Return of Dragons Chapter 6: A New Dragon
Previously in The Return of Dragons, young Clare met a very strange human boy named Raki. She ended up killing a yoma in Raki's home town of Doga and leaving afterwards as the job was over. However little did she know that the young human boy was in another danger altogether and it was her fault. An orphan not quite of marital age, Raki was banished out of his home town as the humans thought he had to be a yoma himself. He was left to die when Clare eventually found him. Not knowing why she saved him at all Clare left him in an inn with his room and board paid for, and yet she couldn't for the life of herself think of why she was being so concerned for his safety. Little did she realise that it was delaying the inevitable, that she was in fact delaying a very serious issue that was soon to come up and remind her all over again that somehow that boy had a pull on her that Clare didn't even realise he had. As Clare hunted down her new target, who of all people would get into trouble yet again, but Raki? Our story begins with the turning point for our young Clare where she makes the most important decision of her life for perhaps the first time…
Clare was looking the yoma right in the eye. It had Raki by the hair and the boy was wincing in pain, having made quite the ultimatum about Raki and the kid didn't even know her name. What really jolted Clare was the look of relief when he saw her, then the shamed expression, as if trying to apologise to her for getting caught by the yoma. She knew though that yoma could fool humans and that it wasn't Raki's fault that he didn't see the yoma for what it was right away, heck he'd even realised that the yoma was a fake and had tried to escape it, but the yoma were just too fast for a normal human to deal with. Clare had one of two choices. The first choice was to try to close the gap between the yoma and herself like Miria would do and kill it. That however Clare knew wouldn't work for several reasons. The yoma could get away and kill Raki, something Clare was keen to avoid at all costs because at the end of the day Miria was much, much faster than Clare ever could be. She didn't just save him from dying in the middle of the desert just to die at the hands of the fucking yoma already. There was only one logical option and Clare held her sword and considered the consequences that she would have. The yoma would think her defenceless, but Clare's plan counted on that very simple fact. The beast wouldn't expect her to grab it and tumble down to where she was going to throw the sword. She threw it and said, "Happy now?" the yoma burst out laughing
"You fool! You claymores are fools! No, you're only half yoma…half of nothing!" and ran at Clare. She adjusted her body ever so slightly when the yoma hit her. It hurt. Clare wanted to curse it hurt that badly, blood came out of her mouth unbidden, eyes widening in pain. Clare gripped the beast's arm and leapt backwards all while holding the arm steady making sure that it didn't move as she rolled down with it.
After a few seconds of rolling down the hill Clare was able to pin the other arm with her right leg, firmly. Her blade was predictably in reach and she soon cut the offending arm off. Then with the momentum of her movement turned and cut its head off. Her eyes glowed as she did so. She looked at the arm and grabbed it. There was no easy way to pull it out, or push it through. She gritted her teeth and pulled her left arm tightening as she did so. Clare gasped and nearly went down onto her knees, but managed to at least stay on her haunches. Blood was seeping a bit more than she intended. Clare coughed and more blood came out of her mouth. Then she focused her yoki on healing the wound. It all took at least five or so seconds and by the time she was done all that remained was a hole on her clothing and the wound was mostly if not fully healed. She knew this because bare skin showed through, although that skin was more akin to blackened flesh that looked horrible and dead. The flesh of her stigma; the one thing that turned humans away from them because it was the most disgusting of all things associated with the yoma within them.
"A…are you ok?!" Raki cried, sliding down the slope with surprising skill, and a look at him showed that he was genuinely worried about her, even though he didn't even know her name and Clare was so tempted to tell him that, "I'm so sorry! It's my fault!"
