Chapter 37

I do not own Claymore

The next day after sensing a deeply hidden yoma energy, they spotted a cabin with a large corral next to it. Near the corral, a man with blonde spiky hair was tending to the cattle, he was pouring water into a watering trough and checking their feed.

As they approached, he straightened up and upon seeing Riful, he smiled and bowed in respect. "Greetings, lady of the west. You are a sight for sore eyes, what brings you here to my humble cabin?"

He glanced at the two warriors and remarked, "I see you're not the only one resurrected from the dead. Hello, Teresa of the faint smile, we meet at last...It appears the rumors of your passing are falsehoods."

Teresa smiled at the man and replied, "Hello, Lars it is good to meet you too. Yes, I was dead for a time, but Lord Dae had found a way to rob the grave and I was resurrected."

Lars looked up at Sheila and asked, "Is your tall companion another one of Dae's 'experiments'?"

Riful smiled and replied, "No, she is named Sheila and she is a fugitive from the organization, as is Teresa."

Lars grinned and remarked,"And now you've come to pay me a visit, my lady...I'm not sure whether I should be pleased or concerned?"

Teresa smiled at Lars and said,"We're just looking around, our boss sent us this way to see how things are looking. Any activity from the organization around here?"

He thought a moment and replied,"Actually, it's almost been too quiet, of course I've hidden my youki pretty well and only occasionally, will a passing warrior pay a call, mostly to ask for water. Though I suspect it's just a pretense to get a better look at me."

Teresa smirked and commented, "I'm guessing they want to see a male awakened being who was a number 6 in the organization, if I remember aright."

Lars shrugged and commented, "I sorta feel like a museum piece, so far as I know, Chronos is the only other surviving male awakened being."

He looked at Riful and said quietly, "I'm sorry to hear about Dauf, he was utterly devoted to you."

Riful smiled slightly and replied softly, "He was at that. His devotion was limitless and may have led to his death when he tore into those horrible abyssal feeders and they turned on him rather than me."

Lars asked quietly, "Perhaps this is none of my business, but how did you get away from those things?"

Riful smiled as she replied,"These two and two others were part of a rebel scouting party and they found me when I was badly wounded and near my end. They had a powerful healer with them and while she fixed me up, the others killed all eleven of the feeders before any could escape. They asked me to join them and after they had saved my life, how could I refuse!"

Lars chuckled and remarked, "You always were the little rebel, Riful of the west."

A voice called out, "Lars?! Who're your friends?"

A matronly woman came out of the cabin and came alongside Lars. Her brown eyes were friendly.

He smiled at his companion and replied, "They're just passing by and they stopped to ask about a shortcut to Lido town."

She looked at him in some surprise and said, "Why Lars Carlsson, why don't you show them your map while I make them some tea?"

Teresa smiled at her and said pleasantly, "It's quite alright ma'am, we got the general idea and were about to leave."

"Nonsense!" She cried, "I won't hear of it...Lars has this wonderful map and I make a good pot of tea and I have freshly baked seed cakes. Besides, I don't get to talk to too many people who aren't either a cattle buyer or a passing claymore."

Lars just rolled his eyes while the trio dismounted and tied their horses to the corral fence.

The interior of the cabin was quite homey and definitely had the woman's touch, with lots of little knicknacks and lacy doilies draped over the armrests. The cabin was quite civilized indeed.

While the woman bustled about setting out tea cups and saucers, slicing up a seed cake or two and silently urging the water to boil faster.

Lars made a show of spreading out his map of the island and when they all bent over it to look it over, he murmured, "She's a widow from a yoma attack and I've been with her about ten years now. She does not know my true nature and I'd like to keep it that way."

Riful smiled and murmured back, "I like her, she's perfect for you Lars!"

They made a show of perusing the map as they already knew the land pretty intimately, though Riful did comment, "This is pretty good Lars, did you make it yourself?"

He smiled and replied, "Yes, I did. I wandered over this land a long time before meeting Amahl and after I built this cabin, I started working on it about five years ago as a hobby."

He grinned, "Sometimes a visiting warrior would help me add details to the map...Like this trail here." He pointed at the mountain range to the northeast, "It leads to the organization headquarters. I had never heard of it before and a warrior named Dietrich pointed it out to me." In a low voice he said, "They have a hidden facility along there and I heard they were making awakened beings there. Doesn't seem sporting, if you ask me."

