[Thread]

[ripplingophelia]

Who: Ophelia (ripplingophelia) and Clare (dieprissydie)
What: Two old friends get reacquainted.
When: Now.
Where: The woods.
Rating: PG-13, for violence?

Comments

[dieprissydie]

At the sound of her voice, Clare swallowed and walked away from the tree she was leaning against, facing Ophelia. She didn't pull her sword out just yet - it was not out of overconfidence, but sheer shock that kept her unable to do anything but stare.

That was not possible. Ophelia was killed by her own hands. None of this was making any sense.

But one thing she knew for certain - now was not the time to think about these things if she wanted to keep all of her limbs.

Taking a deep breath, Clare drew her Claymore.

[ripplingophelia]

If she'd cared to give any thought to it Clare's staring may have made her stop and wonder, but Ophelia was far too focused on the many ways she was going to hurt the other Claymore. "I've been waiting for you," she said, smiling unpleasantly, her sword held loosely in her right hand. "And now you're finally here."

Not wasting any time, Ophelia began to release her Yoki, just enough for her eyes to flash gold -- she didn't want to waste energy so soon. "It was pretty stupid of you to meet me. You should have run, like before." Gripping her sword in both hands, Ophelia launched herself forwards, aiming a strike at Clare's neck.

[dieprissydie]

Clare instantly brought her sword forward and crossed it with Ophelia's own, fending her off with ease that surprised her. She didn't even have to release any Youki.

Weak, she realized, eyes widening slightly. Ophelia's strength was exactly the same as it had been before her Awakening. Using the Windcutter, Clare aimed a blow towards Ophelia's stomach.

[ripplingophelia]

Clare's defense against her attack didn't take her by surprise, but the swift retaliation did. Not expecting the speed of the strike, and not having the speed to match it, Ophelia took the full force of the strike to her stomach.

Falling back, Ophelia stared at Clare with widened eyes and gripped her Claymore until her knuckles turned white. "What did you do?" she hissed through gritted teeth, blood flowing from the fresh wound and staining her uniform. Clare had done something, she had some trick up her sleeve. There was no way that forty seven was this strong.

Well, it didn't matter. Ophelia released more Youki, up to 20% this time, and jumped; she went over Clare's head, then brought her sword down at her back. Hopefully she would be fast enough this time.

[dieprissydie]

Clare noticed Ophelia's speed rising, but the difference was hardly notable. She turned to block her opponent's sword and then quickly extended her hand forward, attempting to throw Ophelia back.

[ripplingophelia]

Clare's arm struck her before her hit could connect. Ophelia was thrown back, her back hitting a tree as the wind was knocked out of her.

She couldn't believe it. Had Clare been hiding her strength the whole time? Then why was she number forty seven?

"Why...?" Ophelia glared up at the other Claymore. "Why are you so strong?" She pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the ache in her muscles. She decided that this was the time to use it; releasing her Youki into her swordarm, Ophelia began to undulate it from side to side, her sword rippling at her side. She attacked again, aiming the strike at Clare's torso. She wouldn't be able to block this one so easily.

[dieprissydie]

The speed and strength of Ophelia's unexpected blow was enough to make the slightly out of focus Clare tumble back a step, but she hurriedly pulled herself back to her senses and used her Windcutter again. "Sorry for this," she mumbled as she countered Ophelia's attack and aimed for her sword arm.

[ripplingophelia]

Sorry for what? Ophelia had a moment to wonder what Clare meant, and to feel triumphant that her Rippling seemed to have worked. But it was only a moment: before she knew it, Clare's sword had moved and struck her.

The pain didn't register for a fraction of a second, but as soon as Ophelia saw the blood spurting from the place where her sword arm had been, she let out a cry of agony and fell to her knees.

"You bitch!" she cried, lunging for her dismembered arm and cradling it to her chest. "How? How are you so fast? You're cheating, this isn't fair!" She was defenseless like this, kneeling on the ground, but the pain in her shoulder and the shock of having her arm cut off were too much.

