The Old Claymore and the Sea

Silver eyes watched the breathtaking scenery before it. The waves crashed lazily against the rocks sprawled out over the sandy beach. The water was a magnificent blue, which was a darker hue to the endless blue sky above. The difference in color the only indication of where the sky ended and the sea began. The seagull glided without a care in the winds above him occasionally landing and looking for something in the sand before taking off into the sky once again. Closing his eyes for a moment he listened to the sound of the wind blowing through the area around him stirring up small sand and dust towards the rock he was sitting on.

Siegfried let an air of satisfaction at having found a nice quite place to meditate. The large boulder he was currently sitting on was quite comfortable despite looking rather course and rough. He looked to his sword beside him and wondered if his sword was enjoying the scenery as much as him. Taking a back track in his thoughts he wondered was it natural to think of a sword as being alive and having a complete consciousness to decide if it enjoyed the scenery before it despite not having any known sensory to experience it.

Pushing that thought aside for now he looked at his armor lying beside his sword. In the countless battles he was in, his armor and sword was the only thing to accompany him. Life or Death, his armor and sword was with him all the way. No matter what happened he could always count on his armor and sword. They never betrayed him and always did what they were made to do. They were one of the few things he trusted. He always wondered if they shared the same sentiment about him as he did about them.

If they did have complete consciousness of their own what would they say? Would they be proud of working with him as much as he was of them or would they detest him for using them in what they were made for. In a way they were like his comrades. Some were honored to do what they were made to do; some was just there because they have no other choice. He wondered what his sword would be like. Would it detest its existence as a weapon to kill or be content with its role as a protector? The same could be asked about him now that he thought about it. Was he angry that his existence was only to destroy and kill and live a life of sorrow, or was he content at having a chance at revenge and the opportunity to protect others from his fate? He would constantly debate internally about this. Did he consider himself an unfeeling weapon at the disposal of the organization or did he think himself to be a savior banishing the very demons which threatened to destroy peace and justice? Was what he did good or was it evil?

Siegfried’s smile began to recede into a line as his eyes stared blankly at the sea before him. What was he exactly? Was he a tool to be used to destroy yomas or was he a warrior created to defend humanity? Whatever he wishes were so, his existence was for one purpose and how he viewed it or what he thought about it was really irrelevant. All this pondering and questioning was starting to bother him. He did what he had to do. The fact that he saves peoples lives so that they may live for another day was enough for him to continue lifting his sword. The smiles and relief of the darkness passing in the eyes of the people was enough to make Siegfried continue to fight. He guessed it doesn’t matter what he was made for or what the organizations original plan for him was. The fact that he can help people and protect them with his sword was reason enough for him.

A lot of his comrades always wondered if he was insane or a little crazy for being so happy all the time. They always have that questioning look when he smiles at the townsfolk even when they speak badly of him behind his back. The curiosity directed towards him for always being so polite and nice to others even though the thought isn’t mutual. Siegfried had thought of it for a while now. He did wonder why he would smile at a comrade even though they harbor nothing but malice towards him. He wondered why he couldn’t hate the yomas for taking everything from him like the others. Was he truly strange? A yoma had once mentioned that yomas are of a superior species and it was only natural that they hunted and fed off of humans. Siegfried believed that and in his mind countered that even animal find means to protect themselves from predators and they were the human’s response to the yomas. Everything followed a natural course in life. Predator’s hunted prey and prey find different means of protecting themselves.

Siegfried sighed as his thoughts were drifting off again. Looking up with a bored stare, he finally noted how much his mental ramblings were like his grandfathers. He was becoming old. Siegfried looked to the distance a little and noted two of his comrades playing in the ocean. The energy they were spending in their play was not from being bored, or being a young teenager, nor was it because they were new rookies who have a lot of energy on their first mission. They all entered the organization as kids and as kids they need to find time to be a kid again even if it is for a short time. This short reprieve may help them to cope with the harsh reality of their existence. Siegfried let it go.

