Chapter I: Promotion

Nothing could have prepared the Organization for the carnage that was a failed experiment.  They lost over half the warriors and trainees in that one test.  They were now shorthanded and there wasn't anything they could do except go in to over drive producing half yoma warriors.  Several girls would find themselves pulled into the walls of Sutafu, forced to become warriors, cut open and forced to feel pain.  These girls would be pushed through in an effort to get enough warriors to fill the gaps.

The Organization's men however still had some of the warriors left.  Those that were left would form almost a new generation.  Upon finding out that only 18 warriors lived they would have to step the trainees up on a surcharged course.  They soon discovered that not even the trainees were spared, only ten girls remained.  To make matters worse they'd lost both the anti-warrior and the next girl slotted to be the eyes.  Lyra's death was a blow that they didn't expect, forcing them to one again rely on their experienced "eyes" The Silent Chloey.  They had to shake the ranks as well; thankfully they had a highly ranked single digit, Cursed Indiana.  It was decided that she would be the next Number 1 as they didn't want Rafaela to be stimulated.  It worried the men that she had the same power as Luciela.  They decided that Rafaela was to forfeit her number, forced to hide as a walking corpse.  It was the job of the newly promoted Rubel to give the warrior the news.  When Rubel came to Rafaela's room he heard a quiet voice, softly talking to Rafaela…the one warrior who would also have to be told what was going on because she was so sensitive to yoki that even though Rafaela was good at suppression, she would still be able to sense the older warrior with ease according to what Rimuto had told him.  Rubel was told that The Silent wasn't a warrior of many words, and she was an obedient one, she would do as she was told, and they could count on her to follow her orders in a way that they were hard pressed to say about most other warriors.  The Silent's voice was hard to hear, but as Rubel stood still near the door and focused on what he was hearing, he discovered that she was talking words of comfort.  He paused and listened in on what was sure to be an interesting conversation.  It was rare for warriors to talk to one another the way Chloey was talking to Rafaela, indeed Rubel was amazed that The Silent could even say as many words in a normal person's speech.  It was highly amazing to listen to her talk.  Her voice was soft and yet it was quiet at the same time.  It also gave the impression of a monster, making Rubel cold, although he'd known in forever and a day how the half-yoma were produced.  These girls the result of mixing the dormant Dragonkin's flesh with the "awakened" Dragonkin's flesh.  The resulting parasite was the yoma, and it took control through the person's mind.  Rubel knew that the Organization were trying to get a controllable awakened being, and he also knew that he had to stop them from doing so, he was the spy after all.  However he was a careful man, he wouldn't do anything that would expose himself, he would hide and hide well.  Especially if he wanted to survive.

I carefully tied the last bandage on Rafaela's face.  She didn't even flinch.
"There all done," I say quietly.
Rafaela was shaking with sadness that she just couldn't let out, she was also ashamed.  I could sense that even in her suppressed yoki.  She looked away from me until I held her hand,
"I know how you feel Captain," I tell her gently,
She half smiled, but she was in both physical pain as well as mental.  She gripped my hand and she was shaking with tears.  I hugged her gently and she cried on my shoulder.  I cried with her, I truly felt her pain.  I knew what it was like to lose my sister, I'd lost both of my blood sisters in one hit, and then when I was just ten years old, Kate had died, leaving a gaping hole in my heart.  I knew…I knew the pain that Rafaela was feeling.  She was fighting to keep her yoki suppressed, she wanted it down, so she pushed it down in spite of the fact she was devastated mentally.  She cried until she half slept.  I carefully lowered her on to the bed she was resting on.  Her right eye was closed and her breathing was deep and even.  As far as I knew I was the only one that knew Rafaela was alive.  I sighed, I wanted to stay with her, but the men would want me soon.  Most likely they would want to see which trainees were ready to become warriors, but I didn't know what was going to happen next.  I took one last look at Rafaela, and I prayed that she would find peace, though I knew that as long as Luciela ran as an awakened being there would be no peace for Rafaela.  She would want to end it, and she would never forgive herself for what she couldn't have changed, for what she couldn't control even though she had tried so hard to do it.  I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I walked out of the room and closed the door softly.  Her heartache tormented me.  For as long as I would live I will still hear her screams
"COME BACK LUCIELAAAAAA!  COME BACK!  DAMN IT COME BACK LUCIELAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
I froze as it hit me again.  I sobbed, but there was no sound.  I felt truly horrible.  I was the one to hold her as she sobbed and cried, I was the one to bandage the wounds so that they would stop bleeding.  I was the one to cry with her and feel her pain.  I stopped abruptly, someone was behind me.  I swung around.  It was him, the man with a black hat and glasses, Rubel.
"She sleeps," I told him,
"Is that so?" he asked, "You are expected not to tell anyone else that she lives, do you understand?"
I nodded,
"She will be sent away, like a dead person," he continued
I sighed and turned to leave,
"Say nothing," he said,
I left him, knowing that my other comrades would be worried about me.

