Hello everybody, my name is slayer123bio and this is my first claymore fic. I hope you all will enjoy this story and I will try to keep the characters from being to OOC as you probably get too much of that, along with sticking with the manga, for those of you have not read the manga, then ask me and I will send the manga files to you. Please rate and review!
Sybil looked on as dozen of her fellow comrades walked around the grassland. The sliver eyed half human half yoma purposely avoided each other, only a few formed groups of friendship or if you could call it that in this business.
Sybil herself was stationed on a rock looking over the grassy fields as more and more silver eyed witches showed up. Like the rest Sybil had been ordered to come to Mac Synthesis, a grassy plain of fields, hills, rocks and an old ruin not too far away. She was informed that the organization was about to be brought back together, though what that exactly meant, Sybil was not sure.
Her long pulled back hair billowed in the air as she turned her head to the south as she sensed four more of her claymore wielding comrade's approach. Their armour reflecting the rays from the sun before a cloud decided to obstruct the life giving rays.
She noted that number 5; Rachel was leading the group over to find a spot to wait for the Organization head members to show up. Sybil almost jumped as Alicia and Beth of the dark suddenly appeared not too far from her. The top ranking numbers looked out towards the 40 or so Claymores with no expression. She was not the only one to notice as the others turned or stopped their conversations to look at the pair with respect or fear of their power.
"Form up!" A feminine shout alerted Sybil and the others to the presence of number 3 Audrey. The half human half yoma women started to assemble around her as men in black obscuring clothing stood behind her, their clothing and aura like that of a secret lurking in the shadows.
Audrey and the organization leaders were stationed on a hill overlooking the entirety of the gathered claymores. Sybil left her own position at the rock to step inside the ranks, her fellow comrades were all facing towards Audrey as she stepped back to allow an elder to take her place.
The man took off his hood to reveal a wrinkle free face, bald head and visible veins running across his face. He looked upon his warriors with indifference as he spoke.
"Many, if not all of you have not been informed of the reasons for being here. Make no mistake, this was intentional and has been discussed with my fellow elders. As you well know we are not the only continent on this planet. Some are greater and others smaller, however, all have one thing in common and that is its inhabitants. Yoma roam this world as an infestation and many find methods to extinguish these monsters from their homes and society." The elder stated. Everyone knew this; even their weapons were from another origin along with its crafted unbreakable alloy.
The elder continued without losing his original pace. "The world wide and most effective method is to create half-human half-yoma beings to fight off the Yoma. Of course this has its set backs and others handle these creations differently. Our continent being one of the smallest in the world, we are not subject to large scale battles. Voracious eaters are great in number and many organised armies have been formed. We are just a small part of a defending army; however, we are still effective in keeping this continent relatively safe."
Sybil glanced around her as some of the more impatient ones shifted wanting to get to the point of this gathering and more importantly what they had to kill. Sybil looked back up to the Elder as he spoke once again.
"It troubles me to say this but our world wide army has another enemy. Yoma are great beings yet if a half-human half-yoma were to become enemies…" He trailed off as murmurs filtered through the ranks. A reaction the elder had anticipated as he waited patiently as the others tried to make sense of the situation.
Sybil herself was confused. She was completely thrown as to why her fellow 'claymores' would fight amongst each other. They all had one common goal even if they had different views and ways of doing it. A Claymore fought Yoma and voracious eaters for humans…what reason could they have to actually fight apart from the validated rule of duels for ranks.
The Elder stepped forward and the claymores hushed quickly into silence. Wanting to know more about the situation rather than guess.
"What they fight for is control. Two half-human half-yoma armies battling across the globe for territory: the aggressor being the half-human half-yoma, following a Voracious eater of abyssal status donning the name of the Crimson prowlers. A direct enemy to our organisation and a menace to human and yoma alike, thus women and men will try to persuade you however, you must kill or flee from them on sight. My point is; they are coming to invade our homeland"
Now shouts were heard across the field as Sybil's kind spoke of the situation in disbelief and some in outrage. Their faces gave off emotion which was irregular for even a nice claymore; however, leniency was accepted in this case. The reaction was understandable Sybil herself was starting to get worried she noticed a comrade speak to her partially to herself as well.
