"You know, instead of glaring at me in silence the entire time, we could have a nice chat. Get to know each other better." Raki suggested as they walked through the snow. The plan was to head up north to provide Renee with some "quality protection" as Raki put it. For most of the walk, Renee said few words and that glare never left her face. To most, it would be frightening. To Raki, it looked like an adorable pout, but he didn't say it aloud, at least not yet.
"What's there to talk about?" Renee asked with a bit of gloom. She knew there was a lot Raki could probably talk about but what would he want to know about her?
"Well, I like your hair." Raki stated. There was a lot he could talk about but he knew claymores didn't do much outside their line of work, so he opted for something off the bat they both might be able to talk about. "Looks nice on you. Did you do it yourself?"
Renee was caught a bit off guard by the compliment. She coughed into her hand and fought a light blush to answer him, her glare folding back a bit. "A fellow warrior named Anastasia helped me. She's particularly adept at hair."
"She did a pretty good job." Raki told her with a small smile. "What was it like before this?"
"It was fluffier." She answered, but returned back to glaring. "Why do you even care?" She sighed out, trying to sound more aggravated than she really was.
"Because I genuinely want to get to know you, Renee." Raki said evenly. "Do you really want to just spend our journey in awkward silence?"
"You're the one making it awkward." She grumbled. She stayed silent for a few steps and decided to ask a rather important question on her mind for a while now. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but how did you beat Dauf? She covered up your mouth and said that you needed to talk to use it. What did that mean?" She asked before she folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I doubt your success was by the power of your smooth talking." She deadpanned.
Raki chuckled and raised his eyebrow. "You think I talk smooth?" He teased and making her growl in annoyance, taking note of how easy it was to fluster her. Nice change of pace since working with Babette shortly before coming back to Toulouse. "To answer your question, it's my Thu'um."
"A what?"
"The power of my voice." He clarified. "When I shout certain words in a certain language, the power of my soul is channeled through to my vocal cords and out." He made gestures as he spoke for added clarity. "Simple as that."
"I doubt anything is simple with you." Renee remarked dryly. "Surely there's more to your power than that?"
Raki hummed. "There is, but it will be easier to show you and explain when we get there." A few steps after his sentence, they came upon a small town in the distance. "Ah, a good resting place for tonight. What do you think, Renee?"
"Why not?" She asked rhetorically. After a week and a few days of traveling with this strange man, she could use a nice rest. Seriously, how was he not tired? Perhaps Renee was just mentally tired. Either way, a stop was welcomed. "So your voice is basically magic?" Renee had to dig further into this Thu'um topic.
Raki couldn't help but giggle, she made this easy. "Renee, you flatter me."
"The question - answer it." The Claymore growled.
"In a way but it's a bit different from that." Raki answered seriously. "Like magic, anyone can do it given enough time and practice. However, my spiritual power makes it easy for me to unleash at full potential and gives me full access to shout powers." Renee found his words to be odd. 'A spiritual power?'
"Another thing," Raki continued, "Is that it helps me sense the Yoma."
Renee's eyes widened, taken by surprise by this man yet again. "How?" She whispered.
Raki still heard her and shrugged. "Spiritual power and then comes spiritual sensing." By this point, they were nearing the town and earning some stares of the few arriving and departing people, many uncomfortable or outright scared. "Before I tell you more, let's get a room and some drinks." Raki said in a low tone. "It'll be better to talk in a relaxed environment."
Renee nodded and followed him as they looked for the local inn. The usual town of stone buildings in mildly busy streets. She did hear about some people once again making an exodus from the north, given the recent events and news. There were still a decent amount of people here albeit teetering on the lower spectrum.
They found a sign soon enough, a sign for an inn. A rather cozy looking building too. "Drinks first or a room?" Raki asked as they stopped a few steps from entering.
"What do you prefer?" Renee curtly asked. She really didn't care. But she found it a bit endearing that he would ask that.
"Hmm. Let's take a load off then, do a little mead testing." He chuckled as he led them in the building. He hoped that the deprivation from the really good stuff would make the lesser drinks at least bearable. Raki wasn't a drunk or anything like that, but he did drink occasionally and during his time in Skyrim, he tasted some of the finest brew out there and ever since those times, many drinks paled in comparison. He hoped the stuff here could be at least decent.
