Silver Skulls Chapter 5: The Young Warrior

It was as if something had happened among the men who were called the Silver Skulls. They had a lot to discuss and it was then that they came to an agreement of sorts. They decided that for the time being at least they would leave Rimuto in the top spot until he did something that they deemed to be unreasonable. Albert suggested that as well as this they needed to wait until the number of 'rebellious' warriors were too high for what should be expected. For those that did rebel they were given places to hide, so long as they obeyed the Silver Skulls and kept out of human sight. It was agreed among the Skulls that it was far better to fight the warriors in combat rather than cold blood. Albert reasoned that the men were only doing what Rimuto said because he was the chief and if they could gain the trust of him it would be easier to overthrow Rimuto from within his own circle of protection, and without the loss of warriors that could potentially happen if they were to let the warriors themselves rebel without some sort of discipline. It was something that didn't sit well with Nikolai and Hunk but they were willing to Albert's reasoning for the time being.

Albert and Hunk were more or less busy keeping an eye on the new trainees, as the seventy fifth class of trainees (or 75th generation as they were called) were a handful for the human handlers, mostly because the girls were supposedly so violent, but there were girls that had the potential to be some of the most powerful warriors in existence. Especially the 91st girl, a small child called Chloey. She was the smallest trainee of them all and Albert didn't know why she looked so helpless in his eyes. He was among the ones that discovered that the little girl possessed an incredible yoki reading ability over distance that not even Hunk possessed. They were worried at first that the little girl could very well replace him, but as the Skulls discovered Chloey was at first considered completely mute. No one had heard her say a word, then it was discovered that she could talk, however not much left the girl's mouth. After some time it became apparent that Chloey was virtually silent and said very little unless she had a need to talk, choosing to simply silently take whatever was thrown at her with a quiet expressionless face appearing like a perfect little doll.

Dae had suggested that they not even attempt to cut her open as her wound (unlike so many of the half-yoma before her) was completely healed within days something that was very strange as it normally took months to fully heal on other warriors, even the Skulls had taken months to fully recover from becoming half-yoma. How it happened no one could explain least of all Dae, the man failing to come to a conclusion as to why it was the small child and not the others who were affected in this way. It was sadly going to cause her problems in later life as doubtless the mark was so horrific that the little one would never be like her sisters in arms; her scar wouldn't be pleasant to look at given that it looked like dead flesh, yet it was alive according to Dae. Chloey's chest showed no sign of causing her any pain physically, but the mental scars had to be there; there was no way someone that young wouldn't be affected by it. Albert was certain of it. He'd seen the subtle expression on her small face when she first saw it. The faint look of wanting to cry; yet holding it in remarkably well so that all they saw was a faint frown cross those doll-like features. Albert had known that it would have hurt her yet the little girl showed nothing of her pain. She said nothing about it then and that certainly hadn't changed in the time that he'd gotten to know her. He sighed as he walked down the corridor, what made him take a liking to the small girl? Was it because of the power that she had he wondered? Or was it because he wanted to see just how powerful the little one was? Albert didn't really know and quite frankly it didn't quite matter yet, he would have to see when she became a warrior to know for certain. After all he had come to learn a lot about the girl besides her silence. She surprised him with her capabilities when she put her mind to the tasks she had to do.

It didn't Albert long to discover how to read her even when she wasn't talking, the subtle and unseen expressions on her face that would tell him more than any words out of her mouth ever could; that and her dreams from which he would hear her screaming at regular intervals when she actually slept that he could hear from his own quarters; roughly halfway across the warriors' quarters in Sutafu.

Hunk meanwhile was doing his other duties; watching awakened being hunts and enjoying his own company. He was well aware that there would soon be two eyes walking the earth and while Hunk was getting reasonable treatment he was under the impression that the child would be chosen over him more often than he liked. However he decided to reserve judgement for the time being as it was clear that there was going to be time at the very least to adjust to the new eyes existence. He walked along the road, thoughtful about how many things had changed since he'd become half-yoma. He barely knew himself anymore and if that wasn't bad enough he had to deal with this kid coming in. It made his blood boil at the thought but then he realised something. Nearly all of the warriors were and had been kids. He frowned and then sighed. Except for the warriors he'd met when he was first made a warrior; the rest were young girls. No exception. He, William, Nikolai and Albert were the only men in a long time and the only men from their class left. The females were all dead or awakened beings. Hunk sighed and kept walking. Only when a sharp wind from the north blew did he even realise that he was entering Nikolai's territory. With a smirk he decided to see his old friend and rival.

Nikolai was out resting in the sunlight on a snow bank when Hunk arrived. Both of the men were more vulnerable to awaking than Albert or William because they didn't quite have the same events that lead them to becoming warriors. He was sure that if they did go over 30% they would turn into awakened being and Hunk and Nikolai had both agreed that they wouldn't do that if they could help it. Nikolai had clearly been resting and Hunk smiled a little. He used to tease Nikolai unmercifully when they worked for Umbrella and now it seemed that becoming half-yoma changed that a little more than they expected. He was about to wake the white haired warrior when Nikolai sat up. "Hunk vhat brings you here?"