Though they were supposed to hunt down an Awakened Being, Siegfried decided it was ok for the rookies to enjoy a moment to themselves. The Awakened Being could use a few extra days to live. She was after all a comrade, so it could be considered nice that Siegfried was giving her more time to live. Plus he was getting rather tired of traveling for days looking for her. He sighed and brought his gaze to the opposite side of where his armor and sword were resting. He looked down at the fourth member of the team who was lying down and taking a power nap. She was young, they all were. He could easily be twice as old as them. Normally warriors like him retained a young visage and only matured but not age as time went on. Siegfried seemed to both age and mature. He no longer looked like a young man anymore. He looked more like an adult, a man who has experienced many things in his life time. He didn’t look old just more adult like compared to the others. Inside though he felt like an old fossil. These ‘rookies’ (he refused to refer to them as youngsters as that would only further to make him feel old.) had a lot of energy and spunk. He smiled at that. He recalled back in his day that warriors were more solemn and prone to violence when two or more gather. It was still true today but it was a little more toned down, at least it seemed that way to him.

Siegfried pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at the warrior beside him again; she was sleeping peacefully for she didn’t seem to notice a trail of drool coming out of the side of her lopsided smile. What ever she was dreaming it must be nice. Chuckling a little, turned to look at the two others who were near the shallow part of the ocean. Both have rolled up their sleeves and pants to wade into the water. The girl over there was looking for seashells while the boy was running around doing something. He chuckled again at the thought of them having fun. He looked back at the sea. Its endless blue giving him a calming feeling as the breeze kicked up again and began to blow his hair every which way. Siegfried thought of getting back to what their team was assigned but decided against it when he attempted to get up and a resounding crack could be heard. He gently eased himself back into his sitting position with both legs crossed together. He decided he could wait just a bit longer. No need to rush.

Strangely he was reminded of a story about an ‘Old man and the Sea’ when he though about his situation, more like the ‘Old Claymore and the Sea’. Why not, let the rookies have a little more fun while he sat there contemplating about life again. Meanwhile yoki was discretely being used to heal a rather sore hip from attempting to stand up. Yes, everything was fine. Just dandy, if he ignored his sore hip.

The Shoe

“Whose shoe does this belong too?” asked a young girl as she poked the offending object with a long tree branch. The girl looked up at her companion with silver eyes as she continued to poke the object absent mindedly. The girl turned back to look at the object on the ground before her. It was an old shoe which was much too big for a normal person to wear. Though it was old it was well made and the leather seemed to be of really high quality. She once again turned to look at her companion who was deep in thought. With no answer coming from her companion standing next to her, she began to poke him instead of the shoe.

“Please stop doing that Lady Gertrude.” The poking ceased as Siegfried returned back to his thoughts. If they were to…Siegfried didn’t have a chance to complete his thoughts as the incessant poking started up again. This time instead of poking his back the girl decided to poke his forehead. Siegfried brought himself back to reality and stared down the long thing tree branch into the silver eyes of the girl before him. Gertrude gave Siegfried a toothy grin as she continued to poke his head.

“What are you thinking?” Gertrude looked curiously at Siegfried as she tilted her head to the side and she once again gave him a toothy grin. She had her left hand placed behind her, while her right had the branch which was being used to poke the forehead of Siegfried. She was moving back and forth on her heels. The innocent look was quickly shattered by the continuous poking of the branch. Siegfried was a patient man, most of the time.

“I was thinking about something…please stop your incessant poking Lady Gertrude.” Siegfried gave a flat look aimed at Gertrude as she merely continued to poke him with the branch. Siegfried just stared at her as she continued to poke him with the offending ‘stick’. Without a word Siegfried’s left hand shot up and made to grab the offending object, but to his dismay Gertrude was faster. As soon as he clasped his hand around empty air, he knew the girl before him was toying with him.

“No, no, no. You’re too slow Siegfried.” Gertrude wagged her left index finger at him. She held the long tree branch behind her while her left hand was out in front of her wagging her finger in disapproval of Siegfried’s slow reaction speed. Her voice was that of mock disapproval mimicking that tone mothers used to show disapproval towards children while keeping an air of playfulness around her. She began to smile and soon her giggling fit started.

“…” Siegfried silently watched the girl before him, fall into a fit of giggles as she tried desperately to contain her laughter. She failed. Now Gertrude was rolling on the ground laughing at the man who towered over her by two and a half a head. He watched as Gertrude continued her laughing fit as she rolled from side to side holding her sides as if she was afraid she will split in half from all her laughing. A loud sigh could be heard as Siegfried merely looked down at her. Unfortunately he could do nothing. She held a higher rank than him and thus she was made the ‘leader’ of this mission and his superior officer. So far though he was forced to play the role of the ‘leader’ and thus forcing him to do things he normally wouldn’t be capable of doing; leading a team. He was more comfortable being a follower than a leader; it just didn’t really fit in with his personality.

