Chapter 2

I have finally found it!

So, 80 viewers and two reviews, both if not outright enthusiast at least intrigued. It is actually more that I had hoped for when I started writing! Considering that my writing skills are barely average and Claymore is not a very common manga I was expecting far less people.

Anyway here part two. The idea is writing chapter with a minimum of 5000 words and a maximum of 10000. If you want more, or less, just tell me.

As always I own nothing of both franchises and I am not gaining a single euro from this so please do not sue me.

Unknown planet, Borders near Alphonse. Two minutes after the crash landing

Savaged and burned trees as far as the eyes could see; shattered rocks, burning grass, a massive trail of tossed earth two kilometers long ending with Aran's ship still scorching because of the improvised landing.

Saying that Aran's ship made a controlled crash landing would be the understatement of the century: the forest where Aran managed to land now showed a massive, burning scar as far as the eyes can see and only the dampness of the night, coupled by many days of rain quite common in this part of the island, stopped the blazing trees to begin a massive wildfire.

And yet, the ship still looked fine. Battered, scorched, but not broken. Just like his pilot.

It took at least two minutes before the poor pilot could even think about moving from his seat, such was the trauma and pain suffered during the landing. Trembling hands shakily grabbed the edges of his console and slowly, insulting every god known in the universe while doing it, the smuggler finally managed to get back on his feet and to gain back a minimum sense of control. His head still felt as if thousand of Krogans were using it as a drum, but at least he was still alive.

The bridge was a mess. most of the consoles were either deactivated or broken, half of the emergency lights destroyed and a carpet of broken bottles covered most of the floor. The strident, monotonous sound of the alarm constantly ringed inside Aran's ears and for a mad, terrifying second, the smuggler feared the worst for his ship.

"Come on baby, you had it worse during these years!" Aran's finger danced above the few active consoles "Tell me that you are fine!"

Beads of sweat ran trough the half-lifeless panel while the omni-tool immediately attached itself to the main computer, analyzing every inch of the ship, looking for permanent damage. They found nothing.

All primary system like Vital support, Helm and engines gave him the green light; many sub subsystems were gone, fried during the landing and the bulkheads need to entirely changed but, apart for that, the ship was fine.

"Thanks god for small mercies, now" thanked Aran "Where am i?" Thankfully, the sensor array was still fine so all he had to do was placing some input on the main computer and waited for the answer. Ten good minutes passed before the computer finished his work, time that Aran used to clean up the mess caused by the broken bottles and to reactivate the normal lights. The report arrived trough his omni-tool and Aran immediately looked at the results. According to his sensor, he was even more inside the snake nebula, next to the Perseus veil; more precisely he ended up inside a small cluster of three planets and a small yellow star hidden somewhere inside said nebula. The sensor found no traces of advanced life on the planet, and yet the orbital arrays found a fully functioning Mass effect relay in orbit, just waiting for him.

The air was breathable and strangely similar to the one on Earth so there was no risk of immediate death.

-An entire system inhabited and a Garden world with an active mass relay- mused Aran -A shame that is so close to Geth space and covered by nebulas. I wonder who activated the relay for me. This is Geth space after all, and no charts talk about this place. No matter, now I can-

His chain of thought was rudely interrupted by the ship's proximity alarm: four humanoid creatures were coming toward his ships. For some reason the computer partially identified them as humans, even if this was clearly not possible. Another creature was also coming, but it was so fast that the computer failed to gain a clear signature. The only clear thing for Aran was that unwelcome guests were coming and were coming fast!

The doors were mostly open for the intruders. Aran tried to reactivate the remote door control but the sub system was beyond destroyed and refused to work, forcing the smuggler to take a more direct approach.

Aran quickly left the bridge and sprinted towards his personal armory. The room had also been hit hard by the landing, with scattered pieces of furnitures strewn everywhere on the floor, but Aran couldn't care less at the moment; the only important thing was that the weapon container near his bed was intact.

Aran unlocked the container lock and immediately brought out a blue Sirta foundation armor mark seven equipped with medical IV, a heavy pistol, his trusted Katana shotgun armed with incendiary rounds and a pouch full of grenades. He was not the best gun man in the galaxy and he knew it, but he doubted that a bunch of primitive beasts could harm him now.