[dieprissydie]

Clare looked down at Ophelia, the blade of her Claymore held inches away from the woman's neck. Her form was pathetic, and beheading her shouldn't take more than a swift motion of her hand. Yet, for some reason, a part of her wondered if that would be the right thing to do. If Ophelia couldn't win, would she still attempt to defeat her? Would she Awaken? Or would it be possible for her to simply accept her loss and move on?

Clare's sword arm dropped to her side, where she allowed it to hang idly.

"Is this battle over now?"

She had a feeling she would regret this later.

[ripplingophelia]

Ophelia didn't do anything for a few seconds; she considered her options, trying to decide what to do. Clare had dropped her guard, but without an arm to wield her sword with, there wasn't much that Ophelia could really do.

Saying nothing, she straightened her back and used her left hand to lift her right arm to her shoulder. Then, releasing her Youki, she began the difficult process of reattaching her arm. She had always hated having to do it -- it took a lot of concentration, especially as she was an offensive type, but there was no way that she was going to leave the wound to close. Even if Clare tried to stop her, she refused to lose such a vital body part.

[dieprissydie]

Clare waited and watched as Ophelia reattached her arm. She did not share Ophelia's cruelty and sadism, not in the slightest - she wasn't going to trample her while she was in this state. For the time being, she did not even plan on killing her, or participating in any more unnecessary fights. And even if Ophelia resumed attacking once her arm was back in its place, Clare wouldn't have any trouble defeating her again, and she figured they both knew that by now.

[ripplingophelia]

As soon as the arm was reattached, Ophelia flexed her fingers and instinctively picked her Claymore up from where it had fallen to the ground. The desire to run it through Clare's throat was overwhelming, but she wasn't stupid; Ophelia hated those people who threw their lives away needlessly, and she knew that she had no hope of overpowering Clare as she was now.

"What do you want?" she asked as she looked up at the other woman, the fingers of her left hand balling into a fist in the dirt. Why hadn't she just killed her?

[dieprissydie]

Sheathing her sword, Clare almost felt relief; it was strange. The way she had seen Ophelia die all these years ago - peacefully, beautifully, entrusting everything she had to Clare - it was a memory she treasured, because it gave her power to move forward, because she could never let go of the weight of the lives she carried.
Except Ophelia was here right now, and it was as if none of it had ever happened. Still, Clare did not want to kill her again, especially not like this - painfully, mercilessly - a pointless and insignificant death.

And there were still things she needed to know.

"Tell me everything you know about the castle, and about that boy who claims to know me," she demanded, her face devoid of expression.

[ripplingophelia]

"The castle?" She had spared her for information? It wasn't something that Ophelia could understand, but she rarely understood other people's actions, Clare's least of all. It was all stupid and self-destructive and she didn't understand it one bit.

"It's not an ordinary castle. People lose things when they get here, and it's impossible to get them back. Sometimes you lose other things for a week, too." She paused, considering what else she should say. "You can get anything you want, if you ask. And people don't die properly. If someone gets killed, they come back three weeks later.

"The boy is your human pet. He was with you when you met me, and I played with him because you seemed to care about him a lot." Ophelia grinned. "He cares about you a lot, too. He's probably really upset that you don't remember."

[dieprissydie]

The thought of what Ophelia had done to the harmless human boy filled Clare with disgust, but even stronger than that emotion was the fear Ophelia's last sentence left in her. So many questions flooded her mind all of a sudden, catching her off-guard, about herself and the boy and the castle and everything and she could hardly think, yet somehow she managed to keep her posture and shove all those questions aside and concentrate on a single one - the one that seemed most impossible.

"Are you saying that the thing I lost was my memory of him?"

[ripplingophelia]

"Maybe. If you don't remember, then that's probably it."

Ophelia got to her feet and began rolling her right arm over her head, checking that the join was secure -- she didn't want her arm falling off again unexpectedly. "Isn't it sad? You don't even remember his name."