I was more than right.  Skylar lifted my up off my feet and hugged me so tightly that I couldn't even breathe.
"Skylar…" I chocked, though I doubted that she could hear me.
"Thank goddesses you're alive!" she said, hugging me even tighter if that was possible.  One of my ribs gave way with a loud snap.  Skylar let go of me abruptly, and despite her best efforts, I could tell that she'd been crying.  I healed the rib, only to be nearly chocked again.  Meg and Claire hugged me, crying.
"I'm ok," I say, my voice was weak because I was being squeezed.  The idea was just too good to pass up.  I hugged them as tightly as I could, but not too tight.  The both squealed and I let them go at the same time.  I looked around at who was left and I sighed.  We were so few, and the humans would desperately need to have a "Claymore" in their midst to get rid of the yoma, even if they hated us.  Things would be vastly different now and warriors would be pushed.  Based on what I had been told by Rubel Rafaela was thought to be dead to most of my comrades, with me being the only person that knew that she was even alive.  I felt a wave of grief for the warrior who had been my captain on my second ever group mission.  I felt the tear slid down my cheek as Kate rushed up to me.  She stood by my side and Skylar said, "Wow, she sure has grown,"
"That is true," I reply softly, Kate tilted her head as if to ask a question and I shook my head, Skylar looked from me to Kate in confusion.  I shrugged my shoulders and felt the events of the day truly take their toll on me.  I slowly made my way back to the warriors' quarters and flung myself on to the hard-ish bed.  I slept, though I didn't know if it was real well.

I felt several yoki outside the door, but I stayed lying down, I didn't want to get up.  I stretched, and I felt my shoulders pop a little.  I moved my legs and I felt my knees pop, and as I stood my feet hurt.  I could hear the echoes of footsteps and I knew that it was Orsay, I had long since memorised the sound of Orsay's footsteps.  I wasn't that bad that I would forget the sound of my handler's footsteps.  I allowed my back to pop and as I straighten myself, so that my shoulders were as normal as they were supposed to be.  I sighed and slowly pulled on my amour, I could feel my yoki slowly shift and I supressed it.  I decided that I was going to push it down, for good, and once it was almost completely beyond my ability to feel it.  I sheathed my blade and once I was ready, I opened the door.  I was surprised that there were five other warriors outside the room that I was in.  Faint whispers broke the near silence and I walked, Kate's claws rapped the floor.  The warriors that were standing around were all nervous, almost all of them looking at me, though I knew that it was a matter of time before they got over it though.  I was small after all.