-Good- thought Aran while grinning at his shotgun -Now let's greet the new comers.-

Aran exited from his personal room and immediately darted toward the exit, breathing the air of the planet for the first time. As predicted by the computer the place was remarkably similar to Earth, even the grass had the same color. Small trees slowly danced at the wind's tune and dozens of small fires caused by the crash landing, together with the pallid face of the moon, were dimly illuminating the area showing small ash-colored trees and clusters of shrubbery.

Aran did not wasted time admiring the scenery and immediately activated his omni-tool performing a wide scan of the surrounding area, and immediately noticed that the first four creatures previously discovered were near, almost next to him, waiting. He was surrounded.

"Come out, you bastardly sons of bitches" shouted Aran while menacingly brandishing his shotgun "I known you are out of here, waiting for me!"

For some, tensed seconds nothing happened, and Aran hoped that whatever was outside simply decided to go away and leave him in peace. Then, out of seemingly nowhere the last thing Aran imagined to find on a newly discovered planet come out from their hiding spots: four humans, all dressed with brown and black robes made on linen. Their faces were quite anonymous, all with brown eyes and hairs, and partially covered by cloaks but they were definitely human beings!

-No no! This is impossible! They can't be humans! This is an undiscovered planet!- thought a flabbergasted Aran. His hands immediately flied to his omni-tool, ordering a full body scan of this new comers, hoping to receive an answer.

"Mhm...hello there friend" said one of the humans in the meantime "We are merchants coming from Rabona. We noticed the strange flying…..thing coming down near the forest and decided to go and take a look. Are you ok? You look like someone who just saw a specter"

Right into that moment a quiet beep told Aran that his omni-tool had just finished analyzing the newcomers. What it shown to Aran managed to deeply disturb the smuggler: purple blood, unknown organs, inhuman brain patterns and hundreds upon hundreds of insane datas!

These newcomers were clearly not human despite the appearance.

"Merchants you say" uttered Aran "Merchants without merchandise, without guards, without nothing!" he immediately pointed the shotgun in the face of the nearest false human "Merchants that are not even what they seem. Begone before I open fire!"

The creature were clearly surprised by his words because looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Not human!? No wait friend, you are" tried to say one of the creature but Aran interrupted him

"You are not my friend and I said begone!" roared Aran without patience.

But they did not disappeared, on the contrary, they remained perfectly still. Then, after some seconds, one of the creatures talked once again, but this time his voice was different, more drawled and powerful, like an alien creature trying to speak the human language and failing miserably in doing so.

"Now this is interesting" said the creature "A human that can recognize us. A shame that this won't save you."

The merchants immediately started transforming right in front of Aran eyes. Their dresses were torn apart allowing new flesh and bone to be free to expand. Their skin, once light brown, became of a sickly dark green. Their eyes became similar to the ones of cats while new sharp claws and teeth adorned their now slavering mouths. Long tongues started clacking vigorously in prospective of eating a new prey.

Called yoma by common people, these creatures were the failed experiments of the organization. Rejected by their former masters and barely able to control their inner monster they usually wandered from village to village, killing and devouring any unfortunate traveler they met until someone, usually a Claymore, ended their life. Much stronger than normal humans, these creature were able to devour entire villages by themselves to the last woman and child! With the fall of the organization their number were now dwindling but small groups of them, the smartest ones, were still roaming around undisturbed and preyed upon lone wanderers and peddlers.

The monsters, because that is what they were for Aran's eyes, immediately charged the lone human. After all, how could an unharmed man stop four yomas like them?

The answer of such question arrived when Aran squeezed the trigger of his shotgun and a shower of incendiary bullet sprayed what few brain the lead yoma possessed against his brethrens. Such was the strength of the blast that the yoma's body flied for some meters before falling down in a puddle of gore and purple blood and this blocked the charge of his remaining companions, the creatures too stunned by how their leader had been killed to properly react; but when the human pointed the strange tube in their direction they immediately retreated by sidestepping out of the way and avoiding a second blast that shredded a small tree instead. Aran flattened himself near the hull and scanned the surrounding area; he had only one shot before recharging and he wanted to make it count! Another of the creature leaped at him with uncanny speed managing to surprise the nervous smuggler and to hit him with one of his long claws. The creature's aim was true and his claw hit Aran square in the chest, but the armor proved to be too strong for the yoma's claws and instead of breaking all of Aran's ribs what the yoma heard was a screeching sound followed by a snap. The attack had only dazed Aran while the yoma grunted and tried to retreat, one of his bony claws now broken and lodged inside his enemy's armor but nothing else. With gritted teeth Aran ignored the pain, placed his shotgun right next to the creature's and squeezed the trigger. There was a loud bang and the yoma was cut in half in a shower of purple blood.

