To be a Hunter - The Phantom Rouge!

by Relentless-virus

After some travelling, Gon, Killua and Mishka decide to head back to see Leorio and Kurapika. However, Leorio soon breaks the news that Kurapika's eyes have been stolen and when they discover it was by a Troupe member with the number four on his hand confusion arises. Will Gon, Killua and Mishka be able to get back Kurapika's eyes? Find out in this four part story.

1. Chapter 1

Author note: You wanted it you got it! Hunter x Hunter The Phantom Rogue! This is actually the first time I'll be doing flashbacks, considering how jumpy the movie is. Flashbacks will be in italics like my author notes, let me know in the reviews how this works out for you! Please note, as this is the movie it will not be 100% spot on to either versions of my story.

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Let's get the legal stuff out of the way first. I do not own Hunter x Hunter or Hunter x Hunter 2011. All rights and ownership go to the following: Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Shonen, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Nobuaki Kishima, Nippon Animation, Viz Media, Fuji TV, Funimation Channel, Satoshi Saga, Yukihiro Matsushite, Makoto Sato, Hiroshi Kojina, Atsushi Maekawa, Tsutomu Kamishiro, Madhouse, NTV, Yuzo Sato, Shoji Yonemura and last but not least Keiichiro Kawaguchi. Whew.

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I sat and laughed with Kurapika and Pairo as we sat inside Pairo's bedroom at his house. Although Pairo's sight was deteriorating, we enjoyed the laughs the day brought; for tomorrow we would be missing one person and that was Kurapika who was travelling to the outside world to search for a doctor to help our friend.

I was the smallest out of us all, although it was mostly down to age. Kurapika and Pairo were twelve as I was only eight years old. Though I was quite short for an eight year old. I only stopped short of Kurapika's shoulder, a few inches shorter, so I was more in the middle between his shoulder and elbow. Most eight year olds stood at his chin, or maybe that was because he was short for his age.

Kurapika wore a blue tabard with white training clothes underneath and brown boots with his trousers tucked in. His hair was blonde like our mother's and stopped to his chin; our father complained that he needed a haircut regularly. Pairo wore a maroon tabard with white training clothes as well. Like my brother he also wore brown boots with his trousers tucked inside. His hair was brown and stopped at the top of his ears. His deteriorating eyes were also brown. I wore a dark pink dress tabard, much like the colour of my mothers, with a lighter pink trim and white training clothes underneath. Unlike the boys I wore dark pink flat shoes. Like Kurapika, my hair was also blonde and stopped to the middle of my back with a small blue and red ribbon tied into the back.

As we laughed and talked about what was going to happen in the outside world, and demanding Kurapika bring back things to show us, Pairo brought out the book that he and Kurapika claimed a lady gave them for helping them. He laid it on the floor, flicking through the pages.
"See Mishka? One day, all three of us will become Hunters like the ones in this book." Pairo said, smiling widely as a looked over the pages of the large book. It was brown in colour and looked well loved.
"When I come back to the village I'll show the elder that there's nothing to be afraid of and convince him to let us go take the exam. Then when you're twelve you can come and take the exam too." Kurapika said to me as he roughly scuffed up my hair. I smiled up at him through the bottom of his head and nodded my head. That was our plan, to go outside and become Hunters; I didn't know what type of Hunter I wanted to be yet, but I still had lots of time to decide.

As time went by we switched from reading the giant book to reading just normal books. I gently placed my book onto the floor and stood up while brushing off the bottom of my dress tabard.
"Where you going, Mishka?" Kurapika asked me, making me look at him with a wide smile as I bounced from one foot to another.
"To the bathroom, I really need to go." I said to him and quickly excused myself to use the bathroom.

It didn't take me long to finish and use. I began washing my hands. To reach the sink I had to stand on my toes. The water was warm and ran through my fingers like silk. I couldn't help but try and grab it with my hands, laughing to myself as it squinted into my face.
"You're pathetic and only bringing your brother down" A familiar voice said from behind me. I slowly turned my head around to meet the glaring eyes of a familiar brunette with short, spikey hair. He held his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at me through dark brown eyes.
"Pathetic little whelp. You ran and hide and only came out to find people when you got lonely?" He questioned me. I looked at him confused. The voice was familiar, but I couldn't place a name; and what did he mean by "You run and hide?"
"W-Who are you? What are you doing in Pairo's house?" I asked him, looking at him scared and confused. The older boy just shook his head in disappointed, dropping it as if thinking to himself.

I couldn't do anything but watch him; the stranger who stood in the bathroom with me could be dangerous. I could soon smell burning, making my eyes widen in fear. Was the house on fire? Or was there a fire near here? The stranger began chuckling lowly to himself, a wide smirk appearing across his face.
"Are you going to run and hide? You can't do much anyway, you're pathetic." The person said to me as I trembled in fear, my senses becoming over ridden with fear and the smell of smoke. I stepped towards the door of the bathroom, the guy with the brown, spikey hair watching my every move. As I got closer and closer I began sliding my hand towards the door handle, before quickly bolting out of the bathroom.
"You can run but you can't hide forever!" He yelled at me as I ran through the smoke filled house.

My lungs began burning from the smoke filtering into them. As I rushed around on the top floor I frantically looked for Kurapika and Pairo. I could hear screaming outside as I frantically looked around for my brother, my friend, even Pairo's parents would do.

In a panic state, the last placed I checked was Pairo's room. I ran to Pairo's room, nearly tripping over my own feet; eyes wide in fear as the smoke choked me and made me gag.
"Kurapika! Pairo! Where are you?!" I yelled as I entered Pairo's room, swinging the door open with all my might. What I saw frightened me to know end. Lying on the floor was Kurapika and Pairo, both unmoving and both missing their eyes. I placed a hand over my mouth, trying to contain my scream; but I couldn't. I screamed loudly through my hands before suddenly jolting forward.

