DISCLAIMER: I do not own Claymore, neither the manga or the anime
AN: Wow, I want to thank everyone for all their reviews :) It's been a bright point for me over the last few weeks :) And I can't thank you all enough.
Anywhoo, here are the review replies. If you signed in and I already answered your review, then I apologise.
Orchamus: I still haven't decided :) You're a smart one :) Theoretically (sorry if I'm spoiling the manga) because Jean never died and placed the mental block that prevented Clare from partially Awakening again. So she's weaker in the fact that she doesn't know she can partially Awaken and kick some serious ass, but in the long run, she's stronger because she still has the potential to do it. Thanks so much for reviewing :)
marc: You have an excellent point. In fact, your review is pretty much the reason why this chapter is out so soon :) I wanted to just write an AN chapter to answer it, but that would've been unfair, so this is a sort of filler chapter instead :) I think Priscilla is pretty overpowered in the manga. The Abyssal One's aren't push overs, but Priscilla ploughs through them like they're Rank 40s? I don't think so. In this, Priscilla is more powerful than a single Abyssal One, but it remains to be seen how well she'll go against a few of them ;) thanks for the great review.
betrayal: thanks, and thanks for the review :)
Melchor: Uhuh :) I have plans for the both of them, but I'm not entirely sure of what I'm going to do with them :) Thanks for the review :)
DBZLOVER: Thanks :) Priscilla isn't all there, as has been shown in the manga and the anime. She doesn't really see the world like any one else. She doesn't care about Riful, or Noah, basically, she was just keeping Isley alive. She's like a child at that point, and without any serious threat to push her mind into that unstoppable killing machine mode, she's got no reason to waste her time. Thanks for the review :)
algebraiya: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it :) Thanks for the review :)
storyreaderlovespie: You have a very good point :) Hopefully I solved that in this chapter, but like always, if it's not satisfactory, tell me, and I'll rewrite the chapter :) Noah's done nothing to seem even irritated by Undine's attempts to kill him, and she doesn't exactly want to draw his attention to Undine. Thanks for reviewing :)
kyuubicannon: Thanks :) And thanks for reviewing as well :)
Freehawk: Thanks so much, I'll try :) Thanks for the review :)
Neferius: I'm sorry if Noah seems a bit too perfect. In my defence, he's never really been up against someone of his caliber. He's never fought another Abyssal One, and he's never fought Priscilla. Rigardo and Dauf are no where near the league of an Abyssal One. He'll start to seem a little bit more realistic in future chapters, hopefully. Thanks for the review :)
DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK
Left in the darkness
Here on your own
Woke up a memory
Feeling the pain
You cannot deny it
There's nothing to say
It's all that you need to find the way
Oh Damn, the war is coming!
Oh Damn, you feel you want it!
Oh Damn, just bring it on today!
You can't live without the fire
It's the heat that makes you strong
'Cause you're born to live and fight it all the way
You can hide what lies inside you
It's the only thing you know
You're embracing that, never walk away
Don't walk away
~Iron, Within Temptation
DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK
Riful walked over towards the unconscious girls, "And how do you think you're going to be able to control Luciela once she wakes up? She may be the youngest Abyssal One, but she's not exactly weak, you know."
Noah stepped up besides her, "Luciela has the biggest reason to hate Isley out of all of us. I'm hoping that she'll cooperate."
She looked at him, "And if she doesn't?"
The boy shrugged as he walked over and picked up both girls, one over each shoulder, "I'm sure between the two of us, we'll manage to work something out."
He disappeared with a flare of yoki, and Dauf barely had time to yelp before he was dragged into the sky by Riful's tendrils.
DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK
Undine flinched as Miria slammed her against the cave wall, the smaller woman easily holding the generously muscled Number Eleven against the cold stone. "Enough, Undine!"
She opened her mouth to argue with the team leader, but Miria cut her off, "This isn't the time to be fighting amongst ourselves, and all you're doing by attacking Noah is wasting time and effort. You're not going to manage to land a hit on him, Undine, and like it or not, at the moment our chances of survival greatly increase with him on our side."
She dropped the larger woman to the ground, her normally calm and collected demeanour replaced an icy cold and serious persona, "Are you with us, Undine? Or will you allow stupidity to cloud your judgement?"
Undine didn't answer, pulling herself to her feet and roughly pushing past Miria to leave the cave.
DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK
The Number Eleven ranked warrior stomped along, kicking at rocks every now and again, muttering under her breath about the idiocy of her 'comrades'. Her hands were clenched into fists so hard that it seemed like her knuckles would burst through her skin.
"Lost your way little girl?"
She spun around, trying to pinpoint the source of the rasping voice, when suddenly she felt a presence appear behind her. Undine whirled around, drawing her swords and slashing through the figure that had appeared. A proper glance revealed it to be an ordinary yoma, severed through the waist, with a surprised look on its face.