"Boredom," He said simply to the Russian, "You look like the sun was nice,"

Nikolai laughed and said, "Vell the cold isn't too bad you know, but the sun is another story," he looked up into the sky, "Vere are the others?"

"Last I checked, Wesker was with the new trainee brat,"

"You mean that kid, Chloey right?" Nikolai asked carefully, knowing that Hunk was a little touchy on the subject,

"Yeah," Hunk said sighing as he did so, "But why have Albert watch over her," he muttered,

"I vouldn't know Hunk but I vould guess that it has something to do vith the fact that she's young and Vesker seems responsible and capable of vatching her should she prove to be difficult, ve have enough on our plates as it is, vhat finding all those yoma that keep appearing, and some of us have a lot on our plates at the moment," Nikolai was hiding something, and Hunk said,

"What do you mean?" Nikolai lifted his left hand gingerly and sure enough ice rose with it. Hunk stared open mouthed for about three seconds and then Nikolai made a simple motion with his hand and the ice grew in that direction. It was unheard of and Hunk didn't like it one bit. "How…?" Hunk began,

"I don't know vhen it started," Nikolai said frowning as if trying to remember when, "It…ah…happens more vhenever I'm upset or angry. I don't know how to stop it or how to control it,"

"I see," Hunk said shaking slightly, "So have you told anyone else,"

"Of course not!" Nikolai snapped, "I don't think it's ever happened to any varrior,"

Hunk looked at Nikolai and agreed. Little did he know Nikolai wasn't the only one it was going to happen to; there was going to be more elemental fun for the Skulls that would push them further apart from their female comrades, yet in the same token perhaps make them closer than ever before.

It was a regular (or as regular as a day could get) in Sutafu, Albert was watching the most violent trainee class that they'd ever had and it was full of fights and trainees ripping each other apart, or in some cases causing a few broken bones and bloody noses or gashes. He sighed. Normally it was a foolish girl called Rosilinda that started the fights usually and a couple of particularly nasty girls had beaten her up. Today was the day that Albert knew they were using the practice claymores to spar with one another and they weren't supposed to do any damage, as Orsay had stipulated. However no one really listened to Orsay and as soon as he was gone, Rosilinda was at it again. Albert had enough of the behaviour and was about to put the brat into the ground himself when three very loud "cracks" sounded. Everyone froze and turned to see Rosilinda drop her sword and her sparring partner made Albert do a double take. It was Chloey, holding the blade like it was far too light for her tiny frame, unmoved and looking quite innocent of the bloody mess that was an arm broken in three places. Albert came over and those wide silver eyes met his, "I know what you did Chloey," He said calmly the girl unmoved simply looking at him and a subtle smirk was on her face, subtle since a human wouldn't see it, but Albert knew what it was about, Chloey had after all given the class bully a lesson she wouldn't forget in a hurry. "And I think you shouldn't have done it," he added the smirk remained and Orsay arrived. He yelled at them of course and Albert watched as Chloey was led away. He shook his head; it wasn't the first time she'd gotten a classmate good like this. He knew that all too well as for the most part Chloey was unpredictable at best, that smirk though…it gave him food for thought and he had to wonder just how she managed to hide such an expression from him as that. He however wondered at the other emotion that was at him…surely not pride but something akin to it obviously because he somehow saw her as his own. She was powerful that much Albert decided was certain. That little girl was a lot like him…

Albert had noticed something else rather strange as he'd gone about his regular business as a Skull warrior. Fire moved; no doubt it moved on its own, but it was starting to move to his will. At first he'd dismissed it as the wind from his movement having not actually thought about happened. He wasn't in to superstition after all being as practically minded as he was. What worried him was that it kept happening and on a regular basis and he didn't know why it was happening. Not just because he walked around the fire, but when he was staring into it with not a breeze to move it at all. He didn't understand why it was happening and he discovered that he could touch the flames and not get burned by it. Albert had seen the inadvertent effects of his thoughts on the flames that were within striking distance of him, something that was disconcerting to Albert as he'd never had anything like it before. Fire flared when he was annoyed and died down when he was saddened by something; like when his thoughts dwelled on Roxanne's death. He also discovered that it didn't burn him like the other warriors if he touched it, the heat not even bothering him in the slightest. The fire also bent to Albert's will, moving the way he wanted with some very interesting results. The more Albert tried to control the fire, the better he became at it. Of course Chloey was the first one to actually see him openly control a somewhat out of control fire in Rimuto's office; she knew it was him that got it under control and despite the fact that she didn't say a word, he knew that she knew. It was annoying to get her talking so Albert had done nothing at the time, perhaps she'd not noticed at all and he was just over thinking it. He was dead wrong. Chloey had sensed what was going on, but like the naturally quiet warrior she was no words left her mouth because she didn't actually need to say anything as it wasn't her place. Yet Chloey found her own bit of fun was just simply to watch the patterns that Albert made with the flames and it was one of the few pleasures that she had at that point in time.