Teresa studied the map and said, "I'll be sure to relay this to Miria. Thank you for answering a question I had, the awakened beings we've encountered lately were not warriors at one time, they were incomplete and easily defeated...Now I know why."

"Tea is ready!" Called Amahl from her tidy kitchen. Lars grinned at them and said, "Her tea really is good and her seed cakes are quite tasty!"

The tiny kitchen barely accommodate the five of them but they were seated around the table and cheerfully sipping Amahl's tea and nibbling on slices of her seed cake.

Amahl was quite personable and soon, she and Riful were chatting like old friends. Sheila and Teresa mostly listened while the two discussed domestic things like removing stains from garments and cooking suggestions to bring out the flavors in a recipe.

Sheila sat in quiet amazement, she was the one who did much of the cooking back in Rabona while Riful mostly supervised and occasionally made a suggestion.

Teresa simply smiled, she was not at all domestic and often slept on the floor as a bed seemed to be too comfortable for her. She would eat her food raw if Sheila didn't insist on cooking it beforehand.

Teresa's forte was fighting and she had no equals in that regard. She had even joked that once the organization had fallen, she would be out of a job and might have to leave for the mainland to offer her sword fighting skills to the highest bidder.

The impromptu tea party had ended and Amahl hugged Riful goodbye while Lars looked slightly bemused. His lady had no idea she was hugging Riful of the west, last of the abyssal creatures.

Amahl hugged Teresa and Sheila next and she said to Lars, her eyes twinkling with happiness,"Such nice people you know, they're much nicer than those cattle buyers who buy our cattle."

He smiled at his lady and replied,"The buyers are businessmen out for a bigger profit, it's nothing personal, it's just business."

He grinned, "Besides, some of the people I've known can be a little uncivilized, and that's why I haven't told them where I live."

"Well, I like Chronos and Octavia, they are very nice and she's such a lovely girl!"declared Amahl.

Lars grinned and remarked, "And he worships the ground she walks on!"

Amahl smiled and said gaily,"He is quite the romantic isn't he!"

The trio rode away, their tummies full of good tea and freshly baked seed cakes.

Teresa was smiling more so than usual and Riful said, "You seem pretty happy."

Teresa grinned, "Actually, I am. Seeing Lars becoming so...Tame, was quite nice, I'm thankful I was never sent after him. He and many of the other single digits who awakened, kept such low profiles and hid their youki so well, it was almost as if they didn't exist. The organization left them pretty much alone, so long as they behaved."

Riful smiled, "Yes, they did a good job of hiding, even from me, Luciela and Isley. I can't say I blame them with all the craziness that went on between us. Chronos has Octavia, a former number 2 and Lars has Amahl, a human. I suppose the rest are living quietly among the people, like that singer we met at...What was that town again? Anyway, they opted to stay out of the power struggle we abyssals were engaged in."

"Hanel, the town was Hanel and Melody was her name but Teresa called her 'Nightingale'." Remarked Sheila.

"Yeah, that town!" Exclaimed Riful.

Two days of riding and crossing a tributary of the Toulouse river later, they entered the town of Lido and got a room with a bath at the Lido Tavern.

Deciding to take a much needed bath before coming down to the taproom to eat and drink.

They filled the three wooden tubs provided by the landlord with hot water, stripped down and climbed in for a scrubbing and a relaxing soak.

The hot water and the tavern's scented soap was quite welcome after days in the saddle. Even a quick dip in the river had not really satisfied their desire for a good bath. Riful commented drily, "Living at the cathedral has really spoiled me about bathing properly, that and eating cooked food too!"

Riful delighted in her bath and scrubbed herself quite thoroughly, her small frame rather adorable in the nude.

Teresa's body was more womanly with her curvy hips, supple waist and lush bosom. While Sheila had an athletic look with trim hips, taut waist and a firm bosom.

She was also much taller than the other two, being nearly two feet taller than Riful and a head taller than Teresa.

Teresa looked her up and down and remarked,"It looks like you've finally stopped growing, I was wondering if you'd ever stop."

Sheila could only blush in reply.

Riful grinned wickedly at Teresa and commented, "It seems a shame to have such a great rack, if you're gonna keep it to yourself and never share it with anyone!"