He gave another sigh as Gertrude’s laughing fit didn’t seem to have an end in sight. He turned to look at the shoe she mentioned earlier. He walked over to it, while making sure to avoid stepping on the other warrior, and bent down to take a closer look at the object. The shoe, or boot, was rather big and seemed to fit someone of his size. This in itself was odd because people of his height and heavy, muscular build was rare. Whomever this belongs too would either be huge like him, or just have big feet. Siegfried looked down and tried to compare it with his foot. It seemed to be a tight fit but it would still fit if he tried it on. Siegfried brought the boot over to a bag to the side and put the boot in. The brown leather bag was a part of their equipments/tools for this mission.

“Lady Gertrude we should head back and meet up with the others. It is getting rather late and the team may already be waiting for our arrival.” Siegfried spoke as he worked on fastening the straps to his shoulder so the bag won’t bounce around too much. There was no reply and it seemed at some point she stopped laughing. Being rather curious as to what may have brought about this sudden change, he turned around to take a look at Gertrude. What he saw brought about a mental groan and a slight twitch in his left eye. She had fallen asleep.

“Just what kind of captain are you to fall asleep in the middle of the woods like this? Lady Gertrude, please wake up. Lady Gertrude?” Siegfried bent down to shake Gertrude’s shoulder a little. There was no response aside from the slight snoring and occasional mumble. After a few minutes of his sad attempt at trying to wake the girl up, he was about to do something drastic before eyes opened in a half lidded stare to look into his own.

“Carry me.” The words were spoken with a finality to them that made it seem like it was more of an order issued by superior officers than a request from someone. Siegfried looked both in suprise and in confusion at Gertrude as the words began to sink in. He was staring at her in shock and wondered if she was faking being asleep this entire time.

“Ex…Excuse me Lady Gertrude?” Siegfried asked hoping to have heard wrong. Perhaps he should get his ears checked.

“I said ‘Carry. Me.’. I’m tired and I don’t want to get up. So, Carry me.” Gertrude spoke her orders slowly so Siegfried had the time to understand what she meant. At her last sentence she raised her arms out like a child seeking a hug from his/her parents. This was beginning to become really awkward for him. The look she gave him was rather defiant and glowed with the a finality to them that put Siegfried in a momentary shock. Without much choice he sighed and conceited to his fate.

“A…As you wish Lady Gertrude.” Siegfried picked Gertrude up and positioned her onto his back until she was behind him in a sort of piggyback ride. He shifted her until he believed she was comfortable. He tried to turn to see if she was but she had fallen asleep again and was drooling slightly onto his shoulder armor. Siegfried sighed once again and began his long trek back to the cabin by the lake. Sadly he would have to trek through the village and it was rather unfortunate that this was the time most of the people of the village would be coming home from the fields. This was going to be a very embarrassing and awkward walk.

“Stop…no you can’t…that’s my…” Gertrude mumbled out loud, before once again snoring in her sleep. She began to chew on his hair.

It was going to be a very, very long walk back.

The Silver Eyed Warrior

The beating of her heart became louder and louder until it threatened to deafen her from its rapid beats. She kept running despite the burning in her lungs and the screeching from her muscles to stop. Fire burned in her legs and her lungs. Her breaths were shallow and her eyes were wide with fear. She couldn’t stop. Her fear of dying and her will to live was the only thing keeping her from collapsing despite her body pushing itself past her limits. The many branches and under brushes went ignored as the girl continued her run for her life. The girl was sure she got away but the voice which came out after crushed what little hopes she had left.

“Well now where do you think you’re going my dear? You’ve hurt my feelings when you ran off like that.” The voice was laced with sarcasm and covered with a sick coating of sugar. As this was said something shot out from the forest behind the girl and collided with her legs. The little girl fell and tumbled down a slope and ended up near a river bank. The girl quickly got up and began to crawl away. Her dress now torn from the many branches and such was being smothered in mud as she tried to crawl away to some unknown safety. The pain in her legs was slowing her down and forcing her to crawl. She tried desperately to run, crawl, to get away.

A loud thump was heard not too far behind her. The sudden cold chill that went down her spine forced her to stop. She wanted to desperately continue her futile efforts to get away but this sudden sound of someone landing behind her crushed what hope she had left of getting away. Tears began to come down in a steady stream from her swollen red eyes. Her body began to shake with fear, immeasurable amounts of fear. Finding what little will and control over her body she had left, the girl slowly turned around to meet the eyes of her hunter.

