Number Zero
"It's been a long time. Hello Clare."
Clare looked up at the beautiful young woman who stood before her and Wiess. She had long, flowing silver hair, and a heart shaped face, not unlike Clare. "Elena..." she whispered. "You haven't changed. You look just like you did back then. I thought... You'd be more distorted now..."
"I'm forcing it back," Elena said with a sad smile. "To meet with you."
Wiess tuned out what they were saying. It was so sad. So sad to see these beautiful creatures turning into monsters, the very same monsters that they killed. In the end, they were just killed by their own kind. It was wrong! He clenched his fist and felt a little pain.
Clare paused in her talk with her old and only friend. She thought she sensed another presence... But no, it was probably just a Yoma somewhere far away.
"Hurry!" Elena said with a smile as she started to change. "Do it! Do it while my mind is still human... Clare..."
Ffssskkt!
Blood sprayed out from Elena's midsection as Clare skewered her. She let out a small gasp as she fell forward while Clare landed behind her.
"Thank you... Clare..." she breathed. "Now... I can die as a human..."
Wiess bit back a sob as tears threatened to fall. To kill comrades, even if they were monsters... It just wasn't right. Clare stood off in the distance, her back still to him and Elena's body. He knew she was crying.
"Help me..." she said. "Help me bury her."
Wiess wiped his eyes. "Of course."
-----
"Whoa, this place is huge!" Wiess said, setting their packages down as he looked around the hotel room.
"It is rather nice," Clare said, throwing off her cloak. She grunted and held her stomach. Wiess looked at her worriedly.
"Are you alright?" he asked. He made sure not to touch her. She was wearing this tight little leather outfit and, well, half-Yoma or not she was one niiiiiiice looking girl.
"I'm fine," she said. "It's just these pills."
"Oh yeah," Wiess said. "The ones Rubel gave you to suppress your Yoki?"
"That's right. They make me a little dizzy sometimes."
"I bet!" Wiess laughed. "No offense, but you look even more normal now, with those big brown eyes and blonde hair! It must be a huge difference for you!"
Clare spared him a smile. "It is," she said. "Come on, let's go out."
"Should I leave the stuff behind?" Wiess asked, motioning towards a pair of large stone statues. They were carved statues of women. Clare nodded.
"We won't need them right now," she answered. "Let's go."
-----
"Finished your dinner?" the hotel owner asked as he entered their room later that night. Clare was seated upon a chair and Wiess was lounging about the bed.
"Yes," Clare said with a practiced smile. "It was delicious."
"Glad to hear it!" the owner said jovially, collecting up the plates. "By the way, there's a curfew at night, so you shouldn't go walking about outside."
"Yes," Clare said. "I knew that, thank you."
"Well, goodnight!"
The door closed and Clare turned to Wiess, who gave her a grin. "I'm still surprised that you could eat so much," she said wryly. "I thought you would get sick."
"Food is food," Wiess said stubbornly. "If there's more, my stomach will make room for it!"
"How do you stay in shape, if you eat so much?" Clare wondered out loud.
"Dunno," Wiess said, jumping off the bed. "So, what are we doing now?"
"You are going to bed," Clare said sternly. "I will be going out. Close and lock the doors. If anyone comes, pretend you're asleep."
"Got it," Wiess said with a puff. He pointed to her bed, where he had arranged the pillows to form a human shape. "I think that'll fool anyone in the dark."
"Very good," Clare said with a somewhat amused look. "I'll be off then."
"Be careful," Wiess called as she opened the window, but she was already gone.
-----
Wiess was awakened by the sound of a knock at his door. "Excuse me young sir?" the hotel owners voice called through. "I was wondering if you were needing anything at the moment?"
"No thanks," Wiess replied.
"And your sister?"
"She's out cold I'm afraid," Wiess said with a quiet chuckle. "Your dinner was so good she just fell asleep right after."
"That's good to hear!" the owner laughed. "Well, have a good night then."
"You too," Wiess sighed in relief as the footsteps grew fainter from his door. A rustling at the window caught his attention. "Clare?"
"Shh," she said, slipping through the window, though Wiess noticed she was missing her cloak. He let his eyes rake her form, as he usually did when she wasn't paying attention.
"You alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said. "Get some sleep."
"Er, yeah."
Morning came quickly, and with it came some of the city's soldiers. "Don't move!" one of them said tersely, as they grabbed both Clare and Wiess. Luckily, she had taken her supressor pills just then.
"The half-eaten bodies of two soldiers were found yesterday in the cathedral," one soldier explained. "Come with us."
"Yeah!" a voice from the door said. Two men, one large and bulky while the other, lean and short, stood there. The shorter one with a mean smirk was talking. "She was about that height."
The soldiers in the room tensed.
"Looked pretty suspect, running around the rooftops last night," he continued, resting his head on his hand as his elbow was against the doorsill. "Didn't you two arrive in town yesterday?"
"We didn't not arrive in town yesterday, if that's not what you didn't mean," Wiess answered.
Everyone, including Clare, looked at him strangely. The soldier known as Sid continued to say that he suspected Clare of being a Claymore, which was right of course, until he drew her hood down and saw that she had brown eyes and blonde hair, instead of silver and silver as Claymores had.
"Hey," he said in dissapointment as he held her by the cheek, his eyes drinking in her beauty. "You eyes don't look silver..."
He moved her head around, and she just let him with Wiess raised an eyebrow. "You're a pretty one, aren't you?" he asked lecherously. He leaned down closer to her face. "But we fought a half-breed who dirtied her body with monster flesh. It wouldn't be surprising if she could change the color of her eyes... now would it?"
Crack!
Sid the soldier fell to the floor as his partner Galk (the huge guy) startled. The other soldiers looked on in awe.