It had been several weeks since that had happened and Albert met up with the other Skulls, each man having his own problems that were now surfacing and in some cases being a cause of caution to avoid the general warriors whom they didn't want to panic about this turn of events. Each of them spent a good deal of time trying to work out how his powers worked and for the most part it was clear that they needed a bit of work. They soon discovered that it was tied to their yoki, but it was only a minor start. It did put Albert in an interesting frame of mind. He wanted to test just how deeply it was connected and he knew that the only way to do that was to involve a certain warrior…someone who was much better at sensing yoki than Hunk. He would have to wait and see how she responded though before he tried to get her to say what she sensed from the others however.

Hunk was sitting on a rock, having noticed that each of the men had discovered some sort of "elemental" power. He frowned at William as the other man had inadvertently blown dirt through the entire cave. Of course he'd not meant to do it, it had just happened and he needed to practice the air control. Nikolai had been improving his control over the ice and almost was able to use it in combat. Hunk sat, observing what the other men did. He smirked a little and decided to try his ability. Lightning shot from his finger tip and hit the wall near Nikolai. All of the men stared at Hunk, who grinned sheepishly, "It works on the yoma," he said and they spent the rest of the day working out how to control their powers, Albert opting to save his in case he ever needed it, like his yoki. It just made him all the more curious as to why only the men had developed this ability and not the female warriors.

It was almost two weeks from when they first discovered their abilities, Albert was walking out to see some warriors who were hunting down a deserter; Albert having wanted to give her a chance to hide away, but not getting the details of why she deserted in the first place. He hoped that it wasn't one of the girls whom he was helping to hide away and upon closer inspection it appeared to be one that he didn't know. He watched as the warriors killed her and the same feeling of loss coursed through him as had the other warriors that had killed her. Then he left, looking to distance himself from the scene, it wouldn't do to let a Skull getting involved. Especially since the warriors were skilled enough to deal with the individual at present.

As it was Albert had travelled into the territory that was usually occupied by the Number 8, although the scent in the area was different…a certain small trainee had been past this spot and as Albert walked forwards, he had to wonder what happened to the Number 8. He was surprised to find in a clearing none other than Chloey, with amour strewn about the place and a sword not too far from her sleeping form. The girl was muttering in her sleep, words slurred and spoken with surprising ease. The young one's words were sharp, she was swearing screaming and yet Albert somehow knew it wasn't pleasant dreams that she was having. He didn't know why but he sat down near her. She woke suddenly and he noticed that she wasn't fully awake. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks and her eyes were closed. He didn't know what possessed him to but he gently picked the small girl up. He felt her curl up into his arms and it seemed that for all the power that she carried, Chloey was more vulnerable than he realised. Albert felt the small shoulders shaking and he just held the small child in his arms, not knowing what else to do in the present situation other than to hold the tiny, frail body in his arms.

An hour passed and the silent crying subsided, although Chloey hadn't moved he knew that she was fully awake. He realised then that he'd forgotten just how much Chloey had lost, and the only thing she had left was Kate. If Kate were to be killed Albert had little doubt that the child would awaken from the pain of losing her. He gently let Chloey decide when she was ready to put her amour on and after about half a minute or so she was fully ready for the day's challenges. Albert decided that he would keep a close eye on the child, feeling that he needed to protect her from the trials that a warrior had to face, within his duty of course. Chloey's wide silver eyes met his and he heard a quiet, "Goodbye Mr Wesker," and the girl left the clearing. Albert didn't understand what he felt, it was strange and nothing he'd expected to feel before. Was it instinct that made him like this he wondered?

The next time that Albert saw Chloey, the girl had just killed a group of yoma and he was amazed at the ease at which she'd killed them. Rimuto had been ignoring Albert and for the most part and was fine with Albert to keep an eye on the child, in fact Rimuto even asked him to because apparently he didn't want another "Riful". So with Albert spending more time around the girl, the more he learned about The Silent Chloey's ways. He soon discovered that she didn't like to make much of a fuss over anything that she deemed not very important. For instance when she went up to Godar Hill she didn't tell him about what happened and when he asked she didn't say anything about it. He did however learn that when she did speak, it was more important to listen as she didn't like to repeat herself and that she would throw some incredible hints to them. Somehow it was through the hinting that he estimated just how much she knew about what was going on. The thought was rather frightening to say the least, if the hints were anything to follow. She knew more than he ever hoped her to know. She knew what the Skulls had learned before her, somehow easier than the Skulls did. Albert had to wonder…how?