Aran reeled near the hull of his ship while his overly excited brain tried to take a break. He was a smuggler after all, not a mercenary or an operative! He was not used to such battles.

The last two enemies were also nervous: after all since when normal humans possessed such formidable weapons?

"See what this beauty can do? Show off or the next ones in the fucking list will be you!" Cried Aran trying to intimidate the last two of his would be assassins, but the creatures refused to escape. They simply looked at him with their bestial stares, unsure of what to do.

All of a sudden both of the creature leaped out of his way, one on his right and the other on his left.

-What the hell are they doing?- though Aran looking at their action. They were not escaping that was sure. The answer of his question come when both the creatures charged at him in a pincer attack coming from both his angles, forcing him only to chose only one of them.

They had understood that his shotgun was powerful, but capable of killing only one at the time.

-Fuck, these beasts know how to attack with strategy!- reasoned a now very panicked Aran -They are not as mindless as I thought.-

Blinded by panic Aran did not even tried to recharge the weapon, instead he unholstered his sidearm and fired blindly at the nearest enemy. The first three shots missed the target by mere inches and the monster howled in triumph for this; Aran was at one step from panicking and started spraying and praying, not even caring anymore if he used all his shots agains one target. One bullet hit the yoma square in the chest just when his claws were an ounce near his victim's neck, the force of the impact making him tumble backward; then another bullet hit him near the jaw ripping it away from his mouth. Aran kept firing, refusing to let the creature get away and almost destroying the pistol for overheating. In the end the thermal clip was ejected by the exhausted pistol while the yoma's corpse, at this point riddled with bullet holes, collapsed on the wet ground in a puddle of his own blood but the last yoma was still here and attacked right at that moment the distracted smuggler. Such was the strength of the attack that Aran did not managed to stay on his feet and tumbled down, losing the grasp on his handgun in the process. The yoma immediately capitalized his advantage and attacked the downed enemy with a flurry of blows and cuts that managed to stun his target. Aran on the other hand was at this point barely conscious and unable to retaliate in any meaningful way.

Seeing that the armor was too strong for his claws, the yoma changed tactic: he searched for an unprotected part of his enemy's neck and, when found it, used it to strangle his prey. Aran reacted instinctively and tried to lash out against the yoma but to no avail: the beast's grip was one of iron and Aran's lung immediately felt the pressure. The yoma slowly and methodically chocked the life out of his victim, letting out a howl of victory and already looking forward for the banquet. He could not care less about the death of its comrades, for its twisted mind saw this only as less competition from now on.

The human's face started to become blue, his frantic attack even more desperate and weak. He was about to die and the yoma knew it. He just needed to keep the pressure for another couple of seconds, and then….

An excruciating pain gripped the yoma's body. The monster howled in pain and instinctively raised his arm in defense of the new menace only to discover that something had severed both of them in one quick swing! A fountain of purple blood showered the area while the creature looked everywhere in searching of the new enemy and when he noticed the newcomer what little blood was left in him frozen in fear. A giant great-sword already slick with blood firmly kept in one small hand, white skin fairer than the purest snow and dimly lighted by the dying fires, two cat-like eyes.

A Claymore. Their sworn enemies.

The yoma completely disregarded his prey at the sight of the hated enemy and madly dashed toward the wilderness in a desperate attempt of survival.

A futile effort: the Claymore lunged against the fleeing yoma with unnatural speed and cut both his legs with a single strike. The beast was now bleeding heavily and helpless, barely able to crawl away from the battlefield but the Claymore stopped him by placing a boot right on his chest.

"Please Claymore" begged the yoma "You have already punished me enough! Spare me! Don't" his pathetic prayer was rudely interrupted by a single strike of the Claymore's sword, and the wretched beast's head quietly rolled away like a piece of crumpled paper, ending his life in an instant.

With a fluid movement the Claymore cleared her sword of the purple blood and then re encased it in the scabbard, then she remained still on her place, focusing every inch of her spirit in some kind of mysterious task. Such was her focus that a foreign observer would have thought that the lone girl was some kind of statue and not a living being. A long, excruciating minute passed and a surreal silence engulfed the battlefield, interrupted only by the sporadic cracking sound of the bonfires. Finally the Claymore's pose lost her stiffness and a sight of relief escaped from the warrior's mouth.

