Disclaimer: To all readers, I don't own the Claymore characters, the Claymore Universe, or the ideas from Naruto or Bleach that appear later. However, I do own everything else, as the characters and universe that appear later are part of a story/ manga that I am creating. Other than that, please enjoy. Now here is a glimpse at the world that will appear later in the storyline, as well as a couple of the characters.
From the night sky, the city of Las Angeles looked like a paradise of lights and sound. The people in the city were laughing, crying, falling in love, and going on with their daily lives. Little did they know of the war that was going on around them at the time between the creatures that they deemed solely as myths and legends.
From the sky above, a figure looked down as he flew through the bright, full moonlit sky. Floating on golden scaled wings, he watched over the people of the city as they went about their daily lives. His golden eyes scanned the ground, slitted pupils catching everything that they did, from the smallest twitch of their muscles to the way they moved about the streets. What he hadn't been expecting to see that night was the two men that had followed a young redhead around the corner into the one alley.
"Oh brother," the man thought as he dove towards the alley, making sure that no one saw him as he landed. His wings retreated into his back through the holes in his black shirt and knee length leather jacket as he landed. His golden scales retreated into his skin as well, which changed from gold to the color of light cinnamon. His eyes stayed the same, and where his hair should have been, golden spikes grew, each of them with a slight backward curve, and varying in size from the top to the bottom of his scalp. Near the top, the longest spike was about six inches, while the spikes near the bottom were about half an inch. His face was strong, looking like it had been chiseled from the finest of stone, which would have made any girl break down and drool if they saw him. He also had a medium build, stood about six feet tall, minus the spikes, and to complete his ensemble, he wore black leather boots, black jeans, and half of a golden dragon necklace. Strapped across his back was a large sword, with a dragon's head hilt, and several rubies embedded in it.
Looking on the scene, the man saw the girl backed up against the one wall, a shocked look on her face as she looked at the faces of the two men in front of her, for they each were growing more monstrous by the second. Needless to say, she was very afraid by this point.
"What do you think brother?" The first of the two asked. He was a little on the large side, as in fat, looking to weigh a good three hundred pounds easily. His face was fat as well, but it was slowly changing from human to monster, with veins slowly making their presence known on his face, his eyes flashing to a slitted yellow color, and his teeth growing into fierce jagged points. "She looks tasty, doesn't she?"
"Yes brother, very tasty indeed." The second was smaller, a little stockier than the first, but he was showing the same signs of change as the first. The second licked his lips and sharp teeth as he stared at the frightened looking woman. "Her innards must be delicious."
Their bodies were now growing taller and more heavily muscled, claws sprouting from the end of their fingertips. "Indeed they must." The first of them was starting to salivate. "Let us find out." With that they both started to move closer to her, savoring the meal the meal that was about to come to them.
Meanwhile the woman was so scared she couldn't even speak. She didn't even notice the man in shadows, she was so scared. Her voice was lost as she tried to cry out, to scream, but only a small squeak escaped her throat, making the two monsters in front of her chuckle even more. To them, fear always made their food taste better, and this woman was practically dripping with it.
While her body was frozen up, her mind was racing a thousands mile a second. 'Th-th-the-these monsters w-w-w-wa-want t-to e-eat m-m-me?' She broke into a cold sweat as she tried to back as far into the corner of the alley as she could. She finally found her voice. "N-no, p-p-pl-please, someone…SOMEONE HELP ME!!"
"Who do you think will help you?" the first one asked, flexing his claws as he grew closer. "No human cares enough about another in this city to risk their lives for anyone."
"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that I'm not human."
The two men turned monsters turned towards the source of the voice in time to see the man step from the shadows. The two of them chuckled as he stepped out because they were both a good foot and a half taller than him, as well as more heavily muscled. The second decided that a little teasing was in order. Jabbing a clawed finger in the man's direction, "Look brother, the little demon wants to fight us."
They both burst out into full blown laughter at the remark, while the frightened redhead just watch, tears streaming from her eyes. The other regained enough composure to chuckle softly and wipe his eyes, "Yes he does brother. The weak ones really know how to make a joke." The two started laughing again at the man's expense as the woman continued to stare with tear filled eyes.