"How big is the army and better yet, if they have males then what kind of restraint do they have? Can we take them?" the claymore said with a smooth voice yet worried expression. Sybil shook her head in an effort to reply to the question. This was getting deeper by the minute and more questions seemed to arouse more than answers. Things needed explaining and Sybil bit down on her lip before calling out. "How big is this army or better yet! How can they use males effectively?" Sybil shouted earning an approving eye from her surrounding comrades.
The elder actually replied. "Our information tells us a total of 50 Crimson prowlers will reach our shores in two days and another 50 next week. The exact method on how the males are controlled is sketchy at best. We can deem that most of it results in vigorous training in yoki control and manipulation. Though Yoki adapt differently in different continents, this means depending on the continent the yoma may be weaker or stronger, smaller or bigger the list is endless" The elder answered not looking the least bit fazed as his clothes wafted in the winds passing current. His eyes staying cool and sharp, his gaze levelling all those in his field of vision and his pose demanding respect of the highest calibre.
"What about our army? Do they expect us to handle this on our own; surly some support must be given?" Nina number 9 shouted in harshly. Sybil winced at the tone however; the elder was the least bit fazed.
"30 reinforcements have arrived. They are making base due east of here however, I must inform you now they do not look like you. Yoma are Yoma, however, even Yoma of different continents have a different blood to the ones infesting here. These have their benefits and there downsides. One being the release of Yoma does not have much excitement or pleasure to it, however, still powerful and will become dangerous if they do not know their limits. As such incorporating men and women have been achieved with the same result as you who stand before me." The elder elaborated with as much as a blink.
Sybil waited as the other claymores remained quiet, only a few spoke to the other in whispers. They had gained some good news from the elder but not enough they could really use. She needed knowledge of identification; she did not know the dress code for this part of the army and would need to know.
"Identification?" This time Rachel voiced strongly as if she was the strong and the rest were the weak. Rachel's boyish looks fooled some into thinking she was a man and as such the accusation had shaped her into a rough and foul mouthed fighter. The elder did not even blink.
"That is for you to find out on your own. They do have a black claymore with a different alloy however, that is all you will need to know. Currently 1 will be sent to every region so do not be surprised if you see them. They will aid you in Awakened being hunts, however, requests will continue as normal. Number 30's and under must not engage a Crimson prowler in combat. Unless you have our allies from the east with you, for identification by name call them The Epitome and give them respect. You will be paired up with one from now on until more reinforcements arrive." The elder said
Sybil chewed her lower lip as images of what these black claymore wielders looked like and better yet, what was their attitude to organization members of female status. The thought was not quiet good either way; however, orders were orders and if meant it would save the humans and allow her more peace of mind then she would follow. One question did eat at her though and she needed to voice it. Her cape flapped in the wind as she turned her body to face directly towards the elder.
"Who is this leader of the Crimson prowlers, what does he look like?" She asked and this time the elder's placid eyes narrowed slightly before saying. "He goes by the name of Crimson helm though his visual identification is unknown. However, I must stress that he is here, on this continent and from what little spies we sent, we can gather he is moving west and then plans to concur south." He said staring her out until she looked away. "That is all the information you need, the Epitome will arrive in days. Dismissed!" His voice spoke out in finality.
Sybil looked over to her fellow warrior who had spoken to her before. The woman had short pulled back spiky hair with one strand flowing over her forehead.
"What do you think?" Sybil asked As the Claymores dispersed while talking loudly to each other. The claymore turned to her and analysed her before speaking.
"I guess all I can say is that I hope these Epitome do not try and take over our jobs. I know they are coming to help and I must say I do not hate males but their habits and actions towards us are never polite unless we are doing business. Though they should be strong enough to fight off these Crimson prowlers but I am hoping this will not last too long, we already have enough on our head as it is" The Claymore said looking around as some claymores stayed to talk while others simply moved on.