I looked at them and I realised that I didn't even recognise them.  I couldn't even remember their names nor did I know them.  I sighed and made my way to the main reporting room, I could feel my comrades' anger.  I slowly made my way to the gathering of warriors and several of them were bristling with anger.  I paused as I spotted the handlers.
"Chloey," a man called,
I sighed and walked forward.  My amour clanked as I came forward, those who were ranked below me all stared openly at me now.  My amour broke the silence that wasn't there.  I stopped in front of my comrades, the man looked at me,
"You are the Number 5," he told me, I was given a map, "that is your region, you'll be expected there tomorrow."
I sighed and turned to leave, my comrades parted like the a sea.  They moved out of my way, swiftly except for two.  Meg and Claire were both waiting for me and were smiling.  We left our comrades and calmly left them.  I was put out that I didn't get to even say a word to Skylar, but I guessed that I would see her soon enough.  I walked away as Teresa was dragged in, she was carrying on about it hurting.  I didn't really focus on what was going on around me at the moment.  I was more focused on where I was going to have to go, and as I consulted the map, I sighed.  Of course I was close to Sutafu, it was to be expected of a single digit of my rank now.  It would also mean that I would have to do survival training as well.  Though I didn't really know if I would have to do it, since I had already done Lyra's.  I wondered if it was just me that had trained her in what little way that I could.  I sighed and I focused on probing the new area.  I wanted to curse, I thought that Lakyn had kept her region clean.  I sighed, it was going to be a long day when I got there.

We travelled towards my new region, and I pushed a hard pace to the nearest town.  I counted no fewer than ten yoma.  I sighed.  I killed the yoma swiftly, and the humans here were worse than my old region.  They had a real distrust of the half yoma and I didn't bother with them.  I ignored the wisecracks and the nasty snide tones that I could hear,
"My work is done, a man in black will collect the fee give it to him," I snapped, annoyed with the humans and their foul manners.
Orsay could deal with them and not me.  I'd had just about enough of it already.  I resisted the urge to storm out of the town.  I was pissed, really pissed.  Meg and Claire were both tense, they must have felt my anger, but they didn't say anything.  Once I was clear of the town my anger cooled.  Small wonder the higher ranks were so closed.  They had the terrible regions.  I heaved a sigh and settled down for the night.  I hated it.  I truly hated it.  I found a place for us to sit for the night, but I stayed standing.  I ranged out and counted the number of yoki that I could sense.  It obviously didn't take long for the yoma to get around.  I heaved a sigh as I ranged out, I couldn't hear much yet.  I sighed.

The night was long and by the time the sun rose to start the new day Kate was grumbling about the fact that it was so quiet.  I wanted to ask her something when I heard a rustle.
"Kate," I warn, and she went quiet.
Meg and Claire tensed, but I said no more.  Orsay came over, and I waited for him to speak,
"You have new orders," he said cautiously it seemed to me, "you will be needed to watch an awakened hunt in the west, near Doga,"
I simply nodded and went for my sword.  As I sheathed it he spoke again
"You will also be required to do survival training for a group of trainees.  They will be with you once the hunt is complete," Orsay added.
I simply started walking, honestly I was beyond caring anymore.  Our amour clanked as we walked away.

Chapter I: The Strange Black Card

We walked; my eyes were stinging with a fresh wave of tears. My parents were dead. My older sisters Teresa and Claire were also dead. A monster called yoma murdered all of my family. Only my best Friend Kate and I survived the attack because a Claymore killed the yoma as it came at us. We were both so afraid. We were forced to leave Lido. We had nowhere left to go, and I knew that we were being left to our fate. I could hunt, my father had taught me how, but I knew that we would never live if it came to that. Kate and I spent three nights talking about what we could do. We decided that we didn't have a choice. We would have to find the men in black. Kate was worried that we were heading in the wrong direction. I was at loss as to why we were doing this in the first place, vainly hoping that I could live.

