Yeah! Another epic tale of war, violence, betrayal, more violence and maybe some twisted romance. I know I really should finish off my other stories before writing another one, but I just have too many ideas in my head and I thought I'd get this one down before it's lost. I think this makes nine stories I'm writing at once, but I'll try my best to update this one as soon as possible. This is my first Claymore story, so don't be too critical. I hope you enjoy, and please review!
Storm Of Blades
Prologue
Two lonely warriors stood alone on a snowy ridge. From their vantage point they could see the whole of the Northern lands from the mountains to the little towns nestled between them. They trudged through the thick layers of snow, their armour clanking in rhythm to their marching.
Both women had sandy blonde hair, though one had long flowing locks, the other had short spikes. The girl with longer hair held a hand out and stopped her comrade.
"What's wrong Serene?"
"Be quiet! I hear voices!" Serene whispered harshly. "Listen."
Both girls listened to the wind as it howled fiercely, spewing snow into their faces. The girl with short hair frowned.
"I don't hear anything..."
"Oh. Maybe it was just the wind...Never mind. Let's go."
They marched on down from the ridge, through craggy peaks and over deep chasms. The land was treacherous, but their opponent was far worse should they ever meet. They were sent here on a routine search mission to the northern lands in search of a monster...A monster far more powerful than they could ever imagine.
The two girls approached a ruined town and both nodded to each other before placing shaking hands on their Claymores. The wind bit into them through their thin uniforms. Even with their superhuman abilities, they were still susceptible to the effects of the cold.
"No wonder the yoma never come here. It's so damn cold!" The shorter haired girl whined.
"Be quiet Gwen!" Serene snarled. Her silver eyes sparkled for the briefest of moments.
They continued on through the town until they came to a large square where large skeletons rotted in the earth. Layers of snow covered their bones and bleached them to a perfect shade of white. The vacant eyeless skulls glared at the approaching enemy. In total there were only about ten of the skeletons.
Serene walked up to one and placed a delicate hand on the fleshless demon. "Yoma...it must have been dead for years."
"Maybe it was from that incident? Remember the war in the North? They sent a huge group of Warriors here and every single one of them died!"
"That's just a rumour..." Serene whispered. "The organization despises us as much as the yoma, but they wouldn't send so many soldiers to their deaths..."
"But it's true! I'm sure we'll find their bones out here somewhere!"
"Shut up!" Serene growled. "It's just a tale to scare us! Now let's hurry up and search this desolate little town!" She stormed off ahead of her partner through the town, leaving her friend to chase after her.
Gwen sprinted up to her partner who had stopped at the edge of the town. Her eyes were fixated on something in the distance. Gwen drew her large sword and squinted through the snow storm.
"Serene! What's out there?"
The question was met with silence so Gwen repeated herself. "Hey! What's wrong with you?"
Serene's arm twitched and suddenly jerked up spasmically. Her fist was clenched but one lone finger unfurled to point straight ahead.
"What?" Gwen followed the pointing finger but still saw nothing. She ran out further and eventually found it. "Oh my god...What is this?"
Serene soon joined her and together they stared at the remarkable discovery...
A procession of claymores sticking out of the ground in organised rows. Each blade signified a fallen warrior. Each one, a gravestone for the victims of the war in the North.
"The tales...They were true!" Serene screamed. "I thought it was a lie just to scare us...but they really did send these warriors to their deaths!"
"No, wait! Something's not right!" Gwen raised her hand shakily. "If they all died...Then who put up the grave markers?"
Serene and Gwen fell silent and stared in awe at the strange sight. After a tense silence Serene broke the unnerving lack of noise.
"There are only 17 of them..."
"What?"
"The story said that 24 claymores were sent here, but there are only 17 graves! That must mean there were survivors!" Serene spun on her heels and squinted through the snow-storm. "Someone is here."
"Maybe it's the yoma! They must have followed us from the town!" Gwen drew her sword and scanned the barren snowy land.