My breathing was heavy as my eyes were wide. My face was lightly covered in sweat. I looked around at where I was. I was on the airship that me, Gon and Killua were travelling on. When I fell asleep I knew I was using Gon's shoulder as a make-shift pillow. I frantically looked around the place to see Killua was also awake and looking somewhat panicked.
"Bad dream?" He questioned me simply. I nodded my head a little and sat up from Gon's shoulder. I pulled my training shirt over my hands and wiped my face with the palms, cleaning off the sweat that laid on my face. I never had a nightmare like that before and it seemed bizarre to suddenly have one.
"Yeah… It was strange I've never had one like that…" I said to him in a whisper so that I didn't disturb the other passengers. Killua stared back at me, humming slightly to himself as I sighed and slumped backwards into the seat, propping the soles of my feet onto the chair next to Killua with my hands resting on my tummy.

As I slouched down the chair I quickly glanced at Gon, who was still asleep; undisturbed by my moving about from next to him. I knew Gon was a heavy sleeper; the three of us had been travelling long enough to know our ticks, what annoyed us and what we were like sleeping. We had become very good friends. I couldn't help but smile slightly at him and then turned my attention to Killua, who still looked shaken up.
"Hey, Killua…Are you okay?" I asked him, snapping him out of his gaze. He turned his attention to me and nodded his head, smiling sheepishly. I furrowed my brows slightly and hummed a little bit, before accepting his answer and going back to watching Gon. There was nothing else to do on the airship; and I read the books in my bag ten times over.

The day began breaking a few hours later. Neither me nor Killua got back to sleep. The bright morning light shone through the window, leaking onto the people who had their black out blinds open, even if it was just a smidge.

Gon began waking up, his eyes half closed in a half asleep half-awake state. Gon looked at me and Killua in his half sleep like trance, as concerned as he could look while coming out of his dream.
"Killua, Mishka, is something wrong?" Gon asked the two of us. I shook my head and smiled widely at him as reassurance. I didn't want to share my dream, something just told me that something wasn't right; and I didn't want to worry my friends with something that may not be true.
"Like what?" Killua asked, slightly taken back by the question. Gon began sitting up straight and wiped the drool from his face with the back of his hand, his eyes closed as he tried to wake himself up.
"Weren't you two staring at my face?" Gon asked him, smiling slyly at the both of us. Killua turned his head away, denying the fact as I looked up to the ceiling, smiling slyly myself.
"Was not…" Killua defended as I hummed to myself.
"No…" I said, trailing off in my sentence. Gon smiled widely at the both of us.
"You're both lying!" Gon announced happily, making me shake my head quickly, denying ever looking watching him with Killua.
"Am not." Killua defended once more, getting a little bit angry about the pestering Gon was giving him.

Gon however didn't quite agree with Killua's defence. He raised an eyebrow in question and looked at him suspiciously, before looking at me suspiciously. I looked at him in question as he looked between us, staying suspicious.
"Something's suspicious…" Gon said playfully as he shook his fist slightly. Killua however, didn't see the playful side of it and stood up angrily to once again defend his case.
"Nothing is! I wasn't looking at you or anything!" Killua said to him angrily. I frowned at the two and puffed out my cheeks slightly, standing up myself.
"Can we just relax and enjoy the ride?!" I yelled at the two as glared at each other, gritting our teeth and growling with our foreheads pushing against one another.

I had learnt a lot while travelling with the two and of course fighting in Heaven's Arena. That was to act tough and stand my ground!
"Gentlemen and young lady…" A ladies voice said from behind us. The three of us stopped glaring and growling at each other as we turned our attention to the woman. She had her hair tied up into a pony tail and wore a blue skirted suit. She looked quite angry at the two of us as we stared at her wide eyed.
"Some passengers are still sleeping so please keep it down." She said to us, sounding and looking rather angry at us for the noise we were making. Me and Killua sat down sheepishly. Killua lent over the chair and waved his hand, dismissing the angry air flight attendant.
"Yeah, got it." He said to her as loudly as he could without waking the other passengers on the airship.
"Thank you very much." The air attended said back to him, bowing her head slightly before walking off down the aisle.

As the air attendant left us Killua began making hand gestures to her behind her back, before leaning back into our compartment. I slumped myself back down into the chair again with the soles of my feet resting against the edge of the chair and hands in my lap. I couldn't help but giggle slightly at Killua as Gon laughed quietly to himself, smiling widely.
"You were snoring." Killua said quite point blank to Gon, his head turned so he didn't have to look at him. Gon looked at Killua surprised and turned his head to me for assurance. If I was honest I didn't notice any snoring, but maybe it was a cover up for us about staring at him in his sleep. I did the only thing I could do and smiled widely at him with my brows furrowed, pretending to be apologetic about his snoring.
"Snoring? You were grinding your teeth in your sleep too, and you were fidgeting a lot." Gon said to me and Killua, making us both look at him in shock. I sat up in my seat properly, looking at him with furrowed brows; I never knew I fidgeted a lot I thought I was a sounder sleeper!
"I was?" Killua asked astonished.
"Really?" I asked Gon panicked. I hoped my fidgeting didn't keep him awake for too long if that was the case.
"Don't lie!" Killua said back to Gon angrily as he looked slyly between me and Killua. Gon closed his eyes and sat up straight, lancing his fingers together as he turned his head away from me and Killua.
"Aren't you two the liar here?" Gon asked us innocently, then opened his eyes to look at us both slyly once more, a little glare on his face.

I glared at Gon as the three of us stood up, pushing our foreheads together once more as we glared at each other. We gritted our teeth together as our hands clenched tightly into fists, the three of us trying to out strength the other with our foreheads.
"Weren't you two the ones who was lying just now!" Gon shouted at us
"Shut up! It's because you were saying stupid stuff!" Killua yelled back as mumbling began from the passengers around us.
"Kurapika taught me never to lie!" I shouted back at Gon through gritted teeth. If anything I was just digging a hole for myself and was beginning to wonder what Gon was saying we were lying about in the first place.
"It's not stupid! It was true!" Gon yelled back at the both of us angrily.
"We said we wasn't looking at you!" Killua yelled back at Gon as the mumblings were getting louder and louder.
"Gentleman and young lady!" The angry voice of the voice attendant shouted at us, making the crowd hush in fear and the three of us jump at her sudden anger.
"Stay on your seats…please." The flight attendant said to us, looking as if death had just found her and rose her from the grave. The three of us pulled our heads away from each other and stared at the flight attendant, staying quiet as we didn't know what else to say.
"Yes." Gon said simply.
"Excuse me." Killua said to her.
"I'm sorry." I said to her as the three of us sat down quicker than we had stood up in the first place. Well, that was interesting that's all I could say about it.

