Chapter two

As soon as Rigaldo appeared, she just KNEW it was over. This was the silver eyed lion king! The former number two of the male warriors whose power rivaled that if Isley himself! She had no idea what he was doing here but she knew it was over as soon as he had revealed himself.

Then that man appeared…

Astonishment couldn't even begin to describe what she was feeling when he appeared in front of Veronica and blockedRigaldo's attack. Blocked it! Stopped it cold! Never mind wondering how the hell he even managed to move as fast as he had.

Everything in her senses, told her that this man was human. There was no trace of yoma anywhere on the man and there was nothing else that indicated he was an unnatural being.

Yet…he was.

No human had the strength or the speed this man had just displayed. What was he? Was he a new type of soldier for the organization? A person who had spent years surpassing barriers to strength she didn't know humans had? She didn't know and it made her nervous.

"Hey babe what's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" he asked to Veronica who was still gaping at him.

She eyed Rigaldo, trying to discern what he may have been feeling. He was just as shocked as everyone else there, as if unable to comprehend what he was actually seeing. And veronica, the woman he had just saved and said the comment to looked at him with wonder and awe, her breaths suddenly shorter.

She went to speak, to gain this human's attention and perhaps force him to run when she was interrupted by the man suddenly heaving his blade upwards in an attempt to split the lion King up the middle. The attack was…fast. It was on par with a warrior and that froze her in shock once again. Rigaldo leapt back, barely avoiding the blow and narrowed his eyes.

The man grinned, rested his blade on his shoulder and leaned forward as if to charge. He eyed the women around him.

"I got this. You guys scatter." His words snapped them all out of their shock, prompting them to protest.

"No! Wait!" yelled Veronica, trying to stop him but it was too late. The man shot forward and vanished using the shunshin to increase his speed. She gasped as the man reappeared in front of Rigaldo, already in mid swing. The attack would have split him at the waist but he jumped up just enough to avoid the blade then kicked the man hard in the face with a growl.

The man exploded into water a millisecond later.

Rigaldo was flabbergasted. Not that he had any time to feel it as he had to immediately duck to avoid a decapitating blow to the neck as the man sailed over him he growled again and shot a clawed hand up, goring him through the chest. He exploded into water again.

"Heh gonna have to try harder, kitty cat," said the man as he appeared in swirl of smoke, crouching right at the back of the lion king with his blade once again position to decapitate him. If Rigaldo were anyone else the attack would have killed him. However, he was a different kind of opponent who, instead of panicking at seeing anyone get this close to and swing a massive sword at him, abruptly caught the blade with one hand, receiving a relatively shallow gash in the palm of his hand.

Rigaldo had not been expecting this…no one had obviously, judging from the amazed looks the claymores were currently sending the human's way, which means one of two things. This man was a citizen of this city which was highly unlikely as there was no way a human this strong could have stayed undiscovered this far into Isley's lands for very long.

Or two, he was a traveler who had stumbled upon the scene. He was no ally to the claymores nor was he an enemy. Though knowing humans and their natural hatred or fear towards his kind and the claymores, he had immediately decided to side with the lesser of two evils. But observing this human more closely, he saw only…interest and a bit of lust as he beheld the claymores. This was his first experience with them…as if he'd never even heard of them before.

He couldn't honesty say that he wasn't surprised when the human had appeared, because he was. He had barely seen the man coming and by the time he realized what was going on, his claws were already being stopped from eviscerating the claymore with the ponytail by his massive single edged sword. He also couldn't deny the slight pang of excitement and curiosity as he fought this human. His abilities were beyond what he was expecting. Hell he was stronger than a good deal of the claymores here and had nearly paid for underestimating him twice. And he had a feeling the human had more tricks up his sleeve. Also, humans had no yoki. He was nearly impossible to track. He would have to rely on senses he never really had to use often before in battle, hearing, smell, touch… This whole fight was proving to be more of a challenge than he was expecting…it made his blood pump a bit in excitement.