He also secretly wanted to see this particular Claymore unwind. A few drinks would probably do this silver working stiff some good.
They entered and immediately all eyes were on them. A few other weary travelers were inside and were apparently merry making until the pair walked in. Raki and Renee paid them no mind as they walked to the innkeeper behind the desk and the patrons slowly went back to talking amongst themselves.
Raki proceeded to do business with the innkeeper and while he was focused primarily on him, he could hear the conversations from the other patrons and picked off a rather interesting conversation.
"- a silver eyed witch with a traveling companion." An old, gruff voice. A typical hardworking man.
"Not sure if he's lucky or not." A younger voice, something you'd expect from the son of a lumberjack.
"I say he is. Look at that body." Another voice, someone between the two others and an oddly delicate sounding female, drawing sounds of agreement from her two companions. Raki held back a quiet laugh as Renee stiffened next to him.
"Mmm. I don't know." A third man interjected dreamily. "If anything, I'd say she's the lucky one." Much to Renee's vengeful amusement, Raki went visibly green. In his mind, the young man was chanting 'Don't Fus Ro Dah the gay guy... Don't Fus Ro Dah the gay guy…'
Raki had nothing against gay people but was jumpy around those interested in him since he did have a shield brother who tended to be a little too grabby in training... and off it. Damn that Athis.
"Oi, speaking of silver women, haven't heard from those mysterious ladies for a long time." The woman's words caught of Raki's attention. This town wasn't far off from Pieta, at least not by Claymore standards if he recalled. When he came back to Toulouse, he dug around for information and heard about what happened there and Renee confirmed it yesterday.
"Pieta... a failed mission took place there that lead to the near annihilation of a whole generation in an effort to quell the rise if the northern king's army."
A rational person knew the chances of Clare's survival were... bleak at best. But Raki didn't come here to give up. At the very least, he would pay respect. "What do you think happened?" Raki broke from his thoughts to listen to more of the conversation.
"Don't know. Probably went off somewhere south. Honestly, I think they should've left sooner." The second fellow answered. "Heard there were some bad omens up there. Not to mention those filthy bandits resting up near there now. Fucking degenerates."
Raki heard enough and Renee could barely notice him tense up. "Hey, Renee. How much sleep would you say you need?"
"Just an hour. You?"
"About the same. Excuse me!" Raki called out, drawing the attention of the owner of the establishment. "How much for an hour?"
The man gave the duo a befuddled look as he looked between them. "Just an hour? You know most inns require payment for a full day at least, right?" Raki nodded. "Hmm, I'll cut you a break though. Just ten beras. But you must leave after the hour." He finished with a light glare for emphasis as he reached for a key.
Raki nodded as he was handed a key. "You got it. Thank you."
The duo rested at the inn for said allotted time before immediately setting off to Pieta at a much hastier pace. His need to see this fallen town was even greater thanks to the mentioning of bandits. Potential looters and desecraters that he wouldn't tolerate. He wasn't sure if Renee would help him with them given her mindset but that would be fine by him.
Killing bandits was nothing new but still highly welcomed in Raki's mind.
"Raki." Renee spoke after the town was pretty much out of sight. "Why are you so interested in Pieta? Are you looking for something... or someone there?"
"Someone." Raki answered though his eyes were more focused ahead of him. "I'm looking for that warrior I talked about before. The one who saved my life seven years ago and gave me purpose when she took me in. A warrior who became a central reason in why I'm who I am now." He was somewhat reminiscing as he explained this.
"That warrior really did all of that for you?" Raki nodded in response. This was still shocking to say the least. Claymores are socially inept to put it lightly and the thought of one taking in and helping a youngster was just inconceivable to her. Renee didn't focus on addressing that though. She felt sadness given the circumstances of where they were heading. "Raki... if she participated in the battle of Pieta... "
"There's still a chance. You heard what those people said too, right?" Raki's gaze hardened as he looked towards the horizon. "I didn't come back here to give up on the first sign that sparked doubt. If I lived like that, I'd be long dead by now." Then a smirk grew on his face. "Besides... Clare can't be dead. She's stronger than that. Plus, I gotta pay her back for that kiss."