The airship after a few more hours finally landed. The three of us forgot about our small little argument about who was lying and who wasn't. We clicked out seatbelts in place as the airship drove into the airport and then was attached to a transfer dock like tube. I couldn't help but smile widely; glad I was on ground again.
"Finally we got here!" Gon cheered happily. I nodded my head as I placed my shoulder strap over the top of my head to sit on my left shoulder, letting my bag dangle on my right side. We were meeting a friend we hadn't seen for a while here and I was hoping we would see Kurapika too. I missed him a lot, having no way of contacting him and if anything it made me sad a lot.

Myself, Gon and Killua walked out of the dock like tube and started walking around, looking for our friend that we were supposed to be meeting. Hopefully, he hadn't forgotten to pick us up, or meet us. The three of us decided to wait outside to see if we could spot him. Amongst the crowd it was looking less and less that we actually would; us three being shorter than everybody here of course.
"Hey! Gon, Killua, Mishka!" The familiar voice shouted over to us. We turned our heads to the direction of the sound. I smiled widely with Gon as we spotted Leorio wearing his famous blue suit and dark glasses waving his hand to us with a wide smile. It hadn't looked like he had changed a bit since we last saw him.
"Leorio!" Gon shouted happily to him. Leorio placed to fingers to his forehead, before flicking them off with a wide smirk on his face.

We followed Leorio to the taxi bay. He said he needed to tell us something important; but wouldn't tell us what until we were in the taxi. As we boarded the yellow coloured car Leorio began telling us his news. My eyes went wide with every word he said; I couldn't believe what he was saying.
"A survivor of the Kurta clan?" Gon questioned as I stared at him wide eyed in the back seat between Gon and Killua.
"There's another one?!" I suddenly spoke up, shocked and amazed at the same time. That couldn't be true… I don't remember seeing anyone else in the burnt down village as I went looking for someone; but why would Leorio lie about something like that?
"There was someone in this city who appeared that way." Leorio told us in hushed tones. Gon looked at me quickly as I continued to stare at Leorio with wide eyes, wondering if what he said was actually true. Gon looked back at Leorio to speak once more.
"But didn't the Kurta clan…" Gon said trailing off.
"The Phantom Troupe annihilated them five years ago, right?" Killua questioned Gon. I felt two pairs of eyes on me, snapping me out of my trance. I looked between Gon and Killua and nodded my head slightly, furrowing my brows and dropping my head to look at my hands in my lap.
"Yeah; that's right." I said to them sadly. I know they didn't mean harm by it, but if I was honest it was still a painful subject for me and I had no doubt it was for my big brother too.

We fell quiet inside the taxi. I rubbed my middle finger on top of my other middle finger and looked back at Leorio, wiping the sad look on my face. I wanted to hear any more of the story, if there was any more.
"There was a good chance it was fake, but I contacted Kurapika to go make sure just in case. I tagged along." Leorio explained to us. I stared at Leorio once more; so Kurapika already knew now? I guess that was good in a way, if anybody could tell someone was faking our clan it was Kurapika
"Why?" Killua questioned Leorio.
""Why?" That guy can get reckless when the Kurta are involved, so he needed someone level headed with him like me." Leorio explained to Killua, closing his eyes. I frowned slightly and leaned forward in my seat, keeping my hands in my lap.
"I could have come too if you waited!" I complained to him. I was sad that I missed the chance of possibly meeting another Kurta again, hopefully getting some sort of resolve that me and Kurapika weren't the only ones.

Leorio opened one eye and looked at me from the corner of it, keeping the wide frown on his face as he leaned against the chair with his arm over the head rest.
"I think you would have been just as reckless as him." Leorio retorted back, making me drop my eyelids and look at him with a wide frown. I knew Kurapika would have gotten reckless, but I don't think I would have been the same.
"You really care about him, don't you?" Gon questioned Leorio, smiling widely. Leorio looked away before looking back at Gon with a glare, his cheeks turning slightly red from embarrassment whenever someone reminded him that he did actually care for people.
"Shut up, that's embarrassing." Leorio stuttered to Gon in his embarrassment.

Killua leaned forward some more, a wide smile on his own face, interested to know more of the story himself. I had to admit I was just as interested; I wanted to know how it went too. I couldn't help but look at him, sitting a little closer and with wide eyes full of interest.
"So how did it go?" Killua questioned the embarrassed Leorio. Leorio looked away, clearing his throat slightly as he tried to think to himself about how the meeting actually went.
"Finding someone I only saw once proved hard. When we were about to give up and return to the hotel, we met a boy Kurapika seemed to know. He asked Kurapika to go over to him so he could see his face." Leorio began explaining to us. I thought back to who it could have been; although there was many children in the clan, we only hung out with one and that was Pairo. I couldn't help but gasp slightly to myself, coming to the realisation that that was the only person it could have been.
"Kurapika went up to him to let the boy touch his face. There was suddenly a bright light and then Kurapika screamed. I did my best to help but, in the end his eyes got stolen." Leorio explained to us. I could feel my eyes go wide in fear as my breathing became heavy. I could feel my hands shaking in fear and something else, possibly anger but I wasn't too familiar with that feeling to know fully. What I did know was that I could feel my eyes turn scarlet in my heightened emotions.

The taxi began slowing down to a stop as I continued to look at Leorio wide eyed, my shaking in my hands soon travelling to my entire body.
"What happened to Kurapika?" Gon questioned Leorio, trying to get him to go on. Leorio looked at me before looking at Gon and Killua, then finally the three of us.
"I gave him first-aid and now he's in a hospital at the hilltop." Leorio explained to us.
"Take us there!" I shouted at him, almost demanding. Gon and Killua looked at me slightly shocked, however I decided it was best to ignore their stares and looked at Leorio with a serious expression on my face. I had to see Kurapika; it was something I needed to see in order to believe it was true. Kurapika was the strongest person I ever knew and if his eyes got taken that easily, than there was no hope. Leorio nodded his head at the taxi driver, silently indicating for him to take us up to the hill where the hospital stood.