His ear twitched, catching a sudden sound from above. With a kick, he sent the man behind him flying and leapt to the side just as another man crashed into the ground where he was, his strike forming a small crater. Rigaldo eyed the newcomer with the same amount of surprise as he regarded the first one. This one had yellow hair not unlike that of a claymore and emotionless bright blue green eyes…no…not emotionless, but extremely guarded and serious. As he slowly rose from his crouch, the wind ruffling the long baggy sleeve covering his right arm, he too took an offensive stance. And he too was holding a huge sword. He eyed the awakened being for a second before he let out a displeased grunt.

"Tch, I missed," he muttered. The first man appeared before him again using that same speed technique and swung his blade. Rigaldo jumped high up and positioned his arm to extend his claws when something shot up and appeared to his side. His eyes had only a second to widen and focus on the blonde man before he swung down. Rigaldo caught the blade but was unprepared for what happened next. Pure energy launched from the blade and impacted his chest where it exploded, wrenching open a savage looking wound that sent purple blood spraying.

"Blade beam," was the quiet whisper that came from the blonde's mouth.

"Ugh!" What the hell was this? How was this even possible! Rigaldo did a back flip to avoid getting hit by the blonde again and landed with a heavy thud, crouching and ignoring the blood dripping from his chest. The shirtless man was on him in an instant swinging down with a loud yell. He growled and jammed his hand into the man's stomach before leaping back again as the blonde crashed into the ground once again with his sword swinging down. He had just enough time to see the shirtless man once again explode into water before the blonde launched himself at him, seemingly flying across the ground.

Rigaldo growled and without warning, all ten of his claws extended and shot out at the blonde twisting and writhing like snakes and lashing out all around him, slamming into the blonde's blade and sending him back and impaling the shoulder of the shirtless man.

"Ugh!" the man grunted as his shoulder was impaled. Rigaldo almost disregarded him, thinking it was another one of those…water copies when the scent of blood caught his nose. Actually surprised he turned back to the man. However what he was met with was not a look of fear or surprise, but one of grim determination and a satisfied smirk as his hands finished a sequence of odd signs.

"Water style," he began with a grin. "Water dragon jutsu."

The snow around them melted and surged up, engulfing a surprised Rigaldo and taking the shape of a fierce reptilian monster that gave a roar and shot at a building with the intent of slamming its captive into it harshly.

Without a word, Rigaldo retracted his claws and used them to obliterate the water dragon, freeing himself and allowing for the water to clear away… just in time to take a vicious slash across the face courtesy of the blonde. He let out another yelp of pain as he back handed the offending human away harshly, sending him crashing through the roof. That's the second hit these humans have scored on him. This was getting ridiculous. Perhaps it was time to stop holding back, no matter how much it shamed him to do this, going all out against mere humans. But these two were…something else. If things keep going the way they were, they might actually seriously hurt him

Ignoring everything else around him he stood and let out a mighty roar that shook the very ground, yoma energy exploding off of him in a torrent of power and destruction. Wind, water and debris was kicked up and sent flying out in all directions. All of the other claymores had long since left the area, still locked in battle with the numerous awakened beings throughout the city and eager to be as far way from Rigaldo as possible. Three claymores though were still watching the fight. Veronica, Cynthia and Clare stood and watched with wide eyes and awe at these two men as they went toe to toe with the silver eyed lion king. They had at first intended to intervene and perhaps save the two from a grizzly death but that notion had been quickly cut off when the humans proved more than capable of taking care of themselves. Miria and the other commanders had gone off somewhere to assist their comrades.

Veronica did start to worry then, when the lion king decided to quit playing around. She watched as the two humans stood side by side, unflinching as the full might of Rigaldo was released.

"Alright…Humans, if that's what you even are," he began. "You have obtained my undivided attention and my unwavering interest."

He tensed.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here fighting for these pathetic pawns of the organization? And how did humans come to possess power such as you two?"

"Eh?" began the shirtless man. "You're just now asking us this?" He rose from his couch and rested the blade on his shoulder. The blonde spoke next. "It does not matter who we are," he said.