Sybil sighed in agreement; they had too much to worry about these days and not enough man power to deal with it all. Perhaps that may change.
"What is your name warrior?" The Claymore asked as she started to move away and Sybil started to walk with her. They left the area as the sun came out of the clouds again to shine down upon them, a welcome change.
"Sybil; number 25" She said simply, it was tradition to tell another claymore her name and rank simply because, except for appearance, that was all they had; a name and a number.
The claymore nodded "I am number 18; Amelia" She said simply as they walked into the forest encircling the plane. They walked in silence as their territories were not too far from each other.
"So how strong do you think these crimson prowlers are considering the elder practically told us to flee as we see them?" Sybil asked as they approached a crossroad leading in four directions.
"I do not know but if they spot us I suspect that running away would be futile. I think the best plan, despite what we may think of them, is to stick with these Epitome claymores at all times if not for a little back up" The claymore said turning to the one road leading far right and Sybil followed as this lead to her territory.
The two walked in silence until Sybil started humming. Amelia turned her head slightly as the woman hummed.
(A//N: Enya Fire and Ice) "huuuu-huu-huuuuuuuuumm huu-huuuuum, huuuuu-huu-huuuuuuuuuuuuuum huuuuum-huum-huum-huum" She hummed with a cheery smile on her beautiful face. "huuuuuuuuuum-huu-huumm Huum-huum-huuuuuuuuuum huuuuum-huum-huum-huum, Huuuuum-hum, Huuuuum-huum-huum-huum Huum-hum" She hummed and soon Amelia joined in, they continued on enjoying their synchronised rhythm as it sounded through the forest.
They needed a little distraction before the coming battle.
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"Oww, shit Claire! Can't you be a bit more delicate" Helen said as she jumped back from Claire's Wind cutter, the said attack had licked at Helen's upper thigh. The woman looked at the damage as it had cut into flesh and black form fitting stockings. She looked back up at Claire who stared back emotionlessly while her hand was still gripping her sword.
Helen deciding that beating Claire was just not going to work unless she caught her off guard or distracted her. Helen stabbed her blade in the earth as she stretched her arms to a boulder. Tapping into her yoki she used the stretched muscles to pull back like a spring and the boulder came at her with great force and speed. Helen went to the ground as the boulder past and twisted her arm into a spiral she unleashed the drill attack on the passing boulder which cracked it into hundred high speed rocks and pebbles.
Claire instinctively used her wind cutter to cut the pebbles and rocks into bits. She suddenly stopped and jumped back as a claymore shot out of the ground and cut across her left breast and scratched her face. Claire gritted her teeth and looked at the smirking Helen while she placed a hand over chest assessing the damage. Blood slowly seeped from the very shallow cut on her cheek while blood fell to the floor on her feet and blood flowed out of her chest.
She used her yoki to focus on healing the wounds to at least close them if anything else. Helen snickered as she pulled her arm out of the ground.
"I guess those times in the north helped me as well. You are great at sensing yoki but if the person you are scoping out suppresses their yoki, you will have a much harder time sensing it until it becomes close to too late" Helen explained as she placed her claymore over her back and into its holder.
Claire sighed knowing she was right and let go of her own blade. They both walked over to the cave entrance they had found early this morning. Deneve, Yuma and Cynthia sat outside eating some apples as they spent time using a rock with metal imbued in them to sharpen their blades. They had come to the southern planes only to stop and decide to go to a town. The reason being they needed armour and not to mention their swords were in desperate need of repair for Maria's sword had broke against a densely armoured Awakened being not too long ago.
They had hoped that the town may have a blacksmith of some assistance as most of the time whenever the seemingly indestructible blade broke, the organization would send it off over seas for repair and within the month they would have it back ready to be used again.
