Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story Sorry for the delay but having problems with my school on top of that my laptop decided to up and erase most of the new chapter, thank you for your patience here is chapter 6!
Chapter 6: Hunters and Hunted
Artorias leaned on the cave wall as he watched Clare rest after her sparring match with Miria. The young warrior almost looked as if she was dead, had it not been for the occasional rise and fall of her chest. His mind soon wandered to her abilities and combat skills trying to figure out how it would fit in with the others. Her fighting style reflected her abilities, it was crude, but designed to allow her to evade a more powerful opponents lethal blows. This would give her an opportunity to strike at their flanks or deliver the killing blow. Such a style was effective, however with her sword skills severely lacking she would also present openings in her defense.
Any further contemplation was prevented when Miria walked directly in front of him and gave him the same pointed glare she had given him earlier that day. Artorias had never really taken the time to observe her until now, thus he had never really noticed how...small, she really looked (at least to him), and without her armor she seemed even smaller still. Miria briefly closed her eyes as if deciding which topic she really wanted to discuss with him first. Opening them again she briefly turned to look at Clare and then turned back to the man in front of her.
"I take it you sensed something about her as well?" Miria asked. Artorias was taken aback, he had expected a question but not one about Clare. His silence clearly displeased her, she soon gave him a glare that would have rivaled one of Ciaran's (when she was wearing her mask at least, when her mask was off, Lord Gwyn help any man who ended up on her bad side). Artorias nodded as he leaned back against the cave wall until he felt something push into his side a little. Looking behind him, he realized he had forgotten her sword was still on his back. Removing the weapon he stabbed it into the ground next to its sleeping owner.
"Aye, I did indeed" he said, "her number does not befit her level of yoki at all." he continued as he leaned back against the wall. "The potency of her yoki should have earned her the rank of at least 20." Miria raised an eyebrow at that statement, confusion etched into her face. The last time she analyzed Clare's yoki she thought she was looking at the most powerful warrior she had ever seen. "Are you sure about that?" she asked, looking Artorias directly in the eyes.
"Yes, I am." He said "While her aura is indeed potent, her sword skills are severely lacking." he continued as he brought his left hand to his chin. In comparison to Miria or Galatea whose sword styles were honed to complement their particular set of abilities, Clare's was more like an experiment including a lot of trial and error.
Miria couldn't really find fault in his argument, her spar with Clare had left her with a foul taste in her mouth. She sighed as she knew this was a subject that not get her anything important. So it was time to touch the subject that had been bugging her since their meeting. "Why is your rank only 14th?" she said crossing her arms. Artorias looked at her with mild surprise, a small smile touched his face.
(Time skip to the next morning)
The five of them were walking along a cliff-edge overlooking a river, a large number of arches dotted the canyon. The peace was largely unbroken, no snide remarks from Helen or jabs from Deneve. Miria was in the lead, Clare behind her, Artorias behind Clare with Helen and Deneve trailing behind him. Hours seemed to go by as they walked along the trail, the roar of the stream from the canyon floor could be heard to a slight degree. Time seemed to pass as Artorias scanned for any sign of yoki, or for that matter the creatures murderous intent.
As the sun began to set on the horizon they encountered an unexpected traveler. Traveling the same road they were was a human, and by the looks of it he was looking for them. "HEEEY!" he shouted as walked towards them. "Over here ladies, how ya doing ladies, we've been waiting for you for you claymores for quite some time." he continued drawing closer. "Who the hell is that guy?" Helen asked as the others looked on. Artorias eyes' narrowed watching the man closely, no guide was ever mentioned by their contact and Miria would have made certain they were aware if they were given one. On top of that he greeted them without the slightets bit of malice or fear.
"I'm from the town of Lido, we're the ones who called you all to come out here." the man contiued now less then two feet away from them. "I tell ya it's really great to see that you all made the journey out here so quickly." he continued "If you claymores want to follow me, I can show you which direction you need to go." he finished. Within a few vital seconds Artorias reached forward with his right arm and pushed Miria back, with his left he drew his sword in the blink of an eye and struck the man.
"Noooooo!" Helen shouted, Deneve and Clare could only stare in shock at the man. As his sword collided with the earth it sheared of part of the cliff sending it tumbling down into the canyon. "What hell are you doing?!" Helen shouted at him "You just killed a human!". The blue clad warrior turned and looked at them, they all froze as they saw under his hood. Vibrant silver-blue eyes shone underneath betraying not even the slightest sense of emotion.
"Nay" he said "that was no human, open your senses, the creature we have been sent to slay is far worse than a simple 'voracious eater'." he said as he turned around. Looking up the cliff face they all were visibly shaken by the sight upon the rock face. "What we have been sent to slay is...an Awakened Being."