"And as to why we're defending them," said the shirtless man as he gestured towards the three claymores who were watching the battle. "Who the hell wouldn't? It's obvious which side we were going choose as soon as we saw this little skirmish of yours. What do you think we are? Gay?"

Rigaldo eyed them, "I see…"

"Oh and you're wrong about another thing too," said the shirtless man with a smirk.

There was a whizzing sound from above once again Rigaldo's eyes widened as he went to dodge. He failed, even with his speed advantage as it was already nearly too late.

A massive double edged halberd blade jammed into the ground with a loud thunk where he had been standing. There was a spray of purple and a severed arm fell to the ground. Eyes widened all around as a third man landed on the handle of the blade, grinning savagely. His dark blue eyes focused on the stunned awakened being as he hopped to the ground and yanked the blade from the ground with no effort at all. Purple blood was still dripping off of it.

"Yo," he greeted. "Meet Bonryu, my trusty companion." He rested the blade on his shoulder and began to walk towards Rigaldo. " And I'm Bankotsu." He smirked evilly. "Unlike those two I aint really here to save anybody, though these chicks are a nice little consolation prize, I'm not all that concerned with their safety. I aint a babysitter they should be able to take care of themselves."

The…Bonryu pulsated and began to glow.

"I'm here hoping you or any other of these wannabe demons can give me a decent fight. If not, then perhaps one of these women can do that instead."

Visible energy began to build up in the halberd as he began to spin it above his head.

"You're fast. But that's pretty much all you got goin for you. I've been watching you…lion boy. You aint shit."

He paused to look at the other two men.

"And you two, leading him on like that, how ridiculous. I may not know you but even I can tell that this guy should be long dead already after facing you two."

Cloud closed his eyes and gave a slight smirk. "Heh."

Zabuza chuckled. "Whatever. You kill him off then since we're not doin a good enough job. And make it quick I'm tired of this shithole city and its cold." To emphasize his point, he shivered as he casually threw a shuriken to the left where it buried itself into the eye of an awakened being who was fighting with Flora, allowing said woman to flay his ass with a wind cutter while he shrieked in surprise and pain.

Bonkotsu looked at Clare, Veronica and Cynthia and said, "Dunno why you've been standing there this whole time doin nothing but I suggest you all get the hell outta the way. Go help kill off those other monsters or something cause ya definitely don't wanna be here when I attack."

There was a sudden movement. Rigaldo attacked with the speed of a bullet, aiming to end the existence of this arrogant human who had dared to cut off his arm. The blonde appeared in front of him with a burst of unknown energy, leaving a trail of blue as he blocked the claws.

"Bankotsu is right," he began even as Rigaldo's eyes widened. "We have been…deceiving you."

Quick as lightning a smaller blade detached itself from the main blade and landed firmly in the blonde's fee hand. Before Rigaldo could respond, the blade was sunk into his unprotected side.

"I've fought and defeated opponents far stronger than you. You are…insignificant to me," said Cloud.

Rigaldo couldn't believe it. This human was telling the truth. This human truly believed what he was saying and he himself was beginning to believe it as well. The look in this human's eyes… No…these were not humans. It was impossible for them to be. Not with this power.

Bankotsu spoke even as the energy began to swirl around him more violently. "Speed or not. You will die right now." He slammed the halberd into the ground and gave a sadistic smile.

"Nice knowin ya."

The ground and buildings were torn asunder by the wild release of pure power and wind that exploded from Bankotsu's weapon. A wave of pure destruction raced across the ground and engulfed everything that stood in its way. Cloud barely avoided the attack and only then, because he was not directly in front of it. It was the same for the three claymores. Rigaldo…did not. He could have dodged, easily. His speed far outpaced the speed of Bankotsu's attack, however, as he went to leap out of the way, pain exploded from his calves and heels as vital tendons were suddenly severed and rendered his entire lower half useless for an instant.

"What?"

The blast slammed full force into him a second later and flayed him six different ways, swiping him right off of his feet and sending him careening trough the air. He refused to scream. He wouldn't dare give these people the satisfaction of thinking they made him suffer.

