to stop myself and so I opened it only to have to shield my eyes for a moment from some glow coming from below.

I gasped as I looked to the golden loot, mostly, that was stuffed into the small space of the hole, I was freaking rich! "Cool!" I said to myself, overcome with joy even though this wasn't much of a big deal to people like Lina, I was proud to have my first treasure thing... but wait... if this was the treasure... then where did Lina go off in?

"Lina-san? LINA-SAN?!" I called in the place she went through, too scared to go myself. I didn't hear anything at first but then I heard her cry in frustration and quickly went in, only having torches as my source of light. When I reached her I saw that there was a dead end where and no Lina to be found, I was confused beyond imagine. "Um... Lina-san? where are you?" I asked

"I'M RIGHT HERE" she screamed from before the wall "This damn hallway was nothing but a trap and I fell for it!" she cried, obviously upset. "And I can't use my magic in such a cramped space or else I'll fry myself!" she said, causing me to ponder on what to do.

"Lina-san... is there any way I can help?" I asked, sounding insecure but willing to help her in any way I could.

"Yea, you know any spells? Cause I'm sure if you fire a decent shamanistic spell then that'll do the trick" she said

"U-um..." I started to say, I never did mention to her that I don't know ANYTHING about spells; hell I didn't even know Lighting and that was one of the easier ones to learn. "M-maybe" I squeaked, half-lying about what I knew

"Maybe? UGH you have to know at least ONE spell to get me out of here!" she cried

"I-I might know one, just give me a second to remember!" I told her as I tried to search in my brain on what words could conjure some sort of spell. That was when my white, spherical necklace, that was incased in silver metal and hanging from a gold chain, glowed a light yellow and words popped into my head, like a memory that I finally remembered. "O-okay, here I go" I said as I stepped a few feet back and put my hands out

"_Oh, source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand. Fireball!" _I cried as a LARGE ball of fire (bigger than my head) came into my hands before I threw it with all my might, smashing and exploding the whole place that caused everything to collapse; that was when I blacked out.

When I came to I was covered with scrapes and bruises among other things along with having pieces of the building on top of me. I coughed several times before I managed to shove the pieces off me and sit up. Looking around everything was brighter than usual and I realized that I had blown the level above us sky high and he sun was shining in the sky enough to give off the air of twilight descending upon the forest. Was it that late already?

"Oh, Lina-san!" I said, remembering what I had done beforehand and stood up to look for the sorceress "Lina-san!" I called hoping to find her. When calling her name I heard something muffling in a pile of debris, causing me to go over and look, only to yelp and fall on my butt as Lina emerged for the wreckage, not looking to happy. "O-oh good, you're okay!" I said, but scared as hell from the looking she was giving me

"What the hell were you THINKING?! That fireball was obviously too big, WHY did you fire it?!" she asked. "I could have DIED if I didn't cast a protection spell on myself!"

"I-I'm sorry, this was my first time casting it, I didn't have any control on how big it was" I said, trying my best not to cry at being yelled at. I didn't meant to almost kill her, it just sort of happened and I had no control over it, but she seemed to get that much and just sighed with aggravation

"Just be CAREFUL next time why don't you?" she asked, causing me to nod before remembering what I had found earlier.

"Oh Lina-san! I found the treasure after you went in that tunnel!" I told her, causing her sour expression to melt away

"Really?! Where?! Don't just sit there get up and show me!" she said, excited by the news. I smiled and agreed since she wasn't mad and led her to where I had found it. There were some debris over it but it didn't take too long and when we found the treasure Lina was impressed. "Well, I never expected you to find it kid, you did pretty well for first timer... hell I thought you didn't know any magic but you showed me with that fireball" she said.

"Yes well... I actually don't" I said to her, causing her to look at me with a doubting face

"What? How in the hell did you know how to cast a fireball?!" she asked "You had to have SOME prior knowledge to cast it" she told me.

"W-well... I do remember reading about it and the incantation a while back" I told her, which was the truth. The details of the spell was something I happened to find before coming on this journey out of pure luck. "S-so... does this mean I'll be your pupil, Lina-san?" I asked hopefully.