We were walking along the abandoned road; I was almost blinded with tears in my eyes. I could feel Kate alongside me; more so than actually see her. I felt her grab my shoulder. I managed to rub what tears were in my eyes away to see that she was afraid. I followed her gaze. I soon wished I hadn't. There was a man in black, but half of his face looked like it had been demolished by something and just the skeleton remained. There was a man next to him, his face hidden underneath the black hood of his cloak. I hid behind Kate, overcome with pure fear.
"Well, well, what do we have here Orsay?" The man with the half-demolished face asked.
"Two girls Dae." The other man, Orsay replied.
"Well, then, what are you two doing here all on your own?" The first man asked us.
"We were lost." Kate said hiding her fear,
"We were trying to find where the Claymores are." I said quietly, Kate continued, "We have nowhere, and no one. If it pleases you, take us to be Claymores."
"Your names?" Orsay asked,
"I'm Kate, and she is Chloey." Said Kate. Dae asked,
"And why do you want to become "Claymores"?"
"We want revenge, for our family." Kate replied,
"Very well." Orsay said. He held out a hand, "Come with us then to become warriors."
We both followed them to the place that would make us monsters…

I woke with a start. My long pale blond hair swayed around me as I moved. My claymore was in reach, but there was no point in grabbing it. There wasn't a yoma threatening my life, and I was on my own. My amour was slung carelessly on the forest floor. I didn't know what woke me. I heard the faint rustle of leaves and I knew that it wouldn't be long before he got here. I pulled my amour on, quickly and sheathed my sword before he entered the clearing.

Sure enough, Orsay came out of the trees. He seemed unfazed by me standing in the centre. I waited for him to speak, "You have new orders, Number 7," He began, he always used my rank when giving me orders from Rimuto, or just because he could, I never knew the difference. I tilted my head and quietly waited for the rest of the words that followed. "You are needed to kill a yoma in Strath, just to the north of here. It is a normal yoma; you're more than able to take it."
I paused, and then turned my head north. I could pick up a large yoki that wasn't a "normal" yoma in that direction. I didn't tell Orsay though. There was no point complaining, it wouldn't help me anyway. I turned northwards and walked away from him, without a word leaving my mouth.

I started running when I was out of sight and earshot. My amour clanked away as I moved.

I began to slow down, as I got closer. I focused more on the yoki that I could feel rather than how fast I was going.

As I walked into the town, humans gasped and went quiet. Clearly, they were afraid when they heard my amour; however, once they saw me, they began to mutter uneasily.
"That's a Claymore?"
"She's quite a runt, isn't she?
"Just look at the size of her sword!"
"Well, she's like the rumours say, really frail looking, but she's carrying such a huge sword!"
"I heard that people started calling them Claymores after their massive swords!"
"Do you think she'll kill us?" A frightened young man asked to the person beside him. "Who knows, she is half-yoma after all." He said. I glared at the pair, my anger showing through my usual mask. They flinched away from me, afraid. I walked on, and another person hissed, "What did you go saying that for what if the yoma side got the best of her and turned her mad, she'd've killed us like we were nothing!"
I ignored the rest of the humans' comments as I continued to my target. She was trying to hide behind two humans, but they moved quickly out of the way, as I stopped in front of them. As I pulled my blade, the being didn't stand a chance. By the time I sheathed my blade, the humans were screaming at what I'd done.

"My work is done; a man in black will collect the fee. Give it to him." I told them, before they tried to pay me. There was no need to stay the humans looked at me with such fear. This "runt" proved to be a powerful warrior, and frightened them. I walked out of the town without another word. I wasn't going to say another one either. It was something that used to drive my best friend Kate insane at times. It wouldn't annoy her now. I thought sadly.

Once I was out of sight of the town, a small rustle caught my attention. I knew that he was behind me.
"Finished already, "The Silent" Chloey."
You know that I am Orsay. I thought, he continued when it was clear that I wasn't going to say anything.
"This is for you; the Number 8's waiting on Godar Hill."
"Why?" I asked him.
"She asked for you, Number 7." He sighed, "Cut her down, swiftly."

I took the black card from him and walked away to Godar Hill. Again, once I was out of his sight, I ran hard. It still took me a while despite the pace I was travelling at.