“That wasn’t very nice my dear. I was merely enjoying the hospitality of your family, and might I say that your mother’s guts were superb! If she wasn’t dead I’d recommend her to some of my some of my friends! HAHAHAHA!!! Come now, that was funny! Lighten up! How about I make a deal with you? I’ll let you live if you promise to do something for me! How does that sound to you? A favor for me and in return I let you live! I must say I’m rather kind and very, very generous compare to my brethren’s. They are all such brutes and too barbaric for my taste. See why I like to travel alone? I guess you probably don’t. Well than I guess I’ll let the little lady decide than. Better choose quickly, I am rather impatient.” The person before her was none other than the yoma who had been playing as her father this whole time. She stared fixated in fear at the one person she had loved more than anything. Now the deformed face of her father stared back with hungry looking eyes and rows of sharp teeth. The yoma grabbed his stomach as if his gut was going to spill out from his own sick joke. As the yoma progressed his speech he began to use hand signs and odd possess to emphasize his sentences. To the beast she could say nothing as her world, which she had the little moment to bring herself back too, was crumbled before her. There was nothing left for her. Her fate now lay in the hands of this monster; she was at the mercy of the yoma before her.

The girl closed her eyes and tried to envision the smiling face of her father. He was a kind and gentle man who loved life for all it was worth and made sure to spread his joys with his family. He was a simple farmer so they weren’t living a life of luxury but he always made sure to provide what was needed for his family. Her entire life was nothing but happiness and joy. Her mother was a beautiful woman who was kind and gentle but firm when the situation called for it. She also had a beautiful voice, and she will sing many songs which enchanted the many villagers especially the children. Everyone loved her parents and so did she. Her little brother was a very boisterous child and loved to cause trouble here and there. He was rather troublesome to live with but she loved him just as much as she loved her parents.

Her life couldn’t have felt any more perfect, but that changed with the beast that was no more than a few meters away, impersonated her father and took everything away from her. She no longer had any strength left to go on. She opened her eyes and stared at the monster before her. She silently prayed it will grant her a quick death so she can see her family again. This thought alone was enough to bring a smile to her face. She was still trembling out of fear, but she could still smile at the thought of once again being reunited with her parents and little brother.

“Why the smile? Have you decided than? Fantastic! Well don’t worry now. I’ll be gentle with you.” The yoma slowly approached the girl with one outstretched hand and a kind of sick satisfaction dancing in its eyes. The yoma was soon right in front of the girl and gently pushed her until she was lying flat on the ground. He leaned over the girl and leered hungrily at the body of the young girl. The yoma gave the girl a genuine smile and reached up with its left hand and began to slowly tear her dress off.

The girl looked to the side and watched the river as she was trying to get her mind off of what was to happen next. She may be young but she wasn’t stupid. She knew of these kinds of things from stories she’s heard from the village children. She grits her teeth and shut her eyes as tight as possible. Her fists where clenched into small fists which was slowly turning white from the pressure she was applying. Her first time and it was to the very monster who took everything away from her. She waited for the inevitable as she could feel the heat of the beast body closing in, its breath shallow with anticipation as it came closer and closer to her. She tensed up expecting physical contact. Just when she could feel the body of the yoma coming in hairs breath away from her own, the sudden cool air washing over her shocked her to no end. She could feel the cold night’s air wash over her exposed skin as the heat from the yoma’s body seemed to have disappeared.

“You bastard!” She heard the sound of a body hitting the ground some meters away from her. The girl opened her eyes and quickly got up into a sitting position to see what had just happened. She unconsciously tried to cover herself with what little clothing was still left of her dress. She looked ahead at the sound of the yoma’s groaning and cursing as it rolled on the ground both hands covering its face as if someone had just hit it. What in the world could do that to the yoma? It was than she felt something being draped over her shoulders as well as a pair of warm hands. Shocked she turned her head to look at the one draping the cape over her.

“Are you alright milady?” The girl came face to face with a man. She looked into his eyes as it seemed to glow in the dark of night acting as some sort of beacon of light in the darkness. She blinked and was at a loss of what to say. The man merely smiled and with his hand, which seemed to be bigger than her head, ruffled her hair a little before he stood to his full height.