"Well you DID find the treasure before me AND you actually seem to have a big magic capacity..." she said pondering it will rubbing her chin. After a few moments she looked at me with a smile on her face "With that much power you'll be a walking disaster without good training and who else to do that but the great Lina Inverse?" she asked, winking at me. I smiled and hugged her

"Thank you, thank you so much Lina-san!" I said, happy than I could be

"You're welcome and call me Lina, no need to be formal, my dear student"

"Y-yes, of course Lina" I said with a nod. That was when Lina stopped for a moment and looked to me

"Actually, I don't think I've gotten your name yet kid, what is it?" she asked. I smiled a bit shyly

"It's Claudia; Claudia Orion" I said to her

"Alright Claudia, let's get going, I need some food after all that treasure hunting" she told me as she stood up. I nodded and did the same before we finally set out on a journey that would not only help me grow, but find new allies and friends along the way.

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**Author: **Damn this is long... oh well I guess for a 'first' episode it should be. Actually the reason I put numbers is because since the first season of Slayers has it's titles begin with the letter of the alphabet in order I figured the 'zero' episode before the series begins should have something before the alphabet... thus the number x3. Hope you all enjoyed this even though it's long and I hope Lina is what she would actually act since it's been a while since I wrote as her. Anyway, see you guys next time on the next Episode of Slayer Destiny.


	2. Attack! Lina's Infamous Spell!

Slayer Destiny

Episode 1: Attack! Lina's Infamous Spell

**Author: ** Yay next chapter x3 I really hope I get through the first season quickly cause Next is going to be all SORTS of fun for me.

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Slayers or any of the characters/plots/quotes that appear in this fan fiction since those belong to Kanzaka Hajime-san._

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"Do it again"

"But Lina-"

"I SAID do it again!" Lina ordered me once again. It had been about a month since Lina had taken me as her student and she hadn't let up on me once since she had. She was determined to have me master the Fireball spell since it's obvious I could cast it but I had trouble controlling and adjusting the size of it. We had been at this since lunch and it was nearly the end of the day, but that didn't stop the sorceress from making me do the spell over and over again.

"Please Lina, I'm hungry and it's getting late, can't we stop for today?" I asked, knowing the answer I was going to get.

"NO! I want you to try again, you won't get better if you don't keep practicing!"

"But I'm nearly exhausted!" I whined, being really tired and really hungry was not something I wanted to train on, but Lina wouldn't hear of it.

"Shut up and try again!" she ordered, not cutting me any slack and making me want to cry again, but managed not to.

"_Source of all power..._" I chanted the spell once again and I could feel the magic in my body swell within my veins that warmed my entire body. I had to admit I loved the feeling but with my hungry state I could care less of what I was feeling "_Fireball!_" I cried as I thrusted my hands forward, but nothing came out. I could hear Lina sigh, just like she had done for the majority of the afternoon; I was always afraid that with the sigh she would give up on me and tell me to leave but she had been pretty patient with me so far. "I-I'm sorry Lina" I apologized since I couldn't do much of anything else than that

Lina couldn't help but sigh; my progress over the month hadn't developed that well and it puzzled her, as well as myself on how I was able to make that huge Fireball but then completely have no talent for it after that. The other spells she taught me were Ray Wing, Lighting, Aqua Create and other spells that were useful but were easy enough to learn. Safe to say I had been practicing them little by little with still the talent of a novice.

* * *

When it was nightfall we finally managed to get to the base of the bandits and Lina, being as hyped as ever, even gave me a piece of leftover food she had been keeping since she wanted me to not be totally starving when I had to fight.

"Now watch closely, don't blink~" she told me with a wink before she formed a fireball into her hand and threw it over the wall into the bandit camp, causing the whole place to burst into an explosion of flames. Lina cackled manically before hovering in the air and entering the bandit camp. I soon followed her since the Ray Wing spell wasn't that hard to learn nor to master even though I kept flying out of proportion a lot of the times. I've had a month to perfect it or at least train and I had gotten pretty good at it thank God.

When I went over the wall everyone was in a panic and yelling/screaming like they were chickens with their heads chopped off. I wondered the reason why I was there if Lina had the ability to destroy an entire base by herself why she needed me. Then again I was her student and I needed to learn how to fight like her and so this was why I had little to no choice but to go with her.

"Run for your lives, It's Lina Inverse!"

"That's ME!" Lina cried as she threw a Fireball at the boss of the bandits, instantly killing him. I thought that was a little harsh, but I knew complaining to her would be useless (since she'd see it as complaining) so, instead, I took my sword out and prepared myself for battle. One of the bandits tried came up behind me and, out of pure instinct, I swiftly turned around and used the blade to pierce through his throat, killing him instantly.

