I now have 3 ongoing fanfictions, so updates are going to be slow, once every few weeks, probably. Anyhow, expect some extensive plotting in this one, bad though it may be. ;D Why am I writing with two characters that showed up for ten minutes in the Teresa saga? Because I love them. Other than Teresa they're perhaps my favorite characters. That, and I can't stand to look at Irene and Teresa fics anymore without going crazy. I'm obviously not a big enough shoujo-ai fan, but I just don't see it. These two, however, I can see. They're so OTP. Why they had to die, I don't know, but MAYBE under some miracle they lived? xD I know it's very near COMPLETELY impossible because they got stabbed heart/head, but it's a fanfic, give me a break. BD
Edit: Hamstadini has brought it to my attention that the above makes this seem like I'm going to write it as a shoujo-ai. I'm NOT. You won't see any 'pairings' in this, beyond what you can drag, stab, pull, and mutilate into existance. I won't be writing Sophia and Noel as anything more than extremely talented (and argumentative) partners in crime, so to speak. If you want to imagine them as a 'romantic' couple go for it. I'll consider them more like fighting siblings that are loyal to each other in the end when I write.
Okay, enough of my rambling. Enjoy. 3
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"Don't you ever shut up?" Noel hissed, arching up and over her nearest fallen opponent and landing with a snap, now back to back with a longer haired Claymore. The hilt of her sword instinctively raised to her heart, silver eyes scanning the intruding landscape.
"Hmm. . . no," her partner answered with a chuckle, thrusting her weapon forwards and through the gut of a foolish yoma that had ventured to close. She twisted her arm and pulled back, blood smearing down the shining blade. Above them the moon shone gently, poking its head between the clouds that drifted about and sent a bitter chill through the air.
An eerie glow fell on the two of them then, the light strange as it glistened among the wetness of the floating watery world in the sky. It split apart in the overhead trees and filled their world randomly, sending them in and out of darkness with the swaying voice of the wind. "I think I won this one," Noel said, stepping away to replace her sword in its rightful place: Close to her back, where it belonged.
"Nonsense, Noel, you lost like last time, and the time before." Sophia tapped her chin. "In fact, I think. If I recall correctly, you've never won once."
Noel gave her a shocked expression but quickly changed it to angry distaste. "Clearly your memory has gone to hell in your old age." She flicked her wrist passively, putting emphasis on her statement.
"The only one going to hell is you, Noel," Sophia said, turning her sword on the other with quick deliberation. A coy grin spread maliciously across her face and she swung the blade dangerously near. Noel, however, quickly evaded her potential death with a quick step backwards.
"How can you win if you're so slow, eeehhh!?" Noel chided, dodging swing after swing. She could feel the soft air caress her face as Sophia's blade past close time and time again. The attack turned into a rhythm, and Noel found she could time each stroke of the sword, listen to Sophia's rapid breathing as she tried time and time to again to hit with no avail. It turned into a sort of dance, one that only the nymphs of the night could perform. She went as far as to close her eyes, listening to the whining sound such a blade created and honing her skills to keep a safe distance. It proved to be too difficult, she decided, as a sharp edge caught a straying arm.
"Hah, tiring, Noel?" Sophia said, her grin widening as she quickly drew the blade back for a final unslaught.
"Shh!" the other Claymore hissed, her eyes widened and focused on something in the brush. Sophia's blade halted midswing, her gaze on Noel in confusion. Slowly, but surely she turned to look, her blade still posed oddly midway.
"Come out, little watcher," Noel growled, taking a step forwards and nearly running herself through with the blade of Sophia's weapon. She gingerly pushed it a way with an annoyed look that said, 'Put that away, you're clumsiness is going to hurt someone!' and then slid her way gently to a tree. She cooed out in the direction she'd heard the disturbance, tapping her fingers lightly on the bark of a tree. "We knoooowwww you're out there," she chided again, laughing hysterically as she leaned against the strength of the tree. In a blur she came to be on the other side, her fingers reaching out to snatch up the spy.
Her prize quivered and twitched, hissing, snarling and biting frantically as she brought it around the other side. "I brought you a present, Sophia!" she beamed, shaking the item lightly so as to make it fight all the more furiously. "I think it bites."
"Trying to hide as a little boy, neh?" Sophia answered with a smirk, leaning down and circling Noel so she could get a better view of their latest material item.
