A Phantom's Trilogy Chapter I: Strange Encounters Part I
Chloey deLupia Lido Mountain Ranges, Two Years Post Organization's Fall
I walked along the path as fog nearly blocked my sight. I was lucky to have Kate by my side and I knew if I got high enough that Kate and I could very well spot the deer better from the height of the mountainsides if they were hiding up there. My dark cloak helped me to blend in to the surroundings and kept me warm, it also helped save me from using my yoki to keep warm. I was able to hide a bit more with my yoki totally suppressed rather than having it up to keep me warm. Chris was camped further down in the valley to keep the animals that I was hunting from knowing that I was in the mountains and make it easier for Kate and I to get what we needed to. I'd hoped to have caught something by now and I was starting to get worried about it all. I tugged at my leather shirt and looked at my bare arms. The outfit was a bad idea; I should have worn some sleeves at the very least, then I wouldn't have the cold to contend with. I sighed as I thought about the time of year. The deer moved down in to the valleys and they were hard to come by up here. I ran my left hand through my bangs that rested below my eyes and about half way towards my shoulders. I'd pulled my long pale blond hair in to a ponytail to keep it out of the way. My silver eyes were the only sign that I was something that was strange; indeed humans that looked in to them often said that I was reading in to their souls when I wasn't. I shivered slightly and went to walk forward.
Kate was still and as I looked at her body signal, I knew that the deer had recently passed the trail that we were following. I looked up and around the trail for tell-tale signs that the deer had passed and I saw a few hoof prints in the damp earth. The deer had passed recently and it looked to me like there were quite a few of them heading towards what was a main stream in the mountain area. I felt a small smile creep up with what was hope. I knew that the deer would need to be quite big, there were several families in Lido that I needed to feed, and they barely had any money to spare on things like grain, no thanks to my oversized greedy cousin Marchello. I was worried about Chris as the fog rolled in some more. I hoped that he was doing ok and that he wasn't too mad at me for arguing about having a baby. I flinched as I picked up sounds that I was seeking. The deer were going to pass soon. I gripped the hunting knife with care and readied myself to throw it. All the deer had to do was pass me and I would hopefully have a good sized animal.
Christopher deLupia Valley of Parabaro, Two Years Post Organization's Fall
I sat calmly near the small fire that I'd built and sighed. I wondered if she was ok, and hoped that Chloey would be back soon. I was beginning to run out of odds and ends that I really needed to keep the fire going. It had been a dull two weeks in which Chloey and I had an argument over something as simple as a baby. I wanted to see her with child, happy and whole, but she was still grieving from Heather's death, and I knew it was going to take her some time, but I still felt that having one of her own would do much for us. Chloey doubted that it was even possible for her to carry and give birth to a baby, with the blackened scar that rested between her breasts and up her neck to a height that she needed to cover it with either her emblem or her usual high necked outfits. I sighed and hoped that she would get enough deer to feed the poorer families of Lido, and I really felt terrible for making her upset. I wondered if apologising when she got back would help ease the pain a bit, but my hopes weren't high. I knew Chloey well and she didn't share a lot of things with me still. Sometimes it was as if she was trapped in her own mind and I was just a bystander watching and doing what I could to help. It was as if she was avoiding me because she was so hurt about it all and all I'd done was suggest having the baby, not pushing it. Still I sighed inwardly and I looked around the clearing.
I listened to the sounds of the forest and I tilted my head. I was listening for the sounds of Chloey's and Kate's footsteps and all I heard was the rustle of wind in the leaves and nothing more. I got to my feet in irritation and walked around the clearing a couple of times, just to take the edge off. I sat again with my back on my claymore and pulled my hood up a bit to help with the cold. Damned Eric would love all of the fuss I was making over Chloey, he'd be all, "Ha, ha, I knew you married her for love you idiot," and I would have to save my dignity and remind him that he died when Meg needed him the most, at least that was what I said to myself or the fact that he was just as close to Meg in the first place that it didn't matter that I was deeply in love with Chloey. I still wondered how in the world Meg coped with such a loss as Eric from her life, but the blind woman had one hell of a heart, and one very supportive sister. While Meg and Claire frequented Eric's grave, Chloey was always at Kate's. And that wasn't the pure white wolf that she always had with her, it was a comrade that was very important to her. One that I'd never had the chance to meet and greatly wished I could. The way Chloey talked about that Kate; was in a tone that was rare for her. She was both in pain and awed by Kate.