"Oh... crap..." I said to myself even though I shouldn't be saying something like that. I was used to fighting with some sort of knife all the time back home but I had never really killed someone other than out of self defense, safe to say they hadn't really done anything to me other than surprise me. But what was done was done and I couldn't do anything about it and with my lack of spells at the moment all I could do was use my sword for now.

"Claudia! Claudia!" Lina called, causing me to look over to her after . She was waving over to me with a happy smile on her face and I knew instantly why. She was SITTING on a huge pile of treasure "Look at all this loot, we're freaking rich!" she told me happily. I could only blink and sweat drop, really not sure, once again, how I got into this life but I knew I had to live with it since I begged Lina to take me as her student. "Don't just stand there get some for yourself!" she told me before she started to stuff her pockets. I, personally, didn't think it was a good idea but I had to anyway despite my own feelings and my own upbringing.

Despite the slight churning in my gut I went over and joined Lina in looting the bandit camp before making a run for it into the night so that they wouldn't follow us. I had packed quite a load but even though it was kind of heavy I didn't complain and I bore with it, not complaining once about the weight that was now added to my mantel.

"Well stop here for now" Lina said as we went into a small place in the forest that was far away from the bandit camp and seemed safe for now. "You did pretty well; sure you probably should have used some of the spells I taught you, but it's still better than doing nothing at all" she said with a smile. I gave her a small smile back as we made the fire and got the food to eat tonight, which was fish, something I hadn't eaten in my whole life. I wondered if I was allergic to it but I decided if I was then it was going to happen, besides my stomach needed SOMETHING to eat and I was starving.

"Thank you, Lina" I said with a small voice, causing the sorceress waving me off

"It's not a problem, I know how it feels to be starving so it's not a big deal" she told me "Now eat up, because after this we're going to bed and then leaving early in the morning before those bandits find us" she added.

"You think... there's still some left?" I asked her as I nibbled on my fish

"Of course, even though they're bad they won't go don that easily" she explained, causing me to understand a little to how bandits were. "Besides, we have to get to Atlas City as soon as we can. The sooner we get there the sooner we can find methods to help you with your magic training" she said to me. I had almost forgotten where we were actually going before finding the Dragon Fangs (which I was convinced she had told me earlier their name since it was so clear in my mind), but I'm glad that Lina would go so far for me. "Also we can eat some of their delicious food! It's been so long since I've eaten there!" she added out of nowhere, causing me to sweat drop. Even though Lina cares for me she still thinks with her stomach a lot of times.

After dinner we rested up for the rest of the night, only once did I get up in the middle to go to the bathroom and to look at my necklace. To me it was so mysterious and I didn't even know it's origin, just that it was given to me before I made this journey and it's been with me since. The only time I got anything from it was when I needed to remember something... to SEE the words I needed. What an odd piece of jewelry, but it was something I had to hold on to, to figure out the mysteries of it in time.

* * *

"C'mon Claudia we have to go" Lina said, nudging my shoulder. I groaned and opened my eyes

"L-Lina?"

"No time for talk get up and get your things, we're moving, NOW" she told me. I knew how Lina was at this point and when she wanted me to move I HAD to move and quickly, especially if our lives were at stake. And to midday that was what we did, walking along while realizing that there was no way in hell we were going to lose the bandits even in the dense forest.

I looked to Lina as she kept her eyes, mainly, focused on the dirt road ahead, only looking behind us every so often. She was well aware, as was I, that the bandits were hiding and following us wherever we went. I wanted to say something to her but with such tension in the air I couldn't do much of anything else then keep my mouth shut. That and looking at the necklace around my neck, wondering if it was just a mere piece of jewelry or if it really did have something special about it like how I was told before I left home.

"Might as well get this over with" Lina said with a sigh, making me look up in time to see her run ahead

"L-Lina!" I cried surprised as her sudden sprint before going after her only to stop after going a few feet and calling out the bandits.

"Come out come out wherever you are!" she cried, which didn't take long for one of them to appear from the forest. He was a rather tall and slender man with spiky blue hair and an eye patch... something I would have expected in some cliché book or fan fiction to tell you the truth.

"It seems we've finally caught up to you two little girls" he said with a smug grin "You really think the two of you could steal our treasure and get away with it? Do you, ya little witches?!" he cried. Lina looked unimpressed and even muttered under her breath how lousy the lines were while I stood there blinking and feeling bad in my stomach. I instantly regretted helping Lina get the treasure, though she didn't look guilty at all. "I'm gonna to be sure to carve you two piece by piece... or that's what I would want to say" he started, ultimately confusing me. "Because honestly I don't want to fight either of you"

"Oh.. okay then see ya!" Lina said with a happy face as she grabbed my hand and started to walk away, but the bandit wasn't done talking to us and grabbed her cape, getting on his knees to do so.