"You should know better than to let your guard down, Undine."
The warrior spun around again, growling. Deneve was leaning against the rocks, watching her calmly. She had volunteered to go and keep an eye on the bulky Claymore, not that there were many others to offer. Undine's harsh personality made sure of that.
The Number Eleven snarled at her, "What are you doing out here, Deneve? Go back inside with the rest of the yoma-lovers!"
The short haired woman ignored the sharp words that Undine half-shouted at her. Deneve could see the hurt that she was trying to hide under her normal bluster and brashness.
"He's not really that bad."
Undine turned to face the other woman disbelievingly, "You're kidding me?"
Deneve shook her head, "He saved Helen. Back in Pieta. He even helped Jean come back from Awakening. And he killed Rigardo."
"But he's-" Undine protested weakly.
"Not human. Yes, and no one's saying you have to like him." Deneve reassured her softly, "But like Miria said, he is our best chance of surviving. The number of warriors or Awakened beings that could defeat him can be counted on one hand."
Undine glared at her, trying to come up with an argument. She knew that they needed the Abyssal One, but just having the thing around pissed her off to no end.
"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try and stay away from it."
Deneve gave her a measuring look, before finally nodding. She gave Undine a small smile, "Come on, we should head back to the cave."
DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK
There was a light thump as Noah landed, the two women slumped over his shoulders barely being jolted as his knees absorbed the impact. Riful didn't make a sound as she landed, although Dauf hit the ground with a heavy thud and promptly fell to the ground.
Noah glanced at the heavy-set man, and smirked, before setting off for the cave. He could sense two of the Claymores not too far away from the cave, the short haired partially Awakened one, and the brutish one.
Now, there was a warrior with a serious grudge. Her attempts to kill him were amusing, but if she didn't cut it out soon, he was going to stop dodging, and start hitting her back.
The assembled Claymore's had their swords drawn as the three Awakened beings entered the cave. Riful's idiot of a man was fairly incapable at repressing his yoki, and it wasn't a surprise they had felt him coming.
He glanced around. None of them looked like they were injured, apart from the girl who'd lost her fore arm and hand, which was had already started regenerating. The benefits of being a monster.
Miria took a step forwards, along with Clare, "Who're they?" Her guarded stare swept over the two unconscious girls slung over Noah's shoulders, then over Riful, then finally Dauf, who bristled under the Number Six's stare.
Noah, lowered Luciela to the ground first, and then the warrior, and sat them up against the cave wall. The eyes of the warrior's all widened as they caught a glimpse of the warrior's symbol.
"Rafaela . . ."
The words slipped out of Clare's mouth slightly quieter than a whisper, but it was still heard by everyone in the cave. Riful and Noah turned to face her.
The female Abyssal One glanced over the girls assembled, "How come you guys know who she is?"
Clare shrugged slightly, keeping a close eye on the Abyssal One. She could still remember the seemingly innocent little girl's power, and although she probably couldn't come close to matching that, she would still give it her all if she had to fight her.
Riful could see the look the girl with the bob cut was giving her, and she smirked slightly. She was about to speak to the girl when Noah turned and gave her a look, one that clearly said, back off.
She raised her hands innocently, and just smiled sweetly back at him. Maybe she could just poach one of the others later if he was so possessive of the girl. The one from before, the one that almost Awakened . . . . yes, she'd be powerful enough to serve Riful's purpose.
Noah must have noticed something, because suddenly he was behind her, a movement that caused everyone to tense.
"I recommend you keep your hands to yourself, Riful. You wouldn't want to have them cut off."
She blinked innocently at him, as if saying, 'misbehave? Me?', but Noah simply glared at her. The female Abyssal One gave a quiet huff, and walked back over to Dauf, grumbling, under her breath the whole way.
The green haired boy turned back to face Clare, "So, what do you know about her?"
Jean was the one to answer, "Rafaela is the Number Five ranked warrior within the Organisation."
Noah smirked, "Is that so? Hmm . . . . . ." He trailed off, and began to walk towards the two unconscious women.
Clare walked over to his side, "Who's the other girl?" The fact that the red headed girl was naked was ignored by everyone, save for Dauf, who sneaked little glances every time he thought Riful wasn't paying attention.
Noah's answer caused the assembled eyes to widen, and for one of the lower ranked warrior's to drop her sword.
"Luciela, Abyssal One of the South."
DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK
I'm a bastard for such a short chapter, but this is mainly a filler chapter, so I can rev up for the canon time skip, which is where I'm really gonna move away from the manga storyline.
I'm kinda depressed at the moment, so, to keep me distracted, I'm going to try to write a one shot for every one who reviews this chapter. If you want me to write you one, tell me in a review, what fandom you want, and if you want a pairing. If I'm not able to write for that fandom, I'll tell you.
Thanks