Jeanne D'Arc Chapter 1 - Rise of The Pucelle
Disclaimer: I do no own Jeanne or any other claymore characters that may appear. This story is based on the story of Joan of Arc or Jean D'Arc, with references to actual historical events of the 100 years war.
Credit : This story is partly inspired by "Life Sucks!" by Useful Oxymoron
After the fall of the organization, the yomas were hunted to extinction by the surviving claymores, with the help of some awakened beings. The pact made between the surviving claymore and awakened beings before the fall of the organization included:
1) Destroy the organization and all yomas
2) Claymores and awakened beings who do not ratify this contract shall also be slain.
3) Following the destruction of the organization, all awakened being and claymores shall either a)blend into the human world, or b)live in seclusion, with the ultimate aim of letting the human race forget about anything to do with yomas or the organization.
4) Awakened beings are advised to consume other forms of organs or meat but if necessary, consume human organs or meat with discretion, without attracting the attention of other humans(other than the deceased)
After the great Hidden War, claymores and awakened beings began to blend into the human world, while maintaining contact with each other. They began to rediscover the joy of being simple humans but after more than two millenium one of them began to get restless... With her invincible spirit and her inhuman abilities, she decided to write a page of history to honor herself, her ex-comrades and the fallen of the hidden war.
Domremy(North Eastern France, Lorraine)
After living in the France for the past four centuries, Jeanne has developed a sense of belonging to the nation. Her present residence lies in the quite village of Domremy. Jeanne liked the village for its peace. The children lived innocently without worries and the adults lived without ambitions. All of them simply lived each day as it is, enjoying every moment they had with each other. Jeanne worked as a kitchen helper, preparing meals for the villagers each day before the villagers went for work, and preparing packed lunch so that caring wives and filial children may bring them to their man at work, and ending each day, with a pleasant dinner where all the villagers would be gathered to enjoy a meal together. In between meal times, Jeanne would sometimes make delightful deserts for the children of the village, seeing the smiles on those innocent children, Jeanne felt that all sacrifices made during the Hidden War, was worth it.
Human beings absolutely disgusted Jeanne. Without the presence of yomas as their predators, the humans began to reproduce rapidly. Without the presence of an external threat, they began to wage war among themselves for dominance. Human weaponry began to develop rapidly and Jeanne wondered when would it be that they would wipe themselves out. This village however, was a pleasant exception.
The farmland was owned by a kind man in his forties, who went by the name of Claude. Goodman Claude was a portly man, with a good sense of humour, and in many ways acted more like a father to the one hundred over folks of the village. He was a kind employer, and a good land lord, never using sefts. Instead, he hired the men in the village to work on his farm, to pay for their rent and whenever he was able to make a profit form the farm, he would use the extra money for the welfare of the villagers. He was more like a village chief than a landlord to these simple folks.
The second most important person in the village, was Frederic, the local smith. Solid and dependable, Frederic was the big brother figure to all the children of the village. He acted as their babysitter when their parents were at work, often entertaining them with captivating stories or with simple country songs, syncing them with the rhythm of his hammer. Even though most people would agree that a smithy was not a safe place for children, parents of this particular village had enough faith in Frederic to believe that the smithy was the safest place for their boys. Other than entertaining the children, Frederic also served as a mentor to the children, educating them in the values of the village, while keeping them away from the forge. Above all, Frederic was also the local bone setter, serving as one of the two physicians in the village.
The other physician of the village was naturally big sister Jeanne, who had 2000 over years of experience in herbs and human anatomy. Having spent a good number of years engaged in a war with gut-eating monsters, Jeanne has probably seen more human guts, than a whole battalion of soldiers put together. After the end of the war, Jeanne began to study medicine and began travelling the world as a physician. She secretly exhumed corpses to study the human anatomy, and began trying out various herbs on her own. Her Yoma side ensured that she would never die of poisoning this allowed her to slowly observe the effects of these drugs on her own body. Jeanne travelled the world, learning from various famed doctors and as such, she was skilled in that art of healing from various cultures, from the Greek, to the Chinese, making most diseases and injuries easily curable to her.
