I do not own Claymore

Chapter 15

Teresa looked at Riful's near nakedness and commented, "We need to find you some clothes, we can't have you half naked like this when we enter Rabona."

"Rabona? Is that where we're going? I thought we weren't allowed in there!" exclaimed Riful.

"We weren't," said Clare, "They had a change of heart after we saved Rabona from Bloody Agatha. Now we're welcome, unofficially."

"Unofficially?"

"Yes, unofficially, we don't attract attention to ourselves and we're welcome, we make too much noise and we're asked to leave."

Riful grinned and said cheerfully, "That's fair enough!"

Sheila doffed her cloak and draped it over Riful's slim shoulders, the cloak reached the ground.

Riful laughed and said gaily, "I feel like I'm wearing one of my dad's old cloaks!"

She snugged it around herself as best she could and grinned at everybody, "Well, I'm ready to go!"

Cynthia asked her, "Don't you have anything to bring? Nothing inside this old castle?"

Riful looked the ruins over and said quietly, "No, not a thing. This was only a hiding place. My home was further south and west west of here, but it got destroyed when a couple of nosy warriors,"

She glanced at Clare meaningfully, "stuck their noses into my business and Dauf broke the place up trying to smash a couple of bugs."

Clare replied coldly, "You were trapping warriors and trying to force them to awaken by torturing them. Dauf smashed the weak ones who didn't measure up!"

The two glared at each other until Teresa cried, "Knock it off you two! Don't make me knock your heads together."

When the two broke off their hate fest, Riful said ruefully, "If it makes you feel any better, I regret what I did. I know now that Priscilla would have defeated me and whatever army I had managed to assemble. I lost everyone and everything I held dear and now I have nothing left but a bit of rag to cover my privates!"

Cynthia remarked, "You still have your life, Riful of the West. We will take you with us and we'll introduce you to our captain. She'll know what to do!"

"Captain? Who's this captain?" Asked Riful.

"Captain Miria is the brains of our outfit." replied Teresa, "She has this grand scheme of bringing down the organization and possibly taking out Priscilla too. Now that you're here, that might become more of a reality than a mere dream."

Riful looked at Teresa for a long moment then she asked, "You were a number one weren't you? What number was this 'Captain Miria'?"

"Miria was a number six," replied Clare, "I met her on what was claimed to be a 'voracious eater' hunt, it turned out to be a male awakened being. Apparently he would rid the organization of warriors who were 'problematic' and we barely escaped with our lives. It turned out the four of us were partially awakened and we didn't realize it 'til that mission. We compared notes and swore to keep in touch and keep a low profile, to stay out of trouble."

"Partially awakened? How can you be partially awakened? You either are or you aren't!" Blurted out a mystified looking Riful.

Clare remarked matter of factly, "We're not sure how it works or worked for us, we know that the five of us experienced a near awakening and somehow regained control, no one factor caused it, it just happened."

Riful's face still wore a mystified look and she said, "Huh?"

Teresa laughed and declared, "Now you know how I felt when I saw Helen extend her arm to grab an apple. It really shocked me to see that and we had some 'uncomfortable moments'. It took me a little while to wrap my head around the idea myself!"

Riful just shook her pretty head and muttered, "This is what I get for hiding away for so long, partially awakened warriors, who would've thought it!"

Teresa laid her hand gently on Riful's small shoulder and said, "We've both been out of touch and have some catching up to do."

Riful frowned and declared, "You have an excuse, you were dead. I've been alive all this time, what else is the organization going to surprise us with?"

Teresa grinned at Riful and said cheerfully, "We won't find that out by staying here and gabbing about it, let's go!"

Riful grinned and said, "Lead on!"

With that, the four warriors and one small abyssal started back down the rocky slopes of the western mountains.

As they passed the scene of the earlier battle, Riful became quite emotional and they stopped while she, assisted by Sheila erected a stone cairn at the site.

When they placed the last stone on the pile, Riful extended her hair and used it to gather up many of the bone fragments that littered the rocky slope, these were arrayed about the cairn until Riful at last, stepped back and surveyed her handiwork.

For a long moment they stood silently while Riful wept freely, her long buried emotions released at last.

She blew her nose and smiled when Sheila handed her a cloth to wipe her nose with, handing it back afterwards she smiled through her tears and said, "Look at me, crying like a baby. You'd think I would be over crying about things, after all I'm over a hundred years old!"

Sheila momentarily gaped and blurted out, "No way! You're that old? You look like a young girl."

Riful smiled at her and said, "Kinda weird ain't it? Dauf was well over a hundred when he died. We don't seem to age or get old, we just live on and on."

Riful gazed at the cairn a bit longer and said softly, "Good bye Dauf, you were a good man, the best I ever knew. I love you, Dauf."

Riful turned to face the warriors and said, "There was an abandoned farm not too far from here, if we could, I'd like to see if I can find any clothes there."

Teresa smiled at her and said, "Lead on!"

Riful grinned and stepped off, leading them along like a child playing 'follow the leader' she hopped over fallen trees and danced around huge boulders that had tumbled down from the rocky peaks above.

She eventually led them through a cluster of boulders and they stopped at what had been a plowed field.

Beyond the edge of the field sat a shabby old house.

Invisible from the rocky peaks above.

They stopped short and Clare remarked, "There's some one there, feel the youki?"

They all could feel it now, Teresa frowned, "Riful? Did you know that someone would be there? I could kill you right here and now, playing a trick like that could cost you your life!"

Riful stepped back holding out her hands, "W, Wait!" she cried, "I didn't know anyone would be in there! I swear on Dauf's grave!"

Something in her eyes made Teresa relent and she relaxed her stance, "Alright, we'll go with that. Now what do we do?"