Claire sat down on the grass next to her friends placing the claymore beside her. She looked it over to find her symbol almost unrecognizable and the swords edge slightly blunted and jagged. The blade needed some serious work and fast. She looked over to her right as Helen sat beside her handing over a piece of clothing used for wiping off blood. It was not the most hygienic way to clean a wound but the yoma inside them made their bodies immune to almost all poisons on this continent and some foreign as well. She wiped away the blood with a slight wince before poking around the wound to find out which hurt the most and needed her focus. She released maybe 2 of her yoki and aloud it to slowly heal the wounds, she relaxed back as she finished the job subconsciously allowing her mind to flow back in time. She closed her eyes as the sun warmed her skin, wind gave a gentle breeze and the rustling grass made a hypnotising noise of peace.
She thought back to Teresa, the one who gave her everything despite the short time they stayed together. She was always ready to protect and comfort her. Always thought of Claire's safety before her own, and always taught her the ways of the world. Little things when ever they talked by the fire, hunting, dressing, beauty, menstruation cycles, how to protect once self and even help give her some type of education in maths, English and her favourite; history. Teresa willingly admitted that she and science never worked out, to many questions pop up more than answers. History was laid out so no problem, maths; the square root of 36 is 6 end of and English; the claymore killed the Yoma.
Teresa was a mother in her eyes and one she wanted to grow up with. A strong, beautiful and caring mother. Simply put, perfect, what more could she want? What more could she want? Oh yeah, one thing…for her to stay alive, of course that would never have been the case. Teresa was strong but not as strong as to fight until Clare grew old and died; they made Claymores as fast as they lost them and some became stronger than others. Eventually a time would come when Teresa would die in battle yet Claire deceived her mind thinking Teresa was the goddess incarnate and nothing could bring her down. That was until that bitch Priscillca took everything from her, the new number two went over her limits just to kill Teresa who had spared her life. The whore of Isley of the south now, the woman who chopped of the head of everything she put her hopes and dreams into. She would pay her back ten fold, no matter how many days, weeks, months, years decades, centuries, millennia's it would take. She would rip of her fucking head by the end of all this, she would use the power of the souls resonating in her to massacre that bitch into the bloodiest and most torturous parts of the seven hells.
A hand landed on her shoulder and she opened her eyes and she found Miria looking back with some concern, the others were looking at her too. Clare realized she had tapped into her Yoki and her eyes had changed to their cat like gold.
"What's wrong? You went over 40 of your yoma usage and you were growling." Miria said glancing at Helen suspiciously. Helen waved her hands once she caught Miria giving her that look.
"No not me. I wasn't even talking…I swear!" Helen said As Miria kept her eye on her.
Clare shook her head before patting Miria's hand as she relaxed again. "It was nothing just thoughts of revenge pumping through me" She said looking at the sky as she cut her thoughts of Priscillca from her mind.
Miria looked at Clare before nodding and backing away from her to stand in front of the others as Tabatha stood next to her. "We will move into town soon though I am a bit doubtful that we will find anyone that can properly repair the claymores but it is better we have some repair then none at all." Miria said motioning to a big box with the remains of her sword inside.
Suddenly Miria cursed her broken blade as she jumped forward to her friends and they were also alerted to something as three figures ran out and into their line of vision. The 7 women were shocked at what they saw.
Three men stood, obviously half-human half-yoma as they could sense their yoki but besides that these men wore blood red armour. Slim thin crimson armour that formed over their chest, gauntlets covered their arms to talon fingers. They wore knee high metallic black armoured boots and had a sword attached to their back. Their faces were covered by a black visor as their red spiked helmet encased their heads in metal protectiveness. A green type of open skirt went across the back of their waist and sides. They wore green form fitting clothing underneath all of this and this completed their outfit.
The women stood and stared as the men looked at each other before the one in the middle spoke. "Who do you side with? Human, yoma or half-human half-yoma?" A smooth voice asked them through his helmet.
