She walked into the town slowly and deliberately stepping over the fallen gate that had

once served as the main entrance. Her steel boots rang slightly with each slow step that

she took, her silver eyes directed in front of her.

The town was in bad shape, this much she could tell. Some of the buildings were

crumpled and there was debris in the middle of the roads. Windows on several buildings

were shattered, the glass shards laying where they'd fallen. The market was the busiest,

and despite the shape that the town was in, it seemed as though nothing had gone wrong

in the small civilization. The people held a slight fear in their eyes as they bought

vegetables and sold their goods but the fact that there was a Yoma here, did not deter

them from gathering and continuing to live life.

All of this, she took in with her peripheral vision and kept her silver orbs staring directly

in front of her. As she moved, the wind tossed her white clothing in a perfect swaying

motion matched with the long strands of her blonde hair. She kept walking, the gleaming

claymore on her backside seeming not to burden her at all with its weight.

People stopped talking immediately, most of them cringing in fear as she passed. She

could hear their whispered voices as easily as if they were talking right next to her.

"There's another Claymore…"

"I hope this one's stronger…"

"As long as she kills it and gets out of here…"

It didn't matter which town she visited to work. The dialogue from the locals always

stayed the same. They gawked her openly and continued to whisper behind their hands.

She ignored them choosing to concentrate on her job. The Yoki that this particular Yoma

was giving off was surprisingly weak and she half wondered how the warrior sent here

previously, was defeated. Unless of course, the Yoma was intentionally making itself

appear weaker than it really was.

She arced a brow, the only change in her calm yet beautiful features, at the prospect. A

Yoma strong enough to keep its Yoki in check was sure to be strong enough to at least

present a challenge.

The Yoki led her to a darkened building, every single window on its exterior shattered

and broken. There was a large hole in the side of the building and she frowned slightly

wondering why the Yoma had chosen such a place to reside. Normally, they would try

and fit in as much as they could as a human to throw off suspicion. However, this

particular Yoma was dwelling in such an obvious place, that it was a wonder that the

locals did not try to keep away from the building.

Humans were so stupid.

She stood in front of the doorway, the door had been knocked clean off of its hinges and

lay to the side, and waited patiently. Surely the Yoma inside had to have sensed her

presence by now if it was anywhere near strong. She stood there, her white cloak

billowing wildly in the heavy breeze that was catching her hair and anything else that it

could catch.

She gave it one minute before she'd grown impatient and somewhat disappointed. So it

was not a strong Yoma at all to have missed her presence standing just outside of its

residence.

"There's no use in hiding." she spoke aloud, her voice a ringing bell amongst the locals

who were curiously watching. "Let's get this over with."

Her call was immediately answered with a sudden tremor that rocked the ground from

the building out causing several people to stagger away in fear. She folded her arms under

her bosom waiting for it to emerge.

There was a sudden explosion from within the building causing it to crumple. Several

large pieces of debris came flying at her from the explosion and she merely swayed her

head as one whistled harmlessly passed attempting to decapitate her. Her arms were still

crossed and she frowned at the crumpling building as it shook the ground capsizing in on itself. The pile of rubble shook as a giant clawed hand reached up and grabbed the

surface as the Yoma began to pull itself free.

As it emerged, so did its agonizing visage. It towered over her, standing well over ten

feet although its back was hunched. Several dagger-like teeth were lining its maw behind

a pair of thin, scaly lips. It eyes, huge and wide, were orange-yellow saucers centered

around pupils that were nothing more than black slits.

Slowly, her gloved hand reached up and grabbed the handle of her deadly claymore and she waited.

The Yoma's eyes narrowed on her as she waited and it in what seemed like the blink of

an eye, it was gone reappearing where she stood. It swung at her with its clawed hand but

even faster, she ducked the attack. In the same moment, like fluid, she pulled her

claymore free and swung up and about severing the Yoma's striking arm from its

shoulder.

The Yoma roared in agony as a fountain of purple blood sprayed from its shoulder, the

severed limb falling heavily to the ground.

"You bitch!" it shrieked leaping away from her and she stood back to her full height.

Her thin brows pulled together in a frown as she brought the claymore up and rested the blade on her shoulder.

"I'll kill you!" it ranted angrily looking at its bleeding nub of a shoulder with horrified

eyes.

She suddenly disappeared appearing right behind the Yoma, her speed catching the

demon off guard. It gasped looking left and right, its eyes wide with horror.