The man, who's molten gold eyes shined in the pale moonlight that was streaming into the alley, merely smirked as the two laughed, "Weak?" He chuckled a dark chuckle, "That's pretty good coming from the lowest of the low."
That statement caught their attention, and they stopped laughing. "What was that, weakling?"
The man's smirk grew and his caught their gazes with a glare that could melt steel. "You heard me."
The glare didn't seem to affect either of them. In fact, it seemed to make them even angrier. The one took the chance to run at him, "You'll pay for that, you bastard!!" He ran at the man, claws drawn back, ready to strike. The man didn't move. When the monster reached him, he swung and the woman screamed, "NNNOOOOOOO!!"
"Heh heh. The bastard got what he deserved," the first of the monster brothers said. He was about to turned back to the woman when he noticed that his brother seemed to be having a hard time with something. "What is wrong brother?"
"Oh nothing, he's just having a little trouble with me." The voice startled both the woman and the monster. The monster though, didn't have time to be surprised for long, as his brother was thrown back at him and they went through the brick wall of the building behind him..
The woman looked in the direction which the demon had come from to see the man with spikes and golden eyes walking towards the hole in the wall, his body absent of any damage or harm. He stopped before he entered the hole, and glanced at the redhead, "Miss, I suggest you leave."
The woman quickly nodded and ran from the alley. The man walked through the hole he had created.
The building was very large on the inside, and judging by the number of boxes within, it had been built for storage. The monster brothers were nowhere to be seen, but their smell permeated the air of the building. He knew they were there, waiting for him to make a wrong move.
"I see," came the voice of the first monster from the shadows as the man walked farther into the building, "so you aren't as weak as we took you for." The man walked around, his eye slowly scanning the room as he listened, trying to pinpoint the monster's location by his voice.
The other brother chuckled like the man had earlier. The man heard the sound of a tongue being dragged over lips, "Yes brother, but we won't make that mistake a second time."
The man didn't seem to notice the second monster brother coming up behind him, at least until the monster tried to attack him and the man blocked it like he had earlier, shocking the monster once again with his insane strength. "H-how?"
The man smirked, "Seems you didn't learn your lesson the first time." With that, the man picked him up and threw him through the nearest pile of crates, where his brother had been hiding, waiting to attack. After crashing into his brother, the two of them were up like lightning.
"You bastard!!" This time it was the first that shouted, while they both attacked. As they struck down where he had been standing, the cement of the floor exploded outward, showering the two with small piece of rock and concrete. "Where did he go?"
"Look up, you idiots!" The two looked up in time to see a black booted foot connect with each of their faces, and they were sent flying backwards into another pile of crates. They were up a little slower this time, purple blood flowing from their mouths as well as a few small gashes on their bodies.
The two of them looked back at the spot where they had been kicked from, only to see the spot vacant. They two looked around in frustration and anger, "Where did that weak bastard go?!"
"Really now," a voice came from behind them, shocking them both, "you are the ones losing to me, and you have the gall to call me weak?" They both turned around, the second one receiving a spin kick that sent him across the room.
The first looked after his brother in disbelief, and then just looked back at the man, a small amount of fear in his voice, "H-how is it possible? No demon like you should be able to beat us."
"Well then, it's a good thing I'm not a demon," the man said with a smirk, which brought a look of confusion to the demon's face, "I'm a half demon."
The monster's face grew even more fearful. He even backed away a little, "It's not possible. NO HALF DEMON SHOULD BE STRONGER THAN US!!" Panic broke out on the monsters face as he gazed at the man in front of him.
"You really don't know who I am, do you?" The man's gaze grew dark as the air literally started to spark with electricity. A large amount of electrical energy appeared around his one fist, illuminating half the room.
"Then I think it's time for a lesson." He thrust electrified fist into the monster's stomach, sending him flying towards his brother, who was just starting to get up. He crashed into his brother, a large electrical burn where the man had hit him. Neither of them proceeded to get back up, so the man walked towards them, all the while his form changing as his scales and wings reappeared.
When he reached them, he was fully transformed. Looking down on them both, he focused more electrical energy to his palm. As the energy gathered, it illuminated his face, and his golden eyes. "Next time, know who you are picking a fight with before you do…not that there will be a next time. Enjoy your time in Hell." He was about to unleash his attack, when he stopped and said, "You should know, I'm not a half demon. I'm a half dragon."