Wiess had somehow gotten out of their hold, crossed the room and pretty much slugged Sid on the noggin all at once.
"OWWW!" Sid yelled, getting back up and rubbing his head. "What was that for you idiot!?"
"Who are you calling idiot, ugly?" Wiess shot back, fists at the ready. "You come in here, thinking you know everything and acting all high and mighty but the truth is: you don't know shit! Some perfect city, some wonderful paradise this is if all your soldiers do is go around accusing young girls of being freaking monsters! Why don't you grow some balls and actually go hunt the monster that's already here, instead of wasting your time chasing some girl's ass?"
"Why you-!" Sid hissed, raising his fist. Wiess got ready, but Galk grabbed Sid's arm.
"Let's go," Galk said seriously. "We're done here."
"Galk!" Sid protested. When he saw that he wasn't going to get his way, Sid sneered. "Tch!"
-----
"Hmm."
Wiess looked at Clare's face, as she looked in thought. "What's up?" he asked.
"Hmm?" she hummed to herself. "Oh, it's nothing. What you said, lots of it had hidden meaning and yet it sounded like nonsense at the same time. It was very cunning."
"Er, thanks?"
"You're welcome."
Clare continued to watch the sky outside as Wiess bustled around the room. "So, did you find anything out?"
Clare nodded. "The Yoma seems to be preying on humans inside the cathedral," she answered. "I'm going back tonight to find out more."
Wiess nodded. "Hey, be careful of those two soldiers," he said uneasily. "I really don't trust that Sid character."
Clare gave him her not-smile again. "Is it because he hates Silver-Eyed Witches, or had some interest in me when he thought I was human?" she asked in amusement. Wiess huffed.
"Both?" he answered incredulously. "Do I at least get to come along tonight?"
Clare frowned. Wiess saw her open her mouth to say no and he interupted. "Hey come on, even Rubel said I'm your sidekick!" he protested. "I can't kick ass if I'm not by your side!"
Clare gave him a look. "That was a horrible joke," she said. "But fine. Get ready to leave by nightfall. In the meantime, we'll leave our 'antiques' with the father. Let's go do that now."
-----
Wiess watched from his position on the rooftops some distance away as Clare fought both Galk and Sid at the same time using her splendid daggers. He himself was armed only with his recurve bow, but that was deadly enough on its own. He saw Clare merely toy with the two human soldiers before perching on top of a spire as they looked at her in horrified awe. Wiess smiled wryly. Claymore: 1 Humans: 0
"AAAGH!"
A scream of total terror erupted from the cathedral, and he saw Clare bolt down and through the main doors as Galk and Sid followed her. Cursing, Wiess ran across the rooftops easily, and stopped at the building Clare had fought on. The outside guards were still around the door and Wiess had to get in quickly. Looking around, he saw a rope that lead up to the top spire on the cathedral and deduced that it must have been Clare's. Using an arrow, Wiess cut the end of the rope and used it to swing down and into the cathedral.
He stopped just behind Galk and Sid, who were frozen in terror. Pushing past the surprised men, Wiess saw Clare squaring up agianst a HUGE Yoma, it had to be at least 10 feet tall!
"Stay back!" Clare shouted to them.
"W-what the hell?" Sid gulped. "Is that - is that a Yoma?"
"Y-yeah," Wiess answered. "A big one."
"You're no match for it!" Clare shouted when they stepped forward to help her.
"GRAAA!"
"Ahh!" Clare yelped as blood erupted from her right shoulder.
"CLARE!" Wiess yelled, notching an arrow as Galk and Sid drew their swords. The giant Yoma turned and bolted for them, it was too fast!
Fwap-fssskt!
An arrow embedded itself into the Yoma's right eye and it stopped in mid-bolt, yelling in pain. Another thwack was heard and they saw one of Clare's daggers in its neck.
"GRAAAAH!" it bellowed, wrenching both offending objects out of its body.
Clare had gotten back up and ran to the men. She suddenly kicked Sid back and he yelped.
"HEY WHA-!" he stopped mid yell when the Yoma crushed the ground he was at earlier.
Fwish! Clare tried to use her remaining dagger to cut off its head, but it blocked it with its arm, making her grit her teeth.
Galk tried to slash it with his sword, but the Yoma just shattered the blade as if it were nothing. It's fingers stretched out into spears and he closed his eyes as they fired towards him. Clare stabbed the Yoma's arm down, saving his life and he started breathing again.
"RUN!" she yelled. "Get out of the way!"
Splurch.
Her eyes widened as she sat there, as the Yoma's other hand impaled her 5 times in one blow through the chest. "Ugh..." she moaned quietly as blood squirted out of her mouth.
"Clare!" Weiss screamed, notching an arrow. The Yoma held Clare up with his spear-like fingers and slammed her against the ground painfully. It then turned to the men.
Sid, for his part, was frozen on the spot. Galk was weaponless, but prepared to fight with his fists to the death. Wiess... well...
"DIE YOU MONSTER!" he screamed, loosing an arrow and drawing another one in a flash. The first arrow slammed into the Yoma's chest to no effect, as did the second one. It advanced on them. Wiess drew two arrows this time and succeeded in hitting it in the neck, making it growl and stop as it tried to remove them. The doors slammed open and all the guards from the cathedral stormed in.
"GRAAAH!" the Yoma roared, stopping them in their tracks. It jumped into the darkness and dissapeared.
"Shit," Sid cursed as he looked around. He walked over to Clare's body and bent his head over her chest. "Tch. She's still alive."
Galk came over and picked her up. He turned to see Wiess pointing his bow with two notched arrows at him. The guards bristled.
"She saved my life, and yours Sid," Galk said. He looked to Wiess. "We owe her. Even if she's part monster."
Wiess' bow quivered and he lowered it. "Good," he said.