This fic is set at some point between The Slashers and The Endless Gravestones story arcs. It is based on the NA English licensed manga canon. Rated T for a little language and a lot of later gore. This is a work of fanfiction and has nothing official to do with the licensed version of this anime and manga in any way whatsoever.
I owe many thanks to Neon, whose enthusiasm upon hearing of my Claymore bunny gave me the energy to actually write it. This fic wouldn't exist without her!
.oOo.
Maturation's Matriculation
(part one)
Galk raised his sword high. Beneath him, Clare knelt on the Baptismal Room floor. Her hands tightly clenched the hilt of her sword, and her entire body shook with the force of the yoma energy that rampaged unchecked through her.
With a desperate scream, Raki ran towards them. Galk twisted, bringing his sword down in an inescapable arc that severed Clare's head from her body in one flawless strike. Sobbing, Raki tripped and fell forward onto the stone floor. Her head rolled to a stop in front of him. As he stared in horror, the yoma power that had ravaged her began to dissipate. The veins that crackled her skin vanished, her mouth smoothed, and her face relaxed into an expression of peace.
Clare had died the way she wanted, still human.
Raki bolted upright with a gasp. He shivered, his sweat-soaked body chilled by the night air. The campfire had burned down to embers, leaving only the pale stars to illuminate their rocky campground. He hugged himself, glanced around in the dim light, and saw Clare had yet to return.
Raki hated that dream. The thought that he couldn't reach her in time, that he couldn't save her from her monstrous yoma power...that he would be left alone once more. He swallowed and set a fat branch on the fire, then poked a twisted cord of dry grass and some smaller sticks beneath it. The boy blew on the fire a few times to help the grass and wood catch. He sat back and pulled his blanket closer around him.
He had not intended to fall asleep. Raki preferred to wait for Clare to return to the camp after she briefly vanished, as she always did upon completion of a mission. He wanted to see her step back into their circle of light. He had told her the reason he usually waited was that he liked to know their next destination before he went to sleep...but he suspected she knew the truth.
He needed to know she was still with him.
As if responding to his unspoken need, Clare reappeared as silently as she had left. She folded her legs, sat on her blanket, and resumed her normal position of leaning back against her sword, which was impaled into the ground. Her pale skin and hair glowed in the campfire's warm light, her expression thoughtful.
Raki drank in the sight of her. No veins crawled over her skin, no sharp teeth inside a jagged mouth...and her eyes were the same pure silver as always. He breathed a sigh of relief. She was still Clare.
At the sound of his sigh, Clare looked up. "Rennal, a village two days north of here. We face a trio this time."
"Oh. Will you have help? Since there are three?"
"No. Help was offered, but I refused. I can handle this alone." She settled herself more securely back against her sword, then crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "Good night, Raki."
"Good night, Clare."
He stretched out on the ground inside his blankets, his eyes resting on her. 'We face a pair', she had said. But then it had been, 'I can handle this alone.' He closed his eyes in resignation. Fat lot of good he could do for Clare. No doubt in three days, he'd be standing on the side of the street, helpfully watching while she cut the yoma down. He scowled at himself. So much for his promise to Sid. It had been months since they had left Rabona, and he hadn't done a single thing to become stronger. He hadn't been able to protect Clare at all.
The Rabona sword Galk had given him still lay wrapped in cloth inside his pack, along with the pair of long knives Clare had used in the city. But Raki didn't want to ask Clare to teach him the basics of swordplay, nor how to use the knives. He wanted to learn on his own...to surprise her with his skill. But the one time he had tried to help her with the sword, running into the fight between her and a particularly nasty yoma, she had yelled at him to get out of the way, and finally kicked him aside as she ran to deliver the killing blow.
He didn't like that she would be facing a trio of yoma alone in three days. She would probably have to call upon her yoma power to complete the mission. And he would never forget the day he learned about the price of that power: that every time a warrior used it, she came one step closer to becoming a full yoma herself. That had almost happened to Clare in Rabona. But if he tried to help her so she wouldn't need to use it...he knew he would only interfere in her mission again. Or worse, maybe he'd be taken hostage by the yoma. This time, Clare might actually let him be killed. Indeed, that seemed to be the only way he could help her...by no longer being a problem.