I heard the footsteps before I heard their voices. They were running from something and I knew that they needed a good hiding if I was going to be generous. I doubted that I had it in me on this particular day. Too bad that there were so many bandits in this part of the forest. Based on what I could sense it was not awakened beings, warriors or yoma. They were human that much was sure. I guessed quickly that they were bandits and they were snorting about an easy target and as I pulled my blade out of the ground I knew what was going to happen next and it wasn't going to be pretty, not if I had my way. I was in the mood for a tough fight. I smirked darkly and thought only of the idea that they were no better than yoma. It would help in the fight, even if there wasn't any yoki.
I waited until the bandits were right in front of me and counted them, there were 9 of them. Nine assholes that needed a lesson, or better to kill them, these boys wouldn't have the right to do what they did and I wanted to clear out trouble at the same time. It was a shame that they were so young, barely babies compared to me. I sighed inwardly and began the waiting game.
I waited until the head of the bandits was in front of me before sighing, "Too bad you kids don't know the meaning of respect,"
"So what," the leader said cockily, "we own this forest,"
"You don't boy and you know it," I smirked again and I counted them again just to be sure that I didn't miss one. They truly were no better than yoma anyway so this was going to be reasonably easy. I lifted my blade quickly above my head and I worked on what I'd long since been good at. A sword technique that gave me my nickname, "the Strong" and as I brought the blade down on the head bandit in its smooth and deadly arc, it didn't stop, I swung it to the left and up again, slashing through the idiot that was standing beside the leader. Their bodies fell to the ground with a thud, and as I turned, I felt my own yoki rise on instinct, and I jumped, my hood falling off to reveal my face. The other men all froze and said, "He…he's a…Claymore," and before they could so much as run my blade slammed through them and they too dropped dead on to the forest floor. I had to work on the rest of them and as I ran ahead of them, they tried to run like frightened rabbits. I didn't miss a single one. I was standing in the middle of the clearing by the time I was done. I heard more running and I looked up.
Who of all people should I see but Miria? Her pale blond hair was longer than I'd always remembered, so clearly she'd grown it out since we'd seen her. she looked thin, too thin for what was healthy.
"Miria, you're looking too thin child, you need some more weight on," I told her before I walked over to her and gave her a firm and well needed hug. It was a hug that I was sure Chloey would have given Miria as well, considering how close she was to all of us. In my mind's eye I could see Claire bawling her eyes out while Meg was saying something of a funny nature towards Miria. She was glad to see me and hugged me back, much like a daughter would hug her father and in a way I was like that for her.
"Christopher, it's good to see you again," Miria smiled one of her rare smiles briefly, "where's Chloey?"
I knew that Miria wasn't comfortable with overly emotional things and considering that she wasn't alone, I doubted that she would show just how much it meant to her to hear my answer, my name said formally was to simply hide the fact that she was tempted to call me Papa, which she'd done before, and gone rather white until I said that it was ok, I was an old man so it didn't matter. Miria would have called Chloey either Mama, or Ma, but again she wasn't comfortable saying that in front of her comrades, so she just spoke of Chloey by name,
"She hunts; I haven't seen her for the last couple of days," I lift up my hood again and I feel a grin creep up my face I had an idea that would keep Miria for a few days and hopefully she would put some weight on while she was at it, "now then, take these Miria, they'll keep you fed for a while,"
I smiled at her and she lowered her head a bit,
"Thank you Christopher," Miria said, again I knew that it was because her comrades were near her that she didn't say what I knew she wanted to say, I was over by the fire to make sure it was still burning. As luck would have it, it was still burning much to my surprise,
"Any time, child," I told her as she and her comrades left to where they'd come from, I sighed sadly and I wondered what she was doing, I missed her quite a bit. I looked to the sky and for the first time in my very long life I began to question if the God of Rabona was actually real. I wondered where Chloey was and I hoped I would see my small wife soon.