He had just enough time to catch a glimpse of the shirtless man, rising out of the ground like some sort of specter, a triumphant, mocking grin on his face as he twirled a pair of purple stained daggers on his fingers.

He wanted to roar. He wanted to scream in indignation, knowing that these humans had truly held back on him, had killed him. He felt…cheated.

But he also couldn't hold back the pure…admiration he felt.

"Remarkable! These three are…amazing!"

He paused in his thoughts as he focused for a second on the energy tearing him apart.

"I don't know what you are…male warriors. But if I'm to die, I'm glad it was to you…Heh. Though I wonder if you can face Isley…or even worse, that girl of his."

He exploded into bloody chunks with a serene smile on his lips.

Silver eyes snapped open in shock causing the man garbed in black to look at the owner of said eyes in interest.

"Something wrong…Galatea?" He asked.

The woman, a very beautiful claymore with long straight hair turned to the man. "Something else…is in that city. It just killed Rigaldo."

"Hmm something else you say?" he asked interested.

"Yes. I…cannot identify it but it definitely was not a warrior. The aura is…all wrong."

She looked at the man. "Several warriors have been killed already as well.

The three men stood there, staring at the path of destruction, waiting to see if Rigaldo had somehow survived that attack when someone came up to them and said, "He's gone. You killed him."

They turned and saw one of the claymores looking at them with calculating, suspicious eyes mixed in with astonishment and wonder. She was a pretty little thing, with straight hair that hung down to chin length and an aura the just screamed leader. The other two approached as well. The one with the pony tail that Zabuza had saved couldn't help but stare.

"Who are you?" asked Clare.

The three men relaxed if only a bit, their blades once again resting on their shoulders.

Cloud gave a slight nod. "Just travelers who were passing through."

Bankotsu snorted and turned his attention to the west where a large gargoyle looking awakened being was fighting with two women.

The sound of battle was everywhere. Zabuza looked at the three warriors. "We are…sort of lost actually. We came here looking for information and supplies. Instead we found a bunch of babes in tight clothing getting attacked by monsters."

All three of them actually looked a bit surprised by his last words. He thought they were attractive? Did he not know what he was talking to?

"What are you going to do now?" Zabuza looked back. Veronica was looking at him with a look he recognized as uncertainty and a bit of admiration. The former Kiri Ninja grinned.

"There are still quite a few monsters in this place. Hopefully one of them will prove difficult to kill, though I doubt it, seeing as how that lion freak was the strongest, still though." He turned to leave.

"Wait."

He paused and turned his attention to one of the claymores. The one with the braid was looking at him, her eyes shown with a bit of awe and fascination.

"Just…what are you?"

Zabuza raised an eyebrow. "Worry about that after this mess is cleaned up babe." He was gone in a swirl of mist before she could respond. Veronica turned to the spot that the other two men were…but they were gone as well.

Undine snarled at the sight of her mutilated comrades. Dammit this was unacceptable! Saved from Rigaldo, only to parish at the hands of this trash. She collapsed to her knees looking exhausted, her uniform was covered in blood and was in tatters. She tried not to look at the corpses of Cuinee and Zeruda. Claudia and she were surrounded. There was four awakened beings all grinning down at the two of them. One of them licked its lips cleaning the blood off from where it had bitten Zeruda in half.

"Guess this is it," she muttered. She looked at Claudia. The most she could do now was distract the monsters long enough for the weaker woman to run away and unite with a larger group of comrades. She forced herself to her feet.

"Claudia, when I give the word, you run. Got it?"

"W-what! C-Commander! I couldn't!"

"You will!" she yelled. She prepared her swords. "This ain't up for debate! When I say run, you RUN!"

She could only nod in resignation. Undine snorted. "Good."

The awakened beings began to close in on the two, ready to tear them limb from limb. The muscled woman tensed and prepared to attack.

However, Undine's plan was thrown out the window the second he appeared. Like a spirit sent from above, Cloud seemingly flew from the side and swung his massive sword. The closest awakened being lost his head in an instant, his body collapsing in a fountain of blood and the head slamming into the ground. The other three gasped.