There were no other yomas signs in the vicinity. The battle was finally over.


Lena kneeled and observed with curiosity the traveler that she had just saved, cursing for the eleventh time her non-existent yoki perception ability that stopped her from sensing the four small yoki aura of the recently slain yoma. Their aura were so small that she simply failed noticed the yoma until she literally stumbled in their bodies. Thank the twin goddesses she managed to save him in extremis!

Slowly, trying to not hurt the unconscious man, Lena tried to remove the strange metal armor the stranger possessed so that she could take a look at his injuries, but miserably failed. The strange metal armor seemed almost fused in the skin of his wielder; no straps or restraints kept the various metal plates connected and the armor looked forged on a single massive piece of metal. A true masterpiece!

In the end, after five minutes of thorough research, Lena simply decided to not waste any more time and to bring the stranger next to a camping spot where she had left Raina. While doing this the young Claymore could not avoid to think about the strange person she was carrying with her: he was not a person from the island, his blue armor was too complex and decorated for being the work of some metalsmith of the island and besides, somehow this man had managed to kill three yoma by himself! The fact than a simple human could kill a yoma was not such a surprise for Lena. Claire's fiancee, that young man called Raki, could also do that; but this stranger somehow managed to kill three yomas all by himself, and in such a peculiar ways! One yoma had been cut in half by some kind of giant axe and later burned to death, another mauled by an enormous flail and, last but not least, the third yoma showed dozens of quarrel wounds. To make matters even more mysterious, the only object found by Lena after a fast patrolling was a strange glowing tube made of silver, clearly made by the same artisan who forged that strange armor no doubt. No crossbow, no flail, no axe, nothing else.

Well nothing except the giant metal contraption that somehow managed to fall down from the goddesses forsaken sky!

-Whatever!- Thought Lena while going back to Raina with the unconscious man on his back -First let's secure this man. Then I will check that…..thing.-

Raina looked at the unconscious man with an interrogative expression

"Mum, who is he?" asked the child eyeing the strange armor

"No idea" answered Lena "But he somehow managed to kill three yomas by himself and almost got killed in the process dear. I have to check something now so keep an eye of him. If he start waking up flare your small yoki like I have instructed and I will immediately come back."

"Ok mum, come back quickly." answered the child. Lena flashed her a small smile and then immediately come back to the battlefield. For some minutes she carefully explored the surrounding place, still searching the missing weapons used by the stranger to kill the yomas. After doing so, and failing miserably in the process, the young Claymore decided to focus on the giant thing that was near her. It was a strange construction, entirely made of metal now scorched and blackened and vaguely similar of a resting hawk. It was long at least twenty meters and wide seven. Right now it was jagged and dirty but it was still beautiful for Lena's eyes, like a giant wounded predator. But what was truly interesting Lena was the opened hatch of the construct. A mystery waiting to be discovered!

Something that just an handful of people knew was that Lena was quite the unquiet mind. A new way to use your yoki power? Let's try! You found an abandoned castle? Let's explore it and so on and so on.

The common sense was screaming at her to not enter inside the contraption, but what was the fun in that?

Without hesitation Lena entered inside the ship.


"Well, this is….uncommon." commented Lena after some second. The inside of the thing was as strange as his outside: dozens of smokeless white lights placed on the roof were illuminating the place with the strength of a small sun. The walls were covered by white-metal panels made of an unknown alloy and perfectly wedged in. Even the floor was made on metal, a strange green colored non ferrous metal that was warm to the touch. The room where Lena entered appeared as some kind of giant and empty corridor, devoid of any kind of furnitures and linked to three massive doors leading the goddesses only knew where. Everything appeared so well cleaned and tended, so….alien.

-The stranger must be filthy rich, not even the clergy could afford a building entirely made of metal- thought the girl.

Her curiosity barely tinged, Lena chose one of the three doors and decided to take a closer look at it. It was a steel-covered door, devoid of any handle and firmly shut. Lena tried to push it, without success. She tried to pull then; still no success.

