The handler Moerae made out with little difficulty; she’d met a few members of the organization during her time as a trainee, and if there was one thing uniting them all other than the name of the organization, it was their unsettlingly relaxed mannerisms. It was as if, because they didn’t dirty their hands, they were somehow “above” the Claymores they handled. That said, Moerae didn’t think her opinion of them mattered much anyway. Few were ill-behaved enough to truly unsettle her, and her job description didn’t require her to put up with her handlers for long anyway.
 
Former rank four… That’s a high-ranking Awakened. Higher than any I’ve tackled so far, Moerae thought after the handler had disappeared into the woods. She’d thought no more of the smug man after he disappeared, instead choosing to focus on the task at hand. Nodding at Gideon, Moerae followed his lead and pace towards the west. Well-trodden dirt paths through grassland gave way to a sparse forest, the path disappearing as trees faded into rubble.
 
What made them desert this place? Moerae wondered, passing an lone stone arch that must have once been a doorway into a large building. All that was left now, however, was a faint stone outline of the structure and some slabs piled here and there. This was a large building once, but it seems most of the structures around the keep have long crumbled.
 
Soon enough the main keep was in sight, tall and proud amongst the ruins beside it. It was still a while off, but Moerae figured that now was the time to talk strategy, if there was going to be one.
 
“Are we going to go in with a plan?” she asked, slowing to a stop. Reaching out with her senses, Moerae found that the entire area — including the main keep — seemed devoid of life. Either the Awakened was out hunting at the moment, or it was smart enough to have supressed its Yoki.
 
Does it know that we’re here? Moerae wondered, anxiety creeping in. She hadn’t even hunted an Awakened under rank twenty before, much less a single digit like a former rank four. Although it was comforting that she had the current rank three paired with her, Moerae felt like the mission seemed a little mismatched. The Awakened the mission detailed was of higher rank than herself, not to mention the fact that Awakened Beings generally saw their former talents increase exponentially when they tap into their hidden wells of Yoki. Does the organization really think that a rank three and a rank twelve can take down an Awakened rank four on their own?
 
[hr][@lazarus]