That last part nearly made Renee stumble on her own feet and nearly made Raki lose his serious visage for one of mirth. "K-kiss?" Claymores didn't kiss anyone... mostly. Certainly not humans at the very least. "You mean on your cheek or forehead?"
"What?" Raki chuckled out. "No, I mean tongue on tongue contact."
That detail nearly made her trip again and Raki couldn't help give a quick snort of laughter. "You and your associations are the literal antithesis of typical!" She practically yelled with exasperation.
"Tell me something new." He couldn't help but enjoy her reactions to his life so far. Sad, or even more enjoyable, truth of the situation was that she was just scraping the bottom of the barrel and at this rate, it was only downhill, or uphill, from here. "Now let's hurry up. I have no doubt there will be a clue up there that will lead to a confirmation. A claymore is a warrior's tombstone, right?"
Renee nodded. "Usually."
"Then that's what I'll be looking for then." Raki had no doubt that if there were survivors of this slaughter that they would honor their fallen sisters. He just needed to see what was there and what wasn't from the scope of things. And if need be, deliver righteous justice on any unwanted grave robbers.
()()()()
Pieta... another reminder of horrendous loss. Homes abandoned, remains buried and preserved by time and frost, and nearly an entire generation of Claymores all but abandoned to die at the hands of the first generation Awakened Beings by the Organization, the ones that made them. A depressing situation.
Well, not depressing for all. For some, it was regarded with a sense of apathy. A simple necessity to cull the unwanted and uncared for from the world. For the Organization, this was a necessity to remove troublesome warriors. For the Silver King of the North, it was a necessary step to remove a bump in the road on his path of conquering Toulouse.
It cost him a few brothers and his right hand man, Silver Eyed Lion King Rigaldo. A seemingly terrible loss on the surface, but in truth, that was also regarded with mostly apathy. He never hated his brothers, especially not Rigaldo. Honestly, he respected them, he certainly respected Rigaldo, and he even respected the new generations of Claymores that came after his generation's time. But with that being said, that loss didn't hurt him in a deep sense, if at all.
Knowing Rigaldo, he probably enjoyed going out with a bang. It almost made him giggle knowing the battle beast such as him who enjoyed being sent off to combat. Always out to prove his strength, his worth through blood.
Ah, now that Isley thought about it, perhaps the situation he was now in was karma for what he did to them. He sighed, looking over the remains of Pieta. He was tired. Both physically and mentally. Even with his trump card, the situation could prove taxing. Especially when she wandered off like now.
*Sniff* *sniff*
Isley hummed. "People... in Pieta? Interesting." He couldn't help but find that a bit odd even if welcomed. He could use some food anyway. And it wouldn't hurt him to pay a little respect. Even if he didn't care for his brothers or claymores, there was still that sense of respect he held for them.
()()()()
"So this is Pieta." Raki looked around at the remains of what was probably a nice town. Seeing it like this and knowing what happened here tore at him a bit. He's seen devastation like this a few times before, but it still never failed to make his heart ache. "Let's hurry and find what we came for. We can pay our respects for the sacrifices right after."
Renee nodded. It was nice to hear, a human wanting to honor the fallen Claymores. Even some of her fellow warriors didn't do that. Speaking of which. "Raki, we're going to have to stick together in our search. The suppressants our still in effect and will be so for a while." Just in case they come across any trouble, it would be better for her to stick by who was already her guardian.
"Understood." They began to move through the town at a brisk pace, looking for what would now be the tombstones of claymores. Looking through the frost covered ruins of a desolate land.
Nothing for a few minutes but ruins. Raki stopped and help up a hand, signaling for Renee to stop. He heard something, shuffling from a wrecked building around the corner of their position. Renee could hear it too and put her hand on her claymore just in case. Raki looked around the corner.
What he found was a little unexpected. He expected people to be in Pieta, bandits and looters, maybe even an Awakened or two making this a home. Instead, he found a rather ordinary looking girl pulling on something, trying to wrench that thing free out of some rubble. She was wearing a cloak, had spiky chestnut brown hair, and from the side, Raki could see her forehead was a bit more pronounced.
"Raki, what is it?" Renee whispered.
"It's a teenage girl." Raki answered as he gestured for the Claymore to follow. They took a few steps towards her before stopping again. The girl managed to pull the thing out. A full sized claymore sword and she held it with one hand. Normal teenage girls couldn't do that. It was definitely safe to assume she was an Awakened Being.
