Kurapika dashed towards Gon but with the momentum, in attempt to cover Gon's mouth shut, he accidentally slapped the lower half of Gon's face.

Smack!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KURAPIKA?!" Leorio shouted with his eyes almost bulging out.

"TIME'S UP!" The old lady yelled. "What is your answer?"

"O-" Gon tried to say through his now bruised lips.

"Silence." Kurapika answered.

"Very smart. Here's the road to the tree which you'll reach within two hours." The old lady stated and gestured two men to open up a path which is blocked by some sort of door.

After entering the path with the door slammed shut, we walked in utter silence until Gon decided to break the silence.

"I don't understand!" He proudly stated with a huge smile on his face.

"That's okay! I don't understand too" Leorio grinned.

"Pffftt.." Kurapika smirked. "I guess the only smart ones are Raven and I."

"Eh? But I honestly think you have a different perspective." The girl whom Kurapika calls Raven said.

"Raven? So you're really going to call her Raven?" Leorio looked at Kurapika with the 'Are you serious?' look.

"What choice do we have? At least I call her Raven."

"I really don't care what you call me, even if it's an insult." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyhow, what was your perspective then?" Questioned the blonde.

"I would choose none because I'd like to be tortured by them and watch how all of you are tortured. Other than that, I would like to see how all of you die!" She laughed happily at herself, oblivious to the looks the other three are giving her.

Wait for it.....

...

...

...

"YOU WANT US TO ALL DIE?!" Leorio screamed from the top of his lungs, being held back by his two companions before he lunge at her.

"How are you so sure that being captured means you'll be tortured?" Kurapika asked calmly.

"Well, that's most of the cases. If not, then there'll be death!" She said in glee and clapped her hands.

Gon looked at her cluelessly, not understanding why she behaves this way. He could not even find a word to say, so he kept quiet.

Leorio's eye twitched while staring at the insane girl. Goosebumps rose throughout his entire body when she talked about death so happily. On his note, he told himself to not ever go near her.

As for Kurapika, he thought this girl was interesting. However, he finds it irritating that she takes death so lightly. It is as if.. She wishes for death to stumble upon her. No, not wish. She is desperate.

Desperate for her own death.

The three males watched as the mysterious girl skipped happily towards their destination. Her long raven black hair danced gracefully behind her back as the wind blows. Her mid-thigh bright red shorts revealed her pale and slender legs which are decorated with countless scars. She wore knee high black boots with red details on the hem and red shoelaces. Beneath her long sleeved black hoodie is the only clothing she has which isn't black or red, a white singlet. She wore a black belt around her shorts and on the two hooks on each side holds a whip each. Both whips are black with red handles.

Somehow, they could feel fear deeply engraved in their heart, but it hasn't grown that strong..

...yet.

+++

Her blood boiled when she saw an unknown species capturing a lady away, leaving another man in the house harmed. However, it was not boiling because of rage. It was...

...excitement..

For just a moment, her eyes gleamed. At that moment as well, Kurapika saw her hungry eyes. Hunger..for what? He quickly shook it off and took care of the situation in hand.

"Leorio, take care of the wounded!" Kurapika commanded.

Gon had already flew off to chase the creature with the lady as hostage. Kurapika and the girl addressed as Raven caught up with him in a nick of time. A big sinister smile crept to her face and her eyes widened, equivalent to the size of saucers. The gleaming red behind her dark red irises blinked like the signal of SOS.

"RELEASE HER!" Gon shouted to the bunny-rat-like species.

"JUST TRY COMING HERE TO GET HER BACK YOURSELF! HEHEHE" It taunted.

"Hey! Great! It can talk!" Gon stated happily in amazement.

"He has the capacity to metamorphose! He's a rat-fox!!" Kurapika said. "He can easily take the appearance of a human! Watch out!"

"But since he can understand our language, we can talk it over!"

"Why? I can easily kill that thing." Said the girl in annoyance that they did not have the intention to bath in blood.

"We should avoid death at all cost, Raven! Life is very precious, even to someone who has done something bad!" Gon said cheerfully like the little kid he is.