The two of them looked at him, the fear evident in their eyes. "It's you…"
That was the last words out of either of their mouths as the man whispered, "Byakurai (Pale Lightning)" and a bolt of lightning shot from his hand, thereby incinerating them both as they screamed for their lives.
"Damn it, I hate demons like those two." the man said, brushing the dust from his clothes. Listening to the sounds outside the building, he could her the sounds of police sirens in the distance.
"Time to go." Walking out the hole that he created in the wall earlier, he spread his wings and took off. From the sky, he could see the woman he had saved, as well as the police cars that arrived. He quickly looked away, and flew like the fires of hell were at his back.
After flying for close to half an hour, he came upon a rather large house with a rather large amount of trees around it. "Home sweet home." he mumbled with a smile as he landed at the front door and entered.
Upon entering, he walked into a rather large room, with a high ceiling and cream colored walls. Their was a long green carpet going from the door to the marble staircase across the room, and a red banner sat on each wall between a pair of huge windows, each depicting a gold dragon, a silver dragon, a fox, an arctic wolf, and a tiger.
The man transformed back to a mostly human form, but this time, the only thing that remained of his dragon like appearance was the golden slitted eyes, both of them devoid of any white at all, while the spikes had turned to hair that was the same color as his eyes and fell just below his slightly pointed ears.
At the top of the stairs a woman appeared, her long hair a glistening silver color, as well as her eyes, which were just like the man's. She wore a black tube top and tight fitting blue jeans, which hugged the curves and tanned skin of her body like a second skin. Her face was beautiful, with high cheek bones and a perfect smile, which showed off her longer than normal canines. Around her neck, the other half of the necklace that the man was wearing dangled, except is was silver, just like the rest of her. Her eyes lit up when she saw the man at the bottom of the stairs.
"Drake!!" She practically flew down the stairs and gripped him in a bone crushing hug."C'mon Sarah, let go." She squeezed him one more time for good measure before she let go of him and smiled. She stood at least half a foot shorter than him. "Jeez sis, are you getting stronger?"
She flashed a huge grin across her face, "Nope. Still as strong as I ever was brother."
He returned her smile in full. He then looked around, as if expecting to see someone else. "Where are the others? I expected them to see them when I got here."
Sarah giggled, "They're out in the woods, in the bodies that you gave them, dear brother."
A sigh escaped Drake's lips, "Figures. But then again, at least they are enjoying themselves."
"Of course they are," Sarah said, jumping on his back and wrapping her arms around his neck. He had removed the sword when he walked in the door. "You saved their lives. If you hadn't done that, they all would have…" Her voice trailed off and a sad look crossed her face, as well as Drake's.
"I know Sarah, I know."
The two remained silent for a minute before Sarah spoke up. "So, did you get it then?"
Drake smiled as he held up a charm that he pulled from his pocket. Meanwhile, Sarah frowned, "That's it?"
"Yep, that's it."
"But it's so small. What could be so important about that?"
Drake snorted at the question. "I don't know, but the old man wouldn't tell me about it if it wasn't important."
Sarah thought about it for a second before she nodded, "True."
"C'mon, get off of me sis, I have to put it in the vault." She got off and headed up he stairs and off to the left of the stair case and through a door that led down a hallway to another door. On the other side of that door was a traditional Japanese dojo. He crossed to the other side of the dojo, where he opened the paper door to reveal a steel door, with a handprint analyzer in it. Placing a hand on it, the door opened almost instantly to reveal a room filled with charms, weapons, talismans, and other such magical items.
Walking to the end of the room, he placed the newest addition to the place on a hook set into the wall. As he turned to leave, something made him look back at the charm. As he stared at the small trinket, he could swear he saw several pairs of silver colored eyes staring back at him, all of them belonging to women with silvery blonde hair, except for one, which turned out to be a man.
Drake shook his head, and the images dispersed. "I'm seeing things." He shook his head a little more as he walked away, bringing his hand to his eyes, "I really need some sleep."
As he walked out and closed the door, the charm sparkled in the dull light of the room. The charm shaped like a broadsword, with a small, red, three pronged mark set into the blade of it.
"RAKI!!"