Before Raki and Renee could even take a step back, her curious gaze fell upon them. She looked at them, particularly Raki, with curiosity and intrigue but seemed a little unsure. She took her steps nice and slow but froze when Renee reached for her weapon.
Raki turned to her and signaled for her to lower it. She looked at him with an expression that implicitly asked 'are you sure?' and nodded. The girl saw Renee put her weapon away and was once again slowly making her way towards Raki. The young man himself decided to just stay put and she what she would do.
The girl began to carry the claymore like one would when they would ceremoniously hand the blade to someone else. It didn't have a symbol Raki recognized. When she was rather close to Raki, she held the blade up for him. She just wanted him to look at it seeing as how she began to pull back when he reached for it. "Why do you have it?" He asked. "It doesn't belong to you."
She nodded. "I don't like thieves." She whispered.
Raki was about to ask her to elaborate before he heard numerous steps towards them and shouting. "Come back with my new sword, you bitch!" From the sounds of it, people he wouldn't like. Renee was still concerned given her mindset and the girl seemed indifferent to the new arrivals given how her eyes still focused on Raki as she hugged the sword close.
A group of bandits, about fifteen, quickly arrived and surrounded the trio. Raki just sighed, already feeling like he knew how this was going to end. He enjoyed killing bandits but then he remembered that this wasn't Skyrim, so there wouldn't be as much thrill to it. Still, that was probably for the best considering who he was traveling with.
"You there!" One of the bandits, probably the leader given his 'bigger and badder' look. "You know this little rat?"
"No. She just came up to me and talked about how she doesn't like thieves." Raki said as he gave the man a light glare.
"Ironic coming from her." The man chuckled. "Here I was, getting merry with my lads and the next thing I know, I find my new sword missing." He pointed to the sword in the girl's hands. "I find that thing fair and square then that thief takes it from me when my back is turned. Probably going to pawn it off or some shit."
"What do you plan to do with it?" Raki asked while simultaneously making a mental note of the bandits ogling Renee and making some offensive calls and gestures. He would enjoy the conclusion to this encounter.
"It's a fucking sword." The man answered plainly. "Why do you give a shit? Looking to take it from yourself?" He asked as reached for his... other sword. If that rusted thing could be called that.
Raki shook his head. "Tell me something. Where did you find this rather appealing looking blade?"
The bandit shrugged. "Found it outside of this goddess forsaken place. Three of them actually." Two of the bandits, probably his closest lackeys, displayed theirs. "As you could guess, they belonged to a certain group of exploitable freaks." The bandit answered as he pointed to Renee as an example. "If you want one, just take hers. Unless you like your bitches armed." He chuckled as he stroked his chin. "Claymores do have all sorts of uses."
Renee grit her teeth at that and was about to let these fools know that she no longer worked under the organization. A free Claymore was a scary Claymore to most humans. But she didn't get to, as Raki, without another word, strode up to the leader and punched him right in the face so hard that his nose nearly flattened against his face and teeth flew from his jaw.
Every bandit flinched at the sight of their leader sprawled on the ground from the punch. Even Renee looked a bit surprised seeing as how the bandit nearly flew from that. The Awakened Being was still as indifferent to what was going on around her, idly looking towards the distance.
"Has anyone ever told you that your voice is nauseating?" Raki spoke nonchalantly as he reached for his warhammer and mask. "You people", he growled out, "are the epitome of disgusting and I'm going enjoy what I do to you next."
The bandits, somewhat panic stricken, reached for their weapons as they were about to charge all at once. They didn't have the chance to realize they were dead before their heads and arms fell from their body and blood surged from the wounds. Now it was Raki and Renee's turn to be caught off guard.
"Eyesores, all of them." A sophisticated voice coming from behind the duo. They turned to see a rather pretty man with long silver hair and blue eyes in a similar cloak just in time to see his right hand turn to normal. For a second his face was devoid of emotion until he smiled at the duo. "It's nice to see that not all humans are so wretched from their layer to their core."
"Not to sound rude, but who are you?" Raki asked, keeping his eye contact with the man despite using his other sense to monitor the teenager as she inched towards him.