"Claymore filth!" it growled and spat, the soft features of a child stretching and distorting to reveal a gross creature that appeared to be made of blood and decaying flesh. Quite simply, a yoma.
"I didn't know they had young," Noel remarked snidely, swaying the victim side to side with a small movement from her arm. It hissed, and flung itself upwards and onto her arm, biting and clawing its way into her flesh. "Ow, you little bitch!" she snapped, jerking her elbow to dislodge the yoma. It landed with a soft squish on the ground where she pinned its tiny head with the tip of her toe. "I wouldn't recommend trying that again."
"Of course they do, everything has to breed," Sophia answered Noel's first comment. She stood and folded her arms one over another. She seemed content to let Noel attempt to squeeze its brains through its ears.
"Let's do that thing that humans do to it!" Noel grinned mischievously, lifting her foot and kicking it so it rolled pathetically a few feet. She pounced on it and tightened her hands around its neck, watching it writhe and gasp for breath. "Squirm like a worm, little fucker. I'm going to kill you, slowly."
"You mean questioning?" Sophia asked, stepping to Noel's side and stabbing her Claymore into the earth behind the yoma's head. It squeaked and protested, but refused to speak anymore. "It sounds like a girl," Sophia noted dryly. "Or it likes men." She chuckled at her own joke, and twisted the hilt of her weapon so it produced a gut wrenching squeal as it strained against the hold of the earth. "Not unlike that."
"Oi, cut it out, Sophia!" Noel protested, her hands instinctively going to her ears. "Or I'll smash your head down there, too."
"With those piddle arms?!" She laughed, cold and hard, receiving only an annoyed look from Noel.
"They're slender and athletic."
The sounds of the two bickering were perhaps a worse punishment than the death that Noel was sure to dish out. "You have parents little bugger?" Noel pestered it, poking it with the tip of her toe.
"Noel, we've killed them," Sophia said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes towards the sky.
Noel took a glance at their surroundings riddled with the bodies of yoma and their remains. A smirk crossed over her lips, and she put her hands on her hips smugly. "Aye, you're right. Bastards had it coming, eh, number five?"
"Not anymore, Noel, we have no number. Besides, I was number four." Sophia unearthed her Claymore once more, swinging it with her right arm to pass the time.
"Nuh-uh," the other argued. "I asked, they said I was number four."
"It was a dream, you told me about it," Sophia corrected, tossing the sword up and leaping out of the way as it came down head first.
"Hah! Clumsy!"
The thing decided at this point it would be wise to escape. Unfortunately, neither Noel or Sophia were paying that much attention to each other, and it took them no time at all to replace it back in its former position.
"Going somewhere without us? I'm hurt," Sophia cooed to it. "Tell me, do you like revenge, small one? Do yoma burn and crave and rage until it bubbles out their mouth in the same way your inner grime will once I bash your head into fragments? Do you know how many of your kin I have killed? Perhaps your cousin lies within me, helping me kill all those you shared a gut eating festival with?"
"Ooo! Clever, Sophia," Noel chuckled, clapping her companion on the back and leaning down to consume the yoma with the look in her eyes.
"Yoma have no kin!" it growled, slashing out with its claws towards they eyes of Noel. The Claymore jerked backwards in response and let out a cry of anger, using her feet to release her upset on the youthful monster.
"It would seem we've upset it," Sophia said, clearly amused at Noel's lack of control over the tyke.
"You are cruel."
A moment's pause caused silence to spread a haze through the woods. Sophia and Noel turned slowly together, disbelief on their faces. For there, hidden within the shadows was a creature they thought they'd dismissed long, long ago. It was cloaked in back, its voice distinctly male, but its gender and race unknown.
"Organization man," Noel echoed softly, her mouth subconsciously closing as she swallowed. She quickly regained her composure, covering her nervousness with anger. "What do you want!?" she demanded, her fingers clenching into a fist.
"Tch, so to the point. Aren't you happy to see me?" The glint of white teeth could be seen underneath the shadowed cloak. It left shivers running down both of their spines. "You didn't think running so far away would keep us from you forever? We simply had no reason to follow."
"And now you do," Sophia deduced, her jaw clenching.
"That's right. You're going to help us bring Teresa back to the living."
Behind them, the sounds of their captive escaping reached their ears, but neither paid mind for they were busy trying to determined whether or not they'd heard wrong.