Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter X Hunter or all the characters in it, except my OC Merula and other OCs.

Warning: (extreme) violence and gore (some would be more detailed in the later chapters). Referring Kurapika here as female.

Summary: Kurapika went on a new black list hunting job after her encounter with the Spiders and her contract with the Nostrads ended. Among the black lists was a dangerous and notorious criminal who was involved in stealing a pair of scarlet eyes; Kurapika decided that she will be her next target. And in the moment of her encounter with her, she would discover that she, too, somehow possess a Kuruta blood. But more unexpected events unfolded. The hunter became the hunted. FemKurapika vs. OC, a hint of FemKurpika x male OC pairing. ^^

Note: This one is edited due to some grammar errors. Hehehe... ^^' Please review….Any more corrections to grammar, spelling, typo errors are welcome and will be greatly appreciated. ^^

Prologue

The obstinate moth gradually flew closer. After several hesitant attempts, it finally flung into the flame of the lamp and perished. Its cinders fell pathetically on the base of the lamp and the young person with pallid skin and ebony, short, curly hair, looked down on it apathetically, with one eye, the colour of deepest night and seems no light penetrate in it. Her left eye was covered by a leather eye patch.

Merula could almost smell the burnt insect. And she wondered what compelled the creature into such unreasonable act that cost its life.

"How foolish", she thought.

The alcohol, Merula mused , was the one to blame. If it wasn't there, the flame would not exist, and probably, the poor creature still lives. Yes, that flame, it must have been so beautiful in the eyes of that foolish creature that it lured itself to its death. And then, it dawned to Merula, that probably the creature does deserve to die. After all, it should not have forced itself to attain something absolutely impossible. That's just foolishness.

She heard cracking sounds. Something was burning! In the centre of the town, the smoke was surging up. She stood not far away from there. She saw the back of her people; they were gathered around it, watching. She walked towards them and waded through. In front of them, she saw the fire begun to spread over the bundles of hay and dried woods surrounding a huge wooden stake. There was an unconscious child tied to it, she appeared to be seven years of age, the same age as she. The child has a long black curly hair reaching the back of her knees, she was wearing dark clothe. No, more like a dress, but too formal-looking for such occasion and for such situation she was in.

Seconds later the child opened her eyes. Kurapika was sure that she had seen the child's left eye was originally the colour of amethyst before it glowed with scarlet colour. Both of her black right eye and left scarlet eye were struck with utter terror upon realizing her current condition. She began to scream with plea, struggling against the rope that bound her against the stake.

"NOOO! I didn't mean it! Father, help me! I won't do it again! I'm sorry! Please help me!"

Confusion and horror invaded Kurapika's face, scarlet colour faintly flicker on her cerulean eyes; she was not aware of why was this happening. She then turned her head to the direction where the child was projecting her voice into. A man, one of her fellow Kuruta, in his early 30's has turned his head away from the direction of the girl. With his back turned, his hand clutched his forehead tightly. The shadow on her face concealed his eyes, tears were streaming down his cheek as he walked away from the crowd reluctantly. The child continued to scream for help and forgiveness but no one granted her plea.

Kurapika returned her attention in front bravely. However, beyond the burning hays and woods, something caught her attention. Besides the Kuruta people, there were a number of strangers gathered in the opposite side. They wore dark tribal robe, indicating that they were from a different tribe. They have distinct characteristics common among them-black hair, black eyes, and almost milk white skin. There was a woman among them, whose expression was utterly passive. Her eyes nailed at nothing in particular as if she did not care about anything and everything around her, like an emotionless doll. Next to her chest, her both hands carefully secured a transparent glass container containing a round thing. And when Kurapika stared at it carefully, it was an eyeball which iris was the colour of gold, concentrated in an alcohol.

"Brother!" The child screamed on top of her lungs, her arms were bleeding from her struggle against the rope. She raised her teary face as if pleading the heavens, "Brother! Help me! It hurts! It hurts!"

The child gave out her last ear-piercing shriek which made Kurapika barely jumped back. The fire engulfed the whole body of the girl finally. Her eyes were utterly burning red as she witnessed the horrifying event persisted in front of her.

"Kurapika!"

Despite the call, she did not steer. She held her breath, her face filled with horror.

"Kurapika!"

A pair of hands emerged behind her and covered her eyes to prevent her from seeing more of the dreadful scene.

"KURAPIKA!"

She opened her eyes wide. If she wasn't wearing black contact lenses, her irises could have seen burning vividly scarlet.

"Kurapika! Are you alright?" Senritsu asked anxiously as she stared at her with worried expression. Kurapika squinted and realized that she had fallen asleep on one of the airport's waiting bench. Senritsu must have been shaking her for several timesnow to wake her up. Kurapika straightened her back on her seat. She massaged her forehead and found out that she had sweat a lot from her sleep.