"My name is Isley." He quickly laughed under his breath as he immediately saw the Claymore's face shift to pure terror. "I take it you're well educated in who I am?" He asked coyly.
Renee put a hand on her companion's shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Raki... be extremely careful. This is the Abyssal of the north. The number one of the male generation."
"I can still hear you." Isley gently reminded her of his supernatural senses. Renee tensed up in fear and Isley waved his hands. "There's no need to be afraid. If I wanted you dead, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Besides, Priscilla has also taken an interest in you." He said, pointing to the teenager getting a bit close to Raki.
"Laas Yah Nir." Raki whispered as he rubbed his head.
Isley raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"
Raki waved it off and laughed. "Nothing. Just muttering that's all. It's been a long journey." He was lying. In truth, he was checking the surroundings. Other than some small animals, it was just him, Renee, and the two Awakened before him.
"Rather strange things to mutter. It sounded as if you were speaking a foreign language. You wouldn't happen to be foreign would you?" Isley, in all of his life, never heard anyone speak such words. This man certainly didn't look like he was from any of the parts in Toulouse.
"I spent seven years of my life away from home, but no, I'm not foreign." Raki decided to put on a smile and politely introduce himself given the circumstances. "My name is Raki and I come from the town of Doga." He then gave the abyssal a light glare. "I won't lie to you, I'm a bit upset you didn't let me have a swing with at least some of those guys before you beheaded them."
"Raki." Renee hissed as she lightly elbowed his side. Now was not the time.
Rather than being insulted, Isley's smile grew a bit wider. "Oh, I take it you're the cocky type, Raki."
"No. I know they wouldn't have been close to a decent struggle but at the very least, I could gain some satisfaction from doing away with trash."
"Hmm." Isley hummed as he looked Raki up and down. "I listened to a good portion of that conversation you had with the lead bandit. I also see you're rather casual with the warrior beside you. Speaking of which, may I have your name?" He said as he pointed towards Renee.
Renee hesitantly nodded. "My name is Renee. I'm the number six of the newest generation."
"Number six?" Isley repeated with a tone that signaled disappointment. "You don't look like much... then again, you are using suppressants." Renee tensed under his gaze. "Why is that?"
Renee gulped and took a breath. "I'm on the run from the Organization. I'm a deserter now."
"I see." Isley narrowed his eyes a bit. Then he shrugged and looked towards Raki. "Yes, that brings me back to the main topic. You seem to have an odd fondness towards Claymores. So much so, you go out of your way in stopping grave robbers and killing assailants. Tell me, why are you here?" There was an implicit message that said Raki's well-being depended on his answer and honesty.
The Dragonborn spoke with the utmost clarity. "I'm looking for clues and paying respects. After I'm done with that, we're leaving together." Raki emphasized this by wrapping Renee in a one armed hug much to her bewilderment, embarrassment, and possibly hidden joy. Priscilla was starting to sniff the air, mostly around Raki.
Isley's expression didn't change as he locked eyes with the Claymore. "And why are you with him? Be honest." He urged.
Renee found herself tightly clinging to Raki. "I'm under his protection since I'm no longer affiliated with the Organization."
"Why is that?" Isley pressed on, not satisfied with the simple answer. He ignored it when Priscilla began to get a little hands-on with Raki and muttering about new scents. Raki on his part was trying to gently nudge the girl out of his personal bubble while keeping his eyes on the Abyssal.
"Riful of the West wanted me for her personal gain. Raki saved me from her and because of that, he apparently gets to keep me." Renee couldn't help but glare at Raki a little because that 'I keep her' line. Raki sighed and was now hugging both Renee and Priscilla while mumbling a sorry to the former. The latter was being hugged because at this point, she was starting to hug him and wouldn't let go, so he figured he would just roll with it since she wasn't being hostile.
It wasn't every day you get to hug an Awakened anyway.
Isley showed a little facial change with an eyebrow raise. "Really now?" Isley figured something was strange about this man. But saving a Claymore from Riful? That seemed far-fetched. "How did you save her?"
"I won a challenge. She found me intriguing, took a liking to me, and let me 'keep her' as she put it." Raki elaborated.
Isley stared at him for about two seconds before he sighed and the smile returned to his face. "I won't lie to you, you're a highly suspicious duo. But with that being said, you don't strike me as horrendous and I doubt you're looking to cause me trouble."