The taxi took turns around bends as it drove up to the hospital. The trip seemed to take forever when in reality it was only a few minutes. The taxi soon reached the hospital. Leorio paid for the fee as me, Gon and Killua clambered out from the back. I could still feel myself shaking in fear and possibly anger, my vision still scarlet from those emotions.

Once Leorio exited the taxi he began taking us to where my big brother was. I followed behind him eagerly, nearly stepping on the backs of his feet as I walked. Leorio soon took us into a room. I was the first one in as I looked around for Kurapika I finally spotted him in the hospital bed.
"Kurapika!" I said, jogging my way over to him.
"Kurapika!" I heard Gon say behind me after spotting Kurapika as well. When I got closer to him I panicked at what I saw. He had bandages around his eyes and looked deathly pale; I couldn't tell if he was awake or asleep. I heard Gon stop next to me as I leaned my hands onto the bed, looking at him with furrowed brows.

I stared at him, no one's voice registering in my head. It was if no one else was there even though I knew the room had people in it. Maybe it was a little selfish of me to think that; but I couldn't bring myself to think otherwise.

I was jogged out of my trance like stare by Gon, who tugged on my training shirt sleeve to grab my attention. I looked at him as he pointed his head to Kurapika's hand. I stared at his hand, reaching over to touch it myself. His hand looked as if it had been burnt or bruised. With his skin so much more pale than it usually was it was hard to tell. I placed one hand next to Gon's and the other underneath Kurapika's palm, closing my eyes tightly. I could feel my shoulders shake, I wanted to cry; I wouldn't deny that.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard a small gasp coming from Kurapika. I perked my head up and looked over to him seeing that he had his mouth now open. I couldn't help but squeeze his hand a little tighter.
"Leorio, Kurapika is…!" Gon began saying making the two look at each other before running towards us. Killua stopped next to Gon as Leorio stood on the either side of the bed all of us looking down at Kurapika who was hopefully waking up.
"Did he regain consciousness?" Leorio questioned out loud. We continued to stare at Kurapika, wondering if he would say anything else.
"Kurapika…" Gon said to him, trailing off in hopes he would say something. Kurapika slowly turned his head to look at where Gon's voice was coming from.
"Is it Gon?" Kurapika questioned as Gon nodded back with a relieved smile on his face, despite Kurapika not being able to see it. Gon slowly let go of Kurapika's hand as I continued to keep my hold onto it; I was afraid that if I did let go something would happen.
"Kurapika! Thank God…" Leorio said to him, sounding just as relieved as Gon.

I couldn't speak, I couldn't bring myself to. As much as I wanted to I just couldn't. Silence fell into the room as we just stared at my bandaged brother, who smiled at us apologetically.
"I'm sorry. You all came for me? Leorio, after that, what did I…?" Kurapika said to us then to Leorio; his smile disappearing.
"You've been sleeping since then. It's been exactly three days." Leorio explained to Kurapika. I didn't know that was how long my brother had been sleeping for. I could feel that my shaking hadn't stopped and that new piece of information just made it slightly worse; even though that was probably not the intention.
"I see." Kurapika said, looking away as if he was angry with himself for sleeping that long.

Silence fell into the room once more until Kurapika began struggling to get himself up. He gritted his teeth in pain as small gasps escaped through his teeth. I quickly let go of his hand and placed onto his chest and the other onto his shoulder to try and help him up as Leorio did the same.
"Hey stop that! You didn't break any bones, but your whole body took a beating. You have fissures too." Leorio explained to him as me and him laid Kurapika's back against the bed head rest.
"But If I don't go now…" Kurapika began saying, anger rising up in his voice.
"You couldn't do anything about that Pairo guy anyway. Your eyes were his goal from the start." Leorio explained to him, making Kurapika drop his head in anger as he gritted his teeth hard from hearing Leorio's words.
"I don't believe it. That someone like that would be the real Pairo…" Kurapika said, sounding as if he was angry with himself for letting himself believe it was him.
"Kurapika…" Gon said to him, trailing off. It was hard seeing my brother like this, confused and not knowing what to do with himself.

Kurapika was never like this, even when we were really small he was never like this. He always knew what to do, what to belief in and where he always stood. Seeing him confused was terrible; I didn't know how much more I could take.
"No. Just maybe, Pairo really escaped that tragedy…" Kurapika said, as if trying to reason and bargain with himself.
"He's not!" I yelled at Kurapika, speaking for the second time since being in the hospital room. Kurapika turned his head to my direction, as if looking confused that I suddenly spoke up, or was even here.
"Pairo wouldn't do anything like that! He was always really nice! Pairo wouldn't take anything from anybody it wasn't in his nature, you know that Kurapika" I shouted at Kurapika, trying to convince him. Or maybe I was trying to convince myself. The possibility of Pairo actually being alive seemed like it could be true now that Leorio had said that him and Kurapika saw him. But I knew he couldn't be real; my only way of knowing that was that he never came back to find me when the massacre happened.
"She's right. If that Pairo was really your friend, he wouldn't do something so cruel!" Leorio shouted at Kurapika, backing me up on my words. Kurapika looked away from me and turned his head down, as if gathering everything into his head.
"That's right… I want to think so too." Kurapika said to us, smiling up at me slightly and then to Leorio.

