Author's Note: This is a continuation of the challenge ficFalling into the abyss by Dany le fou. I really, really suggest going back and reading the initial chapter, but basically what happens is Riful, who has survived Priscilla's attack, comes across the retrieval squad of the organization taking something back to headquarters. She kills and devours the squad, but stops short when she sees what the squad was taking back. A young man (Raki!) who has two rods from the devourer lodged in his shoulder, but isn't overtaken, because he is being protected by the very being that attempted to kill her (Priscilla). Intrigued, she decides to keep Raki alive, and hopes that in light of almost being killed and losing Dauf, she will gain a powerful ally, and maybe even a friend out of him.

A true friend…

Riful stared intently at the young man who lay before her. He was spread on a makeshift bed in the center of a dimly lit room. Well, what Riful considered a bed anyway. In reality it consisted of little more than a couple of threadbare blankets spread across the dark cobblestones. The man was lying on his stomach; his chest rose and fell with even, smooth breaths.

That was the only good news though. An arm, cut off at the elbow, was buried wrist deep in his bare back. As if the arm wasn't enough, two three foot long organic spears were imbedded in his shoulder. The outermost rod pierced straight through his arm and out the other side. The other rod was just as deep, but remained in the flesh, causing his skin along his left torso to bulge unnaturally.

Riful examined the rods now. A moan escaped the man's lips and his body tensed with pain. The rods transformed into disgusting faces emitting weak streams of yoma energy. They connected and rearranged blood vessels and arteries in their host before a sharp burst of energy from the arm in his back placated the rods. The man's body relaxed and his breathing returned to normal. Riful hissed. That transformation had lasted barely 2 minutes, a large difference in the hour-long transformations that had occurred only two days before. His face was peaceful now, he was sleeping. In fact, he hadn't so much as stirred from his sleep since Riful had brought him here. Somehow, the foreign objects in his body, or perhaps he had done it himself, had put this man into a sort of hibernation. It was a bit annoying, as Riful wanted to talk to him, but she supposed that in a sense, it would make the next part easier.

Riful scowled, if I'm going to do this, it needs to be soon. Still, she hesitated. The way things were now, the rods and the arm would run out of yoma energy at about the same moment. This man would remain just that - a human man. Riful didn't exactly want that. She needed an ally, someone powerful to rely on. Not quite as powerful as her of course, but powerful nonetheless. What made her hesitate was the prospect of the unknown. If she did as she was planning, there would be no guarantee as to what he would become. He would be something completely different than this land had ever seen. Probably not human, not yoma, not a claymore, and certainly not an awakened being such as herself. In fact, there was a large chance he would die. Yes, a weak and untrained human would almost certainly die of shock from such a large inflow of youki energy. Even if he did survive, he might end up hopelessly weak. Or not. Riful had been in a similar position before, and her bad decision had ended in her lover's death and nearly hers as well. She knew the smart thing to do would be to kill this man and destroy the arm and rods, but her curiosity got the better of her.

Well. It's now or never anyway. Almost excited, Riful used her hair to restrict the man's movements. Then, using the sharp blades, she mercilessly cut through the skin and bone surrounding the foreign spears; she ripped the rods out before they had a chance to make any sort of connection again and threw them away. They clattered dimly against the far wall as the man's scream echoed throughout the cavern. The smell of fresh blood wafted to where Riful was sitting. Her lips turned upward in a smirk. Mmm. I'm hungry. Now, if my predictions are correct, the youki from the arm will spread throughout his body. Beneath her restraints, the man suddenly thrashed away from her touch.

"What…" Riful let go of him in surprise at his strength. And he was strong. Not a match for her, but stronger than she expected any human to be. "My, my…" Riful easily caught him again, and she was very pleased to find that his efforts to escape his bonds actually exerted her. She squeezed her hair tighter, and the man struggled harder. Well then, is this a result of some sort of training this man has received, or is the arm already spreading it's youki throughout his body? Riful extended her consciousness toward the arm, and found that its youki, now completely unhindered from the tethers to the rods, was spreading through his body. Perfect.

After long and hard consideration, Riful had decided that removing the devourer's spears was the best course of action to take. It allowed her to decide exactly how much power she wanted her new ally to have, and had a better chance of success than is she removed the arm; she didn't want his consciousness to be taken over like Dauf's had.