“Stay here for a moment milady, while I take care of him." The man’s voice was calm and was filled with kindness; it was enough to bring a sliver of hope back and a feeling of relief and comfort for the girl. She looked at him from her perch on the ground. The man was gigantic, easily towering over everyone in the village. Muscles bigger than any man she has ever seen in her entire life. Long blonde hair fell down around his head and seemed wave in and out of its own accord with the wind. On his back he carried a sword which looked as big as he was. Slowly the man drew the blade and in the reflection of the moon, it shown like a bright beacon in the darkness. The next thing that happened was so quick that she was unable to register what exactly had happened. All she knew was that the yoma from earlier lay still by the river bank and the large man was digging a grave for it. As soon as he was done with his work he turned towards her and began to slowly approach her.

“…” The girl’s eyes drew wide at the gigantic man heading for her. She began panic a little at the questions of what he was going to do with her. The man was strong enough to take down that monster, which ripped through her family in a matter of seconds. This man before her was something above a monster. What was he?

“Are you ok milady? You are not hurt anywhere? My apologies, my name is Siegfried Schtauffen. And may I inquire as to what milady’s name is?” The man kneeled before her. She was scared of this man, but he gave off an air of someone friendly. There was nothing to tie him to anything remotely close to the yoma from before. He seemed too nice for that. Silver eyes met her light brown ones as he kneeled in front of her waiting for an answer of some kind. Before she knew what had come over her, she had launched herself unto the man. She wrapped her arms around his neck and she bawled her heart out. She cried like she has never cried before at everything that has happened so far. She continued to cry and she could feel the large hands of the man from before rubbing her back soothingly. He said nothing else but he held her and through the simple act of rubbing her back brought her to slowly calm down. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever to her.

“I…I want to go home.” Her voice seemed to have worked on its own accord and gave the man a small almost whispered reply. She could feel the fatigue quickly overtaking her and the stress from the past few hours catching up to her like a giant tsunami tidal wave. Her body became limp and she could barely fight to stay awake. The final straw was when the man covered her with the same cloth like material he used earlier for her and his one reply afterwards gave her the feeling that she could trust this man.

“Rest now milady, I’ll take you home. Everything is going to be alright now.” And with that her eyes shut and her mind fell into a dark void of a dreamless sleep.

The sun’s blinding rays could be felt through her eyelids and it forced her to turn. In doing so she had promptly fell out of a bed. She immediately woke up and became alert as the events from last night all came rushing back to her. She looked around in a panic and not knowing what to do, she screamed. As soon as she did, she could hear a couple of footsteps scramble somewhere in the house and pretty soon the door burst open to reveal her disheveled uncle and her older cousins. She could recall her aunt yelling at all the men to get out of her way. As soon as she was through she moved with speed not normally associated with her plump aunt. She also recalled later that her aunt took care to wash her and dress her as she simultaneously kicked all the male members out of the room and forced them into manual labor to prepare all that for her. Afterwards she was given a very hearty mean which her aunt all but forced down her throat. Later she had a long briefing of what had happened to her family.

Unfortunately her family was killed. The man who had brought her back was a warrior called a claymore who specialized in killing yoma. She was told that the claymore had merely been traveling to his next destination and he just so happened to come across her in need of help. Since he slain the yoma, the village chief wanted to give him the money for the cost of killing a yoma. The man out right refused and said that yoma was not a request and he did it out of his own free will, so there is no need for the village to pay. To her dismay she found that she would have been cast out of her village had the man not convinced them that she was not a yoma. She also found out from her uncle that the man had even gone out of his way to bury her family and clean up her house during his short stay here. He left the next morning without anyone knowing.

Sometime later…

The girl looked up at the stars from her window sill. She looked at the many stars glittering out in the dark void of the night sky. It was a magnificent portrait of nature and the evidence of the power of the Twin Goddess to produce something as beautiful as the night sky. The girl released a breath of air and looked once again to the stars. Her cheeks flushed red at recalling her savior who came out of the darkness. His eyes shown with such brilliance like that of the stars in the sky. She looked to the stars again and recalled the same silver shine in his eyes as the sparkles of the stars.

She had been told of an organization whose sole duty is to eliminate yoma. They created warriors of half yoma, half human breed to combat the monsters. The villagers feared them for they believed the claymores, as they are called, were like the very monsters they fought. She knew that was all a lie. There was no way a man like him could be considered as such. He was far too kind and too gentle to be monster. She remembered explaining that to the other children. They all laughed at her for falling for a half breed monster, but to her he was her silver knight. He was the Silver-Eyed Warrior. That sounded strangely fitting for him. She gave a cheeky smile to the skies above and moved to go back to sleep.