With a bitter, self-depreciating curse, he rolled over and tried to go to sleep.
.oOo.
They left before the sun crept above the horizon, when everything was still cast in the soft, cool light of pre-dawn. Aside from the minimal amount of talk needed for breaking camp, Raki barely spoke, and he definitely did not bounce around with his usual energy.
Clare took a long look at him as they set out, and he managed to give her a faint smile of reassurance. She raised one eyebrow, then turned to lead the way to Rennal.
Plainly, she was letting him brood, and for that he was grateful. He didn't want her to try to cheer him up. What could she say to improve things, anyway? Clare always did all the work and took on all the danger. She didn't really need him to cook for her, either. In fact, the only way he could help her was to keep her company, and now he was failing at even that. Damn.
He followed her morosely, extending his stride just enough for him to place his footsteps in hers. He liked to think it wasn't as much of a stretch as it had been the first time he tried it, but he doubted he'd grown enough to make any real difference. Not that being any bigger would benefit Clare. It would only mean he'd make a larger meal for some yoma.
With a scowl, he stopped matching Clare's footprints and trudged after her at his own pace. If he were bigger and had figured out a way to really help her, then maybe she wouldn't have to use her yoma power when she fought. Every day she didn't invoke it was another day she would remain Clare.
He had to figure out a way to help her. Each time he watched her slay a yoma, he noticed something new in her technique. An unexpected twist to her sword swing, a change of stance that gave her better leverage...he had tried them himself once, when Clare was away receiving her new orders. The Rabona sword had been heavy and ungainly in his hands. He'd almost tripped and come within a hairsbreadth of slicing himself with the blade. But if he could keep studying her battles, perhaps he could finally hope to emulate her style.
Raki pressed his lips together, deep in thought, then broke their journey's silence. "Clare..."
"Yes?"
"Last month when you left me in that village north of the Paburo Mountains, when you went with Miria and the other two to fight that Voracious Eater..." Raki rubbed the back of his head with his hand. He stared at the ground. "Are you going to do that again?"
"Not this time."
He cautiously lifted his gaze. "But why did you leave me then? Alone, for a week? I mean..." he trailed off, knowing that watching Clare fight was only an excuse. Almost in a whisper, he added, "What if you hadn't come back?"
"You had all of our beras. They would have been more than enough money to get you to Rabona."
Raki jolted to a stop, and his frustration and anxiety suddenly flared up into anger. He ran forward and whirled around in front of Clare, forcing her to halt. She stared down at him in surprise.
"That's not what I mean! I don't care about the money, I care about you!"
She blinked. "I know that, Raki."
"Then why did you leave me there?! All I could do was stare at those mountains and wonder if you would ever come back! Wonder if I'd be left alone again! I'm always with you when you fight yoma, so why did you leave me behind?!" With one hand, he swiped at the tears that threatened to spill out of his eyes. "I know better now. I know not to get in the way!"
Clare's face softened. "Do you remember what I told you about Voracious Eaters? They're very strong and very intelligent. An incredibly dangerous combination."
Raki sniffled and wiped his face again. He made a noise of assent.
"Then you also know that's why there is always a team of warriors sent after them. Raki..." She waited to say more until he slowly looked up to meet her eyes.
"I left you behind because I care about you."
His eyes widened.
"I needed all my concentration and strength to face that Voracious Eater. I didn't dare bring you along because I would have worried about your safety. That would have distracted me from the mission, which could have meant my life and the lives of my comrades."
With a soft gasp, Raki remembered how Clare had looked when she'd returned from the battle. Three bloodstained holes had been in her shirt, and a fourth hole in the left thigh of her leggings. She'd been filthy with bloody dirt, mentally and physically exhausted, but most importantly, she had been alive.
Raki silently met her gaze. He could not argue with that. But...she said she cared about him. It was those words, rather than any assurances or logic, which made him nod his understanding and resume their journey north, deep in thought once again.
.oOo.