"Talk is cheap," she said swinging her claymore with such speed that the onlookers did

not see the actual attack.

The Yoma gasped and gurgled something incoherent before its head spilled off the top

of its massive body. It landed on the ground with a heavy thud before the body slumped

and fell on top of it. She landed on the ground and gave her claymore a quick jerk ridding

the weapon of the purple blood staining the blade. In another movement that seemed so natural and fluid-like, she sheathed the claymore at her back again.

The onlookers were in stunned silence as the woman turned and began heading back the

direction she'd entered the town. Their eyes went from her, to the corpse of the fallen

demon with such speed that they could have gotten themselves dizzy if they'd kept it up.

A question that the warrior had always wondered, as she gave the corpse of the Yoma one

final glance over her shoulder, was what happened to those corpses after the warriors

killed them? Did the humans get rid of them or did he come and handle them?

She shrugged slightly as she made her way to the fallen gate. It really didn't matter if she

really thought about it. Her job was to exterminate, not to wonder.

"Excuse me, Claymore." came a gruff voice behind her and she pulled to a stop.

Claymore. That was not what the warriors called themselves but a name the humans had

given them. Perhaps it had been due to the fact that they killed the Yoma with large claymores. Humans were not the most creative bunch, she thought turning to face the

voice.

It had come from a middle-aged man with graying dark hair. He shuffled forward

holding a bag of some kind and she sighed inwardly knowing what it was.

"Here is the payment for handling the Yoma." he said without looking her in the eyes.

"A man in black will come here shortly for the payment." she replied turning away from

him. "Give it to him then."

The man swallowed. "Okay."

The town had been relatively small. Before she'd known it, she was outside of the gate

looking back at it even with the slow, small steps she was taking. Why were the Yoma so

drawn to small towns? It did make sense that the smaller the town, the less they would

have to worry about her types coming after them. However, in a larger town, perhaps a

city, they could blend in easier as a human and have bountiful amounts of food.

Yoma were so stupid.

She sensed a presence then but it was not that of a Yoma, but of something else. She

knew this presence well and turned to face the tree that it was behind.

"You have another job for me?" she asked aloud.

There was a short silence before the other spoke. "Yes."

The voice was that of a man, deep and rough. She knew what the man looked like and

his voice did not suggest someone of his short size. She waited for him to continue but he

didn't so she sighed and went for his bait.

"Where is it?"

"It is not a Yoma this time." he answered back without revealing himself from behind the tree.

She frowned and wondered what else he would send her to kill. Perhaps, he was going

to send her after an Awakened One. Her heart fluttered a bit with anticipation and

excitement.

"Then?"

"How long have you been with the Organization, Kate?" asked the voice instead.

She frowned wondering how his question was relevant to the impending task that he was

going to hand her.

"A few months now," she answered sourly.

"It has come to the Organization's agreement that you be promoted to a single-digit

status." he replied and Kate's eyebrows arced upward in surprise.

They lowered again as she asked her question. "The Organization's had a change of

heart, have they?"

"How does number four sound?"

"It sounds ridiculous."

"Oh?"

She stared at the tree fuming but she kept her temper in check. "I beat Sophia in the last

rank duel." she said evenly. "So then why would she still be ranked third?"

"What is it with you warriors and your rank?"

"It's one of the few things we have left to take pride in."

The voice was silent on the other end for a moment before he spoke again. "You're next

task will be to team up with Sophia and a couple of others to track down an Awakened

One." he said, his voice even and neutral as always. "You can challenge her then and take

her spot if you so choose."

Kate's heart skipped a beat and sped up with excitement. A fight with an Awakened One

and a chance at taking Sophia's rank? At the same time? Her lips curled up at the corners

into a smile despite herself.

"Where am I meeting them?"

"In Norven, east of here." he answered immediately and she could tell that he was done

with his little game. "The Awakened One will be found in the next town of Fesler."

With all the information she needed, and the urge to be done with her meeting with him,

she turned and continued walking down the path she'd been on. Kate was grateful that he

didn't have anything more to say and the smile worked its way to her lips once again.

Sophia, she thought wryly, her expression shifting suddenly into a frown. How she

would love to take her rank from her after the embarrassing things she'd said after that

last ranking match.

The matches were held once a year at the Organization to test everyone's capabilities as

a warrior. Then they were ranked depending on how well they did and that rank was the

pride of each warrior. Kate's match against Sophia had been a close one, the two of them

nearly killing one another. It had been stopped mid-fight because Sophia, not Kate, was

on the verge of going over her limit. So it had been a wild surprise at the end, when they

were told the ranks of each warrior. Kate had been given tenth while Sophia - Sophia who

could not keep her powers in check to defeat her - had gotten third.