I…I can explain!

“No!” Siegfried exclaimed loudly while glaring at the person in front of him. His hands were balled into fists and his entire body became tense. Brows furrowed to accent his glare, and his jaw was clenched shut in anger. His eyes set into a dangerous glare which promised worlds of pain. The person who stood before him held both hands up as if to ward away Siegfried’s anger. Waving his hands back and forth the person began his long winded explanation he had been rehearsing for use against this giant of a man.

“Please!! As a junior member of the organization and a junior to you, don’t you want to see me grow and develop into a fine young man? It isn’t like our job offers us a guarantee on our lives. I could be dead the next day and I will never get to experience my first love. I’ll never get to see or feel the warmth of a woman…” the young man was abruptly stopped in the middle of his speech when Siegfried’s right hand had found its way over his mouth.

“Stop this instant! Do you have any idea to what it means to do such a low and dishonorable thing? If you go through with it I promise you, your life will end before tomorrow! And what gives you the idea I will even consent to such a stupid action? My answer is final! No!” Siegfried angrily interrupted the young warrior before him and let him go. He turned around and began marching down the path away from Devlin who just watched him go.

“That’s ok. I was hoping for an accomplice in this. By the way thanks for the keys to your room!” Devlin spoke when he was sure Siegfried was out of ear shot. Devlin cackled madly and began the search for Siegfried’s room. He had been in the organization for a while now and he still couldn’t figure out how the room assignments were arranged. Devlin shrugged and began to the long process of locating Siegfried’s room.

A few hours later…

Siegfried slowly strode down the path to his room. The new batch of trainees looked promising. He had been asked to oversee them with Rabant and it seemed to have gone very hectic fairly quickly. How were they supposed to now of that AB who happened to be nearby when they were issuing the training mission? The day was won thanks to the efforts of the few Ranked warriors who had been at HQ at the time. Siegfried blew out a heavy sigh as he reached up with his left hand to rub a stiff spot in his neck. He smiled a little as he looked forward to just resting in his room for the next day or two.

He reached his room and smiled when he realized that rest was only but a few steps away. He reached up with his right hand to turn the handle when the door suddenly burst open. Siegfried quickly jumped back and drew his sword out in front of him in a defensive position. What he saw surprised him so much that he lowered his sword and stared incredulously at the sprawled out form of Devlin. Devlin looked up and spotted Siegfried. He gave him a sheepish smile and quickly got up.

“Hey there big guy! Sorry but I gotta run! Missions and stuff, you know! See ya!” With that hurried greeting and goodbye Devlin sped off down the path and quickly turned the corner and disappeared. Siegfried stared after him a moment before he slowly went into his own room. What he saw surprised him a little. Over by the far end of the wall there was a bunch of tools lying about. He walked over to inspect the tools and discovered they were all construction tools of some kind. He looked around and noticed something which wasn’t there previously. A small hole had been ‘drilled’ into the wall.

Some of the walls surrounding the hole had been chiseled away to make a small indent in the wall. He was curious and decided to look through the hole. What he saw scared the hell out of him. Looking through the hole in his wall his curious silver eye was met with a very pissed off looking one. This scared the hell out of him that he fell backwards on the ground in a sitting position. He could feel yoki being concentrated on the other side of the thick wall and without warning the entire wall was suddenly burst open. Siegfried covered himself with both arms to block the flying rocks and debris from the wall.

There was heavy dust in the air and it made him cough. A few seconds later the dust settled down and it seemed he managed to cough out the last remaining dust in his lungs. He looked up to stare at a person standing before him where a wall once stood. He looked into a pair of very angry looking silver eyes. He was a bit confused and a little scared of what had just transpired a moment ago.

“…” the female figure, who stood silently before him looked somewhat familiar to him. He couldn’t spot her insignia and she stood with her sword held in her left hand. He couldn’t help but note that her yoki was very, very familiar to him. Perhaps he had met her somewhere before. He noted her long blonde hair and her silver eyes. She had on the normal attire the organizations warriors wore, except she didn’t have any armor on. The figure drew closer and stood in front of Siegfried glaring daggers at him. He sat innocently on the floor looking up at the girl before him. Her eyes relocated itself to the tool he was currently holding in his hands, and if possible her glare intensified.