Clare held Raki's bloody body in her arms, tears streaming from here eyes as she cried for the boy she loved so dearly, just as they had for Jeane moments before.
Around the two of them, Miria, Deneve, and Helen gathered, pained looks on their faces, both for Raki's plight and Clare's sadness.
A little farther away, Priscilla shook in shock as tears flowed from her eyes, her naked form covered in blood whispering to herself, "Raki, no… why… why…?"
Priscilla, seeing Clare in her moment of weakness at the death of Jeane, had tried to strike at the girl, to rid herself of said the woman who was so much like Teresa, the woman that she had killed all those years ago. Having awakened her one arm, she had proceeded to stretch her claws and kill Clare. Raki though, had spotted her actions, and jumped in front of Clare. Having seen this, Priscilla became distraught and backed away from them all, while Clare cried for Raki as the life slowly slipped from his bleeding form.
Helen rounded on Priscilla, neither Deneve or Miria moving t stop her. "You bitch! He saved you! He cared enough to keep Clare from killing you, and yet you go and do this to him!?"
Priscilla didn't seem to hear the angry Claymore. She continued cry into her knees and whisper, "Raki… Raki…"
Now Helen was angry. Lifting her sword over her head she screamed, "YOU DON'T DESERVE HIS KINDNESS! NOW DIE!!"
She swung her sword down on the body of the former Claymore turned Youma, only to have the blade stopped by a slender, muscled, male hand. A flash of silver hair greeted her eyes. "She will not be dying today. After all, she still belongs to me." an impassive yet cheery voice said.
Helen backed away, but tensed as she realized who was speaking to her. Miria and Deneve also turned and readied their weapons. Even Clare, despite the tears, managed to throw a hated glare at the man. For the man was none other than Isley of the North. Though he looked normal enough, power radiated from his body.
"What do you want here, Youma?" It was Deneve who spoke up, her face set into the deepest of scowls as she stared at the former Claymore in front of her.
Isley stood up and smiled a serene smile. "Now, is that any way to speak to the man who is going to save that boys life?"
All of the women, except for Priscilla of course, gave him looks of surprise. They quickly turned looks of suspicion, which Miria seemed to voice for all of them, "Why would a Youma, and one as powerful as you for that matter, want to save a human?"
Isley kept that same serene smile on his face as a he spoke, "Thank you for the compliment, Miss…"
"My name is none of your concern," Miria stated as she drew closer to him, her claymore coming within an inch of his jugular. She was showing a surprising amount of courage despite the severe difference between her power and his, "And it was not meant to be a compliment."
Isley sighed, all the while with the smile still on his face. "Yes, yes, I surmised as much." He looked at Raki, who was slowly growing paler and paler as his life blood stained the earth and what was left of Clare's clothing. "As for why I am helping him…call it a thank you."
This one caught Clare's attention most of all. "A thank you? What could he have possibly done for you?" Isley did not miss the underlying hate that was in her voice.
Pushing Miria's claymore from his throat, he made his way to Clare and Raki, and then knelt down beside the two of them. "It is not for me." He glanced back at the form of Priscilla, who was still crying over what she had done. "It is for her."
Clare wanted to question Isley further, but she stopped herself when Raki coughed up a large amount of blood. "RAKI!"
"Stand back." Isley's command of Clare was loud, but the seriousness of his voice was very obvious. Clare didn't move much. She merely let Raki's head rest in her lap while she took her upper body away from the rest of him.
Isley seemed to think that was good enough, as he had gone to work. Pulling a small knife from his belt, he made a slash across his palm. Clenching his fist, the blood flowed. Before any of them, even Clare, could stop him, he placed the hand over one of Raki's open wounds, letting the smallest amount of blood to enter the cut.
Raki's eyes suddenly opened wide, and a scream escaped his throat as the blood coursed through his system and his body shook. The girls watched in horror at the sight before them, while Clare held onto him. After a few minutes, he calmed down, his eyes closing once again.
The girls, excluding Clare who didn't have her sword, all swung at Isley, who jumped out of the way just in time to keep his head from being removed.
Clare pulled Raki's body as close to hers as she could, "What have you done you bastard?!"
"I have saved his life." The serene smile was back on his face.