Beneath her, the man's efforts to escape stopped. He grasped the arm in his back as if trying to pull it out. No you don't. Riful restrained his arms and legs and laid him on his stomach again; he was stretched out, and completely helpless to what was happening. Riful took note that he was conscious now, though just barely.

Meanwhile, the youki was spreading like poison through his body. It had already saturated the blood and tissue in his arm and moved like wildfire down to his torso and legs. Yes! The energy spreading throughout his human body was beautiful and savage. She sensed the strain it was causing his vitals and frowned. All the same, Riful was amazed at the pure quality of energy from the arm. Youki energy came in many types of quality and that, along with hard work and the training of the individual, largely decided how much power they would possess. Now this quality was unlike any she had ever seen. It was purer than hers, purer than Isley's or Luciela's as well.

That is to be expected though, she thought grudgingly, this arm is from a monster that surpasses even the abyssal ones after all… It was a good thing I waited as long as I did to remove the rods, otherwise the amount of energy combined with the quality would no doubt have either killed him, or done away with his consciousness and created some terrible monster. Actually… Riful examined the youki remaining in the arm. I may have waited a teeny bit too long. It looks like there may not be enough energy to completely saturate his body. It was true; the energy spread throughout his left arm and torso, as well as both his legs, but rapidly lost strength. Below her, the man shook uncontrollably. Cold beads of sweat dripped down his face and his breath thinned.

His eyes were open, but glazed over with pain; Riful doubted he could see anything right now. Despite herself, she sympathized with him, every being that went through the process of becoming a claymore had felt this pain, or a similar one anyway. His back suddenly arched off the ground, and he vomited up a thin trail of bile. Eeeew. Riful moved him away from the puke so she didn't have to look at it. The strain on his body was great, his chest heaved up and down, desperately trying to get more oxygen into his lungs. In the meantime, the slowing trail of youki managed to soak his right arm, before coming to a halting stop.

…Damn. Almost, but not quite. His heart beat became erratic, and his breath even more labored. For a moment, it looked like he was dying, his eyes fluttered closed, and Riful held her breath. Then his heart beat strengthened, and his breathing became regular again. He fell limpin her restraints. She let go of him, and he sagged gracelessly on the floor. He was asleep again. Riful retracted her hair, and walked around the man, examining her handiwork. I'm glad he didn't die. All that work would have been for nothing.

His entire body pulsed with yoma energy, all except for one spot. The right portion of his neck, and roughly half of his face remained completely human. Interesting. So that's his weak spot, huh. I'll remember that.

Riful glanced with disdain at the arm that remained stuck in his back. Looking at it, Riful was once again struck by how strange it was that the very monster that had tried to kill her, would save a mere human, using her arm no less! She pulled it out and threw it away with the rods. Almost immediately, the hole in his back began to regenerate. Her lips curved upward in a smile. This… is perfect actually. This man is obviously very strong, but not quite as strong as me. Even if he was, he has an extremely vulnerable part of his body that I can exploit if it comes down to it. I'm… excited now. I probably have a couple of hours until his body recovers from the shock; I guess I'll go see if I can find something to eat.

Riful extended her mind and found that there were no sources of yoma energy nearby except for herself, the man, and the occasional yoma or warrior. He'll be fine until I get back.

Riful hummed to herself as she walked back into the ruins of the castle. She had enjoyed a delicious meal involving three very handsome human brothers. She had especially enjoyed the look on the face of the eldest, as he realized he would not be able to save his younger siblings. Her hunger sated, Riful walked back into the chamber confidently. The man was just beginning to stir. She approached his figure coolly, and gently rolled him onto his back. She lit more candles around the room and covered him with a blanket. She fetched the rods and arm and set them at the end of his makeshift bed. Then she sat down and waited. She didn't have to wait long. With a groan, the man brought a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes.

"Maaan. I have a killer headache. Would you grab me my water from the bag Priscilla? I Think I… oh." The man sat up and looked around the cavern silently before turning to the kneeling figure beside him. When he turned, Riful started with shock at his appearance. He was very handsome; there was no doubt about that. What surprised her were his eyes. His right eye was a warm brown color, and his left frightening silver. The mismatched eyes studied her silently, and then the man said, "Hello."

"Hi." She replied.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I am Riful of the West." Riful explained.

"Riful of the West… My name is Raki." He hesitated a moment and then said, "Are you human?"

"I think you know the answer to that question."

He nodded. "I do." Glancing around the cavern, he said, "Can you tell me how I got here? The last thing I remember, I was in a cart on my way to the organization."