I couldn't help but furrow my brows; Kurapika was having a really hard time believing that it wasn't the real Pairo, he seemed so lost…I wanted to prove it wasn't to him, or maybe I just wanted to prove to myself it wasn't.
"Hey. Could you tell us more about Pairo?" Gon questioned, making me look at him as well as Kurapika.
"His from the Kurta clan like you and Mishka, right?" Killua questioned. I nodded my head slightly, silently answering Killua's question. I turned my attention back to Kurapika, who thought over what to say before actually speaking.
"Pairo was our irreplaceable best friend who shared my dream." Kurapika said to them, turning his head away from Gon and Killua.
"Dream?" Gon parroted, egging Kurapika to say more. Kurapika nodded his head as he began speaking once more, explaining what he had meant.
"Back then, the beautiful forest me and Mishka lived in with our one hundred and twenty eight brethren was the whole world for us. Until we read that book." Kurapika said, trailing off in his sentence as he began explain the story to Gon, Killua and Leorio…our story of our entire clan.
"The book a woman named Sheila gave us after we helped her. It had stories about the adventures of a Hunter. Using a dictionary, the three of us got absorbed in reading it and dreaming about the outside world. But in reality you had to take a test to go to the outside world. After passing the tests on language and common knowledge I took part in the last exam, but…" Kurapika continued to explain and trailed off in his sentence. I remembered everything that happened that day so clearly, as if it only just happened not too long ago when in reality if happened five years ago.

I was a little girl at the age of eight when the test was happening. My hair was the same blonde colour as it was when I was older and fell to the middle of my back. I had a small red and blue ribbon tied into the back; it was my mum who always tied it for me. My dress tabard was a one piece and fell just short of my knee. It was a red like pink in colour and had lighter pink trim and patterns. Underneath was a white training shirt that covered most of my hands, leaving only my fingers visible and white training trousers that covered the tops of my feet. On my feet I wore flat red like pink shoes.

I was hiding in the bushes watching my brother and Pairo. I couldn't take the tests with my brother; the elder wouldn't let me as he said I was too young and too little to do the tests. I held Quishkie the family cat closely to me, stroking the top of its head as I hid in the bushes; I wanted some company if I was going to be by myself for a while. I watched my brother and Pairo closely. I loved them both and always saw Pairo as another big brother; he always acted like one towards me.

My brother wore his blue two piece tabard with gold trim and patterns. His hair was cut to his chin and his eyes were blue. He wore brown boots with his trousers tucked in. Pairo wore a maroon two piece tabard

In front of them stood the elder. He was a short man with a long grey beard. He wore a green tabard with gold trim and patterns. Next to him were several of his advisors, who also wore tabards of different colours with gold trim and patterns.
"The last part of the test is on self-control. We'll send you to do some shopping in the nearest town." The elder explained to my brother and Pairo, his hands behind his back.
"Really? We're going to the outside world?" My brother asked excitedly, happy to go to the outside world. I wished I could go with them; but I was already in risk of making the elder angry by following them here secretly to watch them off. I couldn't risk being punished for actually going with them.
"Remember that it's for the test. Your job is to do the shopping and return within one day without using your scarlet eyes. But you'll share the responsibility with a partner and go together. Choose someone carefully." The elder said to my brother, pointing to the three men behind him. I knew my brother though; he would choose Pairo to go with him; Pairo was our best friend in the entire world!

My brother looked panicked at the elders' worlds. I would be too if the elder said that to me and made me choose between the three guys behind him.
"Partner?" My brother said panicked as he looked between all the guys. My brother placed a hand on his hip as he looked at them, a hand on his chin. He took a quick look at Pairo, making me duck under the bush some more. I saw him look slightly shocked at first, having just caught me, but quickly changed it to a sly smile as he looked back at the elder; pretending as if he just thought of something.
"I choose Pairo!" My brother said confidently, nodding his head. Pairo looked at my brother, slightly shocked at his decision as the elder leaned forward, angered by my brothers words at not picking any of the adults.
"Don't you understand? This is shopping for a huge amount of daily goods for the clan and takes a lot of strength! If you take Pairo with the disabled eyes with you…" The elder began lecturing at my brother, trying to get him to change his mind.
"Even so, I'm fine with Pairo. If it's with him I won't regret any result." My brother explained to the elder, who was looking angrier with the decision my brother had made. He eventually gave up and sighed to himself.
"Whatever." The elder said in defeat, unhappy with my brother's decision.

My brother smiled excitedly as he closed his eyes and then looked at Pairo with a wide smile, his hand clenched in excitement.
"I did it. Pairo we can go together!" My brother said to Pairo excitedly. Pairo looked at my brother, unable to believe what he was saying.
"Am I really okay?" Pairo questioned my brother. My brother of course just stood up straight and held out his arms to either side, keeping the wide smile on his face.
"Of course! It can't be anyone but you." My brother said to him, punching his arm lightly. Pairo thought about it for a second, before looking up to my brother with a determined smile and nodded his head, humming slightly.

I couldn't help but smile widely myself, squeezing the life out of the cat in excitement. They would soon be going to the outside world!
"Well then, I'm going to put this medicine in your eyes. Once this medicine is in effect, if your eyes go scarlet even once during the next twenty four hours, even if you managed to calm down your eyes won't turn back for the remaining hours." The elder explained, holding up a small vial filled with a dark blue liquid. I looked at the vial as closely as I could without giving away my hiding spot. It seemed like a dirty trick to me; it was cheating in my eyes.
"If your eyes turn scarlet in the middle of the day, you'll have to stop doing the errands and return immediately. Well then, take the medicine now." The elder explained to my brother, who nodded, agreeing with the terms of the test.

Pairo walked over to the elder and held out his hand for the medicine. The elder dropped it into his hand; however it bounced and fell to the floor. I furrowed my brows as Pairo got onto his hands and knees, feeling around for the medicine vial.
"Pairo let me." My brother offered as he walked behind Pairo.
"It's fine. I can search for it myself. As your partner, I'll do what I can on my own." Pairo said to my brother, smiling determinedly. He went back to feeling around for the vial until he looked surprised and brought it to his face, smiling widely to himself in triumph.
"Found it." Pairo said to my brother, smiling up at him. I couldn't help but smile widely myself, hugging the cat close to me. This was going to be the longest twenty four hours in my life, waiting for my big brother and Pairo to come back home. But first, I had to get home myself, without getting caught by the elder or his advisors.