Sheila remarked, "I think we could handle whoever's in that old house, I mean we have a number one, a number fourteen, a number fourty seven, a partially awakened warrior and an abyssal. What could beat that?"

Teresa frowned at Sheila and retorted, "What did I tell you about cockiness? Only a fool goes charging in without knowing what's inside."

Sheila looked a bit crestfallen and she nodded, "You're right Teresa, I shouldn't have said that."

Teresa smiled at her young friend and said, "No need to apologize or anything, it's just that even Riful here is being cautious and she's an abyssal. That should tell you something!"

Riful who had stood quietly during this said, "I'm sensing a couple of vaguely familiar youkis, there's two awakened beings in that old house."

She glanced at Teresa, smiled and said cheerfully, "Shall we pay them a visit? It's only the polite thing to do."

Teresa shrugged, glanced at Clare who hadn't said anything and remarked, "Sure why not? We're not out hunting yomas or awakened beings anymore, let's go say hi!"

They started out cautiously and approached the old farmhouse, drawing nearer, a vegetable garden came into view and nearby was a freshly turned patch of soil ready to be seeded. Beyond the house, fruit trees were in bloom and a roughly made sheep pen held several wooly inmates being tended by a rather pretty blonde haired woman wearing homespun clothing.

She turned to face the approaching group, called out a name and smiled at them. Moments later, a lanky, brown haired, lightly bearded man emerged from the house and stood calmly facing them.

Riful moved ahead of the rest and the man bowed to her, straightening up he said, "Greetings Lady Riful, what brings you here to our home?"

His eyes glanced over the four warriors and he said cheerfully, "I see you've brought new friends. Should we be concerned?"

Riful grinned at him and replied, "Oh, don't worry about them, they're also hiding from the organization."

The man's eyebrows went up and he exclaimed, "Really? Pray, tell me more, but first."

He turned and called out, "OCTAVIA! We have guests, come and meet them!"

Moments later, the slender, blonde haired woman came out of the sheep pen and stood alongside him, her arm around his waist.

Riful smiled at her and said, "Hello Octavia, it's been a long time, how long have you and Chronos been together now?"

Octavia smiled back and replied, "It's been many years now, we got tired of living in the woods and saw this house standing empty, so we claimed squatters rights."

Chronos grinned and remarked, "We figured if we kept a low profile, the organization wouldn't bother with us."

Riful grinned and said, "I wish I could have done that, but fate had different plans for me. I want you to meet my friends here."

She gestured to the warriors, "This is Teresa,"

"Of the faint smile?" Blurted out Chronos, "Can't be, she's dead!"

"I was, but I got over it...It's a long story." Commented Teresa.

"I'll bet!" replied Chronos.

Riful cleared her throat and continued, "This is Clare," Clare nodded.

"This is Cynthia the healer." Cynthia smiled at them.

"And this is Sheila, killer of Lord Dae." Sheila smiled shyly.

Riful turned to the warriors and said, "This is Chronos, a former number four and Octavia, a former number two."

Teresa stepped forward and extended her hand to clasp hands with the two awakened beings, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Chronos, Octavia."

"Likewise, I'm sure, Teresa," said Chronos, "I don't mean to pry, but you are Teresa of the faint smile, are you not?"

When she nodded a "yes" Octavia asked, "I thought you were dead, killed by Priscilla when she awakened. How is it you're alive?"

Teresa sighed and replied, "Honestly, I can't explain it myself. I went from battling Priscilla to oblivion and back to the organization all in the blink of an eye to me. To the rest of the world, some fifteen years had passed while I lay in a tank of preserving fluids or something."

She paused and then said, "I was told they had used awakened being flesh or something on me."

Chronos frowned and commented, "We had better make sure we stay out of the organization's hands then. I for one, don't feel like being used to revive a dead warrior."

Riful chuckled and said, "Didn't you hear me? Lord Dae is dead, Sheila here killed him. I don't think they'll be able to make any more monsters!"

Octavia smiled at Sheila and said, "That is, good news! I'll be sure to spread the word of his demise. Though I doubt he will be mourned."

Chronos asked, "I've got to know, how did that old pervert die?"

Sheila replied quietly, "I killed him in a fit of rage after he had ordered me to help him deflower some young girls. I just saw red and snapped, everything kind of blurred for a minute and he was dead, beheaded by my hand. Teresa grabbed me and we blew out of there."

"That means the organization can't make any more monsters, doesn't it?" Asked Octavia. "We hope so." replied Teresa, "Lord Dae had me 'cleaning up after him' for awhile after I was revived and got my strength back. Some of them were pretty scary and I had no qualms about killing the mindless brutes."

Riful involuntarily shuddered and she remarked, "If you say they were scary Teresa, they must've been awful indeed. I still have nightmares about those abyssal feeders, I'll wake up from a sound sleep and can still feel their teeth ripping at my body."

Riful instinctively wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered.

Chronos frowned and said softly, "Is that what happened to poor Dauf? Eaten by those awful things?"

Riful nodded and a tear welled up in the corner of her right eye and trickled down her soft cheek.

Sheila instinctively reached over and draped her arm around Riful's slim shoulders and held her closely.

A few moments later, Riful wiped away the tears and smiled at everybody, "Sorry, I still get a little maudlin sometimes, it'll pass."

After a few moments, Chronos grinned at them and said, "On a lighter note, would you like some tea or something?"

"Tea would be wonderful." said Riful happily, "What would be even better is if you had any extra clothing, this cloak was lent to me."

Octavia smiled and said, "We found an old trunk with some girl's clothes in it, you're welcome to whatever you'd like!"

She grinned, "You all are welcome to stay the night, it's been forever since we had any guests."