Raki nodded. "On the contrary, we're trying to avoid it. We're just here to find something, a certain sword if you will."
"A certain sword, a claymore perhaps?" The duo nodded at that. "Follow me. Our reasons to visit this place happen to somewhat align and you've managed to improve my mood." Isley said as he began to lead the group on. 'And you've more than raised my intrigue.' He thought as he witnessed Priscilla's sudden attachment to the male stranger.
He led them to another part outside of the town outskirts. Impaled within the ground were claymores with their symbols in open view. After Priscilla proceeded to place the other claymores amongst the others, Raki examined each of the symbols as he counted them down. He sighed. "None of them belong to her."
"A few are missing." Isley spoke up from behind. "Eight of the swords are gone."
"What?" Raki's face of surprise turned to one of anger. "Could it have possibly been bandits?"
Isley shook his head. "Doubtful. I had a few Awakened stationed here and they never encountered any humans here. They had to go into the towns further from here to find food."
"Now that I think about it." Renee spoke up as she looked the swords over. "There was a report not too long ago... swords not being here, an Awakened attack," Renee had to do her best to hold back on showing her fear as Isley's eyebrow rose, "and mysterious strangers taking down said Awakened and saving the hunting party's lives."
"So that means the chances are in my favor!" Raki nearly jumped with elation. "Yes! I knew she couldn't stay down!"
"Don't you think it is a bit early to be optimistic?" Isley asked. "You have yet to actually see this warrior and I wouldn't say this proof is solid."
Raki waved it off and laughed a bit. "I've got evidence that she isn't dead from several sources." He pointed at Renee and the claymores. "So far, I'd say things are looking up."
"If you say so." Isley replied before he turned towards the claymores. Raki turned to them and Renee, still very, very wary of Isley, turned to the claymores too. They took that brief time to silently pay their respects to the fallen. It was a nice moment. The labels of Abyssal, Awakened Being, Claymore, and human didn't register. Only warriors acknowledging the simple honor the deceased deserved.
*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*
Sounds of harsh landings came from several yards behind the group amidst the paying of respect. They all turned around and experienced various emotions. Isley's face grew into contempt and frustration, Renee's was of shock and panic, Raki had one of bewilderment and slight disgust, and Priscilla eyes held just the faintest hint of emotion... she seemed sympathetic.
Women... nearly naked women with their eyes and mouths sewn shut and moving in a stiff and jerky fashion. There looked to be around eleven of them, moaning and groaning with raspy voices.
"Detestable creatures." Isley's mood was once again back to the deep end. "Tracking me here of all places." He turned to Raki and smiled. "It was nice meeting you Raki, good luck with your endeavor." Without a warning he took off further into town with those mystery women right on his heels as they removed their mouth stitches to reveal horrendous maws. Priscilla just stared off in his direction.
"Let's go, now." Renee told him the moment he was out of sight. "They're only targeting Isley."
"What? Renee, who were they?" Raki asked. They didn't resemble any Claymore or Awakened he'd ever seen before. He severely doubted they were Yoma given their speed. Hell, why couldn't Priscilla or especially Isley sense them coming?
The warrior shook her head. "They're no longer who's, they're things. They're called Abyssal Feeders..."
()()()()()
"... monsters made by the Organization without any sense of self, only primal hunger."
Isley made it to what was the center of Pieta by the time he was surrounded. His mood was once again down the drain, swept away by the stream of these creatures' forlorn presence. He figured he would tackle them head on yet again. If necessary, he would call over Priscilla if he needed back up.
If necessary.
He didn't even bother thinking of holding back his full power. These creatures had become too formidable for that over time too. No, he was going all out as his form expanded into the giant silver centaur being with wing like attachments on his back. His right hand twitched but he had to quickly move it out of the way as one of those demons tried to lunge at his appendage. He used his left hand to catch it by the back of the head after it missed trying to chomp down on his right.
He crushed its head before it could resist and tossed the corpse against the wall after he created a sword reminiscent of a claymore in his right hand. 'Foul things won't lend me the courtesy of properly arming myself now? They're learning too much.' The other feeders began to circle around at high speeds, like a pack of wolves encompassing their prey.
