Number Zero
It was far out into the country that a young girl could be seen running. She looked around 13, maybe a bit older. She kept looking behind her, her long brown hair flying wildly as she ran as fast as she could away from what was pursuing her. It was a man, who didn't seem to have any trouble at following her at all. Then again, he was a full grown man while she was a child.
"Hey!" he called out, closing a 200 foot gap in seconds. "Wait for me! There's no need to run away from me, is there?"
He appeared in front of the girl and transformed into a horrid Yoma. "GYAHAHAHAH!" he laughed, licking his maw in anticipation.
"EEEEEEEEEE!" the girl understandably screamed.
Thunk! A sword tip appeared in his face. Fwap! The top half of his head flew off, to the girl's horror.
She looked up to see her saviors, three Claymores who looked down at her apathetically. One had short hair in a bob. The other had long hair in a ponytail, with her bangs on each side of her face. The one that had killed the Yoma had long hair that fell to her shoulders.
"You're from Toriro village," Long Hair said. "What happened there?"
"P-please help!" she cried. "Y-yoma, lots of 'em! About five!"
"Five?" Long Hair mused. "Then it's not a voracious eater... But a group of Yoma."
"A-and one of your kind and a man are fighting them alone!" the girl added, making the Claymores raise their eyebrows in surprise. They bolted after realizing that the single Claymore wouldn't be able to fight a voracious eater if there was one, especially not with human backup.
They arrived in the city to see it a scene of massacre.
For the Yoma.
Four Yoma lay severed to pieces on the ground as a single warrior stood about them, sword dripping blood. The leading warrior noticed a human male pulling a unique sword out of a freshly killed Yoma's head, and then flicking it clear of blood. He caught sight of her and her comrades.
"Clare, it's your comrades," he called to the still warrior. She turned around and the lead warrior thought she saw... no, it was nothing.
"I see," the leader said calmly. "You took care of the other four."
Her eyes narrowed. "But you missed one. It almost killed a girl just now. Care to explain that?" she asked.
"It was heading in your direction," the warrior explained without turning around. "I thought you'd make it in time if you didn't want it on your heads either."
The two warriors behind the leader bristled.
"You're pretty confident to take on all four," the leader shot back calmly. "Looking for glory?"
"Not really," she answered, still not turning around. "I just got here early and decided to proceed. Besides. we get no glory."
"You ignored our orders and charged in on your own-!" the warrior to the left of the leader shouted, but she was silenced by her leader.
"One of them could have been a voracious eater," she stated. "Did that ever occur to you?"
She got a shrug in response. "Oh well," the leader sighed. She remembered the human man. A flicker in the Yoki caught her attention. She tried hard to sense it, but it dissapeared almost immediately. "I think I just sensed another Yoma nearby!"
"These isn't any," the man answered. "Clare and I got them all."
"'Clare and I'?" the leader repeated. She turned to the warrior. "You dragged a human along, fully knowing that he could be killed? Are you an idiot?"
"Hey shut up!" the man snapped, making the three warriors take an involuntary step back. "I'm Clare's sidekick! We've taken on 11 Yoma together already!"
"Rubel approves," the warrior, Clare said.
"Hmm," the leader mused. "At any rate, we'll report this to the higher ups. They'll decide what to do."
As she and her team were walking away, she faintly heard the man ask 'Clare', "Man, are they always this bitchy?"
She shook her head and continued walking. Teaming up with a human of all things! Still... She definitely felt something strange from those two. Especially the man.
-----
"An Awakened Being?" Wiess asked. "That doesn't sound too pleasant."
"They used to be former Number Ones who grew addicted to the feeling of releasing their Yoki energy," Clare said as they walked through the city. "We've been added to a team that will hunt one down. Rubel said that it took down a warrior of average strength."
"And we're going... why?" Wiess asked as he looked around. The villagers in this town looked as if they saw Claymores every day. Odd.
"I want to test my limits," was her response.
A cloaked man appeared from an alleyway. "This way," he said quietly. They followed him to a small storage hut of sorts. He opened the door and they walked inside.
"You're the last ones," he rasped. "Everyone's here now."
Three shaded figures sat at benches in the dark. One stood up.
"Oh?" she said in curiousity as she walked through the dark hut. "You brought a man?"
She came into the light and Wiess was greeted by another vision of beauty. This one had chin length hair that was parted off center and a smirk on her face. "So you picked up a stray on the road?" she jeered. "Will he help us fight?"
"Actually, he will," the cloaked man rasped.
"What?!" the Claymore giggled. "Yeah right, he must be your plaything, right?"
Clare's eyes glowed yellow as she reached for her sword, but somehow, Wiess was even quicker. His sword was leveled at this unnamed Claymore faster than anyone could see, and hers was only halfway out of her back sheath. There was silence in the room.
"Has he proved himself yet?" the cloaked man asked. "Sheesh. My work here is done now. They're all yours, Miria."
He left the hut and Wiess was faced with an angry-looking Claymore who he beat to the draw, and a sword tip at his throat from a second one, who had a pixie hair cut. Dammit, all their faces looked alike! He could only tell them apart by hair!