It had been so infuriating. Kate had not known what the Organization was thinking.

She'd outfought Sophia but yet, they ranked her seven levels above her. It had not made

any sense. Kate even wondered how well she'd fare against the other two who were ranked first and second. The Organization's word was law however, and there was not

much else she could do about it. If the two of them did fight again, Sophia just might go overboard and there won't be anyone around to help her if she changes…or help Kate for that matter.

Kate frowned thinking about all of this as she headed east to the town of Norven. It was

a rather large town she'd been to before on a couple of occasions. They seemed to draw

more Yoma than most places Kate had known.

As the path twisted and turned through the thick forest of trees on either side of her, her

thoughts inadvertently went back to the days of when she'd been a human. She tried to put the thoughts behind her but they seemed to float to the top of her mind if and when they wanted to. She saw faces and laughter. There were familiar buildings and shops lined

along crisscrossing roads. The mixture of voices and people, sights and smells. She had

loved it in her home city. That was until that Yoma had emerged. The Yoma who'd killed

her family and the Yoma who'd devoured her friends. The Yoma that'd eaten the one

she'd loved from the inside out.

She shook the thoughts away from her realizing that her Yoki powers were causing her

sword arm to bulge uncontrollably. Her hand was in a tight fist and she unclenched it

slowly, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. Her silver eyes had shifted into yellow

orbs with black slits and a thick vein was stretching across her cheek.

Calm down, Kate told herself mentally. It was a long time ago. A lifetime ago. She did

calm down after a second or two and her eyes slipped back into their normal glassy silver

shade. The vein disappeared and her arm shrunk slowly back down to its normal size. She

needed to have better control over herself. If just those mere thoughts were enough to

send her over the edge, then what would happen if she came close to her limit? Would

she be able to calm herself then?

There was a shrill scream that echoed from the trees about her that sent her scrambling

away from her inner turmoil. Her eyes narrowed as she turned toward the direction of the

scream and like lightening, she was darting through them.

The trees became a blur of green as she dashed through them like a rocket. As the

sensation of a Yoki slapped her in the face, she began to slow down so that she didn't

miss its location. She came to an elegant jog as she approached a woman who was

scrambling through the shrubs and brush on the ground, her attention wrapped solely on

whatever was behind her. Kate pulled to a stop, her senses tuning in on the direction of

the demon's Yoki spilling out through the forest approaching her.

The woman, not looking where she was going, slammed headfirst into Kate and she fell

backwards to the ground. Kate didn't even so much as budge as the woman fell back in

shock. The woman looked up at Kate, agonizing horror coating her face.

"It's a monster!" she shrieked scrambling to her feet and looking over her shoulder

where Kate's attention was. "You have to get out of here!"

"I can take care of myself." Kate murmured to the woman without looking at her.

The woman was stunned as she looked at Kate and then back toward the direction she'd

been running from. She seemed to be in an inner turmoil of rather she should run or try

and convince Kate to follow her. Then she really looked at Kate and stopped.

"Y-you're one of them." she breathed, her panting heavy. Kate could see the woman

cringe slightly in fear away from her. "A Claymore."

"Get out of here while you can." Kate said gesturing over her shoulder where she knew

it was safe. "I'll take care of it."

The woman nodded frantically and didn't hesitate to stagger forward in an effort to

escape the horror that was trailing her. Judging by the approaching Yoki, Kate would

have given the woman another half of minute before the demon would have caught her

and devoured her where she fell.

The demon came lurking into sight running at a human pace. It had been enjoying the

stalk of its prey, it thin lips spread in a malicious grin. It came to a stop when it saw Kate

and the smile disappeared.

"Claymore." it hissed crouching defensively.

"Yoma." Kate replied, her eyes narrowing as she reached for her claymore.

She pulled it free in one swift movement, the blade gleaming dangerously in what little

sunlight that poured through the forest canopy.

"How I've longed to fight one of you so that I can see what your insides taste like." the

Yoma breathed anxiously. It twitched excitedly and Kate smirked.