"Don't get the wrong idea," Clare said calmly, turning to look at Raki, "It was the only way I was going to get that yoma without it killing you and getting away. My only option was to put it in a position where a swift slaughter was attainable,"
"B…but that doesn't change the fact that you saved me," Raki said, tears forming in his eyes, and Clare felt something. She didn't know what it was, but she just knew it tightened her chest in such a way that at first she didn't realise what the feeling was, "Thank you," He said, "I mean it,"
Clare turned fully around to at least partially face him while he was half walking away from her. She just didn't know why or what possessed her to say it, "Were you…banned from your village?" it seemed the more logical thing to Clare, what with Raki being out and about all on his own without another human taking care of him and being so far away from his village and all. Although now that she got a better look at him; he was fairly close to marital age in his physical appearance…and Clare halted the thought right there. She knew if that was the case then there was at the very least four years between them. He would be at most 13 at least 12. Of that she was certain.
Raki paused and she could see that his shoulders were shaking slightly as he spoke, his voice was pained, "Of course," He said, not quite facing Clare, but not quite fully turned away, "I told them I wasn't a yoma but they didn't listen to me,"
Long before I met Teresa, I was a happy child with my mother, father and older brother. I was happy, until a yoma ate my parents and that yoma was my older brother. A warrior killed it, but that didn't change the fact that I was expelled from the village. The elder thought I was a yoma and despite my pleas and cries, I was thrown out. I wandered aimlessly, grieving the loss of my own family pain eating at my heart. Another yoma found me and forced me to travel with it. The scars I still carry even to this day. Miria was right about one thing, everyone who becomes a warrior has just about the same sort of past. The stories are almost exactly the same. I remember crying for so long, a pain that I constantly wanted to go away…a pain that never left me until I met Teresa and she gave me a reason to talk and feel again…
"Can you cook?" Clare asked forming a plan in her mind, although she wasn't exactly sure as to why the said plan was forming in her mind. Perhaps it was to protect Raki; perhaps not. All that Clare knew was that she was hoping (whether vainly or not) that Raki would take up her offer, "You said before that you know how to cook,"
He rubbed his eyes quickly although Clare herself saw no shame in his tears, she understood them having cried herself to sleep so many times over, "Yes," Raki said, and Clare decided that she would do what she could for this boy,
"If you like you can travel with me as my cook until we can find a place you want to live." Clare was surprised when he nodded and then he seemed to smile. She almost would have herself, and then she added as an afterthought, "My name is Clare,"
"I like that name," Raki said with a smile. Then he looked down. At first Clare thought something was wrong and then he said, "Doesn't that hurt you?"
And it was then she realised he'd seen the flesh Clare coughed, "No, it just looks like it does," and Raki turned to follow her not saying a word, but she knew what he meant. Her stigma was more or less visible as a partial marking but she really hoped he wouldn't see the true length of it.
Needless to say Clare and Raki travelled together with Clare doing various missions and Raki travelling with her. She had been travelling with Raki for about six months enjoying Raki's company and also his cooking, even if she was unable to eat all that much. At first Raki had thought she didn't enjoy the food but Clare explained to him it was all a part of being half-yoma warriors; that most warriors didn't need to eat that much food to keep them nourished and able to kill the yoma they had to hunt as well as their travelling and healing needs. Of course Raki had insisted on making her good high quality food to the best of his abilities and Clare was surprised that no matter what happened, Raki always gave her the first portion and the largest, every night she would be forced to remind him of her lack of eating needs but then Raki said something that Clare hadn't expected, "I really find that hard to believe Clare, you're really not that different from a normal person. You need it more than I do Clare," and Clare said that she wasn't trying to starve herself. Raki had his 13th birthday and for some reason Clare had still yet to see Miria. Of course she didn't say anything to Raki and as they travelled Clare felt a familiar and very welcome yoki. She didn't pick up her pace like normal. After all Rubel could be lurking about but she did make it seem casual enough that it would be a "happened to meet her" excuse to see Miria as Clare felt that the older warrior would be able to help her with Raki. Raki was travelling well and easily kept up with Clare's pace. He never complained and thankfully wasn't blushing. Of that Clare was truly grateful. It didn't help her to think of it, but it wasn't the best thing to happen and it was an accident on her behalf. Although she should have been more careful, Raki had seen the stigma before and she didn't think too much on it. She should have waited until he was asleep before bathing to clean the wounds that she'd had during some of the fighting though as the yoma she'd fought managed to get a couple of hits on her (not even bothering to damage her hair funnily enough). A day's travel did help alleviate the blushing of the previous night though even if Raki was treating a couple of cuts that Clare had left over from healing herself so that the worst of the damage was healed away. She felt it wasn't worth wasting her yoki on what were minor cuts. Clare decided not to tell Miria. She sat down next to Miria's armour and Raki sat near her. Clearly he wanted to put last night out of his head as much as she did. True to Miria style her older sister friend arrived silently and made Clare jump with her customary, "I see that you are well Clare," greeting. This time it was followed with, "And a stray boy as well? My, my Clare you have been busy,"
"Miria!" Clare blushed, "Can you not draw assumptions please he's just the cook!"