"W-wait, don't go yet!" he begged, which kind of looked silly as I kept staring at the scene "The only reason I won't fight either of you is because both of you would kick my ass in two seconds flat" he said. This baffled me cause I thought a bit differently considering I was still a novice in both magic and swordsmanship and the only reason I was better with a sword was because I have had past experience with blades. But either way Lina smiled and got down on the ground with him

"Well you're not much of a dumbass as I thought you were" she said

"I have to admit you got balls girl, but that isn't really true since you're not a boy" he said, laughing at what he said. I didn't get it and Lina looked unimpressed as she looked behind her to look at me with a 'This is going to be tiring' look before she whistled, causing me to look behind me to see why: a dozen bandits hiding themselves in the trees... this wasn't going to end well... or that was what my gut was telling me.

"Both of you were pretty good back there" he started, getting out attention again "you with your magic and blowing all of us away" he pointed to Lina "And then you killing us before we had a chance to do anything" he then pointed to me, which kind of made me blush. It was the first time someone other than Lina. "And then the both of you nabbing some of our loot before we knew what was happening. Hell we couldn't have done a better job ourselves even if we tried" Lina liked getting this much compliments but with her standing up, I figured she was about done with listening to the guy.

"Thanks for the generous compliments, but we have to go" she told him, but he was a persistent bastard.

"Now look the reason why I came out here was to kill the both of you and avenge our boss... you know the whole 'Honor Among Thieves' and crap" he said

"Excuse me but is there a point here somewhere?" she asked with a raised eyebrow

"Me and my boys want the two of you to join us, the Dragon Fangs" he said with a smile. But Lina just looked stupefied

"The... Dragon Fangs...?" she asked, sounding confused, which, in turn, confused me since Lina was the one who told me their names so why would she be confused? "No way, I don't team up with criminals" she said, turning her back on the man

"But... aren't you a criminal since you steal from others?" I asked innocently

"NO because I steal it from OTHER criminals!" she told me

'_But... it's still stealing_' I thought to myself since Lina had a slight case of hypocrisy with her morals.

"Oh c'mon you can just give us our loot, join us and we'll forget that this fiasco ever happened" he offered once again. He must've been an idiot if he thought Lina would join him. Despite what I said earlier I could tell, by the month I had been with her, that Lina was a good person under that greedy exterior.

"Look I may be bad, but I'm NOT bad enough to join a bunch of bandits" she told him "and my student here has to agree, right?" she asked, looking to me. I nodded swiftly, not to look like I would hesitate

"Well I love girls who know what they want~" he said with a sly grin, but Lina looked less than pleased

"Get lost ya creep we refuse!" she said, causing him to step back

"You bitches! I offer you both such a sweet deal and you... you... You know what, fuck it, your both going to die!" he cried.

"Sorry but THAT's stop dialogue" she said, pointing to him, which only made him summon his men before we were surrounding. Considering there were ten men and only two of us I was pretty intimidated.

"Lina..." I said in a whisper as I stood next to her

"Don't worry I got this" she said with a wink before looking around "What this is it? This is ALL you've got?" she asked arrogantly.

"What do you mean this is it?! Just one little word and these men will slaughter the both of ya in a matter of seconds! Now I'm going to give ya one more chance; give us the loot and MAYBE I'll let you both live" he offered. Lina just turned her head and held her nose up, causing him to be pissed off and commanded his men to attack. That was when I got my sword out and Lina was about to cast a spell. I was ready for battle, I was ready to attack those in front of us; to kill my very first bandits! Just like-

"Stop right there!" said a manly voice, causing all form of attack to cease and look beyond the bandits. There a young man clad in blue armor and had long golden hair stood "You're not going to touch one hair on those ladies you dirty thieves. So if I were you I would hightail it and run now and maybe I'll let you live" he threatened. Who the hell was this guy?! I was puzzled at the circumstances and the fact my necklace was pulsing at the sight of this guy I had to wonder if there was something about him that was making it react.