A large shadow approached them. There was no yoki flowing from the intruder, so it had to be human, but there was still an unnerving presence that hung in the air. As the man came closer the two warriors began hurling threats.
"Stay back!" Gwen roared. "Don't come any closer or we'll have no choice but to-"
"Claymore..." The man muttered.
"What?" Gwen snarled. "What do you want?"
"You are Claymores...Please...Help me." The man wore a thick fur cloak with a hood. A large sword was strapped to his back and wrapped in cloth.
"Go away! We can't help you!" Gwen swung her sword in a threatening manner but the man continued to walk towards her.
"Serene, what do we do?"
"Claymore..."
"Will you shut up!" Gwen slammed the flat of her sword into the man's head, knocking him down into the snow. His hood fell down and revealed a young face and kind brown eyes. The man groaned and held his bruised forehead.
"What's your name?" Serene asked.
The man coughed and then thought for a moment, as if he'd forgotten his own name. "R-Raki."
"What the hell is he doing out here anyway? I thought this place was abandoned ever since the battle all those years ago?" Gwen looked down at the man and frowned. "You do know this is practically just a giant graveyard don't you? Why are you here?"
"Clare..."
"Huh?" the short haired warrior asked. "Is that a relative or something?"
"Clare." The man repeated, stressing the name.
"Maybe he's a simple person from a nearby town. He could have been chucked out by his village and left out here." Serene sighed. "I guess we'll have to keep him with us for now. We'll take him to the next town and dump him there."
Raki rose to his feet and reached for his sword. Both warriors reacted instinctively and prepared to fight. The man unwrapped his sword and held it out, displaying the flat of the blade rather than the edge.
"Is he going to try and fight us?" Gwen asked her comrade with a confused expression.
"Clare..." Raki said again, thrusting the sword forwards.
"This is irritating! Let's just put him to rest and bury him before anyone finds out!"
"No!" Serene raised a hand and stared at the Raki's' sword. "Look at that."
"It's a sword, what about it?" Gwen said sarcastically.
"No! That symbol just above the hilt!" Serene pointed to the small engraving on the blade.
"It looks like one of our symbols..." Gwen remarked.
"Maybe Clare was a warrior." Serene mused. "But why would he be searching for her? Humans never interact with us..."
"Should we bring him back with us then?"
Raki growled and struck his sword in the ground. "Clare! Clare!" He then sliced the ground several more times in a seemingly random pattern, but on closer inspection, it was the odd symbol on the sword, drawn in the snow.
"Hmm, we'd better keep him with us. Now let's go. The cold must be killing him..." Serene turned to Raki but was pushed aside roughly and thrown into the snow. She looked up in time to see the man rush off into the mist past the mass grave.
"Should we follow him?" Gwen asked, juggling her sword anxiously.
Serene nodded and her partner ran off ahead. She got back on her feet and chased after them. They ran through the deep snow, which continued to get thicker until they were forced to wade through it.
They found the man kneeling beside a cave mouth. They approached him slowly and noticed something sticking out of the snow. It was half buried but it was unmistakeable. It was another claymore.
"Another grave." Gwen ducked down and wiped the dust away from the marker and stared at the symbol. "Uh oh...The symbol!"
Serene joined her friend and frowned. "It's the same as on his sword...He's been searching for a dead warrior..."
"Clare!" Raki cried, pointing frantically at the cave.
"Geez, what now?" Gwen folded her arms in irritation.
"Just go in." Serene sighed.
The three of them headed inside, unsure of what they would discover. What they found would start a horrific chain of events that would threaten to destroy the world they knew and bring about an age of darkness the likes of which they had never seen!
And the coming battle would go down in history as the Storm Of Blades...
Hmm, that got you hooked yet? Well anyway, for a while you may notice some similarities to the manga, but not too much. Hopefully you liked that and you will write a review. Seriously though, review!