Death however, was incurable even to her even though it was something that she was immune to. This was the reason, why she kept her distance from Frederic. Even though most of the villagers were keen to see these two young men and women together, Jeanne knew that being too emotionally attached to any villager would davastate her should they die. Frederic was an honest man and Jeanne believed that he would make an ideal husband however being immortal meant that they were just not meant to be together. Frederic could sense her apprehension in commiting to a relationship as such, he respected her, and kept his distance from her. Jeanne instead, chose to surround herself with the girls of the village, instructing them daily, in the art of cooking and simple medicine.
Life was a simple routine for Jeanne, serene and never boring. Everyday began from the house she inherited from old Ben. Jeanne first entered this village as a roaming physician. She started off as a caretake for the dying old Ben, making the last days of his life easier. Though intimidated by her unique features the villagers slowly warmed to her, and when old Ben passed away, they simply asked her to move into his place. Seeing no reason to turn them down Jeanne began to settle comfortably into the village. Every member of the village began their day with a fresh loaf of bread and some cheese, from the local farm kitchen. The men then began their work while the women began their domestic chores. The children would flock to Jeanne and Frederic and everyday would come to an end, with dinner at the village hall.
Summer was a beautiful time in Domremy. It was Jeanne's break time in between lunch and dinner. She was out in the fields with the girls and was teaching them how to weave using dried straw. She saw that the weather was hot and decided to get some drinks and snacks for the girls. Thus she began to head back to the village. What greeted her back at the village however, was not a kindly scene.
The village was ablazed and screams of pain could be heard throughout the village. Claude was writing on the ground and Jeanne attempted to help him but she found that he was beyond help. Anguished, Jeanne quickly extended her hearing to try and find survivors. She could hear that Frederic was struggling to keep the boys safe, without hesitation, Jeanne quickly released her yoki and ran towards the smithy, but again, she was too late. She quickly dispelled her yoki and ran towards the smith. Frederic showed a look of relief when he saw Jeanne. Using his last breath, he told her, "Thank God you are alive. Jeanne, I have something that I have to tell you. I... fell in love with you, the first day I laid my eyes on you. However, it seems like you have made the right choice to keep our distance. Live well Jeanne." With that he breathed his last.
Even though Jeanne has seen countless death in her life, two years in the village has greatly humanized her. She was determined not to allow anymore deaths in the village. She rushed to the fields but when she reached there, the Englishmen had done their job. The fields were destroyed and the girls were dead. Defeated, Jeanne knelt down before the fields that had fed her for the past two years. "Dead, all of them are dead she thought. Paradise was lost" Jeanne thought to herself. Buried in grief, Jeanne did not even notice it when an englishman who was riding out of the village gave her a slash across her chest.
After the raiders left, Jeanne slowly began to rise from the ground, while using her yoki to heal her wounds. This raid has provided her the "death" she needed to move on from the village. This village however shall not be killed that easily. Jeanne decided to honor this village that has given her the happiest days of her life by etching it eternally into the annals of history. With this, she began to draw up her next identity. One who would avenge the village and honor the memories of all claymores ever existed. One who will forever go into history, by the name of Jeanne D'Arc.
With that, Jeanne slowly walked towards the local cemetery with a spade and began digging at an unnamed grave. Finally after half an hour of digging, she reached her hand in and drew out her most cherished possession, a massive claymore branded with her personal emblem. With that, she slowly walked away from the village, leaving behind her home promising herself that she would return one day.
Ok I have rewritten the chapter at the request of samurai89 and shelter. I have decided to explore a bit into Jeanne's character. She has struck me as someone who is very sentimental from the way she interacted with clare and from the way she grieved over the death of her comrades. And of course her determination is something that I would explore. Stay tuned, the new chapter 2 would be coming up soon.
To Shelter: I'm trying to improve my grammer by reading other fanfics so please be patient.