It disappeared then, using its demonic speed to appear behind Kate and attacked, its

dagger-like claws leading the way. Kate whipped her claymore behind her and intercepted

the attack without turning and the Yoma growled attacking again. This time, Kate did

turn around, snapping her Claymore to the opposite side to bat the Yoma's claws away

before they even got close. She spun and kicked catching the Yoma in the gut and

sending it flying backwards. It snapped through a couple of tree trunks on the way

cracking them like toothpicks before it hit the ground cursing. The trees toppled over

crashing loudly into the ground.

She should end this quickly, thought Kate as the Yoma scrambled to its feet and

disappeared again. The quicker she killed this thing, the faster she got to fight Sophia and

that Awakened One.

The Yoma came from her side this time forcing Kate to pivot, a graceful spin that

dodged the attack completely, and slice upward with her claymore cutting cleanly through

its abdomen. In two thick pieces that were gushing purple blood, the Yoma fell to the

ground sputtering angrily. Calmly, she stepped up to the Yoma's head and eyed it angrily.

"You all…are just like us." the Yoma gasped as it bled freely. "You're not accepted by

humans but yet you kill your cousins. You are half-Yoma!"

Its words were more of an accusation than the usual dying curses that Kate normally

received when finishing off a Yoma.

"I am nothing like you." she said calmly as she twirled her claymore deftly in one hand,

the blade blurring with the speed, and gripped it when the point was facing down.

Quickly, she stabbed down sending her claymore diving into the Yoma's skull with

enough force that sent it all the way through and into the ground.

She emerged from the forest and back on the trail a few moments later thinking again of

what happened to the corpses of the Yoma once they were killed. What then of those that

were killed without the Organization's knowing? If they were the ones that collected the

corpses, how would they know where to go when the warriors killed Yoma in passing as

Kate just did?

She shrugged the thoughts away again thinking that it was not her place to wonder but to

act. She had a job to do. There was a very fun job coming her way. She'd heard a lot about Awakened Ones. How dangerous they were. How ruthless and devious they could

be. Awakened Ones were warriors like Kate who had passed their power's limits and

turned into hellish monsters. Apparently, it only happened rarely but overuse of a

warrior's Yoki powers would cause her to awaken rather if she passed her limit or had

just been using them too long.

Kate wondered when her day would come when the use of her demonic power would

overcome her. She hoped it wasn't for a good long while. She enjoyed living and killing

Yoma. It felt as if it was what she'd been meant to do. Especially after what one had done

to her. What it had taken…

She arrived in Norven as the sun was setting, her steel boots clinking slowly with each step that she took. Norven was slightly larger than the last village she was in and in much

better shape. The buildings weren't damaged and it seemed as though the people did not

have the fear in their eyes as the last village's. They eyed Kate with nervous apprehension

as she made her way through the town focusing on the presence of her fellow warriors

that were already gathered there.

"Another Claymore…"

"That makes four of them…"

"There can't possibly be a Yoma here…"

These were the whispered voices of some of the locals that Kate heard as she traveled

the busy road that cleared at her approach. Some of them practically scrambled out of her

way.

She came to the center of the town which seemed to be the less populated and she

immediately saw the reason why. There they were, three blonde women clad in all white

with large claymores sheathed to their backs, their eyes shining silver, standing there waiting for her.

Kate approached them, her facial expression apathetic as the three other warriors' silver

eyes locked on her. Kate's gaze immediately locked on Sophia who was standing in the

middle of them, a smirk on her face.

"Are you always late when it comes to grouping up?" asked Sophia as Kate came to a

stop in front of her.

Kate decided to ignore her question completely and ask one of her own. "Shall I take

your rank now or do you want to wait until after we've killed the Awakened One?"

This question seemed to surprise the two other warriors who gasped and Sophia's smirk

grew. She whipped her claymore free quickly but Kate's eyes tracked every motion. "You

can try, little Kate." she cooed teasingly referring to Kate's short amount of time in the

Organization. "However, a lot's changed since then."

"I doubt it."

Kate reached for her claymore as well, excitement surging through her but one of the

other warriors stepped between them. This one had a heart-shaped face and blonde hair

pulled into a long ponytail.

"We should not fight amongst ourselves when we have an Awakened One to kill." she

said, her head turning while she spoke to both of them. "You don't want to injure each

other at such a time."

Sophia looked at the warrior and shrugged whipping her claymore back into its sheath

behind her. "Looks like you're saved for now, little Kate."

The last warrior stepped forward looking at Kate. "Kate? As in Windcutter Kate?" she

asked curiously.