"Quite an attitude for a human," Pixie Hair said as her sword didn't even waver an inch at his neck. "We've waited all week for you to show up, and your man here seems to let his sword do all the talking."
"I'd rather hear the sound of swords clashing than your irritating voices," Wiess muttered, making the Claymore in front of him glare mightily. "And hell, we could be on time, maybe you're too early!"
"Helen, Deneve, human."
They all turned to Miria, who was still sitting primly at her bench. "Put your swords away. Well, Helen never got hers out I suppose."
"Tch!" the one named Helen said, flopping down on her bench and giving both Wiess and Clare dirty looks. Deneve sat down as well and propped her sword against her body.
Miria addressed them all. "Since we're all here, more or less," she gave Wiess a look, "The target is south of here, in the middle of the Paburo mountains. We leave at dawn."
"Crap, no sleeping in for me," Wiess muttered, and Clare elbowed him.
"To start with, I want to hear everyone's name and rank," Miria continued, giving Wiess a significant glance that meant 'Shut up or I'll shut you up.' "And whether you've hunted a voracious eater before."
She stood up, looking at them calmly. "I'm Miria," she greeted. "I'll be taking command of this hunting party. I'm Number 6. This is my seventh time hunting a voracious eater."
"I'm Helen, Number 22," the cocky Claymore said, placing a hand on her small waist. "I've never hunted one before," she finished with a smirk.
"I'm Deneve, Number 15," Pixie Hair said, still sitting down. "I've hunted one twice."
"I'm Clare," Clare said. "I have no experience hunting a voracious eater. I'm Number 47."
"Wha?!" Helen gawped while the others started. Wiess looked concerned.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Helen laughed. "Did you hear that Deneve??? She's Number 47!!"
Deneve was giggling into her mouth while Wiess looked around in confusion.
"BWAHAHA, I can't believe she's here!"
"WHAT'S SO GOD DAMN FUNNY?!" Wiess exploded. Everyone went quiet and peered at his angry face. For a moment, Miria looked frightened, but then confused. Helen walked over to him.
"See here, it's like this," she said, draping a shapely arm over his shoulder...
-----
It was raining heavily. The four Claymores plus one human man were hiking up a mountain trail to their destination. They had been hiking for 5 days straight now, not even stopping for when Wiess had to eat. The young man had insisted that he wouldn't slow them down, and would hunt his food, eat it and then meet up with them some hours later. Helen was surprised that he could even trace them.
Wiess saw Clare looking back at him again. Even through the rain, he could see the worry in her eyes. She really didn't want him to come along, for he could get killed. But damn it, he would prove to her that he was a good, capable sidekick! What better way to do that than to fight an Awakened Being? (At this point, all sanity had left his mind :D)
Helen was once again wondering why Clare was with them.
"To send Number 47, the lowest ranked of us all..." she went on again, "What was the organization thinking, sending her to hunt a voracious eater?"
Clare glared at her, as did Wiess.
"The chief decided it," Miria said. "It's not for us to worry about."
"Yeah, yeah," Helen whined, twirling about in the rain a bit. "I just hope they don't get in the way."
"You know, if egos could kill Awakened Beings, then I'd understand you being here," Wiess snapped, annoyed with the gorgeous woman. Hey, she was a bitch, but a pretty one.
"What did you say pretty boy?!"
"You heard me, pretty... damn it!"
"HAH!"
"SHUT UP!"
"Sorry Deneve."
"Yeah, sorry."
-----
They found a cave in the mountainside where Miria decided to stay for the night. She explained that they would rest there and hunt the target, which would be nearby.
"Eat, sleep, do as you like," she ordered. She caught site of Clare sitting next to Wiess. "Well, not anything that you'd like."
Both glared at her, and she hid an amused grin.
"Ah, I'm hungry!" Helen said, shucking off her armor. "I think I'll go get food."
"Don't bother, I'll go," Wiess said, picking up his recurve bow and one arrow. "Anything in particular?"
"You seriously think you can hit anything in this rain?" Helen asked incredulously.
"Frog for you then," he muttered, walking to the entrance.
"Hey wait, how bout some pig?" Helen shouted after him. He flipped her off before dissapearing into the rain. "Jerk."
She caught Clare's worrying eyes as she watched Wiess leave. "Miss your loverboy already?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice.
"Helen, leave it," Deneve sighed. "It's not funny anymore."
Helen pouted. "Fine," she sighed, leaning back on her forearms. "Damn, I'm hungry. I should've just gotten an apple or something, he's gonna take forev -"
"Care to light a fire?" asked a dry voice. They all looked over to see a drenching wet Wiess who was carrying his bow in one hand, and a large dead pig in the other.
"What the hell?!" Helen shrieked as he dropped the dead pig down. It had a single arrow in its forehead. "How... how?"
"I got skills," Wiess said, using some rocks and branches to start a fire. Soon, they were all eating some nicely roasted pork.
"Good catch," Helen said grudgingly to Wiess, who nodded. Deneve didn't want to eat at first, but Wiess convinced her to at least eat some for strength. As usual, Wiess demolished 90 percent of the pig while the women took small bites.