"You seemed to be having a nightmare," Senritsu stated, Kurapika could have denied it but she was aware of Senritsu's ability, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine now." Kurapika replied, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have fallen asleep."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Kurapika force a faint smile. "Yes. I'll be fine. I'm sorry if I made you worry."

It had been a year since her encounter with the Spiders, and a week had passed since her contract with the Nostrads ended. Kurapika had decided then that she needed to move on another hunting job. She practically got what she aimed for back in Yorkshin. She succeeded on retrieving a pair of Kuruta eyes, but those were just a pair. The rest of those scarlet eyes must have been scattered in different countries or continents. This means she had not reached half way of accomplishing her goal.

"Well then, it hhad been pleasure meeting you and working with you, Senritsu," Kurapika declared almost regrettably as Senritsu stood in front of her; she was ready to board her plane.

"Don't say it like we won't see each other again," Senritsu replied with a smile, almost reassuringly. Kurapika smiled but with a slight frown, but then her smile became genuine.

"Yes. We shall see each other again," Kurapika agreed.

"Please, see to it that you'll be more cautious with your emotions and your actions, Kurapika," Senritsu added considerately, "Remember that sometimes anger could blind us, that we hardly notice that we're putting ourselves and those who care for us in danger."

Kurapika gave a reassuring smile and nodded approvingly, "Yes. I'll remember that. I'll be more careful from now on."

A satisfied grin drew on Senritsu's face and for several minutes, Kurapika saw her plane took off.

Kurapika decided not to waste any more time. Half an hour later, she rented a computer and gained access to the Hunter's website, and searched for clues and current whereabouts of the stolen scarlet eyes of her people. It dawned on her, however, that she would have to actually do the other black list hunting job, other than continuing pusruing the Phantom Troupe, to fund the prospective journey she will take throughout her mission.

Pictures of wanted criminals popped on her computer screen and among them, one person sure stood out from the rest. She was young, about Kurapika's age, short black wavy hair. Her left eye was covered by a leather eye patch, while her free eye was of a round black orb. Her countenance, though almost angelic and innocent-looking, it was hard to believe that her record said that she was "wanted" for wiping out her own tribe. Kurapika frowned on this. Moreover, she had killed almost a thousand hunters who attempted to capture her and this concluded that she was practically a tough target. Never judge a book by its cover Kurapika thought.

Kurapika's eyes finally reached the part of the record saying that the said criminal was involved in sabotaging several quarters of a certain powerful underground organization involving illegal experiments for several times, and one of those times, she stole a pair of scarlet eyes from them. This wanted criminal, known as Black Riding Hood was last seen, a week ago in Aklan, a province near Boracay Island where the said underground organization held another base.

Within more or less than an hour, Kurapika boarded a plane heading to Aklan.

She knew there were five of them who were following her, but not a slight trace of worry manifested on her face. Or rather, at least, she probably never manifested any emotions at all. She kept up with her usual speed, sprinting through the woods. Finally, the five hunters caught up with her. Even if they were already dashing along with her side by side, and practically surrounding her, she acted as if they weren't there, ignoring them. Six shadows were seen flashing through the jungle then.

"So it's true! The rising star in the top 10 of black listed criminals is a cute little angel in black! And you're a foxy one in up-close." One of the hunters teased, while keeping his pace to catch up with their target. He expected a reaction but nothing came up, she did not even turn her head or move her eye. Merula just kept on sprinting, ignoring their presence.

"Hey there, Black Riding Hood, how about playing with us before we bring your head to our boss?" The hunter incited, but he was constantly ignored, and this finally made him snap. He jerked his head as a signal to his gang.

Five hunters dashed 30 feet ahead of their target and stopped in a certain spot. Obviously, she had no intention of changing her course nor coming into a halt. Still consistent with her speed, she headed towards where the five hunters were waiting without hesitation. The leader of the group stood on the ground, anticipating to confront the arriving target.

The plan was, when she finally came face to face with the leader, he and the rest of the hunters who were hiding in different position, most of them were hiding in the tree branches above and in the bushes on the ground, would attack the target in unison. The hunters set their Nens and weapons ready.

Finally, in more than five seconds, she arrived like lightning and was practically just two feet away facing the leader hunter. His minions were above her and surrounding her, ready to strike their weapons against her, when suddenly, she disappeared in a flash and reappeared more than 20 feet away from them. There was a faint shimmer of thread, as thin as hairline, that surrounded her in split seconds, then it was gone as soon as it seemed that one of her hands made a swift, jerking movement under the tail of her black short cloak. Immediately, she resumed to her pace afterwards, and continued to sprint with her usual speed, leaving her baffled pursuers behind.

Before the five hunters could turn their heads and utter a word, blood gushed from their bodies, and splashed on the trees and bushes surrounding them. Their bodies dropped in several pieces to the ground like fresh-cut carcasses; their innards scattered nearby.

Riding Hood continued on her way otherwise, and still she carried the ever stoic countenance like no bloody encounter ever occurred few seconds ago. She was heading straight to Boracay.

...to be continued