Clare and Raki stepped through the gate in the low stone wall that surrounded Rennal. They entered the village and strode down the center street, sending townspeople scuttling aside in shock, all of them gaping in the standard reaction to Clare's presence.
Raki looked about him, taking in the sights and smells of civilization. This village seemed newer and cleaner than the norm. He studied the buildings as they passed. They were constructed out of wood and stone, but their faces were fresh. Even the slightly older structures had a bright coat of whitewash and steps scrubbed clean. A minimal amount of trash and junk was visible, and he couldn't see even one cracked windowpane.
"This village has money, Clare."
"Yes."
"Do you sense the yoma?"
She carefully studied a group of people as the pair passed. The villagers shrank back from her gaze, and one child clung to his father's leg, looked at all the frightened adults around him, and began crying. The people murmured among themselves.
Clare faced forward again. "They are somewhere nearby. But..." she frowned, and Raki looked at her curiously.
"But what?"
She lifted her face. "I'm not--"
"So you're finally here!"
The loud voice made them both jump. They looked down the street to see a small group of men standing in front of a large, almost gaudy building that loomed over the town square. One of the men stepped forward, a very cocky smile upon his face. Raki took one look at him and felt an instant surge of dislike. The man was tall, well built, and walked with a definite swagger. His long hair seemed perfectly styled, and his clothes were covered with embroidery. His crisp white shirt hung halfway open to reveal a solid chest marked with a long knife-blade scar.
Raki's hands twitched with the effort it took to keep them from balling up into fists.
The man stopped a few paces away from them. He smirked down at Clare, his gaze evaluating the length of her body. "You're the little slip of a girl who's going to save my village? I expected you to at least have some muscle."
His tone made Raki's lip curl. This was the village chief?
The other men moved up to flank him on either side, almost encircling the smaller pair. They all leered down at Clare with varying degrees of dark humor and lust. One nudged the man next to him and grinned at Raki.
Raki let his hands clench, but forced the rest of his body to remain still. As much as he hated cocky bastards, a cocky bastard with goons was even worse. Sid had turned out to be all right, even if he had kissed Clare, but this group made Raki fervently wish he knew how to use his sword.
The village chief leaned over Clare, who stood her ground and did not react. The large man snorted. "I'm paying a shitload of beras for you?"
"I was the closest warrior," she answered calmly. "If I die, there will be no need to pay."
He jerked his head at Raki. "What's with the brat?"
Raki bit back a snarl and glared at him silently.
Again, Clare replied in a quiet voice, "He is with me, and is no concern of yours."
The man straightened and coldly stared down at Raki. "Don't get in the way, little man. I'm not going to lose another villager because some snot-nosed boy-toy tripped up my teensy Claymore wench."
Raki's control snapped. He raised his fists and leaped forward, but Clare stopped him with one hand on his shirt collar. She effortlessly hurled him backward, sending him flying to land with a painful wham on his back some distance away.
The chieftain and his men laughed uproariously. "Oooooh, he's a feisty little man, isn't he? I think he did something naughty!" The men continued guffawing while the village chief dismissed Raki to address Clare once more.
"The yoma are hiding in the forest beyond the fields east of town. They like to pick off victims as my villagers work in the fields and the mines. Frightened villagers make for a bad harvest of grain and gold. I need both to keep my village sound." He raised his chin. "Kill those yoma immediately, and then I'll pay you."
Clare pivoted on one foot and began to walk east. "A man in black will come for the money. You will give it to him then."
Raki scrambled from the ground, snatched up his pack, and ran to catch up, his gait uneven. He heard more barks of laughter in his wake.
"Clare, I--"
She stopped walking and froze him with an unwavering stare.
His excuses died on his tongue, and Raki's heart shrank inside his chest. "I'm sorry, Clare."
She looked at him a moment more, then resumed her march.
Raki's gaze dropped to the ground in humiliation. His immature and misguided attempt to defend them both had almost interfered with her mission. He had failed again.
.oOo.
(completed 9-23-07, last tweaked 11-10-07)
A/N: Poor Raki...but it's not pointless torment and angst, I promise! Concrit is always welcome. More info on this and my other stories can be found on my profile page. Ja!