-----
Some time later, Clare caught her sword and looked over to see Miria standing at the entrance.
"You're coming with me," Miria ordered, picking up her sword. "Let's go."
"Over there," she pointed outside as Clare got up. There was a clearing. "It won't take long. Your friend can come too."
Wiess followed the two women out into the rain as they stood in front of eachother, swords held loosely at their sides. He caught snippets of Miria explaining to Clare that she wanted to test her skills. He brought his sword out and began to twirl it in his fingers as he watched them duel.
"Careful with that," Deneve's voice made him stop. He planted the sword in the ground as she leaned against the wall next to him. Helen came out next, two drumsticks in her hands.
"Oh ho," she cheered, munching on one. "They're going at it!"
"Want some?" she offered to Deneve.
"No."
"Hmm," Helen said, watching the fight as Wiess took the other drumstick. She didn't mind, he had caught it anyways.
The swordfight was incredible to watch, at least for Wiess. Both women moved around like graceful creatures, their swords extensions of their bodies. He clearly noticed that Clare was weakening quickly however.
"She's..." Helen started, and Deneve opened her mouth.
"A joke."
They both looked in shock to Wiess, who had finished. Neither had expected Clare's man (at least they thought he was) to say anything bad about her.
"I know," he said sadly. "To me she's quite skilled and amazing but you're right. She is lowest ranked for a reason. She'll lose... now."
Clare's sword impaled the ground before them, as Miria held her blade to her neck.
"I see," Miria said shortly as Clare huffed, exhausted from exertion. "Get some rest. You'd better be at full strength tomorrow."
With that, she walked over to the others. Wiess had his hands so tightly around the handle of his sword that his knuckles were white. "She -"
"I accept that she's not as good as you," he said through grit teeth. "But she's still good enough to me!"
They all blinked at this. Then Clare fainted. Then Helen laughed. Wiess pulled his sword out of the ground. Miria looked at him calmly.
"If Clare can be beaten easily by you, then she wouldn't stand a chance against an Awakened Being, right?" he asked.
"No, she wouldn't," Miria answered.
"Fight me," Wiess demanded.
"What?" Helen laughed. "You can't be serious! She's Number 6 dammit!"
"Fight me!" Wiess repeated. "I know you think I"m a joke compared to all of you, but I think that my skills really complement Clare's! I'm her sidekick! We both fight better with eachother! Therefore... therefore... You have to test me as well!"
Helen was still laughing her taut butt off while Deneve contemplated the brave young man before them. Miria finally shrugged.
"Fine."
-----
Clare had been put back into the cave, and Helen and Deneve watched as Miria and Wiess talked to eachother on the clearing.
"I give him 5 minutes," Helen said with a snort. "47 only lasted 8."
"I give him 15," Deneve said softly, shocking her friend.
"15?! Are you serious?" Helen exclaimed. "There's no way he'd last 15 minutes against a single digit!"
"I don't know," Deneve said with a frown. "But something's not right about him."
Helen stared at her friend for a moment before turning back to the duelers. They had taken stances. Then she saw it. It was in his eyes.
Maybe he would last longer.
-----
"That's an interesting stance," Miria commented as Wiess faced her, sword held up to his head, parallel to the ground. The curved tip was facing downwards as the sharp side faced up. "I won't go easy on you."
"I didn't ask you to," Wiess said, dashing foward. His attacks were rapid, but still somewhat easily blocked by the Claymore, who raised an eyebrow. She kicked it up notch to keep up with his fast attacks and soon found herself on the defensive. Every time she tried to attack him, Wiess would double around her attack, parry it and put her back on the defensive. He was incredibly skilled for a human. The fight started to stretch on as Miria fought against Wiess, never raising her power above him, in an attempt to gauge his skill.
He was very skilled. He had a counter for every attack she knew, and a counter-attack that followed. His form was flawless. His timing even better. He was moving nearly as fast as a warrior in the 40s. Maybe in the 30s!
"Time to finish this, and get some rest," she told Wiess, before slashing at his sword with a bit more power. She wanted it to fly out of his hands much like Clare's did. To her surprise, Wiess, jumped backwards into the air, spun around and caught his sword just barely with his fingertips, before thrusting it at her stomach. She didn't even have time to register this attack since she was still in shock, and the blade stopped inches from her belly button.
-----
"WHAAAAA?!" Helen shrieked, dropping her apple as Deneve gasped. "Miria l-l-l-l-lost?!"
"Impossible!" Deneve breathed. "There's no way a human can beat even a low level warrior!"
A pair of silver eyes watched from inside the cave.
-----
"You're very good, if not better than Clare," Miria said as Wiess withdrew his sword, panting slightly. "Had I not been what you call a Claymore, you would have beaten me. However, the only advantage I have on you right now is the fact that I can use my Yoma powers in a battle, and you have none. Other than that, you're a fine warrior."
"Thanks," Wiess said, out of breath.
Miria smiled at him and walked away, back to the cave. "Get some rest, you'll really need it tomorrow," she called over her shoulder.
Wiess nodded and started to follow her, but was glomped by Helen.
"How'd you beat her?!" she demanded.