Natalie de Beauharnias
Captain Miria led us back to the merchant that we were guarding and pocketed the gift that the strange man gave her, she was actually smiling for a little while and as I looked to Renée and Helen I had to wonder who that man was. She'd called him Christopher, but there was something in the way she said his name and another name, 'Chloey' that said that she was close to those two people for whatever reason. We caught up to the merchant and night was falling. I was tired, but I wanted to know who the two people were that I'd heard about today,
"Captain Miria," I began slowly, and she turned around to face me, so too did everyone else, "Who was the warrior that we saw today?"
She looked thoughtful before finally answering, "He was a warrior during Isley's Era and he was known to make fun of others at times,"
"How do you know him sis?" Helen asked (though it sounded more like a demand than a question)
Miria looked to the flames of the small fire that we were sitting alongside and didn't answer for a bit, in fact it seemed like she didn't want to talk about it at all really. Just when I thought she wouldn't say anything, she finally spoke,
"After a comrade died…I wondered around for a bit and I came across a small warrior, one that the Organization assumed long dead…"
I imagined that I was a younger Miria somehow, the way she spoke I felt as if I were her, still grieving over the loss of a faceless comrade and wanting to do nothing but die. I was by a river near the Paburo Mountains and I thought I heard the faint sound of another warrior walking towards me and when I turned it was as if I saw the warrior that Miria had seen all those years ago. Her long pale blond hair flowed down both sides of her face framing her wide silver eyes. Her emblem was one that I couldn't even begin to imagine, her amour sounded like it was similar to Miria's but the shoulders were designed for a woman that had wider shoulders that Miria, her amour jutted out and on her face was a look of such concern that I couldn't begin to imagine what pain she would have known. I was Miria as she asked for that comrade's name, only to see her run fleeter than a deer, and following her as best as I could.
I was Miria as she was breathless and I was Miria as she walked up to the graves of five other comrades,
"Signalling Kate, Lisa, Misty, Laughing Skylar, Heather,"
And the warrior's brave words
"No matter how tough it is, you must not give up, for their sake's you must fight on, I'm sure that she wouldn't have wanted to let you waste your life like this,"
I felt Miria's surprise at how she knew the grief that was tearing her very soul apart, the odd safe feeling that she felt with this warrior, it was as if she understood more about Miria than Miria did herself.
"Of course she was grieving more than I could ever begin to imagine and yet, it was as if she knew better than anyone else what I was going through," Miria took a deep breath and continued, "the time that we spent on that unnamed mountain was the most eye opening time for me…it was as if I finally understood what the Organization did to us and it was as if she had been waiting for me to come, because she said, "I've seen too much of what the Organization does to their warriors," she looked sadly at the ground, "if you really don't want her death to be in vain, fight for what is right," I knew in that moment what I almost needed to do, so I asked her "What things," and she replied, "Come see with your own eyes feel through your own blade and hear through your own ears that you may understand,"…"
Helen grumbled loudly about wanting to hear more and even Tabitha and Renée wanted to hear more. I was quiet (rather I was trying to be quiet in case Miria decided to say more about the small warrior), and I could see that Miria highly respected the warrior that she was talking about, she replied with a short answer that left me wondering what she meant, "Well to cut a long story short, I decided to train with Chloey and I met the other warriors that were with her and they helped me train until I had to go back to the Organization, with Chloey's words ringing in my ears long after she'd whispered them. I'd decided that I was going to fight for my fallen comrade and avenge her death," I lay awake thinking of the warrior called Chloey even though Miria had suggested we get some sleep. Tomorrow we would near Malaga, and I was still lying awake thinking about the small warrior that Miria described and I didn't know what I was going to do. I could tell that the warrior that Miria spoke of was strong enough to cope with her Phantom technique and I was sure that she was a skilled warrior at that. I looked over at Captain Miria and I wondered what brought her to that point. And I also wondered what it was that made Miria so sad, but I would never know. I rolled over and for some reason I dreamed of a warrior that was smaller than me, her blade guiding mine to help me improve my sword skills.