She grinned at Sheila and said gaily, "I'll bet Rogar certainly enjoyed your boobies!"

Sheila turned almost beet red and covered her face with her hands while Riful giggled happily.

Teresa said cheerfully, "Aren't we being the little brat today! Looks like someone needs a dunking!"

Before Riful could react, Teresa leapt out of her tub and cheerfully pushed Riful's head underwater. Sheila laughed and said, "Me next!" Moments later, Riful came up for air while Teresa was chortling with glee. Riful put her hands together and accurately squirted soapy water right into Teresa's face while gloating, "Payback is a bitch!"

Sheila started laughing as the two supposedly mature women splashed each other with soapy water, then they all started laughing until tears rolled down their cheeks.

After calming down they washed their travel stained clothing and hung it up to dry over night. Rummaging around in their saddlebags, clean clothing was pulled out and put on.

Trooping down to the taproom, Sheila returned the scented soap to the landlady while the other two scored a table in a darker corner of the taproom.

Hardly had they sat down, than a almost too cheerful tavern maid came flouncing up to take their order.

The main items on the menu appeared to be dishes made with either lamb or mutton, they ordered a roast leg of mutton with boiled potatoes covered with gravy.

The food soon arrived along with their ale and they noshed and supped while quietly observing the other patrons, the crowd was mostly townsfolk and the local farmers. The conversations centered around local gossip, how the businesses were doing and the crops in the fields. All pretty mundane stuff and easy to ignore.

Having finished their meal and after ordering another round of ale, they sipped and listened to the chatter.

One farmer's tale of having seen a quartet of claymores and a man in black passing by his farm piqued their interest until they realized, the story was several years old and he was just making conversation.

Returning to their room, Teresa paused and muttered, "We have a visitor."

Sheila loosened her belt knife and Teresa murmured, "That won't be necessary."

With that, she flung open the door and in a blur of motion, pinned their nocturnal visitor to the floor.

Riful and Sheila came in and saw Teresa holding down a slightly bedraggled warrior by sitting on her.

Placing the warrior's sword out of reach, Sheila smiled while Riful commented, "Did you really think taking aura suppressant pills would fool us? You're about a hundred years too young to sneak up on us, Dietrich the tracker."

Teresa smiled at the discomfited warrior and remarked,"I've heard of you. Helen and Deneve related how you warned them about the abyssal feeders and how to deal with them." She glanced over at Riful and commented drily,"In a way, someone here owes you her life as we knew how to deal with the abyssal feeders surrounding her."

Dietrich's blue eyes darted over at the small abyssal smiling at her and she involuntarily shuddered at the shock of recognition.

In a very small voice, Dietrich murmured, "You're alive?!...They said you were defeated like Isley was defeated."

Riful purred, "Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated. Though I suppose I should thank you for telling my friends how to deal with those awful things..."

She smiled at Dietrich, "Thank you Dietrich, your information saved my life!"

Dietrich nodded her head and murmured, "You're welcome."

"Now" said Teresa, "what're you doing in our room at this hour, who set you on our trail?"

Dietrich set her jaw and replied firmly, "You know I can't answer that, I'm still an organization warrior following my orders."

Riful sighed heavily and said glumly,"Must you be so tedious? We're just curious that's all. We could be safely holed up enjoying a peaceful life, instead we're out here, a long ways from our home interrogating you, all because we caught you snooping around."

Dietrich was about to reply when Sheila chuckled slightly and remarked,"The only one in the organization who knows where we are is Rubel and he has his own agenda going on. Could it be you're here on his orders?"

Dietrich's blue eyes narrowed slightly and Sheila commented, "I'll take that as a yes."

Dietrich asked, "Why would you think Rubel ordered me to keep an eye on you?"

"Because it was Rubel who asked us to flee the organization after killing Lord Dae first." declared Teresa.

The look of surprise on her face gave it all away and she said, "How can I believe what you just said? That means Rubel would be guilty of treason..."

"And he's banking on the fact that only we rebels know this and if we tried telling the organization about him, they wouldn't take the word of a bunch of rebel deserters."Remarked Teresa.

Sheila interjected, "Is it possible that you deliberately chose to get caught? If I were tailing someone, I certainly wouldn't make my presence known to my quarry."