"Yes. I rescued you from the organization's men and brought you here." Riful watched as Raki silently touched his shoulder where the rods had been embedded, and then twisted around to examine his back. "I removed the arm and spears shortly after I brought you here. They're right here." Riful gestured toward the appendages at his feet. Ignoring the rods, he picked the arm and examined it, before carefully setting it back down.

"I suppose I owe you a thanks. The organization… who knows what they would have done with me there." Raki shuddered at the thought, and Riful didn't blame him. "However, I really should be going now. I have several things I need to take care of."

Is that how it's going to be? Riful thought. Well then… Riful shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave."

Raki scowled and examined her silently, as if sizing her up for battle.

Riful continued on, pretending not to notice his muscles tense and bunch up in preparation for an attack. "I cannot allow you to leave because you'd be a danger to yourself, as well as others."

"What?" He didn't relax, if anything, he looked more wary, but Riful could see the confusion in his eyes.

"Can't you tell already?" She asked innocently.

"…tell what?" he growled.

Riful smirked and looked the man, no, Raki. He's in denial… or maybe he really hasn't figured it out yet. "Don't you feel… different? Better maybe? Stronger?"

Raki's scowled deepened and he didn't answer.

He still doesn't get it. I can't tell him outright, he won't believe me. "Hmm." Riful cupped her face in her hand and looked up at Raki with big, innocent eyes. Releasing a bit of yoma energy she said, "do you… sense… anything strange about me?" I wonder if he can actually can…

Raki cocked his head to one side as if listening to something far away. "Actually, yeah. What is that? It feels like… I'm seeing you without actually seeing you. Or maybe a better way to describe it would be that I can feel your presence. Does that make any sense?"

"Of course it does. You're sensing my yoma energy. Just like I'm sensing yours right now," Riful hinted shamelessly.

"…You… are sensing my yoma energy."

"Yes."

"I don't have yoma energy. I'm a human."

"Sure you were before. I can tell that as well, but whatever that arm was… it changed you." Riful waited patiently for Raki's reaction. He must know I'm right. He can probably sense his own energy now.

Slowly, Raki closed his eyes and brought his hand to his face. For a moment Riful thought that he was going to cry, but he didn't. Instead he took several deep breaths before lowering his hand. He gazed at her steadily with his different eyes.

"What am I?" He asked softly.

"I don't know." Riful admitted. "All I know is that arm released a large amount of youki into your body, and that you are no longer quite human.

"… I see. I'm not a claymore am I?"

Riful could hear the fear in his voice and wondered if he knew about the fate of male warriors. She shook her head. "No. No, I can sense a significant difference in your aura and a claymore's."

He smiled. "Well that's a relief. It's… Riful, right? If you don't mind me asking, why did you save me?

She shrugged. "It's not like I went out of my way or anything. I just happened to be passing by when I sensed that peculiar aura and decided it might be worth checking out."

"And the organizations men?"

"What about them?"

"Did you kill them?"

Riful hesitated a moment before admitting, "Yes."

"Well, I can't say I'm particularly sorry about that!" He laughed, and Riful found herself smiling in return. His smile suddenly faded, and he looked down at his hands sadly. "I'm… not human anymore." Riful thought it would be best to not reply. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have any food would you? I'm pretty hungry."

"She narrowed her eyes, "what did you have in mind?"

"Ah, nothing fancy! Just some bread or cheese or something!"

"Hmm." He didn't ask for any sort of meat… Riful stood up and padded over to a crate in a corner of the room.

"Let's see… I know I have some food around here somewhere." Raki watched her carefully as she sifted through crates looking for food. She held the appearance of a young girl, aged around eleven or twelve, but Raki knew she was likely much older than himself. She doesn't seem to want to hurt me at least. If she had, she could have just done so while I was unconscious. So what does she want? I find it hard to believe that she just felt like helping me. Then again, maybe she did. Isley didn't seem to have any reason to help me, but he did. No matter what, I need to be wary from here on out. Raki specifically avoided thinking about the precarious situation in which his humanity now rested. It was much simpler to form strategies against the girl and view her as the biggest concern for his safety than think about confusing things like that.

"Aha!" Riful smiled triumphantly and held up a loaf of bread. "I knew this was around here somewhere! It's a good thing I didn't throw it out! Here you go!"