Miria glanced at her friends before speaking. "Neither, we side with ourselves and no one else" She said to them and they reacted by looking at each other again. Silence followed for a few minutes before the men drew their weapons. They pulled out long claymores, a magnificent crimson in colour with a transparent blade outlining the sword. The blade was like the average claymore design for half-human half-yoma people like themselves. The colour and the shining transparent white made it look very dangerous as the transparency seemed to absorbed the light and send it through a type of prism sectioning out the light into many colours, giving the edge a rainbow colour. The one thing that set them off into surprise and slight dread was that they could sense yoki running through the blade…almost like…it was alive.
The men stepped forward and let their restrained yoki loose to more than 5 and instantly the women were thrown again as the yoma they read was not the average blue but this time it was a sinister green. These men were from foreign origin and whoever they were they meant business.
Clare looked toward Miria who was not armed however, a blade was thrown towards Miria and she caught it to find it was Deneve's as she herself used her fallen commanders; Undine's claymore instead. The women looked at their enemies with slight nervousness yet they soon focused and decided there was nothing more than to do their best.
The one man on the left suddenly sprang forward and Tabatha intercepted him, however, what she found was not what she had expected, no, what she really should have. The male's strong big and muscular body against her frail female one made a huge difference in strength and speed. Instantly Tabatha was sent into the cave from the force of the enemy's attack, the man following her along with Cynthia and Yuma in toe ready to help their friend fight their foe.
The other four women waited as shouts, curses, slashes, ripping of clothing and flesh echoed though the cave to their ears. They wanted to help them but the fact was that the numbers were not even and to leave and help would mean three people would have to fight the other two. Miria knew this was the best formation as she could tell the man that was fighting with Yuma, Cynthia and Tabatha was the weakest of the three. The two strongest were waiting outside ready to fight at any given moment.
They were the four strongest so technically this was the best setup, let the strongest fight the strongest and let the weakest fight the weakest. The real question was, were Miria and her team strong enough. There was really only one way to find out and the men decided to react just as the thought formed in her mind.
Miria moved to the side allowing the middle man to pass her as she struck at his passing form. The attack was blocked easily by the man as he placed his crimson claymore against his back. He impacted the wall with one hand as it absorbed the momentum. Miria moved in quickly striking at him as he pushed off one handed from the wall next to the cave entrance, her blade bit into the stone before she spun around to catch the incoming crimson blade. She gritted her teeth as the force of the blow shook her entire body and she fought to stand as the force pushed on her legs making her crouch slightly. Miria's eyes widened as the transparent edge of the crimson blade cut into her own until it was a fourth of the way through Deneve's claymore. Miria used her intense speed to move away from her opponent as Clare moved to attack him with a basic horizontal slash which the Crimson man blocked and countered with a low sweeping cut.
Clare tried to block but the force of the crimson blade knocked her arm out and away, leaving an opening for the man to attack her open front. He did and went straight for a diagonal slash, planning on cutting from left shoulder to right hip. The blade was stopped as Miria suddenly appeared and grunted as her body vibrated while her blade was cut into again.
Miria and Clare jumped back as the man also took a step back. A wind blew past blowing his green skirt with it, giving him the look of a warrior born for battle. Miria looked at Clare and then to her blade; Deneve's claymore, two cuts fell into the metal and Miria looked back at her opponents claymore and studied his weapon. On a more thorough inspection she realised too late that the blade of the Crimson claymore was something of a high density and strength, she was afraid to say it was some type of diamond but dismissed the idea as soon as it came. Their own claymores did not compare to their enemy's and this was just the blade itself, let alone the yoma running through it and its wielder.
Miria had to change her objectives, from capture, to winning, to finally survival. This was a battle they could not win unless they did their best. They had fought tougher opponents yet not one's as unique and different as these. Deciding that now was the time to get serious Miria glanced at Clare who looked back. A simple nod at each other confirmed that there was no holding back; they had to survive this, for their fallen comrades at the very least.
Over to their left Helen and Deneve were in a similar situation yet not as bothersome as Miria's and Clare's. Deneve ran in and chopped at the man only for it to be blocked, he kicked out and Deneve used the flat of the claymore to block it, however, the force launched her off her feet. She flipped back as the man suddenly jumped towards her as an explosion of dust and rock happened where he was standing seconds ago.