Dietrich slowly smiled and remarked, "Now that I have achieved my objective, I can always claim I was captured and escaped after being interrogated."

This time Riful chuckled and remarked, "Back in my day, only a small handful of warriors escaped my clutches unaided and Teresa here is one of them. What makes you think Rubel, if he is your handler, would believe a story like that? You'd better think of a better story than that!"

"What exactly, is your objective?" asked Teresa.

Dietrich looked the trio over and said quietly,"There is talk among the warriors of a 'ghost squad' and the organization is wondering who they are.

"A team in the northern wastes led by Nina, a number 9 was attacked by three awakened beings, when they woke up, the battle was over and the awakened beings were gone, only a blood stain remained of them.

"Another team led by Audrey, number 3 and co-captained by Rachel, number 5 was attacked by Riful of the west and when they woke up, Riful was gone and they were safe.

"I myself, led an awakened being hunt and was aided by Helen and Deneve.

I followed them south and we witnessed the death of Isley at the hands of the abyssal feeders.

"The most recent incident I know of, was when these 'ghosts' took out a search party and a couple of watchers, then killed an awakened being hidden in the town of Lacroix...Have I missed anything?"

Teresa smiled and replied, "There is the monstrous spider at the millyard near Storah and just a few days ago, a young warrior was helped by Sheila after three strong yomas had taken her down and were getting ready to finish her off...It turned out the girl was part of the deserter hunting team that Sheila had knocked out.

"She related that the team leader was demoted and she had no idea of the other low ranked warrior's fate."

Dietrich pursed her lips and muttered, "I'd heard rumors of a spider monster, but thought of them as rumors. Awakened beings can be bad enough, but giant spiders? Ugh!"

Riful shuddered involuntarily at the subject of the giant spider and commented, "That thing grabbed me before I could awaken and had I been alone, I would've been its next meal. The others jumped in and killed it before it could finish me off!"

Teresa quietly remarked, "Before I left, Lord dae kept me pretty busy cleaning up his experiments gone bad. Giant awakened, non human, creatures was only one line of his research, he kept my sword pretty busy, I have to say."

Riful commented, "So what're we going to do with Dietrich here?"

"I vote we let her go, I think she just wanted some answers and we had what she wanted. Other than taking her with us." remarked Sheila.

Teresa mulled over their remarks and asked Dietrich, "Are you going to report this to the organization, or to Rubel? Mind you we have reason to believe he is a double agent for another agency so whatever you tell him will not necessarily get relayed upstairs. In short, he is on his own agenda."

Dietrich sighed and said thoughtfully, "I swore an oath to never lie to the organization and I intend to abide by that oath. However, I won't report this unless specifically asked if I had seen you three. The organization believes Riful of the west perished at the hands of their abyssal feeders and I see no reason to dispell that notion."

Teresa chuckled and remarked, "Didn't they ever wonder why none of the abyssal feeders they sent after Riful came back?"

Dietrich shrugged and replied,"They don't seem to care what happens to them, the poor things are robbed of all humanity and turned into monsters feared by all. They wander aimlessly about seeking only their target and if their target is gone, they just wander about. I suppose they'd starve to death eventually, the southern lands probably still have some of them wandering about looking for Isley."

Riful muttered, "And they called me a monster! I could never even conceive of such a creature, let alone create one."

Teresa stood up and handed Dietrich her claymore, "You're free to go or you can follow us, we don't care. We're out looking around, same as you are. We are supposed to keep a low profile and avoid any fights, but if we find a warrior in trouble, we will help if we can." She paused a moment, "I do suggest you not let them know you've been in contact with us, it will not end well for you if they figure out you made no effort to attack us, even though it would be suicide if you did."

Dietrich slipped her heavy sword into its holder and she said," I wanted to meet the strongest warrior ever, I didn't expect to meet the lady of the west and the warrior most wanted by Lord Dae. It seems he has a special thing he wants to do to you, Sheila."

Sheila chuckled and remarked coyly,"Is he still upset about that? Couldn't his underlings fix the mess I made of his junk?"

Dietrich stifled a smirk and replied drily,"Yes, you could say he is still upset."

She smiled at them and said, "Farewell, it was an interesting time meeting you three."

With that said, Dietrich slipped out the window and was gone into the night.