I was about to turn around to crawl out of the forest so I could get back home, that was until Quishkie escaped my grasp and darted out of the bushes. In a panic I held my hand out to try and grab his tail, however failed miserably.
"Quishkie come back!" I yelled in a hushed tone; however I was ignored by the cat entirely. I heard the elder hum slightly as he watched the cat dart between his legs and back to the village.
"I know your hiding young lady, come out." The elder said, as if not surprised that I was even there. I couldn't help but swallow a forming lump in my throat and crawled out of the bushes. I looked up at the elder from my hands and knees, furrowing my brows and frowning widely, apologising silently for following them when I wasn't told.
"I'm sorry! I wanted to watch big brother go." I said to him, backing off slightly into the bushes once more. The elder hummed to himself in thought as he glared at me. I knew I had done wrong. He turned back to my brother, a serious look on his face.
"On top of your shopping, you will be baby-sitting your sister to add an extra challenge. She's young and her eyes are more prone to turning scarlet than yours or Pairo's. The same rule applies to her." The elder said to my brother as I fully crawled out from the bushes and scampered behind my brother to keep myself hidden.
"I'm sorry." I muttered to my brother apologetically. Sure I wanted to go to the outside world, but it was still scary and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go quite yet. I felt a hand on top of my head and looked to see who it belonged to. I was relieved when I saw it was Pairo, who smiled kindly at me; making me smile back slightly at him.

We began dripping the medicine into our eyes. My brother had to help me with mine, as I was fidgeting a lot from having water dropped into them. I even got scolded about rubbing my eyes otherwise I would make them sore. Once we were ready we climbed onto the giant birds to ride out to the outside world. We had only two. One of them was going to be used to carry back the shopping. I climbed into the front as my brother sat behind me and Pairo sat behind him. I held onto the bird's feather tightly, not wanting to fall off. With that, we were off on our way to the nearest village to gather supplies for ours.

We got to the neighbouring village quite quickly on the birds. My brother had hoped off and took out the shopping list from his trouser pocket while me and Pairo stayed on. Pairo kept his arms either side of my shoulders whilst holding the reins to make sure I didn't slip off. The three of us looked around in excitement as we wondered around the town.

We quickly got our shopping for the village. I was excited to see all the sights of everything around me. But I had to be smart and not get too excited, otherwise it would be my fault that my brother failed the self-control test and I didn't want that to happen.

I went to help Pairo carry back the last of our things as my brother secured our shopping onto the giant transport bird we were using. Me and Pairo were too busy talking that we didn't notice where we were going and knocked into some people, sending us to the ground. I heard the glass bottle that Pairo was holding break on the ground as I spilled the sack of rice I was carrying back onto the floor from the sudden collision.
"Look you, you brats." One of the men said to us. I looked at them closely. Two of them was very skinny, while the third man who was in the middle was quite chubby. The skinny man on the right placed a hand onto his head as he looked away from us.
"You made a fucking mess." The man said. I hesitantly turned my attention away from them and rubbed Pairo's back, trying to help him calm down; although I was scared a lot and couldn't stop myself from shaking.
"Pairo! Mishka! Are you two alright? Are you hurt?" My brother asked us as he came and kneeled in front of Pairo. Pairo sat up straight on his knees and held out his hands showing my brother he was okay.
"I'm fine. I just stumbled a little." Pairo said. Pairo and my brother looked at me with concern. I shook my head to my brother's question.
"I'm okay, I didn't want where I was going." I said to him honestly. My brother looked over me and Pairo carefully, trying to decide for himself if we were actually alright like we said we were.

I heard movement behind me and couldn't help but freeze as it sounded like on the men was coming towards us from behind.
"Are you with these brats?" One of the men questioned, making my brother look up to him.
"Look, my important suit is ruined with wine. What'cha gonna do about it?" Another voice asked. It was different to the first man talking, so it must have been the other really skinny guy who the chubby guy who spoke. But seeing as he said suit I could only assume it was the other skinny guy.
"You liars! I was watching. It was you who-" A lady at one of the market stalls began yelling towards the guys who towered over us, making me look at her with wide eyes. She was standing up for us? I never expected that. She was however cut off by one of the men groaning at her.
"Be prepared for consequences if you talk. So, what were you saying?" The man in the white suit asked, leaning forward after voicing his threat. The woman backed away, looking at the man afraid as if he would do something to her.
"No, umm…" She began saying, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry. It was my fault." Pairo said, taking the blame for me and him tripping in front of the guys. I nodded my head looking at the woman as well.
"Mine too! I'm sorry." I said to her, not wanting her to feel bad for not standing up to the man or anything.

Movement behind us was heard once more. I turned my head over my shoulder to see the guy in the white suit smirking down at us, his hands in his pocket. I couldn't help but move slightly closer to Pairo as he was next to me, grabbing a hold of his training shirt for some sort of protection; the man was scary.
"I don't need your apologies. Gimme money." The man said to us.
"What?" My brother questioned angrily. I looked at my brother with wide eyes, my brother was brave I knew that; but he couldn't take on a full grown man no matter how much he thought he could.
"Big brother please calm down." I asked him as Pairo gently took my hand off his sleeve and held his hand out to my brother, then placed his other hand onto his bag.
"Wait. Um, if it's just money… We only have this much." Pairo said, rummaging through his bag and taking out a jar full of the rest of the money we had. My brother glared up to the man through the top of his eye lids. I looked at the jar and frowned widely, it was all the money Pairo was saving back home.

Pairo handed the jar to the man who took it without a second though. He looked at the jar oddly and shook it about as if it was a foreign currency.
"Hey, what's this? They're all one Jenny coins. You can't get shit with this pitiful sum." The man said, dropping the jar to the floor. The jar smashed against the ground, leaving the money scattered everywhere. My brother stood up angrily, glaring even more at the men.
"Bastard!" My brother said as Pairo stood up after him, grabbing him by the arm. I stood up as well and threw my hands against his chest to help Pairo keep him in his spot, or at least move him back.
"No, Kurapika! Let's just apologies and ask them to let us go." Pairo begged my brother as I nodded my head, looking at him with furrowed brows.
"Please big brother let's just go." I begged along with Pairo, hoping he would listen to us. My brother stood up straight as Pairo dropped down to his hands and knees looking up to the three men.
"I'm sorry please forgive us." Pairo said first. I quickly got into my hands and knees and bowed my head down closing my eyes tightly.
"I'm sorry please forgive us." I said to them keeping my head down. I heard my brother shift behind us as he got onto one knee doing the same.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive us." My brother said to the men who continued to tower over us; he wasn't thrilled about it though, it was in his voice.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Pairo kept repeating as I kept my head down.
"I'm really sorry." I said to them, not daring to look at them.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive us." My brother repeated to the men.