She stared at him with her lips pressed into a thin line. The first time they have seen her with this expression.

"Fine, I'll let it survive this time." She sighed. "But don't stop me the next time I try to kill someone." She smiled her signature smile again.

The girl called Raven sped up and she is now exactly behind the rat-fox.

"RAVEN!" Gon and Kurapika shouted in fear that she will end the rat-fox's life.

As much as she would like to do it, she kept her word and land a kick on the creature.

"Kurapika, catch the girl!" She ordered and he immediately obeyed in a heartbeat. "Gon!"

"Yes!" Gon answered, ready to obey her next order.

"Bring this thing back to the house!" She said and instantly disappeared into the woods without a single trace.

+++

The girl returned with a rat-fox which she knew is an ally of the other. Leorio, Gon and Kurapika were stunned to see another creature of the same species. After much explanation that if they did not catch all of them here any further, they will not be able to pass the exam and she elaborated on how and why. Throughout the whole explanation, the two rat-foxes nodded their heads in amazement of the girl's intelligence. Even Kurapika silently admitted to himself that his intelligence could not rival hers.

Who knows what is going on in her head.

"You're the first person to figure that out all on your own.. Very well... We'll be your navigators to the place where the Hunter Exams are held.."

The other two humans were rat-foxes in disguise. Both of them returned to their original form and all of them spread their wings to take them all to the testing site. The father carried Leorio, whereas the mother carried Kurapika, the son of both carried the girl while the daughter carried Gon. Together, all of them went on a little ride in the wind and watched as their dangling legs flew further up into the sky and the lights of the surface of the Earth twinkled as if they are seeing stars on Earth.

+++

They were handed their respective numbers by a short and round..man? Raven got the number #402. Secretly, she wish to get #4444, but it's impossible. At least #444 would be good. Why does she want that number? You see, in some languages such as mandarin and cantonese the number 4 has the similar pronunciation as the word 'death'. Therefore, it is known as an unlucky number.

"Wow, I wonder how many people are in here." Gon looked around.

"Four hundred and six" The girl replied without even thinking.

"Eh? How did you know?" Gon asked mindlessly.

"Just look at our badges." She replied in a mocking tone as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. Well, it is.

"But my number-"

She knew what he was going to say, so she pointed to the man behind her who came in after them. Gon, #405, was the last among their group to register, but another man followed after them which meant for the meantime, there were 406 participants.

"AHHHHHHH!!" A horrifying scream echoed throughout the tunnel.

Everybody snapped their heads and saw a man who lost both of his arms. Standing in front of him is a young adult with bright fuchsia hair with the appearance of a magician.

"Oh, how strange.♢" The magician started speaking. "He doesn't have any arms.♡"

Oh..? This is interesting... The girl chuckled sinisterly with her red eyes showing interest.

"My... My..." The injured man cried.

"You have to be more careful. ♧ And don't forget to apologise when you hit someone. ♢" He smiled the way the girl will smile.

Her heart beat furiously beneath her chest and she watched the man leave the crowd. Her blood rushed in lightning speed around her body and her body shook in sheer excitement. She quickly left the group she came with an approached the magician.

"Oh?♤ What's a little girl doing here?♢"

The girl smirked with gleaming red eyes. The magician licked his lips, recognising the very familiar look on her face which he too have.

"It is a pleasure to meet someone who has almost the same hobby as I."

"Oh~♡ ..Almost? ♧"

"You'll know soon!" She beamed happily as if she never went into her bloodthirsty mode. Then, she spotted his number badge.

Number #44..

"I like your number." She spoke out loud.

His eyes widened a little at the change of voice, but dismissed it instantly.

"You're an interesting one, you know that? ♡"

🍁🍂🍁🍂

Dedicated to kookae for your frequent comments!

Thank you so much for the votes and comments! :D I really appreciate it! I was really touched to hear that my story was shared! :')

So how do you like the book so far? ;)

The next chapter will be out after this chapter gets 20 votes and 10 comments~ ;)

Until next time! 👋🏻

~Joelle Au

Published: December 2015