An Arm wielding a claymore shot out at him and he batted the blade a way before positioning his blade behind him to block Deneve's attack. He then ducked as Helen's arms came for him and chopped at his head. Now crouched he spun around a full 360 degrees attempting to knock Deneve off her feet, however Deneve jumped over the Crimson's mans feet and into the air. The Crimson warrior pushed himself in the air after her and attacked hitting her blade and arm to the left by his own strength alone and he immediately went for the opening. He sliced but suddenly Deneve was zipped away despite being in mid air and he followed her direction as she was retracted by Helen's stretched arm. He landed on the grass, his Crimson armour gleaming like a demonic eye in the sun.
They faced one another again.
So far Helen's and Deneve's team work had kept them from serious injury but the fact was they could only keep it up until the Crimson man figured out their patterns. Deneve and Helen glanced at their cut and dented claymores in frustration and hatred. Deneve more so then Helen as it was Undine's claymore this bastard was hacking away at. She growled as her eyes turned yellow in anger and she released over 15 of her Yoki. Helen looked over to her friend before closing her eyes and smirking. She opened them again and allowing her Yoki to flow out by 25, veins pulsed along her face as she readied for one of the hardest battles of her life.
The cave was probably the best fight going for the group of female claymores. Their fight had many twists and turns in it and the one maybe worst off was the Crimson man. He had not said a word but his forcefulness had increased. Tabatha was the most aerobic and had a vast amount of agility in the entire group. Her speed and body movements were hard to predict and react to properly while also defending from Cynthia who seemed to read his every movement and then there was Yuma. Despite her lack of strength and speed she made up for it with improvisation. He had tried to stab her stomach only for her to move away and stab it into the cave wall leaving an opening to his arm.
They had managed a few hits but none of them were strong strength wise and their cuts had only drawn a little blood as his armour was strong despite its thin mass and his muscles were taut and seemed to tighten and grow denser making their cuts less effective.
They did however, have their fair number of wounds, yet for all of them they were never permanent. They healed within the minute and Yuma's healed within a few seconds. Some of the attacks were deep but the only true damage that he could really count for was blood loss and to a half-human half-yoma that was not really anything fatal or worrying. True they could pass out from lack of blood but they would be back up and ready within the minute.
So far only Tabatha had used over 10 over her yoma energy and that was only for brief bursts as she evened out the amount of Yoki she could use and the amount she would keep in reserve.
The man was more offensive despite his type being defensive as Yuma had managed to score a limb only for this man to regenerate it back. He even went so far as to retrieve the gauntlet covering his originally severed hand. The battle was going in the female's favour but all of them knew that it was only a matter of time before he released his yoki. Fitting it would be now of all times.
His Yoki flowed through out his body and he growled an animalistic growl, they could see his talon gauntlets lengthen as his fingernails extended. His muscles tightened and his bones cracked ominously hinting at something that would be bad for the women.
They could not see his eyes but knew they had changed but the next and final thing that changed made them stare in horror. His sword made cracking noises and a pulse of yoki expelled from it. Another pulse and suddenly the blades transparent edge started to vibrate making the edge turn a gut wrenching glowing green. The man raised his blade with both hands and he stared them down the glowing, green, humming blade making a soft light around it in the dark cave.
Yuma allowed for over 20 of her Yoma to flow out as her friends did the same. This battle would require all they had and a little more of they wanted to survive this battle.
Off in the distance three men ran towards their battle. Black claymores with a blue sapphire edge shone underneath their black and red capes. Miria and her team just had to hold out but the question was.
Could they?
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Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! Sorry of there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I am not good with beta-reading myself so if anyone would like to I would love a proof-reader to help me out. Anyway rate and review and all questions will be answered in shout outs.
Next chapter:Bloodsprayed from Yuma's wound and she fell to the ground, er eyes rolling back as she went limp. The crimson man stabbed his blade into for extra measure and blood flew out in a quick burst.
"Yuma!"
Next chapter: We call them Crimson helm