"…Thanks." Raki held the bread up uneasily. To his surprise, it looked fresh. He happily ate it.

"Here's some water too." Riful handed Raki a canteen, and he washed the bread down with it.

Riful looked at him carefully. He seemed to actually enjoy that human food. So I suppose that means he is closer to a human or claymore in nature than someone like me. Is that a good thing…?

"Mmm. Thanks. That really took the edge off of my hunger. I can feel some strength returning to my body." Slowly, Raki stretched his muscles and, using the wall to support himself, stood up. "My muscles are peculiarly sore. I mean, I'm used to being sore, but these feels very strange. Almost good actually."

Riful smiled and said nothing. Looking at him now, Riful saw that not only did he have a nice face, but a very handsome body as well. And underneath that delicious skin, she could sense something even better. His yoma energy swirled with his movements in a limitless explosive power. Yes, she definitely made the right choice in keeping him alive.

"So, um…" Raki stretched his arms across his body and over his head, methodically stretching his muscles. Riful sensed his hesitation in his aura. He really wears his heart on his sleeve doesn't he? He doesn't even try to hide what he's feeling.

Riful gave him her most charismatic smile. "There's a village not too far from here. If you wish, I can take you there, and we can get you some better food… Also, we can test your reaction to humans." Raki gulped nervously and his aura became a chaotic whirlpool of anxiety and fear.

"Yes." He spoke calmly, despite the heavy emotions in his aura. "That seems like a good idea." He's afraid. He doesn't know what to think about this; he might not even fully believe it yet. Now is the time to cultivate him into a loyal ally. Although his strength is greater than ever, his spirit is vulnerable and open to suggestion. I need to convince him that I mean him no harm, and am merely being friendly. I couldn't ask for a better opportunity.

"You don't need to fear." She said kindly. "I'll stop you before you do anything you might regret." She felt her words soothe his aura slightly, but his unease was still apparent. He turned away from her and asked,

"When you rescued me, did I have a sword, or armor?"

"The armor you were wearing is over here. I didn't see any sword." Raki shrugged on his shirt and clasped on his armor quickly. The left shoulder plates were missing, but it wasn't all that serious; they could be replaced. Raki laughed nervously, "I feel sort of naked without my sword."

"So you fight with a sword then?"

"Ah… yes. For many years now."

"Well, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about your sword as of right now. Come on, we should - oh! I almost forgot, we need to do something about that eye before we go to the village."

"What eye?"

"Hmm. There's a mirror next to that chair over there. Will you grab it?" She asked.

"Uh, okay." Raki grabbed the hand mirror and gave it to her.

"So, Raki. When the youki energy penetrated your body from the arm, there wasn't enough to completely saturate your body. In the end, I guess a little of you was left mostly human."

"Wha-"

"Here. Your eyes are proof that you are no longer completely human." She gave Raki the mirror back, and he looked at himself dubiously. Moments later his jaw dropped and stared at himself dumbfounded.

"M-my eye! It's silver! Holy crap…" he looked into the mirror again, pulling down the skin below his left eye. "Well this is… certainly unexpected." Adjusting the mirror, he turned to examine his brown eye. "This one looks about the same as it always does. Why?"

"Like I said before, there wasn't enough youki energy to completely fill your body. The right side of your face and some of your neck remains human."

Raki tugged at his face in different directions. "This is so weird." Riful suddenly found herself laughing, not giggling, but real and genuine laughter.

"What?"

"Your… expression just now…" she said between laughs "too… funny!" Raki frowned for a moment and then joined in.

"Yeah. It's just all a little strange me, you know?"

Riful nodded and wiped her eyes, "I get it. All claymores or trainees go through about the same thing you are feeling… but anyway, if we're going to go into town, you should probably cover up your silver eye somehow." Raki looked thoughtful for a moment, and then walked over to his makeshift bed.

"Is it alright if I tear a strip off of one of these blankets?"

"Go ahead." Raki did as he said, and tore a long, thin strip of fabric from a blanket. He tied it diagonally across his face so that it covered his silver eye, but did not impede with the other.

"There! Now I can just pretend I lost my eye or something. How do I look?"

Riful smiled. "Like a pirate. Let's go." Raki nodded and followed her cautiously down the castle's corridor and outside.

Author's note: Leave a review and let me know what you think (reviews get chapters out faster!). I'm open to any suggestions you may have, but no telling me that this pairing is stupid or that Raki is stupid or whatever. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first chapter!