I couldn't help but continue to shake in fear. I kept my eyes closed tightly as I tried to think of something happy. I didn't want to ruin the exam for my brother and let my scarlet eyes be seen because of these men. I would feel guilty, seeing as I wasn't even meant to be here and was only on this trip with them because I was caught by the elder.
"Just forgive them already."
"They're only children." The crowd began saying. I heard Pairo shift from in front of me and looked up, opening an eye to see him begin picking up his savings. I crawled over keeping my head low and began helping him as my brother began helping us as well.
"Shut up. You picking a fight?" The man in the white suit yelled as my brother got out a brown bag from his pocket. We began dropping the money into the brown bag; if the men rejected it then it meant they didn't want it right? As the last of the money was collected my brother closed up the bag and held it to Pairo.
"Here, Pairo." My brother said smiling at my brother.
"Thank you, Kurapika, Mishka." Pairo said, making me smile at him as he took the bag gratefully.
"You got it tough too. Looking after a cripple and baby." The men said to my brother making the three of us look at him.
"Gotta suck to live like you." The other man said as the three of them laughed at us. I furrowed my brows as I scooted closer to Pairo and grabbed his training shirt sleeve, frowning deeply at the men. They had no right to make fun of any of us; and yet they were. Is this what the outside world was really like?
"For real." The third man said as they continued laughing.

I looked at my brother to see his eyes had turned scarlet. My own eyes turned wide, that meant he had failed the test. My brother began standing up and slowly walked towards the men before running at them and swinging a fist at the man with the white suit. He punched him in the face and then swung a kick at him, then kicked the other guy in the green shirt and hat down and then punched the chubby man. I held onto Pairo's training shirt tightly as I furrowed my brows. I watched as my brother walked towards the man in the white suit.
"You brat…!" The man in the white suit seethed at my brother, his words dripping with poison. My brother however took no noticed and seemed unfazed by the man's tone of voice.
"Get up." My brother demanded from the man in the white suit. The man in the white suit cowered before my brother, refusing to do his simple command.
"Get up!" My brother yelled at him, walking towards the man who shook on the ground. My brother walked over to him and then kicked him in the stomach making the crowd gasp in shock and horror. I felt my own vision turn scarlet in fear, I never saw my brother this angry before; it was actually quite scary. I held onto Pairo's shirt tighter than before, pushing myself into his arm.
"I'm telling you to get up! Get up!" My brother yelled at him as he continued to kick him in the stomach.

Pairo stood up, gently bringing me up with him. We walked close to my brother. Pairo looked at the men as I looked at my brother afraid.
"Forgive me…" The man in the white suit begged as my brother kicked him in the stomach once last time. I quickly went to my brother's side and wrapped my arms around his waist tightly with my eyes screwed shut as Pairo wrapped his arms around my brother's waist as well to get him to stop.
"Stop it, Kurapika!" Pairo begged my brother in desperation as the two of us made him walk backwards slightly.
"Let go, Pairo, Mishka!" My brother commanded from us. We, however, refused to let go of my brother in fear that he would attack the men again.
"That's enough, just stop!" Pairo begged as I nodded my head into my brother's arm, burying it into his tabard.
"Please stop big brother you're being really scary!" I said to him as I heard rummaging. I peeked my head out from my brothers side to see the two other guys help the man in the white suit up.
"Let us go, we were just told to do this!" The man in the white suit explained to us.
"What?! What do you mean?!" My brother demanded from the men as me and Pairo looked at them properly.

The man in the green shirt and black hat looked at the three of is, his eyebrows furrowed in an apologetic manner, it was as if he was about to be truthful with his words.
"Yesterday a weird pops told us to anger you." The man explained to us as Kurapika placed a hand on mine and Pairo's shoulder in an almost protective manner.
"An old man with point hair?" My brother asked them as the man in the white suit coughed loudly. It sounded like he was trying to bring something back up after being kicked so much by my brother.
"Y-Yes!" The man stuttered to us. My brother stood stiff as if shock to hear who it could be. I had to admit, I wondered on who it was; it could have been anybody but my brother seemed to know exactly who the man was talking about.
"About Pairo too? Did the old man tell you to insult Pairo's body too" My brother asked, dropping his head to glare down at the men. The man in the green shirt and black shirt shook his head as he continued to stare apologetically at my brother.
"No, that was just in a whim… Sorry. Forgive us-" The man began saying and then apologized, looking down to the ground as if ashamed by what he had done. That was until my brother burst from mine and Pairo's grip and then kicked him in the face.

Me and Pairo quickly latched back onto my brothers body. I kept my arms tightly around his waist as Pairo did the same, his arms just slightly above mine. My brother glared down at the man getting angrier by the second the more this conversation went on.
"As if that's justify it!" My brother yelled at him.
"Kurapika!" Pairo yelled at my brother as I looked up at him with furrowed brows.
"Big brother please stop!" I yelled at him myself until I heard a shriek in fear. The three of us turned our heads to the old lady who was earlier defending us. She looked afraid as she pointed at me and my brother, fear visible in her eyes.
"Scarlet-eyed monsters!" She yelled at us making me stare at her with wide eyes. She thought we were monsters?
"What with those eyes?"
"I've never seen eyes like that."
"What if they're the devil's envoy?"
"Are you for real?"
"Keep away, devils!"
"Get away from this city!"
"Get out!" The crowd began yelling at us. I frowned and couldn't help but try and hide my face into my brother's side. So this was what the outside world was like…it was cruel and didn't like people who looked a little different…I didn't want to go here anymore.

It was dark by time we managed to get out of the town. We were lucky that we managed to get out shopping out with us, but seeing as we paid it would have been cruel to take it back; but then again they were calling us the devil so I wouldn't have put it past them.