"Stay out of this pretty boy! Who the fuck are you anyway?!" the bandit yelled

"If I said my name... you'd get it dirty" he said, flashing a smile that twinkled, I was ready to face palm but managed just to raise an eyebrow. Then it came to the scene where the golden-haired man essentially kicked all of the bandit's asses while Lina started screaming like some helpless girl much to my minor annoyance. She tried to get me to go along with her but I didn't because I deemed it too embarrassing to do so. When all the fighting stopped he looked over to us, only to stop in his tracks, shocked at something... did we look that weird to him?

"Great... they're just kids" he said with a sigh, causing me to blink and Lina to look shocked at what he said. Granted I wasn't that insulted cause I really was just a kid since I was thirteen but Lina... since she was fifteen she didn't appreciate being talked down as a kid. "So... um where are both of your alls parents?" he asked, looking to the two of us with a... bit dumb expression on his face. He then looked to me "You know you shouldn't cart your little sister around away from your parents. Do you know where your house is?" he asked. Now Lina was getting pissed off, not only did he assume she was a kid but that SHE was the younger one... oh the irony.

"Now wait a damn minute!" she said, getting his attention after he was asking different questions so that he could try and help us 'get home'. "U-uh I mean, look we're traveling by ourselves to Atlas City and since you helped us out maybe you can take us there?" she asked. She really was hoping that he wouldn't go for this but he did, out of her dismay and soon we went to travel on to Atlas City with him... which was ten days away... Lina wasn't too thrilled about that.

"By the way, what do you call yourselves?" he asked, Lina smiled genuinely so maybe she wasn't mad as she was earlier. Maybe the man (who told us his name was Gourry) wasn't that bad after all and I couldn't help but smile as well as the butterflies in my stomach went away.

"Lina... My name's Lina Inverse!" she said as she ran to catch up with Gourry before I had to do the same

"A-and I'm... Claudia O-Orion!" I called, being a bit shy with the stranger but he was nice enough so it wasn't so bad.

* * *

In the next town we had settled down for our meal, meaning that our table was to be filled with food in a matter of an instant (or that is what it felt like to me). By this time I was used to Lina's almost insatiable appetite and I began to wonder if it was affecting me because I realized that after eating I still felt a bit hungry. Nevertheless I could never ask Lina to share some of her food in fear she would bite my head off but... as I observed Gourry and Lina fighting over the food something occurred to me.

Lina was distracted.

With Lina and Gourry fighting over the food I could practically steal some for myself so I wouldn't be starving later. I looked to them, fighting over a hunk of meat on a stick with eyes dead locked on it with gritting teeth. I gulped to myself before slowly putting my fork over to the food nearest me while looking to Lina constantly. She was still preoccupied with Gourry so I quickly swiped a piece and put it on my plate; I was sweating bullets but the two hardly noticed.

It was like that for the rest of the meal and I got away scot free with a full Lina and Gourry with still a little bit of food leftover. I felt proud of myself and felt full and good for the first time in the whole month I had been there I was really happy. But soon my smile vanished as I froze; and then it started.

Suddenly imagines flashed in my mind something black; flying and breathing fire that breaks out of a cage. A town destroyed with only a giant hole where it used to be and then Lina... casting something and using it to slay a dragon. Everything was going through my head yet I could remember what they were distinctly. Dragon... Slave...?

"Hey Claudia" Lina said, snapping me out of my trance

"Huh? What?" I asked before looking to see an old man standing there, it seemed that had been having a conversation while I was... in that state.

"Man you need to pay more attention!"

"S-sorry" I said meekly as I scratched the back of my head, unaware that my necklace was glowing yellow once again.

"I must tell the news to everyone!" the old guy said as he ran out of the tavern, leaving me even more confused.

"What was... that about?" I asked looking to Lina and Gourry

"The old geezer wanted us to take care of the Dragon Fangs, I told him we did and then he started to say that we defeated the 'Curse of the Black Dragon'" she said.

"... But were didn't SEE any dragon..." I said

"I know, that's why I want us to pay the bill and leave town"

"What? You can't just DO that!" Gourry said

"Hey, it's not our town nor is it our dragon, it's none of your business" Lina said

"But Lina..." I started "It's going to blow this whole village to kingdom come! There will be nothing left by a giant hole!" I told her. She looked at me like I was crazy

"What's gotten into you? How would you even know it would do something like that?" she asked me.

"I... I don't know, I just have a feeling it will! Please Lina there has to be a way to kill it with a spell of yours, one of your most powerful ones!" I begged.