I stared vainly at the symbol, trying to work out whose it was. Then it hit me like a tonne of bricks. She was from my class, she used to torment the hell out of me, and now she was at her yoki limit and asking me to end her. It didn't make sense. Why would Rosilinda want her greatest enemy to kill her? I kept walking, I was close to where she was, I could feel her yoki…she'd awakened already, I could feel it. I knew it. But when'd she send the card?

I walked up to the top of the hill. Rosilinda still looked like she did as a warrior, in her physical appearance. The ever-present scowl dominating her face, her curly dark blond hair swaying in the wind. She'd unsheathed her blade, her yoki was irritated. I knew then what she truly had in mind. She wanted to finish what happened six and a half months ago. We were fighting with practice claymores and I'd made her look like a fool in front of the whole class. Almost all of the girls had laughed at her. She'd looked like such an idiot standing there, her arm broken in three places. Orsay'd seen the whole thing of course. Normally he would have passed the scene, it was normal for our class to hurt each other depending on whose side you were on. You were either with Rosilinda or you weren't. Those of us who weren't were terrorised by Rosilinda, until a brave girl called Roman punched her. I don't know why but I was taken away from my classmates and was brought before Rimuto. Then I was tested to become a warrior.

Rosilinda looked at me her eyes like daggers. I simply waited for her to speak.
"You're late Chloey, why?"
"Orsay, of course." I said letting the barb sting her for a bit.
"You are aware that a black card is for when a warrior knows her mind is at its limits, don't you Rosilinda? Then tell me this, why do you wish to fight me?" I asked her softly. She snarled at me, "You little bitch! How can you stand there and say next to nothing! Of course I have to fight you, you who is ranked at Number 7, the insult to all the offensive types of our class-"
"Kate was the Number 3." I told her softly, "So I don't see how I'm insulting anyone."
"You bitch! You always wanted the Number 1 didn't you?"
"No, I only want to live."
My voice was loud enough for her to hear me. She rushed at me; her sword wasn't a match for mine.

"I'll ask you again, why do you wish to fight me?" I asked.
"Fuck you!" She screamed, her rage raising her yoki a bit "I always hated you!"
"Glad to know you think that." I said. "Did you awaken before or after you sent the card?"
I asked frostily, my voice was hard and cold at the same time.
"BITCH!" Rosilinda screamed again. Her body was already showing signs of her yoki being far too high. We were sparing, but it was a far cry from our training days, where we were gaining skill. This time either Rosilinda or I would lay dead on this hill. I knew that it would be her. I was much stronger then she'd ever known. Her sword was nothing to me. I jumped away and while I was still standing up, I held my sword up.
"I'll ask once more, in case you didn't hear me the first time. Did you awaken before or after you sent the black card?"
"After of course!"
Her yoki pushed up to 80%, and then pushed up quickly from there. She had it fully unleashed as I jumped away from her. She looked like a deformed catlike creature. Her face was twisted and grotesque, so much so that I felt like I was going to throw up all the food I'd ever eaten, a thousand times over and still be sick beyond measure. She swung her awakened arm and she nearly slammed me into a rocky outcrop, but I was already counter attacking, my blade moving as fast as it could. My cape was torn, but it wasn't anything major. By the time that she realised that I'd taken out her arm, the rest of her oversized body fell to the ground, blood gushing everywhere. I wasn't going to tell Orsay what had happened. I figured that I would lie to him, this time at least. There was no point in saying too much. I would simply say the job was done and that I ran into yoma on the way down. I buried Rosilinda as a human since she was a comrade and it was the right thing to do.

I lightly landed on my toes at the bottom of the hill when I heard Orsay gasp.
"Goodness, Chloey, what happened?"
"I ran into yoma on the way down." My voice was barely audible.
"You'll be needed to watch an awakened hunt in the Southern mountains near Mucha. Ermita will be waiting for you."
I turned and started walking, my cape flapping behind me. I sighed, whoever "Ermita" was he had better not be expecting me to talk. I wasn't going to, because I never said more than what was needed. I never broke the silent mask.