The Sacrifice of a comrade.

Authors Notes: Thanks for the reviews guys, I really appreciate it, from hereon reviews will be weekly as I have to revise my next few chapters to extend this a bit. Hope you guys enjoy.

Gray moved into position to back Eira if her strike should fail, although he hid it, his Yoki was somewhat feeling much more difficult to control than before he used it, it raised to ten percent. "No...I can't be..." he spoke in a low voice, tone hinting fear but still concentrated on his objective. He felt uneasy, he tried to keep it under control, but it raised to twenty percent. "Dammit!" he managed to keep it at the twenty percent mark, his eyes gold as he waited for Rika's order.

Serenity growled, she was angry, vulnerable and "cornered." Fear gripped her, overcome by it, she was desperate to survive, her Yoki flowed within her like wildfire. She needed a way out of this, "damn you!" were the words that came out of her mouth in a hiss as she realised the inevitable would happen if she did not move, fast. Now she had to make a move or die.

She gave a sly grin and made a move, Serenity moved so that Rika's blade cut a lethal slash across her back, grimacing as the blood spilled from the wound, bending forward, one knee on the ground in blood stained grass, she got back onto her feet and turned to Rika and in a lightening fast move, Serenity simply knocked Rika from her feet using a strike from her elbow and aimed her arm at Gray and fired two rods at him.

"Rika!" Gray's yoki rose quickly, hitting the thirty percent mark, his face distorted and his golden eyes glowed. He made a quick move to the right in an effort to dodge the rods, one narrowly missed him and the second hit his right shoulder, impaling him. He dropped his sword and struggling to stand, he pulled the rod out from it, he gave a deep roar of pain as he pulled it out and threw it on the ground nearby. He fell to his knees as he felt his Yoki spiral out of control, his muscles bulged, entire body almost like a Yoma, he was approaching his limit. "No! not now! I can't awaken now! damn it!" he was on his knees, trying to suppress his Yoki with all the willpower he had. Enflamed in anger, he slammed his fist into the ground. "I....I failed you.....I'm sorry, kill me NOW!" He shouted to his comrades. Emotion had dominated the man, his face showed a fiery rage.

Serenity gave a devious smile. "I guess I...."she breathed deeply and coughed "...succeeded after all!" speaking in a taunting tone, she moved in strained motion towards Eira, grinning as she got closer shifting her arm blade into a hand once again. Now right in front of Eira she made a move that looked like she was going to punch her in the stomach, but she did not, she fired a lethal shot with one of her rods at point blank range at Eira.

A fleeting moment passed. "Gray…!"

She wanted to turn around and instead direct her sword towards him. She looked back at Serenity. The Awakened was smiling. She saw that shadow cut a line of black through the air. After everything. In the end…

She had known; she'd always known. Maybe it had been the sudden shift in her personality in this hunt, her sudden obedience. Perhaps some part of her had already foreseen. And if fate did exist… she could only close her eyes and pray it helped Gray. Helped Rika.

The first touch was a horrible, searing heat on her forehead. Melting every obstruction, driven by a killing intent so murderous. A finger that reached into the depths of her soul, gripping it tightly in an icy, deathly hold. Heat, followed by the excruciating pain of a blunt object being driven through the skull, a hot fire beginning to consume her mind. But, even as she began to cry for death, she clung tight to a fast-diminishing life. There was still something, something –

"Die," she breathed softly, warm, thick liquid trickling out as she spoke. This is for you, Rika, and, though I hate to say it – you, Gray. Don't worry though, I definitely still hate you. With a pained scream that seemed to come from the depths of fiery hell, Eira lifted the dam from her Yoki, two arms gripping the claymore tightly – arms that extended at extreme speeds. The sharp end of the sword hit Serenity's throat, stopping for a fraction of a second, before grating through flesh and bone, emerging on the other end, silver matted and stained in blood.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment. Eira's hands relaxed and released the claymore, now embedded deep into Serenity's neck. The Awakened hesitated in the position she was in, before dropping like a stone backwards, such that the sword's hilt stood tall, the tarnished blade firmly set in the ground.

So transient our lives…

The flaming pain in her head was amplified by her voluntary actions. She felt the warmth of the liquid, now streaming down her face, finding many paths through which to flow, but her heart felt cold and empty. Yet, resting amidst the iciness was an unmistakable sense of closure, satisfaction, even relief. At the last moment she still thought of her comrades – she had yet to tell him – turning behind, she looked at Gray, struggling with his own Yoki, and mustered all her strength to speak.

"I hate you, Gray."

But the sparkling smile in her dying eyes definitely told him otherwise.

A pearly hand stretched out to her as she gazed at what she could see of the sky. One loving hand that reached out for her, waiting. She raised her own uninjured hand, clasping the awaiting one. After all, she knew that hand. She would recognize it anywhere by touch or sight alone.

Mother. Let's go on now… together.

The Claymore dropped lifelessly onto the ground, a rod through her head, embraced by a pool of crimson blood that was still warm to the touch, as the last of the light of life faded smoothly from her eyes.