"Wha…?"

The blonde landed on the side of a building and used it as a platform to launch himself at the next one. This one tried to block using its armor but Cloud's sword passed right through that, and him as he continued by. The monster was bisected from right shoulder to left hip and the upper body slid off and fell to the ground. The other two charged the man at the same time from two different sides, attempting to sandwich him. The man responded by snorting and clicking a button on his sword. Another blade detached itself from the main unit and suddenly the man was wielding two weapons.

Undine and Claudia watched as the man spun twice, splitting both monsters in half before he landed with a soft thump and reattached the swords. They watched as he looked around, spotted a couple more awakened beings and shot after them. They were stunned. They could only sit there.

Yuma and Carla were alone, separated from their comrades and facing a hopeless situation. They were terrified yet determined to survive.

But…Surviving was just not possible.

They hid, under the debris of a home as a single awakened being searched for them, taunting them, mocking their weakness. Lily and Pamela had disappeared. Yuma didn't know where to, but chances are, they were dead.

The awakened being suddenly paused and she began to pant in terror, thinking they had been found. Carla looked at her with wide eyes.

"Heh. A bit reckless of ya to be wondering this far away by yourself isn't it?"

A man was speaking. His tone was mocking and full of battle lust. He…wasn't a yoma.

With a gasp she exploded from the debris preparing to yell at the man to run, however her words died in her mouth as soon as she saw what was happening.

The man was finishing splitting the monster down the middle from head to groin with a massive blade and a disappointed look on his face.

"Pathetic," he spat as the monster died with a few gurgling screams.

She stared at him in shock and wonder. Who was he! What was he!

The man looked at her then scoffed. "Another girl eh? and alive this time." He paused as he examined her then shrugged. "Try not to die like they did. I aint gonna save you again."

Then he was off. Carla emerged next. "What…just happened?"

Even as she fought, her mind was constantly occupied by that man. He had come out of nowhere, saving Veronica and quite possibly the others as well. She didn't know why Rigaldo was here but she had assumed that this could only be to take out the people that were holding the group together. However , that man and appeared and stopped his surprise attack cold. As he engaged the silver eyed lion King, she and the others had headed off, intent on saving their comrades and dealing with Rigaldo as soon as they could, provided that man even slowed him down enough.

Then she felt Rilgalo's life force get snuffed out. She had even felt the energy that did him in. What the hell… had just happened? How?

She avoided another blow from an awakened being and appeared above it with a raised blade. However before she could swing down, the creature suddenly collapsed and shrieked in pain. "What?"

The same man that had saved Veronica and apparently killed Rigaldo grinned up at her and he rose from the ground then planted his massive blade in the creature's head, silencing him forever. She then saw the severed tendons in the creature's ankles and calves. That's what made him collapse.

She landed on the ground and eyed the man intently. "If we survive this, you have explaining to do."

The man simply smirked. "Heh whatever you say babe, whatever you say."

An explosion went off towards the west, both looked over just in time to see three awakened beings explode into chunks as a wave of glowing wind blasted them.

"Heh. Don't know him very well and I can already tell he's gonna be a pain." He was gone before she could say anything or question what the man had meant by that, leaving the woman standing there.

It was all going so well. One by one, the claymores were being wiped out, even as whatever it was that was helping them, killed Rigaldo.

But then right after Rigaldo was killed, the life forces of the awakened beings began to vanish…at an astonishing rate. All he could do was stand there shocked as the numbers between the claymores and the awakened beings evened out in minutes, then dwindled to the point that they were then outnumbered.

He contemplated going down there and putting a stop to this but he had more pressing issues to get to, such as heading south to conquer Luciella. As the last of the awakened beings were crushed under the might of whatever was helping the claymores, he silently swore to find out what was responsible…and kill them. Something that powerful couldn't be ignored for too long.

With a regretful sigh, he began to head out. Hopefully the other awakened beings he had sent after the organization and Riful would stall them long enough for him to do what he needed to do. His thoughts then drifted to the human boy he had recently picked up.

