A/N: First Claymore fic, yay!

From Orsay's perspective, Teresa of the Faint Smile, formerly known as the Organization's number one soldier, looked every bit like the fallen warrior she was. She stood stock still, surrounded by her former comrades, her head slightly bowed, and her eyes closed. Orsay kept a firm hold on the little human girl's arms, she had tried more than once to run to Teresa. Now, she simply screamed her mentor's name over and over again in ever increasing desperation. Orsay gave a tiny smile.

"It's regrettable, Teresa," he said.

"I suppose," the blonde beauty answered, moving only her mouth.

The girl continued screaming, grating more and more on Orsay's nerves. He would have just knocked her out, but the sadistic side of him wanted her to see the death of her dear friend. Besides, where she was going, it wasn't like this would be the worst thing she'd ever see.

"I'm quite shocked myself," Teresa continued. "I never thought this would happen to me, that I of all people would lose my head in such a way. All I wanted to do was protect the girl. I would have done anything to keep her safe, even break the organization's most important rule. It was all for her."

'Lovely speech,' Orsay thought sardonically.

"TERESA! TERESA!" The girl screamed again, she really was getting annoying.

For the first time since their conversation began, Teresa looked up and locked eyes with her former handler.

"There's just one thing I would like to know," she stated. "What will happen to Clare once this is over?"

Orsay smirked. "It's no longer your concern, Teresa, but know that the organization will take care of her."

Teresa lowered her head again. "I understand."

Orsay's smile faded, and his face became grave. Inside though, he was still smirking. Teresa thought she was so smart, tricking him like this. He knew what she intended to do, he had been her handler for years and though she may not know it, he could read her like a book. She wasn't going to just let the soldiers kill her, especially now that she had this girl, Clare she'd called her, to fight for. Orsay also knew that since Teresa had no plans to die just yet, there was no way these five could take her down.

That was why he had his Plan B already set up. In the end, there was only one Claymore with the ability to take Teresa down, and out the corner of his eye, he could see her already in place. Her yoki was practically nothing, not even the official executioners knew she was there. She stood completely still, waiting for Orsay's signal. Teresa of the Faint Smile would die today, whether she accepted it or not.

Teresa made a point to memorize the names and ranks of all the Organization's warriors. It might sound strange that someone as anti-social as she would know such things, but she considered it more of a survival tactic than actually caring.

Teresa was not stupid, nor was she so cocky that she believed she could never be defeated by anyone just because she was number 1. That, she knew, could at any time change.

The one behind her was Candace, currently ranked number 7. She was an offensive warrior, though despite her rank, she had no special attacks and no fancy nickname.

To the right was Margret, number 11, her yoki reading abilities were quite good, though nowhere near as good as Teresa's.

Next was Natasha, number 13. Like Candace, she was really nothing special, but she was 100% loyal to the organization, and so she was rewarded for her blind servitude.

Estelle, number 14, was a defensive warrior unlike the other four. It surprised Teresa that she had been chosen for this particular assignment, until she remembered that she and Estelle had been in the same class of 'recruits', and that the girl had always been jealous of her skill. Teresa smirked inwardly, Estelle really was pathetic.

Finally, there was Rebecca, number 20. Once again, just a run of the mill Claymore.

She could almost laugh at how easy this would be, and it took all her will power not to call out to Clare that everything was fine. The soldiers got into position. The time to strike was now.

"TERESA! NO TERESA, DON'T LET THEM KILL YOU!" Clare screamed in vain.

"I'm sorry Clare," Teresa whispered. "Farewell…"

"TERESA!" Clare screamed a final time as the five soldiers struck.

For a short, tense moment, no one moved. They had gone in for the kill, Teresa hadn't moved a muscle. One thing was noticeably off though; her sword, which had been sheathed, was now in her hand. She had a little smile on her face as her former comrades fell to the ground, bleeding and in pain.

Orsay looked completely gob smacked, just as she'd expected. She smirked.

"Their wounds aren't deep, they'll be alright."

Teresa glanced at the stunned organization member. "Sorry, but I'm not going to die just yet."

By now, Clare had finally pulled herself free from Orsay's grip, and ran crying into Teresa's arms.

Orsay growled angrily. "Teresa, what is the meaning of this?"

The warrior in question simply placed her hand on Clare's head. "I have a reason to live now, it's this girl. From now on, I'll live for her."

Teresa took Clare's hand as the girl used her free one to wipe her tears away. As they walked past Orsay, Teresa missed the small smile that appeared on his face.

"You will regret this, Teresa."

"I have no reason to," she replied.

He chuckled. This action surprised Teresa and once again put her on guard.

"Is that so?"