Annoyed by the sudden problem, Lena unsheathed her sword and stroke the door with a violent thrust but the metal was barely scratched by the violent attack. Clearly brute force was not the solution here, and so Lena opted for a different strategy: noticing that the previous thrust had managed to open a minuscule hole in the door the Claymore decided to place the tip of her weapon inside it. After some seconds of careful movement she managed to get a firm grip and started to use her lodged sword as a lever. The door groaned but didn't budged. Lena increased her yoki by 20%, multiplying her muscle mass and changing the color of her eyes. This time the door groaned noticeably but still held firm. Lena then went straight to 50% yoki power, changing every part of her body and using all her strength in one single push. A loud snap echoed trough the area and the door opened so fast that Lena lost her footing and ended face down the floor with an audible thud.

Stunned, for a second Lena remained still and massaged her head, but immediately rose back to her feet when he gave a glance at the room she had just opened. Floor, lights and walls were made of the same material of the previous room, but this one was much smaller and much more furnished: an assortment of strange metal boxes and weird illuminated panels were strapped in one of the walls; they were lifeless and firmly shut, and Lena ad honestly no idea about their working principles let alone how they worked. Two huge beds covered in soft layers of what appeared to be silk occupied most of the remaining free space. Pills and other strange minuscule spheres were rolling everywhere on the floor forcing Lena to be very careful about her movements. All of these discoveries excited the Claymore like a little schoolgirl and for half an hour Lena broke every single door of the construction and explored the place inch by inch, discovering the most wondrous things and the most mysterious objects, from glowing sticks to talking boxes. Only the helm's door, heavily fortified and protected by a strange sparkly wall, managed to finally stop her and just barely.

-This place is a maze full of marvels!- thought Lena while exiting from the ship and going back to Raina, her head still dazed by all the wonders she had discovered.

-Smokeless lights, unknowns alloys, strange contraptions, lightning coming from the doors. How in the twin goddesses was all of this possible? Miria and the others must be warned about this place!-

Back to the camp Lena noticed that her guest was still sleeping and simply let him be and decided to share all the wondrous discoveries she had just witnessed with her daughter. The child looked at Lena with open eyes after hearing what her mother had just found inside the strange house fallen from the sky, but soon lost her focus because of the lack of sleep. Lena noticed this and immediately stopped recounting her tale and instead embraced her in a tender hug

"You are tired Raina. It is ok; you are still a child after all, and all this mess made you skip a lot of sleep. Come here."

Raina happily accepted the offer and immediately reciprocated the hug with a tender and tired smile. Only two seconds and she was already sleeping. Her tender frame peacefully resting on Lena's lap. Lena smiled and used her cape to cover the young child while preparing to a long night of sentry duty. As a Claymore she could avoid sleeping for days so she was fine and besides, she loved seeing Raina sleeping. She was so adorable.

Many people were still surprised by the fact that Lena of all people possessed such a maternal side inside of her and, to be honest, the most surprised of all had been Lena herself for a time. She, the coldest and most apathetic Claymore of her generation, a tender and loving mum!

She still remembered the first day she got stuck with Raina. She was one of the few children not accepted by neither the church nor normal people and so forced to live day by day with different Claymores until a more definitive systemization could be found. In the first day Lena almost lashed out and her companions: she had to babysit a snotty and whining brat for days only because no one wanted her?! What in the goddesses names was Anastasia thinking? Unfortunately her friend showed to be irremovable, so when the day after informing her she came back with Raina Lena didn't immediately kicked her out, but come very close of doing it. And yet, only after ten days, the beauty charmed the beast.

All the Claymores tried to discover how the little girl managed to "tame the wolf". A case of opposite attraction maybe, said some; a change of heart, said others; Helen simply commented that growing fond of young orphans had to be some kind of tradition for cranky Claymores, a little gibe aimed clearly at Claire. Lena smiled in remembering that period of her life; they were all out of the road. The simple truth was that Raina managed to worm her way inside her heart by doing something that no one had ever dared to do to her. It happened the second day of their forced coexistence; they were both walking near the outskirt of Rabona; a friendly walk if not for the fact that Lena actively tried to outpace the little child without even deign her of a word. All of a sudden Raina began screaming something and quickly went near one of the many trees that littered the landscape, and pointed at something near it. It was a small bird, probably a chick fallen from the nest. Raina asked her to bring it back to the nest but Lena simply scoffed at the idea. Now she had to also play the little bird savior? Like hell! The chick was unimportant and the brat had better get on with it. Raina begged and begged, and when she noticed that her guide would not have moved an inch for the small chick she did the impossible: she accused Lena of being a pathetic coward no better than the organization men and decided to do it by herself. Lena for the first time of her time remained speechless and simply looked at the small child, barely half her size, started climbing the tall and slippery tree with grim determination. Dozens of times the little girl tumbled down, incapable to get a proper grip, and every time she rose back and tried once again, ignoring cuts and bruises. Only when the Claymore heard a broken bone did she decided to intervene, and when she did her eyes watched the little, frail girl with a new light. Snotty, whining, naive….but so damn brave.