Siegfried tried to recall the room assignments. His room was relocated here because his original room was being used for something like storage for something or other. He tried to recall the rooms and the ranked warriors who was the owner of that room. He mentally counted and noticed the intensified glare the female warrior was giving him.

‘Um…if I’m not mistaken Rabant’s room is down the path on her side so that would mean…20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, and…Oh…My…God! I’m going to kill you Devlin. If I live through this I will hunt you down!’ Siegfried mentally exclaimed as he swallowed a lump which seemed to have formed in his neck. He sheepishly smiled at female warrior before him. Sweat was starting to pour down his head at an alarming rate as he slowly inched back wards towards the door.

“I…I can explain! La…Lady Sisteena.” The lump in his throat returned as he looked into the clearly pissed off eyes of the mentioned female warrior before him.

Later that evening the organization could hear the screaming of a certain warrior ring throughout the hills. The scream spoke volumes of being subjected to unspeakable pain and torture. Somewhere near the edge of the organization, a lone man wearing a black cloak took a look at the setting sun over the horizon. He stood next to a figure who was hanging his head down in guilt.

“You know he will kill you once he recovers. She will too, once she finds out the truth.” The man in the black cloak spoke while he looked at the setting sun. At this the young man next to him only nodded in silent agreement and held his head lower in guilt. The man in the black cloak turned to look at Devlin.

"Ok. I was just making sure." The man placed a hand on Devlin's shoulder and padded it a few times before walking off. Leaving the young man to his inevitable doom.

Campfire

Siegfried sat down on an old petrified log as the sun was about to set into the horizon in the distance. Slowly cleaning the blade of his claymore, Siegfried looked up at the darkening skies and decided now was a good a time as any to start a campfire. Slowly getting up, Siegfried went over to set his sword next to his armor on the side to go look for some fire wood.

Siegfried walked just outside of the small camp to get the necessary wood for the fire. Picking up fallen branches and fallen trees, Siegfried managed to gather a fairly decent amount of wood. Siegfried slowly walked towards the campsite and set the wood down next to his previous seat.

Siegfried had set up a small area encircled by rocks, for which he would set the campfire. Braking off branches and setting dry leaves in the center of the circle of rocks, Siegfried began the difficult process of creating a campfire. Siegfried went over to a small pouch by his claymore and found the flint to start his fire. Slowly getting up and going back to the sticks and dry leaves, Siegfried began to strike the flint with a nearby rock to get a fire going.

A few minutes later a large blazing fire was glowing in the ever growing darkness of night. With the sun completely gone by now, the large blazing fire was the only light source in this dark night. It seems even the moon wasn’t present making the dark all that more imposing and menacing.

Siegfried grabbed a long branch and began to poke the fire around while he sat down on the ground and waited. He had been sitting there for the past hour waiting for his teammates to arrive. As it didn’t seem like anyone was coming nor was there any sign of any yoki in the distance, Siegfried thought of resting a little but than the thought of comrades arriving in a moment kept him wide awake.

Siegfried sat down with his back against the petrified log he was sitting on earlier. Staring into the fire Siegfried eyes began to drift closed as he sat there. Siegfried sat up and crossed his arms and stared at the fire a little longer before he eventually began to fight the ever growing drowsiness to stay awake. Siegfried sat with his legs crossed while he crossed his arm in an authoritative manner to stay awake, but soon enough his head was hanging down and a light snore could be heard. Siegfried had fallen asleep.

Perfect Night Out

The night sky was ablaze with stars which littered the sky almost as much as the grass beneath his feet. Looking up he could see the moon in all its beauty shining down onto the dark and quite earth below. The clearing was well lightened, thanks to the heavens and the beauty created by the twin goddesses. The quite night breeze gently weaved its way through the trees and made the tall grass around him sway much like the waves of the ocean. It was surprisingly warm and quite. Not even the insects were out.

In the middle of a field of tall grass there was a small man-made clearing as well as a small campfire in the middle which shown with eerie brilliance. The tall grass around the small clearing were given shadows, which danced to the wild like nature of the flames as oppose to its physical counterpart which danced in gentle rhythm to the wind. The grass and its shadow both danced to the tunes of nature, one wild and unpredictable like fire and other calm and gentle like the wind. Both opposites yet fit together so well.