Clare, upon seeing the smile, became outraged, along with the rest of the woman there, but Clare was the only one who spoke up, "YOU'VE CONDEMNED HIM TO THE LIFE OF A YOUMA!!"
"No," he simply stated, "I have condemned him to a life like yours."
Helen was the one who spoke this time, "What are you talking about, you bastard?"
"Look at the boy's wounds. Then check his eyes"
The girls were puzzled for a second, until they looked at Raki and realized that the wounds that Priscilla had inflicted upon him were completely gone. Clare would have cried tears of happiness right then if Miria hadn't lifted his eyelids.
"His eyes are…" Clare started the sentence, but Miria finished it, only confirming what Clare was seeing.
"Silver."
Clare grew even more furious now. She wanted to scream at Isley, shout how he had ruined Raki's life, and shortened it at the same time. She wanted to scream at the monster until her throat was hoarse, and then cut him down like the beast that he was. At the same time though, she wanted to thank him for saving Raki, the one thing that had been good about her life since Teresa had died. Raki, the person who was more precious to her than her own life.
Not knowing what to do, Clare hugged him close to herself and cried tears of happiness, and yet sadness at the same time. Raki was a Claymore now, just like her, and male Claymores were known for one thing: becoming Awakened Beings almost immediately. And being an Awakened Being only led down one path in the eyes of other Claymores: the path of death by their hands.
Though Clare couldn't yell at Isley at the moment, Helen and the others were slightly more fortunate in that area. Helen was actually the first to speak up. "CONDEMNED HIM TO LIFE?! YOU'VE CONDEMNED HIM TO DEATH!!"
"She is right," Miria stated her head hanging low as she knew what the boy's fate was. "You of all people should know what happens to a male Claymore."
It was Isley's turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"
Helen was even more outraged now than she was before. "DON'T GIVE US THAT BULLSHIT!! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE MEAN!!"
"As much as I would like to say that I do, I do not." Isley merely frowned as he spoke. Helen was about to yell at him again, when Deneve cut her off and spoke in a calm tone.
"She is referring to the fact that male Claymores feel a sexual desire to awaken, hence the reason that males usually turn into Awakened Beings from surpassing their limits so soon."
Isley didn't say anything at first. He just stood there and stared at them all. After that, he did something that none of them expected him to do. He started to chuckle, which turned into a small laugh as he brought his hands to his eyes. This action came to all of their attention, even Clare, who lifted her tear stained face to look at the laughing Youma.
Needless to say, Isley laughing only managed to piss Helen off even more. However, her voice was low as she spoke now, though the anger was still clearly evident. "What the hell is so funny?"
"Oh nothing, nothing," Isley stated as he continued to chuckle, "It's just that I find the lies that the organization tells you are very humorous, as well as a little ridiculous."
Miria, having been investigating the organization whenever she could, was intrigued, as well as a little confused. "What do you mean?"
Isley stopped laughing and answered, "If that was the case, don't you think that the feeling to awaken would be true for all Claymores, not just men?"
The women all looked at the man, surprise evident on their faces, while their minds raced a mile a minute. He was right. Why would such a feeling occur in only the one sex and not the other? They were all undergoing the same changes, so why would things be so different just because of sex?
Isley continued on, "We didn't awaken because we accidentally went over our limits. The organization wasn't able to control us very well, and due to this, they sought to extinguish the existence of the male Claymores. We awakened by choice, to defend ourselves and fight the organization."
"Why would you voluntarily choose the life of a monster?" Miria asked.
Isley though, merely smiled. "That is for you to figure out on your own." Turning, he picked up the weeping Priscilla, Turning back to them, he smiled his serene smile once again and said, "Until we meet again, ladies."
Helen, Deneve, and Miria were about to attack him, until he released a burst of youki that forced them all to their knees. After that he turned to Clare and walked over to her and Raki again.
Upon reaching down he whispered into her ear, "He will not awaken, not fully, unless you give him reason to," Clare's eyes went wide as he spoke, "so be strong, for your sake and his."
With that, Isley was gone, the only proof that he had been there being the small traces of youki left behind, and the boy now sleeping in the lap of a Claymore who cried tears of absolute happiness.
A/N: So what do you think so far? Hope ya liked it, because there will be plenty more to it. Review Please!! Until next time, bye!