A cruel smile faded into darkness.

An abrupt decision cast away the pain.

And one tiny pill was tossed into her hand.

Happiness Lies Within Yourself

Prologue

A young man groaned with the effort of opening his brown eyes. The sun had already come up and left the ground slightly slick with last night's rain storm. Tired eyes slowly took in his surroundings. He was in a cave, near the mouth by the looks of it. The last dregs of a fire mound were clear to his left while a grey pile of cloth was bundled to his right. The sharp edges of the cave seemed foreign, like they didn't belong there in the least.

Oh, that's right he thought, they were carved out in her haste to escape.

The man shook his head with a sigh. There efforts had been for naught and now…

His eyes swiveled over to the bundle of cloth that had slowly begun to move on its own.

Now we have to pay the price.

The man with brown hair and eyes seemed to fight the urge to grab the cloth off and hold the being wrapped inside it tightly. How could this have happened? How can she adjust? Was her punishment justly carried out? He stilled his shaking hands and slowly pushed himself up from the ground. Dirt marred his clothes but he took no heed of it. His eyes only focused on the hand that slowly slipped out from beneath the cloths.

The hand was very pale and fragile looking, and seemed to burn at the slightest brush of the fabric. The man watched in a mix of fascination and discomfort. He really wasn't sure what to expect. Nothing made sense right now, not after the battle that had happened earlier. Another tense moment passed in silence and her arm was showing now, up the shoulder.

He had enough of a view to notice that he needed to look away. He didn't need to see her form until she was more composed. His face was flushed with a red tint that would have made her smile inside if she had been looking.

He waits until a good few minutes have passed. His eyes closed and face turned away from her form that is having trouble standing and keeping the cloth wrapped on her shoulders. He yearns to look and see just even her face. The suspense of it makes his hands clench on the sword he didn't even notice he was still holding. His rough hands white knuckled from the force he was putting onto the hilt.

He heard a small groan and winced, imagining the pain and shock she must be going through. He tried his best to match her breathing but it was too sporadic and unstable to try.

Could she be.. terrified? He thought, his mouth turning to a frown. But her memories are supposed to be locked away, aren't they? She can't remember who she was except for the few times I can recall that weren't of her in battle. If she could, it would be even more painful for her… knowing that she is….

"T-thank you for giving me a measure of privacy, but, why are we here Raki?" Said a quiet voice, one that seemed so familiar and yet so different than the woman he was used to knowing.

The man, Raki, slowly turned his head to regard the woman that shakily stood before him. He was half a head taller than her now. He hair was chestnut brown with a few strands trying to obscure her beautiful hazel eyes. She had a lean body with the grey cloth covering what was needed. She had arranged it into something like a short dress that came above her chest and just below her mid thigh. Raki had to blink for a moment, still not believing his eyes.

"Raki?" She asked, uncertainty lacing her voice.

"Sorry, I.. I just…" He blushed gently once more, and pulled his eyes to the fire mound once more.

"We should go into the nearby village and get you some clothes. And, oh maybe some shoes and um, probally a room.. Unless you don't want to share a room with me, that's, that's fine. Its different now, I guess."

"Raki."

He froze and looked at her once again, his eyes feeling watery.

"Yes, Clare."

"Your rambling."

To be truthful this is my first Claymore fic, but it is nearly my 60th fanfic on this site. This is just a prologue and hopefully you all can guess as to where I'm going with this. It is going to be about 10 chapters long, not counting the prologue and if I do an epilogue for it as well. With everyone's encouragement I might just finish this one since I actually have a plan for it. I will update when my schedule allows for it.

It will have some interesting twist and maybe a couple no one would have thought of. At least I hope no one has. But that will be described more in depth when I get to chapter 2 or so. If I get ten or more reviews for this prologue I'll be more inclined to write a bit faster. Oh and this takes place after the manga's time skip in my mind. Clare has somehow found Raki and things will be explained more in the upcoming chapters. Raki will be the one with a better memory so that will be in his words, or parts of it anyhow.

Well, I'm counting on you all

Krylancelo