Dark Path

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

"Yoki influenced speech"

I do not own claymore or any of the characters created by Norihiro Yagi.

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Lightning crackled far above in the clouds as rain poured from every direction. A figure covered completely in a pitch black cloak walked slowly and deliberately through the pouring rain to a remote town nestled in between a harsh desert, rough mountains, and a dense forest.

The figure walked for another hour before it reached the outskirts of the village that it had been looking for. Silently, the figure snuck though the village, keeping to the shadows to prevent anyone from seeing it. After a few minutes, the figure arrived at a common looking house and knocked on the door before settling into the shadows at the edge of the door.

After several minutes, the door opened to reveal a women in her late 20's. When the door opened enough, the figure entered quickly, while shutting and locking the door behind it. As soon as the figure turned from the door, it lowered its hood to reveal a women in her early 20's. She had short hair that almost touched her shoulders at the back of her head, she had a flawless face, if you don't look at the scar that takes over the majority of the left side of her face, mostly at the spot that her left eye once was. Her face was set in a cast of indifference, but looking into her remaining eye, you could see a sea of sadness and grief.

The women that had first opened the door spoke immediately as soon as she took note of the shut and locked door.

"Rafaela, what happened? Is something wrong?" asked the women with much emotion in her voice.

Rafaela didn't immediately answer. Her head had been bowed and when she looked up at the women, you could see a trail of tears down her stony face, coming from her single eye. When the women saw this, she immediately jumped forward to hug Rafaela, however, when she was close, Rafaela put a small amount of distance between the two.

At the women's questioning and hurt look, Rafaela spoke up.

"Please, wait." she said. After a few deep breaths' she spoke.

"Several weeks ago, word reached the organization that Teresa killed a group of bandits and mercenary's after they had attacked and destroyed a town far west in the remote mountains. Their first act was to gather a group of warriors and try to get Teresa to accept the penalty for breaking the Organization's biggest rule. However, when the group found her, they had tried to get her to accept he fate, but Teresa cut them up enough to put them out of active duty for a day or so. A week later, they gathered numbers 2-5 to hunt Teresa down. Teresa easily cut them down without killing them, but the new number 2 couldn't handle her power fully, and awakened. She then killed Teresa and all members of her team. I came to you almost as soon as I heard." said Rafaela, as tears ran gently down her cheek. She may have blocked out her emotion's long ago, but Teresa had wormed her way through Rafaela's shell.

The women that she was talking to had tears streaming down her face by the middle of Rafaela's story, but at the end, she broke down and started to sob on the floor. Teresa and she had been friends before Teresa had become a Claymore and were still even after Teresa had been transformed into a warrior, staying in contact as much as they could.

However, a thought then struck her that caused her to stop sobbing. If Teresa was dead, then what about….!

"Rafaela, if Teresa's dead then who…?" she asked.

Rafaela looked up at the woman and smiled as she slowly pulled a bundle out from underneath her cloak. The woman's eyes widened further for every small section of the bundle appeared. Gently, Rafaela handed the bundle over to her and spoke softly as she saw her friend cradle the bundle gently against her chest. A small smile appeared on Rafaela's face at the scene.

"He's safe. I have been taking care of him as much as I could since he was born, with Teresa visiting as much as possible without raising any suspicion. However, the Organization has demanded that I rejoin or they will try to kill me. I can no longer keep him safe all the time. It is up to you, as his godmother, to take care of him." she said, with a caring voice.

The woman nodded to Rafaela, as she watched the sleeping face of the baby cradled to her chest.

Rafaela smiled once more before she stood and walked over to the door. Before she opened it however, she turned and spoke.

"That child will be as powerful if not more so, than Teresa was. Whenever I have the chance, I will visit. When he gets older, he will need to be taught how to handle the yoki and to use a sword. However, all he needs till then is a loving and supporting family. Please don't tell your family what he is though, for it may be disastrous for all of us in the future. By the way, his name is Raki." With that, she opened then door, and bolted off into the night, leaving a women and a baby huddled on the floor of the house.

"Raki," she said with a smile. "I like that name."

End of the prologue.

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A/U; I know that this was a short chapter, but hey, it's only the beginning! Just to let you all know, I am still working on my other stories, but with school back in full swing, it will be a while between updates!Read and review people! Thanks!