Kate frowned at the title and removed her hand from the handle of her claymore. "That

is me." she said eyeing the shortest warrior with short-cut hair. "Should we all state our

names then?"

"Yes," said Sophia turning to the gathered warriors. "we shall introduce ourselves with

name, rank and title if you have one."

The warrior with the pony-tail cleared her throat. "I am Lisa, rank fifteen." she said, her

voice was much higher than everyone else's. "I have no title."

"Lucille," the shortest one spoke up. "rank twenty-one and I have no title either."

"I am Kate -" Kate grimaced before correcting herself. "- Windcutter Kate, rank four."

Sophia's silver eyes flashed when she heard Kate's rank. "I'm Sophia of the Phantom

Step. Rank number three and captain of this mission."

Lucille's eyes trailed from Kate to Sophia. "Two single-digits?" she wondered rubbing

her bony chin. "They sent two low single-digits? This must be one tough Awakened

One."

"Does anyone here have any experience fighting Awakened Ones?" Sophia asked

looking from face to face.

Her three counter-parts all shook their heads and Sophia sighed. "I'm doomed." she

muttered and Kate frowned.

How dare she undermine her like this? How easy would it be to take that rank from her

right this instant? Kate gritted her teeth behind her lips. Lisa had brought up a good point,

however. It would not be smart on their part to injure one another when they had an

Awakened One to deal with. It was all the same now, Kate thought holding her tongue. Awakened One first and then Sophia.

"We are going to stay here tonight," Sophia was saying. "Tomorrow early in the

morning, we'll head to Fesler and kill this Awakened One."

Lucille and Lisa nodded and Kate glowered. Why should she take orders from someone

whom she could best in battle? She sighed angrily finding an answer to her own question.

Sophia outranked her…for now at least.

"Where are we going to stay until then?" Lucille asked looking about at the staring faces

of the humans. "It doesn't look like they're too fond of us here either."

Lisa laughed. "You actually found a place that they are fond of us?"

"I've secured a small place on the edge of town that will do." Sophia said beginning to

head in that direction and the other three followed, Kate slower to do so than Lucille and

Lisa.

The place she'd secured turned out to be an old storage shed that was warm and cozy

enough despite their circumstances. There were old tools and a broken horse chariot that

had seen better days but besides that, there was nothing there that was remotely

interesting to the eye.

Kate found a corner and unsheathed her claymore stabbing it into the ground so that it

stood on its own. She then proceeded to take off her steel shoulder guards and sat them on

the ground beside her claymore. She sat in the corner and closed her eyes in thought

trying to lose herself in them.

She didn't get too far before, to her great annoyance, Sophia began talking to her.

"So, they promoted you to fourth, huh?" she asked.

Kate opened her eyes slowly and found Sophia leaning against the wall across from her. She didn't answer, just glowered at her.

"Jeez, you sure know how to carry a grudge." Sophia went on with a shrug taking off her

claymore and slamming it down into the ground.

"A rightful grudge." Kate muttered.

"You know, our ranks weren't just decided on how well we fought but on what our

potential and obedience is as well." Sophia said lowering herself into the corner across

from Kate's. "You shouldn't take it so personal."

Kate frowned, her hands clenching into fists. Would Sophia dare to say the same if what

had happened to Kate, happened to her?

"Look," said Sophia realizing Kate's anger. "we're team mates now for this mission so I

don't want anything between us ruin our success for this mission or threaten Lisa and

Lucille's lives. Afterwards, I'd be more than happy to give you a rematch for my rank."

Kate snorted. Sophia didn't have a choice. She was going to fight her no matter what

when they'd finished with this Awakened One. However, she nodded knowing that

Sophia was right. Kate needed to put aside her dislike for Sophia for the sake of the

mission and for the sake of the lives of their comrades.

"Agreed."

Sophia smiled. "Great."

To Kate's relief, Sophia closed her eyes leaning her head against the wall signaling the

end of their of conversation.

Kate studied Sophia a bit longer in thought. That had not been the Sophia she'd remembered. Sophia had been arrogant and impolite. Disrespectful even. Especially after

their ranking bout with one another. What happened to make Sophia act this way? Act in

a way that almost made Kate wonder why she'd disliked her in the first place. Was it a

ploy because she knew that Kate was better and that her rank was going to be stripped

from her? Or was it something else? A near-death experience perhaps?

Kate sat there pondering Sophia's actions until she grew bored of the questions that she

could never bring herself to ask. Swallowing, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath

waiting for what little sleep she was going to get, to come and claim her.