"One of my most powerful ones...?" she asked

"Yea... Like... u-um the Dragon... S-Slave...? Or something like that"

"How do you-" she was about to ask before something came soaring, breaking the glass and causing the people to go into a panic. This lead for the old man to come back and ask why we had lied, or Lina anyway "Hey I said I got rid of the Dragon Fangs, not the dragon" she said with a smile

"Then we're in more danger than when the bandits were around!" he cried with another conversation that quickly went to the payment. I wondered if Lina even cared if this village was destroyed, something I didn't want to see since these guys were just innocent people.

"Make it thirty!"

"Hm... how about twenty five?"

"Deal~" Lina said, happy she was getting paid for this, but not long after that the building began to gave way, which meant we had to make a run for it. Running up the hill we all went to the dragon, only to realize we were up against a creature larger than we were expecting. "It's HUGE!" Lina cried and then looked to the old man "Where the hell did the bandit get a thing like that?!"

"At a festival when he was a boy for three bronze pieces"

"That must've been SOME festival" Lina said, a bit irritated

"Why would a festival HAVE a dragon in the first place?" I asked, but before he could answer me the dragon roared and breathed fire at us. Lina, Gourry and I managed to get away but the old man wasn't so lucky. Thankfully after a fail joke Lina went into action, using one of her glorious fireballs... it didn't work "... isn't it common sense that fireballs don't work on dragons cause they breathe fire?" I asked, causing Lina to shrug.

"I dunno, but I gave it all I got, so let's split-" she started but Gourry had different plans, running and taking out his sword towards the dragon... but it ultimately failed and got him on top of us and pretty much out of it. "Gourry Get OFF of us!" Lina cried as the dragon walked towards us

"G-Gourry!" I cried, being scared that I might have an end of life with this final step of the dragon about to pummel us into flapjacks. But, for some odd reason, it looked down to us and then stepped OVER us, causing all of us to be dumfounded

"Wow... you really are the Dragon Spooker" Gourry said before Lina shoved in him out of the way

"Why that-" she started as she got up "DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME YOU LOUSLY LIZARD!" she cried before she used a levitation on herself. I cast one myself and went up to her and Gourry, who was hanging onto her foot "Gourry I need you to distract it for me" she commanded

"H-huh?" he asked, sounding a bit frightened

"Shut up and do it!" she said once again before kicking him to the dragon while she and I went somewhere else. "You want me to use the Dragon Slave? Then you got it" she said, winking to me "Just watch closely alright?" she asked, causing me to nod. Since I was near Lina a barrier was put around me to protect me from the spell before it was cast

"_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I call upon thee and swear myself to thee! Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!_" she chanted. There was a dark red power building in her hands, something that was highly powerful and dangerous. "_Dragon Slave!_" she cried before thrusting the power forward.

In a flash a dome of power appeared and the entire village was engulfed by the power and when it disappeared I was shocked. The whole village... was GONE. I instantly felt bad and was confused more than ever... what I saw... what I saw was the aftermath of the DRAGON SLAVE? Nevertheless Lina didn't seem to care as she came down and started to gloat

"See that? That was Black Magic's most powerful spell, the Dragon Slave~" she said "Now... where is that old man..." she said, looking around. A cough was heard and we heard rubble from a place near us erupt and the burnt figure of an old man came through. He didn't look very happy as he came up to us "Oh Saman-san, just who I was looking for~ Can I have my payment for saving the village?" she asked innocently.

"Saving the village? JUST LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO IT!" he said, pointing to the chunk of land missing that used to be where most of the village was. Gourry looked dumfounded, I looked guilty and Lina just looked... well satisfied

"Well if you make an omlette you have to break a few eggs~" she said with a nod of approval

"Then we'll break you" he said with a bunch of angry villagers behind him with pitchforks and torches read to kill us.

"I would REALLY love to stay and chat but... we have a schedule to keep... see you Gourry" she patted the swordsman on the shoulder before grabbing my wrist and running off. I looked behind me to see that Gourry was coming after us along with the mob

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY ALIVE" Saman cried as we ran

"Lina, if you don't use your magic now these guys are going to kill us" Gourry cried, but Lina only giggled as we ran into the next part of our adventure.

* * *

**Author**: Yay I got the 'official' first chapter done =3 I'm really sorry that you guys have to read through ANOTHER long chapter, but I'll try my utter most BEST to keep it shorter next time, promise! I also hope to have more changes and more situations where Claudia has to actually DO something. Only reason why she hasn't yet is because this is still a new thing to her


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Slayers, Adventure, Fantasy