Two lunged at him from two different angles. Isley galloped up and swung diagonally, looking to crush one and dice the other up. Neither worked out in his favor as one under his front left leg formed a spikey shield and the other blocked his sword with its own new blade made from both of its arms. The former was pushed into the ground while the latter was thrown back. The bottom one sacrificed its body to snake its malleable arms up Isley's right leg with small curved razors along them. It was going to tear his limb right off or at least inconvenience his movement.
Isley was going to impale its head with his sword but stopped and turned just as one now on his arm pounced towards his head. Isley didn't hesitate and opened wide before biting right own on the upper body. He quickly chewed on it until it stopped squirming and spat the bloody pulp out.
It was disgusting. Even his own kind tasted far better than these monstrosities.
As he did this, another eater helped the one under his leg remove his limb by severing his right leg by eating the upper thigh. He retreated back and three more moved in, taking away his wings before he could retaliate. He jumped away some more before another duo could take one of his hind legs, managing to cut one on a building in half vertically as he did so. 'Dammit, they're mainly targeting my limbs. I need to end this as soon as I possibly can.' Isley got ready to take on three heading towards him at once, priming his sword arm to cut them down.
"FUS RO!"
A powerful shout and those three were blown away along with some debris and small remainders of buildings. Isley turned to the origin of that powerful noise. "Raki? Renee?"
"Sorry, I would've let you handle it but then I remembered how you stole those bandits from me!" Raki joked as he put on his mask and an annoyed looking Renee pulled out her claymore. Raki would've used the full shout had he the time and Isley wouldn't be put at risk.
"What are you two doing, this isn't your fight."
"Call it sympathy." Raki answered seriously. "I'll explain after however. We have to kill these things first." Both Abyssal and Raki turned to see two of those three getting back up from the rubble. Luckily, one of them had their brain matter sprayed all over a wall. "So how many are dead?"
"Four now. We need to kill two more and they'll retreat." He informed them as the remaining seven came into view. Isley really wanted to know why this man was essentially helping his predator and how his voice was able to do that, but these answers could afford to be put on hold. The Feeders could not on the other hand.
"KRII LUN AUS!"
Raki shouted and a purple haze erupted from his mouth, hitting three Feeders and making them momentarily falter back a few steps as their bodies began to writhe with a purple vein like glow. "I weakened those! Tear them apart!"
Isley, while perplexed at what was happening, decided to listen and wobbly charging at them with his blade poised to cut a large area in twain. The ones Raki hadn't shouted at easily moved out of the way of the approaching threat but the other three were slow and clumsy in their movements. That suited the Abyssal just fine.
With a powerful slash that tore down several ruined buildings he bisected two of those three marked ones and severed the head of the other from the neck up. For that small moment of time they were up in the air, he could see that their flesh wasn't regenerating like before. In fact, it looked they were struggling to do so.
But he took little time to mull it over. With a few quick slashes, he diced up the ones he bisected to point were one could put them in a small box starting with their heads. The moment his blade was relaxed, the rest of the Feeders were making their retreat.
Raki sighed and relaxed for a split second until isley, still in his awakened form and now fully regenerated lumbered towards him. Renee didn't even bother sheathing her claymore "Once again you strike me with interest." He said as his sword folded back into his hand. "While I'm grateful for your intervention, I must ask: what did you do and why did you help?"
Raki held up two fingers. "One: that was the power of my voice," he put down a finger," and two: as I told you before, call it sympathy. The thought of someone being hunted like a dog sickens me to no end." He finished as he second finger was lowered. "Also, fuck the Organization." Raki was rarely so crude but he just had no tolerance for people like them. People who would make something like the Feeders.
Isley then turned to Renee but he didn't bother saying anything to her. The look on her face pretty much said she was dragged into this and still very much ill at ease given how she shakily put away her claymore.
"*gurgle* raagh." Speak of the devil, one of them was still alive and flopping on the ground as it slowly regenerated, having only a portion of its upper body and an arm back. And Priscilla was right next to it and reaching out.
"Hey, get away from that!" Raki yelled to her, surprisingly Isley again with his genuine concern. Priscilla reached her hands out to touch the thing. Her price was an arm as the Feeder responded with an arm blade that severed Priscilla's left arm all the way to the shoulder.