Siegfried looked up to stare at the beautiful scene before him. The grass was tall that was true, but thanks to his immense size he could hardly tell. The grass was rather comfortable to walk on. It was like many feathers tickling his ankles as he was taking a break earlier. He later set up his little campsite and for the past 4 hours he just sat there and enjoyed the beautiful environment he was so lucky to have stumbled across. He had been sitting there enjoying the songs of birds and watching them fly to and fro in the sky above. It was interesting to see the birds fly in circles together. Eventually they flew away, but their unity and the way they all seemed to be synchronized in their motions intrigued Siegfried. He took a look at the last few rays of light disappearing above the trees and into the distant sky. The darkness of night soon slowly swept across the sky and the last rays of light could be seen no more.

It was still early and pretty soon the crickets will play their nightly symphony. It was odd though that the night was so quite now. He didn’t complain. It was rather peaceful. Siegfried lied down and stared up at the night sky once again. It was beautiful. No matter how many times he tells himself this he still cannot seem to find the right words to explain the true beauty of the night sky. It was dazzling, beautiful, and magnificent; the only word to describe this moment was ‘perfect’. It was absolutely perfect.

It was a perfect night out.

Snow

By Bluedragon77

Disclaimer: I do not own Claymore.

Blue’s Note: Please tell me what you thing of this story. Read and review in “Notes to Blue” please. Good or Bad, I will take any comments regarding this story.

Snow

The ever cold little crystals, that floats gently down from the heavens to cover the world in its ever soft wonder. Right now the snow came down in soft droves. Floating down in a gentle flurry, enough to make one stop and stare at it in wonder. Covering the trees like a soft wooly blanket, giving the covered objects a look of both purity and…well…fluffiness. Reaching out with a hand and having his palm face up, a lone figure stood steadily catching the cold little flakes and feeling them melt into water. Bringing his hand back beside him and under his cloak, the figure looked up at the sky as his face became a landing zone for those little wonders.

Siegfried smiled up at the dark clouds. He had originally come from a hot and dry climate from the east; the desert. No matter how many times he received a mission, none made him happier than if snow was involved. He loved it. Ever since his first time to the north, he could not stop to always marvel at the beauty of snow covered landscapes. It was rather cold, but thanks to the yoma flesh implants he was able to regulate his own body temperature. Even with this amazing ability to adapt to severe temperatures, he could still feel the cold touch of snow and that always manage to send a small shiver down his spine.

“Hey! Siegfried! Stop spacing out, we have a job to do!” the voice had come from another figure up ahead. Siegfried turned to look at the small group waiting up ahead of him. There were four of them in total. The three other figures were all female. The one who called out to him locked her silver eyes in annoyance with his and half glared at him to show her displeasure of having to once again stop for him.

“I am terribly sorry! I was just a little lost in thought. I request forgiveness milady.” Siegfried snapped out of his short reverie and quickly strode over to the three. Once within arms length of them he bowed in apology for having once again stopped the group from reaching their destination. He felt like a fool and a hindrance, only slowing the group down with his curiosity and wonderment about of all things, snow.

*sigh* “What the hell am I going to do with you? Renee, keep an eye on him.” With that the ‘leader’ of the group once again began to move along the worn snow covered path towards their destination. The figure to his left followed suit, but the one to his right, Renee, began to poke him in his chest.

“Move it along.” Renee spoke in a dead pan voice, as if she was bored out of her mind and having to watch him didn’t make things anymore interesting for her. She than began to drag Siegfried but it wasn’t until Siegfried started to move that the both of them began to move forward.

“I am sorry for having to burden you Lady Renee. If there…” Siegfried began to apologize but he was stopped by the interruption from Renee.

“Shut up and keep walking. You talk too much.” Renee had let go at this point but kept close proximity to Siegfried just as she was ordered to do. Siegfried only nodded in response as when he moved to reply, Renee sent a glare in his direction. So being quite once again, they travelled in the light snow storm.

Looking up again, Siegfried could not help but have his mind once again drift off on the subject of snow. Before he could think for too long a sharp pain erupted in his right side as he doubled over slightly at the unexpected feeling. Looking down he could see that Renee had extended her left elbow and was quickly retracting it as she glared at him. Placing his right hand on the back of his head, Siegfried bowed slightly in apology. Renee glared at him and huffed out a breath of air and began to drag him along, with his help, and both were once again walking down the path.

After a few minutes of walking and finally catching up to the other two, all four warriors moved in a silent group towards their intended destination. Siegfried couldn’t help but look up again as the storm was getting slightly heavier bringing down more of that delightful little ice crystals; snow. A smile spread across his lips, before another sharp jolt of pain in his sides brought him back to reality.