She could respect that.

The chick was placed back in its right place, and the incident quickly forgotten, and yet, day after day, Lena discovered that she could not stay away from the little brat for long. She wanted to stay with her, train her, look for her. Her bravery, her stubbornness, even her naivety stopped being a nuisance and become marvelous traits. The little thief had managed to steal her heart. From that moment her maternal instinct toward Raina skyrocketed so much that some warriors started to be worried about her: she became so attached to her that the only idea of leaving her became unacceptable, and everyone still remembered the day when a merchant slapped Raina for not letting him pass and ended up having all his bones shattered by an enraged Claymore.

Raina really had changed Lena, to the point that if someone would have tried to take her away from her, human or otherwise, the Claymore's reaction would have been nothing less than a massacre.


Borders near alphonse. Seven hours later.

-And now where am I?- asked a tired Aran to no one in particular. The last thing he remembered was the ugly face of that monster near him, its horrible hands near his neck, the lack of breath quickly followed by dizziness and nausea. He remembered fainting inside a giant worm-hole and then….nothing. No noise, no odor, nothing. He was stuck in some kind of a giant limbo, and apparently incapable to come out.

"If this is the hell, I am quite deluded." said Aran out loud "It lacks its spunk." Naturally no one answered him

"Ah whatever!" Dead or not, did it ever mattered. He was already condemned after all thanks to that bastard of T'Von! At this point every place was as good as any so why bother. He had lived a funny life. A bit short but interesting.

The, all of a sudden, an out of tune noise interrupted his quiet reasoning. It was a strange sound, like a continuous beep. Intrigued, Aran stopped his trail of thinking and investigated about the strange noise; he knew that sound, he was sure about that.

-What is it?- mused Aran trying to remember. All of a sudden a revelation it his brain, a very preoccupied one.

-Fuck! Is the medical interface! But if it is blipping, then it means that…

An improvise jolt of electricity suddenly enveloped Aran making him quiver in pain. Aran screamed like he had never done before while the world all around him burned and died. A blinding light lashed out at him ripping him out from that comforting darkness, dragging him away to unknown places. The pain became unbearable….and all of a sudden he was awake once again. He was a shacking mess, the beating he had previously received united to the huge doses of electricity and meds that his IV interface just used to awaken him had played hard on his body. He felt the need to trow up, his veins were on fire and his vision was still hampered by strange black spots, but at least he was alive. Sun rays grazed his body, a clear sign that he remained unconscious for at least the entire night.

"Fucking hell this hurt!" cursed Aran out loud

"Mind your manners, stranger" said an unknown voice behind him "Do not sully my daughter's ears with such vulgar words."

Aran immediately turned over in the direction of the voice, and for the second in just some hours this god-forsaken planet managed to surprise him. Next to him an human girl barely twenty five years old was looking at him with beautiful silver eyes. She was breathtaking: white skin, slender form, perky breast and angelic face. She was dressed with a full grey and green baggy suit made by some kind of coarse cloth that really did not complement such a fine body, but what was really out of place was the giant two handed sword strapped on her back. Seriously, how could humans live here off all places, and why of all the weapons on the galaxy a bloody sword?

On her lap a small child, probably seven years old, gently slept on her lap. The two were clearly related: they had the same blonde hairs and fair skin and besides, the child's sleeping face was so peaceful, so happy. The gaze of a child being with her mother.

Saying that Aran was confused was a massive understatement.

"What? Who? How?" asked a flabbergasted Aran

"You killed three yomas, but the fourth one was about to kill you. Luckily I managed to save and drag you away from them. I am called Lena by the way; silver eyed warrior. Who are you?" said the girl with monotonous voice

"What do you mean who am I girl?" spat Aran "An human like you. Is this not enough right now?"

The girl laughed at these words. A sad, weak laugher.

"Now I am sure that you are not from this place, if not from the island at all! Your armor is as ornate as a ceremonial one, yet judging by the yoma's claw I found lodged in your armor, it is much stronger than it looks. You do not even know what am I, not counting that giant….thing fallen from the sky that i'm guessing is yours, so I ask again. Who are you?"