Isley expected her to start crying or something like that. Instead, she took on a face of shock and lashed out, destroying the Feeder with her fingers. He noticed the sight twitch in her brow and a tiny flicker of something he couldn't identify in her eyes. 'What? Is she...' When she looked at them again however, he only saw the same child-like innocence he had known for years.
"I'm in your debt I suppose." Isley coolly stated as he made his way toward Priscilla. He scooped her up and looked towards the duo. "May we cross paths again in more relaxing circumstances. Farewell." In the blink of an eye, he took off with Priscilla, leaving Raki and Renee alone.
"So," Raki began, "are you - woah!" He ducked right under a right hook aimed at his face to his confusion. "What the hell?"
"I'm going to kick your ass all the way to the mountains!" Renee yelled as she furiously swung at him. "Helping an Abyssal, fighting the Feeders-"
"Technically I was support." He quipped as he dodged a high kick.
"And being so damn... damn..." Renee growled as she struggled to find the right words.
"Handsome? Charismatic?" Raki quipped again with a teasing grin visible since he quickly removed his mask. Now he had to work a bit harder to dodge the barrage of fiery feminine fury hellbent on maiming him.
"Rargh!"
This would continue for some time until they would eventually set off again on the original course. They were gone by the time the Organization's recovery team came to collect the scraps.
()()()()
OMAKE : WHY GAY GUYS SHOULDN'T HIT ON RAKI
"Mmm. I don't know." A third man interjected dreamily. "If anything, I'd say she's the lucky one." Much to Renee's vengeful amusement, Raki went visibly green. Little did she know, some bad experiences with a grabby shield-brother who couldn't hold his mead (damn you Athis!) had left the young man with a conditionned reflex whenever he was hit on by a man.
"FUS RO DAH!"
An entire wall of the inn was blown away, as well as the building on the other side of the street. Windows, bottles and glasses broke. Alcohol was spilled. Clothes were torn to shreds with varying reactions of delight, outrage and disgust. Patrons were sent flying and landed in a naked human dogpile outside. Hands landed on naughty bits and coped a feel, both innocently and not, from both genders, on both genders once again with varying reactions of delight, outrage and disgust - on both sides of the feel.
"Sorry, habit." Raki scratched his head sheepishly as he hurriedly and knowingly dragged the wide-eyed Claymore out...
*CRASH*
Not a second too soon, as the inn finally collapsed behind them.
()()()()
OMAKE: SHOUTS AND PROGRAMMING
"KAAN DREM OV!"
Raki smirked as the eleven Abyss Feeders ceased in their hostilities and slowly approached him. Isley and Renee tensed up but he held up a hand to stop them. "It's fine you two. They're docile now."
"How?" Renee asked.
"This particular shout eases animals and animal like beings." Raki explained as the Feeder began started to rub against him and start purring. "Uh, I guess this made them really friendly." He was about to say more but the moment his mouth opened, a Feeder's tongue invaded it and he was pulled down into a Feeder dogpile.
Renee looked on in horror as armor pieces and clothes began to fly and Priscilla's expression remained neutral save for the numerous brow twitches. And as for Isley, he had four words, "Intriguing but highly disturbing."
()()()()
OMAKE: SHOUTS AND PROGRAMMING PT 2
"KAAN DREM OV!"
Raki smirked as the eleven Abyss Feeders ceased in their hostilities and slowly approached him. Isley and Renee tensed up but he held up a hand to stop them. "It's fine you two. They're docile now. Like pets in fact. Watch." Raki whistled and all of the Abyssal Feeders fell in line. "Sit." He commanded.
They all sat on all fours.
"Roll over."
They rolled over and whined for belly rubs.
"Good girls." He complimented as he rubbed their bellies and heads, causing their legs to twitch in happiness.
"Weird." Renee commented. "Now I want a belly rub."
"Me too." Priscilla said.
"I call next." Isley commented.
"Ahem." Riful cleared her throat from behind them.
()()()()
AN: Guess what? I graduated Highschool on May 31st! Next up is college this fall. Anyway, enjoy this chapter folks.
I'm just gonna warn you right now... OMAKES. Probably gonna be lots. I freaking love making this story.
Shouts:
KAAN DREM OV - Kyne's Peace
KRII LUN AUS - Marked for Death
LAAS YAH NIR - Aura Whisper