I was once again seated in the front of my brother with Pairo behind my brother. I held onto the feathers of the giant birds tightly as I thought over today. I didn't like the outside world anymore. It wasn't very nice.
"Maybe we shouldn't go to the outside world after all." My brother thought out loud to us. I nodded my head in agreement; if everywhere was going to be like that I didn't want to leave the village.
"That's not true." Pairo said to him, sounding shocked by my brother's decision.
"But I ended up with those eyes. And then made Mishka end up with the same because of my attitude." My brother said to him, sounding down about the whole situation that had happened. I looked up at my brother slightly; I couldn't see his eyes, they were shadowed by his fringe. I frowned widely and turned my head forward once more.
"Kurapika, look." Pairo said after some rummaging was heard. I heard my brother gasp in shock slightly as he looked at what Pairo was holding. I turned my head around slightly to see Pairo holding a mirror.
"They're back to their normal colour!" My brother announced, amazed by the colour change. Pairo leaned forward and held the mirror for me to look. I looked into it and smiled widely; my eyes were back to normal too.
"They're blue again!" I announced happily, smiling a wide toothy grin as I turned my head around the best I could to face Pairo.

Pairo smiled at me and my brother and then placed the mirror back into the back. He then rummaged through his bag again and took out two vials. I looked at them questionably, wondering why he had two vials of the medicine.
"What are those?" My brother asked him, wondering the same thing.
"I switched it with the elder's medicine. When I pretended to have dropped it." Pairo said smiling widely. I couldn't help but try and smile wider, Pairo was very smart for doing that. I couldn't believe he would actually do something like that.
"That time? So, I…" My brother said trailing off in his sentence. We decided to leave it at that as we continued our ride home with our shopping for the village. Now my brother could pass and there was nothing the elder could do about it.

Day break finally arrived by the time we got back to the village. We found the elder. He stood with his advisors behind him. My brother helped me climb down from the giant bird we rode and placed me back onto the ground. I smiled widely up at him as thanks. We turned out attention to the elder; I was excited to her about my brother passing the test.
"You pass." The elder said simply to my brother, his brows furrowed as if he was upset he had passed. I tightly hugged my brother around his waist as him and Pairo bumped their fists together, the three of us smiling widely at his success.

"After I had passed, I went on a journey to the outside world to find a doctor who could fix Pairo's eyes. During those six weeks, the news of the Kurta clan getting mass murdered came out." Kurapika explained, finishing his story. By the time he had finished the sun was setting. Colours of orange, yellow and reds filled the room. Throughout the entire story, Kurapika couldn't even look up to tell it.
"Mass murdered…" Leorio said, parroting after him. I frowned deeply remembering clearly what happened to everyone. It was Pairo who led me somewhere safe to hide and told me to stay there until he came back. My vision continued to stay scarlet at the vivid images that had engraved themselves into my memory forever as I kept my hands on Kurapika's shoulder and chest.
"All one hundred and twenty eight dwellers were killed, and on the murder scene there was a message the culprit supposedly left behind. "We reject no one. So don't take a think from us."" Kurapika said, reading back the message that was left on the elders' body for anyone to discover.

I shivered at the thought. It was a terrible thing to witness in the beginning, but having to remember it made it even worse. I dropped my eyes to Kurapika's bed, just thinking to myself as best as I could; but my thoughts were blurry and warped. I couldn't think straight.
"So that was the Phantom Troupe…" Leorio said to us quietly.
"Kurapika…" Gon said, not sure on what else to say. I perked my head up when Kuapika jolted upwards. I looked at him in worry, wondering if he suddenly felt any pain
"I can see something!" Kurapika exclaimed. We watched him carefully as he placed a hand over his face, trying his best to see whatever it was he was seeing behind those bandages.
"I'm going up a staircase…" Kurapika said, his sentence trailing off and behind left open. I held onto his clothing tightly as I watched him carefully, wondering what else it was he was seeing.
"Kurapika. What do you see now?" Leorio questioned my brother. The room fell silent as we waited for Kurapika to tell us what it was he was seeing now. He kept his hand over his eyes as he continued to stay silent.
"A sunset." Kurapika said to us, but he didn't sound too sure about it.

Leorio quickly ran over to the window and ripped open the curtains. Surely enough there was a sunset outside, but the lights in the room should have given that away. Leorio stared out of the window as he continued to hold onto the curtains tightly.
"It's not very far away. Could you be more specific? We might be able to identify the place." Leorio explained to Kurapika as he let go of the curtains and turned to face him.
"Yeah. Before the horizon… A line of mountains… There's a strange rocky mountain with a large hole in it." Kurapika explained, trying to get in as much detail as he could. Leorio looked back out of the window once more and brought up his arm, shielding his eyes from the bright setting sun light that leaked into the room.
"What else?" Leorio asked Kurapika, trying to see if he could pinpoint the location.
"A river… I see a river on the right. Wait. Someone's appeared." Kurapika said, bringing all our attention to him. I looked at him in question and wide eyed, wondering if he was able to see exactly who it was.
"Is it the culprit?" Killua asked Kurapika seriously, speaking up for the second time since he had been in the room.
"What do they look like?" Gon egged on as I stayed quiet, watching Kurapika closely.
"There's a piercing near his mouth and his clothes are black and resemble a priest. On his palm… A spider tattoo!" Kurapika announced making all of us in the room gasp as the information.

I watched Kurapika closely as it looked like he tried to see more. He held his hand in a tight fist and then sighed, leaning back against the bed head rest.
"I can't see anymore." Kurapika said, defeat evident in his voice. I thought over the information given to us by Kurapika. A spider tattoo…at least we now knew it was the Phantom Troupe involved and not just someone random who wanted the eyes.
"A spider tattoo is the Phantom Troupes symbol, right?" Gon questioned my brother. I nodded my head, looking at Gon with a frown, silently telling him he was right as I kept quiet.
"Moreover, the number on it was four just like Hisoka's. Why are there two number fours…" Kurapika questioned. I wondered myself. The Phantom Troupe had one of each number, with two number fours running around the place; things were about to get very confusing for us all.

I couldn't help but wonder as to what it all meant, and more so, why Kurapika was able to see for a minute before his vision went. I was confused. But I knew one thing, I was going to get Kurapika's eyes back; no matter what.