Pricilla would be alright in his hands. He'd be back as soon as possible to make sure they didn't get into any trouble anyway.

With one more look towards Pieta, he sighed, giving a mournful nod for Rigaldo and all the others that had been slain. "I better get moving," he muttered. Then he chuckled as he realized something.

"Thirteen eh? What will you do now…foolish men of the organization?"

With a final smile, he vanished, as if the snow itself swallowed him up.

The aftermath was one of silence. The smell of death lingered in the frigid air and the city seemed to howl mournfully for the carnage that had taken place. Even as the sun rose over the horizon, bathing the area in golden light, there was…no sense of peace.

"Commander Miria!" called a woman with short cheek length hair with a grin as she and another woman, this one with extremely short hair approached. Miria eyed the two women and felt relief enter her being at the sight of them.

"Helen, Deneve. You survived."

Helen's grin grew larger. "Hah. Damn right I survived!" then her look grew more serious. "Though I'm not sure how we would have had it not been for that crazy ass man with the gigantic halberd."

Miria raised an eyebrow.

"Halberd? I thought it was a single edged sword with a curved tip?" There was no way she was mistaken. She had seen the guy twice. Helen shook her head. "Nope. This guy's weapon was definitely a Halberd. Man you shoulda seen it! One swing and he destroyed three awakened beings like it was nothing! It was…the most impressive thing I'd ever seen."

Deneve nodded silently. Then she turned as two more people arrived on the scene. Deneve felt her lips twitch upwards a bit.

"Undine, Claudia." The buff woman huffed and crossed her arms, though she was smiling as well.

"Yo. So ya made it eh? I'm surprised." Deneve snorted as well, opting not to say anything. Three more people arrived. It was Flora, Jean and Tabitha. Jean had a vicious looking slash on her stomach but was otherwise fine. Tabitha and Flora looked like they been through hell and back. It was a wonder they were still moving. Tabitha looked worse though and both Flora and Jean were supporting her on their shoulders. When they arrived, they gently placed Tabitha on the ground who gave a weak, "Thanks," in gratitude. Flora sat down as well while Jean began to look around.

Yuma and Carla arrived next. Both were still looking amazed, as if something impossible had happened to them. Miria could guess what. The two women saw the rest of their comrades and gave extremely happy smiles, glad to see more of their comrades alive. It was at this time that Clare, Cynthia and Veronica arrived. Jean immediately stopped looking around once her eyes landed on Clare, looking extremely relived.

They took the time to reconcile with what had happened…to them. And after an hour they realized that they were the only survivors, and though the amount that had survived that night was nothing short of astonishing, there had still been losses. They mourned their fallen comrades in silence and cursed the organization for doing this to them. Truthfully they all should have died. Or perhaps, far more should have, even with Miria's plan. If it wasn't for that man…

She paused. Her eyes widened. How had she forgotten about him?

She swiftly began to move, heading towards the center of the city.

"Miria?" asked Deneve, raising an eyebrow. The Claymore didn't say anything. She just continued to move.

"C'mon," said Helen, following after her. The others all exchanged glances before they collectively shrugged and began to follow as well.

"Heh, there you are. About time," said Zabuza as Miria, followed by her twelve surviving comrades arrived at the village center. The ex Kiri Ninja was sitting casually on the massive head of a slain Youma. A tattered shirt and cloak covered his upper body. Bankotsu was leaned against the head with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. His Bonryu was stabbed into the ground while Cloud seemed to be studying a severed arm.

Miria's eyes widened. There were three of them? Three human males with the power to slay so many Awakened beings including Rigaldo himself! This was NOT what she was expecting.

She idly noticed the rest of her comrades reacting in similar manners. Some of them hadn't even seen any of the men until that moment.

The three men examined each one of them individually. Thirteen pairs of silver eyes were staring back at them, though only the apparent leader's were business-like and demanding. Zabuza found her amusing and decided to voice as much.

"Ya got something to say spiky hair?" he asked.

Miria's eyes narrowed.

AN: It seems so…choppy. I even edited this chapter like five times. I hope it's up to your standards. If not I can see about redoing it.