At that moment, Teresa felt a sudden burst of yoki energy. She turned to face her surprise opponent, but they were too fast. The last thing Teresa saw before everything went dark was a pair of silver eyes lined by white blonde hair that was tied back. The last thing she heard was Clare screaming.

Orsay grinned. The secret soldier stood before Teresa's unconscious form. Clare was screaming again.

"TERESA! WAKE UP, TERESA! TERESA!" She hollered, shaking the warrior's unmoving form.

"Hilary," Orsay addressed the soldier who'd taken Teresa down. "Do you mind?"

Hilary nodded silently, knelt down to face Clare and with a swift motion of her hand, knocked her out as well.

"Excellent work, Hilary, you certainly deserve that promotion you're getting."

She nodded once again. "Yes, I believe 12 is my new rank, correct?"

Orsay nodded, "It's quite a change from 17, I'm sure. Now then, I think it's time we finish Teresa off."

Hilary stood back up and gazed at the fallen warrior. With her foot, she moved the human girl out of the way and raised her sword, presumably to strike the killing blow. Orsay grinned in anticipation; he'd been waiting all day for this. His glee, however, quickly changed to confusion and shock when Hilary simply resheathed her sword, picked up the child, and walked away. Approaching Orsay, she casually dropped the girl in front of him and continued walking.

"You were going to take her back to the Organization, I believe. Better hurry before she wakes up and tries to run," she remarked.

"What are you doing?" Orsay hissed, trying and failing to keep his anger under control. "Why didn't you kill her?"

Hilary glanced back at the fallen Teresa and shrugged. "I would, but it goes against my code."

"What code?" Orsay shouted.

"Mycode," Hilary reiterated. "I won't kill an opponent who can't fight back. It isn't sportsmanlike and it isn't fun. Anyway, even if Teresa was conscious to fight, there's no way I could take her. She'd kill me in two seconds."

"You knocked her out didn't you?" Orsay argued desperately.

"It was luck," Hilary answered. "You and I both know that if Teresa hadn't let her guard down, I'd never have been able to get a hit on her. My so-called 'special attack' only works for about ten seconds at best, and though it may be powerful, even then Teresa could beat me. Not to mention the fact that using it takes so much energy out of me. That's why I only use it on special occasions such as this one.

"You told me to come and intervene if she tried to fight back, and I've done so, it's their own fault for getting so badly injured. As such, I've carried out my orders. If you'd wanted me to kill her, you should have said so."

"I'm saying so now!"

"And I'm saying no."

Orsay gritted his teeth in anger, "So then, you'd go against a direct order from a Superior? That would be seen as treasonous."

The unspoken threat lingered in the air, but Hilary only smiled.

"Yes, I suppose it would. Just like your involvement in the disaster at Cammory would."

Orsay gasped in shock.

"You- How- You," he sputtered.

Her smile widened. "I see you remember. Now, we certainly don't want the higher ups to find out about that, would we?"

"They'd never believe you!"

She took a step closer. "Are you sure?"

Hilary smirked when Orsay bowed his head in defeat. His fists were shaking with pent up rage. While he knew that Hilary, like many of their other warriors, held no love for the organization, she was smart enough to know her limits and understood that disobeying orders would inevitably lead to her death. Even so, it seemed this obedience only went as far as her 'code' would allow.

As for her threats, he normally wouldn't have heeded such words, but Cammory was different. The higher-ups had always suspected him of having some involvement in the catastrophe, but never found any evidence against him. If Hilary, a survivor of the disaster who's word would be taken without question, spoke up however…

Orsay glanced at his surroundings. The five soldiers who were supposed to kill Teresa had been wounded in such a way that they wouldn't be able to even lift their swords for at least a few days. There was nothing that could be done.

Orsay took a deep breath. "Teresa ran away after disabling her executioners. We did, however, get the human girl she was traveling with. I'll arrange for numbers 2 through 5 to take care of Teresa," he looked up at Hilary's face. "I brought you without telling them, so you were never here, understand?"

Hilary smiled, then gave Orsay a mock salute as he picked up the Organization's newest 'recruit'.

"Perfectly."

Teresa groaned in pain as she slowly woke up. For a moment, she couldn't remember what had happened or why she was lying in the dirt. Then as it all rushed back to her, she sprang to her feet, a single word on her lips.

"Clare."

It was dark out, she'd probably been unconscious for hours. Teresa searched for any sign of yoki energy and found absolutely nothing.

Orsay and the others were gone, and they'd taken Clare with them. With an enraged scream, Teresa fell to her knees.

"CLAAAARE!"

A/N: This is just a prologue, so the next chapter will be a lot longer. It's already been written, but I probably won't post it for a few days.

Don't forget to review.

Ciao!