Aran did not answered immediately, all his fugitive senses now active and screaming at him. A strange and honestly cute but creepy girl armed with a massive sword was interrogating him. For a moment the smuggler though about not answering the question, but something in the girl's gaze made him reject this idea. Straight lying to her was another no no; the girl was clearly not stupid so tricking her was out of the question. Saying a lie covered by some grains of truth and gain some time until he managed to discover how in the hell was possible that an human population was living here of all places, or simply decided to escape away from this madness? Seems fine to him.

"My name is Aran, girl, and I am a courier." started saying Aran "I am not from here as you have noticed. I come from a big continent placed on the east from your island. Long story short in the place where I come from there are many organizations knowledgeable in machinery and biology. One of such organizations paid me to pilot that flying prototype, but something went wrong during the travel and now I am here." The girl's eyes narrowed dangerously and a scowl crept on her face after hearing the explanation.

"This organization you are talking about, is the one expert In the mysteries of life? Describe me the appearances of their employees!"

"What? Why are you asking about them?" asked Aran surprised

"Were they dressed in black?" Continued the girl imperterred. Aran launched at her an exasperated glance: all of this interest was not in the plan.

"Listen lady, it is clear that you have some grudge against some black robed idiots but I do not know if my supervisors and them are the same person, so stop looking at me as if I was some kind of bastard that want to stab you in the back. I'm just a small cog in a very complex machine. A cog that, by the way, really want to simply go back at home right now."

The strange girl looked at him, her mind clearly at work trying to decipher his baked lie. She did not believed him, not entirely, but she seems to at least partially accept his explanation.

"You must come with me." finally said with a firm tone. Aran almost chocked in his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"You must come with me" repeated the girl "You are not from this land, you clearly do not know where you go, unless your bosses almost managed to created a device capable of scanning an entire continent in an heartbeat. This island is much safer that it was just one year ago, but bandits, yomas and even more dangerous creatures still roam his countryside, especially here in the northern part. We shall go to Rabona, one of the biggest city on the island. Here you shall find all you need to repair your ship and will talk to a companion of mine about this strange -organization-" this word was spat out by the girl with venom "In one week I am sure you will be fine and ready to come back."

-Hell no- thought Aran -I am NOT leaving the ship!-

"But I cannot leave my ship here unprotected!" protested Aran trying to find a way out

"At least give me one day to make some essentials repairs! I am not asking for much!"

The girl did not answer immediately, clearly considering the proposition.

"Fine. Go make your emergency repairs. I while forage some provisions for the journey."

-Thanks fuck for small mercies- thanked Aran in his mind. He immediately went up from his post and went toward his ship grateful to have at least some time to think about how to go out from this strange situation. Just a second before disappearing from her sight Lena's voice reached him

"Oh about your ship, I have explored it and probably broken some of the internal doors by forcing them open. Had to do it, all the handlers were disappeared for some reason. Is this a big problem."

Aran almost stumbled on his feet. That girl opened the internal doors with her bare hands? Impossible! All starship doors, regardless of the types of ship, were able to resist pressures superior to 1200 pascal at the very least! The Krogan were the only creatures capable of such a feat.

"No no" quickly answered "It is not a big problem do not worry. See you later Lena." In truth Aran's mind was a boiling bog of ideas and thoughts. If everything the girl had said to him was true, then for some reason in this god-forsaken planets there were monstrous creatures capable of giving a run to their money even of entire mercenary bands, and one of such creature had just saved him. But in this case that girl, Lena, was much more than his savior; T'Von was actively searching a new kind of gladiator, something capable to leave a mark in the fighting arenas of the underworld, and he had just found a sword-wielding human thing stronger than any Krogan and totally devoid of biotic abilities.

-I need to check the ship's data logs.- though Aran after entering inside the ship and running toward the helm. He immediately noticed the damage suffered by the internal doors, they were all yanked open, and when he reached the helm and found the camera recordings of the last shift his eyes bulged in surprise. The recordings showed the girl opening every door of the ship using only her giant sword and sheer muscle mass. It was almost unbelievable and when the recording showed the girl hitting the infirmary's floor with her head after using too much force opening it Aran quickly went to the infirmary and collected some campions of dried blood so that the computer could analyze them. Only after doing all this chores Aran started reorganizing his ship and repairing all the damaged system. For the first time in days a small smile crept his face: he had finally found what he was looking for