"I have all the information I need to draw a conclusion Clare," Miria smiled gently and Clare realised that Miria was playfully teasing her, as the smile was a rare but cheeky one that Miria rarely graced anyone with. So far only Clare and the late Hilda had seen that smile at all and for Clare to see it again was a sign that Miria was on the mend after losing one of her best friends "It's alright Setonara you can come out of hiding now; it was just my friend Clare and her human cook,"
A soft thump and Clare was staring into the cat-like sapphire blue eyes of a man that looked a lot like a
"Flier!" Clare cried out, realising now where she'd seen the winged being before, "You…you're a flier…just like Johnothan!"
"You know Johnothan?" he asked, his voice wasn't as deep as Johnothan's but it had a warm quality to it and Clare knew at once that he was someone she could trust as much as Raki and of course Johnothan if and when she ever saw him again
"I met him when I was travelling with Teresa," Clare said quietly and Miria and Setonara exchanged looks and then Setonara decided to half lay in the pile of leaves, tired clearly and Clare didn't blame him. Raki decided to get some water and make some food, and Miria and Clare spoke in low voices as not to disturb the flier who was half sleeping. It was well past nightfall when Clare heard the usual sounds of something being up, namely Rubel's whistle that was to grab her attention and call her to him because he couldn't be bothered to go to her and give her orders like everyone else. Miria sighed and said
"Looks like Rubel is being a nuisance again, better go see what he wants Clare before he says you're being rebellious again,"
"Sure," she said padding away from their now extinguished fire as they had finished Raki's scrumptious dinner and said young male was asleep resting near Setonara in the bedroll that Clare had bought him in a previous town because she didn't want him sleeping on the ground and figured that at least some comfort was warranted and he looked so peaceful that Clare was loath to wake him up even though Rubel hadn't seen Raki at all yet. An unspoken message passed between her and Miria and the older warrior nodded her head. Raki would be safe until Clare came back. She walked across the clearing seeking the man that was the source of the noise; "Yes?" she said when she was about half way into the clearing,
"As sharp as ever I see," Rubel's greasy voice made Clare want to gag or at least throw her sword at him, but she couldn't do that yet as Miria had told her friend it wasn't worth risking the wrath of their comrades for it and Clare was already in hot water from previous stints of misbehaviour according to the men. Clare had agreed to keep her nose as clean as she could but that didn't mean she hid her dislike for the old fool of a man who was her handler. "I suppose you want to know what the next job is?" Clare glared at Rubel in a way that told him he'd better not waste any more of her time. He sighed, "You'll need to go to Rabona to kill a yoma that has appeared there," Rubel said, noting that Clare's expression hardly changed at all,
"Rabona," Clare said dully, "Isn't that the place where…"
"Yes, yes," he said impatiently for once, and didn't realised that Clare was being deliberately smart with him, "They have a ban on anything that is unnatural, tools, weapons, people…"
"Which means we cannot do anything there…"
"That will not be too much of an issue 47," Rubel said sharply, "This is a covert operation, your job is to sneak in and kill the yoma without arousing suspicion, if you say that the boy is your brother, you will be less suspicious to their guards who have very watchful eyes…"